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    "endpoint": "/api/sources/grail-romances/parzival/06-book-vi-cunneware.json"
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  "work": {
    "slug": "parzival",
    "name": "Parzival"
  },
  "parents": [
    {
      "slug": "grail-romances",
      "name": "Holy Grail Romances",
      "url": "/sources/grail-romances/"
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  "chapter": {
    "num": 7,
    "slug": "06-book-vi-cunneware",
    "title": "Book VI: Cunneware",
    "of": 17,
    "words": 14370,
    "text": "## Book VI: Cunneware\n\n\nARTHUR\n\nDigitized by v^ooQle\n\nARGUMENT\n\nBook vi. tells how King Arthur sought for the Red Knight; and bow\nhe took an oath of his heroes to refrain from fighting. Of the blood¬\nstained snow, and the love-trance of Parzival; and how, .unknowing, he\noverthrew Segramor, and took vengeance on Kay. How Gawain led\nParzival to the court of King Arthur; and how he was made a knight of\nthe Round Table. Of the coming of Kondrie, and Kingrimursel, and the\nshaming of Parzival and Gawain. Of Parzival’s wrath and despair, and\nhow he rode forth to seek the Grail. How the knights went forth to the\nventure of Chfiteau Merveil; and how Gawain rode to Askalon; and of the\nscattering of this goodly company.\n\nDigitized by v^ooQle\n\nARTHUR\n\nOW perchance it were well I should tell ye, how, as this his\nfolk did pray, '\n\nFrom Karidol and his kingdom, King Arthur had ridden\naway.\n\nAnd now the venture telleth, on his own and on stranger\nground\n\nFor eight days long had they ridden, nor yet had the Red Knight found.\n\nFor in truth ’twas for him they were seeking, to honour his hand were fain, 5\nFrom sorrow had he released them, who had erst Prince Ither slain ;\n\nAnd Klamidl the king, and Kingron, in a welcome hour had sent\nTo the court of the Breton Monarch : for on this was King Arthur bent,\n\nHe would make him one of his circle, a knight of the Table Round,\n\nNo labour too great he counted, so the hero at last he found 1 *0\n\nThus o’er mountain and vale they sought him—All who knightly shield\nmight bear,\n\nKing Arthur now called around him, and in this wise he bade them swear:\nWhat deeds so e’er of knighthood they should see, by this their oath,\n\nThey should on no conflict venture, but faithful still keep their troth,\n\nAs they sware unto him, their monarch, and fight but as he thereto 15\n\nShould give them leave—He spake thus, ‘ Now, *tis well 1 Since we needs\nmust go\n\nThro’ many a stranger country, where many a stranger spear,\n\nAnd many a gallant hero are waiting us, I fear,\n\nIf ye, like-hounds untrained whose leash shall have slipped the hand\n\nOf him who was late their master, shall roam free o’er all the land, 30\n\nDigitized by Google\n\ni6o\n\nPARZIVAL\n\nMuch evil might there befall ye, and such chance should but please me ill,\nAnd by this your oath, I think me, such rashness I best may still.\n\nBe ye sure and need ariseth, your king ne’er will say you Nay,\nyj'ill then, as I here command ye, ride peaceful upon your way.*\n\n35 Now the oath, ye shall well have heard it—Now hear ye how Parzival,\n\nThe Waleis, rode near unto them : thro* the night did the snow-flakes fall,\nLight they fell, yet lay thickly on him, yet if well I the tale may know,\n\nAnd the singer aright hath sung it, it was never the time of snow;\n\nFor whate’er men have sung or spoken of King Arthur, at Whitsuntide,\n\n30 Or when May-blossoms deck the meadow, these marvels did aye betide.\n\nFor sweetly the springtide bloometh, and many a garb, I ween,\n\nShall it bear this song of my singing, tho’ snow-clad it now be seen.\n\nThe falconers from Karidol, as the shadows of evening fell,\n\nRode, hawking, by Plimizol’s waters, when an evil chance befell,\n\n35 For the best of their hawks flew from them, nor stooped to the lure again,\nBut all night in the dusky shadows of the woodland it did remain.\n\nWith Parzival it sheltered; to the twain was the woodland way\nA road unknown, sharp the frost stung, in the far east uprose the\nday,\n\nAnd, lo ! all around the hero, the snow-flakes lay thick and white :\n\n40 Thro’ the forest paths untrodden, in ever waxing light,\n\nRode our hero by hedge or thicket, by rock and by fallen tree,\n\nTill clear grew the shadowy woodland, and its depths he well might see,\nv And a mighty tree of the forest had fallen where he would ride, •\n\n(The falcon yet followed after) ’mid its clustering boughs he spied\n45 A flock of wild-geese from the Northland, their hissing he first had heard,\nSwift swooped the falcon upon them and struck to the earth a bird:\n\nAnd scarce might it fly the clutches of its foe, and fresh shelter tak$\n\n’Neath the shade of the fallen branches ; in its flight from the wounds\nthere brake\n\nThree blood-drops, all glowing crimson, and fell on the spotless snow,\n\n50 As Parzival’s eyes beheld them, swift sorrow his heart must know !\n\nNow hear ye his love so loyal—As he looked on these blood-drops bright.\nThat stained with a stain of crimson the snow-flakes that lay so white,\n\nDigitized by vjiOCK^IC\n\nARTHUR\n\nHe thought, 1 Say what hand hath painted these colours that here I see ?\nKondwiramur, I think well, these tints sure shall liken thee !\n\nAnd white snow and blood-drops crimson, do ever thy likeness share, 55\n\nFor this favour 1 praise God’s working, and the world he hath wrought so\nfair!\n\nFor in this wise 1 read the vision,—in this snow that so spotless lies,\n\n’Gainst the blood-drops, that ruddy-gleaming, glow crimson beneath mine\neyes,\n\nI find ever thy face so gracious, my lady, Kondwiramur,\n\nRed as blood-drops and white as the snowdrift, it rejoiceth me evermore ! ’ 60\nThen her sweet face arose before him, in that night she first sought his side,\nWhen on each cheek a tear-drop glistened, and a third to her chin did glide.\nAnd so true was his love and steadfast, little recked he of aught around,\n\nBut wrapped round in love and longing, saw naught but the blood-stained ^\nground.\n\nFrau Minne with force constrained him, as here on his wife he thought, 65\nAnd by magic of colours mystic, a spell on his senses wrought\n\nSo held he him still, as sleeping—Would ye know who found him there ?\n\nThe squire of fair Kunnewaard would forth unto Lalande fare,\n\nAnd as on his way he journeyed, by the woodland green he saw\nA helmet all battle-dinted, and a shield which yet traces bore 70\n\nOf many a bitter conflict that was foughten for lady fair;\n\nAnd a knight there abode in armour, and his lance he aloft did bear\nAs one who here patient waited the joust that he fain would ride.\n\nThe squire swiftly turned his bridle and back to the camp he hied.\n\nYet in sooth had he seen the stranger, and his lady’s champion known, 75\nHe had ne’er been so swift to decry him, nor had wished he were over¬\nthrown,\n\nNor e’en a$ he were an outlaw, set the heroes upon his track :\n\nThe squire he of queen unfaithful, small wonder he knighthood lacked!\n\nAnd in this wise he called upon them, * Fie 1 Fie 1 on ye, coward knights !\nHold ye not Gawain for a marvel ? Have ye not in a hundred fights 80\n\nWon honour and fame as heroes, who fight for a hero king ?\n\nKnow now that ye stand dishonoured, and broken your goodly ring ! ’\n\nAh ! then there arose a clamour, and none but was fain to know\nOf the deed of knightly prowess, that should shame their honour so.\n\nVOL. I. L\n\n1 63\n\nPARZIVAL\n\n85 When they heard how bat one knight dared them, that but one knight a foe\ndid wait,\n\nThen sorely they mourned the promise that they sware to their king of\nlate.\n\nThen Knight Segramor sprang swiftly from amid the angry throng.\n\nHe ran, for in 900th he walked not, and ever his heart did long\nTo be in the midst of conflict, where conflict might chance to be,\n\n9° An they fail&d with cords to bind him, in the thick of the fight was he !\n\nAnd nowhere the Rhine’s swift waters may flow so strong and wide,\n\nTho* the stream should run swift between them, an men fought on the further\nside,\n\nHe stayed not to test the waters, if the current be hot or cold,\n\nBut straightway the stream he breasted, as fitted a swimmer bold 1\n\n95 Swift-foot to the tent of the monarch, the eager youth he sped.\n\nFor the day was but yet in its dawning, and the king he lay yet abed.\n\nThen straight thro 1 the lists he hied him, and he gat him thro 1 the door,\n\nAnd the covering all of sable, with hasty hand he tore\n\nFrom the twain who lay warm beneath it, and slumbered a slumber deep,\n\n100 Yet his haste moved them but to laughter, tho 1 he waked them from out their\nsleep!\n\nAnd loudly he cried on his cousin—* Queen, Lady, Guinevere,\n\n> Since the world knoweth well our kinship, thou must do me this service here,\nSpeak thou for me to thine husband, and pray thou of him this grace.\n\nSince a knightly venture nears us, my lot first the foe to face! ’,\n\n105 Yet Arthur spake, ( Now bethink thee of the oath thou didst swear to me.\n\nIn all things my will to follow, nor rashly to venture thee;\n\nFor if thou a joust now ridest, hereafter shall many a knight\nCrave leave at mine hand to ride forth, and seek for fame in fight,\n\nAnd ’twere ill thus our force to weaken, for know thou that near at hand,\nno Anfortas of Monsalvasch with a mighty host doth stand.\n\nThis wood of his he guardeth, and since we but little know\nWhere he and his force shall hold them, such chance well might work us\nwoe !*\n\nYet Guinevere wrought so wisely Segramor was well-nigh fain\nTo die of joy, from King Arthur, his lady this grace did gain.\n\nDigitized by V3 ■oogle\n\nARTHUR\n\nAnd on fame and honour only was the gallant youth intent, 1x5\n\nNor for gold had he sold the venture on which his heart was bent\n\nNow the hero young and beardless, well armed his steed bestrode,\n\nAnd over the fresh young greensward his charger at full speed rode; ^ _\n\nAnd the bushes were bent beneath him, and the golden bells rang dear\nOn trapping alike and armour; and 1 deem well an need were here xao\n\nTo seek for the magic pheasant mid thicket and thorny brake,\n\nHe who fain this knight had followed, the bells for his guide might take!\n\nThus rashly rode the hero, to him whom Frau Minne’s spell\nFast fettered in magic fetters, and no blow at the first there fell,\n\nFor the peace by his word was broken—There held fast by threefold I3 5\nmight,\n\nAnd the power of red blood-drops threefold stood ever the stranger knight.\n\n^Yea, well I myself have known this, how Frau Minne with power may hold,\n\nAnd holding, the senses scatter, and with passion of grief untold\nShall fill the heart to o’erflowing—Twas a woman who wrought this ill,\n\nAnd vanquished, she doth condemn me, and refuseth me comfort still. * 3 °\nThus draweth she guilt upon her, for the sin shall be hers, I ween,\n\nAnd afar must I fly from the presence, that of old time my joy hath beext^y\n\nThus Segramor quoth unto him, ‘ Now it seemeth but ill to me\nThat thus near our army lieth, and our presence rejoiceth thee !\n\nAnd thou holdest his fame too lightly, whom with pride we may hail our 135\nking,\n\nAnd *tis meet thou for this do penance,—or the death-chime for me shall\nring 1\n\nThus armed, all too near thou ridest; yet first would 1 courteous pray\nThat thou yield thee at this my bidding, or my wrong will I here repay.\n\nAnd my blow shall be swift, and thy falling shall scatter these snow-flakes c _\n\nwhite 1\n\nAnd 1 call on thee here to yield thee, ere 1 put thee to shame, Sir Knight! 1 140\n\nYet Parzival still kept silence—for Frau Minne, so fair and young,\nIn a sorer conflict held him—Then his steed Segramor Swung\nAside, as for jousting ready, round wheeled him the war-horse good\nOn whose back the gallant hero yet sate in mystic mood,\n\nDigitized by vjOCK^IC\n\nPARZIVAL\n\nX 4 S And ever he gazed on the blood-drops; as his charger turned him round\nAwhile from his eyes they vanished, and fame in their stead he found!\n\nFor swift as the blood-drops crimson thus passed from his dazzled sight,\n\nHe hearkened the voice of the foeman, and braced him anew for fight\n\nThen as Segramor rode against him, Parzival sought afresh the spear\n150 That he found by the woodland chapel, with blazon of colours clear;\n\nFor tough was the shaft, and he gripped it, and he held the point full low,\n\nAs his foeman dashed fair against him, his shield rang with the ringing blow.\nThen he spurred him anew to the onslaught, and the joust he so well repaid.\nThat the knight in his golden armour was low in the snowdrift laid !\n\n155 Yet still was the spear unsplintered, tho’ it bare him from off his horse ;\n\nAnd Parzival still kept silence, and he wheeled him upon his course,\n\nAnd his eyes sought once more the blood-drops, and e’en as they met his\nsight\n\nFrau Minne with fetters bound him, and held him in cords of might,\n\nAnd he spake never word, nor question, but gazed ever upon the ground,\n\n160 And, dreaming, he lost the knowledge which he for a space had found !\n\nBut affrighted, the gallant charger had fled back into its stall,\n\n7 And its ride£ r arosd, little comfort might he find, though he soft might fall 1\nOutstretched had he lain in the snowdrift, in such wise e’en as men shall go\nTo rest, yet but ill he sleepeth, who sleepeth on couch of snow!\n\n165 And such bed had sorrow brought me 1 for he to whom ill betides\n\nHath but mocking for his bedfellow, but the lucky doth God’s hand guide.\n\nSo near was King Arthur’s army, that right well might Parzival\nBfe seen of all men, and the wonders, and the conflict that then befell\nThe victor by Love was vanquished, by Love that in days of old\n170 Did the king of all kings the wisest, King Solomon, captive hold 1\n\nShort space, then, ere back to the army once more Knight Segramor came,\nAn with praise or with blame they should greet him, he counted it still the\nsame.\n\nAnd sharp words he flung among them, with mocking tongue and bold,\n\nTho’ vanquished, yet not dishonoured, must they ever the hero hold!\n\n175 And he quoth, ‘ Have ye never heard this, that strife bringeth loss as gain ?\nAnd never a joust, 1 wot me, but the victor doth one remain,\n\nDigitized by VjOOQ LC\n\nARTHUR\n\nWhile one aye shall be the vanquished: The best ship in storm may sink,\n\nAnd I wot that ye ne’er have heard me to speak, for 1 ne’er did think,\n\nAn he knew of my shield the blazon, he had faced me not as a foe 1\n\nMuch evil, in sooth, hath he wrought me, and yet doth he wait below 180\n\nAll those who would ride against him, for he seemeth for conflict fain,\n\nAn a knight should in joust o’erthrow him, such chance might he count for\ngain.*\n\nThen straightway unto King Arthur Sir Kay did the tidings bring,\n\nHow his knight, Segramor, had fallen, and his victor, without their ring,\n\nA young knight, for jousting ready, yet waited with ill intent— 185\n\n‘ Nay, I think an this stranger warrior of so many unpunished went,\n\nA burden both sore and shameful on our honour such lack would lay ;\n\nNow, my king, an thou hold me worthy, do thou grant me this grace, I ^\npray,\n\nI would ride hence to ask his meaning, who thus in the presence fair\n\nOf our Queen Guinevere and her maidens his lance-point aloft doth bear; 190\n\nBut if thou shouldst this boon refuse me, then know, not another hour\n\nI abide here as this thy servant; for I hold that the knightly power\n\nAnd the fair fame of thy Round Table are stain&d if we delay\n\nTo arm ourselves ’gainst the stranger who dareth our strength to-day!\n\nNow, I prithee, give leave to fight him—For tho’ blind and deaf were we, 195\n\nYet ’tis time that we should defend us’—‘ As thou wiliest, so let it be !’\n\nThen swift did the seneschal arm him, and I ween in fierce anger’s fire\nA woodland he fain had wasted ’gainst the foe, who with strong desire\nAnd love was thus sorely burdened; for Frau Minne a magic spell\nHad wrought with the snow-flakes spotless, and the blood-drops that crimson 300\n- fell\n\nAnd his knighthood he sorely sham&d, who thought here to work him harm,\nSince he faileth true Love to honour, who denieth of Love the charm. ^\n\n/f rau Minne, say, why dost thou make glad the souls that mourn\nWith bHss that too swiftly fleeting, but leaveth them more forlorn ?\n\n. And how canst thou, Frau Minne, true worth and knightly fame, 305\n\n/ And manly strength and courage, thus vanquish and put to shame?\n\n• For the leak is to thee as the greatest, and the earth shall no hero boast,\n\nWho thinketh to scorn thine empire, but he leameth unto his cost\n\n* 7 igitized by VJ VLJvJ VI V\n\ni66\n\nPARZIVAL\n\nThat thon canst, an thou wilt, o’erthrow him ; yea, all men thy power obey,\naio For thy sceptre we own as mighty, and wide as the world its sway.\n\nYet this one thing it doth thee honour, tho’ thou rulest all else but ill,\n\nJoy maketh her dwelling with thee, and for this would I praise thee still\n\nFrau Minne, alas! of old time full false were thy ways, I ween,\n\nNor hast thou thy dealings mended, nor to-day hast thou truer been,\n\n215 Thou hast many a maiden shamM, who love forbidden sought;\n\nThro 1 thy dealings, upon the vassal, his lord hath sorrow brought;\n\nAnd the friend shall false and faithless to the friend of his bosom prove,\n\nAnd the servant betray his master; such deeds do but shame thee, Love !\nAnd I would that it were far from thee, the body to yield to lust,\n\n220 In such wise that the soul asham&d is stricken with sorrow’s thrust,\n\nAnd that with force compelling, the young thou makest old,\n\nThough their years but few be counted, this must we for treason hold !\n\nSuch speech, I ween, beseems not the man who in serving thee\nHath comfort found! If succour thine hand ever brought to me,\n\n225 I had been less slow to praise thee, but sorrow and loss alone\n\nHast thou counted to me as guerdon, and such glamour thine, art hath\nthrown\n\nO’er mine eyes, that, methinks, henceforward I trust thee never more,\nThough small profit it brought unto thee, the bitter grief I bore I\nAnd yet too high above me art thou, that whate’er my wrong,\n\n230 I should e’en as a fool upbraid thee with bitter words and strong:\n\nFor thy spear too sharply pierces, and scarce may we bear the weighf.\n\nThou layest at will upon us—Methinks he who sang of late,-\n’Neath a tree, of thy mystic dealings, and thy wondrous ways of old, *\n\nHad better done had he told us how we thy grace might hold !\n\n23s (Heinrich of Veldeck was he, and he taught us, I ween, right well\nOf the winning of Love, of its guarding, alas ! he failed to tell.)\n\nFor oft one thro’ folly loses the prize that he late did win;\n\nYea, to me hath such fate befallen, yet Frau Minne, thine was the sin 1\nSince all wisdom shall be thy portion, since against thee nor spear, nor shield,\n240 Nor charger, nor guarded fortress their vaunted power can wield,\n\nI know not what shall withstand thee, nor on earth, nor on the sea 1\nHe who feareth to face thy conflict, say whither shall he flee ?\n\nDigitized by vJiOCK^lC\n\nARTHUR\n\n’Twas thy mystic power, Frau Minne, that dealt thus wkh Parzival,\n\nAnd reft him awhile of knowledge, and wrought with him as a fooL\nFor fair was the queen and gracious who reigned in far Pelrapar, 245\n\nAnd she thought on her lord and husband, and she made thee her message\nbear.