But
before I tell you aught of him, you shall hear of his father's
life, whence he came and of what family. He was so bold and so
ambitious that he left Greece and went to England, which was
called Britain in those days, in order to win fame and renown.
This story, which I intend to relate to you, we find written in
one of the books of the library of my lord Saint Peter at
Beauvais. (5) From there the material was drawn of which
Chretien has made this romance. The book is very old in which
the story is told, and this adds to its authority. (6) From such
books which have been preserved we learn the deeds of men of old
and of the times long since gone by. Our books have informed us
that the pre-eminence in chivalry and learning once belonged to
Greece. Then chivalry passed to Rome, together with that highest
learning which now has come to France. God grant that it may be
cherished here, and that it may be made so welcome here that the
honour which has taken refuge with us may never depart from
France: God had awarded it as another's share, but of Greeks and
Romans no more is heard, their fame is passed, and their glowing
ash is dead.
(Vv. 45-134.) Chretien begins his story as we find it in the
history, which tells of an emperor powerful in wealth and honour
who ruled over Greece and Constantinople.
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