Mary Frances Story Book — Sir Galahad, concluded

“Fair damsel,” said Sir Galahad, “you have done so much, that I shall be your knight all the days of my life.

” _The Gentlewoman Risks Her Life for Another_ When they had achieved the adventure of the mysterious sword, they returned to their own ship, and the wind arose and drove them out to sea at a great pace.

All that day and night they went before the south wind, and on the morrow came to the borders of Scotland where they were forced to land, for they were without food.

Here, after leaving the ship, they were attacked by wicked knights because they were of King Arthur’s court, and had many other adventures, which are no part of this tale.

Then on a day all heard a voice which said: “Sir Galahad, thou hast well avenged me on God’s enemies, now hasten to the maimed king that he may receive his health, for which he has waited so long.

” On the way they came to a castle which belonged to a gentlewoman who had lain for many years under a strange malady which no doctor could cure.

But an old man had said, “If she were anointed with the blood of a maid who is a king’s daughter, she would recover her health.

” “Now,” said Sir Percival’s sister, when she heard this, “fair knights, I foresee that this gentlewoman will die, unless she have part of my blood.

” Straightway the knights opposed her and Sir Galahad said, “Certainly, if ye bleed so much ye will die.

” “Truly,” said she, “if I die to heal her, I shall have great honor and soul’s health, and I shall do it to-morrow;” and nothing they said could change her.

The next day, after they had heard service, Sir Percival’s sister bade them bring the sick lady.

Then said she, “Who shall let my blood?

” So they brought a doctor who did as she desired; but she bled so much that the dish was full, and no one could stop it.

Then she said to the sick lady, “Madam, if I come by my death to make you well, for God’s love pray for me.

” With that she fell into a swoon.

Sir Galahad, Sir Percival, and Sir Bors quickly lifted her up and tried to staunch her blood; but she had bled so much that she could not live.

When she awoke out of her swoon she said, “Fair brother, Sir Percival, I must die for the healing of this lady; so I require that you bury me not in this country, but as soon as I am dead take me down to the sea, put me in a boat and let me go as adventure will lead me; and as soon as you three come to the city of Sarras, there to achieve the Holy Grail, you shall find me arrived under a tower, and there bury me in the spiritual place.

For there Sir Galahad shall be buried, and you also, my brother, in the same place.

” When Sir Percival heard these words he promised her, weeping, and her soul departed from the body.

As they knelt beside her they again heard a voice which said, “To-morrow early you three shall separate from each other till the adventure bring you to the maimed king.

” The same day the sick lady was healed, but she sorrowed exceedingly for the death of the maiden.

Sir Percival wrote a letter telling how his sister had helped them in strange adventures and put it in her right hand.

Then the knights carried her to the sea and laid her in a boat and covered her with silk, and the wind arose and drove the boat from the land, and they all watched it till it was lost to their sight.

Then they returned to the castle and forthwith there fell a sudden tempest of thunder, lightning and rain that shook the earth, and evensong was passed ere the tempest ceased.

On the morrow the three knights separated and each went his own way.

_Sir Galahad Meets a Knight in White Armor_ The story says that after Sir Launcelot rode into the forest after Sir Galahad and was lost, he escaped many perils, but at last came to the water of Morteise as the night was falling.

Not knowing what to do, he lay down to sleep and await what adventure God would send him.

When he was asleep he heard a voice in a dream which said, “Launcelot, rise up, take thine armor and enter the first ship thou shalt find.

” When he heard these words he rose up and set out toward the sea.

By good fortune he found a ship which was without sail and oars, and he saw no one.

As soon as he was on shipboard he was filled with joy such as he had never felt before, and in this joy he lay down and slept till daylight.

When he awoke he was astonished to see there a fair bed in which lay a dead gentlewoman.

As he looked he saw in her right hand Sir Percival’s letter, which told who she was and what she had achieved.

There Sir Launcelot spent some days, not knowing what to do.

One night as he was sitting on the shore, he heard a horseman coming that way and waited to see what would happen.

The rider, who seemed to be a knight, rode to where the ship was, alighted, and went on board.

Sir Launcelot went toward him and said, “Sir, you are welcome.

” The other returned his salute and asked his name, “for,” said he, “my heart goes out to you.

” “Truly,” said Sir Launcelot, “my name is Sir Launcelot of the Lake.

” “Sir,” said the other, “then you are welcome, for you were the beginning of me in this world.

” “Ah!

Are you Sir Galahad?

” “Yes, in truth.

” With that Sir Galahad leaped to the shore, kneeled down and asked Sir Launcelot’s blessing, and then took off his helmet and kissed him.

With great joy they told of the marvels and adventures that had happened to them since they left the court.

Sir Galahad told of the high honor of Sir Percival’s sister, that she was the best maid living, and that her death was a great pity.

When Sir Launcelot heard how the marvelous sword was gotten, he asked to see it, and kissed the hilt and the scabbard.

“Truly,” said he, “I never heard of such high and strange adventures before.

” So Sir Launcelot and Sir Galahad spent many days together in the ship, and served God daily and nightly with all their power; and often the ship carried them to far islands where they met with many strange and perilous adventures.

Upon a Monday it happened that they landed at the edge of a forest which was by the sea.

Standing by a cross of stone they saw a knight on horseback, armed all in white, who held by his right hand a white horse.

He came to the ship, saluted the two knights and said, “Sir Galahad, you have been with your father long enough; leap upon this horse and ride where adventure shall lead in quest of the Holy Grail.

” Sir Galahad turned to his father and kissed him full courteously and said, “Father, I do not know that I shall see you again till I find the Holy Grail.

” “I pray you,” said Sir Launcelot, “that you will pray our Father in heaven to keep me in his service.

” Sir Galahad mounted his horse and then they all heard a voice that said, “Think to do well, for the one shall never see the other till the dreadful day of doom.

” “Now, my son, Sir Galahad,” said Sir Launcelot, “since we shall never see each other again, I pray the high Father of heaven to preserve both you and me.

” “Sir,” said Sir Galahad, “no prayer avails so much as yours.

” So saying, he rode into the forest and his father saw him no more.

The knight in white armor then vanished as he came, and Sir Launcelot returned to the ship, and the wind arose and drove him many days across the sea to a distant land.

Soon after that he left the ship, which kept on its lonely journey, until at last it arrived at the city of Sarras with its fair burden.

Now Sir Launcelot began to long for the realm of Britain which he had not seen for a year and more.

So, commending himself to God, he rode through many countries and came at last to Camelot.

Here he found King Arthur and Queen Guinevere; but many of the knights of the Round Table were missing, for already more than half of them had been slain.

However, Sir Gawain, Sir Ector, and Sir Lionel had returned, and many others who had failed in their quest of the Holy Grail.

All the court was exceedingly glad to see Sir Launcelot, who told of his adventures since he had departed; and also those of Sir Galahad, Sir Percival, and Sir Bors, which he knew by the letter of the dead gentlewoman, and from Sir Galahad himself.

“Now, would God,” said the king, “that all three were here.

” “That cannot be,” said Sir Launcelot, “for two of them you shall never see, but one of them shall come again.

” _Sir Galahad Achieves His Quest, and Bears the Holy Grail Across the Sea_ Now after Sir Galahad bade his father farewell and entered the forest, he rode many journeys in vain.

At last he found his way out of the forest and rode five days toward the castle of the maimed king; and ever Sir Percival followed after till he overtook him, and they went on in company.

At a crossroads they met Sir Bors who was riding alone, and so to their great joy the three knights were together again.

“In more than a year and half,” said Sir Bors, “I have not slept ten times in a bed, only in wild forests and mountains; but God was always with me.

” Thus they rode a long time till they came to the castle of Carbonek, where lived Pelleas, the maimed king, who was the grandfather of Sir Galahad.

When they entered the castle hall, a bed was brought in whereon lay the good old man they had come so far to see.

King Pelleas was very happy, for he knew that the quest of the Holy Grail was about to be achieved.

“Sir Galahad,” said he, lifting up his head, “you are welcome, for I have long prayed for your coming, but now I trust that my suffering shall be allayed.

” Eliazar, King Pelleas’ son, then brought the broken sword with which Joseph was wounded in the thigh after he came to Britain.

Sir Bors took the two pieces and tried to force them together again, but he could not.

Then Sir Percival tried, but he had no more power than Sir Bors.

“Now it is your turn,” said they to Sir Galahad, “for if an earthly man can achieve it, you can.

” Sir Galahad then took the pieces and set them together, and the sword seemed as if it had just been forged and never broken.

When they recovered from their astonishment they gave the sword to Sir Bors, for he was a good knight and a worthy man.

