MARK TWAIN
  (Samuel L. Clemens)
 
  PREFACE

    THE
        ungentle laws and customs
             touched upon in this tale
            are historical,
           and the episodes
              which are
                used to illustrate them
                    are also historical.

    It is not pretended
         that these laws and customs
            existed in England
                   in the sixth century;
        no,
           it is only pretended that
             inasmuch as
                 they existed
                       in the English
                           and other
                             civilizations
                                of far later times,
         it is safe to consider
             that it
                is no libel
                       upon the sixth century
                      to suppose them
                  to have been
                       in practice in
             that day also.

    One is quite
          justified in inferring
         that whatever
               one of these laws
              or customs
            was lacking in
         that remote time,
           its place
            was competently
                  filled by a worse one.

    The question as to
         whether there is
               such a thing
             as divine
               right of kings
            is not
                  settled in this book.

    It was found too difficult.

    That the executive head
           of a nation
        should be a person
               of lofty character
             and extraordinary ability,
           was manifest and indisputable;
        that none
             but the Deity could select
                 that head unerringly,
            was also manifest and indisputable;
        that the Deity
            ought to make
             that selection,
           then,
         was likewise manifest and indisputable;
        consequently,
           that He does make it,
         as claimed,
           was an unavoidable deduction.

    I mean,
           until the author
               of this book
             encountered the Pompadour,
         and Lady Castlemaine,
           and some
               other executive heads of
             that kind;
        these were
              found so difficult
                  to work into the scheme,
           that it was judged
             better to take the
                   other tack
                 in this book
      (which must be issued
              this fall),
            and then
              go into training
                  and settle the question
                       in another book.

    It is,
           of course,
         a thing
              which ought to be settled,
           and I am not going
              to have anything particular
            to do next winter anyway.

                                         MARK TWAIN.
 
  A WORD OF EXPLANATION

    IT
        was in Warwick Castle
             that I
                came across
                       the curious stranger whom
             I am
                  going to talk about.

    He attracted me
           by three things:
        his candid simplicity,
           his marvelous familiarity
               with ancient armor,
         and the restfulness
               of his company
          -- for
             he did all the talking.

    We fell together,
           as modest people will,
         in the tail
               of the herd
             that was being shown through,
           and he at once
            began to say things
              which interested me.

    As he talked along,
           softly,
         pleasantly,
           flowingly,
         he seemed
              to drift
                  away imperceptibly
                       out of this world
                           and time,
           and into some remote era
               and old
              forgotten country;
        and so
             he gradually
                wove such a spell
                       about me
             that I
                seemed to move
                       among the specters
                           and shadows
                         and dust and
                      mold of a gray antiquity,
           holding speech
               with a relic of it!

    Exactly as
         I would speak
               of my nearest personal friends
              or enemies,
           or my most familiar neighbors,
         he spoke of Sir Bedivere,
           Sir Bors de Ganis,
         Sir Launcelot of the Lake,
           Sir Galahad,
         and all the
               other great names
                   of the Table Round
          -- and how old,
           old,
         unspeakably old and
              faded and dry
                   and musty and ancient
             he came to look as
               he went on!

    Presently he turned
           to me and said,
         just as one
            might speak of the weather,
         or any other common matter
          --

    "You know
           about transmigration of souls;
        do you
              know about transposition of epochs
          -- and bodies?"