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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10745 ***
+
+Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this
+      file which includes the original illustrations.
+      See 10736-h.htm or 10736-h.zip:
+      (http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/1/0/7/4/10745/10745-h/10745-h.htm)
+      or
+      (http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/1/0/7/4/10745/10745-h.zip)
+
+
+
+
+
+THE STORY OF THE CHAMPIONS OF THE ROUND TABLE
+
+Written and Illustrated by
+
+HOWARD PYLE.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+In 1902 the distinguished American artist Howard Pyle undertook to retell
+and illustrate the legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round
+Table. His four-volume work has long been considered one of the outstanding
+interpretations of the Arthur cycle.
+
+_The Story of the Champions of the Round Table_, the second of Pyle's
+volumes, was originally published in 1905. Reissued now, identical in
+format to the original volume, with Pyle's superb illustrations and
+decorations, it is destined to reach new generations of readers. _The Story
+of the Champions of the Round Table_ recounts the full and moving saga of
+three of Arthur's famous knights: Percival, Tristram, and Launcelot of the
+Lake.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+_"The period in which Howard Pyle did his work frequently has been spoken
+of as that Golden Age in children's literature that was to last for the
+decade to follow. It is difficult to do justice to his contribution to the
+shining quality of that era. The magnitude and diversity of his work eludes
+definition. Creative artist and born storyteller, each aspect of his
+twofold genius enriched and interpreted the other."_
+
+--Elizabeth Nesbitt, in _A Critical History of Children's Literature_
+
+[Illustration: Sir Launcelot of the Lake]
+
+
+
+
+
+Foreword
+
+In a book which was written by me aforetime, and which was set forth in
+print, I therein told much of the history of King Arthur; of how he
+manifested his royalty in the achievement of that wonderful magic sword
+which he drew forth out of the anvil; of how he established his royalty; of
+how he found a splendid sword yclept Excalibur in a miraculously wonderful
+manner; of how he won the most beautiful lady in the world for his queen;
+and of how he established the famous Round Table of noble worthy knights,
+the like of whose prowess the world hath never seen, and will not be likely
+ever to behold again.
+
+Also I told in that book the adventures of certain worthy knights and
+likewise how the magician Merlin was betrayed to his undoing by a sorceress
+hight Vivien.
+
+Now, if you took any joy in reading that book, I have great hope that that
+which follows may be every whit as pleasing to you; for I shall hereinafter
+have to do with the adventures of certain other worthies with whom you may
+have already become acquainted through my book and otherwise; and likewise
+of the adventures of certain other worthies, of whom you have not yet been
+told by me.
+
+More especially, I believe, you will find entertainment in what I shall
+have to tell you of the adventures of that great knight who was altogether
+the most noble of spirit, and the most beautiful, and the bravest of heart,
+of any knight who ever lived--excepting only his own son, Galahad, who was
+the crowning glory of his house and of his name and of the reign of King
+Arthur.
+
+However, if Sir Launcelot of the Lake failed now and then in his behavior,
+who is there in the world shall say, "I never fell into error"? And if he
+more than once offended, who is there shall have hardihood to say, "I never
+committed offence"?
+
+Yea, that which maketh Launcelot so singularly dear to all the world, is
+that he was not different from other men, but like other men, both in his
+virtues and his shortcomings; only that he was more strong and more brave
+and more untiring than those of us who are his brethren, both in our
+endeavors and in our failures.
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+The Story of Launcelot
+
+Chapter First
+
+How Sir Launcelot Came Forth From the Enchanted Castle of the
+Lake and Entered Into the World Again, and How King Arthur
+Made Him Knight
+
+Chapter Second
+
+How Sir Launcelot and Sir Lionel Rode Forth Errant Together
+and How Sir Lionel Met Sir Turquine to His Great Dole. Also
+How Sir Ector Grieved for the Departure of His Brother Launcelot
+and So, Following Him, Fell into a Very Sorry Adventure
+
+Chapter Third
+
+How Sir Launcelot was Found in a Sleep by Queen Morgana
+le Fay and Three Other Queens who were with Her, and How He
+was Taken to a Castle of Queen Morgana's and of What Befell Him
+There
+
+Chapter Fourth
+
+How Sir Launcelot Sought Sir Lionel and How a Young Damsel
+Brought Him to the Greatest Battle that Ever He Had in All His
+Life
+
+Chapter Fifth
+
+How Sir Launcelot Went Upon an Adventure with the Damsel
+Croisette as Companion, and How He Overcame Sir Peris of the
+Forest Sauvage
+
+Chapter Sixth
+
+How Sir Launcelot Took Part in the Tournament Between King
+Bagdemagus and the King of North Wales, and How He Won that
+Battle for King Bagdemagus
+
+Chapter Seventh
+
+How Sir Launcelot Fell Into the Greatest Peril that Ever He Encountered
+in all His Life. Also How He Freed a Misfortunate Castle
+and Town From the Giants Who Held Them, and How He Released
+the Lord Thereof From a Dungeon
+
+Chapter Eighth
+
+How Sir Launcelot Rescued Sir Kay From a Perilous Pass Also
+How He Changed Armor with Sir Kay and what Befell
+
+
+The Book of Sir Tristram
+
+PART I
+
+THE STORY OF SIR TRISTRAM AND THE LADY
+BELLE ISOULT
+
+Chapter First
+
+How the new Queen of Lyonesse sought Tristram's life; how he went
+to France, and how he Returned again to Lyonesse and was Received
+With Love at that Place
+
+Chapter Second
+
+How Sir Tristram was made Knight by the King of Cornwall,
+and how he Fought a Battle with a Famous Champion
+
+Chapter Third
+
+How Sir Tristram went to Ireland to be healed of his Wound by
+the King's Daughter of Ireland, and of how he came to love the Lady
+Belle Isoult. Also concerning Sir Palamydes and the Lady Belle
+Isoult
+
+Chapter Fourth
+
+How Sir Tristram encountered Sir Palamydes at the Tournament
+and of what befell. Also how Sir Tristram was Forced to leave the
+Kingdom of Ireland
+
+Chapter Fifth
+
+How Sir Tristram was sent by Command of King Mark to go to
+Ireland to Bring the Lady the Belle Isoult from Ireland to Cornwall
+and how it fared with him
+
+Chapter Sixth
+
+How Sir Tristram had to do in Battle with Three Knights of the
+Round Table. Also how he had Speech with King Arthur
+
+Chapter Seventh
+
+How Sir Tristram had Speech with King Angus of Ireland; how
+he Undertook to Champion the Cause of King Angus and of what Happened
+Thereafter
+
+PART II
+
+THE STORY OF SIR TRISTRAM AND SIR LAMORACK
+
+Chapter First
+
+How Sir Lamorack of Gales came to Tintagel and how he and Sir
+Tristram Sware Friendship Together in the Forest
+
+Chapter Second
+
+How Sir Tristram Started to go to Camelot, and how he Stayed by
+the Way to do Battle with Sir Nabon le Noir
+
+Chapter Third
+
+How Sir Tristram did justice in the island, and Thereby Released
+Sir Lamorack from Captivity. Also how Sir Tristram and Sir Lamorack
+Renewed their Great Tenderness Toward one another
+
+PART III
+
+THE MADNESS OF SIR TRISTRAM
+
+Chapter First
+
+How Sir Tristram was Discovered with the Lady Belle Isoult;
+how he Assaulted King Mark, and how he Escaped from Tintagel into
+the Forest
+
+Chapter Second
+
+How Sir Tristram got him a Sword from Sir Kay, and how he Slew
+Therewith a Huge Knight in the Forest and Rescued a Lady in very
+Great Distress. Also how Sir Launcelot found Sir Tristram in the
+Forest and Brought him Thence to Tintagel again
+
+Chapter Third
+
+How Sir Tristram was Discovered at Tintagel and of what Befell
+Thereby
+
+Chapter Fourth
+
+How Sir Tristram and the Lady Belle Isoult Returned to Cornwall,
+and how they Ended their Days Together
+
+
+The Book of Sir Percival
+
+Chapter First
+
+How Percival Departed into the World and how he Found a Fair
+Damsel in a Pavilion; likewise how he came before Queen Guinevere
+and how he Undertook his First Adventure
+
+Chapter Second
+
+How Sir Percival was made Knight by King Arthur; how he rode
+Forth with Sir Lamorack and how he Left Sir Lamorack in quest
+of Adventure upon his own Account; likewise how a Great Knight
+Taught him craft in Arms
+
+Chapter Third
+
+How Sir Percival met two Strange People in the Forest, and how
+he Succored a Knight who was in very Great Sorrow and Dole
+
+Chapter Fourth
+
+How Sir Percival Undertook the Adventure of the Castle of Beaurepaire
+and how he Fared Therein after Several Excellent Adventures
+
+Chapter Fifth
+
+How Sir Percival Repaid Sir Kay the Buffet he one time gave
+Yelande the Dumb Maiden, and how, Thereafter, he went Forth to
+Seek his own Lady of Love
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+Head Piece--Table of Contents
+Tail Piece--Table of Contents
+Head Piece--List of Illustrations
+Tail Piece--List of Illustrations
+
+The Lady Nymue beareth away Launcelot into the Lake
+Head Piece--Prologue
+Tail Piece--Prologue
+Sir Launcelot greets Queen Guinevere
+Head Piece--The Story of Launcelot
+Sir Lionel of Britain
+Queen Morgana appears unto Sir Launcelot
+Sir Launcelot doeth battle with Sir Turquine
+Sir Launcelot sits with Sir Hilaire and Croisette
+Sir Launcelot and Elouise the Fair
+Sir Launcelot climbs to catch the lady's falcon
+Sir Launcelot takes the armor of Sir Kay
+Tail Piece--The Story of Launcelot
+
+Sir Tristram of Lyonesse
+Head Piece--Prologue
+Tail Piece--Prologue
+Tristram succors the Lady Moeya
+Head Piece--The Story of Sir Tristram and the Lady Belle Isoult
+King Mark of Cornwall
+The Lady Belle Isoult
+The Queen of Ireland seeks to slay Sir Tristram
+Sir Tristram harpeth before King Mark
+Sir Tristram sits with Sir Launcelot
+Tail Piece
+Belle Isoult and Sir Tristram drink the love draught
+Tail Piece--The Story of Sir Tristram and the Lady Belle Isoult
+Sir Lamorack of Gales
+Head Piece--The Story of Sir Tristram and Sir Lamorack
+Sir Tristram cometh to ye castle of Sir Nabon
+Sir Lamorack herds the swine of Sir Nabon
+Tail Piece--The Story of Sir Tristram and Sir Lamorack
+Sir Tristram assaults King Mark
+Head Piece--The Madness of Sir Tristram
+Sir Kay and the Forest Madman
+Sir Tristram leaps into ye Sea
+King Mark broods mischief
+Tail Piece--The Madness of Sir Tristram
+
+Sir Percival of Gales
+Head Piece--Prologue
+The Lady Yvette the Fair
+Sir Percival and Sir Lamorack ride together
+Sir Percival overcometh ye Enchantress Vivien
+The Demoiselle Blanchefleur
+Sir Kay interrupts ye meditations of Sir Percival
+Tail Piece--The Book of Sir Percival
+
+[Illustration: The Lady Nymue beareth away Launcelot into the Lake]
+
+
+
+
+Prologue.
+
+It hath already been set forth in print in a volume written by me
+concerning the adventures of King Arthur when he first became king, how
+there were certain lesser kings who favored him and were friendly allies
+with him, and how there were certain others of the same sort who were his
+enemies.
+
+Among those who were his friends was King Ban of Benwick, who was an
+exceedingly noble lord of high estate and great honor, and who was of a
+lineage so exalted that it is not likely that there was anyone in the world
+who was of a higher strain.
+
+[Sidenote: Of King Ban and his misfortunes] Now, upon a certain time, King
+Ban of Benwick fell into great trouble; for there came against him a very
+powerful enemy, to wit, King Claudas of Scotland. King Claudas brought unto
+Benwick a huge army of knights and lords, and these sat down before the
+Castle of Trible with intent to take that strong fortress and destroy it.
+
+This noble Castle of Trible was the chiefest and the strongest place of
+defence in all King Ban's dominions, wherefore he had intrenched himself
+there with all of his knights and with his Queen, hight Helen, and his
+youngest son, hight Launcelot.
+
+Now this child, Launcelot, was dearer to Queen Helen than all the world
+besides, for he was not only large of limb but so extraordinarily beautiful
+of face that I do not believe an angel from Paradise could have been more
+beautiful than he. He had been born with a singular birth-mark upon his
+shoulder, which birth-mark had the appearance as of a golden star enstamped
+upon the skin; wherefore, because of this, the Queen would say: "Launcelot,
+by reason of that star upon thy shoulder I believe that thou shalt be the
+star of our house and that thou shalt shine with such remarkable glory that
+all the world shall behold thy lustre and shall marvel thereat for all time
+to come." So the Queen took extraordinary delight in Launcelot and loved
+him to the very core of her heart--albeit she knew not, at the time she
+spake, how that prophecy of hers concerning the star was to fall so
+perfectly true.
+
+Now, though King Ban thought himself very well defended at his Castle of
+Trible, yet King Claudas brought so terribly big an army against that place
+that it covered the entire plain. A great many battles were fought under
+the walls of the castle, but ever King Claudas waxed greater and stronger,
+and King Ban's party grew weaker and more fearful.
+
+[Sidenote: King Ban bethinks him of King Arthur] So by and by things came
+to such a pass that King Ban bethought him of King Arthur, and he said to
+himself: "I will go to my lord the King and beseech help and aid from him,
+for he will certainly give it me. Nor will I trust any messenger in this
+affair other than myself; for I myself will go to King Arthur and will
+speak to him with my own lips."
+
+Having thus bethought him, he sent for Queen Helen to come into his privy
+closet and he said to her: "My dear love, nothing remaineth for me but to
+go unto the court of King Arthur and beseech him to lend his powerful aid
+in this extremity of our misfortunes; nor will I trust any messenger in
+this affair but myself. Now, this castle is no place for thee, when I am
+away, therefore, when I go upon this business, I will take thee and
+Launcelot with me, and I will leave you both in safety at King Arthur's
+court with our other son, Sir Ector, until this war be ended and done." And
+to these Queen Helen lent her assent.
+
+So King Ban summoned to him the seneschal of the castle, who was named Sir
+Malydor le Brun, and said to him: "Messire, I go hence to-night by a secret
+pass, with intent to betake me unto King Arthur, and to beseech his aid in
+this extremity. Moreover, I shall take with me my lady and the young child
+Launcelot, to place them within the care of King Arthur during these
+dolorous wars. But besides these, I will take no other one with me but only
+my favorite esquire, Foliot. Now I charge thee, sir, to hold this castle in
+my behalf with all thy might and main, and yield it not to our enemies upon
+any extremity; for I believe I shall in a little while return with
+sufficient aid from King Arthur to compass the relief of this place."
+
+[Sidenote: King Ban with Queen Helen and Launcelot escape from Trible] So
+when night had fallen very dark and still, King Ban, and Queen Helen, and
+the young child Launcelot, and the esquire Foliot left the town privily by
+means of a postern gate. Thence they went by a secret path, known only to a
+very few, that led down a steep declivity of rocks, with walls of rock upon
+either side that were very high indeed, and so they came out in safety
+beyond the army of King Claudas and into the forest of the valley below.
+And the forest lay very still and solemn and dark in the silence of the
+nighttime.
+
+Having thus come out in safety into the forest, that small party journeyed
+on with all celerity that they were able to achieve until, some little time
+before dawn, they came to where was a lake of water in an open meadow of
+the forest. Here they rested for a little while, for Queen Helen had fallen
+very weary with the rough and hasty journey which they had traveled.
+
+[Sidenote: Foliot seeth a light] Now whilst they sat there resting, Foliot
+spake of a sudden, saying unto King Ban: "Lord, what is that light that
+maketh the sky so bright yonder-ways?" Then King Ban looked a little and
+presently said: "Methinks it must be the dawn that is breaking." "Lord,"
+quoth Foliot, "that cannot very well be; for that light in the sky lieth in
+the south, whence we have come, and not in the east, where the sun should
+arise."
+
+Then King Ban's heart misgave him, and his soul was shaken with a great
+trouble. "Foliot," he said, "I believe that you speak sooth and that that
+light bodes very ill for us all." Then he said: "Stay here for a little and
+I will go and discover what that light may be." Therewith he mounted his
+horse and rode away in the darkness.
+
+[Sidenote: King Ban beholdeth the burning of Trible] Now there was a very
+high hill near-by where they were, and upon the top of the hill was an open
+platform of rock whence a man could see a great way off in every direction.
+So King Ban went to this place, and, when he had come there, he cast his
+eyes in the direction of the light and he straightway beheld with a manner
+of terror that the light came from Trible; and then, with that terror still
+growing greater at his heart, he beheld that the town and the castle were
+all in one great flame of fire.
+
+When King Ban saw this he sat for a while upon his horse like one turned
+into a stone. Then, after a while, he cried out in a great voice: "Woe!
+Woe! Woe is me!" And then he cried out still in a very loud voice, "Certes,
+God hath deserted me entirely."
+
+[Sidenote: The death of King Ban] Therewith a great passion of grief took
+hold upon him and shook him like to a leaf, and immediately after that he
+felt that something brake within him with a very sharp and bitter pain, and
+he wist that it was his heart that had broken. So being all alone there
+upon the hilltop, and in the perfect stillness of the night, he cried out,
+"My heart! My heart!" And therewith, the shadows of death coming upon him,
+he could not sit any longer upon his horse, but fell down upon the ground.
+And he knew very well that death was nigh him, so, having no cross to pray
+upon, he took two blades of grass and twisted them into that holy sign, and
+he kissed it and prayed unto it that God would forgive him his sins. So he
+died all alone upon that hilltop.
+
+Meanwhile, Queen Helen and Foliot sat together waiting for him to return
+and presently they heard the sound of his horse's hoofs coming down that
+rocky path. Then Queen Helen said: "Foliot, methinks my lord cometh." So in
+a little came the horse with the empty saddle. When Foliot beheld that he
+said: "Lady, here meseems is great trouble come to us, for methinks
+something hath befallen my lord, and that he is in sore travail, for here
+is his horse without him."
+
+Then it seemed to Queen Helen as though the spirit of life suddenly went
+away from her, for she foresaw what had befallen. So she arose like one in
+a dream, and, speaking very quietly, she said: "Foliot, take me whither my
+lord went awhile since!" To this Foliot said: "Lady, wait until the
+morning, which is near at hand, for it is too dark for you to go
+thitherward at this present." Whereunto the Lady Helen replied: "Foliot, I
+cannot wait, for if I stay here and wait I believe I shall go mad." Upon
+this, Foliot did not try to persuade her any more but made ready to take
+her whither she would go.
+
+Now the young child Launcelot was then asleep upon the Queen's knees,
+wherefore she took her cloak and wrapped the child in it and laid him very
+gently upon the ground, so that he did not wake. Then she mounted upon her
+palfrey and Foliot led the palfrey up the hill whither King Ban had gone a
+short time since.
+
+[Sidenote: The Lady Helen findeth the King] When they came to that place
+of open rocks above told of, they found King Ban lying very quiet and still
+upon the ground and with a countenance of great peace. For I believe of a
+surety that God had forgiven him all his sins, and he would now suffer no
+more because of the cares and the troubles of this life. Thus Queen Helen
+found him, and finding him she made no moan or outcry of any kind, only she
+looked for a long while into his dead face, which she could see very
+plainly now, because that the dawn had already broken. And by and by she
+said: "Dear Lord, thou art at this time in a happier case than I." And by
+and by she said to Foliot: "Go and bring his horse to this place, that we
+may bear him hence." "Lady," said Foliot, "it is not good for you to be
+left here alone." "Foliot," said the Queen, "thou dost not know how much
+alone I am; thy leaving me here cannot make me more alone." Therewith she
+fell to weeping with great passion.
+
+Then Foliot wept also in great measure and, still weeping like rain, he
+went away and left her. When he came again with King Ban's horse the sun
+had risen and all the birds were singing with great jubilation and
+everything was so blithe and gay that no one could have believed that care
+and trouble could dwell in a world that was so beautiful.
+
+[Sidenote: The Lady Helen bringeth her dead down from the Mountain] So
+Queen Helen and Foliot lifted the dead king to his horse and then the Queen
+said: "Come thou, Foliot, at thine own gait, and I will go ahead and seek
+my child, for I have yet Launcelot to be my joy. Haply he will be needing
+me at this moment." So the Queen made haste down the steep hill ahead of
+Foliot and by and by she came to the margin of that little lake where they
+had rested awhile since.
+
+By now the sun had risen very strong and warm so that all the lake, and the
+meadows circumadjacent, and the forest that stood around about that meadow
+were illumined with the glory of his effulgence.
+
+Now as Queen Helen entered that meadow she beheld that a very wonderful
+lady was there, and this lady bare the child Launcelot in her arms. And the
+lady sang to Launcelot, and the young child looked up into her face and
+laughed and set his hand against her cheek. All this Queen Helen beheld;
+and she likewise beheld that the lady was of a very extraordinary
+appearance, being clad altogether in green that glistered and shone with a
+wonderful brightness. And she beheld that around the neck of the lady was a
+necklace of gold, inset with opal stones and emeralds; and she perceived
+that the lady's face was like ivory--very white and clear--and that her
+eyes, which were very bright, shone like jewels set into ivory. And she saw
+that the lady was very wonderfully beautiful, so that the beholder, looking
+upon her, felt a manner of fear--for that lady was Fay.
+
+(And that lady was the Lady of the Lake, spoken of aforetime in the Book of
+King Arthur, wherein it is told how she aided King Arthur to obtain that
+wonderful, famous sword yclept Excalibur, and how she aided Sir Pellias,
+the Gentle Knight, in the time of his extremity, and took him into the lake
+with her. Also divers other things concerning her are told of therein.)
+
+Then the Queen came near to where the lady was, and she said to her,
+
+"Lady, I pray you give me my child again!" Upon this the Lady of the Lake
+smiled very strangely and said: "Thou shalt have thy child again, lady, but
+not now; after a little thou shalt have him again." Then Queen Helen cried
+out with great agony of passion: "Lady, would you take my child from me?
+Give him to me again, for he is all I have left in the world. Lo, I have
+lost house and lands and husband, and all the other joys that life has me
+to give, wherefore, I beseech you, take not my child from me." To this the
+Lady of the Lake said: "Thou must endure thy sorrow a while longer; for it
+is so ordained that I must take thy child; for I take him only that I may
+give him to thee again, reared in such a wise that he shall make the glory
+of thy house to be the glory of the world. For he shall become the greatest
+knight in the world, and from his loins shall spring a greater still than
+he, so that the glory of the House of King Ban shall be spoken of as long
+as mankind shall last." But Queen Helen cried out all the more in a great
+despair: "What care I for all this? I care only that I shall have my little
+child again! Give him to me!"
+
+[Sidenote: The Lady of the Lake taketh Launcelot into the Lake] Therewith
+she would have laid hold of the garments of the Lady of the Lake in
+supplication, but the Lady of the Lake drew herself away from Queen Helen's
+hand and said: "Touch me not, for I am not mortal, but Fay." And thereupon
+she and Launcelot vanished from before Queen Helen's eyes as the breath
+vanishes from the face of a mirror.
+
+For when you breathe upon a mirror the breath will obscure that which lieth
+behind; but presently the breath will disappear and vanish, and then you
+shall behold all things entirely clear and bright to the sight again. So
+the Lady of the Lake vanished away, and everything behind her where she had
+stood was clear and bright, and she was gone.
+
+Then Queen Helen fell down in a swoon, and lay beside the lake of the
+meadow like one that is dead; and when Foliot came he found her so and wist
+not what to do for her. There was his lord who was dead and his lady who
+was so like to death that he knew not whether she was dead or no. So he
+knew not what to do but sat down and made great lamentation for a long
+while.
+
+[Sidenote: The Lady Helen taketh to a Nunnery] What time he sat thus there
+came that way three nuns who dwelt in an abbey of nuns which was not a
+great distance away from that place. These made great pity over that
+sorrowful sight, and they took away from there the dead King and the woeful
+Queen, and the King they buried in holy ground, and the Queen they let live
+with them and she was thereafter known as the "Sister of Sorrows."
+
+[Sidenote: How Launcelot dwelt in the lake] Now Launcelot dwelt for nigh
+seventeen years with the Lady Nymue of the Lake in that wonderful,
+beautiful valley covered over with the appearance of such a magical lake as
+hath been aforetime described in the Book of King Arthur.
+
+And that land of the lake was of this sort that shall here be described:--
+
+Unto anyone who could enter into the magic water of that lake (and there
+were very few of those who were mortal who were allowed to come to those
+meadows of Faery that were there concealed beneath those enchanted waters)
+he would behold before him a wide and radiant field of extraordinary
+beauty. And he would behold that that field was covered all over with such
+a multitude of exquisite and beautiful flowers that the heart of the
+beholder would be elated with pure joy to find himself in the midst of that
+waving sea of multitudinous and fragrant blossoms. And he would behold many
+fair and shady groves of trees that here and there grew up from that
+valley, each glade overshadowing a fountain of water as clear as crystal.
+And he would perhaps behold, at such pleasant places beneath the shade of
+those trees, some party of the fair and gentle folk of that country; and he
+would see them playing in sport, or he would hear them chanting to the
+music of shining golden harps. And he would behold in the midst of that
+beautiful plain a wonderful castle with towers and roofs uplifted high into
+the sky, and all shining in the peculiar radiance of that land, like to
+castles and battlements of pure gold.
+
+Such was the land unto which Launcelot was brought, and from what I have
+told you you may see what a wonderful, beautiful place it was.
+
+And the mystery of that place entered into the soul of Launcelot, so that
+thereafter, when he came out thence, he was never like other folk, but
+always appeared to be in a manner remote and distant from other of his
+fellow-mortals with whom he dwelt.
+
+For though he smiled a great deal, it was not often that he laughed; and if
+he did laugh, it was never in scorn, but always in loving-kindness.
+
+      *       *       *       *       *
+
+It was here in this land that Sir Pellias had now dwelt for several years,
+with great peace and content. (For it hath been told in the Book of King
+Arthur how, when he was upon the edge of death, the Lady Nymue of the Lake
+brought him back to life again, and how, after that time, he was half fay
+and half mortal.)
+
+And the reason why Launcelot was brought to that place was that Sir Pellias
+might teach him and train him in all the arts of chivalry. For no one in
+all the world was more skilful in arms than Sir Pellias, and no one could
+so well teach Launcelot the duties of chivalry as he.
+
+So Sir Pellias taught Launcelot all that was best of knighthood, both as to
+conduct of manner, and as to the worthiness and skill at arms, wherefore it
+was that when Launcelot was completely taught, there was no knight in all
+the world who was his peer in strength of arms or in courtesy of behavior,
+until his own son, Sir Galahad, appeared in the courts of chivalry as shall
+by and by be told of.
+
+So when Launcelot came forth into the world again he became the greatest
+knight in all the history of chivalry, wherefore that prophecy of his
+mother was fulfilled as to his being like to a bright star of exceeding
+lustre.
+
+Accordingly, I have herein told you with great particularity all these
+circumstances of his early history so that you may know exactly how it was
+that he was taken away into the lake, and why it was that he was afterward
+known as Sir Launcelot, surnamed of the Lake.
+
+As to how he came into the world to achieve that greatness unto which he
+had been preordained, and as to how King Arthur made him knight, and as to
+many very excellent adventures that befell him, you shall immediately read
+in what followeth.
+
+
+
+
+PART I
+
+The Story of Launcelot
+
+
+_Here beginneth the story of Sir Launcelot, surnamed of the Lake, who was
+held by all men to be the most excellent, noble, perfect knight-champion
+who was ever seen in the world from the very beginning of chivalry unto the
+time when his son, Sir Galahad, appeared like a bright star of
+extraordinary splendor shining in the sky of chivalry.
+
+In this Book it shall be told how he was taken into a magic lake, how he
+came out thence to be made knight by King Arthur, and of how he undertook
+several of those adventures that made him at once the wonder and the
+admiration of all men, and the chiefest glory of the Round Table of
+Arthur-Pendragon._
+
+[Illustration: Sir Launcelot greets Queen Guinevere]
+
+
+
+
+Chapter First
+
+
+_How Sir Launcelot Came Forth From the Enchanted Castle of the Lake and
+Entered Into the World Again, and How King Arthur Made Him Knight._
+
+[Sidenote: Of the springtime of long ago] I know not any time of the year
+that is more full of joyfulness than the early summer season; for that time
+the sun is wonderfully lusty and strong, yet not so very hot; that time the
+trees and shrubs are very full of life and very abundant of shade and yet
+have not grown dry with the heats and droughts of later days; that time the
+grass is young and lush and green, so that when you walk athwart the
+meadow-lands it is as though you walked through a fair billowy lake of
+magical verdure, sprinkled over with a great multitude of little flowers;
+that time the roses are everywhere a-bloom, both the white rose and the
+red, and the eglantine is abundant; that time the nests are brimful of
+well-fledged nestlings, and the little hearts of the small parent fowls
+are so exalted with gladness that they sing with all their mights and
+mains, so that the early daytime is filled full of the sweet jargon and the
+jubilant medley of their voices. Yea; that is a goodly season of the year,
+for though, haply, the spirit may not be so hilarious as in the young and
+golden springtime, yet doth the soul take to itself so great a content in
+the fulness of the beauty of the world, that the heart is elated with a
+great and abundant joy that it is not apt to feel at another season.
+
+[Sidenote: King Arthur and two knights ride a-hunting] Now it chanced upon
+the day before Saint John's day in the fulness of a summer-time such as
+this, that King Arthur looked forth from his chamber very early in the
+morning and beheld how exceedingly fair and very lusty was the world
+out-of-doors--all in the freshness of the young daylight. For the sun had
+not yet risen, though he was about to rise, and the sky was like to pure
+gold for brightness; all the grass and leaves and flowers were drenched
+with sweet and fragrant dew, and the birds were singing so vehemently that
+the heart of any man could not but rejoice in the fulness of life that lay
+all around about him.
+
+There were two knights with King Arthur at that time, one was Sir Ewain,
+the son of Morgana le Fay (and he was King Arthur's nephew), and the other
+was Sir Ector de Maris, the son of King Ban of Benwick and of Queen
+Helen--this latter a very noble, youthful knight, and the youngest of all
+the Knights of the Round Table who were at that time elected. These stood
+by King Arthur and looked forth out of the window with him and they also
+took joy with him in the sweetness of the summer season. Unto them, after a
+while, King Arthur spake, saying: "Messires, meseems this is too fair a day
+to stay within doors. For, certes, it is a shame that I who am a king
+should be prisoner within mine own castle, whilst any ploughman may be free
+of the wold and the green woods and the bright sun and the blue sky and the
+wind that blows over hill and dale. Now, I too would fain go forth out of
+doors and enjoy these things; wherefore I ordain that we shall go
+a-hunting this day and that ye and I shall start before any others of the
+lords and the ladies that dwell herein are awake. So let us take our horses
+and our hounds and let us take certain foresters and huntsmen, and let us
+go forth a-hunting into the green forest; for this day shall be holiday for
+me and for you and we shall leave care behind us, and for a while we shall
+disport ourselves in pleasant places."
+
+So they all did as King Arthur bade; they made them each man ready with his
+own hands, and they bade the huntsmen and the foresters to attend thereupon
+as the King had ordained. Then they rode forth from the castle and out into
+the wide world that lay beyond, and it was yet so early in the morning that
+none of the castle folk were astir to know of their departure.
+
+All that day they hunted in the forest with much joy and with great sport,
+nor did they turn their faces toward home again until the day was so far
+spent that the sun had sunk behind the tops of the tall leafy trees. Then,
+at that time, King Arthur gave command that they should bend their ways
+toward Camelot once more.
+
+[Sidenote: King Arthur and his companions find a strange damsel and a
+dwarf] Now this time, being the Eve of Saint John, fairies and those folk
+who are fay come forth, as is very well known, into the world from which
+they dwell apart at other times. So when King Arthur and those two knights
+and their several foresters and huntsmen came to a certain outlying part of
+the forest, they were suddenly aware of a damsel and a dwarf waiting where
+the road upon which they were travelling crossed another road, and they
+perceived, from her very remarkable appearance, that the damsel was very
+likely Fay. For both she and her dwarf sat each upon a milk-white horse,
+very strangely still, close to where was a shrine by a hedge of hawthorne;
+and the damsel was so wonderfully fair of face that it was a marvel to
+behold her. Moreover, she was clad all in white samite from top to toe and
+her garments were embroidered with silver; and the trappings and garniture
+of her horse were of white samite studded with bright silver bosses,
+wherefore, because of this silver, she glistered with a sudden lustre
+whensoever she moved a little. When King Arthur and the two knights who
+were with him drew nigh this damsel, much marvelling at her appearance, she
+hailed him in a voice that was both high and clear, crying: "Welcome, King
+Arthur! Welcome, King Arthur! Welcome, King Arthur!" saying three words
+three times; and "Welcome, Sir Ewain!" "Welcome, Sir Ector de Maris!"
+addressing each of those lords by his name.
+
+"Damsel," quoth King Arthur, "it is very singular that you should know who
+we are and that we should not know you. Now, will you not tell us your name
+and whence you come and whither you go? For of a surety I believe you are
+Fay."
+
+"Lord," said the damsel, "it matters not who I am, saving that I am of the
+court of a wonderful lady who is your very good friend. She hath sent me
+here to meet you and to beseech you to come with me whither I shall lead
+you, and I shall lead you unto her."
+
+"Damsel," said King Arthur, "I shall be right glad to go with you as you
+desire me to do. So, if you will lead me to your lady, I and my knights
+will gladly follow you thitherway to pay our court unto her."
+
+[Sidenote: King Arthur and his knights follow the damsel] Upon this the
+damsel waved her hand, and drawing her bridle-rein she led the way,
+accompanied by the dwarf, and King Arthur and the two knights followed her,
+and all their party of foresters and huntsmen and hounds and beagles
+followed them.
+
+By this time the sun had set and the moon had risen very fair and round and
+as yellow as gold, making a great light above the silent tree-tops.
+Everything now was embalmed in the twilight, and all the world was
+enshrouded in the mystery of the midsummer eve. Yet though the sun had gone
+the light was wonderfully bright, wherefore all that the eye could see
+stood sharp-cut and very clear to the vision.
+
+So the damsel and the dwarf led the way for somewhat of a distance, though
+not for so very far, until they came of a sudden to where was an open
+meadow in the forest, hedged all around with the trees of the woodland. And
+here the King and his knights were aware of a great bustle of many people,
+some working very busily in setting up several pavilions of white samite,
+and others preparing a table as for a feast, and others upon this business
+and others upon that; and there were various sumpter-mules and pack-horses
+and palfreys all about, as though belonging to a party of considerable
+estate.
+
+Then King Arthur and those who were with him beheld that, at some distance
+away upon the other side of the meadow, there were three people sitting
+under a crab-apple tree upon a couch especially prepared for them, and they
+were aware that these people were the chief of all that company.
+
+[Sidenote: King Arthur and his companions are brought to speak with strange
+folk] The first party of the three was a knight of very haughty and noble
+appearance, clad all in armor as white as silver; and his jupon was white
+embroidered with silver, and the scabbard of the sword and the sword-belt
+were white, and his shield hung in the crab-tree above him and that, too,
+was all white as of silver. This knight still wore his helmet, so that his
+countenance was not to be seen. The second party of the three was a lady
+clad all in white raiment. Her face was covered by her wimple so that her
+countenance also was not to be seen very clearly, but her garments were of
+wonderful sort, being of white sarcenet embroidered over with silver in the
+pattern of lily flowers. Also she wore around her breast and throat a chain
+of shining silver studded with bright and sparkling gems of divers sorts.
+The third party of the three was a youth of eighteen years, so beautiful of
+face that it seemed to King Arthur that he had never beheld so noble a
+being. For his countenance was white and shining, and his hair was as soft
+as silk and as black as it was possible to be, and curled down upon his
+shoulders; and his eyes were large and bright and extraordinarily black,
+and his eyebrows arched so smoothly that if they had been painted they
+could not have been marked upon his forehead more evenly than they were;
+and his lips, which pouted a little, though not very much, were as red as
+coral, and his upper lip was shaded with a soft down of black. Moreover,
+this youth was clad altogether in white cloth of satin with no ornaments
+whatsoever saving only a fine chain of shining silver set with opal-stones
+and emeralds that hung about his neck.
+
+Then when King Arthur approached near enough he perceived by certain signs
+that the lady was the chiefest of those three, wherefore he paid his court
+to her especially, saying to her: "Lady, it seems that I have been brought
+hitherward unto you and that you were aware of my name and estate when you
+sent for me. Now I should be exceedingly glad if you would enlighten me in
+the same manner as to yourself."
+
+"Sir," she said, "that I shall be glad to do; for if I have known you
+aforetime, you have also seen me afore time and have known me as your
+friend." Therewith the lady lowered the wimple from her face and King
+Arthur perceived that it was the Lady of the Lake.
+
+[Sidenote: King Arthur findeth Sir Pellias again] Upon this he kneeled
+down upon one knee and took her hand and set it to his lips. "Lady," quoth
+he, "I have indeed cause to know you very well, for you have, as you
+affirm, been a friend to me and to my friends upon many several occasions."
+Then King Arthur turned to that knight who was with that Lady of the Lake,
+and he said unto him: "Messire, if I mistake not, I should know you also;
+and I doubt not, if you will lift the umbril of your helmet, we shall all
+three know your face." Upon this the knight without more ado lifted his
+umbril as King Arthur had desired him to do and the three beheld that it
+was Sir Pellias, the Gentle Knight.
+
+Now it hath already been very fully told about Sir Pellias in the Book of
+King Arthur, and those of you who read of him therein will remember, no
+doubt, how sorely he was wounded in a combat with Sir Gawaine, who was his
+best friend, and of how the Lady of the Lake took him to dwell with her in
+that wonderful city that was hidden by the appearance as of an enchanted
+lake, and of how it was Sir Gawaine who last beheld him upon that occasion.
+But if Sir Gawaine was the dearest friend that Sir Pellias had at that
+time, then Sir Ewain was only less dear to him. Therefore, when Sir Ewain
+beheld that the strange knight was Sir Pellias, he wist not what to think
+for pure wonder; for no mortal eyes had ever beheld Sir Pellias since he
+had gone into the lake with the Lady of the Lake that time as foretold, and
+it was not thought that anyone would ever see him again.
+
+So when Sir Ewain beheld that the knight was Sir Pellias he emitted a great
+cry of joy and ran to him and catched him in his arms, and Sir Pellias
+forbade him not. For though at most times those who are of Faery do not
+suffer themselves to be touched by mortal hands, yet, upon the Eve of Saint
+John's Day, fairies and mortals may commune as though they were of the same
+flesh and blood. Wherefore Sir Pellias did not forbid Sir Ewain, and they
+embraced, as one-time brethren-in-arms should embrace. And each kissed the
+other upon the face, and each made great joy the one over the other. Yea,
+so great was their joy that all those who stood about were moved with pure
+happiness at beholding them.
+
+Then Sir Pellias came to King Arthur and kneeled down before him and kissed
+his hand, as is the bounden duty of every knight unto his lord.
+
+"Ha, Messire," quoth King Arthur, "methought when I beheld this lady, that
+you would not be very far distant from her." Then he said unto the Lady of
+the Lake: "Lady, I prithee tell me, who is this fair youth who is with you.
+For methinks I never beheld before so noble and so beautiful a countenance
+as his. Maybe you will make us acquainted with him also."
+
+"Lord," said the Lady Nymue, "who he is, and of what quality, shall, I
+hope, be made manifest in due time; just now I would not wish that he
+should be known even unto you. But touching him, I may say that it was for
+his sake that I sent my damsel to meet you at the cross-roads awhile ago.
+But of that, more anon; for see! the feast is now spread which we have
+prepared for your entertainment. So let us first eat and drink and make
+merry together, and then we shall speak further of this matter."
+
+[Sidenote: The Lady of the Lake prepareth a feast for King Arthur] So they
+all six went and sat down to the table that had been spread for them in the
+open meadow-land. For the night was very pleasant and warm and a wonderful
+full moon shone down upon them with a marvellous lustre, and there was a
+pleasant air, soft and warm, from the forest, and, what with the scores of
+bright waxen tapers that stood in silver candlesticks upon the table (each
+taper sparkling as bright as any star), the night was made all illuminate
+like to some singular mid-day. There was set before them a plenty of divers
+savory meats and of several excellent wines, some as yellow as gold, and
+some as red as carbuncle, and they ate and they drank and they made merry
+in the soft moonlight with talk and laughter. Somewhiles they told Sir
+Pellias and the lady of all that was toward at court at Camelot;
+otherwhiles Sir Pellias and the lady told them such marvellous things
+concerning the land in which they two dwelt that it would be hard to
+believe that the courts of Heaven could be fairer than the courts of
+Fairyland whence they had come.
+
+Then, after the feast was ended, the Lady of the Lake said to King Arthur,
+"Sir, an I have won your favor in any way, there is a certain thing I would
+ask of you." To the which King Arthur made reply: "Ask it, Lady, and it
+shall be granted thee, no matter what it may be." "Sir," said the Lady of
+the Lake, "this is what I would ask of you. I would ask you to look upon
+this youth who sits beside me. He is so dear to me that I cannot very well
+make you know how dear he is. I have brought him hither from our
+dwelling-place for one certain reason; to wit, that you should make him
+knight. That is the great favor I would ask of you. To this intent I have
+brought armor and all the appurtenances of knighthood; for he is of such
+noble lineage that no armor in the world could be too good for him."
+
+"Lady," quoth King Arthur, "I will do what you ask with much pleasure and
+gladness. But, touching that armor of which you speak, it is my custom to
+provide anyone whom I make a knight with armor of mine own choosing."
+
+To this the Lady of the Lake smiled very kindly, saying, "Lord, I pray you,
+let be in this case, for I daresay that the armor which hath been provided
+for this youth shall be so altogether worthy of your nobility and of his
+future credit that you will be entirely contented with it." And with that,
+King Arthur was altogether satisfied.
+
+[Sidenote: Of the armor, etc., of Sir Launcelot] And, touching that armor,
+the ancient history that speaketh of these matters saith that it was of
+such a sort as this that followeth, and that it was brought from that
+enchanted court of the lake in this wise; to wit, in the front came two
+youths, leading two white mules, and the mules bore two chests studded with
+silver bosses. In one chest was the hauberk of that armor and in the other
+were the iron boots. These were bright like to silver and were inlaid with
+cunningly devised figures, all of pure gold. Next to them came two
+esquires, clad in white robes and mounted upon white horses, bearing the
+one a silver shield and the other a shining helmet, as of silver--it
+likewise being very wonderfully inlaid with figures of pure gold. After
+these came two other esquires, the one bearing a sword in a white sheath
+embossed with studs of silver (the belt whereof was of silver with facets
+of gold) and the other leading a white charger, whose coat was as soft and
+as shining as silk. And all the gear and furniture of this horse was of
+silver and of white samite embellished with silver. So from this you can
+see how nobly that young acolyte was provided with all that beseemed his
+future greatness. For, as you may have guessed, this youth was Launcelot,
+King Ban's son of Benwick, who shortly became the greatest knight in the
+world.
+
+[Sidenote: Launcelot guards his armor at night] Now there was in that part
+of the forest border a small abbey of monks, and in the chapel of that
+abbey Launcelot watched his armor for that night and Sir Ewain was with him
+for all that time. Meantime King Arthur and Sir Ector de Maris slept each
+in a silken pavilion provided for them by the Lady of the Lake.
+
+In the morning Sir Ewain took Launcelot to the bath and bathed him, for
+such was the custom of those who were being prepared for knighthood.
+
+Now, whilst Sir Ewain was bathing the youth, he beheld that on his shoulder
+was a mark in the likeness of a golden star and he marvelled very much
+thereat; but he made no mention of it at that time, but held his peace
+concerning what he saw; only he marvelled very greatly thereat.
+
+[Sidenote: King Arthur creates Sir Launcelot a Knight-Royal] Then, after
+Sir Ewain had bathed Launcelot, he clothed him in raiment fitted for that
+ceremony unto which he was ordained, and when the youth was so clothed, Sir
+Ewain brought him to King Arthur, and King Arthur knighted Launcelot with
+great ceremony, and buckled the belt around him with his own hands. After
+he had done this Sir Ewain and Sir Ector de Maris set the golden spurs to
+his heels, and Sir Ector wist not that he was performing such office for
+his own brother.
+
+So Sir Launcelot was made knight with great estate and ceremony, whereof I
+have told you all, unto every particular. For it is fitting that all things
+should be so told concerning that most great and famous knight.
+
+After King Arthur had so dubbed Sir Launcelot knight, it was time that
+those two parties should part company--to wit, the party of the Lady of the
+Lake and the party of King Arthur. But when they were about to leave one
+another the Lady of the Lake took Sir Launcelot aside, and she spake to him
+after this manner:
+
+[Sidenote: The Lady of the Lake gives Sir Launcelot good advice]
+"Launcelot, forget not that you are a king's son, and that your lineage is
+as noble as that of anyone upon earth--for so I have often told you
+aforetime. Wherefore, see to it that your worthiness shall be as great as
+your beauty, and that your courtesy and gentleness shall be as great as
+your prowess. To-day you shall go unto Camelot with King Arthur to make
+yourself known unto that famous Court of Chivalry. But do not tarry there,
+but, ere the night cometh, depart and go forth into the world to prove your
+knighthood as worthily as God shall give you grace to do. For I would not
+have you declare yourself to the world until you have proved your
+worthiness by your deeds. Wherefore, do not yourself proclaim your name,
+but wait until the world proclaimeth it; for it is better for the world to
+proclaim the worthiness of a man than that the man should proclaim his own
+worthiness. So hold yourself ready to undertake any adventure whatsoever
+that God sendeth to you to do, but never let any other man complete a task
+unto which you yourself have set your hand." Then, after the Lady of the
+Lake had so advised Sir Launcelot, she kissed him upon the face, and
+therewith gave him a ring curiously wrought and set with a wonderful purple
+stone, which ring had such power that it would dissolve every enchantment.
+Then she said: "Launcelot, wear this ring and never let it be from off your
+finger." And Launcelot said: "I will do so." So Sir Launcelot set the ring
+upon his finger and it was so that it never left his finger whilst he drew
+the breath of life.
+
+Then King Arthur and Sir Ewain and Sir Ector de Maris and the young Sir
+Launcelot laid their ways toward Camelot. And, as they journeyed so
+together, Sir Ewain communicated privily to Sir Ector de Maris how that the
+youth had a mark as of a golden star upon the skin of his shoulder, and
+upon this news Sir Ector fell very silent. For Sir Ector knew that that
+sign was upon his own brother's shoulder, and he did not know how it could
+be upon the shoulder of any other man. Wherefore, he wist not what to think
+that it should be upon the shoulder of this youth. But he said naught of
+these thoughts to Sir Ewain, but held his peace.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot cometh to Camelot] So they reached Camelot whilst
+it was still quite early in the morning and all they who were there made
+great joy at the coming of so wonderfully fair and noble a young knight as
+Sir Launcelot appeared to be. Wherefore, there was great sound of rejoicing
+at his coming.
+
+Then, after a while, King Arthur said: "Let us go and see if, haply, this
+youth's name is marked upon any of the seats of the Round Table, for I
+think it should be there." So all they of the court went to that pavilion
+afore described, where the Round Table was established, and they looked;
+and lo! upon the seat that King Pellinore had one time occupied was this
+name:
+
+THE KNIGHT OF THE LAKE
+
+So the name stood at first, nor did it change until the name of Sir
+Launcelot of the Lake became so famous in all the world. Then it became
+changed to this:
+
+SIR LAUNCELOT OF THE LAKE.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot becometh knight of the Round Table] So Sir
+Launcelot remained at Camelot for that entire day and was made acquainted
+with a great many of the lords and ladies and knights and dames of King
+Arthur's court. And all that while he was like one that walked in a dream,
+for he had never before beheld anything of the world of mankind since he
+had been carried away into the lake, wherefore he wist not very well
+whether what he saw was real or whether he beheld it in a vision of
+enchantment. For it was all very new and wonderful to him and he took great
+delight in it because that he was a man and because this world was the
+world of mankind. Wherefore, though that Castle of the Lake was so
+beautiful, yet he felt his heart go forth to this other and less beautiful
+land as it did not go forth to that, because he was human and this was
+human.
+
+Nevertheless, though that was so joyful a day for him, yet Sir Launcelot
+did not forget what the Lady of the Lake had said concerning the time he
+was to abide there! Wherefore, when it drew toward evening he besought
+leave of King Arthur to depart from that place in search of adventures, and
+King Arthur gave him leave to do as he desired.
+
+So Sir Launcelot prepared to depart, and whilst he was in his chamber
+making ready there came in unto him Sir Ector de Maris. And Sir Ector said
+unto him: "Sir, I prithee tell me--is it true that you bear upon your right
+shoulder a mark like unto a golden star?" And Sir Launcelot made reply:
+"Yea, that is true." Then Sir Ector said: "I beseech you to tell me if your
+name is Launcelot." And Sir Launcelot said: "Yea, that is my name."
+
+[Sidenote: Of the brotherhood of Sir Ector and Sir Launcelot] Upon this
+Sir Ector broke out into great weeping and he catched Sir Launcelot in his
+arms and he cried out: "Launcelot, thou art mine own brother! For thy
+father was my father, and my mother was thy mother! For we are both sons
+unto King Ban of Benwick, and Queen Helen was our mother." Therewith he
+kissed Sir Launcelot with great passion upon the face. And Sir Launcelot
+upon his part kissed Sir Ector with a great passion of joy that he had
+found a brother in this strange world into which he had so newly come. But
+Sir Launcelot charged Sir Ector that he should say nothing of this to any
+man; and Sir Ector pledged his knightly word to that effect. (Nor did he
+ever tell anyone who Sir Launcelot was until Sir Launcelot had performed
+such deeds that all the world spake his name.)
+
+For when Sir Launcelot went out into the world in that wise he undertook
+several very weighty achievements and brought them all to a successful
+issue, so that his name very quickly became known in every court of
+chivalry.
+
+[Sidenote: Of sundry adventures of Sir Launcelot] First he removed an
+enchantment that overhung a castle, hight Dolorous Gard; and he freed that
+castle and liberated all the sad, sorry captives that lay therein. (And
+this castle he held for his own and changed the name from Dolorous Gard to
+Joyous Gard and the castle became very famous afterward as his best-loved
+possession. For this was the first of all his possessions that he won by
+the prowess of his arms and he loved it best of all and considered it
+always his home.) After that Sir Launcelot, at the bidding of Queen
+Guinevere, took the part of the Lady of Nohan against the King of
+Northumberland, and he overcame the King of Northumberland and made him
+subject unto King Arthur. Then he overcame Sir Gallehaut, King of the
+Marches, and sent him captive to the court of King Arthur (and afterward
+Sir Gallehaut and Sir Launcelot became great friends for aye). So in a
+little while all the world spoke of Sir Launcelot, for it was said of him,
+and truly, that he had never been overcome by any other knight, whether
+upon horseback or upon foot, and that he always succeeded in every
+adventure which he undertook, whether that adventure were great or whether
+it were small. So it was as the Lady of the Lake desired it to be, for Sir
+Launcelot's name became famous, not because he was his father's son, but
+because of the deeds which he performed upon his own account.
+
+So Sir Launcelot performed all these famous adventures, and after that he
+returned again to the court of King Arthur crowned with the glory of his
+successful knighthood, and there he was received with joy and acclaim and
+was duly installed in that seat of the Round Table that was his. And in
+that court he was held in the greatest honor and esteem of all the knights
+who were there. For King Arthur spake many times concerning him to this
+effect: that he knew not any honor or glory that could belong to a king
+greater than having such a knight for to serve him as was Sir Launcelot of
+the Lake. For a knight like Sir Launcelot came hardly ever into the world,
+and when he did come his glory must needs illuminate with its effulgence
+the entire reign of that king whose servant he was.
+
+So it was that Sir Launcelot was greatly honored by everybody at the court
+of King Arthur, and he thereafter abided at that court for the most part of
+his life.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+[Sidenote: Of Sir Launcelot and Queen Guinevere] And now I must needs make
+mention of that friendship that existed betwixt Sir Launcelot and Queen
+Guinevere, for after he thus returned to the court of the king, they two
+became such friends that no two people could be greater friends than they
+were.
+
+Now I am aware that there have been many scandalous things said concerning
+that friendship, but I do not choose to believe any such evil sayings. For
+there are always those who love to think and say evil things of others. Yet
+though it is not to be denied that Sir Launcelot never had for his lady any
+other dame than the Lady Guinevere, still no one hath ever said with truth
+that she regarded Sir Launcelot otherwise than as her very dear friend. For
+Sir Launcelot always avouched with his knightly word, unto the last day of
+his life, that the Lady Guinevere was noble and worthy in all ways,
+wherefore I choose to believe his knightly word and to hold that what he
+said was true. For did not he become an hermit, and did not she become a
+nun in their latter days, and were they not both broken of heart when King
+Arthur departed from this life in so singular a manner as he did? Wherefore
+I choose to believe good of such noble souls as they, and not evil of them.
+
+[Sidenote: How Sir Launcelot dwelt at Camelot] Yet, though Sir Launcelot
+thus abided at the court of the King, he ever loved the open world and a
+life of adventure above all things else. For he had lived so long in the
+Lake that these things of the sturdy life of out-of-doors never lost their
+charm for him. So, though he found, for a while, great joy in being at the
+court of the King (for there were many jousts held in his honor, and,
+whithersoever he rode forth, men would say to one another: "Yonder goeth
+that great knight, Sir Launcelot, who is the greatest knight in the
+world"), yet he longed ever to be abroad in the wide world again. So one
+day he besought King Arthur for leave to depart thence and to go forth for
+a while in search of adventures; and King Arthur gave him leave to do as he
+desired.
+
+So now shall be told of several excellent adventures that Sir Launcelot
+undertook, and which he carried through with entire success, and to the
+great glory and renown of the Round Table, of which he was the foremost
+knight.
+
+[Illustration: Sir Lionel of Britain]
+
+
+
+
+Chapter Second
+
+
+_How Sir Launcelot and Sir Lionel Rode Forth Errant Together and How Sir
+Lionel Met Sir Turquine to His Great Dole. Also How Sir Ector Grieved for
+the Departure of His Brother Launcelot and So, Following Him, Fell into a
+Very Sorry Adventure_.
+
+Now after King Arthur had thus given Sir Launcelot leave to go errant and
+whilst Sir Launcelot was making himself ready to depart there came to him
+Sir Lionel, who was his cousin germain, and Sir Lionel besought leave to go
+with him as his knight-companion, and Sir Launcelot gave him that leave.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot and Sir Lionel depart in search of adventure] So
+when King Arthur confirmed Sir Launcelot's permission Sir Lionel also made
+himself ready very joyfully, and early of the morning of the next day they
+two took their leave of the court and rode away together; the day being
+very fair and gracious and all the air full of the joy of that
+season--which was in the flower of the spring-time.
+
+So, about noon-tide, they came to a certain place where a great apple-tree
+stood by a hedge, and by that time they had grown an-hungered. So they tied
+their horses near-by in a cool and shady place and straightway sat them
+down under the apple-tree in the soft tall grass, which was yet fresh with
+the coolness of the morning.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot sleepeth beneath an apple-tree] Then when they
+had ended their meal Sir Launcelot said: "Brother, I have a great lust to
+sleep for a little space, for I find myself so drowsy that mine eyelids are
+like scales of lead." Unto which Sir Lionel made reply: "Very well; sleep
+thou for a while, and I will keep watch, and after that thou shalt watch,
+and I will sleep for a little space." So Sir Launcelot put his helmet
+beneath his head and turned upon his side, and in a little had fallen into
+a sleep which had neither dream nor thought of any kind, but which was deep
+and pure like to a clear well of water in the forest.
+
+And, whilst he slept thus, Sir Lionel kept watch, walking up and down in
+the shade of a hedge near-by.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Lionel perceives how one knight pursues three knights]
+Where they were was upon the side of a hill, and beneath them was a little
+valley; and a road ran through the valley, very white and shining in the
+sunlight, like a silken ribbon, and the road lay between growing fields of
+corn and pasture-land. Now as Sir Lionel walked beside the hedge he beheld
+three knights come riding into that valley and along that road with very
+great speed and in several clouds of dust; and behind them came a fourth
+knight, who was very huge of frame and who was clad altogether in black
+armor. Moreover, this knight rode upon a black horse and his shield was
+black and his spear was black and the furniture of his horse was black, so
+that everything appertaining to that knight was as black as any raven.
+
+And Sir Lionel beheld that this one knight pursued those other three
+knights and that his horse went with greater speed than theirs, so that by
+and by he overtook the hindermost knight. And Sir Lionel beheld that the
+sable knight smote the fleeing knight a great buffet with his sword, so
+that that knight fell headlong from his horse and rolled over two or three
+times upon the ground and then lay as though he were dead. Then the black
+knight catched the second of the three, and served him as he had served his
+fellow. Then the third of the three, finding that there was no escape for
+him, turned as if to defend himself; but the black knight drave at him, and
+smote him so terrible a blow that I believe had a thunderbolt smitten him
+he would not have fallen from his horse more suddenly than he did. For,
+though that combat was full three furlongs away, yet Sir Lionel heard the
+sound of that blow as clearly as though it had been close by.
+
+Then after the black knight had thus struck down those three knights he
+went to each in turn and tied his hands behind his back. Then, lifting each
+man with extraordinary ease, he laid him across the saddle of that horse
+from which he had fallen, as though he were a sack of grain. And all this
+Sir Lionel beheld with very great wonder, marvelling much at the strength
+and prowess of that black knight. "Ha," quoth he to himself, "I will go and
+inquire into this business, for it may haply be that yonder black knight
+shall not find it to be so easy to deal with a knight of the Round Table as
+with those other three knights."
+
+So, with this, Sir Lionel loosed his horse very quietly and went his way so
+softly that Sir Launcelot was not awakened. And after he had gone some way,
+he mounted his steed and rode off at a fast gallop down into that valley.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Lionel addresses the sable knight] When Sir Lionel had come
+to that place where the knight was, he found that he had just bound the
+last of the three knights upon the saddle of his horse as aforetold. So Sir
+Lionel spoke to the sable knight in this wise: "Sir, I pray you tell me
+your name and degree and why you treat those knights in so shameful a
+fashion as I behold you to do."
+
+"Messire," said the black knight very fiercely, "this matter concerns you
+not at all; yet I may tell you that those knights whom I have overthrown
+are knights of King Arthur's court, and so I serve all such as come into
+this place. So will I serve you, too, if you be a knight of King Arthur's."
+
+"Well," said Sir Lionel, "that is a very ungracious thing for you to say.
+And as for that, I too am a knight of King Arthur's court, but I do not
+believe that you will serve me as you have served those three. Instead of
+that, I have great hope that I shall serve you in such a fashion that I
+shall be able to set these knights free from your hands."
+
+[Sidenote: The sable knight overcomes Sir Lionel] Thereupon, without more
+ado, he made him ready with spear and shield, and the black knight,
+perceiving his design, also made him ready. Then they rode a little
+distance apart so as to have a fair course for a tilt upon the roadway.
+Then each set spur to his horse and the two drave together with such
+violence that the earth shook beneath them. So they met fair in the middle
+of the course, but lo! in that encounter the spear of Sir Lionel broke into
+as many as thirty or forty pieces, but the spear of the black knight held,
+so that Sir Lionel was lifted clean out from his saddle and over the
+crupper of his horse with such violence that when he smote the ground he
+rolled three times over ere he ceased to fall. And because of that fierce,
+terrible blow he swooned away entirely, and all was black before his eyes,
+and he knew nothing.
+
+Therewith the black knight dismounted and tied Sir Lionel's arms behind his
+back and he laid him across the saddle of his horse as he had laid those
+others across the saddles of their horses; and he tied him there very
+securely with strong cords so that Sir Lionel could not move.
+
+And all this while Sir Launcelot slept beneath the apple-tree upon the
+hillside, for he was greatly soothed by the melodious humming of the bees
+in the blossoms above where he lay.
+
+[Sidenote: Of Sir Turquine the sable knight] Now you are to know that he
+who had thus taken Sir Lionel and those three knights prisoner was one Sir
+Turquine, a very cruel, haughty knight, who had a great and strong castle
+out beyond the mouth of that valley in which these knights took combat as
+aforetold. Moreover, it was the custom of Sir Turquine to make prisoner all
+the knights and ladies who came that way; and all the knights and ladies
+who were not of King Arthur's court he set free when they had paid a
+sufficient ransom unto him; but the knights who were of King Arthur's
+court, and especially those who were of the Round Table, he held prisoner
+for aye within his castle. The dungeon of that castle was a very cold,
+dismal, and unlovely place, and it was to this prison that he proposed to
+take those four knights whom he had overcome, with intent to hold them
+prisoner as aforetold.
+
+And now turn we to King Arthur's court and consider what befell there after
+Sir Launcelot and Sir Lionel had left it in search of adventures.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Ector follows Sir Launcelot and Sir Lionel] When Sir Ector
+found that Sir Launcelot and Sir Lionel had gone away in that fashion he
+was very much grieved in spirit; wherefore he said to himself, "Meseems my
+brother might have taken me with him as well as our cousin." So he went to
+King Arthur and besought his leave to quit the court and to ride after
+those other two and to join in their adventures, and King Arthur very
+cheerfully gave him that leave. So Sir Ector made him ready with all
+despatch, and rode away at a great gait after Sir Launcelot and Sir Lionel.
+And ever as Sir Ector rode he made diligent inquiry and he found that those
+two knights had ridden before him, so he said to himself: "By and by I
+shall overtake them--if not to-day, at least by night, or by to-morrow
+day."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Ector seeks adventure] But after a while he came to a
+cross-roads, and there he took a way that Sir Launcelot and Sir Lionel had
+not taken; so that, after he had gone a distance, he found that he had
+missed them by taking that road. Nevertheless, he went on until about the
+prime of the day, what time he met a forester, to whom he said: "Sirrah,
+saw you two knights ride this way--one knight clad in white armor with a
+white shield upon which was depicted the figure of a lady, and the other
+knight clad in red armor with the figure of a red gryphon upon his shield?"
+"Nay," said the forester, "I saw not such folk." Then said Sir Ector, "Is
+there any adventure to be found hereabouts?" Upon this the forester fell to
+laughing in great measure. "Yea," he said, "there is an adventure to be
+found hard by and it is one that many have undertaken and not one yet hath
+ever fulfilled." Then Sir Ector said, "Tell me what that adventure is and I
+will undertake it."
+
+"Sir," said the forester, "if you will follow along yonder road for a
+distance you will find a very large, strong castle surrounded by a broad
+moat. In front of that castle is a stream of water with a fair, shallow
+ford, where the roadway crosses the water. Upon this side of that ford
+there groweth a thorn-tree, very large and sturdy, and upon it hangs a
+basin of brass. Strike upon that basin with the butt of your spear, and you
+shall presently meet with that adventure concerning which I have just now
+spoken." "Fellow," said Sir Ector, "grammercy for your news." And,
+therewith, straightway he rode off in search of that adventure.
+
+He rode a great distance at a very fast gait and by and by he came to the
+top of a hill and therewith he saw before him the mouth of a fair valley.
+Across from where he stood was another hill not very large or high, but
+exceedingly steep and rocky. Upon this farther hill was builded a tall,
+noble castle of gray stone with many towers and spires and tall chimneys
+and with several score of windows, all shining bright in the clear weather.
+A fair river ran down into the mouth of that valley and it was as bright
+and as smooth as silver, and on each side of it were smooth level
+meadow-lands--very green--and here and there shady groves of trees and
+plantations of fruit-trees. And Sir Ector perceived that the road upon
+which he travelled crossed the aforesaid river by a shallow ford, and he
+wist that this must be the ford whereof the forester had spoken. So he rode
+down unto that ford, and when he had come nigh he perceived the thorn-tree
+of which the forester had told him, and he saw that a great basin of brass
+hung to the thorn-tree, just as the forester had said.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Ector smites upon the brazen basin] Then Sir Ector rode to
+that thorn-tree and he smote upon that basin of brass with the butt of his
+spear, so that the basin rang with a noise like thunder; and he smote it
+again and again, several times over. But though he was aware of a great
+commotion within that fair castle, yet no adventure befell him, although he
+smote the brazen basin several times.
+
+Now, his horse being athirst, Sir Ector drove him into the ford that he
+might drink, and whilst he was there he was suddenly aware where, on the
+other side of the stream, was a singular party coming along the roadway.
+For first of all there rode a knight entirely clad in black, riding upon a
+black horse, and all the harness and furniture of that horse entirely of
+black. Behind him, that knight led four horses as though they were
+pack-horses, and across each one of those four horses was a knight in full
+armor, bound fast to the saddle like to a sack of grain, whereat Sir Ector
+was very greatly astonished.
+
+As soon as that sable knight approached the castle, several came running
+forth and relieved him of those horses he led and took them into the
+castle, and as soon as he had been thus relieved the sable knight rode very
+violently up to where Sir Ector was. As soon as he had come to the water's
+edge he cried out: "Sir Knight, come forth from out of that water and do me
+battle."
+
+"Very well," said Sir Ector, "I will do so, though it will, I think, be to
+thy very great discomfort."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Ector essays battle with the sable knight] With that he
+came quickly out from the ford, the water whereof was all broken and
+churned into foam at his passing, and straightway he cast aside his spear
+and drew his sword and, driving against that sable knight, he smote him
+such a buffet that his horse turned twice about.
+
+"Ha," said the black knight, "that is the best blow that ever I had struck
+me in all of my life." Therewith he rushed upon Sir Ector, and without
+using a weapon of any sort he catched him about the body, underneath the
+arms, and dragged him clean out of his saddle, and flung him across the
+horn of his own saddle. Thereupon, having accomplished this marvellous
+feat, and with Sir Ector still across his saddle-bow, he rode up unto his
+castle, nor stopped until he had reached the court-yard of the keep. There
+he set Sir Ector down upon the stone pavement. Then he said: "Messire, thou
+hast done to me this day what no other knight hath ever done to me before,
+wherefore, if thou wilt promise to be my man from henceforth, I will let
+thee go free and give thee great rewards for thy services as well."
+
+But Sir Ector was filled very full of shame, wherefore he cried out
+fiercely, "Rather would I lie within a prison all my life than serve so
+catiff a knight as thou, who darest to treat other knights as thou hast
+just now treated me."
+
+"Well," said the black knight very grimly, "thou shalt have thy choice."
+Therewith he gave certain orders, whereupon a great many fierce fellows set
+upon Sir Ector and stripped him of all his armor, and immediately haled him
+off, half-naked, to that dungeon aforementioned.
+
+[Sidenote: The sable knight makes prisoner of Sir Ector] There he found
+many knights of King Arthur's court, and several of the Round Table, all of
+whom he knew, and when they beheld Sir Ector flung in unto them in that
+fashion they lifted up their voices in great lamentation that he should
+have been added to their number, instead of freeing them from their
+dolorous and pitiable case. "Alas," said they, "there is no knight alive
+may free us from this dungeon, unless it be Sir Launcelot. For this Sir
+Turquine is, certes, the greatest knight in all the world, unless it be Sir
+Launcelot."
+
+[Illustration: Queen Morgana appears unto Sir Launcelot]
+
+
+
+
+Chapter Third
+
+
+_How Sir Launcelot was Found in a Sleep by Queen Morgana le Fay and Three
+Other Queens who were with Her, and How He was Taken to a Castle of Queen
+Morgana's and of What Befell Him There._
+
+[Sidenote: Four Queens and their courts pass by where Sir Launcelot lies
+sleeping] So Sir Launcelot lay in deep slumber under that apple-tree, and
+knew neither that Sir Lionel had left him nor what ill-fortune had befallen
+that good knight. Whilst he lay there sleeping in that wise there came by,
+along the road, and at a little distance from him, a very fair procession
+of lordly people, making a noble parade upon the highway. The chiefest of
+this company were four ladies, who were four queens. With them rode four
+knights, and, because the day was warm, the four knights bore a canopy of
+green silk by the four corners upon the points of their lances in such wise
+as to shelter those queens from the strong heat of the sun. And those four
+knights rode all armed cap-a-pie on four noble war-horses, and the four
+queens, bedight in great estate, rode on four white mules richly
+caparisoned with furniture of divers colors embroidered with gold. After
+these lordly folk there followed a very excellent court of esquires and
+demoiselles to the number of a score or more; some riding upon horses and
+some upon mules that ambled very easily.
+
+Now all these folk of greater or lesser degree were entirely unaware that
+Sir Launcelot lay sleeping so nigh to them as they rode by chattering very
+gayly together in the spring-time weather, taking great pleasure in the
+warm air, and in growing things, and the green fields, and the bright sky;
+and they would have had no knowledge that the knight was there, had not Sir
+Launcelot's horse neighed very lustily. Thereupon, they were aware of the
+horse, and then they were aware of Sir Launcelot where he lay asleep under
+the apple-tree, with his head lying upon his helmet.
+
+Now foremost of all those queens was Queen Morgana le Fay (who was King
+Arthur's sister, and a potent, wicked enchantress, of whom much hath been
+told in the Book of King Arthur), and besides Queen Morgana there was the
+Queen of North Wales, and the Queen of Eastland, and the Queen of the Outer
+Isles.
+
+Now when this party of queens, knights, esquires, and ladies heard the
+war-horse neigh, and when they beheld Sir Launcelot where he lay, they
+drew rein and marvelled very greatly to see a knight sleeping so soundly at
+that place, maugre all the noise and tumult of their passing. So Queen
+Morgana called to her one of the esquires who followed after them, and she
+said to him: "Go softly and see if thou knowest who is yonder knight; but
+do not wake him."
+
+[Sidenote: An esquire knoweth Sir Launcelot] So the esquire did as she
+commanded; he went unto that apple-tree and he looked into Sir Launcelot's
+face, and by hap he knew who it was because he had been to Camelot
+erstwhiles and he had seen Sir Launcelot at that place. So he hastened back
+to Queen Morgana and he said to her: "Lady, I believe that yonder knight is
+none other than the great Sir Launcelot of the Lake, concerning whom there
+is now such report; for he is reputed to be the most powerful of all the
+knights of King Arthur's Round Table, and the greatest knight in the world,
+so that King Arthur loves him and favors him above all other knights."
+
+Now when Queen Morgana le Fay was aware that the knight who was asleep
+there was Sir Launcelot, it immediately entered her mind for to lay some
+powerful, malignant enchantment upon him to despite King Arthur. For she
+too knew how dear Sir Launcelot was to King Arthur, and so she had a mind
+to do him mischief for King Arthur's sake. So she went softly to where Sir
+Launcelot lay with intent to work some such spell upon him. But when she
+had come to Sir Launcelot she was aware that this purpose of mischief was
+not possible whilst he wore that ring upon his finger which the Lady of the
+Lake had given him; wherefore she had to put by her evil design for a
+while.
+
+[Sidenote: Queen Morgana le Fay sets a mild enchantment upon Sir
+Launcelot] But though she was unable to work any malign spell upon him,
+she was able to cause it by her magic that that sleep in which he lay
+should remain unbroken for three or four hours. So she made certain
+movements of her hands above his face and by that means she wove the
+threads of his slumber so closely together that he could not break through
+them to awake.
+
+After she had done this she called to her several of the esquires who were
+of her party, and these at her command fetched the shield of Sir Launcelot
+and laid him upon it. Then they lifted him and bore him away, carrying him
+in that manner to a certain castle in the forest that was no great distance
+away. And the name of that castle was Chateaubras and it was one of Queen
+Morgana's castles.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot awakens in a fair chamber] And all that while Sir
+Launcelot wist nothing, but lay in a profound sleep, so that when he awoke
+and looked about him he was so greatly astonished that he knew not whether
+he was in a vision or whether he was awake. For whilst he had gone asleep
+beneath that apple-tree, here he now lay in a fair chamber upon a couch
+spread with a coverlet of flame-colored linen.
+
+Then he perceived that it was a very fair room in which he lay, for it was
+hung all about with tapestry hangings representing fair ladies at court and
+knights at battle. And there were woven carpets upon the floor, and the
+couch whereon he lay was of carved wood, richly gilt. There were two
+windows to that chamber, and when he looked forth he perceived that the
+chamber where he was was very high from the ground, being built so loftily
+upon the rugged rocks at its foot that the forest lay far away beneath him
+like a sea of green. And he perceived that there was but one door to this
+chamber and that the door was bound with iron and studded with great bosses
+of wrought iron, and when he tried that door he found that it was locked.
+
+So Sir Launcelot was aware from these things that he was a prisoner--though
+not a prisoner in a hard case--and he wist not how he had come thither nor
+what had happened to him.
+
+[Sidenote: A fair damsel beareth light and food unto Sir Launcelot] Now
+when the twilight of the evening had fallen, a porter, huge of frame and
+very forbidding of aspect, came and opened the door of the chamber where
+Sir Launcelot lay, and when he had done so there entered a fair damsel,
+bearing a very good supper upon a silver tray. Moreover, she bore upon the
+tray three tapers of perfumed wax set in three silver candlesticks, and
+these gave a fair light to the entire room. But, when Sir Launcelot saw the
+maiden coming thus with intent to serve him, he arose and took the tray
+from her and set it himself upon the table; and for this civility the
+damsel made acknowledgement to him. Then she said to him: "Sir Knight, what
+cheer do you have?" "Ha, damsel," said Sir Launcelot, "I do not know how to
+answer you that, for I wist not what cheer to have until I know whether I
+be with friends or with enemies. For though this chamber wherein I lie is
+very fair and well-bedight, yet meseems I must have been brought here by
+some enchantment, and that I am a prisoner in this place; wherefore I know
+not what cheer to take."
+
+[Sidenote: The damsel has pity for Sir Launcelot] Then the damsel looked
+upon Sir Launcelot, and she was very sorry for him. "Sir," quoth she, "I
+take great pity to see you in this pass, for I hear tell you are the best
+knight in the world and, of a surety, you are of a very noble appearance. I
+must tell you that this castle wherein you lie is a castle of enchantment,
+and they who dwell here mean you no good; wherefore I would advise you to
+be upon your guard against them."
+
+"Maiden," said Sir Launcelot, "I give you grammercy for your kind words,
+and I will be upon my guard as you advise me."
+
+Then the damsel would have said more, but she durst not for fear that she
+should be overheard and that evil should befall her, for the porter was
+still without the door. So in a little she went away and Sir Launcelot was
+left alone.
+
+But though the damsel bade Sir Launcelot have good cheer, yet he had no
+very good cheer for that night, as anyone may well suppose, for he wist not
+what was to befall him upon the morrow.
+
+Now when the morning had come Sir Launcelot was aware of someone at his
+chamber door, and when that one entered it was Queen Morgana le Fay.
+
+[Sidenote: How Queen Morgana cometh to Sir Launcelot] She was clad in all
+the glory at her command, and her appearance was so shining and radiant
+that when she came into that room Sir Launcelot knew not whether it was a
+vision his eyes beheld or whether she was a creature of flesh and blood.
+For she came with her golden crown upon her head, and her hair, which was
+as red as gold, was bound around with ribbons of gold; and she was clad all
+in cloth of gold; and she wore golden rings with jewels upon her fingers
+and golden bracelets upon her arms and a golden collar around her
+shoulders; wherefore, when she came into the room she shone with an
+extraordinary splendor, as if she were a marvellous statue made all of pure
+gold--only that her face was very soft and beautiful, and her eyes shone
+exceedingly bright, and her lips, which were as red as coral, smiled, and
+her countenance moved and changed with all the wiles of fascination that
+she could cause it to assume.
+
+When Sir Launcelot beheld her come thus gloriously into his room he rose
+and greeted her with a very profound salutation, for he was astonished
+beyond measure at beholding that shining vision. Then Queen Morgana gave
+him her hand, and he kneeled, and took her jewelled fingers in his and set
+her hand to his lips. "Welcome, Sir Launcelot!" quoth she; "welcome to this
+place! For it is indeed a great honor to have here so noble and famous a
+knight as you!"
+
+"Ha, Lady," said Sir Launcelot, "you are gracious to me beyond measure! But
+I pray you tell me how I came to this place and by what means? For when I
+fell asleep yesterday at noon I lay beneath an apple-tree upon a hillside;
+and when I awoke--lo! I found myself in this fair chamber."
+
+[Sidenote: Queen Morgana seeks to beguile Sir Launcelot] To this Queen
+Morgana le Fay made smiling reply as follows: "Sir, I am Queen Morgana le
+Fay, of whom you may have heard tell, for I am the sister of King Arthur,
+whose particular knight you are. Yesterday, at noon, riding with certain
+other queens and a small court of knights, esquires, and demoiselles, we
+went by where you lay sleeping. Finding you lying so, alone and without any
+companion, I was able, by certain arts which I possess, to lay a gentle
+enchantment upon you so that the sleep wherein you lay should remain
+unbroken for three or four hours. So we brought you to this place in hopes
+that you would stay with us for two or three days or more, and give us the
+pleasure of your company. For your fame, which is very great, hath reached
+even as far as this place, wherefore we have made a gentle prisoner of you
+for this time being."
+
+"Lady," said Sir Launcelot, "such constraint as that would be very pleasing
+to me at another time. But when I fell asleep I was with my cousin, Sir
+Lionel, and I know not what hath become of him, and haply he will not know
+what hath become of me should he seek me. Now I pray you let me go forth
+and find my cousin, and when I have done so I will return to you again at
+this place with an easy spirit."
+
+"Well, Messire," said Queen Morgana, "it shall be as you desire, only I
+require of you some pledge of your return." (Herewith she drew from her
+finger a golden ring set very richly with several jewels.) "Now take this
+ring," she said, "and give me that ring which I see upon your finger, and
+when you shall return hither each shall have his ring again from the
+other."
+
+"Lady," said Sir Launcelot, "that may not be. For this ring was placed upon
+my finger with such a pledge that it may never leave where it is whilst my
+soul abideth in my body. Ask of me any other pledge and you shall have it;
+but I cannot give this ring to you."
+
+[Sidenote: Queen Morgana hath anger for Sir Launcelot] Upon this Queen
+Morgana's cheeks grew very red, and her eyes shone like sparks of fire.
+"Ha, Sir Knight," she said, "I do not think you are very courteous to
+refuse a lady and a queen so small a pledge as that. I am much affronted
+with you that you should have done so. Wherefore, I now demand of you, as
+the sister of King Arthur whom you serve, that you give me that ring."
+
+"Lady," said Sir Launcelot, "I may not do that, though it grieveth me much
+to refuse you."
+
+Then Queen Morgana looked at Sir Launcelot awhile with a very angry
+countenance, but she perceived that she was not to have her will with him,
+wherefore she presently turned very quickly and went out of the room,
+leaving Sir Launcelot much perturbed in spirit. For he knew how great were
+the arts of Queen Morgana le Fay, and he could not tell what harm she might
+seek to work upon him by those arts. But he ever bore in mind how that the
+ring which he wore was sovereign against such malignant arts as she
+practised, wherefore he took what comfort he could from that circumstance.
+
+Nevertheless, he abode in that chamber in great uncertainty for all that
+day, and when night came he was afraid to let himself slumber, lest they of
+the castle should come whilst he slept and work him some secret ill;
+wherefore he remained awake whilst all the rest of the castle slept. Now at
+the middle of the night, and about the time of the first cock-crow, he was
+aware of a sound without and a light that fell through the crack of the
+door. Then, in a little, the door was opened and there entered that young
+damsel who had served him with his supper the night before, and she bare a
+lighted taper in her hand.
+
+[Sidenote: The damsel cometh again to Sir Launcelot] When Sir Launcelot
+perceived that damsel he said: "Maiden, do you come hither with good intent
+or with evil intent?" "Sir," she said, "I come with good intent, for I take
+great pity to see you in such a sorry case as this. I am a King's daughter
+in attendance upon Queen Morgana le Fay, but she is so powerful an
+enchantress that, in good sooth, I am in great fear lest she some time do
+me an ill-hap. So to-morrow I leave her service and return unto my father's
+castle. Meantime, I am of a mind to help you in your adversity. For Queen
+Morgana trusts me, and I have knowledge of this castle and I have all the
+keys thereof, wherefore I can set you free. And I will set you free if you
+will, upon your part, serve me in a way that you can very easily do."
+
+"Well," said Sir Launcelot, "provided I may serve you in a way fitting my
+knightly honor, I shall be glad to do so under any condition. Now I pray
+you tell me what it is you would have of me."
+
+[Sidenote: The damsel speaketh to Sir Launcelot of her father, King
+Bagdemagus] "Sir," said the damsel, "my father hath made a tournament
+betwixt him and the King of North Wales upon Tuesday next, and that is just
+a fortnight from this day. Now, already my father hath lost one such a
+tournament, for he hath no very great array of knights upon his side, and
+the King of North Wales hath three knights of King Arthur's Round Table to
+aid his party. Because of the great help of these knights of the Round
+Table, the King of North Wales won the last tournament and my father lost
+it, and now he feareth to lose the tournament that is to be. Now if you
+will enter upon my father's side upon the day of the tournament, I doubt
+not that he shall win that tournament; for all men say that you are the
+greatest knight in the world at this time. So if you will promise to help
+my father and will seal that promise with your knightly word, then will I
+set you free of this castle of enchantment."
+
+"Fair maiden," said Sir Launcelot, "tell me your name and your father's
+name, for I cannot give you my promise until I know who ye be."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot promises to aid King Bagdemagus] "Sir," said the
+demoiselle, "I am called Elouise the Fair, and my father is King
+Bagdemagus." "Ha!" quoth Sir Launcelot, "I know your father, and I know
+that he is a good king and a very worthy knight besides. If you did me no
+service whatsoever, I would, at your simple asking, were I free of this
+place, lend him such aid as it is in my power to give."
+
+At this the damsel took great joy and gave Sir Launcelot thanks beyond
+measure. So they spoke together as to how that matter might be brought
+about so that Sir Launcelot should be brought to talk to King Bagdemagus.
+And the damsel Elouise said: "Let it be this way, Sir Launcelot.
+Imprimis--thou art to know that somewhat of a long distance to the
+westward of that place where thou didst fall asleep yesterday, there
+standeth a very large, fair abbey known as the Abbey of Saint James the
+Lesser. This abbey is surrounded by an exceedingly noble estate that lieth
+all around about it so that no man that haps in that part of the country
+can miss it if he make inquiry for it. Now I will go and take lodging at
+that abbey a little while after I leave this place. So when it suits thee
+to do so, come thou thither and thou wilt find me there and I will bring
+thee to my father."
+
+"Very well," said Sir Launcelot, "let it be that way. I will come to that
+place in good time for the tournament. Meantime, I prithee, rest in the
+assurance that I shall never forgot thy kindness to me this day, nor thy
+gracious behavior and speech unto me. Wherefore I shall deem it not a duty
+but a pleasure to serve thee."
+
+[Sidenote: The damsel bringeth Sir Launcelot to freedom] So, having
+arranged all these matters, the damsel Elouise opened the door of that room
+and led Sir Launcelot out thence; and she led him through various passages
+and down several long flights of steps, and so brought him at last unto a
+certain chamber, where was his armor. Then the damsel helped Sir Launcelot
+to encase him in his armor, so that in a little while he was altogether
+armed as he had been when he fell asleep under that apple-tree. Thereafter
+the damsel brought him out past the court-yard and unto the stable where
+was Sir Launcelot's horse, and the horse knew him when he came. So he
+saddled the horse by the light of a half-moon which sailed like a boat high
+up in the sky through the silver, floating clouds, and therewith he was
+ready to depart. Then the damsel opened the gate and he rode out into the
+night, which was now drawing near the dawning of the day.
+
+Thus Elouise the Fair aided Sir Launcelot to escape from that castle of
+enchantment, where else great ill might have befallen him.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+And now it shall be told how Sir Launcelot did battle with Sir Turquine and
+of what happened thereat.
+
+[Illustration: Sir Launcelot doeth battle with Sir Turquine]
+
+
+
+
+Chapter Fourth
+
+
+_How Sir Launcelot Sought Sir Lionel and How a Young Damsel Brought Him to
+the Greatest Battle that Ever He Had in All His Life_.
+
+So Sir Launcelot rode through the forest, and whilst he rode the day began
+to break. About sunrise he came out into an open clearing where certain
+charcoal-burners were plying their trade.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot breaks his fast in the forest] To these rude
+fellows he appeared out of the dark forest like some bright and shining
+vision; and they made him welcome and offered him to eat of their food, and
+he dismounted and sat down with them and brake his fast with them. And when
+he had satisfied his hunger, he gave them grammercy for their
+entertainment, and took horse and rode away.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot cometh again to the place of the apple-tree] He
+made forward until about the middle of the morning, what time he came
+suddenly upon that place where, two days before, he had fallen asleep
+beneath the blooming apple-tree. Here he drew rein and looked about him for
+a considerable while; for he thought that haply he might find some trace of
+Sir Lionel thereabouts. But there was no trace of him, and Sir Launcelot
+wist not what had become of him.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot perceives a damsel upon a palfrey] Now whilst Sir
+Launcelot was still there, not knowing what to do to find Sir Lionel, there
+passed that way a damsel riding upon a white palfrey. Unto her Sir
+Launcelot made salutation, and she made salutation to him and asked him
+what cheer. "Maiden," said Sir Launcelot, "the cheer that I have is not
+very good, seeing that I have lost my companion-at-arms and know not where
+he is." Then he said: "Did you haply meet anywhere with a knight with the
+figure of a red gryphon upon his shield?" whereunto the damsel answered:
+"Nay, I saw none such." Then Sir Launcelot said: "Tell me, fair damsel,
+dost thou know of any adventure hereabouts that I may undertake? For, as
+thou seest, I am errant and in search of such."
+
+Upon this the damsel fell a-laughing: "Yea, Sir Knight," said she, "I know
+of an adventure not far away, but it is an adventure that no knight yet
+that ever I heard tell of hath accomplished. I can take thee to that
+adventure if thou hast a desire to pursue it."
+
+"Why should I not pursue it," said Sir Launcelot, "seeing that I am here
+for that very cause--to pursue adventure?"
+
+"Well," said the damsel, "then come with me, Sir Knight, I will take thee
+to an adventure that shall satisfy thee."
+
+[Sidenote: The damsel leads Sir Launcelot to an adventure] So Sir
+Launcelot and that damsel rode away from that place together; he upon his
+great war-horse and she upon her ambling palfrey beside him. And the sun
+shone down upon them, very pleasant and warm, and all who passed them
+turned to look after them; for the maiden was very fair and slender, and
+Sir Launcelot was of so noble and stately a mien that few could behold him
+even from a distance without looking twice or three times upon him. And as
+they travelled in that way together they fell into converse, and the damsel
+said to Sir Launcelot: "Sir, thou appearest to be a very good knight, and
+of such a sort as may well undertake any adventure with great hope of
+success. Now I prithee to tell me thy name and what knight thou art."
+
+"Fair maiden," said Sir Launcelot, "as for telling you my name, that I will
+gladly do. I am called Sir Launcelot of the Lake, and I am a knight of King
+Arthur's court and of his Round Table."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot and the maiden discourse together] At this the
+damsel was very greatly astonished and filled with admiration. "Hah!" quoth
+she, "it is a great pleasure to me to fall in with you, Sir Launcelot, for
+all the world now bespeaketh your fame. Little did I ever think to behold
+your person, much less speak with you, and ride in this way with you. Now I
+will tell you what this adventure is on which we are set; it is this--there
+is, some small distance from this, a castle of a knight hight Sir Turquine,
+who hath in his prison a great many knights of King Arthur's court, and
+several knights of his Round Table. These knights he keepeth there in great
+dole and misery, for it is said that their groans may be heard by the
+passers along the high-road below the castle. This Sir Turquine is held to
+be the greatest knight in the world (unless it be thou) for he hath never
+yet been overcome in battle, whether a-horseback or a-foot. But, indeed, I
+think it to be altogether likely that thou wilt overcome him."
+
+"Fair damsel," quoth Sir Launcelot, "I too have hope that I shall hold mine
+own with him, when I meet him, and to that I shall do my best endeavor. Yet
+this and all other matters are entirely in the hands of God."
+
+Then the damsel said, "If you should overcome this Sir Turquine, I know of
+still another adventure which, if you do not undertake it, I know of no one
+else who may undertake to bring it to a successful issue."
+
+Quoth Sir Launcelot, "I am glad to hear of that or of any other adventure,
+for I take great joy in such adventuring. Now, tell me, what is this other
+adventure?"
+
+[Sidenote: The maiden tells Sir Launcelot of the savage forest knight]
+"Sir," said the damsel, "a long distance to the west of this there is a
+knight who hath a castle in the woods and he is the evilest disposed knight
+that ever I heard tell of. For he lurks continually in the outskirts of the
+woods, whence he rushes forth at times upon those who pass by. Especially
+he is an enemy to all ladies of that country, for he hath taken many of
+them prisoners to his castle and hath held them in the dungeon thereof for
+ransom; and sometimes he hath held them for a long while. Now I am fain
+that thou undertake that adventure for my sake."
+
+"Well," said Sir Launcelot, "I believe it would be a good thing for any
+knight to do to rid the world of such an evil-disposed knight as that, so
+if I have the good fortune to overcome this Sir Turquine, I give my
+knightly word that I will undertake this adventure for thy sake, if so be
+thou wilt go with me for to show me the way to his castle."
+
+"That I will do with all gladness," said the damsel, "for it is great pride
+for any lady to ride with you upon such an adventure."
+
+Thus they talked, and all was arranged betwixt them. And thus they rode
+very pleasantly through that valley for the distance of two leagues or a
+little more, until they came to that place where the road crossed the
+smooth stream of water afore told of; and there was the castle of Sir
+Turquine as afore told of; and there was the thorn-bush and the basin
+hanging upon the thorn-bush as afore told of. Then the maiden said: "Sir
+Launcelot, beat upon that basin and so thou shalt summon Sir Turquine to
+battle with thee."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot smites upon the basin] So Sir Launcelot rode to
+that basin where it hung and he smote upon it very violently with the butt
+of his spear. And he smote upon that basin again and again until he smote
+the bottom from out it; but at that time immediately no one came.
+
+Then, after a while, he was ware of one who came riding toward him, and he
+beheld that he who came riding was a knight very huge of frame, and long
+and strong of limb. And he beheld that the knight was clad entirely in
+black, and that the horse upon which he rode and all the furniture of the
+horse was black. And he beheld that this knight drave before him another
+horse, and that across the saddle of that other horse there lay an armed
+knight, bound hand and foot; and Sir Launcelot wist that the sable knight
+who came riding was that Sir Turquine whom he sought.
+
+[Sidenote: The sable knight bringeth Sir Gaheris captive] So Sir Turquine
+came very rapidly along the highway toward where Sir Launcelot sat, driving
+that other horse and the captive knight before him all the while. And as
+they came nearer and nearer Sir Launcelot thought that he should know who
+the wounded knight was and when they came right close, so that he could see
+the markings of the shield of that captive knight, he wist that it was Sir
+Gaheris, the brother of Sir Gawaine, and the nephew of King Arthur, whom
+Sir Turquine brought thither in that wise.
+
+At this Sir Launcelot was very wroth; for he could not abide seeing a
+fellow-knight of the Round Table treated with such disregard as that which
+Sir Gaheris suffered at the hands of Sir Turquine; wherefore Sir Launcelot
+rode to meet Sir Turquine, and he cried out: "Sir Knight! put that wounded
+man down from his horse, and let him rest for a while, and we two will
+prove our strength, the one against the other! For it is a shame for thee
+to treat a noble knight of the Round Table with such despite as thou art
+treating that knight."
+
+"Sir," said Sir Turquine, "as I treat that knight, so treat I all knights
+of the Round Table--and so will I treat thee if thou be of the Round
+Table."
+
+"Well," said Sir Launcelot, "as for that, I am indeed of the Round Table,
+and I have come hither for no other reason than for to do battle with
+thee."
+
+"Sir Knight," said Sir Turquine, "thou speakest very boldly; now I pray
+thee to tell me what knight thou art and what is thy name."
+
+"Messire," said Sir Launcelot, "I have no fear to do that. I am called Sir
+Launcelot of the Lake, and I am a knight of King Arthur's, who made me
+knight with his own hand."
+
+"Ha!" said Sir Turquine, "that is very good news to me, for of all knights
+in the world thou art the one I most desire to meet, for I have looked for
+thee for a long while with intent to do battle with thee. For it was thou
+who didst slay my brother Sir Caradus at Dolorous Gard, who was held to be
+the best knight in all the world. Wherefore, because of this, I have the
+greatest despite against thee of any man in the world, and it was because
+of that despite that I waged particular battle against all the knights of
+King Arthur's court. And in despite of thee I now hold five score and eight
+knights, who are thy fellows, in the dismallest dungeon of my castle. Also
+I have to tell thee that among those knights is thine own brother, Sir
+Ector, and thy kinsman, Sir Lionel. For I overthrew Sir Ector and Sir
+Lionel only a day or two ago, and now they lie almost naked in the lower
+parts of that castle yonder. I will put down this knight as thou biddst me,
+and when I have done battle with thee I hope to tie thee on his
+saddle-horn in his place."
+
+So Sir Turquine loosed the cords that bound Sir Gaheris and set him from
+off the horse's back, and Sir Gaheris, who was sorely wounded and very
+weak, sat him down upon a slab of stone near-by.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot and Sir Turquine do battle together] Then Sir
+Launcelot and Sir Turquine made themselves ready at all points, and each
+took such stand as seemed to him to be best; and when each was ready for
+the assault, each set spurs to his horse and rushed the one against the
+other with such terrible violence that they smote together like a clap of
+thunder.
+
+So fierce was that onset that each horse fell back upon the ground and only
+by great skill and address did the knight who rode him void his saddle, so
+as to save himself from a fall. And in that meeting the horse of Sir
+Turquine was killed outright and the back of Sir Launcelot's horse was
+broken and he could not rise, but lay like dead upon the ground.
+
+Then each knight drew his sword and set his shield before him and they came
+together with such wrath that it appeared as though their fierce eyes shot
+sparks of fire through the oculariums of their helmets. So they met and
+struck; and they struck many scores of times, and their blows were so
+violent that neither shield nor armor could withstand the strokes they
+gave. For their shields were cleft and many pieces of armor were hewn from
+their limbs, so that the ground was littered with them. And each knight
+gave the other so many grim wounds that the ground presently was all
+sprinkled with red where they stood.
+
+Now that time the day had waxed very hot, for it was come high noontide, so
+presently Sir Turquine cried out: "Stay thee, Sir Launcelot, for I have a
+boon to ask!" At this Sir Launcelot stayed his hand and said: "What is it
+thou hast to ask, Sir Knight?" Sir Turquine said: "Messire, I am
+athirst--let me drink." And Sir Launcelot said: "Go and drink."
+
+So Sir Turquine went to that river and entered into that water, which was
+presently stained with red all about him. And he stooped where he stood and
+drank his fill, and presently came forth again altogether refreshed.
+
+Therewith he took up his sword once more and rushed at Sir Launcelot and
+smote with double strength, so that Sir Launcelot bent before him and had
+much ado to defend himself from these blows.
+
+Then by and by Sir Launcelot waxed faint upon his part and was athirst, and
+he cried out: "I crave of thee a boon, Sir Knight!" "What wouldst thou
+have?" said Sir Turquine. "Sir Knight," said Sir Launcelot, "bide while I
+drink, for I am athirst." "Nay," said Sir Turquine, "thou shalt not drink
+until thou quenchest thy thirst in Paradise." "Ha!" cried Sir Launcelot,
+"thou art a foul churl and no true knight. For when thou wert athirst, I
+let thee drink; and now that I am athirst, thou deniest me to quench my
+thirst."
+
+Therewith he was filled with such anger that he was like one gone wode;
+wherefore he flung aside his shield and took his sword in both hands and
+rushed upon Sir Turquine and smote him again and again; and the blows he
+gave were so fierce that Sir Turquine waxed somewhat bewildered and bore
+aback, and held his shield low for faintness.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot overcometh Sir Turquine] Then when Sir Launcelot
+beheld that Sir Turquine was faint in that wise, he rushed upon him and
+catched him by the beaver of his helmet and pulled him down upon his knees.
+And Sir Launcelot rushed Sir Turquine's helmet from off his head. And he
+lifted his sword and smote Sir Turquine's head from off his shoulders, so
+that it rolled down upon the ground.
+
+Then for a while Sir Launcelot stood there panting for to catch his breath
+after that sore battle, for he was nearly stifled with the heat and fury
+thereof. Then he went down into the water, and he staggered like a drunken
+man as he went, and the water ran all red at his coming. And Sir Launcelot
+stooped and slaked his thirst, which was very furious and hot.
+
+Thereafter he came up out of the water again, all dripping, and he went to
+where the damsel was and he said to her; "Damsel, lo, I have overcome Sir
+Turquine; now I am ready to go with thee upon that other adventure, as I
+promised thee I would."
+
+At this the damsel was astonished beyond measure, wherefore she cried:
+"Sir, thou art sorely hurt, and in need of rest for two or three days, and
+maybe a long time more, until thy wounds are healed."
+
+"Nay," said Sir Launcelot, "no need to wait; I will go with thee now."
+
+Then Sir Launcelot went to Sir Gaheris--for Sir Gaheris had been sitting
+for all that while upon that slab of stone. Sir Launcelot said to Sir
+Gaheris: "Fair Lord, be not angry if I take your horse, for I must
+presently go with this damsel, and you see mine own horse hath broke his
+back."
+
+"Sir Knight," said Sir Gaheris, "this day you have saved both me and my
+horse, wherefore it is altogether fitting that my horse or anything that is
+mine should be yours to do with as you please. So I pray you take my horse,
+only tell me your name and what knight you are; for I swear by my sword
+that I never saw any knight in all the world do battle so wonderfully as
+you have done to-day."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot makes himself known to Sir Gaheris] "Sir," said
+Sir Launcelot, "I am called Sir Launcelot of the Lake, and I am a knight of
+King Arthur's. So it is altogether fitting that I should do such service
+unto you as this, seeing that you are the brother of that dear knight, Sir
+Gawaine. For if I should not do this battle that I have done for your sake,
+I should yet do it for the sake of my lord, King Arthur, who is your uncle
+and Sir Gawaine's uncle."
+
+Now when Sir Gaheris heard who Sir Launcelot was, he made great exclamation
+of amazement. "Ha, Sir Launcelot!" he cried, "and is it thou! Often have I
+heard of thee and of thy prowess at arms! I have desired to meet thee more
+than any knight in the world; but never did I think to meet thee in such a
+case as this." Therewith Sir Gaheris arose, and went to Sir Launcelot, and
+Sir Launcelot came to him and they met and embraced and kissed one another
+upon the face; and from that time forth they were as brethren together.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot bids Sir Gaheris to free the castle captives]
+Then Sir Launcelot said to Sir Gaheris: "I pray you, Lord, for to go up
+unto yonder castle, and bring succor to those unfortunates who lie therein.
+For I think you will find there many fellow-knights of the Round Table. And
+I believe that you will find therein my brother, Sir Ector, and my cousin,
+Sir Lionel. And if you find any other of my kindred I pray you to set them
+free and to do what you can for to comfort them and to put them at their
+ease. And if there is any treasure in that castle, I bid you give it unto
+those knights who are prisoners there, for to compensate them for the pains
+they have endured. Moreover, I pray you tell Sir Ector and Sir Lionel not
+to follow after me, but to return to court and wait for me there, for I
+have two adventures to undertake and I must essay them alone."
+
+Then Sir Gaheris was very much astonished, and he cried out upon Sir
+Launcelot: "Sir! Sir! Surely you will not go forth upon another adventure
+at this time, seeing that you are so sorely wounded."
+
+But Sir Launcelot said: "Yea, I shall go now; for I do not think that my
+wounds are so deep that I shall not be able to do my devoirs when my time
+cometh to do them."
+
+At this Sir Gaheris was amazed beyond measure, for Sir Launcelot was very
+sorely wounded, and his armor was much broken in that battle, wherefore Sir
+Gaheris had never beheld a person who was so steadfast of purpose as to do
+battle in such a case.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot departs with the damsel] So Sir Launcelot mounted
+Sir Gaheris' horse and rode away with that young damsel, and Sir Gaheris
+went to the castle as Sir Launcelot had bidden him to do.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Gaheris frees the castle captives] In that castle he found
+five score and eight prisoners in dreadful case, for some who were there
+had been there for a long time, so that the hair of them had grown down
+upon their shoulders, and their beards had grown down upon their breasts.
+And some had been there but a short time, as was the case of Sir Lionel and
+Sir Ector. But all were in a miserable sorry plight; and all of those sad
+prisoners but two were knights of King Arthur's court, and eight of them
+were knights of the Round Table. All these crowded around Sir Gaheris, for
+they saw that he was wounded and they deemed that it was he had set them
+free, wherefore they gave him thanks beyond measure.
+
+"Not so," said Sir Gaheris, "it was not I who set you free; it was Sir
+Launcelot of the Lake. He overcame Sir Turquine in such a battle as I never
+before beheld. For I saw that battle with mine own eyes, being at a little
+distance seated upon a stone slab and wounded as you see. And I make my
+oath that I never beheld so fierce and manful a combat in all of my life.
+But now your troubles are over and done, and Sir Launcelot greets you all
+with words of good cheer and bids me tell you to take all ease and comfort
+that you can in being free, and in especial he bids me greet you, Sir
+Ector, and you, Sir Lionel, and to tell you that you are to follow him no
+farther, but to return to court and bide there until he cometh; for he
+goeth upon an adventure which he must undertake by himself."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Lionel and Sir Ector and Sir Kay follow after Sir
+Launcelot] "Not so," said Sir Lionel, "I will follow after him, and find
+him." And so said Sir Ector likewise, that he would go and find Sir
+Launcelot. Then Sir Kay the Seneschal said that he would ride with those
+two; so the three took horse and rode away together to find Sir Launcelot.
+
+As for those others, they ransacked throughout the castle of Sir Turquine,
+and they found twelve treasure-chests full of treasure, both of silver and
+of gold, together with many precious jewels; and they found many bales of
+cloth of silk and of cloth of gold. So, as Sir Launcelot had bid them do
+so, they divided the treasure among themselves, setting aside a part for
+Sir Ector and a part for Sir Lionel and a part for Sir Kay. Then, whereas
+before they had been mournful, now they were joyful at having been made so
+rich with those precious things.
+
+Thus happily ended that great battle with Sir Turquine which was very
+likely the fiercest and most dolorous fight that ever Sir Launcelot had in
+all of his life. For, unless it was Sir Tristram, he never found any other
+knight so big as Sir Turquine except Sir Galahad, who was his own son.
+
+And now it shall be told how Sir Launcelot fared upon that adventure which
+he had promised the young damsel to undertake.
+
+[Illustration: Sir Launcelot sits with Sir Hilaire and Croisette]
+
+
+
+
+Chapter Fifth
+
+
+_How Sir Launcelot Went Upon an Adventure with the Damsel Croisette as
+Companion, and How He Overcame Sir Peris of the Forest Sauvage._
+
+Now after Sir Launcelot had finished that battle with Sir Turquine as
+aforetold, and when he had borrowed the horse of Sir Gaheris, he rode away
+from that place of combat with the young damsel, with intent to carry out
+the other adventure which he had promised her to undertake.
+
+[Sidenote: How Sir Launcelot's wounds pain him] But though he rode with
+her, yet, for a while, he said very little to her, for his wounds ached him
+sorely and he was in a great deal of pain. So, because of this, he had
+small mind to talk, but only to endure what he had to endure with as much
+patience as he might command. And the damsel upon her part was somewhat
+aware of what Sir Launcelot was suffering and she was right sorry for him,
+wherefore she did not trouble him with idle discourse at that moment, but
+waited for a while before she spake.
+
+Then by and by she said to him: "Messire, I would that thou wouldst rest
+for some days, and take thine ease, and have thy wounds searched and
+dressed, and have thy armor looked to and redded. Now there is a castle at
+some distance from this, and it is my brother's castle, and thither we may
+go in a little pass. There thou mayst rest for this night and take thine
+ease. For I know that my brother will be wonderfully glad to see thee
+because thou art so famous."
+
+Then Sir Launcelot turned his eyes upon the damsel: "Fair maiden," quoth
+he, "I make confession that I do in sooth ache a very great deal, and that
+I am somewhat aweary with the battle I have endured this day. Wherefore I
+am very well content to follow thy commands in this matter. But I prithee,
+damsel, tell me what is thy name, for I know not yet how thou art called."
+
+"Sir," she said, "I am called Croisette of the Dale, and my brother is
+called Sir Hilaire of the Dale, and it is to his castle that I am about to
+take thee to rest for this time."
+
+Then Sir Launcelot said: "I go with thee, damsel, wherever it is thy will
+to take me."
+
+[Sidenote: Of how Sir Launcelot and the damsel ride together] So they two
+rode through that valley at a slow pace and very easily. And toward the
+waning of the afternoon they left the valley by a narrow side way, and so
+in a little while came into a shallow dale, very fertile and smiling, but
+of no great size. For the more part that dale was all spread over with
+fields and meadow-lands, with here and there a plantation of trees in full
+blossom and here and there a farm croft. A winding river flowed down
+through the midst of this valley, very quiet and smooth, and brimming its
+grassy banks, where were alder and sedge and long rows of pollard willows
+overreaching the water.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot and Croisette come to a fair valley] At the
+farther end of the valley was a castle of very comely of appearance, being
+built part of stone and part of bright red bricks; and the castle had many
+windows of glass and tall chimneys, some a-smoke. About the castle and nigh
+to it was a little village of thatched cottages, with many trees in blossom
+and some without blossom shading the gables of the small houses that took
+shelter beneath them.
+
+Now when Sir Launcelot and Croisette came into that little valley it was at
+the declining of the day and the sky was all alight with the slanting sun,
+and the swallows were flying above the smooth shining surface of the river
+in such multitudes that it was wonderful to behold them. And the lowing
+herds were winding slowly along by the river in their homeward way, and all
+was so peaceful and quiet that Sir Launcelot drew rein for pure pleasure,
+and sat for some while looking down upon that fair, happy dale. Then by and
+by he said: "Croisette, meseems I have never beheld so sweet and fair a
+country as this, nor one in which it would be so pleasant to live."
+
+Upon this Croisette was very much pleased, and she smiled upon Sir
+Launcelot. "Think you so, Sir Launcelot?" quoth she. "Well, in sooth, I am
+very glad that this valley pleasures you; for I love it beyond any other
+place in all the world. For here was I born and here was I raised in that
+castle yonder. For that is my brother's castle and it was my father's
+castle before his time; wherefore meseems that no place in all the world
+can ever be so dear to my heart as this dale."
+
+[Sidenote: Croisette bringeth Sir Launcelot to her brother's house]
+Thereupon they went forward up that little valley, and along by the
+smoothly flowing river, and the farther they went the more Sir Launcelot
+took pleasure in all that he beheld. Thus they came through the pretty
+village where the folk stood and watched with great admiration how that
+noble knight rode that way; and so they came to the castle and rode into
+the court-yard thereof. Then presently there came the lord of that castle,
+who was Sir Hilaire of the Dale. And Sir Hilaire greeted Sir Launcelot,
+saying: "Welcome, Sir Knight. This is great honor you do me to come into
+this quiet dale with my sister, for we do not often have with us travellers
+of such quality as you."
+
+"Brother," said Croisette, "you may well say that it is an honor to have
+this knight with us, for this is none other knight than the great Sir
+Launcelot of the Lake. This day I beheld him overcome Sir Turquine in fair
+and honorable battle. So he doth indeed do great honor for to visit us in
+this wise."
+
+Then Sir Hilaire looked at Sir Launcelot very steadily, and he said: "Sir
+Launcelot, your fame is so great that it hath reached even unto this
+peaceful outland place; wherefore it shall not soon be forgotten here how
+you came hither. Now, I pray you, come in and refresh yourself, for I see
+that you are wounded and I doubt not you are weary."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot is made at ease] Upon this several attendants
+came, and they took Sir Launcelot and led him to a pleasant chamber. There
+they unarmed him and gave him a bath in tepid water, and there came a leech
+and searched his wounds and dressed them. Then those in attendance upon him
+gave him a soft robe of cloth of velvet, and when Sir Launcelot had put it
+on he felt much at ease, and in great comfort of body.
+
+By and by, when evening had fallen, a very good, excellent feast was spread
+in the hall of the castle, and there sat down thereto Sir Launcelot and Sir
+Hilaire and the damsel Croisette. As they ate they discoursed of various
+things, and Sir Launcelot told many things concerning his adventures, so
+that all who were there were very quiet, listening to what he said. For it
+was as though he were a visitor come to them from some other world, very
+strange and distant, of which they had no knowledge, wherefore they all
+listened so as not to lose a single word of what he told them. So that
+evening passed very pleasantly, and Sir Launcelot went to his bed with
+great content of spirit.
+
+[Sidenote: How Sir Launcelot abides at the castle of Sir Hilaire] So Sir
+Launcelot abided for several days in that place until his wounds were
+healed. Then one morning, after they had all broken their fast, he made
+request that he and the damsel might be allowed to depart upon that
+adventure which he had promised her to undertake, and unto this Sir Hilaire
+gave his consent.
+
+Now, during this while, Sir Launcelot's armor had been so pieced and mended
+by the armor-smiths of that castle that when he donned it it was, in a
+measure, as sound as it had ever been, and of that Sir Launcelot was very
+glad. So having made ready in all ways he and Croisette took leave of that
+place, and all they who were there bade them adieu and gave Sir Launcelot
+God-speed upon that adventure.
+
+Now some while after they left that dale they rode through a very ancient
+forest, where the sod was exceedingly soft underfoot and silent to the
+tread of the horses, and where it was very full of bursting foliage
+overhead. And as they rode at an easy pace through that woodland place they
+talked of many things in a very pleasant and merry discourse.
+
+Quoth the damsel unto Sir Launcelot: "Messire, I take very great wonder
+that thou hast not some special lady for to serve in all ways as a knight
+should serve a lady."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot and Croisette discourse together] "Ha, damsel,"
+said Sir Launcelot, "I do serve a lady in that manner and she is peerless
+above all other ladies; for that lady is the Lady Guinevere, who is King
+Arthur's queen. Yet though I am her servant I serve her from a very great
+distance. For in serving her I am like one who standeth upon the earth, yet
+looketh upward ever toward the bright and morning star. For though such an
+one may delight in that star from a distance, yet may he never hope to
+reach an altitude whereon that star standeth."
+
+"Heyday!" quoth Croisette, "for that matter, there are other ways of
+serving a lady than that wise. Were I a knight meseems I would rather serve
+a lady nearer at hand than at so great distance as that of which thou
+speakest. For in most cases a knight would rather serve a lady who may
+smile upon him nigh at hand, and not stand so far off from him as a star in
+the sky." But to this Sir Launcelot made no reply but only smiled. Then in
+a little Croisette said: "Dost thou never think of a lady in that wise, Sir
+Launcelot?"
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot speaketh of the Lady Guinevere] "Nay," said Sir
+Launcelot, "and neither do I desire so to serve any lady. For it is thus
+with me, Croisette--for all that while of my life until I was eighteen
+years of age I lived in a very wonderful land beneath a magical lake, of
+which I may not tell thee. Then I came out of that lake and into this world
+and King Arthur made me a knight. Now because I was so long absent from
+this world of mankind and never saw aught of it until I was grown into a
+man, meseems I love that world so greatly that I cannot tell thee how
+beautiful and wonderful it seems to me. For it is so wonderful and so
+beautiful that methinks my soul can never drink its fill of the pleasures
+thereof. Yea; methinks I love every blade of grass upon the fields, and
+every leaf upon every tree: and that I love everything that creepeth or
+that flyeth, so that when I am abroad under the sky and behold those things
+about me I am whiles like to weep for very joy of them. Wherefore it is,
+Croisette, that I would rather be a knight-errant in this world which I
+love so greatly than to be a king seated upon a throne with a golden crown
+upon my head and all men kneeling unto me. Yea; meseems that because of my
+joy in these things I have no room in my heart for such a love of lady as
+thou speakest of, but only for the love of knight-errantry, and a great
+wish for to make this world in which I now live the better and the happier
+for my dwelling in it. Thus it is, Croisette, that I have no lady for to
+serve in the manner thou speakest of. Nor will I ever have such, saving
+only the Lady Guinevere, the thought of whom standeth above me like that
+bright star afore spoken of."
+
+"Ha," quoth Croisette, "then am I sad for the sake of some lady, I know not
+who. For if thou wert of another mind thou mightest make some lady very
+glad to have so great a knight as thou art to serve her." Upon this Sir
+Launcelot laughed with a very cheerful spirit, for he and the damsel were
+grown to be exceedingly good friends, as you may suppose from such
+discourse as this.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot perceives the Castle of Sir Peris] So they wended
+their way in this fashion until somewhat after the prime of day, and by
+that time they had come out of that forest and into a very rugged country.
+For this place into which they were now come was a sort of rocky valley,
+rough and bare and in no wise beautiful. When they had entered into it they
+perceived, a great way off, a castle built up upon the rocks. And that
+castle was built very high, so that the roofs and the chimneys thereof
+stood wonderfully sharp and clear against the sky; yet the castle was so
+distant that it looked like a toy which you might easily take into your
+hand and hold betwixt your fingers.
+
+Then Croisette said to Sir Launcelot: "Yonder is the castle of that
+evil-minded knight of whom I spake to thee yesterday, and his name is Sir
+Peris of the Forest Sauvage. Below that castle, where the road leads into
+that woodland, there doth he lurk to seize upon wayfarers who come
+thitherward. And indeed he is a very catiff knight, for, though he is
+strong and powerful, he doth not often attack other knights, but only
+ladies and demoiselles who come hither. For these he may take captive
+without danger to himself. For I believe that though he is so big of frame
+yet is he a coward in his heart."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot advises Croisette what to do] Then Sir Launcelot
+sat for a while and regarded that castle, and fell into thought; and he
+said, "Damsel, if so be this knight is such a coward as thou sayest,
+meseems that if I travel with thee I shall have some ado to come upon him;
+because, if he sees me with thee, he may keep himself hidden in the thicket
+of the forest from my sight. Now I will have it this way; do thou ride
+along the highway in plain sight of the castle, and I will keep within the
+woodland skirts, where I may have thee in sight and still be hidden from
+the sight of others. Then if this knight assail thee, as I think it likely
+he may do, I will come out and do battle with him ere he escapes."
+
+So it was arranged as Sir Launcelot said and they rode in that wise:
+Croisette rode along the highway, and Sir Launcelot rode under the trees in
+the outskirts of the forest, where he was hidden from the eyes of anyone
+who might be looking that way. So they went on for a long pass until they
+came pretty nigh to where the castle was.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Peris attacks Croisette] Then, as they came to a certain
+part of the road that dipped down toward a small valley, they were suddenly
+aware of a great noise, and immediately there issued out from the forest a
+knight, large and strong of frame, and followed close behind by a squire
+dressed altogether in scarlet from head to foot. This knight bore down with
+great speed upon where Croisette was, and the esquire followed close behind
+him. When these two had come near to Croisette, the esquire leaped from off
+his horse and caught her palfrey by the bridle, and the knight came close
+to her and catched her as though to drag her off from her horse.
+
+With that Croisette shrieked very loud, and immediately Sir Launcelot broke
+out from the woods and rode down upon where all this was toward with a
+noise like to thunder. As he came he cried aloud in a great and terrible
+voice: "Sir Knight, let go that lady, and turn thou to me and defend
+thyself!"
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot overthrows Sir Peris] Then Sir Peris of the
+Forest Sauvage looked this way and that with intent to escape, but he was
+aware that he could not escape from Sir Launcelot, wherefore he took his
+shield in hand and drew his sword and put himself into a position of
+defence; for, whereas he could not escape, he was, perforce, minded to do
+battle. Then Sir Launcelot threw aside his spear, and he set his shield
+before him and he took his sword in his hand, and he drave his horse
+against Sir Peris. And when he had come nigh to Sir Peris he raised himself
+in his stirrups and struck him such a buffet that I believe nothing in the
+world could withstand its force. For though Sir Peris raised his shield
+against that blow, yet the sword of Sir Launcelot smote through the shield
+and it smote down the arm that held the shield, and it smote with such a
+terrible force upon the helm of Sir Peris that Sir Peris fell down from his
+horse and lay in a swoon without any motion at all.
+
+Then Sir Launcelot leaped down from his horse and rushed off the helm of
+Sir Peris, and lifted his sword with intent to strike off his head.
+
+Upon that the senses of Sir Peris came somewhat back to him, and he set his
+palms together and he cried out, though in a very weak voice: "Spare me,
+Sir Knight! I yield myself to thee!"
+
+"Why should I spare thee?" said Sir Launcelot.
+
+"Sir," said Sir Peris, "I beseech thee, by thy knighthood, to spare me."
+
+"Well," said Sir Launcelot, "since thou hast besought me upon my knighthood
+I cannot do else than spare thee. But if I do spare thee, thou shalt have
+to endure such shame that any true knight in thy stead would rather die
+than be spared in such a manner."
+
+"Sir Knight," said Sir Peris, "I am content with anything thou mayst do, so
+be that thou wilt spare my life."
+
+Upon this Sir Launcelot bade Sir Peris rise. And he took the halter of Sir
+Peris's horse, and he bound Sir Peris's arms behind his back, and when he
+had done this he drove him up to his castle at the point of his lance. And
+when they came to the castle he bade Sir Peris have open the castle; and
+Sir Peris did so; and thereupon Sir Launcelot and Sir Peris entered the
+castle and the damsel and the squire followed after them.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot liberates the captive ladies] In that castle were
+fourteen ladies of high degree held captive for ransom; and some of these
+had been there for a considerable time, to their great discomfort. All
+these were filled with joy when they were aware that Sir Launcelot had set
+them free. So they came to Sir Launcelot and paid their court to him and
+gave him great thanks beyond measure.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot gives the castle treasure to the captive ladies]
+Sir Launcelot and Croisette abode in that castle all that night, and when
+the next morning had come Sir Launcelot made search all over that castle,
+and he found a considerable treasure of silver and gold, which had been
+gathered there by the ransom of the ladies and the damsels of degree whom
+Sir Peris had made prisoner aforetime. All this treasure Sir Launcelot
+divided among those ladies who were prisoners, and a share of the treasure
+he gave to the damsel Croisette, because that they two were such good
+friends and because Croisette had brought him thither to that adventure,
+and thereof Croisette was very glad. But Sir Launcelot kept none of that
+treasure for himself.
+
+Then Croisette said: "How is this, Sir Launcelot? You have not kept any of
+this treasure for yourself, yet you won it by your own force of arms,
+wherefore it is altogether yours to keep if you will to do so."
+
+"Croisette," said Sir Launcelot, "I do not care for such things as this
+treasure; for when I lived within that lake of which I have spoken to thee,
+such things as this treasure were there as cheap as pebbles which you may
+gather up at any river-bed, wherefore it has come to pass that such things
+have no value to me."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot makes Sir Peris a dishonored captive] Now, after
+all this had been settled, Sir Launcelot had Sir Peris of the Forest
+Sauvage haled before him, and Sir Launcelot said: "Catiff Knight, now is it
+time for thy shame to come upon thee." Therewith he had Sir Peris stripped
+of all armor and raiment, even to his jerkin and his hose, and he had his
+arms tied behind his back, and he had a halter set about his neck; and Sir
+Launcelot tied the halter that was about the neck of Sir Peris to the horn
+of the saddle of his own horse, so that when he rode away with Croisette
+Sir Peris must needs follow behind him at whatever gait the horse of Sir
+Launcelot might take.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Hilaire sendeth Sir Peris to King Arthur] So Sir Launcelot
+and Croisette rode back to the manor of Sir Hilaire of the Dale with Sir
+Peris running behind them, and when they had come there Sir Launcelot
+delivered Sir Peris unto Sir Hilaire, and Sir Hilaire had Sir Peris bound
+upon a horse's back with his feet underneath the belly of the horse; and
+sent him to Camelot for King Arthur to deal with him as might seem to the
+King to be fit.
+
+But Sir Launcelot remained with Sir Hilaire of the Dale all the next day
+and he was very well content to be in that pleasant place. And upon the day
+after that, which was Sunday, he set forth at about the prime of the day to
+go to that abbey of monks where he had appointed to meet the damsel Elouise
+the Fair, as aforetold.
+
+And now you shall hear how Sir Launcelot behaved at the tournament of King
+Bagdemagus, if it please you to read that which herewith immediately
+followeth.
+
+[Illustration: Sir Launcelot and Elouise the Fair]
+
+
+
+
+Chapter Sixth
+
+
+_How Sir Launcelot Took Part in the Tournament Between King Bagdemagus and
+the King of North Wales, and How He Won that Battle for King Bagdemagus._
+
+[Sidenote: How Sir Launcelot rode to find Elouise the Fair] Sir Launcelot
+rode by many highways and many byways at a very slow pace, stopping now and
+then when it pleased him to do so, for he took great joy in being free in
+the open air again. For the day was warm and that time the clouds were very
+thick, drifting in great abundance across the sky. And anon there would
+fall a sudden shower of rain, and anon the sun would shine forth again,
+very warm and strong, so that all the world sparkled as with incredible
+myriads of jewels. Then the cock crowed lustily because the shower was
+past, and another cock answered him far away, and all the world suddenly
+smiled, and the water trickled everywhere, and the little hills clapped
+their hands for joy. So Sir Launcelot took great pleasure in the day and he
+went his way at so easy a pace that it was night-time ere he reached that
+abbey of monks where he was to meet Elouise the Fair.
+
+Now that evening Elouise was sitting in a certain apartment of the abbey
+overlooking the court-yard, and a maiden was reading to her by the light of
+several waxen tapers from a book of painted pictures. And the maiden read
+in a voice that was both high and clear; meanwhile, Elouise sat very still
+and listened to what she read. Now while Elouise the Fair sat so, there was
+of a sudden the sound of a great horse coming on the stone pavement of the
+court below. Therewith Elouise arose hastily and ran to the window and
+looked down into that court-yard. Then she saw who he was that came, and
+that it was Sir Launcelot of the Lake. For the light was not yet altogether
+gone from the sky, which was all shining with gray, so that she could see
+who it was who came there.
+
+Then Elouise gave great exclamation of joy, and clapped her hands. And she
+ran down to the court where Sir Launcelot was, and several of her maidens
+went with her.
+
+[Sidenote: Elouise the Fair gives welcome to Sir Launcelot] When she had
+come to the court she gave great welcome to Sir Launcelot, and she summoned
+many attendants and she bade them look to Sir Launcelot. So some of them
+aided Sir Launcelot to dismount and some took his horse, and some brought
+him up to a chamber that had been set apart for him, and there unarmed and
+served him, and set him at his ease.
+
+Then Elouise sent to him a soft robe of purple cloth of velvet, lined with
+fur, and Sir Launcelot put it upon him and took great comfort in it.
+
+After that Sir Launcelot descended to where Elouise was, and he found that
+a fair supper had been set for his refreshment. So he sat and ate, and
+Elouise the Fair herself served him.
+
+[Sidenote: Elouise sends for King Bagdemagus] Meanwhile she had sent for
+her father, King Bagdemagus, who was at that time no great distance away,
+and a little after Sir Launcelot had finished his supper King Bagdemagus
+came to that place, much wondering why Elouise had sent for him.
+
+When King Bagdemagus came, Elouise took him by the hand and led him to Sir
+Launcelot, and she said: "Sire, here is a knight who, for my sake, is come
+to help you in this tournament upon Tuesday."
+
+Now King Bagdemagus had never before seen Sir Launcelot, so he knew not who
+that knight was. Wherefore he said to him: "Messire, I am much beholden to
+you for coming to my aid in this battle. Now I pray you that you tell me
+your name and what knight you are."
+
+"Lord," said Sir Launcelot, "I am hight Launcelot, and am surnamed 'He of
+the Lake.'"
+
+Now when King Bagdemagus heard this he was astonished beyond measure,
+wherefore he cried out, "This is wonderful, that you who are the very
+flower of knighthood should be here, and that you should come to aid me in
+my battle!"
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot talks with King Bagdemagus] "Sire," said Sir
+Launcelot, "I know not how much aid I may be to thee until that matter is
+proven. But of a surety I owe it to this damsel to do what I am able at her
+request, in return for all that she hath done for me to aid me in my time
+of great peril. So it is a very small repayment for me to aid thee, her
+father, in thy time of difficulties. Wherefore if, by good hap, I may be of
+use to thee in this battle which is nigh at hand, then I shall be glad
+beyond measure that I have paid some part of that debt which I owe to this
+lady."
+
+"Messire," said King Bagdemagus, "I give thee grammercy for thy good will
+in this matter. I am sure that, with thy aid, I shall be successful in this
+battle, and that it will always be most renowned in the history of chivalry
+because thou hast taken part in it."
+
+So spake they with great courtesy to one another. Then, by and by, Sir
+Launcelot said: "Sir, I pray you tell me who are those knights of King
+Arthur's court who are upon the part of the King of North Wales? For I
+would fain know against whom I am to do battle." To which King Bagdemagus
+said: "Messire, those three knights of the Round Table are as
+follows--there is Sir Mordred, nephew unto King Arthur, and there is Sir
+Galahantine, and there is Sir Mador de la Porte."
+
+"Ha," quoth Sir Launcelot, "these are three very good knights indeed, and I
+am not at all astonished that the King of North Wales should have had such
+good fortune aforetime in that other tournament with you, seeing that he
+had three such knights as they to do battle upon his side."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot arranges the order of battle with King
+Bagdemagus] After this they fell into discourse as to the manner in which
+they should do battle upon the morrow, and Sir Launcelot advised in this
+wise: "Lord, let me take three knights of yours, such as you trust, and
+such as you hold to be the strongest knights of your party. Let these three
+knights paint their shields altogether white and I will paint mine white,
+and then no man will know who we are. For I would have it so that I should
+not be known to be in this battle until I shall have approved myself in it.
+Now, when you have chosen those three knights, we four will take hiding in
+some wood or glade nigh to the place of combat, and when you are most
+busily engaged, and when you begin to be hard-pressed, then we will come
+forth and fall upon the flank of the party of the King of North Wales with
+intent to throw them into confusion. Then you will push your assault very
+hard, and I doubt not by the grace of God that we shall betwixt us be able
+to bear back their array in confusion."
+
+This advice seemed very good to King Bagdemagus, and so he did as Sir
+Launcelot said. He chose him three very strong, worthy, honorable knights,
+and these made their shields white as Sir Launcelot directed.
+
+Thus, all things being arranged as Sir Launcelot willed, it came to be the
+eve before the battle. So a little after sunset Sir Launcelot and those
+three knights whom King Bagdemagus had chosen rode over toward the place of
+tourney (which was some twelve miles from the abbey where the damsel
+Elouise was lodged). There they found a little woodland of tall, leafy
+trees fit for Sir Launcelot's purpose, and that wood stood to one side of
+the meadow of battle and at about the distance of three furlongs from it.
+In this little wood Sir Launcelot and the three knights-companion whom King
+Bagdemagus had chosen laid themselves down upon the ground and wrapped,
+each man, his cloak about him. So they slept there until the morrow, when
+the battle was ordained to be.
+
+Now there had been very great preparation made for this tournament for on
+three sides of the meadow of battle scaffolds had been built and rows of
+seats had been placed. These were covered over with tapestries and hangings
+of divers colors--some of figured and some of plain weaving--so that the
+green and level meadow-land was hung all about with these gay and gaudy
+colors.
+
+Now when the morning had come, the folk who came to witness that tournament
+began to assemble from all directions--lords and ladies of high degree,
+esquires and damsels of lesser rank, burghers and craftsmen with their
+wives, townspeople from the town, yeomen from the woodlands, and
+freeholders from the farm crofts. With these came many knights of the two
+parties in contest, and with the knights came their esquires in attendance.
+Now these knights were all in full armor, shining very bright, and the
+esquires were clad in raiment of many textures and various colors, so that
+they were very gay and debonair. So, with all this throng moving along the
+highway toward the meadow of battle, it seemed as though the entire world
+was alive with gay and moving figures.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot and his companions lie near the place of
+tournament] Now the place where Sir Launcelot and those three knights who
+were with him lay hidden was not far from the highway, so, whence they lay,
+they could see all that goodly procession of folk taking their way toward
+the lists, and they could look down upon the meadow of battle, which, as
+hath been said, was not more than three furlongs distant, and they could
+see the crowds of people of high and low degree taking their places upon
+those seats according to their rank and station. And they could see how the
+knights-contestant arrayed themselves upon this side of the field and upon
+that, and how the esquires and attendants hurried hither and thither,
+busying themselves in making their lords ready for the encounter that was
+soon to befall. Yea, all this could they see as plainly as though it lay
+upon the palm of a hand.
+
+So they saw that about noontide all those who had come thither had taken
+their places, and that the field was clean, and that the two parties of
+combat were arrayed in order for battle.
+
+Then Sir Launcelot perceived that the party of the King of North Wales was
+very much greater than the party of King Bagdemagus; for while the party of
+the King of North Wales had nigh eight score of helms, the party of King
+Bagdemagus had hardly four score of helms. So Sir Launcelot perceived that
+that party of King Bagdemagus would have much labor to do if it was to win
+in the battle.
+
+[Sidenote: How the battle began] Now, all being prepared, the marshal
+stood forth and blew upon his trumpet, and therewith those two parties of
+knights rushed the one against the other, each in so great a cloud of dust
+that one could hardly see the knights in their passage. Therewith they met
+in the midst of the meadow of battle, with such a crash and uproar of
+splintered lances as was terrible to hear.
+
+And for a while no man could see what was toward, so great was the dust and
+the tumult. But by and by the dust raised itself a little and then Sir
+Launcelot perceived that the party of King Bagdemagus had been pushed back
+by that other party, as might have been supposed in such a case.
+
+So Sir Launcelot looked upon the battle for some while and he saw that the
+party of King Bagdemagus was pushed farther and farther back. Then by and
+by Sir Launcelot said to his knights-companion: "Messires, methinks now is
+our time to enter this engagement."
+
+Therewith he and they rode forth out of that woods, and they rode down the
+hill and across the fields and so came into that meadow-of-battle.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot and his companions enter the battle] At that time
+the party of the King of North Wales was so busily engaged in its assault
+upon the party of King Bagdemagus that very few of those knights engaged
+were aware of those four knights coming, and those who were aware of them
+thought but very little of the coming of so small a number. So no one
+interfered with their coming, wherefore they were able to bear down with
+great speed upon the flank of the party of the King of North Wales.
+Therewith they struck that flank with such force that both horses and
+horsemen were overturned by their assault.
+
+In that encounter Sir Launcelot carried a spear that was wonderfully strong
+and tough. With it he ran with great fierceness into the very thickest of
+the press, and before he was checked he struck down five knights with that
+one spear. And likewise those three knights that were with him did such
+good service that all that flank of the party of the King of North Wales
+was thrown into great confusion and wist not what to do for to guard
+themselves against that fierce, furious onset.
+
+Then Sir Launcelot and his three companions bore back a little, and when
+they got their distance they ran again into the press, and this time Sir
+Launcelot overthrew the King of North Wales himself, and that with such
+violence that the bone of his thigh was broken, and he had to be carried
+away out of that field by his attendants. And in this second assault Sir
+Launcelot and the three knights who were with him overthrew eleven knights
+besides the King of North Wales, wherefore all that part of the press began
+to break away from them and to seek some place where they could defend
+themselves from such another assault.
+
+Now when the party of King Bagdemagus saw into what confusion the other
+party were thrown by these four knights-champion, they began a very fierce
+and furious attack, and with such vehemence that in a little the party of
+the King of North Wales began to bear back before them. So, what with those
+who withdrew before Sir Launcelot's assault, and what with those who
+withdrew from the assault of King Bagdemagus, there was a great deal of
+confusion in the ranks of the party of the King of North Wales.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot overthrows Sir Mordred] Now those three knights
+who were of King Arthur's court perceived how Sir Launcelot and his
+knights-companion were throwing the ranks of the party of the King of North
+Wales into confusion, and they knew that unless the onset of Sir Launcelot
+was checked, the day would of a surety be lost unto them. Wherefore said
+Sir Mador de la Porte: "Yonder is a very strong and fierce-fighting knight;
+if we do not check his onset we will very likely be brought to shame in
+this battle." "Yea," said Sir Mordred, "that is so. Now I will take it upon
+me to joust with that knight and to overthrow him." Upon that those other
+two knights bade him go and do as he said. So Sir Mordred made way to where
+Sir Launcelot was, coming forward very fiercely and with great violence,
+and Sir Launcelot was aware of Sir Mordred's coming and made him ready for
+that assault. So the two came together with terrible violence and Sir
+Launcelot struck Sir Mordred such a buffet that the breast-band of Sir
+Mordred's saddle brake, and both the saddle and Sir Mordred flew over his
+horse's tail. Therewith Sir Mordred fell upon his head and struck with such
+violence upon the ground that his neck was nigh broken, and he lay
+altogether in a dead swoon and had to be carried out of the lists by his
+attendants.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot overthrows Sir Mador] This saw Sir Mador de la
+Porte, and he cried out: "Ha! see what hath befallen Sir Mordred!" And
+therewith he also bare down upon Sir Launcelot with all his might and main
+with intent to overthrow him. And Sir Launcelot ran against him, and they
+struck together so fiercely that it was terrible to behold. But the spear
+of Sir Mador de la Porte burst into pieces, whilst the spear of Sir
+Launcelot held, so that both Sir Mador and his horse were overthown, the
+horse rolling upon the man. And in that encounter Sir Mador's shoulder went
+out of place, and he also had to be borne away by his attendants.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot strikes Sir Galahantine a sad blow] Then Sir
+Galahantine took a great spear from his esquire, who was nigh him, and he
+also ran against Sir Launcelot with all his might; and Sir Launcelot met
+him in full course and that onset was more terrible than either of the
+other two. For the spear of each knight was burst into splinters, even to
+the butt thereof. Then each threw away the butt of his spear and drew out
+his sword, and Sir Galahantine struck Sir Launcelot such a blow that the
+legs of Sir Launcelot's horse trembled under him because of the weight of
+that stroke. At this Sir Launcelot waxed wroth beyond measure and he rose
+in his stirrups and he smote Sir Galahantine such a buffet that the blood
+burst out from his nose and his ears, and all his senses so went away from
+him that he might hardly behold the light of day because of the swimming of
+his sight.
+
+Therewith Sir Galahantine's head hung down upon his breast and he had no
+power to guide his horse, wherefore his horse made way out of the press and
+galloped off, bearing Sir Galahantine away, whether he would or no. And
+after the horse had galloped a little distance Sir Galahantine could not
+any longer sit upon his saddle, but he fell off of his horse and rolled
+over upon the ground and had not strength to rise therefrom.
+
+Then Sir Launcelot catched another spear, great and strong, from the
+esquire who followed him, and before ever that spear broke he overthrew
+sixteen knights therewith. Wherefore all who beheld him were amazed and
+terrified at what he did.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot wins the battle for King Bagdemagus] By now the
+party of the King of North Wales began to bear more and more aback and in a
+little they broke, and then the party of King Bagdemagus pursued them
+hither and thither, and those who did not surrender were overthrown so that
+it was not possible for them to make any new order of battle. Then that
+party surrendered itself as conquered, one and all, and so King Bagdemagus
+won that tournament with the greatest glory that it was possible for him to
+have. For it had never been heard of before that a party of four-score
+knights should overcome in that way a party of eight-score knights, with
+three knights of the Round Table to champion them. Nor would such a victory
+have been possible only for what Sir Launcelot did in that battle.
+
+So Sir Launcelot won that tournament for King Bagdemagus, and after the
+battle was over and done King Bagdemagus came to Sir Launcelot and said to
+him: "Messire, thou hast brought to me the greatest glory this day that
+ever fell to my lot in all of my life. Now I prithee come with me and
+refresh thyself with me, so that I may give thee fitting thanks for all
+thou hast done, and so that I may reward thee in such a way as is fit for a
+king to reward a knight-champion such as thou art."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot departs without reward] Unto this Sir Launcelot
+made reply: "Lord, I give you thanks for your courtesy, but I need no
+reward; for it is meet that I should have done what I could for the sake of
+the demoiselle Elouise the Fair, seeing that she rescued me from the
+mischiefs that Queen Morgana had intent to do me."
+
+Then King Bagdemagus besought Sir Launcelot that he would tarry awhile and
+rest, but Sir Launcelot would not do so, but would be going upon his way
+without any tarrying. But he said to King Bagdemagus: "I prithee greet your
+daughter for me, and say to her that if ever she hath need of my services
+again let her send to me, and I will come to her even if it be to the end
+of the earth. For I have not yet repaid her for what she hath done for me."
+
+Therewith Sir Launcelot went his way from that meadow of battle, and,
+coming to the skirts of the forest he entered therein, and those who were
+there at the meadow of battle did not see him any more.
+
+So endeth the history of that famous tournament betwixt King Bagdemagus and
+the King of North Wales.
+
+[Illustration: Sir Launcelot climbs to catch the lady's falcon]
+
+
+
+
+Chapter Seventh
+
+
+_How Sir Launcelot Fell Into the Greatest Peril that Ever He Encountered in
+all His Life. Also How He Freed a Misfortunate Castle and Town From the
+Giants Who Held Them, and How He Released the Lord Thereof From a Dungeon._
+
+Now Sir Launcelot wandered errant for many days, meeting no adventure of
+any moment, but taking great joy in all that he beheld of the wide world
+about him, and in that time he found lodging wheresoever he chanced to be
+(if not in house, then beneath the skies), and he endured all sorts of
+weather, both wet and dry.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot cometh to a fair valley with a castle] Upon a
+certain day, in the prime of the morning, he came across a hilltop, and
+beheld beneath him a valley, very fertile and well-tilled, with fields and
+meadow-lands spread all over it like to a fair green carpet woven in divers
+patterns. And in the midst of the valley was a very large and noble castle,
+with many towers, and tall, steep roofs, and clustering chimneys. So Sir
+Launcelot descended into that valley, and the road which he took ended in
+front of the castle and under the shade of the tall gray walls thereof. But
+he did not stop at that castle but went on by it.
+
+Now after Sir Launcelot had passed by that castle it seemed to him that he
+heard very delicate silver bells ringing sweetly in the air above him, and
+when he looked up he beheld that a falcon was flying over his head toward a
+high elm tree that stood at a little distance, and he wist that it was the
+bells upon the cap of the falcon that rang so sweetly. And Sir Launcelot
+beheld that long lunes hung from the feet of the falcon as she flew,
+wherefore he was aware that the falcon had slipped her lunes and had flown
+from her owner.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot beholdeth a falcon entangled] So Sir Launcelot
+watched the falcon, and he beheld that she lit in a tall elm tree, where
+she took her perch and rested, balancing with her wings part spread. Then
+by and by she would have taken her flight again, but the lunes about her
+feet had become entangled around the bough on which she sat, so that when
+she would have flown she could not do so. Now Sir Launcelot was very sorry
+to see the falcon beating herself in that wise, straining to escape from
+where she was prisoner, but he knew not what to do to aid her, for the tree
+was very high, and he was no good climber of trees.
+
+While he stood there watching that falcon he heard the portcullis of the
+castle lifted, with a great noise, and the drawbridge let fall, and
+therewith there came a lady riding out of the castle very rapidly upon a
+white mule, and she rode toward where Sir Launcelot watched the falcon upon
+the tree. When that lady had come nigh to Sir Launcelot, she cried out to
+him: "Sir Knight, didst thou see a falcon fly this way?" Sir Launcelot
+said: "Yea, Lady, and there she hangs, caught by her lunes in yonder
+elm-tree."
+
+Then when that lady beheld how that her falcon hung there she smote her
+hands together, crying out: "Alas, alas! what shall I do? That falcon is my
+lord's favorite hawk! While I was playing with her a while since, she
+slipped from me and took flight, and has sped as thou dost see. Now when my
+lord findeth that I have lost his hawk in that wise he will be very angry
+with me, and will haply do me some grievous hurt."
+
+[Sidenote: The Lady beseeches Sir Launcelot to get her the falcon again]
+Quoth Sir Launcelot: "Lady, I am very sorry for you." "Sir," she said, "it
+boots nothing for you to be sorry for me unless you can aid me." "How may I
+aid you in this?" said Sir Launcelot. "Messire," quoth she, "how otherwise
+could you aid me than by climbing up into this tree for my hawk? For if you
+aid me not in such a fashion, I know not what I shall do, for my lord hath
+a very hot and violent temper, and he is not likely to brook having his
+favorite hawk lost to him, as it is like to be."
+
+Upon this Sir Launcelot was put to a great pass and knew not what to do,
+for he had no good mind to climb that tree. "Lady," quoth he, "I prithee
+tell me what is thy lord's name." "Messire," she replied, "he is hight Sir
+Phelot, and is a knight of the court of the King of North Wales."
+
+"Well, Lady," said Sir Launcelot, "thou dost put upon me a very sore task
+in this, for God knoweth I am no climber of trees. Yea, I would rather do
+battle with twenty knights than to climb one such tree as this.
+Nevertheless, I cannot find it in me to refuse the asking of any lady, if
+so be it lieth at all in my power to perform her will. Now if you will aid
+me to unarm myself, I will endeavor to climb this tree and get your hawk."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot climbs the tree] So the lady dismounted from her
+mule, and Sir Launcelot dismounted from his horse, and the lady aided Sir
+Launcelot to unarm himself. And when he had unarmed himself he took off all
+his clothes saving only his hosen and his doublet. Then he climbed that
+tree, though with great labor and pain to himself, and with much dread lest
+he should fall. So he, at last, reached the falcon where it was, and he
+loosened the lunes from where they were entangled about the branch, and he
+freed the bird. Then he brake off a great piece of rotten bough of the tree
+and he tied the lunes of the falcon to it and he tossed the falcon down to
+where the lady was; and the lady ran with great joy and caught the falcon
+and loosed it from the piece of branch and tied the lunes to her wrist, so
+that it could not escape again.
+
+Then Sir Launcelot began to descend the tree with as great labor and pain
+as he had climbed into it.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Phelot threatens Sir Launcelot's life] But he had not come
+very far down when he perceived a knight who came riding very rapidly
+toward that tree, and he saw that the knight was in full armor. When this
+knight came to the tree he drew rein and bespoke the lady who was there,
+though Sir Launcelot could not hear what he said. So, after he had spoken
+for a little, the knight dismounted from his horse and went to Sir
+Launcelot's shield and looked upon the face of it very carefully. Then
+presently he looked upward toward Sir Launcelot, and he said: "Art thou Sir
+Launcelot of the Lake?" And Sir Launcelot said: "Yea." "Very well," said
+the knight, "I am pleased beyond measure at that. For I am Sir Phelot, the
+lord of this castle, and the brother of that Sir Peris of the Forest
+Sauvage, whom thou didst treat so shamefully after thou hadst overcome him
+in battle."
+
+"Sir," said Sir Launcelot, "I treated him nowise differently from what he
+deserved." "No matter for that," said Sir Phelot, "he was my brother, and
+thou didst put great despite and shame upon him. So now I will be revenged
+upon thee, for now I have thee where I would have thee, and I will slay
+thee as shamefully as thou didst put shame upon him. So say thy prayers
+where thou art, for thou shalt never go away from this place alive."
+
+"Sir Knight," said Sir Launcelot, "I do not believe that thou wouldst
+really assault a naked and harmless man, for it would certainly be a great
+shame to thee to do me a harm in that wise. For lo! thou art armed in full,
+and I am a naked man, and to slay me as I am would be both murder and
+treason."
+
+"No matter for that," said Sir Phelot; "as for the shame of it, I take no
+thought of it. I tell thee thou shalt have no grace nor mercy from me.
+Wherefore make thy peace with Heaven, for thine hour is come."
+
+"Sir Knight," said Sir Launcelot, "I ask only one boon of thee; if thou art
+of a mind to take so much shame upon thee, as appears to be the case, let
+me not, at least, die like a felon without any weapon. Let me have my sword
+in my hand, even if I have no other defence. For if a knight must die, it
+is a shame for him to die without weapons. So hang my sword upon yonder
+bough, where I may reach it, and then thou mayst slay me."
+
+"Nay," said Sir Phelot, "I will not do that, for I know very well how
+wonderful is thy prowess. Wherefore I believe that even if thou wert
+otherwise unarmed thou mightst overcome me if thou hadst thy sword. So I
+will give thee no such chance, but will have my will of thee as thou art."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot is put to a sad pass to escape] Then Sir
+Launcelot was put to a great pass of anxiety, for he wist not what to do to
+escape from that danger in which he lay. Wherefore he looked all about him
+and above him and below him, and at last he beheld a great branch of the
+elm tree just above his head, very straight and tough. So he catched this
+branch and broke it off from the tree and shaped it to a club of some sort.
+Then he came lower, and the knight waited to strike him with his sword,
+when he was low enough; but Sir Launcelot did not come low enough for that.
+
+Then Sir Launcelot perceived that his horse stood below him and a little to
+one side, so of a sudden he ran out along the branch whereon he stood and
+he leaped quickly down to the earth upon the farther side of his horse from
+where the knight stood.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot overcomes Sir Phelot with a strange weapon] At
+this Sir Phelot ran at him and lashed at him with his sword, thinking to
+slay him before he had recovered from his leap. But Sir Launcelot was
+quicker than he, for he recovered his feet and put away the blow of Sir
+Phelot with his club which he held. Then he ran in upon Sir Phelot under
+his sword arm, and before he could use his sword he struck Sir Phelot with
+all his might upon the side of his head. And he struck him very quickly
+again, and he struck him the third time, all in the space whilst one might
+count two. And those blows he struck were so direful that Sir Phelot fell
+down upon his knees, all stunned and bedazed, and the strength went out of
+his thews because of faintness. Then Sir Launcelot took the sword out of
+the hand of Sir Phelot and Sir Phelot did not have strength to deny him.
+And Sir Launcelot plucked off Sir Phelot's helm and catched him by the hair
+and dragged his neck forward so as to have ease to strike his head from off
+his body.
+
+Now all this while the lady had been weeping and watching what befell. But
+when she saw the great danger Sir Phelot was in, she ran and clasped her
+arms about him, and cried out in a very loud and piercing voice upon Sir
+Launcelot to spare Sir Phelot and to slay him not. But Sir Launcelot, still
+holding him by the hair of the head, said: "Lady, I cannot spare him, for
+he has treated me more treacherously than any other knight with whom I ever
+had dealings." But the lady cried out all the more vehemently, "Sir
+Launcelot, thou good knight, I beseech thee, of thy knighthood, to spare
+him."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot spares Sir Phelot's life] "Well," said Sir
+Launcelot, "it hath yet to be said of me that I have denied anything that I
+was able to grant unto any lady that hath asked it of me upon my
+knighthood. And yet I know not how to trust either of ye. For thou didst
+not say one word in my behalf when I was in danger of being slain so
+treacherously just now. As for this knight, I perceive that he is every
+whit as great a traitor and a coward as was his brother Sir Peris of the
+Sauvage Forest. So I will spare him, but I will not trust him, lest he turn
+against me ere I arm myself again. Wherefore give me hither the halter rein
+of your mule." So the lady gave Sir Launcelot the halter rein, weeping
+amain as she did so. And Sir Launcelot took the halter rein and he tied the
+arms of Sir Phelot behind him. Then he bade the lady of Sir Phelot to help
+him arm himself from head to foot, and she did so, trembling a very great
+deal. Then, when she had done so, quoth Sir Launcelot: "Now I fear the
+treachery of no man." Therewith he mounted his horse and rode away from
+that place And he looked not behind him at all, but rode away as though he
+held too much scorn of that knight and of that lady to give any more
+thought to them.
+
+So after that Sir Launcelot travelled for a while through the green fields
+of that valley, till by and by he passed out of that valley, and came into
+a forest through which he travelled for a very long time.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot cometh to a marish country] For it was about the
+slanting of the afternoon ere he came forth out of that forest and under
+the open sky again. And when he came out of the forest he beheld before him
+a country of perfectly level marish, very lush and green, with many ponds
+of water and sluggish streams bordered by rushes and sedge, and with
+pollard willows standing in rows beside the waters. In the midst of this
+level plain of green (which was like to the surface of a table for
+flatness) there stood a noble castle, part built of brick and part of
+stone, and a town of no great size and a wall about the town. And this
+castle and town stood upon an island surrounded by a lake of water, and a
+long bridge, built upon stone buttresses, reached from the mainland to the
+island. And this castle and town were a very long distance away, though
+they appeared very clear and distinct to the sight across the level marish,
+like, as it were, to a fine bit of very small and cunning carving.
+
+Now the way that Sir Launcelot travelled, led somewhat toward that town,
+wherefore he went along that way with intent to view the place more near
+by. So he conveyed by that road for some time without meeting any soul upon
+the way. But at last he came of a sudden upon an archer hiding behind an
+osier tree with intent to shoot the water-fowl that came to a pond that was
+there--for he had several such fowl hanging at his girdle. To him Sir
+Launcelot said: "Good fellow, what town is that yonderway?" "Sir," said the
+yeoman, "that is called the Town of the Marish because it stands in these
+Fenlands. And that castle is called the Castle of the Fenlands for the same
+reason."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot talks with a yeoman] Quoth Sir Launcelot: "What
+manner of place is that? Is it a good place, or is it otherwise?" "Sir,"
+said the archer, "that place was one while a very good, happy place; for in
+times gone by there was a lord who dwelt there who was both just and noble,
+and kind to all folk, wherefore he was loved by all the people. But one
+night there came two very grim and horrible giants thither from the Welsh
+Mountains and these entered into the castle by treachery and made prisoner
+of the lord of the castle. Him they cast into the dungeon of the castle,
+where they held him prisoner as an hostage. For they threaten that if
+friends of that lord's should send force against them to dispossess them,
+they will slay him. As for any other rescue, there is no knight who dareth
+to go against them because of their terrible size, and their strength, and
+their dreadful, horrible countenances."
+
+"Well," said Sir Launcelot, "that is a pity and I am sorry for that noble
+lordling. Now, since there is no other single knight who dareth to
+undertake this adventure, I myself will go and encounter these giants."
+
+"Nay, Sir Knight," said the yeoman, "do not do so, for they are not like
+mortal men, but rather like monsters that are neither beast nor man.
+Wherefore anyone who beholdeth them, feareth them."
+
+"Grammercy for thy thought of me, good fellow," quoth Sir Launcelot, "but
+if I shall refuse an adventure because I find it perilous, then I am not
+like to undertake any adventure at all."
+
+Therewith he bade good den to that yeoman and rode upon his way, directing
+his course toward that town at an easy pass.
+
+So he came at last to the long bridge that reached from the land to the
+island, and he saw that at the farther end of the bridge was the gateway of
+the town and through the arch thereof he could perceive a street of the
+town, and the houses upon either side of the street, and the people thereof
+coming and going.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot crosses the bridge to the town] So he rode forth
+upon the bridge and at the noise of his coming (for the hoofs of his horse
+sounded like thunder upon the floor of the bridge) the people of the town
+came running to see who it was that dared to come so boldly into their
+town.
+
+These, when Sir Launcelot came nigh, began to call to him on high, crying:
+"Turn back, Sir Knight! Turn back! Else you will meet your death at this
+place."
+
+But Sir Launcelot would not turn back, but advanced very steadfastly upon
+his way.
+
+Now somewhat nigh the farther end of that bridge there stood a little lodge
+of stone, built to shelter the warden of the bridge from stress of weather.
+When Sir Launcelot came nigh to this lodge there started suddenly out from
+it a great churl, above seven feet high, who bore in his hand a huge club,
+shod with iron and with great spikes of iron at the top. This churl ran to
+Sir Launcelot and catched his horse by the bridle-rein and thrust it back
+upon its haunches, crying out in a great hoarse voice: "Whither goest thou,
+Sir Knight, for to cross this bridge?" Sir Launcelot said: "Let go my
+horse's rein, Sir Churl." Whereunto the churl made answer: "I will not let
+go thy horse's rein, and thou shalt not cross this bridge."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot slays the huge churl] At this Sir Launcelot waxed
+very angry, and he drew his sword and struck the churl a blow with the flat
+thereof upon the shoulder, so that he dropped the rein very quickly.
+Therewith that churl drew back and took his great iron-shod club in both
+hands and struck at Sir Launcelot a blow that would have split a millstone.
+But Sir Launcelot put by the blow with his sword so that it did him no
+harm. But therewith he waxed so wroth that he ground his teeth together
+with anger, and, rising in his stirrups, he lashed that churl so woeful a
+blow that he cleft through his iron cap and his head and his breast even to
+the paps.
+
+[Sidenote: The folk warn Sir Launcelot] Now when the people of the town
+beheld that terrible blow they lifted up their voices in a great outcry,
+crying out: "Turn back, Sir Knight! Turn back! For this is a very woful
+thing for thee that thou hast done!" and some cried out: "Thou hast killed
+the giants' warder of the bridge!" And others cried: "Thou art a dead man
+unless thou make haste away from this." But to all this Sir Launcelot paid
+no heed, but wiped his sword and thrust it back into its sheath. Then he
+went forward upon his way across the bridge as though nothing had befallen,
+and so came to the farther side. Then, without paying any heed to all the
+people who were there, he rode straight to the castle and into the gate of
+the castle and into the court-yard thereof.
+
+Now by this time all the castle was astir, and in great tumult, and many
+people came running to the windows and looked down upon Sir Launcelot. And
+Sir Launcelot sat his horse and looked all about him. So he perceived that
+beyond the court-yard was a fair space of grass, very smooth and green,
+well fitted for battle, wherefore he dismounted from his horse and tied it
+to a ring in the wall, and then he went to that green field and made him
+ready for whatever might befall.
+
+Meantime all those people who were at the windows of the castle cried out
+to him, as the people of the town had done: "Go away, Sir Knight! Go away
+whilst there is still time for you to escape, or else you are a dead man!"
+
+But Sir Launcelot replied not, but stood there and waited very steadfastly.
+Then the great door of the castle hall opened, and there came forth
+therefrom those two giants of whom he had heard tell.
+
+[Sidenote: Two giants attack Sir Launcelot] And in truth Sir Launcelot had
+never beheld such horrible beings as they; for they were above ten feet
+high, and very huge of body and long of limb. And they were clad in armor
+of bull-hide with iron rings upon it, and each was armed with a great club,
+huge and thick, and shod with iron, and studded with spikes. These came
+toward Sir Launcelot swinging their clubs and laughing very hideously and
+gnashing their long white teeth, for they thought to make easy work of him.
+
+[Sidenote: How Sir Launcelot slays the first giant] Then Sir Launcelot,
+seeing them coming thus, set his shield before him, and made ready for that
+assault with great calmness of demeanor. Then the giants rushed suddenly
+upon him and struck at him, the both of them together; for they deemed that
+by so doing the enemy could not escape both blows, but if one failed the
+other would slay him. But Sir Launcelot put aside the blow of one giant
+with his sword and of the other with his shield, with marvellous dexterity.
+Thereupon, ere they could recover themselves, he turned upon that giant who
+was upon his left hand and he struck him so terrible a blow upon the
+shoulder that he cut through the armor and through the shoulder and
+half-way through the body, so that the head and one arm of the giant leaned
+toward one way, and the other arm and the shoulder leaned toward the other
+way. Therewith the giant fell down upon the ground bellowing, so that it
+was most terrible to hear; and in a little he had died where he had fallen.
+
+[Sidenote: How Sir Launcelot slays the second giant] Now when the fellow
+of that giant beheld that dreadful, horrible stroke, he was so possessed
+with terror that he stood for a while trembling and like one in a maze. But
+when he saw Sir Launcelot turn upon him with intent to make at him also, he
+let fall his club and ran away with great and fearful outcry. Therewith he
+ran toward the castle and would have entered therein, but those within the
+castle had closed the doors and the gates against him, so that he could not
+escape in that way. So the giant ran around and around the court with great
+outcry, seeking for some escape from his pursuer, and Sir Launcelot ran
+after him. And Sir Launcelot struck him several times with his sword, so
+that at last, what with terror and pain and weariness, that giant stumbled
+and fell upon the ground. Therewith Sir Launcelot ran at him, and, ere he
+could rise, he took his sword in both hands and smote off his head so that
+it rolled down upon the ground like a ball. Then Sir Launcelot stood there
+panting for breath, for he had raced very hard after the giant, and could
+hardly catch his breath again. As he stood so, many of those of the castle
+and many of those who were of the town came to him from all sides; and they
+crowded around him and gave him great acclaim for ridding that place of
+those giants.
+
+Then Sir Launcelot said to them: "Where is your lord?" Whereunto they made
+reply: "Sir, he lieth in the dungeon of the castle under the ground chained
+to the walls thereof, and there he hath been for three years or more, and
+no one hath dared to bring him succor until you came hither." "Go find
+him," said Sir Launcelot, "and set him free, and lose no time in doing so.
+And put him at all ease that you can."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot departs without refreshment] They say: "Will you
+not stay and see him, Messire, and receive his acknowledgements for what
+you have done?" But Sir Launcelot replied: "Nay, not so." Then they say:
+"Will you not have some refreshment after this battle?" Whereunto Sir
+Launcelot said: "I do not need such refreshment." Then they say: "But will
+you not rest a little?" "Nay," said Sir Launcelot: "I may not tarry, for I
+have far to go and several things to do, so that I do not care to stay." So
+he loosed his horse from the ring in the wall, and mounted upon it and rode
+away from that castle and from that town and across the bridge whence he
+had come. And all the people followed after him, giving him great acclaim.
+
+So Sir Launcelot left the castle, not because he needed no rest, but
+because he could not endure to receive the thanks of those whom he
+benefited. For though he loved to bring aid to the needy, yet he did not
+love to receive their thanks and their praise. Wherefore, having freed the
+lord of that castle from that brood of giants, he was content therewith and
+went his way without resting or waiting for thanks.
+
+For so it was with those noble gallant knights of those days; that whilst
+they would perform signal service for mankind, yet they were not pleased to
+receive thanks or reward for the same, but took the utmost satisfaction,
+not in what they gained by their acts, but in the doing of knightly deeds,
+for they found all their reward in their deeds, because that thereby they
+made the world in which they lived better; and because they made the glory
+of the King, whose servants they were, the more glorious.
+
+And I hold that such behavior upon the part of anyone makes him the peer of
+Sir Launcelot or Sir Tristram or Sir Lamorack or Sir Percival; yea, of Sir
+Galahad himself. For it does not need either the accolade or the bath to
+cause a man to be a true knight of God's making; nor does it need that a
+mortal King should lay sword upon shoulder to constitute a man the fellow
+of such knightly company as that whose history I am herewith writing; it
+needs only that he should prove himself at all times worthy in the
+performance of his duty, and that he shall not consider the hope of reward,
+or of praise of others in the performance of that duty.
+
+So look to it that in all your services you take example of the noble Sir
+Launcelot of the Lake, and that you do your uttermost with might and main,
+and that you therewith rest content with having done your best, maugre any
+praise. So you shall become a worthy fellow of Sir Launcelot and of his
+fellows.
+
+[Illustration: Sir Launcelot takes the armor of Sir Kay]
+
+
+
+
+Chapter Eighth
+
+
+_How Sir Launcelot Rescued Sir Kay From a Perilous Pass. Also How He
+Changed Armor with Sir Kay and what Befell._
+
+One day Sir Launcelot came at early nightfall to a goodly manor-house and
+there he besought lodging for the night, and lodging was granted to him
+very willingly.
+
+[Sidenote: The old gentlewoman makes Sir Launcelot welcome] Now there was
+no lord of that manor, but only an old gentlewoman of very good breeding
+and address. She made Sir Launcelot right welcome and gave such cheer as
+she could, setting before him a very good supper, hot and savory, and a
+great beaker of humming mead wherewith to wash it down. Whilst Sir
+Launcelot ate, the gentlewoman inquired of him his name and he told her it
+was Sir Launcelot of the Lake. "Ha!" quoth she, "I never heard that name
+before, but it is a very good name."
+
+At this Sir Launcelot laughed: "I am glad," said he, "that my name belikes
+thee. As for thy not having heard of it--well, I am a young knight as yet,
+having had but three years of service. Yet I have hopes that by and by it
+may be better known than it is at this present."
+
+"Thou sayest well," quoth she, "for thou art very young yet, wherefore thou
+mayst not know what thou canst do till thou hast tried." And therewith Sir
+Launcelot laughed again, and said: "Yea, that is very true."
+
+Now after Sir Launcelot had supped, his hostess showed him to the lodging
+she had provided for him wherein to sleep, and the lodging was in a fair
+garret over the gateway of the court. So Sir Launcelot went to his bed and,
+being weary with journeying, he presently fell into a deep and gentle
+sleep.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot is aroused from sleep] Now about the middle of
+the night there fell of a sudden the noise of someone beating upon the gate
+and calling in a loud voice and demanding immediate admittance thereat.
+This noise awoke Sir Launcelot, and he arose from his couch and went to the
+window and looked out to see who it was that shouted so loudly and made
+such uproar.
+
+The moon was shining at that time, very bright and still, and by the light
+thereof Sir Launcelot beheld that there was a knight in full armor seated
+upon horseback without the gate, and that the knight beat upon the gate
+with the pommel of his sword, and shouted that they should let him in.
+
+But ere anyone could run to answer his call there came a great noise of
+horses upon the highroad, and immediately after there appeared three
+knights riding very fiercely that way, and these three knights were plainly
+pursuing that one knight. For, when they perceived him, they rode very
+violently to where he was, and fell upon him fiercely, all three at one
+time; wherefore, though that one knight defended himself as well as he
+could, yet was he in a very sorry way, and altogether likely to be
+overborne. For those three surrounded him so close to the gate that he
+could do little to shift himself away from their assaults.
+
+Now when Sir Launcelot beheld how those three knights attacked that one
+knight, he said to himself: "Of a surety, yonder knight is in a very sorry
+way. I will do what I can to help him; for it is a shame to behold three
+knights attack one knight in that way. And if he be slain in this assault,
+meseems I shall be a party to his death."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot goeth to the rescue of the knight assaulted]
+Therewith he ran and put his armor upon him, and made ready for battle.
+Then he drew the sheet from his bed, and he tied the sheet to the bar of
+the window and by it he let himself quickly down to the ground not far from
+where those knights were doing battle. So being safely arrived in that way
+he cried out in a very loud voice: "Messires, leave that knight whom ye
+assail, and turn to me, for I have a mind to do battle with you myself."
+
+Then one of those knights, speaking very fiercely, said: "Who are you, and
+what business have you here?"
+
+"It matters not who I am," said Sir Launcelot, "but I will not have it that
+you three shall attack that one without first having had to do with me."
+
+"Very well," said that knight who had spoken, "you shall presently have
+your will of that."
+
+Therewith he and his fellows immediately descended from their horses, and
+drew their swords and came at Sir Launcelot upon three sides at once. Then
+Sir Launcelot set his back against the gate and prepared to defend himself.
+
+Therewith that knight whom he would defend immediately got down from his
+horse with intent to come to the aid of Sir Launcelot, but Sir Launcelot
+forbade him very fiercely, saying: "Let be, Sir Knight, this is my quarrel,
+and you shall not meddle in it."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot does battle with three knights] Upon this, those
+three knights rushed upon him very furiously, and they struck at him all at
+once, smiting at him wherever they could and with all their might and main.
+So Sir Launcelot had much ado to defend himself from their assault. But he
+made shift that they should not all rush in upon him at once, and by and by
+he found his chance with one of them. Whereupon he turned suddenly upon
+that one, and suddenly he lashed so terrible a buffet at him that the
+knight fell down and lay as though he had been struck dead with the force
+thereof.
+
+Then, ere those other two had recovered themselves, he ran at a second and
+struck him so fierce a blow that his wits left him, and he staggered like a
+drunken man and ran around and around in a circle, not knowing whither he
+went. Then he rushed upon the third and thrust him back with great
+violence, and as he went back Sir Launcelot struck him, too, as he had
+struck his companions and therewith that knight dropped his sword and fell
+down upon his knees and had not power to raise himself up.
+
+Then Sir Launcelot ran to him and snatched off his helmet, and catched him
+by the hair with intent to cut off his head. But at that the fallen knight
+embraced Sir Launcelot about the knees, crying out: "Spare my life!"
+
+"Why should I spare you?" said Sir Launcelot. "Sir," cried the knight, "I
+beseech you of your knighthood to spare me."
+
+"What claim have you upon knighthood," said Sir Launcelot, "who would
+attack a single knight, three men against one man?"
+
+Then the other of those knights who had been staggered by Sir Launcelot's
+blow, but who had by now somewhat recovered himself, came and kneeled to
+Sir Launcelot, and said: "Sir, spare his life, for we all yield ourselves
+unto you, for certes, you are the greatest champion in all the world."
+
+Then Sir Launcelot was appeased, but he said: "Nay, I will not take your
+yielding unto me. For as you three assaulted this single knight, so shall
+you all three yield to him."
+
+"Messire," said the knight who kneeled: "I am very loth to yield us to that
+knight, for we chased him hither, and he fled from us, and we would have
+overcome him had you not come to his aid."
+
+"Well," said Sir Launcelot, "I care nothing for all that, but only that you
+do as I will. And if ye do not do it, then I must perforce slay your
+companions and you two. Wherefore you may take your choice."
+
+[Sidenote: The three knights must yield to the one knight] Then said that
+knight who kneeled: "Messire, I see no other thing to do than to yield us
+as you would have, wherefore we submit ourselves unto this knight whom you
+have rescued from us."
+
+Then Sir Launcelot turned to that knight to whom he had brought aid in that
+matter, and he said: "Sir Knight, these knights yield themselves unto you
+to do as you command them. Now I pray you of your courtesy to tell me your
+name and who you are."
+
+"Sir," said that knight, "I am Sir Kay the Seneschal, and am King Arthur's
+foster-brother, and a knight of the Round Table. I have been errant now for
+some time in search of Sir Launcelot of the Lake. Now, I deem either that
+you are Sir Launcelot, or else that you are the peer of Sir Launcelot."
+
+"Thou art right, Sir Kay," said Sir Launcelot, "and I am Sir Launcelot of
+the Lake." So thereat they two made great joy over one another, and
+embraced one another as brothers-in-arms should do.
+
+Then Sir Kay told Sir Launcelot how it was with those three knights who had
+assailed him; that they were three brethren, and that he had overthrown the
+fourth brother in an adventure at arms and had hurt him very sorely
+thereby. So those three had been pursuing him for three days with intent to
+do him a harm.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Kay taketh submission of the three knights] Now Sir Kay was
+very loath to take submission of those three knights, but Sir Launcelot
+would have it so and no other way. So Sir Kay consented to let it be as Sir
+Launcelot willed. Thereupon those three knights came and submitted
+themselves to Sir Kay, and Sir Kay ordained that they should go to Camelot
+and lay their case before King Arthur, and that King Arthur should adjudge
+their case according to what he considered to be right and fitting.
+
+Then those three knights mounted upon their horses and rode away, and when
+they had done so the gates of the manor were opened, and Sir Launcelot and
+Sir Kay entered in. But when the old lady who was his hostess beheld Sir
+Launcelot come in, she was very greatly astonished, for she wist he was
+still asleep in his bed-chamber. Wherefore she said: "Sir, methought you
+were in bed and asleep." "So indeed I was," said Sir Launcelot, "but when I
+saw this knight in peril of his life against three knights, I leaped out of
+my window and went to his aid." "Well," said his hostess, "meseems that you
+will sometime be a very good knight, if you have so much courage whilst you
+are so young." And at that both Sir Launcelot and Sir Kay laughed a great
+deal.
+
+Then the chatelaine set bread and wine before Sir Kay, and he ate and
+refreshed himself, and thereafter he and Sir Launcelot went to that garret
+above the gate, and there fell asleep with great ease of body.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot takes Sir Kay's armor] Now before the sun arose
+Sir Launcelot awoke but Sir Kay still slept very soundly. Then Sir
+Launcelot beheld how Sir Kay slept, and he had a mind for a jest. So he
+clad himself in Sir Kay's armor altogether from head to foot, and he took
+Sir Kay's shield and spear, and he left his armor and shield and spear for
+Sir Kay to use. Then he went very softly from that room, and left Sir Kay
+still sleeping. And he took Sir Kay's horse and mounted upon it and rode
+away; and all that while Sir Kay knew not what had befallen, but slept very
+deeply.
+
+Now after a while Sir Kay awoke, and he found that Sir Launcelot was gone,
+and when he looked he found that his own armor was gone and that Sir
+Launcelot's armor was left. Then he wist what Sir Launcelot had done, and
+he said: "Ha! what a noble, courteous knight is the gentleman. For he hath
+left me his armor for my protection, and whilst I wear it and carry his
+shield and ride his horse, it is not likely that anyone will assail me upon
+my way. As for those who assail him, I do not believe that they will be
+likely to find great pleasure in their battle."
+
+Therewith he arose and clad himself in Sir Launcelot's armor, and after he
+had broken his fast he thanked his hostess for what she had given him, and
+rode upon his way with great content of spirit.
+
+(And it was as Sir Kay had said, for when he met other knights upon the
+road, and when they beheld the figure upon his shield, they all said: "It
+is not well to meddle with that knight, for that is Sir Launcelot." And so
+he came to Camelot without having to do battle with any man.)
+
+[Sidenote: How Sir Launcelot travels toward Camelot] As for Sir Launcelot,
+he rode upon his way with great cheerfulness of spirit, taking no heed at
+all of any trouble in the world, but chanting to himself as he rode in the
+pleasant weather. But ever he made his way toward Camelot, for he said: "I
+will return to Camelot for a little, and see how it fares with my friends
+at the court of the King."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot perceives three knights at feast] So by and by he
+entered into the country around about Camelot, which is a very smooth and
+fertile country, full of fair rivers and meadows with many cots and
+hamlets, and with fair hedge-bordered highways, wonderfully pleasant to
+journey in. So travelling he came to a very large meadow where were several
+groves of trees standing here and there along by a river. And as he went
+through this meadow he saw before him a long bridge, and at the farther
+side of the bridge were three pavilions of silk of divers colors, which
+pavilions had been cast in the shade of a grove of beech-trees. In front of
+each pavilion stood a great spear thrust in the earth, and from the spear
+hung the shield of the knight to whom the pavilion belonged. These shields
+Sir Launcelot read very easily, and so knew the knights who were there. To
+wit: that they were Sir Gunther, Sir Gylmere, and Sir Raynold, who were
+three brothers of the Court of King Arthur. As Sir Launcelot passed their
+pavilions, he saw that the three knights sat at feast in the midmost
+pavilion of the three, and that a number of esquires and pages waited upon
+them and served them, for those knights were of very high estate, and so
+they were established as high lords should be.
+
+[Sidenote: The three knights bid Sir Launcelot come to feast with them]
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot overthrows Sir Gunther] Now when those knights
+perceived Sir Launcelot they thought it was Sir Kay because of the armor he
+wore, and Sir Gunther, who was the eldest of the three brothers, cried out:
+"Come hither, Sir Kay, and eat with us!" But to this Sir Launcelot made no
+reply, but rode on his way. Then said Sir Gunther: "Meseems Sir Kay hath
+grown very proud this morning. Now I will go and bring him back with me, or
+else I will bring down his pride to earth." So he made haste and donned his
+helmet and ran and took his shield and his spear, and mounted his horse and
+rode after Sir Launcelot at a hard gallop. As he drew nigh to Sir Launcelot
+he cried out: "Stay, Sir Knight! Turn again, and go with me!" "Why should I
+go with you?" said Sir Launcelot. Quoth Sir Gunther: "Because you must
+either return with me or do battle with me." "Well," said Sir Launcelot, "I
+would rather do battle than return against my will." And at that Sir
+Gunther was astonished, for Sir Kay was not wont to be so ready for a
+battle. So Sir Launcelot set his shield and spear and took his stand, and
+Sir Gunther took his stand. Then, when they were in all ways prepared, each
+set spur to his horse and rushed together with terrible speed. So each
+knight struck the other in the midst of his shield, but the onset of Sir
+Launcelot was so terrible that it was not to be withstood, wherefore both
+Sir Gunther and his horse were overthrown in such a cloud of dust that
+nothing at all was to be seen of them until that cloud lifted.
+
+At this both Sir Raynold and Sir Gylmere were astonished beyond measure,
+for Sir Gunther was reckoned to be a much better knight than Sir Kay,
+wherefore they wist not how it was that Sir Kay should have overthrown him
+in that fashion.
+
+So straightway Sir Gylmere, who was the second of those brothers, called
+out to Sir Launcelot to tarry and do battle. "Very well," said Sir
+Launcelot, "if I cannot escape thee I must needs do battle. Only make
+haste, for I would fain be going upon my way."
+
+So Sir Gylmere donned his helm in haste and ran and took his shield and
+spear and mounted upon his horse. So when he had made himself ready in all
+ways he rushed upon Sir Launcelot with all his might and Sir Launcelot
+rushed against him.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot overthrows Sir Gylmere] In that encounter each
+knight struck the other in the midst of his shield, and the spear of Sir
+Gylmere burst into pieces, but Sir Launcelot's spear held, so the
+breast-strap of Sir Gylmere's saddle bursting, both saddle and knight were
+swept entirely off the horse and to the earth, where Sir Gylmere lay
+altogether stunned.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot wins from Sir Raynold] Then Sir Raynold came
+against Sir Launcelot in like manner as the others had done, and in that
+encounter Sir Launcelot overthrew both horse and man so that, had not Sir
+Raynold voided his horse, he would likely have been very sadly hurt.
+
+Then Sir Raynold drew his sword and cried out in a loud voice: "Come, Sir
+Knight, and do me battle afoot!" But Sir Launcelot said: "Why will you have
+it so, Sir Knight? I have no such quarrel with you as to do battle with
+swords." "Ha!" said Sir Raynold, "you shall fight with me. For though you
+wear Sir Kay's armor, I wot very well that you are not Sir Kay, but a great
+deal bigger man than ever Sir Kay is like to be."
+
+"Nay," said Sir Launcelot, "I will not do any more battle with you." And
+therewith he drew rein and rode away, leaving Sir Raynold standing very
+angry in the middle of the highway.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot meets four noble knights] After that Sir
+Launcelot rode very easily at a quiet gait, with no great thought whither
+he rode, until after a while he came to a place where a road went across a
+level field with two rows of tall poplar trees, one upon either side of the
+highway. Then Sir Launcelot perceived where, beneath the shade of these
+poplar trees, were four knights standing each by his horse. And these four
+knights were conversing very pleasantly together. Now as Sir Launcelot drew
+nigh he perceived that those were four very famous noble knights of the
+Round Table; to wit: one of those knights was his own brother, Sir Ector de
+Maris, another was Sir Gawain, another was Sir Ewain, and the fourth was
+Sir Sagramore le Desirous.
+
+Now as Sir Launcelot drew nigh Sir Gawain said: "Look, yonder cometh Sir
+Kay the Seneschal." Unto this Sir Sagramore le Desirous said: "Yea, this is
+he; now bide you here for a little while, and I will go and take a fall of
+him."
+
+So straightway he mounted upon his horse, and he rode toward Sir Launcelot,
+and he cried out: "Stay, Sir Knight, you cannot go farther until you have
+had to do with me." "What would you have of me?" quoth Sir Launcelot.
+"Sir," said Sir Sagramore, "I will have a fall of you." "Well," said Sir
+Launcelot, "I suppose I must pleasure you, since it cannot be otherwise."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot overthrows Sir Sagramore] Therewith he dressed
+his shield and his spear and Sir Sagramore dressed his shield and his
+spear, and when they were in all ways prepared they ran together at full
+tilt. In that encounter Sir Sagramore's spear broke, but Sir Launcelot
+struck so powerful a blow that he overthrew both horse and man into a ditch
+of water that was near-by.
+
+Then Sir Ector de Maris said: "Ha, surely some very ill chance has befallen
+Sir Sagramore for to be overthrown by Sir Kay. Now I will go and have ado
+with him, for if the matter rests here there will be no living at court
+with the jests which will be made upon us."
+
+So he took horse and rode to where Sir Launcelot was, and he went at a very
+fast gallop. When he had come near to Sir Launcelot he cried out: "Have at
+thee, Sir Kay, for it is my turn next!" "Why should I have at thee?" said
+Sir Launcelot, "I have done thee no harm." "No matter," said Sir Ector,
+"you can go no farther until you have had to do with me." "Well," said Sir
+Launcelot, "if that is so, the sooner I have to do with thee, the sooner
+shall I be able to go upon my way."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot overthrows Sir Ector] Therewith each knight made
+himself ready and when they were in all ways prepared they came together
+with such force that Sir Launcelot's spear went through Sir Ector's shield
+and smote him upon the shoulder, and Sir Ector was thrown down upon the
+ground with such violence that he lay where he had fallen, without power to
+move.
+
+Then said Sir Ewain to Sir Gawain where they stood together: "That is the
+most wonderful thing that ever I beheld, for never did I think to behold
+Sir Kay bear himself in battle in such a fashion as that. Now bide thee
+here and let me have a try at him." Therewith Sir Ewain mounted his horse
+and rode at Sir Launcelot, and there were no words spoken this time, but
+each knight immediately took his stand to do battle. Then they ran their
+horses together, and Sir Launcelot gave Sir Ewain such a buffet that he was
+astonished, and for a little he knew not where he was, for his spear fell
+down out of his hand, and he bore his shield so low that Sir Launcelot
+might have slain him where he stood if he had been minded to do so.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Ewain yields to Sir Launcelot] Then Sir Launcelot said:
+"Sir Knight, I bid thee yield to me." And Sir Ewain said: "I yield me. For
+I do not believe that thou art Sir Kay but a bigger man than he shall ever
+be. Wherefore I yield me." "Then that is well," said Sir Launcelot. "Now
+stand thou a little aside where thou mayst bring succor unto these other
+two knights, for I see that Sir Gawain has a mind to tilt with me."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Gawain fails with Sir Launcelot] And it was as Sir
+Launcelot said, for Sir Gawain also had mounted his horse and had made
+himself ready for that encounter. So Sir Gawain and Sir Launcelot took
+stand at such place as suited them. Then each knight set spurs to his horse
+and rushed together like thunder, and each knight smote the other knight in
+the midst of his shield; and in that encounter the spear of Sir Gawain
+brake in twain but the spear of Sir Launcelot held, and therewith he gave
+Sir Gawain such a buffet that Sir Gawain's horse reared up into the air,
+and it was with much ado that he was able to void his saddle ere his horse
+fell over backward. For if he had not leaped to earth the horse would have
+fallen upon him.
+
+Then Sir Gawain drew his sword and cried very fiercely: "Come down and
+fight me, Sir Knight! For thou art not Sir Kay!"
+
+"Nay, I will not fight thee that way," said Sir Launcelot, and therewith he
+passed on his way without tarrying further.
+
+But he laughed to himself behind his helmet as he rode, and he said: "God
+give Sir Kay joy of such a spear as this, for I believe there came never so
+good a spear as this into my hand. For with it I have overthrown seven
+famous knights in this hour."
+
+As for those four knights of the Round Table, they comforted one another as
+best they could, for they knew not what to think of that which had befallen
+them. Only Sir Ector said: "That was never Sir Kay who served us in this
+wise, but such a man as is better than ten Sir Kays, or twice ten Sir Kays,
+for the matter of that."
+
+[Sidenote: How Sir Launcelot returned to Camelot] Now Sir Launcelot came
+to Camelot about eventide, what time King Arthur and his court were
+assembled at their supper. Then there was great joy when news was brought
+of his coming and they brought him in to the court and set him beside the
+King and the Lady Guinevere all armed as he was. Then King Arthur said:
+"Sir Launcelot, how is it with thee?" and Sir Launcelot said: "It is well."
+Then King Arthur said: "Tell us what hath befallen thee." And Sir Launcelot
+told all that had happened in that month since he had left court. And all
+they who were there listened, and were much astonished.
+
+But when Sir Launcelot told how he had encountered those seven knights, in
+the armor of Sir Kay, all laughed beyond measure excepting those of the
+seven who were there, for they took no very good grace to be laughed at in
+that wise.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+So now I hope I have made you acquainted with Sir Launcelot of the Lake,
+who was the greatest knight in the world. For not only have I told you how
+he was created a knight at the hands of King Arthur, but I have also led
+you errant along with him, so that you might see for yourself how he
+adventured his life for other folk and what a noble and generous gentleman
+he was; and how pitiful to the weak and suffering, and how terrible to the
+evil-doer. But now I shall have to leave him for a while (but after a while
+in another book that shall follow this, I shall return to him to tell you a
+great many things concerning other adventures of his), for meantime it is
+necessary that I should recount the history of another knight, who was held
+by many to be nearly as excellent a knight as Sir Launcelot was himself.
+
+
+
+
+CONCLUSION
+
+_Here endeth the story of Sir Launcelot. That which followeth is the story
+of Sir Tristram of Lyonesse, who was knit with Sir Launcelot into such
+close ties of friendship that if they had been brothers of the same blood,
+with the same father and mother, they could not have loved one another more
+than they did.
+
+For indeed it would not be possible to tell any history of Sir Launcelot of
+the Lake without telling that of Sir Tristram of Lyonesse as well, for as
+the web of a fair fabric is woven in with the woof thereof, so were the
+lives of Sir Launcelot and Sir Tristram woven closely together.
+
+Wherefore you shall now hear tell of the goodly adventures of Sir Tristram
+of Lyonesse; and God grant that you may have the same joy in reading
+thereof that I shall have in telling of them to you._
+
+
+
+
+The Book of Sir Tristram
+
+[Illustration: Sir Tristram of Lyonesse]
+
+
+
+
+Prologue.
+
+There was a certain kingdom called Lyonesse, and the King of that country
+was hight Meliadus, and the Queen thereof who was hight the Lady Elizabeth,
+was sister to King Mark of Cornwall.
+
+In the country of Lyonesse, there was a very beautiful lady, who was a
+cunning and wicked sorceress. This lady took great love for King Meliadus,
+who was of an exceedingly noble appearance, and she meditated continually
+how she might bring him to her castle so as to have him near her.
+
+[Sidenote: King Meliadus rides a-hunting] Now King Meliadus was a very
+famous huntsman, and he loved the chase above all things in the world,
+excepting the joy he took in the love of his Queen, the Lady Elizabeth. So,
+upon a certain day, in the late autumn season he was minded to go forth
+a-hunting, although the day was very cold and bleak.
+
+About the prime of the day the hounds started, of a sudden, a very
+wonderful stag. For it was white and its horns were gilded very bright,
+shining like pure gold, so that the creature itself appeared like a living
+miracle in the forest. When this stag broke cover, the hounds immediately
+set chase to it with a great outcry of yelling, as though they were
+suddenly gone frantic, and when the King beheld the creature, he also was
+immediately seized as with a great fury for chasing it. For, beholding it,
+he shouted aloud and drove spurs into his horse, and rushed away at such a
+pass that his court was, in a little while, left altogether behind him, and
+he and the chase were entirely alone in the forest.
+
+[Sidenote: King Meliadus chases the stag] The stag, with the hounds close
+behind it, ran at a great rate through the passes of the woodlands, and
+King Meliadus pursued it with might and main until the chase burst out of
+the forest into an open plain beyond the woodland. Then King Meliadus
+beheld that in the midst of the plain was a considerable lake of water; and
+that in the midst of the water was an island; and that upon the island was
+a very tall and stately castle. Toward this castle the stag ran with great
+speed, and so, coming to the lake, it leaped into the water and swam across
+to the island--and there was a thin sheet of clear ice upon the water close
+to either bank.
+
+But when the hounds that pursued the stag came to that frozen water, they
+stinted their pursuit and stood whimpering upon the brink, for the ice and
+the water repelled them. But King Meliadus made no such pause, but
+immediately leaped off from his horse, and plunged into the water and swam
+across in pursuit of the stag. And when he reached the other side, he
+chased the stag afoot with great speed, and therewith the stag ran to the
+castle and into the court-yard thereof, and King Meliadus ran after it.
+Then, immediately he had entered in, the gates of the castle were shut and
+King Meliadus was a prisoner.
+
+[Sidenote: King Meliadus is made prisoner at an enchanted castle] (Now you
+are to know that that castle was the abode of the beautiful enchantress
+afore spoken of, and you are to know that she had sent that enchanted stag
+to beguile King Meliadus to her court, and so she made King Meliadus her
+captive. Further, it is to be told that when she had him there within her
+castle, she wove a web of enchantment all about him so that he forgot the
+Lady Elizabeth and his court and his kingdom and thought of nothing but
+that beautiful sorceress who had thus beguiled him into her power.)
+
+[Sidenote: The Lady Elizabeth grieves to distraction] Now, when those who
+were with the King returned to the castle of Lyonesse without him, and when
+the King did not return that day nor the next day nor at any time, the Lady
+Elizabeth grew more and more distracted in her anxiety because of him. And
+when a fortnight had gone by and still there was no news of the King, her
+grief and apprehension became so great that she turned distracted and they
+had to set watch and ward upon her lest she do herself a harm in her
+madness.
+
+So for a long time they kept her within the castle; but upon a certain day
+she broke away from her keepers and ran out from the castle and into the
+forest ere those in attendance upon her knew she had gone. Only one
+gentlewoman saw her, and she called upon a young page to follow her, and
+thereupon ran after the Queen whither she went, with intent to bring her
+back again.
+
+[Sidenote: The Lady Elizabeth escapes into the forest] But the Lady
+Elizabeth ran very deep into the forest, and the gentlewoman and the page
+ran after her; and the Queen thought that she was going to find her lord in
+the forest. So she ran very rapidly for a great distance, until by and by
+she waxed faint with weariness from running and sank down upon the ground;
+and there they that followed her found her lying. And they found that the
+Queen was in a great passion of pain and sick to death. For the day was
+very wintry, with a fine powder of snow all over the ground, so that the
+cold of the weather pierced through the garments of the Lady Elizabeth and
+entered into her body and chilled her to the heart.
+
+Now the gentlewoman, seeing how it was with the Queen, called the page to
+her and said: "Make haste! Go back to the castle of Lyonesse, and bring
+some of the knights of the castle with all speed, else the Queen will die
+at this place." And upon that the page ran off with great speed to do her
+bidding and the Queen was left alone with her gentlewoman.
+
+Then the gentlewoman said, "Lady, what cheer?" And the Queen said, "Alas, I
+am sick to death." The gentlewoman said, "Lady, cannot you bear up a little
+until help cometh?" Thereupon the Lady Elizabeth fell to weeping very
+piteously, and said, "Nay, I cannot bear up any longer, for the cold hath
+entered into my heart." (Yea, even at that time death was upon her because
+of the cold at her heart.)
+
+Then by and by in the midst of her tears and in very sore travail a
+man-child was born to the Queen, and when that came to pass a great peace
+fell suddenly upon her.
+
+[Sidenote: How Tristram is born in the forest] Then she said, speaking to
+the nurse like one in great weariness, "What child is it that I have given
+unto the world?" The nurse said, "It is a man-child." The Queen said to
+her, "Hold him up until I see him." Thereupon the nurse held the child up
+and the Queen looked at him, though she could hardly see him because it was
+as though a mist lay upon her eyes which she could not clear away from her
+sight; for at that time she was drawing deep draughts of death. Then, when
+she had seen the child and had beheld that he was very strong and lusty and
+exceedingly comely, she said: "Behold, this is my child, born in the midst
+of sore travail and great sorrow; wherefore his name shall be called
+Tristram because he hath caused so many tears to be shed."
+
+Then in a little while the Lady died, and the gentlewoman stood weeping
+beside her, making great outcry in that cold and lonely forest.
+
+Anon there came those knights who were sent from the castle to find the
+Queen; and when they came to that place, they beheld that she lay upon the
+ground all cold and white like to a statue of marble stone. So they lifted
+her up and bare her away upon a litter, and the gentlewoman followed
+weeping and wailing in great measure, and bearing the child wrapped in a
+mantle.
+
+So Tristram was born in that wise, and so his name was given to him because
+of the tears that were shed at his birth.
+
+And now it is to be told how King Meliadus returned from that castle of
+enchantment where he was held prisoner.
+
+[Sidenote: King Meliadus is released from durance] At this time Merlin was
+still living in the world, for Vivien had not yet bewitched him, as hath
+been told in the Book of King Arthur. So by and by it came to pass that he
+discovered where King Meliadus was imprisoned and how it fared with him in
+the castle of that enchantress. So he made greater spells than those that
+enmeshed King Meliadus, and he brought King Meliadus back into his memory
+of the Queen and his kingdom. Then straightway the King broke out from the
+castle of the enchantress and returned to his kingdom. But when he came
+there it was to find everything in great sorrow and dole; for the Lady
+Elizabeth was no longer upon this earth to bring joy to the heart of the
+King. So for a long while after his return King Meliadus lay altogether
+stricken down with the grief of that bereavement.
+
+Here followeth the story of Tristram, how he passed his youth, and how he
+became a knight of Cornwall of King Mark's making.
+
+
+
+
+PART I
+
+
+The Story of Sir Tristram and the Lady Belle Isoult
+
+_Here followeth the story of Sir Tristram of Lyonesse, who, with Sir
+Launcelot of the Lake, was deemed to be one of the two most worthy and
+perfect knights champion of his day.
+
+Likewise herein shall be told the story of the Lady Belle Isoult, who next
+to Queen Guinevere, was reckoned to be the most fair, gentle lady in all of
+the world._
+
+[Illustration: Tristram succors the Lady Moeya]
+
+
+
+
+Chapter First
+
+
+_How the new Queen of Lyonesse sought Tristram's life; how he went to
+France, and how he returned again to Lyonesse and was received with love at
+that place._
+
+So King Meliadus grieved very bitterly for the Lady Elizabeth for the space
+of seven years, and in that time he took but little pleasure in life, and
+still less pleasure in that son who had been born to him in that wise. Then
+one day a certain counsellor who was in great favor with the King came to
+him and said: "Lord, it is not fitting that you should live in this wise
+and without a mate; for you should have a queen, and you should have other
+children besides Tristram, else all the fate of this kingdom shall depend
+upon the life of that one small child."
+
+[Sidenote: King Meliadus taketh the Lady Moeya to second wife] And King
+Meliadus took this counsel to heart, and after a while he said: "What you
+tell me is true, and so I shall take another Queen, even though it is not
+in me to love any other woman in all of the world but that dear one who is
+dead and gone." So a while after that he took to wife the Lady Moeya, who
+was the daughter of King Howell of Britain.
+
+Now Queen Moeya had been married to an Earl of Britain, and by him she had
+a son who was about the age of Tristram. So she brought this son to
+Lyonesse with her, and he and Tristram were very good companions.
+
+But the Lady Moeya took great hatred of Tristram, for she said in her
+heart: "Except for this Tristram, mayhap my son might be King and overlord
+of this land." And these thoughts brooded with her, so that after a while
+she began to meditate how she might make away with Tristram so that her own
+son might come into his inheritance.
+
+Now at that time Tristram was about thirteen years of age and very large
+and robust of form and of extraordinary strength of body and beauty of
+countenance. But the son of Queen Moeya was not of such a sort, so the more
+beautiful and noble Tristram was the more the Queen hated him. So one day
+she called to her a very cunning chemist and she said to him: "Give me a
+drink of such and such a sort, so that he who drinks thereof shall
+certainly die, maugre help of any kind." And the chemist gave her what she
+desired, and it was in a phial and was of a golden color.
+
+[Sidenote: The Lady Moeya devises mischief against Tristram] Now Tristram
+and the son of the Lady Moeya were wont to play ball in a certain court of
+the castle, and when they would play there they would wax all of a heat
+with their sport. This the Lady Moeya was well aware of; so one day she
+took that phial of poison and she poured a part of it into a chalice and
+she filled the chalice with clear water and she set the chalice upon a
+bench where those two would play at ball. For she said to herself: "When
+they grow warm with their play, Tristram will certainly drink of this water
+to quench his thirst, and then my son will maybe enter into his
+inheritance."
+
+[Sidenote: The son of the Queen drinks of the poison] So the two youths
+played very fiercely at their game, and they waxed exceedingly hot and
+presently were both very violently athirst. Then Tristram said, "I would I
+had somewhat to drink," and his stepbrother said, "Look, yonder is a
+chalice of water; drink! and when thou hast quenched thy thirst, then I
+will drink also." But Tristram said: "Nay, brother, drink thou first, for
+thou art more athirst than I." Then at first the son of the Lady Moeya
+would not have it so, but would have Tristram drink; but afterward he did
+as Tristram bade him, and, taking the chalice in both hands, he drank
+freely of that poison which his own mother had prepared. Then when he had
+drunk his fill, Tristram took the chalice and would have drunk too; but the
+other said, "Stay, Tristram, there is great bitterness in that chalice";
+and then he said, "Methinks I feel a very bitter pang within my vitals,"
+and then he cried out, "Woe is me! I am in great pain!" Therewith he fell
+down upon the ground and lay there in a great passion of agony. Then
+Tristram cried aloud for help in a piercing voice; but when help came
+thither it was too late, for the son of the Lady Moeya was dead.
+
+Then the Lady Moeva was in great torment of soul, and beat her breast and
+tore her hair and King Meliadus had much ado for to comfort her. And after
+this she hated Tristram worse than ever before, for she would say to
+herself: "Except for this Tristram, my own son would yet be alive!"
+
+So she brooded upon these things until she could not rest, whether by day
+or night. Then one day she took the rest of the poison that was in the
+phial and poured it into a goblet of yellow wine. This goblet she gave to
+one of her pages, saying: "Take this to Tristram, and offer it to him when
+I shall tell you to do so!"
+
+[Sidenote: The Lady Moeya seeks Tristram's life a second time] Therewith
+she went down to the hall where Tristram was, and she said, "Tristram, let
+there be peace betwixt us." And Tristram said: "Lady, that meets my wishes,
+for I have never had in my heart aught but loving-kindness toward you, and
+so I would have it in your heart toward me." With this the page came in the
+hall with that goblet of yellow wine. Then the Lady Moeya took the goblet
+and said: "Take this cup, and drink of the wine that is in it, and so there
+shall be peace betwixt us forever." And as she said that she looked very
+strangely upon Tristram, but Tristram was altogether innocent of any evil
+against him. So he reached out his hand to take the cup which the page
+brought to him.
+
+Now at that moment King Meliadus came into the hall fresh from the chase,
+and he was much heated and greatly athirst, wherefore, when he saw that cup
+of wine he said: "Stay, Tristram, let me drink, for I am greatly athirst.
+After I have quenched my thirst, then thou shalt drink."
+
+Therewith he took the goblet of wine and made to lift it to his lips. But
+at that the Lady Moeya cried out, in a very loud and piercing voice, "Do
+not drink of that wine!" The King said, "Why should I not drink of it?" "No
+matter," said the Lady Moeya, "thou shalt not drink of it, for there is
+death in it."
+
+Therewith she ran to the King and catched him by the hand, and she plucked
+away the goblet so that the wine was spilled out of it upon the ground.
+
+[Sidenote: King Meliadus threatens to slay the Queen] Then King Meliadus
+gazed at the Lady Moeya, and he thought of many things in very little time.
+Thereupon he seized her by the hair and dragged her forward, so that she
+fell down upon her hands and knees to the pavement of the hall. And King
+Meliadus drew his great sword so that it flashed like lightning, and he
+cried: "Tell me what thou hast done, and tell me quickly, or thou shalt not
+be able to tell me at all!" Then the Lady Moeya clutched King Meliadus
+about the thighs, and she cried out: "Do not slay me with thine own hand,
+or else my blood will stain thee with dishonor! I will tell thee all, and
+then thou mayst deal with me according to the law, for indeed I am not fit
+to live." So therewithal the Lady Moeya confessed everything to the King.
+
+Then King Meliadus shouted aloud and called the attendants and said: "Take
+this woman and cast her into prison, and see that no harm befall her there;
+for the lords of this country shall adjudge her, and not I." And therewith
+he turned away and left her.
+
+And thereafter, in due season, the Lady Moeya was brought to trial and was
+condemned to be burned at the stake.
+
+[Sidenote: Tristram begs mercy for the Queen] Now when the day came that
+she was to be burnt, Tristram was very sorry for her. So when he beheld her
+tied fast to the stake he came to where King Meliadus was and he kneeled
+before him, and he said, "Father, I crave a boon of thee." Thereupon King
+Meliadus looked upon Tristram, and he loved him very tenderly and he said:
+"My son, ask what thou wilt, and it shall be thine." Then Tristram said:
+"Father, I pray thee, spare the life of this lady, for methinks she hath
+repented her of her evil, and surely God hath punished her very sorely for
+the wickedness she hath tried to do."
+
+Then King Meliadus was very wroth that Tristram should interfere with the
+law; but yet he had granted that boon to his son and could not withdraw. So
+after a while of thought he said: "Well, I have promised, and so I will
+perform my promise. Her life is thine; go to the stake and take her. But
+when thou hast done so I bid thee go forth from this place and show thy
+face here no more. For thou hast interfered with the law, and hast done ill
+that thou, the son of the King, should save this murderess. So thou shalt
+leave this place, for I mistrust that between you two some murder will
+befall in this country."
+
+So Tristram went weeping to where the Queen was bound to the stake; and he
+cut her bonds with his dagger and set her free. And he said: "Lady, thou
+art free; now go thy way, and may God forgive thee as I do." Then the Queen
+wept also, and said, "Tristram, thou art very good to me." And because she
+was barefoot and in her shift, Tristram took his cloak and wrapped it about
+her.
+
+[Sidenote: Tristram departs from Lyonesse] After that, Tristram
+straightway left Lyonesse, and King Meliadus appointed that a noble and
+honorable lord of the court, hight Gouvernail, should go with him. They two
+went to France, and there they were made very welcome at the court of the
+King. So Tristram dwelt in France till he was eighteen years old, and
+everyone at the court of the King of France loved him and honored him so
+that he dwelt there as though he were of the blood of France.
+
+During the time that he was in France he became the greatest hunter in the
+world, and he wrote many books on venery that were read and studied long
+after he had ceased to live. Also he became so skilful with the harp that
+no minstrel in the world was his equal. And ever he waxed more sturdy of
+frame and more beautiful of countenance, and more well-taught in all the
+worship of knighthood. For during that time he became so wonderfully
+excellent in arms that there was no one in France who was his equal.
+
+Thus Tristram dwelt at peace in that land for five years, but even he
+longed for his own home with all the might and main of his heart. So one
+day he said to Gouvernail: "Gouvernail, I cannot deny myself any longer
+from seeing my father and my own country, for I feel that I must see them
+or else my heart will certainly break because of its great longing." Nor
+would he listen to anything that Gouvernail might say contrary to this. So
+they two took their departure from France, and Tristram travelled as a
+harper and Gouvernail as his attendant. Thus they came to Lyonesse in that
+wise.
+
+[Sidenote: How Tristram returns to Lyonesse] One day whilst King Meliadus
+sat at meat, they two came into the hall, and Gouvernail wore a long white
+beard which altogether disguised him so that no one knew him. But Tristram
+shone with such a great radiance of beauty and of youth that all who looked
+upon him marvelled at him. And the heart of King Meliadus went out to
+Tristram very strongly, and he said before all of his court, "Who art thou,
+fair youth? And whence comest thou?" To which Tristram made reply: "Lord, I
+am a harper, and this is my man, and we have come from France." Then King
+Meliadus said to Tristram: "Sir, have you seen a youth in France whom men
+call Tristram?" And Tristram replied, "Yea, I have seen him several times."
+King Meliadus said, "Doth he do well?" "Yea," said Tristram, "he doeth very
+well, though at times he is sore oppressed with a great desire for his own
+country." At this King Meliadus turned away his face, for his heart went
+very strongly out at the thought of his son. Then by and by he said to
+Tristram, "Wilt thou play upon thy harp?" And Tristram said, "Yea, if it
+will please thee to hear me." Therewith he took his harp and he set it
+before him, and he struck the strings and played upon it, and he sang in
+such a wise that no one who was there had ever heard the like thereof.
+
+Then King Meliadus' heart was melted at Tristram's minstrelsy, and he said:
+"That is wonderful harping. Now ask what thou wilt of me, and it shall be
+thine, whatever it may be."
+
+To this Tristram said, "Lord, that is a great thing that thou sayest."
+"Nevertheless," said King Meliadus, "it shall be as I say." Then Tristram
+left his harp and he came to where King Meliadus sat, and he kneeled down
+before him and he said: "Lord, if so be that is the case, then that which I
+ask of thee is this: that thou wilt forgive me and bring me back into thy
+favor again."
+
+[Sidenote: King Meliadus is reconciled to Tristram] At that King Meliadus
+was filled with a great wonder, and he said: "Fair youth, who art thou, and
+what have I to forgive thee?" "Lord," said Tristram, "I am thy son, and ask
+thee to forgive me that I should have saved the life of that lady who is
+thy Queen."
+
+At this King Meliadus cried out with joy, and he came down from where he
+sat and he took Tristram into his arms and kissed him upon the face, and
+Tristram wept and kissed his father upon the face.
+
+So they were reconciled.
+
+After that, Tristram abode in peace in Lyonesse for some while, and during
+that time he made peace betwixt King Meliadus and Queen Moeya, and the
+Queen loved him because he was so good to her.
+
+[Sidenote: Tristram refuses knighthood] Now after the return of Tristram
+as aforesaid, King Meliadus would have made him a knight, but Tristram
+would not suffer the honor of knighthood to be bestowed upon him at that
+time, but always said: "Lord, think not ill of me if I do not accept
+knighthood at this time. For I would fain wait until the chance for some
+large adventure cometh; then I would be made a knight for to meet that
+adventure, so that I might immediately win renown. For what credit could
+there be to our house if I should be made knight, only that I might sit in
+hall and feast and drink and make merry?"
+
+So spoke Sir Tristram, and his words sounded well to King Meliadus,
+wherefore from thenceforth King Meliadus refrained from urging knighthood
+upon him.
+
+Now the way that Sir Tristram achieved knighthood shall be told in that
+which followeth, and also it shall then be told how he fought his first
+battle, which was one of the most famous that ever he fought in all of his
+life.
+
+[Illustration: King Mark of Cornwall]
+
+
+
+
+Chapter Second
+
+
+_How Sir Tristram was made knight by the King of Cornwall, and
+how he fought a battle with a famous champion._
+
+Now first of all it is to be here said that at that time there was great
+trouble come to King Mark of Cornwall (who, as aforesaid, was uncle to Sir
+Tristram) and the trouble was this:
+
+[Sidenote: The King of Ireland claims truage of Cornwall] The King of
+Cornwall and the King of Ireland had great debate concerning an island that
+lay in the sea betwixt Cornwall and Ireland. For though that island was
+held by Cornwall, yet the King of Ireland laid claim to it and demanded
+that the King of Cornwall should pay him truage for the same. This King
+Mark refused to do, and there was great contention betwixt Cornwall and
+Ireland, so that each country made ready for war.
+
+But the King of Ireland said: "Let there not be war betwixt Ireland and
+Cornwall concerning this disagreement, but let us settle this affair in
+some other way. Let us each choose a champion and let those two champions
+decide the rights of this case by a combat at arms. For so the truth shall
+be made manifest."
+
+Now you are to know that at that time the knights of Cornwall were held in
+great disregard by all courts of chivalry; for there was not in those days
+any knight of repute in all the court of Cornwall. Wherefore King Mark knew
+not where he should find him a champion to meet that challenge from the
+King of Ireland. Yet he must needs meet it, for he was ashamed to refuse
+such a challenge as that, and so to acknowledge that Cornwall had no
+knight-champion to defend it. So he said it should be as the King of
+Ireland would have it, and that if the King of Ireland would choose a
+champion, he also would do the same.
+
+[Sidenote: The King of Ireland chooses Sir Marhaus for his champion]
+Thereupon the King of Ireland chose for his champion Sir Marhaus of
+Ireland, who was one of the greatest knights in the world. For in the Book
+of King Arthur (which I wrote aforetime) you may there read in the story of
+Sir Pellias how great and puissant a champion Sir Marhaus was, and how he
+overthrew Sir Gawaine and others with the greatest ease. Wherefore at that
+time he was believed by many to be the greatest knight in the world (it
+being before the days of Sir Launcelot of the Lake), and even in the days
+of Sir Launcelot it was doubted whether he or Sir Launcelot were the
+greater champion.
+
+So King Mark could not find any knight in Cornwall to stand against Sir
+Marhaus. Nor could he easily find any knight outside of Cornwall to do
+battle with him. For Sir Marhaus, being a knight of the Round Table, no
+other knight of the Round Table would fight against him--and there were no
+other knights so great as that famous brotherhood of the Table Round.
+
+Accordingly, King Mark knew not where to turn to find him a champion to do
+battle in his behalf.
+
+In this strait, King Mark sent a letter by a messenger to Lyonesse, asking
+if there was any knight at Lyonesse who would stand his champion against
+Sir Marhaus, and he offered great reward if such a champion would undertake
+his cause against Ireland.
+
+[Sidenote: Tristram asks leave to go to Cornwall] Now when young Tristram
+heard this letter of his uncle King Mark, he straightway went to his father
+and said: "Sire, some whiles ago you desired that I should become a knight.
+Now I would that you would let me go to Cornwall upon this occasion. For
+when I come there I will beseech my uncle King Mark to make me a knight,
+and then I will go out against Sir Marhaus. For I have a great mind to
+undertake this adventure in behalf of King Mark, and to stand his champion
+against Sir Marhaus. For though Sir Marhaus is so great a knight and so
+famous a hero, yet if I should have the good fortune to overcome him in
+battle, there would, certes, be great glory to our house through my
+knighthood."
+
+Then King Meliadus looked upon Tristram and loved him very dearly, and he
+said: "Tristram, thou hast assuredly a very great heart to undertake this
+adventure, which no one else will essay. So I bid thee go, in God's name,
+if so be thy heart bids thee to go. For maybe God will lend the strength
+necessary to carry this adventure through to a successful issue."
+
+So that very day Tristram departed from Lyonesse for Cornwall, taking with
+him only Gouvernail as his companion. So, by ship, he reached Cornwall, and
+the castle of Tintagel, where King Mark was then holding court.
+
+And it was at the sloping of the afternoon when he so came, and at that
+time King Mark was sitting in hall with many of his knights and lords about
+him. And the King was brooding in great trouble of spirit. Unto him came an
+attendant, saying: "Lord, there are two strangers who stand without, and
+crave to be admitted to your presence. One of them hath great dignity and
+sobriety of demeanor, and the other, who is a youth, is of so noble and
+stately an appearance that I do not believe his like is to be found in the
+entire world."
+
+To this the King said, "Show them in."
+
+[Sidenote: Tristram and Gouvernail come to Cornwall] So those two were
+immediately admitted into the hall and came and stood before King Mark; and
+the one of them was Gouvernail and the other was young Tristram. So
+Tristram stood forth before Gouvernail and Gouvernail bore the harp of
+Tristram, and the harp was of gold and shone most brightly and beautifully.
+Then King Mark looked upon Tristram, and marvelled at his size and beauty;
+for Tristram stood above any man in that place, so that he looked like a
+hero amongst them. His brow was as white as milk and his lips were red like
+to coral and his hair was as red as gold and as plentiful as the mane of a
+young lion, and his neck was thick and sturdy and straight like to a round
+pillar of white-stone, and he was clad in garments of blue silk embroidered
+very cunningly with threads of gold and set with a countless multitude of
+gems of divers colors. So because of all this he glistened with a singular
+radiance of richness and beauty.
+
+So King Mark marvelled at the haughtiness of Tristram's appearance, and he
+felt his heart drawn toward Tristram with love and admiration. Then, after
+a little, he spoke, saying: "Fair youth, who are you, and whence come you,
+and what is it you would have of me?"
+
+[Sidenote: Tristram offers himself as champion for Cornwall] "Lord," said
+Tristram, "my name is Tristram, and I come from the country of Lyonesse,
+where your own sister was one time Queen. Touching the purpose of my coming
+hither, it is this: having heard that you are in need of a champion to
+contend for your rights against the champion of Ireland, I come hither to
+say that if you will make me a knight with your own hand, I will take it
+upon me to stand your champion and to meet Sir Marhaus of Ireland upon your
+behalf."
+
+Then King Mark was filled with wonder at the courage of Tristram, and he
+said: "Fair youth, are you not aware that Sir Marhaus of Ireland is a
+knight well set in years and of such great and accredited deeds of arms
+that it is supposed that, excepting Sir Launcelot of the Lake, there is not
+his peer in any court of chivalry in all of the world? How then can you,
+who are altogether new to the use of arms, hope to stand against so
+renowned a champion as he?"
+
+"Lord," quoth Tristram, "I am well aware of what sort of knight Sir Marhaus
+is, and I am very well aware of the great danger of this undertaking. Yet
+if one who covets knighthood shall fear to face a danger, what virtue would
+there then be in the chivalry of knighthood? So, Messire, I put my trust in
+God, His mercies, and I have great hope that He will lend me both courage
+and strength in my time of need."
+
+Then King Mark began to take great joy, for he said to himself: "Maybe this
+youth shall indeed bring me forth in safety out of these dangers that
+menace my honor." So he said: "Tristram, I do believe that you will stand a
+very excellent chance of success in this undertaking, wherefore it shall be
+as you desire; I will make you a knight, and besides that I will fit you
+with armor and accoutrements in all ways becoming to the estate of a
+knight-royal. Likewise I will provide you a Flemish horse of the best
+strain, so that you shall be both furnished and horsed as well as any
+knight in the world hath ever been."
+
+[Sidenote: Tristram is made knight-royal] So that night Tristram watched
+his armor in the chapel of the castle, and the next day he was made knight
+with all the circumstances appertaining to a ceremony of such solemnity as
+that. And upon the afternoon of the day upon which he was thus made knight,
+King Mark purveyed a ship in all ways befitting the occasion, and in the
+ship Tristram and Gouvernail set sail for that island where Sir Marhaus was
+known to be abiding at that time.
+
+Now upon the second day of their voyaging and about the middle of the day
+they came to a land which they knew must be the place which they were
+seeking, and there the sailors made a safe harbor. As soon as they were at
+anchor a gangway was set from the ship to the shore and Sir Tristram and
+Gouvernail drave their horses across the gangway and so to the dry land.
+
+Thereafter they rode forward for a considerable distance, until about the
+first slanting of the afternoon they perceived in the distance three very
+fair ships drawn up close to the shore. And then they were aware of a
+knight, clad in full armor and seated upon a noble horse under the shadow
+of those ships, and they wist that that must be he whom Sir Tristram
+sought.
+
+Then Gouvernail spake to Sir Tristram, saying: "Sir, that knight resting
+yonder beneath the shelter of the ships must be Sir Marhaus."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram goes forth to meet Sir Marhaus] "Yea," said Sir
+Tristram, "that is assuredly he." So he gazed very steadily at the knight
+for a long while, and by and by he said: "Gouvernail, yonder seems to me to
+be a very great and haughty knight for a knight so young as I am to have to
+do with in his first battle; yet if God will lend me His strong aid in this
+affair, I shall assuredly win me great credit at his hands." Then after
+another short while he said: "Now go, Gouvernail, and leave me alone in
+this affair, for I do not choose for anyone to be by when I have to do with
+yonder knight. For either I shall overcome him in this combat or else I
+will lay down my life at this place. For the case is thus, Gouvernail; if
+Sir Marhaus should overcome me and if I should yield me to him as
+vanquished, then mine uncle must pay truage to the King of Ireland for the
+land of Cornwall; but if I died without yielding me to mine enemy, then he
+must yet do battle with another champion at another time, if my uncle the
+King can find such an one to do battle in his behalf. So I am determined
+either to win this battle or to die therein."
+
+Now when Gouvernail heard this, he fell a-weeping in great measure; and he
+cried out: "Sir, let not this battle be of that sort!" To him Sir Tristram
+said very steadfastly: "Say no more, Gouvernail, but go as I bid thee."
+Whereupon Gouvernail turned and went away, as he was bidden to do, weeping
+very bitterly as he went.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram proclaims his degree] Now by this Sir Marhaus had
+caught sight of Sir Tristram where he stood in that field, and so presently
+he came riding thitherward to meet Sir Tristram. When he had come nigh, Sir
+Marhaus said: "Who art thou, Sir Knight?" Unto these Sir Tristram made
+reply: "Sir, I am Sir Tristram of Lyonesse, son of King Meliadus of that
+land, and nephew of King Mark of Cornwall. I am come to do battle upon
+behalf of the King of Cornwall, to release him from the demands of truage
+made by the King of Ireland." Quoth Sir Marhaus: "Messire, are you a knight
+of approval and of battles?" "Nay," said Sir Tristram, "I have only been
+created knight these three days."
+
+"Alas!" said Sir Marhaus, "I am very sorry for thee and for thy noble
+courage that hath brought thee hither to this place. Thou art not fit to
+have to do with me, for I am one who hath fought in more than twice twenty
+battles, each one of which was, I believe, greater than this is like to be.
+Also I have matched me with the very best knights in the world, and have
+never yet been overcome. So I advise thee, because of thy extreme youth, to
+return to King Mark and bid him send me another champion in thy stead, who
+shall be better seasoned than thou art."
+
+"Sir," said Sir Tristram, "I give thee gramercy for thy advice. But I may
+tell thee that I was made knight for no other purpose than to do battle
+with thee; so I may not return without having fulfilled mine adventure.
+Moreover, because of thy great renown and thy courage and prowess, I feel
+all the more desirous to have to do with thee; for if I should die at thy
+hand, then there will be no shame to me, but if I should win this battle
+from thee, then I shall have very great renown in the courts of chivalry."
+
+"Well," said Sir Marhaus, "it is not likely that thou shalt die at my hand.
+For because of thy youth I will not have it that this battle shall be so
+desperate as that." "Say not so," said Sir Tristram, "for either I shall
+die at thy hand, or else I shall overcome thee in this battle, for I make
+my vow to God that I will not yield myself to thee so long as there is life
+within my body."
+
+"Alas!" said Sir Marhaus, "that is certes a great pity. But as thou hast
+foreordained it, so it must needs be." Therewith he saluted Sir Tristram
+and drew rein and rode aside to a little distance where he straightway made
+ready for that battle. Nor was Sir Tristram behind him in making
+preparation, albeit he was filled with doubts as to the outcome of that
+undertaking.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram is wounded] Then when they were in all ways
+prepared, each gave shout and drave spurs into his horse and rushed toward
+the other with such fury that it was terrible to behold. And each smote the
+other with his spear in the centre of his shield, and in that encounter Sir
+Marhaus smote through Sir Tristram's shield and gave Sir Tristram a great
+wound in his side. Then Sir Tristram felt the blood gush out of that wound
+in such abundance that it filled his iron boots, so that they were sodden
+therewith, and he thought he had got his death-wound. But in spite of that
+grievous bitter stroke, he held his seat and was not overthrown. Then so
+soon as he had recovered himself he voided his horse and drew his sword and
+set his shield before him; and when Sir Marhaus saw his preparations, he
+likewise voided his horse and made ready for battle upon foot. So
+straightway they came together with terrible fury, lashing at each other
+with such fearful strength and evil will that it was dreadful to behold.
+And each gave the other many grievous strokes, so that whole pieces of
+armor were hewn off from their bodies; and each gave the other many deep
+wounds, so that that part of the armor that still hung to them became red
+as though it were painted with red. Likewise the ground was all besprinkled
+red where they stood, yet neither gave any thought to quitting that battle
+in which they were engaged.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram gives Sir Marhaus a death-wound] Now for a while
+Sir Tristram feared because of the wound which he had at first received
+that he would die in that battle, but by and by he perceived that he was
+stouter than Sir Marhaus and better winded; wherefore great hope came to
+him and uplifted him with redoubled strength. Then presently Sir Marhaus
+fell back a little and when Sir Tristram perceived that he ran in upon him
+and smote him several times, such direful strokes that Sir Marhaus could
+not hold up his shield against that assault. Then Sir Tristram perceived
+that Sir Marhaus was no longer able to hold up his shield, and therewith he
+smote him a great blow with his sword upon the helmet. So direful was that
+blow that the sword of Sir Tristram pierced very deep through the helm of
+Sir Marhaus and into the brainpan. And Sir Tristram's sword stuck fast in
+the helm and the brain-pan of Sir Marhaus so that Sir Tristram could not
+pull it out again. Then Sir Marhaus, half a-swoon, fell down upon his
+knees, and therewith a part of the edge of the blade brake off from Sir
+Tristram's sword, and remained in the wound that he had given to Sir
+Marhaus.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Marhaus leaves the field] Then Sir Marhaus was aware that
+he had got his death-wound, wherefore a certain strength came to him so
+that he rose to his feet staggering like a drunken man. And at first he
+began going about in a circle and crying most dolorously. Then as he wist
+all that had happed he threw away his sword and his shield, and made away
+from that place, staggering and stumbling like one who had gone blind; for
+he was all bewildered with that mortal wound, and wist not very well what
+he was doing or whither he was going. Then Sir Tristram would have made
+after him to stop him, but he could not do so because he himself was so
+sorely wounded and so weak from the loss of blood. Yet he called after Sir
+Marhaus: "Stay, stay, Sir Knight! Let us finish this battle now we are
+about it!" But to this Sir Marhaus made no answer, but went on down to his
+ships, staggering and stumbling like a blind man as aforesaid, for the sore
+wound which he had received still lent him a false strength of body so that
+he was able to go his way. Then those who were aboard the ships, beholding
+him thus coming staggering toward them, came down and met him and lifted
+him up and bore him away to his own ship. Thereafter, as soon as might be
+they hoisted sail and lifted anchor and took their way from that place.
+
+Then by and by came Gouvernail and several others of Sir Tristram's party
+to where Sir Tristram was; and there they found him leaning upon his sword
+and groaning very sorely because of the great wound in his side. So
+presently they perceived that he could not walk, wherefore they lifted him
+up upon his own shield and bore him thence to that ship that had brought
+him thither.
+
+And when they had come to the ship they laid him down upon a couch and
+stripped him of his armor to search his wounds. Then they beheld what a
+great wound it was that Sir Marhaus had given him in the side, and they
+lifted up their voices in sorrow, for they all believed that he would die.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristam returns to Cornwall] So they set sail, and in two
+days brought him back to King Mark, where he sat at Tintagel in Cornwall.
+And when King Mark saw how pale and wan and weak Sir Tristram was, he wept
+and grieved very sorely for sorrow of that sight, for he too thought that
+Sir Tristram was certainly about to die.
+
+But Sir Tristram smiled upon King Mark, and he said: "Lord, have I done
+well for thy sake?" And King Mark said, "Yea," and fell to weeping again.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram proclaims himself to King Mark] "Then," quoth
+Tristram, "it is time for me to tell thee who I am who have saved thy
+kingdom from the shame of having to pay truage to Ireland, and that I am
+thine own sister's son. For my father is King Meliadus of Lyonesse, and my
+mother was the Lady Elizabeth, who was thine own sister till God took her
+soul to Paradise to dwell there with His angels."
+
+But when King Mark heard this he went forth from that place and into his
+own chamber. And when he had come there he fell down upon his knees and
+cried out aloud: "Alas, alas, that this should be! Rather, God, would I
+lose my entire kingdom than that my sister's son should come to his death
+in this wise!"
+
+Now it remaineth to say of Sir Marhaus that those who were with him brought
+him back to Ireland and that there in a little while he died of the wound
+that Sir Tristram had given him upon the head. But ere he died, and whilst
+they were dressing that hurt, the Queen of Ireland, who was sister to Sir
+Marhaus, discovered the broken piece of the blade still in that grim wound.
+This she drew forth and set aside, and hid very carefully, saying to
+herself: "If ever I meet that knight to whose sword this piece of blade
+fitteth, then it will be an evil day for him."
+
+Thus I have told you all the circumstances of that great battle betwixt Sir
+Tristram of Lyonesse and Sir Marhaus of Ireland. And now you shall hear how
+it befell Sir Tristram thereafter; so harken to what followeth.
+
+[Illustration: The Lady Belle Isoult]
+
+
+
+
+Chapter Third
+
+
+_How Sir Tristram went to Ireland to be healed of his wound by the King's
+daughter of Ireland, and of how he came to love the Lady Belle Isoult. Also
+concerning Sir Palamydes and the Lady Belle Isoult._
+
+Now that grievous hurt which Sir Tristram had received at the hands of Sir
+Marhaus did not heal, but instead grew even more rankled and sore, so that
+there were many who thought that there had been treachery practised and
+that the spearhead had been poisoned to cause such a malignant disease as
+that with which the wounded man suffered. So by and by Sir Tristram grew so
+grievously sick of his hurt that all those who were near him thought that
+he must certainly die.
+
+Then King Mark sent everywhere and into all parts for the most wise and
+learned leeches and chirurgeons to come to Cornwall and search the wounds
+of Sir Tristram, but of all these no one could bring him any ease.
+
+[Sidenote: How Sir Tristram lieth sick in Cornwall] Now one day there came
+to the court of King Mark a very wise lady, who had travelled much in the
+world and had great knowledge of wounds of all sorts. At the bidding of the
+King, she went to where Sir Tristram lay, and searched the wound as so many
+had already done. And when she had done that she came out of Sir Tristram's
+chamber and unto King Mark, where he was waiting for her. Then King Mark
+said to her: "Well, how will it be with yonder knight?" "Lord," quoth she,
+"it is thus; I can do nothing to save his life, nor do I know of any one
+who may save it unless it be the King's daughter of Ireland, who is known
+as the Belle Isoult because of her wonderful beauty. She is the most
+skilful leech in all of the world, and she alone may hope to bring Sir
+Tristram back to life and health again, for I believe that if she fail no
+one else can save him."
+
+Then after the aforesaid lady had gone, King Mark went to where Sir
+Tristram lay, and he told him all that she had said concerning his
+condition; and King Mark said: "Tristram, wilt thou go to the King's
+daughter of Ireland and let her search thy wound?"
+
+Then Sir Tristram groaned at the thought of the weariness and pain of
+moving, and he said: "Lord, this is a great undertaking for one who is so
+sick. Moreover, it is a great risk for me, for, if I go to Ireland, and if
+it be found that I am he who slew Sir Marhaus, then it is hardly likely
+that I shall ever escape from that country again with my life. Ne'theless,
+I am so sorely sick of this wound that I would rather die than live as I am
+living; wherefore I will go to Ireland for the sake of being healed, if
+such a thing is possible."
+
+Accordingly, a little while after that, King Mark provided a ship to carry
+Sir Tristram to Ireland. This ship he furnished with sails of silk of
+divers colors, and he had it hung within with fine embroidered cloth, and
+fabrics woven with threads of silver and gold, so that in its appearance it
+was a worthy vessel even for a great king to sail in. Then, when all was
+ready, King Mark had a number of attendants carry Sir Tristram down to the
+ship in a litter, and he had them lay Sir Tristram upon a soft couch of
+crimson satin, which was set upon the deck beneath a canopy of crimson
+silk, embroidered with threads of silver and garnished with fringe of
+silver, and Sir Tristram lay there at ease where the breezes of the ocean
+came pleasantly to him, and breathed upon his face and his temples and his
+hair and his hands with coolness; and Gouvernail was with Sir Tristram all
+the while in attendance upon him.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram sails to Ireland to have his wound searched] So
+they set sail for Ireland, the weather being very fair and pleasant, and on
+the third day, at about the time of sunset, they came to a part of the
+coast of Ireland where there was a castle built upon the rocks that rose
+out of the sea.
+
+Now there were several fishermen fishing in boats near that castle, and of
+these the pilot of Sir Tristram's boat made inquiry what castle that was.
+To him the fisherman replied: "That castle is the castle of King Angus of
+Ireland." And the fisherman said: "It so happens that the King and Queen
+and their daughter, hight the Lady Belle Isoult, and all of their court are
+there at this very while."
+
+This Sir Tristram heard and said: "This is good news, for indeed I am very
+sick and am right glad that my voyaging is ended." So he gave orders that
+the pilot should bring the ship close under the walls of that castle, and
+that he should there let go anchor; and the pilot did as Sir Tristram had
+commanded him.
+
+[Sidenote: How Sir Tristram came to Ireland] Now, as aforesaid, that ship
+was of a very wonderful appearance, like to the ship of a king or a high
+prince, wherefore many people came down to the walls of the castle and
+stood there and gazed at the vessel as it sailed into the harbor. And by
+that time the sun had set and all the air was illuminated with a marvellous
+golden light; and in this sky of gold the moon hung like a shield of
+silver, very bright and steady above the roofs and towers of the castle.
+And there came from the land a pleasing perfume of blossoms; for it was
+then in the fulness of the spring-time, and all the fruit-bearing trees
+were luxuriant with bloom so that the soft air of evening was full of
+fragrance thereby.
+
+Then there came a great content into the heart of Sir Tristram, wherefore
+he said to Gouvernail: "Gouvernail, either I shall soon be healed of this
+wound, or else I shall presently die and enter into Paradise free of pain,
+for I am become very full of content and of peace toward all men." And then
+he said: "Bring me hither my harp, that I may play upon it a little, for I
+have a desire to chant in this pleasant evening-time."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram sings] So Gouvernail brought to Sir Tristram his
+shining harp, and when Sir Tristram had taken it into his hands he tuned
+it, and when he had tuned it he struck it and sang; and, because of the
+stillness of the evening, his voice sounded marvellously clear and sweet
+across the level water, so that those who stood upon the castle walls and
+heard it thought that maybe an angel was singing on board of that ship.
+
+That time the Lady Belle Isoult sat at the window of her bower enjoying the
+pleasantness of the evening. She also heard Sir Tristram singing, and she
+said to those damsels who were with her, "Ha, what is that I hear?"
+Therewith she listened for a little while, and then she said: "Meseems that
+must be the voice of some angel that is singing." They say: "Nay, Lady, it
+is a wounded knight singing, and he came to this harbor in a wonderful ship
+some while ago." Then the Lady Belle Isoult said to a page who was in
+attendance: "Bid the King and Queen come hither, that they may hear this
+singing also, for never did I think to hear such singing beyond the walls
+of Paradise."
+
+So the page ran with all speed, and in a little the King and Queen came to
+the bower of the Lady Belle Isoult; and she and they leaned upon the
+window-ledge and listened to Sir Tristram whilst he sang in the soft
+twilight. Then by and by King Angus said: "Now I will have yonder minstrel
+brought thither to this castle to do us pleasure, for I believe that he
+must be the greatest minstrel in all the world to sing in that wise." And
+the Lady Belle Isoult said: "I pray you, sir, do so, for it would be great
+joy to everybody to have such singing as that in this place."
+
+So King Angus sent a barge to that ship, and besought that he who sang
+should be brought to the castle. At that Sir Tristram was very glad, for he
+said: "Now I shall be brought to the Lady the Belle Isoult and maybe she
+will heal me." So he had them bare him to the barge of the King of Ireland,
+and so they brought him to the castle of King Angus, where they laid him
+upon a bed in a fair room of the castle.
+
+[Sidenote: King Angus cometh to Tristram] Then King Angus came to Sir
+Tristram where he lay, and he said: "Messire what can I do for you to put
+you more at your ease than you are?" "Lord," said Sir Tristram, "I pray you
+to permit the Lady Belle Isoult to search a great wound in my side that I
+received in battle. For I hear that she is the most skilful leech in all
+the world, and so I have come hither from a great distance, being in such
+pain and dole from my grievous hurt that I shall die in a little while
+unless it be healed."
+
+"Messire," said King Angus, "I perceive that you are no ordinary knight,
+but somebody of high nobility and estate, so it shall be as you desire."
+And then King Angus said: "I pray you, tell me your name and whence you
+come."
+
+Upon this, Sir Tristram communed within his own mind, saying: "An I say my
+name is Tristram, haply there may be someone here will know me and that I
+was the cause why the brother of the Queen of this place hath died." So he
+said: "Lord, my name is Sir Tramtris, and I am come from a country called
+Lyonesse, which is a great distance from this."
+
+Quoth King Angus, "Well, Sir Tramtris, I am glad that you have come to this
+place. Now it shall be done to you as you desire, for to-morrow the Lady
+Belle Isoult shall search your wound to heal it if possible."
+
+[Sidenote: My Lady Belle Isoult searches the wound] And so it was as King
+Angus said, for the next day the Lady Belle Isoult came with her attendants
+to where Sir Tristram lay, and one of the attendants bare a silver basin
+and another bare a silver ewer, and others bare napkins of fine linen. So
+the Lady Belle Isoult came close to Sir Tristram and kneeled beside the
+couch whereon he lay and said, "Let me see the wound." Therewith Sir
+Tristram laid bare his bosom and his side and she beheld it. Then she felt
+great pity for Sir Tristram because of that dolorous wound, and she said:
+"Alas, that so young and so fair and so noble a knight should suffer so
+sore a wound as this!" Therewith still kneeling beside Sir Tristram she
+searched the wound with very gentle, tender touch (for her fingers were
+like to rose leaves for softness) and lo! she found a part of the blade of
+a spear-head embedded very deep in the wound of Sir Tristram.
+
+This she drew forth very deftly (albeit Sir Tristram groaned with a great
+passion of pain) and therewithafter came forth an issue of blood like a
+crimson fountain, whereupon Sir Tristram swooned away like one who had gone
+dead. But he did not die, for they quickly staunched the flow, set aromatic
+spices to his nostrils, so that in a little he revived in spirit to find
+himself at great ease and peace in his body (albeit it was for a while like
+to the peace of death).
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram is healed] Thus it was that the Lady Belle Isoult
+saved the life of Sir Tristram, for in a little while he was able to be
+about again, and presently waxed almost entirely hale and strong in limb
+and body.
+
+And now it is to be told how Sir Tristram loved the Lady Belle Isoult and
+how she loved Sir Tristram. Also how a famous knight, hight Sir Palamydes
+the Saracen, loved Belle Isoult and of how she loved not him.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram loves the Lady Belle Isoult] For, as was said, it
+came about that in a little while Sir Tristram was healed of that grievous
+wound aforetold of so that he was able to come and go whithersoever he
+chose. But always he would be with the Lady Belle Isoult, for Sir Tristram
+loved her with a wonderfully passionate regard. And so likewise the lady
+loved Sir Tristram. For if he loved her because she had saved his life,
+then she also loved him for the same reason. For she did not ever forget
+how she had drawn out the head of that spear from the wound at his side,
+and of how he had groaned when she brought it forth, and of how the blood
+had gushed out of that wound. Wherefore she loved him very aboundingly for
+the agony of pain she had one time caused him to suffer.
+
+So they two fair and noble creatures were always together in bower or in
+hall, and no one in all that while wist that Sir Tramtris was Sir Tristram,
+and that it was his hand that had slain Sir Marhaus of Ireland.
+
+So Sir Tristram was there in Ireland for a year, and in that time he grew
+to be altogether well and sturdy again.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Palamydes cometh to Ireland] Now it was in those days that
+there came Sir Palamydes the Saracen knight to that place, who was held to
+be one of the very foremost knights in the world. So great rejoicing was
+made over him because he had come thither, and great honor was shown to him
+by everyone.
+
+But when Sir Palamydes beheld the Lady Belle Isoult and when he saw how
+fair she was, he came in a short while to love her with almost as
+passionate a regard as that with which Sir Tristram loved her, so that he
+also sought ever to be with her whenever the chance offered.
+
+But Belle Isoult felt no regard for Sir Palamydes, but only fear of him,
+for all of her love was given to Sir Tristram. Nevertheless, because Sir
+Palamydes was so fierce and powerful a knight, she did not dare to offend
+him; wherefore she smiled upon him and treated him with all courtesy and
+kindness although she loved him not, dissembling her regard for him.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram is displeased] All this Sir Tristram beheld from
+aside and it displeased him a very great deal to see how Sir Palamydes was
+always beside the lady. But Belle Isoult beheld how Sir Tristram was
+displeased, wherefore she took occasion to say to him: "Tramtris, be not
+displeased, for what am I to do? You know very well that I do not love this
+knight, but I am afraid of him because he is so fierce and so strong."
+
+To this Sir Tristram said: "Lady, it would be a great shame to me if I,
+being by, should suffer any knight to come betwixt you and me and win your
+regard through fear of him."
+
+She said: "Tramtris, what would you do? Would you give challenge to this
+knight? Lo, you are not yet entirely healed of your hurt, and Sir Palamydes
+is in perfect strength of body. For indeed it is for you I am most of all
+afraid lest you and Sir Palamydes should come to battle and lest he should
+do you a harm before you are entirely healed."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram desires to do battle] "Lady," quoth Sir Tristram,
+"I thank God that I am not at all afraid of this knight, or of any other
+knight, and I have to thank you that I am now entirely recovered and am as
+strong as ever I was. Wherefore I have now a mind to deal with this knight
+in your behalf. So if you will provide me with armor I will deal with him
+so that maybe he will not trouble you again. Now I will devise it in this
+way:--tell your father, King Angus, to proclaim a great jousting. In that
+jousting I will seek out Sir Palamydes and will encounter him, and I hope
+with God's aid that I shall overcome him, so that you shall be free from
+him."
+
+Belle Isoult said, "Tramtris, are you able for this?" He said, "Yea, I am
+as ready as ever I shall be in all of my life." Whereat Belle Isoult said,
+"It shall be as you will have it."
+
+Then Sir Tristram charged Belle Isoult that she should keep secret all this
+that had been said betwixt them. And more especially she was to keep it
+secret that he was to take part in such a tournament as that which they had
+devised. And he said to her: "Lady, I lie here under a great peril to my
+life, though I cannot tell you what that peril is. But I may tell you that
+if my enemies should discover me at this place, it would go hard with me to
+preserve my life from them. Wherefore, if I take part in any such affair as
+this, it must be altogether a secret betwixt us."
+
+So therewith they parted and Lady Belle Isoult went to her father and
+besought him to proclaim a great day of jousting in honor of Sir Palamydes,
+and the King said that he would do so. So the King sent forth proclamation
+to all the courts of that nation that a great tournament was to be held and
+that great rewards and great honors were to be given to the best knight
+thereat. And that tournament was talked about in all the courts of chivalry
+where there were knights who desired to win glory in such affairs at arms.
+
+And now it shall be told concerning that tournament and how it befell with
+Sir Tristram thereat, and with Sir Palamydes thereat.
+
+[Illustration: The Queen of Ireland seeks to slay Sir Tristram]
+
+
+
+
+Chapter Fourth
+
+
+_How Sir Tristram encountered Sir Palamydes at the tournament and of what
+befell. Also how Sir Tristram was forced to leave the Kingdom of Ireland._
+
+So came the time for the tournament that King Angus of Ireland had
+ordained; and that was a very famous affair at arms indeed. For it hath
+very rarely happened that so noble a gathering of knights hath ever come
+together as that company which there presented itself for that occasion at
+the court of the King of Ireland.
+
+[Sidenote: Of the court of chivalry at Ireland] For you may know how
+excellent was the court of chivalry that fore gathered thereat when you
+shall hear that there came to that tournament, the King of an Hundred
+Knights and the King of the Scots, and that there came several knights of
+the Round Table, to wit: Sir Gawaine, Sir Gaheris and Sir Agravaine; and
+Sir Bagdemagus and Sir Kay and Sir Dodinas, and Sir Sagramore le Desirous,
+and Sir Gumret the Less, and Sir Griflet; and that there came besides these
+many other knights of great renown.
+
+These and many others gathered at the court of King Angus of Ireland, so
+that all those meadows and fields coadjacent to the place of battle were
+gay as beds of flowers with the multitude of tents and pavilions of divers
+colors that were there emplanted.
+
+And on the day of the tournament there came great crowds of people into the
+lists, so that all that place was alive with movement. For it was as though
+a sea of people had arisen to overflow the seats and stalls thereof.
+
+Now that tournament was to last for three days, and upon the third day
+there was to be a grand melee in which all these knights contestant were to
+take stand upon this side or upon that.
+
+But upon the first two of those three days Sir Tristram sat in the stall of
+the King and looked down upon the jousting, for, because of the illness
+from which he had recovered, he was minded to save his body until the right
+time should come, what time he should be called upon to do his uttermost.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Palamydes performeth wonders] And in those two days, Sir
+Tristram beheld that Sir Palamydes did more wonderfully in battle than he
+would have believed it possible for any knight to do. For Sir Palamydes was
+aware that the eyes of the Lady Belle Isoult were gazing upon him,
+wherefore he felt himself uplifted to battle as with the strength of ten.
+Wherefore he raged about that field like a lion of battle, seeking whom he
+might overthrow and destroy. And upon the first day he challenged Sir
+Gawaine to joust with him, and then he challenged Sir Gaheris, and the King
+of an Hundred Knights, and Sir Griflet, and Sir Sagramore le Desirous and
+fourteen other knights, and all of these he met and many he overcame, and
+that without any mishap to himself. And upon the second day he met with
+great success Sir Agravaine and Sir Griflet and Sir Kay and Sir Dodinas and
+twelve other knights. Wherefore those who beheld how he did gave great
+shouts and outcries of applause and acclaim, saying: "Certes, there was
+never knight in all of the world so great as this knight. Yea; even Sir
+Launcelot himself could not do more than that knight doeth."
+
+Then Belle Isoult was troubled in her mind, and she said: "Tramtris, yonder
+in very truth is a most fierce and terrible knight. Now somewhiles I have
+fear that you may not be able to overcome him."
+
+Thereat Sir Tristram smiled very grimly, and said: "Lady, already I have
+overcome in battle a bigger knight than ever Sir Palamydes has been or is
+like to be." But the Lady Belle Isoult wist not that that knight of whom
+Sir Tristram spake was Sir Marhaus of Ireland.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Palamydes bespeaks the Lady Belle Isoult] Now upon the
+evening of the second day of that tournament, Sir Palamydes came to where
+the Lady Belle Isoult was, and he said: "Lady, all these things I have done
+for your sake. For had it not been for my love for you, I would not have
+been able to do a third part of that which I did. Now I think you should
+have pity and regard for one who loves you so strongly as that; wherefore I
+beseech you to bestow some part of your good-will upon me."
+
+"Sir," said the Lady Belle Isoult, "you are not to forget that there is
+still another day of this battle, and in it you may not happen to have the
+same fortune that favored you to-day; so I will wait until you have won
+that battle also before I answer you."
+
+"Well," said Sir Palamydes, "you shall see that I shall do even more
+worthily to-morrow for your sake than I have done to-day."
+
+But the Lady Belle Isoult was not very well pleased with that saying, for
+she began again to fear that maybe the will of Sir Palamydes was so strong
+that Sir Tristram would not have any success against him.
+
+So came the third day of that very famous contest at arms, and when this
+morning was come there began to gather together in the two parties those
+who were to contest the one against the other. Of one of these parties, Sir
+Palamydes was the chiefest knight, and upon that side was also Sir Gawaine
+and several of the knights who were with him. For these said, "There shall
+certes be greater credit to be had with Sir Palamydes than against him,"
+and so they joined them with his party. Of the other party the chiefest
+knights were the King of an Hundred Knights and the King of Scots, and both
+of these were very famous and well-approved champions, of high courage and
+remarkable achievements.
+
+[Sidenote: Belle Isoult arms Sir Tristram] Now when the time was nigh
+ready for that tournament, Sir Tristram went to put on the armor that the
+Lady Belle Isoult had provided him, and when he was armed he mounted very
+lightly upon the horse which she had given him. And the armor of Sir
+Tristram was white, shining like to silver, and the horse was altogether
+white, and the furniture and trappings thereof were all white, so that Sir
+Tristram glistened with extraordinary splendor.
+
+Now when he was armed and prepared in all ways, the Lady Belle Isoult came
+to where he was and she said, "Tramtris, are you ready?" And he answered
+"Yea." Therewith she took the horse of Sir Tristram by the bridle and she
+led him to the postern gate of the castle, and put him out that way into a
+fair field that lay beyond; and Sir Tristram abided in the fields for some
+while until the tournament should have begun.
+
+But the Lady Belle Isoult went to the tournament with her father, the King,
+and her mother, the Queen, and took her station at that place assigned to
+her whence she might overlook the field.
+
+[Sidenote: How Sir Palamydes fought in the tournament] So in a little
+while that friendly battle began. And again Sir Palamydes was filled with
+the vehement fury of contest, wherefore he raged about the field, spreading
+terror whithersoever he came. For first he made at the King of an Hundred
+Knights, and he struck that knight so direful a blow that both horse and
+man fell to the ground with the force thereof. Then in the same manner he
+struck the King of Scots with his sword, and smote him straightway out of
+the saddle also. Then he struck down one after another, seven other
+knights, all of well-proved strength and prowess, so that all those who
+looked thereon cried out, "Is he a man or is he a demon?" So, because of
+the terror of Sir Palamydes, all those in that contest bore away from him
+as they might do from a lion in anger.
+
+At this time came Sir Tristram, riding at a free pace, shining like to a
+figure of silver. Then many saw him and observed him and said to one
+another: "Who is this knight, and what party will he join with to do
+battle?" These had not long to wait to know what side he would join, for
+immediately Sir Tristram took stand with that party which was the party of
+the King of an Hundred Knights and the King of Scots, and at that the one
+party was very glad, and the other party was sorry; for they deemed that
+Sir Tristram was certes some great champion.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram enters the tournament] Then straightway there came
+against Sir Tristram four knights of the other party, and one of these was
+Sir Gaheris, and another was Sir Griflet and another was Sir Bagdemagus and
+another was Sir Kay. But Sir Tristram was possessed with a great joy of
+battle, so that in a very short time he had struck down or overthrown all
+those knights, beginning with Sir Gaheris, and ending with Sir Kay the
+seneschal.
+
+This Sir Gawaine beheld, and said to Sir Sagramore: "Yonder is certes a
+knight of terrible strength; now let us go and see of what mettle he be."
+
+Therewith Sir Gawaine pushed against Sir Tristram from the one side, and
+Sir Sagramore came against him on the other side, and so they met him both
+at once. Then first Sir Gawaine struck Sir Tristram such a buffet that the
+horse of Sir Tristram turned twice about with the force of that stroke; and
+therewith Sir Sagramore smote him a buffet upon the other side so that Sir
+Tristram wist not upon which side to defend himself.
+
+Then, at those blows Sir Tristram waxed so exceedingly fierce that it was
+as though a fire of rage flamed up into his brains and set them into a
+blaze of rage. So with that he rose up in his stirrups and launched so
+dreadful a blow upon Sir Gawaine that I believe nothing could have
+withstood the force of that blow. For it clave through the shield of Sir
+Gawaine and it descended upon the crown of his helmet and it clave away a
+part of his helmet and a part of the epauliere of his shoulder; and with
+the force of that dreadful, terrible blow, Sir Gawaine fell down upon the
+ground and lay there as though he were dead.
+
+Then Sir Tristram wheeled upon Sir Sagramore (who sat wonder-struck at that
+blow he had beheld) and thereafter he smote him too, so that he fell down
+and lay upon the ground in a swoon from which he did not recover for more
+than two hours.
+
+Now Sir Palamydes also had beheld those two strokes that Sir Tristram had
+given, wherefore he said: "Hah! Yonder is a very wonderful knight. Now if I
+do not presently meet him, and that to my credit, he will have more honor
+in this battle than I."
+
+So therewith Sir Palamydes pushed straight against Sir Tristram, and
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Palamydes rides against Sir Tristram] when Sir Tristram
+beheld that he was very glad, for he said: "Now it will either be Sir
+Palamydes his day, or else it will be mine." So he upon his part pushed
+against Sir Palamydes with good intent to engage him in battle, and then
+they two met in the midst of the field.
+
+Then immediately Sir Palamydes smote Sir Tristram such a buffet that Sir
+Tristram thought a bolt of lightning had burst upon him, and for a little
+while he was altogether bemazed and wist not where he was. But when he came
+to himself he was so filled with fury that his heart was like to break
+therewith.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram smites Sir Palamydes] Thereupon he rushed upon Sir
+Palamydes and smote him again and again and again with such fury and
+strength that Sir Palamydes was altogether stunned at the blows he received
+and bare back before them. Then Sir Tristram perceived how that Sir
+Palamydes bare his shield low because of the fierceness of that assault,
+and thereupon he rose up in his stirrups and struck Sir Palamydes upon the
+crown of the helmet so dreadful a buffet that the brains of Sir Palamydes
+swam like water, and he must needs catch the pommel of his saddle to save
+himself from falling. Then Sir Tristram smote him another buffet, and
+therewith darkness came upon the sight of Sir Palamydes and he rolled off
+from his horse into the dust beneath its feet.
+
+Then all who beheld the encounter shouted very loud and with great
+vehemence, for it was the very best and most notable assault at arms that
+had been performed in all that battle. But most of those who beheld that
+assault cried out "The Silver Knight!" For at that time no one but the Lady
+Belle Isoult wist who that silver knight was. But she wist very well who he
+was, and was so filled with the glory of his prowess that she wept for joy
+thereof.
+
+[Sidenote: Belle Isoult declares Sir Tristram] Then the King of Ireland
+said: "Who is yonder knight who hath so wonderfully overthrown Sir
+Palamydes? I had not thought there was any knight in the world so great as
+he; but this must be some great champion whom none of us know." Upon that
+the Lady Belle Isoult, still weeping for joy, could contain herself no
+longer, but cried out: "Sir, that is Tramtris, who came to us so nigh to
+death and who hath now done us so great honor being of our household! For I
+knew very well that he was no common knight but some mighty champion when I
+first beheld him."
+
+At that the King of Ireland was very much astonished and overjoyed, and he
+said: "If that is indeed so, then it is a very great honor for us all."
+
+Now after that assault Sir Tristram took no more part in that battle but
+withdrew to one side. But he perceived where the esquires attendant upon
+Sir Palamydes came to him and lifted him up and took him away. Then by and
+by he perceived that Sir Palamydes had mounted his horse again with intent
+to leave that meadow of battle, and in a little he saw Sir Palamydes ride
+away with his head bowed down like to one whose heart was broken.
+
+All this Sir Tristram beheld and did not try to stay Sir Palamydes in his
+departure. But some while after Sir Palamydes had quitted that place, Sir
+Tristram also took his departure, going in that same direction that Sir
+Palamydes had gone. Then after he had come well away from the meadow of
+battle, Sir Tristram set spurs to his horse and rode at a hard gallop along
+that way that Sir Palamydes had taken.
+
+So he rode at such a gait for a considerable pass until, by and by, he
+perceived Sir Palamydes upon the road before him; and Sir Palamydes was at
+that time come to the edge of a woods where there were several stone
+windmills with great sails swinging very slowly around before a strong wind
+that was blowing.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram overthrows Palamydes again] Now this was a lonely
+place, and one very fit to do battle in, wherefore Sir Tristram cried out
+to Sir Palamydes in a loud voice: "Sir Palamydes! Sir Palamydes! Turn you
+about! For here is the chance for you to recover the honor that you have
+lost to me." Thereupon Sir Palamydes, hearing that loud voice, turned him
+about. But when he beheld that the knight who called was he who had just
+now wrought such shame upon him, he ground his teeth together with rage,
+and therewith drave his horse at Sir Tristram, drawing his sword so that it
+flashed like lightning in the bright sunlight. And when he came nigh to Sir
+Tristram, he stood up in his stirrups and lashed a blow at him with all his
+might and main; for he said to himself: "Maybe I shall now recover mine
+honor with one blow which I lost to this knight a while since." But Sir
+Tristram put aside that blow of Sir Palamydes with his shield with very
+great skill and dexterity, and thereupon, recovering himself, he lashed at
+Sir Palamydes upon his part. And at that first stroke Sir Tristram smote
+down the shield of Sir Palamydes, and gave him such a blow upon the head
+that Sir Palamydes fell down off his horse upon the earth. Then Sir
+Tristram voided his own horse very quickly, and running to Sir Palamydes
+where he lay he plucked off his helmet with great violence. Therewith he
+cried out very fiercely: "Sir Knight, yield thee to me, or I will slay
+thee." And therewithal he lifted up his sword as though to strike off the
+head of Sir Palamydes.
+
+Then when Sir Palamydes saw Sir Tristram standing above him in that wise,
+he dreaded his buffets so that he said: "Sir Knight, I yield me to thee to
+do thy commands, if so be thou wilt spare my life."
+
+Thereupon Sir Tristram said, "Arise," and at that Sir Palamydes got him up
+to his knees with some ado, and so remained kneeling before Sir Tristram.
+
+"Well," said Sir Tristram, "I believe you have saved your life by thus
+yielding yourself to me. Now this shall be my commandment upon you. First
+of all, my commandment is that you forsake the Lady Belle Isoult, and that
+you do not come near her for the space of an entire year. And this is my
+second commandment; that from this day you do not assume the arms of
+knighthood for an entire year and a day."
+
+"Alas!" said Sir Palamydes, "why do you not slay me instead of bringing me
+to such shame as this! Would that I had died instead of yielding myself to
+you as I did." And therewith he wept for shame and despite.
+
+"Well," said Sir Tristram, "let that pass which was not done. For now you
+have yielded yourself to me and these are my commands." So with that Sir
+Tristram set his sword back again into its sheath, and he mounted his horse
+and rode away, leaving Sir Palamydes where he was.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Palamydes disarms himself] But after Sir Tristram had gone,
+Sir Palamydes arose, weeping aloud. And he said: "This is such shame to me
+that I think there can be no greater shame." Thereupon he drew his
+misericordia, and he cut the thongs of his harness and he tore the pieces
+of armor from off his body and flung them away very furiously, upon the
+right hand and upon the left. And when he had thus stripped himself of all
+of his armor, he mounted his horse and rode away into the forest, weeping
+like one altogether brokenhearted.
+
+So Sir Tristram drave Sir Palamydes away from the Lady Belle Isoult as he
+had promised to do.
+
+Now when Tristram came back to the castle of the King of Ireland once more,
+he thought to enter privily in by the postern-gate as he had gone out. But
+lo! instead of that he found a great party waiting for him before the
+castle and these gave him loud acclaim, crying, "Welcome, Sir Tramtris!
+Welcome, Sir Tramtris!" And King Angus came forward and took the hand of
+Sir Tristram, and he also said: "Welcome, Sir Tramtris, for you have
+brought us great honor this day!"
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram chides Belle Isoult] But Sir Tristram looked at
+the Lady the Belle Isoult with great reproach and by and by when they were
+together he said: "Lady, why did you betray me who I was when you had
+promised me not to do so?" "Sir," she said, "I meant not to betray you, but
+in the joy of your victory I know not very well what I said." "Well," said
+Sir Tristram, "God grant that no harm come of it." She said, "What harm can
+come of it, Messire?" Sir Tristram said: "I may not tell you, Lady, but I
+fear that harm will come of it."
+
+Anon the Queen of Ireland came and said: "Tramtris, one so nigh to death as
+you have been should not so soon have done battle as you have done. Now I
+will have a bain prepared and you shall bathe therein, for you are not yet
+hale and strong."
+
+"Lady," said Tristram, "I do not need any bain, for I believe I am now
+strong and well in all wise."
+
+"Nay," said the Queen, "you must have that bain so that no ill may come to
+you hereafter from this battle which you have fought."
+
+So she had that bain prepared of tepid water, and it was very strong and
+potent with spices and powerful herbs of divers sorts. And when that bain
+was prepared, Sir Tristram undressed and entered the bath, and the Queen
+and the Lady Belle Isoult were in the adjoining chamber which was his
+bed-chamber.
+
+[Sidenote: The Queen of Ireland beholds Sir Tristram's sword] Now whilst
+Sir Tristram was in that bath, the Queen and Belle Isoult looked all about
+his chamber. And they beheld the sword of Sir Tristram where it lay, for he
+had laid it upon the bed when he had unlatched the belt to make himself
+ready for that bath. Then the Queen said to the Lady Belle Isoult, "See
+what a great huge sword this is," and thereupon she lifted it and drew the
+blade out of its sheath, and she beheld what a fair, bright, glistering
+sword it was. Then in a little she saw where, within about a foot and a
+half from the point, there was a great piece in the shape of a half-moon
+broken out of the edge of the sword; and she looked at that place for a
+long while. Then of a sudden she felt a great terror, for she remembered
+how even such a piece of sword as that which had been broken off from that
+blade, she had found in the wound of Sir Marhaus of which he had died. So
+she stood for a while holding that sword of Sir Tristram in her hand and
+looking as she had been turned into stone. At this the Lady Belle Isoult
+was filled with a sort of fear, wherefore she said, "Lady, what ails you?"
+The Queen said, "Nothing that matters," and therewith she laid aside the
+sword of Sir Tristram and went very quickly to her own chamber. There she
+opened her cabinet and took thence the piece of sword-blade which she had
+drawn from the wound of Sir Marhaus, and which she had kept ever since.
+With this she hurried back to the chamber of Sir Tristram, and fitted that
+piece of the blade to the blade; and lo! it fitted exactly, and without
+flaw.
+
+[Sidenote: The Queen assails Sir Tristram] Upon that the Queen was seized
+as with a sudden madness; for she shrieked out in a very loud voice,
+"Traitor! Traitor! Traitor!" saying that word three times. Therewith she
+snatched up the sword of Sir Tristram and she ran with great fury into the
+room where he lay in his bath. And she beheld him where he was there all
+naked in his bath, and therewith she rushed at him and lashed at him with
+his sword. But Sir Tristram threw himself to one side and so that blow
+failed of its purpose. Then the Queen would have lashed at him again or
+have thrust him through with the weapon; but at that Gouvernail and Sir
+Helles ran to her and catched her and held her back, struggling and
+screaming very violently. So they took the sword away from her out of her
+hands, and all the while she shrieked like one gone entirely distracted.
+
+Then as soon as Gouvernail and Sir Helles loosed her, she ran very
+violently out of that room with great outcry of screaming, and so to King
+Angus and flung herself upon her knees before him, crying out: "Justice!
+Justice! I have found that man who slew my brother! I beseech of you that
+you will deal justice upon him."
+
+Then King Angus rose from where he sat, and he said: "Where is that man?
+Bring me to him." And the Queen said: "It is Tramtris, who hath come hither
+unknown unto this place."
+
+King Angus said: "Lady, what is this you tell me? I cannot believe that
+what you say is true." Upon this the Queen cried out: "Go yourself, Lord,
+and inquire, and find out how true it is."
+
+Then King Angus rose, and went forth from that place, and he went to the
+chamber of Sir Tristram. And there he found that Sir Tristram had very
+hastily dressed himself and had armed himself in such wise as he was able.
+Then King Angus came to Tristram, and he said: "How is this, that I find
+thee armed? Art thou an enemy to my house?" And Tristram wept, and said:
+"Nay, Lord, I am not your enemy, but your friend, for I have great love for
+you and for all that is yours, so that I would be very willing to do battle
+for you even unto death if so be I were called upon to do so."
+
+Then King Angus said: "If that is so, how is it that I find thee here armed
+as if for battle, with thy sword in thy hand?" "Lord," said Sir Tristram,
+"although I be friends with you and yours, yet I know not whether you be
+friends or enemies unto me; wherefore I have prepared myself so that I may
+see what is your will with me, for I will not have you slay me without
+defence upon my part." Then King Angus said: "Thou speakest in a very
+foolish way, for how could a single knight hope to defend himself against
+my whole household? Now I bid thee tell me who thou art, and what is thy
+name, and why thou earnest hither knowing that thou hadst slain my
+brother?"
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram confesses to King Angus] Then Sir Tristram said,
+"Lord, I will tell thee all the truth." And therewith he confessed
+everything to King Angus, to wit: who was his father and his mother, and
+how he was born and reared; how he fought Sir Marhaus, and for what reason;
+and of how he came hither to be healed of his wound, from which else he
+must die in very grievous pain. And he said: "All this is truth, Lord, and
+it is truth that I had no ill-will against Sir Marhaus; for I only stood to
+do battle with him for the sake of mine uncle, King Mark of Cornwall, and
+to enhance mine own honor; and I took my fortune with him as he took his
+with me. Moreover, I fought with Sir Marhaus upon the same day that I was
+made knight, and that was the first battle which I fought, and in that
+battle I was wounded so sorely that I was like to die as you very well
+know. As for him, he was a knight well-tried and seasoned with many
+battles, and he suffered by no treachery but only with the fortune of war."
+
+So King Angus listened to all that Sir Tristram said, and when he had
+ended, quoth he: "As God sees me, Tristram, I cannot deny that you did with
+Sir Marhaus as a true knight should. For it was certes your part to take
+the cause of your uncle upon you if you had the heart to do so, and it was
+truly a real knightly thing for you who were so young to seek honor at the
+hands of so famous a knight as Sir Marhaus. For I do not believe that until
+you came his way there was any knight in the world who was greater than he,
+unless it were Sir Launcelot of the Lake. Wherefore, from that, and from
+what I saw you do at the tournament, some time ago, I believe that you are
+one of the strongest knights in the world, and the peer of Sir Launcelot,
+or of anybody else.
+
+"But though all this is true, nevertheless it will not be possible for me
+to maintain you in this country, for if I keep you here I shall greatly
+displease not only the Queen and her kin, but many of those lords and
+knights who were kin to Sir Marhaus or who were united to him in pledges of
+friendship. So you must even save yourself as you can and leave here
+straightway, for I may not help or aid you in any way."
+
+Then Sir Tristram said: "Lord, I thank you for your great kindness unto me,
+and I know not how I shall repay the great goodness that my Lady Belle
+Isoult hath showed to me. For I swear to you upon the pommel of my sword
+which I now hold up before me that I would lay down my life for her sake.
+Yea, and my honor too! for she hath the entire love of my heart, so that I
+would willingly die for her, or give up for her all that I have in the
+world. Now as for my knighthood, I do believe that I shall in time become a
+knight of no small worship, for I feel within my heart that this shall be
+so. So if my life be spared, it may be that you will gain more having me
+for your friend and your true servant than you will by taking my life in
+this outland place. For whithersoever I go I give you my knightly word that
+I shall be your daughter's servant, and that I shall ever be her true
+knight in right or in wrong, and that I shall never fail her if I shall be
+called upon to do her service."
+
+Then King Angus meditated upon this for a while, and he said: "Tristram,
+what thou sayest is very well said, but how shall I get you away from this
+place in safety?"
+
+Sir Tristram said: "Lord, there is but one way to get me away with credit
+unto yourself. Now I beseech you of your grace that I may take leave of my
+lady your daughter, and that I may then take leave of all your knights and
+kinsmen as a right knight should. And if there be any among them who
+chooses to stop me or to challenge my going, then I must face that one at
+my peril, however great it may be."
+
+"Well," said King Angus, "that is a very knightly way to behave, and so it
+shall be as you will have it."
+
+So Sir Tristram went down stairs to a certain chamber where Belle Isoult
+was. And he went straight to her and took her by the hand; and he said:
+"Lady, I am to go away from this place, if I may do so with credit to my
+honor; but before I go I must tell you that I shall ever be your own true
+knight in all ways that a knight may serve a lady. For no other lady shall
+have my heart but you, so I shall ever be your true knight. Even though I
+shall haply never see your face again, yet I shall ever carry your face
+with me in my heart, and the thought of you shall always abide with me
+withersoever I go."
+
+At this the Lady Belle Isoult fell to weeping in great measure, and thereat
+the countenance of Sir Tristram also was all writhed with passion, and he
+said, "Lady, do not weep so!" She said, "Alas I cannot help it!" Then he
+said: "Lady, you gave me my life when I thought I was to lose it, and you
+brought me back from pain unto ease, and from sorrow unto joy. Would God I
+were suffering all those pangs as aforetime, so that there might be no more
+tears upon your face."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram parts from Belle Isoult] Then, King Angus being
+by, he took her face into his hands and kissed her upon the forehead, and
+the eyes, and the lips. Therewith he turned and went away, all bedazed with
+his sorrow, and feeling for the latch of the door ere he was able to find
+it and go out from that place.
+
+After that Sir Tristram went straight unto the hall of the castle, and
+there he found a great many of the lords of the castle and knights
+attendant upon the King. For the news of these things had flown fast, and
+many of them were angry and some were doubtful. But Tristram came in very
+boldly, clad all in full armor, and when he stood in the midst of them he
+spoke loud and with great courage, saying: "If there be any man here whom I
+have offended in any way, let him speak, and I will give him entire
+satisfaction whoever he may be. But let such speech be now or never, for
+here is my body to make good my knighthood against the body of any man,
+whomsoever he may be."
+
+At this all those knights who were there stood still and held their peace,
+and no man said anything against Sir Tristram (although there were several
+knights and lords who were kin to the Queen), for the boldness of Tristram
+overawed them, and no one had the heart to answer him.
+
+So after a little while Sir Tristram left that place, without turning his
+head to see if any man followed him.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram departs from Ireland] So he left that castle and
+Gouvernail went with him, and no one stopped him in his going. After that,
+he and Gouvernail came to the shore and took a boat and they came to the
+ship of Sir Tristram, and so they sailed away from Ireland. But the heart
+of Sir Tristram was so full of sorrow that he wished a great many times
+that he was dead.
+
+So Sir Tristram, though as to his body he was very whole and sound, was, as
+to his spirit, very ill at ease; for though he was so well and suffered no
+pain, yet it appeared to him that all the joy of his life had been left
+behind him, so that he could nevermore have any more pleasure in this world
+which lieth outside of the walls of Paradise.
+
+[Illustration: Sir Tristram harpeth before King Mark]
+
+
+
+
+Chapter Fifth
+
+
+_How Sir Tristram was sent by command of King Mark to go to Ireland to
+bring the Lady the Belle Isoult from Ireland to Cornwall and how it fared
+with him._
+
+So Sir Tristram came back again to Cornwall, and King Mark and all the
+knights and lords of the court of the King gave him great welcome and made
+much joy over him because he had returned safely.
+
+But Sir Tristram took no joy in their joy because he was filled with such
+heavy melancholy that it was as though even the blue sky had turned to
+sackcloth to his eyes, so that he beheld nothing bright in all the world.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram tells of the Lady Bell Isoult] But though he had
+no great pleasure in life, yet Sir Tristram made many very good songs about
+Belle Isoult; about her beauty and her graciousness; about how he was her
+sad, loving knight; about how he was pledged unto her to be true to her all
+of his life even though he might never hope to see her again.
+
+These like words he would sing to the music of his shining, golden harp,
+and King Mark loved to listen to him. And sometimes King Mark would sigh
+very deeply and maybe say: "Messire, that lady of thine must in sooth be a
+very wonderful, beautiful, gracious lady." And Sir Tristram would say,
+"Yea, she is all that."
+
+So it was at that time that King Mark had great love for Sir Tristram; in a
+little while all that was very different, and his love was turned to bitter
+hate, as you shall presently hear tell.
+
+Now in those days the knights of Cornwall were considered to be the least
+worthy of all knights in that part of the world, for they had so little
+skill and prowess at arms that they were a jest and a laughing-stock to
+many courts of chivalry. It was said of them that a knight-champion of
+Cornwall was maybe a knight, but certes was no champion at all; and this
+was great shame to all those of Cornwall, more especially as that saying
+was in a great measure true.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Bleoberis comes to Cornwall] One day there came to the
+court of Cornwall a very noble, haughty knight, hight Sir Bleoberis de
+Ganys, who was brother to Sir Blamor de Ganys and right cousin to Sir
+Launcelot of the Lake. This knight was a fellow of King Arthur's Round
+Table, and so he was received with great honor at Cornwall, and much joy
+was taken of his being there; for it was not often that knights of such
+repute as he came to those parts. At that time Sir Tristram was not present
+at the court, having gone hunting into the forest, but a messenger was sent
+to him with news that Sir Bleoberis was present at the court of the King
+and that King Mark wished him to be at court also.
+
+Now whilst Sir Tristram was upon his way to return to the court in
+obedience to these commands, there was held a feast at the castle of the
+King in honor of Sir Bleoberis. There was much strong wine drunk at that
+feast, so that the brains of Sir Bleoberis and of others grew very much
+heated therewith. Then, what with the heat of the wine and the noise and
+tumult of the feast, Sir Bleoberis waxed very hot-headed, and boastful. So,
+being in that condition and not knowing very well how he spake, he made
+great boast of the prowess of the knights of King Arthur's court above
+those of Cornwall. And in this boastful humor he said: "It is perfectly
+true that one single knight of the Round Table is the peer of twenty
+knights of Cornwall, for so it is said and so I maintain it to be."
+
+Upon that there fell a silence over all that part of the feast, for all the
+knights and lords who were there heard what Sir Bleoberis said, and yet no
+one knew how to reply to him. As for King Mark, he looked upon Sir
+Bleoberis, smiling very sourly, and as though with great distaste of his
+words, and he said: "Messire, inasmuch as thou art our guest, and sitting
+here at feast with us, it is not fit that we should take thy words
+seriously; else what thou sayst might be very easily disproved."
+
+Upon this the blood rushed with great violence into the face and head of
+Sir Bleoberis, and he laughed very loud. Then he said: "Well, Lord, it need
+not be that I should be a guest here very long. And as for what I say, you
+may easily put the truth thereof to the proof."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Bleoberis challenges the knights of Cornwall] Therewith Sir
+Bleoberis arose and looked about him, and he perceived that there was near
+by where he stood a goblet of gold very beautifully chased and cunningly
+carved. This Sir Bleoberis took into his hand, and it was half full of red
+wine. So he stood up before them all, and he cried in a very loud voice:
+"Messires, and all you knights of Cornwall, here I drink to your more
+excellent courage and prowess, and wish that you may have better fortune in
+arms than you have heretofore proved yourselves to have?" And therewith he
+drank all the wine that was in the goblet. Then he said: "Now I go away
+from here and take this goblet with me; and if any knight of Cornwall may
+take it away from me and bring it back again to the King, then I am very
+willing to own that there are better knights in this country than I
+supposed there to be." Therewith he turned and went out from that place
+very haughtily and scornfully, taking that goblet with him, and not one of
+all those knights who were there made any move to stay him, or to reprove
+him for his discourteous speech.
+
+Now after he had come out of the hall and into the cool of the air, the
+heat of the wine soon left him, and he began to repent him of what he had
+done; and he said: "Alas! meseems I was not very courteous to King Mark,
+who was mine host." So for a while he was minded to take that goblet back
+again and make amends for what he had said; but afterward he could not do
+this because of his pride. So he went to the chamber that had been allotted
+to him and clad himself in his armor, and after that he rode away from the
+court of King Mark carrying the goblet with him.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram is angry] Now some while after he had gone, Sir
+Tristram came into the hall where the others were, and there he found them
+all sitting with ill countenances, and no man daring, for shame, to look at
+his fellow. So Sir Tristram came to King Mark and said: "Where is Sir
+Bleoberis?" And King Mark said, "He is gone away." Sir Tristram said, "Why
+did he go?" Thereupon King Mark told Sir Tristram of what had befallen, and
+how Sir Bleoberis had taken away that goblet to the great shame and scorn
+of all those who were there. Upon this the blood flew very violently into
+Sir Tristram's face, and he said: "Was there no knight here with spirit
+enough to call reproof upon Sir Bleoberis, or to stay him in his going?"
+Therewith he looked all about that hall, and he was like a lion standing
+among them, and no man dared to look him in the face or to reply to him.
+Then he said: "Well, if there is no knight in Cornwall who hath the will to
+defend his King, then is there a knight of Lyonesse who will do so because
+he received knighthood at the hands of the King of Cornwall." And therewith
+he turned and went away, and left them very haughtily, and they were all
+still more abashed than they had been before.
+
+Then Sir Tristram went to his chamber and had himself armed in all wise;
+and he took his horse and mounted and rode away in the direction that Sir
+Bleoberis had gone, and Gouvernail went with him.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram follows Sir Bleoberis] So Sir Tristram and
+Gouvernail rode at a good pace for a long time, making inquiry of
+whomsoever they met if Sir Bleoberis had passed that way. At last they
+entered the forest and rode therein a great way, meeting no one till toward
+the latter part of the afternoon. By and by they saw before them two
+knights, very large and strong of frame and clad all in bright and shining
+armor, and each riding a great war-horse of Flemish strain.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram comes to two knights] "Gouvernail," said Sir
+Tristram, "ride forward apace and see for me who are yonder knights." So
+Gouvernail rode forward at a gallop, and so, in a little, came near enough
+to the two knights to see the devices upon their shields. Upon that he
+returned to Sir Tristram, and said: "Messire, those are two very famous
+worthy knights of King Arthur's Court, and of the two you are acquainted
+with one, but the other is a stranger to you. For the one is Sir Sagramore
+le Desirous, who was at that tournament in Ireland, and the other is Sir
+Dodinas le Sauvage."
+
+"Well," said Sir Tristram, "those are indeed two very good, worthy knights.
+Now if you will sit here for a while, I will go forward and have speech
+with them." "Messire," said Gouvernail, "I would counsel you not to have to
+do with those knights, for there are hardly any knights more famous at arms
+than they, so it is not likely that you can have success of them if you
+should assay them."
+
+But to this Sir Tristram said: "Peace, Gouvernail! Hold thy peace, and bide
+here while I go forward!"
+
+Now those knights when they became aware that Sir Tristram and Gouvernail
+were there, had halted at a clear part of the woodland to await what should
+befall. Unto them Sir Tristram came, riding with great dignity and
+haughtiness, and when he had come nigh enough he drew rein and spoke with
+great pride of bearing, saying: "Messires, I require of you to tell me
+whence you come, and whither you go, and what you do in these marches?"
+
+Unto him Sir Sagramore made reply, speaking very scornfully: "Fair knight,
+are you a knight of Cornwall?" and Sir Tristram said: "Why do you ask me
+that?" "Messire," said Sir Sagramore, "I ask you that because it hath
+seldom been heard tell that a Cornish knight hath courage to call upon two
+knights to answer such questions as you have asked of us."
+
+"Well," said Sir Tristram, "for the matter of that, I am at this present a
+knight of Cornwall, and I hereby let you know that you shall not go away
+from here unless you either answer my question or give me satisfaction at
+arms."
+
+Then Sir Dodinas spoke very fiercely, saying: "Sir Cornish knight, you
+shall presently have all the satisfaction at arms that you desire and a
+great deal more than you desire." Therewith he took a very stout spear in
+his hand and rode to a little distance, and Sir Tristram, beholding his
+intent to do battle, also rode to a little distance, and took stand in such
+a place as seemed to him to be best. Then, when they were in all wise
+prepared, they rushed together with such astonishing vehemence that the
+earth shook and trembled beneath them.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram does battle with Sir Dodinas] Therewith they met
+in the middle of their course with a great uproar of iron and wood. But in
+that onset the spear of Sir Dodinas broke into a great many small pieces,
+but the spear of Sir Tristram held, so that in the encounter he lifted Sir
+Dodinas entirely out of his saddle, and out behind the crupper of his
+horse. And he flung Sir Dodinas down so violently that his neck was nearly
+broken, and he lay for a while in a deep swoon like one who has been struck
+dead.
+
+Then Sir Sagramore said: "Well, Sir Knight, that was certes a very great
+buffet that you gave my fellow, but now it is my turn to have ado with
+you."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram does battle with Sir Sagramore] So therewith he
+took also his spear in hand and chose his station for an assault as Sir
+Dodinas had done, and Sir Tristram also took station as he had done before.
+Then immediately they two ran together with the same terrible force that
+Sir Tristram and Sir Dodinas had coursed, and in that encounter Sir
+Tristram struck Sir Sagramore so direful a buffet with his spear that he
+overthrew both horse and man, and the horse, falling upon Sir Sagramore, so
+bruised his leg that he could not for a while arise from where he lay.
+
+Therewith Sir Tristram, having run his course, came back to where those two
+knights lay upon the ground, and he said, "Fair Knights, will you have any
+more fighting?" They said, "No, we have had fighting enough." Then Sir
+Tristram said: "I pray you, tell me, are there any bigger knights at the
+court of King Arthur than you? If it is not so, then I should think you
+would take great shame to yourselves that you have been overthrown the one
+after the other by a single knight. For this day a knight of Cornwall hath
+assuredly matched you both to your great despite."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram acknowledges his degree] Then Sir Sagramore said:
+"Sir, I pray you upon your true knighthood to tell us who you are, for you
+are assuredly one of the greatest knights in the world." Upon this Sir
+Tristram laughed, "Nay," quoth he, "I am as yet a young knight, who has had
+but little proof in battle. As for my name, since you ask it of me, upon my
+knighthood I am not ashamed to tell you that I am hight Sir Tristram, and
+that I am King Meliadus' son of Lyonesse."
+
+"Ha!" said Sir Sagramore, "if that be so, then there is little shame in
+being overthrown by you. For not only do I well remember how at the court
+of the King of Ireland you overthrew six knights of the Round Table, and
+how easily you overthrew Sir Palamydes the Saracen, but it is also very
+well known how you did battle with Sir Marhaus, and of how you overcame
+him. Now Sir Marhaus and Sir Palamydes were two of the best knights in the
+world, so it is not astonishing that you should have done as you did with
+us. But, since you have overthrown us, what is it you would have us do?"
+
+"Messires," said Sir Tristram, "I have only to demand two things of you.
+One of them is that you give me your word that you will go to Cornwall and
+confess to King Mark that you have been overthrown by a Cornish knight; and
+the second thing is that you tell me if you saw Sir Bleoberis de Ganys pass
+this way?"
+
+They say: "Messire, touching that demand you make upon us to go to King
+Mark and to confess our fall, that we will do as you desire; and as for Sir
+Bleoberis, we met him only a short while ago, and he cannot even now be
+very far from this place."
+
+"Well," said Sir Tristram, "I give you good den, and thank you for your
+information. I have some words to say to Sir Bleoberis before he leave
+these marches."
+
+So thereafter he called Gouvernail, and they two rode into the forest and
+on their way as fast as they were able. As for Sir Dodinas and Sir
+Sagramore, they betook their course to the court of King Mark, as they had
+promised to do.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram comes to Sir Bleoberis] Now, by and by, after Sir
+Tristram and Gouvernail had gone some considerable distance farther upon
+that road, they beheld Sir Bleoberis before them in a forest path, riding
+very proudly and at an easy pass upon his way. At that time the sun was
+setting very low toward the earth, so that all the tops of the forest trees
+were aflame with a very ruddy light, though all below in the forest was
+both cool and gray. Now when Sir Tristram and Gouvernail with him had come
+pretty nigh to Sir Bleoberis, Sir Tristram called to him in a very loud
+voice, and bade him turn and stand. Therewith Sir Bleoberis turned about
+and waited for Sir Tristram to come up with him. And when Sir Tristram was
+come near by, he said to Sir Bleoberis: "Messire, I hear tell that you have
+with you a very noble goblet which you have taken in a shameful way from
+the table of King Mark of Cornwall. Now I demand of you that you give me
+that goblet to take back unto the King again." "Well," said Sir Bleoberis,
+"you shall freely have that goblet if you can take it from me, and if you
+will look, you will see where it hangs here from my saddle-horn. But I may
+tell you that I do not believe that there is any Cornish knight who may
+take away that goblet against my will."
+
+"As for that," said Sir Tristram, "we shall see in a little while how it
+may be."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram overcometh Sir Bleoberis] Therewith each knight
+took his spear in hand and rode a little distance away, and made himself in
+all wise ready for the assault. Then when they were in all ways prepared,
+each launched himself against the other, coming together with such violence
+that sparks of fire flew out from the points of their spears. And in that
+assault the horse of each knight was overthrown, but each knight voided his
+saddle and leaped very lightly to earth, without either having had a fall.
+Then each drew his sword and set his shield before him, and therewith came
+together, foining and lashing with all the power of their might. Each gave
+the other many sore strokes, so that the armor of each was indented in
+several places and in other places was stained with red. Then at last Sir
+Tristram waxed very wode with anger and he rushed at Sir Bleoberis, smiting
+him so fiercely that Sir Bleoberis bare back and held his shield low before
+him. This Sir Tristram perceived, and therewith, rushing in upon Sir
+Bleoberis, he smote that knight such a great buffet upon the head that Sir
+Bleoberis fell down upon his knees, without having strength to keep his
+feet. Then Sir Tristram rushed off the helmet of Sir Bleoberis, and he
+said, "Sir Knight, yield to me or I shall slay you."
+
+"Messire," said Sir Bleoberis, "I yield myself to you, and indeed you are
+as right a knight as ever I met in all of my life." Then Sir Tristram took
+Sir Bleoberis by the hand and he lifted him up upon his feet, and he said:
+"Sir, I am very sorry for to have had to do with you in this fashion, for
+almost would I rather that you should have overcome me than that I should
+have overcome you. For I do not at any time forget that you are cousin unto
+Sir Launcelot of the Lake, and I honor Sir Launcelot above all men else in
+the world, and would rather have his friendship than that of any man
+living. So I have had no despite against you in this battle, but have only
+fought with you because it behooved me to do so for the sake of the King of
+Cornwall, who is my uncle."
+
+Then Sir Bleoberis said, "Messire, I pray you tell me who you are?" "Lord,"
+said Sir Tristram, "I am a very young knight hight Tristram, and I am the
+son of King Meliadus of Lyonesse and the Lady Elizabeth, sister unto King
+Mark of Cornwall."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Bleoberis gives the goblet to Sir Tristram] "Ha," said Sir
+Bleoberis, "I have heard great report of you, Sir Tristram, and now I know
+at mine own cost that you are one of the best knights in the world. Yea; I
+have no doubt that at some time you will be the peer of Sir Launcelot of
+the Lake himself, or of Sir Lamorak of Gales, and they two are, certes, the
+best knights in the world. Now I believe that I would have given you this
+goblet, even without your having to fight for it, had I known who you were;
+and as it is I herewith give it to you very freely."
+
+So Sir Bleoberis untied the goblet from where it hung at his saddle-bow,
+and Sir Tristram took the goblet and gave him gramercy for it; and
+therewith having recovered their horses, each knight mounted, and betook
+his way whither he was going.
+
+So a little after nightfall Sir Tristram came to the King of Cornwall and
+his court, and he said to King Mark: "Here is your goblet which I have
+brought back to you; and I would God that some of your knights who are so
+much older than I had the courage to do for you what I have had to do." And
+therewith he went away and left them all sitting ashamed.
+
+Now it chanced some little while after these things happened as aforesaid,
+that King Mark lay down upon his couch after his midday meal for to sleep a
+little space during the heat of the day; and it likewise happened that the
+window near by where he lay was open so that the air might come into the
+room. Now at that time three knights of the court sat in the garden beneath
+where the window was. These knights talked to one another concerning Sir
+Tristram, and of how he had brought back that goblet from Sir Bleoberis de
+Ganys, and of what honor it was to have such a champion in Cornwall for to
+stand for the honor of that court. In their talk they said to one another
+that if only the King of Cornwall were such a knight as Sir Tristram, then
+there would be plenty of knights of good worth who would come to that
+court, and Cornwall would no longer have to be ashamed of its chivalry as
+it was nowadays. So they said: "Would God our King were such a knight as
+Sir Tristram!"
+
+[Sidenote: King Mark takes hatred to Sir Tristram] All this King Mark
+overheard, and the words that they said were like a very bitter poison in
+his heart. For their words entered into his soul and abided there, and
+thereupon at that same hour all his love for Tristram was turned into hate.
+Thus it befell that, after that day, King Mark ever pondered and pondered
+upon that which he had heard, and the longer he pondered it, the more
+bitter did his life become to him, and the more he hated Sir Tristram. So
+it came to pass that whenever he was with Sir Tristram and looked upon him,
+he would say in his heart: "So they say that you are a better knight than
+I? Would God you were dead or away from this place, for I believe that some
+day you will be my undoing!" Yea; there were times when he would look upon
+Sir Tristram in that wise and whisper to himself: "Would God would send a
+blight upon thee, so that thou wouldst wither away!"
+
+But always the King dissembled this hatred for Sir Tristram, so that no one
+suspected him thereof; least of all did Sir Tristram suspect how changed
+was the heart of the King toward him.
+
+Now one day Sir Tristram was playing upon his harp and singing before King
+Mark, and the King sat brooding upon these things as he gazed at Tristram.
+And Sir Tristram, as he ofttimes did nowadays, sang of the Lady Belle
+Isoult, and of how her face was like to a rose for fairness, and of how her
+soul was like to a nightingale in that it uplifted the spirit of whosoever
+was near her even though the darkness of sorrow as of night might envelop
+him. And whilst Sir Tristram sang thus, King Mark listened to him, and as
+he listened a thought entered his heart and therewith he smiled. So when
+Sir Tristram had ended his song of the Belle Isoult, King Mark said: "Fair
+nephew, I would that you would undertake a quest for me." Sir Tristram
+said, "What quest is that, Lord?" "Nay," said King Mark, "I will not tell
+you what quest it is unless you will promise me upon your knighthood to
+undertake it upon my behalf." Then Sir Tristram suspected no evil,
+wherefore he smiled and said: "Dear Lord, if the quest is a thing that it
+is in my power to undertake, I will undertake it upon your asking, and unto
+that I pledge my knighthood." King Mark said, "It is a quest that you may
+undertake." Sir Tristram said, "Then I will undertake it, if you will tell
+me what it is."
+
+[Sidenote: King Mark betrays Sir Tristram to a promise] King Mark said: "I
+have listened to your singing for this long while concerning the Lady Belle
+Isoult. So the quest I would have you undertake is this: that you go to
+Ireland, and bring thence the Lady Belle Isoult to be my Queen. For because
+of your songs and ballads I have come to love her so greatly that I believe
+that I shall have no happiness in life until I have her for my Queen. So
+now, since you have pledged me your word upon your knighthood to do my
+bidding in this case, such is the quest that I would send you upon." And
+therewith he smiled upon Sir Tristram very strangely.
+
+[Sidenote: How Sir Tristram fell into despair] Then Sir Tristram perceived
+how he had been betrayed and he put aside his harp and rose from where he
+sat. And he gazed for a long while at King Mark, and his countenance was
+wonderfully white like that of a dead man. Then by and by he said: "Sir, I
+know not why you have put this upon me, nor do I know why you have betrayed
+me. For I have ever served you truly as a worthy knight and a kinsman
+should. Wherefore I know not why you have done this unto me, nor why you
+seek to compass my death. For you know very well that if I return to
+Ireland I shall very likely be slain either by the Queen or by some of her
+kindred, because that for your sake I slew in battle Sir Marhaus, the
+Queen's brother of Ireland. Yet, so far as that is concerned, I would
+rather lose my life than succeed in this quest, for if so be I do not lose
+my life, then I must do that which I would liever die than do. Yea; I
+believe that there was never any knight loved a lady as I love the Lady
+Belle Isoult. For I love her not only because of her beauty and
+graciousness, but because she healed mine infirmities and lent ease unto my
+great sufferings and brought me back from death unto life. Wherefore that
+which you bid me fulfil is more bitter to me than death."
+
+"Well," said King Mark, "I know nothing of all this--only I know that you
+have given me your knightly word to fulfil this quest."
+
+"Very well," said Sir Tristram, "if God will give me His good help in this
+matter, then I will do that which I have pledged my knighthood to
+undertake." Therewith he turned and went out from that place in such great
+despair that it was as though his heart had been turned into ashes. But
+King Mark was filled with joy that he should have caused Sir Tristram all
+that pain, and he said to his heart: "This is some satisfaction for the
+hate which I feel for this knight; by and by I shall maybe have greater
+satisfaction than that."
+
+After that Sir Tristram did not come any more where King Mark was, but he
+went straight away from the King's court and into a small castle that King
+Mark had given him some while since for his own. There he abided for
+several days in great despair of soul, for it seemed to him as though God
+had deserted him entirely. There for a while Gouvernail alone was with him
+and no one else, but after a while several knights came to him and gave him
+great condolence and offered to join with him as his knights-companion. And
+there were eighteen of these knights, and Sir Tristram was very glad of
+their comradeship.
+
+These said to him: "Sir, you should not lend yourself to such great travail
+of soul, but should bend yourself as a true knight should to assume that
+burden that God hath assigned you to bear."
+
+So they spoke, and by and by Sir Tristram aroused himself from his despair
+and said to himself: "Well, what these gentlemen say is true, and God hath
+assuredly laid this very heavy burden upon me; as that is so, I must needs
+assume it for His sake."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram departs from Cornwall] So Sir Tristram and the
+knights who were with him abode in that place for a day or two or three,
+and then one morning Sir Tristram armed himself and they armed themselves,
+and all took their departure from that castle and went down to the sea.
+Then they took ship with intent to depart to Ireland upon that quest Sir
+Tristram had promised King Mark he would undertake, and in a little they
+hoisted sail and departed from Cornwall for Ireland.
+
+But they were not to make their quest upon that pass so speedily as they
+thought, for, upon the second day of their voyaging, there arose a great
+storm of wind of such a sort that the sailors of that ship had never seen
+the like thereof in all of their lives. For the waves rose up like
+mountains, and anon the waters sank away into deep valleys with hills of
+water upon either side all crested over with foam as white as snow. And
+anon that ship would be uplifted as though the huge sea would toss it into
+the clouds; and anon it would fall down into a gulf so deep that it
+appeared as though the green waters would swallow it up entirely. The air
+roared as though it were full of demons and evil spirits out of hell, and
+the wind was wet and very bitter with brine. So the ship fled away before
+that tempest, and the hearts of all aboard were melted with fear because of
+the great storm of wind and the high angry waves.
+
+Then toward evening those who were watching from the lookout beheld a land
+and a haven, and they saw upon the land overlooking the haven was a noble
+castle and a fair large town, surrounded by high walls of stone. So they
+told the others of what they saw, and all gave great rejoicing for that
+they were so nigh the land. Therewith they sailed the ship toward the
+haven, and having entered therein in safety, they cast anchor under the
+walls of the castle and the town, taking great joy that God had brought
+them safe and sound through that dreadful peril of the tempest.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram comes to Camelot] Then Sir Tristram said to
+Gouvernail: "Knowest thou, Gouvernail, what place is this to which we have
+come?" "Messire," said Gouvernail, "I think it is Camelot." And then those
+knights of Cornwall who stood by said, "Yea, that is true, and it is
+Camelot." And one of them said: "Messire, it is likely that King Arthur is
+at that place at this very time, for so it was reported that he was, and so
+I believe it to be."
+
+"Ha," quoth Tristram, "that is very good news to me, for I believe that it
+would be the greatest joy to me that the world can now give to behold King
+Arthur and those noble knights of his court ere I die. More especially do I
+desire above all things to behold that great, noble champion, Sir Launcelot
+of the Lake. So let us now go ashore, and mayhap it shall come to pass that
+I shall see the great King and Sir Launcelot and mayhap shall come to speak
+with the one or the other." And that saying of Sir Tristram's seemed good
+to those knights who were with him, for they were weary of the sea, and
+desired to rest for a while upon the dry land.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram sets up his pavilion] So they presently all went
+ashore and bade their attendants set up their pavilions in a fair level
+meadow that was somewhat near a league distant away from the castle and the
+town. In the midst of the other pavilions upon that plain was set the
+pavilion of Sir Tristram. It was of fine crimson cloth striped with silver
+and there was the figure of a gryphon carved upon the summit of the centre
+pole of the pavilion. The spear of Sir Tristram was emplanted by the point
+of the truncheon in the ground outside the pavilion, and thereunto his
+shield was hung so that those who passed that way might clearly behold what
+was the device thereon.
+
+And now shall be told how Sir Tristram became united in friendship with the
+brotherhood of good knights at King Arthur's court.
+
+[Illustration: Sir Tristram sits with Sir Launcelot]
+
+
+
+
+Chapter Sixth
+
+
+_How Sir Tristram had to do in battle with three knights of the Round
+Table. Also how he had speech with King Arthur._
+
+So came the next morning, and uprose the sun in all the splendor of his
+glory, shedding his beams to every quarter with a rare dazzling effulgence.
+For by night the clouds of storm had passed away and gone, and now all the
+air was clear and blue, and the level beams of light fell athwart the
+meadow-lands so that countless drops of water sparkled on leaf and blade of
+grass, like an incredible multitude of shining jewels scattered all over
+the earth. Then they who slept were awakened by the multitudinous voicing
+of the birds; for at that hour the small fowl sang so joyous a roundelay
+that all the early morning was full of the sweet jargon of their chanting.
+
+At this time, so early in the day, there came two knights riding by where
+Sir Tristram and his companions had set up their pavilions. These were two
+very famous knights of King Arthur's court and of the Round Table; for one
+was Sir Ector de Maris and the other was Sir Morganor of Lisle.
+
+[Sidenote: How two knights came to the pavilion of Sir Tristram] When
+these two knights perceived the pavilions of Sir Tristram and his
+knights-companion, they made halt, and Sir Ector de Maris said, "What
+knights are these who have come hither?" Then Sir Morganor looked and
+presently he said: "Sir, I perceive by their shields that these are Cornish
+knights, and he who occupies this central pavilion must be the champion of
+this party." "Well," quoth Sir Ector, "as for that I take no great thought
+of any Cornish knight, so do thou strike the shield of that knight and call
+him forth, and let us see of what mettle he is made."
+
+"I will do so," said Sir Morganor; and therewith he rode forward to where
+the shield of Sir Tristram hung from the spear, and he smote the shield
+with the point of his lance, so that it rang with a very loud noise.
+
+Upon this, Sir Tristram immediately came to the door of his pavilion, and
+said, "Messires, why did you strike upon my shield?" "Because," said Sir
+Ector, "we are of a mind to try your mettle what sort of a knight you be."
+Quoth Sir Tristram: "God forbid that you should not be satisfied. So if you
+will stay till I put on my armor you shall immediately have your will in
+this matter."
+
+Thereupon he went back into his tent and armed himself and mounted his
+horse and took a good stout spear of ash-wood into his hand.
+
+Then all the knights of Cornwall who were with Sir Tristram came forth to
+behold what their champion would do, and all their esquires, pages, and
+attendants came forth for the same purpose, and it was a very pleasant time
+of day for jousting.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram overthrows Sir Morganor] Then first of all Sir
+Morganor essayed Sir Tristram, and in that encounter Sir Tristram smote him
+so dreadful, terrible a blow that he cast him a full spear's length over
+the crupper of his horse, and that so violently that the blood gushed out
+of the nose and mouth and ears of Sir Morganor, and he groaned very
+dolorously and could not arise from where he lay.
+
+"Hah," quoth Sir Ector, "that was a very wonderful buffet you struck my
+fellow. But now it is my turn to have ado with you, and I hope God will
+send me a better fortune."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram overthrows Sir Ector] So he took stand for battle
+as did Sir Tristram likewise, and when they were in all wise prepared they
+rushed very violently to the assault. In that encounter Ector suffered
+hardly less ill fortune than Sir Morganor had done. For he brake his spear
+against Sir Tristram into as many as an hundred pieces, whilst Sir
+Tristram's spear held so that he overthrew both the horse and the
+knight-rider against whom he drove.
+
+Then all the knights of Cornwall gave loud acclaim that their knight had
+borne himself so well in those encounters. But Sir Tristram rode back to
+where those two knights still lay upon the ground, and he said: "Well,
+Messires, this is no very good hap that you have had with me."
+
+Upon that speech Sir Ector de Maris gathered himself up from the dust and
+said: "Sir Knight, I pray you of your knighthood to tell us who you be and
+what is your degree, for I declare to you, I believe you are one of the
+greatest knights-champion of the world."
+
+"Sir," said Sir Tristram, "I am very willing to tell you my name and my
+station; I am Sir Tristram, the son of King Meliadus of Lyonesse."
+
+"Ha," quoth Sir Ector, "I would God I had known that before I had ado with
+you, for your fame hath already reached to these parts, and there hath been
+such report of your prowess and several songs have been made about you by
+minstrels and poets. I who speak to you am Sir Ector, surnamed de Maris,
+and this, my companion, is Sir Morganor of Lisle."
+
+"Alas!" cried out Sir Tristram, "I would that I had known who you were ere
+I did battle with you. For I have greater love for the knights of the Round
+Table than all others in the world, and most of all, Sir Ector, do I have
+reverence for your noble brother Sir Launcelot of the Lake. So I take great
+shame to myself that any mishap should have befallen you this day through
+me."
+
+Upon this Sir Ector laughed. "Well," quoth he, "let not that trouble lie
+with you, for it was we who gave you challenge without inquiry who you
+were, and you did but defend yourself. We were upon our way to Camelot
+yonder, when we fell into this mishap, for King Arthur is at this time
+holding court at that place. So now, if we have your leave to go upon our
+way, we will betake ourselves to the King and tell him that you are here,
+for we know that he will be very glad of that news."
+
+Upon this Sir Tristram gave them leave to depart, and they did so with many
+friendly words of good cheer. And after they had gone Sir Tristram went
+back into his pavilion again and partook of refreshment that was brought to
+him.
+
+[Sidenote: There comes a knight in white armor] Now, some while after Sir
+Ector and Sir Morganor had left that place, and whilst Sir Tristram was
+still resting in his pavilion, there came a single knight riding that way,
+and this knight was clad altogether in white armor and his shield was
+covered over with a covering of white leather, so that one could not see
+what device he bare thereon.
+
+When this white knight came to the place where Sir Tristram and his
+companions had pitched their pavilions, he also stopped as Sir Ector and
+Sir Morganor had done, for he desired to know what knights these were. At
+that time Gouvernail was standing alone in front of Sir Tristram's
+pavilion, and unto him the white knight said: "Sir, I pray you, tell me who
+is the knight to whom this pavilion belongs."
+
+Now Gouvernail thought to himself: "Here is another knight who would have
+ado with my master. Perhaps Sir Tristram may have glory by him also." So he
+answered the white knight: "Sir, I may not tell you the name of this
+knight, for he is my master, and if he pleases to tell you his name he must
+tell it himself."
+
+"Very well," said the white knight, "then I will straightway ask him."
+
+Therewith he rode to where the shield of Sir Tristram hung, and he struck
+upon the shield so violent a blow that it rang very loud and clear.
+
+Then straightway came forth Sir Tristram and several of his
+knights-companion from out of the pavilion, and Sir Tristram said, "Sir
+Knight, wherefore did you strike upon my shield?"
+
+"Messire," quoth the white knight, "I struck upon your shield so that I
+might summon you hither for to tell me your name, for I have asked it of
+your esquire and he will not tell me."
+
+"Fair Knight," quoth Sir Tristram, "neither will I tell you my name until I
+have wiped out that affront which you have set upon my shield by that
+stroke you gave it. For no man may touch my shield without my having to do
+with him because of the affront he gives me thereby."
+
+"Well," said the white knight, "I am satisfied to have it as you please."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram does battle with the white knight] So therewith
+Sir Tristram went back into his pavilion and several went with him. These
+put his helmet upon his head and they armed him for battle in all ways.
+After that Sir Tristram came forth and mounted his horse and took his spear
+in hand and made himself in all ways ready for battle, and all that while
+the white knight awaited his coming very calmly and steadfastly. Then Sir
+Tristram took ground for battle, and the white knight did so likewise. So
+being in all ways prepared, each launched forth against the other with such
+amazing and terrible violence that those who beheld that encounter stood as
+though terrified with the thunder of the onset.
+
+Therewith the two knights met in the midst of the course, and each knight
+smote the other directly in the centre of the shield. In that encounter the
+spear of each knight broke all to small pieces, even to the truncheon which
+he held in his fist. And so terrible was the blow that each struck the
+other that the horse of each fell back upon his haunches, and it was only
+because of the great address of the knight-rider that the steed was able to
+recover his footing. As for Sir Tristram, that was the most terrible buffet
+he ever had struck him in all his life before that time.
+
+Then straightway Sir Tristram voided his saddle and drew his sword and
+dressed his shield. And he cried out: "Ha, Sir Knight! I demand of you that
+you descend from your horse and do me battle afoot."
+
+"Very well," said the white knight, "thou shalt have thy will." And
+thereupon he likewise voided his horse and drew his sword and dressed his
+shield and made himself in all ways ready for battle as Sir Tristram had
+done.
+
+Therewith they two came together and presently fell to fighting with such
+ardor that sparks of fire flew from every stroke. And if Sir Tristram
+struck hard and often, the white knight struck as hard and as often as he,
+so that all the knights of Cornwall who stood about marvelled at the
+strength and fierceness of the knights-combatant. Each knight gave the
+other many sore buffets so that the armor was here and there dinted and
+here and there was broken through by the edge of the sword so that the red
+blood flowed out therefrom and down over the armor, turning its brightness
+in places into an ensanguined red. Thus they fought for above an hour and
+in all that time neither knight gave ground or gained any vantage over the
+other.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram falls in the battle] Then after a while Sir
+Tristram grew more weary of fighting than ever he had been in all of his
+life before, and he was aware that this was the greatest knight whom he had
+ever met. But still he would not give ground, but fought from this side and
+from that side with great skill and address until of a sudden, he slipped
+upon some of that blood that he himself had shed, and because of his great
+weariness, fell down upon his knees, and could not for the instant rise
+again.
+
+Then that white knight might easily have struck him down if he had been
+minded to do so. But, instead, he withheld the blow and gave Sir Tristram
+his hand and said: "Sir Knight, rise up and stand upon thy feet and let us
+go at this battle again if it is thy pleasure to do so; for I do not choose
+to take advantage of thy fall."
+
+Then Sir Tristram was as greatly astonished at the extraordinary courtesy
+of his enemy as he had been at his prowess. And because of that courtesy he
+would not fight again, but stood leaning upon his sword panting. Then he
+said: "Sir Knight, I pray thee of thy knighthood to tell me what is thy
+name and who thou art."
+
+"Messire," said the white knight, "since you ask me that upon my
+knighthood, I cannot refuse to tell you my name. And so I will do, provided
+you, upon your part, will do me a like courtesy and will first tell me your
+name and degree."
+
+Quoth Sir Tristram: "I will tell you that. My name is Sir Tristram of
+Lyonesse, and I am the son of King Meliadus of that land whereby I have my
+surname."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot confesses himself] "Ha, Sir Tristram," said the
+white knight, "often have I heard of thee and of thy skill at arms, and
+well have I proved thy fame this day and that all that is said of thee is
+true. I must tell thee that I have never yet met my match until I met thee
+this day. For I know not how this battle might have ended hadst thou not
+slipped and fallen by chance as thou didst. My name is Sir Launcelot,
+surnamed of the Lake, and I am King Ban's son of Benwick."
+
+At this Sir Tristram cried out in a loud voice: "Sir Launcelot! Sir
+Launcelot! Is it thou against whom I have been doing battle! Rather I would
+that anything should have happened to me than that, for of all men in the
+world I most desire thy love and friendship."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram yields to Sir Launcelot] Then, having so spoken,
+Sir Tristram immediately kneeled down upon his knees and said: "Messire, I
+yield myself unto thee, being overcome not more by thy prowess than by thy
+courtesy. For I freely confess that thou art the greatest knight in the
+world, against whom no other knight can hope to stand; for I could fight no
+more and thou mightest easily have slain me when I fell down a while
+since."
+
+"Nay, Sir Tristram," said Sir Launcelot, "arise, and kneel not to me, for I
+am not willing to accept thy submission, for indeed it is yet to be proved
+which of us is the better knight, thou or I. Wherefore let neither of us
+yield to the other, but let us henceforth be as dear as brothers-in-arms
+the one toward the other."
+
+Then Sir Tristram rose up to his feet again. "Well, Sir Launcelot," he
+said, "whatsoever thou shalt ordain shall be as thou wouldst have it. But
+there is one thing I must do because of this battle."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram breaks his sword] Then he looked upon his sword
+which he held naked and ensanguined in his hand and he said: "Good sword;
+thou hast stood my friend and hast served me well in several battles, but
+this day thou hast served me for the last time." Therewith he suddenly took
+the blade of the sword in both hands--the one at the point and the other
+nigh the haft--and he brake the blade across his knee and flung the pieces
+away.
+
+Upon this Sir Launcelot cried out in a loud voice: "Ha, Messire! why didst
+thou do such a thing as that? To break thine own fair sword?"
+
+"Sir," quoth Sir Tristram, "this sword hath this day received the greatest
+honor that is possible for any blade to receive; for it hath been baptized
+in thy blood. So, because aught else that might happen to it would diminish
+that honor, I have broken it so that its honor might never be made less
+than it is at this present time."
+
+Upon this Sir Launcelot ran to Sir Tristram and catched him in his arms,
+and he cried out: "Tristram, I believe that thou art the noblest knight
+whom ever I beheld!" And Sir Tristram replied: "And thou, Launcelot, I love
+better than father or kindred." Therewith each kissed the other upon the
+face, and all they who stood by were so moved at that sight that several of
+them wept for pure joy.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram and Sir Launcelot feast together] Thereafter they
+two went into Sir Tristram's pavilion and disarmed themselves. Then there
+came sundry attendants who were excellent leeches and these searched their
+hurts and bathed them and dressed them. And several other attendants came
+and fetched soft robes and clothed the knights therein so that they were
+very comfortable in their bodies. Then still other attendants brought them
+good strong wine and manchets of bread and they sat together at table and
+ate very cheerfully and were greatly refreshed.
+
+So I have told you of that famous affair-at-arms betwixt Sir Launcelot and
+Sir Tristram, and I pray God that you may have the same pleasure in reading
+of it that I had in writing of it.
+
+[Sidenote: King Arthur comes to Sir Tristram's pavilion] Now, as Sir
+Launcelot and Sir Tristram sat in the pavilion of Sir Tristram making
+pleasant converse together, there suddenly entered an esquire to where they
+were sitting. This esquire proclaimed: "Messires, hither cometh King
+Arthur, and he is very near at hand." Thereupon, even as that esquire
+spoke, there came from without the pavilion a great noise of trampling
+horses and the pleasant sound of ringing armor, and then immediately a loud
+noise of many voices uplifted in acclamation.
+
+Therewith Sir Launcelot and Sir Tristram arose from where they sat, and as
+they did so the curtains at the doorway of the pavilion were parted and
+there entered King Arthur himself enveloped, as it were, with all the glory
+of his royal estate.
+
+Unto him Sir Tristram ran, and would have fallen upon his knees, but King
+Arthur stayed him from so doing. For the great king held him by the hand
+and lifted him up, and he said, "Sir, are you Sir Tristram of Lyonesse?"
+"Yea," said Sir Tristram, "I am he." "Ha," said King Arthur, "I am gladder
+to see you than almost any man I know of in the world," and therewith he
+kissed Sir Tristram upon the face, and he said: "Welcome, Messire, to these
+parts! Welcome! And thrice welcome!"
+
+Then Sir Tristram besought King Arthur that he would refresh himself, and
+the King said he would do so. So Sir Tristram brought him to the chiefest
+place, and there King Arthur sat him down. And Sir Tristram would have
+served him with wine and with manchets of bread with his own hand, but King
+Arthur would not have it so, but bade Sir Tristram to sit beside him on his
+right hand, and Sir Tristram did so. After that, King Arthur spake to Sir
+Tristram about many things, and chiefly about King Meliadus, the father of
+Sir Tristram, and about the court of Lyonesse.
+
+Then, after a while King Arthur said: "Messire, I hear tell that you are a
+wonderful harper." And Sir Tristram said, "Lord, so men say of me." King
+Arthur said, "I would fain hear your minstrelsy." To which Sir Tristram
+made reply: "Lord, I will gladly do anything at all that will give you
+pleasure."
+
+So therewith Sir Tristram gave orders to Gouvernail, and Gouvernail brought
+him his shining golden harp, and the harp glistered with great splendor in
+the dim light of the pavilion.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram sings before King Arthur] Sir Tristram took the
+harp in his hands and tuned it and struck upon it. And he played upon the
+harp, and he sang to the music thereof so wonderfully that they who sat
+there listened in silence as though they were without breath. For not one
+of them had ever heard such singing as that music which Sir Tristram sang;
+for it was as though some angel were singing to those who sat there
+harkening to his chanting.
+
+So after Sir Tristram had ended, all who were there gave loud acclaim and
+much praise to his singing. "Ha, Messire!" quoth King Arthur, "many times
+in my life have I heard excellent singing, but never before in my life have
+I heard such singing as that. Now I wish that we might always have you at
+this court and that you would never leave us." And Sir Tristram said:
+"Lord, I too would wish that I might always be with you and with these
+noble knights of your court, for I have never met any whom I love as I love
+them."
+
+So they sat there in great joy and friendliness of spirit, and, for the
+while, Sir Tristram forgot the mission he was upon and was happy in heart
+and glad of that terrible storm that had driven him thitherward.
+
+And now I shall tell you the conclusion of all these adventures, and of how
+it fared with Sir Tristram.
+
+[Illustration: Belle Isoult and Sir Tristram drink the love draught]
+
+
+
+
+Chapter Seventh
+
+
+_How Sir Tristram had speech with King Angus of Ireland; how he undertook
+to champion the cause of King Angus and of what happened thereafter_.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram hears news of King Angus] Now, as Sir Tristram and
+King Arthur and Sir Launcelot sat together in the pavilion of Sir Tristram
+in pleasant, friendly discourse, as aforetold, there came Gouvernail of a
+sudden into that place. He, coming to Sir Tristram, leaned over his
+shoulder and he whispered into his ear: "Sir, I have just been told that
+King Angus of Ireland is at this very time at Camelot at the court of the
+King."
+
+Upon this Sir Tristram turned to King Arthur and said: "Lord, my esquire
+telleth me that King Angus of Ireland is here at Camelot; now I pray you
+tell me, is that saying true?" "Yea," said King Arthur, "that is true; but
+what of it?" "Well," said Sir Tristram, "I had set forth to seek King Angus
+in Ireland, when I and my companions were driven hither by a great storm of
+wind. Yet when I find him, I know not whether King Angus may look upon me
+as a friend or as an unfriend."
+
+[Sidenote: How Sir Bertrand was killed in Ireland] "Ha," said King Arthur,
+"you need not take trouble concerning the regard in which King Angus shall
+hold you. For he is at this time in such anxiety of spirit that he needs to
+have every man his friend who will be his friend, and no man his enemy whom
+he can reconcile to him. He is not just now in very good grace, either with
+me or with my court, for the case with him is thus: Some while ago, after
+you left the court of Ireland, there came to that place Sir Blamor de Ganys
+(who is right cousin to Sir Launcelot of the Lake) and with Sir Blamor a
+knight-companion hight Sir Bertrand de la Riviere Rouge. These two knights
+went to Ireland with intent to win themselves honor at the court of
+Ireland. Whilst they were in that kingdom there were held many jousts and
+tourneys, and in all of them Sir Blamor and Sir Bertrand were victorious,
+and all the knights of Ireland who came against them were put to shame at
+their hands. Many of the Irish knights were exceedingly angry at this, and
+so likewise was the King of Ireland. Now it happened one day that Sir
+Bertrand was found dead and murdered at a certain pass in the King's
+forest, and when the news thereof was brought to Sir Blamor, he was very
+wroth that his knight-companion should have been thus treacherously slain.
+So he immediately quitted Ireland and returned hither straightway, and when
+he had come before me he accused King Angus of treason because of that
+murder. Now at this time King Angus is here upon my summons for to answer
+that charge and to defend himself therefrom; for Sir Blamor offers his body
+to defend the truth of his accusation, and as for the King of Ireland, he
+can find no knight to take his part in that contention. For not only is Sir
+Blamor, as you very well know, one of the best knights in the world, but
+also nearly everybody here hath doubt of the innocence of King Angus in
+this affair. Now from this you may see that King Angus is very much more in
+need of a friend at this time than he is of an enemy."
+
+"Lord," said Sir Tristram, "what you tell me is very excellent good news,
+for now I know that I may have talk with King Angus with safety to myself,
+and that he will no doubt receive me as a friend."
+
+So after King Arthur and his court had taken their departure--it being then
+in the early sloping of the afternoon--Sir Tristram called Gouvernail to
+him and bade him make ready their horses, and when Gouvernail had done so,
+they two mounted and rode away by themselves toward that place where King
+Angus had taken up his lodging. When they had come there, Sir Tristram made
+demand to have speech with the King, and therewith they in attendance
+ushered him in to where the King Angus was.
+
+[Sidenote: King Angus welcomes Sir Tristram] But when King Angus saw Sir
+Tristram who he was, and when he beheld a face that was both familiar and
+kind, he gave a great cry of joy, and ran to Sir Tristram and flung his
+arms about him, and kissed him upon the cheek; for he was rejoiced beyond
+measure to find a friend in that unfriendly place.
+
+Then Sir Tristram said, "Lord, what cheer have you?" Unto that King Angus
+replied: "Tristram, I have very poor cheer; for I am alone amongst enemies
+with no one to befriend me, and unless I find some knight who will stand my
+champion to-morrow or the next day I am like to lose my life for the murder
+of Sir Bertrand de la Riviere Rouge. And where am I to find any one to act
+as my champion in defence of my innocence in this place, where I behold an
+enemy in every man whom I meet? Alas, Tristram! There is no one in all the
+world who will aid me unless it be you, for you alone of all the knights in
+the world beyond the circle of the knights of the Round Table may hope to
+stand against so excellent and so strong a hero!"
+
+"Lord," quoth Sir Tristram, "I know very well what great trouble overclouds
+you at this time, and it is because of that that I am come hither for to
+visit you. For I have not at any time forgotten how that I told you when
+you spared my life in Ireland that mayhap the time might come when I might
+serve as your friend in your day of need. So if you will satisfy me upon
+two points, then I myself will stand for your champion upon this occasion."
