ANTOINE DANIEL.
Huron Traders ? Battle at Three Rivers ? St. Joseph ? Onset1 of the Iroquois ? Death of Daniel ? The Town Destroyed
In the summer of 1647 the Hurons dared not go down to the French settlements, but in the following year they took heart, and resolved at all risks to make the attempt; for the kettles, hatchets2, and knives of the traders had become necessaries of life. Two hundred and fifty of their best warriors4 therefore embarked5, under five valiant6 chiefs. They made the voyage in safety, approached Three Rivers on the seventeenth of July, and, running their canoes ashore7 among the bulrushes, began to grease their hair, paint their faces, and otherwise adorn8 themselves, that they might appear after a befitting fashion at the fort. While they were thus engaged, the alarm was sounded. Some of their warriors had discovered a large body of Iroquois, who for several days had been lurking9 in the forest, unknown to the French garrison10, watching their opportunity to strike a blow. The Hurons 374 snatched their arms, and, half-greased and painted, ran to meet them. The Iroquois received them with a volley. They fell flat to avoid the shot, then leaped up with a furious yell, and sent back a shower of arrows and bullets. The Iroquois, who were outnumbered, gave way and fled, excepting a few who for a time made fight with their knives. The Hurons pursued. Many prisoners were taken, and many dead left on the field. [1] The rout11 of the enemy was complete; and when their trade was ended, the Hurons returned home in triumph, decorated with the laurels12 and the scalps of victory. As it proved, it would have been well, had they remained there to defend their families and firesides.
[1] Lalemant, Relation, 1648, 11. The Jesuit Bressani had come down with the Hurons, and was with them in the fight.
The oft-mentioned town of Teanaustayé, or St. Joseph, lay on the south-eastern frontier of the Huron country, near the foot of a range of forest-covered hills, and about fifteen miles from Sainte Marie. It had been the chief town of the nation, and its population, by the Indian standard, was still large; for it had four hundred families, and at least two thousand inhabitants. It was well fortified13 with palisades, after the Huron manner, and was esteemed14 the chief bulwark15 of the country. Here countless16 Iroquois had been burned and devoured17. Its people had been truculent18 and intractable heathen, but many of them had surrendered to the Faith, and for four years past Father Daniel had preached among them with excellent results.
375 On the morning of the fourth of July, when the forest around basked19 lazily in the early sun, you might have mounted the rising ground on which the town stood, and passed unchallenged through the opening in the palisade. Within, you would have seen the crowded dwellings20 of bark, shaped like the arched coverings of huge baggage-wagons, and decorated with the totems or armorial devices of their owners daubed on the outside with paint. Here some squalid wolfish dog lay sleeping in the sun, a group of Huron girls chatted together in the shade, old squaws pounded corn in large wooden mortars21, idle youths gambled with cherry-stones on a wooden platter, and naked infants crawled in the dust. Scarcely a warrior3 was to be seen. Some were absent in quest of game or of Iroquois scalps, and some had gone with the trading-party to the French settlements. You followed the foul23 passage-ways among the houses, and at length came to the church. It was full to the door. Daniel had just finished the mass, and his flock still knelt at their devotions. It was but the day before that he had returned to them, warmed with new fervor24, from his meditations25 in retreat at Sainte Marie. Suddenly an uproar26 of voices, shrill27 with terror, burst upon the languid silence of the town. "The Iroquois! the Iroquois!" A crowd of hostile warriors had issued from the forest, and were rushing across the clearing, towards the opening in the palisade. Daniel ran out of the church, and hurried to the point of danger. Some snatched weapons; some rushed to and fro in the madness 376 of a blind panic. The priest rallied the defenders28; promised Heaven to those who died for their homes and their faith; then hastened from house to house, calling on unbelievers to repent29 and receive baptism, to snatch them from the Hell that yawned to ingulf them. They crowded around him, imploring30 to be saved; and, immersing his handkerchief in a bowl of water, he shook it over them, and baptized them by aspersion31. They pursued him, as he ran again to the church, where he found a throng32 of women, children, and old men, gathered as in a sanctuary33. Some cried for baptism, some held out their children to receive it, some begged for absolution, and some wailed34 in terror and despair. "Brothers," he exclaimed again and again, as he shook the baptismal drops from his handkerchief,—"brothers, to-day we shall be in Heaven."
