The surrounding landscape shone in the brightness of midsummer; for it was the eve of St. Magdalen; and sky and earth bore witness to the luxuriant month of July. The heavens were clear, the waters of the Forth3 danced in the sunbeams, and the flower-enameled green of the extended plain stretched its beautiful borders to the deepening woods. All nature smiled; all seemed in harmony and peace but the breast of man. He who was made lord of this paradise awoke to disturb its repose4, to disfigure its loveliness! As the thronging5 legions poured upon the plain, the sheep which had been feeding there, fled scared to the hills; the plover6 and heath-fowl which nestled in the brakes, rose affrighted from their infant broods, and flew in screaming multitudes far over the receding8 valleys. The peace of Scotland was again broken, and its flocks and herds9 were to share its misery10.
When the conspiring11 lords appeared on the Carse, and Mar1 communicated to them the lately discovered treason, they so well affected12 surprise at the contents of the scroll13, that Wallace might not have suspected their connection with it, had not Lord Athol declared it altogether a forgery14 of some wanton persons, and then added with bitterness, “to gather an army on such authority is ridiculous.” While he spoke15, Wallace regarded him with a look which pierced him to the center; and the blood rushing into his guilty heart, for once in his life he trembled before the eye of man. “Whoever be the degenerate16 Scot, to whom this writing is addressed,” said Wallace, “his baseness cannot betray us further. The troops of Scotland are ready to meet the enemy; and woe17 to the man who that day deserts his country!” “Amen!” cried Lord Mar. “Amen!” sounded from every lip; for when the conscience embraces treason against its earthly rulers, allegiance to its heavenly King is abandoned with ease; and the words and oaths of the traitor18 are equally unstable19.
Badenoch’s eye followed that of Wallace, and his suspicions fixed20 where the regent’s fell. For the honor of his blood, he forbore to accuse the earl; but for the same reason he determined to watch his proceedings21. However, the hypocrisy22 of Athol baffled even the penetration23 of his brother, and on his retiring from the ground to call forth his men for the expedition, in an affected chafe24 he complained to Badenoch of the stigma25 cast upon their house by the regent’s implied charge.
“But,” said he, “he shall see the honor of the Cummin, emblazoned in blood on the sands of the Forth! His towering pride heeds26 not where it strikes; and this comes of raising men of low estate to rule over princes!”
“His birth is noble if not royal,” replied Badenoch; “and before this, the posterity27 of kings have not disdained28 to recover their rights by the sword of a brave subject.”
“True,” answered Athol; “but is it customary for princes to allow that subject to sit on their throne? It is nonsense to talk of Wallace having refused a coronation. He laughs at the name; but see you not that he openly affects supreme29 power; that he rules the nobles of the land like a despot? His word, his nod is sufficient! — Go here! go there! — as if he were absolute, and there was no voice in Scotland but his own! Look at the brave Mack Callan-more, the lord of the west of Scotland from sea to sea; he stands unbonneted before this mighty31 Wallace with a more abject32 homage33 than ever he paid to the house of Alexander! Can you behold34 this, Lord Badenoch, and not find the royal blood of your descent boil in your veins35? Does not every look of your wife, the sister of a king, and your own right stamped upon your soul, reproach you? He is greater by your strength. Humble36 him, my brother; be faithful to Scotland, but humble its proud dictator!”
Lord Badenoch replied to this rough exhortation37 with the tranquillity38 belonging to his nature —“I see not the least foundations for any of your charges against Sir William Wallace. He has delivered Scotland, and the people are grateful. The nation with one voice made him their regent; and he fulfills39 the duties of his office — but with a modesty41, Lord Athol, which, I must affirm, I never saw equaled. I dissent42 from you in all that you have said — and I confess I did fear the blandishing arguments of the faithless Cospatrick had persuaded you to embrace his pernicious treason. You deny it — that is well. Prove your innocence43 at this juncture44 in the field against Scotland’s enemies; and John of Badenoch will then see no impending45 cloud to darken the honor of the name of Cummin!”
The brothers immediately separated; and Athol calling his cousin Buchan arranged a new device to counteract48 the vigilance of the regent. One of their means was to baffle his measures by stimulating49 the less treasonable but yet discontented chiefs to thwart50 him in every motion. At the head of this last class was John Stewart, Earl of Bute. During the whole of the preceding year he had been in Norway, and the first object he met on his return to Scotland was the triumphal entry of Wallace into Stirling. Aware of the consequence Stewart’s name would attach to any cause, Athol had gained his ear before he was introduced to the regent; and then so poisoned his mind against Wallace that all that was well in him he deemed ill, and ever spoke of his bravery with coldness, and of his patriotism51 with disgust. He believed him a hypocrite, and as such despised and abhorred52 him.
While Athol marshaled his rebellious53 ranks, some to follow his broad treason in the face of day, and others to lurk54 behind, and delude55 the intrusted council left in Stirling; Wallace led forth his loyal chiefs to take their stations at the heads of their different clans56. Sir Alexander Scrymgeour, with the proudest expectations for Scotland, unfurled his golden standard to the sun. The Lords Loch-awe and Bothwell, with others, rode on the right of the regent. Lord Andrew Murray, with the brave Sir John Graham, and a bevy58 of young knights59, kept the ground on his left. Wallace looked around; Edwin was far away, and he felt but half appointed when wanting his youthful swordbearer. That faithful friend did not even know of the threatened hostility61; for to have intimated to Lord Ruthven a danger he could not assist to repel62, would have inflamed63 his disorder64 by anxiety, and perhaps hurried him to dissolution.
As the regent moved forward with these private affections checkering his public cares, his heralds65 blew the trumpets66 of his approach, and a hundred embattled clans appeared in the midst of the plain, awaiting their valiant68 leaders. Each chief advanced to the head of his line, and stood to hear the charge of Wallace.
“Brave Scots!” cried he, “treachery has admitted the enemy whom resolute69 patriotism had driven from our borders. Be steady in your fidelity70 to Scotland, and He who hath hitherto protected the just cause, will nerve your arms to lay invasion and its base coadjutors again in the dust.”
The cheers of anticipated victory burst from the soldiers, mingled71 with the clangor of their striking shields at the inspiring voice of their leader. Wallace waved his truncheon (round which the plan of his array was wrapped) to the chiefs to fall back toward their legions; and while some appeared to linger, Athol, armed cap-a-pie, and spurring his roan into the area before the regent, demanded, in a haughty72 tone, “Which of the chiefs now in the field is to lead the vanguard?”
“The Regent of Scotland,” replied Wallace, for once asserting the majesty73 of his station, “and you, Lord Athol, with the Lord Buchan, are to defend your country under the command of the brave head of your house, the princely Badenoch.”
