 Beth Gellert
Print Llewelyn had a favourite greyhound
named Gellert that had been
given to him by his father-in-law, King John. He was as
gentle as a
lamb at home but a lion in the chase. One day Llewelyn
went to the
chase and blew his horn in front of his castle. All his
other dogs
came to the call but Gellert never answered it. So he blew
a louder
blast on his horn and called Gellert by name, but still
the
greyhound did not come. At last Prince Llewelyn could wait
no longer
and went off to the hunt without Gellert. He had little
sport that
day because Gellert was not there, the swiftest and boldest
of his
hounds.
He turned back in a rage to his castle, and as he came
to the gate,
who should he see but Gellert come bounding out to meet
him. But
when the hound came near him, the Prince was startled to
see that
his lips and fangs were dripping with blood. Llewelyn started
back
and the greyhound crouched down at his feet as if surprised
or
afraid at the way his master greeted him.
Now Prince Llewelyn had a little son a year old with whom
Gellert
used to play, and a terrible thought crossed the Prince's
mind that
made him rush towards the child's nursery. And the nearer
he came
the more blood and disorder he found about the rooms. He
rushed into
it and found the child's cradle overturned and daubed with
blood.
Prince Llewelyn grew more and more terrified, and sought
for his
little son everywhere. He could find him nowhere but only
signs of
some terrible conflict in which much blood had been shed.
At last he
felt sure the dog had destroyed his child, and shouting
to Gellert,
"Monster, thou hast devoured my child," he drew
out his sword and
plunged it in the greyhound's side, who fell with a deep
yell and
still gazing in his master's eyes.
As Gellert raised his dying yell, a little child's cry
answered it
from beneath the cradle, and there Llewelyn found his child
unharmed
and just awakened from sleep. But just beside him lay the
body of a
great gaunt wolf all torn to pieces and covered with blood.
Too
late, Llewelyn learned what had happened while he was away.
Gellert
had stayed behind to guard the child and had fought and
slain the
wolf that had tried to destroy Llewelyn's heir.
In vain was all Llewelyn's grief; he could not bring his
faithful
dog to life again. So he buried him outside the castle
walls within
sight of the great mountain of Snowdon, where every passer-by
might
see his grave, and raised over it a great cairn of stones.
And to
this day the place is called Beth Gellert, or the Grave
of Gellert. |
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