Chapter 4

'Will you fight two knights,' mocked Lynette, 'or will you turn back again?'

'Six knights would not make me turn back,' said Gareth, as he rushed into the river. One knight rushed in from the further side, and Gareth and he fought with their swords in the middle of the stream. At last Gareth smote him on the helmet so violently that he fell down into the water and was drowned.

Then Gareth spurred his horse up the bank where the other knight stood waiting for him, and this knight fought so fiercely that he broke Gareth's spear. Then they both drew their swords, and fought for a long time, till in the end Gareth won the victory.

Gareth then crossed over the river again to Lynette, and told her to ride on, for the passage across the river was clear.

'Alas, that a kitchen-page should kill two brave knights!' cried Lynette. 'But do not think your skill killed these men.' And she told Gareth she had seen the horse of the first knight stumble, and that that was why he was drowned. 'And, as for the second knight, you came behind and slew him like a coward,' she said.

'Lady,' said Gareth, 'say what you like; but lead on, and I follow to deliver your sister.' So Gareth and the lady rode on till evening.

In the evening they came to a strange and dreary country, where everything looked black. On one side of a black hawthorn hung a black banner, on the other side hung a black shield. Beside the shield there was a long black spear, and close to the spear there was a great black horse, covered with silk, and the silk was black. And looking blacker than all the rest was a huge black rock.

Through the darkness they could see some one sitting near the rock. It was a knight, and he was armed in black armour, and his name was 'the Knight of the Black Land.'

Lynette saw the knight. 'Flee down the valley, before the Black Knight saddles his horse,' she called to Gareth. But she knew that even the Black Knight would not frighten her kitchen-knave.

The Black Knight saddled his horse and rode up to them. 'Is this your knight, and has he come to fight me?' he asked Lynette.

'He is only a kitchen-boy, he is no knight of mine,' Lynette answered. And in a cruel voice she added, 'I wish you could slay him and take him out of my way; but he does wonderful deeds with his sword, and has just slain two knights.'

'If he is no knight, I will take his horse and armour, and let him go. It would be a shame to take his life,' said the Black Knight.

Gareth was very angry when he heard this. 'I am on my way to Castle Dangerous, and I mean to reach it,' he said to the Black Knight. 'And as for my horse and armour, you cannot have them unless you take them from me in fair fight.'

Then they began to fight on foot, and the Black Knight wounded Gareth, but Gareth smote him with such strength, that his sword cut through the knight's armour, and then the Black Knight fell to the ground and died. This was the fiercest fight Gareth had ever fought, and it lasted for an hour and a half.

Once more Gareth went back to Lynette a conqueror, but still she cried, 'Do not come near me, kitchen-knave. You have slain a noble knight. Let me ride on alone.'

'Whatever happens I will follow you till we reach the Lady Lyonors,' said Gareth.

They were coming near to Castle Dangerous now, but before they reached it, a knight dressed all in green stopped them.

And Gareth fought the Green Knight too. But when he had struck him to the ground, the Green Knight begged Gareth to spare his life.

'It is useless to ask me to spare your life, for you shall die, unless the Lady Lynette asks me to set you free,' said Gareth. And he began to undo the helmet of the Green Knight, as if he meant to slay him.

'I will never ask a favour of a kitchen-page,' said Lynette haughtily. 'I will never ask you to spare the Green Knight's life.'

'Spare my life,' entreated the Green Knight, 'and I and my thirty followers will serve you for ever.'

'It is useless for you to ask me,' repeated Gareth. 'Only the Lady Lynette can save your life.' And again he lifted his sword, as if to slay the Green Knight.

'You will not slay him, for if you do, you will be sorry,' stammered Lynette, as she saw Gareth's sword coming down to kill the knight.

Gareth heard Lynette's voice, and at once put away his sword, and gave the Green Knight his freedom.

In his gratitude the knight persuaded Gareth and Lynette to stay with him that night, 'and in the morning I will help you to reach Castle Dangerous,' he said.

