uld fain have
followed, but could not, so heavy was the weight of his sins upon him.
And the sick Knight arose and kissed the cross, and saw Sir Lancelot
lying at the foot with his eyes shut. 'I marvel greatly at this
sleeping Knight,' he said to his squire, 'that he had no power to wake
when the Holy Vessel was brought hither.' 'I dare right well say,'
answered the squire, 'that he dwelleth in some deadly sin, whereof he
was never confessed.' 'By my faith,' said the Knight, 'he is unhappy,
whoever he is, for he is of the fellowship of the Round Table, which
have undertaken the quest of the Graal.' 'Sir,' replied the squire,
'you have all your arms here, save only your sword and your helm. Take
therefore those of this strange Knight, who has just put them off.'
And the Knight did as his squire said, and took Sir Lancelot's horse
also, for it was better than his own.

After they had gone Sir Lancelot waked up wholly, and thought of what
he had seen, wondering if he were in a dream or not. Suddenly a voice
spoke to him, and it said, 'Sir Lancelot, more hard than is the stone,
more bitter than is the wood, more naked and barren than is the leaf
of the fig tree, art thou; therefore go from hence and withdraw thee
from this holy place.' When Sir Lancelot heard this, his heart was
passing heavy, and he wept, cursing the day when he had been born. But
his helm and sword had gone from the spot where he had lain them at
the foot of the cross, and his horse was gone also. And he smote
himself and cried, 'My sin and my wickedness have done me this
dishonour; for when I sought worldly adventures for worldly desires I
ever achieved them and had the better in every place, and never was I
discomfited in any quarrel, were it right or wrong. And now I take
upon me the adventures of holy things, I see and understand that my
old sin hinders me, so that I could not move nor speak when the Holy
Graal passed by.' Thus he sorrowed till it was day, and he heard the
birds sing, and at that he felt comforted. And as his horse was gone
also, he departed on foot with a heavy heart.

V

THE ADVENTURE OF SIR PERCIVALE

All this while Sir Percivale had pursued adventures of his own, and
came nigh unto losing his life, but he was saved from his enemies by
the good Knight, Sir Galahad, whom he did not know, although he was
seeking him, for Sir Galahad now bore a red shield, and not a white
one. And at last the foes fled deep into the forest, a