The Life of Saint Enimie. A 13th c text by Bertran de Marseille. Original Translation by Karena Akhavein. A reader's companion for the adventure novel Translatio Read online



  The Life of Saint Enimie

  A 13th c Text by Bertran de Marseille

  Original Translation by Karena Akhavein

  A reader’s companion for the thriller Translatio

  By Karena Akhavein

  Copyright 2012 by Karena Akhavein

  1.In honor of a glorious

  2.Saintly virgin, bride of Christ,

  3.Who was called Enimie,

  4.And who was from France, of royal lineage,

  5.Translated this romance from the Latin

  6.Rhymed, as it appears here,

  7.Master Bertran of Marseille,

  8.With great labor and wakefulness,

  9.For he who knows good and does not teach it,

  10.Does not act appropriately according to the law of God;

  11.For this reason Master Bertran translated

  12.From the Latin this entire romance.

  13.And do not assume that he did this

  14.To obtain praise in the earthly realm,

  15.As he was begged dearly to do it

  16.By the prior of the convent;

  17.But principally, as I well know,

  18.He did it in praise of God

  19.And of milady Saint Enimie,

  20.Of whom I wish to recount you the life.

  21.After Jesus Christ was born,

  22.Crucified and resuscitated,

  23.And to the right-hand side of his Father

  24.Ascended, as we hear it be told,

  25.The apostles in the end

  26.Led to salvation

  27.The lands and the regions

  28.By their saintly sermons.

  29.But when all lands

  30.But a few had been turned towards God,

  31.At last the kingdom of France

  32.Was baptized by the disciples,

  33.Because in all times it has been firm and inflexible

  34.In that which it believes by nature.

  35.But after it had been baptized,

  36.A king governed the kingdom

  37.Who was called Clodoveus,

  38.Honorable and powerful king.

  39.This one was son of Dagobert,

  40.As the chanson de geste states.

  41.His ancestor was named Clodoveus,

  42.Who was the first to believe in God

  43.Of all the kings of the kingdom of France,

  44.And he was the first to know faith.

  45.And as his forefathers,

  46.Who were faithful and good toward God,

  47.This Clodoveus similarly

  48.Had a good and loyal heart toward God.

  49.His wife was, throughout the land,

  50.Called by the name of Astorga.

  51.These two had a daughter

  52.Who was miraculously beautiful,

  53.To such a degree that Nature could not make

  54.At any time her equal in beauty.

  55.And I tell you that because of her beauty

  56.All the rich men of the kingdom

  57.Came to see her every day

  58.And that was their delight.

  59.But the young girl did not waste

  60.Her thoughts on this, nor did she become proud,

  61.Because she had placed her heart in God,

  62.And her pleasure in serving him.

  63.And if it pleases you, I will tell you

  64.In which way served God

  65.In her childhood, this young girl

  66.Who was daughter of the king of France.

  67.Do you know why I wish to tell you this?

  68.Because they should not have such pride,

  69.King, prince, nor emperor,

  70.Count, marquis, nor nobleman,

  71.Ladies, queens, nor countesses,

  72.Empress nor duchess

  73.That they neglect, because of the wealth

  74.They may have, nor because of their nobility,

  75.To serve the poor needy ones

  76.For love of the glorious King,

  77.And so we must all together take

  78.Example and always emulate

  79.This saintly virgin

  80.Of whom I recount to you the story.

  81.For she, as I have told you,

  82.Was the daughter of Clodoveus,

  83.And could have, if she so desired,

  84.Married a king, count, or marquis,

  85.Because many rich men asked after her,

  86.Because of the beauty they saw in her,

  87.But she did not concern herself with these things:

  88.Her delight was in serving God.

  89.If she saw someone poor and needy,

  90.Suffering from hunger or thirst,

  91.She gave him to drink and comforted him

  92.As well as she knew how.

  93.If she saw someone destitute or unclothed,

  94.She gave clothing to him;

  95.But above all her greatest joy

  96.Was washing the heads and the feet

  97.Of the poor of Christ night and day,

  98.Wherever she saw that they were poorest.

  99.She made beds for the sick,

  100.And that was her delight.

  101.The lame, the blind, and the leprous

  102.Whomever was afflicted with a sickness,

  103.Those she bathed and put to bed

  104.And cured their sicknesses,

  105.For she had in mind

  106.A verse told in Scripture

  107.Which God said without a doubt:

  108.That one in effect does to Him

  109.That which one does to the most humble

  110.Of the poor for His love;

  111.And because of this quote

  112.The poor were her biggest concern,

  113.To such a point that of her nobility,

  114.Which she held in the kingdom,

  115.She did not preoccupy herself at all because of Christ,

  116.Of whom she had been made the conquest,

  117.So she was in extremely humble fashion,

  118.Dressed in vile vestments,

  119.Because it did not please her at all

  120.To wear neither purple nor silk.

  121.But when it happened that the young girl

  122.Enimie was grown and beautiful

  123.She was very much sought after as a wife

  124.By the barons of the land

  125.Who promised her great riches:

  126.That is how much they desired her.

  127.And he who was the most rich

  128.And had the best-connected friends,

  129.That one promised much more

  130.Than fifty measures of gold and silver.

  131.And what more could I tell you?

  132.The king and queen gave in

  133.To the prayers of the barons

  134.For it was well time [for Enimie to marry];

  135.And first of all [the king] selected one

  136.That one which pleased him the most

  137.To whom he would give his daughter

  138.And would marry her off as his wife.

  139.Then he came with the queen

  140.To the damsel in private.

&n
bsp; 141.“Good daughter, said the father,

  142.Here I am along with your mother

  143.And we wish you to tell us the truth:

  144.Whom do you wish to have for a husband

  145.Amongst the honorable barons of France?

  146.For we have chosen one

  147.Rich and honorable, a good horseman,

  148.Who asks for you to be his wife.”

  149.The damsel responds to him:

  150.“Lord my father, for nothing in the world

  151.Will I have husband nor spouse,

  152.Other than Jesus Christ the glorious,

  153.To whom I have promised my chastity

  154.To keep as well as my virginity.”

  155.The father responds, as does the mother:

  156.“Daughter, you will have to do it soon.”

  157.The young girl is close to tears,

  158.For she cannot contest their decision.

  159.In the meantime, the king, without delay,

  160.Ordered for the preparation, both inside and out,

  161.Of the rooms and the palace,

  162.And all that is related to the court,

  163.So that the next day, without delay,

  164.The wedding ceremony can be performed.

  165.And while the servants

  166.Obey the command of their lord

  167.And put in all their efforts,

  168.Here has come the obscure night,

  169.And all went to sleep throughout the palace,

  170.Because there was no more light.

  171.But Enimie the young girl

  172.Was in a very beautiful room,

  173.And she did not sleep at all, and she prayed

  174.To her husband who had created her

  175.That by his pity

  176.He save her virginity

  177.And conserve her incorrupt

  178.And that he protect her from the felon,

  179.That she cannot be tricked

  180.By his ruse, nor be fooled:

  181.“Lord God, full of great gentleness,

  182.Keep my body from dishonor,

  183.And the desire

  184.Of that ugly and stinking craving

  185.So that you can have me

  186.Clean, pure, as is your pleasure.”

  187.When she had finished her oration,

  188.She marked herself with the sign of Christ,

  189.Then to the King of Piety

  190.She devoted her body and her soul.

  191.At this point this miracle happened

  192.That took hold of the damsel in her entirety

  193.For on her face and on her