{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_49057/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_49057","id":"gutenberg_49057","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/49057","summary":null,"tags":["Arthur, King -- Legends","Arthurian romances -- Adaptations","Category: British Literature","Category: Historical Novels","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Category: Novels","Folklore -- England","Knights and knighthood -- Folklore"],"text":"_Longmans\u2019 Class-Books of English Literature_\n\n\n\n\n TALES OF KING ARTHUR\n AND\n THE ROUND TABLE\n\n\n ADAPTED FROM\n THE BOOK OF ROMANCE\n BY\n ANDREW LANG\n\n WITH INTRODUCTION, NOTES, ETC., BY\n J. C. ALLEN\n AND\n TWENTY ILLUSTRATIONS BY\n H. J. FORD\n\n\n NEW IMPRESSION\n\n\n LONGMANS, GREEN AND CO.\n 39 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON\n FOURTH AVENUE & 30TH STREET, NEW YORK\n BOMBAY, CALCUTTA, AND MADRAS\n 1918\n _All rights reserved_\n\n\n\n\n INTRODUCTION\n\n\nThe tales of King Arthur and his Knights are of Celtic origin. The Celts\nwere the people who occupied Britain at the time when the history of the\ncountry opens, and a few words are necessary to explain why the\ncharacters in the stories act and speak as though they belonged to a\nlater age.\n\nIt is believed that King Arthur lived in the sixth century, just after\nthe Romans withdrew from Britain, and when the Britons, left to defend\nthemselves against the attacks of the marauding Saxons, rose and\ndefeated them at Mount Badon, securing to themselves peace for many\nyears. It was probably about this time that King Arthur and his company\nof Knights performed the deeds which were to become the themes of\nstories and lays for generations afterwards.\n\nIn olden times, it was the custom of minstrels and story-tellers to\ntravel through the land from court to court, telling of tales of\nchivalry and heroism, and for many centuries the tales of King Arthur\nformed the stock from which the story-teller drew.\n\nIn this way the stories came to be handed down from father to son, in\nBrittany (whose people are of the same family as the Welsh) as well as\nin Wales and England, and by this means alone were they prevented from\nbeing lost. But in the reigns of Henry II. and Richard I., they were set\ndown on paper, and so became literature. Before this, however, a British\nwriter had written out some of the tales, and from him as well as from\nthe lips of the bards and story-tellers of their own generation, the\nwriters in the time of Henry II. were able to collect their information.\n\nNow, it will be remembered that the second and third crusades were being\ncarried on during the reigns of Henry II. and Richard I., and many\nEnglish and French Knights were therefore fighting in the fields of\nPalestine.\n\nThe story-teller, whose living depended on the welcome his stories met\nwith, instead of telling them according to tradition, altered them to\nsuit the tastes of his hearers. Thus, the old heroes of tradition were\nplaced upon prancing horses, clothed in coats of mail, and armed with\nlances as if they had been vassals of King Henry or King Richard. And in\nthis way the story-teller called up before the minds of the listeners\npictures of deeds of chivalry, such as husbands and brothers were\nperforming for the Christian faith in far-off Palestine. The writers of\nthe time, both English and French, set them down as they heard and knew\nthem, and so in their altered and historically inaccurate form they have\nreached us at the present day.\n\nOne of the most famous of the books compiled by old English writers was\nthe \u201cHistoria Britonum,\u201d which was written (in Latin) by Geoffrey,\nBishop of Asaph. It contained an account of a war which King Arthur\nwaged in Western Europe, but made no mention of the Holy Grail.\n\nFrom this and other books of romances compiled in England, and very\nlargely, too, from books of French romances, Sir Thomas Malory obtained\nthe material for his \u201cMorte d\u2019Arthur,\u201d which was written in 1470. This\nis the most famous of the early books of Arthurian legend, and it is\nfrom the \u201cMorte d\u2019Arthur\u201d that most of the stories in this book are\ntaken. Some, however, are taken from the \u201cHigh History of the Holy\nGraal,\u201d translated from the French by Dr. Sebastian Evans. The language\nthroughout has been modified with a view to making the legends more easy\nof study.\n\n\n\n\n CONTENTS\n\n\n PART I.\n PAGE\n Introduction v, vi\n The Drawing of the Sword 1\n The Sword Excalibur 6\n How the Round Table began 7\n The Story of Sir Balin 11\n What Beaumains asked of the King 18\n How Morgan Le Fay tried to kill King Arthur 42\n The Passing of Merlin 45\n\n\n PART II.\n The Quest of the Holy Graal (Parts I. to XI.) 48\n\n\n PART III.\n The Fight for the Queen 78\n The Fair Maid of Astolat 88\n\n\n PART IV.\n Lancelot and Guenevere 107\n The End of it All 136\n\n\n\n\n ILLUSTRATIONS\n\n\n FULL-PAGE PLATES.\n PAGE\n How Arthur drew the Sword 4\n The Death of Balin and Balan 17\n Gareth and Linet 24\n Linet and the Black Knight 27\n The Lady of Lyonesse sees Sir Gareth 34\n Morgan Le Fay casts away the Scabbard 44\n Merlin and Vivien 47\n Sir Galahad opens the Tomb 56\n Sir Percivale slays the Serpent 63\n Arthur and Guenevere kiss before all the People 86\n Elaine ties her Sleeve round Sir Lancelot\u2019s Helmet 92\n The Black Barget 104\n The Archers threaten Lancelot 113\n Sir Mordred 141\n Excalibur returns to the Mere 144\n\n\n IN TEXT.\n The Damsel warns Sir Balin 14\n How Sir Bors was saved from killing his Brother 68\n Sir Mador accuses Guenevere 81\n Guenevere sends her Page to Lancelot for help 111\n Lancelot comes out of Guenevere\u2019s Room 123\n\n\n\n\n TALES OF KING ARTHUR\n AND\n THE ROUND TABLE\n\n\n\n\n PART I.\n\n\n\n\n THE DRAWING OF THE SWORD.\n\n\nLong, long ago, after Uther Pendragon died, no king reigned in Britain,\nand every Knight hoped to seize the crown for himself. The country was\nlike to fare ill when laws were broken on every side, and the corn which\nwas to give bread to the poor was trodden underfoot, and there was none\nto bring the evildoer to justice. Then, when things were at their worst,\ncame forth Merlin the magician, and fast he rode to the place where the\nArchbishop of Canterbury had his dwelling. They took counsel together,\nand agreed that all the lords and gentlemen of Britain should ride to\nLondon and meet on Christmas Day, now at hand, in the Great Church. So\nthis was done. And on Christmas morning, as they left the church, they\nsaw in the churchyard a large stone, and on it a bar of steel, and in\nthe steel a naked sword was held, and about it was written in letters of\ngold, \u201cWhoso pulleth out this sword is by right of birth King of\nEngland.\u201d They marvelled at these words, and called for the Archbishop,\nand brought him into the place where the stone stood. Then those Knights\nwho fain would be King took firm hold of the hilt, and they tugged at\nthe sword with all their might; but it never stirred. The Archbishop\nwatched them in silence, but when they were faint from pulling he spoke:\n\u201cThe man is not here who shall lift out that sword, nor do I know where\nto find him. But this is my counsel\u2014that two Knights be chosen, good and\ntrue men, to keep guard over the sword.\u201d\n\nThus it was done. But the lords and gentlemen-at-arms cried out that\nevery man had a right to try to win the sword, and they decided that on\nNew Year\u2019s Day a tournament should be held, and any Knight who would,\nmight enter the lists.\n\nSo on New Year\u2019s Day, the Knights, according to custom, went to hear\nservice in the Great Church, and after it was over they met in the field\nto make ready for the tourney. Among them was a brave Knight called Sir\nEctor, who brought with him Sir Kay, his son, and Arthur, Kay\u2019s\nfoster-brother. Now Kay had unbuckled his sword the evening before, and\nin his haste to be at the tourney had forgotten to put it on again, and\nhe begged Arthur to ride back and fetch it for him. But when Arthur\nreached the house the door was locked, for the women had gone out to see\nthe tourney, and, though Arthur tried his best to get in, he could not.\nThen he rode away in great anger, and said to himself, \u201cKay shall not be\nwithout a sword this day. I will take that sword in the churchyard, and\ngive it to him;\u201d and he galloped fast till he reached the gate of the\nchurchyard. He jumped down, tied his horse tightly to a tree, and,\nrunning up to the sword, seized the handle, and lightly and fiercely\ndrew it out; then he mounted his horse again, and delivered the sword to\nSir Kay. The moment Sir Kay saw the sword he knew it was not his own,\nbut the sword of the stone, and he sought out his father Sir Ector, and\nsaid to him, \u201cSir, this is the sword of the stone, therefore I am the\nrightful King.\u201d Sir Ector made no answer, but signed to Kay and Arthur\nto follow him, and they all three went back to the church. Leaving their\nhorses outside, they entered the choir, and here Sir Ector took a holy\nbook and bade Sir Kay swear how he came by that sword. \u201cMy brother\nArthur gave it to me,\u201d replied Sir Kay. \u201cHow did you come by it?\u201d asked\nSir Ector, turning to Arthur. \u201cSir,\u201d said Arthur, \u201cwhen I rode home for\nmy brother\u2019s sword, I found no one to deliver it to me, and as I\nresolved he should not be swordless, I thought of the sword in this\nstone, and I pulled it out.\u201d \u201cWere any Knights present when you did\nthis?\u201d asked Sir Ector. \u201cNo, none,\u201d said Arthur. \u201cThen you are the\nrightful King of this land,\u201d said Sir Ector. \u201cBut why am I the King?\u201d\ninquired Arthur. \u201cBecause,\u201d answered Sir Ector, \u201cthis is an enchanted\nsword, and no man could draw it but he who was born a King. Therefore\nput the sword back into the stone, and let me see you take it out.\u201d\n\u201cThat is soon done,\u201d said Arthur, replacing the sword, and Sir Ector\nhimself tried to draw it, but he could not. \u201cNow it is your turn,\u201d he\nsaid to Sir Kay, but Sir Kay fared no better than his father, though he\ntugged with all his might and main. \u201cNow you, Arthur,\u201d and Arthur pulled\nit out as easily as if it had been lying in its sheath, and as he did so\nSir Ector and Sir Kay sank on their knees before him. \u201cWhy do you, my\nfather and brother, kneel to me?\u201d asked Arthur in surprise. \u201cNay, nay,\nmy lord,\u201d answered Sir Ector, \u201cI am not your father, though till to-day\nI could not tell you who your father really was. You are the son of\nUther Pendragon, and you were brought to me when you were born by Merlin\nhimself, who promised that when the time came you should know from whom\nyou sprang.\u201d When Arthur heard that Sir Ector was not his father, he\nwept bitterly. \u201cIf I am King,\u201d he said at last, \u201cask what you will, and\nI shall not fail you. For to you, and to my lady and mother, I owe more\nthan to any one in the world, for she loved me and treated me as her\nson.\u201d \u201cSir,\u201d replied Sir Ector, \u201cI only ask that you will make your\nfoster-brother, Sir Kay, Seneschal of all your lands.\u201d \u201cThat I will\nreadily,\u201d answered Arthur, \u201cand while he and I live no other shall fill\nthat office.\u201d\n\n [Illustration: HOW ARTHVR DREW THE SWORD]\n\nSir Ector then bade them seek out the Archbishop with him, and they told\nhim all that had happened concerning the sword, which Arthur had left\nstanding in the stone. And on Twelfth Day the Knights and Barons came\nagain, but none could draw it out but Arthur. When they saw this, many\nof the Barons became angry and cried out that they would never own a boy\nfor King whose blood was no better than their own. So it was agreed to\nwait till Candlemas, when more Knights might be there, and meanwhile the\nsame two men who had been chosen before watched the sword night and day;\nbut at Candlemas it was the same thing, and at Easter. And when\nPentecost came, the common people who were present, and saw Arthur pull\nout the sword, cried with one voice that he was their King, and they\nwould kill any man who said differently.\n\nThen rich and poor fell on their knees before him, and Arthur took the\nsword and offered it upon the altar where the Archbishop stood, and the\nbest man who was there made him Knight. After that the crown was put on\nhis head, and he swore to his lords and commons that he would be a true\nKing, and would do them justice all the days of his life.\n\n\n\n\n THE SWORD EXCALIBUR.\n\n\nKing Arthur, accompanied by Merlin the magician, had left the comfort of\nthe court to seek adventures. He had fought a hard battle with the\ntallest Knight in all the land, and though he struck hard and well, he\nwould have been slain had not Merlin enchanted the Knight and cast him\ninto a deep sleep, and brought the King to a hermit who had studied the\nart of healing, and cured all his wounds in three days. Then Arthur and\nMerlin waited no longer, but gave the hermit thanks and departed.\n\nAs they rode together Arthur said, \u201cI have no sword,\u201d but Merlin bade\nhim be patient and he would soon give him one. In a little while they\ncame to a large lake, and in the midst of the lake Arthur beheld an arm\nrising out of the water, holding up a sword. \u201cLook!\u201d said Merlin, \u201cthat\nis the sword I spoke of.\u201d And the King looked again, and a maiden stood\nupon the water. \u201cThat is the Lady of the Lake,\u201d said Merlin, \u201cand she is\ncoming to you, and if you ask her courteously she will give you the\nsword.\u201d So when the maiden drew near, Arthur saluted her and said,\n\u201cMaiden, I pray you tell me whose sword is that which an arm is holding\nout of the water? I wish it were mine, for I have lost my sword.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat sword is mine, King Arthur,\u201d answered she, \u201cand I will give it to\nyou, if you in return will give me a gift when I ask you.\u201d\n\n\u201cBy my faith,\u201d said the King, \u201cI will give you whatever gift you ask.\u201d\n\u201cWell,\u201d said the maiden, \u201cget into the barge yonder, and row yourself to\nthe sword, and take it and the scabbard with you.\u201d For this was the\nsword Excalibur. \u201cAs for _my_ gift, I will ask it in my own time.\u201d Then\nKing Arthur and Merlin dismounted from their horses and tied them up\nsafely, and went into the barge, and when they came to the place where\nthe arm was holding the sword Arthur took it by the handle, and the arm\ndisappeared. And they brought the sword back to land. As they rode the\nKing looked lovingly on his sword, which Merlin saw, and, smiling, said,\n\u201cWhich do you like best, the sword or the scabbard?\u201d \u201cI like the sword,\u201d\nanswered Arthur. \u201cYou are not wise to say that,\u201d replied Merlin, \u201cfor\nthe scabbard is worth ten of the sword, and as long as it is buckled on\nyou you will lose no blood, however sorely you may be wounded.\u201d So they\nrode into the town of Carlion, and Arthur\u2019s Knights gave them a glad\nwelcome, and said it was a joy to serve under a King who risked his life\nas much as any common man.\n\n\n\n\n HOW THE ROUND TABLE BEGAN.\n\n\nAfter King Arthur had fought and conquered many enemies, he said one day\nto Merlin, whose counsel he took all the days of his life, \u201cMy Barons\nwill let me have no rest, but bid me take a wife, and I have answered\nthem that I shall take none, except you advise me.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is well,\u201d replied Merlin, \u201cthat you should take a wife, but is there\nany woman that you love better than another?\u201d \u201cYes,\u201d said Arthur, \u201cI\nlove Guenevere, daughter of Leodegrance, King of Cameliard, in whose\nhouse is the Round Table that my father gave him. This maiden is the\nfairest that I have ever seen, or ever shall see.\u201d \u201cSir,\u201d answered\nMerlin, \u201cwhat you say as to her beauty is true, but, if your heart was\nnot set on her, I could find you another as fair, and of more goodness,\nthan she. But if a man\u2019s heart is once set it is idle to try to turn\nhim.\u201d Then Merlin asked the King to give him a company of knights and\nesquires, that he might go to the Court of King Leodegrance and tell him\nthat King Arthur desired to wed his daughter, which Arthur did gladly.\nTherefore Merlin rode forth and made all the haste he could till he came\nto the Castle of Cameliard, and told King Leodegrance who had sent him\nand why.\n\n\u201cThat is the best news I have ever had,\u201d replied Leodegrance, \u201cfor\nlittle did I think that so great and noble a King should seek to marry\nmy daughter. As for lands to endow her with, I would give whatever he\nchose; but he has lands enough of his own, so I will give him instead\nsomething that will please him much more, the Round Table which Uther\nPendragon gave me, where a hundred and fifty Knights can sit at one\ntime. I myself can call to my side a hundred good Knights, but I lack\nfifty, for the wars have slain many, and some are absent.\u201d And without\nmore words King Leodegrance gave his consent that his daughter should\nwed King Arthur. And Merlin returned with his Knights and esquires,\njourneying partly by water and partly by land, till they drew near to\nLondon.\n\nWhen King Arthur heard of the coming of Merlin and of the Knights with\nthe Round Table he was filled with joy, and said to those that stood\nabout him, \u201cThis news that Merlin has brought me is welcome indeed, for\nI have long loved this fair lady, and the Round Table is dearer to me\nthan great riches.\u201d Then he ordered that Sir Lancelot should ride to\nfetch the Queen, and that preparations for the marriage and her\ncoronation should be made, which was done. \u201cNow, Merlin,\u201d said the King,\n\u201cgo and look about my kingdom and bring fifty of the bravest and most\nfamous Knights that can be found throughout the land.\u201d But no more than\neight and twenty Knights could Merlin find. With these Arthur had to be\ncontent, and the Bishop of Canterbury was fetched, and he blessed the\nseats that were placed by the Round Table, and the Knights sat in them.\n\u201cFair Sirs,\u201d said Merlin, when the Bishop had ended his blessing, \u201carise\nall of you, and pay your homage to the King.\u201d So the Knights arose to do\nhis bidding, and in every seat was the name of the Knight who had sat on\nit, written in letters of gold, but two seats were empty. After that\nyoung Gawaine came to the King, and prayed him to make him a Knight on\nthe day that he should wed Guenevere. \u201cThat I will gladly,\u201d replied the\nKing, \u201cfor you are my sister\u2019s son.\u201d\n\nAs the King was speaking, a poor man entered the Court, bringing with\nhim a youth about eighteen years old, riding on a lean mare, though it\nwas not the custom for gentlemen to ride on mares. \u201cWhere is King\nArthur?\u201d asked the man. \u201cYonder,\u201d answered the Knights. \u201cHave you\nbusiness with him?\u201d \u201cYes,\u201d said the man, and he went and bowed low\nbefore the King: \u201cI have heard, O King Arthur, flower of Knights and\nKings, that at the time of your marriage you would give any man the gift\nhe should ask for.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is truth,\u201d answered the King, \u201cas long as I do no wrong to other\nmen or to my kingdom.\u201d\n\n\u201cI thank you for your gracious words,\u201d said the poor man; \u201cthe boon I\nwould ask is that you would make my son a Knight.\u201d \u201cIt is a great boon\nto ask,\u201d answered the King. \u201cWhat is your name?\u201d\n\n\u201cSir, my name is Aries the cowherd.\u201d\n\n\u201cIs it you or your son that has thought of this honour?\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is my son who desires it, and not I,\u201d replied the man. \u201cI have\nthirteen sons who tend cattle, and work in the fields if I bid them; but\nthis boy will do nothing but shoot and cast darts, or go to watch\nbattles and look on Knights, and all day long he beseeches me to bring\nhim to you, that he may be knighted also.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat is your name?\u201d said Arthur, turning to the young man.\n\n\u201cSir, my name is Tor.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhere is your sword that I may knight you?\u201d said the King.\n\n\u201cIt is here, my lord.\u201d\n\n\u201cTake it out of its sheath,\u201d said the King, \u201cand require me to make you\na Knight.\u201d Then Tor jumped off his mare and pulled out his sword, and\nknelt before the King, praying that he might be made a Knight and a\nKnight of the Round Table.\n\n\u201cAs for a Knight, that I will make you,\u201d said Arthur, smiting him in the\nneck with the sword, \u201cand if you are worthy of it you shall be a Knight\nof the Round Table.\u201d Then was the high feast made ready, and the King\nwas wedded to fair Guenevere at Camelot in the Church of St. Stephen\nwith all due observance. And the next day Gawaine was made a Knight\nalso.\n\nSir Tor proved before long by his gallant deeds that he was well worthy\nto sit in one of the empty seats at the Round Table.\n\n\n\n\n THE STORY OF SIR BALIN.\n\n\nIn those days many Kings reigned in the Islands of the Sea, and they\nconstantly waged war upon each other, and on their liege lord, and news\ncame to Arthur that Ryons, King of North Wales, had collected a large\nhost and had ravaged his lands and slain some of his people. When he\nheard this, Arthur rose in anger, and commanded that all lords, Knights,\nand gentlemen of arms should meet him at Camelot, where he would call a\ncouncil, and hold a tourney.\n\nFrom every part the Knights flocked to Camelot, and the town was full to\noverflowing of armed men and their horses. And when they were all\nassembled, there rode in a damsel, who said she had come with a message\nfrom the great Lady Lile of Avelion, and begged that they would bring\nher before King Arthur. When she was led into his presence she let her\nmantle of fur slip off her shoulders, and they saw that by her side a\nrichly wrought sword was buckled. The King was silent with wonder at the\nstrange sight, but at last he said, \u201cDamsel, why do you wear this sword?\nfor swords are not the ornaments of women.\u201d \u201cOh, my lord,\u201d answered she,\n\u201cI would I could find some Knight to rid me of this sword, which weighs\nme down and causes me much sorrow. But the man who will deliver me of it\nmust be one who is mighty of his hands, and pure in his deeds, without\nvillainy, or treason. If I find a Knight such as this, he will draw this\nsword out of its sheath, and he only. For I have been at the Court of\nKing Ryons, and he and his Knights tried with all their strength to draw\nthe sword and they could not.\u201d\n\n\u201cLet me see if I can draw it,\u201d said Arthur, \u201cnot because I think myself\nthe best Knight, for well I know how far I am outdone by others, but to\nset them an example that they may follow me.\u201d With that the King took\nthe sword by the sheath and by the girdle, and pulled at it with all his\nforce, but the sword stuck fast. \u201cSir,\u201d said the damsel, \u201cyou need not\npull half so hard, for he that shall pull it out shall do it with little\nstrength.\u201d \u201cIt is not for me,\u201d answered Arthur, \u201cand now, my Barons, let\neach man try his fortune.\u201d So most of the Knights of the Round Table\nthere present pulled, one after another, at the sword, but none could\nstir it from its sheath. \u201cAlas! alas!\u201d cried the damsel in great grief,\n\u201cI thought to find in this Court Knights that were blameless and true of\nheart, and now I know not where to look for them.\u201d \u201cBy my faith,\u201d said\nArthur, \u201cthere are no better Knights in the world than these of mine,\nbut I am sore displeased that they cannot help me in this matter.\u201d\n\nNow at that time there was a poor Knight at Arthur\u2019s Court who had been\nkept prisoner for a year and a half because he had slain the King\u2019s\ncousin. He was of high birth and his name was Balin, and after he had\nsuffered eighteen months the punishment of his misdeed the Barons prayed\nthe King to set him free, which Arthur did willingly. When Balin,\nstanding apart beheld the Knights one by one try the sword, and fail to\ndraw it, his heart beat fast, yet he shrank from taking his turn, for he\nwas meanly dressed, and could not compare with the other Barons. But\nafter the damsel had bid farewell to Arthur and his Court, and was\nsetting out on her journey homewards, he called to her and said,\n\u201cDamsel, I pray you to suffer me to try your sword, as well as these\nlords, for though I am so poorly clothed, my heart is as high as\ntheirs.\u201d The damsel stopped and looked at him, and answered, \u201cSir, it is\nnot needful to put you to such trouble, for where so many have failed it\nis hardly likely that you will succeed.\u201d \u201cAh! fair damsel,\u201d said Balin,\n\u201cit is not fine clothes that make good deeds.\u201d \u201cYou speak truly,\u201d\nreplied the damsel, \u201ctherefore do what you can.\u201d Then Balin took the\nsword by the girdle and sheath, and pulled it out easily, and when he\nlooked at the sword he was greatly pleased with it. The King and the\nKnights were dumb with surprise that it was Balin who had triumphed over\nthem, and many of them envied him and felt anger towards him. \u201cIn\ntruth,\u201d said the damsel, \u201cthis is the best Knight that I ever found,\nbut, Sir, I pray you give me the sword again.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d answered Balin, \u201cI will keep it till it is taken from me by\nforce.\u201d \u201cIt is for your sake, not mine, that I ask for it,\u201d said the\ndamsel, \u201cfor with that sword you shall slay the man you love best, and\nit will bring about your own ruin.\u201d \u201cI will take what befalls me,\u201d\nreplied Balin, \u201cbut the sword I will not give up, by the faith of my\nbody.\u201d So the damsel departed in great sorrow. The next day Sir Balin\nleft the Court, and, armed with his sword, set forth in search of\nadventures, which he found in many places where he had not thought to\nmeet with them. In all the fights that he fought, Sir Balin was the\nvictor, and Arthur, and Merlin his friend, knew that there was no Knight\nliving of greater deeds, or more worthy of worship. And he was known to\nall as Sir Balin le Savage, the Knight of the two swords.\n\nOne day he was riding forth when at the turning of a road he saw a\ncross, and on it was written in letters of gold, \u201cLet no Knight ride\ntowards this castle.\u201d Sir Balin was still reading the writing when there\ncame towards him an old man with white hair, who said, \u201cSir Balin le\nSavage, this is not the way for you, so turn again and choose some other\npath.\u201d And so he vanished, and a horn blew loudly, as a horn is blown at\nthe death of a beast. \u201cThat blast,\u201d said Balin, \u201cis for me, but I am\nstill alive,\u201d and he rode to the castle, where a great company of\nknights and ladies met him and welcomed him, and made him a feast. Then\nthe lady of the castle said to him, \u201cKnight with the two swords, you\nmust now fight a Knight that guards an island, for it is our law that no\nman may leave us without he first fight a tourney.\u201d\n\n [Illustration: The Damsel Warns Sir Balin.]\n\n\u201cThat is a bad custom,\u201d said Balin, \u201cbut if I must I am ready; for\nthough my horse is weary my heart is strong.\u201d\n\n\u201cSir,\u201d said a Knight to him, \u201cyour shield does not look whole to me; I\nwill lend you another;\u201d so Balin listened to him and took the shield\nthat was offered, and left his own with his own coat of arms behind him.\nHe rode down to the shore, and led his horse into a boat which took them\nacross. When he reached the other side, a damsel came to him crying, \u201cO\nknight Balin, why have you left your own shield behind you? Alas! you\nhave put yourself in great danger, for by your shield you should have\nbeen known. I grieve over your doom, for there is no man living that can\nrival you for courage and bold deeds.\u201d\n\n\u201cI repent,\u201d answered Balin, \u201cever having come into this country, but for\nvery shame I must go on. Whatever befalls me, either for life or death,\nI am ready to take it.\u201d Then he examined his armour, and saw that it was\nwhole, and mounted his horse.\n\nAs he went along the path he beheld a Knight come out of a castle in\nfront, clothed in red, riding a horse with red trappings. When this red\nKnight looked on the two swords, he thought for a moment it was Balin,\nbut the shield did not bear Balin\u2019s device. So they rode at each other\nwith their spears, and smote each other\u2019s shields so hard that both\nhorses and men fell to the ground with the shock, and the Knights lay\nunconscious on the ground for some minutes. But soon they rose up again\nand began the fight afresh, and they fought till the place was red with\ntheir blood, and they had each seven great wounds. \u201cWhat Knight are\nyou?\u201d asked Balin le Savage, pausing for breath, \u201cfor never before have\nI found any Knight to match me.\u201d \u201cMy name,\u201d said he, \u201cis Balan, brother\nto the good Knight Balin.\u201d\n\n\u201cAlas!\u201d cried Balin, \u201cthat I should ever live to see this day,\u201d and he\nfell back fainting to the ground. At this sight Balan crept on his feet\nand hands, and pulled off Balin\u2019s helmet, so that he might see his face.\nThe fresh air revived Balin, and he awoke and said: \u201cO Balan, my\nbrother, you have slain me, and I you, and the whole world will speak\nill of us both.\u201d\n\n\u201cAlas,\u201d sighed Balan, \u201cif I had only known you! I saw your two swords,\nbut from your shield I thought you had been another knight.\u201d\n\n\u201cWoe is me!\u201d said Balin, \u201call this was wrought by an unhappy knight in\nthe castle, who caused me to change my shield for his. If I lived, I\nwould destroy that castle that he should not deceive other men.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou would have done well,\u201d answered Balan, \u201cfor they have kept me\nprisoner ever since I slew a Knight that guarded this island, and they\nwould have kept you captive too.\u201d Then came the lady of the castle and\nher companions, and listened as they made their moan. And Balan prayed\nthat she would grant them the grace to lie together, there where they\ndied, and their wish was given them, and she and those that were with\nher wept for pity.\n\nSo they died; and the lady made a tomb for them, and put Balan\u2019s name\nalone on it, for Balin\u2019s name she knew not. But Merlin knew, and next\nmorning he came and wrote it in letters of gold, and he ungirded Balin\u2019s\nsword, and unscrewed the pommel, and put another pommel on it, and bade\na Knight that stood by handle it, but the Knight could not. At that\nMerlin laughed.\n\n [Illustration: The Death of Balin and Balan]\n\n\u201cWhy do you laugh?\u201d asked the Knight. \u201cBecause,\u201d said Merlin, \u201cno man\nshall handle this sword but the best Knight in the world, and that is\neither Sir Lancelot or his son Sir Galahad. With this sword Sir Lancelot\nshall slay the man he loves best, and his name is Sir Gawaine.\u201d And this\nwas later done, in a fight across the seas.