The fierce yell of the war-whoop now rose close at hand. The palisade was forced, and the enemy was in the town. The air quivered with the infernal din22. "Fly!" screamed the priest, driving his flock before him. "I will stay here. We shall meet again in Heaven." Many of them escaped through an opening in the palisade opposite to that by which the Iroquois had entered; but Daniel would not follow, for there still might be souls to rescue from perdition. The hour had come for which he had long prepared himself. In a moment he saw the Iroquois, and came forth35 from the church to meet them. When they saw him in turn, radiant in the vestments of his office, confronting them with a look kindled36 with the inspiration 377 of martyrdom, they stopped and stared in amazement37; then recovering themselves, bent38 their bows, and showered him with a volley of arrows, that tore through his robes and his flesh. A gunshot followed; the ball pierced his heart, and he fell dead, gasping39 the name of Jesus. They rushed upon him with yells of triumph, stripped him naked, gashed40 and hacked41 his lifeless body, and, scooping42 his blood in their hands, bathed their faces in it to make them brave. The town was in a blaze; when the flames reached the church, they flung the priest into it, and both were consumed together. [2]
[2] Ragueneau, Relation des Hurons, 1649, 3-5; Bressani, Relation Abrégée, 247; Du Creux, Historia Canadensis, 524; Tanner, Societas Jesu Militans, 531; Marie de l'Incarnation, Lettre aux Ursulines de Tours, Quebec, 1649.
Daniel was born at Dieppe, and was forty-eight years old at the time of his death. He had been a Jesuit from the age of twenty.
Teanaustayé was a heap of ashes, and the victors took up their march with a train of nearly seven hundred prisoners, many of whom they killed on the way. Many more had been slain43 in the town and the neighboring forest, where the pursuers hunted them down, and where women, crouching44 for refuge among thickets45, were betrayed by the cries and wailing46 of their infants.
The triumph of the Iroquois did not end here; for a neighboring fortified town, included within the circle of Daniel's mission, shared the fate of Teanaustayé. Never had the Huron nation received such a blow.
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
onset
|
|
| n.进攻，袭击，开始，突然开始 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
hatchets
|
|
| n.短柄小斧( hatchet的名词复数 )；恶毒攻击；诽谤；休战 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
warrior
|
|
| n.勇士，武士，斗士 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
warriors
|
|
| 武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
embarked
|
|
| 乘船( embark的过去式和过去分词 )； 装载； 从事 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
valiant
|
|
| adj.勇敢的，英勇的；n.勇士，勇敢的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
ashore
|
|
| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
adorn
|
|
| vt.使美化，装饰 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
lurking
|
|
| 潜在 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
garrison
|
|
| n.卫戍部队；驻地，卫戍区；vt.派(兵)驻防 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
rout
|
|
| n.溃退，溃败；v.击溃，打垮 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
laurels
|
|
| n.桂冠，荣誉 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
fortified
|
|
| adj. 加强的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
esteemed
|
|
| adj.受人尊敬的v.尊敬( esteem的过去式和过去分词 )；敬重；认为；以为 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
bulwark
|
|
| n.堡垒，保障，防御 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
countless
|
|
| adj.无数的，多得不计其数的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
devoured
|
|
| 吞没( devour的过去式和过去分词 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
truculent
|
|
| adj.野蛮的，粗野的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
basked
|
|
| v.晒太阳，取暖( bask的过去式和过去分词 )；对…感到乐趣；因他人的功绩而出名；仰仗…的余泽 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
dwellings
|
|
| n.住处，处所( dwelling的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
mortars
|
|
| n.迫击炮( mortar的名词复数 )；砂浆；房产；研钵 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
din
|
|
| n.喧闹声，嘈杂声 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
foul
|
|
| adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
fervor
|
|
| n.热诚；热心；炽热 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
meditations
|
|
| 默想( meditation的名词复数 )； 默念； 沉思； 冥想 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
uproar
|
|
| n.骚动，喧嚣，鼎沸 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
shrill
|
|
| adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
defenders
|
|
| n.防御者( defender的名词复数 )；守卫者；保护者；辩护者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
repent
|
|
| v.悔悟，悔改，忏悔，后悔 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
imploring
|
|
| 恳求的，哀求的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
aspersion
|
|
| n.诽谤，中伤 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
throng
|
|
| n.人群，群众；v.拥挤，群集 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
sanctuary
|
|
| n.圣所，圣堂，寺庙；禁猎区，保护区 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
wailed
|
|
| v.哭叫，哀号( wail的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
forth
|
|
| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
kindled
|
|
| （使某物）燃烧，着火( kindle的过去式和过去分词 )； 激起（感情等）； 发亮，放光 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
amazement
|
|
| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
bent
|
|
| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
gasping
|
|
| adj. 气喘的, 痉挛的 动词gasp的现在分词 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
gashed
|
|
| v.划伤，割破( gash的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
hacked
|
|
| 生气 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
scooping
|
|
| n.捞球v.抢先报道( scoop的现在分词 )；（敏捷地）抱起；抢先获得；用铲[勺]等挖（洞等） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
slain
|
|
| 杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的过去分词 )； (slay的过去分词) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
crouching
|
|
| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
thickets
|
|
| n.灌木丛( thicket的名词复数 )；丛状物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
wailing
|
|
| v.哭叫，哀号( wail的现在分词 )；沱 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |