Arthur Rex

by Thomas Berger

  Now these news did cause Launcelot to feel an awful sadness. “Come, dear friend,” said he, “let us find a chapel and pray for all concerned, for the soul of thy father and for King Pellinore as well, for surely he never knew of thy relationship to King Lot.”

  “Nay,” said Sir Gawaine firmly, “I can spare no time for such. I go without delay to avenge my father’s death.”

  “O friend of my heart,” said Sir Launcelot, “vengeance belongeth to God alone! Do not do this impious thing, I beg of thee! Pellinore is our comrade. When we of the Table fight one another, then our purpose is lost.” And he did clutch at Gawaine’s bridle with his gauntlet. “Nay, dear Gawaine, I can not suffer thee to do this! I know that when Pellinore doth discover it was thy father whom he killed he will be contrite and he will beg thy forgiveness as a Christian and a brother knight.”

  But Sir Gawaine pulled himself away, and he lifted his lance offering to place it in the rest, and he said, “Launcelot, dearest friend, do not I pray seek to stop me, else we, thou and I, shall fight, and if thou art my superior at arms then so be it, but I shall not hold until one of us is dead.”

  And Launcelot would not fight Gawaine, whom he loved, and therefore he asked God to bring him peace, and they went each his own way.

  And when Sir Gawaine reached King Pellinore’s land he told him what he had come for, and Pellinore said, “Yea, noble Gawaine, I expected thee to come as Lot’s first son. Now believe me that I never knew he was thy father when we fought. Yet what difference could that knowledge have made when he had taken my land and would not return it to me as its lawful sovereign?”

  “Surely that is true,” said Sir Gawaine. “I do not seek to justify what my father did. But mine unalterable duty is to avenge his death. I bear thee—(Forgive me for the intimate speech: you are now again a ruling monarch, but I still cherish the memory of you as our old comrade!) I bear you no malice, King Pellinore, as man and as knight. I confess that in mine early days of envy I had little affection for you, but I came soon to hold you in the same love with which we are all united at the Table. Therefore, that we now be enemies is not a personal matter.”

  “I share thy feelings, gallant Gawaine,” said King Pellinore, “and I hope that mine own sons will be as zealous as thee to defend their family. Now, my friend, let us go to fight to someone’s death!”

  And they shook each other by the hand, and they went to the field, and there they fought all afternoon, for Pellinore though not in his earliest youth was a knight of great prowess, but he was finally killed by Sir Gawaine, who thus avenged the death of his father King Lot.

  Now Sir Gawaine was himself sore wounded by the powerful blows of King Pellinore, and he must needs recover from them, and so he did in the course of some months, being nursed at the Convent of the Little Sisters of Poverty and Pain, and then he returned to Camelot.

  And when King Arthur heard of the fight between Gawaine and King Pellinore he knew great sorrow. And then he became wrathful in the extreme.

  “Nephew Gawaine!” cried he in a thunderous voice. “Thou of all knights! Then the Table Round doth mean nothing to thee! I had believed that this old savagery of blood-feud were gone forever from Britain. But beyond that, he who joineth the Table doth forsake all other obligations. When thou didst join its company, thou didst leave the base world where such wickednesses as revenge are practiced.”

  And King Arthur did shake with fury. “Was it not Our Lord who said we should forgive our enemies? Worse, Pellinore was not thine enemy but thy comrade and thy friend!”

  “Uncle,” said Gawaine, full of shame, “I submit myself to your correction.”

  “Yet art thou truly submissive to God?” asked King Arthur. “And Pellinore hath some sons who joined the Table, as thou knowest, and what of the first of those, Sir Lamorak? Shall he seek revenge from thee? And if thou dost slay him, then shalt thou fight the others in succession?”

  “Yet, Uncle, King Lot was my father. And can a son be excused from his duty towards his parents?”

