The Round Table Knights 圆桌骑士

The Round Table Knights were a group of greatest knights who had the honour to sit at the Round Table at King Arthur’s court. According to a story, Arthur had a carpenter build the Round Table to show that no knight, not even Arthur himself was "head of the table". All were equal and the king was just "first among equals". The table was so large that it had enough seats for 1600 men and yet could be folded up and carried on horseback. According to another source.. Merlin the magician had the table built for Uther, Arthur’s father. Uther gave the table to King Leodegan. Later, Leodegan gave the table to Arthur after Arthur married Guenevere, Leodegan’s daughter. Still another story says that the Round Table had 12 seats around it, like the table at the Last Supper, with an empty place representing Judas’s seat. This seat was called the Siege Perilous, and was reserved for the knight so pure in heart that he would someday find the Holy Grail, the cup or dish used by Jesus at the Last Supper. Any other knight who sat in the seat would die. One day, Sir Galahad’s name appeared on the seat. From then on, he occupied the Siege Perilous（危险席） . Later, as expected, he found the Holy Grail with the other two knights.

Knights considered it a great honour to have a seat at the Round Table. Brave men came to Arthur’s court from many countries hoping to become a Round Table Knight. Many stories describe the heroic deeds of various Knights of the Round Table. Several tell of the adventures of Sir Tristram and Sir Gawin. Other famous Round Table Knights included Lancelot, Bedevere, Bors, Galahad, Perceval and Modred..

The greatest adventure of the Round Table was the search for the Holy Grail. However, only the three knights---Bors, Galahad and Perceval were pure enough to be able to find the Grail. All the others had various moral defects. This fact damaged the reputation of the Round Table. To make things worse, a love affair developed between Queen Guenevere and Sir Lancelot, who was perhaps the greatest of the Round Table knights. This scandal（丑闻，诽谤） destroyed the bonds of respect and friendship that had united all the knights.

The mortal blow to the Round Table was given by Sir Modred, who tried to seize Arthur’s power. In a battle between the forces of the two men, Arthur killed Modred but he mimself was seriously wounded and soon died. The Round Table broke up following the death of Arthur.

圆桌骑士是亚瑟王宫廷里有权在圆桌旁就座的骑士。据传，亚瑟之所以让人造一圆桌，是因为圆桌无首席，所有骑士平起平坐，即使亚瑟本人也只是“众平等骑士之首”而已。这张桌子可坐1600人，但又可以折叠起来，一匹马就能驮走。据另一说，圆桌是墨林为尤瑟造的，尤瑟将它赠给了利奥德根王，而当亚瑟娶利奥德根王的女儿圭内维尔时，利奥德根又将它赠给亚瑟。也有人说圆桌周围有12个座位，与耶稣和他的门徒共进最后的晚餐时用的桌子相仿。其中有一个空位，代表犹大。这个座位被称为“危座”，留给能够找到圣杯的最圣洁的骑士。圣杯是耶稣在最后的晚餐上用过的杯子。不够圣洁的骑士若胆敢就座，就会马上死去。有一天，加拉哈爵士的名字出现在“危座”上，此后，这个座位就归他了。他后来果真与另外两位骑士找到了圣杯。
骑士们将能在圆桌旁就座视为最大的荣誉。各路豪杰纷纷前来，希望在圆桌旁得到位置。很多故事讲各圆桌骑士的英雄业绩。特利斯特拉姆和高文爵士的故事脍炙人口。其他著名的圆桌骑士还有朗斯洛、拜德维尔、博斯、加位哈德、珀西瓦尔、莫德雷德等人。

圆桌骑士们最伟大的历险是寻找圣杯。但其中只有博斯、加拉哈德和珀西瓦尔三人足够圣洁，有资格找到圣杯。所有其他骑士都有各种各样的道德缺陷，败坏了圆桌骑士们的名声。使事情更糟的是，圆桌骑士中最骁勇善战的朗斯洛爵士与亚瑟的妻子圭内维尔私通，违反了骑士道，破坏了骑士们的团结。

最后，莫德雷德爵士试图篡位，给圆桌骑士这一集体以致命的一击。亚瑟王率军与莫德雷德作战，在战斗中杀死莫德雷德，但自己也受了致命伤，不久死去。亚瑟死后，圆桌骑士各奔东西。