A Legend An English Teacher Once Told Me

the white knight went on a quest. he wanted to destroy the black knight. the white knight lived by the following rules: a white knight doesnt steal, a white knight doesnt kill the innocent, a white knight doesn't take advantage of the less fortunate, a white knight doesn't make false promises, a white knight does not kill the innocent, a white knight doesn't incur debt, a white knight doesn't break the hearts of women. the black knight had broken all of these rules, and so the white knight wanted to defeat him in order to uphold virtue for all. on his journey, the white knight stopped at an inn. the innkeeper had a beautiful daughter, who served the knight his ale. by the end of the night, the daughter had fallen in love with the knight, and she allowed him to lie with her till the morning. in the morning, the knight said, "my darling, i must go, for i am on a quest to uphold virtue. i shall return for you when my journey is over." the innkeeper's daughter could think of nothing to say, but she cried when he left. he left before teh innkeeper was awake, and so was unable to pay his tab. he thought, this innkeeper will not mind my debt, since it was incurred in order to uphold virtue. many days passed on his journey, and the knight was getting weak with hunger. he saw a camp where some poor vagrants were sleeping, and there was a loaf of bread among their posessions. the knight took the bread while they slept. he had no money to leave them, but he thought, this is not stealing, because i am taking this bread so i can continue my quest, so it is necessary to uphold virtue. later on his way, he spied a beast on the side of the road. he assumed the beast would attack his horse, so he shot it with his bow. when he went to retrieve the body, he saw that the creature was not a beast, but an old hag, who had been by the road, begging. he thought, when i shot this hag, i thought she was a beast who would have attacked me, she was killed in order to uphold virtue. finally, the knight approached the summit where he knew the black knight lived. as he came to the top of the hill, he spied another white knight approaching from the other direction. as the first knight lifted his arm to greet the approaching knight, he was struck down by the approaching knight's arrow. when the approaching knight was closer, the first knight said, "my friend! why would you strike down another white knight? are you not on the same quest as i? to destroy the black knight in order to uphold virtue? now my quest will have been in vain" and the other knight said "how can you call me your friend, when you are the very knight i have been questing after to defeat!" and with that, the first knight looked down, and with his dying breath he saw, that over the course of his journey, his shining white armour had rusted and turned to darkest black.