WITH that came the Damosel of the Lake unto the king,and said,Sir,I must speak with you in privity.Say on,said the king,what ye will.Sir,said the damosel,put not on you this mantle till ye have seen more,and in no wise let it not come on you,nor on no knight of yours,till ye command the bringer thereof to put it upon her.Well,said King Arthur,it shall be done as ye counsel me.And then he said unto the damosel that came from his sister,Damosel,this mantle that ye have brought me,I will see it upon you.Sir,she said,It will not beseem me to wear a king's garment.By my head,said Arthur,ye shall wear it or it come on my back,or any man's that here is.And so the king made it to be put upon her,and forth withal she fell down dead,and never more spake word after and burnt to coals.Then was the king wonderly wroth,more than he was to-forehand,and said unto King Uriens,My sister,your wife,is alway about to betray me,and well I wot either ye,or my nephew,your son,is of counsel with her to have me destroyed;but as for you,said the king to King Uriens,I deem not greatly that ye be of her counsel,for Accolon confessed to me by his own mouth,that she would have destroyed you as well as me,therefore I hold you excused;but as for your son,Sir Uwaine,I hold him suspect,therefore I charge you put him out of my court.So Sir Uwaine was discharged.And when Sir Gawaine wist that,he made him ready to go with him;and said,Whoso banisheth my cousin-germain shall banish me.
So they two departed,and rode into a great forest,and so they came to an abbey of monks,and there were well lodged.But when the king wist that Sir Gawaine was departed from the court,there was made great sorrow among all the estates.Now,said Gaheris,Gawaine's brother,we have lost two good knights for the love of one.So on the morn they heard their masses in the abbey,and so they rode forth till that they came to a great forest.Then was Sir Gawaine ware in a valley by a turret [of]twelve fair damosels,and two knights armed on great horses,and the damosels went to and fro by a tree.And then was Sir Gawaine ware how there hung a white shield on that tree,and ever as the damosels came by it they spit upon it,and some threw mire upon the shield.
CHAPTER XVII
How Sir Gawaine and Sir Uwaine met with twelve fair damosels,and how they complained on Sir Marhaus.
THEN Sir Gawaine and Sir Uwaine went and saluted them,and asked why they did that despite to the shield.Sir,said the damosels,we shall tell you.There is a knight in this country that owneth this white shield,and he is a passing good man of his hands,but he hateth all ladies and gentlewomen,and therefore we do all this despite to the shield.I shall say you,said Sir Gawaine,it beseemeth evil a good knight to despise all ladies and gentlewomen,and peradventure though he hate you he hath some certain cause,and peradventure he loveth in some other places ladies and gentlewomen,and to be loved again,an he be such a man of prowess as ye speak of.Now,what is his name?Sir,said they,his name is Marhaus,the king's son of Ireland.I know him well,said Sir Uwaine,he is a passing good knight as any is alive,for I saw him once proved at a jousts where many knights were gathered,and that time there might no man withstand him.Ah!said Sir Gawaine,damosels,methinketh ye are to blame,for it is to suppose,he that hung that shield there,he will not be long therefrom,and then may those knights match him on horseback,and that is more your worship than thus;for I will abide no longer to see a knight's shield dishonoured.And therewith Sir Uwaine and Gawaine departed a little from them,and then were they ware where Sir Marhaus came riding on a great horse straight toward them.And when the twelve damosels saw Sir Marhaus they fled into the turret as they were wild,so that some of them fell by the way.Then the one of the knights of the tower dressed his shield,and said on high,Sir Marhaus,defend thee.And so they ran together that the knight brake his spear on Marhaus,and Marhaus smote him so hard that he brake his neck and the horse's back.That saw the other knight of the turret,and dressed him toward Marhaus,and they met so eagerly together that the knight of the turret was soon smitten down,horse and man,stark dead.
CHAPTER XVIII
How Sir Marhaus jousted with Sir Gawaine and Sir Uwaine,and overthrew them both.
AND then Sir Marhaus rode unto his shield,and saw how it was defouled,and said,Of this despite I am a part avenged,but for her love that gave me this white shield I shall wear thee,and hang mine where thou wast;and so he hanged it about his neck.
Then he rode straight unto Sir Gawaine and to Sir Uwaine,and asked them what they did there?They answered him that they came from King Arthur's court to see adventures.Well,said Sir Marhaus,here am I ready,an adventurous knight that will fulfil any adventure that ye will desire;and so departed from them,to fetch his range.Let him go,said Sir Uwaine unto Sir Gawaine,for he is a passing good knight as any is living;Iwould not by my will that any of us were matched with him.Nay,said Sir Gawaine,not so,it were shame to us were he not assayed,were he never so good a knight.Well,said Sir Uwaine,I will assay him afore you,for I am more weaker than ye,and if he smite me down then may ye revenge me.So these two knights came together with great raundon,that Sir Uwaine smote Sir Marhaus that his spear brast in pieces on the shield,and Sir Marhaus smote him so sore that horse and man he bare to the earth,and hurt Sir Uwaine on the left side.
