THE ADVENTURES OF THE TARTAR KING, AND HIS FAMILY.
Ar Sarra, in the land of Tartary,
There dwelt a king, and with the Russ warr'd he, Through which there perish'd many a doughty man.This noble king by name was Cambuscán,
And in his time was of so great renown,
That no where else there sat beneath a crown
So excellent a lord in every thing.
Him lack'd there nought belonging to a king,
Within the creed to which his race was born.
He kept the law to which he had been sworn ;
And thereto he was hardy, rich, and wise,
Always the same, serene of soul and eyes,
Piteous and just, benign and honourable,
Of his brave heart as any centre stable;
Young, fresh, and strong, in arms desirous,
As any bachelor of all his house.
A fair person he was, and fortunate;
And always kept so well a king's estate,
That there was no where such another man.
This noble king, this Tartar, Cambuscán,
Two princes had by Elfeta his wife,
Of which the eldest was named Algarsife,
The other Cambalo: and there was born
Also a daughter to him, like the morn,
Younger than both, whose name was Canace :
But to relate how beautiful was she,
Passeth the reach of my poetic wing;
I dare not undertake so high a thing.
Mine English too sufficeth not.
Had need an Ovid be, or Mantuan,
And know all colours fitted for the art,
To shew you what she was, in the least part;
I am none such. Plain speech must be my plan.
And so befell, that when this Cambuscán
Had twenty winters been a crownéd king,
He bade, as was his custom in the spring,
The feast of his nativity be cried
In Sarra, his great city, far and wide,
The news whereof was glad to every ear.
Phœbus, the sun, full jovial was, and clear;
For he was mounting nigh his exaltation
In Mars's face, and in his house and station
In Aries, the cholerick hot sign.
Full lusty was the weather, and benign;
For which the birds, against the sunny sheen,
What for the season and the sprouting green,
Securely and full loud sang their affections:
They seem'd to say,-We now have got protections
Against the sword of winter, keen and cold.
This royal king then, glorious to behold
With crown and ermine, sat upon his dais *
In his great hall, in all the people's gaze,
And held his feast, so rich and so serene,
In all the world was no such other seen.
What need describe it? for to tell the array,
And half the meats, would take a summer's day;
And therefore I pass by their dainty shews,
* The elevated portion of a hall, where the chief person sat under a canopy.
Their swans, and peacocks, and their heronneaues*,
With meats that by a Tartar seneschal
Are held full dear, though here we count them small.
Besides, the bell hath warn'd me it is prime,
And I must trespass not on others' time,
But into closer strain my theme enforce†.
And so befell, that after the third course,
While that this king sat thus in his array,
Hearing his minstrels and his harpers play
Before him at his board deliciously,
In at the hall-door lo! all suddenly
There came a knight upon a steed of brass,
That in his hand a mirror held of glass;
Upon his thumb he had a golden ring,
And by his side a naked sword hanging ;
And up he rideth to the royal board.
In all the hall there was not spoke a word
For marvel of this knight. Him to behold
Full busily they waited, young and old.
This strange knight, that appeared thus suddenly,
+ The reader will recollect, that it is the Squire who is relating the story, and that more than half the others remained to be told.
All armed except his head, full gorgeously,
Saluteth king and queen, and nobles all,
In order as they sat within the hall,
With so high reverence and regardfulness,
Both in his word and in his whole address,
That Gawain's self, with his old courtesy,
Had he left Fairy-land, and stood thereby,
Had not improv'd him in a single thing:
And after this, strait looking at the king,
His message with a manly voice he spoke,
After the form belonging to his folk,
With not a fault of syllable or letter;
And that his meaning might be felt the better,
His cheer was suited to his words; as teach
Those learned wits, that ken the art of speech.
may not tell it as he did: my strain
Is far too weak such rhetorick to attain.
Yet to repeat it, in a common way,
As shewing what at large he meant to say,
Thus much will I attempt to call to mind :
"My lord, the king of Araby and Ind,
My sovereign master, on this solemn day,
Saluteth you, as he best can and may,
And sendeth you, in honour of your feast,
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