Sir Tristram saw them beat that were wont to give him meat and drink,then he ran thither and gat Sir Dagonet by the head,and gave him such a fall to the earth that he bruised him sore so that he lay still.And then he wrast his sword out of his hand,and therewith he ran to one of his squires and smote off his head,and the other fled.And so Sir Tristram took his way with that sword in his hand,running as he had been wild wood.Then Sir Dagonet rode to King Mark and told him how he had sped in that forest.And therefore,said Sir Dagonet,beware,King Mark,that thou come not about that well in the forest,for there is a fool naked,and that fool and I fool met together,and he had almost slain me.Ah,said King Mark,that is Sir Matto le Breune,that fell out of his wit because he lost his lady;for when Sir Gaheris smote down Sir Matto and won his lady of him,never since was he in his mind,and that was pity,for he was a good knight.
CHAPTER XX
How it was noised how Sir Tristram was dead,and how La Beale Isoud would have slain herself.
THEN Sir Andred,that was cousin unto Sir Tristram,made a lady that was his paramour to say and to noise it that she was with Sir Tristram or ever he died.And this tale she brought unto King Mark's court,that she buried him by a well,and that or he died he besought King Mark to make his cousin,Sir Andred,king of the country of Liones,of the which Sir Tristram was lord of.
All this did Sir Andred because he would have had Sir Tristram's lands.And when King Mark heard tell that Sir Tristram was dead he wept and made great dole.But when Queen Isoud heard of these tidings she made such sorrow that she was nigh out of her mind;and so upon a day she thought to slay herself and never to live after Sir Tristram's death.And so upon a day La Beale Isoud gat a sword privily and bare it to her garden,and there she pight the sword through a plum tree up to the hilt,so that it stuck fast,and it stood breast high.And as she would have run upon the sword and to have slain herself all this espied King Mark,how she kneeled down and said:Sweet Lord Jesu,have mercy upon me,for I may not live after the death of Sir Tristram de Liones,for he was my first love and he shall be the last.And with these words came King Mark and took her in his arms,and then he took up the sword,and bare her away with him into a tower;and there he made her to be kept,and watched her surely,and after that she lay long sick,nigh at the point of death.
This meanwhile ran Sir Tristram naked in the forest with the sword in his hand,and so he came to an hermitage,and there he laid him down and slept;and in the meanwhile the hermit stole away his sword,and laid meat down by him.Thus was he kept there ten days;and at the last he departed and came to the herdmen again.And there was a giant in that country that hight Tauleas,and for fear of Sir Tristram more than seven year he durst never much go at large,but for the most part he kept him in a sure castle of his own;and so this Tauleas heard tell that Sir Tristram was dead,by the noise of the court of King Mark.
Then this Tauleas went daily at large.And so he happed upon a day he came to the herdmen wandering and langering,and there he set him down to rest among them.The meanwhile there came a knight of Cornwall that led a lady with him,and his name was Sir Dinant;and when the giant saw him he went from the herdmen and hid him under a tree,and so the knight came to that well,and there he alighted to repose him.And as soon as he was from his horse this giant Tauleas came betwixt this knight and his horse,and took the horse and leapt upon him.So forthwith he rode unto Sir Dinant and took him by the collar,and pulled him afore him upon his horse,and there would have stricken off his head.
Then the herdmen said unto Sir Tristram:Help yonder knight.
Help ye him,said Sir Tristram.We dare not,said the herdmen.
Then Sir Tristram was ware of the sword of the knight thereas it lay;and so thither he ran and took up the sword and struck off Sir Tauleas'head,and so he yede his way to the herdmen.
CHAPTER XXI
How King Mark found Sir Tristram naked,and made him to be borne home to Tintagil,and how he was there known by a brachet.
THEN the knight took up the giant's head and bare it with him unto King Mark,and told him what adventure betid him in the forest,and how a naked man rescued him from the grimly giant,Tauleas.Where had ye this adventure?said King Mark.Forsooth,said Sir Dinant,at the fair fountain in your forest where many adventurous knights meet,and there is the mad man.Well,said King Mark,I will see that wild man.So within a day or two King Mark commanded his knights and his hunters that they should be ready on the morn for to hunt,and so upon the morn he went unto that forest.And when the king came to that well he found there lying by that well a fair naked man,and a sword by him.Then King Mark blew and straked,and therewith his knights came to him;and then the king commanded his knights to:Take that naked man with fairness,and bring him to my castle.So they did softly and fair,and cast mantles upon Sir Tristram,and so led him unto Tintagil;and there they bathed him,and washed him,and gave him hot suppings till they had brought him well to his remembrance;but all this while there was no creature that knew Sir Tristram,nor what man he was.
So it fell upon a day that the queen,La Beale Isoud,heard of such a man,that ran naked in the forest,and how the king had brought him home to the court.Then La Beale Isoud called unto her Dame Bragwaine and said:Come on with me,for we will go see this man that my lord brought from the forest the last day.So they passed forth,and spered where was the sick man.
And then a squire told the queen that he was in the garden taking his rest,and reposing him against the sun.So when the queen looked upon Sir Tristram she was not remembered of him.But ever she said unto Dame Bragwaine:Meseemeth I should have seen him heretofore in many places.But as soon as Sir Tristram saw her he knew her well enough.And then he turned away his visage and wept.
