Lanval

Ciw-restr ar gyfer Geraint

(Bernardo) {To an apprentice, painting.}
 
(Agravaine) And for the rest this manner has its use.
(1, 1) 422 Welcome, fair cousin —
(Gawain) Welcome, too, Geraint,
 
(Gawain) Wilt break a lance to-morrow?
(1, 1) 425 No, Gawain,
(1, 1) 426 For I have other business in my hands,
(1, 1) 427 And grow too old for these slight practices.
(Gawain) My brother there is anxious to advance
 
(Gawain) His name and honour.
(1, 1) 430 There are many here
(1, 1) 431 Who'll not deny him the occasion.
(Gawain) True,
 
(Gawain) But he flies high.
(1, 1) 434 Let him be satisfied;
(1, 1) 435 But I'll not stay thee, for the time at least.
(1, 1) 436 Ye choose your arms for this fair tournament,
(1, 1) 437 Wherein, no doubt, ye both will do great deeds.
(1, 1) 438 I will not hinder. {He turns away} Welcome, Meliard
(1, 1) 439 And Astamor. All's well with you, I hope!
(Astamor) Well met, Geraint. We fare much the same
 
(1, 1) 443 Until the Judgment. {To Owain} Let us sit and talk.
 
(1, 1) 445 Tell me the news. How goes it in the court?
(Owain) In these last months there's been a bitter waste —
 
(Owain) In these last months there's been a bitter waste —
(1, 1) 447 What of?
(Owain) Of breath. There's been more ditty-making, sighing,
 
(Owain) And yammering than I care to keep count of.
(1, 1) 450 Well, let them have their play at least.
(Owain) Play?
 
(Owain) War's a fine chastener of manners.
(1, 1) 455 You take no part?
(Owain) God knows I've seen enough of war's true self,
 
(Owain) For other purpose than this foolishness.
(1, 1) 461 And so I think. Within the year, Owain,
(1, 1) 462 This dalliance turns to raucous speech of strife.
(Owain) So soon?
 
(Owain) So soon?
(1, 1) 464 Aye, sooner than we think.
(Owain) The Saxons will not come for such a meal,
 
(Owain) Having so tasted of our stuff —
(1, 1) 467 Not come!
(1, 1) 468 Why, I know well. — No matter, let it pass —
(1, 1) 469 And tell me more.
(Owain) This may please you, the Queen
 
(Owain) Hath cast her favour on Sir Agravaine.
(1, 1) 472 I like him not.
(Owain) Nor do the most of us.
 
(Owain) And so by Arthur much advanced and loved.
(1, 1) 477 He irks my soul, for I have known him long,
(1, 1) 478 And found his worth in no way equal to
(1, 1) 479 His pride and scorn.
(Owain) The queen doth favour him.
 
(Owain) The queen doth favour him.
(1, 1) 481 And there are others who should have the power
(1, 1) 482 To stay this braggart.
(Owain) Who?
 
(Owain) Who?
(1, 1) 484 Lanval, for one.
(1, 1) 485 Cador of Cornwall told me of his skill;
(1, 1) 486 And I have seen him deal as goodly strokes
(1, 1) 487 As man could wish for.
(Owain) How could we engage
 
(Owain) Him in this passage?
(1, 1) 490 Why, most easily.
(1, 1) 491 But how is it Sir Lanval has not yet
(1, 1) 492 Encountered him?
(Owain) He has not taken part
 
(Owain) In joust or tournay since this court was held.
(1, 1) 495 Is he so backward?
(Owain) He may have cause to be.
 
(Owain) He was not mentioned.
(1, 1) 500 Why? Did not Cador,
(1, 1) 501 With whom he served, advance his claim and due?
(Owain) Maybe he did. Perhaps the King forgot,
 
(Owain) Or else Cador.
(1, 1) 504 Perhaps
(1, 1) 505 He had no Queen to plead for kindnesses.
(1, 1) 506 I am amazed; but come, we'll alter it,
(1, 1) 507 For this foul usage fits my cause too well
(1, 1) 508 To let me miss it.
(Owain) {aside} What a fiery fool!
 
(Owain) To cure injustice; there'll be trouble here.
(1, 1) 513 Gawain!
(Gawain) Good cousin!
 
(Gawain) Good cousin!
(1, 1) 515 I have a word for you.
 
(Gawain) Tis not our custom.
(1, 1) 525 A fair test, Gawain,
(1, 1) 526 And for one seeking honour much encouragement.
(1, 1) 527 Although inactive, I am glad I may
(1, 1) 528 Do something now to lend reality
(1, 1) 529 To the sped fashion of this mimic war.
(1, 1) 530 I'll make a match. They say, Sir Agravaine,
(1, 1) 531 That there is none who can withstand thy strength,
(1, 1) 532 Or sleight of sword, amongst the younger knights.
(Agravaine) Should fortune aid me, I believe I hold
 
(Agravaine) As any man.
(1, 1) 536 I marked thy confidence,
(1, 1) 537 And such an air goes not with slender worth.
(1, 1) 538 Now 'tis a passion with me to maintain
(1, 1) 539 Fortunes unknown and beings indigent.
(1, 1) 540 I am so hungry for the birth of power
(1, 1) 541 That I must needs help all that's slight and young;
(1, 1) 542 Therefore I would, not doubting thy great strength,
(1, 1) 543 Make some slight wager that success doth fall
(1, 1) 544 In other hands.
(Agravaine) Do as thou wilt, Geraint,
 
(Agravaine) But I must fear thy wager is ill found.
(1, 1) 547 Come then, I choose a knight of little name.
(1, 1) 548 Hast thou a badge which he may challenge?
(Agravaine) No,
 
(Agravaine) I bear no badge.
(1, 1) 551 Tis strange! Hast thou no love
(1, 1) 552 To be upholden?
(Agravaine) No, I bear no badge.
 
