it seemed to Lancelot that a pale light shone back upon him for a moment
from the flame-colored armor, and then he was gone. And as soon as
Lancelot was alone a little breeze rustled the tops of the trees above
him. They made only a low, sighing sound at first, and then it grew
louder and clearer, and then it seemed to Lancelot that it grew into a
voice, and he thought that the voice said: "Lancelot, go to the sea and
go into the ship that you find there."
Then the voice and the rustling of the trees and the wind all died away,
and Lancelot mounted and rode on through the wood. And he had scarcely
started when he came out of the wood and saw the sea before him. Far
out he could see great waves, with white crests that flashed in the
moonlight, but close to him there was a little bay, with a rocky shore,
and a ship lay close to the rocks, so that he could step on board.
Lancelot could see no one on the ship and it had no sail, but as soon as
he was on board it left the rock and the bay and carried him out to sea.
Then a feeling of strange rest and happiness came over him. He never
knew how long he was in the ship or whether he slept there. But when he
next saw anything clearly it was still night and the moon was still
shining. The water was calm and there was land all around. The ship
came to the shore and stopped, and before him Lancelot saw the gate of a
castle.
He left the ship and went toward the gate, and there he saw two great
lions guarding it. He drew his sword and kept on toward them, and when
he was near the gate something struck his sword out of his hand. Yet he
felt, he could not tell why, that there was no danger from the lions,
and he went on through the gate. The lions sprang at him as he passed,
but they did not touch him, and he went into the castle. He saw no
people, but he went on from room to room, through open doors, till at
last he came to one that was shut.
He tried to open the door, but he could not, and then he heard music on
the other side of it. It was like the singing of a great choir, and the
singing or something else seemed to tell Lancelot that the Holy Grail
was in that room where he could not go, and he knelt down before the
door and waited. Then the door opened of itself and a great light shone
out and he could hear the music more clearly. He looked into the
chamber and in the middle of it he saw a table of gold and silver,
inlaid in beautiful shapes, and on the table was the Holy Grail, still
with that white covering of silk. Yet it seemed to Lancelot that the
rosy glow from the Holy Grail that shone through the silk was brighter
and clearer than it had been when he had seen it in the hall at Camelot,
and brighter than it had ever seemed to him in his dreams. An old man
stood beside the table and Lancelot knew that he was the same who had
led Galahad into the hall that day when he had sat in the Siege
Perilous.
Then, while Lancelot looked, the old man lifted up the Holy Grail, and
at that Lancelot started up and came into the chamber to get nearer to
it. But suddenly it seemed to him that a blast of fire struck him in
the face. The burning air seemed all about him and through him and it
took away his breath and his strength and he fell to the floor. Then he
felt no more pain and he did not know where he was, but he felt hands
that took him up and carried him away and put him in a bed.
The people of the Castle found that he was not dead and they took care
of him, and it was twenty-four days before he awoke. Then he looked
about him and asked them where he was. "Who are you?" they asked him.
"I am Lancelot of the Lake," he answered, "and I am seeking the Holy
Grail."
"This is the Castle of Carbonek," they said, "and King Pelles, the
keeper of the Grail, lives here. You have done well and nobly, Sir
Lancelot, and now you must go back to King Arthur, for you will never
see more of the Holy Grail than you have seen here."
[Illustration: "He saw the water before him and a ship"]
*CHAPTER XII*
*BORS*
Bors left his fellows of the Round Table and rode all day alone. Toward
evening he met a hermit. These Grail-seeking knights were always
meeting hermits. The country seems to have been full of them. And this
one asked Bors to come to his cell and rest there for the night. He had
nothing to give to Bors to eat and drink except bread and water, and
while they were making their supper of these the hermit asked the knight
to tell him who he was and on what journey he was bound.
So Bors told him how the Holy Grail had come into the hall at Camelot,
but covered, so that no one could see it. And he told him how all the
knights had vowed that they would seek for the Grail and try to see it,
how they had all left Camelot together, and how they had parted now, and
were all riding different ways. Then the hermit said: "Sir Bors, do you
know that this Holy Grail will not be found by any knight who is not
brave and worthy in his deeds and pure and true in his life? Do you
know that it will not show itself except to those who seek for it
faithfully, thinking of nothing else, except such good and noble things
as they can do, and never forgetting it because of any pleasure or of
any gain?"
