Now Adam, of all men father, from God did he learn such skill, All beasts, wild and tame, he knew them, and he namèd them at his will. And he knew the stars and their pathway, as they circle the silent sky, 245 And the power of the seven planets, how they rule men from heaven high, And he knew of all roots the virtue, and the ill that was theirs of yore-- When his children were grown to manhood, and daughters and sons they bore, From evil desires he warned them; and his daughters he oft did rede Of certain roots to beware them, that wrought ill with the human seed, 250 And would change their face, and their aspect, and dishonoured the race should be; And he spake, 'Then shall we be other than erst God did fashion me, And therefore do ye, my children, give heed to the words I say, Nor be blind to your bliss, lest _your_ children they wander too far astray.' But the women, they did as women, in forbidden ways they went, 255 And they wrought out the lust and the evil on which their desire was bent, And the shape of men was changèd, such rewarding their fault must win, And tho' firm stood the will of Adam yet sorely he mourned their sin-- Now the fair Queen Sekundillé, her body, her crown, and land, Feirefis had won as his guerdon by the power of his knightly hand, 260 And there, in her far-off kingdom (no lie is the tale I tell) Full many of this strange people since the days that are gone do dwell, And their faces are ill to look on, and the birth-marks are strange they bear. And once of the Grail men told her, and Anfortas' kingdom fair, That on earth was naught like to his riches, and a marvel she thought his land-- 265 (And the waters within her kingdom bare jewels instead of sand, And many a golden mountain shall rear its crest on high.) And the queen she thought, 'How may I win speech of his majesty, Who ruleth the Grail?' she bethought her, and rich presents she sent the king, Of jewels fair, and beside them, they should to his kingdom bring 270 Of this folk, so strange to look on, the twain of whom now I tell, Kondrie and the squire, her brother--and in this wise the chance befell (Much treasure beside she sent him whose cost might of none be told,) That Anfortas, the gentle monarch, who was courteous as he was bold, For the love he bare Orgelusé sent this squire unto her