AND anon the yeoman came pricking after as fast as ever he might,and asked Sir Percivale if he saw any knight riding on his black steed.Yea,sir,forsooth,said he;why,sir,ask ye me that?Ah,sir,that steed he hath benome me with strength;wherefore my lord will slay me in what place he findeth me.Well,said Sir Percivale,what wouldst thou that I did?Thou seest well that I am on foot,but an I had a good horse I should bring him soon again.Sir,said the yeoman,take mine hackney and do the best ye can,and I shall sewe you on foot to wit how that ye shall speed.Then Sir Percivale alighted upon that hackney,and rode as fast as he might,and at the last he saw that knight.And then he cried:Knight,turn again;and he turned and set his spear against Sir Percivale,and he smote the hackney in the midst of the breast that he fell down dead to the earth,and there he had a great fall,and the other rode his way.And then Sir Percivale was wood wroth,and cried:Abide,wicked knight;coward and false-hearted knight,turn again and fight with me on foot.But he answered not,but passed on his way.
When Sir Percivale saw he would not turn he cast away his helm and sword,and said:Now am I a very wretch,cursed and most unhappy above all other knights.
So in this sorrow he abode all that day till it was night;and then he was faint,and laid him down and slept till it was midnight;and then he awaked and saw afore him a woman which said unto him right fiercely:Sir Percivale,what dost thou here?He answered,I do neither good nor great ill.If thou wilt ensure me,said she,that thou wilt fulfil my will when I summon thee,I shall lend thee mine own horse which shall bear thee whither thou wilt.
Sir Percivale was glad of her proffer,and ensured her to fulfil all her desire.Then abide me here,and I shall go and fetch you an horse.And so she came soon again and brought an horse with her that was inly black.When Percivale beheld that horse he marvelled that it was so great and so well apparelled;and not for then he was so hardy,and he leapt upon him,and took none heed of himself.And so anon as he was upon him he thrust to him with his spurs,and so he rode by a forest,and the moon shone clear.And within an hour and less he bare him four days'journey thence,until he came to a rough water the which roared,and his horse would have borne him into it.
CHAPTER VI
Of the great danger that Sir Percivale was in by his horse,and how he saw a serpent and a lion fight.
AND when Sir Percivale came nigh the brim,and saw the water so boistous,he doubted to overpass it.And then he made a sign of the cross in his forehead.When the fiend felt him so charged he shook off Sir Percivale,and he went into the water crying and roaring,****** great sorrow,and it seemed unto him that the water brent.
Then Sir Percivale perceived it was a fiend,the which would have brought him unto his perdition.Then he commended himself unto God,and prayed Our Lord to keep him from all such temptations;and so he prayed all that night till on the morn that it was day;then he saw that he was in a wild mountain the which was closed with the sea nigh all about,that he might see no land about him which might relieve him,but wild beasts.
And then he went into a valley,and there he saw a young serpent bring a young lion by the neck,and so he came by Sir Percivale.With that came a great lion crying and roaring after the serpent.And as fast as Sir Percivale saw this he marvelled,and hied him thither,but anon the lion had overtaken the serpent and began battle with him.And then Sir Percivale thought to help the lion,for he was the more natural beast of the two;and therewith he drew his sword,and set his shield afore him,and there he gave the serpent such a buffet that he had a deadly wound.When the lion saw that,he made no resemblaunt to fight with him,but made him all the cheer that a beast might make a man.Then Percivale perceived that,and cast down his shield which was broken;and then he did off his helm for to gather wind,for he was greatly enchafed with the serpent:and the lion went alway about him fawning as a spaniel.And then he stroked him on the neck and on the shoulders.And then he thanked God of the fellowship of that beast.And about noon the lion took his little whelp and trussed him and bare him there he came from.
Then was Sir Percivale alone.And as the tale telleth,he was one of the men of the world at that time which most believed in Our Lord Jesu Christ,for in those days there were but few folks that believed in God perfectly.
For in those days the son spared not the father no more than a stranger.And so Sir Percivale comforted himself in our Lord Jesu,and besought God no temptation should bring him out of God's service,but to endure as his true champion.Thus when Sir Percivale had prayed he saw the lion come toward him,and then he couched down at his feet.And so all that night the lion and he slept together;and when Sir Percivale slept he dreamed a marvellous dream,that there two ladies met with him,and that one sat upon a lion,and that other sat upon a serpent,and that one of them was young,and the other was old;and the youngest him thought said:Sir Percivale,my lord saluteth thee,and sendeth thee word that thou array thee and make thee ready,for to-morn thou must fight with the strongest champion of the world.
And if thou be overcome thou shall not be quit for losing of any of thy members,but thou shalt be shamed for ever to the world's end.And then he asked her what was her lord.And she said the greatest lord of all the world:
and so she departed suddenly that he wist not where.
CHAPTER VII
Of the vision that Sir Percivale saw,and how his vision was expounded,and of his lion.