A little before evening a strange thing happened; the sword became wondrously heated so that no one could handle it, and a voice was heard which said, “They that ought not to sit at the table of our Lord arise, for now shall true knights be fed.

” So all went out save King Pelleas and his son and a maid who was his niece, and the three knights; and a table of silver was before them with the holy vessel, covered with a cloth of silk.

With that they saw nine knights all armed come in at the hall door, who took off their armor and said to Sir Galahad, “Sir, we have ridden hard to be with you at this table.

” “You are welcome,” said he, “but whence come you?

” Three of them said they were from Gaul, three from Ireland, and three from Denmark.

Upon that a voice said, “Let those among you who are not in quest of the Holy Grail depart.

” So King Pelleas and his son and niece departed.

As the knights sat waiting, it seemed to them that there appeared a man from heaven, before the table on which the Holy Grail was, and they saw letters in his forehead which said: “This is Joseph, the first bishop of Christendom, whom our Lord rescued in the city of Sarras.

” With him were angels who bore a spear which bled marvelously.

Then the knights wondered, for Joseph had died more than three hundred years before.

“Oh, knights,” said he, “wonder not, for at one time I was an earthly man.

Now shall ye have such food as never knights tasted.

” When he had said this, he and the angels vanished, and they sat there in great dread.

Then they looked and saw, as it were, another man enter who said: “My knights and my servants who are come out of this earthly life, ye shall now see a part of my secrets and my hidden things.

” Then he took the holy vessel and proffered it to Sir Galahad, who kneeled down and partook; and so after him all the knights.

“Galahad,” said he, “dost thou know what I hold in my hands?

” “Nay,” said Sir Galahad, “unless ye tell me.

” “This,” said he, “is the holy vessel in which I ate the Last Supper, but thou hast not seen it openly as thou shalt see it in the city of Sarras; therefore, thou must go hence, and bear this vessel with thee.

This night it shall depart from the realm of Britain to be seen no more, for it is not honored as it ought to be by the people of this land, who are turned to evil living.

Therefore, go to-morrow down to the sea where you shall find a ship ready; and with you take the sword with the strange belt, and Sir Bors and Sir Percival.

Also I will that ye take the blood of the spear and anoint the maimed king, and he shall have his health.

” Then he gave them his blessing and vanished away.

Sir Galahad went at once to the spear which lay on the table and touched the blood with his fingers and came to his grandfather, the maimed king, and anointed him.

Immediately he stood upon his feet a whole man, and gave thanks for his healing.

That same night, about midnight, they heard a voice that said, “Go ye hence as I bade you.

” “Lord, we thank thee,” said they; “now may we prove ourselves worthy.

” In all haste they took their armor, ready to depart.

Now, the three knights of Gaul were great gentlemen, and Sir Galahad said to them: “If you come to King Arthur’s court I pray you salute my father, Sir Launcelot, and all the company of the Round Table,” and they promised to do so.

Sir Galahad, Sir Percival, and Sir Bors then departed and rode three days, till they came to the seashore and found their ship.

When they went on board they saw the table of silver and the Holy Grail covered with a cloth of red silk, and were exceeding glad to have them in their keeping.

Now, on the voyage Sir Galahad spent a long time in prayer, asking that he might pass out of this world; he prayed so earnestly that at last a voice said to him, “Galahad, thou shalt have thy request.

” Sir Percival heard this and asked him why he prayed for such things.

“That shall I tell you,” said he.

“The other day when we saw part of our adventures of the Holy Grail, I was filled with such joy as I supposed no earthly man could feel; therefore, I know well that when my body is dead, my soul shall have the great joy of heaven.

” Then he lay down and slept a great while, and when he awoke he saw before him the city of Sarras; and as they were about to land they saw the ship in which Sir Percival had put his sister.

“Truly,” said Sir Percival, “well has my sister kept her word.

” They first took out of their ship the table of silver and the holy vessel, and Sir Percival and Sir Bors went before, and Sir Galahad behind.

At the city gate they saw a crooked old man.

Then Sir Galahad called him and bade him help bear the heavy table.

“Truly,” said the old man, “for ten years I have not been able to walk without crutches.

” “Care not,” said Sir Galahad.

“Rise up and show thy good will.

” On getting up he found himself whole as he ever was; so he ran and took hold with Sir Galahad.

At once the report spread that a cripple had been cured by a strange knight that had entered the city.

