pity of the gentle Saviour dying in His agony upon the rood. And I
helped to take Him from the cross. For my pity did God, whom till then
I had not known, deal with me in marvellous wise. And this shield was
mine, and a holy hermit in a desert of Syria did bless it, and prophesy
concerning it and me. I came to this land of Britain when it was full
of evil men, warring fiercely together, and all in heathen darkness. I
preached the Word of Christ, I and my fellows that came with me, until
the heathens rose up and would slay me. And by that time I was wearied
and very old, and wished to die. Yet I sorrowed, wondering whether God
would do naught to rescue these people from this slavery to the old
evil law. Then a man of God came to me at night, a man of marvel, and
he caused this castle to be builded in this ancient wood, and he put my
shield upon the post, and bade me and my dear friends sleep. 'For,'
said he, 'thou hast earned thy sleep, and others shall carry on thy
work and reveal the mercy of God and his Christ to these poor heathens,
and they shall turn to God wholly. And no evil shall be able to break
in upon thy repose. But when, in the distant future, men's hearts are
turning to evil again, one that is of the three white knights shall
come and take this shield, to ward him in the great battle against
evil, and then thou and all that are with thee shall have the
restfulness of death thou hast merited. Go then, thou good knight,'
went on King Marius, 'fight the good fight against that thing of evil
whom the good man spoke of, and may my shield encompass thee and ever
guard thee.'
Perceval took the shield and left his own. Turning, he rode back
between lines of silent forms bent in prayer. He went forth into the
forest some little way, and heard from the castle the singing of a
joyful hymn. And, looking back, he saw that the castle had vanished.
But still above him and about him was the sound of singing, of a
sweetness indescribable, as if they sang who had gained all that they
desired.
Then Perceval rode forward till it was night; but never could he get
sight of castle or knight's hold or hermit's cell where he could be
houselled for the night. So he abode in the forest that night, and when
he had prayed he slept beside his good horse until it was day.
Just before the dawn he awoke to the sound of a great rushing wind all
about him. Yet marvel it was to see that the trees in that hoar wood
did not wave their branches, but all were still.
Then he was aware of a sweet savour which surrounded him, and anon a
gentle voice spoke out of the darkness.
'Fair White Knight,' said the voice, 'it is ordained of thee that thou
goest to the lands of the King Pellam in the north, where an evil power
seeks to turn men from the New Law which Christ brought, and to make
them cleave to the Old Law with its cruelty and evil tortures. And
there at the Castle of the Circlet thou shalt fight a battle for the
Saviour of the world. And whether thou shalt win through all, none know
as yet. But in thy purity, thy humility, is thy strength. Fare thee
well!'
Much moved at these words, Perceval knelt and prayed, and then, as the
dawn filtered through the trees, he mounted his horse and began his
long journey to the north.
On the seventh day he crossed a plain, and saw far in the north where
the smoke as of fires rose into the clouds, and here and there he saw
the fierce red gleam of flames. And he passed through a ford, and then
he entered a land all black and desolate, with the bodies of the dead
beside the way, unburied, and the houses all broken or burned. In other
places the grass and weeds grew over the hearths of desolated homes,
and wild beasts made their lairs where homely folk seemed lately to
have lived their simple happy lives.
No man or child could be seen anywhere to ask what all this might mean.
But one day, as he walked his horse beside a brook, over the long
grass, he came upon a poor half-starved peasant who had not strength to
run. And the man knelt before him, and bared his breast, and said,
'Strike, sir knight, and end my misery!'
But Perceval raised him in his arms and kissed him, and gave him bread
and wine from his scrip, and when the poor man was revived, Perceval
asked him what his words meant.
'Ah, Sir White Knight!' said the man, whose tears fell as he spoke,
'surely thou art an angel of heaven, not of the pit, such as have
ravened and slaughtered throughout this fair land since good King
Pellam was struck by the Dolorous Stroke that Balin made. For of that
stroke came all our misery. The sacred relics of the Crucifixion fled
our land, our king sickened of a malady that naught could heal, our
crops rotted, and our cattle died. Yet did some among us strive to live
and do as brave men should in all adversity. But into the land came an
evil and a pagan knight, the knight of the Dragon, and he willed that
all should scorn and despise the good Christ, and should turn to the
old gods of the standing stones and the oaken groves. And those that
would not he slew, and their folk he trampled underfoot, and their
herds and fields he destroyed and desolated. And I, fair lord, have
lost my dear wife and my wee bairns, and I wonder why I fled and kept
my life, remembering all I have lost.'
