Laüstic
In Marie de France's Lai, from the area of Saint-Malo in Brittany, a married woman falls in love with her neighbor. The pair can only see each other at their windows, where they talk with each other and toss gifts to each other. The secret relationship lasts until one summer, when the two lovers meet at the window during the nights to listen to bird songs. The woman's husband becomes incensed because his wife is always getting up and sneaking away to the window. Whenever he addresses her about the issue he always hears the same excuse: It is because of the nightingale, whose song she takes pleasure in and which she longs for, so much so that she cannot sleep. As a result the husband has the bird caught and strangles it in the presence of his wife. The death of the nightingale means the end of the love relationship to the neighbor, as the woman does not have an excuse to go to the window at night. The woman wishes to let the neighbor know the reason for her absence at the window, and so writes her story in gold on a velvet cloth, with which she wraps the body of the bird and sends with a messenger to deliver to her lover. The neighbor has a little box forged from pure gold and decorated with precious stones, and he lays the nightingale inside. From then on, the noble man never separates from this little box.
