my faithful knight no more.'
When Pelleas heard that the Lady Ettarde was going home he was
glad. He remembered the happy days he had spent as they rode
together through the forest, and he looked forward to other happy
days in the open air, when he could again shield the lady from the
roughness of the road.
But when the Lady Ettarde saw that Sir Pelleas was following her
into her own country, she was angry.
'I will not have the knight near me,' she said proudly to her
ladies. 'I will have an older warrior for my love.' And they knew
their lady's cruel ways, and in pity kept the knight away.
As they rode along the days seemed long to Pelleas, for he neither
saw nor spoke to the Lady Ettarde.
When she got near her own castle, she rode on more swiftly, telling
her lords and ladies to follow her closely. The drawbridge was
down, and the Lady Ettarde rode across it, and waiting only till
her lords and ladies crossed it, ordered the bridge to be drawn up,
while Pelleas was still on the other side.
The knight was puzzled. Was this a test of his love too, or did the
lady for whom he had won the golden circlet indeed not care for
him? But that he would not believe. 'She will grow kinder if I am
faithful,' he thought, and he lived in a tent beneath the castle
walls for many days.
The Lady Ettarde heard that Pelleas still lingered near the castle,
and in her anger she said, 'I will send ten of my lords to fight
this knight, and then I shall never see his face again.'
But when Pelleas saw the ten lords coming towards him, he armed
himself, and fought so bravely that he overthrew each of them.
But after he had overthrown them, he allowed them to get up and to
bind him hand and foot, and carry him into the castle. 'For they
will carry me into the presence of the Lady Ettarde,' he thought.
But when she saw Pelleas, the Lady Ettarde mocked him, and told her
lords to tie him to the tail of a horse and turn him out of the
castle.
'She does it to find out if I love her truly,' thought Sir Pelleas
again, as he struggled back to his tent below the castle.
Another ten lords were sent to fight the faithful knight, and again
Pelleas overthrew them, and again he let himself be bound and
carried before the Lady Ettarde.
But when she spoke to him even more unkindly than before, and
mocked at his love for her, Sir Pelleas turned away. 'If she were
good as she is beautiful, she could not be so cruel,' he thought
sadly.
And he told her that though he would always love her, he would not
try to see her any more.
Now one of King Arthur's knights, called Sir Gawaine, had been
riding past the castle when the ten lords attacked Sir Pelleas.
And Sir Gawaine had looked on in dismay. He had seen the knight
overthrow the ten lords, and stand there quietly while the
conquered men got to their feet. He had seen them bind him hand and
foot, and carry him into the castle.
'To-morrow I will look for him, and offer him my help,' thought Sir
Gawaine, for he was sorry for the brave young knight.
The next morning he found Sir Pelleas in his tent, looking very
sad. And when Sir Gawaine asked the knight why he was so sad, Sir
Pelleas told him of his love for the Lady Ettarde and of her
unkindness. 'I would rather die a hundred times than be bound by
her lords,' he said, 'if it were not that they take me into her
presence.'
Then Sir Gawaine cheered Sir Pelleas and offered to help him, for
he too was one of Arthur's knights.
And Sir Pelleas trusted him, for had not all King Arthur's knights
taken the vows of brotherhood and truth?
'Give me your horse and armour,' said Sir Gawaine. 'I will go to
the castle with them, and tell the Lady Ettarde that I have slain
you. Then she will ask me to come in, and I will talk of your
great love and strength, till she learns to love you.'
And Sir Gawaine rode away, wearing the armour and helmet of Sir
Pelleas, and promising to come back in three days.
The Lady Ettarde was walking up and down outside the castle, when
she saw the knight approaching. 'Sir Pelleas again,' she thought
angrily, and turned to go into the castle.
But Sir Gawaine called to her to stay. 'I am not Sir Pelleas, but a
knight who has slain him.'
'Take off your helmet that I may see your face,' said the Lady
Ettarde, as she turned to look at him.
When she saw that it was really a strange knight, she took him into
her castle. 'Because you have slain Sir Pelleas, whom I hated, I
will love you,' said the cruel Lady Ettarde.
Sir Gawaine saw how beautiful the lady was, and he forgot her
unkindness to Sir Pelleas, and he loved her. And because he was not
a true knight, Sir Gawaine did not think of Pelleas, who waited so
anxiously for his return.
Three days passed, but he did not go back, and in the castle all
was joy and merriment.
Six days passed, and still Sir Gawaine stayed with the beautiful
Lady Ettarde.
