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

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  Speaker 1: Section nineteen of Tales of King Arthur and the Round Table.
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  Speaker 1: This is the LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in
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  Speaker 1: the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please
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  Speaker 1: visit LibriVox dot org. Recording by Melbourne Lee. Tales of
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  Speaker 1: King Arthur and the Round Table by Andrew Lang, Part three,
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  Speaker 1: The Fight for the Queen. So the quest of the
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  Speaker 1: Holy Grail had been fulfilled, and the few knights that
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  Speaker 1: had been left alive returned to the round Table, and
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  Speaker 1: there was great joy in the court to do them honor.
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  Speaker 1: The Queen made them a dinner, and there were four
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  Speaker 1: and twenty knights present, and among them Sir Patrise of Ireland,
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  Speaker 1: and Sir Gawaine, and his brethren, the King's nephews, which
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  Speaker 1: were Sir Agrawaine, Sir Gaheris, Sir Gareth, and Sir Mordred.
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  Speaker 1: Now was the custom of Sir Gawaine daily at dinner
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  Speaker 1: and supper to eat all manner of fruit, and specially
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  Speaker 1: pears and apples. And this the Queen knew, and set
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  Speaker 1: fruit of all sorts before him. And there was present
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  Speaker 1: at the dinner one Sir Penel, a savage who hated
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  Speaker 1: Sir Gawaine, because he and his brethren had slain Sir
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  Speaker 1: Lamorak de Galis, cousin to Sir Penel. So he put
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  Speaker 1: poison into some of the apples, hoping that Sir Gawaine
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  Speaker 1: would eat one and die. But by ill fortune, it
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  Speaker 1: befell that the good knight Sir Patrice took a poisoned apple,
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  Speaker 1: and in a few moments he lay dead and stark
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  Speaker 1: in his seat. At this sight, all the knights leaped
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  Speaker 1: to their feet, but said nothing, for they bethought them
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  Speaker 1: that Queen Gwenevere had made them the dinner, and feared
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  Speaker 1: that she had poisoned the fruit. My lady, the Queen,
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  Speaker 1: said Sir Gawaine, who was the first to speak, This
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  Speaker 1: fruit was brought for me, for all know how well
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  Speaker 1: I love it. Therefore, Madam, the shame of this ill
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  Speaker 1: deed is yours. The Queen stood still, pale and trembling,
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  Speaker 1: but kept silent, and next spoke Sir Mador de Laporte.
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  Speaker 1: This shall not be ended, so said he, for I
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  Speaker 1: have lost a noble knight of my blood, and I
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  Speaker 1: will be avenged of the person who has wrought this evil.
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  Speaker 1: And he turned to the Queen and said Madam, it
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  Speaker 1: is you who have brought about the death of my cousin,
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  Speaker 1: Sir Patryce. The knights round listened in silence, for they
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  Speaker 1: too thought that Sir Mador spake truth. And the Queen
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  Speaker 1: still said nothing, but fell to weeping bitterly till King
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  Speaker 1: Arthur heard and came to look into the matter. And
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  Speaker 1: when they told him of their trouble, his heart was
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  Speaker 1: heavy within him. Fair lord, said the King at last,
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  Speaker 1: I grieve for this ill deed, but I cannot meddle
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  Speaker 1: therein or do battle for my wife, for I have
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  Speaker 1: to judge justly. Sure I am that this deed is
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  Speaker 1: none of hers. Therefore, many a good knight will stand
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  Speaker 1: her champion, that she should not be burnt to death
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  Speaker 1: in her own quarrel. And Sir Maador, hold not your
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  Speaker 1: head so high, but fix the day of battle when
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  Speaker 1: you shall find the knight to answer you, or else
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  Speaker 1: it were a great shame to all my court. My
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  Speaker 1: gracious lord, said Sir Maador. You must hold me excused.
