Lancelot of the Laik Part 16

Bot ?o befell hyme [on] that nycht to meit An aperans, the wich one to his ?preit 364 [Sidenote: That night he dreamt that his hair all fell off;]

It ?emyth that of al his hed ye h.o.r.e Of fallith and maid de?olat; wharfore The king therof was pensyve in his mynd, That al the day he couth no re?ting fynde, 368 [Sidenote: which made him delay his journey.]

Wich makith hyme his Iorneye to delaye.

And ?o befell apone the thrid day, The bricht ?one, pa?ing in the we?t, Haith maid his cour, and al thing goith to Re?t; 372 [Sidenote: Again he dreamt, that his bowels fell out, and lay beside him.]

The king, ?o as the ?tory can dewy, He thoght a?eine, apone the ?amyne wy, His vombe out fallith vith his hoil syde [Fol. 6.]

Apone the ground, {and} liging hyme be?id; 376 Throw wich anon out of his ?lep he ?tert, Aba?it and adred in to his hart.

[Sidenote: He told the queen, who answered, "No man should respect vain dreams."]

The wich be morow one to the qwen he told, And ?he a?eine to hyme haith an?uer ?olde; 380 "To dremys, ?{ir}, ?huld no man have Re?pek, For thei ben thing{is} weyn, of non affek."

"Well," q{uo}d the king, "G.o.d grant It ?o befall!"

[Headnote: HE SENDS FOR HIS CLERKS.]

[Sidenote: The king next shewed his dream to a clerk,]

Arly he ro, and gert one to hyme call 384 O clerk, to whome that al his hewynes Tweching his drem ?hewith he expre, [Sidenote: who said, "Sir, such things testify nothing."]

Wich an?uer yaf and ?eith one to the kinge; "Shir, no Record lyith to ?uch thing; 388 Wharfor now, ?hir, I praye yow tak no kep, Nore trai?t in to the vanyteis of slep; For thei are thing{is} that a?kith no credens, But cau?ith of ?um maner influe{n}s, 392 Empri of thoght, ore ?up{er}fleuytee, Or than ?um othir ca?ualytee."

[Sidenote: "Yet," replied he, "I shall not leave it so."]

"?it," q{uo}d the king, "I ?al no{ch}t leif It so;"

And furth he chargit me?inger{is} to go 396 Throgh al his Realm, w{i}t{h}outen more demande, [Sidenote: He bade all the bishops and clergy come to Camelot within twenty days.]

And bad them ?tratly at thei ?hulde comande All the bi?hopes, and makyng no delay The ?huld appere be the tuenty day 400 At camelot, with al thar hol clergy That mo?t expert war, for to certefye A mat{er} tueching to his go?t be nyght; The me?ag goith furth with the l{ett}res Right. 404

++The king eft ?one, w{i}t{h}in a litill ?pace, His Iornay makith haith frome place to place, [Sidenote: He goes to Camelot, and finds the clerks a.s.sembled.]

Whill that he cam to camelot; and there The clerk{is} all, as that the chargit were, 408 A??emblit war, and came to his pre?ens, Of his de?ir to viting the ?entens.

To them that war to hyme mo?t ?peciall Furth his entent ?hauyth he al hall; 412 [Sidenote: He discloses all to the ten that are most expert,]

By whois con?eil, of the worthie?t He che?ith ten, yclepit for the be?t, And mo?t expert and wi?e?t was ?uppo?it, 415 To qwhome his drem all hail he haith di?clo??it; [Fol. 6b.]

The houre, the nyght, and al the c{er}c.u.m?tans; [Sidenote: and beseeches them to explain the dreams.]

Be?ichyne them that the ?ignifycans Thei wald hyme ?haw, that he my{ch}t re?ting fynde Of It, the wich that occupeid his mynde. 420 [Sidenote: One of them asks for nine days to advise upon the matter.]

And one of them with[T9] al ther holl a??ent Saith, "?hire, fore to declare our entent Vpone this matere, ye wil ws delay Fore to awy?ing one to the ix day." 424 The king ther-to grant.i.th haith, bot hee [Sidenote: The king complies, but shuts them up in a strong place.]

In to o place, that ?trong was and hye, He clo?ith them, whare thei may no whare get, Vn to the day, the wich he to them set. 428 Than goith the clerk{is} ?adly to awy Of this mat{er}, to ?eing in what wy The king{is} drem thei ?hal be?t ?pecefy.

