The Mabinogion Vol. 1, Sir Owen Morgan Edwards and Lady Charlotte Schreiber [best thriller books to read TXT] 📗

and her maidens went forth to walk by a lake, that was in the middle of the park.  And they saw the form of a man.  And they were terrified.  Nevertheless they went near him, and touched him, and looked at him.  And they saw that there was life in him, though he was exhausted by the heat of the sun.  And the Countess returned to the Castle, and took a flask full of precious ointment, and gave it to one of her maidens.  “Go with this,” said she, “and take with thee yonder horse, and clothing, and place them near the man we saw just now.  And anoint him with this balsam, near his heart; and if there is life in him, he will arise, through the efficacy of this balsam.  Then watch what he will do.”

And the maiden departed from her, and poured the whole of the balsam upon Owain, and left the horse and the garments hard by, and went a little way off, and hid herself, to watch him.  In a short time she saw him begin to move his arms; and he arose up, and looked at his person, and became ashamed of the unseemliness of his appearance.  Then he perceived the horse and the garments, that were near him.  And he crept forward till he was able to draw the garments to him from off the saddle.  And he clothed himself, and with difficulty mounted the horse.  Then the damsel discovered herself to him, and saluted him.  And he was rejoiced when he saw her, and enquired of her, what land and what territory that was.  “Truly,” said the maiden, “a widowed Countess owns yonder Castle; at the death of her husband, p. 41he left her two Earldoms, but at this day she has but this one dwelling that has not been wrested from her, by a young Earl, who is her neighbour, because she refused to become his wife.”  “That is pity,” said Owain.  And he and the maiden proceeded to the Castle; and he alighted there, and the maiden conducted him to a pleasant chamber, and kindled a fire, and left him.

And the maiden came to the Countess, and gave the flask into her hand.  “Ha! maiden,” said the Countess, “where is all the balsam?”  “Have I not used it all?” said she.  “Oh, maiden,” said the Countess, “I cannot easily forgive thee this; it is sad for me to have wasted seven-score pounds’ worth of precious ointment, upon a stranger whom I know not.  However, maiden, wait thou upon him, until he is quite recovered.”

And the maiden did so, and furnished him with meat and drink, and fire, and lodging, and medicaments, until he was well again.  And in three months he was restored to his former guise, and became even more comely, than he had ever been before.

One day Owain heard a great tumult, and a sound of arms in the Castle, and he enquired of the maiden the cause thereof.  “The Earl,” said she, “whom I mentioned to thee, has come before the Castle, with a numerous army, to subdue the Countess.”  And Owain enquired of her whether the Countess had a horse and arms, in her possession.  “She has the best in the world,” said the maiden.  “Wilt thou go and request the loan of a horse and arms for me,” said Owain, “that I may go and look at this army?”  “I will,” said the maiden.

And she came to the Countess, and told her what Owain had said.  And the Countess laughed.  p. 42“Truly,” said she, “I will even give him a horse and arms, for ever; such a horse and such arms, had he never yet, and I am glad that they should be taken by him to-day, lest my enemies should have them against my will to-morrow.  Yet I know not what he would do with them.”

The Countess bade them bring out a beautiful black steed, upon which was a beechen saddle, and a suit of armour, for man and horse.  And Owain armed himself, and mounted the horse, and went forth, attended by two pages completely equipped, with horses and arms.  And when they came near to the Earl’s army, they could see neither its extent, nor its extremity.  And Owain asked the pages in which troop the Earl was.  “In yonder troop,” said they, “in which are four yellow standards.  Two of them are before, and two behind him.”  “Now,” said Owain, “do you return and await me near the portal of the Castle.”  So they returned, and Owain pressed forward, until he met the Earl.  And Owain drew him completely out of his saddle, and turned his horse’s head towards the Castle, and, though it was with difficulty, he brought the Earl to the portal, where the pages awaited him.  And in they came.  And Owain presented the Earl as a gift to the Countess.  And said to her, “Behold a requittal to thee for thy blessed balsam.”

The army encamped around the Castle.  And the Earl restored to the Countess the two Earldoms, he had taken from her, as a ransom for his life; and for his freedom, he gave her the half of his own dominions, and all his gold, and his silver, and his jewels, besides hostages.

And Owain took his departure.  And the Countess and all her subjects besought him to remain, but p. 43Owain chose rather to wander through distant lands and deserts.