'Take heart,' said Perceval, 'and remember that it is God His mercy
that chastiseth, and that while thou hast life thou hast hope. It is a
man's duty, a man's nobility, to bear sorrows bravely, and still to
work, to do all and to achieve. I think God will not long let this evil
knight oppress and slay. In His good time He will cut him down.'
'Fair sir,' said the peasant, 'I thank thee for thy cheer, and I will
take heart and trust in God's good time.'
And Perceval rode forward through the blackened land and found the
forests burning and the fields wasted. Anon he came to the edge of a
plain, and saw a great castle in the distance. And there came to him a
damsel, weeping, and when he craved of her to tell him why she mourned,
she stayed, and looked at him as if astounded. Then she cried with a
great cry of joy.
'Oh, tell me, fair sir, who art thou? Thou hast the white armour which
it was foretold the spotless knight should wear, and on thy shield is
the Heart as of Him that bled to save the world.'
'I know not what you say,' replied Perceval, 'but my name is Perceval,
son of Evroc, and I seek the wicked knight that doeth all this evil.'
'Then thou art the White Knight,' said the damsel, 'and now I pray that
God aid thee, for my lady and all this poor land have need of thee.
Come thou to my mistress, the lady of the Chaplet.'
Therewith she led him to the castle, and the lady thereof came out to
him. She was of a sad countenance, but of a great beauty, though poorly
clothed.
'Fair sir,' she said, 'my maiden hath told me who thou art, and I
sorrow that one so noble as thou seemest shall essay to overcome the
fiend knight of the Dragon. Yet if thou shouldst prevail, all men in
this tortured land will bless thee, and I not the least. For daily doth
the evil knight slay my poor knights, and cometh and casteth their
blackened and burned bodies before my hall. And many of my poor folk
hath he slain or enslaved, and others hath he caused to follow his evil
worship, and many of my rich and fair lands hath he wrested from me.'
'Therefore, fair lady,' said Perceval, 'I would seek him without delay,
for to essay the force of my body upon him, by the grace of God.'
'And shouldst thou conquer,' said the lady, 'with the fiend's death the
hallowed relics which King Pellam guarded shall return to bless this
land. Now, therefore, go ye towards the Burnt Land beyond the brook,
for that is where is the lair of the fiend that doth oppress us.'
Perceval went forward across the plain to a brook, and having forded
the water he came to a wide hollow where the ground was all baked and
burned, and the trees were charred and black. Here and there lay pieces
of armour, red and rusted, as if they had been in a fierce fire; and in
one place was the body of a knight freshly slain, and he was charred
and black.
Then, as Perceval looked about him, he saw the dark hole of a cave in a
bank beside the hollow, and suddenly therefrom issued a burst of
horrible fire and smoke, and with a cry as of a fiend a black knight
suddenly appeared before him on a great horse, whose eyes flashed as
with fire and whose nostrils jetted hot vapours.
'Ha! thou Christian!' cried the knight in a horrible voice, 'what dost
thou here? Wouldst thou have thy pretty white armour charred and
blackened and thyself killed by my dragon's power?'
Then Perceval saw how the boss of the Black Knight's shield was the
head of a dragon, its forked tongue writhing, its teeth gnashing, and
its eyes so red and fiendish that no mortal, unless by God's aid, could
look on it and live. From its mouth came a blinding flash as of
lightning and beat at Perceval, but he held up his shield of the
Throbbing Heart, and with angry shrieks the Black Knight perceived that
the lightning could not touch the shield.
Then from his side the evil knight tore his sword, and it flamed red as
if it was heated in a fierce furnace, and thrusting forward he came and
beat at Perceval. But the White Knight warded off the blows with his
shield, which the flaming sword had no power to harm.
Then did the Black Knight marvel greatly, for never had a knight,
however skilled, withstood him, for either the lightning of the dragon
shield had burnt him, or the stroke of his flaming sword had slain him
swiftly. And by this he knew that this knight was Perceval.
'Thou knowest not who it is thou fightest,' said the Black Knight, with
a scornful laugh. 'Thou must put forth more than the skill thou didst
learn of the witches of Glaive if thou wouldst overcome me. For know
ye, that I am a fosterling of Domna the witch, and she taught me more
than ever she taught you. Now prepare ye to die.'
