HERE'S THE SECOND PART OF THE KNIGHT'S TALE.
After Arcite made it back to Thebes, he wallowed in self-pity because he knew he'd never again
see the woman he loved.
He wasn't interested in food or sleep or wine, and he began wasting away until he was just
a bony twig of a man.
His skin became as pale as ashes, and his eyes sunk into his head.
He spent all of his time alone, and he moaned to himself at night.
Music would only make him cry unconsolably.
He became so depressed that no one could recognize his voice anymore.
And he was so lovesick that he didn't even look lovesick anymore, but looked like he'd
gone completely insane.
To put it simply, Arcite suffered more than anyone had ever suffered before or since and
everything about him had changed completely.
Well, I could go on and on about how awful Arcite's life had become, but let me just
get right to the point.
After he'd been living like this for a year or two since coming back from Athens, he had
a powerful dream one night.
In the dream he saw the god Mercury, who was wearing a hat and carrying a staff.
He stood before Arcite and told him to buck up and be happier.
"Go to Athens," he said, "and all your misery will be gone."
Arcite woke up instantly and said, "Okay.
I can't take this any longer.
No matter what happens, I'm going to set out for Athens and not stop until I see Emily,
the woman I love, again.
I don't care if it ends up killing me."
As he made this resolution, he caught sight of himself in a mirror and saw that he looked
very different from the way he used to look.
He realized immediately that his disfigurement from being so lovesick would allow him to
disguise himself in Athens.
And if he kept a really low profile, he might even be able to live the rest of his life
there so that he could see Emily every day.
He therefore changed his clothes and dressed himself as a poor worker before setting out
for Athens.
He took with him only a single servant who knew of his master's plan and had also disguised
himself as a common worker.
When he arrived in Athens, he went to Theseus's castle and offered up his services as a common
laborer to do any work that needed to be done.
He also told everyone that his name was Philostrato in order to hide his true identity.
And to make a long story short, he eventually figured out the best way to get closest to
Emily and got a job assisting her chamberlain.
Arcite did whatever the chamberlain told him to do, whether it be collecting firewood or
carrying water.
He was young and strong.
He worked as Emily's chamberlain's servant for a year or two, and he quickly became one
of the most likeable people in the entire castle because of his good manners and personality.
In fact, "Philostrato" became so well known and so well liked that people encouraged Theseus
to promote him and find more noble work for him to do.
And so Theseus made Philostrato his own assistant and paid him plenty of money to reflect his
new status and position.
Arcite also had, of course, his own yearly income from being a noble landlord back in
Thebes, and he had this money secretly brought to him in Athens.
He spent this money carefully, though, and lived pretty modestly so that no one noticed
how well off he really was.
He served Theseus at home and on the battlefield like this for three years, and he became the
duke's most trusted advisor and friend.
And with that, I'll leave Arcite and his adventures for a moment to talk a little more about Palamon.
For seven horrible years Palamon had been living locked up in the horrible darkness
of the prison tower.
In addition to having been imprisoned this entire time, he was also so lovesick that
he'd nearly gone insane.
Words can hardly describe his torment properly.
I know I'm not doing a very good job myself at describing his misery, so I'm just going
to get right to the point.
Well, it so happened on the night of May third in the seventh year of his imprisonment (according
to all the old books that tell this story anyway), whether by chance or by fate (which
there's no escaping if it really was fate) that Palamon broke out of prison with a little
help from a friend and fled Athens.
His friend had spiked the prison guard's wine with a sweet drug made of opium from Thebes
that made the poor guy sleep through the entire breakout.
Palamon ran as far as he could and hid in a grove of trees when the sun began to rise.
He planned to hide in the grove all day then hightail it back to Thebes at night.
There he would rally his friends and raise an army to attack Athens.
To put it simply, he pledged to win Emily or die trying.
Okay, now back to Arcite, who'd thought he was living in the clear until the goddess
Fortune put him in the hot seat once more.
Well, the fateful day began like all others, with the lark's song greeting the morning
sun.
Arcite, who was still Theseus's chief servant, woke up and looked out the window to take
in the morning view.
