The Story of King Arthur and his Knights
see what was within. Then, when she had done all this, she went her way
with all of her Court from that valley, making great joy in that she had
triumphed over Merlin.
Nevertheless she did not forget her promise, but went to the castle of
Sir Domas de Noir, and after a while it shall all be told how it befell
at that place.
* * * * *
Such was the passing of Merlin, and God grant it that you may not so
misuse the wisdom He giveth you to have, that it may be turned against
you to your undoing. For there can be no greater bitterness in the world
than this: That a man shall be betrayed by one to whom he himself hath
given the power of betraying him.
And now turn we unto King Arthur to learn how it fell with him after
Merlin had thus been betrayed to his undoing.
[Illustration] Chapter Third.
_How Queen Morgana le Fay Returned to Camelot and to the Court With
Intent to Do Ill to King Arthur. Also How King Arthur and Others Went
a-Hunting and of What Befell Thereby._
Now, after Merlin had quitted the Court with Vivien in that manner
aforetold, Queen Morgana le Fay returned again to Camelot. There she
came unto King Arthur and kneeled before him, bowing her face, with an
appearance of great humility. And she said, “Brother, I have meditated
much upon these matters that have passed and I perceive that I have done
very ill to talk against thee as I have done, and to be so rebellious
against thy royalty. Wherefore I crave of thee to forgive me my evil
words and thoughts against thee.”
[Sidenote: _Queen Morgana le Fay and King Arthur are reconciled._]
Then King Arthur was very much moved and he came to Queen Morgana and
took her by the hand and lifted her up upon her feet and kissed her
brow, and her eyes, saying, “My sister, I have no ill-will against thee,
but nothing but love for thee in my heart.” And so, Queen Morgana le Fay
abode at the Court in the same manner as she had aforetime done, for
King Arthur believed that they were reconciled.
[Sidenote: _King Arthur showeth Excalibur to Queen Morgana._]
Now one day, Queen Morgana and the King fell into a friendly talk
concerning Excalibur, and Queen Morgana le Fay expressed a very great
desire to see that noble weapon more closely than she had yet done, and
King Arthur said he would sometime show it to her. So the next day he
said, “Sister, come with me and I will show thee Excalibur.” Therewith
he took Queen Morgana by the hand and led her into another apartment
where was a strong wooden coffer bound with bands of iron. Then the King
opened the coffer and therein Queen Morgana le Fay beheld Excalibur
where he lay in his sheath. Then King Arthur said to her, “Lady, take
this sword and examine it as you please.” Therewith Queen Morgana took
Excalibur into her hands and lifted him out of the coffer. And she drew
the sword out of the sheath and, lo! the blade flashed like lightning.
Then she said, “Sir, this is a very beautiful sword and I would that I
might take it hence and keep it for a little so that I might enjoy it in
full measure.”
Now King Arthur was of a mind to show the Queen great courtesy at this
time of their reconciliation, wherefore he said to her, “Take it, and be
thou its keeper for as long as thou wilt.” So Queen Morgana took
Excalibur and his sheath and bare them away with her to her inn, and she
hid the sword in the bed in which she slept.
Then Queen Morgana sent for sundry goldsmiths, eight in number, and for
certain armorsmiths, eight in number, and for certain cunning jewellers,
eight in number, and she said unto them, “Make me a sword in every
particular like this sword that I have here.” And thereupon she showed
then Excalibur in his sheath. So these goldsmiths and armorsmiths and
lapidaries labored with great diligence, and in a fortnight they had
made a sword so exactly like Excalibur that no eye could have told the
difference betwixt the one and the other. And Queen Morgana le Fay kept
both swords by her until her purposes should have been fulfilled.
* * * * *
It befell upon a certain day that King Arthur proclaimed a hunt, and he
and all of his Court were party thereunto.
[Sidenote: _Queen Morgana le Fay giveth a horse to King Arthur._]
Now the day before this hunt took place Queen Morgana le Fay came to
King Arthur and said, “Brother, I have here for thee a very beautiful
and noble horse which I intend to give thee as a gift of love.”
Therewith she called aloud and there came two grooms bringing a horse as
black as jet and all beset with trappings and harness of silver. And the
horse was of such extraordinary beauty that neither King Arthur nor
anybody who was with him had ever before seen its like for beauty. So a
wonderful delight possessed the King at sight of the horse and he said,
“Sister, this is the noblest gift I have had given to me for this long
time.” “Ha! brother,” quoth Queen Morgana, “doth that horse then belike
thee?” “Yea,” said King Arthur, “it belikes me more than any horse that
I ever beheld before.” “Then,” quoth Queen Morgana, “consider it as a
gift of reconciliation betwixt thee and me. And in sign of that
reconciliation I beg of thee that thou wilt ride that horse forth upon
the hunt to-morrow day.” And King Arthur said, “I will do so.”
So the next day he rode forth to the hunt upon that horse as he said
that he would do.
