Stories of King Arthur's Knights, Told to the Children Part 6

Sir Gawaine saw how beautiful the lady was, and he forgot her unkindness to Sir Pelleas, and he loved her. And because he was not a true knight, Sir Gawaine did not think of Pelleas, who waited so anxiously for his return.

Three days pa.s.sed, but he did not go back, and in the castle all was joy and merriment.

Six days pa.s.sed, and still Sir Gawaine stayed with the beautiful Lady Ettarde.

At last Sir Pelleas could bear his loneliness no longer. That night he went up to the castle, and swam across the river. When he reached the front of the castle, he saw a great many tents. And all the lords and ladies were asleep in their tents, and Sir Gawaine was there too.

'He has forgotten me, and will stay here always with the Lady Ettarde,' muttered Sir Pelleas in scorn, and he drew the sword he had won at the tournament, to slay the false knight Sir Gawaine.

Then, all at once, he remembered the vows he had taken, when the great King had knighted him, and slowly he sheathed his sword, and went gloomily down to the river.

But Sir Pelleas could not make up his mind to go away, and again he turned and went back to the tent, where Sir Gawaine lay, still asleep.

Once more Sir Pelleas drew his sword, and laid it across the false knight's bare neck.

When Sir Gawaine woke in the morning, he felt the cold steel, and putting up his hand, he found the sword that Sir Pelleas had left.

Sir Gawaine did not know how the sword had come there, but when he told the Lady Ettarde what had happened, and showed her the sword, she knew it was the one that Sir Pelleas had won at the tournament, when he had given her the golden circlet.

'You have not slain the knight who loved me,' cried the Lady Ettarde, 'for he has been here, and left his sword across your throat.' And then she hated Gawaine because he had told her a lie, and she drove him from her castle.

And the Lady Ettarde thought of her true knight Sir Pelleas, and at last she loved him with all her heart.

But when he had left his sword across Sir Gawaine's throat, Pelleas had gone sadly back to his tent, and taking off his armour, had lain down to die.

Then the knight's servant was in great distress, because his master would neither eat nor sleep, but lay in his tent getting more pale and more thin day by day. And the servant was wandering sadly along the bank of the river, wondering how he could help his master, when he met a beautiful maiden called the 'Lady of the Lake.'

The maiden asked why he looked so sad, and, won by her gentleness, he told her how his master had been hated by the Lady Ettarde, and betrayed by the false knight Sir Gawaine.

'Bring me to your master,' said the Lady of the Lake.

And when she had come to the tent and saw Sir Pelleas, she loved him.

'I will send him to sleep,' she murmured, 'and when he wakes he will be well.' And she threw an enchantment over him, and he slept.

When Sir Pelleas awoke, he felt strong once more, and at last he knew that the cruel Lady Ettarde had never been the lady of his dreams, and he loved her no longer.

But when the Lady Ettarde knew that Sir Pelleas loved her no more, she wept sorrowfully, and died of her grief.

Then the gentle Lady of the Lake asked Pelleas to come with her to her own beautiful Lake-land. And as they rode together, her simple kindness made the knight happy again, and he learned to love the Lady of the Lake, and they lived together and loved each other all their lives long.

GARETH AND LYNETTE

Gareth was a little prince. His home was an old grey castle, and there were great mountains all round the castle. Gareth loved these mountains and his beautiful home at the foot of them. He had lived there all his life.

Gareth had no little boys or girls to play with, for there were no houses near his mountain home.

But Gareth was happy all day long. Sometimes in the bright summer mornings the streams would call to him. Then he would follow them up the mountains, till he found the place where the streams ended in tiny silver threads.

Sometimes the birds and beasts, his woodland friends, would call to him, and then Gareth would wander about in the forest with them till evening came. Then he would tell his mother the wonderful things he had seen, and the wonderful things he had heard in the forests and on the mountain-sides.

Gareth's mother, the Queen of Orkney, loved the little prince so much that she was never dull. She had no one to talk to except her little son, for her husband was old, so old that he could not talk to his Queen. And if she talked to him, he was almost too deaf to hear what she said.

But though the Queen was never dull, she was sometimes unhappy. She was afraid that some day, when Gareth was older, he would want to leave her to go into the world, perhaps to go to the great King Arthur's court, as his three brothers had done.

