The walls of the bed chambers as well as of the atrium were painted in black, with figures and landscapes in colour. On the centre of the side facing the vestibule was the tablinum, the apartment of Caius Muro himself. This formed his sitting room and study. The floor was raised about a foot above that of the atrium, and it was partly open both on that side and on the other, looking into the peristylium, so that, while at work, he commanded a view of all that was going on in the atrium and in the courtyard. In the centre of this was a fountain surrounded by plants. From the courtyard opened the triclinium, or dining room, and also rooms used as storerooms, kitchen, and the sleeping places of the slaves.
At the back of the peristylium was the oecus, or state apartment, where Caius received distinguished4 guests, and where, in the lifetime of Julia, entertainments were given to the ladies of the colony. Like the triclinium, this room was also partially5 open at both ends, affording the guests a view of the graceful6 fountain on the one side and of the garden on the other. In winter wooden frames, with heavy hangings, were erected8 across these openings and that of the tablinum, for the Romans soon found the necessity for modifying the arrangements which, although well suited for an Italian climate, were wholly unfit for that of Britain. The opening in the centre of the atrium was then closed with an awning9 of oiled canvas, which admitted a certain amount of light to pass, but prevented the passage of rain and snow, and kept out much of the cold. There was a narrow passage between the atrium and the peristylium; this was called the fauces. Above the chambers round the atrium was a second story, approached by a staircase from the peristylium; here were the apartments of the ladies and of the female slaves.
As Beric entered the atrium, a man, who was reading a roll of parchment, rose to his feet.
"Welcome, Beric!" he said warmly.
"All hail, preceptor!" the lad replied. "Are all well here?"
"All well, Beric. We had looked to see you before, and Berenice has been constantly asking me when you were coming."
"I had been absent over four years, you see," Beric replied, "and it was not easy to get away from home again. Now I must speak to Caius." He crossed the apartment, and stood at the entrance to the tablinum. Caius looked up from a military treatise10 he was perusing11.
"Ah, Beric! it is you! I am glad to see you again, though I am sorry to observe that you have abandoned our fashions and taken to the native garb12 again."
"It was necessary, Caius," Beric said. "I should have lost all influence with the tribe had I not laid aside my Roman dress. As it is, they regard me with some doubt, as one too enamoured of Roman customs."
"We have heard of you, Beric, and, indeed, report says that you speak well of us, and are already famous for your relations of our history."
"I thought it well that my countrymen should know your great deeds," Beric said, "and should see by what means you have come to rule the world. I received nought13 but kindness at your hands, and no prisoner's lot was ever made more easy than mine. To you and yours I am deeply grateful. If your people all behaved as kindly14 towards the natives of this country as you did to me, Britain would be conquered without need of drawing sword from scabbard."
"I know not that, Beric; to rule, one should be strong as well as kind. Still, as you know, I think that things might have been arranged far less harshly than they have been. It was needful that we should show ourselves to be masters; but I regret the harshness that has been too often used, and I would that not one of us here, from the governor down to the poorest soldier, was influenced by a desire for gain, but that each was animated15, as he assuredly should be, only by a desire to uphold the glory and power of Rome. But that would be expecting too much from human nature, and even among you there are plenty ready to side against their countrymen for the sake of Roman gold. In that they have less excuse than we. Custom and habit have made our wants many, and all aim at attaining16 the luxuries of the rich. On the other hand, your wants are few, and I see not that the piling up of wealth adds in any way to your happiness."
"That is true, Caius. I quite agree with you that it is far more excusable for a Roman to covet17 wealth than for a Briton; and while I blame many officials and soldiers for the harshness with which they strive to wring18 all their possessions from my countrymen, I deem their conduct as worthy19 and honourable20 when compared with that of Britons who sell their country for your gold."
"We must take the world as we find it, Beric. We may regret that greed and the love of luxury should influence men, as we may grieve that they are victims of other base passions; but it is of no use quarrelling with human nature. Certain it is that all vices21 bring their own punishment, and that the Romans were a far nobler race when they were poor and simple, in the days of the early consuls22, than they are now, with all their power, their riches, and their luxuries. Such is the history of all peoples--of Egypt, of Persia, of Greece, and Carthage; and methinks that Rome, too, will run the course of other nations, and that some day, far distant maybe, she will sink beneath the weight of her power and her luxury, and that some younger and more vigorous people will, bit by bit, wrest23 her dominions24 from her and rule in her place.
