Caxton's Blanchardyn and Eglantine, c. 1489 : from Lord Spencer's unique imperfect copy, completed by the original French and the second English version of 1595

¶ The xlj chapyter sheweth how Blanchardyn recounted to his fader & to Sadoyne the beaulte and the godnes of his lady, the proude pucell in amours, And of the prouoste that cam ayenste hem /

We haue herde here tofore howe kynge alymodes had beseged the nobel cyte of Tormaday, where was the nobel lady, the proude mayden

in amours, byfore whiche cyte he made gounes & other engynes to be caste ayenste the walles bothe nyghte and daye, for to brynge hem adoun; and wyth the same he made the toun sawte ofte tymes ful sore, where he made grete losse of his folke / But yt is all ynough to be byleuyd for a trouth that it was not donn wyth oute slaughter and damage to theym of the towne / The proude pucell in amours, seeng herself so sore expressyd [oppresse] / her knyghtes and her men slayne, was ryght sory / And of that other partye she had no hope of eny socours / but only of Blanchardyn, in whom was al her trust / but by no manere she myght not knowe in to what parte of the worlde he was dryuen, and was in a grete feer lest he had ben drowned in the grete tempeste of wyndes that had reculed them in to the hyghe see from the costes of Tourmaday; and full often nyght and day she wyshed hym wyth her / and was so sory for hym that she wyst not what she sholde doo, and noo playsure she coude taken in no thynge / but was euer more sorowyng at the herte of her / In so moche that one daye amonge other, erly in a mornyng, kynge Alymodes made the towne to be assayled, and was there made grete alarme & grete fray, so that the noyse and the callynge that was made of bothe partyes cam vnto the eerys of the proude pucelle in amours. Wherfor she rose out of her bed and bygan to wyshe sore after blanchardyn /

¶ She cam toward a wyndowe whiche opened her self; and as she dyde cast alwayes her syght toward the see, she trowed to haue seen a grete nombre of shippes that were appyeryng vpon the water / and cam sayllynge, as her aduyse was, toward Tourmaday / She seeng that thynge, for grete Ioye that she toke, she wyst not what she sholde saye or thynke therof, whether she was a wakyng or a slepe. And for to be better in certaynte of the trouth, she

went vp at a hyghe wyndowe, and loked so longe tyl that she myght perceyue clerly that they were shyppes and vesselles of werre / 'Ha, god,' saide she, 'myght som socours come to me of eny souldyours? for of noo man of my sybbe I awayte for none, syth that the kynge of the grete Nourthweghe, myn oncle, is decessed, that wold helpe me ayenst the tyraunt kynge Alymodes.' Atte the same houre Blanchardyn was vpon the borde of his ship, and talked wyth the kynge of fryse his fader / [sign. I iij.] And as they were thus in deuyses / blanchardyn loked on the see, and byganne to espye the toures of the paleys of Tourmaday, and shewed them to his fader and to sadoyne his felawe. He recounted to his fader, the kynge of ffryse, the beaulte, goodnes, and other goode vertues and maners that were in his lady, the proude pucelle in amours, And how he was in her goode grace, and she lyke wyse in his; & that yf god gaff hym that hap, that he myght come to bataylle ayenst her enmye the kyng alymodes / he sholde shewe to hym the beneuolence that he ought to his lady / And the grete malyuolence or euyll wylle that he had for her sake toward the tyraunt, that by so grete wronge and wythout laufull cause made to her suche force and Iniurye.

¶ Thus talkyng of many thynges, they exploytted so by a goode wynde that they had, that they cam so nyghe the lande, that they see playnly the tentes and the pauyllyons of kynge Alymodes, the whiche Blanchardyn dyde shewe vnto the kynge his fader, and to his felawe Sadoyne. The proude pucelle in amours, that at this houre was lenyng vpon her wyndowe, sent hastely for the prouost, that he sholde come and speke wyth her / whiche cam anone to her / he entred in to her chambre, and right humbly salued the pucelle / she called hym nyghe her, and shewed hym the right myghty nauye that cam to arryue there / the prouost, that was right wyse and subtyll, perceyued,

and knewe full sone that they were crysten, and sayde to his lady that he sholde go to them to wyte what folke they were, and yf he coude doo so moche by eny wyse, that they wolde take her wages and serue her. He toke his leue, and went oute of the chambre, and cam streyght to the hauen, where he toke a bote, prest and garnyshed wyth eyght goode felawes, eche of them an ore in his hande, whiche wythin a short whyle brought the prouost nyghe to the galleyes / & so wel they stered that they cam and borded the ship wherin blanchardyn was, that desyred sore to knowe what they were that so fast rowed toward his vessel / Thenne the prouost, seeyng hym self arryued where he wolde be / Right highly he salued theym that were wythin þe ship / Blanchardyn, that lened vpon þe borde of it, rendred to hym his salutacion / The prouost thenne al on hyghe exposed & sayde the charge that he had of his maystres byhalue, the lady of tourmaday / Blanchardyn, that wel knewe the prouost, ansuered, demaundyng of hym yf his lady was so sore oppressed by her enmyes as he sayde / & whether she might holde the towne longe ayenst them that had layde siege to it by fore her / The prouost ansuered to hym & sayde / 'ye, right wel / but one thynge there is, that she may not haue nother helthe nor Ioye, but alweyes she most be chaunged vpon her bed, [chaunged vpon her bed = couchid] where she can not haue rest nor noo goode slepe by night nor by daye.' 'frende,' saide blanchardyn, 'wherof may come this dysease vnto her that so traueylleth & tourmenteth her? for myn aduyse is this, that at all endes she ought to force her self from her bed, for to shewe her self, admonestyng her folke to do wel, bycause they sholde take a better corage for the persone & sight of her' / 'Syre,' sayde the prouost, 'be ye sure, & knowe for a trouthe, that so moche I knowe by my lady, that

she shal neuer haue no parfytte Ioye at her herte, for loue of a knyght of whom she is enamored, whiche she weneth to be peryshed & ded / but my hope is in god, that he shall yet come ayen hyther; for men sayen comynly, that he whome god wyll haue kept, may not be peryshed / Syre, I saye the same for the knyght, that is the most parfyt in all beaulte & condicyons / that his lyke can not be founde. how be [sign. I iiij.] it that not long ago we herde tydynges of hym of a pylgryme that passed here byfore, that sayde to vs for veray trouth, that he and his felawe Sadoyne were arryued in to the cyte of Cassydonye, whiche they had taken & goten by force of armes / for the whiche tydynge my sayde lady hath be wel asswaged of her dysplaysure, trustyng in god that shortly she shal vnderstande more playnly the certaynte therof.' Whan blanchardyn vnderstode the prouost / he sayde vnto hym, that this whiche the pylgryme had sayd was true, & that blanchardyn had sent hem there for to socoure and help his maistres. but som men wyl saye that he shal wedde the doughter of kynge Alymodes, whiche is lady of the lande where he is, & that he shal maynteyne & kepe the contrey with her / 'Ha, ha, sire! what is that / that ye saye? / what a grete synne & vntrouth it were to blanchardin, to take nor haue to his wyf another than the proude pucell in amours, þat loueth him so truly / & that so longe hath wayted & taryed after hym / & that for þe grete loue that she hath to him, she hath reffused so many kynges & so hyghe prynces that dayly do requyre her. Certes, who someuer brought her this sorowfull & pyteuose tydynge / I doubte not but that she shold slee her self for grete displaysir / for suche, & so true, I knowe her. Now, god for-bede that I be the brynger of thys tydynges / that so sore displaysaunt shalbe to me for to vttir & declare hem, that I had almost as lief to deye as to reherce them vnto my said maystresse.

But, sire, syth it is therof as ye saye, & that ye come from Blanchardyn, I praye you to telle me yf he wryteth or sendeth eny wordes to my sayde lady by you / for nothyng coude make me to byleue that this grete & lothely vntrouthe sholde be in blanchardyn / to leue & for-sake her of whom he is so parfytly beloued for to take the doughter of a kynge her enmye.' 'frende,' sayde blanchardyn, 'as for wrytyng or eny worde that he sholde sende, I knowe of none.' 'that rewyth me,' sayde the prouost, 'so am I wel sore abashed how he can haue a wylle to chose another lady than þe proude pucelle in amours, whiche is the most fayr, and the most noble & the most complet a lady, & most plesaunt of all the remenaunt of the world / how thenne doeth not he remembre hymself of the courser, & of the sleue of clothe of golde that she dyde send vnto hym after the fyrst acqueyntaunce? Certaynly, my herte can not Iudge to me that euer of suche a knyght as is Blanchardyn, shold growe suche a wille to be do.' [to be do = de faire] 'Ha, ha! madame,' sayde the prouost, 'see here sore harde tydynges, that shalbe cause to brynge at an ende full myserably your laste dayes' / Whan blanchardyn herde the prouost speke thus / he bygan to smyle. Thenne the prouost behylde hym ful ententyfly, and knewe hym, wherof he had so grete & so parfyt a Ioye that it can not be recounted / And after many wordes of reconyssaunce / the prouoste tolde to hym of all, how he was euer truly byloued, & how his lady, the proude pucelle in amours, had borne, & as yet bare suche a displeasure for & by thoccasyon of hym; & that neuer syth that she receyued the letter that he dyde sende to her by hym, she had no Ioye at her herte, nor shal neuer haue vnto the tyme that she see you ayen. Blanchardyn sayde to him: 'lat her take no care of nothing, nor no doubte of my parte;

for as to me, I haue alwayes be, and euermore shall as longe I shall lyue, her true and feythfull louer / And shall neuer fayle her of noo thyng that is or shalbe in my power to doo for her, as to her that I more desire to complayse than al þe worlde / ye shal recomende me to her gode grace, & from me ye shal presente vnto her this rynge of golde / & as to þe faytte of our men of werre that ben here, we haue brought hem alle hyther only for to gyue vnto her helpe & socoure; we shal kepe our self wythin our vesselles, bycause it is as now to late; & to morwe erly, whan we see houre & tyme goode, & alle redy, we shal do sowne oure trompettes, horses, & busynes / and ye that shalbe wythin the cyte / see that ye be redy & appareylled for to yssue out at the same owre, for to come ayenst oure enmyes; for from oure syde we shal assaylle them so quykly that they shal cursse the owre of oure commyng / and thus they shal be fought wythal of bothe sydes by suche a manere, that wyth grete peyne they shal haue leyser to graunte on to vs the victorye, yf god woll'/ [Wanting in the French.] expand_less