my fourteenth year
year thirty-eight of the reign of Charles VII, King of France
day of Sainte Anne
My lord had not come to me for several months, but this past night he came. He placed me on the bed as normal, and let the curtains drop around it, then I heard him pull a chair close to the fire and he began to speak. He told me of Salaün. He was a simple soul who lived alone in the woods of the Lesneven region. He was avoided by all and lived the life of a hermit, only begging bread and repeating Ave Marias without cease. He lived in harmony with nature and slept outside. He never bothered a soul. At forty years, he fell ill and was found dead near a fountain. He was buried and quickly forgotten, until one day, a Lys flower was noticed growing from his tomb; Lys are the symbol of purity and innocence. They opened it up and found that the root of the flower was growing from the mouth of Salaün. In fact, the leaves had “Ave Maria” written on them in gold. And that is why the tomb of a simple hermit has become Notre Dame du Folgoët.
I demanded of my lord if the hermit had not one friend.
My lord replied to me no.
But if he were such a simple kind soul, surely someone would have wanted him as a friend.
My lord says me that everyone avoided him.
I told him that did not make sense. If he were a kind man then people would have been near.
My lord says me that perhaps he was mean.
At this, I climbed from under the covers and pulled back the curtain at the foot of the bed. I told him that then in that case he would not have been called kind.
My lord turned in his chair to face me, but then rose and sat on the rail of the bed in front of me. He says me that perhaps the hermit warned people away.
I told him that if he were repeating Ave Marias without ceasing, then he would not have had time to speak to anyone.
And then my lord replied to me that the men he knew had better things to do than to repeat Ave Marias.
I do not think this story makes sense and this I told him.
He told me that if I did not want to hear his stories, that there were others who would gladly. He commanded me back to bed, and began to replace the curtain, but then stopped and demanded of me how many years I have.
I told him. Fourteen. I feel I do not please him. I told him he does not have to tell me stories. I had never demanded of him to.
He replied to me something I could not hear. It seems to me it was, “You demand of me nothing at all.”
two days after Assomption
Agnès says me that the trades people come to see Anne.
This seems to me normal.
Agnès says me that they should come to see me. I am the chatelaine. It should be me to make decisions on who to buy from.
I am ignorant of trades and the people who do them. It does not interest me. Anne has done well since four years, and I am certain does still.
Agnès recalled to me that the tasks of a wife are dictated by God and that in all my studies perhaps I should study this also.
Perhaps I will do.
five days after Saint Augustin
I occupied myself this day in copying expenses into the accounts. I should have done since three months. And God who all sees, the things I will not do and the things I do not do, will see this also. And tomorrow I shall see the priest and these confess.
day of Saint Etienne
My lord had promised to tell me of Arthur King of Bretons this night. But he began by telling me of a king called Marc’h, which is ‘horse’ in Breton. This king had a palace in Plomarc’h near Douarnenez. King Marc’h had the most handsome horse the world has ever seen. He walked on the sea also as well as he did on the land. And mountains made the same to him as valleys. The horse was called Morvarc’h and there was nothing the king liked more than to hunt with this horse.
It arrived that one day, as the king was hunting with his nobles, that he saw the most beautiful white hind the world has ever seen, and he turned with his men to pursue her. Morvarc’h was the only horse that had speed enough to chase her and even he could not catch her. The chase finished as the hind ran up a rock that rose above the sea.
The king drew an arrow from his quiver and fit it to his bow. The hind let forth a pitiable cry and then the king let fly his arrow. At the moment when it would have hit the hind, the arrow turned in its path and flew back toward the king. It hit Morvarc’h in the chest and the horse threw the king and hurtled off the cliff into the sea.
In a rage complete, the king drew his dagger and advanced upon the hind. At this moment there, the voice of a woman cried out. And in the place of the hind there is a beautiful girl.