“I stir not from this spot,” returned Athol, fiercely striking his lance into its rest, “till I see the honor of my country established in the eye of the world by a leader worthy74 of her rank being placed in her vanguard.”
“What he says,” cried Buchan, “I second.” “And in the same spirit, chieftain of Ellerslie,” exclaimed Lord Bute, “do I offer to Scotland myself and my people. Another must lead the van, or I retire from her standard.”
“Speak on!” cried Wallace, more surprised than confounded by this extraordinary attack.
“What these illustrious chiefs have uttered, is the voice of us all!” was the general exclamation75 from a band of warriors77 who now thronged78 around the incendiary nobles.
“Your reign79 is over, proud chieftain,” rejoined Athol; “the Scottish ranks are no longer to be cajoled by your affected moderation. We see the tyrant80 in your insidious81 smile, we feel him in the despotism of your decrees. To be thus ridden by a man of vulgar blood; to present him as the head of our nation to the King of England, is beneath the dignity of our country, is an insult to our nobles; and therefore, in the power of her consequence, I speak, and again demand of you to yield the vanguard to one more worthy of the station. Before God and St. Magdalen I swear,” added he, holding up his sword to the heavens, “I will not stir an inch this day toward the enemy unless a Cummin or a Stewart lead our army.”
“And is this your resolution also, Lord Bute?” said Wallace, looking on Stewart. “It is,” was the reply; “a foe82 like Edward ought to be met as becomes a great and independent kingdom. We go in the array of an unanimous nation to repel him; not as a band of insurgents83, headed by a general who, however brave, was yet drawn84 from the common ranks of the people. I therefore demand to follow a more illustrious leader to the field.”
“The eagles have long enough followed their owl7 in peacock’s feathers,” cried Buchan; “and being tired of the game, I, like the rest, soar upward again!”
“Resign that baton85!” cried Athol; “give peace to a more honorable leader!” repeated he, supposed that he had intimidated86 Wallace; but Wallace, raising the visor of his helmet, which he had closed on his last commands to his generals, looked on Athol with all the majesty of his truly royal soul in his eyes: “Earl,” said he, “the voices of the three estates of Scotland declared me their regent, and God ratified87 the election by the victories with which he crowned me. If in aught I have betrayed my trust, led the powers which raised me be my accusers. Four pitched battles have I fought and gained for this country. Twice I beat the representatives of King Edward on the plains of Scotland; and a few months ago I made him fly before me over the fields of Northumberland! What then has befallen me, that my arm is to be too short to meet this man? Has the oil of the Lord, with which the saint of Dunkeld anointed my brows, lost its virtue88, that I should shrink before any king in Christendom? I neither tremble at the name of Edward, nor will I so disgrace my own (which never man who bore it ever degraded by swearing fealty89 to a foreign prince), as to abandon at such a crisis the power with which Scotland has invested me. Whoever chooses to leave the cause of their country, let them go; and so manifest themselves of noble blood! I remain, and I lead the vanguard! Scotsmen, to your duty.”
As he spoke with a voice of unanswerable command, several chiefs fell back into their ranks. But some made a retrograde motion toward the town. Lord Bute hardly knew what to think, so was he startled by the appeal of the accused regent, and the noble frankness with which he maintained his rights. He stood frowning as Wallace turned to him, and said, “Do you, my lord, adhere to these violent men? or am I to consider a chief who, though hostile to me, was generous in his ire, still faithful to Scotland, in spite of his prejudice against her leader? Will you fight her battles?”
“I shall never desert them,” replied Stewart; “’tis truth I seek; therefore be it to you. Wallace, this day according to your conscience!” Wallace bowed his head, and presented him the truncheon around which his line of battle was wrapped. On opening it he found that he was appointed to command the third division; Badenoch and Bothwell to the first and second; and Wallace himself to the vanguard.
When the scouts90 arrived, they informed the regent that the English army had advanced near to the boundary of Linlithgow, and from the rapidity of their march, must be on the Carron the same evening. On this intelligence, Wallace put his troops to their speed and before the sun had declined far toward the west, he was within view of Falkirk. But just as he had crossed the Carron, and the Southron banners appeared in sight, Lord Athol, at the head of his rebellious colleagues, rode up to him. Stewart kept his appointed station and Badenoch, doing the same, ashamed of his brother’s disorder, called after him to keep his line. Regardless of all check, the obstinate91 chief galloped92 on, and extending his bold accomplices93 across the path of the regent, demanded of him, on the penalty of his life, “that moment to relinquish94 his pretensions95 to the vanguard.”
“I am not come here,” replied Wallace indignantly, “to betray my country! I know you, Lord Athol: and your conduct and mine will this day prove who is most worthy the confidence of Scotland.”
“This day,” cried Athol, “shall see you lay down the power you have usurped97.”
“It shall see me maintain it, to your confusion,” replied Wallace, “and were you not surrounded by Scots of too tried a worth for me to suspect their being influenced by your rebellious example, I would this moment make you feel the arm of justice. But the foe is in sight; do your duty now, sir earl, and for the sake of the house to which you belong, even this intemperate98 conduct shall be forgotten.”
At this instant, Sir John Graham, hastening forward, exclaimed:
“The Southrons are bearing down upon us!”
Athol glanced at their distant host and turning on Wallace with a sarcastic99 smile, “My actions,” cried he, “shall indeed decide the day!” and striking his spurs furiously into his horse, he rejoined Lord Badenoch’s legion.
Edward did indeed advance in a most terrible array. Above a hundred thousand men swelled100 his numerous ranks; and with these were united all from the Lothians and Teviotdale, whom the influence of the faithless March and the vindictive101 Soulis could bring into the field. With this augmented102 host, and a determination to conquer or to die, the Southrons marched rapidly forward.
Wallace had drawn himself up on the ascent103 of the hill of Falkirk, and advantageously planted his archers104 on a covering eminence105 flanked by the legions of Badenoch. Lord Athol, who knew the integrity of his brother, and who cared not in so great a cause (for such his ambition termed it) how he removed an adversary106 from Edward, and a censor107 from himself, gave a ridding order to one of his emissaries. Accordingly, in the moment when the trumpet67 of Wallace sounded the charge, and the arrows from the hill darkened the air, the virtuous108 Badenoch was stabbed through the back to the very heart. Athol had placed himself near, to watch his purpose; but in the instant the deed was done, he threw himself on the perpetrator, and wounding him in the same vital part, exclaimed, holding up his dagger109, “Behold the weapon that has slain110 the assassin, hired by Sir William Wallace! Thus it is, that his ambition would rob Scotland of her native princes. Let us fly from his steel to the shield of a king and a hero.”
