The Mabinogion (Oxford World's Classics) (26 page)

‘Between me and God, Gwalchmai,’ said Arthur, ‘I miss Owain who has been gone for three years. And if I go a fourth year without seeing him, I will die. And I know for certain that it’s because of the tale of Cynon son of Clydno that we have lost Owain.’

‘There is no need for you to summon your kingdom on account of that,’ said Gwalchmai. ‘You and the men of your household can avenge Owain if he has been killed, or free him if he is in prison, and if he is alive, bring him back with you.’ And they agreed on what Gwalchmai had said.

Arthur got ready to go and look for Owain, together with the men of his household. There were three thousand of them, not counting retainers, and Cynon son of Clydno their guide. And Arthur came to the castle where Cynon had been, and when they arrived the lads were shooting at their knives in the same place, and the yellowhaired man was standing beside them. And when the yellow-haired man saw Arthur, he greeted him and invited him to stay; and Arthur accepted the invitation and they went into the castle. And although they were a huge crowd, their presence was scarcely noticed in the castle. And the maidens got up to wait on them; and they found fault with every service they had ever been given except the service from these ladies. And the service provided by the grooms that night was as good as that which Arthur would receive in his own court.

The next morning Arthur set out from there with Cynon as his guide, and they came to where the black-haired man was. And Arthur thought the black-haired man was far bigger than he had
been told. They came to the top of the hill, and to the plain, as far as the green tree, and until they saw the well and the bowl and the slab. And then Cai came to Arthur, and said, ‘My lord,’ he said, ‘I know the reason for this journey, and I beg you to let me throw the water on the slab and face the first ordeal that comes along.’ And Arthur gave him permission.

And Cai threw a bowlful of the water on the slab. And straight after that came the noise, and after the noise the shower. And they had never heard a noise and a shower like that, and the shower killed many of the men who were with Arthur. And when the shower stopped, the sky grew brighter, and when they looked at the tree there was not a single leaf on it. And the birds alighted on the tree, and they were certain that they had never heard a song as delightful as the one the birds sang. And with that they could see a knight on a pure black horse, dressed in brocaded silk of pure black, and travelling at a brisk pace. And Cai took him on and fought with him. And the fighting did not last long; Cai was overthrown. And then the knight set up camp and Arthur and his host set up camp for the night.

When they got up the next day, there was the signal for battle on the black knight’s spear. And Cai came to Arthur and said to him, ‘Lord,’ he said, ‘I was unfairly thrown yesterday; will you let me go and fight the knight today?’

‘I will,’ said Arthur. And Cai made for the knight; but at once he overthrew Cai, and looked at him, and stabbed him in the forehead with the butt of his spear so that Cai’s helmet and mail cap and skin and flesh were split to the bone, as wide as the head of the shaft. And Cai returned to his companions. And from there on Arthur’s retinue went in turn to fight the knight, until each one had been overthrown by him except Arthur and Gwalchmai. And Arthur put on armour to go and fight the knight.

‘My lord,’ said Gwalchmai, ‘let me go and fight the knight first.’ Arthur gave his consent, and Gwalchmai went to fight the knight, with a cloak of brocaded silk covering him and his horse, sent to him by the daughter of the earl of Anjou; because of that, no one from the crowd recognized him. And they attacked each other, and fought that day until nightfall, but neither of them came close to overthrowing the other. And the next day they went to fight with sharp spears. But neither of them overcame the other. And the third day they went
to fight, each with strong, stout, sharp spears. And they were fired with rage, and on the stroke of noon they charged, and each one thrust at the other so that the saddle-girths of both horses broke, and each one of them was thrown over his horse’s crupper to the ground. And they got up quickly, and drew their swords and pounded each other. And those who saw them like this were certain that they had never seen two men as strong as those, or as splendid; had it been a dark night it would have been bright with the sparks from their weapons. And with that the knight dealt Gwalchmai such a blow that the visor lifted from his face, and the knight realized he was Gwalchmai. Then Owain said, ‘Lord Gwalchmai, I did not recognize you because of your cloak—you are my first cousin. Take my sword and my weapons.’

‘
You
, Owain, are superior,’ said Gwalchmai, ‘and victory is yours; so take my sword.’ And with that Arthur saw them and came up to them.

‘Lord,’ said Gwalchmai, ‘here is Owain who has defeated me, but he will not take my weapons from me.’

‘Lord,’ said Owain, ‘it was Gwalchmai who defeated me, and he will not take my sword.’

‘Give your swords to me,’ said Arthur, ‘and then neither will have defeated the other.’ And Owain threw his arms around the emperor Arthur, and they embraced each other. And then the host came, pressing and rushing towards them to try and see Owain and embrace him, so that men almost died in that crush. That night they all went to their pavilions.

The next day the emperor Arthur asked if he could leave.

‘Lord,’ said Owain, ‘that would not be right. Three years ago I left you, lord, and this place is mine. And from that day to this I have been preparing a feast for you, because I knew you would come to look for me. Come with me to recover from your weariness, you and your men, and bathe yourselves.’ And they all went together to the castle of the Lady of the Well, and the feast that had taken three years to prepare was consumed within just three months, and they never had a more pleasant or better feast than that.

And then Arthur asked if he could leave, and he sent messengers to the countess, asking her to allow Owain to accompany him so that the noblemen of the Island of Britain and their ladies could see him for just three months. And the countess gave her consent, but she
did not find it easy. And Owain accompanied Arthur to the Island of Britain. Once he had arrived among his people and drinking companions, he stayed for three years instead of the three months.

One day as Owain was eating at table in the emperor Arthur’s court in Caerllion ar Wysg, behold, a maiden approaching
*
on a bay horse with a curly mane that reached the ground; she was dressed in yellow brocaded silk, and the bridle and what could be seen of the saddle were all of gold. And she rode up to Owain and grabbed the ring that was on his finger.

‘This’, she said, ‘is what we do to a deceitful cheat and traitor— shame on your beard!’ And she turned her horse’s head and away she went. And then Owain remembered his journey, and he grew sad. And when he had finished eating, he went to his lodging; and he was very uneasy that night.

The next morning he got up, and he did not make for Arthur’s court but for the remote regions of the world and desolate mountains. And he wandered about like this until all his clothes disintegrated and his body all but gave out and long hair grew all over him; and he would keep company with the wild animals and feed with them until they were used to him. And with that he grew so weak that he could not keep up with them. And he went down from the mountains into the valley, and made for a park, the finest in the world, and a widowed countess owned the park.

One day the countess and her handmaidens went walking beside a lake that was in the park, until they were halfway round. And they could see in the park something in the shape and form of a man, and they were frightened. Even so they approached him, and touched him, and looked at him carefully. They could see his veins throbbing, and he was tossing and turning because of the sun. And the countess returned to the castle, and took a jar of precious ointment and gave it to one of her handmaidens.

‘Go,’ she said, ‘and take this with you, and take that horse and the clothes, and place them beside the man we saw earlier. And rub him with this ointment, over his heart, and if there is life in him, he will get up as a result of this ointment; and watch what he does.’ And the maiden set off, and applied all the ointment to him, and left the horse and clothes nearby, and withdrew, and retreated some distance from him, and hid and watched him.

And before long she could see him scratching his arms and getting up, and examining his flesh, and he was ashamed to see how hideous his appearance was. And he saw the horse and clothes nearby, and dragged himself until he reached the clothes and pulled them to him from the saddle, and he put them on, and with difficulty he got on to the horse. And then the maiden made herself known to him, and greeted him. And he was glad to see the maiden, and he asked her what land that was and what place.

‘God knows,’ said the maiden, ‘a widowed countess owns the castle over there, and when her lord and husband died he left her two earldoms, but tonight all she has left is just that one house over there which has not been taken by the young earl, her neighbour, because she would not marry him.’

‘That is a sad story,’ said Owain. And Owain and the maiden went to the castle, and Owain dismounted at the castle, and the maiden took him to a comfortable chamber, and lit a fire for him and left him there. And the maiden went to the countess and placed the jar in her hand.

