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The Author in the Text: The Prologues of Chrtien de Troyes Author(s): Marie-Louise Ollier Source: Yale French Studies,

No. 51, Approaches to Medieval Romance (1974), pp. 26-41 Published by: Yale University Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2929677 . Accessed: 26/12/2013 20:55
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Marie-Louise Ollier
The Author in the Text: The Prologues of Chretien de Troyes *

oftheprologue inthisarticle to offer a definition It is notmypurpose textsin the vernacular as it appearsin mostof the earlynarrative At de Troyes. of theprologues of Chr6tien -nor evena definition in someperspective best,myconclusions maysucceedin providing of the to situate of theprologue. which a study Up to now,studies in narrowly rhetorical terms theproblem subject state (is theprologue exordium?)-orelse something otherthan a purelyconventional and topoifound boil downto a simpleinventory of the formulas of that the tradition in the prologues. I shouldstate,moreover, medieval "ArtsofPoetry" allowno room are of no helphere: they seemmoreoften to be a collecfornew "genres," and besides, they tionoftechnical, thana truly theoretical reflection. empirical precepts Our pointof departure, derives from whichis quite different, of modemanalysis: certain present-day certain principles alongwith I postulate of situating textat the the necessity every theoreticians, confluence and of the tradition, or as a of its own organization 1 This in forms. form a literary singular space populated by other of Chretien the romances de thatwe recognize, requires concerning in French thatthey thefirst literature, Troyes, represent appearance of a written with the lais and thefabliaux, narrative, strictly jointly of a narrative of the speaking text, as opposedto theoral narrative
chanson de geste.

This transition from to a mutaspeaking to writing corresponds tionof thecollective consciousness as it manifests in theforms itself The chansonde gestewas a ritualcelebration thatit engenders. thecommunity of thejongleur brought whereby and of his audience
* This paper was presented in a somewhat different format the Medieval WesternMichiganUniversity, Studies Conference, on May 1, 1972. 1 J. Kristeva, "Le texteclos," Langages 12 (1968), p. 104.

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Ollier Marie-Louise a as the words, thatwas as significant to life,in an act of singing a static organizawas at thesametime to all,which pastwellknown of timeand space, with theabolition and in which, tionoftheworld on the one another. 2 Writing, ofGood andEvil confronted theforces of an author, who assumes his text thepresence other hand,implies the romantic Without reintroducing and investsit withmeaning. subject,"I wish to studythe signsof this notionof a "creative using the prologues presenceas a purelytextualphenomenon, in theorder them thatof Yvain) as our base and taking (especially of decreasing explicitness. of all, the way the textrefers first to consider, It is interesting the At thisdegreeof generality, as a totality. moreover, to itself by the vocabulary of the prologuemustbe clarified vocabulary certified 3 by the entire text. thewordroman If it is readily thatwithChretien acknowledged literary a singular termdenoting (romance)becomesa standard in thenarrative to thelai and sphere, as opposed, form, particularly with it fromotherterms the fabliau, it is not easy to distinguish relationship: whichthe wordromanseemsto have a synonymous in Chretien's livre. ofthese terms estoire, 4 But an examination conte, indiscriminately. works anyof them showsthathe does not employ most In theuses of contethatwe have observed, refers theterm sequencecontained often to thesource(Erec 13), or to a narrative (Perceval ownnarrative within thetale(Erec 1080)-or to Chretien's 63 and 66, Cliges 8). In all threecases, it denotesthe narrative in the sense in whichthattermis defined the "story," argument, oriented in time. theorists: a seriesof events by modern
2 E. Vance, Reading the Song of Roland (EnglewoodCliffs, N.J., 1970), pp. 11-12; P. Zumthor, Essai de Poetique me'dievale (Paris, 1972),pp. 323-327. 3 See, in the appendixto this paper, a selectionof significant examples. We cite here the numberof occurrences of the termsin question(according to the glossaries of the critical editions consulted):conte: Erec 4 times, Cliges 4, Lancelot0, Yvain 2, Perceval10. estoire: Erec 6, Cliges 3, Lancelot0, Yvain 1, Perceval5. livre: Erec 1, Cliges 5, Lancelot 1, Yvain 1, Perceval2. roman: Erec 0, Cliges 2, Lancelot 2 (1 by the continuator), Yvain 2, Perceval 1. 4 P. Zumthor, op. cit., pp. 380-396.

