DEPTH OF THE DEEP FOREST with great difficulty, like hunted animals, they

roam and rarely dare to return in the evening to yesterday's lodging.

They eat only the meat of wild animals, remembering with regret the taste of salt
and bread. Their emaciated faces grew pale; clothes torn by thorns,
turns into rags. They love each other - and do not suffer.
One day as they wandered through the great forests that never knew
ax, they accidentally came across the hut of the hermit Ogryn. In the sun in
maple grove, near his chapel, an old man walked with quiet steps,
leaning on a staff.
- Senor Tristan! he exclaimed. - Find out what great oath
the people of Cornwall swore. The king ordered to announce in all parishes: who
he will catch you, he will receive a hundred marks in gold as a reward. And all the
barons swore
betray you dead or alive. Repent, Tristan! God forgives sinners.
- Shall I repent, friend Ogrin? What crime? You who us
judge, do you know what potion we drank at sea? Yes, glorious drink of us
intoxicated, and I would rather beg all my life along the roads and
to eat herbs and roots with Isolde than to be king without her
glorious state.
- May the Lord help you, señor! for you are lost to this world, and
for the future. A traitor to his master should be torn apart by two
horses, burn at the stake, and where his ashes fell, grass no longer grows, and
plowing in that place is useless, both trees and cereals die there. Tristan,
give the queen to the one who married her according to Roman law!
- She no longer belongs to him: he gave her to his lepers; at
lepers I took it away. Now she is forever mine; I won't part with her
I can, as she does with me.
Ogrin sat down, at his feet Isolde wept, bowing her head to her knees.
a man who took upon himself suffering in the name of God.
The hermit repeated to her the holy words of the Gospel, but, shedding tears,
she shook her head and did not want to believe him.
- Alas, - said Ogryn - how to console the dead? Repent, Tristan, for
the person who lives in sin without repentance is dead.
- No, I live and do not repent. We will return to the forest that gives us
shelter and guards us. Let's go, Isolde, dear!
Isolde got up. They joined hands and stepped into the tall grasses;
heather, the trees closed their branches behind them, and they disappeared behind
the foliage.

Listen, good people, to the glorious adventure. Tristan brought up

a bloodhound, beautiful, lively, easy on the run; not a single count, nor
there is no king equal to her for hunting with a bow. Her name was Husden. I had to
lock the dog in the tower, tying a chock around its neck. From the day she
saw more than her master, she refused all food, dug with her paws
earth, there were tears in her eyes, she howled. Many felt sorry for her.
“Husden,” they said, “no other animal could so faithfully
love like you. Yes, Solomon wisely said: "My devoted friend is my
greyhound".
And King Mark, remembering the days gone by, thought in his heart: "The Great
the mind of this dog that she cries so much for her master; is there anyone in
Cornwall, who would be worth Tristan?"
Three barons came to the king:
- Belite, sovereign, untie Husden: we will find out whether from longing for
our own
the owner of the dog is so bored. If not, then when it is untied, you will see how
she will rush, with her mouth open and her tongue out, at people and animals,
trying to bite them.
She was untied. She jumped out the door and ran into the room where before
found Tristan. She growls. howling, looking - finally attacked the trail of her
owner. Step by step, she runs along the road that Tristan walked to the fire.
Everyone follows her. With a loud yelp, she climbs the cliff. Here she is in the
chapel
jumped up on the altar, suddenly jumps out of the window, falls at the foot of the
rock, again
finds a footprint on the shore, stops for a moment in a flowering grove, where
Hiding in an ambush Tristan, then heads to the forest. There is no one who
seeing this, he did not pity her.
“Sire,” the knights said then, “you don’t have to follow her: she,
perhaps it will lead us to a place from which it will be difficult to get out.
They left her and returned. Reaching the forest, the dog announced it as his
barking. Tristan, the queen and Gorvenal heard him from afar: "This is Husden!"
They are
they were afraid: the king must be pursuing them; he must have let them loose
bloodhounds, like wild animals. They went deep into the thicket. At the edge, with
a stretched
fart, became Tristan, but when Husden saw and recognized his master, he
jumped straight towards him, turning his head and tail, arching his back, twisting
ring. Then he ran up to the blond Isolde, to Gorvenal, caressed and to
horse.
Tristan was very sad:
- Alas! What a pity that he found us! What can you do with a dog
who does not know how to be calm, a persecuted person? Through plains and forests
in all his land the king seeks us; Husden will give us away with his barking. Alas,
after all
out of love and out of natural nobility my dog came to seek death! Us
should, however, beware. What to do!? Advise me. stroking
Husden, Isolde said:
- Spare him! I have heard of a Welsh forester who
taught his dog to run without barking along the blood trail of wounded deer. Here
it would be a joy, dear Tristan, if it were possible, by working hard, to learn
to that and Husden.
He thought for a moment, while the dog was licking Iseult's hands.
Tristan took pity and says:
"I'll try, it's too hard for me to kill him."
Soon Tristan went hunting, drove out the deer and wounded her with an arrow.
Dog
wants to follow in the footsteps of a deer and barks so loudly that the forest
resounds.
Tristan stabs her to silence; Husden looks up at his
mister; he is surprised, does not dare to bark anymore and does not follow the
trail. Then
Tristan places it at his feet, then beats his boot with a chestnut rod,
as the hunters do to woo the dog. Seeing this, Husden wants again
bark, and Tristan punishes him. Less than a month later, school dog
thus he taught her to hunt silently: when he used to hurt with an arrow
roe deer or fallow deer, Husden, never raising his voice, stalks her through the
snow,
ice or grass. If he overtook the beast in the forest, he marked the place
dragging branches there; if he found him in a meadow, he covered the carcass with
grass and
returned without barking for his master. Summer has passed, winter has come. loving
lived sheltering in a cave, and on the ground, hardened by frost, ice bristled
their bed of fallen leaves. Neither he nor she felt grief - such was
power of love. But when the daylight returned, they built under
large trees, a hut of green branches. Tristan has been able since childhood
skillfully imitate the singing of forest birds, he imitated the oriole, the tit,
nightingale or other feathered bird, and sometimes there are many birds on the
branches of the hut,
who flew to his call, sang their songs in the radiance of the day.
Lovers no longer roamed the forest and wandered incessantly, for not one
the baron did not dare to pursue them, knowing that Tristan would hang him on
tree branches.

