French literature summaries - 2021
Short summary - Prose Tristan
Unknown (self-attributed to Luce de Gat and Helie de Boron)
The queen, wife of Meliaduc, King Louonua, was relieved of the burden as a boy and died, barely having time to kiss her son and call him Tristan (in the translation from French - sad), for he was born in sorrow. The king entrusted the infant to the Guvernal, and he himself soon married again. The boy grew up strong and handsome, like Lancelot, but his stepmother took a dislike to him, and therefore, fearing for the life of the pet, Gouvernal took him to Gaul, to the court of King Pharamon. There Tristan received an education befitting a knight, and at the age of twelve he went to Cornwall to serve in the service of his uncle, King Mark.
Cornwalls at that time had to pay a heavy tribute to Ireland every year: one hundred girls, one hundred young men and one hundred thoroughbred horses. And so the mighty Morhult, brother of the Irish queen, once again came to Mark for tribute, but then, to everyone's surprise, young Tristan challenged him to a duel. King Mark knighted Tristan, and appointed the island of St. Samson as the place of the duel. Having merged, Tristan and Morkhult wounded each other with spears; Morkhult's spear was poisoned, but before the poison had time to take effect, Tristan hit the enemy with such force that he cut his helmet, and a piece of his sword stuck in Morkhult's head. The Irishman fled and soon died, while Cornwalls was freed from the tribute.
Tristan suffered greatly from the wound, and no one could help him until one lady advised him to seek healing in other lands. He listened to her advice and alone, without companions, sat in the boat; it was carried by sea for two weeks and finally washed ashore on the Irish coast near the castle, where King Angen and the queen, sister of Morhult, lived. Hiding his real name and calling himself Tantris, Tristan asked if there was a skilled healer in the castle, the king replied that his daughter, Blond Isolde, was very well versed in the medicine art. While Isolde was nursing the wounded knight, he managed to notice that she was very beautiful.
When Tristan had already recovered from his wound, a terrible snake appeared in the kingdom of Angena, who daily committed robbery and devastation in the vicinity of the castle. To the one who kills the snake, Angen promised to give half of the kingdom and his daughter Isolde as a wife. Tristan killed the snake, and the wedding day was already set, but then one of the Irish knights announced that Tristan's sword had a chipped hole, matching in shape with the piece of steel that was removed from the head of the late Morkhult. Finding out who almost became related to her, the queen wanted to hack Tristan to death with his own sword, but the noble youth asked for the right to appear before the king's court. The king did not execute Tristan, but ordered him to immediately leave the borders of his country. In Cornwall, King Mark elevated Tristan, making him the ruler and steward of the castle and possessions, but soon inflamed with hatred of him. For a long time he thought about how to get rid of Tristan, and finally announced that he decided to marry. The valiant Tristan publicly promised to deliver the bride, and when the king said that his chosen one was Isolde of Ireland, he could no longer take back this word and had to sail to Ireland to certain death. The ship on which Tristan, Gouvernal and forty other knights set off on their way, fell into a storm and was thrown ashore at King Arthur's castle. In the same region, it happened at that time to be king Angen, instead of whom Tristan went to battle with the giant Bloamor and defeated him. Angen forgave Tristan the death of Morkhult and took him with him to Ireland, promising to fulfill any of his requests. Tristan asked the king for Isolde, but not for himself, but for his uncle and master, King Mark.
King Angen fulfilled Tristan's request; Isolde was equipped for the journey, and the queen gave her daughter's maid, Branjien, a jug of love potion, which Mark and Isolde were to drink when they ascended to the matrimonial bed. On the way back, it became hot, and Tristan ordered to bring him cold wine with Isolde. Through an oversight, the young man and the girl were served a jug with a love drink, they tasted it, and immediately their hearts beat differently. From now on, they could think of nothing but each other ...
King Mark was struck in his heart by the beauty of Isolde, so the wedding took place immediately upon the arrival of the bride in Cornwall. So that the king did not notice the offense of Isolde, the Gouvernal and Brangienne decided to make him spend the first night with Brangienne, who was a virgin. When King Mark entered the bedchamber, Isolde blew out the candles, explaining this to the old Irish custom, and in the darkness gave up her place to the servant. The king was pleased.