+
+"Ah, Tristram," quoth King Angus, "what you say is very good news to me
+indeed. For I believe there is no other knight in all the world (unless it
+be Sir Launcelot of the Lake) who is so strong and worthy a knight as you.
+So tell me what are those two matters concerning which you would seek
+satisfaction, and, if it is possible for me to do so, I will give you such
+an answer as may please you."
+
+"Lord," said Sir Tristram, "the first matter is this: that you shall
+satisfy me that you are altogether innocent of the death of Sir Bertrand.
+And the second matter is this: that you shall grant me whatsoever favor it
+is that I shall have to ask of you."
+
+[Sidenote: King Angus swears innocence to Sir Tristram] Then King Angus
+arose and drew his sword and he said: "Tristram, behold; here is my
+sword--and the guard thereof and the blade thereof and the handle thereof
+make that holy sign of the cross unto which all Christian men bow down to
+worship. Look! See! Here I kiss that holy sign and herewith I swear an oath
+upon that sacred symbol, and I furthermore swear upon the honor of my
+knighthood, that I am altogether guiltless of the death of that noble,
+honorable knight aforesaid. Nor do I at all know how it was he met his
+death, for I am innocent of all evil knowledge thereof. Now, Messire, art
+thou satisfied upon that point?" And Sir Tristram said, "I am satisfied."
+
+Then King Angus said: "As to the matter of granting you a favor, that I
+would do in any case for the love I bear you. So let me hear what it is
+that you have to ask of me."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram asks his boon] "Lord," cried out Sir Tristram,
+"the favor is one I had liever die than ask. It is this: that you give me
+your daughter, the Lady Belle Isoult, for wife unto mine uncle, King Mark
+of Cornwall."
+
+Upon these words, King Angus sat in silence for a long while, gazing very
+strangely upon Sir Tristram. Then by and by he said: "Messire, this is a
+very singular thing you ask of me; for from what you said to me aforetime
+and from what you said to my daughter I had thought that you desired the
+Lady Belle Isoult for yourself. Now I can in no wise understand why you do
+not ask for her in your name instead of asking for her in the name of King
+Mark."
+
+Then Sir Tristram cried out as in great despair: "Messire, I love that dear
+lady a great deal more than I love my life; but in this affair I am
+fulfilling a pledge made upon the honor of my knighthood and unto the King
+of Cornwall, who himself made me knight. For I pledged him unaware, and now
+I am paying for my hastiness. Yet I would God that you might take the sword
+which you hold in your hand and thrust it through my heart; for I had
+liefer die than fulfil this obligation to which I am pledged."
+
+"Well," said King Angus, "you know very well that I will not slay you, but
+that I will fulfil your boon as I have promised. As for what you do in this
+affair, you must answer for it to God and to the honor of your own
+knighthood whether it is better to keep that promise which you made to the
+King of Cornwall or to break it."
+
+Then Sir Tristram cried out again in great travail of soul: "Lord, you know
+not what you say, nor what torments I am at this present moment enduring."
+And therewith he arose and went forth from that place, for he was ashamed
+that anyone should behold the passion that moved him.
+
+And now is to be told of that famous battle betwixt Sir Tristram and Sir
+Blamor de Ganys of which so much hath been written in all the several
+histories of chivalry that deal with these matters.
+
+Now when the next morning had come--clear and fair and with the sun shining
+wonderfully bright--a great concourse of people began to betake themselves
+to that place where the lists had been set up in preparation for that
+ordeal of battle. That place was on a level meadow of grass very fair
+bedight with flowers and not far from the walls of the town nor from the
+high road that led to the gate of the same.
+
+[Sidenote: Of the meadow of battle] And, indeed, that was a very beautiful
+place for battle, for upon the one hand was the open countryside, all gay
+with spring blossoms and flowers; and upon the other hand were the walls of
+the town. Over above the top of those walls was to be seen a great many
+tall towers--some built of stone and some of brick--that rose high up into
+the clear, shining sky all full of slow-drifting clouds, that floated, as
+it were, like full-breasted swans in a sea of blue. And beyond the walls of
+the town you might behold a great many fair houses with bright windows of
+glass all shining against the sky. So you may see how fair was all that
+place, where that fierce battle was presently to be fought.
+
+Meanwhile, great multitudes of people had gathered all about the meadow of
+battle, and others stood like flies upon the walls of the town and looked
+down into that fair, pleasant meadow-land, spread with its carpet of
+flowers. All along one side of the ground of battle was a scaffolding of
+seats fair bedraped with fabrics of various colors and textures. In the
+midst of all the other seats were two seats hung with cloth of scarlet, and
+these seats were the one for King Arthur and the other for King Angus of
+Ireland.
+
+In the centre of the meadow-land Sir Blamor rode up and down very proudly.
+He was clad in red armor, and the trappings and the furniture of his horse
+were all of red, so that he paraded the field like a crimson flame of fire.
+
+"Sir." quoth King Arthur to King Angus, "yon is a very strong, powerful,
+noble knight; now where mayst thou find one who can hope to stand against
+him in this coming battle?"
+
+[Sidenote: King Angus presents Sir Tristram for his champion] "Lord," said
+King Angus, "I do believe that God hath raised up a defender for me in this
+extremity. For Sir Tristram of Lyonesse came to me yesterday, and offered
+for to take this quarrel of mine upon him. Now I do not believe that there
+is any better knight in all of Christendom than he, wherefore I am to-day
+uplifted with great hopes that mine innocence shall be proved against mine
+accuser."
+
+"Ha!" quoth King Arthur, "if Sir Tristram is to stand thy champion in this
+affair, then I do believe that thou hast indeed found for thyself a very
+excellent, worthy defender."
+
+So anon there came Sir Tristram riding to that place, attended only by
+Gouvernail. And he was clad all in bright, polished armor so that he shone
+like a star of great splendor as he entered the field of battle. He came
+straight to where King Arthur sat and saluted before him. King Arthur said,
+"Sir, what knight art thou?" "Lord," answered he, "I am Sir Tristram of
+Lyonesse, and I am come to champion King Angus who sits beside you. For I
+believe him to be innocent of that matter of which he is accused, and I
+will emperil my body in that belief for to prove the truth of the same."
+
+"Well," quoth King Arthur, "this King accused hath, certes, a very noble
+champion in thee. So go and do thy devoirs, and may God defend the right."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram does battle with Sir Blamor] Thereupon each knight
+took a good stout spear into his hand and chose his place for the
+encounter, and each set his shield before him and feutered his lance in
+rest. Then, when each was ready, the marshal blew a great blast upon his
+trumpet, and thereupon, in an instant, each knight launched against the
+other like a bolt of thunder. So they met in the very middle of the course
+with such violence that the spear of each knight was shattered all into
+pieces unto the very truncheon thereof. Each horse fell back upon his
+haunches, and each would no doubt, have fallen entirely, had not the
+knight-rider recovered his steed with the greatest skill and address.
+
+Then each knight voided his saddle and each drew his sword and set his
+shield before him. Therewith they came to battle on foot like two wild
+boars--so fiercely and felly that it was terrible to behold. For they
+traced this way and that and foined and struck at one another so that whole
+pieces of armor were hewn from the bodies of each.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram overcomes Sir Blamor] But in all this battle Sir
+Tristram had so much the better that, by and by after they had fought for
+above an hour, Sir Blamor de Ganys began to bare back before him, and to
+give ground, holding his shield low for weariness. This Sir Tristram
+perceived, and, running in suddenly upon Sir Blamor, he struck him so
+terrible a blow upon the right shoulder that Sir Blamor's arm was
+altogether benumbed thereby, and he could no longer hold his sword in his
+hand.
+
+So the sword of Sir Blamor fell down into the grass, and Sir Tristram,
+perceiving this, ran and set his foot upon it. Then Sir Blamor could not
+stand any longer, but fell down upon his knees because of a great weariness
+and faintness that lay upon him like the weariness and faintness of
+approaching death.
+
+Then Sir Tristram said: "Sir Knight, thou canst fight no longer. Now I bid
+thee for to yield thyself to me as overcome in this battle."
+
+Thereunto Sir Blamor made reply, speaking very deep and hollow from out of
+his helmet: "Sir Knight, thou hast overcome me by thy strength and prowess,
+but I will not yield myself to thee now nor at any time. For that would be
+so great shame that I would rather die than endure it. I am a knight of the
+Round Table, and have never yet been overcome in this wise by any man. So
+thou mayst slay me, but I will not yield myself to thee."
+
+Then Sir Tristram cried out: "Sir Knight, I beseech thee to yield thyself,
+for thou art not fit to fight any more this day."
+
+Sir Blamor said, "I will not yield, so strike and have done with it."
+
+So Sir Tristram wist not what to do, but stood there in doubt looking down
+upon Sir Blamor. Then Sir Blamor said, again: "Strike, Sir Knight, and have
+done with it."
+
+Upon this Sir Tristram said: "I may not strike thee, Sir Blamor de Ganys,
+to slay thee, for thou art very nigh of blood to Sir Launcelot of the Lake,
+and unto him I have sworn brotherhood in arms; wherefore I pray thee now to
+yield thyself to me."
+
+Sir Blamor said, "Nay, I will not yield me to thee."
+
+"Well," said Sir Tristram, "then I must fain act this day in a manner like
+as I acted yesterday."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram gives Sir Blamor back his sword] Therewith
+speaking, he took his sword into both his hands and he swung it several
+times around his head and when he had done that he flung it to a great
+distance away, so that he was now entirely unarmed saving only for his
+misericordia. After that he gave Sir Blamor his hand and lifted him up upon
+his feet. And he stooped and picked up Sir Blamor's sword out of the grass
+and gave it back to Sir Blamor into his hands, and he said: "Sir Knight,
+now thou art armed and I am entirely unarmed, and so thou hast me at thy
+mercy. Now thou shalt either yield thyself to me or slay me as I stand here
+without any weapon; for I cannot now strike thee, and though I have
+overcome thee fairly yet thou hast it now in thy power to slay me. So now
+do thy will with me in this matter."
+
+Then Sir Blamor was greatly astonished at the magnanimity of Sir Tristram,
+and he said, "Sir Knight, what is thy name?" Sir Tristram said, "It is
+Tristram, surnamed of Lyonesse."
+
+Upon this Sir Blamor came to Sir Tristram and put his arms about his
+shoulders, and he said: "Tristram, I yield myself to thee, but in love and
+not in hate. For I yield myself not because of thy strength of arms (and
+yet I believe there is no knight in the world, unless it be my cousin Sir
+Launcelot of the Lake, who is thy peer), but I yield me because of thy
+exceeding nobility. Yet I would that I might only be satisfied that this
+King of Ireland is no traitor."
+
+"Messire," said Sir Tristram, "of that I have assured myself very strongly
+ere I entered into this contest, wherefore I may now freely avouch upon
+mine own knightly word that he is innocent."
+
+"Then," said Sir Blamor, "I also am satisfied, and I herewith withdraw all
+my impeachment against him."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram and Sir Blamor are reconciled] Then those two
+noble, excellent knights took one another by the hand and went forward
+together to where King Arthur sat in high estate, and all those who looked
+on and beheld that reconciliation gave loud acclaim. And when King Arthur
+beheld them coming thus, he arose from where he sat and met them and
+embraced them both, and he said: "I do not believe that any king can have
+greater glory in his life than this, to have such knights about him as ye
+be."
+
+So ended this famous battle with great glory to Sir Tristram and yet with
+no disregard to that famous knight against whom he did battle.
+
+After that, they and King Arthur and King Angus of Ireland and all the
+court went up unto the castle of Camelot, and there the two
+knights-combatant were bathed in tepid water and their wounds were searched
+and dressed and they were put at their ease in all ways that it was
+possible.
+
+Now that very day, as they all sat at feast in the castle of Camelot, there
+came one with news that the name of Sir Tristram had suddenly appeared upon
+one of the seats of the Round Table. So after they had ended their feast
+they all immediately went to see how that might be. When they came to the
+pavilion of the Round Table, there, behold! was his name indeed upon that
+seat that had once been the seat of King Pellinore. For this was the name
+that now was upon that seat:
+
+SIR TRISTRAM OF LYONESSE
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram becomes knight of the Round Table] So the next day
+Sir Tristram was duly installed as a knight-companion of the Round Table
+with a great pomp and estate of circumstance, and a day or two after that
+he set sail for Ireland with King Angus, taking with him Gouvernail and
+those Cornish knights who were his companions.
+
+So they all reached Ireland in safety, and, because Sir Tristram had aided
+the King of Ireland in the day of his extremity, the Queen forgave him all
+the despite she held against him, so that he was received at the court of
+the King and Queen with great friendship and high honor.
+
+[Sidenote: How Sir Tristram dwelt in Ireland] For a while Sir Tristram
+dwelt in Ireland and said nothing concerning that purpose for which he had
+come. Then one day he said to King Angus: "Lord, thou art not to forget to
+fulfil that promise which thou madst to me concerning the Lady Belle
+Isoult."
+
+To this King Angus made reply: "I had hoped that now we were come to
+Ireland you had changed your purpose in that matter. Are you yet of the
+same mind as when you first spake to me?"
+
+"Yea," said Sir Tristram, "for it cannot be otherwise."
+
+"Well, then," said King Angus, "I shall go to prepare my daughter for this
+ill-hap that is to befall her, though indeed it doth go against my heart to
+do such a thing. After I have first spoken to her, you are to take the
+matter into your own hands, for, to tell you the truth, I have not the
+heart to contrive it further."
+
+So King Angus went away from where Sir Tristram was, and he was gone a long
+while. When he returned he said: "Sir, go you that way and the Lady Belle
+Isoult will see you."
+
+So Sir Tristram went in the direction King Angus had said, and a page
+showed him the way. So by and by he came to where the Lady Belle Isoult
+was, and it was a great chamber in a certain tower of the castle and high
+up Under the eaves of the roof.
+
+[Sidenote: How Lady Belle Isoult appeared to Sir Tristram] The Lady Belle
+Isoult stood upon the farther side of this chamber so that the light from
+the windows shone full upon her face, and Sir Tristram perceived that she
+was extraordinarily beautiful, and rather like to a shining spirit than to
+a lady of flesh and blood. For she was clad altogether in white and her
+face was like to wax for whiteness and clearness, and she wore ornaments of
+gold set with shining stones of divers colors about her neck and about her
+arms so that they glistered with a wonderful lustre. Her eyes shone very
+bright and clear like one with a fever, and Sir Tristram beheld that there
+were channels of tears upon her face and several tears stood upon her white
+cheeks like to shining jewels hanging suspended there.
+
+So, for a while, Sir Tristram stood still without speaking and regarded her
+from afar. Then after a while she spake and said, "Sir, what is this you
+have done?" "Lady," he said, "I have done what God set me to do, though I
+would rather die than do it."
+
+She said, "Tristram, you have betrayed me." Upon the which he cried out in
+a very loud and piercing voice, "Lady, say not so!"
+
+She said: "Tristram, tell me, is it better to fulfil this pledge you have
+made, knowing that in so doing you sacrifice both my happiness and your
+happiness to satisfy your pride of honor; or is it better that you
+sacrifice your pride and break this promise so that we may both be happy?
+Tristram, I beseech you to break this promise you have made and let us be
+happy together."
+
+At this Sir Tristram cried out in a very loud voice: "Lady, did you put
+your hand into my bosom and tear my naked heart, you could not cause me so
+much pain as that which I this moment endure. It cannot be as you would
+have it, for it is thus with me: were it but myself whom I might consider,
+I would freely sacrifice both my life and my honor for your sake. But it
+may not be so, lady; for I am held to be one of the chiefest of that order
+of knighthood to which I belong, wherefore I may not consider myself, but
+must ever consider that order. For if I should violate a pledge given upon
+my knighthood, then would I dishonor not myself, but that entire order to
+which I belong. For, did I so, all the world would say, what virtue is
+there in the order of knighthood when one of the chiefest of that order may
+violate his pledge when it pleases him to do so? So, lady, having assumed
+that great honor of knighthood I must perform its obligations even to the
+uttermost; yea, though in fulfilling my pledge I sacrifice both Thee and
+myself."
+
+Then Belle Isoult looked upon Sir Tristram for some little while, and by
+and by she smiled very pitifully and said: "Ah, Tristram, I believe I am
+more sorry for thee than I am for myself."
+
+"Lady," said Tristram, "I would God that I lay here dead before you. But I
+am not able to die, but am altogether strong and hale--only very sorrowful
+at heart." And therewith he turned and left that place. Only when he had
+come to a place where he was entirely by himself with no one but God to see
+him, he hid his face in his hands and wept as though his heart were
+altogether broken. So it was that Sir Tristram fulfilled his pledge.
+
+[Sidenote: Belle Isoult and Sir Tristram depart for Cornwall] After that,
+King Angus furnished a very noble and beautiful ship with sails of satin
+embroidered with figures of divers sorts, and he fitted the ship in all
+ways such as became the daughter of a king and the wife of a king to embark
+upon. And that ship was intended for the Lady Belle Isoult and Sir Tristram
+in which to sail to the court of Cornwall.
+
+And it was ordained that a certain very excellent lady of the court of the
+Queen, who had been attendant upon the Lady Belle Isoult when she was a
+little child and who had been with her in attendance ever since that time,
+should accompany her to the Court of Cornwall. And the name of this lady
+was the Lady Bragwaine.
+
+[Sidenote: The Queen of Ireland provides a love potion for King Mark and
+Belle Isoult] Now the day before the Lady Belle Isoult was to take her
+departure from Ireland, the Queen of Ireland came to the Lady Bragwaine and
+she bare with her a flagon of gold very curiously wrought. And the Queen
+said: "Bragwaine, here is a flask of a very singular and precious sort of
+an elixir; for that liquor it is of such a sort that when a man and a woman
+drink of it together, they two shall thereafter never cease to love one
+another as long as they shall have life. Take this flask, and when you have
+come to Cornwall, and when the Lady Belle Isoult and King Mark have been
+wedded, then give them both to drink of this elixir; for after they have
+drunk they shall forget all else in the world and cleave only to one
+another. This I give you to the intent that the Lady Isoult may forget Sir
+Tristram, and may become happy in the love of King Mark whom she shall
+marry."
+
+Soon thereafter the Lady Belle Isoult took leave of the King and the Queen
+and entered into that ship that had been prepared for her. Thus, with Sir
+Tristram and with Dame Bragwaine and with their attendants, she set sail
+for Cornwall.
+
+Now it happened that, whilst they were upon that voyage, the Lady Bragwaine
+came of a sudden into the cabin of that ship and there she beheld the Lady
+Belle Isoult lying upon a couch weeping. Dame Bragwaine said, "Lady, why do
+you weep?" Whereunto the Lady Belle Isoult made reply: "Alas, Bragwaine,
+how can I help but weep seeing that I am to be parted from the man I love
+and am to be married unto another whom I do not love?"
+
+Dame Bragwaine laughed and said: "Do you then weep for that? See! Here is a
+wonderful flask as it were of precious wine. When you are married to the
+King of Cornwall, then you are to quaff of it and he is to quaff of it and
+after that you will forget all others in the world and cleave only to one
+another. For it is a wonderful love potion and it hath been given to me to
+use in that very way. Wherefore dry your eyes, for happiness may still lay
+before you."
+
+When the Lady Belle Isoult heard these words she wept no more but smiled
+very strangely. Then by and by she arose and went away to where Sir
+Tristram was.
+
+When she came to him she said, "Tristram, will you drink of a draught with
+me?" He said, "Yea, lady, though it were death in the draught."
+
+She said, "There is not death in it, but something very different," and
+thereupon she went away into the cabin where that chalice aforesaid was
+hidden. And at that time Dame Bragwaine was not there.
+
+Then the Lady Belle Isoult took the flagon from where it was hidden, and
+poured the elixir out into a chalice of gold and crystal and she brought it
+to where Sir Tristram was. When she had come there, she said, "Tristram, I
+drink to thee," and therewith she drank the half of the elixir there Was in
+the chalice. Then she said, "Now drink thou the rest to me."
+
+Upon that Sir Tristram took the chalice and lifted it to his lips, and
+drank all the rest of that liquor that was therein.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram and Belle Isoult drink the love potion] Now
+immediately Sir Tristram had drunk that elixir he felt it run like fire
+through every vein in his body. Thereupon he cried out, "Lady, what is this
+you have given me to drink?" She said: "Tristram, that was a powerful love
+potion intended for King Mark and me. But now thou and I have drunk of it
+and never henceforth can either of us love anybody in all of the world but
+the other."
+
+Then Sir Tristram catched her into his arms and he cried out: "Isoult!
+Isoult! what hast thou done to us both? Was it not enough that I should
+have been unhappy but that thou shouldst have chosen to be unhappy also?"
+
+Thereat the Lady Belle Isoult both wept and smiled, looking up into Sir
+Tristram's face, and she said: "Nay, Tristram; I would rather be sorry with
+thee than happy with another." He said, "Isoult, there is much woe in this
+for us both." She said, "I care not, so I may share it with thee."
+
+Thereupon Sir Tristram kissed her thrice upon the face, and then
+immediately put her away from him and he left her and went away by himself
+in much agony of spirit.
+
+Thereafter they reached the kingdom of Cornwall in safety, and the Lady
+Belle Isoult and King Mark were wedded with much pomp and ceremony and
+after that there was much feasting and every appearance of rejoicing.
+
+
+
+
+PART II
+
+
+The Story of Sir Tristram and Sir Lamorack
+
+And now shall be told the story of Sir Tristram and Sir Lamorack of Gales,
+how they became brothers-in-arms; how Sir Lamorack took offence at Sir
+Tristram, and how they became reconciled again.
+
+But first of all you must know that Sir Lamorack of Gales was deemed to be
+one of the greatest knights alive. For it was said that there were three
+knights that were the greatest in all of the world, and those three were
+Sir Launcelot of the Lake, Sir Tristram of Lyonesse, and Sir Lamorack of
+Gales.
+
+Sir Lamorack was the son of King Pellinore, of whom it hath already been
+told in the Book of King Arthur that he was the greatest knight during that
+time; and he was the brother of Sir Percival, of whom it is to be told
+hereinafter that he was the peer even of Sir Launcelot of the Lake. So
+because that house produced three such great and famous knights, the house
+of King Pellinore hath always been singularly renowned in all histories of
+chivalry. For indeed there was not any house so famous as it saving only
+the house of King Ban of Benwick, which brought forth those two peerless
+knights beyond all compare:--to wit, Sir Launcelot of the Lake and Sir
+Galahad, who achieved the quest of the San Grail.
+
+So I hope that you may find pleasure in the story of how Sir Tristram and
+Sir Lamorack became acquainted, and of how they became brothers-in-arms.
+
+[Illustration: Sir Lamorack of Gales]
+
+
+
+
+Chapter First
+
+
+_How Sir Lamorack of Gales came to Tintagel and how he and Sir Tristram
+sware friendship together in the forest._
+
+After these happenings, Sir Tristram abode for awhile at the Court of
+Cornwall, for so King Mark commanded him to do. And he sought in every way
+to distract his mind from his sorrows by deeds of prowess. So during this
+time he performed several adventures of which there is not now space to
+tell you. But these adventures won such credit to his knighthood that all
+the world talked of his greatness.
+
+And ever as he grew more and more famous, King Mark hated him more and
+more. For he could not bear to see Sir Tristram so noble and so sorrowful
+with love of the Lady Belle Isoult.
+
+Also Sir Tristram spent a great deal of time at chase with hawk and hound;
+for he hoped by means also of such sports to drive away, in some measure,
+his grief for the loss of Belle Isoult.
+
+Now the season whereof this chapter speaketh was in the autumn of the year,
+what time all the earth is glorious with the brown and gold of the
+woodlands. For anon, when the wind would blow, then the leaves would fall
+down from the trees like showers of gold so that everywhere they lay heaped
+like flakes of gold upon the russet sward, rustling dry and warm beneath
+the feet, and carpeting all the world with splendor. And the deep blue sky
+overhead was heaped full of white, slow-moving clouds, and everywhere the
+warm air was fragrant with the perfume of the forest, and at every strong
+breeze the nuts would fall pattering down upon the ground like hailstones.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram rides ahunting] And because the world was so
+beautiful and so lusty, Sir Tristram took great pleasure in life in spite
+of that trouble that lay upon him. So he and his court rode very joyfully
+amid the trees and thickets, making the woodlands merry with the music of
+winding horns and loud-calling voices and with the baying of hounds
+sounding like sweet tolling bells in the remoter aisles of the forest
+spaces.
+
+Thus Sir Tristram made sport all one morning, in such an autumn season, and
+when noon had come he found himself to be anhungered. So he gave orders to
+those who were in attendance upon him that food should be spread at a
+certain open space in the forest; and therewith, in accordance with those
+orders, they in attendance immediately opened sundry hampers of wicker, and
+therefrom brought forth a noble pasty of venison, and manchets of bread and
+nuts and apples and several flasks and flagons of noble wine of France and
+the Rhine countries. This abundance of good things they set upon a cloth as
+white as snow which they had laid out upon the ground.
+
+Now just as Sir Tristram was about to seat himself at this goodly feast he
+beheld amid the thin yellow foliage that there rode through a forest path
+not far away a very noble-seeming knight clad all in shining armor and with
+vestments and trappings of scarlet so that he shone like a flame of fire in
+the woodlands.
+
+Then Sir Tristram said to those who stood near him, "Know ye who is yonder
+knight who rides alone?" They say, "No, Lord, we know him not." Sir
+Tristram said, "Go and bid that knight of his courtesy that he come hither
+and eat with me."
+
+So three or four esquires ran to where that knight was riding, and in a
+little they came attending him to where Sir Tristram was, and Sir Tristram
+went to meet him.
+
+Then Sir Tristram said: "Sir Knight, I pray you for to tell me your name
+and degree, for it seems to me that you are someone very high in order of
+knighthood."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Lamorack meets Sir Tristam] "Messire," quoth the other, "I
+shall be very glad to tell you my name if so be you will do the like
+courtesy unto me. I am Sir Lamorack of Gales, and I am son of the late King
+Pellinore, who was in his days held to be the foremost knight in this
+realm. I come to these parts seeking Sir Tristram of Lyonesse, of whose
+fame I hear told in every court of chivalry whither I go. For I have never
+beheld Sir Tristram, and I have a great desire to do so."
+
+"Well," quoth Sir Tristram, "meseems I should be greatly honored that you
+should take so much trouble for nothing else than that; for lo! I am that
+very Sir Tristram of Lyonesse whom you seek."
+
+Then Sir Lamorack immediately leaped down from his war-horse and putting up
+the umbril of his helmet, he came to Sir Tristram and took him by the hand
+and kissed him upon the cheek. And Sir Tristram kissed Sir Lamorack again,
+and each made great joy of the other.
+
+After that, Sir Lamorack, with the aid of these esquires attendant upon Sir
+Tristram, put aside his armor, and bathed his face and neck and hands in a
+cold forest brook, as clear as crystal, that came brawling down out of the
+woodlands. Therewith, being greatly refreshed he and Sir Tristram sat down
+to that bountiful feast together, and ate and drank with great joy and
+content of spirit. And whiles they ate each made inquiry of the other what
+he did, and each told the other many things concerning the goodly
+adventures that had befallen him.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram sings to Sir Lamorack] And after they were through
+eating and drinking, Sir Tristram took his harp in hand and sang several
+excellent ballads and rondels which he had made in honor of Belle Isoult,
+and Sir Lamorack listened and made great applause at each song that Sir
+Tristram sang. And so each knight loved the other more and more the longer
+they sat together.
+
+Then, after a while, Sir Tristram said: "Dear friend, let us swear
+brotherhood to one another, for I find that my heart goeth out to thee with
+a wonderful strength."
+
+"Ha, Tristram," said Sir Lamorack, "I would rather live in brotherhood with
+thee than with any man whom I know, for I find that the longer I am with
+thee, the greater and the stronger my love groweth for thee."
+
+Then Sir Tristram drew from his finger a very splendid ring (for the ring
+held an emerald carved into the likeness of the head of a beautiful woman,
+and that emerald was set into the gold of the ring) and Sir Tristram said:
+"Give me that ring upon thy finger, O Lamorack! and take thou this ring in
+its stead; so we shall have confirmed our brotherhood to one another."
+
+Then Sir Lamorack did very joyfully as Sir Tristram bade him, and he took
+the ring that Sir Tristram gave him and kissed it and put it upon his
+finger; and Sir Tristram kissed the ring that Sir Lamorack gave him and put
+it upon his finger.
+
+Thus they confirmed brotherhood with one another that day as they sat
+together in the forest at feast, with the golden leaves falling about them.
+And so they sat together all that afternoon and until the sun began to hang
+low in the west; after that, they arose and took horse, and rode away
+together toward Tintagel in great pleasure of companionship.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Lamorack is honored at Tintagel] Now all the court at
+Tintagel was greatly rejoiced at the presence of so famous a knight as Sir
+Lamorack of Gales; so there was great celebration upon that account, and
+everybody did the most that he was able to give pleasure to Sir Lamorack.
+And during the time that Sir Lamorack was at Tintagel there were several
+joustings held in his honor, and in all these assays at arms Sir Lamorack
+himself took part and overthrew everyone who came against him, so that he
+approved himself to be so wonderful a champion that all men who beheld his
+performance exclaimed with astonishment at his prowess.
+
+But from all these affairs at arms Sir Tristram held himself aloof, and
+would not take part in them. For he took such pleasure in Sir Lamorack's
+glory that he would not do anything that might imperil the credit that his
+friend thus gained by his prowess. For though Sir Tristram dearly loved
+such affairs, he would ever say to himself: "Perhaps if I should enter the
+lists against my friend it might be my mishap to overthrow him and then his
+glory would be forfeited unto me."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Lamorack does famous battle] Now upon a certain time there
+was held a great day of jousting in honor of Sir Lamorack, and in that
+affair at arms twenty of the best knights, both of Cornwall and the
+countries circumadjacent, took the field to hold it against all comers. Of
+these knights, several were well-known champions, so that they maintained
+the field for a long while, to the great credit both of themselves and of
+Cornwall. But some while after the prime of day, there came Sir Lamorack
+into that field, and, the day being cool and fresh, he was filled with a
+wonderful strength and spirit of battle. So he challenged first one of
+those Cornish champions and then another, and in all such challenges he was
+successful, so that he overthrew of those knights, the one after the other,
+fifteen men, some of whom were sorely hurt in the encounter. Upon this, the
+other five of those champions, beholding the prowess and strength and skill
+of Sir Lamorack said to one another: "Why should we venture against this
+man? Of a verity, this knight is no mere man, but a demon of strength and
+skill. Wherefore no man may hope to stand against him in an assault of
+arms; for lo! if he doth but touch a man with his lance that man
+straightway falleth from his saddle." So they withdrew themselves from that
+encounter and would not have to do with Sir Lamorack.
+
+Now at that time Sir Tristram was sitting with the court of the King, and
+not far from the Lady Belle Isoult, overlooking the meadow of battle.
+
+To him King Mark said: "Messire, why do you take no part against this
+knight? Is it that you fear him?"
+
+To this Sir Tristram replied with great calmness: "Nay, I fear not him nor
+any man alive, and that you know, Lord, better than anyone in all of the
+world."
+
+"I am glad to hear of your courage and fearlessness," quoth King Mark, "for
+meseems it is a great shame to all of us that this gentleman, who is a
+stranger amongst us, should win so much credit to the disadvantage of all
+the knights of Cornwall. Now, as you say you have no fear of him, I pray
+you go down into the field and do battle with him in our behalf." So said
+King Mark, for he thought to himself: "Perhaps Sir Lamorack may overthrow
+Sir Tristram, and so bring him into disrepute with those who praise him so
+greatly."
+
+But Sir Tristram said: "No; I will not go down to battle against Sir
+Lamorack this day whatever I may do another day. For I have sworn
+brotherhood to that noble and gentle champion, and it would ill beseem me
+to assault him now, when he is weary and short of breath from this great
+battle which he hath done to-day against such odds. For if I should
+overthrow him now, it would bring great shame upon him. Some other day and
+in some other place I may assay him in friendliness, with honor and credit
+both to myself and him."
+
+[Sidenote: King Mark commands Sir Tristram to do battle] "Well," said King
+Mark, "as for that, I do not choose to wait. Nor am I pleased that you
+should sit by and suffer this knight to carry away all the credit of arms
+from Cornwall in despite of the knights of Cornwall. For not only would
+this be a great shame to the knights of Cornwall (of whom you are the
+acknowledged champion), but it would be equally a shame unto this lady whom
+you have fetched hither from Ireland to be Queen of Cornwall. So I lay this
+command upon you--not only because I am your King, but because I am he who
+made you knight--that you straightway go down into yonder meadow and do
+battle with this knight who beareth himself so proudly in our midst."
+
+Then Sir Tristram looked upon King Mark with great anger and bitterness,
+and he said: "This is great shame and despite which you seek to put upon me
+by giving such commands unto me. Verily, it would seem that in all ways you
+seek to put shame and sorrow upon me. And yet I have ever been your true
+knight, and have saved your kingdom from truage to Ireland and have served
+you very faithfully in all ways. Would to God I had been made knight by any
+man in the world rather than by you."
+
+At this King Mark smiled very bitterly upon Tristram. "Sirrah," quoth he,
+"meseems you speak very outrageously to me who am your King. Now I herewith
+command you to go straightway down into that field without any further
+words and to do my bidding against yonder knight."
+
+Then Sir Tristram groaned in spirit, and then he said, "I go."
+
+So Sir Tristram arose and went away from that place very full of bitterness
+and anger against the King and his court. For whiles there were some of
+that court who were sorry for the affront that King Mark had put upon him
+in public before the eyes of the entire court, yet there were others who
+smiled and were glad of his humiliation. For even so true and noble a
+gentleman as Sir Tristram, when he groweth great and famous, is like to
+have as many enemies as friends. For there are ever those who envy truth
+and nobility in a man, as well as others who hate meanness and falsity, and
+so Sir Tristram ever had many enemies whithersoever he went. And that also
+was the case with Sir Launcelot and Sir Lamorack, and with other noble
+knights at that time.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram arms himself] But though Sir Tristram was so
+filled with indignation he said nothing to any man, but went to his lodging
+and summoned Gouvernail, and bade Gouvernail to help him to his armor and
+his horse.
+
+Gouvernail said: "Lord, what would you do for to arm and horse yourself at
+this hour?" Sir Tristram made reply: "The King hath commanded me to do
+battle with Sir Lamorack, and yet Sir Lamorack is my very dear friend and
+sworn brother-in-arms. He is already weary with battle, and of a surety I
+shall be very likely to overthrow him in an assault at arms at this time."
+Gouvernail said, "Lord, that would be great shame to you as well as to
+him." And Sir Tristram said, "Yea, it is great shame." Then Gouvernail
+beheld Sir Tristram's face, how it was all filled with a passion of shame
+and indignation, and so he guessed what had passed, and held his peace.
+
+So when Sir Tristram was armed and mounted, he rode down into the meadow of
+battle, where was Sir Lamorack parading with great glory before the
+applause of all who looked down upon that field.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Lamorack speaks to Sir Tristram] But when Sir Lamorack
+beheld that it was Sir Tristram who came against him, he was greatly
+astonished, and cried out: "Ha, Tristram, how is this? Is it you who come
+against me? Have you then forgot that I am your brother-in-arms and a
+fellow of the Round Table?"
+
+To this Sir Tristram said: "Messire, I come not of my own free will, but
+only because I must needs come, being so commanded by the King of
+Cornwall."
+
+"Very well," said Sir Lamorack, "so be it as you will, though I am very
+much surprised that you should do battle against me, after all that hath
+passed betwixt us. More especially at this season when, as you very well
+know, I am weary and winded with battle."
+
+Thereupon and without further parley, each knight took stand for the
+encounter at the position assigned to him. Then when they were in all ways
+prepared, the marshal of the field blew upon his trumpet a call for the
+assault.
+
+So rushed those two together like two stones, flung each out of a catapult;
+and therewith they two smote together in the midst of their course like to
+a clap of thunder.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram overthrows Sir Lamorack] In that encounter the
+spear of Sir Lamorack brake into as many as twenty or thirty pieces; but
+the spear of Sir Tristram held, so that the horse of Sir Lamorack, which
+was weary with the several charges he had made, was overthrown into a great
+cloud of dust.
+
+But Sir Lamorack did not fall with his steed; for he voided his saddle with
+a very wonderful agility and dexterity, so that he himself kept his feet,
+although his horse fell as aforesaid. Then he was filled with great rage
+and shame that he had been so overthrown before all those who looked upon
+him; wherefore he immediately drew his sword and cried out aloud: "Come
+down, Sir Knight, and do battle with me afoot, for though my horse hath
+failed me because of his weariness, yet you shall find that my body shall
+not so fail me."
+
+But that while Sir Tristram sat very sorrowful, and he said: "Nay, I will
+not have to do with thee again this day, for it was against my will that I
+came hither to do battle with thee, and it is to my shame that I did so.
+Wherefore I will not now do further battle with thee. But wait until
+to-morrow and until thou art fresh, and then I will give thee the chance of
+battle again."
+
+To this Sir Lamorack made answer very bitterly: "Sir, I think you talk to
+amuse me; for first you put shame upon me in this encounter, and then you
+bid me wait until to-morrow ere I purge me of that shame. Now I demand of
+you to do battle with me upon this moment and not to-morrow."
+
+Sir Tristram said: "I will not do battle with thee, Lamorack, for I have
+done wrong already, and I will not do more wrong."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Lamorack reproves Sir Tristram] Upon this, Sir Lamorack was
+so filled with anger that he scarce knew what to say or to do. Wherefore he
+turned him to several who had come down into the meadow of battle, and he
+said: "Hear ye all, and listen to my words: This knight came against me in
+this field after I had had to do with fifteen other knights. In that
+encounter he overthrew me, because of the weariness of my horse. Having
+done that unknightly deed, he now refuseth me any further test of battle,
+but allows me to lie beneath that shame which he put upon me. Now I bid you
+who stand here to take this word to Sir Launcelot of the Lake; I bid ye
+tell Sir Launcelot that Sir Tristram of Lyonesse, having sworn
+brother-hood-in-arms to me, and being a fellow-knight of the Round Table,
+hath come against me when I was weary with battle and he was fresh. Tell
+Sir Launcelot that so Sir Tristram overthrew me with shame to himself and
+with discredit to me, and that he then refused me all satisfaction such as
+one true knight should afford another."
+
+Then Sir Tristram cried out in a loud voice, "I pray you, hear me speak,
+Messire!" But Sir Lamorack replied, "I will not hear thee!" and therewith
+turned and went away, leaving Sir Tristram where he was. And Sir Tristram
+sat there without movement, like to a statue of stone.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Lamorack leaves Tintagel] After that Sir Lamorack did not
+tarry longer at Tintagel, but immediately left the King's court without
+making speech with anyone. And thereafter he went down to the seashore and
+embarked in a boat with intent to sail to Camelot where King Arthur was
+then holding court. For his heart was still so bitter against Sir Tristram
+that he intended to lay complaint against him before the court of chivalry
+at Camelot.
+
+But Sir Lamorack did not reach Camelot upon that voyage; for, whilst he was
+in passage, there suddenly arose a great tempest of wind, and in spite of
+all that the mariners could do, that small ship wherein he sailed was
+driven upon a cruel headland of rocks and cliffs where it was dashed to
+pieces.
+
+But Sir Lamorack had foreseen that that small boat was to be wrecked,
+wherefore, before the end came, he stripped himself entirely naked and
+leaped into the waters and swam for his life.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Lamorack is shipwrecked upon a strange land] So he swam for
+a long time until he was wellnigh exhausted and upon the point of drowning
+in the waters. But at that moment he came by good hap to where was a little
+bay of quiet water, whereinto he swam and so made shift to come safe to
+land--but faint and weak, and so sick that he feared that he was nigh to
+death. Then Sir Lamorack perceived that there was heather at that place
+growing upon the rocks of the hillside, so he crawled into the heather and
+lay him down therein in a dry spot and immediately fell into such a deep
+sleep of weariness that it was more like to the swoon of death than to
+slumber.
+
+[Sidenote: Of Sir Nabon le Noir] Now the lord of that country whereunto
+Sir Lamorack had come was a very wicked knight, huge of frame and very
+cruel and hard of heart. The name of this knight was Sir Nabon, surnamed le
+Noir; for he was very swarth of hue, and he always wore armor entirely of
+black. This knight had several years before slain the lord of that land,
+and had seized upon all of the island as his own possession, and no one
+dared to come against him for to recover these possessions, for his prowess
+was so remarkable and his body so huge that all the world was afraid of
+him. So he dwelt there unmolested in a strong castle of stone built up upon
+a rock near to the seashore, whence he might behold all the ships that
+passed him by. Then, whenever he would see such a ship pass by, he would
+issue forth in his own ships and seize upon that other vessel, and either
+levy toll upon it or sink it with all upon board. And if he found any folk
+of high quality aboard such a ship, that one he would seize and hold for
+ransom. So Sir Nabon made himself the terror of all that part of the world,
+and all men avoided the coasts of so inhospitable a country. Such was the
+land upon which Sir Lamorack had been cast by the tempest.
+
+[Sidenote: The fisher-folk disarm Sir Lamorack] Now whilst Sir Lamorack
+lay sleeping in the heather in that wise as aforetold, there came by that
+way several fisher-folk; these, when they saw him lying there, thought at
+first that he was dead. But as they stood talking concerning him, Sir
+Lamorack was aware of their voices and woke and sat up and beheld them.
+
+Then the chiefest of those fisher-folk spake and said, "Who are you, and
+how came you here?" Him Sir Lamorack answered: "Alas! friend! I am a poor
+soul who was cast ashore from a shipwreck, naked as you see me. Now I pray
+you, give me some clothes to cover my nakedness, and give me some food to
+eat, and lend me such succor as man may give to man in distress."
+
+Then the chief fisherman perceived the ring upon Sir Lamorack's finger that
+Sir Tristram had given him, and he said, "How got you that ring upon your
+finger?" Sir Lamorack said, "He who was my friend gave it to me." "Well,"
+quoth the fisherman, "I will give you clothes to wear and food to eat, but
+if I do so you must give me that ring that I see upon your hand. As for
+lending you aid, I must tell you that the lord of this island hath ordained
+upon peril of our lives that all who come hither must straightway be
+brought before him to be dealt with as he may deem fitting. Wherefore,
+after I have fed you and clothed you I must immediately take you to him."
+
+[Sidenote: The fisher-folk give Sir Lamorack clothes and food] "Alas!"
+quoth Sir Lamorack, "this is certes an inhospitable land into which I have
+come! Ne'ertheless, as I am naked and starving, I see that I have no choice
+other than that which ye put upon me." So therewith he gave the chief of
+the fisher-folk the ring that Sir Tristram had given him, and in return the
+fishermen gave him such garments as they could spare to cover his
+nakedness; and they gave him black bread and cheese to eat, and bitter ale
+to drink from a skin that they carried with them. After that they tied Sir
+Lamorack's hands behind his back, and so, having made him prisoner, they
+brought him to the castle of Sir Nabon, and before Sir Nabon who was there
+at that time.
+
+Now it chanced that the swineherd of Sir Nabon's castle had been slain in a
+quarrel with one of his fellows, so that when Sir Nabon beheld Sir
+Lamorack, that he was big and sturdy of frame, he said: "I will spare this
+fellow his life, but I will make him my swineherd. So take ye him away and
+let him herd my swine."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Lamorack turns swineherd] So they led Sir Lamorack away,
+and he became swineherd to Sir Nabon surnamed le Noir, and presently in a
+little while he grew so rough and shaggy that his own mother would hardly
+have known him had she beheld him.
+
+So endeth this adventure of Sir Lamorack. And now it shall be told how it
+befel with Sir Tristram after Sir Lamorack had left Tintagel as aforetold.
+
+[Illustration: Sir Tristram cometh to ye castle of Sir Nabon]
+
+
+
+
+Chapter Second
+
+
+_How Sir Tristram started to go to Camelot, and how he stayed by the way to
+do battle with Sir Nabon le Noir._
+
+Now after Sir Lamorack had quit the court of King Mark of Cornwall as
+aforetold, Sir Tristram was very sad at heart for a long while.
+Nevertheless, he tried to comfort himself by saying: "Well, it was not by
+my will that I did battle with my friend and brother-in-arms, for I had no
+choice as to that which I was compelled to do." So he spake to himself, and
+took what comfort he was able from such considerations, and that comfort
+was not very great.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot sends a letter to Sir Tristram] Then one day
+there came from Sir Launcelot of the Lake a letter in which Sir Launcelot
+said that he had heard that Sir Tristram had assailed Sir Lamorack when
+that knight was weary and spent with battle. And in that letter Sir
+Launcelot further said: "It is very strange to me, Messire, that such
+things should be said of you, and that by several mouths. Now, I pray you,
+set this matter at right, for I do not choose to have such a thing said of
+you; that you would wait until a knight was weary with fighting before you
+would do battle with him. Moreover, Sir Lamorack is your sworn
+brother-at-arms, and a fellow-knight of the Round Table, and is, besides,
+one of the noblest and gentlest knights in Christendom. Wherefore I beseech
+you to set this matter right, so that those who accuse you of
+unknightliness may be brought to confusion."
+
+So wrote Sir Launcelot, and at those words Sir Tristram was cast into a
+great deal of pain and trouble of spirit; for he wist not how to answer
+that letter of Sir Launcelot's so as to make the matter clear to that
+knight. Wherefore he said: "I will straightway go to Camelot and to Sir
+Launcelot and will speak to him by word of mouth, and so will make him
+understand why I did that which I had to do."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram rides to Camelot] So when the next day had come
+Sir Tristram arose and took horse and rode away from Tintagel with intent
+to betake himself to Camelot where King Arthur was then holding court, and
+where he might hope to find Sir Launcelot abiding. And Sir Tristram took no
+companion with him, not even Gouvernail.
+
+And now I shall tell you how Sir Tristram rode: the way that he took led
+him down by the seashore, and by and by to a deep forest, which was then
+nearly altogether devoid of leaves, so that the branches above him were in
+some places like to the meshes of a net spread against the sky. Here that
+young knight rode upon a deep carpet of leaves, so that the steps of his
+war-horse were silenced save only for the loud and continued rustling of
+his footfalls in the dry and yellow foliage. And as Sir Tristram rode he
+sang several songs in praise of the Lady Belle Isoult, chanting in a voice
+that was both clear and loud and very sweet, and that sounded to a great
+distance through the deep, silent aisles of the forest.
+
+Thus he travelled, anon singing as aforetold of, and anon sank in
+meditation, so travelling until the day declined and the early gray of the
+evening began to fall. Then he began to bethink him how he should spend the
+night, and he thought he would have to sleep abroad in the forest. But just
+as the gray of the evening was fading away into darkness he came to a
+certain place of open land, where, before him, he perceived a tall castle,
+partly of stone and partly of red bricks, built up upon a steep hill of
+rocks. And upon one side of this castle was the forest, and upon the other
+side was the wide and open stretch of sea.
+
+And Sir Tristram perceived that there were lights shining from several
+windows of that castle, and that all within was aglow with red as of a
+great fire in the hall of the castle; and at these signs of good cheer, his
+heart was greatly expanded with joy that he should not after all have to
+spend that night in the darkness and in the chill of the autumn wilds.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram comes to a friendly castle] So Sir Tristram set
+spurs to his good horse and rode up to the castle and made request for rest
+and refreshment for the night. Then, after a little parley, the drawbridge
+was lowered, and the portcullis was raised, and he rode with a great noise
+into the stone-paved courtyard of the castle.
+
+Thereupon there came several attendants of the castle, and took his horse
+and aided him to descend from the saddle; and then other attendants came
+and led him away into the castle and so to an apartment where there was a
+warm bath of tepid water, and where were soft towels and napkins of linen
+for to dry himself upon after he was bathed. And when he had bathed and
+refreshed himself, there came still other attendants bearing soft warm
+robes for him in which to clothe himself after his journey; and Sir
+Tristram clothed himself and felt greatly at his ease, and was glad that he
+had come to that place.
+
+For thus it was that worthy knights like Sir Tristram travelled the world
+in those days so long ago; and so they were received in castle and hall
+with great pleasure and hospitality. For all folk knew the worth of these
+noble gentlemen and were glad to make them welcome whithersoever they went.
+And so I have told to you how Sir Tristram travelled, that you might,
+perchance, find pleasure in the thought thereof.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram meets the lady of the castle] Now after Sir
+Tristram had refreshed himself and clothed himself as aforesaid, there came
+the steward of the castle and besought him that he would come to where the
+lady of the castle was awaiting him for to welcome him. And Sir Tristram
+went with the steward, and the steward brought him where the lady sat at a
+table prepared for supper. And Sir Tristram perceived that the lady was
+very beautiful, but that she was clad in the deep weeds of a widow.
+
+When the lady perceived Sir Tristram, she arose and went to meet him, and
+gave him welcome, speaking in a voice both soft and very sweet. "Messire,"
+quoth she, "I am grieved that there is no man here to welcome you in such a
+manner as is fitting. But, alas! as you may see by the weeds in which I am
+clad, I am alone in the world and without any lord of the castle to do the
+courtesies thereof as is fitting. Yet such as I am, I give you welcome with
+my entire heart."
+
+"Lady," quoth Sir Tristram, "I give you gramercy for your courtesy. And
+indeed I am grieved to see you in such sorrow as your dress foretells. Now
+if there is any service I may render to you, I beseech you to call upon me
+for whatever aid I may give you."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram feasts with the chatelaine] "Nay," quoth she,
+"there is nothing you can do to help me." And therewith the lady, who was
+hight Loise, took Sir Tristram by the hand and led him to the table and sat
+him down beside her. Then straightway there came sundry attendants, and set
+a noble feast before them, with good excellent wines, both white and red;
+and they two ate and drank together with great appetite and enjoyment.
+
+Now after that feast was over and done, Sir Tristram said: "Lady, will you
+not of your courtesy tell me why you wear the weeds of sorrow in which you
+are clad? This I ask, not from idle humor, but because, as I said before, I
+may haply be able to aid you in whatever trouble it is under which you
+lie."
+
+[Sidenote: The Lady telleth Sir Tristram of Sir Nabon le Noir] "Alas, Sir
+Knight!" quoth she, "my trouble lieth beyond your power to aid or to amend.
+For can you conquer death, or can you bring the dead back to life again?
+Nevertheless, I will tell you what my sorrow is, and how it came unto me.
+You must know that some distance away across the sea, which you may behold
+from yonder window, there lieth an island. The present lord of that island
+is a very wicked and cruel knight, huge of frame and big of limb, hight Sir
+Nabon surnamed le Noir. One time the noble and gentle knight who was my
+husband was the lord of that island and the castle thereon, and of several
+other castles and manors and estates upon this mainland as well. But one
+evil day when I and my lord were together upon that island, this Sir Nabon
+came thither by night, and with certain evil-disposed folk of the island he
+overcame my lord and slew him very treacherously. Me also he would have
+slain, or else have taken into shameful captivity, but, hearing the noise
+of that assault in which my lord was slain, I happily escaped, and so, when
+night had come, I got away from that island with several attendants who
+were faithful to me, and thus came to this castle where we are. Since that
+time Sir Nabon has held that castle as his own, ruling it in a very evil
+fashion. For you are to know that the castle sits very high upon the crags
+overlooking the sea, and whenever a vessel passeth by that way, Sir Nabon
+goeth forth to meet it; and upon some of these crafts he levies toll, and
+other ships he sinks after slaying the mariners and sailor-folk who may by
+evil hap be aboard thereof. And if anyone is by chance cast ashore upon
+that island, that one he either slays or holds for ransom, or makes thereof
+a slave for to serve him. Because of this, very few ships now go by that
+way, for all people shun the coasts of so evil a country as that. So Sir
+Nabon took that land away from me; nor have I any kin who will take up this
+quarrel for me, and so I must endure my losses as best I may."
+
+"Ha!" quoth Sir Tristram, "and is there then no good knight-champion in
+this country who will rid the world of such an evil being as that Sir Nabon
+of whom you speak?"
+
+"Nay," said the lady, "there is no one who cares to offer challenge to that
+knight, for he is as strong and as doughty as he is huge of frame, and he
+is as fierce and cruel as he is strong and masterful, wherefore all men
+hold him in terror and avoid him."
+
+"Well," said Sir Tristram, "meseems it is the business of any knight to rid
+the world of such a monster as that, whatever may be the danger to himself.
+Now as there is no knight hereabouts who hath heart to undertake such an
+adventure, I myself shall undertake it so soon as to-morrow shall have
+come."
+
+"Sir," said the lady, "I beseech you to think twice before you enter into
+such an affair as that. Or rather be ruled by me and do not undertake this
+quest at all; for I misdoubt that anyone could conquer this huge and
+powerful champion, even if that knight were such as Sir Launcelot of the
+Lake or Sir Tristram of Lyonesse."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram confesses his degree to the chatelaine] At this
+Sir Tristram laughed with great good-will, and he said, "Lady, do you not
+then know who I am?" "Nay," said she, "I know you not." "Well," said Sir
+Tristram, "then I may tell you that I am that Sir Tristram of Lyonesse of
+whom you spoke just now. And I also tell you that I shall undertake this
+adventure to-morrow morning."
+
+Now when the lady found that the stranger she had taken in was Sir Tristram
+of Lyonesse, she made great exclamation of surprise and pleasure at having
+him at that place, for at that time all the world was talking of Sir
+Tristram's performances. So she took great pleasure and pride that her
+castle should have given him shelter. She made many inquiries concerning
+his adventures, and Sir Tristram told her all she asked of him.
+
+Then the lady said: "Messire, I hear tell that you sing very sweetly, and
+that you are a wonderful harper upon the harp. Now will you not chaunt for
+me a song or two or three?" And Sir Tristram said: "Lady, I will do
+whatsoever you ask me that may give you pleasure."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram sings to the lady] So the lady bade them bring a
+harp and they did so. And Sir Tristram took the harp and set it before him
+and tuned it and played upon it, and sang so sweetly that they of the
+castle said: "Certes, this is no knight-errant who sings, but an angel from
+Paradise who hath come among us. For surely no one save an angel from
+Paradise could sing so enchantingly."
+
+So passed that evening very pleasantly until the hours waxed late. Then Sir
+Tristram retired to a very noble apartment where a soft couch spread with
+flame-colored linen had been prepared for him, and where he slept a soft
+sleep without disturbance of any kind.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram departs for the island of Sir Nabon] Now when the
+next morning had come, Sir Tristram armed himself and mounted upon his
+war-horse, and rode him to a certain place on the shore. There he found
+some mariners in haven with a large boat, and to these he paid ten pieces
+of silver money to bear him across the sea to that island where Sir Nabon
+le Noir abided. At first these mariners said they would not sail to such a
+coast of danger and death; but afterward they said they would, and they did
+do so. But still they would not bring Sir Tristram to land nigh to the
+castle, but only at a place that was a great way off, and where they deemed
+themselves to be more safe from the cruel lord of that land.
+
+As for Sir Tristram he made merry with their fear, saying: "It is well that
+we who are knights-errant have more courage than you who are sailor-men,
+else it would not be possible that monsters such as this Sir Nabon should
+ever be made an end of."
+
+Upon this the captain of these sailors replied: "Well, Messire, for the
+matter of that, it is true that mariners such as we have not much courage,
+for we are the first of our order who have dared to come hither. But it is
+also true that you are the first errant-knight who hath ever had courage to
+come hither. So what say you for the courage of your own order?" And at
+that Sir Tristram laughed with great good will and rode his way.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram arrives at the castle of Sir Nabon] Thereafter he
+rode forward along the coast of that land for several leagues, with the
+noise of the sea ever beating in his ears, and the shrill clamor of the
+sea-fowl ever sounding in the air about him. By and by he came to a place
+of certain high fells, and therefrom perceived before him in the distance a
+tall and forbidding castle standing upon a high headland of the coast. And
+the castle was built of stone, that was like the rocks upon which it stood,
+so that at first one could not tell whether what one beheld was a part of
+the cliffs or whether it was the habitation of man. But when Sir Tristram
+had come somewhat nearer, he perceived the windows of the castle shining
+against the sky, and he saw the gateway thereof, and the roofs and the
+chimneys thereof, so that he knew that it was a castle of great size and
+strength and no wall of rock as he had at first supposed it to be; and he
+wist that this must be the castle of that wicked and malignant knight, Sir
+Nabon, whom he sought.
+
+Now as Sir Tristram wended his way toward that castle by a crooked path
+meditating how he should come at Sir Nabon for to challenge him to battle,
+he was by and by aware of a fellow clad in pied black and white, who walked
+along the way in the direction that he himself was taking. At the first
+that fellow was not aware of Sir Tristram; then presently he was aware of
+him and turned him about, and beheld that a strange knight was riding
+rapidly down toward him upon a horse.
+
+Then at first that fellow stood like one struck with amazement; but in a
+moment he cried out aloud as with a great fear, and instantly turned again
+and ran away, yelling like one who had gone mad.
+
+But Sir Tristram thundered after him at speed, and, in a little, came up
+with him, and catched him by the collar of his jerkin and held him fast.
+And Sir Tristram said: "Fellow, who are you?"
+
+"Lord," quoth the fellow, "I am an attendant upon the knight of yonder
+castle, which same is hight Sir Nabon surnamed le Noir."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram talks with a knave of the earth] Then Sir Tristram
+said: "Sirrah, why did you run from me when you first beheld me?" And the
+fellow replied: "Messire, you are the first stranger who hath dared to come
+hither to this country; wherefore, seeing you, and seeing that you rode
+upon horseback, and not knowing how you came to this land, I wist not
+whether you were a man of flesh and blood, or whether you were a spirit
+come hither for to punish us for our sins; so I ran away from you."
+
+"Well," said Sir Tristram, "as you see, I am no spirit, but a man of flesh
+and blood. Yet I have great hope that I have indeed been sent hither for to
+punish those who have done evil, for I come hither seeking the knight of
+yonder castle for to do battle with him in behalf of that lady whose lord
+he slew so treacherously as I have heard tell. And I hope to take away from
+him this island and return it to the Lady Loise, to whom it belongeth."
+
+"Alas, Messire," quoth the fellow, "this is for you a very sorry quest upon
+which you have come. For this Sir Nabon whom you seek is accounted to be
+the most potent knight in all of the world. Yea; he is held to be a bigger
+knight than even Sir Launcelot of the Lake or Sir Tristram of Lyonesse or
+Sir Lamorack of Gales. Wherefore I beseech you to turn about and go away
+whither you have come whilst there is still the chance for you to escape."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram sends challenge to Sir Nabon] "Gramercy for your
+pity, good fellow," quoth Sir Tristram, "and may God grant that it may not
+be deserved. Nevertheless, in spite of the danger in this quest, I am still
+of the same mind as I was when I came hither. So do you presently go to
+your lord and tell him from me that a knight hath come to do battle with
+him upon the behalf of the lady to whom this island by rights belongeth."
+
+Therewith Sir Tristram let the fellow go, and he ran off with great speed
+and so away to the postern of the castle and entered in and shut the door
+behind him.
+
+Now at that time Sir Nabon le Noir was walking along the wall of the
+castle, and his son, who was a lad of seventeen years, was with him. There
+the messenger from Sir Tristram found him and delivered his message.
+Thereupon Sir Nabon looked over the battlements and down below and he
+beheld that there was indeed a tall and noble knight seated upon horseback
+in a level meadow that reached away, descending inland from the foot of the
+crags whereon the castle stood.
+
+But when Sir Nabon perceived that a stranger knight had dared to come thus
+into his country, he was filled with amazement at the boldness of that
+knight that he wist not what to think. Then, presently a great rage got
+hold upon him, and he ground his teeth together, and the cords on his neck
+stood out like knots on the trunk of a tree. For a while he stood as though
+bereft of speech; then anon he roared out in a voice like that of a bull,
+crying to those who were near him: "Go! Haste ye! Fetch me straightway my
+horse and armor and I will go immediately forth and so deal with yonder
+champion of ladies that he shall never take trouble upon their account
+again."
+
+Then those who were in attendance upon Sir Nabon were terrified at his
+words and ran with all speed to do his bidding, and presently fetched his
+armor and clad him in it; and they fetched his horse into the courtyard of
+the castle and helped him to mount upon it. And lo! the armor of Sir Nabon
+was as black as ink; and the great horse upon which he sat was black; and
+all the trappings and furniture of the armor and of the horse were black,
+so that from top to toe he was altogether as black and as forbidding as
+Death himself.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Nabon rides forth to meet Sir Tristram] So when Sir Nabon
+was thus in all wise prepared for battle, the portcullis of the castle was
+lifted up, and he rode forth to meet Sir Tristram; and his young son rode
+with him as his esquire. Then all the people of the castle gathered
+together upon the walls to see that battle that was to be, and not one of
+those several score of folk thought otherwise than that Sir Tristram would
+certainly be overcome in that encounter.
+
+Sir Nabon rode straight up to Sir Tristram and he said very fiercely,
+"Sirrah, what is it brings you hither to this land?"
+
+"As to that," said Sir Tristram, "the messenger whom I have sent to you
+hath, I believe, told you what I come for, and that it is to redeem this
+island from your possession, and to restore it to the Lady Loise, to whom
+it belongeth. Likewise that I come to punish you for all the evil you have
+done."
+
+"And what business is all this of yours?" quoth Sir Nabon, speaking with
+great fury of voice.
+
+"Messire," quoth Sir Tristram, "know ye not that it is the business of
+every true knight to rid the world of all such evil monsters as you be?"
+
+"Ha!" quoth Sir Nabon, "that was very well said, for whatever mercy I
+should have been willing before this to show you hath now been forfeited
+unto you. For now I shall have no mercy upon you but shall slay you."
+
+"Well," quoth Sir Tristram, "as for that, meseems it will be time enough to
+offer me mercy after you have overcome me in battle."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram does battle with Sir Nabon] So thereupon each
+knight took his place for assault, and when they were in all ways prepared,
+each set spurs to his horse and dashed the one against the other, with a
+dreadful, terrible fury of onset. Each smote the other in the very midst of
+his shield, and at that blow the lance of each was altogether shivered into
+pieces to the very truncheon thereof. But each knight recovered his horse
+from the fall and each leaped to earth and drew his sword, and each rushed
+against the other with such fury that it was as though sparks of pure fire
+flew out from the oculariums of the helmets. Therewith they met together,
+and each lashed and smote at the other such fell strokes that the noise
+thereof might easily have been heard several furlongs away. Now in the
+beginning of that battle Sir Tristram was at first sore bestead and wist
+that he had met the biggest knight that ever he had encountered in all of
+his life, unless it was Sir Launcelot of the Lake, whom he had encountered
+as aforetold of in this history. So at first he bore back somewhat from the
+might of the blows of Sir Nabon. For Sir Nabon was so huge of frame and the
+blows he struck were so heavy that they drove Sir Tristram back as it were
+in spite of himself.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram slays Sir Nabon] Then Sir Tristram began to say to
+himself: "Tristram, if you indeed lose this battle, then there will be no
+one to defend your honor before Sir Launcelot who hath impeached it."
+Therewith it was as though new strength and life came back to him, and of a
+sudden he rushed that battle, and struck with threefold fury, and gave
+stroke upon stroke with such fierceness of strength that Sir Nabon was
+astonished and fell back before his assault. Then Sir Tristram perceived
+how Sir Nabon held his shield passing low, and therewith he rushed in upon
+him and smote him again and again and yet again. And so he smote Sir Nabon
+down upon his knees. Then he rushed in upon him and catched his helmet and
+plucked it off from his head. And he catched Sir Nabon by the hair of his
+head and drew his head forward. And Sir Tristram lifted his sword on high
+and he smote Sir Nabon's head from off his body so that it rolled down into
+the dust upon the ground.
+
+Now when the son of Sir Nabon perceived how that his father was slain, he
+shrieked like a woman. And he fell down upon his knees and crawled upon his
+knees to Sir Tristram and catched him about the thighs, crying out to him,
+"Spare me, and slay me not!"
+
+But Sir Tristram thrust him away and said, "Who art thou?"
+
+"Messire," said the youth, "I am the son of him whom thou hast just slain."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram slays the son of Sir Nabon] Then Sir Tristram
+looked closely into his face, and he perceived that it was wicked and
+treacherous and malevolent like to the face of Sir Nabon. Thereupon Sir
+Tristram said: "If a man shall slay the wolf and spare the whelp of the
+wolf, what shall the world be the better therefor?" Therewith he catched
+the son of Sir Nabon by the hair and dragged him down and smote off his
+head likewise as he had smitten off the head of his father, so that it fell
+upon the ground beside the head of Sir Nabon.
+
+And now it shall be told how Sir Tristram discovered Sir Lamorack upon the
+island and how he made amends to him, so that they became friends and
+brethren-in-arms once more as they had been before.
+
+[Illustration: Sir Lamorack herds the swine of Sir Nabon]
+
+
+
+
+Chapter Third
+
+
+_How Sir Tristram did justice in the island, and thereby released Sir
+Lamorack from captivity. Also how Sir Tristram and Sir Lamorack renewed
+their great tenderness toward one another._
+
+Now after Sir Tristram had overcome Sir Nabon le Noir, and had slain the
+son of Sir Nabon as has been just told, he went straightway to the castle
+that had been Sir Nabon's, and commanded that they should bring forth the
+seneschal and the officers thereof unto him. Meantime, being a little
+wounded in that battle, he sat himself down upon a bench of wood that stood
+in the hall of the castle, and there he held his court.
+
+So, in a little while, there came the seneschal and several of the officers
+of the household to where Sir Tristram was, and when the seneschal came
+before Sir Tristram, he fell down upon his knees and besought pardon and
+mercy.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram talks with the castle help] Then Sir Tristram
+said: "I will consider thy case anon, and if I may assure myself that thou
+and these others are truly repentant, and if I may have assurity that ye
+will henceforth be faithful in your duty toward that lady who is now again
+the mistress of this castle and land, then I shall have mercy. But if ye
+show yourselves recreant and treacherous, according to the manners of this
+Sir Nabon who is dead, then I shall of a surety return hither and shall
+punish you even as ye beheld me punish that wicked knight and his young
+son."
+
+Then Sir Tristram said, "Who is the porter of this castle?" And the porter
+lifted his hand and said, "Lord, I am he." Sir Tristram said, "What
+captives have ye in this place?" The porter said: "Lord, there be four
+knights and three ladies who are held captive here for ransom." Then Sir
+Tristram said, "Bring them forth hither to me."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram comforts the captives] So the porter and several
+other of the castle folk departed with all speed and presently returned
+bringing with them those miserable captives whom they had liberated from
+the dungeons of the castle. These they led to where Sir Tristram still sat
+in justice upon the bench of wood. And Sir Tristram looked upon them with
+pity and beheld that they were in a very sad and forlorn condition and so
+sorrowful from their captivity that some of them wept from pure weakness of
+heart. Then Sir Tristram said: "Comfort ye, and take no more sorrow to
+yourselves, for now your troubles are past and gone, and happiness lieth
+before you. Sir Nabon is dead, and so is his son, and there is no one now
+to torment you. Moreover, I dare say that there is much treasure gathered
+at this place by Sir Nabon, and all that treasure shall be divided amongst
+you, for to comfort ye, wherefore when ye leave this place, ye shall go
+away a great deal richer than ye were when ye came."
+
+So spake Sir Tristram, promising them much for to comfort them a little.
+
+As to that treasure he spake of, ye shall immediately be told how it was.
+For when Sir Tristram had summoned the treasurer of that place, he brought
+Sir Tristram down into the vaults of the castle and there he beheld seven
+strong chests bolted and locked. Then Sir Tristram summoned the locksmith
+of that castle; and the smith came and burst open the chests; and lo! the
+eyes of all were astonished and bedazzled with the treasure which they
+therewith beheld; for in those chests was heaped an incalculable treasure
+of gold and silver and precious gems of many divers sorts.
+
+And besides this treasure, you are to know that they found in that vault
+many bales of cloths--some of silk and velvet, and some of tissues of cloth
+of gold and silver; and they found many precious ornaments, and many fine
+suits of armor, and many other valuable things. For in several years Sir
+Nabon had gathered all that treasure in toll from those ships that had
+sailed past that land.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram divides the treasure amongst the captives] All
+this treasure Sir Tristram had them bring forth into the light of day, and
+he divided it into seven equal parcels. Then he said to those sad,
+sorrowful captives: "Look! See! all this shall be yours for to comfort ye!
+Take each of you one parcel and depart hence in joy!" Then all they were
+greatly astonished at Sir Tristram's generosity, and they said: "Lord, how
+is this? Do you not then take any of this treasure for yourself?"
+
+To them Sir Tristram made reply: "Nay, why should I take it? I am not sad,
+nor sick, nor troubled at heart as you poor captives are. All this I have
+taken for to comfort you, and not for to satisfy my own covetousness. So
+let each take his share of it and see that ye all use it in comfort and
+peace and for the advantage of other men and women who are in trouble as ye
+have been. For, as hitherto this treasure hath been used for evil purpose,
+so shall it be henceforth that it shall be used to good purpose."
+
+So there was great rejoicing amongst all those poor people who had been so
+sad and sorrowful before.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram appoints Sir Segwarides governor of the castle]
+Now, after all this had been settled, Sir Tristram cast about how he might
+put that land under good government upon behalf of the Lady Loise. To this
+intent he chose from amongst those captives whom he had liberated a certain
+very worthy honorable knight of Cornwall hight Sir Segwarides. Him Sir
+Tristram appointed to be governor of that island, giving him liberty to
+rule it as he chose saving only that he should do homage to the Lady Loise
+as lady paramount. And Sir Tristram ordained that Sir Segwarides should pay
+tribute to that lady every year such an amount as should be justly
+determined upon betwixt them. For Sir Tristram wist that some strong worthy
+knight should rule that island, or else, from its position, it might again
+some time fall from the Lady Loise's possession into the hands of such an
+evil and malignant overlord as Sir Nabon had been.
+
+So it was done as Sir Tristram had ordained. And it may here be said that
+Sir Segwarides ruled that land very justly and that he and the Lady Loise
+became dear friends, so that at the end of three years from that time he
+and she were made husband and wife.
+
+Now Sir Tristram remained in that island several days, with intent to see
+to it that the power of Sir Segwarides should be established. And he made
+all the people of that land come before Sir Segwarides for to pledge
+obedience to him.
+
+Amongst these came Sir Lamorack in the guise of a swineherd, and Sir
+Tristram knew him not, because that he was clad in rags and in the skins of
+animals and because that his beard and his hair were uncut and unkempt, and
+hung down very shaggy upon his breast. But Sir Lamorack knew Sir Tristram
+yet would not acknowledge him, being ashamed that Sir Tristram should
+discover him in such a guise and so ragged and forlorn as he then was. So
+he kept his eyes from Sir Tristram, and Sir Tristram passed him by and knew
+him not.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram beholds Sir Lamorack's ring] But amongst other of
+the people of the castle that passed before Sir Tristram, there came a
+woman, very fair to look upon, and she had been a house-slave to Sir Nabon.
+As this woman passed before Sir Tristram, he beheld that she wore upon her
+thumb a very fair and shining ring, that bare a green stone set in wrought
+gold. And when he looked again he saw it was that ring of carven emerald
+that he had given to Sir Lamorack as aforetold.
+
+At this Sir Tristram was astonished beyond measure, and he ordered that
+woman to come before him, and she came and stood before him trembling. Then
+Sir Tristram said: "Fear not, but tell me where got ye that ring that I
+behold upon your hand?" And the woman said: "Lord, I will tell you the very
+truth. My husband is the chief fisherman of this place, and one day, some
+while ago, he gave me this ring when I had favor in his sight."
+
+Sir Tristram said, "Where is your husband?" The slave-woman said, "Yonder
+he stands." Then Sir Tristram said: "Come hither, Sirrah!" And therewith
+the fisherman came and stood before Sir Tristram as his wife had done, and
+he also trembled with fear as she had done.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram questions the fisherman] To him Sir Tristram said,
+"Why do you tremble so?" And the fisher-man said, "Lord, I am afeard!" Sir
+Tristram said: "Have no fear, unless you have done wrong, but tell me the
+truth. Where got ye that ring that yonder woman weareth?" "Lord," said the
+fisherman, "I will tell you the perfect truth. One day I and several of my
+fellows found a man lying naked in a bed of heather near the seaside. At
+first we thought he was dead, but he awoke and arose when he heard our
+voices. He was naked and hungry, and he besought us for clothes to cover
+his nakedness and for food to eat. So we gave him what we could, demanding
+that ring in payment. So he gave the ring to me, who am the chief of the
+fishermen, and I gave it to that woman who is my wife; and that, lord, is
+the very truth."
+
+Then Sir Tristram was very much disturbed in mind, for he feared that it
+might have gone ill with Sir Lamorack. And he said, "Where now is that man
+of whom ye speak?" The fisherman replied: "Lord, he was set to keep the
+swine, and he is the swineherd of the castle to this day."
+
+At this Sir Tristram was very glad that no more ill had befallen Sir
+Lamorack, and that he was yet alive.
+
+Then, after the fisherman had departed from that place, Sir Tristram sat
+for a while sunk into deep thought. And he said to himself: "Alas, that so
+noble a knight should be brought to such a pass as that! How greatly must
+my friend be abased when he would not acknowledge himself to me nor claim
+my assistance because of the shame of his appearance! Meseems it is not
+fitting for me to send for him to come to me in the guise which he now
+wears, for it would be discourteous a thing for me to do, to make him so
+declare himself. So first I shall see to it that he is clothed in such a
+manner as shall be fitting to his high estate, and then haply he will be
+willing to make himself manifest to me. After that, perhaps his love will
+return to me again, and remain with me as it was at first."
+
+So Sir Tristram called to him several of the people of that castle, and he
+bade them do certain things according to his command, and straightway they
+departed to do as he ordained.
+
+Now turn we to Sir Lamorack: whilst he sat keeping watch over his swine
+there came to him four men from the castle. These say to him, "You must
+come straightway with us." Sir Lamorack said, "Whither would you take me?"
+They say: "That we are not permitted to tell you, only that you are to go
+with us as we bid you."
+
+So Sir Lamorack arose and went with those four, much wondering what it was
+that was to befall him, and whether that which was to happen was good or
+evil.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Lamorack is brought to the castle] The four men brought him
+to the castle and they entered in thereat, and they escorted Sir Lamorack,
+still greatly wondering, up the stairway of the castle, and so into a noble
+and stately apartment, hung with tapestries and embroidered hangings. And
+there Sir Lamorack beheld a great bath of tepid water, hung within and
+without with linen. There were at this place several attendants; these took
+Sir Lamorack and unclothed him and brought him to the bath, and bathed him
+and dried him with soft linen and with fine towels. Then there came the
+barber and he shaved Sir Lamorack and clipped his hair, and when he was
+thus bathed and trimmed, his nobility shone forth again as the sun shines
+forth from a thick cloud that hides its effulgence for a while, only to
+withdraw so that the glorious day-star may shine forth again with redoubled
+splendor.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Lamorack is armed in armor] Then there came divers other
+attendants and clothed Sir Lamorack in rich and handsome garments such as
+were altogether fitting for a knight-royal to wear. And after that there
+came several esquires and brought a very splendid suit of armor; and they
+clad Sir Lamorack in that armor; and the armor gleamed as bright as
+daylight, being polished to a wonderful clearness, and inlaid with figures
+of arabesqued silver.
+
+Then Sir Lamorack said, "What means all this that ye do to me?" And they
+said, "Wait, Messire, and you shall see."
+
+So after all these things were done, five other esquires appeared to
+conduct Sir Lamorack away from that place. These led him through several
+passages and hallways until at last they came to a great space of hall
+wherein stood a single man; and that man was Sir Tristram.
+
+And Sir Tristram gazed upon Sir Lamorack and his heart yearned over him
+with great loving-kindness. But he would not betray his love to those who
+had come with Sir Lamorack, so he contained himself for a little, and he
+said to those in attendance, "Get ye gone," and straightway they departed.
+
+Then Sir Lamorack lifted up his eyes and he came to where Sir Tristram was
+standing and he said: "Is it thou, Tristram, who hath bestowed all these
+benefits upon me?" And he said: "From thy nobility of soul such things may
+be expected."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram and Sir Lamorack are reconciled] Then Sir Tristram
+wept for joy, and he said: "Lamorack, it is little that I have done to
+pleasure thee, and much that I have done to affront thee." Then Sir
+Lamorack said: "Nay; it is much that thou hast done to comfort me, and
+little to cause me discomfort. For lo! thou hast uplifted me from misery
+into happiness, and thou hast brought me from nakedness and want into
+prosperity and ease, and what more may one man do for another man than
+that?"
+
+"Lamorack," said Sir Tristram, "there is much more than one man may do for
+another man than that. For if one man hath given offence to another man, he
+may be reconciled to that one so offended, and so the soul of that other
+shall be clothed with peace and joy, even as thy body hath been clothed
+with garments of silk and fine linen." Then Sir Tristram took Sir Lamorack
+by the hand, and he said, "Dear friend, art thou now strong and fresh of
+body?" And Sir Lamorack, greatly wondering, said, "Ay."
+
+"Then," said Sir Tristram, "I may now offer thee reparation for that
+offence which I one time unwillingly committed against thee. For lo! I have
+had thee clad in the best armor that it is possible to provide, and now
+that thou art fresh and hale and strong, I am ready to do battle with thee
+at any time thou mayst assign. For if, before, thou wert overcome because
+thou wert weary with battle, now thou mayst prove thy prowess upon me being
+both strong and sound in wind and limb."
+
+But upon this Sir Lamorack ran to Sir Tristram and catched him in his arms
+and kissed him upon the cheek. And he said: "Tristram, thou art indeed a
+very noble soul. I will do no battle with thee, but instead I will take
+thee into my heart and cherish thee there forever."
+
+Sir Tristram said, "Art thou altogether satisfied?" And Sir Lamorack said,
+"Yea." And therewith Sir Tristram wept for pure joy.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram and Sir Lamorack depart from the island] Then Sir
+Tristram said: "Let us go to Sir Launcelot of the Lake, so that I may make
+my peace with him also. For he hath writ me a letter chiding me for having
+done battle with thee when thou wert weary and winded with fighting. And I
+was upon my way to see Sir Launcelot and to plead my cause with him when I
+came hither by good hap, and was able to uplift thee out of thy distress."
+To this Sir Lamorack said: "I will go with thee to Sir Launcelot whenever
+it shall please thee; and I will bear full testimony to thy knightliness
+and to thy courtesy."
+
+So when the next morning had come they took boat and sailed away from that
+island. And the night of that day they abided at the castle of the Lady
+Loise, who gave thanks without measure to Sir Tristram for ridding the
+world of so wicked and malign a being as Sir Nabon, and for restoring her
+inheritance of that land unto her again. And upon the morning of the next
+day those two good knights betook their way to Camelot, where they found
+Sir Launcelot. There Sir Lamorack exculpated Sir Tristram, and Sir
+Launcelot immediately withdrew his rebuke for that battle which Sir
+Tristram had aforetime done against Sir Lamorack.
+
+After that Sir Tristram and Sir Lamorack abode at the court of King Arthur
+for nigh a year, and during that time they went upon many quests and
+adventures of various sorts--sometimes alone, sometimes together. All these
+have been set down in ancient histories that tell of the adventures of Sir
+Tristram and Sir Lamorack. Some of them I would like right well to tell you
+of, but should I undertake to do so, the story of those happenings would
+fill several volumes such as this. Nevertheless, I may tell you that they
+did together many knightly deeds, the fame whereof hath been handed down to
+us in several histories of chivalry. Therein you may read of those things
+if you should care to do so.
+
+All this I leave to tell you how Sir Tristram returned into Cornwall, and
+likewise to tell you of one more famous adventure that he did at this time.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram hears from Cornwall of Sir Palamydes] Sir Tristram
+had been at the court of King Arthur for about a year when one day there
+came a messenger unto the court at Camelot with news that Sir Palamydes,
+the Saracen knight aforetold of in this history, had through a cunning
+trick seized the Lady Belle Isoult and had carried her away to a lonely
+tower in the forest of Cornwall. The messenger bore a letter from King Mark
+beseeching Sir Tristram to return as immediately as possible unto Cornwall
+and to rescue that lady from her captivity. And the letter further said
+that two knights of Cornwall had already essayed to rescue the Lady Belle
+Isoult, but that they had failed, having been overcome and sorely wounded
+in battle by Sir Palamydes. And the letter said that it was acknowledged by
+all men that Sir Tristram was the only knight of Cornwall who could achieve
+the rescue of Belle Isoult from so wonderful and puissant a knight as Sir
+Palamydes.
+
+So in answer to that letter, Sir Tristram immediately left the court of
+King Arthur and returned in all haste to Cornwall, and there he found them
+all in great perturbation that the Lady Belle Isoult had thus been stolen
+away.
+
+But Sir Tristram did not remain at court very long for, after he had
+obtained such information as he desired, he immediately left Tintagel and
+plunged into the forest with Gouvernail as his companion in quest of that
+lonely tower where Belle Isoult was said to be held prisoner.
+
+After several adventures of no great note he came at last very, very deep
+into the forest and into an open space thereof; and in the midst of that
+open space he beheld a lonely tower surrounded by a moat. And he wist that
+that must be the place where the Lady Belle Isoult was held prisoner.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram finds Sir Palamydes in the forest] But when Sir
+Tristram drew nigh to this tower he perceived a single knight sitting at
+the base of the tower with head hanging down upon his breast as though he
+were broken-hearted with sorrow. And when he came still more nigh, Sir
+Tristram was astonished to perceive that that mournful knight was Sir
+Palamydes the Saracen, and he wondered why Sir Palamydes should be so
+broken-hearted.
+
+And now it must be told why it was that Sir Palamydes came to be in such a
+sorry case as that; for the truth was that he was locked and shut outside
+of the tower, whilst the Lady Belle Isoult was shut and locked inside
+thereof.
+
+Now it hath already been told how the letter of King Mark had said to Sir
+Tristram that two knights of Cornwall went both against Sir Palamydes for
+to challenge him and to rescue the Lady Belle Isoult.
+
+The second of these knights was Sir Adthorp, and he had followed Sir
+Palamydes so closely through the forest that he had come to the forest
+tower not more than an hour after Sir Palamydes had brought the Lady Belle
+Isoult thither.
+
+Therewith Sir Adthorp gave loud challenge to Sir Palamydes to come forth
+and do him battle, and therewith Sir Palamydes came immediately out against
+him, full of anger that Sir Adthorp should have meddled in that affair.
+
+But immediately Sir Palamydes had thus issued forth to do battle with Sir
+Adthorp, the Lady Belle Isoult ran down the tower stairs and immediately
+shut the door through which he had passed, and she locked it and set a
+great bar of oak across the door.
+
+[Sidenote: How Sir Palamydes came without the tower] So when Sir Palamydes
+had overthrown the Cornish knight, and when he would have returned to the
+tower, he could not, for lo! it was fastened against him. So now for three
+days he had set there at the foot of the tower and beside the moat, sunk in
+sorrow like to one who had gone out of his mind.
+
+So Sir Tristram found him, and perceiving that it was Sir Palamydes who was
+sitting there, he said to Gouvernail: "Go thou and bid that knight to come
+and do battle with me."
+
+So Gouvernail went to Sir Palamydes and he said: "Sir, arise, for here is a
+knight would speak with you!" But Sir Palamydes would not move. Then
+Gouvernail touched him with his lance, and said: "Sir Palamydes, arise and
+bestir yourself, for here is Sir Tristram come to do battle with you." With
+that, Sir Palamydes awoke from his stupor and arose very slowly and
+stiffly. And he gathered up his helmet which was lying beside him and put
+it upon his head. Then he took down his shield from where it hung against
+the wall and he mounted upon his horse, doing all as though he were moving
+in a dream.
+
+But as soon as he was upon horseback he suddenly aroused himself, for his
+fierce spirit had come back to him once more. Then he gnashed his teeth,
+crying out in a loud voice, "Tristram, this time either thou or I shall
+perish."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram overcomes Sir Palamydes] Therewith he rushed upon
+Sir Tristram and smote him so violently that Sir Tristram had much ado to
+defend himself. And Sir Palamydes smote him again and again; and with that
+Sir Tristram smote in return. And if the blows of Sir Palamydes were
+terrible, the blows of Sir Tristram were terrible likewise. Then by and by
+Sir Tristram smote Sir Palamydes so sore a buffet that the Saracen knight
+fell down from his horse and was unable immediately to arise. Then Sir
+Tristram ran to him and rushed off his helmet and catched him by the hair
+with intent to cut his head from off his body.
+
+But with that the Lady Belle Isoult came running from out the tower and
+cried out: "Tristram, is it thou? Spare that mistaken knight and have mercy
+upon him as thou hopest for mercy."
+
+"Lady," said Sir Tristram, "for thy sake and at thy bidding I will spare
+him." Then he said to Sir Palamydes, "Arise." And Sir Palamydes arose very
+painfully, and Sir Tristram said: "Get thee hence, and go to the court of
+King Arthur and make thy confession to the King and ask him to forgive
+thee, and if he forgive thee, then also I will forgive thee."
+
+Therewith Sir Palamydes mounted upon his horse and rode away without
+speaking another word, his head bowed with sorrow upon his breast for shame
+and despair.
+
+Then Sir Tristram took the Lady Belle Isoult up behind him on his horse,
+and he and she and Gouvernail departed from that place.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram brings Belle Isoult back to Cornwall] So Sir
+Tristram brought the Lady Isoult back to Cornwall, and there he was
+received with loud praise and great rejoicing, for everybody was glad that
+Belle Isoult had been brought safely back again.
+
+And now it shall be told what reward Sir Tristram received for this deed of
+arms.
+
+For, though at first King Mark was greatly beholden to Sir Tristram, that
+he had thus rescued the Lady Belle Isoult, yet, by little and little, he
+grew to hate that noble knight more bitterly than ever. For he heard men
+say to one another: "Lo, Sir Tristram is, certes, the very champion of
+Cornwall, for who is there in this country is his equal?" So King Mark,
+hearing these things said to himself: "The more noble Tristram is, the more
+ignoble will men deem me to be who am under obligations to such an enemy."
+So he would say in his heart, "Yea, Tristram; I hate thee more than death."
+
+
+
+
+PART III
+
+
+The Madness of Sir Tristram
+
+_Here followeth the story of how Sir Tristram was driven out of Cornwall
+and of how he went mad because of his troubles. Likewise it shall be told
+how he performed several very wonderful adventures whilst he was in that
+state, and of how he was brought back into his senses again._
+
+[Illustration: Sir Tristram assaults King Mark]
+
+
+
+
+Chapter First
+
+
+_How Sir Tristram was discovered with the Lady Belle Isoult; how he
+assaulted King Mark, and how he escaped from Tintagel into the forest._
+
+After Sir Tristram had thus rescued the Lady Belle Isoult from the hand of
+Sir Palamydes, he dwelt very peacefully at the court of Cornwall for all of
+that winter and until the spring that followed, and during that time he was
+given every meed of praise and honor. But although King Mark and his court
+gave praise to Sir Tristram with the lips, yet he and many of his people
+hated Sir Tristram at heart, and there were many mischief-makers about the
+court who were ever ready to blow the embers of the King's wrath into a
+flame.
+
+Now the chiefest of all these mischief-makers was Sir Andred, who was
+nephew unto King Mark, and cousin-germaine unto Sir Tristram. Sir Andred
+was a fierce strong knight, and one very dextrous at arms; but he was as
+mean and as treacherous as Sir Tristram was generous and noble, wherefore
+he hated Sir Tristram with great bitterness (though he dissembled that
+hatred) and sought for every opportunity to do Sir Tristram a harm by
+bringing him and the King into conflict.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Andred of Cornwall sets spies upon Sir Tristram] So Sir
+Andred set spies upon Sir Tristram, and he himself spied upon his cousin,
+yet neither he nor they were able to find anything with which to accuse Sir
+Tristram. Then one day Sir Andred came to Sir Tristram and said: "Sir, the
+Lady Belle Isoult wishes to see you to talk with you." Sir Tristram said,
+"Where is she?"
+
+And Sir Andred said, "She is in her bower." Then Sir Tristram said, "Very
+well, I will go to her."
+
+So Sir Tristram arose and departed from where he was with intent to find
+the lady; and therewith Sir Andred hurried to where King Mark was, and
+said: "Lord, arise, for Sir Tristram and the Lady Isoult are holding
+converse together."
+
+King Mark said, "Where are they?" And Sir Andred said, "They are in the
+bower of the Queen." At that King Mark's rage and jealousy blazed up into a
+flame, so that he was like one seized with a sudden frensy. So, in that
+madness of rage, he looked about for some weapon with which to destroy Sir
+Tristram, and he perceived a great sword where it hung against the wall.
+Thereupon he ran to the sword and took it down from where it was, and ran
+with all speed to that place where Sir Tristram and the Lady Isoult were,
+and Sir Andred guided him thither.
+
+[Sidenote: King Mark assaults Sir Tristram] And when King Mark reached the
+bower of the Lady Isoult he flung open the door and found Sir Tristram and
+the Lady Isoult sitting together in the seat of a deep window. And he
+perceived that the Lady Isoult wept and that Sir Tristram's face was very
+sorrowful because of her sorrow. Then King Mark twisted him about and bent
+double as with a great pain, and then he cried out thrice in a voice very
+hoarse and loud: "Traitor! Traitor! Traitor!" Saying those words three
+times. Therewith he ran at Sir Tristram and struck furiously at him with
+that sword he held, with intent to slay him.
+
+Now Sir Tristram was at that time altogether without armor and was clad in
+clothes of scarlet silk. Accordingly, he was able to be very quick and
+alert in his movements. So perceiving King Mark rushing upon him with
+intent to slay him he leaped aside and so avoided the blow. Then
+immediately he rushed in upon King Mark and catched him by the wrist and
+wrenched the sword out of his hand.
+
+Then Sir Tristram was blinded with his rage and might have slain his uncle,
+but the Lady Isoult, beholding the fury in his face, shrieked in a very
+piercing voice, "Forbear! Forbear!" And therewith he remembered him how
+that King Mark was his mother's brother and that it was his hand that had
+made him a knight.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram beats King Mark] So he turned the sword in his
+hand and he smote King Mark with the flat thereof again and again, and at
+those blows King Mark was filled with terror so that he howled like a wild
+beast. And King Mark fled away from that place, striving to escape, but Sir
+Tristram ever pursued him, grinding his teeth like a wild boar in rage, and
+smiting the King as he ran, over and over again, with the flat of the sword
+so that the whole castle was filled with the tumult and uproar of that
+assault.
+
+Then many of the knights of Cornwall came running with intent to defend the
+King, and with them came Sir Andred. But when Sir Tristram saw them, his
+rage suddenly left the King and went out toward them; so therewith, naked
+of armor as he was, he rushed at them, and he struck at them so fiercely
+that they were filled with the terror of his fury, and fled away from
+before his face. And Sir Tristram chased them through the courts of the
+castle, striking right and left until he was weary with striking, and many
+he struck down with the fierceness of his blows, and amongst them was Sir
+Andred who was sorely wounded. So after a while Sir Tristram grew weary of
+that battle, and he cried out, "Certes, these are not knights, but swine!"
+And therewith he ceased striking, and allowed those who could do so to
+escape.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram departs from Tintagel] Thereafter he went to his
+chamber and armed himself without summoning Gouvernail, and after that he
+took horse and rode away altogether from that place. And not even
+Gouvernail went with him, but only his favorite hound, hight Houdaine,
+which same followed him into the forest as he rode thitherward. And in his
+going Sir Tristram looked neither to the right nor to the left but straight
+before him very proudly and haughtily, and no one dared to stay him in his
+going.
+
+Yet, though he appeared so steadfast, he was like one who was
+brokenhearted, for he wist that in going away from that place he was
+leaving behind him all that he held dear in the world, wherefore he was
+like one who rode forth from a pleasant garden into an empty wilderness of
+sorrow and repining.
+
+[Sidenote: Gouvernail finds Sir Tristram in the forest] Then, some little
+while after Sir Tristram had gone, Gouvernail also took horse and rode into
+the forest, and he searched for a long while in the forest without finding
+his master. But after a while he came upon Sir Tristram seated under a tree
+with his head hanging down upon his breast. And Houdaine lay beside Sir
+Tristram and licked his hand, but Sir Tristram paid no heed to him, being
+so deeply sunk in his sorrow that he was unaware that Houdaine licked his
+hand in that wise.
+
+Then Gouvernail dismounted from his horse and came to where Sir Tristram
+was, and Gouvernail wept at beholding the sorrow of Sir Tristram. And
+Gouvernail said: "Messire, look up and take cheer, for there must yet be
+joy for thee in the world."
+
+Then Sir Tristram raised his eyes very slowly (for they were heavy and dull
+like lead) and he looked at Gouvernail for some while as though not seeing
+him. Then by and by he said: "Gouvernail, what evil have I done that I
+should have so heavy a curse laid upon me?" Gouvernail said, still weeping:
+"Lord, thou hast done no ill, but art in all wise a very noble, honorable
+gentleman." "Alas!" quoth Sir Tristram, "I must unwittingly have done some
+great evil in God's sight, for certes the hand of God lieth grievously
+heavy upon me." Gouvernail said: "Lord, take heart, and tell me whither
+shall we go now?" And Sir Tristram said, "I know not."
+
+Then Gouvernail said: "Lord, let us go hence, I care not where, for I
+reckon nothing of storm or rain or snow or hail if it so be that I am with
+you."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram bids Gouvernail return to Tintagel] Then Sir
+Tristram looked upon Gouvernail and smiled, and he said: "Gouvernail, it is
+great joy to me that you should love me so greatly as you do. But this time
+you may not go with me whither I go, for the Lady Belle Isoult hath few
+friends at the court of Cornwall, and many enemies, wherefore I would have
+you return unto her for my sake, so that you may befriend her and cherish
+her when that I am no longer by her for to stand her friend in her hour of
+need. And take this dog Houdaine with you and bid the Lady Belle Isoult for
+to keep him by her to remind her of my faithfulness unto her. For even as
+this creature is faithful unto me under all circumstances, so am I faithful
+unto her whether she be glad or sorry, or in good or evil case. So return
+to Tintagel as I bid thee, and see that thou pay thy duty unto that lady
+even as thou payst it unto me. For she is so singularly dear unto me that,
+even as a man's heart is the life of his body, so is her happiness the life
+of my life."
+
+Then Gouvernail wept again in very great measure, and he said, "Lord, I
+obey." Therewith he mounted his horse, still weeping with a great passion
+of sorrow, and rode away from that place, and Houdaine followed after him
+and Sir Tristram was left sitting alone in the deep forest.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram wanders in the forest mad] After that Sir Tristram
+wandered for several days in the forest, he knew not whither for he was
+bewildered with that which had happened; so that he ate no food and took no
+rest of any sort for all that time. Wherefore, because of the hardship he
+then endured, he by and by became distraught in his mind. So, after a
+while, he forgot who he himself was, and what was his condition, or whence
+he came or whither he wended. And because his armor weighed heavily upon
+him, he took it off and cast it away from him, and thereafter roamed half
+naked through the woodlands.
+
+Now upon the sixth day of this wandering he came to the outskirts of the
+forest and nigh to the coast of the sea at a spot that was not very far
+away was the castle of the Lady Loise, where he had once stayed at the time
+that he undertook the adventure against Sir Nabon as aforetold. There,
+being exhausted with hunger and weariness, he laid himself down in the
+sunlight out beyond the borders of the forest and presently fell into a
+deep sleep that was like to a swoon.
+
+Now it chanced at that time that there came that way a certain damsel
+attendant upon the Lady Loise. She perceiving that a man lay there on the
+grass at the edge of the forest was at first of a mind to quit that place.
+Then, seeing that the man lay very strangely still as though he were dead,
+she went forward very softly and looked into his face.
+
+Now that damsel had beheld Sir Tristram a great many times when he was at
+the castle of the Lady Loise; wherefore now, in spite of his being so
+starved and shrunken, and so unkempt and unshaved, she remembered his face
+and she knew that this was Sir Tristram.
+
+Therewith the damsel hurried away to the Lady Loise (and the lady was not a
+very great distance away) and she said: "Lady, yonder way there lieth a man
+by the forest side and I believe that it is Sir Tristram of Lyonesse. Yet
+he is but half-clad and in great distress of body so that I know not of a
+surety whether it is really Sir Tristram or not. Now I pray you come with
+me and look upon his face and see if you may know him."
+
+So the Lady Loise went with the damsel to where Sir Tristram lay and looked
+into his face, and she knew Sir Tristram in spite of his ill condition.
+
+[Sidenote: The Lady Loise finds Sir Tristram] Then the Lady Loise touched
+Sir Tristram upon the shoulder and shook him, and thereupon Sir Tristram
+awoke and sat up. Then the Lady Loise said, "Sir Tristram, is it thou who
+liest here?" And Sir Tristram said, "I know not who I am." The Lady Loise
+said, "Messire, how came you here in this sad case?" And Sir Tristram said:
+"I know not whence I came, nor how I came hither, nor who I am, nor what it
+is that ails me, for I cannot hold my mind with enough steadiness to
+remember those things." Then the lady sighed for sorrow of Sir Tristram,
+and she said: "Alas, Sir Tristram, that I should find you thus! Now I pray
+you, lord, for to come with me to my castle which is hard by. There we may
+care for you and may perhaps bring you back to health again."
+
+To this Sir Tristram said: "Lady, I may not go with you. For though I
+cannot remember whence I came, nor who I am, this much I know--I know that
+I am mad, and that the forest is the only fit place for such as I am come
+to be."
+
+The lady said: "Alas, Sir Tristram, thou wilt die if thou art left alone
+here in the forest." And Sir Tristram said: "Lady, I know not what you mean
+when you say I am to die. What is it to die?" So at these words the Lady
+Loise saw how it was with Sir Tristram; that his brains were altogether
+turned; and she wist that some sore trouble must have befallen to bring him
+to such a pass. Then she bethought her of how dearly he loved the music of
+the harp, and she said to herself: "Mayhap by means of music I may bring
+him back into his senses again." So she said to that damsel who had brought
+her thither: "Go thou and bring hither my little harp of gold, and let us
+see if music may charm him to remembrance."
+
+So the damsel ran to the castle and brought the harp thence, and the Lady
+Loise took the harp and tuned it and struck it and played upon it. And the
+lady sang very sweetly a ballad that she knew Sir Tristram loved.
+
+[Sidenote: The Lady Loise harps to Sir Tristram] Then when Sir Tristram
+heard the sound of the music and singing he aroused himself. For first he
+listened with great pleasure, and then he said, "Give it to me! Give it to
+me!" and he reached out his hands and would have taken the harp from the
+lady.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram comes to the Lady's castle] But the Lady Loise
+laughed and shook her head, and she walked away from Sir Tristram and
+toward the castle, still playing upon the little harp and singing; and Sir
+Tristram followed close after, saying ever, "Give it to me! Give it to me!"
+and reaching out his hands for the harp. So the Lady Loise led him away
+from that place across the meadows; and she led him to the castle and into
+the castle; and ever Sir Tristram followed after her, beseeching her for to
+give the harp unto him. And the lady led Sir Tristram that way until she
+had brought him to a fair room, and there she gave him the harp, and Sir
+Tristram took it very eagerly into his hands and struck upon it and played
+and sang most sweetly and with great joy and pleasure.
+
+Afterward, being so much comforted, he ate and drank with appetite, and
+then fell into a fair sound sleep.
+
+Yet, though he so slept, still Sir Tristram's wits in no wise recovered
+themselves; for when he awoke from that slumber he still could not remember
+who he was or whence he came, neither could he remember the faces of any of
+those who were around about him. But, though he was thus mad, he was still
+gentle and kind in his madness and courteous and civil to all those who
+came nigh him.
+
+So Sir Tristram remained a gentle captive in the castle of the Lady Loise
+for nigh upon a month, and somewhiles she would sing and harp to him, and
+otherwhiles he himself would harp and sing. But ever and anon, when he
+found the chance for to do so, he would escape from the captivity of the
+castle and seek the forest; for he was aware of his madness and he ever
+sought to hide that madness in the deep and shady woodland where only the
+wild creatures of the forest might see him.
+
+Yet always when he so escaped the Lady Loise would take her little golden
+harp and go forth to the skirts of the forest and play upon it, and when
+the music thereof would reach Sir Tristram's ears he would return to the
+castle, being led thither by the music.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram quits the Lady's castle] But one day he wandered
+so far astray that the music of the harp could not reach his ears, and then
+he wandered on farther and farther until he was altogether lost. At that
+Lady Loise took much sorrow for she had much love for Sir Tristram. So she
+sent many of her people to search the forest for him, but none of these
+were able to find him and thereafter he came no more to the castle.
+
+Thus Sir Tristram escaped from that castle and after that he wandered in
+the forest as he had done at the first. And in that time he took no food
+and but little rest. And the brambles tore his clothes, so that in a short
+time he was wellnigh altogether naked.
+
+And somewhiles during this time of wandering he would be seized as with a
+fury of battle, and in such case he would shout aloud as though in
+challenge to an enemy. And then he would rend and tear great branches from
+the trees in the fury of his imaginings. But otherwhiles he would wander
+through the leafy aisles of the forest in gentler mood, singing so sweetly
+that had you heard him you would have thought that it was some fairy spirit
+of the forest chanting in those solitudes.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram dwells with the swineherds] So he wandered until
+he failed with faintness, and sank down into the leaves; and I believe that
+he would then have died, had it not been that there chanced to come that
+way certain swineherds of the forest who fed their swine upon acorns that
+were to be therein found. These found Sir Tristram lying there as though
+dead, and they gave him to eat and to drink so that he revived once more.
+After that they took him with them, and he dwelt with them in those
+woodlands. There these forest folk played with him and made merry with him,
+and he made them great sport. For he was ever gentle and mild like a little
+child for innocence so that he did no harm to anyone, but only talked in
+such a way that the swineherds found great sport in him.
+
+Now Sir Andred of Cornwall very greatly coveted the possessions of Sir
+Tristram, so that when several months had passed by and Sir Tristram did
+not return to Tintagel, he said to himself: "Of a surety, Tristram must now
+be dead in the forest, and, as there is no one nigher of kin to him than I,
+it is altogether fitting that I should inherit his possessions."
+
+But as Sir Andred could not inherit without proof of the death of Sir
+Tristram, he suborned a certain very beautiful but wicked lady who dwelt in
+the forest, persuading her that she should give false evidence of Sir
+Tristram's death. Accordingly, he one day brought that lady before King
+Mark, and she gave it as her evidence that Sir Tristram had died in the
+forest and that she had been with him when he died. And she showed them a
+new-made grave in the forest, and she said: "That is the grave of Sir
+Tristram, for I saw him die and I saw him buried there with mine own eyes."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Adred seizes Sir Tristram's possessions] So everybody
+believed this evidence, and thought that Sir Tristram was really dead, and
+so Sir Andred seized upon all the possessions of Sir Tristram. And there
+were many who were very sorry that Sir Tristram was dead and there were
+others who were glad thereof in the same measure. But when the news was
+brought to Belle Isoult that Sir Tristram was dead, she shrieked aloud and
+swooned away. And she lay in that swoon so long that they thought for a
+while she would never recover from it. But by and by she awoke therefrom,
+crying, "Would to God that I were dead with Tristram and had never
+awakened!"
+
+And thereafter she mourned continually for Sir Tristram and would not be
+comforted; for she was like to a woman who hath been widowed from a lover
+of her youth.
+
+And now it shall be told of how it fared with Sir Tristram in the forest
+where he dwelt with the swineherds, and of how he achieved a very notable
+adventure therein.
+
+[Illustration: Sir Kay and the Forest Madman]
+
+
+
+
+Chapter Second
+
+
+_How Sir Tristram got him a sword from Sir Kay and how he slew therewith a
+huge knight in the forest and rescued a lady in very great distress. Also
+how Sir Launcelot found Sir Tristram in the forest and brought him thence
+to Tintagel again._
+
+Now it chanced one day that Sir Kay the Seneschal came riding through those
+parts of the forest where Sir Tristram abided with the swineherds, and with
+Sir Kay there came a considerable court of esquires. And with him besides
+there travelled Sir Dagonet, King Arthur's Fool.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Kay and Sir Dagonet come to the forest] Now, you are to
+know that though Sir Dagonet was the King's jester, and though he was slack
+of wit, yet he was also a knight of no mean prowess. For he had performed
+several deeds of good repute and was well held in all courts of chivalry.
+So Sir Dagonet always went armed; though he bore upon his shield the device
+of a cockerel's head as a symbol of his calling.
+
+The time that Sir Kay and his court travelled as aforesaid was in the
+summer season and the day was very warm, so that Sir Kay was minded to take
+rest during the midday and until the coolness of the afternoon should come.
+So they all dismounted from their horses and sat them down under the shade
+of the trees where it was cool and pleasant and where the breezes reached
+them to breathe upon their faces.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Dagonet wanders in the woodland] But whilst Sir Kay and his
+court thus rested themselves, Sir Dagonet must needs be gadding, for he was
+of a very restless, meddlesome disposition. So, being at that time clad
+only in half armor, he wandered hither and thither through the forest as
+his fancy led him. For somewhiles he would whistle and somewhiles he would
+gape, and otherwhiles he would cut a caper or two. So, as chance would have
+it, he came by and by to that open glade of the forest where the swineherds
+were gathered; and at that time they were eating their midday meal of black
+bread and cheese, and were drinking beer; some talking and laughing and
+others silent as they ate their food. Unto these Sir Dagonet appeared,
+coming out of the forest in very gay attire, and shining in the half armor
+he wore, so that he appeared like a bright bird of the woodland.
+
+Then Sir Dagonet, seeing where those rude boors were eating their meal of
+food, came to them and stood amongst them. And he said, "Who are ye
+fellows?" Whereunto they replied, "We are swineherds, Messire; who be ye?"
+
+Quoth Sir Dagonet: "I am King Arthur's Fool. And whilst there are haply
+many in the world with no more wits than I possess, yet there are few so
+honest as I to confess that they are fools."
+
+At these words those swineherds laughed very loudly. "Well," quoth one, "if
+King Arthur hath his fool, so have we, and yonder he is," and therewith he
+pointed to where Sir Tristram lay in the shade of the trees some distance
+away and beside a deep well of the forest.
+
+Upon that Sir Dagonet must needs go to where Sir Tristram lay, nearly
+naked, upon the ground. And when he had come there he said, "Arise, fool."
+Whereunto Sir Tristram replied: "Why should I arise? Lo! I am weary."
+
+Then Sir Dagonet said: "It is not fitting that thou, who art the fool of
+swineherds shouldst lie upon the grass, whilst I who am the fool of a king
+stand upright upon my shanks. So, fool, I bid thee bestir thyself and
+arise."
+
+But Sir Tristram said, "I will not arise." And therewith Sir Dagonet took
+his sword and pricked the thigh of Sir Tristram with the point thereof with
+intent to make him bestir himself.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram souses Sir Dagonet in the well] Now when Sir
+Tristram felt the prick of Sir Dagonet's sword, a certain part of his
+memory of knighthood came back to him and he was seized with a sudden fury
+against Sir Dagonet. So he arose and ran at Sir Dagonet and catched him in
+his arms, and lifted Sir Dagonet off his feet and he soused him in the well
+four or five times so that he was like to have drowned him.
+
+As for those swineherds, when they saw what their fool did to that other
+fool, they roared with laughter so that some of them rolled down upon the
+ground and lay grovelling there for pure mirth. But others of them called
+out to Sir Tristram, "Let be, or thou wilt drown that man"; and therewith
+Sir Tristram let Sir Dagonet go, and Sir Dagonet ran away.
+
+Nor did Sir Dagonet cease to run until he came to his party under the shade
+of the trees. But when Sir Kay perceived what a sorry plight it was in
+which Sir Dagonet appeared, he said, "What hath befallen thee?"
+
+To this Sir Dagonet replied as follows: "Messire, I, who am a fool, went
+into the forest and met another fool. I fool would have a jest with he
+fool, but he fool catched I fool and soused I fool in a well of cold water.
+So it came about that while I fool had the jest, he fool had the sport of
+the jest."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Kay seeks to avenge Sir Dagonet] Then Sir Kay understood in
+some manner what had befallen, and he was very angry that Sir Dagonet
+should have been so served. Wherefore he said, "Where did this befall
+thee?" And Sir Dagonet said, "Over yonder ways." Then Sir Kay said: "I will
+avenge thee for the affront that hath been put upon thee. For no boor shall
+serve a knight of King Arthur's court in such a fashion!" So therewith Sir
+Kay arose and put on his armor and mounted his horse and rode away; and
+after a while he came to that place where the swineherds were.
+
+Then Sir Kay said very sternly: "Which of ye is that boor who put so
+grievous an affront upon a gentleman of my party?" The swineherds say:
+"Yonder he is lying by the well; but he is slack of wit, wherefore we
+beseech you to do him no harm."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram souses Sir Kay in the water] Then Sir Kay rode to
+where Sir Tristram was, and he said: "Sirrah, why did you souse Sir Dagonet
+into the water?" To this Sir Tristram did not reply, but only looked at Sir
+Kay and laughed, for it pleased him wonderfully to behold that knight all
+in shining armor. But when Sir Kay beheld Sir Tristram laugh in that wise,
+he waxed exceedingly wroth. Wherefore he drew his sword straightway, and
+rode at Sir Tristram with intent to strike him with the blade thereof. But
+when Sir Tristram saw the sword of Sir Kay shining like lightning in the
+sunlight, somewhat of his knightly spirit arose within him and took wing
+like to a bird springing up out of the marish grass into the clear air. For
+beholding that bright flashing sword he cried out aloud and arose and came
+very steadily toward Sir Kay, and Sir Kay rode toward Sir Tristram. Then
+when Sir Kay had come near enough to strike, he arose in his stirrups and
+lifted the blade on high with intent to strike Sir Tristram with it. But
+therewith Sir Tristram ran very quickly in beneath the blow, so that the
+stroke of Sir Kay failed of its mark. Then Sir Tristram leaped up and
+catched Sir Kay around the body and dragged him down from off his horse
+very violently upon the ground, and with that the sword of Sir Kay fell
+down out of his hands and lay in the grass. Then Sir Tristram lifted up Sir
+Kay very easily and ran with him to the well of water and soused him
+therein several times until Sir Kay cried out, "Fellow, spare me or I
+strangle!" Upon that Sir Tristram let go Sir Kay, and Sir Kay ran to his
+horse and mounted thereon and rode away from that place with might and
+main, all streaming with water like to a fountain.
+
+And all that while those swineherds roared with great laughter, ten times
+louder than they had laughed when Sir Tristram had soused Sir Dagonet into
+the well.
+
+Then Sir Tristram beheld the sword of Sir Kay where it lay in the grass and
+forthwith he ran to it and picked it up. And when he held it in his hands
+he loved it with a great passion of love, wherefore he hugged it to his
+bosom and kissed the pommel thereof.
+
+But when the swineherds beheld the sword in Sir Tristram's hands, they
+said, "That is no fit plaything for a madman to have," and they would have
+taken it from him, but Sir Tristram would not permit them, for he would not
+give them the sword, and no one dared to try to take it from him.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram keeps the sword of Sir Kay] So thereafter he kept
+that sword ever by him both by night and by day, and ever he loved it and
+kissed it and fondled it; for, as aforesaid, it aroused his knightly spirit
+to life within him, wherefore it was he loved it.
+
+So it hath been told how Sir Tristram got him a sword, and now it shall be
+told how well he used it.
+
+Now there was at that time in the woodlands of that part of Cornwall a
+gigantic knight hight Sir Tauleas, and he was the terror of all that
+district. For not only was he a head and shoulders taller than the tallest
+of Cornish men, but his strength and fierceness were great in the same
+degree that he was big of frame. Many knights had undertaken to rid the
+world of this Sir Tauleas, but no knight had ever yet encountered him
+without meeting some mishap at his hands.
+
+(Yet it is to be said that heretofore no such knight as Sir Launcelot or
+Sir Lamorack had come against Sir Tauleas, but only the knights of Cornwall
+and Wales, whose borders marched upon that district where Sir Tauleas
+ranged afield.)
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Daynant and his lady come to the forest] Now one day there
+came riding through the forest a very noble, gallant young knight, hight
+Sir Daynant, and with him rode his lady, a beautiful dame to whom he had
+lately been wedded with a great deal of love. These wayfarers in their
+travelling came to that part of the forest where the swineherds abode, and
+where were the open glade of grass and the fair well of water aforespoken
+of.
+
+Hereunto coming, and the day being very warm, these two travellers
+dismounted and besought refreshment of the swineherds who were there, and
+those rude good fellows gladly gave them to eat and to drink of the best
+they had.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Daynant regards Sir Tristam] Whilst they ate, Sir Tristram
+came and sat nigh to Sir Daynant and his lady and smiled upon them, for he
+loved them very greatly because of their nobility and beauty. Then Sir
+Daynant looked upon Sir Tristram and beheld how strong and beautiful of
+body and how noble of countenance he was, and he saw that beautiful shining
+sword that Sir Tristram carried ever with him. And Sir Daynant said, "Fair
+friend, who are you, and where gat ye that sword?"
+
+"I know not who I am," said Sir Tristram, "nor know I whence I came nor
+whither I go. As for this sword, I had it from a gentleman who came hither
+to us no great while ago."
+
+Then the chiefest of the swineherds said: "Lord, this is a poor madman whom
+we found naked and starving in the forest. As for that sword, I may tell
+you that he took it away from a knight who came hither to threaten his
+life, and he soused that knight into the well so that he was wellnigh
+drowned."
+
+Sir Daynant said: "That is a very strange story, that a naked madman should
+take the sword out of the hands of an armed knight and treat that knight as
+ye tell me. Now maybe this is some famous hero or knight who hath lost his
+wits through sorrow or because of some other reason, and who hath so come
+to this sorry pass."
+
+(So said Sir Daynant, and it may here be said that from that time those
+rude swineherds began to look upon Sir Tristram with different eyes than
+before, saying amongst themselves: "Maybe what that knight said is true,
+and this is indeed no common madman.")
+
+Now whilst Sir Daynant sat there with his lady, holding converse with the
+swineherds concerning Sir Tristram in that wise, there came a great noise
+in the forest, and out therefrom there came riding with great speed that
+huge savage knight Sir Tauleas aforetold of. Then Sir Daynant cried out,
+"Alas, here is misfortune!" And therewith he made all haste to put his
+helmet upon his head.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tauleas strikes down Sir Daynant] But ere he could arm
+himself in any sufficient wise, Sir Tauleas drave down very fiercely upon
+him. And Sir Tauleas rose up in his stirrups and lashed so terrible a blow
+at Sir Daynant that it struck through Sir Daynant's helmet and into his
+brain-pan, wherefore Sir Daynant immediately fell down to the ground as
+though he had been struck dead.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tauleas bears away the lady] Then Sir Tauleas rode
+straightway to where the lady of Sir Daynant was, and he said: "Lady, thou
+art a prize that it is very well worth while fighting for! And lo! I have
+won thee." Therewith he catched her and lifted her up, shrieking and
+screaming and struggling, and sat her upon the saddle before him and held
+her there maugre all her struggles. Then straightway he rode away into the
+forest, carrying her with him; and all that while Sir Tristram stood as
+though in a maze, gazing with a sort of terror upon what befell and not
+rightly knowing what it all meant. For there lay Sir Daynant as though dead
+upon the ground, and he could yet hear the shrieks of the lady sounding out
+from the forest whither Sir Tauleas had carried her.
+
+Then the chief of the swineherds came to Sir Tristram, and said: "Fellow,
+as thou hast a sword, let us see if thou canst use it. If thou art a hero
+as that knight said of thee a while since, and not a pure madman, then
+follow after that knight and bring that lady back hither again."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram follows Sir Tauleas] Then Sir Tristram awoke from
+that maze and said, "I will do so." And therewith he ran away very rapidly
+into the forest, pursuing the direction that Sir Tauleas had taken. And he
+ran for a great distance, and by and by, after a while, he beheld Sir
+Tauleas before him where he rode. And by that time the lady was in a deep
+swoon and lay as though dead across the saddle of Sir Tauleas. Then Sir
+Tristram cried out in a great voice: "Stay, Sir Knight, and turn this way,
+for I come to take that lady away from thee and to bring her back unto her
+friend again!"
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram slays Sir Tauleas] Then Sir Tauleas turned him and
+beheld a naked man running after him with a sword in his hand, whereupon he
+was seized with a great rage of anger, so that he put that lady he carried
+down to the ground. And he drew his sword and rushed at Sir Tristram very
+violently with intent to slay him. And when he came nigh to Sir Tristram he
+arose up on his stirrups and lashed so terrible a blow at him that, had it
+met its mark, it would have cloven Sir Tristram in twain. But Sir Tristram
+leaped aside and turned the blow very skilfully; and therewith a memory of
+his knightly prowess came upon him and he, upon his part, lashed a blow at
+Sir Tauleas that Sir Tauleas received very unexpectedly. And that blow
+struck Sir Tauleas so terrible a buffet upon the head that the brain of Sir
+Tauleas swam, and he swayed about and then fell down from off his horse.
+Therewith Sir Tristram ran to him and rushed his helmet from off his head.
+And when he beheld the naked head of Sir Tauleas he catched it by the hair
+and drew the neck of Sir Tauleas forward. Then Sir Tauleas cried out,
+"Spare me, fellow!" But Sir Tristram said, "I will not spare thee for thou
+art a wicked man!" And therewith he lifted his sword on high and smote off
+the head of Sir Tauleas so that it rolled down upon the ground.
+
+After that, Sir Tristram went to the Lady and he chafed her hands and her
+face so that she revived from her swoon. And when she was revived, he said:
+"Lady, take cheer; for look yonder and thou wilt see thy enemy is dead, and
+so now I may take thee back again unto thy friend." And therewith the lady
+smiled upon Sir Tristram and catched his hand in hers and kissed it.
+
+Then Sir Tristram lifted the lady upon the horse of Sir Tauleas, and after
+that he went back again to where he had left Sir Daynant and the
+swineherds; and he led the horse of Sir Tauleas by the bridle with the lady
+upon the back thereof and he bore the head of Sir Tauleas in his hand by
+the hair.
+
+But when those swineherds saw Sir Tristram come forth thus out of the
+forest bringing that lady and bearing the head of Sir Tauleas, they were
+amazed beyond measure, and they said to one another: "Of a certainty what
+this young knight hath just said is sooth and this madman is indeed some
+great champion in distress. But who he is no one may know, since he himself
+doth not know."
+
+And when Sir Daynant had recovered from that blow that Sir Tauleas had
+given him, he also gave Sir Tristram great praise for what he had done. And
+Sir Tristram was abashed at all the praise that was bestowed upon him.
+
+Then Sir Daynant and his lady besought Sir Tristram that he would go with
+them to their castle so that they might care for him, but Sir Tristram
+would not, for he said: "I wist very well that I am mad, and so this forest
+is a fit place for me to dwell and these kind rude fellows are fit
+companions for me at this time whilst my wits are wandering."
+
+Thus it was with this adventure. And now you shall hear how Sir Launcelot
+found Sir Tristram in the forest and how he brought him out thence and
+likewise what befell thereafter.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot enters the forest] For only the next day after
+all these things had happened, Sir Launcelot came riding through the forest
+that way, seeking for Sir Tauleas with intent to do battle with him because
+of his many evil deeds. For Sir Launcelot purposed either to slay him or
+else to bring him captive to King Arthur.
+
+So it came to pass that Sir Launcelot came to that place where Sir Tristram
+and the swineherds abode.
+
+There Sir Launcelot made pause for to rest and to refresh himself, and
+whilst he sat with his helmet lying beside him so that the breezes might
+cool his face, all those rude swineherds gathered about and stared at him.
+And Sir Launcelot smiled upon them, and he said: "Good fellows, I pray you
+tell me; do you know where, hereabouts, I shall find a knight whom men call
+Sir Tauleas?"
+
+Unto this the chief swineherd made reply, saying: "Lord, if you come hither
+seeking Sir Tauleas, you shall seek him in vain. For yesterday he was
+slain, and if you look yonder way you may see his head hanging from a
+branch of a tree at the edge of the glade."
+
+Upon this Sir Launcelot cried out in great amazement, "How hath that come
+to pass?" and therewith he immediately arose from where he sat and went to
+that tree where the head hung. And he looked into the face of the head, and
+therewith he saw that it was indeed the head of Sir Tauleas that hung
+there. Then Sir Launcelot said: "This is very wonderful. Now I pray you,
+tell me what knight was it who slew this wicked wretch, and how his head
+came to be left hanging here?"
+
+To this the chief of the swineherds made reply: "Messire, he who slew Sir
+Tauleas was no knight, but a poor madman whom we found in the forest and
+who has dwelt with us now for a year past. Yonder you may see him, lying
+half naked, sleeping beside that well of water."
+
+Sir Launcelot said, "Was it he who did indeed slay Sir Tauleas?" And the
+swineherd said, "Yea, lord, it was he."
+
+Sir Launcelot said, "Do ye not then know who he is?" The swineherd replied:
+"No, lord, we only know that one day we found him lying in the forest naked
+and nigh to death from hunger and that we fed him and clothed him, and that
+since then he hath dwelt ever with us, showing great love for us all."
+
+Then Sir Launcelot went to where Sir Tristram lay, and he looked upon him
+as he slept and he knew him not; for the beard and the hair of Sir Tristram
+had grown down all over his breast and shoulders and he was very ragged and
+beaten by the weather. But though Sir Launcelot knew him not, yet he beheld
+that the body of Sir Tristram was very beautiful and strong, for he saw how
+all the muscles and thews thereof were cut very smooth and clean as you
+might cut them out of wax, wherefore Sir Launcelot gazed for a long while
+and felt great admiration for his appearance.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot regards Sir Tristam] Then Sir Launcelot beheld
+how the sleeping man held a naked sword in his arms very caressingly, as
+though he loved it, and thereat he was very much surprised to find such a
+sword as that in the hands of this forest madman. Wherefore he said to
+those swineherds, "Where got this man that sword?"
+
+"Messire," said the swineherd who had afore spoken, "some while since there
+came a knight hitherward who ill-treated him. Thereupon this poor man ran
+at the knight and overthrew him and took the sword away from him and soused
+him several times in the well. After that he hath ever held fast to this
+sword and would not give it up to any of us."
+
+"Ha!" said Sir Launcelot, "that is a very wonderful story, that a naked man
+should overthrow an armed knight and take his sword away from him. Now I
+deem that this is no mere madman, but some noble knight in misfortune."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot awakens Sir Tristram] Therewith he reached
+forward and touched Sir Tristram very gently on the shoulder, and at that
+Sir Tristram awoke and opened his eyes and sat up. And Sir Tristram looked
+upon Sir Launcelot, but knew him not, albeit some small memory moved very
+deeply within him. Nevertheless, though he knew not Sir Launcelot, yet he
+felt great tenderness for that noble knight in arms, and he smiled very
+lovingly upon him. And Sir Launcelot felt in return a very great deal of
+regard for Sir Tristram, but wist not why that was; yet it seemed to Sir
+Launcelot that he should know the face of Sir Tristram, and that it was not
+altogether strange to him.
+
+Then Sir Launcelot said, "Fair friend, was it thou who slew Sir Tauleas?"
+And Sir Tristram said, "Ay." Sir Launcelot said, "Who art thou?" Whereunto
+Sir Tristram made reply: "I know not who I am, nor whence I come, nor how I
+came hither."
+
+Then Sir Launcelot felt great pity and tenderness for Sir Tristram, and he
+said: "Friend, wilt thou go with me away from this place and into the
+habitations of men? There I believe thy mind maybe made whole again, and
+that it may be with thee as it was beforetime. And verily, I believe that
+when that shall come to pass, the world shall find in thee some great
+knight it hath lost."
+
+Sir Tristram said: "Sir Knight, though I know not who I am, yet I know that
+I am not sound in my mind; wherefore I am ashamed to go out in the world
+and amongst mankind, but would fain hide myself away in this forest. Yet I
+love thee so much that, if thou wert to bid me go with thee to the ends of
+the world, I believe I would go with thee."
+
+Then Sir Launcelot smiled upon Sir Tristram very kindly and said, "I do bid
+thee come with me away from here," and Sir Tristram said, "I will go."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram quits the forest with Sir Launcelot] So Sir
+Launcelot bade the swineherds clothe Sir Tristram in such a wise that his
+nakedness might be covered, and he bade them give Sir Tristram hosen and
+shoon, and when Sir Tristram was thus decently clad, Sir Launcelot made
+ready to take his departure from that place.
+
+But ere the two left, all those good fellows crowded around Sir Tristram,
+and embraced him and kissed him upon the cheek; for they had come to love
+him a very great deal.
+
+Then the two went away through the forest, Sir Launcelot proudly riding
+upon his great horse and Sir Tristram running very lightly beside him.
+
+But Sir Launcelot had other business at that time than to seek out Sir
+Tauleas as aforetold. For at that time there were three knights of very
+ill-repute who harried the west coast of that land that overlooked the sea
+toward the Kingdom of Ireland, and Sir Launcelot was minded to seek them
+out after he had finished with Sir Tauleas. So ere he returned to the court
+of King Arthur he had first of all to go thitherward.
+
+Now you are to know that the castle of Tintagel lay upon the way that he
+was to take upon that adventure, and so it was that he brought Sir Tristram
+to the castle of Tintagel, where King Mark of Cornwall was then holding
+court. For Sir Launcelot was minded to leave Sir Tristram there whilst he
+went upon that adventure aforetold of.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram comes to Tintagel] And Sir Launcelot was received
+in Tintagel with very great honor and acclaim, for it was the first time he
+had ever been there. And King Mark besought Sir Launcelot for to abide a
+while in Tintagel; but Sir Launcelot refused this hospitality, saying: "I
+have an adventure to do for the sake of my master, King Arthur, and I may
+not abide here at this present. But I pray you to grant me a favor, and it
+is this: that you cherish this poor madman whom I found in the forest, and
+that you keep him here, treating him kindly until I shall return from the
+quest I am upon. For I have great love for this poor fellow and I would not
+have any harm befall him whilst I am away."
+
+Then King Mark said: "I am sorry you will not remain with us, but as to
+this thing it shall be done as you desire, for we will cherish and care for
+this man while you are away." So said King Mark, speaking with great
+cheerfulness and courtesy; for neither he nor any of his court at that time
+wist who Sir Tristram was.
+
+So Sir Launcelot went upon his way, and King Mark gave orders that Sir
+Tristram should be well-clothed and fed, and it was done as he commanded.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Thus it was that Sir Tristram was brought back to the castle of Tintagel
+again. And now it shall be told how it befell with him thereat.
+
+[Illustration: Sir Tristram leaps into ye Sea]
+
+
+
+
+Chapter Third
+
+
+_How Sir Tristram was discovered at Tintagel and of what befell thereby._
+
+Now during the time that Sir Tristram abode thus unknown at the court of
+Tintagel, he was allowed to wander thereabouts whithersoever he chose, and
+no one hindered him either in going or in coming. For none in all that
+place suspected who he was, but everyone thought that he was only a poor
+gentle madman of the forest; so he was allowed to wander at will as his
+fancy led him.
+
+[Sidenote: How Sir Tristram dwelt at Tintagel] And Sir Tristram's memory
+never awoke; but though it awoke not, yet it stirred within him. For though
+he could not remember what this place was whereunto he had come, yet it was
+very strangely familiar to him, so that whithersoever he went, he felt that
+those places were not altogether strange to him. And in some of those
+places he felt great pleasure and in other places somewhat of pain, yet he
+knew not why he should have the one feeling or the other.
+
+Now of all those places whereunto he wandered, Sir Tristram found most
+pleasure in the pleasance of the castle where was a fair garden and fruit
+trees; for it was there that he and the Lady Belle Isoult had walked
+together aforetime ere his affliction had befallen him, and he remembered
+this place better than any other, and took more pleasure in it. Now one day
+Sir Tristram came wandering thus into that pleasance and, the day being
+warm, he sat under the shade of an appletree beside a marble fountain of
+water; and the appletree above his head was all full of red and golden
+fruit. So Sir Tristram sat there, striving to remember how it was that he
+had once aforetime beheld that fountain and that garden and that appletree
+beneath which he sat.
+
+So whilst he sat there pondering in that wise, there came the Lady Belle
+Isoult into the garden of that pleasance and her lady, the dame Bragwaine,
+was with her, and the hound, hight Houdaine, which Sir Tristram had sent to
+her by Gouvernail, walked beside her on the other side. Then Belle Isoult
+perceived that there was a man sitting under the appletree, and she said to
+dame Bragwaine: "Who is yonder man who hath dared to come hither into our
+privy garden?" Unto this, dame Bragwaine replied: "That, lady, is the
+gentle madman of the forest whom Sir Launcelot brought hither two days
+ago."
+
+Then the Lady Belle Isoult said, "Let us go nearer and see what manner of
+man he is"; and so they went forward toward where Sir Tristram sat, and the
+dog Houdaine went with them.
+
+Then Sir Tristram was aware that someone was nigh; and therewith he turned
+his face and beheld the Lady Isoult for the first time since he had gone
+mad in the forest; and the lady was looking at him, but knew him not.
+
+Then of a sudden, because of his great love for Belle Isoult, the memory of
+Sir Tristram came all back to him in the instant, and upon that instant he
+knew who he was and all that had befallen him, and how he had been brought
+there as a madman out of the forest. But though he knew her in that wise,
+yet, as has been said, she knew not him.
+
+Then Sir Tristram was all overwhelmed with shame that he should be thus
+found by that dear lady; wherefore he turned away his face and bowed his
+head so that she might not remember him, for he perceived that as yet she
+did not know him who he was.
+
+Now at that moment the dog, Houdaine, was aware of the savor of Sir
+Tristram; wherefore he leaped away from the Lady Belle Isoult and ran to
+Sir Tristram and smelt very eagerly of him. And with that he knew his
+master.
+
+[Sidenote: Houdaine knoweth Sir Tristram] Then the two ladies who looked
+beheld Houdaine fall down at the feet of Sir Tristram and grovel there with
+joy. And they beheld that he licked Sir Tristram's feet and his hands, and
+that he leaped upon Sir Tristram and licked his neck and face, and at that
+they were greatly astonished.
+
+Then of a sudden a thought came to dame Bragwaine, and she catched the Lady
+Isoult by the arm and she said: "Lady, know you not who yonder madman is?"
+But the Lady Belle Isoult said: "Nay, I know not who he is. Who is he,
+Bragwaine?" And Bragwaine said: "Certes, that is Sir Tristram, and no one
+else in all the world."
+
+[Sidenote: Belle Isoult knows Sir Tristram] Therewith, at those words, the
+scales suddenly fell from Lady Belle Isoult's eyes and she knew him. Then,
+for a little space, she stood as though turned into stone; then she emitted
+a great loud cry of joy and ran to Sir Tristram where he sat, and flung
+herself down upon the ground at the feet of Sir Tristram and embraced him
+about the knees. And she cried out in a voice of great passion: "Tristram!
+Tristram! Is it thou? They told me thou wert dead, and lo! thou art come to
+life again!" And with that she fell to weeping with such fury of passion
+that it was as though the soul of her were struggling to escape from her
+body.
+
+Then Sir Tristram got to his feet in great haste and agitation and he said:
+"Lady! Lady! This must not be--arise, and stay your passion or else it will
+be our ruin. For behold, I am alone and unarmed in this castle, and there
+are several herein who seek my life. So if it be discovered who I am, both
+thou and I are lost."
+
+Then, perceiving how that Belle Isoult was in a way distracted and out of
+her mind with joy and grief and love, he turned him unto Bragwaine and said
+to her: "Take thy lady hence and by and by I will find means whereby I may
+come to speech with her in private. Meanwhile it is death both for her and
+for me if she remain here to betray me unto the others of this castle."
+
+So Bragwaine and Sir Tristram lifted up the Lady Belle Isoult, and
+Bragwaine led her thence out of that place; for I believe that Belle Isoult
+knew not whither she went but walked like one walking half in a swoon.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Andred knoweth Sir Tristram] Now it chanced at that time
+that Sir Andred was in a balcony overlooking that pleasance, and, hearing
+the sound of voices and the sound of a disturbance that was suppressed, he
+looked out and beheld all that passed. Then he also wist who was that
+madman whom Sir Launcelot had fetched to that place out of the forest, and
+that he was Sir Tristram.
+
+Therewith he was filled with a great rage and fury and was likewise
+overwhelmed with great fear lest, if Sir Tristram should escape from that
+castle with his life, he would reclaim those possessions that he, Sir
+Andred, had seized upon.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Andres betrays Sir Tristram to King Mark] So therewith he
+withdrew himself from that balcony very softly, into the apartment behind.
+And he sat down in that apartment for a little while as though not knowing
+rightly what to do. But after a little while he arose and went to King
+Mark; and King Mark looked up and beheld him and said, "What news do you
+bring, Messire?" Thereunto Sir Andred made reply: "Lord, know you who that
+madman is whom Sir Launcelot hath fetched hither?" King Mark said, "Nay, I
+know not who he is." But with that he fell to trembling throughout his
+entire body, for he began to bethink him who that madman was. "Lord," said
+Sir Andred, "it is Sir Tristram, and me-seems Sir Launcelot was aware who
+it was, and that he was plotting treason when he fetched him hither."
+
+At that King Mark smote his hands together and he cried in a terrible
+voice, "I know it! I know it!" And then he said: "Blind! Blind! How was it
+that I knew him not?" Then after a little he fell to laughing and he said
+to Sir Andred: "Lo! God hath assuredly delivered that traitor, Sir
+Tristram, into mine hands so that I may punish him for his treasons. For,
+behold! he is here in our midst and he is altogether unarmed. Go, Messire,
+with all haste, gather together such force as may be needful, and seize
+upon him and bind him so that he may do no further harm to any man. Then
+let justice be executed upon him so soon as it is possible to do so." And
+Sir Andred said: "Lord, it shall be done according to your demands and upon
+the instant."
+
+Therewith Sir Andred went forth from where the King was, and he armed
+himself in complete armor, and he gathered together a number of knights and
+esquires and he led them to that place where he knew Sir Tristram would be;
+and there he found Sir Tristram sitting sunk in thought. And when Sir
+Tristram beheld those armed men come in thus upon him, he arose to defend
+himself. But then Sir Andred cried out in a loud voice: "Seize him ere he
+can strike and bind him fast, for he is unarmed and may do you no harm!"
+
+[Sidenote: The castle folk seize Sir Tristram] With that a dozen or more
+of those who were with Sir Andred flung themselves upon Sir Tristram,
+shouting and roaring like wild beasts. And they bore him to the earth by
+numbers, and after a while, by dint of great effort, they held him and
+bound his hands together by the wrists. Then they lifted up Sir Tristram
+and stood him upon his feet, and lo! his bosom heaved with his struggles,
+and his eyes were all shot with blood and his lips afroth with the fury of
+his fighting; and his clothes were torn in that struggle so that his body
+was half naked. And they held him there, a knight in armor with a naked
+sword standing upon his right hand and another armed knight with a naked
+sword standing upon his left hand.
+
+Then Sir Andred came and stood in front of Sir Tristram and taunted him,
+saying: "Ha, Tristram, how is it with thee now? Lo! thou camest like a spy
+into this place, and now thou art taken with all thy treason upon thee. So
+thou shalt die no knightly death, but, in a little while, thou shalt be
+hanged like a thief."
+
+Then he came close to Sir Tristram, and he laughed and said: "Tristram
+where is now the glory of thy strength that one time overcame all thine
+enemies? Lo! thou art helpless to strike a single blow in defence of thine
+honor." And therewith Sir Andred lifted his hand and smote Sir Tristram
+upon the face with the palm thereof.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram slays Sir Andred] At that blow the rage of Sir
+Tristram so flamed up in him that his eyes burned as with pure green fire.
+And in an instant, so quickly that no man wist what he did, he turned with
+amazing suddenness upon that knight who stood at his left hand, and he
+lifted up both hands that were bound, and he smote that knight such a blow
+upon the face that the knight fell down upon the ground and his sword fell
+out of his hand. Then Sir Tristram snatched the sword and, turning with
+astonishing quickness, he smote the knight upon his right hand such a
+buffet that he instantly fell down upon his knees and then rolled over upon
+the ground in a swoon. Then Sir Tristram turned upon Sir Andred, and
+lifting high the sword with both hands tied, he smote him so terrible a
+blow that the blade cut through his epulier and half through his body as
+far as the paps. At that great terrible blow the breath fled out of Sir
+Andred with a deep groan, and he fell down upon the ground and immediately
+died.
+
+Now all this had happened so suddenly that they who beheld it were
+altogether amazed and stood staring as though bewitched by some spell. But
+when they beheld Sir Tristram turn upon them and make at them with that
+streaming sword lifted on high, the terror of his fury so seized upon them
+that they everywhere broke from before him and fled, yelling, and with the
+fear of death clutching them in the vitals. And Sir Tristram chased them
+out of that place and into the courtyard of the castle, and some he smote
+down and others escaped; but all who could do so scattered away before him
+like chaff before the wind.
+
+Then, when they were gone, Sir Tristram stood panting and glaring about him
+like a lion at bay. Then he set the point of his sword upon the pavement of
+the court and the pommel thereof he set against his breast, and he drew the
+bonds that held his wrists across the edge of the sword so that they were
+cut and he was free.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram defends the chapel] But Sir Tristram wist that in
+a little the whole castle would be aroused against him, and that he would
+certainly be overwhelmed by dint of numbers, wherefore he looked about him
+for some place of refuge; and he beheld that the door of the chapel which
+opened upon the courtyard stood ajar. So he ran into the chapel and shut to
+that door and another door and locked and bolted them both, and set a heavy
+bar of wood across both of them so that for a while he was safe.
+
+But yet he was only safe for a little while, for about the time of early
+nightfall, which came not long thereafter, a great party of several score
+of King Mark's people came against the chapel where he was. And when they
+found that the doors were locked and barred, they brought rams for to
+batter in the chief door of the chapel.
+
+Then Sir Tristram beheld how parlous was his case, and that he must in a
+little while die if he did not immediately do something to save himself. So
+with that he ran to a window of the chapel and opened it and looked out
+thence. And lo! below him and far beneath was the sea, and the rocks of the
+shore upon which the castle was built; and the sea and the rocks lay twelve
+fathoms beneath him.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram leaps into the sea] But Sir Tristram said, "Better
+death there than here;" and therewith finding that the door was now falling
+in beneath the rams, he leaped out from the window-ledge, and thence he
+dived down into the sea; and no one saw that terrible leap that he made. So
+he sank down deep into the sea, but met no rocks, so that he presently came
+up again safe and sound. Then, looking about him, he perceived in the
+twilight a cave in the rocks, and thither he swam with the intent to find
+shelter for a little.
+
+Now when they who had come against him had broken into the chapel they all
+ran in in one great crowd, for they expected to find Sir Tristram and to do
+battle with him. But lo! Sir Tristram was not there, but only the empty
+walls. Then at first they were greatly astonished, and knew not what to
+think. And some who came cried out: "Is that man then a spirit that he can
+melt away into thin air?" But after a little, one of them perceived where
+the window of the chapel stood open, and therewith several of them ran
+thereunto and looked out, and they wist that Sir Tristram had leaped out
+thence into the sea.
+
+Then they said to one another: "Either that knight is now dead, or else he
+will perish when the tide rises and covers the rocks; so to-night we will
+do no more with this business; but to-morrow we will go and find his body
+where it lies among the rocks of the shore." So thereupon they shut the
+window and went their ways.
+
+Now Gouvernail was not at that time at Tintagel, nor did he return
+thereunto until all this affair was over and done. But when he came there,
+there were many voices to tell him what had befallen, and to all of them
+Gouvernail listened without saying anything.
+
+But afterward Gouvernail went and sought out a certain knight hight Sir
+Santraille de Lushon, who, next to himself, was the most faithful friend to
+Sir Tristram at that place. To him Gouvernail said: "Messire, I do not
+think that Sir Tristram is dead, for he hath always been a most wonderful
+swimmer and diver. But if he be alive, and we do not save him, he will
+assuredly perish when the tide comes up and covers over those rocks amongst
+which he may now be hidden."
+
+So Gouvernail and Sir Santraille went to that chapel unknown to anyone, and
+they went to that window whence Sir Tristram had leaped, and they opened
+the window, and leaned out and called upon Sir Tristram in low voices: "Sir
+Tristram, if thou art alive, arise and answer us, for we are friends!"
+
+Then after a while Sir Tristram recognized Gouvernail's voice and answered
+them: "I am alive; but save me, or I perish in a little while." Then
+Gouvernail said: "Lord, are you hurt, or are you whole?" Sir Tristram
+replied, "I am strong and well in body, but the tide rises fast."
+Gouvernail said, "Messire, can you wait a little?" Sir Tristram said, "Ay;
+for a little, but not for too long."
+
+[Sidenote: Gouvernail and Sir Santraille rescue Sir Tristram] Then
+Gouvernail and Sir Santraille withdrew from where they were and they made
+all haste, and they got together a great number of sheets and napkins, and
+tied these together and made a rope, and lowered the rope down to the rocks
+where Sir Tristram was. Then Sir Tristram climbed up the rope of linen and
+so reached the chapel in safety. And at that time it was nigh to midnight
+and very dark.
+
+But when Sir Tristram stood with them in the chapel, he gave them hardly
+any greeting, but said at once: "Messires, how doth it fare with the Lady
+Belle Isoult?" For he thought of her the first of all and above all things
+else.
+
+To this Sir Santraille made reply: "Sir, the lady hath been shut into a
+tower, and the door thereof hath been locked upon her, and she is a close
+prisoner."
+
+Then Sir Tristram said: "How many knights are there in the place who are my
+friends, and who will stand with me to break out hence?" To this Gouvernail
+said: "Lord, there are twelve besides ourselves, and that makes fourteen in
+all who are with thee in this quarrel unto life or death."
+
+Sir Tristram said: "Provide me presently with arms and armor and bring
+those twelve hither armed at all points. But first let them saddle horses
+for themselves and for us, and for the Lady Belle Isoult and for her
+waiting-woman, Dame Bragwaine. When this is done, we will depart from this
+place unto some other place of refuge, and I do not think there will be any
+in the castle will dare stop or stay us after we are armed."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram arms himself] So it was done as Sir Tristram
+commanded, and when all those were gathered together, and their horses
+ready, Sir Tristram and several of the knights of his party went openly to
+that tower where the Lady Belle Isoult was prisoner. And they burst open
+the doors and went in with torches, and found Belle Isoult and her
+attendant in the upper part of the castle.
+
+But when Belle Isoult beheld the face of Sir Tristram, she said: "Is it
+thou, my love; and art thou still alive, and art thou come tome?" Sir
+Tristram said: "Yea, I am still alive nor will I die, God willing, until I
+have first brought thee out of this wicked castle and into some place of
+safety. And never again will I entrust thee unto King Mark's hands; for I
+have great fear that if he have thee in his hands he will work vengeance
+upon thee so as to strike at my heart through thee. So, dear love, I come
+to take thee away from this place; and never again right or wrong, shalt
+thou be without the shelter of my arm."
+
+Then the Lady Belle Isoult smiled very wonderfully upon Sir Tristram so
+that her face appeared to shine with a great illumination of love. And she
+said: "Tristram, I will go with thee whithersoever thou wilt. Yea, I would
+go with thee even to the grave, for I believe that I should be happy even
+there, so that thou wert lying beside me."
+
+Then Sir Tristram groaned in spirit and he said: "Isoult, what have I done,
+that I should always bring unhappiness upon thee?" But the Lady Belle
+Isoult spake very steadily, saying: "Never unhappiness, Tristram, but
+always happiness; for I have thy love for aye, and thou hast mine in the
+same measure, and in that is happiness, even in tears and sorrow, and never
+unhappiness."
+
+With that Sir Tristram kissed Belle Isoult upon the forehead, and then he
+lifted her up and carried her in his arms down the stairs of the tower and
+sat her upon her horse. And Bragwaine followed after, and Gouvernail lifted
+her up upon her horse.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram taketh Belle Isoult away from Tintagel] Now all
+they of that castle were amazed beyond measure to find all those knights
+armed and prepared for battle so suddenly in their midst. And most of all
+were they filled with terror to find Sir Tristram at the head of these
+knights. Wherefore when Sir Tristram made demand that they should open the
+portcullis of the castle and let fall the drawbridge, the porters thereof
+dared not refuse him, but did as he said.
+
+So Sir Tristram and his knights rode forth with the Lady Belle Isoult and
+Bragwaine and no one stayed them. And they rode into the forest, betaking
+their way toward a certain castle of Sir Tristram's, which they reached in
+the clear dawning of the daytime.
+
+And so Sir Tristram brought the Lady Belle Isoult away from Tintagel and
+into safety.
+
+[Illustration: King Mark broods mischief]
+
+
+
+
+Chapter Fourth
+
+
+_How Sir Tristram and the Lady Belle Isoult returned to Cornwall and how
+they ended their days together._
+
+And now remaineth to be told the rest of these adventures of Sir Tristram
+as briefly as may be.
+
+For indeed I thought not, when I began this history, to tell you as much
+concerning him as I have done. But as I have entered into this history I
+have come so strongly to perceive how noble and true and loyal was the
+knighthood of Sir Tristram, that I could not forbear telling you of many
+things that I had not purposed to speak of.
+
+Yet, as I have said before this, there are a great many adventures that I
+have not spoken of in this book. For I have told only those things that
+were necessary for to make you understand how it fared with him in his
+life.
+
+So now shall be told those last things that concerned him.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot reproves King Mark] Now two days after those
+things aforesaid had come to pass, Sir Launcelot returned unto Tintagel
+from that quest which he had been upon, and so soon as he came thither he
+made inquiry of King Mark concerning the welfare of that madman of the
+forest whom he had left in the care of King Mark. But when he heard that
+that madman was Sir Tristram, he was astonished beyond all measure; but
+when he heard how Sir Tristram had been served by King Mark and by the
+people of the castle under the lead of Sir Andred, he was filled with a
+great and violent indignation. So he arose and stood before King Mark and
+said: "Lord King, I have heard much ill said of thee and shameful things
+concerning thy unknightliness in several courts of chivalry where I have
+been; and now I know that those things were true; for I have heard from the
+lips of many people here, how thou didst betray Sir Tristram into bringing
+the Lady Belle Isoult unto thee; and I have heard from many how thou dost
+ever do ill and wickedly by him, seeking to take from him both his honor
+and his life. And yet Sir Tristram hath always been thy true and faithful
+knight, and hath served thee in all ways thou hast demanded of him. I know
+that thou hast jealousy for Sir Tristram in thy heart and that thou hast
+ever imputed wickedness and sin unto him. Yet all the world knoweth that
+Sir Tristram is a true knight and altogether innocent of any evil. For all
+the evil which thou hast imputed to him hath no existence saving only in
+thine own evil heart. Now I give thee and all thy people to know that had
+ill befallen Sir Tristram at your hands I should have held you accountable
+therefor and should have punished you in such a way that you would not soon
+have forgotten it. But of that there is no need, for Sir Tristram himself
+hath punished you in full measure without any aid from me. So now I will go
+away from this place and will never come hither again; nor will I
+acknowledge you should I meet you in court or in field."
+
+So saying, Sir Launcelot turned and went away from that place very proudly
+and haughtily, leaving them all abashed at his rebuke.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot findeth Sir Tristram and Belle Isoult in the
+forest] So that day Sir Launcelot went forward through the forest until he
+reached that castle whereunto Sir Tristram had taken the Lady Belle Isoult,
+and there he was received by Sir Tristram with all joy and honor. And Sir
+Launcelot abided at that place for two days, with great pleasure to himself
+and to Sir Tristram and to Belle Isoult.
+
+At the end of that time Sir Launcelot said to Sir Tristram: "Messire, it is
+not well that you and this dear lady should abide here so nigh to Tintagel.
+For, certes, King Mark will some time work some grievous ill upon you. So I
+beseech you to come with me unto my castle of Joyous Gard. There this lady
+shall reign queen paramount and we shall be her very faithful servants to
+do her pleasure in all ways. That castle is a very beautiful place, and
+there she may dwell in peace and safety and tranquillity all the days of
+her life if she chooses to do so."
+
+[Sidenote: They depart for Joyous Gard] Now that saying of Sir Launcelot's
+seemed good to Sir Tristram and to Belle Isoult; wherefore in three days
+all they and their court made ready to depart. And they did depart from
+that castle in the forest unto Joyous Gard, where they were received with
+great honor and rejoicing.
+
+So the Lady Belle Isoult abided for three years at Joyous Gard, dwelling
+there as queen paramount in all truth and innocence of life; and Sir
+Launcelot and Sir Tristram were her champions and all their courts were her
+servants. And during those three years there were many famous joustings
+held at Joyous Gard, and several bel-adventures were performed both by Sir
+Launcelot and Sir Tristram in her honor.
+
+And indeed I believe that this was the happiest time of all the Lady Belle
+Isoult's life, for she lived there in peace and love and tranquillity and
+she suffered neither grief nor misfortune in all that time.
+
+[Sidenote: King Arthur comes to Joyous Gard] Then one day there came King
+Arthur to Joyous Gard, and he was received with such joy and celebration as
+that place had never before beheld. A great feast was set in his honor, and
+after the feast King Arthur and Sir Tristram and Belle Isoult withdrew to
+one side and sat together in converse.
+
+Then after a while King Arthur said, "Lady, may I ask you a question?" And
+at that Lady Belle Isoult lifted up her eyes and looked very strangely upon
+the King, and after a while she said, "Ask thy question, Lord King, and I
+will answer it if I can." "Lady," said King Arthur, "answer me this
+question: is it better to dwell in honor with sadness or in dishonor with
+joy?"
+
+Then Belle Isoult began to pant with great agitation, and by and by she
+said, "Lord, why ask you me that?" King Arthur said: "Because, lady, I
+think your heart hath sometimes asked you the selfsame question." Then the
+Lady Belle Isoult clasped her hands together and cried out: "Yea, yea, my
+heart hath often asked me that question, but I would not answer it." King
+Arthur said: "Neither shalt thou answer me, for I am but a weak and erring
+man as thou art a woman. But answer thou that question to God, dear lady,
+and then thou shalt answer it in truth."
+
+Therewith King Arthur fell to talking of other things with Sir Tristram,
+but the lady could not join them in talk, but sat thenceforth in silence,
+finding it hard to breathe because of the oppression of tears that lay upon
+her bosom.
+
+And Belle Isoult said no more concerning that question that King Arthur had
+asked. But three days after that time she came to Sir Tristram and said:
+"Dear lord, I have bethought me much of what King Arthur said, and this
+hath come of it, that I must return again unto Cornwall."
+
+Then Sir Tristram turned away his face so that she might not see it, and he
+said, "Methought it would come to that." And then in a little he went away
+from that place, leaving her standing there.
+
+So it came about that peace was made betwixt Sir Tristram and King Mark,
+and Belle Isoult and King Mark, and King Arthur was the peacemaker.
+
+[Sidenote: Belle Isoult scorns King Mark] Thereafter Sir Tristram and his
+court and the Lady Belle Isoult returned unto Cornwall, and there they
+dwelt for some time in seeming peace. But in that time the Lady Belle
+Isoult would never see King Mark nor exchange a word with him, but lived
+entirely apart from him and in her own life in a part of the castle; and at
+that King Mark was struck with such bitterness of despair that he was like
+to a demon in torment. For he saw, as it were, a treasure very near and yet
+afar, for he could not come unto it. And the more he suffered that torment,
+the more he hated Sir Tristram, for in his suffering it appeared to him
+that Sir Tristram was the cause of that suffering.
+
+So it came about that King Mark set spies to watch Sir Tristram, for in his
+evil heart he suspected Sir Tristram of treason, and he hoped that his
+spies might discover Sir Tristram in some act for which he might be
+punished. So those spies watched Sir Tristram both night and day, but they
+could find nothing that he did that was amiss.
+
+Now one day Belle Isoult felt such a longing for Sir Tristram that she
+could not refrain from sending a note to him beseeching him for to come to
+her so that they might see one another again; and though Sir Tristram
+misdoubted what he did, yet he went as she desired, even if it should mean
+the peril of death to him.
+
+Then came those spies to King Mark and told him that Sir Tristram was gone
+to the bower of the Lady Belle Isoult, and that she had bidden him to come
+thither.
+
+At that the vitals of King Mark were twisted with such an agony of hatred
+and despair that he bent him double and cried out, "Woe! Woe! I suffer
+torments!"
+
+[Sidenote: King Mark spies upon Sir Tristram and Isoult] Therewith he
+arose and went very quickly to that part of the castle where the Lady Belle
+Isoult inhabited; and he went very softly up by a back way and through a
+passage to where was a door with curtains hanging before it; and when he
+had come there he parted the curtains and peeped within. And he beheld that
+the Lady Belle Isoult and Sir Tristram sat at a game of chess, and he
+beheld that they played not at the game but that they sat talking together
+very sadly; and he beheld that Dame Bragwaine sat in a deep window to one
+side--for Belle Isoult did not wish it to be said that she and Sir Tristram
+sat alone.
+
+All this King Mark saw and trembled with a torment of jealousy. So by and
+by he left that place and went very quietly back into that passageway
+whence he had come. And when he had come there he perceived a great glaive
+upon a pole two ells long. This he took into his hand and returned unto
+that curtained doorway again.
+
+Then being in all ways prepared he parted the curtains silently and stepped
+very quickly and without noise into the room. And the back of Sir Tristram
+was toward him.
+
+Then King Mark lifted the glaive on high and he struck; and Sir Tristram
+sank without a sound.
+
+Yea, I believe that that good knight knew naught of what had happened until
+he awoke in Paradise to find himself in that realm of happiness and peace.
+
+[Sidenote: Of the passing of Tristram and Isoult] Then Belle Isoult arose,
+overturning the table of chessmen as she did so, but she made no outcry nor
+sound of any sort. But she stood looking down at Sir Tristram for a little
+space, and then she kneeled down beside his body and touched the face
+thereof as though to make sure that it was dead. Therewith, as though being
+assured, she fell down with her body upon his; and King Mark stood there
+looking down upon them.
+
+All this had passed so quickly that Dame Bragwaine hardly knew what had
+befallen; but now, upon an instant, she suddenly fell to shrieking so
+piercingly that the whole castle rang with the sound thereof.
+
+Now there were in the outer room several of the knights of the court of Sir
+Tristram who had come thither with him as witnesses that he performed no
+treason to the King. These, when Dame Bragwaine shrieked in that wise, came
+running into the room and therewith beheld what had happened. Then all they
+stood aghast at that sight.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Alexander slays King Mark] But there was in the court of
+Sir Tristram a very young, gallant knight hight Sir Alexander. This knight
+came to where King Mark stood looking down upon his handiwork as though
+entranced with what he had done. Then Sir Alexander said to King Mark, "Is
+this thy work?" And King Mark raised his eyes very heavily and looked at
+Sir Alexander and he answered, "Ay!" Then Sir Alexander cried out, "Thou
+hast lived too long!" And therewith drawing his misericordia, he catched
+King Mark by the left wrist and lifted his arm. And Sir Alexander drave the
+dagger into the side of King Mark, and King Mark groaned and sank down upon
+the ground, and in a little while died where he lay.
+
+Then those knights went to where the Lady Belle Isoult lay and lifted her
+up; but, lo! the soul had left her, and she was dead. For I believe that it
+was not possible for one of those loving souls to leave its body with out
+the other quitting its body also, so that they might meet together in
+Paradise. For there never were two souls in all the history of chivalry
+that clave to one another so tenderly as did the souls of Tristram and
+Isoult.
+
+So endeth this story of Sir Tristram, with only this to say, that they two
+were buried with the graves close together, and that it is said by many who
+have written of them that there grew a rose-tree up from Sir Tristram's
+grave, and down upon the grave of Belle Isoult; and it is said that this
+rose-tree was a miracle, for that upon his grave there grew red roses, and
+upon her grave there grew pure white roses. For her soul was white like to
+thrice-carded wool, and so his soul was red with all that was of courage or
+knightly pride.
+
+And I pray that God may rest the souls of those two as I pray He may rest
+the souls of all of us who must some time go the way that those two and so
+many others have travelled before us. Amen.
+
+
+
+
+The Book of Sir Percival
+
+_Here beginneth the story of Sir Percival of Gales, who was considered to
+be one of the three great knights of the Round Table at that time. For, if
+Sir Launcelot was the chiefest of all the knights who ever came unto King
+Arthur's court, then it is hard to say whether Sir Tristram of Lyonesse or
+Sir Percival of Gales was second unto him in renown_.
+
+_And I pray that it shall be given unto all of ye to live as brave and
+honorable and pure a life as he did; and that you, upon your part, may
+claim a like glory and credit in the world in which you dwell by such noble
+behavior as he exhibited_.
+
+[Illustration: Sir Percival of Gales]
+
+
+
+
+Prologue.
+
+The father of Sir Percival was that king hight Pellinore who fought so
+terrible a battle with King Arthur as has been told in the Book of King
+Arthur. For it was after that fight that King Arthur obtained his famous
+sword Excalibur, as was therein told.
+
+Now, King Pellinore was one of those eleven kings who, in the beginning of
+King Arthur's reign, were in rebellion against King Arthur as hath been
+told in the book aforesaid, and he was one of the last of all those kings
+to yield when he was overcome. So King Arthur drove him from town to town
+and from place to place until, at last, he was driven away from the
+habitations of men and into the forests like to a wild beast.
+
+[Sidenote: King Pellinore fleeth to the wilderness] Now, King Pellinore
+took with him into the wilderness his wife and his four sons; to wit,
+Lamorack and Aglaval and Dornar and Percival. Of these, Percival was but
+three years of age; the others, excepting Dornar, being nigh to the estate
+of manhood. Thereafter that noble family dwelt in the forest like hunted
+animals, and that was a very great hardship for the lady who had been
+queen; and, likewise, it was greatly to the peril of the young child,
+Percival.
+
+Now, Percival was extraordinarily beautiful and his mother loved him above
+all her other sons. Wherefore she feared lest the young child should die of
+those hardships in the wilderness.
+
+So one day King Pellinore said: "Dear love, I am now in no wise prepared
+for to defend thee and this little one. Wherefore, for a while, I shall put
+ye away from me so that ye may remain in secret hiding until such time as
+the child shall have grown in years and stature to the estate of manhood
+and may so defend himself.
+
+"Now of all my one-time possessions I have only two left to me. One of
+these is a lonely castle in this forest (unto which I am now betaking my
+way), and the other is a solitary tower at a great distance from this, and
+in a very desolate part of the world where there are many mountains. Unto
+that place I shall send ye, for it will not be likely that mine enemies
+will ever find ye there.
+
+"So my will is this: that if this child groweth in that lonely place to
+manhood, and if he be weak in body or timid in spirit, thou shalt make of
+him a clerk of holy orders. But if when he groweth, he shall prove to be
+strong and lusty of frame and high of spirit, and shall desire to undertake
+deeds of knighthood, thou then shalt not stay him from his desires, but
+shall let him go forth into the world as he shall have a mind to do.
+
+"And if a time should come when he desireth to go thus into the world
+behold! here is a ring set with a very precious ruby; let him bring that
+ring to me or to any of our sons wheresoever he may find us, and by that
+ring we shall know that he is my son and their brother, and we will receive
+him with great gladness."
+
+[Sidenote: Percival's mother taketh him to the mountains] And King
+Pellinore's lady said, "It shall be done as thou dost ordain." So it was
+that King Pellinore betook himself to that lonely castle where King Arthur
+found him and fought with him; and Percival's mother betook herself to that
+dwelling-place in the mountains of which King Pellinore had spoken--which
+was a single tower that reached up into the sky, like unto a finger of
+stone.
+
+There she abided with Percival for sixteen years, and in all that time
+Percival knew naught of the world nor of what sort it was, but grew
+altogether wild and was entirely innocent like to a little child.
+
+In the mean time, during those years, it happened very ill to the house of
+King Pellinore. For though King Arthur became reconciled to King Pellinore,
+yet there were in King Arthur's court many who were bitter enemies to that
+good, worthy knight. So it came about that first King Pellinore was slain
+by treachery, and then Sir Aglaval and Sir Dornar were slain in the same
+way, so that Sir Lamorack alone was left of all that noble family.
+
+(And it was said that Sir Gawaine and his brothers were implicated in those
+murders--they being enemies unto King Pellinore--and great reproach hath
+always clung to them for the treacherous, unknightly way in which those
+noble knights of the house of Pellinore were slain.)
+
+[Sidenote: Percival's mother grieveth for the death of her dear ones] Now
+the news of those several deaths was brought to that lonely tower of the
+mountain wilderness and to Sir Percival's mother; and when she heard how
+her husband and two of her sons were dead she gave great outcry of grief,
+and smote her hands together and wept with great passion. And she cried
+out: "Mefeareth it will be the time of Lamorack next to be slain. As for
+Percival; never shall I be willing for him to go out into that cruel world
+of wicked murderers. For if he should perish also, my heart would surely
+break."
+
+[Sidenote: How Percival dwelt in the mountains] So she kept Percival
+always with her and in ignorance of all that concerned the world of
+knighthood. And though Percival waxed great of body and was beautiful and
+noble of countenance, yet he dwelt there among those mountains knowing no
+more of the world that lay beyond that place in which he dwelt than would a
+little innocent child. Nor did he ever see anyone from the outside world,
+saving only an old man who was a deaf-mute. And this old man came and went
+betwixt that tower where Percival and his mother dwelt and the outer world,
+and from the world he would come back with clothing and provisions loaded
+upon an old sumpter horse for Percival and his mother and their few
+attendants. Yet Percival marvelled many times whence those things came, but
+no one told him and so he lived in entire ignorance of the world.
+
+And Percival's mother would not let him touch any weapon saving only a
+small Scot's spear which same is a sort of javelin. But with this Percival
+played every day of his life until he grew so cunning in handling it that
+he could pierce with it a bird upon the wing in the air.
+
+Now it chanced upon a time when Percival was nineteen years of age that he
+stood upon a pinnacle of rock and looked down into a certain valley. And it
+was very early in the spring-time, so that the valley appeared, as it were,
+to be carpeted all with clear, thin green. There was a shining stream of
+water that ran down through the midst of the valley, and it was a very fair
+and peaceful place to behold.
+
+[Sidenote: Percival beholds a knight-rider] So Percival stood and gazed
+into that low-land, and lo! a knight rode up through that valley, and the
+sun shone out from behind a cloud of rain and smote upon his armor so that
+it appeared to be all ablaze as with pure light, and Percival beheld that
+knight and wist not what it was he saw. So, after the knight had gone away
+from the valley, he ran straightway to his mother, all filled with a great
+wonder, and he said: "Mother! Mother! I have beheld a very wonderful
+thing." She said, "What was it thou didst see?" Percival said: "I beheld
+somewhat that was like a man, and he rode upon a horse, and he shone very
+brightly and with exceeding splendor. Now, I prithee tell me what it was I
+saw?"
+
+Then Percival's mother knew very well what it was he had seen, and she was
+greatly troubled at heart, for she wist that if Percival's knightly spirit
+should be awakened he would no longer be content to dwell in those peaceful
+solitudes. Wherefore she said to herself: "How is this? Is it to be that
+this one lamb also shall be taken away from me and nothing left to me of
+all my flock?" Then she said to Percival: "My son, that which thou didst
+behold was doubtless an angel." And Percival said, "I would that I too were
+an angel!" And at that speech the lady, his mother, sighed very deeply.
+
+Now it chanced upon the next day after that that Percival and his mother
+went down into the forest that lay at the foot of the mountain whereon that
+tower stood, and they had intent to gather such early flowers of the
+spring-time as were then abloom. And whilst they were there, lo! there came
+five knights riding through the forest, and, the leaves being thin like to
+a mist of green, Percival perceived them a great way off. So he cried out
+in a loud voice: "Mother! Mother! Behold! Yonder is a whole company of
+angels such as I saw yesterday! Now I will go and give them greeting."
+
+But his mother said: "How now! How now! Wouldst thou make address unto
+angels!" And Percival said: "Yea; for they appear to be both mild of face
+and gentle of mien." So he went forward for to greet those knights.
+
+[Sidenote: Percival holds discourse with five knights] Now the foremost of
+that party of knights was Sir Ewaine, who was always both gentle and
+courteous to everybody. Wherefore, when Sir Ewaine saw Percival nigh at
+hand, he gave him greeting and said, "Fair youth, what is thy name?" Unto
+this Percival made reply: "My name is Percival." Sir Ewaine said: "That is
+a very good name, and thy face likewise is so extraordinarily comely that I
+take thee to be of some very high lineage. Now tell me, I prithee, who is
+thy father?" To this Percival said, "I cannot tell thee what is my lineage,
+for I do not know," and at that Sir Ewaine marvelled a very great deal.
+Then, after a little while, he said: "I prithee tell me, didst thou see a
+knight pass this way to-day or yesterday?" And Percival said, "I know not
+what sort of a thing is a knight." Sir Ewaine said, "A knight is such a
+sort of man as I am."
+
+Upon this Percival understood many things that he did not know before, and
+he willed with all his soul to know more than those. Wherefore he said: "If
+thou wilt answer several questions for me, I will gladly answer thine."
+Upon this Sir Ewaine smiled very cheerfully (for he liked Percival
+exceedingly), and he said: "Ask what thou wilt and I will answer thee in so
+far as I am able."
+
+So Percival said, "I prithee tell me what is this thing?" And he laid his
+hand thereon. And Sir Ewaine said, "That is a saddle." And Percival said,
+"What is this thing?" And Sir Ewaine said, "That is a sword." And Percival
+said, "What is this thing?" And Sir Ewaine said, "That is a shield." And so
+Percival asked him concerning all things that appertained to the
+accoutrements of a knight, and Sir Ewaine answered all his questions. Then
+Percival said: "Now I will answer thy question. I saw a knight ride past
+this way yesterday, and he rode up yonder valley and to the westward."
+
+Upon this Sir Ewaine gave gramercy to Percival and saluted him, and so did
+the other knights, and they rode their way.
+
+After they had gone Percival returned to his mother, and he beheld that she
+sat exactly where he had left her, for she was in great travail of soul
+because she perceived that Percival would not now stay with her very much
+longer. And when Percival came to where she sat he said to her: "Mother,
+those were not angels, but very good, excellent knights." And upon this the
+lady, his mother, burst into a great passion of weeping, so that Percival
+stood before her all abashed, not knowing why she wept. So by and by he
+said, "Mother, why dost thou weep?" But she could not answer him for a
+while, and after a while she said, "Let us return homeward." And so they
+walked in silence.
+
+Now when they had come to the tower where they dwelt, the lady turned of a
+sudden unto Percival and she said to him, "Percival, what is in thy heart?"
+And he said, "Mother, thou knowest very well what is there." She said, "Is
+it that thou wouldst be a knight also?" And he said, "Thou sayst it." And
+upon that she said, "Thou shalt have thy will; come with me."
+
+So Percival's mother led him to the stable and to where was that poor
+pack-horse that brought provisions to that place, and she said: "This is a
+sorry horse but I have no other for thee. Now let us make a saddle for
+him." So Percival and his mother twisted sundry cloths and wisps of hay and
+made a sort of a saddle thereof. And Percival's mother brought him a scrip
+with bread and cheese for his refreshment and she hung it about his
+shoulder. And she brought him his javelin which he took in his hand. And
+then she gave him the ring of King Pellinore with that precious ruby jewel
+inset into it, and she said: "Take thou this, Percival, and put it upon thy
+finger, for it is a royal ring. Now when thou leavest me, go unto the court
+of King Arthur and make diligent inquiry for Sir Lamorack of Gales. And
+when thou hast found him, show him that ring, and he will see that thou art
+made a very worthy knight; for, Percival, Sir Lamorack is thy brother. One
+time thou hadst a father alive, and thou hadst two other brothers. But all
+they were slain by treachery of our enemies, and only thou and Lamorack are
+left; so look to it that thou guard thyself when thou art in the world and
+in the midst of those enemies; for if thou shouldst perish at their hands,
+I believe my heart would break."
+
+[Sidenote: Percival's mother giveth him advice] Then she gave Percival
+advice concerning the duty of one who would make himself worthy of
+knighthood, and that advice was as follows: "In thy journeying thou art to
+observe these sundry things: When thou comest to a church or a shrine say a
+pater-noster unto the glory of God; and if thou hearest a cry of anyone in
+trouble, hasten to lend thine aid--especially if it be a woman or a child
+who hath need of it; and if thou meet a lady or a damosel, salute her in
+seemly fashion; and if thou have to do with a man, be both civil and
+courageous unto him; and if thou art an-hungered or athirst and findest
+food and wine, eat and drink enough to satisfy thee, but no more; and if
+thou findest a treasure or a jewel of price and canst obtain those things
+without injustice unto another, take that thing for thine own--but give
+that which thou hast with equal freedom unto others. So, by obeying these
+precepts, thou shalt become worthy to be a true knight and, haply, be also
+worthy of thy father, who was a true knight before thee."
+
+And Percival said, "All these things will I remember and observe to do."
+
+And Percival's mother said, "But thou wilt not forget me, Percival?"
+
+[Sidenote: Percival departs from the mountain] And he said: "Nay, mother;
+but when I have got me power and fame and wealth, then will I straightway
+return thitherward and take thee away from this place, and thou shalt be
+like to a Queen for all the glory that I shall bestow upon thee." Upon this
+the lady, his mother, both laughed and wept; and Percival stooped and
+kissed her upon the lips. Then he turned and left her, and he rode away
+down the mountain and into the forest, and she stood and gazed after him as
+long as she could see him. And she was very lonely after he had gone.
+
+So I have told you how it came that Percival went out into the world for to
+become a famous knight.
+
+[Illustration: The Lady Yvette the Fair]
+
+
+
+
+Chapter First
+
+
+_How Percival departed into the world and how he found a fair damsel in a
+pavilion; likewise how he came before Queen Guinevere and how he undertook
+his first adventure_.
+
+[Sidenote: Percival maketh himself armor of willow twigs] Now after
+Percival had ridden upon his way for a very long time, he came at last out
+of that part of the forest and unto a certain valley where were many osiers
+growing along beside a stream of water. So he gathered branches of the
+willow-trees and peeled them and wove them very cunningly into the likeness
+of armor such as he had seen those knights wear who had come into his
+forest. And when he had armed himself with wattled osiers he said unto
+himself, "Now am I accoutred as well as they." Whereupon he rode upon his
+way with an heart enlarged with joy.
+
+By and by he came out of the forest altogether and unto a considerable
+village where were many houses thatched with straw. And Percival said to
+himself: "Ha! how great is the world; I knew not that there were so many
+people in the world."
+
+[Sidenote: How Percival rode in the world] But when the folk of that place
+beheld what sort of a saddle was upon the back of the pack-horse; and when
+they beheld what sort of armor it was that Percival wore--all woven of
+osier twigs; and when they beheld how he was armed with a javelin and with
+no other weapon, they mocked and laughed at him and jeered him. But
+Percival understood not their mockery, whereupon he said: "Lo! how pleasant
+and how cheerful is the world. I knew not it was so merry a place." So he
+laughed and nodded and gave them greeting who mocked him in that manner.
+And some of them said, "That is a madman." And others said, "Nay, he is a
+silly fool." And when Percival heard these he said to himself: "I wonder
+whether there are other sorts of knights that I have not yet heard tell
+of?"
+
+So he rode upon his way very happy, and whenever he met travellers, they
+would laugh at him; but he would laugh louder than they and give them
+greeting because of pure pleasure that the great world was so merry and
+kind.
+
+Now in the declining of the afternoon, he came to a certain pleasant glade,
+and there he beheld a very noble and stately pavilion in among the trees,
+And that pavilion was all of yellow satin so that it shone like to gold in
+the light of the declining sun.
+
+Then Percival said to himself: "Verily, this must be one of those churches
+concerning which my mother spake to me." So he descended from his horse and
+went to that pavilion and knelt down and said a pater-noster.
+
+[Sidenote: Percival enters the golden pavilion] And when he had ended that
+prayer, he arose and went into the pavilion, and lo! he beheld there a
+wonderfully beautiful young damsel of sixteen years of age who sat in the
+pavilion upon a carved bench and upon a cushion of cloth of gold, and who
+bent over a frame of embroidery, which she was busy weaving in threads of
+silver and gold. And the hair of that damosel was as black as ebony and her
+cheeks were like rose leaves for redness, and she wore a fillet of gold
+around her head, and she was clad in raiment of sky blue silk. And near by
+was a table spread with meats of divers sorts and likewise with several
+wines, both white and red. And all the goblets were of silver and all the
+pattens were of gold, and the table was spread with a napkin embroidered
+with threads of gold.
+
+Now you are to know that the young lady who sat there was the Lady Yvette
+the Fair, the daughter of King Pecheur.
+
+When Percival came to that pavilion the Lady Yvette looked up and beheld
+him with great astonishment, and she said to herself: "That must either be
+a madman or a foolish jester who comes hither clad all in armor of wattled
+willow twigs." So she said to him, "Sirrah, what dost thou here?" He said,
+"Lady, is this a church?" Upon that she was angered thinking that he had
+intended to make a jest and she said: "Begone, fool, for if my father, who
+is King Pecheur, cometh and findeth thee here, he will punish thee for this
+jest." But Percival replied, "Nay; I think he will not, lady."
+
+Then the damosel looked at Percival more narrowly and she beheld how noble
+and beautiful was his countenance and she said to herself: "This is no fool
+nor a jester, but who he is or what he is I know not."
+
+[Sidenote: Percival breaks bread in the golden pavilion] So she said to
+Percival, "Whence comest thou?" and he said, "From the mountains and the
+wilderness." Then he said: "Lady, when I left my mother she told me that
+whenever I saw good food and drink and was an-hungered, I was to take what
+I needed. Now I will do so in this case." Whereupon he sat him down to that
+table and fell to with great appetite.
+
+Then when that damosel beheld what he did she laughed in great measure and
+clapped her hands together in sport. And she said: "If my father and
+brothers should return and find thee at this, they would assuredly punish
+thee very sorely, and thou couldst not make thyself right with them."
+Percival said, "Why would they do that, lady?" And she said: "Because that
+is their food and drink, and because my father is a king and my brethren
+are his sons." Then Percival said, "Certes, they would be uncourteous to
+begrudge food to a hungry man"; and thereat the damsel laughed again.
+
+Now when Percival had eaten and drunk his fill, he arose from where he sat.
+And he beheld that the damsel wore a very beautiful ring of carved gold set
+with a pearl of great price. So he said to her: "Lady, my mother told me
+that if I beheld a jewel or treasure and desired it for my own, I was to
+take it if I could do so without offence to anyone. Now I prithee give me
+that ring upon thy finger, for I desire it a very great deal." At this the
+maiden regarded Percival very strangely, and she beheld that he was comely
+beyond any man whom she had ever seen and that his countenance was very
+noble and exalted and yet exceedingly mild and gentle. So she said to him,
+speaking very gently, "Why should I give thee my ring?" Whereunto he made
+reply: "Because thou art the most beautiful lady whom mine eyes ever beheld
+and I find that I love thee more than I had thought possible to love
+anyone."
+
+At that the damosel smiled upon him and said, "What is thy name?" And he
+said, "It is Percival." She said, "That is a good name; who is thy father?"
+Whereunto he said: "That I cannot tell thee for my mother hath bidden me
+tell his name to no one yet whiles." She said, "I think he must be some
+very noble and worthy knight," and Percival said, "He is all that, for he
+too was a king."
+
+[Sidenote: The damsel giveth Percival her ring] Then the damsel said,
+"Thou mayst have my ring," and she gave it to him. And when Percival had
+placed it upon his finger he said: "My mother also told me that I should
+give freely of what is mine own, wherefore I do give thee this ring of mine
+in exchange for thine, and I do beseech thee to wear it until I have proved
+myself worthy of thy kindness. For I hope to win a very famous knighthood
+and great praise and renown, all of which, if I so accomplish my desires,
+shall be to thy great glory. I would fain come to thee another time in that
+wise instead of as I am at this present."
+
+At that the damsel said: "I know not what thou art or whence thou comest
+who should present thyself in such an extraordinary guise as thou art
+pleased to do, but, certes, thou must be of some very noble strain.
+Wherefore I do accept thee for my knight, and I believe that I shall some
+time have great glory through thee."
+
+[Sidenote: Percival salutes the damsel of the golden pavilion] Then
+Percival said: "Lady, my mother said to me that if I met a damosel I was to
+salute her with all civility. Now have I thy leave to salute thee?" And she
+said, "Thou hast my leave." So Percival took her by the hand, and kissed
+her upon the lips (for that was the only manner in which he knew how to
+salute a woman) and, lo! her face grew all red like to fire. Thereupon
+Percival quitted that pavilion and mounted his horse and rode away. And it
+seemed to him that the world was assuredly a very beautiful and wonderful
+place for to live in.
+
+Yet he knew not what the world was really like nor of what a sort it was
+nor how passing wide, else had he not been so certainly assured that he
+would win him credit therein, or that he could so easily find that young
+damsel again after he had thus parted from her.
+
+That night Percival came to a part of the forest where were many huts of
+folk who made their living by gathering fagots. These people gave him
+harborage and shelter for the night, for they thought that he was some
+harmless madman who had wandered afar. And they told him many things he had
+never known before that time, so that it appeared to him that the world was
+still more wonderful than he had thought it to be at first.
+
+So he abided there for the night, and when the next morning had come he
+arose and bathed himself and went his way; and, as he rode upon his poor
+starved horse, he brake his fast with the bread and cheese that his mother
+had put into his wallet, and he was very glad at heart and rejoiced
+exceedingly in the wonderfulness and the beauty of the world in which he
+found himself to be.
+
+[Sidenote: How Percival travelled in the forest] So Percival journeyed on
+into that forest, and he took such great delight in the beauty of the world
+in which he travelled that he was at times like to shed tears of pure
+happiness because of the joy he felt in being alive. For that forest path
+he travelled led beneath the trees of the woodland; and the trees at that
+time were in their early tender leaf, so that they appeared to shed showers
+of golden light everywhere down upon the earth. And the birds of the
+woodland sang in every bush and thicket; and, anon, the wood pigeon cooed
+so softly that the heart of Percival yearned with great passion for he knew
+not what.
+
+Thus he rode, somewhiles all in a maze of green, and somewhiles out thence
+into an open glade where the light was wide and bright; and other whiles he
+came to some forest stream where was a shallow pool of golden gravel, and
+where the water was so thin and clear that you might not tell where it
+ended and the pure air began. And therethrough he would drive his horse,
+splashing with great noise, whilst the little silvery fish would dart away
+upon all sides, hither and thither, like sparks of light before his coming.
+
+So, because of the beauty of this forest land in its spring-time verdure
+and pleasantness, the heart of Percival was uplifted with so much joy and
+delight that he was like to weep for pure pleasure as aforesaid.
+
+Now it chanced at that time that King Arthur and several of his court had
+come into that forest ahawking; but, the day being warm, the Queen had
+grown weary of the sport, so she had commanded her attendants to set up a
+pavilion for her whilst the King continued his hawking. And the pavilion
+was pitched in an open glade of the forest whereunto Percival came riding.
+
+Then Percival perceived that pavilion set up among the trees, and likewise
+he saw that the pavilion was of rose colored silk. Also he perceived that
+not far from him was a young page very gayly and richly clad.
+
+[Sidenote: Percival bespeaketh the Lady Guinevere's page] Now when the
+page beheld Percival and what a singular appearance he presented, he
+laughed beyond all measure, and Percival, not knowing that he laughed in
+mockery, laughed also and gave him a very cheerful greeting in return. Then
+Percival said to the page: "I prithee tell me, fair youth, whose is that
+pavilion yonder?" And the page said: "It belongeth to Queen Guinevere; for
+King Arthur is coming hither into the forest with his court."
+
+At this Percival was very glad, for he deemed that he should now find Sir
+Lamorack. So he said: "I pray thee tell me, is Sir Lamorack of Gales with
+the court of the King, for I come hither seeking that good worthy knight?"
+
+Then the page laughed a very great deal, and said: "Who art thou to seek
+Sir Lamorack? Art thou then a jester?" And Percival said, "What sort of a
+thing is a jester?" And the page said, "Certes, thou art a silly fool." And
+Percival said, "What is a fool?"
+
+Upon this the page fell alaughing as though he would never stint his mirth
+so that Percival began to wax angry for he said to himself: "These people
+laugh too much and their mirth maketh me weary." So, without more ado, he
+descended from his horse with intent to enter the Queen's pavilion and to
+make inquiry there for Sir Lamorack.
+
+Now when that page saw what Percival had a mind to do, he thrust in to
+prevent him, saying, "Thou shalt not go in!" Upon that Percival said, "Ha!
+shall I not so?" And thereupon he smote the page such a buffet that the
+youth fell down without any motion, as though he had gone dead.
+
+Then Percival straightway entered the Queen's pavilion.
+
+[Sidenote: Percival beholdeth Queen Guinevere] And the first thing he saw
+was a very beautiful lady surrounded by a court of ladies. And the Queen
+was eating a mid-day repast whilst a page waited upon her for to serve her,
+bearing for her refreshment pure wine in a cup of entire gold. And he saw
+that a noble lord (and the lord was Sir Kay the Seneschal), stood in the
+midst of that beautiful rosy pavilion directing the Queen's repast; for Sir
+Kay of all the court had been left in charge of the Queen and her ladies.
+
+Now when Percival entered the tent Sir Kay looked up, and when he perceived
+what sort of a figure was there, he frowned with great displeasure. "Ha!"
+he said, "what mad fool is this who cometh hitherward?"
+
+Unto him Percival made reply: "Thou tall man, I prithee tell me, which of
+these ladies present here is the Queen?" Sir Kay said, "What wouldst thou
+have with the Queen?" To this Percival said: "I have come hither for to lay
+my case before King Arthur, and my case is this: I would fain obtain
+knighthood, and meseems that King Arthur may best help me thereunto."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Kay chides Percival] When the Queen heard the words of
+Percival she laughed with great merriment. But Sir Kay was still very
+wroth, and he said: "Sirrah, thou certainly art some silly fool who hath
+come hither dressed all in armor of willow twigs and without arms or
+equipment of any sort save only a little Scots spear. Now this is the
+Queen's court and thou art not fit to be here."
+
+"Ha," said Percival, "it seems to me that thou art very foolish--thou tall
+man--to judge of me by my dress and equipment. For, even though I wear such
+poor apparel as this, yet I may easily be thy superior both in birth and
+station."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Boindegardus enters the Queen's pavilion] Then Sir Kay was
+exceedingly wroth and would have made a very bitter answer to Percival, but
+at that moment something of another sort befell. For, even as Percival
+ceased speaking, there suddenly entered the pavilion a certain very large
+and savage knight of an exceedingly terrible appearance; and his
+countenance was very furious with anger. And this knight was one Sir
+Boindegardus le Savage, who was held in terror by all that part of King
+Arthur's realm. For Sir Boindegardus was surnamed the Savage because he
+dwelt like a wild man in the forest in a lonely dismal castle of the
+woodland; and because that from this castle he would issue forth at times
+to rob and pillage the wayfarers who passed by along the forest byways.
+Many knights had gone against Sir Boindegardus, with intent either to slay
+him or else to make him prisoner; but some of these knights he had
+overcome, and from others he had escaped, so that he was as yet free to
+work his evil will as he chose.
+
+So now this savage knight entered that pavilion with his helmet upon his
+hip and his shield upon his shoulder, and all those ladies who were there
+were terrified at his coming, for they wist that he came in anger with
+intent of mischief.
+
+As for Sir Kay (he being clad only in a silken tunic of green color and
+with scarlet hosen and velvet shoes, fit for the court of a lady) he was
+afraid, and he wist not how to bear himself in the presence of Sir
+Boindegardus. Then Sir Boindegardus said, "Where is King Arthur?" And Sir
+Kay made no reply because of fear. Then one of the Queen's damsels said,
+"He is hawking out beyond here in the outskirts of the forest." Then Sir
+Boindegardus said: "I am sorry for that, for I had thought to find him here
+at this time and to show challenge to him and his entire court, for I fear
+no one of them. But, as King Arthur is not here, I may, at least, affront
+his Queen."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Boindegardus affronts the Queen] With that he smote the
+elbow of the page who held the goblet for the Queen, and the wine was
+splashed all in the Queen's face and over her stomacher.
+
+Thereupon the Queen shrieked with terror, and one of her maidens ran to her
+aid and others came with napkins and wiped her face and her apparel and
+gave her words of cheer.
+
+Then Sir Kay found courage to say: "Ha! thou art a churlish knight to so
+affront a lady."
+
+With that Sir Boindegardus turned very fiercely upon him and said: "And
+thou likest not my behavior, thou mayst follow me hence into a meadow a
+little distance from this to the eastward where thou mayst avenge that
+affront upon my person if thou art minded to do so."
+
+Then Sir Kay knew not what to reply for he wist that Sir Boindegardus was a
+very strong and terrible knight. Wherefore he said, "Thou seest that I am
+altogether without arms or armor." Upon that Sir Boindegardus laughed in
+great scorn, and therewith seized the golden goblet from the hands of the
+page and went out from the pavilion, and mounting his horse rode away
+bearing that precious chalice with him.
+
+[Sidenote: Percival berates Sir Kay] Then the Queen fell aweeping very
+sorely from fright and shame, and when young Percival beheld her tears, he
+could not abide the sight thereof. So he cried out aloud against Sir Kay,
+saying: "Thou tall man! that was very ill done of thee; for, certes, with
+or without armor thou shouldst have taken the quarrel of this lady upon
+thee. For my mother told me I should take upon me the defence of all such
+as needed defence, but she did not say that I was to wait for arms or armor
+to aid me to do what was right. Now, therefore, though I know little of
+arms or of knighthood, I will take this quarrel upon myself and will do
+what I may to avenge this lady's affront, if I have her leave to do so."
+
+And Queen Guinevere said: "Thou hast my leave, since Sir Kay does not
+choose to assume my quarrel."
+
+[Sidenote: The damsel praises Percival] Now there was a certain very
+beautiful young damsel of the court of the Queen hight Yelande, surnamed
+the "Dumb Maiden," because she would hold no commerce with any knight of
+the court. For in all the year she had been at the court of the King, she
+had spoken no word to any man, nor had she smiled upon any. This damsel
+perceiving how comely and noble was the countenance of Percival, came to
+him and took him by the hand and smiled upon him very kindly. And she said
+to him: "Fair youth, thou hast a large and noble heart, and I feel very
+well assured that thou art of a sort altogether different from what thine
+appearance would lead one to suppose. Now I do affirm that if thou art able
+to carry this adventure through with thy life, thou wilt some time become
+one of the greatest knights in all of the world. For never did I hear tell
+of one who, without arm or armor, would take up a quarrel with a
+well-approved knight clad in full array. But indeed thy heart is as brave
+as thy face is comely, and I believe that thou art as noble as thy speech
+and manner is gentle."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Kay strikes the damsel] Then Sir Kay was very angry with
+that damsel and he said: "Truly, thou art ill taught to remain for all this
+year in the court of King Arthur amid the perfect flower of chivalry and
+yet not to have given to one of those noble and honorable knights a single
+word or a smile such as thou hast bestowed upon this boor." So saying, he
+lifted his hand and smote that damsel a box on the ear so that she screamed
+out aloud with pain and terror.
+
+Upon this Percival came very close to Sir Kay and he said: "Thou
+discourteous tall man; now I tell thee, except that there are so many
+ladies here present, and one of these a Queen, I would have to do with thee
+in such a manner as I do not believe would be at all to thy liking. Now,
+first of all I shall follow yonder uncivil knight and endeavor to avenge
+this noble Queen for the affront he hath put upon her, and when I have done
+with him, then will I hope for the time to come in which I shall have to do
+with thee for laying hands upon this beautiful young lady who was so kind
+to me just now. For, in the fulness of time, I will repay the foul blow
+thou gavest her, and that twenty-fold."
+
+Thereupon Percival straightway went out from that pavilion and mounted upon
+his sorry horse and rode away in the direction that Sir Boindegardus had
+taken with the golden goblet.
+
+[Sidenote: Percival follows Sir Boindegardus] Now after a long time, he
+came to another level meadow of grass, and there he beheld Sir Boindegardus
+riding before him in great state with the golden goblet hanging to the horn
+of his saddle. And Sir Boindegardus wore his helmet and carried his spear
+in his right hand and his shield upon his other arm, and he was in all ways
+prepared for an encounter at arms. And when he perceived Percival come
+riding out of the forest in pursuit of him, he drew rein and turned. And
+when Percival had come nigh enough Sir Boindegardus said, "Whence comest
+thou, fool?" Percival replied, "I come from Queen Guinevere, her pavilion."
+Then Sir Boindegardus said, "Does that knight who was there follow me
+hitherward?" Unto which Percival made reply: "Nay, but I have followed thee
+with intent to punish thee for the affront which thou didst put upon Queen
+Guinevere."
+
+Then Sir Boindegardus was very wroth and he said: "Thou fool; I have a very
+good intention for to slay thee." Therewith he raised his spear and smote
+Percival with it upon the back of the neck so terrible a blow that he was
+flung violently down from off his horse. Upon this Percival was so angry
+that the sky all became like scarlet before his eyes. Wherefore, when he
+had recovered from the blow he ran unto Sir Boindegardus and catched the
+spear in his hands and wrestled with such terrible strength that he plucked
+it away from Sir Boindegardus. And having thus made himself master of that
+spear, he brake it across his knee and flung it away.
+
+[Sidenote: Percival slays Sir Boindegardus] Then Sir Boindegardus was in
+furious rage, wherefore he drew his bright, shining sword with intent to
+slay Percival. But when Percival saw what he would be at, he catched up his
+javelin and, running to a little distance, he turned and threw it at Sir
+Boindegardus with so cunning an aim that the point of the javelin entered
+the ocularium of the helmet of Sir Boindegardus and pierced through the eye
+and the brain and came out of the back of the head. Then Sir Boindegardus
+pitched down from off his horse all into a heap upon the ground, and
+Percival ran to him and stooped over him and perceived that he was dead.
+Then Percival said: "Well, it would seem that I have put an end to a
+terribly discourteous knight to ladies."
+
+[Sidenote: King Arthur sends Sir Launcelot and Sir Lamorack in quest of
+Percival] Now a little after Percival had quitted the pavilion of Queen
+Guinevere, King Arthur and eleven noble knights of the court returned
+thither from hawking, and amongst those knights was Sir Launcelot of the
+Lake and Sir Lamorack of Gales. Then those who were of the Queen's court
+told King Arthur what had befallen, and thereat the King felt great
+displeasure toward Sir Kay. And he said: "Kay, not only hast thou been very
+discourteous in not assuming this quarrel of the Queen's, but I believe
+that thou, a well-approved knight, hast in thy fear of Sir Boindegardus
+been the cause of sending this youth upon an adventure in which he will be
+subject to such great danger that it may very well be that he shall hardly
+escape with his life. Now I will that two of you knights shall follow after
+that youth for to rescue him if it be not too late; and those two shall be
+Sir Launcelot of the Lake and Sir Lamorack of Gales. So make all haste,
+Messires, lest some misfortune shall befall this brave, innocent madman."
+
+Thereupon those two knights mounted straightway upon their horses and rode
+away in that direction whither Percival had gone.
+
+[Illustration: Sir Percival & Sir Lamorack ride together]
+
+
+
+
+Chapter Second
+
+
+_How Sir Percival was made knight by King Arthur; how he rode forth with
+Sir Lamorack and how he left Sir Lamorack in quest of adventure upon his
+own account; likewise how a great knight taught him craft in arms_.
+
+So after a considerable time they came to that meadow-land where Percival
+had found Sir Boindegardus.
+
+[Sidenote: How the two knights find Percival in the meadow] But when they
+came to that place they perceived a very strange sight. For they beheld one
+clad all in armor of wattled willow-twigs and that one dragged the body of
+an armed knight hither and thither upon the ground. So they two rode up to
+where that affair was toward, and when they had come nigh enough, Sir
+Launcelot said: "Ha, fair youth, thou art doing a very strange thing. What
+art thou about?"
+
+To him Percival said: "Sir, I would get those plates of armor off this
+knight, and I know not how to do it!"
+
+Then Sir Launcelot laughed, and he said: "Let be for a little while, and I
+will show thee how to get the plates of armor off." And he said: "How came
+this knight by his death."
+
+Percival said: "Sir, this knight hath greatly insulted Queen Guinevere
+(that beautiful lady), and when I followed him thither with intent to take
+her quarrel upon me, he struck me with his spear. And when I took his spear
+away from him, and brake it across my knee, he drew his sword and would
+have slain me, only that I slew him instead."
+
+Then Sir Launcelot was filled with amazement, and he said: "Is not that
+knight Sir Boindegardus?" And Percival said: "Ay." Then Sir Launcelot said:
+"Fair youth, know that thou hast slain one of the strongest and most
+terrible knights in all the world. In this thou hast done a great service
+unto King Arthur, so if thou wilt come with us to the court of King Arthur,
+he will doubtless reward thee very bountifully for what thou hast done."
+
+Then Percival looked up into the faces of Sir Launcelot and Sir Lamorack
+and he perceived that they were very noble. So he smiled upon them and
+said: "Messires, I pray you tell me who you are and what is your degree."
+Then Sir Launcelot smiled in return and said: "I am called Sir Launcelot of
+the Lake, and this, my companion, is called Sir Lamorack of Gales."
+
+[Sidenote: Percival knoweth Sir Lamorack] Then Percival wist that he stood
+in the presence of his own brother, and he looked into the countenance of
+Sir Lamorack and marvelled how noble and exalted it was. And he felt a
+great passion of love for Sir Lamorack, and a great joy in that love. But
+he did not tell Sir Lamorack who he was, for he had learned several things
+since he had come out into the world, and one was that he must not be too
+hasty in such things. So he said to himself: "I will not as yet tell my
+brother who I am, lest he shall be ashamed of me. But first I shall win me
+such credit that he shall not be ashamed of me, and then I will acknowledge
+to him who I am."
+
+Then Sir Launcelot said: "I prithee, fair youth, tell me what is thy name
+since I have told thee ours, for I find that I have great love for thee so
+that I would fain know who thou art."
+
+Then Percival said: "My name is Percival."
+
+At that Sir Lamorack cried out: "I knew one whose name was Percival, and he
+was mine own brother. And if he be alive he must now be just such a youth
+as thou art."
+
+Then Percival's heart yearned toward Sir Lamorack, so that he looked up and
+smiled with great love into his face; yet he would not acknowledge to Sir
+Lamorack who he was, but held his peace for that while.
+
+Then Sir Launcelot said: "Now, fair youth, we will show you how to take the
+armor off of this dead knight, and after we have done that, we shall take
+you back to King Arthur, so that he may reward you for what you have done
+in the way that he may deem best."
+
+[Sidenote: The two knights arm Percival] So with that Sir Launcelot and
+Sir Lamorack dismounted from their horses, and they went to that dead
+knight and unlaced his armor and removed the armor from his body. And when
+they had done that they aided Percival to remove the armor of wattled osier
+twigs and they cased him in the armor of Sir Boindegardus; and thereafter
+they all three rode back to that pavilion where the King and Queen were
+holding court.
+
+But when King Arthur heard that Sir Boindegardus was dead he was filled
+with great joy; and when he heard how it was that Percival had slain him,
+he was amazed beyond measure; and he said to Percival: "Surely God is with
+thee, fair youth, to help thee to perform such a worthy feat of arms as
+this that thou hast done, for no knight yet hath been able to perform that
+service." Then he said: "Tell me what it is that thou hast most desire to
+have, and if it is in my power to give it to thee thou shalt have it."
+
+Then Percival kneeled down before King Arthur, and he said: "Lord, that
+which I most desire of all things else is to be made knight. So if it is in
+thy power to do so, I pray thee to make me a knight-royal with thine own
+hands."
+
+Then King Arthur smiled upon Percival very kindly, and he said: "Percival,
+it shall be as thou dost desire, and to-morrow I will make thee a knight."
+
+[Sidenote: King Arthur makes Percival a knight-royal] So that night
+Percival watched his armor in the chapel of a hermit of the forest, and the
+armor that he watched was the armor that had belonged to Sir Boindegardus
+(for Percival besought King Arthur that he might wear that armor for his
+own because it was what he himself had won in battle). And when the next
+morning had come, Sir Launcelot and Sir Lamorack brought Percival before
+King Arthur, and King Arthur made him a knight.
+
+After that Sir Percival besought King Arthur that he would give him leave
+to depart from court so that he might do some worthy deed of arms that
+might win him worship; and King Arthur gave him that leave he asked for.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percival threatens Sir Kay] Then Sir Percival went to where
+Sir Kay was sitting, and he said: "Messire, I have not forgot that blow you
+gave that fair damsel yesterday when she spake so kindly to me. As yet I am
+too young a knight to handle you; but by and by the time will come when I
+shall return and repay you that blow tenfold and twentyfold what you gave!"
+And at these words Sir Kay was in no wise pleased, for he wist that Sir
+Percival would one day become a very strong and worthy knight.
+
+Now all this while the heart of Sir Lamorack yearned very greatly toward
+Sir Percival, though Sir Lamorack knew not why that should be; so when Sir
+Percival had obtained permission to go errant, Sir Lamorack asked King
+Arthur for leave to ride forth so as to be with him; and King Arthur gave
+Sir Lamorack that leave.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percival and Sir Lamorack ride together] Thus it befell
+that Sir Lamorack and Sir Percival rode forth together very lovingly and
+cheerfully. And as they rode upon their way Sir Lamorack told Sir Percival
+many things concerning the circumstances of knighthood, and to all that he
+said Sir Percival gave great heed. But Sir Lamorack knew not that he was
+riding with his own brother or that it was his own brother to whom he was
+teaching the mysteries of chivalry, and Sir Percival told him nothing
+thereof. But ever in his heart Sir Percival said to himself: "If God will
+give me enough of His grace, I will some day do full credit unto thy
+teaching, O my brother!"
+
+Now, after Sir Percival and Sir Lamorack had travelled a great way, they
+came at last out of that forest and to an open country where was a
+well-tilled land and a wide, smooth river flowing down a level plain.
+
+And in the centre of that plain was a town of considerable size, and a very
+large castle with several tall towers and many roofs and chimneys that
+stood overlooking the town.
+
+That time they came thitherward the day was declining toward its close, so
+that all the sky toward the westward shone, like, as it were, to a flame of
+gold--exceedingly beautiful. And the highway upon which they entered was
+very broad and smooth, like to a floor for smoothness. And there were all
+sorts of folk passing along that highway; some afoot and some ahorseback.
+Also there was a river path beside the river where the horses dragged
+deep-laden barges down to the town and thence again; and these barges were
+all painted in bright colors, and the horses were bedight with gay harness
+and hung with tinkling bells.
+
+All these things Sir Percival beheld with wonder for he had never seen
+their like before; wherefore he cried out with amazement, saying: "Saints
+of Glory! How great and wonderful is the world!"
+
+Then Sir Lamorack looked upon him and smiled with great loving-kindness;
+and he said: "Ha, Percival! This is so small a part of the world that it is
+but a patch upon it."
+
+Unto this Sir Percival made reply: "Dear Messire, I am so glad that I have
+come forth into the world that I am hardly able to know whether I am in a
+vision or am awake."
+
+So, after a considerable while, they came to that town with its castle, and
+these stood close beside the river--and the town and the castle were hight
+Cardennan. And the town was of great consideration, being very well famed
+for its dyed woollen fabrics.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percival and Sir Lamorack come to Cardennan] So Sir
+Percival and Sir Lamorack entered the town. And when Sir Percival beheld
+all the people in the streets, coming and going upon their businesses; and
+when he beheld all the gay colors and apparels of fine fabrics that the
+people wore; and when he beheld the many booths filled with rich wares of
+divers sorts, he wist not what to think for the wonder that possessed him;
+wherefore he cried out aloud, as with great passion: "What marvel do I
+behold! I knew not that a city could be so great as this."
+
+And again Sir Lamorack smiled very kindly upon him and said: "Sayst thou
+so? Now I tell thee that when one compares this place with Camelot (which
+is the King's city) it is as a star compared to the full moon in her
+glory." And at that Sir Percival knew not what to think for wonder.
+
+So they went up the street of the town until they came to the castle of
+Cardennan and there requested admission. And when the name and the estate
+of Sir Lamorack were declared, the porter opened the gate with great joy
+and they entered. Then, by and by, the lord and the lady of the castle came
+down from a carved wooden gallery and bade them welcome by word of mouth.
+And after that sundry attendants immediately appeared and assisted Sir
+Percival and Sir Lamorack to dismount and took their horses to the stable,
+and sundry other attendants conducted them to certain apartments where they
+were eased of their armor and bathed in baths of tepid water and given soft
+raiment for to wear. After that the lord and the lady entertained them with
+a great feast, where harpers and singers made music, and where certain
+actors acted a mystery before them.
+
+[Sidenote: How the two knights were welcomed by the lord and lady of the
+castle] So these two knights and the lord and the lady of the castle ate
+together and discoursed very pleasantly for a while; but, when the evening
+was pretty well gone, Sir Lamorack bade good-night, and he and Sir Percival
+were conducted to a certain very noble apartment where beds of down, spread
+with flame-colored cloth, had been prepared for their repose.
+
+Thus ended that day which was the first day of the knighthood of Sir
+Percival of Gales.
+
+Now though Sir Percival had travelled very contentedly with Sir Lamorack
+for all that while, yet he had determined in his own mind that, as soon as
+possible, he would leave Sir Lamorack and depart upon his own quest. For he
+said to himself: "Lo! I am a very green knight as yet, and haply my brother
+may grow weary of my company and cease to love me. So I will leave him ere
+he have the chance to tire of me, and I will seek knighthood for myself.
+After that, if God wills it that I shall win worthy knighthood, then my
+brother will be glad enough to acknowledge me as his father's son."
+
+So when the next morning had come, Sir Percival arose very softly all in
+the dawning, and he put on his armor without disturbing Sir Lamorack. Then
+he stooped and looked into Sir Lamorack's face and beheld that his brother
+was still enfolded in a deep sleep as in a soft mantle. And as Sir Percival
+gazed upon Sir Lamorack thus asleep, he loved him with such ardor that he
+could hardly bear the strength of his love. But he said to himself: "Sleep
+on, my brother, whilst I go away and leave thee. But when I have earned me
+great glory, then will I return unto thee and will lay all that I have
+achieved at thy feet, so that thou shalt be very glad to acknowledge me."
+So saying to himself, he went away from that place very softly, and Sir
+Lamorack slept so deeply that he wist not that Sir Percival was gone.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percival leaves Sir Lamorack] Thereafter Sir Percival went
+to the courtyard of the castle and he bade certain attendants to prepare
+his horse for him, and they did so. And he bade certain others for to arm
+him, and they did so. Thereupon he mounted his horse and left that castle
+and rode away.
+
+Now after Sir Percival had left Sir Lamorack still sleeping in the castle
+as aforetold, he journeyed upon his way, taking great pleasure in all
+things that he beheld. So he travelled all that morning, and the day was
+very bright and warm, so that by and by he was an-hungered and athirst. So
+after a while he came to a certain road that appeared to him to be good for
+his purpose, so he took that way in great hopes that some adventure would
+befall him, or else that he would find food and drink.
+
+Then after a while he heard a bell ringing, and after he had followed that
+bell for some distance, he came to where was the dwelling-place of a hermit
+and where was a small chapel by the wayside. And Sir Percival beheld that
+the hermit, who was an old man with a long white beard, rang the bell of
+that chapel.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percival meets his fate at the forest chapel] So Sir
+Percival thought that here he might find food and drink; and so he rode
+forward to where the hermit was ringing the bell. But when Sir Percival
+came still more nigh he perceived that behind the chapel and to one side
+there was a very noble knight upon horseback; and he perceived that the
+knight was clad all in white armor and that his horse (which was white as
+milk and of very noble strength and proportions) was furnished altogether
+with furniture of white.
+
+This knight, when he perceived Sir Percival, immediately rode up to meet
+him and saluted Sir Percival very courteously. And the knight said: "Sir,
+will you not joust a fall with me ere you break your fast? For this is a
+very fair and level field of green grass and well fitted for such a
+friendly trial at arms if you have the time for it."
+
+Unto this Sir Percival said: "Messire, I will gladly try a fall with you,
+though I must tell you that I am a very young green knight, having been
+knighted only yesterday by King Arthur himself. But though I am unskilled
+in arms, yet it will pleasure me a great deal to accept so gentle and
+courteous a challenge as that which you give me."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percival is overthrown by the white knight] So with that
+each knight turned his horse and each took such stand as appeared to him to
+be best. And when they were in all ways prepared, they drave their horses
+together with great speed, the one against the other, meeting one another,
+shield against spear, in the very midst of the course. In that encounter
+(which was the first that he ever ran) Sir Percival bare himself very well
+and with great knightliness of endeavor; for he broke his spear upon the
+white knight into small pieces. But the spear of the white knight held so
+that Sir Percival was lifted out of his saddle and over the crupper of his
+horse, and fell upon the ground with great violence and a cloud of dust.
+
+Then the white knight returned from his course and came up to where Sir
+Percival was. And he inquired of him very courteously: "Sir, art thou
+hurt?" Thereunto Sir Percival replied: "Nay, sir! I am not hurt, only
+somewhat shaken by my fall.'"
+
+Then the white knight dismounted from his horse and came to where Sir
+Percival was. And he lifted up the umbril of his helmet, and Sir Percival
+perceived that that white knight was Sir Launcelot of the Lake.
+
+And Sir Launcelot said: "Percival, I well knew who you were from the first,
+but I thought I would see of what mettle you are, and I have found that you
+are of very good mettle indeed. But you are to know that it is impossible
+for a young knight such as you, who knoweth naught of the use of knightly
+weapons, to have to do with a knight well-seasoned in arms as I am, and to
+have any hope of success in such an encounter. Wherefore you need to be
+taught the craft of using your weapons perfectly."
+
+To this Sir Percival said: "Messire, tell me, how may I hope to acquire
+craft at arms such as may serve me in such a stead as this?"
+
+Sir Launcelot said: "I myself will teach thee, imparting to thee such skill
+as I have at my command. Less than half a day's journey to the southward of
+this is my castle of Joyous Gard. Thither I was upon my way when I met thee
+here. Now thou shalt go with me unto Joyous Gard, and there thou shalt
+abide until thou art in all ways taught the use of arms so that thou mayst
+uphold that knighthood which I believe God hath endowed thee withal."
+
+So after that Sir Launcelot and Sir Percival went to the dwelling-place of
+the hermit, and the hermit fed them with the best of that simple fare which
+he had at his command.
+
+[Sidenote: How Sir Percival dwelt at Joyous Gard] After that, they mounted
+horse again and rode away to Joyous Gard, and there Sir Percival abided for
+a year, training himself in all wise so as to prepare himself to uphold
+that knighthood which in him became so famous. For, during that year Sir
+Launcelot was his teacher in the art of arms. Likewise he instructed him in
+all the civilities and the customs of chivalry, so it befell that ere Sir
+Percival came forth from Joyous Gard again he was well acquainted with all
+the ways in which he should comport himself at any time, whether in field
+or in court.
+
+So when Sir Percival came forth again from Joyous Gard, there was no
+knight, unless it was Sir Launcelot himself, who could surpass him in skill
+at arms; nay, not even his own brother, Sir Lamorack; nor was there
+anybody, even if one were Sir Gawaine or Sir Geraint, who surpassed him in
+civility of courtliness or nobility of demeanor.
+
+And now I shall tell you of the great adventure that befell Sir Percival
+after Sir Launcelot had thus taught him at Joyous Gard.
+
+[Illustration: Sir Percival overcometh ye Enchantress Vivien]
+
+
+
+
+Chapter Third
+
+
+_How Sir Percival met two strange people in the forest, and how he succored
+a knight who was in very great sorrow and dole._
+
+Now after Sir Percival had left Joyous Gard he rode for several days
+seeking adventure but meeting none.
+
+Then one day he came to a very dark and wonderful forest which appeared to
+be so silent and lonely and yet so full of beauty that Sir Percival
+bethought him that this must surely be some forest of magic. So he entered
+into that forest with intent to discover if he might find any worthy
+adventure therein.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percival enters the Forest of Arroy] (And that forest was a
+forest of magic; for you are to know that it was the Forest of Arroy,
+sometimes called the Forest of Adventure, which was several times spoken of
+in the book of King Arthur. For no one ever entered into that forest but
+some singular adventure befell him.)
+
+So Sir Percival rode through this wonderful woodland for a long time very
+greatly wondering, for everywhere about him was perfect silence, with not
+so much as a single note of a bird of the woodlands to lighten that
+stillness. Now, as Sir Percival rode through that silence, he presently
+became aware of the sound of voices talking together, and shortly
+thereafter he perceived a knight with a lady riding amid the thin trees
+that grew there. And the knight rode upon a great white horse, and the lady
+rode upon a red roan palfrey.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percival meets two strange people] These, when they beheld
+Sir Percival, waited for him, and as Sir Percival drew nigh to them he
+perceived that they were of a very singular appearance. For both of them
+were clad altogether in green, and both of them wore about their necks very
+wonderful collars of wrought gold inset with opal stones and emeralds. And
+the face of each was like clear wax for whiteness; and the eyes of each
+were very bright, like jewels set in ivory. And these two neither laughed
+nor frowned, but only smiled continually. And that knight whom Sir Percival
+beheld was Sir Pellias, and the lady was the Lady Nymue of the Lake.
+
+Now when Sir Percival beheld these two, he wist that they were fay,
+wherefore he dismounted very quickly, and kneeled down upon the ground and
+set his palms together. Then the Lady of the Lake smiled very kindly upon
+Sir Percival, and she said: "Sir Percival, arise, and tell me what you do
+in these parts?"
+
+Then Sir Percival arose and he stood before that knight and lady, and he
+said: "Lady, I wist not how you know who I am, but I believe you are fay
+and know many things. Touching my purpose in coming here, it is that I am
+in search of adventure. So if you know of any that I may undertake for your
+sake, I pray you to tell me of it."
+
+The lady said: "If so be thy desire is of that sort, I may, perchance be
+able to bring thee unto an adventure that is worthy for any knight to
+undertake. Go a little distance from this upon the way thou art following
+and by and by thou wilt behold a bird whose feathers shall shine like to
+gold for brightness. Follow that bird and it will bring thee to a place
+where thou shalt find a knight in sore need of thy aid."
+
+And Percival said: "I will do as thou dost advise."
+
+[Sidenote: The Lady of the Lake giveth Sir Percival a charm] Then the lady
+said: "Wait a little, I have something for thee." Therewith she took from
+her neck a small golden amulet pendant from a silken cord very fine and
+thin. And she said: "Wear this for it will protect thee from all evil
+enchantments." Therewith saying, she hung the amulet about the neck of Sir
+Percival, and Sir Percival gave her thanks beyond measure for it.
+
+Then the knight and the lady saluted him and he saluted them, and they each
+went their separate ways.
+
+[Sidenote: How Percival followed the golden bird] So Sir Percival
+travelled that path for some distance as the lady had advised him to do,
+and by and by he beheld the bird of which she had spoken. And he saw that
+the plumage of the bird glistered as though it was of gold so that he
+marvelled at it. And as he drew nigh the bird flew a little distance down
+the path and then lit upon the ground and he followed it. And when he had
+come nigh to it again it flew a distance farther and still he followed it.
+So it flew and he followed for a very great way until by and by the forest
+grew thin and Sir Percival beheld that there was an open country lying
+beyond the skirts thereof. And when the bird had brought him thus far it
+suddenly flew back into the forest again whence it had come, chirping very
+keenly and shrilly as it flew.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percival beholds a wonderful castle] So Percival came out
+of the forest into the open country, the like of which he had never before
+seen, for it was a very desolate barren waste of land. And in the midst of
+this desolate plain there stood a castle of a very wonderful appearance;
+for in some parts it was the color of ultramarine and in other parts it was
+of crimson; and the ultramarine and the crimson were embellished with very
+extraordinary devices painted in gold. So because of all those
+extraordinary colors, that castle shone like a bright rainbow against the
+sky, wherefore Sir Percival sat his horse for some while and marvelled very
+greatly thereat.
+
+Then, by and by Sir Percival perceived that the road that led to the castle
+crossed a bridge of stone, and when he looked at the bridge he saw that
+midway upon it was a pillar of stone and that a knight clad all in full
+armor stood chained with iron chains to that stone pillar, and at that
+sight Sir Percival was very greatly astonished. So he rode very rapidly
+along that way and so to the bridge and upon the bridge to where the knight
+was. And when Sir Percival came thus upon the bridge he perceived that the
+knight who was bound with chains was very noble and haughty of appearance,
+but that he seemed to be in great pain and suffering because of his being
+thus bound to that pillar. For the captive knight made continual moan so
+that it moved the heart of Sir Percival to hear him.
+
+So Sir Percival said: "Sir Knight, this is a sorrowful condition thou art
+in." And the knight said: "Yea, and I am sorrowful; for I have stood here
+now for three days and I am in great torment of mind and body."
+
+Sir Percival said, "Maybe I can aid thee," and thereupon he got down from
+off his horse's back and approached the knight. And he drew his sword so
+that it flashed in the sun very brightly.
+
+Upon this the knight said: "Messire, what would you be at?" And Sir
+Percival said: "I would cut the chains that bind thee."
+
+To this the knight said: "How could you do that? For who could cut through
+chains of iron such as these?"
+
+But Sir Percival said: "I will try what I may do."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percival sets free the captive knight] Thereupon he lifted
+up his sword and smote so terribly powerful a blow that the like of it had
+hardly ever been seen before. For that blow cut through the iron chains and
+smote the hauberk of the knight so smart a buffet that he fell down to the
+ground altogether deprived of breath.
+
+But when Sir Percival saw the knight fall down in that wise, he cried out:
+"Woe is me! Have I slain this good, gentle knight when I would but do him
+service?" Thereupon he lifted the knight up upon his knee and eased the
+armor about his throat. But the knight was not dead, and by and by the
+breath came back to him again, and he said: "By my faith, that was the most
+wonderful stroke that ever I beheld any man strike in all of my life."
+
+Thereafter, when the knight had sufficiently recovered, Sir Percival helped
+him to stand upon his feet; and when he stood thus his strength presently
+came back to him again in great measure.
+
+And the knight was athirst and craved very vehemently to drink. So Sir
+Percival helped him to descend a narrow path that led to a stream of water
+that flowed beneath the bridge; and there the knight stooped and slaked his
+thirst. And when he had drunk his fill, his strength came altogether back
+to him again, and he said: "Messire, I have to give thee all thanks that it
+is possible for me to do, for hadst thou not come unto mine aid, I would
+else have perished very miserably and at no very distant time from this."
+
+Then Sir Percival said: "I beseech you, Messire, to tell me how you came
+into that sad plight in which I found you."
+
+[Sidenote: The knight telleth his story] To this the knight said: "I will
+tell you; it was thus: Two days ago I came thitherward and past yonder
+castle, and with me were two excellent esquires--for I am a knight of royal
+blood. Now as we went past that castle there came forth a lady clad all in
+red and so exceedingly beautiful that she entirely enchanted my heart. And
+with this lady there came a number of esquires and pages, all of them very
+beautiful of face, and all clad, as she was, in red. Now when this lady had
+come nigh to me she spoke me very fair and tempted me with kind words so
+that I thought I had never fallen upon anyone so courteous as she. But when
+she had come real close to me, she smote me of a sudden across the
+shoulders with an ebony staff that she carried in her hand, and at the same
+time she cried out certain words that I remember not. For immediately a
+great darkness like to a deep swoon fell upon me and I knew nothing. And
+when I awakened from that swoon lo! I found myself here, chained fast to
+this stone pillar. And hadst thou not come hither I would else certainly
+have died in my torment. And as to what hath become of my esquires, I know
+not; but as for that lady, methinks she can be none other than a certain
+enchantress, hight Vivien, who hath wrought such powerful spells upon
+Merlin as to have removed him from the eyes of all mankind."
+
+Unto all this Sir Percival listened in great wonder, and when the knight
+had ended his tale he said: "What is thy name?" And the knight said: "My
+name is Percydes and I am the son of King Pecheur--so called because he is
+the king of all the fisher-folk who dwell upon the West coast. And now I
+prithee tell me also thy name and condition, for I find I love thee a very
+great deal."
+
+And Sir Percival said: "My name is Percival, but I may not at this present
+tell thee my condition and of whom I am born; for that I must keep secret
+until I have won me good credit as a knight. But now I have somewhat to do,
+and that is to deal with this lady Vivien as she shall deserve."
+
+Upon that Sir Percydes cried out: "Go not near to that sorceress, else she
+will do some great harm to thee with her potent spells as she did to me."
+
+But Sir Percival said: "I have no fear of her."
+
+So Sir Percival arose and crossed the bridge and went toward that wonderful
+enchanted castle; and Sir Percydes would have gone with him, but Sir
+Percival said: "Stay where thou art." And so Sir Percydes stayed and Sir
+Percival went forward alone.
+
+[Sidenote: The Lady Vivien cometh forth to Sir Percival] Now as he drew
+nigh to the castle the gate thereof was opened, and there came forth thence
+an extraordinarily beautiful lady surrounded by a court of esquires and
+pages all very beautiful of countenance. And this lady and all of her court
+were clad in red so that they shone like to several flames of fire. And the
+lady's hair was as red as gold, and she wore gold ornaments about her neck
+so that she glistered exceedingly and was very wonderful to behold. And her
+eyebrows were very black and fine and were joined in the middle like two
+fine lines drawn together with a pencil, and her eyes were narrow and
+black, shining like those of a snake.
+
+Then when Sir Percival beheld this lady how singularly beautiful she was he
+was altogether enchanted so that he could not forbear to approach her. And,
+lo! she stood still and smiled upon him so that his heart stirred within
+his bosom like as though it pulled at the strings that held it. Then she
+said to Sir Percival, speaking in a very sweet and gentle voice: "Sir
+Knight, thou art welcome to this place. It would pleasure us very greatly
+if thou wouldst consider this castle as though it were thine own and would
+abide within it with me for a while." Therewith speaking she smiled again
+upon Sir Percival more cunningly than before and reached out her hand
+toward him.
+
+Then Sir Percival came toward her with intent to take her hand, she smiling
+upon him all the while so that he could not do otherwise than as she
+willed.
+
+Now in the other hand this lady held an ebony staff of about an ell in
+length, and when Sir Percival had come close enough to her, she lifted this
+staff of a sudden and smote him with it very violently across the
+shoulders, crying out at the same time, in a voice terribly piercing and
+shrill: "Be thou a stone!"
+
+Then that charm that the Lady of the Lake had hung around the neck of Sir
+Percival stood him in good stead, for, excepting for it, he would that
+instant have been transformed into a stone. But the charm of the sorceress
+did not work upon him, being prevented by the greater charm of that golden
+amulet.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percival draweth sword upon the Lady Vivien] But Sir
+Percival knew very well what the sorceress Vivien had intended to do to
+him, and he was filled with a great rage of indignation against her because
+she had meant to transform him into a stone. Therefore he cried out with a
+loud voice and seized the enchantress by her long golden hair, and drew her
+so violently forward that she fell down upon her knees. Then he drew his
+shining sword with intent to sever her long neck, so slender and white like
+alabaster.
+
+But the lady shrieked with great vehemence of terror and besought him
+mercy. And at that Sir Percival's heart grew soft for pity, for he
+bethought him that she was a woman and he beheld how smooth and beautiful
+was her neck, and how her skin was like white satin for smoothness. So when
+he heard her voice--the voice of a woman beseeching mercy--his heart grew
+soft, and he could not find strength within him to strike that neck apart
+with his sword.
+
+So he bade her to arise--though he still held her by the hair (all warm, it
+was, and as soft as silk and very fragrant) and the lady stood up,
+trembling before him.
+
+Then Sir Percival said to her: "If thou wouldst have thy life I command
+thee to transform back to their own shape all those people whom thou hast
+bewitched as thou wouldst have bewitched me."
+
+Then the lady said: "It shall be done." Whereupon she smote her hands very
+violently together crying out: "All ye who have lost your proper shapes,
+return thereunto."
+
+[Sidenote: The Lady Vivien undoes her enchantment] Then, lo! upon the
+instant, a great multitude of round stones that lay scattered about became
+quick, like to eggs; and they moved and stirred as the life entered into
+them. And they melted away and, behold! there arose up a great many knights
+and esquires and several ladies to the number of four score and eight in
+all. And certain other stones became quickened in like manner, and as
+Percival looked, lo! there rose up the horses of those people, all
+caparisoned as though for travel.
+
+Now when those people who had been thus bewitched beheld the Lady Vivien,
+how Sir Percival held her by the hair of her head, they made great outcry
+against her for vengeance, saying: "Slay her! Slay her!" And therewith
+several made at her as though to do as they said and to slay her. But
+Percival waved his sword before her and said: "Not so! Not so! For this
+lady is my prisoner and we shall not harm her unless ye come at her through
+me."
+
+Thereat they fell silent in a little while, and when he had thus stilled
+them, he turned to the Lady Vivien and said: "This is my command that I lay
+upon thee: that thou shalt go into the court of King Arthur and shalt
+confess thyself to him and that thou shalt fulfil whatever penance he may
+lay upon thee to perform because of thy transgressions. Now wilt thou do
+this for to save thy life?"
+
+And the Lady Vivien made reply: "All shall be done according to thy
+command."
+
+Therewith Sir Percival released his hold upon her and she was free.
+
+Then, finding herself to be thus free, she stepped back a pace or two and
+looked into Sir Percival his face, and she laughed. And she said: "Thou
+fool, didst thou think that I would do so mad a thing as that which thou
+hast made me promise? For what mercy could I expect at the hands of King
+Arthur seeing that it was I who destroyed the Enchanter Merlin, who was the
+right adviser of King Arthur! Go to King Arthur thyself and deliver to him
+thine own messages."
+
+[Sidenote: The Lady Vivien escapes] So saying, in an instant, she vanished
+from the sight of all those who stood there. And with her vanished that
+castle of crimson and ultramarine and gold--and nothing was left but the
+bare rocks and the barren plain.
+
+Then when those who were there recovered from their astonishment, upon
+beholding that great castle so suddenly disappear, they turned to Sir
+Percival and gave him worship and thanks without measure, saying to him:
+"What shall we do in return for saving us from the enchantment of this
+sorceress?"
+
+And Percival said: "Ye shall do this: ye shall go to the court of King
+Arthur and tell him how that young knight, Percival, whom he made a knight
+a year ago, hath liberated you from the enchantment of this sorceress. And
+you shall seek out Sir Kay and shall say to him that, by and by, I shall
+return and repay him in full measure, twenty times over, that blow which he
+gave to the damosel Yelande, the Dumb Maiden because of her kindness to
+me."
+
+So said Sir Percival, and they said: "It shall be done as thou dost
+ordain."
+
+Then Sir Percydes said: "Wilt thou not come to my castle and rest thyself
+there for the night? For thou must be aweary with all thy toil." And Sir
+Percival said, "I will go with thee." So Sir Percydes and Sir Percival rode
+away together to the castle of Sir Percydes.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percydes knoweth the ring that Percival wears] Now while
+Sir Percival and Sir Percydes sat at supper in the castle of Sir Percydes,
+Sir Percival chanced to lay his hand in love upon the sleeve of Sir
+Percydes's arm, and that moment Sir Percydes saw the ring upon Sir
+Percival's finger which the young damosel of the pavilion had given unto
+him in exchange for his ring. When Sir Percydes saw that ring he cried out
+in great astonishment, "Where didst thou get that ring?"
+
+Sir Percival said, "I will tell thee"; and therewith he told Sir Percydes
+all that had befallen him when he first came down into the world from the
+wilderness where he had aforetime dwelt, and how he had entered the yellow
+pavilion and had discovered the damosel who was now his chosen lady. When
+Sir Percydes heard that story he laughed in great measure, and then he
+said: "But how wilt thou find that young damosel again when thou hast a
+mind for to go to her once more?" To the which Sir Percival made reply: "I
+know not how I shall find her, nevertheless, I shall assuredly do so. For
+though the world is much wider and greater than I had thought it to be when
+I first came down into it, yet I know that I shall find that lady when the
+fit time cometh for me to seek her."
+
+Then Sir Percydes said: "Dear friend, when thou desireth to find that
+damosel to whom belongeth the ring, come thou to me and I will tell thee
+where thou mayst find her; yet I know not why thou dost not go and find her
+now."
+
+Unto this Sir Percival made reply: "I do not seek her immediately because I
+am yet so young and so unknown to the world that I could not be of any
+credit to her should I find her; so first I will seek to obtain credit as a
+knight, and then I will seek her."
+
+Sir Percydes said: "Well, Percival, I think thou hast great promise of a
+very wonderful knighthood. Nor do I think thou wilt have difficulty in
+finding plenty of adventures to undertake. For even to-day I know of an
+adventure, which if thou couldst perform it successfully, would bring thee
+such worship that there are very few knights in all the world who will have
+more worship than thou."
+
+Then Sir Percival said: "I prithee, dear friend, tell me what is that
+adventure."
+
+Then Sir Percydes told Sir Percival what that adventure was as followeth:
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percydes telleth Sir Percival of Beaurepaire] "Thou art to
+know," quoth he, "that somewhat more than a day's journey to the north of
+this there is a fair plain, very fertile and beautiful to the sight. In the
+midst of that plain is a small lake of water, and in that lake is an
+island, and upon the island is a tall castle of very noble size and
+proportions. That castle is called Beaurepaire, and the lady of that castle
+is thought to be one of the most beautiful damosels in the world. And the
+name of the lady is Lady Blanchefleur.
+
+"Now there is a very strong and powerful knight hight Sir Clamadius,
+otherwise known as the King of the Isles; and he is one of the most famous
+knights in the world. Sir Clamadius hath for a long while loved the Lady
+Blanchefleur with such a passion of love that I do not think that the like
+of that passion is to be found anywhere else in the world. But the Lady
+Blanchefleur hath no love for Sir Clamadius, but ever turneth away from him
+with a heart altogether cold of liking.
+
+"But Sir Clamadius is a wonderfully proud and haughty King, wherefore he
+can ill brook being scorned by any lady. Wherefore he hath now come against
+the castle of Beaurepaire with an array of knights of his court, and at
+present layeth siege to that castle aforesaid.
+
+"Now there is not at that castle any knight of sufficient worship to serve
+as champion thereof, wherefore all they of Beaurepaire stay within the
+castle walls and Sir Clamadius holds the meadows outside of the castle so
+that no one enters in or goeth out thereof.
+
+"If thou couldst liberate the Lady Blanchefleur from the duress which Sir
+Clamadius places upon her, I believe thou wouldst have as great credit in
+courts of chivalry as it is possible to have. For, since Sir Tristram is
+gone, Sir Clamadius is believed by many to be the best knight in the world,
+except Sir Launcelot of the Lake; unless it be that Sir Lamorack of Gales
+is a better knight than he."
+
+Then Sir Percival said: "What thou tellest me gives me great pleasure, for
+it would be a very good adventure for any young knight to undertake. For if
+he should lose there would be no shame in losing, and if he should win
+there would be great glory in winning. So to-morrow I will enter upon that
+adventure, with intent to discover what fortune I may have therein."
+
+So I have told you how Sir Percival performed his first adventures in the
+world of chivalry after he had perfected himself in the mysteries of
+knighthood under the teaching of Sir Launcelot of the Lake, and I have told
+you how he achieved that adventure with great credit to himself and with
+great glory to the order of knighthood to which he now truly belonged as a
+most worthy member.
+
+That night he abided in the castle of Sir Percydes with great comfort and
+rest to his body, and when the next morning had come he arose, much
+refreshed and strengthened in spirit. And he descended to the hall where
+was set a fair and generous breakfast for his further refreshment, and
+thereat he and Sir Percydes sat themselves down and ate with hearty
+appetite, discoursing with great amity of spirit as aforetold.
+
+After he had broken his fast he bade farewell to Sir Percydes and mounted
+his horse and rode away through the bright sunlight toward Beaurepaire and
+those further adventures that awaited him thereat.
+
+And, as it was with Sir Percival in that first adventure, so may you meet
+with a like success when you ride forth upon your first undertakings after
+you have entered into the glory of your knighthood, with your life lying
+before you and a whole world whereinto ye may freely enter to do your
+devoirs to the glory of God and your own honor.
+
+So now it shall be told how it fared with Sir Percival in that adventure of
+the Castle of Beaurepaire.
+
+[Illustration: The Demoiselle Blanchefleur]
+
+
+
+
+Chapter Fourth
+
+
+_How Sir Percival undertook the adventure of the castle of Beaurepaire and
+how he fared therein after several excellent adventures_.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percival breaks his fast at a forest cottage] Now the way
+that Sir Percival travelled led him by the outskirts of the forest, so that
+somewhiles he would be in the woodland and somewhiles he would be in the
+open country. And about noontide he came to a certain cottage of a neatherd
+that stood all alone in a very pleasant dale. That place a little brook
+came bickering out from the forest and ran down into the dale and spread
+out into a small lake, besides which daffadowndillys bloomed in such
+abundance that it appeared as though all that meadow land was scattered
+over with an incredible number of yellow stars that had fallen down from
+out of the sky. And, because of the pleasantness of this place, Sir
+Percival here dismounted from his horse and sat him down upon a little
+couch of moss under the shadow of an oak tree that grew nigh to the
+cottage, there to rest himself for a while with great pleasure. And as he
+sat there there came a barelegged lass from the cottage and brought him
+fresh milk to drink; and there came a good, comely housewife and brought
+him bread and cheese made of cream; and Sir Percival ate and drank with
+great appetite.
+
+Now whilst Sir Percival sat there resting and refreshing himself in that
+wise, there appeared of a sudden coming thitherward, a tall and noble
+knight riding upon a piebald war-horse of Norway strain. So when Sir
+Percival beheld that knight coming in that wise he quickly put on his
+helmet and mounted his horse and made him ready for defence in case the
+knight had a mind to assail him.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percival bespeaketh the strange knight] Meantime that
+knight came riding up with great haughtiness of bearing to where Sir
+Percival was, and when he had come nigh enough he bespake Sir Percival,
+saying: "Sir Knight, I pray you to tell me your name and whither you go,
+and upon what quest?"
+
+Unto this Sir Percival made reply: "Messire, I do not choose to tell you my
+name, for I am a young knight, very new to adventure, and I know not how I
+shall succeed in that quest which I have undertaken. So I will wait to try
+the success of that adventure before I tell my name. But though I may not
+tell my name I will tell you whither I go and upon what quest. I go for to
+find a certain castle called Beaurepaire, and I intend to endeavor to
+liberate the lady of that castle from the duress of a certain knight hight
+Sir Clamadius, who, I understand, holds her by siege within the walls
+thereof."
+
+Now, when Sir Percival had ceased speaking, the strange knight said: "Sir,
+this is a very singular thing: for that adventure of which you speak is the
+very adventure upon which I myself am bound. Now, as you say, you are a
+very young knight unused to arms, and as I am in the same degree a knight
+well seasoned in deeds of arms, it is more fitting that I should undertake
+this quest than you. For you may know how very well I am used to the
+service of arms when I tell you that I have had to do in four and twenty
+battles of various sorts; some of them friendly and some of them otherwise;
+and that I have had to do in more than four times that many affairs-at-arms
+with single knights, nearly all of them of great prowess. So now it would
+seem fitting that you should withdraw you from this affair and let me first
+essay it. Then, if I fail in my undertaking, you shall assume that
+adventure."
+
+"Messire," quoth Sir Percival, "I see that you are a knight of much greater
+experience than I; but, ne'ertheless, I cannot find it in my heart to
+forego this adventure. So what I have to propose is this: that you and I do
+combat here in this place, and that he who proveth himself to be the better
+of us twain shall carry out this undertaking that we are both set upon."
+
+Unto this, that strange knight lent a very willing assent, saying: "Very
+well, Messire, it shall be as you ask."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percival doeth battle with the strange knight] So with that
+each knight turned his horse and rode a little piece away; and each took
+such stand as pleased him; and each dressed his spear and shield and made
+him in all wise ready for the encounter. And when they had so prepared
+themselves, each knight shouted to his horse, and drave spur into its flank
+and rushed, the one against the other, with such terrible noise and
+violence that the sound thereof was echoed back from the woods like to a
+storm of thunder.
+
+So they met in the midst of the course with such a vehement impact that it
+was terrible to behold. And in that encounter the spear of each knight was
+burst all into fragments; and the horse of each fell back upon his haunches
+and would have been overthrown had not each knight voided his saddle with a
+very wonderful skill and agility.
+
+Then each knight drew sword and came the one against the other, as
+furiously as two rams at battle. So they fought for nigh the space of an
+hour, foining and striking, and tracing hither and tracing thither most
+furiously; and the noise of the blows they struck might have been heard
+several furlongs away.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percival overcometh the strange knight] During that battle
+Sir Percival received several sore wounds so that by and by a great passion
+of rage seized upon him. So he rushed the battle with might and main, and
+therewith struck so many furious blows that by and by that other knight
+held his shield very low for weariness. This Sir Percival perceived, and
+therewith he smote the other so furious a blow upon the head that the
+knight sank down upon his knees and could not arise. Then Sir Percival ran
+to him and catched him by the neck and flung him down violently upon the
+ground, crying out, "Yield or I slay thee!"
+
+Then that knight besought mercy in a very weak voice, saying: "Sir Knight,
+I beseech thee, spare my life!"
+
+Sir Percival said: "Well, I will spare thee, but tell me, what is thy
+name?" To this the other said: "I am Sir Lionel, and I am a knight of King
+Arthur's court and of the Round Table."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percival giveth aid to Sir Lionel] Now when Sir Percival
+heard this he cried out aloud, for he was very greatly grieved, and he
+said: "Al as, what have I done for to fight against thee in this wise! I am
+Sir Percival, whom thine own kinsman, Sir Launcelot of the Lake, hath
+trained in arms. But indeed, I did never think to use that art which he
+taught me against one so dear to his heart as thou art, Sir Lionel." So
+with that Sir Percival assisted Sir Lionel to arise to his feet, and Sir
+Lionel was so weak from that woeful battle that he could hardly stand.
+
+Now that stream and lake of water above spoken of was near by, so Sir
+Percival brought Sir Lionel thither, holding him up as he walked; and there
+Sir Lionel refreshed himself. Then, when he was revived a little, he turned
+his eyes very languidly upon Sir Percival, and he said: "Percival, thou
+hast done to me this day what few knights have ever done before. So all the
+glory that ever I have won is now thy glory because of this battle. For
+thou hast overcome me in a fair quarrel and I have yielded myself unto
+thee, wherefore it is now thy right to command me to thy will."
+
+Then Percival said: "Alas, dear Sir Knight! It is not meet that I should
+lay command upon such as thou art. But, if thou wilt do so, I beseech thee
+when thou art come to King Arthur's court that thou wilt tell the King that
+I, who am his young knight Percival, have borne myself not unbecomingly in
+my battle with thee. For this is the first battle, knight against knight,
+that I have undertaken in all of my life. And I beseech thee that thou wilt
+greet Sir Kay the Seneschal, from me, and that thou wilt say to him that by
+and by I shall meet him and repay him that buffet which he gave to the
+damsel Yelande, the Dumb Maiden, in the Queen's pavilion."
+
+Sir Lionel said: "It shall be as thou sayst, and I will do thy bidding.
+But, touching Sir Kay, I do not believe that he will take very much joy at
+thy message to him. For he will find small pleasure in the thought of the
+payment of that buffet that thou hast promised to give him."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percival goeth forward upon his adventure] Now, as the day
+by this time was waxing late, Sir Percival abided that night at that
+neatherd's hut nigh to which this battle had been fought and there had his
+wounds bathed and dressed; and when the next morning had come he arose
+early, and saddled his horse, and rode forward upon his way. And as he rode
+he was very well pleased at the thought of that battle he had fought with
+Sir Lionel, for he wist that he had obtained great credit to himself in
+that encounter, and he was aware, now that he had made trial of his
+strength against such a one as Sir Lionel, he must be one of the greatest
+knights of the world. So his heart was uplifted with great joy and delight
+at that thought; that he was now a well-approved knight-champion, worthy of
+his knighthood. Therefore he rode away for all that day, greatly rejoicing
+in spirit at the thought of what he had done the day before.
+
+About the first slant of the afternoon Sir Percival came at last out of the
+woodlands and into a wide-open plain, very fertile and well tilled, with
+fields of wheat and rye abounding on all sides. And he saw that in the
+midst of that plain there was a considerable lake, and that in the midst of
+that lake there was an island, and that upon the island there stood a fair
+noble castle, and he wist that that castle must be the castle of
+Beaurepaire. So he rode down into that valley with some speed.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percival perceives a red knight] Now after he had so ridden
+for a while, he was aware of a knight, very haughty of appearance and
+bearing, who rode before him upon the same way that he was going. And that
+knight was clad all in red armor, and he rode upon a horse so black that I
+believe there was not a single white hair upon him. And all the trappings
+and the furniture of that horse were of red, so that he presented a very
+noble appearance. So Sir Percival made haste to overtake that knight, and
+when he had come nigh he drew rein at a little distance. Thereupon that
+knight in red bespake Sir Percival very proudly, saying: "Sir Knight,
+whither ride you, and upon what mission?"
+
+"Messire," quoth Percival, "I ride toward yonder castle, which I take to be
+the castle of Beaurepaire, and I come hither with intent to succor the Lady
+Blanchefleur of that castle from a knight, hight Sir Clamadius, who keeps
+her there a prisoner against her will, so that it behooves any good knight
+to attempt her rescue."
+
+Upon this the red knight spake very fiercely, saying: "Messire, what
+business is that of yours? I would have you know that I am a knight of King
+Clamadius', wherefore I am able to say to you that you shall go no further
+upon that quest. For I am Sir Engeneron of Grandregarde, and I am Seneschal
+unto King Clamadius, and I will not have it that thou shalt go any farther
+upon this way unless you ride over me to go upon it."
+
+"Messire," quoth Sir Percival, "I have no quarrel with you, but if you have
+a mind to force a quarrel upon me, I will not seek to withdraw myself from
+an encounter with you. So make yourself ready, and I will make myself
+ready, and then we shall soon see whether or not I am to pass upon this
+way."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percival doeth battle with Sir Engeneron] So therewith each
+knight turned his horse away to such a place as seemed to him to be
+fitting; and when they were in all wise prepared they rushed together with
+an amazing velocity and a noise like to thunder. So they met in the midst
+of the course. And in that encounter the spear of Sir Engeneron broke into
+many pieces, but the spear of Sir Percival held, so that he flung Sir
+Engeneron entirely out of his saddle and over the crupper of his horse and
+down upon the ground so violently that Sir Engeneron lay there in a swoon.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Engeneron yields himself to Sir Percival] Then Sir Percival
+dismounted from his horse with all speed, and he rushed the helmet of Sir
+Engeneron off of his head with intent to slay him. But with that Sir
+Engeneron awoke to his danger, and therewith gat upon his knees and clasped
+Sir Percival about the thighs, crying out: "Sir, I beseech you upon your
+knighthood to spare my life."
+
+"Well," said Sir Percival, "since you beseech that upon my knighthood I
+must needs do as you ask. But I will only do so upon two conditions. The
+first of these conditions is that you go to the court of King Arthur, and
+that you surrender yourself as captive to a damsel of that court who is
+known as the Lady Yelande the Dumb Maiden. And you are to tell that maiden
+that the young knight who slew Sir Boindegardus greets her and that he
+tells her that in a little while he will return to repay to Sir Kay that
+buffet he gave her. This is my first condition." And Sir Engeneron said: "I
+will perform that condition."
+
+"And my second condition," said Sir Percival, "is this: that you give me
+your armor for me to use upon this adventure which I have undertaken, and
+that you take my armor and deposit it with the hermit of a little chapel
+you shall after a while come to if you return upon the road which brought
+me hither. After a while I will return and reclaim my armor and will return
+your armor. This is my second condition."
+
+And Sir Engeneron said: "That condition also I shall fulfil according to
+your command."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percival and Sir Engeneron exchange armor] Then Sir
+Percival said: "Arise." And Sir Engeneron did so. And after that Sir
+Engeneron put off his armor, and Sir Percival put off his armor. And Sir
+Percival put on the armor of Sir Engeneron, and Sir Engeneron packed the
+armor of Sir Percival upon his horse and prepared to depart in obedience to
+those conditions of Sir Percival. So they parted company, Sir Percival
+riding upon his way to Beaurepaire, and Sir Engeneron betaking his way to
+find the chapel of that hermit of whom Sir Percival had spoken.
+
+So it was that after two adventures, Sir Percival entered upon that
+undertaking which he had come to perform in behalf of the Lady
+Blanchefleur.
+
+And now, if it please you to read what follows, you shall hear how it
+befell with Sir Percival at the castle of Beaurepaire.
+
+After that adventure with Sir Engeneron, Sir Percival rode onward upon his
+way, and by and by he came to the lake whereon stood the castle and the
+town of Beaurepaire. And Sir Percival beheld that a long narrow bridge
+crossed over that part of the lake from the mainland to the island and the
+town. So Sir Percival rode very boldly forth upon that bridge and across
+it, and no one stayed him, for all of the knights of Sir Clamadius who
+beheld him said: "Yonder rides Sir Engeneron." Thus Sir Percival crossed
+the bridge and rode very boldly forward until he came to the gate of the
+castle, and those who beheld him said: "Sir Engeneron haply beareth a
+message to the castle." For no one wist that that knight was not Sir
+Engeneron, but all thought that it was he because of the armor which he
+wore.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percival cometh to Beaurepaire] So Sir Percival came close
+to the castle, and when he was come there he called very loudly to those
+within, and by and by there appeared the face of a woman at an upper window
+and the face was very pale and woe-begone.
+
+Then Sir Percival said to the woman at the window: "Bid them open the gate
+and let me in; for I come to bring you succor at this place."
+
+To this the woman said: "I shall not bid them open the gate, for I know
+from your armor who you are, and that you are Sir Engeneron the Seneschal.
+And I know that you are one of our bitterest enemies; for you have already
+slain several of the knights of this castle, and now you seek by guile to
+enter into the castle itself."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percival entereth Beaurepaire] Then Sir Percival said: "I
+am not Sir Engeneron, but one who hath overthrown Sir Engeneron in battle.
+I have put on his armor with intent that I might come hither to help defend
+this place against Sir Clamadius." So said Sir Percival, and therewith he
+put up the umbril of his helmet, saying: "Look, see; I am not Sir
+Engeneron." Then the woman at the window saw his face and that it was not
+the face of Sir Engeneron. And she saw that the face of Sir Percival was
+mild and gentle, wherefore she ran and told the people of the castle that a
+knight who was a friend stood without. Therewith they of the castle let
+fall the drawbridge and opened the gates, and Sir Percival entered into the
+castle.
+
+Then there came several of the chief people of the castle, and they also
+were all pale and woe-begone from long fasting, as was the woman whom Sir
+Percival had first seen; for all were greatly wasted because of the toil
+and anxiety of that siege. These asked Sir Percival who he was and whence
+he came and how he came thither; and Sir Percival told them all that it was
+necessary for them to know. For he told them how he was a young knight
+trained under the care of Sir Launcelot; and he told them that he had come
+thither with the hope of serving the Lady Blanchefleur; and he told them
+what adventures had befallen him in the coming and how he had already
+overthrown Sir Lionel and Sir Engeneron to get there. Wherefore, from these
+things, they of the castle perceived that Sir Percival was a very strong,
+worthy knight, and they gave great joy that he should have come thither to
+their aid.
+
+So he who was chief of those castle people summoned several attendants, and
+these came and some took the horse of Sir Percival and led it to the
+stables, and others relieved Sir Percival of his armor; and others took him
+to a bath of tepid water, where he bathed himself, and was dried on soft
+linen towels; and others brought soft garments of gray cloth and clad Sir
+Percival in them and afterward brought him down into a fair large chamber
+where there was a table spread as though ready for meat.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percival beholds the Lady Blanchefleur] Now in a little
+after Sir Percival was come to that supper-hall the door thereof was opened
+and there entered several people. With these came a damsel of such
+extraordinary beauty and gracefulness of figure that Sir Percival stood
+amazed. For her face was fair beyond words; red upon white, like
+rose-leaves upon cream; and her eyes were bright and glancing like those of
+a falcon, and her nose was thin and straight, and her lips were very red,
+like to coral for redness, and her hair was dark and abundant and like to
+silk for softness. She was clad all in a dress of black, shot with stars of
+gold, and the dress was lined with ermine and was trimmed with sable at the
+collar and the cuffs and the hem thereof.
+
+So Sir Percival stood and gazed at that lady with a pleasure beyond words
+to express, and he wist that this must be the Lady Blanchefleur, for whose
+sake he had come thither.
+
+And the Lady Blanchefleur looked upon Sir Percival with great kindness, for
+he appeared to her like to a hero for strength and beauty; wherefore she
+smiled upon Sir Percival very graciously and came forward and gave him her
+hand. And Sir Percival took her hand and set it to his lips; and lo! her
+hand was as soft as silk and very warm, rosy and fragrant, and the fingers
+thereof glistered with bright golden rings and with gems of divers colors.
+
+Then that beautiful Lady Blanchefleur said: "Messire, this is a very
+knightly thing for you to do to come hither to this place. And you come in
+good time, for food groweth very scarce with us so that in a little while
+we must face starvation. For because of the watch that Sir Clamadius
+keepeth upon this place, no one can either enter in or go out. Yea, thou
+art the very first one who hath come hither since he has sat down before
+Beaurepaire."
+
+[Sidenote: The Lady Blanchefleur telleth her sorrows to Sir Percival] Then
+presently she ceased smiling and her face clouded over; then bright tears
+began to drop from the Lady Blanchefleur's eyes; and then she said: "I fear
+me greatly that Sir Clamadius will at last seize upon this castle, for he
+hath kept us here prisoner for a long while. Yet though he seize the
+castle, he shall never seize that which the castle contains. For I keep by
+me a little casket of silver, and therein is a dagger, very sharp and fine.
+Therefore the day that Sir Clamadius enters into this castle, I shall
+thrust that dagger into my heart. For, though Sir Clamadius may seize upon
+my castle, he shall never possess my soul."
+
+Then Sir Percival was very sorry for the tears he saw shining upon the Lady
+Blanchefleur's face, wherefore he said: "Lady, I have great hopes that this
+affair may never reach to that woful extremity thou speakest of." The Lady
+Blanchefleur said: "I hope not also." And therewith she wiped away her
+tears and smiled again. Then she said: "See, Sir Percival, the evening has
+come and it is time to sit at supper, now I beseech thee for to come to
+table with me, for though we have but little to eat here, yet I assure thee
+that thou art very welcome to the best that we have."
+
+So therewith Lady Blanchefleur led Sir Percival to the table, and they sat
+down to such feast as could be had at that place of starvation. For what
+they had was little enough, being only such fish as they could catch from
+the lake, and a little bread--but not much--and a very little wine.
+
+[Sidenote: The Lady sings to Sir Percival] Then after they had eaten and
+drunk what they had, the Lady Blanchefleur took a golden harp into her hand
+and played thereon, and sang in a voice so clear and high and beautiful
+that Percival was altogether enchanted and bewitched thereat.
+
+Thus it was that that evening passed with them very pleasantly and
+cheerfully, so that it was the middle of the night ere Sir Percival
+withdrew to that couch that had been prepared for his rest.
+
+Now word was brought to Sir Clamadius that Sir Engeneron the Seneschal had
+been overcome by another knight, wherefore Sir Clamadius wist that that was
+the knight in Sir Engeneron's armor who had entered into the castle. So Sir
+Clamadius said: "Certes, this must be a champion of no small prowess who
+hath undertaken single-handed such a dangerous quest as this, and hath thus
+entered into the castle, for they appear to make great rejoicings at his
+coming. Now if he remaineth there it may very well be that they will be
+encouraged to resist me a great while longer, and so all that I have thus
+far accomplished shall have been in vain."
+
+[Sidenote: The old counsellor giveth advice to Sir Clamadius] Now there
+was among the counsellors of Sir Clamadius an old knight who was very
+cunning and far-sighted. He said to the King: "Sire, I think we may be able
+to devise some plan whereby we may withdraw this knight-champion out of the
+castle. My plan is this: Let ten of your best knights make parade before
+that castle tomorrow, and let them give challenge to those within the
+castle to come forth to battle. Then I believe that this knight will come
+forth with the other knights from the castle to accept that challenge.
+Thereafter let it be that our knights withdraw as though in retreat, and so
+lead this knight and the knights of the castle into an ambushment. There
+let many fall upon them at once and either slay them or make them
+prisoners. So the castle shall be deprived of this new champion that hath
+come to it, and therewith may be so disheartened that it will yield to
+thee."
+
+This advice seemed very good to King Clamadius, wherefore, when the next
+morning had come, he chose him ten knights from among the foremost of all
+his knights, and he bade them give that challenge in that wise. These did
+so, and therewith Sir Percival and nine other knights issued out from the
+castle against them.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percival doeth great battle] But it did not fare as Sir
+Clamadius had expected; for the attack of Sir Percival and his knights was
+so fierce and sudden that those ten knights could not withdraw so easily as
+they intended. For, ere they were able to withdraw, Sir Percival had struck
+down six of these knights with his own hand and the other four were made
+prisoners.
+
+Thus Sir Percival and his knights did not come into that ambush that had
+been prepared for them.
+
+Then those who were in ambush perceived that their plan had failed
+wherefore they broke from cover with intent to do what they could. But Sir
+Percival and his knights beheld them coming, and so withdrew, defending
+themselves with great valor. So they came into the castle again in safety.
+
+Thus it was that the plans of King Clamadius and his counsellor failed of
+effect, whereupon Sir Clamadius was very angry at that wise old knight. So
+that, when that counsellor came to him again and said: "Sir, I have another
+plan," King Clamadius cried out very fiercely: "Away with thy plans! They
+are all of no avail." Then Sir Clamadius said: "When to-morrow comes, I
+myself will undertake this affair. For I will go and give challenge to this
+knight, and so I shall hope to decide this quarrel man to man. For unless
+yonder knight be Sir Launcelot of the Lake or Sir Lamorack of Gales, I do
+not think he will be my peer in an encounter of man to man."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Clamadius arms himself for battle] So when the next morning
+had come, Sir Clamadius armed himself at all points and straightway betook
+himself to a fair, smooth meadow beneath the walls of the castle. And when
+he had come there he cried out: "Sir Red Knight, come forth and speak with
+me."
+
+So after a while Sir Percival appeared at the top of the castle wall, and
+he said: "Messire, here I am; what is it you would have of me?"
+
+Then Sir Clamadius said: "Messire, are you Sir Launcelot of the Lake?" And
+Sir Percival said: "Nay, I am not he." Sir Clamadius said: "Art thou then
+Sir Lamorack of Gales?" And Sir Percival said: "Nay, I am not he." Then Sir
+Clamadius said: "Who, then, art thou?" Sir Percival said: "I am not any
+great knight-champion such as those two of whom you speak, but am a young
+knight who have not fought more than twice or thrice in my life."
+
+At that Sir Clamadius was very glad, for he feared that Sir Percival might
+be some famous knight well-seasoned in arms. Wherefore when he found that
+Sir Percival was only a young and untried knight, he thought it would be an
+easy matter to deal with him. So he said: "Messire, I challenge thee to
+come forth to battle with me man to man so that thou and I may settle this
+quarrel betwixt us, for it is a pity to shed more blood than is necessary
+in this quarrel. So if thou wilt come forth and overthrow me, then I will
+withdraw my people from this place; but if I overthrow thee, then this
+castle shall be yielded up to me with all that it contains."
+
+To this Sir Percival said: "Sir Knight, I am very willing to fight with
+thee upon that issue. But first of all I must obtain the consent of the
+Lady Blanchefleur to stand her champion."
+
+So Sir Percival went to the Lady Blanchefleur, and he said: "Lady, will you
+accept me as your champion to fight the issue of this quarrel man to man
+with Sir Clamadius?"
+
+She said: "Percival, thou art very young to have to do with so old and
+well-seasoned a knight. Now I greatly fear for your life in such a battle
+as that."
+
+To this Sir Percival said: "Lady, I know that I am young, but indeed I feel
+a very big spirit stir within me, so that if thou wilt trust me, I have
+belief that, with the grace of God, I shall win this battle."
+
+Then the Lady Blanchefleur smiled upon Sir Percival and she said:
+"Percival, I will gladly entrust my life and safety into thy keeping, for I
+too have great dependence in thy knighthood."
+
+So straightway Sir Percival armed himself, and when he was in all wise
+prepared he went forth to that battle with a heart very full of great
+courage and hope.
+
+There he found Sir Clamadius still parading in that meadow beneath the
+walls, awaiting the coming of his opponent.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percival and Sir Clamadius do battle] Meanwhile many folk
+came and stood upon the walls of the castle to behold that encounter,
+whilst each knight took such stand as appeared good to him. Then, when they
+were in all wise prepared, each knight drave spurs into his horse and
+rushed himself against the other with most terrible and fierce violence.
+Therewith they met in the very midst of the course with an uproar like to
+thunder that echoed back from the flat walls of the castle.
+
+In that encounter the spear of Sir Percival held, but the spear of Sir
+Clamadius was riven into splinters. And so, Sir Percival riding forward
+with furious violence, Sir Clamadius was overthrown, horse and man, with
+such violence that he lay there upon the ground as though he were dead.
+
+Then all those upon the walls shouted aloud with a great noise of
+rejoicing, whilst those of the party of Sir Clamadius gave lamentation in
+the same degree.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Clamadius yields himself] But Sir Percival voided his
+saddle in haste, and ran to where Sir Clamadius lay. And Sir Percival
+rushed the helmet off from the head of Sir Clamadius, and he catched him by
+the hair of the head, and he raised his sword on high with intent to finish
+the work he had begun. Therewith Sir Clamadius aroused himself unto his
+danger, and he cried in a very piercing voice: "Messire, I beseech thee of
+thy knighthood to spare my life!"
+
+"Well," said Sir Percival, "since you ask me upon my knighthood, I cannot
+refuse you, for so I was taught by the noble knight, Sir Launcelot, to
+refuse no boon asked upon my knighthood that I was able to grant. But I
+will only spare your life upon one condition, and that is this: That you
+disarm yourself in all wise, and that you go without armor to the court of
+King Arthur. There you shall deliver yourself as a servant unto a damsel of
+King Arthur's court, hight Yelande, surnamed the Dumb Maiden. Her you are
+to tell that the youth who slew Sir Boindegardus hath sent you unto her as
+a servant. And you are to say to Sir Kay, the Seneschal of King Arthur,
+that the young knight Percival will in a little while come to repay that
+buffet he gave to the damoiselle Yelande aforesaid."
+
+So said Sir Percival, and Sir Clamadius said: "It shall be done in all wise
+as you command, if so be you will spare my life." Then Sir Percival said:
+"Arise"; and Sir Clamadius arose; and Sir Percival said: "Go hence"; and
+therewith Sir Clamadius departed as Sir Percival commanded.
+
+So that day Sir Clamadius withdrew from the castle of Beaurepaire with all
+his array of knights, and after that he went to the court of King Arthur
+and did in all respects as Sir Percival had commanded him to do.
+
+So it was that Sir Percival fulfilled that quest, and set the Lady
+Blanchefleur free from duress; and may God grant that you also fulfil all
+your quests with as great honor and nobility as therein exhibited.
+
+[Illustration: Sir Kay interrupts ye meditations of Sir Percival]
+
+
+
+
+Chapter Fifth
+
+
+_How Sir Percival repaid Sir Kay the buffet he one time gave Yelande the
+Dumb Maiden, and how, thereafter, he went forth to seek his own lady of
+love._
+
+Now, after these adventures aforesaid, Sir Percival remained for a long
+while at Beaurepaire, and during that time he was the knight-champion to
+the Lady Blanchefleur. And the Lady Blanchefleur loved Sir Percival every
+day with a greater and greater passion, but Sir Percival showed no passion
+of love for her in return, and thereat Lady Blanchefleur was greatly
+troubled.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percival and the Lady Blanchefleur walk together] Now one
+day the Lady Blanchefleur and Sir Percival were walking together on a
+terrace; and it was then come to be the fall of the year, so that the
+leaves of the trees were showering all down about them like flakes of gold.
+And that day the Lady Blanchefleur loved Sir Percival so much that her
+heart was pierced with that love as though with a great agony. But Sir
+Percival wist not of that.
+
+Then the Lady Blanchefleur said: "Messire, I would that thou wouldst stay
+here always as our knight-champion."
+
+"Lady," quoth Percival, "that may not be, for in a little while now I must
+leave you. For, though I shall be sad to go from such a friendly place as
+this is, yet I am an errant knight, and as I am errant I must fulfil many
+adventures besides the one I have accomplished here."
+
+"Messire," said the Lady Blanchefleur, "if you will but remain here, this
+castle shall be yours and all that it contains."
+
+At this Sir Percival was greatly astonished, wherefore he said: "Lady, how
+may that be? Lo! this castle is yours, and no one can take it away from
+you, nor can you give it to me for mine own."
+
+Then the Lady Blanchefleur turned away her face and bowed her head, and
+said in a voice as though it were stifling her for to speak: "Percival, it
+needs not to take the castle from me; take thou me for thine own, and then
+the castle and all shall be thine."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percival denies the Lady Blanchefleur] At that Sir Percival
+stood for a space very still as though without breathing. Then by and by he
+said: "Lady, meseems that no knight could have greater honor paid to him
+than that which you pay to me. Yet should I accept such a gift as you
+offer, then I would be doing such dishonor to my knighthood that would make
+it altogether unworthy of that high honor you pay it. For already I have
+made my vow to serve a lady, and if I should forswear that vow, I would be
+a dishonored and unworthy knight."
+
+Then the Lady Blanchefleur cried out in a great voice of suffering: "Say no
+more, for I am ashamed."
+
+Sir Percival said: "Nay, there is no shame to thee, but great honor to me."
+But the Lady Blanchefleur would not hear him, but brake away from him in
+great haste, and left him standing where he was.
+
+So Sir Percival could stay no longer at that place; but as soon as might
+be, he took horse and rode away. Nor did he see Blanchefleur again after
+they had thus talked together upon that terrace as aforesaid.
+
+And after Sir Percival had gone, the Lady Blanchefleur abandoned herself to
+great sorrow, for she wept a long while and a very great deal; nor would
+she, for a long while, take any joy in living or in the world in which she
+lived.
+
+[Sidenote: Of the further adventures of Sir Percival] So Sir Percival
+performed that adventure of setting free the duress of the castle of
+Beaurepaire. And after that and ere the winter came, he performed several
+other adventures of more or less fame. And during that time, he overthrew
+eleven knights in various affairs at arms and in all those adventures he
+met with no mishap himself. And besides such encounters at arms, he
+performed several very worthy works; for he slew a wild boar that was a
+terror to all that dwelt nigh to the forest of Umber; and he also slew a
+very savage wolf that infested the moors of the Dart. Wherefore, because of
+these several adventures, the name of Sir Percival became very famous in
+all courts of chivalry, and many said: "Verily, this young knight must be
+the peer of Sir Launcelot of the Lake himself."
+
+Now one day toward eventide (and it was a very cold winter day) Sir
+Percival came to the hut of a hermit in the forest of Usk; and he abode all
+night at that place.
+
+Now when the morning had come he went out and stood in front of the hut,
+and he saw that during the night a soft snow had fallen so that all the
+earth was covered with white. And he saw that it likewise had happened that
+a hawk had struck a raven in front of the hermit's habitation, and that
+some of the raven's feathers and some of its blood lay upon the snow.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percival stands in meditation] Now when Sir Percival beheld
+the blood and the black feathers upon that white snow, he said to himself:
+"Behold! that snow is not whiter than the brow and the neck of my lady; and
+that red is not redder than her lips; and that black is not blacker than
+her hair." Therewith the thought of that lady took great hold upon him and
+he sighed so deeply that he felt his heart lifted within him because of
+that sigh. So he stood and gazed upon that white and red and black, and he
+forgot all things else in the world than his lady-love.
+
+Now it befell at that time that there came a party riding through those
+parts, and that party were Sir Gawaine and Sir Geraint and Sir Kay. And
+when they saw Sir Percival where he stood leaning against a tree and
+looking down upon the ground in deep meditation, Sir Kay said: "Who is
+yonder knight?" (For he wist not that that knight was Sir Percival.) And
+Sir Kay said further: "I will go and bespeak that knight and ask him who he
+is."
+
+But Sir Gawaine perceived that Sir Percival was altogether sunk in deep
+thought, wherefore he said: "Nay, thou wilt do ill to disturb that knight;
+for either he hath some weighty matter upon his mind, or else he is
+bethinking him of his lady, and in either case it would be a pity to
+disturb him until he arouses himself."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Kay shakes the arm of Sir Percival] But Sir Kay would not
+heed what Sir Gawaine said, but forthwith he went to where Sir Percival
+stood; and Sir Percival was altogether unaware of his coming, being so
+deeply sunk in his thoughts. Then Sir Kay said: "Sir Knight,"--but Sir
+Percival did not hear him. And Sir Kay said: "Sir Knight, who art thou?"
+But still Sir Percival did not reply. Then Sir Kay said: "Sir Knight, thou
+shalt answer me!" And therewith he catched Sir Percival by the arm and
+shook him very roughly.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percival smites Sir Kay a buffet] Then Sir Percival aroused
+himself, and he was filled with indignation that anyone should have laid
+rough hands upon his person. And Sir Percival did not recognize Sir Kay
+because he was still entangled in that network of thought, but he said very
+fiercely: "Ha, sirrah! wouldst thou lay hands upon me!" and therewith he
+raised his fist and smote Sir Kay so terrible a buffet beside the head that
+Sir Kay instantly fell down as though he were dead and lay without sense of
+motion upon the ground. Then Sir Percival perceived that there were two
+other knights standing not far off, and therewith his thoughts of other
+things came back to him again and he was aware of what he had done in his
+anger, and was very sorry and ashamed that he should have been so hasty as
+to have struck that blow.
+
+Then Sir Gawaine came to Sir Percival and spake sternly to him saying. "Sir
+Knight, why didst thou strike my companion so unknightly a blow as that?"
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Gawaine chides Sir Percival] To which Sir Percival said:
+"Messire, it grieves me sorely that I should have been so hasty, but I was
+bethinking me of my lady, and this knight disturbed my thoughts; wherefore
+I smote him in haste."
+
+To this Sir Gawaine made reply: "Sir, I perceive that thou hadst great
+excuse for thy blow. Ne'theless, I am displeased that thou shouldst have
+struck that knight. Now I make demand of thee what is thy name and
+condition?"
+
+And Sir Percival said: "My name is Percival, and I am a knight of King
+Arthur's making."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Gawaine and Sir Geraint rejoice over Sir Percival] At that,
+when Sir Gawaine and Sir Geraint heard what Sir Percival said, they cried
+out in great amazement; and Sir Gawaine said: "Ha, Sir Percival! this is
+indeed well met, for my name is Gawaine and I am a nephew unto King Arthur
+and am of his court; and this knight is Sir Geraint, and he also is of King
+Arthur's court and of his Round Table. And we have been in search of thee
+for this long time for to bring thee unto King Arthur at Camelot. For thy
+renown is now spread all over this realm, so that they talk of thee in
+every court of chivalry."
+
+And Sir Percival said: "That is good news to me, for I wist not that I had
+so soon won so much credit. But, touching the matter of returning unto King
+Arthur's court with you; unto that I crave leave to give my excuses. For,
+since you tell me that I now have so much credit of knighthood, it behooves
+me to go immediately unto my lady and to offer my services unto her. For
+when I parted from her I promised her that I would come to her as soon as I
+had won me sufficient credit of knighthood. As for this knight whom I have
+struck, I cannot be sorry for that buffet, even if it was given with my
+fist and not with my sword as I should have given it. For I have promised
+Sir Kay by several mouths that I would sometime repay him with just such a
+buffet as that which he struck the damosel Yelande. So now I have fulfilled
+my promise and have given him that buffet."
+
+Then Sir Gawaine and Sir Geraint laughed, and Sir Gawaine said: "Well, Sir
+Percival, thou hast indeed fulfilled thy promise in very good measure. For
+I make my vow that no one could have been better served with his dessert
+than was Sir Kay."
+
+Now by this time Sir Kay had recovered from that blow, so that he rose up
+very ruefully, looking about as though he wist not yet just where he was.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percival will not return to court] Then Sir Gawaine said to
+Sir Percival: "As to thy coming unto the court of the King, thou dost right
+to fulfil thy promise unto thy lady before undertaking any other
+obligation. For, even though the King himself bid thee come, yet is thy
+obligation to thy lady superior to the command of the King. So now I bid
+thee go in quest of thy lady in God's name; only see to it that thou comest
+to the King's court as soon as thou art able."
+
+So it was that Sir Percival fulfilled the promise of that buffet unto Sir
+Kay.
+
+And now you shall hear how he found the Lady Yvette the Fair.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percival cometh to the castle of Sir Percydes] Now after
+Sir Percival had parted from Sir Gawaine, and Sir Geraint and Sir Kay, he
+went his way in that direction he wist, and by and by, toward eventide, he
+came again to the castle of Sir Percydes. And Sir Percydes was at home and
+he welcomed Sir Percival with great joy and congratulations. For the fame
+of Sir Percival was now abroad in all the world, so that Sir Percydes
+welcomed him with great acclaim.
+
+So Sir Percival sat down with Sir Percydes and they ate and drank together,
+and, for the time, Sir Percival said nothing of that which was upon his
+heart--for he was of a very continent nature and was in no wise hasty in
+his speech.
+
+But after they had satisfied themselves with food and drink, then Sir
+Percival spake to Sir Percydes of that which was upon his mind, saying:
+"Dear friend, thou didst tell me that when I was ready for to come to thee
+with a certain intent thou wouldst tell me who is the lady whose ring I
+wear and where I shall find her. Now, I believe that I am a great deal more
+worthy for to be her knight than I was when I first saw thee; wherefore I
+am now come to beseech thee to redeem thy promise to me. Now tell me, I beg
+of thee, who is that lady and where does she dwell?"
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percydes declares himself to Sir Percival] Then Sir
+Percydes said: "Friend, I will declare to thee that which thou dost ask of
+me. Firstly, that lady is mine own sister, hight Yvette, and she is the
+daughter of King Pecheur. Secondly, thou shalt find her at the castle of my
+father, which standeth upon the west coast of this land. Nor shalt thou
+have any difficulty in finding that castle, for thou mayst easily come to
+it by inquiring the way of those whom thou mayst meet in that region. But,
+indeed, it hath been two years since I have seen my father and my sister,
+and I know not how it is with them."
+
+Then Sir Percival came to Sir Percydes and he put his arm about him and
+kissed him upon either cheek, and he said: "Should I obtain the kind regard
+of that lady, I know nothing that would more rejoice me than to know that
+thou art her brother. For, indeed, I entertain a great deal of love for
+thee."
+
+At that Sir Percydes laughed for joy and he said: "Percival, wilt thou not
+tell me of what house thou art come?" Percival said: "I will tell thee what
+thou dost ask: my father is King Pellinore who was a very good, noble
+knight of the court of King Arthur and of his Round Table."
+
+Then Sir Percydes cried out with great amazement, saying: "That is very
+marvellous! I would that I had known this before, for thy mother and my
+mother were sisters of one father and one mother. So we are cousins
+german."
+
+Then Sir Percival said: "This is great joy to me!" And his heart was
+expanded with pleasure at finding that Sir Percydes was of his kindred and
+that he was no longer alone in that part of the world.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percival departs for the castle of King Pecheur] So Sir
+Percival abided for two days with Sir Percydes and then he betook his way
+to the westward in pursuance of that adventure. And he was upon the road
+three days, and upon the morning of the fourth day he came, through
+diligent inquiry, within sight of the castle of King Pecheur. This castle
+stood upon a high crag of rock from which it arose against the sky so that
+it looked to be a part of the crag. And it was a very noble and stately
+castle, having many tall towers and many buildings within the walls
+thereof. And a village of white houses of the fisher-folk gathered upon the
+rocks beneath the castle walls like chicks beneath the shadow of their
+mother's wings.
+
+And, behold! Percival saw the great sea for the first time in all his life,
+and was filled with wonder at the huge waves that ran toward the shore and
+burst upon the rocks, all white like snow. And he was amazed at the
+multitude of sea fowl that flew about the rocks in such prodigious numbers
+that they darkened the sky. Likewise he was astonished at the fisher-boats
+that spread their white sails against the wind, and floated upon the water
+like swans, for he had never seen their like before. So he sat his horse
+upon a high rock nigh to the sea and gazed his fill upon those things that
+were so wonderful to him.
+
+Then after a while Sir Percival went forward to the castle. And as he drew
+nigh to the castle he became aware that a very reverend man, whose hair and
+beard were as white as snow, sat upon a cushion of crimson velvet upon a
+rock that overlooked the sea. Two pages, richly clad in black and silver,
+stood behind him; and the old man gazed out across the sea, and Sir
+Percival saw that he neither spake nor moved. But when Sir Percival came
+near to him the old man arose and went into the castle, and the two pages
+took up the two crimson velvet cushions and followed him.
+
+But Percival rode up to the castle, and he saw that the gateway of the
+castle stood open, wherefore he rode into the courtyard of the castle. And
+when he had come into the courtyard, two attendants immediately appeared
+and took his horse and assisted him to dismount; but neither of these
+attendants said aught to him, but both were as silent as deaf-mutes.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percival finds King Pecheur] Then Percival entered the hall
+and there he saw the old man whom he had before seen, and the old man sat
+in a great carved chair beside a fire of large logs of wood. And Sir
+Percival saw that the eyes of the old man were all red and that his cheeks
+were channeled with weeping; and Percival was abashed at the sadness of his
+aspect. Nevertheless, he came to where the old man sat and saluted him with
+great reverence, and he said: "Art thou King Pecheur?" And the old man
+answered, "Aye, for I am both a fisher and a sinner" (for that word Pecheur
+meaneth both fisher and sinner).
+
+Then Sir Percival said: "Sire, I bring thee greetings from thy son, Sir
+Percydes, who is a very dear friend to me. And likewise I bring thee
+greeting from myself: for I am Percival, King Pellinore's son, and thy
+Queen and my mother are sisters. And likewise I come to redeem a pledge,
+for, behold, here is the ring of thy daughter Yvette, unto whom I am
+pledged for her true knight. Wherefore, having now achieved a not
+dishonorable renown in the world of chivalry, I am come to beseech her
+kindness and to redeem my ring which she hath upon her finger and to give
+her back her ring again."
+
+Then King Pecheur fell to weeping in great measure and he said: "Percival
+thy fame hath reached even to this remote place, for every one talketh of
+thee with great unction. But, touching my daughter Yvette, if thou wilt
+come with me I will bring thee to her."
+
+So King Pecheur arose and went forth and Sir Percival followed him. And
+King Pecheur brought Sir Percival to a certain tower; and he brought him up
+a long and winding stair; and at the top of the stairway was a door. And
+King Pecheur opened the door and Sir Percival entered the apartment.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percival findeth the Lady Yvette] The windows of the
+apartment stood open, and a cold wind came in thereat from off the sea; and
+there stood a couch in the middle of the room, and it was spread with black
+velvet; and the Lady Yvette lay reclined upon the couch, and, lo! her face
+was like to wax for whiteness, and she neither moved nor spake, but only
+lay there perfectly still; for she was dead.
+
+Seven waxen candles burned at her head, and seven others at her feet, and
+the flames of the candles spread and wavered as the cold wind blew upon
+them. And the hair of her head (as black as those raven feathers that Sir
+Percival had beheld lying upon the snow) moved like threads of black silk
+as the wind blew in through the window--but the Lady Yvette moved not nor
+stirred, but lay like a statue of marble all clad in white.
+
+Then at the first Sir Percival stood very still at the door-way as though
+he had of a sudden been turned into stone. Then he went forward and stood
+beside the couch and held his hands very tightly together and gazed at the
+Lady Yvette where she lay. So he stood for a long while, and he wist not
+why it was that he felt like as though he had been turned into a stone,
+without such grief at his heart as he had thought to feel thereat. (For
+indeed, his spirit was altogether broken though he knew it not.)
+
+[Sidenote: Of the grief of Sir Percival] Then he spake unto that still
+figure, and he said: "Dear lady, is it thus I find thee after all this long
+endeavor of mine? Yet from Paradise, haply, thou mayst perceive all that I
+have accomplished in thy behalf. So shalt thou be my lady always to the end
+of my life and I will have none other than thee. Wherefore I herewith give
+thee thy ring again and take mine own in its stead." Therewith, so
+speaking, he lifted that hand (all so cold like the snow) and took his ring
+from off her finger and put her ring back upon it again.
+
+Then King Pecheur said, "Percival, hast thou no tears?"
+
+And Percival said, "Nay, I have none." Therewith he turned and left that
+place, and King Pecheur went with him.
+
+After that Sir Percival abided in that place for three days, and King
+Pecheur and his lady Queen and their two young sons who dwelt at that place
+made great pity over him, and wept a great deal. But Sir Percival said but
+little in reply and wept not at all.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+And now I shall tell you of that wonderful vision that came unto Sir
+Percival at this place upon Christmas day.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percival beholds the grail] For on the third day (which was
+Christmas day) it chanced that Sir Percival sat alone in the hall of the
+castle, and he meditated upon the great sorrow that lay upon him. And as he
+sat thus this very wonderful thing befell him: He suddenly beheld two
+youths enter that hall. And the faces of the two youths shone with
+exceeding brightness, and their hair shone like gold, and their raiment was
+very bright and glistering like to gold. One of these youths bare in his
+hand a spear of mighty size, and blood dropped from the point of the spear;
+and the other youth bare in his hand a chalice of pure gold, very wonderful
+to behold, and he held the chalice in a napkin of fine cambric linen.
+
+Then, at first, Sir Percival thought that that which he beheld was a vision
+conjured up by the deep sorrow that filled his heart, and he was afeard.
+But the youth who bare the chalice spake in a voice extraordinarily high
+and clear. And he said: "Percival! Percival! be not afraid! This which thou
+here beholdest is the Sangreal, and that is the Spear of Sorrow. What then
+may thy sorrow be in the presence of these holy things that brought with
+them such great sorrow and affliction of soul that they have become
+entirely sanctified thereby! Thus, Percival, should thy sorrow so sanctify
+thy life and not make it bitter to thy taste. For so did this bitter cup
+become sanctified by the great sorrow that tasted of it."
+
+Percival said: "Are these things real or are they a vision that I behold?"
+
+He who bare the chalice said, "They are real." And he who bare the spear
+said, "They are real."
+
+Then a great peace and comfort came to Sir Percival's heart and they never
+left him to the day of his death.
+
+Then they who bare the Sangreal and the Spear went out of the hall, and Sir
+Percival kneeled there for a while after they had gone and prayed with
+great devotion and with much comfort and satisfaction.
+
+And this was the first time that any of those knights that were of King
+Arthur's Round Table ever beheld that holy chalice, the which Sir Percival
+was one of three to achieve in after-years.
+
+So when Sir Percival came forth from that hall, all those who beheld him
+were astonished at the great peace and calmness that appeared to emanate
+from him. But he told no one of that miraculous vision which he had just
+beheld, and, though it appeareth in the history of these things, yet it was
+not then made manifest.
+
+Then Sir Percival said to King Pecheur, his uncle and to his aunt and to
+their sons: "Now, dear friends, the time hath come when I must leave you.
+For I must now presently go to the court of King Arthur in obedience to his
+commands and to acknowledge myself unto my brother, Sir Lamorack."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percival departs for court] So that day Sir Percival set
+forth with intent to go to Camelot, where King Arthur was then holding
+court in great estate of pomp. And Sir Percival reached Camelot upon the
+fourth day from that time and that was during the feasts of Christmas-tide.
+
+Now King Arthur sat at those feasts and there were six score of very noble
+company seated with him. And the King's heart was greatly uplifted and
+expanded with mirth and good cheer. Then, while all were feasting with
+great concord, there suddenly came into that hall an herald-messenger; the
+whom, when King Arthur beheld him, he asked: "What message hast thou
+brought?" Upon this the messenger said: "Lord, there hath come one asking
+permission to enter here whom you will be very well pleased to see." The
+King said, "Who is it?" And the herald-messenger said, "He saith his name
+is Percival."
+
+Upon this King Arthur arose from where he sat and all the others uprose
+with him and there was a great sound of loud voices; for the fame of Sir
+Percival had waxed very great since he had begun his adventures. So King
+Arthur and the others went down the hall for to meet Sir Percival.
+
+Then the door opened and Sir Percival came into that place, and his face
+shone very bright with peace and good-will; and he was exceedingly comely.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percival is received with joy] King Arthur said, "Art thou
+Percival?" And Percival said, "I am he." Thereupon King Arthur took Sir
+Percival's head into his hands, and he kissed him upon the brow. And Sir
+Percival kissed King Arthur's hand and he kissed the ring of royalty upon
+the King's finger, and so he became a true knight in fealty unto King
+Arthur.
+
+Then Sir Percival said: "Lord, have I thy leave to speak?" And King Arthur
+said, "Say on." Sir Percival said, "Where is Sir Lamorack?" And King Arthur
+said, "Yonder he is." Then Sir Percival perceived where Sir Lamorack stood
+among the others, and he went to Sir Lamorack and knelt down before him;
+and Sir Lamorack was very much astonished, and said: "Why dost thou kneel
+to me, Percival?" Then Sir Percival said, "Dost thou know this ring?"
+
+Then Sir Lamorack knew his father's ring and he cried out in a loud voice:
+"That is my father's ring; how came ye by it?"
+
+Percival said: "Our mother gave it to me, for I am thy brother."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percival declares himself to Sir Lamorack] Upon this Sir
+Lamorack cried out with great passion; and he flung his arms about Sir
+Percival, and he kissed him repeatedly upon the face. And so ardent was the
+great love and the great passion that moved him that all those who stood
+about could in no wise contain themselves, but wept at that which they
+beheld.
+
+Then, after a while, King Arthur said: "Percival, come with me, for I have
+somewhat to show thee."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percival is made Knight of the Round Table] So King Arthur
+and Sir Lamorack and Sir Percival and several others went unto that
+pavilion which was the pavilion of the Round Table, and there King Arthur
+showed Sir Percival a seat which was immediately upon the right hand of the
+Seat Perilous.
+
+And upon the back of that seat there was a name emblazoned in letters of
+gold; and the name was this:
+
+PERCIVAL OF GALES
+
+Then King Arthur said: "Behold, Sir Percival, this is thy seat, for four
+days ago that name appeared most miraculously, of a sudden, where thou
+seest it; wherefore that seat is thine."
+
+Then Sir Percival was aware that that name had manifested itself at the
+time when the Sangreal had appeared unto him in the castle of King Pecheur,
+and he was moved with a great passion of love and longing for the Lady
+Yvette; so that, because of the strength of that passion, it took upon it
+the semblance of a terrible joy. And he said to himself: "If my lady could
+but have beheld these, how proud would she have been! But, doubtless, she
+now looketh down from Paradise and beholdeth us and all that we do."
+Thereupon he lifted up his eyes as though to behold her, but she was not
+there, but only the roof of that pavilion.
+
+But he held his peace and said naught to anyone of those thoughts that
+disturbed him.
+
+With this I conclude for the present the adventures of Sir Percival with
+only this to say: that thereafter, as soon as might be, he and Sir Lamorack
+went up into the mountains where their mother dwelt and brought her down
+thence into the world, and that she was received at the court of King
+Arthur with great honor and high regard until, after a while, she entered
+into a nunnery and took the veil.
+
+Likewise it is to be said that Sir Percival lived, as he had vowed to do, a
+virgin knight for all of his life; for he never paid court to any lady from
+that time, but ever held within the sanctuary of his mind the image of that
+dear lady who waited for him in Paradise until he should come unto her in
+such season as God should see fit.
+
+But you must not think that this is all that there is to tell of that
+noble, gentle and worthy young knight whose history we have been
+considering. For after this he performed many glorious services to the
+great honor of his knighthood and achieved so many notable adventures that
+the world spoke of him as being second in worship only to Sir Launcelot of
+the Lake. Yea; there were many who doubted whether Sir Launcelot himself
+was really a greater knight than Sir Percival; and though I may admit that
+Sir Launcelot had the greater prowess, yet Sir Percival was, certes, the
+more pure in heart and transparent of soul of those two.
+
+So, hereafter, if God so wills, I shall tell more of Sir Percival, for I
+shall have much to write concerning him when I have to tell of the
+achievement of the Sangreal which he beheld in that vision at the Castle of
+King Pecheur as aforetold.
+
+So, for this time, no more of these adventures, but fare you well.
+
+
+
+
+CONCLUSION
+
+Thus endeth the particular history of those three worthy, noble, excellent
+knights-champion--Sir Launcelot of the Lake, Sir Tristram of Lyonesse, and
+Sir Percival of Gales.
+
+And I do hope that you may have found pleasure in considering their lives
+and their works as I have done. For as I wrote of their behavior and
+pondered upon it, meseemed they offered a very high example that anyone
+might follow to his betterment who lives in this world where so much that
+is ill needs to be amended.
+
+But though I have told so much, yet, as I have just said, there remain many
+other things to tell concerning Sir Launcelot and Sir Percival, which may
+well afford anyone pleasure to read. These I shall recount in another
+volume at another time, with such particularity as those histories may
+demand.
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10745 ***
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+<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10745 ***</div>
+<h1>The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Story of the Champions of the Round
+Table, Written and Illustrated by Howard Pyle</h1>
+<br />
+
+<hr />
+<table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="20" cellpadding="0">
+  <tr>
+    <td> <a href="images/cover.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/cover.gif" alt="The Story of the Champions of the Round Table" /></a>
+    </td>
+    <td>
+      <h1> The Story of<br />
+        the<br />
+        Champions<br />
+        of the<br />
+        Round Table<br />
+        <br />
+      </h1>
+      <h3> <i>Written and Illustrated</i><br />
+        <i>by</i><br />
+        HOWARD PYLE.<br />
+      </h3>
+      <div class="chapheadcont"> <a href="#foreward">Foreward</a><br />
+        <a href="#contents">Table of Contents</a><br />
+        <a href="#illustrations">List of Illustrations</a><br />
+      </div>
+    </td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td>
+      <div class="foreward">
+        <p> <img src="images/i.gif" align="left" alt="I" border="0" /> n 1902 the distinguished
+          American artist Howard Pyle undertook to retell and illustrate the legend
+          of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. His four-volume work
+          has long been considered one of the outstanding interpretations of the
+          Arthur cycle. </p>
+        <p> <i>The Story of the Champions of the Round Table</i>, the second of
+          Pyle's volumes, was originally published in 1905. Reissued now, identical
+          in format to the original volume, with Pyle's superb illustrations and
+          decorations, it is destined to reach new generations of readers. <i>The
+          Story of the Champions of the Round Table</i> recounts the full and
+          moving saga of three of Arthur's famous knights: Percival, Tristram,
+          and Launcelot of the Lake. </p>
+        <blockquote> <i>"The period in which Howard Pyle did his work frequently
+          has been spoken of as that Golden Age in children's literature that
+          was to last for the decade to follow. It is difficult to do justice
+          to his contribution to the shining quality of that era. The magnitude
+          and diversity of his work eludes definition. Creative artist and born
+          storyteller, each aspect of his twofold genius enriched and interpreted
+          the other."</i> </blockquote>
+        <p> --Elizabeth Nesbitt, in <i>A Critical History of Children's Literature</i>
+        </p>
+      </div>
+    </td>
+    <td> <a href="images/001.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images"  src="images/001.gif" border="0" alt="The Story of the Champions of the Round Table" /></a>
+    </td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div id="foreward" class="foreward">
+  <div align="center"> <a href="images/003.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="h1" src="images/003.gif" alt="Foreword" border="0" /></a>
+  </div>
+  <p> <i>In a book which was written by me aforetime, and which was set forth
+    in print, I therein told much of the history of King Arthur; of how he manifested
+    his royalty in the achievement of that wonderful magic sword which he drew
+    forth out of the anvil; of how he established his royalty; of how he found
+    a splendid sword yclept Excalibur in a miraculously wonderful manner; of how
+    he won the most beautiful lady in the world for his queen; and of how he established
+    the famous Round Table of noble worthy knights, the like of whose prowess
+    the world hath never seen, and will not be likely ever to behold again.</i>
+  </p>
+  <p> <i>Also I told in that book the adventures of certain worthy knights and
+    likewise how the magician Merlin was betrayed to his undoing by a sorceress
+    hight Vivien.</i> </p>
+  <p> <i>Now, if you took any joy in reading that book, I have great hope that
+    that which follows may be every whit as pleasing to you; for I shall hereinafter
+    have to do with the adventures of certain other worthies with whom you may
+    have already become acquainted through my book and otherwise; and likewise
+    of the adventures of certain other worthies, of whom you have not yet been
+    told by me.</i> </p>
+  <p> <i>More especially, I believe, you will find entertainment in what I shall
+    have to tell you of the adventures of that great knight who was altogether
+    the most noble of spirit, and the most beautiful, and the bravest of heart,
+    of any knight who ever lived--excepting only his own son, Galahad, who was
+    the crowning glory of his house and of his name and of the reign of King Arthur.</i>
+  </p>
+  <p> <i>However, if Sir Launcelot of the Lake failed now and then in his behavior,
+    who is there in the world shall say, "I never fell into error"? And if he
+    more than once offended, who is there shall have hardihood to say, "I never
+    committed offence"?</i> </p>
+  <p> <i>Yea, that which maketh Launcelot so singularly dear to all the world,
+    is that he was not different from other men, but like other men, both in his
+    virtues and his shortcomings; only that he was more strong and more brave
+    and more untiring than those of us who are his brethren, both in our endeavors
+    and in our failures.</i> </p>
+</div>
+<div align="center"> <a href="images/004.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="t1" src="images/004.gif" alt="Tail Piece--Foreward" border="0" /></a>
+</div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div id="contents">
+  <div align="center"> <a href="images/005.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="h2" src="images/005.gif" alt="Table of Contents" border="0" /></a>
+  </div>
+  <table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="10" cellpadding="0">
+    <tr>
+      <td colspan="2">
+        <div class="chaphead"><a href="#launcelot">THE STORY OF SIR LAUNCELOT</a></div>
+        <br />
+      </td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+      <td>
+        <div class="chapheadcont"><a href="#la1">Chapter First</a></div>
+        <div class="chapdescont"> How Sir Launcelot Came Forth From the Enchanted
+          Castle of the Lake and Entered Into the World Again, and How King Arthur
+          Made Him Knight </div>
+      </td>
+      <td>
+        <div class="chapheadcont"><a href="#la2">Chapter Second</a></div>
+        <div class="chapdescont"> How Sir Launcelot and Sir Lionel Rode Forth
+          Errant Together and How Sir Lionel Met Sir Turquine to His Great Dole.
+          Also How Sir Ector Grieved for the Departure of His Brother Launcelot
+          and So, Following Him, Fell into a Very Sorry Adventure </div>
+      </td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+      <td>
+        <div class="chapheadcont"><a href="#la3">Chapter Third</a></div>
+        <div class="chapdescont"> How Sir Launcelot was Found in a Sleep by Queen
+          Morgana le Fay and Three Other Queens who were with Her, and How He
+          was Taken to a Castle of Queen Morgana's and of What Befell Him There
+        </div>
+      </td>
+      <td>
+        <div class="chapheadcont"><a href="#la4">Chapter Fourth</a></div>
+        <div class="chapdescont"> How Sir Launcelot Sought Sir Lionel and How
+          a Young Damsel Brought Him to the Greatest Battle that Ever He Had in
+          All His Life </div>
+      </td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+      <td>
+        <div class="chapheadcont"><a href="#la5">Chapter Fifth</a></div>
+        <div class="chapdescont">How Sir Launcelot Went Upon an Adventure with
+          the Damsel Croisette as Companion, and How He Overcame Sir Peris of
+          the Forest Sauvage</div>
+      </td>
+      <td>
+        <div class="chapheadcont"><a href="#la6">Chapter Sixth</a></div>
+        <div class="chapdescont">How Sir Launcelot Took Part in the Tournament
+          Between King Bagdemagus and the King of North Wales, and How He Won
+          that Battle for King Bagdemagus</div>
+      </td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+      <td>
+        <div class="chapheadcont"><a href="#la7">Chapter Seventh</a></div>
+        <div class="chapdescont">How Sir Launcelot Fell Into the Greatest Peril
+          that Ever He Encountered in all His Life. Also How He Freed a Misfortunate
+          Castle and Town From the Giants Who Held Them, and How He Released the
+          Lord Thereof From a Dungeon</div>
+      </td>
+      <td>
+        <div class="chapheadcont"><a href="#la8">Chapter Eighth</a></div>
+        <div class="chapdescont">How Sir Launcelot Rescued Sir Kay From a Perilous
+          Pass Also How He Changed Armor with Sir Kay and what Befell</div>
+      </td>
+    </tr>
+  </table>
+  <table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="10" cellpadding="0">
+    <tr>
+      <td colspan="2">
+        <div class="chaphead"><a href="#tristram">THE BOOK OF SIR TRISTRAM</a></div>
+      </td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+      <td colspan="2">
+        <div class="partheadcont"><a href="#trip1">Part I<br />
+          The Story of Sir Tristram and the Lady Belle Isoult</a></div>
+      </td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+      <td>
+        <div class="chapheadcont"><a href="#tr1c1">Chapter First</a></div>
+        <div class="chapdescont">How the new Queen of Lyonesse sought Tristram's
+          life; how he went to France, and how he Returned again to Lyonesse and
+          was Received With Love at that Place</div>
+      </td>
+      <td>
+        <div class="chapheadcont"><a href="#tr1c2">Chapter Second</a></div>
+        <div class="chapdescont">How Sir Tristram was made Knight by the King
+          of Cornwall, and how he Fought a Battle with a Famous Champion</div>
+      </td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+      <td>
+        <div class="chapheadcont"><a href="#tr1c3">Chapter Third</a></div>
+        <div class="chapdescont">How Sir Tristram went to Ireland to be healed
+          of his Wound by the King's Daughter of Ireland, and of how he came to
+          love the Lady Belle Isoult. Also concerning Sir Palamydes and the Lady
+          Belle Isoult</div>
+      </td>
+      <td>
+        <div class="chapheadcont"><a href="#tr1c4">Chapter Fourth</a></div>
+        <div class="chapdescont">How Sir Tristram encountered Sir Palamydes at
+          the Tournament and of what befell. Also how Sir Tristram was Forced
+          to leave the Kingdom of Ireland</div>
+      </td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+      <td>
+        <div class="chapheadcont"><a href="#tr1c5">Chapter Fifth</a></div>
+        <div class="chapdescont">How Sir Tristram was sent by Command of King
+          Mark to go to Ireland to Bring the Lady the Belle Isoult from Ireland
+          to Cornwall and how it fared with him</div>
+      </td>
+      <td>
+        <div class="chapheadcont"><a href="#tr1c6">Chapter Sixth</a></div>
+        <div class="chapdescont">How Sir Tristram had to do in Battle with Three
+          Knights of the Round Table. Also how he had Speech with King Arthur</div>
+      </td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+      <td colspan="2">
+        <div class="chapheadcont"><a href="#tr1c7">Chapter Seventh</a></div>
+        <div class="chapdescont">How Sir Tristram had Speech with King Angus of
+          Ireland; how he Undertook to Champion the Cause of King Angus and of
+          what Happened Thereafter</div>
+      </td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+      <td colspan="2">
+        <div class="partheadcont"><a href="#trip2"><br />
+          Part II<br />
+          The Story of Sir Tristram and Sir Lamorack</a></div>
+      </td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+      <td>
+        <div class="chapheadcont"><a href="#tr2c1">Chapter First</a></div>
+        <div class="chapdescont">How Sir Lamorack of Gales came to Tintagel and
+          how he and Sir Tristram Sware Friendship Together in the Forest</div>
+      </td>
+      <td>
+        <div class="chapheadcont"><a href="#tr2c2">Chapter Second</a></div>
+        <div class="chapdescont">How Sir Tristram Started to go to Camelot, and
+          how he Stayed by the Way to do Battle with Sir Nabon le Noir</div>
+      </td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+      <td colspan="2">
+        <div class="chapheadcont"><a href="#tr2c3">Chapter Third</a></div>
+        <div class="chapdescont">How Sir Tristram did justice in the island, and
+          Thereby Released Sir Lamorack from Captivity. Also how Sir Tristram
+          and Sir Lamorack Renewed their Great Tenderness Toward one another</div>
+      </td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+      <td colspan="2">
+        <div class="partheadcont"><a href="#trip3"><br />
+          Part III<br />
+          The Madness Of Sir Tristram</a></div>
+      </td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+      <td>
+        <div class="chapheadcont"><a href="#tr3c1">Chapter First</a></div>
+        <div class="chapdescont">How Sir Tristram was Discovered with the Lady
+          Belle Isoult; how he Assaulted King Mark, and how he Escaped from Tintagel
+          into the Forest</div>
+      </td>
+      <td>
+        <div class="chapheadcont"><a href="#tr3c2">Chapter Second</a></div>
+        <div class="chapdescont">How Sir Tristram got him a Sword from Sir Kay,
+          and how he Slew Therewith a Huge Knight in the Forest and Rescued a
+          Lady in very Great Distress. Also how Sir Launcelot found Sir Tristram
+          in the Forest and Brought him Thence to Tintagel again</div>
+      </td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+      <td>
+        <div class="chapheadcont"><a href="#tr3c3">Chapter Third</a></div>
+        <div class="chapdescont">How Sir Tristram was Discovered at Tintagel and
+          of what Befell Thereby</div>
+      </td>
+      <td>
+        <div class="chapheadcont"><a href="#tr3c4">Chapter Fourth</a></div>
+        <div class="chapdescont">How Sir Tristram and the Lady Belle Isoult Returned
+          to Cornwall, and how they Ended their Days Together</div>
+      </td>
+    </tr>
+  </table>
+  <table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="10" cellpadding="0">
+    <tr>
+      <td colspan="2">
+        <div class="chaphead"><a href="#percival">THE BOOK OF SIR PERCIVAL</a><br />
+        </div>
+      </td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+      <td>
+        <div class="chapheadcont"><a href="#per1">Chapter First</a></div>
+        <div class="chapdescont">How Percival Departed into the World and how
+          he Found a Fair Damsel in a Pavilion; likewise how he came before Queen
+          Guinevere and how he Undertook his First Adventure</div>
+      </td>
+      <td>
+        <div class="chapheadcont"><a href="#per2">Chapter Second</a></div>
+        <div class="chapdescont">How Sir Percival was made Knight by King Arthur;
+          how he rode Forth with Sir Lamorack and how he Left Sir Lamorack in
+          quest of Adventure upon his own Account; likewise how a Great Knight
+          Taught him craft in Arms</div>
+      </td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+      <td>
+        <div class="chapheadcont"><a href="#per3">Chapter Third</a></div>
+        <div class="chapdescont">How Sir Percival met two Strange People in the
+          Forest, and how he Succored a Knight who was in very Great Sorrow and
+          Dole</div>
+      </td>
+      <td>
+        <div class="chapheadcont"><a href="#per4">Chapter Fourth</a></div>
+        <div class="chapdescont">How Sir Percival Undertook the Adventure of the
+          Castle of Beaurepaire and how he Fared Therein after Several Excellent
+          Adventures</div>
+      </td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+      <td colspan="2">
+        <div class="chapheadcont"><a href="#per5">Chapter Fifth</a></div>
+        <div class="chapdescont">How Sir Percival Repaid Sir Kay the Buffet he
+          one time gave Yelande the Dumb Maiden, and how, Thereafter, he went
+          Forth to Seek his own Lady of Love</div>
+      </td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+      <td colspan="2">
+        <div class="chaphead"><a href="#conclusion">CONCLUSION</a></div>
+      </td>
+    </tr>
+  </table>
+  <div align="center"> <a href="images/006.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="t2" src="images/006.gif" alt="Tail Piece--Table of Contents" border="0" /></a>
+  </div>
+  <br />
+  <br />
+  <br />
+  <br />
+  <br />
+  <br />
+  <br />
+</div>
+<div id="illustrations">
+  <div align="center"> <a href="images/007.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="h3" src="images/007.gif" alt="List of Illustrations" border="0" /></a>
+  </div>
+  <table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="15" cellpadding="0">
+    <tr>
+      <td>
+        <div class="illus"> <a href="#h1">Head Piece--Foreward</a><br />
+          <a href="#t1">Tail Piece--Foreward</a><br />
+          <br />
+          <a href="#h2">Head Piece--Table of Contents</a><br />
+          <a href="#t2">Tail Piece--Table of Contents</a><br />
+          <br />
+          <a href="#h3">Head Piece--List of Illustrations</a><br />
+          <a href="#t3">Tail Piece--List of Illustrations</a><br />
+          <br />
+          <a href="#h4">Head Piece--Prologue</a><br />
+          <a href="#p1">The Lady Nymue beareth away Launcelot into the Lake</a><br />
+          <a href="#t4">Tail Piece--Prologue</a><br />
+          <br />
+          <a href="#p2">Sir Launcelot of the Lake</a><br />
+          <a href="#h5">Head Piece--The Story of Launcelot</a><br />
+          <a href="#p3">Sir Launcelot greets Queen Guinevere</a><br />
+          <a href="#p4">Sir Lionel of Britain</a><br />
+          <a href="#p5">Queen Morgana appears unto Sir Launcelot</a><br />
+          <a href="#p6">Sir Launcelot doeth battle with Sir Turquine</a><br />
+          <a href="#p7">Sir Launcelot sits with Sir Hilaire and Croisette</a><br />
+          <a href="#p8">Sir Launcelot and Elouise the Fair</a><br />
+          <a href="#p9">Sir Launcelot climbs to catch the lady's falcon</a><br />
+          <a href="#p10">Sir Launcelot takes the armor of Sir Kay</a><br />
+          <a href="#t5">Tail Piece--The Story of Launcelot</a><br />
+          <br />
+          <a href="#p11">Sir Tristram of Lyonesse</a><br />
+          <a href="#h6">Head Piece--Prologue</a><br />
+          <a href="#t6">Tail Piece--Prologue</a><br />
+          <br />
+          <a href="#p14">The Lady Belle Isoult</a><br />
+        </div>
+      </td>
+      <td>
+        <div class="illus"> <a href="#h7">Head Piece--The Story of Sir Tristram
+          and the Lady Belle Isoult</a><br />
+          <a href="#p12">Tristram succors the Lady Moeya</a><br />
+          <a href="#p13">King Mark of Cornwall</a><br />
+          <a href="#p15">The Queen of Ireland seeks to slay Sir Tristram</a><br />
+          <a href="#p16">Sir Tristram harpeth before King Mark</a><br />
+          <a href="#p17">Sir Tristram sits with Sir Launcelot</a><br />
+          <a href="#p18">Belle Isoult and Sir Tristram drink the love draught</a><br />
+          <a href="#t7">Tail Piece--The Story of Sir Tristram and the Lady Belle
+          Isoult</a><br />
+          <br />
+          <a href="#p19">Sir Lamorack of Gales</a><br />
+          <a href="#h8">Head Piece--The Story of Sir Tristram and Sir Lamorack</a><br />
+          <a href="#p20">Sir Tristram cometh to ye castle of Sir Nabon</a><br />
+          <a href="#p21">Sir Lamorack herds the swine of Sir Nabon</a><br />
+          <a href="#t8">Tail Piece--The Story of Sir Tristram and Sir Lamorack</a><br />
+          <br />
+          <a href="#h9">Head Piece--The Madness of Sir Tristram</a><br />
+          <a href="#p22">Sir Tristram assaults King Mark</a><br />
+          <a href="#p23">Sir Kay and the Forest Madman</a><br />
+          <a href="#p24">Sir Tristram leaps into ye Sea</a><br />
+          <a href="#p25">King Mark broods mischief</a><br />
+          <a href="#t9">Tail Piece--The Madness of Sir Tristram</a><br />
+          <br />
+          <a href="#p26">Sir Percival of Gales</a><br />
+          <a href="#h10">Head Piece--Prologue</a><br />
+          <a href="#p27">The Lady Yvette the Fair</a><br />
+          <a href="#p28">Sir Percival and Sir Lamorack ride together</a><br />
+          <a href="#p29">Sir Percival overcometh ye Enchantress Vivien</a><br />
+          <a href="#p30">The Demoiselle Blanchefleur</a><br />
+          <a href="#p31">Sir Kay interrupts ye meditations of Sir Percival</a><br />
+          <a href="#t10">Tail Piece--The Book of Sir Percival</a><br />
+        </div>
+      </td>
+    </tr>
+  </table>
+  <div align="center"> <a href="images/008.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="t3"  src="images/008.gif" alt="Tail Piece--List of Illustrations" border="0" /></a>
+  </div>
+</div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div id="prologue">
+  <div align="center"> <a href="images/010.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="h4" src="images/010.gif" alt="Prologue" border="0" /></a>
+  </div>
+  <p> It hath already been set forth in print in a volume written by me concerning
+    the adventures of King Arthur when he first became king, how there were certain
+    lesser kings who favored him and were friendly allies with him, and how there
+    were certain others of the same sort who were his enemies. </p>
+  <p> Among those who were his friends was King Ban of Benwick, who was an exceedingly
+    noble lord of high estate and great honor, and who was of a lineage so exalted
+    that it is not likely that there was anyone in the world who was of a higher
+    strain. </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Of King Ban and his misfortunes.</div>
+  <p> Now, upon a certain time, King Ban of Benwick fell into great trouble; for
+    there came against him a very powerful enemy, to wit, King Claudas of Scotland.
+    King Claudas brought unto Benwick a huge army of knights and lords, and these
+    sat down before the Castle of Trible with intent to take that strong fortress
+    and destroy it. </p>
+  <p> This noble Castle of Trible was the chiefest and the strongest place of
+    defence in all King Ban's dominions, wherefore he had intrenched himself there
+    with all of his knights and with his Queen, hight Helen, and his youngest
+    son, hight Launcelot. </p>
+  <p> Now this child, Launcelot, was dearer to Queen Helen than all the world
+    besides, for he was not only large of limb but so extraordinarily beautiful
+    of face that I do not believe an angel from Paradise could have been more
+    beautiful than he. He had been born with a singular birth-mark upon his shoulder,
+    which birth-mark had the appearance as of a golden star enstamped upon the
+    skin; wherefore, because of this, the Queen would say: "Launcelot, by reason
+    of that star upon thy shoulder I believe that thou shalt be the star of our
+    house and that thou shalt shine with such remarkable glory that all the world
+    shall behold thy lustre and shall marvel thereat for all time to come." So
+    the Queen took extraordinary delight in Launcelot and loved him to the very
+    core of her heart--albeit she knew not, at the time she spake, how that prophecy
+    of hers concerning the star was to fall so perfectly true. </p>
+  <p> Now, though King Ban thought himself very well defended at his Castle of
+    Trible, yet King Claudas brought so terribly big an army against that place
+    that it covered the entire plain. A great many battles were fought under the
+    walls of the castle, but ever King Claudas waxed greater and stronger, and
+    King Ban's party grew weaker and more fearful. </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">King Ban bethinks him of King Arthur.</div>
+  <p> So by and by things came to such a pass that King Ban bethought him of King
+    Arthur, and he said to himself: "I will go to my lord the King and beseech
+    help and aid from him, for he will certainly give it me. Nor will I trust
+    any messenger in this affair other than myself; for I myself will go to King
+    Arthur and will speak to him with my own lips." </p>
+  <p> Having thus bethought him, he sent for Queen Helen to come into his privy
+    closet and he said to her: "My dear love, nothing remaineth for me but to
+    go unto the court of King Arthur and beseech him to lend his powerful aid
+    in this extremity of our misfortunes; nor will I trust any messenger in this
+    affair but myself. Now, this castle is no place for thee, when I am away,
+    therefore, when I go upon this business, I will take thee and Launcelot with
+    me, and I will leave you both in safety at King Arthur's court with our other
+    son, Sir Ector, until this war be ended and done." And to these Queen Helen
+    lent her assent. </p>
+  <p> So King Ban summoned to him the seneschal of the castle, who was named Sir
+    Malydor le Brun, and said to him: "Messire, I go hence to-night by a secret
+    pass, with intent to betake me unto King Arthur, and to beseech his aid in
+    this extremity. Moreover, I shall take with me my lady and the young child
+    Launcelot, to place them within the care of King Arthur during these dolorous
+    wars. But besides these, I will take no other one with me but only my favorite
+    esquire, Foliot. Now I charge thee, sir, to hold this castle in my behalf
+    with all thy might and main, and yield it not to our enemies upon any extremity;
+    for I believe I shall in a little while return with sufficient aid from King
+    Arthur to compass the relief of this place." </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">King Ban with Queen Helen and Launcelot escape from Trible.</div>
+  <p> So when night had fallen very dark and still, King Ban, and Queen Helen,
+    and the young child Launcelot, and the esquire Foliot left the town privily
+    by means of a postern gate. Thence they went by a secret path, known only
+    to a very few, that led down a steep declivity of rocks, with walls of rock
+    upon either side that were very high indeed, and so they came out in safety
+    beyond the army of King Claudas and into the forest of the valley below. And
+    the forest lay very still and solemn and dark in the silence of the nighttime.
+  </p>
+  <p> Having thus come out in safety into the forest, that small party journeyed
+    on with all celerity that they were able to achieve until, some little time
+    before dawn, they came to where was a lake of water in an open meadow of the
+    forest. Here they rested for a little while, for Queen Helen had fallen very
+    weary with the rough and hasty journey which they had traveled. </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Foliot seeth a light.</div>
+  <p> Now whilst they sat there resting, Foliot spake of a sudden, saying unto
+    King Ban: "Lord, what is that light that maketh the sky so bright yonder-ways?"
+    Then King Ban looked a little and presently said: "Methinks it must be the
+    dawn that is breaking." "Lord," quoth Foliot, "that cannot very well be; for
+    that light in the sky lieth in the south, whence we have come, and not in
+    the east, where the sun should arise." </p>
+  <p> Then King Ban's heart misgave him, and his soul was shaken with a great
+    trouble. "Foliot," he said, "I believe that you speak sooth and that that
+    light bodes very ill for us all." Then he said: "Stay here for a little and
+    I will go and discover what that light may be." Therewith he mounted his horse
+    and rode away in the darkness. </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">King Ban beholdeth the burning of Trible.</div>
+  <p> Now there was a very high hill near-by where they were, and upon the top
+    of the hill was an open platform of rock whence a man could see a great way
+    off in every direction. So King Ban went to this place, and, when he had come
+    there, he cast his eyes in the direction of the light and he straightway beheld
+    with a manner of terror that the light came from Trible; and then, with that
+    terror still growing greater at his heart, he beheld that the town and the
+    castle were all in one great flame of fire. </p>
+  <p> When King Ban saw this he sat for a while upon his horse like one turned
+    into a stone. Then, after a while, he cried out in a great voice: "Woe! Woe!
+    Woe is me!" And then he cried out still in a very loud voice, "Certes, God
+    hath deserted me entirely." </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">The death of King Ban.</div>
+  <p> Therewith a great passion of grief took hold upon him and shook him like
+    to a leaf, and immediately after that he felt that something brake within
+    him with a very sharp and bitter pain, and he wist that it was his heart that
+    had broken. So being all alone there upon the hilltop, and in the perfect
+    stillness of the night, he cried out, "My heart! My heart!" And therewith,
+    the shadows of death coming upon him, he could not sit any longer upon his
+    horse, but fell down upon the ground. And he knew very well that death was
+    nigh him, so, having no cross to pray upon, he took two blades of grass and
+    twisted them into that holy sign, and he kissed it and prayed unto it that
+    God would forgive him his sins. So he died all alone upon that hilltop. </p>
+  <p> Meanwhile, Queen Helen and Foliot sat together waiting for him to return
+    and presently they heard the sound of his horse's hoofs coming down that rocky
+    path. Then Queen Helen said: "Foliot, methinks my lord cometh." So in a little
+    came the horse with the empty saddle. When Foliot beheld that he said: "Lady,
+    here meseems is great trouble come to us, for methinks something hath befallen
+    my lord, and that he is in sore travail, for here is his horse without him."
+  </p>
+  <p> Then it seemed to Queen Helen as though the spirit of life suddenly went
+    away from her, for she foresaw what had befallen. So she arose like one in
+    a dream, and, speaking very quietly, she said: "Foliot, take me whither my
+    lord went awhile since!" To this Foliot said: "Lady, wait until the morning,
+    which is near at hand, for it is too dark for you to go thitherward at this
+    present." Whereunto the Lady Helen replied: "Foliot, I cannot wait, for if
+    I stay here and wait I believe I shall go mad." Upon this, Foliot did not
+    try to persuade her any more but made ready to take her whither she would
+    go. </p>
+  <p> Now the young child Launcelot was then asleep upon the Queen's knees, wherefore
+    she took her cloak and wrapped the child in it and laid him very gently upon
+    the ground, so that he did not wake. Then she mounted upon her palfrey and
+    Foliot led the palfrey up the hill whither King Ban had gone a short time
+    since. </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">The Lady Helen findeth the King.</div>
+  <p> When they came to that place of open rocks above told of, they found King
+    Ban lying very quiet and still upon the ground and with a countenance of great
+    peace. For I believe of a surety that God had forgiven him all his sins, and
+    he would now suffer no more because of the cares and the troubles of this
+    life. Thus Queen Helen found him, and finding him she made no moan or outcry
+    of any kind, only she looked for a long while into his dead face, which she
+    could see very plainly now, because that the dawn had already broken. And
+    by and by she said: "Dear Lord, thou art at this time in a happier case than
+    I." And by and by she said to Foliot: "Go and bring his horse to this place,
+    that we may bear him hence." "Lady," said Foliot, "it is not good for you
+    to be left here alone." "Foliot," said the Queen, "thou dost not know how
+    much alone I am; thy leaving me here cannot make me more alone." Therewith
+    she fell to weeping with great passion. </p>
+  <p> Then Foliot wept also in great measure and, still weeping like rain, he
+    went away and left her. When he came again with King Ban's horse the sun had
+    risen and all the birds were singing with great jubilation and everything
+    was so blithe and gay that no one could have believed that care and trouble
+    could dwell in a world that was so beautiful. </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">The Lady Helen bringeth her dead down from the Mountain.</div>
+  <p> So Queen Helen and Foliot lifted the dead king to his horse and then the
+    Queen said: "Come thou, Foliot, at thine own gait, and I will go ahead and
+    seek my child, for I have yet Launcelot to be my joy. Haply he will be needing
+    me at this moment." So the Queen made haste down the steep hill ahead of Foliot
+    and by and by she came to the margin of that little lake where they had rested
+    awhile since. </p>
+  <p> By now the sun had risen very strong and warm so that all the lake, and
+    the meadows circumadjacent, and the forest that stood around about that meadow
+    were illumined with the glory of his effulgence. </p>
+  <p> Now as Queen Helen entered that meadow she beheld that a very wonderful
+    lady was there, and this lady bare the child Launcelot in her arms. And the
+    lady sang to Launcelot, and the young child looked up into her face and laughed
+    and set his hand against her cheek. All this Queen Helen beheld; and she likewise
+    beheld that the lady was of a very extraordinary appearance, being clad altogether
+    in green that glistered and shone with a wonderful brightness. And she beheld
+    that around the neck of the lady was a necklace of gold, inset with opal stones
+    and emeralds; and she perceived that the lady's face was like ivory--very
+    white and clear--and that her eyes, which were very bright, shone like jewels
+    set into ivory. And she saw that the lady was very wonderfully beautiful,
+    so that the beholder, looking upon her, felt a manner of fear--for that lady
+    was Fay. </p>
+  <p> (And that lady was the Lady of the Lake, spoken of aforetime in the Book
+    of King Arthur, wherein it is told how she aided King Arthur to obtain that
+    wonderful, famous sword yclept Excalibur, and how she aided Sir Pellias, the
+    Gentle Knight, in the time of his extremity, and took him into the lake with
+    her. Also divers other things concerning her are told of therein.) </p>
+  <p> Then the Queen came near to where the lady was, and she said to her, </p>
+  <a href="images/009.l.gif" target="_blank"><img id="p1" class="images"  align="right" src="images/009.gif" border="0" alt="The Lady Nymue beareth away Launcelot into the Lake" /></a>
+  <p> "Lady, I pray you give me my child again!" Upon this the Lady of the Lake
+    smiled very strangely and said: "Thou shalt have thy child again, lady, but
+    not now; after a little thou shalt have him again." Then Queen Helen cried
+    out with great agony of passion: "Lady, would you take my child from me? Give
+    him to me again, for he is all I have left in the world. Lo, I have lost house
+    and lands and husband, and all the other joys that life has me to give, wherefore,
+    I beseech you, take not my child from me." To this the Lady of the Lake said:
+    "Thou must endure thy sorrow a while longer; for it is so ordained that I
+    must take thy child; for I take him only that I may give him to thee again,
+    reared in such a wise that he shall make the glory of thy house to be the
+    glory of the world. For he shall become the greatest knight in the world,
+    and from his loins shall spring a greater still than he, so that the glory
+    of the House of King Ban shall be spoken of as long as mankind shall last."
+    But Queen Helen cried out all the more in a great despair: "What care I for
+    all this? I care only that I shall have my little child again! Give him to
+    me!" </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">The Lady of the Lake taketh Launcelot into the Lake.</div>
+  <p> Therewith she would have laid hold of the garments of the Lady of the Lake
+    in supplication, but the Lady of the Lake drew herself away from Queen Helen's
+    hand and said: "Touch me not, for I am not mortal, but Fay." And thereupon
+    she and Launcelot vanished from before Queen Helen's eyes as the breath vanishes
+    from the face of a mirror. </p>
+  <p> For when you breathe upon a mirror the breath will obscure that which lieth
+    behind; but presently the breath will disappear and vanish, and then you shall
+    behold all things entirely clear and bright to the sight again. So the Lady
+    of the Lake vanished away, and everything behind her where she had stood was
+    clear and bright, and she was gone. </p>
+  <p> Then Queen Helen fell down in a swoon, and lay beside the lake of the meadow
+    like one that is dead; and when Foliot came he found her so and wist not what
+    to do for her. There was his lord who was dead and his lady who was so like
+    to death that he knew not whether she was dead or no. So he knew not what
+    to do but sat down and made great lamentation for a long while. </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">The Lady Helen taketh to a Nunnery.</div>
+  <p> What time he sat thus there came that way three nuns who dwelt in an abbey
+    of nuns which was not a great distance away from that place. These made great
+    pity over that sorrowful sight, and they took away from there the dead King
+    and the woeful Queen, and the King they buried in holy ground, and the Queen
+    they let live with them and she was thereafter known as the "Sister of Sorrows."
+  </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">How Launcelot dwelt in the lake.</div>
+  <p> Now Launcelot dwelt for nigh seventeen years with the Lady Nymue of the
+    Lake in that wonderful, beautiful valley covered over with the appearance
+    of such a magical lake as hath been aforetime described in the Book of King
+    Arthur. </p>
+  <p> And that land of the lake was of this sort that shall here be described:--
+  </p>
+  <p> Unto anyone who could enter into the magic water of that lake (and there
+    were very few of those who were mortal who were allowed to come to those meadows
+    of Faery that were there concealed beneath those enchanted waters) he would
+    behold before him a wide and radiant field of extraordinary beauty. And he
+    would behold that that field was covered all over with such a multitude of
+    exquisite and beautiful flowers that the heart of the beholder would be elated
+    with pure joy to find himself in the midst of that waving sea of multitudinous
+    and fragrant blossoms. And he would behold many fair and shady groves of trees
+    that here and there grew up from that valley, each glade overshadowing a fountain
+    of water as clear as crystal. And he would perhaps behold, at such pleasant
+    places beneath the shade of those trees, some party of the fair and gentle
+    folk of that country; and he would see them playing in sport, or he would
+    hear them chanting to the music of shining golden harps. And he would behold
+    in the midst of that beautiful plain a wonderful castle with towers and roofs
+    uplifted high into the sky, and all shining in the peculiar radiance of that
+    land, like to castles and battlements of pure gold. </p>
+  <p> Such was the land unto which Launcelot was brought, and from what I have
+    told you you may see what a wonderful, beautiful place it was. </p>
+  <p> And the mystery of that place entered into the soul of Launcelot, so that
+    thereafter, when he came out thence, he was never like other folk, but always
+    appeared to be in a manner remote and distant from other of his fellow-mortals
+    with whom he dwelt. </p>
+  <p> For though he smiled a great deal, it was not often that he laughed; and
+    if he did laugh, it was never in scorn, but always in loving-kindness. </p>
+  <p> It was here in this land that Sir Pellias had now dwelt for several years,
+    with great peace and content. (For it hath been told in the Book of King Arthur
+    how, when he was upon the edge of death, the Lady Nymue of the Lake brought
+    him back to life again, and how, after that time, he was half fay and half
+    mortal.) </p>
+  <p> And the reason why Launcelot was brought to that place was that Sir Pellias
+    might teach him and train him in all the arts of chivalry. For no one in all
+    the world was more skilful in arms than Sir Pellias, and no one could so well
+    teach Launcelot the duties of chivalry as he. </p>
+  <p> So Sir Pellias taught Launcelot all that was best of knighthood, both as
+    to conduct of manner, and as to the worthiness and skill at arms, wherefore
+    it was that when Launcelot was completely taught, there was no knight in all
+    the world who was his peer in strength of arms or in courtesy of behavior,
+    until his own son, Sir Galahad, appeared in the courts of chivalry as shall
+    by and by be told of. </p>
+  <p> So when Launcelot came forth into the world again he became the greatest
+    knight in all the history of chivalry, wherefore that prophecy of his mother
+    was fulfilled as to his being like to a bright star of exceeding lustre. </p>
+  <p> Accordingly, I have herein told you with great particularity all these circumstances
+    of his early history so that you may know exactly how it was that he was taken
+    away into the lake, and why it was that he was afterward known as Sir Launcelot,
+    surnamed of the Lake. </p>
+  <p> As to how he came into the world to achieve that greatness unto which he
+    had been preordained, and as to how King Arthur made him knight, and as to
+    many very excellent adventures that befell him, you shall immediately read
+    in what followeth. </p>
+  <div align="center"> <a href="images/011.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="t4" src="images/011.gif" alt="Tail Piece--Prologue" border="0" /></a>
+  </div>
+</div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div id="launcelot">
+  <h1>The Story of Sir Launcelot</h1>
+  <table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="10" cellpadding="0">
+    <tr>
+      <td> <a href="images/002.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="p2" src="images/002.gif" border="0" alt="Sir Launcelot of the Lake" /></a>
+      </td>
+      <td>
+        <div class="foreward">
+          <p> <i> Here beginneth the story of Sir Launcelot, surnamed of the Lake,
+            who was held by all men to be the most excellent, noble, perfect knight-champion
+            who was ever seen in the world from the very beginning of chivalry
+            unto the time when his son, Sir Galahad, appeared like a bright star
+            of extraordinary splendor shining in the sky of chivalry. </i> </p>
+          <p> <i> In this Book it shall be told how he was taken into a magic
+            lake, how he came out thence to be made knight by King Arthur, and
+            of how he undertook several of those adventures that made him at once
+            the wonder and the admiration of all men, and the chiefest glory of
+            the Round Table of Arthur-Pendragon. </i> </p>
+        </div>
+      </td>
+    </tr>
+  </table>
+</div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div align="center"> <a href="images/013.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="h5" src="images/013.gif" alt="The Story of Sir Launcelot" border="0" /></a>
+</div>
+<div class="chaphead" id="la1">Chapter First</div>
+<br />
+<div class="chapdes">How Sir Launcelot Came Forth From the Enchanted Castle of
+  the Lake and Entered Into the World Again, and How King Arthur Made Him Knight.</div>
+<div class="sidenote">Of the springtime of long ago.</div>
+<p> I know not any time of the year that is more full of joyfulness than the early
+  summer season; for that time the sun is wonderfully lusty and strong, yet not
+  so very hot; that time the trees and shrubs are very full of life and very abundant
+  of shade and yet have not grown dry with the heats and droughts of later days;
+  that time the grass is young and lush and green, so that when you walk athwart
+  the meadow-lands it is as though you walked through a fair billowy lake of magical
+  verdure, sprinkled over with a great multitude of little flowers; that time
+  the roses are everywhere a-bloom, both the white rose and the red, and the eglantine
+  is abundant; that time the nests are brimful of well-fledged nestlings, and
+  the little hearts of the small parent fowls are so exalted with gladness that
+  they sing with all their mights and mains, so that the early daytime is filled
+  full of the sweet jargon and the jubilant medley of their voices. Yea; that
+  is a goodly season of the year, for though, haply, the spirit may not be so
+  hilarious as in the young and golden springtime, yet doth the soul take to itself
+  so great a content in the fulness of the beauty of the world, that the heart
+  is elated with a great and abundant joy that it is not apt to feel at another
+  season. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">King Arthur and two knights ride a-hunting.</div>
+<p> Now it chanced upon the day before Saint John's day in the fulness of a summer-time
+  such as this, that King Arthur looked forth from his chamber very early in the
+  morning and beheld how exceedingly fair and very lusty was the world out-of-doors--all
+  in the freshness of the young daylight. For the sun had not yet risen, though
+  he was about to rise, and the sky was like to pure gold for brightness; all
+  the grass and leaves and flowers were drenched with sweet and fragrant dew,
+  and the birds were singing so vehemently that the heart of any man could not
+  but rejoice in the fulness of life that lay all around about him. </p>
+<p> There were two knights with King Arthur at that time, one was Sir Ewain, the
+  son of Morgana le Fay (and he was King Arthur's nephew), and the other was Sir
+  Ector de Maris, the son of King Ban of Benwick and of Queen Helen--this latter
+  a very noble, youthful knight, and the youngest of all the Knights of the Round
+  Table who were at that time elected. These stood by King Arthur and looked forth
+  out of the window with him and they also took joy with him in the sweetness
+  of the summer season. Unto them, after a while, King Arthur spake, saying: "Messires,
+  meseems this is too fair a day to stay within doors. For, certes, it is a shame
+  that I who am a king should be prisoner within mine own castle, whilst any ploughman
+  may be free of the wold and the green woods and the bright sun and the blue
+  sky and the wind that blows over hill and dale. Now, I too would fain go forth
+  out of doors and enjoy these things; wherefore I ordain that we shall go a-hunting
+  this day and that ye and I shall start before any others of the lords and the
+  ladies that dwell herein are awake. So let us take our horses and our hounds
+  and let us take certain foresters and huntsmen, and let us go forth a-hunting
+  into the green forest; for this day shall be holiday for me and for you and
+  we shall leave care behind us, and for a while we shall disport ourselves in
+  pleasant places." </p>
+<p> So they all did as King Arthur bade; they made them each man ready with his
+  own hands, and they bade the huntsmen and the foresters to attend thereupon
+  as the King had ordained. Then they rode forth from the castle and out into
+  the wide world that lay beyond, and it was yet so early in the morning that
+  none of the castle folk were astir to know of their departure. </p>
+<p> All that day they hunted in the forest with much joy and with great sport,
+  nor did they turn their faces toward home again until the day was so far spent
+  that the sun had sunk behind the tops of the tall leafy trees. Then, at that
+  time, King Arthur gave command that they should bend their ways toward Camelot
+  once more. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">King Arthur and his companions find a strange damsel and
+  a dwarf.</div>
+<p> Now this time, being the Eve of Saint John, fairies and those folk who are
+  fay come forth, as is very well known, into the world from which they dwell
+  apart at other times. So when King Arthur and those two knights and their several
+  foresters and huntsmen came to a certain outlying part of the forest, they were
+  suddenly aware of a damsel and a dwarf waiting where the road upon which they
+  were travelling crossed another road, and they perceived, from her very remarkable
+  appearance, that the damsel was very likely Fay. For both she and her dwarf
+  sat each upon a milk-white horse, very strangely still, close to where was a
+  shrine by a hedge of hawthorne; and the damsel was so wonderfully fair of face
+  that it was a marvel to behold her. Moreover, she was clad all in white samite
+  from top to toe and her garments were embroidered with silver; and the trappings
+  and garniture of her horse were of white samite studded with bright silver bosses,
+  wherefore, because of this silver, she glistered with a sudden lustre whensoever
+  she moved a little. When King Arthur and the two knights who were with him drew
+  nigh this damsel, much marvelling at her appearance, she hailed him in a voice
+  that was both high and clear, crying: "Welcome, King Arthur! Welcome, King Arthur!
+  Welcome, King Arthur!" saying three words three times; and "Welcome, Sir Ewain!"
+  "Welcome, Sir Ector de Maris!" addressing each of those lords by his name. </p>
+<p> "Damsel," quoth King Arthur, "it is very singular that you should know who
+  we are and that we should not know you. Now, will you not tell us your name
+  and whence you come and whither you go? For of a surety I believe you are Fay."
+</p>
+<p> "Lord," said the damsel, "it matters not who I am, saving that I am of the
+  court of a wonderful lady who is your very good friend. She hath sent me here
+  to meet you and to beseech you to come with me whither I shall lead you, and
+  I shall lead you unto her." </p>
+<p> "Damsel," said King Arthur, "I shall be right glad to go with you as you desire
+  me to do. So, if you will lead me to your lady, I and my knights will gladly
+  follow you thitherway to pay our court unto her." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">King Arthur and his knights follow the damsel.</div>
+<p> Upon this the damsel waved her hand, and drawing her bridle-rein she led the
+  way, accompanied by the dwarf, and King Arthur and the two knights followed
+  her, and all their party of foresters and huntsmen and hounds and beagles followed
+  them. </p>
+<p> By this time the sun had set and the moon had risen very fair and round and
+  as yellow as gold, making a great light above the silent tree-tops. Everything
+  now was embalmed in the twilight, and all the world was enshrouded in the mystery
+  of the midsummer eve. Yet though the sun had gone the light was wonderfully
+  bright, wherefore all that the eye could see stood sharp-cut and very clear
+  to the vision. </p>
+<p> So the damsel and the dwarf led the way for somewhat of a distance, though
+  not for so very far, until they came of a sudden to where was an open meadow
+  in the forest, hedged all around with the trees of the woodland. And here the
+  King and his knights were aware of a great bustle of many people, some working
+  very busily in setting up several pavilions of white samite, and others preparing
+  a table as for a feast, and others upon this business and others upon that;
+  and there were various sumpter-mules and pack-horses and palfreys all about,
+  as though belonging to a party of considerable estate. </p>
+<p> Then King Arthur and those who were with him beheld that, at some distance
+  away upon the other side of the meadow, there were three people sitting under
+  a crab-apple tree upon a couch especially prepared for them, and they were aware
+  that these people were the chief of all that company. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">King Arthur and his companions are brought to speak with
+  strange folk.</div>
+<p> The first party of the three was a knight of very haughty and noble appearance,
+  clad all in armor as white as silver; and his jupon was white embroidered with
+  silver, and the scabbard of the sword and the sword-belt were white, and his
+  shield hung in the crab-tree above him and that, too, was all white as of silver.
+  This knight still wore his helmet, so that his countenance was not to be seen.
+  The second party of the three was a lady clad all in white raiment. Her face
+  was covered by her wimple so that her countenance also was not to be seen very
+  clearly, but her garments were of wonderful sort, being of white sarcenet embroidered
+  over with silver in the pattern of lily flowers. Also she wore around her breast
+  and throat a chain of shining silver studded with bright and sparkling gems
+  of divers sorts. The third party of the three was a youth of eighteen years,
+  so beautiful of face that it seemed to King Arthur that he had never beheld
+  so noble a being. For his countenance was white and shining, and his hair was
+  as soft as silk and as black as it was possible to be, and curled down upon
+  his shoulders; and his eyes were large and bright and extraordinarily black,
+  and his eyebrows arched so smoothly that if they had been painted they could
+  not have been marked upon his forehead more evenly than they were; and his lips,
+  which pouted a little, though not very much, were as red as coral, and his upper
+  lip was shaded with a soft down of black. Moreover, this youth was clad altogether
+  in white cloth of satin with no ornaments whatsoever saving only a fine chain
+  of shining silver set with opal-stones and emeralds that hung about his neck.
+</p>
+<p> Then when King Arthur approached near enough he perceived by certain signs
+  that the lady was the chiefest of those three, wherefore he paid his court to
+  her especially, saying to her: "Lady, it seems that I have been brought hitherward
+  unto you and that you were aware of my name and estate when you sent for me.
+  Now I should be exceedingly glad if you would enlighten me in the same manner
+  as to yourself." </p>
+<p> "Sir," she said, "that I shall be glad to do; for if I have known you aforetime,
+  you have also seen me afore time and have known me as your friend." Therewith
+  the lady lowered the wimple from her face and King Arthur perceived that it
+  was the Lady of the Lake. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">King Arthur findeth Sir Pellias again.</div>
+<p> Upon this he kneeled down upon one knee and took her hand and set it to his
+  lips. "Lady," quoth he, "I have indeed cause to know you very well, for you
+  have, as you affirm, been a friend to me and to my friends upon many several
+  occasions." Then King Arthur turned to that knight who was with that Lady of
+  the Lake, and he said unto him: "Messire, if I mistake not, I should know you
+  also; and I doubt not, if you will lift the umbril of your helmet, we shall
+  all three know your face." Upon this the knight without more ado lifted his
+  umbril as King Arthur had desired him to do and the three beheld that it was
+  Sir Pellias, the Gentle Knight. </p>
+<p> Now it hath already been very fully told about Sir Pellias in the Book of
+  King Arthur, and those of you who read of him therein will remember, no doubt,
+  how sorely he was wounded in a combat with Sir Gawaine, who was his best friend,
+  and of how the Lady of the Lake took him to dwell with her in that wonderful
+  city that was hidden by the appearance as of an enchanted lake, and of how it
+  was Sir Gawaine who last beheld him upon that occasion. But if Sir Gawaine was
+  the dearest friend that Sir Pellias had at that time, then Sir Ewain was only
+  less dear to him. Therefore, when Sir Ewain beheld that the strange knight was
+  Sir Pellias, he wist not what to think for pure wonder; for no mortal eyes had
+  ever beheld Sir Pellias since he had gone into the lake with the Lady of the
+  Lake that time as foretold, and it was not thought that anyone would ever see
+  him again. </p>
+<p> So when Sir Ewain beheld that the knight was Sir Pellias he emitted a great
+  cry of joy and ran to him and catched him in his arms, and Sir Pellias forbade
+  him not. For though at most times those who are of Faery do not suffer themselves
+  to be touched by mortal hands, yet, upon the Eve of Saint John's Day, fairies
+  and mortals may commune as though they were of the same flesh and blood. Wherefore
+  Sir Pellias did not forbid Sir Ewain, and they embraced, as one-time brethren-in-arms
+  should embrace. And each kissed the other upon the face, and each made great
+  joy the one over the other. Yea, so great was their joy that all those who stood
+  about were moved with pure happiness at beholding them. </p>
+<p> Then Sir Pellias came to King Arthur and kneeled down before him and kissed
+  his hand, as is the bounden duty of every knight unto his lord. </p>
+<p> "Ha, Messire," quoth King Arthur, "methought when I beheld this lady, that
+  you would not be very far distant from her." Then he said unto the Lady of the
+  Lake: "Lady, I prithee tell me, who is this fair youth who is with you. For
+  methinks I never beheld before so noble and so beautiful a countenance as his.
+  Maybe you will make us acquainted with him also." </p>
+<p> "Lord," said the Lady Nymue, "who he is, and of what quality, shall, I hope,
+  be made manifest in due time; just now I would not wish that he should be known
+  even unto you. But touching him, I may say that it was for his sake that I sent
+  my damsel to meet you at the cross-roads awhile ago. But of that, more anon;
+  for see! the feast is now spread which we have prepared for your entertainment.
+  So let us first eat and drink and make merry together, and then we shall speak
+  further of this matter." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">The Lady of the Lake prepareth a feast for King Arthur.</div>
+<p> So they all six went and sat down to the table that had been spread for them
+  in the open meadow-land. For the night was very pleasant and warm and a wonderful
+  full moon shone down upon them with a marvellous lustre, and there was a pleasant
+  air, soft and warm, from the forest, and, what with the scores of bright waxen
+  tapers that stood in silver candlesticks upon the table (each taper sparkling
+  as bright as any star), the night was made all illuminate like to some singular
+  mid-day. There was set before them a plenty of divers savory meats and of several
+  excellent wines, some as yellow as gold, and some as red as carbuncle, and they
+  ate and they drank and they made merry in the soft moonlight with talk and laughter.
+  Somewhiles they told Sir Pellias and the lady of all that was toward at court
+  at Camelot; otherwhiles Sir Pellias and the lady told them such marvellous things
+  concerning the land in which they two dwelt that it would be hard to believe
+  that the courts of Heaven could be fairer than the courts of Fairyland whence
+  they had come. </p>
+<p> Then, after the feast was ended, the Lady of the Lake said to King Arthur,
+  "Sir, an I have won your favor in any way, there is a certain thing I would
+  ask of you." To the which King Arthur made reply: "Ask it, Lady, and it shall
+  be granted thee, no matter what it may be." "Sir," said the Lady of the Lake,
+  "this is what I would ask of you. I would ask you to look upon this youth who
+  sits beside me. He is so dear to me that I cannot very well make you know how
+  dear he is. I have brought him hither from our dwelling-place for one certain
+  reason; to wit, that you should make him knight. That is the great favor I would
+  ask of you. To this intent I have brought armor and all the appurtenances of
+  knighthood; for he is of such noble lineage that no armor in the world could
+  be too good for him." </p>
+<p> "Lady," quoth King Arthur, "I will do what you ask with much pleasure and
+  gladness. But, touching that armor of which you speak, it is my custom to provide
+  anyone whom I make a knight with armor of mine own choosing." </p>
+<p> To this the Lady of the Lake smiled very kindly, saying, "Lord, I pray you,
+  let be in this case, for I daresay that the armor which hath been provided for
+  this youth shall be so altogether worthy of your nobility and of his future
+  credit that you will be entirely contented with it." And with that, King Arthur
+  was altogether satisfied. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Of the armor, etc., of Sir Launcelot.</div>
+<p> And, touching that armor, the ancient history that speaketh of these matters
+  saith that it was of such a sort as this that followeth, and that it was brought
+  from that enchanted court of the lake in this wise; to wit, in the front came
+  two youths, leading two white mules, and the mules bore two chests studded with
+  silver bosses. In one chest was the hauberk of that armor and in the other were
+  the iron boots. These were bright like to silver and were inlaid with cunningly
+  devised figures, all of pure gold. Next to them came two esquires, clad in white
+  robes and mounted upon white horses, bearing the one a silver shield and the
+  other a shining helmet, as of silver--it likewise being very wonderfully inlaid
+  with figures of pure gold. After these came two other esquires, the one bearing
+  a sword in a white sheath embossed with studs of silver (the belt whereof was
+  of silver with facets of gold) and the other leading a white charger, whose
+  coat was as soft and as shining as silk. And all the gear and furniture of this
+  horse was of silver and of white samite embellished with silver. So from this
+  you can see how nobly that young acolyte was provided with all that beseemed
+  his future greatness. For, as you may have guessed, this youth was Launcelot,
+  King Ban's son of Benwick, who shortly became the greatest knight in the world.
+</p>
+<div class="sidenote">Launcelot guards his armor at night.</div>
+<p> Now there was in that part of the forest border a small abbey of monks, and
+  in the chapel of that abbey Launcelot watched his armor for that night and Sir
+  Ewain was with him for all that time. Meantime King Arthur and Sir Ector de
+  Maris slept each in a silken pavilion provided for them by the Lady of the Lake.
+</p>
+<p> In the morning Sir Ewain took Launcelot to the bath and bathed him, for such
+  was the custom of those who were being prepared for knighthood. </p>
+<p> Now, whilst Sir Ewain was bathing the youth, he beheld that on his shoulder
+  was a mark in the likeness of a golden star and he marvelled very much thereat;
+  but he made no mention of it at that time, but held his peace concerning what
+  he saw; only he marvelled very greatly thereat. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">King Arthur creates Sir Launcelot a Knight-Royal.</div>
+<p> Then, after Sir Ewain had bathed Launcelot, he clothed him in raiment fitted
+  for that ceremony unto which he was ordained, and when the youth was so clothed,
+  Sir Ewain brought him to King Arthur, and King Arthur knighted Launcelot with
+  great ceremony, and buckled the belt around him with his own hands. After he
+  had done this Sir Ewain and Sir Ector de Maris set the golden spurs to his heels,
+  and Sir Ector wist not that he was performing such office for his own brother.
+</p>
+<p> So Sir Launcelot was made knight with great estate and ceremony, whereof I
+  have told you all, unto every particular. For it is fitting that all things
+  should be so told concerning that most great and famous knight. </p>
+<p> After King Arthur had so dubbed Sir Launcelot knight, it was time that those
+  two parties should part company--to wit, the party of the Lady of the Lake and
+  the party of King Arthur. But when they were about to leave one another the
+  Lady of the Lake took Sir Launcelot aside, and she spake to him after this manner:
+</p>
+<div class="sidenote">The Lady of the Lake gives Sir Launcelot good advice.</div>
+<p> "Launcelot, forget not that you are a king's son, and that your lineage is
+  as noble as that of anyone upon earth--for so I have often told you aforetime.
+  Wherefore, see to it that your worthiness shall be as great as your beauty,
+  and that your courtesy and gentleness shall be as great as your prowess. To-day
+  you shall go unto Camelot with King Arthur to make yourself known unto that
+  famous Court of Chivalry. But do not tarry there, but, ere the night cometh,
+  depart and go forth into the world to prove your knighthood as worthily as God
+  shall give you grace to do. For I would not have you declare yourself to the
+  world until you have proved your worthiness by your deeds. Wherefore, do not
+  yourself proclaim your name, but wait until the world proclaimeth it; for it
+  is better for the world to proclaim the worthiness of a man than that the man
+  should proclaim his own worthiness. So hold yourself ready to undertake any
+  adventure whatsoever that God sendeth to you to do, but never let any other
+  man complete a task unto which you yourself have set your hand." Then, after
+  the Lady of the Lake had so advised Sir Launcelot, she kissed him upon the face,
+  and therewith gave him a ring curiously wrought and set with a wonderful purple
+  stone, which ring had such power that it would dissolve every enchantment. Then
+  she said: "Launcelot, wear this ring and never let it be from off your finger."
+  And Launcelot said: "I will do so." So Sir Launcelot set the ring upon his finger
+  and it was so that it never left his finger whilst he drew the breath of life.
+</p>
+<p> Then King Arthur and Sir Ewain and Sir Ector de Maris and the young Sir Launcelot
+  laid their ways toward Camelot. And, as they journeyed so together, Sir Ewain
+  communicated privily to Sir Ector de Maris how that the youth had a mark as
+  of a golden star upon the skin of his shoulder, and upon this news Sir Ector
+  fell very silent. For Sir Ector knew that that sign was upon his own brother's
+  shoulder, and he did not know how it could be upon the shoulder of any other
+  man. Wherefore, he wist not what to think that it should be upon the shoulder
+  of this youth. But he said naught of these thoughts to Sir Ewain, but held his
+  peace. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot cometh to Camelot.</div>
+<p> So they reached Camelot whilst it was still quite early in the morning and
+  all they who were there made great joy at the coming of so wonderfully fair
+  and noble a young knight as Sir Launcelot appeared to be. Wherefore, there was
+  great sound of rejoicing at his coming. </p>
+<p> Then, after a while, King Arthur said: "Let us go and see if, haply, this
+  youth's name is marked upon any of the seats of the Round Table, for I think
+  it should be there." So all they of the court went to that pavilion afore described,
+  where the Round Table was established, and they looked; and lo! upon the seat
+  that King Pellinore had one time occupied was this name: </p>
+<div class="fancy">THE KNIGHT OF THE LAKE</div>
+<p> So the name stood at first, nor did it change until the name of Sir Launcelot
+  of the Lake became so famous in all the world. Then it became changed to this:
+</p>
+<div class="fancy">SIR LAUNCELOT OF THE LAKE.</div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<div align="center"> *&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;*&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;*&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;*&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;*
+</div>
+<br />
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot becometh knight of the Round Table.</div>
+<p> So Sir Launcelot remained at Camelot for that entire day and was made acquainted
+  with a great many of the lords and ladies and knights and dames of King Arthur's
+  court. And all that while he was like one that walked in a dream, for he had
+  never before beheld anything of the world of mankind since he had been carried
+  away into the lake, wherefore he wist not very well whether what he saw was
+  real or whether he beheld it in a vision of enchantment. For it was all very
+  new and wonderful to him and he took great delight in it because that he was
+  a man and because this world was the world of mankind. Wherefore, though that
+  Castle of the Lake was so beautiful, yet he felt his heart go forth to this
+  other and less beautiful land as it did not go forth to that, because he was
+  human and this was human. </p>
+<p> Nevertheless, though that was so joyful a day for him, yet Sir Launcelot did
+  not forget what the Lady of the Lake had said concerning the time he was to
+  abide there! Wherefore, when it drew toward evening he besought leave of King
+  Arthur to depart from that place in search of adventures, and King Arthur gave
+  him leave to do as he desired. </p>
+<p> So Sir Launcelot prepared to depart, and whilst he was in his chamber making
+  ready there came in unto him Sir Ector de Maris. And Sir Ector said unto him:
+  "Sir, I prithee tell me--is it true that you bear upon your right shoulder a
+  mark like unto a golden star?" And Sir Launcelot made reply: "Yea, that is true."
+  Then Sir Ector said: "I beseech you to tell me if your name is Launcelot." And
+  Sir Launcelot said: "Yea, that is my name." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Of the brotherhood of Sir Ector and Sir Launcelot.</div>
+<p> Upon this Sir Ector broke out into great weeping and he catched Sir Launcelot
+  in his arms and he cried out: "Launcelot, thou art mine own brother! For thy
+  father was my father, and my mother was thy mother! For we are both sons unto
+  King Ban of Benwick, and Queen Helen was our mother." Therewith he kissed Sir
+  Launcelot with great passion upon the face. And Sir Launcelot upon his part
+  kissed Sir Ector with a great passion of joy that he had found a brother in
+  this strange world into which he had so newly come. But Sir Launcelot charged
+  Sir Ector that he should say nothing of this to any man; and Sir Ector pledged
+  his knightly word to that effect. (Nor did he ever tell anyone who Sir Launcelot
+  was until Sir Launcelot had performed such deeds that all the world spake his
+  name.) </p>
+<p> For when Sir Launcelot went out into the world in that wise he undertook several
+  very weighty achievements and brought them all to a successful issue, so that
+  his name very quickly became known in every court of chivalry. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Of sundry adventures of Sir Launcelot.</div>
+<p> First he removed an enchantment that overhung a castle, hight Dolorous Gard;
+  and he freed that castle and liberated all the sad, sorry captives that lay
+  therein. (And this castle he held for his own and changed the name from Dolorous
+  Gard to Joyous Gard and the castle became very famous afterward as his best-loved
+  possession. For this was the first of all his possessions that he won by the
+  prowess of his arms and he loved it best of all and considered it always his
+  home.) After that Sir Launcelot, at the bidding of Queen Guinevere, took the
+  part of the Lady of Nohan against the King of Northumberland, and he overcame
+  the King of Northumberland and made him subject unto King Arthur. Then he overcame
+  Sir Gallehaut, King of the Marches, and sent him captive to the court of King
+  Arthur (and afterward Sir Gallehaut and Sir Launcelot became great friends for
+  aye). So in a little while all the world spoke of Sir Launcelot, for it was
+  said of him, and truly, that he had never been overcome by any other knight,
+  whether upon horseback or upon foot, and that he always succeeded in every adventure
+  which he undertook, whether that adventure were great or whether it were small.
+  So it was as the Lady of the Lake desired it to be, for Sir Launcelot's name
+  became famous, not because he was his father's son, but because of the deeds
+  which he performed upon his own account. </p>
+<p> So Sir Launcelot performed all these famous adventures, and after that he
+  returned again to the court of King Arthur crowned with the glory of his successful
+  knighthood, and there he was received with joy and acclaim and was duly installed
+  in that seat of the Round Table that was his. And in that court he was held
+  in the greatest honor and esteem of all the knights who were there. For King
+  Arthur spake many times concerning him to this effect: that he knew not any
+  honor or glory that could belong to a king greater than having such a knight
+  for to serve him as was Sir Launcelot of the Lake. For a knight like Sir Launcelot
+  came hardly ever into the world, and when he did come his glory must needs illuminate
+  with its effulgence the entire reign of that king whose servant he was. </p>
+<p> So it was that Sir Launcelot was greatly honored by everybody at the court
+  of King Arthur, and he thereafter abided at that court for the most part of
+  his life. </p>
+<br />
+<div align="center"> *&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;*&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;*&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;*&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;*
+</div>
+<br />
+<div class="sidenote">Of Sir Launcelot and Queen Guinevere.</div>
+<p> And now I must needs make mention of that friendship that existed betwixt
+  Sir Launcelot and Queen Guinevere, for after he thus returned to the court of
+  the king, they two became such friends that no two people could be greater friends
+  than they were. </p>
+<a href="images/012.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="p3" align="left" src="images/012.gif" border="0" alt="Sir Launcelot greets Queen Guinevere" /></a>
+<p> Now I am aware that there have been many scandalous things said concerning
+  that friendship, but I do not choose to believe any such evil sayings. For there
+  are always those who love to think and say evil things of others. Yet though
+  it is not to be denied that Sir Launcelot never had for his lady any other dame
+  than the Lady Guinevere, still no one hath ever said with truth that she regarded
+  Sir Launcelot otherwise than as her very dear friend. For Sir Launcelot always
+  avouched with his knightly word, unto the last day of his life, that the Lady
+  Guinevere was noble and worthy in all ways, wherefore I choose to believe his
+  knightly word and to hold that what he said was true. For did not he become
+  an hermit, and did not she become a nun in their latter days, and were they
+  not both broken of heart when King Arthur departed from this life in so singular
+  a manner as he did? Wherefore I choose to believe good of such noble souls as
+  they, and not evil of them. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">How Sir Launcelot dwelt at Camelot.</div>
+<p> Yet, though Sir Launcelot thus abided at the court of the King, he ever loved
+  the open world and a life of adventure above all things else. For he had lived
+  so long in the Lake that these things of the sturdy life of out-of-doors never
+  lost their charm for him. So, though he found, for a while, great joy in being
+  at the court of the King (for there were many jousts held in his honor, and,
+  whithersoever he rode forth, men would say to one another: "Yonder goeth that
+  great knight, Sir Launcelot, who is the greatest knight in the world"), yet
+  he longed ever to be abroad in the wide world again. So one day he besought
+  King Arthur for leave to depart thence and to go forth for a while in search
+  of adventures; and King Arthur gave him leave to do as he desired. </p>
+<p> So now shall be told of several excellent adventures that Sir Launcelot undertook,
+  and which he carried through with entire success, and to the great glory and
+  renown of the Round Table, of which he was the foremost knight. </p>
+<div align="center"> <a href="images/tail.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/tail.gif" border="0" alt="Tail Piece" /></a>
+</div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div class="chaphead" id="la2"><a href="images/015.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/015.gif" alt="Chapter Header" border="0" /></a>
+  <br />
+  Chapter Second</div>
+<br />
+<div class="chapdes">How Sir Launcelot and Sir Lionel Rode Forth Errant Together
+  and How Sir Lionel Met Sir Turquine to His Great Dole. Also How Sir Ector Grieved
+  for the Departure of His Brother Launcelot and So, Following Him, Fell into
+  a Very Sorry Adventure</div>
+.
+<p> Now after King Arthur had thus given Sir Launcelot leave to go errant and
+  whilst Sir Launcelot was making himself ready to depart there came to him Sir
+  Lionel, who was his cousin germain, and Sir Lionel besought leave to go with
+  him as his knight-companion, and Sir Launcelot gave him that leave. </p>
+<a href="images/014.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images"  src="images/014.gif" border="0" alt="Sir Lionel of Britain" align="left" id="p4" /></a>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot and Sir Lionel depart in search of adventure.</div>
+<p> So when King Arthur confirmed Sir Launcelot's permission Sir Lionel also made
+  himself ready very joyfully, and early of the morning of the next day they two
+  took their leave of the court and rode away together; the day being very fair
+  and gracious and all the air full of the joy of that season--which was in the
+  flower of the spring-time. </p>
+<p> So, about noon-tide, they came to a certain place where a great apple-tree
+  stood by a hedge, and by that time they had grown an-hungered. So they tied
+  their horses near-by in a cool and shady place and straightway sat them down
+  under the apple-tree in the soft tall grass, which was yet fresh with the coolness
+  of the morning. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot sleepeth beneath an apple-tree.</div>
+<p> Then when they had ended their meal Sir Launcelot said: "Brother, I have a
+  great lust to sleep for a little space, for I find myself so drowsy that mine
+  eyelids are like scales of lead." Unto which Sir Lionel made reply: "Very well;
+  sleep thou for a while, and I will keep watch, and after that thou shalt watch,
+  and I will sleep for a little space." So Sir Launcelot put his helmet beneath
+  his head and turned upon his side, and in a little had fallen into a sleep which
+  had neither dream nor thought of any kind, but which was deep and pure like
+  to a clear well of water in the forest. </p>
+<p> And, whilst he slept thus, Sir Lionel kept watch, walking up and down in the
+  shade of a hedge near-by. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Lionel perceives how one knight pursues three knights.</div>
+<p> Where they were was upon the side of a hill, and beneath them was a little
+  valley; and a road ran through the valley, very white and shining in the sunlight,
+  like a silken ribbon, and the road lay between growing fields of corn and pasture-land.
+  Now as Sir Lionel walked beside the hedge he beheld three knights come riding
+  into that valley and along that road with very great speed and in several clouds
+  of dust; and behind them came a fourth knight, who was very huge of frame and
+  who was clad altogether in black armor. Moreover, this knight rode upon a black
+  horse and his shield was black and his spear was black and the furniture of
+  his horse was black, so that everything appertaining to that knight was as black
+  as any raven. </p>
+<p> And Sir Lionel beheld that this one knight pursued those other three knights
+  and that his horse went with greater speed than theirs, so that by and by he
+  overtook the hindermost knight. And Sir Lionel beheld that the sable knight
+  smote the fleeing knight a great buffet with his sword, so that that knight
+  fell headlong from his horse and rolled over two or three times upon the ground
+  and then lay as though he were dead. Then the black knight catched the second
+  of the three, and served him as he had served his fellow. Then the third of
+  the three, finding that there was no escape for him, turned as if to defend
+  himself; but the black knight drave at him, and smote him so terrible a blow
+  that I believe had a thunderbolt smitten him he would not have fallen from his
+  horse more suddenly than he did. For, though that combat was full three furlongs
+  away, yet Sir Lionel heard the sound of that blow as clearly as though it had
+  been close by. </p>
+<p> Then after the black knight had thus struck down those three knights he went
+  to each in turn and tied his hands behind his back. Then, lifting each man with
+  extraordinary ease, he laid him across the saddle of that horse from which he
+  had fallen, as though he were a sack of grain. And all this Sir Lionel beheld
+  with very great wonder, marvelling much at the strength and prowess of that
+  black knight. "Ha," quoth he to himself, "I will go and inquire into this business,
+  for it may haply be that yonder black knight shall not find it to be so easy
+  to deal with a knight of the Round Table as with those other three knights."
+</p>
+<p> So, with this, Sir Lionel loosed his horse very quietly and went his way so
+  softly that Sir Launcelot was not awakened. And after he had gone some way,
+  he mounted his steed and rode off at a fast gallop down into that valley. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Lionel addresses the sable knight.</div>
+<p> When Sir Lionel had come to that place where the knight was, he found that
+  he had just bound the last of the three knights upon the saddle of his horse
+  as aforetold. So Sir Lionel spoke to the sable knight in this wise: "Sir, I
+  pray you tell me your name and degree and why you treat those knights in so
+  shameful a fashion as I behold you to do." </p>
+<p> "Messire," said the black knight very fiercely, "this matter concerns you
+  not at all; yet I may tell you that those knights whom I have overthrown are
+  knights of King Arthur's court, and so I serve all such as come into this place.
+  So will I serve you, too, if you be a knight of King Arthur's." </p>
+<p> "Well," said Sir Lionel, "that is a very ungracious thing for you to say.
+  And as for that, I too am a knight of King Arthur's court, but I do not believe
+  that you will serve me as you have served those three. Instead of that, I have
+  great hope that I shall serve you in such a fashion that I shall be able to
+  set these knights free from your hands." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">The sable knight overcomes Sir Lionel.</div>
+<p> Thereupon, without more ado, he made him ready with spear and shield, and
+  the black knight, perceiving his design, also made him ready. Then they rode
+  a little distance apart so as to have a fair course for a tilt upon the roadway.
+  Then each set spur to his horse and the two drave together with such violence
+  that the earth shook beneath them. So they met fair in the middle of the course,
+  but lo! in that encounter the spear of Sir Lionel broke into as many as thirty
+  or forty pieces, but the spear of the black knight held, so that Sir Lionel
+  was lifted clean out from his saddle and over the crupper of his horse with
+  such violence that when he smote the ground he rolled three times over ere he
+  ceased to fall. And because of that fierce, terrible blow he swooned away entirely,
+  and all was black before his eyes, and he knew nothing. </p>
+<p> Therewith the black knight dismounted and tied Sir Lionel's arms behind his
+  back and he laid him across the saddle of his horse as he had laid those others
+  across the saddles of their horses; and he tied him there very securely with
+  strong cords so that Sir Lionel could not move. </p>
+<p> And all this while Sir Launcelot slept beneath the apple-tree upon the hillside,
+  for he was greatly soothed by the melodious humming of the bees in the blossoms
+  above where he lay. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Of Sir Turquine the sable knight.</div>
+<p> Now you are to know that he who had thus taken Sir Lionel and those three
+  knights prisoner was one Sir Turquine, a very cruel, haughty knight, who had
+  a great and strong castle out beyond the mouth of that valley in which these
+  knights took combat as aforetold. Moreover, it was the custom of Sir Turquine
+  to make prisoner all the knights and ladies who came that way; and all the knights
+  and ladies who were not of King Arthur's court he set free when they had paid
+  a sufficient ransom unto him; but the knights who were of King Arthur's court,
+  and especially those who were of the Round Table, he held prisoner for aye within
+  his castle. The dungeon of that castle was a very cold, dismal, and unlovely
+  place, and it was to this prison that he proposed to take those four knights
+  whom he had overcome, with intent to hold them prisoner as aforetold. </p>
+<p> And now turn we to King Arthur's court and consider what befell there after
+  Sir Launcelot and Sir Lionel had left it in search of adventures. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Ector follows Sir Launcelot and Sir Lionel.</div>
+<p> When Sir Ector found that Sir Launcelot and Sir Lionel had gone away in that
+  fashion he was very much grieved in spirit; wherefore he said to himself, "Meseems
+  my brother might have taken me with him as well as our cousin." So he went to
+  King Arthur and besought his leave to quit the court and to ride after those
+  other two and to join in their adventures, and King Arthur very cheerfully gave
+  him that leave. So Sir Ector made him ready with all despatch, and rode away
+  at a great gait after Sir Launcelot and Sir Lionel. And ever as Sir Ector rode
+  he made diligent inquiry and he found that those two knights had ridden before
+  him, so he said to himself: "By and by I shall overtake them--if not to-day,
+  at least by night, or by to-morrow day." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Ector seeks adventure.</div>
+<p> But after a while he came to a cross-roads, and there he took a way that Sir
+  Launcelot and Sir Lionel had not taken; so that, after he had gone a distance,
+  he found that he had missed them by taking that road. Nevertheless, he went
+  on until about the prime of the day, what time he met a forester, to whom he
+  said: "Sirrah, saw you two knights ride this way--one knight clad in white armor
+  with a white shield upon which was depicted the figure of a lady, and the other
+  knight clad in red armor with the figure of a red gryphon upon his shield?"
+  "Nay," said the forester, "I saw not such folk." Then said Sir Ector, "Is there
+  any adventure to be found hereabouts?" Upon this the forester fell to laughing
+  in great measure. "Yea," he said, "there is an adventure to be found hard by
+  and it is one that many have undertaken and not one yet hath ever fulfilled."
+  Then Sir Ector said, "Tell me what that adventure is and I will undertake it."
+</p>
+<p> "Sir," said the forester, "if you will follow along yonder road for a distance
+  you will find a very large, strong castle surrounded by a broad moat. In front
+  of that castle is a stream of water with a fair, shallow ford, where the roadway
+  crosses the water. Upon this side of that ford there groweth a thorn-tree, very
+  large and sturdy, and upon it hangs a basin of brass. Strike upon that basin
+  with the butt of your spear, and you shall presently meet with that adventure
+  concerning which I have just now spoken." "Fellow," said Sir Ector, "grammercy
+  for your news." And, therewith, straightway he rode off in search of that adventure.
+</p>
+<p> He rode a great distance at a very fast gait and by and by he came to the
+  top of a hill and therewith he saw before him the mouth of a fair valley. Across
+  from where he stood was another hill not very large or high, but exceedingly
+  steep and rocky. Upon this farther hill was builded a tall, noble castle of
+  gray stone with many towers and spires and tall chimneys and with several score
+  of windows, all shining bright in the clear weather. A fair river ran down into
+  the mouth of that valley and it was as bright and as smooth as silver, and on
+  each side of it were smooth level meadow-lands--very green--and here and there
+  shady groves of trees and plantations of fruit-trees. And Sir Ector perceived
+  that the road upon which he travelled crossed the aforesaid river by a shallow
+  ford, and he wist that this must be the ford whereof the forester had spoken.
+  So he rode down unto that ford, and when he had come nigh he perceived the thorn-tree
+  of which the forester had told him, and he saw that a great basin of brass hung
+  to the thorn-tree, just as the forester had said. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Ector smites upon the brazen basin.</div>
+<p> Then Sir Ector rode to that thorn-tree and he smote upon that basin of brass
+  with the butt of his spear, so that the basin rang with a noise like thunder;
+  and he smote it again and again, several times over. But though he was aware
+  of a great commotion within that fair castle, yet no adventure befell him, although
+  he smote the brazen basin several times. </p>
+<p> Now, his horse being athirst, Sir Ector drove him into the ford that he might
+  drink, and whilst he was there he was suddenly aware where, on the other side
+  of the stream, was a singular party coming along the roadway. For first of all
+  there rode a knight entirely clad in black, riding upon a black horse, and all
+  the harness and furniture of that horse entirely of black. Behind him, that
+  knight led four horses as though they were pack-horses, and across each one
+  of those four horses was a knight in full armor, bound fast to the saddle like
+  to a sack of grain, whereat Sir Ector was very greatly astonished. </p>
+<p> As soon as that sable knight approached the castle, several came running forth
+  and relieved him of those horses he led and took them into the castle, and as
+  soon as he had been thus relieved the sable knight rode very violently up to
+  where Sir Ector was. As soon as he had come to the water's edge he cried out:
+  "Sir Knight, come forth from out of that water and do me battle." </p>
+<p> "Very well," said Sir Ector, "I will do so, though it will, I think, be to
+  thy very great discomfort." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Ector essays battle with the sable knight.</div>
+<p> With that he came quickly out from the ford, the water whereof was all broken
+  and churned into foam at his passing, and straightway he cast aside his spear
+  and drew his sword and, driving against that sable knight, he smote him such
+  a buffet that his horse turned twice about. </p>
+<p> "Ha," said the black knight, "that is the best blow that ever I had struck
+  me in all of my life." Therewith he rushed upon Sir Ector, and without using
+  a weapon of any sort he catched him about the body, underneath the arms, and
+  dragged him clean out of his saddle, and flung him across the horn of his own
+  saddle. Thereupon, having accomplished this marvellous feat, and with Sir Ector
+  still across his saddle-bow, he rode up unto his castle, nor stopped until he
+  had reached the court-yard of the keep. There he set Sir Ector down upon the
+  stone pavement. Then he said: "Messire, thou hast done to me this day what no
+  other knight hath ever done to me before, wherefore, if thou wilt promise to
+  be my man from henceforth, I will let thee go free and give thee great rewards
+  for thy services as well." </p>
+<p> But Sir Ector was filled very full of shame, wherefore he cried out fiercely,
+  "Rather would I lie within a prison all my life than serve so catiff a knight
+  as thou, who darest to treat other knights as thou hast just now treated me."
+</p>
+<p> "Well," said the black knight very grimly, "thou shalt have thy choice." Therewith
+  he gave certain orders, whereupon a great many fierce fellows set upon Sir Ector
+  and stripped him of all his armor, and immediately haled him off, half-naked,
+  to that dungeon aforementioned. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">The sable knight makes prisoner of Sir Ector.</div>
+<p> There he found many knights of King Arthur's court, and several of the Round
+  Table, all of whom he knew, and when they beheld Sir Ector flung in unto them
+  in that fashion they lifted up their voices in great lamentation that he should
+  have been added to their number, instead of freeing them from their dolorous
+  and pitiable case. "Alas," said they, "there is no knight alive may free us
+  from this dungeon, unless it be Sir Launcelot. For this Sir Turquine is, certes,
+  the greatest knight in all the world, unless it be Sir Launcelot." </p>
+<div align="center"> <a href="images/tail.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/tail.gif" border="0" alt="Tail Piece" /></a>
+</div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div class="chaphead" id="la3"><a href="images/017.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/017.gif" alt="Chapter Header" border="0" /></a>
+  <br />
+  Chapter Third</div>
+<br />
+<div class="chapdes">How Sir Launcelot was Found in a Sleep by Queen Morgana le
+  Fay and Three Other Queens who were with Her, and How He was Taken to a Castle
+  of Queen Morgana's and of What Befell Him There.</div>
+<div class="sidenote">Four Queens and their courts pass by where Sir Launcelot
+  lies sleeping.</div>
+<p> So Sir Launcelot lay in deep slumber under that apple-tree, and knew neither
+  that Sir Lionel had left him nor what ill-fortune had befallen that good knight.
+  Whilst he lay there sleeping in that wise there came by, along the road, and
+  at a little distance from him, a very fair procession of lordly people, making
+  a noble parade upon the highway. The chiefest of this company were four ladies,
+  who were four queens. With them rode four knights, and, because the day was
+  warm, the four knights bore a canopy of green silk by the four corners upon
+  the points of their lances in such wise as to shelter those queens from the
+  strong heat of the sun. And those four knights rode all armed cap-a-pie on four
+  noble war-horses, and the four queens, bedight in great estate, rode on four
+  white mules richly caparisoned with furniture of divers colors embroidered with
+  gold. After these lordly folk there followed a very excellent court of esquires
+  and demoiselles to the number of a score or more; some riding upon horses and
+  some upon mules that ambled very easily. </p>
+<p> Now all these folk of greater or lesser degree were entirely unaware that
+  Sir Launcelot lay sleeping so nigh to them as they rode by chattering very gayly
+  together in the spring-time weather, taking great pleasure in the warm air,
+  and in growing things, and the green fields, and the bright sky; and they would
+  have had no knowledge that the knight was there, had not Sir Launcelot's horse
+  neighed very lustily. Thereupon, they were aware of the horse, and then they
+  were aware of Sir Launcelot where he lay asleep under the apple-tree, with his
+  head lying upon his helmet. </p>
+<p> Now foremost of all those queens was Queen Morgana le Fay (who was King Arthur's
+  sister, and a potent, wicked enchantress, of whom much hath been told in the
+  Book of King Arthur), and besides Queen Morgana there was the Queen of North
+  Wales, and the Queen of Eastland, and the Queen of the Outer Isles. </p>
+<p> Now when this party of queens, knights, esquires, and ladies heard the war-horse
+  neigh, and when they beheld Sir Launcelot where he lay, they drew rein and marvelled
+  very greatly to see a knight sleeping so soundly at that place, maugre all the
+  noise and tumult of their passing. So Queen Morgana called to her one of the
+  esquires who followed after them, and she said to him: "Go softly and see if
+  thou knowest who is yonder knight; but do not wake him." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">An esquire knoweth Sir Launcelot.</div>
+<p> So the esquire did as she commanded; he went unto that apple-tree and he looked
+  into Sir Launcelot's face, and by hap he knew who it was because he had been
+  to Camelot erstwhiles and he had seen Sir Launcelot at that place. So he hastened
+  back to Queen Morgana and he said to her: "Lady, I believe that yonder knight
+  is none other than the great Sir Launcelot of the Lake, concerning whom there
+  is now such report; for he is reputed to be the most powerful of all the knights
+  of King Arthur's Round Table, and the greatest knight in the world, so that
+  King Arthur loves him and favors him above all other knights." </p>
+<p> Now when Queen Morgana le Fay was aware that the knight who was asleep there
+  was Sir Launcelot, it immediately entered her mind for to lay some powerful,
+  malignant enchantment upon him to despite King Arthur. For she too knew how
+  dear Sir Launcelot was to King Arthur, and so she had a mind to do him mischief
+  for King Arthur's sake. So she went softly to where Sir Launcelot lay with intent
+  to work some such spell upon him. But when she had come to Sir Launcelot she
+  was aware that this purpose of mischief was not possible whilst he wore that
+  ring upon his finger which the Lady of the Lake had given him; wherefore she
+  had to put by her evil design for a while. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Queen Morgana le Fay sets a mild enchantment upon Sir Launcelot.</div>
+<p> But though she was unable to work any malign spell upon him, she was able
+  to cause it by her magic that that sleep in which he lay should remain unbroken
+  for three or four hours. So she made certain movements of her hands above his
+  face and by that means she wove the threads of his slumber so closely together
+  that he could not break through them to awake. </p>
+<p> After she had done this she called to her several of the esquires who were
+  of her party, and these at her command fetched the shield of Sir Launcelot and
+  laid him upon it. Then they lifted him and bore him away, carrying him in that
+  manner to a certain castle in the forest that was no great distance away. And
+  the name of that castle was Chateaubras and it was one of Queen Morgana's castles.
+</p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot awakens in a fair chamber.</div>
+<p> And all that while Sir Launcelot wist nothing, but lay in a profound sleep,
+  so that when he awoke and looked about him he was so greatly astonished that
+  he knew not whether he was in a vision or whether he was awake. For whilst he
+  had gone asleep beneath that apple-tree, here he now lay in a fair chamber upon
+  a couch spread with a coverlet of flame-colored linen. </p>
+<p> Then he perceived that it was a very fair room in which he lay, for it was
+  hung all about with tapestry hangings representing fair ladies at court and
+  knights at battle. And there were woven carpets upon the floor, and the couch
+  whereon he lay was of carved wood, richly gilt. There were two windows to that
+  chamber, and when he looked forth he perceived that the chamber where he was
+  was very high from the ground, being built so loftily upon the rugged rocks
+  at its foot that the forest lay far away beneath him like a sea of green. And
+  he perceived that there was but one door to this chamber and that the door was
+  bound with iron and studded with great bosses of wrought iron, and when he tried
+  that door he found that it was locked. </p>
+<p> So Sir Launcelot was aware from these things that he was a prisoner--though
+  not a prisoner in a hard case--and he wist not how he had come thither nor what
+  had happened to him. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">A fair damsel beareth light and food unto Sir Launcelot.</div>
+<p> Now when the twilight of the evening had fallen, a porter, huge of frame and
+  very forbidding of aspect, came and opened the door of the chamber where Sir
+  Launcelot lay, and when he had done so there entered a fair damsel, bearing
+  a very good supper upon a silver tray. Moreover, she bore upon the tray three
+  tapers of perfumed wax set in three silver candlesticks, and these gave a fair
+  light to the entire room. But, when Sir Launcelot saw the maiden coming thus
+  with intent to serve him, he arose and took the tray from her and set it himself
+  upon the table; and for this civility the damsel made acknowledgement to him.
+  Then she said to him: "Sir Knight, what cheer do you have?" "Ha, damsel," said
+  Sir Launcelot, "I do not know how to answer you that, for I wist not what cheer
+  to have until I know whether I be with friends or with enemies. For though this
+  chamber wherein I lie is very fair and well-bedight, yet meseems I must have
+  been brought here by some enchantment, and that I am a prisoner in this place;
+  wherefore I know not what cheer to take." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">The damsel has pity for Sir Launcelot.</div>
+<p> Then the damsel looked upon Sir Launcelot, and she was very sorry for him.
+  "Sir," quoth she, "I take great pity to see you in this pass, for I hear tell
+  you are the best knight in the world and, of a surety, you are of a very noble
+  appearance. I must tell you that this castle wherein you lie is a castle of
+  enchantment, and they who dwell here mean you no good; wherefore I would advise
+  you to be upon your guard against them." </p>
+<p> "Maiden," said Sir Launcelot, "I give you grammercy for your kind words, and
+  I will be upon my guard as you advise me." </p>
+<p> Then the damsel would have said more, but she durst not for fear that she
+  should be overheard and that evil should befall her, for the porter was still
+  without the door. So in a little she went away and Sir Launcelot was left alone.
+</p>
+<p> But though the damsel bade Sir Launcelot have good cheer, yet he had no very
+  good cheer for that night, as anyone may well suppose, for he wist not what
+  was to befall him upon the morrow. </p>
+<a href="images/016.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images"  src="images/016.gif" border="0" align="left" id="p5" alt="Queen Morgana appears unto Sir Launcelot" /></a>
+<p> Now when the morning had come Sir Launcelot was aware of someone at his chamber
+  door, and when that one entered it was Queen Morgana le Fay. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">How Queen Morgana cometh to Sir Launcelot.</div>
+<p> She was clad in all the glory at her command, and her appearance was so shining
+  and radiant that when she came into that room Sir Launcelot knew not whether
+  it was a vision his eyes beheld or whether she was a creature of flesh and blood.
+  For she came with her golden crown upon her head, and her hair, which was as
+  red as gold, was bound around with ribbons of gold; and she was clad all in
+  cloth of gold; and she wore golden rings with jewels upon her fingers and golden
+  bracelets upon her arms and a golden collar around her shoulders; wherefore,
+  when she came into the room she shone with an extraordinary splendor, as if
+  she were a marvellous statue made all of pure gold--only that her face was very
+  soft and beautiful, and her eyes shone exceedingly bright, and her lips, which
+  were as red as coral, smiled, and her countenance moved and changed with all
+  the wiles of fascination that she could cause it to assume. </p>
+<p> When Sir Launcelot beheld her come thus gloriously into his room he rose and
+  greeted her with a very profound salutation, for he was astonished beyond measure
+  at beholding that shining vision. Then Queen Morgana gave him her hand, and
+  he kneeled, and took her jewelled fingers in his and set her hand to his lips.
+  "Welcome, Sir Launcelot!" quoth she; "welcome to this place! For it is indeed
+  a great honor to have here so noble and famous a knight as you!" </p>
+<p> "Ha, Lady," said Sir Launcelot, "you are gracious to me beyond measure! But
+  I pray you tell me how I came to this place and by what means? For when I fell
+  asleep yesterday at noon I lay beneath an apple-tree upon a hillside; and when
+  I awoke--lo! I found myself in this fair chamber." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Queen Morgana seeks to beguile Sir Launcelot.</div>
+<p> To this Queen Morgana le Fay made smiling reply as follows: "Sir, I am Queen
+  Morgana le Fay, of whom you may have heard tell, for I am the sister of King
+  Arthur, whose particular knight you are. Yesterday, at noon, riding with certain
+  other queens and a small court of knights, esquires, and demoiselles, we went
+  by where you lay sleeping. Finding you lying so, alone and without any companion,
+  I was able, by certain arts which I possess, to lay a gentle enchantment upon
+  you so that the sleep wherein you lay should remain unbroken for three or four
+  hours. So we brought you to this place in hopes that you would stay with us
+  for two or three days or more, and give us the pleasure of your company. For
+  your fame, which is very great, hath reached even as far as this place, wherefore
+  we have made a gentle prisoner of you for this time being." </p>
+<p> "Lady," said Sir Launcelot, "such constraint as that would be very pleasing
+  to me at another time. But when I fell asleep I was with my cousin, Sir Lionel,
+  and I know not what hath become of him, and haply he will not know what hath
+  become of me should he seek me. Now I pray you let me go forth and find my cousin,
+  and when I have done so I will return to you again at this place with an easy
+  spirit." </p>
+<p> "Well, Messire," said Queen Morgana, "it shall be as you desire, only I require
+  of you some pledge of your return." (Herewith she drew from her finger a golden
+  ring set very richly with several jewels.) "Now take this ring," she said, "and
+  give me that ring which I see upon your finger, and when you shall return hither
+  each shall have his ring again from the other." </p>
+<p> "Lady," said Sir Launcelot, "that may not be. For this ring was placed upon
+  my finger with such a pledge that it may never leave where it is whilst my soul
+  abideth in my body. Ask of me any other pledge and you shall have it; but I
+  cannot give this ring to you." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Queen Morgana hath anger for Sir Launcelot.</div>
+<p> Upon this Queen Morgana's cheeks grew very red, and her eyes shone like sparks
+  of fire. "Ha, Sir Knight," she said, "I do not think you are very courteous
+  to refuse a lady and a queen so small a pledge as that. I am much affronted
+  with you that you should have done so. Wherefore, I now demand of you, as the
+  sister of King Arthur whom you serve, that you give me that ring." </p>
+<p> "Lady," said Sir Launcelot, "I may not do that, though it grieveth me much
+  to refuse you." </p>
+<p> Then Queen Morgana looked at Sir Launcelot awhile with a very angry countenance,
+  but she perceived that she was not to have her will with him, wherefore she
+  presently turned very quickly and went out of the room, leaving Sir Launcelot
+  much perturbed in spirit. For he knew how great were the arts of Queen Morgana
+  le Fay, and he could not tell what harm she might seek to work upon him by those
+  arts. But he ever bore in mind how that the ring which he wore was sovereign
+  against such malignant arts as she practised, wherefore he took what comfort
+  he could from that circumstance. </p>
+<p> Nevertheless, he abode in that chamber in great uncertainty for all that day,
+  and when night came he was afraid to let himself slumber, lest they of the castle
+  should come whilst he slept and work him some secret ill; wherefore he remained
+  awake whilst all the rest of the castle slept. Now at the middle of the night,
+  and about the time of the first cock-crow, he was aware of a sound without and
+  a light that fell through the crack of the door. Then, in a little, the door
+  was opened and there entered that young damsel who had served him with his supper
+  the night before, and she bare a lighted taper in her hand. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">The damsel cometh again to Sir Launcelot.</div>
+<p> When Sir Launcelot perceived that damsel he said: "Maiden, do you come hither
+  with good intent or with evil intent?" "Sir," she said, "I come with good intent,
+  for I take great pity to see you in such a sorry case as this. I am a King's
+  daughter in attendance upon Queen Morgana le Fay, but she is so powerful an
+  enchantress that, in good sooth, I am in great fear lest she some time do me
+  an ill-hap. So to-morrow I leave her service and return unto my father's castle.
+  Meantime, I am of a mind to help you in your adversity. For Queen Morgana trusts
+  me, and I have knowledge of this castle and I have all the keys thereof, wherefore
+  I can set you free. And I will set you free if you will, upon your part, serve
+  me in a way that you can very easily do." </p>
+<p> "Well," said Sir Launcelot, "provided I may serve you in a way fitting my
+  knightly honor, I shall be glad to do so under any condition. Now I pray you
+  tell me what it is you would have of me." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">The damsel speaketh to Sir Launcelot of her father, King
+  Bagdemagus.</div>
+<p> "Sir," said the damsel, "my father hath made a tournament betwixt him and
+  the King of North Wales upon Tuesday next, and that is just a fortnight from
+  this day. Now, already my father hath lost one such a tournament, for he hath
+  no very great array of knights upon his side, and the King of North Wales hath
+  three knights of King Arthur's Round Table to aid his party. Because of the
+  great help of these knights of the Round Table, the King of North Wales won
+  the last tournament and my father lost it, and now he feareth to lose the tournament
+  that is to be. Now if you will enter upon my father's side upon the day of the
+  tournament, I doubt not that he shall win that tournament; for all men say that
+  you are the greatest knight in the world at this time. So if you will promise
+  to help my father and will seal that promise with your knightly word, then will
+  I set you free of this castle of enchantment." </p>
+<p> "Fair maiden," said Sir Launcelot, "tell me your name and your father's name,
+  for I cannot give you my promise until I know who ye be." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot promises to aid King Bagdemagus.</div>
+<p> "Sir," said the demoiselle, "I am called Elouise the Fair, and my father is
+  King Bagdemagus." "Ha!" quoth Sir Launcelot, "I know your father, and I know
+  that he is a good king and a very worthy knight besides. If you did me no service
+  whatsoever, I would, at your simple asking, were I free of this place, lend
+  him such aid as it is in my power to give." </p>
+<p> At this the damsel took great joy and gave Sir Launcelot thanks beyond measure.
+  So they spoke together as to how that matter might be brought about so that
+  Sir Launcelot should be brought to talk to King Bagdemagus. And the damsel Elouise
+  said: "Let it be this way, Sir Launcelot. Imprimis--thou art to know that somewhat
+  of a long distance to the westward of that place where thou didst fall asleep
+  yesterday, there standeth a very large, fair abbey known as the Abbey of Saint
+  James the Lesser. This abbey is surrounded by an exceedingly noble estate that
+  lieth all around about it so that no man that haps in that part of the country
+  can miss it if he make inquiry for it. Now I will go and take lodging at that
+  abbey a little while after I leave this place. So when it suits thee to do so,
+  come thou thither and thou wilt find me there and I will bring thee to my father."
+</p>
+<p> "Very well," said Sir Launcelot, "let it be that way. I will come to that
+  place in good time for the tournament. Meantime, I prithee, rest in the assurance
+  that I shall never forgot thy kindness to me this day, nor thy gracious behavior
+  and speech unto me. Wherefore I shall deem it not a duty but a pleasure to serve
+  thee." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">The damsel bringeth Sir Launcelot to freedom.</div>
+<p> So, having arranged all these matters, the damsel Elouise opened the door
+  of that room and led Sir Launcelot out thence; and she led him through various
+  passages and down several long flights of steps, and so brought him at last
+  unto a certain chamber, where was his armor. Then the damsel helped Sir Launcelot
+  to encase him in his armor, so that in a little while he was altogether armed
+  as he had been when he fell asleep under that apple-tree. Thereafter the damsel
+  brought him out past the court-yard and unto the stable where was Sir Launcelot's
+  horse, and the horse knew him when he came. So he saddled the horse by the light
+  of a half-moon which sailed like a boat high up in the sky through the silver,
+  floating clouds, and therewith he was ready to depart. Then the damsel opened
+  the gate and he rode out into the night, which was now drawing near the dawning
+  of the day. </p>
+<p> Thus Elouise the Fair aided Sir Launcelot to escape from that castle of enchantment,
+  where else great ill might have befallen him. </p>
+<br />
+<div align="center"> *&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;*&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;*&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;*&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;*
+</div>
+<br />
+<p> And now it shall be told how Sir Launcelot did battle with Sir Turquine and
+  of what happened thereat. </p>
+<div align="center"> <a href="images/tail.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/tail.gif" border="0" alt="Tail Piece" /></a>
+</div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div class="chaphead" id="la4"><a href="images/019.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/019.gif" alt="Chapter Header" border="0" /></a>
+  <br />
+  Chapter Fourth</div>
+<br />
+<div class="chapdes">How Sir Launcelot Sought Sir Lionel and How a Young Damsel
+  Brought Him to the Greatest Battle that Ever He Had in All His Life</div>
+.
+<p> So Sir Launcelot rode through the forest, and whilst he rode the day began
+  to break. About sunrise he came out into an open clearing where certain charcoal-burners
+  were plying their trade. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot breaks his fast in the forest.</div>
+<p> To these rude fellows he appeared out of the dark forest like some bright
+  and shining vision; and they made him welcome and offered him to eat of their
+  food, and he dismounted and sat down with them and brake his fast with them.
+  And when he had satisfied his hunger, he gave them grammercy for their entertainment,
+  and took horse and rode away. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot cometh again to the place of the apple-tree.</div>
+<p> He made forward until about the middle of the morning, what time he came suddenly
+  upon that place where, two days before, he had fallen asleep beneath the blooming
+  apple-tree. Here he drew rein and looked about him for a considerable while;
+  for he thought that haply he might find some trace of Sir Lionel thereabouts.
+  But there was no trace of him, and Sir Launcelot wist not what had become of
+  him. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot perceives a damsel upon a palfrey.</div>
+<p> Now whilst Sir Launcelot was still there, not knowing what to do to find Sir
+  Lionel, there passed that way a damsel riding upon a white palfrey. Unto her
+  Sir Launcelot made salutation, and she made salutation to him and asked him
+  what cheer. "Maiden," said Sir Launcelot, "the cheer that I have is not very
+  good, seeing that I have lost my companion-at-arms and know not where he is."
+  Then he said: "Did you haply meet anywhere with a knight with the figure of
+  a red gryphon upon his shield?" whereunto the damsel answered: "Nay, I saw none
+  such." Then Sir Launcelot said: "Tell me, fair damsel, dost thou know of any
+  adventure hereabouts that I may undertake? For, as thou seest, I am errant and
+  in search of such." </p>
+<p> Upon this the damsel fell a-laughing: "Yea, Sir Knight," said she, "I know
+  of an adventure not far away, but it is an adventure that no knight yet that
+  ever I heard tell of hath accomplished. I can take thee to that adventure if
+  thou hast a desire to pursue it." </p>
+<p> "Why should I not pursue it," said Sir Launcelot, "seeing that I am here for
+  that very cause--to pursue adventure?" </p>
+<p> "Well," said the damsel, "then come with me, Sir Knight, I will take thee
+  to an adventure that shall satisfy thee." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">The damsel leads Sir Launcelot to an adventure.</div>
+<p> So Sir Launcelot and that damsel rode away from that place together; he upon
+  his great war-horse and she upon her ambling palfrey beside him. And the sun
+  shone down upon them, very pleasant and warm, and all who passed them turned
+  to look after them; for the maiden was very fair and slender, and Sir Launcelot
+  was of so noble and stately a mien that few could behold him even from a distance
+  without looking twice or three times upon him. And as they travelled in that
+  way together they fell into converse, and the damsel said to Sir Launcelot:
+  "Sir, thou appearest to be a very good knight, and of such a sort as may well
+  undertake any adventure with great hope of success. Now I prithee to tell me
+  thy name and what knight thou art." </p>
+<p> "Fair maiden," said Sir Launcelot, "as for telling you my name, that I will
+  gladly do. I am called Sir Launcelot of the Lake, and I am a knight of King
+  Arthur's court and of his Round Table." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot and the maiden discourse together.</div>
+<p> At this the damsel was very greatly astonished and filled with admiration.
+  "Hah!" quoth she, "it is a great pleasure to me to fall in with you, Sir Launcelot,
+  for all the world now bespeaketh your fame. Little did I ever think to behold
+  your person, much less speak with you, and ride in this way with you. Now I
+  will tell you what this adventure is on which we are set; it is this--there
+  is, some small distance from this, a castle of a knight hight Sir Turquine,
+  who hath in his prison a great many knights of King Arthur's court, and several
+  knights of his Round Table. These knights he keepeth there in great dole and
+  misery, for it is said that their groans may be heard by the passers along the
+  high-road below the castle. This Sir Turquine is held to be the greatest knight
+  in the world (unless it be thou) for he hath never yet been overcome in battle,
+  whether a-horseback or a-foot. But, indeed, I think it to be altogether likely
+  that thou wilt overcome him." </p>
+<p> "Fair damsel," quoth Sir Launcelot, "I too have hope that I shall hold mine
+  own with him, when I meet him, and to that I shall do my best endeavor. Yet
+  this and all other matters are entirely in the hands of God." </p>
+<p> Then the damsel said, "If you should overcome this Sir Turquine, I know of
+  still another adventure which, if you do not undertake it, I know of no one
+  else who may undertake to bring it to a successful issue." </p>
+<p> Quoth Sir Launcelot, "I am glad to hear of that or of any other adventure,
+  for I take great joy in such adventuring. Now, tell me, what is this other adventure?"
+</p>
+<div class="sidenote">The maiden tells Sir Launcelot of the savage forest knight.</div>
+<p> "Sir," said the damsel, "a long distance to the west of this there is a knight
+  who hath a castle in the woods and he is the evilest disposed knight that ever
+  I heard tell of. For he lurks continually in the outskirts of the woods, whence
+  he rushes forth at times upon those who pass by. Especially he is an enemy to
+  all ladies of that country, for he hath taken many of them prisoners to his
+  castle and hath held them in the dungeon thereof for ransom; and sometimes he
+  hath held them for a long while. Now I am fain that thou undertake that adventure
+  for my sake." </p>
+<p> "Well," said Sir Launcelot, "I believe it would be a good thing for any knight
+  to do to rid the world of such an evil-disposed knight as that, so if I have
+  the good fortune to overcome this Sir Turquine, I give my knightly word that
+  I will undertake this adventure for thy sake, if so be thou wilt go with me
+  for to show me the way to his castle." </p>
+<p> "That I will do with all gladness," said the damsel, "for it is great pride
+  for any lady to ride with you upon such an adventure." </p>
+<p> Thus they talked, and all was arranged betwixt them. And thus they rode very
+  pleasantly through that valley for the distance of two leagues or a little more,
+  until they came to that place where the road crossed the smooth stream of water
+  afore told of; and there was the castle of Sir Turquine as afore told of; and
+  there was the thorn-bush and the basin hanging upon the thorn-bush as afore
+  told of. Then the maiden said: "Sir Launcelot, beat upon that basin and so thou
+  shalt summon Sir Turquine to battle with thee." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot smites upon the basin.</div>
+<p> So Sir Launcelot rode to that basin where it hung and he smote upon it very
+  violently with the butt of his spear. And he smote upon that basin again and
+  again until he smote the bottom from out it; but at that time immediately no
+  one came. </p>
+<p> Then, after a while, he was ware of one who came riding toward him, and he
+  beheld that he who came riding was a knight very huge of frame, and long and
+  strong of limb. And he beheld that the knight was clad entirely in black, and
+  that the horse upon which he rode and all the furniture of the horse was black.
+  And he beheld that this knight drave before him another horse, and that across
+  the saddle of that other horse there lay an armed knight, bound hand and foot;
+  and Sir Launcelot wist that the sable knight who came riding was that Sir Turquine
+  whom he sought. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">The sable knight bringeth Sir Gaheris captive.</div>
+<p> So Sir Turquine came very rapidly along the highway toward where Sir Launcelot
+  sat, driving that other horse and the captive knight before him all the while.
+  And as they came nearer and nearer Sir Launcelot thought that he should know
+  who the wounded knight was and when they came right close, so that he could
+  see the markings of the shield of that captive knight, he wist that it was Sir
+  Gaheris, the brother of Sir Gawaine, and the nephew of King Arthur, whom Sir
+  Turquine brought thither in that wise. </p>
+<p> At this Sir Launcelot was very wroth; for he could not abide seeing a fellow-knight
+  of the Round Table treated with such disregard as that which Sir Gaheris suffered
+  at the hands of Sir Turquine; wherefore Sir Launcelot rode to meet Sir Turquine,
+  and he cried out: "Sir Knight! put that wounded man down from his horse, and
+  let him rest for a while, and we two will prove our strength, the one against
+  the other! For it is a shame for thee to treat a noble knight of the Round Table
+  with such despite as thou art treating that knight." </p>
+<a href="images/018.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images"  align="right" id="p6" src="images/018.gif" border="0" alt="Sir Launcelot doeth battle with Sir Turquine" /></a>
+<p> "Sir," said Sir Turquine, "as I treat that knight, so treat I all knights
+  of the Round Table--and so will I treat thee if thou be of the Round Table."
+</p>
+<p> "Well," said Sir Launcelot, "as for that, I am indeed of the Round Table,
+  and I have come hither for no other reason than for to do battle with thee."
+</p>
+<p> "Sir Knight," said Sir Turquine, "thou speakest very boldly; now I pray thee
+  to tell me what knight thou art and what is thy name." </p>
+<p> "Messire," said Sir Launcelot, "I have no fear to do that. I am called Sir
+  Launcelot of the Lake, and I am a knight of King Arthur's, who made me knight
+  with his own hand." </p>
+<p> "Ha!" said Sir Turquine, "that is very good news to me, for of all knights
+  in the world thou art the one I most desire to meet, for I have looked for thee
+  for a long while with intent to do battle with thee. For it was thou who didst
+  slay my brother Sir Caradus at Dolorous Gard, who was held to be the best knight
+  in all the world. Wherefore, because of this, I have the greatest despite against
+  thee of any man in the world, and it was because of that despite that I waged
+  particular battle against all the knights of King Arthur's court. And in despite
+  of thee I now hold five score and eight knights, who are thy fellows, in the
+  dismallest dungeon of my castle. Also I have to tell thee that among those knights
+  is thine own brother, Sir Ector, and thy kinsman, Sir Lionel. For I overthrew
+  Sir Ector and Sir Lionel only a day or two ago, and now they lie almost naked
+  in the lower parts of that castle yonder. I will put down this knight as thou
+  biddst me, and when I have done battle with thee I hope to tie thee on his saddle-horn
+  in his place." </p>
+<p> So Sir Turquine loosed the cords that bound Sir Gaheris and set him from off
+  the horse's back, and Sir Gaheris, who was sorely wounded and very weak, sat
+  him down upon a slab of stone near-by. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot and Sir Turquine do battle together.</div>
+<p> Then Sir Launcelot and Sir Turquine made themselves ready at all points, and
+  each took such stand as seemed to him to be best; and when each was ready for
+  the assault, each set spurs to his horse and rushed the one against the other
+  with such terrible violence that they smote together like a clap of thunder.
+</p>
+<p> So fierce was that onset that each horse fell back upon the ground and only
+  by great skill and address did the knight who rode him void his saddle, so as
+  to save himself from a fall. And in that meeting the horse of Sir Turquine was
+  killed outright and the back of Sir Launcelot's horse was broken and he could
+  not rise, but lay like dead upon the ground. </p>
+<p> Then each knight drew his sword and set his shield before him and they came
+  together with such wrath that it appeared as though their fierce eyes shot sparks
+  of fire through the oculariums of their helmets. So they met and struck; and
+  they struck many scores of times, and their blows were so violent that neither
+  shield nor armor could withstand the strokes they gave. For their shields were
+  cleft and many pieces of armor were hewn from their limbs, so that the ground
+  was littered with them. And each knight gave the other so many grim wounds that
+  the ground presently was all sprinkled with red where they stood. </p>
+<p> Now that time the day had waxed very hot, for it was come high noontide, so
+  presently Sir Turquine cried out: "Stay thee, Sir Launcelot, for I have a boon
+  to ask!" At this Sir Launcelot stayed his hand and said: "What is it thou hast
+  to ask, Sir Knight?" Sir Turquine said: "Messire, I am athirst--let me drink."
+  And Sir Launcelot said: "Go and drink." </p>
+<p> So Sir Turquine went to that river and entered into that water, which was
+  presently stained with red all about him. And he stooped where he stood and
+  drank his fill, and presently came forth again altogether refreshed. </p>
+<p> Therewith he took up his sword once more and rushed at Sir Launcelot and smote
+  with double strength, so that Sir Launcelot bent before him and had much ado
+  to defend himself from these blows. </p>
+<p> Then by and by Sir Launcelot waxed faint upon his part and was athirst, and
+  he cried out: "I crave of thee a boon, Sir Knight!" "What wouldst thou have?"
+  said Sir Turquine. "Sir Knight," said Sir Launcelot, "bide while I drink, for
+  I am athirst." "Nay," said Sir Turquine, "thou shalt not drink until thou quenchest
+  thy thirst in Paradise." "Ha!" cried Sir Launcelot, "thou art a foul churl and
+  no true knight. For when thou wert athirst, I let thee drink; and now that I
+  am athirst, thou deniest me to quench my thirst." </p>
+<p> Therewith he was filled with such anger that he was like one gone wode; wherefore
+  he flung aside his shield and took his sword in both hands and rushed upon Sir
+  Turquine and smote him again and again; and the blows he gave were so fierce
+  that Sir Turquine waxed somewhat bewildered and bore aback, and held his shield
+  low for faintness. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot overcometh Sir Turquine.</div>
+<p> Then when Sir Launcelot beheld that Sir Turquine was faint in that wise, he
+  rushed upon him and catched him by the beaver of his helmet and pulled him down
+  upon his knees. And Sir Launcelot rushed Sir Turquine's helmet from off his
+  head. And he lifted his sword and smote Sir Turquine's head from off his shoulders,
+  so that it rolled down upon the ground. </p>
+<p> Then for a while Sir Launcelot stood there panting for to catch his breath
+  after that sore battle, for he was nearly stifled with the heat and fury thereof.
+  Then he went down into the water, and he staggered like a drunken man as he
+  went, and the water ran all red at his coming. And Sir Launcelot stooped and
+  slaked his thirst, which was very furious and hot. </p>
+<p> Thereafter he came up out of the water again, all dripping, and he went to
+  where the damsel was and he said to her; "Damsel, lo, I have overcome Sir Turquine;
+  now I am ready to go with thee upon that other adventure, as I promised thee
+  I would." </p>
+<p> At this the damsel was astonished beyond measure, wherefore she cried: "Sir,
+  thou art sorely hurt, and in need of rest for two or three days, and maybe a
+  long time more, until thy wounds are healed." </p>
+<p> "Nay," said Sir Launcelot, "no need to wait; I will go with thee now." </p>
+<p> Then Sir Launcelot went to Sir Gaheris--for Sir Gaheris had been sitting for
+  all that while upon that slab of stone. Sir Launcelot said to Sir Gaheris: "Fair
+  Lord, be not angry if I take your horse, for I must presently go with this damsel,
+  and you see mine own horse hath broke his back." </p>
+<p> "Sir Knight," said Sir Gaheris, "this day you have saved both me and my horse,
+  wherefore it is altogether fitting that my horse or anything that is mine should
+  be yours to do with as you please. So I pray you take my horse, only tell me
+  your name and what knight you are; for I swear by my sword that I never saw
+  any knight in all the world do battle so wonderfully as you have done to-day."
+</p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot makes himself known to Sir Gaheris.</div>
+<p> "Sir," said Sir Launcelot, "I am called Sir Launcelot of the Lake, and I am
+  a knight of King Arthur's. So it is altogether fitting that I should do such
+  service unto you as this, seeing that you are the brother of that dear knight,
+  Sir Gawaine. For if I should not do this battle that I have done for your sake,
+  I should yet do it for the sake of my lord, King Arthur, who is your uncle and
+  Sir Gawaine's uncle." </p>
+<p> Now when Sir Gaheris heard who Sir Launcelot was, he made great exclamation
+  of amazement. "Ha, Sir Launcelot!" he cried, "and is it thou! Often have I heard
+  of thee and of thy prowess at arms! I have desired to meet thee more than any
+  knight in the world; but never did I think to meet thee in such a case as this."
+  Therewith Sir Gaheris arose, and went to Sir Launcelot, and Sir Launcelot came
+  to him and they met and embraced and kissed one another upon the face; and from
+  that time forth they were as brethren together. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot bids Sir Gaheris to free the castle captives.</div>
+<p> Then Sir Launcelot said to Sir Gaheris: "I pray you, Lord, for to go up unto
+  yonder castle, and bring succor to those unfortunates who lie therein. For I
+  think you will find there many fellow-knights of the Round Table. And I believe
+  that you will find therein my brother, Sir Ector, and my cousin, Sir Lionel.
+  And if you find any other of my kindred I pray you to set them free and to do
+  what you can for to comfort them and to put them at their ease. And if there
+  is any treasure in that castle, I bid you give it unto those knights who are
+  prisoners there, for to compensate them for the pains they have endured. Moreover,
+  I pray you tell Sir Ector and Sir Lionel not to follow after me, but to return
+  to court and wait for me there, for I have two adventures to undertake and I
+  must essay them alone." </p>
+<p> Then Sir Gaheris was very much astonished, and he cried out upon Sir Launcelot:
+  "Sir! Sir! Surely you will not go forth upon another adventure at this time,
+  seeing that you are so sorely wounded." </p>
+<p> But Sir Launcelot said: "Yea, I shall go now; for I do not think that my wounds
+  are so deep that I shall not be able to do my devoirs when my time cometh to
+  do them." </p>
+<p> At this Sir Gaheris was amazed beyond measure, for Sir Launcelot was very
+  sorely wounded, and his armor was much broken in that battle, wherefore Sir
+  Gaheris had never beheld a person who was so steadfast of purpose as to do battle
+  in such a case. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot departs with the damsel.</div>
+<p> So Sir Launcelot mounted Sir Gaheris' horse and rode away with that young
+  damsel, and Sir Gaheris went to the castle as Sir Launcelot had bidden him to
+  do. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Gaheris frees the castle captives.</div>
+<p> In that castle he found five score and eight prisoners in dreadful case, for
+  some who were there had been there for a long time, so that the hair of them
+  had grown down upon their shoulders, and their beards had grown down upon their
+  breasts. And some had been there but a short time, as was the case of Sir Lionel
+  and Sir Ector. But all were in a miserable sorry plight; and all of those sad
+  prisoners but two were knights of King Arthur's court, and eight of them were
+  knights of the Round Table. All these crowded around Sir Gaheris, for they saw
+  that he was wounded and they deemed that it was he had set them free, wherefore
+  they gave him thanks beyond measure. </p>
+<p> "Not so," said Sir Gaheris, "it was not I who set you free; it was Sir Launcelot
+  of the Lake. He overcame Sir Turquine in such a battle as I never before beheld.
+  For I saw that battle with mine own eyes, being at a little distance seated
+  upon a stone slab and wounded as you see. And I make my oath that I never beheld
+  so fierce and manful a combat in all of my life. But now your troubles are over
+  and done, and Sir Launcelot greets you all with words of good cheer and bids
+  me tell you to take all ease and comfort that you can in being free, and in
+  especial he bids me greet you, Sir Ector, and you, Sir Lionel, and to tell you
+  that you are to follow him no farther, but to return to court and bide there
+  until he cometh; for he goeth upon an adventure which he must undertake by himself."
+</p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Lionel and Sir Ector and Sir Kay follow after Sir Launcelot.</div>
+<p> "Not so," said Sir Lionel, "I will follow after him, and find him." And so
+  said Sir Ector likewise, that he would go and find Sir Launcelot. Then Sir Kay
+  the Seneschal said that he would ride with those two; so the three took horse
+  and rode away together to find Sir Launcelot. </p>
+<p> As for those others, they ransacked throughout the castle of Sir Turquine,
+  and they found twelve treasure-chests full of treasure, both of silver and of
+  gold, together with many precious jewels; and they found many bales of cloth
+  of silk and of cloth of gold. So, as Sir Launcelot had bid them do so, they
+  divided the treasure among themselves, setting aside a part for Sir Ector and
+  a part for Sir Lionel and a part for Sir Kay. Then, whereas before they had
+  been mournful, now they were joyful at having been made so rich with those precious
+  things. </p>
+<p> Thus happily ended that great battle with Sir Turquine which was very likely
+  the fiercest and most dolorous fight that ever Sir Launcelot had in all of his
+  life. For, unless it was Sir Tristram, he never found any other knight so big
+  as Sir Turquine except Sir Galahad, who was his own son. </p>
+<p> And now it shall be told how Sir Launcelot fared upon that adventure which
+  he had promised the young damsel to undertake. </p>
+<div align="center"> <a href="images/tail.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/tail.gif" border="0" alt="Tail Piece" /></a>
+</div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div class="chaphead" id="la5"><a href="images/015.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/015.gif" alt="Chapter Header" border="0" /></a>
+  <br />
+  Chapter Fifth</div>
+<br />
+<div class="chapdes">How Sir Launcelot Went Upon an Adventure with the Damsel
+  Croisette as Companion, and How He Overcame Sir Peris of the Forest Sauvage.</div>
+<p> Now after Sir Launcelot had finished that battle with Sir Turquine as aforetold,
+  and when he had borrowed the horse of Sir Gaheris, he rode away from that place
+  of combat with the young damsel, with intent to carry out the other adventure
+  which he had promised her to undertake. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">How Sir Launcelot's wounds pain him.</div>
+<p> But though he rode with her, yet, for a while, he said very little to her,
+  for his wounds ached him sorely and he was in a great deal of pain. So, because
+  of this, he had small mind to talk, but only to endure what he had to endure
+  with as much patience as he might command. And the damsel upon her part was
+  somewhat aware of what Sir Launcelot was suffering and she was right sorry for
+  him, wherefore she did not trouble him with idle discourse at that moment, but
+  waited for a while before she spake. </p>
+<p> Then by and by she said to him: "Messire, I would that thou wouldst rest for
+  some days, and take thine ease, and have thy wounds searched and dressed, and
+  have thy armor looked to and redded. Now there is a castle at some distance
+  from this, and it is my brother's castle, and thither we may go in a little
+  pass. There thou mayst rest for this night and take thine ease. For I know that
+  my brother will be wonderfully glad to see thee because thou art so famous."
+</p>
+<p> Then Sir Launcelot turned his eyes upon the damsel: "Fair maiden," quoth he,
+  "I make confession that I do in sooth ache a very great deal, and that I am
+  somewhat aweary with the battle I have endured this day. Wherefore I am very
+  well content to follow thy commands in this matter. But I prithee, damsel, tell
+  me what is thy name, for I know not yet how thou art called." </p>
+<p> "Sir," she said, "I am called Croisette of the Dale, and my brother is called
+  Sir Hilaire of the Dale, and it is to his castle that I am about to take thee
+  to rest for this time." </p>
+<p> Then Sir Launcelot said: "I go with thee, damsel, wherever it is thy will
+  to take me." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Of how Sir Launcelot and the damsel ride together.</div>
+<p> So they two rode through that valley at a slow pace and very easily. And toward
+  the waning of the afternoon they left the valley by a narrow side way, and so
+  in a little while came into a shallow dale, very fertile and smiling, but of
+  no great size. For the more part that dale was all spread over with fields and
+  meadow-lands, with here and there a plantation of trees in full blossom and
+  here and there a farm croft. A winding river flowed down through the midst of
+  this valley, very quiet and smooth, and brimming its grassy banks, where were
+  alder and sedge and long rows of pollard willows overreaching the water. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot and Croisette come to a fair valley.</div>
+<p> At the farther end of the valley was a castle of very comely of appearance,
+  being built part of stone and part of bright red bricks; and the castle had
+  many windows of glass and tall chimneys, some a-smoke. About the castle and
+  nigh to it was a little village of thatched cottages, with many trees in blossom
+  and some without blossom shading the gables of the small houses that took shelter
+  beneath them. </p>
+<p> Now when Sir Launcelot and Croisette came into that little valley it was at
+  the declining of the day and the sky was all alight with the slanting sun, and
+  the swallows were flying above the smooth shining surface of the river in such
+  multitudes that it was wonderful to behold them. And the lowing herds were winding
+  slowly along by the river in their homeward way, and all was so peaceful and
+  quiet that Sir Launcelot drew rein for pure pleasure, and sat for some while
+  looking down upon that fair, happy dale. Then by and by he said: "Croisette,
+  meseems I have never beheld so sweet and fair a country as this, nor one in
+  which it would be so pleasant to live." </p>
+<p> Upon this Croisette was very much pleased, and she smiled upon Sir Launcelot.
+  "Think you so, Sir Launcelot?" quoth she. "Well, in sooth, I am very glad that
+  this valley pleasures you; for I love it beyond any other place in all the world.
+  For here was I born and here was I raised in that castle yonder. For that is
+  my brother's castle and it was my father's castle before his time; wherefore
+  meseems that no place in all the world can ever be so dear to my heart as this
+  dale." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Croisette bringeth Sir Launcelot to her brother's house.</div>
+<p> Thereupon they went forward up that little valley, and along by the smoothly
+  flowing river, and the farther they went the more Sir Launcelot took pleasure
+  in all that he beheld. Thus they came through the pretty village where the folk
+  stood and watched with great admiration how that noble knight rode that way;
+  and so they came to the castle and rode into the court-yard thereof. Then presently
+  there came the lord of that castle, who was Sir Hilaire of the Dale. And Sir
+  Hilaire greeted Sir Launcelot, saying: "Welcome, Sir Knight. This is great honor
+  you do me to come into this quiet dale with my sister, for we do not often have
+  with us travellers of such quality as you." </p>
+<p> "Brother," said Croisette, "you may well say that it is an honor to have this
+  knight with us, for this is none other knight than the great Sir Launcelot of
+  the Lake. This day I beheld him overcome Sir Turquine in fair and honorable
+  battle. So he doth indeed do great honor for to visit us in this wise." </p>
+<p> Then Sir Hilaire looked at Sir Launcelot very steadily, and he said: "Sir
+  Launcelot, your fame is so great that it hath reached even unto this peaceful
+  outland place; wherefore it shall not soon be forgotten here how you came hither.
+  Now, I pray you, come in and refresh yourself, for I see that you are wounded
+  and I doubt not you are weary." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot is made at ease.</div>
+<p> Upon this several attendants came, and they took Sir Launcelot and led him
+  to a pleasant chamber. There they unarmed him and gave him a bath in tepid water,
+  and there came a leech and searched his wounds and dressed them. Then those
+  in attendance upon him gave him a soft robe of cloth of velvet, and when Sir
+  Launcelot had put it on he felt much at ease, and in great comfort of body.
+</p>
+<a href="images/020.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images"  src="images/020.gif" align="left" id="p7" border="0" alt=" sits with Sir Hilaire and Croisette" /></a>
+<p> By and by, when evening had fallen, a very good, excellent feast was spread
+  in the hall of the castle, and there sat down thereto Sir Launcelot and Sir
+  Hilaire and the damsel Croisette. As they ate they discoursed of various things,
+  and Sir Launcelot told many things concerning his adventures, so that all who
+  were there were very quiet, listening to what he said. For it was as though
+  he were a visitor come to them from some other world, very strange and distant,
+  of which they had no knowledge, wherefore they all listened so as not to lose
+  a single word of what he told them. So that evening passed very pleasantly,
+  and Sir Launcelot went to his bed with great content of spirit. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">How Sir Launcelot abides at the castle of Sir Hilaire.</div>
+<p> So Sir Launcelot abided for several days in that place until his wounds were
+  healed. Then one morning, after they had all broken their fast, he made request
+  that he and the damsel might be allowed to depart upon that adventure which
+  he had promised her to undertake, and unto this Sir Hilaire gave his consent.
+</p>
+<p> Now, during this while, Sir Launcelot's armor had been so pieced and mended
+  by the armor-smiths of that castle that when he donned it it was, in a measure,
+  as sound as it had ever been, and of that Sir Launcelot was very glad. So having
+  made ready in all ways he and Croisette took leave of that place, and all they
+  who were there bade them adieu and gave Sir Launcelot God-speed upon that adventure.
+</p>
+<p> Now some while after they left that dale they rode through a very ancient
+  forest, where the sod was exceedingly soft underfoot and silent to the tread
+  of the horses, and where it was very full of bursting foliage overhead. And
+  as they rode at an easy pace through that woodland place they talked of many
+  things in a very pleasant and merry discourse. </p>
+<p> Quoth the damsel unto Sir Launcelot: "Messire, I take very great wonder that
+  thou hast not some special lady for to serve in all ways as a knight should
+  serve a lady." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot and Croisette discourse together.</div>
+<p> "Ha, damsel," said Sir Launcelot, "I do serve a lady in that manner and she
+  is peerless above all other ladies; for that lady is the Lady Guinevere, who
+  is King Arthur's queen. Yet though I am her servant I serve her from a very
+  great distance. For in serving her I am like one who standeth upon the earth,
+  yet looketh upward ever toward the bright and morning star. For though such
+  an one may delight in that star from a distance, yet may he never hope to reach
+  an altitude whereon that star standeth." </p>
+<p> "Heyday!" quoth Croisette, "for that matter, there are other ways of serving
+  a lady than that wise. Were I a knight meseems I would rather serve a lady nearer
+  at hand than at so great distance as that of which thou speakest. For in most
+  cases a knight would rather serve a lady who may smile upon him nigh at hand,
+  and not stand so far off from him as a star in the sky." But to this Sir Launcelot
+  made no reply but only smiled. Then in a little Croisette said: "Dost thou never
+  think of a lady in that wise, Sir Launcelot?" </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot speaketh of the Lady Guinevere.</div>
+<p> "Nay," said Sir Launcelot, "and neither do I desire so to serve any lady.
+  For it is thus with me, Croisette--for all that while of my life until I was
+  eighteen years of age I lived in a very wonderful land beneath a magical lake,
+  of which I may not tell thee. Then I came out of that lake and into this world
+  and King Arthur made me a knight. Now because I was so long absent from this
+  world of mankind and never saw aught of it until I was grown into a man, meseems
+  I love that world so greatly that I cannot tell thee how beautiful and wonderful
+  it seems to me. For it is so wonderful and so beautiful that methinks my soul
+  can never drink its fill of the pleasures thereof. Yea; methinks I love every
+  blade of grass upon the fields, and every leaf upon every tree: and that I love
+  everything that creepeth or that flyeth, so that when I am abroad under the
+  sky and behold those things about me I am whiles like to weep for very joy of
+  them. Wherefore it is, Croisette, that I would rather be a knight-errant in
+  this world which I love so greatly than to be a king seated upon a throne with
+  a golden crown upon my head and all men kneeling unto me. Yea; meseems that
+  because of my joy in these things I have no room in my heart for such a love
+  of lady as thou speakest of, but only for the love of knight-errantry, and a
+  great wish for to make this world in which I now live the better and the happier
+  for my dwelling in it. Thus it is, Croisette, that I have no lady for to serve
+  in the manner thou speakest of. Nor will I ever have such, saving only the Lady
+  Guinevere, the thought of whom standeth above me like that bright star afore
+  spoken of." </p>
+<p> "Ha," quoth Croisette, "then am I sad for the sake of some lady, I know not
+  who. For if thou wert of another mind thou mightest make some lady very glad
+  to have so great a knight as thou art to serve her." Upon this Sir Launcelot
+  laughed with a very cheerful spirit, for he and the damsel were grown to be
+  exceedingly good friends, as you may suppose from such discourse as this. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot perceives the Castle of Sir Peris.</div>
+<p> So they wended their way in this fashion until somewhat after the prime of
+  day, and by that time they had come out of that forest and into a very rugged
+  country. For this place into which they were now come was a sort of rocky valley,
+  rough and bare and in no wise beautiful. When they had entered into it they
+  perceived, a great way off, a castle built up upon the rocks. And that castle
+  was built very high, so that the roofs and the chimneys thereof stood wonderfully
+  sharp and clear against the sky; yet the castle was so distant that it looked
+  like a toy which you might easily take into your hand and hold betwixt your
+  fingers. </p>
+<p> Then Croisette said to Sir Launcelot: "Yonder is the castle of that evil-minded
+  knight of whom I spake to thee yesterday, and his name is Sir Peris of the Forest
+  Sauvage. Below that castle, where the road leads into that woodland, there doth
+  he lurk to seize upon wayfarers who come thitherward. And indeed he is a very
+  catiff knight, for, though he is strong and powerful, he doth not often attack
+  other knights, but only ladies and demoiselles who come hither. For these he
+  may take captive without danger to himself. For I believe that though he is
+  so big of frame yet is he a coward in his heart." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot advises Croisette what to do.</div>
+<p> Then Sir Launcelot sat for a while and regarded that castle, and fell into
+  thought; and he said, "Damsel, if so be this knight is such a coward as thou
+  sayest, meseems that if I travel with thee I shall have some ado to come upon
+  him; because, if he sees me with thee, he may keep himself hidden in the thicket
+  of the forest from my sight. Now I will have it this way; do thou ride along
+  the highway in plain sight of the castle, and I will keep within the woodland
+  skirts, where I may have thee in sight and still be hidden from the sight of
+  others. Then if this knight assail thee, as I think it likely he may do, I will
+  come out and do battle with him ere he escapes." </p>
+<p> So it was arranged as Sir Launcelot said and they rode in that wise: Croisette
+  rode along the highway, and Sir Launcelot rode under the trees in the outskirts
+  of the forest, where he was hidden from the eyes of anyone who might be looking
+  that way. So they went on for a long pass until they came pretty nigh to where
+  the castle was. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Peris attacks Croisette.</div>
+<p> Then, as they came to a certain part of the road that dipped down toward a
+  small valley, they were suddenly aware of a great noise, and immediately there
+  issued out from the forest a knight, large and strong of frame, and followed
+  close behind by a squire dressed altogether in scarlet from head to foot. This
+  knight bore down with great speed upon where Croisette was, and the esquire
+  followed close behind him. When these two had come near to Croisette, the esquire
+  leaped from off his horse and caught her palfrey by the bridle, and the knight
+  came close to her and catched her as though to drag her off from her horse.
+</p>
+<p> With that Croisette shrieked very loud, and immediately Sir Launcelot broke
+  out from the woods and rode down upon where all this was toward with a noise
+  like to thunder. As he came he cried aloud in a great and terrible voice: "Sir
+  Knight, let go that lady, and turn thou to me and defend thyself!" </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot overthrows Sir Peris.</div>
+<p> Then Sir Peris of the Forest Sauvage looked this way and that with intent
+  to escape, but he was aware that he could not escape from Sir Launcelot, wherefore
+  he took his shield in hand and drew his sword and put himself into a position
+  of defence; for, whereas he could not escape, he was, perforce, minded to do
+  battle. Then Sir Launcelot threw aside his spear, and he set his shield before
+  him and he took his sword in his hand, and he drave his horse against Sir Peris.
+  And when he had come nigh to Sir Peris he raised himself in his stirrups and
+  struck him such a buffet that I believe nothing in the world could withstand
+  its force. For though Sir Peris raised his shield against that blow, yet the
+  sword of Sir Launcelot smote through the shield and it smote down the arm that
+  held the shield, and it smote with such a terrible force upon the helm of Sir
+  Peris that Sir Peris fell down from his horse and lay in a swoon without any
+  motion at all. </p>
+<p> Then Sir Launcelot leaped down from his horse and rushed off the helm of Sir
+  Peris, and lifted his sword with intent to strike off his head. </p>
+<p> Upon that the senses of Sir Peris came somewhat back to him, and he set his
+  palms together and he cried out, though in a very weak voice: "Spare me, Sir
+  Knight! I yield myself to thee!" </p>
+<p> "Why should I spare thee?" said Sir Launcelot. </p>
+<p> "Sir," said Sir Peris, "I beseech thee, by thy knighthood, to spare me." </p>
+<p> "Well," said Sir Launcelot, "since thou hast besought me upon my knighthood
+  I cannot do else than spare thee. But if I do spare thee, thou shalt have to
+  endure such shame that any true knight in thy stead would rather die than be
+  spared in such a manner." </p>
+<p> "Sir Knight," said Sir Peris, "I am content with anything thou mayst do, so
+  be that thou wilt spare my life." </p>
+<p> Upon this Sir Launcelot bade Sir Peris rise. And he took the halter of Sir
+  Peris's horse, and he bound Sir Peris's arms behind his back, and when he had
+  done this he drove him up to his castle at the point of his lance. And when
+  they came to the castle he bade Sir Peris have open the castle; and Sir Peris
+  did so; and thereupon Sir Launcelot and Sir Peris entered the castle and the
+  damsel and the squire followed after them. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot liberates the captive ladies.</div>
+<p> In that castle were fourteen ladies of high degree held captive for ransom;
+  and some of these had been there for a considerable time, to their great discomfort.
+  All these were filled with joy when they were aware that Sir Launcelot had set
+  them free. So they came to Sir Launcelot and paid their court to him and gave
+  him great thanks beyond measure. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot gives the castle treasure to the captive ladies.</div>
+<p> Sir Launcelot and Croisette abode in that castle all that night, and when
+  the next morning had come Sir Launcelot made search all over that castle, and
+  he found a considerable treasure of silver and gold, which had been gathered
+  there by the ransom of the ladies and the damsels of degree whom Sir Peris had
+  made prisoner aforetime. All this treasure Sir Launcelot divided among those
+  ladies who were prisoners, and a share of the treasure he gave to the damsel
+  Croisette, because that they two were such good friends and because Croisette
+  had brought him thither to that adventure, and thereof Croisette was very glad.
+  But Sir Launcelot kept none of that treasure for himself. </p>
+<p> Then Croisette said: "How is this, Sir Launcelot? You have not kept any of
+  this treasure for yourself, yet you won it by your own force of arms, wherefore
+  it is altogether yours to keep if you will to do so." </p>
+<p> "Croisette," said Sir Launcelot, "I do not care for such things as this treasure;
+  for when I lived within that lake of which I have spoken to thee, such things
+  as this treasure were there as cheap as pebbles which you may gather up at any
+  river-bed, wherefore it has come to pass that such things have no value to me."
+</p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot makes Sir Peris a dishonored captive.</div>
+<p> Now, after all this had been settled, Sir Launcelot had Sir Peris of the Forest
+  Sauvage haled before him, and Sir Launcelot said: "Catiff Knight, now is it
+  time for thy shame to come upon thee." Therewith he had Sir Peris stripped of
+  all armor and raiment, even to his jerkin and his hose, and he had his arms
+  tied behind his back, and he had a halter set about his neck; and Sir Launcelot
+  tied the halter that was about the neck of Sir Peris to the horn of the saddle
+  of his own horse, so that when he rode away with Croisette Sir Peris must needs
+  follow behind him at whatever gait the horse of Sir Launcelot might take. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Hilaire sendeth Sir Peris to King Arthur.</div>
+<p> So Sir Launcelot and Croisette rode back to the manor of Sir Hilaire of the
+  Dale with Sir Peris running behind them, and when they had come there Sir Launcelot
+  delivered Sir Peris unto Sir Hilaire, and Sir Hilaire had Sir Peris bound upon
+  a horse's back with his feet underneath the belly of the horse; and sent him
+  to Camelot for King Arthur to deal with him as might seem to the King to be
+  fit. </p>
+<p> But Sir Launcelot remained with Sir Hilaire of the Dale all the next day and
+  he was very well content to be in that pleasant place. And upon the day after
+  that, which was Sunday, he set forth at about the prime of the day to go to
+  that abbey of monks where he had appointed to meet the damsel Elouise the Fair,
+  as aforetold. </p>
+<p> And now you shall hear how Sir Launcelot behaved at the tournament of King
+  Bagdemagus, if it please you to read that which herewith immediately followeth.
+</p>
+<div align="center"> <a href="images/tail.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/tail.gif" border="0" alt="Tail Piece" /></a>
+</div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div class="chaphead" id="la6"><a href="images/015.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/015.gif" alt="Chapter Header" border="0" /></a>
+  <br />
+  Chapter Sixth</div>
+<br />
+<div class="chapdes">How Sir Launcelot Took Part in the Tournament Between King
+  Bagdemagus and the King of North Wales, and How He Won that Battle for King
+  Bagdemagus.</div>
+<div class="sidenote">How Sir Launcelot rode to find Elouise the Fair.</div>
+<p> Sir Launcelot rode by many highways and many byways at a very slow pace, stopping
+  now and then when it pleased him to do so, for he took great joy in being free
+  in the open air again. For the day was warm and that time the clouds were very
+  thick, drifting in great abundance across the sky. And anon there would fall
+  a sudden shower of rain, and anon the sun would shine forth again, very warm
+  and strong, so that all the world sparkled as with incredible myriads of jewels.
+  Then the cock crowed lustily because the shower was past, and another cock answered
+  him far away, and all the world suddenly smiled, and the water trickled everywhere,
+  and the little hills clapped their hands for joy. So Sir Launcelot took great
+  pleasure in the day and he went his way at so easy a pace that it was night-time
+  ere he reached that abbey of monks where he was to meet Elouise the Fair. </p>
+<p> Now that evening Elouise was sitting in a certain apartment of the abbey overlooking
+  the court-yard, and a maiden was reading to her by the light of several waxen
+  tapers from a book of painted pictures. And the maiden read in a voice that
+  was both high and clear; meanwhile, Elouise sat very still and listened to what
+  she read. Now while Elouise the Fair sat so, there was of a sudden the sound
+  of a great horse coming on the stone pavement of the court below. Therewith
+  Elouise arose hastily and ran to the window and looked down into that court-yard.
+  Then she saw who he was that came, and that it was Sir Launcelot of the Lake.
+  For the light was not yet altogether gone from the sky, which was all shining
+  with gray, so that she could see who it was who came there. </p>
+<p> Then Elouise gave great exclamation of joy, and clapped her hands. And she
+  ran down to the court where Sir Launcelot was, and several of her maidens went
+  with her. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Elouise the Fair gives welcome to Sir Launcelot.</div>
+<p> When she had come to the court she gave great welcome to Sir Launcelot, and
+  she summoned many attendants and she bade them look to Sir Launcelot. So some
+  of them aided Sir Launcelot to dismount and some took his horse, and some brought
+  him up to a chamber that had been set apart for him, and there unarmed and served
+  him, and set him at his ease. </p>
+<p> Then Elouise sent to him a soft robe of purple cloth of velvet, lined with
+  fur, and Sir Launcelot put it upon him and took great comfort in it. </p>
+<a href="images/021.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="p8" align="right" src="images/021.gif" border="0" alt="Sir Launcelot and Elouise the Fair" /></a>
+<p> After that Sir Launcelot descended to where Elouise was, and he found that
+  a fair supper had been set for his refreshment. So he sat and ate, and Elouise
+  the Fair herself served him. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Elouise sends for King Bagdemagus.</div>
+<p> Meanwhile she had sent for her father, King Bagdemagus, who was at that time
+  no great distance away, and a little after Sir Launcelot had finished his supper
+  King Bagdemagus came to that place, much wondering why Elouise had sent for
+  him. </p>
+<p> When King Bagdemagus came, Elouise took him by the hand and led him to Sir
+  Launcelot, and she said: "Sire, here is a knight who, for my sake, is come to
+  help you in this tournament upon Tuesday." </p>
+<p> Now King Bagdemagus had never before seen Sir Launcelot, so he knew not who
+  that knight was. Wherefore he said to him: "Messire, I am much beholden to you
+  for coming to my aid in this battle. Now I pray you that you tell me your name
+  and what knight you are." </p>
+<p> "Lord," said Sir Launcelot, "I am hight Launcelot, and am surnamed 'He of
+  the Lake.'" </p>
+<p> Now when King Bagdemagus heard this he was astonished beyond measure, wherefore
+  he cried out, "This is wonderful, that you who are the very flower of knighthood
+  should be here, and that you should come to aid me in my battle!" </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot talks with King Bagdemagus.</div>
+<p> "Sire," said Sir Launcelot, "I know not how much aid I may be to thee until
+  that matter is proven. But of a surety I owe it to this damsel to do what I
+  am able at her request, in return for all that she hath done for me to aid me
+  in my time of great peril. So it is a very small repayment for me to aid thee,
+  her father, in thy time of difficulties. Wherefore if, by good hap, I may be
+  of use to thee in this battle which is nigh at hand, then I shall be glad beyond
+  measure that I have paid some part of that debt which I owe to this lady." </p>
+<p> "Messire," said King Bagdemagus, "I give thee grammercy for thy good will
+  in this matter. I am sure that, with thy aid, I shall be successful in this
+  battle, and that it will always be most renowned in the history of chivalry
+  because thou hast taken part in it." </p>
+<p> So spake they with great courtesy to one another. Then, by and by, Sir Launcelot
+  said: "Sir, I pray you tell me who are those knights of King Arthur's court
+  who are upon the part of the King of North Wales? For I would fain know against
+  whom I am to do battle." To which King Bagdemagus said: "Messire, those three
+  knights of the Round Table are as follows--there is Sir Mordred, nephew unto
+  King Arthur, and there is Sir Galahantine, and there is Sir Mador de la Porte."
+</p>
+<p> "Ha," quoth Sir Launcelot, "these are three very good knights indeed, and
+  I am not at all astonished that the King of North Wales should have had such
+  good fortune aforetime in that other tournament with you, seeing that he had
+  three such knights as they to do battle upon his side." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot arranges the order of battle with King Bagdemagus.</div>
+<p> After this they fell into discourse as to the manner in which they should
+  do battle upon the morrow, and Sir Launcelot advised in this wise: "Lord, let
+  me take three knights of yours, such as you trust, and such as you hold to be
+  the strongest knights of your party. Let these three knights paint their shields
+  altogether white and I will paint mine white, and then no man will know who
+  we are. For I would have it so that I should not be known to be in this battle
+  until I shall have approved myself in it. Now, when you have chosen those three
+  knights, we four will take hiding in some wood or glade nigh to the place of
+  combat, and when you are most busily engaged, and when you begin to be hard-pressed,
+  then we will come forth and fall upon the flank of the party of the King of
+  North Wales with intent to throw them into confusion. Then you will push your
+  assault very hard, and I doubt not by the grace of God that we shall betwixt
+  us be able to bear back their array in confusion." </p>
+<p> This advice seemed very good to King Bagdemagus, and so he did as Sir Launcelot
+  said. He chose him three very strong, worthy, honorable knights, and these made
+  their shields white as Sir Launcelot directed. </p>
+<p> Thus, all things being arranged as Sir Launcelot willed, it came to be the
+  eve before the battle. So a little after sunset Sir Launcelot and those three
+  knights whom King Bagdemagus had chosen rode over toward the place of tourney
+  (which was some twelve miles from the abbey where the damsel Elouise was lodged).
+  There they found a little woodland of tall, leafy trees fit for Sir Launcelot's
+  purpose, and that wood stood to one side of the meadow of battle and at about
+  the distance of three furlongs from it. In this little wood Sir Launcelot and
+  the three knights-companion whom King Bagdemagus had chosen laid themselves
+  down upon the ground and wrapped, each man, his cloak about him. So they slept
+  there until the morrow, when the battle was ordained to be. </p>
+<p> Now there had been very great preparation made for this tournament for on
+  three sides of the meadow of battle scaffolds had been built and rows of seats
+  had been placed. These were covered over with tapestries and hangings of divers
+  colors--some of figured and some of plain weaving--so that the green and level
+  meadow-land was hung all about with these gay and gaudy colors. </p>
+<p> Now when the morning had come, the folk who came to witness that tournament
+  began to assemble from all directions--lords and ladies of high degree, esquires
+  and damsels of lesser rank, burghers and craftsmen with their wives, townspeople
+  from the town, yeomen from the woodlands, and freeholders from the farm crofts.
+  With these came many knights of the two parties in contest, and with the knights
+  came their esquires in attendance. Now these knights were all in full armor,
+  shining very bright, and the esquires were clad in raiment of many textures
+  and various colors, so that they were very gay and debonair. So, with all this
+  throng moving along the highway toward the meadow of battle, it seemed as though
+  the entire world was alive with gay and moving figures. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot and his companions lie near the place of tournament.</div>
+<p> Now the place where Sir Launcelot and those three knights who were with him
+  lay hidden was not far from the highway, so, whence they lay, they could see
+  all that goodly procession of folk taking their way toward the lists, and they
+  could look down upon the meadow of battle, which, as hath been said, was not
+  more than three furlongs distant, and they could see the crowds of people of
+  high and low degree taking their places upon those seats according to their
+  rank and station. And they could see how the knights-contestant arrayed themselves
+  upon this side of the field and upon that, and how the esquires and attendants
+  hurried hither and thither, busying themselves in making their lords ready for
+  the encounter that was soon to befall. Yea, all this could they see as plainly
+  as though it lay upon the palm of a hand. </p>
+<p> So they saw that about noontide all those who had come thither had taken their
+  places, and that the field was clean, and that the two parties of combat were
+  arrayed in order for battle. </p>
+<p> Then Sir Launcelot perceived that the party of the King of North Wales was
+  very much greater than the party of King Bagdemagus; for while the party of
+  the King of North Wales had nigh eight score of helms, the party of King Bagdemagus
+  had hardly four score of helms. So Sir Launcelot perceived that that party of
+  King Bagdemagus would have much labor to do if it was to win in the battle.
+</p>
+<div class="sidenote">How the battle began.</div>
+<p> Now, all being prepared, the marshal stood forth and blew upon his trumpet,
+  and therewith those two parties of knights rushed the one against the other,
+  each in so great a cloud of dust that one could hardly see the knights in their
+  passage. Therewith they met in the midst of the meadow of battle, with such
+  a crash and uproar of splintered lances as was terrible to hear. </p>
+<p> And for a while no man could see what was toward, so great was the dust and
+  the tumult. But by and by the dust raised itself a little and then Sir Launcelot
+  perceived that the party of King Bagdemagus had been pushed back by that other
+  party, as might have been supposed in such a case. </p>
+<p> So Sir Launcelot looked upon the battle for some while and he saw that the
+  party of King Bagdemagus was pushed farther and farther back. Then by and by
+  Sir Launcelot said to his knights-companion: "Messires, methinks now is our
+  time to enter this engagement." </p>
+<p> Therewith he and they rode forth out of that woods, and they rode down the
+  hill and across the fields and so came into that meadow-of-battle. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot and his companions enter the battle.</div>
+<p> At that time the party of the King of North Wales was so busily engaged in
+  its assault upon the party of King Bagdemagus that very few of those knights
+  engaged were aware of those four knights coming, and those who were aware of
+  them thought but very little of the coming of so small a number. So no one interfered
+  with their coming, wherefore they were able to bear down with great speed upon
+  the flank of the party of the King of North Wales. Therewith they struck that
+  flank with such force that both horses and horsemen were overturned by their
+  assault. </p>
+<p> In that encounter Sir Launcelot carried a spear that was wonderfully strong
+  and tough. With it he ran with great fierceness into the very thickest of the
+  press, and before he was checked he struck down five knights with that one spear.
+  And likewise those three knights that were with him did such good service that
+  all that flank of the party of the King of North Wales was thrown into great
+  confusion and wist not what to do for to guard themselves against that fierce,
+  furious onset. </p>
+<p> Then Sir Launcelot and his three companions bore back a little, and when they
+  got their distance they ran again into the press, and this time Sir Launcelot
+  overthrew the King of North Wales himself, and that with such violence that
+  the bone of his thigh was broken, and he had to be carried away out of that
+  field by his attendants. And in this second assault Sir Launcelot and the three
+  knights who were with him overthrew eleven knights besides the King of North
+  Wales, wherefore all that part of the press began to break away from them and
+  to seek some place where they could defend themselves from such another assault.
+</p>
+<p> Now when the party of King Bagdemagus saw into what confusion the other party
+  were thrown by these four knights-champion, they began a very fierce and furious
+  attack, and with such vehemence that in a little the party of the King of North
+  Wales began to bear back before them. So, what with those who withdrew before
+  Sir Launcelot's assault, and what with those who withdrew from the assault of
+  King Bagdemagus, there was a great deal of confusion in the ranks of the party
+  of the King of North Wales. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot overthrows Sir Mordred.</div>
+<p> Now those three knights who were of King Arthur's court perceived how Sir
+  Launcelot and his knights-companion were throwing the ranks of the party of
+  the King of North Wales into confusion, and they knew that unless the onset
+  of Sir Launcelot was checked, the day would of a surety be lost unto them. Wherefore
+  said Sir Mador de la Porte: "Yonder is a very strong and fierce-fighting knight;
+  if we do not check his onset we will very likely be brought to shame in this
+  battle." "Yea," said Sir Mordred, "that is so. Now I will take it upon me to
+  joust with that knight and to overthrow him." Upon that those other two knights
+  bade him go and do as he said. So Sir Mordred made way to where Sir Launcelot
+  was, coming forward very fiercely and with great violence, and Sir Launcelot
+  was aware of Sir Mordred's coming and made him ready for that assault. So the
+  two came together with terrible violence and Sir Launcelot struck Sir Mordred
+  such a buffet that the breast-band of Sir Mordred's saddle brake, and both the
+  saddle and Sir Mordred flew over his horse's tail. Therewith Sir Mordred fell
+  upon his head and struck with such violence upon the ground that his neck was
+  nigh broken, and he lay altogether in a dead swoon and had to be carried out
+  of the lists by his attendants. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot overthrows Sir Mador.</div>
+<p> This saw Sir Mador de la Porte, and he cried out: "Ha! see what hath befallen
+  Sir Mordred!" And therewith he also bare down upon Sir Launcelot with all his
+  might and main with intent to overthrow him. And Sir Launcelot ran against him,
+  and they struck together so fiercely that it was terrible to behold. But the
+  spear of Sir Mador de la Porte burst into pieces, whilst the spear of Sir Launcelot
+  held, so that both Sir Mador and his horse were overthown, the horse rolling
+  upon the man. And in that encounter Sir Mador's shoulder went out of place,
+  and he also had to be borne away by his attendants. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot strikes Sir Galahantine a sad blow.</div>
+<p> Then Sir Galahantine took a great spear from his esquire, who was nigh him,
+  and he also ran against Sir Launcelot with all his might; and Sir Launcelot
+  met him in full course and that onset was more terrible than either of the other
+  two. For the spear of each knight was burst into splinters, even to the butt
+  thereof. Then each threw away the butt of his spear and drew out his sword,
+  and Sir Galahantine struck Sir Launcelot such a blow that the legs of Sir Launcelot's
+  horse trembled under him because of the weight of that stroke. At this Sir Launcelot
+  waxed wroth beyond measure and he rose in his stirrups and he smote Sir Galahantine
+  such a buffet that the blood burst out from his nose and his ears, and all his
+  senses so went away from him that he might hardly behold the light of day because
+  of the swimming of his sight. </p>
+<p> Therewith Sir Galahantine's head hung down upon his breast and he had no power
+  to guide his horse, wherefore his horse made way out of the press and galloped
+  off, bearing Sir Galahantine away, whether he would or no. And after the horse
+  had galloped a little distance Sir Galahantine could not any longer sit upon
+  his saddle, but he fell off of his horse and rolled over upon the ground and
+  had not strength to rise therefrom. </p>
+<p> Then Sir Launcelot catched another spear, great and strong, from the esquire
+  who followed him, and before ever that spear broke he overthrew sixteen knights
+  therewith. Wherefore all who beheld him were amazed and terrified at what he
+  did. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot wins the battle for King Bagdemagus.</div>
+<p> By now the party of the King of North Wales began to bear more and more aback
+  and in a little they broke, and then the party of King Bagdemagus pursued them
+  hither and thither, and those who did not surrender were overthrown so that
+  it was not possible for them to make any new order of battle. Then that party
+  surrendered itself as conquered, one and all, and so King Bagdemagus won that
+  tournament with the greatest glory that it was possible for him to have. For
+  it had never been heard of before that a party of four-score knights should
+  overcome in that way a party of eight-score knights, with three knights of the
+  Round Table to champion them. Nor would such a victory have been possible only
+  for what Sir Launcelot did in that battle. </p>
+<p> So Sir Launcelot won that tournament for King Bagdemagus, and after the battle
+  was over and done King Bagdemagus came to Sir Launcelot and said to him: "Messire,
+  thou hast brought to me the greatest glory this day that ever fell to my lot
+  in all of my life. Now I prithee come with me and refresh thyself with me, so
+  that I may give thee fitting thanks for all thou hast done, and so that I may
+  reward thee in such a way as is fit for a king to reward a knight-champion such
+  as thou art." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot departs without reward.</div>
+<p> Unto this Sir Launcelot made reply: "Lord, I give you thanks for your courtesy,
+  but I need no reward; for it is meet that I should have done what I could for
+  the sake of the demoiselle Elouise the Fair, seeing that she rescued me from
+  the mischiefs that Queen Morgana had intent to do me." </p>
+<p> Then King Bagdemagus besought Sir Launcelot that he would tarry awhile and
+  rest, but Sir Launcelot would not do so, but would be going upon his way without
+  any tarrying. But he said to King Bagdemagus: "I prithee greet your daughter
+  for me, and say to her that if ever she hath need of my services again let her
+  send to me, and I will come to her even if it be to the end of the earth. For
+  I have not yet repaid her for what she hath done for me." </p>
+<p> Therewith Sir Launcelot went his way from that meadow of battle, and, coming
+  to the skirts of the forest he entered therein, and those who were there at
+  the meadow of battle did not see him any more. </p>
+<p> So endeth the history of that famous tournament betwixt King Bagdemagus and
+  the King of North Wales. </p>
+<div align="center"> <a href="images/tail.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/tail.gif" border="0" alt="Tail Piece" /></a>
+</div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div class="chaphead" id="la7"><a href="images/015.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/015.gif" alt="Chapter Header" border="0" /></a>
+  <br />
+  Chapter Seventh</div>
+<br />
+<div class="chapdes">How Sir Launcelot Fell Into the Greatest Peril that Ever
+  He Encountered in all His Life. Also How He Freed a Misfortunate Castle and
+  Town From the Giants Who Held Them, and How He Released the Lord Thereof From
+  a Dungeon.</div>
+<p> Now Sir Launcelot wandered errant for many days, meeting no adventure of any
+  moment, but taking great joy in all that he beheld of the wide world about him,
+  and in that time he found lodging wheresoever he chanced to be (if not in house,
+  then beneath the skies), and he endured all sorts of weather, both wet and dry.
+</p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot cometh to a fair valley with a castle.</div>
+<p> Upon a certain day, in the prime of the morning, he came across a hilltop,
+  and beheld beneath him a valley, very fertile and well-tilled, with fields and
+  meadow-lands spread all over it like to a fair green carpet woven in divers
+  patterns. And in the midst of the valley was a very large and noble castle,
+  with many towers, and tall, steep roofs, and clustering chimneys. So Sir Launcelot
+  descended into that valley, and the road which he took ended in front of the
+  castle and under the shade of the tall gray walls thereof. But he did not stop
+  at that castle but went on by it. </p>
+<p> Now after Sir Launcelot had passed by that castle it seemed to him that he
+  heard very delicate silver bells ringing sweetly in the air above him, and when
+  he looked up he beheld that a falcon was flying over his head toward a high
+  elm tree that stood at a little distance, and he wist that it was the bells
+  upon the cap of the falcon that rang so sweetly. And Sir Launcelot beheld that
+  long lunes hung from the feet of the falcon as she flew, wherefore he was aware
+  that the falcon had slipped her lunes and had flown from her owner. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot beholdeth a falcon entangled.</div>
+<a href="images/022.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="p9" src="images/022.gif" border="0" align="left" alt="Sir Launcelot climbs to catch the lady's falcon" /></a>
+<p> So Sir Launcelot watched the falcon, and he beheld that she lit in a tall
+  elm tree, where she took her perch and rested, balancing with her wings part
+  spread. Then by and by she would have taken her flight again, but the lunes
+  about her feet had become entangled around the bough on which she sat, so that
+  when she would have flown she could not do so. Now Sir Launcelot was very sorry
+  to see the falcon beating herself in that wise, straining to escape from where
+  she was prisoner, but he knew not what to do to aid her, for the tree was very
+  high, and he was no good climber of trees. </p>
+<p> While he stood there watching that falcon he heard the portcullis of the castle
+  lifted, with a great noise, and the drawbridge let fall, and therewith there
+  came a lady riding out of the castle very rapidly upon a white mule, and she
+  rode toward where Sir Launcelot watched the falcon upon the tree. When that
+  lady had come nigh to Sir Launcelot, she cried out to him: "Sir Knight, didst
+  thou see a falcon fly this way?" Sir Launcelot said: "Yea, Lady, and there she
+  hangs, caught by her lunes in yonder elm-tree." </p>
+<p> Then when that lady beheld how that her falcon hung there she smote her hands
+  together, crying out: "Alas, alas! what shall I do? That falcon is my lord's
+  favorite hawk! While I was playing with her a while since, she slipped from
+  me and took flight, and has sped as thou dost see. Now when my lord findeth
+  that I have lost his hawk in that wise he will be very angry with me, and will
+  haply do me some grievous hurt." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">The Lady beseeches Sir Launcelot to get her the falcon again.</div>
+<p> Quoth Sir Launcelot: "Lady, I am very sorry for you." "Sir," she said, "it
+  boots nothing for you to be sorry for me unless you can aid me." "How may I
+  aid you in this?" said Sir Launcelot. "Messire," quoth she, "how otherwise could
+  you aid me than by climbing up into this tree for my hawk? For if you aid me
+  not in such a fashion, I know not what I shall do, for my lord hath a very hot
+  and violent temper, and he is not likely to brook having his favorite hawk lost
+  to him, as it is like to be." </p>
+<p> Upon this Sir Launcelot was put to a great pass and knew not what to do, for
+  he had no good mind to climb that tree. "Lady," quoth he, "I prithee tell me
+  what is thy lord's name." "Messire," she replied, "he is hight Sir Phelot, and
+  is a knight of the court of the King of North Wales." </p>
+<p> "Well, Lady," said Sir Launcelot, "thou dost put upon me a very sore task
+  in this, for God knoweth I am no climber of trees. Yea, I would rather do battle
+  with twenty knights than to climb one such tree as this. Nevertheless, I cannot
+  find it in me to refuse the asking of any lady, if so be it lieth at all in
+  my power to perform her will. Now if you will aid me to unarm myself, I will
+  endeavor to climb this tree and get your hawk." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot climbs the tree.</div>
+<p> So the lady dismounted from her mule, and Sir Launcelot dismounted from his
+  horse, and the lady aided Sir Launcelot to unarm himself. And when he had unarmed
+  himself he took off all his clothes saving only his hosen and his doublet. Then
+  he climbed that tree, though with great labor and pain to himself, and with
+  much dread lest he should fall. So he, at last, reached the falcon where it
+  was, and he loosened the lunes from where they were entangled about the branch,
+  and he freed the bird. Then he brake off a great piece of rotten bough of the
+  tree and he tied the lunes of the falcon to it and he tossed the falcon down
+  to where the lady was; and the lady ran with great joy and caught the falcon
+  and loosed it from the piece of branch and tied the lunes to her wrist, so that
+  it could not escape again. </p>
+<p> Then Sir Launcelot began to descend the tree with as great labor and pain
+  as he had climbed into it. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Phelot threatens Sir Launcelot's life.</div>
+<p> But he had not come very far down when he perceived a knight who came riding
+  very rapidly toward that tree, and he saw that the knight was in full armor.
+  When this knight came to the tree he drew rein and bespoke the lady who was
+  there, though Sir Launcelot could not hear what he said. So, after he had spoken
+  for a little, the knight dismounted from his horse and went to Sir Launcelot's
+  shield and looked upon the face of it very carefully. Then presently he looked
+  upward toward Sir Launcelot, and he said: "Art thou Sir Launcelot of the Lake?"
+  And Sir Launcelot said: "Yea." "Very well," said the knight, "I am pleased beyond
+  measure at that. For I am Sir Phelot, the lord of this castle, and the brother
+  of that Sir Peris of the Forest Sauvage, whom thou didst treat so shamefully
+  after thou hadst overcome him in battle." </p>
+<p> "Sir," said Sir Launcelot, "I treated him nowise differently from what he
+  deserved." "No matter for that," said Sir Phelot, "he was my brother, and thou
+  didst put great despite and shame upon him. So now I will be revenged upon thee,
+  for now I have thee where I would have thee, and I will slay thee as shamefully
+  as thou didst put shame upon him. So say thy prayers where thou art, for thou
+  shalt never go away from this place alive." </p>
+<p> "Sir Knight," said Sir Launcelot, "I do not believe that thou wouldst really
+  assault a naked and harmless man, for it would certainly be a great shame to
+  thee to do me a harm in that wise. For lo! thou art armed in full, and I am
+  a naked man, and to slay me as I am would be both murder and treason." </p>
+<p> "No matter for that," said Sir Phelot; "as for the shame of it, I take no
+  thought of it. I tell thee thou shalt have no grace nor mercy from me. Wherefore
+  make thy peace with Heaven, for thine hour is come." </p>
+<p> "Sir Knight," said Sir Launcelot, "I ask only one boon of thee; if thou art
+  of a mind to take so much shame upon thee, as appears to be the case, let me
+  not, at least, die like a felon without any weapon. Let me have my sword in
+  my hand, even if I have no other defence. For if a knight must die, it is a
+  shame for him to die without weapons. So hang my sword upon yonder bough, where
+  I may reach it, and then thou mayst slay me." </p>
+<p> "Nay," said Sir Phelot, "I will not do that, for I know very well how wonderful
+  is thy prowess. Wherefore I believe that even if thou wert otherwise unarmed
+  thou mightst overcome me if thou hadst thy sword. So I will give thee no such
+  chance, but will have my will of thee as thou art." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot is put to a sad pass to escape.</div>
+<p> Then Sir Launcelot was put to a great pass of anxiety, for he wist not what
+  to do to escape from that danger in which he lay. Wherefore he looked all about
+  him and above him and below him, and at last he beheld a great branch of the
+  elm tree just above his head, very straight and tough. So he catched this branch
+  and broke it off from the tree and shaped it to a club of some sort. Then he
+  came lower, and the knight waited to strike him with his sword, when he was
+  low enough; but Sir Launcelot did not come low enough for that. </p>
+<p> Then Sir Launcelot perceived that his horse stood below him and a little to
+  one side, so of a sudden he ran out along the branch whereon he stood and he
+  leaped quickly down to the earth upon the farther side of his horse from where
+  the knight stood. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot overcomes Sir Phelot with a strange weapon.</div>
+<p> At this Sir Phelot ran at him and lashed at him with his sword, thinking to
+  slay him before he had recovered from his leap. But Sir Launcelot was quicker
+  than he, for he recovered his feet and put away the blow of Sir Phelot with
+  his club which he held. Then he ran in upon Sir Phelot under his sword arm,
+  and before he could use his sword he struck Sir Phelot with all his might upon
+  the side of his head. And he struck him very quickly again, and he struck him
+  the third time, all in the space whilst one might count two. And those blows
+  he struck were so direful that Sir Phelot fell down upon his knees, all stunned
+  and bedazed, and the strength went out of his thews because of faintness. Then
+  Sir Launcelot took the sword out of the hand of Sir Phelot and Sir Phelot did
+  not have strength to deny him. And Sir Launcelot plucked off Sir Phelot's helm
+  and catched him by the hair and dragged his neck forward so as to have ease
+  to strike his head from off his body. </p>
+<p> Now all this while the lady had been weeping and watching what befell. But
+  when she saw the great danger Sir Phelot was in, she ran and clasped her arms
+  about him, and cried out in a very loud and piercing voice upon Sir Launcelot
+  to spare Sir Phelot and to slay him not. But Sir Launcelot, still holding him
+  by the hair of the head, said: "Lady, I cannot spare him, for he has treated
+  me more treacherously than any other knight with whom I ever had dealings."
+  But the lady cried out all the more vehemently, "Sir Launcelot, thou good knight,
+  I beseech thee, of thy knighthood, to spare him." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot spares Sir Phelot's life.</div>
+<p> "Well," said Sir Launcelot, "it hath yet to be said of me that I have denied
+  anything that I was able to grant unto any lady that hath asked it of me upon
+  my knighthood. And yet I know not how to trust either of ye. For thou didst
+  not say one word in my behalf when I was in danger of being slain so treacherously
+  just now. As for this knight, I perceive that he is every whit as great a traitor
+  and a coward as was his brother Sir Peris of the Sauvage Forest. So I will spare
+  him, but I will not trust him, lest he turn against me ere I arm myself again.
+  Wherefore give me hither the halter rein of your mule." So the lady gave Sir
+  Launcelot the halter rein, weeping amain as she did so. And Sir Launcelot took
+  the halter rein and he tied the arms of Sir Phelot behind him. Then he bade
+  the lady of Sir Phelot to help him arm himself from head to foot, and she did
+  so, trembling a very great deal. Then, when she had done so, quoth Sir Launcelot:
+  "Now I fear the treachery of no man." Therewith he mounted his horse and rode
+  away from that place And he looked not behind him at all, but rode away as though
+  he held too much scorn of that knight and of that lady to give any more thought
+  to them. </p>
+<p> So after that Sir Launcelot travelled for a while through the green fields
+  of that valley, till by and by he passed out of that valley, and came into a
+  forest through which he travelled for a very long time. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot cometh to a marish country.</div>
+<p> For it was about the slanting of the afternoon ere he came forth out of that
+  forest and under the open sky again. And when he came out of the forest he beheld
+  before him a country of perfectly level marish, very lush and green, with many
+  ponds of water and sluggish streams bordered by rushes and sedge, and with pollard
+  willows standing in rows beside the waters. In the midst of this level plain
+  of green (which was like to the surface of a table for flatness) there stood
+  a noble castle, part built of brick and part of stone, and a town of no great
+  size and a wall about the town. And this castle and town stood upon an island
+  surrounded by a lake of water, and a long bridge, built upon stone buttresses,
+  reached from the mainland to the island. And this castle and town were a very
+  long distance away, though they appeared very clear and distinct to the sight
+  across the level marish, like, as it were, to a fine bit of very small and cunning
+  carving. </p>
+<p> Now the way that Sir Launcelot travelled, led somewhat toward that town, wherefore
+  he went along that way with intent to view the place more near by. So he conveyed
+  by that road for some time without meeting any soul upon the way. But at last
+  he came of a sudden upon an archer hiding behind an osier tree with intent to
+  shoot the water-fowl that came to a pond that was there--for he had several
+  such fowl hanging at his girdle. To him Sir Launcelot said: "Good fellow, what
+  town is that yonderway?" "Sir," said the yeoman, "that is called the Town of
+  the Marish because it stands in these Fenlands. And that castle is called the
+  Castle of the Fenlands for the same reason." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot talks with a yeoman.</div>
+<p> Quoth Sir Launcelot: "What manner of place is that? Is it a good place, or
+  is it otherwise?" "Sir," said the archer, "that place was one while a very good,
+  happy place; for in times gone by there was a lord who dwelt there who was both
+  just and noble, and kind to all folk, wherefore he was loved by all the people.
+  But one night there came two very grim and horrible giants thither from the
+  Welsh Mountains and these entered into the castle by treachery and made prisoner
+  of the lord of the castle. Him they cast into the dungeon of the castle, where
+  they held him prisoner as an hostage. For they threaten that if friends of that
+  lord's should send force against them to dispossess them, they will slay him.
+  As for any other rescue, there is no knight who dareth to go against them because
+  of their terrible size, and their strength, and their dreadful, horrible countenances."
+</p>
+<p> "Well," said Sir Launcelot, "that is a pity and I am sorry for that noble
+  lordling. Now, since there is no other single knight who dareth to undertake
+  this adventure, I myself will go and encounter these giants." </p>
+<p> "Nay, Sir Knight," said the yeoman, "do not do so, for they are not like mortal
+  men, but rather like monsters that are neither beast nor man. Wherefore anyone
+  who beholdeth them, feareth them." </p>
+<p> "Grammercy for thy thought of me, good fellow," quoth Sir Launcelot, "but
+  if I shall refuse an adventure because I find it perilous, then I am not like
+  to undertake any adventure at all." </p>
+<p> Therewith he bade good den to that yeoman and rode upon his way, directing
+  his course toward that town at an easy pass. </p>
+<p> So he came at last to the long bridge that reached from the land to the island,
+  and he saw that at the farther end of the bridge was the gateway of the town
+  and through the arch thereof he could perceive a street of the town, and the
+  houses upon either side of the street, and the people thereof coming and going.
+</p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot crosses the bridge to the town.</div>
+<p> So he rode forth upon the bridge and at the noise of his coming (for the hoofs
+  of his horse sounded like thunder upon the floor of the bridge) the people of
+  the town came running to see who it was that dared to come so boldly into their
+  town. </p>
+<p> These, when Sir Launcelot came nigh, began to call to him on high, crying:
+  "Turn back, Sir Knight! Turn back! Else you will meet your death at this place."
+</p>
+<p> But Sir Launcelot would not turn back, but advanced very steadfastly upon
+  his way. </p>
+<p> Now somewhat nigh the farther end of that bridge there stood a little lodge
+  of stone, built to shelter the warden of the bridge from stress of weather.
+  When Sir Launcelot came nigh to this lodge there started suddenly out from it
+  a great churl, above seven feet high, who bore in his hand a huge club, shod
+  with iron and with great spikes of iron at the top. This churl ran to Sir Launcelot
+  and catched his horse by the bridle-rein and thrust it back upon its haunches,
+  crying out in a great hoarse voice: "Whither goest thou, Sir Knight, for to
+  cross this bridge?" Sir Launcelot said: "Let go my horse's rein, Sir Churl."
+  Whereunto the churl made answer: "I will not let go thy horse's rein, and thou
+  shalt not cross this bridge." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot slays the huge churl.</div>
+<p> At this Sir Launcelot waxed very angry, and he drew his sword and struck the
+  churl a blow with the flat thereof upon the shoulder, so that he dropped the
+  rein very quickly. Therewith that churl drew back and took his great iron-shod
+  club in both hands and struck at Sir Launcelot a blow that would have split
+  a millstone. But Sir Launcelot put by the blow with his sword so that it did
+  him no harm. But therewith he waxed so wroth that he ground his teeth together
+  with anger, and, rising in his stirrups, he lashed that churl so woeful a blow
+  that he cleft through his iron cap and his head and his breast even to the paps.
+</p>
+<div class="sidenote">The folk warn Sir Launcelot.</div>
+<p> Now when the people of the town beheld that terrible blow they lifted up their
+  voices in a great outcry, crying out: "Turn back, Sir Knight! Turn back! For
+  this is a very woful thing for thee that thou hast done!" and some cried out:
+  "Thou hast killed the giants' warder of the bridge!" And others cried: "Thou
+  art a dead man unless thou make haste away from this." But to all this Sir Launcelot
+  paid no heed, but wiped his sword and thrust it back into its sheath. Then he
+  went forward upon his way across the bridge as though nothing had befallen,
+  and so came to the farther side. Then, without paying any heed to all the people
+  who were there, he rode straight to the castle and into the gate of the castle
+  and into the court-yard thereof. </p>
+<p> Now by this time all the castle was astir, and in great tumult, and many people
+  came running to the windows and looked down upon Sir Launcelot. And Sir Launcelot
+  sat his horse and looked all about him. So he perceived that beyond the court-yard
+  was a fair space of grass, very smooth and green, well fitted for battle, wherefore
+  he dismounted from his horse and tied it to a ring in the wall, and then he
+  went to that green field and made him ready for whatever might befall. </p>
+<p> Meantime all those people who were at the windows of the castle cried out
+  to him, as the people of the town had done: "Go away, Sir Knight! Go away whilst
+  there is still time for you to escape, or else you are a dead man!" </p>
+<p> But Sir Launcelot replied not, but stood there and waited very steadfastly.
+  Then the great door of the castle hall opened, and there came forth therefrom
+  those two giants of whom he had heard tell. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Two giants attack Sir Launcelot.</div>
+<p> And in truth Sir Launcelot had never beheld such horrible beings as they;
+  for they were above ten feet high, and very huge of body and long of limb. And
+  they were clad in armor of bull-hide with iron rings upon it, and each was armed
+  with a great club, huge and thick, and shod with iron, and studded with spikes.
+  These came toward Sir Launcelot swinging their clubs and laughing very hideously
+  and gnashing their long white teeth, for they thought to make easy work of him.
+</p>
+<div class="sidenote">How Sir Launcelot slays the first giant.</div>
+<p> Then Sir Launcelot, seeing them coming thus, set his shield before him, and
+  made ready for that assault with great calmness of demeanor. Then the giants
+  rushed suddenly upon him and struck at him, the both of them together; for they
+  deemed that by so doing the enemy could not escape both blows, but if one failed
+  the other would slay him. But Sir Launcelot put aside the blow of one giant
+  with his sword and of the other with his shield, with marvellous dexterity.
+  Thereupon, ere they could recover themselves, he turned upon that giant who
+  was upon his left hand and he struck him so terrible a blow upon the shoulder
+  that he cut through the armor and through the shoulder and half-way through
+  the body, so that the head and one arm of the giant leaned toward one way, and
+  the other arm and the shoulder leaned toward the other way. Therewith the giant
+  fell down upon the ground bellowing, so that it was most terrible to hear; and
+  in a little he had died where he had fallen. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">How Sir Launcelot slays the second giant.</div>
+<p> Now when the fellow of that giant beheld that dreadful, horrible stroke, he
+  was so possessed with terror that he stood for a while trembling and like one
+  in a maze. But when he saw Sir Launcelot turn upon him with intent to make at
+  him also, he let fall his club and ran away with great and fearful outcry. Therewith
+  he ran toward the castle and would have entered therein, but those within the
+  castle had closed the doors and the gates against him, so that he could not
+  escape in that way. So the giant ran around and around the court with great
+  outcry, seeking for some escape from his pursuer, and Sir Launcelot ran after
+  him. And Sir Launcelot struck him several times with his sword, so that at last,
+  what with terror and pain and weariness, that giant stumbled and fell upon the
+  ground. Therewith Sir Launcelot ran at him, and, ere he could rise, he took
+  his sword in both hands and smote off his head so that it rolled down upon the
+  ground like a ball. Then Sir Launcelot stood there panting for breath, for he
+  had raced very hard after the giant, and could hardly catch his breath again.
+  As he stood so, many of those of the castle and many of those who were of the
+  town came to him from all sides; and they crowded around him and gave him great
+  acclaim for ridding that place of those giants. </p>
+<p> Then Sir Launcelot said to them: "Where is your lord?" Whereunto they made
+  reply: "Sir, he lieth in the dungeon of the castle under the ground chained
+  to the walls thereof, and there he hath been for three years or more, and no
+  one hath dared to bring him succor until you came hither." "Go find him," said
+  Sir Launcelot, "and set him free, and lose no time in doing so. And put him
+  at all ease that you can." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot departs without refreshment.</div>
+<p> They say: "Will you not stay and see him, Messire, and receive his acknowledgements
+  for what you have done?" But Sir Launcelot replied: "Nay, not so." Then they
+  say: "Will you not have some refreshment after this battle?" Whereunto Sir Launcelot
+  said: "I do not need such refreshment." Then they say: "But will you not rest
+  a little?" "Nay," said Sir Launcelot: "I may not tarry, for I have far to go
+  and several things to do, so that I do not care to stay." So he loosed his horse
+  from the ring in the wall, and mounted upon it and rode away from that castle
+  and from that town and across the bridge whence he had come. And all the people
+  followed after him, giving him great acclaim. </p>
+<p> So Sir Launcelot left the castle, not because he needed no rest, but because
+  he could not endure to receive the thanks of those whom he benefited. For though
+  he loved to bring aid to the needy, yet he did not love to receive their thanks
+  and their praise. Wherefore, having freed the lord of that castle from that
+  brood of giants, he was content therewith and went his way without resting or
+  waiting for thanks. </p>
+<p> For so it was with those noble gallant knights of those days; that whilst
+  they would perform signal service for mankind, yet they were not pleased to
+  receive thanks or reward for the same, but took the utmost satisfaction, not
+  in what they gained by their acts, but in the doing of knightly deeds, for they
+  found all their reward in their deeds, because that thereby they made the world
+  in which they lived better; and because they made the glory of the King, whose
+  servants they were, the more glorious. </p>
+<p> And I hold that such behavior upon the part of anyone makes him the peer of
+  Sir Launcelot or Sir Tristram or Sir Lamorack or Sir Percival; yea, of Sir Galahad
+  himself. For it does not need either the accolade or the bath to cause a man
+  to be a true knight of God's making; nor does it need that a mortal King should
+  lay sword upon shoulder to constitute a man the fellow of such knightly company
+  as that whose history I am herewith writing; it needs only that he should prove
+  himself at all times worthy in the performance of his duty, and that he shall
+  not consider the hope of reward, or of praise of others in the performance of
+  that duty. </p>
+<p> So look to it that in all your services you take example of the noble Sir
+  Launcelot of the Lake, and that you do your uttermost with might and main, and
+  that you therewith rest content with having done your best, maugre any praise.
+  So you shall become a worthy fellow of Sir Launcelot and of his fellows. </p>
+<div align="center"> <a href="images/tail.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/tail.gif" border="0" alt="Tail Piece" /></a>
+</div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div class="chaphead" id="la8"><a href="images/015.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/015.gif" alt="Chapter Header" border="0" /></a>
+  <br />
+  Chapter Eighth</div>
+<br />
+<div class="chapdes">How Sir Launcelot Rescued Sir Kay From a Perilous Pass. Also
+  How He Changed Armor with Sir Kay and what Befell.</div>
+<p> One day Sir Launcelot came at early nightfall to a goodly manor-house and
+  there he besought lodging for the night, and lodging was granted to him very
+  willingly. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">The old gentlewoman makes Sir Launcelot welcome.</div>
+<p> Now there was no lord of that manor, but only an old gentlewoman of very good
+  breeding and address. She made Sir Launcelot right welcome and gave such cheer
+  as she could, setting before him a very good supper, hot and savory, and a great
+  beaker of humming mead wherewith to wash it down. Whilst Sir Launcelot ate,
+  the gentlewoman inquired of him his name and he told her it was Sir Launcelot
+  of the Lake. "Ha!" quoth she, "I never heard that name before, but it is a very
+  good name." </p>
+<p> At this Sir Launcelot laughed: "I am glad," said he, "that my name belikes
+  thee. As for thy not having heard of it--well, I am a young knight as yet, having
+  had but three years of service. Yet I have hopes that by and by it may be better
+  known than it is at this present." </p>
+<p> "Thou sayest well," quoth she, "for thou art very young yet, wherefore thou
+  mayst not know what thou canst do till thou hast tried." And therewith Sir Launcelot
+  laughed again, and said: "Yea, that is very true." </p>
+<p> Now after Sir Launcelot had supped, his hostess showed him to the lodging
+  she had provided for him wherein to sleep, and the lodging was in a fair garret
+  over the gateway of the court. So Sir Launcelot went to his bed and, being weary
+  with journeying, he presently fell into a deep and gentle sleep. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot is aroused from sleep.</div>
+<p> Now about the middle of the night there fell of a sudden the noise of someone
+  beating upon the gate and calling in a loud voice and demanding immediate admittance
+  thereat. This noise awoke Sir Launcelot, and he arose from his couch and went
+  to the window and looked out to see who it was that shouted so loudly and made
+  such uproar. </p>
+<p> The moon was shining at that time, very bright and still, and by the light
+  thereof Sir Launcelot beheld that there was a knight in full armor seated upon
+  horseback without the gate, and that the knight beat upon the gate with the
+  pommel of his sword, and shouted that they should let him in. </p>
+<p> But ere anyone could run to answer his call there came a great noise of horses
+  upon the highroad, and immediately after there appeared three knights riding
+  very fiercely that way, and these three knights were plainly pursuing that one
+  knight. For, when they perceived him, they rode very violently to where he was,
+  and fell upon him fiercely, all three at one time; wherefore, though that one
+  knight defended himself as well as he could, yet was he in a very sorry way,
+  and altogether likely to be overborne. For those three surrounded him so close
+  to the gate that he could do little to shift himself away from their assaults.
+</p>
+<p> Now when Sir Launcelot beheld how those three knights attacked that one knight,
+  he said to himself: "Of a surety, yonder knight is in a very sorry way. I will
+  do what I can to help him; for it is a shame to behold three knights attack
+  one knight in that way. And if he be slain in this assault, meseems I shall
+  be a party to his death." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot goeth to the rescue of the knight assaulted.</div>
+<p> Therewith he ran and put his armor upon him, and made ready for battle. Then
+  he drew the sheet from his bed, and he tied the sheet to the bar of the window
+  and by it he let himself quickly down to the ground not far from where those
+  knights were doing battle. So being safely arrived in that way he cried out
+  in a very loud voice: "Messires, leave that knight whom ye assail, and turn
+  to me, for I have a mind to do battle with you myself." </p>
+<p> Then one of those knights, speaking very fiercely, said: "Who are you, and
+  what business have you here?" </p>
+<p> "It matters not who I am," said Sir Launcelot, "but I will not have it that
+  you three shall attack that one without first having had to do with me." </p>
+<p> "Very well," said that knight who had spoken, "you shall presently have your
+  will of that." </p>
+<p> Therewith he and his fellows immediately descended from their horses, and
+  drew their swords and came at Sir Launcelot upon three sides at once. Then Sir
+  Launcelot set his back against the gate and prepared to defend himself. </p>
+<p> Therewith that knight whom he would defend immediately got down from his horse
+  with intent to come to the aid of Sir Launcelot, but Sir Launcelot forbade him
+  very fiercely, saying: "Let be, Sir Knight, this is my quarrel, and you shall
+  not meddle in it." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot does battle with three knights.</div>
+<p> Upon this, those three knights rushed upon him very furiously, and they struck
+  at him all at once, smiting at him wherever they could and with all their might
+  and main. So Sir Launcelot had much ado to defend himself from their assault.
+  But he made shift that they should not all rush in upon him at once, and by
+  and by he found his chance with one of them. Whereupon he turned suddenly upon
+  that one, and suddenly he lashed so terrible a buffet at him that the knight
+  fell down and lay as though he had been struck dead with the force thereof.
+</p>
+<p> Then, ere those other two had recovered themselves, he ran at a second and
+  struck him so fierce a blow that his wits left him, and he staggered like a
+  drunken man and ran around and around in a circle, not knowing whither he went.
+  Then he rushed upon the third and thrust him back with great violence, and as
+  he went back Sir Launcelot struck him, too, as he had struck his companions
+  and therewith that knight dropped his sword and fell down upon his knees and
+  had not power to raise himself up. </p>
+<p> Then Sir Launcelot ran to him and snatched off his helmet, and catched him
+  by the hair with intent to cut off his head. But at that the fallen knight embraced
+  Sir Launcelot about the knees, crying out: "Spare my life!" </p>
+<p> "Why should I spare you?" said Sir Launcelot. "Sir," cried the knight, "I
+  beseech you of your knighthood to spare me." </p>
+<p> "What claim have you upon knighthood," said Sir Launcelot, "who would attack
+  a single knight, three men against one man?" </p>
+<p> Then the other of those knights who had been staggered by Sir Launcelot's
+  blow, but who had by now somewhat recovered himself, came and kneeled to Sir
+  Launcelot, and said: "Sir, spare his life, for we all yield ourselves unto you,
+  for certes, you are the greatest champion in all the world." </p>
+<p> Then Sir Launcelot was appeased, but he said: "Nay, I will not take your yielding
+  unto me. For as you three assaulted this single knight, so shall you all three
+  yield to him." </p>
+<p> "Messire," said the knight who kneeled: "I am very loth to yield us to that
+  knight, for we chased him hither, and he fled from us, and we would have overcome
+  him had you not come to his aid." </p>
+<p> "Well," said Sir Launcelot, "I care nothing for all that, but only that you
+  do as I will. And if ye do not do it, then I must perforce slay your companions
+  and you two. Wherefore you may take your choice." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">The three knights must yield to the one knight.</div>
+<p> Then said that knight who kneeled: "Messire, I see no other thing to do than
+  to yield us as you would have, wherefore we submit ourselves unto this knight
+  whom you have rescued from us." </p>
+<p> Then Sir Launcelot turned to that knight to whom he had brought aid in that
+  matter, and he said: "Sir Knight, these knights yield themselves unto you to
+  do as you command them. Now I pray you of your courtesy to tell me your name
+  and who you are." </p>
+<p> "Sir," said that knight, "I am Sir Kay the Seneschal, and am King Arthur's
+  foster-brother, and a knight of the Round Table. I have been errant now for
+  some time in search of Sir Launcelot of the Lake. Now, I deem either that you
+  are Sir Launcelot, or else that you are the peer of Sir Launcelot." </p>
+<p> "Thou art right, Sir Kay," said Sir Launcelot, "and I am Sir Launcelot of
+  the Lake." So thereat they two made great joy over one another, and embraced
+  one another as brothers-in-arms should do. </p>
+<p> Then Sir Kay told Sir Launcelot how it was with those three knights who had
+  assailed him; that they were three brethren, and that he had overthrown the
+  fourth brother in an adventure at arms and had hurt him very sorely thereby.
+  So those three had been pursuing him for three days with intent to do him a
+  harm. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Kay taketh submission of the three knights.</div>
+<p> Now Sir Kay was very loath to take submission of those three knights, but
+  Sir Launcelot would have it so and no other way. So Sir Kay consented to let
+  it be as Sir Launcelot willed. Thereupon those three knights came and submitted
+  themselves to Sir Kay, and Sir Kay ordained that they should go to Camelot and
+  lay their case before King Arthur, and that King Arthur should adjudge their
+  case according to what he considered to be right and fitting. </p>
+<p> Then those three knights mounted upon their horses and rode away, and when
+  they had done so the gates of the manor were opened, and Sir Launcelot and Sir
+  Kay entered in. But when the old lady who was his hostess beheld Sir Launcelot
+  come in, she was very greatly astonished, for she wist he was still asleep in
+  his bed-chamber. Wherefore she said: "Sir, methought you were in bed and asleep."
+  "So indeed I was," said Sir Launcelot, "but when I saw this knight in peril
+  of his life against three knights, I leaped out of my window and went to his
+  aid." "Well," said his hostess, "meseems that you will sometime be a very good
+  knight, if you have so much courage whilst you are so young." And at that both
+  Sir Launcelot and Sir Kay laughed a great deal. </p>
+<p> Then the chatelaine set bread and wine before Sir Kay, and he ate and refreshed
+  himself, and thereafter he and Sir Launcelot went to that garret above the gate,
+  and there fell asleep with great ease of body. </p>
+<a href="images/023.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" align="left" id="p10" src="images/023.gif" border="0" alt="Sir Launcelot takes the armor of Sir Kay" /></a>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot takes Sir Kay's armor.</div>
+<p> Now before the sun arose Sir Launcelot awoke but Sir Kay still slept very
+  soundly. Then Sir Launcelot beheld how Sir Kay slept, and he had a mind for
+  a jest. So he clad himself in Sir Kay's armor altogether from head to foot,
+  and he took Sir Kay's shield and spear, and he left his armor and shield and
+  spear for Sir Kay to use. Then he went very softly from that room, and left
+  Sir Kay still sleeping. And he took Sir Kay's horse and mounted upon it and
+  rode away; and all that while Sir Kay knew not what had befallen, but slept
+  very deeply. </p>
+<p> Now after a while Sir Kay awoke, and he found that Sir Launcelot was gone,
+  and when he looked he found that his own armor was gone and that Sir Launcelot's
+  armor was left. Then he wist what Sir Launcelot had done, and he said: "Ha!
+  what a noble, courteous knight is the gentleman. For he hath left me his armor
+  for my protection, and whilst I wear it and carry his shield and ride his horse,
+  it is not likely that anyone will assail me upon my way. As for those who assail
+  him, I do not believe that they will be likely to find great pleasure in their
+  battle." </p>
+<p> Therewith he arose and clad himself in Sir Launcelot's armor, and after he
+  had broken his fast he thanked his hostess for what she had given him, and rode
+  upon his way with great content of spirit. </p>
+<p> (And it was as Sir Kay had said, for when he met other knights upon the road,
+  and when they beheld the figure upon his shield, they all said: "It is not well
+  to meddle with that knight, for that is Sir Launcelot." And so he came to Camelot
+  without having to do battle with any man.) </p>
+<div class="sidenote">How Sir Launcelot travels toward Camelot.</div>
+<p> As for Sir Launcelot, he rode upon his way with great cheerfulness of spirit,
+  taking no heed at all of any trouble in the world, but chanting to himself as
+  he rode in the pleasant weather. But ever he made his way toward Camelot, for
+  he said: "I will return to Camelot for a little, and see how it fares with my
+  friends at the court of the King." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot perceives three knights at feast.</div>
+<p> So by and by he entered into the country around about Camelot, which is a
+  very smooth and fertile country, full of fair rivers and meadows with many cots
+  and hamlets, and with fair hedge-bordered highways, wonderfully pleasant to
+  journey in. So travelling he came to a very large meadow where were several
+  groves of trees standing here and there along by a river. And as he went through
+  this meadow he saw before him a long bridge, and at the farther side of the
+  bridge were three pavilions of silk of divers colors, which pavilions had been
+  cast in the shade of a grove of beech-trees. In front of each pavilion stood
+  a great spear thrust in the earth, and from the spear hung the shield of the
+  knight to whom the pavilion belonged. These shields Sir Launcelot read very
+  easily, and so knew the knights who were there. To wit: that they were Sir Gunther,
+  Sir Gylmere, and Sir Raynold, who were three brothers of the Court of King Arthur.
+  As Sir Launcelot passed their pavilions, he saw that the three knights sat at
+  feast in the midmost pavilion of the three, and that a number of esquires and
+  pages waited upon them and served them, for those knights were of very high
+  estate, and so they were established as high lords should be. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">The three knights bid Sir Launcelot come to feast with them.<br />
+  <br />
+  Sir Launcelot overthrows Sir Gunther.</div>
+<p> Now when those knights perceived Sir Launcelot they thought it was Sir Kay
+  because of the armor he wore, and Sir Gunther, who was the eldest of the three
+  brothers, cried out: "Come hither, Sir Kay, and eat with us!" But to this Sir
+  Launcelot made no reply, but rode on his way. Then said Sir Gunther: "Meseems
+  Sir Kay hath grown very proud this morning. Now I will go and bring him back
+  with me, or else I will bring down his pride to earth." So he made haste and
+  donned his helmet and ran and took his shield and his spear, and mounted his
+  horse and rode after Sir Launcelot at a hard gallop. As he drew nigh to Sir
+  Launcelot he cried out: "Stay, Sir Knight! Turn again, and go with me!" "Why
+  should I go with you?" said Sir Launcelot. Quoth Sir Gunther: "Because you must
+  either return with me or do battle with me." "Well," said Sir Launcelot, "I
+  would rather do battle than return against my will." And at that Sir Gunther
+  was astonished, for Sir Kay was not wont to be so ready for a battle. So Sir
+  Launcelot set his shield and spear and took his stand, and Sir Gunther took
+  his stand. Then, when they were in all ways prepared, each set spur to his horse
+  and rushed together with terrible speed. So each knight struck the other in
+  the midst of his shield, but the onset of Sir Launcelot was so terrible that
+  it was not to be withstood, wherefore both Sir Gunther and his horse were overthrown
+  in such a cloud of dust that nothing at all was to be seen of them until that
+  cloud lifted. </p>
+<p> At this both Sir Raynold and Sir Gylmere were astonished beyond measure, for
+  Sir Gunther was reckoned to be a much better knight than Sir Kay, wherefore
+  they wist not how it was that Sir Kay should have overthrown him in that fashion.
+</p>
+<p> So straightway Sir Gylmere, who was the second of those brothers, called out
+  to Sir Launcelot to tarry and do battle. "Very well," said Sir Launcelot, "if
+  I cannot escape thee I must needs do battle. Only make haste, for I would fain
+  be going upon my way." </p>
+<p> So Sir Gylmere donned his helm in haste and ran and took his shield and spear
+  and mounted upon his horse. So when he had made himself ready in all ways he
+  rushed upon Sir Launcelot with all his might and Sir Launcelot rushed against
+  him. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot overthrows Sir Gylmere.</div>
+<p> In that encounter each knight struck the other in the midst of his shield,
+  and the spear of Sir Gylmere burst into pieces, but Sir Launcelot's spear held,
+  so the breast-strap of Sir Gylmere's saddle bursting, both saddle and knight
+  were swept entirely off the horse and to the earth, where Sir Gylmere lay altogether
+  stunned. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot wins from Sir Raynold.</div>
+<p> Then Sir Raynold came against Sir Launcelot in like manner as the others had
+  done, and in that encounter Sir Launcelot overthrew both horse and man so that,
+  had not Sir Raynold voided his horse, he would likely have been very sadly hurt.
+</p>
+<p> Then Sir Raynold drew his sword and cried out in a loud voice: "Come, Sir
+  Knight, and do me battle afoot!" But Sir Launcelot said: "Why will you have
+  it so, Sir Knight? I have no such quarrel with you as to do battle with swords."
+  "Ha!" said Sir Raynold, "you shall fight with me. For though you wear Sir Kay's
+  armor, I wot very well that you are not Sir Kay, but a great deal bigger man
+  than ever Sir Kay is like to be." </p>
+<p> "Nay," said Sir Launcelot, "I will not do any more battle with you." And therewith
+  he drew rein and rode away, leaving Sir Raynold standing very angry in the middle
+  of the highway. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot meets four noble knights.</div>
+<p> After that Sir Launcelot rode very easily at a quiet gait, with no great thought
+  whither he rode, until after a while he came to a place where a road went across
+  a level field with two rows of tall poplar trees, one upon either side of the
+  highway. Then Sir Launcelot perceived where, beneath the shade of these poplar
+  trees, were four knights standing each by his horse. And these four knights
+  were conversing very pleasantly together. Now as Sir Launcelot drew nigh he
+  perceived that those were four very famous noble knights of the Round Table;
+  to wit: one of those knights was his own brother, Sir Ector de Maris, another
+  was Sir Gawain, another was Sir Ewain, and the fourth was Sir Sagramore le Desirous.
+</p>
+<p> Now as Sir Launcelot drew nigh Sir Gawain said: "Look, yonder cometh Sir Kay
+  the Seneschal." Unto this Sir Sagramore le Desirous said: "Yea, this is he;
+  now bide you here for a little while, and I will go and take a fall of him."
+</p>
+<p> So straightway he mounted upon his horse, and he rode toward Sir Launcelot,
+  and he cried out: "Stay, Sir Knight, you cannot go farther until you have had
+  to do with me." "What would you have of me?" quoth Sir Launcelot. "Sir," said
+  Sir Sagramore, "I will have a fall of you." "Well," said Sir Launcelot, "I suppose
+  I must pleasure you, since it cannot be otherwise." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot overthrows Sir Sagramore.</div>
+<p> Therewith he dressed his shield and his spear and Sir Sagramore dressed his
+  shield and his spear, and when they were in all ways prepared they ran together
+  at full tilt. In that encounter Sir Sagramore's spear broke, but Sir Launcelot
+  struck so powerful a blow that he overthrew both horse and man into a ditch
+  of water that was near-by. </p>
+<p> Then Sir Ector de Maris said: "Ha, surely some very ill chance has befallen
+  Sir Sagramore for to be overthrown by Sir Kay. Now I will go and have ado with
+  him, for if the matter rests here there will be no living at court with the
+  jests which will be made upon us." </p>
+<p> So he took horse and rode to where Sir Launcelot was, and he went at a very
+  fast gallop. When he had come near to Sir Launcelot he cried out: "Have at thee,
+  Sir Kay, for it is my turn next!" "Why should I have at thee?" said Sir Launcelot,
+  "I have done thee no harm." "No matter," said Sir Ector, "you can go no farther
+  until you have had to do with me." "Well," said Sir Launcelot, "if that is so,
+  the sooner I have to do with thee, the sooner shall I be able to go upon my
+  way." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot overthrows Sir Ector.</div>
+<p> Therewith each knight made himself ready and when they were in all ways prepared
+  they came together with such force that Sir Launcelot's spear went through Sir
+  Ector's shield and smote him upon the shoulder, and Sir Ector was thrown down
+  upon the ground with such violence that he lay where he had fallen, without
+  power to move. </p>
+<p> Then said Sir Ewain to Sir Gawain where they stood together: "That is the
+  most wonderful thing that ever I beheld, for never did I think to behold Sir
+  Kay bear himself in battle in such a fashion as that. Now bide thee here and
+  let me have a try at him." Therewith Sir Ewain mounted his horse and rode at
+  Sir Launcelot, and there were no words spoken this time, but each knight immediately
+  took his stand to do battle. Then they ran their horses together, and Sir Launcelot
+  gave Sir Ewain such a buffet that he was astonished, and for a little he knew
+  not where he was, for his spear fell down out of his hand, and he bore his shield
+  so low that Sir Launcelot might have slain him where he stood if he had been
+  minded to do so. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Ewain yields to Sir Launcelot.</div>
+<p> Then Sir Launcelot said: "Sir Knight, I bid thee yield to me." And Sir Ewain
+  said: "I yield me. For I do not believe that thou art Sir Kay but a bigger man
+  than he shall ever be. Wherefore I yield me." "Then that is well," said Sir
+  Launcelot. "Now stand thou a little aside where thou mayst bring succor unto
+  these other two knights, for I see that Sir Gawain has a mind to tilt with me."
+</p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Gawain fails with Sir Launcelot.</div>
+<p> And it was as Sir Launcelot said, for Sir Gawain also had mounted his horse
+  and had made himself ready for that encounter. So Sir Gawain and Sir Launcelot
+  took stand at such place as suited them. Then each knight set spurs to his horse
+  and rushed together like thunder, and each knight smote the other knight in
+  the midst of his shield; and in that encounter the spear of Sir Gawain brake
+  in twain but the spear of Sir Launcelot held, and therewith he gave Sir Gawain
+  such a buffet that Sir Gawain's horse reared up into the air, and it was with
+  much ado that he was able to void his saddle ere his horse fell over backward.
+  For if he had not leaped to earth the horse would have fallen upon him. </p>
+<p> Then Sir Gawain drew his sword and cried very fiercely: "Come down and fight
+  me, Sir Knight! For thou art not Sir Kay!" </p>
+<p> "Nay, I will not fight thee that way," said Sir Launcelot, and therewith he
+  passed on his way without tarrying further. </p>
+<p> But he laughed to himself behind his helmet as he rode, and he said: "God
+  give Sir Kay joy of such a spear as this, for I believe there came never so
+  good a spear as this into my hand. For with it I have overthrown seven famous
+  knights in this hour." </p>
+<p> As for those four knights of the Round Table, they comforted one another as
+  best they could, for they knew not what to think of that which had befallen
+  them. Only Sir Ector said: "That was never Sir Kay who served us in this wise,
+  but such a man as is better than ten Sir Kays, or twice ten Sir Kays, for the
+  matter of that." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">How Sir Launcelot returned to Camelot.</div>
+<p> Now Sir Launcelot came to Camelot about eventide, what time King Arthur and
+  his court were assembled at their supper. Then there was great joy when news
+  was brought of his coming and they brought him in to the court and set him beside
+  the King and the Lady Guinevere all armed as he was. Then King Arthur said:
+  "Sir Launcelot, how is it with thee?" and Sir Launcelot said: "It is well."
+  Then King Arthur said: "Tell us what hath befallen thee." And Sir Launcelot
+  told all that had happened in that month since he had left court. And all they
+  who were there listened, and were much astonished. </p>
+<p> But when Sir Launcelot told how he had encountered those seven knights, in
+  the armor of Sir Kay, all laughed beyond measure excepting those of the seven
+  who were there, for they took no very good grace to be laughed at in that wise.
+</p>
+<br />
+<div align="center"> *&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;*&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;*&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;*&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;*
+</div>
+<br />
+<p> So now I hope I have made you acquainted with Sir Launcelot of the Lake, who
+  was the greatest knight in the world. For not only have I told you how he was
+  created a knight at the hands of King Arthur, but I have also led you errant
+  along with him, so that you might see for yourself how he adventured his life
+  for other folk and what a noble and generous gentleman he was; and how pitiful
+  to the weak and suffering, and how terrible to the evil-doer. But now I shall
+  have to leave him for a while (but after a while in another book that shall
+  follow this, I shall return to him to tell you a great many things concerning
+  other adventures of his), for meantime it is necessary that I should recount
+  the history of another knight, who was held by many to be nearly as excellent
+  a knight as Sir Launcelot was himself. </p>
+<p> <b>CONCLUSION</b> </p>
+<div class="foreward">
+  <p> <i> Here endeth the story of Sir Launcelot. That which followeth is the
+    story of Sir Tristram of Lyonesse, who was knit with Sir Launcelot into such
+    close ties of friendship that if they had been brothers of the same blood,
+    with the same father and mother, they could not have loved one another more
+    than they did. </i> </p>
+  <div align="center"> <a href="images/024.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="t5" src="images/024.gif" alt="Tail Piece--The Story of Launcelot" border="0" /></a>
+  </div>
+</div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div align="center" id="tristram">
+  <h1>The Book of Sir Tristram</h1>
+</div>
+<table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="10" cellpadding="0">
+  <tr>
+    <td> <a href="images/025.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="p11" src="images/025.gif" border="0" alt="Sir Tristram of Lyonesse" /></a>
+    </td>
+    <td>
+      <div class="foreward">
+        <p> <i> For indeed it would not be possible to tell any history of Sir
+          Launcelot of the Lake without telling that of Sir Tristram of Lyonesse
+          as well, for as the web of a fair fabric is woven in with the woof thereof,
+          so were the lives of Sir Launcelot and Sir Tristram woven closely together.
+          </i> </p>
+        <p> <i> Wherefore you shall now hear tell of the goodly adventures of
+          Sir Tristram of Lyonesse; and God grant that you may have the same joy
+          in reading thereof that I shall have in telling of them to you.</i>
+        </p>
+      </div>
+    </td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div align="center"> <a href="images/026.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images"  src="images/026.gif" alt="Prologue" id="h6" border="0" /></a>
+</div>
+<p> There was a certain kingdom called Lyonesse, and the King of that country
+  was hight Meliadus, and the Queen thereof who was hight the Lady Elizabeth,
+  was sister to King Mark of Cornwall. </p>
+<p> In the country of Lyonesse, there was a very beautiful lady, who was a cunning
+  and wicked sorceress. This lady took great love for King Meliadus, who was of
+  an exceedingly noble appearance, and she meditated continually how she might
+  bring him to her castle so as to have him near her. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">King Meliadus rides a-hunting.</div>
+<p> Now King Meliadus was a very famous huntsman, and he loved the chase above
+  all things in the world, excepting the joy he took in the love of his Queen,
+  the Lady Elizabeth. So, upon a certain day, in the late autumn season he was
+  minded to go forth a-hunting, although the day was very cold and bleak. </p>
+<p> About the prime of the day the hounds started, of a sudden, a very wonderful
+  stag. For it was white and its horns were gilded very bright, shining like pure
+  gold, so that the creature itself appeared like a living miracle in the forest.
+  When this stag broke cover, the hounds immediately set chase to it with a great
+  outcry of yelling, as though they were suddenly gone frantic, and when the King
+  beheld the creature, he also was immediately seized as with a great fury for
+  chasing it. For, beholding it, he shouted aloud and drove spurs into his horse,
+  and rushed away at such a pass that his court was, in a little while, left altogether
+  behind him, and he and the chase were entirely alone in the forest. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">King Meliadus chases the stag.</div>
+<p> The stag, with the hounds close behind it, ran at a great rate through the
+  passes of the woodlands, and King Meliadus pursued it with might and main until
+  the chase burst out of the forest into an open plain beyond the woodland. Then
+  King Meliadus beheld that in the midst of the plain was a considerable lake
+  of water; and that in the midst of the water was an island; and that upon the
+  island was a very tall and stately castle. Toward this castle the stag ran with
+  great speed, and so, coming to the lake, it leaped into the water and swam across
+  to the island--and there was a thin sheet of clear ice upon the water close
+  to either bank. </p>
+<p> But when the hounds that pursued the stag came to that frozen water, they
+  stinted their pursuit and stood whimpering upon the brink, for the ice and the
+  water repelled them. But King Meliadus made no such pause, but immediately leaped
+  off from his horse, and plunged into the water and swam across in pursuit of
+  the stag. And when he reached the other side, he chased the stag afoot with
+  great speed, and therewith the stag ran to the castle and into the court-yard
+  thereof, and King Meliadus ran after it. Then, immediately he had entered in,
+  the gates of the castle were shut and King Meliadus was a prisoner. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">King Meliadus is made prisoner at an enchanted castle.</div>
+<p> (Now you are to know that that castle was the abode of the beautiful enchantress
+  afore spoken of, and you are to know that she had sent that enchanted stag to
+  beguile King Meliadus to her court, and so she made King Meliadus her captive.
+  Further, it is to be told that when she had him there within her castle, she
+  wove a web of enchantment all about him so that he forgot the Lady Elizabeth
+  and his court and his kingdom and thought of nothing but that beautiful sorceress
+  who had thus beguiled him into her power.) </p>
+<div class="sidenote">The Lady Elizabeth grieves to distraction.</div>
+<p> Now, when those who were with the King returned to the castle of Lyonesse
+  without him, and when the King did not return that day nor the next day nor
+  at any time, the Lady Elizabeth grew more and more distracted in her anxiety
+  because of him. And when a fortnight had gone by and still there was no news
+  of the King, her grief and apprehension became so great that she turned distracted
+  and they had to set watch and ward upon her lest she do herself a harm in her
+  madness. </p>
+<p> So for a long time they kept her within the castle; but upon a certain day
+  she broke away from her keepers and ran out from the castle and into the forest
+  ere those in attendance upon her knew she had gone. Only one gentlewoman saw
+  her, and she called upon a young page to follow her, and thereupon ran after
+  the Queen whither she went, with intent to bring her back again. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">The Lady Elizabeth escapes into the forest.</div>
+<p> But the Lady Elizabeth ran very deep into the forest, and the gentlewoman
+  and the page ran after her; and the Queen thought that she was going to find
+  her lord in the forest. So she ran very rapidly for a great distance, until
+  by and by she waxed faint with weariness from running and sank down upon the
+  ground; and there they that followed her found her lying. And they found that
+  the Queen was in a great passion of pain and sick to death. For the day was
+  very wintry, with a fine powder of snow all over the ground, so that the cold
+  of the weather pierced through the garments of the Lady Elizabeth and entered
+  into her body and chilled her to the heart. </p>
+<p> Now the gentlewoman, seeing how it was with the Queen, called the page to
+  her and said: "Make haste! Go back to the castle of Lyonesse, and bring some
+  of the knights of the castle with all speed, else the Queen will die at this
+  place." And upon that the page ran off with great speed to do her bidding and
+  the Queen was left alone with her gentlewoman. </p>
+<p> Then the gentlewoman said, "Lady, what cheer?" And the Queen said, "Alas,
+  I am sick to death." The gentlewoman said, "Lady, cannot you bear up a little
+  until help cometh?" Thereupon the Lady Elizabeth fell to weeping very piteously,
+  and said, "Nay, I cannot bear up any longer, for the cold hath entered into
+  my heart." (Yea, even at that time death was upon her because of the cold at
+  her heart.) </p>
+<p> Then by and by in the midst of her tears and in very sore travail a man-child
+  was born to the Queen, and when that came to pass a great peace fell suddenly
+  upon her. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">How Tristram is born in the forest.</div>
+<p> Then she said, speaking to the nurse like one in great weariness, "What child
+  is it that I have given unto the world?" The nurse said, "It is a man-child."
+  The Queen said to her, "Hold him up until I see him." Thereupon the nurse held
+  the child up and the Queen looked at him, though she could hardly see him because
+  it was as though a mist lay upon her eyes which she could not clear away from
+  her sight; for at that time she was drawing deep draughts of death. Then, when
+  she had seen the child and had beheld that he was very strong and lusty and
+  exceedingly comely, she said: "Behold, this is my child, born in the midst of
+  sore travail and great sorrow; wherefore his name shall be called Tristram because
+  he hath caused so many tears to be shed." </p>
+<p> Then in a little while the Lady died, and the gentlewoman stood weeping beside
+  her, making great outcry in that cold and lonely forest. </p>
+<p> Anon there came those knights who were sent from the castle to find the Queen;
+  and when they came to that place, they beheld that she lay upon the ground all
+  cold and white like to a statue of marble stone. So they lifted her up and bare
+  her away upon a litter, and the gentlewoman followed weeping and wailing in
+  great measure, and bearing the child wrapped in a mantle. </p>
+<p> So Tristram was born in that wise, and so his name was given to him because
+  of the tears that were shed at his birth. </p>
+<p> And now it is to be told how King Meliadus returned from that castle of enchantment
+  where he was held prisoner. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">King Meliadus is released from durance.</div>
+<p> At this time Merlin was still living in the world, for Vivien had not yet
+  bewitched him, as hath been told in the Book of King Arthur. So by and by it
+  came to pass that he discovered where King Meliadus was imprisoned and how it
+  fared with him in the castle of that enchantress. So he made greater spells
+  than those that enmeshed King Meliadus, and he brought King Meliadus back into
+  his memory of the Queen and his kingdom. Then straightway the King broke out
+  from the castle of the enchantress and returned to his kingdom. But when he
+  came there it was to find everything in great sorrow and dole; for the Lady
+  Elizabeth was no longer upon this earth to bring joy to the heart of the King.
+  So for a long while after his return King Meliadus lay altogether stricken down
+  with the grief of that bereavement. </p>
+<p> Here followeth the story of Tristram, how he passed his youth, and how he
+  became a knight of Cornwall of King Mark's making. </p>
+<div align="center"> <a href="images/027.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="t6" src="images/027.gif" border="0" alt="Tail Piece--Prologue" /></a>
+</div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div id="trip1">
+  <h3>PART I</h3>
+  <h2>The Story of Sir Tristram and the Lady Belle Isoult</h2>
+  <table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="10" cellpadding="0">
+    <tr>
+      <td> <a href="images/031.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="p14" src="images/031.gif" border="0" alt="The Lady Belle Isoult" /></a>
+      </td>
+      <td>
+        <div class="foreward">
+          <p> <i> Here followeth the story of Sir Tristram of Lyonesse, who, with
+            Sir Launcelot of the Lake, was deemed to be one of the two most worthy
+            and perfect knights champion of his day. </i> </p>
+          <p> <i> Likewise herein shall be told the story of the Lady Belle Isoult,
+            who next to Queen Guinevere, was reckoned to be the most fair, gentle
+            lady in all of the world. </i> </p>
+        </div>
+      </td>
+    </tr>
+  </table>
+  <br />
+  <br />
+  <br />
+  <br />
+  <br />
+  <br />
+  <br />
+</div>
+<div align="center"> <a href="images/029.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="h7" src="images/029.gif" border="0" alt="The Story of Sir Tristram and the Lady Belle Isoult" /></a>
+</div>
+<div class="chaphead" id="tr1c1">Chapter First</div>
+<br />
+<div class="chapdes">How the new Queen of Lyonesse sought Tristram's life; how
+  he went to France, and how he returned again to Lyonesse and was received with
+  love at that place.</div>
+<p> So King Meliadus grieved very bitterly for the Lady Elizabeth for the space
+  of seven years, and in that time he took but little pleasure in life, and still
+  less pleasure in that son who had been born to him in that wise. Then one day
+  a certain counsellor who was in great favor with the King came to him and said:
+  "Lord, it is not fitting that you should live in this wise and without a mate;
+  for you should have a queen, and you should have other children besides Tristram,
+  else all the fate of this kingdom shall depend upon the life of that one small
+  child." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">King Meliadus taketh the Lady Moeya to second wife.</div>
+<p> And King Meliadus took this counsel to heart, and after a while he said: "What
+  you tell me is true, and so I shall take another Queen, even though it is not
+  in me to love any other woman in all of the world but that dear one who is dead
+  and gone." So a while after that he took to wife the Lady Moeya, who was the
+  daughter of King Howell of Britain. </p>
+<p> Now Queen Moeya had been married to an Earl of Britain, and by him she had
+  a son who was about the age of Tristram. So she brought this son to Lyonesse
+  with her, and he and Tristram were very good companions. </p>
+<p> But the Lady Moeya took great hatred of Tristram, for she said in her heart:
+  "Except for this Tristram, mayhap my son might be King and overlord of this
+  land." And these thoughts brooded with her, so that after a while she began
+  to meditate how she might make away with Tristram so that her own son might
+  come into his inheritance. </p>
+<p> Now at that time Tristram was about thirteen years of age and very large and
+  robust of form and of extraordinary strength of body and beauty of countenance.
+  But the son of Queen Moeya was not of such a sort, so the more beautiful and
+  noble Tristram was the more the Queen hated him. So one day she called to her
+  a very cunning chemist and she said to him: "Give me a drink of such and such
+  a sort, so that he who drinks thereof shall certainly die, maugre help of any
+  kind." And the chemist gave her what she desired, and it was in a phial and
+  was of a golden color. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">The Lady Moeya devises mischief against Tristram.</div>
+<p> Now Tristram and the son of the Lady Moeya were wont to play ball in a certain
+  court of the castle, and when they would play there they would wax all of a
+  heat with their sport. This the Lady Moeya was well aware of; so one day she
+  took that phial of poison and she poured a part of it into a chalice and she
+  filled the chalice with clear water and she set the chalice upon a bench where
+  those two would play at ball. For she said to herself: "When they grow warm
+  with their play, Tristram will certainly drink of this water to quench his thirst,
+  and then my son will maybe enter into his inheritance." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">The son of the Queen drinks of the poison.</div>
+<p> So the two youths played very fiercely at their game, and they waxed exceedingly
+  hot and presently were both very violently athirst. Then Tristram said, "I would
+  I had somewhat to drink," and his stepbrother said, "Look, yonder is a chalice
+  of water; drink! and when thou hast quenched thy thirst, then I will drink also."
+  But Tristram said: "Nay, brother, drink thou first, for thou art more athirst
+  than I." Then at first the son of the Lady Moeya would not have it so, but would
+  have Tristram drink; but afterward he did as Tristram bade him, and, taking
+  the chalice in both hands, he drank freely of that poison which his own mother
+  had prepared. Then when he had drunk his fill, Tristram took the chalice and
+  would have drunk too; but the other said, "Stay, Tristram, there is great bitterness
+  in that chalice"; and then he said, "Methinks I feel a very bitter pang within
+  my vitals," and then he cried out, "Woe is me! I am in great pain!" Therewith
+  he fell down upon the ground and lay there in a great passion of agony. Then
+  Tristram cried aloud for help in a piercing voice; but when help came thither
+  it was too late, for the son of the Lady Moeya was dead. </p>
+<p> Then the Lady Moeva was in great torment of soul, and beat her breast and
+  tore her hair and King Meliadus had much ado for to comfort her. And after this
+  she hated Tristram worse than ever before, for she would say to herself: "Except
+  for this Tristram, my own son would yet be alive!" </p>
+<p> So she brooded upon these things until she could not rest, whether by day
+  or night. Then one day she took the rest of the poison that was in the phial
+  and poured it into a goblet of yellow wine. This goblet she gave to one of her
+  pages, saying: "Take this to Tristram, and offer it to him when I shall tell
+  you to do so!" </p>
+<div class="sidenote">The Lady Moeya seeks Tristram's life a second time.</div>
+<p> Therewith she went down to the hall where Tristram was, and she said, "Tristram,
+  let there be peace betwixt us." And Tristram said: "Lady, that meets my wishes,
+  for I have never had in my heart aught but loving-kindness toward you, and so
+  I would have it in your heart toward me." With this the page came in the hall
+  with that goblet of yellow wine. Then the Lady Moeya took the goblet and said:
+  "Take this cup, and drink of the wine that is in it, and so there shall be peace
+  betwixt us forever." And as she said that she looked very strangely upon Tristram,
+  but Tristram was altogether innocent of any evil against him. So he reached
+  out his hand to take the cup which the page brought to him. </p>
+<p> Now at that moment King Meliadus came into the hall fresh from the chase,
+  and he was much heated and greatly athirst, wherefore, when he saw that cup
+  of wine he said: "Stay, Tristram, let me drink, for I am greatly athirst. After
+  I have quenched my thirst, then thou shalt drink." </p>
+<p> Therewith he took the goblet of wine and made to lift it to his lips. But
+  at that the Lady Moeya cried out, in a very loud and piercing voice, "Do not
+  drink of that wine!" The King said, "Why should I not drink of it?" "No matter,"
+  said the Lady Moeya, "thou shalt not drink of it, for there is death in it."
+</p>
+<p> Therewith she ran to the King and catched him by the hand, and she plucked
+  away the goblet so that the wine was spilled out of it upon the ground. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">King Meliadus threatens to slay the Queen.</div>
+<p> Then King Meliadus gazed at the Lady Moeya, and he thought of many things
+  in very little time. Thereupon he seized her by the hair and dragged her forward,
+  so that she fell down upon her hands and knees to the pavement of the hall.
+  And King Meliadus drew his great sword so that it flashed like lightning, and
+  he cried: "Tell me what thou hast done, and tell me quickly, or thou shalt not
+  be able to tell me at all!" Then the Lady Moeya clutched King Meliadus about
+  the thighs, and she cried out: "Do not slay me with thine own hand, or else
+  my blood will stain thee with dishonor! I will tell thee all, and then thou
+  mayst deal with me according to the law, for indeed I am not fit to live." So
+  therewithal the Lady Moeya confessed everything to the King. </p>
+<p> Then King Meliadus shouted aloud and called the attendants and said: "Take
+  this woman and cast her into prison, and see that no harm befall her there;
+  for the lords of this country shall adjudge her, and not I." And therewith he
+  turned away and left her. </p>
+<p> And thereafter, in due season, the Lady Moeya was brought to trial and was
+  condemned to be burned at the stake. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Tristram begs mercy for the Queen.</div>
+<p> Now when the day came that she was to be burnt, Tristram was very sorry for
+  her. So when he beheld her tied fast to the stake he came to where King Meliadus
+  was and he kneeled before him, and he said, "Father, I crave a boon of thee."
+  Thereupon King Meliadus looked upon Tristram, and he loved him very tenderly
+  and he said: "My son, ask what thou wilt, and it shall be thine." Then Tristram
+  said: "Father, I pray thee, spare the life of this lady, for methinks she hath
+  repented her of her evil, and surely God hath punished her very sorely for the
+  wickedness she hath tried to do." </p>
+<p> Then King Meliadus was very wroth that Tristram should interfere with the
+  law; but yet he had granted that boon to his son and could not withdraw. So
+  after a while of thought he said: "Well, I have promised, and so I will perform
+  my promise. Her life is thine; go to the stake and take her. But when thou hast
+  done so I bid thee go forth from this place and show thy face here no more.
+  For thou hast interfered with the law, and hast done ill that thou, the son
+  of the King, should save this murderess. So thou shalt leave this place, for
+  I mistrust that between you two some murder will befall in this country." </p>
+<a href="images/028.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="p12" align="left" src="images/028.gif" border="0" alt="Tristram succors the Lady Moeya" /></a>
+<p> So Tristram went weeping to where the Queen was bound to the stake; and he
+  cut her bonds with his dagger and set her free. And he said: "Lady, thou art
+  free; now go thy way, and may God forgive thee as I do." Then the Queen wept
+  also, and said, "Tristram, thou art very good to me." And because she was barefoot
+  and in her shift, Tristram took his cloak and wrapped it about her. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Tristram departs from Lyonesse.</div>
+<p> After that, Tristram straightway left Lyonesse, and King Meliadus appointed
+  that a noble and honorable lord of the court, hight Gouvernail, should go with
+  him. They two went to France, and there they were made very welcome at the court
+  of the King. So Tristram dwelt in France till he was eighteen years old, and
+  everyone at the court of the King of France loved him and honored him so that
+  he dwelt there as though he were of the blood of France. </p>
+<p> During the time that he was in France he became the greatest hunter in the
+  world, and he wrote many books on venery that were read and studied long after
+  he had ceased to live. Also he became so skilful with the harp that no minstrel
+  in the world was his equal. And ever he waxed more sturdy of frame and more
+  beautiful of countenance, and more well-taught in all the worship of knighthood.
+  For during that time he became so wonderfully excellent in arms that there was
+  no one in France who was his equal. </p>
+<p> Thus Tristram dwelt at peace in that land for five years, but even he longed
+  for his own home with all the might and main of his heart. So one day he said
+  to Gouvernail: "Gouvernail, I cannot deny myself any longer from seeing my father
+  and my own country, for I feel that I must see them or else my heart will certainly
+  break because of its great longing." Nor would he listen to anything that Gouvernail
+  might say contrary to this. So they two took their departure from France, and
+  Tristram travelled as a harper and Gouvernail as his attendant. Thus they came
+  to Lyonesse in that wise. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">How Tristram returns to Lyonesse.</div>
+<p> One day whilst King Meliadus sat at meat, they two came into the hall, and
+  Gouvernail wore a long white beard which altogether disguised him so that no
+  one knew him. But Tristram shone with such a great radiance of beauty and of
+  youth that all who looked upon him marvelled at him. And the heart of King Meliadus
+  went out to Tristram very strongly, and he said before all of his court, "Who
+  art thou, fair youth? And whence comest thou?" To which Tristram made reply:
+  "Lord, I am a harper, and this is my man, and we have come from France." Then
+  King Meliadus said to Tristram: "Sir, have you seen a youth in France whom men
+  call Tristram?" And Tristram replied, "Yea, I have seen him several times."
+  King Meliadus said, "Doth he do well?" "Yea," said Tristram, "he doeth very
+  well, though at times he is sore oppressed with a great desire for his own country."
+  At this King Meliadus turned away his face, for his heart went very strongly
+  out at the thought of his son. Then by and by he said to Tristram, "Wilt thou
+  play upon thy harp?" And Tristram said, "Yea, if it will please thee to hear
+  me." Therewith he took his harp and he set it before him, and he struck the
+  strings and played upon it, and he sang in such a wise that no one who was there
+  had ever heard the like thereof. </p>
+<p> Then King Meliadus' heart was melted at Tristram's minstrelsy, and he said:
+  "That is wonderful harping. Now ask what thou wilt of me, and it shall be thine,
+  whatever it may be." </p>
+<p> To this Tristram said, "Lord, that is a great thing that thou sayest." "Nevertheless,"
+  said King Meliadus, "it shall be as I say." Then Tristram left his harp and
+  he came to where King Meliadus sat, and he kneeled down before him and he said:
+  "Lord, if so be that is the case, then that which I ask of thee is this: that
+  thou wilt forgive me and bring me back into thy favor again." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">King Meliadus is reconciled to Tristram.</div>
+<p> At that King Meliadus was filled with a great wonder, and he said: "Fair youth,
+  who art thou, and what have I to forgive thee?" "Lord," said Tristram, "I am
+  thy son, and ask thee to forgive me that I should have saved the life of that
+  lady who is thy Queen." </p>
+<p> At this King Meliadus cried out with joy, and he came down from where he sat
+  and he took Tristram into his arms and kissed him upon the face, and Tristram
+  wept and kissed his father upon the face. </p>
+<p> So they were reconciled. </p>
+<p> After that, Tristram abode in peace in Lyonesse for some while, and during
+  that time he made peace betwixt King Meliadus and Queen Moeya, and the Queen
+  loved him because he was so good to her. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Tristram refuses knighthood.</div>
+<p> Now after the return of Tristram as aforesaid, King Meliadus would have made
+  him a knight, but Tristram would not suffer the honor of knighthood to be bestowed
+  upon him at that time, but always said: "Lord, think not ill of me if I do not
+  accept knighthood at this time. For I would fain wait until the chance for some
+  large adventure cometh; then I would be made a knight for to meet that adventure,
+  so that I might immediately win renown. For what credit could there be to our
+  house if I should be made knight, only that I might sit in hall and feast and
+  drink and make merry?" </p>
+<p> So spoke Sir Tristram, and his words sounded well to King Meliadus, wherefore
+  from thenceforth King Meliadus refrained from urging knighthood upon him. </p>
+<p> Now the way that Sir Tristram achieved knighthood shall be told in that which
+  followeth, and also it shall then be told how he fought his first battle, which
+  was one of the most famous that ever he fought in all of his life. </p>
+<div align="center"> <a href="images/tail.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/tail.gif" border="0" alt="Tail Piece" /></a>
+</div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div class="chaphead" id="tr1c2"><a href="images/015.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/015.gif" alt="Chapter Header" border="0" /></a>
+  <br />
+  Chapter Second</div>
+<br />
+<div class="chapdes">How Sir Tristram was made knight by the King of Cornwall,
+  and how he fought a battle with a famous champion.</div>
+<p> Now first of all it is to be here said that at that time there was great trouble
+  come to King Mark of Cornwall (who, as aforesaid, was uncle to Sir Tristram)
+  and the trouble was this: </p>
+<div class="sidenote">The King of Ireland claims truage of Cornwall.</div>
+<a href="images/030.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="p13" align="right" src="images/030.gif" border="0" alt="King Mark of Cornwall" /></a>
+<p> The King of Cornwall and the King of Ireland had great debate concerning an
+  island that lay in the sea betwixt Cornwall and Ireland. For though that island
+  was held by Cornwall, yet the King of Ireland laid claim to it and demanded
+  that the King of Cornwall should pay him truage for the same. This King Mark
+  refused to do, and there was great contention betwixt Cornwall and Ireland,
+  so that each country made ready for war. </p>
+<p> But the King of Ireland said: "Let there not be war betwixt Ireland and Cornwall
+  concerning this disagreement, but let us settle this affair in some other way.
+  Let us each choose a champion and let those two champions decide the rights
+  of this case by a combat at arms. For so the truth shall be made manifest."
+</p>
+<p> Now you are to know that at that time the knights of Cornwall were held in
+  great disregard by all courts of chivalry; for there was not in those days any
+  knight of repute in all the court of Cornwall. Wherefore King Mark knew not
+  where he should find him a champion to meet that challenge from the King of
+  Ireland. Yet he must needs meet it, for he was ashamed to refuse such a challenge
+  as that, and so to acknowledge that Cornwall had no knight-champion to defend
+  it. So he said it should be as the King of Ireland would have it, and that if
+  the King of Ireland would choose a champion, he also would do the same. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">The King of Ireland chooses Sir Marhaus for his champion.</div>
+<p> Thereupon the King of Ireland chose for his champion Sir Marhaus of Ireland,
+  who was one of the greatest knights in the world. For in the Book of King Arthur
+  (which I wrote aforetime) you may there read in the story of Sir Pellias how
+  great and puissant a champion Sir Marhaus was, and how he overthrew Sir Gawaine
+  and others with the greatest ease. Wherefore at that time he was believed by
+  many to be the greatest knight in the world (it being before the days of Sir
+  Launcelot of the Lake), and even in the days of Sir Launcelot it was doubted
+  whether he or Sir Launcelot were the greater champion. </p>
+<p> So King Mark could not find any knight in Cornwall to stand against Sir Marhaus.
+  Nor could he easily find any knight outside of Cornwall to do battle with him.
+  For Sir Marhaus, being a knight of the Round Table, no other knight of the Round
+  Table would fight against him--and there were no other knights so great as that
+  famous brotherhood of the Table Round. </p>
+<p> Accordingly, King Mark knew not where to turn to find him a champion to do
+  battle in his behalf. </p>
+<p> In this strait, King Mark sent a letter by a messenger to Lyonesse, asking
+  if there was any knight at Lyonesse who would stand his champion against Sir
+  Marhaus, and he offered great reward if such a champion would undertake his
+  cause against Ireland. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Tristram asks leave to go to Cornwall.</div>
+<p> Now when young Tristram heard this letter of his uncle King Mark, he straightway
+  went to his father and said: "Sire, some whiles ago you desired that I should
+  become a knight. Now I would that you would let me go to Cornwall upon this
+  occasion. For when I come there I will beseech my uncle King Mark to make me
+  a knight, and then I will go out against Sir Marhaus. For I have a great mind
+  to undertake this adventure in behalf of King Mark, and to stand his champion
+  against Sir Marhaus. For though Sir Marhaus is so great a knight and so famous
+  a hero, yet if I should have the good fortune to overcome him in battle, there
+  would, certes, be great glory to our house through my knighthood." </p>
+<p> Then King Meliadus looked upon Tristram and loved him very dearly, and he
+  said: "Tristram, thou hast assuredly a very great heart to undertake this adventure,
+  which no one else will essay. So I bid thee go, in God's name, if so be thy
+  heart bids thee to go. For maybe God will lend the strength necessary to carry
+  this adventure through to a successful issue." </p>
+<p> So that very day Tristram departed from Lyonesse for Cornwall, taking with
+  him only Gouvernail as his companion. So, by ship, he reached Cornwall, and
+  the castle of Tintagel, where King Mark was then holding court. </p>
+<p> And it was at the sloping of the afternoon when he so came, and at that time
+  King Mark was sitting in hall with many of his knights and lords about him.
+  And the King was brooding in great trouble of spirit. Unto him came an attendant,
+  saying: "Lord, there are two strangers who stand without, and crave to be admitted
+  to your presence. One of them hath great dignity and sobriety of demeanor, and
+  the other, who is a youth, is of so noble and stately an appearance that I do
+  not believe his like is to be found in the entire world." </p>
+<p> To this the King said, "Show them in." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Tristram and Gouvernail come to Cornwall.</div>
+<p> So those two were immediately admitted into the hall and came and stood before
+  King Mark; and the one of them was Gouvernail and the other was young Tristram.
+  So Tristram stood forth before Gouvernail and Gouvernail bore the harp of Tristram,
+  and the harp was of gold and shone most brightly and beautifully. Then King
+  Mark looked upon Tristram, and marvelled at his size and beauty; for Tristram
+  stood above any man in that place, so that he looked like a hero amongst them.
+  His brow was as white as milk and his lips were red like to coral and his hair
+  was as red as gold and as plentiful as the mane of a young lion, and his neck
+  was thick and sturdy and straight like to a round pillar of white-stone, and
+  he was clad in garments of blue silk embroidered very cunningly with threads
+  of gold and set with a countless multitude of gems of divers colors. So because
+  of all this he glistened with a singular radiance of richness and beauty. </p>
+<p> So King Mark marvelled at the haughtiness of Tristram's appearance, and he
+  felt his heart drawn toward Tristram with love and admiration. Then, after a
+  little, he spoke, saying: "Fair youth, who are you, and whence come you, and
+  what is it you would have of me?" </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Tristram offers himself as champion for Cornwall.</div>
+<p> "Lord," said Tristram, "my name is Tristram, and I come from the country of
+  Lyonesse, where your own sister was one time Queen. Touching the purpose of
+  my coming hither, it is this: having heard that you are in need of a champion
+  to contend for your rights against the champion of Ireland, I come hither to
+  say that if you will make me a knight with your own hand, I will take it upon
+  me to stand your champion and to meet Sir Marhaus of Ireland upon your behalf."
+</p>
+<p> Then King Mark was filled with wonder at the courage of Tristram, and he said:
+  "Fair youth, are you not aware that Sir Marhaus of Ireland is a knight well
+  set in years and of such great and accredited deeds of arms that it is supposed
+  that, excepting Sir Launcelot of the Lake, there is not his peer in any court
+  of chivalry in all of the world? How then can you, who are altogether new to
+  the use of arms, hope to stand against so renowned a champion as he?" </p>
+<p> "Lord," quoth Tristram, "I am well aware of what sort of knight Sir Marhaus
+  is, and I am very well aware of the great danger of this undertaking. Yet if
+  one who covets knighthood shall fear to face a danger, what virtue would there
+  then be in the chivalry of knighthood? So, Messire, I put my trust in God, His
+  mercies, and I have great hope that He will lend me both courage and strength
+  in my time of need." </p>
+<p> Then King Mark began to take great joy, for he said to himself: "Maybe this
+  youth shall indeed bring me forth in safety out of these dangers that menace
+  my honor." So he said: "Tristram, I do believe that you will stand a very excellent
+  chance of success in this undertaking, wherefore it shall be as you desire;
+  I will make you a knight, and besides that I will fit you with armor and accoutrements
+  in all ways becoming to the estate of a knight-royal. Likewise I will provide
+  you a Flemish horse of the best strain, so that you shall be both furnished
+  and horsed as well as any knight in the world hath ever been." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Tristram is made knight-royal.</div>
+<p> So that night Tristram watched his armor in the chapel of the castle, and
+  the next day he was made knight with all the circumstances appertaining to a
+  ceremony of such solemnity as that. And upon the afternoon of the day upon which
+  he was thus made knight, King Mark purveyed a ship in all ways befitting the
+  occasion, and in the ship Tristram and Gouvernail set sail for that island where
+  Sir Marhaus was known to be abiding at that time. </p>
+<p> Now upon the second day of their voyaging and about the middle of the day
+  they came to a land which they knew must be the place which they were seeking,
+  and there the sailors made a safe harbor. As soon as they were at anchor a gangway
+  was set from the ship to the shore and Sir Tristram and Gouvernail drave their
+  horses across the gangway and so to the dry land. </p>
+<p> Thereafter they rode forward for a considerable distance, until about the
+  first slanting of the afternoon they perceived in the distance three very fair
+  ships drawn up close to the shore. And then they were aware of a knight, clad
+  in full armor and seated upon a noble horse under the shadow of those ships,
+  and they wist that that must be he whom Sir Tristram sought. </p>
+<p> Then Gouvernail spake to Sir Tristram, saying: "Sir, that knight resting yonder
+  beneath the shelter of the ships must be Sir Marhaus." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram goes forth to meet Sir Marhaus.</div>
+<p> "Yea," said Sir Tristram, "that is assuredly he." So he gazed very steadily
+  at the knight for a long while, and by and by he said: "Gouvernail, yonder seems
+  to me to be a very great and haughty knight for a knight so young as I am to
+  have to do with in his first battle; yet if God will lend me His strong aid
+  in this affair, I shall assuredly win me great credit at his hands." Then after
+  another short while he said: "Now go, Gouvernail, and leave me alone in this
+  affair, for I do not choose for anyone to be by when I have to do with yonder
+  knight. For either I shall overcome him in this combat or else I will lay down
+  my life at this place. For the case is thus, Gouvernail; if Sir Marhaus should
+  overcome me and if I should yield me to him as vanquished, then mine uncle must
+  pay truage to the King of Ireland for the land of Cornwall; but if I died without
+  yielding me to mine enemy, then he must yet do battle with another champion
+  at another time, if my uncle the King can find such an one to do battle in his
+  behalf. So I am determined either to win this battle or to die therein." </p>
+<p> Now when Gouvernail heard this, he fell a-weeping in great measure; and he
+  cried out: "Sir, let not this battle be of that sort!" To him Sir Tristram said
+  very steadfastly: "Say no more, Gouvernail, but go as I bid thee." Whereupon
+  Gouvernail turned and went away, as he was bidden to do, weeping very bitterly
+  as he went. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram proclaims his degree.</div>
+<p> Now by this Sir Marhaus had caught sight of Sir Tristram where he stood in
+  that field, and so presently he came riding thitherward to meet Sir Tristram.
+  When he had come nigh, Sir Marhaus said: "Who art thou, Sir Knight?" Unto these
+  Sir Tristram made reply: "Sir, I am Sir Tristram of Lyonesse, son of King Meliadus
+  of that land, and nephew of King Mark of Cornwall. I am come to do battle upon
+  behalf of the King of Cornwall, to release him from the demands of truage made
+  by the King of Ireland." Quoth Sir Marhaus: "Messire, are you a knight of approval
+  and of battles?" "Nay," said Sir Tristram, "I have only been created knight
+  these three days." </p>
+<p> "Alas!" said Sir Marhaus, "I am very sorry for thee and for thy noble courage
+  that hath brought thee hither to this place. Thou art not fit to have to do
+  with me, for I am one who hath fought in more than twice twenty battles, each
+  one of which was, I believe, greater than this is like to be. Also I have matched
+  me with the very best knights in the world, and have never yet been overcome.
+  So I advise thee, because of thy extreme youth, to return to King Mark and bid
+  him send me another champion in thy stead, who shall be better seasoned than
+  thou art." </p>
+<p> "Sir," said Sir Tristram, "I give thee gramercy for thy advice. But I may
+  tell thee that I was made knight for no other purpose than to do battle with
+  thee; so I may not return without having fulfilled mine adventure. Moreover,
+  because of thy great renown and thy courage and prowess, I feel all the more
+  desirous to have to do with thee; for if I should die at thy hand, then there
+  will be no shame to me, but if I should win this battle from thee, then I shall
+  have very great renown in the courts of chivalry." </p>
+<p> "Well," said Sir Marhaus, "it is not likely that thou shalt die at my hand.
+  For because of thy youth I will not have it that this battle shall be so desperate
+  as that." "Say not so," said Sir Tristram, "for either I shall die at thy hand,
+  or else I shall overcome thee in this battle, for I make my vow to God that
+  I will not yield myself to thee so long as there is life within my body." </p>
+<p> "Alas!" said Sir Marhaus, "that is certes a great pity. But as thou hast foreordained
+  it, so it must needs be." Therewith he saluted Sir Tristram and drew rein and
+  rode aside to a little distance where he straightway made ready for that battle.
+  Nor was Sir Tristram behind him in making preparation, albeit he was filled
+  with doubts as to the outcome of that undertaking. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram is wounded.</div>
+<p> Then when they were in all ways prepared, each gave shout and drave spurs
+  into his horse and rushed toward the other with such fury that it was terrible
+  to behold. And each smote the other with his spear in the centre of his shield,
+  and in that encounter Sir Marhaus smote through Sir Tristram's shield and gave
+  Sir Tristram a great wound in his side. Then Sir Tristram felt the blood gush
+  out of that wound in such abundance that it filled his iron boots, so that they
+  were sodden therewith, and he thought he had got his death-wound. But in spite
+  of that grievous bitter stroke, he held his seat and was not overthrown. Then
+  so soon as he had recovered himself he voided his horse and drew his sword and
+  set his shield before him; and when Sir Marhaus saw his preparations, he likewise
+  voided his horse and made ready for battle upon foot. So straightway they came
+  together with terrible fury, lashing at each other with such fearful strength
+  and evil will that it was dreadful to behold. And each gave the other many grievous
+  strokes, so that whole pieces of armor were hewn off from their bodies; and
+  each gave the other many deep wounds, so that that part of the armor that still
+  hung to them became red as though it were painted with red. Likewise the ground
+  was all besprinkled red where they stood, yet neither gave any thought to quitting
+  that battle in which they were engaged. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram gives Sir Marhaus a death-wound.</div>
+<p> Now for a while Sir Tristram feared because of the wound which he had at first
+  received that he would die in that battle, but by and by he perceived that he
+  was stouter than Sir Marhaus and better winded; wherefore great hope came to
+  him and uplifted him with redoubled strength. Then presently Sir Marhaus fell
+  back a little and when Sir Tristram perceived that he ran in upon him and smote
+  him several times, such direful strokes that Sir Marhaus could not hold up his
+  shield against that assault. Then Sir Tristram perceived that Sir Marhaus was
+  no longer able to hold up his shield, and therewith he smote him a great blow
+  with his sword upon the helmet. So direful was that blow that the sword of Sir
+  Tristram pierced very deep through the helm of Sir Marhaus and into the brainpan.
+  And Sir Tristram's sword stuck fast in the helm and the brain-pan of Sir Marhaus
+  so that Sir Tristram could not pull it out again. Then Sir Marhaus, half a-swoon,
+  fell down upon his knees, and therewith a part of the edge of the blade brake
+  off from Sir Tristram's sword, and remained in the wound that he had given to
+  Sir Marhaus. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Marhaus leaves the field.</div>
+<p> Then Sir Marhaus was aware that he had got his death-wound, wherefore a certain
+  strength came to him so that he rose to his feet staggering like a drunken man.
+  And at first he began going about in a circle and crying most dolorously. Then
+  as he wist all that had happed he threw away his sword and his shield, and made
+  away from that place, staggering and stumbling like one who had gone blind;
+  for he was all bewildered with that mortal wound, and wist not very well what
+  he was doing or whither he was going. Then Sir Tristram would have made after
+  him to stop him, but he could not do so because he himself was so sorely wounded
+  and so weak from the loss of blood. Yet he called after Sir Marhaus: "Stay,
+  stay, Sir Knight! Let us finish this battle now we are about it!" But to this
+  Sir Marhaus made no answer, but went on down to his ships, staggering and stumbling
+  like a blind man as aforesaid, for the sore wound which he had received still
+  lent him a false strength of body so that he was able to go his way. Then those
+  who were aboard the ships, beholding him thus coming staggering toward them,
+  came down and met him and lifted him up and bore him away to his own ship. Thereafter,
+  as soon as might be they hoisted sail and lifted anchor and took their way from
+  that place. </p>
+<p> Then by and by came Gouvernail and several others of Sir Tristram's party
+  to where Sir Tristram was; and there they found him leaning upon his sword and
+  groaning very sorely because of the great wound in his side. So presently they
+  perceived that he could not walk, wherefore they lifted him up upon his own
+  shield and bore him thence to that ship that had brought him thither. </p>
+<p> And when they had come to the ship they laid him down upon a couch and stripped
+  him of his armor to search his wounds. Then they beheld what a great wound it
+  was that Sir Marhaus had given him in the side, and they lifted up their voices
+  in sorrow, for they all believed that he would die. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir tristram returns to Cornwall.</div>
+<p> So they set sail, and in two days brought him back to King Mark, where he
+  sat at Tintagel in Cornwall. And when King Mark saw how pale and wan and weak
+  Sir Tristram was, he wept and grieved very sorely for sorrow of that sight,
+  for he too thought that Sir Tristram was certainly about to die. </p>
+<p> But Sir Tristram smiled upon King Mark, and he said: "Lord, have I done well
+  for thy sake?" And King Mark said, "Yea," and fell to weeping again. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram proclaims himself to King Mark.</div>
+<p> "Then," quoth Tristram, "it is time for me to tell thee who I am who have
+  saved thy kingdom from the shame of having to pay truage to Ireland, and that
+  I am thine own sister's son. For my father is King Meliadus of Lyonesse, and
+  my mother was the Lady Elizabeth, who was thine own sister till God took her
+  soul to Paradise to dwell there with His angels." </p>
+<p> But when King Mark heard this he went forth from that place and into his own
+  chamber. And when he had come there he fell down upon his knees and cried out
+  aloud: "Alas, alas, that this should be! Rather, God, would I lose my entire
+  kingdom than that my sister's son should come to his death in this wise!" </p>
+<p> Now it remaineth to say of Sir Marhaus that those who were with him brought
+  him back to Ireland and that there in a little while he died of the wound that
+  Sir Tristram had given him upon the head. But ere he died, and whilst they were
+  dressing that hurt, the Queen of Ireland, who was sister to Sir Marhaus, discovered
+  the broken piece of the blade still in that grim wound. This she drew forth
+  and set aside, and hid very carefully, saying to herself: "If ever I meet that
+  knight to whose sword this piece of blade fitteth, then it will be an evil day
+  for him." </p>
+<p> Thus I have told you all the circumstances of that great battle betwixt Sir
+  Tristram of Lyonesse and Sir Marhaus of Ireland. And now you shall hear how
+  it befell Sir Tristram thereafter; so harken to what followeth. </p>
+<div align="center"> <a href="images/tail.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/tail.gif" border="0" alt="Tail Piece" /></a>
+</div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div class="chaphead" id="tr1c3"><a href="images/017.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/017.gif" alt="Chapter Header" border="0" /></a>
+  <br />
+  Chapter Third</div>
+<br />
+<div class="chapdes">How Sir Tristram went to Ireland to be healed of his wound
+  by the King's daughter of Ireland, and of how he came to love the Lady Belle
+  Isoult. Also concerning Sir Palamydes and the Lady Belle Isoult.</div>
+<p> Now that grievous hurt which Sir Tristram had received at the hands of Sir
+  Marhaus did not heal, but instead grew even more rankled and sore, so that there
+  were many who thought that there had been treachery practised and that the spearhead
+  had been poisoned to cause such a malignant disease as that with which the wounded
+  man suffered. So by and by Sir Tristram grew so grievously sick of his hurt
+  that all those who were near him thought that he must certainly die. </p>
+<p> Then King Mark sent everywhere and into all parts for the most wise and learned
+  leeches and chirurgeons to come to Cornwall and search the wounds of Sir Tristram,
+  but of all these no one could bring him any ease. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">How Sir Tristram lieth sick in Cornwall.</div>
+<p> Now one day there came to the court of King Mark a very wise lady, who had
+  travelled much in the world and had great knowledge of wounds of all sorts.
+  At the bidding of the King, she went to where Sir Tristram lay, and searched
+  the wound as so many had already done. And when she had done that she came out
+  of Sir Tristram's chamber and unto King Mark, where he was waiting for her.
+  Then King Mark said to her: "Well, how will it be with yonder knight?" "Lord,"
+  quoth she, "it is thus; I can do nothing to save his life, nor do I know of
+  any one who may save it unless it be the King's daughter of Ireland, who is
+  known as the Belle Isoult because of her wonderful beauty. She is the most skilful
+  leech in all of the world, and she alone may hope to bring Sir Tristram back
+  to life and health again, for I believe that if she fail no one else can save
+  him." </p>
+<p> Then after the aforesaid lady had gone, King Mark went to where Sir Tristram
+  lay, and he told him all that she had said concerning his condition; and King
+  Mark said: "Tristram, wilt thou go to the King's daughter of Ireland and let
+  her search thy wound?" </p>
+<p> Then Sir Tristram groaned at the thought of the weariness and pain of moving,
+  and he said: "Lord, this is a great undertaking for one who is so sick. Moreover,
+  it is a great risk for me, for, if I go to Ireland, and if it be found that
+  I am he who slew Sir Marhaus, then it is hardly likely that I shall ever escape
+  from that country again with my life. Ne'theless, I am so sorely sick of this
+  wound that I would rather die than live as I am living; wherefore I will go
+  to Ireland for the sake of being healed, if such a thing is possible." </p>
+<p> Accordingly, a little while after that, King Mark provided a ship to carry
+  Sir Tristram to Ireland. This ship he furnished with sails of silk of divers
+  colors, and he had it hung within with fine embroidered cloth, and fabrics woven
+  with threads of silver and gold, so that in its appearance it was a worthy vessel
+  even for a great king to sail in. Then, when all was ready, King Mark had a
+  number of attendants carry Sir Tristram down to the ship in a litter, and he
+  had them lay Sir Tristram upon a soft couch of crimson satin, which was set
+  upon the deck beneath a canopy of crimson silk, embroidered with threads of
+  silver and garnished with fringe of silver, and Sir Tristram lay there at ease
+  where the breezes of the ocean came pleasantly to him, and breathed upon his
+  face and his temples and his hair and his hands with coolness; and Gouvernail
+  was with Sir Tristram all the while in attendance upon him. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram sails to Ireland to have his wound searched.</div>
+<p> So they set sail for Ireland, the weather being very fair and pleasant, and
+  on the third day, at about the time of sunset, they came to a part of the coast
+  of Ireland where there was a castle built upon the rocks that rose out of the
+  sea. </p>
+<p> Now there were several fishermen fishing in boats near that castle, and of
+  these the pilot of Sir Tristram's boat made inquiry what castle that was. To
+  him the fisherman replied: "That castle is the castle of King Angus of Ireland."
+  And the fisherman said: "It so happens that the King and Queen and their daughter,
+  hight the Lady Belle Isoult, and all of their court are there at this very while."
+</p>
+<p> This Sir Tristram heard and said: "This is good news, for indeed I am very
+  sick and am right glad that my voyaging is ended." So he gave orders that the
+  pilot should bring the ship close under the walls of that castle, and that he
+  should there let go anchor; and the pilot did as Sir Tristram had commanded
+  him. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">How Sir Tristram came to Ireland.</div>
+<p> Now, as aforesaid, that ship was of a very wonderful appearance, like to the
+  ship of a king or a high prince, wherefore many people came down to the walls
+  of the castle and stood there and gazed at the vessel as it sailed into the
+  harbor. And by that time the sun had set and all the air was illuminated with
+  a marvellous golden light; and in this sky of gold the moon hung like a shield
+  of silver, very bright and steady above the roofs and towers of the castle.
+  And there came from the land a pleasing perfume of blossoms; for it was then
+  in the fulness of the spring-time, and all the fruit-bearing trees were luxuriant
+  with bloom so that the soft air of evening was full of fragrance thereby. </p>
+<p> Then there came a great content into the heart of Sir Tristram, wherefore
+  he said to Gouvernail: "Gouvernail, either I shall soon be healed of this wound,
+  or else I shall presently die and enter into Paradise free of pain, for I am
+  become very full of content and of peace toward all men." And then he said:
+  "Bring me hither my harp, that I may play upon it a little, for I have a desire
+  to chant in this pleasant evening-time." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram sings.</div>
+<p> So Gouvernail brought to Sir Tristram his shining harp, and when Sir Tristram
+  had taken it into his hands he tuned it, and when he had tuned it he struck
+  it and sang; and, because of the stillness of the evening, his voice sounded
+  marvellously clear and sweet across the level water, so that those who stood
+  upon the castle walls and heard it thought that maybe an angel was singing on
+  board of that ship. </p>
+<p> That time the Lady Belle Isoult sat at the window of her bower enjoying the
+  pleasantness of the evening. She also heard Sir Tristram singing, and she said
+  to those damsels who were with her, "Ha, what is that I hear?" Therewith she
+  listened for a little while, and then she said: "Meseems that must be the voice
+  of some angel that is singing." They say: "Nay, Lady, it is a wounded knight
+  singing, and he came to this harbor in a wonderful ship some while ago." Then
+  the Lady Belle Isoult said to a page who was in attendance: "Bid the King and
+  Queen come hither, that they may hear this singing also, for never did I think
+  to hear such singing beyond the walls of Paradise." </p>
+<p> So the page ran with all speed, and in a little the King and Queen came to
+  the bower of the Lady Belle Isoult; and she and they leaned upon the window-ledge
+  and listened to Sir Tristram whilst he sang in the soft twilight. Then by and
+  by King Angus said: "Now I will have yonder minstrel brought thither to this
+  castle to do us pleasure, for I believe that he must be the greatest minstrel
+  in all the world to sing in that wise." And the Lady Belle Isoult said: "I pray
+  you, sir, do so, for it would be great joy to everybody to have such singing
+  as that in this place." </p>
+<p> So King Angus sent a barge to that ship, and besought that he who sang should
+  be brought to the castle. At that Sir Tristram was very glad, for he said: "Now
+  I shall be brought to the Lady the Belle Isoult and maybe she will heal me."
+  So he had them bare him to the barge of the King of Ireland, and so they brought
+  him to the castle of King Angus, where they laid him upon a bed in a fair room
+  of the castle. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">King Angus cometh to Tristram.</div>
+<p> Then King Angus came to Sir Tristram where he lay, and he said: "Messire what
+  can I do for you to put you more at your ease than you are?" "Lord," said Sir
+  Tristram, "I pray you to permit the Lady Belle Isoult to search a great wound
+  in my side that I received in battle. For I hear that she is the most skilful
+  leech in all the world, and so I have come hither from a great distance, being
+  in such pain and dole from my grievous hurt that I shall die in a little while
+  unless it be healed." </p>
+<p> "Messire," said King Angus, "I perceive that you are no ordinary knight, but
+  somebody of high nobility and estate, so it shall be as you desire." And then
+  King Angus said: "I pray you, tell me your name and whence you come." </p>
+<p> Upon this, Sir Tristram communed within his own mind, saying: "An I say my
+  name is Tristram, haply there may be someone here will know me and that I was
+  the cause why the brother of the Queen of this place hath died." So he said:
+  "Lord, my name is Sir Tramtris, and I am come from a country called Lyonesse,
+  which is a great distance from this." </p>
+<p> Quoth King Angus, "Well, Sir Tramtris, I am glad that you have come to this
+  place. Now it shall be done to you as you desire, for to-morrow the Lady Belle
+  Isoult shall search your wound to heal it if possible." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">My Lady Belle Isoult searches the wound.</div>
+<p> And so it was as King Angus said, for the next day the Lady Belle Isoult came
+  with her attendants to where Sir Tristram lay, and one of the attendants bare
+  a silver basin and another bare a silver ewer, and others bare napkins of fine
+  linen. So the Lady Belle Isoult came close to Sir Tristram and kneeled beside
+  the couch whereon he lay and said, "Let me see the wound." Therewith Sir Tristram
+  laid bare his bosom and his side and she beheld it. Then she felt great pity
+  for Sir Tristram because of that dolorous wound, and she said: "Alas, that so
+  young and so fair and so noble a knight should suffer so sore a wound as this!"
+  Therewith still kneeling beside Sir Tristram she searched the wound with very
+  gentle, tender touch (for her fingers were like to rose leaves for softness)
+  and lo! she found a part of the blade of a spear-head embedded very deep in
+  the wound of Sir Tristram. </p>
+<p> This she drew forth very deftly (albeit Sir Tristram groaned with a great
+  passion of pain) and therewithafter came forth an issue of blood like a crimson
+  fountain, whereupon Sir Tristram swooned away like one who had gone dead. But
+  he did not die, for they quickly staunched the flow, set aromatic spices to
+  his nostrils, so that in a little he revived in spirit to find himself at great
+  ease and peace in his body (albeit it was for a while like to the peace of death).
+</p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram is healed.</div>
+<p> Thus it was that the Lady Belle Isoult saved the life of Sir Tristram, for
+  in a little while he was able to be about again, and presently waxed almost
+  entirely hale and strong in limb and body. </p>
+<p> And now it is to be told how Sir Tristram loved the Lady Belle Isoult and
+  how she loved Sir Tristram. Also how a famous knight, hight Sir Palamydes the
+  Saracen, loved Belle Isoult and of how she loved not him. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram loves the Lady Belle Isoult.</div>
+<p> For, as was said, it came about that in a little while Sir Tristram was healed
+  of that grievous wound aforetold of so that he was able to come and go whithersoever
+  he chose. But always he would be with the Lady Belle Isoult, for Sir Tristram
+  loved her with a wonderfully passionate regard. And so likewise the lady loved
+  Sir Tristram. For if he loved her because she had saved his life, then she also
+  loved him for the same reason. For she did not ever forget how she had drawn
+  out the head of that spear from the wound at his side, and of how he had groaned
+  when she brought it forth, and of how the blood had gushed out of that wound.
+  Wherefore she loved him very aboundingly for the agony of pain she had one time
+  caused him to suffer. </p>
+<p> So they two fair and noble creatures were always together in bower or in hall,
+  and no one in all that while wist that Sir Tramtris was Sir Tristram, and that
+  it was his hand that had slain Sir Marhaus of Ireland. </p>
+<p> So Sir Tristram was there in Ireland for a year, and in that time he grew
+  to be altogether well and sturdy again. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Palamydes cometh to Ireland.</div>
+<p> Now it was in those days that there came Sir Palamydes the Saracen knight
+  to that place, who was held to be one of the very foremost knights in the world.
+  So great rejoicing was made over him because he had come thither, and great
+  honor was shown to him by everyone. </p>
+<p> But when Sir Palamydes beheld the Lady Belle Isoult and when he saw how fair
+  she was, he came in a short while to love her with almost as passionate a regard
+  as that with which Sir Tristram loved her, so that he also sought ever to be
+  with her whenever the chance offered. </p>
+<p> But Belle Isoult felt no regard for Sir Palamydes, but only fear of him, for
+  all of her love was given to Sir Tristram. Nevertheless, because Sir Palamydes
+  was so fierce and powerful a knight, she did not dare to offend him; wherefore
+  she smiled upon him and treated him with all courtesy and kindness although
+  she loved him not, dissembling her regard for him. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram is displeased.</div>
+<p> All this Sir Tristram beheld from aside and it displeased him a very great
+  deal to see how Sir Palamydes was always beside the lady. But Belle Isoult beheld
+  how Sir Tristram was displeased, wherefore she took occasion to say to him:
+  "Tramtris, be not displeased, for what am I to do? You know very well that I
+  do not love this knight, but I am afraid of him because he is so fierce and
+  so strong." </p>
+<p> To this Sir Tristram said: "Lady, it would be a great shame to me if I, being
+  by, should suffer any knight to come betwixt you and me and win your regard
+  through fear of him." </p>
+<p> She said: "Tramtris, what would you do? Would you give challenge to this knight?
+  Lo, you are not yet entirely healed of your hurt, and Sir Palamydes is in perfect
+  strength of body. For indeed it is for you I am most of all afraid lest you
+  and Sir Palamydes should come to battle and lest he should do you a harm before
+  you are entirely healed." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram desires to do battle.</div>
+<p> "Lady," quoth Sir Tristram, "I thank God that I am not at all afraid of this
+  knight, or of any other knight, and I have to thank you that I am now entirely
+  recovered and am as strong as ever I was. Wherefore I have now a mind to deal
+  with this knight in your behalf. So if you will provide me with armor I will
+  deal with him so that maybe he will not trouble you again. Now I will devise
+  it in this way:--tell your father, King Angus, to proclaim a great jousting.
+  In that jousting I will seek out Sir Palamydes and will encounter him, and I
+  hope with God's aid that I shall overcome him, so that you shall be free from
+  him." </p>
+<p> Belle Isoult said, "Tramtris, are you able for this?" He said, "Yea, I am
+  as ready as ever I shall be in all of my life." Whereat Belle Isoult said, "It
+  shall be as you will have it." </p>
+<p> Then Sir Tristram charged Belle Isoult that she should keep secret all this
+  that had been said betwixt them. And more especially she was to keep it secret
+  that he was to take part in such a tournament as that which they had devised.
+  And he said to her: "Lady, I lie here under a great peril to my life, though
+  I cannot tell you what that peril is. But I may tell you that if my enemies
+  should discover me at this place, it would go hard with me to preserve my life
+  from them. Wherefore, if I take part in any such affair as this, it must be
+  altogether a secret betwixt us." </p>
+<p> So therewith they parted and Lady Belle Isoult went to her father and besought
+  him to proclaim a great day of jousting in honor of Sir Palamydes, and the King
+  said that he would do so. So the King sent forth proclamation to all the courts
+  of that nation that a great tournament was to be held and that great rewards
+  and great honors were to be given to the best knight thereat. And that tournament
+  was talked about in all the courts of chivalry where there were knights who
+  desired to win glory in such affairs at arms. </p>
+<p> And now it shall be told concerning that tournament and how it befell with
+  Sir Tristram thereat, and with Sir Palamydes thereat. </p>
+<div align="center"> <a href="images/tail.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/tail.gif" border="0" alt="Tail Piece" /></a>
+</div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div class="chaphead" id="tr1c4"><a href="images/019.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/019.gif" alt="Chapter Header" border="0" /></a>
+  <br />
+  Chapter Fourth</div>
+<br />
+<div class="chapdes">How Sir Tristram encountered Sir Palamydes at the tournament
+  and of what befell. Also how Sir Tristram was forced to leave the Kingdom of
+  Ireland.</div>
+<p> So came the time for the tournament that King Angus of Ireland had ordained;
+  and that was a very famous affair at arms indeed. For it hath very rarely happened
+  that so noble a gathering of knights hath ever come together as that company
+  which there presented itself for that occasion at the court of the King of Ireland.
+</p>
+<div class="sidenote">Of the court of chivalry at Ireland.</div>
+<p> For you may know how excellent was the court of chivalry that fore gathered
+  thereat when you shall hear that there came to that tournament, the King of
+  an Hundred Knights and the King of the Scots, and that there came several knights
+  of the Round Table, to wit: Sir Gawaine, Sir Gaheris and Sir Agravaine; and
+  Sir Bagdemagus and Sir Kay and Sir Dodinas, and Sir Sagramore le Desirous, and
+  Sir Gumret the Less, and Sir Griflet; and that there came besides these many
+  other knights of great renown. </p>
+<p> These and many others gathered at the court of King Angus of Ireland, so that
+  all those meadows and fields coadjacent to the place of battle were gay as beds
+  of flowers with the multitude of tents and pavilions of divers colors that were
+  there emplanted. </p>
+<p> And on the day of the tournament there came great crowds of people into the
+  lists, so that all that place was alive with movement. For it was as though
+  a sea of people had arisen to overflow the seats and stalls thereof. </p>
+<p> Now that tournament was to last for three days, and upon the third day there
+  was to be a grand m&#234;l&#233;e in which all these knights contestant were
+  to take stand upon this side or upon that. </p>
+<p> But upon the first two of those three days Sir Tristram sat in the stall of
+  the King and looked down upon the jousting, for, because of the illness from
+  which he had recovered, he was minded to save his body until the right time
+  should come, what time he should be called upon to do his uttermost. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Palamydes performeth wonders.</div>
+<p> And in those two days, Sir Tristram beheld that Sir Palamydes did more wonderfully
+  in battle than he would have believed it possible for any knight to do. For
+  Sir Palamydes was aware that the eyes of the Lady Belle Isoult were gazing upon
+  him, wherefore he felt himself uplifted to battle as with the strength of ten.
+  Wherefore he raged about that field like a lion of battle, seeking whom he might
+  overthrow and destroy. And upon the first day he challenged Sir Gawaine to joust
+  with him, and then he challenged Sir Gaheris, and the King of an Hundred Knights,
+  and Sir Griflet, and Sir Sagramore le Desirous and fourteen other knights, and
+  all of these he met and many he overcame, and that without any mishap to himself.
+  And upon the second day he met with great success Sir Agravaine and Sir Griflet
+  and Sir Kay and Sir Dodinas and twelve other knights. Wherefore those who beheld
+  how he did gave great shouts and outcries of applause and acclaim, saying: "Certes,
+  there was never knight in all of the world so great as this knight. Yea; even
+  Sir Launcelot himself could not do more than that knight doeth." </p>
+<p> Then Belle Isoult was troubled in her mind, and she said: "Tramtris, yonder
+  in very truth is a most fierce and terrible knight. Now somewhiles I have fear
+  that you may not be able to overcome him." </p>
+<p> Thereat Sir Tristram smiled very grimly, and said: "Lady, already I have overcome
+  in battle a bigger knight than ever Sir Palamydes has been or is like to be."
+  But the Lady Belle Isoult wist not that that knight of whom Sir Tristram spake
+  was Sir Marhaus of Ireland. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Palamydes bespeaks the Lady Belle Isoult.</div>
+<p> Now upon the evening of the second day of that tournament, Sir Palamydes came
+  to where the Lady Belle Isoult was, and he said: "Lady, all these things I have
+  done for your sake. For had it not been for my love for you, I would not have
+  been able to do a third part of that which I did. Now I think you should have
+  pity and regard for one who loves you so strongly as that; wherefore I beseech
+  you to bestow some part of your good-will upon me." </p>
+<p> "Sir," said the Lady Belle Isoult, "you are not to forget that there is still
+  another day of this battle, and in it you may not happen to have the same fortune
+  that favored you to-day; so I will wait until you have won that battle also
+  before I answer you." </p>
+<p> "Well," said Sir Palamydes, "you shall see that I shall do even more worthily
+  to-morrow for your sake than I have done to-day." </p>
+<p> But the Lady Belle Isoult was not very well pleased with that saying, for
+  she began again to fear that maybe the will of Sir Palamydes was so strong that
+  Sir Tristram would not have any success against him. </p>
+<p> So came the third day of that very famous contest at arms, and when this morning
+  was come there began to gather together in the two parties those who were to
+  contest the one against the other. Of one of these parties, Sir Palamydes was
+  the chiefest knight, and upon that side was also Sir Gawaine and several of
+  the knights who were with him. For these said, "There shall certes be greater
+  credit to be had with Sir Palamydes than against him," and so they joined them
+  with his party. Of the other party the chiefest knights were the King of an
+  Hundred Knights and the King of Scots, and both of these were very famous and
+  well-approved champions, of high courage and remarkable achievements. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Belle Isoult arms Sir Tristram.</div>
+<p> Now when the time was nigh ready for that tournament, Sir Tristram went to
+  put on the armor that the Lady Belle Isoult had provided him, and when he was
+  armed he mounted very lightly upon the horse which she had given him. And the
+  armor of Sir Tristram was white, shining like to silver, and the horse was altogether
+  white, and the furniture and trappings thereof were all white, so that Sir Tristram
+  glistened with extraordinary splendor. </p>
+<p> Now when he was armed and prepared in all ways, the Lady Belle Isoult came
+  to where he was and she said, "Tramtris, are you ready?" And he answered "Yea."
+  Therewith she took the horse of Sir Tristram by the bridle and she led him to
+  the postern gate of the castle, and put him out that way into a fair field that
+  lay beyond; and Sir Tristram abided in the fields for some while until the tournament
+  should have begun. </p>
+<p> But the Lady Belle Isoult went to the tournament with her father, the King,
+  and her mother, the Queen, and took her station at that place assigned to her
+  whence she might overlook the field. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">How Sir Palamydes fought in the tournament.</div>
+<p> So in a little while that friendly battle began. And again Sir Palamydes was
+  filled with the vehement fury of contest, wherefore he raged about the field,
+  spreading terror whithersoever he came. For first he made at the King of an
+  Hundred Knights, and he struck that knight so direful a blow that both horse
+  and man fell to the ground with the force thereof. Then in the same manner he
+  struck the King of Scots with his sword, and smote him straightway out of the
+  saddle also. Then he struck down one after another, seven other knights, all
+  of well-proved strength and prowess, so that all those who looked thereon cried
+  out, "Is he a man or is he a demon?" So, because of the terror of Sir Palamydes,
+  all those in that contest bore away from him as they might do from a lion in
+  anger. </p>
+<p> At this time came Sir Tristram, riding at a free pace, shining like to a figure
+  of silver. Then many saw him and observed him and said to one another: "Who
+  is this knight, and what party will he join with to do battle?" These had not
+  long to wait to know what side he would join, for immediately Sir Tristram took
+  stand with that party which was the party of the King of an Hundred Knights
+  and the King of Scots, and at that the one party was very glad, and the other
+  party was sorry; for they deemed that Sir Tristram was certes some great champion.
+</p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram enters the tournament.</div>
+<p> Then straightway there came against Sir Tristram four knights of the other
+  party, and one of these was Sir Gaheris, and another was Sir Griflet and another
+  was Sir Bagdemagus and another was Sir Kay. But Sir Tristram was possessed with
+  a great joy of battle, so that in a very short time he had struck down or overthrown
+  all those knights, beginning with Sir Gaheris, and ending with Sir Kay the seneschal.
+</p>
+<p> This Sir Gawaine beheld, and said to Sir Sagramore: "Yonder is certes a knight
+  of terrible strength; now let us go and see of what mettle he be." </p>
+<p> Therewith Sir Gawaine pushed against Sir Tristram from the one side, and Sir
+  Sagramore came against him on the other side, and so they met him both at once.
+  Then first Sir Gawaine struck Sir Tristram such a buffet that the horse of Sir
+  Tristram turned twice about with the force of that stroke; and therewith Sir
+  Sagramore smote him a buffet upon the other side so that Sir Tristram wist not
+  upon which side to defend himself. </p>
+<p> Then, at those blows Sir Tristram waxed so exceedingly fierce that it was
+  as though a fire of rage flamed up into his brains and set them into a blaze
+  of rage. So with that he rose up in his stirrups and launched so dreadful a
+  blow upon Sir Gawaine that I believe nothing could have withstood the force
+  of that blow. For it clave through the shield of Sir Gawaine and it descended
+  upon the crown of his helmet and it clave away a part of his helmet and a part
+  of the &#233;pauli&#232;re of his shoulder; and with the force of that dreadful,
+  terrible blow, Sir Gawaine fell down upon the ground and lay there as though
+  he were dead. </p>
+<p> Then Sir Tristram wheeled upon Sir Sagramore (who sat wonder-struck at that
+  blow he had beheld) and thereafter he smote him too, so that he fell down and
+  lay upon the ground in a swoon from which he did not recover for more than two
+  hours. </p>
+<p> Now Sir Palamydes also had beheld those two strokes that Sir Tristram had
+  given, wherefore he said: "Hah! Yonder is a very wonderful knight. Now if I
+  do not presently meet him, and that to my credit, he will have more honor in
+  this battle than I." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Palamydes rides against Sir Tristram.</div>
+<p> So therewith Sir Palamydes pushed straight against Sir Tristram, and when
+  Sir Tristram beheld that he was very glad, for he said: "Now it will either
+  be Sir Palamydes his day, or else it will be mine." So he upon his part pushed
+  against Sir Palamydes with good intent to engage him in battle, and then they
+  two met in the midst of the field. </p>
+<p> Then immediately Sir Palamydes smote Sir Tristram such a buffet that Sir Tristram
+  thought a bolt of lightning had burst upon him, and for a little while he was
+  altogether bemazed and wist not where he was. But when he came to himself he
+  was so filled with fury that his heart was like to break therewith. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram smites Sir Palamydes.</div>
+<p> Thereupon he rushed upon Sir Palamydes and smote him again and again and again
+  with such fury and strength that Sir Palamydes was altogether stunned at the
+  blows he received and bare back before them. Then Sir Tristram perceived how
+  that Sir Palamydes bare his shield low because of the fierceness of that assault,
+  and thereupon he rose up in his stirrups and struck Sir Palamydes upon the crown
+  of the helmet so dreadful a buffet that the brains of Sir Palamydes swam like
+  water, and he must needs catch the pommel of his saddle to save himself from
+  falling. Then Sir Tristram smote him another buffet, and therewith darkness
+  came upon the sight of Sir Palamydes and he rolled off from his horse into the
+  dust beneath its feet. </p>
+<p> Then all who beheld the encounter shouted very loud and with great vehemence,
+  for it was the very best and most notable assault at arms that had been performed
+  in all that battle. But most of those who beheld that assault cried out "The
+  Silver Knight!" For at that time no one but the Lady Belle Isoult wist who that
+  silver knight was. But she wist very well who he was, and was so filled with
+  the glory of his prowess that she wept for joy thereof. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Belle Isoult declares Sir Tristram.</div>
+<p> Then the King of Ireland said: "Who is yonder knight who hath so wonderfully
+  overthrown Sir Palamydes? I had not thought there was any knight in the world
+  so great as he; but this must be some great champion whom none of us know."
+  Upon that the Lady Belle Isoult, still weeping for joy, could contain herself
+  no longer, but cried out: "Sir, that is Tramtris, who came to us so nigh to
+  death and who hath now done us so great honor being of our household! For I
+  knew very well that he was no common knight but some mighty champion when I
+  first beheld him." </p>
+<p> At that the King of Ireland was very much astonished and overjoyed, and he
+  said: "If that is indeed so, then it is a very great honor for us all." </p>
+<p> Now after that assault Sir Tristram took no more part in that battle but withdrew
+  to one side. But he perceived where the esquires attendant upon Sir Palamydes
+  came to him and lifted him up and took him away. Then by and by he perceived
+  that Sir Palamydes had mounted his horse again with intent to leave that meadow
+  of battle, and in a little he saw Sir Palamydes ride away with his head bowed
+  down like to one whose heart was broken. </p>
+<p> All this Sir Tristram beheld and did not try to stay Sir Palamydes in his
+  departure. But some while after Sir Palamydes had quitted that place, Sir Tristram
+  also took his departure, going in that same direction that Sir Palamydes had
+  gone. Then after he had come well away from the meadow of battle, Sir Tristram
+  set spurs to his horse and rode at a hard gallop along that way that Sir Palamydes
+  had taken. </p>
+<p> So he rode at such a gait for a considerable pass until, by and by, he perceived
+  Sir Palamydes upon the road before him; and Sir Palamydes was at that time come
+  to the edge of a woods where there were several stone windmills with great sails
+  swinging very slowly around before a strong wind that was blowing. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram overthrows Palamydes again.</div>
+<p> Now this was a lonely place, and one very fit to do battle in, wherefore Sir
+  Tristram cried out to Sir Palamydes in a loud voice: "Sir Palamydes! Sir Palamydes!
+  Turn you about! For here is the chance for you to recover the honor that you
+  have lost to me." Thereupon Sir Palamydes, hearing that loud voice, turned him
+  about. But when he beheld that the knight who called was he who had just now
+  wrought such shame upon him, he ground his teeth together with rage, and therewith
+  drave his horse at Sir Tristram, drawing his sword so that it flashed like lightning
+  in the bright sunlight. And when he came nigh to Sir Tristram, he stood up in
+  his stirrups and lashed a blow at him with all his might and main; for he said
+  to himself: "Maybe I shall now recover mine honor with one blow which I lost
+  to this knight a while since." But Sir Tristram put aside that blow of Sir Palamydes
+  with his shield with very great skill and dexterity, and thereupon, recovering
+  himself, he lashed at Sir Palamydes upon his part. And at that first stroke
+  Sir Tristram smote down the shield of Sir Palamydes, and gave him such a blow
+  upon the head that Sir Palamydes fell down off his horse upon the earth. Then
+  Sir Tristram voided his own horse very quickly, and running to Sir Palamydes
+  where he lay he plucked off his helmet with great violence. Therewith he cried
+  out very fiercely: "Sir Knight, yield thee to me, or I will slay thee." And
+  therewithal he lifted up his sword as though to strike off the head of Sir Palamydes.
+</p>
+<p> Then when Sir Palamydes saw Sir Tristram standing above him in that wise,
+  he dreaded his buffets so that he said: "Sir Knight, I yield me to thee to do
+  thy commands, if so be thou wilt spare my life." </p>
+<p> Thereupon Sir Tristram said, "Arise," and at that Sir Palamydes got him up
+  to his knees with some ado, and so remained kneeling before Sir Tristram. </p>
+<p> "Well," said Sir Tristram, "I believe you have saved your life by thus yielding
+  yourself to me. Now this shall be my commandment upon you. First of all, my
+  commandment is that you forsake the Lady Belle Isoult, and that you do not come
+  near her for the space of an entire year. And this is my second commandment;
+  that from this day you do not assume the arms of knighthood for an entire year
+  and a day." </p>
+<p> "Alas!" said Sir Palamydes, "why do you not slay me instead of bringing me
+  to such shame as this! Would that I had died instead of yielding myself to you
+  as I did." And therewith he wept for shame and despite. </p>
+<p> "Well," said Sir Tristram, "let that pass which was not done. For now you
+  have yielded yourself to me and these are my commands." So with that Sir Tristram
+  set his sword back again into its sheath, and he mounted his horse and rode
+  away, leaving Sir Palamydes where he was. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Palamydes disarms himself.</div>
+<p> But after Sir Tristram had gone, Sir Palamydes arose, weeping aloud. And he
+  said: "This is such shame to me that I think there can be no greater shame."
+  Thereupon he drew his misericordia, and he cut the thongs of his harness and
+  he tore the pieces of armor from off his body and flung them away very furiously,
+  upon the right hand and upon the left. And when he had thus stripped himself
+  of all of his armor, he mounted his horse and rode away into the forest, weeping
+  like one altogether brokenhearted. </p>
+<p> So Sir Tristram drave Sir Palamydes away from the Lady Belle Isoult as he
+  had promised to do. </p>
+<p> Now when Tristram came back to the castle of the King of Ireland once more,
+  he thought to enter privily in by the postern-gate as he had gone out. But lo!
+  instead of that he found a great party waiting for him before the castle and
+  these gave him loud acclaim, crying, "Welcome, Sir Tramtris! Welcome, Sir Tramtris!"
+  And King Angus came forward and took the hand of Sir Tristram, and he also said:
+  "Welcome, Sir Tramtris, for you have brought us great honor this day!" </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram chides Belle Isoult.</div>
+<p> But Sir Tristram looked at the Lady the Belle Isoult with great reproach and
+  by and by when they were together he said: "Lady, why did you betray me who
+  I was when you had promised me not to do so?" "Sir," she said, "I meant not
+  to betray you, but in the joy of your victory I know not very well what I said."
+  "Well," said Sir Tristram, "God grant that no harm come of it." She said, "What
+  harm can come of it, Messire?" Sir Tristram said: "I may not tell you, Lady,
+  but I fear that harm will come of it." </p>
+<p> Anon the Queen of Ireland came and said: "Tramtris, one so nigh to death as
+  you have been should not so soon have done battle as you have done. Now I will
+  have a bain prepared and you shall bathe therein, for you are not yet hale and
+  strong." </p>
+<p> "Lady," said Tristram, "I do not need any bain, for I believe I am now strong
+  and well in all wise." </p>
+<p> "Nay," said the Queen, "you must have that bain so that no ill may come to
+  you hereafter from this battle which you have fought." </p>
+<p> So she had that bain prepared of tepid water, and it was very strong and potent
+  with spices and powerful herbs of divers sorts. And when that bain was prepared,
+  Sir Tristram undressed and entered the bath, and the Queen and the Lady Belle
+  Isoult were in the adjoining chamber which was his bed-chamber. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">The Queen of Ireland beholds Sir Tristram's sword.</div>
+<p> Now whilst Sir Tristram was in that bath, the Queen and Belle Isoult looked
+  all about his chamber. And they beheld the sword of Sir Tristram where it lay,
+  for he had laid it upon the bed when he had unlatched the belt to make himself
+  ready for that bath. Then the Queen said to the Lady Belle Isoult, "See what
+  a great huge sword this is," and thereupon she lifted it and drew the blade
+  out of its sheath, and she beheld what a fair, bright, glistering sword it was.
+  Then in a little she saw where, within about a foot and a half from the point,
+  there was a great piece in the shape of a half-moon broken out of the edge of
+  the sword; and she looked at that place for a long while. Then of a sudden she
+  felt a great terror, for she remembered how even such a piece of sword as that
+  which had been broken off from that blade, she had found in the wound of Sir
+  Marhaus of which he had died. So she stood for a while holding that sword of
+  Sir Tristram in her hand and looking as she had been turned into stone. At this
+  the Lady Belle Isoult was filled with a sort of fear, wherefore she said, "Lady,
+  what ails you?" The Queen said, "Nothing that matters," and therewith she laid
+  aside the sword of Sir Tristram and went very quickly to her own chamber. There
+  she opened her cabinet and took thence the piece of sword-blade which she had
+  drawn from the wound of Sir Marhaus, and which she had kept ever since. With
+  this she hurried back to the chamber of Sir Tristram, and fitted that piece
+  of the blade to the blade; and lo! it fitted exactly, and without flaw. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">The Queen assails Sir Tristram.</div>
+<a href="images/032.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="p15" align="right" src="images/032.gif" border="0" alt="The Queen of Ireland seeks to slay Sir Tristram" /></a>
+<p> Upon that the Queen was seized as with a sudden madness; for she shrieked
+  out in a very loud voice, "Traitor! Traitor! Traitor!" saying that word three
+  times. Therewith she snatched up the sword of Sir Tristram and she ran with
+  great fury into the room where he lay in his bath. And she beheld him where
+  he was there all naked in his bath, and therewith she rushed at him and lashed
+  at him with his sword. But Sir Tristram threw himself to one side and so that
+  blow failed of its purpose. Then the Queen would have lashed at him again or
+  have thrust him through with the weapon; but at that Gouvernail and Sir Helles
+  ran to her and catched her and held her back, struggling and screaming very
+  violently. So they took the sword away from her out of her hands, and all the
+  while she shrieked like one gone entirely distracted. </p>
+<p> Then as soon as Gouvernail and Sir Helles loosed her, she ran very violently
+  out of that room with great outcry of screaming, and so to King Angus and flung
+  herself upon her knees before him, crying out: "Justice! Justice! I have found
+  that man who slew my brother! I beseech of you that you will deal justice upon
+  him." </p>
+<p> Then King Angus rose from where he sat, and he said: "Where is that man? Bring
+  me to him." And the Queen said: "It is Tramtris, who hath come hither unknown
+  unto this place." </p>
+<p> King Angus said: "Lady, what is this you tell me? I cannot believe that what
+  you say is true." Upon this the Queen cried out: "Go yourself, Lord, and inquire,
+  and find out how true it is." </p>
+<p> Then King Angus rose, and went forth from that place, and he went to the chamber
+  of Sir Tristram. And there he found that Sir Tristram had very hastily dressed
+  himself and had armed himself in such wise as he was able. Then King Angus came
+  to Tristram, and he said: "How is this, that I find thee armed? Art thou an
+  enemy to my house?" And Tristram wept, and said: "Nay, Lord, I am not your enemy,
+  but your friend, for I have great love for you and for all that is yours, so
+  that I would be very willing to do battle for you even unto death if so be I
+  were called upon to do so." </p>
+<p> Then King Angus said: "If that is so, how is it that I find thee here armed
+  as if for battle, with thy sword in thy hand?" "Lord," said Sir Tristram, "although
+  I be friends with you and yours, yet I know not whether you be friends or enemies
+  unto me; wherefore I have prepared myself so that I may see what is your will
+  with me, for I will not have you slay me without defence upon my part." Then
+  King Angus said: "Thou speakest in a very foolish way, for how could a single
+  knight hope to defend himself against my whole household? Now I bid thee tell
+  me who thou art, and what is thy name, and why thou earnest hither knowing that
+  thou hadst slain my brother?" </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram confesses to King Angus.</div>
+<p> Then Sir Tristram said, "Lord, I will tell thee all the truth." And therewith
+  he confessed everything to King Angus, to wit: who was his father and his mother,
+  and how he was born and reared; how he fought Sir Marhaus, and for what reason;
+  and of how he came hither to be healed of his wound, from which else he must
+  die in very grievous pain. And he said: "All this is truth, Lord, and it is
+  truth that I had no ill-will against Sir Marhaus; for I only stood to do battle
+  with him for the sake of mine uncle, King Mark of Cornwall, and to enhance mine
+  own honor; and I took my fortune with him as he took his with me. Moreover,
+  I fought with Sir Marhaus upon the same day that I was made knight, and that
+  was the first battle which I fought, and in that battle I was wounded so sorely
+  that I was like to die as you very well know. As for him, he was a knight well-tried
+  and seasoned with many battles, and he suffered by no treachery but only with
+  the fortune of war." </p>
+<p> So King Angus listened to all that Sir Tristram said, and when he had ended,
+  quoth he: "As God sees me, Tristram, I cannot deny that you did with Sir Marhaus
+  as a true knight should. For it was certes your part to take the cause of your
+  uncle upon you if you had the heart to do so, and it was truly a real knightly
+  thing for you who were so young to seek honor at the hands of so famous a knight
+  as Sir Marhaus. For I do not believe that until you came his way there was any
+  knight in the world who was greater than he, unless it were Sir Launcelot of
+  the Lake. Wherefore, from that, and from what I saw you do at the tournament,
+  some time ago, I believe that you are one of the strongest knights in the world,
+  and the peer of Sir Launcelot, or of anybody else. </p>
+<p> "But though all this is true, nevertheless it will not be possible for me
+  to maintain you in this country, for if I keep you here I shall greatly displease
+  not only the Queen and her kin, but many of those lords and knights who were
+  kin to Sir Marhaus or who were united to him in pledges of friendship. So you
+  must even save yourself as you can and leave here straightway, for I may not
+  help or aid you in any way." </p>
+<p> Then Sir Tristram said: "Lord, I thank you for your great kindness unto me,
+  and I know not how I shall repay the great goodness that my Lady Belle Isoult
+  hath showed to me. For I swear to you upon the pommel of my sword which I now
+  hold up before me that I would lay down my life for her sake. Yea, and my honor
+  too! for she hath the entire love of my heart, so that I would willingly die
+  for her, or give up for her all that I have in the world. Now as for my knighthood,
+  I do believe that I shall in time become a knight of no small worship, for I
+  feel within my heart that this shall be so. So if my life be spared, it may
+  be that you will gain more having me for your friend and your true servant than
+  you will by taking my life in this outland place. For whithersoever I go I give
+  you my knightly word that I shall be your daughter's servant, and that I shall
+  ever be her true knight in right or in wrong, and that I shall never fail her
+  if I shall be called upon to do her service." </p>
+<p> Then King Angus meditated upon this for a while, and he said: "Tristram, what
+  thou sayest is very well said, but how shall I get you away from this place
+  in safety?" </p>
+<p> Sir Tristram said: "Lord, there is but one way to get me away with credit
+  unto yourself. Now I beseech you of your grace that I may take leave of my lady
+  your daughter, and that I may then take leave of all your knights and kinsmen
+  as a right knight should. And if there be any among them who chooses to stop
+  me or to challenge my going, then I must face that one at my peril, however
+  great it may be." </p>
+<p> "Well," said King Angus, "that is a very knightly way to behave, and so it
+  shall be as you will have it." </p>
+<p> So Sir Tristram went down stairs to a certain chamber where Belle Isoult was.
+  And he went straight to her and took her by the hand; and he said: "Lady, I
+  am to go away from this place, if I may do so with credit to my honor; but before
+  I go I must tell you that I shall ever be your own true knight in all ways that
+  a knight may serve a lady. For no other lady shall have my heart but you, so
+  I shall ever be your true knight. Even though I shall haply never see your face
+  again, yet I shall ever carry your face with me in my heart, and the thought
+  of you shall always abide with me withersoever I go." </p>
+<p> At this the Lady Belle Isoult fell to weeping in great measure, and thereat
+  the countenance of Sir Tristram also was all writhed with passion, and he said,
+  "Lady, do not weep so!" She said, "Alas I cannot help it!" Then he said: "Lady,
+  you gave me my life when I thought I was to lose it, and you brought me back
+  from pain unto ease, and from sorrow unto joy. Would God I were suffering all
+  those pangs as aforetime, so that there might be no more tears upon your face."
+</p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram parts from Belle Isoult.</div>
+<p> Then, King Angus being by, he took her face into his hands and kissed her
+  upon the forehead, and the eyes, and the lips. Therewith he turned and went
+  away, all bedazed with his sorrow, and feeling for the latch of the door ere
+  he was able to find it and go out from that place. </p>
+<p> After that Sir Tristram went straight unto the hall of the castle, and there
+  he found a great many of the lords of the castle and knights attendant upon
+  the King. For the news of these things had flown fast, and many of them were
+  angry and some were doubtful. But Tristram came in very boldly, clad all in
+  full armor, and when he stood in the midst of them he spoke loud and with great
+  courage, saying: "If there be any man here whom I have offended in any way,
+  let him speak, and I will give him entire satisfaction whoever he may be. But
+  let such speech be now or never, for here is my body to make good my knighthood
+  against the body of any man, whomsoever he may be." </p>
+<p> At this all those knights who were there stood still and held their peace,
+  and no man said anything against Sir Tristram (although there were several knights
+  and lords who were kin to the Queen), for the boldness of Tristram overawed
+  them, and no one had the heart to answer him. </p>
+<p> So after a little while Sir Tristram left that place, without turning his
+  head to see if any man followed him. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram departs from Ireland.</div>
+<p> So he left that castle and Gouvernail went with him, and no one stopped him
+  in his going. After that, he and Gouvernail came to the shore and took a boat
+  and they came to the ship of Sir Tristram, and so they sailed away from Ireland.
+  But the heart of Sir Tristram was so full of sorrow that he wished a great many
+  times that he was dead. </p>
+<p> So Sir Tristram, though as to his body he was very whole and sound, was, as
+  to his spirit, very ill at ease; for though he was so well and suffered no pain,
+  yet it appeared to him that all the joy of his life had been left behind him,
+  so that he could nevermore have any more pleasure in this world which lieth
+  outside of the walls of Paradise. </p>
+<div align="center"> <a href="images/tail.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/tail.gif" border="0" alt="Tail Piece" /></a>
+</div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div class="chaphead" id="tr1c5"><a href="images/015.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/015.gif" alt="Chapter Header" border="0" /></a>
+  <br />
+  Chapter Fifth</div>
+<br />
+<div class="chapdes">How Sir Tristram was sent by command of King Mark to go to
+  Ireland to bring the Lady the Belle Isoult from Ireland to Cornwall and how
+  it fared with him.</div>
+<p> So Sir Tristram came back again to Cornwall, and King Mark and all the knights
+  and lords of the court of the King gave him great welcome and made much joy
+  over him because he had returned safely. </p>
+<p> But Sir Tristram took no joy in their joy because he was filled with such
+  heavy melancholy that it was as though even the blue sky had turned to sackcloth
+  to his eyes, so that he beheld nothing bright in all the world. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram tells of the Lady Bell Isoult.</div>
+<p> But though he had no great pleasure in life, yet Sir Tristram made many very
+  good songs about Belle Isoult; about her beauty and her graciousness; about
+  how he was her sad, loving knight; about how he was pledged unto her to be true
+  to her all of his life even though he might never hope to see her again. </p>
+<a href="images/033.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="p16" align="left" src="images/033.gif" border="0" alt="Sir Tristram harpeth before King Mark" /></a>
+<p> These like words he would sing to the music of his shining, golden harp, and
+  King Mark loved to listen to him. And sometimes King Mark would sigh very deeply
+  and maybe say: "Messire, that lady of thine must in sooth be a very wonderful,
+  beautiful, gracious lady." And Sir Tristram would say, "Yea, she is all that."
+</p>
+<p> So it was at that time that King Mark had great love for Sir Tristram; in
+  a little while all that was very different, and his love was turned to bitter
+  hate, as you shall presently hear tell. </p>
+<p> Now in those days the knights of Cornwall were considered to be the least
+  worthy of all knights in that part of the world, for they had so little skill
+  and prowess at arms that they were a jest and a laughing-stock to many courts
+  of chivalry. It was said of them that a knight-champion of Cornwall was maybe
+  a knight, but certes was no champion at all; and this was great shame to all
+  those of Cornwall, more especially as that saying was in a great measure true.
+</p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Bleoberis comes to Cornwall.</div>
+<p> One day there came to the court of Cornwall a very noble, haughty knight,
+  hight Sir Bleoberis de Ganys, who was brother to Sir Blamor de Ganys and right
+  cousin to Sir Launcelot of the Lake. This knight was a fellow of King Arthur's
+  Round Table, and so he was received with great honor at Cornwall, and much joy
+  was taken of his being there; for it was not often that knights of such repute
+  as he came to those parts. At that time Sir Tristram was not present at the
+  court, having gone hunting into the forest, but a messenger was sent to him
+  with news that Sir Bleoberis was present at the court of the King and that King
+  Mark wished him to be at court also. </p>
+<p> Now whilst Sir Tristram was upon his way to return to the court in obedience
+  to these commands, there was held a feast at the castle of the King in honor
+  of Sir Bleoberis. There was much strong wine drunk at that feast, so that the
+  brains of Sir Bleoberis and of others grew very much heated therewith. Then,
+  what with the heat of the wine and the noise and tumult of the feast, Sir Bleoberis
+  waxed very hot-headed, and boastful. So, being in that condition and not knowing
+  very well how he spake, he made great boast of the prowess of the knights of
+  King Arthur's court above those of Cornwall. And in this boastful humor he said:
+  "It is perfectly true that one single knight of the Round Table is the peer
+  of twenty knights of Cornwall, for so it is said and so I maintain it to be."
+</p>
+<p> Upon that there fell a silence over all that part of the feast, for all the
+  knights and lords who were there heard what Sir Bleoberis said, and yet no one
+  knew how to reply to him. As for King Mark, he looked upon Sir Bleoberis, smiling
+  very sourly, and as though with great distaste of his words, and he said: "Messire,
+  inasmuch as thou art our guest, and sitting here at feast with us, it is not
+  fit that we should take thy words seriously; else what thou sayst might be very
+  easily disproved." </p>
+<p> Upon this the blood rushed with great violence into the face and head of Sir
+  Bleoberis, and he laughed very loud. Then he said: "Well, Lord, it need not
+  be that I should be a guest here very long. And as for what I say, you may easily
+  put the truth thereof to the proof." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Bleoberis challenges the knights of Cornwall.</div>
+<p> Therewith Sir Bleoberis arose and looked about him, and he perceived that
+  there was near by where he stood a goblet of gold very beautifully chased and
+  cunningly carved. This Sir Bleoberis took into his hand, and it was half full
+  of red wine. So he stood up before them all, and he cried in a very loud voice:
+  "Messires, and all you knights of Cornwall, here I drink to your more excellent
+  courage and prowess, and wish that you may have better fortune in arms than
+  you have heretofore proved yourselves to have?" And therewith he drank all the
+  wine that was in the goblet. Then he said: "Now I go away from here and take
+  this goblet with me; and if any knight of Cornwall may take it away from me
+  and bring it back again to the King, then I am very willing to own that there
+  are better knights in this country than I supposed there to be." Therewith he
+  turned and went out from that place very haughtily and scornfully, taking that
+  goblet with him, and not one of all those knights who were there made any move
+  to stay him, or to reprove him for his discourteous speech. </p>
+<p> Now after he had come out of the hall and into the cool of the air, the heat
+  of the wine soon left him, and he began to repent him of what he had done; and
+  he said: "Alas! meseems I was not very courteous to King Mark, who was mine
+  host." So for a while he was minded to take that goblet back again and make
+  amends for what he had said; but afterward he could not do this because of his
+  pride. So he went to the chamber that had been allotted to him and clad himself
+  in his armor, and after that he rode away from the court of King Mark carrying
+  the goblet with him. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram is angry.</div>
+<p> Now some while after he had gone, Sir Tristram came into the hall where the
+  others were, and there he found them all sitting with ill countenances, and
+  no man daring, for shame, to look at his fellow. So Sir Tristram came to King
+  Mark and said: "Where is Sir Bleoberis?" And King Mark said, "He is gone away."
+  Sir Tristram said, "Why did he go?" Thereupon King Mark told Sir Tristram of
+  what had befallen, and how Sir Bleoberis had taken away that goblet to the great
+  shame and scorn of all those who were there. Upon this the blood flew very violently
+  into Sir Tristram's face, and he said: "Was there no knight here with spirit
+  enough to call reproof upon Sir Bleoberis, or to stay him in his going?" Therewith
+  he looked all about that hall, and he was like a lion standing among them, and
+  no man dared to look him in the face or to reply to him. Then he said: "Well,
+  if there is no knight in Cornwall who hath the will to defend his King, then
+  is there a knight of Lyonesse who will do so because he received knighthood
+  at the hands of the King of Cornwall." And therewith he turned and went away,
+  and left them very haughtily, and they were all still more abashed than they
+  had been before. </p>
+<p> Then Sir Tristram went to his chamber and had himself armed in all wise; and
+  he took his horse and mounted and rode away in the direction that Sir Bleoberis
+  had gone, and Gouvernail went with him. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram follows Sir Bleoberis.</div>
+<p> So Sir Tristram and Gouvernail rode at a good pace for a long time, making
+  inquiry of whomsoever they met if Sir Bleoberis had passed that way. At last
+  they entered the forest and rode therein a great way, meeting no one till toward
+  the latter part of the afternoon. By and by they saw before them two knights,
+  very large and strong of frame and clad all in bright and shining armor, and
+  each riding a great war-horse of Flemish strain. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram comes to two knights.</div>
+<p> "Gouvernail," said Sir Tristram, "ride forward apace and see for me who are
+  yonder knights." So Gouvernail rode forward at a gallop, and so, in a little,
+  came near enough to the two knights to see the devices upon their shields. Upon
+  that he returned to Sir Tristram, and said: "Messire, those are two very famous
+  worthy knights of King Arthur's Court, and of the two you are acquainted with
+  one, but the other is a stranger to you. For the one is Sir Sagramore le Desirous,
+  who was at that tournament in Ireland, and the other is Sir Dodinas le Sauvage."
+</p>
+<p> "Well," said Sir Tristram, "those are indeed two very good, worthy knights.
+  Now if you will sit here for a while, I will go forward and have speech with
+  them." "Messire," said Gouvernail, "I would counsel you not to have to do with
+  those knights, for there are hardly any knights more famous at arms than they,
+  so it is not likely that you can have success of them if you should assay them."
+</p>
+<p> But to this Sir Tristram said: "Peace, Gouvernail! Hold thy peace, and bide
+  here while I go forward!" </p>
+<p> Now those knights when they became aware that Sir Tristram and Gouvernail
+  were there, had halted at a clear part of the woodland to await what should
+  befall. Unto them Sir Tristram came, riding with great dignity and haughtiness,
+  and when he had come nigh enough he drew rein and spoke with great pride of
+  bearing, saying: "Messires, I require of you to tell me whence you come, and
+  whither you go, and what you do in these marches?" </p>
+<p> Unto him Sir Sagramore made reply, speaking very scornfully: "Fair knight,
+  are you a knight of Cornwall?" and Sir Tristram said: "Why do you ask me that?"
+  "Messire," said Sir Sagramore, "I ask you that because it hath seldom been heard
+  tell that a Cornish knight hath courage to call upon two knights to answer such
+  questions as you have asked of us." </p>
+<p> "Well," said Sir Tristram, "for the matter of that, I am at this present a
+  knight of Cornwall, and I hereby let you know that you shall not go away from
+  here unless you either answer my question or give me satisfaction at arms."
+</p>
+<p> Then Sir Dodinas spoke very fiercely, saying: "Sir Cornish knight, you shall
+  presently have all the satisfaction at arms that you desire and a great deal
+  more than you desire." Therewith he took a very stout spear in his hand and
+  rode to a little distance, and Sir Tristram, beholding his intent to do battle,
+  also rode to a little distance, and took stand in such a place as seemed to
+  him to be best. Then, when they were in all wise prepared, they rushed together
+  with such astonishing vehemence that the earth shook and trembled beneath them.
+</p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram does battle with Sir Dodinas.</div>
+<p> Therewith they met in the middle of their course with a great uproar of iron
+  and wood. But in that onset the spear of Sir Dodinas broke into a great many
+  small pieces, but the spear of Sir Tristram held, so that in the encounter he
+  lifted Sir Dodinas entirely out of his saddle, and out behind the crupper of
+  his horse. And he flung Sir Dodinas down so violently that his neck was nearly
+  broken, and he lay for a while in a deep swoon like one who has been struck
+  dead. </p>
+<p> Then Sir Sagramore said: "Well, Sir Knight, that was certes a very great buffet
+  that you gave my fellow, but now it is my turn to have ado with you." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram does battle with Sir Sagramore.</div>
+<p> So therewith he took also his spear in hand and chose his station for an assault
+  as Sir Dodinas had done, and Sir Tristram also took station as he had done before.
+  Then immediately they two ran together with the same terrible force that Sir
+  Tristram and Sir Dodinas had coursed, and in that encounter Sir Tristram struck
+  Sir Sagramore so direful a buffet with his spear that he overthrew both horse
+  and man, and the horse, falling upon Sir Sagramore, so bruised his leg that
+  he could not for a while arise from where he lay. </p>
+<p> Therewith Sir Tristram, having run his course, came back to where those two
+  knights lay upon the ground, and he said, "Fair Knights, will you have any more
+  fighting?" They said, "No, we have had fighting enough." Then Sir Tristram said:
+  "I pray you, tell me, are there any bigger knights at the court of King Arthur
+  than you? If it is not so, then I should think you would take great shame to
+  yourselves that you have been overthrown the one after the other by a single
+  knight. For this day a knight of Cornwall hath assuredly matched you both to
+  your great despite." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram acknowledges his degree.</div>
+<p> Then Sir Sagramore said: "Sir, I pray you upon your true knighthood to tell
+  us who you are, for you are assuredly one of the greatest knights in the world."
+  Upon this Sir Tristram laughed, "Nay," quoth he, "I am as yet a young knight,
+  who has had but little proof in battle. As for my name, since you ask it of
+  me, upon my knighthood I am not ashamed to tell you that I am hight Sir Tristram,
+  and that I am King Meliadus' son of Lyonesse." </p>
+<p> "Ha!" said Sir Sagramore, "if that be so, then there is little shame in being
+  overthrown by you. For not only do I well remember how at the court of the King
+  of Ireland you overthrew six knights of the Round Table, and how easily you
+  overthrew Sir Palamydes the Saracen, but it is also very well known how you
+  did battle with Sir Marhaus, and of how you overcame him. Now Sir Marhaus and
+  Sir Palamydes were two of the best knights in the world, so it is not astonishing
+  that you should have done as you did with us. But, since you have overthrown
+  us, what is it you would have us do?" </p>
+<p> "Messires," said Sir Tristram, "I have only to demand two things of you. One
+  of them is that you give me your word that you will go to Cornwall and confess
+  to King Mark that you have been overthrown by a Cornish knight; and the second
+  thing is that you tell me if you saw Sir Bleoberis de Ganys pass this way?"
+</p>
+<p> They say: "Messire, touching that demand you make upon us to go to King Mark
+  and to confess our fall, that we will do as you desire; and as for Sir Bleoberis,
+  we met him only a short while ago, and he cannot even now be very far from this
+  place." </p>
+<p> "Well," said Sir Tristram, "I give you good den, and thank you for your information.
+  I have some words to say to Sir Bleoberis before he leave these marches." </p>
+<p> So thereafter he called Gouvernail, and they two rode into the forest and
+  on their way as fast as they were able. As for Sir Dodinas and Sir Sagramore,
+  they betook their course to the court of King Mark, as they had promised to
+  do. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram comes to Sir Bleoberis.</div>
+<p> Now, by and by, after Sir Tristram and Gouvernail had gone some considerable
+  distance farther upon that road, they beheld Sir Bleoberis before them in a
+  forest path, riding very proudly and at an easy pass upon his way. At that time
+  the sun was setting very low toward the earth, so that all the tops of the forest
+  trees were aflame with a very ruddy light, though all below in the forest was
+  both cool and gray. Now when Sir Tristram and Gouvernail with him had come pretty
+  nigh to Sir Bleoberis, Sir Tristram called to him in a very loud voice, and
+  bade him turn and stand. Therewith Sir Bleoberis turned about and waited for
+  Sir Tristram to come up with him. And when Sir Tristram was come near by, he
+  said to Sir Bleoberis: "Messire, I hear tell that you have with you a very noble
+  goblet which you have taken in a shameful way from the table of King Mark of
+  Cornwall. Now I demand of you that you give me that goblet to take back unto
+  the King again." "Well," said Sir Bleoberis, "you shall freely have that goblet
+  if you can take it from me, and if you will look, you will see where it hangs
+  here from my saddle-horn. But I may tell you that I do not believe that there
+  is any Cornish knight who may take away that goblet against my will." </p>
+<p> "As for that," said Sir Tristram, "we shall see in a little while how it may
+  be." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram overcometh Sir Bleoberis.</div>
+<p> Therewith each knight took his spear in hand and rode a little distance away,
+  and made himself in all wise ready for the assault. Then when they were in all
+  ways prepared, each launched himself against the other, coming together with
+  such violence that sparks of fire flew out from the points of their spears.
+  And in that assault the horse of each knight was overthrown, but each knight
+  voided his saddle and leaped very lightly to earth, without either having had
+  a fall. Then each drew his sword and set his shield before him, and therewith
+  came together, foining and lashing with all the power of their might. Each gave
+  the other many sore strokes, so that the armor of each was indented in several
+  places and in other places was stained with red. Then at last Sir Tristram waxed
+  very wode with anger and he rushed at Sir Bleoberis, smiting him so fiercely
+  that Sir Bleoberis bare back and held his shield low before him. This Sir Tristram
+  perceived, and therewith, rushing in upon Sir Bleoberis, he smote that knight
+  such a great buffet upon the head that Sir Bleoberis fell down upon his knees,
+  without having strength to keep his feet. Then Sir Tristram rushed off the helmet
+  of Sir Bleoberis, and he said, "Sir Knight, yield to me or I shall slay you."
+</p>
+<p> "Messire," said Sir Bleoberis, "I yield myself to you, and indeed you are
+  as right a knight as ever I met in all of my life." Then Sir Tristram took Sir
+  Bleoberis by the hand and he lifted him up upon his feet, and he said: "Sir,
+  I am very sorry for to have had to do with you in this fashion, for almost would
+  I rather that you should have overcome me than that I should have overcome you.
+  For I do not at any time forget that you are cousin unto Sir Launcelot of the
+  Lake, and I honor Sir Launcelot above all men else in the world, and would rather
+  have his friendship than that of any man living. So I have had no despite against
+  you in this battle, but have only fought with you because it behooved me to
+  do so for the sake of the King of Cornwall, who is my uncle." </p>
+<p> Then Sir Bleoberis said, "Messire, I pray you tell me who you are?" "Lord,"
+  said Sir Tristram, "I am a very young knight hight Tristram, and I am the son
+  of King Meliadus of Lyonesse and the Lady Elizabeth, sister unto King Mark of
+  Cornwall." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Bleoberis gives the goblet to Sir Tristram.</div>
+<p> "Ha," said Sir Bleoberis, "I have heard great report of you, Sir Tristram,
+  and now I know at mine own cost that you are one of the best knights in the
+  world. Yea; I have no doubt that at some time you will be the peer of Sir Launcelot
+  of the Lake himself, or of Sir Lamorak of Gales, and they two are, certes, the
+  best knights in the world. Now I believe that I would have given you this goblet,
+  even without your having to fight for it, had I known who you were; and as it
+  is I herewith give it to you very freely." </p>
+<p> So Sir Bleoberis untied the goblet from where it hung at his saddle-bow, and
+  Sir Tristram took the goblet and gave him gramercy for it; and therewith having
+  recovered their horses, each knight mounted, and betook his way whither he was
+  going. </p>
+<p> So a little after nightfall Sir Tristram came to the King of Cornwall and
+  his court, and he said to King Mark: "Here is your goblet which I have brought
+  back to you; and I would God that some of your knights who are so much older
+  than I had the courage to do for you what I have had to do." And therewith he
+  went away and left them all sitting ashamed. </p>
+<p> Now it chanced some little while after these things happened as aforesaid,
+  that King Mark lay down upon his couch after his midday meal for to sleep a
+  little space during the heat of the day; and it likewise happened that the window
+  near by where he lay was open so that the air might come into the room. Now
+  at that time three knights of the court sat in the garden beneath where the
+  window was. These knights talked to one another concerning Sir Tristram, and
+  of how he had brought back that goblet from Sir Bleoberis de Ganys, and of what
+  honor it was to have such a champion in Cornwall for to stand for the honor
+  of that court. In their talk they said to one another that if only the King
+  of Cornwall were such a knight as Sir Tristram, then there would be plenty of
+  knights of good worth who would come to that court, and Cornwall would no longer
+  have to be ashamed of its chivalry as it was nowadays. So they said: "Would
+  God our King were such a knight as Sir Tristram!" </p>
+<div class="sidenote">King Mark takes hatred to Sir Tristram.</div>
+<p> All this King Mark overheard, and the words that they said were like a very
+  bitter poison in his heart. For their words entered into his soul and abided
+  there, and thereupon at that same hour all his love for Tristram was turned
+  into hate. Thus it befell that, after that day, King Mark ever pondered and
+  pondered upon that which he had heard, and the longer he pondered it, the more
+  bitter did his life become to him, and the more he hated Sir Tristram. So it
+  came to pass that whenever he was with Sir Tristram and looked upon him, he
+  would say in his heart: "So they say that you are a better knight than I? Would
+  God you were dead or away from this place, for I believe that some day you will
+  be my undoing!" Yea; there were times when he would look upon Sir Tristram in
+  that wise and whisper to himself: "Would God would send a blight upon thee,
+  so that thou wouldst wither away!" </p>
+<p> But always the King dissembled this hatred for Sir Tristram, so that no one
+  suspected him thereof; least of all did Sir Tristram suspect how changed was
+  the heart of the King toward him. </p>
+<p> Now one day Sir Tristram was playing upon his harp and singing before King
+  Mark, and the King sat brooding upon these things as he gazed at Tristram. And
+  Sir Tristram, as he ofttimes did nowadays, sang of the Lady Belle Isoult, and
+  of how her face was like to a rose for fairness, and of how her soul was like
+  to a nightingale in that it uplifted the spirit of whosoever was near her even
+  though the darkness of sorrow as of night might envelop him. And whilst Sir
+  Tristram sang thus, King Mark listened to him, and as he listened a thought
+  entered his heart and therewith he smiled. So when Sir Tristram had ended his
+  song of the Belle Isoult, King Mark said: "Fair nephew, I would that you would
+  undertake a quest for me." Sir Tristram said, "What quest is that, Lord?" "Nay,"
+  said King Mark, "I will not tell you what quest it is unless you will promise
+  me upon your knighthood to undertake it upon my behalf." Then Sir Tristram suspected
+  no evil, wherefore he smiled and said: "Dear Lord, if the quest is a thing that
+  it is in my power to undertake, I will undertake it upon your asking, and unto
+  that I pledge my knighthood." King Mark said, "It is a quest that you may undertake."
+  Sir Tristram said, "Then I will undertake it, if you will tell me what it is."
+</p>
+<div class="sidenote">King Mark betrays Sir Tristram to a promise.</div>
+<p> King Mark said: "I have listened to your singing for this long while concerning
+  the Lady Belle Isoult. So the quest I would have you undertake is this: that
+  you go to Ireland, and bring thence the Lady Belle Isoult to be my Queen. For
+  because of your songs and ballads I have come to love her so greatly that I
+  believe that I shall have no happiness in life until I have her for my Queen.
+  So now, since you have pledged me your word upon your knighthood to do my bidding
+  in this case, such is the quest that I would send you upon." And therewith he
+  smiled upon Sir Tristram very strangely. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">How Sir Tristram fell into despair.</div>
+<p> Then Sir Tristram perceived how he had been betrayed and he put aside his
+  harp and rose from where he sat. And he gazed for a long while at King Mark,
+  and his countenance was wonderfully white like that of a dead man. Then by and
+  by he said: "Sir, I know not why you have put this upon me, nor do I know why
+  you have betrayed me. For I have ever served you truly as a worthy knight and
+  a kinsman should. Wherefore I know not why you have done this unto me, nor why
+  you seek to compass my death. For you know very well that if I return to Ireland
+  I shall very likely be slain either by the Queen or by some of her kindred,
+  because that for your sake I slew in battle Sir Marhaus, the Queen's brother
+  of Ireland. Yet, so far as that is concerned, I would rather lose my life than
+  succeed in this quest, for if so be I do not lose my life, then I must do that
+  which I would liever die than do. Yea; I believe that there was never any knight
+  loved a lady as I love the Lady Belle Isoult. For I love her not only because
+  of her beauty and graciousness, but because she healed mine infirmities and
+  lent ease unto my great sufferings and brought me back from death unto life.
+  Wherefore that which you bid me fulfil is more bitter to me than death." </p>
+<p> "Well," said King Mark, "I know nothing of all this--only I know that you
+  have given me your knightly word to fulfil this quest." </p>
+<p> "Very well," said Sir Tristram, "if God will give me His good help in this
+  matter, then I will do that which I have pledged my knighthood to undertake."
+  Therewith he turned and went out from that place in such great despair that
+  it was as though his heart had been turned into ashes. But King Mark was filled
+  with joy that he should have caused Sir Tristram all that pain, and he said
+  to his heart: "This is some satisfaction for the hate which I feel for this
+  knight; by and by I shall maybe have greater satisfaction than that." </p>
+<p> After that Sir Tristram did not come any more where King Mark was, but he
+  went straight away from the King's court and into a small castle that King Mark
+  had given him some while since for his own. There he abided for several days
+  in great despair of soul, for it seemed to him as though God had deserted him
+  entirely. There for a while Gouvernail alone was with him and no one else, but
+  after a while several knights came to him and gave him great condolence and
+  offered to join with him as his knights-companion. And there were eighteen of
+  these knights, and Sir Tristram was very glad of their comradeship. </p>
+<p> These said to him: "Sir, you should not lend yourself to such great travail
+  of soul, but should bend yourself as a true knight should to assume that burden
+  that God hath assigned you to bear." </p>
+<p> So they spoke, and by and by Sir Tristram aroused himself from his despair
+  and said to himself: "Well, what these gentlemen say is true, and God hath assuredly
+  laid this very heavy burden upon me; as that is so, I must needs assume it for
+  His sake." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram departs from Cornwall.</div>
+<p> So Sir Tristram and the knights who were with him abode in that place for
+  a day or two or three, and then one morning Sir Tristram armed himself and they
+  armed themselves, and all took their departure from that castle and went down
+  to the sea. Then they took ship with intent to depart to Ireland upon that quest
+  Sir Tristram had promised King Mark he would undertake, and in a little they
+  hoisted sail and departed from Cornwall for Ireland. </p>
+<p> But they were not to make their quest upon that pass so speedily as they thought,
+  for, upon the second day of their voyaging, there arose a great storm of wind
+  of such a sort that the sailors of that ship had never seen the like thereof
+  in all of their lives. For the waves rose up like mountains, and anon the waters
+  sank away into deep valleys with hills of water upon either side all crested
+  over with foam as white as snow. And anon that ship would be uplifted as though
+  the huge sea would toss it into the clouds; and anon it would fall down into
+  a gulf so deep that it appeared as though the green waters would swallow it
+  up entirely. The air roared as though it were full of demons and evil spirits
+  out of hell, and the wind was wet and very bitter with brine. So the ship fled
+  away before that tempest, and the hearts of all aboard were melted with fear
+  because of the great storm of wind and the high angry waves. </p>
+<p> Then toward evening those who were watching from the lookout beheld a land
+  and a haven, and they saw upon the land overlooking the haven was a noble castle
+  and a fair large town, surrounded by high walls of stone. So they told the others
+  of what they saw, and all gave great rejoicing for that they were so nigh the
+  land. Therewith they sailed the ship toward the haven, and having entered therein
+  in safety, they cast anchor under the walls of the castle and the town, taking
+  great joy that God had brought them safe and sound through that dreadful peril
+  of the tempest. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram comes to Camelot.</div>
+<p> Then Sir Tristram said to Gouvernail: "Knowest thou, Gouvernail, what place
+  is this to which we have come?" "Messire," said Gouvernail, "I think it is Camelot."
+  And then those knights of Cornwall who stood by said, "Yea, that is true, and
+  it is Camelot." And one of them said: "Messire, it is likely that King Arthur
+  is at that place at this very time, for so it was reported that he was, and
+  so I believe it to be." </p>
+<p> "Ha," quoth Tristram, "that is very good news to me, for I believe that it
+  would be the greatest joy to me that the world can now give to behold King Arthur
+  and those noble knights of his court ere I die. More especially do I desire
+  above all things to behold that great, noble champion, Sir Launcelot of the
+  Lake. So let us now go ashore, and mayhap it shall come to pass that I shall
+  see the great King and Sir Launcelot and mayhap shall come to speak with the
+  one or the other." And that saying of Sir Tristram's seemed good to those knights
+  who were with him, for they were weary of the sea, and desired to rest for a
+  while upon the dry land. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram sets up his pavilion.</div>
+<p> So they presently all went ashore and bade their attendants set up their pavilions
+  in a fair level meadow that was somewhat near a league distant away from the
+  castle and the town. In the midst of the other pavilions upon that plain was
+  set the pavilion of Sir Tristram. It was of fine crimson cloth striped with
+  silver and there was the figure of a gryphon carved upon the summit of the centre
+  pole of the pavilion. The spear of Sir Tristram was emplanted by the point of
+  the truncheon in the ground outside the pavilion, and thereunto his shield was
+  hung so that those who passed that way might clearly behold what was the device
+  thereon. </p>
+<p> And now shall be told how Sir Tristram became united in friendship with the
+  brotherhood of good knights at King Arthur's court. </p>
+<div align="center"> <a href="images/tail.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/tail.gif" border="0" alt="Tail Piece" /></a>
+</div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div class="chaphead" id="tr1c6"><a href="images/017.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/017.gif" alt="Chapter Header" border="0" /></a>
+  <br />
+  Chapter Sixth</div>
+<br />
+<div class="chapdes">How Sir Tristram had to do in battle with three knights of
+  the Round Table. Also how he had speech with King Arthur.</div>
+<p> So came the next morning, and uprose the sun in all the splendor of his glory,
+  shedding his beams to every quarter with a rare dazzling effulgence. For by
+  night the clouds of storm had passed away and gone, and now all the air was
+  clear and blue, and the level beams of light fell athwart the meadow-lands so
+  that countless drops of water sparkled on leaf and blade of grass, like an incredible
+  multitude of shining jewels scattered all over the earth. Then they who slept
+  were awakened by the multitudinous voicing of the birds; for at that hour the
+  small fowl sang so joyous a roundelay that all the early morning was full of
+  the sweet jargon of their chanting. </p>
+<p> At this time, so early in the day, there came two knights riding by where
+  Sir Tristram and his companions had set up their pavilions. These were two very
+  famous knights of King Arthur's court and of the Round Table; for one was Sir
+  Ector de Maris and the other was Sir Morganor of Lisle. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">How two knights came to the pavilion of Sir Tristram.</div>
+<p> When these two knights perceived the pavilions of Sir Tristram and his knights-companion,
+  they made halt, and Sir Ector de Maris said, "What knights are these who have
+  come hither?" Then Sir Morganor looked and presently he said: "Sir, I perceive
+  by their shields that these are Cornish knights, and he who occupies this central
+  pavilion must be the champion of this party." "Well," quoth Sir Ector, "as for
+  that I take no great thought of any Cornish knight, so do thou strike the shield
+  of that knight and call him forth, and let us see of what mettle he is made."
+</p>
+<p> "I will do so," said Sir Morganor; and therewith he rode forward to where
+  the shield of Sir Tristram hung from the spear, and he smote the shield with
+  the point of his lance, so that it rang with a very loud noise. </p>
+<p> Upon this, Sir Tristram immediately came to the door of his pavilion, and
+  said, "Messires, why did you strike upon my shield?" "Because," said Sir Ector,
+  "we are of a mind to try your mettle what sort of a knight you be." Quoth Sir
+  Tristram: "God forbid that you should not be satisfied. So if you will stay
+  till I put on my armor you shall immediately have your will in this matter."
+</p>
+<p> Thereupon he went back into his tent and armed himself and mounted his horse
+  and took a good stout spear of ash-wood into his hand. </p>
+<p> Then all the knights of Cornwall who were with Sir Tristram came forth to
+  behold what their champion would do, and all their esquires, pages, and attendants
+  came forth for the same purpose, and it was a very pleasant time of day for
+  jousting. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram overthrows Sir Morganor.</div>
+<p> Then first of all Sir Morganor essayed Sir Tristram, and in that encounter
+  Sir Tristram smote him so dreadful, terrible a blow that he cast him a full
+  spear's length over the crupper of his horse, and that so violently that the
+  blood gushed out of the nose and mouth and ears of Sir Morganor, and he groaned
+  very dolorously and could not arise from where he lay. </p>
+<p> "Hah," quoth Sir Ector, "that was a very wonderful buffet you struck my fellow.
+  But now it is my turn to have ado with you, and I hope God will send me a better
+  fortune." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram overthrows Sir Ector.</div>
+<p> So he took stand for battle as did Sir Tristram likewise, and when they were
+  in all wise prepared they rushed very violently to the assault. In that encounter
+  Ector suffered hardly less ill fortune than Sir Morganor had done. For he brake
+  his spear against Sir Tristram into as many as an hundred pieces, whilst Sir
+  Tristram's spear held so that he overthrew both the horse and the knight-rider
+  against whom he drove. </p>
+<p> Then all the knights of Cornwall gave loud acclaim that their knight had borne
+  himself so well in those encounters. But Sir Tristram rode back to where those
+  two knights still lay upon the ground, and he said: "Well, Messires, this is
+  no very good hap that you have had with me." </p>
+<p> Upon that speech Sir Ector de Maris gathered himself up from the dust and
+  said: "Sir Knight, I pray you of your knighthood to tell us who you be and what
+  is your degree, for I declare to you, I believe you are one of the greatest
+  knights-champion of the world." </p>
+<p> "Sir," said Sir Tristram, "I am very willing to tell you my name and my station;
+  I am Sir Tristram, the son of King Meliadus of Lyonesse." </p>
+<p> "Ha," quoth Sir Ector, "I would God I had known that before I had ado with
+  you, for your fame hath already reached to these parts, and there hath been
+  such report of your prowess and several songs have been made about you by minstrels
+  and poets. I who speak to you am Sir Ector, surnamed de Maris, and this, my
+  companion, is Sir Morganor of Lisle." </p>
+<p> "Alas!" cried out Sir Tristram, "I would that I had known who you were ere
+  I did battle with you. For I have greater love for the knights of the Round
+  Table than all others in the world, and most of all, Sir Ector, do I have reverence
+  for your noble brother Sir Launcelot of the Lake. So I take great shame to myself
+  that any mishap should have befallen you this day through me." </p>
+<p> Upon this Sir Ector laughed. "Well," quoth he, "let not that trouble lie with
+  you, for it was we who gave you challenge without inquiry who you were, and
+  you did but defend yourself. We were upon our way to Camelot yonder, when we
+  fell into this mishap, for King Arthur is at this time holding court at that
+  place. So now, if we have your leave to go upon our way, we will betake ourselves
+  to the King and tell him that you are here, for we know that he will be very
+  glad of that news." </p>
+<p> Upon this Sir Tristram gave them leave to depart, and they did so with many
+  friendly words of good cheer. And after they had gone Sir Tristram went back
+  into his pavilion again and partook of refreshment that was brought to him.
+</p>
+<div class="sidenote">There comes a knight in white armor.</div>
+<p> Now, some while after Sir Ector and Sir Morganor had left that place, and
+  whilst Sir Tristram was still resting in his pavilion, there came a single knight
+  riding that way, and this knight was clad altogether in white armor and his
+  shield was covered over with a covering of white leather, so that one could
+  not see what device he bare thereon. </p>
+<p> When this white knight came to the place where Sir Tristram and his companions
+  had pitched their pavilions, he also stopped as Sir Ector and Sir Morganor had
+  done, for he desired to know what knights these were. At that time Gouvernail
+  was standing alone in front of Sir Tristram's pavilion, and unto him the white
+  knight said: "Sir, I pray you, tell me who is the knight to whom this pavilion
+  belongs." </p>
+<p> Now Gouvernail thought to himself: "Here is another knight who would have
+  ado with my master. Perhaps Sir Tristram may have glory by him also." So he
+  answered the white knight: "Sir, I may not tell you the name of this knight,
+  for he is my master, and if he pleases to tell you his name he must tell it
+  himself." </p>
+<p> "Very well," said the white knight, "then I will straightway ask him." </p>
+<p> Therewith he rode to where the shield of Sir Tristram hung, and he struck
+  upon the shield so violent a blow that it rang very loud and clear. </p>
+<p> Then straightway came forth Sir Tristram and several of his knights-companion
+  from out of the pavilion, and Sir Tristram said, "Sir Knight, wherefore did
+  you strike upon my shield?" </p>
+<p> "Messire," quoth the white knight, "I struck upon your shield so that I might
+  summon you hither for to tell me your name, for I have asked it of your esquire
+  and he will not tell me." </p>
+<p> "Fair Knight," quoth Sir Tristram, "neither will I tell you my name until
+  I have wiped out that affront which you have set upon my shield by that stroke
+  you gave it. For no man may touch my shield without my having to do with him
+  because of the affront he gives me thereby." </p>
+<p> "Well," said the white knight, "I am satisfied to have it as you please."
+</p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram does battle with the white knight.</div>
+<p> So therewith Sir Tristram went back into his pavilion and several went with
+  him. These put his helmet upon his head and they armed him for battle in all
+  ways. After that Sir Tristram came forth and mounted his horse and took his
+  spear in hand and made himself in all ways ready for battle, and all that while
+  the white knight awaited his coming very calmly and steadfastly. Then Sir Tristram
+  took ground for battle, and the white knight did so likewise. So being in all
+  ways prepared, each launched forth against the other with such amazing and terrible
+  violence that those who beheld that encounter stood as though terrified with
+  the thunder of the onset. </p>
+<p> Therewith the two knights met in the midst of the course, and each knight
+  smote the other directly in the centre of the shield. In that encounter the
+  spear of each knight broke all to small pieces, even to the truncheon which
+  he held in his fist. And so terrible was the blow that each struck the other
+  that the horse of each fell back upon his haunches, and it was only because
+  of the great address of the knight-rider that the steed was able to recover
+  his footing. As for Sir Tristram, that was the most terrible buffet he ever
+  had struck him in all his life before that time. </p>
+<p> Then straightway Sir Tristram voided his saddle and drew his sword and dressed
+  his shield. And he cried out: "Ha, Sir Knight! I demand of you that you descend
+  from your horse and do me battle afoot." </p>
+<p> "Very well," said the white knight, "thou shalt have thy will." And thereupon
+  he likewise voided his horse and drew his sword and dressed his shield and made
+  himself in all ways ready for battle as Sir Tristram had done. </p>
+<p> Therewith they two came together and presently fell to fighting with such
+  ardor that sparks of fire flew from every stroke. And if Sir Tristram struck
+  hard and often, the white knight struck as hard and as often as he, so that
+  all the knights of Cornwall who stood about marvelled at the strength and fierceness
+  of the knights-combatant. Each knight gave the other many sore buffets so that
+  the armor was here and there dinted and here and there was broken through by
+  the edge of the sword so that the red blood flowed out therefrom and down over
+  the armor, turning its brightness in places into an ensanguined red. Thus they
+  fought for above an hour and in all that time neither knight gave ground or
+  gained any vantage over the other. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram falls in the battle.</div>
+<p> Then after a while Sir Tristram grew more weary of fighting than ever he had
+  been in all of his life before, and he was aware that this was the greatest
+  knight whom he had ever met. But still he would not give ground, but fought
+  from this side and from that side with great skill and address until of a sudden,
+  he slipped upon some of that blood that he himself had shed, and because of
+  his great weariness, fell down upon his knees, and could not for the instant
+  rise again. </p>
+<p> Then that white knight might easily have struck him down if he had been minded
+  to do so. But, instead, he withheld the blow and gave Sir Tristram his hand
+  and said: "Sir Knight, rise up and stand upon thy feet and let us go at this
+  battle again if it is thy pleasure to do so; for I do not choose to take advantage
+  of thy fall." </p>
+<p> Then Sir Tristram was as greatly astonished at the extraordinary courtesy
+  of his enemy as he had been at his prowess. And because of that courtesy he
+  would not fight again, but stood leaning upon his sword panting. Then he said:
+  "Sir Knight, I pray thee of thy knighthood to tell me what is thy name and who
+  thou art." </p>
+<p> "Messire," said the white knight, "since you ask me that upon my knighthood,
+  I cannot refuse to tell you my name. And so I will do, provided you, upon your
+  part, will do me a like courtesy and will first tell me your name and degree."
+</p>
+<p> Quoth Sir Tristram: "I will tell you that. My name is Sir Tristram of Lyonesse,
+  and I am the son of King Meliadus of that land whereby I have my surname." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot confesses himself.</div>
+<p> "Ha, Sir Tristram," said the white knight, "often have I heard of thee and
+  of thy skill at arms, and well have I proved thy fame this day and that all
+  that is said of thee is true. I must tell thee that I have never yet met my
+  match until I met thee this day. For I know not how this battle might have ended
+  hadst thou not slipped and fallen by chance as thou didst. My name is Sir Launcelot,
+  surnamed of the Lake, and I am King Ban's son of Benwick." </p>
+<p> At this Sir Tristram cried out in a loud voice: "Sir Launcelot! Sir Launcelot!
+  Is it thou against whom I have been doing battle! Rather I would that anything
+  should have happened to me than that, for of all men in the world I most desire
+  thy love and friendship." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram yields to Sir Launcelot.</div>
+<p> Then, having so spoken, Sir Tristram immediately kneeled down upon his knees
+  and said: "Messire, I yield myself unto thee, being overcome not more by thy
+  prowess than by thy courtesy. For I freely confess that thou art the greatest
+  knight in the world, against whom no other knight can hope to stand; for I could
+  fight no more and thou mightest easily have slain me when I fell down a while
+  since." </p>
+<p> "Nay, Sir Tristram," said Sir Launcelot, "arise, and kneel not to me, for
+  I am not willing to accept thy submission, for indeed it is yet to be proved
+  which of us is the better knight, thou or I. Wherefore let neither of us yield
+  to the other, but let us henceforth be as dear as brothers-in-arms the one toward
+  the other." </p>
+<p> Then Sir Tristram rose up to his feet again. "Well, Sir Launcelot," he said,
+  "whatsoever thou shalt ordain shall be as thou wouldst have it. But there is
+  one thing I must do because of this battle." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram breaks his sword.</div>
+<p> Then he looked upon his sword which he held naked and ensanguined in his hand
+  and he said: "Good sword; thou hast stood my friend and hast served me well
+  in several battles, but this day thou hast served me for the last time." Therewith
+  he suddenly took the blade of the sword in both hands--the one at the point
+  and the other nigh the haft--and he brake the blade across his knee and flung
+  the pieces away. </p>
+<p> Upon this Sir Launcelot cried out in a loud voice: "Ha, Messire! why didst
+  thou do such a thing as that? To break thine own fair sword?" </p>
+<p> "Sir," quoth Sir Tristram, "this sword hath this day received the greatest
+  honor that is possible for any blade to receive; for it hath been baptized in
+  thy blood. So, because aught else that might happen to it would diminish that
+  honor, I have broken it so that its honor might never be made less than it is
+  at this present time." </p>
+<p> Upon this Sir Launcelot ran to Sir Tristram and catched him in his arms, and
+  he cried out: "Tristram, I believe that thou art the noblest knight whom ever
+  I beheld!" And Sir Tristram replied: "And thou, Launcelot, I love better than
+  father or kindred." Therewith each kissed the other upon the face, and all they
+  who stood by were so moved at that sight that several of them wept for pure
+  joy. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram and Sir Launcelot feast together.</div>
+<a href="images/034.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="p17" align="right" src="images/034.gif" border="0" alt="Sir Tristram sits with Sir Launcelot" /></a>
+<p> Thereafter they two went into Sir Tristram's pavilion and disarmed themselves.
+  Then there came sundry attendants who were excellent leeches and these searched
+  their hurts and bathed them and dressed them. And several other attendants came
+  and fetched soft robes and clothed the knights therein so that they were very
+  comfortable in their bodies. Then still other attendants brought them good strong
+  wine and manchets of bread and they sat together at table and ate very cheerfully
+  and were greatly refreshed. </p>
+<p> So I have told you of that famous affair-at-arms betwixt Sir Launcelot and
+  Sir Tristram, and I pray God that you may have the same pleasure in reading
+  of it that I had in writing of it. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">King Arthur comes to Sir Tristram's pavilion.</div>
+<p> Now, as Sir Launcelot and Sir Tristram sat in the pavilion of Sir Tristram
+  making pleasant converse together, there suddenly entered an esquire to where
+  they were sitting. This esquire proclaimed: "Messires, hither cometh King Arthur,
+  and he is very near at hand." Thereupon, even as that esquire spoke, there came
+  from without the pavilion a great noise of trampling horses and the pleasant
+  sound of ringing armor, and then immediately a loud noise of many voices uplifted
+  in acclamation. </p>
+<p> Therewith Sir Launcelot and Sir Tristram arose from where they sat, and as
+  they did so the curtains at the doorway of the pavilion were parted and there
+  entered King Arthur himself enveloped, as it were, with all the glory of his
+  royal estate. </p>
+<p> Unto him Sir Tristram ran, and would have fallen upon his knees, but King
+  Arthur stayed him from so doing. For the great king held him by the hand and
+  lifted him up, and he said, "Sir, are you Sir Tristram of Lyonesse?" "Yea,"
+  said Sir Tristram, "I am he." "Ha," said King Arthur, "I am gladder to see you
+  than almost any man I know of in the world," and therewith he kissed Sir Tristram
+  upon the face, and he said: "Welcome, Messire, to these parts! Welcome! And
+  thrice welcome!" </p>
+<p> Then Sir Tristram besought King Arthur that he would refresh himself, and
+  the King said he would do so. So Sir Tristram brought him to the chiefest place,
+  and there King Arthur sat him down. And Sir Tristram would have served him with
+  wine and with manchets of bread with his own hand, but King Arthur would not
+  have it so, but bade Sir Tristram to sit beside him on his right hand, and Sir
+  Tristram did so. After that, King Arthur spake to Sir Tristram about many things,
+  and chiefly about King Meliadus, the father of Sir Tristram, and about the court
+  of Lyonesse. </p>
+<p> Then, after a while King Arthur said: "Messire, I hear tell that you are a
+  wonderful harper." And Sir Tristram said, "Lord, so men say of me." King Arthur
+  said, "I would fain hear your minstrelsy." To which Sir Tristram made reply:
+  "Lord, I will gladly do anything at all that will give you pleasure." </p>
+<p> So therewith Sir Tristram gave orders to Gouvernail, and Gouvernail brought
+  him his shining golden harp, and the harp glistered with great splendor in the
+  dim light of the pavilion. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram sings before King Arthur.</div>
+<p> Sir Tristram took the harp in his hands and tuned it and struck upon it. And
+  he played upon the harp, and he sang to the music thereof so wonderfully that
+  they who sat there listened in silence as though they were without breath. For
+  not one of them had ever heard such singing as that music which Sir Tristram
+  sang; for it was as though some angel were singing to those who sat there harkening
+  to his chanting. </p>
+<p> So after Sir Tristram had ended, all who were there gave loud acclaim and
+  much praise to his singing. "Ha, Messire!" quoth King Arthur, "many times in
+  my life have I heard excellent singing, but never before in my life have I heard
+  such singing as that. Now I wish that we might always have you at this court
+  and that you would never leave us." And Sir Tristram said: "Lord, I too would
+  wish that I might always be with you and with these noble knights of your court,
+  for I have never met any whom I love as I love them." </p>
+<p> So they sat there in great joy and friendliness of spirit, and, for the while,
+  Sir Tristram forgot the mission he was upon and was happy in heart and glad
+  of that terrible storm that had driven him thitherward. </p>
+<p> And now I shall tell you the conclusion of all these adventures, and of how
+  it fared with Sir Tristram. </p>
+<div align="center"> <a href="images/tail.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/tail.gif" border="0" alt="Tail Piece" /></a>
+</div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div class="chaphead" id="tr1c7"><a href="images/019.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/019.gif" alt="Chapter Header" border="0" /></a>
+  <br />
+  Chapter Seventh</div>
+<br />
+<div class="chapdes">How Sir Tristram had speech with King Angus of Ireland; how
+  he undertook to champion the cause of King Angus and of what happened thereafter</div>
+.
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram hears news of King Angus.</div>
+<p> Now, as Sir Tristram and King Arthur and Sir Launcelot sat together in the
+  pavilion of Sir Tristram in pleasant, friendly discourse, as aforetold, there
+  came Gouvernail of a sudden into that place. He, coming to Sir Tristram, leaned
+  over his shoulder and he whispered into his ear: "Sir, I have just been told
+  that King Angus of Ireland is at this very time at Camelot at the court of the
+  King." </p>
+<p> Upon this Sir Tristram turned to King Arthur and said: "Lord, my esquire telleth
+  me that King Angus of Ireland is here at Camelot; now I pray you tell me, is
+  that saying true?" "Yea," said King Arthur, "that is true; but what of it?"
+  "Well," said Sir Tristram, "I had set forth to seek King Angus in Ireland, when
+  I and my companions were driven hither by a great storm of wind. Yet when I
+  find him, I know not whether King Angus may look upon me as a friend or as an
+  unfriend." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">How Sir Bertrand was killed in Ireland.</div>
+<p> "Ha," said King Arthur, "you need not take trouble concerning the regard in
+  which King Angus shall hold you. For he is at this time in such anxiety of spirit
+  that he needs to have every man his friend who will be his friend, and no man
+  his enemy whom he can reconcile to him. He is not just now in very good grace,
+  either with me or with my court, for the case with him is thus: Some while ago,
+  after you left the court of Ireland, there came to that place Sir Blamor de
+  Ganys (who is right cousin to Sir Launcelot of the Lake) and with Sir Blamor
+  a knight-companion hight Sir Bertrand de la Riviere Rouge. These two knights
+  went to Ireland with intent to win themselves honor at the court of Ireland.
+  Whilst they were in that kingdom there were held many jousts and tourneys, and
+  in all of them Sir Blamor and Sir Bertrand were victorious, and all the knights
+  of Ireland who came against them were put to shame at their hands. Many of the
+  Irish knights were exceedingly angry at this, and so likewise was the King of
+  Ireland. Now it happened one day that Sir Bertrand was found dead and murdered
+  at a certain pass in the King's forest, and when the news thereof was brought
+  to Sir Blamor, he was very wroth that his knight-companion should have been
+  thus treacherously slain. So he immediately quitted Ireland and returned hither
+  straightway, and when he had come before me he accused King Angus of treason
+  because of that murder. Now at this time King Angus is here upon my summons
+  for to answer that charge and to defend himself therefrom; for Sir Blamor offers
+  his body to defend the truth of his accusation, and as for the King of Ireland,
+  he can find no knight to take his part in that contention. For not only is Sir
+  Blamor, as you very well know, one of the best knights in the world, but also
+  nearly everybody here hath doubt of the innocence of King Angus in this affair.
+  Now from this you may see that King Angus is very much more in need of a friend
+  at this time than he is of an enemy." </p>
+<p> "Lord," said Sir Tristram, "what you tell me is very excellent good news,
+  for now I know that I may have talk with King Angus with safety to myself, and
+  that he will no doubt receive me as a friend." </p>
+<p> So after King Arthur and his court had taken their departure--it being then
+  in the early sloping of the afternoon--Sir Tristram called Gouvernail to him
+  and bade him make ready their horses, and when Gouvernail had done so, they
+  two mounted and rode away by themselves toward that place where King Angus had
+  taken up his lodging. When they had come there, Sir Tristram made demand to
+  have speech with the King, and therewith they in attendance ushered him in to
+  where the King Angus was. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">King Angus welcomes Sir Tristram.</div>
+<p> But when King Angus saw Sir Tristram who he was, and when he beheld a face
+  that was both familiar and kind, he gave a great cry of joy, and ran to Sir
+  Tristram and flung his arms about him, and kissed him upon the cheek; for he
+  was rejoiced beyond measure to find a friend in that unfriendly place. </p>
+<p> Then Sir Tristram said, "Lord, what cheer have you?" Unto that King Angus
+  replied: "Tristram, I have very poor cheer; for I am alone amongst enemies with
+  no one to befriend me, and unless I find some knight who will stand my champion
+  to-morrow or the next day I am like to lose my life for the murder of Sir Bertrand
+  de la Riviere Rouge. And where am I to find any one to act as my champion in
+  defence of my innocence in this place, where I behold an enemy in every man
+  whom I meet? Alas, Tristram! There is no one in all the world who will aid me
+  unless it be you, for you alone of all the knights in the world beyond the circle
+  of the knights of the Round Table may hope to stand against so excellent and
+  so strong a hero!" </p>
+<p> "Lord," quoth Sir Tristram, "I know very well what great trouble overclouds
+  you at this time, and it is because of that that I am come hither for to visit
+  you. For I have not at any time forgotten how that I told you when you spared
+  my life in Ireland that mayhap the time might come when I might serve as your
+  friend in your day of need. So if you will satisfy me upon two points, then
+  I myself will stand for your champion upon this occasion." </p>
+<p> "Ah, Tristram," quoth King Angus, "what you say is very good news to me indeed.
+  For I believe there is no other knight in all the world (unless it be Sir Launcelot
+  of the Lake) who is so strong and worthy a knight as you. So tell me what are
+  those two matters concerning which you would seek satisfaction, and, if it is
+  possible for me to do so, I will give you such an answer as may please you."
+</p>
+<p> "Lord," said Sir Tristram, "the first matter is this: that you shall satisfy
+  me that you are altogether innocent of the death of Sir Bertrand. And the second
+  matter is this: that you shall grant me whatsoever favor it is that I shall
+  have to ask of you." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">King Angus swears innocence to Sir Tristram.</div>
+<p> Then King Angus arose and drew his sword and he said: "Tristram, behold; here
+  is my sword--and the guard thereof and the blade thereof and the handle thereof
+  make that holy sign of the cross unto which all Christian men bow down to worship.
+  Look! See! Here I kiss that holy sign and herewith I swear an oath upon that
+  sacred symbol, and I furthermore swear upon the honor of my knighthood, that
+  I am altogether guiltless of the death of that noble, honorable knight aforesaid.
+  Nor do I at all know how it was he met his death, for I am innocent of all evil
+  knowledge thereof. Now, Messire, art thou satisfied upon that point?" And Sir
+  Tristram said, "I am satisfied." </p>
+<p> Then King Angus said: "As to the matter of granting you a favor, that I would
+  do in any case for the love I bear you. So let me hear what it is that you have
+  to ask of me." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram asks his boon.</div>
+<p> "Lord," cried out Sir Tristram, "the favor is one I had liever die than ask.
+  It is this: that you give me your daughter, the Lady Belle Isoult, for wife
+  unto mine uncle, King Mark of Cornwall." </p>
+<p> Upon these words, King Angus sat in silence for a long while, gazing very
+  strangely upon Sir Tristram. Then by and by he said: "Messire, this is a very
+  singular thing you ask of me; for from what you said to me aforetime and from
+  what you said to my daughter I had thought that you desired the Lady Belle Isoult
+  for yourself. Now I can in no wise understand why you do not ask for her in
+  your name instead of asking for her in the name of King Mark." </p>
+<p> Then Sir Tristram cried out as in great despair: "Messire, I love that dear
+  lady a great deal more than I love my life; but in this affair I am fulfilling
+  a pledge made upon the honor of my knighthood and unto the King of Cornwall,
+  who himself made me knight. For I pledged him unaware, and now I am paying for
+  my hastiness. Yet I would God that you might take the sword which you hold in
+  your hand and thrust it through my heart; for I had liefer die than fulfil this
+  obligation to which I am pledged." </p>
+<p> "Well," said King Angus, "you know very well that I will not slay you, but
+  that I will fulfil your boon as I have promised. As for what you do in this
+  affair, you must answer for it to God and to the honor of your own knighthood
+  whether it is better to keep that promise which you made to the King of Cornwall
+  or to break it." </p>
+<p> Then Sir Tristram cried out again in great travail of soul: "Lord, you know
+  not what you say, nor what torments I am at this present moment enduring." And
+  therewith he arose and went forth from that place, for he was ashamed that anyone
+  should behold the passion that moved him. </p>
+<p> And now is to be told of that famous battle betwixt Sir Tristram and Sir Blamor
+  de Ganys of which so much hath been written in all the several histories of
+  chivalry that deal with these matters. </p>
+<p> Now when the next morning had come--clear and fair and with the sun shining
+  wonderfully bright--a great concourse of people began to betake themselves to
+  that place where the lists had been set up in preparation for that ordeal of
+  battle. That place was on a level meadow of grass very fair bedight with flowers
+  and not far from the walls of the town nor from the high road that led to the
+  gate of the same. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Of the meadow of battle.</div>
+<p> And, indeed, that was a very beautiful place for battle, for upon the one
+  hand was the open countryside, all gay with spring blossoms and flowers; and
+  upon the other hand were the walls of the town. Over above the top of those
+  walls was to be seen a great many tall towers--some built of stone and some
+  of brick--that rose high up into the clear, shining sky all full of slow-drifting
+  clouds, that floated, as it were, like full-breasted swans in a sea of blue.
+  And beyond the walls of the town you might behold a great many fair houses with
+  bright windows of glass all shining against the sky. So you may see how fair
+  was all that place, where that fierce battle was presently to be fought. </p>
+<p> Meanwhile, great multitudes of people had gathered all about the meadow of
+  battle, and others stood like flies upon the walls of the town and looked down
+  into that fair, pleasant meadow-land, spread with its carpet of flowers. All
+  along one side of the ground of battle was a scaffolding of seats fair bedraped
+  with fabrics of various colors and textures. In the midst of all the other seats
+  were two seats hung with cloth of scarlet, and these seats were the one for
+  King Arthur and the other for King Angus of Ireland. </p>
+<p> In the centre of the meadow-land Sir Blamor rode up and down very proudly.
+  He was clad in red armor, and the trappings and the furniture of his horse were
+  all of red, so that he paraded the field like a crimson flame of fire. </p>
+<p> "Sir." quoth King Arthur to King Angus, "yon is a very strong, powerful, noble
+  knight; now where mayst thou find one who can hope to stand against him in this
+  coming battle?" </p>
+<div class="sidenote">King Angus presents Sir Tristram for his champion.</div>
+<p> "Lord," said King Angus, "I do believe that God hath raised up a defender
+  for me in this extremity. For Sir Tristram of Lyonesse came to me yesterday,
+  and offered for to take this quarrel of mine upon him. Now I do not believe
+  that there is any better knight in all of Christendom than he, wherefore I am
+  to-day uplifted with great hopes that mine innocence shall be proved against
+  mine accuser." </p>
+<p> "Ha!" quoth King Arthur, "if Sir Tristram is to stand thy champion in this
+  affair, then I do believe that thou hast indeed found for thyself a very excellent,
+  worthy defender." </p>
+<p> So anon there came Sir Tristram riding to that place, attended only by Gouvernail.
+  And he was clad all in bright, polished armor so that he shone like a star of
+  great splendor as he entered the field of battle. He came straight to where
+  King Arthur sat and saluted before him. King Arthur said, "Sir, what knight
+  art thou?" "Lord," answered he, "I am Sir Tristram of Lyonesse, and I am come
+  to champion King Angus who sits beside you. For I believe him to be innocent
+  of that matter of which he is accused, and I will emperil my body in that belief
+  for to prove the truth of the same." </p>
+<p> "Well," quoth King Arthur, "this King accused hath, certes, a very noble champion
+  in thee. So go and do thy devoirs, and may God defend the right." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram does battle with Sir Blamor.</div>
+<p> Thereupon each knight took a good stout spear into his hand and chose his
+  place for the encounter, and each set his shield before him and feutered his
+  lance in rest. Then, when each was ready, the marshal blew a great blast upon
+  his trumpet, and thereupon, in an instant, each knight launched against the
+  other like a bolt of thunder. So they met in the very middle of the course with
+  such violence that the spear of each knight was shattered all into pieces unto
+  the very truncheon thereof. Each horse fell back upon his haunches, and each
+  would no doubt, have fallen entirely, had not the knight-rider recovered his
+  steed with the greatest skill and address. </p>
+<p> Then each knight voided his saddle and each drew his sword and set his shield
+  before him. Therewith they came to battle on foot like two wild boars--so fiercely
+  and felly that it was terrible to behold. For they traced this way and that
+  and foined and struck at one another so that whole pieces of armor were hewn
+  from the bodies of each. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram overcomes Sir Blamor.</div>
+<p> But in all this battle Sir Tristram had so much the better that, by and by
+  after they had fought for above an hour, Sir Blamor de Ganys began to bare back
+  before him, and to give ground, holding his shield low for weariness. This Sir
+  Tristram perceived, and, running in suddenly upon Sir Blamor, he struck him
+  so terrible a blow upon the right shoulder that Sir Blamor's arm was altogether
+  benumbed thereby, and he could no longer hold his sword in his hand. </p>
+<p> So the sword of Sir Blamor fell down into the grass, and Sir Tristram, perceiving
+  this, ran and set his foot upon it. Then Sir Blamor could not stand any longer,
+  but fell down upon his knees because of a great weariness and faintness that
+  lay upon him like the weariness and faintness of approaching death. </p>
+<p> Then Sir Tristram said: "Sir Knight, thou canst fight no longer. Now I bid
+  thee for to yield thyself to me as overcome in this battle." </p>
+<p> Thereunto Sir Blamor made reply, speaking very deep and hollow from out of
+  his helmet: "Sir Knight, thou hast overcome me by thy strength and prowess,
+  but I will not yield myself to thee now nor at any time. For that would be so
+  great shame that I would rather die than endure it. I am a knight of the Round
+  Table, and have never yet been overcome in this wise by any man. So thou mayst
+  slay me, but I will not yield myself to thee." </p>
+<p> Then Sir Tristram cried out: "Sir Knight, I beseech thee to yield thyself,
+  for thou art not fit to fight any more this day." </p>
+<p> Sir Blamor said, "I will not yield, so strike and have done with it." </p>
+<p> So Sir Tristram wist not what to do, but stood there in doubt looking down
+  upon Sir Blamor. Then Sir Blamor said, again: "Strike, Sir Knight, and have
+  done with it." </p>
+<p> Upon this Sir Tristram said: "I may not strike thee, Sir Blamor de Ganys,
+  to slay thee, for thou art very nigh of blood to Sir Launcelot of the Lake,
+  and unto him I have sworn brotherhood in arms; wherefore I pray thee now to
+  yield thyself to me." </p>
+<p> Sir Blamor said, "Nay, I will not yield me to thee." </p>
+<p> "Well," said Sir Tristram, "then I must fain act this day in a manner like
+  as I acted yesterday." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram gives Sir Blamor back his sword.</div>
+<p> Therewith speaking, he took his sword into both his hands and he swung it
+  several times around his head and when he had done that he flung it to a great
+  distance away, so that he was now entirely unarmed saving only for his misericordia.
+  After that he gave Sir Blamor his hand and lifted him up upon his feet. And
+  he stooped and picked up Sir Blamor's sword out of the grass and gave it back
+  to Sir Blamor into his hands, and he said: "Sir Knight, now thou art armed and
+  I am entirely unarmed, and so thou hast me at thy mercy. Now thou shalt either
+  yield thyself to me or slay me as I stand here without any weapon; for I cannot
+  now strike thee, and though I have overcome thee fairly yet thou hast it now
+  in thy power to slay me. So now do thy will with me in this matter." </p>
+<p> Then Sir Blamor was greatly astonished at the magnanimity of Sir Tristram,
+  and he said, "Sir Knight, what is thy name?" Sir Tristram said, "It is Tristram,
+  surnamed of Lyonesse." </p>
+<p> Upon this Sir Blamor came to Sir Tristram and put his arms about his shoulders,
+  and he said: "Tristram, I yield myself to thee, but in love and not in hate.
+  For I yield myself not because of thy strength of arms (and yet I believe there
+  is no knight in the world, unless it be my cousin Sir Launcelot of the Lake,
+  who is thy peer), but I yield me because of thy exceeding nobility. Yet I would
+  that I might only be satisfied that this King of Ireland is no traitor." </p>
+<p> "Messire," said Sir Tristram, "of that I have assured myself very strongly
+  ere I entered into this contest, wherefore I may now freely avouch upon mine
+  own knightly word that he is innocent." </p>
+<p> "Then," said Sir Blamor, "I also am satisfied, and I herewith withdraw all
+  my impeachment against him." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram and Sir Blamor are reconciled.</div>
+<p> Then those two noble, excellent knights took one another by the hand and went
+  forward together to where King Arthur sat in high estate, and all those who
+  looked on and beheld that reconciliation gave loud acclaim. And when King Arthur
+  beheld them coming thus, he arose from where he sat and met them and embraced
+  them both, and he said: "I do not believe that any king can have greater glory
+  in his life than this, to have such knights about him as ye be." </p>
+<p> So ended this famous battle with great glory to Sir Tristram and yet with
+  no disregard to that famous knight against whom he did battle. </p>
+<p> After that, they and King Arthur and King Angus of Ireland and all the court
+  went up unto the castle of Camelot, and there the two knights-combatant were
+  bathed in tepid water and their wounds were searched and dressed and they were
+  put at their ease in all ways that it was possible. </p>
+<p> Now that very day, as they all sat at feast in the castle of Camelot, there
+  came one with news that the name of Sir Tristram had suddenly appeared upon
+  one of the seats of the Round Table. So after they had ended their feast they
+  all immediately went to see how that might be. When they came to the pavilion
+  of the Round Table, there, behold! was his name indeed upon that seat that had
+  once been the seat of King Pellinore. For this was the name that now was upon
+  that seat: </p>
+<div class="fancy">SIR TRISTRAM OF LYONESSE</div>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram becomes knight of the Round Table.</div>
+<p> So the next day Sir Tristram was duly installed as a knight-companion of the
+  Round Table with a great pomp and estate of circumstance, and a day or two after
+  that he set sail for Ireland with King Angus, taking with him Gouvernail and
+  those Cornish knights who were his companions. </p>
+<p> So they all reached Ireland in safety, and, because Sir Tristram had aided
+  the King of Ireland in the day of his extremity, the Queen forgave him all the
+  despite she held against him, so that he was received at the court of the King
+  and Queen with great friendship and high honor. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">How Sir Tristram dwelt in Ireland.</div>
+<p> For a while Sir Tristram dwelt in Ireland and said nothing concerning that
+  purpose for which he had come. Then one day he said to King Angus: "Lord, thou
+  art not to forget to fulfil that promise which thou madst to me concerning the
+  Lady Belle Isoult." </p>
+<p> To this King Angus made reply: "I had hoped that now we were come to Ireland
+  you had changed your purpose in that matter. Are you yet of the same mind as
+  when you first spake to me?" </p>
+<p> "Yea," said Sir Tristram, "for it cannot be otherwise." </p>
+<p> "Well, then," said King Angus, "I shall go to prepare my daughter for this
+  ill-hap that is to befall her, though indeed it doth go against my heart to
+  do such a thing. After I have first spoken to her, you are to take the matter
+  into your own hands, for, to tell you the truth, I have not the heart to contrive
+  it further." </p>
+<p> So King Angus went away from where Sir Tristram was, and he was gone a long
+  while. When he returned he said: "Sir, go you that way and the Lady Belle Isoult
+  will see you." </p>
+<p> So Sir Tristram went in the direction King Angus had said, and a page showed
+  him the way. So by and by he came to where the Lady Belle Isoult was, and it
+  was a great chamber in a certain tower of the castle and high up Under the eaves
+  of the roof. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">How Lady Belle Isoult appeared to Sir Tristram.</div>
+<p> The Lady Belle Isoult stood upon the farther side of this chamber so that
+  the light from the windows shone full upon her face, and Sir Tristram perceived
+  that she was extraordinarily beautiful, and rather like to a shining spirit
+  than to a lady of flesh and blood. For she was clad altogether in white and
+  her face was like to wax for whiteness and clearness, and she wore ornaments
+  of gold set with shining stones of divers colors about her neck and about her
+  arms so that they glistered with a wonderful lustre. Her eyes shone very bright
+  and clear like one with a fever, and Sir Tristram beheld that there were channels
+  of tears upon her face and several tears stood upon her white cheeks like to
+  shining jewels hanging suspended there. </p>
+<p> So, for a while, Sir Tristram stood still without speaking and regarded her
+  from afar. Then after a while she spake and said, "Sir, what is this you have
+  done?" "Lady," he said, "I have done what God set me to do, though I would rather
+  die than do it." </p>
+<p> She said, "Tristram, you have betrayed me." Upon the which he cried out in
+  a very loud and piercing voice, "Lady, say not so!" </p>
+<p> She said: "Tristram, tell me, is it better to fulfil this pledge you have
+  made, knowing that in so doing you sacrifice both my happiness and your happiness
+  to satisfy your pride of honor; or is it better that you sacrifice your pride
+  and break this promise so that we may both be happy? Tristram, I beseech you
+  to break this promise you have made and let us be happy together." </p>
+<p> At this Sir Tristram cried out in a very loud voice: "Lady, did you put your
+  hand into my bosom and tear my naked heart, you could not cause me so much pain
+  as that which I this moment endure. It cannot be as you would have it, for it
+  is thus with me: were it but myself whom I might consider, I would freely sacrifice
+  both my life and my honor for your sake. But it may not be so, lady; for I am
+  held to be one of the chiefest of that order of knighthood to which I belong,
+  wherefore I may not consider myself, but must ever consider that order. For
+  if I should violate a pledge given upon my knighthood, then would I dishonor
+  not myself, but that entire order to which I belong. For, did I so, all the
+  world would say, what virtue is there in the order of knighthood when one of
+  the chiefest of that order may violate his pledge when it pleases him to do
+  so? So, lady, having assumed that great honor of knighthood I must perform its
+  obligations even to the uttermost; yea, though in fulfilling my pledge I sacrifice
+  both Thee and myself." </p>
+<p> Then Belle Isoult looked upon Sir Tristram for some little while, and by and
+  by she smiled very pitifully and said: "Ah, Tristram, I believe I am more sorry
+  for thee than I am for myself." </p>
+<p> "Lady," said Tristram, "I would God that I lay here dead before you. But I
+  am not able to die, but am altogether strong and hale--only very sorrowful at
+  heart." And therewith he turned and left that place. Only when he had come to
+  a place where he was entirely by himself with no one but God to see him, he
+  hid his face in his hands and wept as though his heart were altogether broken.
+  So it was that Sir Tristram fulfilled his pledge. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Belle Isoult and Sir Tristram depart for Cornwall.</div>
+<p> After that, King Angus furnished a very noble and beautiful ship with sails
+  of satin embroidered with figures of divers sorts, and he fitted the ship in
+  all ways such as became the daughter of a king and the wife of a king to embark
+  upon. And that ship was intended for the Lady Belle Isoult and Sir Tristram
+  in which to sail to the court of Cornwall. </p>
+<p> And it was ordained that a certain very excellent lady of the court of the
+  Queen, who had been attendant upon the Lady Belle Isoult when she was a little
+  child and who had been with her in attendance ever since that time, should accompany
+  her to the Court of Cornwall. And the name of this lady was the Lady Bragwaine.
+</p>
+<div class="sidenote">The Queen of Ireland provides a love potion for King Mark
+  and Belle Isoult.</div>
+<p> Now the day before the Lady Belle Isoult was to take her departure from Ireland,
+  the Queen of Ireland came to the Lady Bragwaine and she bare with her a flagon
+  of gold very curiously wrought. And the Queen said: "Bragwaine, here is a flask
+  of a very singular and precious sort of an elixir; for that liquor it is of
+  such a sort that when a man and a woman drink of it together, they two shall
+  thereafter never cease to love one another as long as they shall have life.
+  Take this flask, and when you have come to Cornwall, and when the Lady Belle
+  Isoult and King Mark have been wedded, then give them both to drink of this
+  elixir; for after they have drunk they shall forget all else in the world and
+  cleave only to one another. This I give you to the intent that the Lady Isoult
+  may forget Sir Tristram, and may become happy in the love of King Mark whom
+  she shall marry." </p>
+<p> Soon thereafter the Lady Belle Isoult took leave of the King and the Queen
+  and entered into that ship that had been prepared for her. Thus, with Sir Tristram
+  and with Dame Bragwaine and with their attendants, she set sail for Cornwall.
+</p>
+<p> Now it happened that, whilst they were upon that voyage, the Lady Bragwaine
+  came of a sudden into the cabin of that ship and there she beheld the Lady Belle
+  Isoult lying upon a couch weeping. Dame Bragwaine said, "Lady, why do you weep?"
+  Whereunto the Lady Belle Isoult made reply: "Alas, Bragwaine, how can I help
+  but weep seeing that I am to be parted from the man I love and am to be married
+  unto another whom I do not love?" </p>
+<p> Dame Bragwaine laughed and said: "Do you then weep for that? See! Here is
+  a wonderful flask as it were of precious wine. When you are married to the King
+  of Cornwall, then you are to quaff of it and he is to quaff of it and after
+  that you will forget all others in the world and cleave only to one another.
+  For it is a wonderful love potion and it hath been given to me to use in that
+  very way. Wherefore dry your eyes, for happiness may still lay before you."
+</p>
+<p> When the Lady Belle Isoult heard these words she wept no more but smiled very
+  strangely. Then by and by she arose and went away to where Sir Tristram was.
+</p>
+<p> When she came to him she said, "Tristram, will you drink of a draught with
+  me?" He said, "Yea, lady, though it were death in the draught." </p>
+<p> She said, "There is not death in it, but something very different," and thereupon
+  she went away into the cabin where that chalice aforesaid was hidden. And at
+  that time Dame Bragwaine was not there. </p>
+<p> Then the Lady Belle Isoult took the flagon from where it was hidden, and poured
+  the elixir out into a chalice of gold and crystal and she brought it to where
+  Sir Tristram was. When she had come there, she said, "Tristram, I drink to thee,"
+  and therewith she drank the half of the elixir there Was in the chalice. Then
+  she said, "Now drink thou the rest to me." </p>
+<p> Upon that Sir Tristram took the chalice and lifted it to his lips, and drank
+  all the rest of that liquor that was therein. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram and Belle Isoult drink the love potion.</div>
+<a href="images/035.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="p18" align="left" src="images/035.gif" border="0" alt="Belle Isoult and Sir Tristram drink the love draught" /></a>
+<p> Now immediately Sir Tristram had drunk that elixir he felt it run like fire
+  through every vein in his body. Thereupon he cried out, "Lady, what is this
+  you have given me to drink?" She said: "Tristram, that was a powerful love potion
+  intended for King Mark and me. But now thou and I have drunk of it and never
+  henceforth can either of us love anybody in all of the world but the other."
+</p>
+<p> Then Sir Tristram catched her into his arms and he cried out: "Isoult! Isoult!
+  what hast thou done to us both? Was it not enough that I should have been unhappy
+  but that thou shouldst have chosen to be unhappy also?" </p>
+<p> Thereat the Lady Belle Isoult both wept and smiled, looking up into Sir Tristram's
+  face, and she said: "Nay, Tristram; I would rather be sorry with thee than happy
+  with another." He said, "Isoult, there is much woe in this for us both." She
+  said, "I care not, so I may share it with thee." </p>
+<p> Thereupon Sir Tristram kissed her thrice upon the face, and then immediately
+  put her away from him and he left her and went away by himself in much agony
+  of spirit. </p>
+<p> Thereafter they reached the kingdom of Cornwall in safety, and the Lady Belle
+  Isoult and King Mark were wedded with much pomp and ceremony and after that
+  there was much feasting and every appearance of rejoicing. </p>
+<div align="center"> <a href="images/036.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="t7" src="images/036.gif" border="0" alt="Tail Piece--The Story of Sir Tristram and the Lady Belle Isoult" /></a>
+</div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div id="trip2">
+  <h3>PART II</h3>
+  <h2>The Story of Sir Tristram and Sir Lamorack</h2>
+  <table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="10" cellpadding="0">
+    <tr>
+      <td> <a href="images/037.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="p19" src="images/037.gif" border="0" alt="Sir Lamorack of Gales" /></a>
+      </td>
+      <td>
+        <div class="foreward">
+          <p> <i> And now shall be told the story of Sir Tristram and Sir Lamorack
+            of Gales, how they became brothers-in-arms; how Sir Lamorack took
+            offence at Sir Tristram, and how they became reconciled again. </i>
+          </p>
+          <p> <i> But first of all you must know that Sir Lamorack of Gales was
+            deemed to be one of the greatest knights alive. For it was said that
+            there were three knights that were the greatest in all of the world,
+            and those three were Sir Launcelot of the Lake, Sir Tristram of Lyonesse,
+            and Sir Lamorack of Gales. </i> </p>
+          <p> <i> Sir Lamorack was the son of King Pellinore, of whom it hath
+            already been told in the Book of King Arthur that he was the greatest
+            knight during that time; and he was the brother of Sir Percival, of
+            whom it is to be told hereinafter that he was the peer even of Sir
+            Launcelot of the Lake. So because that house produced three such great
+            and famous knights, the house of King Pellinore hath always been singularly
+            renowned in all histories of chivalry. For indeed there was not any
+            house so famous as it saving only the house of King Ban of Benwick,
+            which brought forth those two peerless knights beyond all compare:--to
+            wit, Sir Launcelot of the Lake and Sir Galahad, who achieved the quest
+            of the San Grail. </i> </p>
+          <p> <i>So I hope that you may find pleasure in the story of how Sir
+            Tristram and Sir Lamorack became acquainted, and of how they became
+            brothers-in-arms. </i> </p>
+        </div>
+      </td>
+    </tr>
+  </table>
+</div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div align="center"> <a href="images/038.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="h8" src="images/038.gif" alt="The Story of Sir Tristram and Sir Lamorack" border="0" /></a>
+</div>
+<div class="chaphead" id="tr2c1">Chapter First</div>
+<br />
+<div class="chapdes">How Sir Lamorack of Gales came to Tintagel and how he and
+  Sir Tristram sware friendship together in the forest.</div>
+<p> After these happenings, Sir Tristram abode for awhile at the Court of Cornwall,
+  for so King Mark commanded him to do. And he sought in every way to distract
+  his mind from his sorrows by deeds of prowess. So during this time he performed
+  several adventures of which there is not now space to tell you. But these adventures
+  won such credit to his knighthood that all the world talked of his greatness.
+</p>
+<p> And ever as he grew more and more famous, King Mark hated him more and more.
+  For he could not bear to see Sir Tristram so noble and so sorrowful with love
+  of the Lady Belle Isoult. </p>
+<p> Also Sir Tristram spent a great deal of time at chase with hawk and hound;
+  for he hoped by means also of such sports to drive away, in some measure, his
+  grief for the loss of Belle Isoult. </p>
+<p> Now the season whereof this chapter speaketh was in the autumn of the year,
+  what time all the earth is glorious with the brown and gold of the woodlands.
+  For anon, when the wind would blow, then the leaves would fall down from the
+  trees like showers of gold so that everywhere they lay heaped like flakes of
+  gold upon the russet sward, rustling dry and warm beneath the feet, and carpeting
+  all the world with splendor. And the deep blue sky overhead was heaped full
+  of white, slow-moving clouds, and everywhere the warm air was fragrant with
+  the perfume of the forest, and at every strong breeze the nuts would fall pattering
+  down upon the ground like hailstones. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram rides ahunting.</div>
+<p> And because the world was so beautiful and so lusty, Sir Tristram took great
+  pleasure in life in spite of that trouble that lay upon him. So he and his court
+  rode very joyfully amid the trees and thickets, making the woodlands merry with
+  the music of winding horns and loud-calling voices and with the baying of hounds
+  sounding like sweet tolling bells in the remoter aisles of the forest spaces.
+</p>
+<p> Thus Sir Tristram made sport all one morning, in such an autumn season, and
+  when noon had come he found himself to be anhungered. So he gave orders to those
+  who were in attendance upon him that food should be spread at a certain open
+  space in the forest; and therewith, in accordance with those orders, they in
+  attendance immediately opened sundry hampers of wicker, and therefrom brought
+  forth a noble pasty of venison, and manchets of bread and nuts and apples and
+  several flasks and flagons of noble wine of France and the Rhine countries.
+  This abundance of good things they set upon a cloth as white as snow which they
+  had laid out upon the ground. </p>
+<p> Now just as Sir Tristram was about to seat himself at this goodly feast he
+  beheld amid the thin yellow foliage that there rode through a forest path not
+  far away a very noble-seeming knight clad all in shining armor and with vestments
+  and trappings of scarlet so that he shone like a flame of fire in the woodlands.
+</p>
+<p> Then Sir Tristram said to those who stood near him, "Know ye who is yonder
+  knight who rides alone?" They say, "No, Lord, we know him not." Sir Tristram
+  said, "Go and bid that knight of his courtesy that he come hither and eat with
+  me." </p>
+<p> So three or four esquires ran to where that knight was riding, and in a little
+  they came attending him to where Sir Tristram was, and Sir Tristram went to
+  meet him. </p>
+<p> Then Sir Tristram said: "Sir Knight, I pray you for to tell me your name and
+  degree, for it seems to me that you are someone very high in order of knighthood."
+</p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Lamorack meets Sir tristram.</div>
+<p> "Messire," quoth the other, "I shall be very glad to tell you my name if so
+  be you will do the like courtesy unto me. I am Sir Lamorack of Gales, and I
+  am son of the late King Pellinore, who was in his days held to be the foremost
+  knight in this realm. I come to these parts seeking Sir Tristram of Lyonesse,
+  of whose fame I hear told in every court of chivalry whither I go. For I have
+  never beheld Sir Tristram, and I have a great desire to do so." </p>
+<p> "Well," quoth Sir Tristram, "meseems I should be greatly honored that you
+  should take so much trouble for nothing else than that; for lo! I am that very
+  Sir Tristram of Lyonesse whom you seek." </p>
+<p> Then Sir Lamorack immediately leaped down from his war-horse and putting up
+  the umbril of his helmet, he came to Sir Tristram and took him by the hand and
+  kissed him upon the cheek. And Sir Tristram kissed Sir Lamorack again, and each
+  made great joy of the other. </p>
+<p> After that, Sir Lamorack, with the aid of these esquires attendant upon Sir
+  Tristram, put aside his armor, and bathed his face and neck and hands in a cold
+  forest brook, as clear as crystal, that came brawling down out of the woodlands.
+  Therewith, being greatly refreshed he and Sir Tristram sat down to that bountiful
+  feast together, and ate and drank with great joy and content of spirit. And
+  whiles they ate each made inquiry of the other what he did, and each told the
+  other many things concerning the goodly adventures that had befallen him. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram sings to Sir Lamorack.</div>
+<p> And after they were through eating and drinking, Sir Tristram took his harp
+  in hand and sang several excellent ballads and rondels which he had made in
+  honor of Belle Isoult, and Sir Lamorack listened and made great applause at
+  each song that Sir Tristram sang. And so each knight loved the other more and
+  more the longer they sat together. </p>
+<p> Then, after a while, Sir Tristram said: "Dear friend, let us swear brotherhood
+  to one another, for I find that my heart goeth out to thee with a wonderful
+  strength." </p>
+<p> "Ha, Tristram," said Sir Lamorack, "I would rather live in brotherhood with
+  thee than with any man whom I know, for I find that the longer I am with thee,
+  the greater and the stronger my love groweth for thee." </p>
+<p> Then Sir Tristram drew from his finger a very splendid ring (for the ring
+  held an emerald carved into the likeness of the head of a beautiful woman, and
+  that emerald was set into the gold of the ring) and Sir Tristram said: "Give
+  me that ring upon thy finger, O Lamorack! and take thou this ring in its stead;
+  so we shall have confirmed our brotherhood to one another." </p>
+<p> Then Sir Lamorack did very joyfully as Sir Tristram bade him, and he took
+  the ring that Sir Tristram gave him and kissed it and put it upon his finger;
+  and Sir Tristram kissed the ring that Sir Lamorack gave him and put it upon
+  his finger. </p>
+<p> Thus they confirmed brotherhood with one another that day as they sat together
+  in the forest at feast, with the golden leaves falling about them. And so they
+  sat together all that afternoon and until the sun began to hang low in the west;
+  after that, they arose and took horse, and rode away together toward Tintagel
+  in great pleasure of companionship. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Lamorack is honored at Tintagel.</div>
+<p> Now all the court at Tintagel was greatly rejoiced at the presence of so famous
+  a knight as Sir Lamorack of Gales; so there was great celebration upon that
+  account, and everybody did the most that he was able to give pleasure to Sir
+  Lamorack. And during the time that Sir Lamorack was at Tintagel there were several
+  joustings held in his honor, and in all these assays at arms Sir Lamorack himself
+  took part and overthrew everyone who came against him, so that he approved himself
+  to be so wonderful a champion that all men who beheld his performance exclaimed
+  with astonishment at his prowess. </p>
+<p> But from all these affairs at arms Sir Tristram held himself aloof, and would
+  not take part in them. For he took such pleasure in Sir Lamorack's glory that
+  he would not do anything that might imperil the credit that his friend thus
+  gained by his prowess. For though Sir Tristram dearly loved such affairs, he
+  would ever say to himself: "Perhaps if I should enter the lists against my friend
+  it might be my mishap to overthrow him and then his glory would be forfeited
+  unto me." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Lamorack does famous battle.</div>
+<p> Now upon a certain time there was held a great day of jousting in honor of
+  Sir Lamorack, and in that affair at arms twenty of the best knights, both of
+  Cornwall and the countries circumadjacent, took the field to hold it against
+  all comers. Of these knights, several were well-known champions, so that they
+  maintained the field for a long while, to the great credit both of themselves
+  and of Cornwall. But some while after the prime of day, there came Sir Lamorack
+  into that field, and, the day being cool and fresh, he was filled with a wonderful
+  strength and spirit of battle. So he challenged first one of those Cornish champions
+  and then another, and in all such challenges he was successful, so that he overthrew
+  of those knights, the one after the other, fifteen men, some of whom were sorely
+  hurt in the encounter. Upon this, the other five of those champions, beholding
+  the prowess and strength and skill of Sir Lamorack said to one another: "Why
+  should we venture against this man? Of a verity, this knight is no mere man,
+  but a demon of strength and skill. Wherefore no man may hope to stand against
+  him in an assault of arms; for lo! if he doth but touch a man with his lance
+  that man straightway falleth from his saddle." So they withdrew themselves from
+  that encounter and would not have to do with Sir Lamorack. </p>
+<p> Now at that time Sir Tristram was sitting with the court of the King, and
+  not far from the Lady Belle Isoult, overlooking the meadow of battle. </p>
+<p> To him King Mark said: "Messire, why do you take no part against this knight?
+  Is it that you fear him?" </p>
+<p> To this Sir Tristram replied with great calmness: "Nay, I fear not him nor
+  any man alive, and that you know, Lord, better than anyone in all of the world."
+</p>
+<p> "I am glad to hear of your courage and fearlessness," quoth King Mark, "for
+  meseems it is a great shame to all of us that this gentleman, who is a stranger
+  amongst us, should win so much credit to the disadvantage of all the knights
+  of Cornwall. Now, as you say you have no fear of him, I pray you go down into
+  the field and do battle with him in our behalf." So said King Mark, for he thought
+  to himself: "Perhaps Sir Lamorack may overthrow Sir Tristram, and so bring him
+  into disrepute with those who praise him so greatly." </p>
+<p> But Sir Tristram said: "No; I will not go down to battle against Sir Lamorack
+  this day whatever I may do another day. For I have sworn brotherhood to that
+  noble and gentle champion, and it would ill beseem me to assault him now, when
+  he is weary and short of breath from this great battle which he hath done to-day
+  against such odds. For if I should overthrow him now, it would bring great shame
+  upon him. Some other day and in some other place I may assay him in friendliness,
+  with honor and credit both to myself and him." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">King Mark commands Sir Tristram to do battle.</div>
+<p> "Well," said King Mark, "as for that, I do not choose to wait. Nor am I pleased
+  that you should sit by and suffer this knight to carry away all the credit of
+  arms from Cornwall in despite of the knights of Cornwall. For not only would
+  this be a great shame to the knights of Cornwall (of whom you are the acknowledged
+  champion), but it would be equally a shame unto this lady whom you have fetched
+  hither from Ireland to be Queen of Cornwall. So I lay this command upon you--not
+  only because I am your King, but because I am he who made you knight--that you
+  straightway go down into yonder meadow and do battle with this knight who beareth
+  himself so proudly in our midst." </p>
+<p> Then Sir Tristram looked upon King Mark with great anger and bitterness, and
+  he said: "This is great shame and despite which you seek to put upon me by giving
+  such commands unto me. Verily, it would seem that in all ways you seek to put
+  shame and sorrow upon me. And yet I have ever been your true knight, and have
+  saved your kingdom from truage to Ireland and have served you very faithfully
+  in all ways. Would to God I had been made knight by any man in the world rather
+  than by you." </p>
+<p> At this King Mark smiled very bitterly upon Tristram. "Sirrah," quoth he,
+  "meseems you speak very outrageously to me who am your King. Now I herewith
+  command you to go straightway down into that field without any further words
+  and to do my bidding against yonder knight." </p>
+<p> Then Sir Tristram groaned in spirit, and then he said, "I go." </p>
+<p> So Sir Tristram arose and went away from that place very full of bitterness
+  and anger against the King and his court. For whiles there were some of that
+  court who were sorry for the affront that King Mark had put upon him in public
+  before the eyes of the entire court, yet there were others who smiled and were
+  glad of his humiliation. For even so true and noble a gentleman as Sir Tristram,
+  when he groweth great and famous, is like to have as many enemies as friends.
+  For there are ever those who envy truth and nobility in a man, as well as others
+  who hate meanness and falsity, and so Sir Tristram ever had many enemies whithersoever
+  he went. And that also was the case with Sir Launcelot and Sir Lamorack, and
+  with other noble knights at that time. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram arms himself.</div>
+<p> But though Sir Tristram was so filled with indignation he said nothing to
+  any man, but went to his lodging and summoned Gouvernail, and bade Gouvernail
+  to help him to his armor and his horse. </p>
+<p> Gouvernail said: "Lord, what would you do for to arm and horse yourself at
+  this hour?" Sir Tristram made reply: "The King hath commanded me to do battle
+  with Sir Lamorack, and yet Sir Lamorack is my very dear friend and sworn brother-in-arms.
+  He is already weary with battle, and of a surety I shall be very likely to overthrow
+  him in an assault at arms at this time." Gouvernail said, "Lord, that would
+  be great shame to you as well as to him." And Sir Tristram said, "Yea, it is
+  great shame." Then Gouvernail beheld Sir Tristram's face, how it was all filled
+  with a passion of shame and indignation, and so he guessed what had passed,
+  and held his peace. </p>
+<p> So when Sir Tristram was armed and mounted, he rode down into the meadow of
+  battle, where was Sir Lamorack parading with great glory before the applause
+  of all who looked down upon that field. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Lamorack speaks to Sir Tristram.</div>
+<p> But when Sir Lamorack beheld that it was Sir Tristram who came against him,
+  he was greatly astonished, and cried out: "Ha, Tristram, how is this? Is it
+  you who come against me? Have you then forgot that I am your brother-in-arms
+  and a fellow of the Round Table?" </p>
+<p> To this Sir Tristram said: "Messire, I come not of my own free will, but only
+  because I must needs come, being so commanded by the King of Cornwall." </p>
+<p> "Very well," said Sir Lamorack, "so be it as you will, though I am very much
+  surprised that you should do battle against me, after all that hath passed betwixt
+  us. More especially at this season when, as you very well know, I am weary and
+  winded with battle." </p>
+<p> Thereupon and without further parley, each knight took stand for the encounter
+  at the position assigned to him. Then when they were in all ways prepared, the
+  marshal of the field blew upon his trumpet a call for the assault. </p>
+<p> So rushed those two together like two stones, flung each out of a catapult;
+  and therewith they two smote together in the midst of their course like to a
+  clap of thunder. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram overthrows Sir Lamorack.</div>
+<p> In that encounter the spear of Sir Lamorack brake into as many as twenty or
+  thirty pieces; but the spear of Sir Tristram held, so that the horse of Sir
+  Lamorack, which was weary with the several charges he had made, was overthrown
+  into a great cloud of dust. </p>
+<p> But Sir Lamorack did not fall with his steed; for he voided his saddle with
+  a very wonderful agility and dexterity, so that he himself kept his feet, although
+  his horse fell as aforesaid. Then he was filled with great rage and shame that
+  he had been so overthrown before all those who looked upon him; wherefore he
+  immediately drew his sword and cried out aloud: "Come down, Sir Knight, and
+  do battle with me afoot, for though my horse hath failed me because of his weariness,
+  yet you shall find that my body shall not so fail me." </p>
+<p> But that while Sir Tristram sat very sorrowful, and he said: "Nay, I will
+  not have to do with thee again this day, for it was against my will that I came
+  hither to do battle with thee, and it is to my shame that I did so. Wherefore
+  I will not now do further battle with thee. But wait until to-morrow and until
+  thou art fresh, and then I will give thee the chance of battle again." </p>
+<p> To this Sir Lamorack made answer very bitterly: "Sir, I think you talk to
+  amuse me; for first you put shame upon me in this encounter, and then you bid
+  me wait until to-morrow ere I purge me of that shame. Now I demand of you to
+  do battle with me upon this moment and not to-morrow." </p>
+<p> Sir Tristram said: "I will not do battle with thee, Lamorack, for I have done
+  wrong already, and I will not do more wrong." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Lamorack reproves Sir Tristram.</div>
+<p> Upon this, Sir Lamorack was so filled with anger that he scarce knew what
+  to say or to do. Wherefore he turned him to several who had come down into the
+  meadow of battle, and he said: "Hear ye all, and listen to my words: This knight
+  came against me in this field after I had had to do with fifteen other knights.
+  In that encounter he overthrew me, because of the weariness of my horse. Having
+  done that unknightly deed, he now refuseth me any further test of battle, but
+  allows me to lie beneath that shame which he put upon me. Now I bid you who
+  stand here to take this word to Sir Launcelot of the Lake; I bid ye tell Sir
+  Launcelot that Sir Tristram of Lyonesse, having sworn brother-hood-in-arms to
+  me, and being a fellow-knight of the Round Table, hath come against me when
+  I was weary with battle and he was fresh. Tell Sir Launcelot that so Sir Tristram
+  overthrew me with shame to himself and with discredit to me, and that he then
+  refused me all satisfaction such as one true knight should afford another."
+</p>
+<p> Then Sir Tristram cried out in a loud voice, "I pray you, hear me speak, Messire!"
+  But Sir Lamorack replied, "I will not hear thee!" and therewith turned and went
+  away, leaving Sir Tristram where he was. And Sir Tristram sat there without
+  movement, like to a statue of stone. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Lamorack leaves Tintagel.</div>
+<p> After that Sir Lamorack did not tarry longer at Tintagel, but immediately
+  left the King's court without making speech with anyone. And thereafter he went
+  down to the seashore and embarked in a boat with intent to sail to Camelot where
+  King Arthur was then holding court. For his heart was still so bitter against
+  Sir Tristram that he intended to lay complaint against him before the court
+  of chivalry at Camelot. </p>
+<p> But Sir Lamorack did not reach Camelot upon that voyage; for, whilst he was
+  in passage, there suddenly arose a great tempest of wind, and in spite of all
+  that the mariners could do, that small ship wherein he sailed was driven upon
+  a cruel headland of rocks and cliffs where it was dashed to pieces. </p>
+<p> But Sir Lamorack had foreseen that that small boat was to be wrecked, wherefore,
+  before the end came, he stripped himself entirely naked and leaped into the
+  waters and swam for his life. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Lamorack is shipwrecked upon a strange land.</div>
+<p> So he swam for a long time until he was wellnigh exhausted and upon the point
+  of drowning in the waters. But at that moment he came by good hap to where was
+  a little bay of quiet water, whereinto he swam and so made shift to come safe
+  to land--but faint and weak, and so sick that he feared that he was nigh to
+  death. Then Sir Lamorack perceived that there was heather at that place growing
+  upon the rocks of the hillside, so he crawled into the heather and lay him down
+  therein in a dry spot and immediately fell into such a deep sleep of weariness
+  that it was more like to the swoon of death than to slumber. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Of Sir Nabon le Noir.</div>
+<p> Now the lord of that country whereunto Sir Lamorack had come was a very wicked
+  knight, huge of frame and very cruel and hard of heart. The name of this knight
+  was Sir Nabon, surnamed le Noir; for he was very swarth of hue, and he always
+  wore armor entirely of black. This knight had several years before slain the
+  lord of that land, and had seized upon all of the island as his own possession,
+  and no one dared to come against him for to recover these possessions, for his
+  prowess was so remarkable and his body so huge that all the world was afraid
+  of him. So he dwelt there unmolested in a strong castle of stone built up upon
+  a rock near to the seashore, whence he might behold all the ships that passed
+  him by. Then, whenever he would see such a ship pass by, he would issue forth
+  in his own ships and seize upon that other vessel, and either levy toll upon
+  it or sink it with all upon board. And if he found any folk of high quality
+  aboard such a ship, that one he would seize and hold for ransom. So Sir Nabon
+  made himself the terror of all that part of the world, and all men avoided the
+  coasts of so inhospitable a country. Such was the land upon which Sir Lamorack
+  had been cast by the tempest. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">The fisher-folk disarm Sir Lamorack.</div>
+<p> Now whilst Sir Lamorack lay sleeping in the heather in that wise as aforetold,
+  there came by that way several fisher-folk; these, when they saw him lying there,
+  thought at first that he was dead. But as they stood talking concerning him,
+  Sir Lamorack was aware of their voices and woke and sat up and beheld them.
+</p>
+<p> Then the chiefest of those fisher-folk spake and said, "Who are you, and how
+  came you here?" Him Sir Lamorack answered: "Alas! friend! I am a poor soul who
+  was cast ashore from a shipwreck, naked as you see me. Now I pray you, give
+  me some clothes to cover my nakedness, and give me some food to eat, and lend
+  me such succor as man may give to man in distress." </p>
+<p> Then the chief fisherman perceived the ring upon Sir Lamorack's finger that
+  Sir Tristram had given him, and he said, "How got you that ring upon your finger?"
+  Sir Lamorack said, "He who was my friend gave it to me." "Well," quoth the fisherman,
+  "I will give you clothes to wear and food to eat, but if I do so you must give
+  me that ring that I see upon your hand. As for lending you aid, I must tell
+  you that the lord of this island hath ordained upon peril of our lives that
+  all who come hither must straightway be brought before him to be dealt with
+  as he may deem fitting. Wherefore, after I have fed you and clothed you I must
+  immediately take you to him." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">The fisher-folk give Sir Lamorack clothes and food.</div>
+<p> "Alas!" quoth Sir Lamorack, "this is certes an inhospitable land into which
+  I have come! Ne'ertheless, as I am naked and starving, I see that I have no
+  choice other than that which ye put upon me." So therewith he gave the chief
+  of the fisher-folk the ring that Sir Tristram had given him, and in return the
+  fishermen gave him such garments as they could spare to cover his nakedness;
+  and they gave him black bread and cheese to eat, and bitter ale to drink from
+  a skin that they carried with them. After that they tied Sir Lamorack's hands
+  behind his back, and so, having made him prisoner, they brought him to the castle
+  of Sir Nabon, and before Sir Nabon who was there at that time. </p>
+<p> Now it chanced that the swineherd of Sir Nabon's castle had been slain in
+  a quarrel with one of his fellows, so that when Sir Nabon beheld Sir Lamorack,
+  that he was big and sturdy of frame, he said: "I will spare this fellow his
+  life, but I will make him my swineherd. So take ye him away and let him herd
+  my swine." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Lamorack turns swineherd.</div>
+<p> So they led Sir Lamorack away, and he became swineherd to Sir Nabon surnamed
+  le Noir, and presently in a little while he grew so rough and shaggy that his
+  own mother would hardly have known him had she beheld him. </p>
+<p> So endeth this adventure of Sir Lamorack. And now it shall be told how it
+  befel with Sir Tristram after Sir Lamorack had left Tintagel as aforetold. </p>
+<div align="center"> <a href="images/tail.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/tail.gif" border="0" alt="Tail Piece" /></a>
+</div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div class="chaphead" id="tr2c2"><a href="images/015.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/015.gif" alt="Chapter Header" border="0" /></a>
+  <br />
+  Chapter Second</div>
+<br />
+<div class="chapdes">How Sir Tristram started to go to Camelot, and how he stayed
+  by the way to do battle with Sir Nabon le Noir.</div>
+<p> Now after Sir Lamorack had quit the court of King Mark of Cornwall as aforetold,
+  Sir Tristram was very sad at heart for a long while. Nevertheless, he tried
+  to comfort himself by saying: "Well, it was not by my will that I did battle
+  with my friend and brother-in-arms, for I had no choice as to that which I was
+  compelled to do." So he spake to himself, and took what comfort he was able
+  from such considerations, and that comfort was not very great. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot sends a letter to Sir Tristram.</div>
+<p> Then one day there came from Sir Launcelot of the Lake a letter in which Sir
+  Launcelot said that he had heard that Sir Tristram had assailed Sir Lamorack
+  when that knight was weary and spent with battle. And in that letter Sir Launcelot
+  further said: "It is very strange to me, Messire, that such things should be
+  said of you, and that by several mouths. Now, I pray you, set this matter at
+  right, for I do not choose to have such a thing said of you; that you would
+  wait until a knight was weary with fighting before you would do battle with
+  him. Moreover, Sir Lamorack is your sworn brother-at-arms, and a fellow-knight
+  of the Round Table, and is, besides, one of the noblest and gentlest knights
+  in Christendom. Wherefore I beseech you to set this matter right, so that those
+  who accuse you of unknightliness may be brought to confusion." </p>
+<p> So wrote Sir Launcelot, and at those words Sir Tristram was cast into a great
+  deal of pain and trouble of spirit; for he wist not how to answer that letter
+  of Sir Launcelot's so as to make the matter clear to that knight. Wherefore
+  he said: "I will straightway go to Camelot and to Sir Launcelot and will speak
+  to him by word of mouth, and so will make him understand why I did that which
+  I had to do." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram rides to Camelot.</div>
+<p> So when the next day had come Sir Tristram arose and took horse and rode away
+  from Tintagel with intent to betake himself to Camelot where King Arthur was
+  then holding court, and where he might hope to find Sir Launcelot abiding. And
+  Sir Tristram took no companion with him, not even Gouvernail. </p>
+<p> And now I shall tell you how Sir Tristram rode: the way that he took led him
+  down by the seashore, and by and by to a deep forest, which was then nearly
+  altogether devoid of leaves, so that the branches above him were in some places
+  like to the meshes of a net spread against the sky. Here that young knight rode
+  upon a deep carpet of leaves, so that the steps of his war-horse were silenced
+  save only for the loud and continued rustling of his footfalls in the dry and
+  yellow foliage. And as Sir Tristram rode he sang several songs in praise of
+  the Lady Belle Isoult, chanting in a voice that was both clear and loud and
+  very sweet, and that sounded to a great distance through the deep, silent aisles
+  of the forest. </p>
+<a href="images/039.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="p20" align="right" src="images/039.gif" border="0" alt="Sir Tristram cometh to ye castle of Sir Nabon" /></a>
+<p> Thus he travelled, anon singing as aforetold of, and anon sank in meditation,
+  so travelling until the day declined and the early gray of the evening began
+  to fall. Then he began to bethink him how he should spend the night, and he
+  thought he would have to sleep abroad in the forest. But just as the gray of
+  the evening was fading away into darkness he came to a certain place of open
+  land, where, before him, he perceived a tall castle, partly of stone and partly
+  of red bricks, built up upon a steep hill of rocks. And upon one side of this
+  castle was the forest, and upon the other side was the wide and open stretch
+  of sea. </p>
+<p> And Sir Tristram perceived that there were lights shining from several windows
+  of that castle, and that all within was aglow with red as of a great fire in
+  the hall of the castle; and at these signs of good cheer, his heart was greatly
+  expanded with joy that he should not after all have to spend that night in the
+  darkness and in the chill of the autumn wilds. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram comes to a friendly castle.</div>
+<p> So Sir Tristram set spurs to his good horse and rode up to the castle and
+  made request for rest and refreshment for the night. Then, after a little parley,
+  the drawbridge was lowered, and the portcullis was raised, and he rode with
+  a great noise into the stone-paved courtyard of the castle. </p>
+<p> Thereupon there came several attendants of the castle, and took his horse
+  and aided him to descend from the saddle; and then other attendants came and
+  led him away into the castle and so to an apartment where there was a warm bath
+  of tepid water, and where were soft towels and napkins of linen for to dry himself
+  upon after he was bathed. And when he had bathed and refreshed himself, there
+  came still other attendants bearing soft warm robes for him in which to clothe
+  himself after his journey; and Sir Tristram clothed himself and felt greatly
+  at his ease, and was glad that he had come to that place. </p>
+<p> For thus it was that worthy knights like Sir Tristram travelled the world
+  in those days so long ago; and so they were received in castle and hall with
+  great pleasure and hospitality. For all folk knew the worth of these noble gentlemen
+  and were glad to make them welcome whithersoever they went. And so I have told
+  to you how Sir Tristram travelled, that you might, perchance, find pleasure
+  in the thought thereof. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram meets the lady of the castle.</div>
+<p> Now after Sir Tristram had refreshed himself and clothed himself as aforesaid,
+  there came the steward of the castle and besought him that he would come to
+  where the lady of the castle was awaiting him for to welcome him. And Sir Tristram
+  went with the steward, and the steward brought him where the lady sat at a table
+  prepared for supper. And Sir Tristram perceived that the lady was very beautiful,
+  but that she was clad in the deep weeds of a widow. </p>
+<p> When the lady perceived Sir Tristram, she arose and went to meet him, and
+  gave him welcome, speaking in a voice both soft and very sweet. "Messire," quoth
+  she, "I am grieved that there is no man here to welcome you in such a manner
+  as is fitting. But, alas! as you may see by the weeds in which I am clad, I
+  am alone in the world and without any lord of the castle to do the courtesies
+  thereof as is fitting. Yet such as I am, I give you welcome with my entire heart."
+</p>
+<p> "Lady," quoth Sir Tristram, "I give you gramercy for your courtesy. And indeed
+  I am grieved to see you in such sorrow as your dress foretells. Now if there
+  is any service I may render to you, I beseech you to call upon me for whatever
+  aid I may give you." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram feasts with the chatelaine.</div>
+<p> "Nay," quoth she, "there is nothing you can do to help me." And therewith
+  the lady, who was hight Loise, took Sir Tristram by the hand and led him to
+  the table and sat him down beside her. Then straightway there came sundry attendants,
+  and set a noble feast before them, with good excellent wines, both white and
+  red; and they two ate and drank together with great appetite and enjoyment.
+</p>
+<p> Now after that feast was over and done, Sir Tristram said: "Lady, will you
+  not of your courtesy tell me why you wear the weeds of sorrow in which you are
+  clad? This I ask, not from idle humor, but because, as I said before, I may
+  haply be able to aid you in whatever trouble it is under which you lie." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">The Lady telleth Sir Tristram of Sir Nabon le Noir.</div>
+<p> "Alas, Sir Knight!" quoth she, "my trouble lieth beyond your power to aid
+  or to amend. For can you conquer death, or can you bring the dead back to life
+  again? Nevertheless, I will tell you what my sorrow is, and how it came unto
+  me. You must know that some distance away across the sea, which you may behold
+  from yonder window, there lieth an island. The present lord of that island is
+  a very wicked and cruel knight, huge of frame and big of limb, hight Sir Nabon
+  surnamed le Noir. One time the noble and gentle knight who was my husband was
+  the lord of that island and the castle thereon, and of several other castles
+  and manors and estates upon this mainland as well. But one evil day when I and
+  my lord were together upon that island, this Sir Nabon came thither by night,
+  and with certain evil-disposed folk of the island he overcame my lord and slew
+  him very treacherously. Me also he would have slain, or else have taken into
+  shameful captivity, but, hearing the noise of that assault in which my lord
+  was slain, I happily escaped, and so, when night had come, I got away from that
+  island with several attendants who were faithful to me, and thus came to this
+  castle where we are. Since that time Sir Nabon has held that castle as his own,
+  ruling it in a very evil fashion. For you are to know that the castle sits very
+  high upon the crags overlooking the sea, and whenever a vessel passeth by that
+  way, Sir Nabon goeth forth to meet it; and upon some of these crafts he levies
+  toll, and other ships he sinks after slaying the mariners and sailor-folk who
+  may by evil hap be aboard thereof. And if anyone is by chance cast ashore upon
+  that island, that one he either slays or holds for ransom, or makes thereof
+  a slave for to serve him. Because of this, very few ships now go by that way,
+  for all people shun the coasts of so evil a country as that. So Sir Nabon took
+  that land away from me; nor have I any kin who will take up this quarrel for
+  me, and so I must endure my losses as best I may." </p>
+<p> "Ha!" quoth Sir Tristram, "and is there then no good knight-champion in this
+  country who will rid the world of such an evil being as that Sir Nabon of whom
+  you speak?" </p>
+<p> "Nay," said the lady, "there is no one who cares to offer challenge to that
+  knight, for he is as strong and as doughty as he is huge of frame, and he is
+  as fierce and cruel as he is strong and masterful, wherefore all men hold him
+  in terror and avoid him." </p>
+<p> "Well," said Sir Tristram, "meseems it is the business of any knight to rid
+  the world of such a monster as that, whatever may be the danger to himself.
+  Now as there is no knight hereabouts who hath heart to undertake such an adventure,
+  I myself shall undertake it so soon as to-morrow shall have come." </p>
+<p> "Sir," said the lady, "I beseech you to think twice before you enter into
+  such an affair as that. Or rather be ruled by me and do not undertake this quest
+  at all; for I misdoubt that anyone could conquer this huge and powerful champion,
+  even if that knight were such as Sir Launcelot of the Lake or Sir Tristram of
+  Lyonesse." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram confesses his degree to the chatelaine.</div>
+<p> At this Sir Tristram laughed with great good-will, and he said, "Lady, do
+  you not then know who I am?" "Nay," said she, "I know you not." "Well," said
+  Sir Tristram, "then I may tell you that I am that Sir Tristram of Lyonesse of
+  whom you spoke just now. And I also tell you that I shall undertake this adventure
+  to-morrow morning." </p>
+<p> Now when the lady found that the stranger she had taken in was Sir Tristram
+  of Lyonesse, she made great exclamation of surprise and pleasure at having him
+  at that place, for at that time all the world was talking of Sir Tristram's
+  performances. So she took great pleasure and pride that her castle should have
+  given him shelter. She made many inquiries concerning his adventures, and Sir
+  Tristram told her all she asked of him. </p>
+<p> Then the lady said: "Messire, I hear tell that you sing very sweetly, and
+  that you are a wonderful harper upon the harp. Now will you not chaunt for me
+  a song or two or three?" And Sir Tristram said: "Lady, I will do whatsoever
+  you ask me that may give you pleasure." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram sings to the lady.</div>
+<p> So the lady bade them bring a harp and they did so. And Sir Tristram took
+  the harp and set it before him and tuned it and played upon it, and sang so
+  sweetly that they of the castle said: "Certes, this is no knight-errant who
+  sings, but an angel from Paradise who hath come among us. For surely no one
+  save an angel from Paradise could sing so enchantingly." </p>
+<p> So passed that evening very pleasantly until the hours waxed late. Then Sir
+  Tristram retired to a very noble apartment where a soft couch spread with flame-colored
+  linen had been prepared for him, and where he slept a soft sleep without disturbance
+  of any kind. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram departs for the island of Sir Nabon.</div>
+<p> Now when the next morning had come, Sir Tristram armed himself and mounted
+  upon his war-horse, and rode him to a certain place on the shore. There he found
+  some mariners in haven with a large boat, and to these he paid ten pieces of
+  silver money to bear him across the sea to that island where Sir Nabon le Noir
+  abided. At first these mariners said they would not sail to such a coast of
+  danger and death; but afterward they said they would, and they did do so. But
+  still they would not bring Sir Tristram to land nigh to the castle, but only
+  at a place that was a great way off, and where they deemed themselves to be
+  more safe from the cruel lord of that land. </p>
+<p> As for Sir Tristram he made merry with their fear, saying: "It is well that
+  we who are knights-errant have more courage than you who are sailor-men, else
+  it would not be possible that monsters such as this Sir Nabon should ever be
+  made an end of." </p>
+<p> Upon this the captain of these sailors replied: "Well, Messire, for the matter
+  of that, it is true that mariners such as we have not much courage, for we are
+  the first of our order who have dared to come hither. But it is also true that
+  you are the first errant-knight who hath ever had courage to come hither. So
+  what say you for the courage of your own order?" And at that Sir Tristram laughed
+  with great good will and rode his way. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram arrives at the castle of Sir Nabon.</div>
+<p> Thereafter he rode forward along the coast of that land for several leagues,
+  with the noise of the sea ever beating in his ears, and the shrill clamor of
+  the sea-fowl ever sounding in the air about him. By and by he came to a place
+  of certain high fells, and therefrom perceived before him in the distance a
+  tall and forbidding castle standing upon a high headland of the coast. And the
+  castle was built of stone, that was like the rocks upon which it stood, so that
+  at first one could not tell whether what one beheld was a part of the cliffs
+  or whether it was the habitation of man. But when Sir Tristram had come somewhat
+  nearer, he perceived the windows of the castle shining against the sky, and
+  he saw the gateway thereof, and the roofs and the chimneys thereof, so that
+  he knew that it was a castle of great size and strength and no wall of rock
+  as he had at first supposed it to be; and he wist that this must be the castle
+  of that wicked and malignant knight, Sir Nabon, whom he sought. </p>
+<p> Now as Sir Tristram wended his way toward that castle by a crooked path meditating
+  how he should come at Sir Nabon for to challenge him to battle, he was by and
+  by aware of a fellow clad in pied black and white, who walked along the way
+  in the direction that he himself was taking. At the first that fellow was not
+  aware of Sir Tristram; then presently he was aware of him and turned him about,
+  and beheld that a strange knight was riding rapidly down toward him upon a horse.
+</p>
+<p> Then at first that fellow stood like one struck with amazement; but in a moment
+  he cried out aloud as with a great fear, and instantly turned again and ran
+  away, yelling like one who had gone mad. </p>
+<p> But Sir Tristram thundered after him at speed, and, in a little, came up with
+  him, and catched him by the collar of his jerkin and held him fast. And Sir
+  Tristram said: "Fellow, who are you?" </p>
+<p> "Lord," quoth the fellow, "I am an attendant upon the knight of yonder castle,
+  which same is hight Sir Nabon surnamed le Noir." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram talks with a knave of the earth.</div>
+<p> Then Sir Tristram said: "Sirrah, why did you run from me when you first beheld
+  me?" And the fellow replied: "Messire, you are the first stranger who hath dared
+  to come hither to this country; wherefore, seeing you, and seeing that you rode
+  upon horseback, and not knowing how you came to this land, I wist not whether
+  you were a man of flesh and blood, or whether you were a spirit come hither
+  for to punish us for our sins; so I ran away from you." </p>
+<p> "Well," said Sir Tristram, "as you see, I am no spirit, but a man of flesh
+  and blood. Yet I have great hope that I have indeed been sent hither for to
+  punish those who have done evil, for I come hither seeking the knight of yonder
+  castle for to do battle with him in behalf of that lady whose lord he slew so
+  treacherously as I have heard tell. And I hope to take away from him this island
+  and return it to the Lady Loise, to whom it belongeth." </p>
+<p> "Alas, Messire," quoth the fellow, "this is for you a very sorry quest upon
+  which you have come. For this Sir Nabon whom you seek is accounted to be the
+  most potent knight in all of the world. Yea; he is held to be a bigger knight
+  than even Sir Launcelot of the Lake or Sir Tristram of Lyonesse or Sir Lamorack
+  of Gales. Wherefore I beseech you to turn about and go away whither you have
+  come whilst there is still the chance for you to escape." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram sends challenge to Sir Nabon.</div>
+<p> "Gramercy for your pity, good fellow," quoth Sir Tristram, "and may God grant
+  that it may not be deserved. Nevertheless, in spite of the danger in this quest,
+  I am still of the same mind as I was when I came hither. So do you presently
+  go to your lord and tell him from me that a knight hath come to do battle with
+  him upon the behalf of the lady to whom this island by rights belongeth." </p>
+<p> Therewith Sir Tristram let the fellow go, and he ran off with great speed
+  and so away to the postern of the castle and entered in and shut the door behind
+  him. </p>
+<p> Now at that time Sir Nabon le Noir was walking along the wall of the castle,
+  and his son, who was a lad of seventeen years, was with him. There the messenger
+  from Sir Tristram found him and delivered his message. Thereupon Sir Nabon looked
+  over the battlements and down below and he beheld that there was indeed a tall
+  and noble knight seated upon horseback in a level meadow that reached away,
+  descending inland from the foot of the crags whereon the castle stood. </p>
+<p> But when Sir Nabon perceived that a stranger knight had dared to come thus
+  into his country, he was filled with amazement at the boldness of that knight
+  that he wist not what to think. Then, presently a great rage got hold upon him,
+  and he ground his teeth together, and the cords on his neck stood out like knots
+  on the trunk of a tree. For a while he stood as though bereft of speech; then
+  anon he roared out in a voice like that of a bull, crying to those who were
+  near him: "Go! Haste ye! Fetch me straightway my horse and armor and I will
+  go immediately forth and so deal with yonder champion of ladies that he shall
+  never take trouble upon their account again." </p>
+<p> Then those who were in attendance upon Sir Nabon were terrified at his words
+  and ran with all speed to do his bidding, and presently fetched his armor and
+  clad him in it; and they fetched his horse into the courtyard of the castle
+  and helped him to mount upon it. And lo! the armor of Sir Nabon was as black
+  as ink; and the great horse upon which he sat was black; and all the trappings
+  and furniture of the armor and of the horse were black, so that from top to
+  toe he was altogether as black and as forbidding as Death himself. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Nabon rides forth to meet Sir Tristram.</div>
+<p> So when Sir Nabon was thus in all wise prepared for battle, the portcullis
+  of the castle was lifted up, and he rode forth to meet Sir Tristram; and his
+  young son rode with him as his esquire. Then all the people of the castle gathered
+  together upon the walls to see that battle that was to be, and not one of those
+  several score of folk thought otherwise than that Sir Tristram would certainly
+  be overcome in that encounter. </p>
+<p> Sir Nabon rode straight up to Sir Tristram and he said very fiercely, "Sirrah,
+  what is it brings you hither to this land?" </p>
+<p> "As to that," said Sir Tristram, "the messenger whom I have sent to you hath,
+  I believe, told you what I come for, and that it is to redeem this island from
+  your possession, and to restore it to the Lady Loise, to whom it belongeth.
+  Likewise that I come to punish you for all the evil you have done." </p>
+<p> "And what business is all this of yours?" quoth Sir Nabon, speaking with great
+  fury of voice. </p>
+<p> "Messire," quoth Sir Tristram, "know ye not that it is the business of every
+  true knight to rid the world of all such evil monsters as you be?" </p>
+<p> "Ha!" quoth Sir Nabon, "that was very well said, for whatever mercy I should
+  have been willing before this to show you hath now been forfeited unto you.
+  For now I shall have no mercy upon you but shall slay you." </p>
+<p> "Well," quoth Sir Tristram, "as for that, meseems it will be time enough to
+  offer me mercy after you have overcome me in battle." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram does battle with Sir Nabon.</div>
+<p> So thereupon each knight took his place for assault, and when they were in
+  all ways prepared, each set spurs to his horse and dashed the one against the
+  other, with a dreadful, terrible fury of onset. Each smote the other in the
+  very midst of his shield, and at that blow the lance of each was altogether
+  shivered into pieces to the very truncheon thereof. But each knight recovered
+  his horse from the fall and each leaped to earth and drew his sword, and each
+  rushed against the other with such fury that it was as though sparks of pure
+  fire flew out from the oculariums of the helmets. Therewith they met together,
+  and each lashed and smote at the other such fell strokes that the noise thereof
+  might easily have been heard several furlongs away. Now in the beginning of
+  that battle Sir Tristram was at first sore bestead and wist that he had met
+  the biggest knight that ever he had encountered in all of his life, unless it
+  was Sir Launcelot of the Lake, whom he had encountered as aforetold of in this
+  history. So at first he bore back somewhat from the might of the blows of Sir
+  Nabon. For Sir Nabon was so huge of frame and the blows he struck were so heavy
+  that they drove Sir Tristram back as it were in spite of himself. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram slays Sir Nabon.</div>
+<p> Then Sir Tristram began to say to himself: "Tristram, if you indeed lose this
+  battle, then there will be no one to defend your honor before Sir Launcelot
+  who hath impeached it." Therewith it was as though new strength and life came
+  back to him, and of a sudden he rushed that battle, and struck with threefold
+  fury, and gave stroke upon stroke with such fierceness of strength that Sir
+  Nabon was astonished and fell back before his assault. Then Sir Tristram perceived
+  how Sir Nabon held his shield passing low, and therewith he rushed in upon him
+  and smote him again and again and yet again. And so he smote Sir Nabon down
+  upon his knees. Then he rushed in upon him and catched his helmet and plucked
+  it off from his head. And he catched Sir Nabon by the hair of his head and drew
+  his head forward. And Sir Tristram lifted his sword on high and he smote Sir
+  Nabon's head from off his body so that it rolled down into the dust upon the
+  ground. </p>
+<p> Now when the son of Sir Nabon perceived how that his father was slain, he
+  shrieked like a woman. And he fell down upon his knees and crawled upon his
+  knees to Sir Tristram and catched him about the thighs, crying out to him, "Spare
+  me, and slay me not!" </p>
+<p> But Sir Tristram thrust him away and said, "Who art thou?" </p>
+<p> "Messire," said the youth, "I am the son of him whom thou hast just slain."
+</p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram slays the son of Sir Nabon.</div>
+<p> Then Sir Tristram looked closely into his face, and he perceived that it was
+  wicked and treacherous and malevolent like to the face of Sir Nabon. Thereupon
+  Sir Tristram said: "If a man shall slay the wolf and spare the whelp of the
+  wolf, what shall the world be the better therefor?" Therewith he catched the
+  son of Sir Nabon by the hair and dragged him down and smote off his head likewise
+  as he had smitten off the head of his father, so that it fell upon the ground
+  beside the head of Sir Nabon. </p>
+<p> And now it shall be told how Sir Tristram discovered Sir Lamorack upon the
+  island and how he made amends to him, so that they became friends and brethren-in-arms
+  once more as they had been before. </p>
+<div align="center"> <a href="images/tail.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/tail.gif" border="0" alt="Tail Piece" /></a>
+</div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div class="chaphead" id="tr2c3"><a href="images/017.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/017.gif" alt="Chapter Header" border="0" /></a>
+  <br />
+  Chapter Third</div>
+<br />
+<div class="chapdes">How Sir Tristram did justice in the island, and thereby released
+  Sir Lamorack from captivity. Also how Sir Tristram and Sir Lamorack renewed
+  their great tenderness toward one another.</div>
+<p> Now after Sir Tristram had overcome Sir Nabon le Noir, and had slain the son
+  of Sir Nabon as has been just told, he went straightway to the castle that had
+  been Sir Nabon's, and commanded that they should bring forth the seneschal and
+  the officers thereof unto him. Meantime, being a little wounded in that battle,
+  he sat himself down upon a bench of wood that stood in the hall of the castle,
+  and there he held his court. </p>
+<p> So, in a little while, there came the seneschal and several of the officers
+  of the household to where Sir Tristram was, and when the seneschal came before
+  Sir Tristram, he fell down upon his knees and besought pardon and mercy. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram talks with the castle help.</div>
+<p> Then Sir Tristram said: "I will consider thy case anon, and if I may assure
+  myself that thou and these others are truly repentant, and if I may have assurity
+  that ye will henceforth be faithful in your duty toward that lady who is now
+  again the mistress of this castle and land, then I shall have mercy. But if
+  ye show yourselves recreant and treacherous, according to the manners of this
+  Sir Nabon who is dead, then I shall of a surety return hither and shall punish
+  you even as ye beheld me punish that wicked knight and his young son." </p>
+<p> Then Sir Tristram said, "Who is the porter of this castle?" And the porter
+  lifted his hand and said, "Lord, I am he." Sir Tristram said, "What captives
+  have ye in this place?" The porter said: "Lord, there be four knights and three
+  ladies who are held captive here for ransom." Then Sir Tristram said, "Bring
+  them forth hither to me." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram comforts the captives.</div>
+<p> So the porter and several other of the castle folk departed with all speed
+  and presently returned bringing with them those miserable captives whom they
+  had liberated from the dungeons of the castle. These they led to where Sir Tristram
+  still sat in justice upon the bench of wood. And Sir Tristram looked upon them
+  with pity and beheld that they were in a very sad and forlorn condition and
+  so sorrowful from their captivity that some of them wept from pure weakness
+  of heart. Then Sir Tristram said: "Comfort ye, and take no more sorrow to yourselves,
+  for now your troubles are past and gone, and happiness lieth before you. Sir
+  Nabon is dead, and so is his son, and there is no one now to torment you. Moreover,
+  I dare say that there is much treasure gathered at this place by Sir Nabon,
+  and all that treasure shall be divided amongst you, for to comfort ye, wherefore
+  when ye leave this place, ye shall go away a great deal richer than ye were
+  when ye came." </p>
+<p> So spake Sir Tristram, promising them much for to comfort them a little. </p>
+<p> As to that treasure he spake of, ye shall immediately be told how it was.
+  For when Sir Tristram had summoned the treasurer of that place, he brought Sir
+  Tristram down into the vaults of the castle and there he beheld seven strong
+  chests bolted and locked. Then Sir Tristram summoned the locksmith of that castle;
+  and the smith came and burst open the chests; and lo! the eyes of all were astonished
+  and bedazzled with the treasure which they therewith beheld; for in those chests
+  was heaped an incalculable treasure of gold and silver and precious gems of
+  many divers sorts. </p>
+<p> And besides this treasure, you are to know that they found in that vault many
+  bales of cloths--some of silk and velvet, and some of tissues of cloth of gold
+  and silver; and they found many precious ornaments, and many fine suits of armor,
+  and many other valuable things. For in several years Sir Nabon had gathered
+  all that treasure in toll from those ships that had sailed past that land. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram divides the treasure amongst the captives.</div>
+<p> All this treasure Sir Tristram had them bring forth into the light of day,
+  and he divided it into seven equal parcels. Then he said to those sad, sorrowful
+  captives: "Look! See! all this shall be yours for to comfort ye! Take each of
+  you one parcel and depart hence in joy!" Then all they were greatly astonished
+  at Sir Tristram's generosity, and they said: "Lord, how is this? Do you not
+  then take any of this treasure for yourself?" </p>
+<p> To them Sir Tristram made reply: "Nay, why should I take it? I am not sad,
+  nor sick, nor troubled at heart as you poor captives are. All this I have taken
+  for to comfort you, and not for to satisfy my own covetousness. So let each
+  take his share of it and see that ye all use it in comfort and peace and for
+  the advantage of other men and women who are in trouble as ye have been. For,
+  as hitherto this treasure hath been used for evil purpose, so shall it be henceforth
+  that it shall be used to good purpose." </p>
+<p> So there was great rejoicing amongst all those poor people who had been so
+  sad and sorrowful before. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram appoints Sir Segwarides governor of the castle.</div>
+<p> Now, after all this had been settled, Sir Tristram cast about how he might
+  put that land under good government upon behalf of the Lady Loise. To this intent
+  he chose from amongst those captives whom he had liberated a certain very worthy
+  honorable knight of Cornwall hight Sir Segwarides. Him Sir Tristram appointed
+  to be governor of that island, giving him liberty to rule it as he chose saving
+  only that he should do homage to the Lady Loise as lady paramount. And Sir Tristram
+  ordained that Sir Segwarides should pay tribute to that lady every year such
+  an amount as should be justly determined upon betwixt them. For Sir Tristram
+  wist that some strong worthy knight should rule that island, or else, from its
+  position, it might again some time fall from the Lady Loise's possession into
+  the hands of such an evil and malignant overlord as Sir Nabon had been. </p>
+<p> So it was done as Sir Tristram had ordained. And it may here be said that
+  Sir Segwarides ruled that land very justly and that he and the Lady Loise became
+  dear friends, so that at the end of three years from that time he and she were
+  made husband and wife. </p>
+<p> Now Sir Tristram remained in that island several days, with intent to see
+  to it that the power of Sir Segwarides should be established. And he made all
+  the people of that land come before Sir Segwarides for to pledge obedience to
+  him. </p>
+<a href="images/040.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="p21" align="left" src="images/040.gif" border="0" alt="Sir Lamorack herds the swine of Sir Nabon" /></a>
+<p> Amongst these came Sir Lamorack in the guise of a swineherd, and Sir Tristram
+  knew him not, because that he was clad in rags and in the skins of animals and
+  because that his beard and his hair were uncut and unkempt, and hung down very
+  shaggy upon his breast. But Sir Lamorack knew Sir Tristram yet would not acknowledge
+  him, being ashamed that Sir Tristram should discover him in such a guise and
+  so ragged and forlorn as he then was. So he kept his eyes from Sir Tristram,
+  and Sir Tristram passed him by and knew him not. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram beholds Sir Lamorack's ring.</div>
+<p> But amongst other of the people of the castle that passed before Sir Tristram,
+  there came a woman, very fair to look upon, and she had been a house-slave to
+  Sir Nabon. As this woman passed before Sir Tristram, he beheld that she wore
+  upon her thumb a very fair and shining ring, that bare a green stone set in
+  wrought gold. And when he looked again he saw it was that ring of carven emerald
+  that he had given to Sir Lamorack as aforetold. </p>
+<p> At this Sir Tristram was astonished beyond measure, and he ordered that woman
+  to come before him, and she came and stood before him trembling. Then Sir Tristram
+  said: "Fear not, but tell me where got ye that ring that I behold upon your
+  hand?" And the woman said: "Lord, I will tell you the very truth. My husband
+  is the chief fisherman of this place, and one day, some while ago, he gave me
+  this ring when I had favor in his sight." </p>
+<p> Sir Tristram said, "Where is your husband?" The slave-woman said, "Yonder
+  he stands." Then Sir Tristram said: "Come hither, Sirrah!" And therewith the
+  fisherman came and stood before Sir Tristram as his wife had done, and he also
+  trembled with fear as she had done. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram questions the fisherman.</div>
+<p> To him Sir Tristram said, "Why do you tremble so?" And the fisher-man said,
+  "Lord, I am afeard!" Sir Tristram said: "Have no fear, unless you have done
+  wrong, but tell me the truth. Where got ye that ring that yonder woman weareth?"
+  "Lord," said the fisherman, "I will tell you the perfect truth. One day I and
+  several of my fellows found a man lying naked in a bed of heather near the seaside.
+  At first we thought he was dead, but he awoke and arose when he heard our voices.
+  He was naked and hungry, and he besought us for clothes to cover his nakedness
+  and for food to eat. So we gave him what we could, demanding that ring in payment.
+  So he gave the ring to me, who am the chief of the fishermen, and I gave it
+  to that woman who is my wife; and that, lord, is the very truth." </p>
+<p> Then Sir Tristram was very much disturbed in mind, for he feared that it might
+  have gone ill with Sir Lamorack. And he said, "Where now is that man of whom
+  ye speak?" The fisherman replied: "Lord, he was set to keep the swine, and he
+  is the swineherd of the castle to this day." </p>
+<p> At this Sir Tristram was very glad that no more ill had befallen Sir Lamorack,
+  and that he was yet alive. </p>
+<p> Then, after the fisherman had departed from that place, Sir Tristram sat for
+  a while sunk into deep thought. And he said to himself: "Alas, that so noble
+  a knight should be brought to such a pass as that! How greatly must my friend
+  be abased when he would not acknowledge himself to me nor claim my assistance
+  because of the shame of his appearance! Meseems it is not fitting for me to
+  send for him to come to me in the guise which he now wears, for it would be
+  discourteous a thing for me to do, to make him so declare himself. So first
+  I shall see to it that he is clothed in such a manner as shall be fitting to
+  his high estate, and then haply he will be willing to make himself manifest
+  to me. After that, perhaps his love will return to me again, and remain with
+  me as it was at first." </p>
+<p> So Sir Tristram called to him several of the people of that castle, and he
+  bade them do certain things according to his command, and straightway they departed
+  to do as he ordained. </p>
+<p> Now turn we to Sir Lamorack: whilst he sat keeping watch over his swine there
+  came to him four men from the castle. These say to him, "You must come straightway
+  with us." Sir Lamorack said, "Whither would you take me?" They say: "That we
+  are not permitted to tell you, only that you are to go with us as we bid you."
+</p>
+<p> So Sir Lamorack arose and went with those four, much wondering what it was
+  that was to befall him, and whether that which was to happen was good or evil.
+</p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Lamorack is brought to the castle.</div>
+<p> The four men brought him to the castle and they entered in thereat, and they
+  escorted Sir Lamorack, still greatly wondering, up the stairway of the castle,
+  and so into a noble and stately apartment, hung with tapestries and embroidered
+  hangings. And there Sir Lamorack beheld a great bath of tepid water, hung within
+  and without with linen. There were at this place several attendants; these took
+  Sir Lamorack and unclothed him and brought him to the bath, and bathed him and
+  dried him with soft linen and with fine towels. Then there came the barber and
+  he shaved Sir Lamorack and clipped his hair, and when he was thus bathed and
+  trimmed, his nobility shone forth again as the sun shines forth from a thick
+  cloud that hides its effulgence for a while, only to withdraw so that the glorious
+  day-star may shine forth again with redoubled splendor. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Lamorack is armed in armor.</div>
+<p> Then there came divers other attendants and clothed Sir Lamorack in rich and
+  handsome garments such as were altogether fitting for a knight-royal to wear.
+  And after that there came several esquires and brought a very splendid suit
+  of armor; and they clad Sir Lamorack in that armor; and the armor gleamed as
+  bright as daylight, being polished to a wonderful clearness, and inlaid with
+  figures of arabesqued silver. </p>
+<p> Then Sir Lamorack said, "What means all this that ye do to me?" And they said,
+  "Wait, Messire, and you shall see." </p>
+<p> So after all these things were done, five other esquires appeared to conduct
+  Sir Lamorack away from that place. These led him through several passages and
+  hallways until at last they came to a great space of hall wherein stood a single
+  man; and that man was Sir Tristram. </p>
+<p> And Sir Tristram gazed upon Sir Lamorack and his heart yearned over him with
+  great loving-kindness. But he would not betray his love to those who had come
+  with Sir Lamorack, so he contained himself for a little, and he said to those
+  in attendance, "Get ye gone," and straightway they departed. </p>
+<p> Then Sir Lamorack lifted up his eyes and he came to where Sir Tristram was
+  standing and he said: "Is it thou, Tristram, who hath bestowed all these benefits
+  upon me?" And he said: "From thy nobility of soul such things may be expected."
+</p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram and Sir Lamorack are reconciled.</div>
+<p> Then Sir Tristram wept for joy, and he said: "Lamorack, it is little that
+  I have done to pleasure thee, and much that I have done to affront thee." Then
+  Sir Lamorack said: "Nay; it is much that thou hast done to comfort me, and little
+  to cause me discomfort. For lo! thou hast uplifted me from misery into happiness,
+  and thou hast brought me from nakedness and want into prosperity and ease, and
+  what more may one man do for another man than that?" </p>
+<p> "Lamorack," said Sir Tristram, "there is much more than one man may do for
+  another man than that. For if one man hath given offence to another man, he
+  may be reconciled to that one so offended, and so the soul of that other shall
+  be clothed with peace and joy, even as thy body hath been clothed with garments
+  of silk and fine linen." Then Sir Tristram took Sir Lamorack by the hand, and
+  he said, "Dear friend, art thou now strong and fresh of body?" And Sir Lamorack,
+  greatly wondering, said, "Ay." </p>
+<p> "Then," said Sir Tristram, "I may now offer thee reparation for that offence
+  which I one time unwillingly committed against thee. For lo! I have had thee
+  clad in the best armor that it is possible to provide, and now that thou art
+  fresh and hale and strong, I am ready to do battle with thee at any time thou
+  mayst assign. For if, before, thou wert overcome because thou wert weary with
+  battle, now thou mayst prove thy prowess upon me being both strong and sound
+  in wind and limb." </p>
+<p> But upon this Sir Lamorack ran to Sir Tristram and catched him in his arms
+  and kissed him upon the cheek. And he said: "Tristram, thou art indeed a very
+  noble soul. I will do no battle with thee, but instead I will take thee into
+  my heart and cherish thee there forever." </p>
+<p> Sir Tristram said, "Art thou altogether satisfied?" And Sir Lamorack said,
+  "Yea." And therewith Sir Tristram wept for pure joy. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram and Sir Lamorack depart from the island.</div>
+<p> Then Sir Tristram said: "Let us go to Sir Launcelot of the Lake, so that I
+  may make my peace with him also. For he hath writ me a letter chiding me for
+  having done battle with thee when thou wert weary and winded with fighting.
+  And I was upon my way to see Sir Launcelot and to plead my cause with him when
+  I came hither by good hap, and was able to uplift thee out of thy distress."
+  To this Sir Lamorack said: "I will go with thee to Sir Launcelot whenever it
+  shall please thee; and I will bear full testimony to thy knightliness and to
+  thy courtesy." </p>
+<p> So when the next morning had come they took boat and sailed away from that
+  island. And the night of that day they abided at the castle of the Lady Loise,
+  who gave thanks without measure to Sir Tristram for ridding the world of so
+  wicked and malign a being as Sir Nabon, and for restoring her inheritance of
+  that land unto her again. And upon the morning of the next day those two good
+  knights betook their way to Camelot, where they found Sir Launcelot. There Sir
+  Lamorack exculpated Sir Tristram, and Sir Launcelot immediately withdrew his
+  rebuke for that battle which Sir Tristram had aforetime done against Sir Lamorack.
+</p>
+<p> After that Sir Tristram and Sir Lamorack abode at the court of King Arthur
+  for nigh a year, and during that time they went upon many quests and adventures
+  of various sorts--sometimes alone, sometimes together. All these have been set
+  down in ancient histories that tell of the adventures of Sir Tristram and Sir
+  Lamorack. Some of them I would like right well to tell you of, but should I
+  undertake to do so, the story of those happenings would fill several volumes
+  such as this. Nevertheless, I may tell you that they did together many knightly
+  deeds, the fame whereof hath been handed down to us in several histories of
+  chivalry. Therein you may read of those things if you should care to do so.
+</p>
+<p> All this I leave to tell you how Sir Tristram returned into Cornwall, and
+  likewise to tell you of one more famous adventure that he did at this time.
+</p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram hears from Cornwall of Sir Palamydes.</div>
+<p> Sir Tristram had been at the court of King Arthur for about a year when one
+  day there came a messenger unto the court at Camelot with news that Sir Palamydes,
+  the Saracen knight aforetold of in this history, had through a cunning trick
+  seized the Lady Belle Isoult and had carried her away to a lonely tower in the
+  forest of Cornwall. The messenger bore a letter from King Mark beseeching Sir
+  Tristram to return as immediately as possible unto Cornwall and to rescue that
+  lady from her captivity. And the letter further said that two knights of Cornwall
+  had already essayed to rescue the Lady Belle Isoult, but that they had failed,
+  having been overcome and sorely wounded in battle by Sir Palamydes. And the
+  letter said that it was acknowledged by all men that Sir Tristram was the only
+  knight of Cornwall who could achieve the rescue of Belle Isoult from so wonderful
+  and puissant a knight as Sir Palamydes. </p>
+<p> So in answer to that letter, Sir Tristram immediately left the court of King
+  Arthur and returned in all haste to Cornwall, and there he found them all in
+  great perturbation that the Lady Belle Isoult had thus been stolen away. </p>
+<p> But Sir Tristram did not remain at court very long for, after he had obtained
+  such information as he desired, he immediately left Tintagel and plunged into
+  the forest with Gouvernail as his companion in quest of that lonely tower where
+  Belle Isoult was said to be held prisoner. </p>
+<p> After several adventures of no great note he came at last very, very deep
+  into the forest and into an open space thereof; and in the midst of that open
+  space he beheld a lonely tower surrounded by a moat. And he wist that that must
+  be the place where the Lady Belle Isoult was held prisoner. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram finds Sir Palamydes in the forest.</div>
+<p> But when Sir Tristram drew nigh to this tower he perceived a single knight
+  sitting at the base of the tower with head hanging down upon his breast as though
+  he were broken-hearted with sorrow. And when he came still more nigh, Sir Tristram
+  was astonished to perceive that that mournful knight was Sir Palamydes the Saracen,
+  and he wondered why Sir Palamydes should be so broken-hearted. </p>
+<p> And now it must be told why it was that Sir Palamydes came to be in such a
+  sorry case as that; for the truth was that he was locked and shut outside of
+  the tower, whilst the Lady Belle Isoult was shut and locked inside thereof.
+</p>
+<p> Now it hath already been told how the letter of King Mark had said to Sir
+  Tristram that two knights of Cornwall went both against Sir Palamydes for to
+  challenge him and to rescue the Lady Belle Isoult. </p>
+<p> The second of these knights was Sir Adthorp, and he had followed Sir Palamydes
+  so closely through the forest that he had come to the forest tower not more
+  than an hour after Sir Palamydes had brought the Lady Belle Isoult thither.
+</p>
+<p> Therewith Sir Adthorp gave loud challenge to Sir Palamydes to come forth and
+  do him battle, and therewith Sir Palamydes came immediately out against him,
+  full of anger that Sir Adthorp should have meddled in that affair. </p>
+<p> But immediately Sir Palamydes had thus issued forth to do battle with Sir
+  Adthorp, the Lady Belle Isoult ran down the tower stairs and immediately shut
+  the door through which he had passed, and she locked it and set a great bar
+  of oak across the door. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">How Sir Palamydes came without the tower.</div>
+<p> So when Sir Palamydes had overthrown the Cornish knight, and when he would
+  have returned to the tower, he could not, for lo! it was fastened against him.
+  So now for three days he had set there at the foot of the tower and beside the
+  moat, sunk in sorrow like to one who had gone out of his mind. </p>
+<p> So Sir Tristram found him, and perceiving that it was Sir Palamydes who was
+  sitting there, he said to Gouvernail: "Go thou and bid that knight to come and
+  do battle with me." </p>
+<p> So Gouvernail went to Sir Palamydes and he said: "Sir, arise, for here is
+  a knight would speak with you!" But Sir Palamydes would not move. Then Gouvernail
+  touched him with his lance, and said: "Sir Palamydes, arise and bestir yourself,
+  for here is Sir Tristram come to do battle with you." With that, Sir Palamydes
+  awoke from his stupor and arose very slowly and stiffly. And he gathered up
+  his helmet which was lying beside him and put it upon his head. Then he took
+  down his shield from where it hung against the wall and he mounted upon his
+  horse, doing all as though he were moving in a dream. </p>
+<p> But as soon as he was upon horseback he suddenly aroused himself, for his
+  fierce spirit had come back to him once more. Then he gnashed his teeth, crying
+  out in a loud voice, "Tristram, this time either thou or I shall perish." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram overcomes Sir Palamydes.</div>
+<p> Therewith he rushed upon Sir Tristram and smote him so violently that Sir
+  Tristram had much ado to defend himself. And Sir Palamydes smote him again and
+  again; and with that Sir Tristram smote in return. And if the blows of Sir Palamydes
+  were terrible, the blows of Sir Tristram were terrible likewise. Then by and
+  by Sir Tristram smote Sir Palamydes so sore a buffet that the Saracen knight
+  fell down from his horse and was unable immediately to arise. Then Sir Tristram
+  ran to him and rushed off his helmet and catched him by the hair with intent
+  to cut his head from off his body. </p>
+<p> But with that the Lady Belle Isoult came running from out the tower and cried
+  out: "Tristram, is it thou? Spare that mistaken knight and have mercy upon him
+  as thou hopest for mercy." </p>
+<p> "Lady," said Sir Tristram, "for thy sake and at thy bidding I will spare him."
+  Then he said to Sir Palamydes, "Arise." And Sir Palamydes arose very painfully,
+  and Sir Tristram said: "Get thee hence, and go to the court of King Arthur and
+  make thy confession to the King and ask him to forgive thee, and if he forgive
+  thee, then also I will forgive thee." </p>
+<p> Therewith Sir Palamydes mounted upon his horse and rode away without speaking
+  another word, his head bowed with sorrow upon his breast for shame and despair.
+</p>
+<p> Then Sir Tristram took the Lady Belle Isoult up behind him on his horse, and
+  he and she and Gouvernail departed from that place. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram brings Belle Isoult back to Cornwall.</div>
+<p> So Sir Tristram brought the Lady Isoult back to Cornwall, and there he was
+  received with loud praise and great rejoicing, for everybody was glad that Belle
+  Isoult had been brought safely back again. </p>
+<p> And now it shall be told what reward Sir Tristram received for this deed of
+  arms. </p>
+<p> For, though at first King Mark was greatly beholden to Sir Tristram, that
+  he had thus rescued the Lady Belle Isoult, yet, by little and little, he grew
+  to hate that noble knight more bitterly than ever. For he heard men say to one
+  another: "Lo, Sir Tristram is, certes, the very champion of Cornwall, for who
+  is there in this country is his equal?" So King Mark, hearing these things said
+  to himself: "The more noble Tristram is, the more ignoble will men deem me to
+  be who am under obligations to such an enemy." So he would say in his heart,
+  "Yea, Tristram; I hate thee more than death." </p>
+<div align="center"> <a href="images/041.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="t8" src="images/041.gif" border="0" alt="Tail Piece--The Story of Sir Tristram and the Lady Belle Isoult" /></a>
+</div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div id="trip3">
+  <h3>PART III</h3>
+  <h2>The Madness of Sir Tristram</h2>
+  <div class="foreward">
+    <p> <i>Here followeth the story of how Sir Tristram was driven out of Cornwall
+      and of how he went mad because of his troubles. Likewise it shall be told
+      how he performed several very wonderful adventures whilst he was in that
+      state, and of how he was brought back into his senses again.</i> </p>
+  </div>
+  <br />
+  <br />
+  <br />
+  <br />
+  <br />
+  <br />
+  <br />
+  <div align="center"> <a href="images/043.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="h9" src="images/043.gif" alt="The Madness of Sir Tristram" border="0" /></a>
+  </div>
+  <div class="chaphead" id="tr3c1">Chapter First</div>
+  <br />
+  <div class="chapdes">How Sir Tristram was discovered with the Lady Belle Isoult;
+    how he assaulted King Mark, and how he escaped from Tintagel into the forest.</div>
+  <p> After Sir Tristram had thus rescued the Lady Belle Isoult from the hand
+    of Sir Palamydes, he dwelt very peacefully at the court of Cornwall for all
+    of that winter and until the spring that followed, and during that time he
+    was given every meed of praise and honor. But although King Mark and his court
+    gave praise to Sir Tristram with the lips, yet he and many of his people hated
+    Sir Tristram at heart, and there were many mischief-makers about the court
+    who were ever ready to blow the embers of the King's wrath into a flame. </p>
+  <p> Now the chiefest of all these mischief-makers was Sir Andred, who was nephew
+    unto King Mark, and cousin-germaine unto Sir Tristram. Sir Andred was a fierce
+    strong knight, and one very dextrous at arms; but he was as mean and as treacherous
+    as Sir Tristram was generous and noble, wherefore he hated Sir Tristram with
+    great bitterness (though he dissembled that hatred) and sought for every opportunity
+    to do Sir Tristram a harm by bringing him and the King into conflict. </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Sir Andred of Cornwall sets spies upon Sir Tristram.</div>
+  <p> So Sir Andred set spies upon Sir Tristram, and he himself spied upon his
+    cousin, yet neither he nor they were able to find anything with which to accuse
+    Sir Tristram. Then one day Sir Andred came to Sir Tristram and said: "Sir,
+    the Lady Belle Isoult wishes to see you to talk with you." Sir Tristram said,
+    "Where is she?" </p>
+  <p> And Sir Andred said, "She is in her bower." Then Sir Tristram said, "Very
+    well, I will go to her." </p>
+  <p> So Sir Tristram arose and departed from where he was with intent to find
+    the lady; and therewith Sir Andred hurried to where King Mark was, and said:
+    "Lord, arise, for Sir Tristram and the Lady Isoult are holding converse together."
+  </p>
+  <p> King Mark said, "Where are they?" And Sir Andred said, "They are in the
+    bower of the Queen." At that King Mark's rage and jealousy blazed up into
+    a flame, so that he was like one seized with a sudden frensy. So, in that
+    madness of rage, he looked about for some weapon with which to destroy Sir
+    Tristram, and he perceived a great sword where it hung against the wall. Thereupon
+    he ran to the sword and took it down from where it was, and ran with all speed
+    to that place where Sir Tristram and the Lady Isoult were, and Sir Andred
+    guided him thither. </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">King Mark assaults Sir Tristram.</div>
+  <p> And when King Mark reached the bower of the Lady Isoult he flung open the
+    door and found Sir Tristram and the Lady Isoult sitting together in the seat
+    of a deep window. And he perceived that the Lady Isoult wept and that Sir
+    Tristram's face was very sorrowful because of her sorrow. Then King Mark twisted
+    him about and bent double as with a great pain, and then he cried out thrice
+    in a voice very hoarse and loud: "Traitor! Traitor! Traitor!" Saying those
+    words three times. Therewith he ran at Sir Tristram and struck furiously at
+    him with that sword he held, with intent to slay him. </p>
+  <p> Now Sir Tristram was at that time altogether without armor and was clad
+    in clothes of scarlet silk. Accordingly, he was able to be very quick and
+    alert in his movements. So perceiving King Mark rushing upon him with intent
+    to slay him he leaped aside and so avoided the blow. Then immediately he rushed
+    in upon King Mark and catched him by the wrist and wrenched the sword out
+    of his hand. </p>
+  <p> Then Sir Tristram was blinded with his rage and might have slain his uncle,
+    but the Lady Isoult, beholding the fury in his face, shrieked in a very piercing
+    voice, "Forbear! Forbear!" And therewith he remembered him how that King Mark
+    was his mother's brother and that it was his hand that had made him a knight.
+  </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram beats King Mark.</div>
+  <a href="images/042.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="p22" align="right" src="images/042.gif" border="0" alt="Sir Tristram assaults King Mark" /></a>
+  <p> So he turned the sword in his hand and he smote King Mark with the flat
+    thereof again and again, and at those blows King Mark was filled with terror
+    so that he howled like a wild beast. And King Mark fled away from that place,
+    striving to escape, but Sir Tristram ever pursued him, grinding his teeth
+    like a wild boar in rage, and smiting the King as he ran, over and over again,
+    with the flat of the sword so that the whole castle was filled with the tumult
+    and uproar of that assault. </p>
+  <p> Then many of the knights of Cornwall came running with intent to defend
+    the King, and with them came Sir Andred. But when Sir Tristram saw them, his
+    rage suddenly left the King and went out toward them; so therewith, naked
+    of armor as he was, he rushed at them, and he struck at them so fiercely that
+    they were filled with the terror of his fury, and fled away from before his
+    face. And Sir Tristram chased them through the courts of the castle, striking
+    right and left until he was weary with striking, and many he struck down with
+    the fierceness of his blows, and amongst them was Sir Andred who was sorely
+    wounded. So after a while Sir Tristram grew weary of that battle, and he cried
+    out, "Certes, these are not knights, but swine!" And therewith he ceased striking,
+    and allowed those who could do so to escape. </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram departs from Tintagel.</div>
+  <p> Thereafter he went to his chamber and armed himself without summoning Gouvernail,
+    and after that he took horse and rode away altogether from that place. And
+    not even Gouvernail went with him, but only his favorite hound, hight Houdaine,
+    which same followed him into the forest as he rode thitherward. And in his
+    going Sir Tristram looked neither to the right nor to the left but straight
+    before him very proudly and haughtily, and no one dared to stay him in his
+    going. </p>
+  <p> Yet, though he appeared so steadfast, he was like one who was brokenhearted,
+    for he wist that in going away from that place he was leaving behind him all
+    that he held dear in the world, wherefore he was like one who rode forth from
+    a pleasant garden into an empty wilderness of sorrow and repining. </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Gouvernail finds Sir Tristram in the forest.</div>
+  <p> Then, some little while after Sir Tristram had gone, Gouvernail also took
+    horse and rode into the forest, and he searched for a long while in the forest
+    without finding his master. But after a while he came upon Sir Tristram seated
+    under a tree with his head hanging down upon his breast. And Houdaine lay
+    beside Sir Tristram and licked his hand, but Sir Tristram paid no heed to
+    him, being so deeply sunk in his sorrow that he was unaware that Houdaine
+    licked his hand in that wise. </p>
+  <p> Then Gouvernail dismounted from his horse and came to where Sir Tristram
+    was, and Gouvernail wept at beholding the sorrow of Sir Tristram. And Gouvernail
+    said: "Messire, look up and take cheer, for there must yet be joy for thee
+    in the world." </p>
+  <p> Then Sir Tristram raised his eyes very slowly (for they were heavy and dull
+    like lead) and he looked at Gouvernail for some while as though not seeing
+    him. Then by and by he said: "Gouvernail, what evil have I done that I should
+    have so heavy a curse laid upon me?" Gouvernail said, still weeping: "Lord,
+    thou hast done no ill, but art in all wise a very noble, honorable gentleman."
+    "Alas!" quoth Sir Tristram, "I must unwittingly have done some great evil
+    in God's sight, for certes the hand of God lieth grievously heavy upon me."
+    Gouvernail said: "Lord, take heart, and tell me whither shall we go now?"
+    And Sir Tristram said, "I know not." </p>
+  <p> Then Gouvernail said: "Lord, let us go hence, I care not where, for I reckon
+    nothing of storm or rain or snow or hail if it so be that I am with you."
+  </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram bids Gouvernail return to Tintagel.</div>
+  <p> Then Sir Tristram looked upon Gouvernail and smiled, and he said: "Gouvernail,
+    it is great joy to me that you should love me so greatly as you do. But this
+    time you may not go with me whither I go, for the Lady Belle Isoult hath few
+    friends at the court of Cornwall, and many enemies, wherefore I would have
+    you return unto her for my sake, so that you may befriend her and cherish
+    her when that I am no longer by her for to stand her friend in her hour of
+    need. And take this dog Houdaine with you and bid the Lady Belle Isoult for
+    to keep him by her to remind her of my faithfulness unto her. For even as
+    this creature is faithful unto me under all circumstances, so am I faithful
+    unto her whether she be glad or sorry, or in good or evil case. So return
+    to Tintagel as I bid thee, and see that thou pay thy duty unto that lady even
+    as thou payst it unto me. For she is so singularly dear unto me that, even
+    as a man's heart is the life of his body, so is her happiness the life of
+    my life." </p>
+  <p> Then Gouvernail wept again in very great measure, and he said, "Lord, I
+    obey." Therewith he mounted his horse, still weeping with a great passion
+    of sorrow, and rode away from that place, and Houdaine followed after him
+    and Sir Tristram was left sitting alone in the deep forest. </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram wanders in the forest mad.</div>
+  <p> After that Sir Tristram wandered for several days in the forest, he knew
+    not whither for he was bewildered with that which had happened; so that he
+    ate no food and took no rest of any sort for all that time. Wherefore, because
+    of the hardship he then endured, he by and by became distraught in his mind.
+    So, after a while, he forgot who he himself was, and what was his condition,
+    or whence he came or whither he wended. And because his armor weighed heavily
+    upon him, he took it off and cast it away from him, and thereafter roamed
+    half naked through the woodlands. </p>
+  <p> Now upon the sixth day of this wandering he came to the outskirts of the
+    forest and nigh to the coast of the sea at a spot that was not very far away
+    was the castle of the Lady Loise, where he had once stayed at the time that
+    he undertook the adventure against Sir Nabon as aforetold. There, being exhausted
+    with hunger and weariness, he laid himself down in the sunlight out beyond
+    the borders of the forest and presently fell into a deep sleep that was like
+    to a swoon. </p>
+  <p> Now it chanced at that time that there came that way a certain damsel attendant
+    upon the Lady Loise. She perceiving that a man lay there on the grass at the
+    edge of the forest was at first of a mind to quit that place. Then, seeing
+    that the man lay very strangely still as though he were dead, she went forward
+    very softly and looked into his face. </p>
+  <p> Now that damsel had beheld Sir Tristram a great many times when he was at
+    the castle of the Lady Loise; wherefore now, in spite of his being so starved
+    and shrunken, and so unkempt and unshaved, she remembered his face and she
+    knew that this was Sir Tristram. </p>
+  <p> Therewith the damsel hurried away to the Lady Loise (and the lady was not
+    a very great distance away) and she said: "Lady, yonder way there lieth a
+    man by the forest side and I believe that it is Sir Tristram of Lyonesse.
+    Yet he is but half-clad and in great distress of body so that I know not of
+    a surety whether it is really Sir Tristram or not. Now I pray you come with
+    me and look upon his face and see if you may know him." </p>
+  <p> So the Lady Loise went with the damsel to where Sir Tristram lay and looked
+    into his face, and she knew Sir Tristram in spite of his ill condition. </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">The Lady Loise finds Sir Tristram.</div>
+  <p> Then the Lady Loise touched Sir Tristram upon the shoulder and shook him,
+    and thereupon Sir Tristram awoke and sat up. Then the Lady Loise said, "Sir
+    Tristram, is it thou who liest here?" And Sir Tristram said, "I know not who
+    I am." The Lady Loise said, "Messire, how came you here in this sad case?"
+    And Sir Tristram said: "I know not whence I came, nor how I came hither, nor
+    who I am, nor what it is that ails me, for I cannot hold my mind with enough
+    steadiness to remember those things." Then the lady sighed for sorrow of Sir
+    Tristram, and she said: "Alas, Sir Tristram, that I should find you thus!
+    Now I pray you, lord, for to come with me to my castle which is hard by. There
+    we may care for you and may perhaps bring you back to health again." </p>
+  <p> To this Sir Tristram said: "Lady, I may not go with you. For though I cannot
+    remember whence I came, nor who I am, this much I know--I know that I am mad,
+    and that the forest is the only fit place for such as I am come to be." </p>
+  <p> The lady said: "Alas, Sir Tristram, thou wilt die if thou art left alone
+    here in the forest." And Sir Tristram said: "Lady, I know not what you mean
+    when you say I am to die. What is it to die?" So at these words the Lady Loise
+    saw how it was with Sir Tristram; that his brains were altogether turned;
+    and she wist that some sore trouble must have befallen to bring him to such
+    a pass. Then she bethought her of how dearly he loved the music of the harp,
+    and she said to herself: "Mayhap by means of music I may bring him back into
+    his senses again." So she said to that damsel who had brought her thither:
+    "Go thou and bring hither my little harp of gold, and let us see if music
+    may charm him to remembrance." </p>
+  <p> So the damsel ran to the castle and brought the harp thence, and the Lady
+    Loise took the harp and tuned it and struck it and played upon it. And the
+    lady sang very sweetly a ballad that she knew Sir Tristram loved. </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">The Lady Loise harps to Sir Tristram.</div>
+  <p> Then when Sir Tristram heard the sound of the music and singing he aroused
+    himself. For first he listened with great pleasure, and then he said, "Give
+    it to me! Give it to me!" and he reached out his hands and would have taken
+    the harp from the lady. </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram comes to the Lady's castle.</div>
+  <p> But the Lady Loise laughed and shook her head, and she walked away from
+    Sir Tristram and toward the castle, still playing upon the little harp and
+    singing; and Sir Tristram followed close after, saying ever, "Give it to me!
+    Give it to me!" and reaching out his hands for the harp. So the Lady Loise
+    led him away from that place across the meadows; and she led him to the castle
+    and into the castle; and ever Sir Tristram followed after her, beseeching
+    her for to give the harp unto him. And the lady led Sir Tristram that way
+    until she had brought him to a fair room, and there she gave him the harp,
+    and Sir Tristram took it very eagerly into his hands and struck upon it and
+    played and sang most sweetly and with great joy and pleasure. </p>
+  <p> Afterward, being so much comforted, he ate and drank with appetite, and
+    then fell into a fair sound sleep. </p>
+  <p> Yet, though he so slept, still Sir Tristram's wits in no wise recovered
+    themselves; for when he awoke from that slumber he still could not remember
+    who he was or whence he came, neither could he remember the faces of any of
+    those who were around about him. But, though he was thus mad, he was still
+    gentle and kind in his madness and courteous and civil to all those who came
+    nigh him. </p>
+  <p> So Sir Tristram remained a gentle captive in the castle of the Lady Loise
+    for nigh upon a month, and somewhiles she would sing and harp to him, and
+    otherwhiles he himself would harp and sing. But ever and anon, when he found
+    the chance for to do so, he would escape from the captivity of the castle
+    and seek the forest; for he was aware of his madness and he ever sought to
+    hide that madness in the deep and shady woodland where only the wild creatures
+    of the forest might see him. </p>
+  <p> Yet always when he so escaped the Lady Loise would take her little golden
+    harp and go forth to the skirts of the forest and play upon it, and when the
+    music thereof would reach Sir Tristram's ears he would return to the castle,
+    being led thither by the music. </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram quits the Lady's castle.</div>
+  <p> But one day he wandered so far astray that the music of the harp could not
+    reach his ears, and then he wandered on farther and farther until he was altogether
+    lost. At that Lady Loise took much sorrow for she had much love for Sir Tristram.
+    So she sent many of her people to search the forest for him, but none of these
+    were able to find him and thereafter he came no more to the castle. </p>
+  <p> Thus Sir Tristram escaped from that castle and after that he wandered in
+    the forest as he had done at the first. And in that time he took no food and
+    but little rest. And the brambles tore his clothes, so that in a short time
+    he was wellnigh altogether naked. </p>
+  <p> And somewhiles during this time of wandering he would be seized as with
+    a fury of battle, and in such case he would shout aloud as though in challenge
+    to an enemy. And then he would rend and tear great branches from the trees
+    in the fury of his imaginings. But otherwhiles he would wander through the
+    leafy aisles of the forest in gentler mood, singing so sweetly that had you
+    heard him you would have thought that it was some fairy spirit of the forest
+    chanting in those solitudes. </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram dwells with the swineherds.</div>
+  <p> So he wandered until he failed with faintness, and sank down into the leaves;
+    and I believe that he would then have died, had it not been that there chanced
+    to come that way certain swineherds of the forest who fed their swine upon
+    acorns that were to be therein found. These found Sir Tristram lying there
+    as though dead, and they gave him to eat and to drink so that he revived once
+    more. After that they took him with them, and he dwelt with them in those
+    woodlands. There these forest folk played with him and made merry with him,
+    and he made them great sport. For he was ever gentle and mild like a little
+    child for innocence so that he did no harm to anyone, but only talked in such
+    a way that the swineherds found great sport in him. </p>
+  <p> Now Sir Andred of Cornwall very greatly coveted the possessions of Sir Tristram,
+    so that when several months had passed by and Sir Tristram did not return
+    to Tintagel, he said to himself: "Of a surety, Tristram must now be dead in
+    the forest, and, as there is no one nigher of kin to him than I, it is altogether
+    fitting that I should inherit his possessions." </p>
+  <p> But as Sir Andred could not inherit without proof of the death of Sir Tristram,
+    he suborned a certain very beautiful but wicked lady who dwelt in the forest,
+    persuading her that she should give false evidence of Sir Tristram's death.
+    Accordingly, he one day brought that lady before King Mark, and she gave it
+    as her evidence that Sir Tristram had died in the forest and that she had
+    been with him when he died. And she showed them a new-made grave in the forest,
+    and she said: "That is the grave of Sir Tristram, for I saw him die and I
+    saw him buried there with mine own eyes." </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Sir Adred seizes Sir Tristram's possessions.</div>
+  <p> So everybody believed this evidence, and thought that Sir Tristram was really
+    dead, and so Sir Andred seized upon all the possessions of Sir Tristram. And
+    there were many who were very sorry that Sir Tristram was dead and there were
+    others who were glad thereof in the same measure. But when the news was brought
+    to Belle Isoult that Sir Tristram was dead, she shrieked aloud and swooned
+    away. And she lay in that swoon so long that they thought for a while she
+    would never recover from it. But by and by she awoke therefrom, crying, "Would
+    to God that I were dead with Tristram and had never awakened!" </p>
+  <p> And thereafter she mourned continually for Sir Tristram and would not be
+    comforted; for she was like to a woman who hath been widowed from a lover
+    of her youth. </p>
+  <p> And now it shall be told of how it fared with Sir Tristram in the forest
+    where he dwelt with the swineherds, and of how he achieved a very notable
+    adventure therein. </p>
+  <div align="center"> <a href="images/tail.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/tail.gif" border="0" alt="Tail Piece" /></a>
+  </div>
+  <br />
+  <br />
+  <br />
+  <br />
+  <br />
+  <br />
+  <div class="chaphead" id="tr3c2"><a href="images/019.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/019.gif" alt="Chapter Header" border="0" /></a>
+    <br />
+    Chapter Second</div>
+  <br />
+  <div class="chapdes">How Sir Tristram got him a sword from Sir Kay and how he
+    slew therewith a huge knight in the forest and rescued a lady in very great
+    distress. Also how Sir Launcelot found Sir Tristram in the forest and brought
+    him thence to Tintagel again.</div>
+  <p> Now it chanced one day that Sir Kay the Seneschal came riding through those
+    parts of the forest where Sir Tristram abided with the swineherds, and with
+    Sir Kay there came a considerable court of esquires. And with him besides
+    there travelled Sir Dagonet, King Arthur's Fool. </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Sir Kay and Sir Dagonet come to the forest.</div>
+  <p> Now, you are to know that though Sir Dagonet was the King's jester, and
+    though he was slack of wit, yet he was also a knight of no mean prowess. For
+    he had performed several deeds of good repute and was well held in all courts
+    of chivalry. So Sir Dagonet always went armed; though he bore upon his shield
+    the device of a cockerel's head as a symbol of his calling. </p>
+  <p> The time that Sir Kay and his court travelled as aforesaid was in the summer
+    season and the day was very warm, so that Sir Kay was minded to take rest
+    during the midday and until the coolness of the afternoon should come. So
+    they all dismounted from their horses and sat them down under the shade of
+    the trees where it was cool and pleasant and where the breezes reached them
+    to breathe upon their faces. </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Sir Dagonet wanders in the woodland.</div>
+  <p> But whilst Sir Kay and his court thus rested themselves, Sir Dagonet must
+    needs be gadding, for he was of a very restless, meddlesome disposition. So,
+    being at that time clad only in half armor, he wandered hither and thither
+    through the forest as his fancy led him. For somewhiles he would whistle and
+    somewhiles he would gape, and otherwhiles he would cut a caper or two. So,
+    as chance would have it, he came by and by to that open glade of the forest
+    where the swineherds were gathered; and at that time they were eating their
+    midday meal of black bread and cheese, and were drinking beer; some talking
+    and laughing and others silent as they ate their food. Unto these Sir Dagonet
+    appeared, coming out of the forest in very gay attire, and shining in the
+    half armor he wore, so that he appeared like a bright bird of the woodland.
+  </p>
+  <p> Then Sir Dagonet, seeing where those rude boors were eating their meal of
+    food, came to them and stood amongst them. And he said, "Who are ye fellows?"
+    Whereunto they replied, "We are swineherds, Messire; who be ye?" </p>
+  <p> Quoth Sir Dagonet: "I am King Arthur's Fool. And whilst there are haply
+    many in the world with no more wits than I possess, yet there are few so honest
+    as I to confess that they are fools." </p>
+  <p> At these words those swineherds laughed very loudly. "Well," quoth one,
+    "if King Arthur hath his fool, so have we, and yonder he is," and therewith
+    he pointed to where Sir Tristram lay in the shade of the trees some distance
+    away and beside a deep well of the forest. </p>
+  <p> Upon that Sir Dagonet must needs go to where Sir Tristram lay, nearly naked,
+    upon the ground. And when he had come there he said, "Arise, fool." Whereunto
+    Sir Tristram replied: "Why should I arise? Lo! I am weary." </p>
+  <p> Then Sir Dagonet said: "It is not fitting that thou, who art the fool of
+    swineherds shouldst lie upon the grass, whilst I who am the fool of a king
+    stand upright upon my shanks. So, fool, I bid thee bestir thyself and arise."
+  </p>
+  <p> But Sir Tristram said, "I will not arise." And therewith Sir Dagonet took
+    his sword and pricked the thigh of Sir Tristram with the point thereof with
+    intent to make him bestir himself. </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram souses Sir Dagonet in the well.</div>
+  <p> Now when Sir Tristram felt the prick of Sir Dagonet's sword, a certain part
+    of his memory of knighthood came back to him and he was seized with a sudden
+    fury against Sir Dagonet. So he arose and ran at Sir Dagonet and catched him
+    in his arms, and lifted Sir Dagonet off his feet and he soused him in the
+    well four or five times so that he was like to have drowned him. </p>
+  <p> As for those swineherds, when they saw what their fool did to that other
+    fool, they roared with laughter so that some of them rolled down upon the
+    ground and lay grovelling there for pure mirth. But others of them called
+    out to Sir Tristram, "Let be, or thou wilt drown that man"; and therewith
+    Sir Tristram let Sir Dagonet go, and Sir Dagonet ran away. </p>
+  <p> Nor did Sir Dagonet cease to run until he came to his party under the shade
+    of the trees. But when Sir Kay perceived what a sorry plight it was in which
+    Sir Dagonet appeared, he said, "What hath befallen thee?" </p>
+  <p> To this Sir Dagonet replied as follows: "Messire, I, who am a fool, went
+    into the forest and met another fool. I fool would have a jest with he fool,
+    but he fool catched I fool and soused I fool in a well of cold water. So it
+    came about that while I fool had the jest, he fool had the sport of the jest."
+  </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Sir Kay seeks to avenge Sir Dagonet.</div>
+  <p> Then Sir Kay understood in some manner what had befallen, and he was very
+    angry that Sir Dagonet should have been so served. Wherefore he said, "Where
+    did this befall thee?" And Sir Dagonet said, "Over yonder ways." Then Sir
+    Kay said: "I will avenge thee for the affront that hath been put upon thee.
+    For no boor shall serve a knight of King Arthur's court in such a fashion!"
+    So therewith Sir Kay arose and put on his armor and mounted his horse and
+    rode away; and after a while he came to that place where the swineherds were.
+  </p>
+  <p> Then Sir Kay said very sternly: "Which of ye is that boor who put so grievous
+    an affront upon a gentleman of my party?" The swineherds say: "Yonder he is
+    lying by the well; but he is slack of wit, wherefore we beseech you to do
+    him no harm." </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram souses Sir Kay in the water.</div>
+  <a href="images/044.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="p23" align="left" src="images/044.gif" border="0" alt="Sir Kay and the Forest Madman" /></a>
+  <p> Then Sir Kay rode to where Sir Tristram was, and he said: "Sirrah, why did
+    you souse Sir Dagonet into the water?" To this Sir Tristram did not reply,
+    but only looked at Sir Kay and laughed, for it pleased him wonderfully to
+    behold that knight all in shining armor. But when Sir Kay beheld Sir Tristram
+    laugh in that wise, he waxed exceedingly wroth. Wherefore he drew his sword
+    straightway, and rode at Sir Tristram with intent to strike him with the blade
+    thereof. But when Sir Tristram saw the sword of Sir Kay shining like lightning
+    in the sunlight, somewhat of his knightly spirit arose within him and took
+    wing like to a bird springing up out of the marish grass into the clear air.
+    For beholding that bright flashing sword he cried out aloud and arose and
+    came very steadily toward Sir Kay, and Sir Kay rode toward Sir Tristram. Then
+    when Sir Kay had come near enough to strike, he arose in his stirrups and
+    lifted the blade on high with intent to strike Sir Tristram with it. But therewith
+    Sir Tristram ran very quickly in beneath the blow, so that the stroke of Sir
+    Kay failed of its mark. Then Sir Tristram leaped up and catched Sir Kay around
+    the body and dragged him down from off his horse very violently upon the ground,
+    and with that the sword of Sir Kay fell down out of his hands and lay in the
+    grass. Then Sir Tristram lifted up Sir Kay very easily and ran with him to
+    the well of water and soused him therein several times until Sir Kay cried
+    out, "Fellow, spare me or I strangle!" Upon that Sir Tristram let go Sir Kay,
+    and Sir Kay ran to his horse and mounted thereon and rode away from that place
+    with might and main, all streaming with water like to a fountain. </p>
+  <p> And all that while those swineherds roared with great laughter, ten times
+    louder than they had laughed when Sir Tristram had soused Sir Dagonet into
+    the well. </p>
+  <p> Then Sir Tristram beheld the sword of Sir Kay where it lay in the grass
+    and forthwith he ran to it and picked it up. And when he held it in his hands
+    he loved it with a great passion of love, wherefore he hugged it to his bosom
+    and kissed the pommel thereof. </p>
+  <p> But when the swineherds beheld the sword in Sir Tristram's hands, they said,
+    "That is no fit plaything for a madman to have," and they would have taken
+    it from him, but Sir Tristram would not permit them, for he would not give
+    them the sword, and no one dared to try to take it from him. </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram keeps the sword of Sir Kay.</div>
+  <p> So thereafter he kept that sword ever by him both by night and by day, and
+    ever he loved it and kissed it and fondled it; for, as aforesaid, it aroused
+    his knightly spirit to life within him, wherefore it was he loved it. </p>
+  <p> So it hath been told how Sir Tristram got him a sword, and now it shall
+    be told how well he used it. </p>
+  <p> Now there was at that time in the woodlands of that part of Cornwall a gigantic
+    knight hight Sir Tauleas, and he was the terror of all that district. For
+    not only was he a head and shoulders taller than the tallest of Cornish men,
+    but his strength and fierceness were great in the same degree that he was
+    big of frame. Many knights had undertaken to rid the world of this Sir Tauleas,
+    but no knight had ever yet encountered him without meeting some mishap at
+    his hands. </p>
+  <p> (Yet it is to be said that heretofore no such knight as Sir Launcelot or
+    Sir Lamorack had come against Sir Tauleas, but only the knights of Cornwall
+    and Wales, whose borders marched upon that district where Sir Tauleas ranged
+    afield.) </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Sir Daynant and his lady come to the forest.</div>
+  <p> Now one day there came riding through the forest a very noble, gallant young
+    knight, hight Sir Daynant, and with him rode his lady, a beautiful dame to
+    whom he had lately been wedded with a great deal of love. These wayfarers
+    in their travelling came to that part of the forest where the swineherds abode,
+    and where were the open glade of grass and the fair well of water aforespoken
+    of. </p>
+  <p> Hereunto coming, and the day being very warm, these two travellers dismounted
+    and besought refreshment of the swineherds who were there, and those rude
+    good fellows gladly gave them to eat and to drink of the best they had. </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Sir Daynant regards Sir tristram.</div>
+  <p> Whilst they ate, Sir Tristram came and sat nigh to Sir Daynant and his lady
+    and smiled upon them, for he loved them very greatly because of their nobility
+    and beauty. Then Sir Daynant looked upon Sir Tristram and beheld how strong
+    and beautiful of body and how noble of countenance he was, and he saw that
+    beautiful shining sword that Sir Tristram carried ever with him. And Sir Daynant
+    said, "Fair friend, who are you, and where gat ye that sword?" </p>
+  <p> "I know not who I am," said Sir Tristram, "nor know I whence I came nor
+    whither I go. As for this sword, I had it from a gentleman who came hither
+    to us no great while ago." </p>
+  <p> Then the chiefest of the swineherds said: "Lord, this is a poor madman whom
+    we found naked and starving in the forest. As for that sword, I may tell you
+    that he took it away from a knight who came hither to threaten his life, and
+    he soused that knight into the well so that he was wellnigh drowned." </p>
+  <p> Sir Daynant said: "That is a very strange story, that a naked madman should
+    take the sword out of the hands of an armed knight and treat that knight as
+    ye tell me. Now maybe this is some famous hero or knight who hath lost his
+    wits through sorrow or because of some other reason, and who hath so come
+    to this sorry pass." </p>
+  <p> (So said Sir Daynant, and it may here be said that from that time those
+    rude swineherds began to look upon Sir Tristram with different eyes than before,
+    saying amongst themselves: "Maybe what that knight said is true, and this
+    is indeed no common madman.") </p>
+  <p> Now whilst Sir Daynant sat there with his lady, holding converse with the
+    swineherds concerning Sir Tristram in that wise, there came a great noise
+    in the forest, and out therefrom there came riding with great speed that huge
+    savage knight Sir Tauleas aforetold of. Then Sir Daynant cried out, "Alas,
+    here is misfortune!" And therewith he made all haste to put his helmet upon
+    his head. </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Sir Tauleas strikes down Sir Daynant.</div>
+  <p> But ere he could arm himself in any sufficient wise, Sir Tauleas drave down
+    very fiercely upon him. And Sir Tauleas rose up in his stirrups and lashed
+    so terrible a blow at Sir Daynant that it struck through Sir Daynant's helmet
+    and into his brain-pan, wherefore Sir Daynant immediately fell down to the
+    ground as though he had been struck dead. </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Sir Tauleas bears away the lady.</div>
+  <p> Then Sir Tauleas rode straightway to where the lady of Sir Daynant was,
+    and he said: "Lady, thou art a prize that it is very well worth while fighting
+    for! And lo! I have won thee." Therewith he catched her and lifted her up,
+    shrieking and screaming and struggling, and sat her upon the saddle before
+    him and held her there maugre all her struggles. Then straightway he rode
+    away into the forest, carrying her with him; and all that while Sir Tristram
+    stood as though in a maze, gazing with a sort of terror upon what befell and
+    not rightly knowing what it all meant. For there lay Sir Daynant as though
+    dead upon the ground, and he could yet hear the shrieks of the lady sounding
+    out from the forest whither Sir Tauleas had carried her. </p>
+  <p> Then the chief of the swineherds came to Sir Tristram, and said: "Fellow,
+    as thou hast a sword, let us see if thou canst use it. If thou art a hero
+    as that knight said of thee a while since, and not a pure madman, then follow
+    after that knight and bring that lady back hither again." </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram follows Sir Tauleas.</div>
+  <p> Then Sir Tristram awoke from that maze and said, "I will do so." And therewith
+    he ran away very rapidly into the forest, pursuing the direction that Sir
+    Tauleas had taken. And he ran for a great distance, and by and by, after a
+    while, he beheld Sir Tauleas before him where he rode. And by that time the
+    lady was in a deep swoon and lay as though dead across the saddle of Sir Tauleas.
+    Then Sir Tristram cried out in a great voice: "Stay, Sir Knight, and turn
+    this way, for I come to take that lady away from thee and to bring her back
+    unto her friend again!" </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram slays Sir Tauleas.</div>
+  <p> Then Sir Tauleas turned him and beheld a naked man running after him with
+    a sword in his hand, whereupon he was seized with a great rage of anger, so
+    that he put that lady he carried down to the ground. And he drew his sword
+    and rushed at Sir Tristram very violently with intent to slay him. And when
+    he came nigh to Sir Tristram he arose up on his stirrups and lashed so terrible
+    a blow at him that, had it met its mark, it would have cloven Sir Tristram
+    in twain. But Sir Tristram leaped aside and turned the blow very skilfully;
+    and therewith a memory of his knightly prowess came upon him and he, upon
+    his part, lashed a blow at Sir Tauleas that Sir Tauleas received very unexpectedly.
+    And that blow struck Sir Tauleas so terrible a buffet upon the head that the
+    brain of Sir Tauleas swam, and he swayed about and then fell down from off
+    his horse. Therewith Sir Tristram ran to him and rushed his helmet from off
+    his head. And when he beheld the naked head of Sir Tauleas he catched it by
+    the hair and drew the neck of Sir Tauleas forward. Then Sir Tauleas cried
+    out, "Spare me, fellow!" But Sir Tristram said, "I will not spare thee for
+    thou art a wicked man!" And therewith he lifted his sword on high and smote
+    off the head of Sir Tauleas so that it rolled down upon the ground. </p>
+  <p> After that, Sir Tristram went to the Lady and he chafed her hands and her
+    face so that she revived from her swoon. And when she was revived, he said:
+    "Lady, take cheer; for look yonder and thou wilt see thy enemy is dead, and
+    so now I may take thee back again unto thy friend." And therewith the lady
+    smiled upon Sir Tristram and catched his hand in hers and kissed it. </p>
+  <p> Then Sir Tristram lifted the lady upon the horse of Sir Tauleas, and after
+    that he went back again to where he had left Sir Daynant and the swineherds;
+    and he led the horse of Sir Tauleas by the bridle with the lady upon the back
+    thereof and he bore the head of Sir Tauleas in his hand by the hair. </p>
+  <p> But when those swineherds saw Sir Tristram come forth thus out of the forest
+    bringing that lady and bearing the head of Sir Tauleas, they were amazed beyond
+    measure, and they said to one another: "Of a certainty what this young knight
+    hath just said is sooth and this madman is indeed some great champion in distress.
+    But who he is no one may know, since he himself doth not know." </p>
+  <p> And when Sir Daynant had recovered from that blow that Sir Tauleas had given
+    him, he also gave Sir Tristram great praise for what he had done. And Sir
+    Tristram was abashed at all the praise that was bestowed upon him. </p>
+  <p> Then Sir Daynant and his lady besought Sir Tristram that he would go with
+    them to their castle so that they might care for him, but Sir Tristram would
+    not, for he said: "I wist very well that I am mad, and so this forest is a
+    fit place for me to dwell and these kind rude fellows are fit companions for
+    me at this time whilst my wits are wandering." </p>
+  <p> Thus it was with this adventure. And now you shall hear how Sir Launcelot
+    found Sir Tristram in the forest and how he brought him out thence and likewise
+    what befell thereafter. </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot enters the forest.</div>
+  <p> For only the next day after all these things had happened, Sir Launcelot
+    came riding through the forest that way, seeking for Sir Tauleas with intent
+    to do battle with him because of his many evil deeds. For Sir Launcelot purposed
+    either to slay him or else to bring him captive to King Arthur. </p>
+  <p> So it came to pass that Sir Launcelot came to that place where Sir Tristram
+    and the swineherds abode. </p>
+  <p> There Sir Launcelot made pause for to rest and to refresh himself, and whilst
+    he sat with his helmet lying beside him so that the breezes might cool his
+    face, all those rude swineherds gathered about and stared at him. And Sir
+    Launcelot smiled upon them, and he said: "Good fellows, I pray you tell me;
+    do you know where, hereabouts, I shall find a knight whom men call Sir Tauleas?"
+  </p>
+  <p> Unto this the chief swineherd made reply, saying: "Lord, if you come hither
+    seeking Sir Tauleas, you shall seek him in vain. For yesterday he was slain,
+    and if you look yonder way you may see his head hanging from a branch of a
+    tree at the edge of the glade." </p>
+  <p> Upon this Sir Launcelot cried out in great amazement, "How hath that come
+    to pass?" and therewith he immediately arose from where he sat and went to
+    that tree where the head hung. And he looked into the face of the head, and
+    therewith he saw that it was indeed the head of Sir Tauleas that hung there.
+    Then Sir Launcelot said: "This is very wonderful. Now I pray you, tell me
+    what knight was it who slew this wicked wretch, and how his head came to be
+    left hanging here?" </p>
+  <p> To this the chief of the swineherds made reply: "Messire, he who slew Sir
+    Tauleas was no knight, but a poor madman whom we found in the forest and who
+    has dwelt with us now for a year past. Yonder you may see him, lying half
+    naked, sleeping beside that well of water." </p>
+  <p> Sir Launcelot said, "Was it he who did indeed slay Sir Tauleas?" And the
+    swineherd said, "Yea, lord, it was he." </p>
+  <p> Sir Launcelot said, "Do ye not then know who he is?" The swineherd replied:
+    "No, lord, we only know that one day we found him lying in the forest naked
+    and nigh to death from hunger and that we fed him and clothed him, and that
+    since then he hath dwelt ever with us, showing great love for us all." </p>
+  <p> Then Sir Launcelot went to where Sir Tristram lay, and he looked upon him
+    as he slept and he knew him not; for the beard and the hair of Sir Tristram
+    had grown down all over his breast and shoulders and he was very ragged and
+    beaten by the weather. But though Sir Launcelot knew him not, yet he beheld
+    that the body of Sir Tristram was very beautiful and strong, for he saw how
+    all the muscles and thews thereof were cut very smooth and clean as you might
+    cut them out of wax, wherefore Sir Launcelot gazed for a long while and felt
+    great admiration for his appearance. </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot regards Sir tristram.</div>
+  <p> Then Sir Launcelot beheld how the sleeping man held a naked sword in his
+    arms very caressingly, as though he loved it, and thereat he was very much
+    surprised to find such a sword as that in the hands of this forest madman.
+    Wherefore he said to those swineherds, "Where got this man that sword?" </p>
+  <p> "Messire," said the swineherd who had afore spoken, "some while since there
+    came a knight hitherward who ill-treated him. Thereupon this poor man ran
+    at the knight and overthrew him and took the sword away from him and soused
+    him several times in the well. After that he hath ever held fast to this sword
+    and would not give it up to any of us." </p>
+  <p> "Ha!" said Sir Launcelot, "that is a very wonderful story, that a naked
+    man should overthrow an armed knight and take his sword away from him. Now
+    I deem that this is no mere madman, but some noble knight in misfortune."
+  </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot awakens Sir Tristram.</div>
+  <p> Therewith he reached forward and touched Sir Tristram very gently on the
+    shoulder, and at that Sir Tristram awoke and opened his eyes and sat up. And
+    Sir Tristram looked upon Sir Launcelot, but knew him not, albeit some small
+    memory moved very deeply within him. Nevertheless, though he knew not Sir
+    Launcelot, yet he felt great tenderness for that noble knight in arms, and
+    he smiled very lovingly upon him. And Sir Launcelot felt in return a very
+    great deal of regard for Sir Tristram, but wist not why that was; yet it seemed
+    to Sir Launcelot that he should know the face of Sir Tristram, and that it
+    was not altogether strange to him. </p>
+  <p> Then Sir Launcelot said, "Fair friend, was it thou who slew Sir Tauleas?"
+    And Sir Tristram said, "Ay." Sir Launcelot said, "Who art thou?" Whereunto
+    Sir Tristram made reply: "I know not who I am, nor whence I come, nor how
+    I came hither." </p>
+  <p> Then Sir Launcelot felt great pity and tenderness for Sir Tristram, and
+    he said: "Friend, wilt thou go with me away from this place and into the habitations
+    of men? There I believe thy mind maybe made whole again, and that it may be
+    with thee as it was beforetime. And verily, I believe that when that shall
+    come to pass, the world shall find in thee some great knight it hath lost."
+  </p>
+  <p> Sir Tristram said: "Sir Knight, though I know not who I am, yet I know that
+    I am not sound in my mind; wherefore I am ashamed to go out in the world and
+    amongst mankind, but would fain hide myself away in this forest. Yet I love
+    thee so much that, if thou wert to bid me go with thee to the ends of the
+    world, I believe I would go with thee." </p>
+  <p> Then Sir Launcelot smiled upon Sir Tristram very kindly and said, "I do
+    bid thee come with me away from here," and Sir Tristram said, "I will go."
+  </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram quits the forest with Sir Launcelot.</div>
+  <p> So Sir Launcelot bade the swineherds clothe Sir Tristram in such a wise
+    that his nakedness might be covered, and he bade them give Sir Tristram hosen
+    and shoon, and when Sir Tristram was thus decently clad, Sir Launcelot made
+    ready to take his departure from that place. </p>
+  <p> But ere the two left, all those good fellows crowded around Sir Tristram,
+    and embraced him and kissed him upon the cheek; for they had come to love
+    him a very great deal. </p>
+  <p> Then the two went away through the forest, Sir Launcelot proudly riding
+    upon his great horse and Sir Tristram running very lightly beside him. </p>
+  <p> But Sir Launcelot had other business at that time than to seek out Sir Tauleas
+    as aforetold. For at that time there were three knights of very ill-repute
+    who harried the west coast of that land that overlooked the sea toward the
+    Kingdom of Ireland, and Sir Launcelot was minded to seek them out after he
+    had finished with Sir Tauleas. So ere he returned to the court of King Arthur
+    he had first of all to go thitherward. </p>
+  <p> Now you are to know that the castle of Tintagel lay upon the way that he
+    was to take upon that adventure, and so it was that he brought Sir Tristram
+    to the castle of Tintagel, where King Mark of Cornwall was then holding court.
+    For Sir Launcelot was minded to leave Sir Tristram there whilst he went upon
+    that adventure aforetold of. </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram comes to Tintagel.</div>
+  <p> And Sir Launcelot was received in Tintagel with very great honor and acclaim,
+    for it was the first time he had ever been there. And King Mark besought Sir
+    Launcelot for to abide a while in Tintagel; but Sir Launcelot refused this
+    hospitality, saying: "I have an adventure to do for the sake of my master,
+    King Arthur, and I may not abide here at this present. But I pray you to grant
+    me a favor, and it is this: that you cherish this poor madman whom I found
+    in the forest, and that you keep him here, treating him kindly until I shall
+    return from the quest I am upon. For I have great love for this poor fellow
+    and I would not have any harm befall him whilst I am away." </p>
+  <p> Then King Mark said: "I am sorry you will not remain with us, but as to
+    this thing it shall be done as you desire, for we will cherish and care for
+    this man while you are away." So said King Mark, speaking with great cheerfulness
+    and courtesy; for neither he nor any of his court at that time wist who Sir
+    Tristram was. </p>
+  <p> So Sir Launcelot went upon his way, and King Mark gave orders that Sir Tristram
+    should be well-clothed and fed, and it was done as he commanded. </p>
+  <br />
+  <div align="center"> *&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;*&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;*&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;*&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;*
+  </div>
+  <br />
+  <p> Thus it was that Sir Tristram was brought back to the castle of Tintagel
+    again. And now it shall be told how it befell with him thereat. </p>
+  <div align="center"> <a href="images/tail.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/tail.gif" border="0" alt="Tail Piece" /></a>
+  </div>
+  <br />
+  <br />
+  <br />
+  <br />
+  <br />
+  <br />
+  <div class="chaphead" id="tr3c3"><a href="images/015.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/015.gif" alt="Chapter Header" border="0" /></a>
+    <br />
+    Chapter Third</div>
+  <br />
+  <div class="chapdes">How Sir Tristram was discovered at Tintagel and of what
+    befell thereby.</div>
+  <p> Now during the time that Sir Tristram abode thus unknown at the court of
+    Tintagel, he was allowed to wander thereabouts whithersoever he chose, and
+    no one hindered him either in going or in coming. For none in all that place
+    suspected who he was, but everyone thought that he was only a poor gentle
+    madman of the forest; so he was allowed to wander at will as his fancy led
+    him. </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">How Sir Tristram dwelt at Tintagel.</div>
+  <p> And Sir Tristram's memory never awoke; but though it awoke not, yet it stirred
+    within him. For though he could not remember what this place was whereunto
+    he had come, yet it was very strangely familiar to him, so that whithersoever
+    he went, he felt that those places were not altogether strange to him. And
+    in some of those places he felt great pleasure and in other places somewhat
+    of pain, yet he knew not why he should have the one feeling or the other.
+  </p>
+  <p> Now of all those places whereunto he wandered, Sir Tristram found most pleasure
+    in the pleasance of the castle where was a fair garden and fruit trees; for
+    it was there that he and the Lady Belle Isoult had walked together aforetime
+    ere his affliction had befallen him, and he remembered this place better than
+    any other, and took more pleasure in it. Now one day Sir Tristram came wandering
+    thus into that pleasance and, the day being warm, he sat under the shade of
+    an appletree beside a marble fountain of water; and the appletree above his
+    head was all full of red and golden fruit. So Sir Tristram sat there, striving
+    to remember how it was that he had once aforetime beheld that fountain and
+    that garden and that appletree beneath which he sat. </p>
+  <p> So whilst he sat there pondering in that wise, there came the Lady Belle
+    Isoult into the garden of that pleasance and her lady, the dame Bragwaine,
+    was with her, and the hound, hight Houdaine, which Sir Tristram had sent to
+    her by Gouvernail, walked beside her on the other side. Then Belle Isoult
+    perceived that there was a man sitting under the appletree, and she said to
+    dame Bragwaine: "Who is yonder man who hath dared to come hither into our
+    privy garden?" Unto this, dame Bragwaine replied: "That, lady, is the gentle
+    madman of the forest whom Sir Launcelot brought hither two days ago." </p>
+  <p> Then the Lady Belle Isoult said, "Let us go nearer and see what manner of
+    man he is"; and so they went forward toward where Sir Tristram sat, and the
+    dog Houdaine went with them. </p>
+  <p> Then Sir Tristram was aware that someone was nigh; and therewith he turned
+    his face and beheld the Lady Isoult for the first time since he had gone mad
+    in the forest; and the lady was looking at him, but knew him not. </p>
+  <p> Then of a sudden, because of his great love for Belle Isoult, the memory
+    of Sir Tristram came all back to him in the instant, and upon that instant
+    he knew who he was and all that had befallen him, and how he had been brought
+    there as a madman out of the forest. But though he knew her in that wise,
+    yet, as has been said, she knew not him. </p>
+  <p> Then Sir Tristram was all overwhelmed with shame that he should be thus
+    found by that dear lady; wherefore he turned away his face and bowed his head
+    so that she might not remember him, for he perceived that as yet she did not
+    know him who he was. </p>
+  <p> Now at that moment the dog, Houdaine, was aware of the savor of Sir Tristram;
+    wherefore he leaped away from the Lady Belle Isoult and ran to Sir Tristram
+    and smelt very eagerly of him. And with that he knew his master. </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Houdaine knoweth Sir Tristram.</div>
+  <p> Then the two ladies who looked beheld Houdaine fall down at the feet of
+    Sir Tristram and grovel there with joy. And they beheld that he licked Sir
+    Tristram's feet and his hands, and that he leaped upon Sir Tristram and licked
+    his neck and face, and at that they were greatly astonished. </p>
+  <p> Then of a sudden a thought came to dame Bragwaine, and she catched the Lady
+    Isoult by the arm and she said: "Lady, know you not who yonder madman is?"
+    But the Lady Belle Isoult said: "Nay, I know not who he is. Who is he, Bragwaine?"
+    And Bragwaine said: "Certes, that is Sir Tristram, and no one else in all
+    the world." </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Belle Isoult knows Sir Tristram.</div>
+  <p> Therewith, at those words, the scales suddenly fell from Lady Belle Isoult's
+    eyes and she knew him. Then, for a little space, she stood as though turned
+    into stone; then she emitted a great loud cry of joy and ran to Sir Tristram
+    where he sat, and flung herself down upon the ground at the feet of Sir Tristram
+    and embraced him about the knees. And she cried out in a voice of great passion:
+    "Tristram! Tristram! Is it thou? They told me thou wert dead, and lo! thou
+    art come to life again!" And with that she fell to weeping with such fury
+    of passion that it was as though the soul of her were struggling to escape
+    from her body. </p>
+  <p> Then Sir Tristram got to his feet in great haste and agitation and he said:
+    "Lady! Lady! This must not be--arise, and stay your passion or else it will
+    be our ruin. For behold, I am alone and unarmed in this castle, and there
+    are several herein who seek my life. So if it be discovered who I am, both
+    thou and I are lost." </p>
+  <p> Then, perceiving how that Belle Isoult was in a way distracted and out of
+    her mind with joy and grief and love, he turned him unto Bragwaine and said
+    to her: "Take thy lady hence and by and by I will find means whereby I may
+    come to speech with her in private. Meanwhile it is death both for her and
+    for me if she remain here to betray me unto the others of this castle." </p>
+  <p> So Bragwaine and Sir Tristram lifted up the Lady Belle Isoult, and Bragwaine
+    led her thence out of that place; for I believe that Belle Isoult knew not
+    whither she went but walked like one walking half in a swoon. </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Sir Andred knoweth Sir Tristram.</div>
+  <p> Now it chanced at that time that Sir Andred was in a balcony overlooking
+    that pleasance, and, hearing the sound of voices and the sound of a disturbance
+    that was suppressed, he looked out and beheld all that passed. Then he also
+    wist who was that madman whom Sir Launcelot had fetched to that place out
+    of the forest, and that he was Sir Tristram. </p>
+  <p> Therewith he was filled with a great rage and fury and was likewise overwhelmed
+    with great fear lest, if Sir Tristram should escape from that castle with
+    his life, he would reclaim those possessions that he, Sir Andred, had seized
+    upon. </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Sir Andres betrays Sir Tristram to King Mark.</div>
+  <p> So therewith he withdrew himself from that balcony very softly, into the
+    apartment behind. And he sat down in that apartment for a little while as
+    though not knowing rightly what to do. But after a little while he arose and
+    went to King Mark; and King Mark looked up and beheld him and said, "What
+    news do you bring, Messire?" Thereunto Sir Andred made reply: "Lord, know
+    you who that madman is whom Sir Launcelot hath fetched hither?" King Mark
+    said, "Nay, I know not who he is." But with that he fell to trembling throughout
+    his entire body, for he began to bethink him who that madman was. "Lord,"
+    said Sir Andred, "it is Sir Tristram, and me-seems Sir Launcelot was aware
+    who it was, and that he was plotting treason when he fetched him hither."
+  </p>
+  <p> At that King Mark smote his hands together and he cried in a terrible voice,
+    "I know it! I know it!" And then he said: "Blind! Blind! How was it that I
+    knew him not?" Then after a little he fell to laughing and he said to Sir
+    Andred: "Lo! God hath assuredly delivered that traitor, Sir Tristram, into
+    mine hands so that I may punish him for his treasons. For, behold! he is here
+    in our midst and he is altogether unarmed. Go, Messire, with all haste, gather
+    together such force as may be needful, and seize upon him and bind him so
+    that he may do no further harm to any man. Then let justice be executed upon
+    him so soon as it is possible to do so." And Sir Andred said: "Lord, it shall
+    be done according to your demands and upon the instant." </p>
+  <p> Therewith Sir Andred went forth from where the King was, and he armed himself
+    in complete armor, and he gathered together a number of knights and esquires
+    and he led them to that place where he knew Sir Tristram would be; and there
+    he found Sir Tristram sitting sunk in thought. And when Sir Tristram beheld
+    those armed men come in thus upon him, he arose to defend himself. But then
+    Sir Andred cried out in a loud voice: "Seize him ere he can strike and bind
+    him fast, for he is unarmed and may do you no harm!" </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">The castle folk seize Sir Tristram.</div>
+  <p> With that a dozen or more of those who were with Sir Andred flung themselves
+    upon Sir Tristram, shouting and roaring like wild beasts. And they bore him
+    to the earth by numbers, and after a while, by dint of great effort, they
+    held him and bound his hands together by the wrists. Then they lifted up Sir
+    Tristram and stood him upon his feet, and lo! his bosom heaved with his struggles,
+    and his eyes were all shot with blood and his lips afroth with the fury of
+    his fighting; and his clothes were torn in that struggle so that his body
+    was half naked. And they held him there, a knight in armor with a naked sword
+    standing upon his right hand and another armed knight with a naked sword standing
+    upon his left hand. </p>
+  <p> Then Sir Andred came and stood in front of Sir Tristram and taunted him,
+    saying: "Ha, Tristram, how is it with thee now? Lo! thou camest like a spy
+    into this place, and now thou art taken with all thy treason upon thee. So
+    thou shalt die no knightly death, but, in a little while, thou shalt be hanged
+    like a thief." </p>
+  <p> Then he came close to Sir Tristram, and he laughed and said: "Tristram where
+    is now the glory of thy strength that one time overcame all thine enemies?
+    Lo! thou art helpless to strike a single blow in defence of thine honor."
+    And therewith Sir Andred lifted his hand and smote Sir Tristram upon the face
+    with the palm thereof. </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram slays Sir Andred.</div>
+  <p> At that blow the rage of Sir Tristram so flamed up in him that his eyes
+    burned as with pure green fire. And in an instant, so quickly that no man
+    wist what he did, he turned with amazing suddenness upon that knight who stood
+    at his left hand, and he lifted up both hands that were bound, and he smote
+    that knight such a blow upon the face that the knight fell down upon the ground
+    and his sword fell out of his hand. Then Sir Tristram snatched the sword and,
+    turning with astonishing quickness, he smote the knight upon his right hand
+    such a buffet that he instantly fell down upon his knees and then rolled over
+    upon the ground in a swoon. Then Sir Tristram turned upon Sir Andred, and
+    lifting high the sword with both hands tied, he smote him so terrible a blow
+    that the blade cut through his epulier and half through his body as far as
+    the paps. At that great terrible blow the breath fled out of Sir Andred with
+    a deep groan, and he fell down upon the ground and immediately died. </p>
+  <p> Now all this had happened so suddenly that they who beheld it were altogether
+    amazed and stood staring as though bewitched by some spell. But when they
+    beheld Sir Tristram turn upon them and make at them with that streaming sword
+    lifted on high, the terror of his fury so seized upon them that they everywhere
+    broke from before him and fled, yelling, and with the fear of death clutching
+    them in the vitals. And Sir Tristram chased them out of that place and into
+    the courtyard of the castle, and some he smote down and others escaped; but
+    all who could do so scattered away before him like chaff before the wind.
+  </p>
+  <p> Then, when they were gone, Sir Tristram stood panting and glaring about
+    him like a lion at bay. Then he set the point of his sword upon the pavement
+    of the court and the pommel thereof he set against his breast, and he drew
+    the bonds that held his wrists across the edge of the sword so that they were
+    cut and he was free. </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram defends the chapel.</div>
+  <p> But Sir Tristram wist that in a little the whole castle would be aroused
+    against him, and that he would certainly be overwhelmed by dint of numbers,
+    wherefore he looked about him for some place of refuge; and he beheld that
+    the door of the chapel which opened upon the courtyard stood ajar. So he ran
+    into the chapel and shut to that door and another door and locked and bolted
+    them both, and set a heavy bar of wood across both of them so that for a while
+    he was safe. </p>
+  <p> But yet he was only safe for a little while, for about the time of early
+    nightfall, which came not long thereafter, a great party of several score
+    of King Mark's people came against the chapel where he was. And when they
+    found that the doors were locked and barred, they brought rams for to batter
+    in the chief door of the chapel. </p>
+  <p> Then Sir Tristram beheld how parlous was his case, and that he must in a
+    little while die if he did not immediately do something to save himself. So
+    with that he ran to a window of the chapel and opened it and looked out thence.
+    And lo! below him and far beneath was the sea, and the rocks of the shore
+    upon which the castle was built; and the sea and the rocks lay twelve fathoms
+    beneath him. </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram leaps into the sea.</div>
+  <a href="images/045.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="p24"align="right" src="images/045.gif" border="0" alt="Sir Tristram leaps into ye Sea" /></a>
+  <p> But Sir Tristram said, "Better death there than here;" and therewith finding
+    that the door was now falling in beneath the rams, he leaped out from the
+    window-ledge, and thence he dived down into the sea; and no one saw that terrible
+    leap that he made. So he sank down deep into the sea, but met no rocks, so
+    that he presently came up again safe and sound. Then, looking about him, he
+    perceived in the twilight a cave in the rocks, and thither he swam with the
+    intent to find shelter for a little. </p>
+  <p> Now when they who had come against him had broken into the chapel they all
+    ran in in one great crowd, for they expected to find Sir Tristram and to do
+    battle with him. But lo! Sir Tristram was not there, but only the empty walls.
+    Then at first they were greatly astonished, and knew not what to think. And
+    some who came cried out: "Is that man then a spirit that he can melt away
+    into thin air?" But after a little, one of them perceived where the window
+    of the chapel stood open, and therewith several of them ran thereunto and
+    looked out, and they wist that Sir Tristram had leaped out thence into the
+    sea. </p>
+  <p> Then they said to one another: "Either that knight is now dead, or else
+    he will perish when the tide rises and covers the rocks; so to-night we will
+    do no more with this business; but to-morrow we will go and find his body
+    where it lies among the rocks of the shore." So thereupon they shut the window
+    and went their ways. </p>
+  <p> Now Gouvernail was not at that time at Tintagel, nor did he return thereunto
+    until all this affair was over and done. But when he came there, there were
+    many voices to tell him what had befallen, and to all of them Gouvernail listened
+    without saying anything. </p>
+  <p> But afterward Gouvernail went and sought out a certain knight hight Sir
+    Santraille de Lushon, who, next to himself, was the most faithful friend to
+    Sir Tristram at that place. To him Gouvernail said: "Messire, I do not think
+    that Sir Tristram is dead, for he hath always been a most wonderful swimmer
+    and diver. But if he be alive, and we do not save him, he will assuredly perish
+    when the tide comes up and covers over those rocks amongst which he may now
+    be hidden." </p>
+  <p> So Gouvernail and Sir Santraille went to that chapel unknown to anyone,
+    and they went to that window whence Sir Tristram had leaped, and they opened
+    the window, and leaned out and called upon Sir Tristram in low voices: "Sir
+    Tristram, if thou art alive, arise and answer us, for we are friends!" </p>
+  <p> Then after a while Sir Tristram recognized Gouvernail's voice and answered
+    them: "I am alive; but save me, or I perish in a little while." Then Gouvernail
+    said: "Lord, are you hurt, or are you whole?" Sir Tristram replied, "I am
+    strong and well in body, but the tide rises fast." Gouvernail said, "Messire,
+    can you wait a little?" Sir Tristram said, "Ay; for a little, but not for
+    too long." </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Gouvernail and Sir Santraille rescue Sir Tristram.</div>
+  <p> Then Gouvernail and Sir Santraille withdrew from where they were and they
+    made all haste, and they got together a great number of sheets and napkins,
+    and tied these together and made a rope, and lowered the rope down to the
+    rocks where Sir Tristram was. Then Sir Tristram climbed up the rope of linen
+    and so reached the chapel in safety. And at that time it was nigh to midnight
+    and very dark. </p>
+  <p> But when Sir Tristram stood with them in the chapel, he gave them hardly
+    any greeting, but said at once: "Messires, how doth it fare with the Lady
+    Belle Isoult?" For he thought of her the first of all and above all things
+    else. </p>
+  <p> To this Sir Santraille made reply: "Sir, the lady hath been shut into a
+    tower, and the door thereof hath been locked upon her, and she is a close
+    prisoner." </p>
+  <p> Then Sir Tristram said: "How many knights are there in the place who are
+    my friends, and who will stand with me to break out hence?" To this Gouvernail
+    said: "Lord, there are twelve besides ourselves, and that makes fourteen in
+    all who are with thee in this quarrel unto life or death." </p>
+  <p> Sir Tristram said: "Provide me presently with arms and armor and bring those
+    twelve hither armed at all points. But first let them saddle horses for themselves
+    and for us, and for the Lady Belle Isoult and for her waiting-woman, Dame
+    Bragwaine. When this is done, we will depart from this place unto some other
+    place of refuge, and I do not think there will be any in the castle will dare
+    stop or stay us after we are armed." </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram arms himself.</div>
+  <p> So it was done as Sir Tristram commanded, and when all those were gathered
+    together, and their horses ready, Sir Tristram and several of the knights
+    of his party went openly to that tower where the Lady Belle Isoult was prisoner.
+    And they burst open the doors and went in with torches, and found Belle Isoult
+    and her attendant in the upper part of the castle. </p>
+  <p> But when Belle Isoult beheld the face of Sir Tristram, she said: "Is it
+    thou, my love; and art thou still alive, and art thou come tome?" Sir Tristram
+    said: "Yea, I am still alive nor will I die, God willing, until I have first
+    brought thee out of this wicked castle and into some place of safety. And
+    never again will I entrust thee unto King Mark's hands; for I have great fear
+    that if he have thee in his hands he will work vengeance upon thee so as to
+    strike at my heart through thee. So, dear love, I come to take thee away from
+    this place; and never again right or wrong, shalt thou be without the shelter
+    of my arm." </p>
+  <p> Then the Lady Belle Isoult smiled very wonderfully upon Sir Tristram so
+    that her face appeared to shine with a great illumination of love. And she
+    said: "Tristram, I will go with thee whithersoever thou wilt. Yea, I would
+    go with thee even to the grave, for I believe that I should be happy even
+    there, so that thou wert lying beside me." </p>
+  <p> Then Sir Tristram groaned in spirit and he said: "Isoult, what have I done,
+    that I should always bring unhappiness upon thee?" But the Lady Belle Isoult
+    spake very steadily, saying: "Never unhappiness, Tristram, but always happiness;
+    for I have thy love for aye, and thou hast mine in the same measure, and in
+    that is happiness, even in tears and sorrow, and never unhappiness." </p>
+  <p> With that Sir Tristram kissed Belle Isoult upon the forehead, and then he
+    lifted her up and carried her in his arms down the stairs of the tower and
+    sat her upon her horse. And Bragwaine followed after, and Gouvernail lifted
+    her up upon her horse. </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram taketh Belle Isoult away from Tintagel.</div>
+  <p> Now all they of that castle were amazed beyond measure to find all those
+    knights armed and prepared for battle so suddenly in their midst. And most
+    of all were they filled with terror to find Sir Tristram at the head of these
+    knights. Wherefore when Sir Tristram made demand that they should open the
+    portcullis of the castle and let fall the drawbridge, the porters thereof
+    dared not refuse him, but did as he said. </p>
+  <p> So Sir Tristram and his knights rode forth with the Lady Belle Isoult and
+    Bragwaine and no one stayed them. And they rode into the forest, betaking
+    their way toward a certain castle of Sir Tristram's, which they reached in
+    the clear dawning of the daytime. </p>
+  <p> And so Sir Tristram brought the Lady Belle Isoult away from Tintagel and
+    into safety. </p>
+  <div align="center"> <a href="images/tail.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/tail.gif" border="0" alt="Tail Piece" /></a>
+  </div>
+  <br />
+  <br />
+  <br />
+  <br />
+  <br />
+  <br />
+  <div class="chaphead" id="tr3c4"><a href="images/017.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/017.gif" alt="Chapter Header" border="0" /></a>
+    <br />
+    Chapter Fourth</div>
+  <br />
+  <div class="chapdes">How Sir Tristram and the Lady Belle Isoult returned to
+    Cornwall and how they ended their days together.</div>
+  <p> And now remaineth to be told the rest of these adventures of Sir Tristram
+    as briefly as may be. </p>
+  <p> For indeed I thought not, when I began this history, to tell you as much
+    concerning him as I have done. But as I have entered into this history I have
+    come so strongly to perceive how noble and true and loyal was the knighthood
+    of Sir Tristram, that I could not forbear telling you of many things that
+    I had not purposed to speak of. </p>
+  <p> Yet, as I have said before this, there are a great many adventures that
+    I have not spoken of in this book. For I have told only those things that
+    were necessary for to make you understand how it fared with him in his life.
+  </p>
+  <p> So now shall be told those last things that concerned him. </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot reproves King Mark.</div>
+  <p> Now two days after those things aforesaid had come to pass, Sir Launcelot
+    returned unto Tintagel from that quest which he had been upon, and so soon
+    as he came thither he made inquiry of King Mark concerning the welfare of
+    that madman of the forest whom he had left in the care of King Mark. But when
+    he heard that that madman was Sir Tristram, he was astonished beyond all measure;
+    but when he heard how Sir Tristram had been served by King Mark and by the
+    people of the castle under the lead of Sir Andred, he was filled with a great
+    and violent indignation. So he arose and stood before King Mark and said:
+    "Lord King, I have heard much ill said of thee and shameful things concerning
+    thy unknightliness in several courts of chivalry where I have been; and now
+    I know that those things were true; for I have heard from the lips of many
+    people here, how thou didst betray Sir Tristram into bringing the Lady Belle
+    Isoult unto thee; and I have heard from many how thou dost ever do ill and
+    wickedly by him, seeking to take from him both his honor and his life. And
+    yet Sir Tristram hath always been thy true and faithful knight, and hath served
+    thee in all ways thou hast demanded of him. I know that thou hast jealousy
+    for Sir Tristram in thy heart and that thou hast ever imputed wickedness and
+    sin unto him. Yet all the world knoweth that Sir Tristram is a true knight
+    and altogether innocent of any evil. For all the evil which thou hast imputed
+    to him hath no existence saving only in thine own evil heart. Now I give thee
+    and all thy people to know that had ill befallen Sir Tristram at your hands
+    I should have held you accountable therefor and should have punished you in
+    such a way that you would not soon have forgotten it. But of that there is
+    no need, for Sir Tristram himself hath punished you in full measure without
+    any aid from me. So now I will go away from this place and will never come
+    hither again; nor will I acknowledge you should I meet you in court or in
+    field." </p>
+  <p> So saying, Sir Launcelot turned and went away from that place very proudly
+    and haughtily, leaving them all abashed at his rebuke. </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot findeth Sir Tristram and Belle Isoult in
+    the forest.</div>
+  <p> So that day Sir Launcelot went forward through the forest until he reached
+    that castle whereunto Sir Tristram had taken the Lady Belle Isoult, and there
+    he was received by Sir Tristram with all joy and honor. And Sir Launcelot
+    abided at that place for two days, with great pleasure to himself and to Sir
+    Tristram and to Belle Isoult. </p>
+  <p> At the end of that time Sir Launcelot said to Sir Tristram: "Messire, it
+    is not well that you and this dear lady should abide here so nigh to Tintagel.
+    For, certes, King Mark will some time work some grievous ill upon you. So
+    I beseech you to come with me unto my castle of Joyous Gard. There this lady
+    shall reign queen paramount and we shall be her very faithful servants to
+    do her pleasure in all ways. That castle is a very beautiful place, and there
+    she may dwell in peace and safety and tranquillity all the days of her life
+    if she chooses to do so." </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">They depart for Joyous Gard.</div>
+  <p> Now that saying of Sir Launcelot's seemed good to Sir Tristram and to Belle
+    Isoult; wherefore in three days all they and their court made ready to depart.
+    And they did depart from that castle in the forest unto Joyous Gard, where
+    they were received with great honor and rejoicing. </p>
+  <p> So the Lady Belle Isoult abided for three years at Joyous Gard, dwelling
+    there as queen paramount in all truth and innocence of life; and Sir Launcelot
+    and Sir Tristram were her champions and all their courts were her servants.
+    And during those three years there were many famous joustings held at Joyous
+    Gard, and several bel-adventures were performed both by Sir Launcelot and
+    Sir Tristram in her honor. </p>
+  <p> And indeed I believe that this was the happiest time of all the Lady Belle
+    Isoult's life, for she lived there in peace and love and tranquillity and
+    she suffered neither grief nor misfortune in all that time. </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">King Arthur comes to Joyous Gard.</div>
+  <p> Then one day there came King Arthur to Joyous Gard, and he was received
+    with such joy and celebration as that place had never before beheld. A great
+    feast was set in his honor, and after the feast King Arthur and Sir Tristram
+    and Belle Isoult withdrew to one side and sat together in converse. </p>
+  <p> Then after a while King Arthur said, "Lady, may I ask you a question?" And
+    at that Lady Belle Isoult lifted up her eyes and looked very strangely upon
+    the King, and after a while she said, "Ask thy question, Lord King, and I
+    will answer it if I can." "Lady," said King Arthur, "answer me this question:
+    is it better to dwell in honor with sadness or in dishonor with joy?" </p>
+  <p> Then Belle Isoult began to pant with great agitation, and by and by she
+    said, "Lord, why ask you me that?" King Arthur said: "Because, lady, I think
+    your heart hath sometimes asked you the selfsame question." Then the Lady
+    Belle Isoult clasped her hands together and cried out: "Yea, yea, my heart
+    hath often asked me that question, but I would not answer it." King Arthur
+    said: "Neither shalt thou answer me, for I am but a weak and erring man as
+    thou art a woman. But answer thou that question to God, dear lady, and then
+    thou shalt answer it in truth." </p>
+  <p> Therewith King Arthur fell to talking of other things with Sir Tristram,
+    but the lady could not join them in talk, but sat thenceforth in silence,
+    finding it hard to breathe because of the oppression of tears that lay upon
+    her bosom. </p>
+  <p> And Belle Isoult said no more concerning that question that King Arthur
+    had asked. But three days after that time she came to Sir Tristram and said:
+    "Dear lord, I have bethought me much of what King Arthur said, and this hath
+    come of it, that I must return again unto Cornwall." </p>
+  <p> Then Sir Tristram turned away his face so that she might not see it, and
+    he said, "Methought it would come to that." And then in a little he went away
+    from that place, leaving her standing there. </p>
+  <p> So it came about that peace was made betwixt Sir Tristram and King Mark,
+    and Belle Isoult and King Mark, and King Arthur was the peacemaker. </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Belle Isoult scorns King Mark.</div>
+  <p> Thereafter Sir Tristram and his court and the Lady Belle Isoult returned
+    unto Cornwall, and there they dwelt for some time in seeming peace. But in
+    that time the Lady Belle Isoult would never see King Mark nor exchange a word
+    with him, but lived entirely apart from him and in her own life in a part
+    of the castle; and at that King Mark was struck with such bitterness of despair
+    that he was like to a demon in torment. For he saw, as it were, a treasure
+    very near and yet afar, for he could not come unto it. And the more he suffered
+    that torment, the more he hated Sir Tristram, for in his suffering it appeared
+    to him that Sir Tristram was the cause of that suffering. </p>
+  <a href="images/046.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images"id="p25" align="left" src="images/046.gif" border="0" alt="King Mark broods mischief" /></a>
+  <p> So it came about that King Mark set spies to watch Sir Tristram, for in
+    his evil heart he suspected Sir Tristram of treason, and he hoped that his
+    spies might discover Sir Tristram in some act for which he might be punished.
+    So those spies watched Sir Tristram both night and day, but they could find
+    nothing that he did that was amiss. </p>
+  <p> Now one day Belle Isoult felt such a longing for Sir Tristram that she could
+    not refrain from sending a note to him beseeching him for to come to her so
+    that they might see one another again; and though Sir Tristram misdoubted
+    what he did, yet he went as she desired, even if it should mean the peril
+    of death to him. </p>
+  <p> Then came those spies to King Mark and told him that Sir Tristram was gone
+    to the bower of the Lady Belle Isoult, and that she had bidden him to come
+    thither. </p>
+  <p> At that the vitals of King Mark were twisted with such an agony of hatred
+    and despair that he bent him double and cried out, "Woe! Woe! I suffer torments!"
+  </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">King Mark spies upon Sir Tristram and Isoult.</div>
+  <p> Therewith he arose and went very quickly to that part of the castle where
+    the Lady Belle Isoult inhabited; and he went very softly up by a back way
+    and through a passage to where was a door with curtains hanging before it;
+    and when he had come there he parted the curtains and peeped within. And he
+    beheld that the Lady Belle Isoult and Sir Tristram sat at a game of chess,
+    and he beheld that they played not at the game but that they sat talking together
+    very sadly; and he beheld that Dame Bragwaine sat in a deep window to one
+    side--for Belle Isoult did not wish it to be said that she and Sir Tristram
+    sat alone. </p>
+  <p> All this King Mark saw and trembled with a torment of jealousy. So by and
+    by he left that place and went very quietly back into that passageway whence
+    he had come. And when he had come there he perceived a great glaive upon a
+    pole two ells long. This he took into his hand and returned unto that curtained
+    doorway again. </p>
+  <p> Then being in all ways prepared he parted the curtains silently and stepped
+    very quickly and without noise into the room. And the back of Sir Tristram
+    was toward him. </p>
+  <p> Then King Mark lifted the glaive on high and he struck; and Sir Tristram
+    sank without a sound. </p>
+  <p> Yea, I believe that that good knight knew naught of what had happened until
+    he awoke in Paradise to find himself in that realm of happiness and peace.
+  </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Of the passing of Tristram and Isoult.</div>
+  <p> Then Belle Isoult arose, overturning the table of chessmen as she did so,
+    but she made no outcry nor sound of any sort. But she stood looking down at
+    Sir Tristram for a little space, and then she kneeled down beside his body
+    and touched the face thereof as though to make sure that it was dead. Therewith,
+    as though being assured, she fell down with her body upon his; and King Mark
+    stood there looking down upon them. </p>
+  <p> All this had passed so quickly that Dame Bragwaine hardly knew what had
+    befallen; but now, upon an instant, she suddenly fell to shrieking so piercingly
+    that the whole castle rang with the sound thereof. </p>
+  <p> Now there were in the outer room several of the knights of the court of
+    Sir Tristram who had come thither with him as witnesses that he performed
+    no treason to the King. These, when Dame Bragwaine shrieked in that wise,
+    came running into the room and therewith beheld what had happened. Then all
+    they stood aghast at that sight. </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Sir Alexander slays King Mark.</div>
+  <p> But there was in the court of Sir Tristram a very young, gallant knight
+    hight Sir Alexander. This knight came to where King Mark stood looking down
+    upon his handiwork as though entranced with what he had done. Then Sir Alexander
+    said to King Mark, "Is this thy work?" And King Mark raised his eyes very
+    heavily and looked at Sir Alexander and he answered, "Ay!" Then Sir Alexander
+    cried out, "Thou hast lived too long!" And therewith drawing his misericordia,
+    he catched King Mark by the left wrist and lifted his arm. And Sir Alexander
+    drave the dagger into the side of King Mark, and King Mark groaned and sank
+    down upon the ground, and in a little while died where he lay. </p>
+  <p> Then those knights went to where the Lady Belle Isoult lay and lifted her
+    up; but, lo! the soul had left her, and she was dead. For I believe that it
+    was not possible for one of those loving souls to leave its body with out
+    the other quitting its body also, so that they might meet together in Paradise.
+    For there never were two souls in all the history of chivalry that clave to
+    one another so tenderly as did the souls of Tristram and Isoult. </p>
+  <p> So endeth this story of Sir Tristram, with only this to say, that they two
+    were buried with the graves close together, and that it is said by many who
+    have written of them that there grew a rose-tree up from Sir Tristram's grave,
+    and down upon the grave of Belle Isoult; and it is said that this rose-tree
+    was a miracle, for that upon his grave there grew red roses, and upon her
+    grave there grew pure white roses. For her soul was white like to thrice-carded
+    wool, and so his soul was red with all that was of courage or knightly pride.
+  </p>
+  <p> And I pray that God may rest the souls of those two as I pray He may rest
+    the souls of all of us who must some time go the way that those two and so
+    many others have travelled before us. Amen. </p>
+  <div align="center"> <a href="images/047.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="t9" src="images/047.gif" border="0" alt="Tail Piece--The Madness of Sir Tristram" /></a>
+  </div>
+</div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div id="percival">
+  <h1>The Book of Sir Percival</h1>
+  <table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="10" cellpadding="0">
+    <tr>
+      <td> <a href="images/048.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="p26" src="images/048.gif" border="0" alt="Sir Percival of Gales" /></a>
+      </td>
+      <td>
+        <div class="foreward">
+          <p> <i>Here beginneth the story of Sir Percival of Gales, who was considered
+            to be one of the three great knights of the Round Table at that time.
+            For, if Sir Launcelot was the chiefest of all the knights who ever
+            came unto King Arthur's court, then it is hard to say whether Sir
+            Tristram of Lyonesse or Sir Percival of Gales was second unto him
+            in renown</i>. </p>
+          <p> <i>And I pray that it shall be given unto all of ye to live as brave
+            and honorable and pure a life as he did; and that you, upon your part,
+            may claim a like glory and credit in the world in which you dwell
+            by such noble behavior as he exhibited</i>. </p>
+        </div>
+      </td>
+    </tr>
+  </table>
+</div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div align="center"> <a href="images/049.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="h10" src="images/049.gif" alt="Prologue" border="0" /></a>
+</div>
+<p> The father of Sir Percival was that king hight Pellinore who fought so terrible
+  a battle with King Arthur as has been told in the Book of King Arthur. For it
+  was after that fight that King Arthur obtained his famous sword Excalibur, as
+  was therein told. </p>
+<p> Now, King Pellinore was one of those eleven kings who, in the beginning of
+  King Arthur's reign, were in rebellion against King Arthur as hath been told
+  in the book aforesaid, and he was one of the last of all those kings to yield
+  when he was overcome. So King Arthur drove him from town to town and from place
+  to place until, at last, he was driven away from the habitations of men and
+  into the forests like to a wild beast. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">King Pellinore fleeth to the wilderness.</div>
+<p> Now, King Pellinore took with him into the wilderness his wife and his four
+  sons; to wit, Lamorack and Aglaval and Dornar and Percival. Of these, Percival
+  was but three years of age; the others, excepting Dornar, being nigh to the
+  estate of manhood. Thereafter that noble family dwelt in the forest like hunted
+  animals, and that was a very great hardship for the lady who had been queen;
+  and, likewise, it was greatly to the peril of the young child, Percival. </p>
+<p> Now, Percival was extraordinarily beautiful and his mother loved him above
+  all her other sons. Wherefore she feared lest the young child should die of
+  those hardships in the wilderness. </p>
+<p> So one day King Pellinore said: "Dear love, I am now in no wise prepared for
+  to defend thee and this little one. Wherefore, for a while, I shall put ye away
+  from me so that ye may remain in secret hiding until such time as the child
+  shall have grown in years and stature to the estate of manhood and may so defend
+  himself. </p>
+<p> "Now of all my one-time possessions I have only two left to me. One of these
+  is a lonely castle in this forest (unto which I am now betaking my way), and
+  the other is a solitary tower at a great distance from this, and in a very desolate
+  part of the world where there are many mountains. Unto that place I shall send
+  ye, for it will not be likely that mine enemies will ever find ye there. </p>
+<p> "So my will is this: that if this child groweth in that lonely place to manhood,
+  and if he be weak in body or timid in spirit, thou shalt make of him a clerk
+  of holy orders. But if when he groweth, he shall prove to be strong and lusty
+  of frame and high of spirit, and shall desire to undertake deeds of knighthood,
+  thou then shalt not stay him from his desires, but shall let him go forth into
+  the world as he shall have a mind to do. </p>
+<p> "And if a time should come when he desireth to go thus into the world behold!
+  here is a ring set with a very precious ruby; let him bring that ring to me
+  or to any of our sons wheresoever he may find us, and by that ring we shall
+  know that he is my son and their brother, and we will receive him with great
+  gladness." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Percival's mother taketh him to the mountains.</div>
+<p> And King Pellinore's lady said, "It shall be done as thou dost ordain." So
+  it was that King Pellinore betook himself to that lonely castle where King Arthur
+  found him and fought with him; and Percival's mother betook herself to that
+  dwelling-place in the mountains of which King Pellinore had spoken--which was
+  a single tower that reached up into the sky, like unto a finger of stone. </p>
+<p> There she abided with Percival for sixteen years, and in all that time Percival
+  knew naught of the world nor of what sort it was, but grew altogether wild and
+  was entirely innocent like to a little child. </p>
+<p> In the mean time, during those years, it happened very ill to the house of
+  King Pellinore. For though King Arthur became reconciled to King Pellinore,
+  yet there were in King Arthur's court many who were bitter enemies to that good,
+  worthy knight. So it came about that first King Pellinore was slain by treachery,
+  and then Sir Aglaval and Sir Dornar were slain in the same way, so that Sir
+  Lamorack alone was left of all that noble family. </p>
+<p> (And it was said that Sir Gawaine and his brothers were implicated in those
+  murders--they being enemies unto King Pellinore--and great reproach hath always
+  clung to them for the treacherous, unknightly way in which those noble knights
+  of the house of Pellinore were slain.) </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Percival's mother grieveth for the death of her dear ones.</div>
+<p> Now the news of those several deaths was brought to that lonely tower of the
+  mountain wilderness and to Sir Percival's mother; and when she heard how her
+  husband and two of her sons were dead she gave great outcry of grief, and smote
+  her hands together and wept with great passion. And she cried out: "Mefeareth
+  it will be the time of Lamorack next to be slain. As for Percival; never shall
+  I be willing for him to go out into that cruel world of wicked murderers. For
+  if he should perish also, my heart would surely break." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">How Percival dwelt in the mountains.</div>
+<p> So she kept Percival always with her and in ignorance of all that concerned
+  the world of knighthood. And though Percival waxed great of body and was beautiful
+  and noble of countenance, yet he dwelt there among those mountains knowing no
+  more of the world that lay beyond that place in which he dwelt than would a
+  little innocent child. Nor did he ever see anyone from the outside world, saving
+  only an old man who was a deaf-mute. And this old man came and went betwixt
+  that tower where Percival and his mother dwelt and the outer world, and from
+  the world he would come back with clothing and provisions loaded upon an old
+  sumpter horse for Percival and his mother and their few attendants. Yet Percival
+  marvelled many times whence those things came, but no one told him and so he
+  lived in entire ignorance of the world. </p>
+<p> And Percival's mother would not let him touch any weapon saving only a small
+  Scot's spear which same is a sort of javelin. But with this Percival played
+  every day of his life until he grew so cunning in handling it that he could
+  pierce with it a bird upon the wing in the air. </p>
+<p> Now it chanced upon a time when Percival was nineteen years of age that he
+  stood upon a pinnacle of rock and looked down into a certain valley. And it
+  was very early in the spring-time, so that the valley appeared, as it were,
+  to be carpeted all with clear, thin green. There was a shining stream of water
+  that ran down through the midst of the valley, and it was a very fair and peaceful
+  place to behold. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Percival beholds a knight-rider.</div>
+<p> So Percival stood and gazed into that low-land, and lo! a knight rode up through
+  that valley, and the sun shone out from behind a cloud of rain and smote upon
+  his armor so that it appeared to be all ablaze as with pure light, and Percival
+  beheld that knight and wist not what it was he saw. So, after the knight had
+  gone away from the valley, he ran straightway to his mother, all filled with
+  a great wonder, and he said: "Mother! Mother! I have beheld a very wonderful
+  thing." She said, "What was it thou didst see?" Percival said: "I beheld somewhat
+  that was like a man, and he rode upon a horse, and he shone very brightly and
+  with exceeding splendor. Now, I prithee tell me what it was I saw?" </p>
+<p> Then Percival's mother knew very well what it was he had seen, and she was
+  greatly troubled at heart, for she wist that if Percival's knightly spirit should
+  be awakened he would no longer be content to dwell in those peaceful solitudes.
+  Wherefore she said to herself: "How is this? Is it to be that this one lamb
+  also shall be taken away from me and nothing left to me of all my flock?" Then
+  she said to Percival: "My son, that which thou didst behold was doubtless an
+  angel." And Percival said, "I would that I too were an angel!" And at that speech
+  the lady, his mother, sighed very deeply. </p>
+<p> Now it chanced upon the next day after that that Percival and his mother went
+  down into the forest that lay at the foot of the mountain whereon that tower
+  stood, and they had intent to gather such early flowers of the spring-time as
+  were then abloom. And whilst they were there, lo! there came five knights riding
+  through the forest, and, the leaves being thin like to a mist of green, Percival
+  perceived them a great way off. So he cried out in a loud voice: "Mother! Mother!
+  Behold! Yonder is a whole company of angels such as I saw yesterday! Now I will
+  go and give them greeting." </p>
+<p> But his mother said: "How now! How now! Wouldst thou make address unto angels!"
+  And Percival said: "Yea; for they appear to be both mild of face and gentle
+  of mien." So he went forward for to greet those knights. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Percival holds discourse with five knights.</div>
+<p> Now the foremost of that party of knights was Sir Ewaine, who was always both
+  gentle and courteous to everybody. Wherefore, when Sir Ewaine saw Percival nigh
+  at hand, he gave him greeting and said, "Fair youth, what is thy name?" Unto
+  this Percival made reply: "My name is Percival." Sir Ewaine said: "That is a
+  very good name, and thy face likewise is so extraordinarily comely that I take
+  thee to be of some very high lineage. Now tell me, I prithee, who is thy father?"
+  To this Percival said, "I cannot tell thee what is my lineage, for I do not
+  know," and at that Sir Ewaine marvelled a very great deal. Then, after a little
+  while, he said: "I prithee tell me, didst thou see a knight pass this way to-day
+  or yesterday?" And Percival said, "I know not what sort of a thing is a knight."
+  Sir Ewaine said, "A knight is such a sort of man as I am." </p>
+<p> Upon this Percival understood many things that he did not know before, and
+  he willed with all his soul to know more than those. Wherefore he said: "If
+  thou wilt answer several questions for me, I will gladly answer thine." Upon
+  this Sir Ewaine smiled very cheerfully (for he liked Percival exceedingly),
+  and he said: "Ask what thou wilt and I will answer thee in so far as I am able."
+</p>
+<p> So Percival said, "I prithee tell me what is this thing?" And he laid his
+  hand thereon. And Sir Ewaine said, "That is a saddle." And Percival said, "What
+  is this thing?" And Sir Ewaine said, "That is a sword." And Percival said, "What
+  is this thing?" And Sir Ewaine said, "That is a shield." And so Percival asked
+  him concerning all things that appertained to the accoutrements of a knight,
+  and Sir Ewaine answered all his questions. Then Percival said: "Now I will answer
+  thy question. I saw a knight ride past this way yesterday, and he rode up yonder
+  valley and to the westward." </p>
+<p> Upon this Sir Ewaine gave gramercy to Percival and saluted him, and so did
+  the other knights, and they rode their way. </p>
+<p> After they had gone Percival returned to his mother, and he beheld that she
+  sat exactly where he had left her, for she was in great travail of soul because
+  she perceived that Percival would not now stay with her very much longer. And
+  when Percival came to where she sat he said to her: "Mother, those were not
+  angels, but very good, excellent knights." And upon this the lady, his mother,
+  burst into a great passion of weeping, so that Percival stood before her all
+  abashed, not knowing why she wept. So by and by he said, "Mother, why dost thou
+  weep?" But she could not answer him for a while, and after a while she said,
+  "Let us return homeward." And so they walked in silence. </p>
+<p> Now when they had come to the tower where they dwelt, the lady turned of a
+  sudden unto Percival and she said to him, "Percival, what is in thy heart?"
+  And he said, "Mother, thou knowest very well what is there." She said, "Is it
+  that thou wouldst be a knight also?" And he said, "Thou sayst it." And upon
+  that she said, "Thou shalt have thy will; come with me." </p>
+<p> So Percival's mother led him to the stable and to where was that poor pack-horse
+  that brought provisions to that place, and she said: "This is a sorry horse
+  but I have no other for thee. Now let us make a saddle for him." So Percival
+  and his mother twisted sundry cloths and wisps of hay and made a sort of a saddle
+  thereof. And Percival's mother brought him a scrip with bread and cheese for
+  his refreshment and she hung it about his shoulder. And she brought him his
+  javelin which he took in his hand. And then she gave him the ring of King Pellinore
+  with that precious ruby jewel inset into it, and she said: "Take thou this,
+  Percival, and put it upon thy finger, for it is a royal ring. Now when thou
+  leavest me, go unto the court of King Arthur and make diligent inquiry for Sir
+  Lamorack of Gales. And when thou hast found him, show him that ring, and he
+  will see that thou art made a very worthy knight; for, Percival, Sir Lamorack
+  is thy brother. One time thou hadst a father alive, and thou hadst two other
+  brothers. But all they were slain by treachery of our enemies, and only thou
+  and Lamorack are left; so look to it that thou guard thyself when thou art in
+  the world and in the midst of those enemies; for if thou shouldst perish at
+  their hands, I believe my heart would break." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Percival's mother giveth him advice.</div>
+<p> Then she gave Percival advice concerning the duty of one who would make himself
+  worthy of knighthood, and that advice was as follows: "In thy journeying thou
+  art to observe these sundry things: When thou comest to a church or a shrine
+  say a pater-noster unto the glory of God; and if thou hearest a cry of anyone
+  in trouble, hasten to lend thine aid--especially if it be a woman or a child
+  who hath need of it; and if thou meet a lady or a damosel, salute her in seemly
+  fashion; and if thou have to do with a man, be both civil and courageous unto
+  him; and if thou art an-hungered or athirst and findest food and wine, eat and
+  drink enough to satisfy thee, but no more; and if thou findest a treasure or
+  a jewel of price and canst obtain those things without injustice unto another,
+  take that thing for thine own--but give that which thou hast with equal freedom
+  unto others. So, by obeying these precepts, thou shalt become worthy to be a
+  true knight and, haply, be also worthy of thy father, who was a true knight
+  before thee." </p>
+<p> And Percival said, "All these things will I remember and observe to do." </p>
+<p> And Percival's mother said, "But thou wilt not forget me, Percival?" </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Percival departs from the mountain.</div>
+<p> And he said: "Nay, mother; but when I have got me power and fame and wealth,
+  then will I straightway return thitherward and take thee away from this place,
+  and thou shalt be like to a Queen for all the glory that I shall bestow upon
+  thee." Upon this the lady, his mother, both laughed and wept; and Percival stooped
+  and kissed her upon the lips. Then he turned and left her, and he rode away
+  down the mountain and into the forest, and she stood and gazed after him as
+  long as she could see him. And she was very lonely after he had gone. </p>
+<p> So I have told you how it came that Percival went out into the world for to
+  become a famous knight. </p>
+<div align="center"> <a href="images/tail.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/tail.gif" border="0" alt="Tail Piece" /></a>
+</div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div class="chaphead" id="per1"><a href="images/019.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/019.gif" alt="Chapter Header" border="0" /></a>
+  <br />
+  Chapter First</div>
+<br />
+<div class="chapdes">How Percival departed into the world and how he found a fair
+  damsel in a pavilion; likewise how he came before Queen Guinevere and how he
+  undertook his first adventure</div>
+.
+<div class="sidenote">Percival maketh himself armor of willow twigs.</div>
+<p> Now after Percival had ridden upon his way for a very long time, he came at
+  last out of that part of the forest and unto a certain valley where were many
+  osiers growing along beside a stream of water. So he gathered branches of the
+  willow-trees and peeled them and wove them very cunningly into the likeness
+  of armor such as he had seen those knights wear who had come into his forest.
+  And when he had armed himself with wattled osiers he said unto himself, "Now
+  am I accoutred as well as they." Whereupon he rode upon his way with an heart
+  enlarged with joy. </p>
+<p> By and by he came out of the forest altogether and unto a considerable village
+  where were many houses thatched with straw. And Percival said to himself: "Ha!
+  how great is the world; I knew not that there were so many people in the world."
+</p>
+<div class="sidenote">How Percival rode in the world.</div>
+<p> But when the folk of that place beheld what sort of a saddle was upon the
+  back of the pack-horse; and when they beheld what sort of armor it was that
+  Percival wore--all woven of osier twigs; and when they beheld how he was armed
+  with a javelin and with no other weapon, they mocked and laughed at him and
+  jeered him. But Percival understood not their mockery, whereupon he said: "Lo!
+  how pleasant and how cheerful is the world. I knew not it was so merry a place."
+  So he laughed and nodded and gave them greeting who mocked him in that manner.
+  And some of them said, "That is a madman." And others said, "Nay, he is a silly
+  fool." And when Percival heard these he said to himself: "I wonder whether there
+  are other sorts of knights that I have not yet heard tell of?" </p>
+<p> So he rode upon his way very happy, and whenever he met travellers, they would
+  laugh at him; but he would laugh louder than they and give them greeting because
+  of pure pleasure that the great world was so merry and kind. </p>
+<p> Now in the declining of the afternoon, he came to a certain pleasant glade,
+  and there he beheld a very noble and stately pavilion in among the trees, And
+  that pavilion was all of yellow satin so that it shone like to gold in the light
+  of the declining sun. </p>
+<p> Then Percival said to himself: "Verily, this must be one of those churches
+  concerning which my mother spake to me." So he descended from his horse and
+  went to that pavilion and knelt down and said a pater-noster. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Percival enters the golden pavilion.</div>
+<p> And when he had ended that prayer, he arose and went into the pavilion, and
+  lo! he beheld there a wonderfully beautiful young damsel of sixteen years of
+  age who sat in the pavilion upon a carved bench and upon a cushion of cloth
+  of gold, and who bent over a frame of embroidery, which she was busy weaving
+  in threads of silver and gold. And the hair of that damosel was as black as
+  ebony and her cheeks were like rose leaves for redness, and she wore a fillet
+  of gold around her head, and she was clad in raiment of sky blue silk. And near
+  by was a table spread with meats of divers sorts and likewise with several wines,
+  both white and red. And all the goblets were of silver and all the pattens were
+  of gold, and the table was spread with a napkin embroidered with threads of
+  gold. </p>
+<a href="images/050.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="p27" align="left" src="images/050.gif" border="0" alt="The Lady Yvette the Fair" /></a>
+<p> Now you are to know that the young lady who sat there was the Lady Yvette
+  the Fair, the daughter of King Pecheur. </p>
+<p> When Percival came to that pavilion the Lady Yvette looked up and beheld him
+  with great astonishment, and she said to herself: "That must either be a madman
+  or a foolish jester who comes hither clad all in armor of wattled willow twigs."
+  So she said to him, "Sirrah, what dost thou here?" He said, "Lady, is this a
+  church?" Upon that she was angered thinking that he had intended to make a jest
+  and she said: "Begone, fool, for if my father, who is King Pecheur, cometh and
+  findeth thee here, he will punish thee for this jest." But Percival replied,
+  "Nay; I think he will not, lady." </p>
+<p> Then the damosel looked at Percival more narrowly and she beheld how noble
+  and beautiful was his countenance and she said to herself: "This is no fool
+  nor a jester, but who he is or what he is I know not." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Percival breaks bread in the golden pavilion.</div>
+<p> So she said to Percival, "Whence comest thou?" and he said, "From the mountains
+  and the wilderness." Then he said: "Lady, when I left my mother she told me
+  that whenever I saw good food and drink and was an-hungered, I was to take what
+  I needed. Now I will do so in this case." Whereupon he sat him down to that
+  table and fell to with great appetite. </p>
+<p> Then when that damosel beheld what he did she laughed in great measure and
+  clapped her hands together in sport. And she said: "If my father and brothers
+  should return and find thee at this, they would assuredly punish thee very sorely,
+  and thou couldst not make thyself right with them." Percival said, "Why would
+  they do that, lady?" And she said: "Because that is their food and drink, and
+  because my father is a king and my brethren are his sons." Then Percival said,
+  "Certes, they would be uncourteous to begrudge food to a hungry man"; and thereat
+  the damsel laughed again. </p>
+<p> Now when Percival had eaten and drunk his fill, he arose from where he sat.
+  And he beheld that the damsel wore a very beautiful ring of carved gold set
+  with a pearl of great price. So he said to her: "Lady, my mother told me that
+  if I beheld a jewel or treasure and desired it for my own, I was to take it
+  if I could do so without offence to anyone. Now I prithee give me that ring
+  upon thy finger, for I desire it a very great deal." At this the maiden regarded
+  Percival very strangely, and she beheld that he was comely beyond any man whom
+  she had ever seen and that his countenance was very noble and exalted and yet
+  exceedingly mild and gentle. So she said to him, speaking very gently, "Why
+  should I give thee my ring?" Whereunto he made reply: "Because thou art the
+  most beautiful lady whom mine eyes ever beheld and I find that I love thee more
+  than I had thought possible to love anyone." </p>
+<p> At that the damosel smiled upon him and said, "What is thy name?" And he said,
+  "It is Percival." She said, "That is a good name; who is thy father?" Whereunto
+  he said: "That I cannot tell thee for my mother hath bidden me tell his name
+  to no one yet whiles." She said, "I think he must be some very noble and worthy
+  knight," and Percival said, "He is all that, for he too was a king." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">The damsel giveth Percival her ring.</div>
+<p> Then the damsel said, "Thou mayst have my ring," and she gave it to him. And
+  when Percival had placed it upon his finger he said: "My mother also told me
+  that I should give freely of what is mine own, wherefore I do give thee this
+  ring of mine in exchange for thine, and I do beseech thee to wear it until I
+  have proved myself worthy of thy kindness. For I hope to win a very famous knighthood
+  and great praise and renown, all of which, if I so accomplish my desires, shall
+  be to thy great glory. I would fain come to thee another time in that wise instead
+  of as I am at this present." </p>
+<p> At that the damsel said: "I know not what thou art or whence thou comest who
+  should present thyself in such an extraordinary guise as thou art pleased to
+  do, but, certes, thou must be of some very noble strain. Wherefore I do accept
+  thee for my knight, and I believe that I shall some time have great glory through
+  thee." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Percival salutes the damsel of the golden pavilion.</div>
+<p> Then Percival said: "Lady, my mother said to me that if I met a damosel I
+  was to salute her with all civility. Now have I thy leave to salute thee?" And
+  she said, "Thou hast my leave." So Percival took her by the hand, and kissed
+  her upon the lips (for that was the only manner in which he knew how to salute
+  a woman) and, lo! her face grew all red like to fire. Thereupon Percival quitted
+  that pavilion and mounted his horse and rode away. And it seemed to him that
+  the world was assuredly a very beautiful and wonderful place for to live in.
+</p>
+<p> Yet he knew not what the world was really like nor of what a sort it was nor
+  how passing wide, else had he not been so certainly assured that he would win
+  him credit therein, or that he could so easily find that young damsel again
+  after he had thus parted from her. </p>
+<p> That night Percival came to a part of the forest where were many huts of folk
+  who made their living by gathering fagots. These people gave him harborage and
+  shelter for the night, for they thought that he was some harmless madman who
+  had wandered afar. And they told him many things he had never known before that
+  time, so that it appeared to him that the world was still more wonderful than
+  he had thought it to be at first. </p>
+<p> So he abided there for the night, and when the next morning had come he arose
+  and bathed himself and went his way; and, as he rode upon his poor starved horse,
+  he brake his fast with the bread and cheese that his mother had put into his
+  wallet, and he was very glad at heart and rejoiced exceedingly in the wonderfulness
+  and the beauty of the world in which he found himself to be. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">How Percival travelled in the forest.</div>
+<p> So Percival journeyed on into that forest, and he took such great delight
+  in the beauty of the world in which he travelled that he was at times like to
+  shed tears of pure happiness because of the joy he felt in being alive. For
+  that forest path he travelled led beneath the trees of the woodland; and the
+  trees at that time were in their early tender leaf, so that they appeared to
+  shed showers of golden light everywhere down upon the earth. And the birds of
+  the woodland sang in every bush and thicket; and, anon, the wood pigeon cooed
+  so softly that the heart of Percival yearned with great passion for he knew
+  not what. </p>
+<p> Thus he rode, somewhiles all in a maze of green, and somewhiles out thence
+  into an open glade where the light was wide and bright; and other whiles he
+  came to some forest stream where was a shallow pool of golden gravel, and where
+  the water was so thin and clear that you might not tell where it ended and the
+  pure air began. And therethrough he would drive his horse, splashing with great
+  noise, whilst the little silvery fish would dart away upon all sides, hither
+  and thither, like sparks of light before his coming. </p>
+<p> So, because of the beauty of this forest land in its spring-time verdure and
+  pleasantness, the heart of Percival was uplifted with so much joy and delight
+  that he was like to weep for pure pleasure as aforesaid. </p>
+<p> Now it chanced at that time that King Arthur and several of his court had
+  come into that forest ahawking; but, the day being warm, the Queen had grown
+  weary of the sport, so she had commanded her attendants to set up a pavilion
+  for her whilst the King continued his hawking. And the pavilion was pitched
+  in an open glade of the forest whereunto Percival came riding. </p>
+<p> Then Percival perceived that pavilion set up among the trees, and likewise
+  he saw that the pavilion was of rose colored silk. Also he perceived that not
+  far from him was a young page very gayly and richly clad. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Percival bespeaketh the Lady Guinevere's page.</div>
+<p> Now when the page beheld Percival and what a singular appearance he presented,
+  he laughed beyond all measure, and Percival, not knowing that he laughed in
+  mockery, laughed also and gave him a very cheerful greeting in return. Then
+  Percival said to the page: "I prithee tell me, fair youth, whose is that pavilion
+  yonder?" And the page said: "It belongeth to Queen Guinevere; for King Arthur
+  is coming hither into the forest with his court." </p>
+<p> At this Percival was very glad, for he deemed that he should now find Sir
+  Lamorack. So he said: "I pray thee tell me, is Sir Lamorack of Gales with the
+  court of the King, for I come hither seeking that good worthy knight?" </p>
+<p> Then the page laughed a very great deal, and said: "Who art thou to seek Sir
+  Lamorack? Art thou then a jester?" And Percival said, "What sort of a thing
+  is a jester?" And the page said, "Certes, thou art a silly fool." And Percival
+  said, "What is a fool?" </p>
+<p> Upon this the page fell alaughing as though he would never stint his mirth
+  so that Percival began to wax angry for he said to himself: "These people laugh
+  too much and their mirth maketh me weary." So, without more ado, he descended
+  from his horse with intent to enter the Queen's pavilion and to make inquiry
+  there for Sir Lamorack. </p>
+<p> Now when that page saw what Percival had a mind to do, he thrust in to prevent
+  him, saying, "Thou shalt not go in!" Upon that Percival said, "Ha! shall I not
+  so?" And thereupon he smote the page such a buffet that the youth fell down
+  without any motion, as though he had gone dead. </p>
+<p> Then Percival straightway entered the Queen's pavilion. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Percival beholdeth Queen Guinevere.</div>
+<p> And the first thing he saw was a very beautiful lady surrounded by a court
+  of ladies. And the Queen was eating a mid-day repast whilst a page waited upon
+  her for to serve her, bearing for her refreshment pure wine in a cup of entire
+  gold. And he saw that a noble lord (and the lord was Sir Kay the Seneschal),
+  stood in the midst of that beautiful rosy pavilion directing the Queen's repast;
+  for Sir Kay of all the court had been left in charge of the Queen and her ladies.
+</p>
+<p> Now when Percival entered the tent Sir Kay looked up, and when he perceived
+  what sort of a figure was there, he frowned with great displeasure. "Ha!" he
+  said, "what mad fool is this who cometh hitherward?" </p>
+<p> Unto him Percival made reply: "Thou tall man, I prithee tell me, which of
+  these ladies present here is the Queen?" Sir Kay said, "What wouldst thou have
+  with the Queen?" To this Percival said: "I have come hither for to lay my case
+  before King Arthur, and my case is this: I would fain obtain knighthood, and
+  meseems that King Arthur may best help me thereunto." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Kay chides Percival.</div>
+<p> When the Queen heard the words of Percival she laughed with great merriment.
+  But Sir Kay was still very wroth, and he said: "Sirrah, thou certainly art some
+  silly fool who hath come hither dressed all in armor of willow twigs and without
+  arms or equipment of any sort save only a little Scots spear. Now this is the
+  Queen's court and thou art not fit to be here." </p>
+<p> "Ha," said Percival, "it seems to me that thou art very foolish--thou tall
+  man--to judge of me by my dress and equipment. For, even though I wear such
+  poor apparel as this, yet I may easily be thy superior both in birth and station."
+</p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Boindegardus enters the Queen's pavilion.</div>
+<p> Then Sir Kay was exceedingly wroth and would have made a very bitter answer
+  to Percival, but at that moment something of another sort befell. For, even
+  as Percival ceased speaking, there suddenly entered the pavilion a certain very
+  large and savage knight of an exceedingly terrible appearance; and his countenance
+  was very furious with anger. And this knight was one Sir Boindegardus le Savage,
+  who was held in terror by all that part of King Arthur's realm. For Sir Boindegardus
+  was surnamed the Savage because he dwelt like a wild man in the forest in a
+  lonely dismal castle of the woodland; and because that from this castle he would
+  issue forth at times to rob and pillage the wayfarers who passed by along the
+  forest byways. Many knights had gone against Sir Boindegardus, with intent either
+  to slay him or else to make him prisoner; but some of these knights he had overcome,
+  and from others he had escaped, so that he was as yet free to work his evil
+  will as he chose. </p>
+<p> So now this savage knight entered that pavilion with his helmet upon his hip
+  and his shield upon his shoulder, and all those ladies who were there were terrified
+  at his coming, for they wist that he came in anger with intent of mischief.
+</p>
+<p> As for Sir Kay (he being clad only in a silken tunic of green color and with
+  scarlet hosen and velvet shoes, fit for the court of a lady) he was afraid,
+  and he wist not how to bear himself in the presence of Sir Boindegardus. Then
+  Sir Boindegardus said, "Where is King Arthur?" And Sir Kay made no reply because
+  of fear. Then one of the Queen's damsels said, "He is hawking out beyond here
+  in the outskirts of the forest." Then Sir Boindegardus said: "I am sorry for
+  that, for I had thought to find him here at this time and to show challenge
+  to him and his entire court, for I fear no one of them. But, as King Arthur
+  is not here, I may, at least, affront his Queen." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Boindegardus affronts the Queen.</div>
+<p> With that he smote the elbow of the page who held the goblet for the Queen,
+  and the wine was splashed all in the Queen's face and over her stomacher. </p>
+<p> Thereupon the Queen shrieked with terror, and one of her maidens ran to her
+  aid and others came with napkins and wiped her face and her apparel and gave
+  her words of cheer. </p>
+<p> Then Sir Kay found courage to say: "Ha! thou art a churlish knight to so affront
+  a lady." </p>
+<p> With that Sir Boindegardus turned very fiercely upon him and said: "And thou
+  likest not my behavior, thou mayst follow me hence into a meadow a little distance
+  from this to the eastward where thou mayst avenge that affront upon my person
+  if thou art minded to do so." </p>
+<p> Then Sir Kay knew not what to reply for he wist that Sir Boindegardus was
+  a very strong and terrible knight. Wherefore he said, "Thou seest that I am
+  altogether without arms or armor." Upon that Sir Boindegardus laughed in great
+  scorn, and therewith seized the golden goblet from the hands of the page and
+  went out from the pavilion, and mounting his horse rode away bearing that precious
+  chalice with him. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Percival berates Sir Kay.</div>
+<p> Then the Queen fell aweeping very sorely from fright and shame, and when young
+  Percival beheld her tears, he could not abide the sight thereof. So he cried
+  out aloud against Sir Kay, saying: "Thou tall man! that was very ill done of
+  thee; for, certes, with or without armor thou shouldst have taken the quarrel
+  of this lady upon thee. For my mother told me I should take upon me the defence
+  of all such as needed defence, but she did not say that I was to wait for arms
+  or armor to aid me to do what was right. Now, therefore, though I know little
+  of arms or of knighthood, I will take this quarrel upon myself and will do what
+  I may to avenge this lady's affront, if I have her leave to do so." </p>
+<p> And Queen Guinevere said: "Thou hast my leave, since Sir Kay does not choose
+  to assume my quarrel." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">The damsel praises Percival.</div>
+<p> Now there was a certain very beautiful young damsel of the court of the Queen
+  hight Yelande, surnamed the "Dumb Maiden," because she would hold no commerce
+  with any knight of the court. For in all the year she had been at the court
+  of the King, she had spoken no word to any man, nor had she smiled upon any.
+  This damsel perceiving how comely and noble was the countenance of Percival,
+  came to him and took him by the hand and smiled upon him very kindly. And she
+  said to him: "Fair youth, thou hast a large and noble heart, and I feel very
+  well assured that thou art of a sort altogether different from what thine appearance
+  would lead one to suppose. Now I do affirm that if thou art able to carry this
+  adventure through with thy life, thou wilt some time become one of the greatest
+  knights in all of the world. For never did I hear tell of one who, without arm
+  or armor, would take up a quarrel with a well-approved knight clad in full array.
+  But indeed thy heart is as brave as thy face is comely, and I believe that thou
+  art as noble as thy speech and manner is gentle." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Kay strikes the damsel.</div>
+<p> Then Sir Kay was very angry with that damsel and he said: "Truly, thou art
+  ill taught to remain for all this year in the court of King Arthur amid the
+  perfect flower of chivalry and yet not to have given to one of those noble and
+  honorable knights a single word or a smile such as thou hast bestowed upon this
+  boor." So saying, he lifted his hand and smote that damsel a box on the ear
+  so that she screamed out aloud with pain and terror. </p>
+<p> Upon this Percival came very close to Sir Kay and he said: "Thou discourteous
+  tall man; now I tell thee, except that there are so many ladies here present,
+  and one of these a Queen, I would have to do with thee in such a manner as I
+  do not believe would be at all to thy liking. Now, first of all I shall follow
+  yonder uncivil knight and endeavor to avenge this noble Queen for the affront
+  he hath put upon her, and when I have done with him, then will I hope for the
+  time to come in which I shall have to do with thee for laying hands upon this
+  beautiful young lady who was so kind to me just now. For, in the fulness of
+  time, I will repay the foul blow thou gavest her, and that twenty-fold." </p>
+<p> Thereupon Percival straightway went out from that pavilion and mounted upon
+  his sorry horse and rode away in the direction that Sir Boindegardus had taken
+  with the golden goblet. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Percival follows Sir Boindegardus.</div>
+<p> Now after a long time, he came to another level meadow of grass, and there
+  he beheld Sir Boindegardus riding before him in great state with the golden
+  goblet hanging to the horn of his saddle. And Sir Boindegardus wore his helmet
+  and carried his spear in his right hand and his shield upon his other arm, and
+  he was in all ways prepared for an encounter at arms. And when he perceived
+  Percival come riding out of the forest in pursuit of him, he drew rein and turned.
+  And when Percival had come nigh enough Sir Boindegardus said, "Whence comest
+  thou, fool?" Percival replied, "I come from Queen Guinevere, her pavilion."
+  Then Sir Boindegardus said, "Does that knight who was there follow me hitherward?"
+  Unto which Percival made reply: "Nay, but I have followed thee with intent to
+  punish thee for the affront which thou didst put upon Queen Guinevere." </p>
+<p> Then Sir Boindegardus was very wroth and he said: "Thou fool; I have a very
+  good intention for to slay thee." Therewith he raised his spear and smote Percival
+  with it upon the back of the neck so terrible a blow that he was flung violently
+  down from off his horse. Upon this Percival was so angry that the sky all became
+  like scarlet before his eyes. Wherefore, when he had recovered from the blow
+  he ran unto Sir Boindegardus and catched the spear in his hands and wrestled
+  with such terrible strength that he plucked it away from Sir Boindegardus. And
+  having thus made himself master of that spear, he brake it across his knee and
+  flung it away. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Percival slays Sir Boindegardus.</div>
+<p> Then Sir Boindegardus was in furious rage, wherefore he drew his bright, shining
+  sword with intent to slay Percival. But when Percival saw what he would be at,
+  he catched up his javelin and, running to a little distance, he turned and threw
+  it at Sir Boindegardus with so cunning an aim that the point of the javelin
+  entered the ocularium of the helmet of Sir Boindegardus and pierced through
+  the eye and the brain and came out of the back of the head. Then Sir Boindegardus
+  pitched down from off his horse all into a heap upon the ground, and Percival
+  ran to him and stooped over him and perceived that he was dead. Then Percival
+  said: "Well, it would seem that I have put an end to a terribly discourteous
+  knight to ladies." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">King Arthur sends Sir Launcelot and Sir Lamorack in quest
+  of Percival.</div>
+<p> Now a little after Percival had quitted the pavilion of Queen Guinevere, King
+  Arthur and eleven noble knights of the court returned thither from hawking,
+  and amongst those knights was Sir Launcelot of the Lake and Sir Lamorack of
+  Gales. Then those who were of the Queen's court told King Arthur what had befallen,
+  and thereat the King felt great displeasure toward Sir Kay. And he said: "Kay,
+  not only hast thou been very discourteous in not assuming this quarrel of the
+  Queen's, but I believe that thou, a well-approved knight, hast in thy fear of
+  Sir Boindegardus been the cause of sending this youth upon an adventure in which
+  he will be subject to such great danger that it may very well be that he shall
+  hardly escape with his life. Now I will that two of you knights shall follow
+  after that youth for to rescue him if it be not too late; and those two shall
+  be Sir Launcelot of the Lake and Sir Lamorack of Gales. So make all haste, Messires,
+  lest some misfortune shall befall this brave, innocent madman." </p>
+<p> Thereupon those two knights mounted straightway upon their horses and rode
+  away in that direction whither Percival had gone. </p>
+<div align="center"> <a href="images/tail.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/tail.gif" border="0" alt="Tail Piece" /></a>
+</div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div class="chaphead" id="per2"><a href="images/015.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/015.gif" alt="Chapter Header" border="0" /></a>
+  <br />
+  Chapter Second</div>
+<br />
+<div class="chapdes">How Sir Percival was made knight by King Arthur; how he rode
+  forth with Sir Lamorack and how he left Sir Lamorack in quest of adventure upon
+  his own account; likewise how a great knight taught him craft in arms</div>
+.
+<p> So after a considerable time they came to that meadow-land where Percival
+  had found Sir Boindegardus. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">How the two knights find Percival in the meadow.</div>
+<p> But when they came to that place they perceived a very strange sight. For
+  they beheld one clad all in armor of wattled willow-twigs and that one dragged
+  the body of an armed knight hither and thither upon the ground. So they two
+  rode up to where that affair was toward, and when they had come nigh enough,
+  Sir Launcelot said: "Ha, fair youth, thou art doing a very strange thing. What
+  art thou about?" </p>
+<p> To him Percival said: "Sir, I would get those plates of armor off this knight,
+  and I know not how to do it!" </p>
+<p> Then Sir Launcelot laughed, and he said: "Let be for a little while, and I
+  will show thee how to get the plates of armor off." And he said: "How came this
+  knight by his death." </p>
+<p> Percival said: "Sir, this knight hath greatly insulted Queen Guinevere (that
+  beautiful lady), and when I followed him thither with intent to take her quarrel
+  upon me, he struck me with his spear. And when I took his spear away from him,
+  and brake it across my knee, he drew his sword and would have slain me, only
+  that I slew him instead." </p>
+<p> Then Sir Launcelot was filled with amazement, and he said: "Is not that knight
+  Sir Boindegardus?" And Percival said: "Ay." Then Sir Launcelot said: "Fair youth,
+  know that thou hast slain one of the strongest and most terrible knights in
+  all the world. In this thou hast done a great service unto King Arthur, so if
+  thou wilt come with us to the court of King Arthur, he will doubtless reward
+  thee very bountifully for what thou hast done." </p>
+<p> Then Percival looked up into the faces of Sir Launcelot and Sir Lamorack and
+  he perceived that they were very noble. So he smiled upon them and said: "Messires,
+  I pray you tell me who you are and what is your degree." Then Sir Launcelot
+  smiled in return and said: "I am called Sir Launcelot of the Lake, and this,
+  my companion, is called Sir Lamorack of Gales." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Percival knoweth Sir Lamorack.</div>
+<p> Then Percival wist that he stood in the presence of his own brother, and he
+  looked into the countenance of Sir Lamorack and marvelled how noble and exalted
+  it was. And he felt a great passion of love for Sir Lamorack, and a great joy
+  in that love. But he did not tell Sir Lamorack who he was, for he had learned
+  several things since he had come out into the world, and one was that he must
+  not be too hasty in such things. So he said to himself: "I will not as yet tell
+  my brother who I am, lest he shall be ashamed of me. But first I shall win me
+  such credit that he shall not be ashamed of me, and then I will acknowledge
+  to him who I am." </p>
+<p> Then Sir Launcelot said: "I prithee, fair youth, tell me what is thy name
+  since I have told thee ours, for I find that I have great love for thee so that
+  I would fain know who thou art." </p>
+<p> Then Percival said: "My name is Percival." </p>
+<p> At that Sir Lamorack cried out: "I knew one whose name was Percival, and he
+  was mine own brother. And if he be alive he must now be just such a youth as
+  thou art." </p>
+<p> Then Percival's heart yearned toward Sir Lamorack, so that he looked up and
+  smiled with great love into his face; yet he would not acknowledge to Sir Lamorack
+  who he was, but held his peace for that while. </p>
+<p> Then Sir Launcelot said: "Now, fair youth, we will show you how to take the
+  armor off of this dead knight, and after we have done that, we shall take you
+  back to King Arthur, so that he may reward you for what you have done in the
+  way that he may deem best." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">The two knights arm Percival.</div>
+<p> So with that Sir Launcelot and Sir Lamorack dismounted from their horses,
+  and they went to that dead knight and unlaced his armor and removed the armor
+  from his body. And when they had done that they aided Percival to remove the
+  armor of wattled osier twigs and they cased him in the armor of Sir Boindegardus;
+  and thereafter they all three rode back to that pavilion where the King and
+  Queen were holding court. </p>
+<p> But when King Arthur heard that Sir Boindegardus was dead he was filled with
+  great joy; and when he heard how it was that Percival had slain him, he was
+  amazed beyond measure; and he said to Percival: "Surely God is with thee, fair
+  youth, to help thee to perform such a worthy feat of arms as this that thou
+  hast done, for no knight yet hath been able to perform that service." Then he
+  said: "Tell me what it is that thou hast most desire to have, and if it is in
+  my power to give it to thee thou shalt have it." </p>
+<p> Then Percival kneeled down before King Arthur, and he said: "Lord, that which
+  I most desire of all things else is to be made knight. So if it is in thy power
+  to do so, I pray thee to make me a knight-royal with thine own hands." </p>
+<p> Then King Arthur smiled upon Percival very kindly, and he said: "Percival,
+  it shall be as thou dost desire, and to-morrow I will make thee a knight." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">King Arthur makes Percival a knight-royal.</div>
+<p> So that night Percival watched his armor in the chapel of a hermit of the
+  forest, and the armor that he watched was the armor that had belonged to Sir
+  Boindegardus (for Percival besought King Arthur that he might wear that armor
+  for his own because it was what he himself had won in battle). And when the
+  next morning had come, Sir Launcelot and Sir Lamorack brought Percival before
+  King Arthur, and King Arthur made him a knight. </p>
+<p> After that Sir Percival besought King Arthur that he would give him leave
+  to depart from court so that he might do some worthy deed of arms that might
+  win him worship; and King Arthur gave him that leave he asked for. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percival threatens Sir Kay.</div>
+<p> Then Sir Percival went to where Sir Kay was sitting, and he said: "Messire,
+  I have not forgot that blow you gave that fair damsel yesterday when she spake
+  so kindly to me. As yet I am too young a knight to handle you; but by and by
+  the time will come when I shall return and repay you that blow tenfold and twentyfold
+  what you gave!" And at these words Sir Kay was in no wise pleased, for he wist
+  that Sir Percival would one day become a very strong and worthy knight. </p>
+<p> Now all this while the heart of Sir Lamorack yearned very greatly toward Sir
+  Percival, though Sir Lamorack knew not why that should be; so when Sir Percival
+  had obtained permission to go errant, Sir Lamorack asked King Arthur for leave
+  to ride forth so as to be with him; and King Arthur gave Sir Lamorack that leave.
+</p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percival and Sir Lamorack ride together.</div>
+<a href="images/051.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="p28" align="right" src="images/051.gif" border="0" alt="Sir Percival &#38; Sir Lamorack ride together" /></a>
+<p> Thus it befell that Sir Lamorack and Sir Percival rode forth together very
+  lovingly and cheerfully. And as they rode upon their way Sir Lamorack told Sir
+  Percival many things concerning the circumstances of knighthood, and to all
+  that he said Sir Percival gave great heed. But Sir Lamorack knew not that he
+  was riding with his own brother or that it was his own brother to whom he was
+  teaching the mysteries of chivalry, and Sir Percival told him nothing thereof.
+  But ever in his heart Sir Percival said to himself: "If God will give me enough
+  of His grace, I will some day do full credit unto thy teaching, O my brother!"
+</p>
+<p> Now, after Sir Percival and Sir Lamorack had travelled a great way, they came
+  at last out of that forest and to an open country where was a well-tilled land
+  and a wide, smooth river flowing down a level plain. </p>
+<p> And in the centre of that plain was a town of considerable size, and a very
+  large castle with several tall towers and many roofs and chimneys that stood
+  overlooking the town. </p>
+<p> That time they came thitherward the day was declining toward its close, so
+  that all the sky toward the westward shone, like, as it were, to a flame of
+  gold--exceedingly beautiful. And the highway upon which they entered was very
+  broad and smooth, like to a floor for smoothness. And there were all sorts of
+  folk passing along that highway; some afoot and some ahorseback. Also there
+  was a river path beside the river where the horses dragged deep-laden barges
+  down to the town and thence again; and these barges were all painted in bright
+  colors, and the horses were bedight with gay harness and hung with tinkling
+  bells. </p>
+<p> All these things Sir Percival beheld with wonder for he had never seen their
+  like before; wherefore he cried out with amazement, saying: "Saints of Glory!
+  How great and wonderful is the world!" </p>
+<p> Then Sir Lamorack looked upon him and smiled with great loving-kindness; and
+  he said: "Ha, Percival! This is so small a part of the world that it is but
+  a patch upon it." </p>
+<p> Unto this Sir Percival made reply: "Dear Messire, I am so glad that I have
+  come forth into the world that I am hardly able to know whether I am in a vision
+  or am awake." </p>
+<p> So, after a considerable while, they came to that town with its castle, and
+  these stood close beside the river--and the town and the castle were hight Cardennan.
+  And the town was of great consideration, being very well famed for its dyed
+  woollen fabrics. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percival and Sir Lamorack come to Cardennan.</div>
+<p> So Sir Percival and Sir Lamorack entered the town. And when Sir Percival beheld
+  all the people in the streets, coming and going upon their businesses; and when
+  he beheld all the gay colors and apparels of fine fabrics that the people wore;
+  and when he beheld the many booths filled with rich wares of divers sorts, he
+  wist not what to think for the wonder that possessed him; wherefore he cried
+  out aloud, as with great passion: "What marvel do I behold! I knew not that
+  a city could be so great as this." </p>
+<p> And again Sir Lamorack smiled very kindly upon him and said: "Sayst thou so?
+  Now I tell thee that when one compares this place with Camelot (which is the
+  King's city) it is as a star compared to the full moon in her glory." And at
+  that Sir Percival knew not what to think for wonder. </p>
+<p> So they went up the street of the town until they came to the castle of Cardennan
+  and there requested admission. And when the name and the estate of Sir Lamorack
+  were declared, the porter opened the gate with great joy and they entered. Then,
+  by and by, the lord and the lady of the castle came down from a carved wooden
+  gallery and bade them welcome by word of mouth. And after that sundry attendants
+  immediately appeared and assisted Sir Percival and Sir Lamorack to dismount
+  and took their horses to the stable, and sundry other attendants conducted them
+  to certain apartments where they were eased of their armor and bathed in baths
+  of tepid water and given soft raiment for to wear. After that the lord and the
+  lady entertained them with a great feast, where harpers and singers made music,
+  and where certain actors acted a mystery before them. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">How the two knights were welcomed by the lord and lady of
+  the castle.</div>
+<p> So these two knights and the lord and the lady of the castle ate together
+  and discoursed very pleasantly for a while; but, when the evening was pretty
+  well gone, Sir Lamorack bade good-night, and he and Sir Percival were conducted
+  to a certain very noble apartment where beds of down, spread with flame-colored
+  cloth, had been prepared for their repose. </p>
+<p> Thus ended that day which was the first day of the knighthood of Sir Percival
+  of Gales. </p>
+<p> Now though Sir Percival had travelled very contentedly with Sir Lamorack for
+  all that while, yet he had determined in his own mind that, as soon as possible,
+  he would leave Sir Lamorack and depart upon his own quest. For he said to himself:
+  "Lo! I am a very green knight as yet, and haply my brother may grow weary of
+  my company and cease to love me. So I will leave him ere he have the chance
+  to tire of me, and I will seek knighthood for myself. After that, if God wills
+  it that I shall win worthy knighthood, then my brother will be glad enough to
+  acknowledge me as his father's son." </p>
+<p> So when the next morning had come, Sir Percival arose very softly all in the
+  dawning, and he put on his armor without disturbing Sir Lamorack. Then he stooped
+  and looked into Sir Lamorack's face and beheld that his brother was still enfolded
+  in a deep sleep as in a soft mantle. And as Sir Percival gazed upon Sir Lamorack
+  thus asleep, he loved him with such ardor that he could hardly bear the strength
+  of his love. But he said to himself: "Sleep on, my brother, whilst I go away
+  and leave thee. But when I have earned me great glory, then will I return unto
+  thee and will lay all that I have achieved at thy feet, so that thou shalt be
+  very glad to acknowledge me." So saying to himself, he went away from that place
+  very softly, and Sir Lamorack slept so deeply that he wist not that Sir Percival
+  was gone. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percival leaves Sir Lamorack.</div>
+<p> Thereafter Sir Percival went to the courtyard of the castle and he bade certain
+  attendants to prepare his horse for him, and they did so. And he bade certain
+  others for to arm him, and they did so. Thereupon he mounted his horse and left
+  that castle and rode away. </p>
+<p> Now after Sir Percival had left Sir Lamorack still sleeping in the castle
+  as aforetold, he journeyed upon his way, taking great pleasure in all things
+  that he beheld. So he travelled all that morning, and the day was very bright
+  and warm, so that by and by he was an-hungered and athirst. So after a while
+  he came to a certain road that appeared to him to be good for his purpose, so
+  he took that way in great hopes that some adventure would befall him, or else
+  that he would find food and drink. </p>
+<p> Then after a while he heard a bell ringing, and after he had followed that
+  bell for some distance, he came to where was the dwelling-place of a hermit
+  and where was a small chapel by the wayside. And Sir Percival beheld that the
+  hermit, who was an old man with a long white beard, rang the bell of that chapel.
+</p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percival meets his fate at the forest chapel.</div>
+<p> So Sir Percival thought that here he might find food and drink; and so he
+  rode forward to where the hermit was ringing the bell. But when Sir Percival
+  came still more nigh he perceived that behind the chapel and to one side there
+  was a very noble knight upon horseback; and he perceived that the knight was
+  clad all in white armor and that his horse (which was white as milk and of very
+  noble strength and proportions) was furnished altogether with furniture of white.
+</p>
+<p> This knight, when he perceived Sir Percival, immediately rode up to meet him
+  and saluted Sir Percival very courteously. And the knight said: "Sir, will you
+  not joust a fall with me ere you break your fast? For this is a very fair and
+  level field of green grass and well fitted for such a friendly trial at arms
+  if you have the time for it." </p>
+<p> Unto this Sir Percival said: "Messire, I will gladly try a fall with you,
+  though I must tell you that I am a very young green knight, having been knighted
+  only yesterday by King Arthur himself. But though I am unskilled in arms, yet
+  it will pleasure me a great deal to accept so gentle and courteous a challenge
+  as that which you give me." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percival is overthrown by the white knight.</div>
+<p> So with that each knight turned his horse and each took such stand as appeared
+  to him to be best. And when they were in all ways prepared, they drave their
+  horses together with great speed, the one against the other, meeting one another,
+  shield against spear, in the very midst of the course. In that encounter (which
+  was the first that he ever ran) Sir Percival bare himself very well and with
+  great knightliness of endeavor; for he broke his spear upon the white knight
+  into small pieces. But the spear of the white knight held so that Sir Percival
+  was lifted out of his saddle and over the crupper of his horse, and fell upon
+  the ground with great violence and a cloud of dust. </p>
+<p> Then the white knight returned from his course and came up to where Sir Percival
+  was. And he inquired of him very courteously: "Sir, art thou hurt?" Thereunto
+  Sir Percival replied: "Nay, sir! I am not hurt, only somewhat shaken by my fall.'"
+</p>
+<p> Then the white knight dismounted from his horse and came to where Sir Percival
+  was. And he lifted up the umbril of his helmet, and Sir Percival perceived that
+  that white knight was Sir Launcelot of the Lake. </p>
+<p> And Sir Launcelot said: "Percival, I well knew who you were from the first,
+  but I thought I would see of what mettle you are, and I have found that you
+  are of very good mettle indeed. But you are to know that it is impossible for
+  a young knight such as you, who knoweth naught of the use of knightly weapons,
+  to have to do with a knight well-seasoned in arms as I am, and to have any hope
+  of success in such an encounter. Wherefore you need to be taught the craft of
+  using your weapons perfectly." </p>
+<p> To this Sir Percival said: "Messire, tell me, how may I hope to acquire craft
+  at arms such as may serve me in such a stead as this?" </p>
+<p> Sir Launcelot said: "I myself will teach thee, imparting to thee such skill
+  as I have at my command. Less than half a day's journey to the southward of
+  this is my castle of Joyous Gard. Thither I was upon my way when I met thee
+  here. Now thou shalt go with me unto Joyous Gard, and there thou shalt abide
+  until thou art in all ways taught the use of arms so that thou mayst uphold
+  that knighthood which I believe God hath endowed thee withal." </p>
+<p> So after that Sir Launcelot and Sir Percival went to the dwelling-place of
+  the hermit, and the hermit fed them with the best of that simple fare which
+  he had at his command. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">How Sir Percival dwelt at Joyous Gard.</div>
+<p> After that, they mounted horse again and rode away to Joyous Gard, and there
+  Sir Percival abided for a year, training himself in all wise so as to prepare
+  himself to uphold that knighthood which in him became so famous. For, during
+  that year Sir Launcelot was his teacher in the art of arms. Likewise he instructed
+  him in all the civilities and the customs of chivalry, so it befell that ere
+  Sir Percival came forth from Joyous Gard again he was well acquainted with all
+  the ways in which he should comport himself at any time, whether in field or
+  in court. </p>
+<p> So when Sir Percival came forth again from Joyous Gard, there was no knight,
+  unless it was Sir Launcelot himself, who could surpass him in skill at arms;
+  nay, not even his own brother, Sir Lamorack; nor was there anybody, even if
+  one were Sir Gawaine or Sir Geraint, who surpassed him in civility of courtliness
+  or nobility of demeanor. </p>
+<p> And now I shall tell you of the great adventure that befell Sir Percival after
+  Sir Launcelot had thus taught him at Joyous Gard. </p>
+<div align="center"> <a href="images/tail.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/tail.gif" border="0" alt="Tail Piece" /></a>
+</div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div class="chaphead" id="per3"><a href="images/017.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/017.gif" alt="Chapter Header" border="0" /></a>
+  <br />
+  Chapter Third</div>
+<br />
+<div class="chapdes">How Sir Percival met two strange people in the forest, and
+  how he succored a knight who was in very great sorrow and dole.</div>
+<p> Now after Sir Percival had left Joyous Gard he rode for several days seeking
+  adventure but meeting none. </p>
+<p> Then one day he came to a very dark and wonderful forest which appeared to
+  be so silent and lonely and yet so full of beauty that Sir Percival bethought
+  him that this must surely be some forest of magic. So he entered into that forest
+  with intent to discover if he might find any worthy adventure therein. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percival enters the Forest of Arroy.</div>
+<p> (And that forest was a forest of magic; for you are to know that it was the
+  Forest of Arroy, sometimes called the Forest of Adventure, which was several
+  times spoken of in the book of King Arthur. For no one ever entered into that
+  forest but some singular adventure befell him.) </p>
+<p> So Sir Percival rode through this wonderful woodland for a long time very
+  greatly wondering, for everywhere about him was perfect silence, with not so
+  much as a single note of a bird of the woodlands to lighten that stillness.
+  Now, as Sir Percival rode through that silence, he presently became aware of
+  the sound of voices talking together, and shortly thereafter he perceived a
+  knight with a lady riding amid the thin trees that grew there. And the knight
+  rode upon a great white horse, and the lady rode upon a red roan palfrey. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percival meets two strange people.</div>
+<p> These, when they beheld Sir Percival, waited for him, and as Sir Percival
+  drew nigh to them he perceived that they were of a very singular appearance.
+  For both of them were clad altogether in green, and both of them wore about
+  their necks very wonderful collars of wrought gold inset with opal stones and
+  emeralds. And the face of each was like clear wax for whiteness; and the eyes
+  of each were very bright, like jewels set in ivory. And these two neither laughed
+  nor frowned, but only smiled continually. And that knight whom Sir Percival
+  beheld was Sir Pellias, and the lady was the Lady Nymue of the Lake. </p>
+<p> Now when Sir Percival beheld these two, he wist that they were fay, wherefore
+  he dismounted very quickly, and kneeled down upon the ground and set his palms
+  together. Then the Lady of the Lake smiled very kindly upon Sir Percival, and
+  she said: "Sir Percival, arise, and tell me what you do in these parts?" </p>
+<p> Then Sir Percival arose and he stood before that knight and lady, and he said:
+  "Lady, I wist not how you know who I am, but I believe you are fay and know
+  many things. Touching my purpose in coming here, it is that I am in search of
+  adventure. So if you know of any that I may undertake for your sake, I pray
+  you to tell me of it." </p>
+<p> The lady said: "If so be thy desire is of that sort, I may, perchance be able
+  to bring thee unto an adventure that is worthy for any knight to undertake.
+  Go a little distance from this upon the way thou art following and by and by
+  thou wilt behold a bird whose feathers shall shine like to gold for brightness.
+  Follow that bird and it will bring thee to a place where thou shalt find a knight
+  in sore need of thy aid." </p>
+<p> And Percival said: "I will do as thou dost advise." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">The Lady of the Lake giveth Sir Percival a charm.</div>
+<p> Then the lady said: "Wait a little, I have something for thee." Therewith
+  she took from her neck a small golden amulet pendant from a silken cord very
+  fine and thin. And she said: "Wear this for it will protect thee from all evil
+  enchantments." Therewith saying, she hung the amulet about the neck of Sir Percival,
+  and Sir Percival gave her thanks beyond measure for it. </p>
+<p> Then the knight and the lady saluted him and he saluted them, and they each
+  went their separate ways. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">How Percival followed the golden bird.</div>
+<p> So Sir Percival travelled that path for some distance as the lady had advised
+  him to do, and by and by he beheld the bird of which she had spoken. And he
+  saw that the plumage of the bird glistered as though it was of gold so that
+  he marvelled at it. And as he drew nigh the bird flew a little distance down
+  the path and then lit upon the ground and he followed it. And when he had come
+  nigh to it again it flew a distance farther and still he followed it. So it
+  flew and he followed for a very great way until by and by the forest grew thin
+  and Sir Percival beheld that there was an open country lying beyond the skirts
+  thereof. And when the bird had brought him thus far it suddenly flew back into
+  the forest again whence it had come, chirping very keenly and shrilly as it
+  flew. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percival beholds a wonderful castle.</div>
+<p> So Percival came out of the forest into the open country, the like of which
+  he had never before seen, for it was a very desolate barren waste of land. And
+  in the midst of this desolate plain there stood a castle of a very wonderful
+  appearance; for in some parts it was the color of ultramarine and in other parts
+  it was of crimson; and the ultramarine and the crimson were embellished with
+  very extraordinary devices painted in gold. So because of all those extraordinary
+  colors, that castle shone like a bright rainbow against the sky, wherefore Sir
+  Percival sat his horse for some while and marvelled very greatly thereat. </p>
+<p> Then, by and by Sir Percival perceived that the road that led to the castle
+  crossed a bridge of stone, and when he looked at the bridge he saw that midway
+  upon it was a pillar of stone and that a knight clad all in full armor stood
+  chained with iron chains to that stone pillar, and at that sight Sir Percival
+  was very greatly astonished. So he rode very rapidly along that way and so to
+  the bridge and upon the bridge to where the knight was. And when Sir Percival
+  came thus upon the bridge he perceived that the knight who was bound with chains
+  was very noble and haughty of appearance, but that he seemed to be in great
+  pain and suffering because of his being thus bound to that pillar. For the captive
+  knight made continual moan so that it moved the heart of Sir Percival to hear
+  him. </p>
+<p> So Sir Percival said: "Sir Knight, this is a sorrowful condition thou art
+  in." And the knight said: "Yea, and I am sorrowful; for I have stood here now
+  for three days and I am in great torment of mind and body." </p>
+<p> Sir Percival said, "Maybe I can aid thee," and thereupon he got down from
+  off his horse's back and approached the knight. And he drew his sword so that
+  it flashed in the sun very brightly. </p>
+<p> Upon this the knight said: "Messire, what would you be at?" And Sir Percival
+  said: "I would cut the chains that bind thee." </p>
+<p> To this the knight said: "How could you do that? For who could cut through
+  chains of iron such as these?" </p>
+<p> But Sir Percival said: "I will try what I may do." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percival sets free the captive knight.</div>
+<p> Thereupon he lifted up his sword and smote so terribly powerful a blow that
+  the like of it had hardly ever been seen before. For that blow cut through the
+  iron chains and smote the hauberk of the knight so smart a buffet that he fell
+  down to the ground altogether deprived of breath. </p>
+<p> But when Sir Percival saw the knight fall down in that wise, he cried out:
+  "Woe is me! Have I slain this good, gentle knight when I would but do him service?"
+  Thereupon he lifted the knight up upon his knee and eased the armor about his
+  throat. But the knight was not dead, and by and by the breath came back to him
+  again, and he said: "By my faith, that was the most wonderful stroke that ever
+  I beheld any man strike in all of my life." </p>
+<p> Thereafter, when the knight had sufficiently recovered, Sir Percival helped
+  him to stand upon his feet; and when he stood thus his strength presently came
+  back to him again in great measure. </p>
+<p> And the knight was athirst and craved very vehemently to drink. So Sir Percival
+  helped him to descend a narrow path that led to a stream of water that flowed
+  beneath the bridge; and there the knight stooped and slaked his thirst. And
+  when he had drunk his fill, his strength came altogether back to him again,
+  and he said: "Messire, I have to give thee all thanks that it is possible for
+  me to do, for hadst thou not come unto mine aid, I would else have perished
+  very miserably and at no very distant time from this." </p>
+<p> Then Sir Percival said: "I beseech you, Messire, to tell me how you came into
+  that sad plight in which I found you." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">The knight telleth his story.</div>
+<p> To this the knight said: "I will tell you; it was thus: Two days ago I came
+  thitherward and past yonder castle, and with me were two excellent esquires--for
+  I am a knight of royal blood. Now as we went past that castle there came forth
+  a lady clad all in red and so exceedingly beautiful that she entirely enchanted
+  my heart. And with this lady there came a number of esquires and pages, all
+  of them very beautiful of face, and all clad, as she was, in red. Now when this
+  lady had come nigh to me she spoke me very fair and tempted me with kind words
+  so that I thought I had never fallen upon anyone so courteous as she. But when
+  she had come real close to me, she smote me of a sudden across the shoulders
+  with an ebony staff that she carried in her hand, and at the same time she cried
+  out certain words that I remember not. For immediately a great darkness like
+  to a deep swoon fell upon me and I knew nothing. And when I awakened from that
+  swoon lo! I found myself here, chained fast to this stone pillar. And hadst
+  thou not come hither I would else certainly have died in my torment. And as
+  to what hath become of my esquires, I know not; but as for that lady, methinks
+  she can be none other than a certain enchantress, hight Vivien, who hath wrought
+  such powerful spells upon Merlin as to have removed him from the eyes of all
+  mankind." </p>
+<p> Unto all this Sir Percival listened in great wonder, and when the knight had
+  ended his tale he said: "What is thy name?" And the knight said: "My name is
+  Percydes and I am the son of King Pecheur--so called because he is the king
+  of all the fisher-folk who dwell upon the West coast. And now I prithee tell
+  me also thy name and condition, for I find I love thee a very great deal." </p>
+<p> And Sir Percival said: "My name is Percival, but I may not at this present
+  tell thee my condition and of whom I am born; for that I must keep secret until
+  I have won me good credit as a knight. But now I have somewhat to do, and that
+  is to deal with this lady Vivien as she shall deserve." </p>
+<p> Upon that Sir Percydes cried out: "Go not near to that sorceress, else she
+  will do some great harm to thee with her potent spells as she did to me." </p>
+<p> But Sir Percival said: "I have no fear of her." </p>
+<p> So Sir Percival arose and crossed the bridge and went toward that wonderful
+  enchanted castle; and Sir Percydes would have gone with him, but Sir Percival
+  said: "Stay where thou art." And so Sir Percydes stayed and Sir Percival went
+  forward alone. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">The Lady Vivien cometh forth to Sir Percival.</div>
+<p> Now as he drew nigh to the castle the gate thereof was opened, and there came
+  forth thence an extraordinarily beautiful lady surrounded by a court of esquires
+  and pages all very beautiful of countenance. And this lady and all of her court
+  were clad in red so that they shone like to several flames of fire. And the
+  lady's hair was as red as gold, and she wore gold ornaments about her neck so
+  that she glistered exceedingly and was very wonderful to behold. And her eyebrows
+  were very black and fine and were joined in the middle like two fine lines drawn
+  together with a pencil, and her eyes were narrow and black, shining like those
+  of a snake. </p>
+<p> Then when Sir Percival beheld this lady how singularly beautiful she was he
+  was altogether enchanted so that he could not forbear to approach her. And,
+  lo! she stood still and smiled upon him so that his heart stirred within his
+  bosom like as though it pulled at the strings that held it. Then she said to
+  Sir Percival, speaking in a very sweet and gentle voice: "Sir Knight, thou art
+  welcome to this place. It would pleasure us very greatly if thou wouldst consider
+  this castle as though it were thine own and would abide within it with me for
+  a while." Therewith speaking she smiled again upon Sir Percival more cunningly
+  than before and reached out her hand toward him. </p>
+<p> Then Sir Percival came toward her with intent to take her hand, she smiling
+  upon him all the while so that he could not do otherwise than as she willed.
+</p>
+<p> Now in the other hand this lady held an ebony staff of about an ell in length,
+  and when Sir Percival had come close enough to her, she lifted this staff of
+  a sudden and smote him with it very violently across the shoulders, crying out
+  at the same time, in a voice terribly piercing and shrill: "Be thou a stone!"
+</p>
+<p> Then that charm that the Lady of the Lake had hung around the neck of Sir
+  Percival stood him in good stead, for, excepting for it, he would that instant
+  have been transformed into a stone. But the charm of the sorceress did not work
+  upon him, being prevented by the greater charm of that golden amulet. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percival draweth sword upon the Lady Vivien.</div>
+<p> But Sir Percival knew very well what the sorceress Vivien had intended to
+  do to him, and he was filled with a great rage of indignation against her because
+  she had meant to transform him into a stone. Therefore he cried out with a loud
+  voice and seized the enchantress by her long golden hair, and drew her so violently
+  forward that she fell down upon her knees. Then he drew his shining sword with
+  intent to sever her long neck, so slender and white like alabaster. </p>
+<a href="images/052.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="p29" align="right" src="images/052.gif" border="0" alt="Sir Percival overcometh ye Enchantress Vivien" /></a>
+<p> But the lady shrieked with great vehemence of terror and besought him mercy.
+  And at that Sir Percival's heart grew soft for pity, for he bethought him that
+  she was a woman and he beheld how smooth and beautiful was her neck, and how
+  her skin was like white satin for smoothness. So when he heard her voice--the
+  voice of a woman beseeching mercy--his heart grew soft, and he could not find
+  strength within him to strike that neck apart with his sword. </p>
+<p> So he bade her to arise--though he still held her by the hair (all warm, it
+  was, and as soft as silk and very fragrant) and the lady stood up, trembling
+  before him. </p>
+<p> Then Sir Percival said to her: "If thou wouldst have thy life I command thee
+  to transform back to their own shape all those people whom thou hast bewitched
+  as thou wouldst have bewitched me." </p>
+<p> Then the lady said: "It shall be done." Whereupon she smote her hands very
+  violently together crying out: "All ye who have lost your proper shapes, return
+  thereunto." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">The Lady Vivien undoes her enchantment.</div>
+<p> Then, lo! upon the instant, a great multitude of round stones that lay scattered
+  about became quick, like to eggs; and they moved and stirred as the life entered
+  into them. And they melted away and, behold! there arose up a great many knights
+  and esquires and several ladies to the number of four score and eight in all.
+  And certain other stones became quickened in like manner, and as Percival looked,
+  lo! there rose up the horses of those people, all caparisoned as though for
+  travel. </p>
+<p> Now when those people who had been thus bewitched beheld the Lady Vivien,
+  how Sir Percival held her by the hair of her head, they made great outcry against
+  her for vengeance, saying: "Slay her! Slay her!" And therewith several made
+  at her as though to do as they said and to slay her. But Percival waved his
+  sword before her and said: "Not so! Not so! For this lady is my prisoner and
+  we shall not harm her unless ye come at her through me." </p>
+<p> Thereat they fell silent in a little while, and when he had thus stilled them,
+  he turned to the Lady Vivien and said: "This is my command that I lay upon thee:
+  that thou shalt go into the court of King Arthur and shalt confess thyself to
+  him and that thou shalt fulfil whatever penance he may lay upon thee to perform
+  because of thy transgressions. Now wilt thou do this for to save thy life?"
+</p>
+<p> And the Lady Vivien made reply: "All shall be done according to thy command."
+</p>
+<p> Therewith Sir Percival released his hold upon her and she was free. </p>
+<p> Then, finding herself to be thus free, she stepped back a pace or two and
+  looked into Sir Percival his face, and she laughed. And she said: "Thou fool,
+  didst thou think that I would do so mad a thing as that which thou hast made
+  me promise? For what mercy could I expect at the hands of King Arthur seeing
+  that it was I who destroyed the Enchanter Merlin, who was the right adviser
+  of King Arthur! Go to King Arthur thyself and deliver to him thine own messages."
+</p>
+<div class="sidenote">The Lady Vivien escapes.</div>
+<p> So saying, in an instant, she vanished from the sight of all those who stood
+  there. And with her vanished that castle of crimson and ultramarine and gold--and
+  nothing was left but the bare rocks and the barren plain. </p>
+<p> Then when those who were there recovered from their astonishment, upon beholding
+  that great castle so suddenly disappear, they turned to Sir Percival and gave
+  him worship and thanks without measure, saying to him: "What shall we do in
+  return for saving us from the enchantment of this sorceress?" </p>
+<p> And Percival said: "Ye shall do this: ye shall go to the court of King Arthur
+  and tell him how that young knight, Percival, whom he made a knight a year ago,
+  hath liberated you from the enchantment of this sorceress. And you shall seek
+  out Sir Kay and shall say to him that, by and by, I shall return and repay him
+  in full measure, twenty times over, that blow which he gave to the damosel Yelande,
+  the Dumb Maiden because of her kindness to me." </p>
+<p> So said Sir Percival, and they said: "It shall be done as thou dost ordain."
+</p>
+<p> Then Sir Percydes said: "Wilt thou not come to my castle and rest thyself
+  there for the night? For thou must be aweary with all thy toil." And Sir Percival
+  said, "I will go with thee." So Sir Percydes and Sir Percival rode away together
+  to the castle of Sir Percydes. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percydes knoweth the ring that Percival wears.</div>
+<p> Now while Sir Percival and Sir Percydes sat at supper in the castle of Sir
+  Percydes, Sir Percival chanced to lay his hand in love upon the sleeve of Sir
+  Percydes's arm, and that moment Sir Percydes saw the ring upon Sir Percival's
+  finger which the young damosel of the pavilion had given unto him in exchange
+  for his ring. When Sir Percydes saw that ring he cried out in great astonishment,
+  "Where didst thou get that ring?" </p>
+<p> Sir Percival said, "I will tell thee"; and therewith he told Sir Percydes
+  all that had befallen him when he first came down into the world from the wilderness
+  where he had aforetime dwelt, and how he had entered the yellow pavilion and
+  had discovered the damosel who was now his chosen lady. When Sir Percydes heard
+  that story he laughed in great measure, and then he said: "But how wilt thou
+  find that young damosel again when thou hast a mind for to go to her once more?"
+  To the which Sir Percival made reply: "I know not how I shall find her, nevertheless,
+  I shall assuredly do so. For though the world is much wider and greater than
+  I had thought it to be when I first came down into it, yet I know that I shall
+  find that lady when the fit time cometh for me to seek her." </p>
+<p> Then Sir Percydes said: "Dear friend, when thou desireth to find that damosel
+  to whom belongeth the ring, come thou to me and I will tell thee where thou
+  mayst find her; yet I know not why thou dost not go and find her now." </p>
+<p> Unto this Sir Percival made reply: "I do not seek her immediately because
+  I am yet so young and so unknown to the world that I could not be of any credit
+  to her should I find her; so first I will seek to obtain credit as a knight,
+  and then I will seek her." </p>
+<p> Sir Percydes said: "Well, Percival, I think thou hast great promise of a very
+  wonderful knighthood. Nor do I think thou wilt have difficulty in finding plenty
+  of adventures to undertake. For even to-day I know of an adventure, which if
+  thou couldst perform it successfully, would bring thee such worship that there
+  are very few knights in all the world who will have more worship than thou."
+</p>
+<p> Then Sir Percival said: "I prithee, dear friend, tell me what is that adventure."
+</p>
+<p> Then Sir Percydes told Sir Percival what that adventure was as followeth:
+</p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percydes telleth Sir Percival of Beaurepaire.</div>
+<p> "Thou art to know," quoth he, "that somewhat more than a day's journey to
+  the north of this there is a fair plain, very fertile and beautiful to the sight.
+  In the midst of that plain is a small lake of water, and in that lake is an
+  island, and upon the island is a tall castle of very noble size and proportions.
+  That castle is called Beaurepaire, and the lady of that castle is thought to
+  be one of the most beautiful damosels in the world. And the name of the lady
+  is Lady Blanchefleur. </p>
+<p> "Now there is a very strong and powerful knight hight Sir Clamadius, otherwise
+  known as the King of the Isles; and he is one of the most famous knights in
+  the world. Sir Clamadius hath for a long while loved the Lady Blanchefleur with
+  such a passion of love that I do not think that the like of that passion is
+  to be found anywhere else in the world. But the Lady Blanchefleur hath no love
+  for Sir Clamadius, but ever turneth away from him with a heart altogether cold
+  of liking. </p>
+<p> "But Sir Clamadius is a wonderfully proud and haughty King, wherefore he can
+  ill brook being scorned by any lady. Wherefore he hath now come against the
+  castle of Beaurepaire with an array of knights of his court, and at present
+  layeth siege to that castle aforesaid. </p>
+<p> "Now there is not at that castle any knight of sufficient worship to serve
+  as champion thereof, wherefore all they of Beaurepaire stay within the castle
+  walls and Sir Clamadius holds the meadows outside of the castle so that no one
+  enters in or goeth out thereof. </p>
+<p> "If thou couldst liberate the Lady Blanchefleur from the duress which Sir
+  Clamadius places upon her, I believe thou wouldst have as great credit in courts
+  of chivalry as it is possible to have. For, since Sir Tristram is gone, Sir
+  Clamadius is believed by many to be the best knight in the world, except Sir
+  Launcelot of the Lake; unless it be that Sir Lamorack of Gales is a better knight
+  than he." </p>
+<p> Then Sir Percival said: "What thou tellest me gives me great pleasure, for
+  it would be a very good adventure for any young knight to undertake. For if
+  he should lose there would be no shame in losing, and if he should win there
+  would be great glory in winning. So to-morrow I will enter upon that adventure,
+  with intent to discover what fortune I may have therein." </p>
+<p> So I have told you how Sir Percival performed his first adventures in the
+  world of chivalry after he had perfected himself in the mysteries of knighthood
+  under the teaching of Sir Launcelot of the Lake, and I have told you how he
+  achieved that adventure with great credit to himself and with great glory to
+  the order of knighthood to which he now truly belonged as a most worthy member.
+</p>
+<p> That night he abided in the castle of Sir Percydes with great comfort and
+  rest to his body, and when the next morning had come he arose, much refreshed
+  and strengthened in spirit. And he descended to the hall where was set a fair
+  and generous breakfast for his further refreshment, and thereat he and Sir Percydes
+  sat themselves down and ate with hearty appetite, discoursing with great amity
+  of spirit as aforetold. </p>
+<p> After he had broken his fast he bade farewell to Sir Percydes and mounted
+  his horse and rode away through the bright sunlight toward Beaurepaire and those
+  further adventures that awaited him thereat. </p>
+<p> And, as it was with Sir Percival in that first adventure, so may you meet
+  with a like success when you ride forth upon your first undertakings after you
+  have entered into the glory of your knighthood, with your life lying before
+  you and a whole world whereinto ye may freely enter to do your devoirs to the
+  glory of God and your own honor. </p>
+<p> So now it shall be told how it fared with Sir Percival in that adventure of
+  the Castle of Beaurepaire. </p>
+<div align="center"> <a href="images/tail.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/tail.gif" border="0" alt="Tail Piece" /></a>
+</div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div class="chaphead" id="per4"><a href="images/019.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/019.gif" alt="Chapter Header" border="0" /></a>
+  <br />
+  Chapter Fourth</div>
+<br />
+<div class="chapdes">How Sir Percival undertook the adventure of the castle of
+  Beaurepaire and how he fared therein after several excellent adventures</div>
+.
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percival breaks his fast at a forest cottage.</div>
+<p> Now the way that Sir Percival travelled led him by the outskirts of the forest,
+  so that somewhiles he would be in the woodland and somewhiles he would be in
+  the open country. And about noontide he came to a certain cottage of a neatherd
+  that stood all alone in a very pleasant dale. That place a little brook came
+  bickering out from the forest and ran down into the dale and spread out into
+  a small lake, besides which daffadowndillys bloomed in such abundance that it
+  appeared as though all that meadow land was scattered over with an incredible
+  number of yellow stars that had fallen down from out of the sky. And, because
+  of the pleasantness of this place, Sir Percival here dismounted from his horse
+  and sat him down upon a little couch of moss under the shadow of an oak tree
+  that grew nigh to the cottage, there to rest himself for a while with great
+  pleasure. And as he sat there there came a barelegged lass from the cottage
+  and brought him fresh milk to drink; and there came a good, comely housewife
+  and brought him bread and cheese made of cream; and Sir Percival ate and drank
+  with great appetite. </p>
+<p> Now whilst Sir Percival sat there resting and refreshing himself in that wise,
+  there appeared of a sudden coming thitherward, a tall and noble knight riding
+  upon a piebald war-horse of Norway strain. So when Sir Percival beheld that
+  knight coming in that wise he quickly put on his helmet and mounted his horse
+  and made him ready for defence in case the knight had a mind to assail him.
+</p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percival bespeaketh the strange knight.</div>
+<p> Meantime that knight came riding up with great haughtiness of bearing to where
+  Sir Percival was, and when he had come nigh enough he bespake Sir Percival,
+  saying: "Sir Knight, I pray you to tell me your name and whither you go, and
+  upon what quest?" </p>
+<p> Unto this Sir Percival made reply: "Messire, I do not choose to tell you my
+  name, for I am a young knight, very new to adventure, and I know not how I shall
+  succeed in that quest which I have undertaken. So I will wait to try the success
+  of that adventure before I tell my name. But though I may not tell my name I
+  will tell you whither I go and upon what quest. I go for to find a certain castle
+  called Beaurepaire, and I intend to endeavor to liberate the lady of that castle
+  from the duress of a certain knight hight Sir Clamadius, who, I understand,
+  holds her by siege within the walls thereof." </p>
+<p> Now, when Sir Percival had ceased speaking, the strange knight said: "Sir,
+  this is a very singular thing: for that adventure of which you speak is the
+  very adventure upon which I myself am bound. Now, as you say, you are a very
+  young knight unused to arms, and as I am in the same degree a knight well seasoned
+  in deeds of arms, it is more fitting that I should undertake this quest than
+  you. For you may know how very well I am used to the service of arms when I
+  tell you that I have had to do in four and twenty battles of various sorts;
+  some of them friendly and some of them otherwise; and that I have had to do
+  in more than four times that many affairs-at-arms with single knights, nearly
+  all of them of great prowess. So now it would seem fitting that you should withdraw
+  you from this affair and let me first essay it. Then, if I fail in my undertaking,
+  you shall assume that adventure." </p>
+<p> "Messire," quoth Sir Percival, "I see that you are a knight of much greater
+  experience than I; but, ne'ertheless, I cannot find it in my heart to forego
+  this adventure. So what I have to propose is this: that you and I do combat
+  here in this place, and that he who proveth himself to be the better of us twain
+  shall carry out this undertaking that we are both set upon." </p>
+<p> Unto this, that strange knight lent a very willing assent, saying: "Very well,
+  Messire, it shall be as you ask." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percival doeth battle with the strange knight.</div>
+<p> So with that each knight turned his horse and rode a little piece away; and
+  each took such stand as pleased him; and each dressed his spear and shield and
+  made him in all wise ready for the encounter. And when they had so prepared
+  themselves, each knight shouted to his horse, and drave spur into its flank
+  and rushed, the one against the other, with such terrible noise and violence
+  that the sound thereof was echoed back from the woods like to a storm of thunder.
+</p>
+<p> So they met in the midst of the course with such a vehement impact that it
+  was terrible to behold. And in that encounter the spear of each knight was burst
+  all into fragments; and the horse of each fell back upon his haunches and would
+  have been overthrown had not each knight voided his saddle with a very wonderful
+  skill and agility. </p>
+<p> Then each knight drew sword and came the one against the other, as furiously
+  as two rams at battle. So they fought for nigh the space of an hour, foining
+  and striking, and tracing hither and tracing thither most furiously; and the
+  noise of the blows they struck might have been heard several furlongs away.
+</p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percival overcometh the strange knight.</div>
+<p> During that battle Sir Percival received several sore wounds so that by and
+  by a great passion of rage seized upon him. So he rushed the battle with might
+  and main, and therewith struck so many furious blows that by and by that other
+  knight held his shield very low for weariness. This Sir Percival perceived,
+  and therewith he smote the other so furious a blow upon the head that the knight
+  sank down upon his knees and could not arise. Then Sir Percival ran to him and
+  catched him by the neck and flung him down violently upon the ground, crying
+  out, "Yield or I slay thee!" </p>
+<p> Then that knight besought mercy in a very weak voice, saying: "Sir Knight,
+  I beseech thee, spare my life!" </p>
+<p> Sir Percival said: "Well, I will spare thee, but tell me, what is thy name?"
+  To this the other said: "I am Sir Lionel, and I am a knight of King Arthur's
+  court and of the Round Table." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percival giveth aid to Sir Lionel.</div>
+<p> Now when Sir Percival heard this he cried out aloud, for he was very greatly
+  grieved, and he said: "Al as, what have I done for to fight against thee in
+  this wise! I am Sir Percival, whom thine own kinsman, Sir Launcelot of the Lake,
+  hath trained in arms. But indeed, I did never think to use that art which he
+  taught me against one so dear to his heart as thou art, Sir Lionel." So with
+  that Sir Percival assisted Sir Lionel to arise to his feet, and Sir Lionel was
+  so weak from that woeful battle that he could hardly stand. </p>
+<p> Now that stream and lake of water above spoken of was near by, so Sir Percival
+  brought Sir Lionel thither, holding him up as he walked; and there Sir Lionel
+  refreshed himself. Then, when he was revived a little, he turned his eyes very
+  languidly upon Sir Percival, and he said: "Percival, thou hast done to me this
+  day what few knights have ever done before. So all the glory that ever I have
+  won is now thy glory because of this battle. For thou hast overcome me in a
+  fair quarrel and I have yielded myself unto thee, wherefore it is now thy right
+  to command me to thy will." </p>
+<p> Then Percival said: "Alas, dear Sir Knight! It is not meet that I should lay
+  command upon such as thou art. But, if thou wilt do so, I beseech thee when
+  thou art come to King Arthur's court that thou wilt tell the King that I, who
+  am his young knight Percival, have borne myself not unbecomingly in my battle
+  with thee. For this is the first battle, knight against knight, that I have
+  undertaken in all of my life. And I beseech thee that thou wilt greet Sir Kay
+  the Seneschal, from me, and that thou wilt say to him that by and by I shall
+  meet him and repay him that buffet which he gave to the damsel Yelande, the
+  Dumb Maiden, in the Queen's pavilion." </p>
+<p> Sir Lionel said: "It shall be as thou sayst, and I will do thy bidding. But,
+  touching Sir Kay, I do not believe that he will take very much joy at thy message
+  to him. For he will find small pleasure in the thought of the payment of that
+  buffet that thou hast promised to give him." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percival goeth forward upon his adventure.</div>
+<p> Now, as the day by this time was waxing late, Sir Percival abided that night
+  at that neatherd's hut nigh to which this battle had been fought and there had
+  his wounds bathed and dressed; and when the next morning had come he arose early,
+  and saddled his horse, and rode forward upon his way. And as he rode he was
+  very well pleased at the thought of that battle he had fought with Sir Lionel,
+  for he wist that he had obtained great credit to himself in that encounter,
+  and he was aware, now that he had made trial of his strength against such a
+  one as Sir Lionel, he must be one of the greatest knights of the world. So his
+  heart was uplifted with great joy and delight at that thought; that he was now
+  a well-approved knight-champion, worthy of his knighthood. Therefore he rode
+  away for all that day, greatly rejoicing in spirit at the thought of what he
+  had done the day before. </p>
+<p> About the first slant of the afternoon Sir Percival came at last out of the
+  woodlands and into a wide-open plain, very fertile and well tilled, with fields
+  of wheat and rye abounding on all sides. And he saw that in the midst of that
+  plain there was a considerable lake, and that in the midst of that lake there
+  was an island, and that upon the island there stood a fair noble castle, and
+  he wist that that castle must be the castle of Beaurepaire. So he rode down
+  into that valley with some speed. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percival perceives a red knight.</div>
+<p> Now after he had so ridden for a while, he was aware of a knight, very haughty
+  of appearance and bearing, who rode before him upon the same way that he was
+  going. And that knight was clad all in red armor, and he rode upon a horse so
+  black that I believe there was not a single white hair upon him. And all the
+  trappings and the furniture of that horse were of red, so that he presented
+  a very noble appearance. So Sir Percival made haste to overtake that knight,
+  and when he had come nigh he drew rein at a little distance. Thereupon that
+  knight in red bespake Sir Percival very proudly, saying: "Sir Knight, whither
+  ride you, and upon what mission?" </p>
+<p> "Messire," quoth Percival, "I ride toward yonder castle, which I take to be
+  the castle of Beaurepaire, and I come hither with intent to succor the Lady
+  Blanchefleur of that castle from a knight, hight Sir Clamadius, who keeps her
+  there a prisoner against her will, so that it behooves any good knight to attempt
+  her rescue." </p>
+<p> Upon this the red knight spake very fiercely, saying: "Messire, what business
+  is that of yours? I would have you know that I am a knight of King Clamadius',
+  wherefore I am able to say to you that you shall go no further upon that quest.
+  For I am Sir Engeneron of Grandregarde, and I am Seneschal unto King Clamadius,
+  and I will not have it that thou shalt go any farther upon this way unless you
+  ride over me to go upon it." </p>
+<p> "Messire," quoth Sir Percival, "I have no quarrel with you, but if you have
+  a mind to force a quarrel upon me, I will not seek to withdraw myself from an
+  encounter with you. So make yourself ready, and I will make myself ready, and
+  then we shall soon see whether or not I am to pass upon this way." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percival doeth battle with Sir Engeneron.</div>
+<p> So therewith each knight turned his horse away to such a place as seemed to
+  him to be fitting; and when they were in all wise prepared they rushed together
+  with an amazing velocity and a noise like to thunder. So they met in the midst
+  of the course. And in that encounter the spear of Sir Engeneron broke into many
+  pieces, but the spear of Sir Percival held, so that he flung Sir Engeneron entirely
+  out of his saddle and over the crupper of his horse and down upon the ground
+  so violently that Sir Engeneron lay there in a swoon. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Engeneron yields himself to Sir Percival.</div>
+<p> Then Sir Percival dismounted from his horse with all speed, and he rushed
+  the helmet of Sir Engeneron off of his head with intent to slay him. But with
+  that Sir Engeneron awoke to his danger, and therewith gat upon his knees and
+  clasped Sir Percival about the thighs, crying out: "Sir, I beseech you upon
+  your knighthood to spare my life." </p>
+<p> "Well," said Sir Percival, "since you beseech that upon my knighthood I must
+  needs do as you ask. But I will only do so upon two conditions. The first of
+  these conditions is that you go to the court of King Arthur, and that you surrender
+  yourself as captive to a damsel of that court who is known as the Lady Yelande
+  the Dumb Maiden. And you are to tell that maiden that the young knight who slew
+  Sir Boindegardus greets her and that he tells her that in a little while he
+  will return to repay to Sir Kay that buffet he gave her. This is my first condition."
+  And Sir Engeneron said: "I will perform that condition." </p>
+<p> "And my second condition," said Sir Percival, "is this: that you give me your
+  armor for me to use upon this adventure which I have undertaken, and that you
+  take my armor and deposit it with the hermit of a little chapel you shall after
+  a while come to if you return upon the road which brought me hither. After a
+  while I will return and reclaim my armor and will return your armor. This is
+  my second condition." </p>
+<p> And Sir Engeneron said: "That condition also I shall fulfil according to your
+  command." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percival and Sir Engeneron exchange armor.</div>
+<p> Then Sir Percival said: "Arise." And Sir Engeneron did so. And after that
+  Sir Engeneron put off his armor, and Sir Percival put off his armor. And Sir
+  Percival put on the armor of Sir Engeneron, and Sir Engeneron packed the armor
+  of Sir Percival upon his horse and prepared to depart in obedience to those
+  conditions of Sir Percival. So they parted company, Sir Percival riding upon
+  his way to Beaurepaire, and Sir Engeneron betaking his way to find the chapel
+  of that hermit of whom Sir Percival had spoken. </p>
+<p> So it was that after two adventures, Sir Percival entered upon that undertaking
+  which he had come to perform in behalf of the Lady Blanchefleur. </p>
+<p> And now, if it please you to read what follows, you shall hear how it befell
+  with Sir Percival at the castle of Beaurepaire. </p>
+<p> After that adventure with Sir Engeneron, Sir Percival rode onward upon his
+  way, and by and by he came to the lake whereon stood the castle and the town
+  of Beaurepaire. And Sir Percival beheld that a long narrow bridge crossed over
+  that part of the lake from the mainland to the island and the town. So Sir Percival
+  rode very boldly forth upon that bridge and across it, and no one stayed him,
+  for all of the knights of Sir Clamadius who beheld him said: "Yonder rides Sir
+  Engeneron." Thus Sir Percival crossed the bridge and rode very boldly forward
+  until he came to the gate of the castle, and those who beheld him said: "Sir
+  Engeneron haply beareth a message to the castle." For no one wist that that
+  knight was not Sir Engeneron, but all thought that it was he because of the
+  armor which he wore. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percival cometh to Beaurepaire.</div>
+<p> So Sir Percival came close to the castle, and when he was come there he called
+  very loudly to those within, and by and by there appeared the face of a woman
+  at an upper window and the face was very pale and woe-begone. </p>
+<p> Then Sir Percival said to the woman at the window: "Bid them open the gate
+  and let me in; for I come to bring you succor at this place." </p>
+<p> To this the woman said: "I shall not bid them open the gate, for I know from
+  your armor who you are, and that you are Sir Engeneron the Seneschal. And I
+  know that you are one of our bitterest enemies; for you have already slain several
+  of the knights of this castle, and now you seek by guile to enter into the castle
+  itself." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percival entereth Beaurepaire.</div>
+<p> Then Sir Percival said: "I am not Sir Engeneron, but one who hath overthrown
+  Sir Engeneron in battle. I have put on his armor with intent that I might come
+  hither to help defend this place against Sir Clamadius." So said Sir Percival,
+  and therewith he put up the umbril of his helmet, saying: "Look, see; I am not
+  Sir Engeneron." Then the woman at the window saw his face and that it was not
+  the face of Sir Engeneron. And she saw that the face of Sir Percival was mild
+  and gentle, wherefore she ran and told the people of the castle that a knight
+  who was a friend stood without. Therewith they of the castle let fall the drawbridge
+  and opened the gates, and Sir Percival entered into the castle. </p>
+<p> Then there came several of the chief people of the castle, and they also were
+  all pale and woe-begone from long fasting, as was the woman whom Sir Percival
+  had first seen; for all were greatly wasted because of the toil and anxiety
+  of that siege. These asked Sir Percival who he was and whence he came and how
+  he came thither; and Sir Percival told them all that it was necessary for them
+  to know. For he told them how he was a young knight trained under the care of
+  Sir Launcelot; and he told them that he had come thither with the hope of serving
+  the Lady Blanchefleur; and he told them what adventures had befallen him in
+  the coming and how he had already overthrown Sir Lionel and Sir Engeneron to
+  get there. Wherefore, from these things, they of the castle perceived that Sir
+  Percival was a very strong, worthy knight, and they gave great joy that he should
+  have come thither to their aid. </p>
+<p> So he who was chief of those castle people summoned several attendants, and
+  these came and some took the horse of Sir Percival and led it to the stables,
+  and others relieved Sir Percival of his armor; and others took him to a bath
+  of tepid water, where he bathed himself, and was dried on soft linen towels;
+  and others brought soft garments of gray cloth and clad Sir Percival in them
+  and afterward brought him down into a fair large chamber where there was a table
+  spread as though ready for meat. </p>
+<a href="images/053.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="p30" align="left" src="images/053.gif" border="0" alt="The Demoiselle Blanchefleur" /></a>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percival beholds the Lady Blanchefleur.</div>
+<p> Now in a little after Sir Percival was come to that supper-hall the door thereof
+  was opened and there entered several people. With these came a damsel of such
+  extraordinary beauty and gracefulness of figure that Sir Percival stood amazed.
+  For her face was fair beyond words; red upon white, like rose-leaves upon cream;
+  and her eyes were bright and glancing like those of a falcon, and her nose was
+  thin and straight, and her lips were very red, like to coral for redness, and
+  her hair was dark and abundant and like to silk for softness. She was clad all
+  in a dress of black, shot with stars of gold, and the dress was lined with ermine
+  and was trimmed with sable at the collar and the cuffs and the hem thereof.
+</p>
+<p> So Sir Percival stood and gazed at that lady with a pleasure beyond words
+  to express, and he wist that this must be the Lady Blanchefleur, for whose sake
+  he had come thither. </p>
+<p> And the Lady Blanchefleur looked upon Sir Percival with great kindness, for
+  he appeared to her like to a hero for strength and beauty; wherefore she smiled
+  upon Sir Percival very graciously and came forward and gave him her hand. And
+  Sir Percival took her hand and set it to his lips; and lo! her hand was as soft
+  as silk and very warm, rosy and fragrant, and the fingers thereof glistered
+  with bright golden rings and with gems of divers colors. </p>
+<p> Then that beautiful Lady Blanchefleur said: "Messire, this is a very knightly
+  thing for you to do to come hither to this place. And you come in good time,
+  for food groweth very scarce with us so that in a little while we must face
+  starvation. For because of the watch that Sir Clamadius keepeth upon this place,
+  no one can either enter in or go out. Yea, thou art the very first one who hath
+  come hither since he has sat down before Beaurepaire." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">The Lady Blanchefleur telleth her sorrows to Sir Percival.</div>
+<p> Then presently she ceased smiling and her face clouded over; then bright tears
+  began to drop from the Lady Blanchefleur's eyes; and then she said: "I fear
+  me greatly that Sir Clamadius will at last seize upon this castle, for he hath
+  kept us here prisoner for a long while. Yet though he seize the castle, he shall
+  never seize that which the castle contains. For I keep by me a little casket
+  of silver, and therein is a dagger, very sharp and fine. Therefore the day that
+  Sir Clamadius enters into this castle, I shall thrust that dagger into my heart.
+  For, though Sir Clamadius may seize upon my castle, he shall never possess my
+  soul." </p>
+<p> Then Sir Percival was very sorry for the tears he saw shining upon the Lady
+  Blanchefleur's face, wherefore he said: "Lady, I have great hopes that this
+  affair may never reach to that woful extremity thou speakest of." The Lady Blanchefleur
+  said: "I hope not also." And therewith she wiped away her tears and smiled again.
+  Then she said: "See, Sir Percival, the evening has come and it is time to sit
+  at supper, now I beseech thee for to come to table with me, for though we have
+  but little to eat here, yet I assure thee that thou art very welcome to the
+  best that we have." </p>
+<p> So therewith Lady Blanchefleur led Sir Percival to the table, and they sat
+  down to such feast as could be had at that place of starvation. For what they
+  had was little enough, being only such fish as they could catch from the lake,
+  and a little bread--but not much--and a very little wine. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">The Lady sings to Sir Percival.</div>
+<p> Then after they had eaten and drunk what they had, the Lady Blanchefleur took
+  a golden harp into her hand and played thereon, and sang in a voice so clear
+  and high and beautiful that Percival was altogether enchanted and bewitched
+  thereat. </p>
+<p> Thus it was that that evening passed with them very pleasantly and cheerfully,
+  so that it was the middle of the night ere Sir Percival withdrew to that couch
+  that had been prepared for his rest. </p>
+<p> Now word was brought to Sir Clamadius that Sir Engeneron the Seneschal had
+  been overcome by another knight, wherefore Sir Clamadius wist that that was
+  the knight in Sir Engeneron's armor who had entered into the castle. So Sir
+  Clamadius said: "Certes, this must be a champion of no small prowess who hath
+  undertaken single-handed such a dangerous quest as this, and hath thus entered
+  into the castle, for they appear to make great rejoicings at his coming. Now
+  if he remaineth there it may very well be that they will be encouraged to resist
+  me a great while longer, and so all that I have thus far accomplished shall
+  have been in vain." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">The old counsellor giveth advice to Sir Clamadius.</div>
+<p> Now there was among the counsellors of Sir Clamadius an old knight who was
+  very cunning and far-sighted. He said to the King: "Sire, I think we may be
+  able to devise some plan whereby we may withdraw this knight-champion out of
+  the castle. My plan is this: Let ten of your best knights make parade before
+  that castle tomorrow, and let them give challenge to those within the castle
+  to come forth to battle. Then I believe that this knight will come forth with
+  the other knights from the castle to accept that challenge. Thereafter let it
+  be that our knights withdraw as though in retreat, and so lead this knight and
+  the knights of the castle into an ambushment. There let many fall upon them
+  at once and either slay them or make them prisoners. So the castle shall be
+  deprived of this new champion that hath come to it, and therewith may be so
+  disheartened that it will yield to thee." </p>
+<p> This advice seemed very good to King Clamadius, wherefore, when the next morning
+  had come, he chose him ten knights from among the foremost of all his knights,
+  and he bade them give that challenge in that wise. These did so, and therewith
+  Sir Percival and nine other knights issued out from the castle against them.
+</p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percival doeth great battle.</div>
+<p> But it did not fare as Sir Clamadius had expected; for the attack of Sir Percival
+  and his knights was so fierce and sudden that those ten knights could not withdraw
+  so easily as they intended. For, ere they were able to withdraw, Sir Percival
+  had struck down six of these knights with his own hand and the other four were
+  made prisoners. </p>
+<p> Thus Sir Percival and his knights did not come into that ambush that had been
+  prepared for them. </p>
+<p> Then those who were in ambush perceived that their plan had failed wherefore
+  they broke from cover with intent to do what they could. But Sir Percival and
+  his knights beheld them coming, and so withdrew, defending themselves with great
+  valor. So they came into the castle again in safety. </p>
+<p> Thus it was that the plans of King Clamadius and his counsellor failed of
+  effect, whereupon Sir Clamadius was very angry at that wise old knight. So that,
+  when that counsellor came to him again and said: "Sir, I have another plan,"
+  King Clamadius cried out very fiercely: "Away with thy plans! They are all of
+  no avail." Then Sir Clamadius said: "When to-morrow comes, I myself will undertake
+  this affair. For I will go and give challenge to this knight, and so I shall
+  hope to decide this quarrel man to man. For unless yonder knight be Sir Launcelot
+  of the Lake or Sir Lamorack of Gales, I do not think he will be my peer in an
+  encounter of man to man." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Clamadius arms himself for battle.</div>
+<p> So when the next morning had come, Sir Clamadius armed himself at all points
+  and straightway betook himself to a fair, smooth meadow beneath the walls of
+  the castle. And when he had come there he cried out: "Sir Red Knight, come forth
+  and speak with me." </p>
+<p> So after a while Sir Percival appeared at the top of the castle wall, and
+  he said: "Messire, here I am; what is it you would have of me?" </p>
+<p> Then Sir Clamadius said: "Messire, are you Sir Launcelot of the Lake?" And
+  Sir Percival said: "Nay, I am not he." Sir Clamadius said: "Art thou then Sir
+  Lamorack of Gales?" And Sir Percival said: "Nay, I am not he." Then Sir Clamadius
+  said: "Who, then, art thou?" Sir Percival said: "I am not any great knight-champion
+  such as those two of whom you speak, but am a young knight who have not fought
+  more than twice or thrice in my life." </p>
+<p> At that Sir Clamadius was very glad, for he feared that Sir Percival might
+  be some famous knight well-seasoned in arms. Wherefore when he found that Sir
+  Percival was only a young and untried knight, he thought it would be an easy
+  matter to deal with him. So he said: "Messire, I challenge thee to come forth
+  to battle with me man to man so that thou and I may settle this quarrel betwixt
+  us, for it is a pity to shed more blood than is necessary in this quarrel. So
+  if thou wilt come forth and overthrow me, then I will withdraw my people from
+  this place; but if I overthrow thee, then this castle shall be yielded up to
+  me with all that it contains." </p>
+<p> To this Sir Percival said: "Sir Knight, I am very willing to fight with thee
+  upon that issue. But first of all I must obtain the consent of the Lady Blanchefleur
+  to stand her champion." </p>
+<p> So Sir Percival went to the Lady Blanchefleur, and he said: "Lady, will you
+  accept me as your champion to fight the issue of this quarrel man to man with
+  Sir Clamadius?" </p>
+<p> She said: "Percival, thou art very young to have to do with so old and well-seasoned
+  a knight. Now I greatly fear for your life in such a battle as that." </p>
+<p> To this Sir Percival said: "Lady, I know that I am young, but indeed I feel
+  a very big spirit stir within me, so that if thou wilt trust me, I have belief
+  that, with the grace of God, I shall win this battle." </p>
+<p> Then the Lady Blanchefleur smiled upon Sir Percival and she said: "Percival,
+  I will gladly entrust my life and safety into thy keeping, for I too have great
+  dependence in thy knighthood." </p>
+<p> So straightway Sir Percival armed himself, and when he was in all wise prepared
+  he went forth to that battle with a heart very full of great courage and hope.
+</p>
+<p> There he found Sir Clamadius still parading in that meadow beneath the walls,
+  awaiting the coming of his opponent. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percival and Sir Clamadius do battle.</div>
+<p> Meanwhile many folk came and stood upon the walls of the castle to behold
+  that encounter, whilst each knight took such stand as appeared good to him.
+  Then, when they were in all wise prepared, each knight drave spurs into his
+  horse and rushed himself against the other with most terrible and fierce violence.
+  Therewith they met in the very midst of the course with an uproar like to thunder
+  that echoed back from the flat walls of the castle. </p>
+<p> In that encounter the spear of Sir Percival held, but the spear of Sir Clamadius
+  was riven into splinters. And so, Sir Percival riding forward with furious violence,
+  Sir Clamadius was overthrown, horse and man, with such violence that he lay
+  there upon the ground as though he were dead. </p>
+<p> Then all those upon the walls shouted aloud with a great noise of rejoicing,
+  whilst those of the party of Sir Clamadius gave lamentation in the same degree.
+</p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Clamadius yields himself.</div>
+<p> But Sir Percival voided his saddle in haste, and ran to where Sir Clamadius
+  lay. And Sir Percival rushed the helmet off from the head of Sir Clamadius,
+  and he catched him by the hair of the head, and he raised his sword on high
+  with intent to finish the work he had begun. Therewith Sir Clamadius aroused
+  himself unto his danger, and he cried in a very piercing voice: "Messire, I
+  beseech thee of thy knighthood to spare my life!" </p>
+<p> "Well," said Sir Percival, "since you ask me upon my knighthood, I cannot
+  refuse you, for so I was taught by the noble knight, Sir Launcelot, to refuse
+  no boon asked upon my knighthood that I was able to grant. But I will only spare
+  your life upon one condition, and that is this: That you disarm yourself in
+  all wise, and that you go without armor to the court of King Arthur. There you
+  shall deliver yourself as a servant unto a damsel of King Arthur's court, hight
+  Yelande, surnamed the Dumb Maiden. Her you are to tell that the youth who slew
+  Sir Boindegardus hath sent you unto her as a servant. And you are to say to
+  Sir Kay, the Seneschal of King Arthur, that the young knight Percival will in
+  a little while come to repay that buffet he gave to the damoiselle Yelande aforesaid."
+</p>
+<p> So said Sir Percival, and Sir Clamadius said: "It shall be done in all wise
+  as you command, if so be you will spare my life." Then Sir Percival said: "Arise";
+  and Sir Clamadius arose; and Sir Percival said: "Go hence"; and therewith Sir
+  Clamadius departed as Sir Percival commanded. </p>
+<p> So that day Sir Clamadius withdrew from the castle of Beaurepaire with all
+  his array of knights, and after that he went to the court of King Arthur and
+  did in all respects as Sir Percival had commanded him to do. </p>
+<p> So it was that Sir Percival fulfilled that quest, and set the Lady Blanchefleur
+  free from duress; and may God grant that you also fulfil all your quests with
+  as great honor and nobility as therein exhibited. </p>
+<div align="center"> <a href="images/tail.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/tail.gif" border="0" alt="Tail Piece" /></a>
+</div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div class="chaphead" id="per5"><a href="images/015.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/015.gif" alt="Chapter Header" border="0" /></a>
+  <br />
+  Chapter Fifth</div>
+<br />
+<div class="chapdes">How Sir Percival repaid Sir Kay the buffet he one time gave
+  Yelande the Dumb Maiden, and how, thereafter, he went forth to seek his own
+  lady of love.</div>
+<p> Now, after these adventures aforesaid, Sir Percival remained for a long while
+  at Beaurepaire, and during that time he was the knight-champion to the Lady
+  Blanchefleur. And the Lady Blanchefleur loved Sir Percival every day with a
+  greater and greater passion, but Sir Percival showed no passion of love for
+  her in return, and thereat Lady Blanchefleur was greatly troubled. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percival and the Lady Blanchefleur walk together.</div>
+<p> Now one day the Lady Blanchefleur and Sir Percival were walking together on
+  a terrace; and it was then come to be the fall of the year, so that the leaves
+  of the trees were showering all down about them like flakes of gold. And that
+  day the Lady Blanchefleur loved Sir Percival so much that her heart was pierced
+  with that love as though with a great agony. But Sir Percival wist not of that.
+</p>
+<p> Then the Lady Blanchefleur said: "Messire, I would that thou wouldst stay
+  here always as our knight-champion." </p>
+<p> "Lady," quoth Percival, "that may not be, for in a little while now I must
+  leave you. For, though I shall be sad to go from such a friendly place as this
+  is, yet I am an errant knight, and as I am errant I must fulfil many adventures
+  besides the one I have accomplished here." </p>
+<p> "Messire," said the Lady Blanchefleur, "if you will but remain here, this
+  castle shall be yours and all that it contains." </p>
+<p> At this Sir Percival was greatly astonished, wherefore he said: "Lady, how
+  may that be? Lo! this castle is yours, and no one can take it away from you,
+  nor can you give it to me for mine own." </p>
+<p> Then the Lady Blanchefleur turned away her face and bowed her head, and said
+  in a voice as though it were stifling her for to speak: "Percival, it needs
+  not to take the castle from me; take thou me for thine own, and then the castle
+  and all shall be thine." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percival denies the Lady Blanchefleur.</div>
+<p> At that Sir Percival stood for a space very still as though without breathing.
+  Then by and by he said: "Lady, meseems that no knight could have greater honor
+  paid to him than that which you pay to me. Yet should I accept such a gift as
+  you offer, then I would be doing such dishonor to my knighthood that would make
+  it altogether unworthy of that high honor you pay it. For already I have made
+  my vow to serve a lady, and if I should forswear that vow, I would be a dishonored
+  and unworthy knight." </p>
+<p> Then the Lady Blanchefleur cried out in a great voice of suffering: "Say no
+  more, for I am ashamed." </p>
+<p> Sir Percival said: "Nay, there is no shame to thee, but great honor to me."
+  But the Lady Blanchefleur would not hear him, but brake away from him in great
+  haste, and left him standing where he was. </p>
+<p> So Sir Percival could stay no longer at that place; but as soon as might be,
+  he took horse and rode away. Nor did he see Blanchefleur again after they had
+  thus talked together upon that terrace as aforesaid. </p>
+<p> And after Sir Percival had gone, the Lady Blanchefleur abandoned herself to
+  great sorrow, for she wept a long while and a very great deal; nor would she,
+  for a long while, take any joy in living or in the world in which she lived.
+</p>
+<div class="sidenote">Of the further adventures of Sir Percival.</div>
+<p> So Sir Percival performed that adventure of setting free the duress of the
+  castle of Beaurepaire. And after that and ere the winter came, he performed
+  several other adventures of more or less fame. And during that time, he overthrew
+  eleven knights in various affairs at arms and in all those adventures he met
+  with no mishap himself. And besides such encounters at arms, he performed several
+  very worthy works; for he slew a wild boar that was a terror to all that dwelt
+  nigh to the forest of Umber; and he also slew a very savage wolf that infested
+  the moors of the Dart. Wherefore, because of these several adventures, the name
+  of Sir Percival became very famous in all courts of chivalry, and many said:
+  "Verily, this young knight must be the peer of Sir Launcelot of the Lake himself."
+</p>
+<p> Now one day toward eventide (and it was a very cold winter day) Sir Percival
+  came to the hut of a hermit in the forest of Usk; and he abode all night at
+  that place. </p>
+<p> Now when the morning had come he went out and stood in front of the hut, and
+  he saw that during the night a soft snow had fallen so that all the earth was
+  covered with white. And he saw that it likewise had happened that a hawk had
+  struck a raven in front of the hermit's habitation, and that some of the raven's
+  feathers and some of its blood lay upon the snow. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percival stands in meditation.</div>
+<p> Now when Sir Percival beheld the blood and the black feathers upon that white
+  snow, he said to himself: "Behold! that snow is not whiter than the brow and
+  the neck of my lady; and that red is not redder than her lips; and that black
+  is not blacker than her hair." Therewith the thought of that lady took great
+  hold upon him and he sighed so deeply that he felt his heart lifted within him
+  because of that sigh. So he stood and gazed upon that white and red and black,
+  and he forgot all things else in the world than his lady-love. </p>
+<a href="images/054.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="p31" align="right" src="images/054.gif" border="0" alt="Sir Kay interrupts ye meditations of Sir Percival" /></a>
+<p> Now it befell at that time that there came a party riding through those parts,
+  and that party were Sir Gawaine and Sir Geraint and Sir Kay. And when they saw
+  Sir Percival where he stood leaning against a tree and looking down upon the
+  ground in deep meditation, Sir Kay said: "Who is yonder knight?" (For he wist
+  not that that knight was Sir Percival.) And Sir Kay said further: "I will go
+  and bespeak that knight and ask him who he is." </p>
+<p> But Sir Gawaine perceived that Sir Percival was altogether sunk in deep thought,
+  wherefore he said: "Nay, thou wilt do ill to disturb that knight; for either
+  he hath some weighty matter upon his mind, or else he is bethinking him of his
+  lady, and in either case it would be a pity to disturb him until he arouses
+  himself." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Kay shakes the arm of Sir Percival.</div>
+<p> But Sir Kay would not heed what Sir Gawaine said, but forthwith he went to
+  where Sir Percival stood; and Sir Percival was altogether unaware of his coming,
+  being so deeply sunk in his thoughts. Then Sir Kay said: "Sir Knight,"--but
+  Sir Percival did not hear him. And Sir Kay said: "Sir Knight, who art thou?"
+  But still Sir Percival did not reply. Then Sir Kay said: "Sir Knight, thou shalt
+  answer me!" And therewith he catched Sir Percival by the arm and shook him very
+  roughly. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percival smites Sir Kay a buffet.</div>
+<p> Then Sir Percival aroused himself, and he was filled with indignation that
+  anyone should have laid rough hands upon his person. And Sir Percival did not
+  recognize Sir Kay because he was still entangled in that network of thought,
+  but he said very fiercely: "Ha, sirrah! wouldst thou lay hands upon me!" and
+  therewith he raised his fist and smote Sir Kay so terrible a buffet beside the
+  head that Sir Kay instantly fell down as though he were dead and lay without
+  sense of motion upon the ground. Then Sir Percival perceived that there were
+  two other knights standing not far off, and therewith his thoughts of other
+  things came back to him again and he was aware of what he had done in his anger,
+  and was very sorry and ashamed that he should have been so hasty as to have
+  struck that blow. </p>
+<p> Then Sir Gawaine came to Sir Percival and spake sternly to him saying. "Sir
+  Knight, why didst thou strike my companion so unknightly a blow as that?" </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Gawaine chides Sir Percival.</div>
+<p> To which Sir Percival said: "Messire, it grieves me sorely that I should have
+  been so hasty, but I was bethinking me of my lady, and this knight disturbed
+  my thoughts; wherefore I smote him in haste." </p>
+<p> To this Sir Gawaine made reply: "Sir, I perceive that thou hadst great excuse
+  for thy blow. Ne'theless, I am displeased that thou shouldst have struck that
+  knight. Now I make demand of thee what is thy name and condition?" </p>
+<p> And Sir Percival said: "My name is Percival, and I am a knight of King Arthur's
+  making." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Gawaine and Sir Geraint rejoice over Sir Percival.</div>
+<p> At that, when Sir Gawaine and Sir Geraint heard what Sir Percival said, they
+  cried out in great amazement; and Sir Gawaine said: "Ha, Sir Percival! this
+  is indeed well met, for my name is Gawaine and I am a nephew unto King Arthur
+  and am of his court; and this knight is Sir Geraint, and he also is of King
+  Arthur's court and of his Round Table. And we have been in search of thee for
+  this long time for to bring thee unto King Arthur at Camelot. For thy renown
+  is now spread all over this realm, so that they talk of thee in every court
+  of chivalry." </p>
+<p> And Sir Percival said: "That is good news to me, for I wist not that I had
+  so soon won so much credit. But, touching the matter of returning unto King
+  Arthur's court with you; unto that I crave leave to give my excuses. For, since
+  you tell me that I now have so much credit of knighthood, it behooves me to
+  go immediately unto my lady and to offer my services unto her. For when I parted
+  from her I promised her that I would come to her as soon as I had won me sufficient
+  credit of knighthood. As for this knight whom I have struck, I cannot be sorry
+  for that buffet, even if it was given with my fist and not with my sword as
+  I should have given it. For I have promised Sir Kay by several mouths that I
+  would sometime repay him with just such a buffet as that which he struck the
+  damosel Yelande. So now I have fulfilled my promise and have given him that
+  buffet." </p>
+<p> Then Sir Gawaine and Sir Geraint laughed, and Sir Gawaine said: "Well, Sir
+  Percival, thou hast indeed fulfilled thy promise in very good measure. For I
+  make my vow that no one could have been better served with his dessert than
+  was Sir Kay." </p>
+<p> Now by this time Sir Kay had recovered from that blow, so that he rose up
+  very ruefully, looking about as though he wist not yet just where he was. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percival will not return to court.</div>
+<p> Then Sir Gawaine said to Sir Percival: "As to thy coming unto the court of
+  the King, thou dost right to fulfil thy promise unto thy lady before undertaking
+  any other obligation. For, even though the King himself bid thee come, yet is
+  thy obligation to thy lady superior to the command of the King. So now I bid
+  thee go in quest of thy lady in God's name; only see to it that thou comest
+  to the King's court as soon as thou art able." </p>
+<p> So it was that Sir Percival fulfilled the promise of that buffet unto Sir
+  Kay. </p>
+<p> And now you shall hear how he found the Lady Yvette the Fair. </p>
+<br />
+<div align="center"> *&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;*&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;*&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;*&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;*
+</div>
+<br />
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percival cometh to the castle of Sir Percydes.</div>
+<p> Now after Sir Percival had parted from Sir Gawaine, and Sir Geraint and Sir
+  Kay, he went his way in that direction he wist, and by and by, toward eventide,
+  he came again to the castle of Sir Percydes. And Sir Percydes was at home and
+  he welcomed Sir Percival with great joy and congratulations. For the fame of
+  Sir Percival was now abroad in all the world, so that Sir Percydes welcomed
+  him with great acclaim. </p>
+<p> So Sir Percival sat down with Sir Percydes and they ate and drank together,
+  and, for the time, Sir Percival said nothing of that which was upon his heart--for
+  he was of a very continent nature and was in no wise hasty in his speech. </p>
+<p> But after they had satisfied themselves with food and drink, then Sir Percival
+  spake to Sir Percydes of that which was upon his mind, saying: "Dear friend,
+  thou didst tell me that when I was ready for to come to thee with a certain
+  intent thou wouldst tell me who is the lady whose ring I wear and where I shall
+  find her. Now, I believe that I am a great deal more worthy for to be her knight
+  than I was when I first saw thee; wherefore I am now come to beseech thee to
+  redeem thy promise to me. Now tell me, I beg of thee, who is that lady and where
+  does she dwell?" </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percydes declares himself to Sir Percival.</div>
+<p> Then Sir Percydes said: "Friend, I will declare to thee that which thou dost
+  ask of me. Firstly, that lady is mine own sister, hight Yvette, and she is the
+  daughter of King Pecheur. Secondly, thou shalt find her at the castle of my
+  father, which standeth upon the west coast of this land. Nor shalt thou have
+  any difficulty in finding that castle, for thou mayst easily come to it by inquiring
+  the way of those whom thou mayst meet in that region. But, indeed, it hath been
+  two years since I have seen my father and my sister, and I know not how it is
+  with them." </p>
+<p> Then Sir Percival came to Sir Percydes and he put his arm about him and kissed
+  him upon either cheek, and he said: "Should I obtain the kind regard of that
+  lady, I know nothing that would more rejoice me than to know that thou art her
+  brother. For, indeed, I entertain a great deal of love for thee." </p>
+<p> At that Sir Percydes laughed for joy and he said: "Percival, wilt thou not
+  tell me of what house thou art come?" Percival said: "I will tell thee what
+  thou dost ask: my father is King Pellinore who was a very good, noble knight
+  of the court of King Arthur and of his Round Table." </p>
+<p> Then Sir Percydes cried out with great amazement, saying: "That is very marvellous!
+  I would that I had known this before, for thy mother and my mother were sisters
+  of one father and one mother. So we are cousins german." </p>
+<p> Then Sir Percival said: "This is great joy to me!" And his heart was expanded
+  with pleasure at finding that Sir Percydes was of his kindred and that he was
+  no longer alone in that part of the world. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percival departs for the castle of King Pecheur.</div>
+<p> So Sir Percival abided for two days with Sir Percydes and then he betook his
+  way to the westward in pursuance of that adventure. And he was upon the road
+  three days, and upon the morning of the fourth day he came, through diligent
+  inquiry, within sight of the castle of King Pecheur. This castle stood upon
+  a high crag of rock from which it arose against the sky so that it looked to
+  be a part of the crag. And it was a very noble and stately castle, having many
+  tall towers and many buildings within the walls thereof. And a village of white
+  houses of the fisher-folk gathered upon the rocks beneath the castle walls like
+  chicks beneath the shadow of their mother's wings. </p>
+<p> And, behold! Percival saw the great sea for the first time in all his life,
+  and was filled with wonder at the huge waves that ran toward the shore and burst
+  upon the rocks, all white like snow. And he was amazed at the multitude of sea
+  fowl that flew about the rocks in such prodigious numbers that they darkened
+  the sky. Likewise he was astonished at the fisher-boats that spread their white
+  sails against the wind, and floated upon the water like swans, for he had never
+  seen their like before. So he sat his horse upon a high rock nigh to the sea
+  and gazed his fill upon those things that were so wonderful to him. </p>
+<p> Then after a while Sir Percival went forward to the castle. And as he drew
+  nigh to the castle he became aware that a very reverend man, whose hair and
+  beard were as white as snow, sat upon a cushion of crimson velvet upon a rock
+  that overlooked the sea. Two pages, richly clad in black and silver, stood behind
+  him; and the old man gazed out across the sea, and Sir Percival saw that he
+  neither spake nor moved. But when Sir Percival came near to him the old man
+  arose and went into the castle, and the two pages took up the two crimson velvet
+  cushions and followed him. </p>
+<p> But Percival rode up to the castle, and he saw that the gateway of the castle
+  stood open, wherefore he rode into the courtyard of the castle. And when he
+  had come into the courtyard, two attendants immediately appeared and took his
+  horse and assisted him to dismount; but neither of these attendants said aught
+  to him, but both were as silent as deaf-mutes. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percival finds King Pecheur.</div>
+<p> Then Percival entered the hall and there he saw the old man whom he had before
+  seen, and the old man sat in a great carved chair beside a fire of large logs
+  of wood. And Sir Percival saw that the eyes of the old man were all red and
+  that his cheeks were channeled with weeping; and Percival was abashed at the
+  sadness of his aspect. Nevertheless, he came to where the old man sat and saluted
+  him with great reverence, and he said: "Art thou King Pecheur?" And the old
+  man answered, "Aye, for I am both a fisher and a sinner" (for that word Pecheur
+  meaneth both fisher and sinner). </p>
+<p> Then Sir Percival said: "Sire, I bring thee greetings from thy son, Sir Percydes,
+  who is a very dear friend to me. And likewise I bring thee greeting from myself:
+  for I am Percival, King Pellinore's son, and thy Queen and my mother are sisters.
+  And likewise I come to redeem a pledge, for, behold, here is the ring of thy
+  daughter Yvette, unto whom I am pledged for her true knight. Wherefore, having
+  now achieved a not dishonorable renown in the world of chivalry, I am come to
+  beseech her kindness and to redeem my ring which she hath upon her finger and
+  to give her back her ring again." </p>
+<p> Then King Pecheur fell to weeping in great measure and he said: "Percival
+  thy fame hath reached even to this remote place, for every one talketh of thee
+  with great unction. But, touching my daughter Yvette, if thou wilt come with
+  me I will bring thee to her." </p>
+<p> So King Pecheur arose and went forth and Sir Percival followed him. And King
+  Pecheur brought Sir Percival to a certain tower; and he brought him up a long
+  and winding stair; and at the top of the stairway was a door. And King Pecheur
+  opened the door and Sir Percival entered the apartment. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percival findeth the Lady Yvette.</div>
+<p> The windows of the apartment stood open, and a cold wind came in thereat from
+  off the sea; and there stood a couch in the middle of the room, and it was spread
+  with black velvet; and the Lady Yvette lay reclined upon the couch, and, lo!
+  her face was like to wax for whiteness, and she neither moved nor spake, but
+  only lay there perfectly still; for she was dead. </p>
+<p> Seven waxen candles burned at her head, and seven others at her feet, and
+  the flames of the candles spread and wavered as the cold wind blew upon them.
+  And the hair of her head (as black as those raven feathers that Sir Percival
+  had beheld lying upon the snow) moved like threads of black silk as the wind
+  blew in through the window--but the Lady Yvette moved not nor stirred, but lay
+  like a statue of marble all clad in white. </p>
+<p> Then at the first Sir Percival stood very still at the door-way as though
+  he had of a sudden been turned into stone. Then he went forward and stood beside
+  the couch and held his hands very tightly together and gazed at the Lady Yvette
+  where she lay. So he stood for a long while, and he wist not why it was that
+  he felt like as though he had been turned into a stone, without such grief at
+  his heart as he had thought to feel thereat. (For indeed, his spirit was altogether
+  broken though he knew it not.) </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Of the grief of Sir Percival.</div>
+<p> Then he spake unto that still figure, and he said: "Dear lady, is it thus
+  I find thee after all this long endeavor of mine? Yet from Paradise, haply,
+  thou mayst perceive all that I have accomplished in thy behalf. So shalt thou
+  be my lady always to the end of my life and I will have none other than thee.
+  Wherefore I herewith give thee thy ring again and take mine own in its stead."
+  Therewith, so speaking, he lifted that hand (all so cold like the snow) and
+  took his ring from off her finger and put her ring back upon it again. </p>
+<p> Then King Pecheur said, "Percival, hast thou no tears?" </p>
+<p> And Percival said, "Nay, I have none." Therewith he turned and left that place,
+  and King Pecheur went with him. </p>
+<p> After that Sir Percival abided in that place for three days, and King Pecheur
+  and his lady Queen and their two young sons who dwelt at that place made great
+  pity over him, and wept a great deal. But Sir Percival said but little in reply
+  and wept not at all. </p>
+<br />
+<div align="center"> *&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;*&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;*&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;*&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;*
+</div>
+<br />
+<p> And now I shall tell you of that wonderful vision that came unto Sir Percival
+  at this place upon Christmas day. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percival beholds the grail.</div>
+<p> For on the third day (which was Christmas day) it chanced that Sir Percival
+  sat alone in the hall of the castle, and he meditated upon the great sorrow
+  that lay upon him. And as he sat thus this very wonderful thing befell him:
+  He suddenly beheld two youths enter that hall. And the faces of the two youths
+  shone with exceeding brightness, and their hair shone like gold, and their raiment
+  was very bright and glistering like to gold. One of these youths bare in his
+  hand a spear of mighty size, and blood dropped from the point of the spear;
+  and the other youth bare in his hand a chalice of pure gold, very wonderful
+  to behold, and he held the chalice in a napkin of fine cambric linen. </p>
+<p> Then, at first, Sir Percival thought that that which he beheld was a vision
+  conjured up by the deep sorrow that filled his heart, and he was afeard. But
+  the youth who bare the chalice spake in a voice extraordinarily high and clear.
+  And he said: "Percival! Percival! be not afraid! This which thou here beholdest
+  is the Sangreal, and that is the Spear of Sorrow. What then may thy sorrow be
+  in the presence of these holy things that brought with them such great sorrow
+  and affliction of soul that they have become entirely sanctified thereby! Thus,
+  Percival, should thy sorrow so sanctify thy life and not make it bitter to thy
+  taste. For so did this bitter cup become sanctified by the great sorrow that
+  tasted of it." </p>
+<p> Percival said: "Are these things real or are they a vision that I behold?"
+</p>
+<p> He who bare the chalice said, "They are real." And he who bare the spear said,
+  "They are real." </p>
+<p> Then a great peace and comfort came to Sir Percival's heart and they never
+  left him to the day of his death. </p>
+<p> Then they who bare the Sangreal and the Spear went out of the hall, and Sir
+  Percival kneeled there for a while after they had gone and prayed with great
+  devotion and with much comfort and satisfaction. </p>
+<p> And this was the first time that any of those knights that were of King Arthur's
+  Round Table ever beheld that holy chalice, the which Sir Percival was one of
+  three to achieve in after-years. </p>
+<p> So when Sir Percival came forth from that hall, all those who beheld him were
+  astonished at the great peace and calmness that appeared to emanate from him.
+  But he told no one of that miraculous vision which he had just beheld, and,
+  though it appeareth in the history of these things, yet it was not then made
+  manifest. </p>
+<p> Then Sir Percival said to King Pecheur, his uncle and to his aunt and to their
+  sons: "Now, dear friends, the time hath come when I must leave you. For I must
+  now presently go to the court of King Arthur in obedience to his commands and
+  to acknowledge myself unto my brother, Sir Lamorack." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percival departs for court.</div>
+<p> So that day Sir Percival set forth with intent to go to Camelot, where King
+  Arthur was then holding court in great estate of pomp. And Sir Percival reached
+  Camelot upon the fourth day from that time and that was during the feasts of
+  Christmas-tide. </p>
+<p> Now King Arthur sat at those feasts and there were six score of very noble
+  company seated with him. And the King's heart was greatly uplifted and expanded
+  with mirth and good cheer. Then, while all were feasting with great concord,
+  there suddenly came into that hall an herald-messenger; the whom, when King
+  Arthur beheld him, he asked: "What message hast thou brought?" Upon this the
+  messenger said: "Lord, there hath come one asking permission to enter here whom
+  you will be very well pleased to see." The King said, "Who is it?" And the herald-messenger
+  said, "He saith his name is Percival." </p>
+<p> Upon this King Arthur arose from where he sat and all the others uprose with
+  him and there was a great sound of loud voices; for the fame of Sir Percival
+  had waxed very great since he had begun his adventures. So King Arthur and the
+  others went down the hall for to meet Sir Percival. </p>
+<p> Then the door opened and Sir Percival came into that place, and his face shone
+  very bright with peace and good-will; and he was exceedingly comely. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percival is received with joy.</div>
+<p> King Arthur said, "Art thou Percival?" And Percival said, "I am he." Thereupon
+  King Arthur took Sir Percival's head into his hands, and he kissed him upon
+  the brow. And Sir Percival kissed King Arthur's hand and he kissed the ring
+  of royalty upon the King's finger, and so he became a true knight in fealty
+  unto King Arthur. </p>
+<p> Then Sir Percival said: "Lord, have I thy leave to speak?" And King Arthur
+  said, "Say on." Sir Percival said, "Where is Sir Lamorack?" And King Arthur
+  said, "Yonder he is." Then Sir Percival perceived where Sir Lamorack stood among
+  the others, and he went to Sir Lamorack and knelt down before him; and Sir Lamorack
+  was very much astonished, and said: "Why dost thou kneel to me, Percival?" Then
+  Sir Percival said, "Dost thou know this ring?" </p>
+<p> Then Sir Lamorack knew his father's ring and he cried out in a loud voice:
+  "That is my father's ring; how came ye by it?" </p>
+<p> Percival said: "Our mother gave it to me, for I am thy brother." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percival declares himself to Sir Lamorack.</div>
+<p> Upon this Sir Lamorack cried out with great passion; and he flung his arms
+  about Sir Percival, and he kissed him repeatedly upon the face. And so ardent
+  was the great love and the great passion that moved him that all those who stood
+  about could in no wise contain themselves, but wept at that which they beheld.
+</p>
+<p> Then, after a while, King Arthur said: "Percival, come with me, for I have
+  somewhat to show thee." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percival is made Knight of the Round Table.</div>
+<p> So King Arthur and Sir Lamorack and Sir Percival and several others went unto
+  that pavilion which was the pavilion of the Round Table, and there King Arthur
+  showed Sir Percival a seat which was immediately upon the right hand of the
+  Seat Perilous. </p>
+<p> And upon the back of that seat there was a name emblazoned in letters of gold;
+  and the name was this: </p>
+<div class="fancy"> <b>PERCIVAL OF GALES</b> </div>
+<p> Then King Arthur said: "Behold, Sir Percival, this is thy seat, for four days
+  ago that name appeared most miraculously, of a sudden, where thou seest it;
+  wherefore that seat is thine." </p>
+<p> Then Sir Percival was aware that that name had manifested itself at the time
+  when the Sangreal had appeared unto him in the castle of King Pecheur, and he
+  was moved with a great passion of love and longing for the Lady Yvette; so that,
+  because of the strength of that passion, it took upon it the semblance of a
+  terrible joy. And he said to himself: "If my lady could but have beheld these,
+  how proud would she have been! But, doubtless, she now looketh down from Paradise
+  and beholdeth us and all that we do." Thereupon he lifted up his eyes as though
+  to behold her, but she was not there, but only the roof of that pavilion. </p>
+<p> But he held his peace and said naught to anyone of those thoughts that disturbed
+  him. </p>
+<p> With this I conclude for the present the adventures of Sir Percival with only
+  this to say: that thereafter, as soon as might be, he and Sir Lamorack went
+  up into the mountains where their mother dwelt and brought her down thence into
+  the world, and that she was received at the court of King Arthur with great
+  honor and high regard until, after a while, she entered into a nunnery and took
+  the veil. </p>
+<p> Likewise it is to be said that Sir Percival lived, as he had vowed to do,
+  a virgin knight for all of his life; for he never paid court to any lady from
+  that time, but ever held within the sanctuary of his mind the image of that
+  dear lady who waited for him in Paradise until he should come unto her in such
+  season as God should see fit. </p>
+<p> But you must not think that this is all that there is to tell of that noble,
+  gentle and worthy young knight whose history we have been considering. For after
+  this he performed many glorious services to the great honor of his knighthood
+  and achieved so many notable adventures that the world spoke of him as being
+  second in worship only to Sir Launcelot of the Lake. Yea; there were many who
+  doubted whether Sir Launcelot himself was really a greater knight than Sir Percival;
+  and though I may admit that Sir Launcelot had the greater prowess, yet Sir Percival
+  was, certes, the more pure in heart and transparent of soul of those two. </p>
+<p> So, hereafter, if God so wills, I shall tell more of Sir Percival, for I shall
+  have much to write concerning him when I have to tell of the achievement of
+  the Sangreal which he beheld in that vision at the Castle of King Pecheur as
+  aforetold. </p>
+<p> So, for this time, no more of these adventures, but fare you well. </p>
+<div align="center"> <a href="images/055.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="t10" src="images/055.gif" border="0" alt="Tail Piece--The Book of Sir Percival" /></a>
+</div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div class="chaphead"><a href="images/015.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/015.gif" alt="Chapter Header" border="0" /></a>
+  <br />
+  CONCLUSION. </div>
+<div class="foreward" id="conclusion">
+  <p> <i> Thus endeth the particular history of those three worthy, noble, excellent
+    knights-champion--Sir Launcelot of the Lake, Sir Tristram of Lyonesse, and
+    Sir Percival of Gales. </i> </p>
+  <p> <i> And I do hope that you may have found pleasure in considering their
+    lives and their works as I have done. For as I wrote of their behavior and
+    pondered upon it, meseemed they offered a very high example that anyone might
+    follow to his betterment who lives in this world where so much that is ill
+    needs to be amended. </i> </p>
+  <p> <i> But though I have told so much, yet, as I have just said, there remain
+    many other things to tell concerning Sir Launcelot and Sir Percival, which
+    may well afford anyone pleasure to read. These I shall recount in another
+    volume at another time, with such particularity as those histories may demand.
