"Well," said Sir Lionel, "that is a very ungracious thing for you to say.
And as for that, I too am a knight of King Arthur's court, but I do not
believe that you will serve me as you have served those three. Instead of
that, I have great hope that I shall serve you in such a fashion that I
shall be able to set these knights free from your hands."

[Sidenote: The sable knight overcomes Sir Lionel] Thereupon, without more
ado, he made him ready with spear and shield, and the black knight,
perceiving his design, also made him ready. Then they rode a little
distance apart so as to have a fair course for a tilt upon the roadway.
Then each set spur to his horse and the two drave together with such
violence that the earth shook beneath them. So they met fair in the middle
of the course, but lo! in that encounter the spear of Sir Lionel broke into
as many as thirty or forty pieces, but the spear of the black knight held,
so that Sir Lionel was lifted clean out from his saddle and over the
crupper of his horse with such violence that when he smote the ground he
rolled three times over ere he ceased to fall. And because of that fierce,
terrible blow he swooned away entirely, and all was black before his eyes,
and he knew nothing.

Therewith the black knight dismounted and tied Sir Lionel's arms behind his
back and he laid him across the saddle of his horse as he had laid those
others across the saddles of their horses; and he tied him there very
securely with strong cords so that Sir Lionel could not move.

And all this while Sir Launcelot slept beneath the apple-tree upon the
hillside, for he was greatly soothed by the melodious humming of the bees
in the blossoms above where he lay.