Badly indeed would it now have fared with the Red Cross Knight had it
not been for the Lady Una. Even good people daily fall into sin and
temptation, but as often as their own foolish pride or weakness leads
them astray, so often will Divine love and care rescue them, if only
they repent of their misdoings. Thus we see how Holiness, in the guise
of the Red Cross Knight, was for a while cast down and defeated; yet in
the end, because he truly repented, help was given him to fight again
and conquer.
Prince Arthur and the Lady Una travelled till they came to a castle
which was built very strong and high.
“Lo,” cried the dwarf, “yonder is the place where my unhappy master is
held captive by that cruel tyrant!”
The Prince at once dismounted, and bade Una stay to see what would
happen. He marched with his squire to the castle walls, where he found
the gates shut fast. There was no warder to guard them, nor to answer to
the call of any who came.
Then the squire took a small bugle which hung at his side with twisted
gold and gay tassels. Wonderful stories were told about that bugle;
every one trembled with dread at its shrill sound. It could easily be
heard three miles off, and whenever it was blown it echoed three times.
No false enchantment or deceitful snare could stand before the terror of
that blast. No gate was so strong, no lock so firm and fast, but at that
piercing noise it flew open or burst.
This was the bugle which Prince Arthur’s squire blew before the gate of
Giant Pride. Then the whole castle quaked, and every door flew open. The
Giant himself, dismayed at the sound, came rushing forth in haste from
an inner bower, to see what was the reason of this sudden uproar, and to
discover who had dared to brave his power. After him came Duessa, riding
on her dragon with the seven heads; every head had a crown on it, and a
fiery tongue of flame.
When Prince Arthur saw Giant Pride, he took his mighty shield and flew
at him fiercely; the Giant lifted up his club to smite him, but the
Prince leaped to one side, and the weapon, missing him, buried itself
with such force in the ground, that the Giant could not quickly pull it
out again. Then with his sharp sword Prince Arthur struck at the Giant,
and wounded him severely.
Duessa, seeing her companion’s danger, urged forward her dragon to help
him, but the brave squire sprang in between it and the Prince, and with
his drawn sword drove it back. Then the angry Duessa took a golden cup,
which she always carried, and which was full of a secret poison. Those
who drank of that cup either died, or else felt despair seize them. She
lightly sprinkled the squire with the contents of this cup, and
immediately his courage faded away, and he was filled with sudden dread.
He fell down before the cruel dragon, who seized him with its claws, and
nearly crushed the life out of him. He had no power nor will to stir.
When Prince Arthur saw what had happened, he left Giant Pride and turned
against the dragon, for he was deeply grieved to see his beloved squire
in such peril. He soon drove back the horrible creature, but now once
again the Giant rushed at him with his club. This time the blow struck
the Prince with such force, that it bore him to the ground. In the fall,
his shield, that had been covered, lost by chance its veil, and flew
open.
Then through the air flashed such a blazing brightness, that no eye
could bear to look upon it. Giant Pride let fall the weapon with which
he was just going to slay the Prince, and the dragon was struck blind,
and tumbled on the ground.
“Oh, help, Orgoglio, help, or we all perish!” cried Duessa.
Gladly would Giant Pride have helped her, but all was in vain; when that
light shone he had no power to hurt others, nor to defend himself; so
Prince Arthur soon killed him.
When he was dead, his great body, that had seemed so big and strong,
suddenly melted away, and nothing was left but what looked like the
shrivelled skin of a broken balloon; for, after all, there was no real
substance in him, but he was simply puffed out with emptiness and
conceit, and his grand appearance was nothing but a sham.
So that was the end of Giant Pride.
When false Duessa saw the fall of Giant Pride she flung down her golden
cup, and threw aside her crown, and fled away. But the squire followed,
and soon took her prisoner. Telling him to keep safe guard on her,
Prince Arthur boldly entered the Giant’s Castle. Not a living creature
could he spy; he called loudly, but no one answered; a solemn silence
reigned everywhere, not a voice was to be heard, not a person seen, in
bower or hall.
At last an old, old man, with beard as white as snow, came creeping
along; he guided his feeble steps with a staff, for long ago his sight
had failed. On his arm he bore a bunch of keys, all covered with rust.
They were the keys of all the doors inside the castle; they were never
used, but he still kept possession of them.
It was curious to see the way in which this old man walked, for always,
as he went forward, he kept his wrinkled face turned back, as if he were
trying to look behind. He was the keeper of the place, and the father of
the dead Giant Pride; his name was _Ignorance_.
Prince Arthur, as was fitting, honoured his grey hair and gravity, and
gently asked him where all the people were who used to live in that
stately building. The old man softly answered him that he could not
tell. Again the Prince asked where was the Knight whom the Giant had
taken captive?
“I cannot tell,” said the old man.
Then the Prince asked which was the way into the castle, and again he
got the same answer, “I cannot tell.”
At first he thought the man was mocking him, and began to be much
displeased. But presently, seeing that the poor old thing could not help
his foolishness, he wisely calmed his anger. Going up to him he took the
keys from his arm, and made an entrance for himself. He opened each door
without the least difficulty; there was no one to challenge him, nor any
bars to hinder his passage.
Inside the castle he found the whole place fitted up in the most
splendid manner, decked with royal tapestry, and shining with gold, fit
for the presence of the greatest prince. But all the floors were dirty,
and strewn with ashes, for it was here that the wicked Giant Pride used
to slay his unhappy victims.
Prince Arthur sought through every room, but nowhere could he find the
Red Cross Knight. At last he came to an iron door, which was fast
locked, but he found no key among the bunch to open it. In the door,
however, there was a little grating, and through this the Prince called
as loudly as he could, to know if there were any living person shut up
there whom he could set free.
Then there came a hollow voice in answer. “Oh, who is that who brings to
me the happy choice of death? Here I lie, dying every hour, yet still
compelled to live, bound in horrible darkness. Three months have come
and gone since I beheld the light of day. Oh, welcome, you who bring
true tidings of death.”
[Illustration:
“=Whome when his Lady saw, to him she ran
With hasty joy: to see him made her glad,
And sad to view his visage pale and wan.=”
]
When Prince Arthur heard these words his heart was so filled with pity
and horror at any noble knight being thus shamefully treated, that, in
his strength and indignation, he rent open the iron door. But entering,
he found no floor; there was a deep descent, as dark as a pit, from
which came up a horrible deadly smell.
Neither darkness, however, nor dirt, nor poisonous smell could turn the
Prince from his purpose, and he went forward courageously. With great
trouble and difficulty he found means to raise the captive, whose own
limbs were too feeble to bear him, and then he carried him out of the
castle.
What a mournful picture was now the Red Cross Knight! His dull, sunken
eyes could not bear the unaccustomed light of the sun; his cheeks were
thin and gaunt; his mighty arms, that had fought so often and so
bravely, were nothing now but bones; all his strength was gone, and all
his flesh shrunk up like a withered flower.
When Una saw Prince Arthur carrying the Red Cross Knight out of the
castle she ran to them joyfully; it made her glad even to see the
Knight, but she was full of sorrow at the sight of his pale, wan face,
which had formerly been radiant with the glory of youth.
“My dearest lord,” she cried, “what evil star has frowned on you and
changed you thus? But welcome now, in weal or woe, my dear lord whom I
have lost too long! Fate, who has been our foe so long, will injure us
no further, but shall pay penance with threefold good for all these
wrongs.”
The unhappy man, dazed with misery, had no desire to speak of his
troubles; his long-endured famine needed more relief.
“Fair lady,” then said the victorious Prince, “things that were grievous
to do or to bear it brings no pleasure to recall. The only good that
comes from past danger is to make us wiser and more careful for the
future. This day’s example has deeply written this lesson on my
heart—perfect happiness can never be lasting while we still live on
earth.
“Henceforth, Sir Knight,” he continued, “take to yourself your old
strength, and master these mishaps by patience. Look where your foe lies
vanquished, and the wicked woman, Duessa, the cause of all your misery,
stands in your power, to let her live or die.”
“To kill her would be to act unworthily,” said Una, “and it would be a
shame to avenge one’s self on such a weak enemy. But take off her
scarlet robe and let her fly!”
So they did as Una bade them. They took from Duessa all her finery—her
royal robe, and purple cloak, and all the rich ornaments with which she
was decked. And when this disguise was taken from her, they saw her as
she really was—old, and ugly, and bad. She would no longer be able to
deceive people by her pretended goodness, and youth, and beauty, for
every one who saw her shrunk away in horror.
“Such,” said Una, “is the face of Falsehood when its borrowed light is
laid aside, and all its deceitfulness is made known.”
Thus, having taken from Duessa her power to work evil, they set her free
to go where she pleased. She fled to a barren wilderness, where she
lurked unseen in rocks and caves, for she always hated the light.
But Prince Arthur, and the Red Cross Knight, and fair Una stayed for
awhile in the castle of Giant Pride, to rest themselves and to recover
their strength. And here they found a goodly store of all that was
dainty and rare.