\n\nAdd for this cause Kardeiss her brother, hast thou for thy payment slain,\n\nAnd since thou such tribute askest, ’tis well that 1 ne’er have ta’en\nFrom thine hand aught of good, since in such wise thou dost for thy debtors\ncare— *\n\nThis 1 spake for the sake of all men—List ye now how Sir Kay did fare: 250\n\nNow he rode forth in knightly armour to the strife that he sore did crave,\n\nAnd Gamuret’s son, right willing, to his wish fulfilment gave.\n\nAnd wherever fair maids compelling, their voices uplift in prayer,\n\nAnd the grace they shall ask be granted, let them pray here for his welfare,\nSince it was thro’ a woman’s beauty, that the spell of a woman wrought 255\nLove's magic, of senses robbed him—Then his charger to hair Kay brought;\nAnd he spake to the gallant Waleis, 1 Sir Knight, since thou thus our king\nHast shamed, thou shalt hear my counsel*, for wisdom perchance ’twill ^\nbring;\n\nThou shalt hang thee a hempen halter around thy neck straightway,\n\nFor so may I lightly lead thee, and take thou with me thy way. 260\n\nNor think thou, thou canst escape me, but with me unto my lord\nShalt thou go, as befits a captive, else worse may be thy reward! ’\n\nBy love constrained, the Waleis nor word nor answer spoke,\n\nKay gripped his spear-shaft tightly and he smote with a mighty stroke\nOn the hero’s head, till the helmet rang loudly beneath his hand; 265\n\nAnd he quoth, ( Now will I awake thee! Dost think here to take thy stand,\n'And standing sleep unsheeted ? Nay, other shalt thou fare,\n\nLow on the snow I ’ll lay thee I The ass that is wont to bear\nThe sack from the mill would rue it, did one smite him in such wise,\n\n‘ As here I think now to smite thee, and thy sloth and thy sleep chastise 1 ’ 270\n\nFrau Minne, now bethink thee, for sore this shameth thee, v\n\nFor an one should wrong a peasant, in this wise his speech will be,\n\n‘ My lord will sure repay thee!’ Vengeance from thee held seek\nMethinks, this gallant Waleis, an thou wouldst let him speak!\n\n\" Digitized by vj ■oogle\n\nPARZIVAL\n\n375 Now let him from out thy circle, and loose him from thy ban,\n\nThis stranger guest shalt prove him, a true and valiant man!\n\nSwift rode Sir Kay unto him, and he turned his bridle round,\n\nAnd no more his longing glances their joy and their sorrow found,\n\nThe white snow and blood-drops crimson, that mystic likeness bare\nTo the queen of his love and his longing, the Lady of Pelrapar;\np He knew all that passed around him—His charger Sir Kay addrest\nTo jousting, he spurred him onward, and his spear he laid in rest\n\nIn the joust, that which Kay had aimed at he smote, for his spear did\npierce .\n\nThe Waleis’ shield, yet swift payment was his, for in onslanght fierce\n285 The seneschal of King Arthur fell prone on the fallen tree,\n\nWhere the geese erewhile had hid them, and hurt full sore was he,\n\nAnd dead lay his gallant charger—°Twixt a stone and the saddle-bow,\n\nRight arm, and left leg had he broken—so mighty his overthrow\nThat all that had decked his charger, girths, saddle, bells of gold,\n\n390 By the force of the fall were shattered, thus the stranger his payment told.\nAnd with one blow, for twain repaid him—the one that erst for his sake,\n\nA maiden had borne and the other, which he from Kay’s hand must take.\n\n^ Thus he who knew naught of falsehood was guided of truth to know\nHer message in blood-drops threefold, on the white of the drifted snow.\n\n395 Twas tear-drops, not blood, that he saw there, and well might his senses fail.\nAnd the thoughts of his heart wax heavy, as he mused on the wondrous\nGrail,\n\nAnd sorely the semblance grieved him that spake of his wife and queen.\n\nYet tho* o’er the twain he sorrowed, the greater woe, I ween,\n\nWas the woe that Frau Minne wrought him, for there liveth not heart so\nstrong,\n\n300 But longing and love united break its power, ere the time be long.\n\nCount we here those twain as ventures? Nay, ’twere better methinks to\nhold,\n\nThat they were naught but pain and sorrow, that vanquished the hero bold.\n\nNow ye unto whom I tell this, I rede ye to mourn Kay's woe,\n\nFor full oft as his manhood bade him, he many a strife did know.\n\nDigitized by\n\nARTHUR\n\nAnd in many a land they speak thus, that Kay, Arthur’s seneschal, 305\n\nWas a firebrand, hell-born, yet I wot well far other the tale I ’Id telL\nFrom reproach would I gladly free him, tho* few but should say me nay,\n\nYet a gallant man and a worthy, 1 swear was this knight, Sir Kay.\n\nAnd my mouth to this truth beareth witness, and more would 1 tell to thee ;\nUnto Arthur’s Court came strangers in many a company, 310\n\nAnd their manners and ways were diverse, nor all there might honour claim,\n\nBut Kay an he saw false dealing, he counted such ways as shame,\n\nAnd his face he turned from the sinner, yet he who dealt courteously,\n\nAnd true man with true men would hold him, Kay served him right heartily.\n\nAnd one who full well discerned the manner of men was Kay,\n\nThus he did to his lord good service, for his harsh words drave far away\nThe men who would falsely vaunt them good knights and true to be,\n\nIll was he to them as a hailstorm, sharp as sting of an angry bee.\n\nSmall wonder that these deny him his honour and knightly fame,\n\nTrue servant and wise they found him, and for this cause upon his name\nTheir hatred doth still heap slander—Prince Herman, Thuringia’s lord,\nThou with vassals that crowd around thee, and strangers who seek thy\nboard,\n\nGood service might Kay have done thee, since so free art thou aye of hand,\nThat true men and men dishonoured, side by side in thine hall they stand ;\n\nAnd therefore Knight Walter singeth, * Now greeting to all I bring, 325\n\nMen evil and good 1 ’ And I trow well, where a singer such song may sing,\nThere the false are too highly honoured—Nay, far other Sir Kay had taught,\n(Yea, and Heinrich of Rispach also)—Now hearken ye in what sort^/\n\nOn Plimizdl’s plain men bare them ; from the field Sir Kay was borne\nTo the tent of his king, and around him, o’er his ill-fate his friends did 33°\nmourn;\n\nAnd maiden and knight they stood there ; to the tent where his comrade lay\nCame Gawain, and he quoth in sadness,* Alas 1 for the woeful day\nThat so ill a joust was ridden that hath robbed me of a friend 1 *\n\nThen out spake Kay in his anger, ‘ Now make of thy moan an end,\n\nIf comfort thou here wouldst bring me, do not as the women do, 335\n\nSince thou art my monarch’s nephew 1 I would do to thee service true,\n\nAs of free heart I ever did it, in the day that God gave me power,\n\nNor long for my aid hadst thou prayed me ! There cometh, perchance, an\nhour\n\nDigitized by )ogIe\n\nPARZIVAL\n\nWhen I, as of old, may serve thee : now cease thou thy moan I pray,\n\n340 For tho’ mine be the pain, yet my monarch shall ne’er find another Kay,\nAnd I wot that for mine avenger art thou all too nobly born ;\n\nAn yet hadst thou lost a finger 1 had counted myself forsworn\nAn 1 risked not mine head to pay it 1 Let that be as it may,\n\nBelieve me or not, as shall please thee, yet sooth are the words I say 1 ’\n\n345 ‘ No joust shalt thou ride at my urging, for roughly he greets his foe,\n\nWho holdeth without his station, and rideth nor swift nor slow.\n\nAnd 1 think me, of maidens’ tresses, tho’ frail be such cord and fair,\n\nEnough from such strife to bind thee, the chain of a single hair l\nAnd the man who shall show such meekness, he well doth his mother love,\n350 Since his sire would fain in the conflict his knightly mettle prove.\n\nBut follow thou aye thy mother, Sir Gawain, list well her rede,\n\nTurn thou pale at the glancing sword-blade, and shrink from the manly\ndeed I*\n\nAnd thus on the gallant hero the bitter words he spake\nFell sharply, he looked not for them, nor on Kay might he vengeance\ntake,\n\n355 Full seldom a knight may do so, since shame on his lips setteth seal,\n\nBut they who thus speak discourteous, such shame shall they never feel.\n\nThen Gawain he quoth in answer,* Where men knightly sword might bear,\n^ And have foughten, and I fought with them, then no man beheld me there, ;\nAnd saw that my cheek waxed paler at sight of wound or blow.\n\n360 I was ever thy friend—’twas needless that thou shouldst reproach me so l ’\nThen he strode from the tent, and he bade them bring hither his chaigfer\ngood,\n\nNor spur on his heel he buckled, unarmed he his steed bestrode.\n\nSo came he unto the Waleis (whose sense was of love held fast),\n\nAnd his shield to all eyes bare witness of three spears thro’ its circle\n\npassed,\n\n365 For three jousts of late had he ridden, and he rode them with heroes twain.\nOf Orilus too was he smitten—Then gently uprode Gawain,\n\nAnd he spurred not his steed to gallop, nor conflict nor strife he sought,\n\nFor he rode but in love and in kindness, to seek him who here had fought.\n\nDigitized by Google\n\nARTHUR\n\nFair spake Gawain the stranger, to greeting deaf was he,\n\nFran Minne yet held him captive, how other might it be ? 37 °\n\nTrue son of Herzeleide, to this lot was he bom,\n\nTo lose himself for love’s sake; such passion as had tom I\n\nThe hearts of these his parents, afresh in his heart awoke, '\n\nAnd but little his ear might hearken what the mouth of Gawain spoke.\n\nQuoth King Lot’s son unto the Waleis, ( Sir Knight, here thou doest ill 375\nIn that thou withholdest greeting—tho’ patient I wait thy will\nFar otherwise can I bear me 1 Know thou that to friend and king,\n\nYea, to all whom I count my fellows, thy deed doth dishonour bring,\n\nAnd our shame ever waxeth greater; yet prayed I for thee this grace,\n\nThe king of free heart forgives thee, if now thou shalt seek his face. 3 80\n\nSo hearken, I pray, my counsel, and do thou as I shall say,\n\nAnd ride thou with me to King Arthur, nor too long shalt thou find the\nway.’