And Bors answered: "Yes, I know it."
"Then, Sir Bors," said the hermit, "will you promise me one thing, to
help you to find the Holy Grail?"
"What shall I promise you?" said Bors.
"Promise me," said the hermit, "that you will eat nothing but bread and
that you will drink nothing but water, till you see the Holy Grail."
"Is it right," said Bors, "for me to promise this? How do you know that
I shall ever see the Holy Grail?"
"I know," the hermit answered, "that it is such knights as you who will
see it, if they seek it in the right way."
"Then I will promise," said Bors.
In the morning Bors left the hermit and went on his way. And after a
time he saw two knights coming toward him, leading a third knight as a
prisoner. They had him bound upon a horse and they were beating him
with thorns. And when they came nearer Bors saw that the knight who was
a prisoner was his brother Lionel. Then, just as he was riding forward
to help his brother, he saw, on the other side of him, a woman, and some
robbers pursuing her. Bors stopped and for an instant did not know what
to do. For, as a good knight, he ought to help the woman, yet he feared
that if he did that his brother would be killed or led away where he
could not help him.
Yet it was only for a moment that Bors doubted. Then he remembered that
his brother was a knight and that he should be ready always to suffer
whatever came to him, and that the woman needed him more. So he turned
against the robbers and fought with them and drove them away. When he
had done that some knights came up who were the woman's friends, and
they thanked him for saving her and begged him to come with them to the
castle of her father, who was a great lord and lived near by. But Bors
said that he must hasten now to help his brother, and he rode the way
that he had seen his brother and the other two knights go.
He rode for a long time and saw nothing of them, and then he met a man
dressed like a priest, riding on a black horse. "Knight," said the man,
"where are you riding so fast?"
"I am trying," he said, "to find my brother, Sir Lionel, for I saw two
knights leading him away as a prisoner, and I must help him."
"You need not go any farther," said the man, "and you must be brave to
bear what I have to tell you. Your brother is dead. The knights whom
you saw have killed him. Come with me now and I will bring you to a
castle near here, where you can stay for the night, and longer if you
will."
So Bors rode with him, and as they went along he asked him if he was a
priest. He said that he was, and then Bors asked him if he had done
right to help the woman instead of his brother. "No," the priest
answered, "you did wrong. Your brother has been killed because of what
you did, and that woman was nothing to you."
Then Bors was sadder than before, and he said no more till they came to
the castle to which the priest was leading him. There a woman, young
and beautiful, the lady of the castle, came down to meet him, followed
by many others, all young and beautiful too. They welcomed him and led
him to the hall, where a feast was spread on the table, and they begged
him to eat and drink, and then to stay with them and join in their games
and their dances and their feasts. But Bors answered: "I am one of the
knights who are seeking the Holy Grail and I must not turn away from my
quest for any pleasures, and I have promised to eat nothing but bread
and to drink nothing but water till I see the Holy Grail."
"The Holy Grail?" said the priest. "Why are you seeking it? Do you
know why, or shall I tell you? It is because you know that few will
find it. It is because you wish for the glory of being thought better
than other men. Is this a good or a noble wish? I tell you it is a
proud and wicked one. Forget it and stay here with us and be happy and
be like other men."
And the lady of the castle said: "Sir Bors, I knew that you were coming
here and it was for you that I made this feast. Stay here with us now
or I shall kill myself, and my death will be by your fault, as your
brother's was. Say that you will stay with us, or I will go up to the
top of the castle tower and throw myself down."
And again Bors did not know what he ought to do. He could not forget
that the hermit had told him that he must not think of pleasures while
he was seeking the Holy Grail, and he could not forget that he had
promised to eat nothing but bread and drink nothing but water till he
should see it. And, as he cast down his eyes in thinking, he saw the
cross-shaped hilt of his sword. And, as if he suddenly knew that that
could help him, he caught it and held it up before him and before them
all.
