" she cried, "how is it with my lord Sir
Lancelot?
Tennyson
"I won't carry you any more," and he hung it up on a branch and
threw himself on the ground in a passionate sleep.
While he slept there the beautiful wicked Vivien came riding by through
the woodland alleys with her squire, warbling a song.
"What is this? " she cried as she noticed the shield on the tree, "a
shield with a crown upon it. And there's a horse. Where's the rider? Oh!
there he is sleeping. Hail royal knight, I'm flying away from a bad king
and the knight I was riding with was hurt, and my poor squire isn't of
much use in helping me. But you, Sir Prince, will surely guide me to the
Warrior King Arthur, the Blameless, to get me some shelter. "
"Oh, no, I'll never go to Arthur's court again," cried Balin. "I'm not a
prince any more, or a knight. I have brought the Queen's crown to
shame. "
Then Vivien laughed shrilly, and told Balin a wicked story about the
Queen which she just imagined in her wicked mind. But she told it so
cunningly and smiled so sunnily as she talked that Balin believed her
and he flew into the more passionate rage because he thought he had been
deceived in the Queen whom he had worshipped.
He ground his teeth together, sprang up with a yell, tore the shield
from the branch and cast it on the ground, drove his heel _into the
royal crown_, stamped and trampled upon it until it was all spoiled,
then hurled the shield from him out among the forest weeds and cursed
the story, the queen and Vivien.
His weird yell had thrilled through the woods where Balan was lurking
for his foe. "There! that's the scream of the wood-devil I'm looking
for," he thought. "He has killed some knight and trampled on his shield
to show his loathing of our order and the queen. Devil or man,
whichever you are, take care of your head! "
[Illustration: HE DROVE HIS HEEL INTO THE ROYAL CROWN. ]
With that he made swiftly for his poor brother whom he did not
recognize. Sir Balin spoke not a word but snatched the buckler from
Vivien's squire, vaulted on his horse and in a moment had clashed with
his brother's armor. King Pellam's holy spear reddened with blood as it
pricked through Balan's shield to his flesh. Then Balin's horse, wearied
to death, rolled back over his rider and crushed him inward and both men
fell and swooned away.
"The fools! " cried Vivien to her young squire. "Come, you Sir Chick,
loosen their casques and see who they are. They must be rivals for the
same woman to fight so hard. "
"They are happy," her gentle squire answered, "if they died for love.
And Vivien, though you beat me like your dog I would die for you. "
"Don't die, Sir Boy," cried Vivien, "I'd rather have a live dog than a
dead lion. Come away, I don't like to look at them," and she made her
palfrey leap off over the fallen oak tree.
Balin was the first to wake from his swoon. As soon as he saw his
brother's face he crawled over to his side moaning. Then Balan faintly
opened his eyes and seeing who was with him kissed Balin's forehead.
"O Balin," he cried, "why didn't you carry your own shield which I knew,
and why did you trample all over this one which bears the queen's own
crown which I know? "
So Balin slowly gasped out the whole story of his shield. Then they each
said good-night to the other and closed their eyes, locked in each
other's arms.
LANCELOT AND ELAINE.
Long before Arthur was crowned king while he was roving one night over
the trackless realms of Lyonesse he came upon a glen with a gray boulder
and a lake. As he rode up the highway in the misty moonshine he suddenly
stepped upon a white skeleton of a man with a crown of diamonds upon its
skull. The skull broke off from the body and rolled away into the lake.
Arthur alighted, reached down and picked up the crown and set it on his
head murmuring to himself, "_You too shall be king some day_," for the
skeleton was the bones of a king who had fought with his brother there
and been killed.
[Illustration: YOU TOO SHALL BE KING SOME DAY. ]
When Arthur was crowned he plucked the nine gems out of the crown he had
found on the skeleton and showed them to his knights with the words:
"These jewels belong to the whole kingdom for everybody's use and not to
the king. Hereafter there is to be joust for one of them every year and
in that way in nine years time we will learn who is the mightiest in the
kingdom and we will race with each other to become skilful in the use
of arms until at last we shall be able to drive away the heathen horde
from the land. "
Eight years had now passed and there had been eight jousts. Lancelot had
won the diamond every year and intended when he had been victorious in
all the jousts, to give the nine gems to the queen. When the ninth year
came Arthur proclaimed the tournament for the central and largest
diamond to be held at Camelot, where he was holding his court. But the
queen became ill as the time for the tour jousts drew near and he asked
her whether she was too feeble to go to see Lancelot in the lists.
"Yes, my lord," replied Guinevere, "and you know it," and she looked up
languidly to Lancelot who stood near.
Lancelot thinking that she would rather have him near while she was ill
than to receive all the diamonds of the crown, said:
"Sir King, that old wound of mine is not quite healed so I can hardly
ride in my saddle. "
So the king went, excused Lancelot, and rode away alone to the lists
while Lancelot remained, but as soon as Arthur was gone the _queen told
Lancelot that he ought by all means go too and fight_.
"But how can I go now," replied Lancelot, "after what I have said to the
king. "
"I will tell you what to do," said Guinevere. "Everybody says that men
go down before your spear just because of your great name. They are
afraid as soon as you appear and of course, they are conquered. Go in
today entirely unknown and win for yourself, then after all is over the
king will be pleased with you for being so clever. "
[Illustration: THE QUEEN TOLD LANCELOT THAT HE OUGHT BY ALL MEANS
FIGHT. ]
Lancelot quickly got his horse and leaving the beaten thoroughfare,
chose a green path among the downs to take him to the lists. It was a
new road to him however and he lost his way and did not know where to go
until at last he came upon a faintly traced pathway that led to the
castle of Astolat far away on a hill. He went thither, blew the horn at
the gate where a _dumb, wrinkled old man came to let him in_. In the
castle court he met the lord of Astolat with his two young sons, Sir
Torre and Sir Lavaine and behind them the lily maiden Elaine, Astolat's
daughter. They were jesting and laughing as they came.
[Illustration: A WRINKLED OLD MAN CAME AND LET HIM IN. ]
"Where do you come from, my guest, and what is your name? " asked
Astolat. "By your state and presence I would guess you to be the chief
of Arthur's court, for I have seen him although the other knights of the
Round Table are strangers to me. "
Lancelot, Arthur's chief knight replied, "I am of Arthur's court and I
am known, and my shield which I have happened to bring with me, is known
too. But as I am going to joust for the diamond at Camelot as a
stranger do not ask me my name. After it is over you shall know me and
my shield. If you have some blank shield around, or one with a strange
device, pray lend it to me. "
"Here is Torre's," the Lord of Astolat replied. "He was hurt in his
first tilt and so his shield is blank enough, God knows. You can have
his. "
"Yes," added Sir Torre simply, "since I can't use it you may have it. "
His father laughed. "Fie, Churl, is that an answer for a noble knight?
You must pardon him, but Lavaine, my younger boy, is so full of life he
will ride in the lists, joust for the diamond, win and bring it in one
hour to set upon his sister's golden hair and make her three times as
wilful as before. "
"Oh, no, good father! don't shame me before this noble knight. It was
all a joke. Elaine dreamed that some one had put the diamond into her
hand and it was so slippery it dropped into a pool of water. Then I told
her that if I fought and won it for her she must keep it safer than
that. But it was all in fun. However, if you'll give me your leave, I'll
ride to Camelot with this noble knight. I shall not win but I'll do my
best to win. "
Lancelot smiled a moment. "If you'll give me the pleasure of your
company over the downs where I lost myself I'll be glad to have you as a
friend and guide. You shall win the diamond if you can and then give it
to your sister if you wish. "
"Such diamonds are for queens and not for simple little girls," said Sir
Torre.
Elaine flushed at this and Lancelot said, "If beautiful things are for
beautiful people this maiden may wear as fine jewels as there are in the
world. "
Then the lily maid lifted her eyes and thought that Lancelot was the
greatest man that had ever lived. She loved his bruised and bronzed face
seamed across with an old sword-cut.
They took the pet knight of Arthur's court into the rude hall of Astolat
where they entertained him with their best meats, wines and minstrel
melodies. They told him about the dumb old man at the gate, how ten
years ago he had warned Astolat of the heathen fighters coming, and how
they had all escaped to the woods and lived in a boatman's hut by the
river while the old man had been caught and had his tongue cut off.
