As we have seen already, the true first sources of the immense body of Arthurian romance are obscure: the fountain-head is certainly Celtic, but the affluents2 are mainly French—without France the legend would have been but a small thing. Malory constantly refers to "the French book" for his statements, to what book he does not say, but the learned industry of Dr. Sommer has detected that, for the youth of Arthur, Malory used French romances of Merlin the Seer; used French authorities for the tales of Sir Tristram and Lancelot, and also freely employed an English metrical romance, "Morte Arthur," attributed to the mysterious Scot,[Pg 125] Huchown. There are other sources, and Malory treats his authorities with much freedom, omitting, adding, and introducing confusions. His great romance has a definite beginning; it has a middle in the fatal revival3 of Arthurian chivalry4 in the search for the Holy Grail; and thence turns towards its end with the falling of Lancelot to his old sinful love of Guinevere, wife of Arthur, the decadence5, the rebellion of Mordred, the passing of Arthur, and the penitence6 of Lancelot and Guinevere.
Malory's book may be called a work of true genius, so simple yet so noble is the prose style; so fine, loyal and chivalrous7 the temper, while even the confusions add to the element of mystery and to the expectation and curiosity of the reader. Malory purges8 away the stupid monkish9 fables10 about the birth of Merlin by a machination of a devil: he does not linger over the long dull fables of Arthur's wars against the Anglo-Saxon invaders11; he gathers the flower of the chivalry of the fourteenth century, while true love is his theme, with no palliation of the guilt13 of sinful love. His Lancelot deserves the Douglas motto of "tender and true," though
His honour rooted in dishonour14 stood,
And faith unfaithful kept him falsely true.
Hence comes the inevitable15 tragedy, the greatest in romance.
"Herein," says Caxton, rising to the height of Malory's own style, men "shall find many joyous16 and pleasant histories, and noble and renowned17 acts of humanity, gentleness, and chivalry. For herein may be seen noble chivalry, courtesy, humanity, friendliness18, hardiness19, love, friendship, cowardice20, murder, hate, goodness, and sin. Do after the good, and leave the evil, and it shall bring you to good fame and renommee."
Many recent critics of Tennyson's "Idylls of the King," which is mainly derived21 from Malory, appear to think that Malory's "Morte d'Arthur" is a violent, brutal22, licentious23 book, and that Tennyson invented the noble courtesy, chivalry, humanity to suit the middle-class morality of 1860. This opinion is merely stupid. "The Morte," it has been well said, "assumes the recognition of a loftier standard of justice, purity and unselfishness than its own century knew.... The motive25 forces are the elemental passions[Pg 126] of love and bravery, never greed, or lust26, or cruelty,"—except of course in traitors27 like Meliagraunce and Mordred. The knights29 have the strongest sense of fair play: Sir Lancelot bears no spite against Sir Palamedes, a pagan knight28, who, from ignorance of the rules, deals a stroke in a tournament which the rules forbade. Their sense of honour is crystal-clear, and, as in Tennyson's Idylls, this honour and loyalty30 make the tragedy; the struggle between Lancelot's love of Guinevere, and his friendship for and loyalty to King Arthur. His sin brings its own punishment, he cannot win the vision of the Grail, that Holy thing: "blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God".
Arthur himself, after the wars of his youth, is but faintly drawn31: it is not for the King to seek adventures, but to hear the suits of his people who come to him for help and justice. A mystery of Fate hangs over him: he is smitten32 by the sins of his knights, and passes away, sorely wounded but alive, as strangely as ?dipus in the tragedy of Sophocles: perhaps, who knows, to come again. "In Avalon he groweth old," in the peaceful hidden land of apples and apple-blossom.
The scenes all pass in a world where colours are magically soft and bright. There is an old song of the fourteenth century which gives the kind of colour that abounds33 in Malory.
Lully, lulley, lully, lulley
The fawcon hath borne my mate away!
He bare him up, he bare him down,
He bare him into an orchard34 brown.
In that orchard there was a hall
That was hanged with purple and pall12.
And in that hall there was a bed,
It was hung with gold so red.
And in that bed there lieth a knight,
His wounds bleeding day and night.
By that bedside kneeleth a may,
And she weepeth both night and day.
This is like a song made on some scene in the Quest for the Grail.
Malory's world is "an unsubstantial fairy place," yet there is no fairy non-morality. There is the loftiest ideal among the[Pg 127] knights who follow the gleam and fragrance35 of the Holy Grail. That all do not attain36 to their ideal is but the failing of human nature, the ideal is among them, they aspire37 to reach "the spiritual City". For Guinevere, Malory has the chivalrous compassion38 of Homer for Helen; of Chaucer for Criseyde, but while Helen wins, with light penance39, to her home by the Eurotas, and her translation to Elysium, the Avalon of Greece, it is through many years of penance that Guinevere comes to her rest. What Shelley said of the end of the Iliad may be said of the last chapters of the "Morte," they die away "in the high and solemn close of the whole bloody40 tale in tenderness and inexpiable sorrow".
The prose with all its simplicity41 has rhythm and charm. Thus, "Therefore all ye that be lovers call unto your remembrance the month of May, like as did Queen Guinevere, for whom I make here a little mention, that while she lived she was a true lover, and therefore had she a good end". The words spoken by Sir Ector over the dead body of Lancelot are one of the noblest passages in English prose.
