The Life And Death Of Richard Yea And Nay Volume 91 - Maurice Hewlett (i wanna iguana read aloud txt) 📗
- Author: Maurice Hewlett
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Gurdun.
Then He Said, 'Come Hither, De Gurdun,' And Gilles Knelt Down Before The
Son Of His Overlord. Jehane Would Have Knelt To Him Too, But That He
Held Her By The Hand And Would Not Suffer It.
'Now, Gilles, Listen To What I Shall Tell You,' Said Richard. 'There Is
No Lady In The World More Noble Than This One, And No Man Living Who
Means More Faithfully By Her Than I. I Will Do Her Will This Day, And
That Speedily, Lest The Devil Be Served. Are You A True Man, Gilles?'
'Lord,' Said Gurdun, 'I Try To Be So. Your Father Made Me A Knight. I
Have Loved This Lady Since She Was Twelve Years Old.'
'Are You A Man Of Substance, My Friend?'
'We Have A Good Fief, My Lord. My Father Holds Of The Church Of Rouen,
And The Church Of The Duke. I Serve With A Hundred Spears Where I May, A
_Routier_ If Nothing Better Offer.'
'If I Give You Jehane, What Do You Give Me?'
'Thanks, My Good Lord, And Faith, And Long Service.'
'Get Up, Gilles,' Said Richard.
Gilles Kissed His Knee, And Rose. Richard Put Jehane's Hand Into His And
Volume 91 Book 1 (The Book Of Yea) Chapter 4 (How Jehane Stroked What Alois Had Made Fierce) Pg 26Held The Two Together.
'God Serve Me As I Shall Serve You, Gilles, If Any Harm Come Of This,'
He Said Shrewdly, With Words That Whistled In The Air; And As Gilles
Looked Him Squarely In The Face, Richard Ran An Eye Over Him. Gilles Was
Found Honest. Richard Kissed Jehane On The Forehead, And Went Out
Without A Look Back. At The Edge Of The Wood He Found Gaston Of Béarn
Sucking His Fingers.
'There Went By Here,' Said The Gay Youth, 'A Black Knight With A Face Of
A Raw Meat Colour, And The Most Villainous Scowl Ever You Saw. I
Consider Him To Be Dead Already.'
'I Have Given Him Something Which Should Cure Him Of The Scowl And
Justify His Colour,' Answered Him The Count. 'Moreover, I Have Given Him
The Chance Of Eternal Life.' Then With A Cry--'Oh, Gaston, Let Us Get
To The South, See The Sun Fleck The Roads, Smell The Oranges! Let Us Get
To The South, Man! It Seems I Have Entertained An Angel. And Now That I
Have Given Her Wings, And Now That She Is Gone, I Know How Much I Love
Her. Speed, Gaston! We Will Go To The South, See Bertran, And Make Some
Songs Of Good Women And Men In Want!'
'Pardieu,' Said Gaston. 'I Am With You, Richard, For I Am In Want. I
Have Eaten Nothing For Two Days.'
So They Rode Out Of The Woods Of Saint-Pol-La-Marche, And Richard Began
To Sing Songs Of Jehane The Fair-Girdled; Never Truly Her Lover Until He
Might Love Her No More.
Volume 91 Book 1 (The Book Of Yea) Chapter 5 (How Bertran De Born And Count Richard Strove In A Tenzon) Pg 27Day-Long And Night-Long He Sang Of Her, Being Now In The Poetic Mood,
Highly Exalted, Out Of Himself. The Country Took Tints Of Jehane, Her
Shape, Her Fine Nobility. The Thrust Hills Of The Vexin Were Her
Breasts; The Woods, Being Hot Gold, Her Russet Hair; In Still Green
Water He Read The Secrets Of Her Eyes; In The Milk Of October Dawns Her
Calm Brows Had Been Dipped. The Level Light Of The Beauce, So Beneficent
Yet So Austere, Figured Her Soul. Fair-Girdled Was Touraine By Vienne
And Loire; Fair-Girdled Jehane, Who Wore Virgin Candour About Her Loins
And Over Her Heart A Shield Of Blue Ice. As Far Southwards As Tours The
Dithyrambic Prevailed; Richard Was Untiring In The Hunt For Analogues.
Thence On To Poictiers, Where The Country (Being His Own) Was Perhaps
More Familiar; Indeed, While He Was Climbing The Grey Peaks Of
Montagrier With His Goal Almost In Sight, He Turned Scholiast And
Glossed His Former Raptures.
Volume 91 Book 1 (The Book Of Yea) Chapter 5 (How Bertran De Born And Count Richard Strove In A Tenzon) Pg 28'You Are Not To Tell Me, Gaston,' He Declared, 'That My Jehane Has Been
Untrue. She Was Never More Wholly Mine Than When She Gave Herself To
That Other, Never Loved Me More Dearly. Such Power Is Given To Women To
Lead This World. It Is The Power Of The Word, Who Cut Himself Off And
Made Us His Butchers In Pure Love. I Shall Do My Part. I Shall Wed The
French Girl, Who In My Transports Will Never Guess That In Reality
Jehane Will Be In My Arms.' Tears Filled His Eyes. 'For We Shall Be
Wedded In The Sight Of Heaven,' He Said Sighing.
