sked them to tell her,
if possible, news of a knight for whom she sought. "Who is he?" they
ask. "I have heard it said that he is never without a lion." "Upon my
word, damsel," the master says, "he has just now left us. You can come
up with him to-night, if you are able to keep his tracks in sight, and
are careful not to lose any time." "Sire," she answers, "God forbid.
But tell me now in what direction I must follow him." And they tell
her: "This way, straight ahead," and they beg her to greet him on their
behalf. But their courtesy was not of much avail; for, without giving
any heed, she galloped off at once. The pace seemed much too slow to
her, though her palfrey made good time. So she galloped through the mud
just the same as where the road was good and smooth, until she caught
sight of him with the lion as his companion. Then in her gladness she
exclaims: "God, help me now. At last I see him whom I have so long
pursued, and whose trace I have long followed. But if I pursue and
nothing gain, what will it profit me to come up with him? Little or
nothing, upon my word. If he does not join in my enterprise, I have
wasted all my pains." Thus saying, she pressed on so fast that her
palfrey was all in a sweat; but she caught up with him and saluted him.
He thus at once replied to her: "God save you, fair one, and deliver you
from grief and woe." "The same to you, sire, who, I hope, will soon be
able to deliver me." Then she draws nearer to him, and says: "Sire, I
have long searched for you. The great fame of your merit has made me
traverse many a county in my weary search for you. But I continued my
quest so long, thank God, that at last I have found you here. And if I
brought any anxiety with me, I am no longer concerned about it, nor do I
complain or remember it now. I am entirely relieved; my worry has taken
flight the moment I met with you. Moreover, the affair is none of mine:
I come to you from one that is better than I, a woman who is more noble
and excellent. But if she be disappointed in her hopes of you, then she
has been betrayed by your fair renown, for she has no expectation of
other aid. My damsel, who is deprived of her inheritance by a sister,
expects with your help to win her suit; she will have none but you
defend her cause. No one can make her believe that any one else could
bear her aid. By securing her share of the heritage, you will have won
and acquired the love of her who is now disinherited, and yo