+    </i> </p>
+</div>
+<div align="center"> <a href="images/tail.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/tail.gif" alt="Tail Piece" border="0" /></a>
+  <br />
+</div>
+<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10745 ***</div>
+</body>
+</html>
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+This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements,
+metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be
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+
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+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #10745 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10745)
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+<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN"
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+<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Story of the Champions of the Round Table, by Howard Pyle</title>
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+  /*<![CDATA[*/
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+<body>
+<h1>The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Story of the Champions of the Round
+Table, Written and Illustrated by Howard Pyle</h1>
+<pre>
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at <a href = "https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre>
+<p>Title: The Story of the Champions of the Round Table</p>
+<p>Author: Howard Pyle</p>
+<p>Release Date: January 18, 2004  [eBook #10745]</p>
+<p>Language: English</p>
+<p>Character set encoding: US-ASCII</p>
+<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STORY OF THE CHAMPIONS OF THE ROUND TABLE***</p>
+<br />
+<center><h3>E-text prepared by Suzanne Shell, Ben Courtney,<br />
+            and Project Gutenberg Distributed Proofreaders</h3></center>
+
+<hr />
+<table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="20" cellpadding="0">
+  <tr>
+    <td> <a href="images/cover.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/cover.gif" alt="The Story of the Champions of the Round Table" /></a>
+    </td>
+    <td>
+      <h1> The Story of<br />
+        the<br />
+        Champions<br />
+        of the<br />
+        Round Table<br />
+        <br />
+      </h1>
+      <h3> <i>Written and Illustrated</i><br />
+        <i>by</i><br />
+        HOWARD PYLE.<br />
+      </h3>
+      <div class="chapheadcont"> <a href="#foreward">Foreward</a><br />
+        <a href="#contents">Table of Contents</a><br />
+        <a href="#illustrations">List of Illustrations</a><br />
+      </div>
+    </td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td>
+      <div class="foreward">
+        <p> <img src="images/i.gif" align="left" alt="I" border="0" /> n 1902 the distinguished
+          American artist Howard Pyle undertook to retell and illustrate the legend
+          of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. His four-volume work
+          has long been considered one of the outstanding interpretations of the
+          Arthur cycle. </p>
+        <p> <i>The Story of the Champions of the Round Table</i>, the second of
+          Pyle's volumes, was originally published in 1905. Reissued now, identical
+          in format to the original volume, with Pyle's superb illustrations and
+          decorations, it is destined to reach new generations of readers. <i>The
+          Story of the Champions of the Round Table</i> recounts the full and
+          moving saga of three of Arthur's famous knights: Percival, Tristram,
+          and Launcelot of the Lake. </p>
+        <blockquote> <i>"The period in which Howard Pyle did his work frequently
+          has been spoken of as that Golden Age in children's literature that
+          was to last for the decade to follow. It is difficult to do justice
+          to his contribution to the shining quality of that era. The magnitude
+          and diversity of his work eludes definition. Creative artist and born
+          storyteller, each aspect of his twofold genius enriched and interpreted
+          the other."</i> </blockquote>
+        <p> --Elizabeth Nesbitt, in <i>A Critical History of Children's Literature</i>
+        </p>
+      </div>
+    </td>
+    <td> <a href="images/001.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images"  src="images/001.gif" border="0" alt="The Story of the Champions of the Round Table" /></a>
+    </td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div id="foreward" class="foreward">
+  <div align="center"> <a href="images/003.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="h1" src="images/003.gif" alt="Foreword" border="0" /></a>
+  </div>
+  <p> <i>In a book which was written by me aforetime, and which was set forth
+    in print, I therein told much of the history of King Arthur; of how he manifested
+    his royalty in the achievement of that wonderful magic sword which he drew
+    forth out of the anvil; of how he established his royalty; of how he found
+    a splendid sword yclept Excalibur in a miraculously wonderful manner; of how
+    he won the most beautiful lady in the world for his queen; and of how he established
+    the famous Round Table of noble worthy knights, the like of whose prowess
+    the world hath never seen, and will not be likely ever to behold again.</i>
+  </p>
+  <p> <i>Also I told in that book the adventures of certain worthy knights and
+    likewise how the magician Merlin was betrayed to his undoing by a sorceress
+    hight Vivien.</i> </p>
+  <p> <i>Now, if you took any joy in reading that book, I have great hope that
+    that which follows may be every whit as pleasing to you; for I shall hereinafter
+    have to do with the adventures of certain other worthies with whom you may
+    have already become acquainted through my book and otherwise; and likewise
+    of the adventures of certain other worthies, of whom you have not yet been
+    told by me.</i> </p>
+  <p> <i>More especially, I believe, you will find entertainment in what I shall
+    have to tell you of the adventures of that great knight who was altogether
+    the most noble of spirit, and the most beautiful, and the bravest of heart,
+    of any knight who ever lived--excepting only his own son, Galahad, who was
+    the crowning glory of his house and of his name and of the reign of King Arthur.</i>
+  </p>
+  <p> <i>However, if Sir Launcelot of the Lake failed now and then in his behavior,
+    who is there in the world shall say, "I never fell into error"? And if he
+    more than once offended, who is there shall have hardihood to say, "I never
+    committed offence"?</i> </p>
+  <p> <i>Yea, that which maketh Launcelot so singularly dear to all the world,
+    is that he was not different from other men, but like other men, both in his
+    virtues and his shortcomings; only that he was more strong and more brave
+    and more untiring than those of us who are his brethren, both in our endeavors
+    and in our failures.</i> </p>
+</div>
+<div align="center"> <a href="images/004.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="t1" src="images/004.gif" alt="Tail Piece--Foreward" border="0" /></a>
+</div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div id="contents">
+  <div align="center"> <a href="images/005.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="h2" src="images/005.gif" alt="Table of Contents" border="0" /></a>
+  </div>
+  <table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="10" cellpadding="0">
+    <tr>
+      <td colspan="2">
+        <div class="chaphead"><a href="#launcelot">THE STORY OF SIR LAUNCELOT</a></div>
+        <br />
+      </td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+      <td>
+        <div class="chapheadcont"><a href="#la1">Chapter First</a></div>
+        <div class="chapdescont"> How Sir Launcelot Came Forth From the Enchanted
+          Castle of the Lake and Entered Into the World Again, and How King Arthur
+          Made Him Knight </div>
+      </td>
+      <td>
+        <div class="chapheadcont"><a href="#la2">Chapter Second</a></div>
+        <div class="chapdescont"> How Sir Launcelot and Sir Lionel Rode Forth
+          Errant Together and How Sir Lionel Met Sir Turquine to His Great Dole.
+          Also How Sir Ector Grieved for the Departure of His Brother Launcelot
+          and So, Following Him, Fell into a Very Sorry Adventure </div>
+      </td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+      <td>
+        <div class="chapheadcont"><a href="#la3">Chapter Third</a></div>
+        <div class="chapdescont"> How Sir Launcelot was Found in a Sleep by Queen
+          Morgana le Fay and Three Other Queens who were with Her, and How He
+          was Taken to a Castle of Queen Morgana's and of What Befell Him There
+        </div>
+      </td>
+      <td>
+        <div class="chapheadcont"><a href="#la4">Chapter Fourth</a></div>
+        <div class="chapdescont"> How Sir Launcelot Sought Sir Lionel and How
+          a Young Damsel Brought Him to the Greatest Battle that Ever He Had in
+          All His Life </div>
+      </td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+      <td>
+        <div class="chapheadcont"><a href="#la5">Chapter Fifth</a></div>
+        <div class="chapdescont">How Sir Launcelot Went Upon an Adventure with
+          the Damsel Croisette as Companion, and How He Overcame Sir Peris of
+          the Forest Sauvage</div>
+      </td>
+      <td>
+        <div class="chapheadcont"><a href="#la6">Chapter Sixth</a></div>
+        <div class="chapdescont">How Sir Launcelot Took Part in the Tournament
+          Between King Bagdemagus and the King of North Wales, and How He Won
+          that Battle for King Bagdemagus</div>
+      </td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+      <td>
+        <div class="chapheadcont"><a href="#la7">Chapter Seventh</a></div>
+        <div class="chapdescont">How Sir Launcelot Fell Into the Greatest Peril
+          that Ever He Encountered in all His Life. Also How He Freed a Misfortunate
+          Castle and Town From the Giants Who Held Them, and How He Released the
+          Lord Thereof From a Dungeon</div>
+      </td>
+      <td>
+        <div class="chapheadcont"><a href="#la8">Chapter Eighth</a></div>
+        <div class="chapdescont">How Sir Launcelot Rescued Sir Kay From a Perilous
+          Pass Also How He Changed Armor with Sir Kay and what Befell</div>
+      </td>
+    </tr>
+  </table>
+  <table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="10" cellpadding="0">
+    <tr>
+      <td colspan="2">
+        <div class="chaphead"><a href="#tristram">THE BOOK OF SIR TRISTRAM</a></div>
+      </td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+      <td colspan="2">
+        <div class="partheadcont"><a href="#trip1">Part I<br />
+          The Story of Sir Tristram and the Lady Belle Isoult</a></div>
+      </td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+      <td>
+        <div class="chapheadcont"><a href="#tr1c1">Chapter First</a></div>
+        <div class="chapdescont">How the new Queen of Lyonesse sought Tristram's
+          life; how he went to France, and how he Returned again to Lyonesse and
+          was Received With Love at that Place</div>
+      </td>
+      <td>
+        <div class="chapheadcont"><a href="#tr1c2">Chapter Second</a></div>
+        <div class="chapdescont">How Sir Tristram was made Knight by the King
+          of Cornwall, and how he Fought a Battle with a Famous Champion</div>
+      </td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+      <td>
+        <div class="chapheadcont"><a href="#tr1c3">Chapter Third</a></div>
+        <div class="chapdescont">How Sir Tristram went to Ireland to be healed
+          of his Wound by the King's Daughter of Ireland, and of how he came to
+          love the Lady Belle Isoult. Also concerning Sir Palamydes and the Lady
+          Belle Isoult</div>
+      </td>
+      <td>
+        <div class="chapheadcont"><a href="#tr1c4">Chapter Fourth</a></div>
+        <div class="chapdescont">How Sir Tristram encountered Sir Palamydes at
+          the Tournament and of what befell. Also how Sir Tristram was Forced
+          to leave the Kingdom of Ireland</div>
+      </td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+      <td>
+        <div class="chapheadcont"><a href="#tr1c5">Chapter Fifth</a></div>
+        <div class="chapdescont">How Sir Tristram was sent by Command of King
+          Mark to go to Ireland to Bring the Lady the Belle Isoult from Ireland
+          to Cornwall and how it fared with him</div>
+      </td>
+      <td>
+        <div class="chapheadcont"><a href="#tr1c6">Chapter Sixth</a></div>
+        <div class="chapdescont">How Sir Tristram had to do in Battle with Three
+          Knights of the Round Table. Also how he had Speech with King Arthur</div>
+      </td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+      <td colspan="2">
+        <div class="chapheadcont"><a href="#tr1c7">Chapter Seventh</a></div>
+        <div class="chapdescont">How Sir Tristram had Speech with King Angus of
+          Ireland; how he Undertook to Champion the Cause of King Angus and of
+          what Happened Thereafter</div>
+      </td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+      <td colspan="2">
+        <div class="partheadcont"><a href="#trip2"><br />
+          Part II<br />
+          The Story of Sir Tristram and Sir Lamorack</a></div>
+      </td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+      <td>
+        <div class="chapheadcont"><a href="#tr2c1">Chapter First</a></div>
+        <div class="chapdescont">How Sir Lamorack of Gales came to Tintagel and
+          how he and Sir Tristram Sware Friendship Together in the Forest</div>
+      </td>
+      <td>
+        <div class="chapheadcont"><a href="#tr2c2">Chapter Second</a></div>
+        <div class="chapdescont">How Sir Tristram Started to go to Camelot, and
+          how he Stayed by the Way to do Battle with Sir Nabon le Noir</div>
+      </td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+      <td colspan="2">
+        <div class="chapheadcont"><a href="#tr2c3">Chapter Third</a></div>
+        <div class="chapdescont">How Sir Tristram did justice in the island, and
+          Thereby Released Sir Lamorack from Captivity. Also how Sir Tristram
+          and Sir Lamorack Renewed their Great Tenderness Toward one another</div>
+      </td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+      <td colspan="2">
+        <div class="partheadcont"><a href="#trip3"><br />
+          Part III<br />
+          The Madness Of Sir Tristram</a></div>
+      </td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+      <td>
+        <div class="chapheadcont"><a href="#tr3c1">Chapter First</a></div>
+        <div class="chapdescont">How Sir Tristram was Discovered with the Lady
+          Belle Isoult; how he Assaulted King Mark, and how he Escaped from Tintagel
+          into the Forest</div>
+      </td>
+      <td>
+        <div class="chapheadcont"><a href="#tr3c2">Chapter Second</a></div>
+        <div class="chapdescont">How Sir Tristram got him a Sword from Sir Kay,
+          and how he Slew Therewith a Huge Knight in the Forest and Rescued a
+          Lady in very Great Distress. Also how Sir Launcelot found Sir Tristram
+          in the Forest and Brought him Thence to Tintagel again</div>
+      </td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+      <td>
+        <div class="chapheadcont"><a href="#tr3c3">Chapter Third</a></div>
+        <div class="chapdescont">How Sir Tristram was Discovered at Tintagel and
+          of what Befell Thereby</div>
+      </td>
+      <td>
+        <div class="chapheadcont"><a href="#tr3c4">Chapter Fourth</a></div>
+        <div class="chapdescont">How Sir Tristram and the Lady Belle Isoult Returned
+          to Cornwall, and how they Ended their Days Together</div>
+      </td>
+    </tr>
+  </table>
+  <table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="10" cellpadding="0">
+    <tr>
+      <td colspan="2">
+        <div class="chaphead"><a href="#percival">THE BOOK OF SIR PERCIVAL</a><br />
+        </div>
+      </td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+      <td>
+        <div class="chapheadcont"><a href="#per1">Chapter First</a></div>
+        <div class="chapdescont">How Percival Departed into the World and how
+          he Found a Fair Damsel in a Pavilion; likewise how he came before Queen
+          Guinevere and how he Undertook his First Adventure</div>
+      </td>
+      <td>
+        <div class="chapheadcont"><a href="#per2">Chapter Second</a></div>
+        <div class="chapdescont">How Sir Percival was made Knight by King Arthur;
+          how he rode Forth with Sir Lamorack and how he Left Sir Lamorack in
+          quest of Adventure upon his own Account; likewise how a Great Knight
+          Taught him craft in Arms</div>
+      </td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+      <td>
+        <div class="chapheadcont"><a href="#per3">Chapter Third</a></div>
+        <div class="chapdescont">How Sir Percival met two Strange People in the
+          Forest, and how he Succored a Knight who was in very Great Sorrow and
+          Dole</div>
+      </td>
+      <td>
+        <div class="chapheadcont"><a href="#per4">Chapter Fourth</a></div>
+        <div class="chapdescont">How Sir Percival Undertook the Adventure of the
+          Castle of Beaurepaire and how he Fared Therein after Several Excellent
+          Adventures</div>
+      </td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+      <td colspan="2">
+        <div class="chapheadcont"><a href="#per5">Chapter Fifth</a></div>
+        <div class="chapdescont">How Sir Percival Repaid Sir Kay the Buffet he
+          one time gave Yelande the Dumb Maiden, and how, Thereafter, he went
+          Forth to Seek his own Lady of Love</div>
+      </td>
+    </tr>
+    <tr>
+      <td colspan="2">
+        <div class="chaphead"><a href="#conclusion">CONCLUSION</a></div>
+      </td>
+    </tr>
+  </table>
+  <div align="center"> <a href="images/006.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="t2" src="images/006.gif" alt="Tail Piece--Table of Contents" border="0" /></a>
+  </div>
+  <br />
+  <br />
+  <br />
+  <br />
+  <br />
+  <br />
+  <br />
+</div>
+<div id="illustrations">
+  <div align="center"> <a href="images/007.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="h3" src="images/007.gif" alt="List of Illustrations" border="0" /></a>
+  </div>
+  <table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="15" cellpadding="0">
+    <tr>
+      <td>
+        <div class="illus"> <a href="#h1">Head Piece--Foreward</a><br />
+          <a href="#t1">Tail Piece--Foreward</a><br />
+          <br />
+          <a href="#h2">Head Piece--Table of Contents</a><br />
+          <a href="#t2">Tail Piece--Table of Contents</a><br />
+          <br />
+          <a href="#h3">Head Piece--List of Illustrations</a><br />
+          <a href="#t3">Tail Piece--List of Illustrations</a><br />
+          <br />
+          <a href="#h4">Head Piece--Prologue</a><br />
+          <a href="#p1">The Lady Nymue beareth away Launcelot into the Lake</a><br />
+          <a href="#t4">Tail Piece--Prologue</a><br />
+          <br />
+          <a href="#p2">Sir Launcelot of the Lake</a><br />
+          <a href="#h5">Head Piece--The Story of Launcelot</a><br />
+          <a href="#p3">Sir Launcelot greets Queen Guinevere</a><br />
+          <a href="#p4">Sir Lionel of Britain</a><br />
+          <a href="#p5">Queen Morgana appears unto Sir Launcelot</a><br />
+          <a href="#p6">Sir Launcelot doeth battle with Sir Turquine</a><br />
+          <a href="#p7">Sir Launcelot sits with Sir Hilaire and Croisette</a><br />
+          <a href="#p8">Sir Launcelot and Elouise the Fair</a><br />
+          <a href="#p9">Sir Launcelot climbs to catch the lady's falcon</a><br />
+          <a href="#p10">Sir Launcelot takes the armor of Sir Kay</a><br />
+          <a href="#t5">Tail Piece--The Story of Launcelot</a><br />
+          <br />
+          <a href="#p11">Sir Tristram of Lyonesse</a><br />
+          <a href="#h6">Head Piece--Prologue</a><br />
+          <a href="#t6">Tail Piece--Prologue</a><br />
+          <br />
+          <a href="#p14">The Lady Belle Isoult</a><br />
+        </div>
+      </td>
+      <td>
+        <div class="illus"> <a href="#h7">Head Piece--The Story of Sir Tristram
+          and the Lady Belle Isoult</a><br />
+          <a href="#p12">Tristram succors the Lady Moeya</a><br />
+          <a href="#p13">King Mark of Cornwall</a><br />
+          <a href="#p15">The Queen of Ireland seeks to slay Sir Tristram</a><br />
+          <a href="#p16">Sir Tristram harpeth before King Mark</a><br />
+          <a href="#p17">Sir Tristram sits with Sir Launcelot</a><br />
+          <a href="#p18">Belle Isoult and Sir Tristram drink the love draught</a><br />
+          <a href="#t7">Tail Piece--The Story of Sir Tristram and the Lady Belle
+          Isoult</a><br />
+          <br />
+          <a href="#p19">Sir Lamorack of Gales</a><br />
+          <a href="#h8">Head Piece--The Story of Sir Tristram and Sir Lamorack</a><br />
+          <a href="#p20">Sir Tristram cometh to ye castle of Sir Nabon</a><br />
+          <a href="#p21">Sir Lamorack herds the swine of Sir Nabon</a><br />
+          <a href="#t8">Tail Piece--The Story of Sir Tristram and Sir Lamorack</a><br />
+          <br />
+          <a href="#h9">Head Piece--The Madness of Sir Tristram</a><br />
+          <a href="#p22">Sir Tristram assaults King Mark</a><br />
+          <a href="#p23">Sir Kay and the Forest Madman</a><br />
+          <a href="#p24">Sir Tristram leaps into ye Sea</a><br />
+          <a href="#p25">King Mark broods mischief</a><br />
+          <a href="#t9">Tail Piece--The Madness of Sir Tristram</a><br />
+          <br />
+          <a href="#p26">Sir Percival of Gales</a><br />
+          <a href="#h10">Head Piece--Prologue</a><br />
+          <a href="#p27">The Lady Yvette the Fair</a><br />
+          <a href="#p28">Sir Percival and Sir Lamorack ride together</a><br />
+          <a href="#p29">Sir Percival overcometh ye Enchantress Vivien</a><br />
+          <a href="#p30">The Demoiselle Blanchefleur</a><br />
+          <a href="#p31">Sir Kay interrupts ye meditations of Sir Percival</a><br />
+          <a href="#t10">Tail Piece--The Book of Sir Percival</a><br />
+        </div>
+      </td>
+    </tr>
+  </table>
+  <div align="center"> <a href="images/008.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="t3"  src="images/008.gif" alt="Tail Piece--List of Illustrations" border="0" /></a>
+  </div>
+</div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div id="prologue">
+  <div align="center"> <a href="images/010.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="h4" src="images/010.gif" alt="Prologue" border="0" /></a>
+  </div>
+  <p> It hath already been set forth in print in a volume written by me concerning
+    the adventures of King Arthur when he first became king, how there were certain
+    lesser kings who favored him and were friendly allies with him, and how there
+    were certain others of the same sort who were his enemies. </p>
+  <p> Among those who were his friends was King Ban of Benwick, who was an exceedingly
+    noble lord of high estate and great honor, and who was of a lineage so exalted
+    that it is not likely that there was anyone in the world who was of a higher
+    strain. </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Of King Ban and his misfortunes.</div>
+  <p> Now, upon a certain time, King Ban of Benwick fell into great trouble; for
+    there came against him a very powerful enemy, to wit, King Claudas of Scotland.
+    King Claudas brought unto Benwick a huge army of knights and lords, and these
+    sat down before the Castle of Trible with intent to take that strong fortress
+    and destroy it. </p>
+  <p> This noble Castle of Trible was the chiefest and the strongest place of
+    defence in all King Ban's dominions, wherefore he had intrenched himself there
+    with all of his knights and with his Queen, hight Helen, and his youngest
+    son, hight Launcelot. </p>
+  <p> Now this child, Launcelot, was dearer to Queen Helen than all the world
+    besides, for he was not only large of limb but so extraordinarily beautiful
+    of face that I do not believe an angel from Paradise could have been more
+    beautiful than he. He had been born with a singular birth-mark upon his shoulder,
+    which birth-mark had the appearance as of a golden star enstamped upon the
+    skin; wherefore, because of this, the Queen would say: "Launcelot, by reason
+    of that star upon thy shoulder I believe that thou shalt be the star of our
+    house and that thou shalt shine with such remarkable glory that all the world
+    shall behold thy lustre and shall marvel thereat for all time to come." So
+    the Queen took extraordinary delight in Launcelot and loved him to the very
+    core of her heart--albeit she knew not, at the time she spake, how that prophecy
+    of hers concerning the star was to fall so perfectly true. </p>
+  <p> Now, though King Ban thought himself very well defended at his Castle of
+    Trible, yet King Claudas brought so terribly big an army against that place
+    that it covered the entire plain. A great many battles were fought under the
+    walls of the castle, but ever King Claudas waxed greater and stronger, and
+    King Ban's party grew weaker and more fearful. </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">King Ban bethinks him of King Arthur.</div>
+  <p> So by and by things came to such a pass that King Ban bethought him of King
+    Arthur, and he said to himself: "I will go to my lord the King and beseech
+    help and aid from him, for he will certainly give it me. Nor will I trust
+    any messenger in this affair other than myself; for I myself will go to King
+    Arthur and will speak to him with my own lips." </p>
+  <p> Having thus bethought him, he sent for Queen Helen to come into his privy
+    closet and he said to her: "My dear love, nothing remaineth for me but to
+    go unto the court of King Arthur and beseech him to lend his powerful aid
+    in this extremity of our misfortunes; nor will I trust any messenger in this
+    affair but myself. Now, this castle is no place for thee, when I am away,
+    therefore, when I go upon this business, I will take thee and Launcelot with
+    me, and I will leave you both in safety at King Arthur's court with our other
+    son, Sir Ector, until this war be ended and done." And to these Queen Helen
+    lent her assent. </p>
+  <p> So King Ban summoned to him the seneschal of the castle, who was named Sir
+    Malydor le Brun, and said to him: "Messire, I go hence to-night by a secret
+    pass, with intent to betake me unto King Arthur, and to beseech his aid in
+    this extremity. Moreover, I shall take with me my lady and the young child
+    Launcelot, to place them within the care of King Arthur during these dolorous
+    wars. But besides these, I will take no other one with me but only my favorite
+    esquire, Foliot. Now I charge thee, sir, to hold this castle in my behalf
+    with all thy might and main, and yield it not to our enemies upon any extremity;
+    for I believe I shall in a little while return with sufficient aid from King
+    Arthur to compass the relief of this place." </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">King Ban with Queen Helen and Launcelot escape from Trible.</div>
+  <p> So when night had fallen very dark and still, King Ban, and Queen Helen,
+    and the young child Launcelot, and the esquire Foliot left the town privily
+    by means of a postern gate. Thence they went by a secret path, known only
+    to a very few, that led down a steep declivity of rocks, with walls of rock
+    upon either side that were very high indeed, and so they came out in safety
+    beyond the army of King Claudas and into the forest of the valley below. And
+    the forest lay very still and solemn and dark in the silence of the nighttime.
+  </p>
+  <p> Having thus come out in safety into the forest, that small party journeyed
+    on with all celerity that they were able to achieve until, some little time
+    before dawn, they came to where was a lake of water in an open meadow of the
+    forest. Here they rested for a little while, for Queen Helen had fallen very
+    weary with the rough and hasty journey which they had traveled. </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Foliot seeth a light.</div>
+  <p> Now whilst they sat there resting, Foliot spake of a sudden, saying unto
+    King Ban: "Lord, what is that light that maketh the sky so bright yonder-ways?"
+    Then King Ban looked a little and presently said: "Methinks it must be the
+    dawn that is breaking." "Lord," quoth Foliot, "that cannot very well be; for
+    that light in the sky lieth in the south, whence we have come, and not in
+    the east, where the sun should arise." </p>
+  <p> Then King Ban's heart misgave him, and his soul was shaken with a great
+    trouble. "Foliot," he said, "I believe that you speak sooth and that that
+    light bodes very ill for us all." Then he said: "Stay here for a little and
+    I will go and discover what that light may be." Therewith he mounted his horse
+    and rode away in the darkness. </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">King Ban beholdeth the burning of Trible.</div>
+  <p> Now there was a very high hill near-by where they were, and upon the top
+    of the hill was an open platform of rock whence a man could see a great way
+    off in every direction. So King Ban went to this place, and, when he had come
+    there, he cast his eyes in the direction of the light and he straightway beheld
+    with a manner of terror that the light came from Trible; and then, with that
+    terror still growing greater at his heart, he beheld that the town and the
+    castle were all in one great flame of fire. </p>
+  <p> When King Ban saw this he sat for a while upon his horse like one turned
+    into a stone. Then, after a while, he cried out in a great voice: "Woe! Woe!
+    Woe is me!" And then he cried out still in a very loud voice, "Certes, God
+    hath deserted me entirely." </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">The death of King Ban.</div>
+  <p> Therewith a great passion of grief took hold upon him and shook him like
+    to a leaf, and immediately after that he felt that something brake within
+    him with a very sharp and bitter pain, and he wist that it was his heart that
+    had broken. So being all alone there upon the hilltop, and in the perfect
+    stillness of the night, he cried out, "My heart! My heart!" And therewith,
+    the shadows of death coming upon him, he could not sit any longer upon his
+    horse, but fell down upon the ground. And he knew very well that death was
+    nigh him, so, having no cross to pray upon, he took two blades of grass and
+    twisted them into that holy sign, and he kissed it and prayed unto it that
+    God would forgive him his sins. So he died all alone upon that hilltop. </p>
+  <p> Meanwhile, Queen Helen and Foliot sat together waiting for him to return
+    and presently they heard the sound of his horse's hoofs coming down that rocky
+    path. Then Queen Helen said: "Foliot, methinks my lord cometh." So in a little
+    came the horse with the empty saddle. When Foliot beheld that he said: "Lady,
+    here meseems is great trouble come to us, for methinks something hath befallen
+    my lord, and that he is in sore travail, for here is his horse without him."
+  </p>
+  <p> Then it seemed to Queen Helen as though the spirit of life suddenly went
+    away from her, for she foresaw what had befallen. So she arose like one in
+    a dream, and, speaking very quietly, she said: "Foliot, take me whither my
+    lord went awhile since!" To this Foliot said: "Lady, wait until the morning,
+    which is near at hand, for it is too dark for you to go thitherward at this
+    present." Whereunto the Lady Helen replied: "Foliot, I cannot wait, for if
+    I stay here and wait I believe I shall go mad." Upon this, Foliot did not
+    try to persuade her any more but made ready to take her whither she would
+    go. </p>
+  <p> Now the young child Launcelot was then asleep upon the Queen's knees, wherefore
+    she took her cloak and wrapped the child in it and laid him very gently upon
+    the ground, so that he did not wake. Then she mounted upon her palfrey and
+    Foliot led the palfrey up the hill whither King Ban had gone a short time
+    since. </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">The Lady Helen findeth the King.</div>
+  <p> When they came to that place of open rocks above told of, they found King
+    Ban lying very quiet and still upon the ground and with a countenance of great
+    peace. For I believe of a surety that God had forgiven him all his sins, and
+    he would now suffer no more because of the cares and the troubles of this
+    life. Thus Queen Helen found him, and finding him she made no moan or outcry
+    of any kind, only she looked for a long while into his dead face, which she
+    could see very plainly now, because that the dawn had already broken. And
+    by and by she said: "Dear Lord, thou art at this time in a happier case than
+    I." And by and by she said to Foliot: "Go and bring his horse to this place,
+    that we may bear him hence." "Lady," said Foliot, "it is not good for you
+    to be left here alone." "Foliot," said the Queen, "thou dost not know how
+    much alone I am; thy leaving me here cannot make me more alone." Therewith
+    she fell to weeping with great passion. </p>
+  <p> Then Foliot wept also in great measure and, still weeping like rain, he
+    went away and left her. When he came again with King Ban's horse the sun had
+    risen and all the birds were singing with great jubilation and everything
+    was so blithe and gay that no one could have believed that care and trouble
+    could dwell in a world that was so beautiful. </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">The Lady Helen bringeth her dead down from the Mountain.</div>
+  <p> So Queen Helen and Foliot lifted the dead king to his horse and then the
+    Queen said: "Come thou, Foliot, at thine own gait, and I will go ahead and
+    seek my child, for I have yet Launcelot to be my joy. Haply he will be needing
+    me at this moment." So the Queen made haste down the steep hill ahead of Foliot
+    and by and by she came to the margin of that little lake where they had rested
+    awhile since. </p>
+  <p> By now the sun had risen very strong and warm so that all the lake, and
+    the meadows circumadjacent, and the forest that stood around about that meadow
+    were illumined with the glory of his effulgence. </p>
+  <p> Now as Queen Helen entered that meadow she beheld that a very wonderful
+    lady was there, and this lady bare the child Launcelot in her arms. And the
+    lady sang to Launcelot, and the young child looked up into her face and laughed
+    and set his hand against her cheek. All this Queen Helen beheld; and she likewise
+    beheld that the lady was of a very extraordinary appearance, being clad altogether
+    in green that glistered and shone with a wonderful brightness. And she beheld
+    that around the neck of the lady was a necklace of gold, inset with opal stones
+    and emeralds; and she perceived that the lady's face was like ivory--very
+    white and clear--and that her eyes, which were very bright, shone like jewels
+    set into ivory. And she saw that the lady was very wonderfully beautiful,
+    so that the beholder, looking upon her, felt a manner of fear--for that lady
+    was Fay. </p>
+  <p> (And that lady was the Lady of the Lake, spoken of aforetime in the Book
+    of King Arthur, wherein it is told how she aided King Arthur to obtain that
+    wonderful, famous sword yclept Excalibur, and how she aided Sir Pellias, the
+    Gentle Knight, in the time of his extremity, and took him into the lake with
+    her. Also divers other things concerning her are told of therein.) </p>
+  <p> Then the Queen came near to where the lady was, and she said to her, </p>
+  <a href="images/009.l.gif" target="_blank"><img id="p1" class="images"  align="right" src="images/009.gif" border="0" alt="The Lady Nymue beareth away Launcelot into the Lake" /></a>
+  <p> "Lady, I pray you give me my child again!" Upon this the Lady of the Lake
+    smiled very strangely and said: "Thou shalt have thy child again, lady, but
+    not now; after a little thou shalt have him again." Then Queen Helen cried
+    out with great agony of passion: "Lady, would you take my child from me? Give
+    him to me again, for he is all I have left in the world. Lo, I have lost house
+    and lands and husband, and all the other joys that life has me to give, wherefore,
+    I beseech you, take not my child from me." To this the Lady of the Lake said:
+    "Thou must endure thy sorrow a while longer; for it is so ordained that I
+    must take thy child; for I take him only that I may give him to thee again,
+    reared in such a wise that he shall make the glory of thy house to be the
+    glory of the world. For he shall become the greatest knight in the world,
+    and from his loins shall spring a greater still than he, so that the glory
+    of the House of King Ban shall be spoken of as long as mankind shall last."
+    But Queen Helen cried out all the more in a great despair: "What care I for
+    all this? I care only that I shall have my little child again! Give him to
+    me!" </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">The Lady of the Lake taketh Launcelot into the Lake.</div>
+  <p> Therewith she would have laid hold of the garments of the Lady of the Lake
+    in supplication, but the Lady of the Lake drew herself away from Queen Helen's
+    hand and said: "Touch me not, for I am not mortal, but Fay." And thereupon
+    she and Launcelot vanished from before Queen Helen's eyes as the breath vanishes
+    from the face of a mirror. </p>
+  <p> For when you breathe upon a mirror the breath will obscure that which lieth
+    behind; but presently the breath will disappear and vanish, and then you shall
+    behold all things entirely clear and bright to the sight again. So the Lady
+    of the Lake vanished away, and everything behind her where she had stood was
+    clear and bright, and she was gone. </p>
+  <p> Then Queen Helen fell down in a swoon, and lay beside the lake of the meadow
+    like one that is dead; and when Foliot came he found her so and wist not what
+    to do for her. There was his lord who was dead and his lady who was so like
+    to death that he knew not whether she was dead or no. So he knew not what
+    to do but sat down and made great lamentation for a long while. </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">The Lady Helen taketh to a Nunnery.</div>
+  <p> What time he sat thus there came that way three nuns who dwelt in an abbey
+    of nuns which was not a great distance away from that place. These made great
+    pity over that sorrowful sight, and they took away from there the dead King
+    and the woeful Queen, and the King they buried in holy ground, and the Queen
+    they let live with them and she was thereafter known as the "Sister of Sorrows."
+  </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">How Launcelot dwelt in the lake.</div>
+  <p> Now Launcelot dwelt for nigh seventeen years with the Lady Nymue of the
+    Lake in that wonderful, beautiful valley covered over with the appearance
+    of such a magical lake as hath been aforetime described in the Book of King
+    Arthur. </p>
+  <p> And that land of the lake was of this sort that shall here be described:--
+  </p>
+  <p> Unto anyone who could enter into the magic water of that lake (and there
+    were very few of those who were mortal who were allowed to come to those meadows
+    of Faery that were there concealed beneath those enchanted waters) he would
+    behold before him a wide and radiant field of extraordinary beauty. And he
+    would behold that that field was covered all over with such a multitude of
+    exquisite and beautiful flowers that the heart of the beholder would be elated
+    with pure joy to find himself in the midst of that waving sea of multitudinous
+    and fragrant blossoms. And he would behold many fair and shady groves of trees
+    that here and there grew up from that valley, each glade overshadowing a fountain
+    of water as clear as crystal. And he would perhaps behold, at such pleasant
+    places beneath the shade of those trees, some party of the fair and gentle
+    folk of that country; and he would see them playing in sport, or he would
+    hear them chanting to the music of shining golden harps. And he would behold
+    in the midst of that beautiful plain a wonderful castle with towers and roofs
+    uplifted high into the sky, and all shining in the peculiar radiance of that
+    land, like to castles and battlements of pure gold. </p>
+  <p> Such was the land unto which Launcelot was brought, and from what I have
+    told you you may see what a wonderful, beautiful place it was. </p>
+  <p> And the mystery of that place entered into the soul of Launcelot, so that
+    thereafter, when he came out thence, he was never like other folk, but always
+    appeared to be in a manner remote and distant from other of his fellow-mortals
+    with whom he dwelt. </p>
+  <p> For though he smiled a great deal, it was not often that he laughed; and
+    if he did laugh, it was never in scorn, but always in loving-kindness. </p>
+  <p> It was here in this land that Sir Pellias had now dwelt for several years,
+    with great peace and content. (For it hath been told in the Book of King Arthur
+    how, when he was upon the edge of death, the Lady Nymue of the Lake brought
+    him back to life again, and how, after that time, he was half fay and half
+    mortal.) </p>
+  <p> And the reason why Launcelot was brought to that place was that Sir Pellias
+    might teach him and train him in all the arts of chivalry. For no one in all
+    the world was more skilful in arms than Sir Pellias, and no one could so well
+    teach Launcelot the duties of chivalry as he. </p>
+  <p> So Sir Pellias taught Launcelot all that was best of knighthood, both as
+    to conduct of manner, and as to the worthiness and skill at arms, wherefore
+    it was that when Launcelot was completely taught, there was no knight in all
+    the world who was his peer in strength of arms or in courtesy of behavior,
+    until his own son, Sir Galahad, appeared in the courts of chivalry as shall
+    by and by be told of. </p>
+  <p> So when Launcelot came forth into the world again he became the greatest
+    knight in all the history of chivalry, wherefore that prophecy of his mother
+    was fulfilled as to his being like to a bright star of exceeding lustre. </p>
+  <p> Accordingly, I have herein told you with great particularity all these circumstances
+    of his early history so that you may know exactly how it was that he was taken
+    away into the lake, and why it was that he was afterward known as Sir Launcelot,
+    surnamed of the Lake. </p>
+  <p> As to how he came into the world to achieve that greatness unto which he
+    had been preordained, and as to how King Arthur made him knight, and as to
+    many very excellent adventures that befell him, you shall immediately read
+    in what followeth. </p>
+  <div align="center"> <a href="images/011.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="t4" src="images/011.gif" alt="Tail Piece--Prologue" border="0" /></a>
+  </div>
+</div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div id="launcelot">
+  <h1>The Story of Sir Launcelot</h1>
+  <table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="10" cellpadding="0">
+    <tr>
+      <td> <a href="images/002.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="p2" src="images/002.gif" border="0" alt="Sir Launcelot of the Lake" /></a>
+      </td>
+      <td>
+        <div class="foreward">
+          <p> <i> Here beginneth the story of Sir Launcelot, surnamed of the Lake,
+            who was held by all men to be the most excellent, noble, perfect knight-champion
+            who was ever seen in the world from the very beginning of chivalry
+            unto the time when his son, Sir Galahad, appeared like a bright star
+            of extraordinary splendor shining in the sky of chivalry. </i> </p>
+          <p> <i> In this Book it shall be told how he was taken into a magic
+            lake, how he came out thence to be made knight by King Arthur, and
+            of how he undertook several of those adventures that made him at once
+            the wonder and the admiration of all men, and the chiefest glory of
+            the Round Table of Arthur-Pendragon. </i> </p>
+        </div>
+      </td>
+    </tr>
+  </table>
+</div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div align="center"> <a href="images/013.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="h5" src="images/013.gif" alt="The Story of Sir Launcelot" border="0" /></a>
+</div>
+<div class="chaphead" id="la1">Chapter First</div>
+<br />
+<div class="chapdes">How Sir Launcelot Came Forth From the Enchanted Castle of
+  the Lake and Entered Into the World Again, and How King Arthur Made Him Knight.</div>
+<div class="sidenote">Of the springtime of long ago.</div>
+<p> I know not any time of the year that is more full of joyfulness than the early
+  summer season; for that time the sun is wonderfully lusty and strong, yet not
+  so very hot; that time the trees and shrubs are very full of life and very abundant
+  of shade and yet have not grown dry with the heats and droughts of later days;
+  that time the grass is young and lush and green, so that when you walk athwart
+  the meadow-lands it is as though you walked through a fair billowy lake of magical
+  verdure, sprinkled over with a great multitude of little flowers; that time
+  the roses are everywhere a-bloom, both the white rose and the red, and the eglantine
+  is abundant; that time the nests are brimful of well-fledged nestlings, and
+  the little hearts of the small parent fowls are so exalted with gladness that
+  they sing with all their mights and mains, so that the early daytime is filled
+  full of the sweet jargon and the jubilant medley of their voices. Yea; that
+  is a goodly season of the year, for though, haply, the spirit may not be so
+  hilarious as in the young and golden springtime, yet doth the soul take to itself
+  so great a content in the fulness of the beauty of the world, that the heart
+  is elated with a great and abundant joy that it is not apt to feel at another
+  season. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">King Arthur and two knights ride a-hunting.</div>
+<p> Now it chanced upon the day before Saint John's day in the fulness of a summer-time
+  such as this, that King Arthur looked forth from his chamber very early in the
+  morning and beheld how exceedingly fair and very lusty was the world out-of-doors--all
+  in the freshness of the young daylight. For the sun had not yet risen, though
+  he was about to rise, and the sky was like to pure gold for brightness; all
+  the grass and leaves and flowers were drenched with sweet and fragrant dew,
+  and the birds were singing so vehemently that the heart of any man could not
+  but rejoice in the fulness of life that lay all around about him. </p>
+<p> There were two knights with King Arthur at that time, one was Sir Ewain, the
+  son of Morgana le Fay (and he was King Arthur's nephew), and the other was Sir
+  Ector de Maris, the son of King Ban of Benwick and of Queen Helen--this latter
+  a very noble, youthful knight, and the youngest of all the Knights of the Round
+  Table who were at that time elected. These stood by King Arthur and looked forth
+  out of the window with him and they also took joy with him in the sweetness
+  of the summer season. Unto them, after a while, King Arthur spake, saying: "Messires,
+  meseems this is too fair a day to stay within doors. For, certes, it is a shame
+  that I who am a king should be prisoner within mine own castle, whilst any ploughman
+  may be free of the wold and the green woods and the bright sun and the blue
+  sky and the wind that blows over hill and dale. Now, I too would fain go forth
+  out of doors and enjoy these things; wherefore I ordain that we shall go a-hunting
+  this day and that ye and I shall start before any others of the lords and the
+  ladies that dwell herein are awake. So let us take our horses and our hounds
+  and let us take certain foresters and huntsmen, and let us go forth a-hunting
+  into the green forest; for this day shall be holiday for me and for you and
+  we shall leave care behind us, and for a while we shall disport ourselves in
+  pleasant places." </p>
+<p> So they all did as King Arthur bade; they made them each man ready with his
+  own hands, and they bade the huntsmen and the foresters to attend thereupon
+  as the King had ordained. Then they rode forth from the castle and out into
+  the wide world that lay beyond, and it was yet so early in the morning that
+  none of the castle folk were astir to know of their departure. </p>
+<p> All that day they hunted in the forest with much joy and with great sport,
+  nor did they turn their faces toward home again until the day was so far spent
+  that the sun had sunk behind the tops of the tall leafy trees. Then, at that
+  time, King Arthur gave command that they should bend their ways toward Camelot
+  once more. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">King Arthur and his companions find a strange damsel and
+  a dwarf.</div>
+<p> Now this time, being the Eve of Saint John, fairies and those folk who are
+  fay come forth, as is very well known, into the world from which they dwell
+  apart at other times. So when King Arthur and those two knights and their several
+  foresters and huntsmen came to a certain outlying part of the forest, they were
+  suddenly aware of a damsel and a dwarf waiting where the road upon which they
+  were travelling crossed another road, and they perceived, from her very remarkable
+  appearance, that the damsel was very likely Fay. For both she and her dwarf
+  sat each upon a milk-white horse, very strangely still, close to where was a
+  shrine by a hedge of hawthorne; and the damsel was so wonderfully fair of face
+  that it was a marvel to behold her. Moreover, she was clad all in white samite
+  from top to toe and her garments were embroidered with silver; and the trappings
+  and garniture of her horse were of white samite studded with bright silver bosses,
+  wherefore, because of this silver, she glistered with a sudden lustre whensoever
+  she moved a little. When King Arthur and the two knights who were with him drew
+  nigh this damsel, much marvelling at her appearance, she hailed him in a voice
+  that was both high and clear, crying: "Welcome, King Arthur! Welcome, King Arthur!
+  Welcome, King Arthur!" saying three words three times; and "Welcome, Sir Ewain!"
+  "Welcome, Sir Ector de Maris!" addressing each of those lords by his name. </p>
+<p> "Damsel," quoth King Arthur, "it is very singular that you should know who
+  we are and that we should not know you. Now, will you not tell us your name
+  and whence you come and whither you go? For of a surety I believe you are Fay."
+</p>
+<p> "Lord," said the damsel, "it matters not who I am, saving that I am of the
+  court of a wonderful lady who is your very good friend. She hath sent me here
+  to meet you and to beseech you to come with me whither I shall lead you, and
+  I shall lead you unto her." </p>
+<p> "Damsel," said King Arthur, "I shall be right glad to go with you as you desire
+  me to do. So, if you will lead me to your lady, I and my knights will gladly
+  follow you thitherway to pay our court unto her." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">King Arthur and his knights follow the damsel.</div>
+<p> Upon this the damsel waved her hand, and drawing her bridle-rein she led the
+  way, accompanied by the dwarf, and King Arthur and the two knights followed
+  her, and all their party of foresters and huntsmen and hounds and beagles followed
+  them. </p>
+<p> By this time the sun had set and the moon had risen very fair and round and
+  as yellow as gold, making a great light above the silent tree-tops. Everything
+  now was embalmed in the twilight, and all the world was enshrouded in the mystery
+  of the midsummer eve. Yet though the sun had gone the light was wonderfully
+  bright, wherefore all that the eye could see stood sharp-cut and very clear
+  to the vision. </p>
+<p> So the damsel and the dwarf led the way for somewhat of a distance, though
+  not for so very far, until they came of a sudden to where was an open meadow
+  in the forest, hedged all around with the trees of the woodland. And here the
+  King and his knights were aware of a great bustle of many people, some working
+  very busily in setting up several pavilions of white samite, and others preparing
+  a table as for a feast, and others upon this business and others upon that;
+  and there were various sumpter-mules and pack-horses and palfreys all about,
+  as though belonging to a party of considerable estate. </p>
+<p> Then King Arthur and those who were with him beheld that, at some distance
+  away upon the other side of the meadow, there were three people sitting under
+  a crab-apple tree upon a couch especially prepared for them, and they were aware
+  that these people were the chief of all that company. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">King Arthur and his companions are brought to speak with
+  strange folk.</div>
+<p> The first party of the three was a knight of very haughty and noble appearance,
+  clad all in armor as white as silver; and his jupon was white embroidered with
+  silver, and the scabbard of the sword and the sword-belt were white, and his
+  shield hung in the crab-tree above him and that, too, was all white as of silver.
+  This knight still wore his helmet, so that his countenance was not to be seen.
+  The second party of the three was a lady clad all in white raiment. Her face
+  was covered by her wimple so that her countenance also was not to be seen very
+  clearly, but her garments were of wonderful sort, being of white sarcenet embroidered
+  over with silver in the pattern of lily flowers. Also she wore around her breast
+  and throat a chain of shining silver studded with bright and sparkling gems
+  of divers sorts. The third party of the three was a youth of eighteen years,
+  so beautiful of face that it seemed to King Arthur that he had never beheld
+  so noble a being. For his countenance was white and shining, and his hair was
+  as soft as silk and as black as it was possible to be, and curled down upon
+  his shoulders; and his eyes were large and bright and extraordinarily black,
+  and his eyebrows arched so smoothly that if they had been painted they could
+  not have been marked upon his forehead more evenly than they were; and his lips,
+  which pouted a little, though not very much, were as red as coral, and his upper
+  lip was shaded with a soft down of black. Moreover, this youth was clad altogether
+  in white cloth of satin with no ornaments whatsoever saving only a fine chain
+  of shining silver set with opal-stones and emeralds that hung about his neck.
+</p>
+<p> Then when King Arthur approached near enough he perceived by certain signs
+  that the lady was the chiefest of those three, wherefore he paid his court to
+  her especially, saying to her: "Lady, it seems that I have been brought hitherward
+  unto you and that you were aware of my name and estate when you sent for me.
+  Now I should be exceedingly glad if you would enlighten me in the same manner
+  as to yourself." </p>
+<p> "Sir," she said, "that I shall be glad to do; for if I have known you aforetime,
+  you have also seen me afore time and have known me as your friend." Therewith
+  the lady lowered the wimple from her face and King Arthur perceived that it
+  was the Lady of the Lake. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">King Arthur findeth Sir Pellias again.</div>
+<p> Upon this he kneeled down upon one knee and took her hand and set it to his
+  lips. "Lady," quoth he, "I have indeed cause to know you very well, for you
+  have, as you affirm, been a friend to me and to my friends upon many several
+  occasions." Then King Arthur turned to that knight who was with that Lady of
+  the Lake, and he said unto him: "Messire, if I mistake not, I should know you
+  also; and I doubt not, if you will lift the umbril of your helmet, we shall
+  all three know your face." Upon this the knight without more ado lifted his
+  umbril as King Arthur had desired him to do and the three beheld that it was
+  Sir Pellias, the Gentle Knight. </p>
+<p> Now it hath already been very fully told about Sir Pellias in the Book of
+  King Arthur, and those of you who read of him therein will remember, no doubt,
+  how sorely he was wounded in a combat with Sir Gawaine, who was his best friend,
+  and of how the Lady of the Lake took him to dwell with her in that wonderful
+  city that was hidden by the appearance as of an enchanted lake, and of how it
+  was Sir Gawaine who last beheld him upon that occasion. But if Sir Gawaine was
+  the dearest friend that Sir Pellias had at that time, then Sir Ewain was only
+  less dear to him. Therefore, when Sir Ewain beheld that the strange knight was
+  Sir Pellias, he wist not what to think for pure wonder; for no mortal eyes had
+  ever beheld Sir Pellias since he had gone into the lake with the Lady of the
+  Lake that time as foretold, and it was not thought that anyone would ever see
+  him again. </p>
+<p> So when Sir Ewain beheld that the knight was Sir Pellias he emitted a great
+  cry of joy and ran to him and catched him in his arms, and Sir Pellias forbade
+  him not. For though at most times those who are of Faery do not suffer themselves
+  to be touched by mortal hands, yet, upon the Eve of Saint John's Day, fairies
+  and mortals may commune as though they were of the same flesh and blood. Wherefore
+  Sir Pellias did not forbid Sir Ewain, and they embraced, as one-time brethren-in-arms
+  should embrace. And each kissed the other upon the face, and each made great
+  joy the one over the other. Yea, so great was their joy that all those who stood
+  about were moved with pure happiness at beholding them. </p>
+<p> Then Sir Pellias came to King Arthur and kneeled down before him and kissed
+  his hand, as is the bounden duty of every knight unto his lord. </p>
+<p> "Ha, Messire," quoth King Arthur, "methought when I beheld this lady, that
+  you would not be very far distant from her." Then he said unto the Lady of the
+  Lake: "Lady, I prithee tell me, who is this fair youth who is with you. For
+  methinks I never beheld before so noble and so beautiful a countenance as his.
+  Maybe you will make us acquainted with him also." </p>
+<p> "Lord," said the Lady Nymue, "who he is, and of what quality, shall, I hope,
+  be made manifest in due time; just now I would not wish that he should be known
+  even unto you. But touching him, I may say that it was for his sake that I sent
+  my damsel to meet you at the cross-roads awhile ago. But of that, more anon;
+  for see! the feast is now spread which we have prepared for your entertainment.
+  So let us first eat and drink and make merry together, and then we shall speak
+  further of this matter." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">The Lady of the Lake prepareth a feast for King Arthur.</div>
+<p> So they all six went and sat down to the table that had been spread for them
+  in the open meadow-land. For the night was very pleasant and warm and a wonderful
+  full moon shone down upon them with a marvellous lustre, and there was a pleasant
+  air, soft and warm, from the forest, and, what with the scores of bright waxen
+  tapers that stood in silver candlesticks upon the table (each taper sparkling
+  as bright as any star), the night was made all illuminate like to some singular
+  mid-day. There was set before them a plenty of divers savory meats and of several
+  excellent wines, some as yellow as gold, and some as red as carbuncle, and they
+  ate and they drank and they made merry in the soft moonlight with talk and laughter.
+  Somewhiles they told Sir Pellias and the lady of all that was toward at court
+  at Camelot; otherwhiles Sir Pellias and the lady told them such marvellous things
+  concerning the land in which they two dwelt that it would be hard to believe
+  that the courts of Heaven could be fairer than the courts of Fairyland whence
+  they had come. </p>
+<p> Then, after the feast was ended, the Lady of the Lake said to King Arthur,
+  "Sir, an I have won your favor in any way, there is a certain thing I would
+  ask of you." To the which King Arthur made reply: "Ask it, Lady, and it shall
+  be granted thee, no matter what it may be." "Sir," said the Lady of the Lake,
+  "this is what I would ask of you. I would ask you to look upon this youth who
+  sits beside me. He is so dear to me that I cannot very well make you know how
+  dear he is. I have brought him hither from our dwelling-place for one certain
+  reason; to wit, that you should make him knight. That is the great favor I would
+  ask of you. To this intent I have brought armor and all the appurtenances of
+  knighthood; for he is of such noble lineage that no armor in the world could
+  be too good for him." </p>
+<p> "Lady," quoth King Arthur, "I will do what you ask with much pleasure and
+  gladness. But, touching that armor of which you speak, it is my custom to provide
+  anyone whom I make a knight with armor of mine own choosing." </p>
+<p> To this the Lady of the Lake smiled very kindly, saying, "Lord, I pray you,
+  let be in this case, for I daresay that the armor which hath been provided for
+  this youth shall be so altogether worthy of your nobility and of his future
+  credit that you will be entirely contented with it." And with that, King Arthur
+  was altogether satisfied. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Of the armor, etc., of Sir Launcelot.</div>
+<p> And, touching that armor, the ancient history that speaketh of these matters
+  saith that it was of such a sort as this that followeth, and that it was brought
+  from that enchanted court of the lake in this wise; to wit, in the front came
+  two youths, leading two white mules, and the mules bore two chests studded with
+  silver bosses. In one chest was the hauberk of that armor and in the other were
+  the iron boots. These were bright like to silver and were inlaid with cunningly
+  devised figures, all of pure gold. Next to them came two esquires, clad in white
+  robes and mounted upon white horses, bearing the one a silver shield and the
+  other a shining helmet, as of silver--it likewise being very wonderfully inlaid
+  with figures of pure gold. After these came two other esquires, the one bearing
+  a sword in a white sheath embossed with studs of silver (the belt whereof was
+  of silver with facets of gold) and the other leading a white charger, whose
+  coat was as soft and as shining as silk. And all the gear and furniture of this
+  horse was of silver and of white samite embellished with silver. So from this
+  you can see how nobly that young acolyte was provided with all that beseemed
+  his future greatness. For, as you may have guessed, this youth was Launcelot,
+  King Ban's son of Benwick, who shortly became the greatest knight in the world.
+</p>
+<div class="sidenote">Launcelot guards his armor at night.</div>
+<p> Now there was in that part of the forest border a small abbey of monks, and
+  in the chapel of that abbey Launcelot watched his armor for that night and Sir
+  Ewain was with him for all that time. Meantime King Arthur and Sir Ector de
+  Maris slept each in a silken pavilion provided for them by the Lady of the Lake.
+</p>
+<p> In the morning Sir Ewain took Launcelot to the bath and bathed him, for such
+  was the custom of those who were being prepared for knighthood. </p>
+<p> Now, whilst Sir Ewain was bathing the youth, he beheld that on his shoulder
+  was a mark in the likeness of a golden star and he marvelled very much thereat;
+  but he made no mention of it at that time, but held his peace concerning what
+  he saw; only he marvelled very greatly thereat. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">King Arthur creates Sir Launcelot a Knight-Royal.</div>
+<p> Then, after Sir Ewain had bathed Launcelot, he clothed him in raiment fitted
+  for that ceremony unto which he was ordained, and when the youth was so clothed,
+  Sir Ewain brought him to King Arthur, and King Arthur knighted Launcelot with
+  great ceremony, and buckled the belt around him with his own hands. After he
+  had done this Sir Ewain and Sir Ector de Maris set the golden spurs to his heels,
+  and Sir Ector wist not that he was performing such office for his own brother.
+</p>
+<p> So Sir Launcelot was made knight with great estate and ceremony, whereof I
+  have told you all, unto every particular. For it is fitting that all things
+  should be so told concerning that most great and famous knight. </p>
+<p> After King Arthur had so dubbed Sir Launcelot knight, it was time that those
+  two parties should part company--to wit, the party of the Lady of the Lake and
+  the party of King Arthur. But when they were about to leave one another the
+  Lady of the Lake took Sir Launcelot aside, and she spake to him after this manner:
+</p>
+<div class="sidenote">The Lady of the Lake gives Sir Launcelot good advice.</div>
+<p> "Launcelot, forget not that you are a king's son, and that your lineage is
+  as noble as that of anyone upon earth--for so I have often told you aforetime.
+  Wherefore, see to it that your worthiness shall be as great as your beauty,
+  and that your courtesy and gentleness shall be as great as your prowess. To-day
+  you shall go unto Camelot with King Arthur to make yourself known unto that
+  famous Court of Chivalry. But do not tarry there, but, ere the night cometh,
+  depart and go forth into the world to prove your knighthood as worthily as God
+  shall give you grace to do. For I would not have you declare yourself to the
+  world until you have proved your worthiness by your deeds. Wherefore, do not
+  yourself proclaim your name, but wait until the world proclaimeth it; for it
+  is better for the world to proclaim the worthiness of a man than that the man
+  should proclaim his own worthiness. So hold yourself ready to undertake any
+  adventure whatsoever that God sendeth to you to do, but never let any other
+  man complete a task unto which you yourself have set your hand." Then, after
+  the Lady of the Lake had so advised Sir Launcelot, she kissed him upon the face,
+  and therewith gave him a ring curiously wrought and set with a wonderful purple
+  stone, which ring had such power that it would dissolve every enchantment. Then
+  she said: "Launcelot, wear this ring and never let it be from off your finger."
+  And Launcelot said: "I will do so." So Sir Launcelot set the ring upon his finger
+  and it was so that it never left his finger whilst he drew the breath of life.
+</p>
+<p> Then King Arthur and Sir Ewain and Sir Ector de Maris and the young Sir Launcelot
+  laid their ways toward Camelot. And, as they journeyed so together, Sir Ewain
+  communicated privily to Sir Ector de Maris how that the youth had a mark as
+  of a golden star upon the skin of his shoulder, and upon this news Sir Ector
+  fell very silent. For Sir Ector knew that that sign was upon his own brother's
+  shoulder, and he did not know how it could be upon the shoulder of any other
+  man. Wherefore, he wist not what to think that it should be upon the shoulder
+  of this youth. But he said naught of these thoughts to Sir Ewain, but held his
+  peace. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot cometh to Camelot.</div>
+<p> So they reached Camelot whilst it was still quite early in the morning and
+  all they who were there made great joy at the coming of so wonderfully fair
+  and noble a young knight as Sir Launcelot appeared to be. Wherefore, there was
+  great sound of rejoicing at his coming. </p>
+<p> Then, after a while, King Arthur said: "Let us go and see if, haply, this
+  youth's name is marked upon any of the seats of the Round Table, for I think
+  it should be there." So all they of the court went to that pavilion afore described,
+  where the Round Table was established, and they looked; and lo! upon the seat
+  that King Pellinore had one time occupied was this name: </p>
+<div class="fancy">THE KNIGHT OF THE LAKE</div>
+<p> So the name stood at first, nor did it change until the name of Sir Launcelot
+  of the Lake became so famous in all the world. Then it became changed to this:
+</p>
+<div class="fancy">SIR LAUNCELOT OF THE LAKE.</div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<div align="center"> *&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;*&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;*&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;*&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;*
+</div>
+<br />
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot becometh knight of the Round Table.</div>
+<p> So Sir Launcelot remained at Camelot for that entire day and was made acquainted
+  with a great many of the lords and ladies and knights and dames of King Arthur's
+  court. And all that while he was like one that walked in a dream, for he had
+  never before beheld anything of the world of mankind since he had been carried
+  away into the lake, wherefore he wist not very well whether what he saw was
+  real or whether he beheld it in a vision of enchantment. For it was all very
+  new and wonderful to him and he took great delight in it because that he was
+  a man and because this world was the world of mankind. Wherefore, though that
+  Castle of the Lake was so beautiful, yet he felt his heart go forth to this
+  other and less beautiful land as it did not go forth to that, because he was
+  human and this was human. </p>
+<p> Nevertheless, though that was so joyful a day for him, yet Sir Launcelot did
+  not forget what the Lady of the Lake had said concerning the time he was to
+  abide there! Wherefore, when it drew toward evening he besought leave of King
+  Arthur to depart from that place in search of adventures, and King Arthur gave
+  him leave to do as he desired. </p>
+<p> So Sir Launcelot prepared to depart, and whilst he was in his chamber making
+  ready there came in unto him Sir Ector de Maris. And Sir Ector said unto him:
+  "Sir, I prithee tell me--is it true that you bear upon your right shoulder a
+  mark like unto a golden star?" And Sir Launcelot made reply: "Yea, that is true."
+  Then Sir Ector said: "I beseech you to tell me if your name is Launcelot." And
+  Sir Launcelot said: "Yea, that is my name." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Of the brotherhood of Sir Ector and Sir Launcelot.</div>
+<p> Upon this Sir Ector broke out into great weeping and he catched Sir Launcelot
+  in his arms and he cried out: "Launcelot, thou art mine own brother! For thy
+  father was my father, and my mother was thy mother! For we are both sons unto
+  King Ban of Benwick, and Queen Helen was our mother." Therewith he kissed Sir
+  Launcelot with great passion upon the face. And Sir Launcelot upon his part
+  kissed Sir Ector with a great passion of joy that he had found a brother in
+  this strange world into which he had so newly come. But Sir Launcelot charged
+  Sir Ector that he should say nothing of this to any man; and Sir Ector pledged
+  his knightly word to that effect. (Nor did he ever tell anyone who Sir Launcelot
+  was until Sir Launcelot had performed such deeds that all the world spake his
+  name.) </p>
+<p> For when Sir Launcelot went out into the world in that wise he undertook several
+  very weighty achievements and brought them all to a successful issue, so that
+  his name very quickly became known in every court of chivalry. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Of sundry adventures of Sir Launcelot.</div>
+<p> First he removed an enchantment that overhung a castle, hight Dolorous Gard;
+  and he freed that castle and liberated all the sad, sorry captives that lay
+  therein. (And this castle he held for his own and changed the name from Dolorous
+  Gard to Joyous Gard and the castle became very famous afterward as his best-loved
+  possession. For this was the first of all his possessions that he won by the
+  prowess of his arms and he loved it best of all and considered it always his
+  home.) After that Sir Launcelot, at the bidding of Queen Guinevere, took the
+  part of the Lady of Nohan against the King of Northumberland, and he overcame
+  the King of Northumberland and made him subject unto King Arthur. Then he overcame
+  Sir Gallehaut, King of the Marches, and sent him captive to the court of King
+  Arthur (and afterward Sir Gallehaut and Sir Launcelot became great friends for
+  aye). So in a little while all the world spoke of Sir Launcelot, for it was
+  said of him, and truly, that he had never been overcome by any other knight,
+  whether upon horseback or upon foot, and that he always succeeded in every adventure
+  which he undertook, whether that adventure were great or whether it were small.
+  So it was as the Lady of the Lake desired it to be, for Sir Launcelot's name
+  became famous, not because he was his father's son, but because of the deeds
+  which he performed upon his own account. </p>
+<p> So Sir Launcelot performed all these famous adventures, and after that he
+  returned again to the court of King Arthur crowned with the glory of his successful
+  knighthood, and there he was received with joy and acclaim and was duly installed
+  in that seat of the Round Table that was his. And in that court he was held
+  in the greatest honor and esteem of all the knights who were there. For King
+  Arthur spake many times concerning him to this effect: that he knew not any
+  honor or glory that could belong to a king greater than having such a knight
+  for to serve him as was Sir Launcelot of the Lake. For a knight like Sir Launcelot
+  came hardly ever into the world, and when he did come his glory must needs illuminate
+  with its effulgence the entire reign of that king whose servant he was. </p>
+<p> So it was that Sir Launcelot was greatly honored by everybody at the court
+  of King Arthur, and he thereafter abided at that court for the most part of
+  his life. </p>
+<br />
+<div align="center"> *&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;*&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;*&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;*&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;*
+</div>
+<br />
+<div class="sidenote">Of Sir Launcelot and Queen Guinevere.</div>
+<p> And now I must needs make mention of that friendship that existed betwixt
+  Sir Launcelot and Queen Guinevere, for after he thus returned to the court of
+  the king, they two became such friends that no two people could be greater friends
+  than they were. </p>
+<a href="images/012.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="p3" align="left" src="images/012.gif" border="0" alt="Sir Launcelot greets Queen Guinevere" /></a>
+<p> Now I am aware that there have been many scandalous things said concerning
+  that friendship, but I do not choose to believe any such evil sayings. For there
+  are always those who love to think and say evil things of others. Yet though
+  it is not to be denied that Sir Launcelot never had for his lady any other dame
+  than the Lady Guinevere, still no one hath ever said with truth that she regarded
+  Sir Launcelot otherwise than as her very dear friend. For Sir Launcelot always
+  avouched with his knightly word, unto the last day of his life, that the Lady
+  Guinevere was noble and worthy in all ways, wherefore I choose to believe his
+  knightly word and to hold that what he said was true. For did not he become
+  an hermit, and did not she become a nun in their latter days, and were they
+  not both broken of heart when King Arthur departed from this life in so singular
+  a manner as he did? Wherefore I choose to believe good of such noble souls as
+  they, and not evil of them. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">How Sir Launcelot dwelt at Camelot.</div>
+<p> Yet, though Sir Launcelot thus abided at the court of the King, he ever loved
+  the open world and a life of adventure above all things else. For he had lived
+  so long in the Lake that these things of the sturdy life of out-of-doors never
+  lost their charm for him. So, though he found, for a while, great joy in being
+  at the court of the King (for there were many jousts held in his honor, and,
+  whithersoever he rode forth, men would say to one another: "Yonder goeth that
+  great knight, Sir Launcelot, who is the greatest knight in the world"), yet
+  he longed ever to be abroad in the wide world again. So one day he besought
+  King Arthur for leave to depart thence and to go forth for a while in search
+  of adventures; and King Arthur gave him leave to do as he desired. </p>
+<p> So now shall be told of several excellent adventures that Sir Launcelot undertook,
+  and which he carried through with entire success, and to the great glory and
+  renown of the Round Table, of which he was the foremost knight. </p>
+<div align="center"> <a href="images/tail.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/tail.gif" border="0" alt="Tail Piece" /></a>
+</div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div class="chaphead" id="la2"><a href="images/015.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/015.gif" alt="Chapter Header" border="0" /></a>
+  <br />
+  Chapter Second</div>
+<br />
+<div class="chapdes">How Sir Launcelot and Sir Lionel Rode Forth Errant Together
+  and How Sir Lionel Met Sir Turquine to His Great Dole. Also How Sir Ector Grieved
+  for the Departure of His Brother Launcelot and So, Following Him, Fell into
+  a Very Sorry Adventure</div>
+.
+<p> Now after King Arthur had thus given Sir Launcelot leave to go errant and
+  whilst Sir Launcelot was making himself ready to depart there came to him Sir
+  Lionel, who was his cousin germain, and Sir Lionel besought leave to go with
+  him as his knight-companion, and Sir Launcelot gave him that leave. </p>
+<a href="images/014.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images"  src="images/014.gif" border="0" alt="Sir Lionel of Britain" align="left" id="p4" /></a>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot and Sir Lionel depart in search of adventure.</div>
+<p> So when King Arthur confirmed Sir Launcelot's permission Sir Lionel also made
+  himself ready very joyfully, and early of the morning of the next day they two
+  took their leave of the court and rode away together; the day being very fair
+  and gracious and all the air full of the joy of that season--which was in the
+  flower of the spring-time. </p>
+<p> So, about noon-tide, they came to a certain place where a great apple-tree
+  stood by a hedge, and by that time they had grown an-hungered. So they tied
+  their horses near-by in a cool and shady place and straightway sat them down
+  under the apple-tree in the soft tall grass, which was yet fresh with the coolness
+  of the morning. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot sleepeth beneath an apple-tree.</div>
+<p> Then when they had ended their meal Sir Launcelot said: "Brother, I have a
+  great lust to sleep for a little space, for I find myself so drowsy that mine
+  eyelids are like scales of lead." Unto which Sir Lionel made reply: "Very well;
+  sleep thou for a while, and I will keep watch, and after that thou shalt watch,
+  and I will sleep for a little space." So Sir Launcelot put his helmet beneath
+  his head and turned upon his side, and in a little had fallen into a sleep which
+  had neither dream nor thought of any kind, but which was deep and pure like
+  to a clear well of water in the forest. </p>
+<p> And, whilst he slept thus, Sir Lionel kept watch, walking up and down in the
+  shade of a hedge near-by. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Lionel perceives how one knight pursues three knights.</div>
+<p> Where they were was upon the side of a hill, and beneath them was a little
+  valley; and a road ran through the valley, very white and shining in the sunlight,
+  like a silken ribbon, and the road lay between growing fields of corn and pasture-land.
+  Now as Sir Lionel walked beside the hedge he beheld three knights come riding
+  into that valley and along that road with very great speed and in several clouds
+  of dust; and behind them came a fourth knight, who was very huge of frame and
+  who was clad altogether in black armor. Moreover, this knight rode upon a black
+  horse and his shield was black and his spear was black and the furniture of
+  his horse was black, so that everything appertaining to that knight was as black
+  as any raven. </p>
+<p> And Sir Lionel beheld that this one knight pursued those other three knights
+  and that his horse went with greater speed than theirs, so that by and by he
+  overtook the hindermost knight. And Sir Lionel beheld that the sable knight
+  smote the fleeing knight a great buffet with his sword, so that that knight
+  fell headlong from his horse and rolled over two or three times upon the ground
+  and then lay as though he were dead. Then the black knight catched the second
+  of the three, and served him as he had served his fellow. Then the third of
+  the three, finding that there was no escape for him, turned as if to defend
+  himself; but the black knight drave at him, and smote him so terrible a blow
+  that I believe had a thunderbolt smitten him he would not have fallen from his
+  horse more suddenly than he did. For, though that combat was full three furlongs
+  away, yet Sir Lionel heard the sound of that blow as clearly as though it had
+  been close by. </p>
+<p> Then after the black knight had thus struck down those three knights he went
+  to each in turn and tied his hands behind his back. Then, lifting each man with
+  extraordinary ease, he laid him across the saddle of that horse from which he
+  had fallen, as though he were a sack of grain. And all this Sir Lionel beheld
+  with very great wonder, marvelling much at the strength and prowess of that
+  black knight. "Ha," quoth he to himself, "I will go and inquire into this business,
+  for it may haply be that yonder black knight shall not find it to be so easy
+  to deal with a knight of the Round Table as with those other three knights."
+</p>
+<p> So, with this, Sir Lionel loosed his horse very quietly and went his way so
+  softly that Sir Launcelot was not awakened. And after he had gone some way,
+  he mounted his steed and rode off at a fast gallop down into that valley. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Lionel addresses the sable knight.</div>
+<p> When Sir Lionel had come to that place where the knight was, he found that
+  he had just bound the last of the three knights upon the saddle of his horse
+  as aforetold. So Sir Lionel spoke to the sable knight in this wise: "Sir, I
+  pray you tell me your name and degree and why you treat those knights in so
+  shameful a fashion as I behold you to do." </p>
+<p> "Messire," said the black knight very fiercely, "this matter concerns you
+  not at all; yet I may tell you that those knights whom I have overthrown are
+  knights of King Arthur's court, and so I serve all such as come into this place.
+  So will I serve you, too, if you be a knight of King Arthur's." </p>
+<p> "Well," said Sir Lionel, "that is a very ungracious thing for you to say.
+  And as for that, I too am a knight of King Arthur's court, but I do not believe
+  that you will serve me as you have served those three. Instead of that, I have
+  great hope that I shall serve you in such a fashion that I shall be able to
+  set these knights free from your hands." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">The sable knight overcomes Sir Lionel.</div>
+<p> Thereupon, without more ado, he made him ready with spear and shield, and
+  the black knight, perceiving his design, also made him ready. Then they rode
+  a little distance apart so as to have a fair course for a tilt upon the roadway.
+  Then each set spur to his horse and the two drave together with such violence
+  that the earth shook beneath them. So they met fair in the middle of the course,
+  but lo! in that encounter the spear of Sir Lionel broke into as many as thirty
+  or forty pieces, but the spear of the black knight held, so that Sir Lionel
+  was lifted clean out from his saddle and over the crupper of his horse with
+  such violence that when he smote the ground he rolled three times over ere he
+  ceased to fall. And because of that fierce, terrible blow he swooned away entirely,
+  and all was black before his eyes, and he knew nothing. </p>
+<p> Therewith the black knight dismounted and tied Sir Lionel's arms behind his
+  back and he laid him across the saddle of his horse as he had laid those others
+  across the saddles of their horses; and he tied him there very securely with
+  strong cords so that Sir Lionel could not move. </p>
+<p> And all this while Sir Launcelot slept beneath the apple-tree upon the hillside,
+  for he was greatly soothed by the melodious humming of the bees in the blossoms
+  above where he lay. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Of Sir Turquine the sable knight.</div>
+<p> Now you are to know that he who had thus taken Sir Lionel and those three
+  knights prisoner was one Sir Turquine, a very cruel, haughty knight, who had
+  a great and strong castle out beyond the mouth of that valley in which these
+  knights took combat as aforetold. Moreover, it was the custom of Sir Turquine
+  to make prisoner all the knights and ladies who came that way; and all the knights
+  and ladies who were not of King Arthur's court he set free when they had paid
+  a sufficient ransom unto him; but the knights who were of King Arthur's court,
+  and especially those who were of the Round Table, he held prisoner for aye within
+  his castle. The dungeon of that castle was a very cold, dismal, and unlovely
+  place, and it was to this prison that he proposed to take those four knights
+  whom he had overcome, with intent to hold them prisoner as aforetold. </p>
+<p> And now turn we to King Arthur's court and consider what befell there after
+  Sir Launcelot and Sir Lionel had left it in search of adventures. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Ector follows Sir Launcelot and Sir Lionel.</div>
+<p> When Sir Ector found that Sir Launcelot and Sir Lionel had gone away in that
+  fashion he was very much grieved in spirit; wherefore he said to himself, "Meseems
+  my brother might have taken me with him as well as our cousin." So he went to
+  King Arthur and besought his leave to quit the court and to ride after those
+  other two and to join in their adventures, and King Arthur very cheerfully gave
+  him that leave. So Sir Ector made him ready with all despatch, and rode away
+  at a great gait after Sir Launcelot and Sir Lionel. And ever as Sir Ector rode
+  he made diligent inquiry and he found that those two knights had ridden before
+  him, so he said to himself: "By and by I shall overtake them--if not to-day,
+  at least by night, or by to-morrow day." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Ector seeks adventure.</div>
+<p> But after a while he came to a cross-roads, and there he took a way that Sir
+  Launcelot and Sir Lionel had not taken; so that, after he had gone a distance,
+  he found that he had missed them by taking that road. Nevertheless, he went
+  on until about the prime of the day, what time he met a forester, to whom he
+  said: "Sirrah, saw you two knights ride this way--one knight clad in white armor
+  with a white shield upon which was depicted the figure of a lady, and the other
+  knight clad in red armor with the figure of a red gryphon upon his shield?"
+  "Nay," said the forester, "I saw not such folk." Then said Sir Ector, "Is there
+  any adventure to be found hereabouts?" Upon this the forester fell to laughing
+  in great measure. "Yea," he said, "there is an adventure to be found hard by
+  and it is one that many have undertaken and not one yet hath ever fulfilled."
+  Then Sir Ector said, "Tell me what that adventure is and I will undertake it."
+</p>
+<p> "Sir," said the forester, "if you will follow along yonder road for a distance
+  you will find a very large, strong castle surrounded by a broad moat. In front
+  of that castle is a stream of water with a fair, shallow ford, where the roadway
+  crosses the water. Upon this side of that ford there groweth a thorn-tree, very
+  large and sturdy, and upon it hangs a basin of brass. Strike upon that basin
+  with the butt of your spear, and you shall presently meet with that adventure
+  concerning which I have just now spoken." "Fellow," said Sir Ector, "grammercy
+  for your news." And, therewith, straightway he rode off in search of that adventure.
+</p>
+<p> He rode a great distance at a very fast gait and by and by he came to the
+  top of a hill and therewith he saw before him the mouth of a fair valley. Across
+  from where he stood was another hill not very large or high, but exceedingly
+  steep and rocky. Upon this farther hill was builded a tall, noble castle of
+  gray stone with many towers and spires and tall chimneys and with several score
+  of windows, all shining bright in the clear weather. A fair river ran down into
+  the mouth of that valley and it was as bright and as smooth as silver, and on
+  each side of it were smooth level meadow-lands--very green--and here and there
+  shady groves of trees and plantations of fruit-trees. And Sir Ector perceived
+  that the road upon which he travelled crossed the aforesaid river by a shallow
+  ford, and he wist that this must be the ford whereof the forester had spoken.
+  So he rode down unto that ford, and when he had come nigh he perceived the thorn-tree
+  of which the forester had told him, and he saw that a great basin of brass hung
+  to the thorn-tree, just as the forester had said. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Ector smites upon the brazen basin.</div>
+<p> Then Sir Ector rode to that thorn-tree and he smote upon that basin of brass
+  with the butt of his spear, so that the basin rang with a noise like thunder;
+  and he smote it again and again, several times over. But though he was aware
+  of a great commotion within that fair castle, yet no adventure befell him, although
+  he smote the brazen basin several times. </p>
+<p> Now, his horse being athirst, Sir Ector drove him into the ford that he might
+  drink, and whilst he was there he was suddenly aware where, on the other side
+  of the stream, was a singular party coming along the roadway. For first of all
+  there rode a knight entirely clad in black, riding upon a black horse, and all
+  the harness and furniture of that horse entirely of black. Behind him, that
+  knight led four horses as though they were pack-horses, and across each one
+  of those four horses was a knight in full armor, bound fast to the saddle like
+  to a sack of grain, whereat Sir Ector was very greatly astonished. </p>
+<p> As soon as that sable knight approached the castle, several came running forth
+  and relieved him of those horses he led and took them into the castle, and as
+  soon as he had been thus relieved the sable knight rode very violently up to
+  where Sir Ector was. As soon as he had come to the water's edge he cried out:
+  "Sir Knight, come forth from out of that water and do me battle." </p>
+<p> "Very well," said Sir Ector, "I will do so, though it will, I think, be to
+  thy very great discomfort." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Ector essays battle with the sable knight.</div>
+<p> With that he came quickly out from the ford, the water whereof was all broken
+  and churned into foam at his passing, and straightway he cast aside his spear
+  and drew his sword and, driving against that sable knight, he smote him such
+  a buffet that his horse turned twice about. </p>
+<p> "Ha," said the black knight, "that is the best blow that ever I had struck
+  me in all of my life." Therewith he rushed upon Sir Ector, and without using
+  a weapon of any sort he catched him about the body, underneath the arms, and
+  dragged him clean out of his saddle, and flung him across the horn of his own
+  saddle. Thereupon, having accomplished this marvellous feat, and with Sir Ector
+  still across his saddle-bow, he rode up unto his castle, nor stopped until he
+  had reached the court-yard of the keep. There he set Sir Ector down upon the
+  stone pavement. Then he said: "Messire, thou hast done to me this day what no
+  other knight hath ever done to me before, wherefore, if thou wilt promise to
+  be my man from henceforth, I will let thee go free and give thee great rewards
+  for thy services as well." </p>
+<p> But Sir Ector was filled very full of shame, wherefore he cried out fiercely,
+  "Rather would I lie within a prison all my life than serve so catiff a knight
+  as thou, who darest to treat other knights as thou hast just now treated me."
+</p>
+<p> "Well," said the black knight very grimly, "thou shalt have thy choice." Therewith
+  he gave certain orders, whereupon a great many fierce fellows set upon Sir Ector
+  and stripped him of all his armor, and immediately haled him off, half-naked,
+  to that dungeon aforementioned. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">The sable knight makes prisoner of Sir Ector.</div>
+<p> There he found many knights of King Arthur's court, and several of the Round
+  Table, all of whom he knew, and when they beheld Sir Ector flung in unto them
+  in that fashion they lifted up their voices in great lamentation that he should
+  have been added to their number, instead of freeing them from their dolorous
+  and pitiable case. "Alas," said they, "there is no knight alive may free us
+  from this dungeon, unless it be Sir Launcelot. For this Sir Turquine is, certes,
+  the greatest knight in all the world, unless it be Sir Launcelot." </p>
+<div align="center"> <a href="images/tail.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/tail.gif" border="0" alt="Tail Piece" /></a>
+</div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div class="chaphead" id="la3"><a href="images/017.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/017.gif" alt="Chapter Header" border="0" /></a>
+  <br />
+  Chapter Third</div>
+<br />
+<div class="chapdes">How Sir Launcelot was Found in a Sleep by Queen Morgana le
+  Fay and Three Other Queens who were with Her, and How He was Taken to a Castle
+  of Queen Morgana's and of What Befell Him There.</div>
+<div class="sidenote">Four Queens and their courts pass by where Sir Launcelot
+  lies sleeping.</div>
+<p> So Sir Launcelot lay in deep slumber under that apple-tree, and knew neither
+  that Sir Lionel had left him nor what ill-fortune had befallen that good knight.
+  Whilst he lay there sleeping in that wise there came by, along the road, and
+  at a little distance from him, a very fair procession of lordly people, making
+  a noble parade upon the highway. The chiefest of this company were four ladies,
+  who were four queens. With them rode four knights, and, because the day was
+  warm, the four knights bore a canopy of green silk by the four corners upon
+  the points of their lances in such wise as to shelter those queens from the
+  strong heat of the sun. And those four knights rode all armed cap-a-pie on four
+  noble war-horses, and the four queens, bedight in great estate, rode on four
+  white mules richly caparisoned with furniture of divers colors embroidered with
+  gold. After these lordly folk there followed a very excellent court of esquires
+  and demoiselles to the number of a score or more; some riding upon horses and
+  some upon mules that ambled very easily. </p>
+<p> Now all these folk of greater or lesser degree were entirely unaware that
+  Sir Launcelot lay sleeping so nigh to them as they rode by chattering very gayly
+  together in the spring-time weather, taking great pleasure in the warm air,
+  and in growing things, and the green fields, and the bright sky; and they would
+  have had no knowledge that the knight was there, had not Sir Launcelot's horse
+  neighed very lustily. Thereupon, they were aware of the horse, and then they
+  were aware of Sir Launcelot where he lay asleep under the apple-tree, with his
+  head lying upon his helmet. </p>
+<p> Now foremost of all those queens was Queen Morgana le Fay (who was King Arthur's
+  sister, and a potent, wicked enchantress, of whom much hath been told in the
+  Book of King Arthur), and besides Queen Morgana there was the Queen of North
+  Wales, and the Queen of Eastland, and the Queen of the Outer Isles. </p>
+<p> Now when this party of queens, knights, esquires, and ladies heard the war-horse
+  neigh, and when they beheld Sir Launcelot where he lay, they drew rein and marvelled
+  very greatly to see a knight sleeping so soundly at that place, maugre all the
+  noise and tumult of their passing. So Queen Morgana called to her one of the
+  esquires who followed after them, and she said to him: "Go softly and see if
+  thou knowest who is yonder knight; but do not wake him." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">An esquire knoweth Sir Launcelot.</div>
+<p> So the esquire did as she commanded; he went unto that apple-tree and he looked
+  into Sir Launcelot's face, and by hap he knew who it was because he had been
+  to Camelot erstwhiles and he had seen Sir Launcelot at that place. So he hastened
+  back to Queen Morgana and he said to her: "Lady, I believe that yonder knight
+  is none other than the great Sir Launcelot of the Lake, concerning whom there
+  is now such report; for he is reputed to be the most powerful of all the knights
+  of King Arthur's Round Table, and the greatest knight in the world, so that
+  King Arthur loves him and favors him above all other knights." </p>
+<p> Now when Queen Morgana le Fay was aware that the knight who was asleep there
+  was Sir Launcelot, it immediately entered her mind for to lay some powerful,
+  malignant enchantment upon him to despite King Arthur. For she too knew how
+  dear Sir Launcelot was to King Arthur, and so she had a mind to do him mischief
+  for King Arthur's sake. So she went softly to where Sir Launcelot lay with intent
+  to work some such spell upon him. But when she had come to Sir Launcelot she
+  was aware that this purpose of mischief was not possible whilst he wore that
+  ring upon his finger which the Lady of the Lake had given him; wherefore she
+  had to put by her evil design for a while. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Queen Morgana le Fay sets a mild enchantment upon Sir Launcelot.</div>
+<p> But though she was unable to work any malign spell upon him, she was able
+  to cause it by her magic that that sleep in which he lay should remain unbroken
+  for three or four hours. So she made certain movements of her hands above his
+  face and by that means she wove the threads of his slumber so closely together
+  that he could not break through them to awake. </p>
+<p> After she had done this she called to her several of the esquires who were
+  of her party, and these at her command fetched the shield of Sir Launcelot and
+  laid him upon it. Then they lifted him and bore him away, carrying him in that
+  manner to a certain castle in the forest that was no great distance away. And
+  the name of that castle was Chateaubras and it was one of Queen Morgana's castles.
+</p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot awakens in a fair chamber.</div>
+<p> And all that while Sir Launcelot wist nothing, but lay in a profound sleep,
+  so that when he awoke and looked about him he was so greatly astonished that
+  he knew not whether he was in a vision or whether he was awake. For whilst he
+  had gone asleep beneath that apple-tree, here he now lay in a fair chamber upon
+  a couch spread with a coverlet of flame-colored linen. </p>
+<p> Then he perceived that it was a very fair room in which he lay, for it was
+  hung all about with tapestry hangings representing fair ladies at court and
+  knights at battle. And there were woven carpets upon the floor, and the couch
+  whereon he lay was of carved wood, richly gilt. There were two windows to that
+  chamber, and when he looked forth he perceived that the chamber where he was
+  was very high from the ground, being built so loftily upon the rugged rocks
+  at its foot that the forest lay far away beneath him like a sea of green. And
+  he perceived that there was but one door to this chamber and that the door was
+  bound with iron and studded with great bosses of wrought iron, and when he tried
+  that door he found that it was locked. </p>
+<p> So Sir Launcelot was aware from these things that he was a prisoner--though
+  not a prisoner in a hard case--and he wist not how he had come thither nor what
+  had happened to him. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">A fair damsel beareth light and food unto Sir Launcelot.</div>
+<p> Now when the twilight of the evening had fallen, a porter, huge of frame and
+  very forbidding of aspect, came and opened the door of the chamber where Sir
+  Launcelot lay, and when he had done so there entered a fair damsel, bearing
+  a very good supper upon a silver tray. Moreover, she bore upon the tray three
+  tapers of perfumed wax set in three silver candlesticks, and these gave a fair
+  light to the entire room. But, when Sir Launcelot saw the maiden coming thus
+  with intent to serve him, he arose and took the tray from her and set it himself
+  upon the table; and for this civility the damsel made acknowledgement to him.
+  Then she said to him: "Sir Knight, what cheer do you have?" "Ha, damsel," said
+  Sir Launcelot, "I do not know how to answer you that, for I wist not what cheer
+  to have until I know whether I be with friends or with enemies. For though this
+  chamber wherein I lie is very fair and well-bedight, yet meseems I must have
+  been brought here by some enchantment, and that I am a prisoner in this place;
+  wherefore I know not what cheer to take." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">The damsel has pity for Sir Launcelot.</div>
+<p> Then the damsel looked upon Sir Launcelot, and she was very sorry for him.
+  "Sir," quoth she, "I take great pity to see you in this pass, for I hear tell
+  you are the best knight in the world and, of a surety, you are of a very noble
+  appearance. I must tell you that this castle wherein you lie is a castle of
+  enchantment, and they who dwell here mean you no good; wherefore I would advise
+  you to be upon your guard against them." </p>
+<p> "Maiden," said Sir Launcelot, "I give you grammercy for your kind words, and
+  I will be upon my guard as you advise me." </p>
+<p> Then the damsel would have said more, but she durst not for fear that she
+  should be overheard and that evil should befall her, for the porter was still
+  without the door. So in a little she went away and Sir Launcelot was left alone.
+</p>
+<p> But though the damsel bade Sir Launcelot have good cheer, yet he had no very
+  good cheer for that night, as anyone may well suppose, for he wist not what
+  was to befall him upon the morrow. </p>
+<a href="images/016.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images"  src="images/016.gif" border="0" align="left" id="p5" alt="Queen Morgana appears unto Sir Launcelot" /></a>
+<p> Now when the morning had come Sir Launcelot was aware of someone at his chamber
+  door, and when that one entered it was Queen Morgana le Fay. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">How Queen Morgana cometh to Sir Launcelot.</div>
+<p> She was clad in all the glory at her command, and her appearance was so shining
+  and radiant that when she came into that room Sir Launcelot knew not whether
+  it was a vision his eyes beheld or whether she was a creature of flesh and blood.
+  For she came with her golden crown upon her head, and her hair, which was as
+  red as gold, was bound around with ribbons of gold; and she was clad all in
+  cloth of gold; and she wore golden rings with jewels upon her fingers and golden
+  bracelets upon her arms and a golden collar around her shoulders; wherefore,
+  when she came into the room she shone with an extraordinary splendor, as if
+  she were a marvellous statue made all of pure gold--only that her face was very
+  soft and beautiful, and her eyes shone exceedingly bright, and her lips, which
+  were as red as coral, smiled, and her countenance moved and changed with all
+  the wiles of fascination that she could cause it to assume. </p>
+<p> When Sir Launcelot beheld her come thus gloriously into his room he rose and
+  greeted her with a very profound salutation, for he was astonished beyond measure
+  at beholding that shining vision. Then Queen Morgana gave him her hand, and
+  he kneeled, and took her jewelled fingers in his and set her hand to his lips.
+  "Welcome, Sir Launcelot!" quoth she; "welcome to this place! For it is indeed
+  a great honor to have here so noble and famous a knight as you!" </p>
+<p> "Ha, Lady," said Sir Launcelot, "you are gracious to me beyond measure! But
+  I pray you tell me how I came to this place and by what means? For when I fell
+  asleep yesterday at noon I lay beneath an apple-tree upon a hillside; and when
+  I awoke--lo! I found myself in this fair chamber." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Queen Morgana seeks to beguile Sir Launcelot.</div>
+<p> To this Queen Morgana le Fay made smiling reply as follows: "Sir, I am Queen
+  Morgana le Fay, of whom you may have heard tell, for I am the sister of King
+  Arthur, whose particular knight you are. Yesterday, at noon, riding with certain
+  other queens and a small court of knights, esquires, and demoiselles, we went
+  by where you lay sleeping. Finding you lying so, alone and without any companion,
+  I was able, by certain arts which I possess, to lay a gentle enchantment upon
+  you so that the sleep wherein you lay should remain unbroken for three or four
+  hours. So we brought you to this place in hopes that you would stay with us
+  for two or three days or more, and give us the pleasure of your company. For
+  your fame, which is very great, hath reached even as far as this place, wherefore
+  we have made a gentle prisoner of you for this time being." </p>
+<p> "Lady," said Sir Launcelot, "such constraint as that would be very pleasing
+  to me at another time. But when I fell asleep I was with my cousin, Sir Lionel,
+  and I know not what hath become of him, and haply he will not know what hath
+  become of me should he seek me. Now I pray you let me go forth and find my cousin,
+  and when I have done so I will return to you again at this place with an easy
+  spirit." </p>
+<p> "Well, Messire," said Queen Morgana, "it shall be as you desire, only I require
+  of you some pledge of your return." (Herewith she drew from her finger a golden
+  ring set very richly with several jewels.) "Now take this ring," she said, "and
+  give me that ring which I see upon your finger, and when you shall return hither
+  each shall have his ring again from the other." </p>
+<p> "Lady," said Sir Launcelot, "that may not be. For this ring was placed upon
+  my finger with such a pledge that it may never leave where it is whilst my soul
+  abideth in my body. Ask of me any other pledge and you shall have it; but I
+  cannot give this ring to you." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Queen Morgana hath anger for Sir Launcelot.</div>
+<p> Upon this Queen Morgana's cheeks grew very red, and her eyes shone like sparks
+  of fire. "Ha, Sir Knight," she said, "I do not think you are very courteous
+  to refuse a lady and a queen so small a pledge as that. I am much affronted
+  with you that you should have done so. Wherefore, I now demand of you, as the
+  sister of King Arthur whom you serve, that you give me that ring." </p>
+<p> "Lady," said Sir Launcelot, "I may not do that, though it grieveth me much
+  to refuse you." </p>
+<p> Then Queen Morgana looked at Sir Launcelot awhile with a very angry countenance,
+  but she perceived that she was not to have her will with him, wherefore she
+  presently turned very quickly and went out of the room, leaving Sir Launcelot
+  much perturbed in spirit. For he knew how great were the arts of Queen Morgana
+  le Fay, and he could not tell what harm she might seek to work upon him by those
+  arts. But he ever bore in mind how that the ring which he wore was sovereign
+  against such malignant arts as she practised, wherefore he took what comfort
+  he could from that circumstance. </p>
+<p> Nevertheless, he abode in that chamber in great uncertainty for all that day,
+  and when night came he was afraid to let himself slumber, lest they of the castle
+  should come whilst he slept and work him some secret ill; wherefore he remained
+  awake whilst all the rest of the castle slept. Now at the middle of the night,
+  and about the time of the first cock-crow, he was aware of a sound without and
+  a light that fell through the crack of the door. Then, in a little, the door
+  was opened and there entered that young damsel who had served him with his supper
+  the night before, and she bare a lighted taper in her hand. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">The damsel cometh again to Sir Launcelot.</div>
+<p> When Sir Launcelot perceived that damsel he said: "Maiden, do you come hither
+  with good intent or with evil intent?" "Sir," she said, "I come with good intent,
+  for I take great pity to see you in such a sorry case as this. I am a King's
+  daughter in attendance upon Queen Morgana le Fay, but she is so powerful an
+  enchantress that, in good sooth, I am in great fear lest she some time do me
+  an ill-hap. So to-morrow I leave her service and return unto my father's castle.
+  Meantime, I am of a mind to help you in your adversity. For Queen Morgana trusts
+  me, and I have knowledge of this castle and I have all the keys thereof, wherefore
+  I can set you free. And I will set you free if you will, upon your part, serve
+  me in a way that you can very easily do." </p>
+<p> "Well," said Sir Launcelot, "provided I may serve you in a way fitting my
+  knightly honor, I shall be glad to do so under any condition. Now I pray you
+  tell me what it is you would have of me." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">The damsel speaketh to Sir Launcelot of her father, King
+  Bagdemagus.</div>
+<p> "Sir," said the damsel, "my father hath made a tournament betwixt him and
+  the King of North Wales upon Tuesday next, and that is just a fortnight from
+  this day. Now, already my father hath lost one such a tournament, for he hath
+  no very great array of knights upon his side, and the King of North Wales hath
+  three knights of King Arthur's Round Table to aid his party. Because of the
+  great help of these knights of the Round Table, the King of North Wales won
+  the last tournament and my father lost it, and now he feareth to lose the tournament
+  that is to be. Now if you will enter upon my father's side upon the day of the
+  tournament, I doubt not that he shall win that tournament; for all men say that
+  you are the greatest knight in the world at this time. So if you will promise
+  to help my father and will seal that promise with your knightly word, then will
+  I set you free of this castle of enchantment." </p>
+<p> "Fair maiden," said Sir Launcelot, "tell me your name and your father's name,
+  for I cannot give you my promise until I know who ye be." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot promises to aid King Bagdemagus.</div>
+<p> "Sir," said the demoiselle, "I am called Elouise the Fair, and my father is
+  King Bagdemagus." "Ha!" quoth Sir Launcelot, "I know your father, and I know
+  that he is a good king and a very worthy knight besides. If you did me no service
+  whatsoever, I would, at your simple asking, were I free of this place, lend
+  him such aid as it is in my power to give." </p>
+<p> At this the damsel took great joy and gave Sir Launcelot thanks beyond measure.
+  So they spoke together as to how that matter might be brought about so that
+  Sir Launcelot should be brought to talk to King Bagdemagus. And the damsel Elouise
+  said: "Let it be this way, Sir Launcelot. Imprimis--thou art to know that somewhat
+  of a long distance to the westward of that place where thou didst fall asleep
+  yesterday, there standeth a very large, fair abbey known as the Abbey of Saint
+  James the Lesser. This abbey is surrounded by an exceedingly noble estate that
+  lieth all around about it so that no man that haps in that part of the country
+  can miss it if he make inquiry for it. Now I will go and take lodging at that
+  abbey a little while after I leave this place. So when it suits thee to do so,
+  come thou thither and thou wilt find me there and I will bring thee to my father."
+</p>
+<p> "Very well," said Sir Launcelot, "let it be that way. I will come to that
+  place in good time for the tournament. Meantime, I prithee, rest in the assurance
+  that I shall never forgot thy kindness to me this day, nor thy gracious behavior
+  and speech unto me. Wherefore I shall deem it not a duty but a pleasure to serve
+  thee." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">The damsel bringeth Sir Launcelot to freedom.</div>
+<p> So, having arranged all these matters, the damsel Elouise opened the door
+  of that room and led Sir Launcelot out thence; and she led him through various
+  passages and down several long flights of steps, and so brought him at last
+  unto a certain chamber, where was his armor. Then the damsel helped Sir Launcelot
+  to encase him in his armor, so that in a little while he was altogether armed
+  as he had been when he fell asleep under that apple-tree. Thereafter the damsel
+  brought him out past the court-yard and unto the stable where was Sir Launcelot's
+  horse, and the horse knew him when he came. So he saddled the horse by the light
+  of a half-moon which sailed like a boat high up in the sky through the silver,
+  floating clouds, and therewith he was ready to depart. Then the damsel opened
+  the gate and he rode out into the night, which was now drawing near the dawning
+  of the day. </p>
+<p> Thus Elouise the Fair aided Sir Launcelot to escape from that castle of enchantment,
+  where else great ill might have befallen him. </p>
+<br />
+<div align="center"> *&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;*&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;*&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;*&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;*
+</div>
+<br />
+<p> And now it shall be told how Sir Launcelot did battle with Sir Turquine and
+  of what happened thereat. </p>
+<div align="center"> <a href="images/tail.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/tail.gif" border="0" alt="Tail Piece" /></a>
+</div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div class="chaphead" id="la4"><a href="images/019.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/019.gif" alt="Chapter Header" border="0" /></a>
+  <br />
+  Chapter Fourth</div>
+<br />
+<div class="chapdes">How Sir Launcelot Sought Sir Lionel and How a Young Damsel
+  Brought Him to the Greatest Battle that Ever He Had in All His Life</div>
+.
+<p> So Sir Launcelot rode through the forest, and whilst he rode the day began
+  to break. About sunrise he came out into an open clearing where certain charcoal-burners
+  were plying their trade. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot breaks his fast in the forest.</div>
+<p> To these rude fellows he appeared out of the dark forest like some bright
+  and shining vision; and they made him welcome and offered him to eat of their
+  food, and he dismounted and sat down with them and brake his fast with them.
+  And when he had satisfied his hunger, he gave them grammercy for their entertainment,
+  and took horse and rode away. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot cometh again to the place of the apple-tree.</div>
+<p> He made forward until about the middle of the morning, what time he came suddenly
+  upon that place where, two days before, he had fallen asleep beneath the blooming
+  apple-tree. Here he drew rein and looked about him for a considerable while;
+  for he thought that haply he might find some trace of Sir Lionel thereabouts.
+  But there was no trace of him, and Sir Launcelot wist not what had become of
+  him. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot perceives a damsel upon a palfrey.</div>
+<p> Now whilst Sir Launcelot was still there, not knowing what to do to find Sir
+  Lionel, there passed that way a damsel riding upon a white palfrey. Unto her
+  Sir Launcelot made salutation, and she made salutation to him and asked him
+  what cheer. "Maiden," said Sir Launcelot, "the cheer that I have is not very
+  good, seeing that I have lost my companion-at-arms and know not where he is."
+  Then he said: "Did you haply meet anywhere with a knight with the figure of
+  a red gryphon upon his shield?" whereunto the damsel answered: "Nay, I saw none
+  such." Then Sir Launcelot said: "Tell me, fair damsel, dost thou know of any
+  adventure hereabouts that I may undertake? For, as thou seest, I am errant and
+  in search of such." </p>
+<p> Upon this the damsel fell a-laughing: "Yea, Sir Knight," said she, "I know
+  of an adventure not far away, but it is an adventure that no knight yet that
+  ever I heard tell of hath accomplished. I can take thee to that adventure if
+  thou hast a desire to pursue it." </p>
+<p> "Why should I not pursue it," said Sir Launcelot, "seeing that I am here for
+  that very cause--to pursue adventure?" </p>
+<p> "Well," said the damsel, "then come with me, Sir Knight, I will take thee
+  to an adventure that shall satisfy thee." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">The damsel leads Sir Launcelot to an adventure.</div>
+<p> So Sir Launcelot and that damsel rode away from that place together; he upon
+  his great war-horse and she upon her ambling palfrey beside him. And the sun
+  shone down upon them, very pleasant and warm, and all who passed them turned
+  to look after them; for the maiden was very fair and slender, and Sir Launcelot
+  was of so noble and stately a mien that few could behold him even from a distance
+  without looking twice or three times upon him. And as they travelled in that
+  way together they fell into converse, and the damsel said to Sir Launcelot:
+  "Sir, thou appearest to be a very good knight, and of such a sort as may well
+  undertake any adventure with great hope of success. Now I prithee to tell me
+  thy name and what knight thou art." </p>
+<p> "Fair maiden," said Sir Launcelot, "as for telling you my name, that I will
+  gladly do. I am called Sir Launcelot of the Lake, and I am a knight of King
+  Arthur's court and of his Round Table." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot and the maiden discourse together.</div>
+<p> At this the damsel was very greatly astonished and filled with admiration.
+  "Hah!" quoth she, "it is a great pleasure to me to fall in with you, Sir Launcelot,
+  for all the world now bespeaketh your fame. Little did I ever think to behold
+  your person, much less speak with you, and ride in this way with you. Now I
+  will tell you what this adventure is on which we are set; it is this--there
+  is, some small distance from this, a castle of a knight hight Sir Turquine,
+  who hath in his prison a great many knights of King Arthur's court, and several
+  knights of his Round Table. These knights he keepeth there in great dole and
+  misery, for it is said that their groans may be heard by the passers along the
+  high-road below the castle. This Sir Turquine is held to be the greatest knight
+  in the world (unless it be thou) for he hath never yet been overcome in battle,
+  whether a-horseback or a-foot. But, indeed, I think it to be altogether likely
+  that thou wilt overcome him." </p>
+<p> "Fair damsel," quoth Sir Launcelot, "I too have hope that I shall hold mine
+  own with him, when I meet him, and to that I shall do my best endeavor. Yet
+  this and all other matters are entirely in the hands of God." </p>
+<p> Then the damsel said, "If you should overcome this Sir Turquine, I know of
+  still another adventure which, if you do not undertake it, I know of no one
+  else who may undertake to bring it to a successful issue." </p>
+<p> Quoth Sir Launcelot, "I am glad to hear of that or of any other adventure,
+  for I take great joy in such adventuring. Now, tell me, what is this other adventure?"
+</p>
+<div class="sidenote">The maiden tells Sir Launcelot of the savage forest knight.</div>
+<p> "Sir," said the damsel, "a long distance to the west of this there is a knight
+  who hath a castle in the woods and he is the evilest disposed knight that ever
+  I heard tell of. For he lurks continually in the outskirts of the woods, whence
+  he rushes forth at times upon those who pass by. Especially he is an enemy to
+  all ladies of that country, for he hath taken many of them prisoners to his
+  castle and hath held them in the dungeon thereof for ransom; and sometimes he
+  hath held them for a long while. Now I am fain that thou undertake that adventure
+  for my sake." </p>
+<p> "Well," said Sir Launcelot, "I believe it would be a good thing for any knight
+  to do to rid the world of such an evil-disposed knight as that, so if I have
+  the good fortune to overcome this Sir Turquine, I give my knightly word that
+  I will undertake this adventure for thy sake, if so be thou wilt go with me
+  for to show me the way to his castle." </p>
+<p> "That I will do with all gladness," said the damsel, "for it is great pride
+  for any lady to ride with you upon such an adventure." </p>
+<p> Thus they talked, and all was arranged betwixt them. And thus they rode very
+  pleasantly through that valley for the distance of two leagues or a little more,
+  until they came to that place where the road crossed the smooth stream of water
+  afore told of; and there was the castle of Sir Turquine as afore told of; and
+  there was the thorn-bush and the basin hanging upon the thorn-bush as afore
+  told of. Then the maiden said: "Sir Launcelot, beat upon that basin and so thou
+  shalt summon Sir Turquine to battle with thee." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot smites upon the basin.</div>
+<p> So Sir Launcelot rode to that basin where it hung and he smote upon it very
+  violently with the butt of his spear. And he smote upon that basin again and
+  again until he smote the bottom from out it; but at that time immediately no
+  one came. </p>
+<p> Then, after a while, he was ware of one who came riding toward him, and he
+  beheld that he who came riding was a knight very huge of frame, and long and
+  strong of limb. And he beheld that the knight was clad entirely in black, and
+  that the horse upon which he rode and all the furniture of the horse was black.
+  And he beheld that this knight drave before him another horse, and that across
+  the saddle of that other horse there lay an armed knight, bound hand and foot;
+  and Sir Launcelot wist that the sable knight who came riding was that Sir Turquine
+  whom he sought. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">The sable knight bringeth Sir Gaheris captive.</div>
+<p> So Sir Turquine came very rapidly along the highway toward where Sir Launcelot
+  sat, driving that other horse and the captive knight before him all the while.
+  And as they came nearer and nearer Sir Launcelot thought that he should know
+  who the wounded knight was and when they came right close, so that he could
+  see the markings of the shield of that captive knight, he wist that it was Sir
+  Gaheris, the brother of Sir Gawaine, and the nephew of King Arthur, whom Sir
+  Turquine brought thither in that wise. </p>
+<p> At this Sir Launcelot was very wroth; for he could not abide seeing a fellow-knight
+  of the Round Table treated with such disregard as that which Sir Gaheris suffered
+  at the hands of Sir Turquine; wherefore Sir Launcelot rode to meet Sir Turquine,
+  and he cried out: "Sir Knight! put that wounded man down from his horse, and
+  let him rest for a while, and we two will prove our strength, the one against
+  the other! For it is a shame for thee to treat a noble knight of the Round Table
+  with such despite as thou art treating that knight." </p>
+<a href="images/018.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images"  align="right" id="p6" src="images/018.gif" border="0" alt="Sir Launcelot doeth battle with Sir Turquine" /></a>
+<p> "Sir," said Sir Turquine, "as I treat that knight, so treat I all knights
+  of the Round Table--and so will I treat thee if thou be of the Round Table."
+</p>
+<p> "Well," said Sir Launcelot, "as for that, I am indeed of the Round Table,
+  and I have come hither for no other reason than for to do battle with thee."
+</p>
+<p> "Sir Knight," said Sir Turquine, "thou speakest very boldly; now I pray thee
+  to tell me what knight thou art and what is thy name." </p>
+<p> "Messire," said Sir Launcelot, "I have no fear to do that. I am called Sir
+  Launcelot of the Lake, and I am a knight of King Arthur's, who made me knight
+  with his own hand." </p>
+<p> "Ha!" said Sir Turquine, "that is very good news to me, for of all knights
+  in the world thou art the one I most desire to meet, for I have looked for thee
+  for a long while with intent to do battle with thee. For it was thou who didst
+  slay my brother Sir Caradus at Dolorous Gard, who was held to be the best knight
+  in all the world. Wherefore, because of this, I have the greatest despite against
+  thee of any man in the world, and it was because of that despite that I waged
+  particular battle against all the knights of King Arthur's court. And in despite
+  of thee I now hold five score and eight knights, who are thy fellows, in the
+  dismallest dungeon of my castle. Also I have to tell thee that among those knights
+  is thine own brother, Sir Ector, and thy kinsman, Sir Lionel. For I overthrew
+  Sir Ector and Sir Lionel only a day or two ago, and now they lie almost naked
+  in the lower parts of that castle yonder. I will put down this knight as thou
+  biddst me, and when I have done battle with thee I hope to tie thee on his saddle-horn
+  in his place." </p>
+<p> So Sir Turquine loosed the cords that bound Sir Gaheris and set him from off
+  the horse's back, and Sir Gaheris, who was sorely wounded and very weak, sat
+  him down upon a slab of stone near-by. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot and Sir Turquine do battle together.</div>
+<p> Then Sir Launcelot and Sir Turquine made themselves ready at all points, and
+  each took such stand as seemed to him to be best; and when each was ready for
+  the assault, each set spurs to his horse and rushed the one against the other
+  with such terrible violence that they smote together like a clap of thunder.
+</p>
+<p> So fierce was that onset that each horse fell back upon the ground and only
+  by great skill and address did the knight who rode him void his saddle, so as
+  to save himself from a fall. And in that meeting the horse of Sir Turquine was
+  killed outright and the back of Sir Launcelot's horse was broken and he could
+  not rise, but lay like dead upon the ground. </p>
+<p> Then each knight drew his sword and set his shield before him and they came
+  together with such wrath that it appeared as though their fierce eyes shot sparks
+  of fire through the oculariums of their helmets. So they met and struck; and
+  they struck many scores of times, and their blows were so violent that neither
+  shield nor armor could withstand the strokes they gave. For their shields were
+  cleft and many pieces of armor were hewn from their limbs, so that the ground
+  was littered with them. And each knight gave the other so many grim wounds that
+  the ground presently was all sprinkled with red where they stood. </p>
+<p> Now that time the day had waxed very hot, for it was come high noontide, so
+  presently Sir Turquine cried out: "Stay thee, Sir Launcelot, for I have a boon
+  to ask!" At this Sir Launcelot stayed his hand and said: "What is it thou hast
+  to ask, Sir Knight?" Sir Turquine said: "Messire, I am athirst--let me drink."
+  And Sir Launcelot said: "Go and drink." </p>
+<p> So Sir Turquine went to that river and entered into that water, which was
+  presently stained with red all about him. And he stooped where he stood and
+  drank his fill, and presently came forth again altogether refreshed. </p>
+<p> Therewith he took up his sword once more and rushed at Sir Launcelot and smote
+  with double strength, so that Sir Launcelot bent before him and had much ado
+  to defend himself from these blows. </p>
+<p> Then by and by Sir Launcelot waxed faint upon his part and was athirst, and
+  he cried out: "I crave of thee a boon, Sir Knight!" "What wouldst thou have?"
+  said Sir Turquine. "Sir Knight," said Sir Launcelot, "bide while I drink, for
+  I am athirst." "Nay," said Sir Turquine, "thou shalt not drink until thou quenchest
+  thy thirst in Paradise." "Ha!" cried Sir Launcelot, "thou art a foul churl and
+  no true knight. For when thou wert athirst, I let thee drink; and now that I
+  am athirst, thou deniest me to quench my thirst." </p>
+<p> Therewith he was filled with such anger that he was like one gone wode; wherefore
+  he flung aside his shield and took his sword in both hands and rushed upon Sir
+  Turquine and smote him again and again; and the blows he gave were so fierce
+  that Sir Turquine waxed somewhat bewildered and bore aback, and held his shield
+  low for faintness. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot overcometh Sir Turquine.</div>
+<p> Then when Sir Launcelot beheld that Sir Turquine was faint in that wise, he
+  rushed upon him and catched him by the beaver of his helmet and pulled him down
+  upon his knees. And Sir Launcelot rushed Sir Turquine's helmet from off his
+  head. And he lifted his sword and smote Sir Turquine's head from off his shoulders,
+  so that it rolled down upon the ground. </p>
+<p> Then for a while Sir Launcelot stood there panting for to catch his breath
+  after that sore battle, for he was nearly stifled with the heat and fury thereof.
+  Then he went down into the water, and he staggered like a drunken man as he
+  went, and the water ran all red at his coming. And Sir Launcelot stooped and
+  slaked his thirst, which was very furious and hot. </p>
+<p> Thereafter he came up out of the water again, all dripping, and he went to
+  where the damsel was and he said to her; "Damsel, lo, I have overcome Sir Turquine;
+  now I am ready to go with thee upon that other adventure, as I promised thee
+  I would." </p>
+<p> At this the damsel was astonished beyond measure, wherefore she cried: "Sir,
+  thou art sorely hurt, and in need of rest for two or three days, and maybe a
+  long time more, until thy wounds are healed." </p>
+<p> "Nay," said Sir Launcelot, "no need to wait; I will go with thee now." </p>
+<p> Then Sir Launcelot went to Sir Gaheris--for Sir Gaheris had been sitting for
+  all that while upon that slab of stone. Sir Launcelot said to Sir Gaheris: "Fair
+  Lord, be not angry if I take your horse, for I must presently go with this damsel,
+  and you see mine own horse hath broke his back." </p>
+<p> "Sir Knight," said Sir Gaheris, "this day you have saved both me and my horse,
+  wherefore it is altogether fitting that my horse or anything that is mine should
+  be yours to do with as you please. So I pray you take my horse, only tell me
+  your name and what knight you are; for I swear by my sword that I never saw
+  any knight in all the world do battle so wonderfully as you have done to-day."
+</p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot makes himself known to Sir Gaheris.</div>
+<p> "Sir," said Sir Launcelot, "I am called Sir Launcelot of the Lake, and I am
+  a knight of King Arthur's. So it is altogether fitting that I should do such
+  service unto you as this, seeing that you are the brother of that dear knight,
+  Sir Gawaine. For if I should not do this battle that I have done for your sake,
+  I should yet do it for the sake of my lord, King Arthur, who is your uncle and
+  Sir Gawaine's uncle." </p>
+<p> Now when Sir Gaheris heard who Sir Launcelot was, he made great exclamation
+  of amazement. "Ha, Sir Launcelot!" he cried, "and is it thou! Often have I heard
+  of thee and of thy prowess at arms! I have desired to meet thee more than any
+  knight in the world; but never did I think to meet thee in such a case as this."
+  Therewith Sir Gaheris arose, and went to Sir Launcelot, and Sir Launcelot came
+  to him and they met and embraced and kissed one another upon the face; and from
+  that time forth they were as brethren together. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot bids Sir Gaheris to free the castle captives.</div>
+<p> Then Sir Launcelot said to Sir Gaheris: "I pray you, Lord, for to go up unto
+  yonder castle, and bring succor to those unfortunates who lie therein. For I
+  think you will find there many fellow-knights of the Round Table. And I believe
+  that you will find therein my brother, Sir Ector, and my cousin, Sir Lionel.
+  And if you find any other of my kindred I pray you to set them free and to do
+  what you can for to comfort them and to put them at their ease. And if there
+  is any treasure in that castle, I bid you give it unto those knights who are
+  prisoners there, for to compensate them for the pains they have endured. Moreover,
+  I pray you tell Sir Ector and Sir Lionel not to follow after me, but to return
+  to court and wait for me there, for I have two adventures to undertake and I
+  must essay them alone." </p>
+<p> Then Sir Gaheris was very much astonished, and he cried out upon Sir Launcelot:
+  "Sir! Sir! Surely you will not go forth upon another adventure at this time,
+  seeing that you are so sorely wounded." </p>
+<p> But Sir Launcelot said: "Yea, I shall go now; for I do not think that my wounds
+  are so deep that I shall not be able to do my devoirs when my time cometh to
+  do them." </p>
+<p> At this Sir Gaheris was amazed beyond measure, for Sir Launcelot was very
+  sorely wounded, and his armor was much broken in that battle, wherefore Sir
+  Gaheris had never beheld a person who was so steadfast of purpose as to do battle
+  in such a case. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot departs with the damsel.</div>
+<p> So Sir Launcelot mounted Sir Gaheris' horse and rode away with that young
+  damsel, and Sir Gaheris went to the castle as Sir Launcelot had bidden him to
+  do. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Gaheris frees the castle captives.</div>
+<p> In that castle he found five score and eight prisoners in dreadful case, for
+  some who were there had been there for a long time, so that the hair of them
+  had grown down upon their shoulders, and their beards had grown down upon their
+  breasts. And some had been there but a short time, as was the case of Sir Lionel
+  and Sir Ector. But all were in a miserable sorry plight; and all of those sad
+  prisoners but two were knights of King Arthur's court, and eight of them were
+  knights of the Round Table. All these crowded around Sir Gaheris, for they saw
+  that he was wounded and they deemed that it was he had set them free, wherefore
+  they gave him thanks beyond measure. </p>
+<p> "Not so," said Sir Gaheris, "it was not I who set you free; it was Sir Launcelot
+  of the Lake. He overcame Sir Turquine in such a battle as I never before beheld.
+  For I saw that battle with mine own eyes, being at a little distance seated
+  upon a stone slab and wounded as you see. And I make my oath that I never beheld
+  so fierce and manful a combat in all of my life. But now your troubles are over
+  and done, and Sir Launcelot greets you all with words of good cheer and bids
+  me tell you to take all ease and comfort that you can in being free, and in
+  especial he bids me greet you, Sir Ector, and you, Sir Lionel, and to tell you
+  that you are to follow him no farther, but to return to court and bide there
+  until he cometh; for he goeth upon an adventure which he must undertake by himself."
+</p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Lionel and Sir Ector and Sir Kay follow after Sir Launcelot.</div>
+<p> "Not so," said Sir Lionel, "I will follow after him, and find him." And so
+  said Sir Ector likewise, that he would go and find Sir Launcelot. Then Sir Kay
+  the Seneschal said that he would ride with those two; so the three took horse
+  and rode away together to find Sir Launcelot. </p>
+<p> As for those others, they ransacked throughout the castle of Sir Turquine,
+  and they found twelve treasure-chests full of treasure, both of silver and of
+  gold, together with many precious jewels; and they found many bales of cloth
+  of silk and of cloth of gold. So, as Sir Launcelot had bid them do so, they
+  divided the treasure among themselves, setting aside a part for Sir Ector and
+  a part for Sir Lionel and a part for Sir Kay. Then, whereas before they had
+  been mournful, now they were joyful at having been made so rich with those precious
+  things. </p>
+<p> Thus happily ended that great battle with Sir Turquine which was very likely
+  the fiercest and most dolorous fight that ever Sir Launcelot had in all of his
+  life. For, unless it was Sir Tristram, he never found any other knight so big
+  as Sir Turquine except Sir Galahad, who was his own son. </p>
+<p> And now it shall be told how Sir Launcelot fared upon that adventure which
+  he had promised the young damsel to undertake. </p>
+<div align="center"> <a href="images/tail.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/tail.gif" border="0" alt="Tail Piece" /></a>
+</div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div class="chaphead" id="la5"><a href="images/015.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/015.gif" alt="Chapter Header" border="0" /></a>
+  <br />
+  Chapter Fifth</div>
+<br />
+<div class="chapdes">How Sir Launcelot Went Upon an Adventure with the Damsel
+  Croisette as Companion, and How He Overcame Sir Peris of the Forest Sauvage.</div>
+<p> Now after Sir Launcelot had finished that battle with Sir Turquine as aforetold,
+  and when he had borrowed the horse of Sir Gaheris, he rode away from that place
+  of combat with the young damsel, with intent to carry out the other adventure
+  which he had promised her to undertake. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">How Sir Launcelot's wounds pain him.</div>
+<p> But though he rode with her, yet, for a while, he said very little to her,
+  for his wounds ached him sorely and he was in a great deal of pain. So, because
+  of this, he had small mind to talk, but only to endure what he had to endure
+  with as much patience as he might command. And the damsel upon her part was
+  somewhat aware of what Sir Launcelot was suffering and she was right sorry for
+  him, wherefore she did not trouble him with idle discourse at that moment, but
+  waited for a while before she spake. </p>
+<p> Then by and by she said to him: "Messire, I would that thou wouldst rest for
+  some days, and take thine ease, and have thy wounds searched and dressed, and
+  have thy armor looked to and redded. Now there is a castle at some distance
+  from this, and it is my brother's castle, and thither we may go in a little
+  pass. There thou mayst rest for this night and take thine ease. For I know that
+  my brother will be wonderfully glad to see thee because thou art so famous."
+</p>
+<p> Then Sir Launcelot turned his eyes upon the damsel: "Fair maiden," quoth he,
+  "I make confession that I do in sooth ache a very great deal, and that I am
+  somewhat aweary with the battle I have endured this day. Wherefore I am very
+  well content to follow thy commands in this matter. But I prithee, damsel, tell
+  me what is thy name, for I know not yet how thou art called." </p>
+<p> "Sir," she said, "I am called Croisette of the Dale, and my brother is called
+  Sir Hilaire of the Dale, and it is to his castle that I am about to take thee
+  to rest for this time." </p>
+<p> Then Sir Launcelot said: "I go with thee, damsel, wherever it is thy will
+  to take me." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Of how Sir Launcelot and the damsel ride together.</div>
+<p> So they two rode through that valley at a slow pace and very easily. And toward
+  the waning of the afternoon they left the valley by a narrow side way, and so
+  in a little while came into a shallow dale, very fertile and smiling, but of
+  no great size. For the more part that dale was all spread over with fields and
+  meadow-lands, with here and there a plantation of trees in full blossom and
+  here and there a farm croft. A winding river flowed down through the midst of
+  this valley, very quiet and smooth, and brimming its grassy banks, where were
+  alder and sedge and long rows of pollard willows overreaching the water. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot and Croisette come to a fair valley.</div>
+<p> At the farther end of the valley was a castle of very comely of appearance,
+  being built part of stone and part of bright red bricks; and the castle had
+  many windows of glass and tall chimneys, some a-smoke. About the castle and
+  nigh to it was a little village of thatched cottages, with many trees in blossom
+  and some without blossom shading the gables of the small houses that took shelter
+  beneath them. </p>
+<p> Now when Sir Launcelot and Croisette came into that little valley it was at
+  the declining of the day and the sky was all alight with the slanting sun, and
+  the swallows were flying above the smooth shining surface of the river in such
+  multitudes that it was wonderful to behold them. And the lowing herds were winding
+  slowly along by the river in their homeward way, and all was so peaceful and
+  quiet that Sir Launcelot drew rein for pure pleasure, and sat for some while
+  looking down upon that fair, happy dale. Then by and by he said: "Croisette,
+  meseems I have never beheld so sweet and fair a country as this, nor one in
+  which it would be so pleasant to live." </p>
+<p> Upon this Croisette was very much pleased, and she smiled upon Sir Launcelot.
+  "Think you so, Sir Launcelot?" quoth she. "Well, in sooth, I am very glad that
+  this valley pleasures you; for I love it beyond any other place in all the world.
+  For here was I born and here was I raised in that castle yonder. For that is
+  my brother's castle and it was my father's castle before his time; wherefore
+  meseems that no place in all the world can ever be so dear to my heart as this
+  dale." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Croisette bringeth Sir Launcelot to her brother's house.</div>
+<p> Thereupon they went forward up that little valley, and along by the smoothly
+  flowing river, and the farther they went the more Sir Launcelot took pleasure
+  in all that he beheld. Thus they came through the pretty village where the folk
+  stood and watched with great admiration how that noble knight rode that way;
+  and so they came to the castle and rode into the court-yard thereof. Then presently
+  there came the lord of that castle, who was Sir Hilaire of the Dale. And Sir
+  Hilaire greeted Sir Launcelot, saying: "Welcome, Sir Knight. This is great honor
+  you do me to come into this quiet dale with my sister, for we do not often have
+  with us travellers of such quality as you." </p>
+<p> "Brother," said Croisette, "you may well say that it is an honor to have this
+  knight with us, for this is none other knight than the great Sir Launcelot of
+  the Lake. This day I beheld him overcome Sir Turquine in fair and honorable
+  battle. So he doth indeed do great honor for to visit us in this wise." </p>
+<p> Then Sir Hilaire looked at Sir Launcelot very steadily, and he said: "Sir
+  Launcelot, your fame is so great that it hath reached even unto this peaceful
+  outland place; wherefore it shall not soon be forgotten here how you came hither.
+  Now, I pray you, come in and refresh yourself, for I see that you are wounded
+  and I doubt not you are weary." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot is made at ease.</div>
+<p> Upon this several attendants came, and they took Sir Launcelot and led him
+  to a pleasant chamber. There they unarmed him and gave him a bath in tepid water,
+  and there came a leech and searched his wounds and dressed them. Then those
+  in attendance upon him gave him a soft robe of cloth of velvet, and when Sir
+  Launcelot had put it on he felt much at ease, and in great comfort of body.
+</p>
+<a href="images/020.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images"  src="images/020.gif" align="left" id="p7" border="0" alt=" sits with Sir Hilaire and Croisette" /></a>
+<p> By and by, when evening had fallen, a very good, excellent feast was spread
+  in the hall of the castle, and there sat down thereto Sir Launcelot and Sir
+  Hilaire and the damsel Croisette. As they ate they discoursed of various things,
+  and Sir Launcelot told many things concerning his adventures, so that all who
+  were there were very quiet, listening to what he said. For it was as though
+  he were a visitor come to them from some other world, very strange and distant,
+  of which they had no knowledge, wherefore they all listened so as not to lose
+  a single word of what he told them. So that evening passed very pleasantly,
+  and Sir Launcelot went to his bed with great content of spirit. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">How Sir Launcelot abides at the castle of Sir Hilaire.</div>
+<p> So Sir Launcelot abided for several days in that place until his wounds were
+  healed. Then one morning, after they had all broken their fast, he made request
+  that he and the damsel might be allowed to depart upon that adventure which
+  he had promised her to undertake, and unto this Sir Hilaire gave his consent.
+</p>
+<p> Now, during this while, Sir Launcelot's armor had been so pieced and mended
+  by the armor-smiths of that castle that when he donned it it was, in a measure,
+  as sound as it had ever been, and of that Sir Launcelot was very glad. So having
+  made ready in all ways he and Croisette took leave of that place, and all they
+  who were there bade them adieu and gave Sir Launcelot God-speed upon that adventure.
+</p>
+<p> Now some while after they left that dale they rode through a very ancient
+  forest, where the sod was exceedingly soft underfoot and silent to the tread
+  of the horses, and where it was very full of bursting foliage overhead. And
+  as they rode at an easy pace through that woodland place they talked of many
+  things in a very pleasant and merry discourse. </p>
+<p> Quoth the damsel unto Sir Launcelot: "Messire, I take very great wonder that
+  thou hast not some special lady for to serve in all ways as a knight should
+  serve a lady." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot and Croisette discourse together.</div>
+<p> "Ha, damsel," said Sir Launcelot, "I do serve a lady in that manner and she
+  is peerless above all other ladies; for that lady is the Lady Guinevere, who
+  is King Arthur's queen. Yet though I am her servant I serve her from a very
+  great distance. For in serving her I am like one who standeth upon the earth,
+  yet looketh upward ever toward the bright and morning star. For though such
+  an one may delight in that star from a distance, yet may he never hope to reach
+  an altitude whereon that star standeth." </p>
+<p> "Heyday!" quoth Croisette, "for that matter, there are other ways of serving
+  a lady than that wise. Were I a knight meseems I would rather serve a lady nearer
+  at hand than at so great distance as that of which thou speakest. For in most
+  cases a knight would rather serve a lady who may smile upon him nigh at hand,
+  and not stand so far off from him as a star in the sky." But to this Sir Launcelot
+  made no reply but only smiled. Then in a little Croisette said: "Dost thou never
+  think of a lady in that wise, Sir Launcelot?" </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot speaketh of the Lady Guinevere.</div>
+<p> "Nay," said Sir Launcelot, "and neither do I desire so to serve any lady.
+  For it is thus with me, Croisette--for all that while of my life until I was
+  eighteen years of age I lived in a very wonderful land beneath a magical lake,
+  of which I may not tell thee. Then I came out of that lake and into this world
+  and King Arthur made me a knight. Now because I was so long absent from this
+  world of mankind and never saw aught of it until I was grown into a man, meseems
+  I love that world so greatly that I cannot tell thee how beautiful and wonderful
+  it seems to me. For it is so wonderful and so beautiful that methinks my soul
+  can never drink its fill of the pleasures thereof. Yea; methinks I love every
+  blade of grass upon the fields, and every leaf upon every tree: and that I love
+  everything that creepeth or that flyeth, so that when I am abroad under the
+  sky and behold those things about me I am whiles like to weep for very joy of
+  them. Wherefore it is, Croisette, that I would rather be a knight-errant in
+  this world which I love so greatly than to be a king seated upon a throne with
+  a golden crown upon my head and all men kneeling unto me. Yea; meseems that
+  because of my joy in these things I have no room in my heart for such a love
+  of lady as thou speakest of, but only for the love of knight-errantry, and a
+  great wish for to make this world in which I now live the better and the happier
+  for my dwelling in it. Thus it is, Croisette, that I have no lady for to serve
+  in the manner thou speakest of. Nor will I ever have such, saving only the Lady
+  Guinevere, the thought of whom standeth above me like that bright star afore
+  spoken of." </p>
+<p> "Ha," quoth Croisette, "then am I sad for the sake of some lady, I know not
+  who. For if thou wert of another mind thou mightest make some lady very glad
+  to have so great a knight as thou art to serve her." Upon this Sir Launcelot
+  laughed with a very cheerful spirit, for he and the damsel were grown to be
+  exceedingly good friends, as you may suppose from such discourse as this. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot perceives the Castle of Sir Peris.</div>
+<p> So they wended their way in this fashion until somewhat after the prime of
+  day, and by that time they had come out of that forest and into a very rugged
+  country. For this place into which they were now come was a sort of rocky valley,
+  rough and bare and in no wise beautiful. When they had entered into it they
+  perceived, a great way off, a castle built up upon the rocks. And that castle
+  was built very high, so that the roofs and the chimneys thereof stood wonderfully
+  sharp and clear against the sky; yet the castle was so distant that it looked
+  like a toy which you might easily take into your hand and hold betwixt your
+  fingers. </p>
+<p> Then Croisette said to Sir Launcelot: "Yonder is the castle of that evil-minded
+  knight of whom I spake to thee yesterday, and his name is Sir Peris of the Forest
+  Sauvage. Below that castle, where the road leads into that woodland, there doth
+  he lurk to seize upon wayfarers who come thitherward. And indeed he is a very
+  catiff knight, for, though he is strong and powerful, he doth not often attack
+  other knights, but only ladies and demoiselles who come hither. For these he
+  may take captive without danger to himself. For I believe that though he is
+  so big of frame yet is he a coward in his heart." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot advises Croisette what to do.</div>
+<p> Then Sir Launcelot sat for a while and regarded that castle, and fell into
+  thought; and he said, "Damsel, if so be this knight is such a coward as thou
+  sayest, meseems that if I travel with thee I shall have some ado to come upon
+  him; because, if he sees me with thee, he may keep himself hidden in the thicket
+  of the forest from my sight. Now I will have it this way; do thou ride along
+  the highway in plain sight of the castle, and I will keep within the woodland
+  skirts, where I may have thee in sight and still be hidden from the sight of
+  others. Then if this knight assail thee, as I think it likely he may do, I will
+  come out and do battle with him ere he escapes." </p>
+<p> So it was arranged as Sir Launcelot said and they rode in that wise: Croisette
+  rode along the highway, and Sir Launcelot rode under the trees in the outskirts
+  of the forest, where he was hidden from the eyes of anyone who might be looking
+  that way. So they went on for a long pass until they came pretty nigh to where
+  the castle was. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Peris attacks Croisette.</div>
+<p> Then, as they came to a certain part of the road that dipped down toward a
+  small valley, they were suddenly aware of a great noise, and immediately there
+  issued out from the forest a knight, large and strong of frame, and followed
+  close behind by a squire dressed altogether in scarlet from head to foot. This
+  knight bore down with great speed upon where Croisette was, and the esquire
+  followed close behind him. When these two had come near to Croisette, the esquire
+  leaped from off his horse and caught her palfrey by the bridle, and the knight
+  came close to her and catched her as though to drag her off from her horse.
+</p>
+<p> With that Croisette shrieked very loud, and immediately Sir Launcelot broke
+  out from the woods and rode down upon where all this was toward with a noise
+  like to thunder. As he came he cried aloud in a great and terrible voice: "Sir
+  Knight, let go that lady, and turn thou to me and defend thyself!" </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot overthrows Sir Peris.</div>
+<p> Then Sir Peris of the Forest Sauvage looked this way and that with intent
+  to escape, but he was aware that he could not escape from Sir Launcelot, wherefore
+  he took his shield in hand and drew his sword and put himself into a position
+  of defence; for, whereas he could not escape, he was, perforce, minded to do
+  battle. Then Sir Launcelot threw aside his spear, and he set his shield before
+  him and he took his sword in his hand, and he drave his horse against Sir Peris.
+  And when he had come nigh to Sir Peris he raised himself in his stirrups and
+  struck him such a buffet that I believe nothing in the world could withstand
+  its force. For though Sir Peris raised his shield against that blow, yet the
+  sword of Sir Launcelot smote through the shield and it smote down the arm that
+  held the shield, and it smote with such a terrible force upon the helm of Sir
+  Peris that Sir Peris fell down from his horse and lay in a swoon without any
+  motion at all. </p>
+<p> Then Sir Launcelot leaped down from his horse and rushed off the helm of Sir
+  Peris, and lifted his sword with intent to strike off his head. </p>
+<p> Upon that the senses of Sir Peris came somewhat back to him, and he set his
+  palms together and he cried out, though in a very weak voice: "Spare me, Sir
+  Knight! I yield myself to thee!" </p>
+<p> "Why should I spare thee?" said Sir Launcelot. </p>
+<p> "Sir," said Sir Peris, "I beseech thee, by thy knighthood, to spare me." </p>
+<p> "Well," said Sir Launcelot, "since thou hast besought me upon my knighthood
+  I cannot do else than spare thee. But if I do spare thee, thou shalt have to
+  endure such shame that any true knight in thy stead would rather die than be
+  spared in such a manner." </p>
+<p> "Sir Knight," said Sir Peris, "I am content with anything thou mayst do, so
+  be that thou wilt spare my life." </p>
+<p> Upon this Sir Launcelot bade Sir Peris rise. And he took the halter of Sir
+  Peris's horse, and he bound Sir Peris's arms behind his back, and when he had
+  done this he drove him up to his castle at the point of his lance. And when
+  they came to the castle he bade Sir Peris have open the castle; and Sir Peris
+  did so; and thereupon Sir Launcelot and Sir Peris entered the castle and the
+  damsel and the squire followed after them. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot liberates the captive ladies.</div>
+<p> In that castle were fourteen ladies of high degree held captive for ransom;
+  and some of these had been there for a considerable time, to their great discomfort.
+  All these were filled with joy when they were aware that Sir Launcelot had set
+  them free. So they came to Sir Launcelot and paid their court to him and gave
+  him great thanks beyond measure. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot gives the castle treasure to the captive ladies.</div>
+<p> Sir Launcelot and Croisette abode in that castle all that night, and when
+  the next morning had come Sir Launcelot made search all over that castle, and
+  he found a considerable treasure of silver and gold, which had been gathered
+  there by the ransom of the ladies and the damsels of degree whom Sir Peris had
+  made prisoner aforetime. All this treasure Sir Launcelot divided among those
+  ladies who were prisoners, and a share of the treasure he gave to the damsel
+  Croisette, because that they two were such good friends and because Croisette
+  had brought him thither to that adventure, and thereof Croisette was very glad.
+  But Sir Launcelot kept none of that treasure for himself. </p>
+<p> Then Croisette said: "How is this, Sir Launcelot? You have not kept any of
+  this treasure for yourself, yet you won it by your own force of arms, wherefore
+  it is altogether yours to keep if you will to do so." </p>
+<p> "Croisette," said Sir Launcelot, "I do not care for such things as this treasure;
+  for when I lived within that lake of which I have spoken to thee, such things
+  as this treasure were there as cheap as pebbles which you may gather up at any
+  river-bed, wherefore it has come to pass that such things have no value to me."
+</p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot makes Sir Peris a dishonored captive.</div>
+<p> Now, after all this had been settled, Sir Launcelot had Sir Peris of the Forest
+  Sauvage haled before him, and Sir Launcelot said: "Catiff Knight, now is it
+  time for thy shame to come upon thee." Therewith he had Sir Peris stripped of
+  all armor and raiment, even to his jerkin and his hose, and he had his arms
+  tied behind his back, and he had a halter set about his neck; and Sir Launcelot
+  tied the halter that was about the neck of Sir Peris to the horn of the saddle
+  of his own horse, so that when he rode away with Croisette Sir Peris must needs
+  follow behind him at whatever gait the horse of Sir Launcelot might take. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Hilaire sendeth Sir Peris to King Arthur.</div>
+<p> So Sir Launcelot and Croisette rode back to the manor of Sir Hilaire of the
+  Dale with Sir Peris running behind them, and when they had come there Sir Launcelot
+  delivered Sir Peris unto Sir Hilaire, and Sir Hilaire had Sir Peris bound upon
+  a horse's back with his feet underneath the belly of the horse; and sent him
+  to Camelot for King Arthur to deal with him as might seem to the King to be
+  fit. </p>
+<p> But Sir Launcelot remained with Sir Hilaire of the Dale all the next day and
+  he was very well content to be in that pleasant place. And upon the day after
+  that, which was Sunday, he set forth at about the prime of the day to go to
+  that abbey of monks where he had appointed to meet the damsel Elouise the Fair,
+  as aforetold. </p>
+<p> And now you shall hear how Sir Launcelot behaved at the tournament of King
+  Bagdemagus, if it please you to read that which herewith immediately followeth.
+</p>
+<div align="center"> <a href="images/tail.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/tail.gif" border="0" alt="Tail Piece" /></a>
+</div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div class="chaphead" id="la6"><a href="images/015.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/015.gif" alt="Chapter Header" border="0" /></a>
+  <br />
+  Chapter Sixth</div>
+<br />
+<div class="chapdes">How Sir Launcelot Took Part in the Tournament Between King
+  Bagdemagus and the King of North Wales, and How He Won that Battle for King
+  Bagdemagus.</div>
+<div class="sidenote">How Sir Launcelot rode to find Elouise the Fair.</div>
+<p> Sir Launcelot rode by many highways and many byways at a very slow pace, stopping
+  now and then when it pleased him to do so, for he took great joy in being free
+  in the open air again. For the day was warm and that time the clouds were very
+  thick, drifting in great abundance across the sky. And anon there would fall
+  a sudden shower of rain, and anon the sun would shine forth again, very warm
+  and strong, so that all the world sparkled as with incredible myriads of jewels.
+  Then the cock crowed lustily because the shower was past, and another cock answered
+  him far away, and all the world suddenly smiled, and the water trickled everywhere,
+  and the little hills clapped their hands for joy. So Sir Launcelot took great
+  pleasure in the day and he went his way at so easy a pace that it was night-time
+  ere he reached that abbey of monks where he was to meet Elouise the Fair. </p>
+<p> Now that evening Elouise was sitting in a certain apartment of the abbey overlooking
+  the court-yard, and a maiden was reading to her by the light of several waxen
+  tapers from a book of painted pictures. And the maiden read in a voice that
+  was both high and clear; meanwhile, Elouise sat very still and listened to what
+  she read. Now while Elouise the Fair sat so, there was of a sudden the sound
+  of a great horse coming on the stone pavement of the court below. Therewith
+  Elouise arose hastily and ran to the window and looked down into that court-yard.
+  Then she saw who he was that came, and that it was Sir Launcelot of the Lake.
+  For the light was not yet altogether gone from the sky, which was all shining
+  with gray, so that she could see who it was who came there. </p>
+<p> Then Elouise gave great exclamation of joy, and clapped her hands. And she
+  ran down to the court where Sir Launcelot was, and several of her maidens went
+  with her. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Elouise the Fair gives welcome to Sir Launcelot.</div>
+<p> When she had come to the court she gave great welcome to Sir Launcelot, and
+  she summoned many attendants and she bade them look to Sir Launcelot. So some
+  of them aided Sir Launcelot to dismount and some took his horse, and some brought
+  him up to a chamber that had been set apart for him, and there unarmed and served
+  him, and set him at his ease. </p>
+<p> Then Elouise sent to him a soft robe of purple cloth of velvet, lined with
+  fur, and Sir Launcelot put it upon him and took great comfort in it. </p>
+<a href="images/021.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="p8" align="right" src="images/021.gif" border="0" alt="Sir Launcelot and Elouise the Fair" /></a>
+<p> After that Sir Launcelot descended to where Elouise was, and he found that
+  a fair supper had been set for his refreshment. So he sat and ate, and Elouise
+  the Fair herself served him. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Elouise sends for King Bagdemagus.</div>
+<p> Meanwhile she had sent for her father, King Bagdemagus, who was at that time
+  no great distance away, and a little after Sir Launcelot had finished his supper
+  King Bagdemagus came to that place, much wondering why Elouise had sent for
+  him. </p>
+<p> When King Bagdemagus came, Elouise took him by the hand and led him to Sir
+  Launcelot, and she said: "Sire, here is a knight who, for my sake, is come to
+  help you in this tournament upon Tuesday." </p>
+<p> Now King Bagdemagus had never before seen Sir Launcelot, so he knew not who
+  that knight was. Wherefore he said to him: "Messire, I am much beholden to you
+  for coming to my aid in this battle. Now I pray you that you tell me your name
+  and what knight you are." </p>
+<p> "Lord," said Sir Launcelot, "I am hight Launcelot, and am surnamed 'He of
+  the Lake.'" </p>
+<p> Now when King Bagdemagus heard this he was astonished beyond measure, wherefore
+  he cried out, "This is wonderful, that you who are the very flower of knighthood
+  should be here, and that you should come to aid me in my battle!" </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot talks with King Bagdemagus.</div>
+<p> "Sire," said Sir Launcelot, "I know not how much aid I may be to thee until
+  that matter is proven. But of a surety I owe it to this damsel to do what I
+  am able at her request, in return for all that she hath done for me to aid me
+  in my time of great peril. So it is a very small repayment for me to aid thee,
+  her father, in thy time of difficulties. Wherefore if, by good hap, I may be
+  of use to thee in this battle which is nigh at hand, then I shall be glad beyond
+  measure that I have paid some part of that debt which I owe to this lady." </p>
+<p> "Messire," said King Bagdemagus, "I give thee grammercy for thy good will
+  in this matter. I am sure that, with thy aid, I shall be successful in this
+  battle, and that it will always be most renowned in the history of chivalry
+  because thou hast taken part in it." </p>
+<p> So spake they with great courtesy to one another. Then, by and by, Sir Launcelot
+  said: "Sir, I pray you tell me who are those knights of King Arthur's court
+  who are upon the part of the King of North Wales? For I would fain know against
+  whom I am to do battle." To which King Bagdemagus said: "Messire, those three
+  knights of the Round Table are as follows--there is Sir Mordred, nephew unto
+  King Arthur, and there is Sir Galahantine, and there is Sir Mador de la Porte."
+</p>
+<p> "Ha," quoth Sir Launcelot, "these are three very good knights indeed, and
+  I am not at all astonished that the King of North Wales should have had such
+  good fortune aforetime in that other tournament with you, seeing that he had
+  three such knights as they to do battle upon his side." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot arranges the order of battle with King Bagdemagus.</div>
+<p> After this they fell into discourse as to the manner in which they should
+  do battle upon the morrow, and Sir Launcelot advised in this wise: "Lord, let
+  me take three knights of yours, such as you trust, and such as you hold to be
+  the strongest knights of your party. Let these three knights paint their shields
+  altogether white and I will paint mine white, and then no man will know who
+  we are. For I would have it so that I should not be known to be in this battle
+  until I shall have approved myself in it. Now, when you have chosen those three
+  knights, we four will take hiding in some wood or glade nigh to the place of
+  combat, and when you are most busily engaged, and when you begin to be hard-pressed,
+  then we will come forth and fall upon the flank of the party of the King of
+  North Wales with intent to throw them into confusion. Then you will push your
+  assault very hard, and I doubt not by the grace of God that we shall betwixt
+  us be able to bear back their array in confusion." </p>
+<p> This advice seemed very good to King Bagdemagus, and so he did as Sir Launcelot
+  said. He chose him three very strong, worthy, honorable knights, and these made
+  their shields white as Sir Launcelot directed. </p>
+<p> Thus, all things being arranged as Sir Launcelot willed, it came to be the
+  eve before the battle. So a little after sunset Sir Launcelot and those three
+  knights whom King Bagdemagus had chosen rode over toward the place of tourney
+  (which was some twelve miles from the abbey where the damsel Elouise was lodged).
+  There they found a little woodland of tall, leafy trees fit for Sir Launcelot's
+  purpose, and that wood stood to one side of the meadow of battle and at about
+  the distance of three furlongs from it. In this little wood Sir Launcelot and
+  the three knights-companion whom King Bagdemagus had chosen laid themselves
+  down upon the ground and wrapped, each man, his cloak about him. So they slept
+  there until the morrow, when the battle was ordained to be. </p>
+<p> Now there had been very great preparation made for this tournament for on
+  three sides of the meadow of battle scaffolds had been built and rows of seats
+  had been placed. These were covered over with tapestries and hangings of divers
+  colors--some of figured and some of plain weaving--so that the green and level
+  meadow-land was hung all about with these gay and gaudy colors. </p>
+<p> Now when the morning had come, the folk who came to witness that tournament
+  began to assemble from all directions--lords and ladies of high degree, esquires
+  and damsels of lesser rank, burghers and craftsmen with their wives, townspeople
+  from the town, yeomen from the woodlands, and freeholders from the farm crofts.
+  With these came many knights of the two parties in contest, and with the knights
+  came their esquires in attendance. Now these knights were all in full armor,
+  shining very bright, and the esquires were clad in raiment of many textures
+  and various colors, so that they were very gay and debonair. So, with all this
+  throng moving along the highway toward the meadow of battle, it seemed as though
+  the entire world was alive with gay and moving figures. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot and his companions lie near the place of tournament.</div>
+<p> Now the place where Sir Launcelot and those three knights who were with him
+  lay hidden was not far from the highway, so, whence they lay, they could see
+  all that goodly procession of folk taking their way toward the lists, and they
+  could look down upon the meadow of battle, which, as hath been said, was not
+  more than three furlongs distant, and they could see the crowds of people of
+  high and low degree taking their places upon those seats according to their
+  rank and station. And they could see how the knights-contestant arrayed themselves
+  upon this side of the field and upon that, and how the esquires and attendants
+  hurried hither and thither, busying themselves in making their lords ready for
+  the encounter that was soon to befall. Yea, all this could they see as plainly
+  as though it lay upon the palm of a hand. </p>
+<p> So they saw that about noontide all those who had come thither had taken their
+  places, and that the field was clean, and that the two parties of combat were
+  arrayed in order for battle. </p>
+<p> Then Sir Launcelot perceived that the party of the King of North Wales was
+  very much greater than the party of King Bagdemagus; for while the party of
+  the King of North Wales had nigh eight score of helms, the party of King Bagdemagus
+  had hardly four score of helms. So Sir Launcelot perceived that that party of
+  King Bagdemagus would have much labor to do if it was to win in the battle.
+</p>
+<div class="sidenote">How the battle began.</div>
+<p> Now, all being prepared, the marshal stood forth and blew upon his trumpet,
+  and therewith those two parties of knights rushed the one against the other,
+  each in so great a cloud of dust that one could hardly see the knights in their
+  passage. Therewith they met in the midst of the meadow of battle, with such
+  a crash and uproar of splintered lances as was terrible to hear. </p>
+<p> And for a while no man could see what was toward, so great was the dust and
+  the tumult. But by and by the dust raised itself a little and then Sir Launcelot
+  perceived that the party of King Bagdemagus had been pushed back by that other
+  party, as might have been supposed in such a case. </p>
+<p> So Sir Launcelot looked upon the battle for some while and he saw that the
+  party of King Bagdemagus was pushed farther and farther back. Then by and by
+  Sir Launcelot said to his knights-companion: "Messires, methinks now is our
+  time to enter this engagement." </p>
+<p> Therewith he and they rode forth out of that woods, and they rode down the
+  hill and across the fields and so came into that meadow-of-battle. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot and his companions enter the battle.</div>
+<p> At that time the party of the King of North Wales was so busily engaged in
+  its assault upon the party of King Bagdemagus that very few of those knights
+  engaged were aware of those four knights coming, and those who were aware of
+  them thought but very little of the coming of so small a number. So no one interfered
+  with their coming, wherefore they were able to bear down with great speed upon
+  the flank of the party of the King of North Wales. Therewith they struck that
+  flank with such force that both horses and horsemen were overturned by their
+  assault. </p>
+<p> In that encounter Sir Launcelot carried a spear that was wonderfully strong
+  and tough. With it he ran with great fierceness into the very thickest of the
+  press, and before he was checked he struck down five knights with that one spear.
+  And likewise those three knights that were with him did such good service that
+  all that flank of the party of the King of North Wales was thrown into great
+  confusion and wist not what to do for to guard themselves against that fierce,
+  furious onset. </p>
+<p> Then Sir Launcelot and his three companions bore back a little, and when they
+  got their distance they ran again into the press, and this time Sir Launcelot
+  overthrew the King of North Wales himself, and that with such violence that
+  the bone of his thigh was broken, and he had to be carried away out of that
+  field by his attendants. And in this second assault Sir Launcelot and the three
+  knights who were with him overthrew eleven knights besides the King of North
+  Wales, wherefore all that part of the press began to break away from them and
+  to seek some place where they could defend themselves from such another assault.
+</p>
+<p> Now when the party of King Bagdemagus saw into what confusion the other party
+  were thrown by these four knights-champion, they began a very fierce and furious
+  attack, and with such vehemence that in a little the party of the King of North
+  Wales began to bear back before them. So, what with those who withdrew before
+  Sir Launcelot's assault, and what with those who withdrew from the assault of
+  King Bagdemagus, there was a great deal of confusion in the ranks of the party
+  of the King of North Wales. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot overthrows Sir Mordred.</div>
+<p> Now those three knights who were of King Arthur's court perceived how Sir
+  Launcelot and his knights-companion were throwing the ranks of the party of
+  the King of North Wales into confusion, and they knew that unless the onset
+  of Sir Launcelot was checked, the day would of a surety be lost unto them. Wherefore
+  said Sir Mador de la Porte: "Yonder is a very strong and fierce-fighting knight;
+  if we do not check his onset we will very likely be brought to shame in this
+  battle." "Yea," said Sir Mordred, "that is so. Now I will take it upon me to
+  joust with that knight and to overthrow him." Upon that those other two knights
+  bade him go and do as he said. So Sir Mordred made way to where Sir Launcelot
+  was, coming forward very fiercely and with great violence, and Sir Launcelot
+  was aware of Sir Mordred's coming and made him ready for that assault. So the
+  two came together with terrible violence and Sir Launcelot struck Sir Mordred
+  such a buffet that the breast-band of Sir Mordred's saddle brake, and both the
+  saddle and Sir Mordred flew over his horse's tail. Therewith Sir Mordred fell
+  upon his head and struck with such violence upon the ground that his neck was
+  nigh broken, and he lay altogether in a dead swoon and had to be carried out
+  of the lists by his attendants. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot overthrows Sir Mador.</div>
+<p> This saw Sir Mador de la Porte, and he cried out: "Ha! see what hath befallen
+  Sir Mordred!" And therewith he also bare down upon Sir Launcelot with all his
+  might and main with intent to overthrow him. And Sir Launcelot ran against him,
+  and they struck together so fiercely that it was terrible to behold. But the
+  spear of Sir Mador de la Porte burst into pieces, whilst the spear of Sir Launcelot
+  held, so that both Sir Mador and his horse were overthown, the horse rolling
+  upon the man. And in that encounter Sir Mador's shoulder went out of place,
+  and he also had to be borne away by his attendants. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot strikes Sir Galahantine a sad blow.</div>
+<p> Then Sir Galahantine took a great spear from his esquire, who was nigh him,
+  and he also ran against Sir Launcelot with all his might; and Sir Launcelot
+  met him in full course and that onset was more terrible than either of the other
+  two. For the spear of each knight was burst into splinters, even to the butt
+  thereof. Then each threw away the butt of his spear and drew out his sword,
+  and Sir Galahantine struck Sir Launcelot such a blow that the legs of Sir Launcelot's
+  horse trembled under him because of the weight of that stroke. At this Sir Launcelot
+  waxed wroth beyond measure and he rose in his stirrups and he smote Sir Galahantine
+  such a buffet that the blood burst out from his nose and his ears, and all his
+  senses so went away from him that he might hardly behold the light of day because
+  of the swimming of his sight. </p>
+<p> Therewith Sir Galahantine's head hung down upon his breast and he had no power
+  to guide his horse, wherefore his horse made way out of the press and galloped
+  off, bearing Sir Galahantine away, whether he would or no. And after the horse
+  had galloped a little distance Sir Galahantine could not any longer sit upon
+  his saddle, but he fell off of his horse and rolled over upon the ground and
+  had not strength to rise therefrom. </p>
+<p> Then Sir Launcelot catched another spear, great and strong, from the esquire
+  who followed him, and before ever that spear broke he overthrew sixteen knights
+  therewith. Wherefore all who beheld him were amazed and terrified at what he
+  did. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot wins the battle for King Bagdemagus.</div>
+<p> By now the party of the King of North Wales began to bear more and more aback
+  and in a little they broke, and then the party of King Bagdemagus pursued them
+  hither and thither, and those who did not surrender were overthrown so that
+  it was not possible for them to make any new order of battle. Then that party
+  surrendered itself as conquered, one and all, and so King Bagdemagus won that
+  tournament with the greatest glory that it was possible for him to have. For
+  it had never been heard of before that a party of four-score knights should
+  overcome in that way a party of eight-score knights, with three knights of the
+  Round Table to champion them. Nor would such a victory have been possible only
+  for what Sir Launcelot did in that battle. </p>
+<p> So Sir Launcelot won that tournament for King Bagdemagus, and after the battle
+  was over and done King Bagdemagus came to Sir Launcelot and said to him: "Messire,
+  thou hast brought to me the greatest glory this day that ever fell to my lot
+  in all of my life. Now I prithee come with me and refresh thyself with me, so
+  that I may give thee fitting thanks for all thou hast done, and so that I may
+  reward thee in such a way as is fit for a king to reward a knight-champion such
+  as thou art." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot departs without reward.</div>
+<p> Unto this Sir Launcelot made reply: "Lord, I give you thanks for your courtesy,
+  but I need no reward; for it is meet that I should have done what I could for
+  the sake of the demoiselle Elouise the Fair, seeing that she rescued me from
+  the mischiefs that Queen Morgana had intent to do me." </p>
+<p> Then King Bagdemagus besought Sir Launcelot that he would tarry awhile and
+  rest, but Sir Launcelot would not do so, but would be going upon his way without
+  any tarrying. But he said to King Bagdemagus: "I prithee greet your daughter
+  for me, and say to her that if ever she hath need of my services again let her
+  send to me, and I will come to her even if it be to the end of the earth. For
+  I have not yet repaid her for what she hath done for me." </p>
+<p> Therewith Sir Launcelot went his way from that meadow of battle, and, coming
+  to the skirts of the forest he entered therein, and those who were there at
+  the meadow of battle did not see him any more. </p>
+<p> So endeth the history of that famous tournament betwixt King Bagdemagus and
+  the King of North Wales. </p>
+<div align="center"> <a href="images/tail.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/tail.gif" border="0" alt="Tail Piece" /></a>
+</div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div class="chaphead" id="la7"><a href="images/015.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/015.gif" alt="Chapter Header" border="0" /></a>
+  <br />
+  Chapter Seventh</div>
+<br />
+<div class="chapdes">How Sir Launcelot Fell Into the Greatest Peril that Ever
+  He Encountered in all His Life. Also How He Freed a Misfortunate Castle and
+  Town From the Giants Who Held Them, and How He Released the Lord Thereof From
+  a Dungeon.</div>
+<p> Now Sir Launcelot wandered errant for many days, meeting no adventure of any
+  moment, but taking great joy in all that he beheld of the wide world about him,
+  and in that time he found lodging wheresoever he chanced to be (if not in house,
+  then beneath the skies), and he endured all sorts of weather, both wet and dry.
+</p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot cometh to a fair valley with a castle.</div>
+<p> Upon a certain day, in the prime of the morning, he came across a hilltop,
+  and beheld beneath him a valley, very fertile and well-tilled, with fields and
+  meadow-lands spread all over it like to a fair green carpet woven in divers
+  patterns. And in the midst of the valley was a very large and noble castle,
+  with many towers, and tall, steep roofs, and clustering chimneys. So Sir Launcelot
+  descended into that valley, and the road which he took ended in front of the
+  castle and under the shade of the tall gray walls thereof. But he did not stop
+  at that castle but went on by it. </p>
+<p> Now after Sir Launcelot had passed by that castle it seemed to him that he
+  heard very delicate silver bells ringing sweetly in the air above him, and when
+  he looked up he beheld that a falcon was flying over his head toward a high
+  elm tree that stood at a little distance, and he wist that it was the bells
+  upon the cap of the falcon that rang so sweetly. And Sir Launcelot beheld that
+  long lunes hung from the feet of the falcon as she flew, wherefore he was aware
+  that the falcon had slipped her lunes and had flown from her owner. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot beholdeth a falcon entangled.</div>
+<a href="images/022.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="p9" src="images/022.gif" border="0" align="left" alt="Sir Launcelot climbs to catch the lady's falcon" /></a>
+<p> So Sir Launcelot watched the falcon, and he beheld that she lit in a tall
+  elm tree, where she took her perch and rested, balancing with her wings part
+  spread. Then by and by she would have taken her flight again, but the lunes
+  about her feet had become entangled around the bough on which she sat, so that
+  when she would have flown she could not do so. Now Sir Launcelot was very sorry
+  to see the falcon beating herself in that wise, straining to escape from where
+  she was prisoner, but he knew not what to do to aid her, for the tree was very
+  high, and he was no good climber of trees. </p>
+<p> While he stood there watching that falcon he heard the portcullis of the castle
+  lifted, with a great noise, and the drawbridge let fall, and therewith there
+  came a lady riding out of the castle very rapidly upon a white mule, and she
+  rode toward where Sir Launcelot watched the falcon upon the tree. When that
+  lady had come nigh to Sir Launcelot, she cried out to him: "Sir Knight, didst
+  thou see a falcon fly this way?" Sir Launcelot said: "Yea, Lady, and there she
+  hangs, caught by her lunes in yonder elm-tree." </p>
+<p> Then when that lady beheld how that her falcon hung there she smote her hands
+  together, crying out: "Alas, alas! what shall I do? That falcon is my lord's
+  favorite hawk! While I was playing with her a while since, she slipped from
+  me and took flight, and has sped as thou dost see. Now when my lord findeth
+  that I have lost his hawk in that wise he will be very angry with me, and will
+  haply do me some grievous hurt." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">The Lady beseeches Sir Launcelot to get her the falcon again.</div>
+<p> Quoth Sir Launcelot: "Lady, I am very sorry for you." "Sir," she said, "it
+  boots nothing for you to be sorry for me unless you can aid me." "How may I
+  aid you in this?" said Sir Launcelot. "Messire," quoth she, "how otherwise could
+  you aid me than by climbing up into this tree for my hawk? For if you aid me
+  not in such a fashion, I know not what I shall do, for my lord hath a very hot
+  and violent temper, and he is not likely to brook having his favorite hawk lost
+  to him, as it is like to be." </p>
+<p> Upon this Sir Launcelot was put to a great pass and knew not what to do, for
+  he had no good mind to climb that tree. "Lady," quoth he, "I prithee tell me
+  what is thy lord's name." "Messire," she replied, "he is hight Sir Phelot, and
+  is a knight of the court of the King of North Wales." </p>
+<p> "Well, Lady," said Sir Launcelot, "thou dost put upon me a very sore task
+  in this, for God knoweth I am no climber of trees. Yea, I would rather do battle
+  with twenty knights than to climb one such tree as this. Nevertheless, I cannot
+  find it in me to refuse the asking of any lady, if so be it lieth at all in
+  my power to perform her will. Now if you will aid me to unarm myself, I will
+  endeavor to climb this tree and get your hawk." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot climbs the tree.</div>
+<p> So the lady dismounted from her mule, and Sir Launcelot dismounted from his
+  horse, and the lady aided Sir Launcelot to unarm himself. And when he had unarmed
+  himself he took off all his clothes saving only his hosen and his doublet. Then
+  he climbed that tree, though with great labor and pain to himself, and with
+  much dread lest he should fall. So he, at last, reached the falcon where it
+  was, and he loosened the lunes from where they were entangled about the branch,
+  and he freed the bird. Then he brake off a great piece of rotten bough of the
+  tree and he tied the lunes of the falcon to it and he tossed the falcon down
+  to where the lady was; and the lady ran with great joy and caught the falcon
+  and loosed it from the piece of branch and tied the lunes to her wrist, so that
+  it could not escape again. </p>
+<p> Then Sir Launcelot began to descend the tree with as great labor and pain
+  as he had climbed into it. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Phelot threatens Sir Launcelot's life.</div>
+<p> But he had not come very far down when he perceived a knight who came riding
+  very rapidly toward that tree, and he saw that the knight was in full armor.
+  When this knight came to the tree he drew rein and bespoke the lady who was
+  there, though Sir Launcelot could not hear what he said. So, after he had spoken
+  for a little, the knight dismounted from his horse and went to Sir Launcelot's
+  shield and looked upon the face of it very carefully. Then presently he looked
+  upward toward Sir Launcelot, and he said: "Art thou Sir Launcelot of the Lake?"
+  And Sir Launcelot said: "Yea." "Very well," said the knight, "I am pleased beyond
+  measure at that. For I am Sir Phelot, the lord of this castle, and the brother
+  of that Sir Peris of the Forest Sauvage, whom thou didst treat so shamefully
+  after thou hadst overcome him in battle." </p>
+<p> "Sir," said Sir Launcelot, "I treated him nowise differently from what he
+  deserved." "No matter for that," said Sir Phelot, "he was my brother, and thou
+  didst put great despite and shame upon him. So now I will be revenged upon thee,
+  for now I have thee where I would have thee, and I will slay thee as shamefully
+  as thou didst put shame upon him. So say thy prayers where thou art, for thou
+  shalt never go away from this place alive." </p>
+<p> "Sir Knight," said Sir Launcelot, "I do not believe that thou wouldst really
+  assault a naked and harmless man, for it would certainly be a great shame to
+  thee to do me a harm in that wise. For lo! thou art armed in full, and I am
+  a naked man, and to slay me as I am would be both murder and treason." </p>
+<p> "No matter for that," said Sir Phelot; "as for the shame of it, I take no
+  thought of it. I tell thee thou shalt have no grace nor mercy from me. Wherefore
+  make thy peace with Heaven, for thine hour is come." </p>
+<p> "Sir Knight," said Sir Launcelot, "I ask only one boon of thee; if thou art
+  of a mind to take so much shame upon thee, as appears to be the case, let me
+  not, at least, die like a felon without any weapon. Let me have my sword in
+  my hand, even if I have no other defence. For if a knight must die, it is a
+  shame for him to die without weapons. So hang my sword upon yonder bough, where
+  I may reach it, and then thou mayst slay me." </p>
+<p> "Nay," said Sir Phelot, "I will not do that, for I know very well how wonderful
+  is thy prowess. Wherefore I believe that even if thou wert otherwise unarmed
+  thou mightst overcome me if thou hadst thy sword. So I will give thee no such
+  chance, but will have my will of thee as thou art." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot is put to a sad pass to escape.</div>
+<p> Then Sir Launcelot was put to a great pass of anxiety, for he wist not what
+  to do to escape from that danger in which he lay. Wherefore he looked all about
+  him and above him and below him, and at last he beheld a great branch of the
+  elm tree just above his head, very straight and tough. So he catched this branch
+  and broke it off from the tree and shaped it to a club of some sort. Then he
+  came lower, and the knight waited to strike him with his sword, when he was
+  low enough; but Sir Launcelot did not come low enough for that. </p>
+<p> Then Sir Launcelot perceived that his horse stood below him and a little to
+  one side, so of a sudden he ran out along the branch whereon he stood and he
+  leaped quickly down to the earth upon the farther side of his horse from where
+  the knight stood. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot overcomes Sir Phelot with a strange weapon.</div>
+<p> At this Sir Phelot ran at him and lashed at him with his sword, thinking to
+  slay him before he had recovered from his leap. But Sir Launcelot was quicker
+  than he, for he recovered his feet and put away the blow of Sir Phelot with
+  his club which he held. Then he ran in upon Sir Phelot under his sword arm,
+  and before he could use his sword he struck Sir Phelot with all his might upon
+  the side of his head. And he struck him very quickly again, and he struck him
+  the third time, all in the space whilst one might count two. And those blows
+  he struck were so direful that Sir Phelot fell down upon his knees, all stunned
+  and bedazed, and the strength went out of his thews because of faintness. Then
+  Sir Launcelot took the sword out of the hand of Sir Phelot and Sir Phelot did
+  not have strength to deny him. And Sir Launcelot plucked off Sir Phelot's helm
+  and catched him by the hair and dragged his neck forward so as to have ease
+  to strike his head from off his body. </p>
+<p> Now all this while the lady had been weeping and watching what befell. But
+  when she saw the great danger Sir Phelot was in, she ran and clasped her arms
+  about him, and cried out in a very loud and piercing voice upon Sir Launcelot
+  to spare Sir Phelot and to slay him not. But Sir Launcelot, still holding him
+  by the hair of the head, said: "Lady, I cannot spare him, for he has treated
+  me more treacherously than any other knight with whom I ever had dealings."
+  But the lady cried out all the more vehemently, "Sir Launcelot, thou good knight,
+  I beseech thee, of thy knighthood, to spare him." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot spares Sir Phelot's life.</div>
+<p> "Well," said Sir Launcelot, "it hath yet to be said of me that I have denied
+  anything that I was able to grant unto any lady that hath asked it of me upon
+  my knighthood. And yet I know not how to trust either of ye. For thou didst
+  not say one word in my behalf when I was in danger of being slain so treacherously
+  just now. As for this knight, I perceive that he is every whit as great a traitor
+  and a coward as was his brother Sir Peris of the Sauvage Forest. So I will spare
+  him, but I will not trust him, lest he turn against me ere I arm myself again.
+  Wherefore give me hither the halter rein of your mule." So the lady gave Sir
+  Launcelot the halter rein, weeping amain as she did so. And Sir Launcelot took
+  the halter rein and he tied the arms of Sir Phelot behind him. Then he bade
+  the lady of Sir Phelot to help him arm himself from head to foot, and she did
+  so, trembling a very great deal. Then, when she had done so, quoth Sir Launcelot:
+  "Now I fear the treachery of no man." Therewith he mounted his horse and rode
+  away from that place And he looked not behind him at all, but rode away as though
+  he held too much scorn of that knight and of that lady to give any more thought
+  to them. </p>
+<p> So after that Sir Launcelot travelled for a while through the green fields
+  of that valley, till by and by he passed out of that valley, and came into a
+  forest through which he travelled for a very long time. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot cometh to a marish country.</div>
+<p> For it was about the slanting of the afternoon ere he came forth out of that
+  forest and under the open sky again. And when he came out of the forest he beheld
+  before him a country of perfectly level marish, very lush and green, with many
+  ponds of water and sluggish streams bordered by rushes and sedge, and with pollard
+  willows standing in rows beside the waters. In the midst of this level plain
+  of green (which was like to the surface of a table for flatness) there stood
+  a noble castle, part built of brick and part of stone, and a town of no great
+  size and a wall about the town. And this castle and town stood upon an island
+  surrounded by a lake of water, and a long bridge, built upon stone buttresses,
+  reached from the mainland to the island. And this castle and town were a very
+  long distance away, though they appeared very clear and distinct to the sight
+  across the level marish, like, as it were, to a fine bit of very small and cunning
+  carving. </p>
+<p> Now the way that Sir Launcelot travelled, led somewhat toward that town, wherefore
+  he went along that way with intent to view the place more near by. So he conveyed
+  by that road for some time without meeting any soul upon the way. But at last
+  he came of a sudden upon an archer hiding behind an osier tree with intent to
+  shoot the water-fowl that came to a pond that was there--for he had several
+  such fowl hanging at his girdle. To him Sir Launcelot said: "Good fellow, what
+  town is that yonderway?" "Sir," said the yeoman, "that is called the Town of
+  the Marish because it stands in these Fenlands. And that castle is called the
+  Castle of the Fenlands for the same reason." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot talks with a yeoman.</div>
+<p> Quoth Sir Launcelot: "What manner of place is that? Is it a good place, or
+  is it otherwise?" "Sir," said the archer, "that place was one while a very good,
+  happy place; for in times gone by there was a lord who dwelt there who was both
+  just and noble, and kind to all folk, wherefore he was loved by all the people.
+  But one night there came two very grim and horrible giants thither from the
+  Welsh Mountains and these entered into the castle by treachery and made prisoner
+  of the lord of the castle. Him they cast into the dungeon of the castle, where
+  they held him prisoner as an hostage. For they threaten that if friends of that
+  lord's should send force against them to dispossess them, they will slay him.
+  As for any other rescue, there is no knight who dareth to go against them because
+  of their terrible size, and their strength, and their dreadful, horrible countenances."
+</p>
+<p> "Well," said Sir Launcelot, "that is a pity and I am sorry for that noble
+  lordling. Now, since there is no other single knight who dareth to undertake
+  this adventure, I myself will go and encounter these giants." </p>
+<p> "Nay, Sir Knight," said the yeoman, "do not do so, for they are not like mortal
+  men, but rather like monsters that are neither beast nor man. Wherefore anyone
+  who beholdeth them, feareth them." </p>
+<p> "Grammercy for thy thought of me, good fellow," quoth Sir Launcelot, "but
+  if I shall refuse an adventure because I find it perilous, then I am not like
+  to undertake any adventure at all." </p>
+<p> Therewith he bade good den to that yeoman and rode upon his way, directing
+  his course toward that town at an easy pass. </p>
+<p> So he came at last to the long bridge that reached from the land to the island,
+  and he saw that at the farther end of the bridge was the gateway of the town
+  and through the arch thereof he could perceive a street of the town, and the
+  houses upon either side of the street, and the people thereof coming and going.
+</p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot crosses the bridge to the town.</div>
+<p> So he rode forth upon the bridge and at the noise of his coming (for the hoofs
+  of his horse sounded like thunder upon the floor of the bridge) the people of
+  the town came running to see who it was that dared to come so boldly into their
+  town. </p>
+<p> These, when Sir Launcelot came nigh, began to call to him on high, crying:
+  "Turn back, Sir Knight! Turn back! Else you will meet your death at this place."
+</p>
+<p> But Sir Launcelot would not turn back, but advanced very steadfastly upon
+  his way. </p>
+<p> Now somewhat nigh the farther end of that bridge there stood a little lodge
+  of stone, built to shelter the warden of the bridge from stress of weather.
+  When Sir Launcelot came nigh to this lodge there started suddenly out from it
+  a great churl, above seven feet high, who bore in his hand a huge club, shod
+  with iron and with great spikes of iron at the top. This churl ran to Sir Launcelot
+  and catched his horse by the bridle-rein and thrust it back upon its haunches,
+  crying out in a great hoarse voice: "Whither goest thou, Sir Knight, for to
+  cross this bridge?" Sir Launcelot said: "Let go my horse's rein, Sir Churl."
+  Whereunto the churl made answer: "I will not let go thy horse's rein, and thou
+  shalt not cross this bridge." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot slays the huge churl.</div>
+<p> At this Sir Launcelot waxed very angry, and he drew his sword and struck the
+  churl a blow with the flat thereof upon the shoulder, so that he dropped the
+  rein very quickly. Therewith that churl drew back and took his great iron-shod
+  club in both hands and struck at Sir Launcelot a blow that would have split
+  a millstone. But Sir Launcelot put by the blow with his sword so that it did
+  him no harm. But therewith he waxed so wroth that he ground his teeth together
+  with anger, and, rising in his stirrups, he lashed that churl so woeful a blow
+  that he cleft through his iron cap and his head and his breast even to the paps.
+</p>
+<div class="sidenote">The folk warn Sir Launcelot.</div>
+<p> Now when the people of the town beheld that terrible blow they lifted up their
+  voices in a great outcry, crying out: "Turn back, Sir Knight! Turn back! For
+  this is a very woful thing for thee that thou hast done!" and some cried out:
+  "Thou hast killed the giants' warder of the bridge!" And others cried: "Thou
+  art a dead man unless thou make haste away from this." But to all this Sir Launcelot
+  paid no heed, but wiped his sword and thrust it back into its sheath. Then he
+  went forward upon his way across the bridge as though nothing had befallen,
+  and so came to the farther side. Then, without paying any heed to all the people
+  who were there, he rode straight to the castle and into the gate of the castle
+  and into the court-yard thereof. </p>
+<p> Now by this time all the castle was astir, and in great tumult, and many people
+  came running to the windows and looked down upon Sir Launcelot. And Sir Launcelot
+  sat his horse and looked all about him. So he perceived that beyond the court-yard
+  was a fair space of grass, very smooth and green, well fitted for battle, wherefore
+  he dismounted from his horse and tied it to a ring in the wall, and then he
+  went to that green field and made him ready for whatever might befall. </p>
+<p> Meantime all those people who were at the windows of the castle cried out
+  to him, as the people of the town had done: "Go away, Sir Knight! Go away whilst
+  there is still time for you to escape, or else you are a dead man!" </p>
+<p> But Sir Launcelot replied not, but stood there and waited very steadfastly.
+  Then the great door of the castle hall opened, and there came forth therefrom
+  those two giants of whom he had heard tell. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Two giants attack Sir Launcelot.</div>
+<p> And in truth Sir Launcelot had never beheld such horrible beings as they;
+  for they were above ten feet high, and very huge of body and long of limb. And
+  they were clad in armor of bull-hide with iron rings upon it, and each was armed
+  with a great club, huge and thick, and shod with iron, and studded with spikes.
+  These came toward Sir Launcelot swinging their clubs and laughing very hideously
+  and gnashing their long white teeth, for they thought to make easy work of him.
+</p>
+<div class="sidenote">How Sir Launcelot slays the first giant.</div>
+<p> Then Sir Launcelot, seeing them coming thus, set his shield before him, and
+  made ready for that assault with great calmness of demeanor. Then the giants
+  rushed suddenly upon him and struck at him, the both of them together; for they
+  deemed that by so doing the enemy could not escape both blows, but if one failed
+  the other would slay him. But Sir Launcelot put aside the blow of one giant
+  with his sword and of the other with his shield, with marvellous dexterity.
+  Thereupon, ere they could recover themselves, he turned upon that giant who
+  was upon his left hand and he struck him so terrible a blow upon the shoulder
+  that he cut through the armor and through the shoulder and half-way through
+  the body, so that the head and one arm of the giant leaned toward one way, and
+  the other arm and the shoulder leaned toward the other way. Therewith the giant
+  fell down upon the ground bellowing, so that it was most terrible to hear; and
+  in a little he had died where he had fallen. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">How Sir Launcelot slays the second giant.</div>
+<p> Now when the fellow of that giant beheld that dreadful, horrible stroke, he
+  was so possessed with terror that he stood for a while trembling and like one
+  in a maze. But when he saw Sir Launcelot turn upon him with intent to make at
+  him also, he let fall his club and ran away with great and fearful outcry. Therewith
+  he ran toward the castle and would have entered therein, but those within the
+  castle had closed the doors and the gates against him, so that he could not
+  escape in that way. So the giant ran around and around the court with great
+  outcry, seeking for some escape from his pursuer, and Sir Launcelot ran after
+  him. And Sir Launcelot struck him several times with his sword, so that at last,
+  what with terror and pain and weariness, that giant stumbled and fell upon the
+  ground. Therewith Sir Launcelot ran at him, and, ere he could rise, he took
+  his sword in both hands and smote off his head so that it rolled down upon the
+  ground like a ball. Then Sir Launcelot stood there panting for breath, for he
+  had raced very hard after the giant, and could hardly catch his breath again.
+  As he stood so, many of those of the castle and many of those who were of the
+  town came to him from all sides; and they crowded around him and gave him great
+  acclaim for ridding that place of those giants. </p>
+<p> Then Sir Launcelot said to them: "Where is your lord?" Whereunto they made
+  reply: "Sir, he lieth in the dungeon of the castle under the ground chained
+  to the walls thereof, and there he hath been for three years or more, and no
+  one hath dared to bring him succor until you came hither." "Go find him," said
+  Sir Launcelot, "and set him free, and lose no time in doing so. And put him
+  at all ease that you can." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot departs without refreshment.</div>
+<p> They say: "Will you not stay and see him, Messire, and receive his acknowledgements
+  for what you have done?" But Sir Launcelot replied: "Nay, not so." Then they
+  say: "Will you not have some refreshment after this battle?" Whereunto Sir Launcelot
+  said: "I do not need such refreshment." Then they say: "But will you not rest
+  a little?" "Nay," said Sir Launcelot: "I may not tarry, for I have far to go
+  and several things to do, so that I do not care to stay." So he loosed his horse
+  from the ring in the wall, and mounted upon it and rode away from that castle
+  and from that town and across the bridge whence he had come. And all the people
+  followed after him, giving him great acclaim. </p>
+<p> So Sir Launcelot left the castle, not because he needed no rest, but because
+  he could not endure to receive the thanks of those whom he benefited. For though
+  he loved to bring aid to the needy, yet he did not love to receive their thanks
+  and their praise. Wherefore, having freed the lord of that castle from that
+  brood of giants, he was content therewith and went his way without resting or
+  waiting for thanks. </p>
+<p> For so it was with those noble gallant knights of those days; that whilst
+  they would perform signal service for mankind, yet they were not pleased to
+  receive thanks or reward for the same, but took the utmost satisfaction, not
+  in what they gained by their acts, but in the doing of knightly deeds, for they
+  found all their reward in their deeds, because that thereby they made the world
+  in which they lived better; and because they made the glory of the King, whose
+  servants they were, the more glorious. </p>
+<p> And I hold that such behavior upon the part of anyone makes him the peer of
+  Sir Launcelot or Sir Tristram or Sir Lamorack or Sir Percival; yea, of Sir Galahad
+  himself. For it does not need either the accolade or the bath to cause a man
+  to be a true knight of God's making; nor does it need that a mortal King should
+  lay sword upon shoulder to constitute a man the fellow of such knightly company
+  as that whose history I am herewith writing; it needs only that he should prove
+  himself at all times worthy in the performance of his duty, and that he shall
+  not consider the hope of reward, or of praise of others in the performance of
+  that duty. </p>
+<p> So look to it that in all your services you take example of the noble Sir
+  Launcelot of the Lake, and that you do your uttermost with might and main, and
+  that you therewith rest content with having done your best, maugre any praise.
+  So you shall become a worthy fellow of Sir Launcelot and of his fellows. </p>
+<div align="center"> <a href="images/tail.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/tail.gif" border="0" alt="Tail Piece" /></a>
+</div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div class="chaphead" id="la8"><a href="images/015.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/015.gif" alt="Chapter Header" border="0" /></a>
+  <br />
+  Chapter Eighth</div>
+<br />
+<div class="chapdes">How Sir Launcelot Rescued Sir Kay From a Perilous Pass. Also
+  How He Changed Armor with Sir Kay and what Befell.</div>
+<p> One day Sir Launcelot came at early nightfall to a goodly manor-house and
+  there he besought lodging for the night, and lodging was granted to him very
+  willingly. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">The old gentlewoman makes Sir Launcelot welcome.</div>
+<p> Now there was no lord of that manor, but only an old gentlewoman of very good
+  breeding and address. She made Sir Launcelot right welcome and gave such cheer
+  as she could, setting before him a very good supper, hot and savory, and a great
+  beaker of humming mead wherewith to wash it down. Whilst Sir Launcelot ate,
+  the gentlewoman inquired of him his name and he told her it was Sir Launcelot
+  of the Lake. "Ha!" quoth she, "I never heard that name before, but it is a very
+  good name." </p>
+<p> At this Sir Launcelot laughed: "I am glad," said he, "that my name belikes
+  thee. As for thy not having heard of it--well, I am a young knight as yet, having
+  had but three years of service. Yet I have hopes that by and by it may be better
+  known than it is at this present." </p>
+<p> "Thou sayest well," quoth she, "for thou art very young yet, wherefore thou
+  mayst not know what thou canst do till thou hast tried." And therewith Sir Launcelot
+  laughed again, and said: "Yea, that is very true." </p>
+<p> Now after Sir Launcelot had supped, his hostess showed him to the lodging
+  she had provided for him wherein to sleep, and the lodging was in a fair garret
+  over the gateway of the court. So Sir Launcelot went to his bed and, being weary
+  with journeying, he presently fell into a deep and gentle sleep. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot is aroused from sleep.</div>
+<p> Now about the middle of the night there fell of a sudden the noise of someone
+  beating upon the gate and calling in a loud voice and demanding immediate admittance
+  thereat. This noise awoke Sir Launcelot, and he arose from his couch and went
+  to the window and looked out to see who it was that shouted so loudly and made
+  such uproar. </p>
+<p> The moon was shining at that time, very bright and still, and by the light
+  thereof Sir Launcelot beheld that there was a knight in full armor seated upon
+  horseback without the gate, and that the knight beat upon the gate with the
+  pommel of his sword, and shouted that they should let him in. </p>
+<p> But ere anyone could run to answer his call there came a great noise of horses
+  upon the highroad, and immediately after there appeared three knights riding
+  very fiercely that way, and these three knights were plainly pursuing that one
+  knight. For, when they perceived him, they rode very violently to where he was,
+  and fell upon him fiercely, all three at one time; wherefore, though that one
+  knight defended himself as well as he could, yet was he in a very sorry way,
+  and altogether likely to be overborne. For those three surrounded him so close
+  to the gate that he could do little to shift himself away from their assaults.
+</p>
+<p> Now when Sir Launcelot beheld how those three knights attacked that one knight,
+  he said to himself: "Of a surety, yonder knight is in a very sorry way. I will
+  do what I can to help him; for it is a shame to behold three knights attack
+  one knight in that way. And if he be slain in this assault, meseems I shall
+  be a party to his death." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot goeth to the rescue of the knight assaulted.</div>
+<p> Therewith he ran and put his armor upon him, and made ready for battle. Then
+  he drew the sheet from his bed, and he tied the sheet to the bar of the window
+  and by it he let himself quickly down to the ground not far from where those
+  knights were doing battle. So being safely arrived in that way he cried out
+  in a very loud voice: "Messires, leave that knight whom ye assail, and turn
+  to me, for I have a mind to do battle with you myself." </p>
+<p> Then one of those knights, speaking very fiercely, said: "Who are you, and
+  what business have you here?" </p>
+<p> "It matters not who I am," said Sir Launcelot, "but I will not have it that
+  you three shall attack that one without first having had to do with me." </p>
+<p> "Very well," said that knight who had spoken, "you shall presently have your
+  will of that." </p>
+<p> Therewith he and his fellows immediately descended from their horses, and
+  drew their swords and came at Sir Launcelot upon three sides at once. Then Sir
+  Launcelot set his back against the gate and prepared to defend himself. </p>
+<p> Therewith that knight whom he would defend immediately got down from his horse
+  with intent to come to the aid of Sir Launcelot, but Sir Launcelot forbade him
+  very fiercely, saying: "Let be, Sir Knight, this is my quarrel, and you shall
+  not meddle in it." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot does battle with three knights.</div>
+<p> Upon this, those three knights rushed upon him very furiously, and they struck
+  at him all at once, smiting at him wherever they could and with all their might
+  and main. So Sir Launcelot had much ado to defend himself from their assault.
+  But he made shift that they should not all rush in upon him at once, and by
+  and by he found his chance with one of them. Whereupon he turned suddenly upon
+  that one, and suddenly he lashed so terrible a buffet at him that the knight
+  fell down and lay as though he had been struck dead with the force thereof.
+</p>
+<p> Then, ere those other two had recovered themselves, he ran at a second and
+  struck him so fierce a blow that his wits left him, and he staggered like a
+  drunken man and ran around and around in a circle, not knowing whither he went.
+  Then he rushed upon the third and thrust him back with great violence, and as
+  he went back Sir Launcelot struck him, too, as he had struck his companions
+  and therewith that knight dropped his sword and fell down upon his knees and
+  had not power to raise himself up. </p>
+<p> Then Sir Launcelot ran to him and snatched off his helmet, and catched him
+  by the hair with intent to cut off his head. But at that the fallen knight embraced
+  Sir Launcelot about the knees, crying out: "Spare my life!" </p>
+<p> "Why should I spare you?" said Sir Launcelot. "Sir," cried the knight, "I
+  beseech you of your knighthood to spare me." </p>
+<p> "What claim have you upon knighthood," said Sir Launcelot, "who would attack
+  a single knight, three men against one man?" </p>
+<p> Then the other of those knights who had been staggered by Sir Launcelot's
+  blow, but who had by now somewhat recovered himself, came and kneeled to Sir
+  Launcelot, and said: "Sir, spare his life, for we all yield ourselves unto you,
+  for certes, you are the greatest champion in all the world." </p>
+<p> Then Sir Launcelot was appeased, but he said: "Nay, I will not take your yielding
+  unto me. For as you three assaulted this single knight, so shall you all three
+  yield to him." </p>
+<p> "Messire," said the knight who kneeled: "I am very loth to yield us to that
+  knight, for we chased him hither, and he fled from us, and we would have overcome
+  him had you not come to his aid." </p>
+<p> "Well," said Sir Launcelot, "I care nothing for all that, but only that you
+  do as I will. And if ye do not do it, then I must perforce slay your companions
+  and you two. Wherefore you may take your choice." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">The three knights must yield to the one knight.</div>
+<p> Then said that knight who kneeled: "Messire, I see no other thing to do than
+  to yield us as you would have, wherefore we submit ourselves unto this knight
+  whom you have rescued from us." </p>
+<p> Then Sir Launcelot turned to that knight to whom he had brought aid in that
+  matter, and he said: "Sir Knight, these knights yield themselves unto you to
+  do as you command them. Now I pray you of your courtesy to tell me your name
+  and who you are." </p>
+<p> "Sir," said that knight, "I am Sir Kay the Seneschal, and am King Arthur's
+  foster-brother, and a knight of the Round Table. I have been errant now for
+  some time in search of Sir Launcelot of the Lake. Now, I deem either that you
+  are Sir Launcelot, or else that you are the peer of Sir Launcelot." </p>
+<p> "Thou art right, Sir Kay," said Sir Launcelot, "and I am Sir Launcelot of
+  the Lake." So thereat they two made great joy over one another, and embraced
+  one another as brothers-in-arms should do. </p>
+<p> Then Sir Kay told Sir Launcelot how it was with those three knights who had
+  assailed him; that they were three brethren, and that he had overthrown the
+  fourth brother in an adventure at arms and had hurt him very sorely thereby.
+  So those three had been pursuing him for three days with intent to do him a
+  harm. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Kay taketh submission of the three knights.</div>
+<p> Now Sir Kay was very loath to take submission of those three knights, but
+  Sir Launcelot would have it so and no other way. So Sir Kay consented to let
+  it be as Sir Launcelot willed. Thereupon those three knights came and submitted
+  themselves to Sir Kay, and Sir Kay ordained that they should go to Camelot and
+  lay their case before King Arthur, and that King Arthur should adjudge their
+  case according to what he considered to be right and fitting. </p>
+<p> Then those three knights mounted upon their horses and rode away, and when
+  they had done so the gates of the manor were opened, and Sir Launcelot and Sir
+  Kay entered in. But when the old lady who was his hostess beheld Sir Launcelot
+  come in, she was very greatly astonished, for she wist he was still asleep in
+  his bed-chamber. Wherefore she said: "Sir, methought you were in bed and asleep."
+  "So indeed I was," said Sir Launcelot, "but when I saw this knight in peril
+  of his life against three knights, I leaped out of my window and went to his
+  aid." "Well," said his hostess, "meseems that you will sometime be a very good
+  knight, if you have so much courage whilst you are so young." And at that both
+  Sir Launcelot and Sir Kay laughed a great deal. </p>
+<p> Then the chatelaine set bread and wine before Sir Kay, and he ate and refreshed
+  himself, and thereafter he and Sir Launcelot went to that garret above the gate,
+  and there fell asleep with great ease of body. </p>
+<a href="images/023.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" align="left" id="p10" src="images/023.gif" border="0" alt="Sir Launcelot takes the armor of Sir Kay" /></a>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot takes Sir Kay's armor.</div>
+<p> Now before the sun arose Sir Launcelot awoke but Sir Kay still slept very
+  soundly. Then Sir Launcelot beheld how Sir Kay slept, and he had a mind for
+  a jest. So he clad himself in Sir Kay's armor altogether from head to foot,
+  and he took Sir Kay's shield and spear, and he left his armor and shield and
+  spear for Sir Kay to use. Then he went very softly from that room, and left
+  Sir Kay still sleeping. And he took Sir Kay's horse and mounted upon it and
+  rode away; and all that while Sir Kay knew not what had befallen, but slept
+  very deeply. </p>
+<p> Now after a while Sir Kay awoke, and he found that Sir Launcelot was gone,
+  and when he looked he found that his own armor was gone and that Sir Launcelot's
+  armor was left. Then he wist what Sir Launcelot had done, and he said: "Ha!
+  what a noble, courteous knight is the gentleman. For he hath left me his armor
+  for my protection, and whilst I wear it and carry his shield and ride his horse,
+  it is not likely that anyone will assail me upon my way. As for those who assail
+  him, I do not believe that they will be likely to find great pleasure in their
+  battle." </p>
+<p> Therewith he arose and clad himself in Sir Launcelot's armor, and after he
+  had broken his fast he thanked his hostess for what she had given him, and rode
+  upon his way with great content of spirit. </p>
+<p> (And it was as Sir Kay had said, for when he met other knights upon the road,
+  and when they beheld the figure upon his shield, they all said: "It is not well
+  to meddle with that knight, for that is Sir Launcelot." And so he came to Camelot
+  without having to do battle with any man.) </p>
+<div class="sidenote">How Sir Launcelot travels toward Camelot.</div>
+<p> As for Sir Launcelot, he rode upon his way with great cheerfulness of spirit,
+  taking no heed at all of any trouble in the world, but chanting to himself as
+  he rode in the pleasant weather. But ever he made his way toward Camelot, for
+  he said: "I will return to Camelot for a little, and see how it fares with my
+  friends at the court of the King." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot perceives three knights at feast.</div>
+<p> So by and by he entered into the country around about Camelot, which is a
+  very smooth and fertile country, full of fair rivers and meadows with many cots
+  and hamlets, and with fair hedge-bordered highways, wonderfully pleasant to
+  journey in. So travelling he came to a very large meadow where were several
+  groves of trees standing here and there along by a river. And as he went through
+  this meadow he saw before him a long bridge, and at the farther side of the
+  bridge were three pavilions of silk of divers colors, which pavilions had been
+  cast in the shade of a grove of beech-trees. In front of each pavilion stood
+  a great spear thrust in the earth, and from the spear hung the shield of the
+  knight to whom the pavilion belonged. These shields Sir Launcelot read very
+  easily, and so knew the knights who were there. To wit: that they were Sir Gunther,
+  Sir Gylmere, and Sir Raynold, who were three brothers of the Court of King Arthur.
+  As Sir Launcelot passed their pavilions, he saw that the three knights sat at
+  feast in the midmost pavilion of the three, and that a number of esquires and
+  pages waited upon them and served them, for those knights were of very high
+  estate, and so they were established as high lords should be. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">The three knights bid Sir Launcelot come to feast with them.<br />
+  <br />
+  Sir Launcelot overthrows Sir Gunther.</div>
+<p> Now when those knights perceived Sir Launcelot they thought it was Sir Kay
+  because of the armor he wore, and Sir Gunther, who was the eldest of the three
+  brothers, cried out: "Come hither, Sir Kay, and eat with us!" But to this Sir
+  Launcelot made no reply, but rode on his way. Then said Sir Gunther: "Meseems
+  Sir Kay hath grown very proud this morning. Now I will go and bring him back
+  with me, or else I will bring down his pride to earth." So he made haste and
+  donned his helmet and ran and took his shield and his spear, and mounted his
+  horse and rode after Sir Launcelot at a hard gallop. As he drew nigh to Sir
+  Launcelot he cried out: "Stay, Sir Knight! Turn again, and go with me!" "Why
+  should I go with you?" said Sir Launcelot. Quoth Sir Gunther: "Because you must
+  either return with me or do battle with me." "Well," said Sir Launcelot, "I
+  would rather do battle than return against my will." And at that Sir Gunther
+  was astonished, for Sir Kay was not wont to be so ready for a battle. So Sir
+  Launcelot set his shield and spear and took his stand, and Sir Gunther took
+  his stand. Then, when they were in all ways prepared, each set spur to his horse
+  and rushed together with terrible speed. So each knight struck the other in
+  the midst of his shield, but the onset of Sir Launcelot was so terrible that
+  it was not to be withstood, wherefore both Sir Gunther and his horse were overthrown
+  in such a cloud of dust that nothing at all was to be seen of them until that
+  cloud lifted. </p>
+<p> At this both Sir Raynold and Sir Gylmere were astonished beyond measure, for
+  Sir Gunther was reckoned to be a much better knight than Sir Kay, wherefore
+  they wist not how it was that Sir Kay should have overthrown him in that fashion.
+</p>
+<p> So straightway Sir Gylmere, who was the second of those brothers, called out
+  to Sir Launcelot to tarry and do battle. "Very well," said Sir Launcelot, "if
+  I cannot escape thee I must needs do battle. Only make haste, for I would fain
+  be going upon my way." </p>
+<p> So Sir Gylmere donned his helm in haste and ran and took his shield and spear
+  and mounted upon his horse. So when he had made himself ready in all ways he
+  rushed upon Sir Launcelot with all his might and Sir Launcelot rushed against
+  him. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot overthrows Sir Gylmere.</div>
+<p> In that encounter each knight struck the other in the midst of his shield,
+  and the spear of Sir Gylmere burst into pieces, but Sir Launcelot's spear held,
+  so the breast-strap of Sir Gylmere's saddle bursting, both saddle and knight
+  were swept entirely off the horse and to the earth, where Sir Gylmere lay altogether
+  stunned. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot wins from Sir Raynold.</div>
+<p> Then Sir Raynold came against Sir Launcelot in like manner as the others had
+  done, and in that encounter Sir Launcelot overthrew both horse and man so that,
+  had not Sir Raynold voided his horse, he would likely have been very sadly hurt.
+</p>
+<p> Then Sir Raynold drew his sword and cried out in a loud voice: "Come, Sir
+  Knight, and do me battle afoot!" But Sir Launcelot said: "Why will you have
+  it so, Sir Knight? I have no such quarrel with you as to do battle with swords."
+  "Ha!" said Sir Raynold, "you shall fight with me. For though you wear Sir Kay's
+  armor, I wot very well that you are not Sir Kay, but a great deal bigger man
+  than ever Sir Kay is like to be." </p>
+<p> "Nay," said Sir Launcelot, "I will not do any more battle with you." And therewith
+  he drew rein and rode away, leaving Sir Raynold standing very angry in the middle
+  of the highway. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot meets four noble knights.</div>
+<p> After that Sir Launcelot rode very easily at a quiet gait, with no great thought
+  whither he rode, until after a while he came to a place where a road went across
+  a level field with two rows of tall poplar trees, one upon either side of the
+  highway. Then Sir Launcelot perceived where, beneath the shade of these poplar
+  trees, were four knights standing each by his horse. And these four knights
+  were conversing very pleasantly together. Now as Sir Launcelot drew nigh he
+  perceived that those were four very famous noble knights of the Round Table;
+  to wit: one of those knights was his own brother, Sir Ector de Maris, another
+  was Sir Gawain, another was Sir Ewain, and the fourth was Sir Sagramore le Desirous.
+</p>
+<p> Now as Sir Launcelot drew nigh Sir Gawain said: "Look, yonder cometh Sir Kay
+  the Seneschal." Unto this Sir Sagramore le Desirous said: "Yea, this is he;
+  now bide you here for a little while, and I will go and take a fall of him."
+</p>
+<p> So straightway he mounted upon his horse, and he rode toward Sir Launcelot,
+  and he cried out: "Stay, Sir Knight, you cannot go farther until you have had
+  to do with me." "What would you have of me?" quoth Sir Launcelot. "Sir," said
+  Sir Sagramore, "I will have a fall of you." "Well," said Sir Launcelot, "I suppose
+  I must pleasure you, since it cannot be otherwise." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot overthrows Sir Sagramore.</div>
+<p> Therewith he dressed his shield and his spear and Sir Sagramore dressed his
+  shield and his spear, and when they were in all ways prepared they ran together
+  at full tilt. In that encounter Sir Sagramore's spear broke, but Sir Launcelot
+  struck so powerful a blow that he overthrew both horse and man into a ditch
+  of water that was near-by. </p>
+<p> Then Sir Ector de Maris said: "Ha, surely some very ill chance has befallen
+  Sir Sagramore for to be overthrown by Sir Kay. Now I will go and have ado with
+  him, for if the matter rests here there will be no living at court with the
+  jests which will be made upon us." </p>
+<p> So he took horse and rode to where Sir Launcelot was, and he went at a very
+  fast gallop. When he had come near to Sir Launcelot he cried out: "Have at thee,
+  Sir Kay, for it is my turn next!" "Why should I have at thee?" said Sir Launcelot,
+  "I have done thee no harm." "No matter," said Sir Ector, "you can go no farther
+  until you have had to do with me." "Well," said Sir Launcelot, "if that is so,
+  the sooner I have to do with thee, the sooner shall I be able to go upon my
+  way." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot overthrows Sir Ector.</div>
+<p> Therewith each knight made himself ready and when they were in all ways prepared
+  they came together with such force that Sir Launcelot's spear went through Sir
+  Ector's shield and smote him upon the shoulder, and Sir Ector was thrown down
+  upon the ground with such violence that he lay where he had fallen, without
+  power to move. </p>
+<p> Then said Sir Ewain to Sir Gawain where they stood together: "That is the
+  most wonderful thing that ever I beheld, for never did I think to behold Sir
+  Kay bear himself in battle in such a fashion as that. Now bide thee here and
+  let me have a try at him." Therewith Sir Ewain mounted his horse and rode at
+  Sir Launcelot, and there were no words spoken this time, but each knight immediately
+  took his stand to do battle. Then they ran their horses together, and Sir Launcelot
+  gave Sir Ewain such a buffet that he was astonished, and for a little he knew
+  not where he was, for his spear fell down out of his hand, and he bore his shield
+  so low that Sir Launcelot might have slain him where he stood if he had been
+  minded to do so. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Ewain yields to Sir Launcelot.</div>
+<p> Then Sir Launcelot said: "Sir Knight, I bid thee yield to me." And Sir Ewain
+  said: "I yield me. For I do not believe that thou art Sir Kay but a bigger man
+  than he shall ever be. Wherefore I yield me." "Then that is well," said Sir
+  Launcelot. "Now stand thou a little aside where thou mayst bring succor unto
+  these other two knights, for I see that Sir Gawain has a mind to tilt with me."
+</p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Gawain fails with Sir Launcelot.</div>
+<p> And it was as Sir Launcelot said, for Sir Gawain also had mounted his horse
+  and had made himself ready for that encounter. So Sir Gawain and Sir Launcelot
+  took stand at such place as suited them. Then each knight set spurs to his horse
+  and rushed together like thunder, and each knight smote the other knight in
+  the midst of his shield; and in that encounter the spear of Sir Gawain brake
+  in twain but the spear of Sir Launcelot held, and therewith he gave Sir Gawain
+  such a buffet that Sir Gawain's horse reared up into the air, and it was with
+  much ado that he was able to void his saddle ere his horse fell over backward.
+  For if he had not leaped to earth the horse would have fallen upon him. </p>
+<p> Then Sir Gawain drew his sword and cried very fiercely: "Come down and fight
+  me, Sir Knight! For thou art not Sir Kay!" </p>
+<p> "Nay, I will not fight thee that way," said Sir Launcelot, and therewith he
+  passed on his way without tarrying further. </p>
+<p> But he laughed to himself behind his helmet as he rode, and he said: "God
+  give Sir Kay joy of such a spear as this, for I believe there came never so
+  good a spear as this into my hand. For with it I have overthrown seven famous
+  knights in this hour." </p>
+<p> As for those four knights of the Round Table, they comforted one another as
+  best they could, for they knew not what to think of that which had befallen
+  them. Only Sir Ector said: "That was never Sir Kay who served us in this wise,
+  but such a man as is better than ten Sir Kays, or twice ten Sir Kays, for the
+  matter of that." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">How Sir Launcelot returned to Camelot.</div>
+<p> Now Sir Launcelot came to Camelot about eventide, what time King Arthur and
+  his court were assembled at their supper. Then there was great joy when news
+  was brought of his coming and they brought him in to the court and set him beside
+  the King and the Lady Guinevere all armed as he was. Then King Arthur said:
+  "Sir Launcelot, how is it with thee?" and Sir Launcelot said: "It is well."
+  Then King Arthur said: "Tell us what hath befallen thee." And Sir Launcelot
+  told all that had happened in that month since he had left court. And all they
+  who were there listened, and were much astonished. </p>
+<p> But when Sir Launcelot told how he had encountered those seven knights, in
+  the armor of Sir Kay, all laughed beyond measure excepting those of the seven
+  who were there, for they took no very good grace to be laughed at in that wise.
+</p>
+<br />
+<div align="center"> *&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;*&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;*&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;*&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;*
+</div>
+<br />
+<p> So now I hope I have made you acquainted with Sir Launcelot of the Lake, who
+  was the greatest knight in the world. For not only have I told you how he was
+  created a knight at the hands of King Arthur, but I have also led you errant
+  along with him, so that you might see for yourself how he adventured his life
+  for other folk and what a noble and generous gentleman he was; and how pitiful
+  to the weak and suffering, and how terrible to the evil-doer. But now I shall
+  have to leave him for a while (but after a while in another book that shall
+  follow this, I shall return to him to tell you a great many things concerning
+  other adventures of his), for meantime it is necessary that I should recount
+  the history of another knight, who was held by many to be nearly as excellent
+  a knight as Sir Launcelot was himself. </p>
+<p> <b>CONCLUSION</b> </p>
+<div class="foreward">
+  <p> <i> Here endeth the story of Sir Launcelot. That which followeth is the
+    story of Sir Tristram of Lyonesse, who was knit with Sir Launcelot into such
+    close ties of friendship that if they had been brothers of the same blood,
+    with the same father and mother, they could not have loved one another more
+    than they did. </i> </p>
+  <div align="center"> <a href="images/024.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="t5" src="images/024.gif" alt="Tail Piece--The Story of Launcelot" border="0" /></a>
+  </div>
+</div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div align="center" id="tristram">
+  <h1>The Book of Sir Tristram</h1>
+</div>
+<table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="10" cellpadding="0">
+  <tr>
+    <td> <a href="images/025.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="p11" src="images/025.gif" border="0" alt="Sir Tristram of Lyonesse" /></a>
+    </td>
+    <td>
+      <div class="foreward">
+        <p> <i> For indeed it would not be possible to tell any history of Sir
+          Launcelot of the Lake without telling that of Sir Tristram of Lyonesse
+          as well, for as the web of a fair fabric is woven in with the woof thereof,
+          so were the lives of Sir Launcelot and Sir Tristram woven closely together.
+          </i> </p>
+        <p> <i> Wherefore you shall now hear tell of the goodly adventures of
+          Sir Tristram of Lyonesse; and God grant that you may have the same joy
+          in reading thereof that I shall have in telling of them to you.</i>
+        </p>
+      </div>
+    </td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div align="center"> <a href="images/026.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images"  src="images/026.gif" alt="Prologue" id="h6" border="0" /></a>
+</div>
+<p> There was a certain kingdom called Lyonesse, and the King of that country
+  was hight Meliadus, and the Queen thereof who was hight the Lady Elizabeth,
+  was sister to King Mark of Cornwall. </p>
+<p> In the country of Lyonesse, there was a very beautiful lady, who was a cunning
+  and wicked sorceress. This lady took great love for King Meliadus, who was of
+  an exceedingly noble appearance, and she meditated continually how she might
+  bring him to her castle so as to have him near her. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">King Meliadus rides a-hunting.</div>
+<p> Now King Meliadus was a very famous huntsman, and he loved the chase above
+  all things in the world, excepting the joy he took in the love of his Queen,
+  the Lady Elizabeth. So, upon a certain day, in the late autumn season he was
+  minded to go forth a-hunting, although the day was very cold and bleak. </p>
+<p> About the prime of the day the hounds started, of a sudden, a very wonderful
+  stag. For it was white and its horns were gilded very bright, shining like pure
+  gold, so that the creature itself appeared like a living miracle in the forest.
+  When this stag broke cover, the hounds immediately set chase to it with a great
+  outcry of yelling, as though they were suddenly gone frantic, and when the King
+  beheld the creature, he also was immediately seized as with a great fury for
+  chasing it. For, beholding it, he shouted aloud and drove spurs into his horse,
+  and rushed away at such a pass that his court was, in a little while, left altogether
+  behind him, and he and the chase were entirely alone in the forest. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">King Meliadus chases the stag.</div>
+<p> The stag, with the hounds close behind it, ran at a great rate through the
+  passes of the woodlands, and King Meliadus pursued it with might and main until
+  the chase burst out of the forest into an open plain beyond the woodland. Then
+  King Meliadus beheld that in the midst of the plain was a considerable lake
+  of water; and that in the midst of the water was an island; and that upon the
+  island was a very tall and stately castle. Toward this castle the stag ran with
+  great speed, and so, coming to the lake, it leaped into the water and swam across
+  to the island--and there was a thin sheet of clear ice upon the water close
+  to either bank. </p>
+<p> But when the hounds that pursued the stag came to that frozen water, they
+  stinted their pursuit and stood whimpering upon the brink, for the ice and the
+  water repelled them. But King Meliadus made no such pause, but immediately leaped
+  off from his horse, and plunged into the water and swam across in pursuit of
+  the stag. And when he reached the other side, he chased the stag afoot with
+  great speed, and therewith the stag ran to the castle and into the court-yard
+  thereof, and King Meliadus ran after it. Then, immediately he had entered in,
+  the gates of the castle were shut and King Meliadus was a prisoner. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">King Meliadus is made prisoner at an enchanted castle.</div>
+<p> (Now you are to know that that castle was the abode of the beautiful enchantress
+  afore spoken of, and you are to know that she had sent that enchanted stag to
+  beguile King Meliadus to her court, and so she made King Meliadus her captive.
+  Further, it is to be told that when she had him there within her castle, she
+  wove a web of enchantment all about him so that he forgot the Lady Elizabeth
+  and his court and his kingdom and thought of nothing but that beautiful sorceress
+  who had thus beguiled him into her power.) </p>
+<div class="sidenote">The Lady Elizabeth grieves to distraction.</div>
+<p> Now, when those who were with the King returned to the castle of Lyonesse
+  without him, and when the King did not return that day nor the next day nor
+  at any time, the Lady Elizabeth grew more and more distracted in her anxiety
+  because of him. And when a fortnight had gone by and still there was no news
+  of the King, her grief and apprehension became so great that she turned distracted
+  and they had to set watch and ward upon her lest she do herself a harm in her
+  madness. </p>
+<p> So for a long time they kept her within the castle; but upon a certain day
+  she broke away from her keepers and ran out from the castle and into the forest
+  ere those in attendance upon her knew she had gone. Only one gentlewoman saw
+  her, and she called upon a young page to follow her, and thereupon ran after
+  the Queen whither she went, with intent to bring her back again. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">The Lady Elizabeth escapes into the forest.</div>
+<p> But the Lady Elizabeth ran very deep into the forest, and the gentlewoman
+  and the page ran after her; and the Queen thought that she was going to find
+  her lord in the forest. So she ran very rapidly for a great distance, until
+  by and by she waxed faint with weariness from running and sank down upon the
+  ground; and there they that followed her found her lying. And they found that
+  the Queen was in a great passion of pain and sick to death. For the day was
+  very wintry, with a fine powder of snow all over the ground, so that the cold
+  of the weather pierced through the garments of the Lady Elizabeth and entered
+  into her body and chilled her to the heart. </p>
+<p> Now the gentlewoman, seeing how it was with the Queen, called the page to
+  her and said: "Make haste! Go back to the castle of Lyonesse, and bring some
+  of the knights of the castle with all speed, else the Queen will die at this
+  place." And upon that the page ran off with great speed to do her bidding and
+  the Queen was left alone with her gentlewoman. </p>
+<p> Then the gentlewoman said, "Lady, what cheer?" And the Queen said, "Alas,
+  I am sick to death." The gentlewoman said, "Lady, cannot you bear up a little
+  until help cometh?" Thereupon the Lady Elizabeth fell to weeping very piteously,
+  and said, "Nay, I cannot bear up any longer, for the cold hath entered into
+  my heart." (Yea, even at that time death was upon her because of the cold at
+  her heart.) </p>
+<p> Then by and by in the midst of her tears and in very sore travail a man-child
+  was born to the Queen, and when that came to pass a great peace fell suddenly
+  upon her. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">How Tristram is born in the forest.</div>
+<p> Then she said, speaking to the nurse like one in great weariness, "What child
+  is it that I have given unto the world?" The nurse said, "It is a man-child."
+  The Queen said to her, "Hold him up until I see him." Thereupon the nurse held
+  the child up and the Queen looked at him, though she could hardly see him because
+  it was as though a mist lay upon her eyes which she could not clear away from
+  her sight; for at that time she was drawing deep draughts of death. Then, when
+  she had seen the child and had beheld that he was very strong and lusty and
+  exceedingly comely, she said: "Behold, this is my child, born in the midst of
+  sore travail and great sorrow; wherefore his name shall be called Tristram because
+  he hath caused so many tears to be shed." </p>
+<p> Then in a little while the Lady died, and the gentlewoman stood weeping beside
+  her, making great outcry in that cold and lonely forest. </p>
+<p> Anon there came those knights who were sent from the castle to find the Queen;
+  and when they came to that place, they beheld that she lay upon the ground all
+  cold and white like to a statue of marble stone. So they lifted her up and bare
+  her away upon a litter, and the gentlewoman followed weeping and wailing in
+  great measure, and bearing the child wrapped in a mantle. </p>
+<p> So Tristram was born in that wise, and so his name was given to him because
+  of the tears that were shed at his birth. </p>
+<p> And now it is to be told how King Meliadus returned from that castle of enchantment
+  where he was held prisoner. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">King Meliadus is released from durance.</div>
+<p> At this time Merlin was still living in the world, for Vivien had not yet
+  bewitched him, as hath been told in the Book of King Arthur. So by and by it
+  came to pass that he discovered where King Meliadus was imprisoned and how it
+  fared with him in the castle of that enchantress. So he made greater spells
+  than those that enmeshed King Meliadus, and he brought King Meliadus back into
+  his memory of the Queen and his kingdom. Then straightway the King broke out
+  from the castle of the enchantress and returned to his kingdom. But when he
+  came there it was to find everything in great sorrow and dole; for the Lady
+  Elizabeth was no longer upon this earth to bring joy to the heart of the King.
+  So for a long while after his return King Meliadus lay altogether stricken down
+  with the grief of that bereavement. </p>
+<p> Here followeth the story of Tristram, how he passed his youth, and how he
+  became a knight of Cornwall of King Mark's making. </p>
+<div align="center"> <a href="images/027.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="t6" src="images/027.gif" border="0" alt="Tail Piece--Prologue" /></a>
+</div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div id="trip1">
+  <h3>PART I</h3>
+  <h2>The Story of Sir Tristram and the Lady Belle Isoult</h2>
+  <table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="10" cellpadding="0">
+    <tr>
+      <td> <a href="images/031.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="p14" src="images/031.gif" border="0" alt="The Lady Belle Isoult" /></a>
+      </td>
+      <td>
+        <div class="foreward">
+          <p> <i> Here followeth the story of Sir Tristram of Lyonesse, who, with
+            Sir Launcelot of the Lake, was deemed to be one of the two most worthy
+            and perfect knights champion of his day. </i> </p>
+          <p> <i> Likewise herein shall be told the story of the Lady Belle Isoult,
+            who next to Queen Guinevere, was reckoned to be the most fair, gentle
+            lady in all of the world. </i> </p>
+        </div>
+      </td>
+    </tr>
+  </table>
+  <br />
+  <br />
+  <br />
+  <br />
+  <br />
+  <br />
+  <br />
+</div>
+<div align="center"> <a href="images/029.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="h7" src="images/029.gif" border="0" alt="The Story of Sir Tristram and the Lady Belle Isoult" /></a>
+</div>
+<div class="chaphead" id="tr1c1">Chapter First</div>
+<br />
+<div class="chapdes">How the new Queen of Lyonesse sought Tristram's life; how
+  he went to France, and how he returned again to Lyonesse and was received with
+  love at that place.</div>
+<p> So King Meliadus grieved very bitterly for the Lady Elizabeth for the space
+  of seven years, and in that time he took but little pleasure in life, and still
+  less pleasure in that son who had been born to him in that wise. Then one day
+  a certain counsellor who was in great favor with the King came to him and said:
+  "Lord, it is not fitting that you should live in this wise and without a mate;
+  for you should have a queen, and you should have other children besides Tristram,
+  else all the fate of this kingdom shall depend upon the life of that one small
+  child." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">King Meliadus taketh the Lady Moeya to second wife.</div>
+<p> And King Meliadus took this counsel to heart, and after a while he said: "What
+  you tell me is true, and so I shall take another Queen, even though it is not
+  in me to love any other woman in all of the world but that dear one who is dead
+  and gone." So a while after that he took to wife the Lady Moeya, who was the
+  daughter of King Howell of Britain. </p>
+<p> Now Queen Moeya had been married to an Earl of Britain, and by him she had
+  a son who was about the age of Tristram. So she brought this son to Lyonesse
+  with her, and he and Tristram were very good companions. </p>
+<p> But the Lady Moeya took great hatred of Tristram, for she said in her heart:
+  "Except for this Tristram, mayhap my son might be King and overlord of this
+  land." And these thoughts brooded with her, so that after a while she began
+  to meditate how she might make away with Tristram so that her own son might
+  come into his inheritance. </p>
+<p> Now at that time Tristram was about thirteen years of age and very large and
+  robust of form and of extraordinary strength of body and beauty of countenance.
+  But the son of Queen Moeya was not of such a sort, so the more beautiful and
+  noble Tristram was the more the Queen hated him. So one day she called to her
+  a very cunning chemist and she said to him: "Give me a drink of such and such
+  a sort, so that he who drinks thereof shall certainly die, maugre help of any
+  kind." And the chemist gave her what she desired, and it was in a phial and
+  was of a golden color. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">The Lady Moeya devises mischief against Tristram.</div>
+<p> Now Tristram and the son of the Lady Moeya were wont to play ball in a certain
+  court of the castle, and when they would play there they would wax all of a
+  heat with their sport. This the Lady Moeya was well aware of; so one day she
+  took that phial of poison and she poured a part of it into a chalice and she
+  filled the chalice with clear water and she set the chalice upon a bench where
+  those two would play at ball. For she said to herself: "When they grow warm
+  with their play, Tristram will certainly drink of this water to quench his thirst,
+  and then my son will maybe enter into his inheritance." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">The son of the Queen drinks of the poison.</div>
+<p> So the two youths played very fiercely at their game, and they waxed exceedingly
+  hot and presently were both very violently athirst. Then Tristram said, "I would
+  I had somewhat to drink," and his stepbrother said, "Look, yonder is a chalice
+  of water; drink! and when thou hast quenched thy thirst, then I will drink also."
+  But Tristram said: "Nay, brother, drink thou first, for thou art more athirst
+  than I." Then at first the son of the Lady Moeya would not have it so, but would
+  have Tristram drink; but afterward he did as Tristram bade him, and, taking
+  the chalice in both hands, he drank freely of that poison which his own mother
+  had prepared. Then when he had drunk his fill, Tristram took the chalice and
+  would have drunk too; but the other said, "Stay, Tristram, there is great bitterness
+  in that chalice"; and then he said, "Methinks I feel a very bitter pang within
+  my vitals," and then he cried out, "Woe is me! I am in great pain!" Therewith
+  he fell down upon the ground and lay there in a great passion of agony. Then
+  Tristram cried aloud for help in a piercing voice; but when help came thither
+  it was too late, for the son of the Lady Moeya was dead. </p>
+<p> Then the Lady Moeva was in great torment of soul, and beat her breast and
+  tore her hair and King Meliadus had much ado for to comfort her. And after this
+  she hated Tristram worse than ever before, for she would say to herself: "Except
+  for this Tristram, my own son would yet be alive!" </p>
+<p> So she brooded upon these things until she could not rest, whether by day
+  or night. Then one day she took the rest of the poison that was in the phial
+  and poured it into a goblet of yellow wine. This goblet she gave to one of her
+  pages, saying: "Take this to Tristram, and offer it to him when I shall tell
+  you to do so!" </p>
+<div class="sidenote">The Lady Moeya seeks Tristram's life a second time.</div>
+<p> Therewith she went down to the hall where Tristram was, and she said, "Tristram,
+  let there be peace betwixt us." And Tristram said: "Lady, that meets my wishes,
+  for I have never had in my heart aught but loving-kindness toward you, and so
+  I would have it in your heart toward me." With this the page came in the hall
+  with that goblet of yellow wine. Then the Lady Moeya took the goblet and said:
+  "Take this cup, and drink of the wine that is in it, and so there shall be peace
+  betwixt us forever." And as she said that she looked very strangely upon Tristram,
+  but Tristram was altogether innocent of any evil against him. So he reached
+  out his hand to take the cup which the page brought to him. </p>
+<p> Now at that moment King Meliadus came into the hall fresh from the chase,
+  and he was much heated and greatly athirst, wherefore, when he saw that cup
+  of wine he said: "Stay, Tristram, let me drink, for I am greatly athirst. After
+  I have quenched my thirst, then thou shalt drink." </p>
+<p> Therewith he took the goblet of wine and made to lift it to his lips. But
+  at that the Lady Moeya cried out, in a very loud and piercing voice, "Do not
+  drink of that wine!" The King said, "Why should I not drink of it?" "No matter,"
+  said the Lady Moeya, "thou shalt not drink of it, for there is death in it."
+</p>
+<p> Therewith she ran to the King and catched him by the hand, and she plucked
+  away the goblet so that the wine was spilled out of it upon the ground. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">King Meliadus threatens to slay the Queen.</div>
+<p> Then King Meliadus gazed at the Lady Moeya, and he thought of many things
+  in very little time. Thereupon he seized her by the hair and dragged her forward,
+  so that she fell down upon her hands and knees to the pavement of the hall.
+  And King Meliadus drew his great sword so that it flashed like lightning, and
+  he cried: "Tell me what thou hast done, and tell me quickly, or thou shalt not
+  be able to tell me at all!" Then the Lady Moeya clutched King Meliadus about
+  the thighs, and she cried out: "Do not slay me with thine own hand, or else
+  my blood will stain thee with dishonor! I will tell thee all, and then thou
+  mayst deal with me according to the law, for indeed I am not fit to live." So
+  therewithal the Lady Moeya confessed everything to the King. </p>
+<p> Then King Meliadus shouted aloud and called the attendants and said: "Take
+  this woman and cast her into prison, and see that no harm befall her there;
+  for the lords of this country shall adjudge her, and not I." And therewith he
+  turned away and left her. </p>
+<p> And thereafter, in due season, the Lady Moeya was brought to trial and was
+  condemned to be burned at the stake. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Tristram begs mercy for the Queen.</div>
+<p> Now when the day came that she was to be burnt, Tristram was very sorry for
+  her. So when he beheld her tied fast to the stake he came to where King Meliadus
+  was and he kneeled before him, and he said, "Father, I crave a boon of thee."
+  Thereupon King Meliadus looked upon Tristram, and he loved him very tenderly
+  and he said: "My son, ask what thou wilt, and it shall be thine." Then Tristram
+  said: "Father, I pray thee, spare the life of this lady, for methinks she hath
+  repented her of her evil, and surely God hath punished her very sorely for the
+  wickedness she hath tried to do." </p>
+<p> Then King Meliadus was very wroth that Tristram should interfere with the
+  law; but yet he had granted that boon to his son and could not withdraw. So
+  after a while of thought he said: "Well, I have promised, and so I will perform
+  my promise. Her life is thine; go to the stake and take her. But when thou hast
+  done so I bid thee go forth from this place and show thy face here no more.
+  For thou hast interfered with the law, and hast done ill that thou, the son
+  of the King, should save this murderess. So thou shalt leave this place, for
+  I mistrust that between you two some murder will befall in this country." </p>
+<a href="images/028.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="p12" align="left" src="images/028.gif" border="0" alt="Tristram succors the Lady Moeya" /></a>
+<p> So Tristram went weeping to where the Queen was bound to the stake; and he
+  cut her bonds with his dagger and set her free. And he said: "Lady, thou art
+  free; now go thy way, and may God forgive thee as I do." Then the Queen wept
+  also, and said, "Tristram, thou art very good to me." And because she was barefoot
+  and in her shift, Tristram took his cloak and wrapped it about her. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Tristram departs from Lyonesse.</div>
+<p> After that, Tristram straightway left Lyonesse, and King Meliadus appointed
+  that a noble and honorable lord of the court, hight Gouvernail, should go with
+  him. They two went to France, and there they were made very welcome at the court
+  of the King. So Tristram dwelt in France till he was eighteen years old, and
+  everyone at the court of the King of France loved him and honored him so that
+  he dwelt there as though he were of the blood of France. </p>
+<p> During the time that he was in France he became the greatest hunter in the
+  world, and he wrote many books on venery that were read and studied long after
+  he had ceased to live. Also he became so skilful with the harp that no minstrel
+  in the world was his equal. And ever he waxed more sturdy of frame and more
+  beautiful of countenance, and more well-taught in all the worship of knighthood.
+  For during that time he became so wonderfully excellent in arms that there was
+  no one in France who was his equal. </p>
+<p> Thus Tristram dwelt at peace in that land for five years, but even he longed
+  for his own home with all the might and main of his heart. So one day he said
+  to Gouvernail: "Gouvernail, I cannot deny myself any longer from seeing my father
+  and my own country, for I feel that I must see them or else my heart will certainly
+  break because of its great longing." Nor would he listen to anything that Gouvernail
+  might say contrary to this. So they two took their departure from France, and
+  Tristram travelled as a harper and Gouvernail as his attendant. Thus they came
+  to Lyonesse in that wise. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">How Tristram returns to Lyonesse.</div>
+<p> One day whilst King Meliadus sat at meat, they two came into the hall, and
+  Gouvernail wore a long white beard which altogether disguised him so that no
+  one knew him. But Tristram shone with such a great radiance of beauty and of
+  youth that all who looked upon him marvelled at him. And the heart of King Meliadus
+  went out to Tristram very strongly, and he said before all of his court, "Who
+  art thou, fair youth? And whence comest thou?" To which Tristram made reply:
+  "Lord, I am a harper, and this is my man, and we have come from France." Then
+  King Meliadus said to Tristram: "Sir, have you seen a youth in France whom men
+  call Tristram?" And Tristram replied, "Yea, I have seen him several times."
+  King Meliadus said, "Doth he do well?" "Yea," said Tristram, "he doeth very
+  well, though at times he is sore oppressed with a great desire for his own country."
+  At this King Meliadus turned away his face, for his heart went very strongly
+  out at the thought of his son. Then by and by he said to Tristram, "Wilt thou
+  play upon thy harp?" And Tristram said, "Yea, if it will please thee to hear
+  me." Therewith he took his harp and he set it before him, and he struck the
+  strings and played upon it, and he sang in such a wise that no one who was there
+  had ever heard the like thereof. </p>
+<p> Then King Meliadus' heart was melted at Tristram's minstrelsy, and he said:
+  "That is wonderful harping. Now ask what thou wilt of me, and it shall be thine,
+  whatever it may be." </p>
+<p> To this Tristram said, "Lord, that is a great thing that thou sayest." "Nevertheless,"
+  said King Meliadus, "it shall be as I say." Then Tristram left his harp and
+  he came to where King Meliadus sat, and he kneeled down before him and he said:
+  "Lord, if so be that is the case, then that which I ask of thee is this: that
+  thou wilt forgive me and bring me back into thy favor again." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">King Meliadus is reconciled to Tristram.</div>
+<p> At that King Meliadus was filled with a great wonder, and he said: "Fair youth,
+  who art thou, and what have I to forgive thee?" "Lord," said Tristram, "I am
+  thy son, and ask thee to forgive me that I should have saved the life of that
+  lady who is thy Queen." </p>
+<p> At this King Meliadus cried out with joy, and he came down from where he sat
+  and he took Tristram into his arms and kissed him upon the face, and Tristram
+  wept and kissed his father upon the face. </p>
+<p> So they were reconciled. </p>
+<p> After that, Tristram abode in peace in Lyonesse for some while, and during
+  that time he made peace betwixt King Meliadus and Queen Moeya, and the Queen
+  loved him because he was so good to her. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Tristram refuses knighthood.</div>
+<p> Now after the return of Tristram as aforesaid, King Meliadus would have made
+  him a knight, but Tristram would not suffer the honor of knighthood to be bestowed
+  upon him at that time, but always said: "Lord, think not ill of me if I do not
+  accept knighthood at this time. For I would fain wait until the chance for some
+  large adventure cometh; then I would be made a knight for to meet that adventure,
+  so that I might immediately win renown. For what credit could there be to our
+  house if I should be made knight, only that I might sit in hall and feast and
+  drink and make merry?" </p>
+<p> So spoke Sir Tristram, and his words sounded well to King Meliadus, wherefore
+  from thenceforth King Meliadus refrained from urging knighthood upon him. </p>
+<p> Now the way that Sir Tristram achieved knighthood shall be told in that which
+  followeth, and also it shall then be told how he fought his first battle, which
+  was one of the most famous that ever he fought in all of his life. </p>
+<div align="center"> <a href="images/tail.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/tail.gif" border="0" alt="Tail Piece" /></a>
+</div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div class="chaphead" id="tr1c2"><a href="images/015.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/015.gif" alt="Chapter Header" border="0" /></a>
+  <br />
+  Chapter Second</div>
+<br />
+<div class="chapdes">How Sir Tristram was made knight by the King of Cornwall,
+  and how he fought a battle with a famous champion.</div>
+<p> Now first of all it is to be here said that at that time there was great trouble
+  come to King Mark of Cornwall (who, as aforesaid, was uncle to Sir Tristram)
+  and the trouble was this: </p>
+<div class="sidenote">The King of Ireland claims truage of Cornwall.</div>
+<a href="images/030.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="p13" align="right" src="images/030.gif" border="0" alt="King Mark of Cornwall" /></a>
+<p> The King of Cornwall and the King of Ireland had great debate concerning an
+  island that lay in the sea betwixt Cornwall and Ireland. For though that island
+  was held by Cornwall, yet the King of Ireland laid claim to it and demanded
+  that the King of Cornwall should pay him truage for the same. This King Mark
+  refused to do, and there was great contention betwixt Cornwall and Ireland,
+  so that each country made ready for war. </p>
+<p> But the King of Ireland said: "Let there not be war betwixt Ireland and Cornwall
+  concerning this disagreement, but let us settle this affair in some other way.
+  Let us each choose a champion and let those two champions decide the rights
+  of this case by a combat at arms. For so the truth shall be made manifest."
+</p>
+<p> Now you are to know that at that time the knights of Cornwall were held in
+  great disregard by all courts of chivalry; for there was not in those days any
+  knight of repute in all the court of Cornwall. Wherefore King Mark knew not
+  where he should find him a champion to meet that challenge from the King of
+  Ireland. Yet he must needs meet it, for he was ashamed to refuse such a challenge
+  as that, and so to acknowledge that Cornwall had no knight-champion to defend
+  it. So he said it should be as the King of Ireland would have it, and that if
+  the King of Ireland would choose a champion, he also would do the same. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">The King of Ireland chooses Sir Marhaus for his champion.</div>
+<p> Thereupon the King of Ireland chose for his champion Sir Marhaus of Ireland,
+  who was one of the greatest knights in the world. For in the Book of King Arthur
+  (which I wrote aforetime) you may there read in the story of Sir Pellias how
+  great and puissant a champion Sir Marhaus was, and how he overthrew Sir Gawaine
+  and others with the greatest ease. Wherefore at that time he was believed by
+  many to be the greatest knight in the world (it being before the days of Sir
+  Launcelot of the Lake), and even in the days of Sir Launcelot it was doubted
+  whether he or Sir Launcelot were the greater champion. </p>
+<p> So King Mark could not find any knight in Cornwall to stand against Sir Marhaus.
+  Nor could he easily find any knight outside of Cornwall to do battle with him.
+  For Sir Marhaus, being a knight of the Round Table, no other knight of the Round
+  Table would fight against him--and there were no other knights so great as that
+  famous brotherhood of the Table Round. </p>
+<p> Accordingly, King Mark knew not where to turn to find him a champion to do
+  battle in his behalf. </p>
+<p> In this strait, King Mark sent a letter by a messenger to Lyonesse, asking
+  if there was any knight at Lyonesse who would stand his champion against Sir
+  Marhaus, and he offered great reward if such a champion would undertake his
+  cause against Ireland. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Tristram asks leave to go to Cornwall.</div>
+<p> Now when young Tristram heard this letter of his uncle King Mark, he straightway
+  went to his father and said: "Sire, some whiles ago you desired that I should
+  become a knight. Now I would that you would let me go to Cornwall upon this
+  occasion. For when I come there I will beseech my uncle King Mark to make me
+  a knight, and then I will go out against Sir Marhaus. For I have a great mind
+  to undertake this adventure in behalf of King Mark, and to stand his champion
+  against Sir Marhaus. For though Sir Marhaus is so great a knight and so famous
+  a hero, yet if I should have the good fortune to overcome him in battle, there
+  would, certes, be great glory to our house through my knighthood." </p>
+<p> Then King Meliadus looked upon Tristram and loved him very dearly, and he
+  said: "Tristram, thou hast assuredly a very great heart to undertake this adventure,
+  which no one else will essay. So I bid thee go, in God's name, if so be thy
+  heart bids thee to go. For maybe God will lend the strength necessary to carry
+  this adventure through to a successful issue." </p>
+<p> So that very day Tristram departed from Lyonesse for Cornwall, taking with
+  him only Gouvernail as his companion. So, by ship, he reached Cornwall, and
+  the castle of Tintagel, where King Mark was then holding court. </p>
+<p> And it was at the sloping of the afternoon when he so came, and at that time
+  King Mark was sitting in hall with many of his knights and lords about him.
+  And the King was brooding in great trouble of spirit. Unto him came an attendant,
+  saying: "Lord, there are two strangers who stand without, and crave to be admitted
+  to your presence. One of them hath great dignity and sobriety of demeanor, and
+  the other, who is a youth, is of so noble and stately an appearance that I do
+  not believe his like is to be found in the entire world." </p>
+<p> To this the King said, "Show them in." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Tristram and Gouvernail come to Cornwall.</div>
+<p> So those two were immediately admitted into the hall and came and stood before
+  King Mark; and the one of them was Gouvernail and the other was young Tristram.
+  So Tristram stood forth before Gouvernail and Gouvernail bore the harp of Tristram,
+  and the harp was of gold and shone most brightly and beautifully. Then King
+  Mark looked upon Tristram, and marvelled at his size and beauty; for Tristram
+  stood above any man in that place, so that he looked like a hero amongst them.
+  His brow was as white as milk and his lips were red like to coral and his hair
+  was as red as gold and as plentiful as the mane of a young lion, and his neck
+  was thick and sturdy and straight like to a round pillar of white-stone, and
+  he was clad in garments of blue silk embroidered very cunningly with threads
+  of gold and set with a countless multitude of gems of divers colors. So because
+  of all this he glistened with a singular radiance of richness and beauty. </p>
+<p> So King Mark marvelled at the haughtiness of Tristram's appearance, and he
+  felt his heart drawn toward Tristram with love and admiration. Then, after a
+  little, he spoke, saying: "Fair youth, who are you, and whence come you, and
+  what is it you would have of me?" </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Tristram offers himself as champion for Cornwall.</div>
+<p> "Lord," said Tristram, "my name is Tristram, and I come from the country of
+  Lyonesse, where your own sister was one time Queen. Touching the purpose of
+  my coming hither, it is this: having heard that you are in need of a champion
+  to contend for your rights against the champion of Ireland, I come hither to
+  say that if you will make me a knight with your own hand, I will take it upon
+  me to stand your champion and to meet Sir Marhaus of Ireland upon your behalf."
+</p>
+<p> Then King Mark was filled with wonder at the courage of Tristram, and he said:
+  "Fair youth, are you not aware that Sir Marhaus of Ireland is a knight well
+  set in years and of such great and accredited deeds of arms that it is supposed
+  that, excepting Sir Launcelot of the Lake, there is not his peer in any court
+  of chivalry in all of the world? How then can you, who are altogether new to
+  the use of arms, hope to stand against so renowned a champion as he?" </p>
+<p> "Lord," quoth Tristram, "I am well aware of what sort of knight Sir Marhaus
+  is, and I am very well aware of the great danger of this undertaking. Yet if
+  one who covets knighthood shall fear to face a danger, what virtue would there
+  then be in the chivalry of knighthood? So, Messire, I put my trust in God, His
+  mercies, and I have great hope that He will lend me both courage and strength
+  in my time of need." </p>
+<p> Then King Mark began to take great joy, for he said to himself: "Maybe this
+  youth shall indeed bring me forth in safety out of these dangers that menace
+  my honor." So he said: "Tristram, I do believe that you will stand a very excellent
+  chance of success in this undertaking, wherefore it shall be as you desire;
+  I will make you a knight, and besides that I will fit you with armor and accoutrements
+  in all ways becoming to the estate of a knight-royal. Likewise I will provide
+  you a Flemish horse of the best strain, so that you shall be both furnished
+  and horsed as well as any knight in the world hath ever been." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Tristram is made knight-royal.</div>
+<p> So that night Tristram watched his armor in the chapel of the castle, and
+  the next day he was made knight with all the circumstances appertaining to a
+  ceremony of such solemnity as that. And upon the afternoon of the day upon which
+  he was thus made knight, King Mark purveyed a ship in all ways befitting the
+  occasion, and in the ship Tristram and Gouvernail set sail for that island where
+  Sir Marhaus was known to be abiding at that time. </p>
+<p> Now upon the second day of their voyaging and about the middle of the day
+  they came to a land which they knew must be the place which they were seeking,
+  and there the sailors made a safe harbor. As soon as they were at anchor a gangway
+  was set from the ship to the shore and Sir Tristram and Gouvernail drave their
+  horses across the gangway and so to the dry land. </p>
+<p> Thereafter they rode forward for a considerable distance, until about the
+  first slanting of the afternoon they perceived in the distance three very fair
+  ships drawn up close to the shore. And then they were aware of a knight, clad
+  in full armor and seated upon a noble horse under the shadow of those ships,
+  and they wist that that must be he whom Sir Tristram sought. </p>
+<p> Then Gouvernail spake to Sir Tristram, saying: "Sir, that knight resting yonder
+  beneath the shelter of the ships must be Sir Marhaus." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram goes forth to meet Sir Marhaus.</div>
+<p> "Yea," said Sir Tristram, "that is assuredly he." So he gazed very steadily
+  at the knight for a long while, and by and by he said: "Gouvernail, yonder seems
+  to me to be a very great and haughty knight for a knight so young as I am to
+  have to do with in his first battle; yet if God will lend me His strong aid
+  in this affair, I shall assuredly win me great credit at his hands." Then after
+  another short while he said: "Now go, Gouvernail, and leave me alone in this
+  affair, for I do not choose for anyone to be by when I have to do with yonder
+  knight. For either I shall overcome him in this combat or else I will lay down
+  my life at this place. For the case is thus, Gouvernail; if Sir Marhaus should
+  overcome me and if I should yield me to him as vanquished, then mine uncle must
+  pay truage to the King of Ireland for the land of Cornwall; but if I died without
+  yielding me to mine enemy, then he must yet do battle with another champion
+  at another time, if my uncle the King can find such an one to do battle in his
+  behalf. So I am determined either to win this battle or to die therein." </p>
+<p> Now when Gouvernail heard this, he fell a-weeping in great measure; and he
+  cried out: "Sir, let not this battle be of that sort!" To him Sir Tristram said
+  very steadfastly: "Say no more, Gouvernail, but go as I bid thee." Whereupon
+  Gouvernail turned and went away, as he was bidden to do, weeping very bitterly
+  as he went. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram proclaims his degree.</div>
+<p> Now by this Sir Marhaus had caught sight of Sir Tristram where he stood in
+  that field, and so presently he came riding thitherward to meet Sir Tristram.
+  When he had come nigh, Sir Marhaus said: "Who art thou, Sir Knight?" Unto these
+  Sir Tristram made reply: "Sir, I am Sir Tristram of Lyonesse, son of King Meliadus
+  of that land, and nephew of King Mark of Cornwall. I am come to do battle upon
+  behalf of the King of Cornwall, to release him from the demands of truage made
+  by the King of Ireland." Quoth Sir Marhaus: "Messire, are you a knight of approval
+  and of battles?" "Nay," said Sir Tristram, "I have only been created knight
+  these three days." </p>
+<p> "Alas!" said Sir Marhaus, "I am very sorry for thee and for thy noble courage
+  that hath brought thee hither to this place. Thou art not fit to have to do
+  with me, for I am one who hath fought in more than twice twenty battles, each
+  one of which was, I believe, greater than this is like to be. Also I have matched
+  me with the very best knights in the world, and have never yet been overcome.
+  So I advise thee, because of thy extreme youth, to return to King Mark and bid
+  him send me another champion in thy stead, who shall be better seasoned than
+  thou art." </p>
+<p> "Sir," said Sir Tristram, "I give thee gramercy for thy advice. But I may
+  tell thee that I was made knight for no other purpose than to do battle with
+  thee; so I may not return without having fulfilled mine adventure. Moreover,
+  because of thy great renown and thy courage and prowess, I feel all the more
+  desirous to have to do with thee; for if I should die at thy hand, then there
+  will be no shame to me, but if I should win this battle from thee, then I shall
+  have very great renown in the courts of chivalry." </p>
+<p> "Well," said Sir Marhaus, "it is not likely that thou shalt die at my hand.
+  For because of thy youth I will not have it that this battle shall be so desperate
+  as that." "Say not so," said Sir Tristram, "for either I shall die at thy hand,
+  or else I shall overcome thee in this battle, for I make my vow to God that
+  I will not yield myself to thee so long as there is life within my body." </p>
+<p> "Alas!" said Sir Marhaus, "that is certes a great pity. But as thou hast foreordained
+  it, so it must needs be." Therewith he saluted Sir Tristram and drew rein and
+  rode aside to a little distance where he straightway made ready for that battle.
+  Nor was Sir Tristram behind him in making preparation, albeit he was filled
+  with doubts as to the outcome of that undertaking. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram is wounded.</div>
+<p> Then when they were in all ways prepared, each gave shout and drave spurs
+  into his horse and rushed toward the other with such fury that it was terrible
+  to behold. And each smote the other with his spear in the centre of his shield,
+  and in that encounter Sir Marhaus smote through Sir Tristram's shield and gave
+  Sir Tristram a great wound in his side. Then Sir Tristram felt the blood gush
+  out of that wound in such abundance that it filled his iron boots, so that they
+  were sodden therewith, and he thought he had got his death-wound. But in spite
+  of that grievous bitter stroke, he held his seat and was not overthrown. Then
+  so soon as he had recovered himself he voided his horse and drew his sword and
+  set his shield before him; and when Sir Marhaus saw his preparations, he likewise
+  voided his horse and made ready for battle upon foot. So straightway they came
+  together with terrible fury, lashing at each other with such fearful strength
+  and evil will that it was dreadful to behold. And each gave the other many grievous
+  strokes, so that whole pieces of armor were hewn off from their bodies; and
+  each gave the other many deep wounds, so that that part of the armor that still
+  hung to them became red as though it were painted with red. Likewise the ground
+  was all besprinkled red where they stood, yet neither gave any thought to quitting
+  that battle in which they were engaged. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram gives Sir Marhaus a death-wound.</div>
+<p> Now for a while Sir Tristram feared because of the wound which he had at first
+  received that he would die in that battle, but by and by he perceived that he
+  was stouter than Sir Marhaus and better winded; wherefore great hope came to
+  him and uplifted him with redoubled strength. Then presently Sir Marhaus fell
+  back a little and when Sir Tristram perceived that he ran in upon him and smote
+  him several times, such direful strokes that Sir Marhaus could not hold up his
+  shield against that assault. Then Sir Tristram perceived that Sir Marhaus was
+  no longer able to hold up his shield, and therewith he smote him a great blow
+  with his sword upon the helmet. So direful was that blow that the sword of Sir
+  Tristram pierced very deep through the helm of Sir Marhaus and into the brainpan.
+  And Sir Tristram's sword stuck fast in the helm and the brain-pan of Sir Marhaus
+  so that Sir Tristram could not pull it out again. Then Sir Marhaus, half a-swoon,
+  fell down upon his knees, and therewith a part of the edge of the blade brake
+  off from Sir Tristram's sword, and remained in the wound that he had given to
+  Sir Marhaus. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Marhaus leaves the field.</div>
+<p> Then Sir Marhaus was aware that he had got his death-wound, wherefore a certain
+  strength came to him so that he rose to his feet staggering like a drunken man.
+  And at first he began going about in a circle and crying most dolorously. Then
+  as he wist all that had happed he threw away his sword and his shield, and made
+  away from that place, staggering and stumbling like one who had gone blind;
+  for he was all bewildered with that mortal wound, and wist not very well what
+  he was doing or whither he was going. Then Sir Tristram would have made after
+  him to stop him, but he could not do so because he himself was so sorely wounded
+  and so weak from the loss of blood. Yet he called after Sir Marhaus: "Stay,
+  stay, Sir Knight! Let us finish this battle now we are about it!" But to this
+  Sir Marhaus made no answer, but went on down to his ships, staggering and stumbling
+  like a blind man as aforesaid, for the sore wound which he had received still
+  lent him a false strength of body so that he was able to go his way. Then those
+  who were aboard the ships, beholding him thus coming staggering toward them,
+  came down and met him and lifted him up and bore him away to his own ship. Thereafter,
+  as soon as might be they hoisted sail and lifted anchor and took their way from
+  that place. </p>
+<p> Then by and by came Gouvernail and several others of Sir Tristram's party
+  to where Sir Tristram was; and there they found him leaning upon his sword and
+  groaning very sorely because of the great wound in his side. So presently they
+  perceived that he could not walk, wherefore they lifted him up upon his own
+  shield and bore him thence to that ship that had brought him thither. </p>
+<p> And when they had come to the ship they laid him down upon a couch and stripped
+  him of his armor to search his wounds. Then they beheld what a great wound it
+  was that Sir Marhaus had given him in the side, and they lifted up their voices
+  in sorrow, for they all believed that he would die. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir tristram returns to Cornwall.</div>
+<p> So they set sail, and in two days brought him back to King Mark, where he
+  sat at Tintagel in Cornwall. And when King Mark saw how pale and wan and weak
+  Sir Tristram was, he wept and grieved very sorely for sorrow of that sight,
+  for he too thought that Sir Tristram was certainly about to die. </p>
+<p> But Sir Tristram smiled upon King Mark, and he said: "Lord, have I done well
+  for thy sake?" And King Mark said, "Yea," and fell to weeping again. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram proclaims himself to King Mark.</div>
+<p> "Then," quoth Tristram, "it is time for me to tell thee who I am who have
+  saved thy kingdom from the shame of having to pay truage to Ireland, and that
+  I am thine own sister's son. For my father is King Meliadus of Lyonesse, and
+  my mother was the Lady Elizabeth, who was thine own sister till God took her
+  soul to Paradise to dwell there with His angels." </p>
+<p> But when King Mark heard this he went forth from that place and into his own
+  chamber. And when he had come there he fell down upon his knees and cried out
+  aloud: "Alas, alas, that this should be! Rather, God, would I lose my entire
+  kingdom than that my sister's son should come to his death in this wise!" </p>
+<p> Now it remaineth to say of Sir Marhaus that those who were with him brought
+  him back to Ireland and that there in a little while he died of the wound that
+  Sir Tristram had given him upon the head. But ere he died, and whilst they were
+  dressing that hurt, the Queen of Ireland, who was sister to Sir Marhaus, discovered
+  the broken piece of the blade still in that grim wound. This she drew forth
+  and set aside, and hid very carefully, saying to herself: "If ever I meet that
+  knight to whose sword this piece of blade fitteth, then it will be an evil day
+  for him." </p>
+<p> Thus I have told you all the circumstances of that great battle betwixt Sir
+  Tristram of Lyonesse and Sir Marhaus of Ireland. And now you shall hear how
+  it befell Sir Tristram thereafter; so harken to what followeth. </p>
+<div align="center"> <a href="images/tail.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/tail.gif" border="0" alt="Tail Piece" /></a>
+</div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div class="chaphead" id="tr1c3"><a href="images/017.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/017.gif" alt="Chapter Header" border="0" /></a>
+  <br />
+  Chapter Third</div>
+<br />
+<div class="chapdes">How Sir Tristram went to Ireland to be healed of his wound
+  by the King's daughter of Ireland, and of how he came to love the Lady Belle
+  Isoult. Also concerning Sir Palamydes and the Lady Belle Isoult.</div>
+<p> Now that grievous hurt which Sir Tristram had received at the hands of Sir
+  Marhaus did not heal, but instead grew even more rankled and sore, so that there
+  were many who thought that there had been treachery practised and that the spearhead
+  had been poisoned to cause such a malignant disease as that with which the wounded
+  man suffered. So by and by Sir Tristram grew so grievously sick of his hurt
+  that all those who were near him thought that he must certainly die. </p>
+<p> Then King Mark sent everywhere and into all parts for the most wise and learned
+  leeches and chirurgeons to come to Cornwall and search the wounds of Sir Tristram,
+  but of all these no one could bring him any ease. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">How Sir Tristram lieth sick in Cornwall.</div>
+<p> Now one day there came to the court of King Mark a very wise lady, who had
+  travelled much in the world and had great knowledge of wounds of all sorts.
+  At the bidding of the King, she went to where Sir Tristram lay, and searched
+  the wound as so many had already done. And when she had done that she came out
+  of Sir Tristram's chamber and unto King Mark, where he was waiting for her.
+  Then King Mark said to her: "Well, how will it be with yonder knight?" "Lord,"
+  quoth she, "it is thus; I can do nothing to save his life, nor do I know of
+  any one who may save it unless it be the King's daughter of Ireland, who is
+  known as the Belle Isoult because of her wonderful beauty. She is the most skilful
+  leech in all of the world, and she alone may hope to bring Sir Tristram back
+  to life and health again, for I believe that if she fail no one else can save
+  him." </p>
+<p> Then after the aforesaid lady had gone, King Mark went to where Sir Tristram
+  lay, and he told him all that she had said concerning his condition; and King
+  Mark said: "Tristram, wilt thou go to the King's daughter of Ireland and let
+  her search thy wound?" </p>
+<p> Then Sir Tristram groaned at the thought of the weariness and pain of moving,
+  and he said: "Lord, this is a great undertaking for one who is so sick. Moreover,
+  it is a great risk for me, for, if I go to Ireland, and if it be found that
+  I am he who slew Sir Marhaus, then it is hardly likely that I shall ever escape
+  from that country again with my life. Ne'theless, I am so sorely sick of this
+  wound that I would rather die than live as I am living; wherefore I will go
+  to Ireland for the sake of being healed, if such a thing is possible." </p>
+<p> Accordingly, a little while after that, King Mark provided a ship to carry
+  Sir Tristram to Ireland. This ship he furnished with sails of silk of divers
+  colors, and he had it hung within with fine embroidered cloth, and fabrics woven
+  with threads of silver and gold, so that in its appearance it was a worthy vessel
+  even for a great king to sail in. Then, when all was ready, King Mark had a
+  number of attendants carry Sir Tristram down to the ship in a litter, and he
+  had them lay Sir Tristram upon a soft couch of crimson satin, which was set
+  upon the deck beneath a canopy of crimson silk, embroidered with threads of
+  silver and garnished with fringe of silver, and Sir Tristram lay there at ease
+  where the breezes of the ocean came pleasantly to him, and breathed upon his
+  face and his temples and his hair and his hands with coolness; and Gouvernail
+  was with Sir Tristram all the while in attendance upon him. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram sails to Ireland to have his wound searched.</div>
+<p> So they set sail for Ireland, the weather being very fair and pleasant, and
+  on the third day, at about the time of sunset, they came to a part of the coast
+  of Ireland where there was a castle built upon the rocks that rose out of the
+  sea. </p>
+<p> Now there were several fishermen fishing in boats near that castle, and of
+  these the pilot of Sir Tristram's boat made inquiry what castle that was. To
+  him the fisherman replied: "That castle is the castle of King Angus of Ireland."
+  And the fisherman said: "It so happens that the King and Queen and their daughter,
+  hight the Lady Belle Isoult, and all of their court are there at this very while."
+</p>
+<p> This Sir Tristram heard and said: "This is good news, for indeed I am very
+  sick and am right glad that my voyaging is ended." So he gave orders that the
+  pilot should bring the ship close under the walls of that castle, and that he
+  should there let go anchor; and the pilot did as Sir Tristram had commanded
+  him. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">How Sir Tristram came to Ireland.</div>
+<p> Now, as aforesaid, that ship was of a very wonderful appearance, like to the
+  ship of a king or a high prince, wherefore many people came down to the walls
+  of the castle and stood there and gazed at the vessel as it sailed into the
+  harbor. And by that time the sun had set and all the air was illuminated with
+  a marvellous golden light; and in this sky of gold the moon hung like a shield
+  of silver, very bright and steady above the roofs and towers of the castle.
+  And there came from the land a pleasing perfume of blossoms; for it was then
+  in the fulness of the spring-time, and all the fruit-bearing trees were luxuriant
+  with bloom so that the soft air of evening was full of fragrance thereby. </p>
+<p> Then there came a great content into the heart of Sir Tristram, wherefore
+  he said to Gouvernail: "Gouvernail, either I shall soon be healed of this wound,
+  or else I shall presently die and enter into Paradise free of pain, for I am
+  become very full of content and of peace toward all men." And then he said:
+  "Bring me hither my harp, that I may play upon it a little, for I have a desire
+  to chant in this pleasant evening-time." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram sings.</div>
+<p> So Gouvernail brought to Sir Tristram his shining harp, and when Sir Tristram
+  had taken it into his hands he tuned it, and when he had tuned it he struck
+  it and sang; and, because of the stillness of the evening, his voice sounded
+  marvellously clear and sweet across the level water, so that those who stood
+  upon the castle walls and heard it thought that maybe an angel was singing on
+  board of that ship. </p>
+<p> That time the Lady Belle Isoult sat at the window of her bower enjoying the
+  pleasantness of the evening. She also heard Sir Tristram singing, and she said
+  to those damsels who were with her, "Ha, what is that I hear?" Therewith she
+  listened for a little while, and then she said: "Meseems that must be the voice
+  of some angel that is singing." They say: "Nay, Lady, it is a wounded knight
+  singing, and he came to this harbor in a wonderful ship some while ago." Then
+  the Lady Belle Isoult said to a page who was in attendance: "Bid the King and
+  Queen come hither, that they may hear this singing also, for never did I think
+  to hear such singing beyond the walls of Paradise." </p>
+<p> So the page ran with all speed, and in a little the King and Queen came to
+  the bower of the Lady Belle Isoult; and she and they leaned upon the window-ledge
+  and listened to Sir Tristram whilst he sang in the soft twilight. Then by and
+  by King Angus said: "Now I will have yonder minstrel brought thither to this
+  castle to do us pleasure, for I believe that he must be the greatest minstrel
+  in all the world to sing in that wise." And the Lady Belle Isoult said: "I pray
+  you, sir, do so, for it would be great joy to everybody to have such singing
+  as that in this place." </p>
+<p> So King Angus sent a barge to that ship, and besought that he who sang should
+  be brought to the castle. At that Sir Tristram was very glad, for he said: "Now
+  I shall be brought to the Lady the Belle Isoult and maybe she will heal me."
+  So he had them bare him to the barge of the King of Ireland, and so they brought
+  him to the castle of King Angus, where they laid him upon a bed in a fair room
+  of the castle. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">King Angus cometh to Tristram.</div>
+<p> Then King Angus came to Sir Tristram where he lay, and he said: "Messire what
+  can I do for you to put you more at your ease than you are?" "Lord," said Sir
+  Tristram, "I pray you to permit the Lady Belle Isoult to search a great wound
+  in my side that I received in battle. For I hear that she is the most skilful
+  leech in all the world, and so I have come hither from a great distance, being
+  in such pain and dole from my grievous hurt that I shall die in a little while
+  unless it be healed." </p>
+<p> "Messire," said King Angus, "I perceive that you are no ordinary knight, but
+  somebody of high nobility and estate, so it shall be as you desire." And then
+  King Angus said: "I pray you, tell me your name and whence you come." </p>
+<p> Upon this, Sir Tristram communed within his own mind, saying: "An I say my
+  name is Tristram, haply there may be someone here will know me and that I was
+  the cause why the brother of the Queen of this place hath died." So he said:
+  "Lord, my name is Sir Tramtris, and I am come from a country called Lyonesse,
+  which is a great distance from this." </p>
+<p> Quoth King Angus, "Well, Sir Tramtris, I am glad that you have come to this
+  place. Now it shall be done to you as you desire, for to-morrow the Lady Belle
+  Isoult shall search your wound to heal it if possible." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">My Lady Belle Isoult searches the wound.</div>
+<p> And so it was as King Angus said, for the next day the Lady Belle Isoult came
+  with her attendants to where Sir Tristram lay, and one of the attendants bare
+  a silver basin and another bare a silver ewer, and others bare napkins of fine
+  linen. So the Lady Belle Isoult came close to Sir Tristram and kneeled beside
+  the couch whereon he lay and said, "Let me see the wound." Therewith Sir Tristram
+  laid bare his bosom and his side and she beheld it. Then she felt great pity
+  for Sir Tristram because of that dolorous wound, and she said: "Alas, that so
+  young and so fair and so noble a knight should suffer so sore a wound as this!"
+  Therewith still kneeling beside Sir Tristram she searched the wound with very
+  gentle, tender touch (for her fingers were like to rose leaves for softness)
+  and lo! she found a part of the blade of a spear-head embedded very deep in
+  the wound of Sir Tristram. </p>
+<p> This she drew forth very deftly (albeit Sir Tristram groaned with a great
+  passion of pain) and therewithafter came forth an issue of blood like a crimson
+  fountain, whereupon Sir Tristram swooned away like one who had gone dead. But
+  he did not die, for they quickly staunched the flow, set aromatic spices to
+  his nostrils, so that in a little he revived in spirit to find himself at great
+  ease and peace in his body (albeit it was for a while like to the peace of death).
+</p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram is healed.</div>
+<p> Thus it was that the Lady Belle Isoult saved the life of Sir Tristram, for
+  in a little while he was able to be about again, and presently waxed almost
+  entirely hale and strong in limb and body. </p>
+<p> And now it is to be told how Sir Tristram loved the Lady Belle Isoult and
+  how she loved Sir Tristram. Also how a famous knight, hight Sir Palamydes the
+  Saracen, loved Belle Isoult and of how she loved not him. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram loves the Lady Belle Isoult.</div>
+<p> For, as was said, it came about that in a little while Sir Tristram was healed
+  of that grievous wound aforetold of so that he was able to come and go whithersoever
+  he chose. But always he would be with the Lady Belle Isoult, for Sir Tristram
+  loved her with a wonderfully passionate regard. And so likewise the lady loved
+  Sir Tristram. For if he loved her because she had saved his life, then she also
+  loved him for the same reason. For she did not ever forget how she had drawn
+  out the head of that spear from the wound at his side, and of how he had groaned
+  when she brought it forth, and of how the blood had gushed out of that wound.
+  Wherefore she loved him very aboundingly for the agony of pain she had one time
+  caused him to suffer. </p>
+<p> So they two fair and noble creatures were always together in bower or in hall,
+  and no one in all that while wist that Sir Tramtris was Sir Tristram, and that
+  it was his hand that had slain Sir Marhaus of Ireland. </p>
+<p> So Sir Tristram was there in Ireland for a year, and in that time he grew
+  to be altogether well and sturdy again. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Palamydes cometh to Ireland.</div>
+<p> Now it was in those days that there came Sir Palamydes the Saracen knight
+  to that place, who was held to be one of the very foremost knights in the world.
+  So great rejoicing was made over him because he had come thither, and great
+  honor was shown to him by everyone. </p>
+<p> But when Sir Palamydes beheld the Lady Belle Isoult and when he saw how fair
+  she was, he came in a short while to love her with almost as passionate a regard
+  as that with which Sir Tristram loved her, so that he also sought ever to be
+  with her whenever the chance offered. </p>
+<p> But Belle Isoult felt no regard for Sir Palamydes, but only fear of him, for
+  all of her love was given to Sir Tristram. Nevertheless, because Sir Palamydes
+  was so fierce and powerful a knight, she did not dare to offend him; wherefore
+  she smiled upon him and treated him with all courtesy and kindness although
+  she loved him not, dissembling her regard for him. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram is displeased.</div>
+<p> All this Sir Tristram beheld from aside and it displeased him a very great
+  deal to see how Sir Palamydes was always beside the lady. But Belle Isoult beheld
+  how Sir Tristram was displeased, wherefore she took occasion to say to him:
+  "Tramtris, be not displeased, for what am I to do? You know very well that I
+  do not love this knight, but I am afraid of him because he is so fierce and
+  so strong." </p>
+<p> To this Sir Tristram said: "Lady, it would be a great shame to me if I, being
+  by, should suffer any knight to come betwixt you and me and win your regard
+  through fear of him." </p>
+<p> She said: "Tramtris, what would you do? Would you give challenge to this knight?
+  Lo, you are not yet entirely healed of your hurt, and Sir Palamydes is in perfect
+  strength of body. For indeed it is for you I am most of all afraid lest you
+  and Sir Palamydes should come to battle and lest he should do you a harm before
+  you are entirely healed." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram desires to do battle.</div>
+<p> "Lady," quoth Sir Tristram, "I thank God that I am not at all afraid of this
+  knight, or of any other knight, and I have to thank you that I am now entirely
+  recovered and am as strong as ever I was. Wherefore I have now a mind to deal
+  with this knight in your behalf. So if you will provide me with armor I will
+  deal with him so that maybe he will not trouble you again. Now I will devise
+  it in this way:--tell your father, King Angus, to proclaim a great jousting.
+  In that jousting I will seek out Sir Palamydes and will encounter him, and I
+  hope with God's aid that I shall overcome him, so that you shall be free from
+  him." </p>
+<p> Belle Isoult said, "Tramtris, are you able for this?" He said, "Yea, I am
+  as ready as ever I shall be in all of my life." Whereat Belle Isoult said, "It
+  shall be as you will have it." </p>
+<p> Then Sir Tristram charged Belle Isoult that she should keep secret all this
+  that had been said betwixt them. And more especially she was to keep it secret
+  that he was to take part in such a tournament as that which they had devised.
+  And he said to her: "Lady, I lie here under a great peril to my life, though
+  I cannot tell you what that peril is. But I may tell you that if my enemies
+  should discover me at this place, it would go hard with me to preserve my life
+  from them. Wherefore, if I take part in any such affair as this, it must be
+  altogether a secret betwixt us." </p>
+<p> So therewith they parted and Lady Belle Isoult went to her father and besought
+  him to proclaim a great day of jousting in honor of Sir Palamydes, and the King
+  said that he would do so. So the King sent forth proclamation to all the courts
+  of that nation that a great tournament was to be held and that great rewards
+  and great honors were to be given to the best knight thereat. And that tournament
+  was talked about in all the courts of chivalry where there were knights who
+  desired to win glory in such affairs at arms. </p>
+<p> And now it shall be told concerning that tournament and how it befell with
+  Sir Tristram thereat, and with Sir Palamydes thereat. </p>
+<div align="center"> <a href="images/tail.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/tail.gif" border="0" alt="Tail Piece" /></a>
+</div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div class="chaphead" id="tr1c4"><a href="images/019.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/019.gif" alt="Chapter Header" border="0" /></a>
+  <br />
+  Chapter Fourth</div>
+<br />
+<div class="chapdes">How Sir Tristram encountered Sir Palamydes at the tournament
+  and of what befell. Also how Sir Tristram was forced to leave the Kingdom of
+  Ireland.</div>
+<p> So came the time for the tournament that King Angus of Ireland had ordained;
+  and that was a very famous affair at arms indeed. For it hath very rarely happened
+  that so noble a gathering of knights hath ever come together as that company
+  which there presented itself for that occasion at the court of the King of Ireland.
+</p>
+<div class="sidenote">Of the court of chivalry at Ireland.</div>
+<p> For you may know how excellent was the court of chivalry that fore gathered
+  thereat when you shall hear that there came to that tournament, the King of
+  an Hundred Knights and the King of the Scots, and that there came several knights
+  of the Round Table, to wit: Sir Gawaine, Sir Gaheris and Sir Agravaine; and
+  Sir Bagdemagus and Sir Kay and Sir Dodinas, and Sir Sagramore le Desirous, and
+  Sir Gumret the Less, and Sir Griflet; and that there came besides these many
+  other knights of great renown. </p>
+<p> These and many others gathered at the court of King Angus of Ireland, so that
+  all those meadows and fields coadjacent to the place of battle were gay as beds
+  of flowers with the multitude of tents and pavilions of divers colors that were
+  there emplanted. </p>
+<p> And on the day of the tournament there came great crowds of people into the
+  lists, so that all that place was alive with movement. For it was as though
+  a sea of people had arisen to overflow the seats and stalls thereof. </p>
+<p> Now that tournament was to last for three days, and upon the third day there
+  was to be a grand m&#234;l&#233;e in which all these knights contestant were
+  to take stand upon this side or upon that. </p>
+<p> But upon the first two of those three days Sir Tristram sat in the stall of
+  the King and looked down upon the jousting, for, because of the illness from
+  which he had recovered, he was minded to save his body until the right time
+  should come, what time he should be called upon to do his uttermost. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Palamydes performeth wonders.</div>
+<p> And in those two days, Sir Tristram beheld that Sir Palamydes did more wonderfully
+  in battle than he would have believed it possible for any knight to do. For
+  Sir Palamydes was aware that the eyes of the Lady Belle Isoult were gazing upon
+  him, wherefore he felt himself uplifted to battle as with the strength of ten.
+  Wherefore he raged about that field like a lion of battle, seeking whom he might
+  overthrow and destroy. And upon the first day he challenged Sir Gawaine to joust
+  with him, and then he challenged Sir Gaheris, and the King of an Hundred Knights,
+  and Sir Griflet, and Sir Sagramore le Desirous and fourteen other knights, and
+  all of these he met and many he overcame, and that without any mishap to himself.
+  And upon the second day he met with great success Sir Agravaine and Sir Griflet
+  and Sir Kay and Sir Dodinas and twelve other knights. Wherefore those who beheld
+  how he did gave great shouts and outcries of applause and acclaim, saying: "Certes,
+  there was never knight in all of the world so great as this knight. Yea; even
+  Sir Launcelot himself could not do more than that knight doeth." </p>
+<p> Then Belle Isoult was troubled in her mind, and she said: "Tramtris, yonder
+  in very truth is a most fierce and terrible knight. Now somewhiles I have fear
+  that you may not be able to overcome him." </p>
+<p> Thereat Sir Tristram smiled very grimly, and said: "Lady, already I have overcome
+  in battle a bigger knight than ever Sir Palamydes has been or is like to be."
+  But the Lady Belle Isoult wist not that that knight of whom Sir Tristram spake
+  was Sir Marhaus of Ireland. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Palamydes bespeaks the Lady Belle Isoult.</div>
+<p> Now upon the evening of the second day of that tournament, Sir Palamydes came
+  to where the Lady Belle Isoult was, and he said: "Lady, all these things I have
+  done for your sake. For had it not been for my love for you, I would not have
+  been able to do a third part of that which I did. Now I think you should have
+  pity and regard for one who loves you so strongly as that; wherefore I beseech
+  you to bestow some part of your good-will upon me." </p>
+<p> "Sir," said the Lady Belle Isoult, "you are not to forget that there is still
+  another day of this battle, and in it you may not happen to have the same fortune
+  that favored you to-day; so I will wait until you have won that battle also
+  before I answer you." </p>
+<p> "Well," said Sir Palamydes, "you shall see that I shall do even more worthily
+  to-morrow for your sake than I have done to-day." </p>
+<p> But the Lady Belle Isoult was not very well pleased with that saying, for
+  she began again to fear that maybe the will of Sir Palamydes was so strong that
+  Sir Tristram would not have any success against him. </p>
+<p> So came the third day of that very famous contest at arms, and when this morning
+  was come there began to gather together in the two parties those who were to
+  contest the one against the other. Of one of these parties, Sir Palamydes was
+  the chiefest knight, and upon that side was also Sir Gawaine and several of
+  the knights who were with him. For these said, "There shall certes be greater
+  credit to be had with Sir Palamydes than against him," and so they joined them
+  with his party. Of the other party the chiefest knights were the King of an
+  Hundred Knights and the King of Scots, and both of these were very famous and
+  well-approved champions, of high courage and remarkable achievements. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Belle Isoult arms Sir Tristram.</div>
+<p> Now when the time was nigh ready for that tournament, Sir Tristram went to
+  put on the armor that the Lady Belle Isoult had provided him, and when he was
+  armed he mounted very lightly upon the horse which she had given him. And the
+  armor of Sir Tristram was white, shining like to silver, and the horse was altogether
+  white, and the furniture and trappings thereof were all white, so that Sir Tristram
+  glistened with extraordinary splendor. </p>
+<p> Now when he was armed and prepared in all ways, the Lady Belle Isoult came
+  to where he was and she said, "Tramtris, are you ready?" And he answered "Yea."
+  Therewith she took the horse of Sir Tristram by the bridle and she led him to
+  the postern gate of the castle, and put him out that way into a fair field that
+  lay beyond; and Sir Tristram abided in the fields for some while until the tournament
+  should have begun. </p>
+<p> But the Lady Belle Isoult went to the tournament with her father, the King,
+  and her mother, the Queen, and took her station at that place assigned to her
+  whence she might overlook the field. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">How Sir Palamydes fought in the tournament.</div>
+<p> So in a little while that friendly battle began. And again Sir Palamydes was
+  filled with the vehement fury of contest, wherefore he raged about the field,
+  spreading terror whithersoever he came. For first he made at the King of an
+  Hundred Knights, and he struck that knight so direful a blow that both horse
+  and man fell to the ground with the force thereof. Then in the same manner he
+  struck the King of Scots with his sword, and smote him straightway out of the
+  saddle also. Then he struck down one after another, seven other knights, all
+  of well-proved strength and prowess, so that all those who looked thereon cried
+  out, "Is he a man or is he a demon?" So, because of the terror of Sir Palamydes,
+  all those in that contest bore away from him as they might do from a lion in
+  anger. </p>
+<p> At this time came Sir Tristram, riding at a free pace, shining like to a figure
+  of silver. Then many saw him and observed him and said to one another: "Who
+  is this knight, and what party will he join with to do battle?" These had not
+  long to wait to know what side he would join, for immediately Sir Tristram took
+  stand with that party which was the party of the King of an Hundred Knights
+  and the King of Scots, and at that the one party was very glad, and the other
+  party was sorry; for they deemed that Sir Tristram was certes some great champion.
+</p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram enters the tournament.</div>
+<p> Then straightway there came against Sir Tristram four knights of the other
+  party, and one of these was Sir Gaheris, and another was Sir Griflet and another
+  was Sir Bagdemagus and another was Sir Kay. But Sir Tristram was possessed with
+  a great joy of battle, so that in a very short time he had struck down or overthrown
+  all those knights, beginning with Sir Gaheris, and ending with Sir Kay the seneschal.
+</p>
+<p> This Sir Gawaine beheld, and said to Sir Sagramore: "Yonder is certes a knight
+  of terrible strength; now let us go and see of what mettle he be." </p>
+<p> Therewith Sir Gawaine pushed against Sir Tristram from the one side, and Sir
+  Sagramore came against him on the other side, and so they met him both at once.
+  Then first Sir Gawaine struck Sir Tristram such a buffet that the horse of Sir
+  Tristram turned twice about with the force of that stroke; and therewith Sir
+  Sagramore smote him a buffet upon the other side so that Sir Tristram wist not
+  upon which side to defend himself. </p>
+<p> Then, at those blows Sir Tristram waxed so exceedingly fierce that it was
+  as though a fire of rage flamed up into his brains and set them into a blaze
+  of rage. So with that he rose up in his stirrups and launched so dreadful a
+  blow upon Sir Gawaine that I believe nothing could have withstood the force
+  of that blow. For it clave through the shield of Sir Gawaine and it descended
+  upon the crown of his helmet and it clave away a part of his helmet and a part
+  of the &#233;pauli&#232;re of his shoulder; and with the force of that dreadful,
+  terrible blow, Sir Gawaine fell down upon the ground and lay there as though
+  he were dead. </p>
+<p> Then Sir Tristram wheeled upon Sir Sagramore (who sat wonder-struck at that
+  blow he had beheld) and thereafter he smote him too, so that he fell down and
+  lay upon the ground in a swoon from which he did not recover for more than two
+  hours. </p>
+<p> Now Sir Palamydes also had beheld those two strokes that Sir Tristram had
+  given, wherefore he said: "Hah! Yonder is a very wonderful knight. Now if I
+  do not presently meet him, and that to my credit, he will have more honor in
+  this battle than I." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Palamydes rides against Sir Tristram.</div>
+<p> So therewith Sir Palamydes pushed straight against Sir Tristram, and when
+  Sir Tristram beheld that he was very glad, for he said: "Now it will either
+  be Sir Palamydes his day, or else it will be mine." So he upon his part pushed
+  against Sir Palamydes with good intent to engage him in battle, and then they
+  two met in the midst of the field. </p>
+<p> Then immediately Sir Palamydes smote Sir Tristram such a buffet that Sir Tristram
+  thought a bolt of lightning had burst upon him, and for a little while he was
+  altogether bemazed and wist not where he was. But when he came to himself he
+  was so filled with fury that his heart was like to break therewith. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram smites Sir Palamydes.</div>
+<p> Thereupon he rushed upon Sir Palamydes and smote him again and again and again
+  with such fury and strength that Sir Palamydes was altogether stunned at the
+  blows he received and bare back before them. Then Sir Tristram perceived how
+  that Sir Palamydes bare his shield low because of the fierceness of that assault,
+  and thereupon he rose up in his stirrups and struck Sir Palamydes upon the crown
+  of the helmet so dreadful a buffet that the brains of Sir Palamydes swam like
+  water, and he must needs catch the pommel of his saddle to save himself from
+  falling. Then Sir Tristram smote him another buffet, and therewith darkness
+  came upon the sight of Sir Palamydes and he rolled off from his horse into the
+  dust beneath its feet. </p>
+<p> Then all who beheld the encounter shouted very loud and with great vehemence,
+  for it was the very best and most notable assault at arms that had been performed
+  in all that battle. But most of those who beheld that assault cried out "The
+  Silver Knight!" For at that time no one but the Lady Belle Isoult wist who that
+  silver knight was. But she wist very well who he was, and was so filled with
+  the glory of his prowess that she wept for joy thereof. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Belle Isoult declares Sir Tristram.</div>
+<p> Then the King of Ireland said: "Who is yonder knight who hath so wonderfully
+  overthrown Sir Palamydes? I had not thought there was any knight in the world
+  so great as he; but this must be some great champion whom none of us know."
+  Upon that the Lady Belle Isoult, still weeping for joy, could contain herself
+  no longer, but cried out: "Sir, that is Tramtris, who came to us so nigh to
+  death and who hath now done us so great honor being of our household! For I
+  knew very well that he was no common knight but some mighty champion when I
+  first beheld him." </p>
+<p> At that the King of Ireland was very much astonished and overjoyed, and he
+  said: "If that is indeed so, then it is a very great honor for us all." </p>
+<p> Now after that assault Sir Tristram took no more part in that battle but withdrew
+  to one side. But he perceived where the esquires attendant upon Sir Palamydes
+  came to him and lifted him up and took him away. Then by and by he perceived
+  that Sir Palamydes had mounted his horse again with intent to leave that meadow
+  of battle, and in a little he saw Sir Palamydes ride away with his head bowed
+  down like to one whose heart was broken. </p>
+<p> All this Sir Tristram beheld and did not try to stay Sir Palamydes in his
+  departure. But some while after Sir Palamydes had quitted that place, Sir Tristram
+  also took his departure, going in that same direction that Sir Palamydes had
+  gone. Then after he had come well away from the meadow of battle, Sir Tristram
+  set spurs to his horse and rode at a hard gallop along that way that Sir Palamydes
+  had taken. </p>
+<p> So he rode at such a gait for a considerable pass until, by and by, he perceived
+  Sir Palamydes upon the road before him; and Sir Palamydes was at that time come
+  to the edge of a woods where there were several stone windmills with great sails
+  swinging very slowly around before a strong wind that was blowing. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram overthrows Palamydes again.</div>
+<p> Now this was a lonely place, and one very fit to do battle in, wherefore Sir
+  Tristram cried out to Sir Palamydes in a loud voice: "Sir Palamydes! Sir Palamydes!
+  Turn you about! For here is the chance for you to recover the honor that you
+  have lost to me." Thereupon Sir Palamydes, hearing that loud voice, turned him
+  about. But when he beheld that the knight who called was he who had just now
+  wrought such shame upon him, he ground his teeth together with rage, and therewith
+  drave his horse at Sir Tristram, drawing his sword so that it flashed like lightning
+  in the bright sunlight. And when he came nigh to Sir Tristram, he stood up in
+  his stirrups and lashed a blow at him with all his might and main; for he said
+  to himself: "Maybe I shall now recover mine honor with one blow which I lost
+  to this knight a while since." But Sir Tristram put aside that blow of Sir Palamydes
+  with his shield with very great skill and dexterity, and thereupon, recovering
+  himself, he lashed at Sir Palamydes upon his part. And at that first stroke
+  Sir Tristram smote down the shield of Sir Palamydes, and gave him such a blow
+  upon the head that Sir Palamydes fell down off his horse upon the earth. Then
+  Sir Tristram voided his own horse very quickly, and running to Sir Palamydes
+  where he lay he plucked off his helmet with great violence. Therewith he cried
+  out very fiercely: "Sir Knight, yield thee to me, or I will slay thee." And
+  therewithal he lifted up his sword as though to strike off the head of Sir Palamydes.
+</p>
+<p> Then when Sir Palamydes saw Sir Tristram standing above him in that wise,
+  he dreaded his buffets so that he said: "Sir Knight, I yield me to thee to do
+  thy commands, if so be thou wilt spare my life." </p>
+<p> Thereupon Sir Tristram said, "Arise," and at that Sir Palamydes got him up
+  to his knees with some ado, and so remained kneeling before Sir Tristram. </p>
+<p> "Well," said Sir Tristram, "I believe you have saved your life by thus yielding
+  yourself to me. Now this shall be my commandment upon you. First of all, my
+  commandment is that you forsake the Lady Belle Isoult, and that you do not come
+  near her for the space of an entire year. And this is my second commandment;
+  that from this day you do not assume the arms of knighthood for an entire year
+  and a day." </p>
+<p> "Alas!" said Sir Palamydes, "why do you not slay me instead of bringing me
+  to such shame as this! Would that I had died instead of yielding myself to you
+  as I did." And therewith he wept for shame and despite. </p>
+<p> "Well," said Sir Tristram, "let that pass which was not done. For now you
+  have yielded yourself to me and these are my commands." So with that Sir Tristram
+  set his sword back again into its sheath, and he mounted his horse and rode
+  away, leaving Sir Palamydes where he was. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Palamydes disarms himself.</div>
+<p> But after Sir Tristram had gone, Sir Palamydes arose, weeping aloud. And he
+  said: "This is such shame to me that I think there can be no greater shame."
+  Thereupon he drew his misericordia, and he cut the thongs of his harness and
+  he tore the pieces of armor from off his body and flung them away very furiously,
+  upon the right hand and upon the left. And when he had thus stripped himself
+  of all of his armor, he mounted his horse and rode away into the forest, weeping
+  like one altogether brokenhearted. </p>
+<p> So Sir Tristram drave Sir Palamydes away from the Lady Belle Isoult as he
+  had promised to do. </p>
+<p> Now when Tristram came back to the castle of the King of Ireland once more,
+  he thought to enter privily in by the postern-gate as he had gone out. But lo!
+  instead of that he found a great party waiting for him before the castle and
+  these gave him loud acclaim, crying, "Welcome, Sir Tramtris! Welcome, Sir Tramtris!"
+  And King Angus came forward and took the hand of Sir Tristram, and he also said:
+  "Welcome, Sir Tramtris, for you have brought us great honor this day!" </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram chides Belle Isoult.</div>
+<p> But Sir Tristram looked at the Lady the Belle Isoult with great reproach and
+  by and by when they were together he said: "Lady, why did you betray me who
+  I was when you had promised me not to do so?" "Sir," she said, "I meant not
+  to betray you, but in the joy of your victory I know not very well what I said."
+  "Well," said Sir Tristram, "God grant that no harm come of it." She said, "What
+  harm can come of it, Messire?" Sir Tristram said: "I may not tell you, Lady,
+  but I fear that harm will come of it." </p>
+<p> Anon the Queen of Ireland came and said: "Tramtris, one so nigh to death as
+  you have been should not so soon have done battle as you have done. Now I will
+  have a bain prepared and you shall bathe therein, for you are not yet hale and
+  strong." </p>
+<p> "Lady," said Tristram, "I do not need any bain, for I believe I am now strong
+  and well in all wise." </p>
+<p> "Nay," said the Queen, "you must have that bain so that no ill may come to
+  you hereafter from this battle which you have fought." </p>
+<p> So she had that bain prepared of tepid water, and it was very strong and potent
+  with spices and powerful herbs of divers sorts. And when that bain was prepared,
+  Sir Tristram undressed and entered the bath, and the Queen and the Lady Belle
+  Isoult were in the adjoining chamber which was his bed-chamber. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">The Queen of Ireland beholds Sir Tristram's sword.</div>
+<p> Now whilst Sir Tristram was in that bath, the Queen and Belle Isoult looked
+  all about his chamber. And they beheld the sword of Sir Tristram where it lay,
+  for he had laid it upon the bed when he had unlatched the belt to make himself
+  ready for that bath. Then the Queen said to the Lady Belle Isoult, "See what
+  a great huge sword this is," and thereupon she lifted it and drew the blade
+  out of its sheath, and she beheld what a fair, bright, glistering sword it was.
+  Then in a little she saw where, within about a foot and a half from the point,
+  there was a great piece in the shape of a half-moon broken out of the edge of
+  the sword; and she looked at that place for a long while. Then of a sudden she
+  felt a great terror, for she remembered how even such a piece of sword as that
+  which had been broken off from that blade, she had found in the wound of Sir
+  Marhaus of which he had died. So she stood for a while holding that sword of
+  Sir Tristram in her hand and looking as she had been turned into stone. At this
+  the Lady Belle Isoult was filled with a sort of fear, wherefore she said, "Lady,
+  what ails you?" The Queen said, "Nothing that matters," and therewith she laid
+  aside the sword of Sir Tristram and went very quickly to her own chamber. There
+  she opened her cabinet and took thence the piece of sword-blade which she had
+  drawn from the wound of Sir Marhaus, and which she had kept ever since. With
+  this she hurried back to the chamber of Sir Tristram, and fitted that piece
+  of the blade to the blade; and lo! it fitted exactly, and without flaw. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">The Queen assails Sir Tristram.</div>
+<a href="images/032.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="p15" align="right" src="images/032.gif" border="0" alt="The Queen of Ireland seeks to slay Sir Tristram" /></a>
+<p> Upon that the Queen was seized as with a sudden madness; for she shrieked
+  out in a very loud voice, "Traitor! Traitor! Traitor!" saying that word three
+  times. Therewith she snatched up the sword of Sir Tristram and she ran with
+  great fury into the room where he lay in his bath. And she beheld him where
+  he was there all naked in his bath, and therewith she rushed at him and lashed
+  at him with his sword. But Sir Tristram threw himself to one side and so that
+  blow failed of its purpose. Then the Queen would have lashed at him again or
+  have thrust him through with the weapon; but at that Gouvernail and Sir Helles
+  ran to her and catched her and held her back, struggling and screaming very
+  violently. So they took the sword away from her out of her hands, and all the
+  while she shrieked like one gone entirely distracted. </p>
+<p> Then as soon as Gouvernail and Sir Helles loosed her, she ran very violently
+  out of that room with great outcry of screaming, and so to King Angus and flung
+  herself upon her knees before him, crying out: "Justice! Justice! I have found
+  that man who slew my brother! I beseech of you that you will deal justice upon
+  him." </p>
+<p> Then King Angus rose from where he sat, and he said: "Where is that man? Bring
+  me to him." And the Queen said: "It is Tramtris, who hath come hither unknown
+  unto this place." </p>
+<p> King Angus said: "Lady, what is this you tell me? I cannot believe that what
+  you say is true." Upon this the Queen cried out: "Go yourself, Lord, and inquire,
+  and find out how true it is." </p>
+<p> Then King Angus rose, and went forth from that place, and he went to the chamber
+  of Sir Tristram. And there he found that Sir Tristram had very hastily dressed
+  himself and had armed himself in such wise as he was able. Then King Angus came
+  to Tristram, and he said: "How is this, that I find thee armed? Art thou an
+  enemy to my house?" And Tristram wept, and said: "Nay, Lord, I am not your enemy,
+  but your friend, for I have great love for you and for all that is yours, so
+  that I would be very willing to do battle for you even unto death if so be I
+  were called upon to do so." </p>
+<p> Then King Angus said: "If that is so, how is it that I find thee here armed
+  as if for battle, with thy sword in thy hand?" "Lord," said Sir Tristram, "although
+  I be friends with you and yours, yet I know not whether you be friends or enemies
+  unto me; wherefore I have prepared myself so that I may see what is your will
+  with me, for I will not have you slay me without defence upon my part." Then
+  King Angus said: "Thou speakest in a very foolish way, for how could a single
+  knight hope to defend himself against my whole household? Now I bid thee tell
+  me who thou art, and what is thy name, and why thou earnest hither knowing that
+  thou hadst slain my brother?" </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram confesses to King Angus.</div>
+<p> Then Sir Tristram said, "Lord, I will tell thee all the truth." And therewith
+  he confessed everything to King Angus, to wit: who was his father and his mother,
+  and how he was born and reared; how he fought Sir Marhaus, and for what reason;
+  and of how he came hither to be healed of his wound, from which else he must
+  die in very grievous pain. And he said: "All this is truth, Lord, and it is
+  truth that I had no ill-will against Sir Marhaus; for I only stood to do battle
+  with him for the sake of mine uncle, King Mark of Cornwall, and to enhance mine
+  own honor; and I took my fortune with him as he took his with me. Moreover,
+  I fought with Sir Marhaus upon the same day that I was made knight, and that
+  was the first battle which I fought, and in that battle I was wounded so sorely
+  that I was like to die as you very well know. As for him, he was a knight well-tried
+  and seasoned with many battles, and he suffered by no treachery but only with
+  the fortune of war." </p>
+<p> So King Angus listened to all that Sir Tristram said, and when he had ended,
+  quoth he: "As God sees me, Tristram, I cannot deny that you did with Sir Marhaus
+  as a true knight should. For it was certes your part to take the cause of your
+  uncle upon you if you had the heart to do so, and it was truly a real knightly
+  thing for you who were so young to seek honor at the hands of so famous a knight
+  as Sir Marhaus. For I do not believe that until you came his way there was any
+  knight in the world who was greater than he, unless it were Sir Launcelot of
+  the Lake. Wherefore, from that, and from what I saw you do at the tournament,
+  some time ago, I believe that you are one of the strongest knights in the world,
+  and the peer of Sir Launcelot, or of anybody else. </p>
+<p> "But though all this is true, nevertheless it will not be possible for me
+  to maintain you in this country, for if I keep you here I shall greatly displease
+  not only the Queen and her kin, but many of those lords and knights who were
+  kin to Sir Marhaus or who were united to him in pledges of friendship. So you
+  must even save yourself as you can and leave here straightway, for I may not
+  help or aid you in any way." </p>
+<p> Then Sir Tristram said: "Lord, I thank you for your great kindness unto me,
+  and I know not how I shall repay the great goodness that my Lady Belle Isoult
+  hath showed to me. For I swear to you upon the pommel of my sword which I now
+  hold up before me that I would lay down my life for her sake. Yea, and my honor
+  too! for she hath the entire love of my heart, so that I would willingly die
+  for her, or give up for her all that I have in the world. Now as for my knighthood,
+  I do believe that I shall in time become a knight of no small worship, for I
+  feel within my heart that this shall be so. So if my life be spared, it may
+  be that you will gain more having me for your friend and your true servant than
+  you will by taking my life in this outland place. For whithersoever I go I give
+  you my knightly word that I shall be your daughter's servant, and that I shall
+  ever be her true knight in right or in wrong, and that I shall never fail her
+  if I shall be called upon to do her service." </p>
+<p> Then King Angus meditated upon this for a while, and he said: "Tristram, what
+  thou sayest is very well said, but how shall I get you away from this place
+  in safety?" </p>
+<p> Sir Tristram said: "Lord, there is but one way to get me away with credit
+  unto yourself. Now I beseech you of your grace that I may take leave of my lady
+  your daughter, and that I may then take leave of all your knights and kinsmen
+  as a right knight should. And if there be any among them who chooses to stop
+  me or to challenge my going, then I must face that one at my peril, however
+  great it may be." </p>
+<p> "Well," said King Angus, "that is a very knightly way to behave, and so it
+  shall be as you will have it." </p>
+<p> So Sir Tristram went down stairs to a certain chamber where Belle Isoult was.
+  And he went straight to her and took her by the hand; and he said: "Lady, I
+  am to go away from this place, if I may do so with credit to my honor; but before
+  I go I must tell you that I shall ever be your own true knight in all ways that
+  a knight may serve a lady. For no other lady shall have my heart but you, so
+  I shall ever be your true knight. Even though I shall haply never see your face
+  again, yet I shall ever carry your face with me in my heart, and the thought
+  of you shall always abide with me withersoever I go." </p>
+<p> At this the Lady Belle Isoult fell to weeping in great measure, and thereat
+  the countenance of Sir Tristram also was all writhed with passion, and he said,
+  "Lady, do not weep so!" She said, "Alas I cannot help it!" Then he said: "Lady,
+  you gave me my life when I thought I was to lose it, and you brought me back
+  from pain unto ease, and from sorrow unto joy. Would God I were suffering all
+  those pangs as aforetime, so that there might be no more tears upon your face."
+</p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram parts from Belle Isoult.</div>
+<p> Then, King Angus being by, he took her face into his hands and kissed her
+  upon the forehead, and the eyes, and the lips. Therewith he turned and went
+  away, all bedazed with his sorrow, and feeling for the latch of the door ere
+  he was able to find it and go out from that place. </p>
+<p> After that Sir Tristram went straight unto the hall of the castle, and there
+  he found a great many of the lords of the castle and knights attendant upon
+  the King. For the news of these things had flown fast, and many of them were
+  angry and some were doubtful. But Tristram came in very boldly, clad all in
+  full armor, and when he stood in the midst of them he spoke loud and with great
+  courage, saying: "If there be any man here whom I have offended in any way,
+  let him speak, and I will give him entire satisfaction whoever he may be. But
+  let such speech be now or never, for here is my body to make good my knighthood
+  against the body of any man, whomsoever he may be." </p>
+<p> At this all those knights who were there stood still and held their peace,
+  and no man said anything against Sir Tristram (although there were several knights
+  and lords who were kin to the Queen), for the boldness of Tristram overawed
+  them, and no one had the heart to answer him. </p>
+<p> So after a little while Sir Tristram left that place, without turning his
+  head to see if any man followed him. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram departs from Ireland.</div>
+<p> So he left that castle and Gouvernail went with him, and no one stopped him
+  in his going. After that, he and Gouvernail came to the shore and took a boat
+  and they came to the ship of Sir Tristram, and so they sailed away from Ireland.
+  But the heart of Sir Tristram was so full of sorrow that he wished a great many
+  times that he was dead. </p>
+<p> So Sir Tristram, though as to his body he was very whole and sound, was, as
+  to his spirit, very ill at ease; for though he was so well and suffered no pain,
+  yet it appeared to him that all the joy of his life had been left behind him,
+  so that he could nevermore have any more pleasure in this world which lieth
+  outside of the walls of Paradise. </p>
+<div align="center"> <a href="images/tail.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/tail.gif" border="0" alt="Tail Piece" /></a>
+</div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div class="chaphead" id="tr1c5"><a href="images/015.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/015.gif" alt="Chapter Header" border="0" /></a>
+  <br />
+  Chapter Fifth</div>
+<br />
+<div class="chapdes">How Sir Tristram was sent by command of King Mark to go to
+  Ireland to bring the Lady the Belle Isoult from Ireland to Cornwall and how
+  it fared with him.</div>
+<p> So Sir Tristram came back again to Cornwall, and King Mark and all the knights
+  and lords of the court of the King gave him great welcome and made much joy
+  over him because he had returned safely. </p>
+<p> But Sir Tristram took no joy in their joy because he was filled with such
+  heavy melancholy that it was as though even the blue sky had turned to sackcloth
+  to his eyes, so that he beheld nothing bright in all the world. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram tells of the Lady Bell Isoult.</div>
+<p> But though he had no great pleasure in life, yet Sir Tristram made many very
+  good songs about Belle Isoult; about her beauty and her graciousness; about
+  how he was her sad, loving knight; about how he was pledged unto her to be true
+  to her all of his life even though he might never hope to see her again. </p>
+<a href="images/033.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="p16" align="left" src="images/033.gif" border="0" alt="Sir Tristram harpeth before King Mark" /></a>
+<p> These like words he would sing to the music of his shining, golden harp, and
+  King Mark loved to listen to him. And sometimes King Mark would sigh very deeply
+  and maybe say: "Messire, that lady of thine must in sooth be a very wonderful,
+  beautiful, gracious lady." And Sir Tristram would say, "Yea, she is all that."
+</p>
+<p> So it was at that time that King Mark had great love for Sir Tristram; in
+  a little while all that was very different, and his love was turned to bitter
+  hate, as you shall presently hear tell. </p>
+<p> Now in those days the knights of Cornwall were considered to be the least
+  worthy of all knights in that part of the world, for they had so little skill
+  and prowess at arms that they were a jest and a laughing-stock to many courts
+  of chivalry. It was said of them that a knight-champion of Cornwall was maybe
+  a knight, but certes was no champion at all; and this was great shame to all
+  those of Cornwall, more especially as that saying was in a great measure true.
+</p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Bleoberis comes to Cornwall.</div>
+<p> One day there came to the court of Cornwall a very noble, haughty knight,
+  hight Sir Bleoberis de Ganys, who was brother to Sir Blamor de Ganys and right
+  cousin to Sir Launcelot of the Lake. This knight was a fellow of King Arthur's
+  Round Table, and so he was received with great honor at Cornwall, and much joy
+  was taken of his being there; for it was not often that knights of such repute
+  as he came to those parts. At that time Sir Tristram was not present at the
+  court, having gone hunting into the forest, but a messenger was sent to him
+  with news that Sir Bleoberis was present at the court of the King and that King
+  Mark wished him to be at court also. </p>
+<p> Now whilst Sir Tristram was upon his way to return to the court in obedience
+  to these commands, there was held a feast at the castle of the King in honor
+  of Sir Bleoberis. There was much strong wine drunk at that feast, so that the
+  brains of Sir Bleoberis and of others grew very much heated therewith. Then,
+  what with the heat of the wine and the noise and tumult of the feast, Sir Bleoberis
+  waxed very hot-headed, and boastful. So, being in that condition and not knowing
+  very well how he spake, he made great boast of the prowess of the knights of
+  King Arthur's court above those of Cornwall. And in this boastful humor he said:
+  "It is perfectly true that one single knight of the Round Table is the peer
+  of twenty knights of Cornwall, for so it is said and so I maintain it to be."
+</p>
+<p> Upon that there fell a silence over all that part of the feast, for all the
+  knights and lords who were there heard what Sir Bleoberis said, and yet no one
+  knew how to reply to him. As for King Mark, he looked upon Sir Bleoberis, smiling
+  very sourly, and as though with great distaste of his words, and he said: "Messire,
+  inasmuch as thou art our guest, and sitting here at feast with us, it is not
+  fit that we should take thy words seriously; else what thou sayst might be very
+  easily disproved." </p>
+<p> Upon this the blood rushed with great violence into the face and head of Sir
+  Bleoberis, and he laughed very loud. Then he said: "Well, Lord, it need not
+  be that I should be a guest here very long. And as for what I say, you may easily
+  put the truth thereof to the proof." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Bleoberis challenges the knights of Cornwall.</div>
+<p> Therewith Sir Bleoberis arose and looked about him, and he perceived that
+  there was near by where he stood a goblet of gold very beautifully chased and
+  cunningly carved. This Sir Bleoberis took into his hand, and it was half full
+  of red wine. So he stood up before them all, and he cried in a very loud voice:
+  "Messires, and all you knights of Cornwall, here I drink to your more excellent
+  courage and prowess, and wish that you may have better fortune in arms than
+  you have heretofore proved yourselves to have?" And therewith he drank all the
+  wine that was in the goblet. Then he said: "Now I go away from here and take
+  this goblet with me; and if any knight of Cornwall may take it away from me
+  and bring it back again to the King, then I am very willing to own that there
+  are better knights in this country than I supposed there to be." Therewith he
+  turned and went out from that place very haughtily and scornfully, taking that
+  goblet with him, and not one of all those knights who were there made any move
+  to stay him, or to reprove him for his discourteous speech. </p>
+<p> Now after he had come out of the hall and into the cool of the air, the heat
+  of the wine soon left him, and he began to repent him of what he had done; and
+  he said: "Alas! meseems I was not very courteous to King Mark, who was mine
+  host." So for a while he was minded to take that goblet back again and make
+  amends for what he had said; but afterward he could not do this because of his
+  pride. So he went to the chamber that had been allotted to him and clad himself
+  in his armor, and after that he rode away from the court of King Mark carrying
+  the goblet with him. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram is angry.</div>
+<p> Now some while after he had gone, Sir Tristram came into the hall where the
+  others were, and there he found them all sitting with ill countenances, and
+  no man daring, for shame, to look at his fellow. So Sir Tristram came to King
+  Mark and said: "Where is Sir Bleoberis?" And King Mark said, "He is gone away."
+  Sir Tristram said, "Why did he go?" Thereupon King Mark told Sir Tristram of
+  what had befallen, and how Sir Bleoberis had taken away that goblet to the great
+  shame and scorn of all those who were there. Upon this the blood flew very violently
+  into Sir Tristram's face, and he said: "Was there no knight here with spirit
+  enough to call reproof upon Sir Bleoberis, or to stay him in his going?" Therewith
+  he looked all about that hall, and he was like a lion standing among them, and
+  no man dared to look him in the face or to reply to him. Then he said: "Well,
+  if there is no knight in Cornwall who hath the will to defend his King, then
+  is there a knight of Lyonesse who will do so because he received knighthood
+  at the hands of the King of Cornwall." And therewith he turned and went away,
+  and left them very haughtily, and they were all still more abashed than they
+  had been before. </p>
+<p> Then Sir Tristram went to his chamber and had himself armed in all wise; and
+  he took his horse and mounted and rode away in the direction that Sir Bleoberis
+  had gone, and Gouvernail went with him. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram follows Sir Bleoberis.</div>
+<p> So Sir Tristram and Gouvernail rode at a good pace for a long time, making
+  inquiry of whomsoever they met if Sir Bleoberis had passed that way. At last
+  they entered the forest and rode therein a great way, meeting no one till toward
+  the latter part of the afternoon. By and by they saw before them two knights,
+  very large and strong of frame and clad all in bright and shining armor, and
+  each riding a great war-horse of Flemish strain. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram comes to two knights.</div>
+<p> "Gouvernail," said Sir Tristram, "ride forward apace and see for me who are
+  yonder knights." So Gouvernail rode forward at a gallop, and so, in a little,
+  came near enough to the two knights to see the devices upon their shields. Upon
+  that he returned to Sir Tristram, and said: "Messire, those are two very famous
+  worthy knights of King Arthur's Court, and of the two you are acquainted with
+  one, but the other is a stranger to you. For the one is Sir Sagramore le Desirous,
+  who was at that tournament in Ireland, and the other is Sir Dodinas le Sauvage."
+</p>
+<p> "Well," said Sir Tristram, "those are indeed two very good, worthy knights.
+  Now if you will sit here for a while, I will go forward and have speech with
+  them." "Messire," said Gouvernail, "I would counsel you not to have to do with
+  those knights, for there are hardly any knights more famous at arms than they,
+  so it is not likely that you can have success of them if you should assay them."
+</p>
+<p> But to this Sir Tristram said: "Peace, Gouvernail! Hold thy peace, and bide
+  here while I go forward!" </p>
+<p> Now those knights when they became aware that Sir Tristram and Gouvernail
+  were there, had halted at a clear part of the woodland to await what should
+  befall. Unto them Sir Tristram came, riding with great dignity and haughtiness,
+  and when he had come nigh enough he drew rein and spoke with great pride of
+  bearing, saying: "Messires, I require of you to tell me whence you come, and
+  whither you go, and what you do in these marches?" </p>
+<p> Unto him Sir Sagramore made reply, speaking very scornfully: "Fair knight,
+  are you a knight of Cornwall?" and Sir Tristram said: "Why do you ask me that?"
+  "Messire," said Sir Sagramore, "I ask you that because it hath seldom been heard
+  tell that a Cornish knight hath courage to call upon two knights to answer such
+  questions as you have asked of us." </p>
+<p> "Well," said Sir Tristram, "for the matter of that, I am at this present a
+  knight of Cornwall, and I hereby let you know that you shall not go away from
+  here unless you either answer my question or give me satisfaction at arms."
+</p>
+<p> Then Sir Dodinas spoke very fiercely, saying: "Sir Cornish knight, you shall
+  presently have all the satisfaction at arms that you desire and a great deal
+  more than you desire." Therewith he took a very stout spear in his hand and
+  rode to a little distance, and Sir Tristram, beholding his intent to do battle,
+  also rode to a little distance, and took stand in such a place as seemed to
+  him to be best. Then, when they were in all wise prepared, they rushed together
+  with such astonishing vehemence that the earth shook and trembled beneath them.
+</p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram does battle with Sir Dodinas.</div>
+<p> Therewith they met in the middle of their course with a great uproar of iron
+  and wood. But in that onset the spear of Sir Dodinas broke into a great many
+  small pieces, but the spear of Sir Tristram held, so that in the encounter he
+  lifted Sir Dodinas entirely out of his saddle, and out behind the crupper of
+  his horse. And he flung Sir Dodinas down so violently that his neck was nearly
+  broken, and he lay for a while in a deep swoon like one who has been struck
+  dead. </p>
+<p> Then Sir Sagramore said: "Well, Sir Knight, that was certes a very great buffet
+  that you gave my fellow, but now it is my turn to have ado with you." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram does battle with Sir Sagramore.</div>
+<p> So therewith he took also his spear in hand and chose his station for an assault
+  as Sir Dodinas had done, and Sir Tristram also took station as he had done before.
+  Then immediately they two ran together with the same terrible force that Sir
+  Tristram and Sir Dodinas had coursed, and in that encounter Sir Tristram struck
+  Sir Sagramore so direful a buffet with his spear that he overthrew both horse
+  and man, and the horse, falling upon Sir Sagramore, so bruised his leg that
+  he could not for a while arise from where he lay. </p>
+<p> Therewith Sir Tristram, having run his course, came back to where those two
+  knights lay upon the ground, and he said, "Fair Knights, will you have any more
+  fighting?" They said, "No, we have had fighting enough." Then Sir Tristram said:
+  "I pray you, tell me, are there any bigger knights at the court of King Arthur
+  than you? If it is not so, then I should think you would take great shame to
+  yourselves that you have been overthrown the one after the other by a single
+  knight. For this day a knight of Cornwall hath assuredly matched you both to
+  your great despite." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram acknowledges his degree.</div>
+<p> Then Sir Sagramore said: "Sir, I pray you upon your true knighthood to tell
+  us who you are, for you are assuredly one of the greatest knights in the world."
+  Upon this Sir Tristram laughed, "Nay," quoth he, "I am as yet a young knight,
+  who has had but little proof in battle. As for my name, since you ask it of
+  me, upon my knighthood I am not ashamed to tell you that I am hight Sir Tristram,
+  and that I am King Meliadus' son of Lyonesse." </p>
+<p> "Ha!" said Sir Sagramore, "if that be so, then there is little shame in being
+  overthrown by you. For not only do I well remember how at the court of the King
+  of Ireland you overthrew six knights of the Round Table, and how easily you
+  overthrew Sir Palamydes the Saracen, but it is also very well known how you
+  did battle with Sir Marhaus, and of how you overcame him. Now Sir Marhaus and
+  Sir Palamydes were two of the best knights in the world, so it is not astonishing
+  that you should have done as you did with us. But, since you have overthrown
+  us, what is it you would have us do?" </p>
+<p> "Messires," said Sir Tristram, "I have only to demand two things of you. One
+  of them is that you give me your word that you will go to Cornwall and confess
+  to King Mark that you have been overthrown by a Cornish knight; and the second
+  thing is that you tell me if you saw Sir Bleoberis de Ganys pass this way?"
+</p>
+<p> They say: "Messire, touching that demand you make upon us to go to King Mark
+  and to confess our fall, that we will do as you desire; and as for Sir Bleoberis,
+  we met him only a short while ago, and he cannot even now be very far from this
+  place." </p>
+<p> "Well," said Sir Tristram, "I give you good den, and thank you for your information.
+  I have some words to say to Sir Bleoberis before he leave these marches." </p>
+<p> So thereafter he called Gouvernail, and they two rode into the forest and
+  on their way as fast as they were able. As for Sir Dodinas and Sir Sagramore,
+  they betook their course to the court of King Mark, as they had promised to
+  do. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram comes to Sir Bleoberis.</div>
+<p> Now, by and by, after Sir Tristram and Gouvernail had gone some considerable
+  distance farther upon that road, they beheld Sir Bleoberis before them in a
+  forest path, riding very proudly and at an easy pass upon his way. At that time
+  the sun was setting very low toward the earth, so that all the tops of the forest
+  trees were aflame with a very ruddy light, though all below in the forest was
+  both cool and gray. Now when Sir Tristram and Gouvernail with him had come pretty
+  nigh to Sir Bleoberis, Sir Tristram called to him in a very loud voice, and
+  bade him turn and stand. Therewith Sir Bleoberis turned about and waited for
+  Sir Tristram to come up with him. And when Sir Tristram was come near by, he
+  said to Sir Bleoberis: "Messire, I hear tell that you have with you a very noble
+  goblet which you have taken in a shameful way from the table of King Mark of
+  Cornwall. Now I demand of you that you give me that goblet to take back unto
+  the King again." "Well," said Sir Bleoberis, "you shall freely have that goblet
+  if you can take it from me, and if you will look, you will see where it hangs
+  here from my saddle-horn. But I may tell you that I do not believe that there
+  is any Cornish knight who may take away that goblet against my will." </p>
+<p> "As for that," said Sir Tristram, "we shall see in a little while how it may
+  be." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram overcometh Sir Bleoberis.</div>
+<p> Therewith each knight took his spear in hand and rode a little distance away,
+  and made himself in all wise ready for the assault. Then when they were in all
+  ways prepared, each launched himself against the other, coming together with
+  such violence that sparks of fire flew out from the points of their spears.
+  And in that assault the horse of each knight was overthrown, but each knight
+  voided his saddle and leaped very lightly to earth, without either having had
+  a fall. Then each drew his sword and set his shield before him, and therewith
+  came together, foining and lashing with all the power of their might. Each gave
+  the other many sore strokes, so that the armor of each was indented in several
+  places and in other places was stained with red. Then at last Sir Tristram waxed
+  very wode with anger and he rushed at Sir Bleoberis, smiting him so fiercely
+  that Sir Bleoberis bare back and held his shield low before him. This Sir Tristram
+  perceived, and therewith, rushing in upon Sir Bleoberis, he smote that knight
+  such a great buffet upon the head that Sir Bleoberis fell down upon his knees,
+  without having strength to keep his feet. Then Sir Tristram rushed off the helmet
+  of Sir Bleoberis, and he said, "Sir Knight, yield to me or I shall slay you."
+</p>
+<p> "Messire," said Sir Bleoberis, "I yield myself to you, and indeed you are
+  as right a knight as ever I met in all of my life." Then Sir Tristram took Sir
+  Bleoberis by the hand and he lifted him up upon his feet, and he said: "Sir,
+  I am very sorry for to have had to do with you in this fashion, for almost would
+  I rather that you should have overcome me than that I should have overcome you.
+  For I do not at any time forget that you are cousin unto Sir Launcelot of the
+  Lake, and I honor Sir Launcelot above all men else in the world, and would rather
+  have his friendship than that of any man living. So I have had no despite against
+  you in this battle, but have only fought with you because it behooved me to
+  do so for the sake of the King of Cornwall, who is my uncle." </p>
+<p> Then Sir Bleoberis said, "Messire, I pray you tell me who you are?" "Lord,"
+  said Sir Tristram, "I am a very young knight hight Tristram, and I am the son
+  of King Meliadus of Lyonesse and the Lady Elizabeth, sister unto King Mark of
+  Cornwall." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Bleoberis gives the goblet to Sir Tristram.</div>
+<p> "Ha," said Sir Bleoberis, "I have heard great report of you, Sir Tristram,
+  and now I know at mine own cost that you are one of the best knights in the
+  world. Yea; I have no doubt that at some time you will be the peer of Sir Launcelot
+  of the Lake himself, or of Sir Lamorak of Gales, and they two are, certes, the
+  best knights in the world. Now I believe that I would have given you this goblet,
+  even without your having to fight for it, had I known who you were; and as it
+  is I herewith give it to you very freely." </p>
+<p> So Sir Bleoberis untied the goblet from where it hung at his saddle-bow, and
+  Sir Tristram took the goblet and gave him gramercy for it; and therewith having
+  recovered their horses, each knight mounted, and betook his way whither he was
+  going. </p>
+<p> So a little after nightfall Sir Tristram came to the King of Cornwall and
+  his court, and he said to King Mark: "Here is your goblet which I have brought
+  back to you; and I would God that some of your knights who are so much older
+  than I had the courage to do for you what I have had to do." And therewith he
+  went away and left them all sitting ashamed. </p>
+<p> Now it chanced some little while after these things happened as aforesaid,
+  that King Mark lay down upon his couch after his midday meal for to sleep a
+  little space during the heat of the day; and it likewise happened that the window
+  near by where he lay was open so that the air might come into the room. Now
+  at that time three knights of the court sat in the garden beneath where the
+  window was. These knights talked to one another concerning Sir Tristram, and
+  of how he had brought back that goblet from Sir Bleoberis de Ganys, and of what
+  honor it was to have such a champion in Cornwall for to stand for the honor
+  of that court. In their talk they said to one another that if only the King
+  of Cornwall were such a knight as Sir Tristram, then there would be plenty of
+  knights of good worth who would come to that court, and Cornwall would no longer
+  have to be ashamed of its chivalry as it was nowadays. So they said: "Would
+  God our King were such a knight as Sir Tristram!" </p>
+<div class="sidenote">King Mark takes hatred to Sir Tristram.</div>
+<p> All this King Mark overheard, and the words that they said were like a very
+  bitter poison in his heart. For their words entered into his soul and abided
+  there, and thereupon at that same hour all his love for Tristram was turned
+  into hate. Thus it befell that, after that day, King Mark ever pondered and
+  pondered upon that which he had heard, and the longer he pondered it, the more
+  bitter did his life become to him, and the more he hated Sir Tristram. So it
+  came to pass that whenever he was with Sir Tristram and looked upon him, he
+  would say in his heart: "So they say that you are a better knight than I? Would
+  God you were dead or away from this place, for I believe that some day you will
+  be my undoing!" Yea; there were times when he would look upon Sir Tristram in
+  that wise and whisper to himself: "Would God would send a blight upon thee,
+  so that thou wouldst wither away!" </p>
+<p> But always the King dissembled this hatred for Sir Tristram, so that no one
+  suspected him thereof; least of all did Sir Tristram suspect how changed was
+  the heart of the King toward him. </p>
+<p> Now one day Sir Tristram was playing upon his harp and singing before King
+  Mark, and the King sat brooding upon these things as he gazed at Tristram. And
+  Sir Tristram, as he ofttimes did nowadays, sang of the Lady Belle Isoult, and
+  of how her face was like to a rose for fairness, and of how her soul was like
+  to a nightingale in that it uplifted the spirit of whosoever was near her even
+  though the darkness of sorrow as of night might envelop him. And whilst Sir
+  Tristram sang thus, King Mark listened to him, and as he listened a thought
+  entered his heart and therewith he smiled. So when Sir Tristram had ended his
+  song of the Belle Isoult, King Mark said: "Fair nephew, I would that you would
+  undertake a quest for me." Sir Tristram said, "What quest is that, Lord?" "Nay,"
+  said King Mark, "I will not tell you what quest it is unless you will promise
+  me upon your knighthood to undertake it upon my behalf." Then Sir Tristram suspected
+  no evil, wherefore he smiled and said: "Dear Lord, if the quest is a thing that
+  it is in my power to undertake, I will undertake it upon your asking, and unto
+  that I pledge my knighthood." King Mark said, "It is a quest that you may undertake."