The men had seen their leader fall; they doubted not the words of his brother; and with a shout exclaiming, “Whither you lead we follow!” all at once turned toward him. “Seize the traitor’s artillery111!” At this command they mounted the hill and the archers, little expecting an assault from their countrymen, were either instantly cut down, or hurried away prisoners by Athol and Buchan; who now, at the head of the whole division of the Cummins, galloped toward the Southrons; and with loud cries of “Long live King Edward!” threw themselves en masse into their arms. The squadrons which followed Stewart not knowing but they might be hurried into similar desertion, hesitated in the charge he had commanded them to make; and, while thus undecisive, some obeyed in broken ranks; and others lingered. The enemy advanced briskly up, surrounded the division, and on their first onset112 slew113 its leader. His faithful Brandanes,41 seeing their beloved commander trampled114 to the earth by an overwhelming foe, fell into confusion, and communicating their dismay to their comrades, the whole division sunk under the shock of the Southrons, as if touched by a spell.
41 Brandanes was the distinguished115 appellation116 of the military followers117 of the chiefs of Bute.
Meanwhile Bothwell and his legions were fiercely engaged with the Earl of Lincoln amid the swamps of a deep morass118; but being involved by reciprocal impetuousity, equal peril119 engulfed120 them both. The firm battalion121 of the vanguard; alone remaining unbroken, stood before the pressing and now victorious122 thousands of Edward without receding a step. The archers being lost by the treachery of the Cummins, all hope lay on the strength of the spear and sword; and Wallace, standing123 immovable as the rock of Stirling, saw rank after rank of his dauntless infantry124 mowed125 down by the Southron arrows; while, fast as they fell, their comrades closed over them, and still presented the same impenetrable front of steady valor126 against the heavy charges of the enemy’s horse. The King of England, indignant at this pause in his conquering onset, accompanied by his natural brother, the valiant Frere de Briagny, and a squadron of resolute knights, in fury threw themselves toward the Scottish pikesmen. Wallace descried127 the jeweled crest128 of Edward amidst the cloud of battle there, and rushing forward, hand to hand engaged the king. Edward knew his adversary, not so much by his snow white plume129 as by the prowess of his arm. Twice did the heavy claymore of Wallace strike fire from the steely helmet of the monarch130; but at the third stroke the glittering diadem131 fell in shivers to the ground; and the royal blood of Edward followed the blow. He reeled; and another stroke would have settled the freedom of Scotland forever, had not the strong arm of Frere de Briagny passed between Wallace and the king. The combat thickened; blow followed blow; blood gushed132 at each fall of the sword; and the hacked133 armor showed in every aperture134 a grisly wound. A hundred weapons seemed directed against the breast of the Regent of Scotland, when, raising his sword with a determined stroke, it cleft135 the visor and vest of De Briagny, who fell lifeless to the ground. The cry that issued from the Southron troops at this sight again nerved the vengeful Edward, and ordering the signal for his reserve to advance, he renewed the attack; and assaulting Wallace, with all the fury of his heart in his eyes and arms, he tore the earth with the trampling136 of disappointed vengeance137, when he found the invincible138 phalanx still stood firm.
“I will reach him yet!” cried he; and turning to De Valence, he commanded that the new artillery should be called into action.
On this order, a blast of trumpets in the Southron army blew; and the answering war-wolves it had summoned sent forth showers of red-hot stones into the midst of the Scottish battalions139. At the same moment the English reserve, charging round the hill, attacked them in the flank, and accomplished140 what the fiery141 torrent142 had begun. The field was heaped with dead; the brooks143 which flowed down the heights ran with blood; but no confusion was there-no, not even in the mind of Wallace; though, with amazement144 and horror, he beheld145 the saltire of Annandale, the banner of Bruce, leading onward146 the last exterminating147 division! Scot now contended with Scot, brother with brother. Those valiant spirits, who had left their country twenty years before to accompany their chief to the Holy Land, now re-entered Scotland to wound her in her vital part; to wrest148 from her her liberties; to make her mourn in ashes, that she had been the mother of such matricides. A horrid149 mingling150 of tartans with tartans, in the direful grasp of reciprocal death; a tremendous rushing of the flaming artillery, which swept the Scottish ranks like blasting lightning, for a moment seemed to make the reason of their leader stagger. Arrows, winged with fire, flashed through the air; and sticking in men and beasts, drove them against each other in maddening pain. Twice was the horse of Wallace shot under him; and on every side were his closest friends wounded and dispersed151. But his terrific horror at the scene passed away the moment of its perception; and though the Southron and the Bruce pressed on him in overwhelming numbers, his few remaining ranks obeyed his call; and with a presence of mind and military skill that was exhaustless, he maintained the fight till darkness parted the combatants. When Edward gave command for his troops to rest till morning, Wallace, with the remnant of his faithful band slowly recrossed the Carron, that they also might repose till dawn should renew the conflict.
Lonely was the sound of his bugle152, as sitting on a fragment of the druidical ruins of Dunipacis, he blew its melancholy153 blast to summon his chiefs around him. Its penetrating154 voice pierced the hills, but no answering note came upon his ear. A direful conviction seized upon his heart. But they might have fled far distant! he blushed as the thought crossed him, and hopeless again, dropped the horn, which he had raised to blow a second summons. At this instant he saw a shadow darken the moonlight ruins, and Scrymgeour, who had gladly heard his commander’s bugle, hastened forward.
“What has been the fate of this dismal155 day?” asked Wallace, looking onward, as if he expected others to come up. “Where are my friends? — Where Graham, Badenoch and Bothwell? — Where all, brave Scrymgeour, that I do not know see?” He rose from his seat at sight of an advancing group. It approached near and laid the dead body of a warrior76 down before him. “Thus,” cried one of the supporters, in stifled156 sounds, “has my father proved his love for Scotland!” It was Murray who spoke; it was the Earl of Bothwell that lay a breathless corpse157 at his feet!
“Grievous has been the havoc158 of Scot on Scot!” cried the intrepid159 Graham, who had seconded the arm of Murray in the contest for his father’s body. “Your steadiness, Sir William Wallace, would have retrieved160 the day but for the murderer of his country; that Bruce, for whom you refused to be our king, thus destroys her bravest sons. Their blood be on his head!” continued the young chief, extending his martial161 arms toward heaven. “Power of Justice, hear! and let his days be troubled, and his death covered with dishonor!”
“My brave friend!” replied Wallace, “his deeds will avenge162 themselves, he needs not further malediction163. Let us rather bless the remains164 of him who is gone before us thus in glory to his heavenly rest! Ah! better is it thus to be laid in the bed of honor, than, by surviving, witness the calamities165 which the double treason of this day will bring upon our martyred country! Murray, my friend!” cried he to Lord Andrew, “we must not let the brave dead perish in vain! Their monument shall yet be Scotland’s liberties. Fear not that we are forsaken167 because of these traitors168; but remember our time is in the hand of the God of justice and mercy!”