"Those were dull days," said the Lord of Astolat, "until Arthur came and
drove the heathen away. "
"O, great Lord! " cried Lavaine to Lancelot, "you fought in those
glorious wars with Arthur. Tell us about them! "
So Lancelot told him all about the fight all day long at the white mouth
of the river Glenn, the four loud battles on the shore of Duglas where
the glorious king wore on his cuirass an emerald carved into Our Lady's
head. "On the mount of Badon," he said, "I saw him charge at the head of
all of his Round Table and break the heathen hosts. Afterward he stood
on a heap of the killed, all red, from his spurs to the plumes of his
helmet, with their blood, and he cried to me: 'They are broken! they are
broken! ' In this heathen war the fire of God filled him, I never saw
anyone like him, there is no greater leader. "
"Except yourself," thought the lily maid Elaine. All through the night
she saw his dark, splendid face living before her eyes and early in the
morning she arose as if to bid goodbye to Lavaine, stole step after step
down the long tower stairs and passed out to the court where Lancelot
was smoothing the glossy shoulders of his horse. She drew nearer and
stood in the dewy light, studying his face as though it was a god. He
had never dreamed she was so beautiful.
[Illustration: "FAIR LORD," SAID ELAINE. ]
"Fair lord," said Elaine, "I don't know your name but I believe it is
the noblest himself of them all. Will you wear a token of me at the
tournament today? "
"No, pretty lady," said he, "for I've never worn a token of any woman in
the lists; as every one who knows me knows. "
"Then by wearing mine you'll be less likely to be found out this time. "
"That's true, my child, well, I'll wear it. Fetch it out to me. What is
it? "
"A red sleeve bordered with pearls," replied Elaine, and she went in and
brought it out to him.
Then he wound it round his helmet and said he had never before done so
much for any girl in the world. The blood sprang to Elaine's face as he
said that, and filled her with delight, although she grew all the paler
as Lavaine came out and handed Sir Torre's shield to Lancelot. Lancelot
gave his own shield to Elaine saying, "Do me this favor, child, keep my
shield for me until I come back. "
"It's a favor to me," she replied smiling, "I'll be your squire. "
"Come, Lily Maid," cried Lavaine, "you'll be a lily maid in earnest if
you don't get to bed and have some sleep," and he kissed her good-bye.
Lancelot kissed her hand as they moved away. She watched them at the
gateway until their sparkling arms dipped below the downs, then climbed
up to her tower with the shield and there she studied it and mused over
it every day.
Meanwhile Lancelot and Lavaine passed far over the long downs until they
reached an old hermit who lived in a white rock. Here they spent the
night. The next morning as they rode away Lancelot said, "Listen to me,
but keep what I say a secret, you're riding with Lancelot of the Lake. "
"The great Lancelot? " stammered Lavaine, catching his breath with
surprise. "There is only one other great man to see, and that is
Britain's king of kings, Arthur. And he's going to be at the tournament,
too. "
As soon as they reached the lists in the meadows by Camelot, Lancelot
pointed out the king who, as he sat in the peopled gallery was very easy
to recognize because of his five dragons. A golden dragon clung to his
crown, another writhed down his robe while two others in gilded carved
wood-work formed the arms of his chair. The canopy above him blazed with
the last big diamond.
"You call me great," cried Lancelot, "I'm not great, there's the man. "
Lavaine gaped at Arthur as if he were something miraculous. Then the
trumpets blew. The two sides, those who held the lists and those who
attacked them, set their lances in rest, then struck their spurs, moved
out suddenly and shocked in the center of the field. The ground shook
and there was a low thunder of arms. Lancelot waited a little until he
saw which was the weaker side, then sprang into the fight with them. In
those days of his glory, whomever he struck he overthrew, whether they
were kings, dukes, earls, counts or barons. But that day in the field
some of his relatives were holding the lists who did not know him and
who could not bear the idea that any stranger knight should out do the
feats of their own Lancelot.
"Who is this? " one of them asked, "Isn't it Lancelot? "
"When has Lancelot ever worn a lady's token? " the others replied.
"Who is it then? " they cried, furious to guard the name of Lancelot.
They pricked their steeds and moving all together bore down upon him
like a wild wave that upsets a ship. One spear lamed Lancelot's charger
and another pierced through Lancelot's side, snapped there and stuck.
Lavaine now did splendidly for he brought a famous old knight down by
Lancelot's side. Lancelot in the meantime rose to his feet in all his
agony and by a sort of miracle as it seemed to those who were on his
side, drove all his opponents back to the barrier. Then the trumpet blew
and proclaimed that the knight who wore the scarlet sleeve with pearls
was victor.
"Go up and get your diamond," his men said to him.
"Don't give me any diamonds," said Lancelot. "My prize is death, I'll
leave and don't follow. "
Then he vanished into the poplar grove where he told Lavaine to draw out
the lance head.
"I'm afraid you'll die, if I do," cried Lavaine.
"I'm dying now with it," said Lancelot, so Lavaine drew it out and
Lancelot gave a wonderful shriek and swooned away.
Then the old hermit came out, carried him into the white rock and
stanched his wound.
Immediately after he had left the field the men of his side went to the
king and said that the knight who had won the day had left without
receiving his prize.
"Such a knight as that must not go uncared for," said the king. "Gawain,
ride out and find him and since he didn't come for his diamond we will
send it to him. Don't leave your quest until you have him. "
Gawain the courteous was a good young knight but he didn't like it that
he had to leave the banquet and the king's side to look for a stranger
knight, so he mounted his horse rather crossly. He rode all round the
country to every place except the right one, poplar grove, and at last
very late reached the Castle of Astolat.
"What news from Camelot? " cried Elaine as soon as she saw him, "What
about the knight with the red sleeve? "
"He won. "
"I knew it," she said.
"But he left the jousts wounded in his side. "
Then Elaine almost swooned away. When the Lord of Astolat came out and
heard about Gawain's quest, "Stay with us, noble prince," said he. "For
the knight was here and left his shield with us, so he will certainly
come back or send for it. Besides my son is with him. "
Gawain thought he would have a pleasant time with Elaine so he stayed.
But Elaine rebelled against his pretty love-making and asked him why he
neglected the king's quest and why he didn't ask to see the knight's
shield.
"I've lost my quest in the light of your blue eyes," said Gawain, "but
let me see the shield. Ah! the king was right! " he cried out when Elaine
showed it to him. "It was our Lancelot. "
"I was right too," Elaine said merrily, "for I dreamed that my knight
was the greatest of them all. "
"And suppose that I dreamed that you love this greatest knight? "
returned Gawain.
"What do I know? " Elaine answered simply. "I don't know whether I know
what love is, but I do know that if I do not love him there isn't
another man whom I can love. "
"Yes, you love him well," said Gawain. "And I suppose you know just
where your greatest knight is hidden, so let me leave my quest with you.
If you love him it will be sweet to you to give him the diamond and if
he loves you it will be sweet to him to receive it from you, while even
if he doesn't love you, a diamond is always a diamond. Farewell a
thousand times. If he loves you I may see you at court after while. "
Then Gawain lightly kissed her hand as he laid the diamond in it, and,
wearied of his quest, leaped on his horse and carrolling a love-ballad
airily rode away to the court where it was soon buzzed abroad that a
maid of Astolat loved Lancelot and that Lancelot loved a maid of
Astolat.
The maid meanwhile crept up to her father one day and received his leave
to take the diamond to Sir Lancelot. Sir Torre went with her to the
gates of Camelot where they saw Lavaine capering about on a horse.
"Lavaine!
" she cried, "how is it with my lord Sir Lancelot? " and she
told him about the diamond. Then Sir Torre went on into the city while
Lavaine guided Elaine to the hermit's cave. As she saw her handsome
knight on the floor, a sort of skeleton of himself, she gave a little
tender dolorous cry.
"Your prize, the diamond, sent you by the king," said she, as she put it
into his hand and explained how she had received it from Gawain. Then he
kissed her as a father would kiss a dear little daughter and she went
back to the dim, rich city of Camelot for the night. But the next
morning she was back in the cave, and day after day she came, caring for
him more mildly, tenderly and kindly than any mother could with a child,
until at last the old hermit said she had nursed him back to life, then
all three rode back together one morning to Astolat where Lancelot asked
Elaine to tell him the dearest wish of her heart so that he could grant
it to her. Elaine turned as pale as a ghost when he first spoke but at
last one day she told him. She said she wanted him to love her, she
wanted to be his wife.
"If I had chosen to wed," Lancelot replied, slowly, "I would have been
married long before this. But now I shall never marry, sweet Elaine. "
"No, no," cried Elaine, "it won't matter if I can't be your wife, if I
can only go with you always and go round the world with you and serve
you. "
But Lancelot said that would be a poor way for him to requite the love
and kindness her father and brothers had shown him. "Noble maid," he
went on, "this is only the first flash of love with you. After awhile
you will smile at yourself about it when you find a knight who is fitter
for you to marry and not three times older than you as I am, and then I
will give you broad lands and territories even to a half of my kingdom
across the seas and I'll always be ready to fight for you in your
troubles. I'll do this, dear girl, but more I cannot. "
"Of all this I care for nothing," Elaine said growing deathly pale and
falling in a swoon.
