greenstorm | Hail ( exerpt from The Once and Future King) (Reply)

They were lying under a beech tree in the Forest Sauvage.
"Here we are," said Merlyn. "Get up and dust your clothes.
"And there, I think," continued the magician, in a tone of satisfaction because his spells had worked for once without a hitch, "is your friend, King Pellinore, pricking to ward us o'er the plain."
"Hallo, hallo," cried King Pellinore, popping his visor up and down. "It's the young boy with the feather bed, isn't it, I say, what?"
"Yes, it is," said the Wart. "And I am very glad to see you. Did you manage to catch the beast?"
"No," said King Pellinore. "Didn't catch the beast. Oh, do come here, you brachet, and leave that bush alone. Tcha! Tcha! Naughty, naughty! She runs riot, you know, what. Very keen on rabbits. I tell you there's nothing in it, you beastly dog. Tcha! Tcha! Leave it, leave it! Oh, do come to heel, like I tell you.
"She never does come to heel," he added.
At this the dog put a cock pheasant out of the bush, which rocketed off with a tremendous clatter, and the dog became so excited that it ran round its master three or four times at the end of its rope, panting hoarsely as if it had asthma. King Pellinore's horse stood patiently while the rope was wound round its legs, and Merlyn and the Wart had to catch the brachet and unwind it before the conversation could go on.
"I say," said King Pellinore. "Thank you very much, I must say. Won't you introduce me to your friend, what?"
"This is my tutor Merlyn, a great magician."
"How-de-do," said the King. "Always like to meet magicians. In fact I always like to meet anybody. It passes the time away, what, on a quest."
"Hail," said Merlyn, in his most mysterious manner.
"Hail," replied the King, anxious to make a good impression.
They shook hands.
"Did you say Hail?" inquired the King, looking about him nervously. "I thought it was going to be fine, myself."
"He meant How-do-you-do," explained the Wart.
"Ah, yes, How-de-do?"
They shook hands again.
"Good afternoon," said King Pellinore. "What do you think the weather looks like now?"
"I think it looks like an anti-cyclone."
"Ah, yes," said the King. "An anti-cyclone. Well, I suppose I ought to be getting along."
At this the King trembled very much, opened and shut his visor several times, coughed, wove his reins into a knot, exclaimed, "I beg your pardon?" and showed signs of cantering away.
"He is a white magician," said the Wart. "You need not be afraid of him. He is my best friend, your majesty, and in any case he generally gets his spells muddled up."
"Ah, yes," said King Pellinore. "A white magician, what? How small the world is, is it not? How-de-do?"
"Hail," said Merlyn.
"Hail," said King Pellinore.