And Gurnemanz close watched him and his ways
And wondered who the splendid knight might be;
Then ventured near with courteous salute: 
“All hail to thee, sir knight, and welcome here! 
Art thou astray, and may I give thee aid?... 
No word for me, but bowing of thy head? 
Perchance my lord is under knightly vow
To perfect silence, as my vows bind me
To courtesy and service.  Therefore hear
Where now thou art and what is due this place. 
This is a holy woods and this a holy spring,
Within the domain of the Holy Grail,
Where in his armor none hath right to come
With helmet closed, and shield and shining spear. 
Besides, dost thou not know what day this is? 
Not know the day?  From whence then hast thou come? 
What heathen darkness hath been thine abode
That thou rememberest not this holy day,—­
The ever-hallowed Good-Friday morn? 
Put off thy heavy armor, for the Lord,
Bare of defence, on this most holy day,
Did freely shed His blood to save the world,
And bring the time of kindness and of peace.”

And silently, without an answering word,
The stranger knight fixed in the ground his spear,
And at its foot lay down his shield and sword,
Opened his helmet, placed it on the ground,
And knelt in silent prayer before the spear.

[Illustration]

With wonder and deep feeling, Gurnemanz
Had watched the knight, and as he saw him pray
And saw the face upturned to the light,
He knew him, and to Kundry softly spake,
Who now drew near:  “Thou knowest him.  ’T is he
Who long ago laid low the snow-white swan,—­
He whom in anger I thrust out-of-doors. 
Where has he wandered since that luckless day? 
But look!  Behold the spear!  It is the Spear
For which my eager heart has longed and prayed! 
O holy day, on which the Spear comes home! 
O happy day to which my soul awakes!”

And when the knight had ended all his prayer,
He slowly rose, and looked about and saw
The aged hermit, snowy-crowned with age;
And suddenly he knew that kindly form,
And rushed to Gurnemanz with eager face,
And crying:  “Good my friend, all hail to thee! 
Thank Heaven that I find thee once again!”

And Gurnemanz:  “Dost thou remember me,
After so many long and weary years,
And bent with grief and care as now I am,
And covered with the clustering snow of age? 
But tell me, what has passed since last we met? 
And how didst thou come here, and whence, and why?”

And Parsifal—­for it was he—­replied: 
“Through error and through sufferings I come,
Through many failures and through countless woes. 
Thus was the guileless One at last enlightened,
And taught the depths of pity and of love. 
And can it be that now the trials are ended
And peace has come, and holiness at last? 
Yet here I am within this holy wood,
And here art thou, dear servant of the Grail. 
But, do I err, this place seems somehow changed
From what it was in days of yore?  The life,
The joy seem to have vanished, and I feel
As if a cloud hung over Monsalvat.”