Seeing the danger of the realm, and hearing from the Lords Ruthven and Bothwell that their troops would follow no other leader than Sir William Wallace, and hopeless of any prompt decision from amongst the contusion of the council, Badenoch yielded a stern assent10 to the only apparent means of saving his sinking country. He turned ashy pale, while his silence granted to Lord Loch-awe11 the necessity of imploring12 Sir William Wallace to again stretch out his arm in their behalf. With this embassy the venerable chief had returned exultingly13 to Ballochgeich; and the so lately branded Wallace, branded as the intended betrayer of Scotland, was solicited14 by his very accusers to assume the trust of their sole defense15!
“Such is the triumph of virtue16!” whispered Edwin to his friend, as he vaulted17 on his horse.
A luminous18 smile from Wallace acknowledged that he felt the tribute and, looking up to Heaven ere he placed his helmet on his head, he said:
“Thence comes my power! and the satisfaction it brings, whether attended by man’s applause or his blame, he cannot take from me. I now, perhaps for the last time, arm this head for Scotland. May the God in whom I trust again crown it with victory, and forever after bind19 the brows of our rightful sovereign with peace!”
While Wallace pursued his march, the regent was quite at a stand, confounded at the turn which events had taken, and hardly knowing whether to make another essay to collect forces for the support of their former leader, or to follow the refractory20 counsels of his lords, and await in inactivity the issue of the expected battle. He knew not bow to act, but a letter from Lady Strathearn decided21 him.
Though partly triumphant22 in her charges, yet the accusations23 of Bothwell had disconcerted her; and though the restoration of Wallace to his undisputed authority in the state; seemed to her next to impossible, still she resolved to take another step, to confirm her influence over the discontented of her country, and most likely to insure the vengeance24 she panted to bring upon her victim’s head. To this end, on the very evening that she retreated in terror from the council hall, she set forward to the borders; and, easily passing thence to the English camp (then pitched at Alnwick), was soon admitted to the castle, where De Warenne lodged25. She was too well taught in the school of vanity not to have remarked the admiration26 with which that earl had regarded her while he was a prisoner in Stirling; and, hoping that he might not be able to withstand the persuasion27 of her charms, she opened her mission with no less art than effect. De Warren was made to believe, that on the strength of a passion Wallace had conceived for her, and which she treated with disdain28, he had repented29 of his former refusal of the crown of Scotland; and, misled by a hope that she would not repeat her rejection30 of his hand could it present her a scepter, he was now attempting to compass that dignity by the most complicated intrigues31. She then related how, at her instigation, the regent had deposed32 him from his military command, and she ended with saying, that impelled33 by loyalty34 to Edward (whom her better reason now recognized as the lawful35 sovereign of her country), she had come to exhort36 that monarch37 to renew his invasion of the kingdom.
Intoxicated38 with her beauty, and enraptured39, by a manner which seemed to tell him that a softer sentiment than usual had made her select him as the embassador to the king, De Warenne greedily drank in all her words; and ere he allowed this, to him, romantic conference to break up, he had thrown himself at her feet, and implored40 her, by every impassioned argument, to grant him the privilege of presenting her to Edward as his intended bride. De Warenne was in the meridian41 of life; and being fraught42 with a power at court beyond most of his peers, she determined43 to accept his hand and wield44 its high influence to the destruction of Wallace, even should she be compelled in the act to precipitate45 her country in his fall. De Warenne drew from her a half-reluctant consent; and, while he poured forth46 the transports of a happy lover, he was not so much enamored of the fine person of Lady Strathearn as to be altogether insensible to the advantages which his alliance with her would give to Edward in his Scottish pretensions47. And as it would consequently increase his own importance with that monarch, he lost no time in communicating the circumstances to him. Edward suspected something in this sudden attachment48 of the countess, which, should it transpire49, might cool the ardor50 of his officer for uniting so useful an agent to his cause; therefore, having highly approved De Warenne’s conduct in affair, to hasten the nuptials51, he proposed being present at their solemnization that very evening. The solemn vows52 which Lady Strathearn then pledged at the altar to be pronounced by her with no holy awe of the marriage contract; but rather as those alone by which she swore to complete her revenge on Wallace, and, by depriving him of life, prevent the climax53 to her misery54, of seeing him (what she believed he intended to become) the husband of Helen Mar6.
