Then they went to battle again so marvellously that doubt it was to
hear of that battle for the great blood-shedding, and their hauberks
unnailed that naked they were on every side. At last Balan the younger
brother withdrew him a little and laid him down. Then said Balin le
Savage, What knight art thou? for or now I found never no knight that
matched me. My name is, said he, Balan, brother unto the good knight,
Balin. Alas, said Balin, that ever I should see this day, and therewith
he fell backward in a swoon. Then Balan yede on all four feet and
hands, and put off the helm off his brother, and might not know him by
the visage it was so ful hewn and bled; but when he awoke he said, O
Balan, my brother, thou hast slain me and I thee, wherefore all the
wide world shall speak of us both. Alas, said Balan, that ever I saw
this day, that through mishap I might not know you, for I espied well
your two swords, but by cause ye had another shield I deemed ye had
been another knight. Alas, said Balin, all that made an unhappy knight
in the castle, for he caused me to leave my own shield to our both’s
destruction, and if I might live I would destroy that castle for ill
customs. That were well done, said Balan, for I had never grace to
depart from them since that I came hither, for here it happed me to
slay a knight that kept this island, and since might I never depart,
and no more should ye, brother, an ye might have slain me as ye have,
and escaped yourself with the life.
Right so came the lady of the tower with four knights and six ladies
and six yeomen unto them, and there she heard how they made their moan
either to other, and said, We came both out of one tomb, that is to say
one mother’s belly, and so shall we lie both in one pit. So Balan
prayed the lady of her gentleness, for his true service, that she would
bury them both in that same place there the battle was done. And she
granted them, with weeping, it should be done richly in the best
manner. Now, will ye send for a priest, that we may receive our
sacrament, and receive the blessed body of our Lord Jesus Christ? Yea,
said the lady, it shall be done; and so she sent for a priest and gave
them their rights. Now, said Balin, when we are buried in one tomb, and
the mention made over us how two brethren slew each other, there will
never good knight, nor good man, see our tomb but they will pray for
our souls. And so all the ladies and gentlewomen wept for pity. Then
anon Balan died, but Balin died not till the midnight after, and so
were they buried both, and the lady let make a mention of Balan how he
was there slain by his brother’s hands, but she knew not Balin’s name.
CHAPTER XIX. How Merlin buried them both in one tomb, and of Balin’s
sword.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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