The Mabinogion Vol. 1 by Sir Owen Morgan Edwards and Lady Charlotte Schreiber (best big ereader txt) 📗

wise and a prudent man; go and take enough of armour about thee, and choose thy horse.”  And Gwalchmai accoutred himself, and rode forward hastily to the place where Peredur was.

And Peredur was resting on the shaft of his spear, pondering the same thought, and Gwalchmai came to him without any signs of hostility, and said to him, “If I thought that it would be as agreeable to thee as it would be to me, I would converse with thee.  I have also a message from Arthur unto thee, to pray thee to come and visit him.  And two men have been before on this errand.”  “That is true,” said Peredur, “and uncourteously they came.  They attacked p. 75me, and I was annoyed thereat, for it was not pleasing to me to be drawn from the thought that I was in, for I was thinking of the lady whom best I love; and thus was she brought to my mind,—I was looking upon the snow, and upon the raven, and upon the drops of the blood of the bird that the hawk had killed upon the snow.  And I bethought me that her whiteness was like that of the snow, and that the blackness of her hair and her eyebrows was like that of the raven, and that the two red spots upon her cheeks were like the two drops of blood.”  Said Gwalchmai, “This was not an ungentle thought, and I should marvel if it were pleasant to thee to be drawn from it.”  “Tell me,” said Peredur, “is Kai in Arthur’s Court?”  “He is,” said he, “and behold he is the knight that fought with thee last; and it would have been better for him had he not come, for his arm and his shoulder blade were broken with the fall which he had from thy spear.”  “Verily,” said Peredur, “I am not sorry to have thus begun to avenge the insult to the dwarf and dwarfess.”  Then Gwalchmai marvelled to hear him speak of the dwarf and the dwarfess; and he approached him, and threw his arms around his neck, and asked him what was his name.  “Peredur the son of Evrawc am I called,” said he, “and thou?  Who art thou?”  “I am called Gwalchmai,” he replied.  “I am right glad to meet with thee,” said Peredur, “for in every country where I have been, I have heard of thy fame for prowess and uprightness, and I solicit thy fellowship.”  “Thou shall have it, by my faith, and grant me thine,” said he.  “Gladly will I do so,” answered Peredur.

So they rode forth together joyfully towards the place where Arthur was; and when Kai saw them p. 76coming, he said, “I knew that Gwalchmai needed not to fight the knight.  And it is no wonder that he should gain fame; more can he do by his fair words, than I by the strength of my arm.”  And Peredur went with Gwalchmai to his tent, and they took off their armour.  And Peredur put on garments like those that Gwalchmai wore; and they went together unto Arthur, and saluted him.  “Behold, lord,” said Gwalchmai, “him whom thou hast sought so long.”  “Welcome unto thee, chieftain,” said Arthur.  “With me thou shalt remain; and had I known thy valour [76] had been such, thou shouldst not have left me as thou didst.  Nevertheless, this was predicted of thee by the dwarf and the dwarfess, whom Kai ill treated, and whom thou hast avenged.”  And hereupon, behold there came the Queen and her handmaidens, and Peredur saluted them.  And they were rejoiced to see him, and bade him welcome.  And Arthur did him great honour and respect, and they returned towards Caerlleon.

And the first night, Peredur came to Caerlleon, to Arthur’s Court, and as he walked in the city after his repast, behold, there met him Angharad Law Eurawc.  “By my faith, sister,” said Peredur, “thou art a beauteous and lovely maiden; and were it pleasing to thee, I could love thee above all women.”  “I pledge my faith,” said she, “that I do not love thee, nor will I ever do so.”  “I also pledge my faith,” said Peredur, “that I will never speak a word to any Christian again, until thou come to love me above all men.”