The day after she became De Warenne’s wife, she accompanied him by sea to Berwick; and from that place she dispatched messengers to the regent, and to other nobles, her kinsmen55, fraught with promises, which Edward, in the event of success had solemnly pledged himself to ratify56. Her embassador arrived at Stirling the day succeeding that in which Wallace and his troops had marched from Ballochgeich. The letters brought were eagerly opened by Badenoch and his chieftains, and they found their contents to this effect. She announced to them her marriage with the lord warden57, who was returned into Scotland with every power for the final subjugation58 of the country; and therefore she besought59 the regent and his council, not to raise a hostile arm against him if they would not merely escape the indignation of a great king, but insure his favor. She cast out hints to Badenoch, as if Edward meant to reward his acquiescence60 with the crown of Scotland; and with similar baits, proportioned to the views of all her other kinsmen, she smoothed their anger against that monarch’s former insults persuading them to at least remain inactive during the last struggle of their country.
Meanwhile Wallace, taking his course along the banks of the Forth, when the night drew near, encamped his little army at the base of the craigs, east of Edinburgh Castle. His march having been long and rapid, the men were much fatigued61, and hardly were laid upon their heather beds before they fell asleep. Wallace had learned from his scouts62 that the main body of the Southrons had approached within a few miles of Dalkeith. Thither63 he hoped to go next morning, and there, he trusted, strike the conclusive64 blow for Scotland, by the destruction of a division which he understood comprised the flower of the English army. With these expectations he gladly saw his troops lying in that repose65 which would rebrace their strength for the combat, and, as the hours of night stole on while his possessed66 mind waked for all around, he was pleased to see his ever-watchful Edwin sink down in a profound sleep.
It was Wallace’s custom, once at least in the night, to go himself the rounds of his posts, to see that all was safe. The air was serene67 and he walked out on this duty. He passed from line to line, from station to station, and all was in order. One post alone remained to be visited, and that was a point of observation on the craigs near Arthur’s Seat. As he proceeded along a lonely defile68 between the rocks which overhang the ascent69 of the mountain, he was startled by the indistinct sight of a figure amongst the rolling vapors70 of the night, seated on a towering cliff directly in the way he was to go. The broad light of the moon, breaking from behind the clouds, shone full upon the spot, and discovered a majestic71 form in gray robes, leaning on a harp72; while his face, mournfully gazing upward, was rendered venerable by a long white beard that mingled73 with the floating mist. Wallace paused, and stopping some distance from this extraordinary apparition74, looked on it in silence. The strings75 of the harp seemed softly touched, but it was only the sighing of a transitory breeze passing over them. The vibration76 ceased, but, in the next moment the hand of the master indeed struck the chords, and with so full and melancholy77 a sound that Wallace for a few minutes was riveted78 to the ground; then moving forward with a breathless caution, not to disturb the nocturnal bard79, he gently approached. He was, however, descried80! The venerable figure clasped his hands, and in a voice of mournful solemnity exclaimed:
“Art thou come, doomed82 of Heaven, to hear thy sad coronach?” Wallace started at this salutation. The bard, with the same emotion, continued; “No choral hymns83 hallow thy bleeding corpse84 — wolves howl thy requiem85 — eagles scream over thy desolate86 grave! Fly, chieftain, fly!”
“What, venerable father of the harp,” cried Wallace, interrupting the awful pause, “thus addresses one whom he must mistake for some other warrior87?”
“Can the spirit of inspiration mistake its object?” demanded the bard. “Can he whose eyes have been opened be blind to Sir William Wallace — to the blood which clogs88 his mounting footsteps?”
“And what or who am I to understand art thou?” replied Wallace. “Who is the saint whose holy charity would anticipate the obsequies of a man who yet may be destined89 to a long pilgrimage?”
“Who I am,” resumed the bard, “will be sthown to thee when thou hast passed yon starry90 firmament91. But the galaxy92 streams with blood; the bugle93 of death is alone heard; and thy lacerated breast heaves in vain against the hoofs94 of opposing squadrons. They charge — Scotland falls! Look not on me, champion of thy country! Sold by thine enemies — betrayed by thy friends! It was not the seer of St. Anton who gave thee these wounds — that heart’s blood was not drawn95 by me: a woman’s hand in mail, ten thousand armed warriors96 strike the mortal steel — he sinks, he falls! Red is the blood of Eske! Thy vital stream hath dyed it. Fly, bravest of the brave, and live! Stay, and perish!” With a shriek97 of horror, and throwing his aged98 arms extended toward the heavens, while his gray beard mingled in the rising blast, the seer rushed from sight. Wallace saw the misty99 rocks alone, and was left in awful solitude100.
