to remedie it he sawe before him a little Ilande the freshest and most delectable that in his lyfe he had séene and the Boate alreadie fastened to the banke Then the Gentlewoman bad him not to feare but to come out on land for the Ilande which he sawe before him was her fathers Iland This was straunge vnto Rosicleer to sée the lyquide Sea so soone conuerted to selide earth but he made not straunge to come on land at her bidding Where by and by the wise man met them a man by séeming verie aged his bearde all white and reaching to his wast with a little white rodde in his hande as some token eyther of his honour or profession The wise man for the great pleasure hée had to sée Rosicleer sayde vnto him on this wise Right noble and most worthie Rosicleer you are welcome vnto this my Countrie for by your comming I haue bene more at my hearts ease then during my lyfe I haue béene and many yeares past haue I longed for your presence For although I knew for a certeintie that hether you should come yet the time when I knewe not which hath hetherto bene concealed from mortall men and onely made knowne to God himselfe I knew lykewise so soone as my daughter Calinda was borne that shée should be set frée from cruell captiuitie and perpetuall dishonour by you onelye but the manner howe was not reuealed withall onely that it shoulde bée when the prouidence of God directed by his will committed the execution thereof to Fortune Thus may we men for all our cunning neither alter the course of thinges appointed by destinie nor yet finde other remedie then is permitted by the foreknowledge of God As this my Daughter coulde neuer haue béene saued but onely in that same manner as you gaue her succour The reason was because my knowledge coulde not wade so déepe as to foresée euerie thing concluded by destynies the selfe same thing béeing subiect vnder the line of destinie that I shoulde not perceiue it So my daughter went on land vnto the Gyaunts Iland which I neither foresawe to preuent nor could haue preuented if I had foreséene Yet that which was in my power I so ruled the boat that it came to your shippe thereby to haue reléefe at your hands for my care This haue I told you at large the inhabilitie of our cunning against the influence of the starres whereby you may perceiue howe much I am beholding vnto you the rather to make bolde vpon my seruice if in anie respect either my arte or my armour may doe you pleasure Rosicleer attentiuely listening vnto the wise mannes discourse in the ende gaue him greate thankes for his so lyberall offer promising lykewise the seruice of his bodie for other thing had he nought to doe his command in anie matter reasonable With this the wise man tooke him by the hand and lead him toward a great and beautifull pallaice seated vpon the shore Rosicleer with a curious eye gazed on each parte of the Pallaice so scituate in an vnknowen Iland and was neuer content for in déed the subtiltie of the workmanship surpassed farre the crafte of masonrie in our daies But héere he abode two daies with Artemidoro serued of delicate vyandes and straunge deuises able to quicken a dead mans stomacke being héere better pleased with his entertainment then he was euer otherwise One daye sitting at the boord with Rosicleer the wise man espieng him occupied in his thought about his iourney to England sported with him in this sort Rosicleer I sée well this Countrey bréedeth not such things as maye content your appetite I hold you excused for your desire coueteth after Mars and martiall feates wherefore as my learning sheweth me your lust carrieth your stomacke into England there to be knighted Truly faire sir you haue good reason there-vnto for the time is at hande where-in your knighthood must be manifested But for to do you honour I my selfe will attend you thether in respect both of your friendship past towards my daughter Calinda and other greater matters to come which I hope shall bée accomplished I knowe not in déede the time when it shall be neither the manner howe but this I knowe that by your meanes I shall once escape the death Now as well for your owne sake being for the very moment of your birth illumined with more then mortall graces as I haue already ingrossed the dolorous lyfe of the Princesse Briana so will I be also the Register of your actes to inroll your memorye in the Recordes of Fame that it shall be maintaineable against all Counter-pleas and forged Euidences This will I doo for-you besides the perpetuitie of my seruice in other matters And for your Brother Donzel del Febo hée hath alreadie founde a Chronicler meaning this by Lyrgandeo such as his worthinesse meriteth Rosicleer tickeled at his talk touching his brother Donzel del Febo bowed himselfe thankfully and requested him to goe on saieng Right honourable Sir seeing you haue entered into this discourse I pray you continue it for I knew naught as pertaining to this my brother saue that he was lost in the Sea béeing verie young I haue hethertoo thought that he had ben dead and sith nothing is hid from your knowledge I pray you likewise satisfie mée in the same manner as concerning the Prince Edward my Father that I may séeke him if there he hope of finding on this earth Most noble Prince aunswered the wise man you draw me vnto a long tale and in some poynt nothing pertinent to you But knowe for a truth that the Gentleman of the Sunne your brother is alyue alreadie Knighted and for his first prises he hath atchieued such meruailous déeds of armes as that it staudeth you in hand to besturre your â—eâ—fe if you minde to be matchable béeing the onely man as yet vnparagonized through the worlde Hée is nowe in a Countrey where without knowledge of his Estate he is notwithstanding much praised for his personage the Region farre distant from this our Clymate that if you put your selfe on the waye to séeke him your paine should be infinite and as I can learne néedelesse for ere that you passe out of this Countrey he will come to séeke you heere Nowe as to your demaund touching the Prince Edwarde whome you call your Father I doo you to wit that hee was dead before that you were begotten and that the royall Princesse your mother now destitute of an husbande shall in time recouer hir lawfull husbande and you shall knowe your Father for the greatest and myghtiest Prince christened Furthermore because it is forbidden me to discouer of the great secrets of God vntill it be his pleasure that all men shall know it I may not aunswere you but the euent shall witnesse with my Prohecie Now will I make readye for your passage into Britaine for there must be shewed the first flower of your manhoode Rosicleer was greatly confused in
himselfe he began againe to trauaile on foote that way which hée gessed the Chariot had gone In this waie straunge things befell him as shall appeare in the Chapter following ¶ The aduentures of the Emperour in following the inchaunted Chariot Cap. 9. THE Emperour béeing as you heard cast on land he behelde well how the Ilande was as it were walled about with a faire and fresh water the fairest that euer hée had seene then looking further into the land he marked also how it was furnished with so manie trées and of so diuerse sortes that it was verye straunge in respect of their vnmeasurable height and greatnesse vnderneath these the grounde was beautified with swéet roses and other fragrant flowers amongst the beds whereof there ranne by chanells a verie cléere and christalline water able to delight the most weried sences and trauailed minde that might bée Besides these to make vp a full messe of disport there was a swéete and pleasaâ—â—t song of Birdes which séemed to reioyce in the bright and cléere morning besides a thousand other pastimes which I let passe too long to make a tale off But yet of all these the noble Emperour tooke no care for the thought of his Lady detained from him but onely he beat all both knowen and vnknowen wayes to finde out that wherein the Chariot had gone At length he winded one but an vnused waie which by all likelihoode was the same which hée would haue in that the grasse séemed new pressed downe This tract the noble Emperour followed on foote without that either the heauinesse of his armour or the length of the way made him to rest anye whit From the morning a-full halfe day the Emperour had continued his iourney not méeting anie person at whome he might aske newes of that which hée most desired But afterwards leauing the thicke and pleasaunt woode hee came into a faire gréene or medow full of roses and other swéete hearbes flowers of all coulours without anie other shade in all the medow then those trées which serued for an hedge vnto it The length of this medowe seemed thrée bowe shotte vnto the middest where was scituated a good Castle and in good proportion It was foure square hauing at each corner a tower and on euerie side one in the middest of the side all of them so high as if they should haus edged with the clouds This great castle was inclosed and shut in with a high thicke wall the siones whereof and the towres did shine like Christall or the well polished stéele against the Sunne beames Round about the wall there was a déepe moat the water being so broad as a man might scarce cast a stoue from the one side to the other Ouer the water ther was a bridge verie large and well towred so strong according to the depth of the water that it might haue withstood a thousand men Thrée towres it had in all one in the entraunce another in the middle and the third at the furthest end each of them verie high and great and wrought with the same stone that the great castle was builded with The two vttermost towres of the bridge as well the entry as that towards the castle were gated and barred with dores locks of fine filed steÌ„ele béeing so shéene that it serued for a looking glasse vnto the passengers The locks were so shut that vnlesse they were opened on the in-side it was vnpossible to vndoe them The good Emperour scanned vpon all this the like whereof he had not séene in all his life concluding fully that no such building might be made by mans hand yet he meruailed that of an Iland so faire and delectable there was no more noise bruted especially standing as it séemed to him in a sea so saileable He beléeued that the Princesse was within because there appeared to him no other building in all the Iland and therefore taking wide steps he passed on towards the gate of stéele where finding it closed he tooke a great hammer hanging thereby bounsed at the gate with such force vpon the sounding Stéele that the furie of the rap was heard through all the Towers and a great part of the Iland For all this stone showed themselues to make him aunswere although hée had stoods more then a whole houre calling and knocking at length with some trouble he departed from thence to coast the water if perchaunce he might light vppon