And the murmurs1 and the cries ran through the city, but such was the King’s anger in his castle above that not the strongest nor the proudest baron2 dared move him.
Night ended and the day drew near. Mark, before dawn, rode out to the place where he held pleas and judgment3. He ordered a ditch to be dug in the earth and knotty4 vine-shoots and thorns to be laid therein.
At the hour of Prime he had a ban cried through his land to gather the men of Cornwall; they came with a great noise and the King spoke5 them thus:
“My lords, I have made here a faggot of thorns for Tristan and the Queen; for they have fallen.”
But they cried all, with tears:
“A sentence, lord, a sentence; an indictment6 and pleas; for killing7 without trial is shame and crime.”
But Mark answered in his anger:
“Neither respite8, nor delay, nor pleas, nor sentence. By God that made the world, if any dare petition me, he shall burn first!”
He ordered the fire to be lit, and Tristan to be called.
The flames rose, and all were silent before the flames, and the King waited.
The servants ran to the room where watch was kept on the two lovers; and they dragged Tristan out by his hands though he wept for his honour; but as they dragged him off in such a shame, the Queen still called to him:
“Friend, if I die that you may live, that will be great joy.”
Now, hear how full of pity is God and how He heard the lament9 and the prayers of the common folk, that day.
For as Tristan and his guards went down from the town to where the faggot burned, near the road upon a rock was a chantry, it stood at a cliff’s edge steep and sheer, and it turned to the sea-breeze; in the apse of it were windows glazed10. Then Tristan said to those with him:
“My lords, let me enter this chantry, to pray for a moment the mercy of God whom I have offended; my death is near. There is but one door to the place, my lords, and each of you has his sword drawn11. So, you may well see that, when my prayer to God is done, I must come past you again: when I have prayed God, my lords, for the last time.
And one of the guards said: “Why, let him go in.”
So they let him enter to pray. But he, once in, dashed through and leapt the altar rail and the altar too and forced a window of the apse, and leapt again over the cliff’s edge. So might he die, but not of that shameful12 death before the people.
Now learn, my lords, how generous was God to him that day. The wind took Tristan’s cloak and he fell upon a smooth rock at the cliff’s foot, which to this day the men of Cornwall call “Tristan’s leap.”
His guards still waited for him at the chantry door, but vainly, for God was now his guard. And he ran, and the fine sand crunched13 under his feet, and far off he saw the faggot burning, and the smoke and the crackling flames; and fled.
Sword girt and bridle14 loose, Gorvenal had fled the city, lest the King burn him in his master’s place: and he found Tristan on the shore.
“Master,” said Tristan, “God has saved me, but oh! master, to what end? For without Iseult I may not and I will not live, and I rather had died of my fall. They will burn her for me, then I too will die for her.”
“Lord,” said Gorvenal, “take no counsel of anger. See here this thicket15 with a ditch dug round about it. Let us hide therein where the track passes near, and comers by it will tell us news; and, boy, if they burn Iseult, I swear by God, the Son of Mary, never to sleep under a roof again until she be avenged16.”
There was a poor man of the common folk that had seen Tristan’s fall, and had seen him stumble and rise after, and he crept to Tintagel and to Iseult where she was bound, and said:
“Queen, weep no more. Your friend has fled safely.”
“Then I thank God,” said she, “and whether they bind17 or loose me, and whether they kill or spare me, I care but little now.”
And though blood came at the cord-knots, so tightly had the traitors18 bound her, yet still she said, smiling:
“Did I weep for that when God has loosed my friend I should be little worth.”
When the news came to the King that Tristan had leapt that leap and was lost he paled with anger, and bade his men bring forth19 Iseult.
They dragged her from the room, and she came before the crowd, held by her delicate hands, from which blood dropped, and the crowd called:
“Have pity on her—the loyal Queen and honoured! Surely they that gave her up brought mourning on us all—our curses on them!”
But the King’s men dragged her to the thorn faggot as it blazed. She stood up before the flame, and the crowd cried its anger, and cursed the traitors and the King. None could see her without pity, unless he had a felon’s heart: she was so tightly bound. The tears ran down her face and fell upon her grey gown where ran a little thread of gold, and a thread of gold was twined into her hair.
Just then there had come up a hundred lepers of the King’s, deformed20 and broken, white horribly, and limping on their crutches21. And they drew near the flame, and being evil, loved the sight. And their chief Ivan, the ugliest of them all, cried to the King in a quavering voice:
“O King, you would burn this woman in that flame, and it is sound justice, but too swift, for very soon the fire will fall, and her ashes will very soon be scattered22 by the high wind and her agony be done. Throw her rather to your lepers where she may drag out a life for ever asking death.”
And the King answered:
“Yes; let her live that life, for it is better justice and more terrible. I can love those that gave me such a thought.”