  “Hast killing Pellinore, who was a good man, brought back King Lot?” asked King Arthur. “And further,” said he drawing Excalibur from its scabbard and standing erect, “thy father was not so good a man, Gawaine. Now I have said it! Come defend thy family!” And he smote his nephew with the flat of his sword and he shamed him. “Have at thee! Thy father was a caitiff and a traitor. Scarcely had I assumed the throne when he brought an host to destroy me. And this Camelot where we are now was then Cameliard, of which thine aunt Guinevere was princess, and thy father besieged this castle for many weeks, and he would have taken it had I not come to drive him away. This is the man whose death thou wouldst avenge?”

  And again King Arthur smote Gawaine with the flat of his blade. “Draw, Nephew! For I have determined to end this feud before it can go farther. Thy king and uncle will serve as champion of Pellinore’s family. Now draw, else I shall cut thee down mercilessly where thou dost stand!”

  “Sire,” said Sir Gawaine, unfastening his sword belt and throwing it from him, and then he knelt before King Arthur and he exposed his neck. “I shall not stand against my king! Take mine head, for I know I have done wrong.”

  And Arthur stared down upon him for a long while, and then tears came from his eyes, and he laid Excalibur on the seat of his throne and he took Sir Gawaine by the arms and drew him to his feet, and he embraced him.

  “Forgive me for insulting thy father’s memory, dear Gawaine,” said King Arthur. “’Twas not personal, but rather in the interests of a principle. And I shall do the same with Sir Lamorak when he returns from his current quest.”

  And Sir Gawaine reflected that since the death of Elaine the maid of Astolat he who had been once the most personal of knights had become himself almost altogether only an abstraction.

  Now at that point a weeping lady did apply at the castle and ask to be admitted to the presence of King Arthur, and she was so brought in.

  And King Arthur, who was still shaken by his conversation with Gawaine, had little patience with her. “Lady,” said he, “I can not hear thee for thy sobbing.”

  “Well,” said she seeking to dry her eyes, “I am in the greatest distress, for mine husband and lord hath been overcome by an evil knight and he is being held prisoner in our castle.”

  “Then be of some cheer,” said King Arthur, “for such matters are those in which we of the Table Round have a peculiar strength.”

  “Uncle, I shall leave at once,” said Sir Gawaine, and he went to fetch the sword and the belt which he had discarded.

  But the lady said, “I have not yet told you the whole of it, Sire, and I am afraid that Sir Gawaine nor any of your other knights can not answer the need. For ’tis you alone whom this wicked man hath challenged, and only for that reason did he allow me to travel here unmolested. ‘Unless King Arthur come out of Camelot to meet me in single combat, he hath proved himself the basest of cowards in the world,’ so saith this felonious knight.”

  But buckling on his belt Sir Gawaine said, “Uncle, I would that you disregard his challenge, the which could not have been made except by either a mad fellow (in which case be it not worth noticing) or some knight who hath a weird and devilish power by which he purposes to enthrall you criminally. I shall go in your stead, for in truth my existence is not essential to the Round Table, nor indeed to myself.”

  “Gawaine,” said King Arthur, “do not anger me again. For one, thou art no less precious to God than I, and for another I love thee as nephew and as knight. But further, how may I of all persons turn away from a personal challenge? In the degree to which this felon doth the Devil’s work, then I as God’s anointed monarch must meet him with the sword which is invincible in the service of virtue.”

  And the king took up what he believed to be Excalibur, which he had laid down earlier onto the throne, but it was not his own sword now, for a vile dwarf had spirited himself secretly into the room whilst King Arthur had his impassioned colloquy with Sir Ga
waine, and this dwarf had exchanged Excalibur for a counterfeit sword. For this dwarf was in the service of Morgan la Fey, and he had been sent to watch for a moment when the king let the magic weapon leave his hands.

  “Then at least you will permit me to accompany you, Uncle?” asked Sir Gawaine now, “for I do not like what I have heard about this matter.”

  “Very well,” said King Arthur. “But I want thy pledge, dear Gawaine, that thou shalt do nothing unless I am offered foul play.” And Gawaine gave his pledge, and they set out with this lady to find the castle where her husband was held captive by the evil knight.

