Chapter 15

CHAPTER XV.
THE QUEST OF THE SANGREAL. "-The cup itself from which our Lord
Drank at the last sad supper with His own.
This from the blessed land of Aromat,
After the day of darkness, when the dead
Went wandering over Moriah- the good saint,
Arimathean Joseph, journeying, brought
To Glastonbury, where the winter thorn
Blossoms at Christmas, mindful of our Lord,
And there awhile abode; and if a man
Could touch or see it, he was healed at once,
By faith, of all his ills. But then the times
Grew to such evil that the holy cup
Was caught away to Heaven, and disappeared."
TENNYSON. THE Sangreal was the cup from which our Saviour drank at his last
supper. He was supposed to have given it to Joseph of Arimathea, who
carried it to Europe, together with the spear with which the soldier
pierced the Saviour's side. From generation to generation one of the
descendants of Joseph of Arimathea had been devoted to the
guardianship of these precious relics; but on the sole condition of
leading a life of purity in thought, word, and deed. For a long time
the Sangreal was visible to all pilgrims, and its presence conferred
blessings upon the land in which it was preserved. But at length one
of those holy men to whom its guardianship had descended so far forgot
the obligation of his sacred office as to look with unhallowed eye
upon a young female pilgrim whose robe was accidentally loosened as
she knelt before him. The sacred lance instantly punished his frailty,
spontaneously falling upon him, and inflicting a deep wound. The
marvellous wound could by no means be healed, and the guardian of
the Sangreal was ever after called "Le Roi Pecheur,"- the Sinner King.
The Sangreal withdrew its visible presence from the crowds who came to
worship, and an iron age succeeded to the happiness which its presence
had diffused among the tribes of Britain.
We have told in the history of Merlin how that great prophet and
enchanter sent a message to King Arthur by Sir Gawain, directing him
to undertake the recovery of the Sangreal, informing him at the same
time that the knight who should accomplish that sacred quest was
already born, and of a suitable age to enter upon it. Sir Gawain
delivered his message, and the king was anxiously revolving in his
mind how best to achieve the enterprise, when, at the vigil of
Pentecost, all the fellowship of the Round Table being met together at
Camelot, as they sat at meat, suddenly there was heard a clap of
thunder, and then a bright light burst forth, and every knight, as
he looked on his fellow, saw him, in seeming, fairer than ever before.
All the hall was filled with sweet odors, and every knight had such
meat and drink as he best loved. Then there entered into the hall