He encounters hardly a single
knight who is able to keep his seat, and he gives the horses he
wins to those who want them. Then those who had been making game
of him said: "Now we are disgraced and mortified. It was a great
mistake for us to deride and vilify this man, for he is surely
worth a thousand such as we are on this field; for he has
defeated and outdone all the knights in the world, so that there
is no one now that opposes him." And the damsels, who amazed
were watching him, all said that he might take them to wife; but
they did not dare to trust in their beauty or wealth, or power or
highness, for not for her beauty or wealth would this peerless
knight deign to choose any one of them. Yet, most of them are so
enamoured of him that they say that, unless they marry him, they
will not be bestowed upon any man this year. And the Queen, who
hears them boast, laughs to herself and enjoy the fun, for well
she knows that if all the gold of Arabia should be set before
him, yet he who is beloved by them all would not select the best,
the fairest, or the most charming of the group. One wish is
common to them all--each wishes to have him as her spouse. One
is jealous of another, as if she were already his wife; and all
this is because they see him so adroit that in their opinion no
mortal man could perform such deeds as he had done.
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