IV. How Eean Won His Release from Zabulun the Enchanter

Merlin, with the tame wolf that was his servant beside him, was standing¹ by the White Tower on the morning of that Midsummer Day. And Vivien was upon the tower, singing to her colored birds and looking out over the sea.

Vivien, who played with her colored birds, had still the look of a child in her face. Her hair was no longer in tangles²; it was softer than it was once, and it fell softly over her shoulders. Her eyes, for all the child’s look that was in her face, were as if they had seen many things come and change and pass.

Like a King, or like one who had been always near a King, was Merlin the Enchanter. He smiled, and his smile was calm and royal. But one might have said that his eyes were strangely close to each other and that his lips were strangely red.

His beard was long and gray. He wore a white robe with a belt of green leaves around it, and a chaplet of oak leaves was on his head. Vivien[Pg 153] was dressed in green, with a golden belt clasped around her, and with green leaves in her soft hair.

So they were standing by and on the tower, Merlin, Vivien, and Merlin’s tame wolf, when the tokens that were from the Atlantes came. Merlin laid his hand upon the wolf, and the wolf gave the howl that was the signal for Eean and Bird-of-Gold to come on the Island of the White Tower. The Enchanter saw them ride their horses into the water. And then another token came to him—the token that one magician sends to another, a Bird of Foam³ it was, and Zabulun sent it.

Deep were the waters, but great-hearted were the horses of King Manus, the white horse and the red horse, and with Eean and Bird-of-Gold astride of them they swam to the Island of the White Tower. They came to the sloping shore, and the riders helped the horses up to the hard ground. The white and the red horse stood shivering from their plunge⁴ into the ocean. Afterward⁵ they threw themselves on the grass and lay as still as if they were dead.

[Pg 154]

Not to the horses, but out to the sea did Eean and Bird-of-Gold look. The black horse with Zabulun astride him was swimming now. Swiftly to the White Tower where they saw Merlin stand they went.

“O, Merlin,” Eean cried, “to you we have come to save us from the Enchanter who has pursued us from one end of the world to the other.”

“From whom have you come, you who have sent such tokens?” said Merlin.

“From Hermes Trismegistus in his secret cell. And Hermes bade us say to you that we have heard from him the answer to the riddle⁶ that the Sphinx asks, and that we crossed the desert to come to you, answering the Sphinx.”

“Who is the Magician who pursues you?”

“Zabulun, once a Prince in Babylon, O Merlin.”

“Is it he who pursues you?—Zabulun! I shall have a welcome for Zabulun.”

“Save us, O Merlin, from Zabulun,” Bird-of-Gold cried.

Vivien came down from the tower. “It is Zabulun who comes to our island in chase of these[Pg 155] two, my Vivien,” Merlin said. “Now you shall see me match my power with Zabulun’s.”

“A match between magicians, how entertaining it will be!” cried Vivien, clapping her hands.

“O lady, if Zabulun is not baffled it will be death or separation for us,” said Bird-of-Gold to her.

“Merlin will baffle him—you will find that Merlin will baffle him,” said Vivien. “You see, he has done nothing to impress me for an age.”

Now Merlin had sent the tame wolf that was his servant upon an errand, and the wolf at this moment returned leading nine men who wore white robes and who had chaplets of oak leaves upon their brows. These were the nine prime bards⁷ of the Isle⁸ of Britain who had come to the Island of the White Tower with Merlin, their chief.

They stood as he bade them, four on one side and five on the other, with the Enchanter of the Isle of Britain between them. Merlin bade Eean stand with the four bards. He touched them with his staff, and the row of bards and Eean with them became all as alike as ten peas in a pea pod.[Pg 156] And Merlin went to Bird-of-Gold and touched her also, and she became like the lady Vivien exactly.

Now the black horse that bore Zabulun came to the sloping bank of the Island of the White Tower, and Zabulun sprang off his back and drew the black horse up on the bank. The horse breathed mightily⁹, and then like the others lay down on the grass.

With great and sure strides Zabulun came to the White Tower where Merlin stood. “Hail, Merlin,” he cried in a loud voice.

“Hail, Zabulun.”

“You know of an apprentice¹⁰ of mine who has come to your island.”

“Find him, O mighty¹¹ magician.”

Zabulun looked and saw the ten men who looked exactly alike, and the two women whom one could not tell one from the other. He turned to Merlin then and he said, “What a simple trick you would play upon me! Nine bards you have, and there are ten before us. One of them is Eean, the boy apprenticed¹² to me.”

“Then you will take him, Zabulun.”

[Pg 157]

It is certain that Merlin did not think that Zabulun would do what he did now. He changed himself into a hound. Running amongst the ten that were there he snuffed at them. By the smell of the horse he had ridden he would find Eean.

But as he ran amongst them Merlin touched each of the ten bards and Eean with them with his staff. They all became pigeons and flew up into the air. One had a feather awry¹³. This was Eean on whom Zabulun had laid a paw just as he was being transformed.

Instantly Zabulun changed himself into a hawk¹⁴ and strove to rise above the flock of pigeons. As he did he saw the one that had a feather awry. Over him he came.

Then Eean, seeing the hawk above him, dropped instantly to the earth. The others flew down with him, crowding around to hide the ruffled¹⁵ feather. They came before the door of Merlin’s house. They flew in and lighted down on the floor while the hawk came sweeping¹⁶ up to the doorway¹⁷.

Merlin touched the pigeons with his staff and again transformed them. They became ten rings[Pg 158] of gold that lay upon the floor. As the hawk flew in and perched on a chair to fix his eyes upon them, the rings of gold rolled into the fire.

Then Zabulun transformed himself into a tongs¹⁸, and went hunting through the fire for the rings. He picked up one ring and flung it out on the floor, he picked up another ring and flung it out on the floor, and so on, until the ten rings were out of the fire. Merlin touched the rings with his staff, and they were transformed into ten grains of corn. Upon these ten grains Vivien and Bird-of-Gold threw handful after handful of grains of corn.

But now Zabulun changed himself into a cock with strong legs and wide claws and a hungry beak¹⁹. With his claws he scratched through the heap of grain. With his beak he picked the grains up. Vivien and Bird-of-Gold kept throwing on the floor handful after handful of corn to cover the ten grains.

But the beak of the cock went so fiercely and so hungrily amongst them that only a few grains more than the ten were left upon the floor when Vivien and Bird-of-Gold found out they had no more handfuls to fling. Then it seemed as if[Pg 159] the cock with his sharp eye would soon pick out the grain that was Eean.

Then with his staff Merlin touched nine of the grains, leaving one untouched. The one he left untouched was Eean. The nine were changed into weasels, and they faced the cock fiercely. Then was Zabulun startled. Instead of picking at the grain that was Eean he fluttered up from the ground, and went out of the door of the house.

Merlin touched the grain that was left and Eean stood up. Bird-of-Gold clapped her hands for joy on seeing him again. But Eean ran out of the door of the house after the cock that was Zabulun the Enchanter. He snatched up a strong staff as he ran.

Zabulun had changed back into his own form. But now Eean had no fear of him. He ran toward him. And Zabulun took up a staff that was lying there and made to defend himself.

Then began the battle between Eean and Zabulun. Eean struck at Zabulun, and Zabulun struck at Eean, and each defended himself with the staff that he had. They fought their way[Pg 160] across the island, from one side to the other. They fought until their staves were broken and until they were covered with bruises²⁰. Then they threw away their staves and gripped one another. All around the island they wrestled²¹. Strong were the hands of Zabulun upon Eean, and yet Eean was not thrown by Zabulun. Eean felt his own hands were strong upon Zabulun, and yet he could not throw him. Soon Eean lost sense of everything except two gripping and rocking figures.

