Adventure Magazine Cover — page 83: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

A Son of Strife the length and breadth of Outremer, “The Lay of the Gentle and the Simple”’: ‘“‘The lord in his castle, The hind in his hut, The world is between them, Yet in the same rut They hate and they hunger, They thirst and they lust, They strive for they know not, They do what they must.” It tells how a hind conceived a desire to destroy his lord because of envy for the good things that fell to the lord’s lot, but how the lord dissuaded him by inviting him to sample the lord’s life—when the hind discovered that for every trouble he knew the lord had another. The monks heard it out in silence and applauded by a gentle clapping of hands. “Come hither, sir jongleur,” said the prior kindly. ‘‘You are over-young to be skilled at your craft. How got you such learning?” “Nay, lord, I am by rights no jongleur yet, but only a poor youth, homeless, land- less and friendless. I sing that I may earn my lodging and somewhat to keep me and my follower on the way.” “Do you say sooth? Where learned you this lay?” “Truly, lord, I made it as I rode hither through the day,” returned Matteo as modestly as a young man may who is really bursting with pride. ‘Then ’tis manifest God hath selected you to be one of those whose part it shall be to lighten the sorrows of your fellows,” said the prior. ‘‘Heed well the responsibility thus placed upon you, for many jongleurs and trouveres are light-minded knaves, ‘seeking only to raise up the evil that is in all men, scorners of Christ and panderers of wickedness.” Matteo bowed his head, and took the words to heart, surprized at their modera- tion, as at the greeting he had received; for the generality of the priesthood were bitter- ly hostile to the jongleurs, as representing the budding free-thought of the age. “How may we reward you for the diver- sion you have given us?” continued the prior. “And I would call the attention of all of you, my brethren,” he added, turning to the assembled monks, “‘that the lay this youth hath sung is as feat a sermon as may come to you any Lententide. Hold it in your memories, all you who contend that 795 the larger carp and the elder wine go to the prior’s lodge.” The monks all bobbed their heads, but nobody answered him. “But your boon, young sir?’ demanded the prior. ‘‘Name it.” Matteo hesitated. “Tf I ask not too much,” he began. ‘Nay, how shall we know if you do not ask it?” the prior caught him up. “Then do you embolden me, holy sir. As you have seen, I have no gittern with which to practise my jongleurie. I am poor. All that my father had, the Saracens have destroyed. I must earn my way to the court of Antioch where dwelleth a friend of his who may advance me in my craft. Prithee, Lord Prior, if I ask not too much, grant me this gittern I hold in my hand.” “A fair request,” said the prior. “How better may we dispense God’s bounty than by placing it in the power of such as are worthy to improve themselves by the use of hand and brain? ‘Take the gittern, youth. May it bring you fortune and success.” CHAPTER VIII THE VOYAGE TO TRIPOLI hao Belvoir they rode by way of Nazareth and the Fountain of Sap- phora to the great seaport of Acre, the largesse of castle hall and guest house add- ing to the slender hoard in Matteo’s wallet. In Acre they put their horses at the Inn of the Blessed Loaf near the Fondaco of the Pisans in the Inner City, and _ sallied straightway to the wharves in search of passage on one of the galleys or busses pre- paring to sail up the coast, for the journey northward by land would have been pro- hibitively expensive as well as_ very dangerous. But they soon learned that the Latin traders who had the monopoly of the ship- . ping and merchantry of Outremer were not slow to take advantage of the needs of travelers like themselves. The Patrono of the first vessel they boarded, a Venetian busse, demanded ten bezants for carrying them to Antioch. “But ’tis as worth while to ask me for the beard of the soldan of Babylon,” protested Matteo. “Bethink you, messer, we are poor folk and despoiled by the Saracens. How may we——”’ GOMIIGooo S C@