Tristan took him by the hand.
His dress and his appearance
were just as they happened then to be.
A very poor outer cloak,
badly worn and ragged, 
torn in many places, 
served instead of a proper coat.
The clothing that the good man wore		4000
underneath this sorry robe
bore every mark of poverty,
quite worn out and far from clean.
His hair was matted from neglect
nor did his beard look much better,
having reached a state 
as though he were a savage. 
This man of high repute
was barefoot and barelegged,
and furthermore as weatherbeaten
as anyone naturally is
whose complexion has been ravaged
by hunger, frost, sun, and wind.
In such state he appeared at court, 
before Marke, face to face. 
Marke first addressed Tristan: 
"Tell me, Tristan, who is this?"
"My father, sire," Tristan said. 
--"Is this the truth?"--"My lord, it is."
"Then he has our heartiest welcome!"
replied the prudent monarch. 
Rual bowed ceremoniously.
At that the entire corps of knights
began to assemble in throngs
and with them the whole retinue
who proclaimed, one and all, 
"Sire, Sire, deu sal!"


Now, you should know that Rual the man, 
however poorly attired
and ignoble in costume,
was indeed in person, 
as to stature and comportment
very well endowed. 
Like a savage warrior,
his physical nobility
showed in every limb and movement,
in arm and leg long and strong,
in every stride masterful.
He was a handsome specimen,
being neither young nor aged,
but just at the height of his powers
when both maturity and youth
play their part in life's strength.
In fitness for rulership
he rivalled any emperor.
His voice resounded like the horn,
his speech was carefully modeled.
All saw him stand before these rulers
with aristocratic self-assurance
as he had often done before.			4050
A murmer ran through the crowd
of noble knights and barons.
Some said this, others that.
"Indeed," said one, "can this be he?
The noble merchant, supposedly,
about whose many surprising talents
Tristan, his son, has told such stories?
We've heard about his capacities
at much length, in great detail.
And he comes to court in such condition?"
They speculated endlessly.


Then the king, taking charge,
had him conducted to the wardrobe
to be fitted out there
with suitably elegant vestments.
And soon enough, Tristan
had him bathed and dressed.
A chaplet was prepared for him,
which he set upon his head.
It never suited a man better, 
noble as he obviously was.
He was born for command. 
Tristan took him by the hand,
affectionately, as of old,
and brought him again before Marke.
Now he made a better impression
and all were pleased at the change.
Onlookers said among themselves,
"Just look how quickly noble dress
can put a man in high respect!
Clothes like these, on a merchant,
promote him to a higher class.
And he has himself a noble look.
Who knows, he may have many real virtues.
The way he acts, you might think so,
if the whole truth were told. 
Just look at that lordly stride,
the easy way he moves and stands
in all that courtly finery.
Yes, and think again about Tristan
and all of his accomplishments.
How ever could a common trader
have raised a child to be like that?
It must have come from a noble heart."


Now the fingerbowls were passed
and the king took his place at table.
He also seated Rual, his guest,
at his own table, and commanded
that he be served well and properly
as befits a man of station.			4100
"Tristan," said Marke, "go to him,
serve your own father yourself!"
I well know that this took place.
All the respect and courtesies
that Tristan could offer him,
he performed with good will.
And indeed the noble Rual
ate very gladly
since Tristan was serving him.
Tristan was the host he needed.
Just to see him again
was his greatest pleasure.


Now when they rose from the table,
the king engaged his guest in talk,
asking many questions, 
both about his country
and his long voyage from there.
While the questions flew,
all the knights in attendance
were listening closely to Rual's story.
"My lord," Rual began, "surely,
it must be nearly four years
since I departed from my country.
And no matter where I chanced to be,
I had no other goal or purpose
than that one, that drove me on, 
which at last has brought me here."
--"What was that?"--"That was Tristan.
My lord, I do have other children
who are my own, by God's will,
I wish for them the best estate
as any man should, for his own.
Three sons--had I been with them,
one or more of them now
would have attained knighthood.
Had I taken half the trouble
for all the three of them
as I have taken for Tristan, 
who is no relation of mine, 
those had been labors indeed."
"No relation?" remarked the king.
"Tell me, what's this all about?
He is your son, he says himself--"
--"Not so.  I'm not his sire. 
He's not my son.  He's my lord."
Tristan, shocked, stared at him.
"Then let us hear," said the king,
why and how it comes to be
that you have taken so much trouble,
neglecting your own wife and family		4150
for all this time, as you say,
if indeed he's not your son?"
--"None know but God and I, my lord."
"My friend, now I must also know,"
said Marke in reply.
"This is a big surprise."
--"If you give me your assurance
that I'll have no reason to regret it
and that it's proper and permissible
for me to speak here,
I could tell you marvels, Sire,
of how all this has come about
and what the whole story is
of Tristan, who stands here before you."
At once the entire assembly,
Marke and all his barons
implored him there and then
as though with a common voice:
"Tell us, tell us, noble sir, 
dear sir, who is Tristan really?"


