Puissant and
lavish was the King; for the mantles he bestowed were not of
serge, nor of rabbit-skins, nor of cheap brown fur, but of heavy
silk and ermine, of spotted fur and flowered silks, bordered with
heavy and stiff gold braid. Alexander, who conquered so much
that he subdued the whole world, and who was so lavish and rich,
compared with him was poor and mean. Caesar, the Emperor of
Rome, and all the kings whose names you hear in stories and in
epic songs, did not distribute at any feast so much as Arthur
gave on the day that he crowned Erec; nor would Caesar and
Alexander dare to spend so much as he spent at the court. The
raiment was taken from the chests and spread about freely through
the halls; one could take what he would, without restraint. In
the midst of the court, upon a rug, stood thirty bushels of
bright sterlings; (43) for since the time of Merlin until that
day sterlings had currency throughout Britain. There all helped
themselves, each one carrying away that night all that he wanted
to his lodging-place. At nine o'clock on Christmas day, all came
together again at court. The great joy that is drawing near for
him had completely filched Erec's heart away. The tongue and the
mouth of no man, however skilful, could describe the third, or
the fourth, or the fifth part of the display which marked his
coronation.
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