Tears were coursing each other in mute woe down the cheeks of the affectionate son. He could not for some time answer Wallace, but he grasped his hand, and at last rapidly articulated, “Others may have fallen, but not mortally like him. Life may yet be preserved in some of our brave companions. Leave me, then, to mourn my dead alone! and seek ye them.”
Wallace saw that filial tenderness yearned169 for the moment when it might unburden its grief unchecked by observation. He arose, and making a sign to his friends, withdrew toward his men. Having sent a detachment to guard the sacred inclosure of Dunipacis, he dispatched Graham on the dangerous duty of gathering170 a reinforcement for the morning. Then sending Scrymgeour, with a resolute band, across the Carron, to bring in the wounded (for Edward had encamped his army about a mile south of the field of action), he took his lonely course along the northern bank toward a shallow ford171 near which he supposed the squadrons of Lord Loch-awe must have fought, and where he hoped to gain accounts of him from some straggling survivor172 of his clan57. When he arrived at a point where the river is narrowest, and winds its dark stream beneath impending heights, he blew the Campbell pibroch; the notes reverberated173 from rock to rock, but, unanswered, died away in distant echoes. Still he could not relinquish hope, and pursuing the path, emerged upon an open glade174. The unobstructed rays of the moon illumined every object. Across the river, at some distance from the bank, a division of the Southron tents whitened the deep shadows of the bordering woods; and before them, on the blood-stained plain, he thought he descried a solitary175 warrior. Wallace stopped. The man approached the margin176 of the stream, and looked toward the Scottish chief. The visor of Wallace being up, discovered his heroic countenance177 bright in the moonbeams; and the majesty of his mien178 seemed to declare him to the Southron knight60 to be no other than the Regent of Scotland.
“Who art thou?” cried the warrior, with a voice of command, that better became his lips than it was adapted to the man whom he addressed.
“The enemy of England!” cried the chief.
“Thou art Wallace!” was the immediate46 reply; “none else dare answer the Lord of Carrick and of Annandale with such haughty boldness.”
“Every Scot in this land,” returned Wallace, inflamed with an indignation he did not attempt to repress, “would thus answer Bruce, not only in reference to England, but to himself! to that Bruce, who, not satisfied with having abandoned his people to their enemies, has stolen a base fratricide to slay179 his brethren in their home! To have met them on the plain of Stanmore, would have been a deed his posterity might have bewailed; but what horror, what shame will be theirs, when they know that he came to ruin his own rights, to stab his people, in the very bosom180 of his country! I come from gazing on the murdered body of the virtuous Earl of Bothwell! The Lords Bute and Fyfe, and perhaps Loch-awe, have fallen beneath the Southron sword, and your unnatural181 arm; and yet do you demand what Scot would dare to tell you, that he holds the Earl of Carrick and his coadjutors as his most mortal foes182?”
“Ambitious man! Dost thou flatter thyself with belief that I am to be deceived by thy pompous183 declamation184? I know the motive185 of all this pretended patriotism, I am well informed of the aim of all this vaunted prowess; and I came, not to fight the battles of King Edward, but to punish the proud usurper186 of the rights of Bruce. I have gained my point. My brave followers slew the Lord of Bothwell; my brave followers made the hitherto invincible Sir William Wallace retreat! I came in the power of my birthright; and, as your lawful187 king, I command you, this hour, to lay your rebel sword at my feet. Obey, proud knight, or to-morrow puts you into Edward’s hand, and, without appeal, you die the death of a traitor.”
“Unhappy prince,” cried Wallace, now suspecting that Bruce had been deceived; “is it over the necks of your most loyal subjects that you would mount your throne? How have you been mistaken! How have you strengthened the hands of your enemy, and weakened your own by this day’s action! The cause is now probably lost forever; and from whom are we to date its ruin but from him to whom the nation looked as to its appointed deliverer? From him, whose once honored name will now be regarded with exaggeration?”
“Burden not my name, rash young man,” replied Bruce, “with the charges belonging to your own mad ambition. Who disturbed the peace in which Scotland reposed188 after the battle of Dunbar, but William Wallace? Who raised the country in arms, but William Wallace? Who stole from me my birthright, and fastened the people’s love on himself, but William Wallace? Who affected to repel a crown that he might the more certainly fix it on his head, but William Wallace? And who dares now taunt189 me with his errors and mishaps190, but the same traitor to his lawful sovereign?”
“Shall I answer thee, Lord of Carrick,” replied Wallace, “with a similar appeal? Who, when the Southron tyrant preferred a false claim to the supremacy191 of this realm, subscribed192 to the falsehood; and by that action did all in his power to make a free people slaves? Who, when the brand of cruelty swept this kingdom from shore to shore, lay indolent in the usurper’s court, and heard of these oppressions without a sigh? Who, horror on horror! brought an army into his own inheritance, to slay his brethren and to lay it desolate193 before his mortal foe? Thy heart will tell thee, Bruce, who is this man; and if honor yet remain in that iron region, thou wilt194 not disbelieve the asseverations of an honest Scot, who proclaims that it was to save them whom thou didst abandon, that he appeared in the armies of Scotland. It was to supply the place of thy desertion that he assumed the rule, with which a grateful people, rescued from bondage195, invested him.”
“Bold chieftain!” exclaimed Bruce, “is it thus you continue to brave your offended prince? But in pity to your youth, in admiration196 of a prowess which would have been godlike had it been exerted for your sovereign, and not used as a bait to satisfy an ambition wild as it is towering, I would expostulate with you; I would even deign197 to tell you that, in granting the supremacy of Edward, the royal Bruce submits not to the mere198 wish of a despot, but to the necessity of the times. This is not an area of so great loyalty199 that any sovereign may venture to contend against such an imperial arm as Edward’s. And would you — a boy in years, a novice200 in politics, and though brave, and till this day successful — would you pretend to prolong a war with the dictator of kingdoms? Can rational discrimination be united with the valor you possess and you not perceive the unequal contest between a weak state, deprived of its head and agitated201 by intestine202 commotions203, and a mighty nation conducted by the ablest and most martial monarch of his age — a man who is not only determined to maintain his pretensions to Scotland, but is master of every resourse, either for protracting204 war or pushing it with vigor205? If the love of your country be indeed your motive for perseverance206, your obstinacy207 tends only to lengthen208 her misery. But if — as I believe is the case — you carry your views to private aggrandizement209, reflect on their probable issue. Should Edward, by a miracle, withdraw his armies, and an intoxicated210 people elevate their minion211 to the throne, the lords of Scotland would reject the bold invasion and, with the noble vengeance of insulted greatness, hurl212 from his height the proud usurper of their rights and mine.”
