Part 6 (1/2)

”Which would you rather have, the gold or the field?”

The woman wept, saying:

”Oh, King, my dead husband loved the field. Give it back to me.”

”You shall have your field again,” said Arthur, ”and besides I will give you three times the amount of gold it is worth to pay you for the years King Uther had it.”

Gareth thought that Arthur was indeed a just king. And while this was pa.s.sing through his mind, another widow came forward and cried:

”Hear me, oh, King! Heretofore you have been my enemy. You killed my husband with your own hands. It is hard for me to ask justice or favor of you. Yet I must. My husband's brother took my son and had him slain, and has now stolen his land. So I ask you for a knight who will do battle and get my son's land for me, and revenge me for his death.”

Then a good knight stepped forward and said:

”Sir King, I am her kinsman. Let me do battle for her and right her wrongs.”

But Sir Kay, Arthur's foster brother, said:

”Lord Arthur, do not help a woman who has called you her enemy in your own hall.”

”Sir Kay,” replied Arthur, ”I am here to help all those who need help in my land. This woman loved her lord, and I killed him because he rebelled against me. Let her kinsman go and do battle against the man who has wronged her. Bring him here, and I shall judge him. If he is guilty he shall suffer.”

While Gareth was still listening to the king's words, a messenger entered from Mark, the king of Cornwall. He carried a wonderful gold cloth which he laid at Arthur's feet, saying:

”My lord, King Mark sends you this as a sign that he is your true friend.”

But Arthur said:

”Take back the cloth. When I fight with kings who are worthy men, after I have conquered them I give them back their lands, and make them my subject-kings and Knights of the Round Table. But Mark is not fit to be a king. He is cruel and false. I will not call him friend.”

The messenger stepped back in alarm. Arthur said to him kindly:

”It is not your fault that Mark is unworthy. Stay in this city until you are refreshed and then go back home in safety.”

While the king judged other cases, Gareth looked around the great hall. Underneath the fourteen windows he saw three rows of stone s.h.i.+elds, and under each s.h.i.+eld was the name of a knight. If a knight had done one great deed, there was carving on his s.h.i.+eld; if he had done two or more, there were gold markings. If he had done none, the s.h.i.+eld was blank. Gareth saw that Sir Lancelot's s.h.i.+eld and Sir Kay's glittered with gold. He looked for the s.h.i.+elds of his brothers, Sir Gawain and Sir Modred. Sir Gawain's was marked with gold, but Sir Modred's was blank.

Meanwhile, Arthur had judged all the cases. Then Gareth came forward timidly and said:

”Lord King, you see my poor clothes; give me leave to serve for twelve months in your kitchen without telling my name. After that I will fight.”

”You are a fair youth,” Arthur replied, ”and you deserve a better gift. However, since this is all you ask, I will put you under the care of Sir Kay, who is master of the kitchen.”

Sir Kay looked at Gareth with scorn.

”This youth has come from some place where he did not get enough to eat,” he said, ”and so he thinks of nothing but food. Yet if he wants food, he shall have it, provided he does his work well.”

Sir Lancelot, who stood near by, said:

”Sir Kay, you understand dogs and horses well, but not men. Look at this youth's face; see his broad forehead and honest eyes, and beautiful hands. I believe he is of n.o.ble birth, and you should treat him well.”