Part 11

With that he charged the twenty men at arms as fast as his horse might drive with spear in rest, and hurled the foremost horse and man to the ground. When his spear was broken he seized his sword and struck out right and left, so that it was a marvel to see. At every blow he cut one down or wounded him, so that the rest became frightened and fled into a thick forest and Sir Galahad followed hard after them.

When Sir Percival saw him chase them so, he knew it was Sir Galahad and wept with rage, for his horse was dead. He ran after him afoot, crying for him to stop while he thanked him.

But Sir Galahad rode fast after the knights he was chasing and was soon out of sight. And as fast as he could Sir Percival went after him on foot, crying, but could not overtake him.

_The Adventure of the Gentlewoman, the Mysterious Ship, and the Sword of the Strange Belt_

Now, says the tale, when Sir Galahad had rescued Sir Percival, he went into a vast forest, where he rode many journeys and found many adventures.

One day, after many weary hours on horseback, as night was falling, he arrived at a lonely hermitage and knocked. The good man was very glad to welcome a knight-errant and to hear his tales, and so they talked till late. Soon after they had gone to rest, there was a knocking at the door.

When the hermit asked who was there, a voice said, “I am a gentlewoman who would speak with the knight that is with you.”

Then the good man awoke Sir Galahad and bade him arise and speak with the gentlewoman, who, said he, “seems to have great need of you.” So Sir Galahad arose and asked her wish.

“Sir Galahad,” said she, “I wish you to arm yourself, mount your horse and follow me, and I will show you within three days the highest adventure that any knight ever saw.”

Sir Galahad took his arms at once, mounted his horse, commended himself to God, and bade the gentlewoman go and he would follow where she wished.

The damsel rode as fast as her horse would gallop that night and all the next day till they came within reach of the sea. Toward night they halted at a castle that was enclosed with running water and high walls. Here Sir Galahad had great welcome, for the lady of the castle was the damsel’s lady.

When he was unarmed the damsel said to the lady, “Madam, shall we lodge here to-night?”

“No,” said she, “but only till he has dined and slept a little.”

So he ate and slept till the maid called him, and then armed himself by torchlight. When the maid and he were both mounted they left the castle and rode till they reached the seaside. There they found in the darkness a ship awaiting them, and two voices cried from on shipboard, “Welcome, Sir Galahad; we have long waited for you.”

When he heard these words, he asked them who they were.

“Sir,” said the damsel, “Leave your horse here and I shall leave mine.”

When they entered the ship he was welcomed with great joy by those whose voices he had heard, who were none other than Sir Bors and Sir Percival, and he was exceeding glad of their company. As soon as they were on board the wind arose and drove them through the sea. After a while morning dawned and Sir Galahad took off his helmet and his sword and asked his comrades where the ship was from.

“Truly,” said they, “you know as well as we, but of God’s grace.”

Then they told of their adventures since they last parted and of their great temptations.

“Truly,” said Sir Galahad, “you are much indebted to God for escaping great dangers; and had it not been for this gentlewoman, I should not have come here; for I never thought to find you in this strange country.”

“Ah, Sir Galahad,” said Sir Bors, “if your father, Sir Launcelot, were here, it seems to me we should lack nothing.”

“That may not be,” said he, “except it please our Lord.”

Now, neither Sir Percival nor Sir Bors knew the gentlewoman, for she was veiled. By this time the ship was far distant from the land of Britain, and, by chance, had arrived between two great rocks which were exceeding dangerous. Neither could they land, for there was a great whirlpool of the sea. After buffeting about, they escaped the danger and came into a calmer sea, and there saw another ship at anchor to which they might go in safety.

“Let us go there,” said the gentlewoman, “and we shall see adventures, if our Lord wills.”

When they came alongside, they found a fine ship, but no one appeared to be on board. On the stern they read these strange and dreadful words:

“Whoever enters this ship must be steadfast in his belief, for I am faith; therefore, beware, for if thou fail, I shall not help thee.”

Then the gentlewoman asked, “Do you know who I am?”

“Truly,” said Sir Percival, “I do not know you.”

