CHAPTER III.THE TOURNAMENT.IT was the month of May and the feast of Pentecost. Charlemagnehad ordered magnificent festivities, and summoned to them, besides hispaladins and vassals of the crown, all strangers, Christian orSaracen, then sojourning at Paris. Among the guests were KingGrandonio, from Spain; and Ferrau, the Saracen, with eyes like aneagle; Orlando and Rinaldo, the Emperor's nephews; Duke Namo;Astolpho, of England, the handsomest man living; Malagigi, theEnchanter; and Gano, of Maganza, that wily traitor, who had the art tomake the Emperor think he loved him, while he plotted against him.High sat Charlemagne at the head of his vassals and his paladins,rejoicing in the thought of their number and their might, while allwere sitting and hearing music, and feasting, when suddenly there cameinto the hall four enormous giants, having between them a lady ofincomparable beauty, attended by a single knight. There were manyladies present who had seemed beautiful till she made herappearance, but after that they all seemed nothing. Every Christianknight turned his eyes to her, and every Pagan crowded round her,while she, with a sweetness that might have touched a heart ofstone, thus addressed the Emperor:-"High-minded lord, the renown of your worthiness, and of the valorof these your knights, which echoes from sea to sea, encourages meto hope that two pilgrims, who have come from the ends of the world tobehold you, will not have encountered their fatigue in vain. And,before I show the motive which has brought us hither, learn thatthis knight is my brother Uberto, and that I am his sister Angelica.Fame has told us of the jousting this day appointed, and so the princemy brother has come to prove his valor, and to say that, if any of theknights here assembled choose to meet him in the joust, he willencounter them, one by one, at the stair of Merlin, by the Fountain ofthe Pine. And his conditions are these: No knight who chances to bethrown shall be allowed to renew the combat, but shall remain prisonerto my brother, but if my brother be overthrown, he shall depart out ofthe country, leaving me as the prize of the conqueror."Now it must be stated that this Angelica and her brother whocalled himself Uberto, but whose real name was Argalia, were thechildren of Galafron, king of Cathay, who had sent them to be thedestruction of the Christian host; for Argalia was armed with anenchanted lance, which unfailingly overthrew everything it touched,and he was mounted on a horse, a creature of magic, whose swiftnessoutstripped the wind. Angelica possessed also a ring which was adefence against all enchantments, and when put into the mouth renderedthe bearer invisible. Thus Argalia was expected to subdue and takeprisoners whatever knights should dare to encounter him; and thecharms of Angelica were relied on to entice the paladins to make thefatal venture, while her ring would afford her easy means of escape.When Angelica ceased speaking, she knelt before the king and awaitedhis answer, and everybody gazed on her with admiration. Orlandoespecially felt irresistibly drawn towards her, so that he trembledand changed countenance. Every knight in the hall was infected withthe same feeling, not excepting old white-headed Duke Namo andCharlemagne himself.All stood for a while in silence, lost in the delight of lookingat her. The fiery youth Ferrau could hardly restrain himself fromseizing her from the giants and carrying her away; Rinaldo turned asred as fire, while Malagigi, who had discovered by his art that thestranger was not speaking the truth, muttered softly, as he lookedat her, "Exquisite false creature! I will play thee such a trick forthis, as will leave thee no cause to boast of thy visit."Charlemagne, to detain her as long as possible before him, delayedhis assent till he had asked her a number of questions, all of whichshe answered discreetly, and then the challenge was accepted.As soon as she was gone, Malagigi consulted his book, and foundout the whole plot of the vile, infidel king Galafron, as we haveexplained it, so he determined to seek the damsel and frustrate herdesigns. He hastened to the appointed spot, and there found the princeand his sister in a beautiful pavilion, where they lay asleep, whilethe four giants kept watch. Malagigi took his book and cast a spellout of it, and immediately the four giants fell into a deep sleep.Drawing his sword (for he was a belted knight), he softly approachedthe young lady, intending to despatch her at once; but, seeing herlook so lovely, he paused for a moment, thinking there was no needof hurry, as he believed his spell was upon her, and she could notwake. But the ring which she wore secured her from the effect of thespell, and some slight noise, or whatever else it was, caused her atthat moment to awake. She uttered a great cry, and flew to herbrother, and waked him. By the help of her knowledge of enchantment,they took and bound fast the magician, and, seizing his book, turnedhis arts against himself. Then they summoned a crowd of demons, andbade them seize their prisoner and bear him to king Galafron, at hisgreat city of Albracca, which they did, and, on his arrival, he waslocked up in a rock under the sea.While these things were going on, all was uproar at Paris, sinceOrlando insisted upon being the first to try the adventure at thestair of Merlin. This was resented by the other pretenders toAngelica, and all contested his right to the precedence. The tumultwas stilled by the usual expedient of drawing lots, and the