"As yet, happily, I see no signs of failing in her powers. She is still vigorous, and even in the distant outskirts25 of the empire the wave of conquest flows onward26. Happily for us, I think, it can flow no farther this way; there is but one island beyond this to conquer, and then, as in Western Gaul and Iberia, the ocean says to Rome, 'Thou shalt go no farther.' Would that to the south, the east, and north a similar barrier checked our progress, then we could rest and be content, and need no longer waste our strength in fresh conquests, or in opposing the incursions of hordes27 of barbarians28 from regions unknown to us even by report. I could wish myself, Beric, that nature had placed your island five days' sail from the coasts of Gaul, instead of placing it within sight. Then I might have been enjoying life in my villa29 among the Tuscan hills with my daughter, instead of being exposed at any moment to march with the Legion against the savage30 mountaineers of the west. Ah! here comes Berenice," he broke off, as his daughter, attended by her old nurse, entered the atrium from the vestibule. She hastened her steps as she saw Beric standing31 before her father in the tablinum.
"I knew you would come back, Beric, because you promised me; but you have been a long time in keeping your word."
"I am not my own master at home, any more than I was here, Berenice," he said, "and my mother would not hear before of my leaving her. I have only come now for an hour's visit, to see that all goes well in this house, and to tell you that I had not forgotten my promise; the next time I hope to pay a longer visit. At daybreak tomorrow we have a party to hunt the wolves, which have so multiplied as to become a danger in the forests of late."
"I should like to go out to see a wolf hunt, Beric."
"I fear that would not be possible," he said; "the woods are thick and tangled32, and we have to force our way through to get to their lair33."
"But last winter they came close to the town, and I heard that some came even into the streets."
"Yes, they will do so when driven by hunger; but they were hunting then and not being hunted. No, Berenice, I fear that your wish to see a wolf hunt cannot be gratified; they are savage beasts, and are great trouble and no loss to us. In winter they carry off many children, and sometimes devour34 grown up people, and in times of long snow have been known to attack large parties, and, in spite of a stout35 resistance by the men, to devour them. In summer they are only met singly, but in winter they go in packs and kill numbers of our cattle."
"I should like to go into the woods," the girl said earnestly, "I am tired of this town. My father says he will take me with him some day when he goes west, but so far I have seen nothing except this town and Verulamium, and the country was all just as it is here, fields and cultivation36. We could see the forests in the distance, but that was all. My father says, that if we went west, we should travel for miles through the forest and should sleep in tents, but that we cannot do it till everything is quiet and peaceful. Oh, Beric! I do wish the Britons would not be always fighting."
Beric smiled. "The British girls, Berenice, say they wish the Romans would not be always fighting."
"It is very troublesome," she said pettishly37. "I should like everyone to be friends, and then there would be no need to have so many soldiers in Britain, and perhaps the emperor would order our legions home. Father says that we ought to look upon this as home now, for that the legion may remain here for years and years; but he said the other day that he thought that if everything was quiet here he should, when I am sixteen years old, obtain leave from the governor, and go back to Rome for two or three years, and I think, though he has not said so outright38, that he will perhaps retire and settle there."
"It would be much the best for you," Beric said earnestly. "I should be sorry, because you have been very kind to me, and I should grieve were you to leave me altogether; but there may be trouble here again some day, and I think it would be far better for you to be back in Rome, where you would have all the pleasures and delights of the great capital, and live in ease and comfort, without the risk of your father having to march away to the wars. I know that if I were your father I would take you back. He says that his villa there is exactly like this, and you have many relations there, and there must be all sorts of pleasures and grand spectacles far beyond anything there is here. I am sure it would be better for you, and happier."
"I thought that you would be quite sorry," she said gravely.
"So I shall be very sorry for myself," Beric said; "as, next to my own mother, there is no one I care for so much as you and your father. I shall miss you terribly; but yet I am so sure that it would be best for you to be at home with your own people, that I should be glad to hear that your father was going to take you back to Rome."
But Berenice did not altogether accept the explanation. She felt really hurt that Beric should view even the possibility of her going away with equanimity39, and she very shortly went off to her own apartment; while a few minutes later, Beric, after bidding goodbye to Caius, started to rejoin Boduoc, whom he found waiting at the edge of the forest.
That evening Berenice said to her father, "I was angry with Beric today, father."
"Were you, child? what about?"
"I told him that perhaps in another three years, when I was sixteen, you would take me to Rome, and that I thought, perhaps, if we went there you would not come back again; and instead of being very much grieved, as I thought he would, he seemed quite pleased at the idea. Of course he said he was sorry, but he did not really seem to be, and he says he thought it would be very much better for me. I thought he was grateful, father, and liked us very much, and now I am quite disappointed in him."
Caius was silent for a minute or two.
"I do not think Beric is ungrateful," he said, "and I am sure that he likes us, Berenice."
"He said he did, father, that he cared for us more than anyone except his mother; but if he cared for us, surely he would be very, very sorry for us to go away."
"Beric is a Briton, my dear, and we are Romans. By this time he must have thoroughly40 learned his people's feelings towards us. I have never believed, as some do, that Britain is as yet completely conquered, and that when we have finished with the Silures in the west our work will be completely done.
"Beric, who knows his countrymen, may feel this even more strongly than I do, and may know that, sooner or later, there will be another great effort on the part of the Britons to drive us out. It may be a year, and it may be twenty, but I believe myself that some day we shall have a fierce struggle to maintain our hold here, and Beric, who may see this also, and who knows the feeling of his countrymen, may wish that we should be away before the storm comes.
"There is but little doubt, Berenice, that we despise these people too much, still less that we treat them harshly and cruelly. Were I propraetor of Britain, I would rule them differently. I am but the commander of a legion, and my duty is but to rule my men. I would punish, and punish sternly, all attempts at rising; but I would give them no causes for discontent. We treat them as if their spirit were altogether broken, as if they and their possessions were but our chattels41, as if they possessed42 no rights, not even the right to live. Some day we shall find our mistake, and when the time comes the awakening43 will be a rude one. It is partly because I see dimly the storm gathering44 in the distance that I long to be home again. As long as your mother lived this seemed a home to me, now I desire rest and quiet. I have done my share of fighting, I have won honour enough, and I may look before long to be a general; but I have had enough of it, and long for my quiet villa in the Alban hills, with an occasional visit to Rome, where you can take part in its gaieties, and I can have the use of the libraries stored with the learning of the world. So do not think harshly of Beric, my child; he may see the distant storm more plainly than I do. I am sure that he cares for us, and if he is glad at the news that we are going, it is because he wishes us away and in safety before the trouble comes.
"Nero has come to the imperial throne, and the men he is sending hither are of a widely different stamp from the lieutenants45 of Claudius. The latter knew that the Britons can fight, and that, wild and untutored as they are, it needed all the skill and courage of Ostorius and Vespasian to reduce them to order. The newcomers regard them as slaves to be trampled46 upon, robbed, and ill used as they choose. I am sure they will find their mistake. As long as they deal only with the tribes thoroughly subdued47, the Trinobantes, the Cantii, the Belgae, and the Dumnonii, all may be quiet; they dare not move. But the Iceni and Brigantes, although they both have felt the weight of our swords, are still partly independent, and if pressed too severely48 will assuredly revolt, and if they give the signal all Britain may be up in arms again. I am scoffed49 at if I venture to hint to these newcomers that there is life yet in Britain. Dwelling50 here in a Roman city, it seems to them absurd that there can be danger from the savages51 who roam in the forests that stretch away from beyond the river at our very feet to the far distant north, to regions of which we are absolutely ignorant. I regard what Beric has said as another warning."
"But I thought that Beric was our friend, father, and you told me you had heard that he was teaching his countrymen how great is our history."
"Beric is a Briton in the midst of Britons, child. He is a partially tamed wolf cub52, and had he been sent to Rome and remained there he would have done credit to our teaching. He is fond of study, and at the same time fond of arms; he might have turned out a wise citizen or a valiant53 soldier. But this was not done. He has gone back again among the wolves, and whatever his feelings towards us personally may be, he must side with his own people. Did they suspect him of being Roman at heart they would tear him in pieces. I believe that as he knows our strength, and that in the end we must conquer, his influence will always be on the side of peace; but if arms are taken up he will have no choice but to side with his countrymen, and should it be another ten years before the cloud bursts, he may be one of our most formidable opponents. Don't blame him, child; he only shows his regard for you, by wishing you back safely in Rome before trouble arises."
"You are just in time, Beric," Boduoc said as the young chief joined him. "The sun is but a hand's breadth above that hill. Here are your spear and sword where you hid them, though why you should have done it I know not, seeing that they have not yet ventured to order us to disarm54."
"And if they did we should not obey them, Boduoc; but as the Trinobantes have long been forbidden to carry arms, it might have caused trouble had I gone armed into the town, and we don't want trouble at present. I went on a peaceful visit, and there was no occasion for me to carry my weapons. But give me a piece of that deer flesh and an oaten cake; we have a long march before us."
"Why, did you not eat with them?"
"No. I was, of course, invited, but I had but a short time to stop and did not wish it to seem as if I had come for a taste of Roman dainties again."
As soon as the meal was eaten they set out. It was but a track through the forest, for although the trees had been cleared away for a width of twenty feet there was but little traffic, for the road was seldom traversed, save by an occasional messenger from Prasutagus. It had been used by the legions at the time that Ostorius had built a line of forts stretching from the Nen to the Severn, and by it they had advanced when the Iceni had risen; but from that time it had been unused by them, as the Iceni had paid their tribute regularly, and held aloof55 from all hostile movements against them. Prasutagus was always profuse56 in his assurance of friendship towards Rome, and save that the Roman officers visited his capital once a year to receive their tribute, they troubled but little about the Iceni, having their hands occupied by their wars in the south and west, while their main road to the north ran far to the west of Camalodunum.
"We shall arrive about midnight," Beric said as they strode along.
"What is to prevent us, Boduoc?"
"Well, the wolves may prevent us, Beric; we heard them howling several times as we came along this morning. The rapacious58 brutes59 have not been so bold for years, and it is high time that we hunted them down, or at any rate made our part of the country too hot to hold them. I told Borgon before I started that if we did not return by an hour after midnight it would be because we had been obliged to take to a tree, and that he had better bring out a party at the first break of day to rescue us."
"But we have never had any trouble of that kind while we have been hunting, Boduoc."
"No; but I think there must have been some great hunts up in Norfolk, and that the brutes have come south. Certain it is that there have in the last week been great complaints of them, and, as you know, it was for that reason that your mother ordered all the men of the tribe to assemble by tomorrow morning to make war against them. The people in the farms and villages are afraid to stay out after nightfall. No man with arms in his hands fears a wolf, or even two or three of them, in the daytime; but when they are in packs they are formidable assailants, even to a strong party. Things are getting as bad now as they were twenty years ago. My father has told me that during one hard winter they destroyed full half our herds60, and that hundreds of people were devoured61 by them. They had to erect7 stockades62 round the villages and drive in all the cattle, and half the men kept guard by turns, keeping great fires alight to frighten them away. When we have cleared the land of those two legged wolves the Romans, we shall have to make a general war upon them, for truly they are becoming a perfect scourge64 to the land. It is not like the wild boar, of which there might with advantage be more, for they do but little harm, getting their food for the most part in the woods, and furnishing us with good eating as well as good sport. But the wolves give us nothing in return, and save for the sport no one would trouble to hunt them; and it is only by a general order for their destruction, or by the offer of a reward for their heads, that we shall get rid of them."
"Well, let us press on, Boduoc. I would not that anything should occur to prevent us starting with the rest in the morning."
"We are walking a good pace now," Boduoc said, "and shall gain but little by going faster. One cannot run for six hours; and besides it is as much as we can do to walk fast in the dark. Did we try to run we should like enough fall over a stump65 or root, and maybe not arrive there even though the wolves stopped us not."
For two hours more they strode along. Boduoc's eyes had been trained by many a long night spent among the woods, and dark as it was beneath the overarching trees, he was able to discern objects around him, and kept along in his regular stride as surely and almost as noiselessly as a wild beast; but the four years spent in the Roman town had impaired66 Beric's nocturnal vision; and though he had done much hunting since his return home, he was far from being able to use his eyes as his companion did, and he more than once stumbled over the roots that crossed the path.
"It is all very well for you, Boduoc, who have the eyes of a cat; but you must remember we are travelling in the dark, and although I can make out the trunks on either hand the ground is all black to me, and I am walking quite at hazard."