Then Perceval knew that this indeed was the fight which Domna had
foretold, and that if he failed in this, ruin and sorrow would be the
lot of many.
And Perceval began to thrust and strike full valorously and skilfully,
but naught seemed to avail him. Thus for a long time they went about,
thrusting and striking. Always the strength of the Black Knight seemed
as unwearied as that of a demon, while Perceval felt his arm weaken, as
much from the great strokes he gave, as from the burning fires that
darted at him from the dragon shield.
Then Perceval cried in prayer for aid, and asked that if Christ would
have this land saved for His glory, strength should be given him to
slay this fiendish oppressor.
Forthwith strength seemed to nerve his arm mightily, and lifting his
sword he struck at the shield of the knight, and so vehement was the
blow that he cut down the shield even to the head of the dragon.
Feeling the wound, the dragon gave forth a great flame, and Perceval
wondered to see that now his own sword burned as if on fire.
Then, while the Black Knight marvelled at this stroke, Perceval struck
at him more fiercely and beat in the other's helm, so that the fiend
knight bent and swayed in his saddle. But recovering, he became so
wroth that, with his fiery sword, he heaved a mighty blow at Perceval,
and cut through his hauberk even to the shoulder, which was burned to
the bone.
Ere the other could withdraw himself, Perceval thrust his sword to the
hilt into the loathsome throat of the dragon. Thereupon the dragon gave
so terrible a cry that the earth seemed to shake with the horror of it.
And in its wrath and pain the dragon's head turned upon the Black
Knight its master, and vomited forth fire so fiercely, that it scorched
and burned him utterly, so that he fell from his horse dead.
Perceval, dizzy and weak from the battle, alighted from his horse, and
went towards the knight, that he might slay the dragon. But suddenly he
swooned and fell and his consciousness went from him.
When Perceval came to his senses again, he found himself upon a pallet,
and the rough walls of a room were about him, while above him was the
window, as it seemed, of an abbey or convent. And he was so weak he
could not lift his hand.
Some one came to him, and he recognised Tod the troll.
'Ah, good Tod,' said he faintly. 'Where am I?'
'Now God be praised,' said Tod, and smiled joyfully. 'For the nuns
feared ye might not win through the poison of your wound which the
dragon knight did give you. 'Twas I who had followed you, lord, since
that you did leave the hold of the witches, and when you swooned I
brought you here, to the convent of the White Nuns. And now that I know
ye live, I go to your lady mother to tell her the good news, for she is
weary to know tidings of you.'
'Go, good Tod,' said Perceval, 'and say I will come for her blessing
when I may mount my horse again.'
When Tod had left him, there came a nun to him, and he knew her for
Angharad, who had been so proud and scornful when he left her at the
Castle of Weeds. And he asked her how she had fared, and why she was a
nun.
'To repent me of my evil mind,' she said. 'For when you left us I did
not in my heart thank ye that you had saved my mother and me from death
and worse. And the witches came to me and tempted me with riches and
power, even as they were tempting you while you were with them. I heard
how you withstood them, and I scorned you and hated you and said you
would yield some day. And then you left the witches, having learned all
their strong powers, yet having withstood them, and I marvelled much. I
heard men say you were one of three stainless knights of the world that
should achieve the Holy Graal, because of your great humility and
purity, and that great honour and glory would be yours, because you put
not your trust in your own strength. Then I repented, and would not
listen to the evil women. But they followed me, whispering and
tempting, and then for terror I sought a holy hermit, and he brought me
here, and now am I at peace, and my proud heart is humble.'
'By my faith, sister,' said Perceval, 'I am rejoiced to hear thee. For
I thought when I saw thee that thou hadst a proud and a hard heart. But
as thou wert a beauteous and lovely maiden I thought much of thee; and
had it not been foreordained otherwise, I would have loved thee above
all women and wedded thee.'
The sister's pale face flushed.
'Nay, but thou hadst a greater glory in store for thee,' she said. 'For
thou shalt find the Holy Graal and restore it to this kingdom, and with
it weak men shall forsake their leanings to the old law of hate, and
cleave only to Christ and His new law of love.'
'It is as God may will it,' said Perceval.
