ed
and said, "What ails thee, Sir Launcelot?" Whereunto Sir Launcelot cried
out: "Woe is me! Woe is me! I have sinned very grievously and have been
grievously punished and now my heart is broken!"

Then the hermit perceived that some great misfortune had befallen Sir
Launcelot, wherefore he lifted Sir Launcelot to his feet and after that
he brought him into his cell. And after they were in the cell together,
he said: "Now tell me what ails thee, Sir Launcelot. For I believe that
in telling me thou shalt find a great deal of ease."

So Sir Launcelot confessed everything to the hermit--yea, everything to
the very bottom of his soul, and the good, holy man hearkened to him.

Then after Sir Launcelot had said all that lay upon his heart, the
hermit sat for a while in silence, communing with his spirit. And after
a while he said: "Messire, God telleth me that if thy sin hath been
grievous, so also hath thy punishment been full sore. Wherefore
meseemeth I speak what God would have me say when I tell thee that
though neither thou nor any man may undo that which is done, nor
recommit that which is committed, yet there is this which thou or any
man mayest do. Thou mayst bathe thy soul in repentance as in a bath of
clear water (for repentance is not remorse but something very different
from remorse), and that having so bathed thyself thou mayst clothe
thyself as in a fresh raiment of new resolve. So bathed and so clad,
thou mayst stand once more upon thy feet and mayst look up to God and
say: 'Lo, God! I am Thy handiwork. I have sinned and have done great
evil, yet I am still Thy handiwork, who hath made me what I am. So,
though I may not undo that which I have done, yet I may, with Thy aid,
do better hereafter than I have done heretofore.'

"For every man may sin, and yet again may sin; yet still is he God's
handiwork, and still God is near by His handiwork to aid him ever to a
fresh endeavor to righteousness.

"So, though thou hast sinned, thou art still the creation of God and may
yet do His will in the world who hath sent thee hither."

Then Sir Launcelot wept, and he said, "There is much comfort in thy
words."

After that he abode for three days in the cell of the hermit and at the
end of that time he went forth again into the world, a broken yet a
contrite man, and one full of a strong resolve to make good the life
that God thenceforth intended him to live.

So by and by you shall hear of further adventures that be