Chapter XLV.
HOW YWAIN FOUND AGAIN HIM WHICH WAS FORGOTTEN IN ALADORE, AND HOW HE HEARD A RING OF BELLS AT MIDNIGHT.

THEREAFTER came Ywain many times into the castle of Kerioc, and Aithne with him. For she loved greatly to have him there, notwithstanding that she had good game at him when he went thither the first time: and in especial she would have him there in winter at the time of Yule. For that castle stands by the very margent of the sea upon a high rock; and it is in fashion like to an island, for on the one side it is set high above the land and on the other side it goes down steeply toward the shore. And the wind of winter goes over it from the land seaward: and on the shore is warm lying among the sand-hills which are beneath the castle. And above the sand-hills is a postern gate and steps of stone: and thereby came Ywain and Aithne many times unto the shore at midnight, that they might see the stars and hear the crying of the birds. For the sea-birds cry about that place with a sweet cry and a sad, and in the darkness they draw near and are not seen, as it were the souls of the beloved.

So after this wise Ywain and Aithne came and went, and they took of all seasons such days as they would, and lived carelessly: for they were as those which have more than they can spend. And after certain times it was so with Ywain that he remembered no longer the days when he knew not Kerioc; for his life was changed and deepened as a river is deepened when twain flow together in one. And he desired no more, save that he might always so continue: for he forgot that the road of his pilgrimage was not yet passed beyond the gateway of death, yet at the last he remembered it perforce.

For upon a day he wandered alone in the castle of Kerioc, and by chance he came into a crypt that was thereunder; and in the crypt he spied a door, which was well locked and made fast so that he could not open it. Then he came to Aithne and said: What is this door, whereof you gave me not the key? For all other keys she had given him save this one only. And she denied not, but answered him plainly, and she counselled him that he should forbear that door. But when she saw that he would not forbear then she gave him the key, and she said to him: Go now and take your way, for it is a man’s way, and it may be that your heart shall be stronger than your head to serve you. And if not, then must I endure it, for I knew long since how this should be. And Ywain perceived how she spoke to him; and she spoke with love and mirth, and in the mirth was a little sorrow: but he put by the sorrow and took hold on the mirth, and so kissed her and went his way. And he came to the door and opened it, and within were bare chambers of rock, in manner of dungeons. And in one chamber he perceived a dim light, and when he was come there he saw a lamp of bronze hanging, and beneath it an old man on a chair of black stone; and his beard was long and white, and it fell over his knees as a stream falls over a mountain-side. And when he saw him Ywain trembled, for his heart misgave him who the old man should be.

Then Ywain said to him: Sir, forgive me, for I came hither unknowing. And the old man answered him: My son, this long time that you have been in Aladore, you do all things unknowing. And Ywain said thereto: Yet my life I know, and my own gladness: for this a man cannot but know, and it suffices me. Then the old man looked hard upon Ywain, and his eyes were like grey stones, and the weight of them sank into Ywain’s eyes and lay heavy upon his heart. And he said to Ywain: You speak also unknowing, for in Aladore is no substance of truth, but all is dream. And this for you is Kerioc, and the seventh winter that you are herein: but I tell you that all is dream. For since you forgot Paladore it is not yet seven days: and as for Kerioc it is there where it was aforetime, beside the forest of Broceliande.

Then Ywain hardened his heart, and he said to the old man: Sir, I have heard your saying and I understand it not: for I am here, and in my right mind, and therein is the substance of truth for every man. And the old man said: Not so, but you shall awake and know your dream. And I will give you a token: and the token shall be when you shall hear the bells of Paladore ringing midnight in your ears.

Then was Ywain angered against the old man, for he feared his saying: and he left him suddenly and went out, and locked the door fiercely upon him. And he came to Aithne and said no word: and she perceived how he was lost in trouble. Then she spoke gently to him: Tell me your thought, for I perceive that you have found again him that was forgotten. Then Ywain told her of the old man and of his great beard, and of his eyes, and of his evil saying: and he told her with many words, for he was angry and afraid. And she also was afraid, for she had seen that old man aforetime, and found no force against him. But now she took her lute and made a song of him: and when he heard the song then was Ywain brought again into his former mind, as for that time, but Aithne doubted within herself.

Then within a while the day drew in and the sun set on Kerioc and on all the lands of Aladore. And Ywain and Aithne laid them to their rest: and Aithne slept deep and stirred not, but Ywain awoke suddenly. And he found darkness on all things and no light at all, for moon there was none, and the stars were hid in mist. And for a while he lay still and moved not, but his mind moved continually, and it led him hither and thither until he was perplexed and weary. And in an evil moment he thought on that old man which he had seen: and instantly he heard a sound of bells, and he knew that they were the bells of Paladore, for they were sounding midnight. Then he started up in fear and went softly out of the chamber, for he said within himself that he would walk upon the shore and come again, and so ease him of his thought.

So he came to the postern and opened it, and went down upon the sand-hills, and he wandered to and fro thereon without respect of mind or body: and at the last he was fordone with weariness, and set him down to rest, and right so he fell to forgetfulness and sleep. And when he awoke the second time it was grey dawn, and the mist was still upon the sea: and he turned him about and looked up that he might see the castle of Kerioc. And he saw neither shape nor sign of it, nor any way of his returning: but he saw instead a high steep, grey and green, and walls and towers thereon. Then the mist began to depart from before his eyes, and he knew the place as a man knows again the face which he had forgotten. And his heart failed within him, and the sun rose on Paladore.