Project Gutenberg 2011-07-08 Public domain in the USA. 153 Butler, Isabel Tales from the Old French Lais: The lay of the bird. The woful knight / Marie de France. The two lovers / Marie de France. Eliduc / Marie de France. Melion. The lay of the horn / Robert Biquet -- Fabliaux: The divided blanket / Bernier. Of the churl who won Paradise. The gray palfrey / Huon Leroi -- Contes dévots et didactiques: The knight of the little cask. The angel and the hermit. The jousting of Our Lady. The Order of Chivalry -- Epilogue -- Bibliography -- Translator's note. Produced by Chris Curnow, Lindy Walsh, David Garcia and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net "Tales from the Old French" by Isabel Butler is a collection of medieval literature written in the early 20th century. This anthology presents a selection of works from the Old French tradition, including lais, fabliaux, and didactic tales, which capture the values, morals, and cultural expressions of the time. The stories weave themes of love, chivalry, and wisdom, often featuring knights and noble ladies embroiled in romantic and moral dilemmas. At the start of the collection, readers are introduced to a variety of captivating tales. One such story is "The Lay of the Bird," which describes a rich villein who owns a magical orchard. The tale centers on a wondrous bird that sings in the orchard, its song capable of enchanting listeners and ensuring the vitality of the land. However, when the greedy villein captures the bird for profit, he learns a hard lesson about loss and the consequences of greed. The opening sets a tone of magical realism, grounding it in the broader narrative traditions where moral lessons are drawn through enchanting imagery and poignant encounters. (This is an automatically generated summary.) file:///public/vhost/g/gutenberg/html/files/36658/36658-h/images/cover-f.jpg Reading ease score: 77.8 (7th grade). Fairly easy to read. en Tales -- France -- Translations into English PQ Text Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore Category: French Literature 351574 2025-08-15T04:40:40.585021 text/html 349906 2021-01-07T21:40:58 text/html 1696314 2025-08-15T04:40:47.932952 application/epub+zip 1696983 2025-08-15T04:40:42.865016 application/epub+zip 243737 2025-08-15T04:40:41.102994 application/epub+zip 1552606 2025-08-15T04:40:51.077941 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 1509151 2025-08-15T04:40:46.104957 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 306539 2022-09-16T16:47:12.345495 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 292605 2025-08-15T04:40:39.917022 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 292466 2021-01-07T21:40:58 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 292464 2021-01-07T21:40:58 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 20123 2025-08-15T04:40:51.263942 application/rdf+xml 25942 2025-08-15T04:40:41.225988 image/jpeg 3242 2025-08-15T04:40:41.163987 image/jpeg 108481 2021-01-07T21:40:58 application/octet-stream application/zip 1781455 2021-01-07T21:40:58 application/octet-stream application/zip 108430 2021-01-07T21:40:58 application/octet-stream application/zip 1778833 2025-08-15T04:40:40.717037 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog