fay,
And with her beauteous damsels speeds away:
Her, as she pass'd the enraptur'd Lanval view'd;
High on the portal's marble steps he stood;
On his tall steed he sprang with vigorous bound;
Thenceforth their footsteps never wight hath found.

But 'tis the Breton tale, they both are gone
To the fair isle of fertile Avalon;
There, in the lap of love for ever laid,
By sorrow unassail'd, in bliss embay'd,
They make their won: for me, where'er they dwell,
No farther tale befalls me here to tell.

Thomas Chestre translated this tale in the reign of Henry 6, but the
extracts published by Mr. Warton, differ in some particulars from the
tale here given.

No. VI.--LES DEUX AMANTS.

In Neustria, now called Normandy is a single mountain of unusual height
and verdure, railed the mountain "of the two lovers," in consequence of
an adventure to which it gave rise, and of which the Bretons have formed
a lay. Close to it are the remains of a city, now reduced to a few
houses, but formerly opulent, founded by the king of the Pistreins,
whence it was called Depistreins, and the neighbouring valley Val de
Pistre. This king had one only daughter, whom he loved so much that he
could not bear to be separated from her. With a view to check the
pursuits of the lovers, whom her beauty and accomplishments attracted,
he published a decree, that her hand should never be granted but to a
suitor who should be able to carry her, without resting, from the bottom
to the top of the adjoining mountain. Many attempted the enterprise, for
presumption is common; none achieved it, because its execution was
barely possible. The suitors disappeared, one by one, and the beautiful
princess seemed doomed to eternal celibacy. There was one youth, the son
of a neighbouring baron, who was a favourite with the king and the whole
court, and whose assiduities, which were dictated by an unconquerable
and sincere passion, ultimately gained the lady's warmest affections.
It was long a secret to all the world: but this discretion became, at
length, almost intolerable; and the youth, hopeless of fulfilling the
condition which alone could obtain her hand, earnestly conjured her to
fly from her father's court. To this she would not consent, but
suggested a mode of accomplishing their wishes more compatible with her
filial piety: "I have," said she, "a rich aunt, who resides, and has
studied during thirty years, at S