In a little while he strengthened and rose from his pallet, and fared
forth towards the north where his widowed mother sat in her lonely
hall, waiting for him whose fame was sweet in every man's mouth.
As he passed through the land, he saw how it had already begun to smile
again. Men went to their work unafraid, the corn was brightening on the
hills, the cattle lowed, women sang at their work, and children played.
And all blessed him as he rode.
Thus was ended at last the sorrow in the land of King Pellam which was
brought in by the Dolorous Stroke which Sir Balin had given a
generation before.
VIII
HOW SIR OWEN WON THE EARLDOM OF THE FOUNTAIN
Now the young page Owen, who had saved King Arthur from midnight murder
at the hand of the evil Sir Turquine, whom Lancelot slew, had tarried
at the court of the king, and in prowess and knightly achievements was
among the most famous of the knights of the Round Table. And always was
he wishful to go on strange adventures, however far might be the
country, or dangerous the ways thereto, or cruel and crafty the foes.
One day King Arthur was at Caerleon-upon-Usk, and sat conversing with a
few of his knights in the presence-chamber. With him was Sir Owen and
Sir Kay, and there was also Sir Conan and Sir Bedevere. The queen sat
near them, while her handmaidens stood by the window at needlework.
In a little while Arthur said he would sleep until the horn sounded for
dinner. For he had come from London late the night before, and had not
had his full rest.
'But,' said he, 'do you, my knights, continue your talk, and tell each
other tales as before, and if you are hungry, Kay will give you collops
of meat and horns of mead.'
So the king slept on his broad seat of green rushes, over which was
spread a splendid covering of flame-coloured satin. And cushions of red
satin were under his head.
Kay ordered a page to bring meat and bread and mead, and when the four
had eaten, Sir Conan was called upon to tell how he became possessed of
a dark bay palfrey, as to which all envied him for its beauty, but
concerning which he always put off telling the tale of how he had
obtained it.
'You must know,' began Sir Conan, 'that I was the only son of my
parents, and the confines of my father's barony in Lothian were too
small for my aspiring and my daring. I thought there was no adventure
in the world too great for my doing, and when I had fought all the
knights who would meet me in my own country, and had slain all the
trolls that wrought evil there, I equipped myself in my best armour and
set forth to seek greater adventures in deserts and wild regions. And I
fared south for many weeks, over desolate mountains and wild and
terrible fastnesses of rock and moor, where only the robber seemed to
live, and the wild, magic people of the green mounds, and where there
was no sound but the song of the lark, the plunge of the beaver and
otter in the river, the growl of the brown bear from the rock, and the
howl of the wolf at night.
'And I fared through all these terrors unscathed, and one day I came to
a high ridge, and saw stretching below me the fairest valley I had ever
seen. The grass was green and smooth, the trees were soft and of an
equal growth; and a river ran gently through the dale, with a path
beside it.
'I followed the path all day until the evening, but met no one, until,
as the afternoon was waning, I came suddenly upon a large and massive
castle, which shone in the westering sun. And I approached the green
before the gateway, and saw two youths with curling auburn hair, clad
richly in garments of yellow satin, with frontlets of gold upon their
forehead. And they had daggers with jewelled hilts, and these they were
shooting at a mark.
'And on a bench a little way from them was a handsome man in the prime
of life, of a proud look, clad in a rich mantle.
'I went forward and saluted him, and he returned my greeting with great
courtesy. And, rising, he led me into the hall, which, however, was but
poorly furnished. And I wondered that the knight and the youths should
be so richly clothed, while the hall was scanty.
'Six maidens came forward, and while three took my horse, the others
unarmed me, and gave me water wherein to wash, and a dining-robe to put
on. And the six maidens were fairer than any I had ever seen. Then we
sat down when the meat was ready, and though the food was good, it was
simple, and the vessels and flagons upon the table were of silver, but
very old and dented, as if they had been long in use.
'And no word was spoken until the meal was ended, and then the knight
asked me my name and whither I was going.
'I told him my name, and he told me his. And he was, he said, Sir Dewin
of Castle Cower. And I told him that I was faring south seeking any
great adventure, so that I might gain glory and renown. "For," I said,
"I wish to find a knight who is stronger and more dexterous in arms
than I."
'At that he looked upon me and smiled.
'"If I did not fear to distress you too much," he said, "I would show
you what you seek!"
'"Tell me," I said, "for I am eager to obtain this adventure."