+  Sir Tristram said, "Then I will undertake it, if you will tell me what it is."
+</p>
+<div class="sidenote">King Mark betrays Sir Tristram to a promise.</div>
+<p> King Mark said: "I have listened to your singing for this long while concerning
+  the Lady Belle Isoult. So the quest I would have you undertake is this: that
+  you go to Ireland, and bring thence the Lady Belle Isoult to be my Queen. For
+  because of your songs and ballads I have come to love her so greatly that I
+  believe that I shall have no happiness in life until I have her for my Queen.
+  So now, since you have pledged me your word upon your knighthood to do my bidding
+  in this case, such is the quest that I would send you upon." And therewith he
+  smiled upon Sir Tristram very strangely. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">How Sir Tristram fell into despair.</div>
+<p> Then Sir Tristram perceived how he had been betrayed and he put aside his
+  harp and rose from where he sat. And he gazed for a long while at King Mark,
+  and his countenance was wonderfully white like that of a dead man. Then by and
+  by he said: "Sir, I know not why you have put this upon me, nor do I know why
+  you have betrayed me. For I have ever served you truly as a worthy knight and
+  a kinsman should. Wherefore I know not why you have done this unto me, nor why
+  you seek to compass my death. For you know very well that if I return to Ireland
+  I shall very likely be slain either by the Queen or by some of her kindred,
+  because that for your sake I slew in battle Sir Marhaus, the Queen's brother
+  of Ireland. Yet, so far as that is concerned, I would rather lose my life than
+  succeed in this quest, for if so be I do not lose my life, then I must do that
+  which I would liever die than do. Yea; I believe that there was never any knight
+  loved a lady as I love the Lady Belle Isoult. For I love her not only because
+  of her beauty and graciousness, but because she healed mine infirmities and
+  lent ease unto my great sufferings and brought me back from death unto life.
+  Wherefore that which you bid me fulfil is more bitter to me than death." </p>
+<p> "Well," said King Mark, "I know nothing of all this--only I know that you
+  have given me your knightly word to fulfil this quest." </p>
+<p> "Very well," said Sir Tristram, "if God will give me His good help in this
+  matter, then I will do that which I have pledged my knighthood to undertake."
+  Therewith he turned and went out from that place in such great despair that
+  it was as though his heart had been turned into ashes. But King Mark was filled
+  with joy that he should have caused Sir Tristram all that pain, and he said
+  to his heart: "This is some satisfaction for the hate which I feel for this
+  knight; by and by I shall maybe have greater satisfaction than that." </p>
+<p> After that Sir Tristram did not come any more where King Mark was, but he
+  went straight away from the King's court and into a small castle that King Mark
+  had given him some while since for his own. There he abided for several days
+  in great despair of soul, for it seemed to him as though God had deserted him
+  entirely. There for a while Gouvernail alone was with him and no one else, but
+  after a while several knights came to him and gave him great condolence and
+  offered to join with him as his knights-companion. And there were eighteen of
+  these knights, and Sir Tristram was very glad of their comradeship. </p>
+<p> These said to him: "Sir, you should not lend yourself to such great travail
+  of soul, but should bend yourself as a true knight should to assume that burden
+  that God hath assigned you to bear." </p>
+<p> So they spoke, and by and by Sir Tristram aroused himself from his despair
+  and said to himself: "Well, what these gentlemen say is true, and God hath assuredly
+  laid this very heavy burden upon me; as that is so, I must needs assume it for
+  His sake." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram departs from Cornwall.</div>
+<p> So Sir Tristram and the knights who were with him abode in that place for
+  a day or two or three, and then one morning Sir Tristram armed himself and they
+  armed themselves, and all took their departure from that castle and went down
+  to the sea. Then they took ship with intent to depart to Ireland upon that quest
+  Sir Tristram had promised King Mark he would undertake, and in a little they
+  hoisted sail and departed from Cornwall for Ireland. </p>
+<p> But they were not to make their quest upon that pass so speedily as they thought,
+  for, upon the second day of their voyaging, there arose a great storm of wind
+  of such a sort that the sailors of that ship had never seen the like thereof
+  in all of their lives. For the waves rose up like mountains, and anon the waters
+  sank away into deep valleys with hills of water upon either side all crested
+  over with foam as white as snow. And anon that ship would be uplifted as though
+  the huge sea would toss it into the clouds; and anon it would fall down into
+  a gulf so deep that it appeared as though the green waters would swallow it
+  up entirely. The air roared as though it were full of demons and evil spirits
+  out of hell, and the wind was wet and very bitter with brine. So the ship fled
+  away before that tempest, and the hearts of all aboard were melted with fear
+  because of the great storm of wind and the high angry waves. </p>
+<p> Then toward evening those who were watching from the lookout beheld a land
+  and a haven, and they saw upon the land overlooking the haven was a noble castle
+  and a fair large town, surrounded by high walls of stone. So they told the others
+  of what they saw, and all gave great rejoicing for that they were so nigh the
+  land. Therewith they sailed the ship toward the haven, and having entered therein
+  in safety, they cast anchor under the walls of the castle and the town, taking
+  great joy that God had brought them safe and sound through that dreadful peril
+  of the tempest. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram comes to Camelot.</div>
+<p> Then Sir Tristram said to Gouvernail: "Knowest thou, Gouvernail, what place
+  is this to which we have come?" "Messire," said Gouvernail, "I think it is Camelot."
+  And then those knights of Cornwall who stood by said, "Yea, that is true, and
+  it is Camelot." And one of them said: "Messire, it is likely that King Arthur
+  is at that place at this very time, for so it was reported that he was, and
+  so I believe it to be." </p>
+<p> "Ha," quoth Tristram, "that is very good news to me, for I believe that it
+  would be the greatest joy to me that the world can now give to behold King Arthur
+  and those noble knights of his court ere I die. More especially do I desire
+  above all things to behold that great, noble champion, Sir Launcelot of the
+  Lake. So let us now go ashore, and mayhap it shall come to pass that I shall
+  see the great King and Sir Launcelot and mayhap shall come to speak with the
+  one or the other." And that saying of Sir Tristram's seemed good to those knights
+  who were with him, for they were weary of the sea, and desired to rest for a
+  while upon the dry land. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram sets up his pavilion.</div>
+<p> So they presently all went ashore and bade their attendants set up their pavilions
+  in a fair level meadow that was somewhat near a league distant away from the
+  castle and the town. In the midst of the other pavilions upon that plain was
+  set the pavilion of Sir Tristram. It was of fine crimson cloth striped with
+  silver and there was the figure of a gryphon carved upon the summit of the centre
+  pole of the pavilion. The spear of Sir Tristram was emplanted by the point of
+  the truncheon in the ground outside the pavilion, and thereunto his shield was
+  hung so that those who passed that way might clearly behold what was the device
+  thereon. </p>
+<p> And now shall be told how Sir Tristram became united in friendship with the
+  brotherhood of good knights at King Arthur's court. </p>
+<div align="center"> <a href="images/tail.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/tail.gif" border="0" alt="Tail Piece" /></a>
+</div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div class="chaphead" id="tr1c6"><a href="images/017.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/017.gif" alt="Chapter Header" border="0" /></a>
+  <br />
+  Chapter Sixth</div>
+<br />
+<div class="chapdes">How Sir Tristram had to do in battle with three knights of
+  the Round Table. Also how he had speech with King Arthur.</div>
+<p> So came the next morning, and uprose the sun in all the splendor of his glory,
+  shedding his beams to every quarter with a rare dazzling effulgence. For by
+  night the clouds of storm had passed away and gone, and now all the air was
+  clear and blue, and the level beams of light fell athwart the meadow-lands so
+  that countless drops of water sparkled on leaf and blade of grass, like an incredible
+  multitude of shining jewels scattered all over the earth. Then they who slept
+  were awakened by the multitudinous voicing of the birds; for at that hour the
+  small fowl sang so joyous a roundelay that all the early morning was full of
+  the sweet jargon of their chanting. </p>
+<p> At this time, so early in the day, there came two knights riding by where
+  Sir Tristram and his companions had set up their pavilions. These were two very
+  famous knights of King Arthur's court and of the Round Table; for one was Sir
+  Ector de Maris and the other was Sir Morganor of Lisle. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">How two knights came to the pavilion of Sir Tristram.</div>
+<p> When these two knights perceived the pavilions of Sir Tristram and his knights-companion,
+  they made halt, and Sir Ector de Maris said, "What knights are these who have
+  come hither?" Then Sir Morganor looked and presently he said: "Sir, I perceive
+  by their shields that these are Cornish knights, and he who occupies this central
+  pavilion must be the champion of this party." "Well," quoth Sir Ector, "as for
+  that I take no great thought of any Cornish knight, so do thou strike the shield
+  of that knight and call him forth, and let us see of what mettle he is made."
+</p>
+<p> "I will do so," said Sir Morganor; and therewith he rode forward to where
+  the shield of Sir Tristram hung from the spear, and he smote the shield with
+  the point of his lance, so that it rang with a very loud noise. </p>
+<p> Upon this, Sir Tristram immediately came to the door of his pavilion, and
+  said, "Messires, why did you strike upon my shield?" "Because," said Sir Ector,
+  "we are of a mind to try your mettle what sort of a knight you be." Quoth Sir
+  Tristram: "God forbid that you should not be satisfied. So if you will stay
+  till I put on my armor you shall immediately have your will in this matter."
+</p>
+<p> Thereupon he went back into his tent and armed himself and mounted his horse
+  and took a good stout spear of ash-wood into his hand. </p>
+<p> Then all the knights of Cornwall who were with Sir Tristram came forth to
+  behold what their champion would do, and all their esquires, pages, and attendants
+  came forth for the same purpose, and it was a very pleasant time of day for
+  jousting. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram overthrows Sir Morganor.</div>
+<p> Then first of all Sir Morganor essayed Sir Tristram, and in that encounter
+  Sir Tristram smote him so dreadful, terrible a blow that he cast him a full
+  spear's length over the crupper of his horse, and that so violently that the
+  blood gushed out of the nose and mouth and ears of Sir Morganor, and he groaned
+  very dolorously and could not arise from where he lay. </p>
+<p> "Hah," quoth Sir Ector, "that was a very wonderful buffet you struck my fellow.
+  But now it is my turn to have ado with you, and I hope God will send me a better
+  fortune." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram overthrows Sir Ector.</div>
+<p> So he took stand for battle as did Sir Tristram likewise, and when they were
+  in all wise prepared they rushed very violently to the assault. In that encounter
+  Ector suffered hardly less ill fortune than Sir Morganor had done. For he brake
+  his spear against Sir Tristram into as many as an hundred pieces, whilst Sir
+  Tristram's spear held so that he overthrew both the horse and the knight-rider
+  against whom he drove. </p>
+<p> Then all the knights of Cornwall gave loud acclaim that their knight had borne
+  himself so well in those encounters. But Sir Tristram rode back to where those
+  two knights still lay upon the ground, and he said: "Well, Messires, this is
+  no very good hap that you have had with me." </p>
+<p> Upon that speech Sir Ector de Maris gathered himself up from the dust and
+  said: "Sir Knight, I pray you of your knighthood to tell us who you be and what
+  is your degree, for I declare to you, I believe you are one of the greatest
+  knights-champion of the world." </p>
+<p> "Sir," said Sir Tristram, "I am very willing to tell you my name and my station;
+  I am Sir Tristram, the son of King Meliadus of Lyonesse." </p>
+<p> "Ha," quoth Sir Ector, "I would God I had known that before I had ado with
+  you, for your fame hath already reached to these parts, and there hath been
+  such report of your prowess and several songs have been made about you by minstrels
+  and poets. I who speak to you am Sir Ector, surnamed de Maris, and this, my
+  companion, is Sir Morganor of Lisle." </p>
+<p> "Alas!" cried out Sir Tristram, "I would that I had known who you were ere
+  I did battle with you. For I have greater love for the knights of the Round
+  Table than all others in the world, and most of all, Sir Ector, do I have reverence
+  for your noble brother Sir Launcelot of the Lake. So I take great shame to myself
+  that any mishap should have befallen you this day through me." </p>
+<p> Upon this Sir Ector laughed. "Well," quoth he, "let not that trouble lie with
+  you, for it was we who gave you challenge without inquiry who you were, and
+  you did but defend yourself. We were upon our way to Camelot yonder, when we
+  fell into this mishap, for King Arthur is at this time holding court at that
+  place. So now, if we have your leave to go upon our way, we will betake ourselves
+  to the King and tell him that you are here, for we know that he will be very
+  glad of that news." </p>
+<p> Upon this Sir Tristram gave them leave to depart, and they did so with many
+  friendly words of good cheer. And after they had gone Sir Tristram went back
+  into his pavilion again and partook of refreshment that was brought to him.
+</p>
+<div class="sidenote">There comes a knight in white armor.</div>
+<p> Now, some while after Sir Ector and Sir Morganor had left that place, and
+  whilst Sir Tristram was still resting in his pavilion, there came a single knight
+  riding that way, and this knight was clad altogether in white armor and his
+  shield was covered over with a covering of white leather, so that one could
+  not see what device he bare thereon. </p>
+<p> When this white knight came to the place where Sir Tristram and his companions
+  had pitched their pavilions, he also stopped as Sir Ector and Sir Morganor had
+  done, for he desired to know what knights these were. At that time Gouvernail
+  was standing alone in front of Sir Tristram's pavilion, and unto him the white
+  knight said: "Sir, I pray you, tell me who is the knight to whom this pavilion
+  belongs." </p>
+<p> Now Gouvernail thought to himself: "Here is another knight who would have
+  ado with my master. Perhaps Sir Tristram may have glory by him also." So he
+  answered the white knight: "Sir, I may not tell you the name of this knight,
+  for he is my master, and if he pleases to tell you his name he must tell it
+  himself." </p>
+<p> "Very well," said the white knight, "then I will straightway ask him." </p>
+<p> Therewith he rode to where the shield of Sir Tristram hung, and he struck
+  upon the shield so violent a blow that it rang very loud and clear. </p>
+<p> Then straightway came forth Sir Tristram and several of his knights-companion
+  from out of the pavilion, and Sir Tristram said, "Sir Knight, wherefore did
+  you strike upon my shield?" </p>
+<p> "Messire," quoth the white knight, "I struck upon your shield so that I might
+  summon you hither for to tell me your name, for I have asked it of your esquire
+  and he will not tell me." </p>
+<p> "Fair Knight," quoth Sir Tristram, "neither will I tell you my name until
+  I have wiped out that affront which you have set upon my shield by that stroke
+  you gave it. For no man may touch my shield without my having to do with him
+  because of the affront he gives me thereby." </p>
+<p> "Well," said the white knight, "I am satisfied to have it as you please."
+</p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram does battle with the white knight.</div>
+<p> So therewith Sir Tristram went back into his pavilion and several went with
+  him. These put his helmet upon his head and they armed him for battle in all
+  ways. After that Sir Tristram came forth and mounted his horse and took his
+  spear in hand and made himself in all ways ready for battle, and all that while
+  the white knight awaited his coming very calmly and steadfastly. Then Sir Tristram
+  took ground for battle, and the white knight did so likewise. So being in all
+  ways prepared, each launched forth against the other with such amazing and terrible
+  violence that those who beheld that encounter stood as though terrified with
+  the thunder of the onset. </p>
+<p> Therewith the two knights met in the midst of the course, and each knight
+  smote the other directly in the centre of the shield. In that encounter the
+  spear of each knight broke all to small pieces, even to the truncheon which
+  he held in his fist. And so terrible was the blow that each struck the other
+  that the horse of each fell back upon his haunches, and it was only because
+  of the great address of the knight-rider that the steed was able to recover
+  his footing. As for Sir Tristram, that was the most terrible buffet he ever
+  had struck him in all his life before that time. </p>
+<p> Then straightway Sir Tristram voided his saddle and drew his sword and dressed
+  his shield. And he cried out: "Ha, Sir Knight! I demand of you that you descend
+  from your horse and do me battle afoot." </p>
+<p> "Very well," said the white knight, "thou shalt have thy will." And thereupon
+  he likewise voided his horse and drew his sword and dressed his shield and made
+  himself in all ways ready for battle as Sir Tristram had done. </p>
+<p> Therewith they two came together and presently fell to fighting with such
+  ardor that sparks of fire flew from every stroke. And if Sir Tristram struck
+  hard and often, the white knight struck as hard and as often as he, so that
+  all the knights of Cornwall who stood about marvelled at the strength and fierceness
+  of the knights-combatant. Each knight gave the other many sore buffets so that
+  the armor was here and there dinted and here and there was broken through by
+  the edge of the sword so that the red blood flowed out therefrom and down over
+  the armor, turning its brightness in places into an ensanguined red. Thus they
+  fought for above an hour and in all that time neither knight gave ground or
+  gained any vantage over the other. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram falls in the battle.</div>
+<p> Then after a while Sir Tristram grew more weary of fighting than ever he had
+  been in all of his life before, and he was aware that this was the greatest
+  knight whom he had ever met. But still he would not give ground, but fought
+  from this side and from that side with great skill and address until of a sudden,
+  he slipped upon some of that blood that he himself had shed, and because of
+  his great weariness, fell down upon his knees, and could not for the instant
+  rise again. </p>
+<p> Then that white knight might easily have struck him down if he had been minded
+  to do so. But, instead, he withheld the blow and gave Sir Tristram his hand
+  and said: "Sir Knight, rise up and stand upon thy feet and let us go at this
+  battle again if it is thy pleasure to do so; for I do not choose to take advantage
+  of thy fall." </p>
+<p> Then Sir Tristram was as greatly astonished at the extraordinary courtesy
+  of his enemy as he had been at his prowess. And because of that courtesy he
+  would not fight again, but stood leaning upon his sword panting. Then he said:
+  "Sir Knight, I pray thee of thy knighthood to tell me what is thy name and who
+  thou art." </p>
+<p> "Messire," said the white knight, "since you ask me that upon my knighthood,
+  I cannot refuse to tell you my name. And so I will do, provided you, upon your
+  part, will do me a like courtesy and will first tell me your name and degree."
+</p>
+<p> Quoth Sir Tristram: "I will tell you that. My name is Sir Tristram of Lyonesse,
+  and I am the son of King Meliadus of that land whereby I have my surname." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot confesses himself.</div>
+<p> "Ha, Sir Tristram," said the white knight, "often have I heard of thee and
+  of thy skill at arms, and well have I proved thy fame this day and that all
+  that is said of thee is true. I must tell thee that I have never yet met my
+  match until I met thee this day. For I know not how this battle might have ended
+  hadst thou not slipped and fallen by chance as thou didst. My name is Sir Launcelot,
+  surnamed of the Lake, and I am King Ban's son of Benwick." </p>
+<p> At this Sir Tristram cried out in a loud voice: "Sir Launcelot! Sir Launcelot!
+  Is it thou against whom I have been doing battle! Rather I would that anything
+  should have happened to me than that, for of all men in the world I most desire
+  thy love and friendship." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram yields to Sir Launcelot.</div>
+<p> Then, having so spoken, Sir Tristram immediately kneeled down upon his knees
+  and said: "Messire, I yield myself unto thee, being overcome not more by thy
+  prowess than by thy courtesy. For I freely confess that thou art the greatest
+  knight in the world, against whom no other knight can hope to stand; for I could
+  fight no more and thou mightest easily have slain me when I fell down a while
+  since." </p>
+<p> "Nay, Sir Tristram," said Sir Launcelot, "arise, and kneel not to me, for
+  I am not willing to accept thy submission, for indeed it is yet to be proved
+  which of us is the better knight, thou or I. Wherefore let neither of us yield
+  to the other, but let us henceforth be as dear as brothers-in-arms the one toward
+  the other." </p>
+<p> Then Sir Tristram rose up to his feet again. "Well, Sir Launcelot," he said,
+  "whatsoever thou shalt ordain shall be as thou wouldst have it. But there is
+  one thing I must do because of this battle." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram breaks his sword.</div>
+<p> Then he looked upon his sword which he held naked and ensanguined in his hand
+  and he said: "Good sword; thou hast stood my friend and hast served me well
+  in several battles, but this day thou hast served me for the last time." Therewith
+  he suddenly took the blade of the sword in both hands--the one at the point
+  and the other nigh the haft--and he brake the blade across his knee and flung
+  the pieces away. </p>
+<p> Upon this Sir Launcelot cried out in a loud voice: "Ha, Messire! why didst
+  thou do such a thing as that? To break thine own fair sword?" </p>
+<p> "Sir," quoth Sir Tristram, "this sword hath this day received the greatest
+  honor that is possible for any blade to receive; for it hath been baptized in
+  thy blood. So, because aught else that might happen to it would diminish that
+  honor, I have broken it so that its honor might never be made less than it is
+  at this present time." </p>
+<p> Upon this Sir Launcelot ran to Sir Tristram and catched him in his arms, and
+  he cried out: "Tristram, I believe that thou art the noblest knight whom ever
+  I beheld!" And Sir Tristram replied: "And thou, Launcelot, I love better than
+  father or kindred." Therewith each kissed the other upon the face, and all they
+  who stood by were so moved at that sight that several of them wept for pure
+  joy. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram and Sir Launcelot feast together.</div>
+<a href="images/034.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="p17" align="right" src="images/034.gif" border="0" alt="Sir Tristram sits with Sir Launcelot" /></a>
+<p> Thereafter they two went into Sir Tristram's pavilion and disarmed themselves.
+  Then there came sundry attendants who were excellent leeches and these searched
+  their hurts and bathed them and dressed them. And several other attendants came
+  and fetched soft robes and clothed the knights therein so that they were very
+  comfortable in their bodies. Then still other attendants brought them good strong
+  wine and manchets of bread and they sat together at table and ate very cheerfully
+  and were greatly refreshed. </p>
+<p> So I have told you of that famous affair-at-arms betwixt Sir Launcelot and
+  Sir Tristram, and I pray God that you may have the same pleasure in reading
+  of it that I had in writing of it. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">King Arthur comes to Sir Tristram's pavilion.</div>
+<p> Now, as Sir Launcelot and Sir Tristram sat in the pavilion of Sir Tristram
+  making pleasant converse together, there suddenly entered an esquire to where
+  they were sitting. This esquire proclaimed: "Messires, hither cometh King Arthur,
+  and he is very near at hand." Thereupon, even as that esquire spoke, there came
+  from without the pavilion a great noise of trampling horses and the pleasant
+  sound of ringing armor, and then immediately a loud noise of many voices uplifted
+  in acclamation. </p>
+<p> Therewith Sir Launcelot and Sir Tristram arose from where they sat, and as
+  they did so the curtains at the doorway of the pavilion were parted and there
+  entered King Arthur himself enveloped, as it were, with all the glory of his
+  royal estate. </p>
+<p> Unto him Sir Tristram ran, and would have fallen upon his knees, but King
+  Arthur stayed him from so doing. For the great king held him by the hand and
+  lifted him up, and he said, "Sir, are you Sir Tristram of Lyonesse?" "Yea,"
+  said Sir Tristram, "I am he." "Ha," said King Arthur, "I am gladder to see you
+  than almost any man I know of in the world," and therewith he kissed Sir Tristram
+  upon the face, and he said: "Welcome, Messire, to these parts! Welcome! And
+  thrice welcome!" </p>
+<p> Then Sir Tristram besought King Arthur that he would refresh himself, and
+  the King said he would do so. So Sir Tristram brought him to the chiefest place,
+  and there King Arthur sat him down. And Sir Tristram would have served him with
+  wine and with manchets of bread with his own hand, but King Arthur would not
+  have it so, but bade Sir Tristram to sit beside him on his right hand, and Sir
+  Tristram did so. After that, King Arthur spake to Sir Tristram about many things,
+  and chiefly about King Meliadus, the father of Sir Tristram, and about the court
+  of Lyonesse. </p>
+<p> Then, after a while King Arthur said: "Messire, I hear tell that you are a
+  wonderful harper." And Sir Tristram said, "Lord, so men say of me." King Arthur
+  said, "I would fain hear your minstrelsy." To which Sir Tristram made reply:
+  "Lord, I will gladly do anything at all that will give you pleasure." </p>
+<p> So therewith Sir Tristram gave orders to Gouvernail, and Gouvernail brought
+  him his shining golden harp, and the harp glistered with great splendor in the
+  dim light of the pavilion. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram sings before King Arthur.</div>
+<p> Sir Tristram took the harp in his hands and tuned it and struck upon it. And
+  he played upon the harp, and he sang to the music thereof so wonderfully that
+  they who sat there listened in silence as though they were without breath. For
+  not one of them had ever heard such singing as that music which Sir Tristram
+  sang; for it was as though some angel were singing to those who sat there harkening
+  to his chanting. </p>
+<p> So after Sir Tristram had ended, all who were there gave loud acclaim and
+  much praise to his singing. "Ha, Messire!" quoth King Arthur, "many times in
+  my life have I heard excellent singing, but never before in my life have I heard
+  such singing as that. Now I wish that we might always have you at this court
+  and that you would never leave us." And Sir Tristram said: "Lord, I too would
+  wish that I might always be with you and with these noble knights of your court,
+  for I have never met any whom I love as I love them." </p>
+<p> So they sat there in great joy and friendliness of spirit, and, for the while,
+  Sir Tristram forgot the mission he was upon and was happy in heart and glad
+  of that terrible storm that had driven him thitherward. </p>
+<p> And now I shall tell you the conclusion of all these adventures, and of how
+  it fared with Sir Tristram. </p>
+<div align="center"> <a href="images/tail.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/tail.gif" border="0" alt="Tail Piece" /></a>
+</div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div class="chaphead" id="tr1c7"><a href="images/019.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/019.gif" alt="Chapter Header" border="0" /></a>
+  <br />
+  Chapter Seventh</div>
+<br />
+<div class="chapdes">How Sir Tristram had speech with King Angus of Ireland; how
+  he undertook to champion the cause of King Angus and of what happened thereafter</div>
+.
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram hears news of King Angus.</div>
+<p> Now, as Sir Tristram and King Arthur and Sir Launcelot sat together in the
+  pavilion of Sir Tristram in pleasant, friendly discourse, as aforetold, there
+  came Gouvernail of a sudden into that place. He, coming to Sir Tristram, leaned
+  over his shoulder and he whispered into his ear: "Sir, I have just been told
+  that King Angus of Ireland is at this very time at Camelot at the court of the
+  King." </p>
+<p> Upon this Sir Tristram turned to King Arthur and said: "Lord, my esquire telleth
+  me that King Angus of Ireland is here at Camelot; now I pray you tell me, is
+  that saying true?" "Yea," said King Arthur, "that is true; but what of it?"
+  "Well," said Sir Tristram, "I had set forth to seek King Angus in Ireland, when
+  I and my companions were driven hither by a great storm of wind. Yet when I
+  find him, I know not whether King Angus may look upon me as a friend or as an
+  unfriend." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">How Sir Bertrand was killed in Ireland.</div>
+<p> "Ha," said King Arthur, "you need not take trouble concerning the regard in
+  which King Angus shall hold you. For he is at this time in such anxiety of spirit
+  that he needs to have every man his friend who will be his friend, and no man
+  his enemy whom he can reconcile to him. He is not just now in very good grace,
+  either with me or with my court, for the case with him is thus: Some while ago,
+  after you left the court of Ireland, there came to that place Sir Blamor de
+  Ganys (who is right cousin to Sir Launcelot of the Lake) and with Sir Blamor
+  a knight-companion hight Sir Bertrand de la Riviere Rouge. These two knights
+  went to Ireland with intent to win themselves honor at the court of Ireland.
+  Whilst they were in that kingdom there were held many jousts and tourneys, and
+  in all of them Sir Blamor and Sir Bertrand were victorious, and all the knights
+  of Ireland who came against them were put to shame at their hands. Many of the
+  Irish knights were exceedingly angry at this, and so likewise was the King of
+  Ireland. Now it happened one day that Sir Bertrand was found dead and murdered
+  at a certain pass in the King's forest, and when the news thereof was brought
+  to Sir Blamor, he was very wroth that his knight-companion should have been
+  thus treacherously slain. So he immediately quitted Ireland and returned hither
+  straightway, and when he had come before me he accused King Angus of treason
+  because of that murder. Now at this time King Angus is here upon my summons
+  for to answer that charge and to defend himself therefrom; for Sir Blamor offers
+  his body to defend the truth of his accusation, and as for the King of Ireland,
+  he can find no knight to take his part in that contention. For not only is Sir
+  Blamor, as you very well know, one of the best knights in the world, but also
+  nearly everybody here hath doubt of the innocence of King Angus in this affair.
+  Now from this you may see that King Angus is very much more in need of a friend
+  at this time than he is of an enemy." </p>
+<p> "Lord," said Sir Tristram, "what you tell me is very excellent good news,
+  for now I know that I may have talk with King Angus with safety to myself, and
+  that he will no doubt receive me as a friend." </p>
+<p> So after King Arthur and his court had taken their departure--it being then
+  in the early sloping of the afternoon--Sir Tristram called Gouvernail to him
+  and bade him make ready their horses, and when Gouvernail had done so, they
+  two mounted and rode away by themselves toward that place where King Angus had
+  taken up his lodging. When they had come there, Sir Tristram made demand to
+  have speech with the King, and therewith they in attendance ushered him in to
+  where the King Angus was. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">King Angus welcomes Sir Tristram.</div>
+<p> But when King Angus saw Sir Tristram who he was, and when he beheld a face
+  that was both familiar and kind, he gave a great cry of joy, and ran to Sir
+  Tristram and flung his arms about him, and kissed him upon the cheek; for he
+  was rejoiced beyond measure to find a friend in that unfriendly place. </p>
+<p> Then Sir Tristram said, "Lord, what cheer have you?" Unto that King Angus
+  replied: "Tristram, I have very poor cheer; for I am alone amongst enemies with
+  no one to befriend me, and unless I find some knight who will stand my champion
+  to-morrow or the next day I am like to lose my life for the murder of Sir Bertrand
+  de la Riviere Rouge. And where am I to find any one to act as my champion in
+  defence of my innocence in this place, where I behold an enemy in every man
+  whom I meet? Alas, Tristram! There is no one in all the world who will aid me
+  unless it be you, for you alone of all the knights in the world beyond the circle
+  of the knights of the Round Table may hope to stand against so excellent and
+  so strong a hero!" </p>
+<p> "Lord," quoth Sir Tristram, "I know very well what great trouble overclouds
+  you at this time, and it is because of that that I am come hither for to visit
+  you. For I have not at any time forgotten how that I told you when you spared
+  my life in Ireland that mayhap the time might come when I might serve as your
+  friend in your day of need. So if you will satisfy me upon two points, then
+  I myself will stand for your champion upon this occasion." </p>
+<p> "Ah, Tristram," quoth King Angus, "what you say is very good news to me indeed.
+  For I believe there is no other knight in all the world (unless it be Sir Launcelot
+  of the Lake) who is so strong and worthy a knight as you. So tell me what are
+  those two matters concerning which you would seek satisfaction, and, if it is
+  possible for me to do so, I will give you such an answer as may please you."
+</p>
+<p> "Lord," said Sir Tristram, "the first matter is this: that you shall satisfy
+  me that you are altogether innocent of the death of Sir Bertrand. And the second
+  matter is this: that you shall grant me whatsoever favor it is that I shall
+  have to ask of you." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">King Angus swears innocence to Sir Tristram.</div>
+<p> Then King Angus arose and drew his sword and he said: "Tristram, behold; here
+  is my sword--and the guard thereof and the blade thereof and the handle thereof
+  make that holy sign of the cross unto which all Christian men bow down to worship.
+  Look! See! Here I kiss that holy sign and herewith I swear an oath upon that
+  sacred symbol, and I furthermore swear upon the honor of my knighthood, that
+  I am altogether guiltless of the death of that noble, honorable knight aforesaid.
+  Nor do I at all know how it was he met his death, for I am innocent of all evil
+  knowledge thereof. Now, Messire, art thou satisfied upon that point?" And Sir
+  Tristram said, "I am satisfied." </p>
+<p> Then King Angus said: "As to the matter of granting you a favor, that I would
+  do in any case for the love I bear you. So let me hear what it is that you have
+  to ask of me." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram asks his boon.</div>
+<p> "Lord," cried out Sir Tristram, "the favor is one I had liever die than ask.
+  It is this: that you give me your daughter, the Lady Belle Isoult, for wife
+  unto mine uncle, King Mark of Cornwall." </p>
+<p> Upon these words, King Angus sat in silence for a long while, gazing very
+  strangely upon Sir Tristram. Then by and by he said: "Messire, this is a very
+  singular thing you ask of me; for from what you said to me aforetime and from
+  what you said to my daughter I had thought that you desired the Lady Belle Isoult
+  for yourself. Now I can in no wise understand why you do not ask for her in
+  your name instead of asking for her in the name of King Mark." </p>
+<p> Then Sir Tristram cried out as in great despair: "Messire, I love that dear
+  lady a great deal more than I love my life; but in this affair I am fulfilling
+  a pledge made upon the honor of my knighthood and unto the King of Cornwall,
+  who himself made me knight. For I pledged him unaware, and now I am paying for
+  my hastiness. Yet I would God that you might take the sword which you hold in
+  your hand and thrust it through my heart; for I had liefer die than fulfil this
+  obligation to which I am pledged." </p>
+<p> "Well," said King Angus, "you know very well that I will not slay you, but
+  that I will fulfil your boon as I have promised. As for what you do in this
+  affair, you must answer for it to God and to the honor of your own knighthood
+  whether it is better to keep that promise which you made to the King of Cornwall
+  or to break it." </p>
+<p> Then Sir Tristram cried out again in great travail of soul: "Lord, you know
+  not what you say, nor what torments I am at this present moment enduring." And
+  therewith he arose and went forth from that place, for he was ashamed that anyone
+  should behold the passion that moved him. </p>
+<p> And now is to be told of that famous battle betwixt Sir Tristram and Sir Blamor
+  de Ganys of which so much hath been written in all the several histories of
+  chivalry that deal with these matters. </p>
+<p> Now when the next morning had come--clear and fair and with the sun shining
+  wonderfully bright--a great concourse of people began to betake themselves to
+  that place where the lists had been set up in preparation for that ordeal of
+  battle. That place was on a level meadow of grass very fair bedight with flowers
+  and not far from the walls of the town nor from the high road that led to the
+  gate of the same. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Of the meadow of battle.</div>
+<p> And, indeed, that was a very beautiful place for battle, for upon the one
+  hand was the open countryside, all gay with spring blossoms and flowers; and
+  upon the other hand were the walls of the town. Over above the top of those
+  walls was to be seen a great many tall towers--some built of stone and some
+  of brick--that rose high up into the clear, shining sky all full of slow-drifting
+  clouds, that floated, as it were, like full-breasted swans in a sea of blue.
+  And beyond the walls of the town you might behold a great many fair houses with
+  bright windows of glass all shining against the sky. So you may see how fair
+  was all that place, where that fierce battle was presently to be fought. </p>
+<p> Meanwhile, great multitudes of people had gathered all about the meadow of
+  battle, and others stood like flies upon the walls of the town and looked down
+  into that fair, pleasant meadow-land, spread with its carpet of flowers. All
+  along one side of the ground of battle was a scaffolding of seats fair bedraped
+  with fabrics of various colors and textures. In the midst of all the other seats
+  were two seats hung with cloth of scarlet, and these seats were the one for
+  King Arthur and the other for King Angus of Ireland. </p>
+<p> In the centre of the meadow-land Sir Blamor rode up and down very proudly.
+  He was clad in red armor, and the trappings and the furniture of his horse were
+  all of red, so that he paraded the field like a crimson flame of fire. </p>
+<p> "Sir." quoth King Arthur to King Angus, "yon is a very strong, powerful, noble
+  knight; now where mayst thou find one who can hope to stand against him in this
+  coming battle?" </p>
+<div class="sidenote">King Angus presents Sir Tristram for his champion.</div>
+<p> "Lord," said King Angus, "I do believe that God hath raised up a defender
+  for me in this extremity. For Sir Tristram of Lyonesse came to me yesterday,
+  and offered for to take this quarrel of mine upon him. Now I do not believe
+  that there is any better knight in all of Christendom than he, wherefore I am
+  to-day uplifted with great hopes that mine innocence shall be proved against
+  mine accuser." </p>
+<p> "Ha!" quoth King Arthur, "if Sir Tristram is to stand thy champion in this
+  affair, then I do believe that thou hast indeed found for thyself a very excellent,
+  worthy defender." </p>
+<p> So anon there came Sir Tristram riding to that place, attended only by Gouvernail.
+  And he was clad all in bright, polished armor so that he shone like a star of
+  great splendor as he entered the field of battle. He came straight to where
+  King Arthur sat and saluted before him. King Arthur said, "Sir, what knight
+  art thou?" "Lord," answered he, "I am Sir Tristram of Lyonesse, and I am come
+  to champion King Angus who sits beside you. For I believe him to be innocent
+  of that matter of which he is accused, and I will emperil my body in that belief
+  for to prove the truth of the same." </p>
+<p> "Well," quoth King Arthur, "this King accused hath, certes, a very noble champion
+  in thee. So go and do thy devoirs, and may God defend the right." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram does battle with Sir Blamor.</div>
+<p> Thereupon each knight took a good stout spear into his hand and chose his
+  place for the encounter, and each set his shield before him and feutered his
+  lance in rest. Then, when each was ready, the marshal blew a great blast upon
+  his trumpet, and thereupon, in an instant, each knight launched against the
+  other like a bolt of thunder. So they met in the very middle of the course with
+  such violence that the spear of each knight was shattered all into pieces unto
+  the very truncheon thereof. Each horse fell back upon his haunches, and each
+  would no doubt, have fallen entirely, had not the knight-rider recovered his
+  steed with the greatest skill and address. </p>
+<p> Then each knight voided his saddle and each drew his sword and set his shield
+  before him. Therewith they came to battle on foot like two wild boars--so fiercely
+  and felly that it was terrible to behold. For they traced this way and that
+  and foined and struck at one another so that whole pieces of armor were hewn
+  from the bodies of each. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram overcomes Sir Blamor.</div>
+<p> But in all this battle Sir Tristram had so much the better that, by and by
+  after they had fought for above an hour, Sir Blamor de Ganys began to bare back
+  before him, and to give ground, holding his shield low for weariness. This Sir
+  Tristram perceived, and, running in suddenly upon Sir Blamor, he struck him
+  so terrible a blow upon the right shoulder that Sir Blamor's arm was altogether
+  benumbed thereby, and he could no longer hold his sword in his hand. </p>
+<p> So the sword of Sir Blamor fell down into the grass, and Sir Tristram, perceiving
+  this, ran and set his foot upon it. Then Sir Blamor could not stand any longer,
+  but fell down upon his knees because of a great weariness and faintness that
+  lay upon him like the weariness and faintness of approaching death. </p>
+<p> Then Sir Tristram said: "Sir Knight, thou canst fight no longer. Now I bid
+  thee for to yield thyself to me as overcome in this battle." </p>
+<p> Thereunto Sir Blamor made reply, speaking very deep and hollow from out of
+  his helmet: "Sir Knight, thou hast overcome me by thy strength and prowess,
+  but I will not yield myself to thee now nor at any time. For that would be so
+  great shame that I would rather die than endure it. I am a knight of the Round
+  Table, and have never yet been overcome in this wise by any man. So thou mayst
+  slay me, but I will not yield myself to thee." </p>
+<p> Then Sir Tristram cried out: "Sir Knight, I beseech thee to yield thyself,
+  for thou art not fit to fight any more this day." </p>
+<p> Sir Blamor said, "I will not yield, so strike and have done with it." </p>
+<p> So Sir Tristram wist not what to do, but stood there in doubt looking down
+  upon Sir Blamor. Then Sir Blamor said, again: "Strike, Sir Knight, and have
+  done with it." </p>
+<p> Upon this Sir Tristram said: "I may not strike thee, Sir Blamor de Ganys,
+  to slay thee, for thou art very nigh of blood to Sir Launcelot of the Lake,
+  and unto him I have sworn brotherhood in arms; wherefore I pray thee now to
+  yield thyself to me." </p>
+<p> Sir Blamor said, "Nay, I will not yield me to thee." </p>
+<p> "Well," said Sir Tristram, "then I must fain act this day in a manner like
+  as I acted yesterday." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram gives Sir Blamor back his sword.</div>
+<p> Therewith speaking, he took his sword into both his hands and he swung it
+  several times around his head and when he had done that he flung it to a great
+  distance away, so that he was now entirely unarmed saving only for his misericordia.
+  After that he gave Sir Blamor his hand and lifted him up upon his feet. And
+  he stooped and picked up Sir Blamor's sword out of the grass and gave it back
+  to Sir Blamor into his hands, and he said: "Sir Knight, now thou art armed and
+  I am entirely unarmed, and so thou hast me at thy mercy. Now thou shalt either
+  yield thyself to me or slay me as I stand here without any weapon; for I cannot
+  now strike thee, and though I have overcome thee fairly yet thou hast it now
+  in thy power to slay me. So now do thy will with me in this matter." </p>
+<p> Then Sir Blamor was greatly astonished at the magnanimity of Sir Tristram,
+  and he said, "Sir Knight, what is thy name?" Sir Tristram said, "It is Tristram,
+  surnamed of Lyonesse." </p>
+<p> Upon this Sir Blamor came to Sir Tristram and put his arms about his shoulders,
+  and he said: "Tristram, I yield myself to thee, but in love and not in hate.
+  For I yield myself not because of thy strength of arms (and yet I believe there
+  is no knight in the world, unless it be my cousin Sir Launcelot of the Lake,
+  who is thy peer), but I yield me because of thy exceeding nobility. Yet I would
+  that I might only be satisfied that this King of Ireland is no traitor." </p>
+<p> "Messire," said Sir Tristram, "of that I have assured myself very strongly
+  ere I entered into this contest, wherefore I may now freely avouch upon mine
+  own knightly word that he is innocent." </p>
+<p> "Then," said Sir Blamor, "I also am satisfied, and I herewith withdraw all
+  my impeachment against him." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram and Sir Blamor are reconciled.</div>
+<p> Then those two noble, excellent knights took one another by the hand and went
+  forward together to where King Arthur sat in high estate, and all those who
+  looked on and beheld that reconciliation gave loud acclaim. And when King Arthur
+  beheld them coming thus, he arose from where he sat and met them and embraced
+  them both, and he said: "I do not believe that any king can have greater glory
+  in his life than this, to have such knights about him as ye be." </p>
+<p> So ended this famous battle with great glory to Sir Tristram and yet with
+  no disregard to that famous knight against whom he did battle. </p>
+<p> After that, they and King Arthur and King Angus of Ireland and all the court
+  went up unto the castle of Camelot, and there the two knights-combatant were
+  bathed in tepid water and their wounds were searched and dressed and they were
+  put at their ease in all ways that it was possible. </p>
+<p> Now that very day, as they all sat at feast in the castle of Camelot, there
+  came one with news that the name of Sir Tristram had suddenly appeared upon
+  one of the seats of the Round Table. So after they had ended their feast they
+  all immediately went to see how that might be. When they came to the pavilion
+  of the Round Table, there, behold! was his name indeed upon that seat that had
+  once been the seat of King Pellinore. For this was the name that now was upon
+  that seat: </p>
+<div class="fancy">SIR TRISTRAM OF LYONESSE</div>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram becomes knight of the Round Table.</div>
+<p> So the next day Sir Tristram was duly installed as a knight-companion of the
+  Round Table with a great pomp and estate of circumstance, and a day or two after
+  that he set sail for Ireland with King Angus, taking with him Gouvernail and
+  those Cornish knights who were his companions. </p>
+<p> So they all reached Ireland in safety, and, because Sir Tristram had aided
+  the King of Ireland in the day of his extremity, the Queen forgave him all the
+  despite she held against him, so that he was received at the court of the King
+  and Queen with great friendship and high honor. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">How Sir Tristram dwelt in Ireland.</div>
+<p> For a while Sir Tristram dwelt in Ireland and said nothing concerning that
+  purpose for which he had come. Then one day he said to King Angus: "Lord, thou
+  art not to forget to fulfil that promise which thou madst to me concerning the
+  Lady Belle Isoult." </p>
+<p> To this King Angus made reply: "I had hoped that now we were come to Ireland
+  you had changed your purpose in that matter. Are you yet of the same mind as
+  when you first spake to me?" </p>
+<p> "Yea," said Sir Tristram, "for it cannot be otherwise." </p>
+<p> "Well, then," said King Angus, "I shall go to prepare my daughter for this
+  ill-hap that is to befall her, though indeed it doth go against my heart to
+  do such a thing. After I have first spoken to her, you are to take the matter
+  into your own hands, for, to tell you the truth, I have not the heart to contrive
+  it further." </p>
+<p> So King Angus went away from where Sir Tristram was, and he was gone a long
+  while. When he returned he said: "Sir, go you that way and the Lady Belle Isoult
+  will see you." </p>
+<p> So Sir Tristram went in the direction King Angus had said, and a page showed
+  him the way. So by and by he came to where the Lady Belle Isoult was, and it
+  was a great chamber in a certain tower of the castle and high up Under the eaves
+  of the roof. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">How Lady Belle Isoult appeared to Sir Tristram.</div>
+<p> The Lady Belle Isoult stood upon the farther side of this chamber so that
+  the light from the windows shone full upon her face, and Sir Tristram perceived
+  that she was extraordinarily beautiful, and rather like to a shining spirit
+  than to a lady of flesh and blood. For she was clad altogether in white and
+  her face was like to wax for whiteness and clearness, and she wore ornaments
+  of gold set with shining stones of divers colors about her neck and about her
+  arms so that they glistered with a wonderful lustre. Her eyes shone very bright
+  and clear like one with a fever, and Sir Tristram beheld that there were channels
+  of tears upon her face and several tears stood upon her white cheeks like to
+  shining jewels hanging suspended there. </p>
+<p> So, for a while, Sir Tristram stood still without speaking and regarded her
+  from afar. Then after a while she spake and said, "Sir, what is this you have
+  done?" "Lady," he said, "I have done what God set me to do, though I would rather
+  die than do it." </p>
+<p> She said, "Tristram, you have betrayed me." Upon the which he cried out in
+  a very loud and piercing voice, "Lady, say not so!" </p>
+<p> She said: "Tristram, tell me, is it better to fulfil this pledge you have
+  made, knowing that in so doing you sacrifice both my happiness and your happiness
+  to satisfy your pride of honor; or is it better that you sacrifice your pride
+  and break this promise so that we may both be happy? Tristram, I beseech you
+  to break this promise you have made and let us be happy together." </p>
+<p> At this Sir Tristram cried out in a very loud voice: "Lady, did you put your
+  hand into my bosom and tear my naked heart, you could not cause me so much pain
+  as that which I this moment endure. It cannot be as you would have it, for it
+  is thus with me: were it but myself whom I might consider, I would freely sacrifice
+  both my life and my honor for your sake. But it may not be so, lady; for I am
+  held to be one of the chiefest of that order of knighthood to which I belong,
+  wherefore I may not consider myself, but must ever consider that order. For
+  if I should violate a pledge given upon my knighthood, then would I dishonor
+  not myself, but that entire order to which I belong. For, did I so, all the
+  world would say, what virtue is there in the order of knighthood when one of
+  the chiefest of that order may violate his pledge when it pleases him to do
+  so? So, lady, having assumed that great honor of knighthood I must perform its
+  obligations even to the uttermost; yea, though in fulfilling my pledge I sacrifice
+  both Thee and myself." </p>
+<p> Then Belle Isoult looked upon Sir Tristram for some little while, and by and
+  by she smiled very pitifully and said: "Ah, Tristram, I believe I am more sorry
+  for thee than I am for myself." </p>
+<p> "Lady," said Tristram, "I would God that I lay here dead before you. But I
+  am not able to die, but am altogether strong and hale--only very sorrowful at
+  heart." And therewith he turned and left that place. Only when he had come to
+  a place where he was entirely by himself with no one but God to see him, he
+  hid his face in his hands and wept as though his heart were altogether broken.
+  So it was that Sir Tristram fulfilled his pledge. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Belle Isoult and Sir Tristram depart for Cornwall.</div>
+<p> After that, King Angus furnished a very noble and beautiful ship with sails
+  of satin embroidered with figures of divers sorts, and he fitted the ship in
+  all ways such as became the daughter of a king and the wife of a king to embark
+  upon. And that ship was intended for the Lady Belle Isoult and Sir Tristram
+  in which to sail to the court of Cornwall. </p>
+<p> And it was ordained that a certain very excellent lady of the court of the
+  Queen, who had been attendant upon the Lady Belle Isoult when she was a little
+  child and who had been with her in attendance ever since that time, should accompany
+  her to the Court of Cornwall. And the name of this lady was the Lady Bragwaine.
+</p>
+<div class="sidenote">The Queen of Ireland provides a love potion for King Mark
+  and Belle Isoult.</div>
+<p> Now the day before the Lady Belle Isoult was to take her departure from Ireland,
+  the Queen of Ireland came to the Lady Bragwaine and she bare with her a flagon
+  of gold very curiously wrought. And the Queen said: "Bragwaine, here is a flask
+  of a very singular and precious sort of an elixir; for that liquor it is of
+  such a sort that when a man and a woman drink of it together, they two shall
+  thereafter never cease to love one another as long as they shall have life.
+  Take this flask, and when you have come to Cornwall, and when the Lady Belle
+  Isoult and King Mark have been wedded, then give them both to drink of this
+  elixir; for after they have drunk they shall forget all else in the world and
+  cleave only to one another. This I give you to the intent that the Lady Isoult
+  may forget Sir Tristram, and may become happy in the love of King Mark whom
+  she shall marry." </p>
+<p> Soon thereafter the Lady Belle Isoult took leave of the King and the Queen
+  and entered into that ship that had been prepared for her. Thus, with Sir Tristram
+  and with Dame Bragwaine and with their attendants, she set sail for Cornwall.
+</p>
+<p> Now it happened that, whilst they were upon that voyage, the Lady Bragwaine
+  came of a sudden into the cabin of that ship and there she beheld the Lady Belle
+  Isoult lying upon a couch weeping. Dame Bragwaine said, "Lady, why do you weep?"
+  Whereunto the Lady Belle Isoult made reply: "Alas, Bragwaine, how can I help
+  but weep seeing that I am to be parted from the man I love and am to be married
+  unto another whom I do not love?" </p>
+<p> Dame Bragwaine laughed and said: "Do you then weep for that? See! Here is
+  a wonderful flask as it were of precious wine. When you are married to the King
+  of Cornwall, then you are to quaff of it and he is to quaff of it and after
+  that you will forget all others in the world and cleave only to one another.
+  For it is a wonderful love potion and it hath been given to me to use in that
+  very way. Wherefore dry your eyes, for happiness may still lay before you."
+</p>
+<p> When the Lady Belle Isoult heard these words she wept no more but smiled very
+  strangely. Then by and by she arose and went away to where Sir Tristram was.
+</p>
+<p> When she came to him she said, "Tristram, will you drink of a draught with
+  me?" He said, "Yea, lady, though it were death in the draught." </p>
+<p> She said, "There is not death in it, but something very different," and thereupon
+  she went away into the cabin where that chalice aforesaid was hidden. And at
+  that time Dame Bragwaine was not there. </p>
+<p> Then the Lady Belle Isoult took the flagon from where it was hidden, and poured
+  the elixir out into a chalice of gold and crystal and she brought it to where
+  Sir Tristram was. When she had come there, she said, "Tristram, I drink to thee,"
+  and therewith she drank the half of the elixir there Was in the chalice. Then
+  she said, "Now drink thou the rest to me." </p>
+<p> Upon that Sir Tristram took the chalice and lifted it to his lips, and drank
+  all the rest of that liquor that was therein. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram and Belle Isoult drink the love potion.</div>
+<a href="images/035.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="p18" align="left" src="images/035.gif" border="0" alt="Belle Isoult and Sir Tristram drink the love draught" /></a>
+<p> Now immediately Sir Tristram had drunk that elixir he felt it run like fire
+  through every vein in his body. Thereupon he cried out, "Lady, what is this
+  you have given me to drink?" She said: "Tristram, that was a powerful love potion
+  intended for King Mark and me. But now thou and I have drunk of it and never
+  henceforth can either of us love anybody in all of the world but the other."
+</p>
+<p> Then Sir Tristram catched her into his arms and he cried out: "Isoult! Isoult!
+  what hast thou done to us both? Was it not enough that I should have been unhappy
+  but that thou shouldst have chosen to be unhappy also?" </p>
+<p> Thereat the Lady Belle Isoult both wept and smiled, looking up into Sir Tristram's
+  face, and she said: "Nay, Tristram; I would rather be sorry with thee than happy
+  with another." He said, "Isoult, there is much woe in this for us both." She
+  said, "I care not, so I may share it with thee." </p>
+<p> Thereupon Sir Tristram kissed her thrice upon the face, and then immediately
+  put her away from him and he left her and went away by himself in much agony
+  of spirit. </p>
+<p> Thereafter they reached the kingdom of Cornwall in safety, and the Lady Belle
+  Isoult and King Mark were wedded with much pomp and ceremony and after that
+  there was much feasting and every appearance of rejoicing. </p>
+<div align="center"> <a href="images/036.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="t7" src="images/036.gif" border="0" alt="Tail Piece--The Story of Sir Tristram and the Lady Belle Isoult" /></a>
+</div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div id="trip2">
+  <h3>PART II</h3>
+  <h2>The Story of Sir Tristram and Sir Lamorack</h2>
+  <table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="10" cellpadding="0">
+    <tr>
+      <td> <a href="images/037.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="p19" src="images/037.gif" border="0" alt="Sir Lamorack of Gales" /></a>
+      </td>
+      <td>
+        <div class="foreward">
+          <p> <i> And now shall be told the story of Sir Tristram and Sir Lamorack
+            of Gales, how they became brothers-in-arms; how Sir Lamorack took
+            offence at Sir Tristram, and how they became reconciled again. </i>
+          </p>
+          <p> <i> But first of all you must know that Sir Lamorack of Gales was
+            deemed to be one of the greatest knights alive. For it was said that
+            there were three knights that were the greatest in all of the world,
+            and those three were Sir Launcelot of the Lake, Sir Tristram of Lyonesse,
+            and Sir Lamorack of Gales. </i> </p>
+          <p> <i> Sir Lamorack was the son of King Pellinore, of whom it hath
+            already been told in the Book of King Arthur that he was the greatest
+            knight during that time; and he was the brother of Sir Percival, of
+            whom it is to be told hereinafter that he was the peer even of Sir
+            Launcelot of the Lake. So because that house produced three such great
+            and famous knights, the house of King Pellinore hath always been singularly
+            renowned in all histories of chivalry. For indeed there was not any
+            house so famous as it saving only the house of King Ban of Benwick,
+            which brought forth those two peerless knights beyond all compare:--to
+            wit, Sir Launcelot of the Lake and Sir Galahad, who achieved the quest
+            of the San Grail. </i> </p>
+          <p> <i>So I hope that you may find pleasure in the story of how Sir
+            Tristram and Sir Lamorack became acquainted, and of how they became
+            brothers-in-arms. </i> </p>
+        </div>
+      </td>
+    </tr>
+  </table>
+</div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div align="center"> <a href="images/038.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="h8" src="images/038.gif" alt="The Story of Sir Tristram and Sir Lamorack" border="0" /></a>
+</div>
+<div class="chaphead" id="tr2c1">Chapter First</div>
+<br />
+<div class="chapdes">How Sir Lamorack of Gales came to Tintagel and how he and
+  Sir Tristram sware friendship together in the forest.</div>
+<p> After these happenings, Sir Tristram abode for awhile at the Court of Cornwall,
+  for so King Mark commanded him to do. And he sought in every way to distract
+  his mind from his sorrows by deeds of prowess. So during this time he performed
+  several adventures of which there is not now space to tell you. But these adventures
+  won such credit to his knighthood that all the world talked of his greatness.
+</p>
+<p> And ever as he grew more and more famous, King Mark hated him more and more.
+  For he could not bear to see Sir Tristram so noble and so sorrowful with love
+  of the Lady Belle Isoult. </p>
+<p> Also Sir Tristram spent a great deal of time at chase with hawk and hound;
+  for he hoped by means also of such sports to drive away, in some measure, his
+  grief for the loss of Belle Isoult. </p>
+<p> Now the season whereof this chapter speaketh was in the autumn of the year,
+  what time all the earth is glorious with the brown and gold of the woodlands.
+  For anon, when the wind would blow, then the leaves would fall down from the
+  trees like showers of gold so that everywhere they lay heaped like flakes of
+  gold upon the russet sward, rustling dry and warm beneath the feet, and carpeting
+  all the world with splendor. And the deep blue sky overhead was heaped full
+  of white, slow-moving clouds, and everywhere the warm air was fragrant with
+  the perfume of the forest, and at every strong breeze the nuts would fall pattering
+  down upon the ground like hailstones. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram rides ahunting.</div>
+<p> And because the world was so beautiful and so lusty, Sir Tristram took great
+  pleasure in life in spite of that trouble that lay upon him. So he and his court
+  rode very joyfully amid the trees and thickets, making the woodlands merry with
+  the music of winding horns and loud-calling voices and with the baying of hounds
+  sounding like sweet tolling bells in the remoter aisles of the forest spaces.
+</p>
+<p> Thus Sir Tristram made sport all one morning, in such an autumn season, and
+  when noon had come he found himself to be anhungered. So he gave orders to those
+  who were in attendance upon him that food should be spread at a certain open
+  space in the forest; and therewith, in accordance with those orders, they in
+  attendance immediately opened sundry hampers of wicker, and therefrom brought
+  forth a noble pasty of venison, and manchets of bread and nuts and apples and
+  several flasks and flagons of noble wine of France and the Rhine countries.
+  This abundance of good things they set upon a cloth as white as snow which they
+  had laid out upon the ground. </p>
+<p> Now just as Sir Tristram was about to seat himself at this goodly feast he
+  beheld amid the thin yellow foliage that there rode through a forest path not
+  far away a very noble-seeming knight clad all in shining armor and with vestments
+  and trappings of scarlet so that he shone like a flame of fire in the woodlands.
+</p>
+<p> Then Sir Tristram said to those who stood near him, "Know ye who is yonder
+  knight who rides alone?" They say, "No, Lord, we know him not." Sir Tristram
+  said, "Go and bid that knight of his courtesy that he come hither and eat with
+  me." </p>
+<p> So three or four esquires ran to where that knight was riding, and in a little
+  they came attending him to where Sir Tristram was, and Sir Tristram went to
+  meet him. </p>
+<p> Then Sir Tristram said: "Sir Knight, I pray you for to tell me your name and
+  degree, for it seems to me that you are someone very high in order of knighthood."
+</p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Lamorack meets Sir tristram.</div>
+<p> "Messire," quoth the other, "I shall be very glad to tell you my name if so
+  be you will do the like courtesy unto me. I am Sir Lamorack of Gales, and I
+  am son of the late King Pellinore, who was in his days held to be the foremost
+  knight in this realm. I come to these parts seeking Sir Tristram of Lyonesse,
+  of whose fame I hear told in every court of chivalry whither I go. For I have
+  never beheld Sir Tristram, and I have a great desire to do so." </p>
+<p> "Well," quoth Sir Tristram, "meseems I should be greatly honored that you
+  should take so much trouble for nothing else than that; for lo! I am that very
+  Sir Tristram of Lyonesse whom you seek." </p>
+<p> Then Sir Lamorack immediately leaped down from his war-horse and putting up
+  the umbril of his helmet, he came to Sir Tristram and took him by the hand and
+  kissed him upon the cheek. And Sir Tristram kissed Sir Lamorack again, and each
+  made great joy of the other. </p>
+<p> After that, Sir Lamorack, with the aid of these esquires attendant upon Sir
+  Tristram, put aside his armor, and bathed his face and neck and hands in a cold
+  forest brook, as clear as crystal, that came brawling down out of the woodlands.
+  Therewith, being greatly refreshed he and Sir Tristram sat down to that bountiful
+  feast together, and ate and drank with great joy and content of spirit. And
+  whiles they ate each made inquiry of the other what he did, and each told the
+  other many things concerning the goodly adventures that had befallen him. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram sings to Sir Lamorack.</div>
+<p> And after they were through eating and drinking, Sir Tristram took his harp
+  in hand and sang several excellent ballads and rondels which he had made in
+  honor of Belle Isoult, and Sir Lamorack listened and made great applause at
+  each song that Sir Tristram sang. And so each knight loved the other more and
+  more the longer they sat together. </p>
+<p> Then, after a while, Sir Tristram said: "Dear friend, let us swear brotherhood
+  to one another, for I find that my heart goeth out to thee with a wonderful
+  strength." </p>
+<p> "Ha, Tristram," said Sir Lamorack, "I would rather live in brotherhood with
+  thee than with any man whom I know, for I find that the longer I am with thee,
+  the greater and the stronger my love groweth for thee." </p>
+<p> Then Sir Tristram drew from his finger a very splendid ring (for the ring
+  held an emerald carved into the likeness of the head of a beautiful woman, and
+  that emerald was set into the gold of the ring) and Sir Tristram said: "Give
+  me that ring upon thy finger, O Lamorack! and take thou this ring in its stead;
+  so we shall have confirmed our brotherhood to one another." </p>
+<p> Then Sir Lamorack did very joyfully as Sir Tristram bade him, and he took
+  the ring that Sir Tristram gave him and kissed it and put it upon his finger;
+  and Sir Tristram kissed the ring that Sir Lamorack gave him and put it upon
+  his finger. </p>
+<p> Thus they confirmed brotherhood with one another that day as they sat together
+  in the forest at feast, with the golden leaves falling about them. And so they
+  sat together all that afternoon and until the sun began to hang low in the west;
+  after that, they arose and took horse, and rode away together toward Tintagel
+  in great pleasure of companionship. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Lamorack is honored at Tintagel.</div>
+<p> Now all the court at Tintagel was greatly rejoiced at the presence of so famous
+  a knight as Sir Lamorack of Gales; so there was great celebration upon that
+  account, and everybody did the most that he was able to give pleasure to Sir
+  Lamorack. And during the time that Sir Lamorack was at Tintagel there were several
+  joustings held in his honor, and in all these assays at arms Sir Lamorack himself
+  took part and overthrew everyone who came against him, so that he approved himself
+  to be so wonderful a champion that all men who beheld his performance exclaimed
+  with astonishment at his prowess. </p>
+<p> But from all these affairs at arms Sir Tristram held himself aloof, and would
+  not take part in them. For he took such pleasure in Sir Lamorack's glory that
+  he would not do anything that might imperil the credit that his friend thus
+  gained by his prowess. For though Sir Tristram dearly loved such affairs, he
+  would ever say to himself: "Perhaps if I should enter the lists against my friend
+  it might be my mishap to overthrow him and then his glory would be forfeited
+  unto me." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Lamorack does famous battle.</div>
+<p> Now upon a certain time there was held a great day of jousting in honor of
+  Sir Lamorack, and in that affair at arms twenty of the best knights, both of
+  Cornwall and the countries circumadjacent, took the field to hold it against
+  all comers. Of these knights, several were well-known champions, so that they
+  maintained the field for a long while, to the great credit both of themselves
+  and of Cornwall. But some while after the prime of day, there came Sir Lamorack
+  into that field, and, the day being cool and fresh, he was filled with a wonderful
+  strength and spirit of battle. So he challenged first one of those Cornish champions
+  and then another, and in all such challenges he was successful, so that he overthrew
+  of those knights, the one after the other, fifteen men, some of whom were sorely
+  hurt in the encounter. Upon this, the other five of those champions, beholding
+  the prowess and strength and skill of Sir Lamorack said to one another: "Why
+  should we venture against this man? Of a verity, this knight is no mere man,
+  but a demon of strength and skill. Wherefore no man may hope to stand against
+  him in an assault of arms; for lo! if he doth but touch a man with his lance
+  that man straightway falleth from his saddle." So they withdrew themselves from
+  that encounter and would not have to do with Sir Lamorack. </p>
+<p> Now at that time Sir Tristram was sitting with the court of the King, and
+  not far from the Lady Belle Isoult, overlooking the meadow of battle. </p>
+<p> To him King Mark said: "Messire, why do you take no part against this knight?
+  Is it that you fear him?" </p>
+<p> To this Sir Tristram replied with great calmness: "Nay, I fear not him nor
+  any man alive, and that you know, Lord, better than anyone in all of the world."
+</p>
+<p> "I am glad to hear of your courage and fearlessness," quoth King Mark, "for
+  meseems it is a great shame to all of us that this gentleman, who is a stranger
+  amongst us, should win so much credit to the disadvantage of all the knights
+  of Cornwall. Now, as you say you have no fear of him, I pray you go down into
+  the field and do battle with him in our behalf." So said King Mark, for he thought
+  to himself: "Perhaps Sir Lamorack may overthrow Sir Tristram, and so bring him
+  into disrepute with those who praise him so greatly." </p>
+<p> But Sir Tristram said: "No; I will not go down to battle against Sir Lamorack
+  this day whatever I may do another day. For I have sworn brotherhood to that
+  noble and gentle champion, and it would ill beseem me to assault him now, when
+  he is weary and short of breath from this great battle which he hath done to-day
+  against such odds. For if I should overthrow him now, it would bring great shame
+  upon him. Some other day and in some other place I may assay him in friendliness,
+  with honor and credit both to myself and him." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">King Mark commands Sir Tristram to do battle.</div>
+<p> "Well," said King Mark, "as for that, I do not choose to wait. Nor am I pleased
+  that you should sit by and suffer this knight to carry away all the credit of
+  arms from Cornwall in despite of the knights of Cornwall. For not only would
+  this be a great shame to the knights of Cornwall (of whom you are the acknowledged
+  champion), but it would be equally a shame unto this lady whom you have fetched
+  hither from Ireland to be Queen of Cornwall. So I lay this command upon you--not
+  only because I am your King, but because I am he who made you knight--that you
+  straightway go down into yonder meadow and do battle with this knight who beareth
+  himself so proudly in our midst." </p>
+<p> Then Sir Tristram looked upon King Mark with great anger and bitterness, and
+  he said: "This is great shame and despite which you seek to put upon me by giving
+  such commands unto me. Verily, it would seem that in all ways you seek to put
+  shame and sorrow upon me. And yet I have ever been your true knight, and have
+  saved your kingdom from truage to Ireland and have served you very faithfully
+  in all ways. Would to God I had been made knight by any man in the world rather
+  than by you." </p>
+<p> At this King Mark smiled very bitterly upon Tristram. "Sirrah," quoth he,
+  "meseems you speak very outrageously to me who am your King. Now I herewith
+  command you to go straightway down into that field without any further words
+  and to do my bidding against yonder knight." </p>
+<p> Then Sir Tristram groaned in spirit, and then he said, "I go." </p>
+<p> So Sir Tristram arose and went away from that place very full of bitterness
+  and anger against the King and his court. For whiles there were some of that
+  court who were sorry for the affront that King Mark had put upon him in public
+  before the eyes of the entire court, yet there were others who smiled and were
+  glad of his humiliation. For even so true and noble a gentleman as Sir Tristram,
+  when he groweth great and famous, is like to have as many enemies as friends.
+  For there are ever those who envy truth and nobility in a man, as well as others
+  who hate meanness and falsity, and so Sir Tristram ever had many enemies whithersoever
+  he went. And that also was the case with Sir Launcelot and Sir Lamorack, and
+  with other noble knights at that time. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram arms himself.</div>
+<p> But though Sir Tristram was so filled with indignation he said nothing to
+  any man, but went to his lodging and summoned Gouvernail, and bade Gouvernail
+  to help him to his armor and his horse. </p>
+<p> Gouvernail said: "Lord, what would you do for to arm and horse yourself at
+  this hour?" Sir Tristram made reply: "The King hath commanded me to do battle
+  with Sir Lamorack, and yet Sir Lamorack is my very dear friend and sworn brother-in-arms.
+  He is already weary with battle, and of a surety I shall be very likely to overthrow
+  him in an assault at arms at this time." Gouvernail said, "Lord, that would
+  be great shame to you as well as to him." And Sir Tristram said, "Yea, it is
+  great shame." Then Gouvernail beheld Sir Tristram's face, how it was all filled
+  with a passion of shame and indignation, and so he guessed what had passed,
+  and held his peace. </p>
+<p> So when Sir Tristram was armed and mounted, he rode down into the meadow of
+  battle, where was Sir Lamorack parading with great glory before the applause
+  of all who looked down upon that field. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Lamorack speaks to Sir Tristram.</div>
+<p> But when Sir Lamorack beheld that it was Sir Tristram who came against him,
+  he was greatly astonished, and cried out: "Ha, Tristram, how is this? Is it
+  you who come against me? Have you then forgot that I am your brother-in-arms
+  and a fellow of the Round Table?" </p>
+<p> To this Sir Tristram said: "Messire, I come not of my own free will, but only
+  because I must needs come, being so commanded by the King of Cornwall." </p>
+<p> "Very well," said Sir Lamorack, "so be it as you will, though I am very much
+  surprised that you should do battle against me, after all that hath passed betwixt
+  us. More especially at this season when, as you very well know, I am weary and
+  winded with battle." </p>
+<p> Thereupon and without further parley, each knight took stand for the encounter
+  at the position assigned to him. Then when they were in all ways prepared, the
+  marshal of the field blew upon his trumpet a call for the assault. </p>
+<p> So rushed those two together like two stones, flung each out of a catapult;
+  and therewith they two smote together in the midst of their course like to a
+  clap of thunder. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram overthrows Sir Lamorack.</div>
+<p> In that encounter the spear of Sir Lamorack brake into as many as twenty or
+  thirty pieces; but the spear of Sir Tristram held, so that the horse of Sir
+  Lamorack, which was weary with the several charges he had made, was overthrown
+  into a great cloud of dust. </p>
+<p> But Sir Lamorack did not fall with his steed; for he voided his saddle with
+  a very wonderful agility and dexterity, so that he himself kept his feet, although
+  his horse fell as aforesaid. Then he was filled with great rage and shame that
+  he had been so overthrown before all those who looked upon him; wherefore he
+  immediately drew his sword and cried out aloud: "Come down, Sir Knight, and
+  do battle with me afoot, for though my horse hath failed me because of his weariness,
+  yet you shall find that my body shall not so fail me." </p>
+<p> But that while Sir Tristram sat very sorrowful, and he said: "Nay, I will
+  not have to do with thee again this day, for it was against my will that I came
+  hither to do battle with thee, and it is to my shame that I did so. Wherefore
+  I will not now do further battle with thee. But wait until to-morrow and until
+  thou art fresh, and then I will give thee the chance of battle again." </p>
+<p> To this Sir Lamorack made answer very bitterly: "Sir, I think you talk to
+  amuse me; for first you put shame upon me in this encounter, and then you bid
+  me wait until to-morrow ere I purge me of that shame. Now I demand of you to
+  do battle with me upon this moment and not to-morrow." </p>
+<p> Sir Tristram said: "I will not do battle with thee, Lamorack, for I have done
+  wrong already, and I will not do more wrong." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Lamorack reproves Sir Tristram.</div>
+<p> Upon this, Sir Lamorack was so filled with anger that he scarce knew what
+  to say or to do. Wherefore he turned him to several who had come down into the
+  meadow of battle, and he said: "Hear ye all, and listen to my words: This knight
+  came against me in this field after I had had to do with fifteen other knights.
+  In that encounter he overthrew me, because of the weariness of my horse. Having
+  done that unknightly deed, he now refuseth me any further test of battle, but
+  allows me to lie beneath that shame which he put upon me. Now I bid you who
+  stand here to take this word to Sir Launcelot of the Lake; I bid ye tell Sir
+  Launcelot that Sir Tristram of Lyonesse, having sworn brother-hood-in-arms to
+  me, and being a fellow-knight of the Round Table, hath come against me when
+  I was weary with battle and he was fresh. Tell Sir Launcelot that so Sir Tristram
+  overthrew me with shame to himself and with discredit to me, and that he then
+  refused me all satisfaction such as one true knight should afford another."
+</p>
+<p> Then Sir Tristram cried out in a loud voice, "I pray you, hear me speak, Messire!"
+  But Sir Lamorack replied, "I will not hear thee!" and therewith turned and went
+  away, leaving Sir Tristram where he was. And Sir Tristram sat there without
+  movement, like to a statue of stone. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Lamorack leaves Tintagel.</div>
+<p> After that Sir Lamorack did not tarry longer at Tintagel, but immediately
+  left the King's court without making speech with anyone. And thereafter he went
+  down to the seashore and embarked in a boat with intent to sail to Camelot where
+  King Arthur was then holding court. For his heart was still so bitter against
+  Sir Tristram that he intended to lay complaint against him before the court
+  of chivalry at Camelot. </p>
+<p> But Sir Lamorack did not reach Camelot upon that voyage; for, whilst he was
+  in passage, there suddenly arose a great tempest of wind, and in spite of all
+  that the mariners could do, that small ship wherein he sailed was driven upon
+  a cruel headland of rocks and cliffs where it was dashed to pieces. </p>
+<p> But Sir Lamorack had foreseen that that small boat was to be wrecked, wherefore,
+  before the end came, he stripped himself entirely naked and leaped into the
+  waters and swam for his life. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Lamorack is shipwrecked upon a strange land.</div>
+<p> So he swam for a long time until he was wellnigh exhausted and upon the point
+  of drowning in the waters. But at that moment he came by good hap to where was
+  a little bay of quiet water, whereinto he swam and so made shift to come safe
+  to land--but faint and weak, and so sick that he feared that he was nigh to
+  death. Then Sir Lamorack perceived that there was heather at that place growing
+  upon the rocks of the hillside, so he crawled into the heather and lay him down
+  therein in a dry spot and immediately fell into such a deep sleep of weariness
+  that it was more like to the swoon of death than to slumber. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Of Sir Nabon le Noir.</div>
+<p> Now the lord of that country whereunto Sir Lamorack had come was a very wicked
+  knight, huge of frame and very cruel and hard of heart. The name of this knight
+  was Sir Nabon, surnamed le Noir; for he was very swarth of hue, and he always
+  wore armor entirely of black. This knight had several years before slain the
+  lord of that land, and had seized upon all of the island as his own possession,
+  and no one dared to come against him for to recover these possessions, for his
+  prowess was so remarkable and his body so huge that all the world was afraid
+  of him. So he dwelt there unmolested in a strong castle of stone built up upon
+  a rock near to the seashore, whence he might behold all the ships that passed
+  him by. Then, whenever he would see such a ship pass by, he would issue forth
+  in his own ships and seize upon that other vessel, and either levy toll upon
+  it or sink it with all upon board. And if he found any folk of high quality
+  aboard such a ship, that one he would seize and hold for ransom. So Sir Nabon
+  made himself the terror of all that part of the world, and all men avoided the
+  coasts of so inhospitable a country. Such was the land upon which Sir Lamorack
+  had been cast by the tempest. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">The fisher-folk disarm Sir Lamorack.</div>
+<p> Now whilst Sir Lamorack lay sleeping in the heather in that wise as aforetold,
+  there came by that way several fisher-folk; these, when they saw him lying there,
+  thought at first that he was dead. But as they stood talking concerning him,
+  Sir Lamorack was aware of their voices and woke and sat up and beheld them.
+</p>
+<p> Then the chiefest of those fisher-folk spake and said, "Who are you, and how
+  came you here?" Him Sir Lamorack answered: "Alas! friend! I am a poor soul who
+  was cast ashore from a shipwreck, naked as you see me. Now I pray you, give
+  me some clothes to cover my nakedness, and give me some food to eat, and lend
+  me such succor as man may give to man in distress." </p>
+<p> Then the chief fisherman perceived the ring upon Sir Lamorack's finger that
+  Sir Tristram had given him, and he said, "How got you that ring upon your finger?"
+  Sir Lamorack said, "He who was my friend gave it to me." "Well," quoth the fisherman,
+  "I will give you clothes to wear and food to eat, but if I do so you must give
+  me that ring that I see upon your hand. As for lending you aid, I must tell
+  you that the lord of this island hath ordained upon peril of our lives that
+  all who come hither must straightway be brought before him to be dealt with
+  as he may deem fitting. Wherefore, after I have fed you and clothed you I must
+  immediately take you to him." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">The fisher-folk give Sir Lamorack clothes and food.</div>
+<p> "Alas!" quoth Sir Lamorack, "this is certes an inhospitable land into which
+  I have come! Ne'ertheless, as I am naked and starving, I see that I have no
+  choice other than that which ye put upon me." So therewith he gave the chief
+  of the fisher-folk the ring that Sir Tristram had given him, and in return the
+  fishermen gave him such garments as they could spare to cover his nakedness;
+  and they gave him black bread and cheese to eat, and bitter ale to drink from
+  a skin that they carried with them. After that they tied Sir Lamorack's hands
+  behind his back, and so, having made him prisoner, they brought him to the castle
+  of Sir Nabon, and before Sir Nabon who was there at that time. </p>
+<p> Now it chanced that the swineherd of Sir Nabon's castle had been slain in
+  a quarrel with one of his fellows, so that when Sir Nabon beheld Sir Lamorack,
+  that he was big and sturdy of frame, he said: "I will spare this fellow his
+  life, but I will make him my swineherd. So take ye him away and let him herd
+  my swine." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Lamorack turns swineherd.</div>
+<p> So they led Sir Lamorack away, and he became swineherd to Sir Nabon surnamed
+  le Noir, and presently in a little while he grew so rough and shaggy that his
+  own mother would hardly have known him had she beheld him. </p>
+<p> So endeth this adventure of Sir Lamorack. And now it shall be told how it
+  befel with Sir Tristram after Sir Lamorack had left Tintagel as aforetold. </p>
+<div align="center"> <a href="images/tail.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/tail.gif" border="0" alt="Tail Piece" /></a>
+</div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div class="chaphead" id="tr2c2"><a href="images/015.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/015.gif" alt="Chapter Header" border="0" /></a>
+  <br />
+  Chapter Second</div>
+<br />
+<div class="chapdes">How Sir Tristram started to go to Camelot, and how he stayed
+  by the way to do battle with Sir Nabon le Noir.</div>
+<p> Now after Sir Lamorack had quit the court of King Mark of Cornwall as aforetold,
+  Sir Tristram was very sad at heart for a long while. Nevertheless, he tried
+  to comfort himself by saying: "Well, it was not by my will that I did battle
+  with my friend and brother-in-arms, for I had no choice as to that which I was
+  compelled to do." So he spake to himself, and took what comfort he was able
+  from such considerations, and that comfort was not very great. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot sends a letter to Sir Tristram.</div>
+<p> Then one day there came from Sir Launcelot of the Lake a letter in which Sir
+  Launcelot said that he had heard that Sir Tristram had assailed Sir Lamorack
+  when that knight was weary and spent with battle. And in that letter Sir Launcelot
+  further said: "It is very strange to me, Messire, that such things should be
+  said of you, and that by several mouths. Now, I pray you, set this matter at
+  right, for I do not choose to have such a thing said of you; that you would
+  wait until a knight was weary with fighting before you would do battle with
+  him. Moreover, Sir Lamorack is your sworn brother-at-arms, and a fellow-knight
+  of the Round Table, and is, besides, one of the noblest and gentlest knights
+  in Christendom. Wherefore I beseech you to set this matter right, so that those
+  who accuse you of unknightliness may be brought to confusion." </p>
+<p> So wrote Sir Launcelot, and at those words Sir Tristram was cast into a great
+  deal of pain and trouble of spirit; for he wist not how to answer that letter
+  of Sir Launcelot's so as to make the matter clear to that knight. Wherefore
+  he said: "I will straightway go to Camelot and to Sir Launcelot and will speak
+  to him by word of mouth, and so will make him understand why I did that which
+  I had to do." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram rides to Camelot.</div>
+<p> So when the next day had come Sir Tristram arose and took horse and rode away
+  from Tintagel with intent to betake himself to Camelot where King Arthur was
+  then holding court, and where he might hope to find Sir Launcelot abiding. And
+  Sir Tristram took no companion with him, not even Gouvernail. </p>
+<p> And now I shall tell you how Sir Tristram rode: the way that he took led him
+  down by the seashore, and by and by to a deep forest, which was then nearly
+  altogether devoid of leaves, so that the branches above him were in some places
+  like to the meshes of a net spread against the sky. Here that young knight rode
+  upon a deep carpet of leaves, so that the steps of his war-horse were silenced
+  save only for the loud and continued rustling of his footfalls in the dry and
+  yellow foliage. And as Sir Tristram rode he sang several songs in praise of
+  the Lady Belle Isoult, chanting in a voice that was both clear and loud and
+  very sweet, and that sounded to a great distance through the deep, silent aisles
+  of the forest. </p>
+<a href="images/039.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="p20" align="right" src="images/039.gif" border="0" alt="Sir Tristram cometh to ye castle of Sir Nabon" /></a>
+<p> Thus he travelled, anon singing as aforetold of, and anon sank in meditation,
+  so travelling until the day declined and the early gray of the evening began
+  to fall. Then he began to bethink him how he should spend the night, and he
+  thought he would have to sleep abroad in the forest. But just as the gray of
+  the evening was fading away into darkness he came to a certain place of open
+  land, where, before him, he perceived a tall castle, partly of stone and partly
+  of red bricks, built up upon a steep hill of rocks. And upon one side of this
+  castle was the forest, and upon the other side was the wide and open stretch
+  of sea. </p>
+<p> And Sir Tristram perceived that there were lights shining from several windows
+  of that castle, and that all within was aglow with red as of a great fire in
+  the hall of the castle; and at these signs of good cheer, his heart was greatly
+  expanded with joy that he should not after all have to spend that night in the
+  darkness and in the chill of the autumn wilds. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram comes to a friendly castle.</div>
+<p> So Sir Tristram set spurs to his good horse and rode up to the castle and
+  made request for rest and refreshment for the night. Then, after a little parley,
+  the drawbridge was lowered, and the portcullis was raised, and he rode with
+  a great noise into the stone-paved courtyard of the castle. </p>
+<p> Thereupon there came several attendants of the castle, and took his horse
+  and aided him to descend from the saddle; and then other attendants came and
+  led him away into the castle and so to an apartment where there was a warm bath
+  of tepid water, and where were soft towels and napkins of linen for to dry himself
+  upon after he was bathed. And when he had bathed and refreshed himself, there
+  came still other attendants bearing soft warm robes for him in which to clothe
+  himself after his journey; and Sir Tristram clothed himself and felt greatly
+  at his ease, and was glad that he had come to that place. </p>
+<p> For thus it was that worthy knights like Sir Tristram travelled the world
+  in those days so long ago; and so they were received in castle and hall with
+  great pleasure and hospitality. For all folk knew the worth of these noble gentlemen
+  and were glad to make them welcome whithersoever they went. And so I have told
+  to you how Sir Tristram travelled, that you might, perchance, find pleasure
+  in the thought thereof. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram meets the lady of the castle.</div>
+<p> Now after Sir Tristram had refreshed himself and clothed himself as aforesaid,
+  there came the steward of the castle and besought him that he would come to
+  where the lady of the castle was awaiting him for to welcome him. And Sir Tristram
+  went with the steward, and the steward brought him where the lady sat at a table
+  prepared for supper. And Sir Tristram perceived that the lady was very beautiful,
+  but that she was clad in the deep weeds of a widow. </p>
+<p> When the lady perceived Sir Tristram, she arose and went to meet him, and
+  gave him welcome, speaking in a voice both soft and very sweet. "Messire," quoth
+  she, "I am grieved that there is no man here to welcome you in such a manner
+  as is fitting. But, alas! as you may see by the weeds in which I am clad, I
+  am alone in the world and without any lord of the castle to do the courtesies
+  thereof as is fitting. Yet such as I am, I give you welcome with my entire heart."
+</p>
+<p> "Lady," quoth Sir Tristram, "I give you gramercy for your courtesy. And indeed
+  I am grieved to see you in such sorrow as your dress foretells. Now if there
+  is any service I may render to you, I beseech you to call upon me for whatever
+  aid I may give you." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram feasts with the chatelaine.</div>
+<p> "Nay," quoth she, "there is nothing you can do to help me." And therewith
+  the lady, who was hight Loise, took Sir Tristram by the hand and led him to
+  the table and sat him down beside her. Then straightway there came sundry attendants,
+  and set a noble feast before them, with good excellent wines, both white and
+  red; and they two ate and drank together with great appetite and enjoyment.
+</p>
+<p> Now after that feast was over and done, Sir Tristram said: "Lady, will you
+  not of your courtesy tell me why you wear the weeds of sorrow in which you are
+  clad? This I ask, not from idle humor, but because, as I said before, I may
+  haply be able to aid you in whatever trouble it is under which you lie." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">The Lady telleth Sir Tristram of Sir Nabon le Noir.</div>
+<p> "Alas, Sir Knight!" quoth she, "my trouble lieth beyond your power to aid
+  or to amend. For can you conquer death, or can you bring the dead back to life
+  again? Nevertheless, I will tell you what my sorrow is, and how it came unto
+  me. You must know that some distance away across the sea, which you may behold
+  from yonder window, there lieth an island. The present lord of that island is
+  a very wicked and cruel knight, huge of frame and big of limb, hight Sir Nabon
+  surnamed le Noir. One time the noble and gentle knight who was my husband was
+  the lord of that island and the castle thereon, and of several other castles
+  and manors and estates upon this mainland as well. But one evil day when I and
+  my lord were together upon that island, this Sir Nabon came thither by night,
+  and with certain evil-disposed folk of the island he overcame my lord and slew
+  him very treacherously. Me also he would have slain, or else have taken into
+  shameful captivity, but, hearing the noise of that assault in which my lord
+  was slain, I happily escaped, and so, when night had come, I got away from that
+  island with several attendants who were faithful to me, and thus came to this
+  castle where we are. Since that time Sir Nabon has held that castle as his own,
+  ruling it in a very evil fashion. For you are to know that the castle sits very
+  high upon the crags overlooking the sea, and whenever a vessel passeth by that
+  way, Sir Nabon goeth forth to meet it; and upon some of these crafts he levies
+  toll, and other ships he sinks after slaying the mariners and sailor-folk who
+  may by evil hap be aboard thereof. And if anyone is by chance cast ashore upon
+  that island, that one he either slays or holds for ransom, or makes thereof
+  a slave for to serve him. Because of this, very few ships now go by that way,
+  for all people shun the coasts of so evil a country as that. So Sir Nabon took
+  that land away from me; nor have I any kin who will take up this quarrel for
+  me, and so I must endure my losses as best I may." </p>
+<p> "Ha!" quoth Sir Tristram, "and is there then no good knight-champion in this
+  country who will rid the world of such an evil being as that Sir Nabon of whom
+  you speak?" </p>
+<p> "Nay," said the lady, "there is no one who cares to offer challenge to that
+  knight, for he is as strong and as doughty as he is huge of frame, and he is
+  as fierce and cruel as he is strong and masterful, wherefore all men hold him
+  in terror and avoid him." </p>
+<p> "Well," said Sir Tristram, "meseems it is the business of any knight to rid
+  the world of such a monster as that, whatever may be the danger to himself.
+  Now as there is no knight hereabouts who hath heart to undertake such an adventure,
+  I myself shall undertake it so soon as to-morrow shall have come." </p>
+<p> "Sir," said the lady, "I beseech you to think twice before you enter into
+  such an affair as that. Or rather be ruled by me and do not undertake this quest
+  at all; for I misdoubt that anyone could conquer this huge and powerful champion,
+  even if that knight were such as Sir Launcelot of the Lake or Sir Tristram of
+  Lyonesse." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram confesses his degree to the chatelaine.</div>
+<p> At this Sir Tristram laughed with great good-will, and he said, "Lady, do
+  you not then know who I am?" "Nay," said she, "I know you not." "Well," said
+  Sir Tristram, "then I may tell you that I am that Sir Tristram of Lyonesse of
+  whom you spoke just now. And I also tell you that I shall undertake this adventure
+  to-morrow morning." </p>
+<p> Now when the lady found that the stranger she had taken in was Sir Tristram
+  of Lyonesse, she made great exclamation of surprise and pleasure at having him
+  at that place, for at that time all the world was talking of Sir Tristram's
+  performances. So she took great pleasure and pride that her castle should have
+  given him shelter. She made many inquiries concerning his adventures, and Sir
+  Tristram told her all she asked of him. </p>
+<p> Then the lady said: "Messire, I hear tell that you sing very sweetly, and
+  that you are a wonderful harper upon the harp. Now will you not chaunt for me
+  a song or two or three?" And Sir Tristram said: "Lady, I will do whatsoever
+  you ask me that may give you pleasure." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram sings to the lady.</div>
+<p> So the lady bade them bring a harp and they did so. And Sir Tristram took
+  the harp and set it before him and tuned it and played upon it, and sang so
+  sweetly that they of the castle said: "Certes, this is no knight-errant who
+  sings, but an angel from Paradise who hath come among us. For surely no one
+  save an angel from Paradise could sing so enchantingly." </p>
+<p> So passed that evening very pleasantly until the hours waxed late. Then Sir
+  Tristram retired to a very noble apartment where a soft couch spread with flame-colored
+  linen had been prepared for him, and where he slept a soft sleep without disturbance
+  of any kind. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram departs for the island of Sir Nabon.</div>
+<p> Now when the next morning had come, Sir Tristram armed himself and mounted
+  upon his war-horse, and rode him to a certain place on the shore. There he found
+  some mariners in haven with a large boat, and to these he paid ten pieces of
+  silver money to bear him across the sea to that island where Sir Nabon le Noir
+  abided. At first these mariners said they would not sail to such a coast of
+  danger and death; but afterward they said they would, and they did do so. But
+  still they would not bring Sir Tristram to land nigh to the castle, but only
+  at a place that was a great way off, and where they deemed themselves to be
+  more safe from the cruel lord of that land. </p>
+<p> As for Sir Tristram he made merry with their fear, saying: "It is well that
+  we who are knights-errant have more courage than you who are sailor-men, else
+  it would not be possible that monsters such as this Sir Nabon should ever be
+  made an end of." </p>
+<p> Upon this the captain of these sailors replied: "Well, Messire, for the matter
+  of that, it is true that mariners such as we have not much courage, for we are
+  the first of our order who have dared to come hither. But it is also true that
+  you are the first errant-knight who hath ever had courage to come hither. So
+  what say you for the courage of your own order?" And at that Sir Tristram laughed
+  with great good will and rode his way. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram arrives at the castle of Sir Nabon.</div>
+<p> Thereafter he rode forward along the coast of that land for several leagues,
+  with the noise of the sea ever beating in his ears, and the shrill clamor of
+  the sea-fowl ever sounding in the air about him. By and by he came to a place
+  of certain high fells, and therefrom perceived before him in the distance a
+  tall and forbidding castle standing upon a high headland of the coast. And the
+  castle was built of stone, that was like the rocks upon which it stood, so that
+  at first one could not tell whether what one beheld was a part of the cliffs
+  or whether it was the habitation of man. But when Sir Tristram had come somewhat
+  nearer, he perceived the windows of the castle shining against the sky, and
+  he saw the gateway thereof, and the roofs and the chimneys thereof, so that
+  he knew that it was a castle of great size and strength and no wall of rock
+  as he had at first supposed it to be; and he wist that this must be the castle
+  of that wicked and malignant knight, Sir Nabon, whom he sought. </p>
+<p> Now as Sir Tristram wended his way toward that castle by a crooked path meditating
+  how he should come at Sir Nabon for to challenge him to battle, he was by and
+  by aware of a fellow clad in pied black and white, who walked along the way
+  in the direction that he himself was taking. At the first that fellow was not
+  aware of Sir Tristram; then presently he was aware of him and turned him about,
+  and beheld that a strange knight was riding rapidly down toward him upon a horse.
+</p>
+<p> Then at first that fellow stood like one struck with amazement; but in a moment
+  he cried out aloud as with a great fear, and instantly turned again and ran
+  away, yelling like one who had gone mad. </p>
+<p> But Sir Tristram thundered after him at speed, and, in a little, came up with
+  him, and catched him by the collar of his jerkin and held him fast. And Sir
+  Tristram said: "Fellow, who are you?" </p>
+<p> "Lord," quoth the fellow, "I am an attendant upon the knight of yonder castle,
+  which same is hight Sir Nabon surnamed le Noir." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram talks with a knave of the earth.</div>
+<p> Then Sir Tristram said: "Sirrah, why did you run from me when you first beheld
+  me?" And the fellow replied: "Messire, you are the first stranger who hath dared
+  to come hither to this country; wherefore, seeing you, and seeing that you rode
+  upon horseback, and not knowing how you came to this land, I wist not whether
+  you were a man of flesh and blood, or whether you were a spirit come hither
+  for to punish us for our sins; so I ran away from you." </p>
+<p> "Well," said Sir Tristram, "as you see, I am no spirit, but a man of flesh
+  and blood. Yet I have great hope that I have indeed been sent hither for to
+  punish those who have done evil, for I come hither seeking the knight of yonder
+  castle for to do battle with him in behalf of that lady whose lord he slew so
+  treacherously as I have heard tell. And I hope to take away from him this island
+  and return it to the Lady Loise, to whom it belongeth." </p>
+<p> "Alas, Messire," quoth the fellow, "this is for you a very sorry quest upon
+  which you have come. For this Sir Nabon whom you seek is accounted to be the
+  most potent knight in all of the world. Yea; he is held to be a bigger knight
+  than even Sir Launcelot of the Lake or Sir Tristram of Lyonesse or Sir Lamorack
+  of Gales. Wherefore I beseech you to turn about and go away whither you have
+  come whilst there is still the chance for you to escape." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram sends challenge to Sir Nabon.</div>
+<p> "Gramercy for your pity, good fellow," quoth Sir Tristram, "and may God grant
+  that it may not be deserved. Nevertheless, in spite of the danger in this quest,
+  I am still of the same mind as I was when I came hither. So do you presently
+  go to your lord and tell him from me that a knight hath come to do battle with
+  him upon the behalf of the lady to whom this island by rights belongeth." </p>
+<p> Therewith Sir Tristram let the fellow go, and he ran off with great speed
+  and so away to the postern of the castle and entered in and shut the door behind
+  him. </p>
+<p> Now at that time Sir Nabon le Noir was walking along the wall of the castle,
+  and his son, who was a lad of seventeen years, was with him. There the messenger
+  from Sir Tristram found him and delivered his message. Thereupon Sir Nabon looked
+  over the battlements and down below and he beheld that there was indeed a tall
+  and noble knight seated upon horseback in a level meadow that reached away,
+  descending inland from the foot of the crags whereon the castle stood. </p>
+<p> But when Sir Nabon perceived that a stranger knight had dared to come thus
+  into his country, he was filled with amazement at the boldness of that knight
+  that he wist not what to think. Then, presently a great rage got hold upon him,
+  and he ground his teeth together, and the cords on his neck stood out like knots
+  on the trunk of a tree. For a while he stood as though bereft of speech; then
+  anon he roared out in a voice like that of a bull, crying to those who were
+  near him: "Go! Haste ye! Fetch me straightway my horse and armor and I will
+  go immediately forth and so deal with yonder champion of ladies that he shall
+  never take trouble upon their account again." </p>
+<p> Then those who were in attendance upon Sir Nabon were terrified at his words
+  and ran with all speed to do his bidding, and presently fetched his armor and
+  clad him in it; and they fetched his horse into the courtyard of the castle
+  and helped him to mount upon it. And lo! the armor of Sir Nabon was as black
+  as ink; and the great horse upon which he sat was black; and all the trappings
+  and furniture of the armor and of the horse were black, so that from top to
+  toe he was altogether as black and as forbidding as Death himself. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Nabon rides forth to meet Sir Tristram.</div>
+<p> So when Sir Nabon was thus in all wise prepared for battle, the portcullis
+  of the castle was lifted up, and he rode forth to meet Sir Tristram; and his
+  young son rode with him as his esquire. Then all the people of the castle gathered
+  together upon the walls to see that battle that was to be, and not one of those
+  several score of folk thought otherwise than that Sir Tristram would certainly
+  be overcome in that encounter. </p>
+<p> Sir Nabon rode straight up to Sir Tristram and he said very fiercely, "Sirrah,
+  what is it brings you hither to this land?" </p>
+<p> "As to that," said Sir Tristram, "the messenger whom I have sent to you hath,
+  I believe, told you what I come for, and that it is to redeem this island from
+  your possession, and to restore it to the Lady Loise, to whom it belongeth.
+  Likewise that I come to punish you for all the evil you have done." </p>
+<p> "And what business is all this of yours?" quoth Sir Nabon, speaking with great
+  fury of voice. </p>
+<p> "Messire," quoth Sir Tristram, "know ye not that it is the business of every
+  true knight to rid the world of all such evil monsters as you be?" </p>
+<p> "Ha!" quoth Sir Nabon, "that was very well said, for whatever mercy I should
+  have been willing before this to show you hath now been forfeited unto you.
+  For now I shall have no mercy upon you but shall slay you." </p>
+<p> "Well," quoth Sir Tristram, "as for that, meseems it will be time enough to
+  offer me mercy after you have overcome me in battle." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram does battle with Sir Nabon.</div>
+<p> So thereupon each knight took his place for assault, and when they were in
+  all ways prepared, each set spurs to his horse and dashed the one against the
+  other, with a dreadful, terrible fury of onset. Each smote the other in the
+  very midst of his shield, and at that blow the lance of each was altogether
+  shivered into pieces to the very truncheon thereof. But each knight recovered
+  his horse from the fall and each leaped to earth and drew his sword, and each
+  rushed against the other with such fury that it was as though sparks of pure
+  fire flew out from the oculariums of the helmets. Therewith they met together,
+  and each lashed and smote at the other such fell strokes that the noise thereof
+  might easily have been heard several furlongs away. Now in the beginning of
+  that battle Sir Tristram was at first sore bestead and wist that he had met
+  the biggest knight that ever he had encountered in all of his life, unless it
+  was Sir Launcelot of the Lake, whom he had encountered as aforetold of in this
+  history. So at first he bore back somewhat from the might of the blows of Sir
+  Nabon. For Sir Nabon was so huge of frame and the blows he struck were so heavy
+  that they drove Sir Tristram back as it were in spite of himself. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram slays Sir Nabon.</div>
+<p> Then Sir Tristram began to say to himself: "Tristram, if you indeed lose this
+  battle, then there will be no one to defend your honor before Sir Launcelot
+  who hath impeached it." Therewith it was as though new strength and life came
+  back to him, and of a sudden he rushed that battle, and struck with threefold
+  fury, and gave stroke upon stroke with such fierceness of strength that Sir
+  Nabon was astonished and fell back before his assault. Then Sir Tristram perceived
+  how Sir Nabon held his shield passing low, and therewith he rushed in upon him
+  and smote him again and again and yet again. And so he smote Sir Nabon down
+  upon his knees. Then he rushed in upon him and catched his helmet and plucked
+  it off from his head. And he catched Sir Nabon by the hair of his head and drew
+  his head forward. And Sir Tristram lifted his sword on high and he smote Sir
+  Nabon's head from off his body so that it rolled down into the dust upon the
+  ground. </p>
+<p> Now when the son of Sir Nabon perceived how that his father was slain, he
+  shrieked like a woman. And he fell down upon his knees and crawled upon his
+  knees to Sir Tristram and catched him about the thighs, crying out to him, "Spare
+  me, and slay me not!" </p>
+<p> But Sir Tristram thrust him away and said, "Who art thou?" </p>
+<p> "Messire," said the youth, "I am the son of him whom thou hast just slain."
+</p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram slays the son of Sir Nabon.</div>
+<p> Then Sir Tristram looked closely into his face, and he perceived that it was
+  wicked and treacherous and malevolent like to the face of Sir Nabon. Thereupon
+  Sir Tristram said: "If a man shall slay the wolf and spare the whelp of the
+  wolf, what shall the world be the better therefor?" Therewith he catched the
+  son of Sir Nabon by the hair and dragged him down and smote off his head likewise
+  as he had smitten off the head of his father, so that it fell upon the ground
+  beside the head of Sir Nabon. </p>
+<p> And now it shall be told how Sir Tristram discovered Sir Lamorack upon the
+  island and how he made amends to him, so that they became friends and brethren-in-arms
+  once more as they had been before. </p>
+<div align="center"> <a href="images/tail.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/tail.gif" border="0" alt="Tail Piece" /></a>
+</div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div class="chaphead" id="tr2c3"><a href="images/017.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/017.gif" alt="Chapter Header" border="0" /></a>
+  <br />
+  Chapter Third</div>
+<br />
+<div class="chapdes">How Sir Tristram did justice in the island, and thereby released
+  Sir Lamorack from captivity. Also how Sir Tristram and Sir Lamorack renewed
+  their great tenderness toward one another.</div>
+<p> Now after Sir Tristram had overcome Sir Nabon le Noir, and had slain the son
+  of Sir Nabon as has been just told, he went straightway to the castle that had
+  been Sir Nabon's, and commanded that they should bring forth the seneschal and
+  the officers thereof unto him. Meantime, being a little wounded in that battle,
+  he sat himself down upon a bench of wood that stood in the hall of the castle,
+  and there he held his court. </p>
+<p> So, in a little while, there came the seneschal and several of the officers
+  of the household to where Sir Tristram was, and when the seneschal came before
+  Sir Tristram, he fell down upon his knees and besought pardon and mercy. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram talks with the castle help.</div>
+<p> Then Sir Tristram said: "I will consider thy case anon, and if I may assure
+  myself that thou and these others are truly repentant, and if I may have assurity
+  that ye will henceforth be faithful in your duty toward that lady who is now
+  again the mistress of this castle and land, then I shall have mercy. But if
+  ye show yourselves recreant and treacherous, according to the manners of this
+  Sir Nabon who is dead, then I shall of a surety return hither and shall punish
+  you even as ye beheld me punish that wicked knight and his young son." </p>
+<p> Then Sir Tristram said, "Who is the porter of this castle?" And the porter
+  lifted his hand and said, "Lord, I am he." Sir Tristram said, "What captives
+  have ye in this place?" The porter said: "Lord, there be four knights and three
+  ladies who are held captive here for ransom." Then Sir Tristram said, "Bring
+  them forth hither to me." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram comforts the captives.</div>
+<p> So the porter and several other of the castle folk departed with all speed
+  and presently returned bringing with them those miserable captives whom they
+  had liberated from the dungeons of the castle. These they led to where Sir Tristram
+  still sat in justice upon the bench of wood. And Sir Tristram looked upon them
+  with pity and beheld that they were in a very sad and forlorn condition and
+  so sorrowful from their captivity that some of them wept from pure weakness
+  of heart. Then Sir Tristram said: "Comfort ye, and take no more sorrow to yourselves,
+  for now your troubles are past and gone, and happiness lieth before you. Sir
+  Nabon is dead, and so is his son, and there is no one now to torment you. Moreover,
+  I dare say that there is much treasure gathered at this place by Sir Nabon,
+  and all that treasure shall be divided amongst you, for to comfort ye, wherefore
+  when ye leave this place, ye shall go away a great deal richer than ye were
+  when ye came." </p>
+<p> So spake Sir Tristram, promising them much for to comfort them a little. </p>
+<p> As to that treasure he spake of, ye shall immediately be told how it was.
+  For when Sir Tristram had summoned the treasurer of that place, he brought Sir
+  Tristram down into the vaults of the castle and there he beheld seven strong
+  chests bolted and locked. Then Sir Tristram summoned the locksmith of that castle;
+  and the smith came and burst open the chests; and lo! the eyes of all were astonished
+  and bedazzled with the treasure which they therewith beheld; for in those chests
+  was heaped an incalculable treasure of gold and silver and precious gems of
+  many divers sorts. </p>
+<p> And besides this treasure, you are to know that they found in that vault many
+  bales of cloths--some of silk and velvet, and some of tissues of cloth of gold
+  and silver; and they found many precious ornaments, and many fine suits of armor,
+  and many other valuable things. For in several years Sir Nabon had gathered
+  all that treasure in toll from those ships that had sailed past that land. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram divides the treasure amongst the captives.</div>
+<p> All this treasure Sir Tristram had them bring forth into the light of day,
+  and he divided it into seven equal parcels. Then he said to those sad, sorrowful
+  captives: "Look! See! all this shall be yours for to comfort ye! Take each of
+  you one parcel and depart hence in joy!" Then all they were greatly astonished
+  at Sir Tristram's generosity, and they said: "Lord, how is this? Do you not
+  then take any of this treasure for yourself?" </p>
+<p> To them Sir Tristram made reply: "Nay, why should I take it? I am not sad,
+  nor sick, nor troubled at heart as you poor captives are. All this I have taken
+  for to comfort you, and not for to satisfy my own covetousness. So let each
+  take his share of it and see that ye all use it in comfort and peace and for
+  the advantage of other men and women who are in trouble as ye have been. For,
+  as hitherto this treasure hath been used for evil purpose, so shall it be henceforth
+  that it shall be used to good purpose." </p>
+<p> So there was great rejoicing amongst all those poor people who had been so
+  sad and sorrowful before. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram appoints Sir Segwarides governor of the castle.</div>
+<p> Now, after all this had been settled, Sir Tristram cast about how he might
+  put that land under good government upon behalf of the Lady Loise. To this intent
+  he chose from amongst those captives whom he had liberated a certain very worthy
+  honorable knight of Cornwall hight Sir Segwarides. Him Sir Tristram appointed
+  to be governor of that island, giving him liberty to rule it as he chose saving
+  only that he should do homage to the Lady Loise as lady paramount. And Sir Tristram
+  ordained that Sir Segwarides should pay tribute to that lady every year such
+  an amount as should be justly determined upon betwixt them. For Sir Tristram
+  wist that some strong worthy knight should rule that island, or else, from its
+  position, it might again some time fall from the Lady Loise's possession into
+  the hands of such an evil and malignant overlord as Sir Nabon had been. </p>
+<p> So it was done as Sir Tristram had ordained. And it may here be said that
+  Sir Segwarides ruled that land very justly and that he and the Lady Loise became
+  dear friends, so that at the end of three years from that time he and she were
+  made husband and wife. </p>
+<p> Now Sir Tristram remained in that island several days, with intent to see
+  to it that the power of Sir Segwarides should be established. And he made all
+  the people of that land come before Sir Segwarides for to pledge obedience to
+  him. </p>
+<a href="images/040.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="p21" align="left" src="images/040.gif" border="0" alt="Sir Lamorack herds the swine of Sir Nabon" /></a>
+<p> Amongst these came Sir Lamorack in the guise of a swineherd, and Sir Tristram
+  knew him not, because that he was clad in rags and in the skins of animals and
+  because that his beard and his hair were uncut and unkempt, and hung down very
+  shaggy upon his breast. But Sir Lamorack knew Sir Tristram yet would not acknowledge
+  him, being ashamed that Sir Tristram should discover him in such a guise and
+  so ragged and forlorn as he then was. So he kept his eyes from Sir Tristram,
+  and Sir Tristram passed him by and knew him not. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram beholds Sir Lamorack's ring.</div>
+<p> But amongst other of the people of the castle that passed before Sir Tristram,
+  there came a woman, very fair to look upon, and she had been a house-slave to
+  Sir Nabon. As this woman passed before Sir Tristram, he beheld that she wore
+  upon her thumb a very fair and shining ring, that bare a green stone set in
+  wrought gold. And when he looked again he saw it was that ring of carven emerald
+  that he had given to Sir Lamorack as aforetold. </p>
+<p> At this Sir Tristram was astonished beyond measure, and he ordered that woman
+  to come before him, and she came and stood before him trembling. Then Sir Tristram
+  said: "Fear not, but tell me where got ye that ring that I behold upon your
+  hand?" And the woman said: "Lord, I will tell you the very truth. My husband
+  is the chief fisherman of this place, and one day, some while ago, he gave me
+  this ring when I had favor in his sight." </p>
+<p> Sir Tristram said, "Where is your husband?" The slave-woman said, "Yonder
+  he stands." Then Sir Tristram said: "Come hither, Sirrah!" And therewith the
+  fisherman came and stood before Sir Tristram as his wife had done, and he also
+  trembled with fear as she had done. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram questions the fisherman.</div>
+<p> To him Sir Tristram said, "Why do you tremble so?" And the fisher-man said,
+  "Lord, I am afeard!" Sir Tristram said: "Have no fear, unless you have done
+  wrong, but tell me the truth. Where got ye that ring that yonder woman weareth?"
+  "Lord," said the fisherman, "I will tell you the perfect truth. One day I and
+  several of my fellows found a man lying naked in a bed of heather near the seaside.
+  At first we thought he was dead, but he awoke and arose when he heard our voices.
+  He was naked and hungry, and he besought us for clothes to cover his nakedness
+  and for food to eat. So we gave him what we could, demanding that ring in payment.
+  So he gave the ring to me, who am the chief of the fishermen, and I gave it
+  to that woman who is my wife; and that, lord, is the very truth." </p>
+<p> Then Sir Tristram was very much disturbed in mind, for he feared that it might
+  have gone ill with Sir Lamorack. And he said, "Where now is that man of whom
+  ye speak?" The fisherman replied: "Lord, he was set to keep the swine, and he
+  is the swineherd of the castle to this day." </p>
+<p> At this Sir Tristram was very glad that no more ill had befallen Sir Lamorack,
+  and that he was yet alive. </p>
+<p> Then, after the fisherman had departed from that place, Sir Tristram sat for
+  a while sunk into deep thought. And he said to himself: "Alas, that so noble
+  a knight should be brought to such a pass as that! How greatly must my friend
+  be abased when he would not acknowledge himself to me nor claim my assistance
+  because of the shame of his appearance! Meseems it is not fitting for me to
+  send for him to come to me in the guise which he now wears, for it would be
+  discourteous a thing for me to do, to make him so declare himself. So first
+  I shall see to it that he is clothed in such a manner as shall be fitting to
+  his high estate, and then haply he will be willing to make himself manifest
+  to me. After that, perhaps his love will return to me again, and remain with
+  me as it was at first." </p>
+<p> So Sir Tristram called to him several of the people of that castle, and he
+  bade them do certain things according to his command, and straightway they departed
+  to do as he ordained. </p>
+<p> Now turn we to Sir Lamorack: whilst he sat keeping watch over his swine there
+  came to him four men from the castle. These say to him, "You must come straightway
+  with us." Sir Lamorack said, "Whither would you take me?" They say: "That we
+  are not permitted to tell you, only that you are to go with us as we bid you."
+</p>
+<p> So Sir Lamorack arose and went with those four, much wondering what it was
+  that was to befall him, and whether that which was to happen was good or evil.
+</p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Lamorack is brought to the castle.</div>
+<p> The four men brought him to the castle and they entered in thereat, and they
+  escorted Sir Lamorack, still greatly wondering, up the stairway of the castle,
+  and so into a noble and stately apartment, hung with tapestries and embroidered
+  hangings. And there Sir Lamorack beheld a great bath of tepid water, hung within
+  and without with linen. There were at this place several attendants; these took
+  Sir Lamorack and unclothed him and brought him to the bath, and bathed him and
+  dried him with soft linen and with fine towels. Then there came the barber and
+  he shaved Sir Lamorack and clipped his hair, and when he was thus bathed and
+  trimmed, his nobility shone forth again as the sun shines forth from a thick
+  cloud that hides its effulgence for a while, only to withdraw so that the glorious
+  day-star may shine forth again with redoubled splendor. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Lamorack is armed in armor.</div>
+<p> Then there came divers other attendants and clothed Sir Lamorack in rich and
+  handsome garments such as were altogether fitting for a knight-royal to wear.
+  And after that there came several esquires and brought a very splendid suit
+  of armor; and they clad Sir Lamorack in that armor; and the armor gleamed as
+  bright as daylight, being polished to a wonderful clearness, and inlaid with
+  figures of arabesqued silver. </p>
+<p> Then Sir Lamorack said, "What means all this that ye do to me?" And they said,
+  "Wait, Messire, and you shall see." </p>
+<p> So after all these things were done, five other esquires appeared to conduct
+  Sir Lamorack away from that place. These led him through several passages and
+  hallways until at last they came to a great space of hall wherein stood a single
+  man; and that man was Sir Tristram. </p>
+<p> And Sir Tristram gazed upon Sir Lamorack and his heart yearned over him with
+  great loving-kindness. But he would not betray his love to those who had come
+  with Sir Lamorack, so he contained himself for a little, and he said to those
+  in attendance, "Get ye gone," and straightway they departed. </p>
+<p> Then Sir Lamorack lifted up his eyes and he came to where Sir Tristram was
+  standing and he said: "Is it thou, Tristram, who hath bestowed all these benefits
+  upon me?" And he said: "From thy nobility of soul such things may be expected."
+</p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram and Sir Lamorack are reconciled.</div>
+<p> Then Sir Tristram wept for joy, and he said: "Lamorack, it is little that
+  I have done to pleasure thee, and much that I have done to affront thee." Then
+  Sir Lamorack said: "Nay; it is much that thou hast done to comfort me, and little
+  to cause me discomfort. For lo! thou hast uplifted me from misery into happiness,
+  and thou hast brought me from nakedness and want into prosperity and ease, and
+  what more may one man do for another man than that?" </p>
+<p> "Lamorack," said Sir Tristram, "there is much more than one man may do for
+  another man than that. For if one man hath given offence to another man, he
+  may be reconciled to that one so offended, and so the soul of that other shall
+  be clothed with peace and joy, even as thy body hath been clothed with garments
+  of silk and fine linen." Then Sir Tristram took Sir Lamorack by the hand, and
+  he said, "Dear friend, art thou now strong and fresh of body?" And Sir Lamorack,
+  greatly wondering, said, "Ay." </p>
+<p> "Then," said Sir Tristram, "I may now offer thee reparation for that offence
+  which I one time unwillingly committed against thee. For lo! I have had thee
+  clad in the best armor that it is possible to provide, and now that thou art
+  fresh and hale and strong, I am ready to do battle with thee at any time thou
+  mayst assign. For if, before, thou wert overcome because thou wert weary with
+  battle, now thou mayst prove thy prowess upon me being both strong and sound
+  in wind and limb." </p>
+<p> But upon this Sir Lamorack ran to Sir Tristram and catched him in his arms
+  and kissed him upon the cheek. And he said: "Tristram, thou art indeed a very
+  noble soul. I will do no battle with thee, but instead I will take thee into
+  my heart and cherish thee there forever." </p>
+<p> Sir Tristram said, "Art thou altogether satisfied?" And Sir Lamorack said,
+  "Yea." And therewith Sir Tristram wept for pure joy. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram and Sir Lamorack depart from the island.</div>
+<p> Then Sir Tristram said: "Let us go to Sir Launcelot of the Lake, so that I
+  may make my peace with him also. For he hath writ me a letter chiding me for
+  having done battle with thee when thou wert weary and winded with fighting.
+  And I was upon my way to see Sir Launcelot and to plead my cause with him when
+  I came hither by good hap, and was able to uplift thee out of thy distress."
+  To this Sir Lamorack said: "I will go with thee to Sir Launcelot whenever it
+  shall please thee; and I will bear full testimony to thy knightliness and to
+  thy courtesy." </p>
+<p> So when the next morning had come they took boat and sailed away from that
+  island. And the night of that day they abided at the castle of the Lady Loise,
+  who gave thanks without measure to Sir Tristram for ridding the world of so
+  wicked and malign a being as Sir Nabon, and for restoring her inheritance of
+  that land unto her again. And upon the morning of the next day those two good
+  knights betook their way to Camelot, where they found Sir Launcelot. There Sir
+  Lamorack exculpated Sir Tristram, and Sir Launcelot immediately withdrew his
+  rebuke for that battle which Sir Tristram had aforetime done against Sir Lamorack.
+</p>
+<p> After that Sir Tristram and Sir Lamorack abode at the court of King Arthur
+  for nigh a year, and during that time they went upon many quests and adventures
+  of various sorts--sometimes alone, sometimes together. All these have been set
+  down in ancient histories that tell of the adventures of Sir Tristram and Sir
+  Lamorack. Some of them I would like right well to tell you of, but should I
+  undertake to do so, the story of those happenings would fill several volumes
+  such as this. Nevertheless, I may tell you that they did together many knightly
+  deeds, the fame whereof hath been handed down to us in several histories of
+  chivalry. Therein you may read of those things if you should care to do so.
+</p>
+<p> All this I leave to tell you how Sir Tristram returned into Cornwall, and
+  likewise to tell you of one more famous adventure that he did at this time.
+</p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram hears from Cornwall of Sir Palamydes.</div>
+<p> Sir Tristram had been at the court of King Arthur for about a year when one
+  day there came a messenger unto the court at Camelot with news that Sir Palamydes,
+  the Saracen knight aforetold of in this history, had through a cunning trick
+  seized the Lady Belle Isoult and had carried her away to a lonely tower in the
+  forest of Cornwall. The messenger bore a letter from King Mark beseeching Sir
+  Tristram to return as immediately as possible unto Cornwall and to rescue that
+  lady from her captivity. And the letter further said that two knights of Cornwall
+  had already essayed to rescue the Lady Belle Isoult, but that they had failed,
+  having been overcome and sorely wounded in battle by Sir Palamydes. And the
+  letter said that it was acknowledged by all men that Sir Tristram was the only
+  knight of Cornwall who could achieve the rescue of Belle Isoult from so wonderful
+  and puissant a knight as Sir Palamydes. </p>
+<p> So in answer to that letter, Sir Tristram immediately left the court of King
+  Arthur and returned in all haste to Cornwall, and there he found them all in
+  great perturbation that the Lady Belle Isoult had thus been stolen away. </p>
+<p> But Sir Tristram did not remain at court very long for, after he had obtained
+  such information as he desired, he immediately left Tintagel and plunged into
+  the forest with Gouvernail as his companion in quest of that lonely tower where
+  Belle Isoult was said to be held prisoner. </p>
+<p> After several adventures of no great note he came at last very, very deep
+  into the forest and into an open space thereof; and in the midst of that open
+  space he beheld a lonely tower surrounded by a moat. And he wist that that must
+  be the place where the Lady Belle Isoult was held prisoner. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram finds Sir Palamydes in the forest.</div>
+<p> But when Sir Tristram drew nigh to this tower he perceived a single knight
+  sitting at the base of the tower with head hanging down upon his breast as though
+  he were broken-hearted with sorrow. And when he came still more nigh, Sir Tristram
+  was astonished to perceive that that mournful knight was Sir Palamydes the Saracen,
+  and he wondered why Sir Palamydes should be so broken-hearted. </p>
+<p> And now it must be told why it was that Sir Palamydes came to be in such a
+  sorry case as that; for the truth was that he was locked and shut outside of
+  the tower, whilst the Lady Belle Isoult was shut and locked inside thereof.
+</p>
+<p> Now it hath already been told how the letter of King Mark had said to Sir
+  Tristram that two knights of Cornwall went both against Sir Palamydes for to
+  challenge him and to rescue the Lady Belle Isoult. </p>
+<p> The second of these knights was Sir Adthorp, and he had followed Sir Palamydes
+  so closely through the forest that he had come to the forest tower not more
+  than an hour after Sir Palamydes had brought the Lady Belle Isoult thither.
+</p>
+<p> Therewith Sir Adthorp gave loud challenge to Sir Palamydes to come forth and
+  do him battle, and therewith Sir Palamydes came immediately out against him,
+  full of anger that Sir Adthorp should have meddled in that affair. </p>
+<p> But immediately Sir Palamydes had thus issued forth to do battle with Sir
+  Adthorp, the Lady Belle Isoult ran down the tower stairs and immediately shut
+  the door through which he had passed, and she locked it and set a great bar
+  of oak across the door. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">How Sir Palamydes came without the tower.</div>
+<p> So when Sir Palamydes had overthrown the Cornish knight, and when he would
+  have returned to the tower, he could not, for lo! it was fastened against him.
+  So now for three days he had set there at the foot of the tower and beside the
+  moat, sunk in sorrow like to one who had gone out of his mind. </p>
+<p> So Sir Tristram found him, and perceiving that it was Sir Palamydes who was
+  sitting there, he said to Gouvernail: "Go thou and bid that knight to come and
+  do battle with me." </p>
+<p> So Gouvernail went to Sir Palamydes and he said: "Sir, arise, for here is
+  a knight would speak with you!" But Sir Palamydes would not move. Then Gouvernail
+  touched him with his lance, and said: "Sir Palamydes, arise and bestir yourself,
+  for here is Sir Tristram come to do battle with you." With that, Sir Palamydes
+  awoke from his stupor and arose very slowly and stiffly. And he gathered up
+  his helmet which was lying beside him and put it upon his head. Then he took
+  down his shield from where it hung against the wall and he mounted upon his
+  horse, doing all as though he were moving in a dream. </p>
+<p> But as soon as he was upon horseback he suddenly aroused himself, for his
+  fierce spirit had come back to him once more. Then he gnashed his teeth, crying
+  out in a loud voice, "Tristram, this time either thou or I shall perish." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram overcomes Sir Palamydes.</div>
+<p> Therewith he rushed upon Sir Tristram and smote him so violently that Sir
+  Tristram had much ado to defend himself. And Sir Palamydes smote him again and
+  again; and with that Sir Tristram smote in return. And if the blows of Sir Palamydes
+  were terrible, the blows of Sir Tristram were terrible likewise. Then by and
+  by Sir Tristram smote Sir Palamydes so sore a buffet that the Saracen knight
+  fell down from his horse and was unable immediately to arise. Then Sir Tristram
+  ran to him and rushed off his helmet and catched him by the hair with intent
+  to cut his head from off his body. </p>
+<p> But with that the Lady Belle Isoult came running from out the tower and cried
+  out: "Tristram, is it thou? Spare that mistaken knight and have mercy upon him
+  as thou hopest for mercy." </p>
+<p> "Lady," said Sir Tristram, "for thy sake and at thy bidding I will spare him."
+  Then he said to Sir Palamydes, "Arise." And Sir Palamydes arose very painfully,
+  and Sir Tristram said: "Get thee hence, and go to the court of King Arthur and
+  make thy confession to the King and ask him to forgive thee, and if he forgive
+  thee, then also I will forgive thee." </p>
+<p> Therewith Sir Palamydes mounted upon his horse and rode away without speaking
+  another word, his head bowed with sorrow upon his breast for shame and despair.
+</p>
+<p> Then Sir Tristram took the Lady Belle Isoult up behind him on his horse, and
+  he and she and Gouvernail departed from that place. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram brings Belle Isoult back to Cornwall.</div>
+<p> So Sir Tristram brought the Lady Isoult back to Cornwall, and there he was
+  received with loud praise and great rejoicing, for everybody was glad that Belle
+  Isoult had been brought safely back again. </p>
+<p> And now it shall be told what reward Sir Tristram received for this deed of
+  arms. </p>
+<p> For, though at first King Mark was greatly beholden to Sir Tristram, that
+  he had thus rescued the Lady Belle Isoult, yet, by little and little, he grew
+  to hate that noble knight more bitterly than ever. For he heard men say to one
+  another: "Lo, Sir Tristram is, certes, the very champion of Cornwall, for who
+  is there in this country is his equal?" So King Mark, hearing these things said
+  to himself: "The more noble Tristram is, the more ignoble will men deem me to
+  be who am under obligations to such an enemy." So he would say in his heart,
+  "Yea, Tristram; I hate thee more than death." </p>
+<div align="center"> <a href="images/041.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="t8" src="images/041.gif" border="0" alt="Tail Piece--The Story of Sir Tristram and the Lady Belle Isoult" /></a>
+</div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div id="trip3">
+  <h3>PART III</h3>
+  <h2>The Madness of Sir Tristram</h2>
+  <div class="foreward">
+    <p> <i>Here followeth the story of how Sir Tristram was driven out of Cornwall
+      and of how he went mad because of his troubles. Likewise it shall be told
+      how he performed several very wonderful adventures whilst he was in that
+      state, and of how he was brought back into his senses again.</i> </p>
+  </div>
+  <br />
+  <br />
+  <br />
+  <br />
+  <br />
+  <br />
+  <br />
+  <div align="center"> <a href="images/043.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="h9" src="images/043.gif" alt="The Madness of Sir Tristram" border="0" /></a>
+  </div>
+  <div class="chaphead" id="tr3c1">Chapter First</div>
+  <br />
+  <div class="chapdes">How Sir Tristram was discovered with the Lady Belle Isoult;
+    how he assaulted King Mark, and how he escaped from Tintagel into the forest.</div>
+  <p> After Sir Tristram had thus rescued the Lady Belle Isoult from the hand
+    of Sir Palamydes, he dwelt very peacefully at the court of Cornwall for all
+    of that winter and until the spring that followed, and during that time he
+    was given every meed of praise and honor. But although King Mark and his court
+    gave praise to Sir Tristram with the lips, yet he and many of his people hated
+    Sir Tristram at heart, and there were many mischief-makers about the court
+    who were ever ready to blow the embers of the King's wrath into a flame. </p>
+  <p> Now the chiefest of all these mischief-makers was Sir Andred, who was nephew
+    unto King Mark, and cousin-germaine unto Sir Tristram. Sir Andred was a fierce
+    strong knight, and one very dextrous at arms; but he was as mean and as treacherous
+    as Sir Tristram was generous and noble, wherefore he hated Sir Tristram with
+    great bitterness (though he dissembled that hatred) and sought for every opportunity
+    to do Sir Tristram a harm by bringing him and the King into conflict. </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Sir Andred of Cornwall sets spies upon Sir Tristram.</div>
+  <p> So Sir Andred set spies upon Sir Tristram, and he himself spied upon his
+    cousin, yet neither he nor they were able to find anything with which to accuse
+    Sir Tristram. Then one day Sir Andred came to Sir Tristram and said: "Sir,
+    the Lady Belle Isoult wishes to see you to talk with you." Sir Tristram said,
+    "Where is she?" </p>
+  <p> And Sir Andred said, "She is in her bower." Then Sir Tristram said, "Very
+    well, I will go to her." </p>
+  <p> So Sir Tristram arose and departed from where he was with intent to find
+    the lady; and therewith Sir Andred hurried to where King Mark was, and said:
+    "Lord, arise, for Sir Tristram and the Lady Isoult are holding converse together."
+  </p>
+  <p> King Mark said, "Where are they?" And Sir Andred said, "They are in the
+    bower of the Queen." At that King Mark's rage and jealousy blazed up into
+    a flame, so that he was like one seized with a sudden frensy. So, in that
+    madness of rage, he looked about for some weapon with which to destroy Sir
+    Tristram, and he perceived a great sword where it hung against the wall. Thereupon
+    he ran to the sword and took it down from where it was, and ran with all speed
+    to that place where Sir Tristram and the Lady Isoult were, and Sir Andred
+    guided him thither. </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">King Mark assaults Sir Tristram.</div>
+  <p> And when King Mark reached the bower of the Lady Isoult he flung open the
+    door and found Sir Tristram and the Lady Isoult sitting together in the seat
+    of a deep window. And he perceived that the Lady Isoult wept and that Sir
+    Tristram's face was very sorrowful because of her sorrow. Then King Mark twisted
+    him about and bent double as with a great pain, and then he cried out thrice
+    in a voice very hoarse and loud: "Traitor! Traitor! Traitor!" Saying those
+    words three times. Therewith he ran at Sir Tristram and struck furiously at
+    him with that sword he held, with intent to slay him. </p>
+  <p> Now Sir Tristram was at that time altogether without armor and was clad
+    in clothes of scarlet silk. Accordingly, he was able to be very quick and
+    alert in his movements. So perceiving King Mark rushing upon him with intent
+    to slay him he leaped aside and so avoided the blow. Then immediately he rushed
+    in upon King Mark and catched him by the wrist and wrenched the sword out
+    of his hand. </p>
+  <p> Then Sir Tristram was blinded with his rage and might have slain his uncle,
+    but the Lady Isoult, beholding the fury in his face, shrieked in a very piercing
+    voice, "Forbear! Forbear!" And therewith he remembered him how that King Mark
+    was his mother's brother and that it was his hand that had made him a knight.
+  </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram beats King Mark.</div>
+  <a href="images/042.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="p22" align="right" src="images/042.gif" border="0" alt="Sir Tristram assaults King Mark" /></a>
+  <p> So he turned the sword in his hand and he smote King Mark with the flat
+    thereof again and again, and at those blows King Mark was filled with terror
+    so that he howled like a wild beast. And King Mark fled away from that place,
+    striving to escape, but Sir Tristram ever pursued him, grinding his teeth
+    like a wild boar in rage, and smiting the King as he ran, over and over again,
+    with the flat of the sword so that the whole castle was filled with the tumult
+    and uproar of that assault. </p>
+  <p> Then many of the knights of Cornwall came running with intent to defend
+    the King, and with them came Sir Andred. But when Sir Tristram saw them, his
+    rage suddenly left the King and went out toward them; so therewith, naked
+    of armor as he was, he rushed at them, and he struck at them so fiercely that
+    they were filled with the terror of his fury, and fled away from before his
+    face. And Sir Tristram chased them through the courts of the castle, striking
+    right and left until he was weary with striking, and many he struck down with
+    the fierceness of his blows, and amongst them was Sir Andred who was sorely
+    wounded. So after a while Sir Tristram grew weary of that battle, and he cried
+    out, "Certes, these are not knights, but swine!" And therewith he ceased striking,
+    and allowed those who could do so to escape. </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram departs from Tintagel.</div>
+  <p> Thereafter he went to his chamber and armed himself without summoning Gouvernail,
+    and after that he took horse and rode away altogether from that place. And
+    not even Gouvernail went with him, but only his favorite hound, hight Houdaine,
+    which same followed him into the forest as he rode thitherward. And in his
+    going Sir Tristram looked neither to the right nor to the left but straight
+    before him very proudly and haughtily, and no one dared to stay him in his
+    going. </p>
+  <p> Yet, though he appeared so steadfast, he was like one who was brokenhearted,
+    for he wist that in going away from that place he was leaving behind him all
+    that he held dear in the world, wherefore he was like one who rode forth from
+    a pleasant garden into an empty wilderness of sorrow and repining. </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Gouvernail finds Sir Tristram in the forest.</div>
+  <p> Then, some little while after Sir Tristram had gone, Gouvernail also took
+    horse and rode into the forest, and he searched for a long while in the forest
+    without finding his master. But after a while he came upon Sir Tristram seated
+    under a tree with his head hanging down upon his breast. And Houdaine lay
+    beside Sir Tristram and licked his hand, but Sir Tristram paid no heed to
+    him, being so deeply sunk in his sorrow that he was unaware that Houdaine
+    licked his hand in that wise. </p>
+  <p> Then Gouvernail dismounted from his horse and came to where Sir Tristram
+    was, and Gouvernail wept at beholding the sorrow of Sir Tristram. And Gouvernail
+    said: "Messire, look up and take cheer, for there must yet be joy for thee
+    in the world." </p>
+  <p> Then Sir Tristram raised his eyes very slowly (for they were heavy and dull
+    like lead) and he looked at Gouvernail for some while as though not seeing
+    him. Then by and by he said: "Gouvernail, what evil have I done that I should
+    have so heavy a curse laid upon me?" Gouvernail said, still weeping: "Lord,
+    thou hast done no ill, but art in all wise a very noble, honorable gentleman."
+    "Alas!" quoth Sir Tristram, "I must unwittingly have done some great evil
+    in God's sight, for certes the hand of God lieth grievously heavy upon me."
+    Gouvernail said: "Lord, take heart, and tell me whither shall we go now?"
+    And Sir Tristram said, "I know not." </p>
+  <p> Then Gouvernail said: "Lord, let us go hence, I care not where, for I reckon
+    nothing of storm or rain or snow or hail if it so be that I am with you."
+  </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram bids Gouvernail return to Tintagel.</div>
+  <p> Then Sir Tristram looked upon Gouvernail and smiled, and he said: "Gouvernail,
+    it is great joy to me that you should love me so greatly as you do. But this
+    time you may not go with me whither I go, for the Lady Belle Isoult hath few
+    friends at the court of Cornwall, and many enemies, wherefore I would have
+    you return unto her for my sake, so that you may befriend her and cherish
+    her when that I am no longer by her for to stand her friend in her hour of
+    need. And take this dog Houdaine with you and bid the Lady Belle Isoult for
+    to keep him by her to remind her of my faithfulness unto her. For even as
+    this creature is faithful unto me under all circumstances, so am I faithful
+    unto her whether she be glad or sorry, or in good or evil case. So return
+    to Tintagel as I bid thee, and see that thou pay thy duty unto that lady even
+    as thou payst it unto me. For she is so singularly dear unto me that, even
+    as a man's heart is the life of his body, so is her happiness the life of
+    my life." </p>
+  <p> Then Gouvernail wept again in very great measure, and he said, "Lord, I
+    obey." Therewith he mounted his horse, still weeping with a great passion
+    of sorrow, and rode away from that place, and Houdaine followed after him
+    and Sir Tristram was left sitting alone in the deep forest. </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram wanders in the forest mad.</div>
+  <p> After that Sir Tristram wandered for several days in the forest, he knew
+    not whither for he was bewildered with that which had happened; so that he
+    ate no food and took no rest of any sort for all that time. Wherefore, because
+    of the hardship he then endured, he by and by became distraught in his mind.
+    So, after a while, he forgot who he himself was, and what was his condition,
+    or whence he came or whither he wended. And because his armor weighed heavily
+    upon him, he took it off and cast it away from him, and thereafter roamed
+    half naked through the woodlands. </p>
+  <p> Now upon the sixth day of this wandering he came to the outskirts of the
+    forest and nigh to the coast of the sea at a spot that was not very far away
+    was the castle of the Lady Loise, where he had once stayed at the time that
+    he undertook the adventure against Sir Nabon as aforetold. There, being exhausted
+    with hunger and weariness, he laid himself down in the sunlight out beyond
+    the borders of the forest and presently fell into a deep sleep that was like
+    to a swoon. </p>
+  <p> Now it chanced at that time that there came that way a certain damsel attendant
+    upon the Lady Loise. She perceiving that a man lay there on the grass at the
+    edge of the forest was at first of a mind to quit that place. Then, seeing
+    that the man lay very strangely still as though he were dead, she went forward
+    very softly and looked into his face. </p>
+  <p> Now that damsel had beheld Sir Tristram a great many times when he was at
+    the castle of the Lady Loise; wherefore now, in spite of his being so starved
+    and shrunken, and so unkempt and unshaved, she remembered his face and she
+    knew that this was Sir Tristram. </p>
+  <p> Therewith the damsel hurried away to the Lady Loise (and the lady was not
+    a very great distance away) and she said: "Lady, yonder way there lieth a
+    man by the forest side and I believe that it is Sir Tristram of Lyonesse.
+    Yet he is but half-clad and in great distress of body so that I know not of
+    a surety whether it is really Sir Tristram or not. Now I pray you come with
+    me and look upon his face and see if you may know him." </p>
+  <p> So the Lady Loise went with the damsel to where Sir Tristram lay and looked
+    into his face, and she knew Sir Tristram in spite of his ill condition. </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">The Lady Loise finds Sir Tristram.</div>
+  <p> Then the Lady Loise touched Sir Tristram upon the shoulder and shook him,
+    and thereupon Sir Tristram awoke and sat up. Then the Lady Loise said, "Sir
+    Tristram, is it thou who liest here?" And Sir Tristram said, "I know not who
+    I am." The Lady Loise said, "Messire, how came you here in this sad case?"
+    And Sir Tristram said: "I know not whence I came, nor how I came hither, nor
+    who I am, nor what it is that ails me, for I cannot hold my mind with enough
+    steadiness to remember those things." Then the lady sighed for sorrow of Sir
+    Tristram, and she said: "Alas, Sir Tristram, that I should find you thus!
+    Now I pray you, lord, for to come with me to my castle which is hard by. There
+    we may care for you and may perhaps bring you back to health again." </p>
+  <p> To this Sir Tristram said: "Lady, I may not go with you. For though I cannot
+    remember whence I came, nor who I am, this much I know--I know that I am mad,
+    and that the forest is the only fit place for such as I am come to be." </p>
+  <p> The lady said: "Alas, Sir Tristram, thou wilt die if thou art left alone
+    here in the forest." And Sir Tristram said: "Lady, I know not what you mean
+    when you say I am to die. What is it to die?" So at these words the Lady Loise
+    saw how it was with Sir Tristram; that his brains were altogether turned;
+    and she wist that some sore trouble must have befallen to bring him to such
+    a pass. Then she bethought her of how dearly he loved the music of the harp,
+    and she said to herself: "Mayhap by means of music I may bring him back into
+    his senses again." So she said to that damsel who had brought her thither:
+    "Go thou and bring hither my little harp of gold, and let us see if music
+    may charm him to remembrance." </p>
+  <p> So the damsel ran to the castle and brought the harp thence, and the Lady
+    Loise took the harp and tuned it and struck it and played upon it. And the
+    lady sang very sweetly a ballad that she knew Sir Tristram loved. </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">The Lady Loise harps to Sir Tristram.</div>
+  <p> Then when Sir Tristram heard the sound of the music and singing he aroused
+    himself. For first he listened with great pleasure, and then he said, "Give
+    it to me! Give it to me!" and he reached out his hands and would have taken
+    the harp from the lady. </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram comes to the Lady's castle.</div>
+  <p> But the Lady Loise laughed and shook her head, and she walked away from
+    Sir Tristram and toward the castle, still playing upon the little harp and
+    singing; and Sir Tristram followed close after, saying ever, "Give it to me!
+    Give it to me!" and reaching out his hands for the harp. So the Lady Loise
+    led him away from that place across the meadows; and she led him to the castle
+    and into the castle; and ever Sir Tristram followed after her, beseeching
+    her for to give the harp unto him. And the lady led Sir Tristram that way
+    until she had brought him to a fair room, and there she gave him the harp,
+    and Sir Tristram took it very eagerly into his hands and struck upon it and
+    played and sang most sweetly and with great joy and pleasure. </p>
+  <p> Afterward, being so much comforted, he ate and drank with appetite, and
+    then fell into a fair sound sleep. </p>
+  <p> Yet, though he so slept, still Sir Tristram's wits in no wise recovered
+    themselves; for when he awoke from that slumber he still could not remember
+    who he was or whence he came, neither could he remember the faces of any of
+    those who were around about him. But, though he was thus mad, he was still
+    gentle and kind in his madness and courteous and civil to all those who came
+    nigh him. </p>
+  <p> So Sir Tristram remained a gentle captive in the castle of the Lady Loise
+    for nigh upon a month, and somewhiles she would sing and harp to him, and
+    otherwhiles he himself would harp and sing. But ever and anon, when he found
+    the chance for to do so, he would escape from the captivity of the castle
+    and seek the forest; for he was aware of his madness and he ever sought to
+    hide that madness in the deep and shady woodland where only the wild creatures
+    of the forest might see him. </p>
+  <p> Yet always when he so escaped the Lady Loise would take her little golden
+    harp and go forth to the skirts of the forest and play upon it, and when the
+    music thereof would reach Sir Tristram's ears he would return to the castle,
+    being led thither by the music. </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram quits the Lady's castle.</div>
+  <p> But one day he wandered so far astray that the music of the harp could not
+    reach his ears, and then he wandered on farther and farther until he was altogether
+    lost. At that Lady Loise took much sorrow for she had much love for Sir Tristram.
+    So she sent many of her people to search the forest for him, but none of these
+    were able to find him and thereafter he came no more to the castle. </p>
+  <p> Thus Sir Tristram escaped from that castle and after that he wandered in
+    the forest as he had done at the first. And in that time he took no food and
+    but little rest. And the brambles tore his clothes, so that in a short time
+    he was wellnigh altogether naked. </p>
+  <p> And somewhiles during this time of wandering he would be seized as with
+    a fury of battle, and in such case he would shout aloud as though in challenge
+    to an enemy. And then he would rend and tear great branches from the trees
+    in the fury of his imaginings. But otherwhiles he would wander through the
+    leafy aisles of the forest in gentler mood, singing so sweetly that had you
+    heard him you would have thought that it was some fairy spirit of the forest
+    chanting in those solitudes. </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram dwells with the swineherds.</div>
+  <p> So he wandered until he failed with faintness, and sank down into the leaves;
+    and I believe that he would then have died, had it not been that there chanced
+    to come that way certain swineherds of the forest who fed their swine upon
+    acorns that were to be therein found. These found Sir Tristram lying there
+    as though dead, and they gave him to eat and to drink so that he revived once
+    more. After that they took him with them, and he dwelt with them in those
+    woodlands. There these forest folk played with him and made merry with him,
+    and he made them great sport. For he was ever gentle and mild like a little
+    child for innocence so that he did no harm to anyone, but only talked in such
+    a way that the swineherds found great sport in him. </p>
+  <p> Now Sir Andred of Cornwall very greatly coveted the possessions of Sir Tristram,
+    so that when several months had passed by and Sir Tristram did not return
+    to Tintagel, he said to himself: "Of a surety, Tristram must now be dead in
+    the forest, and, as there is no one nigher of kin to him than I, it is altogether
+    fitting that I should inherit his possessions." </p>
+  <p> But as Sir Andred could not inherit without proof of the death of Sir Tristram,
+    he suborned a certain very beautiful but wicked lady who dwelt in the forest,
+    persuading her that she should give false evidence of Sir Tristram's death.
+    Accordingly, he one day brought that lady before King Mark, and she gave it
+    as her evidence that Sir Tristram had died in the forest and that she had
+    been with him when he died. And she showed them a new-made grave in the forest,
+    and she said: "That is the grave of Sir Tristram, for I saw him die and I
+    saw him buried there with mine own eyes." </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Sir Adred seizes Sir Tristram's possessions.</div>
+  <p> So everybody believed this evidence, and thought that Sir Tristram was really
+    dead, and so Sir Andred seized upon all the possessions of Sir Tristram. And
+    there were many who were very sorry that Sir Tristram was dead and there were
+    others who were glad thereof in the same measure. But when the news was brought
+    to Belle Isoult that Sir Tristram was dead, she shrieked aloud and swooned
+    away. And she lay in that swoon so long that they thought for a while she
+    would never recover from it. But by and by she awoke therefrom, crying, "Would
+    to God that I were dead with Tristram and had never awakened!" </p>
+  <p> And thereafter she mourned continually for Sir Tristram and would not be
+    comforted; for she was like to a woman who hath been widowed from a lover
+    of her youth. </p>
+  <p> And now it shall be told of how it fared with Sir Tristram in the forest
+    where he dwelt with the swineherds, and of how he achieved a very notable
+    adventure therein. </p>
+  <div align="center"> <a href="images/tail.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/tail.gif" border="0" alt="Tail Piece" /></a>
+  </div>
+  <br />
+  <br />
+  <br />
+  <br />
+  <br />
+  <br />
+  <div class="chaphead" id="tr3c2"><a href="images/019.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/019.gif" alt="Chapter Header" border="0" /></a>
+    <br />
+    Chapter Second</div>
+  <br />
+  <div class="chapdes">How Sir Tristram got him a sword from Sir Kay and how he
+    slew therewith a huge knight in the forest and rescued a lady in very great
+    distress. Also how Sir Launcelot found Sir Tristram in the forest and brought
+    him thence to Tintagel again.</div>
+  <p> Now it chanced one day that Sir Kay the Seneschal came riding through those
+    parts of the forest where Sir Tristram abided with the swineherds, and with
+    Sir Kay there came a considerable court of esquires. And with him besides
+    there travelled Sir Dagonet, King Arthur's Fool. </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Sir Kay and Sir Dagonet come to the forest.</div>
+  <p> Now, you are to know that though Sir Dagonet was the King's jester, and
+    though he was slack of wit, yet he was also a knight of no mean prowess. For
+    he had performed several deeds of good repute and was well held in all courts
+    of chivalry. So Sir Dagonet always went armed; though he bore upon his shield
+    the device of a cockerel's head as a symbol of his calling. </p>
+  <p> The time that Sir Kay and his court travelled as aforesaid was in the summer
+    season and the day was very warm, so that Sir Kay was minded to take rest
+    during the midday and until the coolness of the afternoon should come. So
+    they all dismounted from their horses and sat them down under the shade of
+    the trees where it was cool and pleasant and where the breezes reached them
+    to breathe upon their faces. </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Sir Dagonet wanders in the woodland.</div>
+  <p> But whilst Sir Kay and his court thus rested themselves, Sir Dagonet must
+    needs be gadding, for he was of a very restless, meddlesome disposition. So,
+    being at that time clad only in half armor, he wandered hither and thither
+    through the forest as his fancy led him. For somewhiles he would whistle and
+    somewhiles he would gape, and otherwhiles he would cut a caper or two. So,
+    as chance would have it, he came by and by to that open glade of the forest
+    where the swineherds were gathered; and at that time they were eating their
+    midday meal of black bread and cheese, and were drinking beer; some talking
+    and laughing and others silent as they ate their food. Unto these Sir Dagonet
+    appeared, coming out of the forest in very gay attire, and shining in the
+    half armor he wore, so that he appeared like a bright bird of the woodland.
+  </p>
+  <p> Then Sir Dagonet, seeing where those rude boors were eating their meal of
+    food, came to them and stood amongst them. And he said, "Who are ye fellows?"
+    Whereunto they replied, "We are swineherds, Messire; who be ye?" </p>
+  <p> Quoth Sir Dagonet: "I am King Arthur's Fool. And whilst there are haply
+    many in the world with no more wits than I possess, yet there are few so honest
+    as I to confess that they are fools." </p>
+  <p> At these words those swineherds laughed very loudly. "Well," quoth one,
+    "if King Arthur hath his fool, so have we, and yonder he is," and therewith
+    he pointed to where Sir Tristram lay in the shade of the trees some distance
+    away and beside a deep well of the forest. </p>
+  <p> Upon that Sir Dagonet must needs go to where Sir Tristram lay, nearly naked,
+    upon the ground. And when he had come there he said, "Arise, fool." Whereunto
+    Sir Tristram replied: "Why should I arise? Lo! I am weary." </p>
+  <p> Then Sir Dagonet said: "It is not fitting that thou, who art the fool of
+    swineherds shouldst lie upon the grass, whilst I who am the fool of a king
+    stand upright upon my shanks. So, fool, I bid thee bestir thyself and arise."
+  </p>
+  <p> But Sir Tristram said, "I will not arise." And therewith Sir Dagonet took
+    his sword and pricked the thigh of Sir Tristram with the point thereof with
+    intent to make him bestir himself. </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram souses Sir Dagonet in the well.</div>
+  <p> Now when Sir Tristram felt the prick of Sir Dagonet's sword, a certain part
+    of his memory of knighthood came back to him and he was seized with a sudden
+    fury against Sir Dagonet. So he arose and ran at Sir Dagonet and catched him
+    in his arms, and lifted Sir Dagonet off his feet and he soused him in the
+    well four or five times so that he was like to have drowned him. </p>
+  <p> As for those swineherds, when they saw what their fool did to that other
+    fool, they roared with laughter so that some of them rolled down upon the
+    ground and lay grovelling there for pure mirth. But others of them called
+    out to Sir Tristram, "Let be, or thou wilt drown that man"; and therewith
+    Sir Tristram let Sir Dagonet go, and Sir Dagonet ran away. </p>
+  <p> Nor did Sir Dagonet cease to run until he came to his party under the shade
+    of the trees. But when Sir Kay perceived what a sorry plight it was in which
+    Sir Dagonet appeared, he said, "What hath befallen thee?" </p>
+  <p> To this Sir Dagonet replied as follows: "Messire, I, who am a fool, went
+    into the forest and met another fool. I fool would have a jest with he fool,
+    but he fool catched I fool and soused I fool in a well of cold water. So it
+    came about that while I fool had the jest, he fool had the sport of the jest."
+  </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Sir Kay seeks to avenge Sir Dagonet.</div>
+  <p> Then Sir Kay understood in some manner what had befallen, and he was very
+    angry that Sir Dagonet should have been so served. Wherefore he said, "Where
+    did this befall thee?" And Sir Dagonet said, "Over yonder ways." Then Sir
+    Kay said: "I will avenge thee for the affront that hath been put upon thee.
+    For no boor shall serve a knight of King Arthur's court in such a fashion!"
+    So therewith Sir Kay arose and put on his armor and mounted his horse and
+    rode away; and after a while he came to that place where the swineherds were.
+  </p>
+  <p> Then Sir Kay said very sternly: "Which of ye is that boor who put so grievous
+    an affront upon a gentleman of my party?" The swineherds say: "Yonder he is
+    lying by the well; but he is slack of wit, wherefore we beseech you to do
+    him no harm." </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram souses Sir Kay in the water.</div>
+  <a href="images/044.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="p23" align="left" src="images/044.gif" border="0" alt="Sir Kay and the Forest Madman" /></a>
+  <p> Then Sir Kay rode to where Sir Tristram was, and he said: "Sirrah, why did
+    you souse Sir Dagonet into the water?" To this Sir Tristram did not reply,
+    but only looked at Sir Kay and laughed, for it pleased him wonderfully to
+    behold that knight all in shining armor. But when Sir Kay beheld Sir Tristram
+    laugh in that wise, he waxed exceedingly wroth. Wherefore he drew his sword
+    straightway, and rode at Sir Tristram with intent to strike him with the blade
+    thereof. But when Sir Tristram saw the sword of Sir Kay shining like lightning
+    in the sunlight, somewhat of his knightly spirit arose within him and took
+    wing like to a bird springing up out of the marish grass into the clear air.
+    For beholding that bright flashing sword he cried out aloud and arose and
+    came very steadily toward Sir Kay, and Sir Kay rode toward Sir Tristram. Then
+    when Sir Kay had come near enough to strike, he arose in his stirrups and
+    lifted the blade on high with intent to strike Sir Tristram with it. But therewith
+    Sir Tristram ran very quickly in beneath the blow, so that the stroke of Sir
+    Kay failed of its mark. Then Sir Tristram leaped up and catched Sir Kay around
+    the body and dragged him down from off his horse very violently upon the ground,
+    and with that the sword of Sir Kay fell down out of his hands and lay in the
+    grass. Then Sir Tristram lifted up Sir Kay very easily and ran with him to
+    the well of water and soused him therein several times until Sir Kay cried
+    out, "Fellow, spare me or I strangle!" Upon that Sir Tristram let go Sir Kay,
+    and Sir Kay ran to his horse and mounted thereon and rode away from that place
+    with might and main, all streaming with water like to a fountain. </p>
+  <p> And all that while those swineherds roared with great laughter, ten times
+    louder than they had laughed when Sir Tristram had soused Sir Dagonet into
+    the well. </p>
+  <p> Then Sir Tristram beheld the sword of Sir Kay where it lay in the grass
+    and forthwith he ran to it and picked it up. And when he held it in his hands
+    he loved it with a great passion of love, wherefore he hugged it to his bosom
+    and kissed the pommel thereof. </p>
+  <p> But when the swineherds beheld the sword in Sir Tristram's hands, they said,
+    "That is no fit plaything for a madman to have," and they would have taken
+    it from him, but Sir Tristram would not permit them, for he would not give
+    them the sword, and no one dared to try to take it from him. </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram keeps the sword of Sir Kay.</div>
+  <p> So thereafter he kept that sword ever by him both by night and by day, and
+    ever he loved it and kissed it and fondled it; for, as aforesaid, it aroused
+    his knightly spirit to life within him, wherefore it was he loved it. </p>
+  <p> So it hath been told how Sir Tristram got him a sword, and now it shall
+    be told how well he used it. </p>
+  <p> Now there was at that time in the woodlands of that part of Cornwall a gigantic
+    knight hight Sir Tauleas, and he was the terror of all that district. For
+    not only was he a head and shoulders taller than the tallest of Cornish men,
+    but his strength and fierceness were great in the same degree that he was
+    big of frame. Many knights had undertaken to rid the world of this Sir Tauleas,
+    but no knight had ever yet encountered him without meeting some mishap at
+    his hands. </p>
+  <p> (Yet it is to be said that heretofore no such knight as Sir Launcelot or
+    Sir Lamorack had come against Sir Tauleas, but only the knights of Cornwall
+    and Wales, whose borders marched upon that district where Sir Tauleas ranged
+    afield.) </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Sir Daynant and his lady come to the forest.</div>
+  <p> Now one day there came riding through the forest a very noble, gallant young
+    knight, hight Sir Daynant, and with him rode his lady, a beautiful dame to
+    whom he had lately been wedded with a great deal of love. These wayfarers
+    in their travelling came to that part of the forest where the swineherds abode,
+    and where were the open glade of grass and the fair well of water aforespoken
+    of. </p>
+  <p> Hereunto coming, and the day being very warm, these two travellers dismounted
+    and besought refreshment of the swineherds who were there, and those rude
+    good fellows gladly gave them to eat and to drink of the best they had. </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Sir Daynant regards Sir tristram.</div>
+  <p> Whilst they ate, Sir Tristram came and sat nigh to Sir Daynant and his lady
+    and smiled upon them, for he loved them very greatly because of their nobility
+    and beauty. Then Sir Daynant looked upon Sir Tristram and beheld how strong
+    and beautiful of body and how noble of countenance he was, and he saw that
+    beautiful shining sword that Sir Tristram carried ever with him. And Sir Daynant
+    said, "Fair friend, who are you, and where gat ye that sword?" </p>
+  <p> "I know not who I am," said Sir Tristram, "nor know I whence I came nor
+    whither I go. As for this sword, I had it from a gentleman who came hither
+    to us no great while ago." </p>
+  <p> Then the chiefest of the swineherds said: "Lord, this is a poor madman whom
+    we found naked and starving in the forest. As for that sword, I may tell you
+    that he took it away from a knight who came hither to threaten his life, and
+    he soused that knight into the well so that he was wellnigh drowned." </p>
+  <p> Sir Daynant said: "That is a very strange story, that a naked madman should
+    take the sword out of the hands of an armed knight and treat that knight as
+    ye tell me. Now maybe this is some famous hero or knight who hath lost his
+    wits through sorrow or because of some other reason, and who hath so come
+    to this sorry pass." </p>
+  <p> (So said Sir Daynant, and it may here be said that from that time those
+    rude swineherds began to look upon Sir Tristram with different eyes than before,
+    saying amongst themselves: "Maybe what that knight said is true, and this
+    is indeed no common madman.") </p>
+  <p> Now whilst Sir Daynant sat there with his lady, holding converse with the
+    swineherds concerning Sir Tristram in that wise, there came a great noise
+    in the forest, and out therefrom there came riding with great speed that huge
+    savage knight Sir Tauleas aforetold of. Then Sir Daynant cried out, "Alas,
+    here is misfortune!" And therewith he made all haste to put his helmet upon
+    his head. </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Sir Tauleas strikes down Sir Daynant.</div>
+  <p> But ere he could arm himself in any sufficient wise, Sir Tauleas drave down
+    very fiercely upon him. And Sir Tauleas rose up in his stirrups and lashed
+    so terrible a blow at Sir Daynant that it struck through Sir Daynant's helmet
+    and into his brain-pan, wherefore Sir Daynant immediately fell down to the
+    ground as though he had been struck dead. </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Sir Tauleas bears away the lady.</div>
+  <p> Then Sir Tauleas rode straightway to where the lady of Sir Daynant was,
+    and he said: "Lady, thou art a prize that it is very well worth while fighting
+    for! And lo! I have won thee." Therewith he catched her and lifted her up,
+    shrieking and screaming and struggling, and sat her upon the saddle before
+    him and held her there maugre all her struggles. Then straightway he rode
+    away into the forest, carrying her with him; and all that while Sir Tristram
+    stood as though in a maze, gazing with a sort of terror upon what befell and
+    not rightly knowing what it all meant. For there lay Sir Daynant as though
+    dead upon the ground, and he could yet hear the shrieks of the lady sounding
+    out from the forest whither Sir Tauleas had carried her. </p>
+  <p> Then the chief of the swineherds came to Sir Tristram, and said: "Fellow,
+    as thou hast a sword, let us see if thou canst use it. If thou art a hero
+    as that knight said of thee a while since, and not a pure madman, then follow
+    after that knight and bring that lady back hither again." </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram follows Sir Tauleas.</div>
+  <p> Then Sir Tristram awoke from that maze and said, "I will do so." And therewith
+    he ran away very rapidly into the forest, pursuing the direction that Sir
+    Tauleas had taken. And he ran for a great distance, and by and by, after a
+    while, he beheld Sir Tauleas before him where he rode. And by that time the
+    lady was in a deep swoon and lay as though dead across the saddle of Sir Tauleas.
+    Then Sir Tristram cried out in a great voice: "Stay, Sir Knight, and turn
+    this way, for I come to take that lady away from thee and to bring her back
+    unto her friend again!" </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram slays Sir Tauleas.</div>
+  <p> Then Sir Tauleas turned him and beheld a naked man running after him with
+    a sword in his hand, whereupon he was seized with a great rage of anger, so
+    that he put that lady he carried down to the ground. And he drew his sword
+    and rushed at Sir Tristram very violently with intent to slay him. And when
+    he came nigh to Sir Tristram he arose up on his stirrups and lashed so terrible
+    a blow at him that, had it met its mark, it would have cloven Sir Tristram
+    in twain. But Sir Tristram leaped aside and turned the blow very skilfully;
+    and therewith a memory of his knightly prowess came upon him and he, upon
+    his part, lashed a blow at Sir Tauleas that Sir Tauleas received very unexpectedly.
+    And that blow struck Sir Tauleas so terrible a buffet upon the head that the
+    brain of Sir Tauleas swam, and he swayed about and then fell down from off
+    his horse. Therewith Sir Tristram ran to him and rushed his helmet from off
+    his head. And when he beheld the naked head of Sir Tauleas he catched it by
+    the hair and drew the neck of Sir Tauleas forward. Then Sir Tauleas cried
+    out, "Spare me, fellow!" But Sir Tristram said, "I will not spare thee for
+    thou art a wicked man!" And therewith he lifted his sword on high and smote
+    off the head of Sir Tauleas so that it rolled down upon the ground. </p>
+  <p> After that, Sir Tristram went to the Lady and he chafed her hands and her
+    face so that she revived from her swoon. And when she was revived, he said:
+    "Lady, take cheer; for look yonder and thou wilt see thy enemy is dead, and
+    so now I may take thee back again unto thy friend." And therewith the lady
+    smiled upon Sir Tristram and catched his hand in hers and kissed it. </p>
+  <p> Then Sir Tristram lifted the lady upon the horse of Sir Tauleas, and after
+    that he went back again to where he had left Sir Daynant and the swineherds;
+    and he led the horse of Sir Tauleas by the bridle with the lady upon the back
+    thereof and he bore the head of Sir Tauleas in his hand by the hair. </p>
+  <p> But when those swineherds saw Sir Tristram come forth thus out of the forest
+    bringing that lady and bearing the head of Sir Tauleas, they were amazed beyond
+    measure, and they said to one another: "Of a certainty what this young knight
+    hath just said is sooth and this madman is indeed some great champion in distress.
+    But who he is no one may know, since he himself doth not know." </p>
+  <p> And when Sir Daynant had recovered from that blow that Sir Tauleas had given
+    him, he also gave Sir Tristram great praise for what he had done. And Sir
+    Tristram was abashed at all the praise that was bestowed upon him. </p>
+  <p> Then Sir Daynant and his lady besought Sir Tristram that he would go with
+    them to their castle so that they might care for him, but Sir Tristram would
+    not, for he said: "I wist very well that I am mad, and so this forest is a
+    fit place for me to dwell and these kind rude fellows are fit companions for
+    me at this time whilst my wits are wandering." </p>
+  <p> Thus it was with this adventure. And now you shall hear how Sir Launcelot
+    found Sir Tristram in the forest and how he brought him out thence and likewise
+    what befell thereafter. </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot enters the forest.</div>
+  <p> For only the next day after all these things had happened, Sir Launcelot
+    came riding through the forest that way, seeking for Sir Tauleas with intent
+    to do battle with him because of his many evil deeds. For Sir Launcelot purposed
+    either to slay him or else to bring him captive to King Arthur. </p>
+  <p> So it came to pass that Sir Launcelot came to that place where Sir Tristram
+    and the swineherds abode. </p>
+  <p> There Sir Launcelot made pause for to rest and to refresh himself, and whilst
+    he sat with his helmet lying beside him so that the breezes might cool his
+    face, all those rude swineherds gathered about and stared at him. And Sir
+    Launcelot smiled upon them, and he said: "Good fellows, I pray you tell me;
+    do you know where, hereabouts, I shall find a knight whom men call Sir Tauleas?"
+  </p>
+  <p> Unto this the chief swineherd made reply, saying: "Lord, if you come hither
+    seeking Sir Tauleas, you shall seek him in vain. For yesterday he was slain,
+    and if you look yonder way you may see his head hanging from a branch of a
+    tree at the edge of the glade." </p>
+  <p> Upon this Sir Launcelot cried out in great amazement, "How hath that come
+    to pass?" and therewith he immediately arose from where he sat and went to
+    that tree where the head hung. And he looked into the face of the head, and
+    therewith he saw that it was indeed the head of Sir Tauleas that hung there.
+    Then Sir Launcelot said: "This is very wonderful. Now I pray you, tell me
+    what knight was it who slew this wicked wretch, and how his head came to be
+    left hanging here?" </p>
+  <p> To this the chief of the swineherds made reply: "Messire, he who slew Sir
+    Tauleas was no knight, but a poor madman whom we found in the forest and who
+    has dwelt with us now for a year past. Yonder you may see him, lying half
+    naked, sleeping beside that well of water." </p>
+  <p> Sir Launcelot said, "Was it he who did indeed slay Sir Tauleas?" And the
+    swineherd said, "Yea, lord, it was he." </p>
+  <p> Sir Launcelot said, "Do ye not then know who he is?" The swineherd replied:
+    "No, lord, we only know that one day we found him lying in the forest naked
+    and nigh to death from hunger and that we fed him and clothed him, and that
+    since then he hath dwelt ever with us, showing great love for us all." </p>
+  <p> Then Sir Launcelot went to where Sir Tristram lay, and he looked upon him
+    as he slept and he knew him not; for the beard and the hair of Sir Tristram
+    had grown down all over his breast and shoulders and he was very ragged and
+    beaten by the weather. But though Sir Launcelot knew him not, yet he beheld
+    that the body of Sir Tristram was very beautiful and strong, for he saw how
+    all the muscles and thews thereof were cut very smooth and clean as you might
+    cut them out of wax, wherefore Sir Launcelot gazed for a long while and felt
+    great admiration for his appearance. </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot regards Sir tristram.</div>
+  <p> Then Sir Launcelot beheld how the sleeping man held a naked sword in his
+    arms very caressingly, as though he loved it, and thereat he was very much
+    surprised to find such a sword as that in the hands of this forest madman.
+    Wherefore he said to those swineherds, "Where got this man that sword?" </p>
+  <p> "Messire," said the swineherd who had afore spoken, "some while since there
+    came a knight hitherward who ill-treated him. Thereupon this poor man ran
+    at the knight and overthrew him and took the sword away from him and soused
+    him several times in the well. After that he hath ever held fast to this sword
+    and would not give it up to any of us." </p>
+  <p> "Ha!" said Sir Launcelot, "that is a very wonderful story, that a naked
+    man should overthrow an armed knight and take his sword away from him. Now
+    I deem that this is no mere madman, but some noble knight in misfortune."
+  </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot awakens Sir Tristram.</div>
+  <p> Therewith he reached forward and touched Sir Tristram very gently on the
+    shoulder, and at that Sir Tristram awoke and opened his eyes and sat up. And
+    Sir Tristram looked upon Sir Launcelot, but knew him not, albeit some small
+    memory moved very deeply within him. Nevertheless, though he knew not Sir
+    Launcelot, yet he felt great tenderness for that noble knight in arms, and
+    he smiled very lovingly upon him. And Sir Launcelot felt in return a very
+    great deal of regard for Sir Tristram, but wist not why that was; yet it seemed
+    to Sir Launcelot that he should know the face of Sir Tristram, and that it
+    was not altogether strange to him. </p>
+  <p> Then Sir Launcelot said, "Fair friend, was it thou who slew Sir Tauleas?"
+    And Sir Tristram said, "Ay." Sir Launcelot said, "Who art thou?" Whereunto
+    Sir Tristram made reply: "I know not who I am, nor whence I come, nor how
+    I came hither." </p>
+  <p> Then Sir Launcelot felt great pity and tenderness for Sir Tristram, and
+    he said: "Friend, wilt thou go with me away from this place and into the habitations
+    of men? There I believe thy mind maybe made whole again, and that it may be
+    with thee as it was beforetime. And verily, I believe that when that shall
+    come to pass, the world shall find in thee some great knight it hath lost."
+  </p>
+  <p> Sir Tristram said: "Sir Knight, though I know not who I am, yet I know that
+    I am not sound in my mind; wherefore I am ashamed to go out in the world and
+    amongst mankind, but would fain hide myself away in this forest. Yet I love
+    thee so much that, if thou wert to bid me go with thee to the ends of the
+    world, I believe I would go with thee." </p>
+  <p> Then Sir Launcelot smiled upon Sir Tristram very kindly and said, "I do
+    bid thee come with me away from here," and Sir Tristram said, "I will go."
+  </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram quits the forest with Sir Launcelot.</div>
+  <p> So Sir Launcelot bade the swineherds clothe Sir Tristram in such a wise
+    that his nakedness might be covered, and he bade them give Sir Tristram hosen
+    and shoon, and when Sir Tristram was thus decently clad, Sir Launcelot made
+    ready to take his departure from that place. </p>
+  <p> But ere the two left, all those good fellows crowded around Sir Tristram,
+    and embraced him and kissed him upon the cheek; for they had come to love
+    him a very great deal. </p>
+  <p> Then the two went away through the forest, Sir Launcelot proudly riding
+    upon his great horse and Sir Tristram running very lightly beside him. </p>
+  <p> But Sir Launcelot had other business at that time than to seek out Sir Tauleas
+    as aforetold. For at that time there were three knights of very ill-repute
+    who harried the west coast of that land that overlooked the sea toward the
+    Kingdom of Ireland, and Sir Launcelot was minded to seek them out after he
+    had finished with Sir Tauleas. So ere he returned to the court of King Arthur
+    he had first of all to go thitherward. </p>
+  <p> Now you are to know that the castle of Tintagel lay upon the way that he
+    was to take upon that adventure, and so it was that he brought Sir Tristram
+    to the castle of Tintagel, where King Mark of Cornwall was then holding court.
+    For Sir Launcelot was minded to leave Sir Tristram there whilst he went upon
+    that adventure aforetold of. </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram comes to Tintagel.</div>
+  <p> And Sir Launcelot was received in Tintagel with very great honor and acclaim,
+    for it was the first time he had ever been there. And King Mark besought Sir
+    Launcelot for to abide a while in Tintagel; but Sir Launcelot refused this
+    hospitality, saying: "I have an adventure to do for the sake of my master,
+    King Arthur, and I may not abide here at this present. But I pray you to grant
+    me a favor, and it is this: that you cherish this poor madman whom I found
+    in the forest, and that you keep him here, treating him kindly until I shall
+    return from the quest I am upon. For I have great love for this poor fellow
+    and I would not have any harm befall him whilst I am away." </p>
+  <p> Then King Mark said: "I am sorry you will not remain with us, but as to
+    this thing it shall be done as you desire, for we will cherish and care for
+    this man while you are away." So said King Mark, speaking with great cheerfulness
+    and courtesy; for neither he nor any of his court at that time wist who Sir
+    Tristram was. </p>
+  <p> So Sir Launcelot went upon his way, and King Mark gave orders that Sir Tristram
+    should be well-clothed and fed, and it was done as he commanded. </p>
+  <br />
+  <div align="center"> *&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;*&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;*&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;*&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;*
+  </div>
+  <br />
+  <p> Thus it was that Sir Tristram was brought back to the castle of Tintagel
+    again. And now it shall be told how it befell with him thereat. </p>
+  <div align="center"> <a href="images/tail.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/tail.gif" border="0" alt="Tail Piece" /></a>
+  </div>
+  <br />
+  <br />
+  <br />
+  <br />
+  <br />
+  <br />
+  <div class="chaphead" id="tr3c3"><a href="images/015.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/015.gif" alt="Chapter Header" border="0" /></a>
+    <br />
+    Chapter Third</div>
+  <br />
+  <div class="chapdes">How Sir Tristram was discovered at Tintagel and of what
+    befell thereby.</div>
+  <p> Now during the time that Sir Tristram abode thus unknown at the court of
+    Tintagel, he was allowed to wander thereabouts whithersoever he chose, and
+    no one hindered him either in going or in coming. For none in all that place
+    suspected who he was, but everyone thought that he was only a poor gentle
+    madman of the forest; so he was allowed to wander at will as his fancy led
+    him. </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">How Sir Tristram dwelt at Tintagel.</div>
+  <p> And Sir Tristram's memory never awoke; but though it awoke not, yet it stirred
+    within him. For though he could not remember what this place was whereunto
+    he had come, yet it was very strangely familiar to him, so that whithersoever
+    he went, he felt that those places were not altogether strange to him. And
+    in some of those places he felt great pleasure and in other places somewhat
+    of pain, yet he knew not why he should have the one feeling or the other.
+  </p>
+  <p> Now of all those places whereunto he wandered, Sir Tristram found most pleasure
+    in the pleasance of the castle where was a fair garden and fruit trees; for
+    it was there that he and the Lady Belle Isoult had walked together aforetime
+    ere his affliction had befallen him, and he remembered this place better than
+    any other, and took more pleasure in it. Now one day Sir Tristram came wandering
+    thus into that pleasance and, the day being warm, he sat under the shade of
+    an appletree beside a marble fountain of water; and the appletree above his
+    head was all full of red and golden fruit. So Sir Tristram sat there, striving
+    to remember how it was that he had once aforetime beheld that fountain and
+    that garden and that appletree beneath which he sat. </p>
+  <p> So whilst he sat there pondering in that wise, there came the Lady Belle
+    Isoult into the garden of that pleasance and her lady, the dame Bragwaine,
+    was with her, and the hound, hight Houdaine, which Sir Tristram had sent to
+    her by Gouvernail, walked beside her on the other side. Then Belle Isoult
+    perceived that there was a man sitting under the appletree, and she said to
+    dame Bragwaine: "Who is yonder man who hath dared to come hither into our
+    privy garden?" Unto this, dame Bragwaine replied: "That, lady, is the gentle
+    madman of the forest whom Sir Launcelot brought hither two days ago." </p>
+  <p> Then the Lady Belle Isoult said, "Let us go nearer and see what manner of
+    man he is"; and so they went forward toward where Sir Tristram sat, and the
+    dog Houdaine went with them. </p>
+  <p> Then Sir Tristram was aware that someone was nigh; and therewith he turned
+    his face and beheld the Lady Isoult for the first time since he had gone mad
+    in the forest; and the lady was looking at him, but knew him not. </p>
+  <p> Then of a sudden, because of his great love for Belle Isoult, the memory
+    of Sir Tristram came all back to him in the instant, and upon that instant
+    he knew who he was and all that had befallen him, and how he had been brought
+    there as a madman out of the forest. But though he knew her in that wise,
+    yet, as has been said, she knew not him. </p>
+  <p> Then Sir Tristram was all overwhelmed with shame that he should be thus
+    found by that dear lady; wherefore he turned away his face and bowed his head
+    so that she might not remember him, for he perceived that as yet she did not
+    know him who he was. </p>
+  <p> Now at that moment the dog, Houdaine, was aware of the savor of Sir Tristram;
+    wherefore he leaped away from the Lady Belle Isoult and ran to Sir Tristram
+    and smelt very eagerly of him. And with that he knew his master. </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Houdaine knoweth Sir Tristram.</div>
+  <p> Then the two ladies who looked beheld Houdaine fall down at the feet of
+    Sir Tristram and grovel there with joy. And they beheld that he licked Sir
+    Tristram's feet and his hands, and that he leaped upon Sir Tristram and licked
+    his neck and face, and at that they were greatly astonished. </p>
+  <p> Then of a sudden a thought came to dame Bragwaine, and she catched the Lady
+    Isoult by the arm and she said: "Lady, know you not who yonder madman is?"
+    But the Lady Belle Isoult said: "Nay, I know not who he is. Who is he, Bragwaine?"
+    And Bragwaine said: "Certes, that is Sir Tristram, and no one else in all
+    the world." </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Belle Isoult knows Sir Tristram.</div>
+  <p> Therewith, at those words, the scales suddenly fell from Lady Belle Isoult's
+    eyes and she knew him. Then, for a little space, she stood as though turned
+    into stone; then she emitted a great loud cry of joy and ran to Sir Tristram
+    where he sat, and flung herself down upon the ground at the feet of Sir Tristram
+    and embraced him about the knees. And she cried out in a voice of great passion:
+    "Tristram! Tristram! Is it thou? They told me thou wert dead, and lo! thou
+    art come to life again!" And with that she fell to weeping with such fury
+    of passion that it was as though the soul of her were struggling to escape
+    from her body. </p>
+  <p> Then Sir Tristram got to his feet in great haste and agitation and he said:
+    "Lady! Lady! This must not be--arise, and stay your passion or else it will
+    be our ruin. For behold, I am alone and unarmed in this castle, and there
+    are several herein who seek my life. So if it be discovered who I am, both
+    thou and I are lost." </p>
+  <p> Then, perceiving how that Belle Isoult was in a way distracted and out of
+    her mind with joy and grief and love, he turned him unto Bragwaine and said
+    to her: "Take thy lady hence and by and by I will find means whereby I may
+    come to speech with her in private. Meanwhile it is death both for her and
+    for me if she remain here to betray me unto the others of this castle." </p>
+  <p> So Bragwaine and Sir Tristram lifted up the Lady Belle Isoult, and Bragwaine
+    led her thence out of that place; for I believe that Belle Isoult knew not
+    whither she went but walked like one walking half in a swoon. </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Sir Andred knoweth Sir Tristram.</div>
+  <p> Now it chanced at that time that Sir Andred was in a balcony overlooking
+    that pleasance, and, hearing the sound of voices and the sound of a disturbance
+    that was suppressed, he looked out and beheld all that passed. Then he also
+    wist who was that madman whom Sir Launcelot had fetched to that place out
+    of the forest, and that he was Sir Tristram. </p>
+  <p> Therewith he was filled with a great rage and fury and was likewise overwhelmed
+    with great fear lest, if Sir Tristram should escape from that castle with
+    his life, he would reclaim those possessions that he, Sir Andred, had seized
+    upon. </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Sir Andres betrays Sir Tristram to King Mark.</div>
+  <p> So therewith he withdrew himself from that balcony very softly, into the
+    apartment behind. And he sat down in that apartment for a little while as
+    though not knowing rightly what to do. But after a little while he arose and
+    went to King Mark; and King Mark looked up and beheld him and said, "What
+    news do you bring, Messire?" Thereunto Sir Andred made reply: "Lord, know
+    you who that madman is whom Sir Launcelot hath fetched hither?" King Mark
+    said, "Nay, I know not who he is." But with that he fell to trembling throughout
+    his entire body, for he began to bethink him who that madman was. "Lord,"
+    said Sir Andred, "it is Sir Tristram, and me-seems Sir Launcelot was aware
+    who it was, and that he was plotting treason when he fetched him hither."
+  </p>
+  <p> At that King Mark smote his hands together and he cried in a terrible voice,
+    "I know it! I know it!" And then he said: "Blind! Blind! How was it that I
+    knew him not?" Then after a little he fell to laughing and he said to Sir
+    Andred: "Lo! God hath assuredly delivered that traitor, Sir Tristram, into
+    mine hands so that I may punish him for his treasons. For, behold! he is here
+    in our midst and he is altogether unarmed. Go, Messire, with all haste, gather
+    together such force as may be needful, and seize upon him and bind him so
+    that he may do no further harm to any man. Then let justice be executed upon
+    him so soon as it is possible to do so." And Sir Andred said: "Lord, it shall
+    be done according to your demands and upon the instant." </p>
+  <p> Therewith Sir Andred went forth from where the King was, and he armed himself
+    in complete armor, and he gathered together a number of knights and esquires
+    and he led them to that place where he knew Sir Tristram would be; and there
+    he found Sir Tristram sitting sunk in thought. And when Sir Tristram beheld
+    those armed men come in thus upon him, he arose to defend himself. But then
+    Sir Andred cried out in a loud voice: "Seize him ere he can strike and bind
+    him fast, for he is unarmed and may do you no harm!" </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">The castle folk seize Sir Tristram.</div>
+  <p> With that a dozen or more of those who were with Sir Andred flung themselves
+    upon Sir Tristram, shouting and roaring like wild beasts. And they bore him
+    to the earth by numbers, and after a while, by dint of great effort, they
+    held him and bound his hands together by the wrists. Then they lifted up Sir
+    Tristram and stood him upon his feet, and lo! his bosom heaved with his struggles,
+    and his eyes were all shot with blood and his lips afroth with the fury of
+    his fighting; and his clothes were torn in that struggle so that his body
+    was half naked. And they held him there, a knight in armor with a naked sword
+    standing upon his right hand and another armed knight with a naked sword standing
+    upon his left hand. </p>
+  <p> Then Sir Andred came and stood in front of Sir Tristram and taunted him,
+    saying: "Ha, Tristram, how is it with thee now? Lo! thou camest like a spy
+    into this place, and now thou art taken with all thy treason upon thee. So
+    thou shalt die no knightly death, but, in a little while, thou shalt be hanged
+    like a thief." </p>
+  <p> Then he came close to Sir Tristram, and he laughed and said: "Tristram where
+    is now the glory of thy strength that one time overcame all thine enemies?
+    Lo! thou art helpless to strike a single blow in defence of thine honor."
+    And therewith Sir Andred lifted his hand and smote Sir Tristram upon the face
+    with the palm thereof. </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram slays Sir Andred.</div>
+  <p> At that blow the rage of Sir Tristram so flamed up in him that his eyes
+    burned as with pure green fire. And in an instant, so quickly that no man
+    wist what he did, he turned with amazing suddenness upon that knight who stood
+    at his left hand, and he lifted up both hands that were bound, and he smote
+    that knight such a blow upon the face that the knight fell down upon the ground
+    and his sword fell out of his hand. Then Sir Tristram snatched the sword and,
+    turning with astonishing quickness, he smote the knight upon his right hand
+    such a buffet that he instantly fell down upon his knees and then rolled over
+    upon the ground in a swoon. Then Sir Tristram turned upon Sir Andred, and
+    lifting high the sword with both hands tied, he smote him so terrible a blow
+    that the blade cut through his epulier and half through his body as far as
+    the paps. At that great terrible blow the breath fled out of Sir Andred with
+    a deep groan, and he fell down upon the ground and immediately died. </p>
+  <p> Now all this had happened so suddenly that they who beheld it were altogether
+    amazed and stood staring as though bewitched by some spell. But when they
+    beheld Sir Tristram turn upon them and make at them with that streaming sword
+    lifted on high, the terror of his fury so seized upon them that they everywhere
+    broke from before him and fled, yelling, and with the fear of death clutching
+    them in the vitals. And Sir Tristram chased them out of that place and into
+    the courtyard of the castle, and some he smote down and others escaped; but
+    all who could do so scattered away before him like chaff before the wind.
+  </p>
+  <p> Then, when they were gone, Sir Tristram stood panting and glaring about
+    him like a lion at bay. Then he set the point of his sword upon the pavement
+    of the court and the pommel thereof he set against his breast, and he drew
+    the bonds that held his wrists across the edge of the sword so that they were
+    cut and he was free. </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram defends the chapel.</div>
+  <p> But Sir Tristram wist that in a little the whole castle would be aroused
+    against him, and that he would certainly be overwhelmed by dint of numbers,
+    wherefore he looked about him for some place of refuge; and he beheld that
+    the door of the chapel which opened upon the courtyard stood ajar. So he ran
+    into the chapel and shut to that door and another door and locked and bolted
+    them both, and set a heavy bar of wood across both of them so that for a while
+    he was safe. </p>
+  <p> But yet he was only safe for a little while, for about the time of early
+    nightfall, which came not long thereafter, a great party of several score
+    of King Mark's people came against the chapel where he was. And when they
+    found that the doors were locked and barred, they brought rams for to batter
+    in the chief door of the chapel. </p>
+  <p> Then Sir Tristram beheld how parlous was his case, and that he must in a
+    little while die if he did not immediately do something to save himself. So
+    with that he ran to a window of the chapel and opened it and looked out thence.
+    And lo! below him and far beneath was the sea, and the rocks of the shore
+    upon which the castle was built; and the sea and the rocks lay twelve fathoms
+    beneath him. </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram leaps into the sea.</div>
+  <a href="images/045.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="p24"align="right" src="images/045.gif" border="0" alt="Sir Tristram leaps into ye Sea" /></a>
+  <p> But Sir Tristram said, "Better death there than here;" and therewith finding
+    that the door was now falling in beneath the rams, he leaped out from the
+    window-ledge, and thence he dived down into the sea; and no one saw that terrible
+    leap that he made. So he sank down deep into the sea, but met no rocks, so
+    that he presently came up again safe and sound. Then, looking about him, he
+    perceived in the twilight a cave in the rocks, and thither he swam with the
+    intent to find shelter for a little. </p>
+  <p> Now when they who had come against him had broken into the chapel they all
+    ran in in one great crowd, for they expected to find Sir Tristram and to do
+    battle with him. But lo! Sir Tristram was not there, but only the empty walls.
+    Then at first they were greatly astonished, and knew not what to think. And
+    some who came cried out: "Is that man then a spirit that he can melt away
+    into thin air?" But after a little, one of them perceived where the window
+    of the chapel stood open, and therewith several of them ran thereunto and
+    looked out, and they wist that Sir Tristram had leaped out thence into the
+    sea. </p>
+  <p> Then they said to one another: "Either that knight is now dead, or else
+    he will perish when the tide rises and covers the rocks; so to-night we will
+    do no more with this business; but to-morrow we will go and find his body
+    where it lies among the rocks of the shore." So thereupon they shut the window
+    and went their ways. </p>
+  <p> Now Gouvernail was not at that time at Tintagel, nor did he return thereunto
+    until all this affair was over and done. But when he came there, there were
+    many voices to tell him what had befallen, and to all of them Gouvernail listened
+    without saying anything. </p>
+  <p> But afterward Gouvernail went and sought out a certain knight hight Sir
+    Santraille de Lushon, who, next to himself, was the most faithful friend to
+    Sir Tristram at that place. To him Gouvernail said: "Messire, I do not think
+    that Sir Tristram is dead, for he hath always been a most wonderful swimmer
+    and diver. But if he be alive, and we do not save him, he will assuredly perish
+    when the tide comes up and covers over those rocks amongst which he may now
+    be hidden." </p>
+  <p> So Gouvernail and Sir Santraille went to that chapel unknown to anyone,
+    and they went to that window whence Sir Tristram had leaped, and they opened
+    the window, and leaned out and called upon Sir Tristram in low voices: "Sir
+    Tristram, if thou art alive, arise and answer us, for we are friends!" </p>
+  <p> Then after a while Sir Tristram recognized Gouvernail's voice and answered
+    them: "I am alive; but save me, or I perish in a little while." Then Gouvernail
+    said: "Lord, are you hurt, or are you whole?" Sir Tristram replied, "I am
+    strong and well in body, but the tide rises fast." Gouvernail said, "Messire,
+    can you wait a little?" Sir Tristram said, "Ay; for a little, but not for
+    too long." </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Gouvernail and Sir Santraille rescue Sir Tristram.</div>
+  <p> Then Gouvernail and Sir Santraille withdrew from where they were and they
+    made all haste, and they got together a great number of sheets and napkins,
+    and tied these together and made a rope, and lowered the rope down to the
+    rocks where Sir Tristram was. Then Sir Tristram climbed up the rope of linen
+    and so reached the chapel in safety. And at that time it was nigh to midnight
+    and very dark. </p>
+  <p> But when Sir Tristram stood with them in the chapel, he gave them hardly
+    any greeting, but said at once: "Messires, how doth it fare with the Lady
+    Belle Isoult?" For he thought of her the first of all and above all things
+    else. </p>
+  <p> To this Sir Santraille made reply: "Sir, the lady hath been shut into a
+    tower, and the door thereof hath been locked upon her, and she is a close
+    prisoner." </p>
+  <p> Then Sir Tristram said: "How many knights are there in the place who are
+    my friends, and who will stand with me to break out hence?" To this Gouvernail
+    said: "Lord, there are twelve besides ourselves, and that makes fourteen in
+    all who are with thee in this quarrel unto life or death." </p>
+  <p> Sir Tristram said: "Provide me presently with arms and armor and bring those
+    twelve hither armed at all points. But first let them saddle horses for themselves
+    and for us, and for the Lady Belle Isoult and for her waiting-woman, Dame
+    Bragwaine. When this is done, we will depart from this place unto some other
+    place of refuge, and I do not think there will be any in the castle will dare
+    stop or stay us after we are armed." </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram arms himself.</div>
+  <p> So it was done as Sir Tristram commanded, and when all those were gathered
+    together, and their horses ready, Sir Tristram and several of the knights
+    of his party went openly to that tower where the Lady Belle Isoult was prisoner.
+    And they burst open the doors and went in with torches, and found Belle Isoult
+    and her attendant in the upper part of the castle. </p>
+  <p> But when Belle Isoult beheld the face of Sir Tristram, she said: "Is it
+    thou, my love; and art thou still alive, and art thou come tome?" Sir Tristram
+    said: "Yea, I am still alive nor will I die, God willing, until I have first
+    brought thee out of this wicked castle and into some place of safety. And
+    never again will I entrust thee unto King Mark's hands; for I have great fear
+    that if he have thee in his hands he will work vengeance upon thee so as to
+    strike at my heart through thee. So, dear love, I come to take thee away from
+    this place; and never again right or wrong, shalt thou be without the shelter
+    of my arm." </p>
+  <p> Then the Lady Belle Isoult smiled very wonderfully upon Sir Tristram so
+    that her face appeared to shine with a great illumination of love. And she
+    said: "Tristram, I will go with thee whithersoever thou wilt. Yea, I would
+    go with thee even to the grave, for I believe that I should be happy even
+    there, so that thou wert lying beside me." </p>
+  <p> Then Sir Tristram groaned in spirit and he said: "Isoult, what have I done,
+    that I should always bring unhappiness upon thee?" But the Lady Belle Isoult
+    spake very steadily, saying: "Never unhappiness, Tristram, but always happiness;
+    for I have thy love for aye, and thou hast mine in the same measure, and in
+    that is happiness, even in tears and sorrow, and never unhappiness." </p>
+  <p> With that Sir Tristram kissed Belle Isoult upon the forehead, and then he
+    lifted her up and carried her in his arms down the stairs of the tower and
+    sat her upon her horse. And Bragwaine followed after, and Gouvernail lifted
+    her up upon her horse. </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Sir Tristram taketh Belle Isoult away from Tintagel.</div>
+  <p> Now all they of that castle were amazed beyond measure to find all those
+    knights armed and prepared for battle so suddenly in their midst. And most
+    of all were they filled with terror to find Sir Tristram at the head of these
+    knights. Wherefore when Sir Tristram made demand that they should open the
+    portcullis of the castle and let fall the drawbridge, the porters thereof
+    dared not refuse him, but did as he said. </p>
+  <p> So Sir Tristram and his knights rode forth with the Lady Belle Isoult and
+    Bragwaine and no one stayed them. And they rode into the forest, betaking
+    their way toward a certain castle of Sir Tristram's, which they reached in
+    the clear dawning of the daytime. </p>
+  <p> And so Sir Tristram brought the Lady Belle Isoult away from Tintagel and
+    into safety. </p>
+  <div align="center"> <a href="images/tail.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/tail.gif" border="0" alt="Tail Piece" /></a>
+  </div>
+  <br />
+  <br />
+  <br />
+  <br />
+  <br />
+  <br />
+  <div class="chaphead" id="tr3c4"><a href="images/017.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/017.gif" alt="Chapter Header" border="0" /></a>
+    <br />
+    Chapter Fourth</div>
+  <br />
+  <div class="chapdes">How Sir Tristram and the Lady Belle Isoult returned to
+    Cornwall and how they ended their days together.</div>
+  <p> And now remaineth to be told the rest of these adventures of Sir Tristram
+    as briefly as may be. </p>
+  <p> For indeed I thought not, when I began this history, to tell you as much
+    concerning him as I have done. But as I have entered into this history I have
+    come so strongly to perceive how noble and true and loyal was the knighthood
+    of Sir Tristram, that I could not forbear telling you of many things that
+    I had not purposed to speak of. </p>
+  <p> Yet, as I have said before this, there are a great many adventures that
+    I have not spoken of in this book. For I have told only those things that
+    were necessary for to make you understand how it fared with him in his life.
+  </p>
+  <p> So now shall be told those last things that concerned him. </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot reproves King Mark.</div>
+  <p> Now two days after those things aforesaid had come to pass, Sir Launcelot
+    returned unto Tintagel from that quest which he had been upon, and so soon
+    as he came thither he made inquiry of King Mark concerning the welfare of
+    that madman of the forest whom he had left in the care of King Mark. But when
+    he heard that that madman was Sir Tristram, he was astonished beyond all measure;
+    but when he heard how Sir Tristram had been served by King Mark and by the
+    people of the castle under the lead of Sir Andred, he was filled with a great
+    and violent indignation. So he arose and stood before King Mark and said:
+    "Lord King, I have heard much ill said of thee and shameful things concerning
+    thy unknightliness in several courts of chivalry where I have been; and now
+    I know that those things were true; for I have heard from the lips of many
+    people here, how thou didst betray Sir Tristram into bringing the Lady Belle
+    Isoult unto thee; and I have heard from many how thou dost ever do ill and
+    wickedly by him, seeking to take from him both his honor and his life. And
+    yet Sir Tristram hath always been thy true and faithful knight, and hath served
+    thee in all ways thou hast demanded of him. I know that thou hast jealousy
+    for Sir Tristram in thy heart and that thou hast ever imputed wickedness and
+    sin unto him. Yet all the world knoweth that Sir Tristram is a true knight
+    and altogether innocent of any evil. For all the evil which thou hast imputed
+    to him hath no existence saving only in thine own evil heart. Now I give thee
+    and all thy people to know that had ill befallen Sir Tristram at your hands
+    I should have held you accountable therefor and should have punished you in
+    such a way that you would not soon have forgotten it. But of that there is
+    no need, for Sir Tristram himself hath punished you in full measure without
+    any aid from me. So now I will go away from this place and will never come
+    hither again; nor will I acknowledge you should I meet you in court or in
+    field." </p>
+  <p> So saying, Sir Launcelot turned and went away from that place very proudly
+    and haughtily, leaving them all abashed at his rebuke. </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Sir Launcelot findeth Sir Tristram and Belle Isoult in
+    the forest.</div>
+  <p> So that day Sir Launcelot went forward through the forest until he reached
+    that castle whereunto Sir Tristram had taken the Lady Belle Isoult, and there
+    he was received by Sir Tristram with all joy and honor. And Sir Launcelot
+    abided at that place for two days, with great pleasure to himself and to Sir
+    Tristram and to Belle Isoult. </p>
+  <p> At the end of that time Sir Launcelot said to Sir Tristram: "Messire, it
+    is not well that you and this dear lady should abide here so nigh to Tintagel.
+    For, certes, King Mark will some time work some grievous ill upon you. So
+    I beseech you to come with me unto my castle of Joyous Gard. There this lady
+    shall reign queen paramount and we shall be her very faithful servants to
+    do her pleasure in all ways. That castle is a very beautiful place, and there
+    she may dwell in peace and safety and tranquillity all the days of her life
+    if she chooses to do so." </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">They depart for Joyous Gard.</div>
+  <p> Now that saying of Sir Launcelot's seemed good to Sir Tristram and to Belle
+    Isoult; wherefore in three days all they and their court made ready to depart.
+    And they did depart from that castle in the forest unto Joyous Gard, where
+    they were received with great honor and rejoicing. </p>
+  <p> So the Lady Belle Isoult abided for three years at Joyous Gard, dwelling
+    there as queen paramount in all truth and innocence of life; and Sir Launcelot
+    and Sir Tristram were her champions and all their courts were her servants.
+    And during those three years there were many famous joustings held at Joyous
+    Gard, and several bel-adventures were performed both by Sir Launcelot and
+    Sir Tristram in her honor. </p>
+  <p> And indeed I believe that this was the happiest time of all the Lady Belle
+    Isoult's life, for she lived there in peace and love and tranquillity and
+    she suffered neither grief nor misfortune in all that time. </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">King Arthur comes to Joyous Gard.</div>
+  <p> Then one day there came King Arthur to Joyous Gard, and he was received
+    with such joy and celebration as that place had never before beheld. A great
+    feast was set in his honor, and after the feast King Arthur and Sir Tristram
+    and Belle Isoult withdrew to one side and sat together in converse. </p>
+  <p> Then after a while King Arthur said, "Lady, may I ask you a question?" And
+    at that Lady Belle Isoult lifted up her eyes and looked very strangely upon
+    the King, and after a while she said, "Ask thy question, Lord King, and I
+    will answer it if I can." "Lady," said King Arthur, "answer me this question:
+    is it better to dwell in honor with sadness or in dishonor with joy?" </p>
+  <p> Then Belle Isoult began to pant with great agitation, and by and by she
+    said, "Lord, why ask you me that?" King Arthur said: "Because, lady, I think
+    your heart hath sometimes asked you the selfsame question." Then the Lady
+    Belle Isoult clasped her hands together and cried out: "Yea, yea, my heart
+    hath often asked me that question, but I would not answer it." King Arthur
+    said: "Neither shalt thou answer me, for I am but a weak and erring man as
+    thou art a woman. But answer thou that question to God, dear lady, and then
+    thou shalt answer it in truth." </p>
+  <p> Therewith King Arthur fell to talking of other things with Sir Tristram,
+    but the lady could not join them in talk, but sat thenceforth in silence,
+    finding it hard to breathe because of the oppression of tears that lay upon
+    her bosom. </p>
+  <p> And Belle Isoult said no more concerning that question that King Arthur
+    had asked. But three days after that time she came to Sir Tristram and said:
+    "Dear lord, I have bethought me much of what King Arthur said, and this hath
+    come of it, that I must return again unto Cornwall." </p>
+  <p> Then Sir Tristram turned away his face so that she might not see it, and
+    he said, "Methought it would come to that." And then in a little he went away
+    from that place, leaving her standing there. </p>
+  <p> So it came about that peace was made betwixt Sir Tristram and King Mark,
+    and Belle Isoult and King Mark, and King Arthur was the peacemaker. </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Belle Isoult scorns King Mark.</div>
+  <p> Thereafter Sir Tristram and his court and the Lady Belle Isoult returned
+    unto Cornwall, and there they dwelt for some time in seeming peace. But in
+    that time the Lady Belle Isoult would never see King Mark nor exchange a word
+    with him, but lived entirely apart from him and in her own life in a part
+    of the castle; and at that King Mark was struck with such bitterness of despair
+    that he was like to a demon in torment. For he saw, as it were, a treasure
+    very near and yet afar, for he could not come unto it. And the more he suffered
+    that torment, the more he hated Sir Tristram, for in his suffering it appeared
+    to him that Sir Tristram was the cause of that suffering. </p>
+  <a href="images/046.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images"id="p25" align="left" src="images/046.gif" border="0" alt="King Mark broods mischief" /></a>
+  <p> So it came about that King Mark set spies to watch Sir Tristram, for in
+    his evil heart he suspected Sir Tristram of treason, and he hoped that his
+    spies might discover Sir Tristram in some act for which he might be punished.
+    So those spies watched Sir Tristram both night and day, but they could find
+    nothing that he did that was amiss. </p>
+  <p> Now one day Belle Isoult felt such a longing for Sir Tristram that she could
+    not refrain from sending a note to him beseeching him for to come to her so
+    that they might see one another again; and though Sir Tristram misdoubted
+    what he did, yet he went as she desired, even if it should mean the peril
+    of death to him. </p>
+  <p> Then came those spies to King Mark and told him that Sir Tristram was gone
+    to the bower of the Lady Belle Isoult, and that she had bidden him to come
+    thither. </p>
+  <p> At that the vitals of King Mark were twisted with such an agony of hatred
+    and despair that he bent him double and cried out, "Woe! Woe! I suffer torments!"
+  </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">King Mark spies upon Sir Tristram and Isoult.</div>
+  <p> Therewith he arose and went very quickly to that part of the castle where
+    the Lady Belle Isoult inhabited; and he went very softly up by a back way
+    and through a passage to where was a door with curtains hanging before it;
+    and when he had come there he parted the curtains and peeped within. And he
+    beheld that the Lady Belle Isoult and Sir Tristram sat at a game of chess,
+    and he beheld that they played not at the game but that they sat talking together
+    very sadly; and he beheld that Dame Bragwaine sat in a deep window to one
+    side--for Belle Isoult did not wish it to be said that she and Sir Tristram
+    sat alone. </p>
+  <p> All this King Mark saw and trembled with a torment of jealousy. So by and
+    by he left that place and went very quietly back into that passageway whence
+    he had come. And when he had come there he perceived a great glaive upon a
+    pole two ells long. This he took into his hand and returned unto that curtained
+    doorway again. </p>
+  <p> Then being in all ways prepared he parted the curtains silently and stepped
+    very quickly and without noise into the room. And the back of Sir Tristram
+    was toward him. </p>
+  <p> Then King Mark lifted the glaive on high and he struck; and Sir Tristram
+    sank without a sound. </p>
+  <p> Yea, I believe that that good knight knew naught of what had happened until
+    he awoke in Paradise to find himself in that realm of happiness and peace.
+  </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Of the passing of Tristram and Isoult.</div>
+  <p> Then Belle Isoult arose, overturning the table of chessmen as she did so,
+    but she made no outcry nor sound of any sort. But she stood looking down at
+    Sir Tristram for a little space, and then she kneeled down beside his body
+    and touched the face thereof as though to make sure that it was dead. Therewith,
+    as though being assured, she fell down with her body upon his; and King Mark
+    stood there looking down upon them. </p>
+  <p> All this had passed so quickly that Dame Bragwaine hardly knew what had
+    befallen; but now, upon an instant, she suddenly fell to shrieking so piercingly
+    that the whole castle rang with the sound thereof. </p>
+  <p> Now there were in the outer room several of the knights of the court of
+    Sir Tristram who had come thither with him as witnesses that he performed
+    no treason to the King. These, when Dame Bragwaine shrieked in that wise,
+    came running into the room and therewith beheld what had happened. Then all
+    they stood aghast at that sight. </p>
+  <div class="sidenote">Sir Alexander slays King Mark.</div>
+  <p> But there was in the court of Sir Tristram a very young, gallant knight
+    hight Sir Alexander. This knight came to where King Mark stood looking down
+    upon his handiwork as though entranced with what he had done. Then Sir Alexander
+    said to King Mark, "Is this thy work?" And King Mark raised his eyes very
+    heavily and looked at Sir Alexander and he answered, "Ay!" Then Sir Alexander
+    cried out, "Thou hast lived too long!" And therewith drawing his misericordia,
+    he catched King Mark by the left wrist and lifted his arm. And Sir Alexander
+    drave the dagger into the side of King Mark, and King Mark groaned and sank
+    down upon the ground, and in a little while died where he lay. </p>
+  <p> Then those knights went to where the Lady Belle Isoult lay and lifted her
+    up; but, lo! the soul had left her, and she was dead. For I believe that it
+    was not possible for one of those loving souls to leave its body with out
+    the other quitting its body also, so that they might meet together in Paradise.
+    For there never were two souls in all the history of chivalry that clave to
+    one another so tenderly as did the souls of Tristram and Isoult. </p>
+  <p> So endeth this story of Sir Tristram, with only this to say, that they two
+    were buried with the graves close together, and that it is said by many who
+    have written of them that there grew a rose-tree up from Sir Tristram's grave,
+    and down upon the grave of Belle Isoult; and it is said that this rose-tree
+    was a miracle, for that upon his grave there grew red roses, and upon her
+    grave there grew pure white roses. For her soul was white like to thrice-carded
+    wool, and so his soul was red with all that was of courage or knightly pride.
+  </p>
+  <p> And I pray that God may rest the souls of those two as I pray He may rest
+    the souls of all of us who must some time go the way that those two and so
+    many others have travelled before us. Amen. </p>
+  <div align="center"> <a href="images/047.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="t9" src="images/047.gif" border="0" alt="Tail Piece--The Madness of Sir Tristram" /></a>
+  </div>
+</div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div id="percival">
+  <h1>The Book of Sir Percival</h1>
+  <table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="10" cellpadding="0">
+    <tr>
+      <td> <a href="images/048.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="p26" src="images/048.gif" border="0" alt="Sir Percival of Gales" /></a>
+      </td>
+      <td>
+        <div class="foreward">
+          <p> <i>Here beginneth the story of Sir Percival of Gales, who was considered
+            to be one of the three great knights of the Round Table at that time.
+            For, if Sir Launcelot was the chiefest of all the knights who ever
+            came unto King Arthur's court, then it is hard to say whether Sir
+            Tristram of Lyonesse or Sir Percival of Gales was second unto him
+            in renown</i>. </p>
+          <p> <i>And I pray that it shall be given unto all of ye to live as brave
+            and honorable and pure a life as he did; and that you, upon your part,
+            may claim a like glory and credit in the world in which you dwell
+            by such noble behavior as he exhibited</i>. </p>
+        </div>
+      </td>
+    </tr>
+  </table>
+</div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div align="center"> <a href="images/049.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="h10" src="images/049.gif" alt="Prologue" border="0" /></a>
+</div>
+<p> The father of Sir Percival was that king hight Pellinore who fought so terrible
+  a battle with King Arthur as has been told in the Book of King Arthur. For it
+  was after that fight that King Arthur obtained his famous sword Excalibur, as
+  was therein told. </p>
+<p> Now, King Pellinore was one of those eleven kings who, in the beginning of
+  King Arthur's reign, were in rebellion against King Arthur as hath been told
+  in the book aforesaid, and he was one of the last of all those kings to yield
+  when he was overcome. So King Arthur drove him from town to town and from place
+  to place until, at last, he was driven away from the habitations of men and
+  into the forests like to a wild beast. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">King Pellinore fleeth to the wilderness.</div>
+<p> Now, King Pellinore took with him into the wilderness his wife and his four
+  sons; to wit, Lamorack and Aglaval and Dornar and Percival. Of these, Percival
+  was but three years of age; the others, excepting Dornar, being nigh to the
+  estate of manhood. Thereafter that noble family dwelt in the forest like hunted
+  animals, and that was a very great hardship for the lady who had been queen;
+  and, likewise, it was greatly to the peril of the young child, Percival. </p>
+<p> Now, Percival was extraordinarily beautiful and his mother loved him above
+  all her other sons. Wherefore she feared lest the young child should die of
+  those hardships in the wilderness. </p>
+<p> So one day King Pellinore said: "Dear love, I am now in no wise prepared for
+  to defend thee and this little one. Wherefore, for a while, I shall put ye away
+  from me so that ye may remain in secret hiding until such time as the child
+  shall have grown in years and stature to the estate of manhood and may so defend
+  himself. </p>
+<p> "Now of all my one-time possessions I have only two left to me. One of these
+  is a lonely castle in this forest (unto which I am now betaking my way), and
+  the other is a solitary tower at a great distance from this, and in a very desolate
+  part of the world where there are many mountains. Unto that place I shall send
+  ye, for it will not be likely that mine enemies will ever find ye there. </p>
+<p> "So my will is this: that if this child groweth in that lonely place to manhood,
+  and if he be weak in body or timid in spirit, thou shalt make of him a clerk
+  of holy orders. But if when he groweth, he shall prove to be strong and lusty
+  of frame and high of spirit, and shall desire to undertake deeds of knighthood,
+  thou then shalt not stay him from his desires, but shall let him go forth into
+  the world as he shall have a mind to do. </p>
+<p> "And if a time should come when he desireth to go thus into the world behold!
+  here is a ring set with a very precious ruby; let him bring that ring to me
+  or to any of our sons wheresoever he may find us, and by that ring we shall
+  know that he is my son and their brother, and we will receive him with great
+  gladness." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Percival's mother taketh him to the mountains.</div>
+<p> And King Pellinore's lady said, "It shall be done as thou dost ordain." So
+  it was that King Pellinore betook himself to that lonely castle where King Arthur
+  found him and fought with him; and Percival's mother betook herself to that
+  dwelling-place in the mountains of which King Pellinore had spoken--which was
+  a single tower that reached up into the sky, like unto a finger of stone. </p>
+<p> There she abided with Percival for sixteen years, and in all that time Percival
+  knew naught of the world nor of what sort it was, but grew altogether wild and
+  was entirely innocent like to a little child. </p>
+<p> In the mean time, during those years, it happened very ill to the house of
+  King Pellinore. For though King Arthur became reconciled to King Pellinore,
+  yet there were in King Arthur's court many who were bitter enemies to that good,
+  worthy knight. So it came about that first King Pellinore was slain by treachery,
+  and then Sir Aglaval and Sir Dornar were slain in the same way, so that Sir
+  Lamorack alone was left of all that noble family. </p>
+<p> (And it was said that Sir Gawaine and his brothers were implicated in those
+  murders--they being enemies unto King Pellinore--and great reproach hath always
+  clung to them for the treacherous, unknightly way in which those noble knights
+  of the house of Pellinore were slain.) </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Percival's mother grieveth for the death of her dear ones.</div>
+<p> Now the news of those several deaths was brought to that lonely tower of the
+  mountain wilderness and to Sir Percival's mother; and when she heard how her
+  husband and two of her sons were dead she gave great outcry of grief, and smote
+  her hands together and wept with great passion. And she cried out: "Mefeareth
+  it will be the time of Lamorack next to be slain. As for Percival; never shall
+  I be willing for him to go out into that cruel world of wicked murderers. For
+  if he should perish also, my heart would surely break." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">How Percival dwelt in the mountains.</div>
+<p> So she kept Percival always with her and in ignorance of all that concerned
+  the world of knighthood. And though Percival waxed great of body and was beautiful
+  and noble of countenance, yet he dwelt there among those mountains knowing no
+  more of the world that lay beyond that place in which he dwelt than would a
+  little innocent child. Nor did he ever see anyone from the outside world, saving
+  only an old man who was a deaf-mute. And this old man came and went betwixt
+  that tower where Percival and his mother dwelt and the outer world, and from
+  the world he would come back with clothing and provisions loaded upon an old
+  sumpter horse for Percival and his mother and their few attendants. Yet Percival
+  marvelled many times whence those things came, but no one told him and so he
+  lived in entire ignorance of the world. </p>
+<p> And Percival's mother would not let him touch any weapon saving only a small
+  Scot's spear which same is a sort of javelin. But with this Percival played
+  every day of his life until he grew so cunning in handling it that he could
+  pierce with it a bird upon the wing in the air. </p>
+<p> Now it chanced upon a time when Percival was nineteen years of age that he
+  stood upon a pinnacle of rock and looked down into a certain valley. And it
+  was very early in the spring-time, so that the valley appeared, as it were,
+  to be carpeted all with clear, thin green. There was a shining stream of water
+  that ran down through the midst of the valley, and it was a very fair and peaceful
+  place to behold. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Percival beholds a knight-rider.</div>
+<p> So Percival stood and gazed into that low-land, and lo! a knight rode up through
+  that valley, and the sun shone out from behind a cloud of rain and smote upon
+  his armor so that it appeared to be all ablaze as with pure light, and Percival
+  beheld that knight and wist not what it was he saw. So, after the knight had
+  gone away from the valley, he ran straightway to his mother, all filled with
+  a great wonder, and he said: "Mother! Mother! I have beheld a very wonderful
+  thing." She said, "What was it thou didst see?" Percival said: "I beheld somewhat
+  that was like a man, and he rode upon a horse, and he shone very brightly and
+  with exceeding splendor. Now, I prithee tell me what it was I saw?" </p>
+<p> Then Percival's mother knew very well what it was he had seen, and she was
+  greatly troubled at heart, for she wist that if Percival's knightly spirit should
+  be awakened he would no longer be content to dwell in those peaceful solitudes.
+  Wherefore she said to herself: "How is this? Is it to be that this one lamb
+  also shall be taken away from me and nothing left to me of all my flock?" Then
+  she said to Percival: "My son, that which thou didst behold was doubtless an
+  angel." And Percival said, "I would that I too were an angel!" And at that speech
+  the lady, his mother, sighed very deeply. </p>
+<p> Now it chanced upon the next day after that that Percival and his mother went
+  down into the forest that lay at the foot of the mountain whereon that tower
+  stood, and they had intent to gather such early flowers of the spring-time as
+  were then abloom. And whilst they were there, lo! there came five knights riding
+  through the forest, and, the leaves being thin like to a mist of green, Percival
+  perceived them a great way off. So he cried out in a loud voice: "Mother! Mother!
+  Behold! Yonder is a whole company of angels such as I saw yesterday! Now I will
+  go and give them greeting." </p>
+<p> But his mother said: "How now! How now! Wouldst thou make address unto angels!"
+  And Percival said: "Yea; for they appear to be both mild of face and gentle
+  of mien." So he went forward for to greet those knights. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Percival holds discourse with five knights.</div>
+<p> Now the foremost of that party of knights was Sir Ewaine, who was always both
+  gentle and courteous to everybody. Wherefore, when Sir Ewaine saw Percival nigh
+  at hand, he gave him greeting and said, "Fair youth, what is thy name?" Unto
+  this Percival made reply: "My name is Percival." Sir Ewaine said: "That is a
+  very good name, and thy face likewise is so extraordinarily comely that I take
+  thee to be of some very high lineage. Now tell me, I prithee, who is thy father?"
+  To this Percival said, "I cannot tell thee what is my lineage, for I do not
+  know," and at that Sir Ewaine marvelled a very great deal. Then, after a little
+  while, he said: "I prithee tell me, didst thou see a knight pass this way to-day
+  or yesterday?" And Percival said, "I know not what sort of a thing is a knight."
+  Sir Ewaine said, "A knight is such a sort of man as I am." </p>
+<p> Upon this Percival understood many things that he did not know before, and
+  he willed with all his soul to know more than those. Wherefore he said: "If
+  thou wilt answer several questions for me, I will gladly answer thine." Upon
+  this Sir Ewaine smiled very cheerfully (for he liked Percival exceedingly),
+  and he said: "Ask what thou wilt and I will answer thee in so far as I am able."
+</p>
+<p> So Percival said, "I prithee tell me what is this thing?" And he laid his
+  hand thereon. And Sir Ewaine said, "That is a saddle." And Percival said, "What
+  is this thing?" And Sir Ewaine said, "That is a sword." And Percival said, "What
+  is this thing?" And Sir Ewaine said, "That is a shield." And so Percival asked
+  him concerning all things that appertained to the accoutrements of a knight,
+  and Sir Ewaine answered all his questions. Then Percival said: "Now I will answer
+  thy question. I saw a knight ride past this way yesterday, and he rode up yonder
+  valley and to the westward." </p>
+<p> Upon this Sir Ewaine gave gramercy to Percival and saluted him, and so did
+  the other knights, and they rode their way. </p>
+<p> After they had gone Percival returned to his mother, and he beheld that she
+  sat exactly where he had left her, for she was in great travail of soul because
+  she perceived that Percival would not now stay with her very much longer. And
+  when Percival came to where she sat he said to her: "Mother, those were not
+  angels, but very good, excellent knights." And upon this the lady, his mother,
+  burst into a great passion of weeping, so that Percival stood before her all
+  abashed, not knowing why she wept. So by and by he said, "Mother, why dost thou
+  weep?" But she could not answer him for a while, and after a while she said,
+  "Let us return homeward." And so they walked in silence. </p>
+<p> Now when they had come to the tower where they dwelt, the lady turned of a
+  sudden unto Percival and she said to him, "Percival, what is in thy heart?"
+  And he said, "Mother, thou knowest very well what is there." She said, "Is it
+  that thou wouldst be a knight also?" And he said, "Thou sayst it." And upon
+  that she said, "Thou shalt have thy will; come with me." </p>
+<p> So Percival's mother led him to the stable and to where was that poor pack-horse
+  that brought provisions to that place, and she said: "This is a sorry horse
+  but I have no other for thee. Now let us make a saddle for him." So Percival
+  and his mother twisted sundry cloths and wisps of hay and made a sort of a saddle
+  thereof. And Percival's mother brought him a scrip with bread and cheese for
+  his refreshment and she hung it about his shoulder. And she brought him his
+  javelin which he took in his hand. And then she gave him the ring of King Pellinore
+  with that precious ruby jewel inset into it, and she said: "Take thou this,
+  Percival, and put it upon thy finger, for it is a royal ring. Now when thou
+  leavest me, go unto the court of King Arthur and make diligent inquiry for Sir
+  Lamorack of Gales. And when thou hast found him, show him that ring, and he
+  will see that thou art made a very worthy knight; for, Percival, Sir Lamorack
+  is thy brother. One time thou hadst a father alive, and thou hadst two other
+  brothers. But all they were slain by treachery of our enemies, and only thou
+  and Lamorack are left; so look to it that thou guard thyself when thou art in
+  the world and in the midst of those enemies; for if thou shouldst perish at
+  their hands, I believe my heart would break." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Percival's mother giveth him advice.</div>
+<p> Then she gave Percival advice concerning the duty of one who would make himself
+  worthy of knighthood, and that advice was as follows: "In thy journeying thou
+  art to observe these sundry things: When thou comest to a church or a shrine
+  say a pater-noster unto the glory of God; and if thou hearest a cry of anyone
+  in trouble, hasten to lend thine aid--especially if it be a woman or a child
+  who hath need of it; and if thou meet a lady or a damosel, salute her in seemly
+  fashion; and if thou have to do with a man, be both civil and courageous unto
+  him; and if thou art an-hungered or athirst and findest food and wine, eat and
+  drink enough to satisfy thee, but no more; and if thou findest a treasure or
+  a jewel of price and canst obtain those things without injustice unto another,
+  take that thing for thine own--but give that which thou hast with equal freedom
+  unto others. So, by obeying these precepts, thou shalt become worthy to be a
+  true knight and, haply, be also worthy of thy father, who was a true knight
+  before thee." </p>
+<p> And Percival said, "All these things will I remember and observe to do." </p>
+<p> And Percival's mother said, "But thou wilt not forget me, Percival?" </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Percival departs from the mountain.</div>
+<p> And he said: "Nay, mother; but when I have got me power and fame and wealth,
+  then will I straightway return thitherward and take thee away from this place,
+  and thou shalt be like to a Queen for all the glory that I shall bestow upon
+  thee." Upon this the lady, his mother, both laughed and wept; and Percival stooped
+  and kissed her upon the lips. Then he turned and left her, and he rode away
+  down the mountain and into the forest, and she stood and gazed after him as
+  long as she could see him. And she was very lonely after he had gone. </p>
+<p> So I have told you how it came that Percival went out into the world for to
+  become a famous knight. </p>
+<div align="center"> <a href="images/tail.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/tail.gif" border="0" alt="Tail Piece" /></a>
+</div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div class="chaphead" id="per1"><a href="images/019.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/019.gif" alt="Chapter Header" border="0" /></a>
+  <br />
+  Chapter First</div>
+<br />
+<div class="chapdes">How Percival departed into the world and how he found a fair
+  damsel in a pavilion; likewise how he came before Queen Guinevere and how he
+  undertook his first adventure</div>
+.
+<div class="sidenote">Percival maketh himself armor of willow twigs.</div>
+<p> Now after Percival had ridden upon his way for a very long time, he came at
+  last out of that part of the forest and unto a certain valley where were many
+  osiers growing along beside a stream of water. So he gathered branches of the
+  willow-trees and peeled them and wove them very cunningly into the likeness
+  of armor such as he had seen those knights wear who had come into his forest.
+  And when he had armed himself with wattled osiers he said unto himself, "Now
+  am I accoutred as well as they." Whereupon he rode upon his way with an heart
+  enlarged with joy. </p>
+<p> By and by he came out of the forest altogether and unto a considerable village
+  where were many houses thatched with straw. And Percival said to himself: "Ha!
+  how great is the world; I knew not that there were so many people in the world."
+</p>
+<div class="sidenote">How Percival rode in the world.</div>
+<p> But when the folk of that place beheld what sort of a saddle was upon the
+  back of the pack-horse; and when they beheld what sort of armor it was that
+  Percival wore--all woven of osier twigs; and when they beheld how he was armed
+  with a javelin and with no other weapon, they mocked and laughed at him and
+  jeered him. But Percival understood not their mockery, whereupon he said: "Lo!
+  how pleasant and how cheerful is the world. I knew not it was so merry a place."
+  So he laughed and nodded and gave them greeting who mocked him in that manner.
+  And some of them said, "That is a madman." And others said, "Nay, he is a silly
+  fool." And when Percival heard these he said to himself: "I wonder whether there
+  are other sorts of knights that I have not yet heard tell of?" </p>
+<p> So he rode upon his way very happy, and whenever he met travellers, they would
+  laugh at him; but he would laugh louder than they and give them greeting because
+  of pure pleasure that the great world was so merry and kind. </p>
+<p> Now in the declining of the afternoon, he came to a certain pleasant glade,
+  and there he beheld a very noble and stately pavilion in among the trees, And
+  that pavilion was all of yellow satin so that it shone like to gold in the light
+  of the declining sun. </p>
+<p> Then Percival said to himself: "Verily, this must be one of those churches
+  concerning which my mother spake to me." So he descended from his horse and
+  went to that pavilion and knelt down and said a pater-noster. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Percival enters the golden pavilion.</div>
+<p> And when he had ended that prayer, he arose and went into the pavilion, and
+  lo! he beheld there a wonderfully beautiful young damsel of sixteen years of
+  age who sat in the pavilion upon a carved bench and upon a cushion of cloth
+  of gold, and who bent over a frame of embroidery, which she was busy weaving
+  in threads of silver and gold. And the hair of that damosel was as black as
+  ebony and her cheeks were like rose leaves for redness, and she wore a fillet
+  of gold around her head, and she was clad in raiment of sky blue silk. And near
+  by was a table spread with meats of divers sorts and likewise with several wines,
+  both white and red. And all the goblets were of silver and all the pattens were
+  of gold, and the table was spread with a napkin embroidered with threads of
+  gold. </p>
+<a href="images/050.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="p27" align="left" src="images/050.gif" border="0" alt="The Lady Yvette the Fair" /></a>
+<p> Now you are to know that the young lady who sat there was the Lady Yvette
+  the Fair, the daughter of King Pecheur. </p>
+<p> When Percival came to that pavilion the Lady Yvette looked up and beheld him
+  with great astonishment, and she said to herself: "That must either be a madman
+  or a foolish jester who comes hither clad all in armor of wattled willow twigs."
+  So she said to him, "Sirrah, what dost thou here?" He said, "Lady, is this a
+  church?" Upon that she was angered thinking that he had intended to make a jest
+  and she said: "Begone, fool, for if my father, who is King Pecheur, cometh and
+  findeth thee here, he will punish thee for this jest." But Percival replied,
+  "Nay; I think he will not, lady." </p>
+<p> Then the damosel looked at Percival more narrowly and she beheld how noble
+  and beautiful was his countenance and she said to herself: "This is no fool
+  nor a jester, but who he is or what he is I know not." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Percival breaks bread in the golden pavilion.</div>
+<p> So she said to Percival, "Whence comest thou?" and he said, "From the mountains
+  and the wilderness." Then he said: "Lady, when I left my mother she told me
+  that whenever I saw good food and drink and was an-hungered, I was to take what
+  I needed. Now I will do so in this case." Whereupon he sat him down to that
+  table and fell to with great appetite. </p>
+<p> Then when that damosel beheld what he did she laughed in great measure and
+  clapped her hands together in sport. And she said: "If my father and brothers
+  should return and find thee at this, they would assuredly punish thee very sorely,
+  and thou couldst not make thyself right with them." Percival said, "Why would
+  they do that, lady?" And she said: "Because that is their food and drink, and
+  because my father is a king and my brethren are his sons." Then Percival said,
+  "Certes, they would be uncourteous to begrudge food to a hungry man"; and thereat
+  the damsel laughed again. </p>
+<p> Now when Percival had eaten and drunk his fill, he arose from where he sat.
+  And he beheld that the damsel wore a very beautiful ring of carved gold set
+  with a pearl of great price. So he said to her: "Lady, my mother told me that
+  if I beheld a jewel or treasure and desired it for my own, I was to take it
+  if I could do so without offence to anyone. Now I prithee give me that ring
+  upon thy finger, for I desire it a very great deal." At this the maiden regarded
+  Percival very strangely, and she beheld that he was comely beyond any man whom
+  she had ever seen and that his countenance was very noble and exalted and yet
+  exceedingly mild and gentle. So she said to him, speaking very gently, "Why
+  should I give thee my ring?" Whereunto he made reply: "Because thou art the
+  most beautiful lady whom mine eyes ever beheld and I find that I love thee more
+  than I had thought possible to love anyone." </p>
+<p> At that the damosel smiled upon him and said, "What is thy name?" And he said,
+  "It is Percival." She said, "That is a good name; who is thy father?" Whereunto
+  he said: "That I cannot tell thee for my mother hath bidden me tell his name
+  to no one yet whiles." She said, "I think he must be some very noble and worthy
+  knight," and Percival said, "He is all that, for he too was a king." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">The damsel giveth Percival her ring.</div>
+<p> Then the damsel said, "Thou mayst have my ring," and she gave it to him. And
+  when Percival had placed it upon his finger he said: "My mother also told me
+  that I should give freely of what is mine own, wherefore I do give thee this
+  ring of mine in exchange for thine, and I do beseech thee to wear it until I
+  have proved myself worthy of thy kindness. For I hope to win a very famous knighthood
+  and great praise and renown, all of which, if I so accomplish my desires, shall
+  be to thy great glory. I would fain come to thee another time in that wise instead
+  of as I am at this present." </p>
+<p> At that the damsel said: "I know not what thou art or whence thou comest who
+  should present thyself in such an extraordinary guise as thou art pleased to
+  do, but, certes, thou must be of some very noble strain. Wherefore I do accept
+  thee for my knight, and I believe that I shall some time have great glory through
+  thee." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Percival salutes the damsel of the golden pavilion.</div>
+<p> Then Percival said: "Lady, my mother said to me that if I met a damosel I
+  was to salute her with all civility. Now have I thy leave to salute thee?" And
+  she said, "Thou hast my leave." So Percival took her by the hand, and kissed
+  her upon the lips (for that was the only manner in which he knew how to salute
+  a woman) and, lo! her face grew all red like to fire. Thereupon Percival quitted
+  that pavilion and mounted his horse and rode away. And it seemed to him that
+  the world was assuredly a very beautiful and wonderful place for to live in.
+</p>
+<p> Yet he knew not what the world was really like nor of what a sort it was nor
+  how passing wide, else had he not been so certainly assured that he would win
+  him credit therein, or that he could so easily find that young damsel again
+  after he had thus parted from her. </p>
+<p> That night Percival came to a part of the forest where were many huts of folk
+  who made their living by gathering fagots. These people gave him harborage and
+  shelter for the night, for they thought that he was some harmless madman who
+  had wandered afar. And they told him many things he had never known before that
+  time, so that it appeared to him that the world was still more wonderful than
+  he had thought it to be at first. </p>
+<p> So he abided there for the night, and when the next morning had come he arose
+  and bathed himself and went his way; and, as he rode upon his poor starved horse,
+  he brake his fast with the bread and cheese that his mother had put into his
+  wallet, and he was very glad at heart and rejoiced exceedingly in the wonderfulness
+  and the beauty of the world in which he found himself to be. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">How Percival travelled in the forest.</div>
+<p> So Percival journeyed on into that forest, and he took such great delight
+  in the beauty of the world in which he travelled that he was at times like to
+  shed tears of pure happiness because of the joy he felt in being alive. For
+  that forest path he travelled led beneath the trees of the woodland; and the
+  trees at that time were in their early tender leaf, so that they appeared to
+  shed showers of golden light everywhere down upon the earth. And the birds of
+  the woodland sang in every bush and thicket; and, anon, the wood pigeon cooed
+  so softly that the heart of Percival yearned with great passion for he knew
+  not what. </p>
+<p> Thus he rode, somewhiles all in a maze of green, and somewhiles out thence
+  into an open glade where the light was wide and bright; and other whiles he
+  came to some forest stream where was a shallow pool of golden gravel, and where
+  the water was so thin and clear that you might not tell where it ended and the
+  pure air began. And therethrough he would drive his horse, splashing with great
+  noise, whilst the little silvery fish would dart away upon all sides, hither
+  and thither, like sparks of light before his coming. </p>
+<p> So, because of the beauty of this forest land in its spring-time verdure and
+  pleasantness, the heart of Percival was uplifted with so much joy and delight
+  that he was like to weep for pure pleasure as aforesaid. </p>
+<p> Now it chanced at that time that King Arthur and several of his court had
+  come into that forest ahawking; but, the day being warm, the Queen had grown
+  weary of the sport, so she had commanded her attendants to set up a pavilion
+  for her whilst the King continued his hawking. And the pavilion was pitched
+  in an open glade of the forest whereunto Percival came riding. </p>
+<p> Then Percival perceived that pavilion set up among the trees, and likewise
+  he saw that the pavilion was of rose colored silk. Also he perceived that not
+  far from him was a young page very gayly and richly clad. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Percival bespeaketh the Lady Guinevere's page.</div>
+<p> Now when the page beheld Percival and what a singular appearance he presented,
+  he laughed beyond all measure, and Percival, not knowing that he laughed in
+  mockery, laughed also and gave him a very cheerful greeting in return. Then
+  Percival said to the page: "I prithee tell me, fair youth, whose is that pavilion
+  yonder?" And the page said: "It belongeth to Queen Guinevere; for King Arthur
+  is coming hither into the forest with his court." </p>
+<p> At this Percival was very glad, for he deemed that he should now find Sir
+  Lamorack. So he said: "I pray thee tell me, is Sir Lamorack of Gales with the
+  court of the King, for I come hither seeking that good worthy knight?" </p>
+<p> Then the page laughed a very great deal, and said: "Who art thou to seek Sir
+  Lamorack? Art thou then a jester?" And Percival said, "What sort of a thing
+  is a jester?" And the page said, "Certes, thou art a silly fool." And Percival
+  said, "What is a fool?" </p>
+<p> Upon this the page fell alaughing as though he would never stint his mirth
+  so that Percival began to wax angry for he said to himself: "These people laugh
+  too much and their mirth maketh me weary." So, without more ado, he descended
+  from his horse with intent to enter the Queen's pavilion and to make inquiry
+  there for Sir Lamorack. </p>
+<p> Now when that page saw what Percival had a mind to do, he thrust in to prevent
+  him, saying, "Thou shalt not go in!" Upon that Percival said, "Ha! shall I not
+  so?" And thereupon he smote the page such a buffet that the youth fell down
+  without any motion, as though he had gone dead. </p>
+<p> Then Percival straightway entered the Queen's pavilion. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Percival beholdeth Queen Guinevere.</div>
+<p> And the first thing he saw was a very beautiful lady surrounded by a court
+  of ladies. And the Queen was eating a mid-day repast whilst a page waited upon
+  her for to serve her, bearing for her refreshment pure wine in a cup of entire
+  gold. And he saw that a noble lord (and the lord was Sir Kay the Seneschal),
+  stood in the midst of that beautiful rosy pavilion directing the Queen's repast;
+  for Sir Kay of all the court had been left in charge of the Queen and her ladies.
+</p>
+<p> Now when Percival entered the tent Sir Kay looked up, and when he perceived
+  what sort of a figure was there, he frowned with great displeasure. "Ha!" he
+  said, "what mad fool is this who cometh hitherward?" </p>
+<p> Unto him Percival made reply: "Thou tall man, I prithee tell me, which of
+  these ladies present here is the Queen?" Sir Kay said, "What wouldst thou have
+  with the Queen?" To this Percival said: "I have come hither for to lay my case
+  before King Arthur, and my case is this: I would fain obtain knighthood, and
+  meseems that King Arthur may best help me thereunto." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Kay chides Percival.</div>
+<p> When the Queen heard the words of Percival she laughed with great merriment.
+  But Sir Kay was still very wroth, and he said: "Sirrah, thou certainly art some
+  silly fool who hath come hither dressed all in armor of willow twigs and without
+  arms or equipment of any sort save only a little Scots spear. Now this is the
+  Queen's court and thou art not fit to be here." </p>
+<p> "Ha," said Percival, "it seems to me that thou art very foolish--thou tall
+  man--to judge of me by my dress and equipment. For, even though I wear such
+  poor apparel as this, yet I may easily be thy superior both in birth and station."
+</p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Boindegardus enters the Queen's pavilion.</div>
+<p> Then Sir Kay was exceedingly wroth and would have made a very bitter answer
+  to Percival, but at that moment something of another sort befell. For, even
+  as Percival ceased speaking, there suddenly entered the pavilion a certain very
+  large and savage knight of an exceedingly terrible appearance; and his countenance
+  was very furious with anger. And this knight was one Sir Boindegardus le Savage,
+  who was held in terror by all that part of King Arthur's realm. For Sir Boindegardus
+  was surnamed the Savage because he dwelt like a wild man in the forest in a
+  lonely dismal castle of the woodland; and because that from this castle he would
+  issue forth at times to rob and pillage the wayfarers who passed by along the
+  forest byways. Many knights had gone against Sir Boindegardus, with intent either
+  to slay him or else to make him prisoner; but some of these knights he had overcome,
+  and from others he had escaped, so that he was as yet free to work his evil
+  will as he chose. </p>
+<p> So now this savage knight entered that pavilion with his helmet upon his hip
+  and his shield upon his shoulder, and all those ladies who were there were terrified
+  at his coming, for they wist that he came in anger with intent of mischief.
+</p>
+<p> As for Sir Kay (he being clad only in a silken tunic of green color and with
+  scarlet hosen and velvet shoes, fit for the court of a lady) he was afraid,
+  and he wist not how to bear himself in the presence of Sir Boindegardus. Then
+  Sir Boindegardus said, "Where is King Arthur?" And Sir Kay made no reply because
+  of fear. Then one of the Queen's damsels said, "He is hawking out beyond here
+  in the outskirts of the forest." Then Sir Boindegardus said: "I am sorry for
+  that, for I had thought to find him here at this time and to show challenge
+  to him and his entire court, for I fear no one of them. But, as King Arthur
+  is not here, I may, at least, affront his Queen." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Boindegardus affronts the Queen.</div>
+<p> With that he smote the elbow of the page who held the goblet for the Queen,
+  and the wine was splashed all in the Queen's face and over her stomacher. </p>
+<p> Thereupon the Queen shrieked with terror, and one of her maidens ran to her
+  aid and others came with napkins and wiped her face and her apparel and gave
+  her words of cheer. </p>
+<p> Then Sir Kay found courage to say: "Ha! thou art a churlish knight to so affront
+  a lady." </p>
+<p> With that Sir Boindegardus turned very fiercely upon him and said: "And thou
+  likest not my behavior, thou mayst follow me hence into a meadow a little distance
+  from this to the eastward where thou mayst avenge that affront upon my person
+  if thou art minded to do so." </p>
+<p> Then Sir Kay knew not what to reply for he wist that Sir Boindegardus was
+  a very strong and terrible knight. Wherefore he said, "Thou seest that I am
+  altogether without arms or armor." Upon that Sir Boindegardus laughed in great
+  scorn, and therewith seized the golden goblet from the hands of the page and
+  went out from the pavilion, and mounting his horse rode away bearing that precious
+  chalice with him. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Percival berates Sir Kay.</div>
+<p> Then the Queen fell aweeping very sorely from fright and shame, and when young
+  Percival beheld her tears, he could not abide the sight thereof. So he cried
+  out aloud against Sir Kay, saying: "Thou tall man! that was very ill done of
+  thee; for, certes, with or without armor thou shouldst have taken the quarrel
+  of this lady upon thee. For my mother told me I should take upon me the defence
+  of all such as needed defence, but she did not say that I was to wait for arms
+  or armor to aid me to do what was right. Now, therefore, though I know little
+  of arms or of knighthood, I will take this quarrel upon myself and will do what
+  I may to avenge this lady's affront, if I have her leave to do so." </p>
+<p> And Queen Guinevere said: "Thou hast my leave, since Sir Kay does not choose
+  to assume my quarrel." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">The damsel praises Percival.</div>
+<p> Now there was a certain very beautiful young damsel of the court of the Queen
+  hight Yelande, surnamed the "Dumb Maiden," because she would hold no commerce
+  with any knight of the court. For in all the year she had been at the court
+  of the King, she had spoken no word to any man, nor had she smiled upon any.
+  This damsel perceiving how comely and noble was the countenance of Percival,
+  came to him and took him by the hand and smiled upon him very kindly. And she
+  said to him: "Fair youth, thou hast a large and noble heart, and I feel very
+  well assured that thou art of a sort altogether different from what thine appearance
+  would lead one to suppose. Now I do affirm that if thou art able to carry this
+  adventure through with thy life, thou wilt some time become one of the greatest
+  knights in all of the world. For never did I hear tell of one who, without arm
+  or armor, would take up a quarrel with a well-approved knight clad in full array.
+  But indeed thy heart is as brave as thy face is comely, and I believe that thou
+  art as noble as thy speech and manner is gentle." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Kay strikes the damsel.</div>
+<p> Then Sir Kay was very angry with that damsel and he said: "Truly, thou art
+  ill taught to remain for all this year in the court of King Arthur amid the
+  perfect flower of chivalry and yet not to have given to one of those noble and
+  honorable knights a single word or a smile such as thou hast bestowed upon this
+  boor." So saying, he lifted his hand and smote that damsel a box on the ear
+  so that she screamed out aloud with pain and terror. </p>
+<p> Upon this Percival came very close to Sir Kay and he said: "Thou discourteous
+  tall man; now I tell thee, except that there are so many ladies here present,
+  and one of these a Queen, I would have to do with thee in such a manner as I
+  do not believe would be at all to thy liking. Now, first of all I shall follow
+  yonder uncivil knight and endeavor to avenge this noble Queen for the affront
+  he hath put upon her, and when I have done with him, then will I hope for the
+  time to come in which I shall have to do with thee for laying hands upon this
+  beautiful young lady who was so kind to me just now. For, in the fulness of
+  time, I will repay the foul blow thou gavest her, and that twenty-fold." </p>
+<p> Thereupon Percival straightway went out from that pavilion and mounted upon
+  his sorry horse and rode away in the direction that Sir Boindegardus had taken
+  with the golden goblet. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Percival follows Sir Boindegardus.</div>
+<p> Now after a long time, he came to another level meadow of grass, and there
+  he beheld Sir Boindegardus riding before him in great state with the golden
+  goblet hanging to the horn of his saddle. And Sir Boindegardus wore his helmet
+  and carried his spear in his right hand and his shield upon his other arm, and
+  he was in all ways prepared for an encounter at arms. And when he perceived
+  Percival come riding out of the forest in pursuit of him, he drew rein and turned.
+  And when Percival had come nigh enough Sir Boindegardus said, "Whence comest
+  thou, fool?" Percival replied, "I come from Queen Guinevere, her pavilion."
+  Then Sir Boindegardus said, "Does that knight who was there follow me hitherward?"
+  Unto which Percival made reply: "Nay, but I have followed thee with intent to
+  punish thee for the affront which thou didst put upon Queen Guinevere." </p>
+<p> Then Sir Boindegardus was very wroth and he said: "Thou fool; I have a very
+  good intention for to slay thee." Therewith he raised his spear and smote Percival
+  with it upon the back of the neck so terrible a blow that he was flung violently
+  down from off his horse. Upon this Percival was so angry that the sky all became
+  like scarlet before his eyes. Wherefore, when he had recovered from the blow
+  he ran unto Sir Boindegardus and catched the spear in his hands and wrestled
+  with such terrible strength that he plucked it away from Sir Boindegardus. And
+  having thus made himself master of that spear, he brake it across his knee and
+  flung it away. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Percival slays Sir Boindegardus.</div>
+<p> Then Sir Boindegardus was in furious rage, wherefore he drew his bright, shining
+  sword with intent to slay Percival. But when Percival saw what he would be at,
+  he catched up his javelin and, running to a little distance, he turned and threw
+  it at Sir Boindegardus with so cunning an aim that the point of the javelin
+  entered the ocularium of the helmet of Sir Boindegardus and pierced through
+  the eye and the brain and came out of the back of the head. Then Sir Boindegardus
+  pitched down from off his horse all into a heap upon the ground, and Percival
+  ran to him and stooped over him and perceived that he was dead. Then Percival
+  said: "Well, it would seem that I have put an end to a terribly discourteous
+  knight to ladies." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">King Arthur sends Sir Launcelot and Sir Lamorack in quest
+  of Percival.</div>
+<p> Now a little after Percival had quitted the pavilion of Queen Guinevere, King
+  Arthur and eleven noble knights of the court returned thither from hawking,
+  and amongst those knights was Sir Launcelot of the Lake and Sir Lamorack of
+  Gales. Then those who were of the Queen's court told King Arthur what had befallen,
+  and thereat the King felt great displeasure toward Sir Kay. And he said: "Kay,
+  not only hast thou been very discourteous in not assuming this quarrel of the
+  Queen's, but I believe that thou, a well-approved knight, hast in thy fear of
+  Sir Boindegardus been the cause of sending this youth upon an adventure in which
+  he will be subject to such great danger that it may very well be that he shall
+  hardly escape with his life. Now I will that two of you knights shall follow
+  after that youth for to rescue him if it be not too late; and those two shall
+  be Sir Launcelot of the Lake and Sir Lamorack of Gales. So make all haste, Messires,
+  lest some misfortune shall befall this brave, innocent madman." </p>
+<p> Thereupon those two knights mounted straightway upon their horses and rode
+  away in that direction whither Percival had gone. </p>
+<div align="center"> <a href="images/tail.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/tail.gif" border="0" alt="Tail Piece" /></a>
+</div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div class="chaphead" id="per2"><a href="images/015.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/015.gif" alt="Chapter Header" border="0" /></a>
+  <br />
+  Chapter Second</div>
+<br />
+<div class="chapdes">How Sir Percival was made knight by King Arthur; how he rode
+  forth with Sir Lamorack and how he left Sir Lamorack in quest of adventure upon
+  his own account; likewise how a great knight taught him craft in arms</div>
+.
+<p> So after a considerable time they came to that meadow-land where Percival
+  had found Sir Boindegardus. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">How the two knights find Percival in the meadow.</div>
+<p> But when they came to that place they perceived a very strange sight. For
+  they beheld one clad all in armor of wattled willow-twigs and that one dragged
+  the body of an armed knight hither and thither upon the ground. So they two
+  rode up to where that affair was toward, and when they had come nigh enough,
+  Sir Launcelot said: "Ha, fair youth, thou art doing a very strange thing. What
+  art thou about?" </p>
+<p> To him Percival said: "Sir, I would get those plates of armor off this knight,
+  and I know not how to do it!" </p>
+<p> Then Sir Launcelot laughed, and he said: "Let be for a little while, and I
+  will show thee how to get the plates of armor off." And he said: "How came this
+  knight by his death." </p>
+<p> Percival said: "Sir, this knight hath greatly insulted Queen Guinevere (that
+  beautiful lady), and when I followed him thither with intent to take her quarrel
+  upon me, he struck me with his spear. And when I took his spear away from him,
+  and brake it across my knee, he drew his sword and would have slain me, only
+  that I slew him instead." </p>
+<p> Then Sir Launcelot was filled with amazement, and he said: "Is not that knight
+  Sir Boindegardus?" And Percival said: "Ay." Then Sir Launcelot said: "Fair youth,
+  know that thou hast slain one of the strongest and most terrible knights in
+  all the world. In this thou hast done a great service unto King Arthur, so if
+  thou wilt come with us to the court of King Arthur, he will doubtless reward
+  thee very bountifully for what thou hast done." </p>
+<p> Then Percival looked up into the faces of Sir Launcelot and Sir Lamorack and
+  he perceived that they were very noble. So he smiled upon them and said: "Messires,
+  I pray you tell me who you are and what is your degree." Then Sir Launcelot
+  smiled in return and said: "I am called Sir Launcelot of the Lake, and this,
+  my companion, is called Sir Lamorack of Gales." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Percival knoweth Sir Lamorack.</div>
+<p> Then Percival wist that he stood in the presence of his own brother, and he
+  looked into the countenance of Sir Lamorack and marvelled how noble and exalted
+  it was. And he felt a great passion of love for Sir Lamorack, and a great joy
+  in that love. But he did not tell Sir Lamorack who he was, for he had learned
+  several things since he had come out into the world, and one was that he must
+  not be too hasty in such things. So he said to himself: "I will not as yet tell
+  my brother who I am, lest he shall be ashamed of me. But first I shall win me
+  such credit that he shall not be ashamed of me, and then I will acknowledge
+  to him who I am." </p>
+<p> Then Sir Launcelot said: "I prithee, fair youth, tell me what is thy name
+  since I have told thee ours, for I find that I have great love for thee so that
+  I would fain know who thou art." </p>
+<p> Then Percival said: "My name is Percival." </p>
+<p> At that Sir Lamorack cried out: "I knew one whose name was Percival, and he
+  was mine own brother. And if he be alive he must now be just such a youth as
+  thou art." </p>
+<p> Then Percival's heart yearned toward Sir Lamorack, so that he looked up and
+  smiled with great love into his face; yet he would not acknowledge to Sir Lamorack
+  who he was, but held his peace for that while. </p>
+<p> Then Sir Launcelot said: "Now, fair youth, we will show you how to take the
+  armor off of this dead knight, and after we have done that, we shall take you
+  back to King Arthur, so that he may reward you for what you have done in the
+  way that he may deem best." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">The two knights arm Percival.</div>
+<p> So with that Sir Launcelot and Sir Lamorack dismounted from their horses,
+  and they went to that dead knight and unlaced his armor and removed the armor
+  from his body. And when they had done that they aided Percival to remove the
+  armor of wattled osier twigs and they cased him in the armor of Sir Boindegardus;
+  and thereafter they all three rode back to that pavilion where the King and
+  Queen were holding court. </p>
+<p> But when King Arthur heard that Sir Boindegardus was dead he was filled with
+  great joy; and when he heard how it was that Percival had slain him, he was
+  amazed beyond measure; and he said to Percival: "Surely God is with thee, fair
+  youth, to help thee to perform such a worthy feat of arms as this that thou
+  hast done, for no knight yet hath been able to perform that service." Then he
+  said: "Tell me what it is that thou hast most desire to have, and if it is in
+  my power to give it to thee thou shalt have it." </p>
+<p> Then Percival kneeled down before King Arthur, and he said: "Lord, that which
+  I most desire of all things else is to be made knight. So if it is in thy power
+  to do so, I pray thee to make me a knight-royal with thine own hands." </p>
+<p> Then King Arthur smiled upon Percival very kindly, and he said: "Percival,
+  it shall be as thou dost desire, and to-morrow I will make thee a knight." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">King Arthur makes Percival a knight-royal.</div>
+<p> So that night Percival watched his armor in the chapel of a hermit of the
+  forest, and the armor that he watched was the armor that had belonged to Sir
+  Boindegardus (for Percival besought King Arthur that he might wear that armor
+  for his own because it was what he himself had won in battle). And when the
+  next morning had come, Sir Launcelot and Sir Lamorack brought Percival before
+  King Arthur, and King Arthur made him a knight. </p>
+<p> After that Sir Percival besought King Arthur that he would give him leave
+  to depart from court so that he might do some worthy deed of arms that might
+  win him worship; and King Arthur gave him that leave he asked for. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percival threatens Sir Kay.</div>
+<p> Then Sir Percival went to where Sir Kay was sitting, and he said: "Messire,
+  I have not forgot that blow you gave that fair damsel yesterday when she spake
+  so kindly to me. As yet I am too young a knight to handle you; but by and by
+  the time will come when I shall return and repay you that blow tenfold and twentyfold
+  what you gave!" And at these words Sir Kay was in no wise pleased, for he wist
+  that Sir Percival would one day become a very strong and worthy knight. </p>
+<p> Now all this while the heart of Sir Lamorack yearned very greatly toward Sir
+  Percival, though Sir Lamorack knew not why that should be; so when Sir Percival
+  had obtained permission to go errant, Sir Lamorack asked King Arthur for leave
+  to ride forth so as to be with him; and King Arthur gave Sir Lamorack that leave.
+</p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percival and Sir Lamorack ride together.</div>
+<a href="images/051.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="p28" align="right" src="images/051.gif" border="0" alt="Sir Percival &#38; Sir Lamorack ride together" /></a>
+<p> Thus it befell that Sir Lamorack and Sir Percival rode forth together very
+  lovingly and cheerfully. And as they rode upon their way Sir Lamorack told Sir
+  Percival many things concerning the circumstances of knighthood, and to all
+  that he said Sir Percival gave great heed. But Sir Lamorack knew not that he
+  was riding with his own brother or that it was his own brother to whom he was
+  teaching the mysteries of chivalry, and Sir Percival told him nothing thereof.
+  But ever in his heart Sir Percival said to himself: "If God will give me enough
+  of His grace, I will some day do full credit unto thy teaching, O my brother!"
+</p>
+<p> Now, after Sir Percival and Sir Lamorack had travelled a great way, they came
+  at last out of that forest and to an open country where was a well-tilled land
+  and a wide, smooth river flowing down a level plain. </p>
+<p> And in the centre of that plain was a town of considerable size, and a very
+  large castle with several tall towers and many roofs and chimneys that stood
+  overlooking the town. </p>
+<p> That time they came thitherward the day was declining toward its close, so
+  that all the sky toward the westward shone, like, as it were, to a flame of
+  gold--exceedingly beautiful. And the highway upon which they entered was very
+  broad and smooth, like to a floor for smoothness. And there were all sorts of
+  folk passing along that highway; some afoot and some ahorseback. Also there
+  was a river path beside the river where the horses dragged deep-laden barges
+  down to the town and thence again; and these barges were all painted in bright
+  colors, and the horses were bedight with gay harness and hung with tinkling
+  bells. </p>
+<p> All these things Sir Percival beheld with wonder for he had never seen their
+  like before; wherefore he cried out with amazement, saying: "Saints of Glory!
+  How great and wonderful is the world!" </p>
+<p> Then Sir Lamorack looked upon him and smiled with great loving-kindness; and
+  he said: "Ha, Percival! This is so small a part of the world that it is but
+  a patch upon it." </p>
+<p> Unto this Sir Percival made reply: "Dear Messire, I am so glad that I have
+  come forth into the world that I am hardly able to know whether I am in a vision
+  or am awake." </p>
+<p> So, after a considerable while, they came to that town with its castle, and
+  these stood close beside the river--and the town and the castle were hight Cardennan.
+  And the town was of great consideration, being very well famed for its dyed
+  woollen fabrics. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percival and Sir Lamorack come to Cardennan.</div>
+<p> So Sir Percival and Sir Lamorack entered the town. And when Sir Percival beheld
+  all the people in the streets, coming and going upon their businesses; and when
+  he beheld all the gay colors and apparels of fine fabrics that the people wore;
+  and when he beheld the many booths filled with rich wares of divers sorts, he
+  wist not what to think for the wonder that possessed him; wherefore he cried
+  out aloud, as with great passion: "What marvel do I behold! I knew not that
+  a city could be so great as this." </p>
+<p> And again Sir Lamorack smiled very kindly upon him and said: "Sayst thou so?
+  Now I tell thee that when one compares this place with Camelot (which is the
+  King's city) it is as a star compared to the full moon in her glory." And at
+  that Sir Percival knew not what to think for wonder. </p>
+<p> So they went up the street of the town until they came to the castle of Cardennan
+  and there requested admission. And when the name and the estate of Sir Lamorack
+  were declared, the porter opened the gate with great joy and they entered. Then,
+  by and by, the lord and the lady of the castle came down from a carved wooden
+  gallery and bade them welcome by word of mouth. And after that sundry attendants
+  immediately appeared and assisted Sir Percival and Sir Lamorack to dismount
+  and took their horses to the stable, and sundry other attendants conducted them
+  to certain apartments where they were eased of their armor and bathed in baths
+  of tepid water and given soft raiment for to wear. After that the lord and the
+  lady entertained them with a great feast, where harpers and singers made music,
+  and where certain actors acted a mystery before them. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">How the two knights were welcomed by the lord and lady of
+  the castle.</div>
+<p> So these two knights and the lord and the lady of the castle ate together
+  and discoursed very pleasantly for a while; but, when the evening was pretty
+  well gone, Sir Lamorack bade good-night, and he and Sir Percival were conducted
+  to a certain very noble apartment where beds of down, spread with flame-colored
+  cloth, had been prepared for their repose. </p>
+<p> Thus ended that day which was the first day of the knighthood of Sir Percival
+  of Gales. </p>
+<p> Now though Sir Percival had travelled very contentedly with Sir Lamorack for
+  all that while, yet he had determined in his own mind that, as soon as possible,
+  he would leave Sir Lamorack and depart upon his own quest. For he said to himself:
+  "Lo! I am a very green knight as yet, and haply my brother may grow weary of
+  my company and cease to love me. So I will leave him ere he have the chance
+  to tire of me, and I will seek knighthood for myself. After that, if God wills
+  it that I shall win worthy knighthood, then my brother will be glad enough to
+  acknowledge me as his father's son." </p>
+<p> So when the next morning had come, Sir Percival arose very softly all in the
+  dawning, and he put on his armor without disturbing Sir Lamorack. Then he stooped
+  and looked into Sir Lamorack's face and beheld that his brother was still enfolded
+  in a deep sleep as in a soft mantle. And as Sir Percival gazed upon Sir Lamorack
+  thus asleep, he loved him with such ardor that he could hardly bear the strength
+  of his love. But he said to himself: "Sleep on, my brother, whilst I go away
+  and leave thee. But when I have earned me great glory, then will I return unto
+  thee and will lay all that I have achieved at thy feet, so that thou shalt be
+  very glad to acknowledge me." So saying to himself, he went away from that place
+  very softly, and Sir Lamorack slept so deeply that he wist not that Sir Percival
+  was gone. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percival leaves Sir Lamorack.</div>
+<p> Thereafter Sir Percival went to the courtyard of the castle and he bade certain
+  attendants to prepare his horse for him, and they did so. And he bade certain
+  others for to arm him, and they did so. Thereupon he mounted his horse and left
+  that castle and rode away. </p>
+<p> Now after Sir Percival had left Sir Lamorack still sleeping in the castle
+  as aforetold, he journeyed upon his way, taking great pleasure in all things
+  that he beheld. So he travelled all that morning, and the day was very bright
+  and warm, so that by and by he was an-hungered and athirst. So after a while
+  he came to a certain road that appeared to him to be good for his purpose, so
+  he took that way in great hopes that some adventure would befall him, or else
+  that he would find food and drink. </p>
+<p> Then after a while he heard a bell ringing, and after he had followed that
+  bell for some distance, he came to where was the dwelling-place of a hermit
+  and where was a small chapel by the wayside. And Sir Percival beheld that the
+  hermit, who was an old man with a long white beard, rang the bell of that chapel.
+</p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percival meets his fate at the forest chapel.</div>
+<p> So Sir Percival thought that here he might find food and drink; and so he
+  rode forward to where the hermit was ringing the bell. But when Sir Percival
+  came still more nigh he perceived that behind the chapel and to one side there
+  was a very noble knight upon horseback; and he perceived that the knight was
+  clad all in white armor and that his horse (which was white as milk and of very
+  noble strength and proportions) was furnished altogether with furniture of white.
+</p>
+<p> This knight, when he perceived Sir Percival, immediately rode up to meet him
+  and saluted Sir Percival very courteously. And the knight said: "Sir, will you
+  not joust a fall with me ere you break your fast? For this is a very fair and
+  level field of green grass and well fitted for such a friendly trial at arms
+  if you have the time for it." </p>
+<p> Unto this Sir Percival said: "Messire, I will gladly try a fall with you,
+  though I must tell you that I am a very young green knight, having been knighted
+  only yesterday by King Arthur himself. But though I am unskilled in arms, yet
+  it will pleasure me a great deal to accept so gentle and courteous a challenge
+  as that which you give me." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percival is overthrown by the white knight.</div>
+<p> So with that each knight turned his horse and each took such stand as appeared
+  to him to be best. And when they were in all ways prepared, they drave their
+  horses together with great speed, the one against the other, meeting one another,
+  shield against spear, in the very midst of the course. In that encounter (which
+  was the first that he ever ran) Sir Percival bare himself very well and with
+  great knightliness of endeavor; for he broke his spear upon the white knight
+  into small pieces. But the spear of the white knight held so that Sir Percival
+  was lifted out of his saddle and over the crupper of his horse, and fell upon
+  the ground with great violence and a cloud of dust. </p>
+<p> Then the white knight returned from his course and came up to where Sir Percival
+  was. And he inquired of him very courteously: "Sir, art thou hurt?" Thereunto
+  Sir Percival replied: "Nay, sir! I am not hurt, only somewhat shaken by my fall.'"
+</p>
+<p> Then the white knight dismounted from his horse and came to where Sir Percival
+  was. And he lifted up the umbril of his helmet, and Sir Percival perceived that
+  that white knight was Sir Launcelot of the Lake. </p>
+<p> And Sir Launcelot said: "Percival, I well knew who you were from the first,
+  but I thought I would see of what mettle you are, and I have found that you
+  are of very good mettle indeed. But you are to know that it is impossible for
+  a young knight such as you, who knoweth naught of the use of knightly weapons,
+  to have to do with a knight well-seasoned in arms as I am, and to have any hope
+  of success in such an encounter. Wherefore you need to be taught the craft of
+  using your weapons perfectly." </p>
+<p> To this Sir Percival said: "Messire, tell me, how may I hope to acquire craft
+  at arms such as may serve me in such a stead as this?" </p>
+<p> Sir Launcelot said: "I myself will teach thee, imparting to thee such skill
+  as I have at my command. Less than half a day's journey to the southward of
+  this is my castle of Joyous Gard. Thither I was upon my way when I met thee
+  here. Now thou shalt go with me unto Joyous Gard, and there thou shalt abide
+  until thou art in all ways taught the use of arms so that thou mayst uphold
+  that knighthood which I believe God hath endowed thee withal." </p>
+<p> So after that Sir Launcelot and Sir Percival went to the dwelling-place of
+  the hermit, and the hermit fed them with the best of that simple fare which
+  he had at his command. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">How Sir Percival dwelt at Joyous Gard.</div>
+<p> After that, they mounted horse again and rode away to Joyous Gard, and there
+  Sir Percival abided for a year, training himself in all wise so as to prepare
+  himself to uphold that knighthood which in him became so famous. For, during
+  that year Sir Launcelot was his teacher in the art of arms. Likewise he instructed
+  him in all the civilities and the customs of chivalry, so it befell that ere
+  Sir Percival came forth from Joyous Gard again he was well acquainted with all
+  the ways in which he should comport himself at any time, whether in field or
+  in court. </p>
+<p> So when Sir Percival came forth again from Joyous Gard, there was no knight,
+  unless it was Sir Launcelot himself, who could surpass him in skill at arms;
+  nay, not even his own brother, Sir Lamorack; nor was there anybody, even if
+  one were Sir Gawaine or Sir Geraint, who surpassed him in civility of courtliness
+  or nobility of demeanor. </p>
+<p> And now I shall tell you of the great adventure that befell Sir Percival after
+  Sir Launcelot had thus taught him at Joyous Gard. </p>
+<div align="center"> <a href="images/tail.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/tail.gif" border="0" alt="Tail Piece" /></a>
+</div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div class="chaphead" id="per3"><a href="images/017.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/017.gif" alt="Chapter Header" border="0" /></a>
+  <br />
+  Chapter Third</div>
+<br />
+<div class="chapdes">How Sir Percival met two strange people in the forest, and
+  how he succored a knight who was in very great sorrow and dole.</div>
+<p> Now after Sir Percival had left Joyous Gard he rode for several days seeking
+  adventure but meeting none. </p>
+<p> Then one day he came to a very dark and wonderful forest which appeared to
+  be so silent and lonely and yet so full of beauty that Sir Percival bethought
+  him that this must surely be some forest of magic. So he entered into that forest
+  with intent to discover if he might find any worthy adventure therein. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percival enters the Forest of Arroy.</div>
+<p> (And that forest was a forest of magic; for you are to know that it was the
+  Forest of Arroy, sometimes called the Forest of Adventure, which was several
+  times spoken of in the book of King Arthur. For no one ever entered into that
+  forest but some singular adventure befell him.) </p>
+<p> So Sir Percival rode through this wonderful woodland for a long time very
+  greatly wondering, for everywhere about him was perfect silence, with not so
+  much as a single note of a bird of the woodlands to lighten that stillness.
+  Now, as Sir Percival rode through that silence, he presently became aware of
+  the sound of voices talking together, and shortly thereafter he perceived a
+  knight with a lady riding amid the thin trees that grew there. And the knight
+  rode upon a great white horse, and the lady rode upon a red roan palfrey. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percival meets two strange people.</div>
+<p> These, when they beheld Sir Percival, waited for him, and as Sir Percival
+  drew nigh to them he perceived that they were of a very singular appearance.
+  For both of them were clad altogether in green, and both of them wore about
+  their necks very wonderful collars of wrought gold inset with opal stones and
+  emeralds. And the face of each was like clear wax for whiteness; and the eyes
+  of each were very bright, like jewels set in ivory. And these two neither laughed
+  nor frowned, but only smiled continually. And that knight whom Sir Percival
+  beheld was Sir Pellias, and the lady was the Lady Nymue of the Lake. </p>
+<p> Now when Sir Percival beheld these two, he wist that they were fay, wherefore
+  he dismounted very quickly, and kneeled down upon the ground and set his palms
+  together. Then the Lady of the Lake smiled very kindly upon Sir Percival, and
+  she said: "Sir Percival, arise, and tell me what you do in these parts?" </p>
+<p> Then Sir Percival arose and he stood before that knight and lady, and he said:
+  "Lady, I wist not how you know who I am, but I believe you are fay and know
+  many things. Touching my purpose in coming here, it is that I am in search of
+  adventure. So if you know of any that I may undertake for your sake, I pray
+  you to tell me of it." </p>
+<p> The lady said: "If so be thy desire is of that sort, I may, perchance be able
+  to bring thee unto an adventure that is worthy for any knight to undertake.
+  Go a little distance from this upon the way thou art following and by and by
+  thou wilt behold a bird whose feathers shall shine like to gold for brightness.
+  Follow that bird and it will bring thee to a place where thou shalt find a knight
+  in sore need of thy aid." </p>
+<p> And Percival said: "I will do as thou dost advise." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">The Lady of the Lake giveth Sir Percival a charm.</div>
+<p> Then the lady said: "Wait a little, I have something for thee." Therewith
+  she took from her neck a small golden amulet pendant from a silken cord very
+  fine and thin. And she said: "Wear this for it will protect thee from all evil
+  enchantments." Therewith saying, she hung the amulet about the neck of Sir Percival,
+  and Sir Percival gave her thanks beyond measure for it. </p>
+<p> Then the knight and the lady saluted him and he saluted them, and they each
+  went their separate ways. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">How Percival followed the golden bird.</div>
+<p> So Sir Percival travelled that path for some distance as the lady had advised
+  him to do, and by and by he beheld the bird of which she had spoken. And he
+  saw that the plumage of the bird glistered as though it was of gold so that
+  he marvelled at it. And as he drew nigh the bird flew a little distance down
+  the path and then lit upon the ground and he followed it. And when he had come
+  nigh to it again it flew a distance farther and still he followed it. So it
+  flew and he followed for a very great way until by and by the forest grew thin
+  and Sir Percival beheld that there was an open country lying beyond the skirts
+  thereof. And when the bird had brought him thus far it suddenly flew back into
+  the forest again whence it had come, chirping very keenly and shrilly as it
+  flew. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percival beholds a wonderful castle.</div>
+<p> So Percival came out of the forest into the open country, the like of which
+  he had never before seen, for it was a very desolate barren waste of land. And
+  in the midst of this desolate plain there stood a castle of a very wonderful
+  appearance; for in some parts it was the color of ultramarine and in other parts
+  it was of crimson; and the ultramarine and the crimson were embellished with
+  very extraordinary devices painted in gold. So because of all those extraordinary
+  colors, that castle shone like a bright rainbow against the sky, wherefore Sir
+  Percival sat his horse for some while and marvelled very greatly thereat. </p>
+<p> Then, by and by Sir Percival perceived that the road that led to the castle
+  crossed a bridge of stone, and when he looked at the bridge he saw that midway
+  upon it was a pillar of stone and that a knight clad all in full armor stood
+  chained with iron chains to that stone pillar, and at that sight Sir Percival
+  was very greatly astonished. So he rode very rapidly along that way and so to
+  the bridge and upon the bridge to where the knight was. And when Sir Percival
+  came thus upon the bridge he perceived that the knight who was bound with chains
+  was very noble and haughty of appearance, but that he seemed to be in great
+  pain and suffering because of his being thus bound to that pillar. For the captive
+  knight made continual moan so that it moved the heart of Sir Percival to hear
+  him. </p>
+<p> So Sir Percival said: "Sir Knight, this is a sorrowful condition thou art
+  in." And the knight said: "Yea, and I am sorrowful; for I have stood here now
+  for three days and I am in great torment of mind and body." </p>
+<p> Sir Percival said, "Maybe I can aid thee," and thereupon he got down from
+  off his horse's back and approached the knight. And he drew his sword so that
+  it flashed in the sun very brightly. </p>
+<p> Upon this the knight said: "Messire, what would you be at?" And Sir Percival
+  said: "I would cut the chains that bind thee." </p>
+<p> To this the knight said: "How could you do that? For who could cut through
+  chains of iron such as these?" </p>
+<p> But Sir Percival said: "I will try what I may do." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percival sets free the captive knight.</div>
+<p> Thereupon he lifted up his sword and smote so terribly powerful a blow that
+  the like of it had hardly ever been seen before. For that blow cut through the
+  iron chains and smote the hauberk of the knight so smart a buffet that he fell
+  down to the ground altogether deprived of breath. </p>
+<p> But when Sir Percival saw the knight fall down in that wise, he cried out:
+  "Woe is me! Have I slain this good, gentle knight when I would but do him service?"
+  Thereupon he lifted the knight up upon his knee and eased the armor about his
+  throat. But the knight was not dead, and by and by the breath came back to him
+  again, and he said: "By my faith, that was the most wonderful stroke that ever
+  I beheld any man strike in all of my life." </p>
+<p> Thereafter, when the knight had sufficiently recovered, Sir Percival helped
+  him to stand upon his feet; and when he stood thus his strength presently came
+  back to him again in great measure. </p>
+<p> And the knight was athirst and craved very vehemently to drink. So Sir Percival
+  helped him to descend a narrow path that led to a stream of water that flowed
+  beneath the bridge; and there the knight stooped and slaked his thirst. And
+  when he had drunk his fill, his strength came altogether back to him again,
+  and he said: "Messire, I have to give thee all thanks that it is possible for
+  me to do, for hadst thou not come unto mine aid, I would else have perished
+  very miserably and at no very distant time from this." </p>
+<p> Then Sir Percival said: "I beseech you, Messire, to tell me how you came into
+  that sad plight in which I found you." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">The knight telleth his story.</div>
+<p> To this the knight said: "I will tell you; it was thus: Two days ago I came
+  thitherward and past yonder castle, and with me were two excellent esquires--for
+  I am a knight of royal blood. Now as we went past that castle there came forth
+  a lady clad all in red and so exceedingly beautiful that she entirely enchanted
+  my heart. And with this lady there came a number of esquires and pages, all
+  of them very beautiful of face, and all clad, as she was, in red. Now when this
+  lady had come nigh to me she spoke me very fair and tempted me with kind words
+  so that I thought I had never fallen upon anyone so courteous as she. But when
+  she had come real close to me, she smote me of a sudden across the shoulders
+  with an ebony staff that she carried in her hand, and at the same time she cried
+  out certain words that I remember not. For immediately a great darkness like
+  to a deep swoon fell upon me and I knew nothing. And when I awakened from that
+  swoon lo! I found myself here, chained fast to this stone pillar. And hadst
+  thou not come hither I would else certainly have died in my torment. And as
+  to what hath become of my esquires, I know not; but as for that lady, methinks
+  she can be none other than a certain enchantress, hight Vivien, who hath wrought
+  such powerful spells upon Merlin as to have removed him from the eyes of all
+  mankind." </p>
+<p> Unto all this Sir Percival listened in great wonder, and when the knight had
+  ended his tale he said: "What is thy name?" And the knight said: "My name is
+  Percydes and I am the son of King Pecheur--so called because he is the king
+  of all the fisher-folk who dwell upon the West coast. And now I prithee tell
+  me also thy name and condition, for I find I love thee a very great deal." </p>
+<p> And Sir Percival said: "My name is Percival, but I may not at this present
+  tell thee my condition and of whom I am born; for that I must keep secret until
+  I have won me good credit as a knight. But now I have somewhat to do, and that
+  is to deal with this lady Vivien as she shall deserve." </p>
+<p> Upon that Sir Percydes cried out: "Go not near to that sorceress, else she
+  will do some great harm to thee with her potent spells as she did to me." </p>
+<p> But Sir Percival said: "I have no fear of her." </p>
+<p> So Sir Percival arose and crossed the bridge and went toward that wonderful
+  enchanted castle; and Sir Percydes would have gone with him, but Sir Percival
+  said: "Stay where thou art." And so Sir Percydes stayed and Sir Percival went
+  forward alone. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">The Lady Vivien cometh forth to Sir Percival.</div>
+<p> Now as he drew nigh to the castle the gate thereof was opened, and there came
+  forth thence an extraordinarily beautiful lady surrounded by a court of esquires
+  and pages all very beautiful of countenance. And this lady and all of her court
+  were clad in red so that they shone like to several flames of fire. And the
+  lady's hair was as red as gold, and she wore gold ornaments about her neck so
+  that she glistered exceedingly and was very wonderful to behold. And her eyebrows
+  were very black and fine and were joined in the middle like two fine lines drawn
+  together with a pencil, and her eyes were narrow and black, shining like those
+  of a snake. </p>
+<p> Then when Sir Percival beheld this lady how singularly beautiful she was he
+  was altogether enchanted so that he could not forbear to approach her. And,
+  lo! she stood still and smiled upon him so that his heart stirred within his
+  bosom like as though it pulled at the strings that held it. Then she said to
+  Sir Percival, speaking in a very sweet and gentle voice: "Sir Knight, thou art
+  welcome to this place. It would pleasure us very greatly if thou wouldst consider
+  this castle as though it were thine own and would abide within it with me for
+  a while." Therewith speaking she smiled again upon Sir Percival more cunningly
+  than before and reached out her hand toward him. </p>
+<p> Then Sir Percival came toward her with intent to take her hand, she smiling
+  upon him all the while so that he could not do otherwise than as she willed.
+</p>
+<p> Now in the other hand this lady held an ebony staff of about an ell in length,
+  and when Sir Percival had come close enough to her, she lifted this staff of
+  a sudden and smote him with it very violently across the shoulders, crying out
+  at the same time, in a voice terribly piercing and shrill: "Be thou a stone!"
+</p>
+<p> Then that charm that the Lady of the Lake had hung around the neck of Sir
+  Percival stood him in good stead, for, excepting for it, he would that instant
+  have been transformed into a stone. But the charm of the sorceress did not work
+  upon him, being prevented by the greater charm of that golden amulet. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percival draweth sword upon the Lady Vivien.</div>
+<p> But Sir Percival knew very well what the sorceress Vivien had intended to
+  do to him, and he was filled with a great rage of indignation against her because
+  she had meant to transform him into a stone. Therefore he cried out with a loud
+  voice and seized the enchantress by her long golden hair, and drew her so violently
+  forward that she fell down upon her knees. Then he drew his shining sword with
+  intent to sever her long neck, so slender and white like alabaster. </p>
+<a href="images/052.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="p29" align="right" src="images/052.gif" border="0" alt="Sir Percival overcometh ye Enchantress Vivien" /></a>
+<p> But the lady shrieked with great vehemence of terror and besought him mercy.
+  And at that Sir Percival's heart grew soft for pity, for he bethought him that
+  she was a woman and he beheld how smooth and beautiful was her neck, and how
+  her skin was like white satin for smoothness. So when he heard her voice--the
+  voice of a woman beseeching mercy--his heart grew soft, and he could not find
+  strength within him to strike that neck apart with his sword. </p>
+<p> So he bade her to arise--though he still held her by the hair (all warm, it
+  was, and as soft as silk and very fragrant) and the lady stood up, trembling
+  before him. </p>
+<p> Then Sir Percival said to her: "If thou wouldst have thy life I command thee
+  to transform back to their own shape all those people whom thou hast bewitched
+  as thou wouldst have bewitched me." </p>
+<p> Then the lady said: "It shall be done." Whereupon she smote her hands very
+  violently together crying out: "All ye who have lost your proper shapes, return
+  thereunto." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">The Lady Vivien undoes her enchantment.</div>
+<p> Then, lo! upon the instant, a great multitude of round stones that lay scattered
+  about became quick, like to eggs; and they moved and stirred as the life entered
+  into them. And they melted away and, behold! there arose up a great many knights
+  and esquires and several ladies to the number of four score and eight in all.
+  And certain other stones became quickened in like manner, and as Percival looked,
+  lo! there rose up the horses of those people, all caparisoned as though for
+  travel. </p>
+<p> Now when those people who had been thus bewitched beheld the Lady Vivien,
+  how Sir Percival held her by the hair of her head, they made great outcry against
+  her for vengeance, saying: "Slay her! Slay her!" And therewith several made
+  at her as though to do as they said and to slay her. But Percival waved his
+  sword before her and said: "Not so! Not so! For this lady is my prisoner and
+  we shall not harm her unless ye come at her through me." </p>
+<p> Thereat they fell silent in a little while, and when he had thus stilled them,
+  he turned to the Lady Vivien and said: "This is my command that I lay upon thee:
+  that thou shalt go into the court of King Arthur and shalt confess thyself to
+  him and that thou shalt fulfil whatever penance he may lay upon thee to perform
+  because of thy transgressions. Now wilt thou do this for to save thy life?"
+</p>
+<p> And the Lady Vivien made reply: "All shall be done according to thy command."
+</p>
+<p> Therewith Sir Percival released his hold upon her and she was free. </p>
+<p> Then, finding herself to be thus free, she stepped back a pace or two and
+  looked into Sir Percival his face, and she laughed. And she said: "Thou fool,
+  didst thou think that I would do so mad a thing as that which thou hast made
+  me promise? For what mercy could I expect at the hands of King Arthur seeing
+  that it was I who destroyed the Enchanter Merlin, who was the right adviser
+  of King Arthur! Go to King Arthur thyself and deliver to him thine own messages."
+</p>
+<div class="sidenote">The Lady Vivien escapes.</div>
+<p> So saying, in an instant, she vanished from the sight of all those who stood
+  there. And with her vanished that castle of crimson and ultramarine and gold--and
+  nothing was left but the bare rocks and the barren plain. </p>
+<p> Then when those who were there recovered from their astonishment, upon beholding
+  that great castle so suddenly disappear, they turned to Sir Percival and gave
+  him worship and thanks without measure, saying to him: "What shall we do in
+  return for saving us from the enchantment of this sorceress?" </p>
+<p> And Percival said: "Ye shall do this: ye shall go to the court of King Arthur
+  and tell him how that young knight, Percival, whom he made a knight a year ago,
+  hath liberated you from the enchantment of this sorceress. And you shall seek
+  out Sir Kay and shall say to him that, by and by, I shall return and repay him
+  in full measure, twenty times over, that blow which he gave to the damosel Yelande,
+  the Dumb Maiden because of her kindness to me." </p>
+<p> So said Sir Percival, and they said: "It shall be done as thou dost ordain."
+</p>
+<p> Then Sir Percydes said: "Wilt thou not come to my castle and rest thyself
+  there for the night? For thou must be aweary with all thy toil." And Sir Percival
+  said, "I will go with thee." So Sir Percydes and Sir Percival rode away together
+  to the castle of Sir Percydes. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percydes knoweth the ring that Percival wears.</div>
+<p> Now while Sir Percival and Sir Percydes sat at supper in the castle of Sir
+  Percydes, Sir Percival chanced to lay his hand in love upon the sleeve of Sir
+  Percydes's arm, and that moment Sir Percydes saw the ring upon Sir Percival's
+  finger which the young damosel of the pavilion had given unto him in exchange
+  for his ring. When Sir Percydes saw that ring he cried out in great astonishment,
+  "Where didst thou get that ring?" </p>
+<p> Sir Percival said, "I will tell thee"; and therewith he told Sir Percydes
+  all that had befallen him when he first came down into the world from the wilderness
+  where he had aforetime dwelt, and how he had entered the yellow pavilion and
+  had discovered the damosel who was now his chosen lady. When Sir Percydes heard
+  that story he laughed in great measure, and then he said: "But how wilt thou
+  find that young damosel again when thou hast a mind for to go to her once more?"
+  To the which Sir Percival made reply: "I know not how I shall find her, nevertheless,
+  I shall assuredly do so. For though the world is much wider and greater than
+  I had thought it to be when I first came down into it, yet I know that I shall
+  find that lady when the fit time cometh for me to seek her." </p>
+<p> Then Sir Percydes said: "Dear friend, when thou desireth to find that damosel
+  to whom belongeth the ring, come thou to me and I will tell thee where thou
+  mayst find her; yet I know not why thou dost not go and find her now." </p>
+<p> Unto this Sir Percival made reply: "I do not seek her immediately because
+  I am yet so young and so unknown to the world that I could not be of any credit
+  to her should I find her; so first I will seek to obtain credit as a knight,
+  and then I will seek her." </p>
+<p> Sir Percydes said: "Well, Percival, I think thou hast great promise of a very
+  wonderful knighthood. Nor do I think thou wilt have difficulty in finding plenty
+  of adventures to undertake. For even to-day I know of an adventure, which if
+  thou couldst perform it successfully, would bring thee such worship that there
+  are very few knights in all the world who will have more worship than thou."
+</p>
+<p> Then Sir Percival said: "I prithee, dear friend, tell me what is that adventure."
+</p>
+<p> Then Sir Percydes told Sir Percival what that adventure was as followeth:
+</p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percydes telleth Sir Percival of Beaurepaire.</div>
+<p> "Thou art to know," quoth he, "that somewhat more than a day's journey to
+  the north of this there is a fair plain, very fertile and beautiful to the sight.
+  In the midst of that plain is a small lake of water, and in that lake is an
+  island, and upon the island is a tall castle of very noble size and proportions.
+  That castle is called Beaurepaire, and the lady of that castle is thought to
+  be one of the most beautiful damosels in the world. And the name of the lady
+  is Lady Blanchefleur. </p>
+<p> "Now there is a very strong and powerful knight hight Sir Clamadius, otherwise
+  known as the King of the Isles; and he is one of the most famous knights in
+  the world. Sir Clamadius hath for a long while loved the Lady Blanchefleur with
+  such a passion of love that I do not think that the like of that passion is
+  to be found anywhere else in the world. But the Lady Blanchefleur hath no love
+  for Sir Clamadius, but ever turneth away from him with a heart altogether cold
+  of liking. </p>
+<p> "But Sir Clamadius is a wonderfully proud and haughty King, wherefore he can
+  ill brook being scorned by any lady. Wherefore he hath now come against the
+  castle of Beaurepaire with an array of knights of his court, and at present
+  layeth siege to that castle aforesaid. </p>
+<p> "Now there is not at that castle any knight of sufficient worship to serve
+  as champion thereof, wherefore all they of Beaurepaire stay within the castle
+  walls and Sir Clamadius holds the meadows outside of the castle so that no one
+  enters in or goeth out thereof. </p>
+<p> "If thou couldst liberate the Lady Blanchefleur from the duress which Sir
+  Clamadius places upon her, I believe thou wouldst have as great credit in courts
+  of chivalry as it is possible to have. For, since Sir Tristram is gone, Sir
+  Clamadius is believed by many to be the best knight in the world, except Sir
+  Launcelot of the Lake; unless it be that Sir Lamorack of Gales is a better knight
+  than he." </p>
+<p> Then Sir Percival said: "What thou tellest me gives me great pleasure, for
+  it would be a very good adventure for any young knight to undertake. For if
+  he should lose there would be no shame in losing, and if he should win there
+  would be great glory in winning. So to-morrow I will enter upon that adventure,
+  with intent to discover what fortune I may have therein." </p>
+<p> So I have told you how Sir Percival performed his first adventures in the
+  world of chivalry after he had perfected himself in the mysteries of knighthood
+  under the teaching of Sir Launcelot of the Lake, and I have told you how he
+  achieved that adventure with great credit to himself and with great glory to
+  the order of knighthood to which he now truly belonged as a most worthy member.
+</p>
+<p> That night he abided in the castle of Sir Percydes with great comfort and
+  rest to his body, and when the next morning had come he arose, much refreshed
+  and strengthened in spirit. And he descended to the hall where was set a fair
+  and generous breakfast for his further refreshment, and thereat he and Sir Percydes
+  sat themselves down and ate with hearty appetite, discoursing with great amity
+  of spirit as aforetold. </p>
+<p> After he had broken his fast he bade farewell to Sir Percydes and mounted
+  his horse and rode away through the bright sunlight toward Beaurepaire and those
+  further adventures that awaited him thereat. </p>
+<p> And, as it was with Sir Percival in that first adventure, so may you meet
+  with a like success when you ride forth upon your first undertakings after you
+  have entered into the glory of your knighthood, with your life lying before
+  you and a whole world whereinto ye may freely enter to do your devoirs to the
+  glory of God and your own honor. </p>
+<p> So now it shall be told how it fared with Sir Percival in that adventure of
+  the Castle of Beaurepaire. </p>
+<div align="center"> <a href="images/tail.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/tail.gif" border="0" alt="Tail Piece" /></a>
+</div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div class="chaphead" id="per4"><a href="images/019.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/019.gif" alt="Chapter Header" border="0" /></a>
+  <br />
+  Chapter Fourth</div>
+<br />
+<div class="chapdes">How Sir Percival undertook the adventure of the castle of
+  Beaurepaire and how he fared therein after several excellent adventures</div>
+.
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percival breaks his fast at a forest cottage.</div>
+<p> Now the way that Sir Percival travelled led him by the outskirts of the forest,
+  so that somewhiles he would be in the woodland and somewhiles he would be in
+  the open country. And about noontide he came to a certain cottage of a neatherd
+  that stood all alone in a very pleasant dale. That place a little brook came
+  bickering out from the forest and ran down into the dale and spread out into
+  a small lake, besides which daffadowndillys bloomed in such abundance that it
+  appeared as though all that meadow land was scattered over with an incredible
+  number of yellow stars that had fallen down from out of the sky. And, because
+  of the pleasantness of this place, Sir Percival here dismounted from his horse
+  and sat him down upon a little couch of moss under the shadow of an oak tree
+  that grew nigh to the cottage, there to rest himself for a while with great
+  pleasure. And as he sat there there came a barelegged lass from the cottage
+  and brought him fresh milk to drink; and there came a good, comely housewife
+  and brought him bread and cheese made of cream; and Sir Percival ate and drank
+  with great appetite. </p>
+<p> Now whilst Sir Percival sat there resting and refreshing himself in that wise,
+  there appeared of a sudden coming thitherward, a tall and noble knight riding
+  upon a piebald war-horse of Norway strain. So when Sir Percival beheld that
+  knight coming in that wise he quickly put on his helmet and mounted his horse
+  and made him ready for defence in case the knight had a mind to assail him.
+</p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percival bespeaketh the strange knight.</div>
+<p> Meantime that knight came riding up with great haughtiness of bearing to where
+  Sir Percival was, and when he had come nigh enough he bespake Sir Percival,
+  saying: "Sir Knight, I pray you to tell me your name and whither you go, and
+  upon what quest?" </p>
+<p> Unto this Sir Percival made reply: "Messire, I do not choose to tell you my
+  name, for I am a young knight, very new to adventure, and I know not how I shall
+  succeed in that quest which I have undertaken. So I will wait to try the success
+  of that adventure before I tell my name. But though I may not tell my name I
+  will tell you whither I go and upon what quest. I go for to find a certain castle
+  called Beaurepaire, and I intend to endeavor to liberate the lady of that castle
+  from the duress of a certain knight hight Sir Clamadius, who, I understand,
+  holds her by siege within the walls thereof." </p>
+<p> Now, when Sir Percival had ceased speaking, the strange knight said: "Sir,
+  this is a very singular thing: for that adventure of which you speak is the
+  very adventure upon which I myself am bound. Now, as you say, you are a very
+  young knight unused to arms, and as I am in the same degree a knight well seasoned
+  in deeds of arms, it is more fitting that I should undertake this quest than
+  you. For you may know how very well I am used to the service of arms when I
+  tell you that I have had to do in four and twenty battles of various sorts;
+  some of them friendly and some of them otherwise; and that I have had to do
+  in more than four times that many affairs-at-arms with single knights, nearly
+  all of them of great prowess. So now it would seem fitting that you should withdraw
+  you from this affair and let me first essay it. Then, if I fail in my undertaking,
+  you shall assume that adventure." </p>
+<p> "Messire," quoth Sir Percival, "I see that you are a knight of much greater
+  experience than I; but, ne'ertheless, I cannot find it in my heart to forego
+  this adventure. So what I have to propose is this: that you and I do combat
+  here in this place, and that he who proveth himself to be the better of us twain
+  shall carry out this undertaking that we are both set upon." </p>
+<p> Unto this, that strange knight lent a very willing assent, saying: "Very well,
+  Messire, it shall be as you ask." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percival doeth battle with the strange knight.</div>
+<p> So with that each knight turned his horse and rode a little piece away; and
+  each took such stand as pleased him; and each dressed his spear and shield and
+  made him in all wise ready for the encounter. And when they had so prepared
+  themselves, each knight shouted to his horse, and drave spur into its flank
+  and rushed, the one against the other, with such terrible noise and violence
+  that the sound thereof was echoed back from the woods like to a storm of thunder.
+</p>
+<p> So they met in the midst of the course with such a vehement impact that it
+  was terrible to behold. And in that encounter the spear of each knight was burst
+  all into fragments; and the horse of each fell back upon his haunches and would
+  have been overthrown had not each knight voided his saddle with a very wonderful
+  skill and agility. </p>
+<p> Then each knight drew sword and came the one against the other, as furiously
+  as two rams at battle. So they fought for nigh the space of an hour, foining
+  and striking, and tracing hither and tracing thither most furiously; and the
+  noise of the blows they struck might have been heard several furlongs away.
+</p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percival overcometh the strange knight.</div>
+<p> During that battle Sir Percival received several sore wounds so that by and
+  by a great passion of rage seized upon him. So he rushed the battle with might
+  and main, and therewith struck so many furious blows that by and by that other
+  knight held his shield very low for weariness. This Sir Percival perceived,
+  and therewith he smote the other so furious a blow upon the head that the knight
+  sank down upon his knees and could not arise. Then Sir Percival ran to him and
+  catched him by the neck and flung him down violently upon the ground, crying
+  out, "Yield or I slay thee!" </p>
+<p> Then that knight besought mercy in a very weak voice, saying: "Sir Knight,
+  I beseech thee, spare my life!" </p>
+<p> Sir Percival said: "Well, I will spare thee, but tell me, what is thy name?"
+  To this the other said: "I am Sir Lionel, and I am a knight of King Arthur's
+  court and of the Round Table." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percival giveth aid to Sir Lionel.</div>
+<p> Now when Sir Percival heard this he cried out aloud, for he was very greatly
+  grieved, and he said: "Al as, what have I done for to fight against thee in
+  this wise! I am Sir Percival, whom thine own kinsman, Sir Launcelot of the Lake,
+  hath trained in arms. But indeed, I did never think to use that art which he
+  taught me against one so dear to his heart as thou art, Sir Lionel." So with
+  that Sir Percival assisted Sir Lionel to arise to his feet, and Sir Lionel was
+  so weak from that woeful battle that he could hardly stand. </p>
+<p> Now that stream and lake of water above spoken of was near by, so Sir Percival
+  brought Sir Lionel thither, holding him up as he walked; and there Sir Lionel
+  refreshed himself. Then, when he was revived a little, he turned his eyes very
+  languidly upon Sir Percival, and he said: "Percival, thou hast done to me this
+  day what few knights have ever done before. So all the glory that ever I have
+  won is now thy glory because of this battle. For thou hast overcome me in a
+  fair quarrel and I have yielded myself unto thee, wherefore it is now thy right
+  to command me to thy will." </p>
+<p> Then Percival said: "Alas, dear Sir Knight! It is not meet that I should lay
+  command upon such as thou art. But, if thou wilt do so, I beseech thee when
+  thou art come to King Arthur's court that thou wilt tell the King that I, who
+  am his young knight Percival, have borne myself not unbecomingly in my battle
+  with thee. For this is the first battle, knight against knight, that I have
+  undertaken in all of my life. And I beseech thee that thou wilt greet Sir Kay
+  the Seneschal, from me, and that thou wilt say to him that by and by I shall
+  meet him and repay him that buffet which he gave to the damsel Yelande, the
+  Dumb Maiden, in the Queen's pavilion." </p>
+<p> Sir Lionel said: "It shall be as thou sayst, and I will do thy bidding. But,
+  touching Sir Kay, I do not believe that he will take very much joy at thy message
+  to him. For he will find small pleasure in the thought of the payment of that
+  buffet that thou hast promised to give him." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percival goeth forward upon his adventure.</div>
+<p> Now, as the day by this time was waxing late, Sir Percival abided that night
+  at that neatherd's hut nigh to which this battle had been fought and there had
+  his wounds bathed and dressed; and when the next morning had come he arose early,
+  and saddled his horse, and rode forward upon his way. And as he rode he was
+  very well pleased at the thought of that battle he had fought with Sir Lionel,
+  for he wist that he had obtained great credit to himself in that encounter,
+  and he was aware, now that he had made trial of his strength against such a
+  one as Sir Lionel, he must be one of the greatest knights of the world. So his
+  heart was uplifted with great joy and delight at that thought; that he was now
+  a well-approved knight-champion, worthy of his knighthood. Therefore he rode
+  away for all that day, greatly rejoicing in spirit at the thought of what he
+  had done the day before. </p>
+<p> About the first slant of the afternoon Sir Percival came at last out of the
+  woodlands and into a wide-open plain, very fertile and well tilled, with fields
+  of wheat and rye abounding on all sides. And he saw that in the midst of that
+  plain there was a considerable lake, and that in the midst of that lake there
+  was an island, and that upon the island there stood a fair noble castle, and
+  he wist that that castle must be the castle of Beaurepaire. So he rode down
+  into that valley with some speed. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percival perceives a red knight.</div>
+<p> Now after he had so ridden for a while, he was aware of a knight, very haughty
+  of appearance and bearing, who rode before him upon the same way that he was
+  going. And that knight was clad all in red armor, and he rode upon a horse so
+  black that I believe there was not a single white hair upon him. And all the
+  trappings and the furniture of that horse were of red, so that he presented
+  a very noble appearance. So Sir Percival made haste to overtake that knight,
+  and when he had come nigh he drew rein at a little distance. Thereupon that
+  knight in red bespake Sir Percival very proudly, saying: "Sir Knight, whither
+  ride you, and upon what mission?" </p>
+<p> "Messire," quoth Percival, "I ride toward yonder castle, which I take to be
+  the castle of Beaurepaire, and I come hither with intent to succor the Lady
+  Blanchefleur of that castle from a knight, hight Sir Clamadius, who keeps her
+  there a prisoner against her will, so that it behooves any good knight to attempt
+  her rescue." </p>
+<p> Upon this the red knight spake very fiercely, saying: "Messire, what business
+  is that of yours? I would have you know that I am a knight of King Clamadius',
+  wherefore I am able to say to you that you shall go no further upon that quest.
+  For I am Sir Engeneron of Grandregarde, and I am Seneschal unto King Clamadius,
+  and I will not have it that thou shalt go any farther upon this way unless you
+  ride over me to go upon it." </p>
+<p> "Messire," quoth Sir Percival, "I have no quarrel with you, but if you have
+  a mind to force a quarrel upon me, I will not seek to withdraw myself from an
+  encounter with you. So make yourself ready, and I will make myself ready, and
+  then we shall soon see whether or not I am to pass upon this way." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percival doeth battle with Sir Engeneron.</div>
+<p> So therewith each knight turned his horse away to such a place as seemed to
+  him to be fitting; and when they were in all wise prepared they rushed together
+  with an amazing velocity and a noise like to thunder. So they met in the midst
+  of the course. And in that encounter the spear of Sir Engeneron broke into many
+  pieces, but the spear of Sir Percival held, so that he flung Sir Engeneron entirely
+  out of his saddle and over the crupper of his horse and down upon the ground
+  so violently that Sir Engeneron lay there in a swoon. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Engeneron yields himself to Sir Percival.</div>
+<p> Then Sir Percival dismounted from his horse with all speed, and he rushed
+  the helmet of Sir Engeneron off of his head with intent to slay him. But with
+  that Sir Engeneron awoke to his danger, and therewith gat upon his knees and
+  clasped Sir Percival about the thighs, crying out: "Sir, I beseech you upon
+  your knighthood to spare my life." </p>
+<p> "Well," said Sir Percival, "since you beseech that upon my knighthood I must
+  needs do as you ask. But I will only do so upon two conditions. The first of
+  these conditions is that you go to the court of King Arthur, and that you surrender
+  yourself as captive to a damsel of that court who is known as the Lady Yelande
+  the Dumb Maiden. And you are to tell that maiden that the young knight who slew
+  Sir Boindegardus greets her and that he tells her that in a little while he
+  will return to repay to Sir Kay that buffet he gave her. This is my first condition."
+  And Sir Engeneron said: "I will perform that condition." </p>
+<p> "And my second condition," said Sir Percival, "is this: that you give me your
+  armor for me to use upon this adventure which I have undertaken, and that you
+  take my armor and deposit it with the hermit of a little chapel you shall after
+  a while come to if you return upon the road which brought me hither. After a
+  while I will return and reclaim my armor and will return your armor. This is
+  my second condition." </p>
+<p> And Sir Engeneron said: "That condition also I shall fulfil according to your
+  command." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percival and Sir Engeneron exchange armor.</div>
+<p> Then Sir Percival said: "Arise." And Sir Engeneron did so. And after that
+  Sir Engeneron put off his armor, and Sir Percival put off his armor. And Sir
+  Percival put on the armor of Sir Engeneron, and Sir Engeneron packed the armor
+  of Sir Percival upon his horse and prepared to depart in obedience to those
+  conditions of Sir Percival. So they parted company, Sir Percival riding upon
+  his way to Beaurepaire, and Sir Engeneron betaking his way to find the chapel
+  of that hermit of whom Sir Percival had spoken. </p>
+<p> So it was that after two adventures, Sir Percival entered upon that undertaking
+  which he had come to perform in behalf of the Lady Blanchefleur. </p>
+<p> And now, if it please you to read what follows, you shall hear how it befell
+  with Sir Percival at the castle of Beaurepaire. </p>
+<p> After that adventure with Sir Engeneron, Sir Percival rode onward upon his
+  way, and by and by he came to the lake whereon stood the castle and the town
+  of Beaurepaire. And Sir Percival beheld that a long narrow bridge crossed over
+  that part of the lake from the mainland to the island and the town. So Sir Percival
+  rode very boldly forth upon that bridge and across it, and no one stayed him,
+  for all of the knights of Sir Clamadius who beheld him said: "Yonder rides Sir
+  Engeneron." Thus Sir Percival crossed the bridge and rode very boldly forward
+  until he came to the gate of the castle, and those who beheld him said: "Sir
+  Engeneron haply beareth a message to the castle." For no one wist that that
+  knight was not Sir Engeneron, but all thought that it was he because of the
+  armor which he wore. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percival cometh to Beaurepaire.</div>
+<p> So Sir Percival came close to the castle, and when he was come there he called
+  very loudly to those within, and by and by there appeared the face of a woman
+  at an upper window and the face was very pale and woe-begone. </p>
+<p> Then Sir Percival said to the woman at the window: "Bid them open the gate
+  and let me in; for I come to bring you succor at this place." </p>
+<p> To this the woman said: "I shall not bid them open the gate, for I know from
+  your armor who you are, and that you are Sir Engeneron the Seneschal. And I
+  know that you are one of our bitterest enemies; for you have already slain several
+  of the knights of this castle, and now you seek by guile to enter into the castle
+  itself." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percival entereth Beaurepaire.</div>
+<p> Then Sir Percival said: "I am not Sir Engeneron, but one who hath overthrown
+  Sir Engeneron in battle. I have put on his armor with intent that I might come
+  hither to help defend this place against Sir Clamadius." So said Sir Percival,
+  and therewith he put up the umbril of his helmet, saying: "Look, see; I am not
+  Sir Engeneron." Then the woman at the window saw his face and that it was not
+  the face of Sir Engeneron. And she saw that the face of Sir Percival was mild
+  and gentle, wherefore she ran and told the people of the castle that a knight
+  who was a friend stood without. Therewith they of the castle let fall the drawbridge
+  and opened the gates, and Sir Percival entered into the castle. </p>
+<p> Then there came several of the chief people of the castle, and they also were
+  all pale and woe-begone from long fasting, as was the woman whom Sir Percival
+  had first seen; for all were greatly wasted because of the toil and anxiety
+  of that siege. These asked Sir Percival who he was and whence he came and how
+  he came thither; and Sir Percival told them all that it was necessary for them
+  to know. For he told them how he was a young knight trained under the care of
+  Sir Launcelot; and he told them that he had come thither with the hope of serving
+  the Lady Blanchefleur; and he told them what adventures had befallen him in
+  the coming and how he had already overthrown Sir Lionel and Sir Engeneron to
+  get there. Wherefore, from these things, they of the castle perceived that Sir
+  Percival was a very strong, worthy knight, and they gave great joy that he should
+  have come thither to their aid. </p>
+<p> So he who was chief of those castle people summoned several attendants, and
+  these came and some took the horse of Sir Percival and led it to the stables,
+  and others relieved Sir Percival of his armor; and others took him to a bath
+  of tepid water, where he bathed himself, and was dried on soft linen towels;
+  and others brought soft garments of gray cloth and clad Sir Percival in them
+  and afterward brought him down into a fair large chamber where there was a table
+  spread as though ready for meat. </p>
+<a href="images/053.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="p30" align="left" src="images/053.gif" border="0" alt="The Demoiselle Blanchefleur" /></a>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percival beholds the Lady Blanchefleur.</div>
+<p> Now in a little after Sir Percival was come to that supper-hall the door thereof
+  was opened and there entered several people. With these came a damsel of such
+  extraordinary beauty and gracefulness of figure that Sir Percival stood amazed.
+  For her face was fair beyond words; red upon white, like rose-leaves upon cream;
+  and her eyes were bright and glancing like those of a falcon, and her nose was
+  thin and straight, and her lips were very red, like to coral for redness, and
+  her hair was dark and abundant and like to silk for softness. She was clad all
+  in a dress of black, shot with stars of gold, and the dress was lined with ermine
+  and was trimmed with sable at the collar and the cuffs and the hem thereof.
+</p>
+<p> So Sir Percival stood and gazed at that lady with a pleasure beyond words
+  to express, and he wist that this must be the Lady Blanchefleur, for whose sake
+  he had come thither. </p>
+<p> And the Lady Blanchefleur looked upon Sir Percival with great kindness, for
+  he appeared to her like to a hero for strength and beauty; wherefore she smiled
+  upon Sir Percival very graciously and came forward and gave him her hand. And
+  Sir Percival took her hand and set it to his lips; and lo! her hand was as soft
+  as silk and very warm, rosy and fragrant, and the fingers thereof glistered
+  with bright golden rings and with gems of divers colors. </p>
+<p> Then that beautiful Lady Blanchefleur said: "Messire, this is a very knightly
+  thing for you to do to come hither to this place. And you come in good time,
+  for food groweth very scarce with us so that in a little while we must face
+  starvation. For because of the watch that Sir Clamadius keepeth upon this place,
+  no one can either enter in or go out. Yea, thou art the very first one who hath
+  come hither since he has sat down before Beaurepaire." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">The Lady Blanchefleur telleth her sorrows to Sir Percival.</div>
+<p> Then presently she ceased smiling and her face clouded over; then bright tears
+  began to drop from the Lady Blanchefleur's eyes; and then she said: "I fear
+  me greatly that Sir Clamadius will at last seize upon this castle, for he hath
+  kept us here prisoner for a long while. Yet though he seize the castle, he shall
+  never seize that which the castle contains. For I keep by me a little casket
+  of silver, and therein is a dagger, very sharp and fine. Therefore the day that
+  Sir Clamadius enters into this castle, I shall thrust that dagger into my heart.
+  For, though Sir Clamadius may seize upon my castle, he shall never possess my
+  soul." </p>
+<p> Then Sir Percival was very sorry for the tears he saw shining upon the Lady
+  Blanchefleur's face, wherefore he said: "Lady, I have great hopes that this
+  affair may never reach to that woful extremity thou speakest of." The Lady Blanchefleur
+  said: "I hope not also." And therewith she wiped away her tears and smiled again.
+  Then she said: "See, Sir Percival, the evening has come and it is time to sit
+  at supper, now I beseech thee for to come to table with me, for though we have
+  but little to eat here, yet I assure thee that thou art very welcome to the
+  best that we have." </p>
+<p> So therewith Lady Blanchefleur led Sir Percival to the table, and they sat
+  down to such feast as could be had at that place of starvation. For what they
+  had was little enough, being only such fish as they could catch from the lake,
+  and a little bread--but not much--and a very little wine. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">The Lady sings to Sir Percival.</div>
+<p> Then after they had eaten and drunk what they had, the Lady Blanchefleur took
+  a golden harp into her hand and played thereon, and sang in a voice so clear
+  and high and beautiful that Percival was altogether enchanted and bewitched
+  thereat. </p>
+<p> Thus it was that that evening passed with them very pleasantly and cheerfully,
+  so that it was the middle of the night ere Sir Percival withdrew to that couch
+  that had been prepared for his rest. </p>
+<p> Now word was brought to Sir Clamadius that Sir Engeneron the Seneschal had
+  been overcome by another knight, wherefore Sir Clamadius wist that that was
+  the knight in Sir Engeneron's armor who had entered into the castle. So Sir
+  Clamadius said: "Certes, this must be a champion of no small prowess who hath
+  undertaken single-handed such a dangerous quest as this, and hath thus entered
+  into the castle, for they appear to make great rejoicings at his coming. Now
+  if he remaineth there it may very well be that they will be encouraged to resist
+  me a great while longer, and so all that I have thus far accomplished shall
+  have been in vain." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">The old counsellor giveth advice to Sir Clamadius.</div>
+<p> Now there was among the counsellors of Sir Clamadius an old knight who was
+  very cunning and far-sighted. He said to the King: "Sire, I think we may be
+  able to devise some plan whereby we may withdraw this knight-champion out of
+  the castle. My plan is this: Let ten of your best knights make parade before
+  that castle tomorrow, and let them give challenge to those within the castle
+  to come forth to battle. Then I believe that this knight will come forth with
+  the other knights from the castle to accept that challenge. Thereafter let it
+  be that our knights withdraw as though in retreat, and so lead this knight and
+  the knights of the castle into an ambushment. There let many fall upon them
+  at once and either slay them or make them prisoners. So the castle shall be
+  deprived of this new champion that hath come to it, and therewith may be so
+  disheartened that it will yield to thee." </p>
+<p> This advice seemed very good to King Clamadius, wherefore, when the next morning
+  had come, he chose him ten knights from among the foremost of all his knights,
+  and he bade them give that challenge in that wise. These did so, and therewith
+  Sir Percival and nine other knights issued out from the castle against them.
+</p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percival doeth great battle.</div>
+<p> But it did not fare as Sir Clamadius had expected; for the attack of Sir Percival
+  and his knights was so fierce and sudden that those ten knights could not withdraw
+  so easily as they intended. For, ere they were able to withdraw, Sir Percival
+  had struck down six of these knights with his own hand and the other four were
+  made prisoners. </p>
+<p> Thus Sir Percival and his knights did not come into that ambush that had been
+  prepared for them. </p>
+<p> Then those who were in ambush perceived that their plan had failed wherefore
+  they broke from cover with intent to do what they could. But Sir Percival and
+  his knights beheld them coming, and so withdrew, defending themselves with great
+  valor. So they came into the castle again in safety. </p>
+<p> Thus it was that the plans of King Clamadius and his counsellor failed of
+  effect, whereupon Sir Clamadius was very angry at that wise old knight. So that,
+  when that counsellor came to him again and said: "Sir, I have another plan,"
+  King Clamadius cried out very fiercely: "Away with thy plans! They are all of
+  no avail." Then Sir Clamadius said: "When to-morrow comes, I myself will undertake
+  this affair. For I will go and give challenge to this knight, and so I shall
+  hope to decide this quarrel man to man. For unless yonder knight be Sir Launcelot
+  of the Lake or Sir Lamorack of Gales, I do not think he will be my peer in an
+  encounter of man to man." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Clamadius arms himself for battle.</div>
+<p> So when the next morning had come, Sir Clamadius armed himself at all points
+  and straightway betook himself to a fair, smooth meadow beneath the walls of
+  the castle. And when he had come there he cried out: "Sir Red Knight, come forth
+  and speak with me." </p>
+<p> So after a while Sir Percival appeared at the top of the castle wall, and
+  he said: "Messire, here I am; what is it you would have of me?" </p>
+<p> Then Sir Clamadius said: "Messire, are you Sir Launcelot of the Lake?" And
+  Sir Percival said: "Nay, I am not he." Sir Clamadius said: "Art thou then Sir
+  Lamorack of Gales?" And Sir Percival said: "Nay, I am not he." Then Sir Clamadius
+  said: "Who, then, art thou?" Sir Percival said: "I am not any great knight-champion
+  such as those two of whom you speak, but am a young knight who have not fought
+  more than twice or thrice in my life." </p>
+<p> At that Sir Clamadius was very glad, for he feared that Sir Percival might
+  be some famous knight well-seasoned in arms. Wherefore when he found that Sir
+  Percival was only a young and untried knight, he thought it would be an easy
+  matter to deal with him. So he said: "Messire, I challenge thee to come forth
+  to battle with me man to man so that thou and I may settle this quarrel betwixt
+  us, for it is a pity to shed more blood than is necessary in this quarrel. So
+  if thou wilt come forth and overthrow me, then I will withdraw my people from
+  this place; but if I overthrow thee, then this castle shall be yielded up to
+  me with all that it contains." </p>
+<p> To this Sir Percival said: "Sir Knight, I am very willing to fight with thee
+  upon that issue. But first of all I must obtain the consent of the Lady Blanchefleur
+  to stand her champion." </p>
+<p> So Sir Percival went to the Lady Blanchefleur, and he said: "Lady, will you
+  accept me as your champion to fight the issue of this quarrel man to man with
+  Sir Clamadius?" </p>
+<p> She said: "Percival, thou art very young to have to do with so old and well-seasoned
+  a knight. Now I greatly fear for your life in such a battle as that." </p>
+<p> To this Sir Percival said: "Lady, I know that I am young, but indeed I feel
+  a very big spirit stir within me, so that if thou wilt trust me, I have belief
+  that, with the grace of God, I shall win this battle." </p>
+<p> Then the Lady Blanchefleur smiled upon Sir Percival and she said: "Percival,
+  I will gladly entrust my life and safety into thy keeping, for I too have great
+  dependence in thy knighthood." </p>
+<p> So straightway Sir Percival armed himself, and when he was in all wise prepared
+  he went forth to that battle with a heart very full of great courage and hope.
+</p>
+<p> There he found Sir Clamadius still parading in that meadow beneath the walls,
+  awaiting the coming of his opponent. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percival and Sir Clamadius do battle.</div>
+<p> Meanwhile many folk came and stood upon the walls of the castle to behold
+  that encounter, whilst each knight took such stand as appeared good to him.
+  Then, when they were in all wise prepared, each knight drave spurs into his
+  horse and rushed himself against the other with most terrible and fierce violence.
+  Therewith they met in the very midst of the course with an uproar like to thunder
+  that echoed back from the flat walls of the castle. </p>
+<p> In that encounter the spear of Sir Percival held, but the spear of Sir Clamadius
+  was riven into splinters. And so, Sir Percival riding forward with furious violence,
+  Sir Clamadius was overthrown, horse and man, with such violence that he lay
+  there upon the ground as though he were dead. </p>
+<p> Then all those upon the walls shouted aloud with a great noise of rejoicing,
+  whilst those of the party of Sir Clamadius gave lamentation in the same degree.
+</p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Clamadius yields himself.</div>
+<p> But Sir Percival voided his saddle in haste, and ran to where Sir Clamadius
+  lay. And Sir Percival rushed the helmet off from the head of Sir Clamadius,
+  and he catched him by the hair of the head, and he raised his sword on high
+  with intent to finish the work he had begun. Therewith Sir Clamadius aroused
+  himself unto his danger, and he cried in a very piercing voice: "Messire, I
+  beseech thee of thy knighthood to spare my life!" </p>
+<p> "Well," said Sir Percival, "since you ask me upon my knighthood, I cannot
+  refuse you, for so I was taught by the noble knight, Sir Launcelot, to refuse
+  no boon asked upon my knighthood that I was able to grant. But I will only spare
+  your life upon one condition, and that is this: That you disarm yourself in
+  all wise, and that you go without armor to the court of King Arthur. There you
+  shall deliver yourself as a servant unto a damsel of King Arthur's court, hight
+  Yelande, surnamed the Dumb Maiden. Her you are to tell that the youth who slew
+  Sir Boindegardus hath sent you unto her as a servant. And you are to say to
+  Sir Kay, the Seneschal of King Arthur, that the young knight Percival will in
+  a little while come to repay that buffet he gave to the damoiselle Yelande aforesaid."
+</p>
+<p> So said Sir Percival, and Sir Clamadius said: "It shall be done in all wise
+  as you command, if so be you will spare my life." Then Sir Percival said: "Arise";
+  and Sir Clamadius arose; and Sir Percival said: "Go hence"; and therewith Sir
+  Clamadius departed as Sir Percival commanded. </p>
+<p> So that day Sir Clamadius withdrew from the castle of Beaurepaire with all
+  his array of knights, and after that he went to the court of King Arthur and
+  did in all respects as Sir Percival had commanded him to do. </p>
+<p> So it was that Sir Percival fulfilled that quest, and set the Lady Blanchefleur
+  free from duress; and may God grant that you also fulfil all your quests with
+  as great honor and nobility as therein exhibited. </p>
+<div align="center"> <a href="images/tail.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/tail.gif" border="0" alt="Tail Piece" /></a>
+</div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div class="chaphead" id="per5"><a href="images/015.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/015.gif" alt="Chapter Header" border="0" /></a>
+  <br />
+  Chapter Fifth</div>
+<br />
+<div class="chapdes">How Sir Percival repaid Sir Kay the buffet he one time gave
+  Yelande the Dumb Maiden, and how, thereafter, he went forth to seek his own
+  lady of love.</div>
+<p> Now, after these adventures aforesaid, Sir Percival remained for a long while
+  at Beaurepaire, and during that time he was the knight-champion to the Lady
+  Blanchefleur. And the Lady Blanchefleur loved Sir Percival every day with a
+  greater and greater passion, but Sir Percival showed no passion of love for
+  her in return, and thereat Lady Blanchefleur was greatly troubled. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percival and the Lady Blanchefleur walk together.</div>
+<p> Now one day the Lady Blanchefleur and Sir Percival were walking together on
+  a terrace; and it was then come to be the fall of the year, so that the leaves
+  of the trees were showering all down about them like flakes of gold. And that
+  day the Lady Blanchefleur loved Sir Percival so much that her heart was pierced
+  with that love as though with a great agony. But Sir Percival wist not of that.
+</p>
+<p> Then the Lady Blanchefleur said: "Messire, I would that thou wouldst stay
+  here always as our knight-champion." </p>
+<p> "Lady," quoth Percival, "that may not be, for in a little while now I must
+  leave you. For, though I shall be sad to go from such a friendly place as this
+  is, yet I am an errant knight, and as I am errant I must fulfil many adventures
+  besides the one I have accomplished here." </p>
+<p> "Messire," said the Lady Blanchefleur, "if you will but remain here, this
+  castle shall be yours and all that it contains." </p>
+<p> At this Sir Percival was greatly astonished, wherefore he said: "Lady, how
+  may that be? Lo! this castle is yours, and no one can take it away from you,
+  nor can you give it to me for mine own." </p>
+<p> Then the Lady Blanchefleur turned away her face and bowed her head, and said
+  in a voice as though it were stifling her for to speak: "Percival, it needs
+  not to take the castle from me; take thou me for thine own, and then the castle
+  and all shall be thine." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percival denies the Lady Blanchefleur.</div>
+<p> At that Sir Percival stood for a space very still as though without breathing.
