Now came on the thaw5, and the snow went, and the grass grew all up and down the Dale, and all waters were big. And about this time arose rumours6 of strange men in the wood, uncouth7, vile8, and murderous, and many of the feebler sort were made timorous9 thereby10.
But a little before March was born came new tidings from the Woodlanders; to wit: There came on a time to the house of a woodland carle, a worthy11 goodman well renowned12 of all, two wayfarers13 in the first watch of the night; and these men said that they were wending down to the Plain from a far-away dale, Rose-dale to wit, which all men had heard of, and that they had strayed from the way and were exceeding weary, and they craved14 a meal’s meat and lodging15 for the night.
This the goodman might nowise gainsay16, and he saw no harm in it, wherefore he bade them abide17 and be merry.
These men, said they who told the tidings, were outlanders, and no man had seen any like them before: they were armed, and bore short bows made of horn, and round targets, and coats-of-fence done over with horn scales; they had crooked18 swords girt to their sides, and axes of steel forged all in one piece, right good weapons. They were clad in scarlet20 and had much silver on their raiment and about their weapons, and great rings of the same on their arms; and all this silver seemed brand-new.
Now the Woodland Carle gave them of such things as he had, and was kind and blithe22 to them: there were in his house besides himself five men of his sons and kindred, and his wife and three daughters and two other maids. So they feasted after the Woodlanders’ fashion, and went to bed a little before midnight. Two hours after, the carle awoke and heard a little stir, and he looked and saw the guests on their feet amidst the hall clad in all their war-gear; and they had betwixt them his two youngest daughters, maids of fifteen and twelve winters, and had bound their hands and done clouts23 over their mouths, so that they might not cry out; and they were just at point to carry them off. Thereat the goodman, naked as he was, caught up his sword and made at these murder-carles, and or ever they were ware24 of him he had hewn down one and turned to face the other, who smote25 at him with his steel axe19 and gave him a great wound on the shoulder, and therewithal fled out at the open door and forth26 into the wood.
The Woodlander made no stay to raise the cry (there was no need, for the hall was astir now from end to end, and men getting to their weapons), but ran out after the felon27 even as he was; and, in spite of his grievous hurt, overran him no long way from the house before he had gotten into the thicket28. But the man was nimble and strong, and the goodman unsteady from his wound, and by then the others of the household came up with the hue29 and cry he had gotten two more sore wounds and was just making an end of throttling30 the felon with his bare hands. So he fell into their arms fainting from weakness, and for all they could do he died in two hours’ time from that axe-wound in his shoulder, and another on the side of the head, and a knife-thrust in his side; and he was a man of sixty winters.
But the stranger he had slain31 outright32; and the one whom he had smitten33 in the hall died before the dawn, thrusting all help aside, and making no sound of speech.
When these tidings came to Burgstead they seemed great to men, and to Gold-mane more than all. So he and many others took their weapons and fared up to Wildlake’s Way, and so came to the Woodland Carles. But the Woodlanders had borne out the carcasses of those felons34 and laid them on the green before Wood-grey’s door (for that was the name of the dead goodman), and they were saying that they would not bury such accursed folk, but would bear them a little way so that they should not be vexed35 with the stink36 of them, and cast them into the thicket for the wolf and the wild-cat and the stoat to deal with; and they should lie there, weapons and silver and all; and they deemed it base to strip such wretches37, for who would wear their raiment or bear their weapons after them.
There was a great ring of folk round about them when they of Burgstead drew near, and they shouted for joy to see their neighbours, and made way before them. Then the Dalesmen cursed these murderers who had slain so good a man, and they all praised his manliness38, whereas he ran out into the night naked and wounded after his foe39, and had fallen like his folk of old time.
It was a bright spring afternoon in that clearing of the Wood, and they looked at the two dead men closely; and Gold-mane, who had been somewhat silent and moody40 till then, became merry and wordy; for he beheld41 the men and saw that they were utterly42 strange to him: they were short of stature43, crooked-legged, long-armed, very strong for their size: with small blue eyes, snubbed-nosed, wide-mouthed, thin-lipped, very swarthy of skin, exceeding foul44 of favour. He and all others wondered who they were, and whence they came, for never had they seen their like; and the Woodlanders, who often guested outlanders strayed from the way of divers45 kindreds and nations, said also that none such had they ever seen. But Stone-face, who stood by Gold-mane, shook his head and quoth he:
‘The Wild-wood holdeth many marvels46, and these be of them: the spawn47 of evil wights quickeneth therein, and at other whiles it melteth away again like the snow; so may it be with these carcasses.’