[Sidenote: The masters of astronomy fetch their books,]

And than the mai?tris of a?tronomy 432 The book{is} longyne to ther artis set;[T10]

Not was the buk{is} of arach.e.l.l forget, Of nembrot, of dan?helome, thei two, Of moy?es, {and} of herynes all soo; 436 [Sidenote: and calculate the disposition of the planets.]

And ?eking be ther calcolaciou{n}e To fynd the planet{is} di?po?iciou{n}e, The wich thei fond ware wond{er} ewill y?et The ?amyne nyght the king his ?weuen met. 440

[Footnote T9: MS. "saith with" (with a very slight scratch through "saith").]

[Footnote T10: So in MS. Read "fet."]

[Headnote: THEY REFUSE TO EXPLAIN THEM.]

So ner the point ?ocht thei have the thing, [Sidenote: They found the matter heavy for the king, and doubted if they should tell him so.]

Thei fond It wond{er} hewy to the king, Of wich thing thei waryng in to were To ?hew the king, for dreid of his danger. 444 Of ane accorde thei planly haue p{ro}ponit No worde to ?how, and ?o thei them di?ponit.

[Sidenote: Being sent for,]

The day is cu{m}yng, and he haith fore them ?ent, Be?ichyne them to ?hewing ther entent. 448 [Sidenote: they all spake, "Sir, we can find no evidence."]

Than ?pak they all, and that of an accorde; "Shir, of this thing we can no thing Recorde, For we can noght fynd in til our ?ciens Tweching this mater ony ewydens." 452 [Sidenote: "Ere we part," quoth the king, "ye shall witness something."]

"Now," q{uo}d the king, "and be the glorius lorde, Or we depart ye ?hall ?um thing recorde; So pas yhe not, nor ?o It ?all not bee."

"Than," q{uo}d the clerk{is}, "grant ws dais three." 456 [Sidenote: He grants them three days more.]

The wich he grantid them, and but delay, [Fol. 7.]

The term pa??ith, no thing wold the ?ay, Wharof the king ?tondith heuy cherith, And to the clerk{is} his vi?ag ?o apperith, 460 That all thei dred them of the king{is} myght.

[Sidenote: They pray for a further delay of three days.]

Than ?aith o clerk, "s{ir}, as the thrid nyght Ye dremyt, ?o [now] giffis ws delay The thrid tyme, and to the thrid day." 464 By whilk tyme thei fundyng haith the ende Of this mater, als far as ?hal depend To ther ?ciens; yit can thei not awy To ?chewing to the king be ony wy. 468 [Sidenote: They still refuse to declare their thought.]

The day is c.u.m, the king haith them be?ocht, But one no wy thei wald declar ther thoght; Than was he wroth in to his ?elf and noyt, [Sidenote: The king vows to destroy them;]

And maid his wow that thei ?hal[T11] ben di?troyt. 472 His baronis he co{m}mandit to gar tak Fyve of them one to the fir-?tak, And vther fyue be to the gibbot tone; And the furth w{i}t{h} the king{is} charg ar gone. 476 [Sidenote: but secretly charges his knights not to harm them.]

He bad them in to ?ecret wy that thei Shud do no harm, but only them aey.

The clark{is}, dredful of the king{is} Ire, And ?aw the p{er}ell of deth and of the fyre, 480 Fyve, as thei can, has grant.i.t to record; That vther herde and ben of ther accorde; And al thei ben yled one to the king, [Sidenote: They yield at last, and say,]

And ?hew hyme thus as tueching of this thing. 484

[Footnote T11: MS. "?hat."]

[Headnote: INTERPRETATION OF THE DREAMS.]

"Shir, ?en that we con?trenyt ar by myght To ?haw that wich[T12] we knaw no thing aricht; For thing to c.u.m pre?eruith It allan To hyme the wich is euery thing c{er}tan, 488 Excep the thing that til our knawleg hee Hath ordynat of certan for to bee; Therfor, ?hir king, we your magnificens Be?eich It turne till ws to non offens, 492 [Sidenote: "Hold us not as liars, though it happen not as we say.]

Nor hald was no{ch}t as lear{is}, thoght It fall Not in this mat{er}, as that we telen ?hall."

And that the king haith grant.i.t them, {and} thei Has chargit one, that one this wi ?all ?eye. 496 "Pre?umyth, ?hir, that we have fundyne so; [Sidenote: You must forego all earthly honour;]

All erdly honore ye nedis[T13] mo?t for-go, [Sidenote: and those on whom you most rely, will fail you."]

And them the wich ye mo?t affy in-tyll [Fol. 7b.]

Shal failye ?ow, magre of ther will; 500 And thus we haue in to this matere founde."

The king, quhois hart was al wyth dred ybownd, And a?kit at the clerk{is}, if thei fynde By there clergy, that ?tant i{n} ony kynde 504 [Sidenote: The king asks if his destiny can be altered.]

Of po??ibilitee, fore to reforme His de?teny, that ?tud in ?uch a forme; If in the hewyne Is preordynat On ?uch o wi his honor to tran?lat. 508 The clerk{is} ?aith, "for?uth, and we haue ?ene [Sidenote: They reply, that the matter is dark.]

O thing whar-of, if we the trouth ?hal men, Is ?o ob?cure and dyrk til our clergye, That we wat not what It ?hal ?ignefye, 512 Wich cau?ith ws we can It not furth ?ay."

"Yis," q{uo}d the king, "as lykith yow ye may, For wers than this can nat be ?aid for me."

[Footnote T12: MS. "wich that."]

[Footnote T13: MS. "nedi?t;" but see l. 518.]

[Headnote: THE CLERKS GIVE MYSTERIOUS ADVICE.]

[Sidenote: A master says, there is no help but in the true watery lion, and in the leech, and in the flower.]

Thane ?aith o mai?tir, "than ?uthly th{us} finde we; 516 Thar is no thing ?al ?ucour nor re?kew, Your worldly honore nedis mo?t adew, But throuch the watrye lyone {and} ek fyne, On throuch the liche {and} ek the wattir ?yne, 520 [Sidenote: G.o.d knows what this should mean.]

And throuch the con?eill of the flour; G.o.d wot What this ?hude men, for mor ther-of we not."

No word the king an?uerid ayane, For al this re?one thinkith bot i{n} weyne. 524 [Sidenote: The king shews no outward grief,]

He ?hawith outwart his contenans As he therof takith no greuans; [Sidenote: but is not rid of anxiety all night.]

But al the nyght it pa??id nat his thoght.

The dais cour w{i}t{h} ful de?ir he ?ocht, 528 And furth he goith to bring his mynd i{n} re?t [Sidenote: Next day he goes to the forest.]

W{i}t{h} mony O knyght vn to the gret fore?t; The rachis gon wn-copelit for the deire, That in the wodis makith nois {and} cheir: 532 The knycht{is}, w{i}t{h} the grewhund{is} in aweit, Secith boith the planis and the ?treit.

[Sidenote: The chase.]

Doune goith the hart, doune goith the hynd al?o; [In to the feld can ru?ching to and fro][T14] 536 The ?wift grewhund, hardy of a??ay; Befor ther hedis no thing goith away.

The king of hunting takith haith his ?port, [Sidenote: The king returns.]

And to his palace home he can Re?ort, 540 Ayan the noon; and as that he was set [Sidenote: As they sit at meat, an aged knight enters, fully armed.]

Vith all his n.o.ble knyght{is} at the met, [Fol. 8.]

So cam ther in an agit knyght, {and} hee Of gret e??tat ?emyt for to bee; 544 Anarmyt all, as tho It was the gy, And thus the king he ?alu?t, one this wi,

[Footnote T14: A line must here be lost, but there is nothing to shew this in the MS. The inserted line is imitated from l. 3293.]

[Headnote: GALIOT'S MESSAGE.]

[Sidenote: The knight's message is that king Galiot bids Arthur to yield to him his kingdom.]

++"Shir king, one to yow am y ?ende Frome the worthie?t that i{n} world is kend, 548 That leuyth now of his tyme and age, Of manhed, wi?dome, {and} of hie curag, Galiot, ?one of the fare gyande; And thus, at ?hort, he bid{is} yow your londe 552 Ye yald hyme our, w{i}t{h}out Impedyment; Or of hyme holde, and if tribut and rent.

This is my charge at ?hort, whilk if youe le?t For to fulfill, of al he haith conque?t 556 He ?ais that he mo?t tendir ?hal youe hald."

[Headnote: ARTHUR DEFIES GALIOT.]