Book I · GAMURET, part 8 of 11

¶Then Gamuret quoth, the hero, 'Thou hast pledged unto me thine hand, Yet the weapon it well hath wielded! Ride thou to the Scottish band, 610 And bid them to cease from troubling; if they to thy will are fain, Thou canst follow me to the city.' Then the knight hied him o'er the plain. If he prayed them, or gave commandment, they did at the last his will, And the Scottish host they rested, and from conflict they held them still.

¶Then Kailet spurred swift towards him, but Gamuret turned his rein, 615 His cousin he was, and near kinsman, why then bring him grief and pain? And the Spaniard cried loudly on him; on his helm he an ostrich bare, And so far as I know to tell ye the knight he was decked so fair With silken raiment goodly, and long were his robes and wide, And the plain rang clear with the chiming of sweet bells as he o'er it hied. 620 The flower he of manly beauty, and his fairness it held the field, Save for two who should come hereafter, and his fame unto theirs must yield; But Parzival and brave Beaucorps, King Lot's son, they are not here, Not yet were they born, but hereafter for their beauty men held them dear!

¶Then Gaschier he grasped his bridle. 'Now checked will it be thy race, 625 So I tell thee upon mine honour, if the Angevin thou shalt face Who there my pledge hath taken. Sir Knight, thou shalt list my prayer And hearken unto my counsel; in Gamuret's hand I sware From strife aside to turn thee: stay thy steed then for my sake, For mighty is he in conflict!' Then aloud King Kailet spake, 630 'Is he Gamuret my cousin, and son unto King Gandein? Then I care not with him to battle, no foe shall he be of mine! Take thine hand from off my bridle'--'Nay, further thou shalt not fare Till mine eyes have first beheld thee, with thine head of the helmet bare, For mine with blows is deafened!' Then his helmet the prince unbound. 635 And yet, tho' with him he fought not, Gamuret other foemen found.

¶And the day had grown to high morning--And the folk who the joust might see Were glad at heart, and they gat them to their bulwarks right speedily, For he was as a net before them, and none might escape his hold. And he chose him another charger, so the tale unto me was told, 640 And it flew, and the earth it spurnèd, and its work could aright fulfil, Bold when the knight would battle, yet its speed could he check at will. And what would he do the rider? His valour I praise alway, For he rode where the Moorish army to the west by the sea-coast lay.

¶Thence a prince, Rassalig men called him, forgat not each coming morn 645 (He was Assagog's richest hero, to riches and honour born Since he came of a royal lineage) to take from the camp his way He would fain joust before the city--But his strength it was quelled that day By Anjou's dauntless hero; and a dusky maid made moan (Since 'twas she who sent him hither) that her knight should be thus o'erthrown. 650 For a squire brought, without his bidding, to his master, brave Gamuret, A spear, with light reed-shaft fashioned, and its point 'gainst the Moor he set, And with it he smote the paynim from his steed down upon the sand, Nor longer he bade him lie there than as surety he pledged his hand. So the strife it had found its ending, and the hero had won him fame; 655 Then Gamuret saw eight banners toward the city that onward came, And he bade the conquered hero the force with his word to stay, And follow him to the city. And that word must he needs obey.

¶Nor Gaschier delayed his coming; and unto the Burg-grave told How his guest sought for further conflict nor his wrath might the host withhold. 660 If he swallowed not iron as an ostrich, nor his wrath did on stones assuage 'Twas but that he might not find them! Then he gnashed his teeth for rage, And he growled as a mighty lion, and the hair of his head he tare, And he quoth, 'So the years of my lifetime a harvest of folly bear, The gods they had sent to my keeping a valiant and worthy friend, 665 If with strife he shall be o'erladen, then mine honour hath found an end; Sword and shield they shall little profit--Yea, shame he would on me cast Who should bring this to my remembrance!' Then swift from his place he passed, And he gat him into the portal, and a squire towards him drew, And he bare a shield that was painted with a knight by a spear pierced thro', 670 In Eisenhart's land was it fashioned; and a helmet his hand must hold, And a sword that Rassalig carried in battle, that heathen bold, But now was he parted from it whose fame was in every place; Were he slain unbaptized I think me, God had shown to this hero grace!

¶And e'en as the Burg-grave saw it, ne'er of yore was his joy so great, 675 For the coat-of-arms he knew it--So he rode thro' the city gate, And without, his guest had halted, young hero he, not yet old, As one of a joust desirous, and his bridle the Burg-grave bold, Lahfilirost was his name, he grasped it, and he led him within the wall; And I wot well no other foeman that day 'neath his spear must fall. 680

¶Quoth Lahfilirost the Burg-grave, 'Sir Knight, thou shalt tell to me If thine hand Rassalig hath vanquished?' 'Then our land from all strife is free; For he of the Moors is chieftain, the men of true Eisenhart Who have brought unto us such sorrow--But now shall our woe depart, 'Twas a wrathful god who bade him thus seek us with all his host, 685 But his weapons to naught are smitten, and to folly is turned his boast!' Then he led him in (ill it pleased him) and there met then the royal maid, And she loosened the bands of his vizor, and her hand on his bridle laid, To her care must the Burg-grave yield it: nor his squires to their task were slack, For they turned them about, and swiftly they rode on their master's track. 690 So men saw the queen so gracious lead her guest thro' the city street Who here should be hailed the victor--Then she lighted her on her feet, 'Ah me! but thy squires are faithful! Fear ye lest your lord be lost? Without ye shall he be cared for; take his steed, here am I his host!'