“Know well,” said she, “I am your sister, the daughter of King Pellinore; therefore you are the man in the world I most like. If you are not in perfect belief and enter the ship, you will perish, for it will suffer no sin in it.”

Now, when Sir Percival knew she was his sister, he was very glad and said, “Fair sister, I shall enter therein, for if I be worthless, or an untrue knight, there shall I perish.”

Without further parley Sir Galahad stepped on board the strange ship, followed by the gentlewoman, Sir Bors, and Sir Percival.

The fittings were so rich and perfect that they wondered, for they had never seen the like. In the cabin in the midst of the ship there stood a beautiful bed with a coverlet of fine silk, and on it at the foot lay a great sword of marvelous beauty, which was drawn out of its scabbard half a foot and more, as if one had tried to draw it and could not.

“Here is a mystery,” cried Sir Percival, “I shall attempt to handle the sword.” So he tried to grasp it; but, try as he might, he could not.

“Now, by my faith,” said he, “I have failed.”

Sir Bors also set his hand to the sword and failed. Sir Galahad looked at it more closely, and saw on it letters as red as blood which said:

“Let him who would draw me from my scabbard see that he be bolder than other men, for whoso draweth me shall not escape injury to his body, or wounding unto death.”

“By my faith,” said Sir Galahad, “I would like to draw this sword out of its scabbard, but the penalty is so great that I shall not try it.”

“Sir,” said the gentlewoman, “know that all men are warned against drawing this sword, save you.”

As they looked closer they saw that the sword-belt was made of hempen cord of such poor account that it did not seem strong enough to bear so heavy a weight. The scabbard was of serpent’s skin and on it were letters of gold and silver which said:

“Whoever bears me as I ought to be borne should be bolder than other men; for the body of him by whose side I ought to hang shall not suffer shame while he wears this belt, and no one shall dare change this belt except a maid who is a king’s daughter.”

“Sir,” said the gentlewoman to Sir Galahad, “there was a king called Pelleas, the maimed king, who, while he was able to ride, strongly supported Christendom and the holy church. Upon a day he hunted in a wood, which bordered the sea, and at last he lost his hounds and his knights, and found this ship. When he saw the letters he entered, for he was right perfect in his life; here he found this sword and drew it out as far as you now see. With that, there entered a spear and wounded him in both his thighs. His wounds have never healed and never shall until we come to him. Thus,” said she, “was not Pelleas, your grandfather, maimed for his boldness?”

“By my faith!” said Sir Galahad.

Then, as they stood looking at the bed in wonder, Sir Percival lifted the coverlet and found a writing which told of the ship, by whom it was made and how it came there, but that does not belong to this tale.

“Now,” said Sir Galahad, “where shall we find the maid who shall make a belt strong enough to carry this sword?”

“Fair sir,” said Sir Percival’s sister, “do not fear, for I shall show you a belt fit for such a sword.”

She then opened a box and took out a belt, wrought with golden threads, and set with precious stones, and a rich buckle of gold.

“Lo! sirs,” said she, “here is a belt that ought to bear this sword; for the greatest part of it is woven of my own hair, which I loved full well when I was a woman of the world; but as soon as I knew this adventure was appointed to me, I clipped off my hair and made this belt.”

“We are truly grateful,” said Sir Bors, “for without your help, we should have endured much suffering.”

The gentlewoman then put the new belt on the sword.

“Now,” said the three knights, “what is the name of the sword and what shall we call it?”

“Truly,” said she, “the Sword of the Strange Belt.”

They then said to Sir Galahad, “We pray you to gird yourself with the sword, which hath been so long desired in the land of Britain.”

“Now let me begin,” said Sir Galahad, “to grip this sword to give you courage; but know that it belongs to me no more than it does to you.”

He then gripped it with his fingers and drew it forth, and Sir Percival’s sister girded him with the sword.

“Now I care not if I die,” said she, “for I have made thee now the worthiest knight in the world.”

“Fair damsel,” said Sir Galahad, “you have done so much, that I shall be your knight all the days of my life.”