"It is not what I should call a light night," Boduoc admitted.
"Well, no, considering that there is no moon, and that the clouds that were rising when the sun went down have overspread all the sky. I don't see that it could well be darker."
"Well we will stop at that hut in the little clearing, somewhere about half a mile on, and get a couple of torches. If you were to fall and twist your foot you would not be able to hunt tomorrow."
"What is that?" Beric exclaimed as a distant cry came to their ears.
"I think it is the voice of a woman," Boduoc said. "Or maybe it is one of the spirits of evil."
Beric during his stay among the Romans had lost faith in most of his superstitions68. "Nonsense, Boduoc! it was the cry of a woman; it came from ahead. Maybe some woman returning late has been attacked by wolves. Come along," he shouted, and he started to run, followed reluctantly by his companion.
"Stop, Beric, stop!" he said in a short time, "I hear other sounds."
"So do I," Beric agreed, but without checking his pace. "My eyes may be dull, Boduoc, but they are not so dull as your ears. Why, don't you know the snarling69 of wolves when you hear them?"
Again the loud cry of distress70 came on the night air. "They have not seized her yet," Beric said. "Her first cry would have been her last had they done so. She must be in that hut, Boduoc, and they are trying to get at her. Maybe her husband is away."
"It is wolves," Boduoc agreed in a tone of relief. "Since that is all I am ready for them; but sword and spear are of no avail against the spirits of the air. We must be careful though, or instead of us attacking we may be attacked."
Beric paid no attention. They had as they passed the hut that morning stopped for a drink of water there, and he saw now before his eyes the tall comely71 young woman with a baby in her arms and two children hanging to her skirts. In a short time they stood at the edge of the little clearing by the side of the path. It was lighter72 here, and he could make out the outline of the rude hut, and, as he thought, that of many dark figures moving round it. A fierce growling73 and snarling rose from around the hut, with once or twice a sharp yell of pain.
"There are half a dozen of them on the roof," Boduoc said, "and a score or more round the hut. At present they haven't winded us, for the air is in our faces."
"I think we had best make a rush at them, Boduoc, shouting at the top of our voices as we go, and bidding the woman stand in readiness to unbar the door. They will be scared for a moment, not knowing how many of us there may be, and once inside we shall be safe from them."
"Let us get as near as we can before we begin to shout, Beric. They may run back a few paces at our voice, but will speedily rally."
Holding their spears in readiness for action they ran forward. When within thirty yards of the hut Boduoc raised his voice in a wild yell, Beric adding his cry and then shouting, "Unbar your door and stand to close it as we enter."
There was, however, no occasion for haste. Boduoc's sudden yell completely scared the wolves, and with whimpers of dismay they scattered74 in all directions. The door opened as Beric and his companion came up, and they rushed in and closed it after them. A fire burned on the hearth75. A dead wolf lay on the ground, the children crouched76 in terror on a pile of rushes, and a woman stood with a spear in her hand.
"Thanks to our country's gods you have come!" she said. "A few minutes later and all would have been over with me and my children. See, one has already made his way through the roof, and in half a dozen places they have scratched holes well nigh large enough to pass through."
"We heard your cry," Beric said, "and hastened forward at the top of our speed."
"It was for you that I called," the woman said. "By what you said this morning I judged you would be returning about this hour, and it was in hopes you might hear me that I cried out, for I knew well that no one else would be likely to be within earshot."
"Where is your husband?" Beric asked.
"He started this afternoon for Cardun. He and all the able bodied men were ordered to assemble there tonight in readiness to begin the war against the wolves at daybreak. There is no other house within a mile, and even had they heard me there they could have given me no assistance, seeing there are but women and children remaining behind."
"They are coming again," Boduoc broke in; "I can hear their feet pattering on the dead leaves. Which shall we do, Beric, pile more wood on the fire, or let it go out altogether? I think that we shall do better without it; it is from the roof that they will attack, and if we have a light here we cannot see them till they are ready to leap down; whereas, if we are in darkness we may be able to make them out when they approach the holes, or as they pass over any of the crevices77."
"I don't know, Boduoc; I think we shall do better if we have light. We may not make them out so well, but at least we can use our spears better than we could in the dark, when we might strike them against the rafters or thick branches."