(Agravaine) No, I bear no badge.
(1, 1) 554 What shall we hazard? Stake our baronies,
(1, 1) 555 All tracts and fiefs which have been our reward,
(1, 1) 556 So shall the gainer be made rich indeed,
(1, 1) 557 The loser whetted to renewed attempts.
(Agravaine) Sir, the fair gifts the King has rendered me
 
(Agravaine) In such a manner.
(1, 1) 561 They do sit you hard.
(1, 1) 562 I'll give you odds upon my friend's behalf,
(1, 1) 563 Trust all my fortunes to his skill. Thus I
(1, 1) 564 Stake all the lordship I have gained in war,
(1, 1) 565 The barren lands and castle-shadowed fields
(1, 1) 566 Against thine arms; thy horse and arms alone.
(Agravaine) Be it accepted. What paladin is this
 
(Agravaine) I must encounter?
(1, 1) 569 Lanval!
(Agravaine) No, Geraint,
 
(Agravaine) I will not rob you. 'Tis too slight a task.
(1, 1) 572 Why, then, fulfil it! Lanval is not here.
(1, 1) 573 But if he proves not thine attainments false,
(1, 1) 574 Then am I fool, and all mine estimates
(1, 1) 575 Are straight degraded.
(Gawain) This is not right, Geraint.
 
(Gawain) This is not right, Geraint.
(1, 1) 577 The match is mine, and I have staked my lands.
(Gawain) The greater folly —
 
(Gawain) The greater folly —
(1, 1) 579 Folly it may be.
(1, 1) 580 But I stake these clean honours of the field
(1, 1) 581 Against the favours of a gross intrigue.
(1, 1) 582 Shall I be patient while true merit's checked,
(1, 1) 583 And such a fashion strides unto success?
(Gawain) You are too free, Geraint.
 
(Gawain) You are too free, Geraint.
(1, 1) 585 I am no thrall,
(1, 1) 586 Or a dependent, but the Prince of Devon.
(1, 1) 587 This much I know, ye have used Lanval ill,
(1, 1) 588 And I have justice at my side to aid
(1, 1) 589 In his maintaining.
(Gawain) Let him prove himself.
 
(Gawain) Let him prove himself.
(1, 1) 591 And that he shall. Bernardo, hast thou seen
(1, 1) 592 Aught of Sir Lanval?
(Bernardo) Sir Lanval is gone hence.
 
(Bernardo) Sir Lanval is gone hence.
(1, 1) 594 Whither?
(Bernardo) He said he longed for Italy.
 
(Bernardo) He said he longed for Italy.
(1, 1) 596 He will return?
(Bernardo) I know not.
 
(Agravaine) To my possession.
(1, 1) 604 Let that wager stand.
(1, 1) 605 Be not too hungry for my lands, good sir.
(1, 1) 606 I think this matter is more like to come
(1, 1) 607 To bitter ending than ye dream of now.
(1, 1) 608 I think I heard ye say Sir Lanval feared?
(Agravaine) I said he feared, and I will stand by it.
 
(Agravaine) I said he feared, and I will stand by it.
(1, 1) 610 Witness, ye knights, a charge of cowardice,
(1, 1) 611 A slur on honour, which must be redeemed
(1, 1) 612 In the closed field. Am I not right, Gawain?
(Gawain) I fear it is so.
 
(Agravaine) To answer for it, if Sir Lanval dare!
(1, 1) 616 Lanval is gone. I follow him at once.
(Owain) {At the window} Too late, Geraint; he passes even now
 
(Owain) Into the forest.
(1, 1) 619 By which path?
(Owain) He rides
 
(Owain) Into the evening.
(1, 1) 622 I will follow him,
(1, 1) 623 And though I rake the whole wide earth about,
(1, 1) 624 I will not fail to bring him here again,
(1, 1) 625 When I return; then guard you, Agravaine.
(Charcoal-burner 1) Come, man, let's be getting home.
 
(Charcoal-burner 1) We left him here.
(1, 2) 933 Tis a wild spot, fit for unholy deeds.
(1, 2) 934 Question him, Gyfert.
(Gyfert) Aye, my lord.
 
(Gyfert) And warm as yet.
(1, 2) 941 He cannot then be far.
(1, 2) 942 A plague of this darkness. Bring the torches by.
(Gyfert) Now for a cast! Speak to it truly, my ill-favoured brachet. Give tongue, fellow!
 
(Gyfert) His cloak!
(1, 2) 948 Unmarked?
(Gyfert) Save of the soil, my lord.
 
(Gyfert) Save of the soil, my lord.
(1, 2) 950 He may have wandered. Curse this night and gloom.
(Gyfert) It grows the wilder for the touch of dawn.
 
(Gyfert) It grows the wilder for the touch of dawn.
(1, 2) 952 What fit of madness made him choose this place
(1, 2) 953 To rest him in?
(Gyfert) This fellow saith it holds
 
(Gyfert) An evil name.
(1, 2) 956 Most like, the while he's in it!
(1, 2) 957 Where are his tracks?
(Gyfert) Confusion, 'tis too hard
 
(Gyfert) In this ill light!
(1, 2) 960 We'll try by day. {To man-at-arms.} Go, thou,
(1, 2) 961 And bid them bring the horses and our gear,
(1, 2) 962 The while we find some spot more fit to use
(1, 2) 963 For our encampment. Listen, fellow, now
(1, 2) 964 If we find not this knight alive and well
(1, 2) 965 Upon the morrow, 'twill go hard with thee.
(Charcoal-burner 1) The evil spirit that doth haunt this glade
 
(Charcoal-burner 1) Hath taken him!
(1, 2) 968 What tale is this?
(Charcoal-burner 1) My lord,
 
(Charcoal-burner 1) A valley favoured by the dogs of hell!
(1, 2) 972 Well, well! You're likely to know more of hell
(1, 2) 973 Unless we find him!
(Gyfert) Tis a gallows face!
 
(Charcoal-burner 1) Oh, no, my lord.
(1, 2) 977 Enough.
(1, 2) 978 Less noise, fool. Gyfert! come, we'll on;
(1, 2) 979 Bring him away; the moon is overcast.
(Gyfert) If it were not, this dog would howl to it.
 
(2, 2) 1320 I sicken for the west, and the clean winds;
(2, 2) 1321 These forests cramp the soul with silences.
(2, 2) 1322 God, for an empty brown stone-studded space,
(2, 2) 1323 And the faint seas beyond. Gyfert!
(Gyfert) My lord.
 