anie other way into the Castle When he had gone a turne about at one part of the wall he happened vpon at Gentlewoman which was in a little boate newly taking lande at a posterne doore of yron when the Gentlewoman had taken footing on the land she opened the gates making shew as if she would haue entered leauing the vessell in the water The Emperour strained his voyce to call vnto her that she should stay but the seining as though she heard him not made to the wicket whereas she was to fasten the doore the Emperour cryed yet lowder then she turned toward him and as though she had but then espyed him she sayd vnto him What woulde you haue fir knight The Emperour prayed her to come néerer for that he would onely demand a certeine thing of her with this shée tooke her boat again and with a little ower rowed toward the land where the Emperour was when she came somewhat néere the banke there staieng she said vnto him What is it that you woulde haue sir knight in that you haue called me so lowde That which I would faire Gentlewoman answered the Emperour is that you would ferrie me ouer in your boate vnto the Castle for that I haue to do with one of the gyants which are within If you haue to deale with them said the gentlewoman they be no people on whom you may winne honour That is true sayd the Emperour I haue no desire to trouble them if they will doe that which I require them Sith it is so said the gentlewoman I will do your coÌ„mandement because you looke like a knight worthy of this seruice I giue you great thanks for your curtesie answered the Emporour with this he entred the boat shouing with the rudder towards the castle he got thether The Gentlewoman went in leading the Emperour with her closing the doore after her conducting him through a little court into another priuy dore which was not the coÌ„mon entry She opened a wicket with akoâ— which she had at her girdle and brought him farther into a garden the most delight some that art might deuise The Emperour nowe tooke himselfe to be in a terrestriall Paradise and gasing a while theron without remembring the occasion of his thether comming he was so estranged from himself Out of this garden by another doore they came into a large court of the castle built with bright Alabaster the excellencie wherof in the imagery workmanship caÌ„not be declared For in coÌ„parison of this inchanted castle
the other kissing him vpon his chéekes and in déede rather obaieng the loue she bare vnto hir sonnes then regarding the feare she was wont to haue for béeing discouered albeit to say the troth the Princesse was of the better hande for all the good will she shewed hir Gentlewomen imagined to procéede of their beautie And yet to take all suspect away she could verie wisely moderate hir passions Clandestrias sister the supposed mother of those children and hir husband by name Armaran kissed the Princesses hands where she in token of good liking intertayned them as hir seruaunts from thence-foorth to remain with hir as their sister Clandestria did On this wise the Princes were nourished in their mothers presence without that any knew the right parentage whereof they came and they so enticed the Gentlewomen to the lyking of them that there passed not one houre without playing and dallyaunce with them This ioye on the Princesse part was vnspeakable I dare not say able to countermaund hir foreconceiued griefe but the worst was it was not durable For fortune euer mutable chaunged hir copie and became so contrary that the date of hir ease being out there succéeded disease mishap so that hir death should not haue bene halfe so yerksome as hir life was dolorous This shall you heare of in the next chapter ¶ Donzel del Eebo was lost by misaduenture Cap. 15. NOw the creator of all things minded to manifest the worthy déeds of the valiant Donzel del Febo which as yet lay hidden in the armes of the delicate Gentlewoman his foster mother and therefore in such sort he ordered the celestial influences and powers of the planets that scarcely had the young Gentleman fully reached vnto thrée yeares of his age when he was carried from the princely Graces of his vnknowen mother leauing hir pensiue and sad into a large and maine sea whence being tossed with waues and almost weather beaten at length he escaped Such an argument God lefte vs of his prowesse to come sith in so tender age he enabled him to subdue the most raging element that is And you which read this history may be brought by good reason to giue credit to this my report sith you your selues are witnesses of the euident presence of the Almightie in so certaine a daunger And as the learned well know Achilles hath his Pallas in Homere and Aeneas his Venus in Virgil Goddesses assistant vnto men in their daungerous conflictes Homere Virgil meaning no other thing then the care of God towards his why may not we beléeue that if it pleased God that this infant had the secret direction of Gods mightie hand in all his enterprises But mine Author willing to entreate somewhat of him setteth it downe thus That in the ende of a yeare these two beautifull boyes bâ—ing brought vp in the Monestarie of the Riuer with great pleasure of the Princesse and hir Gentlewomen one day in the month of May the comfort of the Sunne ther enforcing them to come abroad and séeke theyr solace vnder gréene boughes The Princesse and hir Gentlewomen leauing their lodging went into a large and faire orchard excéedingly well cast in one part of the Monestarie there they tooke vp their seates at a wells mouth ouer-shaddowed with trees that the heate of the Sunne could not annoye them and sporting with the little Rosicleer who was somwhat more giuen to play then his brother Donzel del Febo they so much delyghted in Rosicleer that they tooke no héede of Donzel del Febo sitting not farre off The little one being very young yet greatly discontent to sée the small account they made of him in a fume rose from the place where he was sette and by softe paces got from them without being espied by the Gentlewomen sauing of his mother so called which loued him no lesse then hir owne selfe She rising from the place where she was set followed him and looke him by the hand laughing a good to sée the choler wherein he was and walking among the trées so long with him that she came to a large and déepe water running thorough a parte of the great orcharde where hard by were great store of trées and whether the Princesse because the place was very pleasant often resorted with hir Gentlewomen to reioyce hir selfe When they were there the little boye seeing the water was desirous to playe with it The nourse though otherwise willing to haue contented him yet fearing the daunger of the water went farther to finde some sure place whereby to come vnto the water and taking a little boate at the banke which the gardeiner vsed in comming into the Orcharde put hir selfe in it and the childe with hir The boye leaning his breaste vppon the brimme of the Boate troubled the water with his handes and tooke vp some to wash his face a while after the water béeing calme and plaine he looked in it againe and séeing his shaddowe there he began to playe with it and stroke it with his hands now because it would not giue place but did that which he did waxing angrie he prayed his mother to giue him a rod which laye vpon the land to beate the babe withall It was a good pastime for hir to sée the displeasure which he had conceiued against his owne shadow and leauing him thus shée lept vpon the lande to reach him the sticke that he required Being thus on lande either with the force she put to the side of the boate in aduauncing hir selfe out of the boat or els because it was the will of God that the lyttle boye should then be prest to trye the hazarde of his constellation So it was that the boate being vntied it shoued from the shore the nourse not perceiuing it before she turned againe then was it more then two yeards from the land and not hauing whereby to take holde it bare so swiftlye downe the streame in a little time and so farre off that she lost the sight of it When she sawe the daunger wherein the little childe was not hauing power to succour it shée rent hir garments and tore hir haire and fel to the ground making such mone that the Princesse and hir Gentlewomen sitting about the Well heard it and much abashed rose from the place to know what the noyse meant When they sawe the pittifull dealings of the nourse vppon the ground quickening their pace they gate néere hir and demaunding the cause of hir great lamentation they founde hir so sorrowfull that she coulde not speake to them but rather the more she was comforted by them the more she outraged in crieng as that they iudged hir to be distraught So long lasted these hir cryes that the Princesse disquieted went towards hir leauing Rosicleer with one of hir Gentlewomen As the Princesse came towardes hir the nourse knewe hir and not hauing the boldnesse to shew how it fell out in respect of the griefe the Princesse would take for the losse of
aduenture which brought mée hether hath béene by occasion of a storme which draue me on this shoare and this is the first lande whereon I set foote since this tempest tooke my shippe and courtesie commaunded mée to lend mine aide when I sawe you ouermatched with number And thus much for aunswere to your demaund but now agayne that I haue tolde you that which you required so I praie you tell me your name and for what cause this cruell battaile hath béene fought betwéene these Gyaunts and you While the Knight of the Sunne spake thus Rosicleer beheld him verie sadly and hearing him say that he was the Knight of the Sunne and that he knew no more of his estate hée thought that peraduenture this same might bée his brother of whome Artemidoro had tolde him such meruailes but leauing this suspition till he might question of it more at large he satisfied the knight of the Sunne as to his question in short speach after this manner Your friendshippe was great and so I make reckoning of it otherwise I should not haue happened on so good a time to tell you my name in which because you would learne of mée you shall vnderstand that my name is Rosicleer and that I was of good report in the Court of king Oliuerio the king of great Britaine although my mishappe causing it I doubt me so much that my name is once mentioned amongest them but that matter I will leaue off as not pertinent this which you require about our fight sprong vpon this occasion and so he shewed the whole order both of the receiuing of his Auant Cheualier at the kings hands the first dayes iusting the seconds dayes combat with Candramarte the honour of the iusts the enuie of Candramarte point by point the whole storie as you heard before Which tale Rosicleer had searcely finished when the Gentlewoman which all this while remained in the ship cryed out whereat they turning