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Yale FrenchStudies -Unlike conte, it is true, estoire, never refers explicitly to Chretien's narrative, exceptperhapsin Erec 23, or again in Clig&s23. But mostof the uses of the term carefully distinguish the estoire from the conte: a reference to the estoireaims at guaranteeing the authenticity of the narrative, and thus its credibility, withmuch more certainty than the simplemention of the conte.Wherethe to a source, conterefers theestoire implies thatthesource is worthy of belief. in the sense The twoterms are thusnearly synonymous, in theromance, butwith thatthey bothdenote the "story" different connotations. the -The livreis primarily a Latinbook, a factwhichestablishes of the classics,at once truth and meansof transmitting auctoritas All knowledge thistruth. comesby wayof a book,and at thesame timethebook constitutes thesurest guarantee, fora literate person of theMiddleAges,of historical continuity. This certainty is clearly on twooccasions, in theprologue of Cliges(HI.25 and 28). affirmed, Consequently, to allude to the livre,for a detailor for the total work, as Chretien doesforexample in Erec 6680, or in Perceval 67, is to seek to imbueone's own narrative withthe same authority. it is his "oevre"(work)itself Better yet,in lines24-25 of Lancelot, Thus somelight (1. 22) thathe designates as a livre. is shedon the boastful self-confidence of the prologueof Erec: in this passage stressed the superiority Chretien of his projectover that of the jongleurs, whocan only"corronpre et depecier" [corrupt and break "l'estoire up] the narrative, and he boastedof beginning / qui toz jorz mes iertan mimoire" [the story whichforever aftershall be that the remembered]. This survival dependedon one condition: be promoted to thedignity narrative of a livre. Thustheroman is defined clearly by itsrelationship to the livre, that a relationship which suffices is,to thewritten work, to distinguish the romanfromany othernarrative that is a tributary of oral literature. It is remarkable, moreover, that this specific narrative form shouldbe designated by the term thatoriginally connoted, in the syntagm en roman"[translate "metre intothe vernacular], one of theearliest Romancecultural manifestations of a (theadaptation 28

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Ollier Marie-Louise in Cliges3 and Latin textin the vulgar tongue)-as, forexample, in some writing, founded on 2345-2346.It is as if Latin culture, Indeed, literature. nascent ofthebookon this themodel wayimposed be expressed of theronwn(as a text)to Latinmust therelationship model. Upon the raw material in termsof a cultural essentially of writing are the operations by theconteor the estoire, furnished that the auctoritas imposed,whichproducethe roman;through of the livre, is invested with theprestige theroman writing confers, on the is therefore perceived, of all doctrina. Writing thedepository thatis of a memory as the instrument basis of the Latintradition, of the jongleurs. oral memory far moreadequatethanthe purely the uses of the wordroman in This at least is how we interpret yet,in Yvain 5359-5362. Perceval 7-8 and,better closedin itsorganization, offers itself as a text, thus The romance thathas been fixed of a memory but henceforth openedby virtue for all time. notably he employs, that theterms through nowspecify, We must his textas denotes in which Chretien in theprologues, themanner worksthat a structure. There existsalreadya long list of critical of the terms and the relationships have assayedthe interpretation and arrangement), (structure, conjointure matitere or source), (matter sens (meaning), termsthat all the criticshave taken to be key
5 terms.

