II. Zabulun the Enchanter

It was Anluan, the father of Eean, Anluan who had once been a fisherman by the shores of the Western Ocean, who told this story of the Enchanter of the Isle¹ of Britain. The fishermen know the story, and they, more often than any others, have seen the Island of the White Tower[Pg 141] as it shows itself on the rim² of the Western Ocean.

The story was told after the white horse and the red horse had clattered³ across the stones of the courtyard, bringing Eean and Bird-of-Gold toward their meeting with Merlin. Candles thicker than a man’s wrist had been put upon the supper table; fresh torches had been set in the sconces along the walls; and logs of resinous⁴ wood had been piled upon the hearth⁵. All this was done so that the King and his lords might drink their last cups of wine before they went into the sleeping chambers⁷.

And now, in the light of shining candles and blazing torches and mounting hearth fires, the squires⁸ and the servers went amongst the company filling the wine cups up. Some had already the wine in their cups, and were waiting for King Manus to raise his in a health. Then the strangest of strange things happened. No wind came into the hall, but suddenly the candles upon the table and the torches along the walls went out. The servers went to relight the torches at the hearth,[Pg 142] but the hearth blaze had died down, and all the logs were black.

And blackness was in the chamber⁶ where, a minute before, candles and torches and hearth fires were blazing. The King and his lords stood around the table, while the servers and squires ran through every chamber of the castle to find a spark of light.

But not even a spark could they find; not the light of a rush candle even was to be found in any hall or chamber in the castle. And on every stairway the same story was told, how suddenly light and fire had gone black out.

But now the grooms⁹ came in with flints and steel and tow. Every one tried to strike a spark, but no spark came for all their striking. And now, all over the castle, there were outbursts of woe¹⁰: the cooks were lamenting¹¹ that they would have no fires, and the women were weeping because lights could not be brought them. It was then that King Manus bade his lords stand around laying their hands upon the table.

The next thing was that a figure appeared at[Pg 143] the doorway¹². All saw it, for there was a line of faint light around it. It was the figure of a tall man. “Speak,” said King Manus with his hand stretched to the figure.

“If you will have me speak,” said the man.

“The lights and the fires have been quenched¹³ in the castle. How has this come to be?”

“It is in the power of an Enchanter of the second degree to quench¹⁴ light and fire,” said the man in the darkness. “Further, King Manus: the fire and light that is extinguished cannot be brought back until the Enchanter lifts his ban.”

“Have you come to tell me this?” asked the King.

“I have come to make a request of you, King Manus,” said the man in the darkness.

Then Anluan, the father of Eean, he whose duty it was to let none that might have a request come face to face with the King, groped around the room that he might place himself before his master. But ere he came to where King Manus stood the man with the line of light around had[Pg 144] come so close that he and the King looked into each other’s eyes.

“O King,” said the stranger, “I have answered what you asked of me. Now I make my request. It is that the black horse that is in your stable be given to me.”

There was a stir in the darkened hall, and then there was an outcry. It was from Anluan, the father of Eean. “O, King Manus, beware of the man who knows of the powers of Enchanters. He may be the one who would ride in chase of Eean, my son!”

“He has made a request of me,” said King Manus. “By the open hand of my father, it will have to be granted him.”

“It is for the one horse that can follow the others,” Anluan cried.

“I have never refused a request! Alas¹⁵, alas, in one night the three horses that were my pride are taken from me!”

“Strike now, and light candle and torch and hearth fire,” said the one who had come amongst them.

[Pg 145]

Flint was struck upon steel; sparks came and made the tow blaze; candle and torch and hearth fire were lighted again. Then all looked at the one who had come amongst them.

Tall he was, with a dark and bony face, and eyes that were like a hawk’s eyes. His dress was a plain cloak that had a hood¹⁶ that went over his head. And yet, although he had not the staff nor the robe of an Enchanter, it did not need Anluan’s cry to tell the company that here was the one to whom his son had been apprenticed—Zabulun the Enchanter!

“Why do you go in chase of my son?” Anluan cried.

“Harut and Marut laid hands upon me. Am I to have no more mastery because of that?” said Zabulun. “For forty days I was laid in the cave that is under the sea, and do men think that all power is gone from me because of that? I thought all that time that what I worked for would come to pass, and that the Magic Mirror of Babylon would be lost in the ruin of the Tower of Babylon and that destruction would come upon[Pg 146] the Babylonians. This would have been if the boy who was my apprentice¹⁷ had been faithful to me. But he spoke¹⁸ the words that restored the mirror to the Kings of Babylon. And I, whose name, as I thought, would stand forever as one who had worked a great destruction, am as naught—my name is a name to laugh at. And shall he pass from my mastership, the boy who let this befall me? Not so; he has still to be my aid. I have paid you, his father, gold for his seven years’ service, and his service still belongs to me.”

Then, turning to King Manus, Zabulun said, “You have granted my request. Command now that your grooms go to the stable and bring out the black horse that I am to ride.”

King Manus gave the commands. Then out of the door of the castle they all went and into the courtyard. The still light of the dawn, the dawn of Midsummer’s Day, was coming over the world. The grooms went to the stable, and in full sight of all unlocked the great stable door and brought out the black horse whose swiftness was such that he could overtake the wind of March that[Pg 147] was before him, while the wind of March that was behind could not overtake him. They brought forth¹⁹ the black horse and they held him while the dark-faced man put himself astride. Then the hoofs²⁰ of the last of the King’s horses struck fire out of the stones of the courtyard, while a cry went up from Anluan, the one-time fisherman.