To punish the king for having pursued her, this girl gave the king the mane and the ears of his horse. King Marc’h drew his cloak over his head and returned to Poulmarc’h. He had a wall of gold bricks as high as the head of a man built around his throne and commanded that no one would look upon him or they must die.
He has a coiffeur come to cut his mane, but so that no one may know the secret of the king, the tongue of the coiffeur is cut out the moment he has cut the last hair. But the hair grows, and in two weeks when he calls the coiffeur to come back, he cannot be found, for he has taken his wife and his children and has fled the kingdom in fear. So the king calls another coiffeur and when he is finished, his tongue also is cut out and when the coiffeur is called back in two weeks time he also cannot be found, for he has fled the kingdom the same as the first. And soon all the coiffeurs in the kingdom have fled in fear of the king, save one: Yeunig. This is the favorite of the king and the one who has cut his hairs always before this happening. And so the king does not wish to cut out the tongue of this coiffeur. And so he will wait and wait. But the hair must keep growing and soon it is too heavy to bear. And so the king will call Yeunig.
And seeing the mane and the ears of the king, Yeunig demands of him, why did you not send for me more quick? I have the enchanted scissors and whatever hairs the scissors cut will never grow again. But if I will cut your hairs, then you must promise not to cut out my tongue.
And the king will do this, only Yeunig must never tell anyone that the king has the mane and the ears of a horse. And Yeunig swears this. And the hairs are cut and Yeunig leaves.
But all the world has envy to know the secret of the king, and so they offer Yeunig money and women and power if only he will repeat it to them. He refuses all. But he fears he must speak the words aloud or he will explode.
For that no one may hear, he goes to the beach and digs a large hole and puts his head into this and screams, The King Has the Mane and the Ears of a Horse! And then he covers up this hole. And he feels himself much relieved: he has spoken these words and no one has heard them.
But three reeds begin to grow from the hole.
King Marc’h takes the decision to marry his sister to the King of Léon, who is Rivalen. But there must be a big fête with all of the royalty of Bretagne. And how will King Marc’h be the host and yet not be seen? Yeunig counsels him to wear a hood about his head and tell all the world that he has a maladie. The musicians arrive to make the music and as they play their instruments, they have great hunger and thirst. And they go about the palace eating and drinking whatever they find. And that, the food left for the korrigans.
And at this moment here, I demanded of my lord who are the korrigans.
My lord replied to me that they are small creatures, like dwarves, who are very secret and only appear at night. Some are friend to humans and some are foe. The korrigans are of different types: some belonging to the woods or the lakes, some to the houses.
And I commanded my lord to continue.
When the korrigans have come at midnight, to clean the palace, they find there is neither food nor drink for them. And so, they have taken the reeds from the binious and all the bombardes of the musicians. And the next day, when the musicians must give the branle and the other dances, they have realized they have no reeds. And so they search something that can be made into reeds. At this moment here, a small boy says them that he has seen three reeds which grow on the beach. And so he is sent to take them and give them to the musicians. And new reeds are made and given to each musician. And so they make ready to play. But the first note is not music, but this: The King Has the Mane and the Ears of a Horse!
And all the world demands of King Marc’h if this is true and he removes the hood and declares it so. And as all the people know now his secret, the king can no longer reign. And he must disappear from Bretagne.
At this point here, I found that my eyes would not stay open. When I woke myself in the morning, my lord had already gone.
day of Saint Matthieu
When my lord rendered me a visit this night, I demanded of him to tell me the part that rests of the story of King Marc’h.
He replied to me that he has told me the story, the two weeks which have passed.
And this confused me for he had told me he would tell me more of the story of Arthur King of Bretons when he had begun the story of King Marc’h.
And then my lord remembered to himself that he had not finished the story. What he added is the follow:
After leaving his kingdom, King Marc’h has crossed the Channel and is living with his cousin who is Arthur King of Bretons. And Arthur demands of Marzin if the spell placed on the king cannot be broken. And Marzin replies to him that he cannot break the spell, but he can make it less. And he gives King Marc’h a potion that disappears the mane and the ears of the horse so long as he is in Britain. But if the king ever returns to Bretagne, then the mane and the ears must again appear. And so King Marc’h takes the potion and then Arthur gives him the kingdom of Cornwall for to rule.
