XVIII
“Egod,” quoth the green one, “right glad am I, Sir, At thy hand to receive the service I sought; Thou hast rightly rehears’d, by reasons full true, All the covenant clean, that I craved of the King, Sáve that thou assure me on thy sickar troth, That thyself thou wilt seek me, wheresó that thou thinkest I may be found upon fold, and fetch thee such wages As thou deal’st me today this dais beside.” “Whither,” said the wight, “shall I wend on that errand? Where thou wonest I wot not, by Him that me wrought, Nor know I thee, Sir Knight, by court or by name; Now teach me thereto, and tell me the truth, And áll my wít I shall wáre to win to thy place— I swear it for sooth, as a sickar knight.” “ ’Tis enough at New Year (what needs any more?)” Said the gallant in green to the knightly Gawain, “If I tell thee of that, when the tap I have ta’en. When thou hast smitten me fair, I shall smartly teach thee Of my house and my home and my ówn nàme; Then my troth mayst thou try, and to foreward be true. And no speech if I spend, thou speedest the better, For thou may’st lodge in thy land, nor look any further:— Let be! Grip thy grim tool amain, Thy dints now let us see.” “Gladly, sir,” says Gawain, And stern his axe strokes he.