Now Gareth had already heard stories about the brave deeds of King Arthur's knights. He knew that they were strong men, and that they fought for the weak people, and that they often had great adventures, when they were sent to punish the King's enemies. And Gareth longed to be a man, for 'when I am a man, I will be one of Arthur's knights, too,' he thought.

[Ill.u.s.tration: SOMETIMES THE BIRDS & BEASTS HIS WOODLAND FRIENDS WOULD CALL TO HIM

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At last, one day, his mother knew that what she had been afraid of had come to pa.s.s. She knew that Gareth would not be content to stay among the mountains much longer. But when he threw his arms round her, and coaxed her to let him go, she thought, 'Surely I can keep him a little longer.' And she said, 'Your father is old, and your brothers have left me, you will not leave me alone, Gareth. You will stay and be a great huntsman and follow the deer.' But all the time her heart whispered, 'He will not stay.'

And Gareth said, 'Let me go, sweet mother. Now I am a man, I must do a man's work. "Follow the deer!" No; now I must follow the King.'

But still his mother would not let him go. 'The next time he asks me, I will try another way,' she thought. And when Gareth came again and pleaded to be allowed to go to the court, she said, 'Yes, you may go, if for one whole year you will tell no one your name, or that you are a prince, and if for that whole year you will go into the King's kitchen and work there.' 'These things will be too difficult for my princely boy,' she thought.

But Gareth wanted to go so much, that he promised not to tell any one his name, nor that he was a prince. 'And I will go to the court, only to work in the King's kitchen for a year,' promised Gareth proudly. And then his mother knew that her plan had failed, and she wept.

But Gareth was glad. He got up early one morning, and without saying good-bye to his mother, for he could not bear to see her sad face again, he left his mountain home, and went out into the wide world.

When three men, dressed like ploughmen, left the castle, no one would have known that one of them was a prince. For Gareth had left all his beautiful clothes behind him, and was dressed just like the two servants he took with him. But still he was glad, for though he remembered he was going to work in a kitchen, he thought a year would soon pa.s.s, and then, perhaps, King Arthur would make him one of his knights.

On a certain day, every year, there was a great feast at Arthur's court. Now the King would not sit down to the feast till he had heard if any of his people were in trouble, and if they wished one of his knights to go to help them. And on this day too, people could come into the King's presence to ask for any boon or good thing they wished. Gareth reached the court, with his two servants, on one of these feast-days.

'The King will listen to my wish to-day. I will go to him at once,'

thought Gareth. And leaning on the shoulders of his servants, so as to look less princely, he came into the large dining-hall.

'Grant me only this boon,' Gareth entreated the King, 'that I may work in your kitchen and eat and drink there for a year. After that I will fight.'

And King Arthur looked at Gareth, and saw that though he leaned on his servants he was tall and strong, and that though he wore rough clothes, he was as n.o.ble-looking as any of his knights.

'You ask but a small boon,' said the King. 'Would you not rather serve me as my knight?'

And Gareth longed to say 'Yes.' But as he could not break the promise he had given to his mother, he said again, that the only boon he asked was to be allowed to work in the King's kitchen.

Then the King sent for Sir Kay, the steward of his kitchen, and told him to make Gareth one of his kitchen-boys. But Sir Kay did not wish this n.o.ble-looking lad in his kitchen, and he made fun of him and mocked him, because he would not tell his name, nor where his home was.

But Sir Lancelot, the n.o.blest knight in all the land, was kind to Gareth, and Gareth's brother, Sir Gavaine, who had gone to Arthur's court long ago, was kind to him too. Yet Sir Gavaine did not know that Gareth was his brother, for the little prince he had left at home looked very different to the King's new kitchen-boy.

In the kitchen Gareth soon began to find out what a difficult task he had undertaken, for the sake of one day being a knight. He ate his meals with rough kitchen-boys, and as Gareth's mother had taught her little prince daintily, he did not like their rough ways; and at night he slept in a shed with dirty kitchen-boys.

And because Sir Kay did not like Gareth, he would bustle and hurry him, and make him work harder than any of the other lads, and give him all the roughest work to do. It was Gareth who had to draw the water and cut the wood, while the other servants played.