After King Arthur had fought and conquered many enemies, he said one day to Merlin, whose counsel he took all the days of his life, "My Barons will let me have no rest, but bid me take a wife, and I have answered them that I shall take none, except you advise me."
"It is well," replied Merlin, "that you should take a wife, but is there any woman that you love better than another?" "Yes," said Arthur, "I love Guenevere, daughter of Leodegrance, King of Cameliard, in whose house is the Round Table that my father gave him. This maiden is the fairest that I have ever seen, or ever shall see." "Sir,"
answered Merlin, "what you say as to her beauty is true, but, if your heart was not set on her, I could find you another as fair, and of more goodness, than she. But if a man"s heart is once set it is idle to try to turn him." Then Merlin asked the King to give him a company of knights and esquires, that he might go to the Court of King Leodegrance and tell him that King Arthur desired to wed his daughter, which Arthur did gladly. Therefore Merlin rode forth and made all the haste he could till he came to the Castle of Cameliard, and told King Leodegrance who had sent him and why.
"That is the best news I have ever had," replied Leodegrance, "for little did I think that so great and n.o.ble a King should seek to marry my daughter. As for lands to endow her with, I would give whatever he chose; but he has lands enough of his own, so I will give him instead something that will please him much more, the Round Table which Uther Pendragon gave me, where a hundred and fifty Knights can sit at one time. I myself can call to my side a hundred good Knights, but I lack fifty, for the wars have slain many, and some are absent." And without more words King Leodegrance gave his consent that his daughter should wed King Arthur. And Merlin returned with his Knights and esquires, journeying partly by water and partly by land, till they drew near to London.
When King Arthur heard of the coming of Merlin and of the Knights with the Round Table he was filled with joy, and said to those that stood about him, "This news that Merlin has brought me is welcome indeed, for I have long loved this fair lady, and the Round Table is dearer to me than great riches." Then he ordered that Sir Lancelot should ride to fetch the Queen, and that preparations for the marriage and her coronation should be made, which was done. "Now, Merlin," said the King, "go and look about my kingdom and bring fifty of the bravest and most famous Knights that can be found throughout the land." But no more than eight and twenty Knights could Merlin find. With these Arthur had to be content, and the Bishop of Canterbury was fetched, and he blessed the seats that were placed by the Round Table, and the Knights sat in them. "Fair Sirs," said Merlin, when the Bishop had ended his blessing, "arise all of you, and pay your homage to the King." So the Knights arose to do his bidding, and in every seat was the name of the Knight who had sat on it, written in letters of gold, but two seats were empty. After that young Gawaine came to the King, and prayed him to make him a Knight on the day that he should wed Guenevere. "That I will gladly," replied the King, "for you are my sister"s son."
As the King was speaking, a poor man entered the Court, bringing with him a youth about eighteen years old, riding on a lean mare, though it was not the custom for gentlemen to ride on mares. "Where is King Arthur?" asked the man. "Yonder," answered the Knights. "Have you business with him?" "Yes," said the man, and he went and bowed low before the King: "I have heard, O King Arthur, flower of Knights and Kings, that at the time of your marriage you would give any man the gift he should ask for."
"That is truth," answered the King, "as long as I do no wrong to other men or to my kingdom."
"I thank you for your gracious words," said the poor man; "the boon I would ask is that you would make my son a Knight." "It is a great boon to ask," answered the King. "What is your name?"
"Sir, my name is Aries the cowherd."
"Is it you or your son that has thought of this honour?"
"It is my son who desires it, and not I," replied the man. "I have thirteen sons who tend cattle, and work in the fields if I bid them; but this boy will do nothing but shoot and cast darts, or go to watch battles and look on Knights, and all day long he beseeches me to bring him to you, that he may be knighted also."
"What is your name?" said Arthur, turning to the young man.
"Sir, my name is Tor."
"Where is your sword that I may knight you?" said the King.
"It is here, my lord."
"Take it out of its sheath," said the King, "and require me to make you a Knight." Then Tor jumped off his mare and pulled out his sword, and knelt before the King, praying that he might be made a Knight and a Knight of the Round Table.
"As for a Knight, that I will make you," said Arthur, smiting him in the neck with the sword, "and if you are worthy of it you shall be a Knight of the Round Table." And the next day he made Gawaine Knight also.