  Now meanwhile the detestable dwarf who served Morgan la Fey had taken Excalibur to this wicked knight, whose name was Sir Gromer Somir Joure, and he was armed with it when King Arthur and Sir Gawaine and the lady came to the castle.

  Now when the king demanded entrance to this place, Sir Gromer Somir Joure had the drawbridge lowered and he came riding slowly across it.

  “Well,” said he when he came unto the king, “shall we fight then?” And he was so insolent that Sir Gawaine could not endure him, and therefore Gawaine drew his sword and he would have set upon him to punish his contumaciousness had not King Arthur stayed his nephew’s arm.

  “Gawaine,” said Arthur, “I shall not remind thee twice of thy pledge.”

  And Sir Gromer Somir Joure did sneer vilely at this speech, and then he made great insult to Gawaine, for to bait him into breaking his pledge, and he said, “Thou art Gawaine, the notable eunuch of Camelot?” And he laughed vilely.

  Yet Sir Gawaine would not break his word, and he suffered the evil knight to say this with impunity.

  “Sir Gromer Somir Joure,” said King Arthur, who had been told his name by the lady, “unless thou givest me some excuse for what thou hast done here I shall put thee to the sword.”

  “Which sword?” asked this evil knight.

  And King Arthur drew from his scabbard that which he believed was Excalibur, but when he raised it the blade wilted and dropped like unto the lash of a whip.

  And then Sir Gromer Somir Joure drew the genuine Excalibur, and he pointed it at King Arthur. But now Sir Gawaine drew his own sword and he sought to interpose himself between the king and the wicked knight.

  “Gawaine,” commanded King Arthur, “prithee move aside, for as yet I can not be sure this is foul play, for I have not been touched.”

  And Sir Gawaine must needs obey his king’s command, and therefore he did as ordered, but he marveled at King Arthur’s adherence to the letter even when his life was in imminent danger.

  “Now,” said King Arthur to Sir Gromer Somir Joure, “is it thine intent to compound thy felonies by smiting me with mine own sword?”

  “King Arthur,” said this felonious knight, “armed as I am, I might do anything I would, but as it happens I shall offer you no harm at this moment. For my purpose be not to slay you, but rather to humiliate you, the which, you will agree, is far more deleterious to a king of the greatest worship.”

  And King Arthur replied in his habitual dignity, “And how wouldst thou do this, sir?”

  “By putting to you a question that is unanswerable,” said Sir Gromer Somir Joure. “But so as to give it the appearance of justice, I shall give you one full year in which to seek an answer to this question.”

  “Unanswerable, sayest thou?” asked King Arthur. “Then however long I seek it, it doth not exist?”

  “Well,” said Sir Gromer Somir Joure, “in saying that I anticipate with malicious glee. There is an answer, but you shall never find it though it be before your eyes.”

  “And if I return in one year with the correct answer, what then?” asked King Arthur.

  “In that unlikely event,” said the wicked knight, “I pledge that I shall return Excalibur to you and you may deal with me as you will. But if your answer is wrong, you shall be at my mercy, and be assured that I have none.”

  Now again Sir Gawaine tried to ride between them, but King Arthur kept him away, saying, “Excalibur is invincible, Gawaine, and hath no conscience in its heart of steel. Thy suicide, nor mine, would serve no cause but folly.”

  Then the king turned to Sir Gromer Somir Joure and he said, “Very well, sir knight, give me this question.”

  And that knight smiled evilly, and he said, “It is as follows: What do women most desire in this world?”

  And King Arthur marveled that the question was such a simple one, and he turned to put it to the lady who had led him and Sir Gawaine to this place, but she was gone. And he did not know that she had been Morgan la Fey in disguise, and that she had lured him here with a ruse. And Sir Gromer Somir Joure was but another knight who was the instrument of her wicked will, for she had used her beauty to deprive him of all honor.

  Now King Arthur and Sir Gawaine rode back towards Camelot, and the king said, “Gawaine, there is something strange about this adventure, for I can not think that any evil person possessing Excalibur would surrender it so easily. This question will be simply answered by the first woman I put it to. We may find some female before we reach the castle. If not, then Guinevere can answer it straightway, and I shall go immediately to find Sir Gromer Somir Joure and reclaim my sword.”

