his companion hath ingendered in me a sonne and a daughter so fayre and of so goodly forme and proportion that their forme and shape doth shewe vndoubtedly the fruite to be engendered of a God the whiche thing causeth me to say that their vertue magnanimitiâ— and valiantnesse shall be such that they shall be taken among men for halfe Gods. Of the whiche pleasure and honour thus receyued by me I thought it reasonable to make you partakers to the ende ye should be merrie and ioyfull as they doe merit ye shoulde béeing the infantes and children of such a God the whiche is the mightie Mars whose anger doing the contrarie may greatly trouble and hurt you whereof I Zahara your friende shoulde bée maruellously displeasant the which thing hath caused me to pray you once againe in the name of my Lorde and friende to haue the natiuitie of these my two children in singular honour and recommendation and from henceforth to haue and to holde the mother of them in the place that she deserueth seing that the Deitie and Godhead is ioyned in hir so that the worlde by me doth take part of the diuine séede And besides this noble Emperoure of Trebisonde we haue elected and chosen you presently to giue the order of chiualrie to my sonne Anaxartes as soone as hée shall come to the age for to receyue it and the sworde by the hande of my great friend Abra and Amadis of Grece I require you in like case to giue it to my daughter Alaxtraxerâ—e and that Niquea whome ye loue so greatly doe hir confirmable office to Abras sonne not knowing any other more worthie than ye are to approch to the diuinitie béeing such as all men do estéeme you and for such I shall hereafter take you giuing peace to your Monarchies and estate royall when these my children folowing the nature of their father shall bring all the rounde worlde to obey them and to reduce it to the obedience of the lawe of oure Gods the whiche yée haue forsaken to followe him that hathe no power and then yée shall knowe the power and merite of Zahara the whiche dothe salute you all Your cousin and perfite louer the diuine Zahara The answere of the Empresse Abra to the foresayde letter dispraysing the false Gods of Zahara and exalting the onely liuing God in Trinitie In the .9 booke the 6. Chapter RIght highe and excellent Quéene of Caucase the friend and companion of the Gods immortall The Emperour my Lordâ— and spouse with the companie of Kings and Princes Ladies and damsels haue séen by the letter that ye haue sent hyther the fauour and great goodnesse that is chaunced vnto you the gods hauing you as ye doe say in so great estimation that Mars hath engendred of you a sonne and a daughter worthie for their perfection to be the childreÌ„ of such a father whereof certainly we are very ioyfull as my foresaid Lorde and husband this high and noble company hath commaunded to certifie you to giue you knowledge But yet I maruell how ye vnderstande this that in time to come ye shall haue some knowledge of your amitie to leaue the countrey and Empires of my Lord in peace and suertie I knowe not whether your children may conquer all the world after your deuise but I am sure that we kéepe the true law and honor one God in Trinitie by whose aide we haue no occasion to feare neither your Mars nor Iupiter nor any other the whiche haue closed vp the eyes of your spirit that ye should not know him at whose foote all creatures whether they be in heauen in the earth or in Hell ought to fall downe and make obeisance The goodnesse of whom hath so visited me that he hath prouided me of like linage as ye haue that is of a sonne and a daughter And Amadis of Greece also of a little Prince so excellent that at the least he may aduaÌ„ce him not to owe your Anaxartes any thing whereof I was well willing to aduertise you trusting that ye would be no lesse ioyfull of our good houre and fortune than all this great and noble companye hath bene of yours recommending vs all to you Your cousin and good friende Abra. The letters of Anaxartes and Alastraxarce to the inhabiters of the vale of Rochers intreating of the excellencie and soueraigne goodnesâ—e of the Gods. In the nynth booke and .10 Chapter ANaxartes and Alastraxarce sonne and daughter of the God of battelles and of the moste mightie Quéene Zahara of Caucase to the thrée estates of the vale of Roches loue and fauour Uery deare good friends as it hath pleased the great immortall gods that no inexpugnable fortresse of the Castell of Lac nor the incredible force of the horrible Giants Bradaran and Brandauell wiâ—hall their mighte craftinesse and subtiltie coulde not let that the diuine Iustice should not be executed vpon them by vs the Children of Mars sente into this worlde to put in effect the Iustice and vnmouable iudgement of their supreme mighte and power willing thereby to shewe that al resistance is vaine and vnprofitable against the power of heauen and will of those that gouerne and rule all this that is contayned vnder his roundnesse we had a good will to aduertise you of the deadly ruine of the foure Giantes the tyrantes of this countrey that chaunced vnto them by the sharpenesse of our swordes to the ende that you and all other mighte knowe that the gods haue the authoritie and power they alone to do all things by the