As far as my love goes *** S he was returning to the castle with her maids when, from high on her horse, she saw him, young and with long h...
As far as my love goes
***
At night, at the banquet, she didn’t laugh with the acrobats, didn’t applaud the musicians, barely touched her food. Her pale hands rested. Her gaze wandered far.
— What is the matter, daughter, for you to be so pensive? — asked her father.
— Oh, father, if you only knew! — she exclaimed, happy to share the feeling that her chest couldn’t hold anymore. And she told him about the lad, about his beautiful face, his long hair.
What her father thought, he didn’t say. But, on the next day, lord of that castle and of the people as he was, he ordered that the lad be beheaded and that his body be thrown into the river. The head he gave to his daughter on a silver platter, he who had always fulfilled all her wishes.
— Here you have what you wanted so much.
And, without waiting for an answer, without even searching for it in her eyes, he left.
With her father gone, the lady washed that face, perfumed and combed the long hair, caressed the head on her lap. At night, she put it on the pillow next to hers and lied down to sleep.
However, in the dark, deep sighs obstructed the arrival of her sleep.
— Why do you sigh, sweet lad? — she asked, facing the other pillow.
— Because I left the soil plowed in my field. And the seeds ready in the barn. But I didn’t have the time to sow. And nothing will grow in my field.
— Don’t be sad — replied the lady. — Tomorrow I will sow your field.
The next day, she called her most loyal maid, pretended a ride, and both went off on their horses.
They dismounted on the field where she had seen him for the first time. The soil was plowed. In the barn, they found the seeds. The lady put on clogs over her little satin shoes, so that the mud wouldn’t denounce her to her father. And all day long she threw seeds into the grooves.
At night she lied down, exhausted. She was about to fall asleep when deep sighs kept her at the edge of her sleep.
— Why do you sigh, sweet lad, if I have already sown your field?
— Because I left my sheep on the hill and, with no one to bring them back to the sheepfold, they will be devoured by the wolves.
— Don’t be sad. Tomorrow I will get your sheep.
The next day, she called the maid that, more than the others, was loyal to her and, pretending a ride, they went together beyond the walls of the castle.
They rode up the hill on their horses. The sheep grazed. The lady of the castle covered her skirt with the cloak, so that leaves and thorns wouldn’t denounce her to her father. Then, with the help of the maid she gathered the sheep and, taking the horse by the reins, went down with the flock to the sheepfold.
She was so tired at night, when the deep sigh seemed to call her!
— Why do you sigh, sweet lad, if I have already sown your field and gathered your sheep?
— Because I didn’t have the time to store the last straw of summer, and it will rot when the rain comes.
— Don’t be sad. Tomorrow I will store your straw.
When on the next day she sent for the most loyal one, she didn’t need to explain where they were going. Pretending to want fresh air, they both left the castle.
The sheaves of straw, piled up, were drying in the sun. The lady put on the clogs, protected her skirt, wrapped her hands in strips of cloth, so that wounds wouldn’t denounce her to her father. And began to carry the sheaves to the barn. Before night, everything was stored, and they both returned to the castle.
Not even so the silence in the dark room of the lady remained.
— Why do you sigh, sweet lad? — she asked one more time. — Why do you sigh if I have already sown your field, gathered your sheep, and stored your straw?
— Because one more task is needed. And, above all others, it saddens me. Tomorrow you shall give me to the river. Only it knows where my body awaits. Only it can join us again before delivering us to the sea.
— But the sea is so distant! — exclaimed the lady in a whine.
And, that night, there were two sighing.
In the morning, the lady of the castle perfumed and combed the lad’s long hair, caressed his head, then wrapped it in white linen and called the maid.
The horses awaited in the courtyard, the soldier guarded the gate.
— We are going to take some food to the poor — they told him. And went off taking their bundle.
Following along the riverbank, they got away from the city, until they found a backwater. There they dismounted. Opening the linen, they delivered its contents to the river. The long hair still floated for a moment, stirring like a medusa. Then it disappeared into the dark water.
Standing, the lady took her maid’s hand in her own. That she remained loyal, she asked, and maybe one day they would see each other again. Now, each of them should take a different path. For the maid, the castle. For her, the sea.
— But the sea is so distant! — exclaimed the maid.
They both mounted their horses. The lady looked at the great plain, the mountains on the background. Somewhere beyond those mountains was the sea. And at some beach by that sea the lad was waiting for her.
— The distance to the sea — she said so softly that maybe the maid didn’t even hear it — is measured by my love.
And spurred the horse.
Tradução: Fabiana Colasanti
Ilustração: Marina Colasanti
Ilustração: Marina Colasanti