been related in at least half a score of
versions, prose and poetic. Let us have the Broceliande account of
what happened in Broceliande.[26] Surely its folk, in the very forest
in which he wandered with Vivien, must know more of Merlin's
enchantment than we of that greater Britain which he left to find a
paradise in Britain the Less, for, according to Breton story, Merlin
was not imprisoned by magic art, but achieved bliss through his love
for the fairy forest nymph.

Disguised as a young student, Merlin was wandering one bright May
morning through the leafy glades of Broceliande, when, like the
Seigneur of Nann, he came to a beautiful fountain in the heart of the
forest which tempted him to rest. As he sat there in reverie, Vivien,
daughter of the lord of the manor of Broceliande, came to the water's
edge. Her father had gained the affection of a fay of the valley, who
had promised on behalf of their daughter that she should be loved by
the wisest man in the world, who should grant all her wishes, but
would never be able to compel her to consent to his.

Vivien reclined upon the other side of the fountain, and the eyes of
the sage and maiden met. At length Merlin rose to depart, and gave the
damsel courteous good-day. But she, curious and not content with a
mere salutation, wished him all happiness and honour. Her voice was
beautiful, her eyes expressive, and Merlin, moved beyond anything in
his experience, asked her name. She told him she was a daughter of a
gentleman of that country, and in turn asked him who he might be.

"A scholar returning to his master," was the reply.

"Your master? And what may he teach you, young sir?"

"He instructs me in the magic art, fair dame," replied Merlin, amused.
"By aid of his teaching I can raise a castle ere a man could count a
score, and garrison it with warriors of might. I can make a river flow
past the spot on which you recline, I can raise spirits from the great
deeps of ether in which this world rolls, and can peer far into the
future--aye, to the extreme of human days."

"Would that I shared your wisdom!" cried Vivien, her voice thrilling
with the desire of hidden things which she had inherited from her
fairy mother. "Teach me these secrets, I entreat of you, noble
scholar, and accept in return for your instruction my most tender
friendship."

Merlin, willing to please her, arose, and traced certain mystical
characters upon the greensward. Straightway the glade in