by W. S. Merwin
And then he went to his meal and put his mind to that
And amused himself all day in games until the moon rose.
No knight ever was entertained better,
Between two such fine ladies,
The elder and the younger
Kept him entertained with their graces.
And still the lord of the land is off hunting,
Chasing the childless hinds in woods and on heaths.
By the time the sun was setting he had killed so many
Does and other deer that they could hardly count them.
Then they rushed in, crowding together at the finish,
And soon assembled the slain deer into a single heap,
The highest lords went there with many men,
Picked out the fattest ones from the others
And had them cut up carefully in the correct way,
While some went on sorting out the ones that were left.
They found fat two fingers thick on the poorest of them.
Then they slit open the throat, seized the first stomach,
Sliced it out with a sharp knife and tied it shut.
Next they lopped the four limbs and flayed off the hide,
Broke open the belly and took out the bowels,
Lystily for laucyng þe lere of þe knot;
Þay gryped to þe gargulun, and grayþely departed 1335
Þe wesaunt fro þe wynt-hole, and walt out þe guttez;
Þen scher þay out þe schulderez with her scharp knyuez,
Haled hem by a lyttel hole to haue hole sydes.
Siþen britned þay þe brest and brayden hit in twynne,
And eft at þe gargulun bigynez on þenne, 1340
Ryuez hit vp radly ryзt to þe byзt,
Voydez out þe avanters, and verayly þerafter
Alle þe rymez by þe rybbez radly þay lance;
So ryde þay of by resoun bi þe rygge bonez,
Euenden to þe haunche, þat henged alle samen, 1345
And heuen hit vp al hole, and hwen hit of þere,
And þat þay neme for þe noumbles bi nome, as I trowe, bi kynde;
Bi þe byзt al of þe þyзes
Þe lappez þay lance bihynde; 1350
To hewe hit in two þay hyзes,
Bi þe bakbon to vnbynde.
Boþe þe hede and þe hals þay hwen of þenne,
And syþen sunder þay þe sydez swyft fro þe chyne,
And þe corbeles fee þay kest in a greue; 1355
Þenn þurled þay ayþer þik side þurз bi þe rybbe,
And henged þenne ayþer bi hoзez of þe fourchez,
Vche freke for his fee, as fallez for to haue.
Vpon a felle of þe fayre best fede þay þayr houndes
Wyth þe lyuer and þe lyзtez, þe leþer of þe paunchez, 1360
And bred baþed in blod blende þeramongez.
Baldely þay blw prys, bayed þayr rachchez,
Syþen fonge þay her flesche, folden to home,
Quickly casting them aside, saving the knots of flesh.
They grasped the throat and sundered with one stroke
The gullet from the windpipe, and flung out the guts.
Then they sliced the shoulders with their sharp knives,
Hauled the sinews through a little hole to keep the sides whole.
Then they split the breast and pried it apart
And then went back to the gullet again.
They severed it swiftly right to the fork,
Emptied out the entrails, and then truly
They cut all the membranes along the ribs skillfully,
Clearing them away along the bones of the back,
All the way to the haunch that hung from it whole,
And they hauled it up in one piece and cut out those bits
Inside that are eaten, known as the numbles, to my knowledge,
Near the fork of the thighs,
Cutting behind folds of skin.
They hew it in two pieces
To split the backbone.
Both the head and the neck they hew off then,
And next they quickly sever the sides from the chine
And they toss the crows' fee into a thicket.
And then they pierced through both sides along the ribs
And hung them both up by the hocks of the legs,
Each man taking the fee that by right was his.
On one of the finest skins they fed their hounds,
The liver and the lights, the tripe of the paunches,
And bread bathed in blood mixed in with it all.
Loudly they blew the horn and the hounds bayed.
Then they took their meat, each of them, and headed for home,
Strakande ful stoutly mony stif motez.
Bi þat þe daylyзt watz done þe douthe watz al wonen 1365
Into þe comly castel, þer þe knyзt bidez ful stille,
Wyth blys and bryзt fyr bette.
Þe lorde is comen þertylle;
When Gawayn wyth hym mette 1370
Þer watz bot wele at wylle.
Thenne comaunded þe lorde in þat sale to samen alle þe meny,
Boþe þe ladyes on loghe to lyзt with her burdes
Bifore alle þe folk on þe flette, frekez he beddez
Verayly his venysoun to fech hym byforne, 1375
And al godly in gomen Gawayn he called,
Techez hym to þe tayles of ful tayt bestes,
Schewez hym þe schyree grece schorne vpon rybbes.
‘How payez yow þis play? Haf I prys wonnen?
Haue I þryuandely þonk þurз my craft serued?' 1380
‘Зe iwysse,’ quoþ þat oþer wyзe, ‘here is wayth fayrest
Þat I seз þis seuen зere in sesoun of wynter.'
‘And al I gif yow, Gawayn,’ quoþ þe gome þenne,
‘For by acorde of couenaunt зe craue hit as your awen.’
‘Þis is soth,’ quoþ þe segge, ‘I say yow þat ilke: 1385
Þat I haf worthyly wonnen þis wonez wythinne,
Iwysse with as god wylle hit worþez to зourez.’
He hasppez his fayre hals his armez wythinne,
And kysses hym as comlyly as he couþe awyse:
'Tas yow þere my cheuicaunce, I cheued no more; 1390
I wowche hit saf fynly, þaз feler hit were.’
‘Hit is god,’ quoþ þe godmon, ‘grant mercy þerfore.
Hit may be such hit is þe better, and зe me breue wolde
Where зe wan þis ilk wele bi wytte of yorseluen.’
Sounding the horns loudly again and again.
By the time the daylight was done, all the company
Had come into the great castle, where the knight was quietly waiting.
There were high hearts and bright fires burning
As the lord came home
And Gawain was coming
To meet him, and great joy between them.
Then the lord summoned all of them to gather in that hall,
And the ladies to come down too, bringing their maidens with them.
Before the entire assembly there he has his men
Bring his share of the venison before him,
And in the best of humor he called to Gawain To show him the tally of the swift deer.
He points out the fine flesh carved from the ribs.
“What do you think of this game? Have I won your approval?
Do I deserve your full thanks for the way I have hunted?”
“Indeed,” said the other, “here is the finest take
That I have seen, these seven years, in the winter season.”
“And I give it all to you, Gawain,” the lord said then.
“By the terms of our covenant you may claim it as your own.”
“True enough,” the knight said, “and I say the same to you:
What I have won honorably here in the house,
And with as good a will, I am sure, shall be made yours.”
And he takes his fine neck between his arms
And kisses him as gracefully as he can.
“There you have my winnings, for I gained nothing else.
I wish I had something greater to give you.”
“It is good,” the good man said, “and I thank you for it.
It might even be the better of the two if you told me
Where it was that your own merits won you this prize.”
‘Þat watz not forward,’ quoþ he, ‘frayst me no more. 1395
For зe haf tan þat yow tydez, trawe non oþer зe mowe.’
Þay laзed, and made hem blyþe
Wyth lotez þat were to lowe;
To soper þay зede as-swyþe, 1400
Wyth dayntés nwe innowe.
And syþen by þe chymné in chamber þay seten,
Wyзez þe walle wyn weзed to hem oft,
And efte in her bourdyng þay bayþen in þe morn
To fylle þe same forwardez þat þay byfore maden: 1405
Wat chaunce so bytydez hor cheuysaunce to chaunge,
What nwez so þay nome, at naзt quen þay metten.
Þay acorded of þe couenauntez byfore þe court alle;
Þe beuerage watz broзt forth in bourde at þat tyme,
Þenne þay louelych leзten leue at þe last, 1410
Vche burne to his bedde busked bylyue.
Bi þat þe coke hade crowen and cakled bot þryse,
Þe lorde watz lopen of his bedde, þe leudez vchone;
So þat þe mete and þe masse watz metely delyuered,
Þe douthe dressed to þe wod, er any day sprenged, to chace; 1415
Heз with hunte and hornez
Þurз playnez þay passe in space,
Vncoupled among þo þornez
Rachez þat ran on race. 1420
Sone þay calle of a quest in a ker syde,
Þe hunt rehayted þe houndez þat hit fyrst mynged,
Wylde wordez hym warp wyth a wrast noyce;
Þe howndez þat hit herde hastid þider swyþe,
“That was not part of the pact,” he said, “ask me no more.
For you have been paid what was owed you, and should want nothing besides.”
They laughed and made light of it
With wit and wisdom.
Then they went in to eat
The fine supper ready for them.
And afterwards, when they sat in the chamber by the fire,
And the servants kept bringing them choice wines,
They agreed, in their banter, again and again, that the next day
They would keep to the agreement they had made before
And exchange whatever gains fortune might grant them,
However novel those might be, when they met at nighttime.
They confirmed their covenant before the whole court.
The drink was brought, and they drank to it, laughing.
Then at last they bade each other a courteous good night
And each of them went at once to his bed.
By the time the cock had crowed and cackled three times
The lord had leapt from his bed, and each of the knights,
So that the meal and the Mass were served promptly,
And the whole company off to the wood before daylight, to the hunt.
Loud with the sound of horns
They sweep over the plain,
Unleash the hounds among the thorns
And let them run.
They pick up a scent before long at the edge of a marsh.
The hunt urged on the hounds that found it first,
Calling wild words to them at the top of their voices.
The hounds that heard it raced to the spot,
And fellen as fast to þe fuyt, fourty at ones; 1425
Þenne such a glauer ande glam of gedered rachchez
Ros, þat þe rocherez rungen aboute;
Hunterez hem hardened with horne and wyth muthe.
Þen al in a semblé sweyed togeder,
Bitwene a flosche in þat fryth and a foo cragge; 1430
In a knot bi a clyffe, at þe kerre syde,
Þer as þe rogh rocher vnrydely watz fallen,
Þay ferden to þe fyndyng, and frekez hem after;
Þay vmbekesten þe knarre and þe knot boþe,
Wyзez, whyl þay wysten wel wythinne hem hit were, 1435
Þe best þat þer breued watz wyth þe blodhoundez.
