Accidents d'amor: 4. Còm l'amic moria per amor
The Lover Learns of His Sentence
The lover discovers that his Beloved has condemned him to die and curses the intercessors who made him suspect.
The lover learned that his Beloved had sentenced him to die, and he cursed Contrariety and Minority, who had come forward to plead for him though he had not asked them to, for because of them his Beloved held him in suspicion.1
The Lover Calls for Confession
The lover requests confession, and Love's squires bring Prayer, who serves as Love's confessor, to hear him.
2. The Lover asked for confession, because he wanted to confess all his general sins. Love's squires brought Prayer, who is Love's confessor, to the Lover, and the Lover confessed to him with contrition, sighs, tears, and weeping, humility and fears; but before he confessed, Prayer said these words to the Lover:2
The Confessor's Instructions on True Confession
Prayer instructs the lover on the virtues, contrition, and thorough examination of conscience required for a confession worthy of the Beloved.
3. "Friend," said the confessor of love, "everyone who comes to confession must be clothed and adorned with virtues, must cast vices and sins out of himself, and must have a firm and strong will and repentance, never again returning to the sin he has committed or to any other." He must also have contrition and sorrow for his sin, place good and great hope in God, and submit himself wholly to whatever penance his good confessor assigns him; and if he does not do this, his confession is worth little.3 4. Furthermore, friend, you need to run your understanding, memory, and imagination through all your bodily senses, and identify the sins you've committed in seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching, speaking, imagining, remembering, understanding, and loving or failing to love; and for each failing and sin you must have deep contrition and sorrow, and you must do penance and make satisfaction as best you can.4 And anyone who makes such a confession makes one that, through mercy and compassion, is presented to the Beloved.5
Confession of the Eyes and Ears
The lover confesses sins of sight, rejoicing in creatures more than the Beloved, and sins of hearing, failing to defend the Beloved and preferring vain rhetoric.
5. The friend set about making his confession in the way the confessor of love had told him, and he said that he had sinned many times with his eyes by looking at beautiful creatures, for he rejoiced more in their beauty than in the beauty of the Beloved, who created them to signify His great beauties and loveliness so that lovers might rejoice in His beauties.6 6. The lover confessed that he had often sinned with his ears against his Beloved whenever he heard people speak ill of Him, or of some good and holy person, because he failed to rebuke those who spoke evil and did not defend his Beloved or the person being maligned. Furthermore, he often went to sermons more to hear beautiful, polished, and ornate words of little use than to hear the truth; he would doze off during the good words, yet stay wide awake for the bad ones.7 3
Confession of the Lower Senses and Imagination
The lover confesses sins of smell, taste, touch, and imagination, which led him to lust, gluttony, and temporal pleasures.
7. Lord Confessor of Love, the lover said: the scents of flowers and of apples have made me remember and imagine lust; and the sweet foods pleasant to eat have many times made me eat and drink too much; and the touch of soft beds and of flesh has made me sin many times against my Beloved; and my imagination did not restrain itself—rather, it multiplied itself in imagining temporal pleasures.
Confession of the Soul's Powers and Bodily Members
The lover confesses sins of memory, understanding, and will, as well as sins committed with his hands, feet, and mouth.
8. By my remembering, understanding, and loving, I have sinned against my Beloved, for I forgot him and knowingly ignored him, so that remembering and understanding him would not hinder me from experiencing the vanities of this world, which I have loved greatly; and I remembered, understood, and loved vices and sins, and not virtues or good works; and so with my hands I did evil, and with my feet I walked on evil paths, and with my mouth I spoke evil and false words that were very foul to hear.8
Total Contrition and Submission to Penance
The lover declares his contrition for all sins committed with his whole being and submits himself fully to whatever penance the confessor assigns.
9. There are many other kinds of sins, said the friend, by which I have offended my Beloved, and with all my bodily and spiritual parts, and with the whole totality of my being, I have failed and sinned against my Beloved; and so I have contrition, pain, and sadness — in lament, in sighing, in weeping — and I submit myself to satisfaction and to penance with all my bodily and spiritual power, according to your judgment; and if my eyes and the other senses, and the members of my body, and all the powers of my soul have offended my Beloved, it is right that they be punished and that they bear great penance; for of everything the Beloved will do about it, I am glad and content, and in nothing do I want to be spared or treated gently.9
The Confessor's Mercy and the Lover's Hope
The confessor prays for the lover's forgiveness and urges hope, and the lover sends Justice and Pity to the Beloved, trusting in the sisterhood of mercy and justice.
10. When the friend had confessed, the confessor of love took great pity on him and prayed to the beloved to forgive his sins; and he told the friend to place good and great hope in his beloved, so that he would grant him mercy, pardon, and pity.10 The friend sent Justice and Pity to the beloved, asking them to tell him that he was content to be punished or to be forgiven; for he hoped to receive either equally from his beloved, because in him mercy and justice are sisters.11
Read the original Catalan
Sabè lamic que son amat lac jutjat a morir, e maleí contrarietat e menoritat, qui seren denantades de pregar per él, qui no les navia pregades, car per eles lo tenia en suspita son amat.
2. Demanà lamic confessió, car confessar se volia de tots sos generals peccats. Los donselsdamor amenaren oració, qui es confessor damor, al amic, del qual lamic se confessà ab ccntricció, suspirs làgremes e plors, humilitat e temors; mas enans ques confessàs, dix oració al amic aquestes paraules:
3. Amic, dix lo confessor damor: tot hom qui ve a confessió deu ésser vestit e ornat de vertuts, e deu de sí gitar vicis e peccats, e deu aver ferma e forts volentat e penediment, e que nuyl temps nos torn al peccat que ha fet ni a altre. Encara deu aver contricció e dolor de son peccat, e que en Deu aja bona e gran esperansa, e ques sotsmeta de tot en tot a so que li darà son bon confessor en penetencia; e si aysò no fa, poc val sa confessió.
