Stories of Charlemagne and the Twelve Peers of France by Alfred John Church

The next day, Ralph, having thought much on what he had undertaken, / loaded his mare, as he was wont to do, with two panniers full of / coals, and made ready to start on his journey to the court. "This is / not of my counsel," said Gillian his wife; "this journey will not be / to your profit. Remember the shrewd blow that you dealt him. Keep / from the Court, say I. " "Nay, Gill," said the Charcoal-burner, "I / must have my way. I promised that I would go, and go I will, whether / my going be for profit or for harm. " So he loaded the panniers and / went his way to the Court.

Meanwhile King Charles had not forgotten the matter. He called / Roland to him, for, indeed, there was no man whom he trusted more, / and said to him, "To-morrow morning take your horse and your harness, / and watch well the road by which we went on the day that I was lost, / and if you see anyone coming this way, whatever his errand may be, / bring him with you to this place, and take care that he sees no one / before he sees me."

Roland wondered much what the King might mean, for it seemed a / strange thing that on the very day of Yuletide, when a man should / rest, he should be sent on such an errand. Nevertheless he took his / horse and his harness and rode forth early in the morning, and / watched the roads as he had been commanded. For a long time he saw / nothing either far or near; but a little past midday he saw the / Charcoal-burner come driving his mare before him with two panniers / filled with coals. The sight pleased him well; so he rode up to him / with all the speed that he could. The man saluted him courteously, / and Roland, in his turn, also saluted him. Their greetings ended, he / said to the man, "Come now to the King; let nothing hinder you. " / "Nay," said Ralph, "I am not so foolish. This is a jest, Sir Knight, / and it is ill courtesy for a knight to jest with a common man. There / be many men better than I that come and go to Paris, and the King has / no thought of them, whether it be morning or night. If you are in / mind to trick me, I can hold my own, for all that I am ill-clad. " / "This is but foolishness," said Roland, "the King has straightly / commanded that you should be brought to him. " "Nay," answered Ralph, / "I am on my way, according to promise made to one Wymond, and to him / I will go and to none other. " "Have done with your Wymond," cried / Roland, "I must take you to the King as the King has commanded."

So they wrangled a long time, and still the churl was firmly set that / he would go to Wymond and to none other. "And where dwells this / Wymond of yours? " said Roland. "He dwells with the Queen at Paris, / if his tale be true. " "If that be so," answered Roland, "seeing that / I know well the Queen and her ladies, and you are on your way to / them, I will trust to your going. Only you must give me a pledge / that this is truly your purpose. " "Nay," said the Charcoal-burner, / "I will pledge you no pledge. And as for you, get you out of my way, / or it will be the worse for you."

Roland said to himself, "Now this is but folly to continue any longer / with this fellow. " And he took his leave of the man full pleasantly. / But Ralph liked not such ways; for he thought that this knight that / was so gaily clad had him in scorn. "Come hither, Sir Knight, / to-morrow when we can be alone together, you and I; surely you shall / see how I will deal with you."

Then Roland rode back to the King. By this time Mass was ended, and / the King had put on his robes. "You are well come, Sir Roland," said / he, "have you done my errand? " "Sire," answered Sir Roland, "I went / as you gave me commandment, and watched the ways, but saw no man, but / one only. " "And who was this one? " asked the King. "He," said / Roland, "was but a churl that had with him two panniers of coal. " / "Why did you not bring this said churl to me, as I bid you? It may / be you durst not."

Roland saw that the King was wroth, and was not a little glad to go / forth from his presence. Going forth he met a porter, "Whither go / you, lazy loon? " said he. Said the porter, "There is one at the / gate, a churl that has a mare and two panniers of coals, and he / clamours to be let in at the gate. " "Whom does he want? " said / Roland. The porter answered, "He asks for one Wymond. " Then Roland / said, "Go back to your place, porter, and open the gate and bid him / enter. But say that it does not lie within your office to go to this / Wymond, but that he must himself seek him."

So the porter went back to the gate and opened it, saying to the / Charcoal-burner, "Enter, man; but I have no leisure to seek for this / Wymond for whom you ask. You must seek him yourself. " Said Ralph, / "If you will not seek the man, I must needs do it myself; see you / then that no harm come to the mare and the coals, and I will look for / Wymond, for certainly it was he that bade me come hither."

So the Charcoal-burner went his way through the palace asking for / Wymond. There was not one that knew the man, or had so much as heard / the name. They seemed to Ralph to lack courtesy; nevertheless he / would not cease from his quest, nor was there any one of whom he / failed to inquire. After he had passed through many chambers he came / to one that was more splendid than all that he had seen before. It / was a great hall finely painted and hung about with tapestries, and / there the King sate at dinner in great state. On the table were many / dainties, and there was a store of dishes, both silver and gold, and / many other adornments. "Here is royalty enough," cried Ralph. "If I / could only have speech with Wymond, I would away, for this methinks / is no place for a simple man. " And still he went on. Many sought to / put him back, for he seemed to press on in an unmannerly fashion; but / he was a stalwart man that gave as much as he took.