MARIE DE FRANCE 



lettering, used texts from the Koran, and distorted 

 into mere design the sayings of Mahomet. 



In the lay of " The Two Lovers " we again 

 find Christian symbolism in disguise. Here is 

 the old theme of a difficult task to be accom- 

 plished by the lover before he can win his lady. 1 

 The undertaking imposed is the carrying of the 

 loved one to the top of a hill, and our interest 

 in it is enhanced by the fact that the trial was 

 to be made near Pitres, a few miles from Rouen, 

 where there is a green hill, still known as " La 

 Cote des Deux Amans." In Rouen there lived 

 a king who had an only daughter, very fair and 

 beautiful, whose hand was sought in marriage 

 of many. Loath to part with her, he bethought 

 him how he could thwart her suitors. To this 

 end he caused it to be proclaimed far and wide 

 that he would have for son-in-law only him 

 who could carry his daughter to the top of the 

 hill without pausing to rest. Many came, but 

 each in turn failed, greatly to the content of the 

 princess, since secretly she loved, and was loved 

 by, a young knight who frequented her father's 

 Court. At last, constrained by love, the knight, 

 though with much misgiving, determines to 

 undertake the adventure. Before allowing him 

 to do this, the maiden, in order to ensure his 

 success, and herself fasting meanwhile, bids him 

 go to Salerno, 2 near Naples, a school of medicine 



1 Hertz, op. fit. p. 396. 



2 This mention of Salerno is of interest on account of the 

 reference to women practising there as medical experts. The 

 origin of the School remains in obscurity, and it is not until the 



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