two youths, with yellow curling hair, each with a frontlet of gold upon his head, and clad in a garment of yellow satin; and they had gold clasps upon their insteps.  In the hand of each of them was an ivory bow, strung with the sinews of the stag; and their arrows had their shafts of the bone of the whale, and were winged with peacock’s feathers.  The shafts also had golden heads.  And they had daggers with blades of gold, and with hilts of the bone of the whale.  And they were shooting their daggers.

“And a little way from them, I saw a man [17b] in the prime of life, with his beard newly shorn, clad in a robe and a mantle of yellow satin; and round the

top of his mantle was a band of gold lace.  On his feet were shoes of variegated leather, fastened by two bosses of gold.  When I saw him, I went towards him and saluted him; and such was his courtesy, that he no sooner received my greeting than he returned it. [18a]  And he went with me towards the Castle.  Now there were no dwellers in the Castle, except those who were in one hall.  And there I saw four and twenty damsels, embroidering satin, at a window.  And this I tell thee, Kai, that [18b] the least fair of them was fairer than the fairest maid thou didst ever behold, in the Island of Britain; and the least lovely of them was more lovely than Gwenhwyvar, the wife of Arthur, when she appeared loveliest at the Offering, on the day of the Nativity, or at the feast of Easter. [18c]  They rose up at my coming, and six of them took my horse, and divested me of my armour; and six others took my arms, and washed them in a vessel, until they were perfectly bright.  And the third six spread cloths upon the tables, and prepared meat.  And the fourth six took off my soiled garments, and placed others upon me; namely, an under vest and a doublet of fine linen, and a robe, and a surcoat, and a mantle of yellow satin, and a broad gold band upon the mantle.  And they placed cushions both beneath and around me, with coverings of red linen.  And I sat down.  Now the six maidens who had taken my horse, unharnessed him, as well as if they had been the best Squires in the Island of Britain.  Then, behold, they

brought bowls of silver wherein was water to wash; and towels of linen, some green and some white; and I washed.  And in a little while the man sat down to the table. [19a]  And I sat next to him, and below me sat all the maidens, except those who waited on us.  And the table was of silver; and the cloths upon the table were of linen.  And no vessel was served upon the table that was not either of gold, or of silver, or of buffalo horn.  And our meat was brought to us.  And verily, Kai, I saw there every sort of meat, and every sort of liquor, that I ever saw elsewhere; but the meat and the liquors were better served there, than I ever saw them in any other place.

“Until the repast was half over, neither the man nor any one of the damsels spoke a single word to me; but when the man perceived that it would be more agreeable to me to converse than to eat any more, he began to enquire of me who I was.  I said I was glad to find that there was some one who would discourse with me, and that it was not considered so great a crime at that Court, for people to hold converse together.  ‘Chieftain,’ said the man, ‘we would have talked to thee sooner, but we feared to disturb thee during thy repast.  Now, however, we will discourse.’  Then I told the man who I was, and what was the cause of my journey.  And said that I was seeking whether any one was superior to me, or whether I could gain the mastery over all.  The man looked upon me, and he smiled, and said, ‘If I did not fear to distress thee too much, [19b] I would shew thee that which thou seekest.’  Upon this I became anxious and sorrowful; and when the man

perceived it, he said, ‘If thou wouldst rather that I should shew thee thy disadvantage, than thine advantage, I will do so.  Sleep here to-night, and in the morning, arise early, and take the road upwards through the valley, until thou reachest the wood, through which thou camest hither.  A little way within the wood, thou wilt meet with a road, branching off to the right; by which thou must proceed, until thou comest to a large sheltered glade, with a mound in the centre.  And thou wilt see a black man of great stature, on the top of the mound; he is not smaller in size than two of the men of this world.  He has but one foot, and one eye, in the middle of his forehead.  And he has a club of iron, and it is certain that there are no two men in the world, who would not find their burden in that club.  And he is not a comely man, but on the contrary he is exceedingly ill favoured; and he is the woodward of that wood.  And thou wilt see a thousand wild animals, grazing around him.  Enquire of him the way out of the glade, and he will reply to thee briefly, [20] and will point out the road, by which thou shalt find that which thou art in quest of.’

“And long seemed the night to me.  And the next morning I arose, and equipped myself, and mounted my horse, and proceeded straight through the valley, to the wood, and I followed the crossroad which the man had pointed out to me, till at length I arrived at the glade.  And there was I three times more astonished at the number of wild animals that I beheld, than the man had said I should be.  And the black man was there, sitting upon the top of the mound.  Huge of stature as the

man had told me that he was, I found him to exceed by far the description he had given me of him.  As for the iron club, which the man had told me was a burden for two men, I am certain, Kai, that it would be a heavy weight for four warriors to lift.  And this was in the black man’s hand.  And he only spoke to me in answer to my questions. [21a]  Then I asked him what power he held over those animals.  ‘I will shew thee, little man,’ said he.  And he took his club in his hand, and with it he struck a stag a great blow, so that he brayed vehemently, and at his braying, the animals came together, as numerous as the stars in the sky, so that it was difficult for me to find room in the glade, to stand among them.  There were serpents, and dragons, and divers sorts of animals.