That evening Lancelot sent for his shield from the tower where Elaine
sat with it, and as his horse's hoofs clattered off upon the stone of
the highway she looked down from her tower, but he did not glance back.
After that Elaine dreamed her time sadly away in the tower and only
wished that she could die. She begged her father to send for the priest
to confess her and asked Lavaine to write a letter for her to Lancelot.
Then she arranged it that when she died the dumb old man at the gate was
to take her in the barge down the river to the king's palace. Eleven
days later this was done. Elaine was dressed like a little sleeping
queen and floated along the stream with her letter in one hand and a
lily in the other.
That day Lancelot was with the queen and as he looked out of the
casement upon the river he saw the barge hung with rich black samite,
the dumb old man and the lily maid of Astolat gliding up to the palace
door.
"What is it? " cried everybody streaming round. "A pale fairy queen come
to take Arthur to fairy land? "
Then the king bade meek Sir Percival and pure Sir Galahad carry her
reverently into the hall where the fine Gawain came and wondered at her
and Lancelot came and mused over her, and the queen came and pitied her.
But King Arthur spied a letter, opened it and read it aloud to all the
lords and ladies. It was Elaine's goodbye to Lancelot.
[Illustration: A PALE FAIRY QUEEN CAME TO TAKE ARTHUR TO FAIRY LAND. ]
Then Sir Lancelot told them everything about Elaine and how he had
promised to give her his lands and riches when she should be ready to
marry some knight of her own age. The king said that he should see that
she was buried very grandly. So they had a procession with all the pomp
of a queen, with gorgeous ceremonies, mass and rolling music while all
the Order of the Round Table followed her to the tomb. Then they laid
the shield of Lancelot at her feet and put a lily in her hand.
THE HOLY GRAIL.
One day a new monk came into the abbey beyond Camelot. There was
something about him different from all the other monks there. He was so
polished and clever that old Ambrosious who had lived in the old
monastery for fifty years and had never seen a bit of the world guessed
in a minute that the new brother had come from King Arthur's court. And
one windy April morning as Ambrosious stood under the yew tree with this
gentle monk he asked him why he left the Knights of the Round Table.
Then Sir Percival answered:
"It was the sweet vision of the Holy Grail. "
[Illustration: "THE HOLY GRAIL," CRIED AMBROSIOUS. ]
"The Holy Grail," cried Ambrosious. "Heaven knows I don't know much, but
what is that, the phantom of a cup that comes and goes? "
"No, no," said Percival, "what phantom do you mean? It's the cup that
our Lord drank from at his sad last supper, and after he died Joseph of
Aramathea brought it to Glastonbury at Christmas time, and there it
stayed a while and every one who looked at it or touched it was healed
of their sicknesses. But the times grew so wicked that the cup was
caught up into heaven where nobody could see it. "
"Yes, I remember reading in our old books," said Ambrosious, "how Joseph
built a lonely little church at Glastonbury on the marsh, but that was
long ago. Who first saw the vision of the Holy Grail to-day? "
"A woman," said Sir Percival, "a nun, my sister who was a holy maid if
ever there was one. The old man to whom she used to tell her sins (or
what she called her sins), often spoke to her about the legend of the
Holy Grail which had been handed down through six people, each of them a
hundred years old, from the Lord's time. And when Arthur made the order
of the Round Table and all hearts became clean and pure for a time this
old man thought surely the Holy Grail would come back again. 'O Christ! '
he used to say to my sister, 'if only it would come back and help all
the world of its wickedness! ' And then my sister asked him whether it
might come to her by prayer and fasting.
"'Perhaps,' said the father, 'for your heart is as pure as snow. '
"So she prayed and fasted until the sun shone and the wind blew through
her and one day she sent for me. Her eyes were so beautiful with the
light of holiness that I did not know them.
"'Sweet Brother,' she said, 'I have seen the Holy Grail. I heard a sound
like a silver horn but sweeter than any music we can make, and then a
cold silver beam of light streamed in through my cell, and down the beam
stole the Holy Grail, rose red and throbbing as if it were alive. All
the walls of my cell grew rosy red with quivering rosy colors. Then the
music faded away, the Holy Grail vanished and the colors died out in
the darkness. So now we know the Holy Thing is here again, Brother fast,
too, and pray, and tell your brother-knights about it, then perhaps the
vision may be seen by you all, and the whole world will be healed. '
[Illustration: MY KNIGHT OF HEAVEN, GO FORTH. ]
"So I told all the knights and we fasted and prayed for many weeks. Then
my sister cut off all her long streaming silken hair which used to fall
to her feet and out of it braided a strong sword belt and with silver
and crimson thread she wove into it a crimson grail in a silver beam.
Then she bound it on our beautiful boy knight, Sir Galahad, and said:
"'My knight of heaven, go forth, for you shall see what I have seen and
far in the spiritual city you will be crowned king. ' Then she sent the
deathless passion of her eyes through him and he believed what she said.
"Then came a year of miracles. In our great hall there stood a chair
which Merlin had fashioned carved with strange figures like a serpent
and in and out among the strange figures ran a scroll of strange letters
in a language nobody knew like a serpent. Merlin called it the Seat
Perilous, because he said if any one sat in it he would get lost. And
Galahad said that if he got lost in it he would save himself. So one
summer night Sir Galahad sat down in the chair and all at once there was
a cracking of the roofs above us, and a blast and thunder, and in the
thunder there was a cry and in the blast there was a beam of light seven
times clearer than the daylight. Down the beam stole the Holy Grail all
covered over with a luminous cloud. Then it passed away but every knight
saw his brother knight's faces in a glory and we all rose and stared at
each other until at last I found my voice and swore a vow.
"I swore that because I had not seen the Holy Grail behind the cloud I
would ride away a year and a day in quest of it until I could see it as
my sister saw it. Galahad swore too, and good Sir Bors, and Lancelot and
many others, knights, and Gawain louder than all the rest.
"The king was not in the hall that day for he had gone out to help some
poor maiden, but as he came back over the plains beyond Camelot he saw
the roofs rolling in smoke and thought that his wonderfully dear,
beautiful hall which Merlin had built for him so wonderfully was afire.
So he rode fast and rushed into the tumult of knights and asked me what
it all meant.
"'Woe is me! ' cried the king when I told him. 'Had I been here you would
not have sworn the vows. '
"'My king,' I answered boldly, had you been here you would have sworn
the vows yourself. '
"'Yes, yes,' said he, 'are you so bold when you didn't see the Grail?
You didn't see farther than the cloud, and what can you expect to see
now if you go out into the wilderness? '
"'No, no, Lord, I didn't see the Grail, I heard the sound, I saw the
light and since I didn't see the holy thing I swore the vow that I would
follow it until I did see. '
"'Then he asked us, knight by knight, whether we had seen it and each
one said, 'No, no, Lord, that was why we swore our vows,' but suddenly
Galahad called out, 'But I saw the Holy Grail, Sir Arthur, and heard the
cry, "O Galahad, follow me. "'
"Ah, Galahad, Galahad,' said the king, 'the vision is for such as you
and for your holy nun but not for these. Are you all Galahads or all
Percivals? No, no, you are just men with the strength to right the
wrongs and violences of the land. But now since one has seen, all the
blind want to see. However, since you have made the vow, go. But oh, how
often the distressed people of the kingdom will come into the hall for
you to help them and all your chairs will be vacant while you are out
chasing a fire in the quagmire! Many of you, yes, most of you will never
come back again! But come to-morrow before you go, let us have one more
day of field sports so that before you go I can rejoice in the unbroken
strength of the Order I have made. '
"So the next day there was the greatest tournament that Camelot had ever
seen, and Galahad and I, with a strength which we had received from the
vision, overthrew so many knights that all the people cheered hotly for
Sir Galahad and Sir Percival. The next morning all the rich balconies
along the streets of Camelot were laden with ladies and showers of
flowers fell over us as we passed out and men and boys astride lions and
dragons, griffins and swans at the street corners, called us all by name
and cried, 'God Speed! ' while many lords and ladies wept. Then we came
down to the gate of The Three Queens and there each one went on his own
way.
"I was feeling glad over my victories in the lists and thought the sky
never looked so blue nor the earth so green. All my blood danced within
me for I knew that I would see the Holy Grail. But after a while I
thought of the dark warning of the king. I looked about and saw that I
was quite alone in a sandy thorny place, and I thought I would die of
thirst. Then I came to a deep lawn with a flowing brook and apple trees
overhanging it. But while I was drinking of the water and eating of the
apples they all turned to dust, and I was alone and thirsty again in
among the sands and thorns. Next I saw a woman spinning beside a
beautiful house. She rose to greet me and stretched out her arms to
welcome me into her house to rest, but as soon as I touched her she fell
to dust, and the house turned into a shed with a dead baby inside, and
then it fell to dust too.
