Phantastes, A Faerie Romance | Page 9

book which still screened
the window. The woman brought it to me directly, but not before taking
another look towards the forest, and then drawing a white blind over
the window. I sat down opposite to it by the table, on which I laid the
great old volume, and read. It contained many wondrous tales of Fairy
Land, and olden times, and the Knights of King Arthur's table. I read on
and on, till the shades of the afternoon began to deepen; for in the midst

of the forest it gloomed earlier than in the open country. At length I
came to this passage--
"Here it chanced, that upon their quest, Sir Galahad and Sir Percivale
rencountered in the depths of a great forest. Now, Sir Galahad was
dight all in harness of silver, clear and shining; the which is a delight to
look upon, but full hasty to tarnish, and withouten the labour of a ready
squire, uneath to be kept fair and clean. And yet withouten squire or
page, Sir Galahad's armour shone like the moon. And he rode a great
white mare, whose bases and other housings were black, but all
besprent with fair lilys of silver sheen. Whereas Sir Percivale bestrode
a red horse, with a tawny mane and tail; whose trappings were all to-
smirched with mud and mire; and his armour was wondrous rosty to
behold, ne could he by any art furbish it again; so that as the sun in his
going down shone twixt the bare trunks of the trees, full upon the
knights twain, the one did seem all shining with light, and the other all
to glow with ruddy fire. Now it came about in this wise. For Sir
Percivale, after his escape from the demon lady, whenas the cross on
the handle of his sword smote him to the heart, and he rove himself
through the thigh, and escaped away, he came to a great wood; and, in
nowise cured of his fault, yet bemoaning the same, the damosel of the
alder tree encountered him, right fair to see; and with her fair words
and false countenance she comforted him and beguiled him, until he
followed her where she led him to a---"
Here a low hurried cry from my hostess caused me to look up from the
book, and I read no more.
"Look there!" she said; "look at his fingers!"
Just as I had been reading in the book, the setting sun was shining
through a cleft in the clouds piled up in the west; and a shadow as of a
large distorted hand, with thick knobs and humps on the fingers, so that
it was much wider across the fingers than across the undivided part of
the hand, passed slowly over the little blind, and then as slowly
returned in the opposite direction.
"He is almost awake, mother; and greedier than usual to-night."

"Hush, child; you need not make him more angry with us than he is; for
you do not know how soon something may happen to oblige us to be in
the forest after nightfall."
"But you are in the forest," said I; "how is it that you are safe here?"
"He dares not come nearer than he is now," she replied; "for any of
those four oaks, at the corners of our cottage, would tear him to pieces;
they are our friends. But he stands there and makes awful faces at us
sometimes, and stretches out his long arms and fingers, and tries to kill
us with fright; for, indeed, that is his favourite way of doing. Pray, keep
out of his way to-night."
"Shall I be able to see these things?" said I.
"That I cannot tell yet, not knowing how much of the fairy nature there
is in you. But we shall soon see whether you can discern the fairies in
my little garden, and that will be some guide to us."
"Are the trees fairies too, as well as the flowers?" I asked.
"They are of the same race," she replied; "though those you call fairies
in your country are chiefly the young children of the flower fairies.
They are very fond of having fun with the thick people, as they call you;
for, like most children, they like fun better than anything else."
"Why do you have flowers so near you then? Do they not annoy you?"
"Oh, no, they are very amusing, with their mimicries of grown people,
and mock solemnities. Sometimes they will act a whole play through
before my eyes, with perfect composure and assurance, for they are not
afraid of me. Only, as soon as they have done, they burst into peals of
tiny laughter, as if it was such a joke to have been serious over