Latest / Tales of King Arthur and the Round Table / 14 - Tales of King Arthur and the Round Table by Andrew Lang

Transcript

14 - Tales of King Arthur and the Round Table by Andrew Lang · Tales of King Arthur and the Round Table

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Section thirteen of Tales of King Arthur and the Round Table.
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: visit LibriVox dot org. Recorded by Zames Curran. Tales of
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: King Arthur and the Round Table by Andrew Lang. The
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: Quest for the Holy Grail An adventure of Sir Launcelot.
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: As Launcelot went his way through the forest, he met
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: with many hermits who dwelt within, and had adventure with
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: the knight who stole his horse and his helm and
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: got them back again. And he learned from one of
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: the hermits that Sir Galahad was his son, and that
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: it was he who, at the feast of Pentecost, had
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: sat in the siege peerless, which it was ordained by
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: Merlin that none should sit in save the best knight
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: in the world. All that night, Sir Launcelot abode with
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: the hermit and laid him to rest a hair shirt
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: always on his body, and it pricked him sorely, but
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: he bore it meekly and suffered the pain. When the
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: day dawned, he bade the hermit farewell, as he rode,
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: he came to a fair plain, in which was a
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: great castle set about with tents and pavilions of divers hues.
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: Here were full five hundred knights riding on horseback, and
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: those near the castle were mounted on black horses with
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: black trappings, and they that were without were on white horses,
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: and their trappings white. And the two sides fought together,
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: and Sir Launcelot looked on. At last it seemed to
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: him that the black knights nearest the castle fared the worst.
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: So as he ever took the part of the weaker,
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: he rode up to help, and smote many of the
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: white knight to the earth, and did marvelous deeds of arms.
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: But always the white knights held round Sir Launcelot to
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: tire him out, and as no man may endure forever,
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: in the end Sir Launcelot wacked so faint of fighting
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: that his arms would not lift themselves to deal a stroke.
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: Then they took him, and they led them away into
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: the forest, and made him a light from his horse
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: and rest. And when he was taken, the fellowship of
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: the castle were overcome for want of him. Never ere
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: now was I at tournament or joust. But I had
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: the best, moaned Sir Launcelot to himself, as soon as
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: the knights had left him and he was alone. But
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: now I am shamed, and I am persuaded that I
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: am more sinful than ever I was. Sorrowfully, he rode
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: on till he passed a chapel where stood a nun,
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: who called to him and asked him his name and
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: what he was seeking. So he told her who he was,
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: and what had befallen him at the tournament, and the
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: vision that had come to him in his sleep. Ah Launcelot,
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: she said, as long as you were a knight of
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: the earthly knighthood, you were the most wonderful man in
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: the world, and the most adventurous. But now since you
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: were among knights of heavenly adventures, if you were worsted
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: at that tournament, it is no marvel. For the tournament
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: was meant for a sign. And the earthly knights were
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: they who were closed in black, in token of the
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: sins of which they were not yet purged. And the
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: white knights were they who had chosen the way of holiness,
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: and in them the quest had already begun. Thus you
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: beheld both the sinners and the good men. And when
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: you saw the sinners overcome, you went to their help,
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: as they were your follows in boasting and pride of
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: the world and all that must be left in the quest,
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: and that caused your misadventure. Now that I have warned
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: you of your vain glory and your pride, beware of
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: everlasting pain. For of all earthly knights, I have pity
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: of you, for I know well that among earthly sinful knights,
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: you are without peer. End of Section thirteen.