\n\nAll this Merlin wrote on the pommel of the sword. Next he made a bridge\nof steel to the island, six inches broad, and no man could pass over it\nthat was guilty of any evil deeds. The scabbard of the sword he left on\nthis side of the island, so that Galahad should find it. The sword\nitself he put in a magic stone, which floated down the stream to\nCamelot, that is now called Winchester. And the same day Galahad came to\nthe river, having in his hand the scabbard, and he saw the sword and\npulled it out of the stone, as is told in another place.\n\n\n\n\n WHAT BEAUMAINS ASKED OF THE KING.\n\n\nAs Pentecost drew near King Arthur commanded that all the Knights of the\nRound Table should keep the feast at a city called Kin-Kenadon, hard by\nthe sands of Wales, where there was a great castle. Now it was the\nKing\u2019s custom that he would eat no food on the day of Pentecost, which\nwe call Whit Sunday, until he had heard or seen some great marvel. So on\nthat morning Sir Gawaine was looking from the window a little before\nnoon when he espied three men on horseback, and with them a dwarf on\nfoot, who held their horses when they alighted. Then Sir Gawaine went to\nthe King and said, \u201cSir, go to your food, for strange adventures are at\nhand.\u201d And Arthur called the other Kings that were in the castle, and\nall the Knights of the Round Table that were a hundred and fifty, and\nthey sat down to dine. When they were seated there entered the hall two\nmen well and richly dressed, and upon their shoulders leaned the\nhandsomest young man that ever was seen of any of them, higher than the\nother two by a cubit. He was wide in the chest and large handed, but his\ngreat height seemed to be a burden and a shame to him, therefore it was\nhe leaned on the shoulders of his friends. As soon as Arthur beheld him\nhe made a sign, and without more words all three went up to the high\nda\u00efs, where the King sat. Then the tall young man stood up straight, and\nsaid: \u201cKing Arthur, God bless you and all your fair fellowship, and in\nespecial the fellowship of the Table Round. I have come hither to pray\nyou to give me three gifts, which you can grant me honourably, for they\nwill do no hurt to you or to any one.\u201d \u201cAsk,\u201d answered Arthur, \u201cand you\nshall have your asking.\u201d\n\n\u201cSir, this is my petition for this feast, for the other two I will ask\nafter. Give me meat and drink for this one twelvemonth.\u201d \u201cWell,\u201d said\nthe king, \u201cyou shall have meat and drink enough, for that I give to\nevery man, whether friend or foe. But tell me your name!\u201d\n\n\u201cI cannot tell you that,\u201d answered he. \u201cThat is strange,\u201d replied the\nKing, \u201cbut you are the goodliest young man I ever saw,\u201d and, turning to\nSir Kay, the steward, charged him to give the young man to eat and drink\nof the best, and to treat him in all ways as if he were a lord\u2019s son.\n\u201cThere is little need to do that,\u201d answered Sir Kay, \u201cfor if he had come\nof gentlemen and not of peasants he would have asked of you a horse and\narmour. But as the birth of a man is so are his requests. And seeing he\nhas no name I will give him one, and it shall be Beaumains, or\nFair-hands, and he shall sit in the kitchen and eat broth, and at the\nend of a year he shall be as fat as any pig that feeds on acorns.\u201d So\nthe young man was left in charge of Sir Kay, that scorned and mocked\nhim.\n\nSir Lancelot and Sir Gawaine were wroth when they heard what Sir Kay\nsaid, and bade him leave off his mocking, for they believed the youth\nwould turn out to be a man of great deeds; but Sir Kay paid no heed to\nthem, and took him down to the great hall, and set him among the boys\nand lads, where he ate sadly. After he had finished eating both Sir\nLancelot and Sir Gawaine bade him come to their room, and would have had\nhim eat and drink there, but he refused, saying he was bound to obey Sir\nKay, into whose charge the King had given him. So he was put into the\nkitchen by Sir Kay, and slept nightly with the kitchen boys. This he\nbore for a whole year, and was always mild and gentle, and gave hard\nwords to no one. Only, whenever the Knights played at tourney he would\nsteal out and watch them. And Sir Lancelot gave him gold to spend, and\nclothes to wear, and so did Gawaine. Also, if there were any games held\nwhereat he might be, none could throw a bar nor cast a stone as far as\nhe by two good yards.\n\nThus the year passed by till the feast of Whitsuntide came again, and\nthis time the king held it at Carlion. But King Arthur would eat no meat\nat Whitsuntide till some adventures were told him, and glad was he when\na squire came and said to him, \u201cSir you may go to your food, for here is\na damsel with some strange tales.\u201d At this the damsel was led into the\nhall, and bowed low before the King, and begged he would give her help.\n\u201cFor whom?\u201d asked the King, \u201cand what is the adventure?\u201d \u201cSir,\u201d answered\nshe, \u201cmy sister is a noble lady of great fame, who is besieged by a\ntyrant, and may not get out of her castle. And it is because your\nKnights are said to be the noblest in all the world that I came to you\nfor aid.\u201d \u201cWhat is your sister\u2019s name, and where does she dwell? And who\nis the man that besieges her, and where does he come from?\u201d \u201cSir King,\u201d\nanswered she, \u201cas for my sister\u2019s name, I cannot tell it you now, but\nshe is a lady of great beauty and goodness, and of many lands. As for\nthe tyrant who besieges her, he is called the Red Knight of the Red\nLawns.\u201d \u201cI know nothing of him,\u201d said the King. \u201cBut I know him,\u201d cried\nSir Gawaine, \u201cand he is one of the most dangerous Knights in the world.\nMen say he has the strength of seven, and once when we had crossed\nswords I hardly escaped from him with my life.\u201d \u201cFair damsel,\u201d then said\nthe King, \u201cthere are many Knights here who would go gladly to the rescue\nof your lady, but none of them shall do so with my consent unless you\nwill tell us her name, and the place of her castle.\u201d \u201cThen I must speak\nfurther,\u201d said the damsel. But before she had made answer to the King up\ncame Beaumains, and spoke to Arthur, saying, \u201cSir King, I thank you that\nfor this whole year I have lived in your kitchen, and had meat and\ndrink, and now I will ask you for the two gifts that you promised me on\nthis day.\u201d \u201cAsk them,\u201d answered the King. \u201cSir, these shall be my two\ngifts. First grant me the adventure of this damsel, for it is mine by\nright.\u201d \u201cYou shall have it,\u201d said the King. \u201cThen, Sir, you shall bid\nSir Lancelot du Lake to make me Knight, for I will receive Knighthood at\nthe hands of no other.\u201d \u201cAll this shall be done,\u201d said the King. \u201cFie on\nyou,\u201d cried the damsel, \u201cwill you give me none but a kitchen boy to\nrescue my lady?\u201d and she went away in a rage, and mounted her horse.\n\nNo sooner had she left the hall than a page came to Beaumains and told\nhim that a horse and fair armour had been brought for him, also there\nhad arrived a dwarf carrying all things that a Knight needed. And when\nhe was armed there were few men that were handsomer than he, and the\nCourt wondered greatly whence these splendid trappings had come. Then\nBeaumains came into the hall, and took farewell of the King, and Sir\nGawaine and Sir Lancelot, and prayed Sir Lancelot that he would follow\nafter him. So he departed, and rode after the damsel. Many looked upon\nhim and marvelled at the strength of his horse, and its golden\ntrappings, and envied Beaumains his shining coat of mail; but they noted\nthat he had neither shield nor spear. \u201cI will ride after him,\u201d laughed\nSir Kay, \u201cand see if my kitchen boy will own me for his better.\u201d \u201cLeave\nhim and stay at home,\u201d said Sir Gawaine and Sir Lancelot, but Sir Kay\nwould not listen and sprang upon his horse. Just as Beaumains came up\nwith the damsel, Sir Kay reached Beaumains, and said, \u201cBeaumains, do you\nnot know me?\u201d\n\nBeaumains turned and looked at him, and answered, \u201cYes, I know you for\nan ill-mannered Knight, therefore beware of me.\u201d At this Sir Kay put his\nspear in rest and charged him, and Beaumains drew his sword and charged\nSir Kay, and dashed aside the spear, and thrust him through the side,\ntill Sir Kay fell down as if he had been dead, and Beaumains took his\nshield and spear for himself. Then he sprang on his own horse, bidding\nfirst his dwarf take Sir Kay\u2019s horse, and rode away. All this was seen\nby Sir Lancelot, who had followed him, and also by the damsel. In a\nlittle while Beaumains stopped, and asked Sir Lancelot if he would tilt\nwith him, and they came together with such a shock that both the horses\nand their riders fell to the earth and were bruised sorely. Sir Lancelot\nwas the first to rise, and he helped Beaumains from his horse, and\nBeaumains threw his shield from him, and offered to fight on foot. And\nthey rushed together like wild boars, turning and thrusting and parrying\nfor the space of an hour, and Sir Lancelot marvelled at the young man\u2019s\nstrength, and thought he was more like a giant than a Knight, and\ndreading lest he himself should be put to shame, he said: \u201cBeaumains, do\nnot fight so hard, we have no quarrel that forbids us to leave off.\u201d\n\u201cThat is true,\u201d answered Beaumains, laying down his arms, \u201cbut it does\nme good, my lord, to feel your might.\u201d \u201cWell,\u201d said Sir Lancelot, \u201cI\npromise you I had much ado to save myself from you unshamed, therefore\nhave no fear of any other Knight.\u201d \u201cDo you think I could really stand\nagainst a proved Knight?\u201d asked Beaumains. \u201cYes,\u201d said Lancelot, \u201cif you\nfight as you have fought to-day I will be your warrant against any one.\u201d\n\u201cThen I pray you,\u201d cried Beaumains, \u201cgive me the order of knighthood.\u201d\n\u201cYou must first tell me your name,\u201d replied Lancelot, \u201cand who are your\nkindred.\u201d \u201cYou will not betray me if I do?\u201d asked Beaumains. \u201cNo, that I\nwill never do, till it is openly known,\u201d said Lancelot. \u201cThen, Sir, my\nname is Gareth, and Sir Gawaine is my brother.\u201d \u201cAh, Sir,\u201d cried\nLancelot, \u201cI am more pleased with you than ever. I was sure you came of\ngood blood, and that you did not come to the Court for meat and drink\nonly.\u201d And he bade him kneel, and gave him the order of knighthood.\nAfter that Sir Gareth wished to go his own ways, and departed. When he\nwas gone, Sir Lancelot went back to Sir Kay and ordered some men that\nwere by to bear him home on a shield, and in time his wounds were\nhealed; but he was scorned of all men, and especially of Sir Gawaine and\nSir Lancelot, who told him it was no good deed to treat any young man\nso, and no one could tell what his birth might be, or what had brought\nhim to the Court.\n\n [Illustration: Faugh Sir! You Smell of Y^e Kitchen / Gareth & Linet]\n\nThen Beaumains rode after the damsel, who stopped when she saw him\ncoming. \u201cWhat are you doing here?\u201d said she. \u201cYour clothes smell of the\ngrease and tallow of the kitchen! Do you think to change my heart\ntowards you because of yonder Knight whom you slew? No, truly! I know\nwell who you are, you turner of spits! Go back to King Arthur\u2019s kitchen,\nwhich is your proper place.\u201d \u201cDamsel,\u201d replied Beaumains, \u201cyou may say\nto me what you will, but I shall not quit you whatever you may do, for I\nhave vowed to King Arthur to relieve the lady in the castle, and I shall\nset her free or die fighting for her.\u201d \u201cFie on you, Scullion,\u201d answered\nshe. \u201cYou will meet with one who will make you such a welcome that you\nwould give all the broth you ever cooked never to have seen his face.\u201d\n\u201cI shall do my best to fight him,\u201d said Beaumains, and held his peace.\n\nSoon they entered the wood, and there came a man flying towards them,\ngalloping with all his might. \u201cOh, help! help! lord,\u201d cried he, \u201cfor my\nmaster lies in a thicket, bound by six thieves, and I greatly fear they\nwill slay him.\u201d \u201cShow me the way,\u201d said Sir Beaumains, and they rode\ntogether till they reached the place where the Knight lay bound. Then\nSir Beaumains charged the six thieves, and struck one dead, and another,\nand another still, and the other three fled, not liking the battle. Sir\nBeaumains pursued them till they turned at bay, and fought hard for\ntheir lives; but in the end Sir Beaumains slew them, and returned to the\nKnight and unbound him. The Knight thanked Beaumains heartily for his\ndeliverance, and prayed him to come to his castle, where he would reward\nhim. \u201cSir,\u201d said Beaumains, \u201cI was this day made Knight by noble Sir\nLancelot, and that is reward enough for anything I may do. Besides, I\nmust follow this damsel.\u201d But when he came near her she reviled him as\nbefore, and bade him ride far from her. \u201cDo you think I set store by\nwhat you have done? You will soon see a sight that will make you tell a\nvery different tale.\u201d At this the Knight whom Beaumains had rescued rode\nup to the damsel, and begged that she would rest in his castle that\nnight, as the sun was now setting. The damsel agreed, and the Knight\nordered a great supper, and gave Sir Beaumains a seat above the seat of\nthe damsel, who rose up in anger. \u201cFie! fie! Sir Knight,\u201d cried she,\n\u201cyou are uncourteous to set a mere kitchen page before me; he is not fit\nto be in the company of highborn people.\u201d Her words struck shame into\nthe Knight, and he took Beaumains and set him at a side table, and\nseated himself before him.\n\nIn the early morning Sir Beaumains and the damsel bade farewell to the\nKnight, and rode through the forest till they came to a great river,\nwhere stood two Knights on the further side, guarding the passage.\n\u201cWell, what do you say now?\u201d asked the damsel. \u201cWill you fight them or\nturn back?\u201d \u201cI would not turn if there were six more of them,\u201d answered\nSir Beaumains, and he rushed into the water and so did one of the\nKnights. They came together in the middle of the stream, and their\nspears broke in two with the force of the charge, and they drew their\nswords, hitting hard at each other. At length Sir Beaumains dealt the\nother Knight such a blow that he fell from his horse, and was drowned in\nthe river. Then Beaumains put his horse at the bank, where the second\nKnight was waiting for him, and they fought long together, till Sir\nBeaumains clave his helmet in two. So he left him dead, and rode after\nthe damsel.\n\n [Illustration: LINET AND THE BLACK KNIGHT]\n\n\u201cAlas!\u201d she cried, \u201cthat even a kitchen page should have power to\ndestroy two such Knights! You think you have done mighty things, but you\nare wrong! As to the first Knight, his horse stumbled, and he was\ndrowned before you ever touched him. And the other you took from behind,\nand struck him when he was defenceless.\u201d \u201cDamsel!\u201d answered Beaumains,\n\u201cyou may say what you will, I care not what it is, so I may deliver this\nlady.\u201d \u201cFie, foul kitchen knave, you shall see Knights that will make\nyou lower your crest.\u201d \u201cI pray you be more civil in your language,\u201d\nanswered Beaumains, \u201cfor it matters not to me what Knights they be, I\nwill do battle with them.\u201d \u201cI am trying to turn you back for your own\ngood,\u201d answered she, \u201cfor if you follow me you are certainly a dead man,\nas well I know all you have won before has been by luck.\u201d \u201cSay what you\nwill, damsel,\u201d said he, \u201cbut where you go I will follow you,\u201d and they\nrode together till eventide, and all the way she chid him and gave him\nno rest.\n\nAt length they reached an open space where there was a black lawn, and\non the lawn a black hawthorn, whereon hung a black banner on one side,\nand a black shield and spear, big and long, on the other. Close by stood\na black horse covered with silk, fastened to a black stone. A Knight,\ncovered with black armour, sat on the horse, and when she saw him the\ndamsel bade him ride away, as his horse was not saddled. But the Knight\ndrew near and said to her, \u201cDamsel, have you brought this Knight from\nKing Arthur\u2019s Court to be your champion?\u201d \u201cNo, truly,\u201d answered she,\n\u201cthis is but a kitchen boy, fed by King Arthur for charity.\u201d \u201cThen why\nis he clad in armour?\u201d asked the Knight; \u201cit is a shame that he should\neven bear you company.\u201d \u201cI cannot be rid of him,\u201d said she, \u201che rides\nwith me against my will. I would that you were able to deliver me from\nhim! Either slay him or frighten him off, for by ill fortune he has this\nday slain the two Knights of the passage.\u201d \u201cI wonder much,\u201d said the\nBlack Knight, \u201cthat any man who is well born should consent to fight\nwith him.\u201d \u201cThey do not know him,\u201d replied the damsel, \u201cand they think\nhe must be a famous Knight because he rides with me.\u201d \u201cThat may be,\u201d\nsaid the Black Knight, \u201cbut he is well made, and looks likely to be a\nstrong man; still I promise you I will just throw him to the ground, and\ntake away his horse and armour, for it would be a shame to me to do\nmore.\u201d When Sir Beaumains heard him talk thus he looked up and said,\n\u201cSir Knight, you are lightly disposing of my horse and armour, but I\nwould have you know that I will pass this lawn against your will or not,\nand you will only get my horse and armour if you win them in fair fight.\nTherefore let me see what you can do.\u201d \u201cSay you so?\u201d answered the\nKnight, \u201cnow give up the lady at once, for it ill becomes a kitchen page\nto ride with a lady of high degree.\u201d \u201cIt is a lie,\u201d said Beaumains, \u201cI\nam a gentleman born, and my birth is better than yours, as I will prove\nupon your body.\u201d\n\nWith that they drew back their horses so as to charge each other hotly,\nand for the space of an hour and a half they fought fiercely and well,\nbut in the end a blow from Beaumains threw the Knight from his horse,\nand he swooned and died. Then Beaumains jumped down, and seeing that the\nKnight\u2019s horse and armour were better than his own, he took them for\nhimself and rode after the damsel. While they were thus riding together,\nand the damsel was chiding him as ever she did, they saw a Knight coming\ntowards them dressed all in green. \u201cIs that my brother the Black Knight\nwho is with you?\u201d asked he of the damsel. \u201cNo, indeed,\u201d she replied,\n\u201cthis unhappy kitchen knave has slain your brother, to my great sorrow.\u201d\n\u201cAlas!\u201d sighed the Green Knight, \u201cthat my brother should die so meanly\nat the hand of a kitchen knave. Traitor!\u201d he added, turning to\nBeaumains, \u201cthou shalt die for slaying my brother, for he was a noble\nKnight, and his name was Sir Percard.\u201d \u201cI defy you,\u201d said Beaumains,\n\u201cfor I slew him as a good Knight should.\u201d\n\nThen the Green Knight seized a horn which hung from a thorn tree, and\nblew three notes upon it, and two damsels came and armed him, and\nfastened on him a green shield and a green spear. So the fight began and\nraged long, first on horseback and then on foot, till both were sore\nwounded. At last the damsel came and stood beside them, and said, \u201cMy\nlord the Green Knight, why for very shame do you stand so long fighting\na kitchen knave? You ought never to have been made a Knight at all!\u201d\nThese scornful words stung the heart of the Green Knight, and he dealt a\nmighty stroke which cleft asunder the shield of Beaumains. And when\nBeaumains saw this, he struck a blow upon the Knight\u2019s helmet which\nbrought him to his knees, and Beaumains leapt on him, and dragged him to\nthe ground. Then the Green Knight cried for mercy, and offered to yield\nhimself prisoner unto Beaumains. \u201cIt is all in vain,\u201d answered\nBeaumains, \u201cunless the damsel prays me for your life,\u201d and therewith he\nunlaced his helmet as though he would slay him. \u201cFie upon thee, false\nkitchen page!\u201d said the damsel, \u201cI will never pray to save his life, for\nI am sure he is in no danger.\u201d \u201cSuffer me not to die,\u201d entreated the\nKnight, \u201cwhen a word may save me! Fair Knight,\u201d he went on, turning to\nBeaumains, \u201csave my life, and I will forgive you the death of my\nbrother, and will do you service for ever, and will bring thirty of my\nKnights to serve you likewise.\u201d \u201cIt is a shame,\u201d cried the damsel, \u201cthat\nsuch a kitchen knave should have you and thirty Knights besides.\u201d \u201cSir\nKnight,\u201d said Beaumains, \u201cI care nothing for all this, but if I am to\nspare your life the damsel must ask for it,\u201d and he stepped forward as\nif to slay him. \u201cLet be, foul knave,\u201d then said the damsel, \u201cdo not slay\nhim. If you do, you will repent it.\u201d \u201cDamsel,\u201d answered Beaumains, \u201cit\nis a pleasure to me to obey you, and at your wish I will save his life.\nSir Knight with the green arms, I release you at the request of this\ndamsel, and I will fulfil all she charges me.\u201d\n\nThen the Green Knight kneeled down, and did him homage with his sword.\n\u201cI am sorry,\u201d said the damsel, \u201cfor the wounds you have received, and\nfor your brother\u2019s death, for I had great need of you both, and have\nmuch dread of passing the forest.\u201d \u201cFear nothing,\u201d answered the Green\nKnight, \u201cfor this evening you shall lodge in my house, and to-morrow I\nwill show you the way through the forest.\u201d And they went with the Green\nKnight. But the damsel did not mend her ways with Beaumains, and ever\nmore reviled him, till the Green Knight rebuked her, saying Beaumains\nwas the noblest Knight that held a spear, and that in the end she would\nfind he had sprung from some great King. And the Green Knight summoned\nthe thirty Knights who did him service, and bade them henceforth do\nservice to Beaumains, and guard him from treachery, and when he had need\nof them they would be ready to obey his orders. So they bade each other\nfarewell, and Beaumains and the damsel rode forth anew. In like manner\ndid Sir Beaumains overcome the Red Knight, who was the third brother,\nand the Red Knight cried for mercy, and offered to bring sixty Knights\nto do him service, and Beaumains spared his life at the request of the\ndamsel, and likewise it so happened to Sir Persant of Inde.\n\nAnd this time the damsel prayed Beaumains to give up the fight, saying,\n\u201cSir, I wonder who you are and of what kindred you have come. Boldly you\nspeak, and boldly you have done; therefore I pray you to depart and save\nyourself while you may, for both you and your horse have suffered great\nfatigues, and I fear we delay too long, for the besieged castle is but\nseven miles from this place, and all the perils are past save this one\nonly. I dread sorely lest you should get some hurt; yet this Sir Persant\nof Inde is nothing in might to the Knight who has laid siege to my\nlady.\u201d But Sir Beaumains would not listen to her words, and vowed that\nby two hours after noon he would have overthrown him, and that it would\nstill be daylight when they reached the castle. \u201cWhat sort of a man can\nyou be?\u201d answered the damsel, looking at him in wonder, \u201cfor never did a\nwoman treat a Knight as ill and shamefully as I have done you, while you\nhave always been gentle and courteous to me, and no one bears himself\nlike that save he who is of noble blood.\u201d \u201cDamsel,\u201d replied Beaumains,\n\u201cyour hard words only drove me to strike the harder, and though I ate in\nKing Arthur\u2019s kitchen, perhaps I might have had as much food as I wanted\nelsewhere. But all I have done was to make proof of my friends, and\nwhether I am a gentleman or not, fair damsel, I have done you\ngentleman\u2019s service, and may perchance do you greater service before we\npart from each other.\u201d \u201cAlas, fair Beaumains, forgive me all that I have\nsaid and done against you.\u201d \u201cWith all my heart,\u201d he answered, \u201cand since\nyou are pleased now to speak good words to me, know that I hear them\ngladly, and there is no Knight living but I feel strong enough to meet\nhim.\u201d\n\nSo Beaumains conquered Sir Persant of Inde, who brought a hundred\nKnights to be sworn into his service, and the next morning the damsel\nled him to the castle, where the Red Knight of the Red Lawn held fast\nthe lady. \u201cHeaven defend you,\u201d cried Sir Persant, when they told him\nwhere they were going; \u201cthat is the most perilous Knight now living, for\nhe has the strength of seven men. He has done great wrong to that lady,\nwho is one of the fairest in all the world, and it seems to me that this\ndamsel must be her sister. Is not her name Linet?\u201d \u201cYes, Sir,\u201d answered\nshe, \u201cand my lady my sister\u2019s name is dame Lyonesse.\u201d \u201cThe Red Knight\nhas drawn out the siege for two years,\u201d said Sir Persant, \u201cthough he\nmight have forced an entrance many a time, but he hoped that Sir\nLancelot du Lake or Sir Tristram or Sir Gawaine should come to do battle\nwith him.\u201d \u201cMy Lord Sir Persant of Inde,\u201d said the damsel, \u201cI bid you\nknight this gentleman before he fight with the Red Knight.\u201d \u201cThat I will\ngladly,\u201d replied Sir Persant, \u201cif it please him to take the order of\nknighthood from so simple a man as I am.\u201d \u201cSir,\u201d answered Beaumains, \u201cI\nthank you for your goodwill, but at the beginning of this quest I was\nmade a Knight by Sir Lancelot. My name is Sir Gareth of Orkney and Sir\nGawaine is my brother, though neither he nor King Arthur, whose sister\nis my mother, knows of it. I pray you to keep it close also.\u201d\n\nNow word was brought unto the besieged lady by the dwarf that her sister\nwas coming to her with a Knight sent by King Arthur. And when the lady\nheard all that Beaumains had done, and how he had overthrown all who\nstood in his way, she bade her dwarf take baked venison, and fat capons,\nand two silver flagons of wine and a gold cup, and put them into the\nhands of a hermit that dwelt in a hermitage close by. The dwarf did so,\nand the lady then sent him to greet her sister and Sir Beaumains, and to\nbeg them to eat and drink in the hermit\u2019s cell, and rest themselves,\nwhich they did. When they drew near the besieged castle Sir Beaumains\nsaw full forty Knights, with spurs on their heels and swords in their\nhands, hanging from the tall trees that stood upon the lawn. \u201cFair Sir,\u201d\nsaid the damsel, \u201cthese Knights came hither to rescue my sister, dame\nLyonesse; and if you cannot overthrow the Knight of the Red Lawn, you\nwill hang there too.\u201d\n\n [Illustration: The Lady of Lyonesse sees Sir Gareth]\n\n\u201cTruly,\u201d answered Beaumains, \u201cit is a marvel that none of King Arthur\u2019s\nKnights has dealt with the Knight of the Red Lawn ere this;\u201d and they\nrode up to the castle, which had round it high walls and deep ditches,\ntill they came to a great sycamore tree, where hung a horn. And whoso\ndesired to do battle with the Red Knight must blow that horn loudly.\n\n\u201cSir, I pray you,\u201d said Linet, as Beaumains bent forward to seize it,\n\u201cdo not blow it till it is full noontide, for during three hours before\nthat the Red Knight\u2019s strength so increases that it is as the strength\nof seven men; but when noon is come, he has the might of one man only.\u201d\n\n\u201cAh! for shame, damsel, to say such words. I will fight him as he is, or\nnot at all,\u201d and Beaumains blew such a blast that it rang through the\ncastle. And the Red Knight buckled on his armour, and came to where\nBeaumains stood. So the battle began, and a fierce one it was, and much\nado had Beaumains to last out till noon, when the Red Knight\u2019s strength\nbegan to wane; they rested, and came on again, and in the end the Red\nKnight yielded to Sir Beaumains, and the lords and barons in the castle\ndid homage to the victor, and begged that the Red Knight\u2019s life might be\nspared on condition they all took service with Beaumains. This was\ngranted to them, and Linet bound up his wounds and put ointment on them,\nand so she did likewise to Sir Beaumains. But the Red Knight was sent to\nthe Court of King Arthur, and told him all that Sir Beaumains had done.\nAnd King Arthur and his Knights marvelled.\n\nNow Sir Beaumains had looked up at the windows of Castle Perilous before\nthe fight, and had seen the face of the Lady Lyonesse, and had thought\nit the fairest in all the world. After he had subdued the Red Knight, he\nhasted into the castle, and the Lady Lyonesse welcomed him, and he told\nher he had bought her love with the best blood in his body. And she did\nnot say him nay, but put him off for a time. Then the King sent letters\nto her to bid her, and likewise Sir Gareth, come to his Court, and by\nthe counsel of Sir Gareth she prayed the King to let her call a\ntournament, and to proclaim that the Knight who bore himself best\nshould, if he was unwedded, take her and all her lands. But if he had a\nwife already he should be given a white ger-falcon, and for his wife a\ncrown of gold, set about with precious stones.\n\nSo the Lady Lyonesse did as Sir Gareth had counselled her, and answered\nKing Arthur that where Sir Gareth was she could not tell, but that if\nthe King would call a tourney he might be sure that Sir Gareth would\ncome to it. \u201cIt is well thought of,\u201d said Arthur, and the Lady Lyonesse\ndeparted unto Castle Perilous, and summoned all her Knights around her,\nand told them what she had done, and how they were to make ready to\nfight in the tournament. She began at once to set her castle in order,\nand to think what she should do with the great array of Knights that\nwould ride hither from the furthest parts\u2014from Scotland and Wales and\nCornwall\u2014and to lodge fitly the Kings, Dukes, Earls, and Barons that\nshould come with Arthur. Queen Guenevere also she awaited, and the Queen\nof Orkney, Sir Gareth\u2019s mother. But Sir Gareth entreated the Lady\nLyonesse and those Knights that were in the castle with him not to let\nhis name be known, and this they agreed to.\n\n\u201cSir Gareth,\u201d said dame Lyonesse, \u201cI will lend you a ring, which I\nbeseech you for the love you bear me to give me back when the tournament\nis done, for without it I have but little beauty. This ring is like no\nother ring, it will turn green red, and blue white, and the bearer shall\nlose no blood, however sore he may be wounded.\u201d\n\n\u201cTruly, my own lady,\u201d answered Sir Gareth, \u201cthis ring will serve me\nwell, and by its help I shall not fear that any man shall know me.\u201d And\nSir Gringamore, brother to the Lady Lyonesse, gave him a bay horse, and\nstrong armour, and a sharp sword that had once belonged to his father.\nOn the morning of the fifteenth of August, when the Feast of the\nAssumption was kept, the King commanded his heralds to blow loudly their\ntrumpets, so that every Knight might know that he must enter the lists.