A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthurs Court | Page 3

for to do his will, and so
stood aside. And then anon within six strokes Sir Launcelot had stricken them to the
earth.
And then they all three cried, Sir Knight, we yield us unto you as man of might matchless.
As to that, said Sir Launcelot, I will not take your yielding unto me, but so that ye yield
you unto Sir Kay the seneschal, on that covenant I will save your lives and else not. Fair
knight, said they, that were we loath to do; for as for Sir Kay we chased him hither, and
had overcome him had ye not been; therefore, to yield us unto him it were no reason.
Well, as to that, said Sir Launcelot, advise you well, for ye may choose whether ye will
die or live, for an ye be yielden, it shall be unto Sir Kay. Fair knight, then they said, in
saving our lives we will do as thou commandest us. Then shall ye, said Sir Launcelot, on
Whitsunday next coming go unto the court of King Arthur, and there shall ye yield you
unto Queen Guenever, and put you all three in her grace and mercy, and say that Sir Kay
sent you thither to be her prisoners. On the morn Sir Launcelot arose early, and left Sir

Kay sleeping; and Sir Launcelot took Sir Kay's armor and his shield and armed him, and
so he went to the stable and took his horse, and took his leave of his host, and so he
departed. Then soon after arose Sir Kay and missed Sir Launcelot; and then he espied that
he had his armor and his horse. Now by my faith I know well that he will grieve some of
the court of King Arthur; for on him knights will be bold, and deem that it is I, and that
will beguile them; and because of his armor and shield I am sure I shall ride in peace.
And then soon after departed Sir Kay, and thanked his host.
As I laid the book down there was a knock at the door, and my stranger came in. I gave
him a pipe and a chair, and made him welcome. I also comforted him with a hot Scotch
whisky; gave him another one; then still another--hoping always for his story. After a
fourth persuader, he drifted into it himself, in a quite simple and natural way:

THE STRANGER'S HISTORY
I am an American. I was born and reared in Hartford, in the State of
Connecticut--anyway, just over the river, in the country. So I am a Yankee of the
Yankees--and practical; yes, and nearly barren of sentiment, I suppose--or poetry, in
other words. My father was a blacksmith, my uncle was a horse doctor, and I was both,
along at first. Then I went over to the great arms factory and learned my real trade;
learned all there was to it; learned to make everything: guns, revolvers, cannon, boilers,
engines, all sorts of labor-saving machinery. Why, I could make anything a body
wanted--anything in the world, it didn't make any difference what; and if there wasn't any
quick new-fangled way to make a thing, I could invent one--and do it as easy as rolling
off a log. I became head superintendent; had a couple of thousand men under me.
Well, a man like that is a man that is full of fight--that goes without saying. With a couple
of thousand rough men under one, one has plenty of that sort of amusement. I had,
anyway. At last I met my match, and I got my dose. It was during a misunderstanding
conducted with crowbars with a fellow we used to call Hercules. He laid me out with a
crusher alongside the head that made everything crack, and seemed to spring every joint
in my skull and made it overlap its neighbor. Then the world went out in darkness, and I
didn't feel anything more, and didn't know anything at all-- at least for a while.
When I came to again, I was sitting under an oak tree, on the grass, with a whole
beautiful and broad country landscape all to myself--nearly. Not entirely; for there was a
fellow on a horse, looking down at me--a fellow fresh out of a picture-book. He was in
old-time iron armor from head to heel, with a helmet on his head the shape of a nail-keg
with slits in it; and he had a shield, and a sword, and a prodigious spear; and his horse
had armor on, too, and a steel horn projecting from his forehead, and gorgeous red and
green silk trappings that hung down all around him like a bedquilt, nearly to the ground.
"Fair sir, will ye just?" said this