Journeys Through Bookland, Vol. 5Sylvester, Charles Herbert
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Journeys Through Bookland, Vol. 5
Sylvester, Charles Herbert
Children's literature; Literature -- Collections
With that they heard the chamber door open, and there they saw angels;
and two bare candles of wax, and the third a towel, and the fourth a
spear which bled marvelously, that three drops fell within a box which
he held with his other hand. And they set the candles upon the table,
and the third the towel upon the vessel, and the fourth the holy spear
even upright upon the vessel. And then the bishop made semblaunt[20] as
though he would have gone to the sacring[21] of the mass. And then he
did that longed[22] to a priest to do a mass. And then he went to
Galahad and kissed him, and bade him go and kiss his fellows: and so he
did anon.
[Footnote 20: _Semblaunt_ meant _show, appearance_.]
[Footnote 21: _Sacring_ is from _sacre_, an old word meaning
_consecrate_.]
[Footnote 22: That is, _belonged_.]
"Now," said he, "servants of Jesu Christ, ye shall be fed afore this
table with sweetmeats that never knights tasted."
And when he had said, he vanished away. And they set them at the table
in great dread, and made their prayers.
Then looked they and saw a man come out of the Holy Vessel, that had all
the signs of the passion of Jesu Christ, bleeding all openly, and said:
"My knights, and my servants, and my true children, which be come out of
deadly life into spiritual life, I will now no longer hide me from you,
but ye shall see now a part of my secrets and of my hidden things: now
hold and receive the high meat which ye have so much desired." Then took
he himself the Holy Vessel and came to Galahad; and he kneeled down, and
there he received his Saviour, and after him so received all his
fellows; and they thought it so sweet that it was marvelous to tell.
Then said he to Galahad: "Son, wottest thou what I hold betwixt my
hands?"
"Nay," said he, "but if ye will tell me." "This is," said he, "the holy
dish wherein I ate the lamb on Sher-Thursday.[23] And now hast thou seen
that thou most desire to see, but yet hast thou not seen it so openly as
thou shalt see it in the city of Sarras in the spiritual place.
Therefore thou must go hence and bear with thee this Holy Vessel; for
this night it shall depart from the realm of Logris, that it shall never
be seen more here. And wottest thou wherefor? For he is not served nor
worshipped to his right by them of this land, for they be turned to evil
living; therefore I shall disinherit them of the honour which I have
done them. And therefore go ye three to-morrow unto the sea, where ye
shall find your ship ready, and with you take no more but Sir Percivale
and Sir Bors." Then gave he them his blessing and vanished away.
[Footnote 23: _Sher-Thursday_ or _Maundy Thursday_ is the name given to
Thursday of the Holy Week, the day on which the Last Supper was
celebrated.]
That same night about midnight came a voice among them which said: "My
sons and not my chief sons, my friends and not my warriors, go ye hence
where ye hope best to do and as I bade you."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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