\nIt was a noble sight to see them flocking clad in shining armour, each\nman with his device upon his shield. And the heralds marked who bare\nthem best, and who were overthrown. All marvelled as to who the Knight\ncould be whose armour sometimes seemed green, and sometimes white, but\nno man knew it was Sir Gareth. And whosoever Sir Gareth tilted with was\nstraightway overthrown. \u201cOf a truth,\u201d cried King Arthur, \u201cthat Knight\nwith the many colours is a good Knight,\u201d and he called Sir Lancelot and\nbade him to challenge that Knight to combat. But Sir Lancelot said that\nthough the Knight had come off victor in every fight, yet his limbs must\nbe weary, for he had fought as a man fights under the eyes of his lady,\n\u201cand for this day,\u201d said Sir Lancelot, \u201che shall have the honour. Though\nit lay in my power to put it from him, I would not.\u201d\n\nThen they paused for a while to rest, and afterwards the tournament\nbegan again more fiercely than before, and Sir Lancelot was set upon by\ntwo Knights at once. When Sir Gareth saw that, he rode in between them,\nbut no stroke would he deal Sir Lancelot, which Sir Lancelot noted, and\nguessed that it was the good Knight Sir Gareth. Sir Gareth went hither\nand thither, smiting any one that came in his way, and by fortune he met\nwith his brother Sir Gawaine, and knocked off his helmet. Now it\nhappened that while he was fighting a Knight dealt Sir Gareth a fierce\nblow on his helm, and he rode off the field to mend it. Then his dwarf\nwho had been watching eagerly, cried out to Sir Gareth to leave the ring\nwith him, lest he should lose it while he was drinking, which Sir Gareth\ndid; and when he had drunk and mended his helm he forgot the ring, at\nwhich the dwarf was glad, for he knew his name could no longer be hid.\nAnd when Sir Gareth returned to the field, his armour shone yellow like\ngold, and King Arthur marvelled what Knight he was, for he saw by his\nhair that he was the same Knight who had worn the many colours. \u201cGo,\u201d he\nsaid to his heralds, \u201cride near him and see what manner of Knight he is,\nfor none can tell me his name.\u201d So a herald drew close to him, and saw\nthat on his helm was written in golden letters \u201cThis helm belongs to Sir\nGareth of Orkney\u201d; and the herald cried out and made proclamation, and\nthe Kings and Knights pressed to behold him. And when Sir Gareth saw he\nwas discovered, he struck more fiercely than before, and smote down Sir\nSagramore, and his brother Sir Gawaine. \u201cO brother,\u201d said Sir Gawaine,\n\u201cI did not think you would have smitten me!\u201d When Sir Gareth heard him\nsay that he rode out of the press, and cried to his dwarf, \u201cBoy, you\nhave played me foul, for you have kept my ring. Give it to me now, that\nI may hide myself,\u201d and he galloped swiftly into the forest, and no one\nknew where he had gone. \u201cWhat shall I do next?\u201d asked he of the dwarf.\n\u201cSir,\u201d answered the dwarf, \u201csend the Lady Lyonesse back her ring.\u201d \u201cYour\ncounsel is good,\u201d said Gareth; \u201ctake it to her, and commend me to her\ngrace, and say I will come when I may, and bid her to be faithful to me,\nas I am to her.\u201d After that Sir Gareth rode deeper into the forest.\n\nThough Sir Gareth had left the tournament he found that there were as\nmany fights awaiting him as if he had remained there. He overcame all\nhis foes, and sent them and their followers to do homage to King Arthur,\nbut he himself stayed behind. He was standing alone after they had gone,\nwhen he beheld an armed Knight coming towards him. Sir Gareth sprang on\nhis horse, and without a word the two crashed together like thunder, and\nstrove hard for two hours, till the ground was wet with blood. At that\ntime the damsel Linet came riding by, and saw what was doing, and knew\nwho were the fighters. And she cried \u201cSir Gawaine, Sir Gawaine, leave\nfighting with your brother Sir Gareth.\u201d Then he threw down his shield\nand sword, and ran to Sir Gareth, and first took him in his arms and\nnext kneeled down and asked mercy of him. \u201cWhy do you, who were but now\nso strong and mighty, so suddenly yield to me?\u201d asked Sir Gareth, who\nhad not perceived the damsel. \u201cO Gareth, I am your brother, and have had\nmuch sorrow for your sake.\u201d At this Sir Gareth unlaced his helm and\nknelt before Sir Gawaine, and they rose and embraced each other. \u201cAh, my\nfair brother,\u201d said Sir Gawaine, \u201cI ought rightly to do you homage, even\nif you were not my brother, for in this twelvemonth you have sent King\nArthur more Knights than any six of the best men of the Round Table.\u201d\nWhile he was speaking there came the Lady Linet, and healed the wounds\nof Sir Gareth and of Sir Gawaine. \u201cWhat are you going to do now?\u201d asked\nshe. \u201cIt is time that King Arthur had tidings of you both, and your\nhorses are not fit to bear you.\u201d\n\n\u201cRide, I pray you,\u201d said Sir Gawaine, \u201cto my uncle King Arthur, who is\nbut two miles away, and tell him what adventure has befallen me.\u201d So she\nmounted her mule, and when she had told her tale to King Arthur, he bade\nthem saddle him a palfrey and invited all the Knights and ladies of his\nCourt to ride with him. When they reached the place they saw Sir Gareth\nand Sir Gawaine sitting on the hill-side. The King jumped off his horse,\nand would have greeted them, but he swooned away for gladness, and they\nran and comforted him, and also their mother.\n\nThe two Knights stayed in King Arthur\u2019s Court for eight days, and rested\nthemselves and grew strong. Then said the King to Linet, \u201cI wonder that\nyour sister, dame Lyonesse, does not come here to visit me, or more\ntruly to visit my nephew, Sir Gareth, who has worked so hard to win her\nlove.\u201d\n\n\u201cMy lord,\u201d answered Linet, \u201cyou must, by your grace, hold her excused,\nfor she does not know that Sir Gareth is here.\u201d\n\n\u201cGo and fetch her, then,\u201d said Arthur.\n\n\u201cThat I will do quickly,\u201d replied Linet, and by the next morning she had\nbrought dame Lyonesse, and her brother Sir Gringamore, and forty\nKnights, but among the ladies dame Lyonesse was the fairest, save only\nQueen Guenevere. They were all welcomed of King Arthur, who turned to\nhis nephew Sir Gareth and asked him whether he would have that lady to\nhis wife.\n\n\u201cMy lord,\u201d replied Sir Gareth, \u201cyou know well that I love her above all\nthe ladies in the world.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd what say you, fair lady?\u201d asked the King.\n\n\u201cMost noble King,\u201d said dame Lyonesse, \u201cI would sooner have Sir Gareth\nas my husband than any King or Prince that may be christened, and if I\nmay not have him I promise you I will have none. For he is my first\nlove, and shall be my last. And if you will suffer him to have his will\nand choice, I dare say he will have me.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is truth,\u201d said Sir Gareth.\n\n\u201cWhat, nephew,\u201d cried the King, \u201csits the wind in that door? Then you\nshall have all the help that is in my power,\u201d and so said Gareth\u2019s\nmother. And it was fixed that the marriage should be at Michaelmas, at\nKin-Kenadon by the seashore, and thus it was proclaimed in all places of\nthe realm. Then Sir Gareth sent his summons to all the Knights and\nladies that he had won in battle that they should be present, and he\ngave a rich ring to the Lady Lyonesse, and she gave him one likewise.\nAnd before she departed she had from King Arthur a shining golden bee,\nas a token. After that Sir Gareth set her on her way towards her castle,\nand returned unto the King. But he would ever be in Sir Lancelot\u2019s\ncompany, for there was no Knight that Sir Gareth loved so well as Sir\nLancelot. The days drew fast to Michaelmas, and there came the Lady\nLyonesse with her sister Linet and her brother Sir Gringamore to\nKin-Kenadon by the sea, and there were they lodged by order of King\nArthur. And upon Michaelmas Day the Bishop of Canterbury wedded Sir\nGareth and the Lady Lyonesse with great ceremonies, and King Arthur\ncommanded that Sir Gawaine should be joined to the damsel Linet, and Sir\nAgrawaine to the niece of dame Lyonesse, whose name was Laurel. Then the\nKnights whom Sir Gareth had won in battle came with their followings and\ndid homage to him, and the Green Knight besought him that he might act\nas chamberlain at the feast, and the Red Knight that he might be his\nsteward. As soon as the feast was ended, they had all manner of\nminstrelsy and games and a great tournament that lasted three days, but\nat the prayer of dame Lyonesse the King would not suffer that any man\nwho was wedded should fight at that feast.\n\n\n\n\n HOW MORGAN LE FAY TRIED TO KILL KING ARTHUR.\n\n\nKing Arthur had a sister called Morgan le Fay, who was skilled in magic\nof all sorts, and hated her brother because he had slain in battle a\nKnight whom she loved. The better to gain her own ends, and to revenge\nherself upon the King, she kept a smiling face, and let none guess the\npassion in her heart.\n\nOne day Morgan le Fay went to Queen Guenevere, and asked her leave to go\ninto the country. The Queen wished her to wait till Arthur returned, but\nMorgan le Fay said she had had bad news and could not wait. Then the\nQueen let her depart without delay.\n\nEarly next morning at break of day Morgan le Fay mounted her horse and\nrode all day and all night, and at noon next day reached the Abbey of\nnuns where King Arthur had gone to rest, for he had fought a hard\nbattle, and for three nights had slept but little. \u201cDo not wake him,\u201d\nsaid Morgan le Fay, who had come there knowing she would find him, \u201cI\nwill rouse him myself when I think he has had enough sleep,\u201d for she\nthought to steal his sword Excalibur from him. The nuns dared not\ndisobey her, so Morgan le Fay went straight into the room where King\nArthur was lying fast asleep in his bed, and in his right hand was\ngrasped his sword Excalibur. When she beheld that sight, her heart fell,\nfor she dared not touch the sword, knowing well that if Arthur waked and\nsaw her she was a dead woman. So she took the scabbard, and went away on\nhorseback.\n\nWhen the King awoke and missed his scabbard, he was angry, and asked who\nhad been there; and the nuns told him that it was his sister Morgan le\nFay, who had gone away with a scabbard under her mantle.\u2014\u201cAlas!\u201d said\nArthur, \u201cyou have watched me badly!\u201d\n\n\u201cSir,\u201d said they, \u201cwe dared not disobey your sister.\u201d\n\n\u201cSaddle the best horse that can be found,\u201d commanded the King, \u201cand bid\nSir Ontzlake take another and come with me.\u201d And they buckled on their\narmour and rode after Morgan le Fay.\n\nThey had not gone far before they met a cowherd, and they stopped to ask\nif he had seen any lady riding that way. \u201cYes,\u201d said the cowherd, \u201ca\nlady passed by here, with forty horses behind her, and went into the\nforest yonder.\u201d Then they galloped hard till Arthur caught sight of\nMorgan le Fay, who looked back, and, seeing that it was Arthur who gave\nchase, pushed on faster than before. And when she saw she could not\nescape him, she rode into a lake that lay in the plain on the edge of\nthe forest, and, crying out, \u201cWhatever may befall me, my brother shall\nnot have the scabbard,\u201d she threw the scabbard far into the water, and\nit sank, for it was heavy with gold and jewels. After that she fled into\na valley full of great stones, and turned herself and her men and her\nhorses into blocks of marble. Scarcely had she done this when the King\nrode up, but seeing her nowhere thought some evil must have befallen her\nin vengeance of her misdeeds. He then sought high and low for the\nscabbard, but being unable to find it, he returned to the Abbey. When\nArthur was gone, Morgan le Fay turned herself and her horses and her men\nback into their former shapes and said, \u201cNow, Sirs, we may go where we\nwill.\u201d And she departed into the country of Gore, and made her towns and\ncastles stronger than before, for she feared King Arthur greatly.\nMeanwhile King Arthur had rested himself at the Abbey, and afterwards he\nrode to Camelot, and was welcomed by his Queen and all his Knights. And\nwhen he told his adventures and how Morgan le Fay sought his death they\nlonged to burn her for her treason.\n\n [Illustration: MORGAN LE FAY CASTS AWAY THE SCABBARD]\n\nThe next morning there arrived a damsel at the Court with a message from\nMorgan le Fay, saying that she had sent the King her brother a rich\nmantle for a gift, covered with precious stones, and begged him to\nreceive it and to forgive her in whatever she might have offended him.\nThe King answered little, but the mantle pleased him, and he was about\nto throw it over his shoulders when the Lady of the Lake stepped\nforward, and begged that she might speak to him in private. \u201cWhat is\nit?\u201d asked the King. \u201cSay on here, and fear nothing.\u201d \u201cSir,\u201d said the\nlady, \u201cdo not put on this mantle, or suffer your Knights to put it on,\ntill the bringer of it has worn it in your presence.\u201d \u201cYour words are\nwise,\u201d answered the King, \u201cI will do as you counsel me. Damsel, I desire\nyou to put on this mantle that you have brought me, so that I may see\nit.\u201d \u201cSir,\u201d said she, \u201cit does not become me to wear a King\u2019s garment.\u201d\n\u201cBy my head,\u201d cried Arthur, \u201cyou shall wear it before I put it on my\nback, or on the back of any of my Knights,\u201d and he signed to them to put\nit on her, and she fell down dead, burnt to ashes by the enchanted\nmantle. Then the King was filled with anger, more bitter than before,\nthat his sister should have dealt so wickedly by him.\n\n\n\n\n THE PASSING OF MERLIN.\n\n\nMany of King Arthur\u2019s Knights set out on journeys in search of\nadventure, and one of them, Sir Pellinore, brought a damsel of the lake\nto Arthur\u2019s Court, and when Merlin saw her he fell in love with her, so\nthat he desired to be always in her company. The damsel laughed in\nsecret at Merlin, but made use of him to tell her all she would know,\nand the wizard had no strength to say her nay, though he knew what would\ncome of it. For he told King Arthur that before long he should be put\ninto the earth alive, for all his cunning. He likewise told the King\nmany things that should befall him, and warned him always to keep the\nscabbard as well as the sword Excalibur, and foretold that both sword\nand scabbard should be stolen from him by a woman whom he most trusted.\n\u201cYou will miss my counsel sorely,\u201d added Merlin, \u201cand would give all\nyour lands to have me back again.\u201d \u201cBut since you know what will\nhappen,\u201d said the King, \u201cyou may surely guard against it.\u201d \u201cNo,\u201d\nanswered Merlin, \u201cthat will not be.\u201d So he departed from the King, and\nthe maiden followed him whom some call Nimue and others Vivien, and\nwherever she went Merlin went also.\n\nThey journeyed together to many places, both at home and across the\nseas, and the damsel was wearied of him, and sought by every means to be\nrid of him, but he would not be shaken off. At last these two wandered\nback to Cornwall, and one day Merlin showed Vivien a rock under which he\nsaid great marvels were hidden. Then Vivien put forth all her powers,\nand told Merlin how she longed to see the wonders beneath the stone,\nand, in spite of all his wisdom, Merlin listened to her and crept under\nthe rock to bring forth the strange things that lay there. And when he\nwas under the stone she used the magic he had taught her, and the rock\nrolled over him, and buried him alive, as he had told King Arthur. But\nthe damsel departed with joy, and thought no more of him, now that she\nknew all the magic he could teach her.\n\n [Illustration: MERLIN and VIVIEN]\n\n\n\n\n PART II.\n THE QUEST OF THE HOLY GRAAL.\n\n\n I.\n How the King went on Pilgrimage and his Squire was slain in a Dream.\n\nNow the King was minded to go on a pilgrimage, and he agreed with the\nQueen that he would set forth to seek the holy chapel at St. Augustine,\nwhich is in the White Forest, and may only be found by adventure. Much\nhe wished to undertake the quest alone, but this the Queen would not\nsuffer, and to do her pleasure he consented that a youth, tall and\nstrong of limb, should ride with him as his squire. Chaus was the\nyouth\u2019s name, and he was son to Gwain li Aoutres. \u201cLie within to-night,\u201d\ncommanded the King, \u201cand take heed that my horse be saddled at break of\nday, and my arms ready.\u201d \u201cAt your pleasure, Sir,\u201d answered the youth,\nwhose heart rejoiced because he was going alone with the King.\n\nAs night came on, all the Knights quitted the hall, but Chaus the squire\nstayed where he was, and would not take off his clothes or his shoes,\nlest sleep should fall on him and he might not be ready when the King\ncalled him. So he sat himself down by the great fire, but in spite of\nhis will sleep fell heavily on him, and he dreamed a strange dream.\n\nIn his dream it seemed that the King had ridden away to the quest, and\nhad left his squire behind him, which filled the young man with fear.\nAnd in his dream he set the saddle and bridle on his horse, and fastened\nhis spurs, and girt on his sword, and galloped out of the castle after\nthe King. He rode on a long space, till he entered a thick forest, and\nthere before him lay traces of the King\u2019s horse, and he followed till\nthe marks of the hoofs ceased suddenly at some open ground and he\nthought that the King had alighted there. On the right stood a chapel,\nand about it was a graveyard, and in the graveyard many coffins, and in\nhis dream it seemed as if the King had entered the chapel, so the young\nman entered also. But no man did he behold save a Knight that lay dead\nupon a bier in the midst of the chapel, covered with a pall of rich\nsilk, and four tapers in golden candlesticks were burning round him. The\nsquire marvelled to see the body lying there so lonely, with no one near\nit, and likewise that the King was nowhere to be seen. Then he took out\none of the tall tapers, and hid the candlestick under his cloak, and\nrode away until he should find the King.\n\nOn his journey through the forest he was stopped by a man black and\nill-favoured, holding a large knife in his hand.\n\n\u201cHo! you that stand there, have you seen King Arthur?\u201d asked the squire.\n\n\u201cNo, but I have met you, and I am glad thereof, for you have under your\ncloak one of the candlesticks of gold that was placed in honour of the\nKnight who lies dead in the chapel. Give it to me, and I will carry it\nback; and if you do not this of your own will, I will make you.\u201d\n\n\u201cBy my faith!\u201d cried the squire, \u201cI will never yield it to you! Rather,\nwill I carry it off and make a present of it to King Arthur.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou will pay for it dearly,\u201d answered the man, \u201cif you yield it not up\nforthwith.\u201d\n\nTo this the squire did not make answer, but dashed forward, thinking to\npass him by; but the man thrust at him with his knife, and it entered\nhis body up to the hilt. And when the squire dreamed this, he cried,\n\u201cHelp! help! for I am a dead man!\u201d\n\nAs soon as the King and the Queen heard that cry they awoke from their\nsleep, and the Chamberlain said, \u201cSir, you must be moving, for it is\nday;\u201d and the King rose and dressed himself, and put on his shoes. Then\nthe cry came again: \u201cFetch me a priest, for I die!\u201d and the King ran at\ngreat speed into the hall, while the Queen and the Chamberlain followed\nhim with torches and candles. \u201cWhat aileth you?\u201d asked the King of his\nsquire, and the squire told him of all that he had dreamed. \u201cHa,\u201d said\nthe king, \u201cis it, then, a dream?\u201d \u201cYes, Sir,\u201d answered the squire, \u201cbut\nit is a right foul dream for me, for right foully it hath come true,\u201d\nand he lifted his left arm, and said, \u201cSir, look you here! Lo, here is\nthe knife that was struck in my side up to the haft.\u201d After that, he\ndrew forth the candlestick, and showed it to the King. \u201cSir, for this\ncandlestick that I present to you was I wounded to the death!\u201d The King\ntook the candlestick in his hands and looked at it, and none so rich had\nhe seen before, and he bade the Queen look also. \u201cSir,\u201d said the squire\nagain, \u201cdraw not forth the knife out of my body till I be shriven of the\npriest.\u201d So the King commanded that a priest should be sent for, and\nwhen the squire had confessed his sins, the King drew the knife out of\nthe body and the soul departed forthwith. Then the King grieved that the\nyoung man had come to his death in such strange wise, and ordered him a\nfair burial, and desired that the golden candlestick should be sent to\nthe Church of Saint Paul in London, which at that time was newly built.\n\nAfter this King Arthur would have none to go with him on his quest, and\nmany strange adventures he achieved before he reached the chapel of St.\nAugustine, which was in the midst of the White Forest. There he alighted\nfrom his horse, and sought to enter, but though there was neither door\nnor bar he might not pass the threshold. But from without be heard\nwondrous voices singing, and saw a light shining brighter than any that\nhe had seen before, and visions such as he scarcely dared to look upon.\nAnd he resolved greatly to amend his sins, and to bring peace and order\ninto his kingdom. So he set forth, strengthened and comforted, and after\ndivers more adventures returned to his Court.\n\n\n II.\n The Coming of the Holy Graal.\n\nIt was on the eve of Pentecost that all the Knights of the Table Round\nmet together at Camelot, and a great feast was made ready for them. And\nas they sat at supper they heard a loud noise, as of the crashing of\nthunder, and it seemed as if the roof would fall on them. Then, in the\nmidst of the thunder, there entered a sunbeam, brighter by seven times\nthan the brightest day, and its brightness was not of this world. The\nKnights held their peace, but every man looked at his neighbour, and his\ncountenance shone fairer than ever it had done before. As they sat dumb,\nfor their tongues felt as if they could speak nothing, there floated in\nthe hall the Holy Graal, and over it a veil of white samite, so that\nnone might see it nor who bare it. But sweet odours filled the place,\nand every Knight had set before him the food he loved best; and after\nthat the Holy Vessel departed suddenly, they wist not where. When it had\ngone their tongues were loosened, and the King gave thanks for the\nwonders that they had been permitted to see. After that he had finished,\nSir Gawaine stood up and vowed to depart the next morning in quest of\nthe Holy Graal, and not to return until he had seen it. \u201cBut if after a\nyear and a day I may not speed in my quest,\u201d said he, \u201cI shall come\nagain, for I shall know that the sight of it is not for me.\u201d And many of\nthe Knights there sitting swore a like vow.\n\nBut King Arthur, when he heard this, was sore displeased. \u201cAlas!\u201d cried\nhe unto Sir Gawaine, \u201cyou have undone me by your vow. For through you is\nbroken up the fairest fellowship, and the truest of knighthood, that\never the world saw, and when they have once departed they shall meet no\nmore at the Table Round, for many shall die in the quest. It grieves me\nsore, for I have loved them as well as my own life.\u201d So he spoke, and\npaused, and tears came into his eyes. \u201cAh, Gawaine, Gawaine! you have\nset me in great sorrow.\u201d\n\n\u201cComfort yourself,\u201d said Sir Lancelot, \u201cfor we shall win for ourselves\ngreat honour, much more if we die in this wise than in any other, since\ndie we must.\u201d But the King would not be comforted, and the Queen and all\nthe Court were troubled also for the love which they bore these Knights.\nNow among the company sat a young Knight whose name was Galahad. He had\nalready achieved fame by his deeds in the field and tourney, and the\nQueen marvelled at the likeness he bore to Sir Lancelot. She asked him\nwhence he came, and of what country, and if he was son to Sir Lancelot.\nAnd King Arthur did him great honour, and he rested him in his own bed.\nAnd next morning the King and Queen went into the Minster, and the\nKnights followed them, dressed all in armour, save only their shields\nand their helmets. When the service was finished the King would know how\nmany of the fellowship had sworn to undertake the quest of the Graal,\nand they were counted, and found to number a hundred and fifty. They\nbade farewell, and mounted their horses, and rode through the streets of\nCamelot, and there was weeping of both rich and poor, and the King could\nnot speak for weeping. And at sunrise they all parted company with each\nother, and every Knight took the way he best liked.\n\n\n III.\n The Adventure of Sir Galahad.\n\nNow Sir Galahad had as yet no shield, and he rode four days without\nmeeting any adventure, till at last he came to a White Abbey, where he\ndismounted and asked if he might sleep there that night. The brethren\nreceived him with great reverence, and led him to a chamber, where he\ntook off his armour, and then saw that he was in the presence of two\nKnights. \u201cSirs,\u201d said Sir Galahad, \u201cwhat adventure brought you hither?\u201d\n\u201cSir,\u201d replied they, \u201cwe heard that within this Abbey is a shield that\nno man may hang round his neck without being dead within three days, or\nsome mischief befalling him. And if we fail in the adventure, you shall\ntake it upon you.\u201d \u201cSirs,\u201d replied Sir Galahad, \u201cI agree well thereto,\nfor as yet I have no shield.\u201d\n\nSo on the morn they arose and heard Mass, and then a monk led them\nbehind an altar where hung a shield white as snow, with a red cross in\nthe middle of it. \u201cSirs,\u201d said the monk, \u201cthis shield can be hung round\nno Knight\u2019s neck, unless he be the worthiest Knight in the world, and\ntherefore I counsel you to be well advised.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d answered one of the Knights, whose name was King Bagdemagus, \u201cI\nknow truly that I am not the best Knight in the world, but yet shall I\ntry to bear it,\u201d and he bore it out of the Abbey. Then he said to Sir\nGalahad, \u201cI pray you abide here still, till you know how I shall speed,\u201d\nand he rode away, taking with him a squire to send tidings back to Sir\nGalahad.\n\nAfter King Bagdemagus had ridden two miles he entered a fair valley, and\nthere met him a goodly Knight seated on a white horse and clad in white\narmour. And they came together with their spears, and Sir Bagdemagus was\nborne from his horse, for the shield covered him not at all. Therewith\nthe strange Knight alighted and took the white shield from him, and gave\nit to the squire, saying, \u201cBear this shield to the good Knight Sir\nGalahad that thou hast left in the Abbey, and greet him well from me.\u201d\n\n\u201cSir,\u201d said the squire, \u201cwhat is your name?\u201d\n\n\u201cTake thou no heed of my name,\u201d answered the Knight, \u201cfor it is not for\nthee to know, nor for any earthly man.\u201d\n\n\u201cNow, fair Sir,\u201d said the squire, \u201ctell me for what cause this shield\nmay not be borne lest ill befalls him who bears it.\u201d\n\n\u201cSince you have asked me,\u201d answered the Knight, \u201cknow that no man shall\nbear this shield, save Sir Galahad only.\u201d\n\nThen the squire turned to Bagdemagus, and asked him whether he were\nwounded or not. \u201cYes, truly,\u201d said he, \u201cand I shall hardly escape from\ndeath;\u201d and scarcely could he climb on to his horse\u2019s back when the\nsquire brought it near him. But the squire led him to a monastery that\nlay in the valley, and there he was treated of his wounds, and after\nlong lying came back to life. After the squire had given the Knight into\nthe care of the monks, he rode back to the Abbey, bearing with him the\nshield. \u201cSir Galahad,\u201d said he, alighting before him, \u201cthe Knight that\nwounded Bagdemagus sends you greeting, and bids you bear this shield,\nwhich shall bring you many adventures.\u201d\n\n\u201cNow blessed be God and fortune,\u201d answered Sir Galahad, and called for\nhis arms, and mounted his horse, hanging the shield about his neck.\nThen, followed by the squire, he set out. They rode straight to the\nhermitage, where they saw the White Knight who had sent the shield to\nSir Galahad. The two Knights saluted each other courteously, and then\nthe White Knight told Sir Galahad the story of the shield, and how it\nhad been given into his charge. Afterwards they parted, and Sir Galahad\nand his squire returned unto the Abbey whence they came.\n\nThe monks made great joy at seeing Sir Galahad again, for they feared he\nwas gone for ever; and as soon as he was alighted from his horse they\nbrought him unto a tomb in the churchyard where there was night and day\nsuch a noise that any man who heard it would be driven nigh mad, or else\nlose his strength. \u201cSir,\u201d they said, \u201cwe deem it a fiend.\u201d Sir Galahad\ndrew near, all armed save his helmet, and stood by the tomb. \u201cLift up\nthe stone,\u201d said a monk, and Galahad lifted it, and a voice cried, \u201cCome\nthou not nigh me, Sir Galahad, for thou shalt make me go again where I\nhave been so long.\u201d But Galahad took no heed of him, and lifted the\nstone yet higher, and there rushed from the tomb a foul smoke, and in\nthe midst of it leaped out the foulest figure that ever was seen in the\nlikeness of a man. \u201cGalahad,\u201d said the figure, \u201cI see about thee so many\nangels that my power dare not touch thee.\u201d Then Galahad, stooping down,\nlooked into the tomb, and he saw a body all armed lying there, with a\nsword by his side. \u201cFair brother,\u201d said Galahad, \u201clet us remove this\nbody, for he is not worthy to be in this churchyard, being a false\nChristian man.\u201d\n\n [Illustration: SIR GALAHAD opens the tomb]\n\nThis being done they all departed and returned unto the monastery, where\nthey lay that night, and the next morning Sir Galahad knighted Melias\nhis squire, as he had promised him aforetime. So Sir Galahad and Sir\nMelias departed thence, in quest of the Holy Graal, but they soon went\ntheir different ways and fell upon different adventures. In his first\nencounter Sir Melias was sore wounded, and Sir Galahad came to his help,\nand left him to an old monk who said that he would heal him of his\nwounds in the space of seven weeks, and that he was thus wounded because\nhe had not come clean to the quest of the Graal, as Sir Galahad had\ndone. Sir Galahad left him there, and rode on till he came to the Castle\nof Maidens, which he alone might enter who was free from sin. There he\nchased away the Knights who had seized the castle seven years agone, and\nrestored all to the Duke\u2019s daughter, who owned it of right. Besides this\nhe set free the maidens who were kept in prison, and summoned all those\nKnights in the country round who had held their lands of the Duke,\nbidding them do homage to his daughter. And in the morning one came to\nhim and told him that as the seven Knights fled from the Castle of\nMaidens they fell upon the path of Sir Gawaine, Sir Gareth, and Sir\nLewaine, who were seeking Sir Galahad, and they gave battle: and the\nseven Knights were slain by the three Knights. \u201cIt is well,\u201d said\nGalahad, and he took his armour and his horse and rode away.\n\nSo when Sir Galahad left the Castle of Maidens he rode till he came to a\nwaste forest, and there he met with Sir Lancelot and Sir Percivale; but\nthey knew him not, for he was now disguised. And they fought together,\nand the two knights were smitten down out of the saddle. \u201cGod be with\nthee, thou best Knight in the world,\u201d cried a nun who dwelt in a\nhermitage close by; and she said it in a loud voice, so that Lancelot\nand Percivale might hear. But Sir Galahad feared that she would make\nknown who he was, so he spurred his horse and struck deep into the\nforest before Sir Lancelot and Sir Percivale could mount again. They\nknew not which path he had taken, so Sir Percivale turned back to ask\nadvice of the nun, and Sir Lancelot pressed forward.\n\n\n IV.\n How Sir Lancelot saw a Vision, and repented of his Sins.\n\nHe halted when he came to a stone cross, which had by it a block of\nmarble, while nigh at hand stood an old chapel. He tied his horse to a\ntree, and hung his shield on a branch, and looked into the chapel, for\nthe door was waste and broken. And he saw there a fair altar covered\nwith a silken cloth, and a candlestick which had six branches, all of\nshining silver. A great light streamed from it, and at this sight Sir\nLancelot would fain have entered in, but he could not. So he turned back\nsorrowful and dismayed, and took the saddle and bridle off his horse,\nand let him pasture where he would, while he himself unlaced his helm,\nand ungirded his sword, and lay down to sleep upon his shield, at the\nfoot of the cross.\n\nAs he lay there, half waking and half sleeping, he saw two white\npalfreys come by, drawing a litter, wherein lay a sick Knight. When they\nreached the cross they paused, and Sir Lancelot heard the Knight say, \u201cO\nsweet Lord, when shall this sorrow leave me, and when shall the Holy\nVessel come by me through which I shall be blessed? For I have endured\nlong, though my ill deeds were few.\u201d Thus he spoke, and Sir Lancelot\nheard it, and of a sudden the great candlestick stood before the cross,\nthough no man had brought it. And with it was a table of silver and the\nHoly Vessel of the Graal, which Lancelot had seen aforetime. Then the\nKnight rose up, and on his hands and knees he approached the Holy\nVessel, and prayed, and was made whole of his sickness. After that the\nGraal went back into the chapel, and the light and the candlestick also,\nand Sir Lancelot would fain have followed, but could not, so heavy was\nthe weight of his sins upon him. And the sick Knight arose and kissed\nthe cross, and saw Sir Lancelot lying at the foot with his eyes shut. \u201cI\nmarvel greatly at this sleeping Knight,\u201d he said to his squire, \u201cthat he\nhad no power to wake when the Holy Vessel was brought hither.\u201d \u201cI dare\nright well say,\u201d answered the squire, \u201cthat he dwelleth in some deadly\nsin, whereof he was never confessed.\u201d \u201cBy my faith,\u201d said the Knight,\n\u201che is unhappy, whoever he is, for he is of the fellowship of the Round\nTable, which have undertaken the quest of the Graal.\u201d \u201cSir,\u201d replied the\nsquire, \u201cyou have all your arms here, save only your sword and your\nhelm. Take therefore those of this strange Knight, who has just put them\noff.\u201d And the Knight did as his squire said, and took Sir Lancelot\u2019s\nhorse also, for it was better than his own.\n\nAfter they had gone Sir Lancelot waked up wholly, and thought of what he\nhad seen, wondering if he were in a dream or not. Suddenly a voice spoke\nto him and it said, \u201cSir Lancelot, more hard than is the stone, more\nbitter than is the wood, more naked and barren than is the leaf of the\nfig tree, art thou; therefore go from hence and withdraw thee from this\nholy place.\u201d When Sir Lancelot heard this, his heart was passing heavy,\nand he wept, cursing the day when he had been born. But his helm and\nsword had gone from the spot where he had laid them at the foot of the\ncross, and his horse was gone also. And he smote himself and cried, \u201cMy\nsin and my wickedness have done me this dishonour; for when I sought\nworldly adventures I ever achieved them and had the better in every\nplace, and never was I discomfited in any quarrel, were it right or\nwrong. But now I take upon me the adventures of holy things, I see and\nunderstand that my old sin hinders me, so that I could not move or speak\nwhen the Holy Graal passed by.\u201d Thus he sorrowed till it was day, and he\nheard the birds sing, and at that he felt comforted. And as his horse\nwas gone also, he departed on foot with a heavy heart.\n\n\n V.\n The Adventure of Sir Percivale.\n\nAll this while Sir Percivale had pursued adventures of his own, and came\nnigh unto losing his life, but he was saved from his enemies by the good\nKnight, Sir Galahad, whom he did not know, although he was seeking him,\nfor Sir Galahad now bore a red shield, and not a white one. And at last\nthe foes fled deep into the forest, and Sir Galahad followed; but Sir\nPercivale had no horse and was forced to stay behind. Then his eyes were\nopened, and he knew it was Sir Galahad who had come to his help, and he\nsat down under a tree and grieved sore.\n\nWhile he was sitting there a Knight passed by riding a black horse, and\nwhen he was out of sight a yeoman came pricking after as fast as he\ncould, and, seeing Sir Percivale, asked if he had seen a Knight mounted\non a black horse. \u201cYes, Sir, forsooth,\u201d answered Sir Percivale, \u201cwhy do\nyou want to know?\u201d \u201cAh, Sir, that is my steed which he has taken from\nme, and wherever my lord shall find me, he is sure to slay me.\u201d \u201cWell,\u201d\nsaid Sir Percivale, \u201cthou seest that I am on foot, but had I a good\nhorse I would soon come up with him.\u201d \u201cTake my hackney,\u201d said the\nyeoman, \u201cand do the best you can, and I shall follow you on foot to\nwatch how you speed.\u201d So Sir Percivale rode as fast as he might, and at\nlast he saw that Knight, and he hailed him. The Knight turned and set\nhis spear against Sir Percivale, and smote the hackney in the breast, so\nthat he fell dead to the earth, and Sir Percivale fell with him; then\nthe Knight rode away. But Sir Percivale was mad with wrath, and cried to\nthe Knight to return and fight with him on foot; but the Knight answered\nnot and went on his way. When Sir Percivale saw that he would not turn,\nhe threw himself on the ground, and cast away his helm and sword, and\nbemoaned himself for the most unhappy of all Knights; and there he abode\nthe whole day, and, being faint and weary, slept till it was midnight.\nAt midnight he waked and saw before him a woman, who said to him right\nfiercely, \u201cSir Percivale, what doest thou here?\u201d \u201cNeither good nor great\nill,\u201d answered he. \u201cIf thou wilt promise to do my will when I call upon\nthee,\u201d said she, \u201cI will lend thee my own horse, and he shall bear thee\nwhither thou shalt choose.\u201d This Sir Percivale promised gladly, and the\nwoman went and returned with a black horse, so large and well-apparelled\nthat Sir Percivale marvelled. But he mounted him gladly, and drove in\nhis spurs, and within an hour and less the horse bare him four days\u2019\njourney thence, and would have borne him into a rough water, had not Sir\nPercivale pulled at his bridle. The Knight stood doubting, for the water\nmade a great noise, and he feared lest his horse could not get through\nit. Still, wishing greatly to pass over, he made himself ready, and\nsigned the sign of the cross upon his forehead.\n\nAt that the fiend which had taken the shape of a horse shook off Sir\nPercivale and dashed into the water, crying and making great sorrow; and\nit seemed to him that the water burned. Then Sir Percivale knew that it\nwas not a horse but a fiend which would have brought him to perdition,\nand he gave thanks and prayed all that night long. As soon as it was day\nhe looked about him, and saw he was in a wild mountain, girt round with\nthe sea and filled with wild beasts. Then he rose and went into a\nvalley, and there he saw a young serpent bring a young lion by the neck,\nand after that there passed a great lion, crying and roaring after the\nserpent, and a fierce battle began between them. Sir Percivale thought\nto help the lion, as he was the more natural beast of the twain, and he\ndrew his sword and set his shield before him, and gave the serpent a\ndeadly buffet. When the lion saw that, he made him all the cheer that a\nbeast might make a man, and fawned about him like a spaniel, and stroked\nhim with his paws. And about noon the lion took his little whelp, and\nplaced him on his back, and bare him home again, and Sir Percivale,\nbeing left alone, prayed till he was comforted. But at eventide the lion\nreturned, and couched down at his feet, and all night long he and the\nlion slept together.\n\n [Illustration: SIR PERCIVALE SLAYS THE SERPENT]\n\n\n VI.\n An Adventure of Sir Lancelot.\n\nAs Lancelot went his way through the forest he met with many hermits who\ndwelled therein, and had adventure with the Knight who stole his horse\nand his helm, and got them back again. And he learned from one of the\nhermits that Sir Galahad was his son, and that it was he who at the\nFeast of Pentecost had sat in the Siege Perilous, which it was ordained\nby Merlin that none should sit in save the best Knight in the world. All\nthat night Sir Lancelot abode with the hermit and laid him to rest, a\nhair shirt always on his body, and it pricked him sorely, but he bore it\nmeekly and suffered the pain. When the day dawned he bade the hermit\nfarewell. As he rode he came to a fair plain, in which was a great\ncastle set about with tents and pavilions of divers hues. Here were full\nfive hundred Knights riding on horseback, and those near the castle were\nmounted on black horses with black trappings, and they that were without\nwere on white horses and their trappings white. And the two sides fought\ntogether, and Sir Lancelot looked on.\n\nAt last it seemed to him that the black Knights nearest the castle fared\nthe worst, so, as he ever took the part of the weaker, he rode to their\nhelp and smote many of the white Knights to the earth and did marvellous\ndeeds of arms. But always the white Knights held round Sir Lancelot to\ntire him out. And as no man may endure for ever, in the end Sir Lancelot\nwaxed so faint of fighting that his arms would not lift themselves to\ndeal a stroke; then they took him, and led him away into the forest and\nmade him alight from his horse and rest, and when he was taken the\nfellowship of the castle were overcome for want of him. \u201cNever ere now\nwas I at tournament or jousts but I had the best,\u201d moaned Sir Lancelot\nto himself, as soon as the Knights had left him and he was alone. \u201cBut\nnow am I shamed, and I am persuaded that I am more sinful than ever I\nwas.\u201d Sorrowfully he rode on till he passed a chapel, where stood a nun,\nwho called to him and asked him his name and what he was seeking.\n\nSo he told her who he was, and what had befallen him at the tournament,\nand the vision that had come to him in his sleep. \u201cAh, Lancelot,\u201d said\nshe, \u201cas long as you were a knight of earthly knighthood you were the\nmost wonderful man in the world and the most adventurous. But now, since\nyou are set among Knights of heavenly adventures, if you were worsted at\nthat tournament it is no marvel. For the tournament was meant for a\nsign, and the earthly Knights were they who were clothed in black in\ntoken of the sins of which they were not yet purged. And the white\nKnights were they who had chosen the way of holiness, and in them the\nquest has already begun. Thus you beheld both the sinners and the good\nmen, and when you saw the sinners overcome you went to their help, as\nthey were your fellows in boasting and pride of the world, and all that\nmust be left in that quest. And that caused your misadventure. Now that\nI have warned you of your vain-glory and your pride, beware of\neverlasting pain, for of all earthly Knights I have pity of you, for I\nknow well that among earthly sinful Knights you are without peer.\u201d\n\n\n VII.\n An Adventure of Sir Gawaine.\n\nWhen Sir Gawaine departed he rode long without any adventure. From\nWhitsunday to Michaelmas he rode and found not the tenth part of the\nadventures he was wont to do. But it befell on a day that he met Sir\nEctor de Maris, at which they rejoiced exceedingly, complaining to one\nanother of the lack of adventure in the quest on which they were set.\n\n\u201cTruly,\u201d said Sir Gawaine to Sir Ector, \u201cI am nigh weary of this quest,\nand loth to follow it to further strange countries.\u201d\n\n\u201cOne thing seems strange to me,\u201d said Sir Ector, \u201cI have met with twenty\nKnights, and they all complain as I do.\u201d\n\n\u201cI wonder,\u201d said Sir Gawaine, \u201cwhere your brother is.\u201d \u201cI can hear\nnothing of him,\u201d answered Sir Ector, \u201cnor of Sir Galahad, Sir Percivale,\nor Sir Bors, but they fare well, no doubt, for they have no peers.\u201d\n\nAs they sat talking there appeared before them a hand showing unto the\nelbow covered with red samite, and holding a great candle that burned\nright clear; and the hand passed into the chapel and vanished, they knew\nnot where. Then they heard a voice which said, \u201cKnights full of evil\nfaith and poor belief, these two things have failed you, and therefore\nyou may not come to the adventure of the Holy Graal.\u201d And thereat they\nwent to a holy man to whom they confessed their sins. Said he, \u201cThis is\nthe meaning of the vision: you have failed in three things, charity,\nfasting, and truth, and have been great murderers.\u201d\n\n\u201cSir,\u201d said Gawaine, \u201cby your words it seems that our sins will not let\nus labour in that quest?\u201d \u201cTruly,\u201d answered the hermit, \u201cthere be an\nhundred such as you to whom it will bring naught but shame.\u201d So Gawaine\ndeparted and followed Sir Ector, who had ridden on before.\n\n\n VIII.\n The Adventure of Sir Bors.\n\nWhen Sir Bors left Camelot on his quest he met a holy man riding on an\nass, and Sir Bors saluted him. Anon the good man knew him to be one of\nthe Knights who were in quest of the Holy Graal. \u201cWhat are you?\u201d said\nhe, and Sir Bors answered, \u201cI am a Knight that fain would be counselled\nin the quest of the Graal, for he shall have much earthly worship that\nbrings it to an end.\u201d \u201cThat is true,\u201d said the good man, \u201cfor he will be\nthe best Knight in the world, but know well that there shall none attain\nit but by holiness and by confession of sin.\u201d So they rode together till\nthey came to the hermitage, and the good man led Sir Bors into the\nchapel, where he made confession of his sins, and they ate bread and\ndrank water together. \u201cNow,\u201d said the hermit, \u201cI pray you that you eat\nnone other till you sit at the table where the Holy Graal shall be.\u201d\n\u201cSir,\u201d answered Sir Bors, \u201cI agree thereto, but how know you that I\nshall sit there?\u201d \u201cThat know I,\u201d said the holy man, \u201cbut there will be\nbut few of your fellows with you. Also instead of a shirt you shall wear\nthis garment until you have achieved your quest,\u201d and Sir Bors took off\nhis clothes, and put on instead a scarlet coat. Then the good man\nquestioned him, and marvelled to find him pure in life, and he armed him\nand bade him go.\n\n [Illustration: HOW SIR BORS WAS SAVED FROM KILLING HIS BROTHER]\n\nAfter this Sir Bors rode through many lands, and had many adventures,\nand was often sore tempted, but remembered the words of the holy man and\nkept his life clean of wrong. And once he had by mischance almost slain\nhis own brother, but a voice cried, \u201cFlee, Bors, and touch him not,\u201d and\nhe hearkened and stayed his hand. And there fell between them a fiery\ncloud, which burned up both their shields, and they two fell to the\nearth in a great swoon; but when they awakened out of it Bors saw that\nhis brother had no harm. With that the voice spoke to him saying, \u201cBors,\ngo hence and bear your brother fellowship no longer; but take your way\nto the sea, where Sir Percivale abides till you come.\u201d Then Sir Bors\nprayed his brother to forgive him all he had unknowingly done, and rode\nstraight to the sea. On the shore he found a vessel covered with white\nsamite, and as soon as he stepped in the vessel it set sail so fast it\nmight have been flying, and Sir Bors lay down and slept till it was day.\nWhen he waked he saw a Knight lying in the midst of the ship, all armed\nsave for his helm, and he knew him for Sir Percivale, and welcomed him\nwith great joy; and they told each other of their adventures and of\ntheir temptations, and had great happiness in each other\u2019s company. \u201cWe\nlack nothing but Galahad, the good Knight,\u201d Sir Percivale said.\n\n\n IX.\n Adventure of Sir Galahad.\n\nSir Galahad rested one evening at a hermitage. And while he was resting,\nthere came a gentlewoman and asked leave of the hermit to speak with Sir\nGalahad, and would not be denied, though she was told he was weary and\nasleep. Then the hermit waked Sir Galahad and bade him rise, as a\ngentlewoman had great need of him, so Sir Galahad rose and asked her\nwhat she wished. \u201cGalahad,\u201d said she, \u201cI will that you arm yourself, and\nmount your horse and follow me, and I will show you the highest\nadventure that ever any Knight saw.\u201d And Sir Galahad bade her go, and he\nwould follow wherever she led. In three days they reached the sea, where\nthey found the ship where Sir Bors and Sir Percivale were lying. And the\nlady bade him leave his horse behind and said she would leave hers also,\nbut their saddles and bridles they would take on board the ship. This\nthey did, and were received with great joy by the two Knights; then the\nsails were spread, and the ship was driven before the wind at a\nmarvellous pace till they reached the land of Logris, the entrance to\nwhich lies between two great rocks with a whirlpool in the middle.\n\nTheir own ship might not get safely through; but they left it and went\ninto another ship that lay there, which had neither man nor woman in it.\nAt the end of the ship was written these words: \u201cThou man which shalt\nenter this ship beware thou be in steadfast belief; if thou fail, I\nshall not help thee.\u201d Then the gentlewoman turned and said, \u201cPercivale,\ndo you know who I am?\u201d \u201cNo, truly,\u201d answered he. \u201cI am your sister, and\ntherefore you are the man in the world that I most love. If you are\nwithout faith, or have any hidden sin, beware how you enter, else you\nwill perish.\u201d \u201cFair sister,\u201d answered he, \u201cI shall enter therein, for if\nI am an untrue Knight then shall I perish.\u201d So they entered the ship,\nand it was so rich and well adorned, that they all marvelled.\n\nIn the midst of it was a fair bed, and Sir Galahad went thereto and\nfound on it a crown of silk, and a sword drawn out of its sheath half a\nfoot and more. The sword was of divers fashions, and the pommel was of\nstone, wrought about with colours, and every colour with its own virtue,\nand the handle was of the ribs of two beasts. The one was the bone of a\nserpent, and no hand that handles it shall ever become weary or hurt;\nand the other was a bone of a fish that swims in Euphrates, and whoso\nhandles it shall not think on joy or sorrow that he has had, but only on\nthat which he beholds before him. And no man shall grip this sword but\none that is better than other men. So first Sir Percivale stepped\nforward and set his hand to the sword, but he might not grasp it. Next\nSir Bors tried to seize it, but he also failed. When Sir Galahad beheld\nthe sword, he saw that there was written on it, in letters of blood,\nthat he who tried to draw it should never fail of shame in his body or\nbe wounded to the death. \u201cBy my faith,\u201d said Galahad, \u201cI would draw this\nsword out of its sheath, but the offending is so great I shall not lay\nmy hand thereto.\u201d \u201cSir,\u201d answered the gentlewoman, \u201cknow that no man can\ndraw this sword save you alone;\u201d and she told him many tales of the\nKnights who had set their hands to it, and of the evil things that had\nbefallen them. And they all begged Sir Galahad to grip the sword, as it\nwas ordained that he should. \u201cI will grip it,\u201d said Galahad, \u201cto give\nyou courage, but it belongs no more to me than it does to you.\u201d Then he\ngripped it tight with his fingers, and the gentlewoman girt him about\nthe middle with the sword, and after that they left that ship and went\ninto another, which brought them to land, where they fell upon many\nstrange adventures. On the shore they saw three score Knights by a\ncastle to which they repaired. And the owner of this castle was a\ngentlewoman on whom years ago had befallen a great malady of which there\nwas but one remedy. It was that she must be anointed with a dish of the\nblood of a maid pure and fair, and a King\u2019s daughter withal.\n\nAnd the Knights accosted them, and counselled them to withdraw, saying\nthey might go without harm, only they must needs have their custom. And\nthis custom was the blood of Sir Percivale\u2019s sister.\n\nAnd Sir Galahad drew his sword with the two handles, and slew whatever\nwithstood him. But night fell, and a good Knight promised to harbour\nthem for the night safely and surely, saying, \u201cOn the morrow we dare say\nyou will accord with the custom.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen,\u201d said Sir Percivale\u2019s sister, \u201cfair Knights, I fain would heal\nthis fair lady, for thus shall I gain great worship and my lineage\nwithal, and better is one harm than twain. And therefore there shall be\nno battle, but to-morrow at morn I shall yield you your custom of this\ncastle.\u201d And then there was great joy. It chanced that while she bled on\nthe morrow, she lifted her hands and blessed them, and she said, \u201cMadam,\nI die to make you whole, for God\u2019s love pray for me.\u201d With that she fell\nin a swoon. Then Galahad and his fellows lifted her up and stanched her,\nbut she died, and weeping, they put her body in a barge as she had\nwished. In her hand Sir Percivale put a letter showing how she had\nhelped them, and they covered her with black silk; so the wind arose and\ndrove the barge from the land, and all Knights beheld it disappear from\nsight.\n\n\n X.\n Sir Lancelot meets Sir Galahad, and they part for Ever.\n\nNow we must tell what happened to Sir Lancelot.\n\nWhen he was come to a water called Mortoise he fell asleep, awaiting for\nthe adventure that should be sent to him, and in his sleep a voice spoke\nto him, and bade him rise and take his armour, and enter the first ship\nhe should find. So he started up and took his arms and made him ready,\nand on the strand he found a ship that was without sail or oar. As soon\nas he was within the ship, he felt himself wrapped round with a\nsweetness such as he had never known before, as if all that he could\ndesire was fulfilled. And with this joy and peace about him he fell\nasleep. When he woke he found near him a fair bed, with a dead lady\nlying on it, whom he knew to be Sir Percivale\u2019s sister, and in her hand\nwas the tale of her adventures, which Sir Lancelot took and read. For a\nmonth or more they dwelt in that ship together, and one day, when it had\ndrifted near the shore, he heard a sound as of a horse; and when the\nsteps came nearer he saw that a Knight was riding him. At the sight of\nthe ship the Knight alighted and took the saddle and bridle, and entered\nthe ship. \u201cYou are welcome,\u201d said Lancelot, and the Knight saluted him\nand said, \u201cWhat is your name? for my heart goeth out to you.\u201d\n\n\u201cTruly,\u201d answered he, \u201cmy name is Sir Lancelot du Lake.\u201d\n\n\u201cSir,\u201d said the new Knight, \u201cyou are welcome, for you are my father.\u201d\n\n\u201cAh,\u201d cried Sir Lancelot, \u201cis it you, then, Galahad?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, in sooth,\u201d said he, and kneeled down and asked Lancelot\u2019s\nblessing, and then took off his helm and kissed him. And there was great\njoy between them, and they told each other all that had befallen them\nsince they left King Arthur\u2019s Court. Then Galahad saw the gentlewoman\ndead on the bed, and he knew her, and said he held her in great worship,\nand that she was the best maid in the world, and how it was great pity\nthat she had come to her death. But when Lancelot heard that Galahad had\nwon the marvellous sword he prayed that he might see it, and kissed the\npommel and the hilt, and the scabbard. \u201cIn truth,\u201d he said, \u201cnever did I\nknow of adventures so wonderful and strange.\u201d So dwelled Lancelot and\nGalahad in that ship for half a year, and served God daily and nightly\nwith all their power. And after six months had gone it befell that on a\nMonday they drifted to the edge of the forest, where they saw a Knight\nwith white armour bestriding one horse and holding another all white, by\nthe bridle. And he came to the ship, and saluted the two Knights and\nsaid, \u201cGalahad, you have been long enough with your father, therefore\nleave that ship and start upon this horse, and go on the quest of the\nHoly Graal.\u201d So Galahad went to his father and kissed him, saying, \u201cFair\nsweet father, I know not if I shall see you more till I have beheld the\nHoly Graal.\u201d Then they heard a voice which said, \u201cThe one shall never\nsee the other till the day of doom.\u201d \u201cNow, Galahad,\u201d said Lancelot,\n\u201csince we are to bid farewell for ever now, I pray to the great Father\nto preserve you and me both.\u201d \u201cSir,\u201d answered Galahad, \u201cno prayer\navaileth so much as yours.\u201d\n\nThe next day Sir Lancelot made his way back to Camelot, where he found\nKing Arthur and Guenevere; but many of the Knights of the Round Table\nwere slain and destroyed, more than the half. All the Court was passing\nglad to see Sir Lancelot, and the King asked many tidings of his son Sir\nGalahad.\n\n\n XI.\n How Sir Galahad found the Graal and died of that Finding.\n\nSir Galahad rode on till he met Sir Percivale and afterwards Sir Bors,\nwhom they greeted most gladly, and they bare each other company. First\nthey came to the Castle of Carbonek, where dwelled King Pelles, who\nwelcomed them with joy, for he knew by their coming the quest of the\nGraal would be fulfilled. They then departed on other adventures, and it\nis told how Galahad cured the maimed King by anointing him with blood\nfrom a certain holy spear. That same night at midnight a voice bade them\narise and quit the castle, which they did, followed by three Knights of\nGaul. Then Galahad prayed every one of them that if they reached King\nArthur\u2019s Court they should salute Sir Lancelot his father, and those\nKnights of the Round Table that were present, and with that he left\nthem, and Sir Bors and Sir Percivale with him. For three days they rode\ntill they came to a shore, and found a ship awaiting them. And in the\nmidst of it was the table of silver, and the Holy Graal which was\ncovered with red samite. Then were their hearts right glad, and they\nmade great reverence thereto, and Galahad prayed that at what time he\nasked, he might depart out of this world. So long he prayed that at\nlength a voice said to him, \u201cGalahad, thou shalt have thy desire, and\nwhen thou askest the death of the body thou shalt have it, and shalt\nfind the life of the soul.\u201d Percivale likewise heard the voice, and\nbesought Galahad to tell him why he asked such things. And Galahad\nanswered, \u201cThe other day when we saw a part of the adventures of the\nHoly Graal, I was in such a joy of heart that never did man feel before,\nand I knew well that when my body is dead my soul shall be in joy of\nwhich the other was but a shadow.\u201d\n\nSome time were the three Knights in that ship, till at length they saw\nbefore them the city of Sarras. Then they took from the ship the table\nof silver, and Sir Percivale and Sir Bors went first, and Sir Galahad\nfollowed after to the gate of the city, where sat an old man that was\ncrooked. At the sight of the old man Sir Galahad called to him to help\nthem carry the table, for it was heavy. \u201cTruly,\u201d answered the old man,\n\u201cit is ten years since I have gone without crutches.\u201d \u201cCare not for\nthat,\u201d said Galahad, \u201cbut rise up and show your good will.\u201d So he arose\nand found himself as whole as ever he was, and he ran to the table and\nheld up the side next Galahad. And there was much noise in the city that\na cripple was healed by three Knights newly entered in. This reached the\nears of the King, who sent for the Knights and questioned them. And they\ntold him the truth, and of the Holy Graal; but the King listened nothing\nto all they said, but put them into a deep hole in the prison. Even here\nthey were not without comfort, for a vision of the Holy Graal sustained\nthem. And at the end of a year the King lay sick and felt he should die,\nand he called the three Knights and asked forgiveness of the evil he had\ndone to them, which they gave gladly. Then he died, and the whole city\nwas afraid and knew not what to do, till while they were in counsel a\nvoice came to them and bade them choose the youngest of the three\nstrange Knights for their King. And they did so. After Galahad was\nproclaimed King, he ordered that a coffer of gold and precious stones\nshould be made to encompass the table of silver, and every day he and\nthe two Knights would kneel before it and make their prayers.\n\nNow at the year\u2019s end, and on the selfsame day that Galahad had been\ncrowned King, he arose up early and came with the two Knights to the\nPalace; and he saw a man in the likeness of a Bishop, encircled by a\ngreat crowd of angels, kneeling before the Holy Vessel. And he called to\nGalahad and said to him, \u201cCome forth, thou servant of Christ, and thou\nshalt see what thou hast much desired to see.\u201d Then Galahad began to\ntremble right hard, when the flesh first beheld the things of the\nspirit, and he held up his hand to heaven and said, \u201cLord, I thank thee,\nfor now I see that which hath been my desire for many a day. Now,\nblessed Lord, I would no longer live, if it might please Thee.\u201d Then\nGalahad went to Percivale and kissed him, and commended him to God; and\nhe went to Sir Bors and kissed him, and commended him to God, and said,\n\u201cFair lord, salute me to my lord Sir Lancelot, my father, and bid him\nremember this unstable world.\u201d Therewith he kneeled down before the\ntable and made his prayers, and while he was praying his soul suddenly\nleft the body and was carried by angels up into heaven, which the two\nKnights right well beheld. Also they saw come from heaven a hand, but no\nbody behind it, and it came unto the Vessel, and took it and the spear,\nand bare them back to heaven. And since then no man has dared to say\nthat he has seen the Holy Graal.