firstprize was drawn by Astolpho. Ferrau, the Saracen, had the second,and Grandonio the third. Next came Berlinghieri, and Otho; thenCharles himself, and, as his ill-fortune would have it, after thirtymore, the indignant Orlando.Astolpho, who drew the first lot, was handsome, brave, and rich.But, whether from heedlessness or want of skill, he was an unluckyjouster, and very apt to be thrown, an accident which he bore withperfect good-humor, always ready to mount again and try to mend hisfortune, generally with no better success.Astolpho went forth upon his adventure with great gayety of dressand manner, encountered Argalia, and was immediately tilted out of thesaddle. He railed at fortune, to whom he laid all the fault; but hispainful feelings were somewhat relieved by the kindness of Angelica,who, touched by his youth and good looks, granted him the liberty ofthe pavilion, and caused him to be treated with all kindness andrespect.The violent Ferrau had the next chance in the encounter, and wasthrown no less speedily than Astolpho; but he did not so easily put upwith his mischance. Crying out, "What are the Emperor's engagements tome?" he rushed with his sword against Argalia, who, being forced todefend himself, dismounted and drew his sword, but got so much theworse of the fight that he made a signal of surrender, and, after somewords, listened to a proposal of marriage from Ferrau to his sister.The beauty, however, feeling no inclination to match with such a roughand savage-looking person, was so dismayed at the offer, that, hastilybidding her brother to meet her in the forest of Arden, she vanishedfrom the sight of both by means of the enchanted ring. Argalia, seeingthis, took to his horse of swiftness, and dashed away in the samedirection. Ferrau pursued him, and Astolpho, thus left to himself,took possession of the enchanted lance in place of his own, whichwas broken, not knowing the treasure he possessed in it, andreturned to the tournament. Charlemagne, finding the lady and herbrother gone, ordered the jousting; to proceed as at first intended,in which Astolpho, by aid of the enchanted lance, unhorsed allcomers against him, equally to their astonishment and his own.The paladin Rinaldo, on learning the issue of the combat of Ferrauand the stranger, galloped after the fair fugitive in an agony of loveand impatience. Orlando, perceiving his disappearance, pushed forth inlike manner; and, at length, all three are in the forest of Arden,hunting about for her who is invisible.Now in this forest there were two fountains, the one constructedby the sage Merlin, who designed it for Tristram and the fair Isoude;*for such was the virtue of this fountain, that a draught of its watersproduced an oblivion of the love which the drinker might feel, andeven produced aversion for the object formerly beloved. The otherfountain was endowed with exactly opposite qualities, and a draught ofit inspired love for the first living object that was seen aftertasting it. Rinaldo happened to come to the first-mentionedfountain, and, being flushed with heat, dismounted, and quenched inone draught both his thirst and his passion. So far from lovingAngelica as before, he hated her from the bottom of his heart,became disgusted with the search he was upon, and, feeling fatiguedwith his ride, finding a sheltered and flowery nook, laid himself downand fell asleep.* See their story in "The Age of Chivalry."Shortly after came Angelica, but, approaching in a differentdirection, she espied the other fountain, and there quenched herthirst. Then resuming her way, she came upon the sleeping Rinaldo.Love instantly seized her, and she stood rooted to the spot.The meadow round was all full of lilies of the valley and wildroses. Angelica, not knowing what to do, at length plucked a handfulof these, and dropped them, one by one, on the face of the sleeper. Hewoke up, and, seeing who it was, received her salutations with avertedcountenance, remounted his horse, and galloped away. In vain thebeautiful creature followed and called after him, in vain asked himwhat she had done to be so despised. Rinaldo disappeared, leavingher in despair, and she returned in tears to the spot where she hadfound him sleeping. There, in her turn, she herself lay down, pressingthe spot of earth on which he had lain, and, out of fatigue andsorrow, fell asleep.As Angelica thus lay, fortune conducted Orlando to the same place.The attitude in which she was sleeping was so lovely, that it is notto be conceived, much less expressed. Orlando stood gazing like aman who had been transported to another sphere. "Am I on earth," heexclaimed, "or am I in Paradise? Surely it is I that sleep, and thisis my dream."But his dream was proved to be none in a manner which he littledesired. Ferrau, who had slain Argalia, came up, raging with jealousy,and a combat ensued which awoke the sleeper.Terrified at what she beheld, she rushed to her palfrey, and,while the fighters were occupied with one another, fled away throughthe forest. The champions continued their fight till they wereinterrupted by a messenger, who brought word to Ferrau that kingMarsilius, his sovereign, was in pressing need of his assistance,and conjured him to return to Spain. Ferrau, upon this, proposed tosuspend the combat to which Orlando, eager to pursue Angelica, agreed.Ferrau, on the other hand, departed with the messenger to Spain.Orlando's quest for the fair fugitive was all in vain. Aided bythe powers of magic, she made a speedy return to her own country.But the thought