when there came another wonder. An old man came into the hall, leading
a young man by the hand. They saw that he was an old man only by his
figure and by his step and by the end of a white beard which they could
see. For he wore a long, white robe, and a hood hung low down over his
face, so that they could not see it. The young man was dressed all in
flame-colored armor, and he had no shield or sword, but an empty
scabbard hung by his side. They came and stood close to the throne and
closer to the Siege Perilous. Bors sat near them, and it seemed to him
that he knew, just as it had seemed to him once before, long ago, at the
Castle of Carbonek, that this old man was Joseph of Arimathaea, who
would have died hundreds of years ago, but that the power of the Holy
Grail kept him alive. And he knew, too, that the young man was the
beautiful child with the deep eyes and the bright, sweet face and the
hair like gold, whom he had seen at the Castle of Carbonek. Percivale
sat next to Bors, and it seemed to him too that he knew the old man,
though how he could not tell. Next to Bors on the other side was
Lancelot, and what he knew was that the young man was the one whom he
had made a knight that morning at the abbey.
"King Arthur," said the old man, "I have brought you a new knight, Sir
Galahad. You have waited for him long, for you were told of him before
he was born, and his place at your Round Table was waiting for him
before you yourself were born."
"He is welcome here," said the King, "and you are welcome too." But
almost before he had spoken the old man was gone from the hall and the
young knight in the flame-colored armor stood before him alone. Yes,
there at last he stood, Galahad, whose name had been spoken with wonder
or with hope or with doubt so many times. Only the best knight of the
world, Merlin had said, should sit in the Siege Perilous, and the best
knight of the world should be Galahad. How many times Arthur had looked
at that seat and wondered why his best knight, Lancelot, could not sit
there, and what the knight could be like who should be better than
Lancelot. And now here he stood--Galahad.
But there was something else for the best knight of the world to do.
The knights who filled the hall were not thinking then of the Siege
Perilous. They were thinking of the stone floating on the river, and
the sword sticking in it. The King saw them whispering together and
pointing that way and he said to the young man: "If you are indeed that
Galahad whom we have waited for so long, you are more welcome than any
other who has come here since Lancelot, my best knight till now, the son
of my old friend King Ban. It you are that true Galahad who was
promised, then you will be the best of all my knights--better than
Lancelot. Will you come and prove to us whether you are so?"
Then the King took the young man's hand and led him down to the river
and all the rest followed them to see. And the King said: "Try if you
can draw that sword, for none of my other knights can draw it."
"See, my lord," said the young man, "I have brought no sword, only this
empty scabbard, for I knew that I should find my sword here." And he
took hold of the sword that stuck in the stone and drew it out and put
it in his scabbard.
There was no doubt of it now; the knight whom they had waited for had
come. Yet the King's face was sad as he led the way back to the hall,
for it seemed to him that now there could be little to wait for and the
days of the Round Table would not be many more. But other thoughts came
to him a moment later, when the new knight knelt before him to take the
oath that would make him a knight of the Round Table. For then, just
for an instant, it seemed to him that the time had gone back to the
beginning of his reign. There was a look in the young man's eyes that
brought back the day when Lancelot had knelt before him like this and
had sworn this oath and when he had believed that Lancelot would surely
be the one perfect knight. Yes, it was the same clear light that he had
seen for an instant that day in Lancelot's eyes, the glow of something
great and wonderful, he knew not what. But there was more in the face
of this new knight. There was something which told Arthur that, though
he swore that in all things he would be true and loyal to God and to the
King, yet, without the oath, he could never have a thought that would
not be true and loyal.
And the King scarcely knew whether it was great joy or great sorrow that
made him almost tremble before this boy. And when he took his hand
again they all saw that his face was white as he turned toward the seat
that was next the throne. And there at last in that Siege Perilous were
the letters, more of fire than of gold, as they seemed: "This is the
seat of Galahad."