\n\nWhen Percivale and Bors saw Galahad lying dead they made as much sorrow\nas ever two men did, and the people of the country and of the city were\nright heavy. And they buried him as befitted their King. As soon as\nGalahad was buried, Sir Percivale sought a hermitage outside the city,\nand put on the dress of a hermit, and Sir Bors was always with him, but\nkept the dress that he wore at Court. When a year and two months had\npassed Sir Percivale died also, and was buried by the side of Galahad;\nand Sir Bors left that land, and after long riding came to Camelot. Then\nwas there great joy made of him in the Court, for they had held him as\ndead; and the King ordered great clerks to attend him, and to write down\nall his adventures and those of Sir Percivale and Sir Galahad. Next, Sir\nLancelot told the adventures of the Graal which he had seen, and this\nlikewise was written and placed with the other in almonries at\nSalisbury. And by-and-by Sir Bors said to Sir Lancelot, \u201cGalahad your\nson saluteth you by me, and after you King Arthur and all the Court, and\nso did Sir Percivale; for I buried them with mine own hands in the City\nof Sarras. Also, Sir Lancelot, Galahad prayeth you to remember of this\nuncertain world, as you promised when you were together!\u201d \u201cThat is\ntrue,\u201d said Sir Lancelot, \u201cand I trust his prayer may avail me.\u201d But the\nprayer but little availed Sir Lancelot, for he fell to his old sins\nagain. And now the Knights were few that survived the search for the\nGraal, and the evil days of Arthur began.\n\n\n\n\n PART III.\n THE FIGHT FOR THE QUEEN.\n\n\nSo the quest of the Holy Graal had been fulfilled, and the few Knights\nthat had been left alive returned to the Round Table, and there was\ngreat joy in the Court. To do them honour the Queen made them a dinner;\nand there were four and twenty Knights present, and among them Sir\nPatrise of Ireland, and Sir Gawaine and his brethren, the King\u2019s\nnephews, which were Sir Agrawaine, Sir Gaheris, Sir Gareth, and Sir\nMordred. Now it was the custom of Sir Gawaine daily at dinner and supper\nto eat all manner of fruit, and especially pears and apples, and this\nthe Queen knew, and set fruit of all sorts before him. And there was\npresent at the dinner one Sir Pinel le Savage, who hated Sir Gawaine\nbecause he and his brethren had slain Sir Lamorak du Galis, cousin to\nSir Pinel; so he put poison into some of the apples, hoping that Sir\nGawaine would eat one and die. But by ill fortune it befell that the\ngood Knight Sir Patrise took a poisoned apple, and in a few moments he\nlay dead and stark in his seat. At this sight all the Knights leapt to\ntheir feet, but said nothing, for they bethought them that Queen\nGuenevere had made them the dinner, and feared that she had poisoned the\nfruit.\n\n\u201cMy lady, the Queen,\u201d said Sir Gawaine, who was the first to speak,\n\u201cthis fruit was brought for me, for all know how well I love it;\ntherefore, Madam, the shame of this ill deed is yours.\u201d The Queen stood\nstill, pale and trembling, but kept silence, and next spoke Sir Mador de\nla Porte.\n\n\u201cThis shall not be ended so,\u201d said he, \u201cfor I have lost a noble Knight\nof my blood, and I will be avenged of the person who has wrought this\nevil.\u201d And he turned to the Queen and said \u201cMadam, it is you who have\nbrought about the death of my cousin Sir Patrise!\u201d The Knights round\nlistened in silence, for they too thought Sir Mador spake truth. And the\nQueen still said nothing, but fell to weeping bitterly, till King Arthur\nheard and came to look into the matter. And when they told him of their\ntrouble his heart was heavy within him.\n\n\u201cFair lords,\u201d said the King at last, \u201cI grieve for this ill deed; but I\ncannot meddle therein, or do battle for my wife, for I have to judge\njustly. Sure I am that this deed is none of hers, therefore many a good\nKnight will stand her champion that she be not burned to death in a\nwrong quarrel. And Sir Mador, hold not your head so high, but fix the\nday of battle, when you shall find a Knight to answer you, or else it\nwere great shame to all my Court.\u201d\n\n\u201cMy gracious lord,\u201d said Sir Mador, \u201cyou must hold me excused. But\nthough you are a King you are also a Knight, and must obey the laws of\nKnighthood. Therefore I beseech your forgiveness if I declare that none\nof the four and twenty Knights here present will fight that battle. What\nsay you, my lords?\u201d Then the Knights answered that they could not hold\nthe Queen guiltless, for as the dinner was made by her either she or her\nservants must have done this thing.\n\n\u201cAlas!\u201d said the Queen, \u201cno evil was in my heart when I prepared this\nfeast, for never have I done such foul deeds.\u201d\n\n\u201cMy lord the King,\u201d cried Sir Mador, \u201cI require of you, as you are a\njust King, to fix a day that I may get ready for the fight!\u201d\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d answered the King, \u201con the fifteenth day from this come on\nhorseback to the meadow that is by Westminster. And if it happens that\nthere be a Knight to fight with you, strike as hard as you will, God\nwill speed the right. But if no Knight is there, then must my Queen be\nburned, and a fire shall be made in the meadow.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am answered,\u201d said Sir Mador, and he and the rest of the Knights\ndeparted.\n\nWhen the King and Queen were left alone he asked her what had brought\nall this about. \u201cGod help me, that I know not,\u201d said the Queen, \u201cnor how\nit was done.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhere is Sir Lancelot?\u201d said King Arthur, looking round. \u201cIf he were\nhere he would not grudge to do battle for you.\u201d\n\n\u201cSir,\u201d replied the Queen, \u201cI know not where he is, but his brother and\nhis kinsmen think he is not in this realm.\u201d\n\n\u201cI grieve for that,\u201d said the King, \u201cfor he would soon stop this strife.\nBut I counsel you, ask Sir Bors, and he will not refuse you. For well I\nsee that none of the four and twenty Knights who were with you at dinner\nwill be your champion, and none will say well of you, but men will speak\nevil of you at the Court.\u201d\n\n\u201cAlas!\u201d sighed the Queen, \u201cI do indeed miss Sir Lancelot, for he would\nsoon ease my heart.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat ails you?\u201d asked the King, \u201cthat you cannot keep Sir Lancelot at\nyour side, for well you know that he who Sir Lancelot fights for has the\nbest Knight in the world for his champion. Now go your way, and command\nSir Bors to do battle with you for Sir Lancelot\u2019s sake.\u201d So the Queen\ndeparted from the King, and sent for Sir Bors into her chamber, and when\nhe came she besought his help.\n\n [Illustration: SIR MADOR ACCUSES GUENEVERE]\n\n\u201cMadam,\u201d said he, \u201cwhat can I do? for I may not meddle in this matter\nlest the Knights who were at the dinner have me in suspicion, for I was\nthere also. It is now, Madam, that you miss Sir Lancelot, whom you have\ndriven away, as he would have done battle for you were you right or\nwrong, and I wonder how for shame\u2019s sake you can ask me, knowing how I\nlove and honour him.\u201d\n\n\u201cAlas,\u201d said the Queen, \u201cI throw myself on your grace,\u201d and she went\ndown on her knees and besought Sir Bors to have mercy on her, \u201celse I\nshall have a shameful death, and one I have never deserved.\u201d At that\nKing Arthur came in, and found her kneeling before Sir Bors. \u201cMadame!\nyou do me great dishonour,\u201d said Sir Bors, raising her up.\n\n\u201cAh, gentle Knight,\u201d cried the King, \u201chave mercy on my Queen, for I am\nsure that they speak falsely. And I require by the love of Sir Lancelot\nthat you do battle for her instead of him.\u201d\n\n\u201cMy lord,\u201d answered Sir Bors, \u201cyou require of me the hardest thing that\never any one asked of me, for well you know that if I fight for the\nQueen I shall anger all my companions of the Round Table; but I will not\nsay nay, my lord, for Sir Lancelot\u2019s sake and for your own sake! On that\nday I will be the Queen\u2019s champion, unless a better Knight is found to\ndo battle for her.\u201d\n\n\u201cWill you promise me this?\u201d asked the King.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d answered Sir Bors, \u201cI will not fail you nor her, unless there\nshould come a better Knight than I, then he shall have the battle.\u201d Then\nthe King and Queen rejoiced greatly, and thanked Sir Bors with all their\nhearts.\n\nSo Sir Bors departed and rode unto Sir Lancelot, who was with the hermit\nSir Brasias, and told him of this adventure. \u201cAh,\u201d said Sir Lancelot,\n\u201cthis has befallen as I would have it, and therefore I pray you make\nready to do battle, but delay the fight as long as you can that I may\nappear. For I am sure that Sir Mador is a hot Knight, and the longer he\nwaits the more impatient he will be for the combat.\u201d\n\n\u201cSir,\u201d answered Sir Bors, \u201clet me deal with him. Doubt not you shall\nhave all your will.\u201d And he rode away, and came again to the Court.\n\nIt was soon noised about that Sir Bors would be the Queen\u2019s champion,\nand many Knights were displeased with him; but there were a few who held\nthe Queen to be innocent. Sir Bors spoke unto them all and said, \u201cIt\nwere shameful, my fair lords, if we suffered the most noble Queen in the\nworld to be disgraced openly, not only for her sake, but for the\nKing\u2019s.\u201d But they answered him: \u201cAs for our lord King Arthur, we love\nhim and honour him as much as you; but as for Queen Guenevere, we love\nher not, for she is the destroyer of good Knights.\u201d\n\n\u201cFair lords,\u201d said Sir Bors, \u201cyou shall not speak such words, for never\nyet have I heard that she was the destroyer of good Knights. But at all\ntimes, as far as I ever knew, she maintained them and gave them many\ngifts. And therefore it were a shame to us all if we suffered our noble\nKing\u2019s wife to be put to death, and I will not suffer it. So much I will\nsay, that the Queen is not guilty of Sir Patrise\u2019s death; for she owed\nhim no ill will, and bade him and us to the dinner for no evil purpose,\nwhich will be proved hereafter. And in any case there was foul dealing\namong us.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe may believe your words,\u201d said some of the Knights, but others held\nthat he spoke falsely.\n\nThe days passed quickly by until the evening before the battle, when the\nQueen sent for Sir Bors and asked him if he was ready to keep his\npromise.\n\n\u201cTruly, Madam,\u201d answered he, \u201cI shall not fail you, unless a better\nKnight than I am come to do battle for you. Then, Madam, I am discharged\nof my promise.\u201d\n\n\u201cShall I tell this to my lord Arthur?\u201d said the Queen.\n\n\u201cIf it pleases you, Madam,\u201d answered Sir Bors. So the Queen went to the\nKing, and told him what Sir Bors had said, and the King bade her to be\ncomforted, as Sir Bors was one of the best Knights of the Round Table.\n\nThe next morning the King and Queen, and all manner of Knights, rode\ninto the meadow of Westminster, where the battle was to be; and the\nQueen was put into the charge of the High Constable, and a stout iron\nstake was planted, and a great fire made about it, at which the Queen\nshould be burned if Sir Mador de la Porte won the fight. For it was the\ncustom in those days that neither fear nor favour, love nor kinship,\nshould hinder right judgment. Then came Sir Mador de la Porte, and made\noath before the King that the Queen had done to death his cousin Sir\nPatrise and he would prove it on her Knight\u2019s body, let who would say\nthe contrary. Sir Bors likewise made answer that Queen Guenevere had\ndone no wrong, and that he would make good with his two hands. \u201cThen get\nyou ready,\u201d said Sir Mador. \u201cSir Mador,\u201d answered Sir Bors, \u201cI know you\nfor a good Knight, but I trust to be able to withstand your malice; and\nI have promised King Arthur and my Lady the Queen that I will do battle\nfor her to the uttermost, unless there come forth a better Knight than I\nam.\u201d\n\n\u201cIs that all?\u201d asked Sir Mador; \u201cbut you must either fight now or own\nthat you are beaten.\u201d\n\n\u201cTake your horse,\u201d said Sir Bors, \u201cfor I shall not tarry long,\u201d and Sir\nMador forthwith rode into the field with his shield on his shoulder, and\nhis spear in his hand, and he went up and down crying unto King Arthur,\n\u201cBid your champion come forth if he dare.\u201d At that Sir Bors was ashamed,\nand took his horse, and rode to the end of the lists. But from a wood\nhard by appeared a Knight riding fast on a white horse, bearing a shield\nfull of strange devices. When he reached Sir Bors he drew rein and said,\n\u201cFair Knight, be not displeased, but this battle must be to a better\nKnight than you. For I have come a great journey to fight this fight, as\nI promised when I spoke with you last, and I thank you heartily for your\ngoodwill.\u201d So Sir Bors went to King Arthur and told him that a Knight\nhad come who wished to do battle for the Queen. \u201cWhat Knight is he?\u201d\nasked the King.\n\n\u201cThat I know not,\u201d said Sir Bors; \u201cbut he made a covenant with me to be\nhere this day, and now I am discharged,\u201d said Sir Bors.\n\nThen the King called to that Knight and asked him if he would fight for\nthe Queen. \u201cFor that purpose I came hither,\u201d replied he, \u201cand therefore,\nSir King, delay me no longer, for as soon as I have ended this battle I\nmust go hence, as I have many matters elsewhere. And I would have you\nknow that it is a dishonour to all the Knights of the Round Table to let\nso noble a lady and so courteous a Queen as Queen Guenevere be shamed\namongst them.\u201d\n\nThe Knights who were standing round looked at each other at these words,\nand wondered much what man this was who took the battle upon him, for\nnone knew him save Sir Bors.\n\n [Illustration: ARTHUR AND GUENEVERE KISS BEFORE ALL THE PEOPLE]\n\n\u201cSir,\u201d said Sir Mador de la Porte unto the King, \u201clet me know the name\nof him with whom I have to do.\u201d But the King answered nothing, and made\na sign for the fight to begin. They rode to the end of the lists, and\ncouched their spears and rushed together with all their force, and Sir\nMador\u2019s spear broke in pieces. But the other Knight\u2019s spear held firm,\nand he pressed on Sir Mador\u2019s horse till it fell backward with a great\nfall. Sir Mador sprang from his horse, and, placing his shield before\nhim, drew his sword, and bade his foe dismount from his horse also, and\ndo battle with him on foot, which the unknown Knight did. For an hour\nthey fought thus, as Sir Mador was a strong man, and had proved himself\nthe victor in many combats. At last the Knight smote Sir Mador\ngrovelling to his knees, and the Knight stepped forward to have struck\nhim flat upon the ground. Therewith Sir Mador suddenly rose, and smote\nthe Knight upon the thigh, so that the blood ran out fiercely. But when\nthe Knight felt himself wounded, and saw his blood, he let Sir Mador\nrise to his feet, and then he gave him such a buffet on the helm that\nthis time Sir Mador fell his length on the earth, and the Knight sprang\nto him, to unloose his helm. At this Sir Mador prayed for his life,\nacknowledging that he was overcome, and confessed that the Queen\u2019s\ninnocence had been proved. \u201cI will only grant you your life,\u201d said the\nKnight, \u201cif you will proclaim publicly that you have foully slandered\nthe Queen, and that you make no mention, on the tomb of Sir Patrise,\nthat ever Queen Guenevere consented to his murder.\u201d \u201cAll that will I\ndo,\u201d said Sir Mador, and some Knights took him up, and carried him away\nto heal his wounds. And the other knight went straight to the foot of\nthe steps where sat King Arthur, and there the Queen had just come, and\nthe King and the Queen kissed each other before all the people. When\nKing Arthur saw the Knight standing there he stooped down to him and\nthanked him, and so likewise did the Queen; and they prayed him to put\noff his helmet, and commanded wine to be brought, and when he unlaced\nhis helmet to drink they knew him to be Sir Lancelot du Lake. Then\nArthur took the Queen\u2019s hand and led her to Sir Lancelot and said, \u201cSir,\nI give you the most heartfelt thanks of the great deed you have done\nthis day for me and my Queen.\u201d\n\n\u201cMy lord,\u201d answered Sir Lancelot, \u201cyou know well that I ought of right\never to fight your battles, and those of my lady the Queen. For it was\nyou who gave me the high honour of Knighthood, and that same day my lady\nthe Queen did me a great service, else I should have been put to shame\nbefore all men. Because in my hastiness I lost my sword, and my lady the\nQueen found it and gave it to me when I had sore need of it. And\ntherefore, my lord Arthur, I promised her that day that I would be her\nKnight in right or in wrong.\u201d\n\n\u201cI owe you great thanks,\u201d said the King, \u201cand some time I hope to repay\nyou.\u201d The Queen, beholding Sir Lancelot, wept tears of joy for her\ndeliverance, and felt bowed to the ground with sorrow at the thought of\nwhat he had done for her, when she had sent him away with unkind words.\nThen all the Knights of the Round Table and his kinsmen drew near to him\nand welcomed him, and there was great mirth in the Court.\n\n\n\n\n THE FAIR MAID OF ASTOLAT.\n\n\nSoon after this it befell that the damsel of the lake, called by some\nNimue and by others Vivien, wedded Sir Pelleas, and came to the Court of\nKing Arthur. And when she heard the talk of the death of Sir Patrise and\nhow the Queen had been accused of it, she found out by means of her\nmagic that the tale was false, and told it openly that the Queen was\ninnocent and that it was Sir Pinel who had poisoned the apple. Then he\nfled into his own country, where none might lay hands on him. So Sir\nPatrise was buried in the Church of Westminster, and on his tomb was\nwritten, \u201cHere lieth Sir Patrise of Ireland, slain by Sir Pinel le\nSavage, that empoisoned apples to have slain Sir Gawaine, and by\nmisfortune Sir Patrise ate one of those apples and then suddenly he\nburst.\u201d Also there was put upon the tomb that Queen Guenevere was\naccused of the death of Sir Patrise by Sir Mador de la Porte, and how\nSir Lancelot fought with him and overcame him in battle. All this was\nwritten on the tomb.\n\nAnd daily Sir Mador prayed to have the Queen\u2019s grace once more, and by\nmeans of Sir Lancelot he was forgiven. It was now the middle of the\nsummer, and King Arthur proclaimed that in fifteen days a great tourney\nshould be held at Camelot, which is now called Winchester, and many\nKnights and Kings made ready to do themselves honour. But the Queen said\nshe would stay behind, for she was sick, and did not care for the noise\nand hustle of a tourney. \u201cIt grieves me you should say that,\u201d said the\nKing, \u201cfor you will not have seen so noble a company gathered together\nthis seven years past, save at the Whitsuntide when Galahad departed\nfrom the Court.\u201d\n\n\u201cTruly,\u201d answered the Queen, \u201cthe sight will be grand. Nevertheless you\nmust hold me excused, for I cannot be there.\u201d\n\nSir Lancelot likewise declared that his wounds were not healed and that\nhe could not bear himself in a tourney as he was wont to do. At this the\nKing was wroth, that he might not have either his Queen or his best\nKnight with him, and he departed towards Winchester and by the way\nlodged in a town now called Guildford, but then Astolat. And when the\nKing had set forth, the Queen sent for Sir Lancelot, and told him he was\nto blame for having excused himself from going with the King, who set\nsuch store by his company; and Sir Lancelot said he would be ruled by\nher, and would ride forth next morning on his way to Winchester; \u201cbut I\nshould have you know,\u201d said he, \u201cthat at the tourney I shall be against\nthe King and his Knights.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou must do as you please,\u201d replied the Queen, \u201cbut if you will be\nruled by my counsel, you will fight on his side.\u201d\n\n\u201cMadam,\u201d said Sir Lancelot, \u201cI pray you not to be displeased with me. I\nwill take the adventure as it comes,\u201d and early next morning he rode\naway till at eventide he reached Astolat. He went through the town till\nhe stopped before the house of an old Baron, Sir Bernard of Astolat, and\nas he dismounted from his horse, the King spied him from the gardens of\nthe castle. \u201cIt is well,\u201d he said, smiling to the Knights that were\nbeside him, \u201cI see one man who will play his part in the jousts, and I\nwill undertake that he will do marvels.\u201d\n\n\u201cWho is that?\u201d asked they all. \u201cYou must wait to know that,\u201d replied the\nKing, and went into the castle. Meantime Sir Lancelot had entered his\nlodging, and the old Baron bade him welcome, but he knew not it was Sir\nLancelot. \u201cFair Sir,\u201d said Sir Lancelot, \u201cI pray you lend me, if you\ncan, a shield with a device which no man knows, for mine they know\nwell.\u201d\n\n\u201cSir,\u201d answered Sir Bernard, \u201cyou shall have your wish, for you seem one\nof the goodliest Knights in the world. And, Sir, I have two sons, both\nbut lately knighted, Sir Tirre who was wounded on the day of his\nKnighthood, and his shield you shall have. My youngest son, Sir Lavaine,\nshall ride with you, if you will have his company, to the jousts. For my\nheart is much drawn to you, and tell me, I beseech you, what name I\nshall call you by.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou must hold me excused as to that, just now,\u201d said Sir Lancelot, \u201cbut\nif I speed well at the jousts, I will come again and tell you. But let\nme have Sir Lavaine with me, and lend me, as you have offered, his\nbrother\u2019s shield.\u201d \u201cThis shall be done,\u201d replied Sir Bernard.\n\nBesides these two sons, Sir Bernard had a daughter whom every one called\nThe Fair Maid of Astolat, though her real name was Elaine le Blanc. And\nwhen she looked on Sir Lancelot, her love went forth to him and she\ncould never take it back, and in the end it killed her. As soon as her\nfather told her that Sir Lancelot was going to the tourney she besought\nhim to wear her token in the jousts, but he was not willing. \u201cFair\ndamsel,\u201d he said, \u201cif I did that, I should have done more for your sake\nthan ever I did for lady or damsel.\u201d But then he remembered that he was\nto go disguised to the tourney, and because he had before never worn any\nmanner of token of any damsel, he bethought him that, if he should take\none of hers, none would know him. So he said to her, \u201cFair damsel, I\nwill wear your token on my helmet, if you will show me what it is.\u201d\n\n\u201cSir,\u201d she answered, \u201cit is a red sleeve, embroidered in great pearls,\u201d\nand she brought it to him. \u201cNever have I done so much for any damsel,\u201d\nsaid he, and gave his own shield into her keeping, till he came again.\nSir Arthur had waited three days in Astolat for some Knights who were\nlong on the road, and when they had arrived they all set forth, and were\nfollowed by Sir Lancelot and Sir Lavaine, both with white shields, and\nSir Lancelot bore besides the red sleeve that was a token. Now Camelot\nwas filled with a great number of Kings and Lords and Knights, but Sir\nLavaine found means to lodge both himself and Sir Lancelot secretly with\na rich burgess, and no man knew who they were or whence they came. And\nthere they stayed till the day of the tourney. At earliest dawn the\ntrumpets blew, and King Arthur took his seat upon a high scaffold, so\nthat he might see who had done best; but he would not suffer Sir Gawaine\nto go from his side, for Sir Gawaine never won the prize when Sir\nLancelot was in the field, and as King Arthur knew, Sir Lancelot\noftentimes disguised himself.\n\n [Illustration: ELAINE TIES HER SLEEVE ROVND SIR LANCELOT\u2019S HELMET]\n\nThen the Knights formed into two parties and Sir Lancelot made him\nready, and Elaine fastened the red sleeve upon his helmet. Then he and\nSir Lavaine rode into a little wood that lay behind the Knights who\nshould fight against those of the Round Table. \u201cSir,\u201d said Sir Lancelot,\n\u201cyonder is a company of good Knights and they hold together as boars\nthat are vexed with dogs.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is truth,\u201d said Sir Lavaine.\n\n\u201cNow,\u201d said Sir Lancelot, \u201cif you will help me a little, you shall see\nKing Arthur\u2019s side, which is winning, driven back as fast as they came.\u201d\n\n\u201cSpare not, Sir,\u201d answered Sir Lavaine, \u201cfor I shall do what I may.\u201d So\nthey rode into the thickest of the press, and smote so hard both with\nspear and sword that the Knights of the Round Table fell back. \u201cO\nmercy!\u201d cried Sir Gawaine, \u201cwhat Knight is that yonder who does such\nmarvellous deeds?\u201d\n\n\u201cI know well who it is,\u201d said King Arthur, \u201cbut I will not tell you\nyet.\u201d\n\n\u201cSir,\u201d answered Sir Gawaine, \u201cI should say it was Sir Lancelot by the\nblows he deals and the manner that he rides, but it cannot be he, for\nthis man has a red sleeve upon his helmet, and Sir Lancelot has never\nborne the token of any lady.\u201d\n\n\u201cLet him be,\u201d said Sir Arthur, \u201cyou will find out his name, and see him\ndo greater deeds yet, before he departs.\u201d And the Knights that were\nfighting against the King\u2019s party took heart again, for before they\nfeared they would be beaten. But when Sir Bors saw this, he called unto\nhim the Knights that were of kin to Sir Lancelot, and they banded\ntogether to make a great charge, and threw Sir Lancelot\u2019s horse to the\nground, and by misfortune the spear of Sir Bors broke, and its head was\nleft in Sir Lancelot\u2019s side. When Sir Lavaine saw that, he unhorsed the\nKing of Scots, and brought his horse to Sir Lancelot, and helped him to\nmount thereon and gave him a spear, with which Sir Lancelot smote Sir\nBors to the earth and Sir Ector de Maris, the foster-father of King\nArthur, and buffeted sorely the Knights that were with them. Afterward\nhe hurled himself into the thick _m\u00eal\u00e9e_ of them all, and did the most\nwonderful deeds that ever were heard of. And Sir Lavaine likewise did\nwell that day, for he smote down full two Knights of the Round Table.\n\u201cMercy,\u201d again cried Sir Gawaine to Arthur, \u201cI marvel what Knight that\nis with the red sleeve.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat you shall know soon,\u201d said King Arthur, and commanded that the\ntrumpets should be blown, and declared that the prize belonged to the\nKnight with the white shield, who bare the red sleeve, for he had\nunhorsed more than thirty Knights. And the Kings and Lords who were of\nhis party came round him and thanked him for the help he had given them,\nby which means the honours of the day had been theirs.\n\n\u201cFair Lords,\u201d said Sir Lancelot, \u201cif I have deserved thanks, I have paid\nfor them sorely, for I shall hardly escape with my life, therefore I\npray you let me depart, for my hurt is grievous.\u201d Then he groaned\npiteously, and galloped from them to a wood\u2019s side, followed by Sir\nLavaine. \u201cOh help me, Sir Lavaine,\u201d said he, \u201cto get this spear\u2019s head\nout of my side, for it is killing me.\u201d But Sir Lavaine feared to touch\nit, lest Sir Lancelot should bleed to death. \u201cI charge you,\u201d said Sir\nLancelot, \u201cif you love me, draw out the head,\u201d so Sir Lavaine drew it\nout. And Sir Lancelot gave a great shriek, and a marvellous grisly\ngroan, and his blood flowed out so fast that he fell into a swoon. \u201cOh\nwhat shall I do?\u201d cried Sir Lavaine, and he loosed Sir Lancelot\u2019s helm\nand coat of mail, and turned him so that the wind might blow on him, but\nfor full half an hour he lay as if he had been dead. And at last Sir\nLancelot opened his eyes, and said, \u201cO Lavaine, help me on my horse, for\ntwo miles from this place there lives a hermit who once was a Knight of\nthe Round Table, and he can heal my wounds.\u201d Then Sir Lavaine, with much\nado, helped him on his horse, and brought him bleeding to the hermit.\nThe hermit looked at him as he rode up, leaning piteously on his\nsaddle-bow, and he thought that he should know him, but could not tell\nwho he was for the paleness of his face, till he saw by a wound on his\ncheek that it was Sir Lancelot.\n\n\u201cYou cannot hide your name from me,\u201d said the hermit, \u201cfor you are the\nnoblest Knight in the world, and well I know you to be Sir Lancelot.\u201d\n\n\u201cSince you know me, Sir,\u201d said he, \u201chelp me for God\u2019s sake, and for\ndeath or life put me out of this pain.\u201d\n\n\u201cFear nothing,\u201d answered the hermit, \u201cyour pain will soon be gone,\u201d and\nhe called his servants to take the armour off the Knight, and laid him\nin bed. After that he dressed the wound, and gave him good wine to\ndrink, and Sir Lancelot slept and awoke free of his pain. So we will\nleave him to be healed of his wound, under the care of the hermit, and\ngo back to King Arthur.\n\nNow, it was the custom in those days that after a tourney was finished,\na great feast should be held at which both parties were assembled, so\nKing Arthur sent to ask the King of Northgalis, where was the Knight\nwith the red sleeve, who had fought on his side. \u201cBring him before me,\u201d\nhe said, \u201cthat he may have the prize he has won, which is his right.\u201d\nThen answered the King with the hundred Knights, \u201cWe fear the Knight\nmust have been sore hurt, and that neither you nor we are ever like to\nsee him again, which is grievous to think of.\u201d\n\n\u201cAlas!\u201d said King Arthur, \u201cis he then so badly wounded? What is his\nname?\u201d\n\n\u201cTruly,\u201d said they all, \u201cwe know not his name, nor whence he came, nor\nwhither he went.\u201d\n\n\u201cAs for me,\u201d answered King Arthur, \u201cthese tidings are the worst that I\nhave heard these seven years, for I would give all the lands I hold that\nno harm had befallen this Knight.\u201d\n\n\u201cDo you know him?\u201d asked they all.\n\n\u201cWhether I know him or not,\u201d said King Arthur, \u201cI shall not tell you,\nbut may Heaven send me good news of him.\u201d \u201cAmen,\u201d answered they.\n\n\u201cBy my head,\u201d said Sir Gawaine, \u201cif this good Knight is really wounded\nunto death, it is a great evil for all this land, for he is one of the\nnoblest that ever I saw for handling a sword or spear. And if he may be\nfound, I shall find him, for I am sure he is not far from this town;\u201d so\nhe took his Squire with him, and they rode all round Camelot, six or\nseven miles on every side, but nothing could they hear of him. And he\nreturned heavily to the Court of King Arthur.\n\nTwo days after the King and all his company set out for London, and by\nthe way, it happened to Sir Gawaine to lodge with Sir Bernard at\nAstolat. And when he was in his chamber, Sir Bernard and his daughter\nElaine came unto Sir Gawaine, to ask him tidings of the Court, and who\ndid best in the tourney at Winchester.\n\n\u201cTruly,\u201d said Sir Gawaine, \u201cthere were two Knights that bare white\nshields, but one of them had a red sleeve upon his helm, and he was one\nof the best Knights that ever I saw joust in the field, for I dare say\nhe smote down forty Knights of the Table Round.\u201d\n\n\u201cNow blessed be God,\u201d said the Maid of Astolat, \u201cthat that Knight sped\nso well, for he is the man in the world that I loved first, and he will\nalso be the last that ever I shall love.\u201d\n\n\u201cFair Maid,\u201d asked Sir Gawaine, \u201cis that Knight your love?\u201d\n\n\u201cCertainly he is my love,\u201d said she.