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  Speaker 1: But though you are a king, you are also a
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  Speaker 1: knight and must obey the laws of knighthood. Therefore I
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  Speaker 1: beseech your forgiveness if I declare that none of the
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  Speaker 1: four and twenty knights here present will fight that battle.
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  Speaker 1: What say you, my lords? Then the knights answered that
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  Speaker 1: they could not hold the queen guiltless, for as the
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  Speaker 1: dinner was made by her, either she or her servants
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  Speaker 1: must have done this thing. Alas said the Queen, no
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  Speaker 1: evil was in my heart when I prepared this feast,
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  Speaker 1: for never have I done such foul deeds. My lord,
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  Speaker 1: the king cried Sirmadore, I require of you, as you
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  Speaker 1: are a just king, to fix a day that I
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  Speaker 1: may get ready for the fight. Well, answered the King,
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  Speaker 1: on the fifteenth day from this, come on horseback to
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  Speaker 1: the meadow that is by Westminster. And if it happens
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  Speaker 1: that there be a knight to fight with you, strike
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  Speaker 1: as hard as you will. God will speed the right.
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  Speaker 1: But if no knight is there, then must my queen
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  Speaker 1: be burned, and the fire shall be made in the meadow.
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  Speaker 1: I am, answered, said Mador, and he and the rest
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  Speaker 1: of the knights departed. When the King and queen left alone,
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  Speaker 1: he asked her what had brought all this about? God
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  Speaker 1: help me that I know not, said the queen, nor
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  Speaker 1: how it was done. Where is Sir Launcelot, said King
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  Speaker 1: Arthur looking around. If he were here, he would not
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  Speaker 1: grudge to do battle for you, Sir replied the Queen.
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  Speaker 1: I know not where he is, but his brother and
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  Speaker 1: his kinsman think he is not in the realm. I
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  Speaker 1: grieve for that, said the King, for he would soon
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  Speaker 1: stop this strife. But I counsel you, ask Sir Bors,
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  Speaker 1: and he will not refuse you. For well, I see
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  Speaker 1: that none of the four and twenty knights who were
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  Speaker 1: with you at dinner will be your champion, and none
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  Speaker 1: will say well of you, but men will speak evil
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  Speaker 1: of you at the court. Alas, sighed the Queen. I
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  Speaker 1: do indeed miss Sir Launcelot, for he would soon ease
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  Speaker 1: my heart? What ails you ask the King that you
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  Speaker 1: cannot keep Sir Launcelot at your side, For well you
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  Speaker 1: know that he whom Sir Launcelot fights for has the
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  Speaker 1: best knight in the world for his champion. Now go
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  Speaker 1: your way and command Sir Borge to do battle with
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  Speaker 1: you for Sir Launcelot's sake. So the Queen departed from
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  Speaker 1: the King and sent for Sir Bors into her chamber,
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  Speaker 1: and when he came, she besought his help. Madam said he,
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  Speaker 1: what can I do, for I may not meddle in
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  Speaker 1: this matter, lest the knights who were at the dinner
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  Speaker 1: have me in suspicion, for I was there also. It
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  Speaker 1: is now, madam, that you miss Sir Launcelot, whom you
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  Speaker 1: have driven away, as he would have done battle for you,
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  Speaker 1: were you right or wrong. And I wonder how, for
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  Speaker 1: shame's sake you can ask me, knowing how I love
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  Speaker 1: and honor him. Alas said the Queen, I throw myself
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  Speaker 1: on your grace. And she went down on her knees
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  Speaker 1: and besought Sir Bors to have mercy on her. Else
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  Speaker 1: I shall have a shameful death, and one I never deserved.
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  Speaker 1: At that King Arthur came in and found her kneeling
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  Speaker 1: before Sir Bors. Madam, you do me great dishonor, said
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  Speaker 1: sir Bors. Rising up. Ah, gentle Knight, cried the King,
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  Speaker 1: have mercy on my queen, for I am sure that
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  Speaker 1: they speak falsely, and I require, by the love of
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  Speaker 1: Sir Launcelot, that you do battle for her instead of him.