They wrestled their way across the island, down to the shore where they had landed and where the three horses of King Manus were lying. They wrestled until the sea water came over their feet. Again things became clear to Eean. He knew that if he could overthrow²² the Enchanter he would win his freedom from him.

He fastened upon Zabulun a grip that seemed to be stronger than his own life. He heaved with a power that seemed to bring up his last breath. He bent²³ Zabulun over. He brought him down, his head in the water. He flung himself upon the prone²⁴ Enchanter.

[Pg 161]

“What would you have of me?” Zabulun said at last.

“Release. Say you have no more mastership in me.”

“I say it. I have no more mastership in you. You have release from me.”

“I let you rise.”

Then Eean took his grip off Zabulun. The Enchanter rose up and took himself out of the water.

So Zabulun was defeated, and so release was given to Eean, The Boy Apprenticed to the Enchanter. Zabulun mounted the black horse that was King Manus’s and had him swim the water. He rode across the plain and over one mountain and another mountain until he came to the castle of King Manus. There he left the horse to neigh for his grooms²⁵.

What became of Zabulun afterward is not written in the book that is the History of the Enchanters. Some say that from that Midsummer’s Day he ceased to be named with the great Enchanters. The powers he had gained, they say, shrank from him. Afterward a famous[Pg 162] juggler²⁶ appeared in the world. He used to go into the halls of Kings on festival nights and do marvelous feats²⁷ with balls and rings and knives, and play music on all manner of instruments, going from King’s castle to King’s castle. That juggler, they say—but they may be mistaken—was Zabulun, once Prince of Babylon, and once master of the Inaccessible²⁸ Island.

Eean and Bird-of-Gold went within the White Tower, and conversed²⁹ from noon to dusk with Merlin and the lady Vivien. Before that Midsummer’s Day had passed into darkness, they mounted the white steed and the red steed and had them swim across the waters. When they came to the farther shore they let the horses stand for a while. Then mounting them again they rode over the mountains and across the plains and came again to the castle of King Manus.

1 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

2 tangles   

（使）缠结， （使）乱作一团( tangle的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Long hair tangles easily. 长头发容易打结。
• Tangles like this still interrupted their intercourse. 像这类纠缠不清的误会仍然妨碍着他们的交情。

3 foam   

v./n.泡沫，起泡沫

参考例句：

• The glass of beer was mostly foam.这杯啤酒大部分是泡沫。
• The surface of the water is full of foam.水面都是泡沫。

4 plunge   

v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲

参考例句：

• Test pool's water temperature before you plunge in.在你跳入之前你应该测试水温。
• That would plunge them in the broil of the two countries.那将会使他们陷入这两国的争斗之中。

5 afterward   

adv.后来；以后

参考例句：

• Let's go to the theatre first and eat afterward. 让我们先去看戏，然后吃饭。
• Afterward,the boy became a very famous artist.后来，这男孩成为一个很有名的艺术家。

6 riddle   

n.谜，谜语，粗筛；vt.解谜，给…出谜，筛，检查，鉴定，非难，充满于；vi.出谜

参考例句：

• The riddle couldn't be solved by the child.这个谜语孩子猜不出来。
• Her disappearance is a complete riddle.她的失踪完全是一个谜。

7 bards   

n.诗人( bard的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There were feasts and drinking and singing by the bards. 他们欢宴狂饮，还有吟游诗人的歌唱作伴助兴。 来自英汉非文学 - 历史
• Round many western islands have I been Which Bards in fealty to Apollo hold. 还有多少西方的海岛，歌都已使它们向阿波罗臣服。 来自英汉 - 翻译样例 - 文学

8 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。

9 mightily   

ad.强烈地；非常地

参考例句：

• He hit the peg mightily on the top with a mallet. 他用木槌猛敲木栓顶。
• This seemed mightily to relieve him. 干完这件事后，他似乎轻松了许多。

