ot where he lay,
and they beheld what a great and noble frame of man it was that lay
there, and thereupon they took great pity that such a man should be in
that condition. So the captain of the guard said: "Alas, that such a man
as this has been should come to such a pass. Now let us lift him up and
bear him away into the castle where he may have care and nourishment."

So they did as that captain said, and they brought Sir Launcelot into
the castle of Corbin and to safety.

[Sidenote: _The Lady Elaine knoweth Sir Launcelot._]

Now it chanced that the Lady Elaine the Fair happened to be at her
window, and looking down therefrom and into the courtyard she beheld
where several men at arms bore a wounded man into the castle from that
postern gate. As they passed beneath where she was, the Lady Elaine
looked down upon the countenance of the wounded man. Then she beheld his
face with the sun shining bright upon it, and at that a thought struck
through her like to the stroke of a keen, sharp knife, whereat the Lady
Elaine clasped her hands and cried out aloud: "My soul! My soul! What is
this? Can it be he?"

Now there was in attendance upon the Lady Elaine at that time a certain
very old and sedate lady of the court who had been her nurse and
caretaker ever since her mother had died, leaving her a little helpless
babe cast adrift upon the world. And the name of that lady was Dame
Brysen. So Elaine ran to where Dame Brysen was and she cast herself upon
her knees before Dame Brysen and buried her face in Dame Brysen's lap
even as though it were her mother who sat there. And she cried out from
where she lay with her face in that lady's lap, "Alas! Alas! Alas!
Methinks I have beheld a most terrible sight!" Dame Brysen, speaking as
in affright, said, "What hast thou seen, my child?" The Lady Elaine
said: "Methinks I have beheld Sir Launcelot all starved with famine, and
bruised and bleeding, and lying so nigh to death that I know not whether
he is dead or not."

Dame Brysen said: "What is this thou sayst, my child? Where sawst thou
such a sight as that? Hast thou been dreaming?" The Lady Elaine said:
"Nay, I have not been dreaming, for, certes, as I stood at the window a
little while ago I saw Sir Launcelot, and several men bore him into the
castle courtyard through the postern gate, and he was all naked and
starved and wounded and bruised."

The Dame Brysen said: "Nay, child, calm thyself; what ails thee to think
so strang