The young man says he has a mother, Herzeleide (literally meaning Heart's Sorrow) and that he made the bow himself. Kundry has been listening and now tells them that this boy's father was Gamuret, a Knight killed in battle, and also how the lad's mother had forbidden her son to use a sword, fearing that he would meet the same fate as his father. The youth now recalls that upon seeing Knights pass through his forest, he had left his home and mother to follow them. Kundry laughs and tells the young man that, as she rode by, she saw Herzeleide die of grief. Hearing this, the lad first lunges at Kundry but then collapses in grief. Kundry herself is now weary for sleep, but cries out that she must not sleep and wishes that she might never again waken. She disappears into the undergrowth. Gurnemanz knows that the Grail draws only the pure of heart to Monsalvat and invites the boy to observe the Grail rite in the hope that perhaps he might be the pure fool of the prophecy revealed to Amfortas. The youth does not know what the Grail is, but remarks that as they approach the ascending mountain path leading through rocky walls to the Castle of the Grail it seems to him he scarcely moves, yet feels as if he had already traveled far. Gurnemanz answers him mysteriously that here time becomes space ("Zum Raum wird hier die Zeit"). Orchestral interlude – Verwandlungsmusik (Transformation music) Scene 2 Parsifal and Gurnemanz arrive at the Sanctuary of the Grail inside the Castle, where its Knights are just assembling to receive Holy Communion ("Zum letzten Liebesmahle"). A procession of squires brings the Holy Grail itself in a reliquary to the centre of the hall, while another procession brings Amfortas on his litter to perform the ritual. The voice of the retired king Titurel then resounds from a vaulted nook in the background, as if from a tomb, telling his son Amfortas to uncover the Grail and serve his kingly office ("Mein Sohn Amfortas, bist du am Amt?"). Only through the life-giving power of the sacred chalice and the Saviour's blood contained therein may Titurel himself, now aged and very feeble, live on. Upon hearing his father's pleas to reveal the Grail, Amfortas is overcome with shame and suffering ("Wehvolles Erbe, dem ich verfallen"). He, the chosen guardian of