weetest thou wilt hear a murmuring and
complaining coming towards thee along the valley, and thou wilt see a
knight in black velvet bestriding a black horse, bearing a lance with a
black pennon, and he will spur his steed so as to fight thee. If thou
turnest to flee, he will overtake thee, and if thou abidest where thou
art, he will unhorse thee. And if thou dost not find trouble in that
adventure, thou needest not to seek it during the rest of thy life."

'So I bade the black man farewell, and took my way to the top of the
wood, and there I found everything just as I had been told. I went up to
the tree beneath which stood the fountain, and filling the silver bowl
with water, emptied it on the marble slab. Thereupon the thunder came,
louder by far than I had expected to hear it, and after the thunder came
the shower, but heavier by far than I had expected to feel it, for, of a
truth I tell thee, Kai, not one of those hailstones would be stopped by
skin or by flesh till it had reached the bone. I turned my horse's flank
towards the shower, and, bending over his neck, held my shield so that
it might cover his head and my own. When the hail had passed, I looked
on the tree and not a single leaf was left on it, and the sky was blue
and the sun shining, while on the branches were perched birds of every
kind, who sang a song sweeter than any that has come to my ears, either
before or since.

'Thus, Kai, I stood listening to the birds, when lo, a murmuring voice
approached me, saying:

'"O knight, what has brought thee hither? What evil have I done to thee,
that thou shouldest do so much to me, for in all my lands neither man
nor beast that met that shower has escaped alive." Then from the valley
appeared the knight on the black horse, grasping the lance with the
black pennon. Straightway we charged each other, and though I fought my
best, he soon overcame me, and I was thrown to the ground, while the
knight seized the bridle of my horse, and rode away with it, leaving me
where I was, without even despoiling me of my armour.

'Sadly did I go down the hill again, and when I reached the glade where
the black man was, I confess to thee, Kai, it was a marvel that I did
not melt into a liquid pool, so great was my shame. That night I slept
at the castle where I had been before, and I was bathed and feasted, and
none asked me how I had fared. The next morning when I arose I found a
bay horse saddled for me, and, girding on my ar