Knjigice
Fairy tale · Classic fairy tales
King Arthur
The story of the boy who pulled the sword from the stone
Also in: Kralj Artur (Slovenian) · Kráľ Artuš (Slovak)
When the old king died, the land was left with no ruler. The lords quarrelled, the roads grew dangerous, and people bolted their doors before dusk. Then one morning a great stone anvil stood in the middle of the churchyard, and a sword rose out of it. Words were carved into the stone: "Whoever draws this sword is the rightful king of all the land."
1
Lords and knights came from near and far. Each one spat on his hands, gripped the hilt and heaved till his face went red. The sword did not shift a hair's breadth, as though it had grown out of the stone. So it went, year after year. At the new year a great tournament was held in the town, and everyone hoped that this time somebody might lift the sword.
2
Sir Ector came to the tournament too, with his son Kay and his foster son Arthur, who was Kay's squire. They were already on the field when Kay went pale. "My sword! I left it at home!" Arthur jumped on his pony and galloped back. But the house was locked and empty. The boy stood at the door and did not know what to do.
3
Then he remembered the churchyard sword. "Nobody is using that one," he said to himself. He ran across the quiet churchyard, gripped the cold hilt with both hands and pulled. The sword slid out of the stone as easily as a knife out of butter. Arthur tucked it under his arm, never looked back, and hurried happily home to his brother.
4
When Kay saw the sword, the words dried in his mouth. Sir Ector knelt down before the boy, and Arthur was frightened. "Why are you kneeling to me?" In front of all the lords he had to set the sword back into the stone and draw it out again. Some of them grumbled: "A squire? A child?" But the people shouted: "Our king!" And Arthur became king.
5
An old wizard came to the young king: Merlin, with a white beard down to his waist and a blue robe sprinkled with golden stars. "The sword chose you," he said, "but the crown you must earn again every single day. Listen before you speak. What you promise, do. And never forget what it is like to be small." Arthur remembered those words all his life.
6
One day Arthur's sword broke in a duel. Merlin led him to a still lake among the hills. An arm rose out of the water holding a sword that shone like the moon. "This is Excalibur," said the Lady of the Lake. "Carry it for those who cannot defend themselves." Arthur took the sword with a bow, and the water closed quietly behind her.
7
In his castle at Camelot, Arthur had a table made, round as the sun. "This table has no head and no foot," he said. "No one sits above another. Whoever sits here promises three things: to defend the weak, to speak the truth, and never to lift a sword in anger." The knights laid their palms on the wood and promised.
8
Wonderful knights sat at that table. Lancelot, the strongest of them all, was the gentlest with children. Young Percival blushed to his ears at every word of praise. Gawain once cheated at a game, then knelt before the king and owned up to it. Arthur laid a hand on his shoulder: "A man who admits it is still my knight."
9
One night a strange bright glow drifted through the hall, as though a cup made of pure light had passed by. Nobody really saw it, yet everyone was left warm at heart. They called it the Grail. The knights rode out across the world to look for it. A few glimpsed it for a moment. Not one could explain it. They came home different from the way they left.
10
Their road led into an enchanted forest, where the trees whispered and the paths would not stay put. There Arthur met a knight in green armour guarding a bridge. They did not fight: the king set him a riddle, and the knight answered with one of his own. By morning they were friends, and the bridge stood open to all.
11
The years went by and the land breathed again. The roads were safe, the fields full, and on feast days everyone danced in the castle courtyard — farmers and knights side by side. Queen Guinevere, with her copper hair, sat beside Arthur and laughed while the children chased each other among the dancers. "None of this is mine," said the king. "All of it is ours."
12
After many years came a bitter battle, and Arthur came back wounded and weary. A barge waited at the shore, and in it three women in dark cloaks. Gently they laid him down. "Where are you going?" called his faithful knight. "To Avalon, the island of apples, to be healed," said the king. "One day I shall return." And the barge slipped quietly into the mist.
13The End
