Accidents d'amor: 2. De la presó de l'amic qui fugia a son amat e amor
The Search for the Fleeing Lover
The lady of love discovers the lover has fled with servants of lesser and contrary love; she sends Concord and Majority to find and bring him back.
In the morning the lady of love entered the chamber to see the lover, and she didn't find him there.1 She woke the physician of love and the squires, her servants, and asked them where her son had gone, who for her sake was sick.2 The physician and the squires of love were greatly amazed, because they didn't see the lover. The physician said that the lover had fled with Menorificar, who is a squire of lesser love, and with Contrariejar, who is a squire of contrary love, so that he might be healed of the sickness of love.3 The lady and the physician sent4 two5 squires of love, Concordar of love and Majorificar of love, to search for the lover, and if they found him, to plead with him and seize Contrariejar and Menorificar of love.67 Concordar and Majorificar searched for the lover, whom they found on a beautiful plain, near8 a9 great woodland, and they begged that friend to return to the Lady of Love and to remain under the care of Love's physician.10
The Lover's Refusal and Capture
The lover refuses to return, accusing the lady and physician of cruelty; a battle ensues between Concord and Majority versus Contrariety and Minority; angels from the Beloved bind all three and imprison them.
2. The friend would not return to the Lady of Love or to the physician of love, and he said that the Lady of Love had a bad habit, for she tormented and killed her servants, and that her physician was a very false man, for he put love's poison into the medicines with which he multiplies the evils and the hardships of love.11 For that reason he did not want to be under the rule of so wicked a lady or so false a physician. Concord and Majority of Love wanted to seize the friend of love, but Contrariety and Minority would not let them take him; and a great battle was fought between Concord and Contrariety of Love, and between Majority and Minority of Love.12 Contrariety and Minority would have been defeated, had it not been for the friend who was helping them against Concord and Majority, who were defeated and taken prisoner, until help came for Concord and Majority. ii. angels of love, whom the Beloved sent to seize and bind the friend and Contrariety and Minority; and all three were put in the prison of love.
The Prison of Love
Bound in love's prison, the lover is served by Bonifying, Magnifying, Enduring, and Empowering; his hunger and sickness grow; he sends Humility, Patience, and Pity to beg for relief or death.
3. The lover was a prisoner in the prison of love, and there were many cords of love binding him to his beloved, so that he would not flee from his beloved or from the labors of love. Bonifying, Magnifying, and the other squires of love served him: Bonifying gave him good food of love, Magnifying gave him great food of love, and Enduring and Empowering kept him continually drinking strong wine of love; and the more the lover ate and drank the foods of love, the more his sickness and his hunger and thirst of love grew.13 4. The lover sent Humility, Patience, and Pity to the Beloved, asking him to ease his torments of love and give him other servants, because the ones he had were killing him through love; and if the Beloved would not do this, to tell him to kill him for love, since he preferred to die rather than endure such great torments for love.14
Read the original Catalan
M,ATÍ entrà la dona damor en la cambra per veer lamic, e noi atrobà. Despertà lo metge damor e los donscls sos servidors, als quals demanà on era anat son filh, qui per ela era malaute. Molt se meraveilaren lo metge e los donsels damor, car lamic no veeren. Lo metge dix quel amic era fugit ab menorificar, qui es donsel de menor amor, e ab contrariejar, qui es donsel de contraria amor, per so que guarís del mal damor. La dona el metge trameseren . ij. donsels damor, concordar damor e majorificar damor, per sercar lamic, e sil atrobaven quel pregassen, e presessen contrariejar e menorificar damor. Concordar e majorificar sercaren lamic, lo qual atrobaren en una bela plana, pres de .
j. gan boscatge, lo qual amic pregaren que retornàs a la dona d amor, e que estegués en cura del metge damor.