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  Speaker 1: My lord answered sir Bors, you require of me the
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  Speaker 1: hardest thing that ever anyone ask of me, For well
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  Speaker 1: you know that if I fight for the Queen, I
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  Speaker 1: shall anger all my companions of the round table. But
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  Speaker 1: I will not say nay, my lord, for Sir Launcelot's
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  Speaker 1: sake and for your own sake. On that day I
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  Speaker 1: will be the Queen's champion, unless a better knight is
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  Speaker 1: found to do battle for her. Will you promise me, this,
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  Speaker 1: asked the King. Yes, answered Sir Boars, I will not
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  Speaker 1: fail you nor her. Unless there should come a better
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  Speaker 1: knight than I, then he shall have the battle. Then
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  Speaker 1: the King and Queen rejoiced greatly and thanked Sir Bors
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  Speaker 1: with all their hearts. So Sir Bors departed and rode
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  Speaker 1: unto Sir Launcelot, who was with the hermit Sir Bracius,
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  Speaker 1: and told him of this adventure. Ah, said Sir Launcelot,
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  Speaker 1: this has befallen, as would I have it, and therefore
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  Speaker 1: I pray you make ready to do battle, but delay
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  Speaker 1: the fight as long as you can that I am
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  Speaker 1: may appear, For I am sure that Sir Meador is
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  Speaker 1: a hot knight, and the longer he waits, the more
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  Speaker 1: impatient he will be for the combat. Sir answered Sir Bors,
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  Speaker 1: let me deal with him, doubt not, you shall have
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  Speaker 1: all your will. And he rode away and came again
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  Speaker 1: to court, and it was soon noised about that Sir
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  Speaker 1: Bors would be the Queen's champion, and many knights were
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  Speaker 1: displeased with him, but there were a few who held
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  Speaker 1: the queen to be innocent. Sir Bors spoke unto them
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  Speaker 1: all and said, it were shameful, my fair lords, if
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  Speaker 1: we suffer the most noble queen in the world to
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  Speaker 1: be disgraced openly, not only for her sake, but for
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  Speaker 1: the king's. But they answered him, as for our lord
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  Speaker 1: King Arthur, we love him and honor him as much
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  Speaker 1: as you. But as for Queen Gwenevere, we love her not,
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  Speaker 1: for she is the destroyer of good knights. Fair lord,
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  Speaker 1: said Sir Bors, you shall not speak such words, for
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  Speaker 1: never yet have I heard that she was the destroyer
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  Speaker 1: of good knights. But at all times, as far as
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  Speaker 1: I ever knew, she maintained them and gave them many gifts.
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  Speaker 1: And therefore it were a shame to us all if
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  Speaker 1: we suffered our noble king's wife to be put to death.
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  Speaker 1: And I will not suffer it so much. I will
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  Speaker 1: say that the queen is not guilty of Sir Petryze's death,
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  Speaker 1: for she owed him no ill will, and bade him
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  Speaker 1: as us to the dinner for no evil purpose, which
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  Speaker 1: will be proved hereafter. In any case, there was foul
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  Speaker 1: dealing among us. We may believe your words, said some
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  Speaker 1: of the knights, but others held that he spoke falsely.
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  Speaker 1: The days passed quickly by until the evening before the bed,
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  Speaker 1: when the Queen sent for Sir Bors and asked him
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  Speaker 1: if he was ready to keep his promise truly, Madam
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  Speaker 1: said he, I shall not fail you unless a better
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  Speaker 1: knight than I come to do battle for you. Then, Madam,
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  Speaker 1: I am discharged of my promise. Shall I tell this
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  Speaker 1: to my Lord Arthur, said the Queen, if it please you, Madam,
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  Speaker 1: answered Sir Bors. So the Queen went to the King
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  Speaker 1: and told him what Sir Bors had said, and the
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  Speaker 1: King bade her to be comforted, as Sir Boor was
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  Speaker 1: one of the best knights of the round table. The
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  Speaker 1: next morning, the King and Queen, in all manner of knights,
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  Speaker 1: rode into the meadle of Westminster, where the battle was
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  Speaker 1: to be, and the Queen was put in to the
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  Speaker 1: charge of the High Constable, and a stout iron steak
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  Speaker 1: was planted and a great fire made about it. At
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  Speaker 1: which the queen should be burned if Sir Maadore Delaporte
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  Speaker 1: won the fight, for it was the custom in those
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  Speaker 1: days that neither fear nor favor, love nor kinship should
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  Speaker 1: hinder right judgment. Then came Sir Madore delaport and made
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  Speaker 1: oath before the King that the queen had done to
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  Speaker 1: death his cousin, Sir Patrice, and he would prove it
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  Speaker 1: on her knight's body. Let who would say the contrary?
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  Speaker 1: Sir Bors likewise made answer that Queen Guenever had done
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  Speaker 1: no wrong, and that he would make good with his
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  Speaker 1: two hands. Then get you ready, said Sir Maadoor. Sir
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  Speaker 1: Maadore answered Sir Bors, I know you for a good knight,
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  Speaker 1: but I trust to be able to withstand your malice.
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  Speaker 1: And I have promised King Arthur and my lady the Queen,
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  Speaker 1: that I will do battle for her to the uttermost,
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  Speaker 1: unless there come forth a better knight than I am.
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  Speaker 1: Is that all ask Sir maad But you must either
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  Speaker 1: fight now or own that you are beaten. Take your horse,
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  Speaker 1: said Sir Bors, for I shall not tarry long. And
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  Speaker 1: Sir Mador forthwith rode into the field with his shield
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  Speaker 1: on his shoulder and his spear in his hand, and
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  Speaker 1: he went up and down, crying under King Arthur, bid
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  Speaker 1: your champion come forth if he dare. At that, Sir
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  Speaker 1: Bors was ashamed and took his horse and rode to
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  Speaker 1: the end of the lists. But from a wood hard
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  Speaker 1: by appeared a knight riding fast on a white horse,
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  Speaker 1: bearing a shield full of strange devices. When he reached
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  Speaker 1: sir Bors, he drew rein and said, fair knight, be
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  Speaker 1: not displeased, but this battle must be to a better
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  Speaker 1: knight than you, for I have come a great journey
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  Speaker 1: to fight this fight, as I promised when I spoke
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  Speaker 1: with you last, and I thank you heartily for your
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  Speaker 1: good will. So Sir Bors went to King Arthur and
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  Speaker 1: told him that a knight had come who wished to
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  Speaker 1: do battle for the queen. What knight is it, asked
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  Speaker 1: the King. That I know not, said sir Bors. But
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  Speaker 1: he made a covenant with me to be here this day,
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  Speaker 1: and now I am discharged, said sir Bors. Then the
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  Speaker 1: King called to that knight and ask him if he
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  Speaker 1: would fight for the queen for that purpose. I have
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  Speaker 1: come hither, replied he. And therefore Sir King delay me
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  Speaker 1: no longer, for as soon as I have ended this battle,
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  Speaker 1: I must go, hence, as I have many maddlers elsewhere.
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  Speaker 1: And I would have you know that it is a
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  Speaker 1: dishonor to all the knights of the round table to
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  Speaker 1: let so noble a lady, and so courteous a queen
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  Speaker 1: as Queen Guenevere be ashamed amongst them the knights who
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  Speaker 1: were standing round and looked at each other at these words,
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  Speaker 1: and wondered much what man this was who took the
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  Speaker 1: battle upon him, for none knew him save Sir Bors.
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  Speaker 1: Sir said Madoor delaport unto the King, let me know
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  Speaker 1: the name of him with whom I have to do.