He decided to enjoy the spring air by saddling his horse and going for a morning ride a mile
or two away from the castle to the same grove where Palamon was hiding.
He picked some flowers and wove a garland, all the while happily singing, "Welome fair,
fresh May, with all your flowers and your green.
These flowers are the loveliest I've seen!"
And with a happy heart he strolled around the grove along the path that happened to
run right past the bush that Palamon was hiding behind.
Palamon, for his part, was terrified that he was going to die because he didn't realize
that the man singing and walking through the grove was his cousin Arcite.
Then again, how could he have possibly known since Arcite was supposedly exiled?
Well, you know what they say: The fields have eyes and the trees talk.
Arcite meanwhile had no idea that his old friend Palamon was lurking quietly in the
bushes.
People, though, should always keep their wits about them and be ready for the unexpected.
When Arcite got tired of strolling and singing, he fell into a solemn silence as he began
thinking about how much he loved Emily.
He grew moody as young people often do when thinking about love.
Sometimes he felt great, other times awful, up, down, up, down, like a bucket in a well.
Sometimes Venus, the goddess of love, makes it rain.
Sometimes she makes it pour.
There's never a dull day when you're in love.
Arcite sat down and sighed, "Damn the day I was born!
How long are you going to continue punishing the city of Thebes and its people for your
husband's infidelity, Juno?
The royal family of Thebes is in complete disarray.
Cadmus started the royal line, and I am his direct descendent!
And here I am, practically slaving away for Theseus, the sworn enemy of Thebes.
And did Juno stop there?
No!
I can't even let people know that I'm really Arcite!
I have to pass myself off as 'Philostrato,' a nobody from nowhere.
Dammit Mars, dammit Juno!
You've completely wrecked the entire house of Thebes except for me and my poor cousin
Palamon, who's still rotting away in that prison.
And what's more, Love has struck me with his arrows.
It's almost like I was fated to suffer before I was even born!
You're killing me, Emily, you're killing me.
Nothing else matters except pleasing you."
And with that, he collapsed in a heap on the ground.
Palamon, who was still hiding in the bushes, shook with rage when he heard Arcite's little
speech.
He felt as if a cold sword were gliding through his heart.
He jumped out from behind the bushes and screamed with deadly fury, "Arcite, you backstabbing
son a bitch!
I've caught you in your lies and deception!
It's me, Palamon!
I just escaped from that prison tower, and I'm going to kill you with my bare hands or
die trying!
You can either forget about Emily or die right here, right now, because she is mine and mine
alone."
When he recognized Palamon and heard what he had to say, Arcite became equally furious.
He rose and drew his sword and looked as fierce as a lion ready to fight.
He said, "God knows that if it weren't for the fact that love has driven you mad, and
you don't have a weapon on you, I'd never let you walk out of this grove alive.
I'd kill you where you stand.
Screw our friendship and the oath we made as blood brothers.
Don't you know, dumbass, that I'm free to love anyone I want no matter how you feel?
But we are knights, and we must behave like knights.
Therefore, if you want to win Emily in battle, then meet me here tomorrow and we'll settle
this once and for all.
Come alone.
I give you my word as a knight that I'll come too—and with extra armor for you to wear.
In fact, you can even take the better set of armor.
Tonight I'll bring you food and wine and blankets to sleep on so that you're well rested for
tomorrow.
And if you should kill me tomorrow, then Emily is all yours."
Palamon agreed, and they parted ways until they would meet the next day at the appointed
time.
Cupid, you merciless god, who jealously rules mankind with love!
It is true what they say, that nothing is as powerful as love, as Arcite and Palamon
discovered for themselves.
Arcite rode back to Athens and the next morning managed to secretly acquire two suits of armor
for the upcoming battle.
He took them out to the grove as he'd promised.
And when they saw each other, their faces changed color and reflected their determination
to meet their destiny, just as the face of the famous hunter from Thrace changed color
when he hunted lions and bears with his spear.
And just like that hunter that you hear about in all the old stories, both Arcite and Palamon
thought, "There is my enemy.