That evening at supper-time, Lynette again mocked Gareth. He had never asked her to be more gentle to him, but now he said, 'Mock me no more, for in spite of all your taunts I have killed many knights, and cleared the forests of the King's enemies.'

Now Lynette had begun to feel ashamed of her unkindness, and as she listened to Gareth, and thought how loyally he had served her, she felt sorry that she had been so unkind. And she asked Gareth to forgive her for being so rude.

'I forgive you with all my heart,' said Gareth, and at last they rode on happily side by side.

Then Gareth sent his dwarf on in front to tell Lynette's sister that they were near her castle. And the Lady Lyonors asked the dwarf a great many questions about his master.

'He is a noble knight and a kind master,' said the dwarf; and he told the lady of all the adventures they had met on their way to her castle. And Lyonors longed to see the knight who had fought so often and so bravely to reach her.

And now there was only the Red Knight between Gareth and the Lady Lyonors.

On the great tree, outside the castle, Gareth saw hanging the bodies of forty knights, with their shields round their necks and their spurs on their heels. As he looked at this terrible sight, Gareth was afraid.

Then Lynette reminded him of all his victories, and of how even the Black Knight had yielded to him. But what encouraged Gareth more than all Lynette said was that, when he looked up to the castle, he saw a beautiful lady at one of the windows. She smiled and waved her hands to him, and he knew that this was the Lady Lyonors. Then all his courage came back.

'This is the fairest lady I have ever seen,' thought Gareth. 'I ask nothing better than to be allowed to do battle for her, and win her from the Red Knight.'

Outside the castle, hanging on a sycamore tree, was a great horn, made of an elephant's bone, and whoever wished to fight the Red Knight must blow this horn.

Gareth looked again at the window where Lyonors still watched, and hesitating no longer, blew the horn so piercingly and so long, that he woke all the echoes of the wood.

Then the Knight of the Red Lands armed himself in great haste, and his barons brought him a red spear, and a steed covered with red silk. And the Red Knight rode proudly down into the valley, to slay Gareth, as he had slain the other forty knights.

'Do not look any longer at the castle window,' said the Red Knight roughly to Gareth. 'The Lady Lyonors is mine. I have fought many battles for her.'

'I know that the Lady Lyonors does not love you nor your ways, for they are cruel,' said Gareth, 'and I will rescue her from you, or die.'

'Look at the dead knights on those trees, and beware,' said the Red Knight, 'or soon I will hang your body beside theirs.'

'That is a sight that makes me only more anxious to fight,' said Gareth, 'for you break the rules of all true knights by your cruelty.'

'Talk no more,' said the Red Knight, 'but get ready for the combat.'

Then Gareth told Lynette to go further off, to a place of safety.

And the two knights smote each other so fiercely in the front of their shields that they both fell off their horses, still holding the reins in their hands. And they lay stunned on the ground so long, that those who were watching from the castle thought their necks were broken.

But after a time, leaving their horses, they fought on foot. And the battle was so rough that great pieces of their shields and armour were knocked off, and left lying on the field.

And they fought till twelve o'clock. But by that time they were so worn out that they staggered about, scarcely knowing where they went, and their wounds bled so much that they were faint.

They fought till evening, and then they both agreed to rest for a little while.

Then Gareth took off his helmet, and looked up to the castle window. And when he saw the Lady Lyonors looking down at him, with great kindness in her eyes, his heart felt all at once light and glad.

And her kindness made him strong, and he started up quickly and called to the Red Knight to fight, 'and this time to the death,' said Gareth.

In his fury the Red Knight knocked the sword out of Gareth's hand, and before he could get it again, he gave him such a blow on his helmet that Gareth stumbled and fell to the ground.

Then Lynette called out, 'O Gareth, have you lost your courage? My sister weeps and breaks her heart, because her true knight has fallen.'

When Gareth heard that, he got up, and with a great effort leaped to where his sword lay, and caught it in his hand, and began to fight as if he fought a new battle.

And his strokes fell so quickly on his foe, that the Red Knight lost his sword and fell to the ground, and Gareth threw himself on him to slay him. But the knight begged piteously for his life.

