Book XV · FEIREFIS, part 1 of 10
¶ARGUMENT
¶Book XV. tells how Parzival met with a mighty heathen, with whom he fought fiercely, and how he was well-nigh vanquished. How he found the heathen to be his brother, Feirefis Angevin, and how the twain rode together to the court of King Arthur.
¶Of the welcome given to Feirefis by King Arthur and his knights; of his riches; and of the kings conquered by the two brothers.
¶How a feast of the Round Table was holden, and how Kondrie bare tidings of Parzival's election to the Grail Kingdom, and summoned him, his wife, and his son Lohengrin, to Monsalväsch; and how Parzival and Feirefis rode thither with Kondrie as their guide.
¶BOOK XV
¶FEIREFIS
¶Now many were sorely angered that I told not this tale afore Since it wearied them naught in the hearing--Now my words I withhold no more, But I give ye to wit full truly, as my mouth may the story tell, The end of this wondrous venture for methinks it shall please ye well. Ye shall know how the king, Anfortas, of his wound was made whole again-- 5 Of the queen doth the venture tell us, who in far Pelrapär did reign; How she kept a pure heart and loyal till the day of her great reward, And earth's fairest crown was her guerdon at the hand of her faithful lord. Ye shall hear the tale of its winning, if my skill fail me not alway; Yet first must ye list the labour that Parzival wrought that day. 10
¶Now, tho' dauntless his hand had striven, but as children his foemen all, And ne'er would I risk my hero might I rule that which shall befall. I must sorrow sore for his peril, and fain would I speak him free, But now must I trust that Good Fortune the shield of his heart may be. For purity, and high courage, side by side in his heart they lay, 15 And ne'er had he cherished cowardice, nor shrunk from the knightly fray; And I deem this shall surely give him such strength he his life may hold, Since fierce strife draweth nigh unto him, and his foe is a hero bold. For he meeteth a prince of battles who dauntless to strife doth ride, And unbaptized was the foeman who rode here in his heathen pride. 20
¶Full soon had he come, our hero, to a mighty woodland shade, And without, in the light of the dawning, his armour a knight displayed. 'Twere a marvel could I, a poor man, of the riches now speak to ye That the heathen he bare as his decking, so costly their worth should be. If more than enough I told ye, yet more would be left to tell; 25 Yet I would not his wealth were hidden--What of riches, I ween, shall dwell In Bretagne alike and England, and be tribute to Arthur's might, They had paid not the stones that, shining, glowed fair on his armour bright. His blazoned coat was costly, and naught but the truth I say, Ruby and Chalcedony, ye had held them not fair that day. 30 And bright as the sun was his vesture, on the mount of Agremontein, In the glowing fires, Salamanders had welded that garment's shine. There jewels rare and precious, with never a fault or flaw, Glowed dark and light; of their nature, I ween, I can tell no more!
¶His desire was for love's rewarding, and the winning of high renown, 35 He had won from the hands of fair women the jewels that his pride did crown. For the favour Frau Minne showed him with joy did his proud heart beat, And it swelled high with manly courage, as is for a lover meet. As reward for his deeds of knighthood on his helmet a beast he bare, Ecidemon, all poisonous serpents they must of its power beware, 40 For of life and of strength doth it rob them, if they smell it but from afar-- Thopedissimonté, Assigarzionté, Thasmé, and Arabia, They scarce of such silk might boast them as was covering for his steed-- He sought, that mighty heathen, in a woman's love his meed, And therefore he bravely decked him, and fain would his courage prove, 45 And his manhood, it urged him onward to battle for sake of love.
¶Now the knight, so young and gallant, in a haven beside the wood, But little known, on the water had anchored his ships so good. And his armies were five-and-twenty, and they knew not each other's speech-- 'Twas a token fair of his riches, and the lands that his power might reach, 50 As the armies, so were the kingdoms that did service unto his hand-- And Moors and Saracens were they, and unlike was each warlike band, And the hue of their skins was diverse--Thus gathered from lands afar Ye might see in his mighty army strange weapons of heathen war.
¶So thus, in search of adventure, from his army this man would ride, 55 In the woodland green he wandered, and waited what should betide. And since thus it well doth please them, so let them ride, these kings, Alone, in search of ventures, and the fair fame that combat brings. Yet Parzival rode not lonely, methinks he had comrades twain, Himself, and the lofty courage that lord o'er his soul did reign. 60 And that he so bravely fought here might win from a woman praise, If falsehood should not mislead her, that injustice should rule her ways.
¶So spurred they against each other, who were lambs in their purity, Yet as lions were they bold and dauntless, 'twas a sight for a man to see! Ah! woe is me for their meeting, for the world and its ways are wide, 65 And they well might have spared each other, nor, guiltless, to battle ride. I should sorrow for him whom I brought here, save my heart did this comfort hold, That the Grail shall with strength endue him, and Love shelter the hero bold, Since he was of the twain the servant, nor his heart ever wavering knew, And ever his hand was ready to serve them with service true. 70
¶My skill little wit doth give me this combat that here befell, In fitting words and knightly, from beginning to end to tell. But the eye of each flashed triumph as the coming foe he saw, And the heart of each knight waxed joyful, as they nearer to battle draw. Yet sorrow, I ween, was nigh them, true hearts, from all falsehood free, 75 And each bare the heart of the other, and should comrade and stranger be!