Book IX · TREVREZENT, part 8 of 16

¶Quoth Parzival, 'Here I thank thee, from my heart, that such faithful rede Thou hast given of him who withholdeth from no man his rightful meed, But evil, as good, requiteth--Yet my youth hath been full of care, And my faith hath but brought me sorrow, and ill to this day I fare!'

¶Then the hermit he looked on the Waleis, 'If a secret be not thy grief, 605 Right willing thy woe I'll hearken, I may bring thee perchance relief; Of some counsel may I bethink me such as yet to thyself dost fail!' Quoth Parzival, 'Of my sorrows the chiefest is for the Grail, And then for my wife--none fairer e'er hung on a mother's breast, For the twain is my heart yet yearning, with desire that ne'er findeth rest.' 610 Quoth his host, 'Well, Sir Knight, thou speakest, such sorrow is good to bear; If thus for the wife of thy bosom thy heart knoweth grief and care, And Death find thee a faithful husband, tho' Hell vex thee with torments dire Yet thy pains shall be swiftly ended, God will draw thee from out Hell-fire. But if for the Grail thou grievest, then much must I mourn thy woe, 615 O! foolish man, since fruitless thy labours, for thou shalt know That none win the Grail save those only whose names are in Heaven known, They who to the Grail do service, they are chosen of God alone; And mine eyes have surely seen this, and sooth is the word I say!' Quoth Parzival, 'Thou hast been there?' 'Sir Knight,' quoth the hermit, 'Yea!' 620 But never a word spake our hero of the marvels himself had seen, But he asked of his host the story, and what men by 'The Grail' should mean? Spake the hermit, 'Full well do I know this, that many a knightly hand Serveth the Grail at Monsalväsch, and from thence, throughout all the land, On many a distant journey these gallant Templars fare, 625 Whether sorrow or joy befall them, for their sins they this penance bear!'

¶'And this brotherhood so gallant, dost thou know what to them shall give Their life, and their strength and their valour--then know, by a stone they live, And that stone is both pure and precious--Its name hast thou never heard? Men call it Lapis Exilis--by its magic the wondrous bird, 630 The Phoenix, becometh ashes, and yet doth such virtue flow From the stone, that afresh it riseth renewed from the ashes glow, And the plumes that erewhile it moulted spring forth yet more fair and bright-- And tho' faint be the man and feeble, yet the day that his failing sight Beholdeth the stone, he dies not, nor can, till eight days be gone, 635 Nor his countenance wax less youthful--If one daily behold that stone, (If a man it shall be, or a maiden 'tis the same,) for a hundred years, If they look on its power, their hair groweth not grey, and their face appears The same as when first they saw it, nor their flesh nor their bone shall fail But young they abide for ever--And this stone all men call the Grail.' 640 'And Its holiest power, and the highest shall I ween be renewed to-day, For ever upon Good Friday a messenger takes her way. From the height of the highest Heaven a Dove on her flight doth wing, And a Host, so white and holy, she unto the stone doth bring. And she layeth It down upon It; and white as the Host the Dove 645 That, her errand done, swift wingeth her way to the Heaven above. Thus ever upon Good Friday doth it chance as I tell to thee: And the stone from the Host receiveth all good that on earth may be Of food or of drink, the earth beareth as the fulness of Paradise. All wild things in wood or in water, and all that 'neath Heaven flies, 650 To that brotherhood are they given, a pledge of God's favour fair, For His servants He ever feedeth and the Grail for their needs doth care!'

¶'Now hearken, the Grail's elect ones, say who doth their service claim? On the Grail, in a mystic writing, appeareth each chosen name, If a man it shall be, or a maiden, whom God calls to this journey blest. 655 And the message no man effaceth, till all know the high behest, But when all shall the name have read there, as it came, doth the writing go: As children the Grail doth call them, 'neath its shadow they wax and grow. And blessèd shall be the mother whose child doth the summons hear, Rich and poor alike rejoiceth when the messenger draweth near, 660 And the Grail son or daughter claimeth! They are gathered from every land, And ever from shame and sorrow are they sheltered, that holy band. In Heaven is their rewarding, if so be that they needs must die, Then bliss and desire's fulfilment are waiting them all on high!'

¶'They who took no part in the conflict, when Lucifer would fight 665 With the Three-in-One, those angels were cast forth from Heaven's height. To the earth they came at God's bidding, and that wondrous stone did tend, Nor was It less pure for their service, yet their task found at last an end. I know not if God forgave them, or if they yet deeper fell, This one thing I know of a surety, what God doeth, He doeth well! 670 But ever since then to this service nor maiden nor knight shall fail, For God calleth them all as shall please Him!--and so standeth it with the Grail!' Quoth Parzival, 'So, since knighthood may conquer, with spear and shield, Both the fame of this life, and the blessing which Paradise shall yield, Since my soul ever longed for knighthood, and I fought where'er strife might be, 675 And my right hand hath neared full often the guerdon of victory, If God be the God of battles, if He know how a man should fight, Let Him name me as one of His servants, of the Grail let Him make me knight! They shall own that I fear no danger, nor from strife would I turn aside!' But the hermit made answer gently, 'First must thou beware of pride, 680 For lightly may youth mislead thee; and the grace of humility Mayst thou lose, and the proud God doth punish, as full surely is known to me!' And tears filled his eyes to o'erflowing, and his sad thoughts awhile did turn To a story of old, and our hero he bade from its lesson learn.