ye should beare me For it séemed to me if ye had loued me so much as I loued you ye would not haue deferred the healing of my sickenesse so long as ye haue done Alas Madame howe farre are ye deceiued if ye thinke that I at any time haue the power to repent or to go farre from the great loue that I haue borne you and shall beare you as long as the spirite shall breath within my body for truely there is nothing in the world that was more impossible for me Think not at all Madame louing you as I doe loue you that euerâ— I coulde fall into any repentance of your loue considering the glorie and pleasure that I finde in louing of you I pray you then to giue me life through your fauour to my great ioye or shortly to send me death through your disfauour to make an ende of my anoyance and of the dolour in the which I shall continually remaine vntil ye giue me rest and the tranquillitie that your letter dothe promise mée and looking for so great and good and houre I kisse a thousand times your fayre and delicate handes A letter from Filisell of Montespin to Marfira complayning of the long terme and time that she hath set him to haue the ioyfull pastime whereof he had alreadie tasted and he prayeth hir to alleage it In the twelfe booke the .14 Chapter DOm Filisell of Montespin doth sende to the faire and gracious Marfira health the which he hathe losâ—e by the moste gréeuous sickenesse that he as yet hath proued Alas Madam if euer I loued you with good affection nowe I die wholly for your loue and if euer I had any hope to reioâ—ce of your diuine beauties now I am at the last in desparation bicause the long time that I must tarie without hauing any more the ioy of the goodnesse and pleasure whereof through your good grace I haue tasted and sauored the tranquilitie and gracious swéetenesse If before this I haue had any desyre I haue desired it after such a fashion that I knew not the thing that I desired But now being learned by experience I know that I desire the most pleasure and goodnesse that is possible to desire sauing one other that I knowe but ye maye not know it although the pleasure that I desire be extréeme Hitherto Madame I haue tormented my selfe to sée and to beholde the apparant graces of your beautie by the whiche yé◠maye make subiect to your seruice the fierce heartes of men more than barbarous but nowe I torment me to reioyce and play with your graces secretes of the which I among all other haue merited the pleasure Alas Madame cause I beséech you that so great goodnesse as ye haue shewed me turne me not to greater euill and denie me not the remedie which kissing your fayre and white handes I pray you to graunt me as soone as the dolorous passion in the whiche I am doth requyre it Filisels letter to Marfira reioysing himselfe and giuing hir thankes for the good houre that shee caused him to haue praying hir to continue vnto him hir grace and fauour In the .12 booke the .15 Chapter DOn Filisel of Montespin doth sende to the fayre and gracious Marfira the salute whereof he enioyeth to his great contentation The glorie wherein I am is so great that I can not tell with what wordes I ought to prayse it so that the prayse may be compared to his greatnesse O I the most happiest of all knightes of the worlde séeing it hath pleased you Madame to make me worthie through your fauours of the thing that I by my selfe could in no wise decerne This letter is onely to cause you to vnderstand my great ioy by the which ye are now indetted to me for the thing that hath caused me to merit it that is that I returne very shortly vnto you to take and to haue the selfe same pleasure of your beautie that it pleased you the last night to graunt me so that by this newe ioy I may rewarde the anoyance that I endure in the time that I cannot finde the oportunitie of so great a pleasure Wherefore Madame I pray you continually to intertaine me in such a good houre that if ye haue béene the cause that I am nowe exalted to so high a degrée that hereafter ye be not the cause of my miserable fall and ruine But to the entent ye shall not reprehend me of too great importunitie I will make an ende of my letter kissing a thousande tymes your white and delicate hands in remembrance of the peace that folowed the warre that is past I recommend me to my deare Caria praying hir shortly to purchase me the tyme so greatly desyred in the whiche I maye renue the fortunate occasion of my glorie The complaint of Queene Sidonis In the .12 booke the .21 Chapter O Graue honour of my high and royall lynage howe hast thou conducted me to an euill fortune whereof I may receyne a iust rewarde of my folly O loue howe doest thou cause to appeare in me thy deceytfull force and strength causing mée to vse hatred and crueltie vnto him that I loued much more than my selfe O Fortune with what inconstancie and lightnesse art thou chaunged putting me then in such desperation when I beganne to haue hope shortly to accomplish the thing that I desired most in this worlde O Gods immortall with howe much rigour haue ye willed to recompence the flerce pride and the prowde presumption of the Quéene Sidonia O my deare daughter and yet the daughter of him that robbed the holy rites of my chastitie Alas howe woulde ye haue payed me for the thing that ye denyed anâ— for the loue that ye bare continually to your father in recompence of the outrages and iniuries that I dayly sought for him O my daughter the first of the worlde and none like in beautie to the ende to make and to render like vnlike the delour that I endure nowe for thy death O cruell death howe doest thou leaue me in so miserable a life O cruell life howe doest thou leaue me in so miserable a death O Gods immortall wherefore doe ye suffer so great an iniurie as is that which I receyue by my life séeing my daughter Diana is dead But what do I say It is iust that ye as ye are iust doe shewe me to rigorous iustice to cause me to take vengeance vpon my selfe confounding me in a certaine dolour and heauinesse the which I haue procured to my selfe Alas Daraide howe doest thou giue to me and my daughter the dutie whereof thou wast indetted vnto vs to me giuing me with thy ende the ende of the folly of my vengeance in killing againe by thy death the hope and confidence that I had in thy life to my daughter recompencing hir death by thine the which is the last payment whereof thou wast bounde to the loue that thou didst beare hir and to that that she did
beare thée O fortunate Damsell that by thy death hadst might to pay the thing thou diddest owe to my Diana for thy loue althoughe that hir mother coulde not doe so muche for hir owne O faint Moraisell howe arte then nowe well reuenged of mée and well satisfyed of the vengeance that I of so long time haue sought for O Gods immortall séeing that ye denie me iustice leauing me in this miserable life I will not refuse it nor denie it to my owne handes and I will kepe the priuiledge of my franke and frée will the which I haue receyued of you from the time that I was borne Well then and killing my selfe with my owne handes I giue my selfe life the which ye haue denyed me bicause ye promptly and readily ynough gaue me not to death The Oration of Daraide giuing and causing himselfe to bee knowne and taken of Diana for Agesilan of Colcbos â— In the 12. booke the .22 Chapter IF the great enterprises were not accompanyed with daunger beléeue this Madame that the prayse of those that shoulde chaunce to haue the victorie shoulde be verie little and for this reason and cause the greater that the perill is so much the more is the honour the glorie and the mortall renowne Thinke not the great thinges can be ended by small things nor with little trauayle men can not wynne muche prayse Thus Madame ye may knowe this that to conquere and get you must be put in aduenture séeing that I assaying nowe to winne you put my selfe in hazarde to léese you Alas sée this is the occasion that so greatly giueth feare vnto my wordes bycause that willing to haue and get a great gaine I am in daunger of a great losse and fearing that séeking you too muche that I léese you not the more for why to aduenture my selfe to léese my selfe in this praye I aduenture but little seeyng that it is nowe so long ago that I am left in youre loue althoughe yet that in parte of the worlde I haue not had so great gayne as in one fortunable losse The cause of my amorous passions is manyfest by the excellencye of your beautie The dolours past the which I haue suffered in your seruice doe giue you a sure testimonie of the regarde and reuerence that I haue had alwayes to youre highnesse The boldenesse that I nowe doe take doth sufficiently excuse it selfe by my payne and the prowdnesse of my thoughtes throughe my royall and noble lynage accompanyed wyth chaste and lawfull desyre wherewyth I haue alwayes kepte the reuerence due to youre honour and shall kéepe it all my lyfe wythoute desyring or praying you to gyue mee anye remedye for my anguyshes and paynes if it bée not vnder the tytle of faythfull maryage and kéeping in you youre chastitie euen suche as ye nowe maye haue it Or else Madame with these conditions it may please you to knowe that vnder the name and vnder the habite of Dariade ye haue in your presence Agesilan the sonne of the great Prince the prudent Phalanges of Astre and of the strong Princesse Alastraxeree Maruell not that I haue thus disguised me and couered my self with such armes to winne your good grace for in any other habite but in one like vnto yours I could not haue hazarded my selfe in an enterprise at least way so perilous with any hope of victory Ye know now Madame the thing that hitherto I haue continually kepte secrete from you ye sée the dolorous woundes wherewith in this cruell warre of loue your excellent beautie hath cruelly wounded me I haue nowe defended my selfe long inough couering me vnder the shielde of onâ— Daraide disguised nowe Madame I confesse that ye are victorious and to you I render my armes to set vp a triumphe at and in the strength force of your immortall beautie beséeching you to take me to mercie kéeping the fidelitie and reuerence that I owe vnto your highnesse and the which I promise you and do sweare by my immortall God to kéepe it all my life vnder the title of mariage But if by the rigour of your answere ye wil refuse and denie me the pitie that I require beleue Madame that very long ye cannot be rigorous vnto me and that shortly my pitifull death shall cause you sorow it to whome as long as he liued ye were so cruell So my vnfortunate soule shall hitherto comfort hir selfe after that the body be buried by your lamentations O I most fortunate that hath set my heart in so noble a place that the ioyfulnesse of my desires doe make me the most fortunatest of al the earth and the last of my misfortunes doe promise me yet a certaine consolation Nowe Madame ye haue hearde the litle that I can say of the great dolour that I suffer and the lest of the trauell whereof I féele that I haue trauelled But if I cannot sufficiently inough expresse vnto you the euill that I indure ye may easily comprehende it if yée estéeme it so great in me as your beauties and your excellencies he great in you seyng then that by this meane ye may know by your selfe the immortall anguishes that torment me and if yée cannot perceyue it by your selfe I beseeche you againe by the iuste pitie that the victor shoulde haue vnto him that is ouercome to receyue me to mercie seing that I â—oe yéelde me and to intreate me in your seruice as him whose death and life doth depende vpon your crueltie or vpon the fauours of your good grace The cruell answere of Diana to Daraida bycause shee was declared to be an other than a damsell In the .12 booke the .22 Chapter KNow Daraida that by chaunging your name ye haue also changed into hatred the loue of the whiche by your deceiptfulnesse ye haue had so long a pleasure and if the nexte parent that is betwéene you and my accustomed benignitie resisted not the execution of my courage I woulde cause you to be chastened with suche a torment as the deceyte wherewith yée haue abused me doth merite But to leaue no occasion to any man nor not to thinke that your proudenesse hath founde any fragilitie in me I will not vse vnto my honour the pitie that I owe vnto it to defende it by your death from the offence that yée haue committed for I will not â—haâ— men shoulde publishe that your temerarious â—oly shoulde by the onely sight of mee cause so greate glorye neyther I will that yée shall remayne without any punishment although that the payne be too much vnegall for your offence whereof yée shall excuse you And therefore I prohibite and forbidde you to be at any time in my presence wheresoeuer I be for my honour in asmuch as it cannot be done as Daraide and as Agesilan doth not suffer it The complaynte of Daraide In the twelfth booke the .22 Chapter O Swéete death why doest thou suffer me yet to returne to lyfe agayne O miserable lyfe why doest thou denie me