2. No volc lamic tornar a la dona damor ni al metge damor, e dix que la dona damor avia mala costuma, car turmentava e auseiha sos servidors, e lo seu metge era molt fals home, car cl met verí damor en les medicines, ab les quals montiplica los mals els trebayls damor, e Intenció: Amor —II. per aysò no volia ésser en subjecció de tan mala dona ni de tan fals metge. Concordar e majorificar d amor volgren pendre lamic d amor, mas noi Icxaren pendre contrariar ni menorificar; e gran batayla fo feta enfre concordar e contrariar d amor, e enfre majorificar e menorificar d amor. Vensuts foren contrariar e menorificar, si no fos lamic qui los ajudava contra concordar e majorificar, los quals foren vensuts e preses, tro que vengren ajudar a concordar e majorificar . ij. àngels damor, que l amat tramès per pendre e ligar lamic e contrariar e menorificar; e tots tres foren meses en lo càrcer damor.
3. Pres estava lamic en lo càrcer damor, e moltes eren les cordes damor ab les quals estava ligat a son amat, per so que no fugis a son amat ni als trebayls damor. Servienlo bonificar magnificar, e los altres donsels damor: bonificar li donava bo menjar damor, e magnificar li donava gran menjar damor, e durar e possificar li feien contínuament beure fort vi damor; e on mais lamic menjava e bevia les viandes damor, mais crexia sa malautia e sa fam e set damor.
4. Tramès lamic a lamat humilitat paciència e pietat, que li aleujàs los mals damor e que li donàs altres servidors, car aquels que avia lauseihen per amor; e si aysò lamat fer no volia, que li dixés quel auciés per amor, car mais amava murir que sostenir tan grans' mals per amor.
Notes
- 1 ↩Reading corrupt "M,ATÍ" as Old Catalan "Matí" (morning), which fits the prior night-flight in 1.75.7.
- 2 ↩"donscls" read as "donsels" (squires), matching the form in s3 and neighboring 1.75.7.
- 3 ↩Menorificar and Contrariejar are personified Llullian Art powers (agents of menoritat/littleness and contrarietat/contrariety of love), kept as proper names to match the note at LlullArbreAmor.1.75.7.s2.
- 4 ↩Sentence is truncated after "trameseren"; continuous witness reads "La dona e·l metge trameseren .ij. donsels d'amor..." across s5–s7.
- 5 ↩Standalone "ij." is the medieval numeral ".ij." (= two) segmented out of "trameseren .ij. donsels d'amor".
- 6 ↩Concordar and Majorificar are personified squires (concordance and magnifying of love), parallel to Menorificar and Contrariejar; Catalan Art-names kept as proper names.
- 7 ↩Fragment continues s5–s6: "The lady and the physician sent two squires of love, Concordar of love and Majorificar of love..."
- 8 ↩Sentence is truncated after "pres de"; continuous witness continues in 1.76.2 as "pres de .j. gran boscatge" (near a great woodland).
- 9 ↩Standalone "j." is the Roman numeral 1 continuing the previous section's "pres de" (près de), i.e. "près de un…" / "near a…".
- 10 ↩Source reads "gan boscatge"; most plausible intended reading is "gran boscatge" (great woodland), completing "près de un gran boscatge" from the prior section break.
- 11 ↩Read corrupt 'auseiha' as aucia ('killed'); 'car cl met verí' as car el metia verí ('for he put poison'); and treat trailing 'e Intenció: Amor —II.' as page-header intrusion, not part of the sentence.
- 12 ↩Personified Llullian powers: concordar/majorificar/contrariar/menorificar rendered as Concord, Majority, Contrariety, and Minority of Love. Corrupt 'noi Icxaren' read as no·l deixaren ('would not let them take him').
- 13 ↩bonificar, magnificar, durar, and possificar are Llull's personified correlative powers of love (here called donsels/donzels, 'squires' or young attendants). Rendered as Bonifying, Magnifying, Enduring, and Empowering to keep them readable as allegorical agents.
- 14 ↩Reading 'lauseihen' as agglutinated l'auseihen ('were killing him'), parallel to later 'quel auciés'; less likely is lauseihen from lausar ('were praising him').
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