their heads sawe in what manner shée outraged saieng O spightfull Fortune doe what thou canst for the succour which I haue wanted on lande I hope to finde in the bottome of the Seas and the God Neptune which hath power ouer the swelling waues shall kéepe me from farther vengeaunce wherewith she leaped into the Sea but being clad in large garmentes shée could not drowne presently The knight of the Sunne and Rosicleer séeing her in that estate pittyed her greatly but she was too farre off for them to wade néere so the knight of the Sunne tooke his boat hastely to helpe the Gentlwoman where otherwise then he looked for the boate was carried by violence another way and albeit hée stroue to bring it towardes her yet preuailed he nothing for it sayled in the Sea as swiftlye as sometimes the cloudes racke in the aire béeing driuen by the windes presently Rosicleer with greate griefe lost the sight of the boate werefore fetching a déepe sigh as for that his former hope was cleane dashed to haue found his brother he said as followeth Fortune the thing which I most detest therein thou shewest thy selfe most fauourable vnto me This is my life which now twice thou hast restored me without my wish but that which my heart most desired and with which my lyfe should finde most ease therein thou shewest thy selfe an aduersarie to me so that whatsoeuer good happeneth vnto me thou makest me thinke that it happeneth for the worst for the longer I liue the more are my paines increased Now by that time that he had lamented a while for this sodeine losse of the straunge knight he sawe the gentlewoman cast vppon the sandes not yet dead whome he caused those Knightes which were escaped in the battayle to carrye vnto the Castle and there to finde some remedie for her Thus the knights did with whom he went to one of the Castles where for this time we will leaue him to follow the knight of the Sunne on his iourney by Sea ¶ The Knight of the Sunne was carryed to the Ilande of Lindaraza where hee atchieued manie straunge and fearefull aduentures Cap. 44. WIth great swiftnesse and incredible hast the Boate whereas the Knight sayled was carryed passing in short time the déepe Atlantike and West Occean néere the vttermost Cape of the Ponent till from thence it droue vppon the Pillours of Hercules where his mightie arme and stéeled forke made place for the Occean to enter and water the earth This Sea is called Mediterraneum Sea and into this Sea the Knight of the Sunne shooued his Boat where he found well peopled Townes and greater delight then appeared in the winde and West Occean and he beganne to receiue some ioye of his hether arriuall as if not without cause he were carried in such hast and that some great thing was thereby hoped for but as sorie for his sodaine acquaintaunce with Rosicleer he beséeched his Gods with all his heart that they might once méete againe and at more leasure recount each to other of theyr aduentures Well on all griefes whether for his fréendes Brandyzel and Claueryndo or this vnacquaynted Rosicleer or the vnskilfulnesse of his waye were extinguished by that his learned Gouernour guyded theyr Barke whether it was conuenient So still hoping for the Porte and Hauen wherein his little boate shoulde ride he sayled as I sayde in the middle earth Sea where on the lefte hande he sawe Spaine Portugall and those Countreyes where he coulde gladly haue bestowed himselfe but that he was not to commaund the stéeres-man but in good time came he thether as shall be recited in the Historie heereafter Although by shoare on the right hande he lefte Affricke Carthage and Tures and forwarde as he sayled he discouered the Ilandes Baleares and Sardinia with the warlyke Italy and the fertill Sicily where the flames of Aetna hill a while stayed him There might hée sée the ruinous Relyques of olde Syracusia and many perilious Mermaydes haunting those shoares much feared by all the Marriners Then sawe he the fresh water of the riuer Nylus which entereth the Sea by seauen mouthes From thence on the other hande might hée sée Greece where-with hée woulde more willynglye haue fed his eyes if he had then knowen the right which he hadde theretoo But from thence he lawnched into the broade Euxino where the wide Sea conuayed all thinges out of sight that nought appeared but clowdes aboue and waues beneath Long thus he sayled meruayling when his Nauigation shoulde take ende After this as it were a faire calme following a stormy tempest there appeared aboue the water a faire Iland vnto the which his boote draue whereat he was merry and pleasaunt thinking that there abode him some aduenture wherein he might trye his manly prowesse and full fayne he was to leaue the Sea héere I saye at this Ilande his Barke stayed whereby he knewe that his iourney was thetherward Then the Knight leaped to lande vppon the enterie whereof there was a banke cast of harde stone
hir sonne before the Princesse came at hir she ranne and lept into the water with full intent to drowne hir selfe that which she had done had not hir clothes borne hir vp and the gardeiner hearing the great out cries she made waded in the water for hir and brought hir to land all wet and bloudie with the blowes she gaue hir selfe in the face This caused such pitie and compassion in the Princesse and all hir Gentlewomen that all astonished they abode only to see the nourses demeanour In the end at the instance of the Princesse she declared how Donzel del Febo was got from hir for the which they imparted with hir griefe and especially the Princesse benummed of all hir senses sunke to the ground with no more colour and breath then if she had bene quite dead The gardeiner entring into another boate there which she had to fish withall pushed vp the streame amaine with his oare to ouertake the boate in which Donzel del Febo was carried but all his trauaile was lost for either by diuine permission or by Arte Magicke made by a learned man as shall be tolde you héereafter the boate rode faster then the violence of the streame might driue it and in short time it entered into the great sea where it followed the mightie waues more then an 100 miles in a short space so that neither the gardeiner nor who els followed them might in any wise attaine vnto him or bring newes of him When the Princesse was reuined and remembred the chaunce of Donzel del Febo she powred out so many salte teares from hir faire eyes that lyke as out of fountaines or springs water gusheth out abundantly so from hir face streamed downe floudes of water issuing with sobbes and sighes as would haue broke hir heart in a manner such as commonly the fall of the water maketh from the stéepe mountaines But for that she would not be heard of hir Gentlewomen shée tourned hir selfe and went towardes hir lodging where remaining alone with Clandestria she gaue a fresh onset to hir former complaynts on this sort O mightie and souereigne Lord wherefore doth thy highnesse suffer the Princesse Briana to lyue this long séeing she doth roll on this life with such sorrow and care O Lord wherefore gauest thou me a husband in this world so valiant séeing that so soone as I had lost the name of a maiden thou madest me an vnfortunate widdow Wherefore gauest thou me sonnes with so straunge tokens at their birth if with so sodaine misfortune I shall loose the one of them why did I reach to so great estate in which I must liue with sorow And why gauest thou me beautie not to enioy it Alas poore woman that I am I sée that each thing enforceth my paine for Fortune the mistresse of mishap despitefully throwing downe those on whome shée frownes hath tourned hir back on me which desire to liue without the compasse of hir whéele Ah silly woman the longer I rub out this life the more my griefe increseth When I seeke to mollifie my griefe then my care redoubleth and one sorow surceasing there succéedeth another as one billow followeth on the others necke in the maine sea O thou Lord which hast created me take me out of this deceiptfull worlde if by death onely the intollerable misfortunes may take ende which daily awaite me These and other wordes spake the Princesse Briana much agréeuing therewith hir Gentlewoman Clandestria who a little altering the course of hir aunswere from the platforme of the others complaint droue with the Princesse vnto these conclusions First that there was hope inough to recouer hir losses the reasons which lead hir ther vnto were these Albeit saith she Gods workes be vnsearchable yet thus bolde may we be with them not medling with the causes to compare the euills together and then surely the whole course of worldly things sufficiently teach vs that GOD createth not such excellent personages but for excellent purposes and not as in dumhe shewes vppon a stage where the players onely present themselues and passe awaye Againe saith she you are altogether vncertaine of their death and why not in so doubtfull a case should hope bée as ready as care or perhappes you thinke as soone happens the worse as the better yet the auncient prouerb is that he which naught hopeth for ought to despaire naught for hope and misgiuing are in the same subiect Therefore saith she you may well hope The second was that she shoulde comfort hir selfe in the beautifull Rosicleer who was then in hir kéeping for saith she he alone sufficeth to counteruaile all the harmes which haue chaunced you For I dare warrant if God preserue him that you maye name your selfe mother of the best knight in the worlde With these and many other goodly counsailes Clandestria daily laboured the Princesse to giue ouer hir griefe but for all this if God with his mightie hand had not held hir vp it had gone wrong with hir For he prouided hir of comfort by a man very wise and wel learned in Art Magick of whom shall be made mention in this history By him God permitted that the prison of the Emperour with other appurtenaunces shuld be discouered foreséeing by the sigens planets and other naturall operations that which séemeth impossible vnto vs. Thus the truth is that this wise man knowing the great sorow and care wherein the Princesse liued and well perceiuing that vnlesse she had more succor at his hands then she had erst by other because of that which befell héerafter it shuld be impossible to maintaine hir life determined in himselfe to comfort hir so one day as she sate alone very sorowfull wéeping with great abundance of teares néere vnto the well where hir two sonnes were begotten he appeared to hir in the shape of a Nimph in the cléere and christalline water with the haire loose and shedding vpon the greatest part of the body and with a face so beautifull that the princesse abashed to see hir and in some feare for that she had not seene the like before wold haue fled from thence But the Nimph called vnto hir saieng If thou knewest noble princesse who I am how wel I know thy great thoughts passions thou wouldst not flie from me but rather stay and talke with me Now because the time affoords me no leasure to tarrie with thée and to discourse at large all the loyaltie I beare vnto thée and the desire I haue to serue thée in a word I pray thée take good courage vnto thee to ouercome the great aduersities which may come and ere it be long are like to come vnto thee so that thou shalt be lefte altogether comfortlesse I giue thée yet to vnderstand that Prince Edward is not nowe liuing and that in the time wherein thy dispaire shall bee highest thou shalt obtaine thy husband againe as safe and sound as he departed from thée and he shall acknowledge thy children