that haue giuen you suche commission knowe me very ill for I haue all the dayes of my lyfe more estéemed ieopardous warres than shamefull prayse In somuch that I should be greatly reprehensible towards God the Creator that hath appoynted and made me king ouer so many people if for lacke of hart and courage I should suffer them to be outrageous Therefore ye shall returne and shew them that I had rather haue warre all my life the which they demaund and desire and at the last to die sighting and in battell than after their word and minde to haue peace that which should be so greatly to my disaduantage And bicause I desire to know at length their will and mind I wil send one of my knights the which shal go with you cause them at length to vnderstand my mind intention Florestan defyeth Laudin the which spake sore agaynst Amadis aduantage for whose loue he presented him the combat In the second Booke the .12 Chapter KNight I am not borne in this countrey nor the kings vassall so that for any thing that ye haue said vnto him I haue none occasion to answerâ— in asmuch as here are present many â—etter knights than I am aboue whome I wolde take nothing in hand Yet for asmuch as I cannot find Amadis whiche is as I estéeme very profitable vnto you I am ready to fyght with you and to cease and ende the quarell that ye haue vnto him and to the intent ye may knowe me the better I am his brother Florestan the whiche doth offer to fyght with you vnder this condition and conuention that if I may ouercome you ye shall be bounde to leaue off the quarel that ye haue against him and if ye ouercome me reueÌ„ge vpon me part of your choler and anger But yet thus much there is that ye ought not to fynde the dutie strange whervnto I submit me for I haue no lesse occasion to sustain the quarell against you he being absent than ye haue to mainetaine King Abies whose nephew ye are being full sure that it is in the power of my Lord Amadis to reuenge me if fortune doe suffer you to haue the aduantage ouer me Laudins answere to the Lord Florestan the which in time conuenient doth accept the combate In the seconde booke the 12. Chapter MY Lord Florestan que Laudin as far as I sée and perceiue you haue an enuy and a desire to fight but I can not satisfie you not hauing any power in me to do that wherevnto I am sent by other Also I haue promised my Lordes that called me to their companie before my departing not to take any thing vpon me that might let me to assist and to do my dutie before the battell and therfore you shall at this present time haue me excused till the battell be ended for then I promise you to take vpon me the combate and fight that you demaund and soner I can not tend vnto it Vrgandes Letter to King Lisuard where he forspeaketh the ruine of faire Tenebreus In the second boke the .15 Chapter TO you Lisuard King of England salutatioÌ„ gréeting méet for your Maiestie I Vrgand of Cogneue your humble seruant doe giue you knowledge that the battell appoynted betwéene you and King Cildadan shall be one of the moste cruell and daungerous that euer man shall sée in the which the faire Tenebreus that onely hath giuen you so great hope shal lose his name and through one stroke that he shal giue al his noble acts shal be forgotten you euen then shal be in greater enmitie than euer you found your self in For many good Knightes shall lose their liues and you your selfe shall fall into that danger euen at that instant when the faire Tenebreus shall drawe the bloude out of your belly and yet at the last for thrée strokes the which he shall giue them of his part they shall remayne victors And be ye sure Syr that all this doubtlesse shall chaunce therefore prouidâ— wisely for your affayres Vrgands Letter to my Lord Galaor of Fraunce foretelling him his yll fortune In the .2 booke the .15 Chapter TO you Lord Galaor of Fraunce wise and hardie Knight I Vrgand of Congue do salute you as he that loueth you and esteemeth you and would that you shoulde vnderstande the thing that shall chaunce and happen vnto you in the cruâ—ell battell betweene the Kings Lisuard and Cildadan Be sure therefore that about the ende of it if you be there your strong and boystuous members shall deceiue your inuincible heart and at the departing of the battell youre head shall be in the power of him that through the thrée strokes whiche he shall giue shall remaine victor A Letter of Arban of Norgalles and Angrioâ— of Estrauaux to King Lisuard causing him to vnderstande the great paines that they suffered In the .2 booke .15 Chapter TO the most highe and mightie Prince Lisuard King of Englande and to all our friendes and alies being in his Realme we Arban of Norgalles and Angriote de Estreuens detained and being in dolorous prison at this present signifie vnto you that our misfortune more cruell than death it selfe hath set vs in the power of the vnpitifull Gromadace the wife of Famongomad the which reuenging hir husbandes and hir sonnes death doth afflict vs with so many strange tormentes that it is impossible to thinke vpon them and in such sort that from houre to houre we desire the ende of oure liues to be at rest But this mischieuous woman to cause vs the longer while to suffer doth prolong so much as she maye our death the which with our owne handes we would haue prepared but for feare of the loue of our soules And for as muche as we at this preâ—ent are so sore wounded that it is impossible we may resist any longer we sende you this Letter written with oure owne bloude by the which we beséech God to giue you the victorie against these traytors that haue thus outrageously handled vs and to haue pitie vpon oure soules The Oration of Kyng Lisuard to those of hys hoste exhorting them to fyght strongly In the .2 booke the .16 chapter MY companions and great friendes I beleeue that there is not he of you al that doth not sufficiently vnderstand howe we haue enterprised this battell with good right and also to defende the honor and reputation of Englande the which King Cildadan and they of Irelande would deminish denying vs the tribute the which at al times they haue payd to our prodecessors recognising the benefites which they haue receyued of them in times past I knowe well that there is not one of you all that hath not an entiere heart and a bold and therefore it is no néede further to encourage you against those that you haue to do withall hauing your honor before your eyes the which you estéem more than a hundreth lines if it were possible to haue them one after an other
to â—e preferred aboue al persons and for whom I haue oftentimes put my body in hazard aud peril of death hauing no other hope of them but to please God and to augment my name in this world the which was the onely cause that last moued me to absent my selfe so from these câ—ntries to go serch among strange nations those that had néede of my helpe where I haue had many perillous aduentures the which thou hast séen and maist report them vnto him Also I comming to this Isle was aduertised how that King Lisuard forgetting the honoâ—r of God the right of men the counsell of his and the instinct of nature that euery good father dothe commonly beare to his childe woulde as it were by a certaine manner of extreme crueltie driue from his countreys my lady Oriane his owne daughter and principal inheritour gyâ—ing hir in mariage against hir will to the Emperour Patin Whereof she made her complainte not onely to those of the Realme of England but required also aide and succor of all knightes that beare armes aswell by letters messages as other wayes praying them with hir handes ioyned together and abundance of teares to haue pitie and compassion of hir miserie And so much she could do with prayers huÌ„ble Orations that the Lorde of all things hath loked mercifully from heauen vpon hir gyuing the addresse and helpe to the knightes that are nowe in this place to assemble them as it were by a miracle where I founde them as thou knowest purposing to aduenture their lyues to set hir and the other that perforce accompanied hir at libertie considering that doing otherwise they in time to come shoulde haue bene blamed giuing occasion to many to presume that cowardise only had turned backe this ayde so greatly recommended and for persons of the qualitie that they be By the meanes wherof the conflicte and battel chaunced vpon the Romanes â—uen suche as thou hast séene it of the which we haue many prisoners and the ladies out of their handes But to make a meanes for their appointment to King Lisuard Quedragant and my cousin Lorian of Moniaste departed lately with an expresse charge and commaundement from vs all to beséeche him take the thing that we haue done in good part and to receiue to his good grace and fauour my lady Oriane and those of hir companie being yet well minded if he will not receiue this offer audaciously boldly by the meanes of the aide of our good friends alies to defend vs against him of y which number Gandalm thou shalt say vnto him that all we together do estéeme him the first chiefest praying him most humbly that he will â—â—ccorâ—s when néede is 〈◊〉 thâ—â— the Quéene my mother also kisse hir hands in my name say 〈…〉 that I pray hir to send hitheâ— my siâ—ter Meâ—â—tiaâ—◠〈…〉 company with these other ladies with whom she may sée â—earne mâ—inie things But or euer thou depart know 〈◊〉 of my cousin Mabile whether it wyll please hir to sende anye thyng thither and therâ—with that thou aâ—ayâ— to speake to Oâ—iane the which will not be so straunge to thée that thou shalt not vnderstande of hir in what estate hir health is and the good will she beareth me Amadis letter to King Tafiner of Boeme praying him to succour him in his great affaires In the .4 booke the .4 Chap. SYr if euer I did you any seruice that any time contented you the honor and the good receyte that I receiued of you and of yours al the time that I soiournd in your Court haue caused me to remaine and as long as I shall liue to be readie not to spare my person to obey and to saue you Therefore I beséech you most humbly not to estéeme that this thing which hath caused me to dispatch this knight and bearer vnto you is to haue any recompence Neuerthelesse I remembring the honest offers that you made me at my departing from Boheme I haue boldned my selfe to send him vnto you to require you effectuously to helpe me in a certaine affayre that is nigh me of the which he shall certifie you beséeching you syr to beléeue him as my selfe and to commaunde his dispatch as sone as it shal be possible to put him out of paine that for you would hazarde his life the whiche is Amadis of Fraunce surnamed in many places the knight of the gréene sworde The deuice of Orian to Gandalin vncouering to him hir heauinesse and that he would finde meanes she might speake with Amadis whome she loueth so well In the .4 booke the .4 Chapter GAndalin my friende what thinkest thouâ— of fortune the which is to me so contrarie that it depriueth me of that person of all the worlde whose frequentationâ— I loue moste being so nigh me and I wholly in his power This notwithstandinge we can not haue the meanes priuily to speake togither without offending my honor and that greatly wherby my heart endureth such paine that if thou knewest it I beléeue certenly thou woldst haue more pitie on me thaÌ„ thou hast the which thing I pray thée shew him to the inâ—eÌ„t that complaying me he may reioyce of the greate affection that dayly increaseth in me to will him well also that he finde some fashion or meane that we may see one another repayring to some part with his companions vnder the collour of thy voyage and of my comfort Gandalins answer to Oriane aduertising hir that she be not deceiued in the singular loue that she beareth to Amadis for his amitie is stedfast as he dayly doth shew in all his actes In the .4 booke the .5 Chapter MAdame que GaÌ„dalin ye haue good cause to beare him such amitie and to remember also the remedie the which he desireth aboue al things for if ye knew the extremitie wherin I haue a hundred times found him ye would not beléeue with what power loue doth rule him I haue séene him dye a thousand timâ—s remembring the fauors that be past the whiche ye haue shewed him and as often times by the remembrance of them to recouer life And I haue séene him among the great dangers of the worlde do seates of armes caling vpoÌ„ you to succoure him so that it is not easy to be beléeued that any knight might haue in hym so great valiantnesse Therefore Madame I pray you to haue pitie on him and to entreat him as he deserueth assuring you that there was neuer a more faithfull knight nor more yours than he is nor there was neuer Lady that had such power vpon a man as ye haue vpon him for in your hands they may entreat of his death or of his life euen as it shall séeme good to you The Oration of king Lisuard to the Queene his wife declaring to hir the wrong that they do vnto him taking the Romanes that conducted his daughter and yet that she dissembled the matter as much as she might so doing he
answere to hir people declaring that wyth good hearte shee dothe pardon them of theyr offence vpon the hope of theyr amendment In the .8 booke the .31 Chapter MY friendes séeing ye haue taken this iourney ye shall finde me a gracious Princesse and as affable as Albernis was vnto you greuous and vneasie I know wel ynough that many of you were seduced and forced to make warre that manye a one also forgat themselues more than they shoulde haue done Yet that notwithstanding vpon the promise that ye haue made me and in the hope that I haue of your amendment I am readie to make you a generall pardon and to intreate you from henceforth as a good and a vertuous Quéene and Princesse ought to intreate and gouerne hir good and faithfull subiectes The Oration of Queene Liberna to the knight without rest causing him to vnderstande that she is so taken with hys loue that he hath all power vpon hir In the .8 booke the 31. Chapter I Promis you knight without rest that coÌ„sidering the great valiantnesse that is in you and the goodes that I haue recouered by your meanes and occasion only I am purposed to cause you to léese the name that ye beare and to giue you such might and power vpon me as a Lord and spouse may take vpon his wife and louer For I confesse that there was neuer princesse nor no other so taken with loue as I am towards you although that in a manner ye are vnknowen vnto me Abra the princesse of Babilons letter to Lisuard reproching hys great cowardnesse that he killed hir brother Zair whereby he hath shewed that he hath cleane forgotten the loue that she did beare him and that she therefore will sacrifice hir selfe to death for to celebrate the remembrance of hir foresaid brother In the .8 booke the .34 Chapter ABra princesse of Babilon seruant of the souerayne Goddes and enimie to those that are against them to thée ConstaÌ„tine and Prince Lisuart murtherer and rauisher of the spouse of the diuine lande of Babilon leauing and forsaking it by the death of the most noble Zair Orpheline of his royall cheualrie and made bare and spoyled of hir hope to recouer any more such another lord Tell me ingrate is this the reciproke loue wherewith thou wast bound to me giuing thée knowledge of the goodnesse that I desired and wished thée Is this the recognising of the election and choise that I made of thy person to be my Lord spouse Is this the fruite of my esperance and hope that thou didst then put me in wheÌ„ that in the presence of so many princes I required thée to voutsafe to take me to thy wife and perpetuall louer hauing thée so well printed in my heart that thou shouldst not depart from thence as loÌ„g as life shuld rest but shouldst be resident there to norish my desire the better that I haue to reueÌ„ge the death of my wel beloued brother But alas who would euer haue thought that the fearefull sea shuld haue bin consecrate with his body and sepulture Certesse I beléeue that the sea is ignoraÌ„t that she hath him drowned in the depnesse of hir waters For if she had knowen it it is very like that the waters would already haue triumphed yea in communication with the soueraigne heauens holding themselues honored to enioy his bloud and diuine body And if the sea be not yet aduised nor the earth as yet hath not perceiued it it woulde not haue delayed hir complaintes and dolours so long from the soueraigne Gods to haue and to recouer hir spouse and hir iust possessor agayne that hath bin vsurped from hir domination and put into so contrary an element whereof peraduenture may chance in time to come continuall warre betwene hir roundnesse the depenesse of the abismes each of them pretending the reioycing and gard of his prince and magnificent dominator and ruler But if these two do complayne the fire and his element will not holde their peace but shall complayne them for euer through the regard and consideratioÌ„ of the sacrifices that the gods hoped for if he had dyed and deceased vpon the earth The ayre then is alone that doth enioy the thing that thâ—u dost possesse that is the assurance of the death of Zair Also he was present and occupied in the conflict betwene the infernall furies the whiche during the battell vomited out brimston and filthy stinches by the mouth of an infinite sort of canons and other artillerie But alas alas what vengeance shall be done for him for whome the ayre the â—arth and the fire shal at somtimes féele his absence and the déepe waters glory for the possession of his body yea and other truly than it at thy death at the end I say of my life seing me thus depriued of my Lord brother At the end I say of my life bycause that cruell loue will not suffer the vengeance vpon thée but that I must sacrifice my selfe to adorne thy death that shall make myne very happy and fortunate So shall thy funeralles be entirely celebrated by the death of Zair and of me to the end that fortune make them egall at the victorie the which she would haue graunted thée not only in thy life against knights and beasts most cruell but in the death that she shall procure thée that as long as she shall liue defieth thée the which shall be no longer than thou shalte be resident in the worlde that by such and so straunge crueltie the desire of my vengeaunce may be executed A letter of Zahara Queene of the mount Caucasus to Lisuard contayning that she is come to Babilon to marrie Zair but finding that Lisuard had slayne him she defyeth him In the .8 booke the .35 Chapter ZAhara Quéene of the mount Caucasus Lady of all Hiberia victor else of great prouinces of the Saâ—â—ates Corces Hircanie and Massagetes to thée Lisuard the Infant of two soueraine Empyres of Greece and Trebisond gréeting Know thou that the renoume of the stoute Soudan Zair hath caused me to come from my countrey that is farre hence into this greate Citie of Babilon trusting to haue giuen him the possession of my selfe and of my kingdomes togither my immortall glory continuing vpon his name But after that I knew that fortune whiche sometimes was his friend had suffered hys bloud to be shed leauing me by this meanes and for euer without a husbande that there shoulde remayne no other that myghte come vnto the merite of my highnesse béeing suche a princesse as I am and indued with the beautie that the Goddes haue gyuen me by whose aduise the mariage of vs twayne had bene consummated if misfortune as it hathe done hadde not sayde agaynste vs but whatsoeuer impediment or let that vnkind fortune hath done to my destinie yet it cannot hide nor quench the glory of Zair his death being reuenged by thine And to come thervnto I defye thée as touching thy person
in my Ladie O howe often doe I desire death how often in the selfe same houre doe I feare it to the ende that I lese not the occasion euermore of continue in my mortal anguishes and paines O how much more fortunate should I be if I wholy had lost my vnderstandinge and yet I wil not léese it fearing to lese with it the remembrance of the reason whiche proceedeth from my sense and perseueraÌ„ce for the great pride of my thoughts Alas it shal be best to holde my peace that I doe my selfe no wrong seing that I knowe not and knowing that I may not speake through the straunge dolours for the which the desyre to die and the will to liue doe torment me An amorous complainte of Daraide to the Princesse Diana In the .12 booke the .8 Chapter O Madame by what meanes maye I at any tyme recognyse the great fauor that hath pleased you now to shew me O happie wordes of the heart séeing they are so greate a cause of so great quiet and reste to the great wounds of the soule O celestiall handes the which by your diuine beautie may make and cause two springs of teares to flowe oute of my eyes to remedie the cruell flames wherwith I féele me to be burned Alas by what meane shall I rewarde you â—or the good succor that ye presently giue mée to my mortal heauinesse And I pray you madame séeing that wordes doe fayle mée in this dolour nor that I can not tell the thing I do endure that it woulde please you to supplye this faulte and to comprehende through this diuine spirite that the Gods haue infuded and put in you the euâ—ll that I suffer thus cruelly and that this little whiche I declare vnto you maye bee equall in his extremite in the perfections wherewyth the Heauens haue made you noble aboue all the Princes of the worlde Alas madame it semeth to me that I doe iniurye and wrong to my selfe to lyue so longâ— hauing so iuste an occasion to dye I féele that my lyfe doâ—th euen nowe complaine it selfe and lament within me bicause that my wordes woulde shewe you the dolours and paynes that I suffer for your loue althoughe they can no other wayes be discouered but by my death Alas I die and I sée well that I die and yet I cannot cause the nyest ende of my lyfe to be knowne I am wholy brought to Ashes and yet the fyre doth not ceasse to martyr mée Alas Madame pardon me if I knowe not what purpose or communication I holde or haue wyth you For it is not to be maruelled at if I know not what I ought to doe when I knowe not what I ought to saye Séeing then that I lacke the greatest good thing that I coulde haue in this worlde whiche is to cause you to knowe my euill and paine I beséeche you to consider it by my silence and the little power that I haue to declare it or of your selfe to bestowe the soueraigne graces that the Gods haue gyuen you to thinke vppon the default of my purposes for why by this meanes I am fast and sure that ye shall knowe the thing that I sâ—â—fer althoughe I can not expresse it The complaynt of Daraida In the .12 booke the .9 Chapter ALas fayre Diana howe greatly doth the clearenesse of thy beames negligently spread in this medowe encrease my anguishes and heauie thoughtes For by thy light as cleare as Siluer thou renuest my memorie of hir that doth shine with much greater beautie vpon my heart than thou doest nowe vpon the earth the whiche with lesse care than thou dothe burne by day through hir sight by night by hir remeÌ„brance hir continuall clearnesse vpon me O Madame Diana the too cruell Gods haue willed that ye in the night should reioyce you in the portraiture of youre Daraide whome you haue in your companie and that Daraida separated from you had onely the meane to contemplate hir that doth shine throughout all the world with the same name that ye haue but not with such a beautie The complaynte of Daraide In the .12 Booke the .9 Chapter SEing it iâ— my Ladie Diana that the Gods haue giuen to your highnesse a beautie sufficient to embrace all creatures that may comprehende it neuer so little howe can you accuse the flames with the whiche I burne through youre meanes séeing that they discouer themselues in the presence of hir that of hir selfe did kindle them Alas Madame beholde howe your knight is well nighe brought to Ashes and howe all the teares that roll from his two eyes yea rather from hys two Ryuers all along hys heauie face coulde not suffise to temper the fyres of your vniust and obstinate cruelnesse O me miserable what shall I doe more than to make you knowe my euill I vndoe my selfe and those that doe make mée slacke to tell you and so muche the more I slacke the hope of my remedie O loue I pray thée from henceforth to giue some rest to my dolours and paynes eyther by a more fortunate lyfe or by a nighe and a shorte death Alas I die and yée Madame whiche is the occasâ—on haue no pitie of him that pyneth awaye in a desperate martyrdome and torment for youre loue Consider that if for a tyme yée shoulde forgette youre great and soueraigne perfâ—ctions yée woulde soone remember the greatnesse of my merites and of that wherein the extreamitie of my passion dothe bynde you to mée wardes Alas Madame howe muche the better shoulde yée knowe my tormentes my martyrdome my dolours my sighes my trauelles and the burning flames of my loue if yée woulde regarde them hauing no respecte to that diuine beauâ—ye the whiche dothe lette that no man canne bée worthye to haue you if it bée not one of the highe and soueraigne Gods immortall But alas my extréeme euill fortune willeth that I after the fashion of a Pecocke should deface the fayre wheele conceyued by the hope of my thoughte beholding the sylthinesse or foulenesse of the feete whiche is the least and fewest merites that I knowe in my self Thus madame the knowledge of your highnesse doeth let you to estâ—â—me my smalnesse The letter of Filisell of Montespin to Marfira praying hir to take pitie of the torment that he suffred for hir loue and to giue him a meane to speake with hir In the .12 booke the 13. Chapter DOm Filisell of Montespin doeth send to the fayre and gracious laâ—â—e Marfira health and good fortune the which he himselfe hath lost by the violence of hir diuine beautie I knowe not madame whereof I shoulde moste complayne mée eyther of the payne that I suffer for your loue or of the thing that I may not cause you to knowe to be suche as I féle it for by this meane my payne is so greately tormented willing to expresse it by my wordes as I am my self tormented that I haue not the power to expresse it But O I well
or euer ye my Lord and cousin arriued and came hither we were gathered togither in thys place to prouide for the same and now that we fynde you so conformable to our willes I am sure that there is none of vs that thinketh any other thing but that fortune doth call vs to performe it and end it promising vs certen victorie being pensife sory for the fauor that she hath borne thus loÌ„g to king Lisuard the which at this present in no wise doth know himselfe and that it is so what hath he to do to sende my sister against hir will into a straunge countrey hath the king my father giuen hir vnto him to do his pleasure with hir ye knowe that a little after our departing out of Englande I sent to the Quéene for hir but she refused me that sending me word by Gandales that she would sée hir intreated nourished as hir proper person Is this the good intreating that she hath kept for hir at the last to destroy hir hath Mabile no nother place to conuey hir selfe vnto but to the Emperours house Is not the Realme of Scotland rich ynough to nourish and to bring hir vp by God this manner of doing of king Lisuard is so vnfortunable and so farre out of reason that I had rather die a huÌ„dreth fold if it were possible than not to be reuenged and already I haue sent to my father to prouide therefore In the meane while I pray you all my Lords to ayde me and you specially whome this iniurie doth touch in a manner as well as me being done not only to my sister your cousin and nigh parente but to Olinda and other of whome folowing the thing that we haue promised and sworne as my Lorde Amadis hath saide we ought to be the protectors and defenders The Oration of Grasind to those of the enclosed I le praising their enterprise going to succoure Oriane and hir damsels In the .3 booke and .17 Chapter BY my God your enterprise is high and worthy of very greate laude and prayse considering that besides the good that ye do to them that ye go to help and succcoure ye shall ensue and follow the other good knights the whiche are of this countrie or strangers so that from hencefoorth men shal not suffer folowing you that any man should do wrong to any Lady or to any other damsell And therefore ye shal so indet them that both they and these that be and that shal come a hundred yeares and mo hereafter shall thanke you King Lisuards Oration to my Lady Oriane his daughter exhorting hir to allow the mariage to be good that he hathe vndertaken to make of hir with the Emperoure In the 3. booke the .18 Chapter MY welbeloued ye haue alwayes shewed your selfe obedient to my will without any contradiction and will ye not continue still as reason willeth you ye melancoly your selfe as farre foorth as I see for the mariage that I haue found out for you whereof I do greatly maruell Estéeme you that I would once thinke to do any thing that shoulde not turne to your honoure and profite Thinke you that I am of so euill a nature towardes you I sweare vnto you by my faith that the amitie that I beare you is so certein and sure that I haue no lesse heauinesse for your departing from hence than â—e haue But ye know that it should be impossible to prouide for you so well as vnto my selfe Therfore I pray you vsing your accustomable wisedom to make better cheere and to reioice your selfe of the goodnesse that is chanced vnto being the wife of the greatest prince of all the world And if ye do that ye shall besides that ye shall be esteemed receiue and comfort your father the which is as heauy of your anoyance as nothing more The answer of Oriane to king Lisuard hir father declaring vnto him the great wroÌ„g that he doth hir to marrie hir against hir will. In the .3 booke the .17 Chapter MY Lord ye haue theÌ„ as farre foorth as I sée resolued the mariage of me and the Emperoure It may be that ye haue made one of the greatest faults that any Prince can do for first of all I will neuer loue the husband that ye gyue me and I am well assured and certaine as I haue declared vnto you not long since that Rome shall neuer sée me willing rather to fall into the mercie of fishes than to dwell in a place wherevnto I haue no desire or affection Now I cannot thinke what hath induced you or perswaded you to do this but the loue that ye beare to my sister and the desire that ye haue to leaue hir your sole heyre and me the moste miserable damsell of all the world but God that is iust wyll not suffer that your intention so vnreasonable shall come to effect but rather shal send death vnto me if it so please him Amadis Oration to his companions admonishing them to take good courage to succoure in so great neede so many noble damsels In the selfe same Chapter MY companions and friends were it not for the assuraÌ„ce that I haue of the vertue and magnanimitie that is in you all I without doubt would refraine to put in aduenture the battell that we sée is ready if we would take it in hande But yet I knowing you to be such as ye are indéede and also the iust occasion for the which we are entred and haue taken the sea I thinke that we shuld not delay it but to cast away all feare to deliuer froÌ„ captiuitie so many desolate damsels the whiche call vnto vs to succoure and to help them by the only obligation and band that we haue to defend their libertie Therefore I beséech you let vs so liuely set vpon these shippes in such sort y setting these ladies out of danger their coÌ„ductors shal neuer bring newes to their Emperour The complainte of Queene Sardamire for the Prince Salust Quide complayning of the euilles and miseries that were to come In the .4 booke the .1 Chapter ALas fortune doth now shew that she will go not only to the ruine and destruction of vs miserable captiues but of the Emperoure and of al his Empire Ah ah poore prince euill lucke hath méetely well runned vpon thee Alas what losse and what heauinesse shall they haue for euer that loued thée when they shall know thy sodein end I cannot tell how thy master may support it and beare it but I beléeue that he shal not so soone heare the newes but that he shal die throgh great anger hauing a good cause for the losse at once of so many great vessels and good men and specially for you my Lady que she to Oriane whome he desired much more than any thing of this world and for whome from hencefoorth shall be moued so strange warres that néedes it must be for many good knights most cruelly to finish and to ende their dayes
