40
THE TALE OF BALEN
And each with each took counsel meet
For comfort, making sorrow sweet,
And grief a goodly thing to greet:
And word from word leapt light and fleet
Till all the venturous tale was told,
And how in Balen's hope it lay
To meet the wild Welsh king and slay,
And win from Arthur back for pay
The grace he gave of old.
'And thither wilt not thou with me
And win as great a grace for thee?'
'That will I well,' quoth Balan: 'we
Will cleave together, bound and free,
As brethren should, being twain and one.'
But ere they parted thence there came
A creature withered as with flame,
A dwarf mismade in nature's shame,
Between them and the sun.