And some of the older folk of the Woodlanders who stood by hearkened what he said, and deemed his words wise, for they remembered their ancient lore48 and many a tale of old time.
Thereafter they of Burgstead went into Wood-grey’s hall, or as many of them as might, for it was but a poor place and not right great. There they saw the goodman laid on the dais in all his war-gear, under the last tie-beam of his hall, whereon was carved amidst much goodly work of knots and flowers and twining stems the image of the Wolf of the Waste, his jaws49 open and gaping50: the wife and daughters of the goodman and other women of the folk stood about the bier singing some old song in a low voice, and some sobbing51 therewithal, for the man was much beloved: and much people of the Woodlanders was in the hall, and it was somewhat dusk within.
So the Burgstead men greeted that folk kindly52 and humbly53, and again they fell to praising the dead man, saying how his deed should long be remembered in the Dale and wide about; and they called him a fearless man and of great worth. And the women hearkened, and ceased their crooning and their sobbing, and stood up proudly and raised their heads with gleaming eyes; and as the words of the Burgstead men ended, they lifted up their voices and sang loudly and clearly, standing54 together in a row, ten of them, on the dais of that poor hall, facing the gable and the wolf-adorned tie-beam, heeding55 nought56 as they sang what was about or behind them.
And this is some of what they sang:
Why sit ye bare in the spinning-room?
Why weave ye naked at the loom57?
Bare and white as the moon we be,
That the Earth and the drifting night may see.
Now what is the worst of all your work?
What curse amidst the web shall lurk58?
The worst of the work our hands shall win
Is wrack59 and ruin round the kin21.
Shall the woollen yarn60 and the flaxen thread
Be gear for living men or dead?
The woollen yarn and the flaxen thread
Shall flare61 ‘twixt living men and dead.
O what is the ending of your day?
When shall ye rise and wend away?
Our day shall end to-morrow morn,
When we hear the voice of the battle-horn.
Where first shall eyes of men behold62
This weaving of the moonlight cold?
There where the alien host abides63
The gathering64 on the Mountain-sides.
How long aloft shall the fair web fly
When the bows are bent65 and the spears draw nigh?
From eve to morn and morn till eve
Aloft shall fly the work we weave.
What then is this, the web ye win?
What wood-beast waxeth stark66 therein?
We weave the Wolf and the gift of war
From the men that were to the men that are.
So sang they: and much were all men moved at their singing, and there was none but called to mind the old days of the Fathers, and the years when their banner went wide in the world.
But the Woodlanders feasted them of Burgstead what they might, and then went the Dalesmen back to their houses; but on the morrow’s morrow they fared thither again, and Wood-grey was laid in mound67 amidst a great assemblage of the Folk.
Many men said that there was no doubt that those two felons were of the company of those who had ransacked68 the steads of Penny-thumb and Harts-bane; and so at first deemed Bristler the son of Brightling: but after a while, when he had had time to think of it, he changed his mind; for he said that such men as these would have slain first and ransacked afterwards: and some who loved neither Penny-thumb nor Harts-bane said that they would not have been at the pains to choose for ransacking69 the two worst men about the Dale, whose loss was no loss to any but themselves.
As for Gold-mane he knew not what to think, except that his friends of the Mountain had had nought to do with it.
So wore the days awhile.
