The Mabinogion | Page 5

Owain, "with the best that
thou knowest." "I will do so," answered Kynon.
"I was the only son of my mother and father, and I was exceedingly
aspiring, and my daring was very great. I thought there was no
enterprise in the world too mighty for me, and after I had achieved all
the adventures that were in my own country, I equipped myself, and set
forth to journey through deserts and distant regions. And at length it
chanced that I came to the fairest valley in the world, wherein were
trees of equal growth; and a river ran through the valley, and a path was

by the side of the river. And I followed the path until mid-day, and
continued my journey along the remainder of the valley until the
evening; and at the extremity of a plain I came to a large and lustrous
Castle, at the foot of which was a torrent. And I approached the Castle,
and there I beheld two youths with yellow curling hair, each with a
frontlet of gold upon his head, and clad in a garment of yellow satin,
and they had gold clasps upon their insteps. In the hand of each of them
was an ivory bow, strung with the sinews of the stag; and their arrows
had shafts of the bone of the whale, and were winged with peacock's
feathers; the shafts also had golden heads. And they had daggers with
blades of gold, and with hilts of the bone of the whale. And they were
shooting their daggers.
"And a little way from them I saw a man in the prime of life, with his
beard newly shorn, clad in a robe and a mantle of yellow satin; and
round the top of his mantle was a band of gold lace. On his feet were
shoes of variegated leather, fastened by two bosses of gold. When I saw
him, I went towards him and saluted him, and such was his courtesy
that he no sooner received my greeting than he returned it. And he went
with me towards the Castle. Now there were no dwellers in the Castle
except those who were in one hall. And there I saw four-and-twenty
damsels, embroidering satin at a window. And this I tell thee, Kai, that
the least fair of them was fairer than the fairest maid thou hast ever
beheld in the Island of Britain, and the least lovely of them was more
lovely than Gwenhwyvar, the wife of Arthur, when she has appeared
loveliest at the Offering, on the day of the Nativity, or at the feast of
Easter. They rose up at my coming, and six of them took my horse, and
divested me of my armour; and six others took my arms, and washed
them in a vessel until they were perfectly bright. And the third six
spread cloths upon the tables and prepared meat. And the fourth six
took off my soiled garments, and placed others upon me; namely, an
under-vest and a doublet of fine linen, and a robe, and a surcoat, and a
mantle of yellow satin with a broad gold band upon the mantle. And
they placed cushions both beneath and around me, with coverings of
red linen; and I sat down. Now the six maidens who had taken my
horse, unharnessed him, as well as if they had been the best squires in
the Island of Britain. Then, behold, they brought bowls of silver

wherein was water to wash, and towels of linen, some green and some
white; and I washed. And in a little while the man sat down to the table.
And I sat next to him, and below me sat all the maidens, except those
who waited on us. And the table was of silver, and the cloths upon the
table were of linen; and no vessel was served upon the table that was
not either of gold or of silver, or of buffalo-horn. And our meat was
brought to us. And verily, Kai, I saw there every sort of meat and every
sort of liquor that I have ever seen elsewhere; but the meat and the
liquor were better served there than I have ever seen them in any other
place.
"Until the repast was half over, neither the man nor any one of the
damsels spoke a single word to me; but when the man perceived that it
would be more agreeable to me to converse than to eat any more, he
began to inquire of me who I was. I said I was glad to find that there
was some one who would discourse with me, and that it was not
considered so great a crime at that Court for people to hold converse
together. 'Chieftain,' said the man,