o
less to the lowest than to the highest.'

'Greeting to thee also,' answered Arthur. 'Sit thou between two of my
warriors, and thou shalt have minstrels before thee and all that belongs
to one born to be a king, while thou remainest in my palace.'

'I am not come,' replied Kilweh, 'for meat and drink, but to obtain a
boon, and if thou grant it me I will pay it back, and will carry thy
praise to the four winds of heaven. But if thou wilt not grant it to me,
then I will proclaim thy discourtesy wherever thy name is known.'

'What thou askest that shalt thou receive,' said Arthur, 'as far as
the wind dries and the rain moistens, and the sun revolves and the sea
encircles and the earth extends. Save only my ship and my mantle, my
word and my lance, my shield and my dagger, and Guinevere my wife.'

'I would that thou bless my hair,' spake Kilweh, and Arthur answered:

'That shall be granted thee.'

Forthwith he bade his men fetch him a comb of gold and a scissors with
loops of silver, and he combed the hair of Kilweh his guest.

'Tell me who thou art,' he said, 'for my heart warms to thee, and I feel
thou art come of my blood.'

'I am Kilweh, son of Kilydd,' replied the youth.

'Then my cousin thou art in truth,' replied Arthur, 'and whatsoever boon
thou mayest ask thou shalt receive.'

'The boon I crave is that thou mayest win for me Olwen, the daughter of
Yspaddaden Penkawr, and this boon I seek likewise at the hands of thy
warriors. From Sol, who can stand all day upon one foot; from Ossol,
who, if he were to find himself on the top of the highest mountain in
the world, could make it into a level plain in the beat of a bird's
wing; from Cluse, who, though he were buried under the earth, could yet
hear the ant leave her nest fifty miles away: from these and from Kai
and from Bedwyr and from all thy mighty men I crave this boon.'

'O Kilweh,' said Arthur, 'never have I heard of the maiden of whom thou
speakest, nor of her kindred, but I will send messengers to seek her if
thou wilt give me time.'

'From this night to the end of the year right willingly will I grant
thee,' replied Kilweh; but when the end of the year came and the
messengers returned Kilweh was wroth, and spoke rough words to Arthur.

It was Kai, the boldest of the warriors and the swiftest of foot--he
would could pass nine nights without sleep, and nine days beneath the
water--that answered him:

'Rash youth that thou art, darest thou speak