Le Morte Darthur / by Syr Thomas Malory ; the original edition of William Caxton now reprinted and edited with an introduction and glossary by H. Oskar Sommer ; with an essay on Malory's prose style by Andrew Lang

¶ Capitulum primum

Hit was a kyng that hyghte Melyodas / and he was lord and kynge of the countre of Lyonas And this Melyodas was a lykely knyght as ony was that tyme lyuynge / And by fortune he wedded kynge Markys syster of Cornewaille / And she was called Elyzabeth that was callyd bothe good and fair And at that tyme kynge Arthur regned / and he was hole kynge of Englond / walys and Scotland & of many other royammes how be it there were many kynges that were lordes of many countreyes / but alle they held their landes of kyng Arthur / for in walys were two kynges / and in the north were many kynges / And in Cornewail and in the west were two kynges /

¶ Also in Irland were two or thre kynges and al were vnder the obeissaunce of kyng Arthur / So was the kynge of Fraunce and the kyng of Bretayn and all the lordshippes vnto Rome / So whan this kyng Melyodas hadde ben with his wyf / within a whyle she waxid grete with child and she was a ful meke lady / and wel she loued her lord / & he her ageyne / soo there was grete ioye betwixe them / Thenne ther was a lady in that countrey that had loued kynge Melyodas longe / And by no meane she neuer coude gete his loue therfore she lete ordeyne vpon a day as kynge Melyodas rode on huntynge / for he was a grete chacer / and there by an enchauntement she made hym chace an herte by hym self alone / til that he came to an old Castel / and there anone he was taken prysoner by the lady that hym loued / Whanne Elyzabeth kyng Melyodas myst her lord / and she was nyghe oute of her wytte and also as grete with child as she was she took a gentylwoman with her / and ranne in to the forest to seke her lord / And whanne she was ferre in the forest she myghte no ferther for she byganne to trauaille fast of her child / And she had many grymly throwes / her gentylwoman halp her alle that she myghte / And soo by myracle of oure lady of heuen she was delyuerd with grete paynes / But she had taken suche cold for the defaute of helpe that depe draughtes of deth toke her / that nedes she must dye and departe oute of this world / ther was

[leaf 137v] none other boote / And whanne this quene Elyzabeth sawe that ther was none other bote / thenne she made grete dole / and said vnto her gentylwoman / whan ye see my lord kyng Melyodas recommaunde me vnto hym / and telle hym what paynes I endure here for gis [sic] loue / and how I must dye here for his sake for defaute of good helpe / and lete hym wete that I am ful sory to departe out of this world fro hym / therfor pray hym to be frende to my soule / Now lete me see my lytel child / for whome I haue had alle this sorowe / And whanne she sawe hym she said thus / A my lytel sone thou hast murthered thy moder / and therfore I suppose thou that arte a murtherer soo yong / thou arte ful lykely to be a manly man in thyn age / And by cause I shal dye of the byrthe of the / I charge the gentylwoman / that thou pray my lord kynge Melyodas that whan he is crystned lete calle hym Trystram that is as moch to saye / as a sorouful byrthe / And ther with this quene gafe vp the ghoost and dyed / Thenne the gentylwoman leyd her vnder an vmbre of a grete tree / and thenne she lapped the chyld as wel as she myght for cold / Ryghte soo ther came the Barons folowynge after the quene /

¶ And whan they sawe that she was dede / and vnderstood none other but the kynge was destroyed /