(Gyfert) My lord.
(2, 2) 1325 We'll turn again. We cannot find him here,
(2, 2) 1326 And there are doings in the world to-day
(2, 2) 1327 Which claim attention.
(Gyfert) We shall find him yet.
 
(Gyfert) We shall find him yet.
(2, 2) 1329 No doubt. His bones, a cap of steel, some links
(2, 2) 1330 Of rusted mail, and rotting leather shreds,
(2, 2) 1331 Foul with decay. Well! if that is the end
(2, 2) 1332 Of my endeavour, I'll not waste my days
(2, 2) 1333 In finding it.
(Gyfert) And leave it so?
 
(Gyfert) And leave it so?
(2, 2) 1335 How else?
(2, 2) 1336 I am not glad to prove myself a fool,
(2, 2) 1337 A butt for fools of my own sort. Enough;
(2, 2) 1338 I'll never trust my judgment of a man
(2, 2) 1339 Before my sense again. Rouse up
(2, 2) 1340 These laggards.
(Gyfert) {Pointing to first charcoal-burner.}
 
(Gyfert) Prince, what shall we do with this?
(2, 2) 1343 He came near hanging: without cause, I think;
(2, 2) 1344 Give him my purse and our protection hence,
(2, 2) 1345 And if his absence has endangered him
(2, 2) 1346 With his liege lord, our warrant for his cause.
(2, 2) 1347 Rouse them.
(Gyfert) Up, Beric! up, ye sweltering dogs!
 
(Charcoal-burner 1) Good, my lord.
(2, 2) 1354 No thanks
(2, 2) 1355 For such bare justice. I did never think
(2, 2) 1356 To much believe you, but your talk of ghosts
(2, 2) 1357 And bitter phantoms has persuaded me
(2, 2) 1358 Enough to leave the forest.
 
(2, 2) 1360 Why, a call!
(2, 2) 1361 Answer them, Beric, if they sound again.
 
(2, 2) 1363 Sound, man!
 
(2, 2) 1365 Stand fast, we know not who they are.
(2, 2) 1366 Loosen your blades.
(Charcoal-burner 2) Here, sir, they be —
 
(Astamor) Geraint?
(2, 2) 1370 Astamor, is it?
(Astamor) Surely.
 
(Astamor) Surely.
(2, 2) 1372 Then well met,
(2, 2) 1373 Sir Astamor.
(Astamor) Well met, Geraint, I come
 
(Astamor) Hot-foot to bring you summons to our war.
(2, 2) 1376 War?
(Astamor) Aye, and no small one, in the pagan term.
 
(Astamor) You have not found him?
(2, 2) 1381 No, nor shall I find
(2, 2) 1382 Aught but the knowledge I was fool to seek.
(Astamor) I hoped to hear some better news than this.
 
(Astamor) I hoped to hear some better news than this.
(2, 2) 1384 It's pitiful. Three months of wasted search
(2, 2) 1385 Prowling in thickets, wandering in groves,
(2, 2) 1386 Hampered by fools, who blubber and protest
(2, 2) 1387 That phantoms, vampires, ghosts, and all the brood
(2, 2) 1388 Of silly spirits haunt this miry wood.
(Astamor) I can believe them.
 
(Astamor) I can believe them.
(2, 2) 1390 I am willing to,
(2, 2) 1391 Sobeit I get clear of this curst place,
(2, 2) 1392 All mud and thorn. I tell you, Astamor,
(2, 2) 1393 I dream of trees, long, endless, endless lines
(2, 2) 1394 Of bleached foul trunks, and hills so cloaked in leaves
(2, 2) 1395 They have no shape: but tell me, Astamor,
(2, 2) 1396 How came this war?
(Astamor) In old and usual wise,
 
(Astamor) By the winged northmen.
(2, 2) 1405 Is it so! How far
(2, 2) 1406 Have they pressed on?
(Astamor) I know not. They say
 
(Astamor) Caer Rhiddocks ta'en.
(2, 2) 1409 Then we can waste no time.
(2, 2) 1410 Gyfert, our harness! Bid them saddle up
(2, 2) 1411 And tend our horses. We have far to ride.
(2, 2) 1412 My horse and arms!
(Astamor) How is it, Geraint,
 
(Astamor) Lanval has 'scaped you?
(2, 2) 1417 That I cannot tell.
(2, 2) 1418 He has not taken ship, that much I know;
(2, 2) 1419 I found his cloak and campment: then the gods,
(2, 2) 1420 The fairies or the devils must have seized
(2, 2) 1421 Upon his body.
(Astamor) You give him good scope.
 
(Astamor) You give him good scope.
(2, 2) 1423 I swore I'd rax the whole wide earth for him.
(2, 2) 1424 Well! circumstance has made me break my pledge.
(2, 2) 1425 The state a man is born to sets about
(2, 2) 1426 His life like iron. He may wish and swear
(2, 2) 1427 His hours to service of his own desires;
(2, 2) 1428 But circumstance, position, and the rest
(2, 2) 1429 Of the vain follies of the world rise up
(2, 2) 1430 And sometime baulk him. I accept this war
(2, 2) 1431 As recreation, but I shall come back
(2, 2) 1432 To this pursuit.
(Astamor) Too much persistency
 
(2, 2) 1436 The buckle's slack: — Well, I am not so sure
(2, 2) 1437 Of its unworth. I do not stake my lands
(2, 2) 1438 Without some faith: and I still hold myself
(2, 2) 1439 As shrewd a judge of men as any. Let it be!
(2, 2) 1440 God sparing me, I'll prove my estimates.
 
(2, 2) 1442 Meanwhile, I lose enough to whet my taste
(2, 2) 1443 For further effort. Are your horses near?
(Astamor) Not far. No doubt some of these sullen dogs
 
(Astamor) Did murder him.
(2, 2) 1446 I thought of hanging them
(2, 2) 1447 For that suspicion. But they're innocent;
(2, 2) 1448 I'm sure of it.
(Astamor) Well, if you think so —
 
(Astamor) Well, if you think so —
(2, 2) 1450 Come!
(2, 2) 1451 We waste the hours. How far to Carduel?
(Astamor) One day's hard riding, though I squandered ten
 
(Astamor) In finding you.
(2, 2) 1454 To horse, then.
(Charcoal-burner 1) Oh, my lord,
 
(Charcoal-burner 1) A ghost! a spirit!
(2, 2) 1458 Yet another one?
(2, 2) 1459 You are prolific.
(Charcoal-burner 2) See, my lord, it comes.
 
(Charcoal-burner 2) See, my lord, it comes.
(2, 2) 1462 Were I not schooled to madness, I might be
(2, 2) 1463 Almost astonished. 'Tis the man himself.
(2, 2) 1464 Welcome, Sir Lanval.
(Lanval) Welcome thou, Geraint.
 
(Lanval) What do ye here?
(2, 2) 1470 I seek an errant knight,
(2, 2) 1471 One who stole forth from Carduel its court,
(2, 2) 1472 Who was too peevish or too proud to ask
(2, 2) 1473 Aid of his friends.
(Lanval) And have you found him?
 
(Lanval) And have you found him?
(2, 2) 1475 Aye,
(2, 2) 1476 I think we have. Sir Lanval, 'twas ill done
(2, 2) 1477 To slink from us in such a fashion.
(Lanval) I? Is't I ye seek?
 
(Lanval) I? Is't I ye seek?
(2, 2) 1479 Whom else? Think you we spend
(2, 2) 1480 Our days in this dank brake in search of churls
(2, 2) 1481 Or madmen who choose this as their retreat?
(2, 2) 1482 But I'll not blame thee, though I lose three months.
(2, 2) 1483 Suffice it all ends well.
(Lanval) Three months!
 
(Lanval) Is it so long?
(2, 2) 1486 Hast lost the count of time?
(Astamor) He seems half dazed.
 
(Lanval) I am well enough.
(2, 2) 1491 Then the adventure! Come, the whole of it;
(2, 2) 1492 We'll hear no less!
(Astamor) Aye, Lanval, tell it us.
 
(Astamor) This should be magic.
(2, 2) 1500 Wait.
(Lanval) I mixed
 
(Lanval) Dies in my mind ere I can find my words.
(2, 2) 1512 Strange speech, indeed. Where have you gotten these
(2, 2) 1513 New arms? They shame Bernardo's fairest craft.
(Astamor) What workmanship!
 
(Astamor) What workmanship!
(2, 2) 1515 Aye, see this, Astamor.
(2, 2) 1516 Come, Lanval, tell us.
(Lanval) How had I these arms?
 
(Lanval) I speak too much.
(2, 2) 1527 This is not gentle.
(Lanval) No;
 
(Lanval) For silence.
(2, 2) 1531 Then thou hast the right of it.
(2, 2) 1532 A knight may hold his peace if he so please,
(2, 2) 1533 And a word pledged is better worth than all
(2, 2) 1534 Our wondering. Keep silence if you will;
(2, 2) 1535 I'll not regret it. For myself one word —
(2, 2) 1536 I pledged myself to find you and return
(2, 2) 1537 To Carduel.
(Lanval) And wherefore?
 
(Lanval) And wherefore?
(2, 2) 1539 I admit
(2, 2) 1540 My purpose would look fairer if I said,
(2, 2) 1541 I sought you in pure friendship; but the case
(2, 2) 1542 Deals more with hate than love.
(Lanval) What, then?
 
(Lanval) What, then?
(2, 2) 1544 I swore myself to prove thy worthiness,
(2, 2) 1545 And staked sufficient value in thy power
(2, 2) 1546 To make me hot to see it shown.
(Lanval) 'Twas kind
 
(Lanval) To so uphold me.
(2, 2) 1549 I'm no flatterer,
(2, 2) 1550 But even honest with myself at times;
(2, 2) 1551 So the belief which I have held in you
(2, 2) 1552 I put at issue. {He hesitates.}
(Astamor) Come, be short, Geraint,
 
(Astamor) The sun is high.
(2, 2) 1555 I so upheld your cause
(2, 2) 1556 That I have pledged you to the closèd field,
(2, 2) 1557 And our twin honours are at stake. I claim
(2, 2) 1558 This service of you.
(Lanval) Gladly I accept
 
(Astamor) While war's abroad.
(2, 2) 1563 I was too hot, perhaps,
(2, 2) 1564 Thou wilt forgive me that I staked thy life.
(Lanval) Geraint, I thank thee; I am heartened now
 
(Lanval) If I may gather honour.
(2, 2) 1569 We shall speak
(2, 2) 1570 More of this later. Now to horse and war.
(2, 2) 1571 God, how I hate this forest and its peace!
(2, 2) 1572 I hate all peace and worship only change —
(2, 2) 1573 Save in man's mind. For we have been becalmed,
(2, 2) 1574 Lain stript and idle on the burnished sea
(2, 2) 1575 Of dull existence, but the winds are up;
(2, 2) 1576 Soon all our lives like labouring cogs shall dance
(2, 2) 1577 Through trough and ridge of fortune to our port,
(2, 2) 1578 With every rush of the torn restless waves
(2, 2) 1579 To sharpen us. Our horses, Gyfert.
(Lanval) So
 
(Lanval) Both loved and feared.
(2, 2) 1605 Sound us a rally.
(Lanval) Life!
 
(Lanval) {Throwing them a purse.}
(2, 2) 1621 Lanval, come,
(2, 2) 1622 We've far to ride.
(Charcoal-burner 1) Let the purse be, man; it's fairy gold, and turns ashes: aye, and brings ill luck with it.
 
(Owain) Is Lanval armed?
(3, 1) 1724 Bernardo is with him.
(Owain) We shall be late.
 
