for that was the knight’s name.  “What is this?” demanded Perceval, touching the saddle.  “It is a saddle,” said Owain.  Then he asked about all the accoutrements which he saw upon the men and the horses, and about the arms, and what they were for, and how they were used.  And Sir Owain showed him all those things fully.  And Perceval in return gave him such information as he had

Then Perceval returned to his mother, and said to her, “Mother, those were not angels, but honorable knights.”  Then his mother swooned away.  And Perceval went to the place where they kept the horses that carried firewood and provisions for the castle, and he took a bony, piebald horse, which seemed to him the strongest of them.  And he pressed a pack into the form of a saddle, and with twisted twigs he imitated the trappings which he had seen upon the horses.  When he came again to his mother, the countess had recovered from her swoon.  “My son,” said she, “desirest thou to ride forth?” “Yes, with thy leave,” said he.  “Go forward, then,” she said, “to the court of Arthur, where there are the best and the noblest and the most bountiful of men, and tell him thou art Perceval, the son of Pelenore, and ask of him to bestow knighthood on thee.  And whenever thou seest a church, repeat there thy pater-noster; and if thou see meat and drink, and hast need of them, thou mayest take them.  If thou hear an outcry of one in distress, proceed toward it, especially if it be the cry of a woman, and render her what service thou canst.  If thou see a fair jewel, win it, for thus shalt thou acquire fame; yet freely give it to another, for thus thou shalt obtain praise.  If thou see a fair woman, pay court to her, for thus thou wilt obtain love.”

After this discourse Perceval mounted the horse and taking a number of sharp-pointed sticks in his hand he rode forth.  And he rode far in the woody wilderness without food or drink.  At last he came to an opening in the wood where he saw a tent, and as he thought it might be a church he said his pater-noster to it.  And he went towards it; and the door of the tent was open.  And Perceval dismounted and entered the tent.  In the tent he found a maiden sitting, with a golden frontlet on her forehead and a gold ring on her hand.  And Perceval said, “Maiden, I salute you, for my mother told me whenever I met a lady I must respectfully salute her.”  Perceiving in one corner of the tent some food, two flasks full of wine, and some boar’s flesh roasted, he said, “My mother told me, whenever I saw meat and drink to take it.”  And he ate greedily, for he was very hungry.  The maiden said, “Sir, thou hadst best go quickly from here, for fear that my friends should come, and evil should befall you.”  But Perceval said, “My mother told me wheresoever I saw a fair jewel to take it,” and he took the gold ring from her finger, and put it on his own; and he gave the maiden his own ring in exchange for hers; then he mounted his horse and rode away.