+  Then by and by he said: "Lady, meseems that no knight could have greater honor
+  paid to him than that which you pay to me. Yet should I accept such a gift as
+  you offer, then I would be doing such dishonor to my knighthood that would make
+  it altogether unworthy of that high honor you pay it. For already I have made
+  my vow to serve a lady, and if I should forswear that vow, I would be a dishonored
+  and unworthy knight." </p>
+<p> Then the Lady Blanchefleur cried out in a great voice of suffering: "Say no
+  more, for I am ashamed." </p>
+<p> Sir Percival said: "Nay, there is no shame to thee, but great honor to me."
+  But the Lady Blanchefleur would not hear him, but brake away from him in great
+  haste, and left him standing where he was. </p>
+<p> So Sir Percival could stay no longer at that place; but as soon as might be,
+  he took horse and rode away. Nor did he see Blanchefleur again after they had
+  thus talked together upon that terrace as aforesaid. </p>
+<p> And after Sir Percival had gone, the Lady Blanchefleur abandoned herself to
+  great sorrow, for she wept a long while and a very great deal; nor would she,
+  for a long while, take any joy in living or in the world in which she lived.
+</p>
+<div class="sidenote">Of the further adventures of Sir Percival.</div>
+<p> So Sir Percival performed that adventure of setting free the duress of the
+  castle of Beaurepaire. And after that and ere the winter came, he performed
+  several other adventures of more or less fame. And during that time, he overthrew
+  eleven knights in various affairs at arms and in all those adventures he met
+  with no mishap himself. And besides such encounters at arms, he performed several
+  very worthy works; for he slew a wild boar that was a terror to all that dwelt
+  nigh to the forest of Umber; and he also slew a very savage wolf that infested
+  the moors of the Dart. Wherefore, because of these several adventures, the name
+  of Sir Percival became very famous in all courts of chivalry, and many said:
+  "Verily, this young knight must be the peer of Sir Launcelot of the Lake himself."
+</p>
+<p> Now one day toward eventide (and it was a very cold winter day) Sir Percival
+  came to the hut of a hermit in the forest of Usk; and he abode all night at
+  that place. </p>
+<p> Now when the morning had come he went out and stood in front of the hut, and
+  he saw that during the night a soft snow had fallen so that all the earth was
+  covered with white. And he saw that it likewise had happened that a hawk had
+  struck a raven in front of the hermit's habitation, and that some of the raven's
+  feathers and some of its blood lay upon the snow. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percival stands in meditation.</div>
+<p> Now when Sir Percival beheld the blood and the black feathers upon that white
+  snow, he said to himself: "Behold! that snow is not whiter than the brow and
+  the neck of my lady; and that red is not redder than her lips; and that black
+  is not blacker than her hair." Therewith the thought of that lady took great
+  hold upon him and he sighed so deeply that he felt his heart lifted within him
+  because of that sigh. So he stood and gazed upon that white and red and black,
+  and he forgot all things else in the world than his lady-love. </p>
+<a href="images/054.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="p31" align="right" src="images/054.gif" border="0" alt="Sir Kay interrupts ye meditations of Sir Percival" /></a>
+<p> Now it befell at that time that there came a party riding through those parts,
+  and that party were Sir Gawaine and Sir Geraint and Sir Kay. And when they saw
+  Sir Percival where he stood leaning against a tree and looking down upon the
+  ground in deep meditation, Sir Kay said: "Who is yonder knight?" (For he wist
+  not that that knight was Sir Percival.) And Sir Kay said further: "I will go
+  and bespeak that knight and ask him who he is." </p>
+<p> But Sir Gawaine perceived that Sir Percival was altogether sunk in deep thought,
+  wherefore he said: "Nay, thou wilt do ill to disturb that knight; for either
+  he hath some weighty matter upon his mind, or else he is bethinking him of his
+  lady, and in either case it would be a pity to disturb him until he arouses
+  himself." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Kay shakes the arm of Sir Percival.</div>
+<p> But Sir Kay would not heed what Sir Gawaine said, but forthwith he went to
+  where Sir Percival stood; and Sir Percival was altogether unaware of his coming,
+  being so deeply sunk in his thoughts. Then Sir Kay said: "Sir Knight,"--but
+  Sir Percival did not hear him. And Sir Kay said: "Sir Knight, who art thou?"
+  But still Sir Percival did not reply. Then Sir Kay said: "Sir Knight, thou shalt
+  answer me!" And therewith he catched Sir Percival by the arm and shook him very
+  roughly. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percival smites Sir Kay a buffet.</div>
+<p> Then Sir Percival aroused himself, and he was filled with indignation that
+  anyone should have laid rough hands upon his person. And Sir Percival did not
+  recognize Sir Kay because he was still entangled in that network of thought,
+  but he said very fiercely: "Ha, sirrah! wouldst thou lay hands upon me!" and
+  therewith he raised his fist and smote Sir Kay so terrible a buffet beside the
+  head that Sir Kay instantly fell down as though he were dead and lay without
+  sense of motion upon the ground. Then Sir Percival perceived that there were
+  two other knights standing not far off, and therewith his thoughts of other
+  things came back to him again and he was aware of what he had done in his anger,
+  and was very sorry and ashamed that he should have been so hasty as to have
+  struck that blow. </p>
+<p> Then Sir Gawaine came to Sir Percival and spake sternly to him saying. "Sir
+  Knight, why didst thou strike my companion so unknightly a blow as that?" </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Gawaine chides Sir Percival.</div>
+<p> To which Sir Percival said: "Messire, it grieves me sorely that I should have
+  been so hasty, but I was bethinking me of my lady, and this knight disturbed
+  my thoughts; wherefore I smote him in haste." </p>
+<p> To this Sir Gawaine made reply: "Sir, I perceive that thou hadst great excuse
+  for thy blow. Ne'theless, I am displeased that thou shouldst have struck that
+  knight. Now I make demand of thee what is thy name and condition?" </p>
+<p> And Sir Percival said: "My name is Percival, and I am a knight of King Arthur's
+  making." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Gawaine and Sir Geraint rejoice over Sir Percival.</div>
+<p> At that, when Sir Gawaine and Sir Geraint heard what Sir Percival said, they
+  cried out in great amazement; and Sir Gawaine said: "Ha, Sir Percival! this
+  is indeed well met, for my name is Gawaine and I am a nephew unto King Arthur
+  and am of his court; and this knight is Sir Geraint, and he also is of King
+  Arthur's court and of his Round Table. And we have been in search of thee for
+  this long time for to bring thee unto King Arthur at Camelot. For thy renown
+  is now spread all over this realm, so that they talk of thee in every court
+  of chivalry." </p>
+<p> And Sir Percival said: "That is good news to me, for I wist not that I had
+  so soon won so much credit. But, touching the matter of returning unto King
+  Arthur's court with you; unto that I crave leave to give my excuses. For, since
+  you tell me that I now have so much credit of knighthood, it behooves me to
+  go immediately unto my lady and to offer my services unto her. For when I parted
+  from her I promised her that I would come to her as soon as I had won me sufficient
+  credit of knighthood. As for this knight whom I have struck, I cannot be sorry
+  for that buffet, even if it was given with my fist and not with my sword as
+  I should have given it. For I have promised Sir Kay by several mouths that I
+  would sometime repay him with just such a buffet as that which he struck the
+  damosel Yelande. So now I have fulfilled my promise and have given him that
+  buffet." </p>
+<p> Then Sir Gawaine and Sir Geraint laughed, and Sir Gawaine said: "Well, Sir
+  Percival, thou hast indeed fulfilled thy promise in very good measure. For I
+  make my vow that no one could have been better served with his dessert than
+  was Sir Kay." </p>
+<p> Now by this time Sir Kay had recovered from that blow, so that he rose up
+  very ruefully, looking about as though he wist not yet just where he was. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percival will not return to court.</div>
+<p> Then Sir Gawaine said to Sir Percival: "As to thy coming unto the court of
+  the King, thou dost right to fulfil thy promise unto thy lady before undertaking
+  any other obligation. For, even though the King himself bid thee come, yet is
+  thy obligation to thy lady superior to the command of the King. So now I bid
+  thee go in quest of thy lady in God's name; only see to it that thou comest
+  to the King's court as soon as thou art able." </p>
+<p> So it was that Sir Percival fulfilled the promise of that buffet unto Sir
+  Kay. </p>
+<p> And now you shall hear how he found the Lady Yvette the Fair. </p>
+<br />
+<div align="center"> *&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;*&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;*&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;*&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;*
+</div>
+<br />
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percival cometh to the castle of Sir Percydes.</div>
+<p> Now after Sir Percival had parted from Sir Gawaine, and Sir Geraint and Sir
+  Kay, he went his way in that direction he wist, and by and by, toward eventide,
+  he came again to the castle of Sir Percydes. And Sir Percydes was at home and
+  he welcomed Sir Percival with great joy and congratulations. For the fame of
+  Sir Percival was now abroad in all the world, so that Sir Percydes welcomed
+  him with great acclaim. </p>
+<p> So Sir Percival sat down with Sir Percydes and they ate and drank together,
+  and, for the time, Sir Percival said nothing of that which was upon his heart--for
+  he was of a very continent nature and was in no wise hasty in his speech. </p>
+<p> But after they had satisfied themselves with food and drink, then Sir Percival
+  spake to Sir Percydes of that which was upon his mind, saying: "Dear friend,
+  thou didst tell me that when I was ready for to come to thee with a certain
+  intent thou wouldst tell me who is the lady whose ring I wear and where I shall
+  find her. Now, I believe that I am a great deal more worthy for to be her knight
+  than I was when I first saw thee; wherefore I am now come to beseech thee to
+  redeem thy promise to me. Now tell me, I beg of thee, who is that lady and where
+  does she dwell?" </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percydes declares himself to Sir Percival.</div>
+<p> Then Sir Percydes said: "Friend, I will declare to thee that which thou dost
+  ask of me. Firstly, that lady is mine own sister, hight Yvette, and she is the
+  daughter of King Pecheur. Secondly, thou shalt find her at the castle of my
+  father, which standeth upon the west coast of this land. Nor shalt thou have
+  any difficulty in finding that castle, for thou mayst easily come to it by inquiring
+  the way of those whom thou mayst meet in that region. But, indeed, it hath been
+  two years since I have seen my father and my sister, and I know not how it is
+  with them." </p>
+<p> Then Sir Percival came to Sir Percydes and he put his arm about him and kissed
+  him upon either cheek, and he said: "Should I obtain the kind regard of that
+  lady, I know nothing that would more rejoice me than to know that thou art her
+  brother. For, indeed, I entertain a great deal of love for thee." </p>
+<p> At that Sir Percydes laughed for joy and he said: "Percival, wilt thou not
+  tell me of what house thou art come?" Percival said: "I will tell thee what
+  thou dost ask: my father is King Pellinore who was a very good, noble knight
+  of the court of King Arthur and of his Round Table." </p>
+<p> Then Sir Percydes cried out with great amazement, saying: "That is very marvellous!
+  I would that I had known this before, for thy mother and my mother were sisters
+  of one father and one mother. So we are cousins german." </p>
+<p> Then Sir Percival said: "This is great joy to me!" And his heart was expanded
+  with pleasure at finding that Sir Percydes was of his kindred and that he was
+  no longer alone in that part of the world. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percival departs for the castle of King Pecheur.</div>
+<p> So Sir Percival abided for two days with Sir Percydes and then he betook his
+  way to the westward in pursuance of that adventure. And he was upon the road
+  three days, and upon the morning of the fourth day he came, through diligent
+  inquiry, within sight of the castle of King Pecheur. This castle stood upon
+  a high crag of rock from which it arose against the sky so that it looked to
+  be a part of the crag. And it was a very noble and stately castle, having many
+  tall towers and many buildings within the walls thereof. And a village of white
+  houses of the fisher-folk gathered upon the rocks beneath the castle walls like
+  chicks beneath the shadow of their mother's wings. </p>
+<p> And, behold! Percival saw the great sea for the first time in all his life,
+  and was filled with wonder at the huge waves that ran toward the shore and burst
+  upon the rocks, all white like snow. And he was amazed at the multitude of sea
+  fowl that flew about the rocks in such prodigious numbers that they darkened
+  the sky. Likewise he was astonished at the fisher-boats that spread their white
+  sails against the wind, and floated upon the water like swans, for he had never
+  seen their like before. So he sat his horse upon a high rock nigh to the sea
+  and gazed his fill upon those things that were so wonderful to him. </p>
+<p> Then after a while Sir Percival went forward to the castle. And as he drew
+  nigh to the castle he became aware that a very reverend man, whose hair and
+  beard were as white as snow, sat upon a cushion of crimson velvet upon a rock
+  that overlooked the sea. Two pages, richly clad in black and silver, stood behind
+  him; and the old man gazed out across the sea, and Sir Percival saw that he
+  neither spake nor moved. But when Sir Percival came near to him the old man
+  arose and went into the castle, and the two pages took up the two crimson velvet
+  cushions and followed him. </p>
+<p> But Percival rode up to the castle, and he saw that the gateway of the castle
+  stood open, wherefore he rode into the courtyard of the castle. And when he
+  had come into the courtyard, two attendants immediately appeared and took his
+  horse and assisted him to dismount; but neither of these attendants said aught
+  to him, but both were as silent as deaf-mutes. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percival finds King Pecheur.</div>
+<p> Then Percival entered the hall and there he saw the old man whom he had before
+  seen, and the old man sat in a great carved chair beside a fire of large logs
+  of wood. And Sir Percival saw that the eyes of the old man were all red and
+  that his cheeks were channeled with weeping; and Percival was abashed at the
+  sadness of his aspect. Nevertheless, he came to where the old man sat and saluted
+  him with great reverence, and he said: "Art thou King Pecheur?" And the old
+  man answered, "Aye, for I am both a fisher and a sinner" (for that word Pecheur
+  meaneth both fisher and sinner). </p>
+<p> Then Sir Percival said: "Sire, I bring thee greetings from thy son, Sir Percydes,
+  who is a very dear friend to me. And likewise I bring thee greeting from myself:
+  for I am Percival, King Pellinore's son, and thy Queen and my mother are sisters.
+  And likewise I come to redeem a pledge, for, behold, here is the ring of thy
+  daughter Yvette, unto whom I am pledged for her true knight. Wherefore, having
+  now achieved a not dishonorable renown in the world of chivalry, I am come to
+  beseech her kindness and to redeem my ring which she hath upon her finger and
+  to give her back her ring again." </p>
+<p> Then King Pecheur fell to weeping in great measure and he said: "Percival
+  thy fame hath reached even to this remote place, for every one talketh of thee
+  with great unction. But, touching my daughter Yvette, if thou wilt come with
+  me I will bring thee to her." </p>
+<p> So King Pecheur arose and went forth and Sir Percival followed him. And King
+  Pecheur brought Sir Percival to a certain tower; and he brought him up a long
+  and winding stair; and at the top of the stairway was a door. And King Pecheur
+  opened the door and Sir Percival entered the apartment. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percival findeth the Lady Yvette.</div>
+<p> The windows of the apartment stood open, and a cold wind came in thereat from
+  off the sea; and there stood a couch in the middle of the room, and it was spread
+  with black velvet; and the Lady Yvette lay reclined upon the couch, and, lo!
+  her face was like to wax for whiteness, and she neither moved nor spake, but
+  only lay there perfectly still; for she was dead. </p>
+<p> Seven waxen candles burned at her head, and seven others at her feet, and
+  the flames of the candles spread and wavered as the cold wind blew upon them.
+  And the hair of her head (as black as those raven feathers that Sir Percival
+  had beheld lying upon the snow) moved like threads of black silk as the wind
+  blew in through the window--but the Lady Yvette moved not nor stirred, but lay
+  like a statue of marble all clad in white. </p>
+<p> Then at the first Sir Percival stood very still at the door-way as though
+  he had of a sudden been turned into stone. Then he went forward and stood beside
+  the couch and held his hands very tightly together and gazed at the Lady Yvette
+  where she lay. So he stood for a long while, and he wist not why it was that
+  he felt like as though he had been turned into a stone, without such grief at
+  his heart as he had thought to feel thereat. (For indeed, his spirit was altogether
+  broken though he knew it not.) </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Of the grief of Sir Percival.</div>
+<p> Then he spake unto that still figure, and he said: "Dear lady, is it thus
+  I find thee after all this long endeavor of mine? Yet from Paradise, haply,
+  thou mayst perceive all that I have accomplished in thy behalf. So shalt thou
+  be my lady always to the end of my life and I will have none other than thee.
+  Wherefore I herewith give thee thy ring again and take mine own in its stead."
+  Therewith, so speaking, he lifted that hand (all so cold like the snow) and
+  took his ring from off her finger and put her ring back upon it again. </p>
+<p> Then King Pecheur said, "Percival, hast thou no tears?" </p>
+<p> And Percival said, "Nay, I have none." Therewith he turned and left that place,
+  and King Pecheur went with him. </p>
+<p> After that Sir Percival abided in that place for three days, and King Pecheur
+  and his lady Queen and their two young sons who dwelt at that place made great
+  pity over him, and wept a great deal. But Sir Percival said but little in reply
+  and wept not at all. </p>
+<br />
+<div align="center"> *&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;*&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;*&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;*&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;*
+</div>
+<br />
+<p> And now I shall tell you of that wonderful vision that came unto Sir Percival
+  at this place upon Christmas day. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percival beholds the grail.</div>
+<p> For on the third day (which was Christmas day) it chanced that Sir Percival
+  sat alone in the hall of the castle, and he meditated upon the great sorrow
+  that lay upon him. And as he sat thus this very wonderful thing befell him:
+  He suddenly beheld two youths enter that hall. And the faces of the two youths
+  shone with exceeding brightness, and their hair shone like gold, and their raiment
+  was very bright and glistering like to gold. One of these youths bare in his
+  hand a spear of mighty size, and blood dropped from the point of the spear;
+  and the other youth bare in his hand a chalice of pure gold, very wonderful
+  to behold, and he held the chalice in a napkin of fine cambric linen. </p>
+<p> Then, at first, Sir Percival thought that that which he beheld was a vision
+  conjured up by the deep sorrow that filled his heart, and he was afeard. But
+  the youth who bare the chalice spake in a voice extraordinarily high and clear.
+  And he said: "Percival! Percival! be not afraid! This which thou here beholdest
+  is the Sangreal, and that is the Spear of Sorrow. What then may thy sorrow be
+  in the presence of these holy things that brought with them such great sorrow
+  and affliction of soul that they have become entirely sanctified thereby! Thus,
+  Percival, should thy sorrow so sanctify thy life and not make it bitter to thy
+  taste. For so did this bitter cup become sanctified by the great sorrow that
+  tasted of it." </p>
+<p> Percival said: "Are these things real or are they a vision that I behold?"
+</p>
+<p> He who bare the chalice said, "They are real." And he who bare the spear said,
+  "They are real." </p>
+<p> Then a great peace and comfort came to Sir Percival's heart and they never
+  left him to the day of his death. </p>
+<p> Then they who bare the Sangreal and the Spear went out of the hall, and Sir
+  Percival kneeled there for a while after they had gone and prayed with great
+  devotion and with much comfort and satisfaction. </p>
+<p> And this was the first time that any of those knights that were of King Arthur's
+  Round Table ever beheld that holy chalice, the which Sir Percival was one of
+  three to achieve in after-years. </p>
+<p> So when Sir Percival came forth from that hall, all those who beheld him were
+  astonished at the great peace and calmness that appeared to emanate from him.
+  But he told no one of that miraculous vision which he had just beheld, and,
+  though it appeareth in the history of these things, yet it was not then made
+  manifest. </p>
+<p> Then Sir Percival said to King Pecheur, his uncle and to his aunt and to their
+  sons: "Now, dear friends, the time hath come when I must leave you. For I must
+  now presently go to the court of King Arthur in obedience to his commands and
+  to acknowledge myself unto my brother, Sir Lamorack." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percival departs for court.</div>
+<p> So that day Sir Percival set forth with intent to go to Camelot, where King
+  Arthur was then holding court in great estate of pomp. And Sir Percival reached
+  Camelot upon the fourth day from that time and that was during the feasts of
+  Christmas-tide. </p>
+<p> Now King Arthur sat at those feasts and there were six score of very noble
+  company seated with him. And the King's heart was greatly uplifted and expanded
+  with mirth and good cheer. Then, while all were feasting with great concord,
+  there suddenly came into that hall an herald-messenger; the whom, when King
+  Arthur beheld him, he asked: "What message hast thou brought?" Upon this the
+  messenger said: "Lord, there hath come one asking permission to enter here whom
+  you will be very well pleased to see." The King said, "Who is it?" And the herald-messenger
+  said, "He saith his name is Percival." </p>
+<p> Upon this King Arthur arose from where he sat and all the others uprose with
+  him and there was a great sound of loud voices; for the fame of Sir Percival
+  had waxed very great since he had begun his adventures. So King Arthur and the
+  others went down the hall for to meet Sir Percival. </p>
+<p> Then the door opened and Sir Percival came into that place, and his face shone
+  very bright with peace and good-will; and he was exceedingly comely. </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percival is received with joy.</div>
+<p> King Arthur said, "Art thou Percival?" And Percival said, "I am he." Thereupon
+  King Arthur took Sir Percival's head into his hands, and he kissed him upon
+  the brow. And Sir Percival kissed King Arthur's hand and he kissed the ring
+  of royalty upon the King's finger, and so he became a true knight in fealty
+  unto King Arthur. </p>
+<p> Then Sir Percival said: "Lord, have I thy leave to speak?" And King Arthur
+  said, "Say on." Sir Percival said, "Where is Sir Lamorack?" And King Arthur
+  said, "Yonder he is." Then Sir Percival perceived where Sir Lamorack stood among
+  the others, and he went to Sir Lamorack and knelt down before him; and Sir Lamorack
+  was very much astonished, and said: "Why dost thou kneel to me, Percival?" Then
+  Sir Percival said, "Dost thou know this ring?" </p>
+<p> Then Sir Lamorack knew his father's ring and he cried out in a loud voice:
+  "That is my father's ring; how came ye by it?" </p>
+<p> Percival said: "Our mother gave it to me, for I am thy brother." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percival declares himself to Sir Lamorack.</div>
+<p> Upon this Sir Lamorack cried out with great passion; and he flung his arms
+  about Sir Percival, and he kissed him repeatedly upon the face. And so ardent
+  was the great love and the great passion that moved him that all those who stood
+  about could in no wise contain themselves, but wept at that which they beheld.
+</p>
+<p> Then, after a while, King Arthur said: "Percival, come with me, for I have
+  somewhat to show thee." </p>
+<div class="sidenote">Sir Percival is made Knight of the Round Table.</div>
+<p> So King Arthur and Sir Lamorack and Sir Percival and several others went unto
+  that pavilion which was the pavilion of the Round Table, and there King Arthur
+  showed Sir Percival a seat which was immediately upon the right hand of the
+  Seat Perilous. </p>
+<p> And upon the back of that seat there was a name emblazoned in letters of gold;
+  and the name was this: </p>
+<div class="fancy"> <b>PERCIVAL OF GALES</b> </div>
+<p> Then King Arthur said: "Behold, Sir Percival, this is thy seat, for four days
+  ago that name appeared most miraculously, of a sudden, where thou seest it;
+  wherefore that seat is thine." </p>
+<p> Then Sir Percival was aware that that name had manifested itself at the time
+  when the Sangreal had appeared unto him in the castle of King Pecheur, and he
+  was moved with a great passion of love and longing for the Lady Yvette; so that,
+  because of the strength of that passion, it took upon it the semblance of a
+  terrible joy. And he said to himself: "If my lady could but have beheld these,
+  how proud would she have been! But, doubtless, she now looketh down from Paradise
+  and beholdeth us and all that we do." Thereupon he lifted up his eyes as though
+  to behold her, but she was not there, but only the roof of that pavilion. </p>
+<p> But he held his peace and said naught to anyone of those thoughts that disturbed
+  him. </p>
+<p> With this I conclude for the present the adventures of Sir Percival with only
+  this to say: that thereafter, as soon as might be, he and Sir Lamorack went
+  up into the mountains where their mother dwelt and brought her down thence into
+  the world, and that she was received at the court of King Arthur with great
+  honor and high regard until, after a while, she entered into a nunnery and took
+  the veil. </p>
+<p> Likewise it is to be said that Sir Percival lived, as he had vowed to do,
+  a virgin knight for all of his life; for he never paid court to any lady from
+  that time, but ever held within the sanctuary of his mind the image of that
+  dear lady who waited for him in Paradise until he should come unto her in such
+  season as God should see fit. </p>
+<p> But you must not think that this is all that there is to tell of that noble,
+  gentle and worthy young knight whose history we have been considering. For after
+  this he performed many glorious services to the great honor of his knighthood
+  and achieved so many notable adventures that the world spoke of him as being
+  second in worship only to Sir Launcelot of the Lake. Yea; there were many who
+  doubted whether Sir Launcelot himself was really a greater knight than Sir Percival;
+  and though I may admit that Sir Launcelot had the greater prowess, yet Sir Percival
+  was, certes, the more pure in heart and transparent of soul of those two. </p>
+<p> So, hereafter, if God so wills, I shall tell more of Sir Percival, for I shall
+  have much to write concerning him when I have to tell of the achievement of
+  the Sangreal which he beheld in that vision at the Castle of King Pecheur as
+  aforetold. </p>
+<p> So, for this time, no more of these adventures, but fare you well. </p>
+<div align="center"> <a href="images/055.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" id="t10" src="images/055.gif" border="0" alt="Tail Piece--The Book of Sir Percival" /></a>
+</div>
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<br />
+<div class="chaphead"><a href="images/015.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/015.gif" alt="Chapter Header" border="0" /></a>
+  <br />
+  CONCLUSION. </div>
+<div class="foreward" id="conclusion">
+  <p> <i> Thus endeth the particular history of those three worthy, noble, excellent
+    knights-champion--Sir Launcelot of the Lake, Sir Tristram of Lyonesse, and
+    Sir Percival of Gales. </i> </p>
+  <p> <i> And I do hope that you may have found pleasure in considering their
+    lives and their works as I have done. For as I wrote of their behavior and
+    pondered upon it, meseemed they offered a very high example that anyone might
+    follow to his betterment who lives in this world where so much that is ill
+    needs to be amended. </i> </p>
+  <p> <i> But though I have told so much, yet, as I have just said, there remain
+    many other things to tell concerning Sir Launcelot and Sir Percival, which
+    may well afford anyone pleasure to read. These I shall recount in another
+    volume at another time, with such particularity as those histories may demand.
+    </i> </p>
+</div>
+<div align="center"> <a href="images/tail.l.gif" target="_blank"><img class="images" src="images/tail.gif" alt="Tail Piece" border="0" /></a>
+  <br />
+</div>
+<hr />
+<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STORY OF THE CHAMPIONS OF THE ROUND TABLE***</p>
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@@ -0,0 +1,12331 @@
+The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Story of the Champions of the Round
+Table, by Howard Pyle, Illustrated by Howard Pyle
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Title: The Story of the Champions of the Round Table
+
+Author: Howard Pyle
+
+Release Date: January 18, 2004  [eBook #10745]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: US-ASCII
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STORY OF THE CHAMPIONS OF THE
+ROUND TABLE***
+
+
+E-text prepared by Suzanne Shell, Ben Courtney, and Project Gutenberg
+Distributed Proofreaders
+
+
+
+Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this
+      file which includes the original illustrations.
+      See 10736-h.htm or 10736-h.zip:
+      (http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/1/0/7/4/10745/10745-h/10745-h.htm)
+      or
+      (http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/1/0/7/4/10745/10745-h.zip)
+
+
+
+
+
+THE STORY OF THE CHAMPIONS OF THE ROUND TABLE
+
+Written and Illustrated by
+
+HOWARD PYLE.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+In 1902 the distinguished American artist Howard Pyle undertook to retell
+and illustrate the legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round
+Table. His four-volume work has long been considered one of the outstanding
+interpretations of the Arthur cycle.
+
+_The Story of the Champions of the Round Table_, the second of Pyle's
+volumes, was originally published in 1905. Reissued now, identical in
+format to the original volume, with Pyle's superb illustrations and
+decorations, it is destined to reach new generations of readers. _The Story
+of the Champions of the Round Table_ recounts the full and moving saga of
+three of Arthur's famous knights: Percival, Tristram, and Launcelot of the
+Lake.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+_"The period in which Howard Pyle did his work frequently has been spoken
+of as that Golden Age in children's literature that was to last for the
+decade to follow. It is difficult to do justice to his contribution to the
+shining quality of that era. The magnitude and diversity of his work eludes
+definition. Creative artist and born storyteller, each aspect of his
+twofold genius enriched and interpreted the other."_
+
+--Elizabeth Nesbitt, in _A Critical History of Children's Literature_
+
+[Illustration: Sir Launcelot of the Lake]
+
+
+
+
+
+Foreword
+
+In a book which was written by me aforetime, and which was set forth in
+print, I therein told much of the history of King Arthur; of how he
+manifested his royalty in the achievement of that wonderful magic sword
+which he drew forth out of the anvil; of how he established his royalty; of
+how he found a splendid sword yclept Excalibur in a miraculously wonderful
+manner; of how he won the most beautiful lady in the world for his queen;
+and of how he established the famous Round Table of noble worthy knights,
+the like of whose prowess the world hath never seen, and will not be likely
+ever to behold again.
+
+Also I told in that book the adventures of certain worthy knights and
+likewise how the magician Merlin was betrayed to his undoing by a sorceress
+hight Vivien.
+
+Now, if you took any joy in reading that book, I have great hope that that
+which follows may be every whit as pleasing to you; for I shall hereinafter
+have to do with the adventures of certain other worthies with whom you may
+have already become acquainted through my book and otherwise; and likewise
+of the adventures of certain other worthies, of whom you have not yet been
+told by me.
+
+More especially, I believe, you will find entertainment in what I shall
+have to tell you of the adventures of that great knight who was altogether
+the most noble of spirit, and the most beautiful, and the bravest of heart,
+of any knight who ever lived--excepting only his own son, Galahad, who was
+the crowning glory of his house and of his name and of the reign of King
+Arthur.
+
+However, if Sir Launcelot of the Lake failed now and then in his behavior,
+who is there in the world shall say, "I never fell into error"? And if he
+more than once offended, who is there shall have hardihood to say, "I never
+committed offence"?
+
+Yea, that which maketh Launcelot so singularly dear to all the world, is
+that he was not different from other men, but like other men, both in his
+virtues and his shortcomings; only that he was more strong and more brave
+and more untiring than those of us who are his brethren, both in our
+endeavors and in our failures.
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+The Story of Launcelot
+
+Chapter First
+
+How Sir Launcelot Came Forth From the Enchanted Castle of the
+Lake and Entered Into the World Again, and How King Arthur
+Made Him Knight
+
+Chapter Second
+
+How Sir Launcelot and Sir Lionel Rode Forth Errant Together
+and How Sir Lionel Met Sir Turquine to His Great Dole. Also
+How Sir Ector Grieved for the Departure of His Brother Launcelot
+and So, Following Him, Fell into a Very Sorry Adventure
+
+Chapter Third
+
+How Sir Launcelot was Found in a Sleep by Queen Morgana
+le Fay and Three Other Queens who were with Her, and How He
+was Taken to a Castle of Queen Morgana's and of What Befell Him
+There
+
+Chapter Fourth
+
+How Sir Launcelot Sought Sir Lionel and How a Young Damsel
+Brought Him to the Greatest Battle that Ever He Had in All His
+Life
+
+Chapter Fifth
+
+How Sir Launcelot Went Upon an Adventure with the Damsel
+Croisette as Companion, and How He Overcame Sir Peris of the
+Forest Sauvage
+
+Chapter Sixth
+
+How Sir Launcelot Took Part in the Tournament Between King
+Bagdemagus and the King of North Wales, and How He Won that
+Battle for King Bagdemagus
+
+Chapter Seventh
+
+How Sir Launcelot Fell Into the Greatest Peril that Ever He Encountered
+in all His Life. Also How He Freed a Misfortunate Castle
+and Town From the Giants Who Held Them, and How He Released
+the Lord Thereof From a Dungeon
+
+Chapter Eighth
+
+How Sir Launcelot Rescued Sir Kay From a Perilous Pass Also
+How He Changed Armor with Sir Kay and what Befell
+
+
+The Book of Sir Tristram
+
+PART I
+
+THE STORY OF SIR TRISTRAM AND THE LADY
+BELLE ISOULT
+
+Chapter First
+
+How the new Queen of Lyonesse sought Tristram's life; how he went
+to France, and how he Returned again to Lyonesse and was Received
+With Love at that Place
+
+Chapter Second
+
+How Sir Tristram was made Knight by the King of Cornwall,
+and how he Fought a Battle with a Famous Champion
+
+Chapter Third
+
+How Sir Tristram went to Ireland to be healed of his Wound by
+the King's Daughter of Ireland, and of how he came to love the Lady
+Belle Isoult. Also concerning Sir Palamydes and the Lady Belle
+Isoult
+
+Chapter Fourth
+
+How Sir Tristram encountered Sir Palamydes at the Tournament
+and of what befell. Also how Sir Tristram was Forced to leave the
+Kingdom of Ireland
+
+Chapter Fifth
+
+How Sir Tristram was sent by Command of King Mark to go to
+Ireland to Bring the Lady the Belle Isoult from Ireland to Cornwall
+and how it fared with him
+
+Chapter Sixth
+
+How Sir Tristram had to do in Battle with Three Knights of the
+Round Table. Also how he had Speech with King Arthur
+
+Chapter Seventh
+
+How Sir Tristram had Speech with King Angus of Ireland; how
+he Undertook to Champion the Cause of King Angus and of what Happened
+Thereafter
+
+PART II
+
+THE STORY OF SIR TRISTRAM AND SIR LAMORACK
+
+Chapter First
+
+How Sir Lamorack of Gales came to Tintagel and how he and Sir
+Tristram Sware Friendship Together in the Forest
+
+Chapter Second
+
+How Sir Tristram Started to go to Camelot, and how he Stayed by
+the Way to do Battle with Sir Nabon le Noir
+
+Chapter Third
+
+How Sir Tristram did justice in the island, and Thereby Released
+Sir Lamorack from Captivity. Also how Sir Tristram and Sir Lamorack
+Renewed their Great Tenderness Toward one another
+
+PART III
+
+THE MADNESS OF SIR TRISTRAM
+
+Chapter First
+
+How Sir Tristram was Discovered with the Lady Belle Isoult;
+how he Assaulted King Mark, and how he Escaped from Tintagel into
+the Forest
+
+Chapter Second
+
+How Sir Tristram got him a Sword from Sir Kay, and how he Slew
+Therewith a Huge Knight in the Forest and Rescued a Lady in very
+Great Distress. Also how Sir Launcelot found Sir Tristram in the
+Forest and Brought him Thence to Tintagel again
+
+Chapter Third
+
+How Sir Tristram was Discovered at Tintagel and of what Befell
+Thereby
+
+Chapter Fourth
+
+How Sir Tristram and the Lady Belle Isoult Returned to Cornwall,
+and how they Ended their Days Together
+
+
+The Book of Sir Percival
+
+Chapter First
+
+How Percival Departed into the World and how he Found a Fair
+Damsel in a Pavilion; likewise how he came before Queen Guinevere
+and how he Undertook his First Adventure
+
+Chapter Second
+
+How Sir Percival was made Knight by King Arthur; how he rode
+Forth with Sir Lamorack and how he Left Sir Lamorack in quest
+of Adventure upon his own Account; likewise how a Great Knight
+Taught him craft in Arms
+
+Chapter Third
+
+How Sir Percival met two Strange People in the Forest, and how
+he Succored a Knight who was in very Great Sorrow and Dole
+
+Chapter Fourth
+
+How Sir Percival Undertook the Adventure of the Castle of Beaurepaire
+and how he Fared Therein after Several Excellent Adventures
+
+Chapter Fifth
+
+How Sir Percival Repaid Sir Kay the Buffet he one time gave
+Yelande the Dumb Maiden, and how, Thereafter, he went Forth to
+Seek his own Lady of Love
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+Head Piece--Table of Contents
+Tail Piece--Table of Contents
+Head Piece--List of Illustrations
+Tail Piece--List of Illustrations
+
+The Lady Nymue beareth away Launcelot into the Lake
+Head Piece--Prologue
+Tail Piece--Prologue
+Sir Launcelot greets Queen Guinevere
+Head Piece--The Story of Launcelot
+Sir Lionel of Britain
+Queen Morgana appears unto Sir Launcelot
+Sir Launcelot doeth battle with Sir Turquine
+Sir Launcelot sits with Sir Hilaire and Croisette
+Sir Launcelot and Elouise the Fair
+Sir Launcelot climbs to catch the lady's falcon
+Sir Launcelot takes the armor of Sir Kay
+Tail Piece--The Story of Launcelot
+
+Sir Tristram of Lyonesse
+Head Piece--Prologue
+Tail Piece--Prologue
+Tristram succors the Lady Moeya
+Head Piece--The Story of Sir Tristram and the Lady Belle Isoult
+King Mark of Cornwall
+The Lady Belle Isoult
+The Queen of Ireland seeks to slay Sir Tristram
+Sir Tristram harpeth before King Mark
+Sir Tristram sits with Sir Launcelot
+Tail Piece
+Belle Isoult and Sir Tristram drink the love draught
+Tail Piece--The Story of Sir Tristram and the Lady Belle Isoult
+Sir Lamorack of Gales
+Head Piece--The Story of Sir Tristram and Sir Lamorack
+Sir Tristram cometh to ye castle of Sir Nabon
+Sir Lamorack herds the swine of Sir Nabon
+Tail Piece--The Story of Sir Tristram and Sir Lamorack
+Sir Tristram assaults King Mark
+Head Piece--The Madness of Sir Tristram
+Sir Kay and the Forest Madman
+Sir Tristram leaps into ye Sea
+King Mark broods mischief
+Tail Piece--The Madness of Sir Tristram
+
+Sir Percival of Gales
+Head Piece--Prologue
+The Lady Yvette the Fair
+Sir Percival and Sir Lamorack ride together
+Sir Percival overcometh ye Enchantress Vivien
+The Demoiselle Blanchefleur
+Sir Kay interrupts ye meditations of Sir Percival
+Tail Piece--The Book of Sir Percival
+
+[Illustration: The Lady Nymue beareth away Launcelot into the Lake]
+
+
+
+
+Prologue.
+
+It hath already been set forth in print in a volume written by me
+concerning the adventures of King Arthur when he first became king, how
+there were certain lesser kings who favored him and were friendly allies
+with him, and how there were certain others of the same sort who were his
+enemies.
+
+Among those who were his friends was King Ban of Benwick, who was an
+exceedingly noble lord of high estate and great honor, and who was of a
+lineage so exalted that it is not likely that there was anyone in the world
+who was of a higher strain.
+
+[Sidenote: Of King Ban and his misfortunes] Now, upon a certain time, King
+Ban of Benwick fell into great trouble; for there came against him a very
+powerful enemy, to wit, King Claudas of Scotland. King Claudas brought unto
+Benwick a huge army of knights and lords, and these sat down before the
+Castle of Trible with intent to take that strong fortress and destroy it.
+
+This noble Castle of Trible was the chiefest and the strongest place of
+defence in all King Ban's dominions, wherefore he had intrenched himself
+there with all of his knights and with his Queen, hight Helen, and his
+youngest son, hight Launcelot.
+
+Now this child, Launcelot, was dearer to Queen Helen than all the world
+besides, for he was not only large of limb but so extraordinarily beautiful
+of face that I do not believe an angel from Paradise could have been more
+beautiful than he. He had been born with a singular birth-mark upon his
+shoulder, which birth-mark had the appearance as of a golden star enstamped
+upon the skin; wherefore, because of this, the Queen would say: "Launcelot,
+by reason of that star upon thy shoulder I believe that thou shalt be the
+star of our house and that thou shalt shine with such remarkable glory that
+all the world shall behold thy lustre and shall marvel thereat for all time
+to come." So the Queen took extraordinary delight in Launcelot and loved
+him to the very core of her heart--albeit she knew not, at the time she
+spake, how that prophecy of hers concerning the star was to fall so
+perfectly true.
+
+Now, though King Ban thought himself very well defended at his Castle of
+Trible, yet King Claudas brought so terribly big an army against that place
+that it covered the entire plain. A great many battles were fought under
+the walls of the castle, but ever King Claudas waxed greater and stronger,
+and King Ban's party grew weaker and more fearful.
+
+[Sidenote: King Ban bethinks him of King Arthur] So by and by things came
+to such a pass that King Ban bethought him of King Arthur, and he said to
+himself: "I will go to my lord the King and beseech help and aid from him,
+for he will certainly give it me. Nor will I trust any messenger in this
+affair other than myself; for I myself will go to King Arthur and will
+speak to him with my own lips."
+
+Having thus bethought him, he sent for Queen Helen to come into his privy
+closet and he said to her: "My dear love, nothing remaineth for me but to
+go unto the court of King Arthur and beseech him to lend his powerful aid
+in this extremity of our misfortunes; nor will I trust any messenger in
+this affair but myself. Now, this castle is no place for thee, when I am
+away, therefore, when I go upon this business, I will take thee and
+Launcelot with me, and I will leave you both in safety at King Arthur's
+court with our other son, Sir Ector, until this war be ended and done." And
+to these Queen Helen lent her assent.
+
+So King Ban summoned to him the seneschal of the castle, who was named Sir
+Malydor le Brun, and said to him: "Messire, I go hence to-night by a secret
+pass, with intent to betake me unto King Arthur, and to beseech his aid in
+this extremity. Moreover, I shall take with me my lady and the young child
+Launcelot, to place them within the care of King Arthur during these
+dolorous wars. But besides these, I will take no other one with me but only
+my favorite esquire, Foliot. Now I charge thee, sir, to hold this castle in
+my behalf with all thy might and main, and yield it not to our enemies upon
+any extremity; for I believe I shall in a little while return with
+sufficient aid from King Arthur to compass the relief of this place."
+
+[Sidenote: King Ban with Queen Helen and Launcelot escape from Trible] So
+when night had fallen very dark and still, King Ban, and Queen Helen, and
+the young child Launcelot, and the esquire Foliot left the town privily by
+means of a postern gate. Thence they went by a secret path, known only to a
+very few, that led down a steep declivity of rocks, with walls of rock upon
+either side that were very high indeed, and so they came out in safety
+beyond the army of King Claudas and into the forest of the valley below.
+And the forest lay very still and solemn and dark in the silence of the
+nighttime.
+
+Having thus come out in safety into the forest, that small party journeyed
+on with all celerity that they were able to achieve until, some little time
+before dawn, they came to where was a lake of water in an open meadow of
+the forest. Here they rested for a little while, for Queen Helen had fallen
+very weary with the rough and hasty journey which they had traveled.
+
+[Sidenote: Foliot seeth a light] Now whilst they sat there resting, Foliot
+spake of a sudden, saying unto King Ban: "Lord, what is that light that
+maketh the sky so bright yonder-ways?" Then King Ban looked a little and
+presently said: "Methinks it must be the dawn that is breaking." "Lord,"
+quoth Foliot, "that cannot very well be; for that light in the sky lieth in
+the south, whence we have come, and not in the east, where the sun should
+arise."
+
+Then King Ban's heart misgave him, and his soul was shaken with a great
+trouble. "Foliot," he said, "I believe that you speak sooth and that that
+light bodes very ill for us all." Then he said: "Stay here for a little and
+I will go and discover what that light may be." Therewith he mounted his
+horse and rode away in the darkness.
+
+[Sidenote: King Ban beholdeth the burning of Trible] Now there was a very
+high hill near-by where they were, and upon the top of the hill was an open
+platform of rock whence a man could see a great way off in every direction.
+So King Ban went to this place, and, when he had come there, he cast his
+eyes in the direction of the light and he straightway beheld with a manner
+of terror that the light came from Trible; and then, with that terror still
+growing greater at his heart, he beheld that the town and the castle were
+all in one great flame of fire.
+
+When King Ban saw this he sat for a while upon his horse like one turned
+into a stone. Then, after a while, he cried out in a great voice: "Woe!
+Woe! Woe is me!" And then he cried out still in a very loud voice, "Certes,
+God hath deserted me entirely."
+
+[Sidenote: The death of King Ban] Therewith a great passion of grief took
+hold upon him and shook him like to a leaf, and immediately after that he
+felt that something brake within him with a very sharp and bitter pain, and
+he wist that it was his heart that had broken. So being all alone there
+upon the hilltop, and in the perfect stillness of the night, he cried out,
+"My heart! My heart!" And therewith, the shadows of death coming upon him,
+he could not sit any longer upon his horse, but fell down upon the ground.
+And he knew very well that death was nigh him, so, having no cross to pray
+upon, he took two blades of grass and twisted them into that holy sign, and
+he kissed it and prayed unto it that God would forgive him his sins. So he
+died all alone upon that hilltop.
+
+Meanwhile, Queen Helen and Foliot sat together waiting for him to return
+and presently they heard the sound of his horse's hoofs coming down that
+rocky path. Then Queen Helen said: "Foliot, methinks my lord cometh." So in
+a little came the horse with the empty saddle. When Foliot beheld that he
+said: "Lady, here meseems is great trouble come to us, for methinks
+something hath befallen my lord, and that he is in sore travail, for here
+is his horse without him."
+
+Then it seemed to Queen Helen as though the spirit of life suddenly went
+away from her, for she foresaw what had befallen. So she arose like one in
+a dream, and, speaking very quietly, she said: "Foliot, take me whither my
+lord went awhile since!" To this Foliot said: "Lady, wait until the
+morning, which is near at hand, for it is too dark for you to go
+thitherward at this present." Whereunto the Lady Helen replied: "Foliot, I
+cannot wait, for if I stay here and wait I believe I shall go mad." Upon
+this, Foliot did not try to persuade her any more but made ready to take
+her whither she would go.
+
+Now the young child Launcelot was then asleep upon the Queen's knees,
+wherefore she took her cloak and wrapped the child in it and laid him very
+gently upon the ground, so that he did not wake. Then she mounted upon her
+palfrey and Foliot led the palfrey up the hill whither King Ban had gone a
+short time since.
+
+[Sidenote: The Lady Helen findeth the King] When they came to that place
+of open rocks above told of, they found King Ban lying very quiet and still
+upon the ground and with a countenance of great peace. For I believe of a
+surety that God had forgiven him all his sins, and he would now suffer no
+more because of the cares and the troubles of this life. Thus Queen Helen
+found him, and finding him she made no moan or outcry of any kind, only she
+looked for a long while into his dead face, which she could see very
+plainly now, because that the dawn had already broken. And by and by she
+said: "Dear Lord, thou art at this time in a happier case than I." And by
+and by she said to Foliot: "Go and bring his horse to this place, that we
+may bear him hence." "Lady," said Foliot, "it is not good for you to be
+left here alone." "Foliot," said the Queen, "thou dost not know how much
+alone I am; thy leaving me here cannot make me more alone." Therewith she
+fell to weeping with great passion.
+
+Then Foliot wept also in great measure and, still weeping like rain, he
+went away and left her. When he came again with King Ban's horse the sun
+had risen and all the birds were singing with great jubilation and
+everything was so blithe and gay that no one could have believed that care
+and trouble could dwell in a world that was so beautiful.
+
+[Sidenote: The Lady Helen bringeth her dead down from the Mountain] So
+Queen Helen and Foliot lifted the dead king to his horse and then the Queen
+said: "Come thou, Foliot, at thine own gait, and I will go ahead and seek
+my child, for I have yet Launcelot to be my joy. Haply he will be needing
+me at this moment." So the Queen made haste down the steep hill ahead of
+Foliot and by and by she came to the margin of that little lake where they
+had rested awhile since.
+
+By now the sun had risen very strong and warm so that all the lake, and the
+meadows circumadjacent, and the forest that stood around about that meadow
+were illumined with the glory of his effulgence.
+
+Now as Queen Helen entered that meadow she beheld that a very wonderful
+lady was there, and this lady bare the child Launcelot in her arms. And the
+lady sang to Launcelot, and the young child looked up into her face and
+laughed and set his hand against her cheek. All this Queen Helen beheld;
+and she likewise beheld that the lady was of a very extraordinary
+appearance, being clad altogether in green that glistered and shone with a
+wonderful brightness. And she beheld that around the neck of the lady was a
+necklace of gold, inset with opal stones and emeralds; and she perceived
+that the lady's face was like ivory--very white and clear--and that her
+eyes, which were very bright, shone like jewels set into ivory. And she saw
+that the lady was very wonderfully beautiful, so that the beholder, looking
+upon her, felt a manner of fear--for that lady was Fay.
+
+(And that lady was the Lady of the Lake, spoken of aforetime in the Book of
+King Arthur, wherein it is told how she aided King Arthur to obtain that
+wonderful, famous sword yclept Excalibur, and how she aided Sir Pellias,
+the Gentle Knight, in the time of his extremity, and took him into the lake
+with her. Also divers other things concerning her are told of therein.)
+
+Then the Queen came near to where the lady was, and she said to her,
+
+"Lady, I pray you give me my child again!" Upon this the Lady of the Lake
+smiled very strangely and said: "Thou shalt have thy child again, lady, but
+not now; after a little thou shalt have him again." Then Queen Helen cried
+out with great agony of passion: "Lady, would you take my child from me?
+Give him to me again, for he is all I have left in the world. Lo, I have
+lost house and lands and husband, and all the other joys that life has me
+to give, wherefore, I beseech you, take not my child from me." To this the
+Lady of the Lake said: "Thou must endure thy sorrow a while longer; for it
+is so ordained that I must take thy child; for I take him only that I may
+give him to thee again, reared in such a wise that he shall make the glory
+of thy house to be the glory of the world. For he shall become the greatest
+knight in the world, and from his loins shall spring a greater still than
+he, so that the glory of the House of King Ban shall be spoken of as long
+as mankind shall last." But Queen Helen cried out all the more in a great
+despair: "What care I for all this? I care only that I shall have my little
+child again! Give him to me!"
+
+[Sidenote: The Lady of the Lake taketh Launcelot into the Lake] Therewith
+she would have laid hold of the garments of the Lady of the Lake in
+supplication, but the Lady of the Lake drew herself away from Queen Helen's
+hand and said: "Touch me not, for I am not mortal, but Fay." And thereupon
+she and Launcelot vanished from before Queen Helen's eyes as the breath
+vanishes from the face of a mirror.
+
+For when you breathe upon a mirror the breath will obscure that which lieth
+behind; but presently the breath will disappear and vanish, and then you
+shall behold all things entirely clear and bright to the sight again. So
+the Lady of the Lake vanished away, and everything behind her where she had
+stood was clear and bright, and she was gone.
+
+Then Queen Helen fell down in a swoon, and lay beside the lake of the
+meadow like one that is dead; and when Foliot came he found her so and wist
+not what to do for her. There was his lord who was dead and his lady who
+was so like to death that he knew not whether she was dead or no. So he
+knew not what to do but sat down and made great lamentation for a long
+while.
+
+[Sidenote: The Lady Helen taketh to a Nunnery] What time he sat thus there
+came that way three nuns who dwelt in an abbey of nuns which was not a
+great distance away from that place. These made great pity over that
+sorrowful sight, and they took away from there the dead King and the woeful
+Queen, and the King they buried in holy ground, and the Queen they let live
+with them and she was thereafter known as the "Sister of Sorrows."
+
+[Sidenote: How Launcelot dwelt in the lake] Now Launcelot dwelt for nigh
+seventeen years with the Lady Nymue of the Lake in that wonderful,
+beautiful valley covered over with the appearance of such a magical lake as
+hath been aforetime described in the Book of King Arthur.
+
+And that land of the lake was of this sort that shall here be described:--
+
+Unto anyone who could enter into the magic water of that lake (and there
+were very few of those who were mortal who were allowed to come to those
+meadows of Faery that were there concealed beneath those enchanted waters)
+he would behold before him a wide and radiant field of extraordinary
+beauty. And he would behold that that field was covered all over with such
+a multitude of exquisite and beautiful flowers that the heart of the
+beholder would be elated with pure joy to find himself in the midst of that
+waving sea of multitudinous and fragrant blossoms. And he would behold many
+fair and shady groves of trees that here and there grew up from that
+valley, each glade overshadowing a fountain of water as clear as crystal.
+And he would perhaps behold, at such pleasant places beneath the shade of
+those trees, some party of the fair and gentle folk of that country; and he
+would see them playing in sport, or he would hear them chanting to the
+music of shining golden harps. And he would behold in the midst of that
+beautiful plain a wonderful castle with towers and roofs uplifted high into
+the sky, and all shining in the peculiar radiance of that land, like to
+castles and battlements of pure gold.
+
+Such was the land unto which Launcelot was brought, and from what I have
+told you you may see what a wonderful, beautiful place it was.
+
+And the mystery of that place entered into the soul of Launcelot, so that
+thereafter, when he came out thence, he was never like other folk, but
+always appeared to be in a manner remote and distant from other of his
+fellow-mortals with whom he dwelt.
+
+For though he smiled a great deal, it was not often that he laughed; and if
+he did laugh, it was never in scorn, but always in loving-kindness.
+
+      *       *       *       *       *
+
+It was here in this land that Sir Pellias had now dwelt for several years,
+with great peace and content. (For it hath been told in the Book of King
+Arthur how, when he was upon the edge of death, the Lady Nymue of the Lake
+brought him back to life again, and how, after that time, he was half fay
+and half mortal.)
+
+And the reason why Launcelot was brought to that place was that Sir Pellias
+might teach him and train him in all the arts of chivalry. For no one in
+all the world was more skilful in arms than Sir Pellias, and no one could
+so well teach Launcelot the duties of chivalry as he.
+
+So Sir Pellias taught Launcelot all that was best of knighthood, both as to
+conduct of manner, and as to the worthiness and skill at arms, wherefore it
+was that when Launcelot was completely taught, there was no knight in all
+the world who was his peer in strength of arms or in courtesy of behavior,
+until his own son, Sir Galahad, appeared in the courts of chivalry as shall
+by and by be told of.
+
+So when Launcelot came forth into the world again he became the greatest
+knight in all the history of chivalry, wherefore that prophecy of his
+mother was fulfilled as to his being like to a bright star of exceeding
+lustre.
+
+Accordingly, I have herein told you with great particularity all these
+circumstances of his early history so that you may know exactly how it was
+that he was taken away into the lake, and why it was that he was afterward
+known as Sir Launcelot, surnamed of the Lake.
+
+As to how he came into the world to achieve that greatness unto which he
+had been preordained, and as to how King Arthur made him knight, and as to
+many very excellent adventures that befell him, you shall immediately read
+in what followeth.
+
+
+
+
+PART I
+
+The Story of Launcelot
+
+
+_Here beginneth the story of Sir Launcelot, surnamed of the Lake, who was
+held by all men to be the most excellent, noble, perfect knight-champion
+who was ever seen in the world from the very beginning of chivalry unto the
+time when his son, Sir Galahad, appeared like a bright star of
+extraordinary splendor shining in the sky of chivalry.
+
+In this Book it shall be told how he was taken into a magic lake, how he
+came out thence to be made knight by King Arthur, and of how he undertook
+several of those adventures that made him at once the wonder and the
+admiration of all men, and the chiefest glory of the Round Table of
+Arthur-Pendragon._
+
+[Illustration: Sir Launcelot greets Queen Guinevere]
+
+
+
+
+Chapter First
+
+
+_How Sir Launcelot Came Forth From the Enchanted Castle of the Lake and
+Entered Into the World Again, and How King Arthur Made Him Knight._
+
+[Sidenote: Of the springtime of long ago] I know not any time of the year
+that is more full of joyfulness than the early summer season; for that time
+the sun is wonderfully lusty and strong, yet not so very hot; that time the
+trees and shrubs are very full of life and very abundant of shade and yet
+have not grown dry with the heats and droughts of later days; that time the
+grass is young and lush and green, so that when you walk athwart the
+meadow-lands it is as though you walked through a fair billowy lake of
+magical verdure, sprinkled over with a great multitude of little flowers;
+that time the roses are everywhere a-bloom, both the white rose and the
+red, and the eglantine is abundant; that time the nests are brimful of
+well-fledged nestlings, and the little hearts of the small parent fowls
+are so exalted with gladness that they sing with all their mights and
+mains, so that the early daytime is filled full of the sweet jargon and the
+jubilant medley of their voices. Yea; that is a goodly season of the year,
+for though, haply, the spirit may not be so hilarious as in the young and
+golden springtime, yet doth the soul take to itself so great a content in
+the fulness of the beauty of the world, that the heart is elated with a
+great and abundant joy that it is not apt to feel at another season.
+
+[Sidenote: King Arthur and two knights ride a-hunting] Now it chanced upon
+the day before Saint John's day in the fulness of a summer-time such as
+this, that King Arthur looked forth from his chamber very early in the
+morning and beheld how exceedingly fair and very lusty was the world
+out-of-doors--all in the freshness of the young daylight. For the sun had
+not yet risen, though he was about to rise, and the sky was like to pure
+gold for brightness; all the grass and leaves and flowers were drenched
+with sweet and fragrant dew, and the birds were singing so vehemently that
+the heart of any man could not but rejoice in the fulness of life that lay
+all around about him.
+
+There were two knights with King Arthur at that time, one was Sir Ewain,
+the son of Morgana le Fay (and he was King Arthur's nephew), and the other
+was Sir Ector de Maris, the son of King Ban of Benwick and of Queen
+Helen--this latter a very noble, youthful knight, and the youngest of all
+the Knights of the Round Table who were at that time elected. These stood
+by King Arthur and looked forth out of the window with him and they also
+took joy with him in the sweetness of the summer season. Unto them, after a
+while, King Arthur spake, saying: "Messires, meseems this is too fair a day
+to stay within doors. For, certes, it is a shame that I who am a king
+should be prisoner within mine own castle, whilst any ploughman may be free
+of the wold and the green woods and the bright sun and the blue sky and the
+wind that blows over hill and dale. Now, I too would fain go forth out of
+doors and enjoy these things; wherefore I ordain that we shall go
+a-hunting this day and that ye and I shall start before any others of the
+lords and the ladies that dwell herein are awake. So let us take our horses
+and our hounds and let us take certain foresters and huntsmen, and let us
+go forth a-hunting into the green forest; for this day shall be holiday for
+me and for you and we shall leave care behind us, and for a while we shall
+disport ourselves in pleasant places."
+
+So they all did as King Arthur bade; they made them each man ready with his
+own hands, and they bade the huntsmen and the foresters to attend thereupon
+as the King had ordained. Then they rode forth from the castle and out into
+the wide world that lay beyond, and it was yet so early in the morning that
+none of the castle folk were astir to know of their departure.
+
+All that day they hunted in the forest with much joy and with great sport,
+nor did they turn their faces toward home again until the day was so far
+spent that the sun had sunk behind the tops of the tall leafy trees. Then,
+at that time, King Arthur gave command that they should bend their ways
+toward Camelot once more.
+
+[Sidenote: King Arthur and his companions find a strange damsel and a
+dwarf] Now this time, being the Eve of Saint John, fairies and those folk
+who are fay come forth, as is very well known, into the world from which
+they dwell apart at other times. So when King Arthur and those two knights
+and their several foresters and huntsmen came to a certain outlying part of
+the forest, they were suddenly aware of a damsel and a dwarf waiting where
+the road upon which they were travelling crossed another road, and they
+perceived, from her very remarkable appearance, that the damsel was very
+likely Fay. For both she and her dwarf sat each upon a milk-white horse,
+very strangely still, close to where was a shrine by a hedge of hawthorne;
+and the damsel was so wonderfully fair of face that it was a marvel to
+behold her. Moreover, she was clad all in white samite from top to toe and
+her garments were embroidered with silver; and the trappings and garniture
+of her horse were of white samite studded with bright silver bosses,
+wherefore, because of this silver, she glistered with a sudden lustre
+whensoever she moved a little. When King Arthur and the two knights who
+were with him drew nigh this damsel, much marvelling at her appearance, she
+hailed him in a voice that was both high and clear, crying: "Welcome, King
+Arthur! Welcome, King Arthur! Welcome, King Arthur!" saying three words
+three times; and "Welcome, Sir Ewain!" "Welcome, Sir Ector de Maris!"
+addressing each of those lords by his name.
+
+"Damsel," quoth King Arthur, "it is very singular that you should know who
+we are and that we should not know you. Now, will you not tell us your name
+and whence you come and whither you go? For of a surety I believe you are
+Fay."
+
+"Lord," said the damsel, "it matters not who I am, saving that I am of the
+court of a wonderful lady who is your very good friend. She hath sent me
+here to meet you and to beseech you to come with me whither I shall lead
+you, and I shall lead you unto her."
+
+"Damsel," said King Arthur, "I shall be right glad to go with you as you
+desire me to do. So, if you will lead me to your lady, I and my knights
+will gladly follow you thitherway to pay our court unto her."
+
+[Sidenote: King Arthur and his knights follow the damsel] Upon this the
+damsel waved her hand, and drawing her bridle-rein she led the way,
+accompanied by the dwarf, and King Arthur and the two knights followed her,
+and all their party of foresters and huntsmen and hounds and beagles
+followed them.
+
+By this time the sun had set and the moon had risen very fair and round and
+as yellow as gold, making a great light above the silent tree-tops.
+Everything now was embalmed in the twilight, and all the world was
+enshrouded in the mystery of the midsummer eve. Yet though the sun had gone
+the light was wonderfully bright, wherefore all that the eye could see
+stood sharp-cut and very clear to the vision.
+
+So the damsel and the dwarf led the way for somewhat of a distance, though
+not for so very far, until they came of a sudden to where was an open
+meadow in the forest, hedged all around with the trees of the woodland. And
+here the King and his knights were aware of a great bustle of many people,
+some working very busily in setting up several pavilions of white samite,
+and others preparing a table as for a feast, and others upon this business
+and others upon that; and there were various sumpter-mules and pack-horses
+and palfreys all about, as though belonging to a party of considerable
+estate.
+
+Then King Arthur and those who were with him beheld that, at some distance
+away upon the other side of the meadow, there were three people sitting
+under a crab-apple tree upon a couch especially prepared for them, and they
+were aware that these people were the chief of all that company.
+
+[Sidenote: King Arthur and his companions are brought to speak with strange
+folk] The first party of the three was a knight of very haughty and noble
+appearance, clad all in armor as white as silver; and his jupon was white
+embroidered with silver, and the scabbard of the sword and the sword-belt
+were white, and his shield hung in the crab-tree above him and that, too,
+was all white as of silver. This knight still wore his helmet, so that his
+countenance was not to be seen. The second party of the three was a lady
+clad all in white raiment. Her face was covered by her wimple so that her
+countenance also was not to be seen very clearly, but her garments were of
+wonderful sort, being of white sarcenet embroidered over with silver in the
+pattern of lily flowers. Also she wore around her breast and throat a chain
+of shining silver studded with bright and sparkling gems of divers sorts.
+The third party of the three was a youth of eighteen years, so beautiful of
+face that it seemed to King Arthur that he had never beheld so noble a
+being. For his countenance was white and shining, and his hair was as soft
+as silk and as black as it was possible to be, and curled down upon his
+shoulders; and his eyes were large and bright and extraordinarily black,
+and his eyebrows arched so smoothly that if they had been painted they
+could not have been marked upon his forehead more evenly than they were;
+and his lips, which pouted a little, though not very much, were as red as
+coral, and his upper lip was shaded with a soft down of black. Moreover,
+this youth was clad altogether in white cloth of satin with no ornaments
+whatsoever saving only a fine chain of shining silver set with opal-stones
+and emeralds that hung about his neck.
+
+Then when King Arthur approached near enough he perceived by certain signs
+that the lady was the chiefest of those three, wherefore he paid his court
+to her especially, saying to her: "Lady, it seems that I have been brought
+hitherward unto you and that you were aware of my name and estate when you
+sent for me. Now I should be exceedingly glad if you would enlighten me in
+the same manner as to yourself."
+
+"Sir," she said, "that I shall be glad to do; for if I have known you
+aforetime, you have also seen me afore time and have known me as your
+friend." Therewith the lady lowered the wimple from her face and King
+Arthur perceived that it was the Lady of the Lake.
+
+[Sidenote: King Arthur findeth Sir Pellias again] Upon this he kneeled
+down upon one knee and took her hand and set it to his lips. "Lady," quoth
+he, "I have indeed cause to know you very well, for you have, as you
+affirm, been a friend to me and to my friends upon many several occasions."
+Then King Arthur turned to that knight who was with that Lady of the Lake,
+and he said unto him: "Messire, if I mistake not, I should know you also;
+and I doubt not, if you will lift the umbril of your helmet, we shall all
+three know your face." Upon this the knight without more ado lifted his
+umbril as King Arthur had desired him to do and the three beheld that it
+was Sir Pellias, the Gentle Knight.
+
+Now it hath already been very fully told about Sir Pellias in the Book of
+King Arthur, and those of you who read of him therein will remember, no
+doubt, how sorely he was wounded in a combat with Sir Gawaine, who was his
+best friend, and of how the Lady of the Lake took him to dwell with her in
+that wonderful city that was hidden by the appearance as of an enchanted
+lake, and of how it was Sir Gawaine who last beheld him upon that occasion.
+But if Sir Gawaine was the dearest friend that Sir Pellias had at that
+time, then Sir Ewain was only less dear to him. Therefore, when Sir Ewain
+beheld that the strange knight was Sir Pellias, he wist not what to think
+for pure wonder; for no mortal eyes had ever beheld Sir Pellias since he
+had gone into the lake with the Lady of the Lake that time as foretold, and
+it was not thought that anyone would ever see him again.
+
+So when Sir Ewain beheld that the knight was Sir Pellias he emitted a great
+cry of joy and ran to him and catched him in his arms, and Sir Pellias
+forbade him not. For though at most times those who are of Faery do not
+suffer themselves to be touched by mortal hands, yet, upon the Eve of Saint
+John's Day, fairies and mortals may commune as though they were of the same
+flesh and blood. Wherefore Sir Pellias did not forbid Sir Ewain, and they
+embraced, as one-time brethren-in-arms should embrace. And each kissed the
+other upon the face, and each made great joy the one over the other. Yea,
+so great was their joy that all those who stood about were moved with pure
+happiness at beholding them.
+
+Then Sir Pellias came to King Arthur and kneeled down before him and kissed
+his hand, as is the bounden duty of every knight unto his lord.
+
+"Ha, Messire," quoth King Arthur, "methought when I beheld this lady, that
+you would not be very far distant from her." Then he said unto the Lady of
+the Lake: "Lady, I prithee tell me, who is this fair youth who is with you.
+For methinks I never beheld before so noble and so beautiful a countenance
+as his. Maybe you will make us acquainted with him also."
+
+"Lord," said the Lady Nymue, "who he is, and of what quality, shall, I
+hope, be made manifest in due time; just now I would not wish that he
+should be known even unto you. But touching him, I may say that it was for
+his sake that I sent my damsel to meet you at the cross-roads awhile ago.
+But of that, more anon; for see! the feast is now spread which we have
+prepared for your entertainment. So let us first eat and drink and make
+merry together, and then we shall speak further of this matter."
+
+[Sidenote: The Lady of the Lake prepareth a feast for King Arthur] So they
+all six went and sat down to the table that had been spread for them in the
+open meadow-land. For the night was very pleasant and warm and a wonderful
+full moon shone down upon them with a marvellous lustre, and there was a
+pleasant air, soft and warm, from the forest, and, what with the scores of
+bright waxen tapers that stood in silver candlesticks upon the table (each
+taper sparkling as bright as any star), the night was made all illuminate
+like to some singular mid-day. There was set before them a plenty of divers
+savory meats and of several excellent wines, some as yellow as gold, and
+some as red as carbuncle, and they ate and they drank and they made merry
+in the soft moonlight with talk and laughter. Somewhiles they told Sir
+Pellias and the lady of all that was toward at court at Camelot;
+otherwhiles Sir Pellias and the lady told them such marvellous things
+concerning the land in which they two dwelt that it would be hard to
+believe that the courts of Heaven could be fairer than the courts of
+Fairyland whence they had come.
+
+Then, after the feast was ended, the Lady of the Lake said to King Arthur,
+"Sir, an I have won your favor in any way, there is a certain thing I would
+ask of you." To the which King Arthur made reply: "Ask it, Lady, and it
+shall be granted thee, no matter what it may be." "Sir," said the Lady of
+the Lake, "this is what I would ask of you. I would ask you to look upon
+this youth who sits beside me. He is so dear to me that I cannot very well
+make you know how dear he is. I have brought him hither from our
+dwelling-place for one certain reason; to wit, that you should make him
+knight. That is the great favor I would ask of you. To this intent I have
+brought armor and all the appurtenances of knighthood; for he is of such
+noble lineage that no armor in the world could be too good for him."
+
+"Lady," quoth King Arthur, "I will do what you ask with much pleasure and
+gladness. But, touching that armor of which you speak, it is my custom to
+provide anyone whom I make a knight with armor of mine own choosing."
+
+To this the Lady of the Lake smiled very kindly, saying, "Lord, I pray you,
+let be in this case, for I daresay that the armor which hath been provided
+for this youth shall be so altogether worthy of your nobility and of his
+future credit that you will be entirely contented with it." And with that,
+King Arthur was altogether satisfied.
+
+[Sidenote: Of the armor, etc., of Sir Launcelot] And, touching that armor,
+the ancient history that speaketh of these matters saith that it was of
+such a sort as this that followeth, and that it was brought from that
+enchanted court of the lake in this wise; to wit, in the front came two
+youths, leading two white mules, and the mules bore two chests studded with
+silver bosses. In one chest was the hauberk of that armor and in the other
+were the iron boots. These were bright like to silver and were inlaid with
+cunningly devised figures, all of pure gold. Next to them came two
+esquires, clad in white robes and mounted upon white horses, bearing the
+one a silver shield and the other a shining helmet, as of silver--it
+likewise being very wonderfully inlaid with figures of pure gold. After
+these came two other esquires, the one bearing a sword in a white sheath
+embossed with studs of silver (the belt whereof was of silver with facets
+of gold) and the other leading a white charger, whose coat was as soft and
+as shining as silk. And all the gear and furniture of this horse was of
+silver and of white samite embellished with silver. So from this you can
+see how nobly that young acolyte was provided with all that beseemed his
+future greatness. For, as you may have guessed, this youth was Launcelot,
+King Ban's son of Benwick, who shortly became the greatest knight in the
+world.
+
+[Sidenote: Launcelot guards his armor at night] Now there was in that part
+of the forest border a small abbey of monks, and in the chapel of that
+abbey Launcelot watched his armor for that night and Sir Ewain was with him
+for all that time. Meantime King Arthur and Sir Ector de Maris slept each
+in a silken pavilion provided for them by the Lady of the Lake.
+
+In the morning Sir Ewain took Launcelot to the bath and bathed him, for
+such was the custom of those who were being prepared for knighthood.
+
+Now, whilst Sir Ewain was bathing the youth, he beheld that on his shoulder
+was a mark in the likeness of a golden star and he marvelled very much
+thereat; but he made no mention of it at that time, but held his peace
+concerning what he saw; only he marvelled very greatly thereat.
+
+[Sidenote: King Arthur creates Sir Launcelot a Knight-Royal] Then, after
+Sir Ewain had bathed Launcelot, he clothed him in raiment fitted for that
+ceremony unto which he was ordained, and when the youth was so clothed, Sir
+Ewain brought him to King Arthur, and King Arthur knighted Launcelot with
+great ceremony, and buckled the belt around him with his own hands. After
+he had done this Sir Ewain and Sir Ector de Maris set the golden spurs to
+his heels, and Sir Ector wist not that he was performing such office for
+his own brother.
+
+So Sir Launcelot was made knight with great estate and ceremony, whereof I
+have told you all, unto every particular. For it is fitting that all things
+should be so told concerning that most great and famous knight.
+
+After King Arthur had so dubbed Sir Launcelot knight, it was time that
+those two parties should part company--to wit, the party of the Lady of the
+Lake and the party of King Arthur. But when they were about to leave one
+another the Lady of the Lake took Sir Launcelot aside, and she spake to him
+after this manner:
+
+[Sidenote: The Lady of the Lake gives Sir Launcelot good advice]
+"Launcelot, forget not that you are a king's son, and that your lineage is
+as noble as that of anyone upon earth--for so I have often told you
+aforetime. Wherefore, see to it that your worthiness shall be as great as
+your beauty, and that your courtesy and gentleness shall be as great as
+your prowess. To-day you shall go unto Camelot with King Arthur to make
+yourself known unto that famous Court of Chivalry. But do not tarry there,
+but, ere the night cometh, depart and go forth into the world to prove your
+knighthood as worthily as God shall give you grace to do. For I would not
+have you declare yourself to the world until you have proved your
+worthiness by your deeds. Wherefore, do not yourself proclaim your name,
+but wait until the world proclaimeth it; for it is better for the world to
+proclaim the worthiness of a man than that the man should proclaim his own
+worthiness. So hold yourself ready to undertake any adventure whatsoever
+that God sendeth to you to do, but never let any other man complete a task
+unto which you yourself have set your hand." Then, after the Lady of the
+Lake had so advised Sir Launcelot, she kissed him upon the face, and
+therewith gave him a ring curiously wrought and set with a wonderful purple
+stone, which ring had such power that it would dissolve every enchantment.
+Then she said: "Launcelot, wear this ring and never let it be from off your
+finger." And Launcelot said: "I will do so." So Sir Launcelot set the ring
+upon his finger and it was so that it never left his finger whilst he drew
+the breath of life.
+
+Then King Arthur and Sir Ewain and Sir Ector de Maris and the young Sir
+Launcelot laid their ways toward Camelot. And, as they journeyed so
+together, Sir Ewain communicated privily to Sir Ector de Maris how that the
+youth had a mark as of a golden star upon the skin of his shoulder, and
+upon this news Sir Ector fell very silent. For Sir Ector knew that that
+sign was upon his own brother's shoulder, and he did not know how it could
+be upon the shoulder of any other man. Wherefore, he wist not what to think
+that it should be upon the shoulder of this youth. But he said naught of
+these thoughts to Sir Ewain, but held his peace.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot cometh to Camelot] So they reached Camelot whilst
+it was still quite early in the morning and all they who were there made
+great joy at the coming of so wonderfully fair and noble a young knight as
+Sir Launcelot appeared to be. Wherefore, there was great sound of rejoicing
+at his coming.
+
+Then, after a while, King Arthur said: "Let us go and see if, haply, this
+youth's name is marked upon any of the seats of the Round Table, for I
+think it should be there." So all they of the court went to that pavilion
+afore described, where the Round Table was established, and they looked;
+and lo! upon the seat that King Pellinore had one time occupied was this
+name:
+
+THE KNIGHT OF THE LAKE
+
+So the name stood at first, nor did it change until the name of Sir
+Launcelot of the Lake became so famous in all the world. Then it became
+changed to this:
+
+SIR LAUNCELOT OF THE LAKE.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot becometh knight of the Round Table] So Sir
+Launcelot remained at Camelot for that entire day and was made acquainted
+with a great many of the lords and ladies and knights and dames of King
+Arthur's court. And all that while he was like one that walked in a dream,
+for he had never before beheld anything of the world of mankind since he
+had been carried away into the lake, wherefore he wist not very well
+whether what he saw was real or whether he beheld it in a vision of
+enchantment. For it was all very new and wonderful to him and he took great
+delight in it because that he was a man and because this world was the
+world of mankind. Wherefore, though that Castle of the Lake was so
+beautiful, yet he felt his heart go forth to this other and less beautiful
+land as it did not go forth to that, because he was human and this was
+human.
+
+Nevertheless, though that was so joyful a day for him, yet Sir Launcelot
+did not forget what the Lady of the Lake had said concerning the time he
+was to abide there! Wherefore, when it drew toward evening he besought
+leave of King Arthur to depart from that place in search of adventures, and
+King Arthur gave him leave to do as he desired.
+
+So Sir Launcelot prepared to depart, and whilst he was in his chamber
+making ready there came in unto him Sir Ector de Maris. And Sir Ector said
+unto him: "Sir, I prithee tell me--is it true that you bear upon your right
+shoulder a mark like unto a golden star?" And Sir Launcelot made reply:
+"Yea, that is true." Then Sir Ector said: "I beseech you to tell me if your
+name is Launcelot." And Sir Launcelot said: "Yea, that is my name."
+
+[Sidenote: Of the brotherhood of Sir Ector and Sir Launcelot] Upon this
+Sir Ector broke out into great weeping and he catched Sir Launcelot in his
+arms and he cried out: "Launcelot, thou art mine own brother! For thy
+father was my father, and my mother was thy mother! For we are both sons
+unto King Ban of Benwick, and Queen Helen was our mother." Therewith he
+kissed Sir Launcelot with great passion upon the face. And Sir Launcelot
+upon his part kissed Sir Ector with a great passion of joy that he had
+found a brother in this strange world into which he had so newly come. But
+Sir Launcelot charged Sir Ector that he should say nothing of this to any
+man; and Sir Ector pledged his knightly word to that effect. (Nor did he
+ever tell anyone who Sir Launcelot was until Sir Launcelot had performed
+such deeds that all the world spake his name.)
+
+For when Sir Launcelot went out into the world in that wise he undertook
+several very weighty achievements and brought them all to a successful
+issue, so that his name very quickly became known in every court of
+chivalry.
+
+[Sidenote: Of sundry adventures of Sir Launcelot] First he removed an
+enchantment that overhung a castle, hight Dolorous Gard; and he freed that
+castle and liberated all the sad, sorry captives that lay therein. (And
+this castle he held for his own and changed the name from Dolorous Gard to
+Joyous Gard and the castle became very famous afterward as his best-loved
+possession. For this was the first of all his possessions that he won by
+the prowess of his arms and he loved it best of all and considered it
+always his home.) After that Sir Launcelot, at the bidding of Queen
+Guinevere, took the part of the Lady of Nohan against the King of
+Northumberland, and he overcame the King of Northumberland and made him
+subject unto King Arthur. Then he overcame Sir Gallehaut, King of the
+Marches, and sent him captive to the court of King Arthur (and afterward
+Sir Gallehaut and Sir Launcelot became great friends for aye). So in a
+little while all the world spoke of Sir Launcelot, for it was said of him,
+and truly, that he had never been overcome by any other knight, whether
+upon horseback or upon foot, and that he always succeeded in every
+adventure which he undertook, whether that adventure were great or whether
+it were small. So it was as the Lady of the Lake desired it to be, for Sir
+Launcelot's name became famous, not because he was his father's son, but
+because of the deeds which he performed upon his own account.
+
+So Sir Launcelot performed all these famous adventures, and after that he
+returned again to the court of King Arthur crowned with the glory of his
+successful knighthood, and there he was received with joy and acclaim and
+was duly installed in that seat of the Round Table that was his. And in
+that court he was held in the greatest honor and esteem of all the knights
+who were there. For King Arthur spake many times concerning him to this
+effect: that he knew not any honor or glory that could belong to a king
+greater than having such a knight for to serve him as was Sir Launcelot of
+the Lake. For a knight like Sir Launcelot came hardly ever into the world,
+and when he did come his glory must needs illuminate with its effulgence
+the entire reign of that king whose servant he was.
+
+So it was that Sir Launcelot was greatly honored by everybody at the court
+of King Arthur, and he thereafter abided at that court for the most part of
+his life.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+[Sidenote: Of Sir Launcelot and Queen Guinevere] And now I must needs make
+mention of that friendship that existed betwixt Sir Launcelot and Queen
+Guinevere, for after he thus returned to the court of the king, they two
+became such friends that no two people could be greater friends than they
+were.
+
+Now I am aware that there have been many scandalous things said concerning
+that friendship, but I do not choose to believe any such evil sayings. For
+there are always those who love to think and say evil things of others. Yet
+though it is not to be denied that Sir Launcelot never had for his lady any
+other dame than the Lady Guinevere, still no one hath ever said with truth
+that she regarded Sir Launcelot otherwise than as her very dear friend. For
+Sir Launcelot always avouched with his knightly word, unto the last day of
+his life, that the Lady Guinevere was noble and worthy in all ways,
+wherefore I choose to believe his knightly word and to hold that what he
+said was true. For did not he become an hermit, and did not she become a
+nun in their latter days, and were they not both broken of heart when King
+Arthur departed from this life in so singular a manner as he did? Wherefore
+I choose to believe good of such noble souls as they, and not evil of them.
+
+[Sidenote: How Sir Launcelot dwelt at Camelot] Yet, though Sir Launcelot
+thus abided at the court of the King, he ever loved the open world and a
+life of adventure above all things else. For he had lived so long in the
+Lake that these things of the sturdy life of out-of-doors never lost their
+charm for him. So, though he found, for a while, great joy in being at the
+court of the King (for there were many jousts held in his honor, and,
+whithersoever he rode forth, men would say to one another: "Yonder goeth
+that great knight, Sir Launcelot, who is the greatest knight in the
+world"), yet he longed ever to be abroad in the wide world again. So one
+day he besought King Arthur for leave to depart thence and to go forth for
+a while in search of adventures; and King Arthur gave him leave to do as he
+desired.
+
+So now shall be told of several excellent adventures that Sir Launcelot
+undertook, and which he carried through with entire success, and to the
+great glory and renown of the Round Table, of which he was the foremost
+knight.
+
+[Illustration: Sir Lionel of Britain]
+
+
+
+
+Chapter Second
+
+
+_How Sir Launcelot and Sir Lionel Rode Forth Errant Together and How Sir
+Lionel Met Sir Turquine to His Great Dole. Also How Sir Ector Grieved for
+the Departure of His Brother Launcelot and So, Following Him, Fell into a
+Very Sorry Adventure_.
+
+Now after King Arthur had thus given Sir Launcelot leave to go errant and
+whilst Sir Launcelot was making himself ready to depart there came to him
+Sir Lionel, who was his cousin germain, and Sir Lionel besought leave to go
+with him as his knight-companion, and Sir Launcelot gave him that leave.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot and Sir Lionel depart in search of adventure] So
+when King Arthur confirmed Sir Launcelot's permission Sir Lionel also made
+himself ready very joyfully, and early of the morning of the next day they
+two took their leave of the court and rode away together; the day being
+very fair and gracious and all the air full of the joy of that
+season--which was in the flower of the spring-time.
+
+So, about noon-tide, they came to a certain place where a great apple-tree
+stood by a hedge, and by that time they had grown an-hungered. So they tied
+their horses near-by in a cool and shady place and straightway sat them
+down under the apple-tree in the soft tall grass, which was yet fresh with
+the coolness of the morning.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot sleepeth beneath an apple-tree] Then when they
+had ended their meal Sir Launcelot said: "Brother, I have a great lust to
+sleep for a little space, for I find myself so drowsy that mine eyelids are
+like scales of lead." Unto which Sir Lionel made reply: "Very well; sleep
+thou for a while, and I will keep watch, and after that thou shalt watch,
+and I will sleep for a little space." So Sir Launcelot put his helmet
+beneath his head and turned upon his side, and in a little had fallen into
+a sleep which had neither dream nor thought of any kind, but which was deep
+and pure like to a clear well of water in the forest.
+
+And, whilst he slept thus, Sir Lionel kept watch, walking up and down in
+the shade of a hedge near-by.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Lionel perceives how one knight pursues three knights]
+Where they were was upon the side of a hill, and beneath them was a little
+valley; and a road ran through the valley, very white and shining in the
+sunlight, like a silken ribbon, and the road lay between growing fields of
+corn and pasture-land. Now as Sir Lionel walked beside the hedge he beheld
+three knights come riding into that valley and along that road with very
+great speed and in several clouds of dust; and behind them came a fourth
+knight, who was very huge of frame and who was clad altogether in black
+armor. Moreover, this knight rode upon a black horse and his shield was
+black and his spear was black and the furniture of his horse was black, so
+that everything appertaining to that knight was as black as any raven.
+
+And Sir Lionel beheld that this one knight pursued those other three
+knights and that his horse went with greater speed than theirs, so that by
+and by he overtook the hindermost knight. And Sir Lionel beheld that the
+sable knight smote the fleeing knight a great buffet with his sword, so
+that that knight fell headlong from his horse and rolled over two or three
+times upon the ground and then lay as though he were dead. Then the black
+knight catched the second of the three, and served him as he had served his
+fellow. Then the third of the three, finding that there was no escape for
+him, turned as if to defend himself; but the black knight drave at him, and
+smote him so terrible a blow that I believe had a thunderbolt smitten him
+he would not have fallen from his horse more suddenly than he did. For,
+though that combat was full three furlongs away, yet Sir Lionel heard the
+sound of that blow as clearly as though it had been close by.
+
+Then after the black knight had thus struck down those three knights he
+went to each in turn and tied his hands behind his back. Then, lifting each
+man with extraordinary ease, he laid him across the saddle of that horse
+from which he had fallen, as though he were a sack of grain. And all this
+Sir Lionel beheld with very great wonder, marvelling much at the strength
+and prowess of that black knight. "Ha," quoth he to himself, "I will go and
+inquire into this business, for it may haply be that yonder black knight
+shall not find it to be so easy to deal with a knight of the Round Table as
+with those other three knights."
+
+So, with this, Sir Lionel loosed his horse very quietly and went his way so
+softly that Sir Launcelot was not awakened. And after he had gone some way,
+he mounted his steed and rode off at a fast gallop down into that valley.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Lionel addresses the sable knight] When Sir Lionel had come
+to that place where the knight was, he found that he had just bound the
+last of the three knights upon the saddle of his horse as aforetold. So Sir
+Lionel spoke to the sable knight in this wise: "Sir, I pray you tell me
+your name and degree and why you treat those knights in so shameful a
+fashion as I behold you to do."
+
+"Messire," said the black knight very fiercely, "this matter concerns you
+not at all; yet I may tell you that those knights whom I have overthrown
+are knights of King Arthur's court, and so I serve all such as come into
+this place. So will I serve you, too, if you be a knight of King Arthur's."
+
+"Well," said Sir Lionel, "that is a very ungracious thing for you to say.
+And as for that, I too am a knight of King Arthur's court, but I do not
+believe that you will serve me as you have served those three. Instead of
+that, I have great hope that I shall serve you in such a fashion that I
+shall be able to set these knights free from your hands."
+
+[Sidenote: The sable knight overcomes Sir Lionel] Thereupon, without more
+ado, he made him ready with spear and shield, and the black knight,
+perceiving his design, also made him ready. Then they rode a little
+distance apart so as to have a fair course for a tilt upon the roadway.
+Then each set spur to his horse and the two drave together with such
+violence that the earth shook beneath them. So they met fair in the middle
+of the course, but lo! in that encounter the spear of Sir Lionel broke into
+as many as thirty or forty pieces, but the spear of the black knight held,
+so that Sir Lionel was lifted clean out from his saddle and over the
+crupper of his horse with such violence that when he smote the ground he
+rolled three times over ere he ceased to fall. And because of that fierce,
+terrible blow he swooned away entirely, and all was black before his eyes,
+and he knew nothing.
+
+Therewith the black knight dismounted and tied Sir Lionel's arms behind his
+back and he laid him across the saddle of his horse as he had laid those
+others across the saddles of their horses; and he tied him there very
+securely with strong cords so that Sir Lionel could not move.
+
+And all this while Sir Launcelot slept beneath the apple-tree upon the
+hillside, for he was greatly soothed by the melodious humming of the bees
+in the blossoms above where he lay.
+
+[Sidenote: Of Sir Turquine the sable knight] Now you are to know that he
+who had thus taken Sir Lionel and those three knights prisoner was one Sir
+Turquine, a very cruel, haughty knight, who had a great and strong castle
+out beyond the mouth of that valley in which these knights took combat as
+aforetold. Moreover, it was the custom of Sir Turquine to make prisoner all
+the knights and ladies who came that way; and all the knights and ladies
+who were not of King Arthur's court he set free when they had paid a
+sufficient ransom unto him; but the knights who were of King Arthur's
+court, and especially those who were of the Round Table, he held prisoner
+for aye within his castle. The dungeon of that castle was a very cold,
+dismal, and unlovely place, and it was to this prison that he proposed to
+take those four knights whom he had overcome, with intent to hold them
+prisoner as aforetold.
+
+And now turn we to King Arthur's court and consider what befell there after
+Sir Launcelot and Sir Lionel had left it in search of adventures.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Ector follows Sir Launcelot and Sir Lionel] When Sir Ector
+found that Sir Launcelot and Sir Lionel had gone away in that fashion he
+was very much grieved in spirit; wherefore he said to himself, "Meseems my
+brother might have taken me with him as well as our cousin." So he went to
+King Arthur and besought his leave to quit the court and to ride after
+those other two and to join in their adventures, and King Arthur very
+cheerfully gave him that leave. So Sir Ector made him ready with all
+despatch, and rode away at a great gait after Sir Launcelot and Sir Lionel.
+And ever as Sir Ector rode he made diligent inquiry and he found that those
+two knights had ridden before him, so he said to himself: "By and by I
+shall overtake them--if not to-day, at least by night, or by to-morrow
+day."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Ector seeks adventure] But after a while he came to a
+cross-roads, and there he took a way that Sir Launcelot and Sir Lionel had
+not taken; so that, after he had gone a distance, he found that he had
+missed them by taking that road. Nevertheless, he went on until about the
+prime of the day, what time he met a forester, to whom he said: "Sirrah,
+saw you two knights ride this way--one knight clad in white armor with a
+white shield upon which was depicted the figure of a lady, and the other
+knight clad in red armor with the figure of a red gryphon upon his shield?"
+"Nay," said the forester, "I saw not such folk." Then said Sir Ector, "Is
+there any adventure to be found hereabouts?" Upon this the forester fell to
+laughing in great measure. "Yea," he said, "there is an adventure to be
+found hard by and it is one that many have undertaken and not one yet hath
+ever fulfilled." Then Sir Ector said, "Tell me what that adventure is and I
+will undertake it."
+
+"Sir," said the forester, "if you will follow along yonder road for a
+distance you will find a very large, strong castle surrounded by a broad
+moat. In front of that castle is a stream of water with a fair, shallow
+ford, where the roadway crosses the water. Upon this side of that ford
+there groweth a thorn-tree, very large and sturdy, and upon it hangs a
+basin of brass. Strike upon that basin with the butt of your spear, and you
+shall presently meet with that adventure concerning which I have just now
+spoken." "Fellow," said Sir Ector, "grammercy for your news." And,
+therewith, straightway he rode off in search of that adventure.
+
+He rode a great distance at a very fast gait and by and by he came to the
+top of a hill and therewith he saw before him the mouth of a fair valley.
+Across from where he stood was another hill not very large or high, but
+exceedingly steep and rocky. Upon this farther hill was builded a tall,
+noble castle of gray stone with many towers and spires and tall chimneys
+and with several score of windows, all shining bright in the clear weather.
+A fair river ran down into the mouth of that valley and it was as bright
+and as smooth as silver, and on each side of it were smooth level
+meadow-lands--very green--and here and there shady groves of trees and
+plantations of fruit-trees. And Sir Ector perceived that the road upon
+which he travelled crossed the aforesaid river by a shallow ford, and he
+wist that this must be the ford whereof the forester had spoken. So he rode
+down unto that ford, and when he had come nigh he perceived the thorn-tree
+of which the forester had told him, and he saw that a great basin of brass
+hung to the thorn-tree, just as the forester had said.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Ector smites upon the brazen basin] Then Sir Ector rode to
+that thorn-tree and he smote upon that basin of brass with the butt of his
+spear, so that the basin rang with a noise like thunder; and he smote it
+again and again, several times over. But though he was aware of a great
+commotion within that fair castle, yet no adventure befell him, although he
+smote the brazen basin several times.
+
+Now, his horse being athirst, Sir Ector drove him into the ford that he
+might drink, and whilst he was there he was suddenly aware where, on the
+other side of the stream, was a singular party coming along the roadway.
+For first of all there rode a knight entirely clad in black, riding upon a
+black horse, and all the harness and furniture of that horse entirely of
+black. Behind him, that knight led four horses as though they were
+pack-horses, and across each one of those four horses was a knight in full
+armor, bound fast to the saddle like to a sack of grain, whereat Sir Ector
+was very greatly astonished.
+
+As soon as that sable knight approached the castle, several came running
+forth and relieved him of those horses he led and took them into the
+castle, and as soon as he had been thus relieved the sable knight rode very
+violently up to where Sir Ector was. As soon as he had come to the water's
+edge he cried out: "Sir Knight, come forth from out of that water and do me
+battle."
+
+"Very well," said Sir Ector, "I will do so, though it will, I think, be to
+thy very great discomfort."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Ector essays battle with the sable knight] With that he
+came quickly out from the ford, the water whereof was all broken and
+churned into foam at his passing, and straightway he cast aside his spear
+and drew his sword and, driving against that sable knight, he smote him
+such a buffet that his horse turned twice about.
+
+"Ha," said the black knight, "that is the best blow that ever I had struck
+me in all of my life." Therewith he rushed upon Sir Ector, and without
+using a weapon of any sort he catched him about the body, underneath the
+arms, and dragged him clean out of his saddle, and flung him across the
+horn of his own saddle. Thereupon, having accomplished this marvellous
+feat, and with Sir Ector still across his saddle-bow, he rode up unto his
+castle, nor stopped until he had reached the court-yard of the keep. There
+he set Sir Ector down upon the stone pavement. Then he said: "Messire, thou
+hast done to me this day what no other knight hath ever done to me before,
+wherefore, if thou wilt promise to be my man from henceforth, I will let
+thee go free and give thee great rewards for thy services as well."
+
+But Sir Ector was filled very full of shame, wherefore he cried out
+fiercely, "Rather would I lie within a prison all my life than serve so
+catiff a knight as thou, who darest to treat other knights as thou hast
+just now treated me."
+
+"Well," said the black knight very grimly, "thou shalt have thy choice."
+Therewith he gave certain orders, whereupon a great many fierce fellows set
+upon Sir Ector and stripped him of all his armor, and immediately haled him
+off, half-naked, to that dungeon aforementioned.
+
+[Sidenote: The sable knight makes prisoner of Sir Ector] There he found
+many knights of King Arthur's court, and several of the Round Table, all of
+whom he knew, and when they beheld Sir Ector flung in unto them in that
+fashion they lifted up their voices in great lamentation that he should
+have been added to their number, instead of freeing them from their
+dolorous and pitiable case. "Alas," said they, "there is no knight alive
+may free us from this dungeon, unless it be Sir Launcelot. For this Sir
+Turquine is, certes, the greatest knight in all the world, unless it be Sir
+Launcelot."
+
+[Illustration: Queen Morgana appears unto Sir Launcelot]
+
+
+
+
+Chapter Third
+
+
+_How Sir Launcelot was Found in a Sleep by Queen Morgana le Fay and Three
+Other Queens who were with Her, and How He was Taken to a Castle of Queen
+Morgana's and of What Befell Him There._
+
+[Sidenote: Four Queens and their courts pass by where Sir Launcelot lies
+sleeping] So Sir Launcelot lay in deep slumber under that apple-tree, and
+knew neither that Sir Lionel had left him nor what ill-fortune had befallen
+that good knight. Whilst he lay there sleeping in that wise there came by,
+along the road, and at a little distance from him, a very fair procession
+of lordly people, making a noble parade upon the highway. The chiefest of
+this company were four ladies, who were four queens. With them rode four
+knights, and, because the day was warm, the four knights bore a canopy of
+green silk by the four corners upon the points of their lances in such wise
+as to shelter those queens from the strong heat of the sun. And those four
+knights rode all armed cap-a-pie on four noble war-horses, and the four
+queens, bedight in great estate, rode on four white mules richly
+caparisoned with furniture of divers colors embroidered with gold. After
+these lordly folk there followed a very excellent court of esquires and
+demoiselles to the number of a score or more; some riding upon horses and
+some upon mules that ambled very easily.
+
+Now all these folk of greater or lesser degree were entirely unaware that
+Sir Launcelot lay sleeping so nigh to them as they rode by chattering very
+gayly together in the spring-time weather, taking great pleasure in the
+warm air, and in growing things, and the green fields, and the bright sky;
+and they would have had no knowledge that the knight was there, had not Sir
+Launcelot's horse neighed very lustily. Thereupon, they were aware of the
+horse, and then they were aware of Sir Launcelot where he lay asleep under
+the apple-tree, with his head lying upon his helmet.
+
+Now foremost of all those queens was Queen Morgana le Fay (who was King
+Arthur's sister, and a potent, wicked enchantress, of whom much hath been
+told in the Book of King Arthur), and besides Queen Morgana there was the
+Queen of North Wales, and the Queen of Eastland, and the Queen of the Outer
+Isles.
+
+Now when this party of queens, knights, esquires, and ladies heard the
+war-horse neigh, and when they beheld Sir Launcelot where he lay, they
+drew rein and marvelled very greatly to see a knight sleeping so soundly at
+that place, maugre all the noise and tumult of their passing. So Queen
+Morgana called to her one of the esquires who followed after them, and she
+said to him: "Go softly and see if thou knowest who is yonder knight; but
+do not wake him."
+
+[Sidenote: An esquire knoweth Sir Launcelot] So the esquire did as she
+commanded; he went unto that apple-tree and he looked into Sir Launcelot's
+face, and by hap he knew who it was because he had been to Camelot
+erstwhiles and he had seen Sir Launcelot at that place. So he hastened back
+to Queen Morgana and he said to her: "Lady, I believe that yonder knight is
+none other than the great Sir Launcelot of the Lake, concerning whom there
+is now such report; for he is reputed to be the most powerful of all the
+knights of King Arthur's Round Table, and the greatest knight in the world,
+so that King Arthur loves him and favors him above all other knights."
+
+Now when Queen Morgana le Fay was aware that the knight who was asleep
+there was Sir Launcelot, it immediately entered her mind for to lay some
+powerful, malignant enchantment upon him to despite King Arthur. For she
+too knew how dear Sir Launcelot was to King Arthur, and so she had a mind
+to do him mischief for King Arthur's sake. So she went softly to where Sir
+Launcelot lay with intent to work some such spell upon him. But when she
+had come to Sir Launcelot she was aware that this purpose of mischief was
+not possible whilst he wore that ring upon his finger which the Lady of the
+Lake had given him; wherefore she had to put by her evil design for a
+while.
+
+[Sidenote: Queen Morgana le Fay sets a mild enchantment upon Sir
+Launcelot] But though she was unable to work any malign spell upon him,
+she was able to cause it by her magic that that sleep in which he lay
+should remain unbroken for three or four hours. So she made certain
+movements of her hands above his face and by that means she wove the
+threads of his slumber so closely together that he could not break through
+them to awake.
+
+After she had done this she called to her several of the esquires who were
+of her party, and these at her command fetched the shield of Sir Launcelot
+and laid him upon it. Then they lifted him and bore him away, carrying him
+in that manner to a certain castle in the forest that was no great distance
+away. And the name of that castle was Chateaubras and it was one of Queen
+Morgana's castles.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot awakens in a fair chamber] And all that while Sir
+Launcelot wist nothing, but lay in a profound sleep, so that when he awoke
+and looked about him he was so greatly astonished that he knew not whether
+he was in a vision or whether he was awake. For whilst he had gone asleep
+beneath that apple-tree, here he now lay in a fair chamber upon a couch
+spread with a coverlet of flame-colored linen.
+
+Then he perceived that it was a very fair room in which he lay, for it was
+hung all about with tapestry hangings representing fair ladies at court and
+knights at battle. And there were woven carpets upon the floor, and the
+couch whereon he lay was of carved wood, richly gilt. There were two
+windows to that chamber, and when he looked forth he perceived that the
+chamber where he was was very high from the ground, being built so loftily
+upon the rugged rocks at its foot that the forest lay far away beneath him
+like a sea of green. And he perceived that there was but one door to this
+chamber and that the door was bound with iron and studded with great bosses
+of wrought iron, and when he tried that door he found that it was locked.
+
+So Sir Launcelot was aware from these things that he was a prisoner--though
+not a prisoner in a hard case--and he wist not how he had come thither nor
+what had happened to him.
+
+[Sidenote: A fair damsel beareth light and food unto Sir Launcelot] Now
+when the twilight of the evening had fallen, a porter, huge of frame and
+very forbidding of aspect, came and opened the door of the chamber where
+Sir Launcelot lay, and when he had done so there entered a fair damsel,
+bearing a very good supper upon a silver tray. Moreover, she bore upon the
+tray three tapers of perfumed wax set in three silver candlesticks, and
+these gave a fair light to the entire room. But, when Sir Launcelot saw the
+maiden coming thus with intent to serve him, he arose and took the tray
+from her and set it himself upon the table; and for this civility the
+damsel made acknowledgement to him. Then she said to him: "Sir Knight, what
+cheer do you have?" "Ha, damsel," said Sir Launcelot, "I do not know how to
+answer you that, for I wist not what cheer to have until I know whether I
+be with friends or with enemies. For though this chamber wherein I lie is
+very fair and well-bedight, yet meseems I must have been brought here by
+some enchantment, and that I am a prisoner in this place; wherefore I know
+not what cheer to take."
+
+[Sidenote: The damsel has pity for Sir Launcelot] Then the damsel looked
+upon Sir Launcelot, and she was very sorry for him. "Sir," quoth she, "I
+take great pity to see you in this pass, for I hear tell you are the best
+knight in the world and, of a surety, you are of a very noble appearance. I
+must tell you that this castle wherein you lie is a castle of enchantment,
+and they who dwell here mean you no good; wherefore I would advise you to
+be upon your guard against them."
+
+"Maiden," said Sir Launcelot, "I give you grammercy for your kind words,
+and I will be upon my guard as you advise me."
+
+Then the damsel would have said more, but she durst not for fear that she
+should be overheard and that evil should befall her, for the porter was
+still without the door. So in a little she went away and Sir Launcelot was
+left alone.
+
+But though the damsel bade Sir Launcelot have good cheer, yet he had no
+very good cheer for that night, as anyone may well suppose, for he wist not
+what was to befall him upon the morrow.
+
+Now when the morning had come Sir Launcelot was aware of someone at his
+chamber door, and when that one entered it was Queen Morgana le Fay.
+
+[Sidenote: How Queen Morgana cometh to Sir Launcelot] She was clad in all
+the glory at her command, and her appearance was so shining and radiant
+that when she came into that room Sir Launcelot knew not whether it was a
+vision his eyes beheld or whether she was a creature of flesh and blood.
+For she came with her golden crown upon her head, and her hair, which was
+as red as gold, was bound around with ribbons of gold; and she was clad all
+in cloth of gold; and she wore golden rings with jewels upon her fingers
+and golden bracelets upon her arms and a golden collar around her
+shoulders; wherefore, when she came into the room she shone with an
+extraordinary splendor, as if she were a marvellous statue made all of pure
+gold--only that her face was very soft and beautiful, and her eyes shone
+exceedingly bright, and her lips, which were as red as coral, smiled, and
+her countenance moved and changed with all the wiles of fascination that
+she could cause it to assume.
+
+When Sir Launcelot beheld her come thus gloriously into his room he rose
+and greeted her with a very profound salutation, for he was astonished
+beyond measure at beholding that shining vision. Then Queen Morgana gave
+him her hand, and he kneeled, and took her jewelled fingers in his and set
+her hand to his lips. "Welcome, Sir Launcelot!" quoth she; "welcome to this
+place! For it is indeed a great honor to have here so noble and famous a
+knight as you!"
+
+"Ha, Lady," said Sir Launcelot, "you are gracious to me beyond measure! But
+I pray you tell me how I came to this place and by what means? For when I
+fell asleep yesterday at noon I lay beneath an apple-tree upon a hillside;
+and when I awoke--lo! I found myself in this fair chamber."
+
+[Sidenote: Queen Morgana seeks to beguile Sir Launcelot] To this Queen
+Morgana le Fay made smiling reply as follows: "Sir, I am Queen Morgana le
+Fay, of whom you may have heard tell, for I am the sister of King Arthur,
+whose particular knight you are. Yesterday, at noon, riding with certain
+other queens and a small court of knights, esquires, and demoiselles, we
+went by where you lay sleeping. Finding you lying so, alone and without any
+companion, I was able, by certain arts which I possess, to lay a gentle
+enchantment upon you so that the sleep wherein you lay should remain
+unbroken for three or four hours. So we brought you to this place in hopes
+that you would stay with us for two or three days or more, and give us the
+pleasure of your company. For your fame, which is very great, hath reached
+even as far as this place, wherefore we have made a gentle prisoner of you
+for this time being."
+
+"Lady," said Sir Launcelot, "such constraint as that would be very pleasing
+to me at another time. But when I fell asleep I was with my cousin, Sir
+Lionel, and I know not what hath become of him, and haply he will not know
+what hath become of me should he seek me. Now I pray you let me go forth
+and find my cousin, and when I have done so I will return to you again at
+this place with an easy spirit."
+
+"Well, Messire," said Queen Morgana, "it shall be as you desire, only I
+require of you some pledge of your return." (Herewith she drew from her
+finger a golden ring set very richly with several jewels.) "Now take this
+ring," she said, "and give me that ring which I see upon your finger, and
+when you shall return hither each shall have his ring again from the
+other."
+
+"Lady," said Sir Launcelot, "that may not be. For this ring was placed upon
+my finger with such a pledge that it may never leave where it is whilst my
+soul abideth in my body. Ask of me any other pledge and you shall have it;
+but I cannot give this ring to you."
+
+[Sidenote: Queen Morgana hath anger for Sir Launcelot] Upon this Queen
+Morgana's cheeks grew very red, and her eyes shone like sparks of fire.
+"Ha, Sir Knight," she said, "I do not think you are very courteous to
+refuse a lady and a queen so small a pledge as that. I am much affronted
+with you that you should have done so. Wherefore, I now demand of you, as
+the sister of King Arthur whom you serve, that you give me that ring."
+
+"Lady," said Sir Launcelot, "I may not do that, though it grieveth me much
+to refuse you."
+
+Then Queen Morgana looked at Sir Launcelot awhile with a very angry
+countenance, but she perceived that she was not to have her will with him,
+wherefore she presently turned very quickly and went out of the room,
+leaving Sir Launcelot much perturbed in spirit. For he knew how great were
+the arts of Queen Morgana le Fay, and he could not tell what harm she might
+seek to work upon him by those arts. But he ever bore in mind how that the
+ring which he wore was sovereign against such malignant arts as she
+practised, wherefore he took what comfort he could from that circumstance.
+
+Nevertheless, he abode in that chamber in great uncertainty for all that
+day, and when night came he was afraid to let himself slumber, lest they of
+the castle should come whilst he slept and work him some secret ill;
+wherefore he remained awake whilst all the rest of the castle slept. Now at
+the middle of the night, and about the time of the first cock-crow, he was
+aware of a sound without and a light that fell through the crack of the
+door. Then, in a little, the door was opened and there entered that young
+damsel who had served him with his supper the night before, and she bare a
+lighted taper in her hand.
+
+[Sidenote: The damsel cometh again to Sir Launcelot] When Sir Launcelot
+perceived that damsel he said: "Maiden, do you come hither with good intent
+or with evil intent?" "Sir," she said, "I come with good intent, for I take
+great pity to see you in such a sorry case as this. I am a King's daughter
+in attendance upon Queen Morgana le Fay, but she is so powerful an
+enchantress that, in good sooth, I am in great fear lest she some time do
+me an ill-hap. So to-morrow I leave her service and return unto my father's
+castle. Meantime, I am of a mind to help you in your adversity. For Queen
+Morgana trusts me, and I have knowledge of this castle and I have all the
+keys thereof, wherefore I can set you free. And I will set you free if you
+will, upon your part, serve me in a way that you can very easily do."
+
+"Well," said Sir Launcelot, "provided I may serve you in a way fitting my
+knightly honor, I shall be glad to do so under any condition. Now I pray
+you tell me what it is you would have of me."
+
+[Sidenote: The damsel speaketh to Sir Launcelot of her father, King
+Bagdemagus] "Sir," said the damsel, "my father hath made a tournament
+betwixt him and the King of North Wales upon Tuesday next, and that is just
+a fortnight from this day. Now, already my father hath lost one such a
+tournament, for he hath no very great array of knights upon his side, and
+the King of North Wales hath three knights of King Arthur's Round Table to
+aid his party. Because of the great help of these knights of the Round
+Table, the King of North Wales won the last tournament and my father lost
+it, and now he feareth to lose the tournament that is to be. Now if you
+will enter upon my father's side upon the day of the tournament, I doubt
+not that he shall win that tournament; for all men say that you are the
+greatest knight in the world at this time. So if you will promise to help
+my father and will seal that promise with your knightly word, then will I
+set you free of this castle of enchantment."
+
+"Fair maiden," said Sir Launcelot, "tell me your name and your father's
+name, for I cannot give you my promise until I know who ye be."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot promises to aid King Bagdemagus] "Sir," said the
+demoiselle, "I am called Elouise the Fair, and my father is King
+Bagdemagus." "Ha!" quoth Sir Launcelot, "I know your father, and I know
+that he is a good king and a very worthy knight besides. If you did me no
+service whatsoever, I would, at your simple asking, were I free of this
+place, lend him such aid as it is in my power to give."
+
+At this the damsel took great joy and gave Sir Launcelot thanks beyond
+measure. So they spoke together as to how that matter might be brought
+about so that Sir Launcelot should be brought to talk to King Bagdemagus.
+And the damsel Elouise said: "Let it be this way, Sir Launcelot.
+Imprimis--thou art to know that somewhat of a long distance to the
+westward of that place where thou didst fall asleep yesterday, there
+standeth a very large, fair abbey known as the Abbey of Saint James the
+Lesser. This abbey is surrounded by an exceedingly noble estate that lieth
+all around about it so that no man that haps in that part of the country
+can miss it if he make inquiry for it. Now I will go and take lodging at
+that abbey a little while after I leave this place. So when it suits thee
+to do so, come thou thither and thou wilt find me there and I will bring
+thee to my father."
+
+"Very well," said Sir Launcelot, "let it be that way. I will come to that
+place in good time for the tournament. Meantime, I prithee, rest in the
+assurance that I shall never forgot thy kindness to me this day, nor thy
+gracious behavior and speech unto me. Wherefore I shall deem it not a duty
+but a pleasure to serve thee."
+
+[Sidenote: The damsel bringeth Sir Launcelot to freedom] So, having
+arranged all these matters, the damsel Elouise opened the door of that room
+and led Sir Launcelot out thence; and she led him through various passages
+and down several long flights of steps, and so brought him at last unto a
+certain chamber, where was his armor. Then the damsel helped Sir Launcelot
+to encase him in his armor, so that in a little while he was altogether
+armed as he had been when he fell asleep under that apple-tree. Thereafter
+the damsel brought him out past the court-yard and unto the stable where
+was Sir Launcelot's horse, and the horse knew him when he came. So he
+saddled the horse by the light of a half-moon which sailed like a boat high
+up in the sky through the silver, floating clouds, and therewith he was
+ready to depart. Then the damsel opened the gate and he rode out into the
+night, which was now drawing near the dawning of the day.
+
+Thus Elouise the Fair aided Sir Launcelot to escape from that castle of
+enchantment, where else great ill might have befallen him.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+And now it shall be told how Sir Launcelot did battle with Sir Turquine and
+of what happened thereat.
+
+[Illustration: Sir Launcelot doeth battle with Sir Turquine]
+
+
+
+
+Chapter Fourth
+
+
+_How Sir Launcelot Sought Sir Lionel and How a Young Damsel Brought Him to
+the Greatest Battle that Ever He Had in All His Life_.
+
+So Sir Launcelot rode through the forest, and whilst he rode the day began
+to break. About sunrise he came out into an open clearing where certain
+charcoal-burners were plying their trade.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot breaks his fast in the forest] To these rude
+fellows he appeared out of the dark forest like some bright and shining
+vision; and they made him welcome and offered him to eat of their food, and
+he dismounted and sat down with them and brake his fast with them. And when
+he had satisfied his hunger, he gave them grammercy for their
+entertainment, and took horse and rode away.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot cometh again to the place of the apple-tree] He
+made forward until about the middle of the morning, what time he came
+suddenly upon that place where, two days before, he had fallen asleep
+beneath the blooming apple-tree. Here he drew rein and looked about him for
+a considerable while; for he thought that haply he might find some trace of
+Sir Lionel thereabouts. But there was no trace of him, and Sir Launcelot
+wist not what had become of him.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot perceives a damsel upon a palfrey] Now whilst Sir
+Launcelot was still there, not knowing what to do to find Sir Lionel, there
+passed that way a damsel riding upon a white palfrey. Unto her Sir
+Launcelot made salutation, and she made salutation to him and asked him
+what cheer. "Maiden," said Sir Launcelot, "the cheer that I have is not
+very good, seeing that I have lost my companion-at-arms and know not where
+he is." Then he said: "Did you haply meet anywhere with a knight with the
+figure of a red gryphon upon his shield?" whereunto the damsel answered:
+"Nay, I saw none such." Then Sir Launcelot said: "Tell me, fair damsel,
+dost thou know of any adventure hereabouts that I may undertake? For, as
+thou seest, I am errant and in search of such."
+
+Upon this the damsel fell a-laughing: "Yea, Sir Knight," said she, "I know
+of an adventure not far away, but it is an adventure that no knight yet
+that ever I heard tell of hath accomplished. I can take thee to that
+adventure if thou hast a desire to pursue it."
+
+"Why should I not pursue it," said Sir Launcelot, "seeing that I am here
+for that very cause--to pursue adventure?"
+
+"Well," said the damsel, "then come with me, Sir Knight, I will take thee
+to an adventure that shall satisfy thee."
+
+[Sidenote: The damsel leads Sir Launcelot to an adventure] So Sir
+Launcelot and that damsel rode away from that place together; he upon his
+great war-horse and she upon her ambling palfrey beside him. And the sun
+shone down upon them, very pleasant and warm, and all who passed them
+turned to look after them; for the maiden was very fair and slender, and
+Sir Launcelot was of so noble and stately a mien that few could behold him
+even from a distance without looking twice or three times upon him. And as
+they travelled in that way together they fell into converse, and the damsel
+said to Sir Launcelot: "Sir, thou appearest to be a very good knight, and
+of such a sort as may well undertake any adventure with great hope of
+success. Now I prithee to tell me thy name and what knight thou art."
+
+"Fair maiden," said Sir Launcelot, "as for telling you my name, that I will
+gladly do. I am called Sir Launcelot of the Lake, and I am a knight of King
+Arthur's court and of his Round Table."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot and the maiden discourse together] At this the
+damsel was very greatly astonished and filled with admiration. "Hah!" quoth
+she, "it is a great pleasure to me to fall in with you, Sir Launcelot, for
+all the world now bespeaketh your fame. Little did I ever think to behold
+your person, much less speak with you, and ride in this way with you. Now I
+will tell you what this adventure is on which we are set; it is this--there
+is, some small distance from this, a castle of a knight hight Sir Turquine,
+who hath in his prison a great many knights of King Arthur's court, and
+several knights of his Round Table. These knights he keepeth there in great
+dole and misery, for it is said that their groans may be heard by the
+passers along the high-road below the castle. This Sir Turquine is held to
+be the greatest knight in the world (unless it be thou) for he hath never
+yet been overcome in battle, whether a-horseback or a-foot. But, indeed, I
+think it to be altogether likely that thou wilt overcome him."
+
+"Fair damsel," quoth Sir Launcelot, "I too have hope that I shall hold mine
+own with him, when I meet him, and to that I shall do my best endeavor. Yet
+this and all other matters are entirely in the hands of God."
+
+Then the damsel said, "If you should overcome this Sir Turquine, I know of
+still another adventure which, if you do not undertake it, I know of no one
+else who may undertake to bring it to a successful issue."
+
+Quoth Sir Launcelot, "I am glad to hear of that or of any other adventure,
+for I take great joy in such adventuring. Now, tell me, what is this other
+adventure?"
+
+[Sidenote: The maiden tells Sir Launcelot of the savage forest knight]
+"Sir," said the damsel, "a long distance to the west of this there is a
+knight who hath a castle in the woods and he is the evilest disposed knight
+that ever I heard tell of. For he lurks continually in the outskirts of the
+woods, whence he rushes forth at times upon those who pass by. Especially
+he is an enemy to all ladies of that country, for he hath taken many of
+them prisoners to his castle and hath held them in the dungeon thereof for
+ransom; and sometimes he hath held them for a long while. Now I am fain
+that thou undertake that adventure for my sake."
+
+"Well," said Sir Launcelot, "I believe it would be a good thing for any
+knight to do to rid the world of such an evil-disposed knight as that, so
+if I have the good fortune to overcome this Sir Turquine, I give my
+knightly word that I will undertake this adventure for thy sake, if so be
+thou wilt go with me for to show me the way to his castle."
+
+"That I will do with all gladness," said the damsel, "for it is great pride
+for any lady to ride with you upon such an adventure."
+
+Thus they talked, and all was arranged betwixt them. And thus they rode
+very pleasantly through that valley for the distance of two leagues or a
+little more, until they came to that place where the road crossed the
+smooth stream of water afore told of; and there was the castle of Sir
+Turquine as afore told of; and there was the thorn-bush and the basin
+hanging upon the thorn-bush as afore told of. Then the maiden said: "Sir
+Launcelot, beat upon that basin and so thou shalt summon Sir Turquine to
+battle with thee."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot smites upon the basin] So Sir Launcelot rode to
+that basin where it hung and he smote upon it very violently with the butt
+of his spear. And he smote upon that basin again and again until he smote
+the bottom from out it; but at that time immediately no one came.
+
+Then, after a while, he was ware of one who came riding toward him, and he
+beheld that he who came riding was a knight very huge of frame, and long
+and strong of limb. And he beheld that the knight was clad entirely in
+black, and that the horse upon which he rode and all the furniture of the
+horse was black. And he beheld that this knight drave before him another
+horse, and that across the saddle of that other horse there lay an armed
+knight, bound hand and foot; and Sir Launcelot wist that the sable knight
+who came riding was that Sir Turquine whom he sought.
+
+[Sidenote: The sable knight bringeth Sir Gaheris captive] So Sir Turquine
+came very rapidly along the highway toward where Sir Launcelot sat, driving
+that other horse and the captive knight before him all the while. And as
+they came nearer and nearer Sir Launcelot thought that he should know who
+the wounded knight was and when they came right close, so that he could see
+the markings of the shield of that captive knight, he wist that it was Sir
+Gaheris, the brother of Sir Gawaine, and the nephew of King Arthur, whom
+Sir Turquine brought thither in that wise.
+
+At this Sir Launcelot was very wroth; for he could not abide seeing a
+fellow-knight of the Round Table treated with such disregard as that which
+Sir Gaheris suffered at the hands of Sir Turquine; wherefore Sir Launcelot
+rode to meet Sir Turquine, and he cried out: "Sir Knight! put that wounded
+man down from his horse, and let him rest for a while, and we two will
+prove our strength, the one against the other! For it is a shame for thee
+to treat a noble knight of the Round Table with such despite as thou art
+treating that knight."
+
+"Sir," said Sir Turquine, "as I treat that knight, so treat I all knights
+of the Round Table--and so will I treat thee if thou be of the Round
+Table."
+
+"Well," said Sir Launcelot, "as for that, I am indeed of the Round Table,
+and I have come hither for no other reason than for to do battle with
+thee."
+
+"Sir Knight," said Sir Turquine, "thou speakest very boldly; now I pray
+thee to tell me what knight thou art and what is thy name."
+
+"Messire," said Sir Launcelot, "I have no fear to do that. I am called Sir
+Launcelot of the Lake, and I am a knight of King Arthur's, who made me
+knight with his own hand."
+
+"Ha!" said Sir Turquine, "that is very good news to me, for of all knights
+in the world thou art the one I most desire to meet, for I have looked for
+thee for a long while with intent to do battle with thee. For it was thou
+who didst slay my brother Sir Caradus at Dolorous Gard, who was held to be
+the best knight in all the world. Wherefore, because of this, I have the
+greatest despite against thee of any man in the world, and it was because
+of that despite that I waged particular battle against all the knights of
+King Arthur's court. And in despite of thee I now hold five score and eight
+knights, who are thy fellows, in the dismallest dungeon of my castle. Also
+I have to tell thee that among those knights is thine own brother, Sir
+Ector, and thy kinsman, Sir Lionel. For I overthrew Sir Ector and Sir
+Lionel only a day or two ago, and now they lie almost naked in the lower
+parts of that castle yonder. I will put down this knight as thou biddst me,
+and when I have done battle with thee I hope to tie thee on his
+saddle-horn in his place."
+
+So Sir Turquine loosed the cords that bound Sir Gaheris and set him from
+off the horse's back, and Sir Gaheris, who was sorely wounded and very
+weak, sat him down upon a slab of stone near-by.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot and Sir Turquine do battle together] Then Sir
+Launcelot and Sir Turquine made themselves ready at all points, and each
+took such stand as seemed to him to be best; and when each was ready for
+the assault, each set spurs to his horse and rushed the one against the
+other with such terrible violence that they smote together like a clap of
+thunder.
+
+So fierce was that onset that each horse fell back upon the ground and only
+by great skill and address did the knight who rode him void his saddle, so
+as to save himself from a fall. And in that meeting the horse of Sir
+Turquine was killed outright and the back of Sir Launcelot's horse was
+broken and he could not rise, but lay like dead upon the ground.
+
+Then each knight drew his sword and set his shield before him and they came
+together with such wrath that it appeared as though their fierce eyes shot
+sparks of fire through the oculariums of their helmets. So they met and
+struck; and they struck many scores of times, and their blows were so
+violent that neither shield nor armor could withstand the strokes they
+gave. For their shields were cleft and many pieces of armor were hewn from
+their limbs, so that the ground was littered with them. And each knight
+gave the other so many grim wounds that the ground presently was all
+sprinkled with red where they stood.
+
+Now that time the day had waxed very hot, for it was come high noontide, so
+presently Sir Turquine cried out: "Stay thee, Sir Launcelot, for I have a
+boon to ask!" At this Sir Launcelot stayed his hand and said: "What is it
+thou hast to ask, Sir Knight?" Sir Turquine said: "Messire, I am
+athirst--let me drink." And Sir Launcelot said: "Go and drink."
+
+So Sir Turquine went to that river and entered into that water, which was
+presently stained with red all about him. And he stooped where he stood and
+drank his fill, and presently came forth again altogether refreshed.
+
+Therewith he took up his sword once more and rushed at Sir Launcelot and
+smote with double strength, so that Sir Launcelot bent before him and had
+much ado to defend himself from these blows.
+
+Then by and by Sir Launcelot waxed faint upon his part and was athirst, and
+he cried out: "I crave of thee a boon, Sir Knight!" "What wouldst thou
+have?" said Sir Turquine. "Sir Knight," said Sir Launcelot, "bide while I
+drink, for I am athirst." "Nay," said Sir Turquine, "thou shalt not drink
+until thou quenchest thy thirst in Paradise." "Ha!" cried Sir Launcelot,
+"thou art a foul churl and no true knight. For when thou wert athirst, I
+let thee drink; and now that I am athirst, thou deniest me to quench my
+thirst."
+
+Therewith he was filled with such anger that he was like one gone wode;
+wherefore he flung aside his shield and took his sword in both hands and
+rushed upon Sir Turquine and smote him again and again; and the blows he
+gave were so fierce that Sir Turquine waxed somewhat bewildered and bore
+aback, and held his shield low for faintness.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot overcometh Sir Turquine] Then when Sir Launcelot
+beheld that Sir Turquine was faint in that wise, he rushed upon him and
+catched him by the beaver of his helmet and pulled him down upon his knees.
+And Sir Launcelot rushed Sir Turquine's helmet from off his head. And he
+lifted his sword and smote Sir Turquine's head from off his shoulders, so
+that it rolled down upon the ground.
+
+Then for a while Sir Launcelot stood there panting for to catch his breath
+after that sore battle, for he was nearly stifled with the heat and fury
+thereof. Then he went down into the water, and he staggered like a drunken
+man as he went, and the water ran all red at his coming. And Sir Launcelot
+stooped and slaked his thirst, which was very furious and hot.
+
+Thereafter he came up out of the water again, all dripping, and he went to
+where the damsel was and he said to her; "Damsel, lo, I have overcome Sir
+Turquine; now I am ready to go with thee upon that other adventure, as I
+promised thee I would."
+
+At this the damsel was astonished beyond measure, wherefore she cried:
+"Sir, thou art sorely hurt, and in need of rest for two or three days, and
+maybe a long time more, until thy wounds are healed."
+
+"Nay," said Sir Launcelot, "no need to wait; I will go with thee now."
+
+Then Sir Launcelot went to Sir Gaheris--for Sir Gaheris had been sitting
+for all that while upon that slab of stone. Sir Launcelot said to Sir
+Gaheris: "Fair Lord, be not angry if I take your horse, for I must
+presently go with this damsel, and you see mine own horse hath broke his
+back."
+
+"Sir Knight," said Sir Gaheris, "this day you have saved both me and my
+horse, wherefore it is altogether fitting that my horse or anything that is
+mine should be yours to do with as you please. So I pray you take my horse,
+only tell me your name and what knight you are; for I swear by my sword
+that I never saw any knight in all the world do battle so wonderfully as
+you have done to-day."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot makes himself known to Sir Gaheris] "Sir," said
+Sir Launcelot, "I am called Sir Launcelot of the Lake, and I am a knight of
+King Arthur's. So it is altogether fitting that I should do such service
+unto you as this, seeing that you are the brother of that dear knight, Sir
+Gawaine. For if I should not do this battle that I have done for your sake,
+I should yet do it for the sake of my lord, King Arthur, who is your uncle
+and Sir Gawaine's uncle."
+
+Now when Sir Gaheris heard who Sir Launcelot was, he made great exclamation
+of amazement. "Ha, Sir Launcelot!" he cried, "and is it thou! Often have I
+heard of thee and of thy prowess at arms! I have desired to meet thee more
+than any knight in the world; but never did I think to meet thee in such a
+case as this." Therewith Sir Gaheris arose, and went to Sir Launcelot, and
+Sir Launcelot came to him and they met and embraced and kissed one another
+upon the face; and from that time forth they were as brethren together.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot bids Sir Gaheris to free the castle captives]
+Then Sir Launcelot said to Sir Gaheris: "I pray you, Lord, for to go up
+unto yonder castle, and bring succor to those unfortunates who lie therein.
+For I think you will find there many fellow-knights of the Round Table. And
+I believe that you will find therein my brother, Sir Ector, and my cousin,
+Sir Lionel. And if you find any other of my kindred I pray you to set them
+free and to do what you can for to comfort them and to put them at their
+ease. And if there is any treasure in that castle, I bid you give it unto
+those knights who are prisoners there, for to compensate them for the pains
+they have endured. Moreover, I pray you tell Sir Ector and Sir Lionel not
+to follow after me, but to return to court and wait for me there, for I
+have two adventures to undertake and I must essay them alone."
+
+Then Sir Gaheris was very much astonished, and he cried out upon Sir
+Launcelot: "Sir! Sir! Surely you will not go forth upon another adventure
+at this time, seeing that you are so sorely wounded."
+
+But Sir Launcelot said: "Yea, I shall go now; for I do not think that my
+wounds are so deep that I shall not be able to do my devoirs when my time
+cometh to do them."
+
+At this Sir Gaheris was amazed beyond measure, for Sir Launcelot was very
+sorely wounded, and his armor was much broken in that battle, wherefore Sir
+Gaheris had never beheld a person who was so steadfast of purpose as to do
+battle in such a case.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot departs with the damsel] So Sir Launcelot mounted
+Sir Gaheris' horse and rode away with that young damsel, and Sir Gaheris
+went to the castle as Sir Launcelot had bidden him to do.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Gaheris frees the castle captives] In that castle he found
+five score and eight prisoners in dreadful case, for some who were there
+had been there for a long time, so that the hair of them had grown down
+upon their shoulders, and their beards had grown down upon their breasts.
+And some had been there but a short time, as was the case of Sir Lionel and
+Sir Ector. But all were in a miserable sorry plight; and all of those sad
+prisoners but two were knights of King Arthur's court, and eight of them
+were knights of the Round Table. All these crowded around Sir Gaheris, for
+they saw that he was wounded and they deemed that it was he had set them
+free, wherefore they gave him thanks beyond measure.
+
+"Not so," said Sir Gaheris, "it was not I who set you free; it was Sir
+Launcelot of the Lake. He overcame Sir Turquine in such a battle as I never
+before beheld. For I saw that battle with mine own eyes, being at a little
+distance seated upon a stone slab and wounded as you see. And I make my
+oath that I never beheld so fierce and manful a combat in all of my life.
+But now your troubles are over and done, and Sir Launcelot greets you all
+with words of good cheer and bids me tell you to take all ease and comfort
+that you can in being free, and in especial he bids me greet you, Sir
+Ector, and you, Sir Lionel, and to tell you that you are to follow him no
+farther, but to return to court and bide there until he cometh; for he
+goeth upon an adventure which he must undertake by himself."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Lionel and Sir Ector and Sir Kay follow after Sir
+Launcelot] "Not so," said Sir Lionel, "I will follow after him, and find
+him." And so said Sir Ector likewise, that he would go and find Sir
+Launcelot. Then Sir Kay the Seneschal said that he would ride with those
+two; so the three took horse and rode away together to find Sir Launcelot.
+
+As for those others, they ransacked throughout the castle of Sir Turquine,
+and they found twelve treasure-chests full of treasure, both of silver and
+of gold, together with many precious jewels; and they found many bales of
+cloth of silk and of cloth of gold. So, as Sir Launcelot had bid them do
+so, they divided the treasure among themselves, setting aside a part for
+Sir Ector and a part for Sir Lionel and a part for Sir Kay. Then, whereas
+before they had been mournful, now they were joyful at having been made so
+rich with those precious things.
+
+Thus happily ended that great battle with Sir Turquine which was very
+likely the fiercest and most dolorous fight that ever Sir Launcelot had in
+all of his life. For, unless it was Sir Tristram, he never found any other
+knight so big as Sir Turquine except Sir Galahad, who was his own son.
+
+And now it shall be told how Sir Launcelot fared upon that adventure which
+he had promised the young damsel to undertake.
+
+[Illustration: Sir Launcelot sits with Sir Hilaire and Croisette]
+
+
+
+
+Chapter Fifth
+
+
+_How Sir Launcelot Went Upon an Adventure with the Damsel Croisette as
+Companion, and How He Overcame Sir Peris of the Forest Sauvage._
+
+Now after Sir Launcelot had finished that battle with Sir Turquine as
+aforetold, and when he had borrowed the horse of Sir Gaheris, he rode away
+from that place of combat with the young damsel, with intent to carry out
+the other adventure which he had promised her to undertake.
+
+[Sidenote: How Sir Launcelot's wounds pain him] But though he rode with
+her, yet, for a while, he said very little to her, for his wounds ached him
+sorely and he was in a great deal of pain. So, because of this, he had
+small mind to talk, but only to endure what he had to endure with as much
+patience as he might command. And the damsel upon her part was somewhat
+aware of what Sir Launcelot was suffering and she was right sorry for him,
+wherefore she did not trouble him with idle discourse at that moment, but
+waited for a while before she spake.
+
+Then by and by she said to him: "Messire, I would that thou wouldst rest
+for some days, and take thine ease, and have thy wounds searched and
+dressed, and have thy armor looked to and redded. Now there is a castle at
+some distance from this, and it is my brother's castle, and thither we may
+go in a little pass. There thou mayst rest for this night and take thine
+ease. For I know that my brother will be wonderfully glad to see thee
+because thou art so famous."
+
+Then Sir Launcelot turned his eyes upon the damsel: "Fair maiden," quoth
+he, "I make confession that I do in sooth ache a very great deal, and that
+I am somewhat aweary with the battle I have endured this day. Wherefore I
+am very well content to follow thy commands in this matter. But I prithee,
+damsel, tell me what is thy name, for I know not yet how thou art called."
+
+"Sir," she said, "I am called Croisette of the Dale, and my brother is
+called Sir Hilaire of the Dale, and it is to his castle that I am about to
+take thee to rest for this time."
+
+Then Sir Launcelot said: "I go with thee, damsel, wherever it is thy will
+to take me."
+
+[Sidenote: Of how Sir Launcelot and the damsel ride together] So they two
+rode through that valley at a slow pace and very easily. And toward the
+waning of the afternoon they left the valley by a narrow side way, and so
+in a little while came into a shallow dale, very fertile and smiling, but
+of no great size. For the more part that dale was all spread over with
+fields and meadow-lands, with here and there a plantation of trees in full
+blossom and here and there a farm croft. A winding river flowed down
+through the midst of this valley, very quiet and smooth, and brimming its
+grassy banks, where were alder and sedge and long rows of pollard willows
+overreaching the water.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot and Croisette come to a fair valley] At the
+farther end of the valley was a castle of very comely of appearance, being
+built part of stone and part of bright red bricks; and the castle had many
+windows of glass and tall chimneys, some a-smoke. About the castle and nigh
+to it was a little village of thatched cottages, with many trees in blossom
+and some without blossom shading the gables of the small houses that took
+shelter beneath them.
+
+Now when Sir Launcelot and Croisette came into that little valley it was at
+the declining of the day and the sky was all alight with the slanting sun,
+and the swallows were flying above the smooth shining surface of the river
+in such multitudes that it was wonderful to behold them. And the lowing
+herds were winding slowly along by the river in their homeward way, and all
+was so peaceful and quiet that Sir Launcelot drew rein for pure pleasure,
+and sat for some while looking down upon that fair, happy dale. Then by and
+by he said: "Croisette, meseems I have never beheld so sweet and fair a
+country as this, nor one in which it would be so pleasant to live."
+
+Upon this Croisette was very much pleased, and she smiled upon Sir
+Launcelot. "Think you so, Sir Launcelot?" quoth she. "Well, in sooth, I am
+very glad that this valley pleasures you; for I love it beyond any other
+place in all the world. For here was I born and here was I raised in that
+castle yonder. For that is my brother's castle and it was my father's
+castle before his time; wherefore meseems that no place in all the world
+can ever be so dear to my heart as this dale."
+
+[Sidenote: Croisette bringeth Sir Launcelot to her brother's house]
+Thereupon they went forward up that little valley, and along by the
+smoothly flowing river, and the farther they went the more Sir Launcelot
+took pleasure in all that he beheld. Thus they came through the pretty
+village where the folk stood and watched with great admiration how that
+noble knight rode that way; and so they came to the castle and rode into
+the court-yard thereof. Then presently there came the lord of that castle,
+who was Sir Hilaire of the Dale. And Sir Hilaire greeted Sir Launcelot,
+saying: "Welcome, Sir Knight. This is great honor you do me to come into
+this quiet dale with my sister, for we do not often have with us travellers
+of such quality as you."
+
+"Brother," said Croisette, "you may well say that it is an honor to have
+this knight with us, for this is none other knight than the great Sir
+Launcelot of the Lake. This day I beheld him overcome Sir Turquine in fair
+and honorable battle. So he doth indeed do great honor for to visit us in
+this wise."
+
+Then Sir Hilaire looked at Sir Launcelot very steadily, and he said: "Sir
+Launcelot, your fame is so great that it hath reached even unto this
+peaceful outland place; wherefore it shall not soon be forgotten here how
+you came hither. Now, I pray you, come in and refresh yourself, for I see
+that you are wounded and I doubt not you are weary."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot is made at ease] Upon this several attendants
+came, and they took Sir Launcelot and led him to a pleasant chamber. There
+they unarmed him and gave him a bath in tepid water, and there came a leech
+and searched his wounds and dressed them. Then those in attendance upon him
+gave him a soft robe of cloth of velvet, and when Sir Launcelot had put it
+on he felt much at ease, and in great comfort of body.
+
+By and by, when evening had fallen, a very good, excellent feast was spread
+in the hall of the castle, and there sat down thereto Sir Launcelot and Sir
+Hilaire and the damsel Croisette. As they ate they discoursed of various
+things, and Sir Launcelot told many things concerning his adventures, so
+that all who were there were very quiet, listening to what he said. For it
+was as though he were a visitor come to them from some other world, very
+strange and distant, of which they had no knowledge, wherefore they all
+listened so as not to lose a single word of what he told them. So that
+evening passed very pleasantly, and Sir Launcelot went to his bed with
+great content of spirit.
+
+[Sidenote: How Sir Launcelot abides at the castle of Sir Hilaire] So Sir
+Launcelot abided for several days in that place until his wounds were
+healed. Then one morning, after they had all broken their fast, he made
+request that he and the damsel might be allowed to depart upon that
+adventure which he had promised her to undertake, and unto this Sir Hilaire
+gave his consent.
+
+Now, during this while, Sir Launcelot's armor had been so pieced and mended
+by the armor-smiths of that castle that when he donned it it was, in a
+measure, as sound as it had ever been, and of that Sir Launcelot was very
+glad. So having made ready in all ways he and Croisette took leave of that
+place, and all they who were there bade them adieu and gave Sir Launcelot
+God-speed upon that adventure.
+
+Now some while after they left that dale they rode through a very ancient
+forest, where the sod was exceedingly soft underfoot and silent to the
+tread of the horses, and where it was very full of bursting foliage
+overhead. And as they rode at an easy pace through that woodland place they
+talked of many things in a very pleasant and merry discourse.
+
+Quoth the damsel unto Sir Launcelot: "Messire, I take very great wonder
+that thou hast not some special lady for to serve in all ways as a knight
+should serve a lady."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot and Croisette discourse together] "Ha, damsel,"
+said Sir Launcelot, "I do serve a lady in that manner and she is peerless
+above all other ladies; for that lady is the Lady Guinevere, who is King
+Arthur's queen. Yet though I am her servant I serve her from a very great
+distance. For in serving her I am like one who standeth upon the earth, yet
+looketh upward ever toward the bright and morning star. For though such an
+one may delight in that star from a distance, yet may he never hope to
+reach an altitude whereon that star standeth."
+
+"Heyday!" quoth Croisette, "for that matter, there are other ways of
+serving a lady than that wise. Were I a knight meseems I would rather serve
+a lady nearer at hand than at so great distance as that of which thou
+speakest. For in most cases a knight would rather serve a lady who may
+smile upon him nigh at hand, and not stand so far off from him as a star in
+the sky." But to this Sir Launcelot made no reply but only smiled. Then in
+a little Croisette said: "Dost thou never think of a lady in that wise, Sir
+Launcelot?"
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot speaketh of the Lady Guinevere] "Nay," said Sir
+Launcelot, "and neither do I desire so to serve any lady. For it is thus
+with me, Croisette--for all that while of my life until I was eighteen
+years of age I lived in a very wonderful land beneath a magical lake, of
+which I may not tell thee. Then I came out of that lake and into this world
+and King Arthur made me a knight. Now because I was so long absent from
+this world of mankind and never saw aught of it until I was grown into a
+man, meseems I love that world so greatly that I cannot tell thee how
+beautiful and wonderful it seems to me. For it is so wonderful and so
+beautiful that methinks my soul can never drink its fill of the pleasures
+thereof. Yea; methinks I love every blade of grass upon the fields, and
+every leaf upon every tree: and that I love everything that creepeth or
+that flyeth, so that when I am abroad under the sky and behold those things
+about me I am whiles like to weep for very joy of them. Wherefore it is,
+Croisette, that I would rather be a knight-errant in this world which I
+love so greatly than to be a king seated upon a throne with a golden crown
+upon my head and all men kneeling unto me. Yea; meseems that because of my
+joy in these things I have no room in my heart for such a love of lady as
+thou speakest of, but only for the love of knight-errantry, and a great
+wish for to make this world in which I now live the better and the happier
+for my dwelling in it. Thus it is, Croisette, that I have no lady for to
+serve in the manner thou speakest of. Nor will I ever have such, saving
+only the Lady Guinevere, the thought of whom standeth above me like that
+bright star afore spoken of."
+
+"Ha," quoth Croisette, "then am I sad for the sake of some lady, I know not
+who. For if thou wert of another mind thou mightest make some lady very
+glad to have so great a knight as thou art to serve her." Upon this Sir
+Launcelot laughed with a very cheerful spirit, for he and the damsel were
+grown to be exceedingly good friends, as you may suppose from such
+discourse as this.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot perceives the Castle of Sir Peris] So they wended
+their way in this fashion until somewhat after the prime of day, and by
+that time they had come out of that forest and into a very rugged country.
+For this place into which they were now come was a sort of rocky valley,
+rough and bare and in no wise beautiful. When they had entered into it they
+perceived, a great way off, a castle built up upon the rocks. And that
+castle was built very high, so that the roofs and the chimneys thereof
+stood wonderfully sharp and clear against the sky; yet the castle was so
+distant that it looked like a toy which you might easily take into your
+hand and hold betwixt your fingers.
+
+Then Croisette said to Sir Launcelot: "Yonder is the castle of that
+evil-minded knight of whom I spake to thee yesterday, and his name is Sir
+Peris of the Forest Sauvage. Below that castle, where the road leads into
+that woodland, there doth he lurk to seize upon wayfarers who come
+thitherward. And indeed he is a very catiff knight, for, though he is
+strong and powerful, he doth not often attack other knights, but only
+ladies and demoiselles who come hither. For these he may take captive
+without danger to himself. For I believe that though he is so big of frame
+yet is he a coward in his heart."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot advises Croisette what to do] Then Sir Launcelot
+sat for a while and regarded that castle, and fell into thought; and he
+said, "Damsel, if so be this knight is such a coward as thou sayest,
+meseems that if I travel with thee I shall have some ado to come upon him;
+because, if he sees me with thee, he may keep himself hidden in the thicket
+of the forest from my sight. Now I will have it this way; do thou ride
+along the highway in plain sight of the castle, and I will keep within the
+woodland skirts, where I may have thee in sight and still be hidden from
+the sight of others. Then if this knight assail thee, as I think it likely
+he may do, I will come out and do battle with him ere he escapes."
+
+So it was arranged as Sir Launcelot said and they rode in that wise:
+Croisette rode along the highway, and Sir Launcelot rode under the trees in
+the outskirts of the forest, where he was hidden from the eyes of anyone
+who might be looking that way. So they went on for a long pass until they
+came pretty nigh to where the castle was.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Peris attacks Croisette] Then, as they came to a certain
+part of the road that dipped down toward a small valley, they were suddenly
+aware of a great noise, and immediately there issued out from the forest a
+knight, large and strong of frame, and followed close behind by a squire
+dressed altogether in scarlet from head to foot. This knight bore down with
+great speed upon where Croisette was, and the esquire followed close behind
+him. When these two had come near to Croisette, the esquire leaped from off
+his horse and caught her palfrey by the bridle, and the knight came close
+to her and catched her as though to drag her off from her horse.
+
+With that Croisette shrieked very loud, and immediately Sir Launcelot broke
+out from the woods and rode down upon where all this was toward with a
+noise like to thunder. As he came he cried aloud in a great and terrible
+voice: "Sir Knight, let go that lady, and turn thou to me and defend
+thyself!"
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot overthrows Sir Peris] Then Sir Peris of the
+Forest Sauvage looked this way and that with intent to escape, but he was
+aware that he could not escape from Sir Launcelot, wherefore he took his
+shield in hand and drew his sword and put himself into a position of
+defence; for, whereas he could not escape, he was, perforce, minded to do
+battle. Then Sir Launcelot threw aside his spear, and he set his shield
+before him and he took his sword in his hand, and he drave his horse
+against Sir Peris. And when he had come nigh to Sir Peris he raised himself
+in his stirrups and struck him such a buffet that I believe nothing in the
+world could withstand its force. For though Sir Peris raised his shield
+against that blow, yet the sword of Sir Launcelot smote through the shield
+and it smote down the arm that held the shield, and it smote with such a
+terrible force upon the helm of Sir Peris that Sir Peris fell down from his
+horse and lay in a swoon without any motion at all.
+
+Then Sir Launcelot leaped down from his horse and rushed off the helm of
+Sir Peris, and lifted his sword with intent to strike off his head.
+
+Upon that the senses of Sir Peris came somewhat back to him, and he set his
+palms together and he cried out, though in a very weak voice: "Spare me,
+Sir Knight! I yield myself to thee!"
+
+"Why should I spare thee?" said Sir Launcelot.
+
+"Sir," said Sir Peris, "I beseech thee, by thy knighthood, to spare me."
+
+"Well," said Sir Launcelot, "since thou hast besought me upon my knighthood
+I cannot do else than spare thee. But if I do spare thee, thou shalt have
+to endure such shame that any true knight in thy stead would rather die
+than be spared in such a manner."
+
+"Sir Knight," said Sir Peris, "I am content with anything thou mayst do, so
+be that thou wilt spare my life."
+
+Upon this Sir Launcelot bade Sir Peris rise. And he took the halter of Sir
+Peris's horse, and he bound Sir Peris's arms behind his back, and when he
+had done this he drove him up to his castle at the point of his lance. And
+when they came to the castle he bade Sir Peris have open the castle; and
+Sir Peris did so; and thereupon Sir Launcelot and Sir Peris entered the
+castle and the damsel and the squire followed after them.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot liberates the captive ladies] In that castle were
+fourteen ladies of high degree held captive for ransom; and some of these
+had been there for a considerable time, to their great discomfort. All
+these were filled with joy when they were aware that Sir Launcelot had set
+them free. So they came to Sir Launcelot and paid their court to him and
+gave him great thanks beyond measure.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot gives the castle treasure to the captive ladies]
+Sir Launcelot and Croisette abode in that castle all that night, and when
+the next morning had come Sir Launcelot made search all over that castle,
+and he found a considerable treasure of silver and gold, which had been
+gathered there by the ransom of the ladies and the damsels of degree whom
+Sir Peris had made prisoner aforetime. All this treasure Sir Launcelot
+divided among those ladies who were prisoners, and a share of the treasure
+he gave to the damsel Croisette, because that they two were such good
+friends and because Croisette had brought him thither to that adventure,
+and thereof Croisette was very glad. But Sir Launcelot kept none of that
+treasure for himself.
+
+Then Croisette said: "How is this, Sir Launcelot? You have not kept any of
+this treasure for yourself, yet you won it by your own force of arms,
+wherefore it is altogether yours to keep if you will to do so."
+
+"Croisette," said Sir Launcelot, "I do not care for such things as this
+treasure; for when I lived within that lake of which I have spoken to thee,
+such things as this treasure were there as cheap as pebbles which you may
+gather up at any river-bed, wherefore it has come to pass that such things
+have no value to me."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot makes Sir Peris a dishonored captive] Now, after
+all this had been settled, Sir Launcelot had Sir Peris of the Forest
+Sauvage haled before him, and Sir Launcelot said: "Catiff Knight, now is it
+time for thy shame to come upon thee." Therewith he had Sir Peris stripped
+of all armor and raiment, even to his jerkin and his hose, and he had his
+arms tied behind his back, and he had a halter set about his neck; and Sir
+Launcelot tied the halter that was about the neck of Sir Peris to the horn
+of the saddle of his own horse, so that when he rode away with Croisette
+Sir Peris must needs follow behind him at whatever gait the horse of Sir
+Launcelot might take.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Hilaire sendeth Sir Peris to King Arthur] So Sir Launcelot
+and Croisette rode back to the manor of Sir Hilaire of the Dale with Sir
+Peris running behind them, and when they had come there Sir Launcelot
+delivered Sir Peris unto Sir Hilaire, and Sir Hilaire had Sir Peris bound
+upon a horse's back with his feet underneath the belly of the horse; and
+sent him to Camelot for King Arthur to deal with him as might seem to the
+King to be fit.
+
+But Sir Launcelot remained with Sir Hilaire of the Dale all the next day
+and he was very well content to be in that pleasant place. And upon the day
+after that, which was Sunday, he set forth at about the prime of the day to
+go to that abbey of monks where he had appointed to meet the damsel Elouise
+the Fair, as aforetold.
+
+And now you shall hear how Sir Launcelot behaved at the tournament of King
+Bagdemagus, if it please you to read that which herewith immediately
+followeth.
+
+[Illustration: Sir Launcelot and Elouise the Fair]
+
+
+
+
+Chapter Sixth
+
+
+_How Sir Launcelot Took Part in the Tournament Between King Bagdemagus and
+the King of North Wales, and How He Won that Battle for King Bagdemagus._
+
+[Sidenote: How Sir Launcelot rode to find Elouise the Fair] Sir Launcelot
+rode by many highways and many byways at a very slow pace, stopping now and
+then when it pleased him to do so, for he took great joy in being free in
+the open air again. For the day was warm and that time the clouds were very
+thick, drifting in great abundance across the sky. And anon there would
+fall a sudden shower of rain, and anon the sun would shine forth again,
+very warm and strong, so that all the world sparkled as with incredible
+myriads of jewels. Then the cock crowed lustily because the shower was
+past, and another cock answered him far away, and all the world suddenly
+smiled, and the water trickled everywhere, and the little hills clapped
+their hands for joy. So Sir Launcelot took great pleasure in the day and he
+went his way at so easy a pace that it was night-time ere he reached that
+abbey of monks where he was to meet Elouise the Fair.
+
+Now that evening Elouise was sitting in a certain apartment of the abbey
+overlooking the court-yard, and a maiden was reading to her by the light of
+several waxen tapers from a book of painted pictures. And the maiden read
+in a voice that was both high and clear; meanwhile, Elouise sat very still
+and listened to what she read. Now while Elouise the Fair sat so, there was
+of a sudden the sound of a great horse coming on the stone pavement of the
+court below. Therewith Elouise arose hastily and ran to the window and
+looked down into that court-yard. Then she saw who he was that came, and
+that it was Sir Launcelot of the Lake. For the light was not yet altogether
+gone from the sky, which was all shining with gray, so that she could see
+who it was who came there.
+
+Then Elouise gave great exclamation of joy, and clapped her hands. And she
+ran down to the court where Sir Launcelot was, and several of her maidens
+went with her.
+
+[Sidenote: Elouise the Fair gives welcome to Sir Launcelot] When she had
+come to the court she gave great welcome to Sir Launcelot, and she summoned
+many attendants and she bade them look to Sir Launcelot. So some of them
+aided Sir Launcelot to dismount and some took his horse, and some brought
+him up to a chamber that had been set apart for him, and there unarmed and
+served him, and set him at his ease.
+
+Then Elouise sent to him a soft robe of purple cloth of velvet, lined with
+fur, and Sir Launcelot put it upon him and took great comfort in it.
+
+After that Sir Launcelot descended to where Elouise was, and he found that
+a fair supper had been set for his refreshment. So he sat and ate, and
+Elouise the Fair herself served him.
+
+[Sidenote: Elouise sends for King Bagdemagus] Meanwhile she had sent for
+her father, King Bagdemagus, who was at that time no great distance away,
+and a little after Sir Launcelot had finished his supper King Bagdemagus
+came to that place, much wondering why Elouise had sent for him.
+
+When King Bagdemagus came, Elouise took him by the hand and led him to Sir
+Launcelot, and she said: "Sire, here is a knight who, for my sake, is come
+to help you in this tournament upon Tuesday."
+
+Now King Bagdemagus had never before seen Sir Launcelot, so he knew not who
+that knight was. Wherefore he said to him: "Messire, I am much beholden to
+you for coming to my aid in this battle. Now I pray you that you tell me
+your name and what knight you are."
+
+"Lord," said Sir Launcelot, "I am hight Launcelot, and am surnamed 'He of
+the Lake.'"
+
+Now when King Bagdemagus heard this he was astonished beyond measure,
+wherefore he cried out, "This is wonderful, that you who are the very
+flower of knighthood should be here, and that you should come to aid me in
+my battle!"
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot talks with King Bagdemagus] "Sire," said Sir
+Launcelot, "I know not how much aid I may be to thee until that matter is
+proven. But of a surety I owe it to this damsel to do what I am able at her
+request, in return for all that she hath done for me to aid me in my time
+of great peril. So it is a very small repayment for me to aid thee, her
+father, in thy time of difficulties. Wherefore if, by good hap, I may be of
+use to thee in this battle which is nigh at hand, then I shall be glad
+beyond measure that I have paid some part of that debt which I owe to this
+lady."
+
+"Messire," said King Bagdemagus, "I give thee grammercy for thy good will
+in this matter. I am sure that, with thy aid, I shall be successful in this
+battle, and that it will always be most renowned in the history of chivalry
+because thou hast taken part in it."
+
+So spake they with great courtesy to one another. Then, by and by, Sir
+Launcelot said: "Sir, I pray you tell me who are those knights of King
+Arthur's court who are upon the part of the King of North Wales? For I
+would fain know against whom I am to do battle." To which King Bagdemagus
+said: "Messire, those three knights of the Round Table are as
+follows--there is Sir Mordred, nephew unto King Arthur, and there is Sir
+Galahantine, and there is Sir Mador de la Porte."
+
+"Ha," quoth Sir Launcelot, "these are three very good knights indeed, and I
+am not at all astonished that the King of North Wales should have had such
+good fortune aforetime in that other tournament with you, seeing that he
+had three such knights as they to do battle upon his side."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot arranges the order of battle with King
+Bagdemagus] After this they fell into discourse as to the manner in which
+they should do battle upon the morrow, and Sir Launcelot advised in this
+wise: "Lord, let me take three knights of yours, such as you trust, and
+such as you hold to be the strongest knights of your party. Let these three
+knights paint their shields altogether white and I will paint mine white,
+and then no man will know who we are. For I would have it so that I should
+not be known to be in this battle until I shall have approved myself in it.
+Now, when you have chosen those three knights, we four will take hiding in
+some wood or glade nigh to the place of combat, and when you are most
+busily engaged, and when you begin to be hard-pressed, then we will come
+forth and fall upon the flank of the party of the King of North Wales with
+intent to throw them into confusion. Then you will push your assault very
+hard, and I doubt not by the grace of God that we shall betwixt us be able
+to bear back their array in confusion."
+
+This advice seemed very good to King Bagdemagus, and so he did as Sir
+Launcelot said. He chose him three very strong, worthy, honorable knights,
+and these made their shields white as Sir Launcelot directed.
+
+Thus, all things being arranged as Sir Launcelot willed, it came to be the
+eve before the battle. So a little after sunset Sir Launcelot and those
+three knights whom King Bagdemagus had chosen rode over toward the place of
+tourney (which was some twelve miles from the abbey where the damsel
+Elouise was lodged). There they found a little woodland of tall, leafy
+trees fit for Sir Launcelot's purpose, and that wood stood to one side of
+the meadow of battle and at about the distance of three furlongs from it.
+In this little wood Sir Launcelot and the three knights-companion whom King
+Bagdemagus had chosen laid themselves down upon the ground and wrapped,
+each man, his cloak about him. So they slept there until the morrow, when
+the battle was ordained to be.
+
+Now there had been very great preparation made for this tournament for on
+three sides of the meadow of battle scaffolds had been built and rows of
+seats had been placed. These were covered over with tapestries and hangings
+of divers colors--some of figured and some of plain weaving--so that the
+green and level meadow-land was hung all about with these gay and gaudy
+colors.
+
+Now when the morning had come, the folk who came to witness that tournament
+began to assemble from all directions--lords and ladies of high degree,
+esquires and damsels of lesser rank, burghers and craftsmen with their
+wives, townspeople from the town, yeomen from the woodlands, and
+freeholders from the farm crofts. With these came many knights of the two
+parties in contest, and with the knights came their esquires in attendance.
+Now these knights were all in full armor, shining very bright, and the
+esquires were clad in raiment of many textures and various colors, so that
+they were very gay and debonair. So, with all this throng moving along the
+highway toward the meadow of battle, it seemed as though the entire world
+was alive with gay and moving figures.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot and his companions lie near the place of
+tournament] Now the place where Sir Launcelot and those three knights who
+were with him lay hidden was not far from the highway, so, whence they lay,
+they could see all that goodly procession of folk taking their way toward
+the lists, and they could look down upon the meadow of battle, which, as
+hath been said, was not more than three furlongs distant, and they could
+see the crowds of people of high and low degree taking their places upon
+those seats according to their rank and station. And they could see how the
+knights-contestant arrayed themselves upon this side of the field and upon
+that, and how the esquires and attendants hurried hither and thither,
+busying themselves in making their lords ready for the encounter that was
+soon to befall. Yea, all this could they see as plainly as though it lay
+upon the palm of a hand.
+
+So they saw that about noontide all those who had come thither had taken
+their places, and that the field was clean, and that the two parties of
+combat were arrayed in order for battle.
+
+Then Sir Launcelot perceived that the party of the King of North Wales was
+very much greater than the party of King Bagdemagus; for while the party of
+the King of North Wales had nigh eight score of helms, the party of King
+Bagdemagus had hardly four score of helms. So Sir Launcelot perceived that
+that party of King Bagdemagus would have much labor to do if it was to win
+in the battle.
+
+[Sidenote: How the battle began] Now, all being prepared, the marshal
+stood forth and blew upon his trumpet, and therewith those two parties of
+knights rushed the one against the other, each in so great a cloud of dust
+that one could hardly see the knights in their passage. Therewith they met
+in the midst of the meadow of battle, with such a crash and uproar of
+splintered lances as was terrible to hear.
+
+And for a while no man could see what was toward, so great was the dust and
+the tumult. But by and by the dust raised itself a little and then Sir
+Launcelot perceived that the party of King Bagdemagus had been pushed back
+by that other party, as might have been supposed in such a case.
+
+So Sir Launcelot looked upon the battle for some while and he saw that the
+party of King Bagdemagus was pushed farther and farther back. Then by and
+by Sir Launcelot said to his knights-companion: "Messires, methinks now is
+our time to enter this engagement."
+
+Therewith he and they rode forth out of that woods, and they rode down the
+hill and across the fields and so came into that meadow-of-battle.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot and his companions enter the battle] At that time
+the party of the King of North Wales was so busily engaged in its assault
+upon the party of King Bagdemagus that very few of those knights engaged
+were aware of those four knights coming, and those who were aware of them
+thought but very little of the coming of so small a number. So no one
+interfered with their coming, wherefore they were able to bear down with
+great speed upon the flank of the party of the King of North Wales.
+Therewith they struck that flank with such force that both horses and
+horsemen were overturned by their assault.
+
+In that encounter Sir Launcelot carried a spear that was wonderfully strong
+and tough. With it he ran with great fierceness into the very thickest of
+the press, and before he was checked he struck down five knights with that
+one spear. And likewise those three knights that were with him did such
+good service that all that flank of the party of the King of North Wales
+was thrown into great confusion and wist not what to do for to guard
+themselves against that fierce, furious onset.
+
+Then Sir Launcelot and his three companions bore back a little, and when
+they got their distance they ran again into the press, and this time Sir
+Launcelot overthrew the King of North Wales himself, and that with such
+violence that the bone of his thigh was broken, and he had to be carried
+away out of that field by his attendants. And in this second assault Sir
+Launcelot and the three knights who were with him overthrew eleven knights
+besides the King of North Wales, wherefore all that part of the press began
+to break away from them and to seek some place where they could defend
+themselves from such another assault.
+
+Now when the party of King Bagdemagus saw into what confusion the other
+party were thrown by these four knights-champion, they began a very fierce
+and furious attack, and with such vehemence that in a little the party of
+the King of North Wales began to bear back before them. So, what with those
+who withdrew before Sir Launcelot's assault, and what with those who
+withdrew from the assault of King Bagdemagus, there was a great deal of
+confusion in the ranks of the party of the King of North Wales.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot overthrows Sir Mordred] Now those three knights
+who were of King Arthur's court perceived how Sir Launcelot and his
+knights-companion were throwing the ranks of the party of the King of North
+Wales into confusion, and they knew that unless the onset of Sir Launcelot
+was checked, the day would of a surety be lost unto them. Wherefore said
+Sir Mador de la Porte: "Yonder is a very strong and fierce-fighting knight;
+if we do not check his onset we will very likely be brought to shame in
+this battle." "Yea," said Sir Mordred, "that is so. Now I will take it upon
+me to joust with that knight and to overthrow him." Upon that those other
+two knights bade him go and do as he said. So Sir Mordred made way to where
+Sir Launcelot was, coming forward very fiercely and with great violence,
+and Sir Launcelot was aware of Sir Mordred's coming and made him ready for
+that assault. So the two came together with terrible violence and Sir
+Launcelot struck Sir Mordred such a buffet that the breast-band of Sir
+Mordred's saddle brake, and both the saddle and Sir Mordred flew over his
+horse's tail. Therewith Sir Mordred fell upon his head and struck with such
+violence upon the ground that his neck was nigh broken, and he lay
+altogether in a dead swoon and had to be carried out of the lists by his
+attendants.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot overthrows Sir Mador] This saw Sir Mador de la
+Porte, and he cried out: "Ha! see what hath befallen Sir Mordred!" And
+therewith he also bare down upon Sir Launcelot with all his might and main
+with intent to overthrow him. And Sir Launcelot ran against him, and they
+struck together so fiercely that it was terrible to behold. But the spear
+of Sir Mador de la Porte burst into pieces, whilst the spear of Sir
+Launcelot held, so that both Sir Mador and his horse were overthown, the
+horse rolling upon the man. And in that encounter Sir Mador's shoulder went
+out of place, and he also had to be borne away by his attendants.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot strikes Sir Galahantine a sad blow] Then Sir
+Galahantine took a great spear from his esquire, who was nigh him, and he
+also ran against Sir Launcelot with all his might; and Sir Launcelot met
+him in full course and that onset was more terrible than either of the
+other two. For the spear of each knight was burst into splinters, even to
+the butt thereof. Then each threw away the butt of his spear and drew out
+his sword, and Sir Galahantine struck Sir Launcelot such a blow that the
+legs of Sir Launcelot's horse trembled under him because of the weight of
+that stroke. At this Sir Launcelot waxed wroth beyond measure and he rose
+in his stirrups and he smote Sir Galahantine such a buffet that the blood
+burst out from his nose and his ears, and all his senses so went away from
+him that he might hardly behold the light of day because of the swimming of
+his sight.
+
+Therewith Sir Galahantine's head hung down upon his breast and he had no
+power to guide his horse, wherefore his horse made way out of the press and
+galloped off, bearing Sir Galahantine away, whether he would or no. And
+after the horse had galloped a little distance Sir Galahantine could not
+any longer sit upon his saddle, but he fell off of his horse and rolled
+over upon the ground and had not strength to rise therefrom.
+
+Then Sir Launcelot catched another spear, great and strong, from the
+esquire who followed him, and before ever that spear broke he overthrew
+sixteen knights therewith. Wherefore all who beheld him were amazed and
+terrified at what he did.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot wins the battle for King Bagdemagus] By now the
+party of the King of North Wales began to bear more and more aback and in a
+little they broke, and then the party of King Bagdemagus pursued them
+hither and thither, and those who did not surrender were overthrown so that
+it was not possible for them to make any new order of battle. Then that
+party surrendered itself as conquered, one and all, and so King Bagdemagus
+won that tournament with the greatest glory that it was possible for him to
+have. For it had never been heard of before that a party of four-score
+knights should overcome in that way a party of eight-score knights, with
+three knights of the Round Table to champion them. Nor would such a victory
+have been possible only for what Sir Launcelot did in that battle.
+
+So Sir Launcelot won that tournament for King Bagdemagus, and after the
+battle was over and done King Bagdemagus came to Sir Launcelot and said to
+him: "Messire, thou hast brought to me the greatest glory this day that
+ever fell to my lot in all of my life. Now I prithee come with me and
+refresh thyself with me, so that I may give thee fitting thanks for all
+thou hast done, and so that I may reward thee in such a way as is fit for a
+king to reward a knight-champion such as thou art."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot departs without reward] Unto this Sir Launcelot
+made reply: "Lord, I give you thanks for your courtesy, but I need no
+reward; for it is meet that I should have done what I could for the sake of
+the demoiselle Elouise the Fair, seeing that she rescued me from the
+mischiefs that Queen Morgana had intent to do me."
+
+Then King Bagdemagus besought Sir Launcelot that he would tarry awhile and
+rest, but Sir Launcelot would not do so, but would be going upon his way
+without any tarrying. But he said to King Bagdemagus: "I prithee greet your
+daughter for me, and say to her that if ever she hath need of my services
+again let her send to me, and I will come to her even if it be to the end
+of the earth. For I have not yet repaid her for what she hath done for me."
+
+Therewith Sir Launcelot went his way from that meadow of battle, and,
+coming to the skirts of the forest he entered therein, and those who were
+there at the meadow of battle did not see him any more.
+
+So endeth the history of that famous tournament betwixt King Bagdemagus and
+the King of North Wales.
+
+[Illustration: Sir Launcelot climbs to catch the lady's falcon]
+
+
+
+
+Chapter Seventh
+
+
+_How Sir Launcelot Fell Into the Greatest Peril that Ever He Encountered in
+all His Life. Also How He Freed a Misfortunate Castle and Town From the
+Giants Who Held Them, and How He Released the Lord Thereof From a Dungeon._
+
+Now Sir Launcelot wandered errant for many days, meeting no adventure of
+any moment, but taking great joy in all that he beheld of the wide world
+about him, and in that time he found lodging wheresoever he chanced to be
+(if not in house, then beneath the skies), and he endured all sorts of
+weather, both wet and dry.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot cometh to a fair valley with a castle] Upon a
+certain day, in the prime of the morning, he came across a hilltop, and
+beheld beneath him a valley, very fertile and well-tilled, with fields and
+meadow-lands spread all over it like to a fair green carpet woven in divers
+patterns. And in the midst of the valley was a very large and noble castle,
+with many towers, and tall, steep roofs, and clustering chimneys. So Sir
+Launcelot descended into that valley, and the road which he took ended in
+front of the castle and under the shade of the tall gray walls thereof. But
+he did not stop at that castle but went on by it.
+
+Now after Sir Launcelot had passed by that castle it seemed to him that he
+heard very delicate silver bells ringing sweetly in the air above him, and
+when he looked up he beheld that a falcon was flying over his head toward a
+high elm tree that stood at a little distance, and he wist that it was the
+bells upon the cap of the falcon that rang so sweetly. And Sir Launcelot
+beheld that long lunes hung from the feet of the falcon as she flew,
+wherefore he was aware that the falcon had slipped her lunes and had flown
+from her owner.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot beholdeth a falcon entangled] So Sir Launcelot
+watched the falcon, and he beheld that she lit in a tall elm tree, where
+she took her perch and rested, balancing with her wings part spread. Then
+by and by she would have taken her flight again, but the lunes about her
+feet had become entangled around the bough on which she sat, so that when
+she would have flown she could not do so. Now Sir Launcelot was very sorry
+to see the falcon beating herself in that wise, straining to escape from
+where she was prisoner, but he knew not what to do to aid her, for the tree
+was very high, and he was no good climber of trees.
+
+While he stood there watching that falcon he heard the portcullis of the
+castle lifted, with a great noise, and the drawbridge let fall, and
+therewith there came a lady riding out of the castle very rapidly upon a
+white mule, and she rode toward where Sir Launcelot watched the falcon upon
+the tree. When that lady had come nigh to Sir Launcelot, she cried out to
+him: "Sir Knight, didst thou see a falcon fly this way?" Sir Launcelot
+said: "Yea, Lady, and there she hangs, caught by her lunes in yonder
+elm-tree."
+
+Then when that lady beheld how that her falcon hung there she smote her
+hands together, crying out: "Alas, alas! what shall I do? That falcon is my
+lord's favorite hawk! While I was playing with her a while since, she
+slipped from me and took flight, and has sped as thou dost see. Now when my
+lord findeth that I have lost his hawk in that wise he will be very angry
+with me, and will haply do me some grievous hurt."
+
+[Sidenote: The Lady beseeches Sir Launcelot to get her the falcon again]
+Quoth Sir Launcelot: "Lady, I am very sorry for you." "Sir," she said, "it
+boots nothing for you to be sorry for me unless you can aid me." "How may I
+aid you in this?" said Sir Launcelot. "Messire," quoth she, "how otherwise
+could you aid me than by climbing up into this tree for my hawk? For if you
+aid me not in such a fashion, I know not what I shall do, for my lord hath
+a very hot and violent temper, and he is not likely to brook having his
+favorite hawk lost to him, as it is like to be."
+
+Upon this Sir Launcelot was put to a great pass and knew not what to do,
+for he had no good mind to climb that tree. "Lady," quoth he, "I prithee
+tell me what is thy lord's name." "Messire," she replied, "he is hight Sir
+Phelot, and is a knight of the court of the King of North Wales."
+
+"Well, Lady," said Sir Launcelot, "thou dost put upon me a very sore task
+in this, for God knoweth I am no climber of trees. Yea, I would rather do
+battle with twenty knights than to climb one such tree as this.
+Nevertheless, I cannot find it in me to refuse the asking of any lady, if
+so be it lieth at all in my power to perform her will. Now if you will aid
+me to unarm myself, I will endeavor to climb this tree and get your hawk."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot climbs the tree] So the lady dismounted from her
+mule, and Sir Launcelot dismounted from his horse, and the lady aided Sir
+Launcelot to unarm himself. And when he had unarmed himself he took off all
+his clothes saving only his hosen and his doublet. Then he climbed that
+tree, though with great labor and pain to himself, and with much dread lest
+he should fall. So he, at last, reached the falcon where it was, and he
+loosened the lunes from where they were entangled about the branch, and he
+freed the bird. Then he brake off a great piece of rotten bough of the tree
+and he tied the lunes of the falcon to it and he tossed the falcon down to
+where the lady was; and the lady ran with great joy and caught the falcon
+and loosed it from the piece of branch and tied the lunes to her wrist, so
+that it could not escape again.
+
+Then Sir Launcelot began to descend the tree with as great labor and pain
+as he had climbed into it.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Phelot threatens Sir Launcelot's life] But he had not come
+very far down when he perceived a knight who came riding very rapidly
+toward that tree, and he saw that the knight was in full armor. When this
+knight came to the tree he drew rein and bespoke the lady who was there,
+though Sir Launcelot could not hear what he said. So, after he had spoken
+for a little, the knight dismounted from his horse and went to Sir
+Launcelot's shield and looked upon the face of it very carefully. Then
+presently he looked upward toward Sir Launcelot, and he said: "Art thou Sir
+Launcelot of the Lake?" And Sir Launcelot said: "Yea." "Very well," said
+the knight, "I am pleased beyond measure at that. For I am Sir Phelot, the
+lord of this castle, and the brother of that Sir Peris of the Forest
+Sauvage, whom thou didst treat so shamefully after thou hadst overcome him
+in battle."
+
+"Sir," said Sir Launcelot, "I treated him nowise differently from what he
+deserved." "No matter for that," said Sir Phelot, "he was my brother, and
+thou didst put great despite and shame upon him. So now I will be revenged
+upon thee, for now I have thee where I would have thee, and I will slay
+thee as shamefully as thou didst put shame upon him. So say thy prayers
+where thou art, for thou shalt never go away from this place alive."
+
+"Sir Knight," said Sir Launcelot, "I do not believe that thou wouldst
+really assault a naked and harmless man, for it would certainly be a great
+shame to thee to do me a harm in that wise. For lo! thou art armed in full,
+and I am a naked man, and to slay me as I am would be both murder and
+treason."
+
+"No matter for that," said Sir Phelot; "as for the shame of it, I take no
+thought of it. I tell thee thou shalt have no grace nor mercy from me.
+Wherefore make thy peace with Heaven, for thine hour is come."
+
+"Sir Knight," said Sir Launcelot, "I ask only one boon of thee; if thou art
+of a mind to take so much shame upon thee, as appears to be the case, let
+me not, at least, die like a felon without any weapon. Let me have my sword
+in my hand, even if I have no other defence. For if a knight must die, it
+is a shame for him to die without weapons. So hang my sword upon yonder
+bough, where I may reach it, and then thou mayst slay me."
+
+"Nay," said Sir Phelot, "I will not do that, for I know very well how
+wonderful is thy prowess. Wherefore I believe that even if thou wert
+otherwise unarmed thou mightst overcome me if thou hadst thy sword. So I
+will give thee no such chance, but will have my will of thee as thou art."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot is put to a sad pass to escape] Then Sir
+Launcelot was put to a great pass of anxiety, for he wist not what to do to
+escape from that danger in which he lay. Wherefore he looked all about him
+and above him and below him, and at last he beheld a great branch of the
+elm tree just above his head, very straight and tough. So he catched this
+branch and broke it off from the tree and shaped it to a club of some sort.
+Then he came lower, and the knight waited to strike him with his sword,
+when he was low enough; but Sir Launcelot did not come low enough for that.
+
+Then Sir Launcelot perceived that his horse stood below him and a little to
+one side, so of a sudden he ran out along the branch whereon he stood and
+he leaped quickly down to the earth upon the farther side of his horse from
+where the knight stood.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot overcomes Sir Phelot with a strange weapon] At
+this Sir Phelot ran at him and lashed at him with his sword, thinking to
+slay him before he had recovered from his leap. But Sir Launcelot was
+quicker than he, for he recovered his feet and put away the blow of Sir
+Phelot with his club which he held. Then he ran in upon Sir Phelot under
+his sword arm, and before he could use his sword he struck Sir Phelot with
+all his might upon the side of his head. And he struck him very quickly
+again, and he struck him the third time, all in the space whilst one might
+count two. And those blows he struck were so direful that Sir Phelot fell
+down upon his knees, all stunned and bedazed, and the strength went out of
+his thews because of faintness. Then Sir Launcelot took the sword out of
+the hand of Sir Phelot and Sir Phelot did not have strength to deny him.
+And Sir Launcelot plucked off Sir Phelot's helm and catched him by the hair
+and dragged his neck forward so as to have ease to strike his head from off
+his body.
+
+Now all this while the lady had been weeping and watching what befell. But
+when she saw the great danger Sir Phelot was in, she ran and clasped her
+arms about him, and cried out in a very loud and piercing voice upon Sir
+Launcelot to spare Sir Phelot and to slay him not. But Sir Launcelot, still
+holding him by the hair of the head, said: "Lady, I cannot spare him, for
+he has treated me more treacherously than any other knight with whom I ever
+had dealings." But the lady cried out all the more vehemently, "Sir
+Launcelot, thou good knight, I beseech thee, of thy knighthood, to spare
+him."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot spares Sir Phelot's life] "Well," said Sir
+Launcelot, "it hath yet to be said of me that I have denied anything that I
+was able to grant unto any lady that hath asked it of me upon my
+knighthood. And yet I know not how to trust either of ye. For thou didst
+not say one word in my behalf when I was in danger of being slain so
+treacherously just now. As for this knight, I perceive that he is every
+whit as great a traitor and a coward as was his brother Sir Peris of the
+Sauvage Forest. So I will spare him, but I will not trust him, lest he turn
+against me ere I arm myself again. Wherefore give me hither the halter rein
+of your mule." So the lady gave Sir Launcelot the halter rein, weeping
+amain as she did so. And Sir Launcelot took the halter rein and he tied the
+arms of Sir Phelot behind him. Then he bade the lady of Sir Phelot to help
+him arm himself from head to foot, and she did so, trembling a very great
+deal. Then, when she had done so, quoth Sir Launcelot: "Now I fear the
+treachery of no man." Therewith he mounted his horse and rode away from
+that place And he looked not behind him at all, but rode away as though he
+held too much scorn of that knight and of that lady to give any more
+thought to them.
+
+So after that Sir Launcelot travelled for a while through the green fields
+of that valley, till by and by he passed out of that valley, and came into
+a forest through which he travelled for a very long time.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot cometh to a marish country] For it was about the
+slanting of the afternoon ere he came forth out of that forest and under
+the open sky again. And when he came out of the forest he beheld before him
+a country of perfectly level marish, very lush and green, with many ponds
+of water and sluggish streams bordered by rushes and sedge, and with
+pollard willows standing in rows beside the waters. In the midst of this
+level plain of green (which was like to the surface of a table for
+flatness) there stood a noble castle, part built of brick and part of
+stone, and a town of no great size and a wall about the town. And this
+castle and town stood upon an island surrounded by a lake of water, and a
+long bridge, built upon stone buttresses, reached from the mainland to the
+island. And this castle and town were a very long distance away, though
+they appeared very clear and distinct to the sight across the level marish,
+like, as it were, to a fine bit of very small and cunning carving.
+
+Now the way that Sir Launcelot travelled, led somewhat toward that town,
+wherefore he went along that way with intent to view the place more near
+by. So he conveyed by that road for some time without meeting any soul upon
+the way. But at last he came of a sudden upon an archer hiding behind an
+osier tree with intent to shoot the water-fowl that came to a pond that was
+there--for he had several such fowl hanging at his girdle. To him Sir
+Launcelot said: "Good fellow, what town is that yonderway?" "Sir," said the
+yeoman, "that is called the Town of the Marish because it stands in these
+Fenlands. And that castle is called the Castle of the Fenlands for the same
+reason."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot talks with a yeoman] Quoth Sir Launcelot: "What
+manner of place is that? Is it a good place, or is it otherwise?" "Sir,"
+said the archer, "that place was one while a very good, happy place; for in
+times gone by there was a lord who dwelt there who was both just and noble,
+and kind to all folk, wherefore he was loved by all the people. But one
+night there came two very grim and horrible giants thither from the Welsh
+Mountains and these entered into the castle by treachery and made prisoner
+of the lord of the castle. Him they cast into the dungeon of the castle,
+where they held him prisoner as an hostage. For they threaten that if
+friends of that lord's should send force against them to dispossess them,
+they will slay him. As for any other rescue, there is no knight who dareth
+to go against them because of their terrible size, and their strength, and
+their dreadful, horrible countenances."
+
+"Well," said Sir Launcelot, "that is a pity and I am sorry for that noble
+lordling. Now, since there is no other single knight who dareth to
+undertake this adventure, I myself will go and encounter these giants."
+
+"Nay, Sir Knight," said the yeoman, "do not do so, for they are not like
+mortal men, but rather like monsters that are neither beast nor man.
+Wherefore anyone who beholdeth them, feareth them."
+
+"Grammercy for thy thought of me, good fellow," quoth Sir Launcelot, "but
+if I shall refuse an adventure because I find it perilous, then I am not
+like to undertake any adventure at all."
+
+Therewith he bade good den to that yeoman and rode upon his way, directing
+his course toward that town at an easy pass.
+
+So he came at last to the long bridge that reached from the land to the
+island, and he saw that at the farther end of the bridge was the gateway of
+the town and through the arch thereof he could perceive a street of the
+town, and the houses upon either side of the street, and the people thereof
+coming and going.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot crosses the bridge to the town] So he rode forth
+upon the bridge and at the noise of his coming (for the hoofs of his horse
+sounded like thunder upon the floor of the bridge) the people of the town
+came running to see who it was that dared to come so boldly into their
+town.
+
+These, when Sir Launcelot came nigh, began to call to him on high, crying:
+"Turn back, Sir Knight! Turn back! Else you will meet your death at this
+place."
+
+But Sir Launcelot would not turn back, but advanced very steadfastly upon
+his way.
+
+Now somewhat nigh the farther end of that bridge there stood a little lodge
+of stone, built to shelter the warden of the bridge from stress of weather.
+When Sir Launcelot came nigh to this lodge there started suddenly out from
+it a great churl, above seven feet high, who bore in his hand a huge club,
+shod with iron and with great spikes of iron at the top. This churl ran to
+Sir Launcelot and catched his horse by the bridle-rein and thrust it back
+upon its haunches, crying out in a great hoarse voice: "Whither goest thou,
+Sir Knight, for to cross this bridge?" Sir Launcelot said: "Let go my
+horse's rein, Sir Churl." Whereunto the churl made answer: "I will not let
+go thy horse's rein, and thou shalt not cross this bridge."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot slays the huge churl] At this Sir Launcelot waxed
+very angry, and he drew his sword and struck the churl a blow with the flat
+thereof upon the shoulder, so that he dropped the rein very quickly.
+Therewith that churl drew back and took his great iron-shod club in both
+hands and struck at Sir Launcelot a blow that would have split a millstone.
+But Sir Launcelot put by the blow with his sword so that it did him no
+harm. But therewith he waxed so wroth that he ground his teeth together
+with anger, and, rising in his stirrups, he lashed that churl so woeful a
+blow that he cleft through his iron cap and his head and his breast even to
+the paps.
+
+[Sidenote: The folk warn Sir Launcelot] Now when the people of the town
+beheld that terrible blow they lifted up their voices in a great outcry,
+crying out: "Turn back, Sir Knight! Turn back! For this is a very woful
+thing for thee that thou hast done!" and some cried out: "Thou hast killed
+the giants' warder of the bridge!" And others cried: "Thou art a dead man
+unless thou make haste away from this." But to all this Sir Launcelot paid
+no heed, but wiped his sword and thrust it back into its sheath. Then he
+went forward upon his way across the bridge as though nothing had befallen,
+and so came to the farther side. Then, without paying any heed to all the
+people who were there, he rode straight to the castle and into the gate of
+the castle and into the court-yard thereof.
+
+Now by this time all the castle was astir, and in great tumult, and many
+people came running to the windows and looked down upon Sir Launcelot. And
+Sir Launcelot sat his horse and looked all about him. So he perceived that
+beyond the court-yard was a fair space of grass, very smooth and green,
+well fitted for battle, wherefore he dismounted from his horse and tied it
+to a ring in the wall, and then he went to that green field and made him
+ready for whatever might befall.
+
+Meantime all those people who were at the windows of the castle cried out
+to him, as the people of the town had done: "Go away, Sir Knight! Go away
+whilst there is still time for you to escape, or else you are a dead man!"
+
+But Sir Launcelot replied not, but stood there and waited very steadfastly.
+Then the great door of the castle hall opened, and there came forth
+therefrom those two giants of whom he had heard tell.
+
+[Sidenote: Two giants attack Sir Launcelot] And in truth Sir Launcelot had
+never beheld such horrible beings as they; for they were above ten feet
+high, and very huge of body and long of limb. And they were clad in armor
+of bull-hide with iron rings upon it, and each was armed with a great club,
+huge and thick, and shod with iron, and studded with spikes. These came
+toward Sir Launcelot swinging their clubs and laughing very hideously and
+gnashing their long white teeth, for they thought to make easy work of him.
+
+[Sidenote: How Sir Launcelot slays the first giant] Then Sir Launcelot,
+seeing them coming thus, set his shield before him, and made ready for that
+assault with great calmness of demeanor. Then the giants rushed suddenly
+upon him and struck at him, the both of them together; for they deemed that
+by so doing the enemy could not escape both blows, but if one failed the
+other would slay him. But Sir Launcelot put aside the blow of one giant
+with his sword and of the other with his shield, with marvellous dexterity.
+Thereupon, ere they could recover themselves, he turned upon that giant who
+was upon his left hand and he struck him so terrible a blow upon the
+shoulder that he cut through the armor and through the shoulder and
+half-way through the body, so that the head and one arm of the giant leaned
+toward one way, and the other arm and the shoulder leaned toward the other
+way. Therewith the giant fell down upon the ground bellowing, so that it
+was most terrible to hear; and in a little he had died where he had fallen.
+
+[Sidenote: How Sir Launcelot slays the second giant] Now when the fellow
+of that giant beheld that dreadful, horrible stroke, he was so possessed
+with terror that he stood for a while trembling and like one in a maze. But
+when he saw Sir Launcelot turn upon him with intent to make at him also, he
+let fall his club and ran away with great and fearful outcry. Therewith he
+ran toward the castle and would have entered therein, but those within the
+castle had closed the doors and the gates against him, so that he could not
+escape in that way. So the giant ran around and around the court with great
+outcry, seeking for some escape from his pursuer, and Sir Launcelot ran
+after him. And Sir Launcelot struck him several times with his sword, so
+that at last, what with terror and pain and weariness, that giant stumbled
+and fell upon the ground. Therewith Sir Launcelot ran at him, and, ere he
+could rise, he took his sword in both hands and smote off his head so that
+it rolled down upon the ground like a ball. Then Sir Launcelot stood there
+panting for breath, for he had raced very hard after the giant, and could
+hardly catch his breath again. As he stood so, many of those of the castle
+and many of those who were of the town came to him from all sides; and they
+crowded around him and gave him great acclaim for ridding that place of
+those giants.
+
+Then Sir Launcelot said to them: "Where is your lord?" Whereunto they made
+reply: "Sir, he lieth in the dungeon of the castle under the ground chained
+to the walls thereof, and there he hath been for three years or more, and
+no one hath dared to bring him succor until you came hither." "Go find
+him," said Sir Launcelot, "and set him free, and lose no time in doing so.
+And put him at all ease that you can."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot departs without refreshment] They say: "Will you
+not stay and see him, Messire, and receive his acknowledgements for what
+you have done?" But Sir Launcelot replied: "Nay, not so." Then they say:
+"Will you not have some refreshment after this battle?" Whereunto Sir
+Launcelot said: "I do not need such refreshment." Then they say: "But will
+you not rest a little?" "Nay," said Sir Launcelot: "I may not tarry, for I
+have far to go and several things to do, so that I do not care to stay." So
+he loosed his horse from the ring in the wall, and mounted upon it and rode
+away from that castle and from that town and across the bridge whence he
+had come. And all the people followed after him, giving him great acclaim.
+
+So Sir Launcelot left the castle, not because he needed no rest, but
+because he could not endure to receive the thanks of those whom he
+benefited. For though he loved to bring aid to the needy, yet he did not
+love to receive their thanks and their praise. Wherefore, having freed the
+lord of that castle from that brood of giants, he was content therewith and
+went his way without resting or waiting for thanks.
+
+For so it was with those noble gallant knights of those days; that whilst
+they would perform signal service for mankind, yet they were not pleased to
+receive thanks or reward for the same, but took the utmost satisfaction,
+not in what they gained by their acts, but in the doing of knightly deeds,
+for they found all their reward in their deeds, because that thereby they
+made the world in which they lived better; and because they made the glory
+of the King, whose servants they were, the more glorious.
+
+And I hold that such behavior upon the part of anyone makes him the peer of
+Sir Launcelot or Sir Tristram or Sir Lamorack or Sir Percival; yea, of Sir
+Galahad himself. For it does not need either the accolade or the bath to
+cause a man to be a true knight of God's making; nor does it need that a
+mortal King should lay sword upon shoulder to constitute a man the fellow
+of such knightly company as that whose history I am herewith writing; it
+needs only that he should prove himself at all times worthy in the
+performance of his duty, and that he shall not consider the hope of reward,
+or of praise of others in the performance of that duty.
+
+So look to it that in all your services you take example of the noble Sir
+Launcelot of the Lake, and that you do your uttermost with might and main,
+and that you therewith rest content with having done your best, maugre any
+praise. So you shall become a worthy fellow of Sir Launcelot and of his
+fellows.
+
+[Illustration: Sir Launcelot takes the armor of Sir Kay]
+
+
+
+
+Chapter Eighth
+
+
+_How Sir Launcelot Rescued Sir Kay From a Perilous Pass. Also How He
+Changed Armor with Sir Kay and what Befell._
+
+One day Sir Launcelot came at early nightfall to a goodly manor-house and
+there he besought lodging for the night, and lodging was granted to him
+very willingly.
+
+[Sidenote: The old gentlewoman makes Sir Launcelot welcome] Now there was
+no lord of that manor, but only an old gentlewoman of very good breeding
+and address. She made Sir Launcelot right welcome and gave such cheer as
+she could, setting before him a very good supper, hot and savory, and a
+great beaker of humming mead wherewith to wash it down. Whilst Sir
+Launcelot ate, the gentlewoman inquired of him his name and he told her it
+was Sir Launcelot of the Lake. "Ha!" quoth she, "I never heard that name
+before, but it is a very good name."
+
+At this Sir Launcelot laughed: "I am glad," said he, "that my name belikes
+thee. As for thy not having heard of it--well, I am a young knight as yet,
+having had but three years of service. Yet I have hopes that by and by it
+may be better known than it is at this present."
+
+"Thou sayest well," quoth she, "for thou art very young yet, wherefore thou
+mayst not know what thou canst do till thou hast tried." And therewith Sir
+Launcelot laughed again, and said: "Yea, that is very true."
+
+Now after Sir Launcelot had supped, his hostess showed him to the lodging
+she had provided for him wherein to sleep, and the lodging was in a fair
+garret over the gateway of the court. So Sir Launcelot went to his bed and,
+being weary with journeying, he presently fell into a deep and gentle
+sleep.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot is aroused from sleep] Now about the middle of
+the night there fell of a sudden the noise of someone beating upon the gate
+and calling in a loud voice and demanding immediate admittance thereat.
+This noise awoke Sir Launcelot, and he arose from his couch and went to the
+window and looked out to see who it was that shouted so loudly and made
+such uproar.
+
+The moon was shining at that time, very bright and still, and by the light
+thereof Sir Launcelot beheld that there was a knight in full armor seated
+upon horseback without the gate, and that the knight beat upon the gate
+with the pommel of his sword, and shouted that they should let him in.
+
+But ere anyone could run to answer his call there came a great noise of
+horses upon the highroad, and immediately after there appeared three
+knights riding very fiercely that way, and these three knights were plainly
+pursuing that one knight. For, when they perceived him, they rode very
+violently to where he was, and fell upon him fiercely, all three at one
+time; wherefore, though that one knight defended himself as well as he
+could, yet was he in a very sorry way, and altogether likely to be
+overborne. For those three surrounded him so close to the gate that he
+could do little to shift himself away from their assaults.
+
+Now when Sir Launcelot beheld how those three knights attacked that one
+knight, he said to himself: "Of a surety, yonder knight is in a very sorry
+way. I will do what I can to help him; for it is a shame to behold three
+knights attack one knight in that way. And if he be slain in this assault,
+meseems I shall be a party to his death."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot goeth to the rescue of the knight assaulted]
+Therewith he ran and put his armor upon him, and made ready for battle.
+Then he drew the sheet from his bed, and he tied the sheet to the bar of
+the window and by it he let himself quickly down to the ground not far from
+where those knights were doing battle. So being safely arrived in that way
+he cried out in a very loud voice: "Messires, leave that knight whom ye
+assail, and turn to me, for I have a mind to do battle with you myself."
+
+Then one of those knights, speaking very fiercely, said: "Who are you, and
+what business have you here?"
+
+"It matters not who I am," said Sir Launcelot, "but I will not have it that
+you three shall attack that one without first having had to do with me."
+
+"Very well," said that knight who had spoken, "you shall presently have
+your will of that."
+
+Therewith he and his fellows immediately descended from their horses, and
+drew their swords and came at Sir Launcelot upon three sides at once. Then
+Sir Launcelot set his back against the gate and prepared to defend himself.
+
+Therewith that knight whom he would defend immediately got down from his
+horse with intent to come to the aid of Sir Launcelot, but Sir Launcelot
+forbade him very fiercely, saying: "Let be, Sir Knight, this is my quarrel,
+and you shall not meddle in it."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot does battle with three knights] Upon this, those
+three knights rushed upon him very furiously, and they struck at him all at
+once, smiting at him wherever they could and with all their might and main.
+So Sir Launcelot had much ado to defend himself from their assault. But he
+made shift that they should not all rush in upon him at once, and by and by
+he found his chance with one of them. Whereupon he turned suddenly upon
+that one, and suddenly he lashed so terrible a buffet at him that the
+knight fell down and lay as though he had been struck dead with the force
+thereof.
+
+Then, ere those other two had recovered themselves, he ran at a second and
+struck him so fierce a blow that his wits left him, and he staggered like a
+drunken man and ran around and around in a circle, not knowing whither he
+went. Then he rushed upon the third and thrust him back with great
+violence, and as he went back Sir Launcelot struck him, too, as he had
+struck his companions and therewith that knight dropped his sword and fell
+down upon his knees and had not power to raise himself up.
+
+Then Sir Launcelot ran to him and snatched off his helmet, and catched him
+by the hair with intent to cut off his head. But at that the fallen knight
+embraced Sir Launcelot about the knees, crying out: "Spare my life!"
+
+"Why should I spare you?" said Sir Launcelot. "Sir," cried the knight, "I
+beseech you of your knighthood to spare me."
+
+"What claim have you upon knighthood," said Sir Launcelot, "who would
+attack a single knight, three men against one man?"
+
+Then the other of those knights who had been staggered by Sir Launcelot's
+blow, but who had by now somewhat recovered himself, came and kneeled to
+Sir Launcelot, and said: "Sir, spare his life, for we all yield ourselves
+unto you, for certes, you are the greatest champion in all the world."
+
+Then Sir Launcelot was appeased, but he said: "Nay, I will not take your
+yielding unto me. For as you three assaulted this single knight, so shall
+you all three yield to him."
+
+"Messire," said the knight who kneeled: "I am very loth to yield us to that
+knight, for we chased him hither, and he fled from us, and we would have
+overcome him had you not come to his aid."
+
+"Well," said Sir Launcelot, "I care nothing for all that, but only that you
+do as I will. And if ye do not do it, then I must perforce slay your
+companions and you two. Wherefore you may take your choice."
+
+[Sidenote: The three knights must yield to the one knight] Then said that
+knight who kneeled: "Messire, I see no other thing to do than to yield us
+as you would have, wherefore we submit ourselves unto this knight whom you
+have rescued from us."
+
+Then Sir Launcelot turned to that knight to whom he had brought aid in that
+matter, and he said: "Sir Knight, these knights yield themselves unto you
+to do as you command them. Now I pray you of your courtesy to tell me your
+name and who you are."
+
+"Sir," said that knight, "I am Sir Kay the Seneschal, and am King Arthur's
+foster-brother, and a knight of the Round Table. I have been errant now for
+some time in search of Sir Launcelot of the Lake. Now, I deem either that
+you are Sir Launcelot, or else that you are the peer of Sir Launcelot."
+
+"Thou art right, Sir Kay," said Sir Launcelot, "and I am Sir Launcelot of
+the Lake." So thereat they two made great joy over one another, and
+embraced one another as brothers-in-arms should do.
+
+Then Sir Kay told Sir Launcelot how it was with those three knights who had
+assailed him; that they were three brethren, and that he had overthrown the
+fourth brother in an adventure at arms and had hurt him very sorely
+thereby. So those three had been pursuing him for three days with intent to
+do him a harm.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Kay taketh submission of the three knights] Now Sir Kay was
+very loath to take submission of those three knights, but Sir Launcelot
+would have it so and no other way. So Sir Kay consented to let it be as Sir
+Launcelot willed. Thereupon those three knights came and submitted
+themselves to Sir Kay, and Sir Kay ordained that they should go to Camelot
+and lay their case before King Arthur, and that King Arthur should adjudge
+their case according to what he considered to be right and fitting.
+
+Then those three knights mounted upon their horses and rode away, and when
+they had done so the gates of the manor were opened, and Sir Launcelot and
+Sir Kay entered in. But when the old lady who was his hostess beheld Sir
+Launcelot come in, she was very greatly astonished, for she wist he was
+still asleep in his bed-chamber. Wherefore she said: "Sir, methought you
+were in bed and asleep." "So indeed I was," said Sir Launcelot, "but when I
+saw this knight in peril of his life against three knights, I leaped out of
+my window and went to his aid." "Well," said his hostess, "meseems that you
+will sometime be a very good knight, if you have so much courage whilst you
+are so young." And at that both Sir Launcelot and Sir Kay laughed a great
+deal.
+
+Then the chatelaine set bread and wine before Sir Kay, and he ate and
+refreshed himself, and thereafter he and Sir Launcelot went to that garret
+above the gate, and there fell asleep with great ease of body.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot takes Sir Kay's armor] Now before the sun arose
+Sir Launcelot awoke but Sir Kay still slept very soundly. Then Sir
+Launcelot beheld how Sir Kay slept, and he had a mind for a jest. So he
+clad himself in Sir Kay's armor altogether from head to foot, and he took
+Sir Kay's shield and spear, and he left his armor and shield and spear for
+Sir Kay to use. Then he went very softly from that room, and left Sir Kay
+still sleeping. And he took Sir Kay's horse and mounted upon it and rode
+away; and all that while Sir Kay knew not what had befallen, but slept very
+deeply.
+
+Now after a while Sir Kay awoke, and he found that Sir Launcelot was gone,
+and when he looked he found that his own armor was gone and that Sir
+Launcelot's armor was left. Then he wist what Sir Launcelot had done, and
+he said: "Ha! what a noble, courteous knight is the gentleman. For he hath
+left me his armor for my protection, and whilst I wear it and carry his
+shield and ride his horse, it is not likely that anyone will assail me upon
+my way. As for those who assail him, I do not believe that they will be
+likely to find great pleasure in their battle."
+
+Therewith he arose and clad himself in Sir Launcelot's armor, and after he
+had broken his fast he thanked his hostess for what she had given him, and
+rode upon his way with great content of spirit.
+
+(And it was as Sir Kay had said, for when he met other knights upon the
+road, and when they beheld the figure upon his shield, they all said: "It
+is not well to meddle with that knight, for that is Sir Launcelot." And so
+he came to Camelot without having to do battle with any man.)
+
+[Sidenote: How Sir Launcelot travels toward Camelot] As for Sir Launcelot,
+he rode upon his way with great cheerfulness of spirit, taking no heed at
+all of any trouble in the world, but chanting to himself as he rode in the
+pleasant weather. But ever he made his way toward Camelot, for he said: "I
+will return to Camelot for a little, and see how it fares with my friends
+at the court of the King."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot perceives three knights at feast] So by and by he
+entered into the country around about Camelot, which is a very smooth and
+fertile country, full of fair rivers and meadows with many cots and
+hamlets, and with fair hedge-bordered highways, wonderfully pleasant to
+journey in. So travelling he came to a very large meadow where were several
+groves of trees standing here and there along by a river. And as he went
+through this meadow he saw before him a long bridge, and at the farther
+side of the bridge were three pavilions of silk of divers colors, which
+pavilions had been cast in the shade of a grove of beech-trees. In front of
+each pavilion stood a great spear thrust in the earth, and from the spear
+hung the shield of the knight to whom the pavilion belonged. These shields
+Sir Launcelot read very easily, and so knew the knights who were there. To
+wit: that they were Sir Gunther, Sir Gylmere, and Sir Raynold, who were
+three brothers of the Court of King Arthur. As Sir Launcelot passed their
+pavilions, he saw that the three knights sat at feast in the midmost
+pavilion of the three, and that a number of esquires and pages waited upon
+them and served them, for those knights were of very high estate, and so
+they were established as high lords should be.
+
+[Sidenote: The three knights bid Sir Launcelot come to feast with them]
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot overthrows Sir Gunther] Now when those knights
+perceived Sir Launcelot they thought it was Sir Kay because of the armor he
+wore, and Sir Gunther, who was the eldest of the three brothers, cried out:
+"Come hither, Sir Kay, and eat with us!" But to this Sir Launcelot made no
+reply, but rode on his way. Then said Sir Gunther: "Meseems Sir Kay hath
+grown very proud this morning. Now I will go and bring him back with me, or
+else I will bring down his pride to earth." So he made haste and donned his
+helmet and ran and took his shield and his spear, and mounted his horse and
+rode after Sir Launcelot at a hard gallop. As he drew nigh to Sir Launcelot
+he cried out: "Stay, Sir Knight! Turn again, and go with me!" "Why should I
+go with you?" said Sir Launcelot. Quoth Sir Gunther: "Because you must
+either return with me or do battle with me." "Well," said Sir Launcelot, "I
+would rather do battle than return against my will." And at that Sir
+Gunther was astonished, for Sir Kay was not wont to be so ready for a
+battle. So Sir Launcelot set his shield and spear and took his stand, and
+Sir Gunther took his stand. Then, when they were in all ways prepared, each
+set spur to his horse and rushed together with terrible speed. So each
+knight struck the other in the midst of his shield, but the onset of Sir
+Launcelot was so terrible that it was not to be withstood, wherefore both
+Sir Gunther and his horse were overthrown in such a cloud of dust that
+nothing at all was to be seen of them until that cloud lifted.
+
+At this both Sir Raynold and Sir Gylmere were astonished beyond measure,
+for Sir Gunther was reckoned to be a much better knight than Sir Kay,
+wherefore they wist not how it was that Sir Kay should have overthrown him
+in that fashion.
+
+So straightway Sir Gylmere, who was the second of those brothers, called
+out to Sir Launcelot to tarry and do battle. "Very well," said Sir
+Launcelot, "if I cannot escape thee I must needs do battle. Only make
+haste, for I would fain be going upon my way."
+
+So Sir Gylmere donned his helm in haste and ran and took his shield and
+spear and mounted upon his horse. So when he had made himself ready in all
+ways he rushed upon Sir Launcelot with all his might and Sir Launcelot
+rushed against him.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot overthrows Sir Gylmere] In that encounter each
+knight struck the other in the midst of his shield, and the spear of Sir
+Gylmere burst into pieces, but Sir Launcelot's spear held, so the
+breast-strap of Sir Gylmere's saddle bursting, both saddle and knight were
+swept entirely off the horse and to the earth, where Sir Gylmere lay
+altogether stunned.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot wins from Sir Raynold] Then Sir Raynold came
+against Sir Launcelot in like manner as the others had done, and in that
+encounter Sir Launcelot overthrew both horse and man so that, had not Sir
+Raynold voided his horse, he would likely have been very sadly hurt.
+
+Then Sir Raynold drew his sword and cried out in a loud voice: "Come, Sir
+Knight, and do me battle afoot!" But Sir Launcelot said: "Why will you have
+it so, Sir Knight? I have no such quarrel with you as to do battle with
+swords." "Ha!" said Sir Raynold, "you shall fight with me. For though you
+wear Sir Kay's armor, I wot very well that you are not Sir Kay, but a great
+deal bigger man than ever Sir Kay is like to be."
+
+"Nay," said Sir Launcelot, "I will not do any more battle with you." And
+therewith he drew rein and rode away, leaving Sir Raynold standing very
+angry in the middle of the highway.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot meets four noble knights] After that Sir
+Launcelot rode very easily at a quiet gait, with no great thought whither
+he rode, until after a while he came to a place where a road went across a
+level field with two rows of tall poplar trees, one upon either side of the
+highway. Then Sir Launcelot perceived where, beneath the shade of these
+poplar trees, were four knights standing each by his horse. And these four
+knights were conversing very pleasantly together. Now as Sir Launcelot drew
+nigh he perceived that those were four very famous noble knights of the
+Round Table; to wit: one of those knights was his own brother, Sir Ector de
+Maris, another was Sir Gawain, another was Sir Ewain, and the fourth was
+Sir Sagramore le Desirous.
+
+Now as Sir Launcelot drew nigh Sir Gawain said: "Look, yonder cometh Sir
+Kay the Seneschal." Unto this Sir Sagramore le Desirous said: "Yea, this is
+he; now bide you here for a little while, and I will go and take a fall of
+him."
+
+So straightway he mounted upon his horse, and he rode toward Sir Launcelot,
+and he cried out: "Stay, Sir Knight, you cannot go farther until you have
+had to do with me." "What would you have of me?" quoth Sir Launcelot.
+"Sir," said Sir Sagramore, "I will have a fall of you." "Well," said Sir
+Launcelot, "I suppose I must pleasure you, since it cannot be otherwise."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot overthrows Sir Sagramore] Therewith he dressed
+his shield and his spear and Sir Sagramore dressed his shield and his
+spear, and when they were in all ways prepared they ran together at full
+tilt. In that encounter Sir Sagramore's spear broke, but Sir Launcelot
+struck so powerful a blow that he overthrew both horse and man into a ditch
+of water that was near-by.
+
+Then Sir Ector de Maris said: "Ha, surely some very ill chance has befallen
+Sir Sagramore for to be overthrown by Sir Kay. Now I will go and have ado
+with him, for if the matter rests here there will be no living at court
+with the jests which will be made upon us."
+
+So he took horse and rode to where Sir Launcelot was, and he went at a very
+fast gallop. When he had come near to Sir Launcelot he cried out: "Have at
+thee, Sir Kay, for it is my turn next!" "Why should I have at thee?" said
+Sir Launcelot, "I have done thee no harm." "No matter," said Sir Ector,
+"you can go no farther until you have had to do with me." "Well," said Sir
+Launcelot, "if that is so, the sooner I have to do with thee, the sooner
+shall I be able to go upon my way."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot overthrows Sir Ector] Therewith each knight made
+himself ready and when they were in all ways prepared they came together
+with such force that Sir Launcelot's spear went through Sir Ector's shield
+and smote him upon the shoulder, and Sir Ector was thrown down upon the
+ground with such violence that he lay where he had fallen, without power to
+move.
+
+Then said Sir Ewain to Sir Gawain where they stood together: "That is the
+most wonderful thing that ever I beheld, for never did I think to behold
+Sir Kay bear himself in battle in such a fashion as that. Now bide thee
+here and let me have a try at him." Therewith Sir Ewain mounted his horse
+and rode at Sir Launcelot, and there were no words spoken this time, but
+each knight immediately took his stand to do battle. Then they ran their
+horses together, and Sir Launcelot gave Sir Ewain such a buffet that he was
+astonished, and for a little he knew not where he was, for his spear fell
+down out of his hand, and he bore his shield so low that Sir Launcelot
+might have slain him where he stood if he had been minded to do so.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Ewain yields to Sir Launcelot] Then Sir Launcelot said:
+"Sir Knight, I bid thee yield to me." And Sir Ewain said: "I yield me. For
+I do not believe that thou art Sir Kay but a bigger man than he shall ever
+be. Wherefore I yield me." "Then that is well," said Sir Launcelot. "Now
+stand thou a little aside where thou mayst bring succor unto these other
+two knights, for I see that Sir Gawain has a mind to tilt with me."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Gawain fails with Sir Launcelot] And it was as Sir
+Launcelot said, for Sir Gawain also had mounted his horse and had made
+himself ready for that encounter. So Sir Gawain and Sir Launcelot took
+stand at such place as suited them. Then each knight set spurs to his horse
+and rushed together like thunder, and each knight smote the other knight in
+the midst of his shield; and in that encounter the spear of Sir Gawain
+brake in twain but the spear of Sir Launcelot held, and therewith he gave
+Sir Gawain such a buffet that Sir Gawain's horse reared up into the air,
+and it was with much ado that he was able to void his saddle ere his horse
+fell over backward. For if he had not leaped to earth the horse would have
+fallen upon him.
+
+Then Sir Gawain drew his sword and cried very fiercely: "Come down and
+fight me, Sir Knight! For thou art not Sir Kay!"
+
+"Nay, I will not fight thee that way," said Sir Launcelot, and therewith he
+passed on his way without tarrying further.
+
+But he laughed to himself behind his helmet as he rode, and he said: "God
+give Sir Kay joy of such a spear as this, for I believe there came never so
+good a spear as this into my hand. For with it I have overthrown seven
+famous knights in this hour."
+
+As for those four knights of the Round Table, they comforted one another as
+best they could, for they knew not what to think of that which had befallen
+them. Only Sir Ector said: "That was never Sir Kay who served us in this
+wise, but such a man as is better than ten Sir Kays, or twice ten Sir Kays,
+for the matter of that."
+
+[Sidenote: How Sir Launcelot returned to Camelot] Now Sir Launcelot came
+to Camelot about eventide, what time King Arthur and his court were
+assembled at their supper. Then there was great joy when news was brought
+of his coming and they brought him in to the court and set him beside the
+King and the Lady Guinevere all armed as he was. Then King Arthur said:
+"Sir Launcelot, how is it with thee?" and Sir Launcelot said: "It is well."
+Then King Arthur said: "Tell us what hath befallen thee." And Sir Launcelot
+told all that had happened in that month since he had left court. And all
+they who were there listened, and were much astonished.
+
+But when Sir Launcelot told how he had encountered those seven knights, in
+the armor of Sir Kay, all laughed beyond measure excepting those of the
+seven who were there, for they took no very good grace to be laughed at in
+that wise.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+So now I hope I have made you acquainted with Sir Launcelot of the Lake,
+who was the greatest knight in the world. For not only have I told you how
+he was created a knight at the hands of King Arthur, but I have also led
+you errant along with him, so that you might see for yourself how he
+adventured his life for other folk and what a noble and generous gentleman
+he was; and how pitiful to the weak and suffering, and how terrible to the
+evil-doer. But now I shall have to leave him for a while (but after a while
+in another book that shall follow this, I shall return to him to tell you a
+great many things concerning other adventures of his), for meantime it is
+necessary that I should recount the history of another knight, who was held
+by many to be nearly as excellent a knight as Sir Launcelot was himself.
+
+
+
+
+CONCLUSION
+
+_Here endeth the story of Sir Launcelot. That which followeth is the story
+of Sir Tristram of Lyonesse, who was knit with Sir Launcelot into such
+close ties of friendship that if they had been brothers of the same blood,
+with the same father and mother, they could not have loved one another more
+than they did.
+
+For indeed it would not be possible to tell any history of Sir Launcelot of
+the Lake without telling that of Sir Tristram of Lyonesse as well, for as
+the web of a fair fabric is woven in with the woof thereof, so were the
+lives of Sir Launcelot and Sir Tristram woven closely together.
+
+Wherefore you shall now hear tell of the goodly adventures of Sir Tristram
+of Lyonesse; and God grant that you may have the same joy in reading
+thereof that I shall have in telling of them to you._
+
+
+
+
+The Book of Sir Tristram
+
+[Illustration: Sir Tristram of Lyonesse]
+
+
+
+
+Prologue.
+
+There was a certain kingdom called Lyonesse, and the King of that country
+was hight Meliadus, and the Queen thereof who was hight the Lady Elizabeth,
+was sister to King Mark of Cornwall.
+
+In the country of Lyonesse, there was a very beautiful lady, who was a
+cunning and wicked sorceress. This lady took great love for King Meliadus,
+who was of an exceedingly noble appearance, and she meditated continually
+how she might bring him to her castle so as to have him near her.
+
+[Sidenote: King Meliadus rides a-hunting] Now King Meliadus was a very
+famous huntsman, and he loved the chase above all things in the world,
+excepting the joy he took in the love of his Queen, the Lady Elizabeth. So,
+upon a certain day, in the late autumn season he was minded to go forth
+a-hunting, although the day was very cold and bleak.
+
+About the prime of the day the hounds started, of a sudden, a very
+wonderful stag. For it was white and its horns were gilded very bright,
+shining like pure gold, so that the creature itself appeared like a living
+miracle in the forest. When this stag broke cover, the hounds immediately
+set chase to it with a great outcry of yelling, as though they were
+suddenly gone frantic, and when the King beheld the creature, he also was
+immediately seized as with a great fury for chasing it. For, beholding it,
+he shouted aloud and drove spurs into his horse, and rushed away at such a
+pass that his court was, in a little while, left altogether behind him, and
+he and the chase were entirely alone in the forest.
+
+[Sidenote: King Meliadus chases the stag] The stag, with the hounds close
+behind it, ran at a great rate through the passes of the woodlands, and
+King Meliadus pursued it with might and main until the chase burst out of
+the forest into an open plain beyond the woodland. Then King Meliadus
+beheld that in the midst of the plain was a considerable lake of water; and
+that in the midst of the water was an island; and that upon the island was
+a very tall and stately castle. Toward this castle the stag ran with great
+speed, and so, coming to the lake, it leaped into the water and swam across
+to the island--and there was a thin sheet of clear ice upon the water close
+to either bank.
+
+But when the hounds that pursued the stag came to that frozen water, they
+stinted their pursuit and stood whimpering upon the brink, for the ice and
+the water repelled them. But King Meliadus made no such pause, but
+immediately leaped off from his horse, and plunged into the water and swam
+across in pursuit of the stag. And when he reached the other side, he
+chased the stag afoot with great speed, and therewith the stag ran to the
+castle and into the court-yard thereof, and King Meliadus ran after it.
+Then, immediately he had entered in, the gates of the castle were shut and
+King Meliadus was a prisoner.
+
+[Sidenote: King Meliadus is made prisoner at an enchanted castle] (Now you
+are to know that that castle was the abode of the beautiful enchantress
+afore spoken of, and you are to know that she had sent that enchanted stag
+to beguile King Meliadus to her court, and so she made King Meliadus her
+captive. Further, it is to be told that when she had him there within her
+castle, she wove a web of enchantment all about him so that he forgot the
+Lady Elizabeth and his court and his kingdom and thought of nothing but
+that beautiful sorceress who had thus beguiled him into her power.)
+
+[Sidenote: The Lady Elizabeth grieves to distraction] Now, when those who
+were with the King returned to the castle of Lyonesse without him, and when
+the King did not return that day nor the next day nor at any time, the Lady
+Elizabeth grew more and more distracted in her anxiety because of him. And
+when a fortnight had gone by and still there was no news of the King, her
+grief and apprehension became so great that she turned distracted and they
+had to set watch and ward upon her lest she do herself a harm in her
+madness.
+
+So for a long time they kept her within the castle; but upon a certain day
+she broke away from her keepers and ran out from the castle and into the
+forest ere those in attendance upon her knew she had gone. Only one
+gentlewoman saw her, and she called upon a young page to follow her, and
+thereupon ran after the Queen whither she went, with intent to bring her
+back again.
+
+[Sidenote: The Lady Elizabeth escapes into the forest] But the Lady
+Elizabeth ran very deep into the forest, and the gentlewoman and the page
+ran after her; and the Queen thought that she was going to find her lord in
+the forest. So she ran very rapidly for a great distance, until by and by
+she waxed faint with weariness from running and sank down upon the ground;
+and there they that followed her found her lying. And they found that the
+Queen was in a great passion of pain and sick to death. For the day was
+very wintry, with a fine powder of snow all over the ground, so that the
+cold of the weather pierced through the garments of the Lady Elizabeth and
+entered into her body and chilled her to the heart.
+
+Now the gentlewoman, seeing how it was with the Queen, called the page to
+her and said: "Make haste! Go back to the castle of Lyonesse, and bring
+some of the knights of the castle with all speed, else the Queen will die
+at this place." And upon that the page ran off with great speed to do her
+bidding and the Queen was left alone with her gentlewoman.
+
+Then the gentlewoman said, "Lady, what cheer?" And the Queen said, "Alas, I
+am sick to death." The gentlewoman said, "Lady, cannot you bear up a little
+until help cometh?" Thereupon the Lady Elizabeth fell to weeping very
+piteously, and said, "Nay, I cannot bear up any longer, for the cold hath
+entered into my heart." (Yea, even at that time death was upon her because
+of the cold at her heart.)
+
+Then by and by in the midst of her tears and in very sore travail a
+man-child was born to the Queen, and when that came to pass a great peace
+fell suddenly upon her.
+
+[Sidenote: How Tristram is born in the forest] Then she said, speaking to
+the nurse like one in great weariness, "What child is it that I have given
+unto the world?" The nurse said, "It is a man-child." The Queen said to
+her, "Hold him up until I see him." Thereupon the nurse held the child up
+and the Queen looked at him, though she could hardly see him because it was
+as though a mist lay upon her eyes which she could not clear away from her
+sight; for at that time she was drawing deep draughts of death. Then, when
+she had seen the child and had beheld that he was very strong and lusty and
+exceedingly comely, she said: "Behold, this is my child, born in the midst
+of sore travail and great sorrow; wherefore his name shall be called
+Tristram because he hath caused so many tears to be shed."
+
+Then in a little while the Lady died, and the gentlewoman stood weeping
+beside her, making great outcry in that cold and lonely forest.
+
+Anon there came those knights who were sent from the castle to find the
+Queen; and when they came to that place, they beheld that she lay upon the
+ground all cold and white like to a statue of marble stone. So they lifted
+her up and bare her away upon a litter, and the gentlewoman followed
+weeping and wailing in great measure, and bearing the child wrapped in a
+mantle.
+
+So Tristram was born in that wise, and so his name was given to him because
+of the tears that were shed at his birth.
+
+And now it is to be told how King Meliadus returned from that castle of
+enchantment where he was held prisoner.
+
+[Sidenote: King Meliadus is released from durance] At this time Merlin was
+still living in the world, for Vivien had not yet bewitched him, as hath
+been told in the Book of King Arthur. So by and by it came to pass that he
+discovered where King Meliadus was imprisoned and how it fared with him in
+the castle of that enchantress. So he made greater spells than those that
+enmeshed King Meliadus, and he brought King Meliadus back into his memory
+of the Queen and his kingdom. Then straightway the King broke out from the
+castle of the enchantress and returned to his kingdom. But when he came
+there it was to find everything in great sorrow and dole; for the Lady
+Elizabeth was no longer upon this earth to bring joy to the heart of the
+King. So for a long while after his return King Meliadus lay altogether
+stricken down with the grief of that bereavement.
+
+Here followeth the story of Tristram, how he passed his youth, and how he
+became a knight of Cornwall of King Mark's making.
+
+
+
+
+PART I
+
+
+The Story of Sir Tristram and the Lady Belle Isoult
+
+_Here followeth the story of Sir Tristram of Lyonesse, who, with Sir
+Launcelot of the Lake, was deemed to be one of the two most worthy and
+perfect knights champion of his day.
+
+Likewise herein shall be told the story of the Lady Belle Isoult, who next
+to Queen Guinevere, was reckoned to be the most fair, gentle lady in all of
+the world._
+
+[Illustration: Tristram succors the Lady Moeya]
+
+
+
+
+Chapter First
+
+
+_How the new Queen of Lyonesse sought Tristram's life; how he went to
+France, and how he returned again to Lyonesse and was received with love at
+that place._
+
+So King Meliadus grieved very bitterly for the Lady Elizabeth for the space
+of seven years, and in that time he took but little pleasure in life, and
+still less pleasure in that son who had been born to him in that wise. Then
+one day a certain counsellor who was in great favor with the King came to
+him and said: "Lord, it is not fitting that you should live in this wise
+and without a mate; for you should have a queen, and you should have other
+children besides Tristram, else all the fate of this kingdom shall depend
+upon the life of that one small child."
+
+[Sidenote: King Meliadus taketh the Lady Moeya to second wife] And King
+Meliadus took this counsel to heart, and after a while he said: "What you
+tell me is true, and so I shall take another Queen, even though it is not
+in me to love any other woman in all of the world but that dear one who is
+dead and gone." So a while after that he took to wife the Lady Moeya, who
+was the daughter of King Howell of Britain.
+
+Now Queen Moeya had been married to an Earl of Britain, and by him she had
+a son who was about the age of Tristram. So she brought this son to
+Lyonesse with her, and he and Tristram were very good companions.
+
+But the Lady Moeya took great hatred of Tristram, for she said in her
+heart: "Except for this Tristram, mayhap my son might be King and overlord
+of this land." And these thoughts brooded with her, so that after a while
+she began to meditate how she might make away with Tristram so that her own
+son might come into his inheritance.
+
+Now at that time Tristram was about thirteen years of age and very large
+and robust of form and of extraordinary strength of body and beauty of
+countenance. But the son of Queen Moeya was not of such a sort, so the more
+beautiful and noble Tristram was the more the Queen hated him. So one day
+she called to her a very cunning chemist and she said to him: "Give me a
+drink of such and such a sort, so that he who drinks thereof shall
+certainly die, maugre help of any kind." And the chemist gave her what she
+desired, and it was in a phial and was of a golden color.
+
+[Sidenote: The Lady Moeya devises mischief against Tristram] Now Tristram
+and the son of the Lady Moeya were wont to play ball in a certain court of
+the castle, and when they would play there they would wax all of a heat
+with their sport. This the Lady Moeya was well aware of; so one day she
+took that phial of poison and she poured a part of it into a chalice and
+she filled the chalice with clear water and she set the chalice upon a
+bench where those two would play at ball. For she said to herself: "When
+they grow warm with their play, Tristram will certainly drink of this water
+to quench his thirst, and then my son will maybe enter into his
+inheritance."
+
+[Sidenote: The son of the Queen drinks of the poison] So the two youths
+played very fiercely at their game, and they waxed exceedingly hot and
+presently were both very violently athirst. Then Tristram said, "I would I
+had somewhat to drink," and his stepbrother said, "Look, yonder is a
+chalice of water; drink! and when thou hast quenched thy thirst, then I
+will drink also." But Tristram said: "Nay, brother, drink thou first, for
+thou art more athirst than I." Then at first the son of the Lady Moeya
+would not have it so, but would have Tristram drink; but afterward he did
+as Tristram bade him, and, taking the chalice in both hands, he drank
+freely of that poison which his own mother had prepared. Then when he had
+drunk his fill, Tristram took the chalice and would have drunk too; but the
+other said, "Stay, Tristram, there is great bitterness in that chalice";
+and then he said, "Methinks I feel a very bitter pang within my vitals,"
+and then he cried out, "Woe is me! I am in great pain!" Therewith he fell
+down upon the ground and lay there in a great passion of agony. Then
+Tristram cried aloud for help in a piercing voice; but when help came
+thither it was too late, for the son of the Lady Moeya was dead.
+
+Then the Lady Moeva was in great torment of soul, and beat her breast and
+tore her hair and King Meliadus had much ado for to comfort her. And after
+this she hated Tristram worse than ever before, for she would say to
+herself: "Except for this Tristram, my own son would yet be alive!"
+
+So she brooded upon these things until she could not rest, whether by day
+or night. Then one day she took the rest of the poison that was in the
+phial and poured it into a goblet of yellow wine. This goblet she gave to
+one of her pages, saying: "Take this to Tristram, and offer it to him when
+I shall tell you to do so!"
+
+[Sidenote: The Lady Moeya seeks Tristram's life a second time] Therewith
+she went down to the hall where Tristram was, and she said, "Tristram, let
+there be peace betwixt us." And Tristram said: "Lady, that meets my wishes,
+for I have never had in my heart aught but loving-kindness toward you, and
+so I would have it in your heart toward me." With this the page came in the
+hall with that goblet of yellow wine. Then the Lady Moeya took the goblet
+and said: "Take this cup, and drink of the wine that is in it, and so there
+shall be peace betwixt us forever." And as she said that she looked very
+strangely upon Tristram, but Tristram was altogether innocent of any evil
+against him. So he reached out his hand to take the cup which the page
+brought to him.
+
+Now at that moment King Meliadus came into the hall fresh from the chase,
+and he was much heated and greatly athirst, wherefore, when he saw that cup
+of wine he said: "Stay, Tristram, let me drink, for I am greatly athirst.
+After I have quenched my thirst, then thou shalt drink."
+
+Therewith he took the goblet of wine and made to lift it to his lips. But
+at that the Lady Moeya cried out, in a very loud and piercing voice, "Do
+not drink of that wine!" The King said, "Why should I not drink of it?" "No
+matter," said the Lady Moeya, "thou shalt not drink of it, for there is
+death in it."
+
+Therewith she ran to the King and catched him by the hand, and she plucked
+away the goblet so that the wine was spilled out of it upon the ground.
+
+[Sidenote: King Meliadus threatens to slay the Queen] Then King Meliadus
+gazed at the Lady Moeya, and he thought of many things in very little time.
+Thereupon he seized her by the hair and dragged her forward, so that she
+fell down upon her hands and knees to the pavement of the hall. And King
+Meliadus drew his great sword so that it flashed like lightning, and he
+cried: "Tell me what thou hast done, and tell me quickly, or thou shalt not
+be able to tell me at all!" Then the Lady Moeya clutched King Meliadus
+about the thighs, and she cried out: "Do not slay me with thine own hand,
+or else my blood will stain thee with dishonor! I will tell thee all, and
+then thou mayst deal with me according to the law, for indeed I am not fit
+to live." So therewithal the Lady Moeya confessed everything to the King.
+
+Then King Meliadus shouted aloud and called the attendants and said: "Take
+this woman and cast her into prison, and see that no harm befall her there;
+for the lords of this country shall adjudge her, and not I." And therewith
+he turned away and left her.
+
+And thereafter, in due season, the Lady Moeya was brought to trial and was
+condemned to be burned at the stake.
+
+[Sidenote: Tristram begs mercy for the Queen] Now when the day came that
+she was to be burnt, Tristram was very sorry for her. So when he beheld her
+tied fast to the stake he came to where King Meliadus was and he kneeled
+before him, and he said, "Father, I crave a boon of thee." Thereupon King
+Meliadus looked upon Tristram, and he loved him very tenderly and he said:
+"My son, ask what thou wilt, and it shall be thine." Then Tristram said:
+"Father, I pray thee, spare the life of this lady, for methinks she hath
+repented her of her evil, and surely God hath punished her very sorely for
+the wickedness she hath tried to do."
+
+Then King Meliadus was very wroth that Tristram should interfere with the
+law; but yet he had granted that boon to his son and could not withdraw. So
+after a while of thought he said: "Well, I have promised, and so I will
+perform my promise. Her life is thine; go to the stake and take her. But
+when thou hast done so I bid thee go forth from this place and show thy
+face here no more. For thou hast interfered with the law, and hast done ill
+that thou, the son of the King, should save this murderess. So thou shalt
+leave this place, for I mistrust that between you two some murder will
+befall in this country."
+
+So Tristram went weeping to where the Queen was bound to the stake; and he
+cut her bonds with his dagger and set her free. And he said: "Lady, thou
+art free; now go thy way, and may God forgive thee as I do." Then the Queen
+wept also, and said, "Tristram, thou art very good to me." And because she
+was barefoot and in her shift, Tristram took his cloak and wrapped it about
+her.
+
+[Sidenote: Tristram departs from Lyonesse] After that, Tristram
+straightway left Lyonesse, and King Meliadus appointed that a noble and
+honorable lord of the court, hight Gouvernail, should go with him. They two
+went to France, and there they were made very welcome at the court of the
+King. So Tristram dwelt in France till he was eighteen years old, and
+everyone at the court of the King of France loved him and honored him so
+that he dwelt there as though he were of the blood of France.
+
+During the time that he was in France he became the greatest hunter in the
+world, and he wrote many books on venery that were read and studied long
+after he had ceased to live. Also he became so skilful with the harp that
+no minstrel in the world was his equal. And ever he waxed more sturdy of
+frame and more beautiful of countenance, and more well-taught in all the
+worship of knighthood. For during that time he became so wonderfully
+excellent in arms that there was no one in France who was his equal.
+
+Thus Tristram dwelt at peace in that land for five years, but even he
+longed for his own home with all the might and main of his heart. So one
+day he said to Gouvernail: "Gouvernail, I cannot deny myself any longer
+from seeing my father and my own country, for I feel that I must see them
+or else my heart will certainly break because of its great longing." Nor
+would he listen to anything that Gouvernail might say contrary to this. So
+they two took their departure from France, and Tristram travelled as a
+harper and Gouvernail as his attendant. Thus they came to Lyonesse in that
+wise.
+
+[Sidenote: How Tristram returns to Lyonesse] One day whilst King Meliadus
+sat at meat, they two came into the hall, and Gouvernail wore a long white
+beard which altogether disguised him so that no one knew him. But Tristram
+shone with such a great radiance of beauty and of youth that all who looked
+upon him marvelled at him. And the heart of King Meliadus went out to
+Tristram very strongly, and he said before all of his court, "Who art thou,
+fair youth? And whence comest thou?" To which Tristram made reply: "Lord, I
+am a harper, and this is my man, and we have come from France." Then King
+Meliadus said to Tristram: "Sir, have you seen a youth in France whom men
+call Tristram?" And Tristram replied, "Yea, I have seen him several times."
+King Meliadus said, "Doth he do well?" "Yea," said Tristram, "he doeth very
+well, though at times he is sore oppressed with a great desire for his own
+country." At this King Meliadus turned away his face, for his heart went
+very strongly out at the thought of his son. Then by and by he said to
+Tristram, "Wilt thou play upon thy harp?" And Tristram said, "Yea, if it
+will please thee to hear me." Therewith he took his harp and he set it
+before him, and he struck the strings and played upon it, and he sang in
+such a wise that no one who was there had ever heard the like thereof.
+
+Then King Meliadus' heart was melted at Tristram's minstrelsy, and he said:
+"That is wonderful harping. Now ask what thou wilt of me, and it shall be
+thine, whatever it may be."
+
+To this Tristram said, "Lord, that is a great thing that thou sayest."
+"Nevertheless," said King Meliadus, "it shall be as I say." Then Tristram
+left his harp and he came to where King Meliadus sat, and he kneeled down
+before him and he said: "Lord, if so be that is the case, then that which I
+ask of thee is this: that thou wilt forgive me and bring me back into thy
+favor again."
+
+[Sidenote: King Meliadus is reconciled to Tristram] At that King Meliadus
+was filled with a great wonder, and he said: "Fair youth, who art thou, and
+what have I to forgive thee?" "Lord," said Tristram, "I am thy son, and ask
+thee to forgive me that I should have saved the life of that lady who is
+thy Queen."
+
+At this King Meliadus cried out with joy, and he came down from where he
+sat and he took Tristram into his arms and kissed him upon the face, and
+Tristram wept and kissed his father upon the face.
+
+So they were reconciled.
+
+After that, Tristram abode in peace in Lyonesse for some while, and during
+that time he made peace betwixt King Meliadus and Queen Moeya, and the
+Queen loved him because he was so good to her.
+
+[Sidenote: Tristram refuses knighthood] Now after the return of Tristram
+as aforesaid, King Meliadus would have made him a knight, but Tristram
+would not suffer the honor of knighthood to be bestowed upon him at that
+time, but always said: "Lord, think not ill of me if I do not accept
+knighthood at this time. For I would fain wait until the chance for some
+large adventure cometh; then I would be made a knight for to meet that
+adventure, so that I might immediately win renown. For what credit could
+there be to our house if I should be made knight, only that I might sit in
+hall and feast and drink and make merry?"
+
+So spoke Sir Tristram, and his words sounded well to King Meliadus,
+wherefore from thenceforth King Meliadus refrained from urging knighthood
+upon him.
+
+Now the way that Sir Tristram achieved knighthood shall be told in that
+which followeth, and also it shall then be told how he fought his first
+battle, which was one of the most famous that ever he fought in all of his
+life.
+
+[Illustration: King Mark of Cornwall]
+
+
+
+
+Chapter Second
+
+
+_How Sir Tristram was made knight by the King of Cornwall, and
+how he fought a battle with a famous champion._
+
+Now first of all it is to be here said that at that time there was great
+trouble come to King Mark of Cornwall (who, as aforesaid, was uncle to Sir
+Tristram) and the trouble was this:
+
+[Sidenote: The King of Ireland claims truage of Cornwall] The King of
+Cornwall and the King of Ireland had great debate concerning an island that
+lay in the sea betwixt Cornwall and Ireland. For though that island was
+held by Cornwall, yet the King of Ireland laid claim to it and demanded
+that the King of Cornwall should pay him truage for the same. This King
+Mark refused to do, and there was great contention betwixt Cornwall and
+Ireland, so that each country made ready for war.
+
+But the King of Ireland said: "Let there not be war betwixt Ireland and
+Cornwall concerning this disagreement, but let us settle this affair in
+some other way. Let us each choose a champion and let those two champions
+decide the rights of this case by a combat at arms. For so the truth shall
+be made manifest."
+
+Now you are to know that at that time the knights of Cornwall were held in
+great disregard by all courts of chivalry; for there was not in those days
+any knight of repute in all the court of Cornwall. Wherefore King Mark knew
+not where he should find him a champion to meet that challenge from the
+King of Ireland. Yet he must needs meet it, for he was ashamed to refuse
+such a challenge as that, and so to acknowledge that Cornwall had no
+knight-champion to defend it. So he said it should be as the King of
+Ireland would have it, and that if the King of Ireland would choose a
+champion, he also would do the same.
+
+[Sidenote: The King of Ireland chooses Sir Marhaus for his champion]
+Thereupon the King of Ireland chose for his champion Sir Marhaus of
+Ireland, who was one of the greatest knights in the world. For in the Book
+of King Arthur (which I wrote aforetime) you may there read in the story of
+Sir Pellias how great and puissant a champion Sir Marhaus was, and how he
+overthrew Sir Gawaine and others with the greatest ease. Wherefore at that
+time he was believed by many to be the greatest knight in the world (it
+being before the days of Sir Launcelot of the Lake), and even in the days
+of Sir Launcelot it was doubted whether he or Sir Launcelot were the
+greater champion.
+
+So King Mark could not find any knight in Cornwall to stand against Sir
+Marhaus. Nor could he easily find any knight outside of Cornwall to do
+battle with him. For Sir Marhaus, being a knight of the Round Table, no
+other knight of the Round Table would fight against him--and there were no
+other knights so great as that famous brotherhood of the Table Round.
+
+Accordingly, King Mark knew not where to turn to find him a champion to do
+battle in his behalf.
+
+In this strait, King Mark sent a letter by a messenger to Lyonesse, asking
+if there was any knight at Lyonesse who would stand his champion against
+Sir Marhaus, and he offered great reward if such a champion would undertake
+his cause against Ireland.
+
+[Sidenote: Tristram asks leave to go to Cornwall] Now when young Tristram
+heard this letter of his uncle King Mark, he straightway went to his father
+and said: "Sire, some whiles ago you desired that I should become a knight.
+Now I would that you would let me go to Cornwall upon this occasion. For
+when I come there I will beseech my uncle King Mark to make me a knight,
+and then I will go out against Sir Marhaus. For I have a great mind to
+undertake this adventure in behalf of King Mark, and to stand his champion
+against Sir Marhaus. For though Sir Marhaus is so great a knight and so
+famous a hero, yet if I should have the good fortune to overcome him in
+battle, there would, certes, be great glory to our house through my
+knighthood."
+
+Then King Meliadus looked upon Tristram and loved him very dearly, and he
+said: "Tristram, thou hast assuredly a very great heart to undertake this
+adventure, which no one else will essay. So I bid thee go, in God's name,
+if so be thy heart bids thee to go. For maybe God will lend the strength
+necessary to carry this adventure through to a successful issue."
+
+So that very day Tristram departed from Lyonesse for Cornwall, taking with
+him only Gouvernail as his companion. So, by ship, he reached Cornwall, and
+the castle of Tintagel, where King Mark was then holding court.
+
+And it was at the sloping of the afternoon when he so came, and at that
+time King Mark was sitting in hall with many of his knights and lords about
+him. And the King was brooding in great trouble of spirit. Unto him came an
+attendant, saying: "Lord, there are two strangers who stand without, and
+crave to be admitted to your presence. One of them hath great dignity and
+sobriety of demeanor, and the other, who is a youth, is of so noble and
+stately an appearance that I do not believe his like is to be found in the
+entire world."
+
+To this the King said, "Show them in."
+
+[Sidenote: Tristram and Gouvernail come to Cornwall] So those two were
+immediately admitted into the hall and came and stood before King Mark; and
+the one of them was Gouvernail and the other was young Tristram. So
+Tristram stood forth before Gouvernail and Gouvernail bore the harp of
+Tristram, and the harp was of gold and shone most brightly and beautifully.
+Then King Mark looked upon Tristram, and marvelled at his size and beauty;
+for Tristram stood above any man in that place, so that he looked like a
+hero amongst them. His brow was as white as milk and his lips were red like
+to coral and his hair was as red as gold and as plentiful as the mane of a
+young lion, and his neck was thick and sturdy and straight like to a round
+pillar of white-stone, and he was clad in garments of blue silk embroidered
+very cunningly with threads of gold and set with a countless multitude of
+gems of divers colors. So because of all this he glistened with a singular
+radiance of richness and beauty.
+
+So King Mark marvelled at the haughtiness of Tristram's appearance, and he
+felt his heart drawn toward Tristram with love and admiration. Then, after
+a little, he spoke, saying: "Fair youth, who are you, and whence come you,
+and what is it you would have of me?"
+
+[Sidenote: Tristram offers himself as champion for Cornwall] "Lord," said
+Tristram, "my name is Tristram, and I come from the country of Lyonesse,
+where your own sister was one time Queen. Touching the purpose of my coming
+hither, it is this: having heard that you are in need of a champion to
+contend for your rights against the champion of Ireland, I come hither to
+say that if you will make me a knight with your own hand, I will take it
+upon me to stand your champion and to meet Sir Marhaus of Ireland upon your
+behalf."
+
+Then King Mark was filled with wonder at the courage of Tristram, and he
+said: "Fair youth, are you not aware that Sir Marhaus of Ireland is a
+knight well set in years and of such great and accredited deeds of arms
+that it is supposed that, excepting Sir Launcelot of the Lake, there is not
+his peer in any court of chivalry in all of the world? How then can you,
+who are altogether new to the use of arms, hope to stand against so
+renowned a champion as he?"
+
+"Lord," quoth Tristram, "I am well aware of what sort of knight Sir Marhaus
+is, and I am very well aware of the great danger of this undertaking. Yet
+if one who covets knighthood shall fear to face a danger, what virtue would
+there then be in the chivalry of knighthood? So, Messire, I put my trust in
+God, His mercies, and I have great hope that He will lend me both courage
+and strength in my time of need."
+
+Then King Mark began to take great joy, for he said to himself: "Maybe this
+youth shall indeed bring me forth in safety out of these dangers that
+menace my honor." So he said: "Tristram, I do believe that you will stand a
+very excellent chance of success in this undertaking, wherefore it shall be
+as you desire; I will make you a knight, and besides that I will fit you
+with armor and accoutrements in all ways becoming to the estate of a
+knight-royal. Likewise I will provide you a Flemish horse of the best
+strain, so that you shall be both furnished and horsed as well as any
+knight in the world hath ever been."
+
+[Sidenote: Tristram is made knight-royal] So that night Tristram watched
+his armor in the chapel of the castle, and the next day he was made knight
+with all the circumstances appertaining to a ceremony of such solemnity as
+that. And upon the afternoon of the day upon which he was thus made knight,
+King Mark purveyed a ship in all ways befitting the occasion, and in the
+ship Tristram and Gouvernail set sail for that island where Sir Marhaus was
+known to be abiding at that time.
+
+Now upon the second day of their voyaging and about the middle of the day
+they came to a land which they knew must be the place which they were
+seeking, and there the sailors made a safe harbor. As soon as they were at
+anchor a gangway was set from the ship to the shore and Sir Tristram and
+Gouvernail drave their horses across the gangway and so to the dry land.
+
+Thereafter they rode forward for a considerable distance, until about the
+first slanting of the afternoon they perceived in the distance three very
+fair ships drawn up close to the shore. And then they were aware of a
+knight, clad in full armor and seated upon a noble horse under the shadow
+of those ships, and they wist that that must be he whom Sir Tristram
+sought.
+
+Then Gouvernail spake to Sir Tristram, saying: "Sir, that knight resting
+yonder beneath the shelter of the ships must be Sir Marhaus."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram goes forth to meet Sir Marhaus] "Yea," said Sir
+Tristram, "that is assuredly he." So he gazed very steadily at the knight
+for a long while, and by and by he said: "Gouvernail, yonder seems to me to
+be a very great and haughty knight for a knight so young as I am to have to
+do with in his first battle; yet if God will lend me His strong aid in this
+affair, I shall assuredly win me great credit at his hands." Then after
+another short while he said: "Now go, Gouvernail, and leave me alone in
+this affair, for I do not choose for anyone to be by when I have to do with
+yonder knight. For either I shall overcome him in this combat or else I
+will lay down my life at this place. For the case is thus, Gouvernail; if
+Sir Marhaus should overcome me and if I should yield me to him as
+vanquished, then mine uncle must pay truage to the King of Ireland for the
+land of Cornwall; but if I died without yielding me to mine enemy, then he
+must yet do battle with another champion at another time, if my uncle the
+King can find such an one to do battle in his behalf. So I am determined
+either to win this battle or to die therein."
+
+Now when Gouvernail heard this, he fell a-weeping in great measure; and he
+cried out: "Sir, let not this battle be of that sort!" To him Sir Tristram
+said very steadfastly: "Say no more, Gouvernail, but go as I bid thee."
+Whereupon Gouvernail turned and went away, as he was bidden to do, weeping
+very bitterly as he went.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram proclaims his degree] Now by this Sir Marhaus had
+caught sight of Sir Tristram where he stood in that field, and so presently
+he came riding thitherward to meet Sir Tristram. When he had come nigh, Sir
+Marhaus said: "Who art thou, Sir Knight?" Unto these Sir Tristram made
+reply: "Sir, I am Sir Tristram of Lyonesse, son of King Meliadus of that
+land, and nephew of King Mark of Cornwall. I am come to do battle upon
+behalf of the King of Cornwall, to release him from the demands of truage
+made by the King of Ireland." Quoth Sir Marhaus: "Messire, are you a knight
+of approval and of battles?" "Nay," said Sir Tristram, "I have only been
+created knight these three days."
+
+"Alas!" said Sir Marhaus, "I am very sorry for thee and for thy noble
+courage that hath brought thee hither to this place. Thou art not fit to
+have to do with me, for I am one who hath fought in more than twice twenty
+battles, each one of which was, I believe, greater than this is like to be.
+Also I have matched me with the very best knights in the world, and have
+never yet been overcome. So I advise thee, because of thy extreme youth, to
+return to King Mark and bid him send me another champion in thy stead, who
+shall be better seasoned than thou art."
+
+"Sir," said Sir Tristram, "I give thee gramercy for thy advice. But I may
+tell thee that I was made knight for no other purpose than to do battle
+with thee; so I may not return without having fulfilled mine adventure.
+Moreover, because of thy great renown and thy courage and prowess, I feel
+all the more desirous to have to do with thee; for if I should die at thy
+hand, then there will be no shame to me, but if I should win this battle
+from thee, then I shall have very great renown in the courts of chivalry."
+
+"Well," said Sir Marhaus, "it is not likely that thou shalt die at my hand.
+For because of thy youth I will not have it that this battle shall be so
+desperate as that." "Say not so," said Sir Tristram, "for either I shall
+die at thy hand, or else I shall overcome thee in this battle, for I make
+my vow to God that I will not yield myself to thee so long as there is life
+within my body."
+
+"Alas!" said Sir Marhaus, "that is certes a great pity. But as thou hast
+foreordained it, so it must needs be." Therewith he saluted Sir Tristram
+and drew rein and rode aside to a little distance where he straightway made
+ready for that battle. Nor was Sir Tristram behind him in making
+preparation, albeit he was filled with doubts as to the outcome of that
+undertaking.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram is wounded] Then when they were in all ways
+prepared, each gave shout and drave spurs into his horse and rushed toward
+the other with such fury that it was terrible to behold. And each smote the
+other with his spear in the centre of his shield, and in that encounter Sir
+Marhaus smote through Sir Tristram's shield and gave Sir Tristram a great
+wound in his side. Then Sir Tristram felt the blood gush out of that wound
+in such abundance that it filled his iron boots, so that they were sodden
+therewith, and he thought he had got his death-wound. But in spite of that
+grievous bitter stroke, he held his seat and was not overthrown. Then so
+soon as he had recovered himself he voided his horse and drew his sword and
+set his shield before him; and when Sir Marhaus saw his preparations, he
+likewise voided his horse and made ready for battle upon foot. So
+straightway they came together with terrible fury, lashing at each other
+with such fearful strength and evil will that it was dreadful to behold.
+And each gave the other many grievous strokes, so that whole pieces of
+armor were hewn off from their bodies; and each gave the other many deep
+wounds, so that that part of the armor that still hung to them became red
+as though it were painted with red. Likewise the ground was all besprinkled
+red where they stood, yet neither gave any thought to quitting that battle
+in which they were engaged.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram gives Sir Marhaus a death-wound] Now for a while
+Sir Tristram feared because of the wound which he had at first received
+that he would die in that battle, but by and by he perceived that he was
+stouter than Sir Marhaus and better winded; wherefore great hope came to
+him and uplifted him with redoubled strength. Then presently Sir Marhaus
+fell back a little and when Sir Tristram perceived that he ran in upon him
+and smote him several times, such direful strokes that Sir Marhaus could
+not hold up his shield against that assault. Then Sir Tristram perceived
+that Sir Marhaus was no longer able to hold up his shield, and therewith he
+smote him a great blow with his sword upon the helmet. So direful was that
+blow that the sword of Sir Tristram pierced very deep through the helm of
+Sir Marhaus and into the brainpan. And Sir Tristram's sword stuck fast in
+the helm and the brain-pan of Sir Marhaus so that Sir Tristram could not
+pull it out again. Then Sir Marhaus, half a-swoon, fell down upon his
+knees, and therewith a part of the edge of the blade brake off from Sir
+Tristram's sword, and remained in the wound that he had given to Sir
+Marhaus.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Marhaus leaves the field] Then Sir Marhaus was aware that
+he had got his death-wound, wherefore a certain strength came to him so
+that he rose to his feet staggering like a drunken man. And at first he
+began going about in a circle and crying most dolorously. Then as he wist
+all that had happed he threw away his sword and his shield, and made away
+from that place, staggering and stumbling like one who had gone blind; for
+he was all bewildered with that mortal wound, and wist not very well what
+he was doing or whither he was going. Then Sir Tristram would have made
+after him to stop him, but he could not do so because he himself was so
+sorely wounded and so weak from the loss of blood. Yet he called after Sir
+Marhaus: "Stay, stay, Sir Knight! Let us finish this battle now we are
+about it!" But to this Sir Marhaus made no answer, but went on down to his
+ships, staggering and stumbling like a blind man as aforesaid, for the sore
+wound which he had received still lent him a false strength of body so that
+he was able to go his way. Then those who were aboard the ships, beholding
+him thus coming staggering toward them, came down and met him and lifted
+him up and bore him away to his own ship. Thereafter, as soon as might be
+they hoisted sail and lifted anchor and took their way from that place.
+
+Then by and by came Gouvernail and several others of Sir Tristram's party
+to where Sir Tristram was; and there they found him leaning upon his sword
+and groaning very sorely because of the great wound in his side. So
+presently they perceived that he could not walk, wherefore they lifted him
+up upon his own shield and bore him thence to that ship that had brought
+him thither.
+
+And when they had come to the ship they laid him down upon a couch and
+stripped him of his armor to search his wounds. Then they beheld what a
+great wound it was that Sir Marhaus had given him in the side, and they
+lifted up their voices in sorrow, for they all believed that he would die.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristam returns to Cornwall] So they set sail, and in two
+days brought him back to King Mark, where he sat at Tintagel in Cornwall.
+And when King Mark saw how pale and wan and weak Sir Tristram was, he wept
+and grieved very sorely for sorrow of that sight, for he too thought that
+Sir Tristram was certainly about to die.
+
+But Sir Tristram smiled upon King Mark, and he said: "Lord, have I done
+well for thy sake?" And King Mark said, "Yea," and fell to weeping again.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram proclaims himself to King Mark] "Then," quoth
+Tristram, "it is time for me to tell thee who I am who have saved thy
+kingdom from the shame of having to pay truage to Ireland, and that I am
+thine own sister's son. For my father is King Meliadus of Lyonesse, and my
+mother was the Lady Elizabeth, who was thine own sister till God took her
+soul to Paradise to dwell there with His angels."
+
+But when King Mark heard this he went forth from that place and into his
+own chamber. And when he had come there he fell down upon his knees and
+cried out aloud: "Alas, alas, that this should be! Rather, God, would I
+lose my entire kingdom than that my sister's son should come to his death
+in this wise!"
+
+Now it remaineth to say of Sir Marhaus that those who were with him brought
+him back to Ireland and that there in a little while he died of the wound
+that Sir Tristram had given him upon the head. But ere he died, and whilst
+they were dressing that hurt, the Queen of Ireland, who was sister to Sir
+Marhaus, discovered the broken piece of the blade still in that grim wound.
+This she drew forth and set aside, and hid very carefully, saying to
+herself: "If ever I meet that knight to whose sword this piece of blade
+fitteth, then it will be an evil day for him."
+
+Thus I have told you all the circumstances of that great battle betwixt Sir
+Tristram of Lyonesse and Sir Marhaus of Ireland. And now you shall hear how
+it befell Sir Tristram thereafter; so harken to what followeth.
+
+[Illustration: The Lady Belle Isoult]
+
+
+
+
+Chapter Third
+
+
+_How Sir Tristram went to Ireland to be healed of his wound by the King's
+daughter of Ireland, and of how he came to love the Lady Belle Isoult. Also
+concerning Sir Palamydes and the Lady Belle Isoult._
+
+Now that grievous hurt which Sir Tristram had received at the hands of Sir
+Marhaus did not heal, but instead grew even more rankled and sore, so that
+there were many who thought that there had been treachery practised and
+that the spearhead had been poisoned to cause such a malignant disease as
+that with which the wounded man suffered. So by and by Sir Tristram grew so
+grievously sick of his hurt that all those who were near him thought that
+he must certainly die.
+
+Then King Mark sent everywhere and into all parts for the most wise and
+learned leeches and chirurgeons to come to Cornwall and search the wounds
+of Sir Tristram, but of all these no one could bring him any ease.
+
+[Sidenote: How Sir Tristram lieth sick in Cornwall] Now one day there came
+to the court of King Mark a very wise lady, who had travelled much in the
+world and had great knowledge of wounds of all sorts. At the bidding of the
+King, she went to where Sir Tristram lay, and searched the wound as so many
+had already done. And when she had done that she came out of Sir Tristram's
+chamber and unto King Mark, where he was waiting for her. Then King Mark
+said to her: "Well, how will it be with yonder knight?" "Lord," quoth she,
+"it is thus; I can do nothing to save his life, nor do I know of any one
+who may save it unless it be the King's daughter of Ireland, who is known
+as the Belle Isoult because of her wonderful beauty. She is the most
+skilful leech in all of the world, and she alone may hope to bring Sir
+Tristram back to life and health again, for I believe that if she fail no
+one else can save him."
+
+Then after the aforesaid lady had gone, King Mark went to where Sir
+Tristram lay, and he told him all that she had said concerning his
+condition; and King Mark said: "Tristram, wilt thou go to the King's
+daughter of Ireland and let her search thy wound?"
+
+Then Sir Tristram groaned at the thought of the weariness and pain of
+moving, and he said: "Lord, this is a great undertaking for one who is so
+sick. Moreover, it is a great risk for me, for, if I go to Ireland, and if
+it be found that I am he who slew Sir Marhaus, then it is hardly likely
+that I shall ever escape from that country again with my life. Ne'theless,
+I am so sorely sick of this wound that I would rather die than live as I am
+living; wherefore I will go to Ireland for the sake of being healed, if
+such a thing is possible."
+
+Accordingly, a little while after that, King Mark provided a ship to carry
+Sir Tristram to Ireland. This ship he furnished with sails of silk of
+divers colors, and he had it hung within with fine embroidered cloth, and
+fabrics woven with threads of silver and gold, so that in its appearance it
+was a worthy vessel even for a great king to sail in. Then, when all was
+ready, King Mark had a number of attendants carry Sir Tristram down to the
+ship in a litter, and he had them lay Sir Tristram upon a soft couch of
+crimson satin, which was set upon the deck beneath a canopy of crimson
+silk, embroidered with threads of silver and garnished with fringe of
+silver, and Sir Tristram lay there at ease where the breezes of the ocean
+came pleasantly to him, and breathed upon his face and his temples and his
+hair and his hands with coolness; and Gouvernail was with Sir Tristram all
+the while in attendance upon him.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram sails to Ireland to have his wound searched] So
+they set sail for Ireland, the weather being very fair and pleasant, and on
+the third day, at about the time of sunset, they came to a part of the
+coast of Ireland where there was a castle built upon the rocks that rose
+out of the sea.
+
+Now there were several fishermen fishing in boats near that castle, and of
+these the pilot of Sir Tristram's boat made inquiry what castle that was.
+To him the fisherman replied: "That castle is the castle of King Angus of
+Ireland." And the fisherman said: "It so happens that the King and Queen
+and their daughter, hight the Lady Belle Isoult, and all of their court are
+there at this very while."
+
+This Sir Tristram heard and said: "This is good news, for indeed I am very
+sick and am right glad that my voyaging is ended." So he gave orders that
+the pilot should bring the ship close under the walls of that castle, and
+that he should there let go anchor; and the pilot did as Sir Tristram had
+commanded him.
+
+[Sidenote: How Sir Tristram came to Ireland] Now, as aforesaid, that ship
+was of a very wonderful appearance, like to the ship of a king or a high
+prince, wherefore many people came down to the walls of the castle and
+stood there and gazed at the vessel as it sailed into the harbor. And by
+that time the sun had set and all the air was illuminated with a marvellous
+golden light; and in this sky of gold the moon hung like a shield of
+silver, very bright and steady above the roofs and towers of the castle.
+And there came from the land a pleasing perfume of blossoms; for it was
+then in the fulness of the spring-time, and all the fruit-bearing trees
+were luxuriant with bloom so that the soft air of evening was full of
+fragrance thereby.
+
+Then there came a great content into the heart of Sir Tristram, wherefore
+he said to Gouvernail: "Gouvernail, either I shall soon be healed of this
+wound, or else I shall presently die and enter into Paradise free of pain,
+for I am become very full of content and of peace toward all men." And then
+he said: "Bring me hither my harp, that I may play upon it a little, for I
+have a desire to chant in this pleasant evening-time."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram sings] So Gouvernail brought to Sir Tristram his
+shining harp, and when Sir Tristram had taken it into his hands he tuned
+it, and when he had tuned it he struck it and sang; and, because of the
+stillness of the evening, his voice sounded marvellously clear and sweet
+across the level water, so that those who stood upon the castle walls and
+heard it thought that maybe an angel was singing on board of that ship.
+
+That time the Lady Belle Isoult sat at the window of her bower enjoying the
+pleasantness of the evening. She also heard Sir Tristram singing, and she
+said to those damsels who were with her, "Ha, what is that I hear?"
+Therewith she listened for a little while, and then she said: "Meseems that
+must be the voice of some angel that is singing." They say: "Nay, Lady, it
+is a wounded knight singing, and he came to this harbor in a wonderful ship
+some while ago." Then the Lady Belle Isoult said to a page who was in
+attendance: "Bid the King and Queen come hither, that they may hear this
+singing also, for never did I think to hear such singing beyond the walls
+of Paradise."
+
+So the page ran with all speed, and in a little the King and Queen came to
+the bower of the Lady Belle Isoult; and she and they leaned upon the
+window-ledge and listened to Sir Tristram whilst he sang in the soft
+twilight. Then by and by King Angus said: "Now I will have yonder minstrel
+brought thither to this castle to do us pleasure, for I believe that he
+must be the greatest minstrel in all the world to sing in that wise." And
+the Lady Belle Isoult said: "I pray you, sir, do so, for it would be great
+joy to everybody to have such singing as that in this place."
+
+So King Angus sent a barge to that ship, and besought that he who sang
+should be brought to the castle. At that Sir Tristram was very glad, for he
+said: "Now I shall be brought to the Lady the Belle Isoult and maybe she
+will heal me." So he had them bare him to the barge of the King of Ireland,
+and so they brought him to the castle of King Angus, where they laid him
+upon a bed in a fair room of the castle.
+
+[Sidenote: King Angus cometh to Tristram] Then King Angus came to Sir
+Tristram where he lay, and he said: "Messire what can I do for you to put
+you more at your ease than you are?" "Lord," said Sir Tristram, "I pray you
+to permit the Lady Belle Isoult to search a great wound in my side that I
+received in battle. For I hear that she is the most skilful leech in all
+the world, and so I have come hither from a great distance, being in such
+pain and dole from my grievous hurt that I shall die in a little while
+unless it be healed."
+
+"Messire," said King Angus, "I perceive that you are no ordinary knight,
+but somebody of high nobility and estate, so it shall be as you desire."
+And then King Angus said: "I pray you, tell me your name and whence you
+come."
+
+Upon this, Sir Tristram communed within his own mind, saying: "An I say my
+name is Tristram, haply there may be someone here will know me and that I
+was the cause why the brother of the Queen of this place hath died." So he
+said: "Lord, my name is Sir Tramtris, and I am come from a country called
+Lyonesse, which is a great distance from this."
+
+Quoth King Angus, "Well, Sir Tramtris, I am glad that you have come to this
+place. Now it shall be done to you as you desire, for to-morrow the Lady
+Belle Isoult shall search your wound to heal it if possible."
+
+[Sidenote: My Lady Belle Isoult searches the wound] And so it was as King
+Angus said, for the next day the Lady Belle Isoult came with her attendants
+to where Sir Tristram lay, and one of the attendants bare a silver basin
+and another bare a silver ewer, and others bare napkins of fine linen. So
+the Lady Belle Isoult came close to Sir Tristram and kneeled beside the
+couch whereon he lay and said, "Let me see the wound." Therewith Sir
+Tristram laid bare his bosom and his side and she beheld it. Then she felt
+great pity for Sir Tristram because of that dolorous wound, and she said:
+"Alas, that so young and so fair and so noble a knight should suffer so
+sore a wound as this!" Therewith still kneeling beside Sir Tristram she
+searched the wound with very gentle, tender touch (for her fingers were
+like to rose leaves for softness) and lo! she found a part of the blade of
+a spear-head embedded very deep in the wound of Sir Tristram.
+
+This she drew forth very deftly (albeit Sir Tristram groaned with a great
+passion of pain) and therewithafter came forth an issue of blood like a
+crimson fountain, whereupon Sir Tristram swooned away like one who had gone
+dead. But he did not die, for they quickly staunched the flow, set aromatic
+spices to his nostrils, so that in a little he revived in spirit to find
+himself at great ease and peace in his body (albeit it was for a while like
+to the peace of death).
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram is healed] Thus it was that the Lady Belle Isoult
+saved the life of Sir Tristram, for in a little while he was able to be
+about again, and presently waxed almost entirely hale and strong in limb
+and body.
+
+And now it is to be told how Sir Tristram loved the Lady Belle Isoult and
+how she loved Sir Tristram. Also how a famous knight, hight Sir Palamydes
+the Saracen, loved Belle Isoult and of how she loved not him.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram loves the Lady Belle Isoult] For, as was said, it
+came about that in a little while Sir Tristram was healed of that grievous
+wound aforetold of so that he was able to come and go whithersoever he
+chose. But always he would be with the Lady Belle Isoult, for Sir Tristram
+loved her with a wonderfully passionate regard. And so likewise the lady
+loved Sir Tristram. For if he loved her because she had saved his life,
+then she also loved him for the same reason. For she did not ever forget
+how she had drawn out the head of that spear from the wound at his side,
+and of how he had groaned when she brought it forth, and of how the blood
+had gushed out of that wound. Wherefore she loved him very aboundingly for
+the agony of pain she had one time caused him to suffer.
+
+So they two fair and noble creatures were always together in bower or in
+hall, and no one in all that while wist that Sir Tramtris was Sir Tristram,
+and that it was his hand that had slain Sir Marhaus of Ireland.
+
+So Sir Tristram was there in Ireland for a year, and in that time he grew
+to be altogether well and sturdy again.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Palamydes cometh to Ireland] Now it was in those days that
+there came Sir Palamydes the Saracen knight to that place, who was held to
+be one of the very foremost knights in the world. So great rejoicing was
+made over him because he had come thither, and great honor was shown to him
+by everyone.
+
+But when Sir Palamydes beheld the Lady Belle Isoult and when he saw how
+fair she was, he came in a short while to love her with almost as
+passionate a regard as that with which Sir Tristram loved her, so that he
+also sought ever to be with her whenever the chance offered.
+
+But Belle Isoult felt no regard for Sir Palamydes, but only fear of him,
+for all of her love was given to Sir Tristram. Nevertheless, because Sir
+Palamydes was so fierce and powerful a knight, she did not dare to offend
+him; wherefore she smiled upon him and treated him with all courtesy and
+kindness although she loved him not, dissembling her regard for him.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram is displeased] All this Sir Tristram beheld from
+aside and it displeased him a very great deal to see how Sir Palamydes was
+always beside the lady. But Belle Isoult beheld how Sir Tristram was
+displeased, wherefore she took occasion to say to him: "Tramtris, be not
+displeased, for what am I to do? You know very well that I do not love this
+knight, but I am afraid of him because he is so fierce and so strong."
+
+To this Sir Tristram said: "Lady, it would be a great shame to me if I,
+being by, should suffer any knight to come betwixt you and me and win your
+regard through fear of him."
+
+She said: "Tramtris, what would you do? Would you give challenge to this
+knight? Lo, you are not yet entirely healed of your hurt, and Sir Palamydes
+is in perfect strength of body. For indeed it is for you I am most of all
+afraid lest you and Sir Palamydes should come to battle and lest he should
+do you a harm before you are entirely healed."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram desires to do battle] "Lady," quoth Sir Tristram,
+"I thank God that I am not at all afraid of this knight, or of any other
+knight, and I have to thank you that I am now entirely recovered and am as
+strong as ever I was. Wherefore I have now a mind to deal with this knight
+in your behalf. So if you will provide me with armor I will deal with him
+so that maybe he will not trouble you again. Now I will devise it in this
+way:--tell your father, King Angus, to proclaim a great jousting. In that
+jousting I will seek out Sir Palamydes and will encounter him, and I hope
+with God's aid that I shall overcome him, so that you shall be free from
+him."
+
+Belle Isoult said, "Tramtris, are you able for this?" He said, "Yea, I am
+as ready as ever I shall be in all of my life." Whereat Belle Isoult said,
+"It shall be as you will have it."
+
+Then Sir Tristram charged Belle Isoult that she should keep secret all this
+that had been said betwixt them. And more especially she was to keep it
+secret that he was to take part in such a tournament as that which they had
+devised. And he said to her: "Lady, I lie here under a great peril to my
+life, though I cannot tell you what that peril is. But I may tell you that
+if my enemies should discover me at this place, it would go hard with me to
+preserve my life from them. Wherefore, if I take part in any such affair as
+this, it must be altogether a secret betwixt us."
+
+So therewith they parted and Lady Belle Isoult went to her father and
+besought him to proclaim a great day of jousting in honor of Sir Palamydes,
+and the King said that he would do so. So the King sent forth proclamation
+to all the courts of that nation that a great tournament was to be held and
+that great rewards and great honors were to be given to the best knight
+thereat. And that tournament was talked about in all the courts of chivalry
+where there were knights who desired to win glory in such affairs at arms.
+
+And now it shall be told concerning that tournament and how it befell with
+Sir Tristram thereat, and with Sir Palamydes thereat.
+
+[Illustration: The Queen of Ireland seeks to slay Sir Tristram]
+
+
+
+
+Chapter Fourth
+
+
+_How Sir Tristram encountered Sir Palamydes at the tournament and of what
+befell. Also how Sir Tristram was forced to leave the Kingdom of Ireland._
+
+So came the time for the tournament that King Angus of Ireland had
+ordained; and that was a very famous affair at arms indeed. For it hath
+very rarely happened that so noble a gathering of knights hath ever come
+together as that company which there presented itself for that occasion at
+the court of the King of Ireland.
+
+[Sidenote: Of the court of chivalry at Ireland] For you may know how
+excellent was the court of chivalry that fore gathered thereat when you
+shall hear that there came to that tournament, the King of an Hundred
+Knights and the King of the Scots, and that there came several knights of
+the Round Table, to wit: Sir Gawaine, Sir Gaheris and Sir Agravaine; and
+Sir Bagdemagus and Sir Kay and Sir Dodinas, and Sir Sagramore le Desirous,
+and Sir Gumret the Less, and Sir Griflet; and that there came besides these
+many other knights of great renown.
+
+These and many others gathered at the court of King Angus of Ireland, so
+that all those meadows and fields coadjacent to the place of battle were
+gay as beds of flowers with the multitude of tents and pavilions of divers
+colors that were there emplanted.
+
+And on the day of the tournament there came great crowds of people into the
+lists, so that all that place was alive with movement. For it was as though
+a sea of people had arisen to overflow the seats and stalls thereof.
+
+Now that tournament was to last for three days, and upon the third day
+there was to be a grand melee in which all these knights contestant were to
+take stand upon this side or upon that.
+
+But upon the first two of those three days Sir Tristram sat in the stall of
+the King and looked down upon the jousting, for, because of the illness
+from which he had recovered, he was minded to save his body until the right
+time should come, what time he should be called upon to do his uttermost.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Palamydes performeth wonders] And in those two days, Sir
+Tristram beheld that Sir Palamydes did more wonderfully in battle than he
+would have believed it possible for any knight to do. For Sir Palamydes was
+aware that the eyes of the Lady Belle Isoult were gazing upon him,
+wherefore he felt himself uplifted to battle as with the strength of ten.
+Wherefore he raged about that field like a lion of battle, seeking whom he
+might overthrow and destroy. And upon the first day he challenged Sir
+Gawaine to joust with him, and then he challenged Sir Gaheris, and the King
+of an Hundred Knights, and Sir Griflet, and Sir Sagramore le Desirous and
+fourteen other knights, and all of these he met and many he overcame, and
+that without any mishap to himself. And upon the second day he met with
+great success Sir Agravaine and Sir Griflet and Sir Kay and Sir Dodinas and
+twelve other knights. Wherefore those who beheld how he did gave great
+shouts and outcries of applause and acclaim, saying: "Certes, there was
+never knight in all of the world so great as this knight. Yea; even Sir
+Launcelot himself could not do more than that knight doeth."
+
+Then Belle Isoult was troubled in her mind, and she said: "Tramtris, yonder
+in very truth is a most fierce and terrible knight. Now somewhiles I have
+fear that you may not be able to overcome him."
+
+Thereat Sir Tristram smiled very grimly, and said: "Lady, already I have
+overcome in battle a bigger knight than ever Sir Palamydes has been or is
+like to be." But the Lady Belle Isoult wist not that that knight of whom
+Sir Tristram spake was Sir Marhaus of Ireland.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Palamydes bespeaks the Lady Belle Isoult] Now upon the
+evening of the second day of that tournament, Sir Palamydes came to where
+the Lady Belle Isoult was, and he said: "Lady, all these things I have done
+for your sake. For had it not been for my love for you, I would not have
+been able to do a third part of that which I did. Now I think you should
+have pity and regard for one who loves you so strongly as that; wherefore I
+beseech you to bestow some part of your good-will upon me."
+
+"Sir," said the Lady Belle Isoult, "you are not to forget that there is
+still another day of this battle, and in it you may not happen to have the
+same fortune that favored you to-day; so I will wait until you have won
+that battle also before I answer you."
+
+"Well," said Sir Palamydes, "you shall see that I shall do even more
+worthily to-morrow for your sake than I have done to-day."
+
+But the Lady Belle Isoult was not very well pleased with that saying, for
+she began again to fear that maybe the will of Sir Palamydes was so strong
+that Sir Tristram would not have any success against him.
+
+So came the third day of that very famous contest at arms, and when this
+morning was come there began to gather together in the two parties those
+who were to contest the one against the other. Of one of these parties, Sir
+Palamydes was the chiefest knight, and upon that side was also Sir Gawaine
+and several of the knights who were with him. For these said, "There shall
+certes be greater credit to be had with Sir Palamydes than against him,"
+and so they joined them with his party. Of the other party the chiefest
+knights were the King of an Hundred Knights and the King of Scots, and both
+of these were very famous and well-approved champions, of high courage and
+remarkable achievements.
+
+[Sidenote: Belle Isoult arms Sir Tristram] Now when the time was nigh
+ready for that tournament, Sir Tristram went to put on the armor that the
+Lady Belle Isoult had provided him, and when he was armed he mounted very
+lightly upon the horse which she had given him. And the armor of Sir
+Tristram was white, shining like to silver, and the horse was altogether
+white, and the furniture and trappings thereof were all white, so that Sir
+Tristram glistened with extraordinary splendor.
+
+Now when he was armed and prepared in all ways, the Lady Belle Isoult came
+to where he was and she said, "Tramtris, are you ready?" And he answered
+"Yea." Therewith she took the horse of Sir Tristram by the bridle and she
+led him to the postern gate of the castle, and put him out that way into a
+fair field that lay beyond; and Sir Tristram abided in the fields for some
+while until the tournament should have begun.
+
+But the Lady Belle Isoult went to the tournament with her father, the King,
+and her mother, the Queen, and took her station at that place assigned to
+her whence she might overlook the field.
+
+[Sidenote: How Sir Palamydes fought in the tournament] So in a little
+while that friendly battle began. And again Sir Palamydes was filled with
+the vehement fury of contest, wherefore he raged about the field, spreading
+terror whithersoever he came. For first he made at the King of an Hundred
+Knights, and he struck that knight so direful a blow that both horse and
+man fell to the ground with the force thereof. Then in the same manner he
+struck the King of Scots with his sword, and smote him straightway out of
+the saddle also. Then he struck down one after another, seven other
+knights, all of well-proved strength and prowess, so that all those who
+looked thereon cried out, "Is he a man or is he a demon?" So, because of
+the terror of Sir Palamydes, all those in that contest bore away from him
+as they might do from a lion in anger.
+
+At this time came Sir Tristram, riding at a free pace, shining like to a
+figure of silver. Then many saw him and observed him and said to one
+another: "Who is this knight, and what party will he join with to do
+battle?" These had not long to wait to know what side he would join, for
+immediately Sir Tristram took stand with that party which was the party of
+the King of an Hundred Knights and the King of Scots, and at that the one
+party was very glad, and the other party was sorry; for they deemed that
+Sir Tristram was certes some great champion.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram enters the tournament] Then straightway there came
+against Sir Tristram four knights of the other party, and one of these was
+Sir Gaheris, and another was Sir Griflet and another was Sir Bagdemagus and
+another was Sir Kay. But Sir Tristram was possessed with a great joy of
+battle, so that in a very short time he had struck down or overthrown all
+those knights, beginning with Sir Gaheris, and ending with Sir Kay the
+seneschal.
+
+This Sir Gawaine beheld, and said to Sir Sagramore: "Yonder is certes a
+knight of terrible strength; now let us go and see of what mettle he be."
+
+Therewith Sir Gawaine pushed against Sir Tristram from the one side, and
+Sir Sagramore came against him on the other side, and so they met him both
+at once. Then first Sir Gawaine struck Sir Tristram such a buffet that the
+horse of Sir Tristram turned twice about with the force of that stroke; and
+therewith Sir Sagramore smote him a buffet upon the other side so that Sir
+Tristram wist not upon which side to defend himself.
+
+Then, at those blows Sir Tristram waxed so exceedingly fierce that it was
+as though a fire of rage flamed up into his brains and set them into a
+blaze of rage. So with that he rose up in his stirrups and launched so
+dreadful a blow upon Sir Gawaine that I believe nothing could have
+withstood the force of that blow. For it clave through the shield of Sir
+Gawaine and it descended upon the crown of his helmet and it clave away a
+part of his helmet and a part of the epauliere of his shoulder; and with
+the force of that dreadful, terrible blow, Sir Gawaine fell down upon the
+ground and lay there as though he were dead.
+
+Then Sir Tristram wheeled upon Sir Sagramore (who sat wonder-struck at that
+blow he had beheld) and thereafter he smote him too, so that he fell down
+and lay upon the ground in a swoon from which he did not recover for more
+than two hours.
+
+Now Sir Palamydes also had beheld those two strokes that Sir Tristram had
+given, wherefore he said: "Hah! Yonder is a very wonderful knight. Now if I
+do not presently meet him, and that to my credit, he will have more honor
+in this battle than I."
+
+So therewith Sir Palamydes pushed straight against Sir Tristram, and
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Palamydes rides against Sir Tristram] when Sir Tristram
+beheld that he was very glad, for he said: "Now it will either be Sir
+Palamydes his day, or else it will be mine." So he upon his part pushed
+against Sir Palamydes with good intent to engage him in battle, and then
+they two met in the midst of the field.
+
+Then immediately Sir Palamydes smote Sir Tristram such a buffet that Sir
+Tristram thought a bolt of lightning had burst upon him, and for a little
+while he was altogether bemazed and wist not where he was. But when he came
+to himself he was so filled with fury that his heart was like to break
+therewith.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram smites Sir Palamydes] Thereupon he rushed upon Sir
+Palamydes and smote him again and again and again with such fury and
+strength that Sir Palamydes was altogether stunned at the blows he received
+and bare back before them. Then Sir Tristram perceived how that Sir
+Palamydes bare his shield low because of the fierceness of that assault,
+and thereupon he rose up in his stirrups and struck Sir Palamydes upon the
+crown of the helmet so dreadful a buffet that the brains of Sir Palamydes
+swam like water, and he must needs catch the pommel of his saddle to save
+himself from falling. Then Sir Tristram smote him another buffet, and
+therewith darkness came upon the sight of Sir Palamydes and he rolled off
+from his horse into the dust beneath its feet.
+
+Then all who beheld the encounter shouted very loud and with great
+vehemence, for it was the very best and most notable assault at arms that
+had been performed in all that battle. But most of those who beheld that
+assault cried out "The Silver Knight!" For at that time no one but the Lady
+Belle Isoult wist who that silver knight was. But she wist very well who he
+was, and was so filled with the glory of his prowess that she wept for joy
+thereof.
+
+[Sidenote: Belle Isoult declares Sir Tristram] Then the King of Ireland
+said: "Who is yonder knight who hath so wonderfully overthrown Sir
+Palamydes? I had not thought there was any knight in the world so great as
+he; but this must be some great champion whom none of us know." Upon that
+the Lady Belle Isoult, still weeping for joy, could contain herself no
+longer, but cried out: "Sir, that is Tramtris, who came to us so nigh to
+death and who hath now done us so great honor being of our household! For I
+knew very well that he was no common knight but some mighty champion when I
+first beheld him."
+
+At that the King of Ireland was very much astonished and overjoyed, and he
+said: "If that is indeed so, then it is a very great honor for us all."
+
+Now after that assault Sir Tristram took no more part in that battle but
+withdrew to one side. But he perceived where the esquires attendant upon
+Sir Palamydes came to him and lifted him up and took him away. Then by and
+by he perceived that Sir Palamydes had mounted his horse again with intent
+to leave that meadow of battle, and in a little he saw Sir Palamydes ride
+away with his head bowed down like to one whose heart was broken.
+
+All this Sir Tristram beheld and did not try to stay Sir Palamydes in his
+departure. But some while after Sir Palamydes had quitted that place, Sir
+Tristram also took his departure, going in that same direction that Sir
+Palamydes had gone. Then after he had come well away from the meadow of
+battle, Sir Tristram set spurs to his horse and rode at a hard gallop along
+that way that Sir Palamydes had taken.
+
+So he rode at such a gait for a considerable pass until, by and by, he
+perceived Sir Palamydes upon the road before him; and Sir Palamydes was at
+that time come to the edge of a woods where there were several stone
+windmills with great sails swinging very slowly around before a strong wind
+that was blowing.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram overthrows Palamydes again] Now this was a lonely
+place, and one very fit to do battle in, wherefore Sir Tristram cried out
+to Sir Palamydes in a loud voice: "Sir Palamydes! Sir Palamydes! Turn you
+about! For here is the chance for you to recover the honor that you have
+lost to me." Thereupon Sir Palamydes, hearing that loud voice, turned him
+about. But when he beheld that the knight who called was he who had just
+now wrought such shame upon him, he ground his teeth together with rage,
+and therewith drave his horse at Sir Tristram, drawing his sword so that it
+flashed like lightning in the bright sunlight. And when he came nigh to Sir
+Tristram, he stood up in his stirrups and lashed a blow at him with all his
+might and main; for he said to himself: "Maybe I shall now recover mine
+honor with one blow which I lost to this knight a while since." But Sir
+Tristram put aside that blow of Sir Palamydes with his shield with very
+great skill and dexterity, and thereupon, recovering himself, he lashed at
+Sir Palamydes upon his part. And at that first stroke Sir Tristram smote
+down the shield of Sir Palamydes, and gave him such a blow upon the head
+that Sir Palamydes fell down off his horse upon the earth. Then Sir
+Tristram voided his own horse very quickly, and running to Sir Palamydes
+where he lay he plucked off his helmet with great violence. Therewith he
+cried out very fiercely: "Sir Knight, yield thee to me, or I will slay
+thee." And therewithal he lifted up his sword as though to strike off the
+head of Sir Palamydes.
+
+Then when Sir Palamydes saw Sir Tristram standing above him in that wise,
+he dreaded his buffets so that he said: "Sir Knight, I yield me to thee to
+do thy commands, if so be thou wilt spare my life."
+
+Thereupon Sir Tristram said, "Arise," and at that Sir Palamydes got him up
+to his knees with some ado, and so remained kneeling before Sir Tristram.
+
+"Well," said Sir Tristram, "I believe you have saved your life by thus
+yielding yourself to me. Now this shall be my commandment upon you. First
+of all, my commandment is that you forsake the Lady Belle Isoult, and that
+you do not come near her for the space of an entire year. And this is my
+second commandment; that from this day you do not assume the arms of
+knighthood for an entire year and a day."
+
+"Alas!" said Sir Palamydes, "why do you not slay me instead of bringing me
+to such shame as this! Would that I had died instead of yielding myself to
+you as I did." And therewith he wept for shame and despite.
+
+"Well," said Sir Tristram, "let that pass which was not done. For now you
+have yielded yourself to me and these are my commands." So with that Sir
+Tristram set his sword back again into its sheath, and he mounted his horse
+and rode away, leaving Sir Palamydes where he was.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Palamydes disarms himself] But after Sir Tristram had gone,
+Sir Palamydes arose, weeping aloud. And he said: "This is such shame to me
+that I think there can be no greater shame." Thereupon he drew his
+misericordia, and he cut the thongs of his harness and he tore the pieces
+of armor from off his body and flung them away very furiously, upon the
+right hand and upon the left. And when he had thus stripped himself of all
+of his armor, he mounted his horse and rode away into the forest, weeping
+like one altogether brokenhearted.
+
+So Sir Tristram drave Sir Palamydes away from the Lady Belle Isoult as he
+had promised to do.
+
+Now when Tristram came back to the castle of the King of Ireland once more,
+he thought to enter privily in by the postern-gate as he had gone out. But
+lo! instead of that he found a great party waiting for him before the
+castle and these gave him loud acclaim, crying, "Welcome, Sir Tramtris!
+Welcome, Sir Tramtris!" And King Angus came forward and took the hand of
+Sir Tristram, and he also said: "Welcome, Sir Tramtris, for you have
+brought us great honor this day!"
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram chides Belle Isoult] But Sir Tristram looked at
+the Lady the Belle Isoult with great reproach and by and by when they were
+together he said: "Lady, why did you betray me who I was when you had
+promised me not to do so?" "Sir," she said, "I meant not to betray you, but
+in the joy of your victory I know not very well what I said." "Well," said
+Sir Tristram, "God grant that no harm come of it." She said, "What harm can
+come of it, Messire?" Sir Tristram said: "I may not tell you, Lady, but I
+fear that harm will come of it."
+
+Anon the Queen of Ireland came and said: "Tramtris, one so nigh to death as
+you have been should not so soon have done battle as you have done. Now I
+will have a bain prepared and you shall bathe therein, for you are not yet
+hale and strong."
+
+"Lady," said Tristram, "I do not need any bain, for I believe I am now
+strong and well in all wise."
+
+"Nay," said the Queen, "you must have that bain so that no ill may come to
+you hereafter from this battle which you have fought."
+
+So she had that bain prepared of tepid water, and it was very strong and
+potent with spices and powerful herbs of divers sorts. And when that bain
+was prepared, Sir Tristram undressed and entered the bath, and the Queen
+and the Lady Belle Isoult were in the adjoining chamber which was his
+bed-chamber.
+
+[Sidenote: The Queen of Ireland beholds Sir Tristram's sword] Now whilst
+Sir Tristram was in that bath, the Queen and Belle Isoult looked all about
+his chamber. And they beheld the sword of Sir Tristram where it lay, for he
+had laid it upon the bed when he had unlatched the belt to make himself
+ready for that bath. Then the Queen said to the Lady Belle Isoult, "See
+what a great huge sword this is," and thereupon she lifted it and drew the
+blade out of its sheath, and she beheld what a fair, bright, glistering
+sword it was. Then in a little she saw where, within about a foot and a
+half from the point, there was a great piece in the shape of a half-moon
+broken out of the edge of the sword; and she looked at that place for a
+long while. Then of a sudden she felt a great terror, for she remembered
+how even such a piece of sword as that which had been broken off from that
+blade, she had found in the wound of Sir Marhaus of which he had died. So
+she stood for a while holding that sword of Sir Tristram in her hand and
+looking as she had been turned into stone. At this the Lady Belle Isoult
+was filled with a sort of fear, wherefore she said, "Lady, what ails you?"
+The Queen said, "Nothing that matters," and therewith she laid aside the
+sword of Sir Tristram and went very quickly to her own chamber. There she
+opened her cabinet and took thence the piece of sword-blade which she had
+drawn from the wound of Sir Marhaus, and which she had kept ever since.
+With this she hurried back to the chamber of Sir Tristram, and fitted that
+piece of the blade to the blade; and lo! it fitted exactly, and without
+flaw.
+
+[Sidenote: The Queen assails Sir Tristram] Upon that the Queen was seized
+as with a sudden madness; for she shrieked out in a very loud voice,
+"Traitor! Traitor! Traitor!" saying that word three times. Therewith she
+snatched up the sword of Sir Tristram and she ran with great fury into the
+room where he lay in his bath. And she beheld him where he was there all
+naked in his bath, and therewith she rushed at him and lashed at him with
+his sword. But Sir Tristram threw himself to one side and so that blow
+failed of its purpose. Then the Queen would have lashed at him again or
+have thrust him through with the weapon; but at that Gouvernail and Sir
+Helles ran to her and catched her and held her back, struggling and
+screaming very violently. So they took the sword away from her out of her
+hands, and all the while she shrieked like one gone entirely distracted.
+
+Then as soon as Gouvernail and Sir Helles loosed her, she ran very
+violently out of that room with great outcry of screaming, and so to King
+Angus and flung herself upon her knees before him, crying out: "Justice!
+Justice! I have found that man who slew my brother! I beseech of you that
+you will deal justice upon him."
+
+Then King Angus rose from where he sat, and he said: "Where is that man?
+Bring me to him." And the Queen said: "It is Tramtris, who hath come hither
+unknown unto this place."
+
+King Angus said: "Lady, what is this you tell me? I cannot believe that
+what you say is true." Upon this the Queen cried out: "Go yourself, Lord,
+and inquire, and find out how true it is."
+
+Then King Angus rose, and went forth from that place, and he went to the
+chamber of Sir Tristram. And there he found that Sir Tristram had very
+hastily dressed himself and had armed himself in such wise as he was able.
+Then King Angus came to Tristram, and he said: "How is this, that I find
+thee armed? Art thou an enemy to my house?" And Tristram wept, and said:
+"Nay, Lord, I am not your enemy, but your friend, for I have great love for
+you and for all that is yours, so that I would be very willing to do battle
+for you even unto death if so be I were called upon to do so."
+
+Then King Angus said: "If that is so, how is it that I find thee here armed
+as if for battle, with thy sword in thy hand?" "Lord," said Sir Tristram,
+"although I be friends with you and yours, yet I know not whether you be
+friends or enemies unto me; wherefore I have prepared myself so that I may
+see what is your will with me, for I will not have you slay me without
+defence upon my part." Then King Angus said: "Thou speakest in a very
+foolish way, for how could a single knight hope to defend himself against
+my whole household? Now I bid thee tell me who thou art, and what is thy
+name, and why thou earnest hither knowing that thou hadst slain my
+brother?"
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram confesses to King Angus] Then Sir Tristram said,
+"Lord, I will tell thee all the truth." And therewith he confessed
+everything to King Angus, to wit: who was his father and his mother, and
+how he was born and reared; how he fought Sir Marhaus, and for what reason;
+and of how he came hither to be healed of his wound, from which else he
+must die in very grievous pain. And he said: "All this is truth, Lord, and
+it is truth that I had no ill-will against Sir Marhaus; for I only stood to
+do battle with him for the sake of mine uncle, King Mark of Cornwall, and
+to enhance mine own honor; and I took my fortune with him as he took his
+with me. Moreover, I fought with Sir Marhaus upon the same day that I was
+made knight, and that was the first battle which I fought, and in that
+battle I was wounded so sorely that I was like to die as you very well
+know. As for him, he was a knight well-tried and seasoned with many
+battles, and he suffered by no treachery but only with the fortune of war."
+
+So King Angus listened to all that Sir Tristram said, and when he had
+ended, quoth he: "As God sees me, Tristram, I cannot deny that you did with
+Sir Marhaus as a true knight should. For it was certes your part to take
+the cause of your uncle upon you if you had the heart to do so, and it was
+truly a real knightly thing for you who were so young to seek honor at the
+hands of so famous a knight as Sir Marhaus. For I do not believe that until
+you came his way there was any knight in the world who was greater than he,
+unless it were Sir Launcelot of the Lake. Wherefore, from that, and from
+what I saw you do at the tournament, some time ago, I believe that you are
+one of the strongest knights in the world, and the peer of Sir Launcelot,
+or of anybody else.
+
+"But though all this is true, nevertheless it will not be possible for me
+to maintain you in this country, for if I keep you here I shall greatly
+displease not only the Queen and her kin, but many of those lords and
+knights who were kin to Sir Marhaus or who were united to him in pledges of
+friendship. So you must even save yourself as you can and leave here
+straightway, for I may not help or aid you in any way."
+
+Then Sir Tristram said: "Lord, I thank you for your great kindness unto me,
+and I know not how I shall repay the great goodness that my Lady Belle
+Isoult hath showed to me. For I swear to you upon the pommel of my sword
+which I now hold up before me that I would lay down my life for her sake.
+Yea, and my honor too! for she hath the entire love of my heart, so that I
+would willingly die for her, or give up for her all that I have in the
+world. Now as for my knighthood, I do believe that I shall in time become a
+knight of no small worship, for I feel within my heart that this shall be
+so. So if my life be spared, it may be that you will gain more having me
+for your friend and your true servant than you will by taking my life in
+this outland place. For whithersoever I go I give you my knightly word that
+I shall be your daughter's servant, and that I shall ever be her true
+knight in right or in wrong, and that I shall never fail her if I shall be
+called upon to do her service."
+
+Then King Angus meditated upon this for a while, and he said: "Tristram,
+what thou sayest is very well said, but how shall I get you away from this
+place in safety?"
+
+Sir Tristram said: "Lord, there is but one way to get me away with credit
+unto yourself. Now I beseech you of your grace that I may take leave of my
+lady your daughter, and that I may then take leave of all your knights and
+kinsmen as a right knight should. And if there be any among them who
+chooses to stop me or to challenge my going, then I must face that one at
+my peril, however great it may be."
+
+"Well," said King Angus, "that is a very knightly way to behave, and so it
+shall be as you will have it."
+
+So Sir Tristram went down stairs to a certain chamber where Belle Isoult
+was. And he went straight to her and took her by the hand; and he said:
+"Lady, I am to go away from this place, if I may do so with credit to my
+honor; but before I go I must tell you that I shall ever be your own true
+knight in all ways that a knight may serve a lady. For no other lady shall
+have my heart but you, so I shall ever be your true knight. Even though I
+shall haply never see your face again, yet I shall ever carry your face
+with me in my heart, and the thought of you shall always abide with me
+withersoever I go."
+
+At this the Lady Belle Isoult fell to weeping in great measure, and thereat
+the countenance of Sir Tristram also was all writhed with passion, and he
+said, "Lady, do not weep so!" She said, "Alas I cannot help it!" Then he
+said: "Lady, you gave me my life when I thought I was to lose it, and you
+brought me back from pain unto ease, and from sorrow unto joy. Would God I
+were suffering all those pangs as aforetime, so that there might be no more
+tears upon your face."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram parts from Belle Isoult] Then, King Angus being
+by, he took her face into his hands and kissed her upon the forehead, and
+the eyes, and the lips. Therewith he turned and went away, all bedazed with
+his sorrow, and feeling for the latch of the door ere he was able to find
+it and go out from that place.
+
+After that Sir Tristram went straight unto the hall of the castle, and
+there he found a great many of the lords of the castle and knights
+attendant upon the King. For the news of these things had flown fast, and
+many of them were angry and some were doubtful. But Tristram came in very
+boldly, clad all in full armor, and when he stood in the midst of them he
+spoke loud and with great courage, saying: "If there be any man here whom I
+have offended in any way, let him speak, and I will give him entire
+satisfaction whoever he may be. But let such speech be now or never, for
+here is my body to make good my knighthood against the body of any man,
+whomsoever he may be."
+
+At this all those knights who were there stood still and held their peace,
+and no man said anything against Sir Tristram (although there were several
+knights and lords who were kin to the Queen), for the boldness of Tristram
+overawed them, and no one had the heart to answer him.
+
+So after a little while Sir Tristram left that place, without turning his
+head to see if any man followed him.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram departs from Ireland] So he left that castle and
+Gouvernail went with him, and no one stopped him in his going. After that,
+he and Gouvernail came to the shore and took a boat and they came to the
+ship of Sir Tristram, and so they sailed away from Ireland. But the heart
+of Sir Tristram was so full of sorrow that he wished a great many times
+that he was dead.
+
+So Sir Tristram, though as to his body he was very whole and sound, was, as
+to his spirit, very ill at ease; for though he was so well and suffered no
+pain, yet it appeared to him that all the joy of his life had been left
+behind him, so that he could nevermore have any more pleasure in this world
+which lieth outside of the walls of Paradise.
+
+[Illustration: Sir Tristram harpeth before King Mark]
+
+
+
+
+Chapter Fifth
+
+
+_How Sir Tristram was sent by command of King Mark to go to Ireland to
+bring the Lady the Belle Isoult from Ireland to Cornwall and how it fared
+with him._
+
+So Sir Tristram came back again to Cornwall, and King Mark and all the
+knights and lords of the court of the King gave him great welcome and made
+much joy over him because he had returned safely.
+
+But Sir Tristram took no joy in their joy because he was filled with such
+heavy melancholy that it was as though even the blue sky had turned to
+sackcloth to his eyes, so that he beheld nothing bright in all the world.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram tells of the Lady Bell Isoult] But though he had
+no great pleasure in life, yet Sir Tristram made many very good songs about
+Belle Isoult; about her beauty and her graciousness; about how he was her
+sad, loving knight; about how he was pledged unto her to be true to her all
+of his life even though he might never hope to see her again.
+
+These like words he would sing to the music of his shining, golden harp,
+and King Mark loved to listen to him. And sometimes King Mark would sigh
+very deeply and maybe say: "Messire, that lady of thine must in sooth be a
+very wonderful, beautiful, gracious lady." And Sir Tristram would say,
+"Yea, she is all that."
+
+So it was at that time that King Mark had great love for Sir Tristram; in a
+little while all that was very different, and his love was turned to bitter
+hate, as you shall presently hear tell.
+
+Now in those days the knights of Cornwall were considered to be the least
+worthy of all knights in that part of the world, for they had so little
+skill and prowess at arms that they were a jest and a laughing-stock to
+many courts of chivalry. It was said of them that a knight-champion of
+Cornwall was maybe a knight, but certes was no champion at all; and this
+was great shame to all those of Cornwall, more especially as that saying
+was in a great measure true.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Bleoberis comes to Cornwall] One day there came to the
+court of Cornwall a very noble, haughty knight, hight Sir Bleoberis de
+Ganys, who was brother to Sir Blamor de Ganys and right cousin to Sir
+Launcelot of the Lake. This knight was a fellow of King Arthur's Round
+Table, and so he was received with great honor at Cornwall, and much joy
+was taken of his being there; for it was not often that knights of such
+repute as he came to those parts. At that time Sir Tristram was not present
+at the court, having gone hunting into the forest, but a messenger was sent
+to him with news that Sir Bleoberis was present at the court of the King
+and that King Mark wished him to be at court also.
+
+Now whilst Sir Tristram was upon his way to return to the court in
+obedience to these commands, there was held a feast at the castle of the
+King in honor of Sir Bleoberis. There was much strong wine drunk at that
+feast, so that the brains of Sir Bleoberis and of others grew very much
+heated therewith. Then, what with the heat of the wine and the noise and
+tumult of the feast, Sir Bleoberis waxed very hot-headed, and boastful. So,
+being in that condition and not knowing very well how he spake, he made
+great boast of the prowess of the knights of King Arthur's court above
+those of Cornwall. And in this boastful humor he said: "It is perfectly
+true that one single knight of the Round Table is the peer of twenty
+knights of Cornwall, for so it is said and so I maintain it to be."
+
+Upon that there fell a silence over all that part of the feast, for all the
+knights and lords who were there heard what Sir Bleoberis said, and yet no
+one knew how to reply to him. As for King Mark, he looked upon Sir
+Bleoberis, smiling very sourly, and as though with great distaste of his
+words, and he said: "Messire, inasmuch as thou art our guest, and sitting
+here at feast with us, it is not fit that we should take thy words
+seriously; else what thou sayst might be very easily disproved."
+
+Upon this the blood rushed with great violence into the face and head of
+Sir Bleoberis, and he laughed very loud. Then he said: "Well, Lord, it need
+not be that I should be a guest here very long. And as for what I say, you
+may easily put the truth thereof to the proof."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Bleoberis challenges the knights of Cornwall] Therewith Sir
+Bleoberis arose and looked about him, and he perceived that there was near
+by where he stood a goblet of gold very beautifully chased and cunningly
+carved. This Sir Bleoberis took into his hand, and it was half full of red
+wine. So he stood up before them all, and he cried in a very loud voice:
+"Messires, and all you knights of Cornwall, here I drink to your more
+excellent courage and prowess, and wish that you may have better fortune in
+arms than you have heretofore proved yourselves to have?" And therewith he
+drank all the wine that was in the goblet. Then he said: "Now I go away
+from here and take this goblet with me; and if any knight of Cornwall may
+take it away from me and bring it back again to the King, then I am very
+willing to own that there are better knights in this country than I
+supposed there to be." Therewith he turned and went out from that place
+very haughtily and scornfully, taking that goblet with him, and not one of
+all those knights who were there made any move to stay him, or to reprove
+him for his discourteous speech.
+
+Now after he had come out of the hall and into the cool of the air, the
+heat of the wine soon left him, and he began to repent him of what he had
+done; and he said: "Alas! meseems I was not very courteous to King Mark,
+who was mine host." So for a while he was minded to take that goblet back
+again and make amends for what he had said; but afterward he could not do
+this because of his pride. So he went to the chamber that had been allotted
+to him and clad himself in his armor, and after that he rode away from the
+court of King Mark carrying the goblet with him.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram is angry] Now some while after he had gone, Sir
+Tristram came into the hall where the others were, and there he found them
+all sitting with ill countenances, and no man daring, for shame, to look at
+his fellow. So Sir Tristram came to King Mark and said: "Where is Sir
+Bleoberis?" And King Mark said, "He is gone away." Sir Tristram said, "Why
+did he go?" Thereupon King Mark told Sir Tristram of what had befallen, and
+how Sir Bleoberis had taken away that goblet to the great shame and scorn
+of all those who were there. Upon this the blood flew very violently into
+Sir Tristram's face, and he said: "Was there no knight here with spirit
+enough to call reproof upon Sir Bleoberis, or to stay him in his going?"
+Therewith he looked all about that hall, and he was like a lion standing
+among them, and no man dared to look him in the face or to reply to him.
+Then he said: "Well, if there is no knight in Cornwall who hath the will to
+defend his King, then is there a knight of Lyonesse who will do so because
+he received knighthood at the hands of the King of Cornwall." And therewith
+he turned and went away, and left them very haughtily, and they were all
+still more abashed than they had been before.
+
+Then Sir Tristram went to his chamber and had himself armed in all wise;
+and he took his horse and mounted and rode away in the direction that Sir
+Bleoberis had gone, and Gouvernail went with him.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram follows Sir Bleoberis] So Sir Tristram and
+Gouvernail rode at a good pace for a long time, making inquiry of
+whomsoever they met if Sir Bleoberis had passed that way. At last they
+entered the forest and rode therein a great way, meeting no one till toward
+the latter part of the afternoon. By and by they saw before them two
+knights, very large and strong of frame and clad all in bright and shining
+armor, and each riding a great war-horse of Flemish strain.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram comes to two knights] "Gouvernail," said Sir
+Tristram, "ride forward apace and see for me who are yonder knights." So
+Gouvernail rode forward at a gallop, and so, in a little, came near enough
+to the two knights to see the devices upon their shields. Upon that he
+returned to Sir Tristram, and said: "Messire, those are two very famous
+worthy knights of King Arthur's Court, and of the two you are acquainted
+with one, but the other is a stranger to you. For the one is Sir Sagramore
+le Desirous, who was at that tournament in Ireland, and the other is Sir
+Dodinas le Sauvage."
+
+"Well," said Sir Tristram, "those are indeed two very good, worthy knights.
+Now if you will sit here for a while, I will go forward and have speech
+with them." "Messire," said Gouvernail, "I would counsel you not to have to
+do with those knights, for there are hardly any knights more famous at arms
+than they, so it is not likely that you can have success of them if you
+should assay them."
+
+But to this Sir Tristram said: "Peace, Gouvernail! Hold thy peace, and bide
+here while I go forward!"
+
+Now those knights when they became aware that Sir Tristram and Gouvernail
+were there, had halted at a clear part of the woodland to await what should
+befall. Unto them Sir Tristram came, riding with great dignity and
+haughtiness, and when he had come nigh enough he drew rein and spoke with
+great pride of bearing, saying: "Messires, I require of you to tell me
+whence you come, and whither you go, and what you do in these marches?"
+
+Unto him Sir Sagramore made reply, speaking very scornfully: "Fair knight,
+are you a knight of Cornwall?" and Sir Tristram said: "Why do you ask me
+that?" "Messire," said Sir Sagramore, "I ask you that because it hath
+seldom been heard tell that a Cornish knight hath courage to call upon two
+knights to answer such questions as you have asked of us."
+
+"Well," said Sir Tristram, "for the matter of that, I am at this present a
+knight of Cornwall, and I hereby let you know that you shall not go away
+from here unless you either answer my question or give me satisfaction at
+arms."
+
+Then Sir Dodinas spoke very fiercely, saying: "Sir Cornish knight, you
+shall presently have all the satisfaction at arms that you desire and a
+great deal more than you desire." Therewith he took a very stout spear in
+his hand and rode to a little distance, and Sir Tristram, beholding his
+intent to do battle, also rode to a little distance, and took stand in such
+a place as seemed to him to be best. Then, when they were in all wise
+prepared, they rushed together with such astonishing vehemence that the
+earth shook and trembled beneath them.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram does battle with Sir Dodinas] Therewith they met
+in the middle of their course with a great uproar of iron and wood. But in
+that onset the spear of Sir Dodinas broke into a great many small pieces,
+but the spear of Sir Tristram held, so that in the encounter he lifted Sir
+Dodinas entirely out of his saddle, and out behind the crupper of his
+horse. And he flung Sir Dodinas down so violently that his neck was nearly
+broken, and he lay for a while in a deep swoon like one who has been struck
+dead.
+
+Then Sir Sagramore said: "Well, Sir Knight, that was certes a very great
+buffet that you gave my fellow, but now it is my turn to have ado with
+you."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram does battle with Sir Sagramore] So therewith he
+took also his spear in hand and chose his station for an assault as Sir
+Dodinas had done, and Sir Tristram also took station as he had done before.
+Then immediately they two ran together with the same terrible force that
+Sir Tristram and Sir Dodinas had coursed, and in that encounter Sir
+Tristram struck Sir Sagramore so direful a buffet with his spear that he
+overthrew both horse and man, and the horse, falling upon Sir Sagramore, so
+bruised his leg that he could not for a while arise from where he lay.
+
+Therewith Sir Tristram, having run his course, came back to where those two
+knights lay upon the ground, and he said, "Fair Knights, will you have any
+more fighting?" They said, "No, we have had fighting enough." Then Sir
+Tristram said: "I pray you, tell me, are there any bigger knights at the
+court of King Arthur than you? If it is not so, then I should think you
+would take great shame to yourselves that you have been overthrown the one
+after the other by a single knight. For this day a knight of Cornwall hath
+assuredly matched you both to your great despite."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram acknowledges his degree] Then Sir Sagramore said:
+"Sir, I pray you upon your true knighthood to tell us who you are, for you
+are assuredly one of the greatest knights in the world." Upon this Sir
+Tristram laughed, "Nay," quoth he, "I am as yet a young knight, who has had
+but little proof in battle. As for my name, since you ask it of me, upon my
+knighthood I am not ashamed to tell you that I am hight Sir Tristram, and
+that I am King Meliadus' son of Lyonesse."
+
+"Ha!" said Sir Sagramore, "if that be so, then there is little shame in
+being overthrown by you. For not only do I well remember how at the court
+of the King of Ireland you overthrew six knights of the Round Table, and
+how easily you overthrew Sir Palamydes the Saracen, but it is also very
+well known how you did battle with Sir Marhaus, and of how you overcame
+him. Now Sir Marhaus and Sir Palamydes were two of the best knights in the
+world, so it is not astonishing that you should have done as you did with
+us. But, since you have overthrown us, what is it you would have us do?"
+
+"Messires," said Sir Tristram, "I have only to demand two things of you.
+One of them is that you give me your word that you will go to Cornwall and
+confess to King Mark that you have been overthrown by a Cornish knight; and
+the second thing is that you tell me if you saw Sir Bleoberis de Ganys pass
+this way?"
+
+They say: "Messire, touching that demand you make upon us to go to King
+Mark and to confess our fall, that we will do as you desire; and as for Sir
+Bleoberis, we met him only a short while ago, and he cannot even now be
+very far from this place."
+
+"Well," said Sir Tristram, "I give you good den, and thank you for your
+information. I have some words to say to Sir Bleoberis before he leave
+these marches."
+
+So thereafter he called Gouvernail, and they two rode into the forest and
+on their way as fast as they were able. As for Sir Dodinas and Sir
+Sagramore, they betook their course to the court of King Mark, as they had
+promised to do.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram comes to Sir Bleoberis] Now, by and by, after Sir
+Tristram and Gouvernail had gone some considerable distance farther upon
+that road, they beheld Sir Bleoberis before them in a forest path, riding
+very proudly and at an easy pass upon his way. At that time the sun was
+setting very low toward the earth, so that all the tops of the forest trees
+were aflame with a very ruddy light, though all below in the forest was
+both cool and gray. Now when Sir Tristram and Gouvernail with him had come
+pretty nigh to Sir Bleoberis, Sir Tristram called to him in a very loud
+voice, and bade him turn and stand. Therewith Sir Bleoberis turned about
+and waited for Sir Tristram to come up with him. And when Sir Tristram was
+come near by, he said to Sir Bleoberis: "Messire, I hear tell that you have
+with you a very noble goblet which you have taken in a shameful way from
+the table of King Mark of Cornwall. Now I demand of you that you give me
+that goblet to take back unto the King again." "Well," said Sir Bleoberis,
+"you shall freely have that goblet if you can take it from me, and if you
+will look, you will see where it hangs here from my saddle-horn. But I may
+tell you that I do not believe that there is any Cornish knight who may
+take away that goblet against my will."
+
+"As for that," said Sir Tristram, "we shall see in a little while how it
+may be."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram overcometh Sir Bleoberis] Therewith each knight
+took his spear in hand and rode a little distance away, and made himself in
+all wise ready for the assault. Then when they were in all ways prepared,
+each launched himself against the other, coming together with such violence
+that sparks of fire flew out from the points of their spears. And in that
+assault the horse of each knight was overthrown, but each knight voided his
+saddle and leaped very lightly to earth, without either having had a fall.
+Then each drew his sword and set his shield before him, and therewith came
+together, foining and lashing with all the power of their might. Each gave
+the other many sore strokes, so that the armor of each was indented in
+several places and in other places was stained with red. Then at last Sir
+Tristram waxed very wode with anger and he rushed at Sir Bleoberis, smiting
+him so fiercely that Sir Bleoberis bare back and held his shield low before
+him. This Sir Tristram perceived, and therewith, rushing in upon Sir
+Bleoberis, he smote that knight such a great buffet upon the head that Sir
+Bleoberis fell down upon his knees, without having strength to keep his
+feet. Then Sir Tristram rushed off the helmet of Sir Bleoberis, and he
+said, "Sir Knight, yield to me or I shall slay you."
+
+"Messire," said Sir Bleoberis, "I yield myself to you, and indeed you are
+as right a knight as ever I met in all of my life." Then Sir Tristram took
+Sir Bleoberis by the hand and he lifted him up upon his feet, and he said:
+"Sir, I am very sorry for to have had to do with you in this fashion, for
+almost would I rather that you should have overcome me than that I should
+have overcome you. For I do not at any time forget that you are cousin unto
+Sir Launcelot of the Lake, and I honor Sir Launcelot above all men else in
+the world, and would rather have his friendship than that of any man
+living. So I have had no despite against you in this battle, but have only
+fought with you because it behooved me to do so for the sake of the King of
+Cornwall, who is my uncle."
+
+Then Sir Bleoberis said, "Messire, I pray you tell me who you are?" "Lord,"
+said Sir Tristram, "I am a very young knight hight Tristram, and I am the
+son of King Meliadus of Lyonesse and the Lady Elizabeth, sister unto King
+Mark of Cornwall."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Bleoberis gives the goblet to Sir Tristram] "Ha," said Sir
+Bleoberis, "I have heard great report of you, Sir Tristram, and now I know
+at mine own cost that you are one of the best knights in the world. Yea; I
+have no doubt that at some time you will be the peer of Sir Launcelot of
+the Lake himself, or of Sir Lamorak of Gales, and they two are, certes, the
+best knights in the world. Now I believe that I would have given you this
+goblet, even without your having to fight for it, had I known who you were;
+and as it is I herewith give it to you very freely."
+
+So Sir Bleoberis untied the goblet from where it hung at his saddle-bow,
+and Sir Tristram took the goblet and gave him gramercy for it; and
+therewith having recovered their horses, each knight mounted, and betook
+his way whither he was going.
+
+So a little after nightfall Sir Tristram came to the King of Cornwall and
+his court, and he said to King Mark: "Here is your goblet which I have
+brought back to you; and I would God that some of your knights who are so
+much older than I had the courage to do for you what I have had to do." And
+therewith he went away and left them all sitting ashamed.
+
+Now it chanced some little while after these things happened as aforesaid,
+that King Mark lay down upon his couch after his midday meal for to sleep a
+little space during the heat of the day; and it likewise happened that the
+window near by where he lay was open so that the air might come into the
+room. Now at that time three knights of the court sat in the garden beneath
+where the window was. These knights talked to one another concerning Sir
+Tristram, and of how he had brought back that goblet from Sir Bleoberis de
+Ganys, and of what honor it was to have such a champion in Cornwall for to
+stand for the honor of that court. In their talk they said to one another
+that if only the King of Cornwall were such a knight as Sir Tristram, then
+there would be plenty of knights of good worth who would come to that
+court, and Cornwall would no longer have to be ashamed of its chivalry as
+it was nowadays. So they said: "Would God our King were such a knight as
+Sir Tristram!"
+
+[Sidenote: King Mark takes hatred to Sir Tristram] All this King Mark
+overheard, and the words that they said were like a very bitter poison in
+his heart. For their words entered into his soul and abided there, and
+thereupon at that same hour all his love for Tristram was turned into hate.
+Thus it befell that, after that day, King Mark ever pondered and pondered
+upon that which he had heard, and the longer he pondered it, the more
+bitter did his life become to him, and the more he hated Sir Tristram. So
+it came to pass that whenever he was with Sir Tristram and looked upon him,
+he would say in his heart: "So they say that you are a better knight than
+I? Would God you were dead or away from this place, for I believe that some
+day you will be my undoing!" Yea; there were times when he would look upon
+Sir Tristram in that wise and whisper to himself: "Would God would send a
+blight upon thee, so that thou wouldst wither away!"
+
+But always the King dissembled this hatred for Sir Tristram, so that no one
+suspected him thereof; least of all did Sir Tristram suspect how changed
+was the heart of the King toward him.
+
+Now one day Sir Tristram was playing upon his harp and singing before King
+Mark, and the King sat brooding upon these things as he gazed at Tristram.
+And Sir Tristram, as he ofttimes did nowadays, sang of the Lady Belle
+Isoult, and of how her face was like to a rose for fairness, and of how her
+soul was like to a nightingale in that it uplifted the spirit of whosoever
+was near her even though the darkness of sorrow as of night might envelop
+him. And whilst Sir Tristram sang thus, King Mark listened to him, and as
+he listened a thought entered his heart and therewith he smiled. So when
+Sir Tristram had ended his song of the Belle Isoult, King Mark said: "Fair
+nephew, I would that you would undertake a quest for me." Sir Tristram
+said, "What quest is that, Lord?" "Nay," said King Mark, "I will not tell
+you what quest it is unless you will promise me upon your knighthood to
+undertake it upon my behalf." Then Sir Tristram suspected no evil,
+wherefore he smiled and said: "Dear Lord, if the quest is a thing that it
+is in my power to undertake, I will undertake it upon your asking, and unto
+that I pledge my knighthood." King Mark said, "It is a quest that you may
+undertake." Sir Tristram said, "Then I will undertake it, if you will tell
+me what it is."
+
+[Sidenote: King Mark betrays Sir Tristram to a promise] King Mark said: "I
+have listened to your singing for this long while concerning the Lady Belle
+Isoult. So the quest I would have you undertake is this: that you go to
+Ireland, and bring thence the Lady Belle Isoult to be my Queen. For because
+of your songs and ballads I have come to love her so greatly that I believe
+that I shall have no happiness in life until I have her for my Queen. So
+now, since you have pledged me your word upon your knighthood to do my
+bidding in this case, such is the quest that I would send you upon." And
+therewith he smiled upon Sir Tristram very strangely.