"Then I rode on and found a big hill and on the top was a walled city,
the spires with incredible pinnacles reaching up to the sky, and at the
gateway there was a crowd of people who cried out to me:
"Welcome, Percival, you mightiest and purest of men! "
"But when I reached the top there was no one there. I passed through to
the ruined old city and found only one person a very, very old man.
'Where is the crowd who called out to me? ' I asked him.
"He could scarcely speak, but he gasped out, 'Where are you from and who
are you? ' and then fell to dust.
[Illustration: NEXT I SAW A WOMAN SPINNING. ]
"Then I was so unhappy I cried. I felt as though even if I should see
the Holy Grail itself and touched it it would crumble into dust. From
there I passed down into a deep valley, as low down as the city was
high up, where I found a chapel with a hermit in a hermitage near by. I
told him about all these phantoms.
"'You haven't true humility,' he said, 'which is the mother of all
virtue. You haven't lost yourself to find yourself as Galahad did. '
"Just as he ended suddenly Sir Galahad shone before us in silver armor.
He laid his lance beside the chapel door and we all went in and knelt in
prayer. Then my thirst was quenched. But when the mass was burned I saw
only the holy elements while Galahad saw the Holy Grail come down upon
the shrine.
"'The Holy Grail,' he said, 'has always been at my side ever since we
came away, fainter in the daytime, but blood-red at night. In its
strength I have overcome evil customs wherever I have gone, and have
passed through Pagan lands and clashed with Pagan hordes and broken them
down everywhere. But the time is very near now when I shall go into the
spiritual city far away where some one will crown me king. Come with me
for you will see the Holy Grail in a vision when I go. '
"At the close of the day I started away with him. We came to a hill
which only a man could climb, scarred all over with a hundred frozen
streams, and when we reached the top there was a wild storm. Galahad's
armor flashed and darkened again every instant with quick, thick
lightnings which struck the dead old tree trunks on every side until at
last they blazed into a fire. At the base was a great black swamp partly
whitened with bones of dead men. A chain of bridges lead across it to
the great sea, and Galahad crossed them, one after the other, but each
one burned away as soon as he had passed over so that I had to stay
behind. When he reached the great sea the Holy Grail hung over his head
in a brilliant cloud. Then a boat came swiftly by and when the sky
brightened again with the lightning I could see him floating away,
either in a boat with full sails or a winged creature which was flying,
I couldn't tell which. Above him hung the Holy Grail rosy red without
the cloud. I had seen the holy thing at last. When I saw Sir Galahad
again he looked like a silver star in the sky, and beyond the star was
the spiritual city with all her spires and gateways in a glory like one
pearl, no larger than a pearl. From the star a rosy red sparkle from the
Grail shot across to the city. But while I looked a flood of rain came
down in torrents, and how I ever came away I don't know, but anyway at
the dawn of the next day I had reached the little chapel again. There I
got my horse from the hermit and rode back to the gates of Camelot.
"Just once I met one of the other knights. That was one night when the
full moon was rising and the pelican of Sir Bors' casque made a shadow
on it. I spurred on my horse, hailed him and we were both very glad to
see each other.
"'Where is Sir Lancelot,' he asked. 'Have you seen him? Once he dashed
across me very madly, maddening his horse. When I asked him why he rode
so hotly on a holy quest he shouted, 'Don't keep me, I was a sluggard,
and now I'm going fast for there's a lion in the way. ' Then he vanished.
When I saw how mad he was I felt very sad for I love him, and I cared no
more whether I saw the Holy Grail, or not; but I rode on until I came to
the loneliest parts of the country where some magicians told me I
followed a mocking fire. This vexed me and when the people saw that I
quarrelled with their priests they bound me and put me into a cell of
stones. I lay there for hours until one night a miracle happened. One
of the stones slipped away without any one touching it or any wind
blowing. Through the gap it made I saw the seven clear stars which we
have always called the stars of the Round Table and across the seven
stars the sweet Grail glided past. Close after a clap of thunder pealed.
Then a maiden came to me in secret and loosed me and let me go. '
[Illustration: ACROSS THE SEVEN STARS THE SWEET GRAIL GLIDED PAST. ]
"Sir Bors and I rode along together and when we reached the city our
horses stumbled over heaps of ruined bits of houses that fell as they
trod along the streets. At last brought us to Arthur's hall.
"As we came in we saw Arthur sitting on his throne with just a tenth of
the knights who had gone out on the quest of the Holy Grail standing
before him, wasted and worn, also the knights who had stayed at home.
When he saw me he rose and said he was glad to see me back, that he had
been worrying about me because of the fierce gale that had made havoc
through the town and shaken even the new strong hall and half wrenched
the statue Merlin made for him.
"'But the quest,' the king went on, 'have you seen the cup that Joseph
brought long ago to Glastonbury? '
"Then when I told him all that you have been hearing just now and how I
was going to give up the tournament and tilt and pass into the quiet of
the life of the monk, he answered not a word, but turning quickly to
Gawain asked,
"'Gawain, was this quest for you? '
"'No, Lord,' replied Gawain, 'not for such as I. I talked with a saintly
old man about that and he made me very sure that it wasn't for me. I was
very tired of it. But I found a silk pavilion in the field with a lot of
merry girls in it, then this gale tore it off from the tenting pin and
blew my merry maidens all about with a great deal of discomfort. If it
hadn't been for that storm my twelve months and a day would have passed
very pleasantly for me. '
"Then Arthur turned to Sir Bors, who had pushed across the throng at
once to Lancelot's side, caught him by the hand and held it there half
hidden beside him until the king spied them.
"'Hail, Bors, if ever a true and loyal man could see the Grail you have
seen it,' cried Arthur.
"'Don't ask me about it,' replied Sir Bors with tears in his eyes 'I may
not speak about it; I saw it. '
"The others spoke only about the perils of their storm, and then it was
Lancelot's turn. Perhaps Arthur kept his best for the last.
"'My Lancelot,' said the king, 'our Strongest, has the quest availed for
you? '
"'Our strongest, O King! ' groaned Lancelot and as he paused I thought I
saw a dying fire of madness in his eyes. 'O King, my friend, a sin lived
in me that was so strange that everything pure, noble and knightly in me
twined and clung around it until the good and the poisonous in me grew
together, and when your knights swore to make the quest I swore only in
the hope that could I see or touch the Holy Grail they might be pulled
apart. Then I spoke to a holy saint who said that if they could not be
plucked apart my quest would be all in vain. So I vowed to him that I
would do just as he told me, and while I was out trying to tear them
away from each other my old madness came back to me and whipped me off
into waste fields far away.
"There I was beaten down by little knights whom at one time I would have
frightened away just by the shadow of my spear. From there I rode over
to the sea-shore where such a blast of wind began to blow that you could
not hear the waves even although they were heaped up in mountains and
drove the sea like a cataract, while the sand on the beach swept by like
a river. A boat, half-swallowed by the seafoam, was moored to the shore
by a chain. I said to myself that I would embark in the boat and lose
myself and wash away my sin in the great sea.
"For seven days I rode around over the dreary water and on the seventh
night I felt the boat striking ground. In front of me rose the enchanted
towers of Carbonek, a castle like a rock upon a rock, with portals open
to the sea and steps that met the waves. A lion sat on each side of
them. I went up the steps and drew my sword. Suddenly flaring their
manes the lions stood up like men and gripped me on my shoulders. When I
was about to strike them a voice said to me, 'Don't be afraid, or the
beasts will tear you to pieces; go on. ' Then my sword was dashed
violently from my hand and fell. Up into the sounding hall I passed but
saw not a bench, table, picture, shield or anything else except the moon
over the sea through the oriel window, but I heard a sweet voice as
clear as a lark singing in the topmost tower to the east. I climbed up a
thousand steps with great pain. It seemed as though I was climbing
forever but at last I reached a door with light shining through the
crannies and I heard voices singing 'Glory and joy and honor to our Lord
and the Holy Vessel, the Grail. '
"'Then I madly tried the door, it gave way and through a stormy glare of
heat that burned me and made me swoon away I thought I saw the Grail,
all veiled with crimson samite and around it great angels, awful shapes
and wings and eyes! '
"The long hall was silent after Lancelot was done, until airy Gawain
began with a sudden.
"'O King, my liege, my good friend Percival and your holy nun have
driven men mad. By my eyes and ears I swear I'll be deeper than a
blue-eyed cat and three times as blind as any owl at noon-time
hereafter to any holy virgins in their ecstasies. '
"'Gawain,' replied the king, 'don't try to become blinder; you're too
blind now to want to see. If a sign really came from heaven Bors,
Lancelot and Percival are blessed for they have each seen according to
their sight. '"
PELLEAS AND ETTARRE.
threw himself on the ground in a passionate sleep.
While he slept there the beautiful wicked Vivien came riding by through
the woodland alleys with her squire, warbling a song.
"What is this? " she cried as she noticed the shield on the tree, "a
shield with a crown upon it. And there's a horse. Where's the rider? Oh!
there he is sleeping. Hail royal knight, I'm flying away from a bad king
and the knight I was riding with was hurt, and my poor squire isn't of
much use in helping me. But you, Sir Prince, will surely guide me to the
Warrior King Arthur, the Blameless, to get me some shelter. "
"Oh, no, I'll never go to Arthur's court again," cried Balin. "I'm not a
prince any more, or a knight. I have brought the Queen's crown to
shame. "
Then Vivien laughed shrilly, and told Balin a wicked story about the
Queen which she just imagined in her wicked mind. But she told it so
cunningly and smiled so sunnily as she talked that Balin believed her
and he flew into the more passionate rage because he thought he had been
deceived in the Queen whom he had worshipped.
He ground his teeth together, sprang up with a yell, tore the shield
from the branch and cast it on the ground, drove his heel _into the
royal crown_, stamped and trampled upon it until it was all spoiled,
then hurled the shield from him out among the forest weeds and cursed
the story, the queen and Vivien.
His weird yell had thrilled through the woods where Balan was lurking
for his foe. "There! that's the scream of the wood-devil I'm looking
for," he thought. "He has killed some knight and trampled on his shield
to show his loathing of our order and the queen. Devil or man,
whichever you are, take care of your head! "
[Illustration: HE DROVE HIS HEEL INTO THE ROYAL CROWN. ]
With that he made swiftly for his poor brother whom he did not
recognize. Sir Balin spoke not a word but snatched the buckler from
Vivien's squire, vaulted on his horse and in a moment had clashed with
his brother's armor. King Pellam's holy spear reddened with blood as it
pricked through Balan's shield to his flesh. Then Balin's horse, wearied
to death, rolled back over his rider and crushed him inward and both men
fell and swooned away.
"The fools! " cried Vivien to her young squire. "Come, you Sir Chick,
loosen their casques and see who they are. They must be rivals for the
same woman to fight so hard. "
"They are happy," her gentle squire answered, "if they died for love.
And Vivien, though you beat me like your dog I would die for you. "
"Don't die, Sir Boy," cried Vivien, "I'd rather have a live dog than a
dead lion. Come away, I don't like to look at them," and she made her
palfrey leap off over the fallen oak tree.
Balin was the first to wake from his swoon. As soon as he saw his
brother's face he crawled over to his side moaning. Then Balan faintly
opened his eyes and seeing who was with him kissed Balin's forehead.
"O Balin," he cried, "why didn't you carry your own shield which I knew,
and why did you trample all over this one which bears the queen's own
crown which I know? "
So Balin slowly gasped out the whole story of his shield. Then they each
said good-night to the other and closed their eyes, locked in each
other's arms.
LANCELOT AND ELAINE.
Long before Arthur was crowned king while he was roving one night over
the trackless realms of Lyonesse he came upon a glen with a gray boulder
and a lake. As he rode up the highway in the misty moonshine he suddenly
stepped upon a white skeleton of a man with a crown of diamonds upon its
skull. The skull broke off from the body and rolled away into the lake.
Arthur alighted, reached down and picked up the crown and set it on his
head murmuring to himself, "_You too shall be king some day_," for the
skeleton was the bones of a king who had fought with his brother there
and been killed.
[Illustration: YOU TOO SHALL BE KING SOME DAY. ]
When Arthur was crowned he plucked the nine gems out of the crown he had
found on the skeleton and showed them to his knights with the words:
"These jewels belong to the whole kingdom for everybody's use and not to
the king. Hereafter there is to be joust for one of them every year and
in that way in nine years time we will learn who is the mightiest in the
kingdom and we will race with each other to become skilful in the use
of arms until at last we shall be able to drive away the heathen horde
from the land. "
Eight years had now passed and there had been eight jousts. Lancelot had
won the diamond every year and intended when he had been victorious in
all the jousts, to give the nine gems to the queen. When the ninth year
came Arthur proclaimed the tournament for the central and largest
diamond to be held at Camelot, where he was holding his court. But the
queen became ill as the time for the tour jousts drew near and he asked
her whether she was too feeble to go to see Lancelot in the lists.
"Yes, my lord," replied Guinevere, "and you know it," and she looked up
languidly to Lancelot who stood near.
Lancelot thinking that she would rather have him near while she was ill
than to receive all the diamonds of the crown, said:
"Sir King, that old wound of mine is not quite healed so I can hardly
ride in my saddle. "
So the king went, excused Lancelot, and rode away alone to the lists
while Lancelot remained, but as soon as Arthur was gone the _queen told
Lancelot that he ought by all means go too and fight_.
"But how can I go now," replied Lancelot, "after what I have said to the
king. "
"I will tell you what to do," said Guinevere. "Everybody says that men
go down before your spear just because of your great name. They are
afraid as soon as you appear and of course, they are conquered. Go in
today entirely unknown and win for yourself, then after all is over the
king will be pleased with you for being so clever. "
[Illustration: THE QUEEN TOLD LANCELOT THAT HE OUGHT BY ALL MEANS
FIGHT. ]
Lancelot quickly got his horse and leaving the beaten thoroughfare,
chose a green path among the downs to take him to the lists. It was a
new road to him however and he lost his way and did not know where to go
until at last he came upon a faintly traced pathway that led to the
castle of Astolat far away on a hill. He went thither, blew the horn at
the gate where a _dumb, wrinkled old man came to let him in_. In the
castle court he met the lord of Astolat with his two young sons, Sir
Torre and Sir Lavaine and behind them the lily maiden Elaine, Astolat's
daughter. They were jesting and laughing as they came.
[Illustration: A WRINKLED OLD MAN CAME AND LET HIM IN. ]
"Where do you come from, my guest, and what is your name? " asked
Astolat. "By your state and presence I would guess you to be the chief
of Arthur's court, for I have seen him although the other knights of the
Round Table are strangers to me. "
Lancelot, Arthur's chief knight replied, "I am of Arthur's court and I
am known, and my shield which I have happened to bring with me, is known
too. But as I am going to joust for the diamond at Camelot as a
stranger do not ask me my name. After it is over you shall know me and
my shield. If you have some blank shield around, or one with a strange
device, pray lend it to me. "
"Here is Torre's," the Lord of Astolat replied. "He was hurt in his
first tilt and so his shield is blank enough, God knows. You can have
his. "
"Yes," added Sir Torre simply, "since I can't use it you may have it. "
His father laughed. "Fie, Churl, is that an answer for a noble knight?
You must pardon him, but Lavaine, my younger boy, is so full of life he
will ride in the lists, joust for the diamond, win and bring it in one
hour to set upon his sister's golden hair and make her three times as
wilful as before. "
"Oh, no, good father! don't shame me before this noble knight. It was
all a joke. Elaine dreamed that some one had put the diamond into her
hand and it was so slippery it dropped into a pool of water. Then I told
her that if I fought and won it for her she must keep it safer than
that. But it was all in fun. However, if you'll give me your leave, I'll
ride to Camelot with this noble knight. I shall not win but I'll do my
best to win. "
Lancelot smiled a moment. "If you'll give me the pleasure of your
company over the downs where I lost myself I'll be glad to have you as a
friend and guide. You shall win the diamond if you can and then give it
to your sister if you wish. "
"Such diamonds are for queens and not for simple little girls," said Sir
Torre.
Elaine flushed at this and Lancelot said, "If beautiful things are for
beautiful people this maiden may wear as fine jewels as there are in the
world. "
Then the lily maid lifted her eyes and thought that Lancelot was the
greatest man that had ever lived. She loved his bruised and bronzed face
seamed across with an old sword-cut.
They took the pet knight of Arthur's court into the rude hall of Astolat
where they entertained him with their best meats, wines and minstrel
melodies. They told him about the dumb old man at the gate, how ten
years ago he had warned Astolat of the heathen fighters coming, and how
they had all escaped to the woods and lived in a boatman's hut by the
river while the old man had been caught and had his tongue cut off.
"Those were dull days," said the Lord of Astolat, "until Arthur came and
drove the heathen away. "
"O, great Lord! " cried Lavaine to Lancelot, "you fought in those
glorious wars with Arthur. Tell us about them! "
So Lancelot told him all about the fight all day long at the white mouth
of the river Glenn, the four loud battles on the shore of Duglas where
the glorious king wore on his cuirass an emerald carved into Our Lady's
head. "On the mount of Badon," he said, "I saw him charge at the head of
all of his Round Table and break the heathen hosts. Afterward he stood
on a heap of the killed, all red, from his spurs to the plumes of his
helmet, with their blood, and he cried to me: 'They are broken! they are
broken! ' In this heathen war the fire of God filled him, I never saw
anyone like him, there is no greater leader. "
"Except yourself," thought the lily maid Elaine. All through the night
she saw his dark, splendid face living before her eyes and early in the
morning she arose as if to bid goodbye to Lavaine, stole step after step
down the long tower stairs and passed out to the court where Lancelot
was smoothing the glossy shoulders of his horse. She drew nearer and
stood in the dewy light, studying his face as though it was a god. He
had never dreamed she was so beautiful.
[Illustration: "FAIR LORD," SAID ELAINE. ]
"Fair lord," said Elaine, "I don't know your name but I believe it is
the noblest himself of them all. Will you wear a token of me at the
tournament today? "
"No, pretty lady," said he, "for I've never worn a token of any woman in
the lists; as every one who knows me knows. "
"Then by wearing mine you'll be less likely to be found out this time. "
"That's true, my child, well, I'll wear it. Fetch it out to me. What is
it? "
"A red sleeve bordered with pearls," replied Elaine, and she went in and
brought it out to him.
Then he wound it round his helmet and said he had never before done so
much for any girl in the world. The blood sprang to Elaine's face as he
said that, and filled her with delight, although she grew all the paler
as Lavaine came out and handed Sir Torre's shield to Lancelot. Lancelot
gave his own shield to Elaine saying, "Do me this favor, child, keep my
shield for me until I come back. "
"It's a favor to me," she replied smiling, "I'll be your squire. "
"Come, Lily Maid," cried Lavaine, "you'll be a lily maid in earnest if
you don't get to bed and have some sleep," and he kissed her good-bye.
Lancelot kissed her hand as they moved away. She watched them at the
gateway until their sparkling arms dipped below the downs, then climbed
up to her tower with the shield and there she studied it and mused over
it every day.
Meanwhile Lancelot and Lavaine passed far over the long downs until they
reached an old hermit who lived in a white rock. Here they spent the
night. The next morning as they rode away Lancelot said, "Listen to me,
but keep what I say a secret, you're riding with Lancelot of the Lake. "
"The great Lancelot? " stammered Lavaine, catching his breath with
surprise. "There is only one other great man to see, and that is
Britain's king of kings, Arthur. And he's going to be at the tournament,
too. "
As soon as they reached the lists in the meadows by Camelot, Lancelot
pointed out the king who, as he sat in the peopled gallery was very easy
to recognize because of his five dragons. A golden dragon clung to his
crown, another writhed down his robe while two others in gilded carved
wood-work formed the arms of his chair. The canopy above him blazed with
the last big diamond.
"You call me great," cried Lancelot, "I'm not great, there's the man. "
Lavaine gaped at Arthur as if he were something miraculous. Then the
trumpets blew. The two sides, those who held the lists and those who
attacked them, set their lances in rest, then struck their spurs, moved
out suddenly and shocked in the center of the field. The ground shook
and there was a low thunder of arms. Lancelot waited a little until he
saw which was the weaker side, then sprang into the fight with them. In
those days of his glory, whomever he struck he overthrew, whether they
were kings, dukes, earls, counts or barons. But that day in the field
some of his relatives were holding the lists who did not know him and
who could not bear the idea that any stranger knight should out do the
feats of their own Lancelot.
"Who is this? " one of them asked, "Isn't it Lancelot? "
"When has Lancelot ever worn a lady's token? " the others replied.
"Who is it then? " they cried, furious to guard the name of Lancelot.
They pricked their steeds and moving all together bore down upon him
like a wild wave that upsets a ship. One spear lamed Lancelot's charger
and another pierced through Lancelot's side, snapped there and stuck.
Lavaine now did splendidly for he brought a famous old knight down by
Lancelot's side. Lancelot in the meantime rose to his feet in all his
agony and by a sort of miracle as it seemed to those who were on his
side, drove all his opponents back to the barrier. Then the trumpet blew
and proclaimed that the knight who wore the scarlet sleeve with pearls
was victor.
"Go up and get your diamond," his men said to him.
"Don't give me any diamonds," said Lancelot. "My prize is death, I'll
leave and don't follow. "
Then he vanished into the poplar grove where he told Lavaine to draw out
the lance head.
"I'm afraid you'll die, if I do," cried Lavaine.
"I'm dying now with it," said Lancelot, so Lavaine drew it out and
Lancelot gave a wonderful shriek and swooned away.
Then the old hermit came out, carried him into the white rock and
stanched his wound.
Immediately after he had left the field the men of his side went to the
king and said that the knight who had won the day had left without
receiving his prize.
"Such a knight as that must not go uncared for," said the king. "Gawain,
ride out and find him and since he didn't come for his diamond we will
send it to him. Don't leave your quest until you have him. "
Gawain the courteous was a good young knight but he didn't like it that
he had to leave the banquet and the king's side to look for a stranger
knight, so he mounted his horse rather crossly. He rode all round the
country to every place except the right one, poplar grove, and at last
very late reached the Castle of Astolat.
"What news from Camelot? " cried Elaine as soon as she saw him, "What
about the knight with the red sleeve? "
"He won. "
"I knew it," she said.
"But he left the jousts wounded in his side. "
Then Elaine almost swooned away. When the Lord of Astolat came out and
heard about Gawain's quest, "Stay with us, noble prince," said he. "For
the knight was here and left his shield with us, so he will certainly
come back or send for it. Besides my son is with him. "
Gawain thought he would have a pleasant time with Elaine so he stayed.
But Elaine rebelled against his pretty love-making and asked him why he
neglected the king's quest and why he didn't ask to see the knight's
shield.
"I've lost my quest in the light of your blue eyes," said Gawain, "but
let me see the shield. Ah! the king was right! " he cried out when Elaine
showed it to him. "It was our Lancelot. "
"I was right too," Elaine said merrily, "for I dreamed that my knight
was the greatest of them all. "
"And suppose that I dreamed that you love this greatest knight? "
returned Gawain.
"What do I know? " Elaine answered simply. "I don't know whether I know
what love is, but I do know that if I do not love him there isn't
another man whom I can love. "
"Yes, you love him well," said Gawain. "And I suppose you know just
where your greatest knight is hidden, so let me leave my quest with you.
If you love him it will be sweet to you to give him the diamond and if
he loves you it will be sweet to him to receive it from you, while even
if he doesn't love you, a diamond is always a diamond. Farewell a
thousand times. If he loves you I may see you at court after while. "
Then Gawain lightly kissed her hand as he laid the diamond in it, and,
wearied of his quest, leaped on his horse and carrolling a love-ballad
airily rode away to the court where it was soon buzzed abroad that a
maid of Astolat loved Lancelot and that Lancelot loved a maid of
Astolat.
The maid meanwhile crept up to her father one day and received his leave
to take the diamond to Sir Lancelot. Sir Torre went with her to the
gates of Camelot where they saw Lavaine capering about on a horse.
"Lavaine!
" she cried, "how is it with my lord Sir Lancelot? " and she
told him about the diamond. Then Sir Torre went on into the city while
Lavaine guided Elaine to the hermit's cave. As she saw her handsome
knight on the floor, a sort of skeleton of himself, she gave a little
tender dolorous cry.
"Your prize, the diamond, sent you by the king," said she, as she put it
into his hand and explained how she had received it from Gawain. Then he
kissed her as a father would kiss a dear little daughter and she went
back to the dim, rich city of Camelot for the night. But the next
morning she was back in the cave, and day after day she came, caring for
him more mildly, tenderly and kindly than any mother could with a child,
until at last the old hermit said she had nursed him back to life, then
all three rode back together one morning to Astolat where Lancelot asked
Elaine to tell him the dearest wish of her heart so that he could grant
it to her. Elaine turned as pale as a ghost when he first spoke but at
last one day she told him. She said she wanted him to love her, she
wanted to be his wife.
"If I had chosen to wed," Lancelot replied, slowly, "I would have been
married long before this. But now I shall never marry, sweet Elaine. "
"No, no," cried Elaine, "it won't matter if I can't be your wife, if I
can only go with you always and go round the world with you and serve
you. "
But Lancelot said that would be a poor way for him to requite the love
and kindness her father and brothers had shown him. "Noble maid," he
went on, "this is only the first flash of love with you. After awhile
you will smile at yourself about it when you find a knight who is fitter
for you to marry and not three times older than you as I am, and then I
will give you broad lands and territories even to a half of my kingdom
across the seas and I'll always be ready to fight for you in your
troubles. I'll do this, dear girl, but more I cannot. "
"Of all this I care for nothing," Elaine said growing deathly pale and
falling in a swoon.
