The Life of Saint Enimie
A 13th c Text by Bertran de Marseille
Original Translation by Karena Akhavein
A reader’s companion for the thriller Translatio
By Karena Akhavein
Copyright 2012 by Karena Akhavein
1.In honor of a glorious
2.Saintly virgin, bride of Christ,
3.Who was called Enimie,
4.And who was from France, of royal lineage,
5.Translated this romance from the Latin
6.Rhymed, as it appears here,
7.Master Bertran of Marseille,
8.With great labor and wakefulness,
9.For he who knows good and does not teach it,
10.Does not act appropriately according to the law of God;
11.For this reason Master Bertran translated
12.From the Latin this entire romance.
13.And do not assume that he did this
14.To obtain praise in the earthly realm,
15.As he was begged dearly to do it
16.By the prior of the convent;
17.But principally, as I well know,
18.He did it in praise of God
19.And of milady Saint Enimie,
20.Of whom I wish to recount you the life.
21.After Jesus Christ was born,
22.Crucified and resuscitated,
23.And to the right-hand side of his Father
24.Ascended, as we hear it be told,
25.The apostles in the end
26.Led to salvation
27.The lands and the regions
28.By their saintly sermons.
29.But when all lands
30.But a few had been turned towards God,
31.At last the kingdom of France
32.Was baptized by the disciples,
33.Because in all times it has been firm and inflexible
34.In that which it believes by nature.
35.But after it had been baptized,
36.A king governed the kingdom
37.Who was called Clodoveus,
38.Honorable and powerful king.
39.This one was son of Dagobert,
40.As the chanson de geste states.
41.His ancestor was named Clodoveus,
42.Who was the first to believe in God
43.Of all the kings of the kingdom of France,
44.And he was the first to know faith.
45.And as his forefathers,
46.Who were faithful and good toward God,
47.This Clodoveus similarly
48.Had a good and loyal heart toward God.
49.His wife was, throughout the land,
50.Called by the name of Astorga.
51.These two had a daughter
52.Who was miraculously beautiful,
53.To such a degree that Nature could not make
54.At any time her equal in beauty.
55.And I tell you that because of her beauty
56.All the rich men of the kingdom
57.Came to see her every day
58.And that was their delight.
59.But the young girl did not waste
60.Her thoughts on this, nor did she become proud,
61.Because she had placed her heart in God,
62.And her pleasure in serving him.
63.And if it pleases you, I will tell you
64.In which way served God
65.In her childhood, this young girl
66.Who was daughter of the king of France.
67.Do you know why I wish to tell you this?
68.Because they should not have such pride,
69.King, prince, nor emperor,
70.Count, marquis, nor nobleman,
71.Ladies, queens, nor countesses,
72.Empress nor duchess
73.That they neglect, because of the wealth
74.They may have, nor because of their nobility,
75.To serve the poor needy ones
76.For love of the glorious King,
77.And so we must all together take
78.Example and always emulate
79.This saintly virgin
80.Of whom I recount to you the story.
81.For she, as I have told you,
82.Was the daughter of Clodoveus,
83.And could have, if she so desired,
84.Married a king, count, or marquis,
85.Because many rich men asked after her,
86.Because of the beauty they saw in her,
87.But she did not concern herself with these things:
88.Her delight was in serving God.
89.If she saw someone poor and needy,
90.Suffering from hunger or thirst,
91.She gave him to drink and comforted him
92.As well as she knew how.
93.If she saw someone destitute or unclothed,
94.She gave clothing to him;
95.But above all her greatest joy
96.Was washing the heads and the feet
97.Of the poor of Christ night and day,
98.Wherever she saw that they were poorest.
99.She made beds for the sick,
100.And that was her delight.
101.The lame, the blind, and the leprous
102.Whomever was afflicted with a sickness,
103.Those she bathed and put to bed
104.And cured their sicknesses,
105.For she had in mind
106.A verse told in Scripture
107.Which God said without a doubt:
108.That one in effect does to Him
109.That which one does to the most humble
110.Of the poor for His love;
111.And because of this quote
112.The poor were her biggest concern,
113.To such a point that of her nobility,
114.Which she held in the kingdom,
115.She did not preoccupy herself at all because of Christ,
116.Of whom she had been made the conquest,
117.So she was in extremely humble fashion,
118.Dressed in vile vestments,
119.Because it did not please her at all
120.To wear neither purple nor silk.
121.But when it happened that the young girl
122.Enimie was grown and beautiful
123.She was very much sought after as a wife
124.By the barons of the land
125.Who promised her great riches:
126.That is how much they desired her.
127.And he who was the most rich
128.And had the best-connected friends,
129.That one promised much more
130.Than fifty measures of gold and silver.
131.And what more could I tell you?
132.The king and queen gave in
133.To the prayers of the barons
134.For it was well time [for Enimie to marry];
135.And first of all [the king] selected one
136.That one which pleased him the most
137.To whom he would give his daughter
138.And would marry her off as his wife.
139.Then he came with the queen
140.To the damsel in private.
&n
bsp; 141.“Good daughter, said the father,
142.Here I am along with your mother
143.And we wish you to tell us the truth:
145.Amongst the honorable barons of France?
146.For we have chosen one
147.Rich and honorable, a good horseman,
148.Who asks for you to be his wife.”
149.The damsel responds to him:
150.“Lord my father, for nothing in the world
151.Will I have husband nor spouse,
152.Other than Jesus Christ the glorious,
153.To whom I have promised my chastity
154.To keep as well as my virginity.”
155.The father responds, as does the mother:
156.“Daughter, you will have to do it soon.”
157.The young girl is close to tears,
158.For she cannot contest their decision.
159.In the meantime, the king, without delay,
160.Ordered for the preparation, both inside and out,
161.Of the rooms and the palace,
162.And all that is related to the court,
163.So that the next day, without delay,
164.The wedding ceremony can be performed.
165.And while the servants
166.Obey the command of their lord
167.And put in all their efforts,
168.Here has come the obscure night,
169.And all went to sleep throughout the palace,
170.Because there was no more light.
171.But Enimie the young girl
172.Was in a very beautiful room,
173.And she did not sleep at all, and she prayed
174.To her husband who had created her
175.That by his pity
176.He save her virginity
177.And conserve her incorrupt
178.And that he protect her from the felon,
179.That she cannot be tricked
180.By his ruse, nor be fooled:
181.“Lord God, full of great gentleness,
182.Keep my body from dishonor,
183.And the desire
184.Of that ugly and stinking craving
185.So that you can have me
186.Clean, pure, as is your pleasure.”
187.When she had finished her oration,
188.She marked herself with the sign of Christ,
189.Then to the King of Piety
190.She devoted her body and her soul.
191.At this point this miracle happened
192.That took hold of the damsel in her entirety
193.For on her face and on her