not wish to delay,
1112.And asked her why she was crying.
1113.The saintly girl responded:
1114.“Eh, saintly father, so that you see
1115.This serpent I was speaking to you about!
1116.Look how he comes by the road
1117.To destroy our building!
1118.But you, father, quickly run there
1119.Sign yourself with the sign of Jesus Christ,
1120.And go against him, as he comes,
1121.And confound him with your prayer
1122.While he is in the road,
1123.So that no more trouble
1124.Can this adversary cause me!”
1125.So then the saintly man, without delay,
1126.Signed his heart, and went out
1127.And came against the fierce serpent
1128.From the side, quickly.
1129.And while he was running there,
1130.By chance on the road
1131.He found two pieces of wood and lifted them,
1132.And assembled them into a semblance of a cross
1133.And in the place of a banner,
1134.And he marched on the dragon.
1135.The serpent, when it saw him coming,
1136.Cross in hand, started to flee,
1137.For it no longer had any hope
1138.When it saw the cross be carried in the hands.
1139.The good man begins the pursuit
1140.Of the dragon who was fleeing by leaps and bounds.
1141.And then was amazed
1142.Anyone who saw the great miracle
1143.Of the good man, who was thus chasing,
1144.And of the dragon, who was thus fleeing.
1145.But they tell in truth
1146.That a large rock was encountered
1147.By the dragon, while it was fleeing,
1148.but the enemy let out a noise,
1149.Which whistled and quivered and boomed,
1150.And had such an effect on the boulder
1151.That he cracked it open with the force of his lungs,
1152.And he hid himself in there.
1153.When the serpent had entered in there,
1154.Saint Yles was amazed
1155.And prayed God, the King of the sky,
1156.That He throw the dragon out of there,
1157.And to the virgin, mother of God,
1158.He prayed that she give him her help;
1159.And he promised that he would make her
1160.A church, where her cult would be,
1161.In this place and in no other,
1162.If only they would get the dragon out of there.
1163.When the oration was over,
1164.The dragon cried in there and shrieked
1165.And with the cry he went out
1166.By the same place where it had entered,
1167.So that the place and the crack
1168.Are still in the hard stone. —
1169.As soon as the dragon was out,
1170.Saint Yles was ready
1171.And struck it with the cross
1172.So that the blood flowed, bright and red,
1173.On a rock—where still
1174.As a sign can one find it,
1175.So say the clerics and the lay people;
1176.And the rock is in some water,
1177.And in the water can we see
1178.The blood, if we go looking for it.
1179.There was then made a church,
1180.Which is still beautiful and intact,
1181.Which Saint Yles built in honor
1182.Of the mother of our Lord,
1183.As he had promised
1184.When the dragon had put itself
1185.In the rock for its safety,
1186.As I have told you.
1187.There is an entire league,
1188.For whoever wishes to follow the path,
1189.From that church to the cave
1190.Where the virgin was.
1191.All this you know it well.
1192.I will return to my story.
1193.when the dragon saw his blood spill,
1194.He cried out and jumped from boulder to boulder
1195.And completely prickled all over
1196.When he felt that now he was wounded.
1197.The bishop had a happy heart
1198.And prepared himself for a good chase,
1199.But he could not at all run so much
1200.As could his enemy. (*)
1201.Also, when the dragon ran away a bit,
1202.Wounded, through the rocks and the flatlands,
1203.Above the Tarn, down river,
1204.where no one had gone,
1205.So the good man was sorrowful,
1206.When he saw that it had fled so far,
1207.For he could not run anymore;
1208.For he thought that his foe
1209.Was a different devil in truth
1210.And not a serpent nor a snake,
1211.For a serpent could not at all have
1212.Such a great ability to run.
1213.And he thought to himself that it was no other
1214.Than the temptation of Satan,
1215.And he lifted his cross immediately,
1216.And he went towards the dragon as much as he could
1217.And conjured the help
1218.By the power of omnipotent God,
1219.That he stop
1220.And that he not flee back nor forward
1221.Nor that he still have the power to harm
1222.And that he fall to the bottom of the rocks.
