Then the knight greeted well the merchant as he looked on the wondrous store 175 Of marvels that lay before him, but he stayed not to turn it o'er, But bade him show clasp and girdle; then he quoth to the hero bold, 'For many a year have I sat here, yet no man doth my wares behold; None but ladies have looked upon them! yet if manhood shall nerve thine hand Of all here shalt thou be the master; they were brought from a distant land, 180 If here thou shalt be the victor, (for in sooth hast thou come for fight,) And the venture shall well betide thee, I will deal with thee well, Sir Knight! For all that my booth containeth is thine if thou win the day! So trust thou in God and His mercy, and take to the Burg thy way. Plippalinòt in sooth hath sent thee, and thy coming well praised shall be 185 Of many a gracious maiden if thy prowess shall set her free!' 'Now wouldst thou withstand this venture leave here for awhile thy steed, If thou trust it unto my keeping, I will give to the charge good heed.' Quoth Gawain, 'Yea, I'll gladly do so, if unseemly be not the task, Too greatly I fear thy riches such grace from thine hand to ask, 190 For ne'er since I rode upon it such keeper my steed hath known'-- Out quoth the merchant freely, 'Sir Knight, all shall be thine own, Myself, and the wares I guard here, (nor further of them I'll speak,) They are his, who in safety faceth the danger thou here dost seek!' And so bold was I ween the hero that on foot did he go straightway, 195 Undaunted, to face the peril untold that before him lay. And, as I before have told ye, the Burg it stood high and wide, And its bulwarks so stoutly builded did guard it on either side. If for thirty years they stormed it, not a berry or leaf would yield, However the foe might threaten; in the midst was a grassy field, 200 (Yet the Lechfeld I ween is longer,) many turrets they towered on high, And the story it tells that Gawain, as the palace he did espy, Saw the roof shine all many-coloured, as peacock's plumes its glow, And so bright it was that its glory was dimmed nor by rain nor snow.