I find myself now in doubt
as to these lives, father and son.
Shall someone come and ask us
--since between age and youth
there's rarely much agreement,
the young disregarding possessions,
while the old prize them--
how then the two of them
could ever so compromise
that each one separately
should find satisfaction
and exercise his rights,
Rual thus retaining
wealth in moderation
and Tristan pursuing ambition
in full hope of attaining it?
I can solve this, truthfully:
Rual and Tristan
held for each other
a respect so consistent
that neither would press upon the other
a pro or con at variance 
with what the other wanted.
Rual knew virtue when he saw it
and therefore wholly trusted Tristan,
taking his youth in consideration.
And Tristan, in his turn,
deferred to Rual's wisdom.
They had such common will
and so strove for a common goal
that what one wanted, so did the other.
And so between the two of them,
in will and spirit they were as one.
And thus it was that age and youth
agreed upon a single virtue.
High spirits yielded to good sense,
so that in concord with one another,
Tristan might strive for valor,
Rual for respectable wealth,
while each of them in this venture
fully exercised his rights.

 
Thus Tristan and Rual began
to manage their immediate affairs,
as the task fell to them.
They acquired robes and armor			4550
over the next thirty days,
to properly equip thirty knights
whom Tristan, following courtly custom,
intended to sponsor as companions.
Now, if you ask me what they wore
and how elegant their costumes were,
and how all this had been collected,
it will cost me but little thought
just to repeat what the legend tells.
If I invent some other story,
then anyone can contrive one better,
and tell it just as he may prefer.
Their raiment all accorded to
four different kinds of richness,
and of these four, each had in turn
its proper rich office.
The first of them was high spirits.
Then came impressive possessions.
Following these came circumspection,
which knits the former two together.
The last was knowing courtly custom,
which harmonized the other three.
These four each took effect
according to their nature:
high spirits strove, 
rich possessions granted,
circumspection worked and cut,
custom sewed their clothes together
and their other finery, 
caparisons and pennants,
and all the other equipment
that distinguishes a knight.
Whatever adorns horse or man
and marks the rank of chivalry,
their equipment was as fine
and of such thorough opulence
as would befit any king
for the knighting ceremony.
Now that the company is prepared
with discriminating richness,
how shall I describe the scene
so as to ready the candidate,
Tristan the worthy,
to receive the sword,
and make it pleasing to hear
while doing the story justice?
I hardly know how to put it
so as to satisfy and please you
and likewise ornament the story.
In my day, you know, and before, 		4600
there have been fine descriptions
of worldly elegance,
of opulence on display.
If I had twelve full sets
of the one cleverness I have
and the skill to use them, 
and could it somehow be
that I was blessed with twelve tongues
all in my one mouth,
of which each was able
to speak as well as I can,
I still would not know how to begin
to compose a description
of richness and ceremony
that hasn't been surpassed before.
The elegance of chivalry
has been described so many ways
and so often retold to excess
that I can hardly mention it
and hope to please a single soul.