\n\nNor threatening nor piayer might move him, this fair son of Gamuret:\n\nThen the pride of King Arthur’s knighthood his memory backward set,\n\nAnd he thought of Frau Minne’s dealings, and the time when the knife’s 385\nsharp blade\n\nHe drave thro’ his hand unwitting, thro’ the love of a gracious maid.\n\nAnd that time when from death’s cold clutches, a queen’s hand had set him\nfree,\n\nWhen of Lahelein was he vanquished, and captive in joust was he,\n\nAnd a queen in the day of his danger must pledge her fair life for his,\n\nAnd her name shall of men be prais&d, Queen Ingus of Bachtarliess. 390\n\nThought Gawain, ‘ It may be Frau Minne dealeth so with this goodly man,\n\nAs she dealt with me of old time, so daspeth him in the ban\nOf her magic spells fair-woven, that his spirit within the snare\nShe holdeth fast entangled ’—Then his eyes on the snow-flakes fair\nHe cast, and he knew the token, and swift from the spell-bound sight 395\n\nWith cloth of fair silk and sendal, he covered the blood-drops bright\n\nThe blood-stained snow was hidden, nor longer its spell was seen,\n\nAnd his sight and his sense unclouded she gave him, his wife and queen ;\n\nYet his heart did she hold in her keeping, and its dwelling was Pelrapar,\n\nAnd be cried aloud in his sorrow thro’ the silent summer air ;\n\nDigitized by vjiOCK^lC\n\nPARZIVAL\n\n4 Alas! who of thee hath robbed me, who erewhile wast my queen and wife,\nFor thy love, thy crown, and thy kingdom my right hand hath won in strife.\nSay, say, am I he who saved thee from Klamidd the warrior king ?\n\nYea, sorrow and bitter sighing, and grief that the heart doth wring\n405 Are the guerdons I won in thy service, and now from mine eyes be-dazed\nArt thou reft, and thy place I know not, tho* but now on thy face I gazed . 1\n\nThen he quoth, ‘ Now, where shall my spear be, since I wot well I brought\nit here?’\n\nQuoth Gawain, 4 A joust hast thou ridden, and splintered shall be thy spear.’\n\n4 With whom should 1 joust ?’ quoth the Waleis , 4 thou bearest nor sword nor\nshield,\n\n410 And little had been mine honour, an thou to my hand didst yield!\n\nYet bear I awhile thy mocking, nor will I thy friendship pray,\n\nTho’ many a joust have I ridden, yet my saddle I kept alway.\n\nAn thou be not for jousting minded, and I find not in thee a foe,\n\nYet the world lieth wide before me, and hence on my way I go;\n\n415 For labour and strife am I seeking and fain would I win me praise,\n\nBe anguish or joy my portion ; nor unfruitful shall be my days.’\n\n^ Quoth Gawain , 4 What I spake aforetime I spake of true heart and free,\n\nNor my thoughts were the thoughts of evil, for well would I deal with\nthee;\n\nAnd the boon that I crave will I win me, my monarch with many a knight\n4 *> Lieth here at hand with his army, and with many a lady bright,\n\nAn it please thee, Sir Knight, to betake thee to our goodly company,\n\nFrom all strife shall this right hand guard thee, and gladly I’ll ride with\nthee.’\n\n4 1 thank thee, Sir Knight, fair thou speakest, yet say ere with thee I ride,\nWho the monarch may be whom thou servest? and who rideth here at\nmy side ? ’\n\n425 4 A man do I hail as master, thro’ whose fame much fame I won,\n\nNor here shall my mouth keep silence on the things he for me hath done.\nFor dear hath he ever held me, and as true knight did me entreat:\n\n(His sister King Lot hath wedded, and the twain I as parents greet)\n\nAnd the good gifts God gave unto me, to his service I yield them all,\n\n430 For my hand and my heart he ruleth, whom men do King Arthur call.\n\nDigitized by\n\nGoogle\n\nARTHUR\n\nNor mine own name need here be hidden, nor a secret shall long remain,\n\nFor the folk and the lands that know me, they call on me as Gawain :\n\nAnd fain would 1 do thee service, alike with my hand and name,\n\nIf thou turnest here at my bidding, nor bringest upon me shame! *\n\nThen he quoth,‘ Is it thou, O Gawain ? too little 1 yet have done 435\n\nThat thou shouldst as a friend entreat me; yet hast thou this honour won\nThat all men thou gently treatest—and thy friendship 1 here will take,\n\nYet not for mine own deserving, but repayment I fain would make. ^\n\nNow say where thine army lieth, since so many tents 1 see\n\nThat stand f^ir by the brink of the river ? If King Arthur in truth shall be 44°\n\nSo near, then must I bemoan me, that in honour I may not dare\n\nTo enter his royal presence, or look on his queen so fair.\n\nSince ’tis meet that I first avenge me of a foul and discourteous blow,\n\nFor which, since the day I left them, I sorrow and shame must know.\n\nFor a maiden as she beheld me, laughed sweetly, the seneschal 445\n\nFor my sake smote the maid so sorely, ’twas a wood that upon her fell.*\n\n1 Rough vengeance thou here hast taken 1 (Gawain to the Waleis spake)\n\nSince thou in a joust hast felled him, and right arm and left leg he brake.\n\nRide here, see his charger lifeless, that lieth the stone below ;\n\nOn the snowdrift behold the splinters of the spear that hath dealt the 45°\nblow 1\n\nTis the spear thou but now wast seeking! ’ Then the truth knew Sir\nParrival,\n\nAnd straightway he spake unto Gawain, ( Now, if this be the seneschal,\n\nAnd the man who so sorely shamed me, if thou swear me that this was he,\n\n^ Thou mayst ride where thou wilt, and gladly will I ride in thy company! 1\nv‘ Nay, never a lie do I tell thee,’ quoth Gawain, ‘ thou hast overthrown 455\n\nSegramor, who ere now in battle was ever as victor known,\n\nHe fell ere yet Kay had met thee: great deeds hast thou done to-day,\n\nSince o’er two of our bravest heroes the prize thou hast borne away.’\n\nSo rode they, the one with the other, the Waleis and Knight Gawain,\n\nAnd the folk, both afoot and on horseback, with honour would greet the 460\ntwain,\n\nGawain and his guest the Red Knight, this did they of courtesy,\n\nAnd the twain to his fair pavilion they gat them right speedily.\n\nDigitized by vj ,°°g •\n\nPARZIVAL\n\n7 And the lady, fair Kunnewaarl, whose tent by Gawain’s did stand,\n\nRejoiced, and she joyful greeted the hero, whose strong right hand\n465 Had failed not to wreak stem vengeance for the ill that Kay wrought that\nday;\n\nThen her brother and fair Jeschutl she led by the hand straightway,\n\nAnd Parzival looked upon them as the three to his tent drew near,\n\nAnd his face, thro’ the rust of his armour, it shone ever fair and clear,\n\nAs roses dew-dipped had flown there: his harness aside he laid,\n\n470 And he stood before Kunnewaarl, and thus spake the gentle maid :\n\n‘ To God shalt thou first be welcome, as welcome thou art to me,\n\nSince thy manhood thou well hast proven, and the faith that 1 had in\nthee!\n\nEre the day that my heart beheld thee, nor laughter nor smiles I knew.\n\nAnd Kay, who in that hour smote me, with stem hand my gladness slew.\n\n475 But now hast thou well avenged me 1 With a kiss 1 thy deed would pay,\n\nIf I of thy kiss were worthy 1 * ‘ Nay, so had I thought to-day\nTo crave of thy lips my payment/ quoth Parzival, ‘ if thou still\nWilt give me such gracious greeting; right gladly I ’ll do thy will! ’\n\nThen she kissed him, and down they sate them, and the princess a maiden\nsent\n\n480 And bade her to bring rich raiment; so sped she unto the tent;\n\nAnd the garments they lay there ready, of rich silk of Nineveh,\n\nFor her prisoner, King Klamidl, had she fashioned them cunningly.\n\nThen the maiden who bare the garments, full sorely must she bewail\nThat the mantle was yet unfinished, since the silken cord did fail.\n\n485 Then the lady, Kunnewaarl, from her side drew a silken band\n\nFrom the folds of her robe, in the mantle she wove it with skilful hand.\n\nThen courteous her leave he prayed him, the rust would he wash away,\n\nAnd fair shone his face, and youthful, and his lips they were red that\nday.\n\nAnd robed was the gallant hero, and so bright and so fair was he,\n\n490 That all men who there beheld him, they sware he for sure must be\nThe flower and the crown of manhood, a knight without shame or fear;\n\nAnd they looked upon him, and they praised him and his colour waxed\nbright and clear,\n\nDigitized by vJiOOQlC\n\nARTHUR\n\nAnd right well did his garb become him ; an emerald green and rare,\n\nThe gift of fair Ktmnewar£, as clasp at his neck he bare;\n\nAnd a girdle beside she gave him, all wrought in a cunning row 495\n\nWith mystic beasts, bejewelled, that burnt with a fiery glow,\n\nAnd its clasp was a red-fire ruby—How think ye the beardless youth\nWas seen when thus richly girded ? Fair was he in very sooth,\n\nFor so the story runneth—the folk bare him right goodwill,\n\nMen and women who looked upon him, they counted him worthy still. 500\n\nForthwith, as the Mass was ended, came Arthur the noble king,\n\nAnd the knights of his Table with him, a goodly following.\n\nNo man there whose lips spake falsehood. Yea, all heard the word that\nday,\n\n4 With Gawain the Red Knight dwelleth 1 ’ the king thither took his way.\n\nThen the knight who so sore was beaten came swiftly, Sir Antanor, 505\n\nFor, fain to behold the Waleis, his feet sped theldng before,\n\nAnd he asked , 4 Art thou he who avenged me, and the lady of fair Lalande?\nNow vanished shall be Kay’s honour, for'it falleth unto thine hand,\n\nAnd an end hast thou made of his threatening, and the days of his strife are\no’er,\n\nFor his arm it is weak, and his vengeance I fear for it never more ! ’ 510\n\nAnd so fair was the knight and radiant, that all men beheld his face\nAs an angel from heaven, that wingless, abideth on earth a space.\n\nAnd well did King Arthur greet him, and his knights were no whit behind,\n\nAnd all they who looked upon him, naught but love in their hearts might\nfind,\n\nAnd their lips to their heart made answer, and all spake to his praises, 4 Yea,’ 515\nAnd no man gainsaid the other, so lovely his mien that day I\n\nThen Arthur spake fair unto him, 4 Thou hast wrought me both joy and pain,\n\nYet ne’er from the hand of a hero such honour I thought to gain\nAs the honour that thou hast brought me ! yet no service I did to thee,\n\nAn I did, then thy fame had repaid it, tho’ no other thy deeds should be 590\nThan the deed thou hast done in the winning for Jeschut£ her husband’s\ngrace!\n\nNor Kay’s guilt had been unavenged, if ere this I had seen thy face\n\nDigitized by VjiOCK^lC\n\nPARZIVAL\n\nMyself had, unasked, chastised him.’ Then Arthur in this wise spake,\n\n‘ Since so far they had come, and their journey had they taken but for his sake,\n5*5 They all with one voice did pray him, to swear to them brotherhood,\n\nAnd be one of the gallant Table, a comrade both true and good.’\n\nAnd their prayer it seemed good unto him, and joyful at heart was he,\n\nAnd he sware them the oath that they asked for, and their knight would he\ngladly be.\n\nNow bear ye, and speak the verdict, if on this day the Table Round\n530 Its right, and its due observance had here, as aforetime found ;\n\nSince for many a day King Arthur in this wise had ruled his court,\n\nNo knight should break bread before him, if there came of fair venture naught.\nBut enough should have chanced this morning, and to Table they well might\ngo,\n\nThough from Nantes might they never bear it, yet they here would its\nsemblance show.\n\n535 Wide enow was the flowery meadow, nor hindered them tree or tent,\n\nAs they did here their monarch’s bidding !—for this was his heart’s intent,\nFair honour to give the Red Knight, and his valour, as meet, reward—\n\nThen a silk in Acraton woven, they laid on the grassy sward,\n\nTwas brought from far lands of paynim, and ’twas shapen both wide and\nround;\n\n540 For ever this courteous custom mid these gallant knights was found,\n\nNo high seat had they of honour, but all men were equal there ;\n\nAnd thus had King Arthur willed it, both the knights and their ladies fair\nAt the Table Round were welcome, yea, an they might honour claim,\nKnight, lady, or gentle maiden, at his court all should fore the same !\n\n545 And there, with her maiden following, came foir Guinevere the queen,\n\nAnd many a noble princess amid her train was seen,\n\n• And none but was fair to look on, and the ring it was spread so wide\nThat within, without strife or crowding, each maid sat her knight beside.\nAnd Arthur, who ne’er knew falsehood, led the Waleis by the hand,\n\n55° And Kunnewaard she walked beside him, the lady of foir Lalande,\n\nFrom sorrow the knight had freed her—Then, with kind and friendly eyes,\nLooked Arthur upon the hero, and he spake to him in this wise :\n\n‘ My queen will I bid to kiss thee, who art foir both of form and face,\n\nFor ne’er, in this court, of lady I ween wouldst thou crave this grace,\n\nARTHUR\n\nSince from Pelrapar thou hast ridden, and wert thou on kissing bent 555\nFrom lips of all lips the fairest, hast thou there thy full heart’s content!\n\nYet this one grace will 1 pray thee, if ever there dawn the day\nThat I find ’neath thy roof abiding, this kiss I may then repay 1 ’\n\n‘ In sooth, will I do thy bidding,’ quoth the Waleis, ‘both there and here ! ’\n\nThen unto the gallant hero stepped the Lady Guinevere, 5*°\n\nAnd fair on the lips she kissed him, and she quoth, ‘ Here I pardon thee\nThe ill thou aforetime didst me, and the sorrow thou gavest me.\n\nThou didst leave me sorely grieving, when from hence thou didst ride away.\n\nBy thy hand and thy dart my kinsman Prince Ither was slain that day ! ’\n\nAnd all tear-bedewed were the eyelids of the Lady Guinevere, 5*5\n\nFor Prince I tiler’s death wrought sorrow unto many a woman dear.\n\nNow must King Klamid£ seat him, on the bank by Plimizdl,\n\nAnd beside him sate Iofreit, who was son unto King Idfil;\n\nAnd ’twixt Klamidl and Gawain must the Waleis have his place—\n\nAnd they know who tell the venture, none sate here of royal grace, 57®\n\nNone who woman’s breast had suckled, whose fame stood so high and fair,\n\nFor courage and youthful beauty did the Waleis, as jewels, wear.\n\nAnd they owned, who there looked upon him, that mpny a maiden bright\nSaw herself in a darker mirror than the lips of this fair young knight.\n\nAnd on cheek and on chin his colour might well as fetters be 575\n\nFor those who should need such fetters, whose fancy flitteth free.\n\nHere might there be naught of changing—(of women my rede I trow\nFor some they are ever wavering, and ever new friendships know I)\n\nBut his look ever constant held them, till I wot well that thro’ their eyes\nHis entry he gained triumphant, and made of their hearts his prize! 5*°\n\nThus maiden and man beheld him, and his honour all men did praise,\n\nTill he found here the goal of sighing, and the end of his joyous days.\n\nFor hither came one I must tell of, and faithful was she in truth\nTho’ discourteous her ways, and for sorrow, I ween, had she little ruth 1\nAnd the folk for her message sorrowed—Now hear how the maid must ride, 5&5\nHer mule it was tall as a war-horse, and branded on either side;\n\nAnd its nostrils were slit as is custom in the far land of Hungary,\n\nYet her harness and bridle were costly, with rich work broidered cunningly.\n\nSoft and slow paced her mule, yet the maiden was not as a maid, I trow. *\nWhat sought she ? She came as 'twas fated, and sorrow must Arthur know. 59°\nVOL. I. Di9 ized >0 S le M\n\nPARZIVAL\n\n( And of wisdom forsooth this maiden might boast her a wondrous store,\nv No tongue but she spake, French, Latin, and Paynim : in all such lore\nAs men read in the highest heavens, Dialectics, Geometry,\n\nIn all was she courteous trained, and her name it was called Kondrie^\n\n595 1 The sorceress’ did men name her, nor her speech halted on its way,\n\nToo ready her tongue, since rejoicing she smote into grief that day.\n\nThis maiden, so rich in wisdom, bare little of maiden grace,\n\nNo lover e’er praised her beauty, no tongue spake her fair of face.\n\nA tempest she, joy destroying, yet of bridal cloth from Ghent\n600 Did she wear a mantle, bluer than azure the soft tints blent.\n\nAs a cap was it fairly fashioned, such as maidens in France shall wear,\n\nAnd beneath it, around her body, a silken robe she bare.\n\nAnd a hat of the English peacock, with silk of orient lined,\n\nAnd new was the hat, and the fastening, and it hung low the maid behind.\n605 And like to a bridge her message, that sorrow o’er joy had crossed.\n\nAnd shame enough did she bring them, till laughter in tears was lost.\n\nIn a thick plait above her headgear had she flung her tresses back,\n\nAnd adown on the mule were they hanging, so long, and so coarse, and black,\nNor softer to touch than the bristles, which swine on their backs shall show.\n610 And her nose as a dog’s was shapen, and from out her mouth did grow\nTwo tusks as bad ’seemed a wild boar, a hand’s-breadth long were they;\nAnd above her eyes the eyebrows as thick as plaits they lay.\n\nAnd I speak but the truth, as I needs must, tho’ my words lack in courtesy\nSince I speak of a maid, yet, for such cause, none other reproacheth me.\n\n615 And ears as a bear had Kondrie, and never the eye might trace\nA shy glance of love, or of longing, I ween in that wondrous face.\n\nAnd a scourge did she bear, and the handle was a ruby, of silk the cord ;\nAnd the hands of this winsome maiden like a lion’s were sharply clawed,\nAnd the skin as an ape’s was dusky, and the nails they were not too light,\n6 ao And I ween, for her maiden favours, but seldom would heroes fight!\n\nSo rode she unto the circle, and her coming did sorrow bring,\n\nAnd fair joy did she put in peril—Then turned she unto the king,\n\n(And Kunnewaard sat beside him, his table-mate was she,\n\nAnd fair Guinevere, his consort, a queen bare her company.)\n\nDigitized by * ^.ooQie\n\nARTHUR\n\nThus in royal state King Arthur as monarch sat that day— to 5\n\nTo the Breton king rode Kondrie, and in French did she speak alway;\n\nAnd tho* 1 in another language than hers shall the venture tell.\n\nYet 1 rede ye to wit that the telling it pleaseth me none too well 1\n\n* Thou son of high Pendragon, thyself, and thy Breton host.\n\nBy thy deed hast thou shamed—From all lands the noblest that they might 630\nboast\n\nOnce sat here a gallant circle, but poisoned is now their fame,\n\nAnd thy Table Round dishonoured by traitor, and brought to shame.\n\nKing Arthur, o’er all thy fellows, thy praises of old stood high,\n\nBut it sinketh now, thy glory, and thy fame, that did swiftly fly,\n\nHenceforward goeth halting; thine honour doth seek the ground 635\n\nSince it showeth stain of falsehood—The fame of thy Table Round f\nIt suflereth for the friendship ye with Parzival did swear,\n\nTho’ I wot well the outward token of a spotless knight he bear.\n\n“ The Red Knight ” ye here do call him, the name of one who lay\n\nDead before Nantes, yet I tell thee unlike in their life are they! 640\n\nFor no mouth hath read of a hero whose fame knew nor fault nor flaw,\n\nAs his I* * From the king she turned her, and did rein by the Waleis\ndraw,\n\nAnd she quoth, ‘ Now sore shalt thou rue it, since I, for thy sake deny\nMy greeting unto King Arthur, and the knights of his company.\n\nMay thy fair face be dishonoured, and thy manhood I look on here. 645\n\nOf forgiveness and joy were I merchant, in sooth shouldst thou buy them\ndear! {\n\nAnd I deem thou art but a monster, and myself shall far fairer be !\n\nSpeak, Sir Parzival, as I bid thee, and this riddle read thou to me,\n\nWhen thou sawest the fisher sit there, joyless, of comfort reft, ^\n\nWhy didst thou not loose his sighing ? Why was he in bondage left ? ’ 650\n\n* For he showed thee of his sorrow—Oh 1 thou false and faithless guest,\n\nV For hadst thou had pity_o n him, his anguish had gotten rest\n\nI would that thy moutJimight perish, yea, the tongue thy mouth within,\n\nV For e’en as the heart the tongue is, in thine heart is the root of sin. |l/ ( 0 I\n\nTo Hell shalt thou be predestined, by the Ruler of Heaven high, , 655\n\nAnd this be on earth thy portion, that true men thy face shall fly.\n\n4 r Digitized byV\n\ni8o\n\nPARZIVAL\n\nj And ban hast thou won for blessing, and for bliss shalt thou find but bale,\n\nFor too late dost thou strive for honour, and thy striving shall naught avail |\nAnd so feeble shall wax thy manhood, and thy fame it shall be so weak,\n\n660 That never shall soul’s physician the promise of healing speak. i\n\nAn one to the oath should drive me, on thine head were I fain to swear, |\n\nThat never a darker treason was wrought by a man so fair. |\n\nThou hook in fair feathers hidden, bright serpent with poisoned fang,\n\n' Who ne’er of the sword was worthy, which thine host at thy side did hang!\n\n665 The goal of thy sins, this thy silence, of Hell’s horde art thou now the sport,\nAnd dishonour upon thy body, Sir Parzival, hast thou wrought\n\nI Saw’st thou not how they bare before thee the Grail, and the bleeding spear,\nAnd sharp silver ? Thy joy’s destruction, and thy shelter from grief were\nhere! ’\n\n' f 4 Yea, hadst thou but asked at Monsalvasch ; afar, in a heathen land,\n\n670 Rich o’er all earthly riches, doth the town of Tabronit stand ;\n\nJr*Yet the riches thy speech had won thee had been greater far, I ween—\n\n\\ And with gallant strife of knighthood the hand of that country’s queen\nFeirefis Angevin hath won him : no fear doth his manhood stain ;\n\nOne father, I ween, hath borne ye, yet unlike shall ye be, ye twain.\n\n675 And thy brother is strange to look on, for both white and black his face,\n\nAnd at Zassamank he reigneth o’er the folk of his mother’s race.*\n\n‘And my thoughts to thy sire are turning ; his country was fair Anjou,\n\nAnd he left thee far other heirdom (for his heart never falsehood knew,)\n\nThan the heritage thou hast won thee, and the crown of an evil fame !\n\n680 And could I but think thy mother had wrought here a deed of shame\n\nI had said that his child thou wert not 1 Yet her faith it but wrought her\nwoe,\n\nAnd of her naught but good be spoken ! And thy father, as all men know,\n\nIn his manhood was true and steadfast, and in many a distant land\nHe won for him meed of honour, and his praise o’er all men did stand.\n\n685 For great heart and little falsehood as a roof did defend his breast,\n\nA dam ’gainst the flood of evil, and a home for his love to rest.\n\nAnd in manly strength and courage was his honour for aye held fast,\n\nBut thy truth it is turned to falsehood, and thine honour to earth is cast !\n\nAlas 1 for the day I heard it, alas 1 for the mournful tale,\n\n690 That the child of fair Herzeleide in knighthood and faith should fail.’\n\nDigitized by vjOOQ 1C\n\nARTHUR\n\nShe herself was the prey of sorrow, and her hands did she wring amain, j\nWhile the teardrops they chased each other down her cheeks like a shower -\nof rain.\n\nAnd her eyes they gave faithful witness to the grief that her bosom filled,\n\nFor of true heart she spake, the maiden, nor e'en then was the sorrow stilled.\n\nThen unto the king she turned her, and she spake ‘ Is there here a knight\nWho yearneth for love's rewarding, and for honour and fame would fight ?\nFor I know of four queens, and maidens four hundred, and all are fair,\n\nIn Chateau Merveil is their dwelling ; and like to the empty air\nShall be all knightly ventures to the venture that Burg within.\n\nYet he who shall face its peril, from true love shall his guerdon win.\n\nAnd tho' far be that Burg and distant, and weary and rough the way,\n\nIts walls must I seek if haply I reach them ere close of day.'\n\nAnd sad was the maid, not joyful, nor courteous she bade farewell,\n\nBut weeping she gazed around her, and she cried as the teardrops fell,\n\n4 Ah ! woe unto thee, Monsalvasch, thou dwelling and goal of grief, f\nSince no man hath pity on thee, or bringeth thy woe relief I'\n\nThus had the sorceress Kondrie, that maiden fierce and proud,\n\nWrought evil upon the Waleis, and his fame to the earth had bowed.\n\nNaught they helped him, his bold heart's counsel, his manhood and knightly\nfame, «\n\nAnd high o'er all other virtues, the virtue of knightly shame. 710\n\n(For falsehood he ne'er had hearkened,) and true shame doth rewarding\nbring,\n\nAnd it crowneth the soul with honour as the circlet doth crown a king. ,\n\nAnd he who true shame doth cherish his work shall for ever stand—\n\nThen she lifted her voice o’er the maidens, the maiden of fair Lalande,\n\nAnd she wept for the words of Kondrie, and the sorrow of Parzival, * 715\n\nFor the fairest of men did she deem him ; and swiftly the teardrops fell\nFrom the eyes of many a woman, for the sake of that hero bold,\n\nAnd they sorrowed at heart, and their weeping must many a knight behold ! j (\n\nNow sorrow had Kondrie brought them ; and e'en as her way she went\nAnother must ride towards them on a warlike errand bent;\n\nA knight of a haughty bearing, and his harness was fair to see,\n\nFrom his foot to the goodly helmet, and royal its cost must be,\n\nDigitized by * L.oogle\n\nPARZIVAL\n\nAnd richly plumed was the helmet; and, e’en as the man, the steed\nWas clad in such glittering armour as serveth for knightly need.\n\n7*5 And he found them, both man and maiden, heavy and sad at heart,\n\nAs he rode nigh unto the circle; hear ye how he bare his part—\n\nTho’ his mien it was high and haughty, yet his heart it was full of woe,\n\nOf the twain shall ye learn the reason ; thro’ his manhood he pride must know,\nYet grief to his heart taught mourning—Thus rode he unto the ring,\n\n73 ° Were it well he should come within it ? Then squires to his aid did spring,\nAnd the gallant knight they greeted, yet were he and his shield unknown,\nNor he doffed from his head the helmet, and sorrow was his alone ; -\nAnd his hand bare a sword unsheathed, and he asked for those heroes twain,\n1 Where are they whom 1 fain would speak with, King Arthur and Knight\nGawain?’\n\n735 Then straight thro’ the ring he passed him, and a costly coat he bare,\n\nAnd ’twas wrought of silk all shining, in Orient woven fair ;\n\nAnd before the host he halted as he sate there within the ring,\n\nAnd he spake aloud, ‘ God’s favour be on thee, thou gracious king,\n\nAnd upon these knights and ladies—To all whom mine eyes here see,\n\n740 i offer, in greeting, service, yet be one from my greeting free ;\n\nFor ne’er will I do him service, nay, rather I choose his hate,\n\nIf ill-will he beareth to me, mine ill-will with his may mate 1 ’\n\n‘And ’twere well that I name him to ye. Alas 1 alas! woe is me I\nMy heart he so sore hath wounded, mine anguish o’er-great shall be !\n\n745 And here doth he sit. Sir Gawain, whom all men were wont to praise,\n\nHigh standeth his fame, yet dishonour it ruleth, methinks, his ways ;\n\nSince avarice to this betrayed him, in greeting my lord he slew,\n\nThe kiss once by Judas given, it taught him such guile anew.\n\nMany thousand hearts hath he wounded—Twas murder base, abhorred,\n\n75 * And he, upon whom he wrought it, erewhile was my dearest lord.\n\nAn Sir Gawain would here deny it, true answer our strife shall yield,\n\nForty days from to-day shall he meet me, and face me on battlefield,\n\nBefore Askalon’s king and ruler, in the city of Schamfanzon ;\n\nThus I bid him in honour face me, and for conflict his armour don. 1\n\n755 ‘ And this grace shall he not refuse me, but thither his shield shall bear;\n\nAnd yet further shall he bethink him, by the helmet he weareth fair,\n\nDigitized by Google\n\nARTHUR\n\ni«3\n\n. And the life that a knight beseemeth, who two treasures in pledge doth hold,\nTrue shame, and a faith unwavering, and their fame shall be new, as old.\n\nBut from shame may Gawain ne’er free him, if a knight of the Table Round,\nWhose heroes stand here before me, he thinketh he may be found. 760\n\nFor its honour and fame are vanished, if false knight sit its board beside—\nMethinks ye have heard mine errand, and ye know I came not to chide,\n\nFor here would I not blame, but battle, and death shall my guerdon be,\n\nAn it be not a life of honour, that Good Fortune shall hold for me! ’\n\nThen sad was the king and silent, yet answer at last he gave, 765\n\n‘ Know, Sir Knight, that Gawain is my nephew, and myself would the conflict\nbrave\n\nEre his bones should lie dishonoured—If Good Fortune by Gawain stand\nIn strife shalt thou well acknowledge, ’neath the might of his strong right\nhand\n\nThat his body in faith he keepeth, and falsehood afar doth hold.\n\nIf another hath done thee evil methinks art thou over-bold, 770\n\nHis shame dost thou speak too loudly, who never hath done thee ill—\n\nIf he winneth, perchance, thine homage, and thou ownest him guiltless still,\n\nYet hast thou in short space spoken such words of a blameless knight\nAs have sham&d for aye thine honour, if this folk read the thing aright! 1\n\nThen upsprang the proud Knight Beaucorps, brother to Gawain he, 775\n\nAnd he spake in his wrath, * Wouldst thou fight him ? Then myself his\npledge will be,\n\nFor thou speakest false of Gawain ; and know that thy words of shame\nHave kindled anew within me fierce wrath’s devouring flame.\n\nAn thou speakest not Gawain guiltless of all dishonour, I\n\nStand here to fight his battle, and to be his surety. 780\n\nThink not by thy words of scorning to lower his lofty fame,\n\nUnstained is Gawain’s honour, and thy words are but words of shame !’\n\nThen he turned him to his brother, and he spake of true heart and free,\n\n‘ Bethink thee now, my brother, of all thou hast done for me,\n\nThou hast helped me unto the winning of fame, for thy toil’s reward ^\n\nBid me here to be hostage for thee, and bid me thine honour guard.\n\nIf Good Fortune be here my portion, and I win here my meed of fame,\n\nThen thine be the crown of honour, and thy foeman hath naught but shame.’\n\nDigitized by * ^ooQle\n\ni«4\n\nPARZIVAL\n\nBy his knighthood and love as a brother he besought him right earnestly;\n790 Quoth Gawain, ‘ Now in sooth, my brother, too wise shall I surely be\nTo hearken to thee, and to grant thee what thou askest of right good-will;\nWhat meaneth this strife, I wot not, and of fighting have had my fill,\n\nOf good-will would I ne’er deny thee what boon thou from me shouldst crave,\n^ Yet shame must I bear for ever if this conflict I fail to brave 1 ’\n\n795 Yet Beaucorps he prayed him straitly—then out spake the stranger knight,\n\n* A man whom I ne’er have heard of now lusteth with me to fight!\n\nI spake not of him, and no evil, methinks, hath he done to me.\n\nStrong, gallant, and fair to look on, and faithful and rich is he,\n\nAnd well might he be my hostage, yet against him no wrath 1 bear—\n\n800 My lord and my kinsman was he for whose death I this strife declare,\n\nAnd brothers twain were our fathers, as comrades and kinsmen true;\n\nAnd were he a crown&d monarch against whom my sword I drew,\n\nBy my birth might I give him battle, and verigeance of right demand.\n\nOf a royal race, and a princely, was I bom in a distant land.\n\n805 And Askalon is my country, I am Landgrave of Schamfanzon,\n\nKingrimursel do they call me ; if Gawain’s fame be not outrun\nNo otherwise may he free him, but conflict with me must dare.\n\nYet safe-conduct throughout my kingdom, from all save my hand, I swear,\nIn peace may he ride, and safety, to the field where I vengeance claim ;\n\n810 God keep in His grace those I leave here, save one, and ye know his name!’\n\nSo passed he, the gallant hero, from the plain of Plimizol,\n\nAnd e’en as his name was nam&d, all men knew Kingrimursel,\n\nFor the fame of this knight so valiant was known thro’ the far lands wide.\nAnd it seem&d them well that to Gawain might ill thro’ this strife betide\n815 When they thought of the strength and the manhood of this knight who rode\nswift away.\n\nAnd many must sorely vex them that no honour he won that day ;\n\nYet full often a message cometh, I myself shall such venture know,\n\nOf such wise, that the guest who bears it, of his host must ungreeted go !\n\nFrom Kondrie they heard the tidings of Parzival’s name and kin,\n\n820 How a queen, she had been his mother, and his sire was an Angevin.\n\nAnd they spake—‘ ’Twas at fair Kanvoleis* and the story we know full well,\nHe served her with deeds of knighthood, and many a joust befell,\n\nDigitized by Google\n\nARTHUR\n\nAnd there by his dauntless manhood he won him that lady bright;\n\nAnd the noble Queen Anflisd, she taught him, that gallant knight,\n\nSuch courtesy as befitted a hero of lineage high ; 8a S\n\nAnd no Breton but shall rejoice him, that his son now draweth nigh,\n\nFor of him, e’en as of his father, may this tale of a truth be told\nThat honour is his yoke-fellow, as she was of his sir%of old.’\n\nThus joy alike and sorrow came to Arthur’s host that day,\n\nAnd mingled, the life of the heroes, since the twain they must have their way. 830\nUpstood they all as one man, and all with one voice they wept,\n\nAnd the bravest knights among them within the circle stept,\n\nAnd they looked on Gawain and the Waleis where each by the other stood,\n\nAnd they wove them fair words of comfort to pleasure the heroes good.\n\nBut Klamidd the king bethought him that the loss which should be his share 835\nWas greater than that of another, and too sharp was his pain to bear,\n\nAnd to Parzival he quoth thus,*If the Grail thee for lord must own, I\nYet still would I mourn my sorrow, and of true heart my woe make knoWn.\n\nFor the kingdom of Tribalibot, and Kaucasus’ golden strand,\n\nWhatsoe’er shall be writ of riches in Christian or paynim land, 840\n\nYea, even the Grail and its glory, they had failed the hurt to cure\nWhich at Pelrapar was n>y portion, or the grief that I here endure !\n\nAh me! Of all men most wretched am I since thy valiant hand\nOf joy and of blessing robbed me !—See'the princess of fair Lalande,\n\nKnow thou that this noble lady she keepeth such faith with thee, 845\n\nThat no service else she craveth, and none other knight will she;\n\nYet well might she crown his service who served her for love alone!\n\nAnd that I am so long her captive, methinks may she well bemoan.\n\nIf my joy thou to life wouldst quicken, then give me thine aid, I pray,\n\nAnd teach her herself to honour in such wise that her love repay 850\n\nIn a measure the ill thou didst me, and that which thro’ thee I lost,\n\nWhen the goal of my joy fled from me and my pathway by thee was crossed,\n\nBut for thee, I, methinks, had reached it, and if thoujart foeman true\nThou wilt help me with this fair maiden, and my gladness shall wax anew! *\n\n‘ Right gladly will I,’ quoth the Waleis, * if so be she will grant my prayer,\nFor fain would I bring thee comfort, since mine is that maiden fair\nFor whose sake thou sore didst sorrow, my wife and my queen is she,\nKondwiramur, the fairest of all women on earth that be !’\n\nDigitized by Google\n\nPARZIVAL\n\nThen the heathen Queen of Ianfas, King Arthur, and Guinevere,\n\n860 Kunnewaard of Lalande, and Jeschutd of Karnant, who these words must hear.\nCame near with sweet words of comfort—what would ye they should do more ?\nKunnewaard they gave to Klamidd, who yearned for her love so sore,\n\nAnd he gave her, as her rewarding, himself, his body fair,\n\nAnd a queenly crown and golden henceforth on her head she bare !\n\n86s\n\n[\n\nI\n\n\\\n\nQuoth the heathen unto the Waleis , 1 Kondrie a man hath named, '\nWhom thou as in truth thy brother, rejoicing, might well have claimed ;\nFor for and wide he ruleth in the power of a double crown,\n\nAnd alike by land and water men in fear to his hand bow down.\n\nAnd Assagog is one kingdom, Zassamank shall the other be,\n\nTwo mighty lands and powerful from fear and from weakness free.\n\nAnd naught shall be like his riches save those the Baruch doth own,\n\nOr those of far Tribalibot, he is worshipped as God alone!\n\nA marvel his skin to look on, and like unto none his face,\n\nFor ’tis black, and ’tis white, as his parents, who sprang of a diverse race.\nThro* one of his lands I journeyed as hither 1 took my way,\n\nAnd full fain had he been my wanderings in a far-off land to stay.\n\nYet but little his will prevailed, tho’ I am his near of kin,\n\nThe cousin unto his mother, and he is a mighty king!\n\nYet hear thou more of his prowess; his saddle no man may keep\nWho rideth a joust against him, and fame doth he richly reap.\n\nAnd no gentler knight or truer e’er lay on a mother’s breast,\n\nAnd falsehood it deeth from him, and truth in his heart doth rest.\n\nYea, true and fair in his dealings is Feirefis Angevin,\n\nAnd women he serveth duly, tho’ he pain thro* his service win ! ’\n\nq&5 1 Tho’ all men to me were strangers, yet hither I came to know\nWhat ventures of gallant knighthood a Christian land might show ;\n\n< And of all Heaven’s gifts the highest, I ween, shall thy portion be,\n\n_ Aijd Christendom winneth honour thro’ the praise it doth give to thee.\n\n^ And thine is a noble bearing, and fair is thy form and face,\n\n890 And in thee beauty mates with manhood, and strength doth thy youth\nembrace! ’\n\n(Both rich and wise was the heathen, and of wisdom she token gave,\n\nIn the French tongue her speech was holden.) Then out spake the hero J\nbrave,\n\nDigitized by Google\n\n_'\n\nARTHUR\n\nAnd he quoth, * God reward thee, Lady, who thinkest to comfort me,\n\nYet sorrow it fast doth bind me, and the cause would I tell to thee,\n\nFor the shame that has here befallen think not I shall lightly bear, ® 9 S\n\nAnd here many sin against me, who give to my plaint no ear,\n\nThe while I must list their mocking!—No jo y shall my p ortionbe\nOr long or short be my wanderings, till the Grail once again I s ee)l\nFor my soul’s unrest constrains me, and it driveth me on my way,\n\nNor so long as my life endureth shall my feet from their wanderings stay lV 900\n\n* If a courteous and knightly bearing but bringeth rewarding still\nIn shame, and in this world’s mocking, then methinks I was counselled ill!\nFor ’twas Gurnemanz who bade me of questions rash beware, |\n\nAnd from words and ways unfitting a courteous knight forbear.\n\nHere standeth full many a hero, I pray ye give counsel true,\n\nBy your courtesy and knighthood, that your grace I may win anew.