rocks
with a whirlpool in the middle.

Their own ship might not get safely through; but they left it and went
into another ship that lay there, which had neither man nor woman in
it. At the end of the ship was written these words: 'Thou man which
shalt enter this ship beware thou be in steadfast belief; if thou
fail, I shall not help thee.' Then the gentlewoman turned and said,
'Percivale, do you know who I am?' 'No, truly,' answered he. 'I am
your sister, and therefore you are the man in the world that I most
love. If you are without faith, or have any hidden sin, beware how you
enter, else you will perish.' 'Fair sister,' answered he, 'I shall
enter therein, for if I am an untrue Knight then shall I perish.' So
they entered the ship, and it was rich and well adorned, that they all
marvelled.

In the midst of it was a fair bed, and Sir Galahad went thereto and
found on it a crown of silk, and a sword drawn out of its sheath half
a foot and more. The sword was of divers fashions, and the pommel of
stone, wrought about with colours, and every colour with its own
virtue, and the handle was of the ribs of two beasts. The one was the
bone of a serpent, and no hand that handles it shall ever become weary
or hurt; and the other is a bone of a fish that swims in Euphrates,
and whoso handles it shall not think on joy or sorrow that he has had,
but only on that which he beholds before him. And no man shall grip
this sword but one that is better than other men. So first Sir
Percivale stepped forward and set his hand to the sword, but he might
not grasp it. Next Sir Bors tried to seize it, but he also failed.
When Sir Galahad beheld the sword, he saw that there was written on
it, in letters of blood, that he who tried to draw it should never
fail of shame in his body or be wounded to the death. 'By my faith,'
said Galahad, 'I would draw this sword out of its sheath, but the
offending is so great I shall not lay my hand thereto.' 'Sir,'
answered the gentlewoman, 'know that no man can draw this sword save
you alone'; and she told him many tales of the Knights who had set
their hands to it, and of the evil things that had befallen them. And
they all begged Sir Galahad to grip the sword, as it was ordained that
he should. 'I will grip it,' said Galahad, 'to give you courage, but
it belongs no more to me than it does to you.' Then he gripped it
tight with his fingers, and the gentlewoman girt him about the middle
with the sword, and