-We shallpass quickly overthe termmatitre;it seemsgenerally by the author, admitted whatever maybe thesourceadvanced that, otherthan a source.An as anything it could not be considered the goal of making to a sourcehas theparticular reference explicit
5 We cite here only studiesthat have appeared since 1950 and that deal expressly with one of these terms: D. W. Robertson, Jr.,"Some Medieval Literary Terminology withSpecial Reference to Chrdtien de Troyes,"Studies in Chretien's Lanin Philology48 (1951),pp. 669-692; F. Lyons,"Entencion celot," Studies in Philology51 (1954), pp. 425-430; W. A. Nitze, "Conjointurein Erec,v. 14,"ModernLanguageNotes 69 (1954),pp. 180-181;D. Kelly, Sens and Conjointure in the Chevalierde la Charette (The Hague, 1966),and "The source and meaningof conjointure in Chretien'sErec 14," Viator 1 (1970), 179-200; J. Rychner, "Le prologuedu Chevalierde la Charette," Vox Romanica 26 (1967), pp. 1-13.

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Yale FrenchStudies of therelation But theproblem of belief. worthy a matter narrative unresolved. remains romance between the sourceand the finished in line 14 of Erec, thatseems conjointure, term -It is thefamous imposedon the raw material. to denotethe treatment specifically sees on the question, Douglas Kelly,to whomwe owe two studies 6 on a primary concept: understood formal a purely in conjointure it of the wordsin a sentence, of arrangement level as a principle of arrangement of could also mean,on a secondlevel,a principle whatis derived in a narrative; thisin factis precisely theelements But this theorists. in theLatinmedieval of junctura from thenotion romance, form that is the new specific when to this definition, applied There seemsto us to be some restrictive. us as extremely strikes of a new in crediting withthe elaboration Chretien contradiction him,in the name of a genreand, at the same time,in confining that allows no room for this traditional term,withina rhetoric tradition in theclassical raised Chretien, that We think instead genre. notablyin than theoretical, -which, in fact,is more empirical theterm concerns thedispositio-enriched thatgenerally everything to his plan. Thus,we thatwas appropriate witha newconnotation to meaning merely can in no waybe reduced theconjointure believe, in its is the textual but rather organization thenarrative argument, and the betweenthe conte d'aventure the opposition entirety: debate and one avoidsthethorny is therefore illuminated, conjointure it is a heterogenemadeby theconte:whether overthecontribution to a or a matter according organized already matter, ous, formless consists Chretien's makesno difference; originality narrative scheme, with whole,invested that is, a significant in makinga romance, level of its structure-the arrangement sequential at every meaning to producethis thatcome together beingbut one of the elements
meaning.

to yieldto a moreimmediate intersens seemsat first -The term is as becomes this deceptive, than transparency conjointure; pretation of lines21-29 of Lancelot,a passage the elucidation evident from
6

Cited in note 4.

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Marie-Louise Ollier already analyzed on severaloccasions, the wordoccurs T in which in general,no twice. Its firstoccurrence, in line 23, presents, difficulty. Here it is clearly and a question of the talent, wisdom, knowledge of the author, a subjectthatChretien speaks of very politely, saying thatthe successof theworkowes less to himthan to thecountess' of sensis very borne mandate. Thismeaning widely out in the vulgarliterature, and the termis associatedwiththe topos, so frequent in theprologues ofthemoralobligaof romances, tionto shareone'sknowledge. thereader to thelistdrawn We refer im altfranzosischen in "Ueberdie Einleitungen up by R. Halpherson Kunstepos" (1911) and moreparticularly to Erec 16-18. We can
thus considersan, sapiance, sciance to be synonyms.

There remainsthe second usage, which is of incontestable Sens hereis associated difficulty. withmatiere; thusit is no longer possible to interpret thewordas a faculty of theauthor-itmust be seen as an interpretation of the mathere.Consequently the word seemsto comprise two different meanings, illustrated at an interval of threelines: talentor knowledge of the author, on one hand; on the other.J. Rychner, meaningor interpretation, however, the latter 8 He emphasizes questions meaning. that,of the totalof seventy-seven examples of sens in Chretien's works, thereis only one (not counting our line, whichis problematical) thathas this in Clig&s 4311 ("An celuisan qu'ele le prist" meaning: [in whatever senseshe maytakeit]). To thisone could add a fewvery rareexin didactic amplesin thevulgar tongue, either worksor in heavily Latinist authors. No doubtpolysemy was verycurrent at thattime. But evenifit wereto be conceded here, despite Rychner's objections, nevertheless the problem remains unresolved. If it is the countess who givesChretien his sens at the same timeas the matiere, then at thevery leastwe mustreadsens heremerely as a sortof sensus
fromthe successionof the units of the text. litteralis,resulting

withyeta third But mustwe thenload the term value-taking it also to meanthe significance withwhich Chretien himself invests
8