Those who could see whispered to those who could not and the word ran
down the hall and then in an instant everyone was still. After all
these years of waiting, after the wonders and the prophecies, would any
one, even Galahad, dare to sit in that seat? They had feared that seat
and had seen it empty so long that they could not believe it, and they
all stood up in their places and strained their eyes and held their
breaths in wonder and dread. And of all who were there Galahad alone
had no fear and no dread. Only for an instant he stood there, with the
eyes of all the rest upon him and his own upon the King's, and then he
sat in the Siege Perilous.
Every seat at the Round Table was filled. For the first time since
Merlin made that table for Uther Pendragon there were a hundred and
fifty knights around it and no seat was empty. Then of a sudden the hall
grew dark. Thick clouds seemed to have come over the sun and they heard
a great wind outside. Then there was thunder that shook the castle and
almost deafened them. It was over in a moment and through an upper
window there shone one broad beam of sunlight. It slanted down from the
top of the hall to near where Galahad sat, and still the rest of the
hall was dark. And then came the strangest thing of all. They saw a
soft, red glow of light, through the darkness of the hall, and it moved
toward the place where the sunlight fell. They could not see what it
was clearly, for it had a covering of white silk, and the red glow shone
through this and filled the room. And the thing that shone was in the
form of a goblet. It moved, as if someone were carrying it, but they
could not see anyone. It moved till it came where the sun shone upon
it, and then the hall was bright and the knights could see one another.
And it seemed to each of them that the others looked greater and
stronger and more beautiful than he had ever seen them look before.
They knew, all of them, that this that they almost saw, but could not
see, was the Holy Grail. It passed on again, away from the sunlight and
across the hall, and the red glow was gone. The sunlight was gone too,
and then the old light came slowly back and they all saw that the table
had been covered with food.
At first they were all so full of wonder at the sight that none of them
could speak. Then Gawain, who sat on King Arthur's left, rose and held
up the cross-shaped hilt of his sword. "My lord," he said, "we know that
it was the Holy Grail that passed before us just now. But we did not see
it. So now I make this vow, my lord, that I will leave this court and
seek the Holy Grail, that I may see it more openly than we have all seen
it to-day. I will seek it for a year and a day, if I do not find it
sooner, and if I have not found it then I will come back, believing that
God does not wish that I should see it."
Then the knight who was next to Gawain held up the cross-shaped hilt of
his sword, as Gawain had done, and made the same vow, that he would seek
the Holy Grail for a year and a day, unless he found it sooner. And so
it went around the table, and they all made the vow, and last of all
Lancelot and Bors and Percivale and Galahad.
And Arthur had listened to them all and had spoken no word, but his face
was pale and troubled. For he knew that if his knights went away upon
this quest many of them would not come back, and he should never see all
the places at the Round Table full again, as he saw them now. And when
they had all made the vow he said in a low voice to Gawain: "When will
you leave us to go upon this quest?"
"At once, my lord," said Gawain; "to-morrow."
"Not so soon as that," said the King. "Let me see all my knights
together for one more day. We will have a tournament to-morrow. You
shall all meet before me once more in one fine field of combat and then
you may go."
And the knights all saw how sad the King was at their leaving him, and
they were all glad to do as he wished. But the King had another reason
for the tournament that was to be the next day. He did want to see all
his knights together for one last time, but there was more than that.
For here on his right, in the Siege Perilous, sat Galahad. He was the
best knight of all the world, or he could not sit in that seat. Arthur
knew--he could not tell how, but he knew--that when Galahad left the
court to seek the Holy Grail he would never come back. The best knight
of the Round Table, the best knight who had ever been in his court,
would go away forever, and he had never seen him in one knightly combat
and would never know how he could fight, how he could ride, or how he
bore his arms. And this was the reason, more than the other, why Arthur
wished to see one great tournament of all his knights.
So in the morning the meadow at Camelot was thronged again with the
people who came out to see the tournament, all the more eager because
they had heard of the wonders of the day before and of Galahad, and
because they knew that he would be there in the field. The King sat in
the highest place, with the Queen beside him, and it was with sad faces,
though they were proud too, that they looked down upon their knights
striving together in the tournament. They could scarcely have told
afterward what any other knight did, for it seemed to them all that day
that they saw only one knight. Wherever they looked they saw those
flame-colored arms of Galahad flashing up and down the field. His horse
never faltered, his spear never failed, his arm never grew weary. He
bore no shield, but every spear that touched his armor was shattered,
and when he pointed his own spear at any other knight and charged
against him that knight went down. But the King and the Queen saw that,
while the others were all falling before him, he never came near to
Lancelot or to Bors or to Percivale. He would not joust with them and
so they all three did nobly in the tournament too. And the King was so
filled with the wonder of all that he saw Galahad do that when it was
over he could scarcely speak to him. But he held his hand and looked
long at him and said, in a voice that sounded strange and uncertain:
"Galahad, I have seen the best that a knight can do."