\n\n\u201cThen you know his name?\u201d asked Sir Gawaine.\n\n\u201cNay, truly,\u201d answered the damsel, \u201cI know neither his name, nor whence\nhe cometh, but I love him for all that.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow did you meet him first?\u201d asked Sir Gawaine. At that she told him\nthe whole story, and how her brother went with Sir Lancelot to do him\nservice, and lent him the white shield of her brother Sir Tirre and left\nhis own shield with her. \u201cWhy did he do that?\u201d asked Sir Gawaine.\n\n\u201cFor this cause,\u201d said the damsel, \u201chis shield was too well known among\nmany noble Knights.\u201d\n\n\u201cAh, fair damsel,\u201d said Sir Gawaine, \u201cI beg of you to let me have a\nsight of that shield.\u201d\n\n\u201cSir,\u201d answered she, \u201cit is in my chamber covered with a case, and if\nyou will come with me, you shall see it.\u201d\n\n\u201cNot so,\u201d said Sir Bernard, and sent his Squire for it. And when Sir\nGawaine took off the case and beheld the shield, and saw the arms, he\nknew it to be Sir Lancelot\u2019s. \u201cAh mercy,\u201d cried he, \u201cmy heart is heavier\nthan ever it was before!\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy?\u201d asked Elaine.\n\n\u201cI have great cause,\u201d answered Sir Gawaine. \u201cIs that Knight who owns\nthis shield your love?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, truly,\u201d said she; \u201cI would I were his love.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou are right, fair damsel,\u201d replied Gawaine, \u201cfor if you love him, you\nlove the most honourable Knight in the world. I have known him for four\nand twenty years, and never did I or any other Knight see him wear a\ntoken of either lady or damsel at a tournament. Therefore, damsel, he\nhas paid you great honour. But I fear that I may never behold him again\nupon earth, and that is grievous to think of.\u201d\n\n\u201cAlas!\u201d said she, \u201chow may this be? Is he slain?\u201d\n\n\u201cI did not say that,\u201d replied Sir Gawaine, \u201cbut he is sorely wounded,\nand is more likely to be dead than alive. And, maiden, by this shield I\nknow that he is Sir Lancelot.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow can this be?\u201d said the Maid of Astolat, \u201cand what was his hurt?\u201d\n\n\u201cTruly,\u201d answered Sir Gawaine, \u201cit was the man that loved him best who\nhurt him so, and I am sure that if that man knew that it was Sir\nLancelot whom he had wounded, he would think it was the darkest deed\nthat ever he did.\u201d\n\n\u201cNow, dear father,\u201d said Elaine, \u201cgive me leave to ride and to seek him,\nfor I shall go out of my mind unless I find him and my brother.\u201d\n\n\u201cDo as you will,\u201d answered her father, \u201cfor I am grieved to hear of the\nhurt of that noble Knight.\u201d So the damsel made ready.\n\nOn the morn Sir Gawaine came to King Arthur and told him how he had\nfound the shield in the keeping of the Maid of Astolat. \u201cAll that I knew\nbeforehand,\u201d said the King, \u201cand that was why I would not suffer you to\nfight at the tourney, for I had espied him when he entered his lodging\nthe night before. But this is the first time that ever I heard of his\nbearing the token of some lady, and much I marvel at it.\u201d\n\n\u201cBy my head,\u201d answered Sir Gawaine, \u201cthe Fair Maiden of Astolat loves\nhim wondrous well. What it all means, or what will be the end, I cannot\nsay, but she has ridden after him to seek him.\u201d So the King and his\ncompany came to London, and every one in the Court knew that it was Sir\nLancelot who had jousted the best.\n\nAnd when the tidings came to Sir Bors, his heart grew heavy, and also\nthe hearts of his kinsmen. But when the Queen heard that Sir Lancelot\nbore the red sleeve of the Fair Maid of Astolat, she was nearly mad with\nwrath, and summoned Sir Bors before her in haste.\n\n\u201cAh, Sir Bors,\u201d she cried when he was come, \u201chave the tidings reached\nyou that Sir Lancelot has been a false Knight to me?\u201d\n\n\u201cMadam,\u201d answered Sir Bors, \u201cI pray you say not so, for I cannot hear\nsuch language of him.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy, is he not false and a traitor when, after swearing that for right\nor wrong he would be my Knight and mine only, he bore the red sleeve\nupon his helm at the great jousts at Camelot?\u201d\n\n\u201cMadam,\u201d said Sir Bors, \u201cI grieve bitterly as to that sleeve-bearing,\nbut I think he did it that none of his kin should know him. For no man\nbefore that had seen him bear the token of any lady, be she what she\nmay.\u201d\n\n\u201cFie on him!\u201d said the Queen, \u201cI myself heard Sir Gawaine tell my lord\nArthur of the great love that is between the Fair Maiden of Astolat and\nhim.\u201d\n\n\u201cMadam,\u201d answered Sir Bors, \u201cI cannot hinder Sir Gawaine from saying\nwhat he pleases, but as for Sir Lancelot, I am sure that he loves no one\nlady or maiden better than another. And therefore I will hasten to seek\nhim wherever he be.\u201d\n\nMeanwhile fair Elaine came to Winchester to find Sir Lancelot, who lay\nin peril of his life in the hermit\u2019s dwelling. And when she was riding\nhither and thither, not knowing where she should turn, she fell on her\nbrother Sir Lavaine, who was exercising his horse. \u201cHow doth my lord Sir\nLancelot?\u201d asked she.\n\n\u201cWho told you, sister, that my lord\u2019s name was Sir Lancelot?\u201d answered\nSir Lavaine.\n\n\u201cSir Gawaine, who came to my father\u2019s house to rest after the tourney,\nknew him by his shield,\u201d said she, and they rode on till they reached\nthe hermitage, and Sir Lavaine brought her to Sir Lancelot. And when she\nsaw him so pale, and in such a plight, she fell to the earth in a swoon,\nbut by-and-by she opened her eyes and said, \u201cMy lord Sir Lancelot, what\nhas brought you to this?\u201d and swooned again. When she came to herself\nand stood up, Sir Lancelot prayed her to be of good cheer, for if she\nhad come to comfort him she was right welcome, and that his wound would\nsoon heal. \u201cBut I marvel,\u201d said he, \u201chow you know my name.\u201d Then the\nmaiden told him how Sir Gawaine had been at Astolat and had seen his\nshield.\n\n\u201cAlas!\u201d sighed Sir Lancelot, \u201cit grieves me that my name is known, for\ntrouble will come of it.\u201d For he knew full well that Sir Gawaine would\ntell Queen Guenevere, and that she would be wroth. And Elaine stayed and\ntended him, and Sir Lancelot begged Sir Lavaine to ride to Winchester\nand ask if Sir Bors was there, and said that he should know him by token\nof a wound which Sir Bors had on his forehead. \u201cFor well I am sure,\u201d\nsaid Sir Lancelot, \u201cthat Sir Bors will seek me, as he is the same good\nKnight that hurt me.\u201d\n\nTherefore as Sir Lancelot commanded, Sir Lavaine rode to Winchester and\ninquired if Sir Bors had been seen there, so that when he entered the\ntown Sir Lavaine readily found him. Sir Bors was overjoyed to hear good\ntidings of Sir Lancelot, and they rode back together to the hermitage.\nAt the sight of Sir Lancelot lying in his bed, pale and thin, Sir Bors\u2019\nheart gave way, and he wept long without speaking. \u201cOh, my lord Sir\nLancelot,\u201d he said at last, \u201cGod send you hasty recovery; great is my\nshame for having wounded you thus, you who are the noblest Knight in the\nworld. I wonder that my arm would lift itself against you, and I ask\nyour mercy.\u201d\n\n\u201cFair cousin,\u201d answered Sir Lancelot, \u201csuch words please me not at all,\nfor it is the fault of my pride which would overcome you all, that I lie\nhere to-day. We will not speak of it any more, for what is done cannot\nbe undone, but let us find a cure so that I may soon be whole.\u201d Then Sir\nBors leaned upon his bed, and told him how the Queen was filled with\nanger against him, because he wore the red sleeve at the jousts.\n\n\u201cI am sorrowful at what you tell me,\u201d replied Sir Lancelot, \u201cfor all I\ndid was to hinder my being known.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat I said to excuse you,\u201d answered Sir Bors, \u201cthough it was all in\nvain. But is this damsel that is so busy about you the Fair Maid of\nAstolat?\u201d\n\n\u201cShe it is, and she will not go from me!\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy should she go from you?\u201d asked Sir Bors. \u201cShe is a passing fair\ndamsel, and of gentle breeding, and I would that you could love her, for\nit is easy to see by her bearing that she loves you entirely.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt grieves me to hear that,\u201d said Sir Lancelot.\n\nAfter this they talked of other things, till in a few days Sir\nLancelot\u2019s wounds were whole again. When Sir Lancelot felt his strength\nreturn, Sir Bors made him ready, and departed for the Court of King\nArthur, and told them how he had left Sir Lancelot. And there was on All\nHallows a great tournament, and Sir Bors won the prize for the unhorsing\nof twenty Knights, and Sir Gareth did great deeds also, but vanished\nsuddenly from the field, and no man knew where he had gone. After the\ntourney was over, Sir Bors rode to the hermitage to see Sir Lancelot,\nwhom he found walking on his feet, and on the next morning they bade\nfarewell to the hermit, taking with them Elaine le Blanc. They went\nfirst to Astolat, where they were well lodged in the house of Sir\nBernard, but when the morrow came, and Sir Lancelot would have departed\nfrom them, Elaine called to her father and to her brothers Sir Tirre and\nSir Lavaine, and thus she said\u2014\n\n\u201cMy lord Sir Lancelot, fair Knight, leave me not, I pray you, but have\nmercy upon me, and suffer me not to die of love of thee.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat do you wish me to do?\u201d asked Sir Lancelot.\n\n\u201cI would have you for my husband,\u201d answered she.\n\n\u201cFair damsel, I thank you,\u201d said Sir Lancelot, \u201cbut truly I shall never\nhave a wife. But in token and thanks of all your good will towards me,\ngladly will I give a thousand pounds yearly when you set your heart upon\nsome other Knight.\u201d\n\n\u201cOf such gifts I will have none,\u201d answered Elaine, \u201cand I would have you\nknow, Sir Lancelot, that if you refuse to wed me, my good days are\ndone.\u201d\n\n\u201cFair damsel,\u201d said Sir Lancelot, \u201cI cannot do the thing that you ask.\u201d\n\nAt these words she fell down in a swoon, and her maids bore her to her\nchamber, where she made bitter sorrow. Sir Lancelot thought it would be\nwell for him to depart before she came to her senses again, and he asked\nSir Lavaine what he would do.\n\n\u201cWhat should I do?\u201d asked Sir Lavaine, \u201cbut follow you, if you will have\nme.\u201d Then Sir Bernard came and said to Sir Lancelot, \u201cI see well that my\ndaughter Elaine will die for your sake.\u201d\n\n\u201cI cannot marry her,\u201d answered Sir Lancelot, \u201cand it grieves me sorely,\nfor she is a good maiden, fair and gentle.\u201d\n\n\u201cFather,\u201d said Sir Lavaine, \u201cshe is as pure and good as Sir Lancelot has\nsaid, and she is like me, for since first I saw him I can never leave\nhim.\u201d And after that they bade the old man farewell and came unto\nWinchester, where the King and all the Knights of the Round Table made\ngreat joy of him, save only Sir Agrawaine and Sir Mordred. But the Queen\nwas angry and would not speak to him, though he tried by all means to\nmake her. Now when the Fair Maid of Astolat knew he was gone, she would\nneither eat nor sleep, but cried after Sir Lancelot all the day long.\nAnd when she had spent ten days in this manner, she grew so weak that\nthey thought her soul must quit this world, and the priest came to her,\nand bade her dwell no more on earthly things. She would not listen to\nhim, but cried ever after Sir Lancelot, and how she had loved none\nother, no, nor ever would, and that her love would be her death. Then\nshe called her father Sir Bernard, and her brother Sir Tirre, and begged\nher brother to write her a letter as she should tell him, and her father\nthat he would have her watched till she was dead. \u201cAnd while my body is\nwarm,\u201d said she, \u201clet this letter be put in my right hand, and my hand\nbound fast with the letter until I be cold, and let me be dressed in my\nrichest clothes and be lain on a fair bed, and driven in a chariot to\nthe Thames. There let me be put on a barge, and a dumb man with me, to\nsteer the barge, which shall be covered over with black samite. Thus,\nfather, I beseech you, let it be done.\u201d And her father promised her\nfaithfully that so it should be done to her when she was dead.\n\n [Illustration: THE BLACK BARGET]\n\nNext day she died, and her body was lain on the bed, and placed in a\nchariot, and driven to the Thames, where the man awaited her with the\nbarge. When she was put on board, he steered the barge to Westminster\nand rowed a great while to and fro, before any espied it. At last King\nArthur and Queen Guenevere withdrew into a window, to speak together,\nand espied the black barge, and wondered greatly what it meant. The King\nsummoned Sir Kay, and bade him take Sir Brandiles and Sir Agrawaine, and\nfind out who was lying there, and they ran down to the river side, and\ncame and told the King. \u201cThat fair corpse will I see,\u201d returned the\nKing, and he took the Queen\u2019s hand and led her thither. Then he ordered\nthe barge to be made fast, and he entered it, and the Queen likewise,\nand certain Knights with them. And there he saw a fair woman on a rich\nbed, and her clothing was of cloth of gold, and she lay smiling. While\nthey looked, all being silent, the Queen spied a letter in her right\nhand, and pointed it out to the King, who took it saying, \u201cNow I am sure\nthis letter will tell us what she was, and why she came hither.\u201d So\nleaving the barge in charge of a trusty man, they went into the King\u2019s\nchamber, followed by many Knights, for the King would have the letter\nread openly. He then broke the seal himself, and bade a clerk read it,\nand this was what it said\u2014\n\n\u201cMost noble Knight Sir Lancelot, I was your lover, whom men called the\nFair Maid of Astolat: therefore unto all ladies I make my moan; yet pray\nfor my soul, and bury me. This is my last request. Pray for my soul, Sir\nLancelot, as thou art peerless.\u201d\n\nThis was all the letter, and the King and Queen and all the Knights wept\nwhen they heard it.\n\n\u201cLet Sir Lancelot be sent for,\u201d presently said the King, and when Sir\nLancelot came the letter was read to him also.\n\n\u201cMy lord Arthur,\u201d said he, after he had heard it all, \u201cI am right\ngrieved at the death of this damsel. God knows I was not, of my own\nwill, guilty of her death, and that I will call on her brother, Sir\nLavaine, to witness. She was both fair and good, and much was I beholden\nto her, but she loved me out of measure.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou might have been a little gentle with her,\u201d answered the Queen, \u201cand\nhave found some way to save her life.\u201d\n\n\u201cMadam,\u201d said Sir Lancelot, \u201cshe would have nothing but my love, and\nthat I could not give her, though I offered her a thousand pounds yearly\nif she should set her heart on any other Knight. For, Madam, I love not\nto be forced to love; love must arise of itself, and not by command.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is truth,\u201d replied the King, \u201clove is free in himself, and never\nwill be bounden; for where he is bounden he looseth himself. But, Sir\nLancelot, be it your care to see that the damsel is buried as is\nfitting.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n PART IV.\n\n\n\n\n LANCELOT AND GUENEVERE.\n\n\nNow we come to the sorrowful tale of Lancelot and Guenevere, and of the\ndeath of King Arthur. Already it has been told that King Arthur had\nwedded Guenevere, the daughter of Leodegrance, King of Cornwall, a\ndamsel who seemed made of all the flowers, so fair was she, and slender,\nand brilliant to look upon. And the Knights in her father\u2019s Court bowed\ndown before her, and smote their hardest in the jousts where Guenevere\nwas present, but none dared ask her in marriage till Arthur came. Like\nthe rest he saw and loved her, but, unlike them, he was a King, and\nmight lift his eyes even unto Guenevere. The maiden herself scarcely saw\nor spoke to him, but did her father\u2019s bidding in all things, and when he\ndesired her to make everything ready to go clothed as beseemed a\nPrincess to King Arthur\u2019s Court, her heart beat with joy at the sight of\nrich stuffs and shining jewels. Then one day there rode up to the Castle\na band of horsemen sent by the King to bring her to his Court, and at\nthe head of them Sir Lancelot du Lake, friend of King Arthur, and winner\nof all the jousts and tournaments where Knights meet to gain honour. Day\nby day they rode together apart and he told her tales of gallant deeds\ndone for love of beautiful ladies, and they passed under trees gay with\nthe first green of spring, and over hyacinths covering the earth with\nsheets of blue, till at sunset they drew rein before the silken\npavilion, with the banner of Uther Pendragon floating on the top. And\nGuenevere\u2019s heart went out to Lancelot before she knew. One evening she\nnoted, far across the plain, towers and buildings shining in the sun,\nand an array of horsemen ride forth to meet her. One stopped before her\ndazzled eyes, and leaping from his horse bowed low. Arthur had come to\nwelcome her, and do her honour, and to lead her home. But looking up at\nhim, she thought him cold, and, timid and alone, her thoughts turned\nagain to Lancelot. After that the days and years slipped by, and these\ntwo were ever nearest the King, and in every time of danger the King\ncried for Lancelot, and trusted his honour and the Queen\u2019s to him. Sir\nLancelot spoke truly when he told Elaine that he had never worn the\nbadge of lady or maiden, but for all that every one looked on Sir\nLancelot as the Queen\u2019s Knight, who could do no worship to any other\nwoman. The King likewise held Sir Lancelot bound to fight the Queen\u2019s\nbattles, and if he was absent on adventures of his own, messengers\nhastened to bring him back, as in the fight with Sir Mador. So things\nwent on for many years, and the King never guessed that the Queen loved\nLancelot best.\n\nIt befell one spring, in the month of May, that Queen Guenevere\nbethought herself that she would like to go a-maying in the woods and\nfields that lay round the City of Westminster on both sides of the\nriver. To this intent she called her own especial Knights, and bade them\nbe ready the next morning clothed all in green, whether of silk or\ncloth, \u201cand,\u201d said she, \u201cI shall bring with me ten ladies, and every\nKnight shall have a lady behind him, and be followed by a Squire and two\nyeomen, and I will that you shall all be well horsed.\u201d Thus it was done,\nand the ten Knights, arrayed in fresh green, the emblem of the spring,\nrode with the Queen and her ladies in the early dawn, and smelt the\nsweet of the year, and gathered flowers which they stuck in their\ngirdles and doublets. The Queen was as happy and light of heart as the\nyoungest maiden, but she had promised to be with the King at the hour of\nten, and gave the signal for departure unwillingly. The Knights were\nmounting their horses, when suddenly out of a wood on the other side\nrode Sir Meliagraunce, who for many years had loved the Queen, and had\nsought an occasion to carry her off, but found none so fair as this. Out\nof the forest he rode, with two score men in armour, and a hundred\narchers behind him, and bade the Queen and her followers stay where they\nwere, or they would fare badly. \u201cTraitor,\u201d cried the Queen, \u201cwhat evil\ndeed would you do? You are a King\u2019s son and a Knight of the Round Table,\nyet you seek to shame the man who gave you knighthood. But I tell you\nthat you may bring dishonour on yourself, but you will bring none on me,\nfor rather would I cut my throat in twain.\u201d\n\n\u201cAs for your threats, Madam, I pay them no heed,\u201d returned Sir\nMeliagraunce; \u201cI have loved you many a year, and never could I get you\nat such an advantage as I do now, and therefore I will take you as I\nfind you.\u201d Then all the Knights spoke together saying, \u201cSir\nMeliagraunce, bethink yourself that in attacking men who are unarmed you\nput not only our lives in peril but your own honour. Rather than allow\nthe Queen to be shamed we will each one fight to the death, and if we\ndid aught else we should dishonour our knighthood for ever.\u201d\n\n\u201cFight as well as you can,\u201d answered Sir Meliagraunce, \u201cand keep the\nQueen if you may.\u201d So the Knights of the Round Table drew their swords,\nand the men of Sir Meliagraunce ran at them with spears; but the Knights\nstood fast, and clove the spears in two before they touched them. Then\nboth sides fought with swords, and Sir Kay and five other Knights were\nfelled to the ground with wounds all over their bodies. The other four\nfought long, and slew forty of the men and archers of Sir Meliagraunce;\nbut in the end they too were overcome. When the Queen saw that she cried\nout for pity and sorrow, \u201cSir Meliagraunce, spare my noble Knights and I\nwill go with you quietly on this condition, that their lives be saved,\nand that wherever you may carry me they shall follow. For I give you\nwarning that I would rather slay myself than go with you without my\nKnights, whose duty it is to guard me.\u201d\n\n\u201cMadam,\u201d replied Sir Meliagraunce, \u201cfor your sake they shall be led with\nyou into my own castle, if you will consent to ride with me.\u201d So the\nQueen prayed the four Knights to fight no more, and she and they would\nnot part, and to this, though their hearts were heavy, they agreed.\n\nThe fight being ended the wounded Knights were placed on horseback, some\nsitting, some lying across the saddle, according as they were hurt, and\nSir Meliagraunce forbade any one to leave the castle (which had been a\ngift to him from King Arthur), for sore he dreaded the vengeance of Sir\nLancelot if this thing should reach his ears. But the Queen knew well\nwhat was passing in his mind, and she called a little page who served\nher in her chamber and desired him to take her ring and hasten with all\nspeed to Sir Lancelot, \u201cand pray him, if he loves me, to rescue me.\nSpare not your horse, neither for water nor for land.\u201d And the boy bided\nhis time, then mounted his horse, and rode away as fast as he might. Sir\nMeliagraunce spied him as he flew, and knew whither he went, and who had\nsent him; and he commanded his best archers to ride after him and shoot\nhim ere he reached Sir Lancelot. But the boy escaped their arrows, and\nvanished from their sight. Then Sir Meliagraunce said to the Queen, \u201cYou\nseek to betray me, Madam; but Sir Lancelot shall not so lightly come at\nyou.\u201d And he bade his men follow him to the castle in haste, and left an\nambush of thirty archers in the road, charging them that if a Knight\nmounted on a white horse came along that way they were to slay the horse\nbut to leave the man alone, as he was hard to overcome. After Sir\nMeliagraunce had given these orders his company galloped fast to the\ncastle; but the Queen would listen to nothing that he said, demanding\nalways that her Knights and ladies should be lodged with her, and Sir\nMeliagraunce was forced to let her have her will.\n\n [Illustration: GUENEVERE SENDS HER PAGE TO LANCELOT FOR HELP.]\n\nThe castle of Sir Meliagraunce was distant seven miles from Westminster,\nso it did not take long for the boy to find Sir Lancelot, and to give\nhim the Queen\u2019s ring and her message. \u201cI am ashamed for ever,\u201d said Sir\nLancelot, \u201cunless I can rescue that noble lady,\u201d and while he put on his\narmour, he called to the boy to tell him the whole adventure. When he\nwas armed and mounted, he begged the page to warn Sir Lavaine where he\nhad gone, and for what cause. \u201cAnd pray him, as he loves me, that he\nfollow me to the castle of Sir Meliagraunce, for if I am a living man,\nhe will find me there.\u201d\n\nSir Lancelot put his horse into the water at Westminster, and he swam\nstraight over to Lambeth, and soon after he landed he found traces of\nthe fight. He rode along the track till he came to the wood, where the\narchers were lying waiting for him, and when they saw him, they bade him\non peril of his life to go no further along that path.\n\n\u201cWhy should I, who am a Knight of the Round Table, turn out of any path\nthat pleases me?\u201d asked Sir Lancelot.\n\n [Illustration: THE ARCHERS THREATEN LANCELOT]\n\n\u201cEither you will leave this path or your horse will be slain,\u201d answered\nthe archers.\n\n\u201cYou may slay my horse if you will,\u201d said Sir Lancelot, \u201cbut when my\nhorse is slain I shall fight you on foot, and so would I do, if there\nwere five hundred more of you.\u201d With that they smote the horse with\ntheir arrows, but Sir Lancelot jumped off, and ran into the wood, and\nthey could not catch him. He went on some way, but the ground was rough,\nand his armour was heavy, and sore he dreaded the treason of Sir\nMeliagraunce. His heart was near to fail him, when there passed by a\ncart with two carters that came to fetch wood. \u201cTell me, carter,\u201d said\nSir Lancelot, \u201cwhat will you take to suffer me to go in your cart till\nwe are within two miles of the castle of Sir Meliagraunce?\u201d\n\n\u201cI cannot take you at all,\u201d answered the carter, \u201cfor I am come to fetch\nwood for my lord Sir Meliagraunce.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is with him that I would speak.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou shall not go with me,\u201d said the carter, but hardly had he uttered\nthe words when Sir Lancelot leapt up into the cart, and gave him such a\nbuffet that he fell dead on the ground. At this sight the other carter\ncried that he would take the Knight where he would if he would only\nspare his life. \u201cThen I charge you,\u201d said Sir Lancelot, \u201cthat you bring\nme to the castle gate.\u201d So the carter drove at a great gallop, and Sir\nLancelot\u2019s horse, who had espied his master, followed the cart, though\nmore than fifty arrows were standing in his body. In an hour and a half\nthey reached the castle gate, and were seen of Guenevere and her ladies,\nwho were standing in a window. \u201cLook, Madam,\u201d cried one of her ladies,\n\u201cin that cart yonder is a goodly armed Knight. I suppose he is going to\nhis hanging.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhere?\u201d asked the Queen, and as she spoke she espied that it was Sir\nLancelot, and that his horse was following riderless. \u201cWell is he that\nhas a trusty friend,\u201d said she, \u201cfor a noble Knight is hard pressed when\nhe rides in a cart,\u201d and she rebuked the lady who had declared he was\ngoing to his hanging. \u201cIt was foul talking, to liken the noblest Knight\nin the world to one going to a shameful death.\u201d By this Sir Lancelot had\ncome to the gate of the castle, and he got down and called till the\ncastle rang with his voice. \u201cWhere is that false traitor Sir\nMeliagraunce, Knight of the Round Table? Come forth, you and your\ncompany, for I, Sir Lancelot du Lake, am here to do battle with you.\u201d\nThen he burst the gate open wide, and smote the porter who tried to hold\nit against him. When Sir Meliagraunce heard Sir Lancelot\u2019s voice, he ran\ninto Queen Guenevere\u2019s chamber and fell on his knees before her: \u201cMercy,\nMadam, mercy! I throw myself upon your grace.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat ails you now?\u201d said she; \u201cof a truth I might well expect some good\nKnight to avenge me, though my lord Arthur knew not of your work.\u201d\n\n\u201cMadame, I will make such amends as you yourself may desire,\u201d pleaded\nSir Meliagraunce, \u201cand I trust wholly to your grace.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat would you have me do?\u201d asked the Queen.\n\n\u201cRule in this castle as if it were your own, and give Sir Lancelot cheer\ntill to-morrow, and then you shall all return to Westminster.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou say well,\u201d answered the Queen. \u201cPeace is ever better than war, and\nI take no pleasure in fighting.\u201d So she went down with her ladies to Sir\nLancelot, who still stood full of rage in the inner court, calling as\nbefore \u201cTraitor Knight, come forth!\u201d\n\n\u201cSir Lancelot,\u201d asked the Queen, \u201cwhat is the cause of all this wrath?\u201d\n\n\u201cMadam,\u201d replied Sir Lancelot, \u201cdoes such a question come from you?\nMethinks your wrath should be greater than mine, for all the hurt and\nthe dishonour have fallen upon you. My own hurt is but little, but the\nshame is worse than any hurt.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou say truly,\u201d replied the Queen, \u201cbut you must come in with me\npeaceably, as all is put into my hand, and the Knight repents bitterly\nof his adventure.\u201d\n\n\u201cMadam,\u201d said Sir Lancelot, \u201csince you have made agreement with him, it\nis not my part to say nay, although Sir Meliagraunce has borne himself\nboth shamefully and cowardly towards me. But had I known you would have\npardoned him so soon, I should not have made such haste to come to you.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy do you say that?\u201d asked the Queen; \u201cdo you repent yourself of your\ngood deeds? I only made peace with him to have done with all this noise\nof slanderous talk, and for the sake of my Knights.\u201d\n\n\u201cMadam,\u201d answered Sir Lancelot, \u201cyou understand full well that I was\nnever glad of slander nor noise, but there is neither King, Queen, nor\nKnight alive, save yourself, Madam, and my lord Arthur, that should\nhinder me from giving Sir Meliagraunce a cold heart before I departed\nhence.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat I know well,\u201d said the Queen, \u201cbut what would you have more?\nEverything shall be ordered as you will.\u201d\n\n\u201cMadam,\u201d replied Sir Lancelot, \u201cas long as you are pleased, that is all\nI care for,\u201d so the Queen led Sir Lancelot into her chamber, and\ncommanded him to take off his armour, and then took him to where her ten\nKnights were lying sore wounded. And their souls leapt with joy when\nthey saw him, and he told them how falsely Sir Meliagraunce had dealt\nwith him, and had set archers to slay his horse, so that he was fain to\nplace himself in a cart. Thus they complained each to the other, and\nwould have avenged themselves on Sir Meliagraunce but for the peace made\nby the Queen. And in the evening came Sir Lavaine, riding in great\nhaste, and Sir Lancelot was glad that he was come.\n\nNow, Sir Lancelot was right when he feared to trust Sir Meliagraunce,\nfor that Knight only sought to work ill both to him and to the Queen,\nfor all his fair words. And first he began to speak evil of the Queen to\nSir Lancelot, who dared him to prove his foul words, and it was settled\nbetween them that a combat should take place in eight days in the field\nnear Westminster. \u201cAnd now,\u201d said Sir Meliagraunce, \u201csince it is decided\nthat we must fight together, I beseech you, as you are a noble Knight,\ndo me no treason nor villainy in the mean time.