Amantes
The Two Lovers
While chasing an escaped camel, a young man catches sight of a beautiful girl and falls isntantly in love with her. He sneaks to her window at night, and confesses his love. Initially the maiden rejects him, and threatens to raise the alarm, but the young lover tells her he would face death if that was what was required to see her. She relents, and lets him hold her hand, before he sneaks away again. The two begin to meet in secret every night, with only a maid servant aware of their affair. After some time, the girl's family grow suspicious. They discover the lover's identity, and make plans to attack him in retribution for dishonouring the girl. The girl warns her lover of these plans, and he arms himself in preparation. However, a storm rolls in that night, and the attack is called off due to the rain. When the weather clears, the young woman and her maid servant hurry to the lover's home to check that all is well. Seeing two figures rushing toward his house, however, the lover shoots both the servant and his beloved, and both are killed. Realising what he has done, the lover then kills himself in grief.
(From One Hundred and one Nights)
Note |
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Nishimura notes relevant motifs and analogous narratives: Motifs: TMI N330: Accidental killing or death; N343.4: Lover commits suicide on finding beloved dead; T80 Tragic love; see also Cf. TMI N343, TU 4015: Lover kills self, believing his mistress dead (she has been frightened away by a lion) (Pyramus and Thisbe). Reference stories: Pyramus and Thisbe: Ovidius, Metamorphoses, 4.55-166; Gesta Romanorum, 231 ‘Pyramus und Thisbe’; Sercambi, Il Novelliere, 130; Gower, Confessio Amantis, 3.4; Chaucer, The Legend of Good Women, 2, ‘The Legend of Thisbe’; Shakespeare, Midsummer-Night’s Dream. See also Rakugo ‘Lord Kiyomasa’s Liquor Shop’; Arabian Nights, ‘The Story of the Caliphs, Harun Al-Rashid and Jamil ibn Ma‘amar Al-Udhri’ (Nights 688-691. The daughter is devoured by a lion, and the young man dies from grief after taking the lion’s head). |
Critical Literature |
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Nishimura (2001) |
Amantes appears in the following versions and secondary versions |
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Amantes is narrated in the following occurrences |
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No recorded narrations available. |
Amantes appears in the following manuscripts |
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This inset story appears in no manuscripts of the database |