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mounted again lightly. Quoth Amadis, If you do not defend Love better with the sword than with the lance, you will be a bad champion. The Knight made no reply, but struck at him in great fury the sword fell on the rim of the shield, and entered in aslant, and he could not pluck it out, Amadis stood in his stirrups, and gave him a blow on his head, and cut away the trappings of his helmet and the skin of his head, and the sword held on and came upon the neck of the horse, so that he fell dead, and the rider senseless. Amadis waited a minute, thinking that he had slain him; then seeing him recover, he said, Knight, what Love has gained in you, and you in him, you may both enjoy: I leave you. So departing from him, he called Gandalin, and seeing Durin there, he said to him, friend Durin, my sorrow hath no equal, and my grief and recollections are intolerable: it is better that I should die : pray God it may be soon! Go, with good fortune! Salute for me, Mabilia, my good cousin, and the Damsel of Denmark, thy sister; and tell them, if they grieve for me, that I perish more undeservedly than ever Knight perished ; and tell them that I sorely regret that those who have loved me so much, and done so much for me, have never had their guerdon ! Durin stood weeping before him, and could make

no reply. Amadis embraced him, and he commended him to God, and kissed the skirts of his armour and departed. By this it was day-break : Amadis said to Gandalin, if you chuse to go with me, attempt not to disturb me in whatever I say or do if you will not obey this, go back. He promised obedience. Then Amadis gave him his arms, and bade him pluck the sword from the shield and give it the Knight, and so they rode on.

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CHAPTER 5.

This wounded Knight was Patin, brother to Don Sidon, who was then Emperor of Rome; he was the best Knight in all those lands, and therefore greatly feared throughout the empire. The Emperor was very old, and had no son, therefore all thought this brother should succeed him. He loved Sardamira, Queen of Sardinia, who was a fair and comely Damsel, and being niece to the Empress had been brought up in the court; and he had so far profited by his service, that she had promised him, if ever she married, to marry him. El Patin upon this grew more presumptuous, though his natural arrogance was enough; and he

The article is uniformly prefixed to his name, except where he is first mentioned. In our language it is only used where the name is a family or clan appellation: The Plantagenet, the Douglas, the Graham.

said to her, I have heard that King Lisuarte hath a daughter who is renowned over all the world for her beauty. I will go to his court, and say she is not so fair as you, and this I will maintain against the two best Knights who dare undertake her cause. They say there are Knights there of great worth in arms, but if I do not conquer them in one day, I will that King Lisuarte do cause my head to be cut off! The Queen answered him, do not do this; for, if that Princess be fair, it impaireth not the beauty which God hath bestowed upon me, if beauty there be; and, methinks, you might with more reason and less pride prove your prowess in some other cause, for this enterprize is not becoming a man of so high a rank, and moreover it is unreasonable and arrogant, and you cannot expect it to come to a good end. Come what will, quoth he, I will do it, to prove fairest Lady in the world, have the best Knight for your servant. So he took his leave, and with rich arms and ten Squires passed over into Great Britain, and went directly to where King Lisuarte was, who seeing him so accompanied thought him to be some great personage, and courteously welcomed him. When he was disarmed, all that saw his great stature judged him to be of great courage. Lisuarte then asked him who he was. He an

that you, who are the

swered, King, I will tell you, for I do not come to your house to conceal myself, but to make myself known. Know, then, that I am El Patin, brother to the Emperor of Rome, and so soon as I see the Queen, and your daughter Oriana, you shall know the cause of my coming. When the King heard that he was a man of so high rank, he embraced him and said, Good friend, much are. we pleased with your coming, and you shall see the Queen and her daughter and all others of my house, when it pleaseth you. Then he placed him at his own table, and they were feasted in a manner befitting the table of such a personage. El Patin looked round him, and when he saw so many Knights he was astonished, and began to hold the household of his brother, the Emperor, as nothing. Don Grumedan took him to his lodging, by the King's command, and did him much honour. The next day after mass, the King took with him El Patin and Don Grumedan, and went to the Queen, who received him honourably, and made him sit before her and near her daughter. Now Oriana's beauty was much impaired by reason of her great trouble of mind, yet when El Patin saw her he marvelled greatly, and thought that they who praised her had pot mentioned half her beauty, and his heart was entirely changed VOL. II.

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