The woman at once gathered some of the pieces of wood that had fallen through as the wolves made the holes and put them on the hearth, where they soon blazed up brightly.
"I will take this big hole," Boduoc said, "it is the only one by which they can come down at present. Do you try and prevent them from enlarging any of the others."
"They get up by the wood pile," the woman said. "It is against that side of the hut, and reaches nearly up to the eaves.
There was a sharp yell as Boduoc thrust his spear up through the hole when he saw a pair of eyes, shining in the firelight, appear at the edge. At the same moment there was a sound of scraping and scratching at some of the other holes. The roof was constructed of rough poles laid at short distances apart, and above these were small branches, on which was a sort of thatch79 of reeds and rushes. Standing close under one of the holes Beric could see nothing, but from the sound of the scratching he could tell from which side the wolf was at work enlarging it. He carefully thrust the point of his spear through the branches and gave a sudden lunge upwards80. A fierce yell was heard, followed by the sound of a body rolling down the roof, and then a struggle accompanied by angry snarling and growling outside.
"That is one less, Beric," Boduoc said. "I fancy I only scratched mine. Ah!" he exclaimed suddenly, as without the least warning a wolf sprang down through the hole. Before it could gather its legs under it for a fresh spring Beric and the woman both thrust their spears deeply into it, Boduoc keeping his eyes fixed81 on the hole, and making a lunge as another wolf peered down in readiness to spring after the one that had entered.
For hours the fight went on. Gradually the holes, in spite of the efforts of the defenders82, were enlarged, and the position became more and more critical. At least twenty of the wolves were slain83; but as the attack was kept up as vigorously as at first, it was evident that fresh reinforcements had arrived to the assailants.
"We cannot keep them out much longer, Beric," Boduoc said at last. "It seems to me that our only plan is to fire the hut, and then, each taking a child, to make a rush across to the trees and climb them. The sudden burst of fire will drive them back for a little, and we may make good our retreat to the trees."
"What time is it, think you, Boduoc?"
"It must be two or three hours past midnight, and if Borgon carried out my instructions help ought to be near at hand. I would that we could let them know of our peril84."
"There is a cow horn," the woman said, pointing to the corner of the hut. "My husband uses it for calling in the cattle."
Boduoc seized the horn and blew a deep hollow blast upon it. There was a sudden pattering of feet overhead and then silence.
"That has scared them," Beric said. "Blow again, Boduoc; if we can but gain half an hour our friends may be up."
Again and again the hoarse85 roar of the cow horn rose, but the wolves speedily recovered from their scare and crowded on the roof.
"We can't hold out much longer," Beric said, as two wolves that leapt down together had just been despatched. "Get a brand from the fire." At this moment there was a sudden scuffle overhead, and the three defenders stood, spear in hand, ready to repel86 a fresh attack; but all was quiet; then a loud shout rose on the air.
"Thank the gods, here they are!" Boduoc said. He listened a moment, but all was still round the hut; then he threw the door open as a score of men with lighted torches came running towards it, and raised a shout of satisfaction as the light fell upon Beric.
"Thanks for your aid, my friends!" he said as they crowded round him; "never was a shout more welcome than yours. You were just in time, as you may see by looking at the roof. We were about to fire it and make for the trees, though I doubt if one of us would have reached them."
As the men entered the hut and looked at the ragged87 holes in the roof and the bodies of nine wolves stretched on the ground, they saw that they had, indeed, arrived only just in time. Among the rescuing party was the man to whom the hut belonged, whose joy at finding his wife and children unhurt was great indeed; and he poured forth88 his thanks to Beric and Boduoc when he learned from his wife that they had voluntarily abandoned the wood, where they could have been secure in the shelter of a tree, in order to assist her in defending the hut against the wolves.
"You must all come with us," Beric said; "the wolves may return after we have gone. When our hunt is over I will send some men to help you to repair your roof. Where are the cattle?"
"They are safe in a stockade63 at the next village," the man said. "We finished it only yesterday, and drove in all the cattle from the forests, and collected great quantities of wood so that the women might keep up great bonfires if the wolves tried to break in."
