Tales from Tennyson

  BALIN AND BALAN.

  King Pellam owed Arthur some tribute money so Arthur told three of hisknights to go see about it and collect it for him.

  "Very well," said one of the knights, "but listen, on the way to KingPellam's country, near Camelot, there are two strange knights sittingbeside a fountain. They challenge and overthrow every knight thatpasses. Shall I stop to fight them as we go by and send them back toyou?"

  Arthur laughed, "No, don't stop for anything; let them wait until theycan find some one stronger themselves."

  With that the three men left. But after they had gone Arthur, who loveda good fight himself, started away early one morning for the fountainside of Camelot. On its right hand he saw the knight Balin sitting underan alder tree, with his horse beside him, and on the left hand under apoplar tree with his horse at his side sat the knight Balan.

  "Fair sirs," cried Arthur, "why are you sitting here?"

  "For the sake of glory," they answered. "We're stronger than allArthur's court. We've proved that because we easily overthrow everyknight that comes by here."

  "Well, I'm of Arthur's court, too," replied the king, "although I'venever done so much in jousts as in real wars. But see whether you canoverthrow me so easily too."

  So the two brothers came out boldly and fought with Arthur, but hestruck them both lightly down, then softly came away and nobody knewanything about it.

  But that evening while Balin and Balan sat very meekly by the bubblingwater a spangled messenger came riding by and cried out to them: "Sirs,you are sent for by the King."

  So they followed the man back to the court. "Tell me your names,"demanded Arthur, "and why do you sit there by the fountain?"

  TWO STRANGE KNIGHTS.]

  "My name is Balin," answered one of the men, "and my brother's name isBalan. Three years ago I struck down one of your slaves whom I heard hadspoken ill of me, and you sent me away for a three years' exile. Then Ithought that if we would sit by the well and would overcome every knightwho passed by you would be a more willing to take me back. But todaysome man of yours came along and conquered us both. What do you wishwith me?"

  "Be wiser for falling," Arthur said. "Your chair is in the hall vacant.Take it again and be my knight once more."

  So Balin went back into the old hall of the Knights of the Round Table,and they all clashed their cups together drinking his welcome, and sanguntil all of Arthur's banners of war hanging overhead began to stir asthey always did on the battlefield.

  Meanwhile the men who had gone to collect the taxes from King Pellamreturned.

  "Sir King," they cried to Arthur, "We scarcely could see Pellam for thegloom in his hall. That man who used to be one of your roughest and mostriotous enemies is now living like a monk in his castle and has allsorts of holy things about him, and says he has given up all matters ofthe world. He wouldn't even talk about the tribute money and told usthat his heir Sir Garlon, attended to his business for him, so we wentto Garlon and after a struggle we got it. Then we came away, but as wepassed through the deep woods we found one of your knights lying dead,killed by a spear. After we had buried him, we talked with an oldwoodman who told us that there's a demon of the woods who had probablyslain the knight. This demon, he said, was once a man who lived allalone and learned black magic. He hated people so much that when he diedhe became a fiend. The woodman showed us the cave where he has seen thedemon go in and out and where he lives. We saw the print of a horse'shoof, but no more."

  "Foully and villainously slain!" cried Arthur thinking of his poorkilled knight in the woods. "Who will go hunt this demon of the woodsfor me?"

  "I!" exclaimed Balan, ready to dart instantly away, but first heembraced Balin, saying, "Good brother, hear; don't let your angrypassions conquer you, fight them away. Remember how these knights of theRound Table welcomed you back. Be a loving brother with them and don'timagine that there is hatred among them here any more than there is inheaven itself."

  When bad Balan left, Balin set himself to learn how to curb his wildnessand become a courteous and manly knight. He always hovered aboutLancelot, the pattern knight of all the court, to see how he did, andwhen he noticed Lancelot's sweet smiles and his little pleasant wordsthat gladdened every knight or churl or child that he passed, Balinsighed like some lame boy who longed to scale a mountain top and couldscarcely limp up one hundred feet from the base.

  "It's Lancelot's worship of the queen that helps to make him gentle,"said he to himself. "If I want to be gentle I must serve and worshiplovely Queen Guinevere too. Suppose I ask the King to let me have sometoken of hers on my shield instead of these pictures of wild beasts withbig teeth and grins. Then whenever I see it I'll forget my wild heatsand violences."

  "What would you like to bear on your shield?" asked the king when Balinspoke to him about his wish.

  "The queen's own crown-royal," replied Balin.

  Then the queen smiled and turned to Arthur. "The crown is only theshadow of the king," she said, "and this crown is the shadow of thatshadow. But let him have it if it will help him out of his violences."

  "It's no shadow to me, my queen," cried Balan, "no shadow to me, king.It's a light for me."

  So Balin was given the crown to bear on his shield and whenever helooked at it, it seemed to make him feel gentle and patient.

  But one morning as he heard Lancelot and the queen talking together onthe white walk of lilies that led to Queen Guinevere's bower, all hisold passions seemed to come back and filled him and he darted madly awayon his horse, not stopping until he had passed the fount where he hadsat with his brother Balan and had dived into the skyless woods beyond.There the gray-headed woodman was hewing away wearily at a branch of atree.

  BALIN WAS GIVEN THE CROWN TO WEAR ON HIS SHIELD.]

  "Give me your axe, Churl," cried Balin, and with one sharp cut he struckit down.

  "Lord!" cried the woodman, "you could kill the devil of this woods ifany one can. Just yesterday I saw a flash of him. Some people say thatour Sir Garlon has learned black magic too and can ride armed unseen.Just look into the demon's cave."

