I very much doubt you are brave enough to take what is mine, and you are risking your life if you do. Now go and find a benefice somewhere else because you will get nothing from my estate. I am warning you once and for all to keep off."
The cleric was afraid of the
knight, who was a cruel man, and did not dare insist. He gave up and decided to return either to
Avignon or to his own country, which he did, but before he left he went to see the
lord of Coarraze and said to him,
"By force and not by right, Sir, you are depriving me of the rights of my church and as such you are acting very wrongly. I am not as powerful as you are in this country but be assured that as soon as I can, I will send a champion to you whom you will fear far more than you frighten me."
The
lord of Coarraze took no notice of his threats and said, "May God be with you. Go on, do your worst! You scare me about as much alive as you would dead. Nothing you can say will make me forfeit my estate."
So the cleric took his leave of the
lord of Coarraze and returned to
Catalonia or
Avignon, I am not sure which. He did not forget what he had said when he left the
lord of Coarraze and three months later, when the
knight was least expecting it, invisible messengers came to the
castle of Coarraze, while he was asleep in bed beside his wife, and began to bump and buffet anything they could find around the castle, so much so that it seemed as if they were going to break everything. They pounded so hard on the door to his chamber that his wife was petrified as she lay in bed.
The
knight heard it all but said nothing, not wanting to appear dismayed, and he was brave enough to face anything in any case. The knocking and banging went on in many parts of the castle for a long time, then stopped. The next day all the household servants got together and went to their master as he was getting up and asked him,
"My lord, did you not hear what we heard last night?"
The
lord of Coarraze feigned ignorance and said, "No. What did you hear?"
They told him that something had stormed through the castle and smashed all the crockery in the kitchens. He began to laugh and told them they had dreamt it and that it could only have been the wind.
"In God's name," his wife said, "I heard it alright!"
The very next night the troublesome spirits returned and made more of a din than before, banging loudly on the door and windows of the knight's chamber. He jumped up in bed and could not stop himself from asking,
"Who is that banging on my door at this hour?"
He was answered immediately, "It is me! It is me!"
"Who sent you here?" said the
knight.
"I was sent by the cleric of
Catalonia. You wronged him by refusing him the dues of his benefice. I will not leave you in peace until you have righted this wrong and he is satisfied."
"What should one call such an excellent messenger?" said the
knight.
"I am called
Orton."
"
Orton," the
knight said, "serving a cleric will get you nowhere.
pb 244 v