‘Girl,’ said the countess, ‘where is all the ointment?’

‘It is gone, lady,’ she said.

‘Girl,’ said the countess, ‘it is not easy for me to scold you; but it was unfortunate that I spent one hundred and forty pounds worth of precious ointment on a man without knowing who he is. Nevertheless, girl, wait on him so that he has enough of everything.’ And the maiden did that, she served him with food and drink and fire and bed and bath until he was well. And the hair dropped off Owain in scaly tufts. That took three months, and his flesh was then whiter than before.

And then one day Owain heard a commotion in the castle, and great preparations, and armour being brought inside. And Owain asked the maiden, ‘What is this commotion?’ he said.

‘The earl I mentioned to you’, she said, ‘is approaching the castle to try and destroy this lady, and a large host with him.’

And then Owain asked the maiden, ‘Does the countess have a horse and armour?’

‘Yes,’ said the maiden, ‘the best in the world.’

‘Will you go to the countess and ask if I may borrow the horse and weapons,’ said Owain, ‘so that I may go and look at the host?’

‘I will, gladly,’ said the maiden. And the maiden went to the
countess and told her everything he had said. Then the countess laughed.

‘Between me and God,’ she said, ‘I shall give him a horse and weapons to keep, and he has never owned a better horse nor better armour. And I am glad that he is going to take them for fear that my enemies will seize them tomorrow against my will. But I don’t know what he wants them for.’

And a fine black gascon horse was brought, with a saddle of beechwood on him and enough armour for a man and a horse. And Owain armed himself, and mounted the horse and set off, and two squires with him, complete with horses and armour.

And when they came to the earl’s host they could see neither border nor boundary to it. And Owain asked the squires which troop the earl was in.

‘In the troop with the four yellow standards over there,’ they said. ‘There are two in front of him, and two behind.’

‘Good,’ said Owain, ‘go back and wait for me at the castle gate.’ And they returned. And Owain rode on between the first two troops until he met the earl. And Owain pulled him from his saddle and placed him between himself and his saddle-bow, and he turned his horse’s head towards the castle. And whatever trouble he had, he carried the earl along with him, until he reached the castle gate where the squires were waiting for him. And in they came, and Owain gave the earl as a gift to the countess, and spoke to her like this: ‘Here is your payment for the healing ointment I received from you.’

And the host pitched their tents around the castle, and in return for his life the earl gave back to the countess the two earldoms. And in return for his freedom he gave up half his own domain, and all her gold and silver and jewels, and pledges to meet that. And Owain set off, and the countess invited him to stay and all to be his domain, but Owain wanted nothing except to travel the remote and uninhabited regions of the world.

And as he was travelling thus he heard a loud shriek in a forest, and a second, and a third. And he approached, and when he got there he could see a huge cliff in the middle of the forest and a grey rock in the side of the cliff. And there was a cleft in the rock, and a snake in the cleft, and a pure white lion near the snake. And whenever the lion tried to get away, the snake would dart towards him, and then
the lion would shriek. Owain drew his sword and approached the rock. And as the snake was coming out of the rock Owain struck it with his sword so it lay in two halves on the ground, and he wiped his sword and continued on his way as before. But he could see the lion following him, playing around him like a greyhound he had reared himself. And they travelled throughout the day until evening.

When it was time for Owain to rest, he dismounted and let his horse graze in a level, wooded meadow. And Owain lit a fire, and by the time he had the fire ready the lion had enough firewood for three nights. And the lion disappeared, but then at once returned with a large, fine roebuck, and he dropped it in front of Owain, and went to lie on the other side of the fire from him. Owain took the roebuck and skinned it, and put chops on spits around the fire, and gave the whole buck apart from that to the lion to feed upon. And as Owain was doing this he heard a loud groaning, and a second, and a third, not far from him. And Owain asked whether it was a human being who was groaning.

‘Yes, indeed,’ said the creature.

‘Who are you?’ said Owain.

‘God knows,’ she said, ‘I am Luned, handmaiden to the Lady of the Well.’