PIRAMUS ET TISBÉ

Text and Translation
50
55
60
65
70
75
80
85
90
95
And they go without food more than they should
and more than is normal at their age.
Early in the morning each one slips away,
And they spend the day playing together,
Enjoying themselves with other children
Of the same age as themselves.
During the day, they are engrossed in gazing at one another,
And they can never have their fill of it;
It is late when they return to their homes
Because parting is painful for them.
They take pleasure in doing all kinds of things
For which they are often threatened and scolded.
Just as jasper is superior to glass
And gold is superior to silver, and the primrose
Has proved superior to the mayweed,
So these two were superior in virtue
And in valour and in beauty
To all the others in the city.
It was after great deliberation and with great care
And great wisdom that Nature created them.
For as long as their age prevented them
From doing what Love demands,
And they were under the age of ten,
They had considerable freedom
To be together and talk to one another,
To enjoy themselves and play together.
Their loving looks and guileless minds,
And their inappropriate age,
And the fact that nothing good fails to arouse envy,
And that no low-born servant is ever free of treachery,
Caused them to be separated and kept under watch,
So that they could not be together.
A servant noticed the way they behaved
And said: ‘Now there is no doubt in my mind
That these children are deeply in love,
And if they were a little older
And had the opportunity,
It would be very hard to keep them away from one another.’
The servant took this news
To the young girl’s mother,
And she said to him: ‘Now say no more about it,
For they shall never be together again!’
Then she said to a chambermaid:
‘If you have any regard for me,
Make sure that Tisbé does not leave the house
And that she does not see Piramus.’
At that time great ill-feeling arose
Between the children’s fathers,
37