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  Speaker 1: But the King answered nothing, and made a sign for
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  Speaker 1: the fight to begin. They rode to the end of
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  Speaker 1: the list and couched their spears and rushed together with
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  Speaker 1: all their force, and Sir Mador's spear broke in pieces,
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  Speaker 1: but the other knight's spear held firm, and he pressed
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  Speaker 1: on Sir Maador's horse till it fell backward with a
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  Speaker 1: great fall. Sir Mador sprang from his horse, and, placing
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  Speaker 1: his shield before him, drew his sword and bade his
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  Speaker 1: foe dismount from his horse also and do battle with
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  Speaker 1: him on foot, which the unknown knight did for an hour.
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  Speaker 1: They fought thus, as Sir Mador was a strong man
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  Speaker 1: and had proved himself the victor in many combats. At
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  Speaker 1: last the knight smote Sirmadoor, groveling to his knees, and
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  Speaker 1: the knight stepped forward to have struck him flat upon
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  Speaker 1: the ground. Therewith Sirmadore suddenly arose and smote the knight
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  Speaker 1: upon the thigh, so that the blood ran out fiercely.
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  Speaker 1: But when the Knight felt himself wounded, he saw his
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  Speaker 1: blood and let Sir Meador rise to his feet, and
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  Speaker 1: then he gave him such a buffet on the helm
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  Speaker 1: that this time Sir Maador fell his length on the earth,
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  Speaker 1: and the knight sprang to him to unloose his helm.
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  Speaker 1: At this Sirmador prayed for his life, acknowledging that he
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  Speaker 1: was overcome, and confessed that the Queen's innocent had been proved.
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  Speaker 1: I will only grant you your life, said the knight,
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  Speaker 1: if you will proclaim publicly that you have foully slandered
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  Speaker 1: the queen, and that you make no mention on the
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  Speaker 1: tomb of Sir Patrice that ever, Queen Gwenevere consented to
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  Speaker 1: his murder. All that will I do, said Sir Meador,
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  Speaker 1: And some knights took him up and carried him away
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  Speaker 1: to heal his wounds. And the other knight went straight
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  Speaker 1: to the foot of the steps where sat King Arthur,
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  Speaker 1: and there the Queen had just come, and the King
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  Speaker 1: and the queen kissed each other before all the people.
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  Speaker 1: When King Arthur saw the knight standing there, he stooped
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  Speaker 1: down to him and thanked him, and so likewise did
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  Speaker 1: the Queen. And they prayed him to put off his helmet,
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  Speaker 1: and commanded wine to be brought, And when he unlanced
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  Speaker 1: his helmet to drink, they knew him to be Sir
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  Speaker 1: Launcelot de Lake. Then Arthur took the Queen's hand and
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  Speaker 1: led her to Sir Launcelot and said, Sir, I give
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  Speaker 1: you the most heartfelt thanks of the great deed you
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  Speaker 1: have done this day for me and my queen. My
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  Speaker 1: lord answered, Sir Launcelot, you know well that I ought
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  Speaker 1: of right ever to fight your battles and those of
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  Speaker 1: my lady the Queen, for it was you who gave
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  Speaker 1: me the high honor of knighthood, and that same day,
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  Speaker 1: my lady the Queen did me a great service, else
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  Speaker 1: I should have been put to shame before all man,
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  Speaker 1: because in my hastiness I lost my sword, and my
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  Speaker 1: lady the Queen found it and gave it to me
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  Speaker 1: when I had sore need of it. And therefore, my
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  Speaker 1: Lord Arthur, I promised her that day that I would
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  Speaker 1: be her knight in right or wrong. I owe you
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  Speaker 1: great thanks, said the King, and some time I hope
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  Speaker 1: to repay you. The Queen beholding Sir Launcelot, wept tears
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  Speaker 1: of joy for her deliverance, and felt bowed to the
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  Speaker 1: ground with sorrow at the thought of what he had
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  Speaker 1: done for her when she had sent him away with
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  Speaker 1: unkind words, than all the knights of the round Table
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  Speaker 1: and his kinsmen drew near to him and welcomed him,
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  Speaker 1: and there was great mirth in the court end of
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  Speaker 1: Section nineteen