“By God,” said Aucassin, “something is better than nothing!”

“Sir,” said Aubrey, then, “we were eating our bread by this fountain, between prime and tierce, and a maid came by—­the loveliest thing in all the world.  She lighted up the forest with her beauty; so we thought she was a fairy woman.  But she gave us some money; and we promised that if you came by we would tell you to go hunting in the forest.  In there is a beast of marvellous value.  If you took it you would not sell one of its limbs for many marks of gold, for it has a medicine that will cure your sickness.  Now I have told you all.”

“And you have told me enough, sweet boy,” said Aucassin.  “Farewell!  God give me good hunting!”

And, as he spurred his horse into the forest, Aucassin sang right joyously: 

    Track of boar and slot of deer,
    Neither do I follow here. 
    Nicolette I hotly chase
    Down the winding, woodland ways—­
    Thy white body, thy blue eyes,
    Thy sweet smiles and low replies
    God in heaven give me grace,
    Once to meet thee face to face;
    Once to meet as we have met,
    Nicolette—­oh, Nicolette!

IV.—­Love in the Forest

Furiously did his horse bear him on through the thorns and briars that tore his clothes and scratched his body, so that you could have followed the track of his blood on the grass.  But neither hurt nor pain did he feel, for he thought only of Nicolette.  All day he sought for her in the forest, and when evening drew on, he began to weep because he had not found her.  Night fell, but still he rode on; and he came at last to the place where the seven roads met, and there he saw the lodge of green boughs and lily-flowers which Nicolette had made.

“Ah, heaven,” said Aucassin, “here Nicolette has been, and she has made this lodge with her own fair hands!  For the sweetness of it, and for love of her, I will sleep here to-night.”

As he sat in the lodge, Aucassin saw the evening star shining through a gap in the boughs, and he sang: 

    Star of eve!  Oh, star of love,
    Gleaming in the sky above! 
    Nicolette, the bright of brow,
    Dwells with thee in heaven now. 
    God has set her in the skies
    To delight my longing eyes;
    And her clear and yellow hair
    Shines upon the darkness there. 
    Oh! my lady, would that I
    Swiftly up to thee could fly. 
    Meet thee, greet thee, kiss thee, fold thee
    To my aching heart, and hold thee. 
    Here, without thee, nothing worth
    Can I find upon the earth.

When Nicolette heard Aucassin singing, she came into the bower, and threw her arms around his neck and kissed him.  Aucassin then set his sweet love upon his horse, and mounted behind her; and with all haste they rode out from the forest and came to the seashore.

There Aucassin saw a ship sailing upon the sea, and he beckoned to it; and the sailors took him and Nicolette on board, and they sailed to the land of Torelore.  And the King of Torelore welcomed them courteously; and for two whole years they lived in great delight in his beautiful castle by the sea.  But one night the castle was suddenly stormed by the Saracens; and Aucassin was bound hand and foot and thrown into a ship, and Nicolette into another.