was strong and his lyke scarcely among the Pagans and it might be it would ill haue proued with them two as a man would haue sworne it onely by the tenour of Raiartes countenance no man beholding him but with the same good will which they beare vnto the Diuell And if Florion and Clauerindo desired this battaile it is to be thought it sprang of theyr loue towardes Donzel del Febo rather then of anie comfort their courage gaue them to winne honour in the battaile But the daye was spent and thinges necessarie for the battaile were in prouiding At night Lyrgandeo the wise comming from the redde Iland tooke landing at Babylon and méeting with the Gentleman of the Sunne hée tolde him that many dayes had passed since he knewe of the conflict betwéene Raiartes and him and therefore had brought certeine armour for him and so hée commaunded his Squiers to vntie theyr two packets out of the one packet Lyrgandeo tooke a white armour wrought with beames of golde descending from his helmet wherein was grauen a face so fayre and shéene that it shedded out beames as the Sunne and scarcely for the brightnesse might a man behold it and out of the same he tooke out a swoorde all garnished with golde and embossed with precious stones the pomell scabbard and chape being so rich and curious that none there was which praised not the workmanshippe Out of the other packet hée drewe out another white armour pounced with Floure de Luces of golde and another swoorde both which he gaue to Clauerindo bestowing the other vppon Donzel del Febo With these good armours the two Gentleman were well apayde especially the Gentleman of the Sunne which more estéemed of this gift then of all the segniories of the earth And so he continued the charge for the morrow battaile very confident on his owne part but to the no little dismay of his friends chiefly of the Princesse Balisea which would not his distruction for all her fathers lands The Princesse Radamira in the meane time not fully setled in her thought droue out the night neither merrie nor dumpishly but verie heauily as abhorring nothing so much as the companie of Raiartes Her flesh would tremble often quake for feare mistrusting Donzel del Febos good fortune for the perfecting of his charge his yeres béeing cleane contrarie to all good hope ¶ Donzel del Febo is dubbed knight and ouercommeth Raiartes Cap. 21. THe next day in the morning the Gentleman of the Sun with his rich harnesse buckled about him was brought before the Souldan all the knights and Gentlemen in the court When he was thus brauely armed he shewed greater stronger then he did vnarmed none of them which sawe him would haue iudged him of so young yeares And when he came before the Souldan thus accompanied with all the principall knights and Gentlemen of the court the Gentleman of the Sunne knéeled vowne and bumbly craned to be made knight The Souldan with teares flowing from his eyes embraced him greatly reioycing to sée him so comely in armour then taking the rich swoord which the young Gentleman helde naked in his hande he gaue him thrée blowes on the creast of his helmet and so sheathing it againe girded it about Donzel del Feboes loynes and with these wordes blessing him The high Gods defende thee with their mightie hande hee had him arise knight and then made him sweare to the obseruaunce of all the orders of knighthoode which done the young Gentleman kissed the Souldans hand all the hall rang of the noise Our Gods defend the Souldan This was in the morning but before dinner was cleane done and the tables taken vp the houre was néere wherein they ought to perfourme the battayle and Raiartes richly armed and mounted vpon his horse trauersed vp and downe before the Pallaice where the Ladyes which were bestowed in the windowes to behold the fight were afraid for in their seeming by the hugenesse of his bodie and his fierce countenaunce he was the brauest knight in the world his harnesse couered in him the defermities of nature The Princesse Radamira in her mourning wéede accompanieng the Princesse Balisea was in a great bay windowe and séeing Raiartes so great strong and well borsed she chaunged her coulour without hope to remooue Raiartes loue and there fullye appointed with her selfe rather to murther her selfe then to be in his powor for his filthie and vgly shape was such that what Gentlewoman in the worlde coulde haue affoorded him for loue When the Souldan and other knights tooke their seats as Judges of the field the knight of the Sunne departing from the Pallaice was conducted by dâ—vers knightes to his tent and there sitting vpon a lustie courfer he praunced a while before the Souldan his borse was all couered with rich harnesse in which were enchased sundrie precious stones all both horse and harnesse of the Souldans gift himselfe béeing clad with his bright armour his vmberere pulled downe and a mightie speare in his hande so bigge as they all meruayled of his good making When Cheualiero del Febo stayed Raiartes drewe néere and with a lowde voyce sayd vnto him Thou presumptuous knight what woldst thou now giue me not to be here alone with me Doest thou not thinke it no wisdome to aduenture thy bodie where there is no hope of safetie Assuredly Raiartes auns wered the knight of the Sunne hetherto I haue not séene the thing wherefore I should repent me of my enterprise and hetherto I haue had more experience of thy vaine and foolish wordes then of thy great and valiant prowesse Raiartes was fell angrie at this the foame staring through his visour woulde haue runne vppon the knight but being awarded by the Iudges to the lists while the Trumpets sounded he groned out thus much to himselfe in the cursing of his Fortune O howe doth Fortune enuie my felicitie in prolonging the time thus that I cannot so soone as I wold dispatch this wretched knight sayeng this and somewhat else the Trumpets stayed and with greate rage hée ranne towardes the Knight of the Sunne but the Knight bearing his shéelde before him with his Speare in his hande met Raiartes with all his force with the violence of this course the ground shooke vnder theyr horses and this first iourney brast their great Speares into small shéeuers Raiartes with the strong encountrie of the knight of the Sunne doubled and fell ouer the arson of the saddle his horse carryeng him out of the prease to blush without companie for neuer in his life time he had receiued the lyke blowe But when hée recouered his seate and sawe the Knight of the Sunne not stirred in his saddle and now with his swoord in his hand comming toward him he drew out his swoord which was broad and he auie in great choler to receiue him thinking for a suretie with the edge of his swoorde to supplie that which had failed in the point of his
they might scarce speake the one to the other For when they compared together the shortnesse of time in which they inioyed him and in that short time the great prowesse which hée had shewed before them they coulde not easilye ascerteine themselues whether they had dreamed of such thinges or séene them waking But if so bée they were not beguiled either by a dreame or some fantasticall illusion I dare warrant they thought that in regard of that which God hath wrought by him he could not bée but of a noble estate Well when there was no hope of following they haled vp their boat again to kéepe their course towardes Britaine hauing hope to méete him there otherwise appointing with themselues if they there failed to go in quest of him I may forget to tell you of his Squire Telyo but you may easilye thinke of his paines by the loue he bare his Lorde and I will leaue him to your seuerall considerations of your selues in lyke cases béeing farre from your Countrie and farther from your friends whom you haue preferred before your Countrie the rather to accompanie these noble Gentlemen vnto the coast of England which in their way still kept on their former dittie euer talking of Rosicleer either commending his good grace or bewayling his departure or blaming their owne misfortunes or extolling his strength and euer the foote of his song was what shoulde the swiftnesse of the boate meane and our sodeine acquaintaunce Vnto the depth whereof because they coulde not reach thereby to quyet themselues their sorrowe redoubled by misiudging the worst In the ende the Winde was so good that it set them on lande in the great Britaine not farre from London where the King was restaunt Where as soone as they came on shoare before they presented themselues to the King they dispatched out one of their shippes with some of their knightes and Telyo Rosicleers Squire to coast the same way which Rosicleer was gone to the ende if Fortune were so fauourable to bring some tidings of him Afterwards themselues with the maiestie that doth belong to so great princes tooke towards the great citie viewing on euerie side the great assembly of people all the fields and high wayes besides townes hamlets taken vp for knightes as well straungers as naturall and an infinite number of Ladies and Gentlewomen comming onely to sée the turnayes The two Princes sent two of their knightes before hand to giue vnderstanding vnto the king of theyr comming The king glad to haue the presence of so noble Princes at his high feast with a great traine of knights met them without the Citie and comming towards them embraced them with great loue The storie leaueth to recount the words of curtesie which passed betwéene them and sayth that they entered into the Pallaice with the king were lodged in one quarter thereof himselfe kéeping his newe guests companie that night and talking with Liriamandro as concerning his daughter in lawe At whom he learned the whole state of Hungarie with the appendices as touching that matter which in some respect made him very sorrowfull to heare of the continual affliction wherwith Briana tormented her selfe in the monestarie of the riuer And he was as greatlye abashed to heare that in Greece they knew as little of the Emperour Trebatio as in England he heard of the Prince Edward Then Liriamandro espyeng the king somewhat inquisitue procéeded farther with his talke in declaring the aduenture which had ioyned him and Bargandel and howe that they two