7 See Lyons, Kelly Sens, and Rychner, above, note 4. J. Rychner, op. cit.

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Yale FrenchStudies of Rychner, who his work?Eitherwe agreewiththe conclusions serious lexicalproofs, thatthewordin itstwo establishes, with very thentheproblem thatis, thefirst-but uses has the samemeaning, else we meaning remains of whatto call thesecond unresolved-or by its formal of sens, an ambiguity favored admitthe ambiguity sensus. of itsetymology) with theLatinterm relationship (regardless we must support our guesswork, But lestwe be accusedof frivolous hypothesis by thecontext. key termof the passage: the one This brings us to the third "metreson antancion." that appears,in line 29, in the syntagm in thetext between itself, haveoften stressed theopposition, Writers in which, (1. 26) and the antancion thesens givenby the countess D. W. Robertson own contribution. line 29, denotesthe author's them, has eventried to distinguish the two terms by understanding 9 unfortunately, this respectively, as sensus litteralisand sententia; by lexicalevidence. is contradicted meaning ascribed to antandion thatsumsup the We refer the readeronce againto Kelly'sstudy It appearsthatthetwo on thisquestion. articles that have appeared in the Wdrterbuch, namely (1) by W. Foerster meanings presented I' can easilybe reduced to just meaning, effort, (2) goal,intention, towarda goal"-and oriented one: the notionof "effort directed, his antanwouldbe directing us, Chretien in thecase thatconcerns denotes that ofhisromance; cionto theelaboration is, theantancion effort itself. the creative the relationships of the terms within thismicroAt thispoint, a sens thanks to an engenders system becomeclear: the matiere at thelevel antancion plan of thepoet)thatis realized, (thecreative thus becoming the of the text,by a conjointure, the conjointure textual of sens.The author's to relationship organization productive thetextis hereby of the established: it involves a new relationship to the text,whichis due to the antante, another reader/listener be integrated intoourmicro-system. fundamental term thatmust
9 D. W. Robertson, Jr.,op. cit.

Sinn.

10 In German, (1) Anstrengung, (2) Zweck,Absicht,Meinung, respectively:

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Marie-Louise Ollier Antante is of common use, mostoften in the syntagm "metre s'antante a/en" [direct one's concentration to], withsome variants on the order of "avoir/doner antantea." Withinthe syntagm, antanteand antancion seem to be in free variation, the greater " frequency of theformer beinglinked, as F. Lyonshas suggested, to rhythmical field considerations. The semantic of antante, however, to an author, to a elsewhere (Clig&s 447-449,2279, 3141) it refers In our a signal. person who receives a perception or who interprets of a micro-system, antancionrefers, to the investing therefore, butin can also meanthis, thought and a willof theauthor; antante of the readeror addition it denotes the activereceptivity demanded of the listener. This is a dual relationship, the two inexinvolving sender-receiver of discourse-the tricable aspectsof a single reality author and between the connection relationship, whether it involves listener. and or (within between reader, thenarrative) speaker Thus the simpleexamination of these few termsrevealsin Chretien a remarkably modern conception of the text.Whereas the is moreor less inert, matiere and the conjointure denotes a textual the threeterms structure, antandon, antante, and the verbalform antandre are essentially dynamic, introduce a will, a directed endeavor, as muchon thepartof theauthor, whoinvests his textwith as on thepartof thereader, meaning, of whomthedecoding effort is required. This meaning, in fact,is not offered as an absolute value,is not understood in terms of a transcendent truth external to thework, a truth that thework wouldmerely demonstrate, merely in theetymological declare, themeaning is immanent sense;rather, in the text, it is realized, in some manner, onlyby the awareness the readerhas of it. To the poet'santancion mustcorrespond the
reader's antante. extendsbeyondthatof antandion:if,in Erec 6677, antanteis applied

The interpretation we are proposing wouldseem to justify our a privileged granting place to the prologue of Yvain,precisely because theveryexistence of a prologue in Yvain has been debated:
11 F.

