her sons with the same milk, her hard breast will ever give the fine oil
to the olive; Spirit, ever springing into life, joyous, proud, and
living spirit that neighest in the noise of the Rhone and in the wind
thereof! spirit of the harmonious woods, and of the sunny bays, pious
soul of the fatherland, I call thee! be incarnate in my Provençal
verse!"

We are plunged in orthodox fashion _in medias res_. The young fisherman
is seated upon the rocky heights above the sea before the beautiful
woman he loves. He does not know who she is; he has performed almost
superhuman exploits to win her; but there is an obstacle to their union.
She relates that she is the last of the family of the Princes des Baux,
who had their castle and city hewn out of the solid rock in the strange
mountains that overlook the plain of Arles. She tells the marvellous
history of the family, evoking a vision of the days of courtly love when
the Troubadours sang at the feet of the fair princesses. A panorama of
the life of those days of poetry and song moves before us. The princess
even describes and defines in poetic language the forms of verse in
vogue in the ancient days, the _Tenson_, the _Pastoral_, the _Ballad_,
the _Sirventés_, the _Romance_, the _Congé_, the _Aubade_, the _Solace
of Love_. She relates her marriage with the Count Sévéran, who
fascinated her by some mysterious power. At the wedding-feast she learns
that he is a mere bandit, leader of a band of robbers that infests the
country. She fled away through the mountains and found the grotto where
she now lives. The fishermen, seeing her appear and vanish among the
cliffs, take her to be the fairy Esterello, who is a sort of Loreley.
Calendau determines that either Sévéran or he shall die, and seeks him
out. His splendid physical appearance and bold, defiant manner arouse in
the bandit a desire to get Calendau to join his company, and the women
of the band are charmed with him. They ask to hear the story of his