the sea.
The king drew an arrow from his quiver and fit it to his bow. The hind let forth a pitiable cry and then the king let fly his arrow. At the moment when it would have hit the hind, the arrow turned in its path and flew back toward the king. It hit Morvarc’h in the chest and the horse threw the king and hurtled off the cliff into the sea.
In a rage complete, the king drew his dagger and advanced upon the hind. At this moment there, the voice of a woman cried out. And in the place of the hind there is a beautiful girl.
To punish the king for having pursued her, this girl gave the king the mane and the ears of his horse. King Marc’h drew his cloak over his head and returned to Poulmarc’h. He had a wall of gold bricks as high as the head of a man built around his throne and commanded that no one would look upon him or they must die.
He has a coiffeur come to cut his mane, but so that no one may know the secret of the king, the tongue of the coiffeur is cut out the moment he has cut the last hair. But the hair grows, and in two weeks when he calls the coiffeur to come back, he cannot be found, for he has taken his wife and his children and has fled the kingdom in fear. So the king calls another coiffeur and when he is finished, his tongue also is cut out and when the coiffeur is called back in two weeks time he also cannot be found, for he has fled the kingdom the same as the first. And soon all the coiffeurs in the kingdom have fled in fear of the king, save one: Yeunig. This is the favorite of the king and the one who has cut his hairs always before this happening. And so the king does not wish to cut out the tongue of this coiffeur. And so he will wait and wait. But the hair must keep growing and soon it is too heavy to bear. And so the king will call Yeunig.
And seeing the mane and the ears of the king, Yeunig demands of him, why did you not send for me more quick? I have the enchanted scissors and whatever hairs the scissors cut will never grow again. But if I will cut your hairs, then you must promise not to cut out my tongue.
And the king will do this, only Yeunig must never tell anyone that the king has the mane and the ears of a horse. And Yeunig swears this. And the hairs are cut and Yeunig leaves.
But all the world has envy to know the secret of the king, and so they offer Yeunig money and women and power if only he will repeat it to them. He refuses all. But he fears he must speak the words aloud or he will explode.
For that no one may hear, he goes to the beach and digs a large hole and puts his head into this and screams, The King Has the Mane and the Ears of a Horse! And then he covers up this hole. And he feels himself much relieved: he has spoken these words and no one has heard them.
But three reeds begin to grow from the hole.
King Marc’h takes the decision to marry his sister to the King of Leon, who is Rivalen. But there must be a big fete with all of the royalty of Bretagne. And how will King Marc’h be the host and yet not be seen? Yeunig counsels him to wear a hood about his head and tell all the world that he has a maladie. The musicians arrive to make the music and as they play their instruments, they have great hunger and thirst. And they go about the palace eating and drinking whatever they find. And that, the food left for the korrigans.
And at this moment here, I demanded of my lord who are the korrigans.
My lord replied to me that they are small creatures, like dwarves, who are very secret and only appear at night. Some are friend to humans and some are foe. The korrigans are of different types: some belonging to the woods or the lakes, some to the houses.
And I commanded my lord to continue.
When the korrigans have come at midnight, to clean the palace, they find there is neither food nor drink for them. And so, they have taken the reeds from the binious and all the bombardes of the musicians. And the next day, when the musicians must give the branle and the other dances, they have realized they have no reeds. And so they search something that can be made into reeds. At this moment here, a small boy says them that he has seen three reeds which grow on the beach. And so he is sent to take them and give them to the musicians. And new reeds are made and given to each musician. And so they make ready to play. But the first note is not music, but this: The King Has the Mane and the Ears of a Horse!
And all the world demands of King Marc’h if this is true and he removes the hood and declares it so. And as all the people know now his secret, the king can no longer reign. And he must disappear from Bretagne.
At this point here, I found that my eyes would not stay open. When I woke myself in the morning, my lord had already gone.
day of Saint Matthieu
When my lord rendered me a visit this night, I demanded of him to tell me the part that rests of the story of King Marc’h.
He replied to me that he has told me the story, the two weeks which have passed.
And this confused me for he had told me he would tell me more of the story of Arthur King of Bretons when he had begun the story of King Marc’h.
And then my lord remembered to himself that he had not finished the story. What he added is the follow:
After leaving his kingdom, King Marc’h has crossed the Channel and is living with his cousin who is Arthur King of Bretons. And Arthur demands of Marzin if the spell placed on the king cannot be broken. And Marzin replies to him that he cannot break the spell, but he can make it less. And he gives King Marc’h a potion that disappears the mane and the ears of the horse so long as he is in Britain. But if the king ever returns to Bretagne, then the mane and the ears must again appear. And so King Marc’h takes the potion and then Arthur gives him the kingdom of Cornwall for to rule.
One day King Marc’h has word that his brother-in-law, Rivalen, has been killed by a duc named Morgan. And also, his sister is dead of grief. But before she had died, she has borne a son. And all the world is ignorant of what has become of this child.
Many years after, a handsome boy appears in Cornwall. He is a strong warrior with all the skills of a chevalier, and he becomes the favorite of King Marc’h. The boy is called only Tristan and knows not his family.
At this time here, a Breton noble is searching an adopted son who was taken of him by pirates. And he is told of Tristan who is arrived in Cornwall. And this noble comes to King Marc’h and explains to him that Tristan is the son of Rivalen, and that the noble had hidden him from duc Morgan while making of him a chevalier.
And because it has been revealed that Tristan is the nephew of the king, the king takes the decision to leave his kingdom to Tristan when he will die.
The jealous nobles demand that the king must marry and have an heir of himself. King Marc’h wants no other heir than Tristan, but he is fatigued by the complaints of the nobles. And in seeing a long golden hair that has been dropped by a bird, he tells the nobles he will do as they demand of him as soon as they will find the owner of the long fair hair. He will marry no other.
And the nobles agree if the king will tell them to whom the hair is belonged and in which country she must live.
And the King replies to them to demand of the bird who has dropped it.
But Tristan knows the owner of the hair. Before he is come to Cornwall, he has killed a monster in Ireland and this monster is the uncle of a girl named Yseult. And the Irlandais will kill him if they will see him, but because of his loyalty to his uncle, he searches for Yseult. For he knows he must not advance in power only because his uncle cannot advance.
But when Tristan has convinced Yseult to return with him to Cornwall, they have drunk a love potion in mistake and ever after they are bound by a passion they can neither comprehend nor rid themselves of. And the encounter of Tristan and Yseult brings much unhappiness to everyone who once has loved them. It brings exile for them both and sends Tristan to the kingdom of Arthur. And, at end, it must bring death to the lovers.
But at this moment here, I demanded of my lord what has happened to King Marc’h?
My lord replied to me that for cause of the betrayal of the two persons he has most loved, he will return to Bretagne and take again the mane and the ears of a horse. He retakes his throne, but he is never the same king as before. He is destined to excess in debauchery as well as excess in charity.
But that, my lord says me, is another story. And it will not be told this night.
four days after Saint Dynys
My lord began the proper story of Arthur King of the Bretons. This I already heard many times, but it is not polite for me to say this, and so I listened. Here is how he told me it:
It is told that the great king lived here, in Broceliande. He was born of King Uther. As his mother was not the queen, King Uther gave his son to a chevalier who trained Arthur in all the arts of war so that when he is grown, he
