Merlin and the Grail

by Robert de Boron

  ‘Know, enquiring knight, that we are indeed God’s creatures; and from the earthly paradise from which Adam was exiled we have been sent by the Holy Spirit to speak to you. You have embarked upon the quest for the Grail, which is in the keeping of your grandfather Bron, known in many lands as the Fisher King. Take the path to your right, and before you leave it, be assured, you will see something that will bring you to the end of your quest – if you are worthy to achieve it.’

  When Perceval heard this amazing utterance he paused to think for a moment; and when he looked up again, he could see neither the tree nor the two children – nor the cross that had been there before. It seemed to him the greatest marvel in the world and his heart was filled with wonder; and then he was stricken with fear that they might have been phantoms.

  And as he sat there, unsure of what to do and whether to go the way the children had pointed, he saw an immense shadow coming and going before him: it passed four times or more in a row. Perceval’s horse was very alarmed, and snorted and stamped; and Perceval, too, was deeply afraid, and made the sign of the true cross over himself and his horse. And then, out of the shadow, came a voice that said:

  ‘Perceval! Merlin – of whom you have heard so much – sends you word that you should not reject what the children told you, for their advice comes from Our Saviour Jesus Christ. If you are worthy, before you leave the right-hand path to which you have been directed by Our Lord’s will, you will fulfil the prophecy that Our Lord made to Joseph.’

  When Perceval heard the voice he was filled with joy, and called out to it three times, wanting to speak further. But no answer came; and realising it would say no more, Perceval set off along the path the two children had shown him. The way was clear and open. And I tell you, while it remained so Perceval was most ill at ease, preferring to ride through the forest than along an open road. As he rode along he came upon a glorious stretch of meadow-land, and on the far side lay a beautiful river with handsome mills along its bank. He headed that way, and in the middle of the river he saw three men aboard a boat. As he drew nearer he saw, in the middle of the boat, a very old man lying on rich drapes. This worthy man was his grandfather, the Fisher King. He hailed Perceval and asked him to stay the night with him, and Perceval thanked him deeply. Then the Fisher King said:

  ‘Good sir knight, go upriver and my castle will come into view. I’ll head that way myself now: I’d like to be there to greet you.’

  So Perceval set off and followed the line of the river, but he looked high and low and could see no sign of the house of the Fisher King. When he failed to find it he was most upset and cursed the fisherman who had sent him that way, saying:

  ‘Damn you, fisherman, for mocking me and telling me tall stories!’

  He rode on, troubled and annoyed, until suddenly he saw the tip of a tower peeping between two peaks on the edge of the forest he had crossed that morning. His spirits soared at the sight and he rode towards it, repenting deeply for having cursed the king – though he did not realise who he was. He rode on until he reached the fortress, and saw the river that ran around it, as beautiful as anyone could wish, and the hall and its outbuildings handsomely appointed. Seeing all this, he realised it was the home of a most noble man: it seemed more like the castle of a king than a fisherman, and the closer he came the more splendid it seemed. He came to the gate and found it open and the drawbridge lowered; so he rode in and dismounted at the mounting-block outside the hall. As soon as the boys in the courtyard saw him they ran to meet him, and held his stirrup while he dismounted and helped him to disarm; and they took his arms into the hall while two boys led his horse away and stabled him most handsomely. Then Perceval climbed up to the hall, where a boy dressed him in a mantle of scarlet and took him to be seated on a splendid bed. Then four of the servants went off into the chamber where the Fisher King had the Grail in his keeping. And I tell you, the Fisher King was so old and frail and beset by sickness that he could not move his hands or feet. He asked the servants if the knight had arrived, and they replied: ‘Yes, sire.’

  And Bron said: ‘I wish to go to him.’

  And the four servants lifted him in their arms and carried him into the hall where Perceval his nephew was; and when Perceval saw him coming he rose to meet him and said: ‘I’m sorry to put you to such trouble, sir.’

  But the king replied: ‘I mean to honour you as highly as I can.’

  And they sat together on the bed and spoke of several things; and the lord asked where he had come from that day and where he had lain the night before.

  ‘So help me God, sir,’ said Perceval, ‘I lay last night in the forest where I had very poor lodging: I was uncomfortable indeed – though I was more concerned for my horse than for myself.’

  ‘I don’t imagine,’ said the lord, ‘that you’d have had quite all you needed!’

  Then he called two servants and asked if they could eat, and they replied: ‘Yes, in just a moment.’

  And they had the tables set at once and the lord and Perceval sat down to dine.

