Trufaldino: The Evil King of Baghdad
. . . continued
The full text of Boiardo's newly translated Orlando Innamorato will be published by Parlor Press in August 2003 in a new translation with an introduction and notes by Charles Stanley Ross, the book will appear in print and ebook versions. If you would like to be notified of its availablity, please let us know. Email editor@parlorpress.com or sign our guestbook.
When Orlando and his men finally reach the fortress, Trufaldino makes
them swear to defend him against the others he has betrayed. Desperate
to bring Angelica to safety, Orlando accepts the evil
king’s terms:
But a new, greater struggle waited
Orlando, who scooped up the maid
and galloped off on Brigliador,
so rapidly it was amazing.
With him, Angelica felt safe,
and soon they reached her castle’s gate.
But Trufaldino manned the tower
and watched them and he would not open.
He screamed at all those knights and menaced
that he would plague them till they left.
He hurled stones--spears--to drive them off.
Angelica was sick with grief:
She trembled, terrified, dismayed
to find herself--poor girl!--betrayed.
The enemy's dense ranks arrived:
Agrican first, and fierce Uldano.
That great mass blanketed the earth,
the whole plain and the mountainside.
Who will describe Orlando's plight?
One hand was armed, one held the girl.
He puffed in rage and groaned in terror,
afraid not for himself, but her.
The baron felt great fear for her
although not frightened for himself.
Trufaldin drove him from the wall;
besiegers pinned him to the castle.
The hard assault grew more intense
as from the field a steady stream
of spears and arrows filled the heavens
and seemed to hide the daytime sun.
Hadrian, Aquilante, and
Chiarňn held back King Agrican,
and lion-hearted Brandimart
flamed like a torch among the foes.
Daring Grifňn and bold Oberto
wrought great deeds in that enterprise
while by the citadel, Orlando
stood humbly begging Trufaldino
to have compassion for the lady
caught up in such a circumstance.
But words would not make Trufaldino—
empty of mercy—bend his soul,
since no one ever was so cruel
or treacherous beneath the moon.
Orlando begged in vain, and soon
his anger grew and his eyes flamed.
Beneath the stronghold with his shield
over Angelica, he moved
closer, then turned to Trufaldino:
His face was flaming, his eyes cruel.
That bold knight rarely threatened, for
he'd sooner swing, but now he roared
with so much force that he alarmed
heaven as well as Trufaldino.
He grit his teeth. He shouted, "Traitor!
There is no way you can escape!
Four hours from now, or less, these walls
will fall before my sword, and I
will swiftly seize this citadel
and scatter it across the plain,
and I will massacre these men!
You are condemned to die with them!"
The Count yelled with a voice so gruff
it did not seem that he was human.
Trufaldin had a timid soul—
as every traitor surely does—
and he had seen the valiant force
the Count had shown along the plain
when he had slaughtered seven kings,
and severed them with seven swings.
So now that tricky villain seemed
to see the citadel destroyed
and the whole fortress falling down
on Agricane and his troops.
He watched as anger burned the Count,
saw his eyes flame, his face catch fire.
He peeked out through a loophole. "Sire,"
he said, "please hear my short reply.
"I don't deny, I can't deny,
that I deceived Angelica,
but heaven and God are witnesses
that I was forced to take that course
by my two comrades' foolishness,
although they think they’ve been betrayed.
I seized them, and I locked them up
because they disagreed with me.
"The two of them have done me wrong;
I'll never live with them in peace,
and if they're freed, they'll murder me,
because their strength is more than mine.
I'm telling this to you because
you will not ever enter here
unless you promise and you swear
to use your force for my defense.
"I say the same to all the other
barons who, with you, want to enter
the citadel. First, you must swear
to battle as my champions
with anyone who wants to fight
for any reason. One by one
all of you have to promise to
be my defense against the world."
Orlando said he would not swear.
Instead, he menaced and he glared.
But the girl whom he carried begged him—
as she clung closely to his neck—
and finally that fierce heart bent,
and he pledged what the maiden wished.
Similarly, the other knights
endorsed the pact without reserve.
Trufaldin, skilled at making terms,
had everything he’d asked affirmed.
He opened portals, dropped the bridge.
All entered that strong citadel.
There was no food within the walls,
just half a dried, hard, salted horse.
Orlando, who felt faint from hunger,
consumed a fourth and wanted more.
The rest ate the remaining quarter
then had to hunt for other food.
Hadrian joined with Brandimart
while famed Oberto and Chiarňne
and Count Orlando bragged they would
bring great stores to the citadel.
Aquilant and Grifňn, his brother,
stayed to maintain the battlements.
Because no cavalier could trust
that evil creature Trufaldin,
they ordered that new men be stationed
along the lofty walls as sentries.
Already, a clear morning shone.
The darkness of the night had gone
but daylight had not yet come when
Orlando armed. He blew his horn.
That shrill blast threatened death to all
the people on the plain who heard,
and they were terrified, those cowards!
Everyone's face was drained of color;
every man wept and beat his hands.
Some fled and others rushed to hide,
because the day before they'd felt
the frenzy of Orlando's ire.
Title Page | Introduction | Start | 2 | 3 |
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5 | 6 | End
Matteo Maria Boiardo,
Trans. Charles Ross
© 2003 by Parlor Press