Page:Romances of Chivalry on Greek Soil.djvu/11

6 some strange secret of destiny is awaiting him. Overtaken here by men whom his father has sent to bring him back, when they threaten to use force he slays ten of them. Continuing his journey through the kingdom of the Turks in Asia Minor, he has an adventure with brigands, and reaches Tarsus. In this neighbourhood he comes one day to a small stream, and sees a star-like flame dancing in the water. His curiosity excited at this strange apparition, he determines to discover the source, and rides upstream for ten days. Then he comes to a magnificent castle, built of sardonyx, with a diamond gate. Above the portal he reads this inscription:

Of him, who never felt Love's dart, A million shafts shall pierce the heart If in the fortalice of Love He see the inner halls thereof.

Belthandros thus learns that he has come to the Erotokastron, the Castle of Love. After long hesitation, he resolves that he cannot depart without fulfilling the quest and finding the source of the phlogopotamon, the flame-lit stream. Leaving the servants outside, he enters the court, which is radiant with flowers and trees. In the centre is an artificial fountain, and in the water which spouted through the lips of a griffin the mysterious flame again appears, as the griffin moves. The poet lingers with evident enjoyment over the artistic decorations of the castle, which resembles not the châteaux of Western Europe but the palaces of Byzantium. In the triklinos or great hall Belthandros solves the problem of the flame. He sees the fiery source issuing from the eyes of an image of sapphire. He notices an inscription on the image, and is amazed to read his own name. 'Belthandros,' said the writing, 'second son of Rhodophilus, the crowned lord of the Roman Empire, is pining for love of Chrysantza, daughter of the great