his owne affection And so thou shalt haue in remembrance as well to hide my thought as I haue had paine first to open it vnto thée The answere of the dwarffe Busaneo to Niquea assuring hir so to be hirs that he woulde not to die for it doe the thing that should offend hir In the .8 booke the .18 Chapter PArdon me Madam for ye doe me wrong beyng in doubte that I am any other than obedient to youre will. Also I would sooner chose to die than for any thing to transgresse it beséeching you moste humbly to beléeue that your Busando hath no more power vpon himselfe than it pleaseth you â—o giue him So then commaund him hardly all that shal please you and with so much faithe that he shall kéepe it so close as though ye had shewed it to no other but to your owne soule estéeming me to be so greatly beloued of vertue that she as touching me shall ouercome all things that I may thinke to be contrarie vnto it The Oration of the knight of the burning sworde to Lucelle the Princesse of Siceli declaring â—nto hir that he is vehemently wounded with hir loue â—umbly beseeching hir to feele in hir selfe this great amitie and to haue pitie of hys payne and dolour In the .8 booke the .21 Chapter WOuld God Madame that loue had as well employed his forces and strength vpon you to my aduantage as he hath willed to do towardes me making me wholly yours and so greatly affectioned to honour you and to serue you that if all things went by reason the flames that burne my heauie hearte shoulde be the meane to giue me suche quiet and rest that you your selfe féeling the thing that causeth me to suffer would blame your selfe to esteeme and thinke your selfe so cruell But séeing that my euill houre dothe consent that I alone should suffer I estéeme the trauel fortunate and luckie if it content you trusting that I knowyng my selfe such as touching you wil haue pitie vpon me if not shortly at least waye in time trusting so in your goodnesse honestie that ye knowing that ye are the cause of my martyrdome will not be so cruell as to suffer suche a knight as I am and onely borne in this worlde to obey you and to â—â—eâ—se you in all that yée shall thinke good to commaunde hym to dye so miserably and wretchedly The answere of Lucelle to the knight of the burning sworde causyng hym to vnderstande that she beareth him as good affection as she maye in true and faythfull amitie and to marrie together if she maye doe it In the .8 boke the .21 Chapter AH ah my friende quod the Princesse howe say you that to me thinke ye that I holde you so farre from reason to thinke in your minde that I would knowledge the seruices that ye haue done for me to be things vnmete for my honor Beléeue me that ye shall not liue béeing deceiued in the loue that ye beare me for I loue estéeme you so muche that if all the Monarchie of the world were set on the one part and you alone on the other and that the one and the other wer at my commaundement I would accept and choose you for my onely lorde and husbande rather than to remayne ladie and empresse of the rest And this is it that causeth me to be very sure that your heart doth not desire nor would not thinke vpon any thing wherof my reputation might haue any â—lur or the least blame that any man might presume Likewyse I will sweare vnto you that no other but you shall at anye time possesse my heart for it is and shall be yours as long as I haue life in my body to will you well The knight of the burning swords letter surnamed Amadis of Grece ansvvering to Niqueas letter aduertising hir that he is redy to come to see hir seing she hath graunted him hir good grace the which shal cause him liue content In the .8 boke the .22 chapter MAdame I haue receyued the letter whiche it hath pleased you to write to me by this bearer and reading it I by by felt my heart inclined to doe you all the seruice that shall please you to haue of it desiring no greater goodnesse than to sée and to enioy your presence being well assured that my eyes receiuing this fortune that your two swéet and pitifull eyes shall haue compassion of the euill that I suffer for the thing that I neuer offended So that I ye giuing me a certaine parte in your good grace shall lyue contente and you obeyed and honoured by him vpon whom you haue entier commaundement the which desireth you to doe so much for him as to suffer and to set an order that he may sée you and kisse your diuine handes recognisyng the grace and fauour that ye haue shewed him sending him worde of youre will by Busande the whiche he shal take payn to accomplish euen as I haue prayed him to shewe you by mouth whome ye may beléeue if it so please you as from your most humble and obedient seruant the knight of the burning sworde The complaint of Onoloria for the absence of Lisuard and and therfore she prayeth him to haue pitie of hir extreame dolour and to come vnto hir In the .8 boke the .36 Chapter ALas my deare friende wherevppon thinke ye nowe to leaue hir thus alone and not fauoured whose esperance and hope is more than halfe dead For as the shadowe doth augmente at the departing and going downe of the Sunne and rendereth terrour obscuritie and darkenesse to fearfull and not well assured heartes in lyke manner feare you beyng absente and out of my syght dothe holde me so assieged that it forâ—aketh me not one houre but dothe what it can or may to cause me to léese you and my lyfe together Therefore nowe O my swéete lyght and my onely sun aduance you come to giue cléerenesse to my spirite whiche is now so obscured and dusked with mortall noysomnesse that the first newes that ye shall heare of me poore woman shal be as I thinke the desperate ende of your Onolorie the whiche doth no lesse serue you and call you to hir helpe and succour than she is easye and ioyfull of your libertie and deliuerance The Oration of a Trumpeter to Queene Liberna from the people of Abernis praying hir to excuse them and to pardon theyr faulte that they haue committed against hir Maiestie In the .8 booke the 31. Chapter MAdam your humble subiects constrained by the violence of Abernis to take armes and to warre against you doe praye you in all humilitie to receiue them from henceforthe vnto your good grace and to forget the faulte that they haue committed against your maiestie vnder this charge and condition that in time to come they shall be faithfull and obedient so much or more vnto you as other subiectes or vassalles the which are in other prouinces and countreys The Queenes
and such as is necessarie for you for the glorie of his holy will. The letter of Abra to Lisuarde by the which she comforâ—eth him for the losse of his wife and of his sonne aduertising him that he ought to search hir amityes with promise to graunt it him In the .8 Booke the .71 Chapter ABra the Empresse of the Babilonians Princesse of the Parthes and commaunding thréescore kings my vassalles gréeteth you Lisuard of Greece Emperor of Trebisond halower of the waters of the Sea with the royal bloud of Zair my very honorable Lord and brother Ye shall vnderstand noble prince that yesterday very lately I knew of the visitation that fortune hath made you by the death of your dere spouse and of your onely sonne Amadis of Greece whereof I promis you I was greatly displeased For notwithstaÌ„ding that the obligatioÌ„ that I haue to the iust vengeance of him of whom I am sole inheriter and to the wrong as ye know that you your selfe did me do greatly constrayne me to hate you to death yet cruell loue that doth dayly vndermind my heauie heart to loue you but too much will not suffer it to consent to the ruine and destruction that I haue prepared for you The whiche truly doth cause me to name you and that of right a louer and a friend of the high Gods the whiche haue founde and thought it good to proue your courage and extreame constancie not onely by the strength of manye a braue man and beastes more cruell the whiche ye haue conquered and tamed but also with the rodde of their might and supreme power they haue punished you with so hard and gréeuous persecutioÌ„ that I being your enimie as I am haue felt it in my soule so that I wept with both my eyes iudging thereby what that dolour and heauinesse might be that ye suffered for the losse of your wife and louer so déere and your only sonne so commeÌ„dable And yet being true as it is true indéede that the consolation of the vnfortunate is to find their like Yet ye haue some occasion to moderate this greate anoyance by that that I beare euen such another or there lacketh very little as yours is Ye haue lost as men say your wife and I could neuer recouer him whome I only merited to haue to my Lord husband that is your selfe that hath made me oftentimes maruell howe it was possible that so great amitie might conceiue in heart so great hatred where such conformitie ought to be represented And yet if ye way all things well the time present doth shew you him whome ye ought to folow in time to come And that it is so ye sée the end wherevnto your great prosperities haue brought you The heauens are not alwayes in one being nor Lisuard also ought not to be continually victorious nor Abra alwayes ouercomde by him What then must I sorrow and be heauy for the mischance that maketh and aduanceth at the sight of the eye a better fortune than I may wish for and that doth promis me a sure recompence of the loue that I haue nourished so long in my soule yea and vntill he put him into my hands that so cruelly and by so many long dayes hath illuminated and inflamed my heart the which I already haue almost distild in the fire of Ielously Truly all things well considered it séemeth Lisuard that the time approcheth in the which I may execute vpoÌ„ you the vengeaÌ„ce that ye haue merited finishing my anguishes and the hatred that I beare you by the augmentation and increacement of loue the Gods giuing you the knowledge of the euill that ye haue done me with the will to aske me pardon and me to graunt it you Therefore I counsel you to preuent the time and sooner to beléeue my aduice than your owne opinatiue will knowing the forces that I haue so nigh vnto you and well minded to do you more harme than I desire ye shoulde haue The answer of Lisuard to Abra giuing hir thanks for hir good will and that he feeleth himselfe very fortunate to be retayned in hir good grace and fauor In the .8 booke the .76 Chapter MAdame I haue presently receyued your letter that it pleased you to write vnto me and by the same ye do certifye me of the trouble and anoyance that ye felt for the vnfortunable chance that happened to my dere companion and spouse to my sonne Amadis and principally to my selfe for the loue of them For the which I cannot sufficiently thanke you assuring you that I estéemed no otherwise of your honestie knowing it to be no lesse accompanied with clemencie swéetenesse and naturall goodnesse thaÌ„ with vertue prudeÌ„cie and kingly nouriture Yet for al this I at the first was astonied how it might be possible that ye shoulde iudge me fortunate to be thus touched as I am with the rodde of God and to haue lost so much if it were not for this that I hope to haue for my pacience a reward in another life And moreouer I do maruell of this that ye mainteine and compare your losses to mine vnto the which vnder your correction there is no similitude at all For I haue lost my Lady and my louer and ye haue yet in me a seruant well affectioned and shall be as touching you all his life the honor and duetie of the estate reserued as it ought to be and in such sorte that notwithstanding the greate enmities that ye haue against him he will assay and inforce himselfe to obey honor and serue you Trusting so much in the goodnesse of God that promptly and within a short season my iustice shall be knowen and youre wrong made manifest reproued and of your owne proper conscience finished Ye furthermore write vnto me that the tyme dothe approch that fortune shall deliuer me into your handes in recompence of the paynes that ye haue suffered in louing me to much I know not why ye should hope so for the thing that ye haue already for I sweare vnto you by the God of heauen and of the earth that there is not a gentleman in all the world that is more yours and more at youre commaundement than I am or that loueth you so muche or more The whiche thyng ye shall knowe where and when it shall please you to commaunde me aduising you for the rest not to trust so much in fortune as ye séeme to doe For althoughe she hathe for a trouth bene now entierly againste me it is not said that she will fauor you in all poyntes iudging in your selfe as ye very well doe counsell me One good thing I haue that the threatning that ye about the latter end of your letter do threaten me withal doth so much assure me that I feare a great deale more the swéete casting of your swéete eyes than the fury of all your souldiers togither kissing for the rest the handes of youre highnesse euen the same that desireth to haue a
