And Sir Daynant said, "Fair
friend, who are you, and where gat ye that sword?"
"I know not who I am," said Sir Tristram, "nor know I whence I came nor
whither I go. As for this sword, I had it from a gentleman who came hither
to us no great while ago."
Then the chiefest of the swineherds said: "Lord, this is a poor madman whom
we found naked and starving in the forest. As for that sword, I may tell
you that he took it away from a knight who came hither to threaten his
life, and he soused that knight into the well so that he was wellnigh
drowned."
Sir Daynant said: "That is a very strange story, that a naked madman should
take the sword out of the hands of an armed knight and treat that knight as
ye tell me. Now maybe this is some famous hero or knight who hath lost his
wits through sorrow or because of some other reason, and who hath so come
to this sorry pass."
(So said Sir Daynant, and it may here be said that from that time those
rude swineherds began to look upon Sir Tristram with different eyes than
before, saying amongst themselves: "Maybe what that knight said is true,
and this is indeed no common madman.
Pages:
390
391
392
393
394
395
396
397
398
399
400
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
412
413
414