Stories of King Arthur's Knights, Told to the Children Part 3

But Enid told the Earl how Geraint had first seen and loved her in the dress she wore, and how he had asked her to wear it when he took her to the Queen. 'And when we started on this sad journey, I wore it again, to win back his love,' she said, 'and I will never take it off till he arises and bids me.'

Then the Earl was angry. He came close to Enid, and struck her on the cheek with his hand.

And Enid thought, 'He would not have dared to strike me, if he had not known that my lord was truly dead,' and she gave a bitter cry.

When Geraint heard Enid's cry, with one bound he leaped to where the huge Earl stood, and with one swing of his sword cut off the Earl's head, and it fell down and rolled along the floor.

Then all the lords and ladies were afraid, for they had thought Geraint was dead, and they fled, and Geraint and Enid were left alone.

And Geraint never again thought that Enid loved the gay lords and ladies at King Arthur's court better than she loved him.

Then they went back to their own land. And soon the people knew that Prince Geraint had come back a true knight, and the old whispers that he was a coward faded away, and the people called him 'Geraint the Brave.'

And her ladies called Enid, 'Enid the Fair,' but the people on the land called her 'Enid the Good.'

LANCELOT AND ELAINE

Her name was Elaine. But she was so fair that her father called her 'Elaine the Fair,' and she was so lovable that her brothers called her 'Elaine the Lovable,' and that was the name she liked best of all.

The country people, who lived round about the castle of Astolat, which was Elaine's home, had another and a very beautiful name for her. As she pa.s.sed their windows in her white frock, they looked at the white lilies growing in their gardens, and they said, 'She is tall and graceful and pure as these,' and they called her the 'Lily Maid of Astolat.'

Elaine lived in the castle alone with her father and her two brothers, and an old dumb servant who had waited on her since she was a baby.

To her father Elaine seemed always a bright and winsome child, though she was growing up now. He would watch her serious face as she listened to Sir Torre, the grave elder brother, while he told her that wise maidens stayed at home to cook and sew. And he would laugh as he saw her, when Sir Torre turned away, run off wilfully to the woods.

Elaine spent long happy days out of doors with her younger brother Lavaine. When they grew tired of chasing the b.u.t.terflies and gathering the wildflowers, they would sit under the pine-trees and speak of Arthur's knights and their n.o.ble deeds, and they longed to see the heroes of whom they talked.

'And the tournament will be held at Camelot this year,' Lavaine reminded his sister. 'If some of the knights ride past Astolat, we may see them as they pa.s.s.' And Elaine and Lavaine counted the days till the tournament would begin.

Now Arthur had offered the prize of a large diamond to the knight who fought most bravely at the tournament.

But the knights murmured to each other, 'We need not hope to win the prize, for Sir Lancelot will be on the field, and who can stand before the greatest knight of Arthur's court?'

And the Queen heard what the knights said to each other, and she told Lancelot how they lost courage and hope when he came on to the field. 'They begin to think some magic is at work when they see you, and they cannot fight their best. But I have a plan. You must go to the tournament at Camelot in disguise. And though the knights do not know with whom they fight, they will still fall before the strength of Lancelot's arm,' added the Queen, smiling up to him.

Then Lancelot disguised himself, and left the court and rode towards Camelot. But when he was near Astolat he lost his way, and wandered into the old castle grounds, where Elaine stood, with her father and brothers.

And as Elaine's father, the old Baron, welcomed the knight, Lavaine and Elaine whispered together, 'This is better than to see many knights pa.s.sing on their way to Camelot.'

And Lancelot stayed at Astolat till evening, and he told many tales of Arthur's court.

As Elaine and Lavaine listened to his voice, and looked at his face, with the scars of many battles on it, they loved him. 'I will be his squire and follow him,' thought Lavaine, and Elaine wished that she might follow the strange knight too. But Sir Torre, the grave elder brother, looked gloomily at the stranger, and wished he had not come to Astolat.

In the evening Sir Lancelot told the Baron how he was going in disguise to the tournament, and how, by mistake, he had brought his own s.h.i.+eld with him. 'If you can lend me another, I will leave my s.h.i.+eld with you till I come back from Camelot,' said the knight.

Then they gave him Sir Torre's s.h.i.+eld, for Sir Torre had been wounded in his first battle, and could not go to the tournament.

And Elaine came running gladly to take the strange knight's s.h.i.+eld under her care. But none of them knew that it was Sir Lancelot's s.h.i.+eld, for he had not told them his name.

And Elaine, carrying the s.h.i.+eld with her, climbed the tower stair, up to her own little room. And she put the s.h.i.+eld carefully into a corner, thinking, 'I will sew a cover for it, to keep it safe and bright.' Then she went downstairs again, and saw that the knight was going, and that Lavaine was going too.

'He has asked the knight to take him as his squire,' she thought.

'But although I cannot go,' she murmured sadly, 'I can ask him to wear my favour at the tournament.' For in those days a knight often wore the colours of the lady who loved him.

Very shyly Elaine told the knight her wish. Would he wear her favour at the tournament? It was a red sleeve, embroidered with white pearls.

Lancelot thought how fair Elaine was, as she looked up at him with love and trust in her eyes, but he told her gently that he had never yet worn a lady's favour, and that he could not wear hers.

'If you have never worn one before, wear this,' she urged timidly.

'It will make your disguise more complete.' And Lancelot knew that what she said was true, and he took the red sleeve embroidered with pearls, and tied it on his helmet.

So Elaine was glad, and after the knight and Lavaine had ridden away, she went up the turret stair again to her little room. She took the s.h.i.+eld from the corner, and handled the bruises and dints in it lovingly, and made pictures to herself of all the battles and tournaments it had been through with her knight.

Then Elaine sat down and sewed, as Sir Torre would have wise maidens do. But what she sewed was a beautiful cover for the s.h.i.+eld, and that Sir Torre would not have her do, for he cared neither for the strange knight nor his s.h.i.+eld.

Lancelot rode on towards Camelot, with Lavaine as his squire, till they came to a wood where a hermit lived. And they stayed at the hermitage all night, and the next morning they rode on till they reached Camelot.

And when Lavaine saw the King sitting on a high throne, ready to judge which knight was worthy to have the diamond, he did not think of the grandeur of the throne, nor of the King's marvellous dress of rich gold, nor of the jewels in his crown. He could think only of the n.o.bleness and beauty of the great King's face, and wish that his fair sister Elaine might see him too.

Then many brave knights began to fight, and all wondered why Sir Lancelot was not there. And they wondered more at the strange knight, with the bare s.h.i.+eld and the red sleeve with pearls on his helmet, who fought so bravely and overthrew the others one by one.

And the King said, 'Surely this is Sir Lancelot himself.' But when he saw the lady's favour on the knight's helmet, he said, 'No, it cannot be Sir Lancelot.'

When at last the tournament was over, the King proclaimed that the strange knight who wore the red sleeve embroidered with pearls had won the prize, and he called him to come to take the diamond.

But no one came, and the knight with the red sleeve was nowhere to be seen. For Sir Lancelot had been wounded in his last fight, and when it was over, had ridden hastily from the field, calling Lavaine to follow. And when they had ridden a little way into the wood, Sir Lancelot fell from his horse. 'The head of the spear is still in my side,' he moaned; 'draw it out, Lavaine.'

At first Lavaine was afraid, for he thought of the pain it would give the knight, and he was afraid too that the wound would bleed till his knight bled to death. But because Sir Lancelot was in great suffering, Lavaine at last took courage, and pulled the head of the spear out of Lancelot's side. Then he, with great difficulty, helped the knight on to his horse, and slowly and painfully they rode towards the hermitage.

They reached it at last, and the hermit came out and called two of his servants to carry the knight into his cell; and they unarmed him and put him to bed. Then the hermit dressed the knight's wound and gave him wine to drink.

When King Arthur found the strange knight had disappeared, and heard that he was wounded, he said that the prize should be sent to so gallant a victor. 'He was tired and wounded, and cannot have ridden far,' said the King. And turning to Sir Gawaine, he gave him the diamond, and told him to go and find the knight and give him the prize he had won so bravely.

But Sir Gawaine did not want to obey the King. He did not want to leave the feasting and merriment that followed the tournament. Yet since all Arthur's knights had taken a vow of obedience, Gawaine was ashamed not to go, so sulkily, like no true knight, he left the feast.

And Sir Gawaine rode through the wood and past the hermitage where the wounded knight lay; and because he was thinking only of his own disappointment, his search was careless, and he did not see the shelter Sir Lancelot had found. He rode on till he came to Astolat. And when Elaine and her father and her brother Sir Torre saw the knight, they called to him to come in and tell them about the tournament, and who had won the prize.

Then Sir Gawaine told how the knight with the red sleeve embroidered with white pearls had gained the prize, but how, being wounded, he had ridden away without claiming it. He told too how the King had sent him to find the unknown knight and to give him the diamond.

But because Elaine was very fair, and because he did not greatly wish to do the order of the King, Sir Gawaine lingered there, wandering in the old castle garden, with 'the Lily Maid of Astolat.' And he told Elaine courtly tales of lords and ladies, and tried to win her love, but she cared for no one but the knight whose s.h.i.+eld she guarded.

One day, as Elaine grew impatient with the idle Sir Gawaine, she said she would show him the s.h.i.+eld the strange knight had left with her. 'If you know the arms engraved on the s.h.i.+eld, you will know the name of the knight you seek, and perhaps find him the sooner,'

she said.

And when Sir Gawaine saw the s.h.i.+eld he cried, 'It is the s.h.i.+eld of Sir Lancelot, the n.o.blest knight in Arthur's court.'