made of Diamondes when my Ladie youre mother wanne the inestimable Crowne and all this by the force of true and vnfeigned loue I cannot by my fayth nor I should not saye but that all the goodnesse remayned in them and the euill in you alone or that Nature in place to giue you an heart lyke vnto these hath prouided you the heart of a Tyger or of some other more fierce beast if euer there were anie But alas what profite is this for you I praye you to sée mée nowe depriued both of you and of the worlde and to haue forsaken Father Parentes goodes and all pleasure to lament your deathe the whiche I helde for sure Thinke yée nothing then of the force of this extréeme loue and of the hatred that ye shewe mée In good fayth Amadis yée shoulde dye for verye shame and complayne wyth mée for euer for the wrong that you haue done me the whiche is to mée so great a griefe and so vneasie to susteyne that I purpose to reserue my lyfe as long as I maye not for anie ease that I hope for but to finde a meane to reuenge mée and in reuenging of my selfe to lyue longâ— and in lyuing to make and cause the fault that cannot 〈◊〉 to liue in you so long as ye shall féele and perceyue that shée is among the liuing of whome ye neuer deserued the least fauour of a thousande that shée deserued And I pray the iust Iudge of your iniquitie and of my iustice to giue you at the least the knowledge of your sinne of my innocencie and of my too singular and perfite loue Amadis of Grece answering Lucelle dothe confesse that heâ— hath done hir a wrong irrecuparable he requyreth pardon and finally he excuseth him by loue In the .8 Booke the 93. Chapter MAdame receyuing the letter that it pleased you to write to me by this Gentleman the present bearer thereof I haue receyued therewith in my soule all the displeasure that reasonably ye may haue in yours Yet I pray you first or euer I enter into my purpose or matter with you to beléeue that I haue no enuie nor pretence in any maner of sort to vse any cloking or any excuse towards you that I should not confesse to haue done you a wroÌ„g irrecuparable so great an offence that it is out of my power at any time to satisfie you if you vsing your natural goodnesse vertuous condition do not cast the blame froÌ„ me vpoÌ„ the puissance power of loue And yet that notwithstanding it séemeth to me very conuenient to answer you somewhat to the thing that ye accuse me of demaunding by the discourse of your letter if as yet I be the self same man of whome the renoume hath left his marke of glorie both in the East and in the West I ensure you Madame that I am euen he himselfe the which vnder your fauour and through the desert and merite of the excellencie of your beautie hath at sometimes obteyned the renowme of valiantnesse and chiualrie through the merite I say of you for withoute the continuall remembrance of your presence that then did accompanie me It had béene vneasie yea truely impossible to haue ended the high enterprises that I haue finished Therefore if there chaunced any glorie it redounded to you onely and not to me But as touching the blame that ye set before my eyes saying that I haue abused you vnder the colour of promise of mariage that was betwéene you and me ye shall pardon me if it please you for ye knowe right well that the last purpose and communication that we had togyther was that I shoulde aske you of the king your father to my wife without going any further eche of vs by this meanes remayning iâ—â—frâ—â— and pure libertie but loue since that hath so rauished me that as ye haue vnderstanded it constrayned me to chaunge my name and habite and to take a womans or a maydens to come to the thing wherevnto hée presented me whereof I am nothing reprehensible for neither name nor straunge habite shall euer diminish the force and the good houre and fortune of Amadis béeing victorious vppon the Prince of Tâ—race by the victorie that happened to Nereide the which vnder this colour hath obteyned and enioyed hir of whome ye your selfe may giue perfite witnesse and of hir perfite and incomparable beautie For ye sawe hir twice once in the Castell of secretes and againe in hir glorie with good and fayre companie And as concerning the faythfulnesse of my Parentes the which ye paint vnto mée verie liuely I pray you Madame to consider that béeing a man as other bée it is no maruell that such a one the which by the giftes of grace and of nature that are in hir mighte ouercome the moste perfitest that euer lyued hath brought mée to the number of them but this is a thing almoste oute of nature and incredible that I whome ye wanne in the garment of a Knight hathe wonne hir in the habite and vesture of a Damsell béeing a slaue and to conquere hir to my wife and Spouse suche as she is to mée at thys present And neuerthelesse because that it is done and that the stone â—he which is cast is irreuocable I pray you moste humblie not to take it to the worst but to moderate the anger that ye haue agaynste mée as I haue seene and perceyued aboute the ende of your letter where yée saye that ye will conserue your life to purchase and that verie long the vengeance of the wrong that I haue done you Certes Madame if by my death ye might remaine satisfied I shoulde holde and thinke my selfe verie fortunate for I knowe no torment that I with a good heart woulde not suffer for you so it were giuen me by your meanes and so doing it might also deface a part of my fault to your contentation and to satisfie it in some sort I purpose to sée you shortlyer than you wée 〈◊〉 and I asking you pardon to execute vpon my selfe all the cruelnesse that ye shall ordeyne for me and that with my owne handes for of your bringing vppe in all workes of vertue he cannot receyue but all goodnesse whome yée holde for your syngular enimy and he you for his honourable Ladie vnto whom he presenteth his most humble recommendations willing to remaine for euer your most obedient and affectionate seruant Amadis of Grece Letters from Zahara to the Princes beeing at Trebisonde praying the Emperour of Trebisonde and Amadis of Grece to giue the order of knighthood to Anaxartes and to Alastraxerce his Sonne and Daughter In the .9 Booke the .6 Chapter LOrdes and Ladies since our last séeing one another that was at Trebisonde it hath pleased the Consistorie of the soueraigne Gods to receyue me into their diuine companie communicating in me the séede of the God Mars of whome I am so greatly loued and he willeth me so well that he receyuing and accepting me for
rigorously answer the letters of Dom Florisell denying him to be the knight of the she shepeherd In the .9 booke the .34 Chapter I Cannot maruell ynough of your presumption that hathe enterprised to write me the letter that ye haue sent me by the whiche it is easy to knowe that ye go about to deceiue me and to robbe me of the thing that I haue so derely keptâ— vnto this present time and that is promised long since to another that doth deserue it but be ye sure that your fayned and swéete words shall not cause me to consent and agrée to your yll will for I haue well learned God be thanked to kéepe me and to defend me from such assaultes Furthermore if I were at my libertie and power estéeme you that I would so much abase my selfe that am a kings daughter to giue me to a wandring knight and vnknowen as ye are thinke you that I know not who the knight of the she shepeherd is whose name ye do vsurp in your letter Truely to make me beléeue that ye shuld haue shewed your self a little more modest and haue done an act of a greater vertue and valiantnesse than that that ye did the day before when ye outraged my dwarffe in my presence Leaue off therefore to trouble me any more with your letters or by any other maner of meanes and looke that from hencefoorth ye haue a greter consideration and respect to my highnesse and place that I cam fro or else I may aduertise such men that shall cause you to féele your follie The letters of Dom Florisell of Niquea to fayre Helen princesse of Apolonia by the which he doth affirme that he is the knight of the she shepeherd and if that she desire hys death more than to loue him he is purposed to die In the 9. booke the .35 Chapter RIght excellent princesse the knight of the she shepeherd destitute of all health doth send you such as his misfortune doth suffer him I haue receiued the letters the whiche it hath pleased your highnesse to send me by that which I haue perceyued and knowen that ye féele your selfe greatly offendâ—â— for that that loue onely constrayned me to gyue you knowledge of trusting to recouer of you some grace and fauor but séeing that in the place thereof I haue found anger and disdayne with hard threatnings to cause me to féele my presumption I thinke that I cannot better satisfye you for the vengeance that ye desire than with good heart to receyue dolorous death the which I shall find more swéete and amiable than to liue not hauing your grace and fauor But yet before I do execution I was well willing to sende you thys present letter to giue you knowledge that my loue and extreme affection towardes you is not fained nor the surname that I beare as ye send me word falsely vsurped trusting that before my death or after ye shall surely know it and then it maye be ye will be sorieâ— that ye haue vsed so great cruelnesse towardes him that loueth you more than his owne soule the which tarying your answer and latter sentence of death doth pray the creator to mainteine you for euer in ioy and contentation Your most humble and affectionate seruant the knight of the she shepherde Letters from the Princesse Siluia to Dom Florisell of Niquea aduertising hym that she is maried and that she is hys aunte praying hym to abstayne to loue hir and so doing she wyll moue the mariage betweene hym and Alastraxeree In the .9 booke the .38 Chapter REmembring the entier and perfect loue that ye haue borne me Lorde Florisell in lyke manner the greate goodes and honoure that I doe nowe enioye by yours meanes I woulde not fayle in recognising of thys to wrighte thys presente letter vnto you to aduertise you that since that the fortune of the Sea separated vs the one from the other beyng at the fountayne of loue of Anastarax readye to kill my selfe with your owne sworde for the great sorowâ— and heauinesse that I had of youre misfortune and mâ—â—â— the Princesse of Alastraxeree came sodenly vnto vs and saued me from falling into this inconuenience and conducted me to the hel of Anastarax who was taken out and deliuered by the meanes of hir and me and to recompence so great and so good a déede he hath maried me and after the solemnitie thereof was done I by a straunge aduenture was found to be the Emperoure Lisuard of Greece daughter and so your fathers sister Therefore I pray you to transmute and to change this loue and vehement affection that ye beare me to the princesse of Alastraxerce the which for the conformitie of the greate vertues valiantnesse and beauties that are in you both doth only merit and deserue to haue you and as I thinke I cannot giue you a better nor a more condigâ—e recompence for so many trauelles as ye haue taken and suffered for me than to moue the mariage of you and hir whome I haue prayde and desired not to depart from this countrey vntill I haue receiued newes from you Therefore I pray you as much as I may possible to come hither assoone as ye can haue oportunitie that we may set some order whilest occasion doth present it self As touching the rest bicause that this gentleman may shew you by mouth all that is past and done here since the deliuerance of prince Anastarax my déere louer and spouse I wil make an end at this present of the which I desire that Darinell maye be partaker praying the Lord God to giue you the fulfilling of your good desiresâ— after that I haue with good heart presented my recommendations vnto your good grace Your aunt and perfect louer Siluie Dom Florisell of Niquea doth answer the letters of his aunte saying that he is very well eased and ioyfull of hir recognissance as well for the place that she is come from as to be out of the payne that he suffered for hir loue In the .9 boke the .41 Chapter MAdame I haue receiued your letters and by thâ—â— I haue vnderstanded the newes of your commyng to the principalitie of Niquea likewise the consanguinitie betwéene you and me whereof I am as ioyfull as of any thing that might haue happened to me in this worlde bicause that my heart from hencefoorth shal be exempt from the amorouse passioâ— that it hath suffered for the loue of you not knowyng the excellencie of the place from whence ye are issued and come fro and you of your side shal be quited and deliuered of the obligation and promisse that ye made me to content and satisfie me of the thing that so often I required of you if perchaunce the Prince Anastarax should haue refused you the which thing our Lord God hath not suffered nor woulde not frustrate you of your vertues whereof I giue him immortall thankes as to him that hath kepte vs both from committing the thing against his honour and commaundement By
