petitions of his people, the emperor passed in his garden, watching the

flowers open and the fruits ripen, and by-and-by he planted trees and

shrubs and made walks and alleys, till altogether the garden was the

most beautiful as well as the largest that had ever been seen.



The years passed, and the princess reached the age of fourteen; quite

old enough to be married, thought the kings and princes who were looking

out for a bride for their sons. The emperor's heart sank when he heard

rumours of embassies that were coming to rob him of his daughter, and he

shut himself up in his room to try to invent a plan by which he might

keep the princess, without giving offence to the powerful monarchs who

had asked for her hand.



For a long while he sat with his head on his hands, thinking steadily,

but every scheme had some drawback. At length his face brightened and he

sprang up from his seat.



'Yes! that will do,' he cried, and went down to attend his council,

looking quite a different man from what he had been a few hours before.



The embassies and the princes continued to arrive, and they all got the

same answer. 'The emperor was proud of the honour done to himself and

his daughter, and would give her in marriage to any man who would pass

through the garden and bring him a branch of the tree which stood at the

further end.' Nothing could surely be more easy, and every prince in

turn as he heard the conditions felt that the fairest damsel on the

whole earth was already his wife.



But though each man went gaily in, none ever came out, nor was it ever

known what had befallen them. At last so many had entered that fatal

gate that it seemed as if there could be no more princes or nobles left,

and the emperor began to breathe again at the thought that he would be

able after all to keep his daughter.



But one day a knight of great renown, named Tirius, arrived from beyond

the seas and knocked at the gate of the castle. Like the others, he was

welcomed and feasted, and when the feast was ended he craved that the

emperor would grant him the hand of the princess on whatever condition

he might choose.



'Right willingly,' answered the emperor; 'there is only one condition I

have laid down, and that is an easy one, though for some strange reason

no one as yet has been able to fulfil it. You have merely to walk

through the garden that you see below, and bring me back a branch from a

tree bearing golden fruit, which stands on the opposite side. If fame

speaks true, this is child's play to the adventures in which you have

borne so noble a part.'



'In good sooth,' said the knight, who saw clearly that there was more in

the matter than appeared--'in good sooth your condition likes me well.

Still, as fortune is ever inconstant, and may be tired of dealing me

favours, I would first ask as a boon a sight of your fair daughter and

leave to hearken to her voice. After that I will delay no longer, but

proceed on my quest.'



'I will take you to her myself,' answered the emperor, who thought that

he might show this small mercy to a man who was going to his death, and

he led his guest down long passages and through lofty halls, till they

reached the princess's apartments.



'In five minutes my chamberlain shall come for you, and he shall show

you the way to the garden,' said the emperor, 'and meanwhile I bid you

farewell;' and, leaving Tirius to enter alone, he went to seek his

ministers.



It would be hard to say whether the knight or the princess was most

amazed as they stood gazing at each other--he at her beauty and she at

his boldness, for never before had any man crossed her threshold. For a

moment both were silent; then the knight, remembering how short a time

was allowed him, aroused himself from his dream and spoke:



'Gentle damsel, help me now in my need, for I have been drawn hither by

love. Full well I know that many have had this adventure before me, and

have entered that garden and never returned from it. Without your aid my

fate will be such as theirs, and therefore, I pray you, tell me what I

should do so that I may win through without harm.'



Now the knight was a goodly man and tall, and perhaps the princess may

have bewailed in secret the noble youths who had fallen victims to her

father's pleasure. But, however that might be, she smiled and made

reply:



'I am ready to marry any man on whom my father wishes to bestow me, and

you say you have come hither for love of me. Still, you have asked of me

a hard thing, for it beseems not a daughter to betray her father's

confidence. Yet, as I am loth that any more fair youths should lose

their lives for my sake, I will give you this counsel. You must first

pass through a forest, which is the home of a lady who is known to

all as the "Lady of Solace." Go to her, and she will give you the help

you need to journey safely through the garden.'






The princess had scarcely finished these words when the voice of the

chamberlain was heard without, bidding him withdraw, and, glancing

gratefully at her, the knight bowed low and took his leave.



In the great hall the chamberlain quitted him, telling him to take his

ease and rest till the emperor should return, but instead the knight

waited till he was alone and then plunged straight into the forest.



He walked on for a little way till he reached a green space, and there

he stopped and cried, 'Where is the Lady of Solace?' Then he sat down on

a stone and waited. In a short time he saw coming towards him two

ladies, one bearing a basin and the other a cloth.



'We give you greeting, sir,' they said; 'the Lady of Solace has sent us

to you, and she bids you first wash your feet in this basin, and then go

with us to her palace.' So the knight washed his feet, and dried them in

the white cloth, and rose up and went with the ladies to the palace,

which was built of blue marble, and the fairest that ever he saw. The

Lady of Solace was fair likewise and of a marvellous sweet countenance,

and her voice was soft like the voice of a thrush as she asked him what

he wanted with her. At that the knight told his errand, and how the

princess had bade him come to her, for she alone could help him to win

through the enchanted garden.



