‘T is true, no lover has that power
To enforce a desperate amour
As he that has two strings1 to his bow
And burns for love and money too.
To enforce a desperate amour
As he that has two strings1 to his bow
And burns for love and money too.
Butler.
1 Roasting by a slow fire for the love of God.
But as it sometimes happens, from the might
Of rage in minds that can no farther go,
As high as they have mounted in despite
In their remission do they sink as low,
To our bold baron did it happen so. 2
2 Of these lines all that is not in italics belongs to Mr. Wordsworth: Resolution and Independence.
For his discobolic exploit proved the climax25 of his rage, and was succeeded by an immediate26 sense that he had passed the bounds of legitimate27 passion; and he sunk immediately from the very pinnacle28 of opposition29 to the level of implicit30 acquiescence31. The friar’s spirits were not to be marred32 by such a little incident. He was half-inclined, at first, to return the baron’s compliment; but his love of Matilda checked him; and when the baron held out his hand, the friar seized it cordially, and they drowned all recollection of the affair by pledging each other in a cup of canary.
The friar, having stayed long enough to see every thing replaced on a friendly footing, rose, and moved to take his leave. Matilda told him he must come again on the morrow, for she had a very long confession33 to make to him. This the friar promised to do, and departed with the knight34.
Sir Ralph, on reaching the abbey, drew his followers35 together, and led them to Locksley Castle, which he found in the possession of his lieutenant36; whom he again left there with a sufficient force to hold it in safe keeping in the king’s name, and proceeded to London to report the results of his enterprise.
Now Henry our royal king was very wroth at the earl’s evasion37, and swore by Saint Thomas-a-Becket (whom he had himself translated into a saint by having him knocked on the head), that he would give the castle and lands of Locksley to the man who should bring in the earl. Hereupon ensued a process of thought in the mind of the knight. The eyes of the fair huntress of Arlingford had left a wound in his heart which only she who gave could heal. He had seen that the baron was no longer very partial to the outlawed38 earl, but that he still retained his old affection for the lands and castle of Locksley. Now the lands and castle were very fair things in themselves, and would be pretty appurtenances to an adventurous39 knight; but they would be doubly valuable as certain passports to the father’s favour, which was one step towards that of the daughter, or at least towards obtaining possession of her either quietly or perforce; for the knight was not so nice in his love as to consider the lady’s free grace a sine qua non: and to think of being, by any means whatever, the lord of Locksley and Arlingford, and the husband of the bewitching Matilda, was to cut in the shades of futurity a vista40 very tempting41 to a soldier of fortune. He set out in high spirits with a chosen band of followers, and beat up all the country far and wide around both the Ouse and the Trent; but fortune did not seem disposed to second his diligence, for no vestige42 whatever could he trace of the earl. His followers, who were only paid with the wages of hope, began to murmur43 and fall off; for, as those unenlightened days were ignorant of the happy invention of paper machinery44, by which one promise to pay is satisfactorily paid with another promise to pay, and that again with another in infinite series, they would not, as their wiser posterity45 has done, take those tenders for true pay which were not sterling46; so that, one fine morning, the knight found himself sitting on a pleasant bank of the Trent, with only a solitary47 squire48, who still clung to the shadow of preferment, because he did not see at the moment any better chance of the substance.
The knight did not despair because of the desertion of his followers: he was well aware that he could easily raise recruits if he could once find trace of his game; he, therefore, rode about indefatigably49 over hill and dale, to the great sharpening of his own appetite and that of his squire, living gallantly51 from inn to inn when his purse was full, and quartering himself in the king’s name on the nearest ghostly brotherhood52 when it happened to be empty. An autumn and a winter had passed away, when the course of his perlustations brought him one evening into a beautiful sylvan53 valley, where he found a number of young women weaving garlands of flowers, and singing over their pleasant occupation. He approached them, and courteously54 inquired the way to the nearest town.
“There is no town within several miles,” was the answer.
“A village, then, if it be but large enough to furnish an inn?”
“There is Gamwell just by, but there is no inn nearer than the nearest town.”
“An abbey, then?”
“There is no abbey nearer than the nearest inn.”
“A house then, or a cottage, where I may obtain hospitality for the night?”
“Hospitality!” said one of the young women; “you have not far to seek for that. Do you not know that you are in the neighbourhood of Gamwell–Hall?”
