That night King Arthur lay in his pavilion and he slept very deeply and profoundly, as sleeps the man who is weary of toil and marching. And anon while he slept he had a dream and the dream was this:
The King hath a dream.
He dreamed that he sat upon his throne, and that his throne was established upon a monstrous wheel. And the wheel rose high with him sitting upon his throne. And anon the wheel rose above the rim of the earth, and he beheld the sun shining in all his glory. And the sun glittered upon him and he felt all the joy and all the delight of that sunlight. And it seemed to King Arthur that he was a great while in that sunlight, but he was not, for the wheel was turning very slowly with him. So the wheel reached its highest apex, and then it began to descend. And the wheel descended more and more swiftly, and anon it descended below the rim of the world, and so the sunlight had left the King. And the wheel descended more and more swiftly, so that King Arthur began to fear he would be cast out of his throne by the turning of the wheel. And King Arthur dreamed that he looked down beneath him, and he beheld that the wheel was descending very rapidly to a great pool, as it were a lake. And this pool was filled with blackness and with blood, and behold there was no bottom to that pool. And by then the throne of King Arthur was inclining very greatly toward that pool, and the King felt that he was slipping from his throne, and at that his soul was filled with terror. Then he tried to awaken, but he could not. So, in his terror, he screamed very loudly and shrilly, “Save me! Save me, or I fall!” And so shrill was his calling that several knights and attendants ran into the pavilion where he was, and these beheld the King struggling in his sleep. And they cried out, “Lord, Lord! What aileth thee? Awaken!” And with that King Arthur awoke.
And King Arthur sat up upon his couch and gazed about him, as one sunk in great amazement, and he said, “I slept and I dreamed a dream; and it was a dreadful dream.” And he said to those in attendance upon him, “Do not go from me yet, for that dream hath affrighted me.”
So they all sat near to him and by and by they beheld that he breathed very deeply and softly, wherefore they wist that he slept again. Then all they withdrew from the pavilion, saving only two of his attendants who still sat beside him.
But King Arthur did not sleep, though it was a manner of sleep, for he beheld all the things about him as though he were partly awake, yet he could not move.
The King dreameth again.
Then, while he was in this sleep, King Arthur beheld a vision. For he saw the flap at the doorway of the pavilion that it moved, and anon it was raised and Sir Gawaine entered the tent. And Sir Gawaine held the flap of the doorway aside, and King Arthur beheld that fourteen ladies entered the tent behind Sir Gawaine.
And when these ladies had all entered the tent, Sir Gawaine let fall the flap of the doorway, and so he came forward to where King Arthur lay. And the face of Sir Gawaine was very calm and smiling and cheerful, and King Arthur felt great peace and happiness when he beheld him standing there.
Then King Arthur dreamed that he spoke to Sir Gawaine, and he said, “Sir, how is this? Methought that you were dead, and here I behold you alive. Was it not then you whom we buried in France some while ago?”