land. If my heart knows well the language of flattery, as is
necessary for the courtier, it will be rich ere it comes back. Whoever
wishes to stand in the good graces of his lord and sit beside him on his
right, to be in the fashion now-a-days, must remove the feather from
his head, even when there is none there. But there is one bad feature of
this practice: while he is smoothing down his master, who is filled
with evil and villainy, he will never be so courteous as to tell him the
truth; rather he makes him think and believe that no one could compare
with him in prowess and in knowledge, and the master thinks that he is
speaking the truth. That man does not know himself who takes another's
word about qualities which he does not possess. For even if he is a
wicked and insolent wretch, and as cowardly as a hare, mean, crazy, and
misshapen, and a villain both in word and deed--yet some man will praise
him to his face who behind his back will mock at him. But when in his
hearing he speaks of him to some other, he praises him, while his lord
pretends not to hear what they say between themselves; if, however, he
thought that he would not be heard, he would say something his master
would not like. And if his master is pleased to lie, the servant is all
ready with his consent, and will never be backward in averring that all
his master says is true. He who frequents courts and lords must ever be
ready with a lie. So, too, must my heart do if it would find favour with
its lord. Let it flatter and be obsequious. But Cliges is such a knight,
so fair, so open, and so loyal, that my heart, in praising him,
need never be false or perfidious, for in him there is nothing to be
improved. Therefore I wish my heart to serve him, for, as the people's
proverb runs, 'He who serves a noble man is bad indeed if he does not
improve in his company.'"

(Vv. 4575-4628.) Thus love harrows Fenice. But this torment is her
delight, of which she can never grow weary. And Cliges now has crossed
the sea and come to Wallingford. There he took expensive quarters in
great state. But his thoughts are always of Fenice, not forgetting her
for a single hour. While he delays and tarries there, his men, acting
under his instructions, made diligent inquiries. They were informed that
King Arthur's barons and the King in person had appointed a tourney to
be held in the plain before Oxford, which lies close to Wallingford.
[234] There the struggle was arranged, and i