met at the Hauen with a Gentleman called Rosicleer and so consequently of the battaile with the Gyant the king hearing of so many vertues in Rosicleer as Liriamandro did his vttermost to set them forth greatly wished to haue séene him Héere the storie leaueth the King and these Princes to the prouiding of things necessarie for the tilt and goeth on with Rosicleer whom these Princes left vpon the maine sea ¶ Certeine accidents which befell Rosicleer after his departure from the two Princes Cap. 31. ROsicleer made an ende of the battaile with the Gyant and the Gentlewoman so wel reuenged by his meanes knéeled downe before him to haue kissed his hand and to giue him hartie thanks for his great friendshippe shewed in working her deliuerie from the terrible Gyaunt Rosicleer tooke her vp and demaunded of her what shée was and by what aduenture she was brought into the Gyaunts hand The Gentlewoman aunswered Knowe my Lorde that I am named Calinda Daughter to the wise man Artimedoro of whome peraduenture you haue heard speaking before this time inhabiting in an Islande not farre from hence in the middest of the sea which may neuer against his will bée séene of anie bodie This wise man my Father hauing sent me on a message in this boate to a friend of his Lord of an Iland not farre hence my Fortune was such that when I retourned by this Gyantes Iland there entering on land for fresh water I was espied by this Gyant who made to me to haue taken me but I fled towards my boate which I could not recouer so soone but that he entered with me But as he shoued to land my boat droue backward into the streame had lost the sight of his Iland The cruell Gyaunt séeing this and thinking that I had done it by my knowledge woulde haue killed me and intreated mée in such sorte as you sawe Nowe as for the lightnesse of the boat sir I beléeue sayth the Gentlewoman that it is guided by my Fathers Arte and that we are on the waye towarde his Ilande Whereat Gentleman I beséech you take no thought although you haue lost your companie for I doubt not but that by my fathers cunning you shall be ioyned then my Father shall serue you loyally for the mercie you haue shewed me Rosicleer much wondered both at the Gentlewomans spéech and at the Gyants crueltie without good occasion and especially at the incredible swiftnesse of the boat sayling in the sea faster then a birde flieth in the aire which made him iudge Artimedoro to be a verie wise man in that hée had so greate authoritie ouer the Sea And therefore hée reioyced himselfe vppon hope to sée the wise man at whome he might demaunde some newes as touching Prince Edward his Father and Donzel del Febo his brother And for that he questioned with the Gentlwoman many things as concerning her Father of whom he learned many things Nowe as they talked of these thinges the boate stoode still as it had bene sanded Rosicleer much abashed thereat looked on euery side what it should be that staied it and gaged the water with a poale but he perceiued nothing wherefore he thought the peraduenture vnder the boat in the place there lay some Adamant stone of the vertue whereof he had read before times that it draweth yron vnto it and stayeth the Shippes which sayle ouer it And as he was much perplexed in his thought not knowing how
excellencie of the workmanship Againe was there euer one in such credite for honestie and wisedome as Socrates the sonne of a base midwife Euripides one of the rarest men that euer were in tragicall Poems was borne of meane parentage Demosthenes the flower of Gréeke eloquence was a Cutlers sonne Horatius the Poet borne of a bond woman which had bene taken prisoner and yet all these preferred for their vertuous qualities before Kings and Princes Cicero could not dissemble his progenie and yet was he lifted vnto the Consulship in Rome neuer prooued other Consull so commodious for the common welth Serramus and Cnimatus wise men and throughly exercised in their enimies land were Consulls in Rome and delyuered their Countrey from spoyle and pillage And if for a matter pertaining to a Kingdome we had rather take example of Kings let vs sée if meane estate hath bene any let for men to aspire vnto mightie Kingdomes and by name let vs take a more particular surnaye of the third fourth fifth and sixt King of Rome First Tullus Hostilius had his cradle in a shepheardes cottage and his bringing vp in the wide field Then the two Tarquins were sonnes to a Marchant and exiled their Countrey Seruius Tullius was sonne to a bond-woman as his name importeth all which notwithstanding in theyr times were Kings of Rome and if from thence wée take our waye to other Nations rounde about what a flocke of shepheards surgeons labouring men founders and such lyke seruile occupations shall we méese which â—â—pyred to the highest place of gouernment in their Countreyes Alexander a crowned King was a Gardeiners sonne Pertinax Emperour of Rome borne of a slaue which lyued by thrashing of graine and fellyng of woode Seuerus the seauenth Emperour of Rome was bredde and brought vp amongst Surgions and these of the meanest sort Agathocles King of Sicile sonne to a potter Maximianus and Maximus chiefe men of the Empire the one of base birth the other doubtfull whether a Smith or a Carpenter and yet neither barrell better Herring Vespasianus which was called the good Emperour rose from lord degrée and by his vertue blotted out the infamie of his progenie And to haue more notable testimonies who was father vnto the great Caesar Augustus the ruler of the world Virgil in a iest made him a Bakers sonne but his owne minde misgaue him otherwise As for a truth farre worse be they which rife to glorie from the mislyking of their parents like as Hercules Perseus and Iugurtha the King of Numidia all begotten in adulterye and lykewise mightie Alexander King of Macedon as concerning whome his Father Philip on his death bedde denyed him to be his sonne by the report of his mother Olympia for which cause after his Fathers death he would needes bée called the sonne of Iupiter Ammon Constantine the Emperour was borne of a young maide before lawfull espousalles and Iepthah in the Scriptures was sonne to a harlot Or if you will Madame that for lyke examples we runne ouer the histories where-vnto my wit can not carrie me in so sodaine speach yet I remember that fewe yeares since there dyed in Spayne a stout king of the Goths called Bamba which as I haue hearde was a labouring man and at that time when he was to be crowned King was faine to sticke his spade in the ground to receiue the scepter beeing neither lesse feared than his predecessoures and not reserued by me to the last place as one of least credite among others Remember your selfe of the great king Arthur your progenitor of whom with your graces leaue I doo not thinke that men of mallyce doubted whose sonne hée was And we maye boldly speake of these and other things so long agone passed without suspect of mislyked affection But why meruaile we at these things Doth not the wise man saye that if our lyfe were long we should see many Kings become bond-men and of many bond-men crowned Kings the reason béeing the same as I haue rebearsed that in elder age the onely Heraulde to pronounce a man either noble or vnnoble was his owne good déedes which aduaunced his good name and renowme aboue the inferiour déedes of Kinges of Princes But to paint out the pride of our times let vs cast down our eyes to the first roote from whence we all toke our beginning shall we not finde it all one for all men Marry in the bodie of this trée there are many braunches some higher and some onely water boughes from whome the toppe boughes kéepe off the comfort both of Sunne and showres yet no man I trow will be so enuious as to hinder the growth of the inferiour if they be more faythfull then the superiour as not alwayes the tallest men doe the best seruice and the best borne for wealth or myght proue not the best alwayes for manners and worshippe Witnesse héereto the sonnes of Scipio and Marcus Aurelius of which two descended two peruerse impes far more infamous then their parents were famous And there are infinit mo likewise to improue the succession of vertue in the succession of inheritaunce And yet for all this long discourse I cannot choose but reserue my former purpose towardes you for I am afraide that the most parte will not bée of my iudgement In a worde therefore to make an end in that wherewith be first beganne you must consider both by what meanes and for what causes the times are altered and therevpon take aduise according to the time And sith that for our sinnes God hath giuen vs ouer to a wrong iudgement in matters of high estate rather to preferre wealth then vertue and sith you are nowe fallen vnto that time wherein this errour generally hath ouergrowen the truth and is strengthened by consent of men I would counsayle you to yéelde vnto the time that is to take it as you finde it and to make the best of your chaunce for it were great folly for you and no lesse daunger to resist a multitude and you knowe your friendes will neuer be brought to estéeme so highly of vertue in a base personage although a precious stone canne neuer be but precious whether set in Lead or Copper You must forsake him then and that is the onely remedie for according as I haue read and haue hearde the first remedie agaynst a fit of loue is to exempt our selues from the companye of the beloued and to shunne and eschewe the thinges which may bring it againe to our remembraunce the nexte is to driue in our thoughtes the things which be contrarie therevnto as to thinke with howe many breaches of sléepe and with what continuall care wée desire a thing eyther stithie or vnlawfully coueted or at the least wise transitorie though neuer so honest with all to set before our eyes what harmes what robberies what murthers what madnesse it hath caused in the world whereof there be too many histories but yet from all this you may well signise your selfe if you