my truth this name of a shee shepherd is not vnconuenient nor vnâ—eete for you and I beleue that this was a certen foreknowledge that ye should one day conduct and leade this vertuous â—â—ocke that is to say all this people which are so obedient vnto you whose loue ye haue acquired and gotten not by the greatnesse of your linage but by your vertue onely of the which I thinke that there is noman that can beare more certen or truer witnesse thaÌ„ I bicause I haue accompanied you into the places where it was néede to shewe it whereof ye merite and deserue great honour but I will not rest nor tary vpon this for neither my spirite nor my hande are able to exalt nor to giue it the place that it deserueth Therfore leauing this charge to perfect Orators and true Chroniclers I wil at this time make an end nor I shall not sende you at this time other newes of auentures that haue chaunced me since that we were separated by the sea bicause I estéeme that your Darinell whiche went to séeke you assoone as I had deliuered him your letters may shew you them for he hath continually kepte me companie and as I hope I will be there shortly after I be hâ—aled of certain woundes which I tooke in a combat vpon my iourney of Apolonia wherof this your Gentleman the bearer of this may tell you the occasion and against whome In the meane season my Lady my Aunt I recommende me moste humbly to your good grace and to all your noble coÌ„panie specially to my Lady Princesse Alastraxeree whome I greatly desire to sée praying the eternall God to maintayne you in his grace and fauour Written in the kingdome of Apolonia by your moste humble and obedient seruant and Neuew Florisel of Niquea Astibel of Sciences letters to Arlande the Princesse of Thrâ—â—â— by the which shee sheweth hir the maner how to reuenge the death of hir brother and to enioy hir loue In the .9 Booke the .50 Chapter MAdame I haue bene very ioyfull to vnderstand the imprisonment that ye haue caused of the infant Alastraxeree and of the Prince Dom Florisel of Niquea trusting that your excellencie shall receyue by this meanes the â—ontentation of your spirite and minde and the vengeance of the death of my Lord Prince your brother but forasmuch as I haue founde by my arte Magike that king Amadis of France the Emperours of Constantinople and Tâ—ebisonde and other Princes and Princesses their fréedes alies are bewitched in the towre of Vniuerse and ought to be deliuered within this yéere for this cause I was well willing to aduertise you to prouide for all inconueniences that may chaunce and how â—ée might by this one meanes take vengeance of Dom Florisel of Niquea your prisoner of his Father and Mother and generally of all his nexte kinsefolkes that is to sende incontinently the infant Alastraxeree to the towre of Vniuerse to take héede that no person doe enter to sée the auenture and to finishe and make an ende of the inchantement and witchcraft knowing that it shall come well to passe seing the great valiantnesse force and magnanimitie that doth associate hir aboue all other of the earth And if shée kéepe the peace I that during assure you that then for all the rest of their liues shall continue bewitched nor Dom Florisel shall not departe from your prison if it be not your pleasure Thus yée shall not onely reuenge your selfe of those that yée desire but furthermore yee shall haue a meane and a commoditie to come to the possession of twoo Empires by the aliance that ye may make with him whome yée loue the whiche he shall willingly accept to be at libertie and out of your prisons Therefore Madame it shall please you spéedely to aduise you in asmuch as ye loue the repose and quietnesse of your minde the which shal be the way for me to pray him that is to mayntaine you in his fauour and grace recommending me most humbly to yours By your humble Astibel of Sciences Letters of the infant Alastraxeree to the Princesses Helen of Apolonia and Timbrie of Boetia declaring vnto them the cauteles wherewith she and Dom Florisel of Niquea abused Arlande the Princesse of Thrace In the .9 booke the 50. Chapter RIâ—ht excellent Princesses knowing in you the zele of perfect amitie the whiche yée beare to Dom Florisel of Niquea as euery one of you declared to me with hir owne mouth when ye tooke me for him nigh vnto the hermitage of Almond trées I woulde not â—ayle seyng the commoditie to certifie you of these newes Therefore my Ladies yée shall know vnderstand that he is well as coÌ„cerning the dispositioÌ„ of his body but I thinke that his spirit is somwhat troubled bicause he is fallen arested prisoner in the handes of Arlande princesse of Thrace the whiche was purposed to reuenge hir vpon him for the death of hir brother Balarte slaine in the close campe by Amadis of Greece his father and I beléeue that shée would haue put him by and by to death after he was are sâ—eâ— in the Castell of the Glasse of loue if he had not auised him to vsurpe my name say that he was Alastraxeree bicause that he and I are very like as ye know and so lyke that the knightes which toke him and beleuing his saying to be true brought him into the citie of Thrace where the King and the Princesse Arlande receyued him very humaynely for me and he hath playde his personage vnto this day so well in a womans garment wherewith the Princesse presented him that it is impossible to doe it better whereof I greaâ—ly thanke him Now it chaunced that I goyng to the Castell of the Blasse of loues was auertised by a straunge auenture of his good subtiltie whereof my Damselles will certifie you and afterwarde I as fortune would was arested euen as Dom Florisel was whose name I vsurped bicause he should not be discouered and for suche a one I was caried to Arlande into a house of pleasure where shée helde me fast and close dayly solicited me to loue hir vsing to mewards gestures and amorous countenances nother lesse nor more than if she had spoken to Florisell but I can so well entertayne hir and content hir with woordes that as I hope shée beyng more priny with me will set him shortly at libertie and when he shal be so I trust that he wil finde the meanes to set me likewise at libertie Thus my Ladies I shall present my recommendations to your good graces praying the great God to mayntayne you in his protection Your cousin good freende the diuine Alastraxeree the daughter of Mars Letters from Helen of Apolonia and from Timbre of Bâ—etia to the infant Alastraxeree with the whiche they laude and exalte hyr greatly bringyng to this purpose diuers olde examples In the .9 Booke the .53 Chapter MOst excellent Lady we haue perceyued by your
Damselles the good subtiltie that ye haue vsed to finde â— mâ—â—nes for the deliueraÌ„ce of Doâ— Floâ—isâ—lâ— the which is fallen into the handes of the Princesse Arlande of Thrace a thing that ought to make you immortall for euer seeing the danger that ye put your selfe in to shewe so perfect amitie And to shewe you truly what we doe thinke we fynd the acts that ye haue done and doe so excellente and noble that by good reason all the worlde shoulde wishe for suche a personage as was the Grecian Homere to describe your high and heroicall actes to giue an ensample to the posteritie and to intiâ—e them to ensue the lyke Great Alexander néedeth not to goe before you nor Anniball nor yet the Scipions for if they haue had great victories it hath hene with the multitude of men but you alone haue wonne so muche that yée ought to holde and kéepe the hyghest roome not onely among the wyse and valiant men but also among the women more noble All the hygh acts of armes that the noble Quéen Gradafilea did ought in nothing to be compared to yours for al that she euer did was through the force of loue whiche is inuincible and to conserue hir integritie but ye were only moued by a certaine naturall and natiue vertue to doe him good whom ye in no maner of wise knowe not and not to him onely but to all those vnto whom ye perceyued iniurie and extortion to be doone the glorie and the laude whereof redoundeth vnto you Certainly the faire and chaste Iudith that cut cruell Holofâ—rneâ— head off to obserue and kéepe hir chastitie nor Cleopatra that ouercame hir brother Ptolome nor Quéene Fantasâ—lea with many other ought in no wyse to be compared or made equall wyth you which dothe not onely excell all menne and women in vertue and valiantnesse but also in excellence and perfecte beautie exceptyng none nor thys fayre Syluia the whyche as wée haue vnderstanded ye preserued from cruell death when shée woulde haue slayne hir selfe nyghe vnto the Fountayn of loues of Anasterax â— for the absence of Dom Florisell the whyche is bounde vnto you all hys lyfe long and I also for the goodnesse that ye haue doone for me in sauyng of him Notwithstandyng truely as I thynke hée shoulde not séeing the promise that he made me at his departing from hence to be in Apolonia at the aduenture of the contention of the foure brethren haue strayed nor haue cast himselfe into so many ieopardous aduentures without sending mée newes of him yet I will not wryte vnto him least that presenting my fynger vnto him hée take the whole hands considering that his comming hyther shall certifie vs of his béeing so farre off and of his so grieuous absence so that it please you of your goodnesse to suffer him to returne vnto whome you and I are so much bounde for the goodnesse that we haue receyued of him that it is impossible for vs to satisfie him nor you to giue him condigne thankes But Madame we shall pray the Creator to giue you such and so good peace as we desire for the warre that doth torment vs presenting our most humble recommendations to your good Grace Your great friendes and readie to obey you Helen of Apoloniâ— and Tymbria of Boetia The defence of Raison vpon the difference of honour and loue In the .9 booke the .53 Chapter HOnour and you loue it greatly displeaseth me that yée cannot agrée as touching the health of these two armies yet forasmuche as the poynte and the truth of your rightes cannot be knowne but by the effusion of humaine bloude or by the victorie of one of these two armies the issue wherof â—oth depend of the will of God I can giue you no other counsel but to let your men ioyne to the ende that the vengeance and iudgement of God maye be vmpere and arbiter of your difference and debates A propheticall letter of Anaxenes a Philosopher and a calker to Dom Florisel of Niquea In the .9 booke the .54 Chapter MY Lorde the king Arpilion and the Quéene Galathea his verie deare companion and spouse haue charged me to present with a verie good heart their recommendations vnto your good grace and I of my part do no lesse which am theyr Philosopher and a master of arte Magicke Understand my Lordâ— that the goodnesse and valiantnesse which I know to be in you haue prouoked me to aduertise you oâ— certaine great adueâ—tures that shal chaunce vnto you the which I haue foreséene and knowne by my science learning and by the high secrets of arte Magicke and to the intent ye may auoyde and escape them with your honour I send you the helmet that yâ— lost in the sea when that by tempest ye were separated from Siluia the which shall doe you good seruice in a combat that two braue Lions shall make yea for the price of your bloud and there shall come forth of those that fight a light that now is hidden in déepe darknesse the which shall giue light to all those that thought to haue lost it and so well that your â—ead being deliuered from the perill the whiche ye shall sée before your eyes men shall sée an olde wounde renued in you the which shall put you to extreme paine and yet cannot be eased vntill this soueraine remedie shal be multiplied in you and in all those that shall sustaine your part shal be newe woundes whereout shall come a bloud that shall moyst all the lande of Grece by the meanes whereof your body shall be deliuered by a general effusion vntil the payment be perfit Nor the prince the Author of this warre nor his friendes nor confederates shall haue it no better cheape than you aduertising you that the tyme of moste greatest daunger wherein ye maye hée shall be euen then when that the Lion whiche ingendereth the lawfull and legitimate Lions shall finde him selfe in more perill than you And a little whyle after there shall come euen sodainly a Bastarde the which shall beat downe with his brighte and shining armes the glorie not hoped for Then shall arise the sixe bastards and little Lyons the which shall awake their fathers by a more strange fashion than the Lyons progenitours haue giuen lyfe to their little ones and all that with encreasement of your great honour and the inestimable effusion of bloud on the one syde and other Therfore take good héede at the beginning of this euill whereof ye shall haue cause to laude him continually that is laudable aboue all things by whose permission and sufferance all this shall be doone and ye shall daylye holde his diuine hande in your defence Therefore doubte not at all for all thing shall chaunce as I haue tolde you praying you not to be curious to knowe more vntill the soueraigne iudge shall haue executed his determination and will to shewe you a warre whereof peace shall procéede And in this behalf I shal pray
the moderatour of all things continually to maynteyne you in his protection Your humble seruaunt Anaxenes Philosopher and Magitian A letter from the Princesse Arlande to the infant Alastraxereâ— quyting hir of hir promise to the end she should not leese hym that she loueth and hateth more In the nynthâ— booke the .56 Chapter MAdam Alastraxeree the dolour accompanyed with an extreame anger that I haue had to see me abused by you â— Dom Florisell of Niquea hath so much preuailed vpoÌ„ me that to reuenge me of such a wrong I was willingâ— to procure his death and yours together you making request to goe to the Vniuerse Towre to fighte with him thinking that â—â—e medling of you twoâ— woulde make no ende without the deathe of one or of other or of bothe of you together but yet afterwardes I bethoughte and consydered in my selfe that hys deathe shoulde bée the cause of myne For the greate and extreme loue as ye doe knowe that I bare hym then I thought it best to desist from this vengeance and to vse humanitie and swéetenesse towards him the whiche he hath not deserued And therefore madame my will was to send this my damsell vnto you to pray you to ceasse and desist from the promis that ye haue made me of the whiche I do quite you by this present letter wherein ye shall finde my humble recommendations to youre good grace praying the soueraigne God to giue me so much grace and fauor that Dom Florisell may once know the entier loue that I beare him and the great wroÌ„g that he disdayning my aliance hath done me Your Arlanda princesse of Thrace Dom Florisell of Niquea excuseth himselfe in his letters that he hath not kept his promis the which he made to the princesse Helen of Apolonia In the .9 booke the .57 Chapter MAdame since my departing from Apolonia where youre grace did me so much good and so well receiued me I haue bin in diuers and many strange aduentures being so farre from you otherwise than I trusted so that I had not the meane nor way to accomplish the promis that I taking my leaue of you at the Abbay of Rois made you whereof I haue bin and am in such a perplexitie that it is impossible for me to declare it by letters assuring you for all that that no other thing hath constrayued me to absent me so long time from your presence but the honor that all knights are bound vnto Therefore I beseech you most humbly not to put me in any fault and to thinke that assoone as I may haue the ways and meane to come to you there shall be no fault nor let but that I will come the which thing I trust surely to do when I depart from hence where I am constrayned by promisse to remayne for a time as Darinell thys present bearer maye shewe you whome ye knowe to be faythfull and secret the whych shall let me at this time to write any longer letters praying you in the meane while to do me so much pleasure as to write me newes of you for there is nothing in thys world that I desire more to know Thus much madame after that I prayed most humbly the Lord to maintaine and to kéepe you in his grace and fauor recommending me with good heart to yours and to that of my Lady Timbria You re faithfull and very affectionate seruant the knight of the she shepeherde The Princesse Helen of Apolonia making an answer to Dom Florisels letters doth send him word that the amitie that she doth beare him cannot suffer hir to keepe hir faith that she hath promised Dom Lucidor In the .9 booke the .58 Chapter LOrd Dom Florisell I