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CHAPTER 9 King Arthur Dies

One day, King Arthur and Sir Gawain, One of his best knights, went to France. Sir lancelot was in France at the time, and King Arthur was angry with him. He wanted to fight him there.

When Arthur was away, the evil knight Sir Mordred came to Camelot. He wanted to take Queen Guinevere away.

‘King Arthur is dead! ’ he told the Queen. ‘He died in France in a fight. I am now king, and you will be my queen.’ ‘I will die first! ’ cried the Queen.

Guinevere ran away to a castle in London, and her knights went with her. Mordred came to London with his men. But the walls of the castle were very strong, and he could not get inside.

Then one of Mordred’s men came to him and said, ‘King Arthur is coming back to England with his men and a lot of ships.’ Mordred went to Dover with his men and waited for King Arthur. There was a great fight, but Sir Mordred’s men could not win.They ran away.

But one of Sir Mordred’s men wounded Sir Gawain, and King Arthur found the brave knight on the ground.

‘I am dying. Give me a pen and paper. I want to write to Sir Lancelot.’

He wrote:

To Lancelot,

I know that I am dying. You are my brother and I lone yon. Please come and help King Arthur in his fight with evil Sir Mordred. No knight is braver than yon.

Goodbye, my friend!

Gawain

And then he died. King Arthur was very sad because he loved Gawain very much. He sat on the ground next to the dead knight and cried all night.

Sir Mordred found more men and they waited for Arthur at a place near a lake. King Arthur knew the place - Excalibur came from the same lake.

On the night before the fight, Arthur saw Sir Gawain in his sleep. Gawain spoke to him.

‘Do not fight Mordred now. In one month Lancelot wi come with his men. He will help you and then the Queen can go back to Camelot; The king called his knights and told them about Sir Gawain. ‘We will not fight today. I will go and speak with Mordred.

Come with me and bring your swords. But leave them in their scabbards. Take them out only when Mordred or his knights take out theirs. Then kill them!’

King Arthur sent a man to Mordred. The man told him about Arthurs plan. There was no fight that day. Then Arthur met Mordred. The two men stood and talked. The King’s knights stood near the King, and Mordred’s knights stood near Mordred. Suddenly something jumped on the foot of one of Mordred’s Knights. He pulled out his sword and killed the animal.  The other knights saw his sword and took out their swords.

‘This is an unhappy day!’ cried King Arthur and they began to fight.

They fought all day. When evening came, King Arthur saw only two of his knights, Sir Lucan and Sir Bedivere. His other knights were dead. Arthur cried when he saw his brave knights on the ground.

Mordred stood with his sword and looked at his dead men on the ground. Then Arthur ran to Mordred and killed him.

Mordred fell, but he wounded King Arthur with his sword.

Sir Lucan and Sir Bedivere took the King to a little church near the lake. But after they arrived. Sir Lucan also died of his wounds.

The sky was dark and it was a cold night. Arthur felt very weak.

‘I am also going to die now. It is time. Please take my sword, Excalibur. Go to the lake and throw it into the water,’ he told Sir Bedivere.

Sir Bedivere took the sword and walked to the lake. Then he looked at the beautiful sword.

‘Why do I have to throw this beautiful sword into the lake? That will not help King Arthur,’ he thought.

So he put Excalibur under a big stone, and went back to the King. He said,’I did it. I threw your sword into the lake.’ ‘What did you see there?’ the King asked. He was very cold and his wounds hurt him.

‘I saw the water, the sky and the stones. That is all.’

‘Then you did not do the right thing. You did not throw the sword into the lake,’ King Arthur said. ‘Go again, and throw Excalibur into the water. Then come to me again.’

Sir Bedivere went again to the lake and took the sword from under the stone. He looked again at the beautiful sword and thought,’I cannot throw this sword into the water. I want to have it. Then I will always remember King Arthur.’

So again he put the sword under a stone and again he went back to King Arthur.

‘I saw the water, the sky and the stones. Then the sword fell into the lake,’ he said.

‘Go again,’ the King said very sadly. ‘Go quickly, because I am dying.’

‘Oh my King! I am very sorry,’ said Bedivere. ‘I will do it now.’

He went back to the lake very quickly and got Excalibur. This time he threw it hard over the water. An arm came up out of the water and caught the sword. Then the arm took it down into the lake.

Sir Bedivere went back and told the King about the arm.

‘Now,’ said King Arthur,’ take me to the lake quickly.’

Sir Bedivere carried the King to the lake. There was a long black boat on the water and some ladies in black dresses were in the boat. The Lady of the Lake and Queen Morgan le Fay were two of the ladies.

He looked at their faces and thought, ‘I know these faces. I knew these ladies when they lived. Now they are dead, but I remember them.’ ‘Please put me on the boat now,’ said King Arthur. So Sir Bedivere put him on the boat and the ladies stood round him.

‘I am leaving you now, and I want you to tell the story of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. I will come again one day when my country asks for me,’ called King Arthur to Sir Bedivere from the boat.

Those were the King’s last words. The boat went out across the water. Sir Bedivere stood and cried.

And that is the end of the story of King Arthur and his brave Knights of the Round Table.