Bisclavret - Marie de France
Bisclavret was a thriling story about a knight who was so ashamed of his lifestyle that he didn't even share it with his wife until she begged. His wife would worry beyond belief as her husband would disappear for days at a time.
"My lord, I'm in terror every day, those days when you've gone away, my hear is so full of fear, I'm so afraid I'll lose you, dear--If I don't get some help, some healing, I will die soon of what I'm feeling!"
"You are in love--that's it, I know--and you do wrong if this is so!"
His wife's feelings were so intense and fearful that she felt like she was going to die. She needed to know where and why her husband was leaving her. She was so afraid that he was running off with another woman who he was in love with. But, she finally convinced him to break the news to her, after long hours of convincing. The knight was so disgusted with himself and didn't want his wife to think of him differently because of what he was about to tell her. But thankfully enough, he brought himself to tell her.
"My lady, I turn bisclavret; I plunge into that great forest. In thick woods I like it best. I love on what prey I can get."
"My lady, I go all bare."
She begged him to tell her where she left his clothes but he wouldn't because if they were lost, he would be a bisclavret forever. After convincing, he gave in again and told her. The lady was very thrown off by this and wanted to escape; she did not want to share a bed with the bisclavret. She found a new knight for herself, who she soon got engaged and married to. She explained to him the story of the bisclavret and asked him to go into the woods and take his clothes from the bisclavret's hiding spot, which he agreed to do.
Later on, the king goes into the woods to hunt and stumbles upon the bisclavret. The king and his men begin to chase the bisclavret and soon catch him and keep him calm.
"With that, the King turns and goes, the bisclavret follows him close; it won't escape, it stays right near."
They bring the bisclavret back to the King's castle and realize how sweet and calm it is. They soon discover, after torturing the bisclavret's wife and her new knight, that the bisclavret is the wife's husband. Everyone realizes how horrible it was of the woman to plan to steal the bisclavret's clothing so he would stay a werewolf for good.
Overall, this story was interesting and I was defintiely not expecting this all to happen. The bisclavret's wife betrayed her husband and in return, the bisclavret took her nose right off her face.