'Go to the castle and yield your homage to the Lady Lyonors,' said Gareth. 'And if she is willing to pardon you, you are free, after you restore the lands and castles you have taken from her.'

Then the Red Knight gladly restored all he had stolen. And after he had been forgiven by the Lady Lyonors, he journeyed to the court, and told Arthur all that Sir Gareth had done.

And Lynette came and took off Gareth's armour and bathed his wounds, and he rested in his tent for ten days.

'I will go to the castle and ask Lyonors to come home with me and be my wife,' thought Gareth, as soon as his wounds were healed. But when he came to the castle, he found the drawbridge pulled up, and many armed men were there, who would not let him enter.

'But Lyonors, I must see Lyonors,' thought Gareth. 'Surely she will wish to see me,' and he looked wistfully up to the window, and there beautiful as ever, was his Lady Lyonors.

'I cannot love you altogether,' said Lyonors, 'till you have been King Arthur's knight for another year, and helped to clear the land from his enemies.'

Though he was a good knight, Gareth's heart was heavy as he listened. 'If I do not see Lyonors for a year,' he thought, 'the months will pass more slowly and seem more empty than those long months I spent in the King's kitchen.' But as Gareth was a right loyal knight, he bowed to his lady's will. He had freed the castle from the Red Knight, and now it was open to every one, only he himself was banished. And he went away sadly but faithfully to find new adventures.

And when Gareth slept in the forests or on the wild mountain-sides, he often dreamed of the day that would come when his year's wanderings were over, when Lyonors would be his wife, and together they would go back to King Arthur's court, and he would at last be known to every one as Sir Gareth and a prince.

He dreamed, too, of the happier day, when he would take the beautiful Lyonors to his mother, and show her the mountain home he loved so well.

SIR GALAHAD AND THE SACRED CUP

'My strength is as the strength of ten, Because my heart is pure,'

sang Galahad gladly. He was only a boy, but he had just been made a knight by Sir Lancelot, and the old abbey, where he had lived all his life, rang with the echo of his song.

Sir Lancelot heard the boy's clear voice singing in triumph. As he stopped to listen, he caught the words,

'My strength is as the strength of ten, Because my heart is pure,'

and the great knight wished he were a boy again, and could sing that song too.

Twelve nuns lived in the quiet abbey, and they had taught Galahad lovingly and carefully, ever since he had come to them as a beautiful little child. And the boy had dwelt happily with them there in the still old abbey, and he would be sorry to leave them, but he was a knight now. He would fight for the King he reverenced so greatly, and for the country he loved so well.

Yet when Sir Lancelot left the abbey the next day, Galahad did not go with him. He would stay in his old home a little longer, he thought. He would not grieve the nuns by a hurried farewell.

Sir Lancelot left the abbey alone, but as he rode along he met two knights, and together they reached Camelot, where the King was holding a great festival.

King Arthur welcomed Sir Lancelot and the two knights. 'Now all the seats at our table will be filled,' he said gladly. For it pleased the King when the circle of his knights was unbroken.

Then all the King's household went to service at the minster, and when they came back to the palace they saw a strange sight.

In the dining-hall the Round Table at which the King and his knights always sat seemed strangely bright.

The King looked more closely, and saw that at one place on this Round Table were large gold letters. And he read, 'This is the seat of Sir Galahad, the Pure-hearted.' But only Sir Lancelot knew that Sir Galahad was the boy-knight he had left behind him in the quiet old abbey.

'We will cover the letters till the Knight of the Pure Heart comes,' said Sir Lancelot; and he took silk and laid it over the glittering letters.

Then as they sat down to table they were disturbed by Sir Kay, the steward of the King's kitchen.

'You do not sit down to eat at this festival,' Sir Kay reminded the King, 'till you have seen or heard some great adventure.' And the King told his steward that the writing in gold had made him forget his usual custom.

As they waited a squire came hastily into the hall. 'I have a strange tale to tell,' he said. 'As I walked along the bank of the river I saw a great stone, and it floated on the top of the water, and into the stone there has been thrust a sword.'

Then the King and all his knights went down to the river, and they saw the stone, and it was like red marble. And the sword that had been thrust into the stone was strong and fair. The handle of it was studded with precious stones, and among the stones there were letters of gold.

The King stepped forward, and bending over the sword read these words: 'No one shall take me away but he to whom I belong. I will hang only by the side of the best knight in the world.'

The King turned to Sir Lancelot. 'The sword is yours, for surely there lives no truer knight.'

But Sir Lancelot answered gravely, 'The sword is not mine. It will never hang by my side, for I dare not try to take it.'

The King was sorry that his great knight's courage failed, but he turned to Sir Gawaine and asked him to try to take the sword.

And at first Sir Gawaine hesitated. But when he looked again at the precious stones that sparkled on the handle, he hesitated no longer. But he no sooner touched the sword than it wounded him, so that he could not use his arm for many days.

Then the King turned to Sir Percivale. And because Arthur wished it, Sir Percivale tried to take the sword; but he could not move it. And after that no other knight dared to touch the fair sword; so they turned and went back to the palace.

In the dining-hall the King and his knights sat down once more at the Round Table, and each knight knew his own chair. And all the seats were filled except the chair opposite the writing in gold.

It had been a day full of surprise, but now the most wonderful thing of all happened. For as they sat down, suddenly all the doors of the palace shut with a loud noise, but no one had touched the doors. And all the windows were softly closed, but no one saw the hands that closed them.

Then one of the doors opened, and there came in a very old man dressed all in white, and no one knew whence he came.

By his side was a young man in red armour. He had neither sword nor shield, but hanging by his side was an empty sheath.

There was a great silence in the hall as the old man said slowly and solemnly, 'I bring you the young knight Sir Galahad, who is descended from a king. He shall do many great deeds, and he shall see the Holy Grail.'

'He shall see the Holy Grail,' the knights repeated, with awe on their faces.

For far back, in the days of their boyhood, they had heard the story of the Holy Grail. It was the Sacred Cup out of which their Lord had drunk before He died.

And they had been told how sometimes it was seen carried by angels, and how at other times in a gleam of light. But in whatever way it appeared, it was seen only by those who were pure in heart.

And as the old man's words, 'He shall see the Holy Grail,' fell on their ears, the knights thought of the story they had heard so long ago, and they were sorry, for they had never seen the Sacred Cup, and they knew that it was unseen only by those who had done wrong.

But the old man was telling the boy-knight to follow him. He led him to the empty chair, and lifted the silk that covered the golden letters. 'This is the seat of Sir Galahad, the Pure-hearted,' he read aloud. And the young knight sat in the empty seat that belonged to him.

Then the old man left the palace, and twenty noble squires met him, and took him back to his own country.

When dinner was ended, the King went over to the chair where his boy-knight sat, and welcomed him to the circle of the Round Table. Afterwards he took Sir Galahad's hand, and led him out of the palace to show him the strange red stone that floated on the river. When Sir Galahad heard how the knights could not draw the sword out of the stone, he knew that this adventure was his.

'I will try to take the sword,' said the boy-knight, 'and place it in my sheath, for it is empty,' and he pointed to his side. Then he laid his hand on the wonderful sword, and easily drew it out of the stone, and placed it in his sheath.

'God has sent you the sword, now He will send you a shield as well,' said King Arthur.

Then the King proclaimed that the next day there would be a tournament in the meadows of Camelot. For before his knights went out to new adventures, he would see Sir Galahad proved.

And in the morning the meadows lay bright in the sunshine. And the boy-knight rode bravely to his first combat, and overthrew many men; but Sir Lancelot and Sir Percivale he could not overthrow.

When the tournament was over the King and his knights went home to supper, and each sat in his own seat at the Round Table.

All at once there was a loud crashing noise, a noise that was louder than any peal of thunder. Was the King's wonderful palace falling to pieces?

But while the noise still sounded a marvellous light stole into the room, a light brighter than any sunbeam.

As the knights looked at one another, each seemed to the other to have a new glory and a new beauty in his face.