\u201d\n\n\u201cAny Knight will bear me witness,\u201d answered Sir Lancelot, \u201cthat never\nhave I broken faith with any man, nor borne fellowship with those that\nhave done so.\u201d \u201cThen let us go to dinner,\u201d said Sir Meliagraunce, \u201cand\nafterwards you may all ride to Westminster. Meanwhile would it please\nyou to see the inside of this castle?\u201d \u201cThat I will gladly,\u201d said Sir\nLancelot, and they went from chamber to chamber, till they reached the\nfloor of the castle, and as he went Sir Lancelot trod on a trap and the\nboard rolled, and he fell down in a cave which was filled with straw,\nand Sir Meliagraunce departed and no man knew where Sir Lancelot might\nbe. The Queen bethought herself that he was wont to disappear suddenly,\nand as Sir Meliagraunce had first removed Sir Lavaine\u2019s horse from the\nplace where it had been tethered, the Knights agreed with her. So time\npassed until dinner had been eaten, and then Sir Lavaine demanded\nlitters for the wounded Knights, that they might be carried to\nWestminster with as little hurt as might be. And the Queen and her\nladies followed. When they arrived the Knights told of their adventure,\nand how Sir Meliagraunce had accused the Queen of treason, and how he\nand Sir Lancelot were to fight for her good name in eight days.\n\n\u201cSir Meliagraunce has taken a great deal upon him,\u201d said the King, \u201cbut\nwhere is Sir Lancelot?\u201d\n\n\u201cSir,\u201d answered they all, \u201cwe know not, but we think he has ridden to\nsome adventure.\u201d \u201cWell, leave him alone,\u201d said the King. \u201cHe will be\nhere when the day comes, unless some treason has befallen him.\u201d\n\nAll this while Sir Lancelot was lying in great pain within the cave, and\nhe would have died for lack of food had not one of the ladies in the\ncastle found out the place where he was held captive, and brought him\nmeat and drink, and hoped that he might be brought to love her. But he\nwould not. \u201cSir Lancelot,\u201d said she, \u201cyou are not wise, for without my\nhelp you will never get out of this prison, and if you do not appear on\nthe day of battle, your lady, Queen Guenevere, will be burnt in\ndefault.\u201d \u201cIf I am not there,\u201d replied Sir Lancelot, \u201cthe King and the\nQueen and all men of worship will know that I am either dead or in\nprison. And sure I am that there is some good Knight who loves me or is\nof my kin, that will take my quarrel in hand, therefore you cannot\nfrighten me by such words as these. If there was not another woman in\nthe world, I could give you no different answer.\u201d \u201cThen you will be\nshamed openly,\u201d replied the lady, and left the dungeon. But on the day\nthat the battle was to be fought she came again, and said, \u201cSir\nLancelot, if you will only kiss me once, I will deliver you, and give\nyou the best horse in Sir Meliagraunce\u2019s stable.\u201d \u201cYes, I will kiss\nyou,\u201d answered Sir Lancelot, \u201csince I may do that honourably; but if I\nthought it were any shame to kiss you, I would not do it, whatever the\ncost.\u201d So he kissed her, and she brought him his armour, and led him to\na stable where twelve noble horses stood, and bade him choose the best.\nHe chose a white courser, and bade the keepers put on the best saddle\nthey had, and with his spear in his hand and his sword by his side, he\nrode away, thanking the lady for all she had done for him, which some\nday he would try to repay.\n\nAs the hours passed on and Sir Lancelot did not come, Sir Meliagraunce\ncalled ever on King Arthur to burn the Queen, or else bring forth Sir\nLancelot, for he deemed full well that he had Sir Lancelot safe in his\ndungeon. The King and Queen were sore distressed that Sir Lancelot was\nmissing, and knew not where to look for him, and what to do. Then\nstepped forth Sir Lavaine and said, \u201cMy lord Arthur, you know well that\nsome ill-fortune has happened to Sir Lancelot, and if he is not dead, he\nis either sick or in prison. Therefore I beseech you, let me do battle\ninstead of my lord and master for my lady the Queen.\u201d\n\n\u201cI thank you heartily, gentle Knight,\u201d answered Arthur, \u201cfor I am sure\nthat Sir Meliagraunce accuses the Queen falsely, and there is not one of\nthe ten Knights who would not fight for her were it not for his wounds.\nSo do your best, for it is plain that some evil has been wrought on Sir\nLancelot.\u201d Sir Lavaine was filled with joy when the King gave him leave\nto do battle with Sir Meliagraunce, and rode swiftly to his place at the\nend of the lists. And just as the heralds were about to cry \u201cLesses les\naller!\u201d Sir Lancelot dashed into the middle on his white horse. \u201cHold\nand abide!\u201d commanded the King, and Sir Lancelot rode up before him, and\ntold before them all how Sir Meliagraunce had treated him. When the King\nand Queen and all the Lords heard Sir Lancelot\u2019s tale, their hearts\nstirred within them with anger, and the Queen took her seat by the King,\nin great trust of her champion. Sir Lancelot and Sir Meliagraunce\nprepared themselves for battle, and took their spears, and came together\nas thunder, and Sir Lancelot bore Sir Meliagraunce right over his horse.\nThen Sir Lancelot jumped down, and they fought on foot, till in the end\nSir Meliagraunce was smitten to the ground by a blow on his head from\nhis enemy. \u201cMost noble Knight, save my life,\u201d cried he, \u201cfor I yield\nmyself unto you, and put myself into the King\u2019s hands and yours.\u201d Sir\nLancelot did not know what to answer, for he longed above anything in\nthe world to have revenge upon him; so he looked at the Queen to see\nwhether she would give him any sign of what she would have done. The\nQueen wagged her head in answer, and Sir Lancelot knew by that token\nthat she would have him dead, and he understood, and bade Sir\nMeliagraunce get up, and continue the fight. \u201cNay,\u201d said Sir\nMeliagraunce, \u201cI will never rise till you accept my surrender.\u201d\n\u201cListen,\u201d answered Sir Lancelot. \u201cI will leave my head and left side\nbare, and my left arm shall be bound behind me, and in this guise I will\nfight with you.\u201d At this Sir Meliagraunce started to his feet, and\ncried, \u201cMy lord Arthur, take heed to this offer, for I will take it,\ntherefore let him be bound and unarmed as he has said.\u201d So the Knights\ndisarmed Sir Lancelot, first his head and then his side, and his left\nhand was bound behind his back, in such a manner that he could not use\nhis shield, and full many a Knight and lady marvelled that Sir Lancelot\nwould risk himself so. And Sir Meliagraunce lifted his sword on high and\nwould have smitten Sir Lancelot on his bare head, had he not leapt\nlightly to one side, and, before Sir Meliagraunce could right himself,\nSir Lancelot had struck him so hard upon his helmet that his skull split\nin two, and there was nothing left to do but to carry his dead body from\nthe field. And because the Knights of the Round Table begged to have him\nhonourably buried, the King agreed thereto, and on his tomb mention was\nmade of how he came by his death, and who slew him. After this Sir\nLancelot was more cherished by the King and Queen than ever he was\nbefore.\n\nAmong the many Knights at Arthur\u2019s Court who were the sons of Kings were\nSir Mordred and Sir Agrawaine, who had three brothers, Sir Gawaine, Sir\nGaheris and Sir Gareth. And their mother was Queen of Orkney, sister to\nKing Arthur. Now Sir Agrawaine and Sir Mordred had evil natures, and\nloved both to invent slanders and to repeat them. And at this time they\nwere full of envy of the noble deeds Sir Lancelot had done, and how men\ncalled him the bravest Knight of the Table Round, and said that he was\nthe friend of the King, and the sworn defender of the Queen. So they\ncast about how they might ruin him, and found the way by putting jealous\nthoughts into the mind of Arthur.\n\nAs was told in the tale of the marriage of Arthur, Queen Guenevere\u2019s\nheart had gone out to Lancelot on the journey to the Court, and ever she\nloved to have him with her. This was known well to Sir Mordred, who\nwatched eagerly for a chance to work her ill.\n\nIt came one day when Arthur proclaimed a hunt. Sir Mordred guessed that\nSir Lancelot, who did not love hunting, would stay behind, and would\nspend the time holding talk with the Queen. Therefore he went to the\nKing and began to speak evil of the Queen and Sir Lancelot. At first\nKing Arthur would listen to nothing, but slowly his jealousy burned\nwithin him, and he let the ill words that accused the Queen of loving\nSir Lancelot the best, sink into his mind, and told Sir Mordred and Sir\nAgrawaine that they might do their worst, and he would not meddle with\nthem. But they let so many of their fellowship into the secret of their\nfoul plot, that at last it came to the ears of Sir Bors, who begged Sir\nLancelot not to go near the Queen that day, or harm would come of it.\nBut Sir Lancelot answered that the Queen had sent for him, and that she\nwas his liege lady, and never would he hold back when she summoned him\nto her presence. Therefore Sir Bors went heavily away. By ill fortune,\nSir Lancelot only wore his sword under his great mantle, and scarcely\nhad he passed inside the door when Sir Agrawaine and Sir Mordred, and\ntwelve other Knights of the Table Round, all armed and ready for battle,\ncried loudly upon Sir Lancelot, that all the Court might hear.\n\n\u201cMadam,\u201d said Sir Lancelot, \u201cis there any armour within your chamber\nthat I might cover my body withal, for if I was armed as they are I\nwould soon crush them?\u201d\n\n\u201cAlas!\u201d replied the Queen, \u201cI have neither sword nor spear nor armour,\nand how can you resist them? You will be slain and I shall be burnt. If\nyou could only escape their hands, I know you would deliver me from\ndanger.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is grievous,\u201d said Sir Lancelot, \u201cthat I who was never conquered in\nall my life should be slain for lack of armour.\u201d\n\n\u201cTraitor Knight,\u201d cried Sir Mordred again, \u201ccome out and fight us, for\nyou are so sore beset that you cannot escape us.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, mercy,\u201d cried Sir Lancelot, \u201cI may not suffer longer this shame and\nnoise! For better were death at once than to endure this pain.\u201d Then he\ntook the Queen in his arms and kissed her, and said, \u201cMost noble\nChristian Queen, I beseech you, as you have ever been my special good\nlady, and I at all times your true poor Knight, and as I never failed\nyou in right or in wrong, since the first day that King Arthur made me\nKnight, that you will pray for my soul, if I be here slain. For I am\nwell assured that Sir Bors, my nephew, and Sir Lavaine and many more,\nwill rescue you from the fire, and therefore, mine own lady, comfort\nyourself whatever happens to me, and go with Sir Bors, my nephew, and\nyou shall live like a Queen on my lands.\u201d\n\n [Illustration: LANCELOT COMES OVT OF GVENEVERE\u2019S ROOM]\n\n\u201cNay, Lancelot,\u201d said the Queen, \u201cI will never live after your days, but\nif you are slain I will take my death as meekly as ever did any\nChristian Queen.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, Madam,\u201d answered Lancelot, \u201csince it is so, I shall sell my life\nas dear as I may, and a thousandfold I am more heavy for you than for\nmyself.\u201d\n\nTherewith Sir Lancelot wrapped his mantle thickly round his arm, and\nstood beside the door, which the Knights without were trying to break in\nby aid of a stout wooden form.\n\n\u201cFair Lords,\u201d said Sir Lancelot, \u201cleave this noise, and I will open the\ndoor, and you may do with me what you will.\u201d\n\n\u201cOpen it then,\u201d answered they, \u201cfor well you know you cannot escape us,\nand we will save your life and bring you before King Arthur.\u201d So Sir\nLancelot opened the door and held it with his left hand, so that but one\nman could come in at once. Then came forward a strong Knight, Sir\nColegrevance of Gore, who struck fiercely at Lancelot with his sword.\nBut Sir Lancelot stepped on one side, that the blow fell harmless, and\nwith his arm he gave Sir Colgrevance a buffet on the head so that he\nfell dead. And Sir Lancelot drew him into the chamber, and barred the\ndoor.\n\nHastily he unbuckled the dead Knight\u2019s armour, and the Queen and her\nladies put it on him, Sir Agrawaine and Sir Mordred ever calling to him\nthe while, \u201cTraitor Knight, come out of that chamber!\u201d But Sir Lancelot\ncried to them all to go away and he would appear next morning before the\nKing, and they should accuse him of what they would, and he would answer\nthem, and prove his words in battle. \u201cFie on you, traitor,\u201d said Sir\nAgrawaine, \u201cwe have you in our power, to save or to slay, for King\nArthur will listen to our words, and will believe what we tell him.\u201d\n\n\u201cAs you like,\u201d answered Sir Lancelot, \u201clook to yourself,\u201d and he flung\nopen the chamber door, and strode in amongst them and killed Sir\nAgrawaine with his first blow, and in a few minutes the bodies of the\nother twelve Knights lay on the ground beside his, for no man ever\nwithstood that buffet of Sir Lancelot\u2019s. He wounded Sir Mordred also, so\nthat he fled away with all his might. When the clamour of the battle was\nstill, Sir Lancelot turned back to the Queen and said, \u201cAlas, Madam,\nthey will make King Arthur my foe, and yours also, but if you will come\nwith me to my castle, I will save you from all dangers.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will not go with you now,\u201d answered the Queen, \u201cbut if you see\nto-morrow that they will burn me to death, then you may deliver me as\nyou shall think best.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhile I live I will deliver you,\u201d said Sir Lancelot, and he left her\nand went back to his lodging. When Sir Bors, who was awaiting him, saw\nSir Lancelot, he was gladder than he ever had been in his whole life\nbefore. \u201cMercy!\u201d cried Sir Lancelot, \u201cwhy you are all armed!\u201d\n\n\u201cSir,\u201d answered Sir Bors, \u201cafter you had left us, I and your friends and\nyour kinsmen were so troubled that we felt some great strife was at\nhand, and that perchance some trap had been laid for you. So we put on\narmour that we might help you whatever need you were in.\u201d \u201cFair nephew,\u201d\nsaid Lancelot, \u201cbut now I have been more hardly beset than ever I was in\nmy life, and yet I escaped,\u201d and he told them all that had happened. \u201cI\npray you, my fellows, that you will be of good courage and stand by me\nin my need, for war is come to us all.\u201d\n\n\u201cSir,\u201d answered Sir Bors, \u201call is welcome that God sends us, and we have\nhad much good with you and much fame, so now we will take the bad as we\nhave taken the good.\u201d And so said they all.\n\n\u201cI thank you for your comfort in my great distress,\u201d replied Sir\nLancelot, \u201cand you, fair nephew, haste to the Knights who are in this\nplace, and find who is with me and who is against me, for I would know\nmy friends from my foes.\u201d\n\n\u201cSir,\u201d said Sir Bors, \u201cbefore seven of the clock in the morning you\nshall know.\u201d\n\nBy seven o\u2019clock, as Sir Bors had promised, many noble Knights stood\nbefore Sir Lancelot, and were sworn to his cause. \u201cMy lords,\u201d said he,\n\u201cyou know well that since I came into this country I have given faithful\nservice unto my lord King Arthur and unto my lady Queen Guenevere. Last\nevening my lady, the Queen, sent for me to speak to her, and certain\nKnights that were lying in wait for me cried \u2018Treason,\u2019 and much ado I\nhad to escape their blows. But I slew twelve of them, and Sir Agrawaine,\nwho is Sir Gawaine\u2019s brother; and for this cause I am sure of mortal\nwar, as these Knights were ordered by King Arthur to betray me, and\ntherefore the Queen will be judged to the fire, and I may not suffer\nthat she should be burnt for my sake.\u201d\n\nAnd Sir Bors answered Sir Lancelot that it was truly his part to rescue\nthe Queen, as he had done so often before, and that if she was burned\nthe shame would be his. Then they all took counsel together how the\nthing might best be done, and Sir Bors deemed it wise to carry her off\nto the Castle of Joyous Gard, and counselled that she should be kept\nthere, a prisoner, till the King\u2019s anger was past and he would be\nwilling to welcome her back again. To this the other Knights agreed, and\nby the advice of Sir Lancelot they hid themselves in a wood close by the\ntown till they saw what King Arthur would do. Meanwhile Sir Mordred, who\nhad managed to escape the sword of Sir Lancelot, rode, wounded and\nbleeding, unto King Arthur, and told the King all that had passed, and\nhow, of the fourteen Knights, he only was left alive. The King grieved\nsore at his tale, which Sir Mordred had made to sound as ill as was\npossible; for, in spite of all, Arthur loved Sir Lancelot. \u201cIt is a\nbitter blow,\u201d he said, \u201cthat Sir Lancelot must be against me, and the\nfellowship of the Table Round is broken for ever, as many a noble Knight\nwill go with him. And as I am the judge, the Queen will have to die, as\nshe is the cause of the death of these thirteen Knights.\u201d\n\n\u201cMy lord Arthur,\u201d said Sir Gawaine, \u201cbe not over-hasty; listen not to\nthe foul tongue of Sir Mordred, who laid this trap for Sir Lancelot,\nthat we all know to be the Queen\u2019s own Knight, who has done battle for\nher when none else would. As for Sir Lancelot, he will prove the right\non the body of any Knight living that shall accuse him of wrong\u2014either\nhim, or my lady Guenevere.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat I believe well,\u201d said King Arthur, \u201cfor he trusts so much in his\nown might that he fears no man; and never more shall he fight for the\nQueen, for she must suffer death by the law. Put on, therefore, your\nbest armour, and go with your brothers, Sir Gaheris and Sir Gareth, and\nbring the Queen to the fire, there to have her judgment and suffer her\ndeath.\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, my lord, that I will never do,\u201d cried Sir Gawaine; \u201cmy heart will\nnever serve me to see her die, and I will never stand by and see so\nnoble a lady brought to a shameful end.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen,\u201d said the King, \u201clet your brothers Sir Gaheris and Sir Gareth be\nthere.\u201d\n\n\u201cMy lord,\u201d replied Sir Gawaine, \u201cI know well how loth they will be, but\nthey are young and unable to say you nay.\u201d\n\nAt this Sir Gaheris and Sir Gareth spoke to King Arthur: \u201cSir, if you\ncommand us we will obey, but it will be sore against our will. And if we\ngo we shall be dressed as men of peace, and wear no armour.\u201d\n\n\u201cMake yourselves ready, then,\u201d answered the King, \u201cfor I would delay no\nlonger in giving judgment.\u201d\n\n\u201cAlas!\u201d cried Sir Gawaine, \u201cthat I should have lived to see this day;\u201d\nand he turned and wept bitterly, and went into his chamber.\n\nSo the Queen was led outside the gates, and her rich dress was taken\noff, while her lords and ladies wrung their hands in grief, and few men\nwore armour, for in that day it was held that the presence of mail-clad\nKnights made death more shameful. Now among those present was one sent\nby Sir Lancelot, and when he saw the Queen\u2019s dress unclasped, and the\npriest step forth to listen to her confession, he rode to warn Sir\nLancelot that the hour had come. And suddenly there was heard a sound as\nof rushing horses, and Sir Lancelot dashed up to the fire, and all the\nKnights that stood around were slain, for few men wore armour. Sir\nLancelot looked not where he struck, and Sir Gaheris and Sir Gareth were\nfound in the thickest of the throng. At last he reached the Queen, and,\nthrowing a mantle over her, he caught her on to his saddle and rode away\nwith her. Right thankful was the Queen at being snatched from the fire,\nand her heart was grateful to Sir Lancelot, who took her to his Castle\nof Joyous Gard, and many noble Knights and Kings had fellowship with\nthem.\n\nAfter King Arthur had given judgment for the Queen to die, he went back\ninto his Palace of Westminster, where men came and told him how Sir\nLancelot had delivered her, and of the death of his Knights, and in\nespecial of Sir Gaheris and Sir Gareth, and he swooned away from sorrow.\n\u201cAlas!\u201d he cried, when he recovered from his swoon, \u201calas! that a crown\nwas ever on my head, for in these two days I have lost forty Knights and\nthe fellowship of Sir Lancelot and his kinsmen, and never more will they\nbe of my company. But I charge you that none tell Sir Gawaine of the\ndeath of his brothers, for I am sure that when he hears of Sir Gareth he\nwill go out of his mind. Oh, why did Sir Lancelot slay them? for Sir\nGareth loved Sir Lancelot more than any other man.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is true,\u201d answered some of the Knights, \u201cbut Sir Lancelot saw not\nwhom he smote, and therefore were they slain.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe death of those two,\u201d said Arthur, \u201cwill cause the greatest mortal\nwar that ever was. I am sure that when Sir Gawaine knows Sir Gareth is\nslain he will never suffer me to rest till I have destroyed Sir Lancelot\nand all his kin, or till they have destroyed me. My heart was never so\nheavy as it is now, and far more grievous to me is the loss of my good\nKnights, than of my Queen; for Queens I might have in plenty, but no man\nhad ever such a company of Knights, and it hurts me sore that Sir\nLancelot and I should be at war. It is the ill will borne by Sir\nAgrawaine and Sir Mordred to Sir Lancelot that has caused all this\nsorrow.\u201d Then one came to Sir Gawaine and told him that Sir Lancelot had\nborne off the Queen, and that twenty-four Knights had been slain in the\ncombat. \u201cI knew well he would deliver her,\u201d said Sir Gawaine, \u201cand in\nthat, he has but acted as a Knight should and as I would have done\nmyself. But where are my brethren? I marvel they have not been to seek\nme.\u201d\n\n\u201cTruly,\u201d said the man, \u201cSir Gaheris and Sir Gareth are slain.\u201d\n\n\u201cHeaven forbid any such thing,\u201d returned Sir Gawaine. \u201cI would not for\nall the world that that had happened, especially to my brother Sir\nGareth.\u201d\n\n\u201cHe is slain,\u201d said the man, \u201cand it is grievous news.\u201d\n\n\u201cWho slew him?\u201d asked Sir Gawaine.\n\n\u201cSir Lancelot slew them both,\u201d answered the man.\n\n\u201cHe cannot have slain Sir Gareth,\u201d replied Sir Gawaine, \u201cfor my brother\nGareth loved him better than me and all his brethren, and King Arthur\ntoo. And had Sir Lancelot desired my brother to go with him, he would\nhave turned his back on us all. Therefore I can never believe that Sir\nLancelot slew my brother.\u201d\n\n\u201cSir, it is in every one\u2019s mouth,\u201d said the man. At this Sir Gawaine\nfell back in a swoon and lay long as if he were dead. Then he ran to the\nKing, crying, \u201cO King Arthur, mine uncle, my good brother Sir Gareth is\nslain, and Sir Gaheris also,\u201d and the King wept with him. At length Sir\nGawaine said, \u201cSir, I will go and see my brother Sir Gareth.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou cannot do that,\u201d returned the King, \u201cfor I have caused him to be\nburied with Sir Gaheris, as I knew well that the sight would cause you\novermuch sorrow.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow came he, Sir Lancelot, to slay Sir Gareth?\u201d asked Sir Gawaine;\n\u201cmine own good lord, I pray you tell me, for neither Sir Gareth nor Sir\nGaheris bore arms against him.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is said,\u201d answered the King, \u201cthat Sir Lancelot slew them in the\nthickest of the press and knew them not. Therefore let us think upon a\nplan to avenge their deaths.\u201d\n\n\u201cMy King, my lord and mine uncle,\u201d said Sir Gawaine, \u201cI swear to you by\nmy knighthood that from this day I will never rest until Sir Lancelot or\nI be slain. And I will go to the world\u2019s end till I find him.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou need not seek him so far,\u201d answered the King, \u201cfor I am told that\nSir Lancelot will await me and you in the Castle of Joyous Gard, and\nmany people are flocking to him. But call your friends together, and I\nwill call mine;\u201d and the King ordered letters to be sent throughout all\nEngland summoning his Knights and vassals to the siege of Joyous Gard.\nThe Castle of Joyous Gard was strong, and after fifteen weeks had passed\nno breach had been made in its walls. And one day, at the time of\nharvest, Sir Lancelot came forth on a truce, and the King and Sir\nGawaine challenged him to do battle.\n\n\u201cNay,\u201d answered Sir Lancelot, \u201cwith yourself I will never strive, and I\ngrieve sorely that I have slain your Knights. But I was forced to it,\nfor the saving of my life and that of my lady the Queen. And except\nyourself, my lord, and Sir Gawaine, there is no man that shall call me\ntraitor but he shall pay for it with his body. As to Queen Guenevere,\nofttimes, my lord, you have consented in the heat of your passion that\nshe should be burnt and destroyed, and it fell to me to do battle for\nher, and her enemies confessed their untruth, and acknowledged her\ninnocent. And at such times, my lord Arthur, you loved me and thanked me\nwhen I saved your Queen from the fire, and promised ever to be my good\nlord, for I have fought for her many times in other quarrels than my\nown. Therefore, my gracious lord, take your Queen back into your grace\nagain.\u201d\n\nTo these words of Sir Lancelot\u2019s King Arthur answered nothing, but in\nhis heart he would fain have made peace with Sir Lancelot, but Sir\nGawaine would not let him. He reproached Sir Lancelot bitterly for the\ndeaths of his brothers and kinsmen, and called Sir Lancelot a craven and\nother ill names that he would not fight with King Arthur. So at the last\nSir Lancelot\u2019s patience and courtesy failed him, and he told them that\nthe next morning he would give them battle.\n\nThe heart of Sir Gawaine leaped with joy when he heard these words of\nSir Lancelot, and he summoned all his friends and his kinsfolk, and bade\nthem watch well Sir Lancelot, and to slay him if a chance offered. But\nhe knew not that Sir Lancelot had bidden the Knights of his following in\nno wise to touch King Arthur or Sir Gawaine. And when the dawn broke a\ngreat host marched out of the Castle of Joyous Gard, with Sir Lancelot\nat the head, and Sir Bors and Sir Lionel commanding on either side. All\nthat day they fought, and sometimes one army seemed to be gaining, and\nsometimes the other. Many times King Arthur drew near Sir Lancelot, and\nwould have slain him, and Sir Lancelot suffered him, and would not\nstrike again. But the King was unhorsed by Sir Bors, and would have been\nslain but for Sir Lancelot, who stayed his hand. \u201cMy lord Arthur,\u201d he\nsaid, \u201cfor God\u2019s love, stop this strife. I cannot strike you, so you\nwill gain no fame by it, though your friends never cease from trying to\nslay me. My lord, remember what I have done in many places, and how evil\nis now my reward.\u201d Then when King Arthur was on his horse again he\nlooked on Sir Lancelot, and tears burst from his eyes, thinking of the\ngreat courtesy that was in Sir Lancelot more than in any other man. He\nsighed to himself, saying softly, \u201cAlas! that ever this war began,\u201d and\nrode away, while the battle ended for that time and the dead were\nburied.\n\nBut Sir Gawaine would not suffer the King to make peace, and they fought\non, now in one place, and now in another, till the Pope heard of the\nstrife and sent a noble clerk, the Bishop of Rochester, to charge the\nKing to make peace with Sir Lancelot, and to take back unto him his\nQueen, the Lady Guenevere. Now, the King, as has been said, would fain\nhave followed the Pope\u2019s counsel and have accorded with Sir Lancelot,\nbut Sir Gawaine would not suffer him. However, as to the Queen Sir\nGawaine said nothing; and King Arthur gave audience to the Bishop, and\nswore on his great seal that he would take back the Queen as the Pope\ndesired, and that if Sir Lancelot brought her he should come safe and go\nsafe. So the Bishop rode to Joyous Gard and showed Sir Lancelot what the\nPope had written and King Arthur had answered, and told him of the\nperils which would befall him if he withheld the Queen. \u201cIt was never in\nmy thought,\u201d answered Sir Lancelot, \u201cto withhold the Queen from King\nArthur, but as she would have been dead for my sake it was my part to\nsave her life, and to keep her from danger till better times came. And I\nthank God that the Pope has made peace, and I shall be a thousand times\ngladder to bring her back than I was to take her away. Therefore ride to\nthe King, and say that in eight days I myself will bring the Lady\nGuenevere unto him.\u201d So the Bishop departed, and came to the King at\nCarlisle, and told him what Sir Lancelot had answered, and tears burst\nfrom the King\u2019s eyes once more.\n\nA goodly host of a hundred Knights rode eight days later from the Castle\nof Joyous Gard; every Knight was clothed in green velvet, and held in\nhis hand a branch of olive, and bestrode a horse with trappings down to\nhis heels. And behind the Queen were four and twenty gentlewomen clad in\ngreen likewise, while twelve esquires attended on Sir Lancelot. He and\nthe Queen wore dresses of white and gold tissue, and their horses were\nclothed in housings of the same, set with precious stones and pearls;\nand no man had ever gazed on such a noble pair, as they rode from Joyous\nGard to Carlisle. When they reached the castle, Sir Lancelot sprang from\nhis horse and helped the Queen from hers, and led her to where King\nArthur sat, with Sir Gawaine and many lords around him. He kneeled down,\nand the Queen kneeled with him, and many Knights wept as though it had\nbeen their own kin. But Arthur sat still and said nothing. At that Sir\nLancelot rose, and the Queen likewise, and, looking straight at the\nKing, he spoke\u2014\n\n\u201cMost noble King, I have brought to you my lady the Queen, as right\nrequires; and time hath been, my lord Arthur, that you have been greatly\npleased with me when I did battle for my lady your Queen. And full well\nyou know that she has been put to great wrong ere this, and it seems to\nme I had more cause to deliver her from this fire, seeing she would have\nbeen burnt for my sake.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, well, Sir Lancelot,\u201d said the King, \u201cI have given you no cause to\ndo to me as you have done, for I have held you dearer than any of my\nKnights.\u201d But Sir Gawaine would not suffer the King to listen to\nanything Sir Lancelot said, and told him roughly that while one of them\nlived peace could never be made, and desired on behalf of the King that\nin fifteen days he should be gone out of the country. And still King\nArthur said nothing, but suffered Sir Gawaine to talk as he would; and\nSir Lancelot took farewell of him and of the Queen, and rode, grieving\nsorely, out of the Court, and sailed to his lands beyond the sea.