Chapter XXI The Accusation

 King John murdered his nephew at night, unseen, as he supposed, by any human eye, and yet he was at once harassed¹ by constant fear. He did not draw an easy breath until he landed upon the English coast and stood upon soil which had not been stained by his bloody² deed. Almost as soon as the King’s vessel³ arrived, rumor⁴ was busy, however, and hinted of the crime John had committed. Although the people submissively obeyed him, they looked upon him with suspicion, and at last accusations⁶ were made openly.

 

When John assembled the lords and peers for the first time, the venerable Pembroke, their mouth-piece, asked the King this question: “Where is Arthur, son of Geoffrey, the noble scion⁷ of the Plantagenets?”

 

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The cowardly and conscience-stricken King sought to evade⁸ a reply, but he was besieged⁹ with a storm of demands and accusations, and Pembroke reproached both himself and his friends because they had left Arthur in the cruel hands of his uncle.

 

The King at last answered in a rage: “The peers must first prove the act before they condemn¹⁰ me.” An instant’s silence ensued, for they could not provide the proofs; and John looked with insolent¹¹ scorn at the embarrassed nobles. But before the King could follow up his opportunity, a herald¹² entered the hall, announcing that an unknown knight¹³, attended by squires¹⁴ and heralds¹⁵, had brought a message for the King from Philip Augustus of France. It was an unfortunate time to receive the commission, but he did not dare to refuse audience to Philip’s ambassador.

 

Preceded by a herald carrying a roll of parchment in his hand, with the royal seal appended, a knight in full black armor entered the hall. John was greatly agitated¹⁶ as he saw him approaching, and was still more alarmed when the knight raised his visor and displayed the stern features of a youthful face. It seemed to him for an instant that Arthur stood there to accuse him.

 

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The stranger bowed haughtily¹⁷ to the King, and with exceeding courtesy to the nobles, and then spoke¹⁸: “In the name and by the authority of King Philip of France I summon you, John Plantagenet of Anjou, before the tribunal of your sovereign lord at Paris, to answer for the murder of your nephew, Duke Arthur of Brittany.”

 

John stamped his foot with rage. “This is most presumptuous,” he roared. “It will be time for Philip to sit in judgment¹⁹ on me when he has found some one to accuse me.”

 

“Here I stand, Knight Alan of Mordant²⁰, from Brittany, as your accuser,” said Alan. “I saw you commit the murder, and am ready to prove all the circumstances. Do you doubt my testimony²¹?” he asked, as he saw John make a gesture of contempt. “Well then, behold²² this dagger²³.” Alan drew the weapon from his cloak and held it toward the King. “Do you recognize your name and arms on the blade? It may well be rusty²⁴, for it has not only lain in the waters of the Seine three days, but also has been bathed in Arthur’s blood. Do you deny it, King John? Do you shake your fist at me? If so, I will maintain the truth of my accusation⁵ by my knightly²⁵ honor, and here I cast my glove into the circle of these noble knights²⁶. I summon him to mortal combat who will deny my accusation.”

 

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Alan threw down his glove and replaced the dagger in his cloak. The King looked around the circle of his gallant²⁷ knights almost supplicatingly, but he saw only gloomy and lowering faces, and no one moved to take the glove from the floor. There was universal silence until the King summoned the herald, who took the glove into his keeping.

 

Notwithstanding his discomfiture²⁸, John craftily²⁹ made a bold move to stem the tide of his fast failing cause. Turning to Alan, he said, “If we, as is likely, shall refuse to recognize the summons of Philip of France, what then?”

 

“In that case,” said Alan, “King Philip will declare you, John of England, dispossessed of all your property and fiefs on French soil, and will immediately appropriate them.”

 

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“Let him attempt it!” shouted John in thundering tones. “Hear you, my lords and knights! Philip may execute this summons, but he will not strike me. He will strike at England and England’s greatness. It is Philip’s purpose to wrest³⁰ from us the country which is the birthplace of our ancestors, the land whence sprang our knighthood, majestic³¹ Normandy, beautiful Anjou and Maine. That is the explanation of all his virtuous³² anger over the death of the boy Arthur. What is that boy’s life, what is my own life, provided England’s greatness remain unimpaired? Which one of you, my knights, will hesitate when he is called upon to fight for English honor and English possessions?”

 

John looked around the assembly confident of victory, took the summons, tore it in two, and threw the pieces on the floor. “There is the answer you shall take to Philip of France, Knight Mordant, and you may leave England in three days. For that length of time you have the privileges of an ambassador.”

 

With a firm step John left the hall, and the nobles followed him with unsettled convictions.

 

1 harassed   

adj. 疲倦的，厌烦的 动词harass的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He has complained of being harassed by the police. 他投诉受到警方侵扰。
• harassed mothers with their children 带着孩子的疲惫不堪的母亲们

2 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

3 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

4 rumor   

n.谣言，谣传，传说

参考例句：

• The rumor has been traced back to a bad man.那谣言经追查是个坏人造的。
• The rumor has taken air.谣言流传开了。

5 accusation   

n.控告，指责，谴责

参考例句：

• I was furious at his making such an accusation.我对他的这种责备非常气愤。
• She knew that no one would believe her accusation.她知道没人会相信她的指控。

6 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

7 scion   

n.嫩芽，子孙

参考例句：

• A place is cut in the root stock to accept the scion.砧木上切开一个小口,来接受接穗。
• Nabokov was the scion of an aristocratic family.纳博科夫是一个贵族家庭的阔少。

8 evade   

vt.逃避，回避；避开，躲避

参考例句：

• He tried to evade the embarrassing question.他企图回避这令人难堪的问题。
• You are in charge of the job.How could you evade the issue?你是负责人，你怎么能对这个问题不置可否？