A few minutes later the party started on their return. As they walked they could sometimes hear the pattering of footsteps on the falling leaves, but the torches deterred89 the animals from making an attack, and after three hours' walking they arrived at Cardun. The village stood on a knoll90 rising from swamps, through which a branch of the Stour wound its way sluggishly91. Round the crest92 of the knoll ran two steep earthen banks, one rising behind the other, and in the inclosed space, some eight acres in extent, stood the village. The contrast between it and the Roman city but two-and-twenty miles away was striking. No great advance had been made upon the homes that the people had occupied in Gaul before their emigration. In the centre stood Parta's abode93, distinguished from the rest only by its superior size. The walls were of mud and stone, the roof high, so as to let the water run more easily off the rough thatching. It contained but one central hall surrounded by half a dozen small apartments.
The huts of the people consisted but of a single room, with a hole in the roof by which the smoke of the fire in the centre made its way out. The doorway94 was generally closed by a wattle secured by a bar. When this was closed light only found its way into the room through the chinks of the wattle and the hole in the roof. In winter, for extra warmth, a skin was hung before the door. Beyond piles of hides, which served as seats by day and beds at night, there was no furniture whatever in the rooms, save a few earthen cooking pots.
Parta's abode, however, was more sumptuously95 furnished. Across one end ran a sort of dais of beaten earth, raised a foot above the rest of the floor. This was thickly strewn with fresh rushes, and there was a rough table and benches. The walls of the apartment were hidden by skins, principally those of wolves.
The fireplace was in the centre of the lower part of the hall, and arranged on a shelf against the wall were cooking pots of iron and brass96; while on a similar shelf on the wall above the dais were jugs97 and drinking vessels98 of gold. Hams of wild boar and swine hung from the rafters, where too were suspended wild duck and fish, and other articles of food. Parta's own apartment led from the back of the dais. That of Beric was next to it, its separate use having been granted to him on his return from Camalodunum, not without some scoffing99 remarks upon his effeminacy in requiring a separate apartment, instead of sleeping as usual on the dais; while the followers100 and attendants stretched themselves on the floor of the hall.
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1
mosaic
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| n./adj.镶嵌细工的，镶嵌工艺品的，嵌花式的 | |
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2
aperture
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| n.孔，隙，窄的缺口 | |
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3
chambers
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| n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅 | |
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4
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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5
partially
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| adv.部分地，从某些方面讲 | |
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6
graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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7
erect
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| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
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8
ERECTED
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| adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立 | |
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9
awning
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| n.遮阳篷；雨篷 | |
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10
treatise
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| n.专著；(专题)论文 | |
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11
perusing
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| v.读（某篇文字）( peruse的现在分词 )；（尤指）细阅；审阅；匆匆读或心不在焉地浏览（某篇文字） | |
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12
garb
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| n.服装，装束 | |
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13
nought
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| n.／adj.无，零 | |
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14
kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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15
animated
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| adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的 | |
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16
attaining
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的现在分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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17
covet
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| vt.垂涎；贪图(尤指属于他人的东西) | |
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18
wring
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| n.扭绞；v.拧，绞出，扭 | |
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19
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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20
honourable
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| adj.可敬的；荣誉的，光荣的 | |
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21
vices
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| 缺陷( vice的名词复数 )； 恶习； 不道德行为； 台钳 | |
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22
consuls
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| 领事( consul的名词复数 )； （古罗马共和国时期）执政官 （古罗马共和国及其军队的最高首长，同时共有两位，每年选举一次） | |
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23
wrest
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| n.扭，拧，猛夺；v.夺取，猛扭，歪曲 | |
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24
dominions
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| 统治权( dominion的名词复数 )； 领土； 疆土； 版图 | |
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25
outskirts
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| n.郊外，郊区 | |
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26
onward
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| adj.向前的，前进的；adv.向前，前进，在先 | |
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hordes
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| n.移动着的一大群( horde的名词复数 )；部落 | |
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28
barbarians
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| n.野蛮人( barbarian的名词复数 )；外国人；粗野的人；无教养的人 | |
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29
villa
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| n.别墅，城郊小屋 | |
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30
savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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31
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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32
tangled
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| adj. 纠缠的，紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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33
lair
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| n.野兽的巢穴；躲藏处 | |
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34
devour
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| v.吞没；贪婪地注视或谛听，贪读；使着迷 | |
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36
cultivation
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| n.耕作，培养，栽培（法），养成 | |
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37
pettishly
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38
outright
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| adv.坦率地；彻底地；立即；adj.无疑的；彻底的 | |
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39
equanimity
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| n.沉着，镇定 | |
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40
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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41
chattels
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| n.动产，奴隶( chattel的名词复数 ) | |
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42
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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43
awakening
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| n.觉醒，醒悟 adj.觉醒中的；唤醒的 | |