And as he journeyed, he heard a loud yelling in a wood.  And it was repeated a second and a third time.  And Owain went towards the spot, and behold a huge craggy mound, in the middle of the wood; on the side of which was a grey rock.  And there was a cleft in the rock, and a serpent was within the cleft.  And near the rock, stood a black lion, and every time the lion sought to go thence, the serpent darted towards him to attack him.  And Owain unsheathed his sword, and drew near to the rock; and as the serpent sprung out, he struck him with his sword, and cut him in two.  And he dried his sword, and went on his way, as before.  But behold the lion followed him, and played about him, as though it had been a greyhound, that he had reared.

p. 44They proceeded thus throughout the day, until the evening.  And when it was time for Owain to take his rest, he dismounted, and turned his horse loose in a flat and wooded meadow.  And he struck fire, and when the fire was kindled, the lion brought him fuel enough to last for three nights.  And the lion disappeared.  And presently the lion returned, bearing a fine large roebuck.  And he threw it down before Owain, who went towards the fire with it.

And Owain took the roebuck, and skinned it, and placed collops of its flesh upon skewers, around the fire.  The rest of the buck he gave to the lion to devour.  While he was doing this, he heard a deep sigh near him, and a second, and a third.  And Owain called out to know whether the sigh he heard proceeded from a mortal; and he received answer, that it did.  “Who art thou?” said Owain.  “Truly,” said the voice, “I am Luned, the hand-maiden of the Countess of the Fountain.”  “And what dost thou here?” said Owain.  “I am imprisoned,” said she, “on account of the knight who came from Arthur’s Court, and married the Countess.  And he staid a short time with her, but he afterwards departed for the Court of Arthur, and he has not returned since.  And he was the friend I loved best in the world.  And two of the pages of the Countess’s chamber, traduced him, and called him a deceiver.  And I told them that they two were not a match for him alone.  So they imprisoned me in the stone vault, and said that I should be put to death, unless he came himself, to deliver me, by a certain day; and that is no further off, than the day after to-morrow.  And I have no one to send to seek him for me.  And his name is Owain the son of Urien.”  “And art thou certain, that if that knight knew all this, he p. 45would come to thy rescue?”  “I am most certain of it,” said she.

When the collops were cooked, Owain divided them into two parts, between himself and the maiden; and after they had eaten, they talked together until the day dawned.  And the next morning Owain enquired of the damsel, if there was any place where he could get food and entertainment for that night.  “There is, lord,” said she; “cross over yonder, and go along the side of the river, and in a short time, thou wilt see a great Castle, in which are many towers.  And the Earl who owns that Castle, is the most hospitable man in the world.  There thou mayest spend the night.”

Never did sentinel keep stricter watch over his lord, than the lion that night over Owain.

And Owain accoutred his horse, and passed across by the ford, and came in the sight of the Castle.  And he entered it, and was honourably received.  And his horse was well cared for, and plenty of fodder was placed before him.  Then the lion went and laid down in the horse’s manger; so that none of the people of the Castle dared to approach him.  The treatment which Owain met with there, was such as he had never known elsewhere, for every one was as sorrowful, as though death had been upon him. [45]  And they went to meat.  And the Earl sat upon one side of Owain; and on the other side his only daughter.  And Owain had never seen any more lovely than she.  Then the lion came and placed himself between Owain’s feet, and he fed him with every kind of food, that he took himself.  And he never saw any thing equal to the sadness of the people.

p. 46In the middle of the repast, the Earl began to bid Owain welcome.  “Then,” said Owain, “behold it is time for thee to be cheerful.”  “Heaven knows,” said the Earl, “that it is not thy coming that makes us sorrowful, but we have cause enough for sadness and care.”  “What is that?” said Owain.  “I have two sons,” replied the Earl, “and yesterday they went to the mountains to hunt.  Now there is on the mountain a monster, who kills men and devours them.  And he seized my sons.  And to-morrow is the time he has fixed to be here, and he threatens that he will then slay my sons before my eyes, unless I will deliver into his hands this my daughter. [46a]  He has the form of a man, but in stature he is no less than a giant.”

“Truly,” said Owain, “that is lamentable.  And which wilt thou do?”  “Heaven knows,” said the Earl, “it will be better that my sons should be slain, against my will, than I should voluntarily give up my daughter to him to ill-treat and destroy.”  Then they talked about other things, and Owain staid there that night.

The next morning, they heard an exceeding great clamour, which was caused by the coming of the giant, with the two youths.  And the Earl was anxious both to protect his Castle, and to release his two sons. [46b]  Then Owain put on his armour, and went forth to encounter the giant; and the lion followed him.  And when the giant saw that Owain was armed, he rushed towards him, and attacked him.  And the lion fought with the giant, much more fiercely than Owain did.

p. 47“Truly,” said the giant, “I should find no difficulty in fighting with thee, were it not for