The Story of King Arthur and his Knights
Now the report had gone about Cameliard that a knight was to go forth to
fight the Duke of North Umber. Wherefore great crowds gathered upon the
walls, and King Leodegrance and the Lady Guinevere and all the Court of
the King came to that part of the castle walls overlooking the meadow
where the Duke of North Umber defended. Wherefore, so great a concourse
was presently assembled, that any knight might be encouraged to do his
utmost before such a multitude as that which looked down upon the field.
Then of a sudden the portcullis of the castle was lifted, and the bridge
let fall, and the White Champion rode forth to that encounter which he
had undertaken. And, as he drave across that narrow bridge, the hoofs of
his war-horse smote the boards with a noise like to thunder, and when he
came out into the sunlight, lo! his armor flamed of a sudden like unto
lightning, and when the people saw him they shouted aloud.
Then when the Duke of North Umber beheld a knight all clad in white, he
rode straightway to him and spoke to him with words of knightly
greeting. “Messire,” he said, “I perceive that thou bearest no crest
upon thy helm, nor hast thou a device of any sort upon thy shield,
wherefore I know not who thou art. Ne’theless, I do believe that thou
art a knight of good quality and of approved courage, or else thou
wouldst not have thus come to this place.”
“Certes, Sir Knight,” said King Arthur, “I am of a quality equal to
thine own. And as for my courage, I do believe that it hath been
approved in as many encounters as even thine own hath been.”
“Sir Knight,” quoth the Duke of Umber, “thou speakest with a very large
spirit. Ne’theless, thou mayst make such prayers as thou art able, for I
shall now presently so cast thee down from thy seat, so that thou shalt
never rise again; for so have I served better men than ever thou mayst
hope to be.”
To this King Arthur made answer with great calmness of demeanor: “That
shall be according to the will of Heaven, Sir Knight, and not according
to thy will.”
[Sidenote: _King Arthur overthrows Duke Mordaunt._]
So each knight saluted the other and rode to his assigned station, and
there each dressed his spear and his shield, and made him ready for the
encounter. Then a silence fell upon all so great that a man might hear
his own heart beat in the stillness. So, for a small space, each knight
sat like a statue made of iron. Then, of a sudden, each shouted to his
war-horse, and drave spurs into his flank, and launched forth from his
station. And so they met in the midst of the course with a noise like
unto a violent thunder-clap. And lo! the spear of the Duke of North
Umber burst into splinters unto the very truncheon thereof; but the
spear of King Arthur broke not, but held, so that the Duke was cast out
of his saddle like a windmill--whirling in the air and smiting the earth
so that the ground shuddered beneath him. And indeed he rolled full
three times over and over ere he ceased to fall.
Then all the people upon the wall shouted with might and main, so that
the noise thereof was altogether astonishing; for they had hardly hoped
that their champion should have proved so extraordinarily strong and
skilful.
Meanwhile, those of King Ryence’s Court ran immediately to the Duke of
Umber where he lay upon the earth, and they straightway unlaced his helm
for to give him air. And first they thought that he was dead, and then
they thought that he was like to die; for, behold! he lay without any
life or motion. Nor did he recover from that swoon wherein he lay for
the space of full two hours and more.
Now whilst the attendants were thus busied about Duke Mordaunt of North
Umber, King Arthur sat his horse, very quietly, observing all that they
did. Then, perceiving that his enemy was not dead, he turned him about
and rode away from that place.
Nor did he return unto Cameliard at that time, for he deemed that he had
not yet entirely done with these enemies to the peace of his realm,
wherefore he was minded not yet to return the horse and the armor to the
merchant, but to keep them for a while for another occasion.
So he bethought him of how, coming to Cameliard, he had passed through
an arm of the forest where certain wood-choppers were at work felling
the trees. Wherefore, remembering that place, he thought that he would
betake him thither and leave his horse and armor in the care of those
rude folk until he would need those things once more. So now he rode
away into the country-side, leaving behind him the town and the castle
and all the noise of shouting and rejoicing; nor did he once so much as
turn his head to look back toward that place where he had so violently
overthrown his enemy.
* * * * *
And now you shall presently hear of certain pleasant adventures of a
very joyous sort that befell him ere he had accomplished all his
purposes. For when a man is a king among men, as was King Arthur, then
is he of such a calm and equal temper that neither victory nor defeat
may cause him to become either unduly exalted in his own opinion or so
troubled in spirit as to be altogether cast down into despair. So if you
would become like to King Arthur, then you shall take all your triumphs
as he took this victory, for you will not be turned aside from your
final purposes by the great applause that many men may give you, but you
will first finish your work that you have set yourself to perform, ere
you give yourself ease to sit you down and to enjoy the fruits of your
victory.
Yea, he who is a true king of men, will not say to himself, “Lo! I am
worthy to be crowned with laurels;” but rather will he say to himself,
“What more is there that I may do to make the world the better because
of my endeavors?”
[Illustration] Chapter Third.
