Page:Tirant lo Blanch; a study of its authorship, principal sources and historical setting (IA cu31924026512263).pdf/88

 *munion, after which she sent for the emperor's secretary, who drew up her last will and testament. Then she kissed the emperor and the empress many times and bade them farewell. The venerable monarch was overcome with grief and anguish, and fell to the floor unconscious. He was carried into another room and laid on a bed, and there he died. Then, as successor to the imperial throne, she ordered that the corpse of Tirant be brought to her. She had it placed at her left side, and the corpse of the emperor was placed on the right side. She kissed her father often, but Tirant she kissed even more frequently. Then she invited Death to come and take her so that she might be with her lover. Finally she asked for the cross. When it was presented to her, she fixed her eyes upon it, and after saying a long prayer with intense devotion, she rendered her soul to God. And when she died there was seen a great splendor of angels, who bore away her soul with that of Tirant, for the soul of her beloved had waited for hers. (Chaps. 472-478)

The obsequies of the emperor were celebrated with great splendor. Many kings, dukes, earls, marquises, noble knights, and the people of the city were present. The clergy sang the divine offices with such sorrow, that there was not one person present who did not weep. The following day the funeral rites were performed with an equal splendor and solemnity in honor of the princess, and on the third day, Tirant, the late Caesar of the Greek empire, was honored by ceremonies no less magnificent than the preceding. The body of the emperor was laid in a beautiful tomb, but the bodies of Tirant and the princess were enclosed in a casket, and with an escort of forty galleys they were taken to Brittany and placed in a magnificent tomb in the principal church of the city of Nantes. (Chaps. 471, 485)

The empress married Hypolite, and thus he who had fought so well and bravely as Capita Major while Tirant