The King stepped forward, and bending over the sword read these words: 'No one shall take me away but he to whom I belong. I will hang only by the side of the best knight in the world.' The King turned to Sir Lancelot. 'The sword is yours, for surely there lives no truer knight.' But Sir Lancelot answered gravely, 'The sword is not mine. It will never hang by my side, for I dare not try to take it.' The King was sorry that his great knight's courage failed, but he turned to Sir Gawaine and asked him to try to take the sword. And at first Sir Gawaine hesitated. But when he looked again at the precious stones that sparkled on the handle, he hesitated no longer. But he no sooner touched the sword than it wounded him, so that he could not use his arm for many days. Then the King turned to Sir Percivale. And because Arthur wished it, Sir Percivale tried to take the sword; but he could not move it. And after that no other knight dared to touch the fair sword; so they turned and went back to the palace. In the dining-hall the King and his knights sat down once more at the Round Table, and each knight knew his own chair. And all the seats were filled except the chair opposite the writing in gold. It had been a day full of surprise, but now the most wonderful thing of all happened. For as they sat down, suddenly all the doors of the palace shut with a loud noise, but no one had touched the doors. And all the windows were softly closed, but no one saw the hands that closed them. Then one of the doors opened, and there came in a very old man dressed all in white, and no one knew whence he came. By his side was a young man in red armour. He had neither sword nor shield, but hanging by his side was an empty sheath. There was a great silence in the hall as the old man said slowly and solemnly, 'I bring you the young knight Sir Galahad, who is descended from a king. He shall do many great deeds, and he shall see the Holy Grail.' 'He shall see the Holy Grail,' the knights repeated, with awe on their faces. For far back, in the days of their boyhood, they had heard the story of the Holy Grail. It was the Sacred Cup out of which their Lord had drunk before He died. And they had been told how sometimes it was seen carried by angels, and how at other times in a gleam of light. But in whatever way it appeared, it was seen only by those who were pure in heart. And as the old man's words, 'He shall see the Holy Grail,' fell on their ears, the knights thought of the story they had heard so long ago, and they were sorry, for they had never seen the Sacred Cup, and they knew that it was unseen only by those who had done wrong. But the old man was telling the boy-knight to follow him. He led him to the empty chair, and lifted the silk that covered the golden letters. 'This is the seat of Sir Galahad, the Pure-hearted,' he read aloud. And the young knight sat in the empty seat that belonged to him.