(Owain) We shall be late.
(3, 1) 1726 Well, let them wait for us
(3, 1) 1727 Who forced the quarrel.
(Owain) I did think, Geraint,
 
(Owain) I cannot think.
(3, 1) 1733 I claimed your services:
(3, 1) 1734 He is my friend.
(Owain) Well, God deliver me
 
(Owain) And if he lose the certainty of shame.
(3, 1) 1740 I know, Owain, I have done wrong in this,
(3, 1) 1741 But I was stung by some foul incidents
(3, 1) 1742 And, in my groping for an instrument,
(3, 1) 1743 My hand lit on him. I regret it now
(3, 1) 1744 For I have found he has a quality
(3, 1) 1745 Which shames my purpose. I like him too much
(3, 1) 1746 To turn his deeds to my advantages;
(3, 1) 1747 I'd give my hand to be well clear of this.
(Owain) Hot head, soft heart, these are the devil's aids.
 
(Owain) Hot head, soft heart, these are the devil's aids.
(3, 1) 1749 May be, and yet strong arm outweighs them both.
(3, 1) 1750 But here he comes.
 
(3, 1) 1752 Bernardo, hast thou armed
(3, 1) 1753 Him soundly?
(Bernardo) Prince, had I a son to quip
 
(Lanval) Trust me.
(3, 1) 1762 That we do.
(Owain) The marshals to the lists. Let us go down.
 
(Owain) Well wrought, Sir Lanval.
(3, 1) 2253 Said I not so, Owain?
(3, 1) 2254 I knew he had the power. Well fought, my friend;
(3, 1) 2255 Henceforth our fortunes shall go hand in hand.
(3, 1) 2256 Come, look not stern, for this should be the day
(3, 1) 2257 To crown thy service.
(Astamor) Sir Lanval, here's my hand,
 
(Meliard) I the same.
(3, 1) 2261 I knew.
(Arthur) Truly, our time gives us but little ease,
 
(Agravaine) But have some patience —
(4, 1) 2891 Patience! Here's the world
(4, 1) 2892 Aflare with swords; and we are cramped and held
(4, 1) 2893 For ministration, when our spurring hosts
(4, 1) 2894 Should ride spear-levelled.
(Agravaine) They'll have ended this
 
(Agravaine) Within the hour.
(4, 1) 2897 Have ended! Aye, but how?
(4, 1) 2898 Lanval's accused of a gross falsity,
(4, 1) 2899 An idle, paltry, and low-seeming crime.
(4, 1) 2900 But were he guilty (as I'll not believe),
(4, 1) 2901 His penalty would far outweigh the deed.
(4, 1) 2902 The standards of our justice should not be
(4, 1) 2903 Alike for peace and passion; but the vice
(4, 1) 2904 Of quiet should be worth in war.
(Agravaine) They say the King demands his death.
 
(Agravaine) They say the King demands his death.
(4, 1) 2906 The Queen,
(4, 1) 2907 I think more likely. God! what foolishness
(4, 1) 2908 To let the practice of the sexes twine
(4, 1) 2909 Within our usage.
(Agravaine) A strange heresy!
 
(Agravaine) A strange heresy!
(4, 1) 2911 Strange, dost thou find it? Here's a soul of strength,
(4, 1) 2912 As thou should'st know!
(Agravaine) None better!
 
(Agravaine) None better!
(4, 1) 2914 He may be
(4, 1) 2915 Condemned to death or degradation now.
(4, 1) 2916 For what offence? An insult to a queen!
(4, 1) 2917 What is an insult to a queen to me?
(4, 1) 2918 A hundred insults to a hundred queens? —
(4, 1) 2919 Is he the slighter if his tongue have slipped?
(4, 1) 2920 Is he less able in the talk of blades,
(4, 1) 2921 For such a faulting? But thou hast some cause
(4, 1) 2922 To much mislike him!
(Agravaine) I do not, Geraint.
 
(Agravaine) In all the world.
(4, 1) 2927 Five days ago he spared
(4, 1) 2928 Your life.
(Agravaine) And now to make a pretty tale,
 
(Agravaine) Divert its issue?
(4, 1) 2933 I shall show you means.
(Agravaine) I shall be glad. Oh, the sweet rogue, the rogue!
 
(Agravaine) As all of us.
(4, 1) 2937 What mean you?
(Agravaine) Why, I'm kind
 
(Agravaine) To all that have a likeness to myself.
(4, 1) 2940 You think
(4, 1) 2941 That of him?
(Agravaine) Surely. Rascal that he is,
 
(Agravaine) I almost love him!
(4, 1) 2944 By God's will, he'll die
(4, 1) 2945 Before he knows it.
(Agravaine) Each to his taste. Here come
 
(Cador) Go, disturb us not.
(4, 1) 2957 And now, Cador?
(Cador) Geraint, he has confessed.
 
(Cador) By some denial?
(4, 1) 2964 But he still maintains
(4, 1) 2965 His innocence upon the greater charge.
(Cador) This is no time to play with subtlety.
 
(Cador) Prove her existence!
(4, 1) 2972 How can I do so?
(4, 1) 2973 I know her not.
(Cador) Will not Sir Lanval tell
 
(Cador) Her name and habit?
(4, 1) 2976 I did ask of him;
(4, 1) 2977 He would not tell it; only he said to me
(4, 1) 2978 That never from her should his assistance come.
(Cador) I greatly fear this woman never lived.
 
(Cador) How can I doubt? His guilt is evident.
(4, 1) 2986 I think myself his innocence is plain.
(4, 1) 2987 But have him guilty, 'tis convenient,
(4, 1) 2988 And saves you labour. Cornwall, are you mad?
(4, 1) 2989 This man did you some service in the past,
(4, 1) 2990 And now to serve some fool's fantastic shift
(4, 1) 2991 Of loyalty, you'll smile his life away —
(4, 1) 2992 His who could aid you!
(Cador) I, as well as thou,
 
(Cador) That have their birth in idle clemency.
(4, 1) 3003 Will that be justice?
(Cador) Care I if it's not?
 
(Cador) Of man's intention.
(4, 1) 3013 So said I, Cador.
(4, 1) 3014 We need no shackles of the common mind.
(4, 1) 3015 Our lists are open, let all run who can;
(4, 1) 3016 What matters guilt?
(Cador) What matters innocence?
 
(Cador) In our estate.
(4, 1) 3024 I see you mean him ill.
(Cador) I never wished a harm to any man
 
(Gawain) The law condemns him.
(4, 1) 3054 And how oft, Gawain,
(4, 1) 3055 Hast thou gone free when, had the law received
(4, 1) 3056 Some strict enforcement, thou hadst earned more pain
(4, 1) 3057 That Lanval has?
(Gawain) Am I the prisoner?
 
(Agravaine) Some say unwillingly.
(4, 1) 3064 And more, Gawain.
(4, 1) 3065 How used you Pelleas?
(Gawain) As well as I
 
(Cador) What say'st thou, Geraint?
(4, 1) 3156 Nothing as yet.
(Agravaine) {Aside to Geraint} It will go hard with him.
 
(Agravaine) What foolishness!
(4, 1) 3161 I have a stroke to play
(4, 1) 3162 Beyond their humour.
(Cador) I like it not. This man
 
(Cador) If it must be death —
(4, 1) 3181 I say it shall not!
(Gawain) Three are well agreed.
 
(Gawain) Three are well agreed.
(4, 1) 3183 I am not with you. Let this sentence pass,
(4, 1) 3184 And while I live it shall not be fulfilled,
(4, 1) 3185 Not if the blades of Devon can forbid
(4, 1) 3186 Its execution.
(Gawain) Are we slighted thus?
 
(Gawain) This is rebellion!
(4, 1) 3189 Call it what you will!
(4, 1) 3190 There is a limit to all fealty.
(4, 1) 3191 I know no oath that I have ever sworn
(4, 1) 3192 Which bids me help injustice with my arms,
(4, 1) 3193 Or stand by quiet whilst ye brush aside
(4, 1) 3194 A man's existence for your several ends.
(4, 1) 3195 Must I endure it? Must I sacrifice
(4, 1) 3196 My friend to ease the workings of your craft?
(4, 1) 3197 Ye plead the motion of this war demands
(4, 1) 3198 Lanval's destruction; but I think ye need
(4, 1) 3199 The power and forces that I now command
(4, 1) 3200 No less than that. Choose ye! If Lanval dies,
(4, 1) 3201 No man of Devon shall lay hand to blade;
(4, 1) 3202 Assist, acknowledge, or play party with
(4, 1) 3203 Your purpose.
(Agravaine) {Aside} Now swell with righteous rage;
 
(Gawain) An hour wherein to gender civil strife?
(4, 1) 3208 'Tis not my seeking.
(Cador) I know well, Geraint,
 
(Cador) To force acquaintance of a natural crime.
(4, 1) 3213 I ask but justice.
(Cador) Am I a vampire then,
 
(Cador) And future deeds do penance for all hurt.
(4, 1) 3234 Can they not still?
(Cador) There is no future now,
 
(Cador) But only present.
(4, 1) 3237 He might still atone,
(4, 1) 3238 And do you service.
(Cador) I do wish he could.
 
(Cador) Born at ill times.
(4, 1) 3243 Can he have no escape?
(4, 1) 3244 I do suppose that it seems foul in me
(4, 1) 3245 To have no passion for this state and realm.
(4, 1) 3246 Yet I have served it and done certain deeds
(4, 1) 3247 For its advancement. Aye, the four of us
(4, 1) 3248 Have knit the threads of Britain in a web,
(4, 1) 3249 To stay all onset. This we did as friends,
(4, 1) 3250 And now this friendship will not grant a life
(4, 1) 3251 For friendship's sake. And, sirs, he used you well.
(4, 1) 3252 I am not 'customed to plead thus with men,
(4, 1) 3253 Nor am I prone to waste my love on such
(4, 1) 3254 As need excuses. Discord's in the air,
(4, 1) 3255 Then drive me not to severance of our bonds.
(Gawain) What power have we that are the instruments
 
(Gawain) Owain is right. Let it be banishment.
(4, 1) 3285 My friend degraded! Better death than that;
(4, 1) 3286 I'm fouled with him.
(Cador) Enough, the King is here.
 
(Cador) Sire, we agree.
(4, 1) 3291 Nay, I do not.
(Cador) We three
 
(Arthur) It is well.
(4, 1) 3300 Is there no court in all the world but this?
(4, 1) 3301 While I am prince my home is open court
(4, 1) 3302 Unto Sir Lanval.
(Arthur) It is not well, Geraint,
 
(Arthur) I did not think Geraint should prove him false.
(4, 1) 3307 Were I to yield and idly acquiesce
(4, 1) 3308 In such gross judgment as these barons give,
(4, 1) 3309 Who trim their sails by breath of their desires
(4, 1) 3310 And let the import of their careless hearts
(4, 1) 3311 Go cloaked as justice, I were false indeed.
(4, 1) 3312 False to myself and falser still to thee;
(4, 1) 3313 But I'll be honest and confess my thoughts.
(4, 1) 3314 Shall I from fear of the disdain of these
(4, 1) 3315 Refuse a shelter to what soul I will?
(Arthur) Thy fealty doth bind thee to my cause,
 
(Arthur) As e'er was thought on.
(4, 1) 3319 But there is no need
(4, 1) 3320 To fear defection. None shall say Geraint,
(4, 1) 3321 The son of Erbin, failed in his account.
(4, 1) 3322 This much for me. Unto the King I owe
(4, 1) 3323 All body service. While my limbs and power
(4, 1) 3324 Of blade or lance rest with me they shall be
(4, 1) 3325 Thine instrument; and while this life is mine
(4, 1) 3326 God, king, or devil shall not tear from me
(4, 1) 3327 What I protect.
(Gawain) Is this not treason?
 
(Gyfert) Here, my lord.
(4, 1) 3337 Go to Sir Lanval; I'm his surety,
(4, 1) 3338 And bring him to me. We shall lead the van.
(Gyfert) I will, my lord.
 
(Arthur) And sink with them. Geraint, take thou thy task.
(4, 1) 3351 I lead the van.
(Arthur) I have not yet deprived
 
(Arthur) And beg his service.
(4, 1) 3356 Sire, if I offend
(4, 1) 3357 Or wrong thy service, may the devil tear
(4, 1) 3358 My soul alive from its still quivering flesh,
(4, 1) 3359 And may — have done, the very oaths sound false!
(4, 1) 3360 I'm sick of speech! God's curse upon our talk,
(4, 1) 3361 And all the damnable dim sympathies
(4, 1) 3362 That cloud our passage. To the proof I go.
(4, 1) 3363 Let all I am stand to the test of war.
(Charcoal-burner 1) And now youve dragged me four mile and more, what's the trouble?
 