same might and power that they haue made them of nothing specially resisting those that are greatly bounde to know them and yet doe not their duetie the which thing might be alleaged against the reasonable creature that leadeth a life like vnto beasts not obseruing the law ordained by the infallible creator to conduct him by reason aboue his will considering also that all other creatures by the prouidence and goodnesse of the soueraine gods are set vnder the hand and subiection of men euery one of them doing their diligence to maintaine it selfe in his order and to kéepe that wherevnto the gods haue stablished it as we sée the maruellous order of the heauens of their planets and cléerenesse of tame and wilde beasts of the birdes in the ayre the fishes in riuers and déepe seas of the plantes and swéete herbes wherof men sée that the earth doth length and is garnished with diuers works in time and season very gracious euery one of these things féele and perceiue his owne nature not goyng nor passing ouer it one pointe Seing then that al things haue béene set in the hand yea vnder the féete of man what reason shall excuse him not to obserue the ordinance of the creator and if he doe it not how ought he to be the more punished and chastened by the diuine lawes Truely my deare and good friendes he deserueth no lesse punishement than that that is chaunced
the gentle bastardes chéered of the father the which was so long vnknowen Thus came all these Lordes and Ladies into oure companie also the Princesse Oriana that was met withall vpon the sea and by a strange aduenture deliuered They honoured me for this presente Embassade There resteth nowe that I must returne vnto them to deliuer them into your handes to verifie my worde withall Phalanges dothe require of the Lordes and Ladyes beyng in Constantinople that Alastraxeree whome he hath loued long may be gyuen him in mariage In the tenth booke the 57â— Chapter RIght high mightie Lords the boldnesse of my thoughts the which heretofore haue ben giueÌ„ to a presumptuous diuinitie doth not abase hir wings knowing it to be turned into humaine linage exalted by heroike noble vertue aboue mortal fragilitie Also I faint not to attempt hir as before by the meanes of the aide that I newly finde in your maiesties by the reknowledging of hir kindred vnto whoÌ„ I haue long since vowed my heart my honour and my goods The which if ye iudge that I neuer deserued nothing of you and if ye estéeme not to much vnworthy to haue hir is the gentle Princesse Alastraxeree whom I require to my true and loyall spouse first suÌ„moning in this case the Prince Florisel to quite him towardes me for the duetie of mutuall loue giuing me like comfort and succor as he hath receiued of me as he well knoweth in his affaires A letter of credence of the Princesse Arlande In the .10 booke the .58 Chapter ARlande of Thrace disherited of hir landes bicause she made him heritor of hir hearte that had the propertie of hir libertie so greatly alienated that she can accept no part in his to Florisel of Niquea Prince of Fraunce Englande Apolonia and Rhodes salutatioÌ„ Fortune hath in such wise conspired against me that she hath giuen me no other ynke to write withal but bloud nor no other messenger but a childe nor hath sent me no succour but against the sonne of my mortall enemie for my brothers sake and yet more than this mortall enimie bicause I cannot be my owne friende Loke vpon me ye ladies that doe complaine you of the light turnes of hir customable inconstancie and take an example to hope in desperation She hath not left me as much as my surname the whiche I haue borowed bicause I would not too much astonishe you in the firste sight of the superscription of my letter missiue or in the salutation the whiche shée maie yll sende that hathe of long time hir heart captiue and afflicted as ye well knowe and not long since the body in prison I haue no great leisure with my hande to send my complaintes when that with my mouth I cannot cause them to be vnderstranded Praying you for the rest on my part to beleue this Damsell as reason would on your behalfe â—lorarâ—am doth count to Florisell of Niquea and to the other nobles being at Constantinople the cause of his comming and the imprisonment of the princesse of Thrace In the .10 booke the .58 Chapter MY Lorde the case is this In the time that my Lady had left you in the Isle of Rhodes and was at hir returning in my masters the kings Court she founde there the Duke Madasanill the tyrant of the next Ilandes a fierce Giant great and maruellous mightie accompanied with foure hundred of his cousins like vnto himselfe all they being issued of the linage of Furius Cornelius calling themselues the reuengers of his bloud This Duke required of the king a wife vnder the conditions of the vengeance that be vndertooke vpon Prince Amadis of Gâ—eâ—e for whome I was nourished and instructed if the obligation that came afterwardes had not defaced this cruell enmitie by the meanes of the succour that the Prince gaue him in his extreme businesse whom I loued and honoured and yet knew him not and was desirous with all my heart to serue him But the king perceyuing the newe reconciliation of my Ladie with him that had slaine his brother he deliuered hir