Wednesday, July 15, 2015

You Are Handsome and Good Yourself

Still switching back and forth between THE ANATOMY OF MELANCHOLY and the ARTHURIAN ROMANCES of Chretien de Troyes. Today Gawain, upon first meeting another knight, greeted him like so: "Good sir, may the God who made you more handsome than any other creature grant you joy and good fortune." And the other knight says, "You are handsome and good yourself!" Ha ha ha! That's a pretty nice exchange of greetings. I like it! So they've known each other for about half a minute and they're like, "Now give me your oath here and I will give you mine: if you wish to ask anything of me, I'll never hide from you the truth, if I know it, whether it be to my joy or sadness; and you will likewise swear never to lie to me about anything I wish to ask of you if you are able to tell the truth to me." Knights are intense!