第 69 节
作者:
青涩春天 更新:2024-04-09 19:51 字数:9322
lamentably stale pun which Wamba palmed upon him at supper…time;
(it was dark; and the torches being brought in; Wamba said; 〃Guffo;
they can't see their way in the argument; and are going TO THROW A
LITTLE LIGHT UPON THE SUBJECT;〃) the Lady Rowena; being disturbed
in a theological controversy with Father Willibald; (afterwards
canonized as St。 Willibald; of Bareacres; hermit and confessor;)
called out to know what was the cause of the unseemly interruption;
and Guffo and Wamba being pointed out as the culprits; ordered them
straightway into the court…yard; and three dozen to be administered
to each of them。
〃I got you out of Front…de…Boeufs castle;〃 said poor Wamba;
piteously; appealing to Sir Wilfrid of Ivanhoe; 〃and canst thou not
save me from the lash?〃
〃Yes; from Front…de…Boeuf's castle; WHERE YOU WERE LOCKED UP WITH
THE JEWESS IN THE TOWER!〃 said Rowena; haughtily replying to the
timid appeal of her husband。 〃Gurth; give him four dozen!〃
And this was all poor Wamba got by applying for the mediation of
his master。
In fact; Rowena knew her own dignity so well as a princess of the
royal blood of England; that Sir Wilfrid of Ivanhoe; her consort;
could scarcely call his life his own; and was made; in all things;
to feel the inferiority of his station。 And which of us is there
acquainted with the sex that has not remarked this propensity in
lovely woman; and how often the wisest in the council are made to
be as fools at HER board; and the boldest in the battle…field are
craven when facing her distaff?
〃Where you were locked up with the Jewess in the tower;〃 was a
remark; too; of which Wilfrid keenly felt; and perhaps the reader
will understand; the significancy。 When the daughter of Isaac of
York brought her diamonds and rubiesthe poor gentle victim!and;
meekly laying them at the feet of the conquering Rowena; departed
into foreign lands to tend the sick of her people; and to brood
over the bootless passion which consumed her own pure heart; one
would have thought that the heart of the royal lady would have
melted before such beauty and humility; and that she would have
been generous in the moment of her victory。
But did you ever know a right…minded woman pardon another for being
handsome and more love…worthy than herself? The Lady Rowena did
certainly say with mighty magnanimity to the Jewish maiden; 〃Come
and live with me as a sister;〃 as the former part of this history
shows; but Rebecca knew in her heart that her ladyship's proposition
was what is called BOSH (in that noble Eastern language with which
Wilfrid the Crusader was familiar); or fudge; in plain Saxon; and
retired with a broken; gentle spirit; neither able to bear the sight
of her rival's happiness; nor willing to disturb it by the contrast
of her own wretchedness。 Rowena; like the most high…bred and
virtuous of women; never forgave Isaac's daughter her beauty; nor
her flirtation with Wilfrid (as the Saxon lady chose to term it);
nor; above all; her admirable diamonds and jewels; although Rowena
was actually in possession of them。
In a word; she was always flinging Rebecca into Ivanhoe's teeth。
There was not a day in his life but that unhappy warrior was made
to remember that a Hebrew damsel had been in love with him; and
that a Christian lady of fashion could never forgive the insult。
For instance; if Gurth; the swineherd; who was now promoted to be a
gamekeeper and verderer; brought the account of a famous wild…boar
in the wood; and proposed a hunt; Rowena would say; 〃Do; Sir
Wilfrid; persecute these poor pigs: you know your friends the Jews
can't abide them!〃 Or when; as it oft would happen; our lion…
hearted monarch; Richard; in order to get a loan or a benevolence
from the Jews; would roast a few of the Hebrew capitalists; or
extract some of the principal rabbis' teeth; Rowena would exult and
say; 〃Serve them right; the misbelieving wretches! England can
never be a happy country until every one of these monsters is
exterminated!〃 or else; adopting a strain of still more savage
sarcasm; would exclaim; 〃Ivanhoe my dear; more persecution for the
Jews! Hadn't you better interfere; my love? His Majesty will do
anything for you; and; you know; the Jews were ALWAYS SUCH
FAVORITES OF YOURS;〃 or words to that effect。 But; nevertheless;
her ladyship never lost an opportunity of wearing Rebecca's jewels
at court; whenever the Queen held a drawing…room; or at the York
assizes and ball; when she appeared there: not of course because
she took any interest in such things; but because she considered it
her duty to attend; as one of the chief ladies of the county。
Thus Sir Wilfrid of Ivanhoe; having attained the height of his
wishes; was; like many a man when he has reached that dangerous
elevation; disappointed。 Ah; dear friends; it is but too often so
in life! Many a garden; seen from a distance; looks fresh and
green; which; when beheld closely; is dismal and weedy; the shady
walks melancholy and grass…grown; the bowers you would fain repose
in; cushioned with stinging…nettles。 I have ridden in a caique
upon the waters of the Bosphorus; and looked upon the capital of
the Soldan of Turkey。 As seen from those blue waters; with palace
and pinnacle; with gilded dome and towering cypress; it seemeth a
very Paradise of Mahound: but; enter the city; and it is but a
beggarly labyrinth of rickety huts and dirty alleys; where the ways
are steep and the smells are foul; tenanted by mangy dogs and
ragged beggarsa dismal illusion! Life is such; ah; well…a…day!
