For the goodness and the grace,
Of his love, so fair of face.

Sweet the song, the story sweet,
There is no man hearkens it,
No man living 'neath the sun,
So outwearied, so foredone,
Sick and woful, worn and sad,
But is healèd, but is glad.
'Tis so sweet.
So say they, speak they, tell they the tale.[12]

This popular mediaeval ballad is in alternate fragments of verse and
prose, and relates how the Count of Valence made desperate war
against the Count of Biaucaire, a very old and frail man, who saw that
his castle was in imminent danger of being taken and sacked. In his
distress, this old lord besought his son Aucassin, who so far had
taken no interest in the war, to go forth and fight. The youth,
however, refused to do so, saying his heart was wrapped up in love for
Nicolette, a fair slave belonging to a captain in town. This man,
seeing the delicacy of his slave and realizing she must belong to some
good family, had her baptized and treated her as if she were an
adopted daughter.

On account of Nicolette's lowly condition, Aucassin's father refuses
to listen when the young man proposes to marry her, and sternly bids
him think of a wife better suited, to his rank. The young lover,
however, vehemently insists that Nicolette is fit to be an empress,
and vows he will not fight until he has won her for his own. On seeing
how intractable this youth is, the father beseeches the owner of the