9 besieged   

包围，围困，围攻( besiege的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Paris was besieged for four months and forced to surrender. 巴黎被围困了四个月后被迫投降。
• The community besieged the newspaper with letters about its recent editorial. 公众纷纷来信对报社新近发表的社论提出诘问，弄得报社应接不暇。

10 condemn   

vt.谴责，指责；宣判(罪犯)，判刑

参考例句：

• Some praise him,whereas others condemn him.有些人赞扬他，而有些人谴责他。
• We mustn't condemn him on mere suppositions.我们不可全凭臆测来指责他。

11 insolent   

adj.傲慢的，无理的

参考例句：

• His insolent manner really got my blood up.他那傲慢的态度把我的肺都气炸了。
• It was insolent of them to demand special treatment.他们要求给予特殊待遇，脸皮真厚。

12 herald   

vt.预示...的来临，预告，宣布，欢迎

参考例句：

• In England, the cuckoo is the herald of spring.在英国杜鹃鸟是报春的使者。
• Dawn is the herald of day.曙光是白昼的先驱。

13 knight   

n.骑士，武士；爵士

参考例句：

• He was made an honourary knight.他被授予荣誉爵士称号。
• A knight rode on his richly caparisoned steed.一个骑士骑在装饰华丽的马上。

14 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

15 heralds   

n.使者( herald的名词复数 )；预报者；预兆；传令官v.预示( herald的第三人称单数 )；宣布（好或重要）

参考例句：

• The song of birds heralds the approach of spring. 百鸟齐鸣报春到。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The wind sweeping through the tower heralds a rising storm in the mountain. 山雨欲来风满楼。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

16 agitated   

adj.被鼓动的，不安的

参考例句：

• His answers were all mixed up,so agitated was he.他是那样心神不定，回答全乱了。
• She was agitated because her train was an hour late.她乘坐的火车晚点一个小时，她十分焦虑。

17 haughtily   

adv. 傲慢地, 高傲地

参考例句：

• She carries herself haughtily. 她举止傲慢。
• Haughtily, he stalked out onto the second floor where I was standing. 他傲然跨出电梯，走到二楼，我刚好站在那儿。

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 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

20 mordant   

adj.讽刺的；尖酸的

参考例句：

• Actors feared the critic's mordant pen.演员都惧怕这位批评家辛辣尖刻的笔调。
• His mordant wit appealed to students.他那尖刻的妙语受到学生们的欢迎。

21 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

22 behold   

v.看，注视，看到

参考例句：

• The industry of these little ants is wonderful to behold.这些小蚂蚁辛勤劳动的样子看上去真令人惊叹。
• The sunrise at the seaside was quite a sight to behold.海滨日出真是个奇景。

23 dagger   

n.匕首，短剑，剑号

参考例句：

• The bad news is a dagger to his heart.这条坏消息刺痛了他的心。
• The murderer thrust a dagger into her heart.凶手将匕首刺进她的心脏。

24 rusty   

adj.生锈的；锈色的；荒废了的

参考例句：

• The lock on the door is rusty and won't open.门上的锁锈住了。
• I haven't practiced my French for months and it's getting rusty.几个月不用，我的法语又荒疏了。

25 knightly   

adj. 骑士般的 adv. 骑士般地

参考例句：

• He composed heroic songs and began to write many a tale of enchantment and knightly adventure. 他谱写英雄短歌并着手编写不少记叙巫术和骑士历险的故事。
• If you wear knight costumes, you will certainly have a knightly manner. 身着骑士装，令您具有骑士风度。

26 knights   

骑士； （中古时代的）武士( knight的名词复数 )； 骑士； 爵士； （国际象棋中）马

参考例句：

• stories of knights and fair maidens 关于骑士和美女的故事
• He wove a fascinating tale of knights in shining armour. 他编了一个穿着明亮盔甲的骑士的迷人故事。

27 gallant   

adj.英勇的，豪侠的；(向女人)献殷勤的

参考例句：

• Huang Jiguang's gallant deed is known by all men. 黄继光的英勇事迹尽人皆知。
• These gallant soldiers will protect our country.这些勇敢的士兵会保卫我们的国家的。

28 discomfiture   

n.崩溃；大败；挫败；困惑

参考例句：

• I laughed my head off when I heard of his discomfiture. 听到别人说起他的狼狈相，我放声大笑。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Without experiencing discomfiture and setbacks,one can never find truth. 不经过失败和挫折，便找不到真理。 来自《简明英汉词典》

29 craftily   

狡猾地，狡诈地

参考例句：

• He craftily arranged to be there when the decision was announced. 在决议宣布之时，他狡猾地赶到了那里。
• Strengthen basic training of calculation, get the kids to grasp the radical calculating ability craftily. 加强计算基本训练，通过分、小、百互化口算的练习，使学生熟练地掌握基本的计算技能。

30 wrest   

n.扭，拧，猛夺；v.夺取，猛扭，歪曲

参考例句：

• The officer managed to wrest the gun from his grasp.警官最终把枪从他手中夺走了。
• You wrest my words out of their real meaning.你曲解了我话里的真正含义。

31 majestic   

adj.雄伟的，壮丽的，庄严的，威严的，崇高的

参考例句：

• In the distance rose the majestic Alps.远处耸立着雄伟的阿尔卑斯山。
• He looks majestic in uniform.他穿上军装显得很威风。

32 virtuous   

adj.有品德的，善良的，贞洁的，有效力的

参考例句：

• She was such a virtuous woman that everybody respected her.她是个有道德的女性，人人都尊敬她。
• My uncle is always proud of having a virtuous wife.叔叔一直为娶到一位贤德的妻子而骄傲。