ABSTRACT
A n d so the Lord King En Pedro of Aragon, when he had heard of the great battles and victories that King Charles had won in the conquest he had undertaken, was greatly displeased, and angry, because of his great love for the Queen, his wife, and because of his sons, whom he loved much. Wherefore he decided that he could never be happy until he had taken revenge. He settled in his mind what any wise lord should settle concerning great deeds he undertakes : he considered the beginning and the middle and then the end, for a man will accom plish nothing unless he considers these three things. And the said Lord King, being the wisest lord in the world, thought of these three things. Of the first I shall say to you that it was the one most necessary for him to con sider : before he began anything, he should know who was to help him and of whom he should beware. The other was that he should have sufficient money. The third, that he should act so secretly, that no man would know what was in his mind, but only he himself, for he thought that his intention was such as no man would approve, because it was to undertake a war against the Church, which means the whole power of Christians, and
also against the House of France, which is the oldest Royal House in Christendom. It was against both these powers that he made up his mind to declare war. And if he had consulted anyone there was no man on earth who would have approved ; but he, trusting in God and in the just cause he wished to maintain, thought that, with his understanding and knowledge and with the help of God, he would succeed in avenging the father and the uncles of my Lady the Queen, his wife, and the grand father and great-uncles of his sons. Anyone can imagine in what affliction my Lady the Queen, his wife, lived when she knew that her father and her uncles had been killed. And the Lord King En Pedro loved my Lady the Queen more than anything on earth, wherefore any one can bear in mind what Monteyagol1 says : “ War is close to him who has it in the centre of his territories, but closer to him who has it in his mind.” And when the Lord King heard the Queen sigh, it pierced his heart, wherefore he considered in his mind all the dangers and decided that revenge should be taken by him. And his mind was made up that he must arrange for the said revenge; a decision he would tell and discover to none, but would first consider how to accomplish the three things I have told you of already, namely : that no one should be able to attack his Kingdom; secondly, that no man should know what he intended to do ; thirdly, to collect sufficient money. Aaid so first he thought much about the House of France.
