“So I journeyed on until I reached the summit of the steep.  And there I found everything as the black man had described it to me.  And I went up to the tree, and beneath it I saw the fountain, and by its side the marble slab, and the silver bowl fastened by the chain.  Then I took the bowl, and cast a bowlful of water upon the slab, and immediately I heard a mighty peal of thunder, so that heaven and earth seemed to tremble with its fury.  And after the thunder came a, shower; and of a truth I tell thee, Kay, that it was such a shower as neither man nor beast could endure and live.  I turned my horse’s flank toward the shower, and placed the beak of my shield over his head and neck, while I held the upper part of it over my own neck.  And thus I withstood the shower.  And presently the sky became clear, and with that, behold, the birds lighted upon the tree, and sang.  And truly, Kay, I never heard any melody equal to that, either before or since.  And when I was most charmed with listening to the birds, lo! a chiding voice was heard of one approaching me and saying:  ’O knight, what has brought thee hither?  What evil have I done to thee that thou shouldst act towards me and my possessions as thou hast this day?  Dost thou not know that the shower to-day has left in my dominions neither man nor beast alive that was exposed to it?’ And thereupon, behold, a knight on a black horse appeared, clothed in jet-black velvet, and with a tabard of black linen about him.  And we charged each other, and, as the onset was furious, it was not long before I was overthrown.  Then the knight passed the shaft of his lance through the bridle-rein of my horse, and rode off with the two horses, leaving me where I was.  And he did not even bestow so much notice upon me as to imprison me, nor did he despoil me of my arms.  So I returned along the road by which I had come.  And when I reached the glade where the black man was, I confess to thee, Kay, it is a marvel that I did not melt down into a liquid pool, through the shame that I felt at the black man’s derision.  And that night I came to the same castle where I had spent the night preceding.  And I was more agreeably entertained that night than I had been the night before.  And I conversed freely with the inmates of the castle; and none of them alluded to my expedition to the fountain, neither did I mention it to any.  And I remained there that night.  When I arose on the morrow I found ready saddled a dark bay palfrey, with nostrils as red as scarlet.  And after putting on my armor, and leaving there my blessing, I returned to my own court.  And that horse I still possess, and he is in the stable yonder.  And I declare that I would not part with him for the best palfrey in the island of Britain.

“Now, of a truth, Kay, no man ever before confessed to an adventure so much to his own discredit; and verily it seems strange to me that neither before nor since have I heard of any person who knew of this adventure, and that the subject of it should exist within King Arthur’s dominions without any other person lighting upon it.”