It is only hope which is real; and reality is a bitterness and a
deceit。
Perhaps a man with Ivanhoe's high principles would never bring
himself to acknowledge this fact; but others did for him。 He grew
thin; and pined away as much as if he had been in a fever under the
scorching sun of Ascalon。 He had no appetite for his meals; he
slept ill; though he was yawning all day。 The jangling of the
doctors and friars whom Rowena brought together did not in the
least enliven him; and he would sometimes give proofs of somnolency
during their disputes; greatly to the consternation of his lady。
He hunted a good deal; and; I very much fear; as Rowena rightly
remarked; that he might have an excuse for being absent from home。
He began to like wine; too; who had been as sober as a hermit; and
when he came back from Athelstane's (whither he would repair not
unfrequently); the unsteadiness of his gait and the unnatural
brilliancy of his eye were remarked by his lady: who; you may be
sure; was sitting up for him。 As for Athelstane; he swore by St。
Wullstan that he was glad to have escaped a marriage with such a
pattern of propriety; and honest Cedric the Saxon (who had been
very speedily driven out of his daughter…in…law's castle) vowed by
St。 Waltheof that his son had bought a dear bargain。
So Sir Wilfrid of Ivanhoe became almost as tired of England as his
royal master Richard was; (who always quitted the country when he
had squeezed from his loyal nobles; commons; clergy; and Jews; all
the money which he could get;) and when the lion…hearted Prince
began to make war against the French King; in Normandy and Guienne;
Sir Wilfrid pined like a true servant to be in company of the good
champion; alongside of whom he had shivered so many lances; and
dealt such woundy blows of sword and battle…axe on the plains of
Jaffa or the breaches of Acre。 Travellers were welcome at
Rotherwood that brought news from the camp of the good King: and I
warrant me that the knight listened with all his might when Father
Drono; the chaplain; read in the St。 James's Chronykyll (which was
the paper of news he of Ivanhoe took in) of 〃another glorious
triumph〃〃Defeat of the French near Blois〃〃Splendid victory at
Epte; and narrow escape of the French King:〃 the which deeds of
arms the learned scribes had to narrate。
However such tales might excite him during the reading; they left
the Knight of Ivanhoe only the more melancholy after listening: and
the more moody as he sat in his great hall silently draining his
Gascony wine。 Silently sat he and looked at his coats…of…mail
hanging vacant on the wall; his banner covered with spider…webs;
and his sword and axe rusting there。 〃Ah; dear axe;〃 sighed he
(into his drinking…horn)〃ah; gentle steel! that was a merry time
when I sent thee crashing into the pate of the Emir Abdul Melik as
he rode on the right of Saladin。 Ah; my sword; my dainty headsman?
my sweet split…rib? my razor of infidel beards! is the rust to eat
thine edge off; and am I never more to wield thee in battle? What
is the use of a shield on a wall; or a lance that has a cobweb for
a pennon? O Richard; my good king; would I could hear once more
thy voice in the front of the onset! Bones of Brian the Templar?
would ye could rise from your grave at Templestowe; and that we
might break another spear