As time went on, Mark's hatred for his nephew boiled up with renewed vigor, for the views that Tristan exchanged with the queen left no doubt that both of them were filled with an irresistible mutual attraction. Mark assigned a trusted servant named Audre to supervise the queen, but it took a long time until he found out that Tristan and Isolde were seen alone in the garden. Audrey told his master about this, and the king, armed with a bow, sat down in the crown of a laurel tree to see for himself everything. However, the lovers noticed the spy in time and led a conversation intended for his ears: Tristan allegedly wondered why Mark so hated him, so selflessly loving his king and so sincerely adoring the queen, and asked Isolde if there was a way to overcome this hatred.
The king succumbed to the cunning of lovers; Audre fell into disgrace for libel, and Tristan is again surrounded by honor. Audrey, however, did not abandon the thought of betraying Tristan into the hands of the king. Once he scattered sharp braids in the queen's bedroom, and Tristan cut himself on them in the dark, without noticing it. Isolde felt that the sheets were wet and sticky with blood, understood everything, sent her beloved away, and then deliberately hurt her leg and screamed that an attempt had been made on her. Either Audre or Tristan could be guilty of this, but the latter so ardently insisted on a duel in which he could prove his innocence that the king dropped the proceedings for fear of losing such a faithful servant as Audre.
Another time, Audre gathered twenty knights who had a grudge against Tristan, hid them in the room next to the bedroom, but Tristan was warned by Brangienne and without armor, with one sword rushed to the enemies. They fled in disgrace, but Audre partially achieved his:
goalMark imprisoned Isolde in a high tower, into which no man could penetrate. Separation from his beloved caused Tristan such suffering that he fell ill and almost died, but the devoted Brangien, giving him a woman's dress, nevertheless led the young man to Isolde. For three days Tristan and Isolde enjoyed love, until finally Audre found out about everything and sent fifty knights to the tower, who seized Tristan asleep.
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angry Mark ordered to send Tristan to the fire, and give Isolde to the lepers. However, Tristan, on the way to the place of execution, managed to escape from the hands of the guards, while Isolde fought off Gouvernal from the lepers. Reunited, the lovers took refuge in the Castle of the Sage Virgin, in the forest of Morua. But their serene life did not last long: King Mark found out where they were hiding, and in the absence of Tristan he came to the castle and took Isolde away by force, and Tristan could not help her, as on that day he was insidiously wounded by a poisoned arrow. Brangien told Tristan that only King Hoel's daughter, White-handed Isolde, could heal from such a wound. Tristan went to Brittany, and there the royal daughter, who took a great liking to the young man, really cured him. Before Tristan had time to recover from his wound, the castle of Hoel was besieged with a large army by a certain Count Agrippa. Leading the sortie, Tristan defeated Hoel's enemies, and the king decided to give him his daughter as a reward.
Played a wedding. When the young people lay down on the bed, Tristan suddenly remembered another, Blond Isolde, and therefore did not go further than hugs and kisses. Not knowing that there are other pleasures, the young woman was quite happy. Queen Isolde, upon learning of Tristan's marriage, almost died of grief. He, too, could not bear the separation from his beloved for a long time. In the guise of a madman, Tristan arrived in Cornwall and, amused by Mark's speeches, was left in the castle. Here he found a way to open up to Isolde, and for two whole months the lovers saw each other every time the king happened to leave the castle. When the time came to say goodbye, Isolde wept bitterly, anticipating that she was no longer destined to meet with Tristan. Once again, Tristan was injured again, and the healers again could not help him. Feeling worse and worse, he sent for Isolde, telling the shipman to sail under white sails if Isolde was with him on the ship, and under black sails if not.
By cunning, the shipman was able to take Isolde away from Mark and was already entering his ship under white sails into the harbor, when another Isolde, who learned about the meaning of the color of the sails, hurried to Tristan and said that the sails were black. This Tristan could not bear, and the soul departed from his torn heart.
Going ashore and finding her beloved dead, Isolde hugged the lifeless body and also died. By the will of Tristan, his body, along with the body of Isolde, was taken to Cornwall. Before his death, he tied a message to King Mark to his sword, which spoke of an accidentally drunk love potion. After reading the message, the king regretted that he had not learned about everything earlier, because then he would not have persecuted lovers, powerless to resist passion.
At the behest of King Mark, Tristan and Isolde were buried in the same chapel. Soon a beautiful thorny bush rose from Tristan's grave and, spreading over the chapel, grew into Isolde's grave. Three times the king ordered to cut this bush, but each time he appeared the next day, as beautiful as before.