"
"Lady," said Tristram, "I do not need any bain, for I believe I am now
strong and well in all wise."
"Nay," said the Queen, "you must have that bain so that no ill may come to
you hereafter from this battle which you have fought."
So she had that bain prepared of tepid water, and it was very strong and
potent with spices and powerful herbs of divers sorts. And when that bain
was prepared, Sir Tristram undressed and entered the bath, and the Queen
and the Lady Belle Isoult were in the adjoining chamber which was his
bed-chamber.
[Sidenote: The Queen of Ireland beholds Sir Tristram's sword] Now whilst
Sir Tristram was in that bath, the Queen and Belle Isoult looked all about
his chamber. And they beheld the sword of Sir Tristram where it lay, for he
had laid it upon the bed when he had unlatched the belt to make himself
ready for that bath. Then the Queen said to the Lady Belle Isoult, "See
what a great huge sword this is," and thereupon she lifted it and drew the
blade out of its sheath, and she beheld what a fair, bright, glistering
sword it was. Then in a little she saw where, within about a foot and a
half from the point, there was a great piece in the shape of a half-moon
broken out of the edge of the sword; and she looked at that place for a
long while.
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