The three knights then returned to the water and brought Sir Percival’s sister into the spiritual place, and buried her richly as a king’s daughter ought to be.

When the king of the city, who was called Estorause, saw the three comrades he asked them who they were and what they brought upon the table of silver, and they told him the truth of the Holy Grail.

Now the king was a tyrant of heathen birth, and he took them and put them in prison in a deep hole.

At the year’s end King Estorause fell sick and knew that he would die;

then he sent for the three knights and asked pardon for what he had done, and they forgave him freely, and so he died.

When the king was dead all the city was disheartened and knew not who might be their king.

As they were in council there came a voice that bade them choose the youngest of the three knights.

So they made Sir Galahad king with the assent of all the people of the city.

His first act was to have made a chest of gold and precious stones to cover the holy vessel, and every morning the three comrades came to the palace where it was kept and said their devotions.

_The Passing of Sir Galahad, The End of Sir Percival, and the Return of Sir Bors to Camelot_ Now, after Sir Galahad had been king a year, the three friends rose early, as was their custom, and came to the palace and saw the holy vessel and a man kneeling there, who had about him a great company of angels.

He called Sir Galahad and said, “Come forth, good and faithful servant, and thou shalt see what thou hast much desired to see.

” Then Sir Galahad began to tremble greatly, for he knew his time had come.

“Now,” said the good man, “knowest thou who I am?

” “Nay,” said Sir Galahad.

“I am Joseph of Arimathea, whom our Lord sent here to bear thee fellowship; for thou art like me more than any other in two things.

One is, thou hast seen the Holy Grail; and the other is, thou hast been a blameless knight as I am.

” When he had said these words, Sir Galahad went to Sir Percival and Sir Bors and kissed them and commended them to God, and said, “Salute me to my father, Sir Launcelot, as soon as ye see him and bid him remember this unstable world.

” He then kneeled before the table and prayed, and suddenly his soul departed and a great company of angels bore his soul up to heaven.

And his two friends saw a hand take the holy vessel and bear it up to heaven.

Since then no man has ever been so bold as to say that he had seen the Holy Grail.

* * * * * When Sir Percival and Sir Bors saw Sir Galahad dead, they sorrowed as much as ever did two men, and if they had not been good men they might easily have fallen into despair; and the people of the city sorrowed with them.

As soon as Sir Galahad was buried, Sir Percival retired to a hermitage outside the city and Sir Bors was always with him.

Thus Sir Percival lived a year and two months, and then passed out of this world, and Sir Bors buried him by his sister and Sir Galahad in the spiritual place.

Now, when Sir Bors saw that he was alone in a far country, as far away as Babylon, he took his armor and departed from Sarras and entered a ship, and so at last came to the realm of Britain and to Camelot where King Arthur was.

On his return there was great rejoicing at the court, for they thought that he was dead, he had been so long out of the country.

Then King Arthur sent for the best clerks to make a chronicle of the adventures of the good knights.

Sir Bors told of Sir Percival and his sister, and of Sir Galahad and the Holy Grail.

Sir Launcelot told what he had seen; and all the tales were written in great books and put in the armory at Salisbury.

Sir Bors said to Sir Launcelot, “Sir Galahad, your son, saluted you by me, and after you, King Arthur and all the court, and so did Sir Percival; for I buried them with mine own hands in the far city of Sarras.

Also, Sir Launcelot, Sir Galahad bids you remember this unstable world, as ye promised when ye were together more than half a year.

” “That is true,” said Sir Launcelot; “now I trust to God his prayer shall avail me.

” Then Sir Launcelot put his arms about Sir Bors and said, “Gentle cousin, you are welcome to me, and all that ever I may do for you and yours, you shall find me ready at all times, while I have life, and this I promise you faithfully, and never to fail you: and know well, gentle cousin, Sir Bors, that you and I will never separate while our lives shall last.

” “Sir,” said he, “I will as ye will.

” * * * * * “Sir Galahad was not the only knight who found the Holy Grail,” added the Story Lady after a pause.

“But I thought from the story,” said Mary Frances, “that Sir Galahad and his two comrades were the only ones who were permitted to find it.

” “No, there were others,” said the Story Lady.

“Your own American poet, James Russell Lowell, tells of another, Sir Launfal, who found the Grail in a place he had never thought to look.

” The Story People listened eagerly, for they liked the tale of Sir Galahad so much that they were ready for more; so the Story Lady told the tale of a fourth knight who succeeded.

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