noon
Then they crowned them with flowers , and led them back into the hall , whereas now was much folk gathered , and they set them down on a dais as though they had been kings , or rather gods ; and when they beheld them there so fair and lovely , they cried out for joy of them , and bade them hail oft and oft . There then were they feasted by that kind folk , and when meat was done certain youths and maidens fell to singing songs very sweetly ; and the words of the songs were simple and harmless , and concerning the fairness of the earth and the happy loves of the creatures that dwell therein . Thereafter as the night aged , they were shown to a sleeping chamber , which albeit not richly decked , or plenished with precious things , was most dainty clean , and sweet smelling , and strewn with flowers , so that the night was sweet to them in a chamber of love . They Come to the House of the Sorceress On the morrow the kind people delayed them little , though they sorrowed for their departure , and before noon were their old way-leaders ready for them ; and the old man and his two grandsons -LRB- for such they were -RRB- were much honoured of the simple people for their way-leading of the Heavenly Folk ; for so they called Ralph and Ursula . So they gat them to the way in suchlike guise as before , only they had with them five sumpter oxen instead of two ; for the old man told them that not only was their way longer , but also they must needs pass through a terrible waste , wherein was naught for their avail , neither man , nor beast , nor herb . Even so they found it as he said ; for after the first day 's ride from the town they came to the edge of this same waste , and on the fourth day were deep in the heart of it : a desert it was , rather rocky and stony and sandy than mountainous , though they had hills to cross also : withal there was but little water there , and that foul and stinking . Long lasted this waste , and Ralph thought indeed that it had been hard to cross , had not their way-leaders been ; therefore he made marks and signs by the wayside , and took note of the bearings of rocks and mounds against the day of return .