“To usurp96 any man’s rights, and least of all, my king’s” replied Wallace, “never came within the range of my thoughts. Though lowly born, Lord Carrick, I am not so base as to require assumption to give me dignity. I saw my country made a garrison213 of Edward’s, I beheld its people outraged214 in every relation that is dear to man. Who heard their cry? Where was Bruce? Where the nobles of Scotland, that none arose to extinguish her burning villages, to shelter the mother and the child, to rescue purity from violation215, to defend the bleeding father and his son? The shrieks216 of despair resounded217 through the land and none appeared! The hand of violence fell on my own house! the wife of my bosom was stabbed to the heart by a magistrate218 of the usurper! I then drew the sword! — I took pity on those who suffered as I had suffered! I espoused219 their cause, and never will I forsake166 it till life forsakes220 me. Therefore, that I became champion of Scotland, Lord of Carrick, blame not my ambition, but rather the supineness of the nobility, and chiefly yourself — you who, uniting personal merit to dignity of descent, had deserted221 to occupy! Had the Scots, from the time of Baliol’s abdication222, possessed223 such a leader as yourself (for what is the necessity of the times but the pusillanimity224 of those who ought to contend with Edward?) by your valor and their union you must have surmounted225 every difficulty under which we struggle, and have closed the contest with success and honor. If you now start from your guilty delusion226, it may not be too late to rescue Scotland from the perils227 which surround her. Listen then to my voice, prince of the blood of Alexander! forswear the tyrant who has cajoled you to this abandonment of your country, and resolve to be her deliverer. The bravest of the Scots are ready to acknowledge you their lord, to reign as your forefathers228 did, untrammeled by any foreign yoke229. Exchange, then a base vassalage230, for freedom and a throne! Awake to yourself, noble Bruce, and behold what it is I propose! Heaven itself cannot set a more glorious prize before the eyes of virtue or ambition, than to join in one object, the acquisition of royalty231 with the maintenance of national independence! Such is my last appeal to you. For myself, as I am well convinced that the real welfare of my country can never subsist232 with the sacrifice of her liberties, I am determined, as far as in me lies, to prolong, not her miseries233, but her integrity, by preserving her from the contamination of slavery. But, should mysterious fate decree her fall, may that power which knows the vice47 and horrors which accompany a tyrant’s reign, terminate the existence of a people who can no longer preserve their lives but by receiving laws from usurpation234!”
The truth and gallantry of these sentiments struck the awakened235 mind of Bruce with the force of conviction. Another auditor236 was nigh, who also lost not a syllable237; “and the flame was conveyed from the breast of one hero to that of the other.”
Lord Carrick secretly repented238 of all that he had done; but being too proud to acknowledge so much, he briefly239 answered: “Wallace, your words have made an impression on me, that may one day still more brighten the glory of your fame. Be silent respecting this conference; be faithful to the principles you have declared, and ere long you shall hear royally of Bruce.” As he spoke, he turned away and was lost among the trees.
Wallace stood for some minutes musing240 on what had passed, when, hearing a footstep behind him, he turned round, and beheld approaching him a young and graceful241 form, habited in a white hacqueton wrought242 in gold, with golden spurs on his feet, and a helmet of the same costly243 metal on his head, crested244 with white feathers. Had the scene been in Palestine, he might have mistaken him for the host’s guardian245 angel in arms. But the moment the eyes of Wallace fell on him, the stranger hastened forward, and threw himself on one knee before him, with so noble a grace that the chief was lost in wonder what this beautiful apparition246 could mean. The youth, after an agitated pause, bowing his head, exclaimed:
“Pardon this intrusion, bravest of men! I come to offer you my heart, my life! To wash out, by your side, in the blood of the enemies of Scotland, the stigma which now dishonors the name of Bruce!”
“And who are you, noble youth?” cried Wallace, raising him from the ground. “Surely my prayers are at last answered; and I hear these sentiments from one of Alexander’s race!”
“I am indeed of his blood,” replied he; “and it must now be my study to prove my descent by deeds worthy of my ancestor. I am Robert Bruce, the eldest247 son of the Earl of Carrick and Annandale. Grieving over the slaughter248 that his valor had made of his own people (although, till you taught him otherwise, he believed they fought to maintain the usurpation of an ambitious subject), he walked out in melancholy. I followed at a distance; and I heard, unseen, all that has passed between you and him. He has retired249 to his tent; and, unknown to him, I hastened across the Carron, to avow250 my loyalty to virtue, to declare my determination to live for Scotland, or to die for her; and to follow the arms of Sir William Wallace, till he plants my father in the throne of his ancestors.”
“I take you at your word, brave prince!” replied the regent; “and this night shall give you an opportunity to redeem251 to Scotland, what your father’s sword has this day wrested252 from her. What I mean to do must be effected in the course of a few hours. That done, it will be prudent253 for you to return to the Carrick camp; and there take the most effectual means to persuade your father to throw himself at once into the arms of Scotland. The whole nation will then rally round their king; and as his weapon of war, I shall rejoice to fulfill40 the commission with which God has intrusted me!” He then briefly unfolded to the eagerly listening Bruce (whose aspiring254 spirit, inflamed by the fervor255 of youth, and winged by natural courage, saw the glory alone of the enterprise), an attack which he meant to make on the camp of Edward, while his victorious troops slept in fancied security.
He had sent Sir John Graham to Stirling, to call out its garrison; Ker he had dispatched on a similar errand; and expecting that by this time some of the troops would be arrived on the southern extremity256 of the carse, he threw his plaid over the prince’s splendid garb257 to conceal258 him from notice; then returning to the few who lay on the northern bank of the river, he asked one of the young Gordons to lend him his armor, saying he had use for it, and to seek another suit in the heap that had been collected from the buried dead. The brave Scot cheerfully acquiesced259; and, Wallace retiring amongst the trees with his royal companion, Bruce soon covered his gay hacqueton with this rough mail; and placing the Scottish bonnet30 on his head, put a large stone into the golden helmet, and sunk it in the waters of the Carron. Being thus completely armed like one of the youthful clansmen in the ranks (and such disguise was necessary), Wallace put the trusty claymore of his country into its prince’s hand; and clasping him with a hero’s warmth to his heart —
“Now it is,” cried he, “that William Wallace lives anew since he has seen this hour!”
