1, 2, of our Translation; but
we give a part of the original below[14] for comparison with the preamble
to the Romances of Meliadus, Tristan, and Lancelot, as taken from MS. 6961
(Fr. 340) of the Paris Library: -
"Seigneurs Empereurs et Princes, Ducs et Contes et Barons et Chevaliers
et Vavasseurs et Bourgeois, et tous les preudommes de cestui monde qui
avez talent de vous deliter en rommans, si prenez cestui (livre) et le
faites lire de chief en chief, si orrez toutes les grans aventure qui
advindrent entre les Chevaliers errans du temps au Roy Uter Pendragon,
jusques a le temps au Roy Artus son fils, et des compaignons de la Table
Ronde. Et sachiez tout vraiment que cist livres fust translatez du livre
Monseigneur Edouart le Roy d'Engleterre en cellui temps qu'il passa
oultre la mer au service nostre Seigneur Damedieu pour conquester le
Sant Sepulcre, et Maistre Rusticiens de Pise, lequel est ymaginez yci
dessus,[15] compila ce rommant, car il en translata toutes les
merveilleuses nouvelles et aventures qu'il trouva en celle livre et
traita tout certainement de toutes les aventures du monde, et si sachiez
qu'il traitera plus de Monseigneur Lancelot du Lac, et Mons'r Tristan le
fils au Roy Meliadus de Leonnoie que d'autres, porcequ'ilz furent sans
faille les meilleurs chevaliers qui a ce temps furent en terre; et li
Maistres en dira de ces deux pluseurs choses et pluseurs nouvelles que
l'en treuvera escript en tous les autres livres; et porce que le
Maistres les trouva escript au Livre d'Engleterre."
[Illustration: Palazzo di S Giorgio Genoa]
"Certainly," Paulin Paris observes, "there is a singular analogy between
these two prefaces. And it must be remarked that the formula is not an
ordinary one with translators, compilers, or authors of the 13th and 14th
centuries. Perhaps you would not find a single other example of it."[16]
This seems to place beyond question the identity of the Romance-compiler
of Prince Edward's suite in 1270, and the Prisoner of Genoa in 1298.
[Sidenote: Further particulars concerning Rustician.]
42. In Dunlop's History of Fiction a passage is quoted from the preamble
of Meliadus, as set forth in the Paris printed edition of 1528, which
gives us to understand that Rusticien de Pise had received as a reward for
some of his compositions from King Henry III. the prodigal gift of two
chateaux. I gather, however, from passages in the work of Paulin Paris
that this must certainly be one of those confusions of persons to which I
have referred before, and that the recipient of the chateaux was in
reality Helye de Borron, the author of some of the originals which
Rustician manipulated.[17] This supposed incident in Rustician's scanty
history must therefore be given up.
