ny harm or
danger. I take it that you will have no objection to this, except for
one condition (for I must not disguise the truth, or I should be unjust
to you): she wishes to have you in her control, and she desires such
complete possession of your body that even your heart shall not be at
large." "Certainly," he said, "I readily consent to what will be no
hardship to me. I am willing to be her prisoner." "So shall you be:
I swear it by this right hand laid upon you!. Now come and, upon my
advice, demean yourself so humbly in her presence that your imprisonment
may not be grievous. Otherwise feel no concern. I do not think that your
restraint will be irksome." Then the damsel leads him off, now
alarming, now reassuring him, and speaking to him mysteriously about
the confinement in which he is to find himself; for every lover is a
prisoner. She is right in calling him a prisoner; for surely any one who
loves is no longer free.

(Vv. 1943-2036.) Taking my lord Yvain by the hand, the damsel leads him
where he will be dearly loved; but expecting to be ill received, it
is not strange if he is afraid. They found the lady seated upon a red
cushion. I assure you my lord Yvain was terrified upon entering the
room, where he found the lady who spoke not a word to him. At this he
was still more afraid, being overcome with fear at the thought that he
had been betrayed. He stood there to one side so long that the damsel
at last spoke up and said: "Five hundred curses upon the head of him who
takes into a fair lady's chamber a knight who will not draw near,
and who has neither tongue nor mouth nor sense to introduce himself."
Thereupon, taking him by the arm, she thrust him forward with the words:
"Come, step forward, knight, and have no fear that my lady is going to
snap at you; but seek her good-will and give her yours. I will join you
in your prayer that she pardon you for the death of her lord, Esclados
the Red." Then my lord Yvain clasped his hands, and failing upon his
knees, spoke like a lover with these words: "I will not crave your
pardon, lady, but rather thank you for any treatment you may inflict on
me, knowing that no act of yours could ever be distasteful to me." "Is
that so, sir? And what if I think to kill you now?" "My lady, if it
please you, you will never hear me speak otherwise." "I never heard of
such a thing as this: that you put yourself voluntarily and absolutely
within my power, without the coercion of any on