THE BRAVE KNIGHT


When Christ was on earth, He had a little band of disciples who loved
him very much. The night before He went away from them, He took them to
a little upstairs room and there had a supper with them. And it was said
that at that supper, He used a beautiful golden cup in which He passed
the wine to them, and when He went away from earth, the disciples loved
everything He had touched, and they seemed to love most of all this
golden cup. They called it the Holy Grail, and it was given to a very
good man, who cared for it carefully, and for years it passed from one
good man to another, for it was said that if it ever fell into the hands
of a man who was not good and Christ-loving the cup would be lost.

So for many years it was carefully kept, and people took long journeys
to see the Holy Grail, which the Master himself used when He was on
earth. But one day the cup passed into the hands of one who was not
worthy, and, as it had been said, it was lost.

They searched for it far and near, but it could not be found. Finally
there came some men who called themselves knights. They were brave,
strong men, who did many wonderful things for the king, and many of them
said: "We will spend our lives hunting for the Holy Grail. We will take
long pilgrimages until we find it." And so the knights searched over
land and sea, over mountain and plain, hunting for the Holy Grail, but
still they found it not. Then there came a knight whose name was Sir
Launfal. He was very young--so young that he had never made a journey,
nor worn an armor, nor had he ever done a wonderful deed. But he was
brave, and said in his heart: "I will find the Holy Grail." So he went