Tales of King Arthur and the Round Table 14
"Now, dear father," said Elaine, "give me leave to ride and to seek him,
for I shall go out of my mind unless I find him and my brother."
"Do as you will," answered her father, "for I am grieved to hear of the
hurt of that noble Knight." So the damsel made ready.
On the morn Sir Gawaine came to King Arthur and told him how he had
found the shield in the keeping of the Maid of Astolat. "All that I knew
beforehand," said the King, "and that was why I would not suffer you to
fight at the tourney, for I had espied him when he entered his lodging
the night before. But this is the first time that ever I heard of his
bearing the token of some lady, and much I marvel at it."
"By my head," answered Sir Gawaine, "the Fair Maiden of Astolat loves
him wondrous well. What it all means, or what will be the end, I cannot
say, but she has ridden after him to seek him." So the King and his
company came to London, and every one in the Court knew that it was Sir
Lancelot who had jousted the best.
And when the tidings came to Sir Bors, his heart grew heavy, and also
the hearts of his kinsmen. But when the Queen heard that Sir Lancelot
bore the red sleeve of the Fair Maid of Astolat, she was nearly mad with
wrath, and summoned Sir Bors before her in haste.
"Ah, Sir Bors," she cried when he was come, "have the tidings reached
you that Sir Lancelot has been a false Knight to me?"
"Madam," answered Sir Bors, "I pray you say not so, for I cannot hear
such language of him."
"Why, is he not false and a traitor when, after swearing that for right
or wrong he would be my Knight and mine only, he bore the red sleeve
upon his helm at the great jousts at Camelot?"
"Madam," said Sir Bors, "I grieve bitterly as to that sleeve-bearing,
but I think he did it that none of his kin should know him. For no man
before that had seen him bear the token of any lady, be she what she
may."
"Fie on him!" said the Queen, "I myself heard Sir Gawaine tell my lord
Arthur of the great love that is between the Fair Maiden of Astolat and
him."
"Madam," answered Sir Bors, "I cannot hinder Sir Gawaine from saying
what he pleases, but as for Sir Lancelot, I am sure that he loves no one
lady or maiden better than another. And therefore I will hasten to seek
him wherever he be."
Meanwhile fair Elaine came to Winchester to find Sir Lancelot, who lay
in peril of his life in the hermit's dwelling. And when she was riding
hither and thither, not knowing where she should turn, she fell on her
brother Sir Lavaine, who was exercising his horse. "How doth my lord Sir
Lancelot?" asked she.
"Who told you, sister, that my lord's name was Sir Lancelot?" answered
Sir Lavaine.
"Sir Gawaine, who came to my father's house to rest after the tourney,
knew him by his shield," said she, and they rode on till they reached
the hermitage, and Sir Lavaine brought her to Sir Lancelot. And when she
saw him so pale, and in such a plight, she fell to the earth in a swoon,
but by-and-by she opened her eyes and said, "My lord Sir Lancelot, what
has brought you to this?" and swooned again. When she came to herself
and stood up, Sir Lancelot prayed her to be of good cheer, for if she
had come to comfort him she was right welcome, and that his wound would
soon heal. "But I marvel," said he, "how you know my name." Then the
maiden told him how Sir Gawaine had been at Astolat and had seen his
shield.
"Alas!" sighed Sir Lancelot, "it grieves me that my name is known, for
trouble will come of it." For he knew full well that Sir Gawaine would
tell Queen Guenevere, and that she would be wroth. And Elaine stayed and
tended him, and Sir Lancelot begged Sir Lavaine to ride to Winchester
and ask if Sir Bors was there, and said that he should know him by token
of a wound which Sir Bors had on his forehead. "For well I am sure,"
said Sir Lancelot, "that Sir Bors will seek me, as he is the same good
Knight that hurt me."
Therefore as Sir Lancelot commanded, Sir Lavaine rode to Winchester and
inquired if Sir Bors had been seen there, so that when he entered the
town Sir Lavaine readily found him. Sir Bors was overjoyed to hear good
tidings of Sir Lancelot, and they rode back together to the hermitage.
At the sight of Sir Lancelot lying in his bed, pale and thin, Sir Bors'
heart gave way, and he wept long without speaking. "Oh, my lord Sir
Lancelot," he said at last, "God send you hasty recovery; great is my
shame for having wounded you thus, you who are the noblest Knight in the
world. I wonder that my arm would lift itself against you, and I ask
your mercy."
"Fair cousin," answered Sir Lancelot, "such words please me not at all,
for it is the fault of my pride which would overcome you all, that I lie
here to-day. We will not speak of it any more, for what is done cannot
be undone, but let us find a cure so that I may soon be whole." Then Sir
Bors leaned upon his bed, and told him how the Queen was filled with
anger against him, because he wore the red sleeve at the jousts.
