The Lais of Marie de France

The narrator opens the lay by explaining that its title, Le Chaitivel means “the Unhappy One”; however, “many people call it Les Quatres Deuls”, meaning the four sorrows (105).

In Nantes, a beautiful, well-educated lady finds it impossible to choose between four brilliant knights. Instead, she allows all of them to court her, “not wishing to lose them all to have just one” (107). On the day of a tournament, the four lovers perform outstandingly; however, at nightfall, they separate from their followers, which results in three of them getting killed and one of them becoming severely wounded. Devastated, the lady ensures that the dead receive lavish burials and that the wounded receive medical attention and her personal care.

A few months later, the lady tells her surviving knight that she will compose a lay about the misfortunes that befell all of the knights called “The Four Sorrows” (108). The knight protests that the lay should be called “The Unhappy One” because the other three found death as an end to the agony of their unrequited love for the lady; however, the surviving night suffers more because he sees the lady daily but cannot touch or kiss her.

While the lady agrees to the name the knight suggested, the lay continues to be referred to by both names, depending on who tells it.