the command, the
fellow asked for no delay, but straightway went and saddled the dappled
palfrey. And Erec summoned another squire and bade him bring his arms to
arm his body withal. Then he went up into a bower, and had a Limoges rug
laid out before him on the floor. Meanwhile, the squire ran to fetch the
arms and came back and laid them on the rug. Erec took a seat opposite,
on the figure of a leopard which was portrayed on the rug. He prepares
and gets ready to put on his arms: first, he had laced on a pair of
greaves of polished steel; next, he dons a hauberk, which was so fine
that not a mesh could be cut away from it. This hauberk of his was rich,
indeed, for neither inside nor outside of it was there enough iron to
make a needle, nor could it gather any rust; for it was all made of
worked silver in tiny meshes triple-wove; and it was made with such
skill that I can assure you that no one who had put it on would have
been more uncomfortable or sore because of it, than if he had put on a
silk jacket over his undershirt. The knights and squires all began to
wonder why he was being armed; but no one dared to ask him why. When
they had put on his hauberk, a valet laces about his head a helmet
fluted with a band of gold, shining brighter than a mirror. Then he
takes the sword and girds it on, and orders them to bring him saddled
his bay steed of Gascony. Then he calls a valet to him, and says:
"Valet, go quickly, run to the chamber beside the tower where my wife
is, and tell her that she is keeping me waiting here too long. She has
spent too much time on her attire. Tell her to come and mount at once,
for I am awaiting her." And the fellow goes and finds her all ready,
weeping and making moan: and he straightway addressed her thus: "Lady,
why do you so delay? My lord is awaiting you outside yonder, already
fully armed. He would have mounted some time ago, had you been ready."
Enide wondered greatly what her lord's intention was; but she very
wisely showed herself with as cheerful a countenance as possible, when
she appeared before him. In the middle of the courtyard she found him,
and King Lac comes running out. Knights come running, too, striving with
each other to reach there first. There is neither young nor old but goes
to learn and ask if he will take any of them with him. So each offers
and presents himself. But he states definitely and affirms that he will
take no companion except his wife, asserting that he will