"
"Fair maiden," said Sir Launcelot, "as for telling you my name, that I will
gladly do. I am called Sir Launcelot of the Lake, and I am a knight of King
Arthur's court and of his Round Table."
[Sidenote: Sir Launcelot and the maiden discourse together] At this the
damsel was very greatly astonished and filled with admiration. "Hah!" quoth
she, "it is a great pleasure to me to fall in with you, Sir Launcelot, for
all the world now bespeaketh your fame. Little did I ever think to behold
your person, much less speak with you, and ride in this way with you. Now I
will tell you what this adventure is on which we are set; it is this--there
is, some small distance from this, a castle of a knight hight Sir Turquine,
who hath in his prison a great many knights of King Arthur's court, and
several knights of his Round Table. These knights he keepeth there in great
dole and misery, for it is said that their groans may be heard by the
passers along the high-road below the castle. This Sir Turquine is held to
be the greatest knight in the world (unless it be thou) for he hath never
yet been overcome in battle, whether a-horseback or a-foot.
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