“So far from it,” said the knight, “that I never heard the name of Gamwell–Hall before.”
“Never heard of Gamwell–Hall?” exclaimed all the young women together, who could as soon have dreamed of his never having heard of the sky.
“Indeed, no,” said Sir Ralph; “but I shall be very happy to get rid of my ignorance.”
“And so shall I,” said his squire; “for it seems that in this case knowledge will for once be a cure for hunger, wherewith I am grievously afflicted55.”
“And why are you so busy, my pretty damsels, weaving these garlands?” said the knight.
“Why, do you not know, sir,” said one of the young women, “that tomorrow is Gamwell feast?”
The knight was again obliged, with all humility56, to confess his ignorance.
“Oh! sir,” said his informant, “then you will have something to see, that I can tell you; for we shall choose a Queen of the May, and we shall crown her with flowers, and place her in a chariot of flowers, and draw it with lines of flowers, and we shall hang all the trees with flowers, and we shall strew57 all the ground with flowers, and we shall dance with flowers, and in flowers, and on flowers, and we shall be all flowers.”
“That you will,” said the knight; “and the sweetest and brightest of all the flowers of the May, my pretty damsels.” On which all the pretty damsels smiled at him and each other.
“And there will be all sorts of May-games, and there will be prizes for archery, and there will be the knight’s ale, and the foresters’ venison, and there will be Kit58 Scrapesqueak with his fiddle59, and little Tom Whistlerap with his fife and tabor, and Sam Trumtwang with his harp50, and Peter Muggledrone with his bagpipe60, and how I shall dance with Will Whitethorn!” added the girl, clapping her hands as she spoke61, and bounding from the ground with the pleasure of the anticipation62.
A tall athletic63 young man approached, to whom the rustic64 maidens65 courtesied with great respect; and one of them informed Sir Ralph that it was young Master William Gamwell. The young gentleman invited and conducted the knight to the hall, where he introduced him to the old knight his father, and to the old lady his mother, and to the young lady his sister, and to a number of bold yeomen, who were laying siege to beef, brawn66, and plum pie around a ponderous67 table, and taking copious68 draughts69 of old October. A motto was inscribed70 over the interior door —
EAT, DRINK, AND BE MERRY:
an injunction which Sir Ralph and his squire showed remarkable71 alacrity72 in obeying. Old Sir Guy of Gamwell gave Sir Ralph a very cordial welcome, and entertained him during supper with several of his best stories, enforced with an occasional slap on the back, and pointed73 with a peg74 in the ribs75; a species of vivacious76 eloquence77 in which the old gentleman excelled, and which is supposed by many of that pleasant variety of the human spectes, known by the name of choice fellows and comical dogs, to be the genuine tangible78 shape of the cream of a good joke.
点击收听单词发音
1 strings | |
n.弦 | |
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2 baron | |
n.男爵;(商业界等)巨头,大王 | |
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3 testy | |
adj.易怒的;暴躁的 | |
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4 testiness | |
n.易怒,暴躁 | |
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5 mingled | |
混合,混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 ); 混进,与…交往[联系] | |
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6 choleric | |
adj.易怒的,性情暴躁的 | |
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7 hospitable | |
adj.好客的;宽容的;有利的,适宜的 | |
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8 passionately | |
ad.热烈地,激烈地 | |
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9 thwarting | |
阻挠( thwart的现在分词 ); 使受挫折; 挫败; 横过 | |
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10 attachment | |
n.附属物,附件;依恋;依附 | |
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11 interfere | |
v.(in)干涉,干预;(with)妨碍,打扰 | |
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12 confiscation | |
n. 没收, 充公, 征收 | |
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13 hypocrisy | |
n.伪善,虚伪 | |
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14 semblance | |
n.外貌,外表 | |
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15 exterior | |
adj.外部的,外在的;表面的 | |
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16 alteration | |
n.变更,改变;蚀变 | |
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17 considerably | |
adv.极大地;相当大地;在很大程度上 | |
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18 outlaw | |
n.歹徒,亡命之徒;vt.宣布…为不合法 | |
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19 outlawry | |
宣布非法,非法化,放逐 | |
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20 renounce | |
v.放弃;拒绝承认,宣布与…断绝关系 | |
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21 fugitive | |
adj.逃亡的,易逝的;n.逃犯,逃亡者 | |
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22 concurred | |
同意(concur的过去式与过去分词形式) | |
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23 forth | |
adv.向前;向外,往外 | |