It happened, however, that one of the four traitors, Genelon, - so be it

cursed by God! - carried away by hunting, he dared to wander into the forest of
Morua. At that
morning at the edge of the forest, in a deep ravine, Gorvenal, unsaddled his horse,
let him graze on the young grass; nearby, under a canopy of branches, on
Tristan rested in a pile of flowers and greenery, tightly embracing the queen, and
both were sleeping.
Suddenly Gorvenal heard the barking of the pack: the dogs raced, driving out
the deer,
who jumped into the ravine. A hunter appeared in the meadow in the distance.
Gorvenal recognized
him: it was the Genedon-baron, whom his master hated most of all. He
rode alone, without a groom, plunging his spurs into the bloody sides of his horse
and
lashing his neck. Hiding behind a tree, Gorvenal lay in wait for him;
he quickly drives up, he will return more slowly.
Bot he passes. Jumping out of the ambush, Gorvenal grabs his horse under
bridles. I instantly recalled all the evil that this man did,
he knocks him off his horse, cuts him with his sword and leaves, taking with him
the severed
head. There, under a canopy of leaves of flowering greenery, they slept soundly
embracing, Tristan and the queen. Gorvenal quietly approached them, in his hand
Dead Head.
When the hunters found a headless corpse under a tree, they
they were frightened, as if Tristan were already chasing them on their heels; they
rushed
flee for fear of death. Since then, no one else has been in this forest
hunted.
To gladden the heart of his master when he wakes up, Gorvenal
tied his head by the hair to the pole of the hut; dense foliage framed it.
Tristan woke up and saw a head half-hidden by branches, which looked
on him. He recognized Genelon and jumped up in fright. But his mentor called out to
him:
- Calm down, he's dead! I killed him with this sword. My son, it was yours
enemy.
And Tristan was delighted: the man he hated, Genelon, was killed.
Since then, no one dared to penetrate into the wild forest. Terror guarded the
entrance to
him; lovers are masters in it. It was then that Tristan made a bow "Without a
miss",
always hitting the target, a person or an animal, in the intended place.

That was a summer holiday, good people, at harvest time, shortly after Trinity
day. Birds sang in the dew towards the morning dawn. Tristan came out of the hut,
girded himself with a sword, equipped the bow "Without a miss" and alone went into
the forest on
hunting. Before evening comes, great grief will befall him. No never
those who loved did not love so much and did not redeem it so cruelly!
When Tristan returned from hunting, exhausted by the sweltering heat, he
embraced
queen.
- Where were you, dear?
- Went for a deer, he completely exhausted me. Look, I'm sweating.
I want to lie down and sleep.
 On a bed of green branches, strewn with fresh grass, the first
Isolde. Tristan lay down beside her, placing a drawn sword between her and himself.
On the
their happiness, they were dressed. The queen had a gold ring on her finger.
a wonderful emerald that Mark gave her on their wedding day. That's how they slept
embracing tightly, one hand of Tristan was thrust under the neck of his sweetheart,
with the other he embraced her beautiful body, but their lips did not touch.
Neither
the slightest breath of the breeze, not a single leaf moves. Through the branch
a ray of sun fell on the roof of Isolde's face, and it shone like an ice floe.
It happened that the forester came across in the forest to a place where the
grass was dented:
the day before, lovers had rested there. He did not recognize the trace of their
bodies, but went along
I followed the steps and came to their dwelling. He saw them sleeping, recognized
them and set off
flee, fearful of Tristan's formidable awakening. After running two miles separating
forest from Tintagel, he climbed the steps to the hall where he found the king,
who held judgment among the vassals he had called.
What business have you come here for, my friend? You, I see, are out of
breath, for sure
a dog-hound who ran after bloodhounds for a long time. Would you like to ask me to
judge
any grudge? Who drove you out of my forest?
The forester took him aside and said quietly:
- I saw the queen and Tristan. They slept; I was scared.
- In which place?
- In a hut, in the forest of Morua. They slept in each other's arms. hurry up
if you want revenge.
- Go, wait for me at the edge of the forest, at the foot of the Red Cross. Not
at all
tell anyone what you saw: I will give you gold and silver, how much
want to take.
The forester went and sat down at the foot of the Red Cross. Yes be damned
informer! But he will die a shameful death, as my story will now tell you.
The king ordered to saddle his horse, girded himself with a sword and, not
accompanied
no one, quietly left the city. When he was riding alone, he remembered
night when he caught his nephew: what tenderness then showed to
Tristan beautiful blond Isolde! If he takes them by surprise, he
punish them for great sins, take revenge on those who dishonored him. At the Red
Cross he found a forester:
- Go ahead, lead me quickly and straight.
They were enveloped in the black shadow of tall trees. The king followed the
informer,
relying on his sword that once dealt glorious blows. What if
Will Tristan wake up? God alone knows which of the two of them is destined to stay
on
place! Finally the forester said quietly:
- Sir, we are coming!
He supported his stirrup and tied the horse by the bridle to a green apple
tree.
They drew nearer, and suddenly on the sun-drenched lawn they saw a blossoming
hut. The king unbuttoned his cloak with solid gold hooks and dropped
her, opening her beautiful camp. He drew his sword from its scabbard, repeating in
his
heart that will die if it does not kill them. The forester followed him, but the
king
signaled to him to return.
 He entered the hut alone, with a drawn sword, and already brought it ... What
it will be woe if he strikes this blow! But he saw that their lips were not
touched and a drawn sword separated their bodies.
- God! - he said. - What do I see? Can I kill them? They take so long
lived in this forest, and if they loved each other with a sinful love, would
would you put this sword between you? And does not everyone know that naked
does the blade separating two bodies serve as a guarantee and protection of
chastity? If
they loved each other with a sinful love, would they have rested so blamelessly?
No, I will not kill them: that would be a great sin; and if i wake this up
sleeping and one of us was killed, they would talk about this for a long time, and
to our
shame. But I'll make sure that when they wake up, they'll know that I caught them.
sleeping and did not wish their death, and that God had pity on them.
The sun, penetrating into the hut, scorched the white face of Isolde. The king
took his
mittens trimmed with ermine. "It is she," he remembered, "who brought them to me
then from Ireland." He pushed them into the foliage to plug the hole, through
which the beam fell, then carefully removed the ring with the emerald, which
gave to the queen: first it was necessary to make an effort to put it on her
finger, and now her fingers are so thin that the ring can be removed without
difficulty.
Instead, the king put on her his, given to him by Isolde. Then he took
the sword that separated the lovers. He recognized it too: it was a sword that
crammed into Morold's skull. Instead, the king put his own. Coming out of
hut, he jumped into the saddle and said to the forester:
"Run now and save yourself if you can!"
And Isolde saw in a dream that she was in a rich tent among a large
the woods. Two lions rushed at her and fought over her. She screamed and
woke up: mittens, trimmed with white ermine, fell on her chest. On her
cry Tristan jumped up, wanted to grab his sword and recognized by the golden cup,
that it is the king's sword. And the queen saw Mark's ring on her finger.
“Woe to us,” she exclaimed, “the king has found us!”
- Yes, - said Tristan, - he took my sword; he was alone, scared and
went for reinforcements. He will return and will burn us in front of all the
people.
Let's run!
And with great marches, accompanied by Gorvenal, they rushed to
Wales, to the borders of the forest of Morua. How much torment did love cause them!