t in the place that thou shall choose
in Arthur's Hall, from the upper end to the lower." Said the youth,
"That will I not do. If thou openest the gate, it is well. If thou dost
not open it, I will bring disgrace upon thy Lord, and evil report upon
thee. And I will set up three shouts at this very gate, than which none
were ever more deadly, from the top of Pengwaed in Cornwall to the bottom
of Dinsol, in the North, and to Esgair Oervel, in Ireland. And all the
women in this Palace that are pregnant shall lose their offspring; and
such as are not pregnant, their hearts shall be turned by illness, so
that they shall never bear children from this day forward." "What
clamour soever thou mayest make," said Glewlwyd Gavaelvawr, "against the
laws of Arthur's Palace, shalt thou not enter therein, until I first go
and speak with Arthur." Then Glewlwyd went into the Hall. And Arthur
said to him, "Hast thou news from the gate?"--"Half of my life is past,
and half of thine. I was heretofore in Kaer Se and Asse, in Sach and
Salach, in Lotor and Fotor; and I have been heretofore in India the Great
and India the Lesser; and I was in the battle of Dau Ynyr, when the
twelve hostages were brought from Llychlyn. And I have also been in
Europe, and in Africa, and in the Islands of Corsica, and in Caer
Brythwch, and Brythach, and Verthach; and I was present when formerly
thou didst slay the family of Clis the son of Merin, and when thou didst
slay Mil Du, the son of Ducum, and when thou didst conquer Greece in the
East. And I have been in Caer Oeth and Annoeth, and in Caer Nevenhyr;
nine supreme sovereigns, handsome men, saw we there, but never did I
behold a man of equal dignity with him who is now at the door of the
portal." Then said Arthur, "If walking thou didst enter in here, return
thou running. And every one that beholds the light, and every one that
opens and shuts the eye, let him show him respect, and serve him, some
with gold-mounted drinking horns, others with collops cooked and
peppered, until food and drink can be prepared for him. It is unbecoming
to keep such a man as thou sayest he is in the wind and the rain." Said
Kai, "By the hand of my friend, if thou wouldest follow my counsel, thou
wouldest not break through the laws of the Court because of him." "Not
so, blessed Kai, it is an honour to us to be resorted to, and the greater
our courtesy, the greater will be our renown, and our fame, and our
glory."