The next day, Peredur went forth by the high road, along a mountain ridge, and he saw a valley of a circular form, the confines of which were rocky and p. 77wooded.  And the flat part of the valley was in meadows, and there were fields betwixt the meadows and the wood.  And in the bosom of the wood he saw large black houses, of uncouth workmanship.  And he dismounted, and led his horse towards the wood.  And a little way within the wood he saw a rocky ledge, along which the road lay.  And upon the ledge was a lion bound by a chain, and sleeping.  And beneath the lion he saw a deep pit, of immense size, full of the bones of men and animals.  And Peredur drew his sword, and struck the lion, so that he fell into the mouth of the pit, and hung there by the chain; and with a second blow he struck the chain, and broke it, and the lion fell into the pit, and Peredur led his horse over the rocky ledge, until he came into the valley.  And in the centre of the valley he saw a fair castle, and he went towards it.  And in the meadow by the Castle he beheld a huge grey man sitting, who was larger than any man he had ever before seen.  And two young pages were shooting the hilts of their daggers, of the bone of the sea horse.  And one of the pages had red hair, and the other auburn.  And they went before him to the place where the grey man was.  And Peredur saluted him.  And the grey man said, “Disgrace to the beard of my porter.”  Then Peredur understood that the porter was the lion.  And the grey man and the pages went together into the Castle, and Peredur accompanied them; and he found it a fair and noble place.  And they proceeded to the hall, and the tables were already laid, and upon them was abundance of food and liquor.  And thereupon he saw an aged woman and a young woman come from the chamber; and they were the most stately women he had ever seen.  Then they washed, and went to meat, and the grey p. 78man sat in the upper seat at the head of the table, and the aged woman next to him.  And Peredur and the maiden were placed together; and the two young pages served them.  And the maiden gazed sorrowfully upon Peredur, and Peredur asked the maiden wherefore she was sad.  “For thee, my soul; for, from when I first beheld thee, I have loved thee above all men.  And it pains me to know that so gentle a youth as thou should have such a doom as awaits thee to-morrow.  Sawest thou the numerous black houses in the bosom of the wood.  All these belong to the vassals of the grey man yonder, who is my father.  And they are all giants.  And to-morrow they will rise up against thee, and will slay thee.  And the Round Valley is this valley called.”  “Listen, fair maiden, wilt thou contrive that my horse and arms be in the same lodging with me to-night.”  “Gladly will I cause it so to be, by Heaven, if I can.”

And when it was time for them to sleep rather than to carouse, they went to rest.  And the maiden caused Peredur’s horse and arms to be in the same lodging with him.  And the next morning Peredur heard a great tumult of men and horses around the Castle.  And Peredur arose, and armed himself and his horse, and went to the meadow.  Then the aged woman and the maiden came to the grey man, “Lord,” said they, “take the word of the youth, that he will never disclose what he has seen in this place, and we will be his sureties that he keep it.”  “I will not do so, by my faith,” said the grey man.  So Peredur fought with the host; and towards evening, he had slain the one-third of them without receiving any hurt himself.  Then said the aged woman, “Behold, many of thy host have been slain by the youth.  p. 79Do thou, therefore, grant him mercy.”  “I will not grant it, by my faith,” said he.  And the aged woman and the fair maiden were upon the battlements of the Castle, looking forth.  And at that juncture, Peredur encountered the yellow-haired youth, and slew him.  “Lord,” said the maiden, “grant the young man mercy.”  “That will I not do, by Heaven,” he replied; and thereupon Peredur attacked the auburn-haired youth, and slew him likewise.  “It were better thou hadst accorded mercy to the youth, before he had slain thy two sons; for now scarcely wilt thou thyself escape from him.”  “Go, maiden, and beseech the youth to grant mercy unto us, for we yield ourselves into his hands.”  So the maiden came to the place where Peredur was, and besought mercy for her father, and for all such of his vassals as had escaped alive.  “Thou shalt have it, on condition that thy father, and all that are under him, go and render homage to Arthur, and tell him that it was his vassal Peredur that did him this service.”  “This will we do willingly, by Heaven.”  “And you shall also receive baptism; and I will send to Arthur, and beseech him to bestow this valley upon thee, and upon thy heirs after thee for ever.”  Then they went in, and the grey man and the tall woman saluted Peredur.  And the grey man said unto him, “Since I have possessed this valley, I have not seen any Christian depart with his life, save thyself.  And we will go to do homage to Arthur, and to embrace the faith, and be baptized.”  Then said Peredur, “To Heaven I render thanks that I have not broken my vow to the lady that best I love, which was, that I would not speak one word unto any Christian.”

That night they tarried there.  And the next day, in the morning, the grey man, with his company, set p. 80forth to Arthur’s Court; and they did homage unto Arthur, and he caused them to be baptized.  And the grey man told Arthur, that it was Peredur that had vanquished them.  And Arthur gave the valley to the grey man and his company, to hold it of him as Peredur had besought.  And with Arthur’s permission, the grey man went back to the Round Valley.

Peredur rode forward next day, and he traversed a vast tract of desert, in which no dwellings were.  And at length he came to a habitation, mean and small.  And there he heard that there was a serpent that lay upon a gold ring, and suffered none to inhabit the country for seven miles around.  And Peredur came to the place where he heard the serpent was.  And angrily, furiously, and desperately, fought he with the serpent; and at the last he killed it, and took away the ring.  And thus he was for a long time without speaking a word to any Christian.  And therefrom he lost his colour and his aspect, through extreme longing after the Court of Arthur, and the society of the lady whom best he loved, and of his companions.  Then he proceeded forward to Arthur’s Court, and on the road there met him Arthur’s household, going on a particular errand, with Kai at their head.  And Peredur knew them all, but none of the household recognised him.  “Whence comest thou,