'I am called the Lady of Solace,' said she, with a smile which seemed

made up of all the beautiful things in the world, 'and I give succour to

all those who need it. Here is a ball of thread; take it and bind it

round the post of the gate of the garden, and hold fast the thread in

your hand, unwinding it as you go. For if you lose the clue, you will

perish like those before you. And more. A lion dwells in the garden, who

will spring out and devour you, as he has devoured the rest. Therefore,

arm yourself with armour, and see that the armour be anointed thickly

with ointment. When the lion sees you, he will take your arm or your leg

into his mouth, and his teeth shall stick fast in the ointment, and when

you sunder yourself from him his teeth shall be drawn out, and you shall

kill him easily. But during the fight beware lest you let go the clue.'



And after the lion shall come four men, who will set on you and seek to

turn you from their path; but beware of them also, and if you are in

peril call to me, and I will succour you. And now return to the palace

and put on your armour, and so, farewell.'



When the knight heard this he was right glad, and stole back to the

palace, where he found that the emperor was still sitting at his

council. He sat down in the great hall to await him, but the time seemed

very long before his host entered.



'How have you sped?' asked he.



'My lord, now that through your goodness I have seen the princess,' said

the knight, 'there can be but one ending to my journey. I go at once in

quest of the tree, and I am content whatever fate may befall me.'



'May fortune be with you!' answered the emperor, who never failed to

give good wishes to his daughter's suitors, as he felt quite sure that

they would be of no use.



So the knight bowed low and left the hall, going straight to the

gatekeeper's house, where he had put off his armour on arriving. On

pretence of sharpening his sword, he borrowed a pot of ointment from the

man, and, unseen by him, rubbed the paste thickly over his armour. After

this he looked about to see that no one was watching him, and took the

path that led to the garden.






A large iron gate supported by two posts stood at the entrance, and

round one of these he firmly bound one end of the thread which the Lady

of Solace had given him. Holding the other end in his hand, he

advanced for a long while without seeing or hearing any strange thing,

till a roar close to him caused him to start. The knight had just time

to draw his sword and hold up his shield before the lion was upon him;

but, as he had been forewarned, the great beast dashed aside the shield,

and fastened his teeth in the arm that held it. The pain was such that

the knight leaped backwards, but the lion's teeth were fixed fast in the

ointment, and they all came out of his mouth, so that he could bite no

more. And when he rushed at his enemy with his claws they stuck also, so

that the knight with a blow of his sword was able to kill him with ease.



Mightily he rejoiced at seeing his foe dead before him, and by ill

fortune he forgot that, had it not been for the counsel of the Lady of

Solace, it was _he_ who would have been slain, and not the lion. He

swelled with pride and conceit at the ease with which he had won the

victory, and never noted that the clue of thread was no longer in his

hands.



'Ah, lovely princess, I come to seek my reward,' cried he to himself,

and turned his face towards the palace. But a little way on he spied

seven trees, very fair to view, all covered with fruit that shone

temptingly in the sun. He gathered a cluster that hung just above his

head, and when he had eaten that, he thought that it tasted so delicious

he really must have another, and another also.



He was still eating when three men passed by, and asked him what he was

doing there. The knight was so puffed up that he did not answer them

civilly after his manner, but gave them rude words, for which in return

he received buffets. In the end, the men dragged him away from the tree

and flung him into a ditch that was full of water, and his armour

weighed him down, so that he could not get out. Then at last he

remembered his clue, and felt for it, but it was not there, and his

pride broke down, and he saw that he had brought his ruin on himself.

And in despair he lifted up his voice and cried, 'O Lady of Solace, help

me, I beseech you, in my great need, for I am nigh dead.' He shut his

eyes for very misery, but opened them again in a moment, for a lady

stood by him, and she said:



'Did not I tell you that if you lost the clue you could never more find

your way out of the garden? I will lift you out of the ditch, but, for

the clue, you must seek for it yourself till you find it.' And with that

she vanished.



* * * * *



Not that day did the knight find the clue, nor the next, nor the next.

Faint and weary was he, but he dared not eat of the fruit that was

around him, some hanging from the boughs of trees and some growing on

the ground. At length he wandered back to the spot where he had fought

with the lion, and there, covered with blood, lay the clue he had so

long sought. By its help he was led to the tree with the golden fruit,

which stood at the far end of the garden, and plucking one of the boughs

he turned to retrace his steps, wondering, now that he held the thread,

at the shortness of the way.



'Here is the branch, O Emperor! and now give me the princess,' he said,

kneeling and laying the bough down on the steps of the throne. And the

emperor could not gainsay him, but bade his officers fetch his daughter,

and after they had been married she went with her husband into his own

country, where they lived happily till they died.



[From the _Gesia Romanorum_.]