Then Pelleas was ready to begin his adventures. He would go to Carleon, where, for three days, the King’s tournament was to be held.
The King had promised a golden circlet and a good sword to the knight who showed himself the strongest. The golden circlet was to be given to the fairest lady in the field, and she was to be called the ‘Queen of Beauty.’
On his way to Carleon, Pelleas rode along a hot and dusty road. There were no trees to shelter him from the scorching sun, but he rode on steadfastly, for he knew that a great shady forest lay before him.
When at last Pelleas reached the forest, he was so hot and tired that he dismounted, and tying his horse to a tree, he lay down gratefully under a large oak and fell asleep.
Sounds of laughter and merriment woke him, and opening his eyes he saw a group of maidens close by.
Pelleas was bewildered. Could they be wild woodland nymphs, he thought, as, only half-awake, he lay there, and watched them flitting in and out among the tall trees.
They wore bright dresses, blue and yellow and purple, and to Pelleas the forest seemed all aglow.
The maidens were talking together, and looking first in one direction and then in another. They were lost in the forest, on their way to the great tournament at Carleon.
Then the lost maidens caught sight of the knight, lying half-asleep under the oak-tree. ‘He will be able to show us the way,’ they said joyfully to one another, for they guessed that he too was on his way to the tournament.
‘I will speak to the knight,’ said the Lady Ettarde, the tallest and most beautiful of all the maidens, and she left the others and went towards Pelleas. But when she told the knight that she and her lords and ladies had lost their way, and asked him to tell her how to reach Carleon, he only looked at her in silence. Was she one of the woodland nymphs? Was he still dreaming, and was she the lady of his dreams?