Then began he to weep right tenderly, and said: Long have I abiden your
coming, but for God’s love hold me in your arms, that my soul may
depart out of my body in so good a man’s arms as ye be. Gladly, said
Galahad. And then one said on high, that all heard: Galahad, well hast
thou avenged me on God’s enemies. Now behoveth thee to go to the Maimed
King as soon as thou mayest, for he shall receive by thee health which
he hath abiden so long. And therewith the soul departed from the body,
and Galahad made him to be buried as him ought to be.
Right so departed the three knights, and Percivale’s sister with them.
And so they came into a waste forest, and there they saw afore them a
white hart which four lions led. Then they took them to assent for to
follow after for to know whither they repaired; and so they rode after
a great pace till that they came to a valley, and thereby was an
hermitage where a good man dwelled, and the hart and the lions entered
also. So when they saw all this they turned to the chapel, and saw the
good man in a religious weed and in the armour of Our Lord, for he
would sing mass of the Holy Ghost; and so they entered in and heard
mass. And at the secrets of the mass they three saw the hart become a
man, the which marvelled them, and set him upon the altar in a rich
siege; and saw the four lions were changed, the one to the form of a
man, the other to the form of a lion, and the third to an eagle, and
the fourth was changed unto an ox. Then took they their siege where the
hart sat, and went out through a glass window, and there was nothing
perished nor broken; and they heard a voice say: In such a manner
entered the Son of God in the womb of a maid Mary, whose virginity ne
was perished ne hurt. And when they heard these words they fell down to
the earth and were astonied; and therewith was a great clearness.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account