4. Encara deu, amic, discórrer son enteniment e sa memòria e sa ymaginació per tots sos seyns corporals, e ensercar los peccats que ha fets en veent oent odorant gustant palpant, parlant ymagenant, membrant entenent e amant o desamant; e de cascú faliment e peccat deu aver gran contricció e dolor, e deu fer penetencia e satisfacció a son poder. E qui fa aytal confessió, fa confessió qui es per misericòrdia e pietat representada al amat.
5. Ordenàs lamic a fer confessió segons la manera que avia dita lo confessor damor, e dix que él avia peccat moltes vegades ab los uyls en veent beles creaturas, car més salegraya per la belea deies, que per la belea de lamat qui les ha creades a significar ses grans belees e beutats, per so que los amadors s alegren en les sues belees.
6. Dix lamic que él avia peccat ab ses orelles, contra son amat, moltes de vegades, adones con hoía mal dir de son amat, o de alcuna bona e sancta persona, car no reprenia aquels qui dehien lo mal, e no escusava lamat e aquela persona de qui era dit lo mal; e encara, que moltes vegades era anat al sermó més per so que ois beles paraules rectoricades e ornades, de poca utilitat, que de veritat, e a les paraules bones sadurmia, e a les males él vetlava. 3
7. Sènher en confessor d amor, dix lamic: les odors de les flors e de les pomes man feta membrar e ymagenar lucxuria; e les douses viandes plasents a menjar, man moltes vegades fet trop menjar e boure; e los tocaments de blans lits e de carns, man fet moltes vegades peccar contra mon amat; e la mia ymagenació no refrenava, enans la montiplicava en ymagenar los delits temporals.
8. Ab mon membrar entendre e amar he peccat contra mon amat, car él ublidava e ignorava scientalment, per so que per lo remembrar e entendre que dél fahia, no fos enpatxat a sentir les vanitats d aquest mon, que molt he amades, e membrava entenia e amava vicis e peccats, e no virtuts ni bones obres; e per aysò ab les mans fahia mal, e ab los peus anava per males carreres, e ab la boca deiha males e falses paraules e qui eren molt leges a oir.
9. Moltes son les altres maneres de peccats, dix lamic, per les quals he ofès mon amat, e ab totes mes parts corporals e esperitals, e ab tota la totalitat de mon ésser he falit e peccat contra mon amat; per que nay contricció dolor e tristicia, en planc, en suspir, en plor, e men sotsmet a satisfacció e a penetencia, a tot mon poder corporal e esperital segons vostre judici; e si los meus uyls, e los altres seyns, e mos membres de mon cors e totes les potencies de ma ànima an ofès mon amat, bo es quen sien ponides e quen porten gran penetencia; Icar de tot so quen farà lamat, son alegre e pagat, e en res non vuyP ésser estalviat ni blandit.
10. Caní amic fo confessat, lo confessor damor ac dél gran pietat, e pregà lamat que li perdonàs sos peccats; e dix al amic que agués en son amat bona e gran esperansa, per so que li aportàs dél mersè e perdó e pietat. Tramès lamic a lamat justícia e pietat, e que li dixessen que él era pagat en esser ponit o que li fos perdonat; que tot ho esperava egualment aver de son amat, per so cor en él misericòrdia e justícia son germanes.
Notes
- 1 ↩Old Catalan lac jutjat ≈ l'hac/l'ha jutjat ('had judged/sentenced him'); navia ≈ n'havia; suspita ≈ sospita. Contrarietat and Menoritat are personified roots of love in Llull's allegory; Minority is the conventional scholarly rendering of menoritat.
- 2 ↩Source reading ccntricció corrected to contricció (contrition), matching the chapter's later use of contricció and ordinary Catalan orthography.
- 3 ↩Catalan 'contricció' rendered as 'contrition' (sacramental sorrow for sin), distinct from the broader interior term 'compunction' protected elsewhere in the lexeme policy.
- 4 ↩desamant: rendered as 'failing to love' (Llull's opposite of amant); could also mean ceasing to love or actively unloving.
- 5 ↩representada al amat: rendered as 'presented to the Beloved'; could also mean shown or laid before God as Beloved.
- 6 ↩Old Catalan agglutinations read as s'alegrava ('he rejoiced') and d'elles ('of them'); belees e beutats rendered as near-synonyms for divine beauty/loveliness rather than two sharply distinct attributes.
- 7 ↩Reading sadurmia as s'adurmia ('he dozed / fell asleep'), antithetical to vetlava ('he stayed awake').
- 8 ↩Source shifts from first person (he peccat; he amades) to third person (él ublidava… membrava… fahia). Rendered as continuous first-person confession by the lover, matching neighboring sections and Llull’s amic voice; the third-person forms may also personify the soul’s powers (membrar, entendre, amar).
- 9 ↩Normalized reading takes manuscript 'vuyP' as medieval Catalan vuy/vull ('I want'); 'Icar' is read as Car ('for').
- 10 ↩Opening Caní is read as Quant/Quan (“When”), the expected Old Catalan sense in this narrative frame; the surface form looks corrupt or orthographically irregular.
- 11 ↩pagat en esser ponit is rendered “content to be punished,” matching the prior section’s alegre e pagat (glad and content), not merely “paid” in a commercial sense.
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