+
+[Sidenote: How Sir Tristram fell into despair] Then Sir Tristram perceived
+how he had been betrayed and he put aside his harp and rose from where he
+sat. And he gazed for a long while at King Mark, and his countenance was
+wonderfully white like that of a dead man. Then by and by he said: "Sir, I
+know not why you have put this upon me, nor do I know why you have betrayed
+me. For I have ever served you truly as a worthy knight and a kinsman
+should. Wherefore I know not why you have done this unto me, nor why you
+seek to compass my death. For you know very well that if I return to
+Ireland I shall very likely be slain either by the Queen or by some of her
+kindred, because that for your sake I slew in battle Sir Marhaus, the
+Queen's brother of Ireland. Yet, so far as that is concerned, I would
+rather lose my life than succeed in this quest, for if so be I do not lose
+my life, then I must do that which I would liever die than do. Yea; I
+believe that there was never any knight loved a lady as I love the Lady
+Belle Isoult. For I love her not only because of her beauty and
+graciousness, but because she healed mine infirmities and lent ease unto my
+great sufferings and brought me back from death unto life. Wherefore that
+which you bid me fulfil is more bitter to me than death."
+
+"Well," said King Mark, "I know nothing of all this--only I know that you
+have given me your knightly word to fulfil this quest."
+
+"Very well," said Sir Tristram, "if God will give me His good help in this
+matter, then I will do that which I have pledged my knighthood to
+undertake." Therewith he turned and went out from that place in such great
+despair that it was as though his heart had been turned into ashes. But
+King Mark was filled with joy that he should have caused Sir Tristram all
+that pain, and he said to his heart: "This is some satisfaction for the
+hate which I feel for this knight; by and by I shall maybe have greater
+satisfaction than that."
+
+After that Sir Tristram did not come any more where King Mark was, but he
+went straight away from the King's court and into a small castle that King
+Mark had given him some while since for his own. There he abided for
+several days in great despair of soul, for it seemed to him as though God
+had deserted him entirely. There for a while Gouvernail alone was with him
+and no one else, but after a while several knights came to him and gave him
+great condolence and offered to join with him as his knights-companion. And
+there were eighteen of these knights, and Sir Tristram was very glad of
+their comradeship.
+
+These said to him: "Sir, you should not lend yourself to such great travail
+of soul, but should bend yourself as a true knight should to assume that
+burden that God hath assigned you to bear."
+
+So they spoke, and by and by Sir Tristram aroused himself from his despair
+and said to himself: "Well, what these gentlemen say is true, and God hath
+assuredly laid this very heavy burden upon me; as that is so, I must needs
+assume it for His sake."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram departs from Cornwall] So Sir Tristram and the
+knights who were with him abode in that place for a day or two or three,
+and then one morning Sir Tristram armed himself and they armed themselves,
+and all took their departure from that castle and went down to the sea.
+Then they took ship with intent to depart to Ireland upon that quest Sir
+Tristram had promised King Mark he would undertake, and in a little they
+hoisted sail and departed from Cornwall for Ireland.
+
+But they were not to make their quest upon that pass so speedily as they
+thought, for, upon the second day of their voyaging, there arose a great
+storm of wind of such a sort that the sailors of that ship had never seen
+the like thereof in all of their lives. For the waves rose up like
+mountains, and anon the waters sank away into deep valleys with hills of
+water upon either side all crested over with foam as white as snow. And
+anon that ship would be uplifted as though the huge sea would toss it into
+the clouds; and anon it would fall down into a gulf so deep that it
+appeared as though the green waters would swallow it up entirely. The air
+roared as though it were full of demons and evil spirits out of hell, and
+the wind was wet and very bitter with brine. So the ship fled away before
+that tempest, and the hearts of all aboard were melted with fear because of
+the great storm of wind and the high angry waves.
+
+Then toward evening those who were watching from the lookout beheld a land
+and a haven, and they saw upon the land overlooking the haven was a noble
+castle and a fair large town, surrounded by high walls of stone. So they
+told the others of what they saw, and all gave great rejoicing for that
+they were so nigh the land. Therewith they sailed the ship toward the
+haven, and having entered therein in safety, they cast anchor under the
+walls of the castle and the town, taking great joy that God had brought
+them safe and sound through that dreadful peril of the tempest.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram comes to Camelot] Then Sir Tristram said to
+Gouvernail: "Knowest thou, Gouvernail, what place is this to which we have
+come?" "Messire," said Gouvernail, "I think it is Camelot." And then those
+knights of Cornwall who stood by said, "Yea, that is true, and it is
+Camelot." And one of them said: "Messire, it is likely that King Arthur is
+at that place at this very time, for so it was reported that he was, and so
+I believe it to be."
+
+"Ha," quoth Tristram, "that is very good news to me, for I believe that it
+would be the greatest joy to me that the world can now give to behold King
+Arthur and those noble knights of his court ere I die. More especially do I
+desire above all things to behold that great, noble champion, Sir Launcelot
+of the Lake. So let us now go ashore, and mayhap it shall come to pass that
+I shall see the great King and Sir Launcelot and mayhap shall come to speak
+with the one or the other." And that saying of Sir Tristram's seemed good
+to those knights who were with him, for they were weary of the sea, and
+desired to rest for a while upon the dry land.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram sets up his pavilion] So they presently all went
+ashore and bade their attendants set up their pavilions in a fair level
+meadow that was somewhat near a league distant away from the castle and the
+town. In the midst of the other pavilions upon that plain was set the
+pavilion of Sir Tristram. It was of fine crimson cloth striped with silver
+and there was the figure of a gryphon carved upon the summit of the centre
+pole of the pavilion. The spear of Sir Tristram was emplanted by the point
+of the truncheon in the ground outside the pavilion, and thereunto his
+shield was hung so that those who passed that way might clearly behold what
+was the device thereon.
+
+And now shall be told how Sir Tristram became united in friendship with the
+brotherhood of good knights at King Arthur's court.
+
+[Illustration: Sir Tristram sits with Sir Launcelot]
+
+
+
+
+Chapter Sixth
+
+
+_How Sir Tristram had to do in battle with three knights of the Round
+Table. Also how he had speech with King Arthur._
+
+So came the next morning, and uprose the sun in all the splendor of his
+glory, shedding his beams to every quarter with a rare dazzling effulgence.
+For by night the clouds of storm had passed away and gone, and now all the
+air was clear and blue, and the level beams of light fell athwart the
+meadow-lands so that countless drops of water sparkled on leaf and blade of
+grass, like an incredible multitude of shining jewels scattered all over
+the earth. Then they who slept were awakened by the multitudinous voicing
+of the birds; for at that hour the small fowl sang so joyous a roundelay
+that all the early morning was full of the sweet jargon of their chanting.
+
+At this time, so early in the day, there came two knights riding by where
+Sir Tristram and his companions had set up their pavilions. These were two
+very famous knights of King Arthur's court and of the Round Table; for one
+was Sir Ector de Maris and the other was Sir Morganor of Lisle.
+
+[Sidenote: How two knights came to the pavilion of Sir Tristram] When
+these two knights perceived the pavilions of Sir Tristram and his
+knights-companion, they made halt, and Sir Ector de Maris said, "What
+knights are these who have come hither?" Then Sir Morganor looked and
+presently he said: "Sir, I perceive by their shields that these are Cornish
+knights, and he who occupies this central pavilion must be the champion of
+this party." "Well," quoth Sir Ector, "as for that I take no great thought
+of any Cornish knight, so do thou strike the shield of that knight and call
+him forth, and let us see of what mettle he is made."
+
+"I will do so," said Sir Morganor; and therewith he rode forward to where
+the shield of Sir Tristram hung from the spear, and he smote the shield
+with the point of his lance, so that it rang with a very loud noise.
+
+Upon this, Sir Tristram immediately came to the door of his pavilion, and
+said, "Messires, why did you strike upon my shield?" "Because," said Sir
+Ector, "we are of a mind to try your mettle what sort of a knight you be."
+Quoth Sir Tristram: "God forbid that you should not be satisfied. So if you
+will stay till I put on my armor you shall immediately have your will in
+this matter."
+
+Thereupon he went back into his tent and armed himself and mounted his
+horse and took a good stout spear of ash-wood into his hand.
+
+Then all the knights of Cornwall who were with Sir Tristram came forth to
+behold what their champion would do, and all their esquires, pages, and
+attendants came forth for the same purpose, and it was a very pleasant time
+of day for jousting.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram overthrows Sir Morganor] Then first of all Sir
+Morganor essayed Sir Tristram, and in that encounter Sir Tristram smote him
+so dreadful, terrible a blow that he cast him a full spear's length over
+the crupper of his horse, and that so violently that the blood gushed out
+of the nose and mouth and ears of Sir Morganor, and he groaned very
+dolorously and could not arise from where he lay.
+
+"Hah," quoth Sir Ector, "that was a very wonderful buffet you struck my
+fellow. But now it is my turn to have ado with you, and I hope God will
+send me a better fortune."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram overthrows Sir Ector] So he took stand for battle
+as did Sir Tristram likewise, and when they were in all wise prepared they
+rushed very violently to the assault. In that encounter Ector suffered
+hardly less ill fortune than Sir Morganor had done. For he brake his spear
+against Sir Tristram into as many as an hundred pieces, whilst Sir
+Tristram's spear held so that he overthrew both the horse and the
+knight-rider against whom he drove.
+
+Then all the knights of Cornwall gave loud acclaim that their knight had
+borne himself so well in those encounters. But Sir Tristram rode back to
+where those two knights still lay upon the ground, and he said: "Well,
+Messires, this is no very good hap that you have had with me."
+
+Upon that speech Sir Ector de Maris gathered himself up from the dust and
+said: "Sir Knight, I pray you of your knighthood to tell us who you be and
+what is your degree, for I declare to you, I believe you are one of the
+greatest knights-champion of the world."
+
+"Sir," said Sir Tristram, "I am very willing to tell you my name and my
+station; I am Sir Tristram, the son of King Meliadus of Lyonesse."
+
+"Ha," quoth Sir Ector, "I would God I had known that before I had ado with
+you, for your fame hath already reached to these parts, and there hath been
+such report of your prowess and several songs have been made about you by
+minstrels and poets. I who speak to you am Sir Ector, surnamed de Maris,
+and this, my companion, is Sir Morganor of Lisle."
+
+"Alas!" cried out Sir Tristram, "I would that I had known who you were ere
+I did battle with you. For I have greater love for the knights of the Round
+Table than all others in the world, and most of all, Sir Ector, do I have
+reverence for your noble brother Sir Launcelot of the Lake. So I take great
+shame to myself that any mishap should have befallen you this day through
+me."
+
+Upon this Sir Ector laughed. "Well," quoth he, "let not that trouble lie
+with you, for it was we who gave you challenge without inquiry who you
+were, and you did but defend yourself. We were upon our way to Camelot
+yonder, when we fell into this mishap, for King Arthur is at this time
+holding court at that place. So now, if we have your leave to go upon our
+way, we will betake ourselves to the King and tell him that you are here,
+for we know that he will be very glad of that news."
+
+Upon this Sir Tristram gave them leave to depart, and they did so with many
+friendly words of good cheer. And after they had gone Sir Tristram went
+back into his pavilion again and partook of refreshment that was brought to
+him.
+
+[Sidenote: There comes a knight in white armor] Now, some while after Sir
+Ector and Sir Morganor had left that place, and whilst Sir Tristram was
+still resting in his pavilion, there came a single knight riding that way,
+and this knight was clad altogether in white armor and his shield was
+covered over with a covering of white leather, so that one could not see
+what device he bare thereon.
+
+When this white knight came to the place where Sir Tristram and his
+companions had pitched their pavilions, he also stopped as Sir Ector and
+Sir Morganor had done, for he desired to know what knights these were. At
+that time Gouvernail was standing alone in front of Sir Tristram's
+pavilion, and unto him the white knight said: "Sir, I pray you, tell me who
+is the knight to whom this pavilion belongs."
+
+Now Gouvernail thought to himself: "Here is another knight who would have
+ado with my master. Perhaps Sir Tristram may have glory by him also." So he
+answered the white knight: "Sir, I may not tell you the name of this
+knight, for he is my master, and if he pleases to tell you his name he must
+tell it himself."
+
+"Very well," said the white knight, "then I will straightway ask him."
+
+Therewith he rode to where the shield of Sir Tristram hung, and he struck
+upon the shield so violent a blow that it rang very loud and clear.
+
+Then straightway came forth Sir Tristram and several of his
+knights-companion from out of the pavilion, and Sir Tristram said, "Sir
+Knight, wherefore did you strike upon my shield?"
+
+"Messire," quoth the white knight, "I struck upon your shield so that I
+might summon you hither for to tell me your name, for I have asked it of
+your esquire and he will not tell me."
+
+"Fair Knight," quoth Sir Tristram, "neither will I tell you my name until I
+have wiped out that affront which you have set upon my shield by that
+stroke you gave it. For no man may touch my shield without my having to do
+with him because of the affront he gives me thereby."
+
+"Well," said the white knight, "I am satisfied to have it as you please."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram does battle with the white knight] So therewith
+Sir Tristram went back into his pavilion and several went with him. These
+put his helmet upon his head and they armed him for battle in all ways.
+After that Sir Tristram came forth and mounted his horse and took his spear
+in hand and made himself in all ways ready for battle, and all that while
+the white knight awaited his coming very calmly and steadfastly. Then Sir
+Tristram took ground for battle, and the white knight did so likewise. So
+being in all ways prepared, each launched forth against the other with such
+amazing and terrible violence that those who beheld that encounter stood as
+though terrified with the thunder of the onset.
+
+Therewith the two knights met in the midst of the course, and each knight
+smote the other directly in the centre of the shield. In that encounter the
+spear of each knight broke all to small pieces, even to the truncheon which
+he held in his fist. And so terrible was the blow that each struck the
+other that the horse of each fell back upon his haunches, and it was only
+because of the great address of the knight-rider that the steed was able to
+recover his footing. As for Sir Tristram, that was the most terrible buffet
+he ever had struck him in all his life before that time.
+
+Then straightway Sir Tristram voided his saddle and drew his sword and
+dressed his shield. And he cried out: "Ha, Sir Knight! I demand of you that
+you descend from your horse and do me battle afoot."
+
+"Very well," said the white knight, "thou shalt have thy will." And
+thereupon he likewise voided his horse and drew his sword and dressed his
+shield and made himself in all ways ready for battle as Sir Tristram had
+done.
+
+Therewith they two came together and presently fell to fighting with such
+ardor that sparks of fire flew from every stroke. And if Sir Tristram
+struck hard and often, the white knight struck as hard and as often as he,
+so that all the knights of Cornwall who stood about marvelled at the
+strength and fierceness of the knights-combatant. Each knight gave the
+other many sore buffets so that the armor was here and there dinted and
+here and there was broken through by the edge of the sword so that the red
+blood flowed out therefrom and down over the armor, turning its brightness
+in places into an ensanguined red. Thus they fought for above an hour and
+in all that time neither knight gave ground or gained any vantage over the
+other.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram falls in the battle] Then after a while Sir
+Tristram grew more weary of fighting than ever he had been in all of his
+life before, and he was aware that this was the greatest knight whom he had
+ever met. But still he would not give ground, but fought from this side and
+from that side with great skill and address until of a sudden, he slipped
+upon some of that blood that he himself had shed, and because of his great
+weariness, fell down upon his knees, and could not for the instant rise
+again.
+
+Then that white knight might easily have struck him down if he had been
+minded to do so. But, instead, he withheld the blow and gave Sir Tristram
+his hand and said: "Sir Knight, rise up and stand upon thy feet and let us
+go at this battle again if it is thy pleasure to do so; for I do not choose
+to take advantage of thy fall."
+
+Then Sir Tristram was as greatly astonished at the extraordinary courtesy
+of his enemy as he had been at his prowess. And because of that courtesy he
+would not fight again, but stood leaning upon his sword panting. Then he
+said: "Sir Knight, I pray thee of thy knighthood to tell me what is thy
+name and who thou art."
+
+"Messire," said the white knight, "since you ask me that upon my
+knighthood, I cannot refuse to tell you my name. And so I will do, provided
+you, upon your part, will do me a like courtesy and will first tell me your
+name and degree."
+
+Quoth Sir Tristram: "I will tell you that. My name is Sir Tristram of
+Lyonesse, and I am the son of King Meliadus of that land whereby I have my
+surname."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot confesses himself] "Ha, Sir Tristram," said the
+white knight, "often have I heard of thee and of thy skill at arms, and
+well have I proved thy fame this day and that all that is said of thee is
+true. I must tell thee that I have never yet met my match until I met thee
+this day. For I know not how this battle might have ended hadst thou not
+slipped and fallen by chance as thou didst. My name is Sir Launcelot,
+surnamed of the Lake, and I am King Ban's son of Benwick."
+
+At this Sir Tristram cried out in a loud voice: "Sir Launcelot! Sir
+Launcelot! Is it thou against whom I have been doing battle! Rather I would
+that anything should have happened to me than that, for of all men in the
+world I most desire thy love and friendship."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram yields to Sir Launcelot] Then, having so spoken,
+Sir Tristram immediately kneeled down upon his knees and said: "Messire, I
+yield myself unto thee, being overcome not more by thy prowess than by thy
+courtesy. For I freely confess that thou art the greatest knight in the
+world, against whom no other knight can hope to stand; for I could fight no
+more and thou mightest easily have slain me when I fell down a while
+since."
+
+"Nay, Sir Tristram," said Sir Launcelot, "arise, and kneel not to me, for I
+am not willing to accept thy submission, for indeed it is yet to be proved
+which of us is the better knight, thou or I. Wherefore let neither of us
+yield to the other, but let us henceforth be as dear as brothers-in-arms
+the one toward the other."
+
+Then Sir Tristram rose up to his feet again. "Well, Sir Launcelot," he
+said, "whatsoever thou shalt ordain shall be as thou wouldst have it. But
+there is one thing I must do because of this battle."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram breaks his sword] Then he looked upon his sword
+which he held naked and ensanguined in his hand and he said: "Good sword;
+thou hast stood my friend and hast served me well in several battles, but
+this day thou hast served me for the last time." Therewith he suddenly took
+the blade of the sword in both hands--the one at the point and the other
+nigh the haft--and he brake the blade across his knee and flung the pieces
+away.
+
+Upon this Sir Launcelot cried out in a loud voice: "Ha, Messire! why didst
+thou do such a thing as that? To break thine own fair sword?"
+
+"Sir," quoth Sir Tristram, "this sword hath this day received the greatest
+honor that is possible for any blade to receive; for it hath been baptized
+in thy blood. So, because aught else that might happen to it would diminish
+that honor, I have broken it so that its honor might never be made less
+than it is at this present time."
+
+Upon this Sir Launcelot ran to Sir Tristram and catched him in his arms,
+and he cried out: "Tristram, I believe that thou art the noblest knight
+whom ever I beheld!" And Sir Tristram replied: "And thou, Launcelot, I love
+better than father or kindred." Therewith each kissed the other upon the
+face, and all they who stood by were so moved at that sight that several of
+them wept for pure joy.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram and Sir Launcelot feast together] Thereafter they
+two went into Sir Tristram's pavilion and disarmed themselves. Then there
+came sundry attendants who were excellent leeches and these searched their
+hurts and bathed them and dressed them. And several other attendants came
+and fetched soft robes and clothed the knights therein so that they were
+very comfortable in their bodies. Then still other attendants brought them
+good strong wine and manchets of bread and they sat together at table and
+ate very cheerfully and were greatly refreshed.
+
+So I have told you of that famous affair-at-arms betwixt Sir Launcelot and
+Sir Tristram, and I pray God that you may have the same pleasure in reading
+of it that I had in writing of it.
+
+[Sidenote: King Arthur comes to Sir Tristram's pavilion] Now, as Sir
+Launcelot and Sir Tristram sat in the pavilion of Sir Tristram making
+pleasant converse together, there suddenly entered an esquire to where they
+were sitting. This esquire proclaimed: "Messires, hither cometh King
+Arthur, and he is very near at hand." Thereupon, even as that esquire
+spoke, there came from without the pavilion a great noise of trampling
+horses and the pleasant sound of ringing armor, and then immediately a loud
+noise of many voices uplifted in acclamation.
+
+Therewith Sir Launcelot and Sir Tristram arose from where they sat, and as
+they did so the curtains at the doorway of the pavilion were parted and
+there entered King Arthur himself enveloped, as it were, with all the glory
+of his royal estate.
+
+Unto him Sir Tristram ran, and would have fallen upon his knees, but King
+Arthur stayed him from so doing. For the great king held him by the hand
+and lifted him up, and he said, "Sir, are you Sir Tristram of Lyonesse?"
+"Yea," said Sir Tristram, "I am he." "Ha," said King Arthur, "I am gladder
+to see you than almost any man I know of in the world," and therewith he
+kissed Sir Tristram upon the face, and he said: "Welcome, Messire, to these
+parts! Welcome! And thrice welcome!"
+
+Then Sir Tristram besought King Arthur that he would refresh himself, and
+the King said he would do so. So Sir Tristram brought him to the chiefest
+place, and there King Arthur sat him down. And Sir Tristram would have
+served him with wine and with manchets of bread with his own hand, but King
+Arthur would not have it so, but bade Sir Tristram to sit beside him on his
+right hand, and Sir Tristram did so. After that, King Arthur spake to Sir
+Tristram about many things, and chiefly about King Meliadus, the father of
+Sir Tristram, and about the court of Lyonesse.
+
+Then, after a while King Arthur said: "Messire, I hear tell that you are a
+wonderful harper." And Sir Tristram said, "Lord, so men say of me." King
+Arthur said, "I would fain hear your minstrelsy." To which Sir Tristram
+made reply: "Lord, I will gladly do anything at all that will give you
+pleasure."
+
+So therewith Sir Tristram gave orders to Gouvernail, and Gouvernail brought
+him his shining golden harp, and the harp glistered with great splendor in
+the dim light of the pavilion.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram sings before King Arthur] Sir Tristram took the
+harp in his hands and tuned it and struck upon it. And he played upon the
+harp, and he sang to the music thereof so wonderfully that they who sat
+there listened in silence as though they were without breath. For not one
+of them had ever heard such singing as that music which Sir Tristram sang;
+for it was as though some angel were singing to those who sat there
+harkening to his chanting.
+
+So after Sir Tristram had ended, all who were there gave loud acclaim and
+much praise to his singing. "Ha, Messire!" quoth King Arthur, "many times
+in my life have I heard excellent singing, but never before in my life have
+I heard such singing as that. Now I wish that we might always have you at
+this court and that you would never leave us." And Sir Tristram said:
+"Lord, I too would wish that I might always be with you and with these
+noble knights of your court, for I have never met any whom I love as I love
+them."
+
+So they sat there in great joy and friendliness of spirit, and, for the
+while, Sir Tristram forgot the mission he was upon and was happy in heart
+and glad of that terrible storm that had driven him thitherward.
+
+And now I shall tell you the conclusion of all these adventures, and of how
+it fared with Sir Tristram.
+
+[Illustration: Belle Isoult and Sir Tristram drink the love draught]
+
+
+
+
+Chapter Seventh
+
+
+_How Sir Tristram had speech with King Angus of Ireland; how he undertook
+to champion the cause of King Angus and of what happened thereafter_.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram hears news of King Angus] Now, as Sir Tristram and
+King Arthur and Sir Launcelot sat together in the pavilion of Sir Tristram
+in pleasant, friendly discourse, as aforetold, there came Gouvernail of a
+sudden into that place. He, coming to Sir Tristram, leaned over his
+shoulder and he whispered into his ear: "Sir, I have just been told that
+King Angus of Ireland is at this very time at Camelot at the court of the
+King."
+
+Upon this Sir Tristram turned to King Arthur and said: "Lord, my esquire
+telleth me that King Angus of Ireland is here at Camelot; now I pray you
+tell me, is that saying true?" "Yea," said King Arthur, "that is true; but
+what of it?" "Well," said Sir Tristram, "I had set forth to seek King Angus
+in Ireland, when I and my companions were driven hither by a great storm of
+wind. Yet when I find him, I know not whether King Angus may look upon me
+as a friend or as an unfriend."
+
+[Sidenote: How Sir Bertrand was killed in Ireland] "Ha," said King Arthur,
+"you need not take trouble concerning the regard in which King Angus shall
+hold you. For he is at this time in such anxiety of spirit that he needs to
+have every man his friend who will be his friend, and no man his enemy whom
+he can reconcile to him. He is not just now in very good grace, either with
+me or with my court, for the case with him is thus: Some while ago, after
+you left the court of Ireland, there came to that place Sir Blamor de Ganys
+(who is right cousin to Sir Launcelot of the Lake) and with Sir Blamor a
+knight-companion hight Sir Bertrand de la Riviere Rouge. These two knights
+went to Ireland with intent to win themselves honor at the court of
+Ireland. Whilst they were in that kingdom there were held many jousts and
+tourneys, and in all of them Sir Blamor and Sir Bertrand were victorious,
+and all the knights of Ireland who came against them were put to shame at
+their hands. Many of the Irish knights were exceedingly angry at this, and
+so likewise was the King of Ireland. Now it happened one day that Sir
+Bertrand was found dead and murdered at a certain pass in the King's
+forest, and when the news thereof was brought to Sir Blamor, he was very
+wroth that his knight-companion should have been thus treacherously slain.
+So he immediately quitted Ireland and returned hither straightway, and when
+he had come before me he accused King Angus of treason because of that
+murder. Now at this time King Angus is here upon my summons for to answer
+that charge and to defend himself therefrom; for Sir Blamor offers his body
+to defend the truth of his accusation, and as for the King of Ireland, he
+can find no knight to take his part in that contention. For not only is Sir
+Blamor, as you very well know, one of the best knights in the world, but
+also nearly everybody here hath doubt of the innocence of King Angus in
+this affair. Now from this you may see that King Angus is very much more in
+need of a friend at this time than he is of an enemy."
+
+"Lord," said Sir Tristram, "what you tell me is very excellent good news,
+for now I know that I may have talk with King Angus with safety to myself,
+and that he will no doubt receive me as a friend."
+
+So after King Arthur and his court had taken their departure--it being then
+in the early sloping of the afternoon--Sir Tristram called Gouvernail to
+him and bade him make ready their horses, and when Gouvernail had done so,
+they two mounted and rode away by themselves toward that place where King
+Angus had taken up his lodging. When they had come there, Sir Tristram made
+demand to have speech with the King, and therewith they in attendance
+ushered him in to where the King Angus was.
+
+[Sidenote: King Angus welcomes Sir Tristram] But when King Angus saw Sir
+Tristram who he was, and when he beheld a face that was both familiar and
+kind, he gave a great cry of joy, and ran to Sir Tristram and flung his
+arms about him, and kissed him upon the cheek; for he was rejoiced beyond
+measure to find a friend in that unfriendly place.
+
+Then Sir Tristram said, "Lord, what cheer have you?" Unto that King Angus
+replied: "Tristram, I have very poor cheer; for I am alone amongst enemies
+with no one to befriend me, and unless I find some knight who will stand my
+champion to-morrow or the next day I am like to lose my life for the murder
+of Sir Bertrand de la Riviere Rouge. And where am I to find any one to act
+as my champion in defence of my innocence in this place, where I behold an
+enemy in every man whom I meet? Alas, Tristram! There is no one in all the
+world who will aid me unless it be you, for you alone of all the knights in
+the world beyond the circle of the knights of the Round Table may hope to
+stand against so excellent and so strong a hero!"
+
+"Lord," quoth Sir Tristram, "I know very well what great trouble overclouds
+you at this time, and it is because of that that I am come hither for to
+visit you. For I have not at any time forgotten how that I told you when
+you spared my life in Ireland that mayhap the time might come when I might
+serve as your friend in your day of need. So if you will satisfy me upon
+two points, then I myself will stand for your champion upon this occasion."
+
+"Ah, Tristram," quoth King Angus, "what you say is very good news to me
+indeed. For I believe there is no other knight in all the world (unless it
+be Sir Launcelot of the Lake) who is so strong and worthy a knight as you.
+So tell me what are those two matters concerning which you would seek
+satisfaction, and, if it is possible for me to do so, I will give you such
+an answer as may please you."
+
+"Lord," said Sir Tristram, "the first matter is this: that you shall
+satisfy me that you are altogether innocent of the death of Sir Bertrand.
+And the second matter is this: that you shall grant me whatsoever favor it
+is that I shall have to ask of you."
+
+[Sidenote: King Angus swears innocence to Sir Tristram] Then King Angus
+arose and drew his sword and he said: "Tristram, behold; here is my
+sword--and the guard thereof and the blade thereof and the handle thereof
+make that holy sign of the cross unto which all Christian men bow down to
+worship. Look! See! Here I kiss that holy sign and herewith I swear an oath
+upon that sacred symbol, and I furthermore swear upon the honor of my
+knighthood, that I am altogether guiltless of the death of that noble,
+honorable knight aforesaid. Nor do I at all know how it was he met his
+death, for I am innocent of all evil knowledge thereof. Now, Messire, art
+thou satisfied upon that point?" And Sir Tristram said, "I am satisfied."
+
+Then King Angus said: "As to the matter of granting you a favor, that I
+would do in any case for the love I bear you. So let me hear what it is
+that you have to ask of me."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram asks his boon] "Lord," cried out Sir Tristram,
+"the favor is one I had liever die than ask. It is this: that you give me
+your daughter, the Lady Belle Isoult, for wife unto mine uncle, King Mark
+of Cornwall."
+
+Upon these words, King Angus sat in silence for a long while, gazing very
+strangely upon Sir Tristram. Then by and by he said: "Messire, this is a
+very singular thing you ask of me; for from what you said to me aforetime
+and from what you said to my daughter I had thought that you desired the
+Lady Belle Isoult for yourself. Now I can in no wise understand why you do
+not ask for her in your name instead of asking for her in the name of King
+Mark."
+
+Then Sir Tristram cried out as in great despair: "Messire, I love that dear
+lady a great deal more than I love my life; but in this affair I am
+fulfilling a pledge made upon the honor of my knighthood and unto the King
+of Cornwall, who himself made me knight. For I pledged him unaware, and now
+I am paying for my hastiness. Yet I would God that you might take the sword
+which you hold in your hand and thrust it through my heart; for I had
+liefer die than fulfil this obligation to which I am pledged."
+
+"Well," said King Angus, "you know very well that I will not slay you, but
+that I will fulfil your boon as I have promised. As for what you do in this
+affair, you must answer for it to God and to the honor of your own
+knighthood whether it is better to keep that promise which you made to the
+King of Cornwall or to break it."
+
+Then Sir Tristram cried out again in great travail of soul: "Lord, you know
+not what you say, nor what torments I am at this present moment enduring."
+And therewith he arose and went forth from that place, for he was ashamed
+that anyone should behold the passion that moved him.
+
+And now is to be told of that famous battle betwixt Sir Tristram and Sir
+Blamor de Ganys of which so much hath been written in all the several
+histories of chivalry that deal with these matters.
+
+Now when the next morning had come--clear and fair and with the sun shining
+wonderfully bright--a great concourse of people began to betake themselves
+to that place where the lists had been set up in preparation for that
+ordeal of battle. That place was on a level meadow of grass very fair
+bedight with flowers and not far from the walls of the town nor from the
+high road that led to the gate of the same.
+
+[Sidenote: Of the meadow of battle] And, indeed, that was a very beautiful
+place for battle, for upon the one hand was the open countryside, all gay
+with spring blossoms and flowers; and upon the other hand were the walls of
+the town. Over above the top of those walls was to be seen a great many
+tall towers--some built of stone and some of brick--that rose high up into
+the clear, shining sky all full of slow-drifting clouds, that floated, as
+it were, like full-breasted swans in a sea of blue. And beyond the walls of
+the town you might behold a great many fair houses with bright windows of
+glass all shining against the sky. So you may see how fair was all that
+place, where that fierce battle was presently to be fought.
+
+Meanwhile, great multitudes of people had gathered all about the meadow of
+battle, and others stood like flies upon the walls of the town and looked
+down into that fair, pleasant meadow-land, spread with its carpet of
+flowers. All along one side of the ground of battle was a scaffolding of
+seats fair bedraped with fabrics of various colors and textures. In the
+midst of all the other seats were two seats hung with cloth of scarlet, and
+these seats were the one for King Arthur and the other for King Angus of
+Ireland.
+
+In the centre of the meadow-land Sir Blamor rode up and down very proudly.
+He was clad in red armor, and the trappings and the furniture of his horse
+were all of red, so that he paraded the field like a crimson flame of fire.
+
+"Sir." quoth King Arthur to King Angus, "yon is a very strong, powerful,
+noble knight; now where mayst thou find one who can hope to stand against
+him in this coming battle?"
+
+[Sidenote: King Angus presents Sir Tristram for his champion] "Lord," said
+King Angus, "I do believe that God hath raised up a defender for me in this
+extremity. For Sir Tristram of Lyonesse came to me yesterday, and offered
+for to take this quarrel of mine upon him. Now I do not believe that there
+is any better knight in all of Christendom than he, wherefore I am to-day
+uplifted with great hopes that mine innocence shall be proved against mine
+accuser."
+
+"Ha!" quoth King Arthur, "if Sir Tristram is to stand thy champion in this
+affair, then I do believe that thou hast indeed found for thyself a very
+excellent, worthy defender."
+
+So anon there came Sir Tristram riding to that place, attended only by
+Gouvernail. And he was clad all in bright, polished armor so that he shone
+like a star of great splendor as he entered the field of battle. He came
+straight to where King Arthur sat and saluted before him. King Arthur said,
+"Sir, what knight art thou?" "Lord," answered he, "I am Sir Tristram of
+Lyonesse, and I am come to champion King Angus who sits beside you. For I
+believe him to be innocent of that matter of which he is accused, and I
+will emperil my body in that belief for to prove the truth of the same."
+
+"Well," quoth King Arthur, "this King accused hath, certes, a very noble
+champion in thee. So go and do thy devoirs, and may God defend the right."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram does battle with Sir Blamor] Thereupon each knight
+took a good stout spear into his hand and chose his place for the
+encounter, and each set his shield before him and feutered his lance in
+rest. Then, when each was ready, the marshal blew a great blast upon his
+trumpet, and thereupon, in an instant, each knight launched against the
+other like a bolt of thunder. So they met in the very middle of the course
+with such violence that the spear of each knight was shattered all into
+pieces unto the very truncheon thereof. Each horse fell back upon his
+haunches, and each would no doubt, have fallen entirely, had not the
+knight-rider recovered his steed with the greatest skill and address.
+
+Then each knight voided his saddle and each drew his sword and set his
+shield before him. Therewith they came to battle on foot like two wild
+boars--so fiercely and felly that it was terrible to behold. For they
+traced this way and that and foined and struck at one another so that whole
+pieces of armor were hewn from the bodies of each.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram overcomes Sir Blamor] But in all this battle Sir
+Tristram had so much the better that, by and by after they had fought for
+above an hour, Sir Blamor de Ganys began to bare back before him, and to
+give ground, holding his shield low for weariness. This Sir Tristram
+perceived, and, running in suddenly upon Sir Blamor, he struck him so
+terrible a blow upon the right shoulder that Sir Blamor's arm was
+altogether benumbed thereby, and he could no longer hold his sword in his
+hand.
+
+So the sword of Sir Blamor fell down into the grass, and Sir Tristram,
+perceiving this, ran and set his foot upon it. Then Sir Blamor could not
+stand any longer, but fell down upon his knees because of a great weariness
+and faintness that lay upon him like the weariness and faintness of
+approaching death.
+
+Then Sir Tristram said: "Sir Knight, thou canst fight no longer. Now I bid
+thee for to yield thyself to me as overcome in this battle."
+
+Thereunto Sir Blamor made reply, speaking very deep and hollow from out of
+his helmet: "Sir Knight, thou hast overcome me by thy strength and prowess,
+but I will not yield myself to thee now nor at any time. For that would be
+so great shame that I would rather die than endure it. I am a knight of the
+Round Table, and have never yet been overcome in this wise by any man. So
+thou mayst slay me, but I will not yield myself to thee."
+
+Then Sir Tristram cried out: "Sir Knight, I beseech thee to yield thyself,
+for thou art not fit to fight any more this day."
+
+Sir Blamor said, "I will not yield, so strike and have done with it."
+
+So Sir Tristram wist not what to do, but stood there in doubt looking down
+upon Sir Blamor. Then Sir Blamor said, again: "Strike, Sir Knight, and have
+done with it."
+
+Upon this Sir Tristram said: "I may not strike thee, Sir Blamor de Ganys,
+to slay thee, for thou art very nigh of blood to Sir Launcelot of the Lake,
+and unto him I have sworn brotherhood in arms; wherefore I pray thee now to
+yield thyself to me."
+
+Sir Blamor said, "Nay, I will not yield me to thee."
+
+"Well," said Sir Tristram, "then I must fain act this day in a manner like
+as I acted yesterday."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram gives Sir Blamor back his sword] Therewith
+speaking, he took his sword into both his hands and he swung it several
+times around his head and when he had done that he flung it to a great
+distance away, so that he was now entirely unarmed saving only for his
+misericordia. After that he gave Sir Blamor his hand and lifted him up upon
+his feet. And he stooped and picked up Sir Blamor's sword out of the grass
+and gave it back to Sir Blamor into his hands, and he said: "Sir Knight,
+now thou art armed and I am entirely unarmed, and so thou hast me at thy
+mercy. Now thou shalt either yield thyself to me or slay me as I stand here
+without any weapon; for I cannot now strike thee, and though I have
+overcome thee fairly yet thou hast it now in thy power to slay me. So now
+do thy will with me in this matter."
+
+Then Sir Blamor was greatly astonished at the magnanimity of Sir Tristram,
+and he said, "Sir Knight, what is thy name?" Sir Tristram said, "It is
+Tristram, surnamed of Lyonesse."
+
+Upon this Sir Blamor came to Sir Tristram and put his arms about his
+shoulders, and he said: "Tristram, I yield myself to thee, but in love and
+not in hate. For I yield myself not because of thy strength of arms (and
+yet I believe there is no knight in the world, unless it be my cousin Sir
+Launcelot of the Lake, who is thy peer), but I yield me because of thy
+exceeding nobility. Yet I would that I might only be satisfied that this
+King of Ireland is no traitor."
+
+"Messire," said Sir Tristram, "of that I have assured myself very strongly
+ere I entered into this contest, wherefore I may now freely avouch upon
+mine own knightly word that he is innocent."
+
+"Then," said Sir Blamor, "I also am satisfied, and I herewith withdraw all
+my impeachment against him."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram and Sir Blamor are reconciled] Then those two
+noble, excellent knights took one another by the hand and went forward
+together to where King Arthur sat in high estate, and all those who looked
+on and beheld that reconciliation gave loud acclaim. And when King Arthur
+beheld them coming thus, he arose from where he sat and met them and
+embraced them both, and he said: "I do not believe that any king can have
+greater glory in his life than this, to have such knights about him as ye
+be."
+
+So ended this famous battle with great glory to Sir Tristram and yet with
+no disregard to that famous knight against whom he did battle.
+
+After that, they and King Arthur and King Angus of Ireland and all the
+court went up unto the castle of Camelot, and there the two
+knights-combatant were bathed in tepid water and their wounds were searched
+and dressed and they were put at their ease in all ways that it was
+possible.
+
+Now that very day, as they all sat at feast in the castle of Camelot, there
+came one with news that the name of Sir Tristram had suddenly appeared upon
+one of the seats of the Round Table. So after they had ended their feast
+they all immediately went to see how that might be. When they came to the
+pavilion of the Round Table, there, behold! was his name indeed upon that
+seat that had once been the seat of King Pellinore. For this was the name
+that now was upon that seat:
+
+SIR TRISTRAM OF LYONESSE
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram becomes knight of the Round Table] So the next day
+Sir Tristram was duly installed as a knight-companion of the Round Table
+with a great pomp and estate of circumstance, and a day or two after that
+he set sail for Ireland with King Angus, taking with him Gouvernail and
+those Cornish knights who were his companions.
+
+So they all reached Ireland in safety, and, because Sir Tristram had aided
+the King of Ireland in the day of his extremity, the Queen forgave him all
+the despite she held against him, so that he was received at the court of
+the King and Queen with great friendship and high honor.
+
+[Sidenote: How Sir Tristram dwelt in Ireland] For a while Sir Tristram
+dwelt in Ireland and said nothing concerning that purpose for which he had
+come. Then one day he said to King Angus: "Lord, thou art not to forget to
+fulfil that promise which thou madst to me concerning the Lady Belle
+Isoult."
+
+To this King Angus made reply: "I had hoped that now we were come to
+Ireland you had changed your purpose in that matter. Are you yet of the
+same mind as when you first spake to me?"
+
+"Yea," said Sir Tristram, "for it cannot be otherwise."
+
+"Well, then," said King Angus, "I shall go to prepare my daughter for this
+ill-hap that is to befall her, though indeed it doth go against my heart to
+do such a thing. After I have first spoken to her, you are to take the
+matter into your own hands, for, to tell you the truth, I have not the
+heart to contrive it further."
+
+So King Angus went away from where Sir Tristram was, and he was gone a long
+while. When he returned he said: "Sir, go you that way and the Lady Belle
+Isoult will see you."
+
+So Sir Tristram went in the direction King Angus had said, and a page
+showed him the way. So by and by he came to where the Lady Belle Isoult
+was, and it was a great chamber in a certain tower of the castle and high
+up Under the eaves of the roof.
+
+[Sidenote: How Lady Belle Isoult appeared to Sir Tristram] The Lady Belle
+Isoult stood upon the farther side of this chamber so that the light from
+the windows shone full upon her face, and Sir Tristram perceived that she
+was extraordinarily beautiful, and rather like to a shining spirit than to
+a lady of flesh and blood. For she was clad altogether in white and her
+face was like to wax for whiteness and clearness, and she wore ornaments of
+gold set with shining stones of divers colors about her neck and about her
+arms so that they glistered with a wonderful lustre. Her eyes shone very
+bright and clear like one with a fever, and Sir Tristram beheld that there
+were channels of tears upon her face and several tears stood upon her white
+cheeks like to shining jewels hanging suspended there.
+
+So, for a while, Sir Tristram stood still without speaking and regarded her
+from afar. Then after a while she spake and said, "Sir, what is this you
+have done?" "Lady," he said, "I have done what God set me to do, though I
+would rather die than do it."
+
+She said, "Tristram, you have betrayed me." Upon the which he cried out in
+a very loud and piercing voice, "Lady, say not so!"
+
+She said: "Tristram, tell me, is it better to fulfil this pledge you have
+made, knowing that in so doing you sacrifice both my happiness and your
+happiness to satisfy your pride of honor; or is it better that you
+sacrifice your pride and break this promise so that we may both be happy?
+Tristram, I beseech you to break this promise you have made and let us be
+happy together."
+
+At this Sir Tristram cried out in a very loud voice: "Lady, did you put
+your hand into my bosom and tear my naked heart, you could not cause me so
+much pain as that which I this moment endure. It cannot be as you would
+have it, for it is thus with me: were it but myself whom I might consider,
+I would freely sacrifice both my life and my honor for your sake. But it
+may not be so, lady; for I am held to be one of the chiefest of that order
+of knighthood to which I belong, wherefore I may not consider myself, but
+must ever consider that order. For if I should violate a pledge given upon
+my knighthood, then would I dishonor not myself, but that entire order to
+which I belong. For, did I so, all the world would say, what virtue is
+there in the order of knighthood when one of the chiefest of that order may
+violate his pledge when it pleases him to do so? So, lady, having assumed
+that great honor of knighthood I must perform its obligations even to the
+uttermost; yea, though in fulfilling my pledge I sacrifice both Thee and
+myself."
+
+Then Belle Isoult looked upon Sir Tristram for some little while, and by
+and by she smiled very pitifully and said: "Ah, Tristram, I believe I am
+more sorry for thee than I am for myself."
+
+"Lady," said Tristram, "I would God that I lay here dead before you. But I
+am not able to die, but am altogether strong and hale--only very sorrowful
+at heart." And therewith he turned and left that place. Only when he had
+come to a place where he was entirely by himself with no one but God to see
+him, he hid his face in his hands and wept as though his heart were
+altogether broken. So it was that Sir Tristram fulfilled his pledge.
+
+[Sidenote: Belle Isoult and Sir Tristram depart for Cornwall] After that,
+King Angus furnished a very noble and beautiful ship with sails of satin
+embroidered with figures of divers sorts, and he fitted the ship in all
+ways such as became the daughter of a king and the wife of a king to embark
+upon. And that ship was intended for the Lady Belle Isoult and Sir Tristram
+in which to sail to the court of Cornwall.
+
+And it was ordained that a certain very excellent lady of the court of the
+Queen, who had been attendant upon the Lady Belle Isoult when she was a
+little child and who had been with her in attendance ever since that time,
+should accompany her to the Court of Cornwall. And the name of this lady
+was the Lady Bragwaine.
+
+[Sidenote: The Queen of Ireland provides a love potion for King Mark and
+Belle Isoult] Now the day before the Lady Belle Isoult was to take her
+departure from Ireland, the Queen of Ireland came to the Lady Bragwaine and
+she bare with her a flagon of gold very curiously wrought. And the Queen
+said: "Bragwaine, here is a flask of a very singular and precious sort of
+an elixir; for that liquor it is of such a sort that when a man and a woman
+drink of it together, they two shall thereafter never cease to love one
+another as long as they shall have life. Take this flask, and when you have
+come to Cornwall, and when the Lady Belle Isoult and King Mark have been
+wedded, then give them both to drink of this elixir; for after they have
+drunk they shall forget all else in the world and cleave only to one
+another. This I give you to the intent that the Lady Isoult may forget Sir
+Tristram, and may become happy in the love of King Mark whom she shall
+marry."
+
+Soon thereafter the Lady Belle Isoult took leave of the King and the Queen
+and entered into that ship that had been prepared for her. Thus, with Sir
+Tristram and with Dame Bragwaine and with their attendants, she set sail
+for Cornwall.
+
+Now it happened that, whilst they were upon that voyage, the Lady Bragwaine
+came of a sudden into the cabin of that ship and there she beheld the Lady
+Belle Isoult lying upon a couch weeping. Dame Bragwaine said, "Lady, why do
+you weep?" Whereunto the Lady Belle Isoult made reply: "Alas, Bragwaine,
+how can I help but weep seeing that I am to be parted from the man I love
+and am to be married unto another whom I do not love?"
+
+Dame Bragwaine laughed and said: "Do you then weep for that? See! Here is a
+wonderful flask as it were of precious wine. When you are married to the
+King of Cornwall, then you are to quaff of it and he is to quaff of it and
+after that you will forget all others in the world and cleave only to one
+another. For it is a wonderful love potion and it hath been given to me to
+use in that very way. Wherefore dry your eyes, for happiness may still lay
+before you."
+
+When the Lady Belle Isoult heard these words she wept no more but smiled
+very strangely. Then by and by she arose and went away to where Sir
+Tristram was.
+
+When she came to him she said, "Tristram, will you drink of a draught with
+me?" He said, "Yea, lady, though it were death in the draught."
+
+She said, "There is not death in it, but something very different," and
+thereupon she went away into the cabin where that chalice aforesaid was
+hidden. And at that time Dame Bragwaine was not there.
+
+Then the Lady Belle Isoult took the flagon from where it was hidden, and
+poured the elixir out into a chalice of gold and crystal and she brought it
+to where Sir Tristram was. When she had come there, she said, "Tristram, I
+drink to thee," and therewith she drank the half of the elixir there Was in
+the chalice. Then she said, "Now drink thou the rest to me."
+
+Upon that Sir Tristram took the chalice and lifted it to his lips, and
+drank all the rest of that liquor that was therein.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram and Belle Isoult drink the love potion] Now
+immediately Sir Tristram had drunk that elixir he felt it run like fire
+through every vein in his body. Thereupon he cried out, "Lady, what is this
+you have given me to drink?" She said: "Tristram, that was a powerful love
+potion intended for King Mark and me. But now thou and I have drunk of it
+and never henceforth can either of us love anybody in all of the world but
+the other."
+
+Then Sir Tristram catched her into his arms and he cried out: "Isoult!
+Isoult! what hast thou done to us both? Was it not enough that I should
+have been unhappy but that thou shouldst have chosen to be unhappy also?"
+
+Thereat the Lady Belle Isoult both wept and smiled, looking up into Sir
+Tristram's face, and she said: "Nay, Tristram; I would rather be sorry with
+thee than happy with another." He said, "Isoult, there is much woe in this
+for us both." She said, "I care not, so I may share it with thee."
+
+Thereupon Sir Tristram kissed her thrice upon the face, and then
+immediately put her away from him and he left her and went away by himself
+in much agony of spirit.
+
+Thereafter they reached the kingdom of Cornwall in safety, and the Lady
+Belle Isoult and King Mark were wedded with much pomp and ceremony and
+after that there was much feasting and every appearance of rejoicing.
+
+
+
+
+PART II
+
+
+The Story of Sir Tristram and Sir Lamorack
+
+And now shall be told the story of Sir Tristram and Sir Lamorack of Gales,
+how they became brothers-in-arms; how Sir Lamorack took offence at Sir
+Tristram, and how they became reconciled again.
+
+But first of all you must know that Sir Lamorack of Gales was deemed to be
+one of the greatest knights alive. For it was said that there were three
+knights that were the greatest in all of the world, and those three were
+Sir Launcelot of the Lake, Sir Tristram of Lyonesse, and Sir Lamorack of
+Gales.
+
+Sir Lamorack was the son of King Pellinore, of whom it hath already been
+told in the Book of King Arthur that he was the greatest knight during that
+time; and he was the brother of Sir Percival, of whom it is to be told
+hereinafter that he was the peer even of Sir Launcelot of the Lake. So
+because that house produced three such great and famous knights, the house
+of King Pellinore hath always been singularly renowned in all histories of
+chivalry. For indeed there was not any house so famous as it saving only
+the house of King Ban of Benwick, which brought forth those two peerless
+knights beyond all compare:--to wit, Sir Launcelot of the Lake and Sir
+Galahad, who achieved the quest of the San Grail.
+
+So I hope that you may find pleasure in the story of how Sir Tristram and
+Sir Lamorack became acquainted, and of how they became brothers-in-arms.
+
+[Illustration: Sir Lamorack of Gales]
+
+
+
+
+Chapter First
+
+
+_How Sir Lamorack of Gales came to Tintagel and how he and Sir Tristram
+sware friendship together in the forest._
+
+After these happenings, Sir Tristram abode for awhile at the Court of
+Cornwall, for so King Mark commanded him to do. And he sought in every way
+to distract his mind from his sorrows by deeds of prowess. So during this
+time he performed several adventures of which there is not now space to
+tell you. But these adventures won such credit to his knighthood that all
+the world talked of his greatness.
+
+And ever as he grew more and more famous, King Mark hated him more and
+more. For he could not bear to see Sir Tristram so noble and so sorrowful
+with love of the Lady Belle Isoult.
+
+Also Sir Tristram spent a great deal of time at chase with hawk and hound;
+for he hoped by means also of such sports to drive away, in some measure,
+his grief for the loss of Belle Isoult.
+
+Now the season whereof this chapter speaketh was in the autumn of the year,
+what time all the earth is glorious with the brown and gold of the
+woodlands. For anon, when the wind would blow, then the leaves would fall
+down from the trees like showers of gold so that everywhere they lay heaped
+like flakes of gold upon the russet sward, rustling dry and warm beneath
+the feet, and carpeting all the world with splendor. And the deep blue sky
+overhead was heaped full of white, slow-moving clouds, and everywhere the
+warm air was fragrant with the perfume of the forest, and at every strong
+breeze the nuts would fall pattering down upon the ground like hailstones.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram rides ahunting] And because the world was so
+beautiful and so lusty, Sir Tristram took great pleasure in life in spite
+of that trouble that lay upon him. So he and his court rode very joyfully
+amid the trees and thickets, making the woodlands merry with the music of
+winding horns and loud-calling voices and with the baying of hounds
+sounding like sweet tolling bells in the remoter aisles of the forest
+spaces.
+
+Thus Sir Tristram made sport all one morning, in such an autumn season, and
+when noon had come he found himself to be anhungered. So he gave orders to
+those who were in attendance upon him that food should be spread at a
+certain open space in the forest; and therewith, in accordance with those
+orders, they in attendance immediately opened sundry hampers of wicker, and
+therefrom brought forth a noble pasty of venison, and manchets of bread and
+nuts and apples and several flasks and flagons of noble wine of France and
+the Rhine countries. This abundance of good things they set upon a cloth as
+white as snow which they had laid out upon the ground.
+
+Now just as Sir Tristram was about to seat himself at this goodly feast he
+beheld amid the thin yellow foliage that there rode through a forest path
+not far away a very noble-seeming knight clad all in shining armor and with
+vestments and trappings of scarlet so that he shone like a flame of fire in
+the woodlands.
+
+Then Sir Tristram said to those who stood near him, "Know ye who is yonder
+knight who rides alone?" They say, "No, Lord, we know him not." Sir
+Tristram said, "Go and bid that knight of his courtesy that he come hither
+and eat with me."
+
+So three or four esquires ran to where that knight was riding, and in a
+little they came attending him to where Sir Tristram was, and Sir Tristram
+went to meet him.
+
+Then Sir Tristram said: "Sir Knight, I pray you for to tell me your name
+and degree, for it seems to me that you are someone very high in order of
+knighthood."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Lamorack meets Sir Tristam] "Messire," quoth the other, "I
+shall be very glad to tell you my name if so be you will do the like
+courtesy unto me. I am Sir Lamorack of Gales, and I am son of the late King
+Pellinore, who was in his days held to be the foremost knight in this
+realm. I come to these parts seeking Sir Tristram of Lyonesse, of whose
+fame I hear told in every court of chivalry whither I go. For I have never
+beheld Sir Tristram, and I have a great desire to do so."
+
+"Well," quoth Sir Tristram, "meseems I should be greatly honored that you
+should take so much trouble for nothing else than that; for lo! I am that
+very Sir Tristram of Lyonesse whom you seek."
+
+Then Sir Lamorack immediately leaped down from his war-horse and putting up
+the umbril of his helmet, he came to Sir Tristram and took him by the hand
+and kissed him upon the cheek. And Sir Tristram kissed Sir Lamorack again,
+and each made great joy of the other.
+
+After that, Sir Lamorack, with the aid of these esquires attendant upon Sir
+Tristram, put aside his armor, and bathed his face and neck and hands in a
+cold forest brook, as clear as crystal, that came brawling down out of the
+woodlands. Therewith, being greatly refreshed he and Sir Tristram sat down
+to that bountiful feast together, and ate and drank with great joy and
+content of spirit. And whiles they ate each made inquiry of the other what
+he did, and each told the other many things concerning the goodly
+adventures that had befallen him.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram sings to Sir Lamorack] And after they were through
+eating and drinking, Sir Tristram took his harp in hand and sang several
+excellent ballads and rondels which he had made in honor of Belle Isoult,
+and Sir Lamorack listened and made great applause at each song that Sir
+Tristram sang. And so each knight loved the other more and more the longer
+they sat together.
+
+Then, after a while, Sir Tristram said: "Dear friend, let us swear
+brotherhood to one another, for I find that my heart goeth out to thee with
+a wonderful strength."
+
+"Ha, Tristram," said Sir Lamorack, "I would rather live in brotherhood with
+thee than with any man whom I know, for I find that the longer I am with
+thee, the greater and the stronger my love groweth for thee."
+
+Then Sir Tristram drew from his finger a very splendid ring (for the ring
+held an emerald carved into the likeness of the head of a beautiful woman,
+and that emerald was set into the gold of the ring) and Sir Tristram said:
+"Give me that ring upon thy finger, O Lamorack! and take thou this ring in
+its stead; so we shall have confirmed our brotherhood to one another."
+
+Then Sir Lamorack did very joyfully as Sir Tristram bade him, and he took
+the ring that Sir Tristram gave him and kissed it and put it upon his
+finger; and Sir Tristram kissed the ring that Sir Lamorack gave him and put
+it upon his finger.
+
+Thus they confirmed brotherhood with one another that day as they sat
+together in the forest at feast, with the golden leaves falling about them.
+And so they sat together all that afternoon and until the sun began to hang
+low in the west; after that, they arose and took horse, and rode away
+together toward Tintagel in great pleasure of companionship.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Lamorack is honored at Tintagel] Now all the court at
+Tintagel was greatly rejoiced at the presence of so famous a knight as Sir
+Lamorack of Gales; so there was great celebration upon that account, and
+everybody did the most that he was able to give pleasure to Sir Lamorack.
+And during the time that Sir Lamorack was at Tintagel there were several
+joustings held in his honor, and in all these assays at arms Sir Lamorack
+himself took part and overthrew everyone who came against him, so that he
+approved himself to be so wonderful a champion that all men who beheld his
+performance exclaimed with astonishment at his prowess.
+
+But from all these affairs at arms Sir Tristram held himself aloof, and
+would not take part in them. For he took such pleasure in Sir Lamorack's
+glory that he would not do anything that might imperil the credit that his
+friend thus gained by his prowess. For though Sir Tristram dearly loved
+such affairs, he would ever say to himself: "Perhaps if I should enter the
+lists against my friend it might be my mishap to overthrow him and then his
+glory would be forfeited unto me."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Lamorack does famous battle] Now upon a certain time there
+was held a great day of jousting in honor of Sir Lamorack, and in that
+affair at arms twenty of the best knights, both of Cornwall and the
+countries circumadjacent, took the field to hold it against all comers. Of
+these knights, several were well-known champions, so that they maintained
+the field for a long while, to the great credit both of themselves and of
+Cornwall. But some while after the prime of day, there came Sir Lamorack
+into that field, and, the day being cool and fresh, he was filled with a
+wonderful strength and spirit of battle. So he challenged first one of
+those Cornish champions and then another, and in all such challenges he was
+successful, so that he overthrew of those knights, the one after the other,
+fifteen men, some of whom were sorely hurt in the encounter. Upon this, the
+other five of those champions, beholding the prowess and strength and skill
+of Sir Lamorack said to one another: "Why should we venture against this
+man? Of a verity, this knight is no mere man, but a demon of strength and
+skill. Wherefore no man may hope to stand against him in an assault of
+arms; for lo! if he doth but touch a man with his lance that man
+straightway falleth from his saddle." So they withdrew themselves from that
+encounter and would not have to do with Sir Lamorack.
+
+Now at that time Sir Tristram was sitting with the court of the King, and
+not far from the Lady Belle Isoult, overlooking the meadow of battle.
+
+To him King Mark said: "Messire, why do you take no part against this
+knight? Is it that you fear him?"
+
+To this Sir Tristram replied with great calmness: "Nay, I fear not him nor
+any man alive, and that you know, Lord, better than anyone in all of the
+world."
+
+"I am glad to hear of your courage and fearlessness," quoth King Mark, "for
+meseems it is a great shame to all of us that this gentleman, who is a
+stranger amongst us, should win so much credit to the disadvantage of all
+the knights of Cornwall. Now, as you say you have no fear of him, I pray
+you go down into the field and do battle with him in our behalf." So said
+King Mark, for he thought to himself: "Perhaps Sir Lamorack may overthrow
+Sir Tristram, and so bring him into disrepute with those who praise him so
+greatly."
+
+But Sir Tristram said: "No; I will not go down to battle against Sir
+Lamorack this day whatever I may do another day. For I have sworn
+brotherhood to that noble and gentle champion, and it would ill beseem me
+to assault him now, when he is weary and short of breath from this great
+battle which he hath done to-day against such odds. For if I should
+overthrow him now, it would bring great shame upon him. Some other day and
+in some other place I may assay him in friendliness, with honor and credit
+both to myself and him."
+
+[Sidenote: King Mark commands Sir Tristram to do battle] "Well," said King
+Mark, "as for that, I do not choose to wait. Nor am I pleased that you
+should sit by and suffer this knight to carry away all the credit of arms
+from Cornwall in despite of the knights of Cornwall. For not only would
+this be a great shame to the knights of Cornwall (of whom you are the
+acknowledged champion), but it would be equally a shame unto this lady whom
+you have fetched hither from Ireland to be Queen of Cornwall. So I lay this
+command upon you--not only because I am your King, but because I am he who
+made you knight--that you straightway go down into yonder meadow and do
+battle with this knight who beareth himself so proudly in our midst."
+
+Then Sir Tristram looked upon King Mark with great anger and bitterness,
+and he said: "This is great shame and despite which you seek to put upon me
+by giving such commands unto me. Verily, it would seem that in all ways you
+seek to put shame and sorrow upon me. And yet I have ever been your true
+knight, and have saved your kingdom from truage to Ireland and have served
+you very faithfully in all ways. Would to God I had been made knight by any
+man in the world rather than by you."
+
+At this King Mark smiled very bitterly upon Tristram. "Sirrah," quoth he,
+"meseems you speak very outrageously to me who am your King. Now I herewith
+command you to go straightway down into that field without any further
+words and to do my bidding against yonder knight."
+
+Then Sir Tristram groaned in spirit, and then he said, "I go."
+
+So Sir Tristram arose and went away from that place very full of bitterness
+and anger against the King and his court. For whiles there were some of
+that court who were sorry for the affront that King Mark had put upon him
+in public before the eyes of the entire court, yet there were others who
+smiled and were glad of his humiliation. For even so true and noble a
+gentleman as Sir Tristram, when he groweth great and famous, is like to
+have as many enemies as friends. For there are ever those who envy truth
+and nobility in a man, as well as others who hate meanness and falsity, and
+so Sir Tristram ever had many enemies whithersoever he went. And that also
+was the case with Sir Launcelot and Sir Lamorack, and with other noble
+knights at that time.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram arms himself] But though Sir Tristram was so
+filled with indignation he said nothing to any man, but went to his lodging
+and summoned Gouvernail, and bade Gouvernail to help him to his armor and
+his horse.
+
+Gouvernail said: "Lord, what would you do for to arm and horse yourself at
+this hour?" Sir Tristram made reply: "The King hath commanded me to do
+battle with Sir Lamorack, and yet Sir Lamorack is my very dear friend and
+sworn brother-in-arms. He is already weary with battle, and of a surety I
+shall be very likely to overthrow him in an assault at arms at this time."
+Gouvernail said, "Lord, that would be great shame to you as well as to
+him." And Sir Tristram said, "Yea, it is great shame." Then Gouvernail
+beheld Sir Tristram's face, how it was all filled with a passion of shame
+and indignation, and so he guessed what had passed, and held his peace.
+
+So when Sir Tristram was armed and mounted, he rode down into the meadow of
+battle, where was Sir Lamorack parading with great glory before the
+applause of all who looked down upon that field.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Lamorack speaks to Sir Tristram] But when Sir Lamorack
+beheld that it was Sir Tristram who came against him, he was greatly
+astonished, and cried out: "Ha, Tristram, how is this? Is it you who come
+against me? Have you then forgot that I am your brother-in-arms and a
+fellow of the Round Table?"
+
+To this Sir Tristram said: "Messire, I come not of my own free will, but
+only because I must needs come, being so commanded by the King of
+Cornwall."
+
+"Very well," said Sir Lamorack, "so be it as you will, though I am very
+much surprised that you should do battle against me, after all that hath
+passed betwixt us. More especially at this season when, as you very well
+know, I am weary and winded with battle."
+
+Thereupon and without further parley, each knight took stand for the
+encounter at the position assigned to him. Then when they were in all ways
+prepared, the marshal of the field blew upon his trumpet a call for the
+assault.
+
+So rushed those two together like two stones, flung each out of a catapult;
+and therewith they two smote together in the midst of their course like to
+a clap of thunder.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram overthrows Sir Lamorack] In that encounter the
+spear of Sir Lamorack brake into as many as twenty or thirty pieces; but
+the spear of Sir Tristram held, so that the horse of Sir Lamorack, which
+was weary with the several charges he had made, was overthrown into a great
+cloud of dust.
+
+But Sir Lamorack did not fall with his steed; for he voided his saddle with
+a very wonderful agility and dexterity, so that he himself kept his feet,
+although his horse fell as aforesaid. Then he was filled with great rage
+and shame that he had been so overthrown before all those who looked upon
+him; wherefore he immediately drew his sword and cried out aloud: "Come
+down, Sir Knight, and do battle with me afoot, for though my horse hath
+failed me because of his weariness, yet you shall find that my body shall
+not so fail me."
+
+But that while Sir Tristram sat very sorrowful, and he said: "Nay, I will
+not have to do with thee again this day, for it was against my will that I
+came hither to do battle with thee, and it is to my shame that I did so.
+Wherefore I will not now do further battle with thee. But wait until
+to-morrow and until thou art fresh, and then I will give thee the chance of
+battle again."
+
+To this Sir Lamorack made answer very bitterly: "Sir, I think you talk to
+amuse me; for first you put shame upon me in this encounter, and then you
+bid me wait until to-morrow ere I purge me of that shame. Now I demand of
+you to do battle with me upon this moment and not to-morrow."
+
+Sir Tristram said: "I will not do battle with thee, Lamorack, for I have
+done wrong already, and I will not do more wrong."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Lamorack reproves Sir Tristram] Upon this, Sir Lamorack was
+so filled with anger that he scarce knew what to say or to do. Wherefore he
+turned him to several who had come down into the meadow of battle, and he
+said: "Hear ye all, and listen to my words: This knight came against me in
+this field after I had had to do with fifteen other knights. In that
+encounter he overthrew me, because of the weariness of my horse. Having
+done that unknightly deed, he now refuseth me any further test of battle,
+but allows me to lie beneath that shame which he put upon me. Now I bid you
+who stand here to take this word to Sir Launcelot of the Lake; I bid ye
+tell Sir Launcelot that Sir Tristram of Lyonesse, having sworn
+brother-hood-in-arms to me, and being a fellow-knight of the Round Table,
+hath come against me when I was weary with battle and he was fresh. Tell
+Sir Launcelot that so Sir Tristram overthrew me with shame to himself and
+with discredit to me, and that he then refused me all satisfaction such as
+one true knight should afford another."
+
+Then Sir Tristram cried out in a loud voice, "I pray you, hear me speak,
+Messire!" But Sir Lamorack replied, "I will not hear thee!" and therewith
+turned and went away, leaving Sir Tristram where he was. And Sir Tristram
+sat there without movement, like to a statue of stone.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Lamorack leaves Tintagel] After that Sir Lamorack did not
+tarry longer at Tintagel, but immediately left the King's court without
+making speech with anyone. And thereafter he went down to the seashore and
+embarked in a boat with intent to sail to Camelot where King Arthur was
+then holding court. For his heart was still so bitter against Sir Tristram
+that he intended to lay complaint against him before the court of chivalry
+at Camelot.
+
+But Sir Lamorack did not reach Camelot upon that voyage; for, whilst he was
+in passage, there suddenly arose a great tempest of wind, and in spite of
+all that the mariners could do, that small ship wherein he sailed was
+driven upon a cruel headland of rocks and cliffs where it was dashed to
+pieces.
+
+But Sir Lamorack had foreseen that that small boat was to be wrecked,
+wherefore, before the end came, he stripped himself entirely naked and
+leaped into the waters and swam for his life.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Lamorack is shipwrecked upon a strange land] So he swam for
+a long time until he was wellnigh exhausted and upon the point of drowning
+in the waters. But at that moment he came by good hap to where was a little
+bay of quiet water, whereinto he swam and so made shift to come safe to
+land--but faint and weak, and so sick that he feared that he was nigh to
+death. Then Sir Lamorack perceived that there was heather at that place
+growing upon the rocks of the hillside, so he crawled into the heather and
+lay him down therein in a dry spot and immediately fell into such a deep
+sleep of weariness that it was more like to the swoon of death than to
+slumber.
+
+[Sidenote: Of Sir Nabon le Noir] Now the lord of that country whereunto
+Sir Lamorack had come was a very wicked knight, huge of frame and very
+cruel and hard of heart. The name of this knight was Sir Nabon, surnamed le
+Noir; for he was very swarth of hue, and he always wore armor entirely of
+black. This knight had several years before slain the lord of that land,
+and had seized upon all of the island as his own possession, and no one
+dared to come against him for to recover these possessions, for his prowess
+was so remarkable and his body so huge that all the world was afraid of
+him. So he dwelt there unmolested in a strong castle of stone built up upon
+a rock near to the seashore, whence he might behold all the ships that
+passed him by. Then, whenever he would see such a ship pass by, he would
+issue forth in his own ships and seize upon that other vessel, and either
+levy toll upon it or sink it with all upon board. And if he found any folk
+of high quality aboard such a ship, that one he would seize and hold for
+ransom. So Sir Nabon made himself the terror of all that part of the world,
+and all men avoided the coasts of so inhospitable a country. Such was the
+land upon which Sir Lamorack had been cast by the tempest.
+
+[Sidenote: The fisher-folk disarm Sir Lamorack] Now whilst Sir Lamorack
+lay sleeping in the heather in that wise as aforetold, there came by that
+way several fisher-folk; these, when they saw him lying there, thought at
+first that he was dead. But as they stood talking concerning him, Sir
+Lamorack was aware of their voices and woke and sat up and beheld them.
+
+Then the chiefest of those fisher-folk spake and said, "Who are you, and
+how came you here?" Him Sir Lamorack answered: "Alas! friend! I am a poor
+soul who was cast ashore from a shipwreck, naked as you see me. Now I pray
+you, give me some clothes to cover my nakedness, and give me some food to
+eat, and lend me such succor as man may give to man in distress."
+
+Then the chief fisherman perceived the ring upon Sir Lamorack's finger that
+Sir Tristram had given him, and he said, "How got you that ring upon your
+finger?" Sir Lamorack said, "He who was my friend gave it to me." "Well,"
+quoth the fisherman, "I will give you clothes to wear and food to eat, but
+if I do so you must give me that ring that I see upon your hand. As for
+lending you aid, I must tell you that the lord of this island hath ordained
+upon peril of our lives that all who come hither must straightway be
+brought before him to be dealt with as he may deem fitting. Wherefore,
+after I have fed you and clothed you I must immediately take you to him."
+
+[Sidenote: The fisher-folk give Sir Lamorack clothes and food] "Alas!"
+quoth Sir Lamorack, "this is certes an inhospitable land into which I have
+come! Ne'ertheless, as I am naked and starving, I see that I have no choice
+other than that which ye put upon me." So therewith he gave the chief of
+the fisher-folk the ring that Sir Tristram had given him, and in return the
+fishermen gave him such garments as they could spare to cover his
+nakedness; and they gave him black bread and cheese to eat, and bitter ale
+to drink from a skin that they carried with them. After that they tied Sir
+Lamorack's hands behind his back, and so, having made him prisoner, they
+brought him to the castle of Sir Nabon, and before Sir Nabon who was there
+at that time.
+
+Now it chanced that the swineherd of Sir Nabon's castle had been slain in a
+quarrel with one of his fellows, so that when Sir Nabon beheld Sir
+Lamorack, that he was big and sturdy of frame, he said: "I will spare this
+fellow his life, but I will make him my swineherd. So take ye him away and
+let him herd my swine."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Lamorack turns swineherd] So they led Sir Lamorack away,
+and he became swineherd to Sir Nabon surnamed le Noir, and presently in a
+little while he grew so rough and shaggy that his own mother would hardly
+have known him had she beheld him.
+
+So endeth this adventure of Sir Lamorack. And now it shall be told how it
+befel with Sir Tristram after Sir Lamorack had left Tintagel as aforetold.
+
+[Illustration: Sir Tristram cometh to ye castle of Sir Nabon]
+
+
+
+
+Chapter Second
+
+
+_How Sir Tristram started to go to Camelot, and how he stayed by the way to
+do battle with Sir Nabon le Noir._
+
+Now after Sir Lamorack had quit the court of King Mark of Cornwall as
+aforetold, Sir Tristram was very sad at heart for a long while.
+Nevertheless, he tried to comfort himself by saying: "Well, it was not by
+my will that I did battle with my friend and brother-in-arms, for I had no
+choice as to that which I was compelled to do." So he spake to himself, and
+took what comfort he was able from such considerations, and that comfort
+was not very great.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot sends a letter to Sir Tristram] Then one day
+there came from Sir Launcelot of the Lake a letter in which Sir Launcelot
+said that he had heard that Sir Tristram had assailed Sir Lamorack when
+that knight was weary and spent with battle. And in that letter Sir
+Launcelot further said: "It is very strange to me, Messire, that such
+things should be said of you, and that by several mouths. Now, I pray you,
+set this matter at right, for I do not choose to have such a thing said of
+you; that you would wait until a knight was weary with fighting before you
+would do battle with him. Moreover, Sir Lamorack is your sworn
+brother-at-arms, and a fellow-knight of the Round Table, and is, besides,
+one of the noblest and gentlest knights in Christendom. Wherefore I beseech
+you to set this matter right, so that those who accuse you of
+unknightliness may be brought to confusion."
+
+So wrote Sir Launcelot, and at those words Sir Tristram was cast into a
+great deal of pain and trouble of spirit; for he wist not how to answer
+that letter of Sir Launcelot's so as to make the matter clear to that
+knight. Wherefore he said: "I will straightway go to Camelot and to Sir
+Launcelot and will speak to him by word of mouth, and so will make him
+understand why I did that which I had to do."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram rides to Camelot] So when the next day had come
+Sir Tristram arose and took horse and rode away from Tintagel with intent
+to betake himself to Camelot where King Arthur was then holding court, and
+where he might hope to find Sir Launcelot abiding. And Sir Tristram took no
+companion with him, not even Gouvernail.
+
+And now I shall tell you how Sir Tristram rode: the way that he took led
+him down by the seashore, and by and by to a deep forest, which was then
+nearly altogether devoid of leaves, so that the branches above him were in
+some places like to the meshes of a net spread against the sky. Here that
+young knight rode upon a deep carpet of leaves, so that the steps of his
+war-horse were silenced save only for the loud and continued rustling of
+his footfalls in the dry and yellow foliage. And as Sir Tristram rode he
+sang several songs in praise of the Lady Belle Isoult, chanting in a voice
+that was both clear and loud and very sweet, and that sounded to a great
+distance through the deep, silent aisles of the forest.
+
+Thus he travelled, anon singing as aforetold of, and anon sank in
+meditation, so travelling until the day declined and the early gray of the
+evening began to fall. Then he began to bethink him how he should spend the
+night, and he thought he would have to sleep abroad in the forest. But just
+as the gray of the evening was fading away into darkness he came to a
+certain place of open land, where, before him, he perceived a tall castle,
+partly of stone and partly of red bricks, built up upon a steep hill of
+rocks. And upon one side of this castle was the forest, and upon the other
+side was the wide and open stretch of sea.
+
+And Sir Tristram perceived that there were lights shining from several
+windows of that castle, and that all within was aglow with red as of a
+great fire in the hall of the castle; and at these signs of good cheer, his
+heart was greatly expanded with joy that he should not after all have to
+spend that night in the darkness and in the chill of the autumn wilds.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram comes to a friendly castle] So Sir Tristram set
+spurs to his good horse and rode up to the castle and made request for rest
+and refreshment for the night. Then, after a little parley, the drawbridge
+was lowered, and the portcullis was raised, and he rode with a great noise
+into the stone-paved courtyard of the castle.
+
+Thereupon there came several attendants of the castle, and took his horse
+and aided him to descend from the saddle; and then other attendants came
+and led him away into the castle and so to an apartment where there was a
+warm bath of tepid water, and where were soft towels and napkins of linen
+for to dry himself upon after he was bathed. And when he had bathed and
+refreshed himself, there came still other attendants bearing soft warm
+robes for him in which to clothe himself after his journey; and Sir
+Tristram clothed himself and felt greatly at his ease, and was glad that he
+had come to that place.
+
+For thus it was that worthy knights like Sir Tristram travelled the world
+in those days so long ago; and so they were received in castle and hall
+with great pleasure and hospitality. For all folk knew the worth of these
+noble gentlemen and were glad to make them welcome whithersoever they went.
+And so I have told to you how Sir Tristram travelled, that you might,
+perchance, find pleasure in the thought thereof.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram meets the lady of the castle] Now after Sir
+Tristram had refreshed himself and clothed himself as aforesaid, there came
+the steward of the castle and besought him that he would come to where the
+lady of the castle was awaiting him for to welcome him. And Sir Tristram
+went with the steward, and the steward brought him where the lady sat at a
+table prepared for supper. And Sir Tristram perceived that the lady was
+very beautiful, but that she was clad in the deep weeds of a widow.
+
+When the lady perceived Sir Tristram, she arose and went to meet him, and
+gave him welcome, speaking in a voice both soft and very sweet. "Messire,"
+quoth she, "I am grieved that there is no man here to welcome you in such a
+manner as is fitting. But, alas! as you may see by the weeds in which I am
+clad, I am alone in the world and without any lord of the castle to do the
+courtesies thereof as is fitting. Yet such as I am, I give you welcome with
+my entire heart."
+
+"Lady," quoth Sir Tristram, "I give you gramercy for your courtesy. And
+indeed I am grieved to see you in such sorrow as your dress foretells. Now
+if there is any service I may render to you, I beseech you to call upon me
+for whatever aid I may give you."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram feasts with the chatelaine] "Nay," quoth she,
+"there is nothing you can do to help me." And therewith the lady, who was
+hight Loise, took Sir Tristram by the hand and led him to the table and sat
+him down beside her. Then straightway there came sundry attendants, and set
+a noble feast before them, with good excellent wines, both white and red;
+and they two ate and drank together with great appetite and enjoyment.
+
+Now after that feast was over and done, Sir Tristram said: "Lady, will you
+not of your courtesy tell me why you wear the weeds of sorrow in which you
+are clad? This I ask, not from idle humor, but because, as I said before, I
+may haply be able to aid you in whatever trouble it is under which you
+lie."
+
+[Sidenote: The Lady telleth Sir Tristram of Sir Nabon le Noir] "Alas, Sir
+Knight!" quoth she, "my trouble lieth beyond your power to aid or to amend.
+For can you conquer death, or can you bring the dead back to life again?
+Nevertheless, I will tell you what my sorrow is, and how it came unto me.
+You must know that some distance away across the sea, which you may behold
+from yonder window, there lieth an island. The present lord of that island
+is a very wicked and cruel knight, huge of frame and big of limb, hight Sir
+Nabon surnamed le Noir. One time the noble and gentle knight who was my
+husband was the lord of that island and the castle thereon, and of several
+other castles and manors and estates upon this mainland as well. But one
+evil day when I and my lord were together upon that island, this Sir Nabon
+came thither by night, and with certain evil-disposed folk of the island he
+overcame my lord and slew him very treacherously. Me also he would have
+slain, or else have taken into shameful captivity, but, hearing the noise
+of that assault in which my lord was slain, I happily escaped, and so, when
+night had come, I got away from that island with several attendants who
+were faithful to me, and thus came to this castle where we are. Since that
+time Sir Nabon has held that castle as his own, ruling it in a very evil
+fashion. For you are to know that the castle sits very high upon the crags
+overlooking the sea, and whenever a vessel passeth by that way, Sir Nabon
+goeth forth to meet it; and upon some of these crafts he levies toll, and
+other ships he sinks after slaying the mariners and sailor-folk who may by
+evil hap be aboard thereof. And if anyone is by chance cast ashore upon
+that island, that one he either slays or holds for ransom, or makes thereof
+a slave for to serve him. Because of this, very few ships now go by that
+way, for all people shun the coasts of so evil a country as that. So Sir
+Nabon took that land away from me; nor have I any kin who will take up this
+quarrel for me, and so I must endure my losses as best I may."
+
+"Ha!" quoth Sir Tristram, "and is there then no good knight-champion in
+this country who will rid the world of such an evil being as that Sir Nabon
+of whom you speak?"
+
+"Nay," said the lady, "there is no one who cares to offer challenge to that
+knight, for he is as strong and as doughty as he is huge of frame, and he
+is as fierce and cruel as he is strong and masterful, wherefore all men
+hold him in terror and avoid him."
+
+"Well," said Sir Tristram, "meseems it is the business of any knight to rid
+the world of such a monster as that, whatever may be the danger to himself.
+Now as there is no knight hereabouts who hath heart to undertake such an
+adventure, I myself shall undertake it so soon as to-morrow shall have
+come."
+
+"Sir," said the lady, "I beseech you to think twice before you enter into
+such an affair as that. Or rather be ruled by me and do not undertake this
+quest at all; for I misdoubt that anyone could conquer this huge and
+powerful champion, even if that knight were such as Sir Launcelot of the
+Lake or Sir Tristram of Lyonesse."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram confesses his degree to the chatelaine] At this
+Sir Tristram laughed with great good-will, and he said, "Lady, do you not
+then know who I am?" "Nay," said she, "I know you not." "Well," said Sir
+Tristram, "then I may tell you that I am that Sir Tristram of Lyonesse of
+whom you spoke just now. And I also tell you that I shall undertake this
+adventure to-morrow morning."
+
+Now when the lady found that the stranger she had taken in was Sir Tristram
+of Lyonesse, she made great exclamation of surprise and pleasure at having
+him at that place, for at that time all the world was talking of Sir
+Tristram's performances. So she took great pleasure and pride that her
+castle should have given him shelter. She made many inquiries concerning
+his adventures, and Sir Tristram told her all she asked of him.
+
+Then the lady said: "Messire, I hear tell that you sing very sweetly, and
+that you are a wonderful harper upon the harp. Now will you not chaunt for
+me a song or two or three?" And Sir Tristram said: "Lady, I will do
+whatsoever you ask me that may give you pleasure."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram sings to the lady] So the lady bade them bring a
+harp and they did so. And Sir Tristram took the harp and set it before him
+and tuned it and played upon it, and sang so sweetly that they of the
+castle said: "Certes, this is no knight-errant who sings, but an angel from
+Paradise who hath come among us. For surely no one save an angel from
+Paradise could sing so enchantingly."
+
+So passed that evening very pleasantly until the hours waxed late. Then Sir
+Tristram retired to a very noble apartment where a soft couch spread with
+flame-colored linen had been prepared for him, and where he slept a soft
+sleep without disturbance of any kind.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram departs for the island of Sir Nabon] Now when the
+next morning had come, Sir Tristram armed himself and mounted upon his
+war-horse, and rode him to a certain place on the shore. There he found
+some mariners in haven with a large boat, and to these he paid ten pieces
+of silver money to bear him across the sea to that island where Sir Nabon
+le Noir abided. At first these mariners said they would not sail to such a
+coast of danger and death; but afterward they said they would, and they did
+do so. But still they would not bring Sir Tristram to land nigh to the
+castle, but only at a place that was a great way off, and where they deemed
+themselves to be more safe from the cruel lord of that land.
+
+As for Sir Tristram he made merry with their fear, saying: "It is well that
+we who are knights-errant have more courage than you who are sailor-men,
+else it would not be possible that monsters such as this Sir Nabon should
+ever be made an end of."
+
+Upon this the captain of these sailors replied: "Well, Messire, for the
+matter of that, it is true that mariners such as we have not much courage,
+for we are the first of our order who have dared to come hither. But it is
+also true that you are the first errant-knight who hath ever had courage to
+come hither. So what say you for the courage of your own order?" And at
+that Sir Tristram laughed with great good will and rode his way.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram arrives at the castle of Sir Nabon] Thereafter he
+rode forward along the coast of that land for several leagues, with the
+noise of the sea ever beating in his ears, and the shrill clamor of the
+sea-fowl ever sounding in the air about him. By and by he came to a place
+of certain high fells, and therefrom perceived before him in the distance a
+tall and forbidding castle standing upon a high headland of the coast. And
+the castle was built of stone, that was like the rocks upon which it stood,
+so that at first one could not tell whether what one beheld was a part of
+the cliffs or whether it was the habitation of man. But when Sir Tristram
+had come somewhat nearer, he perceived the windows of the castle shining
+against the sky, and he saw the gateway thereof, and the roofs and the
+chimneys thereof, so that he knew that it was a castle of great size and
+strength and no wall of rock as he had at first supposed it to be; and he
+wist that this must be the castle of that wicked and malignant knight, Sir
+Nabon, whom he sought.
+
+Now as Sir Tristram wended his way toward that castle by a crooked path
+meditating how he should come at Sir Nabon for to challenge him to battle,
+he was by and by aware of a fellow clad in pied black and white, who walked
+along the way in the direction that he himself was taking. At the first
+that fellow was not aware of Sir Tristram; then presently he was aware of
+him and turned him about, and beheld that a strange knight was riding
+rapidly down toward him upon a horse.
+
+Then at first that fellow stood like one struck with amazement; but in a
+moment he cried out aloud as with a great fear, and instantly turned again
+and ran away, yelling like one who had gone mad.
+
+But Sir Tristram thundered after him at speed, and, in a little, came up
+with him, and catched him by the collar of his jerkin and held him fast.
+And Sir Tristram said: "Fellow, who are you?"
+
+"Lord," quoth the fellow, "I am an attendant upon the knight of yonder
+castle, which same is hight Sir Nabon surnamed le Noir."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram talks with a knave of the earth] Then Sir Tristram
+said: "Sirrah, why did you run from me when you first beheld me?" And the
+fellow replied: "Messire, you are the first stranger who hath dared to come
+hither to this country; wherefore, seeing you, and seeing that you rode
+upon horseback, and not knowing how you came to this land, I wist not
+whether you were a man of flesh and blood, or whether you were a spirit
+come hither for to punish us for our sins; so I ran away from you."
+
+"Well," said Sir Tristram, "as you see, I am no spirit, but a man of flesh
+and blood. Yet I have great hope that I have indeed been sent hither for to
+punish those who have done evil, for I come hither seeking the knight of
+yonder castle for to do battle with him in behalf of that lady whose lord
+he slew so treacherously as I have heard tell. And I hope to take away from
+him this island and return it to the Lady Loise, to whom it belongeth."
+
+"Alas, Messire," quoth the fellow, "this is for you a very sorry quest upon
+which you have come. For this Sir Nabon whom you seek is accounted to be
+the most potent knight in all of the world. Yea; he is held to be a bigger
+knight than even Sir Launcelot of the Lake or Sir Tristram of Lyonesse or
+Sir Lamorack of Gales. Wherefore I beseech you to turn about and go away
+whither you have come whilst there is still the chance for you to escape."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram sends challenge to Sir Nabon] "Gramercy for your
+pity, good fellow," quoth Sir Tristram, "and may God grant that it may not
+be deserved. Nevertheless, in spite of the danger in this quest, I am still
+of the same mind as I was when I came hither. So do you presently go to
+your lord and tell him from me that a knight hath come to do battle with
+him upon the behalf of the lady to whom this island by rights belongeth."
+
+Therewith Sir Tristram let the fellow go, and he ran off with great speed
+and so away to the postern of the castle and entered in and shut the door
+behind him.
+
+Now at that time Sir Nabon le Noir was walking along the wall of the
+castle, and his son, who was a lad of seventeen years, was with him. There
+the messenger from Sir Tristram found him and delivered his message.
+Thereupon Sir Nabon looked over the battlements and down below and he
+beheld that there was indeed a tall and noble knight seated upon horseback
+in a level meadow that reached away, descending inland from the foot of the
+crags whereon the castle stood.
+
+But when Sir Nabon perceived that a stranger knight had dared to come thus
+into his country, he was filled with amazement at the boldness of that
+knight that he wist not what to think. Then, presently a great rage got
+hold upon him, and he ground his teeth together, and the cords on his neck
+stood out like knots on the trunk of a tree. For a while he stood as though
+bereft of speech; then anon he roared out in a voice like that of a bull,
+crying to those who were near him: "Go! Haste ye! Fetch me straightway my
+horse and armor and I will go immediately forth and so deal with yonder
+champion of ladies that he shall never take trouble upon their account
+again."
+
+Then those who were in attendance upon Sir Nabon were terrified at his
+words and ran with all speed to do his bidding, and presently fetched his
+armor and clad him in it; and they fetched his horse into the courtyard of
+the castle and helped him to mount upon it. And lo! the armor of Sir Nabon
+was as black as ink; and the great horse upon which he sat was black; and
+all the trappings and furniture of the armor and of the horse were black,
+so that from top to toe he was altogether as black and as forbidding as
+Death himself.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Nabon rides forth to meet Sir Tristram] So when Sir Nabon
+was thus in all wise prepared for battle, the portcullis of the castle was
+lifted up, and he rode forth to meet Sir Tristram; and his young son rode
+with him as his esquire. Then all the people of the castle gathered
+together upon the walls to see that battle that was to be, and not one of
+those several score of folk thought otherwise than that Sir Tristram would
+certainly be overcome in that encounter.
+
+Sir Nabon rode straight up to Sir Tristram and he said very fiercely,
+"Sirrah, what is it brings you hither to this land?"
+
+"As to that," said Sir Tristram, "the messenger whom I have sent to you
+hath, I believe, told you what I come for, and that it is to redeem this
+island from your possession, and to restore it to the Lady Loise, to whom
+it belongeth. Likewise that I come to punish you for all the evil you have
+done."
+
+"And what business is all this of yours?" quoth Sir Nabon, speaking with
+great fury of voice.
+
+"Messire," quoth Sir Tristram, "know ye not that it is the business of
+every true knight to rid the world of all such evil monsters as you be?"
+
+"Ha!" quoth Sir Nabon, "that was very well said, for whatever mercy I
+should have been willing before this to show you hath now been forfeited
+unto you. For now I shall have no mercy upon you but shall slay you."
+
+"Well," quoth Sir Tristram, "as for that, meseems it will be time enough to
+offer me mercy after you have overcome me in battle."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram does battle with Sir Nabon] So thereupon each
+knight took his place for assault, and when they were in all ways prepared,
+each set spurs to his horse and dashed the one against the other, with a
+dreadful, terrible fury of onset. Each smote the other in the very midst of
+his shield, and at that blow the lance of each was altogether shivered into
+pieces to the very truncheon thereof. But each knight recovered his horse
+from the fall and each leaped to earth and drew his sword, and each rushed
+against the other with such fury that it was as though sparks of pure fire
+flew out from the oculariums of the helmets. Therewith they met together,
+and each lashed and smote at the other such fell strokes that the noise
+thereof might easily have been heard several furlongs away. Now in the
+beginning of that battle Sir Tristram was at first sore bestead and wist
+that he had met the biggest knight that ever he had encountered in all of
+his life, unless it was Sir Launcelot of the Lake, whom he had encountered
+as aforetold of in this history. So at first he bore back somewhat from the
+might of the blows of Sir Nabon. For Sir Nabon was so huge of frame and the
+blows he struck were so heavy that they drove Sir Tristram back as it were
+in spite of himself.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram slays Sir Nabon] Then Sir Tristram began to say to
+himself: "Tristram, if you indeed lose this battle, then there will be no
+one to defend your honor before Sir Launcelot who hath impeached it."
+Therewith it was as though new strength and life came back to him, and of a
+sudden he rushed that battle, and struck with threefold fury, and gave
+stroke upon stroke with such fierceness of strength that Sir Nabon was
+astonished and fell back before his assault. Then Sir Tristram perceived
+how Sir Nabon held his shield passing low, and therewith he rushed in upon
+him and smote him again and again and yet again. And so he smote Sir Nabon
+down upon his knees. Then he rushed in upon him and catched his helmet and
+plucked it off from his head. And he catched Sir Nabon by the hair of his
+head and drew his head forward. And Sir Tristram lifted his sword on high
+and he smote Sir Nabon's head from off his body so that it rolled down into
+the dust upon the ground.
+
+Now when the son of Sir Nabon perceived how that his father was slain, he
+shrieked like a woman. And he fell down upon his knees and crawled upon his
+knees to Sir Tristram and catched him about the thighs, crying out to him,
+"Spare me, and slay me not!"
+
+But Sir Tristram thrust him away and said, "Who art thou?"
+
+"Messire," said the youth, "I am the son of him whom thou hast just slain."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram slays the son of Sir Nabon] Then Sir Tristram
+looked closely into his face, and he perceived that it was wicked and
+treacherous and malevolent like to the face of Sir Nabon. Thereupon Sir
+Tristram said: "If a man shall slay the wolf and spare the whelp of the
+wolf, what shall the world be the better therefor?" Therewith he catched
+the son of Sir Nabon by the hair and dragged him down and smote off his
+head likewise as he had smitten off the head of his father, so that it fell
+upon the ground beside the head of Sir Nabon.
+
+And now it shall be told how Sir Tristram discovered Sir Lamorack upon the
+island and how he made amends to him, so that they became friends and
+brethren-in-arms once more as they had been before.
+
+[Illustration: Sir Lamorack herds the swine of Sir Nabon]
+
+
+
+
+Chapter Third
+
+
+_How Sir Tristram did justice in the island, and thereby released Sir
+Lamorack from captivity. Also how Sir Tristram and Sir Lamorack renewed
+their great tenderness toward one another._
+
+Now after Sir Tristram had overcome Sir Nabon le Noir, and had slain the
+son of Sir Nabon as has been just told, he went straightway to the castle
+that had been Sir Nabon's, and commanded that they should bring forth the
+seneschal and the officers thereof unto him. Meantime, being a little
+wounded in that battle, he sat himself down upon a bench of wood that stood
+in the hall of the castle, and there he held his court.
+
+So, in a little while, there came the seneschal and several of the officers
+of the household to where Sir Tristram was, and when the seneschal came
+before Sir Tristram, he fell down upon his knees and besought pardon and
+mercy.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram talks with the castle help] Then Sir Tristram
+said: "I will consider thy case anon, and if I may assure myself that thou
+and these others are truly repentant, and if I may have assurity that ye
+will henceforth be faithful in your duty toward that lady who is now again
+the mistress of this castle and land, then I shall have mercy. But if ye
+show yourselves recreant and treacherous, according to the manners of this
+Sir Nabon who is dead, then I shall of a surety return hither and shall
+punish you even as ye beheld me punish that wicked knight and his young
+son."
+
+Then Sir Tristram said, "Who is the porter of this castle?" And the porter
+lifted his hand and said, "Lord, I am he." Sir Tristram said, "What
+captives have ye in this place?" The porter said: "Lord, there be four
+knights and three ladies who are held captive here for ransom." Then Sir
+Tristram said, "Bring them forth hither to me."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram comforts the captives] So the porter and several
+other of the castle folk departed with all speed and presently returned
+bringing with them those miserable captives whom they had liberated from
+the dungeons of the castle. These they led to where Sir Tristram still sat
+in justice upon the bench of wood. And Sir Tristram looked upon them with
+pity and beheld that they were in a very sad and forlorn condition and so
+sorrowful from their captivity that some of them wept from pure weakness of
+heart. Then Sir Tristram said: "Comfort ye, and take no more sorrow to
+yourselves, for now your troubles are past and gone, and happiness lieth
+before you. Sir Nabon is dead, and so is his son, and there is no one now
+to torment you. Moreover, I dare say that there is much treasure gathered
+at this place by Sir Nabon, and all that treasure shall be divided amongst
+you, for to comfort ye, wherefore when ye leave this place, ye shall go
+away a great deal richer than ye were when ye came."
+
+So spake Sir Tristram, promising them much for to comfort them a little.
+
+As to that treasure he spake of, ye shall immediately be told how it was.
+For when Sir Tristram had summoned the treasurer of that place, he brought
+Sir Tristram down into the vaults of the castle and there he beheld seven
+strong chests bolted and locked. Then Sir Tristram summoned the locksmith
+of that castle; and the smith came and burst open the chests; and lo! the
+eyes of all were astonished and bedazzled with the treasure which they
+therewith beheld; for in those chests was heaped an incalculable treasure
+of gold and silver and precious gems of many divers sorts.
+
+And besides this treasure, you are to know that they found in that vault
+many bales of cloths--some of silk and velvet, and some of tissues of cloth
+of gold and silver; and they found many precious ornaments, and many fine
+suits of armor, and many other valuable things. For in several years Sir
+Nabon had gathered all that treasure in toll from those ships that had
+sailed past that land.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram divides the treasure amongst the captives] All
+this treasure Sir Tristram had them bring forth into the light of day, and
+he divided it into seven equal parcels. Then he said to those sad,
+sorrowful captives: "Look! See! all this shall be yours for to comfort ye!
+Take each of you one parcel and depart hence in joy!" Then all they were
+greatly astonished at Sir Tristram's generosity, and they said: "Lord, how
+is this? Do you not then take any of this treasure for yourself?"
+
+To them Sir Tristram made reply: "Nay, why should I take it? I am not sad,
+nor sick, nor troubled at heart as you poor captives are. All this I have
+taken for to comfort you, and not for to satisfy my own covetousness. So
+let each take his share of it and see that ye all use it in comfort and
+peace and for the advantage of other men and women who are in trouble as ye
+have been. For, as hitherto this treasure hath been used for evil purpose,
+so shall it be henceforth that it shall be used to good purpose."
+
+So there was great rejoicing amongst all those poor people who had been so
+sad and sorrowful before.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram appoints Sir Segwarides governor of the castle]
+Now, after all this had been settled, Sir Tristram cast about how he might
+put that land under good government upon behalf of the Lady Loise. To this
+intent he chose from amongst those captives whom he had liberated a certain
+very worthy honorable knight of Cornwall hight Sir Segwarides. Him Sir
+Tristram appointed to be governor of that island, giving him liberty to
+rule it as he chose saving only that he should do homage to the Lady Loise
+as lady paramount. And Sir Tristram ordained that Sir Segwarides should pay
+tribute to that lady every year such an amount as should be justly
+determined upon betwixt them. For Sir Tristram wist that some strong worthy
+knight should rule that island, or else, from its position, it might again
+some time fall from the Lady Loise's possession into the hands of such an
+evil and malignant overlord as Sir Nabon had been.
+
+So it was done as Sir Tristram had ordained. And it may here be said that
+Sir Segwarides ruled that land very justly and that he and the Lady Loise
+became dear friends, so that at the end of three years from that time he
+and she were made husband and wife.
+
+Now Sir Tristram remained in that island several days, with intent to see
+to it that the power of Sir Segwarides should be established. And he made
+all the people of that land come before Sir Segwarides for to pledge
+obedience to him.
+
+Amongst these came Sir Lamorack in the guise of a swineherd, and Sir
+Tristram knew him not, because that he was clad in rags and in the skins of
+animals and because that his beard and his hair were uncut and unkempt, and
+hung down very shaggy upon his breast. But Sir Lamorack knew Sir Tristram
+yet would not acknowledge him, being ashamed that Sir Tristram should
+discover him in such a guise and so ragged and forlorn as he then was. So
+he kept his eyes from Sir Tristram, and Sir Tristram passed him by and knew
+him not.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram beholds Sir Lamorack's ring] But amongst other of
+the people of the castle that passed before Sir Tristram, there came a
+woman, very fair to look upon, and she had been a house-slave to Sir Nabon.
+As this woman passed before Sir Tristram, he beheld that she wore upon her
+thumb a very fair and shining ring, that bare a green stone set in wrought
+gold. And when he looked again he saw it was that ring of carven emerald
+that he had given to Sir Lamorack as aforetold.
+
+At this Sir Tristram was astonished beyond measure, and he ordered that
+woman to come before him, and she came and stood before him trembling. Then
+Sir Tristram said: "Fear not, but tell me where got ye that ring that I
+behold upon your hand?" And the woman said: "Lord, I will tell you the very
+truth. My husband is the chief fisherman of this place, and one day, some
+while ago, he gave me this ring when I had favor in his sight."
+
+Sir Tristram said, "Where is your husband?" The slave-woman said, "Yonder
+he stands." Then Sir Tristram said: "Come hither, Sirrah!" And therewith
+the fisherman came and stood before Sir Tristram as his wife had done, and
+he also trembled with fear as she had done.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram questions the fisherman] To him Sir Tristram said,
+"Why do you tremble so?" And the fisher-man said, "Lord, I am afeard!" Sir
+Tristram said: "Have no fear, unless you have done wrong, but tell me the
+truth. Where got ye that ring that yonder woman weareth?" "Lord," said the
+fisherman, "I will tell you the perfect truth. One day I and several of my
+fellows found a man lying naked in a bed of heather near the seaside. At
+first we thought he was dead, but he awoke and arose when he heard our
+voices. He was naked and hungry, and he besought us for clothes to cover
+his nakedness and for food to eat. So we gave him what we could, demanding
+that ring in payment. So he gave the ring to me, who am the chief of the
+fishermen, and I gave it to that woman who is my wife; and that, lord, is
+the very truth."
+
+Then Sir Tristram was very much disturbed in mind, for he feared that it
+might have gone ill with Sir Lamorack. And he said, "Where now is that man
+of whom ye speak?" The fisherman replied: "Lord, he was set to keep the
+swine, and he is the swineherd of the castle to this day."
+
+At this Sir Tristram was very glad that no more ill had befallen Sir
+Lamorack, and that he was yet alive.
+
+Then, after the fisherman had departed from that place, Sir Tristram sat
+for a while sunk into deep thought. And he said to himself: "Alas, that so
+noble a knight should be brought to such a pass as that! How greatly must
+my friend be abased when he would not acknowledge himself to me nor claim
+my assistance because of the shame of his appearance! Meseems it is not
+fitting for me to send for him to come to me in the guise which he now
+wears, for it would be discourteous a thing for me to do, to make him so
+declare himself. So first I shall see to it that he is clothed in such a
+manner as shall be fitting to his high estate, and then haply he will be
+willing to make himself manifest to me. After that, perhaps his love will
+return to me again, and remain with me as it was at first."
+
+So Sir Tristram called to him several of the people of that castle, and he
+bade them do certain things according to his command, and straightway they
+departed to do as he ordained.
+
+Now turn we to Sir Lamorack: whilst he sat keeping watch over his swine
+there came to him four men from the castle. These say to him, "You must
+come straightway with us." Sir Lamorack said, "Whither would you take me?"
+They say: "That we are not permitted to tell you, only that you are to go
+with us as we bid you."
+
+So Sir Lamorack arose and went with those four, much wondering what it was
+that was to befall him, and whether that which was to happen was good or
+evil.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Lamorack is brought to the castle] The four men brought him
+to the castle and they entered in thereat, and they escorted Sir Lamorack,
+still greatly wondering, up the stairway of the castle, and so into a noble
+and stately apartment, hung with tapestries and embroidered hangings. And
+there Sir Lamorack beheld a great bath of tepid water, hung within and
+without with linen. There were at this place several attendants; these took
+Sir Lamorack and unclothed him and brought him to the bath, and bathed him
+and dried him with soft linen and with fine towels. Then there came the
+barber and he shaved Sir Lamorack and clipped his hair, and when he was
+thus bathed and trimmed, his nobility shone forth again as the sun shines
+forth from a thick cloud that hides its effulgence for a while, only to
+withdraw so that the glorious day-star may shine forth again with redoubled
+splendor.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Lamorack is armed in armor] Then there came divers other
+attendants and clothed Sir Lamorack in rich and handsome garments such as
+were altogether fitting for a knight-royal to wear. And after that there
+came several esquires and brought a very splendid suit of armor; and they
+clad Sir Lamorack in that armor; and the armor gleamed as bright as
+daylight, being polished to a wonderful clearness, and inlaid with figures
+of arabesqued silver.
+
+Then Sir Lamorack said, "What means all this that ye do to me?" And they
+said, "Wait, Messire, and you shall see."
+
+So after all these things were done, five other esquires appeared to
+conduct Sir Lamorack away from that place. These led him through several
+passages and hallways until at last they came to a great space of hall
+wherein stood a single man; and that man was Sir Tristram.
+
+And Sir Tristram gazed upon Sir Lamorack and his heart yearned over him
+with great loving-kindness. But he would not betray his love to those who
+had come with Sir Lamorack, so he contained himself for a little, and he
+said to those in attendance, "Get ye gone," and straightway they departed.
+
+Then Sir Lamorack lifted up his eyes and he came to where Sir Tristram was
+standing and he said: "Is it thou, Tristram, who hath bestowed all these
+benefits upon me?" And he said: "From thy nobility of soul such things may
+be expected."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram and Sir Lamorack are reconciled] Then Sir Tristram
+wept for joy, and he said: "Lamorack, it is little that I have done to
+pleasure thee, and much that I have done to affront thee." Then Sir
+Lamorack said: "Nay; it is much that thou hast done to comfort me, and
+little to cause me discomfort. For lo! thou hast uplifted me from misery
+into happiness, and thou hast brought me from nakedness and want into
+prosperity and ease, and what more may one man do for another man than
+that?"
+
+"Lamorack," said Sir Tristram, "there is much more than one man may do for
+another man than that. For if one man hath given offence to another man, he
+may be reconciled to that one so offended, and so the soul of that other
+shall be clothed with peace and joy, even as thy body hath been clothed
+with garments of silk and fine linen." Then Sir Tristram took Sir Lamorack
+by the hand, and he said, "Dear friend, art thou now strong and fresh of
+body?" And Sir Lamorack, greatly wondering, said, "Ay."
+
+"Then," said Sir Tristram, "I may now offer thee reparation for that
+offence which I one time unwillingly committed against thee. For lo! I have
+had thee clad in the best armor that it is possible to provide, and now
+that thou art fresh and hale and strong, I am ready to do battle with thee
+at any time thou mayst assign. For if, before, thou wert overcome because
+thou wert weary with battle, now thou mayst prove thy prowess upon me being
+both strong and sound in wind and limb."
+
+But upon this Sir Lamorack ran to Sir Tristram and catched him in his arms
+and kissed him upon the cheek. And he said: "Tristram, thou art indeed a
+very noble soul. I will do no battle with thee, but instead I will take
+thee into my heart and cherish thee there forever."
+
+Sir Tristram said, "Art thou altogether satisfied?" And Sir Lamorack said,
+"Yea." And therewith Sir Tristram wept for pure joy.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram and Sir Lamorack depart from the island] Then Sir
+Tristram said: "Let us go to Sir Launcelot of the Lake, so that I may make
+my peace with him also. For he hath writ me a letter chiding me for having
+done battle with thee when thou wert weary and winded with fighting. And I
+was upon my way to see Sir Launcelot and to plead my cause with him when I
+came hither by good hap, and was able to uplift thee out of thy distress."
+To this Sir Lamorack said: "I will go with thee to Sir Launcelot whenever
+it shall please thee; and I will bear full testimony to thy knightliness
+and to thy courtesy."
+
+So when the next morning had come they took boat and sailed away from that
+island. And the night of that day they abided at the castle of the Lady
+Loise, who gave thanks without measure to Sir Tristram for ridding the
+world of so wicked and malign a being as Sir Nabon, and for restoring her
+inheritance of that land unto her again. And upon the morning of the next
+day those two good knights betook their way to Camelot, where they found
+Sir Launcelot. There Sir Lamorack exculpated Sir Tristram, and Sir
+Launcelot immediately withdrew his rebuke for that battle which Sir
+Tristram had aforetime done against Sir Lamorack.
+
+After that Sir Tristram and Sir Lamorack abode at the court of King Arthur
+for nigh a year, and during that time they went upon many quests and
+adventures of various sorts--sometimes alone, sometimes together. All these
+have been set down in ancient histories that tell of the adventures of Sir
+Tristram and Sir Lamorack. Some of them I would like right well to tell you
+of, but should I undertake to do so, the story of those happenings would
+fill several volumes such as this. Nevertheless, I may tell you that they
+did together many knightly deeds, the fame whereof hath been handed down to
+us in several histories of chivalry. Therein you may read of those things
+if you should care to do so.
+
+All this I leave to tell you how Sir Tristram returned into Cornwall, and
+likewise to tell you of one more famous adventure that he did at this time.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram hears from Cornwall of Sir Palamydes] Sir Tristram
+had been at the court of King Arthur for about a year when one day there
+came a messenger unto the court at Camelot with news that Sir Palamydes,
+the Saracen knight aforetold of in this history, had through a cunning
+trick seized the Lady Belle Isoult and had carried her away to a lonely
+tower in the forest of Cornwall. The messenger bore a letter from King Mark
+beseeching Sir Tristram to return as immediately as possible unto Cornwall
+and to rescue that lady from her captivity. And the letter further said
+that two knights of Cornwall had already essayed to rescue the Lady Belle
+Isoult, but that they had failed, having been overcome and sorely wounded
+in battle by Sir Palamydes. And the letter said that it was acknowledged by
+all men that Sir Tristram was the only knight of Cornwall who could achieve
+the rescue of Belle Isoult from so wonderful and puissant a knight as Sir
+Palamydes.
+
+So in answer to that letter, Sir Tristram immediately left the court of
+King Arthur and returned in all haste to Cornwall, and there he found them
+all in great perturbation that the Lady Belle Isoult had thus been stolen
+away.
+
+But Sir Tristram did not remain at court very long for, after he had
+obtained such information as he desired, he immediately left Tintagel and
+plunged into the forest with Gouvernail as his companion in quest of that
+lonely tower where Belle Isoult was said to be held prisoner.
+
+After several adventures of no great note he came at last very, very deep
+into the forest and into an open space thereof; and in the midst of that
+open space he beheld a lonely tower surrounded by a moat. And he wist that
+that must be the place where the Lady Belle Isoult was held prisoner.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram finds Sir Palamydes in the forest] But when Sir
+Tristram drew nigh to this tower he perceived a single knight sitting at
+the base of the tower with head hanging down upon his breast as though he
+were broken-hearted with sorrow. And when he came still more nigh, Sir
+Tristram was astonished to perceive that that mournful knight was Sir
+Palamydes the Saracen, and he wondered why Sir Palamydes should be so
+broken-hearted.
+
+And now it must be told why it was that Sir Palamydes came to be in such a
+sorry case as that; for the truth was that he was locked and shut outside
+of the tower, whilst the Lady Belle Isoult was shut and locked inside
+thereof.
+
+Now it hath already been told how the letter of King Mark had said to Sir
+Tristram that two knights of Cornwall went both against Sir Palamydes for
+to challenge him and to rescue the Lady Belle Isoult.
+
+The second of these knights was Sir Adthorp, and he had followed Sir
+Palamydes so closely through the forest that he had come to the forest
+tower not more than an hour after Sir Palamydes had brought the Lady Belle
+Isoult thither.
+
+Therewith Sir Adthorp gave loud challenge to Sir Palamydes to come forth
+and do him battle, and therewith Sir Palamydes came immediately out against
+him, full of anger that Sir Adthorp should have meddled in that affair.
+
+But immediately Sir Palamydes had thus issued forth to do battle with Sir
+Adthorp, the Lady Belle Isoult ran down the tower stairs and immediately
+shut the door through which he had passed, and she locked it and set a
+great bar of oak across the door.
+
+[Sidenote: How Sir Palamydes came without the tower] So when Sir Palamydes
+had overthrown the Cornish knight, and when he would have returned to the
+tower, he could not, for lo! it was fastened against him. So now for three
+days he had set there at the foot of the tower and beside the moat, sunk in
+sorrow like to one who had gone out of his mind.
+
+So Sir Tristram found him, and perceiving that it was Sir Palamydes who was
+sitting there, he said to Gouvernail: "Go thou and bid that knight to come
+and do battle with me."
+
+So Gouvernail went to Sir Palamydes and he said: "Sir, arise, for here is a
+knight would speak with you!" But Sir Palamydes would not move. Then
+Gouvernail touched him with his lance, and said: "Sir Palamydes, arise and
+bestir yourself, for here is Sir Tristram come to do battle with you." With
+that, Sir Palamydes awoke from his stupor and arose very slowly and
+stiffly. And he gathered up his helmet which was lying beside him and put
+it upon his head. Then he took down his shield from where it hung against
+the wall and he mounted upon his horse, doing all as though he were moving
+in a dream.
+
+But as soon as he was upon horseback he suddenly aroused himself, for his
+fierce spirit had come back to him once more. Then he gnashed his teeth,
+crying out in a loud voice, "Tristram, this time either thou or I shall
+perish."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram overcomes Sir Palamydes] Therewith he rushed upon
+Sir Tristram and smote him so violently that Sir Tristram had much ado to
+defend himself. And Sir Palamydes smote him again and again; and with that
+Sir Tristram smote in return. And if the blows of Sir Palamydes were
+terrible, the blows of Sir Tristram were terrible likewise. Then by and by
+Sir Tristram smote Sir Palamydes so sore a buffet that the Saracen knight
+fell down from his horse and was unable immediately to arise. Then Sir
+Tristram ran to him and rushed off his helmet and catched him by the hair
+with intent to cut his head from off his body.
+
+But with that the Lady Belle Isoult came running from out the tower and
+cried out: "Tristram, is it thou? Spare that mistaken knight and have mercy
+upon him as thou hopest for mercy."
+
+"Lady," said Sir Tristram, "for thy sake and at thy bidding I will spare
+him." Then he said to Sir Palamydes, "Arise." And Sir Palamydes arose very
+painfully, and Sir Tristram said: "Get thee hence, and go to the court of
+King Arthur and make thy confession to the King and ask him to forgive
+thee, and if he forgive thee, then also I will forgive thee."
+
+Therewith Sir Palamydes mounted upon his horse and rode away without
+speaking another word, his head bowed with sorrow upon his breast for shame
+and despair.
+
+Then Sir Tristram took the Lady Belle Isoult up behind him on his horse,
+and he and she and Gouvernail departed from that place.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram brings Belle Isoult back to Cornwall] So Sir
+Tristram brought the Lady Isoult back to Cornwall, and there he was
+received with loud praise and great rejoicing, for everybody was glad that
+Belle Isoult had been brought safely back again.
+
+And now it shall be told what reward Sir Tristram received for this deed of
+arms.
+
+For, though at first King Mark was greatly beholden to Sir Tristram, that
+he had thus rescued the Lady Belle Isoult, yet, by little and little, he
+grew to hate that noble knight more bitterly than ever. For he heard men
+say to one another: "Lo, Sir Tristram is, certes, the very champion of
+Cornwall, for who is there in this country is his equal?" So King Mark,
+hearing these things said to himself: "The more noble Tristram is, the more
+ignoble will men deem me to be who am under obligations to such an enemy."
+So he would say in his heart, "Yea, Tristram; I hate thee more than death."
+
+
+
+
+PART III
+
+
+The Madness of Sir Tristram
+
+_Here followeth the story of how Sir Tristram was driven out of Cornwall
+and of how he went mad because of his troubles. Likewise it shall be told
+how he performed several very wonderful adventures whilst he was in that
+state, and of how he was brought back into his senses again._
+
+[Illustration: Sir Tristram assaults King Mark]
+
+
+
+
+Chapter First
+
+
+_How Sir Tristram was discovered with the Lady Belle Isoult; how he
+assaulted King Mark, and how he escaped from Tintagel into the forest._
+
+After Sir Tristram had thus rescued the Lady Belle Isoult from the hand of
+Sir Palamydes, he dwelt very peacefully at the court of Cornwall for all of
+that winter and until the spring that followed, and during that time he was
+given every meed of praise and honor. But although King Mark and his court
+gave praise to Sir Tristram with the lips, yet he and many of his people
+hated Sir Tristram at heart, and there were many mischief-makers about the
+court who were ever ready to blow the embers of the King's wrath into a
+flame.
+
+Now the chiefest of all these mischief-makers was Sir Andred, who was
+nephew unto King Mark, and cousin-germaine unto Sir Tristram. Sir Andred
+was a fierce strong knight, and one very dextrous at arms; but he was as
+mean and as treacherous as Sir Tristram was generous and noble, wherefore
+he hated Sir Tristram with great bitterness (though he dissembled that
+hatred) and sought for every opportunity to do Sir Tristram a harm by
+bringing him and the King into conflict.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Andred of Cornwall sets spies upon Sir Tristram] So Sir
+Andred set spies upon Sir Tristram, and he himself spied upon his cousin,
+yet neither he nor they were able to find anything with which to accuse Sir
+Tristram. Then one day Sir Andred came to Sir Tristram and said: "Sir, the
+Lady Belle Isoult wishes to see you to talk with you." Sir Tristram said,
+"Where is she?"
+
+And Sir Andred said, "She is in her bower." Then Sir Tristram said, "Very
+well, I will go to her."
+
+So Sir Tristram arose and departed from where he was with intent to find
+the lady; and therewith Sir Andred hurried to where King Mark was, and
+said: "Lord, arise, for Sir Tristram and the Lady Isoult are holding
+converse together."
+
+King Mark said, "Where are they?" And Sir Andred said, "They are in the
+bower of the Queen." At that King Mark's rage and jealousy blazed up into a
+flame, so that he was like one seized with a sudden frensy. So, in that
+madness of rage, he looked about for some weapon with which to destroy Sir
+Tristram, and he perceived a great sword where it hung against the wall.
+Thereupon he ran to the sword and took it down from where it was, and ran
+with all speed to that place where Sir Tristram and the Lady Isoult were,
+and Sir Andred guided him thither.
+
+[Sidenote: King Mark assaults Sir Tristram] And when King Mark reached the
+bower of the Lady Isoult he flung open the door and found Sir Tristram and
+the Lady Isoult sitting together in the seat of a deep window. And he
+perceived that the Lady Isoult wept and that Sir Tristram's face was very
+sorrowful because of her sorrow. Then King Mark twisted him about and bent
+double as with a great pain, and then he cried out thrice in a voice very
+hoarse and loud: "Traitor! Traitor! Traitor!" Saying those words three
+times. Therewith he ran at Sir Tristram and struck furiously at him with
+that sword he held, with intent to slay him.
+
+Now Sir Tristram was at that time altogether without armor and was clad in
+clothes of scarlet silk. Accordingly, he was able to be very quick and
+alert in his movements. So perceiving King Mark rushing upon him with
+intent to slay him he leaped aside and so avoided the blow. Then
+immediately he rushed in upon King Mark and catched him by the wrist and
+wrenched the sword out of his hand.
+
+Then Sir Tristram was blinded with his rage and might have slain his uncle,
+but the Lady Isoult, beholding the fury in his face, shrieked in a very
+piercing voice, "Forbear! Forbear!" And therewith he remembered him how
+that King Mark was his mother's brother and that it was his hand that had
+made him a knight.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram beats King Mark] So he turned the sword in his
+hand and he smote King Mark with the flat thereof again and again, and at
+those blows King Mark was filled with terror so that he howled like a wild
+beast. And King Mark fled away from that place, striving to escape, but Sir
+Tristram ever pursued him, grinding his teeth like a wild boar in rage, and
+smiting the King as he ran, over and over again, with the flat of the sword
+so that the whole castle was filled with the tumult and uproar of that
+assault.
+
+Then many of the knights of Cornwall came running with intent to defend the
+King, and with them came Sir Andred. But when Sir Tristram saw them, his
+rage suddenly left the King and went out toward them; so therewith, naked
+of armor as he was, he rushed at them, and he struck at them so fiercely
+that they were filled with the terror of his fury, and fled away from
+before his face. And Sir Tristram chased them through the courts of the
+castle, striking right and left until he was weary with striking, and many
+he struck down with the fierceness of his blows, and amongst them was Sir
+Andred who was sorely wounded. So after a while Sir Tristram grew weary of
+that battle, and he cried out, "Certes, these are not knights, but swine!"
+And therewith he ceased striking, and allowed those who could do so to
+escape.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram departs from Tintagel] Thereafter he went to his
+chamber and armed himself without summoning Gouvernail, and after that he
+took horse and rode away altogether from that place. And not even
+Gouvernail went with him, but only his favorite hound, hight Houdaine,
+which same followed him into the forest as he rode thitherward. And in his
+going Sir Tristram looked neither to the right nor to the left but straight
+before him very proudly and haughtily, and no one dared to stay him in his
+going.
+
+Yet, though he appeared so steadfast, he was like one who was
+brokenhearted, for he wist that in going away from that place he was
+leaving behind him all that he held dear in the world, wherefore he was
+like one who rode forth from a pleasant garden into an empty wilderness of
+sorrow and repining.
+
+[Sidenote: Gouvernail finds Sir Tristram in the forest] Then, some little
+while after Sir Tristram had gone, Gouvernail also took horse and rode into
+the forest, and he searched for a long while in the forest without finding
+his master. But after a while he came upon Sir Tristram seated under a tree
+with his head hanging down upon his breast. And Houdaine lay beside Sir
+Tristram and licked his hand, but Sir Tristram paid no heed to him, being
+so deeply sunk in his sorrow that he was unaware that Houdaine licked his
+hand in that wise.
+
+Then Gouvernail dismounted from his horse and came to where Sir Tristram
+was, and Gouvernail wept at beholding the sorrow of Sir Tristram. And
+Gouvernail said: "Messire, look up and take cheer, for there must yet be
+joy for thee in the world."
+
+Then Sir Tristram raised his eyes very slowly (for they were heavy and dull
+like lead) and he looked at Gouvernail for some while as though not seeing
+him. Then by and by he said: "Gouvernail, what evil have I done that I
+should have so heavy a curse laid upon me?" Gouvernail said, still weeping:
+"Lord, thou hast done no ill, but art in all wise a very noble, honorable
+gentleman." "Alas!" quoth Sir Tristram, "I must unwittingly have done some
+great evil in God's sight, for certes the hand of God lieth grievously
+heavy upon me." Gouvernail said: "Lord, take heart, and tell me whither
+shall we go now?" And Sir Tristram said, "I know not."
+
+Then Gouvernail said: "Lord, let us go hence, I care not where, for I
+reckon nothing of storm or rain or snow or hail if it so be that I am with
+you."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram bids Gouvernail return to Tintagel] Then Sir
+Tristram looked upon Gouvernail and smiled, and he said: "Gouvernail, it is
+great joy to me that you should love me so greatly as you do. But this time
+you may not go with me whither I go, for the Lady Belle Isoult hath few
+friends at the court of Cornwall, and many enemies, wherefore I would have
+you return unto her for my sake, so that you may befriend her and cherish
+her when that I am no longer by her for to stand her friend in her hour of
+need. And take this dog Houdaine with you and bid the Lady Belle Isoult for
+to keep him by her to remind her of my faithfulness unto her. For even as
+this creature is faithful unto me under all circumstances, so am I faithful
+unto her whether she be glad or sorry, or in good or evil case. So return
+to Tintagel as I bid thee, and see that thou pay thy duty unto that lady
+even as thou payst it unto me. For she is so singularly dear unto me that,
+even as a man's heart is the life of his body, so is her happiness the life
+of my life."
+
+Then Gouvernail wept again in very great measure, and he said, "Lord, I
+obey." Therewith he mounted his horse, still weeping with a great passion
+of sorrow, and rode away from that place, and Houdaine followed after him
+and Sir Tristram was left sitting alone in the deep forest.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram wanders in the forest mad] After that Sir Tristram
+wandered for several days in the forest, he knew not whither for he was
+bewildered with that which had happened; so that he ate no food and took no
+rest of any sort for all that time. Wherefore, because of the hardship he
+then endured, he by and by became distraught in his mind. So, after a
+while, he forgot who he himself was, and what was his condition, or whence
+he came or whither he wended. And because his armor weighed heavily upon
+him, he took it off and cast it away from him, and thereafter roamed half
+naked through the woodlands.
+
+Now upon the sixth day of this wandering he came to the outskirts of the
+forest and nigh to the coast of the sea at a spot that was not very far
+away was the castle of the Lady Loise, where he had once stayed at the time
+that he undertook the adventure against Sir Nabon as aforetold. There,
+being exhausted with hunger and weariness, he laid himself down in the
+sunlight out beyond the borders of the forest and presently fell into a
+deep sleep that was like to a swoon.
+
+Now it chanced at that time that there came that way a certain damsel
+attendant upon the Lady Loise. She perceiving that a man lay there on the
+grass at the edge of the forest was at first of a mind to quit that place.
+Then, seeing that the man lay very strangely still as though he were dead,
+she went forward very softly and looked into his face.
+
+Now that damsel had beheld Sir Tristram a great many times when he was at
+the castle of the Lady Loise; wherefore now, in spite of his being so
+starved and shrunken, and so unkempt and unshaved, she remembered his face
+and she knew that this was Sir Tristram.
+
+Therewith the damsel hurried away to the Lady Loise (and the lady was not a
+very great distance away) and she said: "Lady, yonder way there lieth a man
+by the forest side and I believe that it is Sir Tristram of Lyonesse. Yet
+he is but half-clad and in great distress of body so that I know not of a
+surety whether it is really Sir Tristram or not. Now I pray you come with
+me and look upon his face and see if you may know him."
+
+So the Lady Loise went with the damsel to where Sir Tristram lay and looked
+into his face, and she knew Sir Tristram in spite of his ill condition.
+
+[Sidenote: The Lady Loise finds Sir Tristram] Then the Lady Loise touched
+Sir Tristram upon the shoulder and shook him, and thereupon Sir Tristram
+awoke and sat up. Then the Lady Loise said, "Sir Tristram, is it thou who
+liest here?" And Sir Tristram said, "I know not who I am." The Lady Loise
+said, "Messire, how came you here in this sad case?" And Sir Tristram said:
+"I know not whence I came, nor how I came hither, nor who I am, nor what it
+is that ails me, for I cannot hold my mind with enough steadiness to
+remember those things." Then the lady sighed for sorrow of Sir Tristram,
+and she said: "Alas, Sir Tristram, that I should find you thus! Now I pray
+you, lord, for to come with me to my castle which is hard by. There we may
+care for you and may perhaps bring you back to health again."
+
+To this Sir Tristram said: "Lady, I may not go with you. For though I
+cannot remember whence I came, nor who I am, this much I know--I know that
+I am mad, and that the forest is the only fit place for such as I am come
+to be."
+
+The lady said: "Alas, Sir Tristram, thou wilt die if thou art left alone
+here in the forest." And Sir Tristram said: "Lady, I know not what you mean
+when you say I am to die. What is it to die?" So at these words the Lady
+Loise saw how it was with Sir Tristram; that his brains were altogether
+turned; and she wist that some sore trouble must have befallen to bring him
+to such a pass. Then she bethought her of how dearly he loved the music of
+the harp, and she said to herself: "Mayhap by means of music I may bring
+him back into his senses again." So she said to that damsel who had brought
+her thither: "Go thou and bring hither my little harp of gold, and let us
+see if music may charm him to remembrance."
+
+So the damsel ran to the castle and brought the harp thence, and the Lady
+Loise took the harp and tuned it and struck it and played upon it. And the
+lady sang very sweetly a ballad that she knew Sir Tristram loved.
+
+[Sidenote: The Lady Loise harps to Sir Tristram] Then when Sir Tristram
+heard the sound of the music and singing he aroused himself. For first he
+listened with great pleasure, and then he said, "Give it to me! Give it to
+me!" and he reached out his hands and would have taken the harp from the
+lady.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram comes to the Lady's castle] But the Lady Loise
+laughed and shook her head, and she walked away from Sir Tristram and
+toward the castle, still playing upon the little harp and singing; and Sir
+Tristram followed close after, saying ever, "Give it to me! Give it to me!"
+and reaching out his hands for the harp. So the Lady Loise led him away
+from that place across the meadows; and she led him to the castle and into
+the castle; and ever Sir Tristram followed after her, beseeching her for to
+give the harp unto him. And the lady led Sir Tristram that way until she
+had brought him to a fair room, and there she gave him the harp, and Sir
+Tristram took it very eagerly into his hands and struck upon it and played
+and sang most sweetly and with great joy and pleasure.
+
+Afterward, being so much comforted, he ate and drank with appetite, and
+then fell into a fair sound sleep.
+
+Yet, though he so slept, still Sir Tristram's wits in no wise recovered
+themselves; for when he awoke from that slumber he still could not remember
+who he was or whence he came, neither could he remember the faces of any of
+those who were around about him. But, though he was thus mad, he was still
+gentle and kind in his madness and courteous and civil to all those who
+came nigh him.
+
+So Sir Tristram remained a gentle captive in the castle of the Lady Loise
+for nigh upon a month, and somewhiles she would sing and harp to him, and
+otherwhiles he himself would harp and sing. But ever and anon, when he
+found the chance for to do so, he would escape from the captivity of the
+castle and seek the forest; for he was aware of his madness and he ever
+sought to hide that madness in the deep and shady woodland where only the
+wild creatures of the forest might see him.
+
+Yet always when he so escaped the Lady Loise would take her little golden
+harp and go forth to the skirts of the forest and play upon it, and when
+the music thereof would reach Sir Tristram's ears he would return to the
+castle, being led thither by the music.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram quits the Lady's castle] But one day he wandered
+so far astray that the music of the harp could not reach his ears, and then
+he wandered on farther and farther until he was altogether lost. At that
+Lady Loise took much sorrow for she had much love for Sir Tristram. So she
+sent many of her people to search the forest for him, but none of these
+were able to find him and thereafter he came no more to the castle.
+
+Thus Sir Tristram escaped from that castle and after that he wandered in
+the forest as he had done at the first. And in that time he took no food
+and but little rest. And the brambles tore his clothes, so that in a short
+time he was wellnigh altogether naked.
+
+And somewhiles during this time of wandering he would be seized as with a
+fury of battle, and in such case he would shout aloud as though in
+challenge to an enemy. And then he would rend and tear great branches from
+the trees in the fury of his imaginings. But otherwhiles he would wander
+through the leafy aisles of the forest in gentler mood, singing so sweetly
+that had you heard him you would have thought that it was some fairy spirit
+of the forest chanting in those solitudes.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram dwells with the swineherds] So he wandered until
+he failed with faintness, and sank down into the leaves; and I believe that
+he would then have died, had it not been that there chanced to come that
+way certain swineherds of the forest who fed their swine upon acorns that
+were to be therein found. These found Sir Tristram lying there as though
+dead, and they gave him to eat and to drink so that he revived once more.
+After that they took him with them, and he dwelt with them in those
+woodlands. There these forest folk played with him and made merry with him,
+and he made them great sport. For he was ever gentle and mild like a little
+child for innocence so that he did no harm to anyone, but only talked in
+such a way that the swineherds found great sport in him.
+
+Now Sir Andred of Cornwall very greatly coveted the possessions of Sir
+Tristram, so that when several months had passed by and Sir Tristram did
+not return to Tintagel, he said to himself: "Of a surety, Tristram must now
+be dead in the forest, and, as there is no one nigher of kin to him than I,
+it is altogether fitting that I should inherit his possessions."
+
+But as Sir Andred could not inherit without proof of the death of Sir
+Tristram, he suborned a certain very beautiful but wicked lady who dwelt in
+the forest, persuading her that she should give false evidence of Sir
+Tristram's death. Accordingly, he one day brought that lady before King
+Mark, and she gave it as her evidence that Sir Tristram had died in the
+forest and that she had been with him when he died. And she showed them a
+new-made grave in the forest, and she said: "That is the grave of Sir
+Tristram, for I saw him die and I saw him buried there with mine own eyes."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Adred seizes Sir Tristram's possessions] So everybody
+believed this evidence, and thought that Sir Tristram was really dead, and
+so Sir Andred seized upon all the possessions of Sir Tristram. And there
+were many who were very sorry that Sir Tristram was dead and there were
+others who were glad thereof in the same measure. But when the news was
+brought to Belle Isoult that Sir Tristram was dead, she shrieked aloud and
+swooned away. And she lay in that swoon so long that they thought for a
+while she would never recover from it. But by and by she awoke therefrom,
+crying, "Would to God that I were dead with Tristram and had never
+awakened!"
+
+And thereafter she mourned continually for Sir Tristram and would not be
+comforted; for she was like to a woman who hath been widowed from a lover
+of her youth.
+
+And now it shall be told of how it fared with Sir Tristram in the forest
+where he dwelt with the swineherds, and of how he achieved a very notable
+adventure therein.
+
+[Illustration: Sir Kay and the Forest Madman]
+
+
+
+
+Chapter Second
+
+
+_How Sir Tristram got him a sword from Sir Kay and how he slew therewith a
+huge knight in the forest and rescued a lady in very great distress. Also
+how Sir Launcelot found Sir Tristram in the forest and brought him thence
+to Tintagel again._
+
+Now it chanced one day that Sir Kay the Seneschal came riding through those
+parts of the forest where Sir Tristram abided with the swineherds, and with
+Sir Kay there came a considerable court of esquires. And with him besides
+there travelled Sir Dagonet, King Arthur's Fool.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Kay and Sir Dagonet come to the forest] Now, you are to
+know that though Sir Dagonet was the King's jester, and though he was slack
+of wit, yet he was also a knight of no mean prowess. For he had performed
+several deeds of good repute and was well held in all courts of chivalry.
+So Sir Dagonet always went armed; though he bore upon his shield the device
+of a cockerel's head as a symbol of his calling.
+
+The time that Sir Kay and his court travelled as aforesaid was in the
+summer season and the day was very warm, so that Sir Kay was minded to take
+rest during the midday and until the coolness of the afternoon should come.
+So they all dismounted from their horses and sat them down under the shade
+of the trees where it was cool and pleasant and where the breezes reached
+them to breathe upon their faces.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Dagonet wanders in the woodland] But whilst Sir Kay and his
+court thus rested themselves, Sir Dagonet must needs be gadding, for he was
+of a very restless, meddlesome disposition. So, being at that time clad
+only in half armor, he wandered hither and thither through the forest as
+his fancy led him. For somewhiles he would whistle and somewhiles he would
+gape, and otherwhiles he would cut a caper or two. So, as chance would have
+it, he came by and by to that open glade of the forest where the swineherds
+were gathered; and at that time they were eating their midday meal of black
+bread and cheese, and were drinking beer; some talking and laughing and
+others silent as they ate their food. Unto these Sir Dagonet appeared,
+coming out of the forest in very gay attire, and shining in the half armor
+he wore, so that he appeared like a bright bird of the woodland.
+
+Then Sir Dagonet, seeing where those rude boors were eating their meal of
+food, came to them and stood amongst them. And he said, "Who are ye
+fellows?" Whereunto they replied, "We are swineherds, Messire; who be ye?"
+
+Quoth Sir Dagonet: "I am King Arthur's Fool. And whilst there are haply
+many in the world with no more wits than I possess, yet there are few so
+honest as I to confess that they are fools."
+
+At these words those swineherds laughed very loudly. "Well," quoth one, "if
+King Arthur hath his fool, so have we, and yonder he is," and therewith he
+pointed to where Sir Tristram lay in the shade of the trees some distance
+away and beside a deep well of the forest.
+
+Upon that Sir Dagonet must needs go to where Sir Tristram lay, nearly
+naked, upon the ground. And when he had come there he said, "Arise, fool."
+Whereunto Sir Tristram replied: "Why should I arise? Lo! I am weary."
+
+Then Sir Dagonet said: "It is not fitting that thou, who art the fool of
+swineherds shouldst lie upon the grass, whilst I who am the fool of a king
+stand upright upon my shanks. So, fool, I bid thee bestir thyself and
+arise."
+
+But Sir Tristram said, "I will not arise." And therewith Sir Dagonet took
+his sword and pricked the thigh of Sir Tristram with the point thereof with
+intent to make him bestir himself.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram souses Sir Dagonet in the well] Now when Sir
+Tristram felt the prick of Sir Dagonet's sword, a certain part of his
+memory of knighthood came back to him and he was seized with a sudden fury
+against Sir Dagonet. So he arose and ran at Sir Dagonet and catched him in
+his arms, and lifted Sir Dagonet off his feet and he soused him in the well
+four or five times so that he was like to have drowned him.
+
+As for those swineherds, when they saw what their fool did to that other
+fool, they roared with laughter so that some of them rolled down upon the
+ground and lay grovelling there for pure mirth. But others of them called
+out to Sir Tristram, "Let be, or thou wilt drown that man"; and therewith
+Sir Tristram let Sir Dagonet go, and Sir Dagonet ran away.
+
+Nor did Sir Dagonet cease to run until he came to his party under the shade
+of the trees. But when Sir Kay perceived what a sorry plight it was in
+which Sir Dagonet appeared, he said, "What hath befallen thee?"
+
+To this Sir Dagonet replied as follows: "Messire, I, who am a fool, went
+into the forest and met another fool. I fool would have a jest with he
+fool, but he fool catched I fool and soused I fool in a well of cold water.
+So it came about that while I fool had the jest, he fool had the sport of
+the jest."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Kay seeks to avenge Sir Dagonet] Then Sir Kay understood in
+some manner what had befallen, and he was very angry that Sir Dagonet
+should have been so served. Wherefore he said, "Where did this befall
+thee?" And Sir Dagonet said, "Over yonder ways." Then Sir Kay said: "I will
+avenge thee for the affront that hath been put upon thee. For no boor shall
+serve a knight of King Arthur's court in such a fashion!" So therewith Sir
+Kay arose and put on his armor and mounted his horse and rode away; and
+after a while he came to that place where the swineherds were.
+
+Then Sir Kay said very sternly: "Which of ye is that boor who put so
+grievous an affront upon a gentleman of my party?" The swineherds say:
+"Yonder he is lying by the well; but he is slack of wit, wherefore we
+beseech you to do him no harm."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram souses Sir Kay in the water] Then Sir Kay rode to
+where Sir Tristram was, and he said: "Sirrah, why did you souse Sir Dagonet
+into the water?" To this Sir Tristram did not reply, but only looked at Sir
+Kay and laughed, for it pleased him wonderfully to behold that knight all
+in shining armor. But when Sir Kay beheld Sir Tristram laugh in that wise,
+he waxed exceedingly wroth. Wherefore he drew his sword straightway, and
+rode at Sir Tristram with intent to strike him with the blade thereof. But
+when Sir Tristram saw the sword of Sir Kay shining like lightning in the
+sunlight, somewhat of his knightly spirit arose within him and took wing
+like to a bird springing up out of the marish grass into the clear air. For
+beholding that bright flashing sword he cried out aloud and arose and came
+very steadily toward Sir Kay, and Sir Kay rode toward Sir Tristram. Then
+when Sir Kay had come near enough to strike, he arose in his stirrups and
+lifted the blade on high with intent to strike Sir Tristram with it. But
+therewith Sir Tristram ran very quickly in beneath the blow, so that the
+stroke of Sir Kay failed of its mark. Then Sir Tristram leaped up and
+catched Sir Kay around the body and dragged him down from off his horse
+very violently upon the ground, and with that the sword of Sir Kay fell
+down out of his hands and lay in the grass. Then Sir Tristram lifted up Sir
+Kay very easily and ran with him to the well of water and soused him
+therein several times until Sir Kay cried out, "Fellow, spare me or I
+strangle!" Upon that Sir Tristram let go Sir Kay, and Sir Kay ran to his
+horse and mounted thereon and rode away from that place with might and
+main, all streaming with water like to a fountain.
+
+And all that while those swineherds roared with great laughter, ten times
+louder than they had laughed when Sir Tristram had soused Sir Dagonet into
+the well.
+
+Then Sir Tristram beheld the sword of Sir Kay where it lay in the grass and
+forthwith he ran to it and picked it up. And when he held it in his hands
+he loved it with a great passion of love, wherefore he hugged it to his
+bosom and kissed the pommel thereof.
+
+But when the swineherds beheld the sword in Sir Tristram's hands, they
+said, "That is no fit plaything for a madman to have," and they would have
+taken it from him, but Sir Tristram would not permit them, for he would not
+give them the sword, and no one dared to try to take it from him.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram keeps the sword of Sir Kay] So thereafter he kept
+that sword ever by him both by night and by day, and ever he loved it and
+kissed it and fondled it; for, as aforesaid, it aroused his knightly spirit
+to life within him, wherefore it was he loved it.
+
+So it hath been told how Sir Tristram got him a sword, and now it shall be
+told how well he used it.
+
+Now there was at that time in the woodlands of that part of Cornwall a
+gigantic knight hight Sir Tauleas, and he was the terror of all that
+district. For not only was he a head and shoulders taller than the tallest
+of Cornish men, but his strength and fierceness were great in the same
+degree that he was big of frame. Many knights had undertaken to rid the
+world of this Sir Tauleas, but no knight had ever yet encountered him
+without meeting some mishap at his hands.
+
+(Yet it is to be said that heretofore no such knight as Sir Launcelot or
+Sir Lamorack had come against Sir Tauleas, but only the knights of Cornwall
+and Wales, whose borders marched upon that district where Sir Tauleas
+ranged afield.)
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Daynant and his lady come to the forest] Now one day there
+came riding through the forest a very noble, gallant young knight, hight
+Sir Daynant, and with him rode his lady, a beautiful dame to whom he had
+lately been wedded with a great deal of love. These wayfarers in their
+travelling came to that part of the forest where the swineherds abode, and
+where were the open glade of grass and the fair well of water aforespoken
+of.
+
+Hereunto coming, and the day being very warm, these two travellers
+dismounted and besought refreshment of the swineherds who were there, and
+those rude good fellows gladly gave them to eat and to drink of the best
+they had.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Daynant regards Sir Tristam] Whilst they ate, Sir Tristram
+came and sat nigh to Sir Daynant and his lady and smiled upon them, for he
+loved them very greatly because of their nobility and beauty. Then Sir
+Daynant looked upon Sir Tristram and beheld how strong and beautiful of
+body and how noble of countenance he was, and he saw that beautiful shining
+sword that Sir Tristram carried ever with him. And Sir Daynant said, "Fair
+friend, who are you, and where gat ye that sword?"
+
+"I know not who I am," said Sir Tristram, "nor know I whence I came nor
+whither I go. As for this sword, I had it from a gentleman who came hither
+to us no great while ago."
+
+Then the chiefest of the swineherds said: "Lord, this is a poor madman whom
+we found naked and starving in the forest. As for that sword, I may tell
+you that he took it away from a knight who came hither to threaten his
+life, and he soused that knight into the well so that he was wellnigh
+drowned."
+
+Sir Daynant said: "That is a very strange story, that a naked madman should
+take the sword out of the hands of an armed knight and treat that knight as
+ye tell me. Now maybe this is some famous hero or knight who hath lost his
+wits through sorrow or because of some other reason, and who hath so come
+to this sorry pass."
+
+(So said Sir Daynant, and it may here be said that from that time those
+rude swineherds began to look upon Sir Tristram with different eyes than
+before, saying amongst themselves: "Maybe what that knight said is true,
+and this is indeed no common madman.")
+
+Now whilst Sir Daynant sat there with his lady, holding converse with the
+swineherds concerning Sir Tristram in that wise, there came a great noise
+in the forest, and out therefrom there came riding with great speed that
+huge savage knight Sir Tauleas aforetold of. Then Sir Daynant cried out,
+"Alas, here is misfortune!" And therewith he made all haste to put his
+helmet upon his head.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tauleas strikes down Sir Daynant] But ere he could arm
+himself in any sufficient wise, Sir Tauleas drave down very fiercely upon
+him. And Sir Tauleas rose up in his stirrups and lashed so terrible a blow
+at Sir Daynant that it struck through Sir Daynant's helmet and into his
+brain-pan, wherefore Sir Daynant immediately fell down to the ground as
+though he had been struck dead.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tauleas bears away the lady] Then Sir Tauleas rode
+straightway to where the lady of Sir Daynant was, and he said: "Lady, thou
+art a prize that it is very well worth while fighting for! And lo! I have
+won thee." Therewith he catched her and lifted her up, shrieking and
+screaming and struggling, and sat her upon the saddle before him and held
+her there maugre all her struggles. Then straightway he rode away into the
+forest, carrying her with him; and all that while Sir Tristram stood as
+though in a maze, gazing with a sort of terror upon what befell and not
+rightly knowing what it all meant. For there lay Sir Daynant as though dead
+upon the ground, and he could yet hear the shrieks of the lady sounding out
+from the forest whither Sir Tauleas had carried her.
+
+Then the chief of the swineherds came to Sir Tristram, and said: "Fellow,
+as thou hast a sword, let us see if thou canst use it. If thou art a hero
+as that knight said of thee a while since, and not a pure madman, then
+follow after that knight and bring that lady back hither again."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram follows Sir Tauleas] Then Sir Tristram awoke from
+that maze and said, "I will do so." And therewith he ran away very rapidly
+into the forest, pursuing the direction that Sir Tauleas had taken. And he
+ran for a great distance, and by and by, after a while, he beheld Sir
+Tauleas before him where he rode. And by that time the lady was in a deep
+swoon and lay as though dead across the saddle of Sir Tauleas. Then Sir
+Tristram cried out in a great voice: "Stay, Sir Knight, and turn this way,
+for I come to take that lady away from thee and to bring her back unto her
+friend again!"
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram slays Sir Tauleas] Then Sir Tauleas turned him and
+beheld a naked man running after him with a sword in his hand, whereupon he
+was seized with a great rage of anger, so that he put that lady he carried
+down to the ground. And he drew his sword and rushed at Sir Tristram very
+violently with intent to slay him. And when he came nigh to Sir Tristram he
+arose up on his stirrups and lashed so terrible a blow at him that, had it
+met its mark, it would have cloven Sir Tristram in twain. But Sir Tristram
+leaped aside and turned the blow very skilfully; and therewith a memory of
+his knightly prowess came upon him and he, upon his part, lashed a blow at
+Sir Tauleas that Sir Tauleas received very unexpectedly. And that blow
+struck Sir Tauleas so terrible a buffet upon the head that the brain of Sir
+Tauleas swam, and he swayed about and then fell down from off his horse.
+Therewith Sir Tristram ran to him and rushed his helmet from off his head.
+And when he beheld the naked head of Sir Tauleas he catched it by the hair
+and drew the neck of Sir Tauleas forward. Then Sir Tauleas cried out,
+"Spare me, fellow!" But Sir Tristram said, "I will not spare thee for thou
+art a wicked man!" And therewith he lifted his sword on high and smote off
+the head of Sir Tauleas so that it rolled down upon the ground.
+
+After that, Sir Tristram went to the Lady and he chafed her hands and her
+face so that she revived from her swoon. And when she was revived, he said:
+"Lady, take cheer; for look yonder and thou wilt see thy enemy is dead, and
+so now I may take thee back again unto thy friend." And therewith the lady
+smiled upon Sir Tristram and catched his hand in hers and kissed it.
+
+Then Sir Tristram lifted the lady upon the horse of Sir Tauleas, and after
+that he went back again to where he had left Sir Daynant and the
+swineherds; and he led the horse of Sir Tauleas by the bridle with the lady
+upon the back thereof and he bore the head of Sir Tauleas in his hand by
+the hair.
+
+But when those swineherds saw Sir Tristram come forth thus out of the
+forest bringing that lady and bearing the head of Sir Tauleas, they were
+amazed beyond measure, and they said to one another: "Of a certainty what
+this young knight hath just said is sooth and this madman is indeed some
+great champion in distress. But who he is no one may know, since he himself
+doth not know."
+
+And when Sir Daynant had recovered from that blow that Sir Tauleas had
+given him, he also gave Sir Tristram great praise for what he had done. And
+Sir Tristram was abashed at all the praise that was bestowed upon him.
+
+Then Sir Daynant and his lady besought Sir Tristram that he would go with
+them to their castle so that they might care for him, but Sir Tristram
+would not, for he said: "I wist very well that I am mad, and so this forest
+is a fit place for me to dwell and these kind rude fellows are fit
+companions for me at this time whilst my wits are wandering."
+
+Thus it was with this adventure. And now you shall hear how Sir Launcelot
+found Sir Tristram in the forest and how he brought him out thence and
+likewise what befell thereafter.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot enters the forest] For only the next day after
+all these things had happened, Sir Launcelot came riding through the forest
+that way, seeking for Sir Tauleas with intent to do battle with him because
+of his many evil deeds. For Sir Launcelot purposed either to slay him or
+else to bring him captive to King Arthur.
+
+So it came to pass that Sir Launcelot came to that place where Sir Tristram
+and the swineherds abode.
+
+There Sir Launcelot made pause for to rest and to refresh himself, and
+whilst he sat with his helmet lying beside him so that the breezes might
+cool his face, all those rude swineherds gathered about and stared at him.
+And Sir Launcelot smiled upon them, and he said: "Good fellows, I pray you
+tell me; do you know where, hereabouts, I shall find a knight whom men call
+Sir Tauleas?"
+
+Unto this the chief swineherd made reply, saying: "Lord, if you come hither
+seeking Sir Tauleas, you shall seek him in vain. For yesterday he was
+slain, and if you look yonder way you may see his head hanging from a
+branch of a tree at the edge of the glade."
+
+Upon this Sir Launcelot cried out in great amazement, "How hath that come
+to pass?" and therewith he immediately arose from where he sat and went to
+that tree where the head hung. And he looked into the face of the head, and
+therewith he saw that it was indeed the head of Sir Tauleas that hung
+there. Then Sir Launcelot said: "This is very wonderful. Now I pray you,
+tell me what knight was it who slew this wicked wretch, and how his head
+came to be left hanging here?"
+
+To this the chief of the swineherds made reply: "Messire, he who slew Sir
+Tauleas was no knight, but a poor madman whom we found in the forest and
+who has dwelt with us now for a year past. Yonder you may see him, lying
+half naked, sleeping beside that well of water."
+
+Sir Launcelot said, "Was it he who did indeed slay Sir Tauleas?" And the
+swineherd said, "Yea, lord, it was he."
+
+Sir Launcelot said, "Do ye not then know who he is?" The swineherd replied:
+"No, lord, we only know that one day we found him lying in the forest naked
+and nigh to death from hunger and that we fed him and clothed him, and that
+since then he hath dwelt ever with us, showing great love for us all."
+
+Then Sir Launcelot went to where Sir Tristram lay, and he looked upon him
+as he slept and he knew him not; for the beard and the hair of Sir Tristram
+had grown down all over his breast and shoulders and he was very ragged and
+beaten by the weather. But though Sir Launcelot knew him not, yet he beheld
+that the body of Sir Tristram was very beautiful and strong, for he saw how
+all the muscles and thews thereof were cut very smooth and clean as you
+might cut them out of wax, wherefore Sir Launcelot gazed for a long while
+and felt great admiration for his appearance.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot regards Sir Tristam] Then Sir Launcelot beheld
+how the sleeping man held a naked sword in his arms very caressingly, as
+though he loved it, and thereat he was very much surprised to find such a
+sword as that in the hands of this forest madman. Wherefore he said to
+those swineherds, "Where got this man that sword?"
+
+"Messire," said the swineherd who had afore spoken, "some while since there
+came a knight hitherward who ill-treated him. Thereupon this poor man ran
+at the knight and overthrew him and took the sword away from him and soused
+him several times in the well. After that he hath ever held fast to this
+sword and would not give it up to any of us."
+
+"Ha!" said Sir Launcelot, "that is a very wonderful story, that a naked man
+should overthrow an armed knight and take his sword away from him. Now I
+deem that this is no mere madman, but some noble knight in misfortune."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot awakens Sir Tristram] Therewith he reached
+forward and touched Sir Tristram very gently on the shoulder, and at that
+Sir Tristram awoke and opened his eyes and sat up. And Sir Tristram looked
+upon Sir Launcelot, but knew him not, albeit some small memory moved very
+deeply within him. Nevertheless, though he knew not Sir Launcelot, yet he
+felt great tenderness for that noble knight in arms, and he smiled very
+lovingly upon him. And Sir Launcelot felt in return a very great deal of
+regard for Sir Tristram, but wist not why that was; yet it seemed to Sir
+Launcelot that he should know the face of Sir Tristram, and that it was not
+altogether strange to him.
+
+Then Sir Launcelot said, "Fair friend, was it thou who slew Sir Tauleas?"
+And Sir Tristram said, "Ay." Sir Launcelot said, "Who art thou?" Whereunto
+Sir Tristram made reply: "I know not who I am, nor whence I come, nor how I
+came hither."
+
+Then Sir Launcelot felt great pity and tenderness for Sir Tristram, and he
+said: "Friend, wilt thou go with me away from this place and into the
+habitations of men? There I believe thy mind maybe made whole again, and
+that it may be with thee as it was beforetime. And verily, I believe that
+when that shall come to pass, the world shall find in thee some great
+knight it hath lost."
+
+Sir Tristram said: "Sir Knight, though I know not who I am, yet I know that
+I am not sound in my mind; wherefore I am ashamed to go out in the world
+and amongst mankind, but would fain hide myself away in this forest. Yet I
+love thee so much that, if thou wert to bid me go with thee to the ends of
+the world, I believe I would go with thee."
+
+Then Sir Launcelot smiled upon Sir Tristram very kindly and said, "I do bid
+thee come with me away from here," and Sir Tristram said, "I will go."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram quits the forest with Sir Launcelot] So Sir
+Launcelot bade the swineherds clothe Sir Tristram in such a wise that his
+nakedness might be covered, and he bade them give Sir Tristram hosen and
+shoon, and when Sir Tristram was thus decently clad, Sir Launcelot made
+ready to take his departure from that place.
+
+But ere the two left, all those good fellows crowded around Sir Tristram,
+and embraced him and kissed him upon the cheek; for they had come to love
+him a very great deal.
+
+Then the two went away through the forest, Sir Launcelot proudly riding
+upon his great horse and Sir Tristram running very lightly beside him.
+
+But Sir Launcelot had other business at that time than to seek out Sir
+Tauleas as aforetold. For at that time there were three knights of very
+ill-repute who harried the west coast of that land that overlooked the sea
+toward the Kingdom of Ireland, and Sir Launcelot was minded to seek them
+out after he had finished with Sir Tauleas. So ere he returned to the court
+of King Arthur he had first of all to go thitherward.
+
+Now you are to know that the castle of Tintagel lay upon the way that he
+was to take upon that adventure, and so it was that he brought Sir Tristram
+to the castle of Tintagel, where King Mark of Cornwall was then holding
+court. For Sir Launcelot was minded to leave Sir Tristram there whilst he
+went upon that adventure aforetold of.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram comes to Tintagel] And Sir Launcelot was received
+in Tintagel with very great honor and acclaim, for it was the first time he
+had ever been there. And King Mark besought Sir Launcelot for to abide a
+while in Tintagel; but Sir Launcelot refused this hospitality, saying: "I
+have an adventure to do for the sake of my master, King Arthur, and I may
+not abide here at this present. But I pray you to grant me a favor, and it
+is this: that you cherish this poor madman whom I found in the forest, and
+that you keep him here, treating him kindly until I shall return from the
+quest I am upon. For I have great love for this poor fellow and I would not
+have any harm befall him whilst I am away."
+
+Then King Mark said: "I am sorry you will not remain with us, but as to
+this thing it shall be done as you desire, for we will cherish and care for
+this man while you are away." So said King Mark, speaking with great
+cheerfulness and courtesy; for neither he nor any of his court at that time
+wist who Sir Tristram was.
+
+So Sir Launcelot went upon his way, and King Mark gave orders that Sir
+Tristram should be well-clothed and fed, and it was done as he commanded.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Thus it was that Sir Tristram was brought back to the castle of Tintagel
+again. And now it shall be told how it befell with him thereat.
+
+[Illustration: Sir Tristram leaps into ye Sea]
+
+
+
+
+Chapter Third
+
+
+_How Sir Tristram was discovered at Tintagel and of what befell thereby._
+
+Now during the time that Sir Tristram abode thus unknown at the court of
+Tintagel, he was allowed to wander thereabouts whithersoever he chose, and
+no one hindered him either in going or in coming. For none in all that
+place suspected who he was, but everyone thought that he was only a poor
+gentle madman of the forest; so he was allowed to wander at will as his
+fancy led him.
+
+[Sidenote: How Sir Tristram dwelt at Tintagel] And Sir Tristram's memory
+never awoke; but though it awoke not, yet it stirred within him. For though
+he could not remember what this place was whereunto he had come, yet it was
+very strangely familiar to him, so that whithersoever he went, he felt that
+those places were not altogether strange to him. And in some of those
+places he felt great pleasure and in other places somewhat of pain, yet he
+knew not why he should have the one feeling or the other.
+
+Now of all those places whereunto he wandered, Sir Tristram found most
+pleasure in the pleasance of the castle where was a fair garden and fruit
+trees; for it was there that he and the Lady Belle Isoult had walked
+together aforetime ere his affliction had befallen him, and he remembered
+this place better than any other, and took more pleasure in it. Now one day
+Sir Tristram came wandering thus into that pleasance and, the day being
+warm, he sat under the shade of an appletree beside a marble fountain of
+water; and the appletree above his head was all full of red and golden
+fruit. So Sir Tristram sat there, striving to remember how it was that he
+had once aforetime beheld that fountain and that garden and that appletree
+beneath which he sat.
+
+So whilst he sat there pondering in that wise, there came the Lady Belle
+Isoult into the garden of that pleasance and her lady, the dame Bragwaine,
+was with her, and the hound, hight Houdaine, which Sir Tristram had sent to
+her by Gouvernail, walked beside her on the other side. Then Belle Isoult
+perceived that there was a man sitting under the appletree, and she said to
+dame Bragwaine: "Who is yonder man who hath dared to come hither into our
+privy garden?" Unto this, dame Bragwaine replied: "That, lady, is the
+gentle madman of the forest whom Sir Launcelot brought hither two days
+ago."
+
+Then the Lady Belle Isoult said, "Let us go nearer and see what manner of
+man he is"; and so they went forward toward where Sir Tristram sat, and the
+dog Houdaine went with them.
+
+Then Sir Tristram was aware that someone was nigh; and therewith he turned
+his face and beheld the Lady Isoult for the first time since he had gone
+mad in the forest; and the lady was looking at him, but knew him not.
+
+Then of a sudden, because of his great love for Belle Isoult, the memory of
+Sir Tristram came all back to him in the instant, and upon that instant he
+knew who he was and all that had befallen him, and how he had been brought
+there as a madman out of the forest. But though he knew her in that wise,
+yet, as has been said, she knew not him.
+
+Then Sir Tristram was all overwhelmed with shame that he should be thus
+found by that dear lady; wherefore he turned away his face and bowed his
+head so that she might not remember him, for he perceived that as yet she
+did not know him who he was.
+
+Now at that moment the dog, Houdaine, was aware of the savor of Sir
+Tristram; wherefore he leaped away from the Lady Belle Isoult and ran to
+Sir Tristram and smelt very eagerly of him. And with that he knew his
+master.
+
+[Sidenote: Houdaine knoweth Sir Tristram] Then the two ladies who looked
+beheld Houdaine fall down at the feet of Sir Tristram and grovel there with
+joy. And they beheld that he licked Sir Tristram's feet and his hands, and
+that he leaped upon Sir Tristram and licked his neck and face, and at that
+they were greatly astonished.
+
+Then of a sudden a thought came to dame Bragwaine, and she catched the Lady
+Isoult by the arm and she said: "Lady, know you not who yonder madman is?"
+But the Lady Belle Isoult said: "Nay, I know not who he is. Who is he,
+Bragwaine?" And Bragwaine said: "Certes, that is Sir Tristram, and no one
+else in all the world."
+
+[Sidenote: Belle Isoult knows Sir Tristram] Therewith, at those words, the
+scales suddenly fell from Lady Belle Isoult's eyes and she knew him. Then,
+for a little space, she stood as though turned into stone; then she emitted
+a great loud cry of joy and ran to Sir Tristram where he sat, and flung
+herself down upon the ground at the feet of Sir Tristram and embraced him
+about the knees. And she cried out in a voice of great passion: "Tristram!
+Tristram! Is it thou? They told me thou wert dead, and lo! thou art come to
+life again!" And with that she fell to weeping with such fury of passion
+that it was as though the soul of her were struggling to escape from her
+body.
+
+Then Sir Tristram got to his feet in great haste and agitation and he said:
+"Lady! Lady! This must not be--arise, and stay your passion or else it will
+be our ruin. For behold, I am alone and unarmed in this castle, and there
+are several herein who seek my life. So if it be discovered who I am, both
+thou and I are lost."
+
+Then, perceiving how that Belle Isoult was in a way distracted and out of
+her mind with joy and grief and love, he turned him unto Bragwaine and said
+to her: "Take thy lady hence and by and by I will find means whereby I may
+come to speech with her in private. Meanwhile it is death both for her and
+for me if she remain here to betray me unto the others of this castle."
+
+So Bragwaine and Sir Tristram lifted up the Lady Belle Isoult, and
+Bragwaine led her thence out of that place; for I believe that Belle Isoult
+knew not whither she went but walked like one walking half in a swoon.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Andred knoweth Sir Tristram] Now it chanced at that time
+that Sir Andred was in a balcony overlooking that pleasance, and, hearing
+the sound of voices and the sound of a disturbance that was suppressed, he
+looked out and beheld all that passed. Then he also wist who was that
+madman whom Sir Launcelot had fetched to that place out of the forest, and
+that he was Sir Tristram.
+
+Therewith he was filled with a great rage and fury and was likewise
+overwhelmed with great fear lest, if Sir Tristram should escape from that
+castle with his life, he would reclaim those possessions that he, Sir
+Andred, had seized upon.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Andres betrays Sir Tristram to King Mark] So therewith he
+withdrew himself from that balcony very softly, into the apartment behind.
+And he sat down in that apartment for a little while as though not knowing
+rightly what to do. But after a little while he arose and went to King
+Mark; and King Mark looked up and beheld him and said, "What news do you
+bring, Messire?" Thereunto Sir Andred made reply: "Lord, know you who that
+madman is whom Sir Launcelot hath fetched hither?" King Mark said, "Nay, I
+know not who he is." But with that he fell to trembling throughout his
+entire body, for he began to bethink him who that madman was. "Lord," said
+Sir Andred, "it is Sir Tristram, and me-seems Sir Launcelot was aware who
+it was, and that he was plotting treason when he fetched him hither."
+
+At that King Mark smote his hands together and he cried in a terrible
+voice, "I know it! I know it!" And then he said: "Blind! Blind! How was it
+that I knew him not?" Then after a little he fell to laughing and he said
+to Sir Andred: "Lo! God hath assuredly delivered that traitor, Sir
+Tristram, into mine hands so that I may punish him for his treasons. For,
+behold! he is here in our midst and he is altogether unarmed. Go, Messire,
+with all haste, gather together such force as may be needful, and seize
+upon him and bind him so that he may do no further harm to any man. Then
+let justice be executed upon him so soon as it is possible to do so." And
+Sir Andred said: "Lord, it shall be done according to your demands and upon
+the instant."
+
+Therewith Sir Andred went forth from where the King was, and he armed
+himself in complete armor, and he gathered together a number of knights and
+esquires and he led them to that place where he knew Sir Tristram would be;
+and there he found Sir Tristram sitting sunk in thought. And when Sir
+Tristram beheld those armed men come in thus upon him, he arose to defend
+himself. But then Sir Andred cried out in a loud voice: "Seize him ere he
+can strike and bind him fast, for he is unarmed and may do you no harm!"
+
+[Sidenote: The castle folk seize Sir Tristram] With that a dozen or more
+of those who were with Sir Andred flung themselves upon Sir Tristram,
+shouting and roaring like wild beasts. And they bore him to the earth by
+numbers, and after a while, by dint of great effort, they held him and
+bound his hands together by the wrists. Then they lifted up Sir Tristram
+and stood him upon his feet, and lo! his bosom heaved with his struggles,
+and his eyes were all shot with blood and his lips afroth with the fury of
+his fighting; and his clothes were torn in that struggle so that his body
+was half naked. And they held him there, a knight in armor with a naked
+sword standing upon his right hand and another armed knight with a naked
+sword standing upon his left hand.
+
+Then Sir Andred came and stood in front of Sir Tristram and taunted him,
+saying: "Ha, Tristram, how is it with thee now? Lo! thou camest like a spy
+into this place, and now thou art taken with all thy treason upon thee. So
+thou shalt die no knightly death, but, in a little while, thou shalt be
+hanged like a thief."
+
+Then he came close to Sir Tristram, and he laughed and said: "Tristram
+where is now the glory of thy strength that one time overcame all thine
+enemies? Lo! thou art helpless to strike a single blow in defence of thine
+honor." And therewith Sir Andred lifted his hand and smote Sir Tristram
+upon the face with the palm thereof.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram slays Sir Andred] At that blow the rage of Sir
+Tristram so flamed up in him that his eyes burned as with pure green fire.
+And in an instant, so quickly that no man wist what he did, he turned with
+amazing suddenness upon that knight who stood at his left hand, and he
+lifted up both hands that were bound, and he smote that knight such a blow
+upon the face that the knight fell down upon the ground and his sword fell
+out of his hand. Then Sir Tristram snatched the sword and, turning with
+astonishing quickness, he smote the knight upon his right hand such a
+buffet that he instantly fell down upon his knees and then rolled over upon
+the ground in a swoon. Then Sir Tristram turned upon Sir Andred, and
+lifting high the sword with both hands tied, he smote him so terrible a
+blow that the blade cut through his epulier and half through his body as
+far as the paps. At that great terrible blow the breath fled out of Sir
+Andred with a deep groan, and he fell down upon the ground and immediately
+died.
+
+Now all this had happened so suddenly that they who beheld it were
+altogether amazed and stood staring as though bewitched by some spell. But
+when they beheld Sir Tristram turn upon them and make at them with that
+streaming sword lifted on high, the terror of his fury so seized upon them
+that they everywhere broke from before him and fled, yelling, and with the
+fear of death clutching them in the vitals. And Sir Tristram chased them
+out of that place and into the courtyard of the castle, and some he smote
+down and others escaped; but all who could do so scattered away before him
+like chaff before the wind.
+
+Then, when they were gone, Sir Tristram stood panting and glaring about him
+like a lion at bay. Then he set the point of his sword upon the pavement of
+the court and the pommel thereof he set against his breast, and he drew the
+bonds that held his wrists across the edge of the sword so that they were
+cut and he was free.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram defends the chapel] But Sir Tristram wist that in
+a little the whole castle would be aroused against him, and that he would
+certainly be overwhelmed by dint of numbers, wherefore he looked about him
+for some place of refuge; and he beheld that the door of the chapel which
+opened upon the courtyard stood ajar. So he ran into the chapel and shut to
+that door and another door and locked and bolted them both, and set a heavy
+bar of wood across both of them so that for a while he was safe.
+
+But yet he was only safe for a little while, for about the time of early
+nightfall, which came not long thereafter, a great party of several score
+of King Mark's people came against the chapel where he was. And when they
+found that the doors were locked and barred, they brought rams for to
+batter in the chief door of the chapel.
+
+Then Sir Tristram beheld how parlous was his case, and that he must in a
+little while die if he did not immediately do something to save himself. So
+with that he ran to a window of the chapel and opened it and looked out
+thence. And lo! below him and far beneath was the sea, and the rocks of the
+shore upon which the castle was built; and the sea and the rocks lay twelve
+fathoms beneath him.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram leaps into the sea] But Sir Tristram said, "Better
+death there than here;" and therewith finding that the door was now falling
+in beneath the rams, he leaped out from the window-ledge, and thence he
+dived down into the sea; and no one saw that terrible leap that he made. So
+he sank down deep into the sea, but met no rocks, so that he presently came
+up again safe and sound. Then, looking about him, he perceived in the
+twilight a cave in the rocks, and thither he swam with the intent to find
+shelter for a little.
+
+Now when they who had come against him had broken into the chapel they all
+ran in in one great crowd, for they expected to find Sir Tristram and to do
+battle with him. But lo! Sir Tristram was not there, but only the empty
+walls. Then at first they were greatly astonished, and knew not what to
+think. And some who came cried out: "Is that man then a spirit that he can
+melt away into thin air?" But after a little, one of them perceived where
+the window of the chapel stood open, and therewith several of them ran
+thereunto and looked out, and they wist that Sir Tristram had leaped out
+thence into the sea.
+
+Then they said to one another: "Either that knight is now dead, or else he
+will perish when the tide rises and covers the rocks; so to-night we will
+do no more with this business; but to-morrow we will go and find his body
+where it lies among the rocks of the shore." So thereupon they shut the
+window and went their ways.
+
+Now Gouvernail was not at that time at Tintagel, nor did he return
+thereunto until all this affair was over and done. But when he came there,
+there were many voices to tell him what had befallen, and to all of them
+Gouvernail listened without saying anything.
+
+But afterward Gouvernail went and sought out a certain knight hight Sir
+Santraille de Lushon, who, next to himself, was the most faithful friend to
+Sir Tristram at that place. To him Gouvernail said: "Messire, I do not
+think that Sir Tristram is dead, for he hath always been a most wonderful
+swimmer and diver. But if he be alive, and we do not save him, he will
+assuredly perish when the tide comes up and covers over those rocks amongst
+which he may now be hidden."
+
+So Gouvernail and Sir Santraille went to that chapel unknown to anyone, and
+they went to that window whence Sir Tristram had leaped, and they opened
+the window, and leaned out and called upon Sir Tristram in low voices: "Sir
+Tristram, if thou art alive, arise and answer us, for we are friends!"
+
+Then after a while Sir Tristram recognized Gouvernail's voice and answered
+them: "I am alive; but save me, or I perish in a little while." Then
+Gouvernail said: "Lord, are you hurt, or are you whole?" Sir Tristram
+replied, "I am strong and well in body, but the tide rises fast."
+Gouvernail said, "Messire, can you wait a little?" Sir Tristram said, "Ay;
+for a little, but not for too long."
+
+[Sidenote: Gouvernail and Sir Santraille rescue Sir Tristram] Then
+Gouvernail and Sir Santraille withdrew from where they were and they made
+all haste, and they got together a great number of sheets and napkins, and
+tied these together and made a rope, and lowered the rope down to the rocks
+where Sir Tristram was. Then Sir Tristram climbed up the rope of linen and
+so reached the chapel in safety. And at that time it was nigh to midnight
+and very dark.
+
+But when Sir Tristram stood with them in the chapel, he gave them hardly
+any greeting, but said at once: "Messires, how doth it fare with the Lady
+Belle Isoult?" For he thought of her the first of all and above all things
+else.
+
+To this Sir Santraille made reply: "Sir, the lady hath been shut into a
+tower, and the door thereof hath been locked upon her, and she is a close
+prisoner."
+
+Then Sir Tristram said: "How many knights are there in the place who are my
+friends, and who will stand with me to break out hence?" To this Gouvernail
+said: "Lord, there are twelve besides ourselves, and that makes fourteen in
+all who are with thee in this quarrel unto life or death."
+
+Sir Tristram said: "Provide me presently with arms and armor and bring
+those twelve hither armed at all points. But first let them saddle horses
+for themselves and for us, and for the Lady Belle Isoult and for her
+waiting-woman, Dame Bragwaine. When this is done, we will depart from this
+place unto some other place of refuge, and I do not think there will be any
+in the castle will dare stop or stay us after we are armed."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram arms himself] So it was done as Sir Tristram
+commanded, and when all those were gathered together, and their horses
+ready, Sir Tristram and several of the knights of his party went openly to
+that tower where the Lady Belle Isoult was prisoner. And they burst open
+the doors and went in with torches, and found Belle Isoult and her
+attendant in the upper part of the castle.
+
+But when Belle Isoult beheld the face of Sir Tristram, she said: "Is it
+thou, my love; and art thou still alive, and art thou come tome?" Sir
+Tristram said: "Yea, I am still alive nor will I die, God willing, until I
+have first brought thee out of this wicked castle and into some place of
+safety. And never again will I entrust thee unto King Mark's hands; for I
+have great fear that if he have thee in his hands he will work vengeance
+upon thee so as to strike at my heart through thee. So, dear love, I come
+to take thee away from this place; and never again right or wrong, shalt
+thou be without the shelter of my arm."
+
+Then the Lady Belle Isoult smiled very wonderfully upon Sir Tristram so
+that her face appeared to shine with a great illumination of love. And she
+said: "Tristram, I will go with thee whithersoever thou wilt. Yea, I would
+go with thee even to the grave, for I believe that I should be happy even
+there, so that thou wert lying beside me."
+
+Then Sir Tristram groaned in spirit and he said: "Isoult, what have I done,
+that I should always bring unhappiness upon thee?" But the Lady Belle
+Isoult spake very steadily, saying: "Never unhappiness, Tristram, but
+always happiness; for I have thy love for aye, and thou hast mine in the
+same measure, and in that is happiness, even in tears and sorrow, and never
+unhappiness."
+
+With that Sir Tristram kissed Belle Isoult upon the forehead, and then he
+lifted her up and carried her in his arms down the stairs of the tower and
+sat her upon her horse. And Bragwaine followed after, and Gouvernail lifted
+her up upon her horse.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Tristram taketh Belle Isoult away from Tintagel] Now all
+they of that castle were amazed beyond measure to find all those knights
+armed and prepared for battle so suddenly in their midst. And most of all
+were they filled with terror to find Sir Tristram at the head of these
+knights. Wherefore when Sir Tristram made demand that they should open the
+portcullis of the castle and let fall the drawbridge, the porters thereof
+dared not refuse him, but did as he said.
+
+So Sir Tristram and his knights rode forth with the Lady Belle Isoult and
+Bragwaine and no one stayed them. And they rode into the forest, betaking
+their way toward a certain castle of Sir Tristram's, which they reached in
+the clear dawning of the daytime.
+
+And so Sir Tristram brought the Lady Belle Isoult away from Tintagel and
+into safety.
+
+[Illustration: King Mark broods mischief]
+
+
+
+
+Chapter Fourth
+
+
+_How Sir Tristram and the Lady Belle Isoult returned to Cornwall and how
+they ended their days together._
+
+And now remaineth to be told the rest of these adventures of Sir Tristram
+as briefly as may be.
+
+For indeed I thought not, when I began this history, to tell you as much
+concerning him as I have done. But as I have entered into this history I
+have come so strongly to perceive how noble and true and loyal was the
+knighthood of Sir Tristram, that I could not forbear telling you of many
+things that I had not purposed to speak of.
+
+Yet, as I have said before this, there are a great many adventures that I
+have not spoken of in this book. For I have told only those things that
+were necessary for to make you understand how it fared with him in his
+life.
+
+So now shall be told those last things that concerned him.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot reproves King Mark] Now two days after those
+things aforesaid had come to pass, Sir Launcelot returned unto Tintagel
+from that quest which he had been upon, and so soon as he came thither he
+made inquiry of King Mark concerning the welfare of that madman of the
+forest whom he had left in the care of King Mark. But when he heard that
+that madman was Sir Tristram, he was astonished beyond all measure; but
+when he heard how Sir Tristram had been served by King Mark and by the
+people of the castle under the lead of Sir Andred, he was filled with a
+great and violent indignation. So he arose and stood before King Mark and
+said: "Lord King, I have heard much ill said of thee and shameful things
+concerning thy unknightliness in several courts of chivalry where I have
+been; and now I know that those things were true; for I have heard from the
+lips of many people here, how thou didst betray Sir Tristram into bringing
+the Lady Belle Isoult unto thee; and I have heard from many how thou dost
+ever do ill and wickedly by him, seeking to take from him both his honor
+and his life. And yet Sir Tristram hath always been thy true and faithful
+knight, and hath served thee in all ways thou hast demanded of him. I know
+that thou hast jealousy for Sir Tristram in thy heart and that thou hast
+ever imputed wickedness and sin unto him. Yet all the world knoweth that
+Sir Tristram is a true knight and altogether innocent of any evil. For all
+the evil which thou hast imputed to him hath no existence saving only in
+thine own evil heart. Now I give thee and all thy people to know that had
+ill befallen Sir Tristram at your hands I should have held you accountable
+therefor and should have punished you in such a way that you would not soon
+have forgotten it. But of that there is no need, for Sir Tristram himself
+hath punished you in full measure without any aid from me. So now I will go
+away from this place and will never come hither again; nor will I
+acknowledge you should I meet you in court or in field."
+
+So saying, Sir Launcelot turned and went away from that place very proudly
+and haughtily, leaving them all abashed at his rebuke.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot findeth Sir Tristram and Belle Isoult in the
+forest] So that day Sir Launcelot went forward through the forest until he
+reached that castle whereunto Sir Tristram had taken the Lady Belle Isoult,
+and there he was received by Sir Tristram with all joy and honor. And Sir
+Launcelot abided at that place for two days, with great pleasure to himself
+and to Sir Tristram and to Belle Isoult.
+
+At the end of that time Sir Launcelot said to Sir Tristram: "Messire, it is
+not well that you and this dear lady should abide here so nigh to Tintagel.
+For, certes, King Mark will some time work some grievous ill upon you. So I
+beseech you to come with me unto my castle of Joyous Gard. There this lady
+shall reign queen paramount and we shall be her very faithful servants to
+do her pleasure in all ways. That castle is a very beautiful place, and
+there she may dwell in peace and safety and tranquillity all the days of
+her life if she chooses to do so."
+
+[Sidenote: They depart for Joyous Gard] Now that saying of Sir Launcelot's
+seemed good to Sir Tristram and to Belle Isoult; wherefore in three days
+all they and their court made ready to depart. And they did depart from
+that castle in the forest unto Joyous Gard, where they were received with
+great honor and rejoicing.
+
+So the Lady Belle Isoult abided for three years at Joyous Gard, dwelling
+there as queen paramount in all truth and innocence of life; and Sir
+Launcelot and Sir Tristram were her champions and all their courts were her
+servants. And during those three years there were many famous joustings
+held at Joyous Gard, and several bel-adventures were performed both by Sir
+Launcelot and Sir Tristram in her honor.
+
+And indeed I believe that this was the happiest time of all the Lady Belle
+Isoult's life, for she lived there in peace and love and tranquillity and
+she suffered neither grief nor misfortune in all that time.
+
+[Sidenote: King Arthur comes to Joyous Gard] Then one day there came King
+Arthur to Joyous Gard, and he was received with such joy and celebration as
+that place had never before beheld. A great feast was set in his honor, and
+after the feast King Arthur and Sir Tristram and Belle Isoult withdrew to
+one side and sat together in converse.
+
+Then after a while King Arthur said, "Lady, may I ask you a question?" And
+at that Lady Belle Isoult lifted up her eyes and looked very strangely upon
+the King, and after a while she said, "Ask thy question, Lord King, and I
+will answer it if I can." "Lady," said King Arthur, "answer me this
+question: is it better to dwell in honor with sadness or in dishonor with
+joy?"
+
+Then Belle Isoult began to pant with great agitation, and by and by she
+said, "Lord, why ask you me that?" King Arthur said: "Because, lady, I
+think your heart hath sometimes asked you the selfsame question." Then the
+Lady Belle Isoult clasped her hands together and cried out: "Yea, yea, my
+heart hath often asked me that question, but I would not answer it." King
+Arthur said: "Neither shalt thou answer me, for I am but a weak and erring
+man as thou art a woman. But answer thou that question to God, dear lady,
+and then thou shalt answer it in truth."
+
+Therewith King Arthur fell to talking of other things with Sir Tristram,
+but the lady could not join them in talk, but sat thenceforth in silence,
+finding it hard to breathe because of the oppression of tears that lay upon
+her bosom.
+
+And Belle Isoult said no more concerning that question that King Arthur had
+asked. But three days after that time she came to Sir Tristram and said:
+"Dear lord, I have bethought me much of what King Arthur said, and this
+hath come of it, that I must return again unto Cornwall."
+
+Then Sir Tristram turned away his face so that she might not see it, and he
+said, "Methought it would come to that." And then in a little he went away
+from that place, leaving her standing there.
+
+So it came about that peace was made betwixt Sir Tristram and King Mark,
+and Belle Isoult and King Mark, and King Arthur was the peacemaker.
+
+[Sidenote: Belle Isoult scorns King Mark] Thereafter Sir Tristram and his
+court and the Lady Belle Isoult returned unto Cornwall, and there they
+dwelt for some time in seeming peace. But in that time the Lady Belle
+Isoult would never see King Mark nor exchange a word with him, but lived
+entirely apart from him and in her own life in a part of the castle; and at
+that King Mark was struck with such bitterness of despair that he was like
+to a demon in torment. For he saw, as it were, a treasure very near and yet
+afar, for he could not come unto it. And the more he suffered that torment,
+the more he hated Sir Tristram, for in his suffering it appeared to him
+that Sir Tristram was the cause of that suffering.
+
+So it came about that King Mark set spies to watch Sir Tristram, for in his
+evil heart he suspected Sir Tristram of treason, and he hoped that his
+spies might discover Sir Tristram in some act for which he might be
+punished. So those spies watched Sir Tristram both night and day, but they
+could find nothing that he did that was amiss.
+
+Now one day Belle Isoult felt such a longing for Sir Tristram that she
+could not refrain from sending a note to him beseeching him for to come to
+her so that they might see one another again; and though Sir Tristram
+misdoubted what he did, yet he went as she desired, even if it should mean
+the peril of death to him.
+
+Then came those spies to King Mark and told him that Sir Tristram was gone
+to the bower of the Lady Belle Isoult, and that she had bidden him to come
+thither.
+
+At that the vitals of King Mark were twisted with such an agony of hatred
+and despair that he bent him double and cried out, "Woe! Woe! I suffer
+torments!"
+
+[Sidenote: King Mark spies upon Sir Tristram and Isoult] Therewith he
+arose and went very quickly to that part of the castle where the Lady Belle
+Isoult inhabited; and he went very softly up by a back way and through a
+passage to where was a door with curtains hanging before it; and when he
+had come there he parted the curtains and peeped within. And he beheld that
+the Lady Belle Isoult and Sir Tristram sat at a game of chess, and he
+beheld that they played not at the game but that they sat talking together
+very sadly; and he beheld that Dame Bragwaine sat in a deep window to one
+side--for Belle Isoult did not wish it to be said that she and Sir Tristram
+sat alone.
+
+All this King Mark saw and trembled with a torment of jealousy. So by and
+by he left that place and went very quietly back into that passageway
+whence he had come. And when he had come there he perceived a great glaive
+upon a pole two ells long. This he took into his hand and returned unto
+that curtained doorway again.
+
+Then being in all ways prepared he parted the curtains silently and stepped
+very quickly and without noise into the room. And the back of Sir Tristram
+was toward him.
+
+Then King Mark lifted the glaive on high and he struck; and Sir Tristram
+sank without a sound.
+
+Yea, I believe that that good knight knew naught of what had happened until
+he awoke in Paradise to find himself in that realm of happiness and peace.
+
+[Sidenote: Of the passing of Tristram and Isoult] Then Belle Isoult arose,
+overturning the table of chessmen as she did so, but she made no outcry nor
+sound of any sort. But she stood looking down at Sir Tristram for a little
+space, and then she kneeled down beside his body and touched the face
+thereof as though to make sure that it was dead. Therewith, as though being
+assured, she fell down with her body upon his; and King Mark stood there
+looking down upon them.
+
+All this had passed so quickly that Dame Bragwaine hardly knew what had
+befallen; but now, upon an instant, she suddenly fell to shrieking so
+piercingly that the whole castle rang with the sound thereof.
+
+Now there were in the outer room several of the knights of the court of Sir
+Tristram who had come thither with him as witnesses that he performed no
+treason to the King. These, when Dame Bragwaine shrieked in that wise, came
+running into the room and therewith beheld what had happened. Then all they
+stood aghast at that sight.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Alexander slays King Mark] But there was in the court of
+Sir Tristram a very young, gallant knight hight Sir Alexander. This knight
+came to where King Mark stood looking down upon his handiwork as though
+entranced with what he had done. Then Sir Alexander said to King Mark, "Is
+this thy work?" And King Mark raised his eyes very heavily and looked at
+Sir Alexander and he answered, "Ay!" Then Sir Alexander cried out, "Thou
+hast lived too long!" And therewith drawing his misericordia, he catched
+King Mark by the left wrist and lifted his arm. And Sir Alexander drave the
+dagger into the side of King Mark, and King Mark groaned and sank down upon
+the ground, and in a little while died where he lay.
+
+Then those knights went to where the Lady Belle Isoult lay and lifted her
+up; but, lo! the soul had left her, and she was dead. For I believe that it
+was not possible for one of those loving souls to leave its body with out
+the other quitting its body also, so that they might meet together in
+Paradise. For there never were two souls in all the history of chivalry
+that clave to one another so tenderly as did the souls of Tristram and
+Isoult.
+
+So endeth this story of Sir Tristram, with only this to say, that they two
+were buried with the graves close together, and that it is said by many who
+have written of them that there grew a rose-tree up from Sir Tristram's
+grave, and down upon the grave of Belle Isoult; and it is said that this
+rose-tree was a miracle, for that upon his grave there grew red roses, and
+upon her grave there grew pure white roses. For her soul was white like to
+thrice-carded wool, and so his soul was red with all that was of courage or
+knightly pride.
+
+And I pray that God may rest the souls of those two as I pray He may rest
+the souls of all of us who must some time go the way that those two and so
+many others have travelled before us. Amen.
+
+
+
+
+The Book of Sir Percival
+
+_Here beginneth the story of Sir Percival of Gales, who was considered to
+be one of the three great knights of the Round Table at that time. For, if
+Sir Launcelot was the chiefest of all the knights who ever came unto King
+Arthur's court, then it is hard to say whether Sir Tristram of Lyonesse or
+Sir Percival of Gales was second unto him in renown_.
+
+_And I pray that it shall be given unto all of ye to live as brave and
+honorable and pure a life as he did; and that you, upon your part, may
+claim a like glory and credit in the world in which you dwell by such noble
+behavior as he exhibited_.
+
+[Illustration: Sir Percival of Gales]
+
+
+
+
+Prologue.
+
+The father of Sir Percival was that king hight Pellinore who fought so
+terrible a battle with King Arthur as has been told in the Book of King
+Arthur. For it was after that fight that King Arthur obtained his famous
+sword Excalibur, as was therein told.
+
+Now, King Pellinore was one of those eleven kings who, in the beginning of
+King Arthur's reign, were in rebellion against King Arthur as hath been
+told in the book aforesaid, and he was one of the last of all those kings
+to yield when he was overcome. So King Arthur drove him from town to town
+and from place to place until, at last, he was driven away from the
+habitations of men and into the forests like to a wild beast.
+
+[Sidenote: King Pellinore fleeth to the wilderness] Now, King Pellinore
+took with him into the wilderness his wife and his four sons; to wit,
+Lamorack and Aglaval and Dornar and Percival. Of these, Percival was but
+three years of age; the others, excepting Dornar, being nigh to the estate
+of manhood. Thereafter that noble family dwelt in the forest like hunted
+animals, and that was a very great hardship for the lady who had been
+queen; and, likewise, it was greatly to the peril of the young child,
+Percival.
+
+Now, Percival was extraordinarily beautiful and his mother loved him above
+all her other sons. Wherefore she feared lest the young child should die of
+those hardships in the wilderness.
+
+So one day King Pellinore said: "Dear love, I am now in no wise prepared
+for to defend thee and this little one. Wherefore, for a while, I shall put
+ye away from me so that ye may remain in secret hiding until such time as
+the child shall have grown in years and stature to the estate of manhood
+and may so defend himself.
+
+"Now of all my one-time possessions I have only two left to me. One of
+these is a lonely castle in this forest (unto which I am now betaking my
+way), and the other is a solitary tower at a great distance from this, and
+in a very desolate part of the world where there are many mountains. Unto
+that place I shall send ye, for it will not be likely that mine enemies
+will ever find ye there.
+
+"So my will is this: that if this child groweth in that lonely place to
+manhood, and if he be weak in body or timid in spirit, thou shalt make of
+him a clerk of holy orders. But if when he groweth, he shall prove to be
+strong and lusty of frame and high of spirit, and shall desire to undertake
+deeds of knighthood, thou then shalt not stay him from his desires, but
+shall let him go forth into the world as he shall have a mind to do.
+
+"And if a time should come when he desireth to go thus into the world
+behold! here is a ring set with a very precious ruby; let him bring that
+ring to me or to any of our sons wheresoever he may find us, and by that
+ring we shall know that he is my son and their brother, and we will receive
+him with great gladness."
+
+[Sidenote: Percival's mother taketh him to the mountains] And King
+Pellinore's lady said, "It shall be done as thou dost ordain." So it was
+that King Pellinore betook himself to that lonely castle where King Arthur
+found him and fought with him; and Percival's mother betook herself to that
+dwelling-place in the mountains of which King Pellinore had spoken--which
+was a single tower that reached up into the sky, like unto a finger of
+stone.
+
+There she abided with Percival for sixteen years, and in all that time
+Percival knew naught of the world nor of what sort it was, but grew
+altogether wild and was entirely innocent like to a little child.
+
+In the mean time, during those years, it happened very ill to the house of
+King Pellinore. For though King Arthur became reconciled to King Pellinore,
+yet there were in King Arthur's court many who were bitter enemies to that
+good, worthy knight. So it came about that first King Pellinore was slain
+by treachery, and then Sir Aglaval and Sir Dornar were slain in the same
+way, so that Sir Lamorack alone was left of all that noble family.
+
+(And it was said that Sir Gawaine and his brothers were implicated in those
+murders--they being enemies unto King Pellinore--and great reproach hath
+always clung to them for the treacherous, unknightly way in which those
+noble knights of the house of Pellinore were slain.)
+
+[Sidenote: Percival's mother grieveth for the death of her dear ones] Now
+the news of those several deaths was brought to that lonely tower of the
+mountain wilderness and to Sir Percival's mother; and when she heard how
+her husband and two of her sons were dead she gave great outcry of grief,
+and smote her hands together and wept with great passion. And she cried
+out: "Mefeareth it will be the time of Lamorack next to be slain. As for
+Percival; never shall I be willing for him to go out into that cruel world
+of wicked murderers. For if he should perish also, my heart would surely
+break."
+
+[Sidenote: How Percival dwelt in the mountains] So she kept Percival
+always with her and in ignorance of all that concerned the world of
+knighthood. And though Percival waxed great of body and was beautiful and
+noble of countenance, yet he dwelt there among those mountains knowing no
+more of the world that lay beyond that place in which he dwelt than would a
+little innocent child. Nor did he ever see anyone from the outside world,
+saving only an old man who was a deaf-mute. And this old man came and went
+betwixt that tower where Percival and his mother dwelt and the outer world,
+and from the world he would come back with clothing and provisions loaded
+upon an old sumpter horse for Percival and his mother and their few
+attendants. Yet Percival marvelled many times whence those things came, but
+no one told him and so he lived in entire ignorance of the world.
+
+And Percival's mother would not let him touch any weapon saving only a
+small Scot's spear which same is a sort of javelin. But with this Percival
+played every day of his life until he grew so cunning in handling it that
+he could pierce with it a bird upon the wing in the air.
+
+Now it chanced upon a time when Percival was nineteen years of age that he
+stood upon a pinnacle of rock and looked down into a certain valley. And it
+was very early in the spring-time, so that the valley appeared, as it were,
+to be carpeted all with clear, thin green. There was a shining stream of
+water that ran down through the midst of the valley, and it was a very fair
+and peaceful place to behold.
+
+[Sidenote: Percival beholds a knight-rider] So Percival stood and gazed
+into that low-land, and lo! a knight rode up through that valley, and the
+sun shone out from behind a cloud of rain and smote upon his armor so that
+it appeared to be all ablaze as with pure light, and Percival beheld that
+knight and wist not what it was he saw. So, after the knight had gone away
+from the valley, he ran straightway to his mother, all filled with a great
+wonder, and he said: "Mother! Mother! I have beheld a very wonderful
+thing." She said, "What was it thou didst see?" Percival said: "I beheld
+somewhat that was like a man, and he rode upon a horse, and he shone very
+brightly and with exceeding splendor. Now, I prithee tell me what it was I
+saw?"
+
+Then Percival's mother knew very well what it was he had seen, and she was
+greatly troubled at heart, for she wist that if Percival's knightly spirit
+should be awakened he would no longer be content to dwell in those peaceful
+solitudes. Wherefore she said to herself: "How is this? Is it to be that
+this one lamb also shall be taken away from me and nothing left to me of
+all my flock?" Then she said to Percival: "My son, that which thou didst
+behold was doubtless an angel." And Percival said, "I would that I too were
+an angel!" And at that speech the lady, his mother, sighed very deeply.
+
+Now it chanced upon the next day after that that Percival and his mother
+went down into the forest that lay at the foot of the mountain whereon that
+tower stood, and they had intent to gather such early flowers of the
+spring-time as were then abloom. And whilst they were there, lo! there came
+five knights riding through the forest, and, the leaves being thin like to
+a mist of green, Percival perceived them a great way off. So he cried out
+in a loud voice: "Mother! Mother! Behold! Yonder is a whole company of
+angels such as I saw yesterday! Now I will go and give them greeting."
+
+But his mother said: "How now! How now! Wouldst thou make address unto
+angels!" And Percival said: "Yea; for they appear to be both mild of face
+and gentle of mien." So he went forward for to greet those knights.
+
+[Sidenote: Percival holds discourse with five knights] Now the foremost of
+that party of knights was Sir Ewaine, who was always both gentle and
+courteous to everybody. Wherefore, when Sir Ewaine saw Percival nigh at
+hand, he gave him greeting and said, "Fair youth, what is thy name?" Unto
+this Percival made reply: "My name is Percival." Sir Ewaine said: "That is
+a very good name, and thy face likewise is so extraordinarily comely that I
+take thee to be of some very high lineage. Now tell me, I prithee, who is
+thy father?" To this Percival said, "I cannot tell thee what is my lineage,
+for I do not know," and at that Sir Ewaine marvelled a very great deal.
+Then, after a little while, he said: "I prithee tell me, didst thou see a
+knight pass this way to-day or yesterday?" And Percival said, "I know not
+what sort of a thing is a knight." Sir Ewaine said, "A knight is such a
+sort of man as I am."
+
+Upon this Percival understood many things that he did not know before, and
+he willed with all his soul to know more than those. Wherefore he said: "If
+thou wilt answer several questions for me, I will gladly answer thine."
+Upon this Sir Ewaine smiled very cheerfully (for he liked Percival
+exceedingly), and he said: "Ask what thou wilt and I will answer thee in so
+far as I am able."
+
+So Percival said, "I prithee tell me what is this thing?" And he laid his
+hand thereon. And Sir Ewaine said, "That is a saddle." And Percival said,
+"What is this thing?" And Sir Ewaine said, "That is a sword." And Percival
+said, "What is this thing?" And Sir Ewaine said, "That is a shield." And so
+Percival asked him concerning all things that appertained to the
+accoutrements of a knight, and Sir Ewaine answered all his questions. Then
+Percival said: "Now I will answer thy question. I saw a knight ride past
+this way yesterday, and he rode up yonder valley and to the westward."
+
+Upon this Sir Ewaine gave gramercy to Percival and saluted him, and so did
+the other knights, and they rode their way.
+
+After they had gone Percival returned to his mother, and he beheld that she
+sat exactly where he had left her, for she was in great travail of soul
+because she perceived that Percival would not now stay with her very much
+longer. And when Percival came to where she sat he said to her: "Mother,
+those were not angels, but very good, excellent knights." And upon this the
+lady, his mother, burst into a great passion of weeping, so that Percival
+stood before her all abashed, not knowing why she wept. So by and by he
+said, "Mother, why dost thou weep?" But she could not answer him for a
+while, and after a while she said, "Let us return homeward." And so they
+walked in silence.
+
+Now when they had come to the tower where they dwelt, the lady turned of a
+sudden unto Percival and she said to him, "Percival, what is in thy heart?"
+And he said, "Mother, thou knowest very well what is there." She said, "Is
+it that thou wouldst be a knight also?" And he said, "Thou sayst it." And
+upon that she said, "Thou shalt have thy will; come with me."
+
+So Percival's mother led him to the stable and to where was that poor
+pack-horse that brought provisions to that place, and she said: "This is a
+sorry horse but I have no other for thee. Now let us make a saddle for
+him." So Percival and his mother twisted sundry cloths and wisps of hay and
+made a sort of a saddle thereof. And Percival's mother brought him a scrip
+with bread and cheese for his refreshment and she hung it about his
+shoulder. And she brought him his javelin which he took in his hand. And
+then she gave him the ring of King Pellinore with that precious ruby jewel
+inset into it, and she said: "Take thou this, Percival, and put it upon thy
+finger, for it is a royal ring. Now when thou leavest me, go unto the court
+of King Arthur and make diligent inquiry for Sir Lamorack of Gales. And
+when thou hast found him, show him that ring, and he will see that thou art
+made a very worthy knight; for, Percival, Sir Lamorack is thy brother. One
+time thou hadst a father alive, and thou hadst two other brothers. But all
+they were slain by treachery of our enemies, and only thou and Lamorack are
+left; so look to it that thou guard thyself when thou art in the world and
+in the midst of those enemies; for if thou shouldst perish at their hands,
+I believe my heart would break."
+
+[Sidenote: Percival's mother giveth him advice] Then she gave Percival
+advice concerning the duty of one who would make himself worthy of
+knighthood, and that advice was as follows: "In thy journeying thou art to
+observe these sundry things: When thou comest to a church or a shrine say a
+pater-noster unto the glory of God; and if thou hearest a cry of anyone in
+trouble, hasten to lend thine aid--especially if it be a woman or a child
+who hath need of it; and if thou meet a lady or a damosel, salute her in
+seemly fashion; and if thou have to do with a man, be both civil and
+courageous unto him; and if thou art an-hungered or athirst and findest
+food and wine, eat and drink enough to satisfy thee, but no more; and if
+thou findest a treasure or a jewel of price and canst obtain those things
+without injustice unto another, take that thing for thine own--but give
+that which thou hast with equal freedom unto others. So, by obeying these
+precepts, thou shalt become worthy to be a true knight and, haply, be also
+worthy of thy father, who was a true knight before thee."
+
+And Percival said, "All these things will I remember and observe to do."
+
+And Percival's mother said, "But thou wilt not forget me, Percival?"
+
+[Sidenote: Percival departs from the mountain] And he said: "Nay, mother;
+but when I have got me power and fame and wealth, then will I straightway
+return thitherward and take thee away from this place, and thou shalt be
+like to a Queen for all the glory that I shall bestow upon thee." Upon this
+the lady, his mother, both laughed and wept; and Percival stooped and
+kissed her upon the lips. Then he turned and left her, and he rode away
+down the mountain and into the forest, and she stood and gazed after him as
+long as she could see him. And she was very lonely after he had gone.
+
+So I have told you how it came that Percival went out into the world for to
+become a famous knight.
+
+[Illustration: The Lady Yvette the Fair]
+
+
+
+
+Chapter First
+
+
+_How Percival departed into the world and how he found a fair damsel in a
+pavilion; likewise how he came before Queen Guinevere and how he undertook
+his first adventure_.
+
+[Sidenote: Percival maketh himself armor of willow twigs] Now after
+Percival had ridden upon his way for a very long time, he came at last out
+of that part of the forest and unto a certain valley where were many osiers
+growing along beside a stream of water. So he gathered branches of the
+willow-trees and peeled them and wove them very cunningly into the likeness
+of armor such as he had seen those knights wear who had come into his
+forest. And when he had armed himself with wattled osiers he said unto
+himself, "Now am I accoutred as well as they." Whereupon he rode upon his
+way with an heart enlarged with joy.
+
+By and by he came out of the forest altogether and unto a considerable
+village where were many houses thatched with straw. And Percival said to
+himself: "Ha! how great is the world; I knew not that there were so many
+people in the world."
+
+[Sidenote: How Percival rode in the world] But when the folk of that place
+beheld what sort of a saddle was upon the back of the pack-horse; and when
+they beheld what sort of armor it was that Percival wore--all woven of
+osier twigs; and when they beheld how he was armed with a javelin and with
+no other weapon, they mocked and laughed at him and jeered him. But
+Percival understood not their mockery, whereupon he said: "Lo! how pleasant
+and how cheerful is the world. I knew not it was so merry a place." So he
+laughed and nodded and gave them greeting who mocked him in that manner.
+And some of them said, "That is a madman." And others said, "Nay, he is a
+silly fool." And when Percival heard these he said to himself: "I wonder
+whether there are other sorts of knights that I have not yet heard tell
+of?"
+
+So he rode upon his way very happy, and whenever he met travellers, they
+would laugh at him; but he would laugh louder than they and give them
+greeting because of pure pleasure that the great world was so merry and
+kind.
+
+Now in the declining of the afternoon, he came to a certain pleasant glade,
+and there he beheld a very noble and stately pavilion in among the trees,
+And that pavilion was all of yellow satin so that it shone like to gold in
+the light of the declining sun.
+
+Then Percival said to himself: "Verily, this must be one of those churches
+concerning which my mother spake to me." So he descended from his horse and
+went to that pavilion and knelt down and said a pater-noster.
+
+[Sidenote: Percival enters the golden pavilion] And when he had ended that
+prayer, he arose and went into the pavilion, and lo! he beheld there a
+wonderfully beautiful young damsel of sixteen years of age who sat in the
+pavilion upon a carved bench and upon a cushion of cloth of gold, and who
+bent over a frame of embroidery, which she was busy weaving in threads of
+silver and gold. And the hair of that damosel was as black as ebony and her
+cheeks were like rose leaves for redness, and she wore a fillet of gold
+around her head, and she was clad in raiment of sky blue silk. And near by
+was a table spread with meats of divers sorts and likewise with several
+wines, both white and red. And all the goblets were of silver and all the
+pattens were of gold, and the table was spread with a napkin embroidered
+with threads of gold.
+
+Now you are to know that the young lady who sat there was the Lady Yvette
+the Fair, the daughter of King Pecheur.
+
+When Percival came to that pavilion the Lady Yvette looked up and beheld
+him with great astonishment, and she said to herself: "That must either be
+a madman or a foolish jester who comes hither clad all in armor of wattled
+willow twigs." So she said to him, "Sirrah, what dost thou here?" He said,
+"Lady, is this a church?" Upon that she was angered thinking that he had
+intended to make a jest and she said: "Begone, fool, for if my father, who
+is King Pecheur, cometh and findeth thee here, he will punish thee for this
+jest." But Percival replied, "Nay; I think he will not, lady."
+
+Then the damosel looked at Percival more narrowly and she beheld how noble
+and beautiful was his countenance and she said to herself: "This is no fool
+nor a jester, but who he is or what he is I know not."
+
+[Sidenote: Percival breaks bread in the golden pavilion] So she said to
+Percival, "Whence comest thou?" and he said, "From the mountains and the
+wilderness." Then he said: "Lady, when I left my mother she told me that
+whenever I saw good food and drink and was an-hungered, I was to take what
+I needed. Now I will do so in this case." Whereupon he sat him down to that
+table and fell to with great appetite.
+
+Then when that damosel beheld what he did she laughed in great measure and
+clapped her hands together in sport. And she said: "If my father and
+brothers should return and find thee at this, they would assuredly punish
+thee very sorely, and thou couldst not make thyself right with them."
+Percival said, "Why would they do that, lady?" And she said: "Because that
+is their food and drink, and because my father is a king and my brethren
+are his sons." Then Percival said, "Certes, they would be uncourteous to
+begrudge food to a hungry man"; and thereat the damsel laughed again.
+
+Now when Percival had eaten and drunk his fill, he arose from where he sat.
+And he beheld that the damsel wore a very beautiful ring of carved gold set
+with a pearl of great price. So he said to her: "Lady, my mother told me
+that if I beheld a jewel or treasure and desired it for my own, I was to
+take it if I could do so without offence to anyone. Now I prithee give me
+that ring upon thy finger, for I desire it a very great deal." At this the
+maiden regarded Percival very strangely, and she beheld that he was comely
+beyond any man whom she had ever seen and that his countenance was very
+noble and exalted and yet exceedingly mild and gentle. So she said to him,
+speaking very gently, "Why should I give thee my ring?" Whereunto he made
+reply: "Because thou art the most beautiful lady whom mine eyes ever beheld
+and I find that I love thee more than I had thought possible to love
+anyone."
+
+At that the damosel smiled upon him and said, "What is thy name?" And he
+said, "It is Percival." She said, "That is a good name; who is thy father?"
+Whereunto he said: "That I cannot tell thee for my mother hath bidden me
+tell his name to no one yet whiles." She said, "I think he must be some
+very noble and worthy knight," and Percival said, "He is all that, for he
+too was a king."
+
+[Sidenote: The damsel giveth Percival her ring] Then the damsel said,
+"Thou mayst have my ring," and she gave it to him. And when Percival had
+placed it upon his finger he said: "My mother also told me that I should
+give freely of what is mine own, wherefore I do give thee this ring of mine
+in exchange for thine, and I do beseech thee to wear it until I have proved
+myself worthy of thy kindness. For I hope to win a very famous knighthood
+and great praise and renown, all of which, if I so accomplish my desires,
+shall be to thy great glory. I would fain come to thee another time in that
+wise instead of as I am at this present."
+
+At that the damsel said: "I know not what thou art or whence thou comest
+who should present thyself in such an extraordinary guise as thou art
+pleased to do, but, certes, thou must be of some very noble strain.
+Wherefore I do accept thee for my knight, and I believe that I shall some
+time have great glory through thee."
+
+[Sidenote: Percival salutes the damsel of the golden pavilion] Then
+Percival said: "Lady, my mother said to me that if I met a damosel I was to
+salute her with all civility. Now have I thy leave to salute thee?" And she
+said, "Thou hast my leave." So Percival took her by the hand, and kissed
+her upon the lips (for that was the only manner in which he knew how to
+salute a woman) and, lo! her face grew all red like to fire. Thereupon
+Percival quitted that pavilion and mounted his horse and rode away. And it
+seemed to him that the world was assuredly a very beautiful and wonderful
+place for to live in.
+
+Yet he knew not what the world was really like nor of what a sort it was
+nor how passing wide, else had he not been so certainly assured that he
+would win him credit therein, or that he could so easily find that young
+damsel again after he had thus parted from her.
+
+That night Percival came to a part of the forest where were many huts of
+folk who made their living by gathering fagots. These people gave him
+harborage and shelter for the night, for they thought that he was some
+harmless madman who had wandered afar. And they told him many things he had
+never known before that time, so that it appeared to him that the world was
+still more wonderful than he had thought it to be at first.
+
+So he abided there for the night, and when the next morning had come he
+arose and bathed himself and went his way; and, as he rode upon his poor
+starved horse, he brake his fast with the bread and cheese that his mother
+had put into his wallet, and he was very glad at heart and rejoiced
+exceedingly in the wonderfulness and the beauty of the world in which he
+found himself to be.
+
+[Sidenote: How Percival travelled in the forest] So Percival journeyed on
+into that forest, and he took such great delight in the beauty of the world
+in which he travelled that he was at times like to shed tears of pure
+happiness because of the joy he felt in being alive. For that forest path
+he travelled led beneath the trees of the woodland; and the trees at that
+time were in their early tender leaf, so that they appeared to shed showers
+of golden light everywhere down upon the earth. And the birds of the
+woodland sang in every bush and thicket; and, anon, the wood pigeon cooed
+so softly that the heart of Percival yearned with great passion for he knew
+not what.
+
+Thus he rode, somewhiles all in a maze of green, and somewhiles out thence
+into an open glade where the light was wide and bright; and other whiles he
+came to some forest stream where was a shallow pool of golden gravel, and
+where the water was so thin and clear that you might not tell where it
+ended and the pure air began. And therethrough he would drive his horse,
+splashing with great noise, whilst the little silvery fish would dart away
+upon all sides, hither and thither, like sparks of light before his coming.
+
+So, because of the beauty of this forest land in its spring-time verdure
+and pleasantness, the heart of Percival was uplifted with so much joy and
+delight that he was like to weep for pure pleasure as aforesaid.
+
+Now it chanced at that time that King Arthur and several of his court had
+come into that forest ahawking; but, the day being warm, the Queen had
+grown weary of the sport, so she had commanded her attendants to set up a
+pavilion for her whilst the King continued his hawking. And the pavilion
+was pitched in an open glade of the forest whereunto Percival came riding.
+
+Then Percival perceived that pavilion set up among the trees, and likewise
+he saw that the pavilion was of rose colored silk. Also he perceived that
+not far from him was a young page very gayly and richly clad.
+
+[Sidenote: Percival bespeaketh the Lady Guinevere's page] Now when the
+page beheld Percival and what a singular appearance he presented, he
+laughed beyond all measure, and Percival, not knowing that he laughed in
+mockery, laughed also and gave him a very cheerful greeting in return. Then
+Percival said to the page: "I prithee tell me, fair youth, whose is that
+pavilion yonder?" And the page said: "It belongeth to Queen Guinevere; for
+King Arthur is coming hither into the forest with his court."
+
+At this Percival was very glad, for he deemed that he should now find Sir
+Lamorack. So he said: "I pray thee tell me, is Sir Lamorack of Gales with
+the court of the King, for I come hither seeking that good worthy knight?"
+
+Then the page laughed a very great deal, and said: "Who art thou to seek
+Sir Lamorack? Art thou then a jester?" And Percival said, "What sort of a
+thing is a jester?" And the page said, "Certes, thou art a silly fool." And
+Percival said, "What is a fool?"
+
+Upon this the page fell alaughing as though he would never stint his mirth
+so that Percival began to wax angry for he said to himself: "These people
+laugh too much and their mirth maketh me weary." So, without more ado, he
+descended from his horse with intent to enter the Queen's pavilion and to
+make inquiry there for Sir Lamorack.
+
+Now when that page saw what Percival had a mind to do, he thrust in to
+prevent him, saying, "Thou shalt not go in!" Upon that Percival said, "Ha!
+shall I not so?" And thereupon he smote the page such a buffet that the
+youth fell down without any motion, as though he had gone dead.
+
+Then Percival straightway entered the Queen's pavilion.
+
+[Sidenote: Percival beholdeth Queen Guinevere] And the first thing he saw
+was a very beautiful lady surrounded by a court of ladies. And the Queen
+was eating a mid-day repast whilst a page waited upon her for to serve her,
+bearing for her refreshment pure wine in a cup of entire gold. And he saw
+that a noble lord (and the lord was Sir Kay the Seneschal), stood in the
+midst of that beautiful rosy pavilion directing the Queen's repast; for Sir
+Kay of all the court had been left in charge of the Queen and her ladies.
+
+Now when Percival entered the tent Sir Kay looked up, and when he perceived
+what sort of a figure was there, he frowned with great displeasure. "Ha!"
+he said, "what mad fool is this who cometh hitherward?"
+
+Unto him Percival made reply: "Thou tall man, I prithee tell me, which of
+these ladies present here is the Queen?" Sir Kay said, "What wouldst thou
+have with the Queen?" To this Percival said: "I have come hither for to lay
+my case before King Arthur, and my case is this: I would fain obtain
+knighthood, and meseems that King Arthur may best help me thereunto."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Kay chides Percival] When the Queen heard the words of
+Percival she laughed with great merriment. But Sir Kay was still very
+wroth, and he said: "Sirrah, thou certainly art some silly fool who hath
+come hither dressed all in armor of willow twigs and without arms or
+equipment of any sort save only a little Scots spear. Now this is the
+Queen's court and thou art not fit to be here."
+
+"Ha," said Percival, "it seems to me that thou art very foolish--thou tall
+man--to judge of me by my dress and equipment. For, even though I wear such
+poor apparel as this, yet I may easily be thy superior both in birth and
+station."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Boindegardus enters the Queen's pavilion] Then Sir Kay was
+exceedingly wroth and would have made a very bitter answer to Percival, but
+at that moment something of another sort befell. For, even as Percival
+ceased speaking, there suddenly entered the pavilion a certain very large
+and savage knight of an exceedingly terrible appearance; and his
+countenance was very furious with anger. And this knight was one Sir
+Boindegardus le Savage, who was held in terror by all that part of King
+Arthur's realm. For Sir Boindegardus was surnamed the Savage because he
+dwelt like a wild man in the forest in a lonely dismal castle of the
+woodland; and because that from this castle he would issue forth at times
+to rob and pillage the wayfarers who passed by along the forest byways.
+Many knights had gone against Sir Boindegardus, with intent either to slay
+him or else to make him prisoner; but some of these knights he had
+overcome, and from others he had escaped, so that he was as yet free to
+work his evil will as he chose.
+
+So now this savage knight entered that pavilion with his helmet upon his
+hip and his shield upon his shoulder, and all those ladies who were there
+were terrified at his coming, for they wist that he came in anger with
+intent of mischief.
+
+As for Sir Kay (he being clad only in a silken tunic of green color and
+with scarlet hosen and velvet shoes, fit for the court of a lady) he was
+afraid, and he wist not how to bear himself in the presence of Sir
+Boindegardus. Then Sir Boindegardus said, "Where is King Arthur?" And Sir
+Kay made no reply because of fear. Then one of the Queen's damsels said,
+"He is hawking out beyond here in the outskirts of the forest." Then Sir
+Boindegardus said: "I am sorry for that, for I had thought to find him here
+at this time and to show challenge to him and his entire court, for I fear
+no one of them. But, as King Arthur is not here, I may, at least, affront
+his Queen."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Boindegardus affronts the Queen] With that he smote the
+elbow of the page who held the goblet for the Queen, and the wine was
+splashed all in the Queen's face and over her stomacher.
+
+Thereupon the Queen shrieked with terror, and one of her maidens ran to her
+aid and others came with napkins and wiped her face and her apparel and
+gave her words of cheer.
+
+Then Sir Kay found courage to say: "Ha! thou art a churlish knight to so
+affront a lady."
+
+With that Sir Boindegardus turned very fiercely upon him and said: "And
+thou likest not my behavior, thou mayst follow me hence into a meadow a
+little distance from this to the eastward where thou mayst avenge that
+affront upon my person if thou art minded to do so."
+
+Then Sir Kay knew not what to reply for he wist that Sir Boindegardus was a
+very strong and terrible knight. Wherefore he said, "Thou seest that I am
+altogether without arms or armor." Upon that Sir Boindegardus laughed in
+great scorn, and therewith seized the golden goblet from the hands of the
+page and went out from the pavilion, and mounting his horse rode away
+bearing that precious chalice with him.
+
+[Sidenote: Percival berates Sir Kay] Then the Queen fell aweeping very
+sorely from fright and shame, and when young Percival beheld her tears, he
+could not abide the sight thereof. So he cried out aloud against Sir Kay,
+saying: "Thou tall man! that was very ill done of thee; for, certes, with
+or without armor thou shouldst have taken the quarrel of this lady upon
+thee. For my mother told me I should take upon me the defence of all such
+as needed defence, but she did not say that I was to wait for arms or armor
+to aid me to do what was right. Now, therefore, though I know little of
+arms or of knighthood, I will take this quarrel upon myself and will do
+what I may to avenge this lady's affront, if I have her leave to do so."
+
+And Queen Guinevere said: "Thou hast my leave, since Sir Kay does not
+choose to assume my quarrel."
+
+[Sidenote: The damsel praises Percival] Now there was a certain very
+beautiful young damsel of the court of the Queen hight Yelande, surnamed
+the "Dumb Maiden," because she would hold no commerce with any knight of
+the court. For in all the year she had been at the court of the King, she
+had spoken no word to any man, nor had she smiled upon any. This damsel
+perceiving how comely and noble was the countenance of Percival, came to
+him and took him by the hand and smiled upon him very kindly. And she said
+to him: "Fair youth, thou hast a large and noble heart, and I feel very
+well assured that thou art of a sort altogether different from what thine
+appearance would lead one to suppose. Now I do affirm that if thou art able
+to carry this adventure through with thy life, thou wilt some time become
+one of the greatest knights in all of the world. For never did I hear tell
+of one who, without arm or armor, would take up a quarrel with a
+well-approved knight clad in full array. But indeed thy heart is as brave
+as thy face is comely, and I believe that thou art as noble as thy speech
+and manner is gentle."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Kay strikes the damsel] Then Sir Kay was very angry with
+that damsel and he said: "Truly, thou art ill taught to remain for all this
+year in the court of King Arthur amid the perfect flower of chivalry and
+yet not to have given to one of those noble and honorable knights a single
+word or a smile such as thou hast bestowed upon this boor." So saying, he
+lifted his hand and smote that damsel a box on the ear so that she screamed
+out aloud with pain and terror.
+
+Upon this Percival came very close to Sir Kay and he said: "Thou
+discourteous tall man; now I tell thee, except that there are so many
+ladies here present, and one of these a Queen, I would have to do with thee
+in such a manner as I do not believe would be at all to thy liking. Now,
+first of all I shall follow yonder uncivil knight and endeavor to avenge
+this noble Queen for the affront he hath put upon her, and when I have done
+with him, then will I hope for the time to come in which I shall have to do
+with thee for laying hands upon this beautiful young lady who was so kind
+to me just now. For, in the fulness of time, I will repay the foul blow
+thou gavest her, and that twenty-fold."
+
+Thereupon Percival straightway went out from that pavilion and mounted upon
+his sorry horse and rode away in the direction that Sir Boindegardus had
+taken with the golden goblet.
+
+[Sidenote: Percival follows Sir Boindegardus] Now after a long time, he
+came to another level meadow of grass, and there he beheld Sir Boindegardus
+riding before him in great state with the golden goblet hanging to the horn
+of his saddle. And Sir Boindegardus wore his helmet and carried his spear
+in his right hand and his shield upon his other arm, and he was in all ways
+prepared for an encounter at arms. And when he perceived Percival come
+riding out of the forest in pursuit of him, he drew rein and turned. And
+when Percival had come nigh enough Sir Boindegardus said, "Whence comest
+thou, fool?" Percival replied, "I come from Queen Guinevere, her pavilion."
+Then Sir Boindegardus said, "Does that knight who was there follow me
+hitherward?" Unto which Percival made reply: "Nay, but I have followed thee
+with intent to punish thee for the affront which thou didst put upon Queen
+Guinevere."
+
+Then Sir Boindegardus was very wroth and he said: "Thou fool; I have a very
+good intention for to slay thee." Therewith he raised his spear and smote
+Percival with it upon the back of the neck so terrible a blow that he was
+flung violently down from off his horse. Upon this Percival was so angry
+that the sky all became like scarlet before his eyes. Wherefore, when he
+had recovered from the blow he ran unto Sir Boindegardus and catched the
+spear in his hands and wrestled with such terrible strength that he plucked
+it away from Sir Boindegardus. And having thus made himself master of that
+spear, he brake it across his knee and flung it away.
+
+[Sidenote: Percival slays Sir Boindegardus] Then Sir Boindegardus was in
+furious rage, wherefore he drew his bright, shining sword with intent to
+slay Percival. But when Percival saw what he would be at, he catched up his
+javelin and, running to a little distance, he turned and threw it at Sir
+Boindegardus with so cunning an aim that the point of the javelin entered
+the ocularium of the helmet of Sir Boindegardus and pierced through the eye
+and the brain and came out of the back of the head. Then Sir Boindegardus
+pitched down from off his horse all into a heap upon the ground, and
+Percival ran to him and stooped over him and perceived that he was dead.
+Then Percival said: "Well, it would seem that I have put an end to a
+terribly discourteous knight to ladies."
+
+[Sidenote: King Arthur sends Sir Launcelot and Sir Lamorack in quest of
+Percival] Now a little after Percival had quitted the pavilion of Queen
+Guinevere, King Arthur and eleven noble knights of the court returned
+thither from hawking, and amongst those knights was Sir Launcelot of the
+Lake and Sir Lamorack of Gales. Then those who were of the Queen's court
+told King Arthur what had befallen, and thereat the King felt great
+displeasure toward Sir Kay. And he said: "Kay, not only hast thou been very
+discourteous in not assuming this quarrel of the Queen's, but I believe
+that thou, a well-approved knight, hast in thy fear of Sir Boindegardus
+been the cause of sending this youth upon an adventure in which he will be
+subject to such great danger that it may very well be that he shall hardly
+escape with his life. Now I will that two of you knights shall follow after
+that youth for to rescue him if it be not too late; and those two shall be
+Sir Launcelot of the Lake and Sir Lamorack of Gales. So make all haste,
+Messires, lest some misfortune shall befall this brave, innocent madman."
+
+Thereupon those two knights mounted straightway upon their horses and rode
+away in that direction whither Percival had gone.
+
+[Illustration: Sir Percival & Sir Lamorack ride together]
+
+
+
+
+Chapter Second
+
+
+_How Sir Percival was made knight by King Arthur; how he rode forth with
+Sir Lamorack and how he left Sir Lamorack in quest of adventure upon his
+own account; likewise how a great knight taught him craft in arms_.
+
+So after a considerable time they came to that meadow-land where Percival
+had found Sir Boindegardus.
+
+[Sidenote: How the two knights find Percival in the meadow] But when they
+came to that place they perceived a very strange sight. For they beheld one
+clad all in armor of wattled willow-twigs and that one dragged the body of
+an armed knight hither and thither upon the ground. So they two rode up to
+where that affair was toward, and when they had come nigh enough, Sir
+Launcelot said: "Ha, fair youth, thou art doing a very strange thing. What
+art thou about?"
+
+To him Percival said: "Sir, I would get those plates of armor off this
+knight, and I know not how to do it!"
+
+Then Sir Launcelot laughed, and he said: "Let be for a little while, and I
+will show thee how to get the plates of armor off." And he said: "How came
+this knight by his death."
+
+Percival said: "Sir, this knight hath greatly insulted Queen Guinevere
+(that beautiful lady), and when I followed him thither with intent to take
+her quarrel upon me, he struck me with his spear. And when I took his spear
+away from him, and brake it across my knee, he drew his sword and would
+have slain me, only that I slew him instead."
+
+Then Sir Launcelot was filled with amazement, and he said: "Is not that
+knight Sir Boindegardus?" And Percival said: "Ay." Then Sir Launcelot said:
+"Fair youth, know that thou hast slain one of the strongest and most
+terrible knights in all the world. In this thou hast done a great service
+unto King Arthur, so if thou wilt come with us to the court of King Arthur,
+he will doubtless reward thee very bountifully for what thou hast done."
+
+Then Percival looked up into the faces of Sir Launcelot and Sir Lamorack
+and he perceived that they were very noble. So he smiled upon them and
+said: "Messires, I pray you tell me who you are and what is your degree."
+Then Sir Launcelot smiled in return and said: "I am called Sir Launcelot of
+the Lake, and this, my companion, is called Sir Lamorack of Gales."
+
+[Sidenote: Percival knoweth Sir Lamorack] Then Percival wist that he stood
+in the presence of his own brother, and he looked into the countenance of
+Sir Lamorack and marvelled how noble and exalted it was. And he felt a
+great passion of love for Sir Lamorack, and a great joy in that love. But
+he did not tell Sir Lamorack who he was, for he had learned several things
+since he had come out into the world, and one was that he must not be too
+hasty in such things. So he said to himself: "I will not as yet tell my
+brother who I am, lest he shall be ashamed of me. But first I shall win me
+such credit that he shall not be ashamed of me, and then I will acknowledge
+to him who I am."
+
+Then Sir Launcelot said: "I prithee, fair youth, tell me what is thy name
+since I have told thee ours, for I find that I have great love for thee so
+that I would fain know who thou art."
+
+Then Percival said: "My name is Percival."
+
+At that Sir Lamorack cried out: "I knew one whose name was Percival, and he
+was mine own brother. And if he be alive he must now be just such a youth
+as thou art."
+
+Then Percival's heart yearned toward Sir Lamorack, so that he looked up and
+smiled with great love into his face; yet he would not acknowledge to Sir
+Lamorack who he was, but held his peace for that while.
+
+Then Sir Launcelot said: "Now, fair youth, we will show you how to take the
+armor off of this dead knight, and after we have done that, we shall take
+you back to King Arthur, so that he may reward you for what you have done
+in the way that he may deem best."
+
+[Sidenote: The two knights arm Percival] So with that Sir Launcelot and
+Sir Lamorack dismounted from their horses, and they went to that dead
+knight and unlaced his armor and removed the armor from his body. And when
+they had done that they aided Percival to remove the armor of wattled osier
+twigs and they cased him in the armor of Sir Boindegardus; and thereafter
+they all three rode back to that pavilion where the King and Queen were
+holding court.
+
+But when King Arthur heard that Sir Boindegardus was dead he was filled
+with great joy; and when he heard how it was that Percival had slain him,
+he was amazed beyond measure; and he said to Percival: "Surely God is with
+thee, fair youth, to help thee to perform such a worthy feat of arms as
+this that thou hast done, for no knight yet hath been able to perform that
+service." Then he said: "Tell me what it is that thou hast most desire to
+have, and if it is in my power to give it to thee thou shalt have it."
+
+Then Percival kneeled down before King Arthur, and he said: "Lord, that
+which I most desire of all things else is to be made knight. So if it is in
+thy power to do so, I pray thee to make me a knight-royal with thine own
+hands."
+
+Then King Arthur smiled upon Percival very kindly, and he said: "Percival,
+it shall be as thou dost desire, and to-morrow I will make thee a knight."
+
+[Sidenote: King Arthur makes Percival a knight-royal] So that night
+Percival watched his armor in the chapel of a hermit of the forest, and the
+armor that he watched was the armor that had belonged to Sir Boindegardus
+(for Percival besought King Arthur that he might wear that armor for his
+own because it was what he himself had won in battle). And when the next
+morning had come, Sir Launcelot and Sir Lamorack brought Percival before
+King Arthur, and King Arthur made him a knight.
+
+After that Sir Percival besought King Arthur that he would give him leave
+to depart from court so that he might do some worthy deed of arms that
+might win him worship; and King Arthur gave him that leave he asked for.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percival threatens Sir Kay] Then Sir Percival went to where
+Sir Kay was sitting, and he said: "Messire, I have not forgot that blow you
+gave that fair damsel yesterday when she spake so kindly to me. As yet I am
+too young a knight to handle you; but by and by the time will come when I
+shall return and repay you that blow tenfold and twentyfold what you gave!"
+And at these words Sir Kay was in no wise pleased, for he wist that Sir
+Percival would one day become a very strong and worthy knight.
+
+Now all this while the heart of Sir Lamorack yearned very greatly toward
+Sir Percival, though Sir Lamorack knew not why that should be; so when Sir
+Percival had obtained permission to go errant, Sir Lamorack asked King
+Arthur for leave to ride forth so as to be with him; and King Arthur gave
+Sir Lamorack that leave.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percival and Sir Lamorack ride together] Thus it befell
+that Sir Lamorack and Sir Percival rode forth together very lovingly and
+cheerfully. And as they rode upon their way Sir Lamorack told Sir Percival
+many things concerning the circumstances of knighthood, and to all that he
+said Sir Percival gave great heed. But Sir Lamorack knew not that he was
+riding with his own brother or that it was his own brother to whom he was
+teaching the mysteries of chivalry, and Sir Percival told him nothing
+thereof. But ever in his heart Sir Percival said to himself: "If God will
+give me enough of His grace, I will some day do full credit unto thy
+teaching, O my brother!"
+
+Now, after Sir Percival and Sir Lamorack had travelled a great way, they
+came at last out of that forest and to an open country where was a
+well-tilled land and a wide, smooth river flowing down a level plain.
+
+And in the centre of that plain was a town of considerable size, and a very
+large castle with several tall towers and many roofs and chimneys that
+stood overlooking the town.
+
+That time they came thitherward the day was declining toward its close, so
+that all the sky toward the westward shone, like, as it were, to a flame of
+gold--exceedingly beautiful. And the highway upon which they entered was
+very broad and smooth, like to a floor for smoothness. And there were all
+sorts of folk passing along that highway; some afoot and some ahorseback.
+Also there was a river path beside the river where the horses dragged
+deep-laden barges down to the town and thence again; and these barges were
+all painted in bright colors, and the horses were bedight with gay harness
+and hung with tinkling bells.
+
+All these things Sir Percival beheld with wonder for he had never seen
+their like before; wherefore he cried out with amazement, saying: "Saints
+of Glory! How great and wonderful is the world!"
+
+Then Sir Lamorack looked upon him and smiled with great loving-kindness;
+and he said: "Ha, Percival! This is so small a part of the world that it is
+but a patch upon it."
+
+Unto this Sir Percival made reply: "Dear Messire, I am so glad that I have
+come forth into the world that I am hardly able to know whether I am in a
+vision or am awake."
+
+So, after a considerable while, they came to that town with its castle, and
+these stood close beside the river--and the town and the castle were hight
+Cardennan. And the town was of great consideration, being very well famed
+for its dyed woollen fabrics.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percival and Sir Lamorack come to Cardennan] So Sir
+Percival and Sir Lamorack entered the town. And when Sir Percival beheld
+all the people in the streets, coming and going upon their businesses; and
+when he beheld all the gay colors and apparels of fine fabrics that the
+people wore; and when he beheld the many booths filled with rich wares of
+divers sorts, he wist not what to think for the wonder that possessed him;
+wherefore he cried out aloud, as with great passion: "What marvel do I
+behold! I knew not that a city could be so great as this."
+
+And again Sir Lamorack smiled very kindly upon him and said: "Sayst thou
+so? Now I tell thee that when one compares this place with Camelot (which
+is the King's city) it is as a star compared to the full moon in her
+glory." And at that Sir Percival knew not what to think for wonder.
+
+So they went up the street of the town until they came to the castle of
+Cardennan and there requested admission. And when the name and the estate
+of Sir Lamorack were declared, the porter opened the gate with great joy
+and they entered. Then, by and by, the lord and the lady of the castle came
+down from a carved wooden gallery and bade them welcome by word of mouth.
+And after that sundry attendants immediately appeared and assisted Sir
+Percival and Sir Lamorack to dismount and took their horses to the stable,
+and sundry other attendants conducted them to certain apartments where they
+were eased of their armor and bathed in baths of tepid water and given soft
+raiment for to wear. After that the lord and the lady entertained them with
+a great feast, where harpers and singers made music, and where certain
+actors acted a mystery before them.
+
+[Sidenote: How the two knights were welcomed by the lord and lady of the
+castle] So these two knights and the lord and the lady of the castle ate
+together and discoursed very pleasantly for a while; but, when the evening
+was pretty well gone, Sir Lamorack bade good-night, and he and Sir Percival
+were conducted to a certain very noble apartment where beds of down, spread
+with flame-colored cloth, had been prepared for their repose.
+
+Thus ended that day which was the first day of the knighthood of Sir
+Percival of Gales.
+
+Now though Sir Percival had travelled very contentedly with Sir Lamorack
+for all that while, yet he had determined in his own mind that, as soon as
+possible, he would leave Sir Lamorack and depart upon his own quest. For he
+said to himself: "Lo! I am a very green knight as yet, and haply my brother
+may grow weary of my company and cease to love me. So I will leave him ere
+he have the chance to tire of me, and I will seek knighthood for myself.
+After that, if God wills it that I shall win worthy knighthood, then my
+brother will be glad enough to acknowledge me as his father's son."
+
+So when the next morning had come, Sir Percival arose very softly all in
+the dawning, and he put on his armor without disturbing Sir Lamorack. Then
+he stooped and looked into Sir Lamorack's face and beheld that his brother
+was still enfolded in a deep sleep as in a soft mantle. And as Sir Percival
+gazed upon Sir Lamorack thus asleep, he loved him with such ardor that he
+could hardly bear the strength of his love. But he said to himself: "Sleep
+on, my brother, whilst I go away and leave thee. But when I have earned me
+great glory, then will I return unto thee and will lay all that I have
+achieved at thy feet, so that thou shalt be very glad to acknowledge me."
+So saying to himself, he went away from that place very softly, and Sir
+Lamorack slept so deeply that he wist not that Sir Percival was gone.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percival leaves Sir Lamorack] Thereafter Sir Percival went
+to the courtyard of the castle and he bade certain attendants to prepare
+his horse for him, and they did so. And he bade certain others for to arm
+him, and they did so. Thereupon he mounted his horse and left that castle
+and rode away.
+
+Now after Sir Percival had left Sir Lamorack still sleeping in the castle
+as aforetold, he journeyed upon his way, taking great pleasure in all
+things that he beheld. So he travelled all that morning, and the day was
+very bright and warm, so that by and by he was an-hungered and athirst. So
+after a while he came to a certain road that appeared to him to be good for
+his purpose, so he took that way in great hopes that some adventure would
+befall him, or else that he would find food and drink.
+
+Then after a while he heard a bell ringing, and after he had followed that
+bell for some distance, he came to where was the dwelling-place of a hermit
+and where was a small chapel by the wayside. And Sir Percival beheld that
+the hermit, who was an old man with a long white beard, rang the bell of
+that chapel.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percival meets his fate at the forest chapel] So Sir
+Percival thought that here he might find food and drink; and so he rode
+forward to where the hermit was ringing the bell. But when Sir Percival
+came still more nigh he perceived that behind the chapel and to one side
+there was a very noble knight upon horseback; and he perceived that the
+knight was clad all in white armor and that his horse (which was white as
+milk and of very noble strength and proportions) was furnished altogether
+with furniture of white.
+
+This knight, when he perceived Sir Percival, immediately rode up to meet
+him and saluted Sir Percival very courteously. And the knight said: "Sir,
+will you not joust a fall with me ere you break your fast? For this is a
+very fair and level field of green grass and well fitted for such a
+friendly trial at arms if you have the time for it."
+
+Unto this Sir Percival said: "Messire, I will gladly try a fall with you,
+though I must tell you that I am a very young green knight, having been
+knighted only yesterday by King Arthur himself. But though I am unskilled
+in arms, yet it will pleasure me a great deal to accept so gentle and
+courteous a challenge as that which you give me."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percival is overthrown by the white knight] So with that
+each knight turned his horse and each took such stand as appeared to him to
+be best. And when they were in all ways prepared, they drave their horses
+together with great speed, the one against the other, meeting one another,
+shield against spear, in the very midst of the course. In that encounter
+(which was the first that he ever ran) Sir Percival bare himself very well
+and with great knightliness of endeavor; for he broke his spear upon the
+white knight into small pieces. But the spear of the white knight held so
+that Sir Percival was lifted out of his saddle and over the crupper of his
+horse, and fell upon the ground with great violence and a cloud of dust.
+
+Then the white knight returned from his course and came up to where Sir
+Percival was. And he inquired of him very courteously: "Sir, art thou
+hurt?" Thereunto Sir Percival replied: "Nay, sir! I am not hurt, only
+somewhat shaken by my fall.'"
+
+Then the white knight dismounted from his horse and came to where Sir
+Percival was. And he lifted up the umbril of his helmet, and Sir Percival
+perceived that that white knight was Sir Launcelot of the Lake.
+
+And Sir Launcelot said: "Percival, I well knew who you were from the first,
+but I thought I would see of what mettle you are, and I have found that you
+are of very good mettle indeed. But you are to know that it is impossible
+for a young knight such as you, who knoweth naught of the use of knightly
+weapons, to have to do with a knight well-seasoned in arms as I am, and to
+have any hope of success in such an encounter. Wherefore you need to be
+taught the craft of using your weapons perfectly."
+
+To this Sir Percival said: "Messire, tell me, how may I hope to acquire
+craft at arms such as may serve me in such a stead as this?"
+
+Sir Launcelot said: "I myself will teach thee, imparting to thee such skill
+as I have at my command. Less than half a day's journey to the southward of
+this is my castle of Joyous Gard. Thither I was upon my way when I met thee
+here. Now thou shalt go with me unto Joyous Gard, and there thou shalt
+abide until thou art in all ways taught the use of arms so that thou mayst
+uphold that knighthood which I believe God hath endowed thee withal."
+
+So after that Sir Launcelot and Sir Percival went to the dwelling-place of
+the hermit, and the hermit fed them with the best of that simple fare which
+he had at his command.
+
+[Sidenote: How Sir Percival dwelt at Joyous Gard] After that, they mounted
+horse again and rode away to Joyous Gard, and there Sir Percival abided for
+a year, training himself in all wise so as to prepare himself to uphold
+that knighthood which in him became so famous. For, during that year Sir
+Launcelot was his teacher in the art of arms. Likewise he instructed him in
+all the civilities and the customs of chivalry, so it befell that ere Sir
+Percival came forth from Joyous Gard again he was well acquainted with all
+the ways in which he should comport himself at any time, whether in field
+or in court.
+
+So when Sir Percival came forth again from Joyous Gard, there was no
+knight, unless it was Sir Launcelot himself, who could surpass him in skill
+at arms; nay, not even his own brother, Sir Lamorack; nor was there
+anybody, even if one were Sir Gawaine or Sir Geraint, who surpassed him in
+civility of courtliness or nobility of demeanor.
+
+And now I shall tell you of the great adventure that befell Sir Percival
+after Sir Launcelot had thus taught him at Joyous Gard.
+
+[Illustration: Sir Percival overcometh ye Enchantress Vivien]
+
+
+
+
+Chapter Third
+
+
+_How Sir Percival met two strange people in the forest, and how he succored
+a knight who was in very great sorrow and dole._
+
+Now after Sir Percival had left Joyous Gard he rode for several days
+seeking adventure but meeting none.
+
+Then one day he came to a very dark and wonderful forest which appeared to
+be so silent and lonely and yet so full of beauty that Sir Percival
+bethought him that this must surely be some forest of magic. So he entered
+into that forest with intent to discover if he might find any worthy
+adventure therein.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percival enters the Forest of Arroy] (And that forest was a
+forest of magic; for you are to know that it was the Forest of Arroy,
+sometimes called the Forest of Adventure, which was several times spoken of
+in the book of King Arthur. For no one ever entered into that forest but
+some singular adventure befell him.)
+
+So Sir Percival rode through this wonderful woodland for a long time very
+greatly wondering, for everywhere about him was perfect silence, with not
+so much as a single note of a bird of the woodlands to lighten that
+stillness. Now, as Sir Percival rode through that silence, he presently
+became aware of the sound of voices talking together, and shortly
+thereafter he perceived a knight with a lady riding amid the thin trees
+that grew there. And the knight rode upon a great white horse, and the lady
+rode upon a red roan palfrey.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percival meets two strange people] These, when they beheld
+Sir Percival, waited for him, and as Sir Percival drew nigh to them he
+perceived that they were of a very singular appearance. For both of them
+were clad altogether in green, and both of them wore about their necks very
+wonderful collars of wrought gold inset with opal stones and emeralds. And
+the face of each was like clear wax for whiteness; and the eyes of each
+were very bright, like jewels set in ivory. And these two neither laughed
+nor frowned, but only smiled continually. And that knight whom Sir Percival
+beheld was Sir Pellias, and the lady was the Lady Nymue of the Lake.
+
+Now when Sir Percival beheld these two, he wist that they were fay,
+wherefore he dismounted very quickly, and kneeled down upon the ground and
+set his palms together. Then the Lady of the Lake smiled very kindly upon
+Sir Percival, and she said: "Sir Percival, arise, and tell me what you do
+in these parts?"
+
+Then Sir Percival arose and he stood before that knight and lady, and he
+said: "Lady, I wist not how you know who I am, but I believe you are fay
+and know many things. Touching my purpose in coming here, it is that I am
+in search of adventure. So if you know of any that I may undertake for your
+sake, I pray you to tell me of it."
+
+The lady said: "If so be thy desire is of that sort, I may, perchance be
+able to bring thee unto an adventure that is worthy for any knight to
+undertake. Go a little distance from this upon the way thou art following
+and by and by thou wilt behold a bird whose feathers shall shine like to
+gold for brightness. Follow that bird and it will bring thee to a place
+where thou shalt find a knight in sore need of thy aid."
+
+And Percival said: "I will do as thou dost advise."
+
+[Sidenote: The Lady of the Lake giveth Sir Percival a charm] Then the lady
+said: "Wait a little, I have something for thee." Therewith she took from
+her neck a small golden amulet pendant from a silken cord very fine and
+thin. And she said: "Wear this for it will protect thee from all evil
+enchantments." Therewith saying, she hung the amulet about the neck of Sir
+Percival, and Sir Percival gave her thanks beyond measure for it.
+
+Then the knight and the lady saluted him and he saluted them, and they each
+went their separate ways.
+
+[Sidenote: How Percival followed the golden bird] So Sir Percival
+travelled that path for some distance as the lady had advised him to do,
+and by and by he beheld the bird of which she had spoken. And he saw that
+the plumage of the bird glistered as though it was of gold so that he
+marvelled at it. And as he drew nigh the bird flew a little distance down
+the path and then lit upon the ground and he followed it. And when he had
+come nigh to it again it flew a distance farther and still he followed it.
+So it flew and he followed for a very great way until by and by the forest
+grew thin and Sir Percival beheld that there was an open country lying
+beyond the skirts thereof. And when the bird had brought him thus far it
+suddenly flew back into the forest again whence it had come, chirping very
+keenly and shrilly as it flew.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percival beholds a wonderful castle] So Percival came out
+of the forest into the open country, the like of which he had never before
+seen, for it was a very desolate barren waste of land. And in the midst of
+this desolate plain there stood a castle of a very wonderful appearance;
+for in some parts it was the color of ultramarine and in other parts it was
+of crimson; and the ultramarine and the crimson were embellished with very
+extraordinary devices painted in gold. So because of all those
+extraordinary colors, that castle shone like a bright rainbow against the
+sky, wherefore Sir Percival sat his horse for some while and marvelled very
+greatly thereat.
+
+Then, by and by Sir Percival perceived that the road that led to the castle
+crossed a bridge of stone, and when he looked at the bridge he saw that
+midway upon it was a pillar of stone and that a knight clad all in full
+armor stood chained with iron chains to that stone pillar, and at that
+sight Sir Percival was very greatly astonished. So he rode very rapidly
+along that way and so to the bridge and upon the bridge to where the knight
+was. And when Sir Percival came thus upon the bridge he perceived that the
+knight who was bound with chains was very noble and haughty of appearance,
+but that he seemed to be in great pain and suffering because of his being
+thus bound to that pillar. For the captive knight made continual moan so
+that it moved the heart of Sir Percival to hear him.
+
+So Sir Percival said: "Sir Knight, this is a sorrowful condition thou art
+in." And the knight said: "Yea, and I am sorrowful; for I have stood here
+now for three days and I am in great torment of mind and body."
+
+Sir Percival said, "Maybe I can aid thee," and thereupon he got down from
+off his horse's back and approached the knight. And he drew his sword so
+that it flashed in the sun very brightly.
+
+Upon this the knight said: "Messire, what would you be at?" And Sir
+Percival said: "I would cut the chains that bind thee."
+
+To this the knight said: "How could you do that? For who could cut through
+chains of iron such as these?"
+
+But Sir Percival said: "I will try what I may do."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percival sets free the captive knight] Thereupon he lifted
+up his sword and smote so terribly powerful a blow that the like of it had
+hardly ever been seen before. For that blow cut through the iron chains and
+smote the hauberk of the knight so smart a buffet that he fell down to the
+ground altogether deprived of breath.
+
+But when Sir Percival saw the knight fall down in that wise, he cried out:
+"Woe is me! Have I slain this good, gentle knight when I would but do him
+service?" Thereupon he lifted the knight up upon his knee and eased the
+armor about his throat. But the knight was not dead, and by and by the
+breath came back to him again, and he said: "By my faith, that was the most
+wonderful stroke that ever I beheld any man strike in all of my life."
+
+Thereafter, when the knight had sufficiently recovered, Sir Percival helped
+him to stand upon his feet; and when he stood thus his strength presently
+came back to him again in great measure.
+
+And the knight was athirst and craved very vehemently to drink. So Sir
+Percival helped him to descend a narrow path that led to a stream of water
+that flowed beneath the bridge; and there the knight stooped and slaked his
+thirst. And when he had drunk his fill, his strength came altogether back
+to him again, and he said: "Messire, I have to give thee all thanks that it
+is possible for me to do, for hadst thou not come unto mine aid, I would
+else have perished very miserably and at no very distant time from this."
+
+Then Sir Percival said: "I beseech you, Messire, to tell me how you came
+into that sad plight in which I found you."
+
+[Sidenote: The knight telleth his story] To this the knight said: "I will
+tell you; it was thus: Two days ago I came thitherward and past yonder
+castle, and with me were two excellent esquires--for I am a knight of royal
+blood. Now as we went past that castle there came forth a lady clad all in
+red and so exceedingly beautiful that she entirely enchanted my heart. And
+with this lady there came a number of esquires and pages, all of them very
+beautiful of face, and all clad, as she was, in red. Now when this lady had
+come nigh to me she spoke me very fair and tempted me with kind words so
+that I thought I had never fallen upon anyone so courteous as she. But when
+she had come real close to me, she smote me of a sudden across the
+shoulders with an ebony staff that she carried in her hand, and at the same
+time she cried out certain words that I remember not. For immediately a
+great darkness like to a deep swoon fell upon me and I knew nothing. And
+when I awakened from that swoon lo! I found myself here, chained fast to
+this stone pillar. And hadst thou not come hither I would else certainly
+have died in my torment. And as to what hath become of my esquires, I know
+not; but as for that lady, methinks she can be none other than a certain
+enchantress, hight Vivien, who hath wrought such powerful spells upon
+Merlin as to have removed him from the eyes of all mankind."
+
+Unto all this Sir Percival listened in great wonder, and when the knight
+had ended his tale he said: "What is thy name?" And the knight said: "My
+name is Percydes and I am the son of King Pecheur--so called because he is
+the king of all the fisher-folk who dwell upon the West coast. And now I
+prithee tell me also thy name and condition, for I find I love thee a very
+great deal."
+
+And Sir Percival said: "My name is Percival, but I may not at this present
+tell thee my condition and of whom I am born; for that I must keep secret
+until I have won me good credit as a knight. But now I have somewhat to do,
+and that is to deal with this lady Vivien as she shall deserve."
+
+Upon that Sir Percydes cried out: "Go not near to that sorceress, else she
+will do some great harm to thee with her potent spells as she did to me."
+
+But Sir Percival said: "I have no fear of her."
+
+So Sir Percival arose and crossed the bridge and went toward that wonderful
+enchanted castle; and Sir Percydes would have gone with him, but Sir
+Percival said: "Stay where thou art." And so Sir Percydes stayed and Sir
+Percival went forward alone.
+
+[Sidenote: The Lady Vivien cometh forth to Sir Percival] Now as he drew
+nigh to the castle the gate thereof was opened, and there came forth thence
+an extraordinarily beautiful lady surrounded by a court of esquires and
+pages all very beautiful of countenance. And this lady and all of her court
+were clad in red so that they shone like to several flames of fire. And the
+lady's hair was as red as gold, and she wore gold ornaments about her neck
+so that she glistered exceedingly and was very wonderful to behold. And her
+eyebrows were very black and fine and were joined in the middle like two
+fine lines drawn together with a pencil, and her eyes were narrow and
+black, shining like those of a snake.
+
+Then when Sir Percival beheld this lady how singularly beautiful she was he
+was altogether enchanted so that he could not forbear to approach her. And,
+lo! she stood still and smiled upon him so that his heart stirred within
+his bosom like as though it pulled at the strings that held it. Then she
+said to Sir Percival, speaking in a very sweet and gentle voice: "Sir
+Knight, thou art welcome to this place. It would pleasure us very greatly
+if thou wouldst consider this castle as though it were thine own and would
+abide within it with me for a while." Therewith speaking she smiled again
+upon Sir Percival more cunningly than before and reached out her hand
+toward him.
+
+Then Sir Percival came toward her with intent to take her hand, she smiling
+upon him all the while so that he could not do otherwise than as she
+willed.
+
+Now in the other hand this lady held an ebony staff of about an ell in
+length, and when Sir Percival had come close enough to her, she lifted this
+staff of a sudden and smote him with it very violently across the
+shoulders, crying out at the same time, in a voice terribly piercing and
+shrill: "Be thou a stone!"
+
+Then that charm that the Lady of the Lake had hung around the neck of Sir
+Percival stood him in good stead, for, excepting for it, he would that
+instant have been transformed into a stone. But the charm of the sorceress
+did not work upon him, being prevented by the greater charm of that golden
+amulet.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percival draweth sword upon the Lady Vivien] But Sir
+Percival knew very well what the sorceress Vivien had intended to do to
+him, and he was filled with a great rage of indignation against her because
+she had meant to transform him into a stone. Therefore he cried out with a
+loud voice and seized the enchantress by her long golden hair, and drew her
+so violently forward that she fell down upon her knees. Then he drew his
+shining sword with intent to sever her long neck, so slender and white like
+alabaster.
+
+But the lady shrieked with great vehemence of terror and besought him
+mercy. And at that Sir Percival's heart grew soft for pity, for he
+bethought him that she was a woman and he beheld how smooth and beautiful
+was her neck, and how her skin was like white satin for smoothness. So when
+he heard her voice--the voice of a woman beseeching mercy--his heart grew
+soft, and he could not find strength within him to strike that neck apart
+with his sword.
+
+So he bade her to arise--though he still held her by the hair (all warm, it
+was, and as soft as silk and very fragrant) and the lady stood up,
+trembling before him.
+
+Then Sir Percival said to her: "If thou wouldst have thy life I command
+thee to transform back to their own shape all those people whom thou hast
+bewitched as thou wouldst have bewitched me."
+
+Then the lady said: "It shall be done." Whereupon she smote her hands very
+violently together crying out: "All ye who have lost your proper shapes,
+return thereunto."
+
+[Sidenote: The Lady Vivien undoes her enchantment] Then, lo! upon the
+instant, a great multitude of round stones that lay scattered about became
+quick, like to eggs; and they moved and stirred as the life entered into
+them. And they melted away and, behold! there arose up a great many knights
+and esquires and several ladies to the number of four score and eight in
+all. And certain other stones became quickened in like manner, and as
+Percival looked, lo! there rose up the horses of those people, all
+caparisoned as though for travel.
+
+Now when those people who had been thus bewitched beheld the Lady Vivien,
+how Sir Percival held her by the hair of her head, they made great outcry
+against her for vengeance, saying: "Slay her! Slay her!" And therewith
+several made at her as though to do as they said and to slay her. But
+Percival waved his sword before her and said: "Not so! Not so! For this
+lady is my prisoner and we shall not harm her unless ye come at her through
+me."
+
+Thereat they fell silent in a little while, and when he had thus stilled
+them, he turned to the Lady Vivien and said: "This is my command that I lay
+upon thee: that thou shalt go into the court of King Arthur and shalt
+confess thyself to him and that thou shalt fulfil whatever penance he may
+lay upon thee to perform because of thy transgressions. Now wilt thou do
+this for to save thy life?"
+
+And the Lady Vivien made reply: "All shall be done according to thy
+command."
+
+Therewith Sir Percival released his hold upon her and she was free.
+
+Then, finding herself to be thus free, she stepped back a pace or two and
+looked into Sir Percival his face, and she laughed. And she said: "Thou
+fool, didst thou think that I would do so mad a thing as that which thou
+hast made me promise? For what mercy could I expect at the hands of King
+Arthur seeing that it was I who destroyed the Enchanter Merlin, who was the
+right adviser of King Arthur! Go to King Arthur thyself and deliver to him
+thine own messages."
+
+[Sidenote: The Lady Vivien escapes] So saying, in an instant, she vanished
+from the sight of all those who stood there. And with her vanished that
+castle of crimson and ultramarine and gold--and nothing was left but the
+bare rocks and the barren plain.
+
+Then when those who were there recovered from their astonishment, upon
+beholding that great castle so suddenly disappear, they turned to Sir
+Percival and gave him worship and thanks without measure, saying to him:
+"What shall we do in return for saving us from the enchantment of this
+sorceress?"
+
+And Percival said: "Ye shall do this: ye shall go to the court of King
+Arthur and tell him how that young knight, Percival, whom he made a knight
+a year ago, hath liberated you from the enchantment of this sorceress. And
+you shall seek out Sir Kay and shall say to him that, by and by, I shall
+return and repay him in full measure, twenty times over, that blow which he
+gave to the damosel Yelande, the Dumb Maiden because of her kindness to
+me."
+
+So said Sir Percival, and they said: "It shall be done as thou dost
+ordain."
+
+Then Sir Percydes said: "Wilt thou not come to my castle and rest thyself
+there for the night? For thou must be aweary with all thy toil." And Sir
+Percival said, "I will go with thee." So Sir Percydes and Sir Percival rode
+away together to the castle of Sir Percydes.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percydes knoweth the ring that Percival wears] Now while
+Sir Percival and Sir Percydes sat at supper in the castle of Sir Percydes,
+Sir Percival chanced to lay his hand in love upon the sleeve of Sir
+Percydes's arm, and that moment Sir Percydes saw the ring upon Sir
+Percival's finger which the young damosel of the pavilion had given unto
+him in exchange for his ring. When Sir Percydes saw that ring he cried out
+in great astonishment, "Where didst thou get that ring?"
+
+Sir Percival said, "I will tell thee"; and therewith he told Sir Percydes
+all that had befallen him when he first came down into the world from the
+wilderness where he had aforetime dwelt, and how he had entered the yellow
+pavilion and had discovered the damosel who was now his chosen lady. When
+Sir Percydes heard that story he laughed in great measure, and then he
+said: "But how wilt thou find that young damosel again when thou hast a
+mind for to go to her once more?" To the which Sir Percival made reply: "I
+know not how I shall find her, nevertheless, I shall assuredly do so. For
+though the world is much wider and greater than I had thought it to be when
+I first came down into it, yet I know that I shall find that lady when the
+fit time cometh for me to seek her."
+
+Then Sir Percydes said: "Dear friend, when thou desireth to find that
+damosel to whom belongeth the ring, come thou to me and I will tell thee
+where thou mayst find her; yet I know not why thou dost not go and find her
+now."
+
+Unto this Sir Percival made reply: "I do not seek her immediately because I
+am yet so young and so unknown to the world that I could not be of any
+credit to her should I find her; so first I will seek to obtain credit as a
+knight, and then I will seek her."
+
+Sir Percydes said: "Well, Percival, I think thou hast great promise of a
+very wonderful knighthood. Nor do I think thou wilt have difficulty in
+finding plenty of adventures to undertake. For even to-day I know of an
+adventure, which if thou couldst perform it successfully, would bring thee
+such worship that there are very few knights in all the world who will have
+more worship than thou."
+
+Then Sir Percival said: "I prithee, dear friend, tell me what is that
+adventure."
+
+Then Sir Percydes told Sir Percival what that adventure was as followeth:
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percydes telleth Sir Percival of Beaurepaire] "Thou art to
+know," quoth he, "that somewhat more than a day's journey to the north of
+this there is a fair plain, very fertile and beautiful to the sight. In the
+midst of that plain is a small lake of water, and in that lake is an
+island, and upon the island is a tall castle of very noble size and
+proportions. That castle is called Beaurepaire, and the lady of that castle
+is thought to be one of the most beautiful damosels in the world. And the
+name of the lady is Lady Blanchefleur.
+
+"Now there is a very strong and powerful knight hight Sir Clamadius,
+otherwise known as the King of the Isles; and he is one of the most famous
+knights in the world. Sir Clamadius hath for a long while loved the Lady
+Blanchefleur with such a passion of love that I do not think that the like
+of that passion is to be found anywhere else in the world. But the Lady
+Blanchefleur hath no love for Sir Clamadius, but ever turneth away from him
+with a heart altogether cold of liking.
+
+"But Sir Clamadius is a wonderfully proud and haughty King, wherefore he
+can ill brook being scorned by any lady. Wherefore he hath now come against
+the castle of Beaurepaire with an array of knights of his court, and at
+present layeth siege to that castle aforesaid.
+
+"Now there is not at that castle any knight of sufficient worship to serve
+as champion thereof, wherefore all they of Beaurepaire stay within the
+castle walls and Sir Clamadius holds the meadows outside of the castle so
+that no one enters in or goeth out thereof.
+
+"If thou couldst liberate the Lady Blanchefleur from the duress which Sir
+Clamadius places upon her, I believe thou wouldst have as great credit in
+courts of chivalry as it is possible to have. For, since Sir Tristram is
+gone, Sir Clamadius is believed by many to be the best knight in the world,
+except Sir Launcelot of the Lake; unless it be that Sir Lamorack of Gales
+is a better knight than he."
+
+Then Sir Percival said: "What thou tellest me gives me great pleasure, for
+it would be a very good adventure for any young knight to undertake. For if
+he should lose there would be no shame in losing, and if he should win
+there would be great glory in winning. So to-morrow I will enter upon that
+adventure, with intent to discover what fortune I may have therein."
+
+So I have told you how Sir Percival performed his first adventures in the
+world of chivalry after he had perfected himself in the mysteries of
+knighthood under the teaching of Sir Launcelot of the Lake, and I have told
+you how he achieved that adventure with great credit to himself and with
+great glory to the order of knighthood to which he now truly belonged as a
+most worthy member.
+
+That night he abided in the castle of Sir Percydes with great comfort and
+rest to his body, and when the next morning had come he arose, much
+refreshed and strengthened in spirit. And he descended to the hall where
+was set a fair and generous breakfast for his further refreshment, and
+thereat he and Sir Percydes sat themselves down and ate with hearty
+appetite, discoursing with great amity of spirit as aforetold.
+
+After he had broken his fast he bade farewell to Sir Percydes and mounted
+his horse and rode away through the bright sunlight toward Beaurepaire and
+those further adventures that awaited him thereat.
+
+And, as it was with Sir Percival in that first adventure, so may you meet
+with a like success when you ride forth upon your first undertakings after
+you have entered into the glory of your knighthood, with your life lying
+before you and a whole world whereinto ye may freely enter to do your
+devoirs to the glory of God and your own honor.
+
+So now it shall be told how it fared with Sir Percival in that adventure of
+the Castle of Beaurepaire.
+
+[Illustration: The Demoiselle Blanchefleur]
+
+
+
+
+Chapter Fourth
+
+
+_How Sir Percival undertook the adventure of the castle of Beaurepaire and
+how he fared therein after several excellent adventures_.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percival breaks his fast at a forest cottage] Now the way
+that Sir Percival travelled led him by the outskirts of the forest, so that
+somewhiles he would be in the woodland and somewhiles he would be in the
+open country. And about noontide he came to a certain cottage of a neatherd
+that stood all alone in a very pleasant dale. That place a little brook
+came bickering out from the forest and ran down into the dale and spread
+out into a small lake, besides which daffadowndillys bloomed in such
+abundance that it appeared as though all that meadow land was scattered
+over with an incredible number of yellow stars that had fallen down from
+out of the sky. And, because of the pleasantness of this place, Sir
+Percival here dismounted from his horse and sat him down upon a little
+couch of moss under the shadow of an oak tree that grew nigh to the
+cottage, there to rest himself for a while with great pleasure. And as he
+sat there there came a barelegged lass from the cottage and brought him
+fresh milk to drink; and there came a good, comely housewife and brought
+him bread and cheese made of cream; and Sir Percival ate and drank with
+great appetite.
+
+Now whilst Sir Percival sat there resting and refreshing himself in that
+wise, there appeared of a sudden coming thitherward, a tall and noble
+knight riding upon a piebald war-horse of Norway strain. So when Sir
+Percival beheld that knight coming in that wise he quickly put on his
+helmet and mounted his horse and made him ready for defence in case the
+knight had a mind to assail him.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percival bespeaketh the strange knight] Meantime that
+knight came riding up with great haughtiness of bearing to where Sir
+Percival was, and when he had come nigh enough he bespake Sir Percival,
+saying: "Sir Knight, I pray you to tell me your name and whither you go,
+and upon what quest?"
+
+Unto this Sir Percival made reply: "Messire, I do not choose to tell you my
+name, for I am a young knight, very new to adventure, and I know not how I
+shall succeed in that quest which I have undertaken. So I will wait to try
+the success of that adventure before I tell my name. But though I may not
+tell my name I will tell you whither I go and upon what quest. I go for to
+find a certain castle called Beaurepaire, and I intend to endeavor to
+liberate the lady of that castle from the duress of a certain knight hight
+Sir Clamadius, who, I understand, holds her by siege within the walls
+thereof."
+
+Now, when Sir Percival had ceased speaking, the strange knight said: "Sir,
+this is a very singular thing: for that adventure of which you speak is the
+very adventure upon which I myself am bound. Now, as you say, you are a
+very young knight unused to arms, and as I am in the same degree a knight
+well seasoned in deeds of arms, it is more fitting that I should undertake
+this quest than you. For you may know how very well I am used to the
+service of arms when I tell you that I have had to do in four and twenty
+battles of various sorts; some of them friendly and some of them otherwise;
+and that I have had to do in more than four times that many affairs-at-arms
+with single knights, nearly all of them of great prowess. So now it would
+seem fitting that you should withdraw you from this affair and let me first
+essay it. Then, if I fail in my undertaking, you shall assume that
+adventure."
+
+"Messire," quoth Sir Percival, "I see that you are a knight of much greater
+experience than I; but, ne'ertheless, I cannot find it in my heart to
+forego this adventure. So what I have to propose is this: that you and I do
+combat here in this place, and that he who proveth himself to be the better
+of us twain shall carry out this undertaking that we are both set upon."
+
+Unto this, that strange knight lent a very willing assent, saying: "Very
+well, Messire, it shall be as you ask."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percival doeth battle with the strange knight] So with that
+each knight turned his horse and rode a little piece away; and each took
+such stand as pleased him; and each dressed his spear and shield and made
+him in all wise ready for the encounter. And when they had so prepared
+themselves, each knight shouted to his horse, and drave spur into its flank
+and rushed, the one against the other, with such terrible noise and
+violence that the sound thereof was echoed back from the woods like to a
+storm of thunder.
+
+So they met in the midst of the course with such a vehement impact that it
+was terrible to behold. And in that encounter the spear of each knight was
+burst all into fragments; and the horse of each fell back upon his haunches
+and would have been overthrown had not each knight voided his saddle with a
+very wonderful skill and agility.
+
+Then each knight drew sword and came the one against the other, as
+furiously as two rams at battle. So they fought for nigh the space of an
+hour, foining and striking, and tracing hither and tracing thither most
+furiously; and the noise of the blows they struck might have been heard
+several furlongs away.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percival overcometh the strange knight] During that battle
+Sir Percival received several sore wounds so that by and by a great passion
+of rage seized upon him. So he rushed the battle with might and main, and
+therewith struck so many furious blows that by and by that other knight
+held his shield very low for weariness. This Sir Percival perceived, and
+therewith he smote the other so furious a blow upon the head that the
+knight sank down upon his knees and could not arise. Then Sir Percival ran
+to him and catched him by the neck and flung him down violently upon the
+ground, crying out, "Yield or I slay thee!"
+
+Then that knight besought mercy in a very weak voice, saying: "Sir Knight,
+I beseech thee, spare my life!"
+
+Sir Percival said: "Well, I will spare thee, but tell me, what is thy
+name?" To this the other said: "I am Sir Lionel, and I am a knight of King
+Arthur's court and of the Round Table."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percival giveth aid to Sir Lionel] Now when Sir Percival
+heard this he cried out aloud, for he was very greatly grieved, and he
+said: "Al as, what have I done for to fight against thee in this wise! I am
+Sir Percival, whom thine own kinsman, Sir Launcelot of the Lake, hath
+trained in arms. But indeed, I did never think to use that art which he
+taught me against one so dear to his heart as thou art, Sir Lionel." So
+with that Sir Percival assisted Sir Lionel to arise to his feet, and Sir
+Lionel was so weak from that woeful battle that he could hardly stand.
+
+Now that stream and lake of water above spoken of was near by, so Sir
+Percival brought Sir Lionel thither, holding him up as he walked; and there
+Sir Lionel refreshed himself. Then, when he was revived a little, he turned
+his eyes very languidly upon Sir Percival, and he said: "Percival, thou
+hast done to me this day what few knights have ever done before. So all the
+glory that ever I have won is now thy glory because of this battle. For
+thou hast overcome me in a fair quarrel and I have yielded myself unto
+thee, wherefore it is now thy right to command me to thy will."
+
+Then Percival said: "Alas, dear Sir Knight! It is not meet that I should
+lay command upon such as thou art. But, if thou wilt do so, I beseech thee
+when thou art come to King Arthur's court that thou wilt tell the King that
+I, who am his young knight Percival, have borne myself not unbecomingly in
+my battle with thee. For this is the first battle, knight against knight,
+that I have undertaken in all of my life. And I beseech thee that thou wilt
+greet Sir Kay the Seneschal, from me, and that thou wilt say to him that by
+and by I shall meet him and repay him that buffet which he gave to the
+damsel Yelande, the Dumb Maiden, in the Queen's pavilion."
+
+Sir Lionel said: "It shall be as thou sayst, and I will do thy bidding.
+But, touching Sir Kay, I do not believe that he will take very much joy at
+thy message to him. For he will find small pleasure in the thought of the
+payment of that buffet that thou hast promised to give him."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percival goeth forward upon his adventure] Now, as the day
+by this time was waxing late, Sir Percival abided that night at that
+neatherd's hut nigh to which this battle had been fought and there had his
+wounds bathed and dressed; and when the next morning had come he arose
+early, and saddled his horse, and rode forward upon his way. And as he rode
+he was very well pleased at the thought of that battle he had fought with
+Sir Lionel, for he wist that he had obtained great credit to himself in
+that encounter, and he was aware, now that he had made trial of his
+strength against such a one as Sir Lionel, he must be one of the greatest
+knights of the world. So his heart was uplifted with great joy and delight
+at that thought; that he was now a well-approved knight-champion, worthy of
+his knighthood. Therefore he rode away for all that day, greatly rejoicing
+in spirit at the thought of what he had done the day before.
+
+About the first slant of the afternoon Sir Percival came at last out of the
+woodlands and into a wide-open plain, very fertile and well tilled, with
+fields of wheat and rye abounding on all sides. And he saw that in the
+midst of that plain there was a considerable lake, and that in the midst of
+that lake there was an island, and that upon the island there stood a fair
+noble castle, and he wist that that castle must be the castle of
+Beaurepaire. So he rode down into that valley with some speed.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percival perceives a red knight] Now after he had so ridden
+for a while, he was aware of a knight, very haughty of appearance and
+bearing, who rode before him upon the same way that he was going. And that
+knight was clad all in red armor, and he rode upon a horse so black that I
+believe there was not a single white hair upon him. And all the trappings
+and the furniture of that horse were of red, so that he presented a very
+noble appearance. So Sir Percival made haste to overtake that knight, and
+when he had come nigh he drew rein at a little distance. Thereupon that
+knight in red bespake Sir Percival very proudly, saying: "Sir Knight,
+whither ride you, and upon what mission?"
+
+"Messire," quoth Percival, "I ride toward yonder castle, which I take to be
+the castle of Beaurepaire, and I come hither with intent to succor the Lady
+Blanchefleur of that castle from a knight, hight Sir Clamadius, who keeps
+her there a prisoner against her will, so that it behooves any good knight
+to attempt her rescue."
+
+Upon this the red knight spake very fiercely, saying: "Messire, what
+business is that of yours? I would have you know that I am a knight of King
+Clamadius', wherefore I am able to say to you that you shall go no further
+upon that quest. For I am Sir Engeneron of Grandregarde, and I am Seneschal
+unto King Clamadius, and I will not have it that thou shalt go any farther
+upon this way unless you ride over me to go upon it."
+
+"Messire," quoth Sir Percival, "I have no quarrel with you, but if you have
+a mind to force a quarrel upon me, I will not seek to withdraw myself from
+an encounter with you. So make yourself ready, and I will make myself
+ready, and then we shall soon see whether or not I am to pass upon this
+way."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percival doeth battle with Sir Engeneron] So therewith each
+knight turned his horse away to such a place as seemed to him to be
+fitting; and when they were in all wise prepared they rushed together with
+an amazing velocity and a noise like to thunder. So they met in the midst
+of the course. And in that encounter the spear of Sir Engeneron broke into
+many pieces, but the spear of Sir Percival held, so that he flung Sir
+Engeneron entirely out of his saddle and over the crupper of his horse and
+down upon the ground so violently that Sir Engeneron lay there in a swoon.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Engeneron yields himself to Sir Percival] Then Sir Percival
+dismounted from his horse with all speed, and he rushed the helmet of Sir
+Engeneron off of his head with intent to slay him. But with that Sir
+Engeneron awoke to his danger, and therewith gat upon his knees and clasped
+Sir Percival about the thighs, crying out: "Sir, I beseech you upon your
+knighthood to spare my life."
+
+"Well," said Sir Percival, "since you beseech that upon my knighthood I
+must needs do as you ask. But I will only do so upon two conditions. The
+first of these conditions is that you go to the court of King Arthur, and
+that you surrender yourself as captive to a damsel of that court who is
+known as the Lady Yelande the Dumb Maiden. And you are to tell that maiden
+that the young knight who slew Sir Boindegardus greets her and that he
+tells her that in a little while he will return to repay to Sir Kay that
+buffet he gave her. This is my first condition." And Sir Engeneron said: "I
+will perform that condition."
+
+"And my second condition," said Sir Percival, "is this: that you give me
+your armor for me to use upon this adventure which I have undertaken, and
+that you take my armor and deposit it with the hermit of a little chapel
+you shall after a while come to if you return upon the road which brought
+me hither. After a while I will return and reclaim my armor and will return
+your armor. This is my second condition."
+
+And Sir Engeneron said: "That condition also I shall fulfil according to
+your command."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percival and Sir Engeneron exchange armor] Then Sir
+Percival said: "Arise." And Sir Engeneron did so. And after that Sir
+Engeneron put off his armor, and Sir Percival put off his armor. And Sir
+Percival put on the armor of Sir Engeneron, and Sir Engeneron packed the
+armor of Sir Percival upon his horse and prepared to depart in obedience to
+those conditions of Sir Percival. So they parted company, Sir Percival
+riding upon his way to Beaurepaire, and Sir Engeneron betaking his way to
+find the chapel of that hermit of whom Sir Percival had spoken.
+
+So it was that after two adventures, Sir Percival entered upon that
+undertaking which he had come to perform in behalf of the Lady
+Blanchefleur.
+
+And now, if it please you to read what follows, you shall hear how it
+befell with Sir Percival at the castle of Beaurepaire.
+
+After that adventure with Sir Engeneron, Sir Percival rode onward upon his
+way, and by and by he came to the lake whereon stood the castle and the
+town of Beaurepaire. And Sir Percival beheld that a long narrow bridge
+crossed over that part of the lake from the mainland to the island and the
+town. So Sir Percival rode very boldly forth upon that bridge and across
+it, and no one stayed him, for all of the knights of Sir Clamadius who
+beheld him said: "Yonder rides Sir Engeneron." Thus Sir Percival crossed
+the bridge and rode very boldly forward until he came to the gate of the
+castle, and those who beheld him said: "Sir Engeneron haply beareth a
+message to the castle." For no one wist that that knight was not Sir
+Engeneron, but all thought that it was he because of the armor which he
+wore.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percival cometh to Beaurepaire] So Sir Percival came close
+to the castle, and when he was come there he called very loudly to those
+within, and by and by there appeared the face of a woman at an upper window
+and the face was very pale and woe-begone.
+
+Then Sir Percival said to the woman at the window: "Bid them open the gate
+and let me in; for I come to bring you succor at this place."
+
+To this the woman said: "I shall not bid them open the gate, for I know
+from your armor who you are, and that you are Sir Engeneron the Seneschal.
+And I know that you are one of our bitterest enemies; for you have already
+slain several of the knights of this castle, and now you seek by guile to
+enter into the castle itself."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percival entereth Beaurepaire] Then Sir Percival said: "I
+am not Sir Engeneron, but one who hath overthrown Sir Engeneron in battle.
+I have put on his armor with intent that I might come hither to help defend
+this place against Sir Clamadius." So said Sir Percival, and therewith he
+put up the umbril of his helmet, saying: "Look, see; I am not Sir
+Engeneron." Then the woman at the window saw his face and that it was not
+the face of Sir Engeneron. And she saw that the face of Sir Percival was
+mild and gentle, wherefore she ran and told the people of the castle that a
+knight who was a friend stood without. Therewith they of the castle let
+fall the drawbridge and opened the gates, and Sir Percival entered into the
+castle.
+
+Then there came several of the chief people of the castle, and they also
+were all pale and woe-begone from long fasting, as was the woman whom Sir
+Percival had first seen; for all were greatly wasted because of the toil
+and anxiety of that siege. These asked Sir Percival who he was and whence
+he came and how he came thither; and Sir Percival told them all that it was
+necessary for them to know. For he told them how he was a young knight
+trained under the care of Sir Launcelot; and he told them that he had come
+thither with the hope of serving the Lady Blanchefleur; and he told them
+what adventures had befallen him in the coming and how he had already
+overthrown Sir Lionel and Sir Engeneron to get there. Wherefore, from these
+things, they of the castle perceived that Sir Percival was a very strong,
+worthy knight, and they gave great joy that he should have come thither to
+their aid.
+
+So he who was chief of those castle people summoned several attendants, and
+these came and some took the horse of Sir Percival and led it to the
+stables, and others relieved Sir Percival of his armor; and others took him
+to a bath of tepid water, where he bathed himself, and was dried on soft
+linen towels; and others brought soft garments of gray cloth and clad Sir
+Percival in them and afterward brought him down into a fair large chamber
+where there was a table spread as though ready for meat.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percival beholds the Lady Blanchefleur] Now in a little
+after Sir Percival was come to that supper-hall the door thereof was opened
+and there entered several people. With these came a damsel of such
+extraordinary beauty and gracefulness of figure that Sir Percival stood
+amazed. For her face was fair beyond words; red upon white, like
+rose-leaves upon cream; and her eyes were bright and glancing like those of
+a falcon, and her nose was thin and straight, and her lips were very red,
+like to coral for redness, and her hair was dark and abundant and like to
+silk for softness. She was clad all in a dress of black, shot with stars of
+gold, and the dress was lined with ermine and was trimmed with sable at the
+collar and the cuffs and the hem thereof.
+
+So Sir Percival stood and gazed at that lady with a pleasure beyond words
+to express, and he wist that this must be the Lady Blanchefleur, for whose
+sake he had come thither.
+
+And the Lady Blanchefleur looked upon Sir Percival with great kindness, for
+he appeared to her like to a hero for strength and beauty; wherefore she
+smiled upon Sir Percival very graciously and came forward and gave him her
+hand. And Sir Percival took her hand and set it to his lips; and lo! her
+hand was as soft as silk and very warm, rosy and fragrant, and the fingers
+thereof glistered with bright golden rings and with gems of divers colors.
+
+Then that beautiful Lady Blanchefleur said: "Messire, this is a very
+knightly thing for you to do to come hither to this place. And you come in
+good time, for food groweth very scarce with us so that in a little while
+we must face starvation. For because of the watch that Sir Clamadius
+keepeth upon this place, no one can either enter in or go out. Yea, thou
+art the very first one who hath come hither since he has sat down before
+Beaurepaire."
+
+[Sidenote: The Lady Blanchefleur telleth her sorrows to Sir Percival] Then
+presently she ceased smiling and her face clouded over; then bright tears
+began to drop from the Lady Blanchefleur's eyes; and then she said: "I fear
+me greatly that Sir Clamadius will at last seize upon this castle, for he
+hath kept us here prisoner for a long while. Yet though he seize the
+castle, he shall never seize that which the castle contains. For I keep by
+me a little casket of silver, and therein is a dagger, very sharp and fine.
+Therefore the day that Sir Clamadius enters into this castle, I shall
+thrust that dagger into my heart. For, though Sir Clamadius may seize upon
+my castle, he shall never possess my soul."
+
+Then Sir Percival was very sorry for the tears he saw shining upon the Lady
+Blanchefleur's face, wherefore he said: "Lady, I have great hopes that this
+affair may never reach to that woful extremity thou speakest of." The Lady
+Blanchefleur said: "I hope not also." And therewith she wiped away her
+tears and smiled again. Then she said: "See, Sir Percival, the evening has
+come and it is time to sit at supper, now I beseech thee for to come to
+table with me, for though we have but little to eat here, yet I assure thee
+that thou art very welcome to the best that we have."
+
+So therewith Lady Blanchefleur led Sir Percival to the table, and they sat
+down to such feast as could be had at that place of starvation. For what
+they had was little enough, being only such fish as they could catch from
+the lake, and a little bread--but not much--and a very little wine.
+
+[Sidenote: The Lady sings to Sir Percival] Then after they had eaten and
+drunk what they had, the Lady Blanchefleur took a golden harp into her hand
+and played thereon, and sang in a voice so clear and high and beautiful
+that Percival was altogether enchanted and bewitched thereat.
+
+Thus it was that that evening passed with them very pleasantly and
+cheerfully, so that it was the middle of the night ere Sir Percival
+withdrew to that couch that had been prepared for his rest.
+
+Now word was brought to Sir Clamadius that Sir Engeneron the Seneschal had
+been overcome by another knight, wherefore Sir Clamadius wist that that was
+the knight in Sir Engeneron's armor who had entered into the castle. So Sir
+Clamadius said: "Certes, this must be a champion of no small prowess who
+hath undertaken single-handed such a dangerous quest as this, and hath thus
+entered into the castle, for they appear to make great rejoicings at his
+coming. Now if he remaineth there it may very well be that they will be
+encouraged to resist me a great while longer, and so all that I have thus
+far accomplished shall have been in vain."
+
+[Sidenote: The old counsellor giveth advice to Sir Clamadius] Now there
+was among the counsellors of Sir Clamadius an old knight who was very
+cunning and far-sighted. He said to the King: "Sire, I think we may be able
+to devise some plan whereby we may withdraw this knight-champion out of the
+castle. My plan is this: Let ten of your best knights make parade before
+that castle tomorrow, and let them give challenge to those within the
+castle to come forth to battle. Then I believe that this knight will come
+forth with the other knights from the castle to accept that challenge.
+Thereafter let it be that our knights withdraw as though in retreat, and so
+lead this knight and the knights of the castle into an ambushment. There
+let many fall upon them at once and either slay them or make them
+prisoners. So the castle shall be deprived of this new champion that hath
+come to it, and therewith may be so disheartened that it will yield to
+thee."
+
+This advice seemed very good to King Clamadius, wherefore, when the next
+morning had come, he chose him ten knights from among the foremost of all
+his knights, and he bade them give that challenge in that wise. These did
+so, and therewith Sir Percival and nine other knights issued out from the
+castle against them.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percival doeth great battle] But it did not fare as Sir
+Clamadius had expected; for the attack of Sir Percival and his knights was
+so fierce and sudden that those ten knights could not withdraw so easily as
+they intended. For, ere they were able to withdraw, Sir Percival had struck
+down six of these knights with his own hand and the other four were made
+prisoners.
+
+Thus Sir Percival and his knights did not come into that ambush that had
+been prepared for them.
+
+Then those who were in ambush perceived that their plan had failed
+wherefore they broke from cover with intent to do what they could. But Sir
+Percival and his knights beheld them coming, and so withdrew, defending
+themselves with great valor. So they came into the castle again in safety.
+
+Thus it was that the plans of King Clamadius and his counsellor failed of
+effect, whereupon Sir Clamadius was very angry at that wise old knight. So
+that, when that counsellor came to him again and said: "Sir, I have another
+plan," King Clamadius cried out very fiercely: "Away with thy plans! They
+are all of no avail." Then Sir Clamadius said: "When to-morrow comes, I
+myself will undertake this affair. For I will go and give challenge to this
+knight, and so I shall hope to decide this quarrel man to man. For unless
+yonder knight be Sir Launcelot of the Lake or Sir Lamorack of Gales, I do
+not think he will be my peer in an encounter of man to man."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Clamadius arms himself for battle] So when the next morning
+had come, Sir Clamadius armed himself at all points and straightway betook
+himself to a fair, smooth meadow beneath the walls of the castle. And when
+he had come there he cried out: "Sir Red Knight, come forth and speak with
+me."
+
+So after a while Sir Percival appeared at the top of the castle wall, and
+he said: "Messire, here I am; what is it you would have of me?"
+
+Then Sir Clamadius said: "Messire, are you Sir Launcelot of the Lake?" And
+Sir Percival said: "Nay, I am not he." Sir Clamadius said: "Art thou then
+Sir Lamorack of Gales?" And Sir Percival said: "Nay, I am not he." Then Sir
+Clamadius said: "Who, then, art thou?" Sir Percival said: "I am not any
+great knight-champion such as those two of whom you speak, but am a young
+knight who have not fought more than twice or thrice in my life."
+
+At that Sir Clamadius was very glad, for he feared that Sir Percival might
+be some famous knight well-seasoned in arms. Wherefore when he found that
+Sir Percival was only a young and untried knight, he thought it would be an
+easy matter to deal with him. So he said: "Messire, I challenge thee to
+come forth to battle with me man to man so that thou and I may settle this
+quarrel betwixt us, for it is a pity to shed more blood than is necessary
+in this quarrel. So if thou wilt come forth and overthrow me, then I will
+withdraw my people from this place; but if I overthrow thee, then this
+castle shall be yielded up to me with all that it contains."
+
+To this Sir Percival said: "Sir Knight, I am very willing to fight with
+thee upon that issue. But first of all I must obtain the consent of the
+Lady Blanchefleur to stand her champion."
+
+So Sir Percival went to the Lady Blanchefleur, and he said: "Lady, will you
+accept me as your champion to fight the issue of this quarrel man to man
+with Sir Clamadius?"
+
+She said: "Percival, thou art very young to have to do with so old and
+well-seasoned a knight. Now I greatly fear for your life in such a battle
+as that."
+
+To this Sir Percival said: "Lady, I know that I am young, but indeed I feel
+a very big spirit stir within me, so that if thou wilt trust me, I have
+belief that, with the grace of God, I shall win this battle."
+
+Then the Lady Blanchefleur smiled upon Sir Percival and she said:
+"Percival, I will gladly entrust my life and safety into thy keeping, for I
+too have great dependence in thy knighthood."
+
+So straightway Sir Percival armed himself, and when he was in all wise
+prepared he went forth to that battle with a heart very full of great
+courage and hope.
+
+There he found Sir Clamadius still parading in that meadow beneath the
+walls, awaiting the coming of his opponent.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percival and Sir Clamadius do battle] Meanwhile many folk
+came and stood upon the walls of the castle to behold that encounter,
+whilst each knight took such stand as appeared good to him. Then, when they
+were in all wise prepared, each knight drave spurs into his horse and
+rushed himself against the other with most terrible and fierce violence.
+Therewith they met in the very midst of the course with an uproar like to
+thunder that echoed back from the flat walls of the castle.
+
+In that encounter the spear of Sir Percival held, but the spear of Sir
+Clamadius was riven into splinters. And so, Sir Percival riding forward
+with furious violence, Sir Clamadius was overthrown, horse and man, with
+such violence that he lay there upon the ground as though he were dead.
+
+Then all those upon the walls shouted aloud with a great noise of
+rejoicing, whilst those of the party of Sir Clamadius gave lamentation in
+the same degree.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Clamadius yields himself] But Sir Percival voided his
+saddle in haste, and ran to where Sir Clamadius lay. And Sir Percival
+rushed the helmet off from the head of Sir Clamadius, and he catched him by
+the hair of the head, and he raised his sword on high with intent to finish
+the work he had begun. Therewith Sir Clamadius aroused himself unto his
+danger, and he cried in a very piercing voice: "Messire, I beseech thee of
+thy knighthood to spare my life!"
+
+"Well," said Sir Percival, "since you ask me upon my knighthood, I cannot
+refuse you, for so I was taught by the noble knight, Sir Launcelot, to
+refuse no boon asked upon my knighthood that I was able to grant. But I
+will only spare your life upon one condition, and that is this: That you
+disarm yourself in all wise, and that you go without armor to the court of
+King Arthur. There you shall deliver yourself as a servant unto a damsel of
+King Arthur's court, hight Yelande, surnamed the Dumb Maiden. Her you are
+to tell that the youth who slew Sir Boindegardus hath sent you unto her as
+a servant. And you are to say to Sir Kay, the Seneschal of King Arthur,
+that the young knight Percival will in a little while come to repay that
+buffet he gave to the damoiselle Yelande aforesaid."
+
+So said Sir Percival, and Sir Clamadius said: "It shall be done in all wise
+as you command, if so be you will spare my life." Then Sir Percival said:
+"Arise"; and Sir Clamadius arose; and Sir Percival said: "Go hence"; and
+therewith Sir Clamadius departed as Sir Percival commanded.
+
+So that day Sir Clamadius withdrew from the castle of Beaurepaire with all
+his array of knights, and after that he went to the court of King Arthur
+and did in all respects as Sir Percival had commanded him to do.
+
+So it was that Sir Percival fulfilled that quest, and set the Lady
+Blanchefleur free from duress; and may God grant that you also fulfil all
+your quests with as great honor and nobility as therein exhibited.
+
+[Illustration: Sir Kay interrupts ye meditations of Sir Percival]
+
+
+
+
+Chapter Fifth
+
+
+_How Sir Percival repaid Sir Kay the buffet he one time gave Yelande the
+Dumb Maiden, and how, thereafter, he went forth to seek his own lady of
+love._
+
+Now, after these adventures aforesaid, Sir Percival remained for a long
+while at Beaurepaire, and during that time he was the knight-champion to
+the Lady Blanchefleur. And the Lady Blanchefleur loved Sir Percival every
+day with a greater and greater passion, but Sir Percival showed no passion
+of love for her in return, and thereat Lady Blanchefleur was greatly
+troubled.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percival and the Lady Blanchefleur walk together] Now one
+day the Lady Blanchefleur and Sir Percival were walking together on a
+terrace; and it was then come to be the fall of the year, so that the
+leaves of the trees were showering all down about them like flakes of gold.
+And that day the Lady Blanchefleur loved Sir Percival so much that her
+heart was pierced with that love as though with a great agony. But Sir
+Percival wist not of that.
+
+Then the Lady Blanchefleur said: "Messire, I would that thou wouldst stay
+here always as our knight-champion."
+
+"Lady," quoth Percival, "that may not be, for in a little while now I must
+leave you. For, though I shall be sad to go from such a friendly place as
+this is, yet I am an errant knight, and as I am errant I must fulfil many
+adventures besides the one I have accomplished here."
+
+"Messire," said the Lady Blanchefleur, "if you will but remain here, this
+castle shall be yours and all that it contains."
+
+At this Sir Percival was greatly astonished, wherefore he said: "Lady, how
+may that be? Lo! this castle is yours, and no one can take it away from
+you, nor can you give it to me for mine own."
+
+Then the Lady Blanchefleur turned away her face and bowed her head, and
+said in a voice as though it were stifling her for to speak: "Percival, it
+needs not to take the castle from me; take thou me for thine own, and then
+the castle and all shall be thine."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percival denies the Lady Blanchefleur] At that Sir Percival
+stood for a space very still as though without breathing. Then by and by he
+said: "Lady, meseems that no knight could have greater honor paid to him
+than that which you pay to me. Yet should I accept such a gift as you
+offer, then I would be doing such dishonor to my knighthood that would make
+it altogether unworthy of that high honor you pay it. For already I have
+made my vow to serve a lady, and if I should forswear that vow, I would be
+a dishonored and unworthy knight."
+
+Then the Lady Blanchefleur cried out in a great voice of suffering: "Say no
+more, for I am ashamed."
+
+Sir Percival said: "Nay, there is no shame to thee, but great honor to me."
+But the Lady Blanchefleur would not hear him, but brake away from him in
+great haste, and left him standing where he was.
+
+So Sir Percival could stay no longer at that place; but as soon as might
+be, he took horse and rode away. Nor did he see Blanchefleur again after
+they had thus talked together upon that terrace as aforesaid.
+
+And after Sir Percival had gone, the Lady Blanchefleur abandoned herself to
+great sorrow, for she wept a long while and a very great deal; nor would
+she, for a long while, take any joy in living or in the world in which she
+lived.
+
+[Sidenote: Of the further adventures of Sir Percival] So Sir Percival
+performed that adventure of setting free the duress of the castle of
+Beaurepaire. And after that and ere the winter came, he performed several
+other adventures of more or less fame. And during that time, he overthrew
+eleven knights in various affairs at arms and in all those adventures he
+met with no mishap himself. And besides such encounters at arms, he
+performed several very worthy works; for he slew a wild boar that was a
+terror to all that dwelt nigh to the forest of Umber; and he also slew a
+very savage wolf that infested the moors of the Dart. Wherefore, because of
+these several adventures, the name of Sir Percival became very famous in
+all courts of chivalry, and many said: "Verily, this young knight must be
+the peer of Sir Launcelot of the Lake himself."
+
+Now one day toward eventide (and it was a very cold winter day) Sir
+Percival came to the hut of a hermit in the forest of Usk; and he abode all
+night at that place.
+
+Now when the morning had come he went out and stood in front of the hut,
+and he saw that during the night a soft snow had fallen so that all the
+earth was covered with white. And he saw that it likewise had happened that
+a hawk had struck a raven in front of the hermit's habitation, and that
+some of the raven's feathers and some of its blood lay upon the snow.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percival stands in meditation] Now when Sir Percival beheld
+the blood and the black feathers upon that white snow, he said to himself:
+"Behold! that snow is not whiter than the brow and the neck of my lady; and
+that red is not redder than her lips; and that black is not blacker than
+her hair." Therewith the thought of that lady took great hold upon him and
+he sighed so deeply that he felt his heart lifted within him because of
+that sigh. So he stood and gazed upon that white and red and black, and he
+forgot all things else in the world than his lady-love.
+
+Now it befell at that time that there came a party riding through those
+parts, and that party were Sir Gawaine and Sir Geraint and Sir Kay. And
+when they saw Sir Percival where he stood leaning against a tree and
+looking down upon the ground in deep meditation, Sir Kay said: "Who is
+yonder knight?" (For he wist not that that knight was Sir Percival.) And
+Sir Kay said further: "I will go and bespeak that knight and ask him who he
+is."
+
+But Sir Gawaine perceived that Sir Percival was altogether sunk in deep
+thought, wherefore he said: "Nay, thou wilt do ill to disturb that knight;
+for either he hath some weighty matter upon his mind, or else he is
+bethinking him of his lady, and in either case it would be a pity to
+disturb him until he arouses himself."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Kay shakes the arm of Sir Percival] But Sir Kay would not
+heed what Sir Gawaine said, but forthwith he went to where Sir Percival
+stood; and Sir Percival was altogether unaware of his coming, being so
+deeply sunk in his thoughts. Then Sir Kay said: "Sir Knight,"--but Sir
+Percival did not hear him. And Sir Kay said: "Sir Knight, who art thou?"
+But still Sir Percival did not reply. Then Sir Kay said: "Sir Knight, thou
+shalt answer me!" And therewith he catched Sir Percival by the arm and
+shook him very roughly.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percival smites Sir Kay a buffet] Then Sir Percival aroused
+himself, and he was filled with indignation that anyone should have laid
+rough hands upon his person. And Sir Percival did not recognize Sir Kay
+because he was still entangled in that network of thought, but he said very
+fiercely: "Ha, sirrah! wouldst thou lay hands upon me!" and therewith he
+raised his fist and smote Sir Kay so terrible a buffet beside the head that
+Sir Kay instantly fell down as though he were dead and lay without sense of
+motion upon the ground. Then Sir Percival perceived that there were two
+other knights standing not far off, and therewith his thoughts of other
+things came back to him again and he was aware of what he had done in his
+anger, and was very sorry and ashamed that he should have been so hasty as
+to have struck that blow.
+
+Then Sir Gawaine came to Sir Percival and spake sternly to him saying. "Sir
+Knight, why didst thou strike my companion so unknightly a blow as that?"
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Gawaine chides Sir Percival] To which Sir Percival said:
+"Messire, it grieves me sorely that I should have been so hasty, but I was
+bethinking me of my lady, and this knight disturbed my thoughts; wherefore
+I smote him in haste."
+
+To this Sir Gawaine made reply: "Sir, I perceive that thou hadst great
+excuse for thy blow. Ne'theless, I am displeased that thou shouldst have
+struck that knight. Now I make demand of thee what is thy name and
+condition?"
+
+And Sir Percival said: "My name is Percival, and I am a knight of King
+Arthur's making."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Gawaine and Sir Geraint rejoice over Sir Percival] At that,
+when Sir Gawaine and Sir Geraint heard what Sir Percival said, they cried
+out in great amazement; and Sir Gawaine said: "Ha, Sir Percival! this is
+indeed well met, for my name is Gawaine and I am a nephew unto King Arthur
+and am of his court; and this knight is Sir Geraint, and he also is of King
+Arthur's court and of his Round Table. And we have been in search of thee
+for this long time for to bring thee unto King Arthur at Camelot. For thy
+renown is now spread all over this realm, so that they talk of thee in
+every court of chivalry."
+
+And Sir Percival said: "That is good news to me, for I wist not that I had
+so soon won so much credit. But, touching the matter of returning unto King
+Arthur's court with you; unto that I crave leave to give my excuses. For,
+since you tell me that I now have so much credit of knighthood, it behooves
+me to go immediately unto my lady and to offer my services unto her. For
+when I parted from her I promised her that I would come to her as soon as I
+had won me sufficient credit of knighthood. As for this knight whom I have
+struck, I cannot be sorry for that buffet, even if it was given with my
+fist and not with my sword as I should have given it. For I have promised
+Sir Kay by several mouths that I would sometime repay him with just such a
+buffet as that which he struck the damosel Yelande. So now I have fulfilled
+my promise and have given him that buffet."
+
+Then Sir Gawaine and Sir Geraint laughed, and Sir Gawaine said: "Well, Sir
+Percival, thou hast indeed fulfilled thy promise in very good measure. For
+I make my vow that no one could have been better served with his dessert
+than was Sir Kay."
+
+Now by this time Sir Kay had recovered from that blow, so that he rose up
+very ruefully, looking about as though he wist not yet just where he was.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percival will not return to court] Then Sir Gawaine said to
+Sir Percival: "As to thy coming unto the court of the King, thou dost right
+to fulfil thy promise unto thy lady before undertaking any other
+obligation. For, even though the King himself bid thee come, yet is thy
+obligation to thy lady superior to the command of the King. So now I bid
+thee go in quest of thy lady in God's name; only see to it that thou comest
+to the King's court as soon as thou art able."
+
+So it was that Sir Percival fulfilled the promise of that buffet unto Sir
+Kay.
+
+And now you shall hear how he found the Lady Yvette the Fair.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percival cometh to the castle of Sir Percydes] Now after
+Sir Percival had parted from Sir Gawaine, and Sir Geraint and Sir Kay, he
+went his way in that direction he wist, and by and by, toward eventide, he
+came again to the castle of Sir Percydes. And Sir Percydes was at home and
+he welcomed Sir Percival with great joy and congratulations. For the fame
+of Sir Percival was now abroad in all the world, so that Sir Percydes
+welcomed him with great acclaim.
+
+So Sir Percival sat down with Sir Percydes and they ate and drank together,
+and, for the time, Sir Percival said nothing of that which was upon his
+heart--for he was of a very continent nature and was in no wise hasty in
+his speech.
+
+But after they had satisfied themselves with food and drink, then Sir
+Percival spake to Sir Percydes of that which was upon his mind, saying:
+"Dear friend, thou didst tell me that when I was ready for to come to thee
+with a certain intent thou wouldst tell me who is the lady whose ring I
+wear and where I shall find her. Now, I believe that I am a great deal more
+worthy for to be her knight than I was when I first saw thee; wherefore I
+am now come to beseech thee to redeem thy promise to me. Now tell me, I beg
+of thee, who is that lady and where does she dwell?"
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percydes declares himself to Sir Percival] Then Sir
+Percydes said: "Friend, I will declare to thee that which thou dost ask of
+me. Firstly, that lady is mine own sister, hight Yvette, and she is the
+daughter of King Pecheur. Secondly, thou shalt find her at the castle of my
+father, which standeth upon the west coast of this land. Nor shalt thou
+have any difficulty in finding that castle, for thou mayst easily come to
+it by inquiring the way of those whom thou mayst meet in that region. But,
+indeed, it hath been two years since I have seen my father and my sister,
+and I know not how it is with them."
+
+Then Sir Percival came to Sir Percydes and he put his arm about him and
+kissed him upon either cheek, and he said: "Should I obtain the kind regard
+of that lady, I know nothing that would more rejoice me than to know that
+thou art her brother. For, indeed, I entertain a great deal of love for
+thee."
+
+At that Sir Percydes laughed for joy and he said: "Percival, wilt thou not
+tell me of what house thou art come?" Percival said: "I will tell thee what
+thou dost ask: my father is King Pellinore who was a very good, noble
+knight of the court of King Arthur and of his Round Table."
+
+Then Sir Percydes cried out with great amazement, saying: "That is very
+marvellous! I would that I had known this before, for thy mother and my
+mother were sisters of one father and one mother. So we are cousins
+german."
+
+Then Sir Percival said: "This is great joy to me!" And his heart was
+expanded with pleasure at finding that Sir Percydes was of his kindred and
+that he was no longer alone in that part of the world.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percival departs for the castle of King Pecheur] So Sir
+Percival abided for two days with Sir Percydes and then he betook his way
+to the westward in pursuance of that adventure. And he was upon the road
+three days, and upon the morning of the fourth day he came, through
+diligent inquiry, within sight of the castle of King Pecheur. This castle
+stood upon a high crag of rock from which it arose against the sky so that
+it looked to be a part of the crag. And it was a very noble and stately
+castle, having many tall towers and many buildings within the walls
+thereof. And a village of white houses of the fisher-folk gathered upon the
+rocks beneath the castle walls like chicks beneath the shadow of their
+mother's wings.
+
+And, behold! Percival saw the great sea for the first time in all his life,
+and was filled with wonder at the huge waves that ran toward the shore and
+burst upon the rocks, all white like snow. And he was amazed at the
+multitude of sea fowl that flew about the rocks in such prodigious numbers
+that they darkened the sky. Likewise he was astonished at the fisher-boats
+that spread their white sails against the wind, and floated upon the water
+like swans, for he had never seen their like before. So he sat his horse
+upon a high rock nigh to the sea and gazed his fill upon those things that
+were so wonderful to him.
+
+Then after a while Sir Percival went forward to the castle. And as he drew
+nigh to the castle he became aware that a very reverend man, whose hair and
+beard were as white as snow, sat upon a cushion of crimson velvet upon a
+rock that overlooked the sea. Two pages, richly clad in black and silver,
+stood behind him; and the old man gazed out across the sea, and Sir
+Percival saw that he neither spake nor moved. But when Sir Percival came
+near to him the old man arose and went into the castle, and the two pages
+took up the two crimson velvet cushions and followed him.
+
+But Percival rode up to the castle, and he saw that the gateway of the
+castle stood open, wherefore he rode into the courtyard of the castle. And
+when he had come into the courtyard, two attendants immediately appeared
+and took his horse and assisted him to dismount; but neither of these
+attendants said aught to him, but both were as silent as deaf-mutes.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percival finds King Pecheur] Then Percival entered the hall
+and there he saw the old man whom he had before seen, and the old man sat
+in a great carved chair beside a fire of large logs of wood. And Sir
+Percival saw that the eyes of the old man were all red and that his cheeks
+were channeled with weeping; and Percival was abashed at the sadness of his
+aspect. Nevertheless, he came to where the old man sat and saluted him with
+great reverence, and he said: "Art thou King Pecheur?" And the old man
+answered, "Aye, for I am both a fisher and a sinner" (for that word Pecheur
+meaneth both fisher and sinner).
+
+Then Sir Percival said: "Sire, I bring thee greetings from thy son, Sir
+Percydes, who is a very dear friend to me. And likewise I bring thee
+greeting from myself: for I am Percival, King Pellinore's son, and thy
+Queen and my mother are sisters. And likewise I come to redeem a pledge,
+for, behold, here is the ring of thy daughter Yvette, unto whom I am
+pledged for her true knight. Wherefore, having now achieved a not
+dishonorable renown in the world of chivalry, I am come to beseech her
+kindness and to redeem my ring which she hath upon her finger and to give
+her back her ring again."
+
+Then King Pecheur fell to weeping in great measure and he said: "Percival
+thy fame hath reached even to this remote place, for every one talketh of
+thee with great unction. But, touching my daughter Yvette, if thou wilt
+come with me I will bring thee to her."
+
+So King Pecheur arose and went forth and Sir Percival followed him. And
+King Pecheur brought Sir Percival to a certain tower; and he brought him up
+a long and winding stair; and at the top of the stairway was a door. And
+King Pecheur opened the door and Sir Percival entered the apartment.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percival findeth the Lady Yvette] The windows of the
+apartment stood open, and a cold wind came in thereat from off the sea; and
+there stood a couch in the middle of the room, and it was spread with black
+velvet; and the Lady Yvette lay reclined upon the couch, and, lo! her face
+was like to wax for whiteness, and she neither moved nor spake, but only
+lay there perfectly still; for she was dead.
+
+Seven waxen candles burned at her head, and seven others at her feet, and
+the flames of the candles spread and wavered as the cold wind blew upon
+them. And the hair of her head (as black as those raven feathers that Sir
+Percival had beheld lying upon the snow) moved like threads of black silk
+as the wind blew in through the window--but the Lady Yvette moved not nor
+stirred, but lay like a statue of marble all clad in white.
+
+Then at the first Sir Percival stood very still at the door-way as though
+he had of a sudden been turned into stone. Then he went forward and stood
+beside the couch and held his hands very tightly together and gazed at the
+Lady Yvette where she lay. So he stood for a long while, and he wist not
+why it was that he felt like as though he had been turned into a stone,
+without such grief at his heart as he had thought to feel thereat. (For
+indeed, his spirit was altogether broken though he knew it not.)
+
+[Sidenote: Of the grief of Sir Percival] Then he spake unto that still
+figure, and he said: "Dear lady, is it thus I find thee after all this long
+endeavor of mine? Yet from Paradise, haply, thou mayst perceive all that I
+have accomplished in thy behalf. So shalt thou be my lady always to the end
+of my life and I will have none other than thee. Wherefore I herewith give
+thee thy ring again and take mine own in its stead." Therewith, so
+speaking, he lifted that hand (all so cold like the snow) and took his ring
+from off her finger and put her ring back upon it again.
+
+Then King Pecheur said, "Percival, hast thou no tears?"
+
+And Percival said, "Nay, I have none." Therewith he turned and left that
+place, and King Pecheur went with him.
+
+After that Sir Percival abided in that place for three days, and King
+Pecheur and his lady Queen and their two young sons who dwelt at that place
+made great pity over him, and wept a great deal. But Sir Percival said but
+little in reply and wept not at all.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+And now I shall tell you of that wonderful vision that came unto Sir
+Percival at this place upon Christmas day.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percival beholds the grail] For on the third day (which was
+Christmas day) it chanced that Sir Percival sat alone in the hall of the
+castle, and he meditated upon the great sorrow that lay upon him. And as he
+sat thus this very wonderful thing befell him: He suddenly beheld two
+youths enter that hall. And the faces of the two youths shone with
+exceeding brightness, and their hair shone like gold, and their raiment was
+very bright and glistering like to gold. One of these youths bare in his
+hand a spear of mighty size, and blood dropped from the point of the spear;
+and the other youth bare in his hand a chalice of pure gold, very wonderful
+to behold, and he held the chalice in a napkin of fine cambric linen.
+
+Then, at first, Sir Percival thought that that which he beheld was a vision
+conjured up by the deep sorrow that filled his heart, and he was afeard.
+But the youth who bare the chalice spake in a voice extraordinarily high
+and clear. And he said: "Percival! Percival! be not afraid! This which thou
+here beholdest is the Sangreal, and that is the Spear of Sorrow. What then
+may thy sorrow be in the presence of these holy things that brought with
+them such great sorrow and affliction of soul that they have become
+entirely sanctified thereby! Thus, Percival, should thy sorrow so sanctify
+thy life and not make it bitter to thy taste. For so did this bitter cup
+become sanctified by the great sorrow that tasted of it."
+
+Percival said: "Are these things real or are they a vision that I behold?"
+
+He who bare the chalice said, "They are real." And he who bare the spear
+said, "They are real."
+
+Then a great peace and comfort came to Sir Percival's heart and they never
+left him to the day of his death.
+
+Then they who bare the Sangreal and the Spear went out of the hall, and Sir
+Percival kneeled there for a while after they had gone and prayed with
+great devotion and with much comfort and satisfaction.
+
+And this was the first time that any of those knights that were of King
+Arthur's Round Table ever beheld that holy chalice, the which Sir Percival
+was one of three to achieve in after-years.
+
+So when Sir Percival came forth from that hall, all those who beheld him
+were astonished at the great peace and calmness that appeared to emanate
+from him. But he told no one of that miraculous vision which he had just
+beheld, and, though it appeareth in the history of these things, yet it was
+not then made manifest.
+
+Then Sir Percival said to King Pecheur, his uncle and to his aunt and to
+their sons: "Now, dear friends, the time hath come when I must leave you.
+For I must now presently go to the court of King Arthur in obedience to his
+commands and to acknowledge myself unto my brother, Sir Lamorack."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percival departs for court] So that day Sir Percival set
+forth with intent to go to Camelot, where King Arthur was then holding
+court in great estate of pomp. And Sir Percival reached Camelot upon the
+fourth day from that time and that was during the feasts of Christmas-tide.
+
+Now King Arthur sat at those feasts and there were six score of very noble
+company seated with him. And the King's heart was greatly uplifted and
+expanded with mirth and good cheer. Then, while all were feasting with
+great concord, there suddenly came into that hall an herald-messenger; the
+whom, when King Arthur beheld him, he asked: "What message hast thou
+brought?" Upon this the messenger said: "Lord, there hath come one asking
+permission to enter here whom you will be very well pleased to see." The
+King said, "Who is it?" And the herald-messenger said, "He saith his name
+is Percival."
+
+Upon this King Arthur arose from where he sat and all the others uprose
+with him and there was a great sound of loud voices; for the fame of Sir
+Percival had waxed very great since he had begun his adventures. So King
+Arthur and the others went down the hall for to meet Sir Percival.
+
+Then the door opened and Sir Percival came into that place, and his face
+shone very bright with peace and good-will; and he was exceedingly comely.
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percival is received with joy] King Arthur said, "Art thou
+Percival?" And Percival said, "I am he." Thereupon King Arthur took Sir
+Percival's head into his hands, and he kissed him upon the brow. And Sir
+Percival kissed King Arthur's hand and he kissed the ring of royalty upon
+the King's finger, and so he became a true knight in fealty unto King
+Arthur.
+
+Then Sir Percival said: "Lord, have I thy leave to speak?" And King Arthur
+said, "Say on." Sir Percival said, "Where is Sir Lamorack?" And King Arthur
+said, "Yonder he is." Then Sir Percival perceived where Sir Lamorack stood
+among the others, and he went to Sir Lamorack and knelt down before him;
+and Sir Lamorack was very much astonished, and said: "Why dost thou kneel
+to me, Percival?" Then Sir Percival said, "Dost thou know this ring?"
+
+Then Sir Lamorack knew his father's ring and he cried out in a loud voice:
+"That is my father's ring; how came ye by it?"
+
+Percival said: "Our mother gave it to me, for I am thy brother."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percival declares himself to Sir Lamorack] Upon this Sir
+Lamorack cried out with great passion; and he flung his arms about Sir
+Percival, and he kissed him repeatedly upon the face. And so ardent was the
+great love and the great passion that moved him that all those who stood
+about could in no wise contain themselves, but wept at that which they
+beheld.
+
+Then, after a while, King Arthur said: "Percival, come with me, for I have
+somewhat to show thee."
+
+[Sidenote: Sir Percival is made Knight of the Round Table] So King Arthur
+and Sir Lamorack and Sir Percival and several others went unto that
+pavilion which was the pavilion of the Round Table, and there King Arthur
+showed Sir Percival a seat which was immediately upon the right hand of the
+Seat Perilous.
+
+And upon the back of that seat there was a name emblazoned in letters of
+gold; and the name was this:
+
+PERCIVAL OF GALES
+
+Then King Arthur said: "Behold, Sir Percival, this is thy seat, for four
+days ago that name appeared most miraculously, of a sudden, where thou
+seest it; wherefore that seat is thine."
+
+Then Sir Percival was aware that that name had manifested itself at the
+time when the Sangreal had appeared unto him in the castle of King Pecheur,
+and he was moved with a great passion of love and longing for the Lady
+Yvette; so that, because of the strength of that passion, it took upon it
+the semblance of a terrible joy. And he said to himself: "If my lady could
+but have beheld these, how proud would she have been! But, doubtless, she
+now looketh down from Paradise and beholdeth us and all that we do."
+Thereupon he lifted up his eyes as though to behold her, but she was not
+there, but only the roof of that pavilion.
+
+But he held his peace and said naught to anyone of those thoughts that
+disturbed him.
+
+With this I conclude for the present the adventures of Sir Percival with
+only this to say: that thereafter, as soon as might be, he and Sir Lamorack
+went up into the mountains where their mother dwelt and brought her down
+thence into the world, and that she was received at the court of King
+Arthur with great honor and high regard until, after a while, she entered
+into a nunnery and took the veil.
+
+Likewise it is to be said that Sir Percival lived, as he had vowed to do, a
+virgin knight for all of his life; for he never paid court to any lady from
+that time, but ever held within the sanctuary of his mind the image of that
+dear lady who waited for him in Paradise until he should come unto her in
+such season as God should see fit.
+
+But you must not think that this is all that there is to tell of that
+noble, gentle and worthy young knight whose history we have been
+considering. For after this he performed many glorious services to the
+great honor of his knighthood and achieved so many notable adventures that
+the world spoke of him as being second in worship only to Sir Launcelot of
+the Lake. Yea; there were many who doubted whether Sir Launcelot himself
+was really a greater knight than Sir Percival; and though I may admit that
+Sir Launcelot had the greater prowess, yet Sir Percival was, certes, the
+more pure in heart and transparent of soul of those two.
+
+So, hereafter, if God so wills, I shall tell more of Sir Percival, for I
+shall have much to write concerning him when I have to tell of the
+achievement of the Sangreal which he beheld in that vision at the Castle of
+King Pecheur as aforetold.
+
+So, for this time, no more of these adventures, but fare you well.
+
+
+
+
+CONCLUSION
+
+Thus endeth the particular history of those three worthy, noble, excellent
+knights-champion--Sir Launcelot of the Lake, Sir Tristram of Lyonesse, and
+Sir Percival of Gales.
+
+And I do hope that you may have found pleasure in considering their lives
+and their works as I have done. For as I wrote of their behavior and
+pondered upon it, meseemed they offered a very high example that anyone
+might follow to his betterment who lives in this world where so much that
+is ill needs to be amended.
+
+But though I have told so much, yet, as I have just said, there remain many
+other things to tell concerning Sir Launcelot and Sir Percival, which may
+well afford anyone pleasure to read. These I shall recount in another
+volume at another time, with such particularity as those histories may
+demand.
+
+
+
+***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STORY OF THE CHAMPIONS OF THE
+ROUND TABLE***
+
+
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