contents thereof so galled him at the quicke that for verye griefe his senses forsooke him and he fell vpon the ground there remaining an whole houre without moouing foote or hand and Fidelia departed so soone as Fidelia was gone Telyo Rosicleers esquire came that way to seeke his Lord for he had departed from him before to fetch fresh water at a Fountaine hard by Now when Telyo approached and sawe Rosicleer stretched in that manner vppon the ground as if he had bene dead he made the greatest dole that euer poore creature made and alyghting from his horse hée plucked off Rosicleers helmet casting water in his face if perhaps he might reuiue In the ende Rosicleer yéelding foorth a groane as if his heart strings had burst withall came wholly to himselfe and stretching his ioynis vppon the gréene grasse began to speake in this manner O fell Fortune and euer spightfull why hast thou not made an ende of my lyfe with the ende of my ioy and why lyue I sith that thereby my lyfe is berefte mée Leaue mée alone I praye thee and my griefe shall not grieue me without thy compauye aboue all welcome death the vndooer of my care welcome my death in what manner I care not suffer not a Knight so vnfortunate to appeare amongst men nor to receiue common sepulture Cato not to beholde the conquerours face slew himselfe with his sworde and Sophonisba poysoned hyr selfe to bée frée from bondage Nowe what reason was there in them by death to flye common and ordinarye mishaps if I maintaine my life to the abiding of farre greater torments then are in death And whence commeth this mischaunce vnto mée from Loue. O Loue Loue farre more outragious then Fire and Water and farre more daungerous to deale withall then Chaunce or Fortune Thou art straunge in all thy purposes straunger in the execution of them and in the ende thereof straungest of all Howe commonly doo thy practises excéede the working of Fortune for she neuer giueth payne but in pleasure neuer griefe but in gladnesse and she neuer ouerthroweth but at the toppe and pitch so that there is yet some comforte to haue bene high but I which in true loue towardes Oliuia had neuer countenaunce of comforte nor pleasure of any height am nowe so disgraced and haue fallen so lowe as no aduersitie of Fortune can match it Artemidoro tolde me my kâ—â—ited shoulde not let our marriage But nowe farewell my friendes by name Oliuerio King of the great Britayne my louing Lorde Bargandel and Lytlamandro Princes inheritours and my louing companions and farewell Zoylo Prince of Tartarie as my last acquaintaunce Fortune did but shewe vs to each other when we hoped of great acquaintaunce and farewell all my comforts for I will hence to some darke and clowdie Countrey that not so much as the lyght of the Sunne maye bring tidings of my smart This saieng Rosicleer rose vp and mounting on his Horse rode towarde the Forrest which leadeth vnto the Sea with full determination to leaue the Countrey presently his esquire Telyo which both sawe and heard his complaint with great griefe followed him not yet daring to speake a worde for feare of disquieting him Rosicleer in this iourney made great hast and before night got to a huge and hollowe rocke about tenne miles from the place where he receiued the letter Thereon he cast himselfe turning his horse loose vpon the cliffes Now being alone as his maner was he renued his complaints with many a siker sigh In the morning when the Sunne cast his beames vppon the large Sea Rosicleer rose from the ground to looke if he might sée any ship wherein he might put himselfe When he espied none he commaunded Telyo to ride vnto the next hauen about two miles off ther to prouide a ship himselfe promised in the meane while-vnder that couert to abide his comming Telyo presently did as his Lord commaunded him and made as much spéede as he might not to leaue his Master comfortlesse but ere Telyo had got to the towne it chaunced that Rosicleer hauing great desire to be solitarie mounted vpon his horse and rode a contrarie waye In which way he saw a little ship making towards the land and out of this ship from vnderneath the hatches there appeared a Gentlewoman verie high and big of body but of a good complection and straungely attired as was hir Countrey guyse This Gentlewoman as soone as the anchors were cast caused the cocke-boate to be let downe wherein she entred and comming to lande she tooke hir Palfraye to gallop vp the sandes but espieng a knight alone whome by all semblaunce she tooke to be Rosicleer she framed a sorrowfull countenaunce and in great ruth saluted him to whom he rendred the lyke salutations demaunding what hir griefe was The Gentlewoman still counterfaiting a show of great sorow as not able to speak any thing till béeing importuned by him with much adoo she as it were forced out these speaches Alas sir tell me if you can some newes of a newe Knight which hath wonne the prises at the great Feastes in London Wherefore séeke you him fayde Rosicleer I séeke him aun swered the Gentlewoman for that I heare so much of his glorie as that I am pers waded that hée onely is like to giue remedie to my trauaile Rosicleer to make hast away for feare least his esquire should finde them opened himselfe vnto the Gentlewoman saieng that he was the newe Knight The Gentlewoman séeming to be verie gladde for to haue found him knéeled downe but he lyfted hyr vp and desired by r to faye on presentlye what hyr sorrowe was for he woulde willinglye vndertake hir demaunde the Gentlewoman sayde on this wise Sir knight not farre hence there is an Iland where my father dwelled a plentifull land and auncient inheritaunce to our line This land my father gouerned a great time in peace and ease till that Fortune loath to preserue things in one estate chaunged hir coppie and that which grieueth me most found meanes by me to work the discontentment of my friends For being young and marriagebale and my Fathers onely childe it happened that I had many suters but to be short my Father thinking it safest for the continuaunce of his line and the peaceable gouernment of his people which hadde rather haue bene subiect to their naturall Countrey-man then an Alien matched me with a lustie Knight both best beloued for his worthinesse and of greatest possessions in all that Countrey Now amongst my other suters there was one of great liuelood worthye for his wealth to haue bene preferred before all the rest if himselfe had bene as worthye but this Lorde was refused by me and taking it as some parte of disgrace he kineeled his cholar and wrath against my Parentes and me and at a time conuenient which was not manye nights past and when we least immagined it he burst in vpon my parents where he found but weake resistaunce but
and tearing of hir hayre as if the sight of the place hadde redoubled hyr sorrowe This made Rosicleer to bée more earnest in hyr quarrell and to thinke if long till hée were landed which his desire béeing accomplyshed the Gentlewoman ledde him vp vppon the shoare where Rosicleer viewed at ease the whole sight of the Ilande In the first enterye vppon the lande there were two strong Castles as two Bulwarkes scituated vpon a stype recke as it were a bowe shotte distaunce ouer agaynst the other Before the Castelles there was a great broade plaine shaddowed with great Dakes and when they had come néere vnto these great Castelles the Gentlewoman poynting to the one Castell sayde to Rosicleer on this manner If that Sir Knight you will aduenge my quarrell you must goe to that Castell which is on the right hande for that is the traytour Knightes Castell which hath taken my Parents and Husbande as prisoners and vntill your comming I will staye héere in this lyttle boate we women are weake hearted and fearefull and aboue all I would not come into his power for then would he for a suretie murther my parents and my husbande whome nowe perhappes he entertaineth more gentlye vppon hope to winne me If you will be it so aunswered Rosicleer for your long gownes are not fit to fight withall and your sexe shall well aunswere the challenge of your cowardise with this speach Rosicleer departed and taking his horse mounted thereon to come to that Castle on the right hande the Gentlewoman tooke hir shippe againe and droue from lande amaine By and by Rosicleer hearde the winding of an horne at the one Castle and presently he hearde an annswere at the other Castle whereby suspecting that this token was giuen of his comming he tourned his head to see the Gentlewoman whom he had lefte on the shoare The Gentlewoman houering about the banke nowe sure of his escape and straining hir voyce cried Come foorth come foorth sonnes of Candramarte for héere is the newe Knight which cut off our Fathers armes Now wist Rosicleer by this horne and the Gentlewomans out-cries that he had bene betraied but as one carelesse of life as quietly as he could hée prepared himselfe which he certainely looked for his praier was this Lorde Iesus haue mercie vppon me whome thou so dearely hast bought with thy bloud-shed pardon my sinnes and receiue me vnto thy Kingdome as for my carcase be it as thou hast appoynted me for death cannot betide me in a better time After this he stayed not as dismayed but passing farther to sée in what manner this treason was compassed he sawe the gates of the one Castle set wide open and thence issuing a huge Gyant vpon a mightie Courser with more then twentye Knightes well armed at his tayle At theyr first comming they made a great showt as if they had got some great victorie the Giaunt amongest the rest sayd vnto him Thou miserable and wretched knight wel shalt thou abie the shame which thou diddest to my father Candramarte when thou diddest cut off his armes at London Rosicleer as desperate made aunswere I doubt not but for all your threates you will giue me leaue to dye but ere that happen it may bée you shall bée disappointed of your purpose and with that hée drewe out Quéene Iulias Swoord with the which hée encountered the tall Gyant which came against him with a great Speare The Speare hit Rosicleer on the breast and indéede were it not for the finenesse of the armour it had pearced him but the mettall being such as it was the Greeke made no more for the blowe then if it had béene hit with some delicate young knight and before that the Gyaunt coulde recouer his horse raine to fetch the second course Rosicleer gaue him such a blowe with his Swoord that hée cleft him to the bowells the great gyant fell dead to the ground the bloud issuing in great abundance Héere the great bragge was quailed when he which came to aduenge anothers mans quarrell could not warrant his own safetie But truth it is that those which vnmeasurably doe séeke reuenge doe oftentimes heape on themselues the greater mischiefe And what did this tyrannous Candramarte else which placing himselfe at his windowe to beholde the battayle and to make more solace at Rosicleers harme as if the onely report had not béene sufficient now in stéede of his former wrong he found a greater by the death of his sonnes but yet this is the beginning onely of his miserie for the valyaunt Knight not fearing death at all in greate choler rushed among the other Knightes which lykewise assayled him couragiously and had within a while with their battaile axes hewen his horse in péeces When hée was on foote he layde about him manfullye that in short space the scantling of grounde in which they fought was couered with breast-plates and Targets and as their number lessened and that he had more roome so his courage increased and he did them more scath but well fare his inchaunted armour which had serued to more purpose in defending then his swoorde in offending or else his courage had tyred before the ende of so daungerous a fraie Now there are