the best food
that you can dream of, but if you drink of it, it will cure you of any
illness however dangerous, and will even bring the dead back to life, if
it touches their mouths. As to the diamond lance, that will cut through
any stone or metal.'

'And to whom do these wonders belong?' asked Peronnik in amazement.

'To a magician named Rogear who lives in the castle,' answered the
woman. 'Every day he passes along here, mounted on a black mare, with
a colt thirteen months old trotting behind. But no one dares to attack
him, as he always carries his lance.'

'That is true,' said the knight, 'but there is a spell laid upon him
which forbids his using it within the castle of Kerglas. The moment he
enters, the basin and lance are put away in a dark cellar which no
key but one can open. And that is the place where I wish to fight the
magician.'

'You will never overcome him, Sir Knight,' replied the woman, shaking
her head. 'More than a hundred gentlemen have ridden past this house
bent on the same errand, and not one has ever come back.'

'I know that, good woman,' returned the knight, 'but then they did not
have, like me, instructions from the hermit of Blavet.'

'And what did the hermit tell you?' asked Peronnik.

'He told me that I should have to pass through a wood full of all sorts
of enchantments and voices, which would try to frighten me and make me
lose my way. Most of those who have gone before me have wandered they
know not where, and perished from cold, hunger, or fatigue.'

'Well, suppose you get through safely?' said the idiot.

'If I do,' continued the knight, 'I shall then meet a sort of fairy
armed with a needle of fire which burns to ashes all it touches. This
dwarf stands guarding an apple-tree, from which I am bound to pluck an
apple.'

'And next?' inquired Peronnik.

'Next I shall find the flower that laughs, protected by a lion whose
mane is formed of vipers. I must pluck that flower, and go on to the
lake of the dragons and fight the black man who holds in his hand the
iron ball which never misses its mark and returns of its own accord to
its master. After that, I enter the valley of pleasure, where some who
conquered all the other obstacles have left their bones. If I can win
through this, I shall reach a river with only one ford, where a lady
in black will be seated. She will mount my horse behind me, and tell me
what I am to do next.'

He paused, and the woman shook her head.

'