"This beast went to the well and drank, and the noise was in the beast's belly like unto the questing of thirty couple hounds, but all the while the beast drank there was no noise in the beast's belly"

The passage presents a vivid and paradoxical image from Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur, describing a mysterious beast whose very being is a riddle. The beast is said to make a great noise in its belly, comparable to the questing, or barking, of thirty couples of hounds, an overwhelming cacophony deliberately exaggerated to suggest unnaturalness. The term "questing" evokes the sound of hunting dogs searching or crying out as they track, a natural and familiar noise to the audience of Malory’s time. By placing such a tumult within the beast’s belly, Malory evokes a sense of something wild and uncontrollable, a disturbance at the core of this creature’s existence.

Yet, as the beast drinks from the well, "all the while the beast drank there was no noise in the beast's belly". This contradiction is stark: the very attribute that defines the beast, the chaotic, relentless sound, is quelled only during the act of drinking. The silence that accompanies the beast’s drinking becomes as notable as the noise that otherwise accompanies it. The moment functions both as literal respite and as symbolic suggestion. The act of drinking, an act of satisfying thirst or perhaps longing, briefly brings peace to the beast’s tumultuous interior. For Malory, who often intertwines the mystical with the symbolic, the scene could hint at deeper spiritual or psychological unrest, chaos and longing tamed only for moments of fulfillment or grace.

Moreover, the fantastic description asks readers to ponder the nature of the beast and, by extension, the nature of otherness, disturbance, and the rare moments of tranquility. It serves as an allegory for inner turmoil, where quiet is rare and fleeting, available only in certain purifying acts. The narrative lingers in this unusual stillness, prompting reflection on both the mystery of the beast and the moments in which even the wildest disturbances may be soothed.