On re-emerging from the wood, they met Sir John Graham, who had just arrived with five hundred fugitives260 from Lord Bute’s slaughtered261 division, whom he had rallied on the carse. He informed his friend that the Earl of Mar was within half a mile of the Carron, with three thousand more; and, that he would soon be joined by other re-enforcements to a similar amount. While Graham yet spoke, a squadron of armed men approached from the Forth side. Wallace, advancing toward them, beheld the Bishop262 of Dunkeld, in his sacerdotal robes, at their head, but with a corselet on his breast, and instead of his crosier he carried a drawn sword. “We come to you, champion of Scotland,” cried the prelate, “with the prayers and the arms of the church. The sword of th44e Levites of old smote263 the enemies of Israel; and in the same faith, that the God of Justice will go before us this night, we come to fight for Scotland’s liberties.”
His followers were the younger brethren of the monastery264 of Cambus–Kenneth, and others from the neighboring convents, altogether making a stout265 and well-appointed legion.
“With this handful,” cried Wallace, “Heaven may find a David, who shall yet strike yon Goliath on the forehead!”
Lord Mar and Lord Lennox now came up; and Wallace, marshaling his train, found that he had nearly ten thousand men. He gave to each leader his plan of attack; and having placed Bruce with Graham in the van, before he took his station at its head, he retired to the ruins near Dunipacis, to visit the mourning solitude266 of Murray. He found the pious267 son sitting silent and motionless by the side of his dead parent. Without rousing the violence of grief by any reference to the sight before him, Wallace briefly communicated his project. Lord Andrew started to his feet. “I will share all the peril with you! I shall again grapple with the foe that has thus bereaved268 me! This dark mantle,” cried he, turning toward the breathless corpse, and throwing his plaid over it, “will shroud269 thy hallowed remains till I return. I go where thou wouldst direct me. Oh, my father!” exclaimed he, in a burst of grief, “the trumpet shall sound, and thou wilt not hear! But I go to take vengeance for thy blood!” So saying, he sprung from the place, and accompanying Wallace to the plain, took his station in the silent but swiftly moving army.
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1
mar
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| vt.破坏，毁坏，弄糟 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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repose
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| v.(使)休息；n.安息 | |
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5
thronging
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| v.成群，挤满( throng的现在分词 ) | |
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6
plover
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| n.珩，珩科鸟，千鸟 | |
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owl
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| n.猫头鹰，枭 | |
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receding
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| v.逐渐远离( recede的现在分词 )；向后倾斜；自原处后退或避开别人的注视；尤指问题 | |
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herds
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| 兽群( herd的名词复数 )； 牧群； 人群； 群众 | |
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misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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conspiring
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| 密谋( conspire的现在分词 )； 搞阴谋； （事件等）巧合； 共同导致 | |
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12
affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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13
scroll
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| n.卷轴，纸卷；(石刻上的)漩涡 | |
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14
forgery
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| n.伪造的文件等，赝品，伪造（行为） | |
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15
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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16
degenerate
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| v.退步，堕落；adj.退步的，堕落的；n.堕落者 | |
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17
woe
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| n.悲哀，苦痛，不幸，困难；int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌 | |
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18
traitor
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| n.叛徒，卖国贼 | |
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19
unstable
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| adj.不稳定的，易变的 | |
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20
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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21
proceedings
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| n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报 | |
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22
hypocrisy
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| n.伪善，虚伪 | |
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23
penetration
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| n.穿透，穿人，渗透 | |
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24
chafe
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| v.擦伤；冲洗；惹怒 | |
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25
stigma
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| n.耻辱，污名；(花的)柱头 | |
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26
heeds
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| n.留心，注意，听从( heed的名词复数 )v.听某人的劝告，听从( heed的第三人称单数 ) | |
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27
posterity
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| n.后裔，子孙，后代 | |
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28
disdained
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| 鄙视( disdain的过去式和过去分词 )； 不屑于做，不愿意做 | |
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29
supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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30
bonnet
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| n.无边女帽；童帽 | |
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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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32
abject
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| adj.极可怜的，卑屈的 | |
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33
homage
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| n.尊敬，敬意，崇敬 | |
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34
behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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veins
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| n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理 | |
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36
humble
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| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
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37
exhortation
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| n.劝告，规劝 | |
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38
tranquillity
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| n. 平静, 安静 | |
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39
fulfills
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| v.履行（诺言等）( fulfill的第三人称单数 )；执行（命令等）；达到（目的）；使结束 | |
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40
fulfill
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| vt.履行，实现，完成；满足，使满意 | |
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41
modesty
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| n.谦逊，虚心，端庄，稳重，羞怯，朴素 | |
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42
dissent
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| n./v.不同意，持异议 | |
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43
innocence
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| n.无罪；天真；无害 | |
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44
juncture
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| n.时刻，关键时刻，紧要关头 | |
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45
impending
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| a.imminent, about to come or happen | |
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46
immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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47
vice
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| n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的 | |
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48
counteract
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| vt.对…起反作用，对抗，抵消 | |
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49
stimulating
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| adj.有启发性的，能激发人思考的 | |
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50
thwart
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| v.阻挠，妨碍，反对；adj.横(断的) | |
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51
patriotism
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| n.爱国精神，爱国心，爱国主义 | |
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52
abhorred
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| v.憎恶( abhor的过去式和过去分词 )；（厌恶地）回避；拒绝；淘汰 | |
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53
rebellious
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| adj.造反的，反抗的，难控制的 | |
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54
lurk
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| n.潜伏，潜行；v.潜藏，潜伏，埋伏 | |
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55
delude
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| vt.欺骗；哄骗 | |
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56
clans
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| 宗族( clan的名词复数 )； 氏族； 庞大的家族； 宗派 | |
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57
clan
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| n.氏族，部落，宗族，家族，宗派 | |
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58
bevy
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| n.一群 | |
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59
knights
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| 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 | |
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60
knight
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| n.骑士，武士；爵士 | |
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61
hostility
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| n.敌对，敌意；抵制［pl.］交战，战争 | |
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62
repel
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| v.击退，抵制，拒绝，排斥 | |
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63
inflamed
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| adj.发炎的，红肿的v.（使）变红，发怒，过热( inflame的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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64
disorder
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| n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调 | |
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65
heralds
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| 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） | |
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66
trumpets
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| 喇叭( trumpet的名词复数 )； 小号； 喇叭形物； （尤指）绽开的水仙花 | |
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67
trumpet
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| n.喇叭，喇叭声；v.吹喇叭，吹嘘 | |
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68
valiant
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| adj.勇敢的，英勇的；n.勇士，勇敢的人 | |
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69
resolute
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| adj.坚决的，果敢的 | |
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70
fidelity
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| n.忠诚，忠实；精确 | |
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71
mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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72
haughty
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| adj.傲慢的，高傲的 | |
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73
majesty
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| n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权 | |
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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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75
exclamation
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| n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词 | |
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76
warrior
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| n.勇士，武士，斗士 | |
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77
warriors
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| 武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
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78
thronged
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| v.成群，挤满( throng的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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reign
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| n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势 | |
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80
tyrant
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| n.暴君，专制的君主，残暴的人 | |
