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