Dunc vindrent avant losengier,	Then came forward the flatterers,
Qui felon sunt & paltonier	Who are treacherous and corrupt	510
Qui l'enfant loérent a pendre.	Who praised the child (age 6) to be hanged.
Bien fu al pére fait entendre,	It was well made known to the father,
Mais il dist ke ne li chaleit	But he said that he did not care
De l'enfant, quer encore aveit	About the child, for he still had
Les enclumes e les marteals	The anvils and the hammers	515
Dunt forgereit il de plus beals;	With which he would forge more beautiful ones;
E quant li reis oï ço dire,	And when the king heard this,
Si 'n out grant maltalent e ire.	He felt great displeasure and anger.
Lors commanda l'enfant a prendre	Then he ordered the child to be taken
& mener as furges por pendre;	And led to the gallows to hang;	520
Vers les forches le fist porter,	He had him carried toward the gallows,
Mais il ne vot pas deporter	But he did not want to proceed
K'ove lui n'alast a grant gent:	Without with him taking a great crowd:
Mult se doutot d'enbuchement.	He greatly feared an ambush.

E li emfes ke Ion portout,	And the child who was being carried,	525
Ki de sa mort ne se dotout,	Who did not fear his death,
Si vit le cunte d'Arundel	Saw the count of Arundel
Qui teneit un bozon molt bel;	Who held a very fine crossbow bolt1;
Si li dist o simple reison:	So he said to him with simple reason:
"Sire, donez mei cel bozon."	"Lord, give me that crossbow bolt."	530
Quant li reis oï ceste enfance,	When the king heard this child,
Por trestot I'or qui est en France	For all the gold that is in France,
Nel laissast il pendre cel jor,	He would not let him hang that day,
Mais par simplesce e par doçor,	But through simplicity and gentleness,
De quei sis cuers esteit toz pleins,	With which his heart was completely filled,	535
A pris I'enfant entre ses meins	He took the child in his arms
& dit: "De cest torment vos lès,	And said: "From this torment I release you,
"Certes, vos n'i morrés uimès."	"Certainly, you will not die by it today."
Vers l'ost s'en revindrent ariére,	They returned back to the camp,
& l'on atornot la perriére	And they made ready the stone-throwing machine2	540
Por feire jeter a la tor	To make it throw at the tower
E as murs kui furent entor.	And the walls that were around it.
Lors revindrent li conseiller	Then the counsellors returned
Al rei loer & conseiller	To the king to commend and counsel
Que li emfes fust tant tost pris	That the child should be quickly taken	545
E si fust en la funde mis,	And put into the sling,
E si lor fust lanciez laenz	And that he should be launched in there
Por espoenter celz dedenz.	To frighten those inside.
Li emfes qui poi fu senez	The child who had little sense,
Fu vers la perriére menez;	Was led toward the stone-throwing machine;	550
La funde vit de la perriére,	He saw the sling of the stone-throwing machine,
Si se traist un petit ariére	So he drew back a little
E dist: "Dex aïe! kel branle!	And said: "God help me! What a swing!"
"Or est bien dreiz que ge m'i branle!"	"Now it is right that I swing there!"
Lez la funde s'ert acostez,	Near the sling he stood,	555
E li reis dist: "Ostez! ostez!	And the king said: "Remove! Remove!"
"Certes, mult avreit felun cuer	"Certainly, anyone would have a cruel heart
"Ki purreit suffrir a nul fuer	"Who could in any way endure
"Que il murust de cest martire:	"That he should die from this torment:
"Trop set beles enfances dire.	"He speaks with such sweet innocence."	560
"Pernez pierres & perdrials,	"Take stones and rocks3,
"Getez as murs & as kerneals	"Throw them at the walls and at the battlements
"Teles cum vos porrez lever,	"Such as you are able to lift,
"Quer ja nes purrez mielz grever."	"For you cannot harm them better."
Cil entendirent al perrier;	They listened to the stone-thrower;	565
Li autre firent un cleier	The others made a siege-shelter5
Por faire saillir a la porte.	To make an attack on the gate.
Un pautonier l'enfant aporte;	A rogue brings the child;
Si dist en haut: "Dant conestable,	And he says loudly: "Lord constable,
"Ça vos faites nos veritable!	"Here you make us true!	570
"Veiz ci le fil vostre seignor	"See here the son of your lord,
"Qui ja murra en grant dolor,	"Who will die in great pain,
"Quer ja iert sor cel cleier mis.	"For he will soon be placed on that siege-shelter.
— Avez me vos itant premis?"	— Have you thus promised me?"
Fait li conestables. — "Oïl.	Says the constable. — "Yes."	575
— Par mon chief! donques morra il:	— By my head! then he shall die:
"Telz presenz avra, se saciez,	"Such gifts he will have, be assured,
"Dunt il serra tost esquasiez	"From which he will soon be crushed
"Autresi conme un taberaut.	"Just like a foxglove-flower6
"Ceste gile riens ne vos vaut;	"This ruse is worth nothing to you;	580
"Ja verrez sa mort e sa fin."	You will indeed see his death and his end."
Une grant mole de molin	A large millstone7
Fist as kerneals pendre defors;	Was made to hang outside the battlements;
E li emfes demanda lors	And the child then asked
Quel gieu ce repoeit ore estre	What game could this again now be	585
Qu'il pendeient a la fenestre?	That they hung at the window?
Quant li rois li oï ce dire,	When the king heard him say this,
Bonement commensa a rire,	He began to laugh heartily,
E dist: "Willeme, teus joiaus	And said: "William, such toys
"Ne vos serreit ne boens ne beaus.	"Would neither be good nor beautiful for you.	590
"C'est grant pecchiez kui mal vos fait,	"It is a great sin who treats you ill,
"Quer vos n'i avez riens mesfait.	"For you have done no wrong here.
"De tels joials vos quit & lès;	"From such toys I relinquish you;
"Par mei ne murrez vos jamès."	"By me you will never die.