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81
insidious
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| adj.阴险的，隐匿的，暗中为害的，（疾病）不知不觉之间加剧 | |
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82
foe
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| n.敌人，仇敌 | |
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83
insurgents
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| n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 ) | |
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84
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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85
baton
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| n.乐队用指挥杖 | |
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86
intimidated
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| v.恐吓；威胁adj.害怕的；受到威胁的 | |
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87
ratified
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| v.批准，签认（合约等）( ratify的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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88
virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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fealty
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| n.忠贞，忠节 | |
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90
scouts
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| 侦察员[机，舰]( scout的名词复数 )； 童子军； 搜索； 童子军成员 | |
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91
obstinate
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| adj.顽固的，倔强的，不易屈服的，较难治愈的 | |
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92
galloped
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| （使马）飞奔，奔驰( gallop的过去式和过去分词 )； 快速做[说]某事 | |
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93
accomplices
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| 从犯，帮凶，同谋( accomplice的名词复数 ) | |
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94
relinquish
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| v.放弃，撤回，让与，放手 | |
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95
pretensions
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| 自称( pretension的名词复数 )； 自命不凡； 要求； 权力 | |
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96
usurp
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| vt.篡夺，霸占；vi.篡位 | |
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97
usurped
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| 篡夺，霸占( usurp的过去式和过去分词 )； 盗用； 篡夺，篡权 | |
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98
intemperate
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| adj.无节制的，放纵的 | |
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99
sarcastic
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| adj.讥讽的，讽刺的，嘲弄的 | |
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100
swelled
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| 增强( swell的过去式和过去分词 )； 肿胀； （使）凸出； 充满（激情） | |
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101
vindictive
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| adj.有报仇心的，怀恨的，惩罚的 | |
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102
Augmented
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| adj.增音的 动词augment的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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103
ascent
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| n.(声望或地位)提高；上升，升高；登高 | |
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104
archers
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| n.弓箭手，射箭运动员( archer的名词复数 ) | |
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105
eminence
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| n.卓越，显赫；高地，高处；名家 | |
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106
adversary
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| adj.敌手，对手 | |
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107
censor
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| n./vt.审查，审查员；删改 | |
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108
virtuous
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| adj.有品德的，善良的，贞洁的，有效力的 | |
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109
dagger
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| n.匕首，短剑，剑号 | |
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110
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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111
artillery
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| n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队) | |
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112
onset
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| n.进攻，袭击，开始，突然开始 | |
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113
slew
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| v.（使）旋转；n.大量，许多 | |
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114
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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115
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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116
appellation
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| n.名称，称呼 | |
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117
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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118
morass
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| n.沼泽，困境 | |
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119
peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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120
engulfed
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| v.吞没，包住( engulf的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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121
battalion
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| n.营；部队；大队(的人) | |
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122
victorious
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| adj.胜利的，得胜的 | |
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123
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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124
infantry
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| n.[总称]步兵(部队) | |
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125
mowed
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| v.刈，割( mow的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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126
valor
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| n.勇气，英勇 | |
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127
descried
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| adj.被注意到的，被发现的，被看到的 | |
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128
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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129
plume
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| n.羽毛；v.整理羽毛，骚首弄姿，用羽毛装饰 | |
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130
monarch
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| n.帝王，君主，最高统治者 | |
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131
diadem
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| n.王冠，冕 | |
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132
gushed
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| v.喷，涌( gush的过去式和过去分词 )；滔滔不绝地说话 | |
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133
hacked
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| 生气 | |
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134
aperture
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| n.孔，隙，窄的缺口 | |
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135
cleft
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| n.裂缝；adj.裂开的 | |
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136
trampling
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| 踩( trample的现在分词 )； 践踏； 无视； 侵犯 | |
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137
vengeance
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| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
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138
invincible
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| adj.不可征服的，难以制服的 | |
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139
battalions
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| n.（陆军的）一营（大约有一千兵士）( battalion的名词复数 )；协同作战的部队；军队；（组织在一起工作的）队伍 | |
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140
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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141
fiery
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| adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的 | |
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142
torrent
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| n.激流，洪流；爆发，(话语等的)连发 | |
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143
brooks
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| n.小溪( brook的名词复数 ) | |
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144
amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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145
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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146
onward
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| adj.向前的，前进的；adv.向前，前进，在先 | |
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147
exterminating
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| v.消灭，根绝( exterminate的现在分词 ) | |
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148
wrest
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| n.扭，拧，猛夺；v.夺取，猛扭，歪曲 | |
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149
horrid
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| adj.可怕的；令人惊恐的；恐怖的；极讨厌的 | |
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150
mingling
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| adj.混合的 | |
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151
dispersed
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| adj. 被驱散的, 被分散的, 散布的 | |
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152
bugle
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| n.军号，号角，喇叭；v.吹号，吹号召集 | |
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153
melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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154
penetrating
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| adj.（声音）响亮的，尖锐的adj.（气味）刺激的adj.（思想）敏锐的，有洞察力的 | |
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155
dismal
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| adj.阴沉的，凄凉的，令人忧郁的，差劲的 | |
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156
stifled
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| （使）窒息， （使）窒闷( stifle的过去式和过去分词 )； 镇压，遏制； 堵 | |
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157
corpse
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| n.尸体，死尸 | |
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158
havoc
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| n.大破坏，浩劫，大混乱，大杂乱 | |
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159
intrepid
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| adj.无畏的，刚毅的 | |
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160
retrieved
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| v.取回( retrieve的过去式和过去分词 )；恢复；寻回；检索（储存的信息） | |
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161
martial
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| adj.战争的，军事的，尚武的，威武的 | |
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162
avenge
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| v.为...复仇，为...报仇 | |
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163
malediction
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| n.诅咒 | |
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164
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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165
calamities
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| n.灾祸，灾难( calamity的名词复数 )；不幸之事 | |
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166
forsake
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| vt.遗弃，抛弃；舍弃，放弃 | |
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167
Forsaken
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| adj. 被遗忘的, 被抛弃的 动词forsake的过去分词 | |
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168
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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169
yearned
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| 渴望，切盼，向往( yearn的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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170
gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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171
Ford
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| n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过 | |
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172
survivor
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| n.生存者，残存者，幸存者 | |
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173
reverberated
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| 回响，回荡( reverberate的过去式和过去分词 )； 使反响，使回荡，使反射 | |
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174
glade
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| n.林间空地，一片表面有草的沼泽低地 | |
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175
solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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176
margin
