which is urged on and driven by the whip.
Prowess and love entwine him and make him bold and keen in fight.
He has dealt so grievously with the Saxons that he has killed or
conquered them all, wounded some, and killed others; but he let
one of them escape because they were a match, one for the other,
and so that, by him, the duke might know his loss and mourn. But
before this man left him, he prevailed upon Cliges to tell him
his name; and went for his part to tell it to the duke, who had
great wrath thereat. Now the duke hears of his misfortune, and
had great grief and great care thereat. And Cliges leads away
Fenice, who thrills and tortures him with the pangs of love; but
if now he does not hear her confession, long time will love be
adverse to him; and also to her if she, on her side, is silent
and say not her will; for now in the hearing, one of the other,
can they reveal their inmost hearts. But so much do they fear
refusal that they dare not betray their hearts. He fears that she
might reject him; she, on her part, would have betrayed herself
if she had not feared rejection. And, nevertheless, the one
betrays his thoughts to the other with the eyes if they could
only have known it. They speak by glances with their eyes; but
they are so craven with their tongues that in no wise dare they
speak of the love which masters them. If she dare not begin it,
it is no marvel; for a maiden ought to be a simple and shy
creature. But why does he wait; and why does he delay, who is
thoroughly bold in her behalf, and has shown dread of none but
her? God! Whence comes this fear to him that he fears a single
maiden, weak and timid, simple and shy? At this, methinks, I see
dogs fleeing before the hare, and the fish hunting the beaver,
the lamb the wolf, the dove the eagle. So would it be if the
villein were to flee before his hoe by which he gains his
livelihood, and with which he toils. So would it be if the falcon
were to flee from the duck, and the gerfalcon from the heron, and
the great pike from the minnow, and if the stag were to chase the
lion; so do things go topsy-turvy. But a desire comes upon me to
give some reason why it happens to true lovers, that wit and
courage fail them to express what they have in their thoughts
when they have leisure and opportunity and time.

You who are being instructed in Love, who faithfully uphold the
customs and rites of his court, and who never broke his law
whatever might have befalle