The Mabinogion (Oxford World's Classics) (19 page)

And then Peredur said, ‘Thanks be to God that I did not break my promise to the woman I love best, namely that I would not utter a word to a Christian.’ They stayed there that night.

Early the next morning the grey-haired man went with his followers to Arthur’s court, and they paid homage to Arthur, and Arthur had them baptized. The grey-haired man told Arthur that it was Peredur who had overcome him, and Arthur gave the valley to the grey-haired man and his followers to rule on his behalf, as Peredur had requested. And with Arthur’s permission, the grey-haired man set off for the Round Valley.

Peredur, on the other hand, travelled the next morning through a long stretch of wilderness without coming across any dwelling. At last he came to a very poor, small house. And there he heard of a serpent that lay on a golden ring, leaving no dwelling standing for seven miles around. Peredur went to where he heard the serpent was, and he fought the serpent, furious and valiant, bold and proud, and
eventually he killed it and took the ring for himself. For a long time he wandered in this way, without uttering a word to any Christian, until he began to lose his colour and appearance because of a deep longing for Arthur’s court and the woman he loved best, and his companions.

From there he travelled to Arthur’s court. On the way Arthur’s retinue met him, with Cai riding ahead going on an errand for them. Peredur recognized them all, but no one in the retinue recognized him.

‘Where do you come from, lord?’ said Cai, and a second time, and a third. But Peredur would not answer. Cai struck him with a spear through his thigh, and lest he be forced to speak and break his word, Peredur rode past without taking vengeance on him. And then Gwalchmai said, ‘Between me and God, Cai, that was bad behaviour, to set upon a squire like that just because he could not speak.’ And Gwalchmai returned to Arthur’s court.

‘Lady,’ he said to Gwenhwyfar, ‘can you see how badly Cai has wounded this squire just because he could not speak? Let him have medical treatment by the time I return, and I shall repay you.’

Before the men returned from their errand, a knight came to the meadow near Arthur’s court, demanding an opponent to do battle with. And an opponent was found. And the knight overthrew him, and for a week he overthrew a knight every day.

One day Arthur and his retinue were going to the church; they saw the knight with the signal raised for battle.

‘Men,’ said Arthur, ‘by the bravery of men, I shall not leave here until I get my horse and weapons to overthrow that knave over there.’

Then the servants went to fetch Arthur his horse and weapons. Peredur met the servants as they were passing, and he took the horse and weapons, and made for the meadow. When everyone saw him get up and go and fight the knight, they went to the rooftops and hills and high places to watch the fighting. Peredur signalled to the knight with his hand, urging him to begin. And the knight charged at him; however, Peredur remained rooted to the spot. But then he spurred on his horse and set upon the knight, furious and valiant, violent and angry, eager and proud, and struck him a blow that was brutal and bitter, painful and bold in a warrior-like way under the chin, lifting him out of his saddle and throwing him a great distance away.
*
And
Peredur returned, leaving the horse and armour with the servants as before. And he made for the court on foot. And after that Peredur was called the Mute Knight. With that Angharad Law Eurog met him.

‘Between me and God, lord, it is a shame that you cannot speak. And if you could, I would love you best of men. And by my faith, even though you cannot speak, I will still love you best.’

‘May God repay you, sister. By my faith, I love you too.’ And then they realized that he was Peredur. He renewed his friendship then with Gwalchmai and with Owain son of Urien and all the retinue. And he remained at Arthur’s court.

Arthur was in Caerllion ar Wysg, and he went to hunt, and Peredur with him. And Peredur let his dog loose on a stag, and the dog killed the stag in a deserted place. Some distance away he could see signs of a dwelling, and he approached the dwelling. He could see a hall, and at the door of the hall he could see three swarthy, bald young men playing
gwyddbwyll
.
*
And when he entered he could see three maidens sitting on a couch, dressed in garments of gold as befits noblewomen. And he went to sit with them on the couch. One of the maidens looked at Peredur intently, and wept. Peredur asked her why she was weeping.

‘Because it pains me so much to see such a handsome young man as you killed.’

‘Who would kill me?’

‘If it were not dangerous for you to stay here, I would tell you.’

