The Werewolf (1)

Once upon a time in the days of King Arthur--for later there are some
lines in Malory's "Morte d'Arthur" which tells us that this story
must have been true--there lived a man who for part of the week was a
wolf--that is, he had the form and the appetite of a wolf, and was
called a werewolf. But nobody knew that he was a werewolf for three
days in the week. Not even his wife, whom he loved well and devotedly,
knew what happened to her husband while he was away from her these
three days every week.

It vexed the wife very much that she did not know, but she was afraid
to question her husband, lest he be angry. At last one day she did
question him.

"Ask me no more," replied the husband, "for if I answered you you would
cease to love me."

Nevertheless she gave him no peace until he had told her that three
days in the week, because of a spell which was over him, he was forced
to be a werewolf, and that when he felt the change coming over him he
hid himself in the very thickest part of the forest.

Then the wife demanded to know what became of his clothes, and he
answered that he laid them aside. The wife asked where he put them. He
begged her not to ask him, for only the garments made it possible for
him to return to human shape again. But the wife cried and begged until
the knight, her husband, had told her all.

"Wife," he said, "inside the forest on a crossroad is a chapel. Near
the chapel under a shrub is a stone. Beneath the stone is a hole,
and in that hole do I hide my clothes until the enchantment makes it
possible for me to take my human shape again."

Now the wife was not a good wife. Instead of trying to help her husband
to get free from the wolf shape he had to assume three days in every
week, thereafter she loathed him and was afraid of him. And what is
worse still, she betrayed him to another knight. She took this other
knight into her confidence and told him where her husband hid his
clothes when the spell came upon him and he took the form of a wolf.
Thereupon the knight to whom she had told this dreadful secret stole
the clothes, and they hid them where the poor wolf could never find
them again. After that these two wicked people were married, while the
poor wolf wandered about in the forest, grieving, for he had loved his
wife well and truly.

Some time after this the King was hunting one day in the forest, and
his hounds gave chase to a wolf. At last, when the wretched beast was
in danger of being overtaken by the hounds and torn into a thousand
pieces, he fled to the King, seized him by the stirrup, and licked his
foot submissively.

The King was astonished. He called his companions, and they drove off
the dogs, for the King would not have the wolf harmed. But when they
started to leave the forest the wolf followed the King and would not be
driven away. The King was much pleased, for he had taken a great liking
to the wolf. He therefore made a pet of the lonely beast, and at night
he slept in the King's own chamber. All the courtiers came to love the
wolf, too, for he was a gentle wolf and did no one any harm.

A long time had passed when one day the King had occasion to hold a
court. His barons came from far and near, and among them the knight
who had betrayed the werewolf. No sooner did the wolf see him than he
sprang at him to kill him. And had the King not called the wolf off he
would have torn the false knight to pieces. Every one was astonished
that this gentle beast should show such rage. But after the court was
over and as time went on they forgot the beast's savage act.

At length the King decided to make a tour throughout his kingdom. And
he took the wolf with him, for that was his custom. Now the werewolf's
false wife heard that the King was to spend some time in the part of
the country where she lived. So she begged for an audience. But no
sooner did she enter the presence-chamber than the wolf sprang at her
and bit off her nose.

The courtiers were going to slay the beast, but a wise man stayed their
weapons.

"Sire," said the councilor, "we have all caressed this wolf and he has
never done us any harm. This lady was the wife of a man you held dear,
but of whose fate we none of us know anything. Take my counsel and make
this lady answer your questions, so shall we come to know why the wolf
sprang at her."

This was done. The false knight who had married her was brought also,
and they told all the wickedness they had done to the poor wolf. Then
the King caused the wolf's stolen clothes to be fetched. But the wolf
acted as if he did not see the clothes.

"Sire," said the councilor, "if this beast is a werewolf he will not
change back into his human shape until he is alone."

They left him alone in the King's chamber, and put the clothes beside
him. Then they waited for a long time. Lo, when they entered the
chamber again, there lay the long-lost knight in a deep sleep on the
King's bed! Quickly did the King run to him and embrace him, and
after that he restored to him all his lost lands, and he banished
the false wife and her second husband from the country. And they who
were banished lived in a strange land, and all the girls among their
children and grandchildren were without noses.