'Deus!' Cried Gaston Here, 'Such Marriages May Be More To The Taste Of
Heaven Than Of Men, Richard. Man Is A Creature Of Sense.'
'He Hath A Spiritual Part,' Said Richard, 'So Rarely Hidden That Only
The Thin Fingers Of A Girl May Get In To Touch It. Then, Being Touched,
He Knows That It Is Quick. Let Me Alone; I Am Not All Mud Nor All Devil.
I Shall Do My Duty, Marry The French Girl, And Love My Golden Jehane
Until I Die.'
'That Is The Saying Of A Poet And King At Once, Said Gaston, And Really
Believed It.
So They Came At Dusk To Autafort, A Rock Castle On The Confines Of
Perigord, Held By Bertran De Born.
It Looked, And Was, A Robber's Hold, Although It Had A Poet For
Castellan. Its Walls Merely Prolonged The Precipices On Which They Were
Founded, Its Towers But Lifted The Mountain Spurs More Sharply To The
Sky. It Dominated Two Watersheds, Was Accessible Only On One Side, And
Then By A Ridgeway; From It The Valley Roads And Rockstrewn Hillsides
Could Be Seen For Many Leagues. Long Before Richard Was At The Gate The
Lord Of Autafort Had Had Warning, And Had Peered Down Upon His Suzerain
At His Clambering. 'The Crows Shall Have Richard Before Richard Me,'
Said Bertran De Born; So He Had His Bridge Pulled Up And Portcullis Let
Down, And Autafort Showed A Bald Face To The Newcomers.
Gaston Grinned. 'Hospitality Of Aquitaine! Hospitality Of Your Duchy,
Richard.'
'By My Head,' Said The Count, 'If I Sleep Under The Stars I Sleep At
Autafort This Night. But Hear Me Charm This Plotter.' He Called At The
Top Of His Voice, 'Ha, Bertran! Come You Down, Man.' The Surrounding
Hills Echoed His Cries, The Jackdaws Wheeled About The Turrets; But
Presently Came One And Put His Eye To The Grille. Richard Saw Him.
'Is That You, Then, Bertran?' He Shouted. There Was No Answer, But The
Spyer Was Heard Breathing Hard At His Vent.
'Come Out Of Your Earth, Red Fox,' Richard Chid Him. 'Show Your Grievous
Snout To The Hills; Do Your Snuffling Abroad To The Clear Sky. I Have
Whipped Off The Hounds; My Father Is Not Here. Will You Let Starve Your
Liege-Lord?'
At This The Bolts Were Drawn, The Bridge Went Down With A Clatter, And
Bertran De Born Came Out--A Fine Stout Man, All In A Pother, With A Red,
Perplexed Face, Angry Eyes, Hair And Beard Cut In Blocks, A Body Too Big
For His Clothes--A Man Of Hot Blood, Fumes And Rages. Richard At Sight
Of Him, This Unquiet Sniffer Of Offences, This Whirled About With
Stratagems, Threw Back His Head And Laughed Long And Loud.
'O Thou Plotter Of Thine Own Dis-Ease! O Rider Of Nightmares, What Harm
Can I Do Thee? Not, Believe Me, A Tithe Of Thy Desert. Come Thou Here
Straightly, Master Bertran, And Take What I Shall Give Thee.'
Volume 91 Book 1 (The Book Of Yea) Chapter 5 (How Bertran De Born And Count Richard Strove In A Tenzon) Pg 29
'By God, Lord Richard--' Said Bertran, And Boggled Horribly; But The
Better Man Waited, And In The End He Came Up Sideways. Richard Swung
From His Horse, Took His Host By The Shoulders, Shook Him Well, And
Kissed Him On Both Cheeks. 'Spinner Of Mischief, Red Robber, Singer Of
The Thoughts Of God!' He Said, 'I Swear I Love Thee Through It All,
Bertran, Though I Should Do Better To Wring Thy Neck. Now Give Us Food
And Drink And Clean Beds, For Gaston At Least Is A Dead Man Without
Them. Afterwards We Will Sing Songs.'
'Come In, Come In, Richard,' Said Bertran De Born.
For A Day Or Two Richard Was Bathed In Golden Calm, Hugging His Darling
Thought, Full Of Jehane, Fearful To Share Her. Often He Remembered It In
Later Life; It Held A Place And Commanded A Mood Which No Hour Of His
Wildest Possession Could Outvie. The Mountain Air, Still, But Latently
Nimble, The Great Mountains Themselves Dreaming In The Sunlight, The
Sailing Birds, Hinted A Peace To His Soul Whither His Last Conquest Of
His Baser Part Assured Him He Might Soar. Now He Could Guess (Thought
He) That Quality In Love Which It Borrows From God And Shares With The
Angels, Ministers Of God, The Steady Burning Of A Flame Keen And Hard.
So On An Afternoon Of Weather Serene Beyond All Belief Of The North,
Mild, Tired, Softly Radiant, Still As A Summer Noon; As He Sat With
Bertran In A Courtyard Where Were Lemon-Trees And A Fountain, And Above
The Old White Walls, And Above The Strutting Pigeons, A Square Of Blue,
He Began To Speak Of His Affairs, Of What He Had Done And Of What Was To
Do.
Bertran's Was A Grudging Spirit: You Shall Hear The Abbot Milo Upon That
Matter Anon, Than
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