  And as they were sitting there and the first course was being served, they saw a damsel, most richly dressed, come out of a chamber: she had a cloth about her neck, and in her hands she carried two small silver platters. After her came a boy carrying a lance, which shed from its head three drops of blood. They passed before Perceval and into another chamber. After this came a boy bearing the vessel that Our Lord had given Joseph in prison: he carried it in his hands with great reverence. When the lord saw it he bowed and said the mea culpa, as did all the others in the house. And when Perceval saw it he was filled with wonder and would gladly have asked the question – but he was afraid of upsetting his host. He kept thinking about it all that night, but kept remembering how his mother had told him not to talk too much or to ask too many questions. And so he refrained from asking. The lord kept turning the conversation in such a way as to prompt the question, but Perceval said nothing: he was so exhausted from his two sleepless nights before that he was near to collapsing on the table. Then the boy returned carrying the Grail, and passed back into the chamber from which he had first come; and the boy bearing the lance did likewise; and the damsel followed after – but still Perceval asked nothing. When Bron the Fisher King realised no question was going to come he was most distressed. He had had the Grail presented to all the knights who had lodged there, because Our Lord Jesus Christ had told him he would never be healed until a knight asked what it was for, and that knight had to be the finest in the world. Perceval himself was destined to accomplish the task, and if he had asked the question, the king would have been healed.

  When the Fisher King saw that Perceval wanted to sleep, he gave orders for the table to be cleared and for a fine bed to be made for his guest. Then he called four servants and said he would go to sleep and rest in his chamber, and took his leave of Perceval, saying he hoped he did not mind but he was an old man and could stay up no longer. Perceval replied that he did not mind at all, and commended him to God. So the Fisher King went to his chamber while Perceval stayed in the hall, his thoughts still fixed on the vessel that he had seen carried with such respect, to which the lord had bowed so deeply along with all the other people of the house. He was even more amazed by the lance which had shed three drops of blood from its head, and he decided he would ask the boys about it in the morning before he left. He had been pondering on this for a long while when three servants came and helped him from his shoes, and put him to bed most graciously. When he lay down he felt very tired, and slept till morning.

  When morning came he rose, and when he was dressed and ready he went through the house and into the courtyard – but saw neither man nor woman. He returned to the house – and still found no-one. He was most disturbed. Then he looked up and saw his arms; so he armed and went out to the stable; he found it open, and his horse freshly groomed and harnessed and saddled. He was very puzzled, and mounted swiftly and rode from the stable, and when he looked ahead he saw that the g
ate was open. It occurred to him that the boys might have gone into the wood to gather herbs and other things they needed; so he decided to go after them, and if he found one of them he would ask the significance of the vessel he had seen carried through the hall, and why people had bowed so deeply to it, and by what marvel the lance bled from the tip of its head.

  So off he went, and kept riding through the forest until prime;12 but he found neither man nor woman to speak to, and was most distressed. On and on he rode, so burdened with troubled thought that he almost fell from his horse. He went on riding until, deep in the heart of the forest, he caught sight of a damsel who was the most beautiful woman any man could find; and she was weeping most tenderly and grieving bitterly. And as soon as she saw Perceval she cried at the top of her voice:

  ‘Perceval the wretched! Damn you! You don’t deserve an ounce of luck! You were at the house of your grandfather the rich Fisher King, and saw pass before you the vessel that contains Our Lord’s blood, which is called the Grail. Three times you saw it pass, but still you didn’t have the wit to ask about it! I tell you God hates you: it’s a wonder He doesn’t strike you dead!’

  Hearing this, Perceval came riding towards her, begging her in God’s name to tell him the truth about what he had seen. And she said: ‘Didn’t you lie last night at the house of your grandfather Bron, that man of such high lineage? And didn’t you see the Grail and the other relics pass before you? Know then that if you’d asked what the Grail was for, your grandfather the king would have been healed of his infirmity and restored to health, and the prophecy that Our Lord made to Joseph would have been fulfilled. And you would have had your uncle’s blessing and your heart’s deepest desire – and the blood of Christ in your keeping. After your death you would have joined the company of Christ’s chosen ones, and the enchantments and evils which now beset the land of Britain would have been cast out. But I know why you’ve lost all this. It’s because you’re not wise or worthy enough, and have done too few deeds of arms and prowess and too few acts of goodness to have the precious vessel in your keeping.’

  Perceval was astounded by the damsel’s words, and so distressed that he began to weep; and he said he would not rest until he had found his grandfather’s house and asked everything just as the damsel had said. With that he left her, commending her to God; and she, in tears, did likewise. And he rode back along the path that he thought would take him to the house of his grandfather the Fisher King; but he was way off the track, and rode on in great dejection. Two days and nights he rode, with nothing to eat except apples and other fruit he found in the forest, and he prayed to Our Lord for guidance.

  *

  After riding a whole day without encountering any adventure, he looked ahead and saw one of the loveliest damsels in the world, and beside her was tethered the most beautiful palfrey. And above the palfrey, tied to the branch of a tree, was the head he had cut from the white hart. Perceval was filled with joy; he galloped up and, without a word to the damsel, seized the head and pulled it from the tree. She was furious at this and cried: ‘Knight, put down my lord’s head – I tell you, if you take it away it’ll be the worse for you!’

  But Perceval began to laugh and said: ‘Damsel, I’ve no intention of putting it down! I’m taking it to the one to whom I’ve pledged it.’