And down the sunbeam glided the Holy Grail. It was the Sacred Cup they had all longed to see. But no one saw it, for it was invisible to all but the pure-hearted Sir Galahad.

As the strange light faded away, King Arthur heard his knights vowing that they would go in search of the Holy Grail, and never give up the quest till they had found it.

And the boy-knight knew that he too would go over land and sea, till he saw again the wonderful vision.

That night the King could not sleep, for his sorrow was great. His knights would wander into far-off countries, and many of them would forget that they were in search of the Holy Grail. Would they not have found the Sacred Cup one day if they had stayed with their King and helped to clear the country of its enemies?

In the morning the streets of Camelot were crowded with rich and poor. And the people wept as they watched the knights ride away on their strange quest. And the King wept too, for he knew that now there would be many empty chairs at the Round Table.

The knights rode together to a strange city and stayed there all night. The next day they separated, each going a different way.

Sir Galahad rode on for four days without adventure. At last he came to a white abbey, where he was received very kindly. And he found two knights there, and one was a King.

'What adventure has brought you here?' asked the boy-knight.

Then they told him that in this abbey there was a shield. And if any man tried to carry it, he was either wounded or dead within three days.

'But to-morrow I shall try to bear it,' said the King.

'In the name of God, let me take the shield,' said Sir Galahad gravely.

'If I fail, you shall try to bear it,' said the King. And Galahad was glad, for he had still no shield of his own.

Then a monk took the King and the young knight behind the altar, and showed them where the shield hung. It was as white as snow, but in the middle there was a red cross.

'The shield can be borne only by the worthiest knight in the world,' the monk warned the King.

'I will try to bear it, though I am no worthy knight,' insisted the King; and he took the shield and rode down into the valley.

And Galahad waited at the abbey, for the King had said he would send his squire to tell the young knight how the shield had protected him.

For two miles the King rode through the valley, till he reached a hermitage. And he saw a warrior there, dressed in white armour, and sitting on a white horse.

The warrior rode quickly towards the King, and struck him so hard that he broke his armour. Then he thrust his spear through the King's right shoulder, as though he held no shield.

'The shield can be borne only by a peerless knight. It does not belong to you,' said the warrior, as he gave it to the squire, telling him to carry it back to the abbey and to give it to Sir Galahad with his greeting.

'Then tell me your name,' said the squire.

'I will tell neither you nor any one on earth,' said the warrior. And he disappeared, and the squire saw him no more.

'I will take the wounded King to an abbey, that his wounds may be dressed,' thought the squire.

And with great difficulty the King and his squire reached an abbey. And the monks thought his life could not be saved, but after many days he was cured.

Then the squire rode back to the abbey where Galahad waited. 'The warrior who wounded the King bids you bear this shield,' he said.

Galahad hung the shield round his neck joyfully, and rode into the valley to seek the warrior dressed in white.

And when they met they saluted each other courteously. And the warrior told Sir Galahad strange tales of the white shield, till the knight thanked God that now it was his. And all his life long the white shield with the red cross was one of his great treasures.

Now Galahad rode back to the abbey, and the monks were glad to see him again. 'We have need of a pure knight,' they said, as they took Sir Galahad to a tomb in the churchyard.

A pitiful noise was heard, and a voice from the tomb cried, 'Galahad, servant of God, do not come near me.' But the young knight went towards the tomb and raised the stone.

Then a thick smoke was seen, and through the smoke a figure uglier than any man leaped from the tomb, shouting, 'Angels are round thee, Galahad, servant of God. I can do you no harm.'

The knight stooped down and saw a body all dressed in armour lying there, and a sword lay by its side.

'This was a false knight,' said Sir Galahad. 'Let us carry his body away from this place.'

'You will stay in the abbey and live with us,' entreated the monks. But the boy-knight could not rest. Would he see the light that was brighter than any sunbeam again? Would his adventures bring him at last to the Holy Grail?

Sir Galahad rode on many days, till at last he reached a mountain. On the mountain he found an old chapel. It was empty and very desolate. Galahad knelt alone before the altar, and asked God to tell him what to do next.