fewe aliue and those eyther striuing for lyfe vpon the grasse or in weake case vppon foote readyer to flye then to fight but presently there came fresh succours from the other Castle For the other sonne of Candramarte with more then thirtie knightes in great hast came against this good knight not béeing idlely occupyed among the other Knightes The Gyaunt for other good morrowe gaue the good knight so strong a blow with his battayle Axe vppon the head péece that had it not bene rather in the head péece to withstand the blowe then in himselfe to resist the Gyaunt Rosicleer had layne brainelesse on the grounde but all this gréened him not sauing that the weyght of the blowe made him kisse the earth whence yet he start vp lightly and minding to requite courtesie for courtesie as hée was purposed at the Gyant there stept in a knight betwéene them whome Rosicleer diuided to the breast bone whereat the Gyaunt and those which behelde him were much abashed notwithstanding this they béeing many and hée wearied hée might not defend himselfe long from them especially from the Gyant which onely watched opportunitie of aduauntages yet lengthened he the fight by his noble courage a long time vntill for verie faintnesse he was faine to giue backe and get his shoulders agaynst a wall from which afterwarde hée was driuen by maine force and béeing pursued he withdrewe himselfe to the Sea euer as hée warded one blowe bestowing another After he had got the Sea at his backe he waxed bolder and aboue all watched Candramartes son which had hurt him most especially him he hit so sure that the bloud gushed out in thrée or foure places In the meane while Candramarte viewing the battaile to no great liking blasphemed heauen and
they entred into the boat which being driuen frō shore so soone as it tooke the shore sailed amaine neither missed they ought which was then thought necessarie Quickly they hasted ouer the sea Euxinus where we wil leaue them vntil another time to write of other things which chaunced before this time ¶ The three Princes which went in the quest of Rosicleer were transported into the Empire of Trabisond where chaunced to them a faire aduenture Cap. 45. AS the valiaunt déedes of Rosicleer while he was there caused great ioy in the court of king Oliuerio so no lesse was the griefe there for his sodeine departure amongst his friendes yet all these sorrowes ioyned in one might not bée equall to that which the faire Oliuia felt for she séeing shée had bene the cause thereof tooke thereat such inwarde griefe that she became both weake and pale and her father with the whole court greatly lamented for her In this generall sorrowe for the losse of Rosicleer you must thinke that the Princesses Rodasilua and Siluerina were not frée for the losse of Rosicleer procured the absence of their loues So as the historie recounteth that they two together with the valiant Prince Zoylo tooke vpon them the search of him and therfore let vs leaue the court of king Oliuero to tell you of them Thus it is that after they were all embarked in the Hauen which was néerest to London they sailed forwards a monthes sayling not desiring to bend either this waye or that way At the end of the month rather vpon chaunce then their purpose they were driuen vpon the coast of Trabisond where yet glad they were when the Countrie was descried to sée it to abide there Comming to land armed with their rich armour and theyr Esquires accompanieng them they tooke theyr horse and riding through a beaten path at the side of a pleasaunt wóode they hearde a noyse whereat beeing moued they turned backe to sée what it be might be Out of the thickest of the woode they sawe a wilde Boare driuing so fast as possiblie it might and in the pursuite thereof a young Gentlewoman vppon a mightie courser and a Boare Speare in her right hande her hunters wéede was all of gréene Veluet her tresses hanging downe in coulour like the golde of Arabie in her left hand a wande of golde and two rich Pearles hanging at her eares Shée came spurring her horse in such wise and with such courage to ouertake the Boare that shée much delighted them and at such time as the Boare crossed the waie betwéene them and her she strake the Boare on the flanke that her Speare appeared at the other side of the Boare The game was got and the Ladie not taking héede of the other knightes perhappes shaddowed by the trées retourned with softe paces to her companie but the knights ouertooke her and as I maie saye abashed at that which they had séene at her graces and beautie they onelye gased one vppon the other not once making offer to salute her whereat the Ladie more bolde then the men as it were to awake them out of their dreames tooke and winded a fayre horne which hung at hir necke so lowde and shrill that all the forrest and valleyes rang thereof and when she had thus done she came to the thrée Princes in her séeming the proprest knightes that euer she set eye on whom shée friendly welcommed on this wise God saue you gentle knightes and send you the comfort of your loues for by your sad and demure lookes it séemes you are either strangers or others thrall The Knightes tourning towardes her made their curteous obeysaunce and for them the valyaunt Tartarian spake in this manner Madame we haue stoode astonished neither for straungenesse nor for ill successe in loue which some of vs haue not yet tryed but onely for the thought of your beautie béeing a Ladie huntresse as if you were Diana which in lyke attyre was wont to hunt the Forrestes but as you saye wée are straungers indéede and because wée woulde carrye somewhat worth the telling wée craue your name and the fashions of the Countrie The Ladie delighted in the good behauiour of the thrée knightes and tickeled with the wordes of the Tartarian in greate maiestie aunswered him Assuredly sir knight I knowe no cause you haue to meruayle at me but rather I at you For if I séeme to you lyke to Diana the Goddesse of the Gentiles you lykewise séeme to me the thrée sonnes of Priamus Hector Paris and Troylus not farre inferiour in renowne to the Gods themselues whereas you desire mée to make you knowe who I am I will doe it gladly but yet conditionally that afterwardes you tell mée your name and Countrie This shall bée one for one and by iust exchaunge wée shall héereafter finde peace Wit you now that I am called Claridiana the daughter to Theodoro Lorde of this Empire and to the Empresse Diana Quéene of the Amazons which two hauing béene mortall enimies as by long warres appeareth continued hotlye in euerie parte they were after greate frindes méeting in a pitched field either being then young and vnmarryed I am their onely childe which since my young yeares haue bene brought vp in hunting and I am promised to be made knight for my mother béeing but young atchieued such enterprises that in her time there was no knight more famous and I am desirous to bée somewhat like vnto her especially in that point And now sir knights tell me who you are for I would well accompanie such lustie knights The Tartarian who had first taken in hand to speake aunswered Noble Princesse we were sure inough that there wanted not in you the diuinitie we spake off but yet we fayled in the name for so many graces which accompanie you could not be in a Ladie of lesse estate as my Religion béeing Pagansine woulde rather haue induced mée to take you for the Daughter of Iupiter then of the Emperour Theodoro And nowe sith your excellencie hath shewed vs such vndeserued fauour as to tell vs who you are it is reason that wée obeye in telling who wée are and where wée were borne This Knight pointing to Bargandel sayth hée is the Prince Bargandel the Kinges sonne of Bohemia thi◠by Liriamandro sayth hée is the Prince of Hungarie called Liriamandro and I am called Zoylo sonne to the king of Tartarie wée haue ioyned for aduenture beginning in the great Britaine to finde a new Knight a friende of outs taken from vs wée wot not howe Him wée are determined to looke in the worlde and we haue alreadie sailed a moneth since we left England so this morning we landed héere verie gladde to haue founde your highnesse God be praised sayde the Princesse for the names of so high Princesse ought not to bée concealed especially héere where the Emperour my Father would bee glad of such knightes for the honour which his court should receiue thereby and I for my part would thinke
touching whom the history saith that after these two Princes were in Persia some dayes hauing great desire to find out the Knight of the Sunne seeke strange aduentures one day as they were with Armineo vnckle to Clauerindo they determined betwéene themselues for to depart closely from them to goe by sea whether soeuer fortune would transport them whereto although Clauerindo and Armineo would haue made the king Florion priuie yet the Prince Brandizel would in no case consent beléeuing that if his parents knew of it they would not giue him leaue to goe from them so to pleasure him they kepte that counsel as priuie as they could And when all things were in readinesse one night secretly they conuaied themselues out of the citie and so straight to the sea side where they entered into a ship prouided for that purpose and hoising vp sailes they were carried they neither knew nor cared whether for the courages of these two Princes resolued to the search of worthie aduentures wold not let them be quiet so that any thing might better content their ease at home But as soone as they were gone the wise Lirgandeo knew of it and waieng the great commoditie which might ensue thereof to themselues and others he woulde not hinder it not yet make as if he knew it yet had hée great care to guide their ship wherein they sailed and they reached thether in fiftéene dayes which to other is an ordinarie moneths sailing that the marriners were abashed to sée the swiftnesse of the shippe beeing more then vsuall which when they had discouered to their Lords the Princes knew presently by whose meanes it so happened wherfore yet they were the better apayed for nowe they were sure thether to be carried which fitted best for their purpose Well shortly after these Princes departure and before it was eyther so noised or suspected Lyrgandeo declard the truth to the king Floron and the quéene Balisea willing them withall not to afflict them for that they thereby should gaine much honour and should retourne safely with the knight of the Sunne in their companie With this the king and quéene were indifferently appeased Nowe all matters quieted in Persia for the Princesse absence we may the fréelier beare the knightes companie which are yet sailing on the Sea so that the. 15. daie after they were departed from Persia they landed in a hauen of Polonia where their shippe stood still and taking land to learne some newes and know the countrie ere they had long trauailed they sawe before them