On Christmas Day, the lords of Britain, their ladies, and many ordinary people, met together in the greatest of all the churches in old London. There, all day long, they prayed. They asked God for a miracle. They asked God to show them who the new King of Britain would be.
In the evening, when the prayers were finished, the people looked up and saw something strange. Near the high altar stood a great stone. It had not been there before. It was of bright white marble. Set hard in the centre was a large heavy anvil of grey steel. Stuck in the anvil, point down, was a sharp sword.
The people were surprised and excited when they saw this. It was a miracle. They went to look at this strange sight. When they got closer, they saw the sword had gold writing on it. It said:
'HE WHO PULLS THIS SWORD FROM THE ANVIL IN THE STONE, IS THE TRUE KING OF ALL THIS LAND'
Some great lords immediately pushed themselves to the front of the crowd. They stood before the marble stone and the great steel anvil. They took hold of the sword, and tried to pull it out. But not one of them could move it. It was stuck fast.
More of this story in
Tales of King Arthur
Oxford Progressive English Readers
Grade 2
ISBN 0 19 586 306 2
This text is copyright Oxford University Press 1995.
If you can read this sample easily, you can enjoy any Oxford Progressive English Reader in Grade1 and Grade 2.