And Erec
summoned another squire and bade him bring his arms to arm his
body withal. Then he went up into a bower, and had a Limoges rug
laid out before him on the floor. Meanwhile, the squire ran to
fetch the arms and came back and laid them on the rug. Erec took
a seat opposite, on the figure of a leopard which was portrayed
on the rug. He prepares and gets ready to put on his arms:
first, he had laced on a pair of greaves of polished steel; next,
he dons a hauberk, which was so fine that not a mesh could be cut
away from it. This hauberk of his was rich, indeed, for neither
inside nor outside of it was there enough iron to make a needle,
nor could it gather any rust; for it was all made of worked
silver in tiny meshes triple-wove; and it was made with such
skill that I can assure you that no one who had put it on would
have been more uncomfortable or sore because of it, than if he
had put on a silk jacket over his undershirt. The knights and
squires all began to wonder why he was being armed; but no one
dared to ask him why. When they had put on his hauberk, a valet
laces about his head a helmet fluted with a band of gold, shining
brighter than a mirror. Then he takes the sword and girds it on,
and orders them to bring him saddled his bay steed of Gascony.
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