At last Sir Pelleas could bear his loneliness no longer. That night
he went up to the castle, and swam across the river. When he
reached the front of the castle, he saw a great many tents. And all
the lords and ladies were asleep in their tents, and Sir Gawaine
was there too.
'He has forgotten me, and will stay here always with the Lady
Ettarde,' muttered Sir Pelleas in scorn, and he drew the sword he
had won at the tournament, to slay the false knight Sir Gawaine.
Then, all at once, he remembered the vows he had taken, when the
great King had knighted him, and slowly he sheathed his sword, and
went gloomily down to the river.
But Sir Pelleas could not make up his mind to go away, and again he
turned and went back to the tent, where Sir Gawaine lay, still
asleep.
Once more Sir Pelleas drew his sword, and laid it across the false
knight's bare neck.
When Sir Gawaine woke in the morning, he felt the cold steel, and
putting up his hand, he found the sword that Sir Pelleas had left.
Sir Gawaine did not know how the sword had come there, but when he
told the Lady Ettarde what had happened, and showed her the sword,
she knew it was the one that Sir Pelleas had won at the tournament,
when he had given her the golden circlet.
'You have not slain the knight who loved me,' cried the Lady
Ettarde, 'for he has been here, and left his sword across your
throat.' And then she hated Gawaine because he had told her a lie,
and she drove him from her castle.
And the Lady Ettarde thought of her true knight Sir Pelleas, and at
last she loved him with all her heart.
But when he had left his sword across Sir Gawaine's throat, Pelleas
had gone sadly back to his tent, and taking off his armour, had
lain down to die.
Then the knight's servant was in great distress, because his master
would neither eat nor sleep, but lay in his tent getting more pale
and more thin day by day. And the servant was wandering sadly along
the bank of the river, wondering how he could help his master, when
he met a beautiful maiden called the 'Lady of the Lake.'
The maiden asked why he looked so sad, and, won by her gentleness,
he told her how his master had been hated by the Lady Ettarde, and
betrayed by the false knight Sir Gawaine.
'Bring me to your master,' said the Lady of the Lake.
And when she had come to the tent and saw Sir Pelleas, she loved
him.
'I will send him to sleep,' she murmured, 'and when he wakes he
will be well.' And she threw an enchantment over him, and he slept.
When Sir Pelleas awoke, he felt strong once more, and at last he
knew that the cruel Lady Ettarde had never been the lady of his
dreams, and he loved her no longer.
But when the Lady Ettarde knew that Sir Pelleas loved her no more,
she wept sorrowfully, and died of her grief.
Then the gentle Lady of the Lake asked Pelleas to come with her to
her own beautiful Lake-land. And as they rode together, her simple
kindness made the knight happy again, and he learned to love the
Lady of the Lake, and they lived together and loved each other all
their lives long.
GARETH AND LYNETTE
Gareth was a little prince. His home was an old grey castle, and
there were great mountains all round the castle. Gareth loved these
mountains and his beautiful home at the foot of them. He had lived
there all his life.
Gareth had no little boys or girls to play with, for there were no
houses near his mountain home.
But Gareth was happy all day long. Sometimes in the bright summer
mornings the streams would call to him. Then he would follow them
up the mountains, till he found the place where the streams ended
in tiny silver threads.
Sometimes the birds and beasts, his woodland friends, would call to
him, and then Gareth would wander about in the forest with them
till evening came. Then he would tell his mother the wonderful
things he had seen, and the wonderful things he had heard in the
forests and on the mountain-sides.
Gareth's mother, the Queen of Orkney, loved the little prince so
much that she was never dull. She had no one to talk to except her
little son, for her husband was old, so old that he could not talk
to his Queen. And if she talked to him, he was almost too deaf to
hear what she said.
But though the Queen was never dull, she was sometimes unhappy. She
was afraid that some day, when Gareth was older, he would want to
leave her to go into the world, perhaps to go to the great King
Arthur's court, as his three brothers had done.
Now Gareth had already heard stories about the brave deeds of King
Arthur's knights. He knew that they were strong men, and that they
fought for the weak people, and that they often had great
adventures, when they were sent to punish the King's enemies. And
Gareth longed to be a man, for 'when I am a man, I will be one of
Arthur's knights, too,' he thought.
