Page:Romances of Chivalry on Greek Soil.djvu/12

Rh king of Antioch.' The young man was disturbed and dismayed to find that the stream's secret imported a secret of his own personal destiny, and he pitied himself exceedingly. He was thrown into deeper agitation when he discovered that another image, the heart of which was cleft by an arrow, bore another inscription, and its tenor was: 'Chrysantza, whose name has been inscribed by Fate, and Belthandros, these two Love has parted asunder.' Repenting the hour in which he had come to the castle, he recognizes that he has seen the writing of Fate, his, and resigns himself to the exploration of all the bitter and sweet beauties of Love's palace—

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This, the idea of a love predestined between two persons who had never seen each other, is the central idea of the poem.

Belthandros was still inspecting the courts of mystery when night fell, dark and moonless. A winged love suddenly hovered before him, and said, 'Come instantly, Belthandros, the Emperor calls thee.' He found the Emperor of the Loves seated on a throne, crowned and sceptred, a golden arrow in his hand. When he had told his story, the sovran said, 'I have forty noble women here, all royal ladies, daughters of kings, chosen for their beauty, and I desire thee, using thine own judgement, to pick out the fairest.' He gave Belthandros a wand of three substances, gold, iron, and ruby, to be bestowed on her whom he selected as the queen of all.

The prince then found himself alone, until he suddenly became aware of a company of forty beautiful women sitting outside the terrace. They came one by one to be inspected; and he told each of them her defect with brutal candour. The fortieth, of course, was perfect,