That evening Lancelot sent for his shield from the tower where Elaine
sat with it, and as his horse's hoofs clattered off upon the stone of
the highway she looked down from her tower, but he did not glance back.
After that Elaine dreamed her time sadly away in the tower and only
wished that she could die. She begged her father to send for the priest
to confess her and asked Lavaine to write a letter for her to Lancelot.
Then she arranged it that when she died the dumb old man at the gate was
to take her in the barge down the river to the king's palace. Eleven
days later this was done. Elaine was dressed like a little sleeping
queen and floated along the stream with her letter in one hand and a
lily in the other.
That day Lancelot was with the queen and as he looked out of the
casement upon the river he saw the barge hung with rich black samite,
the dumb old man and the lily maid of Astolat gliding up to the palace
door.
"What is it? " cried everybody streaming round. "A pale fairy queen come
to take Arthur to fairy land? "
Then the king bade meek Sir Percival and pure Sir Galahad carry her
reverently into the hall where the fine Gawain came and wondered at her
and Lancelot came and mused over her, and the queen came and pitied her.
But King Arthur spied a letter, opened it and read it aloud to all the
lords and ladies. It was Elaine's goodbye to Lancelot.
[Illustration: A PALE FAIRY QUEEN CAME TO TAKE ARTHUR TO FAIRY LAND. ]
Then Sir Lancelot told them everything about Elaine and how he had
promised to give her his lands and riches when she should be ready to
marry some knight of her own age. The king said that he should see that
she was buried very grandly. So they had a procession with all the pomp
of a queen, with gorgeous ceremonies, mass and rolling music while all
the Order of the Round Table followed her to the tomb. Then they laid
the shield of Lancelot at her feet and put a lily in her hand.
THE HOLY GRAIL.
One day a new monk came into the abbey beyond Camelot. There was
something about him different from all the other monks there. He was so
polished and clever that old Ambrosious who had lived in the old
monastery for fifty years and had never seen a bit of the world guessed
in a minute that the new brother had come from King Arthur's court. And
one windy April morning as Ambrosious stood under the yew tree with this
gentle monk he asked him why he left the Knights of the Round Table.
Then Sir Percival answered:
"It was the sweet vision of the Holy Grail. "
[Illustration: "THE HOLY GRAIL," CRIED AMBROSIOUS. ]
"The Holy Grail," cried Ambrosious. "Heaven knows I don't know much, but
what is that, the phantom of a cup that comes and goes? "
"No, no," said Percival, "what phantom do you mean? It's the cup that
our Lord drank from at his sad last supper, and after he died Joseph of
Aramathea brought it to Glastonbury at Christmas time, and there it
stayed a while and every one who looked at it or touched it was healed
of their sicknesses. But the times grew so wicked that the cup was
caught up into heaven where nobody could see it. "
"Yes, I remember reading in our old books," said Ambrosious, "how Joseph
built a lonely little church at Glastonbury on the marsh, but that was
long ago. Who first saw the vision of the Holy Grail to-day? "
"A woman," said Sir Percival, "a nun, my sister who was a holy maid if
ever there was one. The old man to whom she used to tell her sins (or
what she called her sins), often spoke to her about the legend of the
Holy Grail which had been handed down through six people, each of them a
hundred years old, from the Lord's time. And when Arthur made the order
of the Round Table and all hearts became clean and pure for a time this
old man thought surely the Holy Grail would come back again. 'O Christ! '
he used to say to my sister, 'if only it would come back and help all
the world of its wickedness! ' And then my sister asked him whether it
might come to her by prayer and fasting.
"'Perhaps,' said the father, 'for your heart is as pure as snow. '
"So she prayed and fasted until the sun shone and the wind blew through
her and one day she sent for me. Her eyes were so beautiful with the
light of holiness that I did not know them.
"'Sweet Brother,' she said, 'I have seen the Holy Grail. I heard a sound
like a silver horn but sweeter than any music we can make, and then a
cold silver beam of light streamed in through my cell, and down the beam
stole the Holy Grail, rose red and throbbing as if it were alive. All
the walls of my cell grew rosy red with quivering rosy colors. Then the
music faded away, the Holy Grail vanished and the colors died out in
the darkness. So now we know the Holy Thing is here again, Brother fast,
too, and pray, and tell your brother-knights about it, then perhaps the
vision may be seen by you all, and the whole world will be healed. '
[Illustration: MY KNIGHT OF HEAVEN, GO FORTH. ]
"So I told all the knights and we fasted and prayed for many weeks. Then
my sister cut off all her long streaming silken hair which used to fall
to her feet and out of it braided a strong sword belt and with silver
and crimson thread she wove into it a crimson grail in a silver beam.
Then she bound it on our beautiful boy knight, Sir Galahad, and said:
"'My knight of heaven, go forth, for you shall see what I have seen and
far in the spiritual city you will be crowned king. ' Then she sent the
deathless passion of her eyes through him and he believed what she said.
"Then came a year of miracles. In our great hall there stood a chair
which Merlin had fashioned carved with strange figures like a serpent
and in and out among the strange figures ran a scroll of strange letters
in a language nobody knew like a serpent. Merlin called it the Seat
Perilous, because he said if any one sat in it he would get lost. And
Galahad said that if he got lost in it he would save himself. So one
summer night Sir Galahad sat down in the chair and all at once there was
a cracking of the roofs above us, and a blast and thunder, and in the
thunder there was a cry and in the blast there was a beam of light seven
times clearer than the daylight. Down the beam stole the Holy Grail all
covered over with a luminous cloud. Then it passed away but every knight
saw his brother knight's faces in a glory and we all rose and stared at
each other until at last I found my voice and swore a vow.
"I swore that because I had not seen the Holy Grail behind the cloud I
would ride away a year and a day in quest of it until I could see it as
my sister saw it. Galahad swore too, and good Sir Bors, and Lancelot and
many others, knights, and Gawain louder than all the rest.
"The king was not in the hall that day for he had gone out to help some
poor maiden, but as he came back over the plains beyond Camelot he saw
the roofs rolling in smoke and thought that his wonderfully dear,
beautiful hall which Merlin had built for him so wonderfully was afire.
So he rode fast and rushed into the tumult of knights and asked me what
it all meant.
"'Woe is me! ' cried the king when I told him. 'Had I been here you would
not have sworn the vows. '
"'My king,' I answered boldly, had you been here you would have sworn
the vows yourself. '
"'Yes, yes,' said he, 'are you so bold when you didn't see the Grail?
You didn't see farther than the cloud, and what can you expect to see
now if you go out into the wilderness? '
"'No, no, Lord, I didn't see the Grail, I heard the sound, I saw the
light and since I didn't see the holy thing I swore the vow that I would
follow it until I did see. '
"'Then he asked us, knight by knight, whether we had seen it and each
one said, 'No, no, Lord, that was why we swore our vows,' but suddenly
Galahad called out, 'But I saw the Holy Grail, Sir Arthur, and heard the
cry, "O Galahad, follow me. "'
"Ah, Galahad, Galahad,' said the king, 'the vision is for such as you
and for your holy nun but not for these. Are you all Galahads or all
Percivals? No, no, you are just men with the strength to right the
wrongs and violences of the land. But now since one has seen, all the
blind want to see. However, since you have made the vow, go. But oh, how
often the distressed people of the kingdom will come into the hall for
you to help them and all your chairs will be vacant while you are out
chasing a fire in the quagmire! Many of you, yes, most of you will never
come back again! But come to-morrow before you go, let us have one more
day of field sports so that before you go I can rejoice in the unbroken
strength of the Order I have made. '
"So the next day there was the greatest tournament that Camelot had ever
seen, and Galahad and I, with a strength which we had received from the
vision, overthrew so many knights that all the people cheered hotly for
Sir Galahad and Sir Percival. The next morning all the rich balconies
along the streets of Camelot were laden with ladies and showers of
flowers fell over us as we passed out and men and boys astride lions and
dragons, griffins and swans at the street corners, called us all by name
and cried, 'God Speed! ' while many lords and ladies wept. Then we came
down to the gate of The Three Queens and there each one went on his own
way.
"I was feeling glad over my victories in the lists and thought the sky
never looked so blue nor the earth so green. All my blood danced within
me for I knew that I would see the Holy Grail. But after a while I
thought of the dark warning of the king. I looked about and saw that I
was quite alone in a sandy thorny place, and I thought I would die of
thirst. Then I came to a deep lawn with a flowing brook and apple trees
overhanging it. But while I was drinking of the water and eating of the
apples they all turned to dust, and I was alone and thirsty again in
among the sands and thorns. Next I saw a woman spinning beside a
beautiful house. She rose to greet me and stretched out her arms to
welcome me into her house to rest, but as soon as I touched her she fell
to dust, and the house turned into a shed with a dead baby inside, and
then it fell to dust too.
"Then I rode on and found a big hill and on the top was a walled city,
the spires with incredible pinnacles reaching up to the sky, and at the
gateway there was a crowd of people who cried out to me:
"Welcome, Percival, you mightiest and purest of men! "
"But when I reached the top there was no one there. I passed through to
the ruined old city and found only one person a very, very old man.
'Where is the crowd who called out to me? ' I asked him.
"He could scarcely speak, but he gasped out, 'Where are you from and who
are you? ' and then fell to dust.
[Illustration: NEXT I SAW A WOMAN SPINNING. ]
"Then I was so unhappy I cried. I felt as though even if I should see
the Holy Grail itself and touched it it would crumble into dust. From
there I passed down into a deep valley, as low down as the city was
high up, where I found a chapel with a hermit in a hermitage near by. I
told him about all these phantoms.
"'You haven't true humility,' he said, 'which is the mother of all
virtue. You haven't lost yourself to find yourself as Galahad did. '
"Just as he ended suddenly Sir Galahad shone before us in silver armor.
He laid his lance beside the chapel door and we all went in and knelt in
prayer. Then my thirst was quenched. But when the mass was burned I saw
only the holy elements while Galahad saw the Holy Grail come down upon
the shrine.
"'The Holy Grail,' he said, 'has always been at my side ever since we
came away, fainter in the daytime, but blood-red at night. In its
strength I have overcome evil customs wherever I have gone, and have
passed through Pagan lands and clashed with Pagan hordes and broken them
down everywhere. But the time is very near now when I shall go into the
spiritual city far away where some one will crown me king. Come with me
for you will see the Holy Grail in a vision when I go. '
"At the close of the day I started away with him. We came to a hill
which only a man could climb, scarred all over with a hundred frozen
streams, and when we reached the top there was a wild storm. Galahad's
armor flashed and darkened again every instant with quick, thick
lightnings which struck the dead old tree trunks on every side until at
last they blazed into a fire. At the base was a great black swamp partly
whitened with bones of dead men. A chain of bridges lead across it to
the great sea, and Galahad crossed them, one after the other, but each
one burned away as soon as he had passed over so that I had to stay
behind. When he reached the great sea the Holy Grail hung over his head
in a brilliant cloud. Then a boat came swiftly by and when the sky
brightened again with the lightning I could see him floating away,
either in a boat with full sails or a winged creature which was flying,
I couldn't tell which. Above him hung the Holy Grail rosy red without
the cloud. I had seen the holy thing at last. When I saw Sir Galahad
again he looked like a silver star in the sky, and beyond the star was
the spiritual city with all her spires and gateways in a glory like one
pearl, no larger than a pearl. From the star a rosy red sparkle from the
Grail shot across to the city. But while I looked a flood of rain came
down in torrents, and how I ever came away I don't know, but anyway at
the dawn of the next day I had reached the little chapel again. There I
got my horse from the hermit and rode back to the gates of Camelot.
"Just once I met one of the other knights. That was one night when the
full moon was rising and the pelican of Sir Bors' casque made a shadow
on it. I spurred on my horse, hailed him and we were both very glad to
see each other.
"'Where is Sir Lancelot,' he asked. 'Have you seen him? Once he dashed
across me very madly, maddening his horse. When I asked him why he rode
so hotly on a holy quest he shouted, 'Don't keep me, I was a sluggard,
and now I'm going fast for there's a lion in the way. ' Then he vanished.
When I saw how mad he was I felt very sad for I love him, and I cared no
more whether I saw the Holy Grail, or not; but I rode on until I came to
the loneliest parts of the country where some magicians told me I
followed a mocking fire. This vexed me and when the people saw that I
quarrelled with their priests they bound me and put me into a cell of
stones. I lay there for hours until one night a miracle happened. One
of the stones slipped away without any one touching it or any wind
blowing. Through the gap it made I saw the seven clear stars which we
have always called the stars of the Round Table and across the seven
stars the sweet Grail glided past. Close after a clap of thunder pealed.
Then a maiden came to me in secret and loosed me and let me go. '
[Illustration: ACROSS THE SEVEN STARS THE SWEET GRAIL GLIDED PAST. ]
"Sir Bors and I rode along together and when we reached the city our
horses stumbled over heaps of ruined bits of houses that fell as they
trod along the streets. At last brought us to Arthur's hall.
"As we came in we saw Arthur sitting on his throne with just a tenth of
the knights who had gone out on the quest of the Holy Grail standing
before him, wasted and worn, also the knights who had stayed at home.
When he saw me he rose and said he was glad to see me back, that he had
been worrying about me because of the fierce gale that had made havoc
through the town and shaken even the new strong hall and half wrenched
the statue Merlin made for him.
"'But the quest,' the king went on, 'have you seen the cup that Joseph
brought long ago to Glastonbury? '
"Then when I told him all that you have been hearing just now and how I
was going to give up the tournament and tilt and pass into the quiet of
the life of the monk, he answered not a word, but turning quickly to
Gawain asked,
"'Gawain, was this quest for you? '
"'No, Lord,' replied Gawain, 'not for such as I. I talked with a saintly
old man about that and he made me very sure that it wasn't for me. I was
very tired of it. But I found a silk pavilion in the field with a lot of
merry girls in it, then this gale tore it off from the tenting pin and
blew my merry maidens all about with a great deal of discomfort. If it
hadn't been for that storm my twelve months and a day would have passed
very pleasantly for me. '
"Then Arthur turned to Sir Bors, who had pushed across the throng at
once to Lancelot's side, caught him by the hand and held it there half
hidden beside him until the king spied them.
"'Hail, Bors, if ever a true and loyal man could see the Grail you have
seen it,' cried Arthur.
"'Don't ask me about it,' replied Sir Bors with tears in his eyes 'I may
not speak about it; I saw it. '
"The others spoke only about the perils of their storm, and then it was
Lancelot's turn. Perhaps Arthur kept his best for the last.
"'My Lancelot,' said the king, 'our Strongest, has the quest availed for
you? '
"'Our strongest, O King! ' groaned Lancelot and as he paused I thought I
saw a dying fire of madness in his eyes. 'O King, my friend, a sin lived
in me that was so strange that everything pure, noble and knightly in me
twined and clung around it until the good and the poisonous in me grew
together, and when your knights swore to make the quest I swore only in
the hope that could I see or touch the Holy Grail they might be pulled
apart. Then I spoke to a holy saint who said that if they could not be
plucked apart my quest would be all in vain. So I vowed to him that I
would do just as he told me, and while I was out trying to tear them
away from each other my old madness came back to me and whipped me off
into waste fields far away.
"There I was beaten down by little knights whom at one time I would have
frightened away just by the shadow of my spear. From there I rode over
to the sea-shore where such a blast of wind began to blow that you could
not hear the waves even although they were heaped up in mountains and
drove the sea like a cataract, while the sand on the beach swept by like
a river. A boat, half-swallowed by the seafoam, was moored to the shore
by a chain. I said to myself that I would embark in the boat and lose
myself and wash away my sin in the great sea.
"For seven days I rode around over the dreary water and on the seventh
night I felt the boat striking ground. In front of me rose the enchanted
towers of Carbonek, a castle like a rock upon a rock, with portals open
to the sea and steps that met the waves. A lion sat on each side of
them. I went up the steps and drew my sword. Suddenly flaring their
manes the lions stood up like men and gripped me on my shoulders. When I
was about to strike them a voice said to me, 'Don't be afraid, or the
beasts will tear you to pieces; go on. ' Then my sword was dashed
violently from my hand and fell. Up into the sounding hall I passed but
saw not a bench, table, picture, shield or anything else except the moon
over the sea through the oriel window, but I heard a sweet voice as
clear as a lark singing in the topmost tower to the east. I climbed up a
thousand steps with great pain. It seemed as though I was climbing
forever but at last I reached a door with light shining through the
crannies and I heard voices singing 'Glory and joy and honor to our Lord
and the Holy Vessel, the Grail. '
"'Then I madly tried the door, it gave way and through a stormy glare of
heat that burned me and made me swoon away I thought I saw the Grail,
all veiled with crimson samite and around it great angels, awful shapes
and wings and eyes! '
"The long hall was silent after Lancelot was done, until airy Gawain
began with a sudden.
"'O King, my liege, my good friend Percival and your holy nun have
driven men mad. By my eyes and ears I swear I'll be deeper than a
blue-eyed cat and three times as blind as any owl at noon-time
hereafter to any holy virgins in their ecstasies. '
"'Gawain,' replied the king, 'don't try to become blinder; you're too
blind now to want to see. If a sign really came from heaven Bors,
Lancelot and Percival are blessed for they have each seen according to
their sight. '"
PELLEAS AND ETTARRE.