That was their last night all together in the great hall at Camelot.
After it came a sad morning. The knights were ready early and the King
was ready to see them go, though he could scarcely take the hand of each
and say good-by, so great was his grief at their going. The knights all
mounted together and rode through the streets of Camelot, between the
lines of people who had come out of their houses to see them go, and so
out through the gate and away from the city. And the King and the Queen
stood on a tower of the castle to watch them as long as they could. At
first they could pick out here an armor and there a banner and know that
this was Galahad, this Lancelot, and that Gawain. But when they were
farther off they could not do this any more; they could only see the
big, bright spot upon the road where the morning sunlight struck upon
the armors, and then their eyes were tired with looking and something
came across them so that for a moment they could not see at all. The
bright spot on the road grew smaller and smaller. It flashed and
twinkled and shivered. Was it a cloud of dust that rose now behind the
knights and hid the glimmer of their arms, or was there something in the
King's eyes again so that he could not see it? Once more he saw the
far-off flash, fainter now, and yet again, and then the dust rose and
there was no more to see. And so the noble fellowship of the Round
Table passed away from King Arthur and out of his sight like a setting
star.
*[Illustration: "The bright spot on the road grew smaller and smaller"
(missing from book)]*
[Illustration: "A pasture where a hundred and fifty bulls were feeding"]
*CHAPTER X*
*GAWAIN*
All that day the knights of the Round Table rode together, and in the
evening they came to a city where they all lodged for the night. The
next morning they parted and rode different ways. In the days and the
weeks and the months that followed some of them had many and strange
adventures and some of them had but few. I could not possibly tell you,
or even remember for myself, all the wonderful things that happened to
all of them, but I can tell you a part of the things that happened to a
part of them.
Gawain rode for a long time alone, till at last, at an abbey where he
stopped to spend the night, he found his brother Gareth and his cousin
Uwain. The next day they went on their way together, and as they rode
so they met seven knights, who called to them to stop and to tell who
they were.
"We are knights of King Arthur's court," they answered, "and we are
seeking for the Holy Grail."
"Then it is well that we have met you," said one of the seven knights.
"We are from the Castle of Maidens. A knight of King Arthur's court
drove us out of our castle and we have sworn to kill all of King
Arthur's knights whom we meet. We will begin with you."
Then all seven of them put their spears in rest and charged against
Gawain and Uwain and Gareth. But the three knights of the Round Table
fought so well that they soon beat their seven enemies and wounded them
and drove them away. The three knights parted then and rode different
ways. And in the evening Gawain came to the cell of a hermit and asked
him to let him stay for the night. They talked together and Gawain told
the hermit who he was and that he was seeking the Holy Grail. The hermit
knew, as everybody knew, all that Arthur's famous knights had done, and
he said: "It is useless for you, Sir Gawain, to seek the Holy Grail.
You will never find it. It shows itself only to the purest and the
best. You have not been good enough and sound enough and true enough in
your life ever to see the Holy Grail. Ah, Gawain, Gawain, do not think
that you did such a great thing to-day, you and your two fellows, when
you beat those seven knights from the Castle of Maidens. For one knight
alone had beaten them all only a little while before. They had taken
the Castle of Maidens from the old lord who owned it, and they had
killed him and had held the castle for a long time. They were tyrants
and murderers, and Galahad came and drove them all out and gave the
castle to the daughter of its old lord. Galahad did it alone, and now
you three are proud because you beat the seven cowards. Knights like
Galahad will see the Holy Grail, not knights like you, Gawain."