One day King Marc’h has word that his brother-in-law, Rivalen, has been killed by a duc named Morgan. And also, his sister is dead of grief. But before she had died, she has borne a son. And all the world is ignorant of what has become of this child.
Many years after, a handsome boy appears in Cornwall. He is a strong warrior with all the skills of a chevalier, and he becomes the favorite of King Marc’h. The boy is called only Tristan and knows not his family.
At this time here, a Breton noble is searching an adopted son who was taken of him by pirates. And he is told of Tristan who is arrived in Cornwall. And this noble comes to King Marc’h and explains to him that Tristan is the son of Rivalen, and that the noble had hidden him from duc Morgan while making of him a chevalier.
And because it has been revealed that Tristan is the nephew of the king, the king takes the decision to leave his kingdom to Tristan when he will die.
The jealous nobles demand that the king must marry and have an heir of himself. King Marc’h wants no other heir than Tristan, but he is fatigued by the complaints of the nobles. And in seeing a long golden hair that has been dropped by a bird, he tells the nobles he will do as they demand of him as soon as they will find the owner of the long fair hair. He will marry no other.
And the nobles agree if the king will tell them to whom the hair is belonged and in which country she must live.
And the King replies to them to demand of the bird who has dropped it.
But Tristan knows the owner of the hair. Before he is come to Cornwall, he has killed a monster in Ireland and this monster is the uncle of a girl named Yseult. And the Irlandais will kill him if they will see him, but because of his loyalty to his uncle, he searches for Yseult. For he knows he must not advance in power only because his uncle cannot advance.
But when Tristan has convinced Yseult to return with him to Cornwall, they have drunk a love potion in mistake and ever after they are bound by a passion they can neither comprehend nor rid themselves of. And the encounter of Tristan and Yseult brings much unhappiness to everyone who once has loved them. It brings exile for them both and sends Tristan to the kingdom of Arthur. And, at end, it must bring death to the lovers.
But at this moment here, I demanded of my lord what has happened to King Marc’h?
My lord replied to me that for cause of the betrayal of the two persons he has most loved, he will return to Bretagne and take again the mane and the ears of a horse. He retakes his throne, but he is never the same king as before. He is destined to excess in debauchery as well as excess in charity.
But that, my lord says me, is another story. And it will not be told this night.
four days after Saint Dynys
My lord began the proper story of Arthur King of the Bretons. This I already heard many times, but it is not polite for me to say this, and so I listened. Here is how he told me it:
It is told that the great king lived here, in Brocéliande. He was born of King Uther. As his mother was not the queen, King Uther gave his son to a chevalier who trained Arthur in all the arts of war so that when he is grown, he can also be a chevalier. When Arthur had sixteen years, his true father, King Uther, died without an heir.
At the death of King Uther, the leaders of the clans demanded of Marzin the Magician, to name them a new king. Marzin answered them to wait until heaven touches earth, the dead come back to life, and those who cannot speak are given voice.
One day, in the parvis in front of the cathédrale in a place which had been empty, a stone appeared with a handsome sword sunk into its mass. This stone was not like those of the country. It was so large that no man could move it and it had writing on it so strange that no man could read it. And all the people came to see it.
It was Marzin, the last one to come, and the first one to be able to read what the stone would say. It was written on the stone: The one who is able to take from the stone this sword is the one who must be king. Marzin remembered to them that neither family of birth nor richness make nothing to do with the decision of who must be king. It is for the store to decide to whom it will yield the sword.
