Part I of II
It
was Christmas. The squabbling barons and knights who
had been fighting and feuding ever since the death of
old King Uther Pendragon were gathered together in
London's great church. They had been summoned
by the enchanter Merlin, a wild figure who had been
King Uther's chief advisor. No one knew why
they were there.
When
they came out of the church, they saw in the
churchyard a mighty sword sticking through a metal
anvil into a huge block of marble. On the stone
were the words: "Whoever pulls the sword from
this stone is the rightful King of all England."
Everyone
of the barons and knights thought they should be
king. They all tugged and wrenched at the sword, but
none of them could budge it. At last, they all
gave up.
It
was announced that on New Year's Day, a tournament
would be held. There would be jousting and
feasting. Afterward, anyone with a claim to the
throne could try again to pull the sword from the
stone. People came from all over the country to
take part in the tournament. Among them were a
north-country knight, Sir Ector, and his sons: proud
Sir Kay and his young brother, Arthur.
Kay
was so excited about taking part in his first
tournament that he forgot his sword. He did not
realize his mistake until they had arrived at the
jousting field. "Go and fetch my sword from our
lodgings," he told Arthur, "and hurry
up."
Arthur
rode as fast as he could back to the lodging house,
but everyone was out and it was locked up. Kay
had a nasty temper, and Arthur didn't want to have to
tell him that he could not find his sword. So
when he saw a sword striking out of a stone in the
churchyard, he decided to borrow it. He quickly
pulled out the sword and took it with him.
As
soon as Sir Kay saw the sword, he knew that it was
the sword from the churchyard. He took it to Sir
Ector, saying, "Father look! I have pulled the
sword from the stone. I must be the rightful
king." Sir Ector took Sir Kay and Arthur back to
the churchyard. "Now," he said
"tell me again, Kay, how you got this
sword."
Kay
could not look his father in the eye. "Father,
my brother, Arthur, brought it to me." Then Sir
Ector asked Arthur, "How did you come by this
sword!"
"I
hope I haven't done wrong," said Arthur.
"Kay had forgotten his sword, and this one was
sticking out of the stone. I only borrowed
it. Let me put it back." And Arthur
pushed the sword back through the anvil into the
stone.
Sir
Ector seized the hilt and pulled with all his
strength. The sword resisted him. Then Sir Kay
tried, and still the sword would not
move. But when Arthur took hold of the sword,
it answered to his hand and slid out of the stone
like silk.
Sir
Ector knelt down. "Father, why are you
kneeling?" asked Arthur.
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