Then a lady appears and gives him a black horse in return for his service. The horse runs four days' journey in an hour and is about to plunge into the sea when Percival crosses himself in fright and breaks the horse's demonic power. It shakes him off and goes flaming and howling into the water. Now Percival sees a serpent fighting a lion. He takes the lion's part, because it is a nobler beast, and kills the serpent. In a dream, the lady who owns the lion praises him and the lady of the serpent demands that, in payment for her pet, he become her man. He refuses.
A holy man comes to him on a white ship and explains the allegory: the lady of the lion is the New Law — faith, hope, belief, and baptism; the lady of the serpent is the Old Law, served by fiends (the black horse and serpent), and her request that he be her man was a temptation.
The holy man departs, arid now a black ship comes. A beautiful maiden tells Percival lies, gets him drunk, and lies naked with him in a splendid pavilion. Percival crosses himself; pavilion and lady vanish. The holy man returns, explains that the lady was the Devil himself, and that henceforth he must be more careful. The holy man vanishes and Percival boards his ship and leaves the place.