And away went Zabulun the Enchanter, away, away in pursuit of Eean and Bird-of-Gold, and the light of the Midsummer Day came into the world.

1 isle   

n.小岛，岛

参考例句：

• He is from the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea.他来自爱尔兰海的马恩岛。
• The boat left for the paradise isle of Bali.小船驶向天堂一般的巴厘岛。

2 rim   

n.(圆物的)边，轮缘；边界

参考例句：

• The water was even with the rim of the basin.盆里的水与盆边平齐了。
• She looked at him over the rim of her glass.她的目光越过玻璃杯的边沿看着他。

3 clattered   

发出咔哒声（clatter的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He dropped the knife and it clattered on the stone floor. 他一失手，刀子当啷一声掉到石头地面上。
• His hand went limp and the knife clattered to the ground. 他的手一软，刀子当啷一声掉到地上。

4 resinous   

adj.树脂的，树脂质的，树脂制的

参考例句：

• Alcohol is a solvent of resinous substances.酒精是树脂性物质的溶媒。
• He observed that the more resinous the wood, the more resistant it was to decay.他观察到木材含树脂越多，其抗腐力越强。

5 hearth   

n.壁炉炉床，壁炉地面

参考例句：

• She came and sat in a chair before the hearth.她走过来，在炉子前面的椅子上坐下。
• She comes to the hearth,and switches on the electric light there.她走到壁炉那里，打开电灯。

6 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

7 chambers   

n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅

参考例句：

• The body will be removed into one of the cold storage chambers. 尸体将被移到一个冷冻间里。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Mr Chambers's readable book concentrates on the middle passage: the time Ransome spent in Russia. Chambers先生的这本值得一看的书重点在中间：Ransome在俄国的那几年。 来自互联网

8 squires   

n.地主，乡绅( squire的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The family history was typical of the Catholic squires of England. 这个家族的历史，在英格兰信天主教的乡绅中是很典型的。 来自辞典例句
• By 1696, with Tory squires and Amsterdam burghers complaining about excessive taxes. 到1696年，托利党的乡绅们和阿姆斯特丹的市民都对苛捐杂税怨声载道。 来自辞典例句

9 grooms   

n.新郎( groom的名词复数 )；马夫v.照料或梳洗（马等）( groom的第三人称单数 )；使做好准备；训练；（给动物）擦洗

参考例句：

• Plender end Wilcox became joint grooms of the chambers. 普伦德和威尔科克斯成为共同的贴身侍从。 来自辞典例句
• Egypt: Families, rather than grooms, propose to the bride. 埃及：在埃及，由新郎的家人，而不是新郎本人，向新娘求婚。 来自互联网

10 woe   

n.悲哀，苦痛，不幸，困难；int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌

参考例句：

• Our two peoples are brothers sharing weal and woe.我们两国人民是患难与共的兄弟。
• A man is well or woe as he thinks himself so.自认祸是祸，自认福是福。

11 lamenting   

adj.悲伤的，悲哀的v.（为…）哀悼，痛哭，悲伤( lament的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Katydids were lamenting fall's approach. 蝈蝈儿正为秋天临近而哀鸣。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Lamenting because the papers hadn't been destroyed and the money kept. 她正在吃后悔药呢，后悔自己没有毁了那张字条，把钱昧下来！ 来自英汉文学 - 败坏赫德莱堡

12 doorway   

n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径

参考例句：

• They huddled in the shop doorway to shelter from the rain.他们挤在商店门口躲雨。
• Mary suddenly appeared in the doorway.玛丽突然出现在门口。

13 quenched   

解（渴）( quench的过去式和过去分词 )； 终止（某事物）； （用水）扑灭（火焰等）； 将（热物体）放入水中急速冷却

参考例句：

• He quenched his thirst with a long drink of cold water. 他喝了好多冷水解渴。
• I quenched my thirst with a glass of cold beer. 我喝了一杯冰啤酒解渴。

14 quench   

vt.熄灭，扑灭；压制

参考例句：

• The firemen were unable to quench the fire.消防人员无法扑灭这场大火。
• Having a bottle of soft drink is not enough to quench my thirst.喝一瓶汽水不够解渴。

15 alas   

int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等)

参考例句：

• Alas!The window is broken!哎呀！窗子破了！
• Alas,the truth is less romantic.然而，真理很少带有浪漫色彩。

16 hood   

n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖

参考例句：

• She is wearing a red cloak with a hood.她穿着一件红色带兜帽的披风。
• The car hood was dented in.汽车的发动机罩已凹了进去。

17 apprentice   

n.学徒，徒弟

参考例句：

• My son is an apprentice in a furniture maker's workshop.我的儿子在一家家具厂做学徒。
• The apprentice is not yet out of his time.这徒工还没有出徒。

18 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

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

19 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

20 hoofs   

n.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的名词复数 )v.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The stamp of the horse's hoofs on the wooden floor was loud. 马蹄踏在木头地板上的声音很响。 来自辞典例句
• The noise of hoofs called him back to the other window. 马蹄声把他又唤回那扇窗子口。 来自辞典例句