For a few minutes he stood in profound silence. His very soul seemed deprived of power to answer so terrible a denunciation, with even a questioning thought. He had heard the destruction of Scotland declared, and himself sentenced to perish if he did not escape the general ruin by flying from her side! This terrible decree of fate, so disastrously101 corroborated102 by the extremity103 of Bruce, and the divisions in the kingdom, had been sounded in his ear, had been pronounced by one of those sages104 of his country, on whom the spirit of prophecy, it was believed, yet descended105, with all the horrors of a woe-denouncing prophet. Could he then doubt its truth? He did not doubt; he believed the midnight voice he had heard. But recovering from the first shock of such a doom81, and remembering that it still left the choice to himself, between dishonored life or glorious death, he resolved to show his respect to the oracle106 by manifesting a persevering107 obedience108 to the eternal voice which gave those agents utterance109: and while he bowed to the warning, he vowed110 to be the last who should fall from the side of his devoted111 country. “If devoted,” cried he, “then our fates shall be the same. My fall from thee shall be into my grave. Scotland may have struck the breast the breast that shielded her, yet, Father of Mercies, forgive her blindness, and grant me still permission a little longer to oppose my heart between her and this fearful doom!”
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
tumults
|
|
| 吵闹( tumult的名词复数 )； 喧哗； 激动的吵闹声； 心烦意乱 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
|
2
citadel
|
|
| n.城堡；堡垒；避难所 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
portentous
|
|
| adj.不祥的，可怕的，装腔作势的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
immediate
|
|
| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
marine
|
|
| adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
mar
|
|
| vt.破坏，毁坏，弄糟 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
alleging
|
|
| 断言，宣称，辩解( allege的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
patriotism
|
|
| n.爱国精神，爱国心，爱国主义 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
delusion
|
|
| n.谬见，欺骗，幻觉，迷惑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
assent
|
|
| v.批准，认可；n.批准，认可 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
awe
|
|
| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
imploring
|
|
| 恳求的，哀求的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
exultingly
|
|
| 兴高采烈地，得意地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
solicited
|
|
| v.恳求( solicit的过去式和过去分词 )；（指娼妇）拉客；索求；征求 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
defense
|
|
| n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
virtue
|
|
| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
vaulted
|
|
| adj.拱状的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
luminous
|
|
| adj.发光的，发亮的；光明的；明白易懂的；有启发的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
bind
|
|
| vt.捆，包扎；装订；约束；使凝固；vi.变硬 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
refractory
|
|
| adj.倔强的，难驾驭的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
decided
|
|
| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
triumphant
|
|
| adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
accusations
|
|
| n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
vengeance
|
|
| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
lodged
|
|
| v.存放( lodge的过去式和过去分词 )；暂住；埋入；（权利、权威等）归属 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
admiration
|
|
| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
persuasion
|
|
| n.劝说；说服；持有某种信仰的宗派 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
disdain
|
|
| n.鄙视，轻视；v.轻视，鄙视，不屑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
repented
|
|
| 对（自己的所为）感到懊悔或忏悔( repent的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
rejection
|
|
| n.拒绝，被拒，抛弃，被弃 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
intrigues
|
|
| n.密谋策划( intrigue的名词复数 )；神秘气氛；引人入胜的复杂情节v.搞阴谋诡计( intrigue的第三人称单数 )；激起…的好奇心 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
deposed
|
|
| v.罢免( depose的过去式和过去分词 )；（在法庭上）宣誓作证 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
impelled
|
|
| v.推动、推进或敦促某人做某事( impel的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
loyalty
|
|
| n.忠诚，忠心 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
lawful
|
|
| adj.法律许可的，守法的，合法的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
exhort
|
|
| v.规劝，告诫 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
monarch
|
|
| n.帝王，君主，最高统治者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
intoxicated
|
|
| 喝醉的，极其兴奋的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
enraptured
|
|
| v.使狂喜( enrapture的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
implored
|
|
| 恳求或乞求（某人）( implore的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
meridian
|
|
| adj.子午线的；全盛期的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
fraught
|
|
| adj.充满…的，伴有(危险等)的；忧虑的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
determined
|
|
| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
wield
|
|
| vt.行使，运用，支配；挥，使用(武器等) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
precipitate
|
|
| adj.突如其来的；vt.使突然发生；n.沉淀物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
forth
|
|
| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
pretensions
|
|
| 自称( pretension的名词复数 )； 自命不凡； 要求； 权力 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
attachment
|
|