And so the noble Rual spoke. 
"My lord, quite some time ago,
as you and also those well know
who  were present here with you then,
my own good lord Riwalin,
whose man I was, and would be yet
had God but willed it so
that he yet should live,
had heard of your excellence
from so many and in such detail,
that he put his people and his land
into my safekeeping,
and came here to your realm,
pleased to recognize you, 
and became a member of your court.
And you, of course, know well 
how it came about
with the lovely Blanscheflur,
how he gained her favor 
and how she fled with him from here. 
When they arrived home
and had taken each other in marriage
(they did so in my own house, 
as I and many others witnessed),
he commended her to my care.
I did for her from then on 
the best that was in my power.
Then, in no time at all, 
he was sending calls for help
throughout the country for a campaign		4200
requiring both relatives and beholden.
They took to the field in force, 
but he was killed in a skirmish,
as you no doubt have heard in detail.
When the news got back to us
and Her Loveliness was informed
of how it all had happened,
grief, in its mortal form, 
struck so hard into her heart,
that Tristan--yes, there he stands--
that she bore him then in agony
and paid for it with her own life."


But in his story at this point
such grief assailed the loyal man,
as all who watched well understood,
that he had to sit down and weep
as though he were a child.
And such was the sadness of his news
that the eyes of all who heard it
soon were overflowing.
It struck the good king Marke
with equal or greater force, 
straight into his heart,
such that all his heartfelt pain
came welling out through his eyes,
wetting his cheeks and royal robes.
Tristan, too, was afflicted
with an inward grief,
if for no other reason
that in this loyal man before him
now he should have lost both,
father and hope of patrimony.
There sat the noble Rual
with downcast spirit
and began to tell his listeners
of the misfortunate orphan,
of the strict precautions he required
following the child's birth:
how he ordered that it be sequestered
and concealed in some hiding place,
and how the tale was put about
and given out to his countrymen
that the child had died with its mother;
how he charged his own wife
(as I have already told you)
to feign a lying-in
as does a woman with child,
and then when the time was right
to make public the announcement
that she had borne the child;			4250
how she then brought him to the church
that he should have baptism there,
and told the meaning of his name;
then how Rual had sent him abroad
to have the best instruction
in every practical art 
and in the skills of language;
then how he had left him on the ship,
only to have him stolen away,
and how he set out to find him
cost what it may.


There sat Rual and told
the story to its end.
He was weeping, so was Marke,
as was everyone who heard,
except for Tristan alone
who was hardly able to lament
at what had just been told him,
it all having come too fast.
But as to the tribulations
that the excellent Rual
had related of his esteemed
Canel and Blanscheflur,
all of their misfortune
amounted to but little
compared to the single loyalty
that he had practiced at their deaths
on behalf of their child,
as you have already heard me tell.
Such a bitterness of regret 
proved a loyalty and devotion 
no man before had shown his master.
When the whole story was finished, 
Marke said to his guest,
"Sir, are all the things you've told us true?"
The noble Rual showed him then 
a ring he wore on his hand. 
"Sire," he said, here's a memento
of what I said and the tale I told."
Marke, keenly perceptive as he was, 
took it and examined it closely.
And all the grief he had felt before
was only all the more confirmed.
"Ah," he groaned, "my beloved sister,
this is the ring that I gave you,
that my own father had given me
as he lay, about to die.
Now I can believe the tale--
Tristan, come here and kiss me!
And by your life and mine I vow			4300
that I shall be your foster father.
May God grant Blanscheflur
your mother, and your father Canel,
his grace unto their souls
and award to both of them together
the living life eternal!
Since it now has come to this, 
that you have been preserved to me
from the sister I so loved, 
if God my master will allow it, 
that shall be my happiness."
Then he spoke again to his guest,
"Good friend, now let me know
who you are, and what your name is."
--"Rual, Sire." --"Rual?"--"Yes."
This set Marke to remembering,
because in former days he had heard
many tales about this man, 
how wise and noble he was, 
and of his unquestioned loyalty.
"Rual li foitenant?" he exclaimed.
--"Yes, Sire, so I'm called."
At this Marke went to him
and gave him the kiss of welcome
to which his rank entitled him.
Now all the nobles gathered around
to bestow the kiss of recognition.
After their first surprise,
soon they were embracing
and exchanging courtly greetings:
"welcome, Rual the Worthy, 
a wonder on this earth!"
And so Rual was accepted there.


