King Arthur and His Knights | Page 7

messengers to them with rich gifts of horses and furs and
gold. But most of the lords received the messengers scornfully.
"Take back these gifts to the beardless boy who has come of low
blood," they said; "we do not want them. We have come here to give
him gifts of hard blows with our hard swords."
The messengers were astonished to hear these things spoken of their
good king. Nevertheless, they told Arthur all that had been said to them.
He sent no answer back, but he called together all the lords whom he
was sure were loyal to him, and asked their advice. They said to him:
"We cannot give you advice, but we can fight."
"You speak well, my lords," answered Arthur, "and I thank you for
your courage. Will you take the advice of Merlin? You know that he
has done much for me, and he is very wise."
The lords and barons answered that they would do whatever Merlin
advised. When Merlin came to the council hall he said:
"I warn you that your enemies are very strong. They have added to their
numbers so that now you have against you eleven mighty kings."
At this the lords looked dismayed.
"Unless our lord Arthur has more men than he can find in his own
realm," said Merlin, "he will be overcome and slain. Therefore I give
you this counsel. There are two brothers across the sea; both are
monarchs and both very strong. One is King Ban of Benwick, and the
other is King Bors of Gaul. Now these two have an enemy, also a

powerful ruler. Therefore, send to the brothers, King Bors and King
Ban who are now both in Benwick, and say to them that if they will
help Arthur in his war against the eleven kings, Arthur will help them
against their common enemy."
"That is very good counsel," said the king and the lords.
So they chose Sir Ulfius and Sir Brastias as messengers, and these two
hurried away, hopeful of success. When they reached the town in
Benwick where King Bors and King Ban were, knights came forth to
receive them and to hear their message. As soon as it was learned from
whom they had come they were led into the presence of the brothers.
Both were very large men. King Bors was dark, and was dressed in
black armor. King Ban was dark, too; the colors that he wore on his
shield were green and gold. He was the father of Sir Lancelot, the
knight who afterwards became the most powerful of the followers of
Arthur.
The two kings received Sir Ulfius and Sir Brastias with much favor.
"Tell King Arthur," they said, "that we will come to him as quickly as
we can."
Then they gave splendid gifts to Sir Ulfius and Sir Brastias, who
hurried back to Arthur with the message.
In a short time King Bors and King Ban arrived with ten thousand of
their soldiers, and as Arthur had ten thousand, they felt certain of
victory. They went into Wales, a country which Arthur's followers
knew well, and waited confidently for the enemy.
The eleven kings collected a great host of sixty thousand men, fifty
thousand on horseback and ten thousand on foot. They marched
towards the place where Arthur was, and set up their camp near a wood
about a mile distant. When Merlin knew this, he said to Arthur and the
two kings:
[Illustration: King Bors and King Ban]

"This is my advice: Set upon your enemies at midnight when they are
unprepared, and then you will have the advantage."
So Arthur and the two royal brothers and the twenty thousand soldiers
crept up to where the eleven kings and their men lay. They took a road
circling round the wood. Moving with great caution, they drew nearer
and nearer until they could see first the camp fires in a circle around the
white tents; and then, against the flashing flames, the dark figures of
the men who were keeping guard. Sometimes they were afraid that the
noise they made would alarm their enemies, but on account of a heavy
windstorm, they were unheard. When his men were quite near, Arthur
gave the word of command. The whole army uttered a great shout, and
ran forward in companies upon their enemies. In a few minutes they
had knocked down most of the tents, and killed many soldiers.
It was a dreadful thing to be attacked in the dark without warning. But
the eleven kings were brave men, even though they were so unjust to
Arthur in trying to take his kingdom from him, and made a good fight.
Perhaps they would have made a better one if they had known how few
the