(Bernardo) At least stand here in shadow. They may pass.
(4, 2) 3552 Back, Beric, tell thy captain that his posts
(4, 2) 3553 Must watch the ford; if 'saulted, hold their ground
(4, 2) 3554 As best they can, and bid him send to me
(4, 2) 3555 Report of any movement.
 
(4, 2) 3558 You sent a runner, Gyfert, to the south;
(4, 2) 3559 Has he returned?
(Gyfert) Not yet, my lord.
 
(Gyfert) Not yet, my lord.
(4, 2) 3561 We've swinged
(4, 2) 3562 The hornets' nest, and left them buzzing.
(Gyfert) Still
 
(Gyfert) As yet.
(4, 2) 3566 Too quiet, they'll be up anon
(4, 2) 3567 And we shall feel them. Oh, a thousand men!
(4, 2) 3568 Only a thousand of my moorland glaives,
(4, 2) 3569 And all the rest of Britain could stand off
(4, 2) 3570 And see me match them!
(Gyfert) {Moving across the stage} We've a clear space here —
 
(4, 2) 3576 This is no place for long-beards. By the saints!
(4, 2) 3577 Bernardo! Lanval! Sure the fates have changed
(4, 2) 3578 Their ancient purpose: but how came ye here?
(4, 2) 3579 Why, Lanval, didst thou fly me? I had meant
(4, 2) 3580 As surety to bring thee to this war,
(4, 2) 3581 Where we might gather honour. Thou art come
(4, 2) 3582 Alone, unarmed!
(Lanval) I came of my own will,
 
(Lanval) Where I can brood to death.
(4, 2) 3589 I know the cause
(4, 2) 3590 Of this despair. Give me your hand. Think now
(4, 2) 3591 I hold dishonour? Has my grasp a lack
(4, 2) 3592 Of strength in it?
(Lanval) Thou hast been friend to me
 
(Lanval) Thy whole existence. I am outcast now.
(4, 2) 3604 I need thy service.
(Lanval) My best service is
 
(Lanval) To stand as far as may be from thy path.
(4, 2) 3607 I tell thee, Lanval, I'll not hear of this.
(4, 2) 3608 The swollen torrent of grim circumstance
(4, 2) 3609 Swept us together, and upon its flood
(4, 2) 3610 Have we come down. I know not why we met,
(4, 2) 3611 Nor do I care so greatly for the cause
(4, 2) 3612 Of our adherence. It is possible
(4, 2) 3613 To make a virtue of one's tendencies,
(4, 2) 3614 When by some chance an instinct follows straight
(4, 2) 3615 On kindly endings. I am not acting now
(4, 2) 3616 As chosen helper of true worth distressed,
(4, 2) 3617 But I do this because I'll not be baulked
(4, 2) 3618 Of what I please; and, to be frank, I think
(4, 2) 3619 My liking for thee is but selfishness.
(4, 2) 3620 Condemned or not, I hold my course the same.
(4, 2) 3621 Let us abide it.
(Lanval) Is it not enough
 
(Lanval) Or to rush idly on my fate beyond.
(4, 2) 3632 I say thou shalt not. If need be, I stay
(4, 2) 3633 Thy passage hence, e'en by the force of arms.
(4, 2) 3634 Come, man! I thought there was more mettle here
(4, 2) 3635 Than such abasement shows. Art thou
(4, 2) 3636 So much a coward that the foolish fates
(4, 2) 3637 Have but to strike and thou art recreant?
(4, 2) 3638 Honour's no virgin to be easy soiled
(4, 2) 3639 By life's first contact. There is naught we lose
(4, 2) 3640 Which we may not hack out of time again,
(4, 2) 3641 If we but hold the courage to outface
(4, 2) 3642 Our bitter fortunes.
(Lanval) Think not that I fear
 
(Lanval) Rules all my doings.
(4, 2) 3646 Thou hast cause for wrath,
(4, 2) 3647 But rage should not be wasted on oneself
(4, 2) 3648 While work's toward. Dishonour's drowned in blood,
(4, 2) 3649 And names grow taintless in the fire of war.
(Lanval) Why wilt thou drag me to the profitless
 
(Lanval) I am aweary of it.
(4, 2) 3653 And I am no less.
(4, 2) 3654 Lanval, see this, my will has been the spur
(4, 2) 3655 Of all thine action. I have linked my life
(4, 2) 3656 To thine: and so have I accepted share
(4, 2) 3657 Of all thy burdens. In the ills thou hast,
(4, 2) 3658 I am a partner: if thou knowest shame,
(4, 2) 3659 I am not scatheless. Twice have I withstood
(4, 2) 3660 The carelessness and idle scorn of man
(4, 2) 3661 From faith in thee. Once, I did stake my lands
(4, 2) 3662 And my subsistence on thy hardiness.
(4, 2) 3663 I was not wrong: again I staked belief
(4, 2) 3664 And risked my honour and my upright name,
(4, 2) 3665 Which, believe me, I love as much as thou,
(4, 2) 3666 Upon the shadow of thy good repute.
(4, 2) 3667 Now our acquaintance is no longer new,
(4, 2) 3668 And time puts our relation to the proof.
(4, 2) 3669 Let us be honest. I have stood for thee,
(4, 2) 3670 Enacted treason, spurned old comradeship
(4, 2) 3671 To stand thy helper. Now it seems I lied,
(4, 2) 3672 And all I did for honour is become
(4, 2) 3673 A very falseness.
(Lanval) How?
 
(Lanval) How?
(4, 2) 3675 I was constrained
(4, 2) 3676 By some strange liking for another type,
(4, 2) 3677 A stamp of being distant from myself,
(4, 2) 3678 To spend my life, my power and influence
(4, 2) 3679 Upon a man in whom I snuffed the scent
(4, 2) 3680 Of a clean being. Now are we at holds.
(Lanval) Say on, Geraint.
 
