LINGUAE VASCONUM PRIMITIAE - Euskaltzaindia

XIII. THE SONG OF MONSEIGNEUR BERNAT ETXEPARE
1 Monseigneur Bernat, if you had known how the matter was to be,
you might have avoided going to Bearn.
3 There is no escape from what is to come,
though my only fault was doing good.
Injustice struck me whence I could not escape.
1, wrongfully betrayed to the King, was blameless.
7 My Lord the King ordered me before him without delay.
I heard he would be angry but I was innocent.
So as not to give my enemies room for malicious manoeuvre,
I went and ran not away, innocent though I was.
11 Had I not gone, I would have been deemed guilty.
The slander against me would have always held.
If I had been served by justice, I would have been released at once.
In absence of this, I began to regret my coming.
15 It is great wisdom to grow wise frorn the troubles of others.
Whoever might have an enemy be warned of my example;
let him be upon safe ground while wielding an advantage.
'Tis best to keep trauble at bay.
19 Wretched, I fell into the clutches of the enemy.
Even my good works are all now disgraced.
Had I not been under his sway, I might have been served by justice.
Now, even if I worked miracles, I would still be wrang.
23 There is no safeguard against false testimony.
Indeed they even condemned Cod to death.
Sinners we are and should not be surprised
when we are falsely accused.
Let us be patient and Cod help uso
He can take vengeance upon whomever wallows in wickedness.
29 Lord, Thou art the judge of truth.
The great and the small are equal in Thy court.
Someone has done me a great wrong.
Forgive them, I pray. My defence is truth.
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