[Ill.u.s.tration: MERLIN AND VIVIEN]
_THE Pa.s.sING OF MERLIN._
Sir Tor proved before long by his gallant deeds that he was worthy to sit in one of the two empty seats of the Round Table. Many of the other Knights went out also in search of adventures, and one of them, Sir Pellinore, brought a damsel of the lake to Arthur"s Court, and when Merlin saw her he fell in love with her, so that he desired to be always in her company. The damsel laughed in secret at Merlin, but made use of him to tell her all she would know, and the wizard had no strength to say her nay, though he knew what would come of it. For he told King Arthur that before long he should be put into the earth alive, for all his cunning. He likewise told the King many things that should befall him, and warned him always to keep the scabbard as well as the sword Excalibur, and foretold that both sword and scabbard should be stolen from him by a woman whom he most trusted. "You will miss my counsel sorely," added Merlin, "and would give all your lands to have me back again." "But since you know what will happen," said the King, "you may surely guard against it." "No," answered Merlin, "that will not be." So he departed from the King, and the maiden followed him whom some call Nimue and others Vivien, and wherever she went Merlin went also.
They journeyed together to many places, both at home and across the seas, and the damsel was wearied of him, and sought by every means to be rid of him, but he would not be shaken off. At last these two wandered back to Cornwall, and one day Merlin showed Vivien a rock under which he said great marvels were hidden. Then Vivien put forth all her powers, and told Merlin how she longed to see the wonders beneath the stone, and, in spite of all his wisdom, Merlin listened to her and crept under the rock to bring forth the strange things that lay there. And when he was under the stone she used the magic he had taught her, and the rock rolled over him, and buried him alive, as he had told King Arthur. But the damsel departed with joy, and thought no more of him: now that she knew all the magic he could teach her.
_HOW MORGAN LE FAY TRIED TO KILL_
_KING ARTHUR_
King Arthur had a sister called Morgan le Fay, who was skilled in magic of all sorts, and hated her brother because he had slain in battle a Knight whom she loved. But to gain her own ends, and to revenge herself upon the King, she kept a smiling face, and let none guess the pa.s.sion in her heart.
One day Morgan le Fay went to Queen Guenevere, and asked her leave to go into the country. The Queen wished her to wait till Arthur returned, but Morgan le Fay said she had had bad news and could not wait. Then the Queen let her depart without delay.
Early next morning at break of day Morgan le Fay mounted her horse and rode all day and all night, and at noon next day reached the Abbey of nuns where King Arthur had gone to rest, for he had fought a hard battle, and for three nights had slept but little. "Do not wake him,"
said Morgan le Fay, who had come there knowing she would find him, "I will rouse him myself when I think he has had enough sleep," for she thought to steal his sword Excalibur from him. The nuns dared not disobey her, so Morgan le Fay went straight into the room where King Arthur was lying fast asleep in his bed, and in his right hand was grasped his sword Excalibur. When she beheld that sight, her heart fell, for she dared not touch the sword, knowing well that if Arthur waked and saw her she was a dead woman. So she took the scabbard, and went away on horseback.
When the King awoke and missed his scabbard, he was angry, and asked who had been there; and the nuns told him that it was his sister Morgan le Fay, who had gone away with a scabbard under her mantle.
"Alas!" said Arthur, "you have watched me badly!"
"Sir," said they, "we dared not disobey your sister."
"Saddle the best horse that can be found," commanded the King, "and bid Sir Ontzlake take another and come with me." And they buckled on their armour and rode after Morgan le Fay.
They had not gone far before they met a cowherd, and they stopped to ask if he had seen any lady riding that way. "Yes," said the cowherd, "a lady pa.s.sed by here, with forty horses behind her, and went into the forest yonder." Then they galloped hard till Arthur caught sight of Morgan le Fay, who looked back, and, seeing that it was Arthur who gave chase, pushed on faster than before. And when she saw she could not escape him, she rode into a lake that lay in the plain on the edge of the forest, and, crying out, "Whatever may befall me, my brother shall not have the scabbard," she threw the scabbard far into the water, and it sank, for it was heavy with gold and jewels. After that she fled into a valley full of great stones, and turned herself and her men and her horses into blocks of marble. Scarcely had she done this when the King rode up, but seeing her nowhere thought some evil must have befallen her in vengeance for her misdeeds. He then sought high and low for the scabbard, but could not find it, so he returned unto the Abbey. When Arthur was gone, Morgan le Fay turned herself and her horses and her men back into their former shapes and said, "Now, Sirs, we may go where we will." And she departed into the country of Gore, and made her towns and castles stronger than before, for she feared King Arthur greatly. Meanwhile King Arthur had rested himself at the Abbey, and afterwards he rode to Camelot, and was welcomed by his Queen and all his Knights. And when he told his adventures and how Morgan le Fay sought his death they longed to burn her for her treason.
