Domnei James Branch Cabell (books to read as a couple TXT) đ
- Author: James Branch Cabell
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Yet instances were not lacking in the service of domnei where worship of the symbol developed into a religion sufficing in itself, and became competitor with worship of what the symbol primarily representedâ âsuch instances as have their analogues in the legend of Ritter TannhĂ€user, or in Aucassinâs resolve in the romance to go down into hell with âhis sweet mistress whom he so much loves,â or (here perhaps most perfectly exampled) in Arnaud de Merveilâs naive declaration that whatever portion of his heart belongs to God heaven holds in vassalage to Adelaide de Beziers. It is upon this darker and rebellious side of domnei, of a religion pathetically dragged dustward by the luxuriance and efflorescence of over-passionate service, that Nicolas has touched in depicting Demetrios.
IVNicolas de Caen, himself the servitor par amours of Isabella of Burgundy, has elsewhere written of domnei (in his Le Roi Amaury) in terms such as it may not be entirely out of place to transcribe here. Beelzebub, as you may remember, has been discomfited in his endeavours to ensnare King Amaury and is withdrawing in disgust.
âA pest upon this domnei!â4 the fiend growls. âNay, the match is at an end, and I may speak in perfect candour now. I swear to you that, given a man clear-eyed enough to see that a woman by ordinary is nourished much as he is nourished, and is subjected to every bodily infirmity which he endures and frets beneath, I do not often bungle matters. But when a fool begins to flounder about the world, dead-drunk with adoration of an immaculate womanâ âa monster which, as even the manâs own judgment assures him, does not exist and never will existâ âwhy, he becomes as unmanageable as any other maniac when a frenzy is upon him. For then the idiot hungers after a life so high-pitched that his gross faculties may not so much as glimpse it; he is so rapt with impossible dreams that he becomes oblivious to the nudgings of his most petted vice; and he abhors his own innate and perfectly natural inclination to cowardice, and filth, and self-deception. He, in fine, affords me and all other rational people no available handle; and, in consequence, he very often flounders beyond the reach of my whisperings. There may be other persons who can inform you why such blatant folly should thus be the master-word of evil, but for my own part, I confess to ignorance.â
âNay, that folly, as you term it, and as hell will always term it, is alike the riddle and the masterword of the universe,â the old king replies.â ââ âŠ
And Nicolas wholeheartedly believed that this was true. We do not believe this, quite, but it may be that we are none the happier for our dubiety.
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BibliographyLes Amants de Melicent, Traduction moderne, annotĂ©e et procedĂ©e dâun notice historique sur Nicolas de Caen, par lâAbbĂ©. * * * A Paris. Pour Iaques Keruer aux deux Cochetz, Rue S. Iaques, M.D. XLVI. Avec PrivilĂšge du Roy. The somewhat abridged reprint of 1788 was believed to be the first version printed in French, until the discovery of this unique volume in 1917.
Armageddon; or the Great Day of the Lordâs Judgement: a Parcenesis to Prince Henryâ âMelicent; an heroicke poeme intended, drawne from French bookes, the First Booke, by Sir William Allonby. London. Printed for Nathaniel Butler, dwelling at the Pied Bull, at Saint Austenâs Gate. 1626.
Perion und Melicent, zum erstenmale aus dem FranzĂŽsischen ins Deutsche ubersetzt, von J. H. G. Lowe. Stuttgart und TĂŒbingen, 1823.
Los Negociantes do Don Perion, publicado por Plancher-Seignot. Rio de Janeiro, 1827. The translatorâs name is not given. The preface is signed R. L.
La donna di Demetrio, Historia piacevole e morale, da Antonio Checino. Milan, 1833.
Prindsesses Melicent, oversat af Le Roman de Lusignan, og udgivna paa Dansk vid R. KnĂŽs. Copenhagen, 1840.
Antiquae Fabulae et Comediae, edid. G. Rask. Göttingen, 1852. Vol. II, p. 61 et seq. âDe Fide Melicentisââ âan abridged version of the romance.
Perion en Melicent, voor de Nederlandsche Jeugduiitgegeven door J. M. L. Wolters. Groningen, 1862.
Nouvelles Françoises en prose du XIVe et de XVe siĂšcle, Les textes anciens, Ă©ditĂ©s et annotĂ©s par MM. Armin et Moland. Lyons, 1880. Vol. IV, p. 89 et seq., âLe Roman de la Belle Melicentââ âa much condensed form of the story.
The Soul of Melicent, by James Branch Cabell. Illustrated in colour by Howard Pyle. New York, 1913. This rendering was made, of course, before the discovery of the 1546 version, and so had not the benefit of that volumeâs interesting variants from the abridgment of 1788.
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