Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 20, 1909.djvu/322

 282 The History of the Destruction

the same hour as that knight lay in my bed, the Duke was killed in battle, and so I do not know through whom it has happened and by whom I am with child." The King refrained from telling her that he was the man who had come to her, and he said, — " As thou dost not know whose child it is, we will give it immediately after its birth to Merlin, who is cunning in witchcraft (or, who knows the art of the demons), and we will call it Artusen, VIZ. " born through art" The King said this because he had sworn to Merlin, on that night when he brought him to the Duchess, that, if the Duchess should be left with child, he would deliver the child unto him to do with it what he liked. He kept his oath, as you will see at the end of the book. So he begat Artusen, who is the mighty king called Artus.

In this way the brothers above mentioned, the sons of the eldest daughter of Izerna and King Lot, were the nephews of Artus on the mother's side, as they were the children of his sister. In the same way was Messer Ivain his nephew, and Morgana his sister. Modred (Mordnet)^ the wicked, however, the traitor, was considered for many years to be a nephew. The King himself said so. But in the end it came out that he was his bastard, as you will see at the end of the history of the Destruction {i.e. of the Round Table).

12. When Borz returned to the Court in the town of Camelot, coming from as distant a country as, say, from Jerusalem, he was received at the Royal Court with great honours and with great uproar. When he told of the death of Galahad (Galaz)^ and of Persival all grew very sad. King Arthur then gave orders to write down in a book for a memorial all the adventures that had befallen the knights who went after the quest of "The Dish" (Graal); and they did so. Such is the tale of the book of " The Dish " (Graal), which is called Libro di la Kesta del Sangraal. -See footnote, p. 281.