haue receiued the letter that it hath pleased you to write me by Darinell the whiche hath certified me of a great part of the aduentures that haue chanced vnto you since ye departed out of this conntrey and therwith of the enterprise that ye haue done in kéeping the toure of Vniuerse for a certaine time the which I desire to be shortly accâ—mplished that ye might shortly come hither to gyue consolation vnto my féeble spirite the which hath bin continually in wrapped since your absence in melancolie heauinesse Alas how oftentimes haue I bene at a point to put my selfe in ieopardy to recouer you Certenly if I coulde haue founde any good meane to haue come thether where ye were be you assured I woulde not haue shewed my selfe slouthfull to haue departed nor the honoure nor reuerence that I owe vnto my father shoulde haue turned me and the fayth much lesse that I haue promised to Dom Lucidor the whiche by my consente shall neuer haue anye part in me for the extreame loue and affection that I beare you cannot suffer it Consider therefore my déere friende the thyng that I doe in your fauor and be not vnthankfull to acknowledge it as I do not mistrust you considering the purpose that ye make me by your letters and the thing that Darinell hath told me praying you in the meane season to kéepe secret the loue that is betwéene vs two and to be a faithfull kéeper of my honor considering that fortune shall shew hir selfe to you and me hereafter more fauorable than she hath done in time past And in this hope I shall pray the creator to giue vs grace to come to our affectionate desire after that I haue presented my most humble recommendations vnto your good remembrance of the whiche my cousin Timbria doth desire to be partaker Your perfect louer Helen of Apolonia The Prince Anaxartes by letters doth shew fayre Oriana the loue that he dothe beare hir and so doing he forgetteth not to prayse hymselfe In the .9 booke the .64 Chapter RIght excellent princesse the diuine Anaxartes the sonne of Mars God of battels doth giue you such salutations as he desireth for himselfe Madame the wound and dolour that I haue receiued by the regard and sighte of your excellente beautie is so great and so vehement that it hath not onely subdued my naturall force and strength that my glorious mother Zahara Quéene of Caucase hath giuen â—e but also they haue so féeblished my diuine vertue whereof I take part of my fathers side that I am coÌ„sâ—rayned to draw vnto you to haue health remedie for my wound for euen as they y be pricked stinged with a Scorpion do vse to take remedie of theÌ„ likewise seing that ye haue bin the cause of the euill that I suffer I search remedie of you the which ye shuld not denie me considering the place of my birth and the power that the mightie Gods haue giuen me of the which the most part of them haue bin smitten with the dartes of loue as I am at this present and so that by no meanes I can resist it And therefore madame do not wonder seeing me to be partaker of the diuinitie that my heart is kindled with youre loue for they which are entierly
neuer thinke such a fault and féeblenesse of heart to bée in you that any one of you shoulde not desire to reuenge himselfe vpon his enimie and to sell his skinne dearly Wel it is conuenient for vs a little to dissemble our heauinesse and take pacience perforce and not to discourage the other Yée may beléeue mée that the greatest parte of the annoyance doth rest in my brayne but I inclose it to open and manifestly to open it doubled perforce when tyme and season shall giue me occasion Therefore I commaunde you all to go and to rest your selues a whyle that as soone as the fayre Diana or Moone shall arise setting you in traine and order to go and to inuade our enimies euerye man taking a white shirt vpon his harnesse for euery one of vs to knowe eche other assuring you that the ioy which they had through oure losse may cause them to be negligent by the meanes whereof we maye giue them so strayte a hande that they shall thinke thereof And this shall be a demonstration that oure little companie hath not a faynte heart agaynst so greate an hoste séeing that oure execution of vengeance hath no care for the trauell and payne receyued As touching me my friends although I haue bin hurt like as other I féele not these woundes so much as that the which I haue in my hart of despite and euill will beléeuing asmuch of other and that diuers of you which are not deadly wounded shall not leaue to come to this camisado the which I woulde should be two houres after midnight and as secretly as may be for feare of waking of our enimies but to rocke them so well that they shall sléepe for euer The which thing I estéeme to be easie considering the great chéere that ye made yester euen and the small watch that they shall make trusting in your misfortune A complaynt of Amadis of Greece being in the desert of Lions lamenting his Lucell whom he had forsaken to take Niquea In the .10 booke the .37 Chapter O Force that dost force me against my owne wil to breake the fayth and fidelitie that I should rather kéepe but yet thou hast made me in changing of my selfe to change it Truly my payne is greatly redoubted for the good thing that doth me so much euill O gentle Lucell what is this to say that when your beautie was wont to torment my hearte through a mortall desire I enticed of good hope did beare it paciently but now that I haue it no more alas I suffer an euill not to be borne Alas hope was wont to maintaine my life in thy absence what doth now sustayne it it must néedes be that there be some hope against hope to deliuer me a more gréeuous punishment for my vnfaithfulnesse the which doth banish me from the presence of hir whose inestimable vertue did promis me some pitie but I my selfe am contrary to my selfâ— so that I cannot haue repentance to require your pardon for my falsed fayth when I remember my déere Nequea of whome I haue receiued so great glory and contentation O death now make an end of my life to finish my trauell and thou life entertayne me no more to cause my lanlonger to endure O ye waues of the Sea why haue ye not swallowed me now of late into your déepe bottomes to exempt and to take me from this soo horrible tormeÌ„t O fountaine beholding that of his cauerne thou art fortunate making thy ordinarie course and my eyes vnfortunate distilling continually by vnnaturall constraint Thy fresh licor doth take from me the heate that is come from the common sunne but the fier that Lucell my very sunne doth cause no water can quench but one pitifull teare by hir sprinkled vppon me Niquea Niquea thou dost owe me the pardon of this offence whereof thou hast forgotten the obligation of my â—irst loues Lucelle Lucelle reioice your self now that the time is come that ye shall haue vengeance of youre vnfaithfull knight of the burning sword with satisfaction of the faulte that his sonne might haue done against your brother Anaxartes doth pitifully shew princesse Oriana that the fier of loue whiche hath inflamed him through hir beautie will reduce him to ashes if she take no pitie In the .10 booke the 41. Chapter I Besech you madame to excuse my boldnesse that I take to discouer vnto you the martirdome that I suffer for your excellence and so muche the more it gréeueth me that I kepe it close and couert for what soeuer reuerence I beare to your highnes the strength of loue is so vehement that my reason can no longer resiste and to cause you to perceiue it well it is suche that I for the extremitie of the violence thereof cannot tell it but that I through it do féele in me as it were in a litle world after the saying of auncient wise men all the diuers passions of the elements Alas my poore eyes do well shewe and declare the running waters of the sea in my continuall teares and my déepe sighes do flie as the winds in the ayre and are moued by the heate of fier hidden in my hearte the which without your pitie shal turne all my body into drye earth and ashes A sweete and an honest answer of princesse Oriana to Anaxartes In the .10 booke the .41 Chapter MY Lord the place that ye hold such as we know dothe gyue you a law to speake priuily vnto me but of the affection the which ye would declare vnto me ye shall pardon me if I be purposed to beleeue the thing that I may iudge by effect more than by wordes the which may easily be disguised notwithstanding I shall iudge that princesse fortunate vnto whome God shall giue a knyght that aboundeth with great vertue whome I estéeme and honoure in you after his merite The Quene Sidonia doeth declare to Phalanges of Astre the cause of the lawe that she hathe established and she requireth him to marie hir In the .10 booke the .44 Chapter IF the excellente Ladies of Rome and Greece haue in tymes pasâ—e offered themselues in sacrifice to conserue and keepe their virginitie and to obtayne by suche deathe immortall glorie there is no lesse reason in the lawe as by me in thys Isle constituted and established for the conseruation of my daughters chastitie and myne preseruing them from diuers abuses that men threaten them withall to drawe them to theyr vncleane affections by efficace promises and perswasions by the meanes whereof the fyre of loue by semblable and lyke nature dothe embrace the heartes of them Therefore I haue onely reserued libertie to maidens to choose their husbands and to knyghts to choose them wiues and I haue submitted my selfe to the Law and to vse it after my desire and for the wealth of my realme the whiche is in my power to giue to whom it shall please mee as husbande and wyfe The which thing I doe to you knight taking
Florisel dothe wryte to Queene Sidonia that although shee pursued his death by the bringer of the letter yet he for hir loue saued his lyfe and is minded to doe so to all other letting yet all that he may that Diana drinke not of the cup that she hath promised hym In the eleuenth booke the .14 Chapter MAdame I sende you the salute that ye haue purchased to take fro me by this bearer to the whiche I haue giuen it for the fauour of your seruice as my will is to doe to all those that shall reclayme or speake agaynst you what daunger so euer my life be in The whiche I shall saue to my power to cause other to thinke vpon a better dowrie for Diana and vpoÌ„ a more honest cuppe to drinke in at hir mariage than in hir Fathers goblet Therefore I will sustayne this warre that yée deliuer mée vntill I haue wonne made peace with you and till shée haue founde a more kinde husband than he with whome ye would cause hir to couple and to ioyne hir hand defiled in my bloud the which is hir owne A letter from Abra moste diligently recomfortyng Amadis of Greece vpon the death of his wife Niquea In the .11 booke the .24 Chapter MY Lorde if ye should not suffer extréeme choler and heauinesse for the decease of your good companion the Empresse Niquea ye shoulde be defiled with too great inhumanitie and ingratitude seyng the heauinesse that straungers themselues doe make the whiche ye should haue felte more nearer than all other So swéete and so faithfull a coniunction cannot be departed without a great and a naturall heart breaking but after that the first motioÌ„ hath giuen his alaruin the sprite must come to himselfe agayne and take his breath considering that teares be but loste vpon a thing irrecuperable the torment vaine in a cace that is without remedie Doe ye desire hir yet in this worlde ye are enuious and doe hate hir wealth doe ye sorow hir ill she is in a life immortall muche more fortunate than is yours doe ye wishe to folow hir to the place that she is gone vnto ye shall offende God to labour to departe from hence before ye haue finished all that he hath appointed you to ende in this worlde Ye haue the renoume of magnanimitie among all knightes but if ye suffer to be thus ouerthrowne of your selfe ye shal léese at once al the victories that ye haue wonne vpon other so if ye shewe your selfe strong and vertuous to resist this gréeuous passion ye shall ioyne the heigth and fulnesse to the triumph of all your cleare and noble actes This acte of lamenting is an vnworthy acte for a man and much more for a Prince that should be an ensample of light As for the reste ye know that she was borne mortall and that we shall not tary long after hir to set the countrey at libertie Aduise you then by wisedome to drie vp your teares for vnto the ignorant the time dothe issue at length conformyng your selfe in all things to Gods will. Abra the Emperesse of Constantinople and Princesse of the Oriental regions Arlande dothe complayne hir of the doloures that loue dothe cause hir to endure and suffer afterwards she prayseth the beauties of Cleofila In the .11 booke the .89 Chapter AH ah loue wherein haue I offended thée to intreate mée thus cruelly arte not thou of a straunge nature to torment and martyr those so extréemely that hide thée and inclose thee in the closet of their brestes and if they lefte thée forth to giue thée ayre wilt thou rewarde them within with refuse and pulling them farre from the wealth that they approched vnto loue if this be to assay the constancie of thy subiectes is not mine sufficiently proued by the lengthe of tyme if this be to cause the suger of thy sweete drynke Ambrosia to sauer better by the sourenesse of thy firste iuyces this thing is so greate that it may dull the tast of the palate sâ— greately that it shall haue no vertue nor power to féele the swéetenesse of thy celestiall meate I say not that the appetite dothe not awake and quicken through falling and abstinence but yet a man may suffer so greate famine and hunger that the bowelles may shrinke and so the appetite is loste O loue I knowlodge my crime in that I haue bene bold to vse such amorous language and woordes to so chaste a Lady I ought to haue bene contented with hir good chéere with hir amiable deuices with hir swéete lookes and to be shorte with hiâ— fayre simple and hir gentle receyuing looking at hir discretion for the gifte of hir gratious graunt Ah ah false tongue that doest afflict and punishe all the reste of the body by thy forfast vomiting out at all aduentures the thing that had bene better vnspoken than spoken nowe I would gladly teare him and teare him with my téeth if I trusted not that hereafter with an honorable amendes thou mayest yet vnto hir amende thy faulte and render vnto this weary body some pleasure in rewarde of the ill that thou doest cause it nowe to suffer O God what an euill is it to be depryued of all the goodnesse that I receyued of hir riant and laughyng eye of hir Golden mouthe of hir hande taking mine for there shall neuer be Lady better spoken better manered as I beléeue nor hath bene nor neuer shall be Doth Diana auaunce hir of hir beautie Cleofila doth not owe hir very much she maketh much ado of hir whitenes defacing the snow the brownnesse of my Quéene is wel mingled with ruddinesse the whiche is not so very smothe nor wanton the fashion of hir body is slender and so rounde as it were made after a towrâ— hir disposition so ioly that it séemeth O loue that thou arte tied to all the endes of hir members and that thou doest daunce and playe at all hir ieâ—tes and mouings for shée hath a perfect grace and a certaine good comelinesse in all thing that shée sayth or doth she hath no name the whiche dothe dayly halfe inrich hir beautie wheresoeuer she dothe méete with hir and where there is any fault she doth â—â—uer it with hir diuine clearnesse and so that I beléeue Venus your mother is no other thing than hir grace or if it be so hir onely companion And who would not perish by the sight of such a Basiliske and whose eyes would not vasell at the brightnesse and clearenesse of such a Sunne Dom Rogel doth pray Leonida to hold and to take him for hir knight In the .12 booke the .1 Chapter IF ye knewe the greatnesse of your beautie as well as it is imprinted within my heart I am certaine Madame that ye woulde easily excuse the boldenesse that I take vpon me to declare vnto you the dolours which I féele dayly to increase in meâ— by the swéete violence of your diuine perfections And for as much as ye are the