  But while he was speaking to her he saw a doe running towards him in great alarm, and his hound behind her in hot pursuit; it caught her by the legs, and the doe was so terrified that she came to Perceval and the damsel as if begging for mercy. Perceval was overjoyed to see his hound, and took him on to his horse and stroked him with the greatest affection. As he was doing so, he saw the knight who had stolen him riding his way. As soon as he caught sight of Perceval he cried in anger: ‘By God, you worthless knight, you’ll be sorry you took my dog!’

  Perceval thought him mad and said: ‘You’re crazy to call him yours: you wickedly stole him from me.’

  At this the knight challenged him, and Perceval did likewise; and they drew apart and then spurred into such a furious charge that the whole wood resounded; and they struck each other such mighty blows that neither could save himself from crashing to the ground. But they leapt up instantly and drew their swords in a fury. They did combat for a long while, from noon till none.13 I tell you, Perceval was exhausted, and so was the knight; but Perceval found new strength and, ashamed that the knight had resisted so long, raised his sword and brought it down from on high with such force that he split his shield in two, right down to the boss: such a great and fearsome blow it was that it crashed down on his helmet; it could not pierce the steel, but went plummeting down, stripping more than a hundred rings from the mailcoat, smashing off a spur and plunging two feet into the earth. The blow filled the knight with the utmost terror, and he realised that if Perceval dealt him another like it he would kill him. He drew back and begged him for mercy in God’s name, and to spare his life whatever he might have done. And Perceval said: ‘Then tell me why you stole my hound, and who the knight was I was fighting when you took him, and whether you know the old woman who sent me to the tomb.’

  ‘I will indeed,’ said the knight. ‘I’ll tell you everything.’

  ‘If you do,’ said Perceval, ‘you needn’t fear death.’

  ‘Know then,’ the knight replied, ‘that the one who came from the tomb was my brother, and he was one of the finest knights to be found anywhere, until a beautiful fairy fell in love with him, smitten by his obvious prowess. And the moment my brother set eyes on her he was so love-stricken that he almost lost his senses whenever he was with her. The time came when she told him there was somewhere she wished to take him, and he agreed to go with her, provided it wouldn’t cost him his knighthood. She promised it was a place where he could engage more in deeds of arms than any man, for it was frequented by all the knights of Arthur’s court. And she led him to this forest where, beside the path you saw when you passed the tomb, they found one of the most beautiful meadows in the world. They dismounted, and spread cloths on the grass and ate together with great pleasure. When they had eaten my brother lay down to sleep; and after sleeping as long as he wished he awoke, and found himself in a magnificent castle with knights and ladies and damsels all ready to serve him. This castle stands beside the tomb, but it’s invisible; and it was from there that the knight rode when he came to do battle with you. As for the old woman who directed you to the tomb, I tell you, when she wishes she’s the most beautiful damsel you ever saw: it was she who placed the tomb there, and she’s the very one who led my brother into the forest. I promise you, everything I’ve told you is true.’

  Perceval was thrilled by the story, and said: ‘By God, it’s the most amazing thing I’ve ever heard!’

  Then he asked the knight if he could direct him to the house of the rich Fisher King, but he replied: ‘I’ve no idea where it is, truly, and I’ve never heard of any knight finding it – though I’ve seen plenty searching!’

  Then Perceval asked him if he knew who the damsel was who had given him the hound, and the knight replied that he knew her well.

  ‘She’s the sister of the damsel that my brother loves. That’s why she entrusted the dog to you – she was well aware that her sister would lead you to fight her sweetheart. You must understand that she despises her because of him, for he’s brought to grief every knight who passed this way, and the damsel who gave you the dog knew that sooner or later a knight would come who’d avenge all the others.’

  Then Perceval asked if it was far to her castle, and he said: ‘If you keep to this path here to the left, you’ll reach it before nightfall.’

  Perceval was overjoyed at this, and set off at once. But he first made the knight promise to declare himself a prisoner to the great King Arthur, to which he agreed, and he made his way to Arthur’s court and submitted to him in the name of Perceval the Welshman, and the king gladly accepted him into his company and declared him free of imprisonment.

  *

  Mean
while Perceval, after leaving the knight, rode swiftly on until he came to the castle of the damsel who had given him the hound. She was at the windows of the tower, and as soon as she saw him coming she came down to meet him and welcomed him with the greatest joy, saying: ‘Sir knight, I was about to be angry with you! I wouldn’t have been without my hound so long for anything, if I’d had my way.’

  ‘Damsel,’ Perceval replied, ‘I couldn’t help it: there are very good reasons for my delay.’

  Then he told her the whole story from start to finish: of the old woman who had stolen the dog and how she had sent him to the tomb; how he had done battle with the knight and vanquished him, and how the knight had fled back into the tomb; how the other knight had taken the dog and how he had searched for it, not wanting to return without it; and how he had tracked the knight down in the wood and defeated him in combat. He told her everything exactly as it had happened, relating all the hardships he had endured since he left her. The damsel was delighted by the story, and pardoned him very graciously. She had him disarm, and then took him with her most welcomingly, saying:

  ‘Since you’ve vanquished the one I hated so much, my sister’s sweetheart, I wish to be at your command evermore: you shall be lord of this castle, and I’d have you stay here with me forever.’