quickly into the Dukes handes commaunding him to marrie hir He was euen then readie with the Duchesse Arhide whom he reteyned to come to your marriage Then hearing she should be sent to such other she answered the king beléeue not my Lorde that the trespasse and fault that I haue done to my highnesse in that I could not resist the strength of the loue of the sonne now I make it to the father assuring you that I will neuer haue other husbande than the sonne nor no greater enimie than him that shall purchase euill to the father vnto whome I haue sworne and giuen my fayth of peace and concorde The king was so irrited and chafed with hir answere that euen vpon the fielde he did disherite hir and caused an othe to be giuen to Madasanill the Prince of Thrace setting my Ladie in his power to lodge hir incontinently in the fortresse of the lake of foure pauements the which as men doe estéeme is one of the strongest places of the worlde So he gaue him the charge of hir and of the foure Pauementes to the Giantes his cousins commaunding them to keepe hir in prison a whole yeare if she applyed not hir will vnto him The which if she did not within the terme appoynted he woulde that hir head should be smitten off for the appoyntment that shée had made of his brother The fierce villaine fayled not to fulfill this ordenance moste diligently leading my Ladie wéeping and sobbing to the Castell where he enclosed hir alone with hir cousin Arlinda deliuering the keyes of the prison to a great and a vile Iayler reseruing the comming into the selfe same Castell to himselfe his cousins being established in the foure Pauements the which cause all those to sweare that come thither to be at the vengeance of the death of Furio if not that he will thrust them into déepe and cruell prisons At night they shutte in the Gates of their Pauements and by Caues made vnder the grounde they returne to the Castell béeing distant from the Laake two shottes of a Crossebowe of the which the Duke himselfe doth open and sparre the Gates Well I followed themâ— into the Castell where they suffered me â—o walke at my case but I enforced through sorrowe to sée hir in such estate not knowing howe to remedie it One day she putting out hir head at a little lattis window saw me beneath and sayde vnto me Florarlan prepare thy selfe by some meanes that thou mayst speake vnto me Incontinent I went vp leauing the Duke beneath with his men and I prayed Bocarell the Iayler to shewe me so much fauour as to let me speake a little to my Ladie the Princesse the whiche answered me that if I spake any more vnto him he woulde cast me from the height of the wall Oribaulde quoth I to him if I were weaponed as thou art I shoulde brydle thy snoute well ynough
Lord Quedragants Oration to King Lisuard leauing his seruice In the selfe same Chapter SYr I had neuer dwelt in your Court but at the request of Amadis willing and desiring to be his friend for euer and séeing that by his occasion I was yours by like reason I depart from you for euer considering that my little and small seruices shall haue but little hope séeing that his great seruices are so euill recognised and rewarded hauing no remeÌ„braunce of the Obligation wherewith you are bounde vnto him that deliuered you from the hands of Mandafabul nor of the victorie that you wonne and obtained vpon King Cildadan by his and his parents bloude I could put you in remeÌ„brance of the good turne that he did you when he deliuered you and your daughter Oriane as I oftentimes haue heard it spoken from the hands of Archalaus and not long since my Ladie Leonor the which Famongomad and Basigant his sonne Giants most cruell of all the world held as prisoner to haue slaine hir thus the ingratitude that you do now vse against him is so great that it depriueth you of all the knowledge of truth And therefore he should no lesse estéeme this leaue so sone giuen than the retribution of his seruices so well accorded and rewarded And as for me I am purposed to follow him and to go and depart from your Court. The Oration of Guillan the thoughtfull excusing himself that he could not folowe Amadis In the selfesame Chapter MY Lord you knowe my affaires and that of my selfe I being wholy vnder and subiecte to the will of an other can doe nothing For the which I suffer anguishes and paynes most straunge the which are the cause that I can not folowe you whereof I am ashamed so great a desire I haue to knowledge the goodnesse and the honor that you being in in your companie haue done for me praying you most humbly at this present to hold and to haue me excused Amadis Oration to the foresayd Guillan excusing him that he leaueth not the Kings house In the same Chapter MY Lorde Guillan God forbid that through my occasion you shoulde â—e faultie to the Ladie that you loue so perfectly but I counsell you to obey hir and to serue hir as you haue done hitherto and the King in like maner being sure of this that you your honor saued shall be in all pointes my friend and faithfull companion King Lisuards answere to Gandandell and Broquadan declaring their insufficiencie to gouerne and rule his realme In the selfesame Chapter I Do maruel that you are so bold and presumptuous to persuade me to leaue vnto you the rule not only of my