out to this woman. We first begin to feel sympathy for her when we are told she is married to an older man who keeps her locked away, but our sympathy deepens when we realize she is beginning to lose all hope. When we are told her beauty fades, our hearts are filled with not only sadness, but also a desire to see her made whole again. The lai continues with the woman lamenting her sorrows when she says "God, who have power over all, Please hear, please answer now my call" (62-63). These two lines set this lai apart from all other lais in this collection. The young woman, who is married, prays that God will send her someone and shortly after a hawk appears. Even though we as readers desired that she could meet someone to make her feel alive again, that fact that God steps in seems to make the situation much more acceptable. The adulterous affair becomes even more acceptable in our eyes when we realize that their affair is not about only sex, but that they share a deep and tender love. When the knight first sees the lady, he tells her, "I've loved you for a long time now...I never loved any woman but you" (81-84). The love and passion that these lovers share bring the woman back to life. Her beauty and zest for life returns as does her husband's suspicion. When he realizes his wife has taken a lover, he plots to kill the hawk with spears on the windows. Once the knight is fatally wounded, the woman feels immediately sad and heartbroken until she rea
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