in his throat and said, Knight you are hurt in a dangerous part, and you must rest, otherwise you will be in great pain and danger. The Knight answered, Master, I beseech you by the faith you owe to God and to this your Lady, that, as soon as I am in a state to ride, you let me know it, for it doth not befit me to rest or be at ease, till it shall please God to bring me there where my heart desires to be. And when he said this he could not restrain his tears, whereat he was ashamed, and wiped them hastily away, and made semblance of mirth. The Master then drest his wound and gave him food such as was fitting. Then said Grasinda, rest now Sir and sleep, and we will go to our meal; we will see you when it is time, and do you bid your Squire ask freely for whatever is wanted; with that they left him, and he remained thinking of Oriana, for in that thought was all his pleasure and delight though mingled with such pain.
But when Grasinda had eaten and retired to her chamber, and was in her bed, she thought upon the beauty of the Green Sword Knight, and of the great feats which he had performed in arms; and though she was of such high degree, being niece to King Tafinor of Bohemia, and widow of a great Knight, with whom she had lived only one year,
having no issue, and though she believed him to be only an Errant Knight, she resolved to have him for her husband. But while she was devising how this might be brought about, she recollected how she had seen him weep, and thought that that could only have been because of some woman whom he loved and could not obtain. This made her pause and resolve to learn more concerning him. So hearing he was awake she went with her Ladies to visit him, as well to show him honour as for the great pleasure she took in beholding him, and talking with him, nor had he less though for a very different cause. Thus she continued to be in his company, devising for him every pleasure that could be, till one day being unable to endure this longer she took Gandalin aside and said, Good Squire, whom God bless and make happy, tell me one thing if you know it, and I promise you it shall never be by me discovered. Do you know any woman whom your master dearly and affectionately loves? Lady, replied Gandalin, I and this Dwarf have lived with him but a short time, serving him for the great renown which we had heard of his great feats, and he told us never to enquire his name, nor any thing concerning him, unless we chose directly to be dismissed. But since we have been with him we have seen enough to be
assured that he is the best Knight in the world: I know nothing more. The Dame then hung down her head and mused greatly. Gandalin beheld her, and suspecting that she loved his master wished to relieve her from a wish which never could be gratified, and he said to her, Lady, I often see him weep, and that so bitterly that it can only be for extreme love, for that is an evil which neither strength nor courage can overcome. As God shall save me, she replied, I believe you, and thank you for what you have told me; go to him now, and God help him in his wishes! She then went to her woman resolving no longer to encourage those thoughts, for seeing how stedfast he was in his words and actions she believed he was not one who would be changed.
Thus as you hear was he of the Green Sword attended in the house of that great Lady the fair and rich Grasinda, as though she had known him, instead of a poor Errant Knight, as he seemed to be, son of a great King, as in truth he was. Now when he felt himself able to bear arms he ordered Gandalin to prepare for their departure, and he answered that all was ready. But while they were speaking Grasinda with four Damsels entered the apartment. He rose and led her to an estrado,
which was covered with a cloth of silk and gold, and said to her, my Lady, I am now in a state to travel; if any service of mine can afford you pleasure, willingly will I put it in action, for the great honour which I have received at your hands.—Certes Sir Knight of the Green Sword I believe what you say, and when I ask a return for the pleasure and service you have received here, if any it have been, then will I without hesitation or shame disclose to you that which hath hitherto been known to none: meantime tell me I pray you whitherward you design to go.—Toward Greece if it please God, to see the manner of life among the Greeks and their Emperor, of whom I have heard good things—Then I must help you in your voyage; I will give you a ship manned with good mariners to be at your command, and victualled for a year; and I will give you Master Helisabad who cured your wounds, for such another in his art cannot be found far or near, on condition that if you be at your own disposal you will be in this town with me within a year. The Knight was right glad of this good offer; my Lady, quoth he, if I cannot serve you for all these favours I shall hold myself the unhappiest Knight in the world, and so in like manner if I should know that you hesitate
or shame to ask what you desire. Sir, she replied, when God shall bring you back from this voyage I will demand that which my heart hath long desired, and which will be to the advancement of your honour, albeit with some peril.—Be it so: and I trust in your wisdom that you will ask nothing which I may not rightfully perform. Do you then rest five days, said she, while every thing is prepared. At the end of that time the ship was ready, and the Knight embarked with Master Helisabad, in whom next to God he trusted for his safety. So they set sail, not straight to Constantinople, but to those Islands of Romania which he had not visited, and to the Islands of Greece, and there for a long time did that Knight prove himself in abating the insolence of the haughty and against many Knights who came to try themselves against him, but he still won the victory and the praise from all; and Master Helisabad always healed his wounds. But at length the mariners were weary of sailing thus from one Island to another and complained to Master Helisabad of their great fatigue, and he repeated it to the Knight, who bade them then steer directly for Constantinople, for by the time he had been to that city and could sail from it, the year would be expired.
We told you in the second book how El Patin went to prove himself against the Knights of Great Britain, and how reckless of his former love to Queen Sardamira of Sardinia, he asked Oriana of her father in marriage, and how falling in with Amadis he was by him sorely wounded in the head. That wound brought him oftentimes to the point of death, so that he returned forthwith to Rome, where he was soon chosen Emperor by reason of his brother's death. But then thinking that he might more easily obtain Oriana, of whose love he nothing doubted, he determined again to ask her of King Lisuarte, and for this purpose to dispatch his cousin Salustanquidio Prince of Calabria, a famous Knight in arms, and with him Brondajel of the Rock his high steward, and the Archbishop of Talancia, and a company of three hundred men, and the fair Queen Sardamira, with Dames and Damsels in her train to bring home Oriana. So they prepared to fulfil the Emperor's pleasure as you shall hear hereafter.