_The Gentlewoman Risks Her Life for Another_

When they had achieved the adventure of the mysterious sword, they returned to their own ship, and the wind arose and drove them out to sea at a great pace. All that day and night they went before the south wind, and on the morrow came to the borders of Scotland where they were forced to land, for they were without food. Here, after leaving the ship, they were attacked by wicked knights because they were of King Arthur’s court, and had many other adventures, which are no part of this tale.

Then on a day all heard a voice which said:

“Sir Galahad, thou hast well avenged me on God’s enemies, now hasten to the maimed king that he may receive his health, for which he has waited so long.”

On the way they came to a castle which belonged to a gentlewoman who had lain for many years under a strange malady which no doctor could cure. But an old man had said, “If she were anointed with the blood of a maid who is a king’s daughter, she would recover her health.”

“Now,” said Sir Percival’s sister, when she heard this, “fair knights, I foresee that this gentlewoman will die, unless she have part of my blood.”

Straightway the knights opposed her and Sir Galahad said, “Certainly, if ye bleed so much ye will die.”

“Truly,” said she, “if I die to heal her, I shall have great honor and soul’s health, and I shall do it to-morrow;” and nothing they said could change her.

The next day, after they had heard service, Sir Percival’s sister bade them bring the sick lady.

Then said she, “Who shall let my blood?”

So they brought a doctor who did as she desired; but she bled so much that the dish was full, and no one could stop it.

Then she said to the sick lady, “Madam, if I come by my death to make you well, for God’s love pray for me.”

With that she fell into a swoon. Sir Galahad, Sir Percival, and Sir Bors quickly lifted her up and tried to staunch her blood; but she had bled so much that she could not live.

When she awoke out of her swoon she said, “Fair brother, Sir Percival, I must die for the healing of this lady; so I require that you bury me not in this country, but as soon as I am dead take me down to the sea, put me in a boat and let me go as adventure will lead me; and as soon as you three come to the city of Sarras, there to achieve the Holy Grail, you shall find me arrived under a tower, and there bury me in the spiritual place. For there Sir Galahad shall be buried, and you also, my brother, in the same place.”

When Sir Percival heard these words he promised her, weeping, and her soul departed from the body. As they knelt beside her they again heard a voice which said, “To-morrow early you three shall separate from each other till the adventure bring you to the maimed king.”

The same day the sick lady was healed, but she sorrowed exceedingly for the death of the maiden.

Sir Percival wrote a letter telling how his sister had helped them in strange adventures and put it in her right hand. Then the knights carried her to the sea and laid her in a boat and covered her with silk, and the wind arose and drove the boat from the land, and they all watched it till it was lost to their sight.

Then they returned to the castle and forthwith there fell a sudden tempest of thunder, lightning and rain that shook the earth, and evensong was passed ere the tempest ceased.

On the morrow the three knights separated and each went his own way.

_Sir Galahad Meets a Knight in White Armor_

The story says that after Sir Launcelot rode into the forest after Sir Galahad and was lost, he escaped many perils, but at last came to the water of Morteise as the night was falling. Not knowing what to do, he lay down to sleep and await what adventure God would send him.

When he was asleep he heard a voice in a dream which said, “Launcelot, rise up, take thine armor and enter the first ship thou shalt find.”

When he heard these words he rose up and set out toward the sea. By good fortune he found a ship which was without sail and oars, and he saw no one.

As soon as he was on shipboard he was filled with joy such as he had never felt before, and in this joy he lay down and slept till daylight.

When he awoke he was astonished to see there a fair bed in which lay a dead gentlewoman. As he looked he saw in her right hand Sir Percival’s letter, which told who she was and what she had achieved.

There Sir Launcelot spent some days, not knowing what to do. One night as he was sitting on the shore, he heard a horseman coming that way and waited to see what would happen. The rider, who seemed to be a knight, rode to where the ship was, alighted, and went on board.

Sir Launcelot went toward him and said, “Sir, you are welcome.”

The other returned his salute and asked his name, “for,” said he, “my heart goes out to you.”

“Truly,” said Sir Launcelot, “my name is Sir Launcelot of the Lake.”