| n.附属物，附件；依恋；依附 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
transpire
|
|
| v.(使)蒸发，(使)排出 ；泄露，公开 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
ardor
|
|
| n.热情，狂热 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
nuptials
|
|
| n.婚礼；婚礼( nuptial的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
vows
|
|
| 誓言( vow的名词复数 )； 郑重宣布，许愿 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
climax
|
|
| n.顶点；高潮；v.(使)达到顶点 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
misery
|
|
| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
kinsmen
|
|
| n.家属，亲属( kinsman的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
ratify
|
|
| v.批准，认可，追认 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
warden
|
|
| n.监察员，监狱长，看守人，监护人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
58
subjugation
|
|
| n.镇压，平息，征服 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
59
besought
|
|
| v.恳求，乞求（某事物）( beseech的过去式和过去分词 )；(beseech的过去式与过去分词) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
60
acquiescence
|
|
| n.默许；顺从 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
61
fatigued
|
|
| adj. 疲乏的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
62
scouts
|
|
| 侦察员[机，舰]( scout的名词复数 )； 童子军； 搜索； 童子军成员 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
63
thither
|
|
| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
64
conclusive
|
|
| adj.最后的，结论的；确凿的，消除怀疑的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
65
repose
|
|
| v.(使)休息；n.安息 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
66
possessed
|
|
| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
67
serene
|
|
| adj. 安详的，宁静的，平静的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
68
defile
|
|
| v.弄污，弄脏；n.(山间)小道 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
69
ascent
|
|
| n.(声望或地位)提高；上升，升高；登高 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
70
vapors
|
|
| n.水汽，水蒸气，无实质之物( vapor的名词复数 )；自夸者；幻想 [药]吸入剂 [古]忧郁（症）v.自夸，（使）蒸发( vapor的第三人称单数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
71
majestic
|
|
| adj.雄伟的，壮丽的，庄严的，威严的，崇高的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
72
harp
|
|
| n.竖琴；天琴座 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
73
mingled
|
|
| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
74
apparition
|
|
| n.幽灵，神奇的现象 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
75
strings
|
|
| n.弦 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
76
vibration
|
|
| n.颤动，振动；摆动 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
77
melancholy
|
|
| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
78
riveted
|
|
| 铆接( rivet的过去式和过去分词 )； 把…固定住； 吸引； 引起某人的注意 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
79
bard
|
|
| n.吟游诗人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
80
descried
|
|
| adj.被注意到的，被发现的，被看到的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
81
doom
|
|
| n.厄运，劫数；v.注定，命定 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
82
doomed
|
|
| 命定的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
83
hymns
|
|
| n.赞美诗，圣歌，颂歌( hymn的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
84
corpse
|
|
| n.尸体，死尸 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
85
requiem
|
|
| n.安魂曲，安灵曲 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
86
desolate
|
|
| adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
87
warrior
|
|
| n.勇士，武士，斗士 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
88
clogs
|
|
| 木屐； 木底鞋，木屐( clog的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
89
destined
|
|
| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
90
starry
|
|
| adj.星光照耀的, 闪亮的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
91
firmament
|
|
| n.苍穹；最高层 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
92
galaxy
|
|
| n.星系；银河系；一群(杰出或著名的人物) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
93
bugle
|
|
| n.军号，号角，喇叭；v.吹号，吹号召集 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
94
hoofs
|
|
| n.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的名词复数 )v.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的第三人称单数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
95
drawn
|
|
| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
96
warriors
|
|
| 武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
97
shriek
|
|
| v./n.尖叫，叫喊 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
98
aged
|
|
| adj.年老的，陈年的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
99
misty
|
|
| adj.雾蒙蒙的，有雾的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
100
solitude
|
|
| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
101
disastrously
|
|
| ad.灾难性地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
102
corroborated
|
|
| v.证实，支持（某种说法、信仰、理论等）( corroborate的过去式 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
103
extremity
|
|
| n.末端，尽头；尽力；终极；极度 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
104
sages
|
|
| n.圣人( sage的名词复数 )；智者；哲人；鼠尾草（可用作调料） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
105
descended
|
|
| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
106
oracle
|
|
| n.神谕，神谕处，预言 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
107
persevering
|
|
| a.坚忍不拔的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
108
obedience
|
|
| n.服从，顺从 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
109
utterance
|
|
| n.用言语表达，话语，言语 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
110
vowed
|
|
| 起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
111
devoted
|
|
| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |