Short Fiction · Chapter
II explained
Lord Mountfidget's cattle and swine are destroyed by royal decree due to rinderpest.
What happens
Lord Mountfidget's cattle and swine are destroyed by royal decree due to rinderpest. He visits Count Grandnostrel to seek Euphemia but is turned away for arriving empty-handed. Arrows are shot at him but fail to pierce his armor, though one may have wounded his neck. A kerchief waves from the window as he departs.
Themes in this chapter
Social Class and Status
Lord Mountfidget's wealth in banks is insufficient to gain favor with Count Grandnostrel without the customary gifts of livestock.
Economic Hardship and Charity
The destruction of livestock due to rinderpest represents economic hardship imposed by government regulation.
Characters to notice
- Lord Mountfidget
Lord Mountfidget loses his livestock to the rinderpest edict and is rebuffed by Count Grandnostrel when he arrives without gifts.
Key passages
“And in those days there was the rinderpest in the land among the cattle, and the swine were plagued with a sore disease, and there had gone forth an edict and a command from the Queen’s Councillors that no beeves or swine should be driven on the Queen’s highways.”
A cattle plague (rinderpest) and swine disease led to a royal decree forbidding the transport of livestock on public roads.
Historical context of the rinderpest outbreak and government response.
“So he went up the slopes which led to the Castle of Grandnostrel. And at the portal, within the safeguard of the drawbridge, there were huge heaps of dried fruits, and mountains of olives.”
Lord Mountfidget approached the castle, which was protected by a drawbridge and surrounded by piles of dried fruit and olives.
Description of the setting and the wealth of Count Grandnostrel.
“But I fear there was one arrow which entered just above the joint of the knight’s harness, and galled the neck of the young lord.”
One arrow may have struck Lord Mountfidget in a vulnerable spot above his armor, wounding his neck.
Suggests a possible injury despite the armor's protection.