Shortridge High School - Annual Yearbook (Indianapolis, IN)

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IN PROVENCE man the cause of his dolor, whereupon he stopped lamenting and told of it. How it chanced a short while back, that a certain troubadour, Gui d'Uisel, of high favour with the Marquis, had come possessed, through heritage, of the parcel of land neighboring to the peasant's vale, and that now this troubadour desired the little valley for his own estate, fsuch are the grasping ways of menj, and that he, relying on his standing with my lord, had caused a writ to be served upon the peasant. This set forth, that, whereas the peasant had of late felled five goodly yew-trees off the Marquis' ground, in order to make for himself an hostel for his stock, he had forfeited the lease of the land, and must remove. And that is why the old man, yclept Laurent, did lament so woefully, for he knew right well that the great troubadour would soon have the pleasant dale for his very own. But the page straightened up, and his black eyes danced as motes in the sunlight, for l ween that he saw a chance to repay the haughty Gui for that aforetime box on the ear. nl-low now, old man, quoth he, stint thy bewailings and fare to our gracious lord, the Marquis, bearing thy deed of tenure, and l trow right well thou wilt have redress. So saying, he quaffed a drink of clear brook water from a cup of cornel wood, and betook his way on the high-road towards the castle. And hey! but that was a morning like that of the saints in Paradise, for the sun shone blithelyg warmly, but not too warmg only where the little road wound into the glades of the woodland the sun came not. Here was cool, green shadow, and the morning's dew still wet on the leaves, and here a hare's track in the soft dry roadway, and there a little flat line that marked where a serpent had crossedg and one might hear the hare farther and farther off amid the basky foliage, but the serpent had fled and hidden away. So Aubanel fared onwards, thinking his own thoughts and seeming pleased withal, and presently he came under the high round towers of Castle Vaqueiras and went within. And oh! it was a wonderous castle, so fine with spoil of Turk and Saracen, and Moor and Greek that it would take from all Hallow's eve to All Souls' day to tell of it. But the page Aubanel heeded not the broidered arras, nor cloth of gold, nor Monkish missals, but went straight and found his master's beagle-hound already returned, tired and footsore, to his rightful kennel. So he sought out the Marquis and told him of his morning's search and of the writ against the poor peasant, and that it was the trou- badour who had caused the writ to be served. Now it had chanced that my lord Mar uis had seen my lady, his daughter, smile often upon the troubadour, and had heard the songs sung in return, and whereas he had once been fond of him of Uisel, he now

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,,,.,,, IN PRGVENCE each hill and cut it into halves, as it went up one side and down the other. But a short journey away, not so much as half of a league, in a little hollow betwixt two hills there dwelt an ancient peasant and his wife on a small plot that his father, and his father's father, and his father before him, had held, all for the yearly rent of ten broad, silver groats, paid to the Marquis at Michelmastide. Now it befell that betimes this certain fine morning that my lord, the Marquis, had sent one of his pages to this part of the country-side to search for a beagle-hound that had been lost in the greenwood yester-morn when my lord chanced to go a-hawking thither. This young page had the airy ways that very young men are wont to have, but his cheeks were red as the heart of the gillyflower and his lips like unto cherries in June, and his black eyes danced like the jet beads on the holy friar's rosary, so you know that he was a right merry fellow withal, and lacked not spirit of daring. Men hight him Aubanel. He had stop ed to rest at the peasant's cot, and while he sat on the bench outside the door he diug his heels into the earth and hummed a little ditty, which sounded somewhat in this wise: ' 'When tender leafage doth appear, When vemal meads grow gay with flowers, And aye with singing loud and clear The nightingale fulfills the hours, l joy in him and joy in every flower And in myself, and in my ladye more. For when joys do inlclose me and invest My joy in her transcendeth all the rest. He had heard a gleeman chant it only that morning as the lady Yvette, daughter to the Marquis, passed by, and she had blushed, and dropped a rose as if by chance, and then gone on. The page Aubanel bare an ancient grudge against this same troubadour, Gui d'Uisel, because, long ago, Gui had roundly boxed his ears for singing a chanson so loudly that it awakened the troubadour from a refreshing nap. And still this grudge rankled sore within him. But while he was turning over pebbles with his heels and musing many thoughts in his mind of the aforesaid insult, of the long walk to the chateau, of the still recreant beagle, which, mayhap, was home before him, he perceived the old peasant approaching, filled with woe and making great dole. For now he would cry out 'alack and alas, and now he would smite his thigh with his palm, and call on the blessed saints, and weep. Thereat the page yawned somewhat and queried of the old

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IN PRQVENCE, hated him, for a troubadour is not a likely candidate for the hand of a noble lady. He' wist that a wandering minstrel should not gain the peasant's ancient holding. So it happened, that, when the day began to slope towards the aftemoon, the Marquis was playing at bowls, with sundry of his gentlemen, within a little court, all paved with grass so smooth that my lady m' ht dance thereon. Hither there came a waiting gentleman, and behind him apace followed the ancient peasant, Laurent. He bore his round hat in his hand, and a small black box, and blinked like the night owl as he emerged from the shadowy door. Bowing stiffly first to right and then to left he made obeisance to the Marquis, who asked him what he would. The Marquis was clad all in blue deer's-leather, with bosses of gold, and he looked so majestic that Laurent stood much in awe of him and fixed his gaze on a certain golden boss on my lord's surcoat. Then with many haltings he told his tale as you know it already. Thus the Marquis heard all the tale and he saw the old, old lease which was in the black box, and being much wrought up, declared it were not forfeit if live more yew-trees had been felled. Thereupon he inscribed and sealed an order commanding Gui d'Uisel to pay unto the peasant a fee of an hundred golden byzants, for injuries attempted. Altogether it rejoiced greatly both the Marquis and the page to be able thus to pay back old scores against the scornful troubadour. The morn of the next day there were many things transpirin in the village of Yvetot which lay near the cot of Laurent. For in the early sunlight thither came the great troubadour riding upon a milk-white palfry, together with certain companions, and thither also came the page Aubanel, for to see what he might see. And the troubadour was dressed all in cloth of the hue of the heart of the musk-rose, trimmed with dainty minnevair, and all so fine and light that I wist it was more suited to a court of love than to riding a saddle through the open country. But he recked not of this, for he was strong in his pride, rejoicing in 'the thought of his prowess in song, and of his favour at the Marquis' court, and of the goodly valley that was soon to be part of his own estate. So shortly he rode up to where the peasant stood under the bush by the inn yard, and smiled on him and spake him fair and pleasantly, as is the custom of those who have the might on their side. And perhaps thou, never sawest such unlikeness so near together, for the troubadour, clad in holiday mantle, upon a steed like Pegasus for whiteness, smiled a hard, unlovely smile, upon the toil-worn Laurent. He, in his turn, fingered a while of his leathem jerkin, and made as though he would beseech the troubadour for mercy, saying that he was old and so was Ursela