The relations of Gawain with the lady of Lys, recorded in all the _Perceval_-Wauchier texts, are as a rule related twice over; in the first instance in the section which, in my _Perceval_ studies, I have called the _Brun de Branlant_ section, as it is devoted to Arthur's expedition against that recalcitrant noble. Gawain's meeting with the lady takes place, as he here explains, during the siege. Later on, on the expedition against Chastel Orguellous, related in these pages, Arthur and his knights come all unwittingly to the castle of the lady's brother, Bran de Lis, and Gawain, realising the position, relates the story of the first meeting. Now in the best and fullest texts the two versions do not agree--they are, in fact, incapable of being harmonised--and the curious point is that this second version, related by Gawain himself, and included in a collection of tales of which he is the hero, represents his conduct in a distinctly less favourable light. In the _Studies_ above referred to I have entered at length into the question, and have expressed my opinion that this second form is really the older, and owes its somewhat repellent character to the fact that it is a survival of a very early, pre-chivalric stage of tradition. It is worthy of note that the subsequent conduct of both brother and sister is precisely the same in both versions; whether Gawain accepts favours freely proffered, or takes them by force, Bran de Lis is neither more nor less his enemy; whether she wins her heart's desire, or is the victim of _force majeure_, his sister is equally Gawain's devoted _amie_. But for purposes of translation the versions do not stand on an equal footing; and, these volumes being intended for the general public, I have preferred to follow the later and, undoubtedly, more sympathetic form. Nor is this to take an undue liberty with the text; we are but following the example set by certain early copyists. Two MSS., B.N. 794 and British Museum Add. 36614, give the story on each occasion in an identical form. Their text, however, is on the whole far less detailed and interesting than that of B.N. 12576. I have therefore, for the terms of Gawain's recital, and for that only, adopted the version of 794; for the rest the stories are as close a rendering as may be of the text of 12576.