'"Sleep here to-night," said Sir Dewin, "and in the morning rise early,
and take the road to the wood behind the castle. Follow the path till
you come to a fountain in a glade. There you will see a large cup, with
a chain. Strike the cup with your lance, and you will have the
adventure ye desire."
'And Sir Dewin smiled again as if he thought the adventure was one
which he deemed was beyond me, and I was angered and soon retired to my
pallet. But I could not sleep, for I was eager to rise and meet this
adventure, and to come back and mock Sir Dewin for his laughter.
'Before dawn I arose and equipped myself, and mounted my horse, and
took my way to the wood, as Sir Dewin had told me. And the road was
long and difficult; but at length I came to the glade and found the
fountain. On a stone pillar beside it a chain was fastened, and at the
end of the chain was a large cup.
'With my lance I struck the cup, and instantly there was a great peal
of thunder, so that I trembled for fear. And instantly there came a
great storm of rain and of hail. The hailstones were so large and so
hard that neither man nor beast could live through that storm, for they
would have slain them, so fiercely did they beat. And the way that I
escaped was this. I placed the beak of my shield over the head and neck
of my horse, while I held the upper part over my own head. Thus did we
withstand the storm, though the flanks of my horse were sore wounded.
'Then the sky cleared, the sun came out, and a flock of birds began to
sing on a tree beside the fountain. And surely no one has heard such
entrancing music before or since. So charmed was I with listening, that
I noticed not at first a low rumbling which seemed to come nearer and
nearer.
'And suddenly I heard a voice approaching me, and I looked round just
as a big knight in sky-blue armour rode swiftly up the valley.
'"O knight," cried he, "what ill have I done to thee, that thou usest
me so evilly? Knowest thou not that the storm which thou hast sent by
evil magic hath slain my best flocks on the hills, and beaten to death
all my men that were without shelter?"
'He came at me furiously. I put my lance in rest and spurred towards
him, and we came together with so great an onset that I was carried far
beyond the crupper of my horse.
'Then the knight, taking no further notice of me, passed the shaft of
his lance through the bridle of my horse, and so rode swiftly away. And
it moved me to anger to think he despised me so much as not even to
despoil me of my sword.
'Very depressed of spirit was I as I took my way back to the castle of
Sir Dewin. And as I passed through the wood I came to a glade, in the
midst of which was a green mound. And as I passed it I heard laughter,
which seemed to come from the earth. And I heard a voice sneering and
mocking me. And I guessed it was the voice of a troll or moundman whom
I could not see, who lived in the hillock, and I wonder I did not go
mad with the shame of his derision.
'And I had not the spirit to go to try to break into the mound, lest he
should work magic and more disaster upon me. So I left that glade, with
the sound of his hoarse laughter ringing in my ears.
'I reached the castle of Sir Dewin, and well entertained was I, and
rested for the remainder of that day. And full of courtesy was Sir
Dewin and his household, for none of them referred to my encounter, and
to the fact that I had come back without a horse. And when I rose next
day, there was a dark bay palfrey, ready saddled, waiting in the
courtyard for me. That horse I still possess, though the sight of him
ever brings back the memory of my defeat.
'Verily it seems strange to me that neither before nor since have I
ever heard of any person besides myself who knew of this adventure, and
that the subject of it should exist within the bounds of the lands of
King Arthur, without any other person lighting upon it.'
'It would be well, indeed,' said Sir Owen, 'to go to try to discover
that valley and that fountain.'
'Well, indeed,' said Sir Kay sourly, for he had ever been jealous of
Sir Owen, even when he had been but a page, 'if thy mouth were not more
ready to say more than thou ever carest to do.'
'Thou art worthy of punishment, Sir Kay,' said Gwenevere sharply, 'in
that thou speakest thus of a man so tried in prowess and brave deeds as
Owen.'
'Fair lady,' said Sir Owen, laughing, 'we take no heed of Kay's raw
words. He ever growls like a surly dog.'
At that the king awoke, and asked whether it was not time for meat. And
the horn was sounded, and men came in from the tilting-ground and the
play-field, and washed, and the king and all his household sat down to
dinner.
On the morrow, before dawn, Sir Owen rose privily, and put on his
armour and took his horse, and rode out of the town, and for many days
rode over mountains, until he saw the sea like a sheet of burnished
lead lying on his left hand.