(Lanval) Say on, Geraint.
(4, 2) 3682 All men speak ill of thee:
(4, 2) 3683 I count opinion lesser than the turn
(4, 2) 3684 Of any pennant. But I doubt all now.
(4, 2) 3685 I cannot think that this spiritless poor husk
(4, 2) 3686 Is the same man I chose from out the herd
(4, 2) 3687 Who strove for honour. Was I too deceived,
(4, 2) 3688 And do men rightly call thee but a dog,
(4, 2) 3689 A common trickster and a hypocrite?
(Lanval) Wilt thou believe it?
 
(Lanval) Wilt thou believe it?
(4, 2) 3691 Only from thy lips,
(4, 2) 3692 Yet these strange actions must incline me to it.
(4, 2) 3693 The thought's not sweet, but still be frank with me,
(4, 2) 3694 For I meet disillusion as all else,
(4, 2) 3695 Stoutly enough.
(Lanval) I had but this to lose!
 
(Lanval) From beggary?
(4, 2) 3699 Now it is thine to loose
(4, 2) 3700 Or bind our friendship. I did never ask
(4, 2) 3701 A service of you but to turn its use
(4, 2) 3702 To your advancement. I have served your cause
(4, 2) 3703 In many fashions and not selfishly.
(4, 2) 3704 You squandered substance and I spent my years,
(4, 2) 3705 Now those you dowered have forgotten you,
(4, 2) 3706 And you, I fancy, have forgotten me.
(4, 2) 3707 Yet should you care to pay my years with hours,
(4, 2) 3708 And let me hold illusion to the end,
(4, 2) 3709 It will not grieve me. Lanval, stand by me,
(4, 2) 3710 Play man to my man! Be again to me
(4, 2) 3711 The friend I trusted.
(Lanval) Wilt compel me then?
 
(Lanval) Wilt compel me then?
(4, 2) 3713 That's not my answer.
(Lanval) I'll not say "accept,"
 
(Lanval) From now till death.
(4, 2) 3721 And I will take it so.
(4, 2) 3722 Fate's herald holds the trumpet to his lips,
(4, 2) 3723 And we stand ready in the lists of life
(4, 2) 3724 To challenge fortune. But thou hast no arms!
(4, 2) 3725 Bernardo!
(Bernardo) Prince.
 
(Bernardo) Prince.
(4, 2) 3727 Have you equipment near?
(Bernardo) Not far, my lord.
 
(Bernardo) Not far, my lord.
(4, 2) 3729 Go thou and bring it here.
 
(4, 2) 3731 My course is laid, and not a storm of change
(4, 2) 3732 Shall turn me from it.
(Gyfert) Our runner is returned.
 
(Gyfert) They come to help us.
(4, 2) 3737 Could he hear no word
(4, 2) 3738 Of the King's forces?
(Gyfert) No.
 
(Gyfert) No.
(4, 2) 3740 The dawn is near!
(4, 2) 3741 Advise me, Lanval. I do need thy skill,
(4, 2) 3742 Should Arthur come not ere the light reveals
(4, 2) 3743 Our present weakness, we shall be hard set
(4, 2) 3744 To hold this passage.
(Captain) My lord,
 
(Captain) The ford beneath us.
(4, 2) 3751 Can ye hold them?
(Captain) No.
 
(Captain) Before the day.
(4, 2) 3756 They may not so intend.
(4, 2) 3757 What think'st thou, Lanval?
(Lanval) I believe it true.
 
(Lanval) And bring confusion.
(4, 2) 3765 We have not the strength.
(Lanval) The Duke of Cornwall cannot now be far,
 
(Lanval) Our armies' onset. Hold them at all costs.
(4, 2) 3771 Should Arthur fail?
(Lanval) We fall in either case,
 
(Lanval) If we oppose them not.
(4, 2) 3774 Gyfert, my arms.
(Man) My lord, their forces have o'erpast the ford,
 
(Man) And drive our posts.
(4, 2) 3779 Back ye, and hold the ground
 
(4, 2) 3781 Until my coming. Up, all Devon's men,
(4, 2) 3782 Let battle-hunger seize upon your limbs,
(4, 2) 3783 And bring you aching for the food of death.
(Lanval) Come, let us go.
 
(Lanval) Come, let us go.
(4, 2) 3785 While thou art still unarmed?
(Lanval) {To Gyfert.}
 
(Lanval) Lend me a sword.
(4, 2) 3788 No, Lanval, I command
(4, 2) 3789 This much obedience. Till Bernardo brings
(4, 2) 3790 His armament, do thou hold here the half
(4, 2) 3791 Of these my forces to be our support,
(4, 2) 3792 And then employ them as occasion turns.
(Lanval) I must obey.
 
(Lanval) I must obey.
(4, 2) 3795 The hour is dark and strange.
(4, 2) 3796 Lanval, should this our day of severance prove,
(4, 2) 3797 As well it may be, let us fall assured
(4, 2) 3798 Of our relation. When I said I served
(4, 2) 3799 Your cause in pureness, I perceive I lied.
(4, 2) 3800 No, let me speak. Unthinkingly I strove
(4, 2) 3801 To turn a being to an instrument.
(4, 2) 3802 It was ill done. Perhaps we'll have no time,
(4, 2) 3803 And no occasion to be clear henceforth.
(4, 2) 3804 We have been much together, and I think
(4, 2) 3805 Our ends will not be distant. Knowing this,
(4, 2) 3806 I give you absolution from all vows
(4, 2) 3807 Of friendship.
(Lanval) Nay, Geraint.
 
(Lanval) Nay, Geraint.
(4, 2) 3809 God guard you well.
(4, 2) 3810 If this be not our hour, the hour will come
(4, 2) 3811 Which we must meet; let then our manner hold
(4, 2) 3812 Until that time. But should our lot decree
(4, 2) 3813 We meet no more — in such a case: farewell!
(Lanval) Farewell, Geraint.
 
(Lanval) Farewell, Geraint.
(4, 2) 3815 Thou, Gyfert, stay with him.