Corbenic

And so he remained silent.

At the Grail Castle, neither fighting nor fleeing can heal what is in front of him.

Faced with a wound that asks only for his presence and compassion, he freezes and says nothing.

The next morning, the youth awoke to find the castle silent and deserted.

He called toward the castle, but no one answered.

And this is where we are going to leave the story today.

But before we do, let's talk about the Grail Castle.

We already sense that something otherworldly is happening.

Further into the west, somewhere into Wales.

into a mysterious hidden castle, sometimes called Karbanek, sometimes called the Grail Castle.

And generation after generation, they keep them.

And they keep them because Joseph, before he died, has prophesied that a righteous king will come.

So the actual grail story goes like this.

to pick up from where I left off, because this explains the wasteland and why the wasteland, why we, even though we're still living in the wasteland where we don't despair, right? So, the Hallows are taken.

to the Grail Castle and hidden.

And then the king arrives.

I am Lancelot of the Lake, said he, and I seek the Holy Grail.

This is Carbonek, the castle of the Grail, they replied, which was rebuilt by unseen hands after its terrible fall when Balin the Savage gave its master the dolorous stroke.

You have done nobly, said Lancelot, but now you must return to King Arthur's court, for the open vision is not for you, and you will never see more of the sacred vessel than you have seen already.

Then Lancelot took ship again, and sailed away toward distant Camelot, where he arrived in time a humbler and a wiser man.

My soul will soon be free.

Therefore do not grieve for me, but set my body adrift in the little boat that you will find when the time comes.

Then continue on your way to the castle of Carbonek, where King Pelles awaits you for the healing of his wound.

And indeed within a few days it had all fallen out just as the maiden had foretold, so that one fair morning when Percival's sister was no more, the three knights found themselves nearing land, with the towers and battlements of Carbonek looming out of the mist before them.

through the particular kind of paralysis that comes from trying so hard to do the right thing that you end up doing nothing at all.

The scene is the Grail Castle, the Chateau de Graal, a mysterious palace that appears to Percival as he wanders, guided by what seems like providence, through an emptying landscape.

He is received with extraordinary hospitality.

He is given a sword, and then, as he sits with his enigmatic host, a man who is wounded, who moves with difficulty, who sits in a posture of patient suffering, a procession passes through the hall.

That single, simple, world-changing question.

What ails thee? It seems almost too small.

When Percival, or Parzival, or whatever name the hero carries in a given telling, finally returns to the Grail Castle, finally stands before the Suffering King a second time, finally opens his mouth and asks the question he should have asked years before, the simplicity of it is almost shocking.

There is no incantation, no ritual, no display of martial achievement, no proof of worthiness beyond the act of asking itself.

Therefore do not grieve for me, but set my body adrift in the little boat that you will find when the time comes.

Then continue on your way to the castle of Carbonek, where King Pelles awaits you for the healing of his wound." And indeed within a few days it had all fallen out just as the maiden had foretold, so that one fair morning when Percival's sister was no more, the three knights found themselves nearing land with the towers and battlements of Carbonek looming out of the mist before them.

In their case, however, there were no lions to bar the way, but respectful porters who threw wide the gates at their approach as if they were expected guests.

They were presently ushered into the same great banquet hall where Balin had for the first and last time come face to face with his mortal foe, but there was no feast in progress now.

she obeyed and none too soon for in another moment the whole company of knights had arisen to throw themselves in a body upon the slayer of their kinsmen but at that instant the voice of the king was heard crying aloud let no one touch him but me i alone must avenge my brother's death with that pelles grasped his spear and aimed a blow at balin our hero however managed to catch the blow on his sword which was thus struck from his hand and crashed to the ground Then, finding himself thus defenceless, Balin dashed through the crowd of knights in front of him, and ran from room to room with the old castle, hoping somewhere to come across a weapon, while all the time King Peles followed in swift pursuit.

Now, Balin, hasty, impetuous, well-meaning fellow that he was, had not the slightest idea who this new enemy of his might be, but the truth was that he had come to Carbonek, the castle of the Holy Grail, and that King Peles was the keeper of the sacred chalice.

the grail you must know was the mystic cup from which jesus our saviour drank with his disciples at the last supper and also the vessel in which joseph of arimathea caught the drops of blood when our suffering lord hung upon the cross since that time it had possessed miraculous powers for the blood had remained in it ever after endowing it with a mysterious life of its own the nature of which no mortal man could understand one of these powers was that it could give food and drink to whomsoever it chose so that one thus fed by it knew neither hunger nor thirst for earthly things ever again thus it had happened that joseph who had given jesus burial in his own rock-hewn sepulchre wherein was never man yet laid was afterwards thrown into prison and fed there for many years so that his jailers were mystified afterwards when he was at last released he came to britain bearing the sacred chalice with him and by it he had been kept alive here in carboneck castle awaiting the coming of that best knight in all the world before whose arrival it had been prophesied he should not see death balin had of course heard of joseph and of the holy grail but he had never hoped to see either for the world before the coming of arthur had grown so wicked that these wonderful things once visible to all have been withdrawn from mortal eyes and even the knights who came and went freely about carbonek castle knew nothing about a certain room which could be reached only by a secret passage It chanced, however, that Balin, in his mad flight before the infuriated monarch, touched a hidden spring which caused the door to this mysterious passage to swing back.

Down this corridor he dashed until he found himself upon the threshold of a room, hung with richest tapestries, and lighted by a soft red glow, proceeding he could not have told from where, though it was like the light of neither sun nor moon nor candles.

one day for each year that he had failed in perfect fidelity to the vows of his knighthood.

At the end of that time he awoke one morning, able to answer the questions of the kind people of the castle.

"'I am Lancelot of the Lake,' said he, "'and I seek the Holy Grail.' "'This is Carbonek, the castle of the Grail,' they replied, "'which was rebuilt by unseen hands after its terrible fall "'when Balin the savage gave its master the dolorous stroke.' You have done nobly, Sir Lancelot, but now you must return to King Arthur's court, for the open vision is not for you, and you will never see more of the sacred vessel than you have seen already.

Then Lancelot took ship again, and sailed away toward distant Camelot, where he arrived in time a humbler and a wiser man.

Now, Balin, hasty, impetuous, well-meaning fellow that he was, had not the slightest idea who this new enemy of his might be.

But the truth was that he had come to Carbonek, the castle of the Holy Grail, and that King Pellias was the keeper of the sacred chalice.

The Grail, you must know, was the mystic cup from which Jesus our Savior drank with his disciples at the Last Supper, and also the vessel in which Joseph of Arimathea caught the drops of blood when our suffering Lord hung upon the cross.

Since that time, it had possessed miraculous powers, for the blood had remained in it ever after, endowing it with a mysterious life of its own, the nature of which no mortal man could understand.

One of these powers was that it could give food and drink to whomsoever it chose, so that one thus fed by it knew neither hunger nor thirst for earthly things ever again.

Thus it had happened that Joseph, who had given Jesus burial in his own rock-hewn sepulcher, wherein was never man yet laid, was afterwards thrown into prison and fed there for many years so that his jailers were mystified.

Afterwards, when he was at last released, he came to Britain, bearing the sacred chalice with him, and by it he had been kept alive here in Carbonek Castle, awaiting the coming of that best knight in all the world before whose arrival it had been prophesied he should not see death.

Balin had, of course, heard of Joseph and of the Holy Grail, but he had never hoped to see either, for the world, before the coming of Arthur, had grown so wicked that these wonderful things, once visible to all, had been withdrawn from mortal eyes.