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| n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘 | |
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177
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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178
mien
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| n.风采；态度 | |
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179
slay
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| v.杀死，宰杀，杀戮 | |
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180
bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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181
unnatural
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| adj.不自然的；反常的 | |
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182
foes
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| 敌人，仇敌( foe的名词复数 ) | |
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183
pompous
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|
| adj.傲慢的，自大的；夸大的；豪华的 | |
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184
declamation
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| n. 雄辩，高调 | |
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185
motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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186
usurper
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| n. 篡夺者, 僭取者 | |
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187
lawful
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| adj.法律许可的，守法的，合法的 | |
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188
reposed
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| v.将（手臂等）靠在某人（某物）上( repose的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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189
taunt
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| n.辱骂，嘲弄；v.嘲弄 | |
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190
mishaps
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| n.轻微的事故，小的意外( mishap的名词复数 ) | |
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191
supremacy
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| n.至上；至高权力 | |
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192
subscribed
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| v.捐助( subscribe的过去式和过去分词 )；签署，题词；订阅；同意 | |
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193
desolate
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| adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂 | |
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194
wilt
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| v.(使)植物凋谢或枯萎；(指人)疲倦，衰弱 | |
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195
bondage
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| n.奴役，束缚 | |
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196
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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197
deign
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| v. 屈尊, 惠允 ( 做某事) | |
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198
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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199
loyalty
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| n.忠诚，忠心 | |
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200
novice
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| adj.新手的，生手的 | |
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201
agitated
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| adj.被鼓动的，不安的 | |
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202
intestine
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| adj.内部的；国内的；n.肠 | |
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203
commotions
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| n.混乱，喧闹，骚动( commotion的名词复数 ) | |
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204
protracting
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| v.延长，拖延（某事物）( protract的现在分词 ) | |
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205
vigor
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| n.活力，精力，元气 | |
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206
perseverance
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| n.坚持不懈，不屈不挠 | |
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207
obstinacy
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| n.顽固；（病痛等）难治 | |
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208
lengthen
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| vt.使伸长，延长 | |
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209
aggrandizement
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| n.增大，强化，扩大 | |
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210
intoxicated
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| 喝醉的，极其兴奋的 | |
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211
minion
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| n.宠仆；宠爱之人 | |
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212
hurl
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| vt.猛投，力掷，声叫骂 | |
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213
garrison
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| n.卫戍部队；驻地，卫戍区；vt.派(兵)驻防 | |
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214
outraged
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| a.震惊的，义愤填膺的 | |
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215
violation
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| n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯 | |
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216
shrieks
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| n.尖叫声( shriek的名词复数 )v.尖叫( shriek的第三人称单数 ) | |
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217
resounded
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| v.（指声音等）回荡于某处( resound的过去式和过去分词 )；产生回响；（指某处）回荡着声音 | |
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218
magistrate
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| n.地方行政官，地方法官，治安官 | |
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219
espoused
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| v.（决定）支持，拥护（目标、主张等）( espouse的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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220
forsakes
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| 放弃( forsake的第三人称单数 )； 弃绝； 抛弃； 摒弃 | |
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221
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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222
abdication
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| n.辞职；退位 | |
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223
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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224
pusillanimity
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| n.无气力，胆怯 | |
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225
surmounted
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| 战胜( surmount的过去式和过去分词 )； 克服（困难）； 居于…之上； 在…顶上 | |
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226
delusion
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| n.谬见，欺骗，幻觉，迷惑 | |
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227
perils
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| 极大危险( peril的名词复数 )； 危险的事（或环境） | |
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228
forefathers
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| n.祖先，先人；祖先，祖宗( forefather的名词复数 )；列祖列宗；前人 | |
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229
yoke
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| n.轭；支配；v.给...上轭，连接，使成配偶 | |
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230
vassalage
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| n.家臣身份，隶属 | |
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231
royalty
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| n.皇家，皇族 | |
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232
subsist
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| vi.生存，存在，供养 | |
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233
miseries
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| n.痛苦( misery的名词复数 )；痛苦的事；穷困；常发牢骚的人 | |
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234
usurpation
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| n.篡位；霸占 | |
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235
awakened
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| v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到 | |
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236
auditor
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| n.审计员，旁听着 | |
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237
syllable
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| n.音节；vt.分音节 | |
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238
repented
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| 对（自己的所为）感到懊悔或忏悔( repent的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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239
briefly
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| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
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240
musing
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| n. 沉思，冥想 adj. 沉思的, 冥想的 动词muse的现在分词形式 | |
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241
graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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242
wrought
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| v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的 | |
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243
costly
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| adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的 | |
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244
crested
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| adj.有顶饰的，有纹章的，有冠毛的v.到达山顶（或浪峰）( crest的过去式和过去分词 )；到达洪峰，达到顶点 | |
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245
guardian
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| n.监护人；守卫者，保护者 | |
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246
apparition
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| n.幽灵，神奇的现象 | |
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247
eldest
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| adj.最年长的，最年老的 | |
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248
slaughter
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| n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀 | |
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249
retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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250
avow
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| v.承认，公开宣称 | |
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251
redeem
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| v.买回，赎回，挽回，恢复，履行（诺言等） | |
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252
wrested
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| （用力）拧( wrest的过去式和过去分词 )； 费力取得； （从…）攫取； （ 从… ） 强行取去… | |
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253
prudent
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| adj.谨慎的，有远见的，精打细算的 | |
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254
aspiring
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| adj.有志气的；有抱负的；高耸的v.渴望；追求 | |
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255
fervor
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| n.热诚；热心；炽热 | |
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256
extremity
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| n.末端，尽头；尽力；终极；极度 | |
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257
garb
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| n.服装，装束 | |
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258
conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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259
acquiesced
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| v.默认，默许( acquiesce的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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260
fugitives
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| n.亡命者，逃命者( fugitive的名词复数 ) | |
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261
slaughtered
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| v.屠杀，杀戮，屠宰( slaughter的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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262
bishop
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| n.主教，（国际象棋）象 | |
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263
smote
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| v.猛打，重击，打击( smite的过去式 ) | |
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264
monastery
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| n.修道院，僧院，寺院 | |
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266
solitude
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| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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267
pious
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| adj.虔诚的；道貌岸然的 | |
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268
bereaved
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| adj.刚刚丧失亲人的v.使失去（希望、生命等）( bereave的过去式和过去分词)；（尤指死亡）使丧失（亲人、朋友等）；使孤寂；抢走（财物） | |
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269
shroud
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| n.裹尸布，寿衣；罩，幕；vt.覆盖，隐藏 | |
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