[Illustration: SOMETIMES THE BIRDS & BEASTS HIS WOODLAND FRIENDS
WOULD CALL TO HIM
Page 61]
At last, one day, his mother knew that what she had been afraid of
had come to pass. She knew that Gareth would not be content to stay
among the mountains much longer. But when he threw his arms round
her, and coaxed her to let him go, she thought, 'Surely I can keep
him a little longer.' And she said, 'Your father is old, and your
brothers have left me, you will not leave me alone, Gareth. You
will stay and be a great huntsman and follow the deer.' But all the
time her heart whispered, 'He will not stay.'
And Gareth said, 'Let me go, sweet mother. Now I am a man, I must
do a man's work. "Follow the deer!" No; now I must follow the
King.'
But still his mother would not let him go. 'The next time he asks
me, I will try another way,' she thought. And when Gareth came
again and pleaded to be allowed to go to the court, she said, 'Yes,
you may go, if for one whole year you will tell no one your name,
or that you are a prince, and if for that whole year you will go
into the King's kitchen and work there.' 'These things will be too
difficult for my princely boy,' she thought.
But Gareth wanted to go so much, that he promised not to tell any
one his name, nor that he was a prince. 'And I will go to the
court, only to work in the King's kitchen for a year,' promised
Gareth proudly. And then his mother knew that her plan had failed,
and she wept.
But Gareth was glad. He got up early one morning, and without
saying good-bye to his mother, for he could not bear to see her sad
face again, he left his mountain home, and went out into the wide
world.
When three men, dressed like ploughmen, left the castle, no one
would have known that one of them was a prince. For Gareth had left
all his beautiful clothes behind him, and was dressed just like the
two servants he took with him. But still he was glad, for though he
remembered he was going to work in a kitchen, he thought a year
would soon pass, and then, perhaps, King Arthur would make him one
of his knights.
On a certain day, every year, there was a great feast at Arthur's
court. Now the King would not sit down to the feast till he had
heard if any of his people were in trouble, and if they wished one
of his knights to go to help them. And on this day too, people
could come into the King's presence to ask for any boon or good
thing they wished. Gareth reached the court, with his two servants,
on one of these feast-days.
'The King will listen to my wish to-day. I will go to him at once,'
thought Gareth. And leaning on the shoulders of his servants, so as
to look less princely, he came into the large dining-hall.
'Grant me only this boon,' Gareth entreated the King, 'that I may
work in your kitchen and eat and drink there for a year. After that
I will fight.'
And King Arthur looked at Gareth, and saw that though he leaned on
his servants he was tall and strong, and that though he wore rough
clothes, he was as noble-looking as any of his knights.
'You ask but a small boon,' said the King. 'Would you not rather
serve me as my knight?'
And Gareth longed to say 'Yes.' But as he could not break the
promise he had given to his mother, he said again, that the only
boon he asked was to be allowed to work in the King's kitchen.
Then the King sent for Sir Kay, the steward of his kitchen, and
told him to make Gareth one of his kitchen-boys. But Sir Kay did
not wish this noble-looking lad in his kitchen, and he made fun of
him and mocked him, because he would not tell his name, nor where
his home was.
But Sir Lancelot, the noblest knight in all the land, was kind to
Gareth, and Gareth's brother, Sir Gavaine, who had gone to Arthur's
court long ago, was kind to him too. Yet Sir Gavaine did not know
that Gareth was his brother, for the little prince he had left at
home looked very different to the King's new kitchen-boy.
In the kitchen Gareth soon began to find out what a difficult task
he had undertaken, for the sake of one day being a knight. He ate
his meals with rough kitchen-boys, and as Gareth's mother had
taught her little prince daintily, he did not like their rough
ways; and at night he slept in a shed with dirty kitchen-boys.
And because Sir Kay did not like Gareth, he would bustle and hurry
him, and make him work harder than any of the other lads, and give
him all the roughest work to do. It was Gareth who had to draw the
water and cut the wood, while the other servants played.
But when at last his work was done, Gareth would listen gladly as
the servants talked of Lancelot and the King. He loved to hear how
Lancelot had twice saved the King's life, and how since then there
had grown up a great friendship between the King and his brave
knight.
And Gareth was glad when he heard that though Lancelot was first in
all the tournaments or mock battles, yet on the battle-field his
hero King was mightiest of all.
But when the servants' talk was rough and rude, Gareth would not
listen, but sang some of his old mountain-songs, carolling like
any lark, and the servants stopped their talk to listen.
It seemed a long year to Gareth, the longest year in all his life,
but at last it came to an end. A whole year had passed, and another
of the King's great feast-days had begun.