death O loue how muche hatred haue I proued in thée O cruell hatred wherefore doest thou take the name of loue Ah ah I vnfortunate in searching of loue I haue founde his contrarie and thinking to finde a necessary remedie for my disease I haue encreased it without any comparison O my Lady Diana how oft haue I feared the crueltie that I proue now in you Seyng then that your will is suche I would it should not please God to sende one thing that is so impossible to me as to liue any longer with the disgrace and disfauour of my Lady O euill houre to much miserable for I requyre nothing but it is denied me by the thing that I require it nor I flie nothing but it is graunted me by the thing that I flie Alas madame Lardenia I beséeche you to take no pitie vpon mée seyng I pitie not my selfe and that to conforme my will to my Ladies will for I cannot will but that shée willeth and I hate my selfe more than shée hateth me but if ye loue me it shal be reason that ye will that I will that is onely to goe to accomplish the promisse that I haue made to my Lady the Quéene so that all that I shall doe from henceforth shal be done agaynst my will for I knâ—we that in fulfilling that I haue promised hir I shall yet accomplish the wil of my Lady Diana Well now I perceiâ—â— well inough that the Quéene made me not without occasion such a strange request as she made me for that was bicause that by the death which I shall receyue she may vse the pitie towards me that my Lady Diana denied me cruelly to sley me Certainely I can hope no lesse of the valiantnesse and highe Chiualrie of the Prince of Greece in this combat that I haue enterprised against him but that by the death of so féeble and so disfauored a creature as I am he shall satisfie his glorious renoume and that vnto the whiche he as a noble knight was bound to doe repairing the wrong that I receyued to liue the longer O fortunate Prince seyng that all things prepare themselues to his good houre and I likewise vnhappie seing that fortune and the Quéene and the will of my Lady Diana haue prepared by the handes of so great a Lorde the death whiche after my law I could not purchase with my owne hands O mightie God how thou euerywhere doest shewe thy sage prouidence for in this iudgement of my death pronounced by the mouth of so noble and so excellent a iudge as my Lady is it was very reasonable that ye should helpe hir with so excellent a minister to execute hir soueraine iustice with the lamentable sentence of my cruell destinies A letter from Balthasar kyng of Russia and from Bruzerbe kyng of Gaza to Sidonia the Queene of Guinday requiryng to mary hir and hir daughter and if they refuse them they denounce hir warre In the .12 booke the .42 Chapter BAlthasar kyng of Russia aswell in his owne name as in that of other soueraigne kings of the Orient whose signe and seale is set to this letter doth sende salutation to Sidonia the Quéene of the I le of Guinday the which she may receyue if she thinke it good receyuing those with hir good will for hir espouse the whiche otherwise are disposed by force to accomplishe their willes Therefore Quéene of Guinday ye shall vnderstand and know that nother the iniurie receyued for your loue nor your beautie nor for that of your daughter Diana are not yet out of the remembrance of Balthasar and of Bruzerbe kynges of Russia and of Gasa Therefore we haue landed in your Ileâ— with a mightie army requyring you before and aboue all thinges to graunt vs peace and you and your daughter in mariage or if ye will not do it vntill force doe that with reason that curtesie may refuse and denie we denounce you warre with fire and bloud and we make the immortall Gods iudges of the losses and calamities that shall chaunce through your occasion calling fortune to our ayde the whiche seyng our wonderfull armie hath already giuen vs the assurance the whiche your subiectes if ye defende them not shall wante assuring vs of the amendment and healyng of our woundes whereof the paine loue and the iniuries heretofore suffered haue wounded our courages vntill death you your daughter through your beauties holding vs in a more cruell warre than that the which is most cruelly prepared for you if your gratiousnesse giue you not peace the whiche wè are minded to conquere by force of armes The answere of Sidonia Queene of Guindaye to Balthasar king of Russia by the which she aduertiseth him that she will defende hir chastitie asmuche as she may and that she rather will kill hir selfe than to obey vnto him In the .12 booke the .42 Chapter SIdonia Quéene of Guinday to Balthasar kyng of Russia and to all other kinges of his linage the whiche are come vniustly with him to inuade hir Ile dothe sende salute and health the whiche the Gods should not saue very long in so vnreasonable a quarell I woulde not be so afrayde king Balthasar if it were conuenient for me in time to come to proue agaynst my breast the sworde of Lucrece as chastitie doth binde me nowe to defende me against thine But if neither the loue that I beare to the Prince of Greece nor the feare of his highnesse coulde neither set nor make peace nor truces to the stronge warre that I haue prepared against him scarcely the leaste warre wherewith the king of Russia dothe threaten me can cause me in anywise to feare and yet it is lesse possible that the hatred I beare him may through his proudnesse be couerted into loue nor estéeme not at all that my minde and will is so fliyng and inconstant that hatred shall cause me to séeke peace with thée to my dishonour seyng that loue for my honour constrayneth me to make warre against the Prince of Greece God forbidde that Sidonia shoulde lesse estéeme the nobilitie of hir courage than the greate force of armes wherewith thou threatenest mée with fire and bloude for with fier and bloud I will defende my chaste will and I will assay to kéepe it with the selfe force that the Gods haue sometimes suffered that it was kepte agaynst themselues And know that making warre agaynst me thou doest make it yet more rigorous agaynst thy honour and willing to consume my Countrie with thy fiers thou canst not consume the fire wherewith the Prince of Greece hath enflamed me It may be that thou shedde the bloud of my subiectes setting them vpon the edge of thy swoorde but when thou shalte haue done it swoordes to shedde our bloude shall neither fayle my daughter nor me for we had much rather to die in our chaste libertie thaÌ„ to liue in a vile seruitude The hatred that caused the Quéene of Carthago to die for AEneas shal not
cause Sidonia to die for Dom Florisel but she shall wel defende hir self frō the feare of death for to defend hir faithfulnes that she ought him for the stable and burning loue that she hath cōtinually borne hym at this present dothe beare him Consider then king Balthasar that thinking to winne me thou doest léese mée and thinking to offende me thou shalte offende in nothing for a sworde shall not fayle me at all to resiste thy offence but thou mayste well offende me with thy armes the lawes of the Gods immortall whiche gouerne the sworde of iustice haue muche more force than thine thou shalte likewise offende the Prince of Greece whose righte of mariage thou wouldest violate for although he hath playde by trumperie and deceyte yet it is so that for his honour he will not let passe the iniuries without reuengyng of them that thou shalt doe me And seyng that for the reuerence that he beareth me he in my fauour hath saued their liues that sought to haue his heade as the kings of Gaza and of the Massagenes other of thy cōpanie giuing sure witnesse thou mayst well thinke that nowe he shal be as readie to cause them to léese theyr heades to please me withall as he hath at other times bene prest and readie for my loue to saue them Wherefore kyng Balthasar enterpryse not a warre whereby through hatred thou doest hope to winne hir that hateth and maketh warre agaynst hir selfe the greate loue that enflameth hir cōstrayning nor suffering hir honour to be destroyde nor shal féele hir selfe Demaund neyther loue nor peace of hir that hath neyther loue nor peace with hir selfe and with thée So then I am minded to defende my will and to resist thine and continually sauing my accustomed chastitie I will sustayne my déere countrey and realme calling the Gods to my iustice and men to my defense And purchasing this peace of me I am ready to sustayne suche warre as thou haste denounced vnto me The Oration of Queene Sidonia to the Citizens of Guinday incityng hyr Vassalles valiantly to defend◠hyr and sooner to suffer death than to let theyr renoume be defiled and of hyr parte she had rather die than to fall into the power of hyr enimies In the .12 booke the .43 Chapter IF the duetie whereof we are indetted to vertue my déere fréendes and faythfull Citizens commaunded vs not rather to sacrifice our liues for the conseruation of oure honour than to suffer it in any thing to bée corrupted in asmuche as honour beyng loste we during this mortall life can haue nothing that is good they may complayne them of the vncertaine issue of thinges that with good right and to sustayne their auncient renoume doe giue themselues with a franke courage to the inconstancie of fortune But séeyng that wée be bounde to defende our honour euen to deathe the multitude of enimies nor the doubtfull chaunce of one battell shoulde not put vs in feare for nothing We should onely feare least that the faulte and fayntnesse of heart cause vs to incurre any infamie and that the vniustnesse of our enimie make vs not more afearde than our good right dothe make vs constant for by such slouthfulnesse men might doubte of the experience of fortune the whiche gaue long since to sixe thousande souldiars of Greece the victorie of one million of Perses of the whiche there were slayne two hundred thousande in the playne fielde The selfe fortune graunted to Lucul the Romane hauing but tenne thousande souldiars in his tentes to ouercome by his vertue and good righte the kyng Tygrane and his infinite thousandes of fighting menne among the whiche were fiftie thousande horse menne This greate armie was ouerthrowen and broken in battell araye and the ensigne displayde and in open fielde by those whiche were very fewe in number but many in magnanimitie of courage for by the reason of theyr good righte they supplied the defaulte of theyr number and by the strength of their armes they resisted the feare of fortune as knowyng that the multitude of armed menne maketh the victorie neuer the surer and beyng fewer in number than the enimies menne shoulde not léese the assurance and lesse the hope to winne the glory of the combatte and fielde There is not he that may flée deathe when shée is appoynted him by the destinie of the highe Gods nor also there is not hée the whiche dying is not bounde to saue his good renoume that the shame and infamie of his deathe doe not desile the auncient honour of his lyfe Yée doe knowe the good right that I haue in this warre ye may remember the obedience that hitherto yée haue shewed me as to your Quéene And if I be not disceyued yée do yet remember the rewarde that ye haue receyued for your faithfulnesse I thinke that yée abhorre all tyrannie and I thinke that eche of you is readie to chase it from him as prepared and bounde to receyue deathe for the entertaynement of libertie in the which I haue alwayes enterteyned you and haue hither to defended you We shall haue to our ayde the Gods immortall as those which are the certaine reuengers of outragiousnesse and the sure defenders of innocencie If then reason good right and the ayde of Gods fayle vs not at all in this quarell let vs so doe that good courage fayle vs not and when fortune would enuie our good houre let vs rather choose an honourable death than a shamefull lyfe with a miserable seruitude and bondage Consider also of your part that I refusing the alliances of these barbarous kings that ye shall not onely defende my priuate quarell but also your publike with your goodes your libertie your wiues your children marking the calamities that in time to come ye if ye haue suche tyrants to your Lordes shall indure and suffer Therefore my friendes take a good heart vnto you and nowe shewe the valiantnesse and vertue that ye haue the which is néedfull that ye nowe shewe to defende your selues from those that haue enterprysed your ruine and destruction Do so then that men may sée their spoyles hanging within our Temples for an immortall tryumph of your victorie and ye shall beléeue that the king of Russia shall neuer triumph of the faythfulnesse that Sidonia doth owe vnto him that she first hath receyued for hir husbande but contrariwise for the Barbarian sworde shall not so soone appeare within our walles but that mine shall incontinent appeare within the breast of my daughter and me that by this franke death I shall deliuer my life from subiection leauing my dead bodie vpon the colde earth without spot and satisfying him by the immortalitie of this sacrifice the which as I trust in your vertue and fortitude ye would haue made of your selues before I should sée my self in such extremitie But I am so assured of the iustice of the Gods and of the force and strength of your right handes that I doe yet