When they had long listened to the king, then spake Howel the fair, noble man of Britanny, and said these words before the fierce king:  “Lord king, hearken to me, as I ere did to thee.  Thou hast said sooth words—­may fortune be given to thee!—­For it was of old said, what we now shall learn, in the years before what is now here found.  Sibeli it said; her words were sooth, and set it in book, for example to folk, that three kings should go out of Britain, who should conquer Rome, and all the realm, and all the lands that thereto lie.  The first was Belin, who was a British king; the other was Constantine, who was king in Britain; thou shalt be the third, that Rome shalt have.  And if thou wilt it begin, thou shalt it win, and I will thereto help, with great strength, I will send over sea, to my good thanes, to my bold Britons—­the better we shall proceed,—­I will command all, the nobles of Britain, by their limbs and by their lives, over all my lands, that they be ready soon with thee to march to Rome.  My land I will set in pledge for silver, and all the possessions of my land for silver and for gold, and so we shall proceed to Rome, and slay Luces the emperor, and for to win thy rights, I will lead to thee ten thousand knights.”  Thus spake Howel, noblest of Britanny.

When that Howel had said what seemed good to him, then spake Angel the king, Scotland’s darling, and stood upon a bench, and both his brothers, that was, Loth and Urien, two most noble men.  Thus said Angel the king to Arthur the keen:  “Lord Arthur, I say to thee through my sooth words, the same that Howel hath spoken, no man shall it avoid, but we shall perform it by our quick lives!  And, lord Arthur the noble, listen to me a while, call to thee to counsel thy earls rich, and all the highest that are in thy folk, and bid them say to thee with their sooth words, in what they will help thee thy foes to destroy.  I will lead to thee knights of my land, three thousand champions brave, all chosen, ten thousand men on foot, to fight most good, and go we to Rome, and conquer the realm.  Full greatly it may shame us, and full greatly it may us anger, that they should send messengers after tribute to our land.  But so help us the Lord that formed the daylight, they shall pay for it with their bare life!  For when we have Rome, and all the realm, we shall seize the lands that thereto he, Poille (Apuha?) and Alemaine, Lumbardy and Britanny, France and Normandy—­then it hight Neustrie—­and so we shall tame their immoderate mood (pride).”  When the king had said then answered all.  “Disgraced be that man that will not help thereto, with goods and with weapons, and with all his might!”

Then was Arthur’s folk sternly incensed, knights were so enraged, that all they gan to be agitated.  When Arthur had heard the clamour of his folk, then gan he call—­the king was angry—­“Sit ye down still, knights in hall, and I will you tell what I will do.  My writs I will make, that shall be well indited, and send to the emperor minds sorrow and mickle care, and I will full soon fare into Rome.  I will not thither any tribute bring, but the emperor I will bind, and afterwards I will him hang; and all the land I will destroy, and all the knights put to death, that stand against me in fight!”