a little towne to their iudgement pleasant and round about great flockes of men and women scattered and making great cries as if some great mischaunce had happened to them Armineo demaunded of them the cause of their sorrowe wherevnto an auncient man amongest them aunswered that a fierce Giant with more then fiftie knights had come in this morning vpon thē to steale awaie the Princesse Clarinea daughter to the king of Polonia theyr liege Lord that he had killed the greater number and spoiled the residue And as he thought was ere this time on his waie with the Princesse in his carriage from whome if it so be not all the world may recouer her why so sayde Armineo and where is the king or where are his knights that they doe not defend their Ladie The olde man aunswered they are in a towne foure mile off not mindfull of anie such matter and it hath not bene past eight dayes since the Princesse came to this towne and now this which you haue heard hath happened to her when the thrée knights heard this of the olde mans relation without staieng longer they gallopped with their horses so fast as they might comming néere to the towne they sawe issuing out of the gates a great troupe of knights the one parte driuing the other before it For so it was that the Gyaunt hauing the Princesse in his power was carrieng her awaye and the townsmen fought with him but their power little preuayled the Gyant was strong his knightes many and so they murthered all that came in such sort that all the Towne dwellers flod then came the other knightes which slewe many of them Twentie of the Gyants knights at once fell upon them laieng at them with all theyr forces the meane while that the Gyaunt helde in his armes the Princesse Clarinea and thinking that his knightes would make riddaunce of these thrée he tooke no more kéepe but rode away softly with the Princesse The Princesse cried out so loud that it was great pitie to heare hir and those which heard hir of hir owne knights came pitifully crieng to the knights straungers that for the honour of God they shuld goe helpe hir When this was spoken Brandizel besought his companions to stay there in the battaile to giue him leaue to follow the Giant which when they granted him he putting the spurres to his horse followed the trace the whiles the knights of Fraunce throughly galled their enimies For the one of them matchable I dare auouch with the auncient Franconio the Troyans sonne of whome hée descended for he putting himselfe in prease among them to some he claue their heads to other some their sheeldes murdering many and felling manye that at length there was none so hardie which durst stand him a blow but euerie of them did his best to saue one His vnkle Armineo in the broyle helped not a litle for he was a valiant knight and much estéemed of in Fraunce But let vs leaue them speak of the Prince Brandizel who pursued the Gyant He rode so fast that ere the Giant came within a flight shot of the sea he ouertooke in a large plaine and crieng alowde bad him redeliuer the Princesse false traitour as he was The Giant looked backe to sée what it was and séeing but one though riding in hast he cared not for him saue that not to be found vnprouided he loosed the Princesse from betwéens his armes and set hir on ground the Prince comming to him spake neuer a word but drawing his sword hit him so great a blowe vpon the helmet that he made him boow his head to his breast wherewith the Giant increased in cholar and gaue him the like this began the skirmish betweene them wherein the noyse was so great that the Princesse Clarinea before in a sound retourned to hir selfe and séeing the battaile with so little hope as that one onely knight should aduenture hir deliuerance fell into a sound again wherein she had died for sorrow had not God 〈…〉 When they had thus fought an houre it was a wonder to sée their brused armour with their backed shields but euer the stéele coate defended the biting of their swords especially Brandizels which made by Art Pagicke had this vertue that no mettall might pearce it The Gyaunt was hurt in manye places whereat as at the force of his adnersarie he was greatly estonished blasphemed his Gods in desperate
and somewhat farther he sawe a fresh and pleasaunt soyle full of the-swéetest hearbes that euer he had séene There was a fence or closure made of tall high Trées some of them with so loftye toppes that it wearyed him for to looke vpwardes Beneath this there was a Meddowe platte whereon grewe manye flowers and hearbes of all sortes and it was compassed with a still water gently rolling vppon the Pummise stones the water was as cleare as any Christall Among the thicke trées he might haue séene the swift Harte and the faire Vnicorne with the little Beueret and the small Conney banking the gréene boughes beside the lyght Squirrell clymbing the tall Oake with the séete chirping layes which the Birdes made recording so pleasauntly among the tender sprayes that it would haue made a man vtterly forelorne to receiue comfort and hée that was surprised with loue or loues daries might haue found a more present remedye then the Hartes of Creete doo when they are wounded by the Hunter This pleasure to haue enioyed you would haue thought your selfe to haue bene transported into another worlde or into a celestiall Paradise When the Knight of the Sunne had both behelde and hearde all those thinges hée immagined presentlye that the Iland was well stored with people thether resorting for the desyght there to be founde but yet he meruayled why their pathes were no more trodden and gazing on euery part which waye to take best hée tooke the waye which was most beaten therein he walked heaufly laden with his armour but his desire to knowe the end of this aduenture and the swéete melodie of the birdes continuallye accompanieng him made him thincke his iourney shorten About a mile or more out of this medow he entred into a plaine pasture so beset with flowers as the meddowes were In the middle of this pasture as it were a bow shot from him he sawe the farrest Castle which euer eye hadde séene as well for the height and largnesse as for cost and workmanship The matter was all of Jasper which when the Sunne began to cast his beames thereon shyned so bright that it dazeled the eyes of the beholder The forme was quadrangle after an euen proportion as broad as long In euery of the corners there were ten faire Turrets which reached by mans seeming to the clowdes The outwarde wall of the Castle was harde Marble hewed but of the Ilande Paros Round about the Castle there was a déepe ditche with a deuice that albeit there was no Spring in it to nourish it yet was it mayntayned with a fresh flowe partlye by the fall of waters from the mountaines partlye by the Riuers we named amongst the meddowes which at euery spring cleared the channell Vppon this water there stoode a Bridge with thrée strong Turrets one in the beginning the other in the middest the other in the ende towardes the Castell Through them a man cannot enter but by plaine force for the kéepers open not but constrayned and they néede to be right valyaunt for the Porters are fell The Knight of the Sunne gazed vppon this verge attentiuelye so amazed at the straungenesse of the worke that he coulde not thinke it to haue bene buylded by mans hande And hauing as then no other skill of God but the Gentiles lawe he thought that peraduenture this might be the house of his Gods when they descended from heauen to soiourne amongst vs. So verye desirous to know the ende thereof he came vnto the bridge where he stayed a while ere he procéeded farther for hée indged that according to the greate strength of the arches the depth of the water and the height of the wall that no man might enter without leaue asked And as be there wanted not matter of meruayle for the wonder of the castle so meruailed he that nére so rare and magnificent buyldings so meruailed he that nére so rare and magnificent buyldings he met no person of whome he might demaunde to whome the fayre Castle did belong Amid these thoughts it séemed best in his fancie to call to them within if perhappes any would auns were him and therefore comming to the gates of the first Turret which was then néerest to him he founde a Porch opened and right before a faire stately Court enclosed with walles of Jasper and in the midst before him a payer of staiers of a ten or twelue degrées which ledde vp to a fayre Piller wherevnto was fastened with a chaine of golde a faire horne and a rich brawdricke to it The horne was tipped all with golde and in the ende were set manye precious stones The riches thereof might haue contented a right couetous eye Vnderneath the horne vppon the same piller there were ingrauen letters which the Knight of the Sunne perceiuing and hoping there to learne some more newes he mounted vp the stayres and read as héereafter followeth ¶ This Castle belongeth to the beautifull Lindaraza the gates may not be opened to any saue to him which windeth the horne But let him take heede withall for when they are open there shall not faile him cruell and fierce porters to giue him the death if it bee possible When he had read the letters and gathered by them that there were Porters to auns were him hée feared not a whit for all the threates of the Writing but with an heroycall heart he vntied his horne and winded it so shrill that all the Castle eccowed with the noyse At the sounde héereof the inner gates of stéele flewe open as if they had bene shaken with a tempest and presently there appeared a fierce Gyaunt bearing in the one hande a barre of yron and in the other a chayne wherein hee ledde tyed a Dragon the most hydeous that euer man looked on This beast was from the breast downewarde as high as auye man on horse-backe and the tayle thereof was tenne paces in length wherewith he swéeped the grounde Nowe the strong Gyaunt comming out of the gates let loose the Dragon and tooke the barre of yron in his handes paceing towardes the Knight which was nowe in descending from the Piller Ere the Knight coulde easely come to the grounde the Gyaunt mette him with a counterbuffe on the shielde that he missed two or thrée steppes in comming downe The monstrous Dragon beneath was readie to receyue him But the Nephewe of Alicante lyghtly estéeming all this and rather tooke courage in this that there was some thing worthye his paines behinde when the Castell was kept by suche vglye Porters and drawing out his sworde hée stroke at the Serpent a blowe on the toppe of the head but it did him no more harme then if it hadde lyghted vppon a Smithes anfielde but it a little benummed his senses and beguyled him of his fore-hoped grype This litle harme which he had done to the Serpent did much amaze him and the better to saue him-selfe from the Serpent hée gotte vnder the Piller and then hée bestowed another blowe vppon the