Laertes lets his steps falter; he draws Lancelot closer, and wraps an arm around his waist despite the heavy bags pressed tight between them. King Galahad rings an anxious, hollow knell in him, although he can't guess at what it means. "I think that any god who creates a world topfull of joy and wonder, and asks His creations to abstain from the pleasure of it, must be a cruel god--and I had rather the sweetness of this imperfect world than the bliss of the hereafter."