Chapter 106

DANIEL GUI BOLTED into the planning room.

My lord, your jester's army has been sighted. It lies half a day from the city, at the edge of the forest.

You mean the rabble¹. Baldwin sniffed². His advisers³, the bailiff and chamberlain, seemed delighted with the news.

You must attack, then, the bailiff wheezed⁴. I know these peasants. Their courage will crumble⁵ at the first sign of a fight. Their resolve is only as strong as their last ale.

It appears their resolve has stiffened⁶, Daniel observed. This jester has given them hope. They outnumber us three to one.

But we have horses and crossbows, Baldwin said. They have only tools and wooden shields.

If we go after them in the woods, Daniel said, all our horses and crossbows would be reduced to nothing. Your men would be slaughtered⁷ just like Stephen's. The jester has this lance. It emboldens⁸ them.

The chatelain is right, my lord, said the chamberlain. Even if you won, you would turn each carcass into a hero's grave. You must hear their demands. Consider them, even disingenuously⁹. Promise them the slightest gain if they return to their fields.

You are wise, chamberlain. Baldwin grinned. These peasants have no means for a long siege. They will grow bored and tired as soon as their bellies¹⁰ start to ache.

The bailiff and the chamberlain puffed¹¹ back their agreement.

Do not forget, my lord, Daniel cut in, the jester has this lance. They believe it makes them right.

This lance will rest in Treille before the negotiation¹² is done, said Baldwin. They will give it up for a bag of wheat. And they will givehim up too. I will have the fool's head upon his precious lance and place it before my bath.

I merely meant, Daniel pressed on, that you take a risk by inviting¹³ this siege.

Baldwin slowly rose. He walked around the table and put his arm across Daniel's shoulders. Come, Baldwin motioned him toward the fire. A word with you, by the light.

A lump grew in Daniel's throat.Had he gone too far? Had he angered his liege , whom he was pledged to serve?

The duke wrapped his arm around Daniel tighter, drew him close to the flames, then smiled. Do you for a moment think I have any intention of handing over even a cup of grain to this traitorous¹⁴ puke? I would be the laughingstock of France. I have contacted my cousin. He sends a thousand troops.

Let the idiots begin their siege. We will eat meat while they boil roots. When the reinforcements arrive, we will open the gates and crush them. You and I, Daniel, we will make sure not a single gray-haired grandfather among this rabble leaves Treille alive.

Baldwin brought Daniel's hand so close to the flames that he had to restrain himself from crying out.

No one threatens my rule, least of all these miserable¹⁵ spawn¹⁶. So how does that plan sound, chatelain?

Daniel's heart pounded furiously. His mouth was dry as dust. He looked into his liege's eyes and saw nothing but dark holes. Most wise, my lord.

1 rabble   

n.乌合之众，暴民；下等人

参考例句：

• They formed an army out of rabble.他们用乌合之众组成一支军队。
• Poverty in itself does not make men into a rabble.贫困自身并不能使人成为贱民。

2 sniffed   

v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的过去式和过去分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说

参考例句：

• When Jenney had stopped crying she sniffed and dried her eyes. 珍妮停止了哭泣，吸了吸鼻子，擦干了眼泪。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The dog sniffed suspiciously at the stranger. 狗疑惑地嗅着那个陌生人。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 advisers   

顾问，劝告者( adviser的名词复数 )； （指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• a member of the President's favoured circle of advisers 总统宠爱的顾问班子中的一员
• She withdrew to confer with her advisers before announcing a decision. 她先去请教顾问然后再宣布决定。

4 wheezed   

v.喘息，发出呼哧呼哧的喘息声( wheeze的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The old organ wheezed out a tune. 那架老风琴呜呜地奏出曲子。 来自辞典例句
• He wheezed out a curse. 他喘着气诅咒。 来自辞典例句

5 crumble   

vi.碎裂，崩溃；vt.弄碎，摧毁

参考例句：

• Opposition more or less crumbled away.反对势力差不多都瓦解了。
• Even if the seas go dry and rocks crumble,my will will remain firm.纵然海枯石烂，意志永不动摇。

6 stiffened   

加强的

参考例句：

• He leaned towards her and she stiffened at this invasion of her personal space. 他向她俯过身去，这种侵犯她个人空间的举动让她绷紧了身子。
• She stiffened with fear. 她吓呆了。

7 slaughtered   

v.屠杀，杀戮，屠宰( slaughter的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The invading army slaughtered a lot of people. 侵略军杀了许多人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Hundreds of innocent civilians were cruelly slaughtered. 数百名无辜平民遭残杀。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 emboldens   

v.鼓励，使有胆量( embolden的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• This condition emboldens employers and brokers to exploit more the migrant workers. 这样的情形使得雇主及仲介业者得以大胆地剥削移民劳工。 来自互联网
• In turn, Kobe's growing confidence emboldens his teammates to play even better. 反过来，科比增加了对他们的信任也促使队友们打得更好。 来自互联网

9 disingenuously   

adv.不诚实地，不坦白地

参考例句：

• Then, after telling the deputation to rise she continued, graciously and effectively, if disingenuously. 接着，她让跪着的代表团起来，以不那么诚恳，却是谦和，颇能打动人心的语气继续说道。 来自辞典例句
• Disingenuously, he asked leading questions abut his opponent's work. 他狡猾地问了一些有关他对手工作的关键性问题。 来自互联网

10 bellies   

n.肚子( belly的名词复数 )；腹部；（物体的）圆形或凸起部份；腹部…形的

参考例句：

• They crawled along on their bellies. 他们匍匐前进。
• starving children with huge distended bellies 鼓着浮肿肚子的挨饿儿童

11 puffed   

adj.疏松的v.使喷出( puff的过去式和过去分词 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧

参考例句：

• He lit a cigarette and puffed at it furiously. 他点燃了一支香烟，狂吸了几口。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He felt grown-up, puffed up with self-importance. 他觉得长大了，便自以为了不起。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 negotiation   

n.谈判，协商

参考例句：

• They closed the deal in sugar after a week of negotiation.经过一星期的谈判，他们的食糖生意成交了。
• The negotiation dragged on until July.谈判一直拖到7月份。

13 inviting   

adj.诱人的，引人注目的

参考例句：

• An inviting smell of coffee wafted into the room.一股诱人的咖啡香味飘进了房间。
• The kitchen smelled warm and inviting and blessedly familiar.这间厨房的味道温暖诱人，使人感到亲切温馨。

14 traitorous   

adj. 叛国的, 不忠的, 背信弃义的

参考例句：

• All traitorous persons and cliques came to no good end. 所有的叛徒及叛徒集团都没好下场。
• Most of the time I keep such traitorous thoughts to myself. 这种叛逆思想我不大向别人暴露。

15 miserable   

adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的

参考例句：

• It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。
• Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。

16 spawn   

n.卵，产物，后代，结果；vt.产卵，种菌丝于，产生，造成；vi.产卵，大量生产

参考例句：

• The fish were madly pushing their way upstream to spawn.鱼群为产卵而疯狂地向上游挤进。
• These fish will lay spawn in about one month from now.这些鱼大约一个月内会产卵。