{"collection":"Northern European Mythology","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/neu/mart/mart380.htm","path":"neu/mart/mart380.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/neu/mart/mart380.htm","text":"CHAPTER VII\nOf the vision that Sir Percivale saw, and how his vision\nwas expounded, and of his lion.\nTHEN came forth the other lady that rode upon the\nserpent, and she said: Sir Percivale, I complain me of\nyou that ye have done unto me, and have not offended\nunto you. Certes, madam, he said, unto you nor no lady\nI never offended. Yes, said she, I shall tell you why. I\nhave nourished in this place a great while a serpent, which\nserved me a great while, and yesterday ye slew him as he\ngat his prey. Say me for what cause ye slew him, for the\nlion was not yours. Madam, said Sir Percivale, I know\nwell the lion was not mine, but I did it for the lion is of\nmore gentler nature than the serpent, and therefore I slew\nhim; meseemeth I did not amiss against you. Madam,\nsaid he, what would ye that I did? I would, said she,\nfor the amends of my beast that ye become my man.\nAnd then he answered: That will I not grant you. No,\nsaid she, truly ye were never but my servant sin ye\nreceived the homage of Our Lord Jesu Christ. Therefore,\nI ensure you in what place I may find you without keeping\nI shall take you, as he that sometime was my man. And\nso she departed from Sir Percivale and left him sleeping,\nthe which was sore travailed of his advision. And on\nthe morn he arose and blessed him, and he was passing\nfeeble.\nThen was Sir Percivale ware in the sea, and saw a\nship come sailing toward him; and Sir Percivale went\nunto the ship and found it covered within and without\nwith white samite. And at the board stood an old man\nclothed in a surplice, in likeness of a priest. Sir, said Sir\nPercivale, ye be welcome. God keep you, said the good\nman. Sir, said the old man, of whence be ye? Sir, said\nSir Percivale, I am of King Arthur's court, and a knight\nof the Table Round, the which am in the quest of the\nSangreal; and here am I in great duresse, and never like\nto escape out of this wilderness. Doubt not, said the\ngood man, an ye be so true a knight as the order of\nchivalry requireth, and of heart as ye ought to be, ye\nshould not doubt that none enemy should slay you.\nWhat are ye? said Sir Percivale. Sir, said the old man,\nI am of a strange country, and hither I come to comfort\nyou.\nSir, said Sir Percivale, what signifieth my dream that\nI dreamed this night? And there he told him altogether:\nShe which rode upon the lion betokeneth the new law of\nholy church, that is to understand, faith, good hope, belief,\nand baptism. For she seemed younger than the other it\nis great reason, for she was born in the resurrection and\nthe passion of Our Lord Jesu Christ. And for great love\nshe came to thee to warn thee of thy great battle that shall\nbefall thee. With whom, said Sir Percivale, shall I fight?\nWith the most champion of the world, said the old man;\nfor as the lady said, but if thou quit thee well thou shalt\nnot be quit by losing of one member, but thou shalt be\nshamed to the world's end. And she that rode on the\nserpent signifieth the old law, and that serpent betokeneth\na fiend. And why she blamed thee that thou slewest her\nservant, it betokeneth nothing; the serpent that thou\nslewest betokeneth the devil that thou rodest upon to the\nrock. And when thou madest a sign of the cross, there\nthou slewest him, and put away his power. And when\nshe asked thee amends and to become her man, and thou\nsaidst thou wouldst not, that was to make thee to believe\non her and leave thy baptism. So he commanded Sir\nPercivale to depart, and so he leapt over the board and\nthe ship, and all went away he wist not whither. Then\nhe went up unto the rock and found the lion which always\nkept him fellowship, and he stroked him upon the back\nand had great joy of him.","title":"Le Morte d'Arthur BOOK XIV CHAPTER VII","type":"page"}