"Then the King Amadis said to the damsel,—
"'Friend, tell your lord and the Queen Calafia that we desire the battle with those arms that are most agreeable to them; that the field shall be this field, divided in the middle,—I giving my word that for nothing which may happen will we be succored by our own. And let them give the same order to their own; and if they wish the battle now, now it shall be.'
"The damsel departed with this reply, which she repeated to those two princes. And the Queen Calafia asked her how the Christians appeared.
"'Very nobly,' replied she, 'for they are all handsome and well armed. Yet I tell you, Queen, that, among them, this Knight of the Serpent [Esplandian, son of Amadis] is such as neither the past nor the present, nor, I believe, any who are to come, have ever seen one so handsome and so elegant, nor will see in the days which are to be. O Queen, what shall I say to you, but that, if he were of our faith, we might believe that our Gods had made him with their own hands, with all their power and wisdom, so that he lacks in nothing?'
"The Queen, who heard her, said,—
"'Damsel, my friend, your words are too great.'
"'It is not so,' said she; 'for, excepting the sight of him, there is nothing else which can give account of his great excellence.'
"'Then I say to you,' said the Queen, 'that I will not fight with such a man until I have first seen and talked with him; and I make this request to the Sultan, that he will gratify me in this thing, and arrange that I may see him.'
"The Sultan said,—
"'I will do everything, O Queen, agreeably to your wish.'