“Sir,” said the other, “then you are welcome, for you were the beginning of me in this world.”

“Ah! Are you Sir Galahad?”

“Yes, in truth.” With that Sir Galahad leaped to the shore, kneeled down and asked Sir Launcelot’s blessing, and then took off his helmet and kissed him.

With great joy they told of the marvels and adventures that had happened to them since they left the court. Sir Galahad told of the high honor of Sir Percival’s sister, that she was the best maid living, and that her death was a great pity. When Sir Launcelot heard how the marvelous sword was gotten, he asked to see it, and kissed the hilt and the scabbard.

“Truly,” said he, “I never heard of such high and strange adventures before.”

So Sir Launcelot and Sir Galahad spent many days together in the ship, and served God daily and nightly with all their power; and often the ship carried them to far islands where they met with many strange and perilous adventures.

Upon a Monday it happened that they landed at the edge of a forest which was by the sea. Standing by a cross of stone they saw a knight on horseback, armed all in white, who held by his right hand a white horse. He came to the ship, saluted the two knights and said, “Sir Galahad, you have been with your father long enough; leap upon this horse and ride where adventure shall lead in quest of the Holy Grail.”

Sir Galahad turned to his father and kissed him full courteously and said, “Father, I do not know that I shall see you again till I find the Holy Grail.”

“I pray you,” said Sir Launcelot, “that you will pray our Father in heaven to keep me in his service.”

Sir Galahad mounted his horse and then they all heard a voice that said, “Think to do well, for the one shall never see the other till the dreadful day of doom.”

“Now, my son, Sir Galahad,” said Sir Launcelot, “since we shall never see each other again, I pray the high Father of heaven to preserve both you and me.”

“Sir,” said Sir Galahad, “no prayer avails so much as yours.” So saying, he rode into the forest and his father saw him no more.

The knight in white armor then vanished as he came, and Sir Launcelot returned to the ship, and the wind arose and drove him many days across the sea to a distant land. Soon after that he left the ship, which kept on its lonely journey, until at last it arrived at the city of Sarras with its fair burden.

Now Sir Launcelot began to long for the realm of Britain which he had not seen for a year and more. So, commending himself to God, he rode through many countries and came at last to Camelot.

Here he found King Arthur and Queen Guinevere; but many of the knights of the Round Table were missing, for already more than half of them had been slain. However, Sir Gawain, Sir Ector, and Sir Lionel had returned, and many others who had failed in their quest of the Holy Grail.

All the court was exceedingly glad to see Sir Launcelot, who told of his adventures since he had departed; and also those of Sir Galahad, Sir Percival, and Sir Bors, which he knew by the letter of the dead gentlewoman, and from Sir Galahad himself.

“Now, would God,” said the king, “that all three were here.”

“That cannot be,” said Sir Launcelot, “for two of them you shall never see, but one of them shall come again.”

_Sir Galahad Achieves His Quest, and Bears the Holy Grail Across the Sea_

Now after Sir Galahad bade his father farewell and entered the forest, he rode many journeys in vain. At last he found his way out of the forest and rode five days toward the castle of the maimed king; and ever Sir Percival followed after till he overtook him, and they went on in company. At a crossroads they met Sir Bors who was riding alone, and so to their great joy the three knights were together again.

“In more than a year and half,” said Sir Bors, “I have not slept ten times in a bed, only in wild forests and mountains; but God was always with me.”

Thus they rode a long time till they came to the castle of Carbonek, where lived Pelleas, the maimed king, who was the grandfather of Sir Galahad.

When they entered the castle hall, a bed was brought in whereon lay the good old man they had come so far to see. King Pelleas was very happy, for he knew that the quest of the Holy Grail was about to be achieved.

“Sir Galahad,” said he, lifting up his head, “you are welcome, for I have long prayed for your coming, but now I trust that my suffering shall be allayed.”

Eliazar, King Pelleas’ son, then brought the broken sword with which Joseph was wounded in the thigh after he came to Britain. Sir Bors took the two pieces and tried to force them together again, but he could not. Then Sir Percival tried, but he had no more power than Sir Bors.

