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 Secundum

THenne ansuerd kynge Anguysshe of Scotland / Syr ye oughte of ryght to be aboue al other kynges / for vnto yow is none lyke ne pareylle in Crystendome / of knyȝt hode ne of dygnyte / & I counceylleyou [siccounceylle you] neuer to obey the Romayns / for whan they regned on vs / they destressyd oure elders / and putte this land to grete extorcions & taylles / wherfore I make here myn auowe to auenge me on them / and for to strengthe youre quarel I shal furnysshe xy [sic] M good men of warre and wage them on my costes / whiche shal awayte on yow with my self whan it shal please yow / and the kyng of lytel Bretayne graunted hym to the same xxx M / wherfor kynge Arthur thanked them / And thenne euery man

[leaf 81v] agreed to make warre / and to ayde after their power / that is to wete the lord of westwalis promysed to brynge xxx M men And syr Vwayne / syre Ider his sone with their cosyns promysed to brynge xxx M / thenne syre launcelot with alle other promysed in lyke wyse euery man a grete multytude /

¶ And whan kynge Arthur vnderstood theire courages and good wylles / he thanked them hertely / and after lete calle thembassatours to here theire ansuere / And in presence of alle his lordes and knyghtes he sayd to them in thys wyse / I wylle that ye retorne vnto your lord and procurour of the comyn wele for the Romayns / and saye ye to hym Of his demaunde and commaundement I sette nothyng / And that I knowe of no truage ne trybute that I owe to hym / ne to none erthely prynce / Crysten ne hethen / but I pretende to haue and occupye the soueraynte of thempyre / wherin I am entytled by the ryght of my predecessours somtyme kynges of this lond / and saye to hym that I am delybered and fully concluded to goo wyth myn armye with strengthe and power vnto Rome by the grace of god to take possession in thempyre / and subdue them that ben rebelle / wherfore I commaunde hym and alle them of Rome that incontynent they make to me their homage or to knouleche me for their Emperour and gouernour vpon payne that shal ensiewe / And thenne he commaunded his tresorer to gyue to them grete and large yeftes / and to paye alle theyr dispencys / and assygned syre Cador to conueye them oute of the land / and soo they took theire leue and departed / and tooke theyr shyppyng at Sandwyche / and passed forthe by flaundrys / Almayn / the montayns / and all ytalye vntyl they cam vnto Lucius / And after the reuerence made / they made relacyon of their ansuer lyke as ye to fore haue herd / whan themperour Lucyus had wel vnderstonde theyre credence / he was sore meued as he had ben al araged / & sayd / I had supposed that Arthur wold haue obeyed to my commaundement / and haue serued yow hym self / as hym wel bysemed or ony other kyng to doo / O syre sayd one of the senatours late be suche vayn wordes / for we late yow wete that I and my felawes were ful sore aferd to beholde his countenaunce / I fere me ye haue made a rodde for your self / for he entendeth to be lord of this empyre

[leaf 82r] whiche sore is to be doubted yf he come / for he is al another mā than ye wene / and holdeth the most noble courte of the world alle other kynges ne prynces maye not compare vnto his noble mayntene / On newe yeres daye we sawe hym in his estate whiche was the ryallest that euer we sawe / for he was serued at his table with ix kynges / and the noblest felauship of other prynces lordes and knyghtes that ben in the world / and euery knyghte approued and lyke a lord and holdeth table roūd And in his persone the moost manly man that lyueth / and is lyke to conquere alle the world / for vnto his courage it is to lytel / wherfore I aduyse yow to kepe wel youre marches and straytes in the montayns / For certaynly he is a lord to be doubted / Wel sayd Lucius bifore Eester I suppose to passe the moūtayns and soo forth in to fraunce / and there byreue hym his londes with Ianeweyes and other myghty warryours of Tuskane and lombardye / And I shall sende for them all that ben subgettys and alyed to thēpyre of Rome to come to myn ayde / and forthwith sente old wyse knyghtes vnto these countrayes / folowynge / fyrste to ambage and arrage / to Alysaundrye / to ynde. to hermonye / where as the ryuer of Eufrates renneth in to Asye / to Auffryke / and Europe the large / to ertayne and Elamye to Arabye / Egypte and to damaske / to damyete and Cayer / to Capadoce / to tarce / Turkye / pounce / and pampoylle / to Surrye and gallacye / And alle these were subgette to Rome and many moo / as Grece / Cypres / Macydone Calabre / Cateland / portyngale with many thousandes of spaynardys / Thus alle these kynges / dukes / and admyrals assembled aboute Rome with xvj kynges attones with grete multytude of peple / whan themperour vnderstood their comyng / he made redy his Romayns / and alle the people bytwene hym & Flaundres

¶ Also he hadde goten wyth hym fyfty Geaunts whiche had ben engendred of fendys And they were ordeyned to garde his persone / and to breke the frounte of the bataylle of kynge Arthur / And thus departed fro Rome and came doune the montayns for to destroye the londes that Arthur had conquerd and cam vnto Coleyne / and byseged a Castel there by / and wanne it soone and stuffed hit with two honderd sarasyns or Infydeles

[leaf 82v] and after destroyed many fayr countrees / whiche Arthur had wonne of kyng Claudas / And thus Lucius cam with alle his hoost whiche were disperplyd lx myle in brede / and commaunded them to mete with hym in Burgoyne / for he purposed to destroye the Royame of lytyl Bretayne /