of Rinaldo could not be banished from her mind,and she determined to set Malagigi at liberty, and to employ him towin Rinaldo, if possible, to make her a return of affection. Sheaccordingly freed him from his dungeon, unlocking his fetters with herown hands, and restored him his book, promising him ample honors andrewards, on condition of his bringing Rinaldo to her feet.Malagigi accordingly, with the aid of his book, called up a demon,mounted him, and departed. Arrived at his destination, he inveigledRinaldo into an enchanted bark, which conveyed him, without anyvisible pilot, to an island where stood an edifice called JoyousCastle. The whole island was a garden. On the western side, close tothe sea, was the palace, built of marble, so clear and polished thatit reflected the landscape about it. Rinaldo leapt ashore, and soonmet a lady, who invited him to enter. The house was as beautifulwithin as without, full of rooms adorned with azure and gold, and withnoble paintings. The lady led the knight into an apartment paintedwith stories, and opening to the garden, through pillars of crystal,with golden capitals. Here he found a bevy of ladies, three of whomwere singing in concert, while another played on an instrument ofexquisite accord, and the rest danced round about them. When theladies beheld him coming, they turned the dance into a circuit roundhim, and then one of them, in the sweetest manner, said, "SirKnight, the tables are set, and the hour for the banquet is come";and, with these words, still dancing, they drew him across the lawn infront of the apartment, to a table that was spread with cloth ofgold and fine linen, under a bower of damask roses by the side of afountain.Four ladies were already seated there, who rose, and placedRinaldo at their head, in a chair set with pearls. And truly indeedwas he astonished. A repast ensued, consisting of viands the mostdelicate, and wines as fragrant as they were fine, drunk out ofjewelled cups; and, when it drew towards its conclusion, harps andlutes were heard in the distance, and one of the ladies said in theknight's ear: "This house and all that you see in it are yours; foryou alone was it built, and the builder is a queen. Happy indeedmust you think yourself, for she loves you, and she is the greatestbeauty in the world. Her name is Angelica."The moment Rinaldo heard the name he so detested, he started up,with a changed countenance, and, in spite of all that the lady couldsay, broke off across the garden, and never ceased hastening till hereached the place where he landed. The bark was still on the shore. Hesprang into it, and pushed off, though he saw nobody in it buthimself. It was in vain for him to try to control its movements, forit dashed on as if in fury, till it reached a distant shore coveredwith a gloomy forest. Here Rinaldo, surrounded by enchantments of avery different sort from those which he had lately resisted, wasentrapped into a pit.The pit belonged to a castle called Altaripa, which was hung withhuman heads, and painted red with blood. As the paladin was viewingthe scene with amazement, a hideous old woman made her appearance atthe edge of the pit, and told him that he was destined to be thrown toa monster, who was only kept from devastating the whole country bybeing supplied with living human flesh. Rinaldo said, "Be it so; letme but remain armed as I am, and I fear nothing." The old womanlaughed in derision. Rinaldo remained in the pit all night, and thenext morning was taken to the place where the monster had his den.It was a court surrounded by a high wall. Rinaldo was shut in with thebeast, and a terrible combat ensued. Rinaldo was unable to make anyimpression on the scales of the monster, while he, on the contrary,with his dreadful claws, tore away plate and mail from the paladin.Rinaldo began to think his last hour was come, and cast his eyesaround and above to see if there was any means of escape Heperceived a beam projecting from the wall at the height of some tenfeet, and, taking a leap almost miraculous, he succeeded in reachingit, and in flinging himself up across it. Here he sat for hours, thehideous brute continually trying to reach him. All at once, he heardthe sound of something coming through the air like a bird, andsuddenly Angelica herself alighted on the end of the beam. She heldsomething in her hand towards him, and spoke to him in a loving voice.But the moment Rinaldo saw her, he commanded her to go away, refusedall her offers of assistance, and at length declared that, if shedid not leave him, he would cast himself down to the monster andmeet his fate.Angelica, saying she would lose her life rather than displeasehim, departed; but first she threw to the monster a cake of wax shehad prepared, and spread around him a rope knotted with nooses. Thebeast took the bait, and, finding his teeth glued together by the wax,vented his fury in bounds and leaps, and, soon getting entangled inthe nooses, drew them tight by his struggles, so that he couldscarcely move a limb.Rinaldo, watching his chance, leapt down upon his back, seized himround the neck, and throttled him, not relaxing his grip till thebeast fell dead.Another difficulty remained to be overcome. The walls were ofimmense height, and the only opening in them was a grated window ofsuch strength that he could not break the bars. In his distressRinaldo found a file which Angelica had left on the ground, and,with the help of this, effected his deliverance.What further adventures he met with will be told in another chapter.