Gareth woke up on that morning, thinking, 'Now at last I can be one
of King Arthur's knights; now at last I am free.'
In the dining-room he sprang eagerly to the King's side. 'A boon,
King Arthur, grant me this boon,' he cried, 'that I serve you no
longer as a kitchen-page, but as a knight.'
Arthur loved the noble-looking lad, and was pleased with his
eagerness. 'I make you my knight, to win glory and honour for our
land,' said the King. But the secret of Gareth's knighthood was to
be kept from all but Sir Lancelot, till the new knight, Sir Gareth,
had won for himself great fame.
'You shall begin at once,' said the King. And he promised Gareth
that he should be the first of all his knights to leave his court
that day.
As he spoke, a beautiful lady called Lynette came into the hall, in
great haste. 'A knight to rescue my sister, King Arthur,' she
cried.
'Who is your sister, and why does she need a knight?' asked the
King.
And Lynette told Arthur that her sister was called the Lady
Lyonors, and that Lyonors was rich and had many castles of her own,
but a cruel knight, called the Red Knight, had shut her up in one
of her own castles. The name of the castle in which she was a
prisoner was Castle Dangerous. And the Red Knight said he would
keep Lady Lyonors there, till he had fought King Arthur's bravest
knight. Then he would make Lyonors his wife. 'But,' said Lynette,
'my sister will never be the bride of the Red Knight, for she does
not love him.'
Then Arthur, looking round his knights, saw Gareth's eyes growing
bright, and heard Gareth's voice ringing out, 'Your promise, King.'
And the King said to Gareth, 'Go and rescue the Lady Lyonors from
the Red Knight.'
'A kitchen-page go to rescue the Lady Lyonors!' shouted Sir Kay in
scorn.
When Lynette heard that, she was angry, and said, 'I came for Sir
Lancelot, the greatest of all your knights, and you give me a
kitchen-boy.' In her anger, she walked out of the palace gates, and
rode quickly down the streets. She neither looked nor waited to see
if Gareth followed.
'I will wait for nothing,' thought the new knight, and he hurried
after Lynette to the palace gates, but there he was stopped.
Gareth's mother had not forgotten that a year had passed since her
boy had left her. In her quiet castle she had been busy planning a
surprise for her prince.
'Gareth will be a knight to-day,' she thought. 'I will send our
dwarf to him with a noble war-horse and armour fit for a knight.
Surely he will begin his adventures the more gladly, that I help to
send him forth,' she murmured, thinking half-regretfully of the
long year she had made him spend in the kitchen.
And Gareth was glad when he saw his mother's gift; and when he had
put on the armour, there was no more handsome knight in all King
Arthur's court than Sir Gareth. He mounted his horse, and, telling
the dwarf to follow, rode quickly after Lynette.
But Gareth had not gone far, when he heard shouts behind him, and,
turning, he saw that Sir Kay was riding after him.
'If it is possible, I will bring my kitchen-boy boy back again,'
thought Sir Kay, 'for he works well.' 'Have you forgotten that I am
your master?' he shouted, as he reached Gareth.
'You are no longer my master,' said Gareth, 'and I know that you
are the most unkind of all Arthur's knights.'
Then Sir Kay was so angry that he drew his sword, and Gareth drew
his and struck Sir Kay so hard a blow, that he tumbled off his
horse, and lay on the ground as if he were dead. Then Gareth took
away his old master's sword and shield, and telling the dwarf to
take Sir Kay's horse, he once more hurried on to reach Lynette.
Both Lancelot and Lynette had seen Sir Gareth fight with Sir Kay,
for the King had asked Sir Lancelot to ride on before Gareth, that
he might know if his new knight could use his sword.
When Lancelot had seen Sir Kay fall to the ground, he rode back to
the court to tell King Arthur that his knight, Sir Gareth, was
strong and true. And he sent men to bring home the wounded Sir Kay.
Now Lynette was more cross than ever because Lancelot had left her,
and when Gareth at last rode up to her, she cried rudely, 'You are
only a kitchen-knave. Your clothes smell of cooking, and your dress
is soiled with grease and tallow. Ride further off from me.'
But what she said was not true, for Gareth had put on the beautiful
armour his mother had sent him.
As Lynette mocked, Gareth rode quietly behind. In spite of her
unkindness, he was happy. After the long days spent in the hot
kitchen, the forest breeze seemed to touch him more gently than in
the old days, and the trees seemed to him more beautiful. But
though the streams seemed more clear, they still called to him,
just as the streams in his own mountains used to do.
