Quoth the king, 'Art thou he whom I hated with a hatred as yet unstilled? For alike with both joy and sorrow thy valour my soul hath filled. And _one_ thing in thee doth please me, that at last I may fight with thee, And I rede thee to wit that great honour in this hast thou won from me, Since I vowed but to fight with thee only--And our fame shall wax great alway, 415 If many a lovely lady we bring to behold the fray. For I can bring fifteen hundred, and thou art of a fair host king At Château Merveil; and on thy side thine uncle can others bring From the land that he rules, King Arthur, and Löver its name shall be, And the city is Bems by the Korka, as well shall be known to thee. 420 There lieth he now with his vassals, and hither can make his way, In eight days, with great joy; so I bid thee to meet me the sixteenth day, When I come, for my wrong's avenging, to Ioflanz upon the plain, And the pay for this garland's plucking I there from thine hand shall gain!' Then King Gramoflanz prayed of Gawain to ride unto Rosche Sabbin, 425 'For nearer methinks than the city no way o'er the flood thou'lt win!' But out quoth the gallant Gawain, 'I will back e'en as erst I came, But in all else thy will I'll follow.' Then they sware them by their fair fame That with many a knight and lady at Ioflanz they'ld meet for strife On the chosen day, and alone there would battle for death or life. 430 And on this wise Gawain he parted for awhile from the noble knight, And joyful he turned his bridle, and the bough decked his helm so bright. And he checked not his steed, but spurred it to the edge of the gulf once more, Nor Gringuljet missed his footing, but he sprang well the chasm o'er, And he fell not again, the hero--Then the lady she turned her rein 435 As he sprang to the ground, and tightened the girths of his steed again, And swiftly to give him welcome, I ween, she to earth did spring, And low at his feet she cast her, and she spake, 'I such need did bring Upon thee, Sir Knight, as I wot well was more than thy worth might ask, And yet have I felt such sorrow, for the sorrow of this thy task, 440 And the service that thou hast done me, as I deem she alone doth know Who loveth in truth, and, faithful, doth weep o'er her lover's woe!'