‘However great the danger if I stay, I will hear you out.’

‘The man who owns this court is our father. And he kills everyone who comes to this court without permission.’

‘What sort of man is your father, that he can kill everyone like that?’

‘A man who is violent and malicious towards his neighbours, and he does not give recompense to anyone for it.’

Then Peredur saw the young men getting up and clearing the pieces from the board. And he heard a great noise, and after the noise he saw a huge, black-haired, one-eyed man coming in.
*
The maidens got up to meet him, and removed his armour, and he went to sit down. When he had collected his thoughts and rested, he looked at Peredur and asked who the knight was.

‘Lord,’ said the maiden, ‘the fairest and noblest young man you have ever seen. And for God’s sake, and your own pride, be patient with him.’

‘For your sake I will be patient, and I will spare his life tonight.’

Then Peredur joined them by the fire. He took food and drink, and talked with the maidens. Then, when he had become drunk, Peredur said, ‘I am surprised that you claim to be as strong as you do. Who pulled out your eye?’

‘One of my rules is that whoever asks me that question will not escape with his life, neither as a gift nor for a price.’

‘Lord,’ said the maiden, ‘although he is talking to you foolishly, because of being drunk and intoxicated, keep to your word and the promise you gave me just now.’

‘I will do so gladly, for your sake. I will gladly spare his life for tonight.’ And they left it at that for the night.

The next day the black-haired man got up and put on his armour, and told Peredur, ‘Get up, man, to meet your death,’ said the black-haired man.

Peredur said to the black-haired man, ‘Black-haired man, do one of two things if you wish to fight me: either remove your own armour or else give me additional armour to fight you.’

‘Man!’ he said. ‘Could you fight if you had weapons? Take whatever weapons you want.’ Then the maiden brought Peredur the weapons he wanted. And he and the black-haired man fought until the black-haired man had to ask Peredur for mercy.

‘Black-haired man, you shall have mercy on condition that you tell me who you are, and who pulled out your eye.’

‘Lord, I shall tell you—fighting the Black Serpent of the Cairn. There is a mound called the Mound of Mourning, and in the mound there is a cairn, and in the cairn there is a serpent, and in the serpent’s tail there is a stone. And these are the attributes of the stone: whoever holds it in one hand will have as much gold as he wishes in the other hand. And I lost my eye fighting that serpent. And my name is the Black Oppressor. The reason I was called the Black Oppressor is because I would not leave a man around me whom I did not terrorize, and I would never give recompense to anyone.’

‘Well,’ said Peredur, ‘how far from here is the mound you mentioned?’

‘I shall list the stages of your journey there, and tell you how far it is. The day you set off from here, you will come to the court of the Sons of the King of Suffering.’

‘Why are they called that?’

‘A lake monster kills them once each day. When you leave there, you will come to the court of the Countess of the Feats.’

‘What feats does she perform?’

‘She has a retinue of three hundred men. Every stranger who arrives at court is told of the feats of her retinue. That is why the retinue of three hundred men sit next to the lady, not out of disrespect to the guests, but in order to narrate the feats of her retinue. The night you set off from there you will get as far as the Mound of Mourning, and there, surrounding the mound you will find the owners of three hundred pavilions, guarding the serpent.’

‘Since you have been an oppressor for so long, I shall make sure that you will never be so again.’ And Peredur killed him. Then the maiden who had started to talk to him said, ‘If you were poor arriving here, you shall now be rich with the treasure of the black-haired man you have killed. And can you see the many lovely maidens in this court—you may take whichever one you wish.’

‘I did not come from my country, lady, to take a wife. But I see fine young men there—let each one of you pair up with another, as you wish. And I do not want any of your wealth—I do not need it.’

From there Peredur set off, and came to the court of the Sons of the King of Suffering. When he came to the court, he could see only women. The women got up and welcomed him. As they started to talk he could see a horse approaching with a saddle on it, and a corpse in the saddle. One of the women got up and took the corpse from the saddle, and bathed it in a tub of warm water
*
that was by the door, and applied precious ointment to it. The man got up, alive, and went up to Peredur, and greeted him, and made him welcome. Two other corpses entered on their saddles, and the maiden gave those two the same treatment as the previous one. Then Peredur asked the lord why they were like that. They replied that there was a monster in a cave who killed them every day. And that night they left it at that.