1223.When the serpent heard the conjuration,
1224.Against it, so harsh and smarting,
1225.Instantly fell down river of the Tarn
1226.A sharp shard that shattered completely.
1227.Then came the noises,
1228.By the commandment of saint Yles
1229.That the stones then made,
1230.For in the Tarn, from ridge to ridge,
1231.Flowed the rocks, the boulders, and the stones
1232.Strong mountains and large blocks
1233.To bury the dragon
1234.So that he could never disinter himself.
1235.–And I can well tell you with certainty
1236.That it is still there under the avalanche
1237.To prove the virtue of Christ
1238.For I who tell you this I saw it.
1239.This place is a narrowing above the river
1240.Where was performed this deluge
1241.From here and there from the large mountains
1242.High and strong and strange;
1243.And in the middle of the strait
1244.Of the river, there are two boulders placed
1245.Which fell on the dragon
1246.Then in that time,
1247.So that you can even still see
1248.Here some mountains and some large boulders
1249.Which ferociously point their peaks towards the Tarn;
1250.Encircling it
1251.Those that stayed up top
1252.When the dragon was killed and destroyed,
1253.They were preparing to fall
1254.To kill and destroy the dragon,
1255.Until the destruction of the dragon
1256.So they stayed up top.
1257.And still, in truth,
1258.The place took its name from this story,
1259.For the people call it Souci
1260.Because of the interment of the demon.
1261.There are four leagues of lands
1262.From the grotto to the place where the dragon is;
1263.From this grotto of which I told you
1264.Where the virgin served God.
1265.We have sufficiently spoken of this,
1266.Let us return to our subject.
1267.When the dragon was s
truck down,
1268.The saintly man returned
1269.To the grotto by the damsel
1270.And they praised God together.
1271.Then they began to build
1272.The church that she wanted to build
1273.Men and women, all together
1274.There was no time wasted.
1275.Some dug up stones,
1276.Others carried them,
1277.Some occupied themselves with the foundations,
1278.Others with building the walls,
1279.Others preparing the mortar;
1280.All willingly do their work.
1281.And what else can I tell you?
1282.They constructed the church well.
1283.When the church was finished,
1284.It was consecrated to the honor of God,
1285.And of Madam Saint Mary
1286.As had promised
1287.The saintly royal princess,
1288.When she had arrived in the valley.
1289.And on the other side, near here,
1290.They built in the same way another church
1291.And consecrated it to the honor
1292.Of Saint Peter, the powerful lord;
1293.–So God is still honored
1294.And celebrated in both.
1295.When the churches were built,
1296.The saintly bishop established
1297.That the damsel would be a nun,
1298.As well as all the others who were with her,
1299.Ladies and virgins alike,
1300.And that they would obey her.
1301.And when he had blessed them all
1302.As nuns, and that he had well indoctrinated in them
1303.How they should act towards God,
1304.And which religious service they should say each day,
1305.The bishop returned
1306.There where his bishopric was.
1307.Enimie, who was an abbess,
1308.Established her priory,
1309.And they respected thereafter
1310.A saintly and dignified monastic order
1311.So that ladies and knights
1312.Often came to visit this monastery
1313.And donated lands for their profit
1314.To the wife of Jesus Christ;
1315.They would receive benediction,
1316.And they would return to their homes.
1317.Enimie stayed for a long time
1318.With her convent
1319.And without cease, every day would come to her
1320.People, for they knew that she was a saint.
1321.But when the king of France heard
1322.About his daughter’s renown,
1323.And he learned that she was a cleric and an abbess,
1324.And lady of two monasteries,
1325.He sent to her much silver and gold
1326.And many other beautiful treasures.
1327.Counts, barons, and knights
1328.Were all her messengers
1329.And he ordered them to enrich with income
1330.The monastery and to buy it
1331.All the farms and the hamlets
1332.And everything that was neighboring it.
1333.And as he had commanded,
1334.Everything was accomplished,
1335.For they went to the monastery
1336.These powerful messenger lords
1337.And put it in possession
1338.Of all which surrounds it:
1339.Farms, lands, as well as the hamlets
1340.Fiefs and land grants in their entirety;
1341.That the order still possesses completely,
1342.Of that which was given to them in the beginning,
1343.Without reserve, without reclamation,
1344.Without the least contest.
1345.But when had stayed for a long time
1346.Enimie with her convent,
1347.She knew the date of her death
1348.And had assembled before her
1349.All of her companions,
1350.The sisters, the lay people, and the clergy;
1351.And when they were all assembled,
1352.Softly she made them a sermon:
1353.“Dear brothers, said she, and sisters,
1354.To God I give grace and praise,
1355.For it is pleasing to Him that I leave this world
1356.And that I clothe myself with the durable world
1357.And I pray you ardently by charity
1358.That in the good which you have begun,
1359.That you would always persevere;
1360.And God will reward you for it.
1361.Now know in truth
1362.That the will has come to God
1363.That I leave this world today
1364.And that I enter the kingdom above.
1365.But do not be sad
1366.Because of my death
1367.For up there I will request for you
1368.The thrones which you will occupy forever
1369.I am, according to God, your mother,
1370.And for this reason I must preoccupy myself with your fate
1371.And for this reason it is fitting that first
1372.I follow the straight path of that world.
1373.And do not be surprised
1374.If it is fitting that I leave you,
1375.For death spares
1376.In no way anyone
1377.Nor king nor emperor,
1378.It honors no one,
1379.The old man, the poor, the rich,
1380.It takes them all without distinction;
1381.So, I pray you, daughters of God,
1382.That you believe my advice,
1383.That you act in all moments
1384.In a saintly manner, for you do not know
1385.When will come that painful day
1386.Which will separate the mean from the good.
1387.Now I will tell you something else,
1388.And do not take it lightly,
1389.For that which I am about to tell you,
1390.Is the will and the commandment of God;
1391.Know that it will not be long
1392.Before my god-daughter will join me,
1393.She to whom my name was given,
1394.For I have made great prayers to God
1395.That without her he not make me
1396.Live in his saintly palace,
1397.For I do not wish that she remain down here
1398.Nor that I lose her good company.
1399.I pray you, that when she will have left
1400.This painful life,
1401.I command you on your obeying,
1402.That you, without fail,
1403.Place her sepulchre
1404.Higher than mine, keep it at that
1405.For God has made the reason be known
1406.For which it is necessary to act in this manner.”
1407.When Enimie had spoken,
1408.The nuns and lay people and the clergy
1409.Who were there for only that
1410.Let out a cry and a wail
1411.When they heard that the virgin of God
1412.Would leave them in this way very soon.
1413.But the virgin of Jesus Christ
1414.Consoled them so that they would not be sad.
1415.But when she felt the time come,
1416.When the soul wished to leave the body,
1417.And that she was received into the heart of Christ,
1418.Then did the angels descend
1419.And received the soul from the body
1420.Which had gone outside of it
1421.And brought it with honor
1422.Up there into upper paradise,
1423.Where God gave her the crown
1424.That he gives to His virgins.
1425.On the octave of Saint Mi
chael
1426.She was crowned in heaven
1427.For that day, without fail,
1428.Did she leave this present life.
1429.The nuns took the saintly body
1430.When the soul had gone out of it
1431.And it was so beautiful and clear
1432.All the color of the face
1433.And of the rest of the body as well
1434.That it looked like an illumination.
1435.During that time, they made the sepulchre
1436.In the church, in the hard rock
1437.There where she had commanded it.
1438.And when all was prepared,
1439.And that they had sung mass,
1440.She was put in her coffin
1441.With great honors
1442.With chants, psalms, and praise.
1443.After Sainte Enimie
1444.Had left this life,
1445.And had known celestial joy
1446.Where all is good with no evil,
1447.She had barely been there
1448.That her god-daughter followed her
1449.As the virgin, her godmother,
1450.Had said so by the divine voice.
1451.So when had left
1452.The soul of the god-daughter,
1453.They buried with great honor
1454.The body in the tomb as well,
1455.Which body then carried away
1456.Dagobert the king, for he thought
1457.That it was the body of his sister
1458.For she was higher in the grave;
1459.Because, you must believe, in truth,
1460.That because of this transport
1461.Sainte Enimie in her lifetime
1462.Ordered that she be buried
1463.In the sepulchre placed underneath
1464.And that the god-daughter in the one on top
1465.For she well knew of her brother
1466.That he should come to Gavols
1467.To carry her body to France
1468.If he could find it;
1469.But she did not wish to suffer that
1470.And in that way she was able to defend herself.
1471.But I will bring you up to date
1472.On this happening, and how it was done completely.
1473.And when I will have told it to you,
1474.I will then tell you in truth
1475.How was found and in what way
1476.The body of Sainte Enimie;
1477.And listen without noise
1478.Which very beautiful stories I know.
1479.When Clovis, King of France,
1480.Had left the torment
1481.And the misery of this world,
1482.The son reigned after the father
1483.And governed the whole kingdom;
1484.Dagobert was his baptismal name.
1485.When this one was king of the country,
1486.He decorated the church of Saint Denis
1487.With beautiful cloths of silk and beautiful fabrics
1488.And other ornaments
1489.And he held him in great reverence
1490.For the saints of this province
1491.And of others, far and near,
1492.In whichever place he found them,
1493.He took the bodies and the bones
1494.Those he found in the grave,
1495.And carried everything to France
1496.To Saint Denis, with great ornament;
1497.And as long as he lived,
1498.He decorated the church of Saint Denis with them.
1499.But when it happened that he heard one day
1500.That God was performing through his sister
1501.Miracles and beautiful marvels,
1502.He came to Gavols
1503.So that the body of his sister
1504.He carry with great honors
1505.To the church of Saint Denis in France,
1506.So that she remain there for all time as an ornament.
1507.But when he had by the direct road
1508.Come to this river
1509.Which now we call
1510.Sainte Enimie by its correct name
1511.He asked nicely and queried
1512.Of the nuns of that church
1513.That they inform him by the love of God
1514.Where lay the body of his sister.
1515.“Ladies, said he, here I am, who am
1516.Son of the king Clovis,
1517.Brother to your virgin
1518.To whom God gave such a wonderful honor,
1519.And I have come directly, motivated by love,
1520.So that you give me the body of my sister
1521.For I will carry it back to my country
1522.To the rich monastery of Saint Denis
1523.Where she shall be put into a gold casket.”
1524.So the abbess responded to him:
1525.“Eh! Lord king, what are you asking of us?
1526.What will we do in these lands
1527.If the saintly virgin is not there
1528.Why are you asking her of us to bring her back into your country?”
1529.The king responds to the abbess
1530.And makes a very nice promise to her:
1531.“Lady, says he, if my sister
1532.You are willing to return to me, great honor
1533.And many lands will I give you,
1534.Where you will always be able to remain,
1535.Honored by this will be your church,
1536.I will do it to thank you for my demands
1537.For all this, and much more,
1538.Of that which I have promised you, you shall have it of me.”
1539.The abbess, when she had heard the king,
1540.Gives him a beautiful and gracious answer:
1541.“Lord king, why do you upset us?
1542.What will we do, if you take her away?
1543.If you take her away, what will we do?
1544.Certainly, king, certainly we will die.
1545.She is our carnal lady
1546.And our spiritual lady
1547.And she protects us from all vexation,
1548.All of us and this church;
1549.And for nothing in the world will we give her to you
1550.Nor will we leave her before you kill us.”
1551.–“Eh, already have I, miss abbess,
1552.Said the king, made you great promises,
1553.So you must well leave her to me.
1554.I did it, so I can move her
1555.So show me the monument!”
1556.So responds the whole convent:
1557.“Eh! Lord King, be on the side of God
1558.And for our lady, Saint Mary!
1559.Be not willing to do such great damage
1560.Against this convent,
1561.That you