_How the hermit expounded their vision._
Then spake Nacien unto Ector. Sooth it is that Launcelot and ye came
down of one chair: the chair betokeneth mastership and lordship, which
ye came down from. But ye two knights, said the hermit, ye go to seek
that ye shall never find, that is the Sancgreal. For it is the secret
thing of our Lord Jesu Christ. What is to mean, that Sir Launcelot fell
down off his horse:—he hath left pride, and taken him to humility, for
he hath cried mercy loud for his sin, and sore repented him, and our
Lord hath clothed him in His clothing, which is full of knots, that is
the hair which he weareth daily. And the ass that he rode upon is a
beast of humility. For God would not ride upon no steed, nor upon no
palfrey. So in ensample that an ass betokeneth meekness, that thou
sawest Sir Launcelot ride on in thy sleep: and the well where as the
water sank from him when he should have taken thereof, and when he saw
he might not have it, he returned thither from whence he came, for the
well betokeneth the high grace of God, the more men desire it to take
it, the more shall be their desire. So when he came nigh the Sancgreal,
he meeked him that he held him not a man worthy to be so nigh the holy
vessel, for he had been so defouled in deadly sin by the space of many
years, yet when he kneeled to drink of the well, there he saw great
providence of the Sancgreal. And for he had served so long the devil,
he shall have vengeance four and twenty days long, for that he hath
been the devil’s servant four and twenty years. And then soon after he
shall return unto Camelot out of this country, and he shall say a part
of such things as he hath found.
Now will I tell you what betokeneth the hand with the candle and the
bridle; that is to understand the Holy Ghost, where charity is ever,
and the bridle signifieth abstinence. For when she is bridled in
Christian man’s heart, she holdeth him so short that he falleth not in
deadly sin. And the candle which sheweth clearness and sight,
signifieth the right way of Jesu Christ. And when he went, and said,
Knights of poor faith and of wicked belief,—these three things failed,
charity, abstinence, and truth, therefore ye may not attain that high
adventure of the Sancgreal.