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have the hide of the servant of the Enemy, the lion to wit, whom thou slewest
yesterday, for a carpet to our feet;
wherefore go now, take thy wood-knife, and flay the beast, and bring me home
his skin. This shall be all thy service for this day, so mayst thou do it at
thine own leisure, and not weary thyself. May good go with thee.
He bent the knee before her, and she smiled on him graciously, but reached out
no hand for him to kiss, and heeded him but little. Wherefore, in spite of
himself, and though he knew somewhat of her guile, he could not help
marvelling that this should be she who had lain in his arms night-
long but of late.
Howso that might be, he took his way toward the thicket where he had slain the
lion, and came thither by then it was afternoon, at the hottest of the day. So
he entered therein, and came to the very place whereas the Lady had lain, when
she fell down before the terror of the lion; and there was the mark of her
body on the grass where she had lain that while, like as it were the form of a
hare. But when Walter went on to where he had slain that great beast, lo! he
was gone, and there was no sign of him; but there were Walter s own
footprints, and the two shafts which he had shot, one feathered red, and one
blue. He said at first: Belike someone hath been here, and hath had the
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carcase away. Then he laughed in very despite, and said: How may that be,
since there are no signs of dragging away of so huge a body, and no blood or
fur on the grass if they had cut him up, and moreover no trampling of feet, as
if there had been many men at the deed. Then was he all abashed, and again
laughed in scorn of himself, and said: Forsooth I deemed I had done
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manly; but now forsooth I shot nought, and nought there was before the sword
of my father s son. And what may I deem now, but that this is a land of mere
lies, and that there is nought real and alive therein save me. Yea, belike
even these trees and the green grass will presently depart from me, and leave
me falling down through the clouds.
Therewith he turned away, and gat him to the road that led to the Golden
House, wondering what next should befall him, and going slowly as he pondered
his case. So came he to that first thicket where they had lost their quarry by
water; so he entered the same, musing, and bathed him in the pool that was
therein, after he had wandered about it awhile, and found nothing new.
So again he set him to the homeward road, when the day was now waning, and it
was near sunset that he was come nigh unto the house, though it was hidden
from him as then by a low bent that rose before him; and there he abode and
looked about him.
Now as he looked, over the said bent came the figure of a woman, who stayed on
the brow thereof and looked all about her, and then ran swiftly down to meet
Walter, who saw at once that it was the Maid.
She made no stay then till she was but three paces from him, and then she
stooped down and made the sign to him, and then spake to him breathlessly, and
said:  Hearken! but speak not till I
have done: I bade thee to-night s meeting because I saw that there was one
anigh whom I must needs beguile. But by thine oath, and thy love, and all that
thou art, I adjure thee come not unto me this night as I bade thee! but be
hidden in the hazel-copse outside the house, as it draws toward midnight, and
abide me there. Dost thou hearken, and wilt thou? Say yes or no in haste, for
I may not tarry a moment of time. Who knoweth what is behind me?
 Yes, said Walter hastily;  but friend and love 
 No more, she said;  hope the best; and turning from him she ran away
swiftly, not by the way she had come, but sideways, as though to reach the
house by fetching a compass.
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But Walter went slowly on his way, thinking within himself that now at that
present moment there was nought for it but to refrain him from doing, and to
let others do; yet deemed he that it was little manly to be as the pawn upon
the board, pushed about by the will of others.
Then, as he went, he bethought him of the Maiden s face and aspect, as she
came running to him, and stood before him for that minute; and all eagerness
he saw in her, and sore love of him, and distress of soul, all blent together.
So came he to the brow of the bent whence he could see lying before him,
scarce more than a bow-shot away, the Golden House now gilded again and
reddened by the setting sun. And even therewith came a gay image toward him,
flashing back the level rays from gold and steel and silver; and lo! there was
come the King s Son. They met presently, and the King s Son turned to go
beside him, and said merrily:  I give thee good even, my Lady s Squire! I owe
thee something of courtesy, whereas it is by thy means that I shall be made
happy, both to-night, and to-morrow, and many to-morrows; and sooth it is,
that but little courtesy have I done thee hitherto.
His face was full of joy, and the eyes of him shone with gladness. He was a
goodly man, but to
Walter he seemed an ill one; and he hated him so much, that he found it no
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easy matter to answer him; but he refrained himself, and said:  I can thee
thank, King s Son; and good it is that someone is happy in this strange land.
 Art thou not happy then, Squire of my Lady? said the other.
Walter had no mind to show this man his heart, nay, nor even a corner thereof;
for he deemed him an enemy. So he smiled sweetly and somewhat foolishly, as a
man luckily in love, and said:
 O yea, yea, why should I not be so? How might I be otherwise?
 Yea then, said the King s Son,  why didst thou say that thou wert glad
someone is happy?
Who is unhappy, deemest thou? and he looked on him keenly.
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Walter answered slowly:  Said I so? I suppose then that I was thinking of
thee; for when first I [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]