Þenne þay beten on þe buskez, and bede hym vpryse,
And he vnsoundyly out soзt seggez ouerþwert;
On þe sellokest swyn swenged out þere,
Long sythen fro þe sounder þat siзed for olde, 1440
For he watz breme, bor alþer-grattest,
Ful grymme quen he gronyed; þenne greued mony,
For þre at þe fyrst þrast he þryзt to þe erþe,
And sparred forth good sped boute spyt more.
Þise oþer halowed hyghe! ful hyзe, and hay! hay! cryed, 1445
Haden hornez to mouþe, heterly rechated;
Mony watz þe myry mouthe of men and of houndez
Þat buskkez after þis bor with bost and wyth noyse to quelle.
Ful oft he bydez þe baye, 1450
And maymez þe mute inn melle;
He hurtez of þe houndez, and þay
Ful зomerly зaule and зelle.
Schalkez to schote at hym schowen to þenne,
Haled to hym of her arewez, hitten hym oft; 1455
Rushing in to take up the trail, forty at once.
Then such a ruckus and racket of crowding hounds
Rose that the rocks around them rang with it,
The hunters urging them on with horns and shouts.
Then all of them rushed together into a single pack
Between a pool in the forest and a towering crag.
In a pile of rocks by a cliff, at the marsh side,
There where the rough boulders had tumbled together,
They raced to flush the game, and the knights after them.
They cast about in the stone heaps and the rocky hill,
All of them sure of what was hiding inside there,
The beast that the bloodhounds announced with their baying.
They beat on the bushes and shouted to rouse him,
And he burst out in a fury, heading straight for the men,
A boar of monstrous size, suddenly sprung,
One who had long been the ancient of swine,
For he was a fierce pig, bigger than the rest,
His grunt ferocious, striking fear into many.
Three of them he threw to the ground with his first rush
And dashed off at full speed without doing more damage.
The others shouted “Hi! Hi!” and “Hay! Hay!” they called,
With their horns to their mouths, loud in the chase.
Many were the merry sounds of men and of hounds
Running with noise and high voices after this boar for the kill.
Often he turns at bay
And maims those that press closely.
He hurts the hounds and they
Howl and shriek piteously.
Then those prepared to shoot at him pushed forward,
Aimed their arrows at him, hit him again and again,
Bot þe poyntez payred at þe pyth þat pyзt in his scheldez,
And þe barbez of his browe bite non wolde—
Þaз þe schauen schaft schyndered in pecez,
Þe hede hypped aзayn were-so-euer hit hitte.
Bot quen þe dyntez hym dered of her dryзe strokez, 1460
Þen, braynwod for bate, on burnez he rasez,
Hurtez hem ful heterly þer he forth hyзez,
And mony arзed þerat, and on lyte droзen.
Bot þe lorde on a lyзt horce launces hym after,
As burne bolde vpon bent his bugle he blowez, 1465
He rechated, and rode þurз ronez ful þyk,
Suande þis wylde swyn
til þe sunne schafted.
Þis day wyth þis ilk dede þay dryuen on þis wyse,
Whyle oure luflych lede lys in his bedde,
Gawayn grayþely at home, in gerez ful ryche of hewe. 1470
Þe lady noзt forзate,
Com to hym to salue;
Ful erly ho watz hym ate
His mode for to remwe. 1475
Ho commes to þe cortyn, and at þe knyзt totes.
Sir Wawen her welcumed worþy on fyrst,
And ho hym зeldez aзayn ful зerne of hir wordez,
Settez hir softly by his syde, and swyþely ho laзez,
And wyth a luflych loke ho layde hym þyse wordez: 1480
‘Sir, зif зe be Wawen, wonder me þynkkez,
Wyзe þat is so wel wrast alway to god,
And connez not of compaynye þe costez vndertake,
And if mon kennes yow hom to knowe, зe kest hom of your mynde;
Þou hatz forзeten зederly þat зisterday I taзtte 1485
Bi alder-truest token of talk þat I cowþe.’
But the points were turned by the tough shield of his hide,
And the barbs would not bite into his brow.
Instead, the smooth shafts were splintered into pieces.
The heads leapt away again wherever they hit.
But when the heat of their heavy blows began to tell upon him,
Then, in a frenzy to fight them, he rushes at the knights,
Wounding them suddenly as he hurled himself into them,
So that many of them panicked and scrambled aside.
But the lord dashes after him on a spirited horse.
Blowing his bugle as a bold knight in the chase,
He called them to follow him and rode through the thickets
In pursuit of this wild boar as long as the sun was shining.
So on that single chase they spent the whole of that day
While our fair knight Gawain is lying in bed
At home, at his ease, in sumptuous garments of bright colors.
The lady did not fail to come
To wish him good morning.
Early indeed she was at him
To waken his feeling.
She comes to the curtain and peeps at the knight.
Sir Gawain welcomes her politely, to start with,
And she can scarcely wait with her answers.
With a quick laugh she sits down softly beside him,
And these words she said to him, with a melting glance:
“I wonder, sir, whether you are really Gawain,
A knight so set upon doing the right thing,
But does not know how to behave politely
And pays no attention even if he is instructed.
