ghting with the sword that he had taken from the
damsel in King Arthur's Court. It was a strong sword, and
whenever it struck, the armor of his opponent cracked. They
fought till their breath failed, and then they rested. Each knew
that never before had he dealt with such a strong enemy.

Then they fought again, and gave each other seven deep wounds,
the least of which would prove fatal. All the ground was red with
blood, but Sir Balin fought on still, for the people of the
castle were watching from the walls, and he wished to be thought
a great warrior. So at last he used all his remaining strength
and gave the other knight such a hard blow that he fell to the
ground. Sir Balin knew that it was a death stroke. He felt that
he, too, was about to die, and said:

"Who are you? I never fought with such a strong knight before."

The other answered faintly:

"I am Sir Balan, the brother to the good knight Sir Balin."

Then Sir Balin cried out:

"Alas, alas! that I should live to see this day!" and he fell
backward in a swoon.

Sir Balan was dying, but he crawled on his hands and knees to
where Sir Balin lay, and took off his helmet only to discover the
face of his brother. Then he wept bitterly till Sir Balin
recovered from his swoon.

"Alas!" said Sir Balan, "if we had but worn our own armor we
should have known each other. And now we must die; we have killed
each other."

[Illustration: _"They fought till their breath failed"_]

Sir Balin was too full of remorse to weep.

"All this is my fault," he said. "As the old man on the road told
me, I have been too self-willed. First, I would have the damsel's
sword, although she told me that I should slay with it the best
friend I had. That is you, Balan. And then I would enter this
castle in spite of warnings. I deserve to die, but it is a hard
punishment that I should have killed you, my brother."

Soon some ladies came from the wall into the courtyard, and to
them Sir Balin said:

"We are two dear brothers who have killed each other. I pray you,
promise to bury us in the same grave."

The ladies wept as they made the promise. The two brothers put
their arms about each other and waited for death. They hoped to
die together, but Sir Balan died first. Soon after, when Sir
Balin had also died, the ladies buried them together, and put a
stone above the grave, telling the sad story of their combat and
death.

[Illustration] SIR GERAINT AND ENID

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