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44
gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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45
lieutenants
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| n.陆军中尉( lieutenant的名词复数 )；副职官员；空军；仅低于…官阶的官员 | |
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46
trampled
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| 踩( trample的过去式和过去分词 )； 践踏； 无视； 侵犯 | |
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47
subdued
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| adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
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48
severely
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| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
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49
scoffed
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| 嘲笑，嘲弄( scoff的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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50
dwelling
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| n.住宅，住所，寓所 | |
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51
savages
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| 未开化的人，野蛮人( savage的名词复数 ) | |
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52
cub
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| n.幼兽，年轻无经验的人 | |
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53
valiant
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| adj.勇敢的，英勇的；n.勇士，勇敢的人 | |
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54
disarm
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| v.解除武装，回复平常的编制，缓和 | |
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55
aloof
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| adj.远离的；冷淡的，漠不关心的 | |
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56
profuse
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| adj.很多的，大量的，极其丰富的 | |
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57
curtly
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| adv.简短地 | |
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58
rapacious
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| adj.贪婪的，强夺的 | |
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59
brutes
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| 兽( brute的名词复数 )； 畜生； 残酷无情的人； 兽性 | |
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60
herds
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| 兽群( herd的名词复数 )； 牧群； 人群； 群众 | |
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61
devoured
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| 吞没( devour的过去式和过去分词 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光 | |
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62
stockades
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| n.（防御用的）栅栏，围桩( stockade的名词复数 ) | |
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63
stockade
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| n.栅栏，围栏；v.用栅栏防护 | |
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64
scourge
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| n.灾难，祸害；v.蹂躏 | |
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65
stump
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| n.残株，烟蒂，讲演台；v.砍断，蹒跚而走 | |
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66
impaired
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| adj.受损的；出毛病的；有（身体或智力）缺陷的v.损害，削弱( impair的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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67
growled
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| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
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68
superstitions
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| 迷信，迷信行为( superstition的名词复数 ) | |
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69
snarling
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| v.（指狗）吠，嗥叫， （人）咆哮( snarl的现在分词 )；咆哮着说，厉声地说 | |
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70
distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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71
comely
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| adj.漂亮的，合宜的 | |
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72
lighter
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| n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级 | |
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73
growling
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| n.吠声, 咆哮声 v.怒吠, 咆哮, 吼 | |
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74
scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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75
hearth
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| n.壁炉炉床，壁炉地面 | |
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76
crouched
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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77
crevices
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| n.（尤指岩石的）裂缝，缺口( crevice的名词复数 ) | |
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78
thump
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| v.重击，砰然地响；n.重击，重击声 | |
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79
thatch
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| vt.用茅草覆盖…的顶部；n.茅草(屋) | |
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80
upwards
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| adv.向上，在更高处...以上 | |
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81
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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82
defenders
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| n.防御者( defender的名词复数 )；守卫者；保护者；辩护者 | |
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83
slain
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| 杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的过去分词 )； (slay的过去分词) | |
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84
peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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85
hoarse
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| adj.嘶哑的，沙哑的 | |
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86
repel
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| v.击退，抵制，拒绝，排斥 | |
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87
ragged
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| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
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88
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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89
deterred
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| v.阻止，制止( deter的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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90
knoll
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| n.小山，小丘 | |
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91
sluggishly
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| adv.懒惰地；缓慢地 | |
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92
crest
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| n.顶点；饰章；羽冠；vt.达到顶点；vi.形成浪尖 | |
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93
abode
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| n.住处，住所 | |
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94
doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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95
sumptuously
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| 奢侈地，豪华地 | |
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96
brass
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| n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器 | |
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97
jugs
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| （有柄及小口的）水壶( jug的名词复数 ) | |
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98
vessels
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| n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人 | |
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99
scoffing
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| n. 嘲笑, 笑柄, 愚弄 v. 嘲笑, 嘲弄, 愚弄, 狼吞虎咽 | |
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100
followers
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| 追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件 | |
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