The Three Kings' Sons. Part I. The Text / edited from its unique MS, Harleian 326, about 1500 A.D. by F.J. Furnivall

The three Princes travel homeward; Prince Philip alone.

NOwe shall y telle you of eche of them, hou they arryued in their marches. and first shalƚ y speke of Surnome, for he was the first, that departed & lefte his fadir for the seruice of god, and also was the first that came agein in-to his countre. whan Surnome was passed out of the Reaume of Sizile, he called a yonge gentilman vnto him, that was [leaf 100] with hym / and saide vnto hym / "my frende, I shaƚƚ perauenture be ashamed if ye sawe the pore place of whens y am comen / wherfore ye shalle departe home agein in-to your contre; and y gif you my horses, sauf only that y ride on, & my harneys, and ij. C. scutes, that yit are bilefte me; & I pray you that ye abide in the Reaume of Sizile til tyme of the

tournay / at whiche tyme y trust to be ther, with the mercy of god. neuirtheles, if ye may haue any bettir maister, or othir good fortune in the meane tyme, y pray you leve it not for me" / This yong gentilman, that herd his maister thus speke, thought wele it came him of noble corage / and sory was to departe out of his company / and seide vnto him / "sir, for goddes sake be not a-shamed of me / for whoos sone that euir ye be, y had leuer be in your company than in the company of the grettist man of the world." Surnome thanked him, and saide / "I shaƚƚ discouer me now to you / I am a gentilman of roialle lyne; and that y trust shall be knowen or the Tournay be ended / But y most go now in-to suche places where as I wilƚ no company" / his seruaunt than departed / and thanked him of his grete geftes, and retourned agein in-to Sizile / Nowe is Le Surnome alle alone, and kepitℏ fortℏ his way in-to ffraunce / and within fulle litil while knewe certainly that his ffadir was ded / wherof he was fulle sorrowfulle. also he was ascerteyned that þe quene his moder was alyue, and his vnkle, the Duc of Burgoigne was Regent of ffraunce; with whom he thought to speke vnknowen / and so rode he forth to Parys, with a visour bifore his face, and acqueinted him with a seruaunt of his vnkells / and besought him to fynde the meane that he migℏt speke with him vnsayne / This seruaunt came vnto the Regent, and seide vnto him / "my Lord, here is a yong man in this towne that wiƚƚ not shewe his visage, whiche hath desired me that he might speke with you secretly" / The Regent, vpon thies wordes, thought moche what it might be, and asked, of what fassion he was / "fforsothe," seid [the] seruaunt / "the moost goodly persone that euir y sawe" / "I shall telle the what thou shalt do," said the Regent, "Soone in the evenyng, brynge hym in-to myn Inner chambre, & there bere him company til y may be at leyser to speke with him" / Like as he commaundid, was it done. and at the houre apointed, this yong man was brought yn / and the [leaf 100, bk.] chambre avoided / and whan the Regent knewe therof / he made his seruaunt to take a light / and nomoo went in with him / And assone as Le Surnome sawe him, he did him reuerence, kepyng alway stille the visour bifore his face / and whan he came nere him / he tolde him the cause of his comynge was to put him in knowlagge that "the kynges sone of fraunce, that departed out of the londe suche a tyme, was not ded, but in good helth / and that he trusted for trouthe he shold withyn short tyme here tidynges of him / and to disclose the trouthe vnto him, he came

him-self from the place that he was yn." whan the Regent herde thies tidynges, he shewde not the high chere of a prince, but streyned le Surnome in his Armes, and saide / "A, my frende! ye haue brought me grete ioie! sith the sorowfull losse, herd y neuir so ioifulle tidynges, whiche is more than iiij. yere passed" / and with thies wordes, the teeres ranne from his yen / bothe for ioie and pite. and saide, "my frende, if it please you, I pray you telle me the trouthe, hou it is with him?" Le Surnome hadde pite of his vnkelƚ, and coude no lenger kepe his visage couerd, but toke his visour away / and whan the Regent had auised him, and remembred the age of his Nevewe, and the fetures of his face / and than knewe verrily that it was he / And for the ioie therof, so sodeinly he vnclosed his hert, that he was almoost in a swoune / so that he might not speke / and whan his hert came to him agein / he kneled downe bifore him, and toke him in his armes and kissed him, so that he wette alƚ the visage of his nevewe with teeres that felle fro his yen, and sith saide vnto hym, "allas, my lorde, and alle my ioie! where haue ye be so longe? / allas, myn owne lord! your sorowfulƚ fadir had neuir ioie sith your departyng / grete synne haue ye for his dethe / The sorowes of this Reaume that hath ben for you, ben ouir moche to reherce / But now shalle alle tho sorowes be chaunged into Ioy. Allas! how shalƚ my lady your modir knowe of this ioifuƚƚ recouere? / I trowe, whan she shalle first knowe it / the chaunge shalbe so sodeyn that hir hert shalƚ breke for ioy / My lord, y wote not what y shalƚ say / or how y shalƚ auise you of your demeanyng / Wille ye that y calle yn the company that is yonder in my chambre, whiche, whan they se you, shalle haue more ioy / than alle the remenaunt [leaf 101] of your Reaume haue had sith your departyng." "ffaire vnkle," saide Le Surnome, "I shalle telle you alle my demeanyng sith my departir hens / and whan ye haue herd my tale / ye shalle avise me as ye thinke best / and by your counselle wiƚƚ I do" / After thies wordes, began he to telle of his departyng / and of his comyng in-to the Reaume of Sizile, and lefte no thing vntolde, sauf only that he had done with his owne handes/ and saide / "myn vnkle, my departyng oute of this Reaume was for this cause / my lord my ffadir, (whoos soule god pardone!) wold do noon helpe nor socours to the Reaume of Sizile, whiche was in way to be lost, whicℏ caused me to departe so allone" / and tolde his vnkle so forth, by & by, forgate not specially the ij. seruauntes that were with his maister, to reherce the worthynesse of them / and howe the warres

were ended a grete parte by their prowesse / and howe the trewes holdith yit for ij. yere / and half / and howe the kynge of Sizile, for his noblesse, was chosen to be Emperour / and how he hath the fairest lady of the world to his doughtir / and the best / and of the age of xviij. or xxti yeres / "and the Emperours desire is, aboue alle thinges, that she be accompayned with a noble man / wherfore, to be the more certayne, he hath made crie a tournay, whiche shalbe kepte in may next comyng / and but yif one man may venquyssh the Tournay iij. dayes / the Emperour shalbe at his liberte to chose the best of them, and ther may noon tournay, but if he be borne of roialle lyne, knowen & named / and forasmoche as y haue long tyme serued there vnknowen, I haue the more desire to be ther at that day / ffor y shaƚƚ put me in as grete deuoir and payne as y may endure with lif / but I come to that wele / ffor it is she that hath my hert assured in hir seruice / and long hath ben / for she is incomparable; Wherfore I haue affermed my self to be there / And nowe, sith y vndirstond the dethe of my lord my fadir, ye shalle here myn auise. The terme is short, and but litille vnto that day / wherfore me thinkith best to be vnknowen / ye are your self yit of resonable age / and haue neither wif nor childe / and men holde you heyre of this Reaume / wherfore I wolde, if it pleased you, to do so moche for me as to be at this Tournay / and to make alle folkes of this Reaume to beleue / that ye entende to haue this faire lady to your wif / if your fortune be suche / and, y pray you, were suche deuises as y shalƚ desire you; [leaf 101, bk.] and in the meane while, y shaƚƚ kepe me in suche places as ye thinke best y may be vnknowen; and ye shalle go in suche astate as bilongeth vnto a kyng; and my harneys and abylementes for my body shalbe trussid forth as yours / And the dayes of the tournay / y shal arme me in your pavilione / and ye shalle put a visour ouir your face, and serue me at the tournay. and at the ende therof, If I do any thing wele, alle be tymes y shalƚ make me to be knowen, whiche shalbe the grettir ioie to suche as wold y wele did / and y trust there be none othir there that knowe me, but wold be glad to wite me do wele" / The duc of Burgoigne, heryng alle his tale, herkened him fulle gladly, remembryng wele hou he had herde that by iij. yong men, straungers, the Reaume of Sizile was gretly holpen / wherfore he thought wele, by the tale of his Nevewe, that he shold be one, wherof he was right ioyfuƚƚ / and the bettir willed to go. hou be it, he thought alle folkes wold iuge his age was nothing accordyng to haue that fair lady / wherfore he

praide his Nevewe to take thaduise of vj. or vij. moo of his preuy counselle, whiche shold be nedefulle, aswele for the purveaunce of their going forth, as for any othir cause. wherto Le Surnome was agreable / and at night wold haue departed / but his vnkle wold in no wise lete him / but made the chambre to be avoided; & þat nyght lay ther to-gedir / and the Regent slepte not moche, he was so ioyfulle / he thought it shold be but a dreme / it was so Newe vnto him, that he coude not wele bileue that he sawe & herd / He rose be tymes in the mornynge / and so did the kynge / and than was called yn to the chambre alle suche as the Regent wolde name. and there was discouerd vnto them alle the matier vpone grete othes & charge. there may noman thinke of more ioy than was at that tyme in that chambre. This ioy was bydewed with teeres of pite / And after, whan they vndirstode the pleasir of their yong kynge, they were alle concluded to his avise & pleasir, and made the duc of Burgoigne to be published thorugh the Reaume, that his entent was to go to this tournay / in asmoche he had neither wif ne childe, nor coude here no tidynges of the kynges sone / wherby the Reaume might falle in-to othir lynage, wherof many inconueniences might growe / wherfore he purposed, in eschuyng of suche Inconuenience, to dispose him to be maryed. [leaf 102] Many men saide that he did wele; and som saide "nay / for he might haue ben maried to lesse charge of his Reaume & lesse iubardie of himself: what nedeth him, of his age, to put him in a tournay? The kynge of Inglond had ij. faire ladies to his doughters; and withouten any iubardy he might chose whiche of them that pleased him" / suche argumentes were amonges the people / Natheles, the Duc of Burgoigne toke litelle hede to suche wordes / but put him in deuoir and diligence, that alle thinge was redy longe bifore the day / The yong kynge made to ordeyne richesses y-nough / so that he might kepe estate incomparable there to any othir / for he trusted his fortune shold be to haue that / that alle other shold faile of / ffor his hert was highly and surely set, &c. Now shalle we leve of him a while / and speke of Ector, how he did aftir his departyng from his ij. ffelawes. [[Illumination.]]