In the morning the hermit told Gawain that if he hoped ever to come near
the Holy Grail he ought to do some penance for all the evils of his
life. But Gawain answered: "No; we knights make long journeys and we
fight dangerous battles. Our lives are hard enough without doing any
other penance, and I will do no other." So he rode on his way.
And after that for weeks and months Gawain rode by lonely ways and
through deep woods and over barren hills, and he met with no adventure
and scarcely with a living man. Then he met another knight of the Round
Table, Sir Ector. He was not the old Sir Ector, Arthur's foster father,
but another, the brother of Lancelot. "I am tired of this quest of the
Holy Grail," said Gawain. "I have ridden for months and I have found no
adventure, and it seems to me that all the people of the country are
dead."
"It is so with me," said Ector. "I used to find adventures enough,
wherever I went, but there are no more of them now."
The two went on together for a time and everything seemed waste and
deserted, as it had seemed to each of them before. They came at last to
a chapel that stood by the road. It looked as sad and as deserted as the
rest, and it was falling into ruin, but they left their horses and went
into it and sat down to rest. And while they sat there they both fell
asleep, and Gawain had a strange dream. It seemed to him that he saw a
pasture where a hundred and fifty bulls were feeding. They were all
black but three, and those were white. And while he looked they all
went away, and afterward some of them came back, but many did not come
back. Only one of the white ones came, and the black ones all looked
lean and weak.
When he awoke he told Ector of his dream, and said: "It seems so strange
to me that I believe it has some meaning, and if we can find some wise
and holy man I shall tell it to him and ask him what it means."
And as they rode on they met a young squire and Gawain asked him if he
knew of any man such as he wished to find. "Nacien, the hermit," said
the squire, "is a wise and holy man. He was a knight of King Arthur's
many years ago, and they say that he was one of the best of them. His
cell is not far from here."
He showed them the way, and when they found the hermit Gawain told him
his dream and asked him what it meant. And the hermit answered: "The
pasture that you saw was the Round Table and the bulls were the knights
of the Round Table. They left the pasture, just as the knights went
away to seek the Holy Grail. The three that were white were three
knights who are so true and pure that they will see the Holy Grail at
last, but only one of them will come back. And the other knights, the
black bulls, will never see the Holy Grail, because of the evil in their
lives. Many of them will not come back, but some will come, and they
will be weary and worn with the quest."
Then Gawain said: "If what you say is true we shall never find the Holy
Grail, for I fear that we must be counted among those who have too much
evil in their lives."
"Gawain," the hermit answered, "there are a hundred knights of the Round
Table as good as you, who will never see the Holy Grail."
And Gawain and Ector rode on till they came to a castle where there was
a tournament. The knights of the castle were against a great crowd of
other knights, and Gawain and Ector joined in the tournament against the
knights of the castle. And Gawain and Ector fought so well that it was
plain that their side was winning the day. Then of a sudden they saw a
new knight among those of the castle. They had not seen how he came or
from where. He carried a white shield, with a red cross upon it, and
the rest of his arms were of the color of fire. Gawain charged against
him first. His spear was broken against the white shield, but the other
knight used no spear. He only raised his sword and struck Gawain so
that he cut through his helmet and wounded his head and threw him from
his horse. Ector drew Gawain out of the field and took off his helmet,
and the knight with the white shield charged against more of the knights
who were against those of the castle. And everywhere he overthrew them
till the word was given that the knights of the castle had won the day.
Then he went away again as he had come, and no one knew where.
The tournament was over and Gawain was taken into the castle and laid
upon a bed. "Ector," he said, "do you know who the knight was who
wounded me?"
"Yes," said Ector, "I know him. There is only one who could do such
things as I saw him do. It was Galahad. His arms were like Galahad's
too, only when we saw him last he had no shield."
"Ector," said Gawain, "it is Galahad who will find the Holy Grail. We
are not like him, and we cannot do the things that he can do. We have
gone far enough in this quest. I shall seek the Holy Grail no more."