The next day the young men got up. Peredur asked to be allowed to go with them, for the sake of their lovers. They refused him. ‘If you were killed there, no one could bring you back to life again.’ Then they set off. Peredur followed them; but when they had
disappeared so that he could not see them, behold, he came across the fairest woman he had ever seen, sitting on a mound.

‘I know where you are going. You are going to fight the monster, but it will kill you. And not because it is brave but because it is cunning. It lives in a cave, and there is a stone pillar at the mouth of the cave, and it can see everyone who enters but no one can see it. And with a poisonous stone spear from the shadow of the pillar it kills everyone. And if you promise to love me more than all women, I will give you a stone so that you will see the monster when you enter, but it will not see you.’

‘I promise, by my faith,’ said Peredur. ‘Since I first saw you, I loved you. And where would I search for you?’

‘When you search for me, look towards India.’
*
Then the maiden disappeared, after placing the stone in Peredur’s hand.

He continued to a river valley, and the edges of the valley were wooded and on each side of the river were flat meadows. On one side of the river he could see a flock of white sheep, and on the other side he could see a flock of black sheep: when one of the white sheep bleated, one of the black sheep would come across and turn white, and when one of the black sheep bleated, one of the white sheep would come across and turn black. He could see a tall tree on the riverbank, and one half of it was burning from its roots to its tip, but the other half had fresh leaves on it. Beyond that he could see a squire sitting on top of a mound with two spotted, white-breasted greyhounds on a leash, lying beside him; and he was certain that he had never seen such a royal-looking squire. In the forest facing him he could hear hunting-dogs raising deer. He greeted the squire, and the squire greeted Peredur. And Peredur could see three paths leading away from the mound, two were wide and the third was narrower. And Peredur asked where the three paths went.

‘One of these paths goes to my court. And I advise you to do one of two things: either proceed to the court to my wife who is there, or stay here where you will see the hunting-dogs driving the tired deer from the forest to the open ground; and you will see the best greyhounds you have ever seen, and the bravest to face deer, killing them by the water near us. And when it is time for us to go and eat, my servant will bring my horse to meet me, and you will be welcome there tonight.’

‘May God repay you. I will not stay but I will be on my way.’

‘The second path leads to the town that is close by. You can buy food and drink there. And the path that is narrower than the others goes to the monster’s cave.’

‘With your permission, squire, I shall go there.’

Peredur came to the cave, and took the stone in his left hand and the spear in his right hand. And as he entered he saw the monster and thrust a spear through him and cut off his head. And when he came out of the cave he saw, in the mouth of the cave, the three companions. And they greeted Peredur and said that it had been foretold he would kill that oppressor. Peredur gave the head to the young men, and they offered him his choice of their three sisters as a wife, together with half their kingdom.

‘I did not come here to take a wife, but if I wanted a wife perhaps it’s your sister I would choose first.’

Peredur went on his way. He heard a noise behind him, and he looked behind him, and could see a man on a red horse, dressed in red armour. The man drew level with him and greeted Peredur in the name of God and man. Peredur greeted the young man kindly.

‘Lord, I have come to ask you something.’

‘What do you want?’ said Peredur.

‘Take me as your man.’

‘Whom would I be taking as my man, if I were to take you?’

‘I will not conceal my identity from you. I am called Edlym Gleddyf Goch,
*
an earl from the eastern region.’

‘I am surprised that you are offering yourself as a man to someone who has no more land than yourself. I too have only an earldom. But since you want to become my man, I will take you gladly.’

They came to the countess’s court. They were made welcome in the court and were told that it was not out of disrespect to them that they were seated below the retinue, but that it was the custom of the court. For whoever overthrew her retinue of three hundred men would be allowed to eat next to her, and she would love him more than any man. When Peredur had overthrown her retinue of three hundred men and sat down beside her, she said, ‘I thank God for having a young man so fair and brave as you, since I have not had the man I loved best.’