Lyons, op. cit.

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Yale French Studies W. Foersterdoes not hesitateto deny its existence,on the grounds that the firstlines of the romance introduceus at once into the story.We postulate,for our part, that Yvain does contain a prologue. Where should its boundarybe placed? From the viewpoint of narrative grammar, one could justifiably incorporate the whole of Calogrenant'snarrativein the prologue; thus the prologue would 580 lines. For the sake of the precise point that consistof the first concernsus here, it will be sufficient to limitthe prologue to lines resumeshis story. 1-172-that is, up to the pointwhereCalogrenant contain any of the The prologue of Yvain does not explicitly termsnoted elsewhere, withthe exceptionof antandre.But antandre is here the subject of a remarkabledevelopment, which constitutes in and of itselfa sort of prologue (11. 150 ff.),a prologue to Calogrenant'stale, afterthe unpleasant interruption by the malevolent seneschal Keu. Calogrenantsolemnlyexhortshis audience: his tale must be antendu de cuer (understoodby the heart) and not only oi par oroilles (heard by the ears). Now the cuer is the seat of all that is, the compremental and affective activity.Understanding, frompurelysensory hensionof the message,is carefully distinguished whichis ineffective unless relayedby the understanding. perception, The ears are merelythe channel,the voie et doiz [path and duct] (1. 165), the voiz (voice) itselfis "prise dedans le ventrepar le cuer" [seized withinthe chest by the heart] (11. 166-67). Thus it appears that a very special emphasis is placed on the antante required of the listener.He must in some way prime and condition himself towardthe text: "si li cuers n'est si esveilliez/ qu'au prendresoit appareilliez" [unless the heart is alerted so that it is prepared to receive it] (11. 161-162), the transmission will not be effected. But such an urgentappeal to the listenernecessarily assumes that there is something to be understood,assumes therefore the existence of a truthto be transmitted; Calogrenantexpresses this not directly, but by antiphrasis, in lines 179 and following:"car ne vuel pas parler de songe / ne de fable ne de manqonge" [for I do not intendto speak of a dream, nor a fable, nor a lie]. Fable, songe, wanfonge are an inverseparaphrasefor the sens withwhich the tellerintends 34

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Marie-Louise Oilier thatthis admonition is to invest his tale. Let us note,moreover, element that prepared for,well in advance, by the wholenarrative precedes it. Calogrenant has beguna tale.The queencomesto hear it-the first signof theinterest it holds.Nextthere is Keu's sarcasm the onlyone who saw regarding the courteousness of the narrator, thequeenapproach Thenit is Keu himself and whogotto his feet. who intervenes twice, first in lines 102-103,thenin lines 125-126, to have the tale continued, Calogrenant's relucnotwithstanding tanceto go on. Better to theauthority yet,Keu appealssuccessively of the queen,then,goingbeyondher,to thatof the king.When thustakes on an Calogrenant decidesto continue, his admonition brokenoff precisely because extraordinary force.This narrative, it had notreceived becomes thesubject of all thenecessary attention, forthisreason,by urgent suspense-having already been marked, a surprising on cuer and oreillesmarks pomposity. The development the culmination of thisescalation, at it were: the audienceis thus perfectly primed to understand the message. onlyCalogrenant's It is true,of course,thatall thisconcerns contained wordsa narrative and a character tale,in other sequence Andindeed, theother ofthis peculiarity prologue within theromance. into the narrative. But how does it is thatit enters immediately nevertheless play its role as prologue-in otherwords,how does of the authorto the relationship it revealthis dual relationship, It does so precisely thetextand of thetextto the listener/reader? force-by stripping away the -and, we feel,withmuch greater of of the otherprologues. A detailedanalysis didactic appearance wouldshowus how,from lines1-41 (up to Calogrenant's entrance) in thetextis madeprogestheauthor's thevery beginning, presence first sively morestrongly felt, by meansof a nous thatestablishes aroundthe Arthurian the author/audience model;then community on the partof the author (11.18-28) whichidentify by reflections themselves as such onlyby the break between past and present; closerto the "je dilate" to thenous (11. by a return 29-32), already 12 to lead finally to the (the dilatedI) spokenof by Benveniste;
Problemes de Linguistique generale (Paris, 1966), p. 235.
12 E.

