The poet Tennyson, to be sure, describes Nimiane or Vivian--the Lady of the Lake--as a wicked enchantress who persuaded Merlin to betray his secrets to her, and then shut him up in an oak tree forever. But other legends seem to show that Tennyson does great injustice to the Lady of the Lake, that she really loved Merlin even in his age, and therefore persuaded him to show her how to make a tower without walls,--that they might dwell there together in peace, and address each other only as Brother and Sister. When he had told her, he fell asleep with his head in her lap, and she wove a spell nine times around his head, and the tower became the strongest in the world. Some of the many legends place this tower in the forest of Broceliande; while others transport it afar to a magic island, where Merlin dwells with his nine bards, and where Vivian alone can come or go through the magic walls. Some legends describe it as an enclosure "neither of iron nor steel nor timber nor of stone, but of the air, without any other thing but enchantment, so strong that it may never be undone while the world endureth." Here dwells Merlin, it is said, with nine favorite bards who took with them the thirteen treasures of England. These treasures are said to have been:-- 1. A sword; if any man drew it except the owner, it burst into a flame from the cross to the point. All who asked it received it; but because of this peculiarity all shunned it. 2. A basket; if food for one man were put into it, when opened it would be found to contain food for one hundred. 3. A horn; what liquor soever was desired was found therein. 4. A chariot; whoever sat in it would be immediately wheresoever he wished. 5. A halter, which was in a staple below the feet of a bed; and whatever horse one wished for in it, he would find it there. 6. A knife, which would serve four-and twenty men at meat all at once. 7. A caldron; if meat were put into it to boil for a coward, it would never be boiled; but if meat were put in it for a brave man, it would be boiled forthwith. 8. A whetstone; if the sword of a brave man were sharpened thereon, and any one were wounded therewith, he would be sure to die; but if it were that of a coward that was sharpened on it, he would be none the worse. 9. A garment; if a man of gentle birth put it on, it suited him well; but if a churl, it would not fit him. 10, 11. A pan and a platter; whatever food was required was found therein. 12. A chessboard; when the men were placed upon it, they would play of themselves. The chessboard was of gold, and the men of silver. 13. The mantle of Arthur; whosoever was beneath it could see everything, while no one could see him. It is towards this tower, some legends say, that Merlin was last seen by some Irish monks, sailing away westward, with a maiden, in a boat of crystal, beneath a sunset sky. VIII SIR LANCELOT OF THE LAKE