Silver Bowl and Marble Slab of the Fountain Pool

The Silver Bowl and Marble Slab of the Fountain Pool are the instruments that set the Fountain challenge in motion. Fastened beside a fountain beneath a remarkable green tree, the bowl is attached to the marble slab by a silver chain so that it cannot be carried away. Pouring its water onto the slab summons thunder and a hailstorm, after which the tree stands bare and birds alight on it; the birds’ song precedes the arrival of the Black Oppressor. The objects therefore mark the precise point at which a traveler’s approach becomes an ordeal, though the narrative does not explain how the bowl and slab produce the events that follow.

Placement and Operation

The black man describes the arrangement to Kynon as part of his directions through the wooded landscape. At the summit, in an open space like a large valley, stands the tree; beneath it lies the fountain, with the slab beside the water and the chained bowl resting on the stone. The silver chain has a practical consequence within the scene: the bowl is available for use but cannot simply be taken away. Its defining action is not removal but the measured act of drawing water and throwing a bowlful onto the slab.

The black man’s account gives the action a sequence and a warning. Water on stone is followed first by a mighty peal of thunder and then a hailstorm severe enough, he says, to threaten any person or animal exposed to it. The weather clears, but every leaf is stripped from the tree. Birds then settle among its branches and sing; at the height of that pleasing interlude, the approaching knight is heard and seen. The bowl and slab thus initiate a chain in which destructive weather and unexpected beauty precede combat. The objects do not themselves explain the challenge or promise a victory; they make its stages repeatable.

Kynon’s First Use

Kynon finds the scene as described and casts a bowlful of water onto the slab. The thunder proves more violent than he expected, and he protects himself and his horse by turning the horse’s flank toward the hail and holding his shield over them. Afterward he sees the bare tree and hears the birds, whose melody he later tells Kai he has never heard equaled. The ordered marvels therefore arrive not as distant description but as events Kynon must endure and witness at close quarters.

The birds’ song is interrupted by a voice that reproaches Kynon for bringing the destructive shower upon the knight’s domain. The Black Oppressor then charges, defeats him, and rides away with Kynon’s horse and the knight’s own mount. Kynon returns ashamed, but the people at the castle where he stays do not mention his failed expedition, and he does not disclose it to them. The bowl’s use has therefore brought him to the encounter without granting him mastery over its outcome: the object opens the way to the challenge, while the knight determines the immediate result.

Repetition and Changed Outcomes

Owain later repeats the same action at the same fountain. He finds the bowl on the slab, throws water onto it, and experiences the thunder, shower, clearing sky, leafless tree, and birds in the sequence Kynon described. The storm is again more violent than the prior account led him to expect. This recurrence confirms that the objects belong to a stable pattern, while the new participant makes the pattern a fresh test rather than a singular wonder.

When the Black Oppressor arrives, Owain meets him in combat and wounds him, then pursues him to the castle. The episode shifts from Kynon’s defeat to Owain’s initial advantage, but the fountain’s challenge continues beyond the bowl’s immediate use: the knight reaches the gate, which closes against Owain and leaves him trapped between its barriers. The paired objects do not determine that reversal, but they have set in motion the encounter that carries Owain from the open valley to the castle’s dangerous threshold.

Kai’s Attempt and the Objects’ Narrative Role

When Arthur’s company reaches the fountain, Kai asks permission to pour the water himself and take the first adventure that follows. Arthur agrees. Kai’s request makes explicit that the repeated action is understood as a challenge which a member of the company may volunteer to face. Once he casts the water, the familiar sequence returns: thunder, a deadly shower, the leafless tree, birdsong, and the arrival of the Black Oppressor. Many of Arthur’s attendants are killed by the storm before Kai meets the knight, making the act’s consequences extend beyond the person who pours.

Kai is overthrown, and on the next day the Black Oppressor defeats him again. Arthur’s household then goes out to fight the knight one after another; only Arthur and Gwalchmai remain untried before Gwalchmai asks to take his turn. Through these repeated approaches, the bowl and slab become a narrative hinge between wonder and action. Their fixed placement and simple use make the sequence recognizable, while the changing fortunes of Kynon, Owain, and Kai show that repeating the challenge does not produce a uniform result. The story leaves the objects’ nature unexplained but gives their operation unmistakable force: a bowlful of water is enough to summon a peril that tests every arriving knight and, in Arthur’s case, threatens the company around him.