The king soon took him by the hand
and having led him aside,
seated him affectionately
at his side, close by.
They resumed exchanging news and talk
of a great many things,
both about Tristan
and also of Blanscheflur,
all of the encounters
between Canel and Morgan, 
what each of them had done, 
and what had been the final outcome.
Soon they came to the tale
as the king told it to Rual
of how Tristan had arrived
showing such cleverness,
and how he had declared				4350
that his father was a merchant.
Rual looked fondly at Tristan:
"Friend," he said, "long has it been
and with much pain and trouble
that I have shown my merchandise
in poverty and want
for your sake, on your behalf.
Indeed, all this at last
has come to a good end.
For that, never shall I cease
to fold my hands in thanks to God."
Tristan said, "oh yes, I hear. 
It will take me quite some time
to have much pleasure from these stories.
If I understand correctly, 
this is strange news indeed.
I hear my father telling me
my father was killed long ago.
And with that he disowns me, 
leaving me no father at all
of the two, perhaps, I had.
Ah, father, and dream of patrimony,
how am I now deprived of both!
Here comes a man I thought my father,
only to cost me two fathers, 
himself and the one I never knew!"
To this the good marshal replied,
"Now, now, Tristan my fellow, 
stop such talk, that's all wrong. 
With my arrival, you become
nobler than you thought you were.
Now your rank is established, 
and you still have your two fathers, 
my lord here, and also me.
He's your father, as well as I.
Listen to my counsel
and be forever more
the equal of any king.
Leave off all the talk and fables.
I appeal to my master, 
your uncle, to settle your case,
here and now to award you knighthood.
So may you well, from now on, 
take up his cause as your own. 
Sirs all, what say ye then?
So shall my lord do, or no?"
They spoke as though with one voice,
"Sire, this should be done.
Tristan is old enough 				4400
and is entering into manhood."


"Tristan, my nephew," said the king,
"what is your will as to this?
Will you be pleased for me to do so?"
--"Dear Sire, this is how I feel:
had I possessions and such wealth
that by my own choice and will
I might be knighted, and so indeed
as not to shame the name of knighthood
nor be ashamed myself to bear it,
and that so high an honor 
would not in me be dishonored,
yes, gladly would I be a knight, 
and so practice and amend
my youthful idleness
toward worldly renown.
The knightly calling, it is said, 
must begin in early childhood, 
and so continue on
or seldom attain true rigor. 
Now, in the innocence of youth
I attended only rarely 
to worthiness and virtue.
In that I acted very badly
and now regret it, most sincerely.
And I have long realized this:
ease and chivalrous attainment
do not go at all together
and seldom thrive side by side.
I myself indeed have read
that honor costs much discomfort.
Comfort is the death of fame,
the more so when we try to prolong it
from our childhood and beyond. 
And be assured of this:
a year ago or more, 
if I had known my destiny
as it has been revealed to me here, 
I would not have spared the effort. 
But since I missed my chance then, 
it's only right that I catch up now,
such bright prospects as I have
both in body and in will.
God guide me rightly, 
that I achieve the will!"

"Nephew," said Marke, "now consider:
think about how you would act 
if you yourself should be king
and ruler over all of Curnewal.
Here sits at hand your father Rual,		4450
whose total confidence you have,
make him your counsellor and counsel
to achieve your every purpose
entirely according to your will.
Tristan, my much beloved nephew,
do not think yourself impoverished.
Parmenie, you know, is yours,
and shall always be your own
while I and Rual your father live.
And I endow you even further:
my land, my people, and all I own,
dear nephew, are always at your disposal.
If you will turn your heart
to the highest excellence,
and if you mean what you said
as I have just heard you say it,
then use what I have to give.
Let Curnewal be your heritage,
gather tribute from my crown.
To be successful in this world,
you must be rich in spirit. 
I'll provide the other riches.
See, you have an emperor's treasure.
Don't treat yourself too modestly,
if you have such self-respect
and such spirit, as you should,
and as you have said you have,
and I believe I have seen.
Now see: if I find in you
the will to rule, you'll find in me 
all the resources you need. 
Tintajel shall ever be
your storehouse and treasure.
If you take the lead from me 
in the spirit of rulership,
and I fail to supply the goods, 
then everything I have and own, 
all of Curnewal, all, is gone."
The courtiers bowed in ceremony,
all of them, formally,
who had attended this exchange.
They manifested their approval
and their praise with acclamation:
"King Marke," they exclaimed in chorus,
"you have spoken as a lord should.
Your words accord well with the crown.
Your tongue, your heart, and your hand, 
long may they rule over this land!
Live forever, king of Curnewal!"
The faithful marshal, Sir Rual,			4500
and his young master Tristan
took up their assigned offices
in all the authority
as the king had assigned them
and delegated to them.