Each of the leaders stepped up to the stone and placed his hands around the sword, but each of the leaders failed to pull it from the stone. After all of the leaders had not succeeded, it was given to any person to try to take the sword. Many of the men of the town tried this, but none of them, even not the smith, had success. At this, the leaders made their sons try. And after the sons had failed, then the sons of the men of the town were given it to try. And after, even the servants and their sons. And then even the most young, those who could not yet walk, were let to try. And finally, although all had tried, none had succeeded, and still the sword remained in the stone.
At this moment here, Arthur was searching a sword for the chevalier who had kept him since birth. When he walked into the parvis and saw the sword sunk into the stone, he demanded if it did not belong to any person. When he was replied that it did not, Arthur placed his hand on the sword and pulled it from the stone. At this, Marzin named him King of Bretons.
At this, the people of the town are very happy, for they have known Arthur and he has lived among them, but the leaders are unhappy and they demand of Marzin that Arthur return the sword to the stone so that they might try once more to succeed in pulling it out. Once more, all of the leaders try at this and fail. And the men of the town try and fail. And then the sons of the leaders try once more without finding success, as well, the sons of the men of the town. And still, once more, the servants and their sons are given to try and when they also fail, then the young and babies are given a chance. Again, as before, it is Arthur the only one who has success.
But even at this, the leaders refuse him as their king until Marzin says them that Arthur is, in actuality, the son of Uther. At this, Arthur gathers a great army made not of the sons of the leaders, but of the sons of the people of the town and Arthur leads his army with Kaledvoulc’h, his sword; Gweneb-Gourzhuc’her, his shield; and Rongomyant, his lance.
My lord began to tell me more, but I found myself falling into sleep. He saved the rest of the story for the next time.
I dreamt this night that someone came beside me and combed through my hair with their fingers all the long of the night.
This seems to me bizarre because it is normal that I do not remember my dreams.
one day before Saint André
Anne demands me of the feast of Noël, what I would like served. I am ignorant of the customs of the Bretons and I cannot remember what was served this past year. I do not know why she demands this of me so I have given her permission to do as she likes.
Agnès says me that I must take interest in the affairs of the house. A good wife is certain that things are managed according to the desires of her husband.
I replied to Agnès that as Anne has managed these past years, she must know what my lord requires. Far better for her to plan the feast than for me to plan and have it disappoint my lord, the comte.
one day after Saint Hilaire
My lord finished his story from three months past: soon after Arthur became King of Bretons, Marzin the Magician tells him that the Saxons have come to take the land of the giant Gogvran Gaor. As Arthur comes to help Gogvran Gaor, Marziri suggests to Arthur to attack first.
The lady of Gogvran Gaor and her daughters watch the battle which follows from the safety of the chateau. The fight is long and very bloody, and at one point, Gogvran Gaor is taken by the Saxons. Arthur, seeing this, plunges into the middle of the battle, overtaking the Saxon lord and rescuing the chevalier. When the Saxons have seen this, they lose their morale, gather their men, and draw back, leaving the lands of Gogvran Gaor.
Arthur is carried back to the chateau of the giant by his army, much wounded and in danger of death. The oldest daughter of Gogvran Gaor, Guenievre, commands that all leave the presence of Arthur and allows no person but herself to aid him.
My lord says me that Guenievre means White Ghost. She is so fair she is said to glow in the moonlight, her step is so soft it is said that none can hear it, and her voice so low it is said that it sounds like the call of a bird in the night. She is the girl the most kind of all the world. Her touch is so cool it gives life to Arthur as a spring in the middle of the forest.
Gogvran says to Arthur that he is happy to have as a son-in-law the man who has saved him from death, even though he has not yet been told the identity of this man.
At this moment here, Marzin says to Gogvran Gaor that the name of this man is Arthur, King of Bretons, and son of the great king Uther.
The marriage takes place the next month, and all the world has never been so happy.
I told my lord that Gogvran Gaor was a generous man to give his oldest daughter to Arthur, thinking him just a brave peasant; the chevalier might have given Arthur gold or silver in her stead.
My lord replied to me that sometimes daughters, and sisters, are more dear to men than riches.