Church; and by the other lady ye shall understand the old law and
the fiend, which all day warreth against Holy Church, therefore ye did
your battle with right. For ye be Jesu Christ's knights, therefore ye
ought to be defenders of Holy Church. And by the black bird might ye
understand Holy Church, which sayeth I am black, but he is fair. And by
the white bird might men understand the fiend, and I shall tell you how
the swan is white without-forth, and black within: it is hypocrisy which
is without yellow or pale, and seemeth without-forth the servants
of Jesu Christ, but they be within so horrible of filth and sin, and
beguile the world evil. Also when the fiend appeared to thee in likeness
of a man of religion, and blamed thee that thou left thy brother for a
lady, so led thee where thou seemed thy brother was slain, but he is yet
alive; and all was for to put thee in error, and bring thee unto wanhope
and lechery, for he knew thou were tender hearted, and all was for thou
shouldst not find the blessed adventure of the Sangreal. And the third
fowl betokeneth the strong battle against the fair ladies which were all
devils. Also the dry tree and the white lily: the dry tree betokeneth
thy brother Lionel, which is dry without virtue, and therefore many men
ought to call him the rotten tree, and the worm-eaten tree, for he is a
murderer and doth contrary to the order of knighthood. And the two white
flowers signify two maidens, the one is a knight which was wounded the
other day, and the other is the gentlewoman which ye rescued; and why
the other flower drew nigh the other, that was the knight which would
have defouled her and himself both. And Sir Bors, ye had been a great
fool and in great peril for to have seen those two flowers perish for to
succour the rotten tree, for an they had sinned together they had been
damned; and for that ye rescued them both, men might call you a very
knight and servant of Jesu Christ.

CHAPTER XIV. How Sir Bors met with his brother Sir Lionel, and how Sir
Lionel would have slain Sir Bors.

THEN went Sir Bors from thence and commended the Abbot unto God. And
then he rode all that day, and harboured with an old lady. And on the
morn he rode to a castle in a valley, and there he met with a yeoman
going a great pace toward a forest. Say me, said Sir Bors, canst thou
tell me of any adventure? Sir, said he, here shall be under this castle
a great and a marvellous tournament. Of what folks