After each had informed the other of his name,
we recognised each other, but not until we had fought it out.
Our struggle already has been long; and if we had fought yet a
little longer, it would have fared ill with me, for, by my head,
he would have killed me, what with his prowess and the evil cause
of her who chose me as her champion. But I would rather be
defeated than killed by a friend in battle." Then my lord
Yvain's blood was stirred, as he said to him in reply: "Fair dear
sire, so help me God, you have no right to say so much. Let my
lord, The King, well know in this battle I am surely the one who
has been defeated and overcome!" "I am the one" "No, I am."
Thus each cries out, and both are so honest and courteous that
each allows the victory and crown to be the other's prize, while
neither one of them will accept it. Thus each strives to
convince the King and all the people that he has been defeated
and overthrown. But when he had listened to them for a while,
the King terminated the dispute. He was well pleased with what
he heard and with the sight of them in each other's arms, though
they had wounded and injured each other in several places. "My
lords," he says, "there is deep affection between you two. You
give clear evidence of that, when each insists that it is he who
has been defeated.
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