ht do
them a mischief, and despoil them of their goods. Since they had no
trust in their weapons, doubting that they could slay him with the
sword, they devised to murder the king by craft and poison. They
suborned certain evil-doers, whose names I do not know, by promises
of pennies and of land. These men they conveyed to the king's court,
arrayed in ragged raiment, the better to spy in what fashion
they might draw near his person and carry out their purpose. The
malefactors came to Verulam, but for all their cunning and craft of
tongues, in no way could they win anigh the king. They went to and fro
so often; they listened to the servitors' talk so readily; that in the
end they knew that the king drank nothing but cold water, that other
liquor never passed his lips. This water was grateful to his sickness.
It sprang from a well very near his hall, and of this water he drank
freely, for none other was to his mind. When these privy murderers
were persuaded that they might never come so close to the king's body
as to slay him with a knife, they sowed their poison in the well. They
lurked secretly about the country, until it came to their ears when
and how he died, and then fled incontinent whence they came. Presently
the king was athirst, and called for drink. His cupbearer gave him
water, laced with venom, from the spring. Uther drank of the cup, and
was infected by the plague, so that there was no comfort for him save
in death. His body swelled, becoming foul and black, and very soon
he died. Right quickly all those who drank of the water from that
fountain died of the death from which their lord lay dead. After this
thing became known, and the malice of these evil-doers was made clear,
the burgesses of the city met together, and choked the well for
evermore. They cast therein so much earth, that a pyre stood above
the source, as a witness to this deed. Uther the king having fallen
asleep, his body was borne to Stonehenge, and laid to rest close by
Aurelius, his brother; the brethren lying side by side. The bishops
and barons of the realm gathered themselves together, and sent
messages to Arthur, Uther's son, bidding him to Cirencester to be made
their king. Arthur at the time of his coronation was a damoiseau of
some fifteen years, but tall and strong for his age. His faults and
virtues I will show you alike, for I have no desire to lead you astray
with words. He was a very virtuous knight, right worthy of praise,
whos