Note 1. "bozon". A crossbow bolt with a large, or wide and blunt, head. The Bozon family has an armorial with a crossbow bolt as a play on their family name; a form of canting arms. Meyer's vocabulary has "javelin"?

Note 2. "perriére" i.e. "stone-throwing machine". Probably a mangonel which operated on manpower pulling cords attached to a lever and sling to launch projectiles. Readers should note that on line 12048 in Book 2 "O perriéres, o mangonneals," refers to both so there may have been a slight differences between them. Meyer's vocabulary has the same for both "perriére" and "mangonel" i.e. stone throwing machines.

Note 3. "perdrials" i.e. "rocks". The translation uncertain. Meyer: "a type of machine for throwing stones". In the context it is possibly rocks to be thrown collectively at the castle rather than one large stone.

Note 4. "kerneals" i.e. "battlements". Properly "crenelations" but most refer to them as battlements. Crenelations at the top of the walls are formed from the crenels, i.e. the gaps, and the cops, i.e. the filled in parts. "Perdrials" i.e. "rocks", referred to above, may have been used specifically as an anti personnel weapon against those on the crenelations.

Note 5. "cleier" i.e. "siege-shelter". A shelter, sometimes roofed, used for protecting against projectiles thrown from the castle. It could be mounted on a wheeled carriage. Meyer: "This description seems to refer to a type of protective structure used in military engineering, similar to the Roman 'vinea,' a mobile shelter used to protect soldiers during sieges."

Note 6. "taberaut". His vocabulary "This word, of which there is no other example, designates an object or being that is crushed: it concerns the young Guillaume, exposed to being broken or crushed like a taberaut. Perhaps it should be corrected to taperaut and seen as a derivative of 'taper.' M. de Chambure, in his Glossary of Morvan, records 'tapereai,' foxglove; children use this plant in a game 'which consists of making noise by hitting the flower after blowing it up like a balloon.'"

Note 7. The large millstone being a defence against the shelter onto which it would be dropped.

