第 14 节
作者:空白协议书      更新:2021-02-19 21:36      字数:8187
  wrong; much less to enjoin any thing in the shape of penance; as was the
  occasional practice of holy confessors; with or without cause; for the sake
  of pious discipline; and what was in those days called social order; namely;
  the preservation of the privileges of the few who happened to have any; at
  the expense of the swinish multitude who happened to have none; except
  that of working and being shot at for the benefit of their betters; which is
  obviously not the meaning of social order in our more enlightened times:
  let us therefore be grateful to Providence; and sing Te Deum laudamus in
  chorus with the Holy Alliance。
  The little friar; however; though he found the lady spotless; found the
  butler a   great   sinner:   at   least   so   it was   conjectured;   from  the   length of
  time he always took to confess him in the buttery。
  Matilda became every day more pale and dejected:                  her spirit; which
  could     have   contended      against   any   strenuous     affliction;  pined    in  the
  monotonous inaction to which she was condemned。 While she could freely
  range   the   forest   with   her   lover   in   the   morning;   she   had   been   content   to
  return to her father's castle in the evening; thus preserving underanged the
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  balance of her duties; habits; and   affections; not without a hope that the
  repeal of her lover's outlawry might be eventually obtained; by a judicious
  distribution of some of his forest spoils among the holy fathers and saints
  that…were…to…be;pious   proficients   in   the   ecclesiastic   art   equestrian;   who
  rode the conscience of King Henry with double…curb bridles; and kept it
  well   in   hand   when   it   showed   mettle   and   seemed   inclined   to   rear   and
  plunge。 But the affair at Gamwell feast threw many additional difficulties
  in the way of the accomplishment of this hope; and very shortly afterwards
  King Henry the Second went to make up in the next world his quarrel with
  Thomas…a…Becket; and Richard Coeur de Lion made all England resound
  with   preparations   for   the   crusade;   to   the   great   delight   of   many   zealous
  adventurers;       who    eagerly     flocked    under    his   banner     in  the   hope    of
  enriching   themselves   with   Saracen   spoil;   which   they   called   fighting   the
  battles    of  God。     Richard;     who    was    not   remarkably      scrupulous     in  his
  financial   operations;   was   not   likely   to   overlook   the   lands   and   castle   of
  Locksley;   which   he   appropriated   immediately   to   his   own   purposes;   and
  sold   to   the   highest   bidder。    Now;   as   the   repeal   of   the   outlawry   would
  involve the restitution of the estates to the rightful owner; it was obvious
  that    it  could   never    be   expected     from   that   most    legitimate    and    most
  Christian king; Richard the   First of England;  the arch…crusader and   anti…
  jacobin by  excellence; the very  type;   flower; cream;   pink;   symbol;   and
  mirror of all the Holy Alliances that have ever existed on earth; excepting
  that    he  seasoned     his  superstition     and   love   of  conquest     with   a  certain
  condiment        of  romantic     generosity     and    chivalrous     self…devotion;     with
  which his imitators in all other points have found it convenient to dispense。
  To give freely to one man what he had taken forcibly from another; was
  generosity of which he was very capable; but to restore what he had taken
  to the man from whom he had taken it; was something that wore too much
  of the cool physiognomy of justice to be easily reconcileable to his kingly
  feelings。 He had; besides; not only sent all King Henry's saints about their
  business; or rather about their no…business their faineantisebut he had
  laid them under rigorous contribution for the purposes of his holy war; and
  having   made   them   refund   to   the   piety   of   the   successor   what   they   had
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  extracted from the piety of the precursor; he compelled them; in addition;
  to give him  their blessing   for  nothing。  Matilda; therefore;  from  all   these
  circumstances;   felt   little   hope   that   her   lover   would   be   any   thing   but   an
  outlaw for life。
  The   departure   of   King   Richard   from   England   was   succeeded   by   the
  episcopal      regency     of   the   bishops    of   Ely   and    Durham。       Longchamp;
  bishop   of   Ely;   proceeded   to   show   his   sense   of   Christian   fellowship   by
  arresting     his   brother    bishop;    and    despoiling     him    of  his   share    in  the
  government; and to set forth his humility and loving…kindness in a retinue
  of   nobles   and   knights   who   consumed   in   one   night's   entertainment   some
  five years' revenue of their entertainer; and in a guard of fifteen hundred
  foreign   soldiers;   whom   he   considered   indispensable   to   the   exercise   of   a
  vigour     beyond     the   law   in   maintaining      wholesome       discipline    over    the
  refractory   English。       The   ignorant   impatience   of   the   swinish   multitude
  with these fruits of good living; brought forth by one of the meek who had
  inherited the earth; displayed itself in a general ferment; of which Prince
  John took advantage to make the experiment of getting possession of his
  brother's crown in his absence。            He began by calling at Reading a council
  of barons; whose aspect induced the holy bishop to disguise himself (some
  say as an old woman; which; in the twelfth century; perhaps might have
  been   a   disguise   for   a   bishop);   and   make   his   escape   beyond   sea。   Prince
  John followed up his advantage by obtaining possession of several strong
  posts; and among others of the castle of Nottingham。
  While John was conducting his operations at Nottingham; he rode at
  times past the castle of Arlingford。             He stopped on one occasion to claim
  Lord   Fitzwater's   hospitality;   and   made   most   princely   havoc   among   his
  venison   and   brawn。        Now   it   is   a   matter   of   record   among   divers   great
  historians and learned clerks; that he was then and there grievously smitten
  by    the   charms     of   the  lovely    Matilda;     and    that  a   few   days    after   he
  despatched       his  travelling   minstrel;     or   laureate;   Harpiton;'3'   (whom   he
  retained   at   moderate   wages;   to   keep   a   journal   of   his   proceedings;   and
  prove  them   all   just   and   legitimate);   to   the   castle   of Arlingford;   to   make
  proposals to the lady。 This Harpiton   was a very useful person。                       He  was
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  always ready; not only to maintain the cause of his master with his pen;
  and to sing his eulogies to his harp; but to undertake at a moment's notice
  any kind of courtly employment; called dirty work by the profane; which
  the blessings of civil government; namely; his   master's pleasure; and the
  interests of social order; namely; his own emolument; might require。                      In
  short;
  Il eut l'emploi qui certes n'est pas mince;           Et qu'a la cour; ou tout se
  peint en beau;       On appelloit etre l'ami du prince;            Mais qu'a la ville; et
  surtout en province;        Les gens grossiers ont nomme maquereau。
  '3' Harp…it…on: or; a corruption of