“Now it is your turn,” said they to Sir Galahad, “for if an earthly man can achieve it, you can.”

Sir Galahad then took the pieces and set them together, and the sword seemed as if it had just been forged and never broken. When they recovered from their astonishment they gave the sword to Sir Bors, for he was a good knight and a worthy man.

A little before evening a strange thing happened; the sword became wondrously heated so that no one could handle it, and a voice was heard which said, “They that ought not to sit at the table of our Lord arise, for now shall true knights be fed.”

So all went out save King Pelleas and his son and a maid who was his niece, and the three knights; and a table of silver was before them with the holy vessel, covered with a cloth of silk.

With that they saw nine knights all armed come in at the hall door, who took off their armor and said to Sir Galahad, “Sir, we have ridden hard to be with you at this table.”

“You are welcome,” said he, “but whence come you?”

Three of them said they were from Gaul, three from Ireland, and three from Denmark.

Upon that a voice said, “Let those among you who are not in quest of the Holy Grail depart.” So King Pelleas and his son and niece departed.

As the knights sat waiting, it seemed to them that there appeared a man from heaven, before the table on which the Holy Grail was, and they saw letters in his forehead which said:

“This is Joseph, the first bishop of Christendom, whom our Lord rescued in the city of Sarras.”

With him were angels who bore a spear which bled marvelously.

Then the knights wondered, for Joseph had died more than three hundred years before.

“Oh, knights,” said he, “wonder not, for at one time I was an earthly man. Now shall ye have such food as never knights tasted.”

When he had said this, he and the angels vanished, and they sat there in great dread. Then they looked and saw, as it were, another man enter who said:

“My knights and my servants who are come out of this earthly life, ye shall now see a part of my secrets and my hidden things.” Then he took the holy vessel and proffered it to Sir Galahad, who kneeled down and partook; and so after him all the knights.

“Galahad,” said he, “dost thou know what I hold in my hands?”

“Nay,” said Sir Galahad, “unless ye tell me.”

“This,” said he, “is the holy vessel in which I ate the Last Supper, but thou hast not seen it openly as thou shalt see it in the city of Sarras; therefore, thou must go hence, and bear this vessel with thee. This night it shall depart from the realm of Britain to be seen no more, for it is not honored as it ought to be by the people of this land, who are turned to evil living. Therefore, go to-morrow down to the sea where you shall find a ship ready; and with you take the sword with the strange belt, and Sir Bors and Sir Percival. Also I will that ye take the blood of the spear and anoint the maimed king, and he shall have his health.”

Then he gave them his blessing and vanished away. Sir Galahad went at once to the spear which lay on the table and touched the blood with his fingers and came to his grandfather, the maimed king, and anointed him. Immediately he stood upon his feet a whole man, and gave thanks for his healing.

That same night, about midnight, they heard a voice that said, “Go ye hence as I bade you.”

“Lord, we thank thee,” said they; “now may we prove ourselves worthy.”

In all haste they took their armor, ready to depart. Now, the three knights of Gaul were great gentlemen, and Sir Galahad said to them: “If you come to King Arthur’s court I pray you salute my father, Sir Launcelot, and all the company of the Round Table,” and they promised to do so.

Sir Galahad, Sir Percival, and Sir Bors then departed and rode three days, till they came to the seashore and found their ship. When they went on board they saw the table of silver and the Holy Grail covered with a cloth of red silk, and were exceeding glad to have them in their keeping.

Now, on the voyage Sir Galahad spent a long time in prayer, asking that he might pass out of this world; he prayed so earnestly that at last a voice said to him, “Galahad, thou shalt have thy request.”

Sir Percival heard this and asked him why he prayed for such things.

“That shall I tell you,” said he. “The other day when we saw part of our adventures of the Holy Grail, I was filled with such joy as I supposed no earthly man could feel; therefore, I know well that when my body is dead, my soul shall have the great joy of heaven.”

Then he lay down and slept a great while, and when he awoke he saw before him the city of Sarras; and as they were about to land they saw the ship in which Sir Percival had put his sister.

“Truly,” said Sir Percival, “well has my sister kept her word.”