But Gareth had not much time to think of the trees and streams, for
suddenly he heard the steps of some one hurrying through the
forest, crushing the fallen twigs and crisp leaves underfoot in his
great haste. Was it an adventure?
'Where are you running to?' said Gareth, as a man came in sight.
'O sir, six thieves have fallen upon my lord, and bound him to a
tree, and I am afraid they will kill him.'
'Show me where your lord is,' said Gareth. And they rode together
to the place where the knight was tied to a tree.
Then Gareth struck the first robber down with his sword, and killed
another, and slew the third as he turned to run away.
'There were six thieves,' thought Gareth; but when he turned to
look for the other three, they were nowhere to be seen. They had
all run away in great fright.
Then Gareth unbound the knight. And the knight was very grateful,
and said, 'Come and stay at my castle to-night, and to-morrow I
will reward you.'
'I want no reward,' said Gareth. 'And besides, I must follow this
lady.' But when he rode up to Lynette, she said, 'Ride further off,
for still you smell of the kitchen.' 'You are no knight, though you
killed the robbers.'
Then the knight who had been set free rode up, and asked Lynette to
come to his castle, and as it was getting dark in the forest, she
was glad to stay with him that night.
At supper-time, the knight put a chair for Gareth beside Lynette.
'Sir Knight, you are wrong to put a kitchen-knave beside me,' said
the lady, 'for I am of noble birth.'
'The noble-looking knight a kitchen-knave! What does the lady
mean!' But he took Gareth to another table, and sat there himself
with him.
The next morning Gareth and Lynette thanked the knight, and rode
on, till they came to another great forest, and at the end of the
forest they reached a broad river. There was only one place where
the river was narrow and could be crossed, and this passage was
guarded by two knights.
'Will you fight two knights,' mocked Lynette, 'or will you turn
back again?'
'Six knights would not make me turn back,' said Gareth, as he
rushed into the river. One knight rushed in from the further side,
and Gareth and he fought with their swords in the middle of the
stream. At last Gareth smote him on the helmet so violently that he
fell down into the water and was drowned.
Then Gareth spurred his horse up the bank where the other knight
stood waiting for him, and this knight fought so fiercely that he
broke Gareth's spear. Then they both drew their swords, and fought
for a long time, till in the end Gareth won the victory.
Gareth then crossed over the river again to Lynette, and told her
to ride on, for the passage across the river was clear.
'Alas, that a kitchen-page should kill two brave knights!' cried
Lynette. 'But do not think your skill killed these men.' And she
told Gareth she had seen the horse of the first knight stumble, and
that that was why he was drowned. 'And, as for the second knight,
you came behind and slew him like a coward,' she said.
'Lady,' said Gareth, 'say what you like; but lead on, and I follow
to deliver your sister.' So Gareth and the lady rode on till
evening.
In the evening they came to a strange and dreary country, where
everything looked black. On one side of a black hawthorn hung a
black banner, on the other side hung a black shield. Beside the
shield there was a long black spear, and close to the spear there
was a great black horse, covered with silk, and the silk was black.
And looking blacker than all the rest was a huge black rock.
Through the darkness they could see some one sitting near the rock.
It was a knight, and he was armed in black armour, and his name was
'the Knight of the Black Land.'
Lynette saw the knight. 'Flee down the valley, before the Black
Knight saddles his horse,' she called to Gareth. But she knew that
even the Black Knight would not frighten her kitchen-knave.
The Black Knight saddled his horse and rode up to them. 'Is this
your knight, and has he come to fight me?' he asked Lynette.
'He is only a kitchen-boy, he is no knight of mine,' Lynette
answered. And in a cruel voice she added, 'I wish you could slay
him and take him out of my way; but he does wonderful deeds with
his sword, and has just slain two knights.'
'If he is no knight, I will take his horse and armour, and let him
go. It would be a shame to take his life,' said the Black Knight.
Gareth was very angry when he heard this. 'I am on my way to Castle
Dangerous, and I mean to reach it,' he said to the Black Knight.
'And as for my horse and armour, you cannot have them unless you
take them from me in fair fight.'
Then they began to fight on foot, and the Black Knight wounded
Gareth, but Gareth smote him with such strength, that his sword cut
through the knight's armour, and then the Black Knight fell to the
ground and died. This was the fiercest fight Gareth had ever
fought, and it lasted for an hour and a half.