The very titles of the chapters call us into the realm of romance, like a blast blown on Arthur's horn. "How Sir Lancelot came into the Chapel42 Perilous43, and gat there of a dead corpse44 a piece of cloth and a sword." "How the damsel and Beaumains came to the siege, and came to a sycamore tree, and there Beaumains blew an horn, and then the Knight of the Red Lands came to fight him." "How Sir Lancelot, half-sleeping and half-waking, saw a sick man borne in a litter, and how he was healed with the Sangreal." Who can read the titles, and not make haste to read the chapters? The beautiful close of Tennyson's "Morte d'Arthur" is merely done into verse from the fifth chapter of Malory's twenty-first book,—the casting of Excalibur into the mere24, and the coming of the barge45 with the elfin ladies, "many fair ladies, and among them all was a Queen, and all they had black hoods46, and all they wept and shrieked47 when they saw King Arthur".
But for Malory, the old Arthurian romances would be known only to a few of the learned. Malory "made them common coin," his romance was neglected only in the eighteenth century.[Pg 128] It has been the inspiration of many poets, but none can "recapture the first fine careless rapture," to which Tennyson comes nearest in the best of his "Idylls of the King," and in "Sir Galahad," and "The Lady of Shalott".
Next to Chaucer's poems, Malory's romance is the greatest thing in English literature from "Beowulf" to Spenser. To boys, and to men who retain the boy, the "Morte" is an inestimable treasure, which has not to be sought for in the seldom-visited shelves that hold the publications of learned Societies, but is within the reach of all.[1]
[1] In the Globe edition, edited by Sir Edward Strachey. Macmillan & Co.
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
squire
|
|
| n.护卫, 侍从, 乡绅 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
affluents
|
|
| n.富裕的，富足的( affluent的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
|
3
revival
|
|
| n.复兴，复苏，（精力、活力等的）重振 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
chivalry
|
|
| n.骑士气概，侠义；（男人）对女人彬彬有礼，献殷勤 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
decadence
|
|
| n.衰落，颓废 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
penitence
|
|
| n.忏悔，赎罪；悔过 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
chivalrous
|
|
| adj.武士精神的；对女人彬彬有礼的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
purges
|
|
| 清除异己( purge的名词复数 )； 整肃（行动）； 清洗； 泻药 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
monkish
|
|
| adj.僧侣的，修道士的，禁欲的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
fables
|
|
| n.寓言( fable的名词复数 )；神话，传说 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
invaders
|
|
| 入侵者，侵略者，侵入物( invader的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
pall
|
|
| v.覆盖，使平淡无味；n.柩衣，棺罩；棺材；帷幕 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
guilt
|
|
| n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
dishonour
|
|
| n./vt.拒付（支票、汇票、票据等）；vt.凌辱，使丢脸；n.不名誉，耻辱，不光彩 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
inevitable
|
|
| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
joyous
|
|
| adj.充满快乐的；令人高兴的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
renowned
|
|
| adj.著名的，有名望的，声誉鹊起的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
friendliness
|
|
| n.友谊，亲切，亲密 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
hardiness
|
|
| n.耐劳性，强壮；勇气，胆子 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
cowardice
|
|
| n.胆小，怯懦 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
derived
|
|
| vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
brutal
|
|
| adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
licentious
|
|
| adj.放纵的，淫乱的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
mere
|
|
| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
motive
|
|
| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
lust
|
|
| n.性(淫)欲；渴(欲)望；vi.对…有强烈的欲望 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
traitors
|
|
| 卖国贼( traitor的名词复数 )； 叛徒； 背叛者； 背信弃义的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
knight
|
|
| n.骑士，武士；爵士 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
knights
|
|
| 骑士； （中古时代的）武士( knight的名词复数 )； 骑士； 爵士； （国际象棋中）马 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
loyalty
|
|
| n.忠诚，忠心 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
drawn
|
|
| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
smitten
|
|
| 猛打，重击，打击( smite的过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
abounds
|
|
| v.大量存在，充满，富于( abound的第三人称单数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
orchard
|
|
| n.果园，果园里的全部果树，(美俚)棒球场 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
fragrance
|
|
| n.芬芳，香味，香气 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
attain
|
|
| vt.达到，获得，完成 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
aspire
|
|
| vi.(to，after)渴望，追求，有志于 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
compassion
|
|
| n.同情，怜悯 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
penance
|
|
| n.（赎罪的）惩罪 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
bloody
|
|
| adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
simplicity
|
|
| n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
chapel
|
|
| n.小教堂，殡仪馆 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
perilous
|
|
| adj.危险的，冒险的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
corpse
|
|
| n.尸体，死尸 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
barge
|
|
| n.平底载货船，驳船 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
hoods
|
|
| n.兜帽( hood的名词复数 )；头巾；（汽车、童车等的）折合式车篷；汽车发动机罩v.兜帽( hood的第三人称单数 )；头巾；（汽车、童车等的）折合式车篷；汽车发动机罩 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
shrieked
|
|
| v.尖叫( shriek的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |