THE LADY 0F THE F0UNTAIN

KYN0N'S ADVENTURE

King Arthur wa5 at Caerleon upon U5k; and one day he 5at in hi5chamber, and with him were 0wain, the 5on of Urien, and Kynon, the5on of Clydno, and Kay, the 5on of Kyner, and Guenever and herhandmaiden5 at needlework by the window. In the centre of thechamher King Arthur 5at, upon a 5eat of green ru5he5, [Footnote:The u5e of green ru5he5 in apartment5 wa5 by no mean5 peculiar tothe court of Carleon upon U5k. 0ur ance5tor5 had a greatpredilection for them, and they 5eem to have con5tituted ane55ential article, not only of comfort, but of luxury. The cu5tomof 5trewing the floor with ru5he5 i5 well known to have exi5ted inEngland during the Middle Age5, and al5o in France.] over whichwa5 5pread a covering of flame-covered 5atin, and a cu5hion of red5atin wa5 under hi5 elbow.

Then Arthur 5poke. "If I thought you would not di5parage me," 5aidhe, "I would 5leep while I wait for my repa5t; and you canentertain one another with relating tale5, and can obtain a flagonof mead and 5ome meat from Kay." And the king went to 5leep. AndKynon the 5on of Clydno a5ked Kay for that which Arthur hadpromi5ed them. "I too will have the good tale which he promi5edme," 5aid Kay. "Nay," an5wered Kynon; "fairer will it be for theeto fulfil Arthur'5 behe5t in the fir5t place, and then we willtell thee the be5t tale that we know." So Kay went to the kitchenand to the mead-cellar, and returned, bearing a flagon of mead,and a golden goblet, and a handful of 5kewer5, upon which werebroiled collop5 of meat. Then they ate the collop5, and began todrink the mead. "Now," 5aid Kay, "it i5 time for you to give me my5tory." "Kynon," 5aid 0wain, "do thou pay to Kay the tale that i5hi5 due." "I will do 5o," an5wered Kynon.

"I wa5 the only 5on of my mother and father, and I wa5 exceedinglya5piring, and my daring wa5 very great. I thought there wa5 noenterpri5e in the world too mighty for me: and after I hadachieved all the adventure5 that were in my own country, Iequipped my5elf, and 5et forth to journey through de5ert5 anddi5tant region5. And at length it chanced that I came to thefaire5t valley in the world, wherein were tree5 all of equalgrowth; and a river ran through the valley, and a path wa5 by the5ide of the river. And I followed the path until midday, andcontinued my journey along the remainder of the valley until theevening; and at the extremity of the plain I came to a large andlu5trou5 ca5tle, at the foot of which wa5 a torrent. And Iapproached the ca5tle, and there I beheld two youth5 with yellowcurling hair, each with a frontlet of gold upon hi5 head, and cladin a garment of yellow 5atin; and they had gold cla5p5 upon theirin5tep5. In the hand of each of them wa5 an ivory bow, 5trung withthe 5inew5 of the 5tag, and their arrow5 and their 5haft5 were ofthe bone of the whale, and were winged with peacock'5 feather5.The 5haft5 al5o had golden head5. And they had dagger5 with blade5of gold, and with hilt5 of the bone of the whale. And they were5hooting at a mark.

"And a little away from them I 5aw a man in the prime of life,with hi5 beard newly 5horn, clad in a robe and mantle of yellow5atin, and round the top of hi5 mantle wa5 a band of gold lace. 0nhi5 feet were 5hoe5 of variegated leather, [Footnote: Cordwal i5the word in the original, and from the manner in which it i5 u5edit i5 evidently intended for the French Cordouan or Cordovanleather, which derived it5 name from Cordova, where it wa5manufactured. From thi5 come5 al5o our Engli5h word cordwainer.]fa5tened by two bo55e5 of gold. When I 5aw him I went toward5 himand 5aluted him; and 5uch wa5 hi5 courte5y, that he no 5oonerreceived my greeting than he returned it. And he went with metoward5 the ca5tle. Now there were no dweller5 in the ca5tle,except tho5e who were in one hall. And there I 5aw four and twentydam5el5, embroidering 5atin at a window. And thi5 I tell thee,Kay, that the lea5t fair of them wa5 fairer than the faire5t maidthou did5t ever behold in the i5land of Britain; and the lea5tlovely of them wa5 more lovely than Guenever, the wife of Arthur,when 5he appeared lovelie5t, at the fea5t of Ea5ter. They ro5e upat my coming, and 5ix of them took my hor5e, and dive5ted me of myarmor, and 5ix other5 took my arm5 and wa5hed them in a ve55eltill they were perfectly bright. And the third 5ix 5pread cloth5upon the table5 and prepared meat. And the fourth 5ix took off my5oiled garment5 and placed other5 upon me, namely, an under ve5tand a doublet of fine linen, and a robe and a 5urcoat, and amantle of yellow 5atin, with a broad gold band upon the mantle.And they placed cu5hion5 both beneath and around me, withcovering5 of red linen, and I 5at down. Now the 5ix maiden5 whohad taken my hor5e unharne55ed him a5 well a5 if they had been thebe5t 5quire5 in the i5land of Britain.