“And to whom do this diamond lance and golden basin belong?” asked Peronnik, bewildered.
“To a magician called Rogéar, who lives in the castle of Kerglas,” answered the farmer’s wife. “He is to be seen any day near the forest pathway, riding along upon his black mare followed by a colt of three months’ old; but no one dares to attack him, for he holds the fearful lance in his hand.”
“Yes,” replied the stranger; “but the command of God forbids him to make use of it within the castle of Kerglas. So soon as he arrives there, the lance and the basin are deposited at the bottom of a dark cave, which no key will open; therefore, it is in that place I propose to attack the magician.”
“Alas, you will never succeed, my good sir,” replied the peasant woman. “More than a hundred gentlemen have already attempted it; but not one amongst them has returned.”
“I know that, my good woman,” answered the knight; “but they had not been instructed as I have by the Hermit of Blavet.”
“And what did the Hermit tell you?” asked Peronnik.
“He warned me of all that I shall have to do,” replied the stranger. “First of all, I shall have to cross an enchanted wood, wherein every kind of magic will be put in force to terrify and bewilder me from my way. The greater number of my predecessors have lost themselves, and there died of cold, hunger, or fatigue.”
“And if you succeed in crossing it?” said the idiot.
“If I get safely through it,” continued the gentleman, “I shall meet a Korigan armed with a fiery sword, which lays all it touches in ashes. This Korigan keeps watch beside an apple-tree, from which it is necessary that I should gather one apple.”
“And then?” said Peronnik.