  But Balin said the woodman was foolish, and rode off through the gladeswith a drooping head. He did not notice that on his right a great cavernchasm yawned out of the darkness. Once he heard the mosses beneath himthud and tremble and then the shadow of a spear shot from behind him andran along the ground. The light of somebody's armor flashed by him andvanished into the woods.

  Balin dashed after this but he was so blinded by his rage that hestumbled against a tree, breaking his lance and falling from his horse.He sprang to his feet and darted off again not knowing where he wasgoing until the massy battlements of King Pellam's castle appeared.

  "Why do you wear the crown royal on your shield?" Pellam's men asked himas soon as they saw him.

  "The fairest and best of ladies living gave it to me," Balin replied, ashe stalled his horse and strode across the court to the banquet hall.

  "Why do you wear the royal crown?" Sir Garlon asked him as they sat attable.

  "The queen whom Lancelot and we all worship as the fairest, best andpurest gave it to me to wear," said Balin.

  But Sir Garlon only hissed at him and made fun of what he said, andBalin reached for a wonderful goblet embossed with a sacred picture tohurl it at Garlon, but the thought of the gentle queen about whom hewas talking soothed his temper. The next morning, however, in the courtSir Garlon mocked him again and Balin's face grew black with anger. Hetore out his sword from its shield and crying out fiercely, "Ha! I'llmake a ghost of you!" struck Garlon hard on the helmet.

  The blade flew and splintered into six parts which clinked upon thestones below while Garlon reeled slowly backward and fell. Balin draggedhim by the banneret of his helmet and struck again, but in a minutetwenty warriors with pointed lances were making for him from the castle.Balin dashed his fist against the foremost face then dipped through alow doorway out along a glimmering gallery until he saw the open portalsof King Pellam's chapel. He
slipped inside this and crept behind thedoor while the others howled past outside.

  Before the golden altar he noticed lying the brightest lance he had everseen with its point painted red with blood. Seizing it he pushed it outthrough an open casement, leaned on it and leaped in a half-circle tothe ground outside. Running along a path he found his horse, mounted himand scudded away. An arrow whizzed to his right, another to his left anda third over his head while he heard Pellam crying out feebly, "Catchhim, catch him! he mustn't pollute holy things!"

  But Balin quickly dove beneath the tree boughs and raced through milesof thick groves and open meadowland until his good horse, at lastwearied and uncertain in his footsteps, stumbled over a fallen oak andthrew Balin headlong.

  As Balin rose to his feet he looked at the Queen's crown on his shieldand then drew the shield from off his neck. "I have shamed you," hecried. "I won't carry you any more," and he hung it up on a branch andthrew himself on the ground in a passionate sleep.

  While he slept there the beautiful wicked Vivien came riding by throughthe woodland alleys with her squire, warbling a song.

  "What is this?" she cried as she noticed the shield on the tree, "ashield with a crown upon it. And there's a horse. Where's the rider? Oh!there he is sleeping. Hail royal knight, I'm flying away from a bad kingand the knight I was riding with was hurt, and my poor squire isn't ofmuch use in helping me. But you, Sir Prince, will surely guide me to theWarrior King Arthur, the Blameless, to get me some shelter."

  "Oh, no, I'll never go to Arthur's court again," cried Balin. "I'm not aprince any more, or a knight. I have brought the Queen's crown toshame."

  Then Vivien laughed shrilly, and told Balin a wicked story about theQueen which she just imagined in her wicked mind. But she told it socunningly and smiled so sunnily as she talked that Balin believed herand he flew into the more passionate rage because he thought he had beendeceived in the Queen whom he had worshipped.

  He ground his teeth together, sprang up with a yell, tore the shieldfrom the branch and cast it on the ground, drove his heel _into theroyal crown_, stamped and trampled upon it until it was all spoiled,then hurled the shield from him out among the forest weeds and cursedthe story, the queen and Vivien.

  His weird yell had thrilled through the woods where Balan was lurkingfor his foe. "There! that's the scream of the wood-devil I'm lookingfor," he thought. "He has killed some knight and trampled on his shieldto show his loathing of our order and the queen. Devil or man,whichever you are, take care of your head!"

  HE DROVE HIS HEEL INTO THE ROYAL CROWN.]

  With that he made swiftly for his poor brother whom he did notrecognize. Sir Balin spoke not a word but snatched the buckler fromVivien's squire, vaulted on his horse and in a moment had clashed withhis brother's armor. King Pellam's holy spear reddened with blood as itpricked through Balan's shield to his flesh. Then Balin's horse, weariedto death, rolled back over his rider and crushed him inward and both menfell and swooned away.

  "The fools!" cried Vivien to her young squire. "Come, you Sir Chick,loosen their casques and see who they are. They must be rivals for thesame woman to fight so hard."

  "They are happy," her gentle squire answered, "if they died for love.And Vivien, though you beat me like your dog I would die for you."

  "Don't die, Sir Boy," cried Vivien, "I'd rather have a live dog than adead lion. Come away, I don't like to look at them," and she made herpalfrey leap off over the fallen oak tree.

  Balin was the first to wake from his swoon. As soon as he saw hisbrother's face he crawled over to his side moaning. Then Balan faintlyopened his eyes and seeing who was with him kissed Balin's forehead.

  "O Balin," he cried, "why didn't you carry your own shield which I knew,and why did you trample all over this one which bears the queen's owncrown which I know?"

  So Balin slowly gasped out the whole story of his shield. Then they eachsaid good-night to the other and closed their eyes, locked in eachother's arms.