  “Uncle,” said Sir Gawaine, “I once had considerable traffic with women, as is well known to all, and I tell you this: that I can not answer this question. Further, I gravely doubt that we shall find a woman who will answer it.”

  “Yea,” said King Arthur, “that a woman doth not know her mind is an established truth.”

  “With all respect,” said Sir Gawaine, “’tis not so much that they do not know it, methinks, but rather that they would not tell it to a man. For why should they and so lose their greatest weapon?”

  And King Arthur was not pleased with what Sir Gawaine had said, for he believed that he was jesting frivolously, and he said with impatience, “I purpose to spend no long time upon this matter. Tis a grave thing to be deprived of Excalibur for such a foolish want.”

  And contritely Sir Gawaine said, “’Twas surely stolen whilst you were distracted by my recent failing, Uncle. Pray allow me to recover it by mine own means.”

  And King Arthur had not yet thought of how the sword had been taken and given to Sir Gromer Somir Joure, but now he realized that it must have been through the hateful devices of his sister Morgan la Fey, and he could not tell Gawaine of this, for she was his aunt. And he regretted that Sir Launcelot had gone from Camelot, for he was the ideal confidant, and the king mistakenly believed that Launcelot could answer the question about women.

  “Thou canst render me great service,” the king now said to his nephew. “Go and find Launcelot, and bring him back to me.”

  Therefore Sir Gawaine rode away on this mission and King Arthur returned to Camelot alone. And when he arrived there he went to Guinevere and he asked her the question put to him by Sir Gromer Somir Joure.

  Now what Guinevere herself most desired was the return of Sir Launcelot, as it had been earlier his departure for which she most had wished. Therefore she said to King Arthur, “My lord, what a woman desireth most is not the same from one time to another.”

  Now to King Arthur this seemed to confirm his belief that no woman knew her own mind, for he was a man and did seek to find an universal principle for all things, which is to say, a fixity, an arresting of time; whereas it can be seen that Guinevere did speak from a female sense of fluidity (for women, like the sea, do know the tides, and their phases are no more capricious than those of the moon).

  And next King Arthur sent for all the ladies of the court, and he asked them all the same question. And then he spake also with the women of the lower orders, even unto the wives and daughters of serfs. But never did he get an answer the which he believed satisfactory, for either all these women answered much as had Guinevere, or else they said that which King Arthur was shrewd enough to know was designed to please him as man and as sovereign, exempli gratia: “To obey their husbands, Sire!... To serve the
ir king.... To care for men,” &tc., &tc.

  And though King Arthur believed that these were indeed the duties of women, given them by God, and that all British females performed them impeccably, yet he suspected that these truths were partial, for all women did descend from Eve who ate the proscribed fruit and so introduced the first shame into the world.

  And then he did have nuns brought to him, to answer this question, and their answers were pious. And from Ireland and Germany and France he sent for strumpets (for he believed Britain to be clean of whores, whereas they were numberless in these lands), and to these drabs he asked the question, What do women most desire in this world? But their answers did not differ from those of honest women, and were not even to be distinguished much from those of the nuns and this amazed King Arthur, who thought them to be in the service of the Devil. (Nor were these harlots so vain as some of the ladies of Camelot, and they were dressed more modestly than most.)

  Now all this questioning took a long time, and half the year was gone before King Arthur could find no more women to inquire of. And then having received no good answer he did purpose to find one from men.

  Therefore he asked all of his knights who were at Camelot, and all the barons as well as all the boors of Britain this same question, and he sent couriers with it to all the realms on earth, even unto the swarthy men in Afric and the yellow-skinned men who live on the edge of the world, and the men whose heads do grow beneath their shoulders and those with the hindquarters of goats and those who were so barbarous as to go about with their privities obscenely exposed as well as those in the towns who were so refined as to have become sodomites.

  And though their answers were in many different languages, what all these men said that women most desired was to be desirable to men.