‘My time hieth fast,’ said the king.  Therefore said Arthur unto Sir Bedivere, ’Take thou Excalibur my good sword, and go with it to yonder water side; and when thou comest there I charge thee throw my sword in that water and come again and tell me what there thou seest.’  ’My lord,’ said Bedivere, ’Your commandment shall be done; and lightly bring you word again.’  So Sir Bedivere departed, and by the way he beheld that noble sword, that the pommel and the haft was all of precious stones, and then he said to himself, ’If I throw this rich sword in the water, thereof shall never come good, but harm and loss.’  And then Sir Bedivere hid Excaliber under a tree.  And so, as soon as he might, he came again unto the king, and said he had been at the water and had thrown the sword into the water, ‘What saw thou there?’ said the king, ‘Sir,’ he said, ‘I saw nothing but waves and winds.’

Now I might say a dozen things of this and of the whole passage that follows, down to Arthur’s last words.  Specially might I speak to you of the music of its monosyllables—­’"What sawest you there?” said the king...  “Do as well as thou mayest; for in me is no trust for to trust in.  For I will into the Vale of Avilion, to heal me of my grievous wound.  And if thou hear never more of me, pray for my soul."’ But, before making comment at all, I shall quote you another passage; this from Lord Berners’ translation of Froissart, of the death of Robert Bruce:—­

It fortuned that King Robert of Scotland was right sore aged and feeble:  for he was greatly charged with the great sickness, so that there was no way for him but death.  And when he felt that his end drew near, he sent for such barons and lords of his realm as he trusted best, and shewed them how there was no remedy with him, but he must needs leave this transitory life....  Then he called to him the gentle knight, Sir William Douglas, and said before all the lords, ’Sir William, my dear friend, ye know well that I have had much ado in my days to uphold and sustain the right of this realm; and when I had most ado I made a solemn vow, the which as yet I have not accomplished, whereof I am right sorry; the which was, if I might achieve and make an end of all my wars, so that I might once have brought this realm in rest and peace, then I promised in my mind to have gone and warred on Christ’s enemies, adversaries to our holy Christian faith.  To this purpose mine heart hath ever intended, but our Lord would not consent thereto...  And sith it is so that my body can not go, nor achieve that my heart desireth, I will send the heart instead of the body, to accomplish mine avow...  I will, that as soon as I am trespassed out of this world, that ye take my heart out of my body, and embalm it, and take of my treasure as ye shall think sufficient for that enterprise, both for yourself and such company as ye will take with you, and present my heart to the Holy Sepulchre, whereas our Lord lay, seeing my body can not come