英文小故事:加拉哈德爵士

Sir Galahad

Sir Galahad was the noblest and purest of the Knights of the Round Table. Because he is entirely free of sin, Galahad succeeded in finding the Holy Grail while many other knight of King Arthur failed.

Galahad was the son of the knight Lancelot and the lady Elaine. He was brought up by a nun until, at age 15, he was introduced to his father, who made him a knight and accompanied him to Arthur’s court. There Galahad went directly to the seat called the Siege Perilous, which was reserved for the knight so pure that he would someday find the Holy Grail. All others who had tried to take the seat had been swallowed up by the earth. At the time the knights there found a great stone with a sword stuck in it. On the sword were these words:“No one shall draw me out of this stone except the Knight at whose side I am to hang. And he must be the best knight in the world.” Many of the knights tried, but none could draw out the sword. But Sir Galahad drew it easily from the stone.

During the search for the Grail, Galahad showed himself to be a superb knight. He succeeded in finding the holy object not because he was strong or skillful in fighting, but because he was pure in heart. After finding the Grail with two other knights, Percival and Bors, Galahad became King of Sarras. He died one year later.

加拉哈德爵士

加拉哈德爵士是圆桌骑士中最纯洁高尚的一个。由于他清白无瑕，最终找到了圣杯。而其他大多数骑士则无功而返。

加拉哈德是朗斯洛与伊莲的儿子，由一个修女抚养大，15岁时时见到朗斯洛，朗斯洛把他训练成骑士，带到亚瑟王的宫廷里。加拉哈德见到圆桌旁的“危座”，径直走过去坐下来。“危座”是留给能找到圣杯的最圣洁骑士的，以前曾有人尝试入座，都被大地吞了下去。此时，骑士们发现一块巨石，巨石中插有一把宝剑，剑上刻有铭文：“此剑属于世上的最佳骑士，只有他才能拔出此剑，佩带身边。”很多人试过，但只有加拉哈德一人不费吹灰之力就拔出了宝剑。

在寻找圣杯的过程中，加拉哈德做的每一件事都使他无愧于最佳骑士的名声。他的成功并非因为他有过人的力量和武艺，而是因为他的圣洁。与另外两位骑士博斯和珀西瓦尔找到圣杯后，加拉哈德当上了萨拉斯的国王，一年后死去。

题外话：到底是中世纪的传奇，更看重圣洁，而不是蛮悍。与现代美国电影中的英雄大不相同