“May the fiends burn him in flames below!” muttered the steward, as he rubbed the bruises on his shoulders.
Now the king was so pleased with all these happenings that had made his Christmas feasting so merry that he turned again to Sir Cleges and asked him what his name was.
“My name, sire,” answered the poverty-stricken knight, “is one not unknown to thee in the days of old. My name is Sir Cleges.”
“What!” exclaimed the king, “art thou the long-lost Sir Cleges whom men to this day praise for his good deeds and his charity?” And so moved with joy was the good King Uther to find his old friend again that he came down from his high seat and took him by the hand and could not make enough of him. When the courtiers saw how things were going, they all flocked around Sir Cleges claiming his friendship and acquaintance.
But the king did not stop with kind words. He knew that a knight with a heart as true and loyal as the heart of Sir Cleges was not easily to be found, even among the knights of the Round Table, and now he was determined never again to lose him. So he gave to him the good castle of Cardiff to dwell in and other lands and fees wherewith he might live worthily.
Thus ended the king’s Christmas feasting in the castle of Cardiff, and a happy day it was for the knight Sir Cleges and the Lady Clarys. Many a long year they lived in the noble castle the king had given them, and you may be sure that no selfish porters or ushers or stewards stood at the gates and doorways to stop any poor man who would enter there.
[21] Reprinted by permission of the author and “St. Nicholas Magazine.”
CHRISTMAS NIGHT[22]
Selma Lagerlöf
“Once upon a time,” said my Grandmother, as we sat together one Christmas Day when all the others had gone to church, “there was a man who went out at night to borrow some fire. ‘Help me, kind people,’ he said. ‘My wife has a little baby, and I must light a fire to warm her and the child.’