des relationsde personne dans le verbe," Benveniste, "Structure

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Yale FrenchStudies prologue is so interwoven je of theauthor in lines33-41-this short from the narintothe overallmovement thatit seemsto emanate it establishes. rative (We pointoutin passing thatthis thatin reality speech,standsin a numerical passage,a preludeto Calogrenant's the alterratioof 1 to 2 with thatspeech.)The play of thetenses, present, is a nationbetween the narrative past and the authorial of narrative and prologue. parallel manifestation of thisinterweaving Chretien's after discreet affirmation thathe But in theje discourse, [a story that is worth listening is narrating "chosequi facea escoter" network ofrelationships elsewhere thewhole assumed to]-expressing sentence intervenes, in whichthe by the key terms-a remarkable around itself, demonstrating present organizes thepastand thefuture the specialforceof the text:the textalone giveslife to the tale its thatprecedesand whichwill follow, the textalone guarantees in thememory of men.The remarks on love exchanged immortality ofthenarrator Calogrenant-these bytheknights, theprivileged story are merespeechesthatderivetheirforceonlyfromthe author's in the opening The "lesson"taught by Arthur's prowess, writing. the sens with but the doctrina, lines of the romance, is nothing matiere. which thepoet'santancion has invested value of thetext, which Whatbetter wayto affirm theabsolute reference thissiteof a truth enclosed makesno other thanto itself,
in a conjointure, the resultof the author'santancion,an antancion

of everyreader, offered henceforth to thethanks to interpretation of writing? of creating thepermanence awareness a work Chretien's wouldlast,unlike that theworkof thejongleurs, was neveraffirmed as in Yvain.His debtto theLatin withas muchmastery, we think, of the necessity of a book, tradition is, above all, the awareness his debtto thechanson de gesteis the necessity thatis, of writing; to createa narrative thatwould make its references onlywithin own in which its and temporality spatiality itself, by establishing his complexity and sets out in searchof the individual discovers his singularity. Translated by David Baker 36

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Marie-Louise Oilier REFERENCES


Criticaleditionsused: Erec, edited by M. Roques Classiques Frangaisdu Moyen Age (CFMA) Cliges, edited by A. Micha " Lancelot,editedby M. Roques " Yvain, editedby M. Roques " Perceval,edited by W. Roach Textes Litteraires Frangais are given in the order in which theyappear in the article.) (References Erec 13 "et tretd'un conte d'aventure une molt bele conjointure" "and froma tale of adventure derivesa most beautifulstructure" 1080 "por coi vos feroielonc conte?" "Why should I make you hear a long tale?" Perceval 63 "Crestiens qui ententet paine a rimoierle meillorconte" "Chretienwho intendsand strivesto set in rhymethe best tale" 66 "Ce est li contes del Graal" "It is the tale of the Graal" Cliges 8 "Un novel conte rancomance' "Begins a new tale" Erec 23 "Des or comancerail'estoire qui toz jorz mes iert an mimoire" "Now I shall begin the storywhich forever aftershall be remembered" Cliges 22-24 "De la fu li contesestrez Qui tesmoingne l'estoirea voire: Por ce fet ele mialz a croire" "From therethe tale was taken,and thisattests to the story's truth: This makes it particularly worthy of belief."

