LXV
When Sir Gawain he saw, full gay was the goodman, Loud was his speech, and his laughter merry; He sent for the ladies, assembled his meiny, Show’d them the shields, and shaped them the tale, How large and how long that boar was of limb, And how fiercely he fought when he fled to the wood. The knight full comely commended the deed, And the prowess prais’d that the lord had proved, For such a brawn of a beast, the blithe man said, Or such sides of a swine had he seen ne’er before. When they handled the huge head, full high was his praise, Yet the horror that he had, he utter’d no less. “Now, Gawain,” said the goodman, “this game is your own, By the covenant clear we accorded together.” “That is sooth,” the knight said, “and as surely, i’ faith, Shall I give you again all my gets in return.” Then clasp’d he his neck and courteously kiss’d him, And served him eftsoons with a second kiss after. “We are even,” quoth the athel, “this ev’ning once more Of all covenants we knit, since I cáme hìther, by law. “By Saint Giles,” the lord cries, “Ye are the best I know, Ye’ll be rich in a trice, Such profits if ye draw.”