n
her. He adds that she alone shall be his wife, and that the mere
thought of her belonging to any one else is unendurable. This
declaration of love cheers poor Nicolette, who is so entranced by her
lover's words that she fails to notice the approach of a patrol. A
young sentinel, however, peering down from the walls, touched by
Nicolette's beauty and by the plight of these young lovers, warns them
of their danger. But not daring to speak openly to Nicolette, he
chants a musical warning, which comes just in time to enable her to
hide behind a pillar. There she cowers until the guards pass by, then,
slipping down into dry moat,--although it is a perilous
undertaking,--she painfully climbs up its other side and seeks refuge
in a neighboring forest, where, although the poem informs us there are
"beasts serpentine," she feels safer than in town.

It is while wandering in this wilderness that Nicolette runs across
some shepherds, whom she bribes to go and tell Aucassin a wild beast
is ranging through the forest, and that he should come and slay it as
soon as possible. Having thus devised means to entice her lover out of
Biaucaire, Nicolette wanders on until she reaches a lovely spot, where
she erects a rustic lodge, decking it with the brightest flowers she
can find, in hopes that her lover, when weary of hunting, will rest
beneath its flowery roof, and guess that it was erected by her fair
hands.

Meantime the Count of Biaucaire, hearing Nicolette has vanished, sets
his son free, and, seeing him sunk in melancholy, urges him to go out
and hunt, thinking the exercise may make him forget the loss of his
beloved. Still, it is only when shepherds come and report that a wild
beast is ranging through the forest, that the youth mounts his steed
and sallies forth, his father little suspecting that instead of
tracking game, he is bent on seeking traces of his beloved.

Ere long Aucassin encounters an old charcoal-burner, to whom he
confides his loss, and who assures him such a sorrow is nothing
compared to his own. On discovering that the poor man's tears can be
stayed with money, Aucassin bestows upon him the small sum he needs,
receiving in return the information that a lovely maiden has been seen
in the forest. Continuing his quest, Aucassin comes in due time to the
flowery bower, and, finding it empty, sings his love and sorrow in
tones that reach Nicolette's ear. Then, dismounting from his horse to
rest here for the night,