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Yale FrenchStudies
25-28 "Par les livresque nos avons Les fez des anciens savons Et del siegle qui fu jadis. Ce nos ont nostrelivre apris.. "From the books we possess,we knowthe deeds of the ancients and of the world that once was. This our books have taughtus."
Erec

6680 "Macrobe m'anseignea descrivre si con je l'ai trove el livre" "Macrobiusteachesme to writeexactlywhat I foundin the book"
Perceval

67 "dont li quens li bailla le livre" "(a tale) of which the count gave him the book"
Lancelot

24-25 "Del Chevalierde la Charrete comance Crestiensson livre" "Chretienbegins his book of the Knightof the Cart" 22 "Mes tant dirai ge que mialz cevre ses comandemanz an ceste oevre" "But indeed I will say that her commandis much more effective in this work"
Cliges

3 "et l'art d'amors an romans mist" "and translated the art of love into Romance" 2345-46 "Ce est Cliges an cui mimoire fu mise an romansceste estoire" "This is Cliges, in whose memorythis storywas translated into Romance"
Perceval

7-8 "Crestiens semmeet fait semence d'un roman qu'il ancomance" "Chretiensows the seed of a romance that he is beginning"
Yvain

5359-62 "(Et lisoit) une pucele devant lui an un romansne sai de cui

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Marie-Louise Oilier
et por le roman escoter s'i estoit venue acoter une dame" "And in front of him a maid (was reading)aloud froma romance, I dont'tknow by whom,and to listento the romancea lady had drawn near"
Lancelot

21-29 "Mes tant dirai ge que mialz cevre ses comandemanz an ceste cevre que sans ne painne que g'i mete. Del Chevalier de la Charrete comance Crestiensson livre; Matiere et san li done et livre la contesse,et il s'antremet de panser,que gueres n'i met fors sa painne et s'antanc-on." "But indeed I will say that her commandis much more effective in this work than any sense or effortthat I may devote to it. Chretien beginshis book of the Knightof the Cart. The countess gives and bestows the storyand the meaning,and the presumes to thinkthathe is hardlycontributing and anything but his effort intention."
Erec

16-18 "que cil ne fet mie savoir qui s'escfence n'abandone tant con Dex la grasce l'an done." "that he is in no way wise who abandons his knowledgeso long as God gives him grace to use it." 6677 "si an trai a garantMacrobe qui an l'estoiremist s'antante" "indeed I cite as witnessMacrobius,who put his intention into the story"
Clige's

447-49 "que bien deuistd'amors aprandre se li pletista ce antandre; mes onques n'i volt metreantante" "thatshe reallyoughtto have learnedabout love if she had wanted to be attentive to it; but she neverwantedto devoteher attention to it"

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Yale FrenchStudies
2279 "Ja d'Amor ne quier estrequites que toz jorz n'aie m'antante" "Indeed I do not want to be free of Love until I obtain forever my goal" 3141 "Mestre,car i metez antante Que cil sa fiancene mante" "Master, pray pay close attention(that he is not pledgingdishonestly)"
Yvain

150 ff. "Cuers et oroilles m'aportez, car parole est tote perdue s'ele n'est de cuer antandue. De dez i a qui la chose oent et si la loent; qu'il n'antandent, et cil n'en ont ne mes l'oie, des que li cuers n'i antantmie; as oroillesvientla parole, ausi come li vanz qui vole, mes n'i areste ne demore, einz s'an part en molt petit d'ore, se li cuers n'est si esveilliez qu'au prendresoit apareilliez.... Et qui or me voldra entandre cuer et oroilles me doit randre, car ne vuel pas parler de songe ne de fable ne de manconge." wasted "Lend me your hearts and ears, for speech is completely if it isn't understoodby the heart. There are people who hear and indeedtheyapproveit; thattheydo not understand, something but the mere sound,since the heart and those people have nothing understands nothing; speech comes to the ears, just like the wind -rather it departsin that passes, but it doesn'tstop or stay there a veryshorttime,unless the heartis alertedso that it is prepared me now, must to receiveit.... And whoeverwants to understand lend me his heart and his ears, for I do not intendto speak of a dream,nor a fable, nor a lie." 33-41 "Por ce me plest a reconter Chose qui face a escoter del roi qui fu de tel tesmoing Qu'an an parole et pres et loing; et par lui sont amenteiu

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Marie-Louise Oilier
li boen chevalieresleft qui a enor se travaillierent." "For this reason I want to tell a storythat is worthlistening to, about the king who was of such renownthat he is spoken of far and near; and the good, noble knights who workedto win honor are remembered because of him."

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