reared; how he fought Sir Marhaus, and for what reason;
and of how he came hither to be healed of his wound, from which else he
must die in very grievous pain. And he said: "All this is truth, Lord, and
it is truth that I had no ill-will against Sir Marhaus; for I only stood to
do battle with him for the sake of mine uncle, King Mark of Cornwall, and
to enhance mine own honor; and I took my fortune with him as he took his
with me. Moreover, I fought with Sir Marhaus upon the same day that I was
made knight, and that was the first battle which I fought, and in that
battle I was wounded so sorely that I was like to die as you very well
know. As for him, he was a knight well-tried and seasoned with many
battles, and he suffered by no treachery but only with the fortune of war."

So King Angus listened to all that Sir Tristram said, and when he had
ended, quoth he: "As God sees me, Tristram, I cannot deny that you did with
Sir Marhaus as a true knight should. For it was certes your part to take
the cause of your uncle upon you if you had the heart to do so, and it was
truly a real knightly thing for you who were so young to seek honor at the
hands of so famous a knight as Sir Marhaus. For I do not believe that until
you came his way there was any knight in the world who was greater than he,
unless it were Sir Launcelot of the Lake. Wherefore, from that, and from
what I saw you do at the tournament, some time ago, I believe that you are
one of the strongest knights in the world, and the peer of Sir Launcelot,
or of anybody else.

"But though all this is true, nevertheless it will not be possible for me
to maintain you in this country, for if I keep you here I shall greatly
displease not only the Queen and her kin, but many of those lords and
knights who were kin to Sir Marhaus or who were united to him in pledges of
friendship. So you must even save yourself as you can and leave here
straightway, for I may not help or aid you in any way."

Then Sir Tristram said: "Lord, I thank you for your great kindness unto me,
and I know not how I shall repay the great goodness that my Lady Belle
Isoult hath showed to me. For I swear to you upon the pommel of my sword
which I now hold up before me that I would lay down my life for her sake.
Yea, and my honor too! for she hath the entire love of my heart, so that I
would willingly die for her, or give up for her all that I have in the
world. Now as for my knighthood, I do believe that I