It all comes down to this: It's either going to be him or me."
They didn't bother with any pleasantries—no "hellos" or "good mornings" or "How are you
doings?"
Instead, without a single word, each helped the other to put on his suit of armor, just
as if they were brothers preparing for war.
And then they grabbed their spears and began fighting, circling and jabbing each other
for hours on end.
Seeing them, you would've thought that Palamon was an angry lion and Arcite a ferocious tiger.
They fought like wild dogs that froth at the mouth because they're so angry.
They fought until the grass was soaked in blood up to their ankles.
And it's here I'll stop and leave them in the middle of their battle to tell you a little
more about Theseus.
Destiny—the hand of God that makes God's will happen throughout the world—is so powerful
that no mere mortal can stop it.
People might be able to postpone the inevitable, but ultimately God's will is always done.
Even if it takes a thousand years because everything that people think and want and
do has already been predetermined by God.
I'll explain what I mean by telling you about Theseus.
He loved hunting, you see—especially deer in May—and would wake at the crack of dawn
every day to go hunting with his hunting horns and dogs.
In this way he was not only a worshipper of the war god Mars, because he was so good in
battle, but also a worshiper of Diana, the goddess of the hunt.
Well, it was a bright, sunny day, and Theseus was out hunting with his wife Hippolyta and
her sister Emily, who was wearing green from head to toe.
They were on their way to the same clearing that I mentioned previously because Theseus
had heard that a magnificent stag roamed around there.
They'd taken quite a roundabout way to get there, through trees and across streams, because
he wanted to extend the hunt as long as possible.
When they finally reached the grove, Theseus immediately spotted Arcite and Palamon duking
it out in a vicious battle as if they were two wild beasts.
They swung their swords so violently that it seemed like you could chop a thick oak
tree with each blow.
He had no idea who the men were or what was going on, but he spurred his horse and jumped
in between the two of them to stop the battle.
He drew his sword and yelled, "Stop!
Enough already!
I swear to Mars that I'll kill whoever swings next!
Tell me what's going on here and why you two are dueling without a judge like a couple
of ruffians."
Palamon jumped in and said, "Sire, just let us keep fighting.
Neither one of us is fit to live.
We both live such awful lives that I beg you not to interfere or try to help us or anything
and to just kill me now, for God's sake.
And kill this guy too while you're at it.
In fact, you may want to kill him first because this knight here—your friend and most trusted
advisor, Philostrato—has been deceiving you all these years and is actually none other
than your mortal enemy, Arcite, whom you banished from Athens so long ago.
He is in love with Emily.
And since it looks like I'm going to die here and now anyway, I might as well tell you that
I am Palamon, your other enemy who has just escaped from your prison tower.
I love Emily so much that I want to die in her presence, so I beg you to kill us here
and now as punishment and to end our pain."
Without a bit of hesitation, Thesus said, "Well, you heard the man!
He confessed his crimes, so that settles that.
I condemn you to death!"
It was at that point that Queen Hyppolita, the best example of femininity, began crying,
as did Emily and all the other women in their hunting party.
The whole situation seemed so tragic to them, and they couldn't believe that such handome,
noble men would be willing to kill each other over their love.
The women saw how bloody and bruised the knights were and dropped down on their knees and pleaded,
"Please, Theseus, have mercy on these men for our sakes!"
Seeing the women like this cooled Theseus's temper a little, and he thought the situation
over with a more level-headed attitude.
He figured that every person has the right to pursue love, and will do anything for it,
even escape from prison.
And as he looked at Arcite and Palamon standing there and the women kneeling before him, he
said to himself, "Shame on me for having spoken so rashly and for acting pigheaded a moment
ago.
What kind of ruler would that make me if I didn't forgive them?
And what kind of ruler would it make me if, now that I've realized my mistake, I choose
not to change my mind?
I'd be pretty foolish if I were too stubborn to be reasonable."
Once his anger had fully passed, he looked at everyone watching him, and said, "How powerful
and great the god of love must be!
Nothing can stop him, and he has the power to change every heart.
Just look at these two