1. Insights and Insults 28. Mout mi plai quan vey dolenta
It pleases me immensely
when I see rotten rich people
suffer, the ones who make
trouble for noblemen, and it
pleases me when I see them
destroyed, twenty or thirty
from day to day, when I find
them without clothes, and
begging for bread. If I'm
lying, may my lady lie to me!
A peasant has the habits of a
pig, for he is bored by noble
living; when a man rises to
great riches, his wealth drives
him mad. So you must keep
his empty in all seasons,
spend what's his, and expose
him to wind and rain.
Whoever doesn't ruin his
peasant sustains him in
disloyalty. So a man's a fool
who doesn't knock him down
when he sees him climbing
up, because once peasant has
established himself, once he
entrenches himself in a very
strong place, he has no peer
in evil, for he spoils everything
he can reach.
A man should never feel sorry
for a peasant if he sees him
break an arm or a leg or do
without something he needs.
For a peasant--so help me
God--doesn't want to use
what he has to help even his
closest kin, not for tears, not
for pity; he naturally shuns
any such deed.
A low rascally gang, full of
tricks and usury, pride and
excess! You can't endure
their deeds, for they toss God
aside along with all loyalty
and right. They do just as
Adam did. God give them
bad luck! Amen.
It's good to see lords change
And old men leave their houses to the young
For each man can leave in his lineage
Enough sons so that one of them is brave.
So it seems to me that this is how the world is renewed
5
Better than by flowers or singing birds.
And if someone can change an old lord or lady
For a young one, he too will be renewed.
2.
Young is the lady who knows how to honor the nobles,
And she is young through good deeds when she does them.
10
She stays young when she has a pure heart
And does not risk good praise or reputation.
She stays young when she keeps her body beautiful
And she is a young lady when she behaves well.
14
She stays young when she does not try to know everything
And watches her behavior in the company of handsome young men.
3.
Young is the man who spends his money
And he is young when he is penniless.
He holds his youth when he spends greatly on hospitality
And he is young when he gives extravagant gifts,
20
Young when he burns his coffers and treasure chests,
Young when he wants to hold court and tournaments.
He holds his youth when he loves to play games well,
And he is a young man when he knows how to serve the ladies well.
3. Warcry: 1184-88 30. Be~m plai lo gais temps
de pascor
The gay time of spring
pleases me well, when
leaves and flowers come; it
pleases me when I hear the
merriment of the birds
making their song ring
through the wood; It
pleases me when I see
tents and pavilions pitched
on the meadows; and I feel
great happiness, when I see
ranged on the fields knights
and horses in armor.
It pleases me when the
scouts put people and
herds to flight, and it
pleases when I see great
numbers of armed men
come after them on the run,
and pleases me in my heart
when I see strong castles
besieged and the outer
broken and smashed, and I
see the army on the bank,
surrounded by ditches,
palisades of strong stakes
close together.
And it pleases me too
when a lord is first to the
attack on his horse, armed,
without fear; for thus he
inspires his men with valiant
courage. when the battle is
joined, each man must be
ready to follow him with
pleasure, for no one is
respected until he has taken
and given many blows.
At the beginning of the
battle we shall see clubs
and swords, colorful
helmets, shields pierced
and smashed, and many
vassals striking together, so
that horses of the dead and
wounded will wander
aimlessly. And when he
enters the fray, let every
man of rank think only of
hacking heads and arms,
for a dead man is worth
more than a live loser.
I tell you, eating or drinking
or sleeping hasn't such
savor for me as the
moment I hear both sides
shouting "Get 'em!" and I
hear riderless horses
crashing through the
shadows, and I hear men
shouting "Help! Help!" and
I see the small and the
great falling in the grassy
ditches, and I see the dead
with splintered lances,
decked with pennons,
through their sides.
Love wants a knightly
lover, good with his
weapons and generous in
serving, sweet-tongued and
a great giver, who knows
what is right to do and say,
outdoors or in, for a man of
his potency. He should be
amusing company, courtly
and pleasing. A lady who
lies with a stud like that is
clean of all her sins.
.
Worthy countess, everyone
says you are the best who
ever has been seen or will
be, and the noblest lady in
the world, as I hear tell.
Beatrice of high lineage,
lady good in words and
deeds, spring whence all
goodness flows, beautiful
without peer, your rich
merit has risen so high that
it has surpassed all others.
I deeply love a maiden of
high lineage in whom there
is every beauty, and I am
loved by her; she gives me
such courage that I'll never
be vanquished, not by the
most presumptuous.
Lords, pawn your castles
and towns and cities before
you stop making war!
Papiol [Bertran's troubador], go cheerfully and
quickly to Sir Yes-and-No [Bertran's nickname for Richard
the Lionheart]
and tell him they are too
much at peace.
Injustice and wars and the joys
of love used to exhilarate me
and keep me gay and tuneful,
until singing was forbidden me
by the lady I must obey. But
now look, my song has turned
entirely to fidelity.
Now I have turned to love, and
you'll see love songs come and
go, since it pleases the most
beautiful one to allow my song.
To my honor she has rightly
entrusted herself, and not to
any of the counts.
As for the little king of
Lesser-Land, I'm pleased that
he wants to get ahead. From
now on the men who hold fiefs
from him will acknowledge him
as their lord. Since he has
gotten into their foolish
business, now let him stay
there, and regain his rights all
around.
Don't take me for a
troublemaker if I want one
great man to hate another; then
vavasors and castellans will be
able to get more sport out of
them. I swear it by the faith that
I owe you--a great man is more
free, generous and friendly in
war than in peace.
The Lombards wanted to
attack that fox of an emperor,
and fear never stops them from
building upstream from
Cremona; Count Raymond is
honored here, since he has
newly allied himself with the
king.
I know that because I want to
tell the truth about their war, the
bad-mouthers will say I've been
a dupe to let myself be drafted
into it and used. My brother
even wants to keep my half of
the fiefs he promised to share.
Since my brothers won't
tolerate my rights, my love, or
my pleas, if I do manage to
regain possession of my half, I
don't want to be scolded by
any jeering shop-keepers. They
talk peace many a time when
no one has asked them to.
But I have so many teachers
that I don't know, by Christ,
how to choose the best course;
when I grab and snatch the
wealth of those who don't let
me keep to myself, they say
I've been too rash. Now since
I'm not making war, they say
I'm no good.
Papiol,57 go quickly to the
Young King; tell him too much
snoozing doesn't please me.
Sir Yes-and-No [Richard the Lionheart, king of England] likes
peace
with Philip [Augustus, king of France], I believe, more than
his disinherited brother John [Prince John, later King John
of Robin Hood/Magna Carta fame]
does.