"I am sorrowful at what you tell me," replied Sir Lancelot, "for all I
did was to hinder my being known."
"That I said to excuse you," answered Sir Bors, "though it was all in
vain. But is this damsel that is so busy about you the Fair Maid of
Astolat?"
"She it is, and she will not go from me!"
"Why should she go from you?" asked Sir Bors. "She is a passing fair
damsel, and of gentle breeding, and I would that you could love her, for
it is easy to see by her bearing that she loves you entirely."
"It grieves me to hear that," said Sir Lancelot.
After this they talked of other things, till in a few days Sir
Lancelot's wounds were whole again. When Sir Lancelot felt his strength
return, Sir Bors made him ready, and departed for the Court of King
Arthur, and told them how he had left Sir Lancelot. And there was on All
Hallows a great tournament, and Sir Bors won the prize for the unhorsing
of twenty Knights, and Sir Gareth did great deeds also, but vanished
suddenly from the field, and no man knew where he had gone. After the
tourney was over, Sir Bors rode to the hermitage to see Sir Lancelot,
whom he found walking on his feet, and on the next morning they bade
farewell to the hermit, taking with them Elaine le Blanc. They went
first to Astolat, where they were well lodged in the house of Sir
Bernard, but when the morrow came, and Sir Lancelot would have departed
from them, Elaine called to her father and to her brothers Sir Tirre and
Sir Lavaine, and thus she said--
"My lord Sir Lancelot, fair Knight, leave me not, I pray you, but have
mercy upon me, and suffer me not to die of love of thee."
"What do you wish me to do?" asked Sir Lancelot.
"I would have you for my husband," answered she.
"Fair damsel, I thank you," said Sir Lancelot, "but truly I shall never
have a wife. But in token and thanks of all your good will towards me,
gladly will I give a thousand pounds yearly when you set your heart upon
some other Knight."
"Of such gifts I will have none," answered Elaine, "and I would have you
know, Sir Lancelot, that if you refuse to wed me, my good days are
done."
"Fair damsel," said Sir Lancelot, "I cannot do the thing that you ask."
At these words she fell down in a swoon, and her maids bore her to her
chamber, where she made bitter sorrow. Sir Lancelot thought it would be
well for him to depart before she came to her senses again, and he asked
Sir Lavaine what he would do.
"What should I do?" asked Sir Lavaine, "but follow you, if you will have
me." Then Sir Bernard came and said to Sir Lancelot, "I see well that my
daughter Elaine will die for your sake."
"I cannot marry her," answered Sir Lancelot, "and it grieves me sorely,
for she is a good maiden, fair and gentle."
"Father," said Sir Lavaine, "she is as pure and good as Sir Lancelot has
said, and she is like me, for since first I saw him I can never leave
him." And after that they bade the old man farewell and came unto
Winchester, where the King and all the Knights of the Round Table made
great joy of him, save only Sir Agrawaine and Sir Mordred. But the Queen
was angry and would not speak to him, though he tried by all means to
make her. Now when the Fair Maid of Astolat knew he was gone, she would
neither eat nor sleep, but cried after Sir Lancelot all the day long.
And when she had spent ten days in this manner, she grew so weak that
they thought her soul must quit this world, and the priest came to her,
and bade her dwell no more on earthly things. She would not listen to
him, but cried ever after Sir Lancelot, and how she had loved none
other, no, nor ever would, and that her love would be her death. Then
she called her father Sir Bernard, and her brother Sir Tirre, and begged
her brother to write her a letter as she should tell him, and her father
that he would have her watched till she was dead. "And while my body is
warm," said she, "let this letter be put in my right hand, and my hand
bound fast with the letter until I be cold, and let me be dressed in my
richest clothes and be lain on a fair bed, and driven in a chariot to
the Thames. There let me be put on a barge, and a dumb man with me, to
steer the barge, which shall be covered over with black samite. Thus,
father, I beseech you, let it be done." And her father promised her
faithfully that so it should be done to her when she was dead.
[Illustration: THE BLACK BARGET]
Next day she died, and her body was lain on the bed, and placed in a
chariot, and driven to the Thames, where the man awaited her with the
barge. When she was put on board, he steered the barge to Westminster
and rowed a great while to and fro, before any espied it. At last King
Arthur and Queen Guenevere withdrew into a window, to speak together,
and espied the black barge, and wondered greatly what it meant. The King
summoned Sir Kay, and bade him take Sir Brandiles and Sir Agrawaine, and
find out who was lying there, and they ran down to the river side, and
came and told the King. "That fair corpse will I see," returned the
King, and he took the Queen's hand and led her thither. Then he ordered
the barge to be made fast, and he entered it, and the Queen likewise,
an
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