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24 manifestation | |
n.表现形式;表明;现象 | |
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25 climax | |
n.顶点;高潮;v.(使)达到顶点 | |
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26 immediate | |
adj.立即的;直接的,最接近的;紧靠的 | |
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27 legitimate | |
adj.合法的,合理的,合乎逻辑的;v.使合法 | |
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28 pinnacle | |
n.尖塔,尖顶,山峰;(喻)顶峰 | |
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29 opposition | |
n.反对,敌对 | |
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30 implicit | |
a.暗示的,含蓄的,不明晰的,绝对的 | |
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31 acquiescence | |
n.默许;顺从 | |
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32 marred | |
adj. 被损毁, 污损的 | |
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33 confession | |
n.自白,供认,承认 | |
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34 knight | |
n.骑士,武士;爵士 | |
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35 followers | |
追随者( follower的名词复数 ); 用户; 契据的附面; 从动件 | |
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36 lieutenant | |
n.陆军中尉,海军上尉;代理官员,副职官员 | |
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37 evasion | |
n.逃避,偷漏(税) | |
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38 outlawed | |
宣布…为不合法(outlaw的过去式与过去分词形式) | |
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39 adventurous | |
adj.爱冒险的;惊心动魄的,惊险的,刺激的 | |
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40 vista | |
n.远景,深景,展望,回想 | |
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41 tempting | |
a.诱人的, 吸引人的 | |
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42 vestige | |
n.痕迹,遗迹,残余 | |
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43 murmur | |
n.低语,低声的怨言;v.低语,低声而言 | |
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44 machinery | |
n.(总称)机械,机器;机构 | |
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45 posterity | |
n.后裔,子孙,后代 | |
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46 sterling | |
adj.英币的(纯粹的,货真价实的);n.英国货币(英镑) | |
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47 solitary | |
adj.孤独的,独立的,荒凉的;n.隐士 | |
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48 squire | |
n.护卫, 侍从, 乡绅 | |
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49 indefatigably | |
adv.不厌倦地,不屈不挠地 | |
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50 harp | |
n.竖琴;天琴座 | |
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51 gallantly | |
adv. 漂亮地,勇敢地,献殷勤地 | |
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52 brotherhood | |
n.兄弟般的关系,手中情谊 | |
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53 sylvan | |
adj.森林的 | |
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54 courteously | |
adv.有礼貌地,亲切地 | |
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55 afflicted | |
使受痛苦,折磨( afflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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56 humility | |
n.谦逊,谦恭 | |
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57 strew | |
vt.撒;使散落;撒在…上,散布于 | |
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58 kit | |
n.用具包,成套工具;随身携带物 | |
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59 fiddle | |
n.小提琴;vi.拉提琴;不停拨弄,乱动 | |
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60 bagpipe | |
n.风笛 | |
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61 spoke | |
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说 | |
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62 anticipation | |
n.预期,预料,期望 | |
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63 athletic | |
adj.擅长运动的,强健的;活跃的,体格健壮的 | |
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64 rustic | |
adj.乡村的,有乡村特色的;n.乡下人,乡巴佬 | |
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65 maidens | |
处女( maiden的名词复数 ); 少女; 未婚女子; (板球运动)未得分的一轮投球 | |
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66 brawn | |
n.体力 | |
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67 ponderous | |
adj.沉重的,笨重的,(文章)冗长的 | |
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68 copious | |
adj.丰富的,大量的 | |
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69 draughts | |
n. <英>国际跳棋 | |
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70 inscribed | |
v.写,刻( inscribe的过去式和过去分词 );内接 | |
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71 remarkable | |
adj.显著的,异常的,非凡的,值得注意的 | |
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72 alacrity | |
n.敏捷,轻快,乐意 | |
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73 pointed | |
adj.尖的,直截了当的 | |
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74 peg | |
n.木栓,木钉;vt.用木钉钉,用短桩固定 | |
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75 ribs | |
n.肋骨( rib的名词复数 );(船或屋顶等的)肋拱;肋骨状的东西;(织物的)凸条花纹 | |
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76 vivacious | |
adj.活泼的,快活的 | |
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77 eloquence | |
n.雄辩;口才,修辞 | |
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78 tangible | |
adj.有形的,可触摸的,确凿的,实际的 | |
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