"Upon my word," he says, "I know not what they may say,
but to me this seems a marvellous thing. Perchance it was a
phantom that appeared in our midst. Many a knight has been
unhorsed, and noble men have pledged faith to one whose house
they cannot find, or even his country or locality; each of these
men perforce must fail to keep his pledge." Thus the King spoke
his mind, but he might as well have held his peace.
(Vv. 4759-4950.) That evening among all the barons there was
much talk of the black knight, for indeed they spoke of nothing
else. The next day they armed themselves again without summons
and without request. Lancelot of the Lake, in whom there is no
lack of courage, rides forth with lance upright to await a
contestant in the first joust. Here comes Cliges tiding fast,
greener than the grass of the field, and mounted on a fallow red
steed, carrying its mane on the right-hand side. Wherever Cliges
spurs the horse, there is no one, either with hair or without,
who does not look at him amazed and exclaim to his neighbour on
either side: "This knight is in all respects more graceful and
skilful than the one who yesterday wore the black arms, just as a
pine is more beautiful than a white beech, and the laurel than
the elder-bush.
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