In this translation of Cliges, the second of five surviving Arthurian poems by 12th-century French poet Chretien de Troyes, Burton Raffel captures the original. In this poem, Chretien creates his most artful plot and paints the most starkly medieval portraits of any of his romances.
Voici dans ce tome Il les cinq dernières parties du roman de Lancelot. Le héros y connaît d'éblouissants succès qui le désignent comme le meilleur chevalier du monde. Son amour et sa fidélité à Guenièvre font de lui le modèle des amants. Libérateur de la reine, défenseur des dames, vengeur des opprimés, il participe ensuite à la campagne de Gaule contre l'usurpateur Claudas. Mais déjà la réussite à certaines épreuves lui est refusée, en raison de son péché, et un nouvel astre se lève dans le ciel de la chevalerie: Galaad, son fils, l'élu du Graal.
In 1572 Montaigne retired to his estates in order to devote himself to leisure, reading and reflection. There he wrote his constantly expanding 'essays', inspired by the ideas he found in books from his library and his own experience. He discusses subjects as diverse as war-horses and cannibals, poetry and politics, sex and religion, love and friendship, ecstasy and experience. Above all, Montaigne studied himself to find his own inner nature and that of humanity. The Essays are among the most idiosyncratic and personal works in all literature. An insight into a wise Renaissance mind, they continue to engage, enlighten and entertain modern readers.