[Illustration: "Through woods where there were scarcely any paths to
follow"]
*CHAPTER XI*
*LANCELOT*
When the knights of the Round Table parted, Lancelot, like the rest,
rode for a time alone. Many times before now Lancelot had sought
adventures by himself. For many years he had wandered over England and
he thought that he knew the country well. But now, before he had ridden
far, he was in places that seemed strange to him, and soon he could not
tell at all where he was. He crossed rivers and rode over hills and
plains and through woods where there were scarcely any paths to follow.
He saw fewer people than he had been used to see, and many of the houses
that he passed were deserted and ruined. Often wild beasts crossed his
track and he had to fight with them. At night he slept where he could,
sometimes in a ruined house or chapel, sometimes on the ground, with his
horse tied to a tree near him.
And when he slept he had strange dreams. Often in these dreams he
thought that the Holy Grail came near him. He saw the rosy light shine
through the white covering, for that covering of silk was always over
it, but he could never come close to it. He saw others who were wounded
or sick come to it and touch it and go away again strong and well, but
he had no strength to move or to speak. It came near to him and passed
away and he lay before it helpless.
When he awoke he would ride on, over more of the hills and plains and
rivers, fight again with the wild beasts and lie down to sleep again as
he had done before. Sometimes he came to a hermit's cell. Then he
stayed all night with the hermit and talked with him of the court, of
the knights, of his long journey, and of the Holy Grail. Sometimes one
of the hermits would say to him: "The Holy Grail is not for such men as
you to see. You have been counted long the best of knights, in your
strength and your deeds, yet there has been evil in your life, too, and
the Holy Grail will not show itself to you in the way that it will to
others."
Then Lancelot would ride on his way feeling sad. He would remember the
knight in the flame-colored arms, who had done better in that last
tournament that they had than he had ever done. He would remember how
that knight had sat in the Siege Perilous; how his own seat for all
these years had been three places off from the Siege Perilous, and how
those two other knights, Percivale and Bors, had sat nearer to it than
he. And he would think: "This quest is for such knights as those; it is
not for me."
Then some other wise man would say to him: "Lancelot, the Holy Grail
will show itself to few, but you shall do better in this quest than many
others." And then he rode on his way again with new hope, though he did
not know of what, and with new heart.
One evening he was riding after the sun had set, and he was thinking
that he must soon find a place to stay for the night. Then he came into
a wood and all at once it was darker around him than it had been out on
the open plain. And before him, then, he saw dimly the form of a knight
coming toward him on a horse. "Sir Knight," he said, "I have ridden in
strange paths for many days and I have met no knight, and I have almost
felt that I was forgetting knightly ways. Will you try one joust with
me?"
The knight did not answer, but he put his spear in the rest, and
Lancelot did so too. They spurred their horses and rode together with a
crash and Lancelot's spear struck full upon the shield of the other
knight and was broken into splinters. But the other spear held, and it
struck Lancelot's shield and threw him off his horse and he lay upon the
ground. And so the great Lancelot, the glory of King Arthur's court, was
overthrown by the first knight whom he met. The other knight was off
his horse in an instant and Lancelot was on his feet. He drew his sword
half out and then stayed his hand and let the blade slide back again
into the sheath. He bowed his head before the other, who stood before
him, and said: "I know you, Sir Knight. For these many years I have
jousted with all the best knights of the world, and I know the stroke
that every one of them can give. Tristram could never strike any blow
like that of yours, or Gawain or Palamides or Percivale or Bors or
Gareth. I have never felt it before, but I know that there is no other
such certain spear in the world as this of yours, Galahad! Galahad!"
And the other answered: "I know you, too, for I have heard of you so
long and of your knightly deeds. It is as if I had learned all that I
know of knighthood from you. And it was you, too, who made me a knight,
and I feel toward you, for all these things, as if you were my father,
Lancelot! Lancelot!"
Then Lancelot said: "Galahad, I feel that it is such knights as you who
will see the Holy Grail, and I feel that it would be better for me to be
with you. May I go with you now, wherever you go, and try to find the
Holy Grail with you?"
"No, Lancelot," Galahad answered, "no one can go with me yet, but I will
tell you this: since we all parted I have talked with many good and wise
men, and they have told me many things. Of all who are seeking the Holy
Grail only three will see it openly, but of all the rest who seek it you
will be nearer to it than any other."