10 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。

11 mighty   

adj.强有力的；巨大的

参考例句：

• A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
• The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。

12 apprenticed   

学徒，徒弟( apprentice的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• I was apprenticed to a builder when I was fourteen. 14岁时，我拜一个建筑工人为师当学徒。
• Lucius got apprenticed to a stonemason. 卢修斯成了石匠的学徒。

13 awry   

adj.扭曲的，错的

参考例句：

• She was in a fury over a plan that had gone awry. 计划出了问题，她很愤怒。
• Something has gone awry in our plans.我们的计划出差错了。

14 hawk   

n.鹰，骗子；鹰派成员

参考例句：

• The hawk swooped down on the rabbit and killed it.鹰猛地朝兔子扑下来,并把它杀死。
• The hawk snatched the chicken and flew away.老鹰叼了小鸡就飞走了。

15 ruffled   

adj. 有褶饰边的, 起皱的 动词ruffle的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• She ruffled his hair affectionately. 她情意绵绵地拨弄着他的头发。
• All this talk of a strike has clearly ruffled the management's feathers. 所有这些关于罢工的闲言碎语显然让管理层很不高兴。

16 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

17 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。

18 tongs   

n.钳；夹子

参考例句：

• She used tongs to put some more coal on the fire.她用火钳再夹一些煤放进炉子里。
• He picked up the hot metal with a pair of tongs.他用一把钳子夹起这块热金属。

19 beak   

n.鸟嘴，茶壶嘴，钩形鼻

参考例句：

• The bird had a worm in its beak.鸟儿嘴里叼着一条虫。
• This bird employs its beak as a weapon.这种鸟用嘴作武器。

20 bruises   

n.瘀伤，伤痕，擦伤( bruise的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He was covered with bruises after falling off his bicycle. 他从自行车上摔了下来，摔得浑身伤痕。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The pear had bruises of dark spots. 这个梨子有碰伤的黑斑。 来自《简明英汉词典》

21 wrestled   

v.（与某人）搏斗( wrestle的过去式和过去分词 )；扭成一团；扭打；（与…）摔跤

参考例句：

• As a boy he had boxed and wrestled. 他小的时候又是打拳又是摔跤。
• Armed guards wrestled with the intruder. 武装警卫和闯入者扭打起来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

22 overthrow   

v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆

参考例句：

• After the overthrow of the government,the country was in chaos.政府被推翻后，这个国家处于混乱中。
• The overthrow of his plans left him much discouraged.他的计划的失败使得他很气馁。

23 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

24 prone   

adj.(to)易于…的，很可能…的；俯卧的

参考例句：

• Some people are prone to jump to hasty conclusions.有些人往往作出轻率的结论。
• He is prone to lose his temper when people disagree with him.人家一不同意他的意见,他就发脾气。

25 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

26 juggler   

n. 变戏法者, 行骗者

参考例句：

• Dick was a juggler, who threw mists before your eyes. 迪克是个骗子，他在你面前故弄玄虚。
• The juggler juggled three bottles. 这个玩杂耍的人可同时抛接3个瓶子。

27 feats   

功绩，伟业，技艺( feat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He used to astound his friends with feats of physical endurance. 过去，他表现出来的惊人耐力常让朋友们大吃一惊。
• His heroic feats made him a legend in his own time. 他的英雄业绩使他成了他那个时代的传奇人物。

28 inaccessible   

adj.达不到的，难接近的

参考例句：

• This novel seems to me among the most inaccessible.这本书对我来说是最难懂的小说之一。
• The top of Mount Everest is the most inaccessible place in the world.珠穆朗玛峰是世界上最难到达的地方。

29 conversed   

v.交谈，谈话( converse的过去式 )

参考例句：

• I conversed with her on a certain problem. 我与她讨论某一问题。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• She was cheerful and polite, and conversed with me pleasantly. 她十分高兴，也很客气，而且愉快地同我交谈。 来自辞典例句