house but of al this kingdome knowing that you are not sufficient to do it Think you that the Princes Lords of this Monarchie will obey you knowing the place from whence you are descended And if you thinke and beléeue to playe the good husbands willing to enriche me by sparing of money thinke you that I may better bestowe it than to giue it to Gentlemen and Knights that are in my seruice seing that a Prince can not name himselfe a King except he haue men at his coÌ„maundement And if before time I shewed my selfe liberall to those which at your instance I haue chased away by those I was maintained famed and redoubted and therefore content you with that that you haue done without any more disguising of thinges or else I will shew you that it displeaseth me Amadis Oration to those that would go to defend the right of Madasime exhorting them to deliuer out of the Kings pryson twelue Ladies In the same Chapter MY Lordes answered Amadis the thinges that be debated with or by rype deliberation come willingly to a good ende and doubt not that the thing that you purpose to take vpon you shall not be nor happen to youre honor althoughe the thing were more in hazarde and of more difficultie than it is and yet I will if it so please you declare that I doâ— thinke You all as farre as I sée doe tast and labor to set the twelue Damselles at libertie which at this present are prisoners in King Lisuards prison my mind is that twelue of you and no moe be at this enterprise and so euery one shall haue one and the twelue Damselles shall be particularly bounde to twelue Knightes and that the rest of this companie shall stand still to helpe the incouueniences that may chaunce The complaint that Orian made when she felâ—e hirselfe great with chylde In the .2 booke the .22 Chapter ALas my friendes nowe I sée well that fortune wil bring me to vtter ruine You knowe the inconuenience that of late chaunced to him that of all the worlde I loued best and nowe that is worsse the thing that I feared and doubted most is chaunced vnto me for certainely I am with chylde and I know not what I may doe so that I be not destroyed and lost Sarquiles Oration to King Lisuard aduertising him of the dangerous enterprise and treason of Broquadan and Gandandel In the same Chapter SYr I am not yet your subiecte nor your liege man but yet in recognising the nurture that I haue learned in youre Court I am bound to saue your maiesties honor Therfore syr I aduertise you that three dayes since I fortuned to be in a place where I perceiued that Broquadan and Gandandel did not only conspire but alreadie haue committed againste God and you the most greatest treson that may be thought It is sure and certain that they do purpose to counsell and to persuade you to put Madasime and these Damsels to death and as touching the rest syr I trust that all their mischieuousnesse or tenne dayes be past shall be disclosed And to set those villaynes in authoritie you haue caste awaye not long since my Lord Amadis and many other good Knightes out of your companie I am no more purposed to remaine here and I take my leaue of you to go and to séeke my vncle Angriote whome if God be pleased you shall sée shortly héere againe and me with him purposed with force of armes to open vnto those two traytors their vniust and false conspiracie The coÌ„maundemâ—nt of King Lisuard to Broquadan and Gandandel animating them to execute the thing that they had promised COme hether you know that oftentimes you haue solicited me to put these poore Damsels to death persuading me that it was a iust and a reasonable thing to doe so And that you and your children if need were would sustaine this counsel vnto death You haue perceiued what Ymosil and his companions haue saide vnto me the which I finde to be good and iust therefore it is time that you aduise you of the thing that you haue to do For by the faith that I owe vnto God I will licence none of my other Knights to fight with them and if you prouide not for this you shall be punished and the Damselles deliuered
more by force than by his will. And as touching this that he purchaseth my enmitie assure him that he shall haue it so that he shall forget the thing that I and mine haue done in his defence And yet say vnto him that although I alone haue conquered the I le of Mongase that I will neuer set my foote to cause him to léese it nor in place where I maye anoy and trouble the Quéene for the honor of hir Amadis taking leaue of his companions doth exhort them to be vertuous and strong in battell excusing himselfe of hys departing and praying them â—o be continually vnited togither In the .1 Chapter of the .3 booke I Beséech you my fellowes and companions to succoure and to helpe one another and to thinke that the glorie for asmuch as ye go against a mightie king that ye shall get and obtayne if ye ouercome him shall be the greater I know wel that there is not he of you all that is not bound to the wise man and hardie knight the which giueth me good hope that with the helpe of God and the good right of him that dothe conduct you ye shall remit and set a poore damsell disherited in hir first goodes and estate againe I was neuer in my lyfe so enuyedâ— to leaue so good a company as I am at this present but there is not he