_How King Arthur Encountered Four Knights and of What Befell Thereby._
Now, the day was extraordinarily sweet and pleasant unto one so lusty of
frame and so lithe of heart as was good King Arthur. For the bright
clouds swam smoothly across the blue sky in prodigious volumes of vapor,
and the wind blew across the long grass of the meadow lands, and across
the fields of growing wheat, so that a multitude of waves travelled over
the hills and valleys like an it were across an entire sea of green. And
now all the earth would be darkened with wide shadows from those clouds,
and, anon, everything would burst out, of a sudden, into a wonderful
radiance of sunlight once more. And the little birds they sang all gayly
in the hedge-rows and the leafy thickets as though they would burst
their tiny throats with singing, and the cock crowed, strong and lusty,
from the farm croft, and all was so blithe and comely that the young
King, with the visor of his helmet uplifted to the refreshment of the
gentle breeze, would sometimes carol very joyously in his journeying. So
travelled King Arthur in all that gay and tender summer season, when the
earth was young and the time was of long-gone-by.
Now, you are to remember that when King Arthur had come from Carleon
unto the castle of Tintagalon, he had brought with him four young
knights for to bear him company. And those knights aforesaid were as
follows: There was Sir Gawaine, the son of King Lot and of Queen
Margaise, and there was Sir Ewaine, the son of King Uriens and of Queen
Morgana la Fay (and these two were nephews, half in blood, unto the
King), and there was Sir Pellias, and there was Sir Geraint, the son of
Erbin. These were the four noble young knights who had come with King
Arthur from Camelot unto Tintagalon.
[Sidenote: _King Arthur cometh upon a knight entertaining the ladies in
green._]
Now it befell, as King Arthur rode all gayly in the summer time as
aforesaid, that he came to a certain part of the road where he beheld
before him a tall and comely tower that stood upon a green hillock
immediately by the roadside. And lo! there stood upon the balcony of
that tower three fair demoiselles, clad all in green taffeta. And on the
high road in front of the castle there was a knight clad all in very
fine armor. And the knight sat upon a noble war-horse, and in his hands
he held a lute, and he played upon the lute and sang in a voice of
extraordinary sweetness. Whiles he sang those three ladies in green
taffeta listened to him with great cheerfulness of mien. And whenever
that knight would stint his singing, then those three ladies would clap
their hands together with great acclaim, and would bid him to sing to
them again; and so he would do with great readiness of spirit.
All this King Arthur beheld, and it appeared to him to be a very
pleasant sight, wherefore he rejoiced at it exceedingly.
And as he drew nigh, lo! he beheld that the knight who thus sat upon his
horse and played upon the lute and sang unto the accompaniment thereof,
was none other than Sir Geraint, the son of Erbin. For that knight wore
upon his crest the figure of a gryphon, and the device upon his shield
was two gryphons rampant facing one another upon a field azure, and King
Arthur knew that this was the crest and the device of Sir Geraint. And
when the King perceived who was the knight who sat there and sang, he
laughed unto himself and straightway closed his visor and made him ready
for such encounter as might, perchance, befall. So he drew nigh to where
the knight sang and the ladies listened.
Now when Sir Geraint perceived King Arthur approach, he ceased singing
and hung up his lute behind him across his shoulder. Then, casting
upward his look to those three fair ladies above him, quoth he:
“Mesdames, ye have been pleased to listen to that singing which I have
assayed altogether in your honor. Now, likewise, in your honor, I will
perform a deed of knightly prowess which I very much hope shall bring
great glory to you. For, if ye will be pleased to lend me that
encouragement which your very great beauty can so easily afford, ye
shall behold me, I doubt not, overthrow yonder knight completely, and
that to your great credit and renown.”
“Sir Knight,” said that lady who spoke for the others, “you are, truly,
a lord of noble bearing and exceedingly pleasing of address, wherefore
we do wish you great success in this undertaking; and we do believe that
you will succeed in that which you assay to do.”
Upon these Sir Geraint gave those three demoiselles great thanks for
their words, and thereupon he closed the visor of his helmet. So,
dressing his spear and shield, and saluting those three ladies with
great humility of demeanor, he went forth to meet King Arthur where he
now sat at a little distance, very quietly and soberly awaiting his
pleasure.
Now Sir Geraint knew not King Arthur because he wore no crest upon his
helm and no device upon his shield, wherefore as he saluted him he made
speech to him in this wise: “Ha! Messire, I know not who thou art,
seeing that thou bearest neither crest nor device. Ne’theless, I am
minded to do thee such honor as I may in running a tilt with thee upon
the behalf of those three demoiselles whom thou beholdest yonder upon
that balcony. For I do affirm, and am ready to maintain the same with my
knightly person, that those ladies are fairer than thy lady, whomsoever
she may be.”
“Sir Knight,” quoth King Arthur, “I will gladly run a course with thee
in honor of my lady; for, I may tell thee, she is a princess, and is
held by many to be the most beautiful dame in all of the world. But I
will only contend with thee upon one condition, and the condition is
this--that he who is overthrown shall yield himself as servant unto the
other for seven days, and in that time he shall do all that may be
required of him.”