\n\nHere hath judgment been passed upon me with bitter words and strong—\nWho withholdeth from me his favour, I deem not he doth me wrong ;\n\nIf perchance, in the days hereafter, fame and honour my lot shall be\nThen according to those my dealings, I pray ye to deal with me;\n\nBut now must I haste far from ye—An oath have ye sworn me here\nWhile I stood in the strength of mine honour ; of that oath do I hold ye clear\nTill the day I have won me payment for my fresh joy waxed wan and pale ;\nAnd my heart shall be home of sorrow, nor tears to mine eyes shall fail,\n\nFor the day that at far Monsalvasch my labour I left undone, f j\nAnd myself from all joy I severed, and woe for my guerdon won. \\ ^\n\nAh God ! they were fair, those maidens 1 and ne’er was there wonder tale\nThat men told, bat as naught its marvels to those of the wondrous Grail!\nYet torment so sore, and sighing, are the lot of Its king, alas t\nSmall good hath my coming done thee, thou hapless Anfortas! y\n\n90s\n\n920 ,\n\nf'^Nor longer the knight might linger, but part they must alway,\n\nSo turned he unto King Arthur, and leave he fain would pray\nOf him, his knights, and ladies, with their favour would he depart,\nAnd none, I ween, but sorrowed that he rode hence sad at heart\n\nHand in hand King Arthur sware him, if henceforth his land should bear 995\nSuch woe as Klamidl brought him, then the shame he with him would\nshare,\n\nDigitized by Google\n\niSS\n\nPARZIVAL\n\nAnd he spake that full sore it grieved him that crowns and kingdoms twain,\nWith the riches that were their portion, Lahelein from the knight had ta’en.\nAnd service both true and faithful many sware unto him that day,\n\n930 Ere yet from the court of King Arthur, sorrow-driven, he passed away.\n\nThen the fair maid Kunnewaard, she took the hero bold,\n\nAnd hence by the hand she led him, and in this wise the tale is told,\n\nSir Gawain he turned and kissed him, and he spake out in manly wise\nTo the hero strong and gallant: ‘ Now thou ridest in warlike guise,\n\n935 And thy feet shall be swift to battle—God guide thee upon thy way,\n\nAnd give me such strength to serve thee as my heart shall be fain alway.’\n\nBut Parzival cried, ‘ Woe is me ! Who is He, this mighty God ?\n\nHad He power,then methinks our portion had ne’er been this shame abhorred!\nSmall power shall be His! I served Him from the day I first knew His\n\\ grace,\n\n^40 Henceforth I renounce His service ; doth He hate me, His hate I’ll face !\nAnd, friend, in thine hour of peril, as thy shield may a wifes love stand,\n\nDost thou know her for pure and holy, then the thought of her guide thine\nhand,\n\nAnd her love from all evil guard thee,—as I wish, may it be to thee,\n\nFor little I wot of the future, if thy face I again may see ! ’\n\n945 And their parting it brought them sorrow, for comrades in ill were they.\nWith the maiden Kunnewaard, to her tent must he take his way.\n\nAnd she bade them bring his harness; with her hands so soft and white,\n\nShe bound the armour on him who had served her as faithful knight.\n\nAnd she spake, °Tis my right to do this, since it is thro’ thy deed alone\n950 That Brandigan’s gallant monarch now claimeth me as his own.\n\nFor otherwise thy valour but bringeth me grief and pain,\n\nArt thou not against sorrow armed, then thy loss shall outweigh my gain ! ’\n\nFor battle decked was his charger, and his sorrow must wake to life,\nAnd fair was the knight to look on; and the harness he bare for strife\n955 Knew never a flaw, but was costly, and as sunshine ’twas white and fair,\nAnd radiant with gold and jewels the corslet and coat he ware,\n\nBut the helmet alone was lacking—ere he bound it upon his head,\n\nhi the se lf-same hour he kissed her, Kunnewaard, the gracious mai d.\n\nDigitized by Google\n\nARTHUR\n\nAn d this of the twain was told me, that the parting was sore to see /** / ^4 / /\n\nTwixt those two who loved each other in all honour and loyalty.\n\n'V\n\nSo hence let him ride, our hero, and what ventures a man may tell\nHe shall measure them not with the ventures that to Gamuret's son befell.\n\nYet hear yt awhile of his doings, where he journeyed and whence would\nride—\n\nHe who loveth not deeds of knighthood, if counsel he take of pride\nFor awhile will forget his doings —On thee r Kondwiramur, ui'tc , £965\nOn thy fair face and lovely body, thy lover thought evermor e. ^^f **?* 9\n\nWhat ventures he xlared in thy service as knightly the Grail he sought! \\ '\nNor tarried he in the seeking but onward his way he fought,\n\nThe child of fair Herzeleide, and knew not that he was heir\n\nTo the glories that he rode seeking, to the Grail and Its palace fair! 970\n\n.1^5\n\nThen forth went full many a vassal on a toilsome and weary way,\n\nTo gaze on the wondrous castle where in magic fetters lay\nFour hundred gracious maidens, and four queens, right fair to see.\n\nCh&teau Merveil was the castle; and no hate shall they earn from me,\n\nI grudge them naught they may win there 1 No woman rewardeth me, 975\nFor she to whom I do service, from payment hath set me free !\n\nThen out spake the Greek, Sir Klias , 1 Yea, there was I overthrown ! *\n\n(And thus in the ears of all men did he frankly the truth make known)\n\n• For the Turkowit he thrust me from my charger unto my shame ;\n\nAnd four queens who there lie captive the knight unto me did name ; 980\n\nAnd old are the twain, and the others as yet they shall children be,\n\nAnd the first maid is called Itonjfc, and the second shall be Kondrie,\n\nAnd the third she is named Amivfc, and Sangivfc the fourth is hight ! 7\nThen fain to behold the wonders of that castle was many a knight,\n\nYet their journey brought little profit, for sorrow o’ertook them there. 985\n\nYet I mourn not o’ermuch for their sorrow; for he who would labour bear,\n\n*And strife, for the sake of a woman, for guerdon shall gladness know,\n\nTho 7 grief shall be mixed with his gladness, and his joy shall be crossed with\nwoe.\n\nAnd I know not the which shall be stronger, or if sorrow shall joy out¬\nweigh,\n\nBut so runneth the world for ever, where Frau Minne she holdeth sway I 990\n\n. Digitized by vjOO^IC\n\nPARZIVAL\n\nNow Gawain he must make him ready, and he girded his armour on,\n\nFor the strife that afar should wait him, in the kingdom of Askalon.\n\nAnd sad was many a Breton, and ladies and maidens fair\n\nOf a true heart did they bemoan them that Gawain must to conflict fare.\n\n995 And orphaned and reft of glory henceforth was the Table Round.\n\nThen Sir Gawain he well bethought him, since victor he would be found,\nAnd he bade the merchants bring him good shields both hard and light,\nAnd little he recked their colour so they served his need in fight\nOn laden mules they brought them, and methinks that they sold them dear ;\niooo And three did he take as his portion—and the hero he chose him here\nSeven chargers well fit for battle, and he chose him as friends so good\nTwelve spears of sharp steel of Angram, and the hilts were of hollow wood.\nThey were reeds grown in heathen marshlands, Orast Gentesein their name.\nThen Gawain he prayed leave, and rode forth, dauntless, to seek him fame,\n1005 And with royal hand, for his journey, King Arthur he gave the knight\nRed gold, and rich store of silver, and jewels gleaming bright,\n\nAnd heavy the weight of his treasure—Then the hero rode swift away,\n\nAnd I ween ’twas towards sore peril that his pathway must lead that day.\n\nThen she sailed to her distant kingdom, the young Queen Ekuba,\n\n1010 I speak of the heathen princess; and they scattered to lands afar\nThe folk who awhile abode there, on the fair plain of Plimizbl;\n\nAnd King Arthur and all his courtiers they gat them to KaridoL\nYet first they prayed leave, Klamidd and Kunnewaar£ of fair Laland,\n\nAnd Duke Orilus and his lady, Jeschut€ of Kamant\n1015 Yet till the third day with Klamidd in the plain did the twain abide,\n\nAnd the marriage-feast was holden ere yet from the place they ride.\n\nYet small was the pomp; in his kingdom, I ween, should it greater be.\n\nAnd free was his hand and knightly, and he dealt right courteously,\n\nFor many a knight at his bidding henceforth must his man remain,\nxoao And many a wandering minstrel did he gather within his train.\n\nAnd he led them into his kingdom, and in honour, rich gifts, and land\nHe gave unto them, nor churlish would any refuse his hand.\n\nNow Duke Orilus and Jeschut^, to Brandigan the twain would fare\nFor the love that unto Klamidd and Kunnewaare they’bare.\n\n<005 For they thought them that fitting honour to their sister they scarce had done\nTill as queen they had seen her crown&d, and set on the royal throne.\n\nDigitized by vjiOOQ 1C\n\nARTHUR\n\nNow I know well if wise the woman, and true of heart she be,\n\nWho seeth this story written, of a sooth will she own to me\nThat better I speak of women than I spake of one erewhile ;\n\nFor true was fair Belakand, and free from all thought of guile,\n\nFor dead was her love, yet lifeless he still o’er her heart did reign.\n\nAnd a dream filled fair Herzeleide with torment of fear and pain.\n\nAnd Queen Guinevere bewailed her full sorely for Itheris death,\n\n(And little I grudge her mourning, for no truer knight e’er drew breath).\nAnd I wot when King Lac’s fair daughter rode forth such a shameful ride\nThen sorely 1 mourned the sorrow that, guiltless, she must abide.\n\nSore smitten was Kunnewaar^, and tom was her golden hair;\n\nNow the twain they are well aveng&d, and glory for shame they bear!\n\nAnd he who doth tell this story, he weaveth his ventures fair,\n\nAnd he knoweth right well to rhyme them, in lines that break and pair.\nAnd fain were I more to tell ye, an she give to my words good heed\nWho treadeth with feet far smaller than the feet that shall spur my steed !\n\nDigitized by\n\nGoogle\n\nIO40\n\n:ed by v^ooQle",
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