that ought not to haue and to holde me excused and yet it hath pleased God that the occasioÌ„ hath prepared another meane not to separate vs Of one thing I would pray you that is not to haue any discord among you buâ— to liue togyther as felowes and friendes otherwise yâ— may be sure that the ruine and destruction shall fall on your side A letter of the infant Celinde to king Lisuard commending hir sonne vnto him that proceeded of the loue of king Lisuard and of hir In the .3 Chapter MOst mightie and excellent Prince reading this letter ye may peraduenture remember that when ye traue led as a wandring knight farre and strange countries bringing many perilous and daungerous aduentures to an ends fortune did send and did leade you to my fathers kingdome the which was lately departed and ye found me withdraweÌ„ into one of my castels named the great Rosiâ—r where the braue Antifon besieged me bycause I disdained not being equall to me in nobilitie and lesse a friend of vertue to marrie him And well he could shew it for he had euen then vsurped by force and tirannie vpon me a poore Damsell Orpheline the most part of my countrey when that ye at your comming presented to fyght with him and to sustaine the right that I had the whiche thing he accepted more for the confidence that he had in the strength of his armes than for any other iust quarell vnto whome our Lord shewed hys iust iudgement for you lesse than he of body but in magnamitie of courage greatly exceeding him vaÌ„quished him By the meanes whereof I awhyle after was restored to all my goodes the whiche I will holde of you euen as they were yours and my selfe also for euer to whome at that time and houre ye did so great honor as to come and refresh you in this my great Rosier where afterwards you and I deuising together among my pleasant orchaâ—ds ye gathered roses euen as we sported vs togyther and the floure of my virginitie of the which the place was and is yet very rich and plenteous Therefore I cannot say whether loue woulde it should be so or whether my beautie was the cause but I know well that ye had so great power vpon me and that in me was so little resistance that before ye departed from thence ye left me great with this yong gentleman whome I send vnto you so faire and of so good grace that nature as me thinketh hath taken all hyr pleasure to make him perfect in all excellencie to deface both our sinnes if any sinne was committed Therefore Sir receiue him as yours being of the séede royall of you and mâ— the which thing causeth me to esteeme thâ—t he shall be a prudent man and retaining in him selfe part of the noble actes that are in you and part of the great loue in the which he was engendred on that day when ye gaue me this ring the which I send vnto you agayne in witnesse of the promise that ye made to your huÌ„ble seruant Celinde king Hegides daughter the which kisseth the handes of your royall maiestie The coÌ„plaint of Oriane for the soden departing of hir sonne foreseeing the euill entreating that should happen vnto him The .3 Chapter ALas little creature God giue thée grace to be so vertuous and so good a knight as thy father and to do thée if it please hym so muche good as to sende thée euen at the beginning a more fortunate prosperitie than his was Alas I am constrained to sende thée away and to shew my selfe to thée more cruell than the Tiger or the Leopard to their little ones And bycause I knowe not whether thou goest nor when I shall méete wyth thée agayne it causeth in my soule such heauinesse that fortune caÌ„not prepare such danger that doth not present it selfe before my eyes yet if I at least wayes knew the Nurse that should giue hym sucke I woulde pray hir to take care for him but it may so chaunce that she will take little care for thee and that she before thou haue the power and be able to keepe thy selfe shall leaue thée oftentimes alone being occupied about hir small businesses and deuising with hir neighbours of small matters vnprofitable fables and lyes in the daunger of beasts For I esteeme and iudge that she and other likewise shall repente and thinke thée to be the childe of some simple damsell and to do for thée the best she can shall be to nourish thée in the féelds amoÌ„g the shepherds the which oftentimes cannot so diligently giue héede to their shéepe but that the Wolfe the Lyon against their willes do passe ouerthwart rauishing the thing that they thynke good The complaynt of the damsel of Denmarke after that she had lost Orianes little sonne the which she esteemed shoulde suffer muche euill In the .3 Chapter O Lord God howe hath it pleased you to suffer that thys little creature should perish the whiche neuer offended you Ah ah certesse I am wel worthy to be gretly punished of my owne will his misfortune might fall vpon my owne person for my life is to me very noysome Alas little infant your father being as little as ye are began to proue the dangers of this worlde and yet our Lord of his great goodnesse preserued him but your misfortune euill honoure is farre straunger than his was for notwithstanding they cast hym into the waues and surges of the Sea yet Gandales met him in a good houre and afterwards as euery man doth knowe he tooke him vp but thou little poore one art fallen