Parsifal's Page Read Online Free PDF Page B

appeared to Piers to be a perfect knight. His bow was exquisite, and he could mince as daintily as a courtier of half his weight. But Piers was most proud on the final evening of Sir Gurnemains's course of instruction, when he
watched his master, strikingly clad in green and orange, dancing faultlessly with the Lady Liase. No one would have recognized the rustic hunting boy in that gallant figure, tripping effortlessly around the ballroom.
    "
Mon enfant,
" Sir Gurnemains cried as the dance came to an end, "you are complete to a shade! Never have I seen such grace on the dance floor! Why, not even Sir Lancelot could have surpassed you! And now, the final lesson: the kiss!"
    Parsifal frowned and began to speak but caught himself.
    "Ah, you want to know how I shall teach you the courtly manner of the kiss!" Sir Gurnemains said, smiling at Parsifal and Liase. "Nothing is easier. You shall kiss my daughter Liase, for never have I known a knight more worthy—"
    "I am not a knight, and I do not wish to kiss Liase," Parsifal said abruptly. "Please let us skip this lesson and go on."
    For once, Sir Gurnemains was caught off guard and had no smooth response, and Liase looked stricken. Piers closed his eyes in anguish.
    Parsifal continued. "If we are finished with bowing and using table manners and prancing and wearing pretty clothes, then I am glad. Now, if I may ask you—"
    "Remember about asking questions," Sir Gurnemains said.
    "I do not see how I am to learn anything unless I do," Parsifal replied.
    "Why, you have already learned everything!" Sir Gurnemains said triumphantly. "I have nothing left to teach you."
    Parsifal frowned. "You have not taught me how to use my sword or how to ride with a lance. You have not taught me how to achieve great deeds. All you have taught me is how to act like a knight, when I wanted to learn how to become one." He shook his head slowly. "I shall leave you tomorrow."
    And so the next morning, while both Sir Gurnemains and his daughter wept at the gate, Piers and Parsifal rode away from the silver and polished crystal of Sir Gurnemains's castle, back into the forest.

III. Jean le Forestier
    Piers and Parsifal rode due west for almost twelve hours, into the darkest forest Piers had ever seen. Both of their horses were staggering when at last Parsifal stopped near a tiny brook. "We shall camp here." Piers almost fell from the saddle and began stiffly to set about their camp needs, but Parsifal, after watching him for a moment, said, "Let me do that."
    "But it isn't seemly for a knight to do his own labors," Piers protested weakly.
    "You are doing my labors so poorly that I shall have to do them all again anyway. Here, help me undress, and I'll show you."
    When Parsifal was free of his armor, he set about teaching Piers how to make camp in the woods. In no time, they were very comfortably settled, and Parsifal had disappeared soundlessly into the forest with one
of his hunting spears, his face shining with anticipation. They ate well that night on the fruits of his hunt.
    The next day they met the first human they had seen since leaving Sir Gurnemains, a freckle-faced young man in bright new armor. "How do you do?" Parsifal said politely. "I hope you are well today."
    "Why, I'm middling, just middling," the youth said, eyeing Parsifal's armor with respect. "I say, are you someone I ought to know?"
    "I don't know," Parsifal said, puzzled. "Who are you supposed to know?"
    "I mean, are you someone famous? Like Sir Gareth or Sir Tristram or someone like that?" Parsifal shook his head, and the youth hastily apologized. "Oh, I'm sorry. It's just that you looked so, well, so deuced knightly, I thought you must be a great knight." Piers smiled proudly. Parsifal
did
look impressive. Sir Gurnemains had seen to it that the red armor had been shined and decked with any number of bright strips of silk.
    "I do want to be a great knight," Parsifal said simply.
    "So do I," the youth said enthusiastically. "I