And as he held it up he heard a great cry among the women, and the
priest screamed as if an arrow had struck him. And then, too, Bors
heard a great wind sweep over the castle. It was only for an instant,
and in that instant there was a crash of thunder and a blinding flash of
lightning. The next instant the castle and the priest and the women
were all gone. Bors was standing alone on a broad plain, holding up the
cross-shaped hilt of his sword. The only living thing near him was his
own horse. A cold wind was sweeping over the plain. In the west there
was a dull, red glow of sunset and above it there was one pale star.
Bors mounted his horse and rode away to find a place to stay for the
night. When he had ridden some way he heard a bell and came to an
abbey. He knocked at the gate and a monk came and opened it. When the
monk had let him in, Bors asked him if there was any wise man here who
could tell him the meaning of all the adventures that he had had. "Our
abbot is a wise man," the monk answered. "Perhaps he can tell you."
So he led Bors to the abbot and Bors told him everything that had
befallen him since he left the knights of the Round Table. "And it has
been so strange," he said, "that I do not know whether all that I have
done has been right or wrong."
"You have done right, Sir Bors," the abbot answered. "It was right for
you to leave your brother and save the woman from the robbers. Your
brother is a man and a knight and he must take whatever adventure comes
to him. It was your duty to help the woman who needed you, before you
tried to help another knight, even though he was your brother. And your
brother is not dead. Gawain met him and rescued him. The man in the
dress of a priest, who told you that he was dead, was not a priest. He
was a wicked enchanter. He told you that you had done wrong and he took
you to the castle where the feasting was, to make you forget the Holy
Grail. But you were too faithful to your promise and too firm for him,
and I am sure, Sir Bors, that you will be one of those who will see the
Holy Grail."
Bors went on his way again in the morning and soon he met a man who told
him that there was to be a tournament at a castle not far off. So Bors
went toward the castle, for he thought that at the tournament he might
find his brother or some of his other friends of the Round Table. And
as he came near the castle he saw his brother sitting beside the road,
and his horse standing near. Bors had not felt so glad since he left
Camelot to seek the Holy Grail as he did now to see his brother alive
and well. He got off his horse and went toward him, but Lionel only
started up angrily and got on his horse and made ready his spear.
"Bors," he cried, "you ran away from me to help some strange woman, and
you would have let my enemies kill me. It was the unkindest thing that
ever one brother did to another. Now get on your horse and defend
yourself or I shall kill you where you stand."
But Bors would not move. He begged his brother not to do so wicked a
thing as to murder him or to make him fight with him, but Lionel would
not listen. When he saw that Bors would not defend himself he drove his
horse against him and tried to throw him down and ride over him. But
Bors caught the horse's bridle, and then Lionel dismounted and drew his
sword and came against him. Then there was nothing for Bors to do but
to draw his own sword and defend himself. But as he lifted his sword he
heard, or it seemed to him that he heard, a strange voice, that rang in
his ears and said: "Bors, do not strike your brother, for if you do you
will kill him."
And then all at once they could not see each other, for there was a
cloud between them, all of fire, as it seemed, and it scorched their
faces and dazzled their eyes. And Bors heard the voice again, saying:
"Bors, leave this place and go to the sea, for Percivale is there in a
ship waiting for you."
So Bors turned away and took his horse and rode for a long way, and then
he saw the water before him and a ship, all covered with canopies of
white silk, lying beside the shore. And he went on board the ship, and
as soon as he was there it left the shore and went swiftly out into the
sea.
[Illustration: "'Knight,' she said, 'what are you doing here?'"]
*CHAPTER XIII*
*PERCIVALE*
This was the adventure that Percivale had. When he had parted from his
fellows and was riding alone he met a company of twenty knights. They
stood across his path and asked him who he was and whence he came. "I am
Sir Percivale," he answered, "and I come from the court of King Arthur."
"Then we will kill you," they cried, "for we are enemies of King Arthur
and of all his knights."