[Ill.u.s.tration: MORGAN LE FAY CASTS AWAY THE SCABBARD]
The next morning there arrived a damsel at the Court with a message from Morgan le Fay, saying that she had sent the King her brother a rich mantle for a gift, covered with precious stones, and begged him to receive it and to forgive her in whatever she might have offended him. The King answered little, but the mantle pleased him, and he was about to throw it over his shoulders when the lady of the lake stepped forward, and begged that she might speak to him in private. "What is it?" asked the King. "Say on here, and fear nothing." "Sir," said the lady, "do not put on this mantle, or suffer your Knights to put it on, till the bringer of it has worn it in your presence." "Your words are wise," answered the King, "I will do as you counsel me. Damsel, I desire you to put on this mantle that you have brought me, so that I may see it." "Sir," said she, "it does not become me to wear a King"s garment." "By my head," cried Arthur, "you shall wear it before I put it on my back, or on the back of any of my Knights," and he signed to them to put it on her, and she fell down dead, burnt to ashes by the enchanted mantle. Then the King was filled with anger, more than he was before, that his sister should have dealt so wickedly by him.
_WHAT BEAUMAINS ASKED OF THE KING_
As Pentecost drew near King Arthur commanded that all the Knights of the Round Table should keep the feast at a city called Kin-Kenadon, hard by the sands of Wales, where there was a great castle. Now it was the King"s custom that he would eat no food on the day of Pentecost, which we call Whit Sunday, until he had heard or seen some great marvel. So on that morning Sir Gawaine was looking from the window a little before noon when he espied three men on horseback, and with them a dwarf on foot, who held their horses when they alighted. Then Sir Gawaine went to the King and said, "Sir, go to your food, for strange adventures are at hand." And Arthur called the other Kings that were in the castle, and all the Knights of the Round Table that were a hundred and fifty, and they sat down to dine. When they were seated there entered the hall two men well and richly dressed, and upon their shoulders leaned the handsomest young man that ever was seen of any of them, higher than the other two by a cubit. He was wide in the chest and large handed, but his great height seemed to be a burden and a shame to him, therefore it was he leaned on the shoulders of his friends. As soon as Arthur beheld him he made a sign, and without more words all three went up to the high das, where the King sat. Then the tall young man stood up straight, and said: "King Arthur, G.o.d bless you and all your fair fellowship, and in especial the fellowship of the Table Round. I have come hither to pray you to give me three gifts, which you can grant me honourably, for they will do no hurt to you or to anyone." "Ask," answered Arthur, "and you shall have your asking."
"Sir, this is my pet.i.tion for this feast, for the other two I will ask after. Give me meat and drink for this one twelvemonth." "Well," said the king, "you shall have meat and drink enough, for that I give to every man, whether friend or foe. But tell me your name!"
"I cannot tell you that," answered he. "That is strange," replied the King, "but you are the goodliest young man I ever saw," and, turning to Sir Kay, the steward, charged him to give the young man to eat and drink of the best, and to treat him in all ways as if he were a lord"s son. "There is little need to do that," answered Sir Kay, "for if he had come of gentlemen and not of peasants he would have asked of you a horse and armour. But as the birth of a man is so are his requests.
And seeing he has no name I will give him one, and it shall be Beaumains, or Fair-hands, and he shall sit in the kitchen and eat broth, and at the end of a year he shall be as fat as any pig that feeds on acorns." So the young man was left in charge of Sir Kay, that scorned and mocked him.
Sir Lancelot and Sir Gawaine were wroth when they heard what Sir Kay said, and bade him leave off his mocking, for they believed the youth would turn out to be a man of great deeds; but Sir Kay paid no heed to them, and took him down to the great hall, and set him among the boys and lads, where he ate sadly. After he had finished eating both Sir Lancelot and Sir Gawaine bade him come to their room, and would have had him eat and drink there, but he refused, saying he was bound to obey Sir Kay, into whose charge the King had given him. So he was put into the kitchen by Sir Kay, and slept nightly with the kitchen boys.
This he bore for a whole year, and was always mild and gentle, and gave hard words to no one. Only, whenever the Knights played at tourney he would steal out and watch them. And Sir Lancelot gave him gold to spend, and clothes to wear, and so did Gawaine. Also, if there were any games held whereat he might be, none could throw a bar nor cast a stone as far as he by two good yards.
Thus the year pa.s.sed by till the feast of Whitsuntide came again, and this time the king held it at Carlion. But King Arthur would eat no meat at Whitsuntide till some adventures were told him, and glad was he when a squire came and said to him, "Sir you may go to your food, for here is a damsel with some strange tales." At this the damsel was led into the hall, and bowed low before the King, and begged he would give her help. "For whom?" asked the King, "and what is the adventure?" "Sir," answered she, "my sister is a n.o.ble lady of great fame, who is besieged by a tyrant, and may not get out of her castle.
