'And say, didst thou find King Arthur?' quoth the squire, 'My master, yea, 425 The king, and the queen, and with them many brave knights I saw alway, And they offer to thee their service, and they will at thy bidding come, And they heard in such sort thy message, with such gladness, that every one, Rich and poor, as one man were joyful when I spake, thou wert safe and well. And the folk there were sure a marvel! Their number I may not tell! 430 And the Table Round, by thy message, was spread for the feast I ween; And if knight e'er won fame by his valour, then I wot that thy fame hath been Far greater than all who hearkened to the words that I spake of thee, And it beareth the crown o'er all others, tho' mighty their fame shall be!' Then he told him all that befell there, how he spake with the gracious queen, 435 And the counsel she gave unto him; and how he the folk had seen, Those brave knights and gentle ladies; how Gawain should behold their face At Ioflanz, before the combat, and the end of his day of grace. And the sorrow of Gawain vanished, yet his joy in his heart he'ld hide, Tho' from grief did he pass to gladness; yet the squire must his oath abide 440 And yet for a space keep silence--Forgotten was all his care, And thither he went, and he sat him again by his lady fair, And with joy he abode in the castle till King Arthur to his relief Might come with his host--Now hearken to a story of love and grief: Gawain he was ever joyful; one morn did it so befall 445 That many a knight and lady were seen in that stately hall, And Gawain sat apart in a window, and looked o'er the stream so wide, And with many a tale of wonder sat Arnivé the knight beside.