\n\nThough the Queen was returned again, and Sir Lancelot was beyond the\nsea, the hate of Sir Gawaine towards him was in no way set at rest, but\nhe raised a great host and persuaded the King to follow him. And after\nmany sieges and long fighting it befell upon a day, that Sir Gawaine\ncame before the gates of Sir Lancelot\u2019s town, armed at all points, and\nsitting on a noble horse, with a great spear in his hand. And he cried\nwith a great voice, \u201cWhere art thou now, thou false traitor, Sir\nLancelot? Why hidest within holes and walls like a coward?\u201d\n\nAt this language Sir Lancelot\u2019s kin and his Knights drew round him, and\nthey said, \u201cNow must you defend yourself like a Knight or be shamed for\never. You have slept already too long and suffered overmuch.\u201d\n\nThen Sir Lancelot bade them saddle his strongest horse and fetch his\narms, and he spoke aloud to King Arthur.\n\n\u201cMy lord Arthur and noble King, I am right sad for your sake, for had I\nbeen vengeful then could I have met you in the field. But for half a\nyear I have forborne to come near you, and now I can endure it no\nlonger.\u201d\n\nThen Sir Gawaine said, \u201cSir Lancelot, if thou darest do battle, leave\nthy babbling and come forth, and let us ease our hearts.\u201d Then Sir\nLancelot and his noble Knights came out of the city, and their number\nwas so great that Arthur marvelled, and sorrowed that he and Sir\nLancelot should be estranged. Then Sir Gawaine and Sir Lancelot rode for\neach other, and at the word came together with a great shock, and smote\neach other in the middle of their shields. But the Knights were so\nstrong, and their spears so big, that the horses could not endure their\nbuffets, and fell to the earth. Then they fought together, and struck\neach other on their sides so that the blood burst forth in many places.\n\nNow, Sir Gawaine, by a gift from a holy man, grew thrice as strong in\nthe three hours before noon than at any other time, and this being the\nhour of the combat, Sir Gawaine won great honour. For his sake the King\nhad all battles before him take place just before noon, and few knew of\nthis advantage save King Arthur.\n\nThus Sir Lancelot fought with Sir Gawaine, and felt his might increase\nand wondered, dreading that he might be shamed. And he thought that this\nmust be a fiend and no earthly man, so he covered himself with his\nshield, and kept his might and breath until the three hours were past\nand Sir Gawaine had no more than his own might. Then Sir Lancelot\ndoubled his strokes, and gave him a buffet on the helmet, and Sir\nGawaine fell down on his side. And Sir Lancelot returned to his city,\nand Sir Gawaine was carried to the King\u2019s pavilion. While he lay\nwounded, news came from England that caused King Arthur to give up his\nwar with Sir Lancelot, and return in haste to his own country.\n\n\n\n\n THE END OF IT ALL.\n\n\nNow, when King Arthur left England to fight with Sir Lancelot, he\nordered his nephew Sir Mordred to govern the land, which that false\nKnight did gladly. And as soon as he thought he might safely do so he\ncaused some letters to be written saying that King Arthur had been slain\nin battle, and he had himself crowned King at Canterbury, where he made\na great feast which lasted fifteen days. After it was over, he went to\nWinchester and summoned Queen Guenevere, and told her that on a certain\nday he would wed her and that she should make herself ready. Queen\nGuenevere\u2019s soul grew cold and heavy as she heard these words of Sir\nMordred\u2019s, for she hated him with all her might, as he hated her; but\nshe dared show nothing, and answered softly that she would do his\nbidding, only she desired that first she might go to London to buy all\nmanner of things for her wedding. Sir Mordred trusted her because of her\nfair speech, and let her go. Then the Queen rode to London with all\nspeed, and went straight to the Tower, which she filled in haste with\nfood, and called her men-at-arms round her. When Sir Mordred knew how\nshe had beguiled him he was wroth out of measure, and besieged the\nTower, and assaulted it many times with battering rams and great\nengines, but could prevail nothing, for the Queen would never, for fair\nspeech nor for foul, give herself into his hands again.\n\nThe Bishop of Canterbury hastened unto Sir Mordred, and rebuked him for\nwishing to marry his uncle\u2019s wife. \u201cLeave such desires,\u201d said the\nBishop, \u201cor else I shall curse you with bell, book, and candle. Also,\nyou noise abroad that my lord Arthur is slain, and that is not so, and\ntherefore you will make ill work in the land.\u201d At this Sir Mordred waxed\nvery wroth, and would have killed the Bishop had he not fled to\nGlastonbury, where he became a hermit, and lived in poverty and prayed\nall day long for the realm, for he knew that a fierce war was at hand.\nSoon word came to Sir Mordred that King Arthur was hurrying home across\nthe seas, to be avenged on his nephew, who had proved traitor. Wherefore\nSir Mordred sent letters to all the people throughout the kingdom, and\nmany followed after him, for he had cunningly sown among them that with\nhim was great joy and softness of life, while King Arthur would bring\nwar and strife with him. So Sir Mordred drew with a great host to Dover,\nand waited for the King. Before King Arthur and his men could land from\nthe boats and ships that had brought them over the sea Sir Mordred set\nupon them, and there was heavy slaughter. But in the end he and his men\nwere driven back, and he fled, and his people with him. After the fight\nwas over, the King ordered the dead to be buried; and there came a man\nand told him that he had found Sir Gawaine lying in a boat, and that he\nwas sore wounded. And the King went to him and made moan over him: \u201cYou\nwere ever the man in the world that I loved most,\u201d said he, \u201cyou and Sir\nLancelot.\u201d \u201cMine uncle King Arthur,\u201d answered Sir Gawaine, \u201cmy death day\nhas come, and all through my own fault. Had Sir Lancelot been with you\nas he used to be this unhappy war had never begun, and of that I am the\ncause, for I would not accord with him. And therefore, I pray you, give\nme paper, pen, and ink that I may write to him.\u201d So paper and ink were\nbrought, and Sir Gawaine was held up by King Arthur, and a letter was\nwrit wherein Sir Gawaine confessed that he was dying of an old wound\ngiven him by Sir Lancelot in the siege of one of the cities across the\nsea, and thus was fulfilled the prophecy of Merlin. \u201cOf a more noble man\nmight I not be slain,\u201d said he. \u201cAlso, Sir Lancelot, make no tarrying,\nbut come in haste to King Arthur, for sore bested is he with my brother\nSir Mordred, who has taken the crown, and would have wedded my lady\nQueen Guenevere had she not sought safety in the Tower of London. Pray\nfor my soul, I beseech you, and visit my tomb.\u201d And after writing this\nletter, at the hour of noon, Sir Gawaine gave up his spirit, and was\nburied by the King in the chapel within Dover Castle. Then was it told\nKing Arthur that Sir Mordred had pitched a new field upon Barham Down,\nand the next morning the King rode hither to him, and there was a fierce\nbattle between them, and many on both sides were slain. But at the last\nKing Arthur\u2019s party stood best, and Sir Mordred and his men fled to\nCanterbury.\n\nAfter the Knights which were dead had been buried, and those that were\nwounded tended with healing salves, King Arthur drew westwards towards\nSalisbury, and many of Sir Mordred\u2019s men followed after him, but they\nthat loved Sir Lancelot went unto Sir Mordred. And a day was fixed\nbetween the King and Sir Mordred that they should meet upon a down near\nSalisbury, and give battle once more. But the night before the battle\nSir Gawaine appeared unto the King in a vision, and warned him not to\nfight next day, which was Trinity Sunday, as he would be slain and many\nof his Knights also; but to make a truce for a month, and at the end of\nthat time Sir Lancelot would arrive, and would slay Sir Mordred, and all\nhis Knights with him. As soon as he awoke the King called the Bishops\nand the wisest men of his army, and told them of his vision, and took\ncounsel what should be done. And it was agreed that the King should send\nan embassage of two Knights and two Bishops unto Sir Mordred, and offer\nhim as much goods and lands as they thought best if he would engage to\nmake a treaty for a month with King Arthur.\n\nSo they departed, and came to Sir Mordred, where he had a grim host of\nan hundred thousand men. For a long time he would not suffer himself to\nbe entreated, but at the last he agreed to have Cornwall and Kent in\nKing Arthur\u2019s days, and after all England. Furthermore, it was decided\nthat King Arthur and Sir Mordred should meet in the plain between their\nhosts, each with fourteen persons. \u201cI am glad of this,\u201d said King\nArthur, when he heard what had been done; but he warned his men that if\nthey were to see a sword drawn they were to come on swiftly and slay\nthat traitor, Sir Mordred, \u201cfor I in no wise trust him.\u201d And in like\nwise spake Sir Mordred unto his host. Then they two met, and agreed on\nthe truce, and wine was fetched and they drank, and all was well. But\nwhile they were drinking an adder crept out of a bush, and stung one of\nthe fourteen Knights on his foot, and he drew his sword to slay the\nadder, not thinking of anything but his pain. And when the men of both\narmies beheld that drawn sword, they blew trumpets and horns and shouted\ngrimly, and made them ready for battle. So King Arthur leaped on his\nhorse, and Sir Mordred on his, and they went back to their own armies,\nand thus began the fight, and never was there seen one more doleful in\nany Christian land. For all day long there was rushing and riding,\nspearing and striking, and many a grim word was there spoken, and many a\ndeadly stroke given. And at the end full an hundred thousand dead men\nlay upon the down, and King Arthur had but two Knights left living, Sir\nLucan and his brother Sir Bedivere. \u201cAlas! that I should have lived to\nsee this day,\u201d cried the King, \u201cfor now I am come to mine end; but would\nto God that I knew where were that traitor Sir Mordred that hath caused\nall this mischief.\u201d Then suddenly he saw Sir Mordred leaning on his\nsword among a great heap of dead men.\n\n\u201cGive me my spear,\u201d said King Arthur unto Sir Lucan.\n\n\u201cSir, let him be,\u201d answered Sir Lucan. \u201cRemember your dream, and leave\noff by this. For, blessed be God, you have won the field, and we three\nbe alive, and of the others none is alive save Sir Mordred himself. If\nyou leave off now, the day of destiny is past.\u201d\n\n\u201cTide me death, tide me life,\u201d said the King, \u201che shall not escape my\nhands, for a better chance I shall never have;\u201d and he took his spear in\nboth hands and ran towards Sir Mordred, crying, \u201cTraitor! now is your\ndeath day come,\u201d and smote him under the shield, so that the spear went\nthrough his body. And when Sir Mordred felt he had his death wound, he\nraised himself up and struck King Arthur such a blow that the sword\nclave his helmet, and then fell stark dead on the earth again. When Sir\nLucan and Sir Bedivere saw that sight they carried the King to a little\nchapel, but they hoped not to leave him there long, for Sir Lucan had\nnoted that many people were stealing out to rob the slain of the\nornaments on their armour. And those that were not dead already they\nslew.\n\n [Illustration: THE LAST BATTLE / Sir Mordred]\n\n\u201cWould that I could quit this place to go to some large town,\u201d said the\nKing, when he had heard this, \u201cbut I cannot stand, my head works so. Ah,\nLancelot, sorely have I missed thee.\u201d At that Sir Lucan and Sir Bedivere\ntried to lift him, but Sir Lucan had been grievously wounded in the\nfight, and the blood burst forth again as he lifted Arthur, and he died\nand fell at the feet of the King.\n\n\u201cAlas!\u201d said the King, \u201che has died for my sake, and he had more need of\nhelp than I. But he would not complain, his heart was so set to help me.\nAnd I should sorrow yet more if I were still to live long, but my time\nflieth fast. Therefore, Sir Bedivere, cease moaning and weeping, and\ntake Excalibur, my good sword, and go with it to yonder water-side, and\nwhen thou comest there, I charge thee, throw my sword in that water, and\ncome again and tell me what thou hast seen.\u201d\n\n\u201cMy lord,\u201d answered Sir Bedivere, \u201cyour commandment shall be done,\u201d and\nhe departed. But when he looked at that noble sword, and beheld the\njewels and gold that covered the pommel and hilt, he said to himself,\n\u201cIf I throw this rich sword into the water no good will come of it, but\nonly harm and loss;\u201d so he hid Excalibur under a tree, and returned unto\nthe King and told him his bidding was done. \u201cWhat did you see there?\u201d\nasked the King.\n\n\u201cSir,\u201d answered Sir Bedivere. \u201cI saw nothing but the winds and the\nwaves.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou have not dealt truly with me,\u201d said the King. \u201cGo back, and do my\ncommand; spare not, but throw it in.\u201d But again Sir Bedivere\u2019s heart\nfailed him, and he hid the sword, and returned to tell the King he had\nseen nothing but the wan water.\n\n\u201cAh, traitor!\u201d cried King Arthur, \u201cthis is twice you have betrayed me.\nIf you do not now fulfil my bidding, with mine own hands will I slay\nyou, for you would gladly see me dead for the sake of my sword.\u201d Then\nSir Bedivere was shamed at having disobeyed the King, and drew forth the\nsword from its hiding-place, and carried it to the water-side, and with\na mighty swing threw it far into the water. And as it flew through the\nair, an arm and hand lifted itself out of the water, and caught the\nhilt, and brandished the sword thrice, and vanished with it beneath the\nwater. So Sir Bedivere came again unto the King, and told him what he\nsaw.\n\n\u201cAlas!\u201d said the King, \u201chelp me hence, for I have tarried overlong;\u201d and\nSir Bedivere took him on his back, and bare him to the water-side. And\nwhen they stood by the bank, a little barge containing many fair ladies\nand a Queen, all in black hoods, drew near, and they wept and shrieked\nwhen they beheld King Arthur.\n\n\u201cNow put me into the barge,\u201d said the King, and Sir Bedivere laid him\nsoftly down, and the ladies made great mourning, and the barge rowed\nfrom the land.\n\n\u201cAh, my lord Arthur!\u201d cried Sir Bedivere, \u201cwhat shall become of me now\nyou go from me, and I am left here alone with my enemies?\u201d\n\n [Illustration: EXCALIBVR RETVRNS TO THE MERE]\n\n\u201cComfort yourself,\u201d replied the King, \u201cand do as well as you may, for I\ngo unto the valley of Avilion, to be healed of my grievous wound. And if\nyou never more hear of me, pray for my soul.\u201d But Sir Bedivere watched\nthe barge till it was beyond his sight, then he rode all night till he\ncame to a hermitage. Now when Queen Guenevere heard of the battle, and\nhow that King Arthur was slain and Sir Mordred and all their Knights,\nshe stole away, and five ladies with her, and rode to Amesbury; and\nthere she put on clothes of black and white, and became a nun, and did\ngreat penance, and many alms deeds, and people marvelled at her and at\nher godly life. And ever she wept and moaned over the years that were\npast, and for King Arthur.\n\nAs soon as the messenger whom the King had sent with Sir Gawaine\u2019s\nletter reached Sir Lancelot, and he learned that Sir Mordred had taken\nfor himself the crown of England, he rose up in wrath, and, calling Sir\nBors, bid him collect their host, that they should pass at once over the\nsea to avenge themselves on that false Knight. A fair wind blew them to\nDover, and there Sir Lancelot asked tidings of King Arthur. Then the\npeople told him that the King was slain, and Sir Mordred, and an hundred\nthousand men besides, and that the King had buried Sir Gawaine in the\nchapel at Dover Castle. \u201cFair Sirs,\u201d said Sir Lancelot, \u201cshow me that\ntomb;\u201d and they showed it to him, and Sir Lancelot kneeled before it,\nand wept and prayed, and this he did for two days. And on the third\nmorning he summoned before him all the great lords and leaders of his\nhost, and said to them, \u201cFair lords, I thank you all for coming here\nwith me, but we come too late, and that will be bitter grief to me as\nlong as I shall live. But since it is so, I will myself ride and seek my\nlady Guenevere in the west country, where they say she has gone, and\ntarry you here, I entreat you, for fifteen days, and if I should not\nreturn take your ships and depart into your own country.\u201d\n\nSir Bors strove to reason with him that the quest was fruitless, and\nthat in the west country he would find few friends; but his words\navailed nothing. For seven days Sir Lancelot rode, and at last he came\nto a nunnery, where Queen Guenevere was looking out from her lattice,\nand was ware of his presence as he walked in the cloister. And when she\nsaw him she swooned, and her ladies and gentlewomen tended her. When she\nwas recovered, she spoke to them and said, \u201cYou will marvel, fair\nladies, why I should swoon. It was caused by the sight of yonder Knight\nwho stands there, and I pray you bring him to me.\u201d As soon as Sir\nLancelot was brought, she said to her ladies, \u201cThrough me and this man\nhas this war been wrought, for which I repent me night and day.\nTherefore, Sir Lancelot, I require and pray you never to see my face\nagain, but go back to your own land, and govern it and protect it; and\ntake to yourself a wife, and pray that my soul may be made clean of its\nill doing.\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, Madam,\u201d answered Sir Lancelot, \u201cthat shall I never do; but the\nsame life that you have taken upon you, will I take upon me likewise.\u201d\n\n\u201cIf you will do so,\u201d said the Queen, \u201cit is well; but I may never\nbelieve but that you will turn to the world again.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, Madam,\u201d answered he, \u201cyou speak as it pleases you, but you never\nknew me false to my promise, and I will forsake the world as you have\ndone. For if in the quest of the Sangreal I had forsaken its vanities\nwith all my heart and will, I had passed all Knights in the quest,\nexcept Sir Galahad my son. And therefore, lady, since you have taken you\nto perfection, I must do so also, and if I may find a hermit that will\nreceive me I will pray and do penance while my life lasts. Wherefore,\nMadam, I beseech you to kiss me once again.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d said the Queen, \u201cthat I may not do,\u201d and Sir Lancelot took his\nhorse and departed in great sorrow. All that day and the next night he\nrode through the forest till he beheld a hermitage and a chapel between\ntwo cliffs, and heard a little bell ring to Mass. And he that sang Mass\nwas the Bishop of Canterbury, and Sir Bedivere was with him. After Mass\nSir Bedivere told Sir Lancelot how King Arthur had thrown away his sword\nand had sailed to the valley of Avilion, and Sir Lancelot\u2019s heart almost\nburst for grief. Then he kneeled down and besought the Bishop that he\nmight be his brother. \u201cThat I will gladly,\u201d said the Bishop, and put a\nrobe upon him.\n\nAfter the fifteen days were ended, and still Sir Lancelot did not\nreturn, Sir Bors made the great host go back across the sea, while he\nand some of Sir Lancelot\u2019s kin set forth to seek all over England till\nthey found Sir Lancelot. They rode different ways, and by fortune Sir\nBors came one day to the chapel where Sir Lancelot was. And he prayed\nthat he might stay and be one of their fellowship, and in six months six\nother Knights were joined to them, and their horses went where they\nwould, for the Knights spent their lives in fasting and prayer, and kept\nno riches for themselves.\n\nIn this wise six years passed, and one night a vision came to Sir\nLancelot in his sleep charging him to hasten unto Amesbury. \u201cBy the time\nthat thou come there,\u201d said the vision, \u201cthou shalt find Queen Guenevere\ndead; therefore take thy fellows with thee and fetch her corpse, and\nbury it by the side of her husband, the noble King Arthur.\u201d\n\nThen Sir Lancelot rose up and told the hermit, and the hermit ordered\nhim to make ready and to do all as the vision had commanded. And Sir\nLancelot and seven of the other Knights went on foot from Glastonbury to\nAmesbury, and it took them two days to compass the distance, for it was\nfar and they were weak with fasting. When they reached the nunnery Queen\nGuenevere had been dead but half an hour, and she had first summoned her\nladies to her, and told them that Sir Lancelot had been a priest for\nnear a twelvemonth. \u201cAnd hither he cometh as fast as he may,\u201d she said,\n\u201cto fetch my corpse, and beside my lord King Arthur he shall bury me.\nAnd I beseech Almighty God that I may never have power to see Sir\nLancelot with my bodily eyes.\u201d \u201cThus,\u201d said the ladies, \u201cshe prayed for\ntwo days till she was dead.\u201d Then Sir Lancelot looked upon her face and\nsighed, but wept little, and next day he sang Mass. After that the Queen\nwas laid on a bier drawn by horses, and an hundred torches were carried\nround her, and Sir Lancelot and his fellows walked behind her singing\nholy chants, and at times one would come forward and throw incense on\nthe dead. So they came to Glastonbury, and the Bishop of Canterbury sang\na Requiem Mass over the Queen, and she was wrapped in cloth, and placed\nfirst in a web of lead, and then in a coffin of marble, and when she was\nput into the earth Sir Lancelot swooned away.\n\n\u201cYou are to blame,\u201d said the hermit, when he awaked from his swoon, \u201cyou\nought not make such manner of sorrow.\u201d\n\n\u201cTruly,\u201d answered Sir Lancelot, \u201cI trust I do not displease God, but\nwhen I remember her beauty, and her nobleness, and that of the King, and\nwhen I saw his corpse and her corpse lie together, my heart would not\nbear up my body. And I remembered, too, that it was through me and my\npride that they both came to their end.\u201d\n\nFrom that day Sir Lancelot ate so little food that he dwined away, and\nfor the most part was found kneeling by the tomb of King Arthur and\nQueen Guenevere. None could comfort him, and after six weeks he was too\nweak to rise from his bed. Then he sent for the hermit and to his\nfellows, and asked in a weary voice that they would give him the last\nrites of the Church; and begged that when he was dead his body might be\ntaken to Joyous Gard, which some say is Alnwick and others Bamborough.\nThat night the hermit had a vision that he saw Sir Lancelot being\ncarried up to heaven by the angels, and he waked Sir Bors and bade him\ngo and see if anything ailed Sir Lancelot. So Sir Bors went and Sir\nLancelot lay on his bed, stark dead, and he smiled as he lay there. Then\nwas there great weeping and wringing of hands, more than had been made\nfor any man; but they placed him on the horse bier that had carried\nQueen Guenevere, and lit a hundred torches, and in fifteen days they\nreached Joyous Gard. There his body was laid in the choir, with his face\nuncovered, and many prayers were said over him. And there, in the midst\nof their praying, came Sir Ector de Maris, who for seven years had\nsought Sir Lancelot through all the land.\n\n\u201cAh, Lancelot,\u201d he said, when he stood looking beside his dead body,\n\u201cthou wert head of all Christian Knights. Thou wert the courtliest\nKnight that ever drew sword, and the faithfulest friend that ever\nbestrode a horse. Thou wert the goodliest Knight that ever man has seen,\nand the truest lover that ever loved a woman.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n NOTES\n\n\nPage 2, l. 16. tourney, tournament; a fight in which many knights\njoined.\n\nPage 3, l. 31. Arthur\u2019s parentage. Uther Pendragon was King Arthur\u2019s\nfather. In Malory\u2019s \u201cMorte d\u2019Arthur,\u201d it is explained how he, when King\nof all England, marched into Cornwall against the powerful Duke of\nTintagil. In the siege that followed the Duke of Tintagil was killed,\nand his lady, the dame Igraine, afterwards became the wife of King\nUthur. It is also explained how, on the advice of Merlin, their son\nArthur was fostered by the wife of a certain Sir Ector, and brought up\nwith his son Kay. Uther Pendragon died two years after this, and on his\ndeathbed Merlin asked if Arthur should not be proclaimed his successor.\nTo this Uther Pendragon replied, \u201cI give him my blessing, and\nrighteously may he claim the crown on forfeiture of my blessing.\u201d Merlin\nhad to provide some other means therefore to enable Arthur to succeed to\nhis heritage, and this we have in the tale of the \u201cDrawing of the\nSword.\u201d\n\nPage 3, l. 32. Merlin. A magician. One of the chief characters in the\nearlier tales.\n\nPage 5, l. 7. seneschal, steward.\n\nPage 5, l. 13. Twelfth Day, twelve days after Christmas.\n\nPage 5, l. 18. Candlemas, the Feast of the Purification of the Virgin\nMary, called Candlemas on account of the number of lighted candles used.\n\nPage 6, l. 29. barge here means pleasure-boat.\n\nPage 7, l. 14. Carlion, or Carleon, at that time an important city in\nSouth Wales, situated about six miles from the mouth of the river Usk.\n\nPage 7, l. 27. Round Table, the famous table at which King Arthur\u2019s\nknights sat. There are several accounts of its origin. One of the\nreasons suggested for its shape is that, being round, no dispute could\narise between the knights for the higher places.\n\nPage 8, l. 32. Sir Lancelot, the best loved and bravest of King Arthur\u2019s\nknights, famed for his chivalry.\n\nPage 9, l. 13. Sir Gawaine was one of the five nephews of the King (the\nother brothers being Mordred, Agrawaine, Gaheris, and Gareth).\n\nPage 11, l. 14. Avelion, or Avalon, is generally associated with\nGlastonbury.\n\nPage 18, l. 18. Pentecost, Whitsuntide.\n\nPage 19, l. 16. da\u00efs, a raised platform in the hall at which the highly\nborn sat.\n\nPage 25, l. 16. scullion, the lowest servant of the kitchen; washer of\ndishes.\n\nPage 29, l. 19. high degree, high station in life.\n\nPage 33, l. 28. venison, the flesh of the deer.\n\nPage 33, l. 28. capons, large chickens.\n\nPage 36, l. 14. ger-falcon, or gyrfalcon, a large and fierce kind of\nfalcon.\n\nPage 37, l. 12. Feast of the Assumption. This took place on the 15th of\nAugust (Lady Day).\n\nPage 37, l. 16. device, badge; distinguishing mark; coat of arms.\n\nPage 37, l. 17. bare them. _Bare_ is the old form of bore; _them_ is\nthemselves.\n\nPage 41, l. 5. Michaelmas, the 29th of September.\n\nPage 41, l. 28. chamberlain, a high officer of the court; master of the\nceremonies.\n\nPage 43, l. 31. Gore, or Gower, is a strip of hilly country in\nGlamorganshire, running out into the sea, and ending in Worm\u2019s Head.\n\nPage 46, l. 18. Nimue is the Lady of the Lake mentioned in the story of\n\u201cExcalibur.\u201d She is generally a good friend to King Arthur.\n\nPage 48. the Holy Graal. The graal is the vessel which our Lord used at\nthe Last Supper.\n\nPage 49, l. 15. pall, a covering thrown over the dead.\n\nPage 49, l. 23. ill-favoured, with unpleasant features.\n\nPage 50, l. 28. \u201ctill I be shriven of the priest,\u201d \u201ctill my sins have\nbeen confessed to a priest, and I have been absolved.\u201d\n\nPage 50, l. 33. wise, fashion.\n\nPage 51, l. 14. divers, several, sundry.\n\nPegs 51, l. 28. samite, a kind of silk stuff.\n\nPage 52, l. 4. wist, knew.\n\nPage 52, l. 30. Sir Galahad, son of Sir Lancelot, the truest of knights\nin thought and deed.\n\nPage 53, l. 16. White Abbey. The Benedictines wore black garments. This\nabbey belonged, no doubt, to one of the other orders of monks.\n\nPage 53, l. 28. Mass. A service of the Catholic Church. There was, of\ncourse, only one Church in those days, Protestantism being of much later\ndate.\n\nPage 59, l. 4. palfrey, a horse for riding; distinct from a war-horse.\n\nPage 59, l. 31. helm, helmet.\n\nPage 60, l. 15. discomfited, routed, defeated.\n\nPage 64, l. 9. hair shirt. The irritation caused by wearing a hair shirt\nwas a penance for sins committed. This was a common form of penance.\n\nPage 65, l. 17. purged, purified.\n\nPage 65, l. 27. peer, equal.\n\nPage 66, l. 1. Sir Ector de Maris, Sir Lancelot\u2019s brother.\n\nPage 66, l. 13. Sir Percivale and his sister were the daughter of King\nPellinore.\n\nPage 74, l. 18. King Pelles, the father of Elaine.\n\nPage 77, l. 22. almonries, or almories, cupboards. (Literally places\nwhere alms were distributed; places for broken victuals.)\n\nPage 85, l. 10. made a covenant, made an agreement; undertook.\n\nPage 85, l. 29. couched their spears, put their spears in rest, and\nlevelled them for the charge.\n\nPage 89, l. 13. Camelot is identified by Malory with Winchester, but\nthere is reason to believe that actually it was in Somerset.\n\nPage 90, l. 15. a joust was a trial of strength between two knights.\n\nPage 91, l. 10. token. It was the custom for knights to wear their\nladies\u2019 \u201ctokens.\u201d\n\nPage 91, l. 31. burgess, citizen.\n\nPage 93, l. 2. Sir Gawaine. Being the King\u2019s nephew, the King took\nspecial interest in him.\n\nPage 93, l. 18. press, throng, fight.\n\nPage 94, l. 11. m\u00eal\u00e9e, thick of the fight.\n\nPage 95, l. 32. Northgalis, North Wales.\n\nPage 105, l. 10. Sir Brandiles, one of the knights of the Round Table.\n\nPage 108, l. 2. pavilion, tent.\n\nPage 109, l. 4. doublet, the upper part of a man\u2019s dress.\n\nPage 119, l. 28. lesses les aller, the old French form of the \u201cLaissez\naller\u201d in \u201cIvanhoe,\u201d meaning \u201cGo!\u201d\n\nPage 131, l. 34. craven, coward.\n\nPage 132, l. 13. Sir Lionel, Sir Bors\u2019 brother.\n\nPage 133, l. 28. olive, the token of peace.\n\nPage 137, l. 14. bell, book, and candle. This curse was so called\nbecause a bell was rung while it was being read from a book, and as soon\nas it was over a candle was solemnly extinguished. The last part of the\nceremony was meant to show more clearly to the offender how completely\nhe was put beyond the grace of the Church.\n\nPage 137, l. 17. waxed, grew.\n\nPage 138, l. 34. salves, ointments.\n\nPage 140, l. 28. tide me death, though death betide me.\n\nPage 142, l. 2. stark, more commonly used with the word stiff (stiff and\nstark) to denote death.\n\nPage 143, l. 5. wan, pale, grey.\n\nPage 145, l. 6. alms deeds, deeds of charity.\n\nPage 148, l. 32. dwined, dwindled.\n\n\n THE END.\n\n\n PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED, BECCLES.\n\n\n\n\n Transcriber\u2019s Notes\n\n\n--Copyright notice provided as in the original\u2014this e-text is public\n domain in the country of publication.\n\n--Silently corrected a few palpable typos; left intentionally\n non-standard spellings and dialect unchanged.\n\n--Only in the text versions, delimited italicized text (or\n non-italicized text within poetry) in _underscores_ (the HTML version\n reproduces the font form of the printed book.)\n\n--Omitted marginal line numbers (which must be dynamic in the electronic\n edition), but turned endnotes into hyperlinks.","title":"Tales of King Arthur and the Round Table, Adapted from the Book of Romance","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":45422}