Then they dropped the points of their spears and rushed upon him, and he
struck down the first that came with his spear. But half a dozen of the
others came upon him all at once, and some of the rest killed his horse,
so that he was thrown down and was helpless among them. Then, when he
thought that his last moment was surely come, he heard the sound of a
horse's hoofs and then a shout, and then he saw the flash of a bright,
flame-colored armor coming toward him. In an instant the knight who
wore it was among them, and he had struck down some of them with his
spear, and then he had drawn his sword and he was laying about him with
it. No one who felt one stroke of that sword stayed to feel another.
Some fell and could not rise, and others turned and fled, and soon there
was none left to do any harm to Percivale. Then the knight in the
flame-colored arms went away too, as fast as his horse could go, and all
that Percivale saw of him was a last glimmer of his armor among the
trees.
Percivale knew that this was Galahad, and he wished that he could follow
him and go with him on his quest of the Holy Grail. But he had no horse
and Galahad was out of sight, and he could do no more than go as fast as
he could on foot the way that Galahad had gone. And so he went on, not
hoping to overtake Galahad, and scarcely knowing what he did, till night
came on and it grew so dark that he could not see his way, and he was so
weary and so faint that he felt that he could go no farther. Then he
sank down, just where he was, upon the ground, and slept.
When he awoke it was midnight. The moon was shining, and by the dim
light he saw a girl standing beside him. It was she who had awakened
him. "Knight," she said, "what are you doing here? Have you nothing
better to do than to lie asleep beside the road? Where is your horse?"
"My horse was killed," he answered, "by some knights who fell upon me
and nearly killed me too. Then I came so far without him and grew so
weary that I sank down and slept here where you have found me."
"I will give you a horse," the girl said, "if you will take him from
me."
"There is nothing that I need," said Percivale, "so much as a horse, and
if you can find me one I shall be grateful to you."
The girl went away and soon she came back leading a great, black horse,
with rich trappings, and she told Percivale to take him. The instant
that Percivale was in the saddle the horse was away like the wind.
Percivale could not stop him or turn him. He went where he liked, and
Percivale was sure that in all his life he had never ridden so fast.
No, nor a tenth part as fast, for sometimes, as this mad horse carried
him along, he saw places that he knew, and within an hour he saw some
that he knew were a day's journey apart. And all at once he heard a dull
roar and saw the ocean before him. The horse was going straight into
it, as it seemed, and when Percivale saw that, he drew his sword and
held it by the blade and struck the horse's neck with the cross-shaped
hilt. Then the horse gave a great leap and threw Percivale off his
back. He fell on the very edge of the water and the horse plunged into
it. And where he disappeared there sprang up a great flame, bright
blue, and it went out and left a thick, black smoke behind it. The wind
blew the smoke away, and there was nothing more to see but the great
waves rolling toward the shore and dashing against the rocks.
Then the weariness and faintness came upon Percivale once more, and he
lay down there on the rough rocks of the sea-shore and slept again. It
was morning when he awoke. As he looked around him he saw that the
rocks about him were so high that they made a mountain and the water
seemed to be all around it, or nearly so. And as he was looking for a
way to get back to the mainland he saw coming toward him a great
serpent, carrying a young lion in its mouth. An old lion was following,
and it came up and began to fight with the serpent, but it could not
make it drop the young lion. Then Percivale thought that of the two
beasts he liked the lion better, and that he would try to help it. So
he drew his sword and put his shield before him and ran to the serpent
and cut off its head.
And the old lion went to the cub and found that it was not much hurt,
and then it came to Percivale and licked his hand, as a dog would, and
tried to thank him for saving the cub. After that it carried the cub
away, but in a little while it came back and stayed with Percivale all
day, and at night, when Percivale lay down to sleep, the lion watched
beside him.
The next morning Percivale saw a ship coming toward the land. It came
close to the rock where he was and he could see no one in it but one old
man, in the dress of a priest. It had been so long since Percivale had
had any friend but the lion that he was glad to see the priest and he
told him who he was and how he had come there, and that he did not know
how to get away from the place.
"Do not try to find any more adventures now," the priest answered, "but
come into this ship and wait in it for the adventures that will come to
you."
So Percivale went on board the ship and at once it started out into the
sea. He did not see the priest again and he could not tell where he had
gone, but he could see the lion still standing on the shore and looking
after him, till the ship had gone so far that he could no longer make it
out. And Percivale must have slept again in the ship, though he did not
know how long. But he awoke and saw a man bending over him, and the man
was Bors.
