After dividing from Alexander and the others in the search for Perceforest, the English knight Claudius and the Scottish lord Estonné rode for three days without incident – or indeed food. They were hungry – unsurprisingly, though the people in those days were of a stronger constitution and were not so richly fed. But Estonné caught sight of a herd of deer and, being an excellent hunter, quickly made a kill. Then he cut off a leg and said:

‘Now, my noble companion, you shall eat – and so shall I!’

‘We would indeed, if we had a fire,’ said Claudius.

‘By my father's soul,’ said Estonné, ‘I'll prepare and cook it in the manner of my country, well suited to a wandering knight.’

And he drew his sword and stepped up to a tree; he made a deep cut in a branch and split it open for a good two feet and rammed in the leg. Then he took the halter from his horse and bound it round the branch and pulled so tight that the blood and fluids were squeezed from the flesh to leave it sweet and dry, and finished by skinning it to leave the meat as white as a capon's.