Parzival: A Knightly Epic (vol. 1 of 2)

by von Eschenbach Wolfram

But ready of wit was the Landgrave, and he spake, 'Yea, the tale be told
E'en to day, and no man shall marvel, for we know well thy ways of old.
Thou wouldst urge me to strife, yet thy counsel is e'en what a cook once gave395
To the Nibelung lord, little recked he such counsel, the hero brave.
For he and his, little doubting, went boldly to meet their fate,
And avenged was the death of Siegfried, and sated was Kriemhild's hate!
And Sir Gawain, I ween, must give me my death, or himself must feel
The weight of my bitter vengeance as we battle for woe or weal!' 400

'Thou dost well,' Liddamus made answer, 'yet I think me of treasure fair,
All that Arthur might hold, or India, if one such to my feet should bear,
And say 'twas mine own, he might have it ere I fought e'en for such a prize.
An thou wilt, win thee fame and honour, I, I think me, am all too wise.
God knoweth, no Segramor am I, whom men must with fetters bind 405
So keenly for strife he lusted, far other was aye my mind.
Yet mine be my monarch's favour, for Sibech ne'er drew a sword,
But ever he fled with the flying, yet men hearkened well his word;
And many for counsel prayed him, and great gifts and lands enow
The hand of Ermenrich gave him, tho' no helmet e'er felt his blow. 410
And Sir Kingrimursel, I rede thee, thou shalt mark me with never a scar!'
Then out spake King Vergulacht sternly, as he ended their wordy war:

'Peace, peace, nor so loudly wrangle, Sir Knights, all too bold are ye,
For too near is your monarch's presence, and of speech are ye both too free;
And that thus ye should strive before me, tho' your strife be of word, not deed,415
Ill beseemeth both king and vassal, so hearken my word, and heed.'

This befell in the hall of the palace, 'neath the eyes of his sister fair,
And Gawain stood beside the maiden, and heroes and knights were there.
Quoth the king to his gentle sister, 'Now take thou with thee thy guest
And the Landgrave, while I bethink me the word that shall 'seem me best.420
And all ye who wish well unto me, shall follow and give me rede.'
Quoth the maid, 'Of good faith seek counsel, for better 'twill serve thy need!'
Gat the king to his council-chamber; the king's daughter had comrades three,
Cousin, and guest, and beside them black care bare them company.
Gawain, as right well beseemed her, by the hand to her bower she led.425
And she quoth, 'Now shall all lands rue it if here thou shalt be ill-sped!'
And the son of King Lot, Sir Gawain, with the maiden went hand in hand,
And none thought them shame, for so gracious was the custom of that fair land.

So passed they unto her chamber, the queen and those heroes twain,
And that none 'gainst her will should enter was the care of her chamberlain.430
Only her bower maidens as befitted them there might be,
And the queen, in all love and honour, her guest tended royally.
And the Landgrave in naught gainsaid her, for belike did he bear a part
In the fear for her guest's well-doing that lay dark on the maiden's heart.
So the twain with the queen abode there till the strife of the day was o'er,435
And the night and the hour of feasting had come in their course once more.
Then the slender maidens bare them sweet drinks, and the wine so red,
And with fish and fowl in plenty, I ween, was the table spread.
Fair and white was the bread to look on, and the Landgrave and Knight Gawain,
Who had passed thro' such deadly peril, to taste of the food were fain.440
And each as the queen might bid him ate that which should please him best,
And no lack did they find, for right queenly the maid did entreat her guest,
And vainly the heroes prayed her to cease from her kindly care.
Of the many who knelt before them no maid but was young and fair;
Yea, fair with the opening beauty of the rose that is yet unblown, 445
And soft lay their locks as the feathers of a falcon the knight hath flown.

Now list, ere they close the council, to the rede they would rede the king
And wise were the men who, wisely, good counsel in need should bring;
And each spake as his mind should bid him, and that which his heart deemed best,
And they turned the thing hither and thither, till the king thus his speech addrest:450

And he spake, 'One of late fought with me, as on venture bent I rode
In the wood Læhtamreis—too proudly, perchance, I my steed bestrode,
For a knight, who o'er great my fame deemed, in joust smote me such a blow
That, behind my gallant charger, on the greensward he laid me low.
And this oath must I swear unto him, in search of the Grail to ride,455
And my knightly pledge I gave him, were it other, I there had died.
Now give me, I pray, your counsel, for 'gainst death was no other shield
But to swear as my victor bade me, and, as knight, to a knight to yield!'

'Yea, mighty and strong that hero,—nor sware I that oath alone,
But he bade me, as true man truly, when a year should have come and gone,460
And the Grail I still were seeking, to ride unto Pelrapär
To the queen who the crown there weareth, the child of King Tampentäre.
And there, as I looked upon her, I should yield me unto her grace;
And from him should I bear this message in the day that I sought her face.
He would say, "An she thought upon him 'twas his joy and his labour's meed,465
His hand from the King Klamidé aforetime her land had freed."'

Then the speech to the end they hearkened; and Liddamus spake this word,
'Give me leave to speak, ye shall follow, Sir Knights, when my rede is heard,
For the oath that perforce thou swarest, its fulfiller shall be Gawain,
And he, captive, his wings shall flutter in the snare wherein thou wast ta'en.470
For here, where we stand to hearken, shall he swear us the Grail to win,
And then of free will let him ride hence; for I deem men would count it sin
Were he slain in thine house—Nay, me-seemeth 'twere better to let him live,
For but ill would it please thy sister an thou didst not her knight forgive!
Sore stress at our hands hath he suffered, and he now to his death shall ride;475
For far as the far sea's water shall circle the earth so wide
There standeth no Burg so mighty as Monsalväsch, its towers shall fear
No foeman, and strait the pathway that wendeth its walls anear,
And sore dangers that road encompass—Let him slumber in peace this night,
And the word that we deem the wisest shall be told him with morning light!'480
Right well did the counsel please them, and ended, I ween, the strife,
And Gawain, so the venture telleth, thus won at their hands his life.

So they tended the dauntless hero right well thro' the hours of night;
From the Mass came the folk on the morrow when the noontide hour waxed bright,
And the hall was thronged and crowded with townsfolk and warriors good,485
When before the king, as they counselled, his foeman, Sir Gawain, stood.
To naught other would he compel him than to that which ye late did hear.
Now see ye the gentle maiden as she drew with her knight anear,
And her uncle's son came with her, and many a hero brave
Of the king's men were fain to follow, and thus fair escort gave. 490
Then the queen led Gawain to her brother with slender hand and white,
And a chaplet of fair flowers woven she bare on her locks of light,
Fair the flowers, yet the maid was fairer, and no blossom around her head
But waxed pale and dim, if 'twas mated with her lips of glowing red.
And he whom of true heart gently she kissed, as beseemed a maid, 495
Such lances for her had broken as had wasted a woodland shade.