[Sidenote: _King Arthur rideth a-hunting._]
Now it happened some time after noon that the hounds started a hart of
extraordinary size, and the King and all of his Court followed the chase
with great eagerness. But the horse of King Arthur soon out-stripped all
the other horses saving only that of a certain very honorable and worthy
knight of the Court hight Sir Accalon of Gaul. So Sir Accalon and the
King rode at a great pace through the forest, and they were so eager
with the chase that they wist not whither they were riding. And at last
they overtook the hart and found that it was embushed in a certain very
thick and tangled part of the forest, and there King Arthur slew the
stag, and so the chase was ended.
[Sidenote: _King Arthur and Sir Accalon of Gaul are lost in the
forest._]
Now after this had come to pass, the King and Sir Accalon would have
retraced their way whither they had come, but in a little they perceived
that they were lost in the mazes of the woodland and wist not where they
were. For they had followed the chase so far that they were in an
altogether strange country. So they wandered hither and thither at great
length until eventide, at which time they were oppressed with hunger and
weariness. Then King Arthur said to Sir Accalon, “Messire, meseems we
shall have nowhere to rest ourselves to-night unless it be beneath a
tree in this forest.”
To this Sir Accalon made reply, “Lord, if thou wilt follow my counsel
thou wilt let our horses seek their own way through this wilderness, so,
haply, because of the instinct of such creatures, they shall bring us
unto some place of habitation.”
Now this advice appeared to be very good to King Arthur, wherefore he
did as Sir Accalon advised and let loose his bridle-rein and allowed his
horse to travel as it listed. So King Arthur’s horse went along a
certain path, and Sir Accalon followed after the King. And they went a
great pass in this wise, and the night was descending upon them in the
forest.
But, before it was entirely dark, they emerged out of that forest and
into an open place where they beheld before them a very wide estuary, as
it were an inlet of the sea. And before them was a beach of sand, very
smooth, and white, and they two went down to that beach and stood upon
the shore, and they wist not what to do, for there was no habitation in
sight in any direction.
[Sidenote: _King Arthur and Sir Accalon see a wonderful ship_.]
Now, whiles they stood there a-doubt, they suddenly perceived a ship at
a very great distance away. And this ship approached where they
perceived that it was of a very strange and wonderful appearance, for it
was painted in many divers colors, very gaudy and brilliant, and the
sails were all of cloth of silk, woven in divers colors and embroidered
with figures like to the figures of a tapestry; and King Arthur was very
greatly amazed at the appearance of that ship.
Now, as they stood so watching the ship, they perceived that it drew
nigher and nigher to that place where they were, and in a little it
beached itself upon the shore of sand not very far away from them.
Then King Arthur said to Sir Accalon, “Sir, let us go forward to the
shore where we may look into this ship, for never did I see its like
before in all of my life, wherefore I have a thought that maybe it is
fay.”
So they two went to where the ship was and they stood upon the shore and
looked down into it, and at first they thought that there was no one
upon board of the ship, for it appeared to be altogether deserted. But
as they stood there marvelling at the wonderfulness of that ship and at
the manner in which it had come thither, they beheld, of a sudden, that
certain curtains that hung before an apartment at the farther extremity
of the ship were parted asunder and there came forth from that place
twelve very beautiful damsels. Each of these was clad in a rich garment
of scarlet satin very bright and shining, and each wore around her head
a circlet of gold, and each had many bracelets of gold upon her arms.
These damsels came forward unto where the two knights were and they
said, “Welcome, King Arthur!” And they said, “Welcome, Sir Accalon!”
At this King Arthur was very much astonished that they should know him,
and he said, “Fair ladies, how is this? Ye appear to know me very well,
but I know ye not. Who are ye that know me and my companion and call us
by name?”
Unto this the chiefest of those damsels made reply, “Sir, we are part
fay and we know all about you; and we know how that ye have been
following a very long chase; and we know that ye are aweary, anhungered,
and athirst. Wherefore we beseech ye that ye come aboard of this ship
and rest and refresh yourselves with food and drink.”
Now, this appeared to King Arthur to be a very bel-adventure, wherefore
he said to Sir Accalon, “Messire, I have a great mind for to go aboard
this ship and to follow out this adventure.” And Sir Accalon said,
“Lord, if thou goest, I will go also.”
[Sidenote: _King Arthur and Sir Accalon enter the ship of damoiselles._]
So those ladies let fall a gangplank from the ship and King Arthur and
Sir Accalon drave their horses up the gangplank and aboard the ship,
and sailed away as it had come--very swiftly--and it was now the early
night-time with the moon very round and full in the sky like to a disk
of pure shining silver.
Then those twelve damoiselles aided King Arthur and Sir Accalon to
dismount; and some took their horses away and others led them into a
fair chamber at the end of the ship. And in this chamber King Arthur
beheld that a table had been placed as though for their entertainment,
spread with a linen cloth and set with divers savory meats, and with
manchets of white bread and with several different sorts of excellent
wines. And at the sight King Arthur and Sir Accalon were very much
rejoiced, for they were very greatly anhungered.
So they immediately sat themselves down at that table and they ate and
drank with great heartiness, and whiles they did so some of those
damsels served them with food, and others held them in pleasant
discourse, and others made music upon lutes and citterns for their
entertainment. So they feasted and made very merry.
But, after a while, a very great drowsiness of sleep began to descend