The Greylock | Page 2

when he saw the
tears rain down from the lady's large eyes onto her gown, which was
already as wet as if she had just been drawn from the lake.
When the knight noticed this, an overwhelming pity chased the anger
from his heart, and George, who was a soft-hearted man, sobbed aloud
at her pitiful appearance. The voice of the knight, too, was unsteady as
he called to the fair prisoner that he was a German, Wendelin by name,
and that he had set out on a knightly quest to kill dragons, and to draw
his sword for all who were oppressed. He had already conquered in
many combats, and nothing would please him better than to fight for
her.
At this she ceased to weep, but she shook her head gently--her hair
being chained impeded her motion,--and answered sadly. "My enemy is

too powerful. You are young and beautiful, and the darling, perhaps, of
a loving mother at home, I cannot bear that you should suffer the same
fate as the others. Behold that nut-tree over there! What seem to be
white gourds hanging on its naked branches are their skulls! Go your
way quickly, for the evil spirit that keeps me prisoner, and will not
release me until I have sworn an oath to become his wife, will soon
return. His name is Misdral, he is very fierce and mighty, and lives
among the waste rocks over there on the north shore of the lake. You
have my thanks for your good intention, and now proceed on your
journey." The knight, however, did not follow her advice, but
approached the beautiful woman without more words, and caught hold
of her hair to unbind it from the ring. No sooner had he touched the
emeralds than two brown snakes came hissing towards him.
"Oho!" exclaimed Sir Wendelin. With one hand he caught their two
necks together in his powerful grip, with the other he grasped their tails,
tore them in two, and threw them out onto the cliffs above the lake.
When the imprisoned lady saw this, she heaved a deep sigh of relief
and spoke: "Now I believe that you will be able to liberate me. Draw
this ring from my finger!"
The knight obeyed and as he touched the lady's fingers, which were
slender and pointed, he felt his heart warm within him, and he would
gladly have kissed her. But he only withdrew the ring. As he forced it
onto the end of his own little finger the lady said to him: "Whenever
you turn it round you will be changed to a falcon; for you must
know....But woe to us! There, where the water is lashed into foam, is
the monster swimming towards us!"
She had hardly finished before a hideous creature drew itself out of the
lake. It looked as if it were covered with mouldering pumice-stone.
Two toads peeped from the cavities of the eyes, brown eel-grass hung
dripping and disordered over its neck and forehead, and in place of
teeth there were long iron spikes in its jaws which protruded and
crossed one another over its lips.
"A fine wooer, indeed!" thought the squire. "If the stone-clad fellow
should not possess a vulnerable spot somewhere on his body I shall
certainly lose my position!"
Similar thoughts passed through the knight's mind, and consequently he
did not attack it with his sword, but lifting a huge piece of granite from

the ground he hurled it at the monster's head. The creature only sneezed,
and passed its hand over its eyes as if to brush away a fly. Then it
looked round and, perceiving the knight, bellowed aloud, and changed
itself into a dragon spouting fire. Herr Wendelin rejoiced at this, for his
favourite pastime was to kill that sort of beast. He had no sooner,
however, plunged his good sword into a soft part of the monster, and
seen the blood flow from the wound, than his opponent changed itself
into a griffin, and raising itself from the ground swooped upon him. His
defence now became more difficult, as the evil spirit continued to
attack him in ever changing forms, but Sir Wendelin was no coward,
and knew well how to use his arm and sword. At length, however, the
knight began to feel that his strength was deserting him; his sword
seemed to grow heavier and heavier in his hand, and his legs felt as if
an hundredweight had been attached to them. His squire, noting his
fatigue, grew faint, and began to think the best thing for him would be
to ride off, for the fight was likely to end badly for his master. The
knight's knees were trembling under him, and as the monster, in the
form of a unicorn, charged