[Illustration: "'It was King Evelake's shield'"]
*CHAPTER XIV*
*GALAHAD*
When Galahad left Camelot he had no shield. He had carried none in the
tournament and he had done better without one than any of the other
knights. He still had none when the knights parted. He rode alone for
four days without any adventure. It was then that he came to an abbey
and went in to spend the night. Another knight of the Round Table had
come there before him, and as they sat talking together the monks told
them of a shield that they had. It had been in the abbey for many
years, they said, and it had been foretold that no one except the best
knight of the world should ever carry it without coming to some harm.
"I will take that shield to-morrow morning," said the knight, "and see
what comes of it. I do not think myself the best knight of the world,
but I do not fear any adventure that may befall me. And you, Sir
Galahad--if you will, you may wait here for a little while to know if I
come to any harm, and then I am sure that you can bear this shield, if I
cannot."
"It shall be as you say," said Galahad, "and I will wait to hear from
you."
In the morning the knight asked for the shield, and the monks brought it
to him. It was white, with a red cross upon it. The knight took it and
rode away with his squire, and Galahad waited. He did not wait long,
for before noon the knight was brought back to the abbey so badly
wounded that they could scarcely tell at first whether he would live or
die. The squire came with him and brought the shield. He brought it
straight to Galahad and said: "Sir Galahad, we met a knight who fought
with my lord and wounded him as you see. Then the knight told me to
bring the shield to you and to say that no one but you ought to carry
it."
"Then tell me," said Galahad to the monks, "what this shield is and why
no one may use it but me."
"It was King Evelake's shield," one of the monks answered. "In the time
of Joseph of Arimathaea, Evelake was King of the City of Sarras. He
bore this shield in a great battle that he fought, and it was Joseph who
made this red cross upon it for him. Afterward he came to England with
Joseph. When he died the shield was left here in this abbey and Joseph
foretold that it should never be borne with safety by anyone till the
best knight of the world should come."
When Galahad heard that, he took the shield and made ready to go on his
way. But first he asked the monks about his fellow of the Round Table,
and they told him that he had been nearly killed, but that they could
cure him.
I have told you already some of the things that Galahad did. You know
how he overcame both Lancelot and Gawain, how he drove the murderers out
of the Castle of Maidens, and how he saved Percivale from his enemies.
It was after all these things that he was sleeping one night in the cell
of a hermit, and a woman came to the door and called to him. The hermit
opened the door and she said to him: "I must speak to the knight who is
here with you."
Then the hermit awoke Galahad and told him that there was a woman at the
door who said that she must speak to him. So Galahad went to the door
and she told him that he must put on his armor and come with her.
Galahad did not know who she was or what she wanted of him, but
something made him feel sure that he ought to do what she said. He put
on his armor and rode with her for the rest of the night and all the
next day, and then, as it was getting toward night again, they came to a
castle.
The lady of the castle welcomed them and told Galahad that he must eat
and sleep a little and then be ready to ride again. It was still night
when they came and woke him, and he put on his armor and rode again with
the woman who had brought him to the castle. It was only a little way
that they rode this time and then they came to the sea-side and saw a
ship, all covered with canopies of white silk. They went on board and
found Percivale and Bors. As soon as Galahad and the woman were in the
ship it left the land and went straight out into the open sea.
When the three knights had greeted one another and when each had told
the others something of where he had been and what he had done since
they had parted last, Galahad said: "I should never have found you here
if this woman had not brought me and shown me the way, and I am sure
that you must thank her as much as I for bringing us together."
Then the woman said: "Percivale, do you know who I am?"
"No," said Percivale, "I do not know you."
"I am your sister," she said, "whom you have not seen since you first
went to King Arthur's court."
Then they all stood together, talking and looking out upon the dim sea,
till slowly they began to see it more plainly and the sky grew lighter
and the stars faded away in it, and a faint and then a brighter glow
rose in the east and the day came. When it was fully light Percivale's
sister said: "Come now and let me show you what there is in this ship
that you have not seen."