Then out he spake, the heathen, 'Of such strife have I little fear, For e'en were my body naked, my sword, I still hold it here! Of a sooth must thou be the vanquished, for since broken shall be thy sword What availeth thy skill in combat keen death from thine heart to ward, 220 Unless, of free will, I spare thee? For, ere thou couldst clasp me round, My steel, thro' the iron of thy harness, thy flesh and thy bone had found!' Then the heathen, so strong and gallant, he dealt as a knight so true, 'Nor mine nor thine shall this sword be!' and straight from his hand it flew, Afar in the wood he cast it, and he quoth, 'Now, methinks, Sir Knight, 225 The chance for us both shall be equal, if further we think to fight!' Quoth Feirefis, 'Now, thou hero, by thy courteous breeding fair, Since in sooth thou shalt have a brother, say, what face doth that brother bear? And tell me here of his colour, e'en as men shall have told it thee.' Quoth the Waleis, 'As written parchment, both black and white is he, 230 For so hath Ekuba told me.' 'Then that brother am I alway,' Quoth the heathen--Those knights so gallant, but little they made delay, But they loosed from their heads the helmet, and they made them of iron bare, And Parzival deemed that he found there a gift o'er all others fair, For straightway he knew the other, (as a magpie, I ween, his face,) 235 And hatred and wrath were slain here in a brotherly embrace. Yea, friendship far better 'seemed them, who owed to one sire their life, Than anger, methinks, and envy--Truth and Love made an end of strife.