THE SCENE: One cannot help but wonder whether these lovers could have found a way to pass elicit messages between each other without resorting to starving a swan.
THE TEXT: As soon as the bedroom was empty, she called a serving maid. When they had untied the letter, she broke the seal and discovered at the top the name, “Milun”. She recognized her beloved’s name and before she could read any further she wept and kissed the letter countless times. After a while she read what was written. What he had commanded her to do and what sorrow and suffering he had undergone day and night. Now he was entirely at her mercy and she could either kill or cure him. If she could discover a stratagem which would enable him to speak with her, she should inform him by letter and send the swan back to home. She should first look after it well, then allow it to go without food for three days. The letter should be hung round the bird’s neck. When she let it go, it would fly back to its original home. Having seen what was written and heeded the contents of the letter, she had the swan taken care of and given plenty to eat and drink. She kept it in her chamber for a month.
But hear now what happened next. Using her ingenuity she got hold of ink and parchment. She was able to write whatever she pleased, and seal the letter with a ring. Having let the swan go without food, she hung the letter round its neck and released it. The bird was famished and eager for food: swiftly it returned. In Milun’s town and in his dwelling it alighted before him. When he saw it, he was full of joy. In great delight he picked it up by the wings. He called a steward and had it fed. He took the letter from its neck, looked at it from top to bottom and rejoiced at the tokens he discovered and the greetings. Without him she could have no happiness. Now he should send back word of his feelings to her in the same way, making use of the swan. This will he do with all haste.
Milun and his beloved maintained this way of life for twenty years. The swan acted as messenger. They had no other intermediary and they starved it before releasing it. Whoever received the swan fed it, of course. They came together on a number of occasions.
– Milun, Marie de France, 12th Century AD