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收听单词发音
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1
crave
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| vt.渴望得到，迫切需要，恳求，请求 | |
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2
thither
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| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
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3
craving
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| n.渴望,热望 | |
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4
shunned
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| v.避开，回避，避免( shun的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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5
thaw
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| v.（使）融化，（使）变得友善；n.融化，缓和 | |
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6
rumours
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| n.传闻( rumour的名词复数 )；风闻；谣言；谣传 | |
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7
uncouth
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| adj.无教养的，粗鲁的 | |
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8
vile
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| adj.卑鄙的，可耻的，邪恶的；坏透的 | |
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9
timorous
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| adj.胆怯的，胆小的 | |
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10
thereby
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| adv.因此，从而 | |
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worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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12
renowned
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| adj.著名的，有名望的，声誉鹊起的 | |
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13
wayfarers
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| n.旅人，（尤指）徒步旅行者( wayfarer的名词复数 ) | |
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14
craved
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| 渴望，热望( crave的过去式 )； 恳求，请求 | |
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15
lodging
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| n.寄宿，住所；(大学生的)校外宿舍 | |
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16
gainsay
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| v.否认，反驳 | |
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17
abide
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| vi.遵守；坚持；vt.忍受 | |
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18
crooked
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| adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的 | |
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19
axe
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| n.斧子；v.用斧头砍，削减 | |
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20
scarlet
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| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
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21
kin
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| n.家族，亲属，血缘关系；adj.亲属关系的，同类的 | |
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22
blithe
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| adj.快乐的，无忧无虑的 | |
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23
clouts
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| n.猛打( clout的名词复数 )；敲打；（尤指政治上的）影响；（用手或硬物的）击v.（尤指用手）猛击，重打( clout的第三人称单数 ) | |
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24
ware
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| n.(常用复数)商品，货物 | |
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25
smote
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| v.猛打，重击，打击( smite的过去式 ) | |
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26
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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27
felon
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| n.重罪犯；adj.残忍的 | |
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28
thicket
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| n.灌木丛，树林 | |
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29
hue
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| n.色度；色调；样子 | |
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30
throttling
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| v.扼杀( throttle的现在分词 )；勒死；使窒息；压制 | |
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31
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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32
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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33
smitten
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| 猛打，重击，打击( smite的过去分词 ) | |
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34
felons
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| n.重罪犯( felon的名词复数 )；瘭疽；甲沟炎；指头脓炎 | |
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35
vexed
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| adj.争论不休的；（指问题等）棘手的；争论不休的问题；烦恼的v.使烦恼( vex的过去式和过去分词 )；使苦恼；使生气；详细讨论 | |
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36
stink
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| vi.发出恶臭；糟透，招人厌恶；n.恶臭 | |
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37
wretches
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| n.不幸的人( wretch的名词复数 )；可怜的人；恶棍；坏蛋 | |
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38
manliness
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| 刚毅 | |
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39
foe
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| n.敌人，仇敌 | |
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40
moody
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| adj.心情不稳的，易怒的，喜怒无常的 | |
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41
beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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42
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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43
stature
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| n.（高度）水平，（高度）境界，身高，身材 | |
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44
foul
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| adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规 | |
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45
divers
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| adj.不同的；种种的 | |
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46
marvels
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| n.奇迹( marvel的名词复数 )；令人惊奇的事物（或事例）；不平凡的成果；成就v.惊奇，对…感到惊奇( marvel的第三人称单数 ) | |
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47
spawn
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| n.卵，产物，后代，结果；vt.产卵，种菌丝于，产生，造成；vi.产卵，大量生产 | |
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48
lore
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| n.传说；学问，经验，知识 | |
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49
jaws
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| n.口部；嘴 | |
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50
gaping
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| adj.口的；张口的；敞口的；多洞穴的v.目瞪口呆地凝视( gape的现在分词 )；张开，张大 | |
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51
sobbing
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| <主方>Ⅰ adj.湿透的 | |
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52
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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53
humbly
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| adv. 恭顺地，谦卑地 | |
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54
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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55
heeding
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| v.听某人的劝告，听从( heed的现在分词 ) | |
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56
nought
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| n.／adj.无，零 | |
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57
loom
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| n.织布机，织机；v.隐现，(危险、忧虑等)迫近 | |
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58
lurk
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| n.潜伏，潜行；v.潜藏，潜伏，埋伏 | |
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59
wrack
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| v.折磨；n.海草 | |
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60
yarn
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| n.纱，纱线，纺线；奇闻漫谈，旅行轶事 | |
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61
flare
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| v.闪耀，闪烁；n.潮红；突发 | |
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62
behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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63
abides
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| 容忍( abide的第三人称单数 )； 等候； 逗留； 停留 | |
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64
gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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65
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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66
stark
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| adj.荒凉的；严酷的；完全的；adv.完全地 | |
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67
mound
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| n.土墩，堤，小山；v.筑堤，用土堆防卫 | |
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68
ransacked
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| v.彻底搜查( ransack的过去式和过去分词 )；抢劫，掠夺 | |
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69
ransacking
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| v.彻底搜查( ransack的现在分词 )；抢劫，掠夺 | |
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