ode away.

So when Sir Galahad left the Castle of Maidens he rode till he came to
a waste forest, and there he met with Sir Lancelot and Sir Percivale;
but they knew him not, for he was now disguised. And they fought
together, and the two Knights were smitten down out of the saddle.
'God be with thee, thou best Knight in the world,' cried a nun who
dwelt in a hermitage close by; and she said it in a loud voice, so
that Lancelot and Percivale might hear. But Sir Galahad feared that
she would make known who he was, so he spurred his horse and struck
deep into the forest before Sir Lancelot and Sir Percivale could mount
again. They knew not which path he had taken, so Sir Percivale turned
back to ask advice of the nun, and Sir Lancelot pressed forward.

[Illustration: LANCELOT AT THE CHAPEL]

IV

HOW SIR LANCELOT SAW A VISION, AND REPENTED

OF HIS SINS

He halted when he came to a stone cross, which had by it a block of
marble, while nigh at hand stood an old chapel. He tied his horse to a
tree, and hung his shield on a branch, and looked into the chapel, for
the door was waste and broken. And he saw there a fair altar covered
with a silken cloth, and a candlestick which had six branches, all of
shining silver. A great light streamed from it, and at this sight Sir
Lancelot would fain have entered in, but he could not. So he turned
back sorrowful and dismayed, and took the saddle and bridle off his
horse, and let him pasture where he would, while he himself unlaced
his helm, and ungirded his sword, and lay down to sleep upon his
shield, at the foot of the cross.

As he lay there, half waking and half sleeping, he saw two white
palfreys come by, drawing a litter, wherein lay a sick Knight. When
they reached the cross they paused, and Sir Lancelot heard the Knight
say, 'O sweet Lord, when shall this sorrow leave me, and when shall
the Holy Vessel come by me, through which I shall be blessed? For I
have endured long, though my ill deeds were few.' Thus he spoke, and
Sir Lancelot heard it, and of a sudden the great candlestick stood
before the cross, though no man had brought it. And with it was a
table of silver and the Holy Vessel of the Graal, which Lancelot had
seen aforetime. Then the Knight rose up, and on his hands and knees
he approached the Holy Vessel, and prayed, and was made whole of his
sickness. After that the Graal went back into the chapel, and the
light and the candlestick also, and Sir Lancelot wo