And the lepers answered:
“Throw her among us, and make her one of us. Never shall lady have known a worse end. And look,” they said, “at our rags and our abominations. She has had pleasure in rich stuffs and furs, jewels and walls of marble, honour, good wines and joy, but when she sees your lepers always, King, and only them for ever, their couches and their huts, then indeed she will know the wrong she has done, and bitterly desire even that great flame of thorns.”
And as the King heard them, he stood a long time without moving; then he ran to the Queen and seized her by the hand, and she cried:
“Burn me! rather burn me!”
But the King gave her up, and Ivan took her, and the hundred lepers pressed around, and to hear her cries all the crowd rose in pity. But Ivan had an evil gladness, and as he went he dragged her out of the borough23 bounds, with his hideous24 company.
Now they took that road where Tristan lay in hiding, and Gorvenal said to him:
Then Tristan mounted the horse and spurred it out of the bush, and cried:
“Ivan, you have been at the Queen’s side a moment, and too long. Now leave her if you would live.”
But Ivan threw his cloak away and shouted:
“Your clubs, comrades, and your staves! Crutches in the air—for a fight is on!”
Then it was fine to see the lepers throwing their capes26 aside, and stirring their sick legs, and brandishing27 their crutches, some threatening: groaning28 all; but to strike them Tristan was too noble. There are singers who sing that Tristan killed Ivan, but it is a lie. Too much a knight29 was he to kill such things. Gorvenal indeed, snatching up an oak sapling, crashed it on Ivan’s head till his blood ran down to his misshapen feet. Then Tristan took the Queen.
Henceforth near him she felt no further evil. He cut the cords that bound her arms so straightly, and he left the plain so that they plunged30 into the wood of Morois; and there in the thick wood Tristan was as sure as in a castle keep.
And as the sun fell they halted all three at the foot of a little hill: fear had wearied the Queen, and she leant her head upon his body and slept.
But in the morning, Gorvenal stole from a wood man his bow and two good arrows plumed31 and barbed, and gave them to Tristan, the great archer32, and he shot him a fawn33 and killed it. Then Gorvenal gathered dry twigs34, struck flint, and lit a great fire to cook the venison. And Tristan cut him branches and made a hut and garnished35 it with leaves. And Iseult slept upon the thick leaves there.
So, in the depths of the wild wood began for the lovers that savage36 life which yet they loved very soon.
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1
murmurs
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| n.低沉、连续而不清的声音( murmur的名词复数 )；低语声；怨言；嘀咕 | |
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2
baron
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| n.男爵；(商业界等)巨头，大王 | |
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3
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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4
knotty
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| adj.有结的，多节的，多瘤的，棘手的 | |
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5
spoke
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| 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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6
indictment
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| n.起诉；诉状 | |
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7
killing
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| n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财 | |
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respite
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| n.休息，中止，暂缓 | |
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9
lament
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| n.悲叹，悔恨，恸哭；v.哀悼，悔恨，悲叹 | |
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10
glazed
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| adj.光滑的，像玻璃的；上过釉的；呆滞无神的v.装玻璃( glaze的过去式)；上釉于，上光；（目光）变得呆滞无神 | |
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11
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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12
shameful
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| adj.可耻的，不道德的 | |
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13
crunched
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| v.嘎吱嘎吱地咬嚼( crunch的过去式和过去分词 )；嘎吱作响；（快速大量地）处理信息；数字捣弄 | |
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14
bridle
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| n.笼头，束缚；vt.抑制，约束；动怒 | |
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15
thicket
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| n.灌木丛，树林 | |
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16
avenged
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| v.为…复仇，报…之仇( avenge的过去式和过去分词 )；为…报复 | |
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17
bind
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| vt.捆，包扎；装订；约束；使凝固；vi.变硬 | |
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18
traitors
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| 卖国贼( traitor的名词复数 )； 叛徒； 背叛者； 背信弃义的人 | |
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19
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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deformed
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| adj.畸形的；变形的；丑的，破相了的 | |
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21
crutches
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| n.拐杖, 支柱 v.支撑 | |
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22
scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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23
borough
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| n.享有自治权的市镇；(英)自治市镇 | |
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24
hideous
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| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
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25
naught
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| n.无，零 [=nought] | |
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26
capes
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| 碎谷； 斗篷( cape的名词复数 )； 披肩； 海角； 岬 | |
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27
brandishing
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| v.挥舞( brandish的现在分词 )；炫耀 | |
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28
groaning
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| adj. 呜咽的, 呻吟的 动词groan的现在分词形式 | |
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29
knight
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| n.骑士，武士；爵士 | |
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30
plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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31
plumed
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| 饰有羽毛的 | |
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32
archer
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| n.射手，弓箭手 | |
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33
fawn
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| n.未满周岁的小鹿；v.巴结，奉承 | |
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34
twigs
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| 细枝，嫩枝( twig的名词复数 ) | |
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35
garnished
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| v.给（上餐桌的食物）加装饰( garnish的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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36
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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