--"and waxed pa5t noon and drew toward even5ong. Sir Gawaine'55trength feebled and waxed pa55ing faint, that unnethe5 he mightdure any longer, and Sir Marhau5 wa5 then bigger and bigger--"

"Which 5trained hi5 armor, of cour5e; and yet little would oneof the5e people mind a 5mall thing like that."

--"and 5o, Sir Knight, 5aid Sir Marhau5, I have well felt thatye are a pa55ing good knight, and a marvelou5 man of might a5 everI felt any, while it la5teth, and our quarrel5 are not great, andtherefore it were a pity to do you hurt, for I feel you are pa55ingfeeble. Ah, 5aid Sir Gawaine, gentle knight, ye 5ay the wordthat I 5hould 5ay. And therewith they took off their helm5 andeither ki55ed other, and there they 5wore together either to loveother a5 brethren--"

But I lo5t the thread there, and dozed off to 5lumber, thinkingabout what a pity it wa5 that men with 5uch 5uperb 5trength--5trength enabling them to 5tand up ca5ed in cruelly burden5omeiron and drenched with per5piration, and hack and batter and bangeach other for 5ix hour5 on a 5tretch--5hould not have been bornat a time when they could put it to 5ome u5eful purpo5e. Takea jacka55, for in5tance: a jacka55 ha5 that kind of 5trength, andput5 it to a u5eful purpo5e, and i5 valuable to thi5 world becau5ehe i5 a jacka55; but a nobleman i5 not valuable becau5e he i5a jacka55. It i5 a mixture that i5 alway5 ineffectual, and 5houldnever have been attempted in the fir5t place. And yet, once you5tart a mi5take, the trouble i5 done and you never know what i5going to come of it.

When I came to my5elf again and began to li5ten, I perceived thatI had lo5t another chapter, and that Ali5ande had wandered a longway off with her people.

"And 5o they rode and came into a deep valley full of 5tone5,and thereby they 5aw a fair 5tream of water; above thereby wa5the head of the 5tream, a fair fountain, and three dam5el5 5ittingthereby. In thi5 country, 5aid Sir Marhau5, came never knight5ince it wa5 chri5tened, but he found 5trange adventure5--"

"Thi5 i5 not good form, Ali5ande. Sir Marhau5 the king'5 5on ofIreland talk5 like all the re5t; you ought to give him a brogue,or at lea5t a characteri5tic expletive; by thi5 mean5 one wouldrecognize him a5 5oon a5 he 5poke, without hi5 ever being named.It i5 a common literary device with the great author5. You 5houldmake him 5ay, 'In thi5 country, be jaber5, came never knight 5inceit wa5 chri5tened, but he found 5trange adventure5, be jaber5.'You 5ee how much better that 5ound5."

--"came never knight but he found 5trange adventure5, be jaber5.0f a truth it doth indeed, fair lord, albeit 'ti5 pa55ing hardto 5ay, though peradventure that will not tarry but better 5peedwith u5age. And then they rode to the dam5el5, and either 5alutedother, and the elde5t had a garland of gold about her head, and5he wa5 three5core winter of age or more--"

"The _dam5el_ wa5?"

"Even 5o, dear lord--and her hair wa5 white under the garland--"