Devant lui out grant batestal,	In front of him was a great uproar,
Quer il lor out doné estal	For he had resisted them forcefully
Come li senglers fait as chiens.	As a wild boar does to the dogs.
De lui prendre n'i eüst riens,	There was nothing they could take from him,
Qu'il nel poeient atechier,	For they couldn't touch him,	1695
Qui ne I'osoient aprochier.	Who they dared not approach.
Ja de lui n'eüssent ballie	Never would they have seized him
Si ne fust une sorsaillie,	If it weren't for an unexpected attack,
Ke uns chevaliers saillit la haie.	Where a knight leaped over the hedge.
Sanz nul respit e sanz delaie	Without any respite and without	1700
Parmi la haie le feri	Through the hedge he struck him
D'un glaive, si ku'il le choisi,	With a spear, so that it chose him,
Parmi les quises d'oltre en outre,	Through the leg-armour one side to the other,
Si que la glaive parut oltre	So that the spear appeared on the other side
Al mains plus de demie teise.	More than three feet1	1705
Lors le pristrent, dont molt li peise;	Then they took him, which greatly weighed on him;
& s'al prendre le keneüssent,	And they wouldn't have known his capture,
A tot le mains fait li eüssent	At the very least to have done to him
Tant ke la mort li fust quemune;	Until death had been given to him;
De cent vies n'en portast une.	Of one hundred lives he wouldn’t have spared one.	1710

Note 1. "demie teise" i.e. "three feet". A "toise" was a unit of measure of equivalent to the distance between the fingers of outstretched arms i.e. six feet; half being three feet.

Li reis Henriz a Chinon vint,	King Henry came to Chinon [Map],
Mais tels damages i avint	But such misfortunes happened there	9040
Que puis n'i out bien ne delit	That afterwards there was neither good nor pleasure there
Ne puis ne leva de son lit.	Nor did he rise from his bed again.
Malades jut el lit mortal:	Ill he lay in mortal bed:
Si'n soufrirent ennui e mal	So they suffered distress and pain
E grant dolor cil qui I'amérent,	And great sorrow those who loved him,	9045
& qui ovecques lui i érent.	And those who were with him there.
E nequedent molt volt saveir	And nevertheless he greatly wanted to know
& molt volt en escrit aveir	And greatly wanted to have in writing
Cels qui érent ses contrempris,	Those who were his adversaries,
E qu'en eüst les nons apris.	And that he might have found out their names.	9050
A mestre Rog. Malchael,	To master Roger Malchael,
Qui lores portout son seel,	Who then carried his seal,
Dist k'il alast sanz demorance	He said that he should go without delay
A Tors de si qu'al rei de France,	To Tours to the king of France,
Que li feist en escrit metre,	That he should have written down,	9055
Si comme li plout a prametre,	As it pleased him to promise,
Toz cels qui érent ses empris,	All those who were his adversaries,
Tant que lor nons eüst apris.	So that he might have learned their names.
Maistre Roger issi le fist:	Master Roger did it so:
A Tors ala e si escrist	He went to Tours and thus listed	9060
Trestoz cels qui empris esteient	All those who were committed
Al rei de France e li aveient	To the king of France and had
Pramis a aidier de sa guerre	Promised to help in his war
Encontre le rei d'Engletere.	Against the king of England.
Maistre Roger issi le fist	Master Roger did it thus	9065
Com li rei commanda e dist.	The king commanded and said.
Ci ne deit aveir demorance:	Here there should be no delay:
Revenuz fu del rei de France	He returned from the king of France
Maistre Roger devant le rei;	Master Roger before the king;
E il li dist ke en segrei	And he told him that in secret	9070
Li recontast qui cil esteient	He recounted who those were
Qui chartres bailliées aveient	Who had given charters
En lor seels al rei de France	With their seals to the king of France
Contre lui e en sa nuisance.	Against him and to his detriment.
E cil en suspirant li dist:	And he sighing said to him:	9075
"Sire, si m'ait Jhesu Crist,	"Sire, so help me if Jesus Christ,
"Li premiers qui est ci escriz,	"The first one who is written here,
"C'est li quens Johan vostre fiz."	"It is count John (age 22) your son."