Sir Galahad rested one evening at a hermitage. And while he was
resting, there came a gentlewoman and asked leave of the hermit to
speak with Sir Galahad, and would not be denied, though she was told
he was weary and asleep. Then the hermit waked Sir Galahad and bade
him rise, as a gentlewoman had great need of him, so Sir Galahad rose
and asked her what she wished. 'Galahad,' said she, 'I will that you
arm yourself, and mount your horse and follow me, and I will show you
the highest adventure that ever any Knight saw.' And Sir Galahad bade
her go, and he would follow wherever she led. In three days they
reached the sea, where they found the ship where Sir Bors and Sir
Percivale were lying. And the lady bade him leave his horse behind and
said she would leave hers also, but their saddles and bridles they
would take on board the ship. This they did, and were received with
great joy by the two Knights; then the sails were spread, and the ship
was driven before the wind at a marvellous pace till they reached the
land of Logris, the entrance to which lies between two great rocks
with a whirlpool in the middle.
Their own ship might not get safely through; but they left it and went
into another ship that lay there, which had neither man nor woman in
it. At the end of the ship was written these words: 'Thou man which
shalt enter this ship beware thou be in steadfast belief; if thou
fail, I shall not help thee.' Then the gentlewoman turned and said,
'Percivale, do you know who I am?' 'No, truly,' answered he. 'I am
your sister, and therefore you are the man in the world that I most
love. If you are without faith, or have any hidden sin, beware how you
enter, else you will perish.' 'Fair sister,' answered he, 'I shall
enter therein, for if I am an untrue Knight then shall I perish.' So
they entered the ship, and it was rich and well adorned, that they all
marvelled.
In the midst of it was a fair bed, and Sir Galahad went thereto and
found on it a crown of silk, and a sword drawn out of its sheath half
a foot and more. The sword was of divers fashions, and the pommel of
stone, wrought about with colours, and every colour with its own
virtue, and the handle was of the ribs of two beasts. The one was the
bone of a serpent, and no hand that handles it shall ever become weary
or hurt; and the other is a bone of a fish that swims in Euphrates,
and whoso handles it shall not think on joy or sorrow that he has had,
but only on that which he beholds before him. And no man shall grip
this sword but one that is better than other men. So first Sir
Percivale stepped forward and set his hand to the sword, but he might
not grasp it. Next Sir Bors tried to seize it, but he also failed.
When Sir Galahad beheld the sword, he saw that there was written on
it, in letters of blood, that he who tried to draw it should never
fail of shame in his body or be wounded to the death. 'By my faith,'
said Galahad, 'I would draw this sword out of its sheath, but the
offending is so great I shall not lay my hand thereto.' 'Sir,'
answered the gentlewoman, 'know that no man can draw this sword save
you alone'; and she told him many tales of the Knights who had set
their hands to it, and of the evil things that had befallen them. And
they all begged Sir Galahad to grip the sword, as it was ordained that
he should. 'I will grip it,' said Galahad, 'to give you courage, but
it belongs no more to me than it does to you.' Then he gripped it
tight with his fingers, and the gentlewoman girt him about the middle
with the sword, and after that they left that ship and went into
another, which brought them to land, where they fell upon many
strange adventures. And when they had wrought many great deeds, they
departed from each other. But first Sir Percivale's sister died, being
bled to death, so that another lady might live, and she prayed them to
lay her body in a boat and leave the boat to go as the winds and waves
carried it. And so it was done, and Sir Percivale wrote a letter
telling how she had helped them in all their adventures; and he put it
in her right hand, and laid her in a barge, and covered it with black
silk. And the wind arose and drove it from their sight.
X