And it is because your Knights are said to be the n.o.blest in all the world that I came to you for aid." "What is your sister"s name, and where does she dwell? And who is the man that besieges her, and where does he come from?" "Sir King," answered she, "as for my sister"s name, I cannot tell it you now, but she is a lady of great beauty and goodness, and of many lands. As for the tyrant who besieges her, he is called the Red Knight of the Red Lawns." "I know nothing of him," said the King. "But I know him," cried Sir Gawaine, "and he is one of the most dangerous Knights in the world. Men say he has the strength of seven, and once when we had crossed swords I hardly escaped from him with my life." "Fair damsel," then said the King, "there are many Knights here who would go gladly to the rescue of your lady, but none of them shall do so with my consent unless you will tell us her name, and the place of her castle." "Then I must speak further," said the damsel. But before she had made answer to the King up came Beaumains, and spoke to Arthur, saying, "Sir King, I thank you that for this whole year I have lived in your kitchen, and had meat and drink, and now I will ask you for the two gifts that you promised me on this day." "Ask them," answered the King. "Sir, this shall be my two gifts.
First grant me the adventure of this damsel, for it is mine by right."
"You shall have it," said the King. "Then, Sir, you shall bid Sir Lancelot du Lake to make me Knight, for I will receive Knighthood at the hands of no other." "All this shall be done," said the King. "Fie on you," cried the damsel, "will you give me none but a kitchen boy to rescue my lady?" and she went away in a rage, and mounted her horse.
No sooner had she left the hall than a page came to Beaumains and told him that a horse and fair armour had been brought for him, also there had arrived a dwarf carrying all things that a Knight needed. And when he was armed there were few men that were handsomer than he, and the Court wondered greatly whence these splendid trappings had come. Then Beaumains came into the hall, and took farewell of the King, and Sir Gawaine and Sir Lancelot, and prayed Sir Lancelot that he would follow after him. So he departed, and rode after the damsel. Many looked upon him and marvelled at the strength of his horse, and its golden trappings, and envied Beaumains his shining coat of mail; but they noted that he had neither shield nor spear. "I will ride after him,"
laughed Sir Kay, "and see if my kitchen boy will own me for his better." "Leave him and stay at home," said Sir Gawaine and Sir Lancelot, but Sir Kay would not listen and sprang upon his horse. Just as Beaumains came up with the damsel, Sir Kay reached Beaumains, and said, "Beaumains, do you not know me?"
Beaumains turned and looked at him, and answered, "Yes, I know you for an ill-mannered Knight, therefore beware of me." At this Sir Kay put his spear in rest and charged him, and Beaumains drew his sword and charged Sir Kay, and dashed aside the spear, and thrust him through the side, till Sir Kay fell down as if he had been dead, and Beaumains took his shield and spear for himself. Then he sprang on his own horse, bidding first his dwarf take Sir Kay"s horse, and rode away.
All this was seen by Sir Lancelot, who had followed him, and also by the damsel. In a little while Beaumains stopped, and asked Sir Lancelot if he would tilt with him, and they came together with such a shock that both the horses and their riders fell to the earth and were bruised sorely. Sir Lancelot was the first to rise, and he helped Beaumains from his horse, and Beaumains threw his shield from him, and offered to fight on foot. And they rushed together like wild boars, turning and thrusting and parrying for the s.p.a.ce of an hour, and Sir Lancelot marvelled at the young man"s strength, and thought he was more like a giant than a Knight, and dreading lest he himself should be put to shame, he said: "Beaumains, do not fight so hard, we have no quarrel that forbids us to leave off." "That is true," answered Beaumains, laying down his arms, "but it does me good, my lord, to feel your might." "Well," said Sir Lancelot, "I promise you I had much ado to save myself from you unshamed, therefore have no fear of any other Knight." "Do you think I could really stand against a proved Knight?" asked Beaumains. "Yes," said Lancelot, "if you fight as you have fought to-day I will be your warrant against anyone." "Then I pray you," cried Beaumains, "give me the order of knighthood." "You must first tell me your name," replied Lancelot, "and who are your kindred." "You will not betray me if I do?" asked Beaumains. "No, that I will never do, till it is openly known," said Lancelot. "Then, Sir, my name is Gareth, and Sir Gawaine is my brother." "Ah, Sir," cried Lancelot, "I am gladder of you than ever I was, for I was sure you came of good blood, and that you did not come to the Court for meat and drink only." And he bade him kneel, and gave him the order of knighthood.