The news of the sacking of Robertsbridge came to Abbot Reginald five miles away at Battle, and though he may have rejoiced over the humbling11 of a rival, he was warned by his brother Abbot’s flaying12, and made haste to appear loyal. The Cistercians of Robertsbridge had been shrewd and greedy neighbours, and had snatched manors13 and land that might have fallen to the children of St. Benedict. Grants in Pett, Guestling, Icklesham, Playden, and Iden, and also lands in Snargate, Worth, Combden, Sedlescombe, and Ewhurst, showed that there had been cause for jealousy14 between the two. Reginald of Brecon may have had some thought of a possible transference of land from the Cistercians to his own “house.” To show his loyalty15 he called out his tenants16, and marched out in state as a war lord to meet the King, carrying presents with him, and wearing a mild and pliant17 manner. Riding back beside the King he spoke18 sadly of the poverty of St. Martin, and how the Pope’s perquisitions and pilferings had emptied his treasure-chest. The King should have had it, had he not pledged much of the Abbey plate to the Jews, but his sweet lord was wholly welcome to such food and drink as could be got together.
Abbot Reginald’s presents were perilously19 mean, and were not to be bulked out by pompous20 language. Even then, his discretion21 might not have miscarried but for the over anxious zeal22 of that cunning fox, Dom Silvius. The almoner had bleated23 a “gaudeamus” over the humbling of the Cistercian upstarts at Robertsbridge. He had sought an audience of Abbot Reginald before the monks met in the chapter house, and had put forward the plan that his superior actually accepted. It might be possible to follow the middle path, pay little, and make some profits, and at least escape from being robbed. Silvius took upon himself the secret burying of the Abbey treasure, and Silvius’s zeal for St. Martin was so notorious that none of the brethren quarrelled with his energy.
Battle that night was like a garden smothered24 in locusts25, so thick was the swarm26 of armed men, servants, vagabonds, mules27 and horses. Henry, Prince Edward, the King of the Romans, and the great lords were lodged28 in the Abbey, and dined in state in the abbot’s hall. Swarthy, swaggering men were everywhere, crowding and jostling, poking29 their noses into every corner of the five boroughs30, kissing the women, and taking the food and drink that the monks and burghers surrendered to them for the blessing32 of peace and piety33. Troops crowded the gardens, the orchards34, and the Abbot’s park. And though some measure of order reigned35, the atmosphere was surcharged with thunder, Reginald and his people feeling themselves like Roman provincials36 at the mercy of a host of Huns.
In the thick of all this sultriness Dom Silvius must needs discover that some of the reliquaries had been left in the Abbey church. Silvius soon had the sacristan by the girdle, protesting fervently37 that the reliquaries must be saved from possible sacrilege, and buried with the rest of the Abbey treasure. Silvius played the part of a mad miser38 and busybody that night. He had spades brought, and sneaked39 out into the darkness with the sacristan and two of the younger brothers at his heels.
It so happened that Dom Silvius spoilt the whole plot by being over anxious for the property of St. Martin. Some of Comyn’s Scotch40 soldiers, slinking about for anything to thieve, caught the monks burying the reliquaries in a piece of garden ground beyond the great garde-robe. The Scotchmen were quick to scent41 a trick, collared Silvius and his comrades, brought torches and tools, and set to work on their own authority. Not only did they discover two of the reliquaries that had been buried, but struck their spades on the whole of the Abbey treasure that had been hidden in a pit. Scotchmen, monks, treasure, torches, and all went in a whirl to the great hall where the King was dining. And Abbot Reginald hid his face in a flagon when he saw Silvius dragged in, spitting like a furious cat.
The King’s eyes were not pleasant to behold42. He had the “merry-thought” of a chicken in his hand, and was scraping the flesh from it with a silver knife. He looked attentively43 at the treasure that Comyn’s men tumbled on the floor below the dais. Then he broke the “merry-thought” in two, and folding the pieces in his fist, bade Reginald choose his lot.
Reginald of Brecon pulled out the shorter of the two. The King laughed, a dry cackle that was ominous44.
“The shorter the bone, the shorter the shrift, gentlemen,” he said. “We will take care of this treasure for you, my lord Abbot. As for the cellars, storehouses, burgher tenements45, and all such belongings46, we make a night’s gift of them to those who thirst and hunger.”
There was loud laughter, and a babel of voices. The flushed gentry47 at the table shouted “God strengthen the King.” One monk9 alone was mad enough to throw himself between St. Martin and the pleasantry of the royal spite, and that monk was Dom Silvius.
He broke loose, and rushed with furious and stuttering face to the high table, brandishing48 his cross, fanatical as any Egyptian hermit49 out of the desert.
“Spoiler of the houses of God!”
The bacon was following the fat into the fire. Abbot Reginald, good man, lost patience, and threw his platter in Silvius’s face.
Silvius, with a gobbet of gravy50 on his nose, looked comic enough, but still burnt like a Telemachus.
“God shall revenge sacrilege! Let the curse of St. Martin——”
Someone from behind took him by the collar, and twisted a fist into the folds till Silvius was in danger of being choked.
The King lay back in his chair and laughed.
“Take the prophet away, and let him be washed,” he said. “By the heart of King Richard, I have no use to-night for an Elijah!”
In this way it came about that Dom Silvius took a ride on the back of an ass51, with his feet lashed52 under the beast’s belly53, and a dirty pot forced down over his ears. The mob pelted54 Silvius with stones and offal till he was a mere55 image covered with blood and dirt. Comyn’s Scots had the privilege of bringing the martyrdom to an end. They took Silvius from the back of the ass, and carrying him into the place where the treasure had been buried, pitched him into the garde-robe drain, and so left him.
Silvius’s blundering had, however, a grimmer significance, for it brought upon the Abbey and the town that straggled about it the same fate that had befallen the despised Cistercians. The King had given the place over to plunder, and it was at the mercy of the rough soldiery who were doubly insolent56 with the fumes57 of mead58 and wine. The folk of the borough31 of Battle might well have cursed Silvius and the Abbey treasure, for the devil was let loose among them that May night.
Nor did the darkness hide the violence and the horror, for the very furniture was thrown out into the street and piled up amid the faggots to help the bonfires that lit the sport of war. Women and children fled like frightened birds into the darkness, and were thrice blessed if they were not caught, and held. The gaudy59 queans who had followed the army played King of the Castle on the high altar of the church, pulling each other down by the skirts, shouting, and tumbling over one another on the steps. Drunken men burst in the door of the bell tower, and set all the bells clanging in huge discords60. Others caught the monks, and made them race naked round the cloisters61, whipping them with their girdles to make them nimble.
Gaillard and some of his fellows had come by a cask of wine, and Gaillard had Black Isoult, Marpasse’s comrade, under his arm, and was well content with the lady. They needed a house for a night’s revel62, and chose one in the main street, a stone house that joined a forge. Gaillard’s men broke down the door, while their captain held a torch, and Isoult sat on the wine cask, laughing.
When the door gave way they were met in the dark entry by a virago63 with a hatchet64, none other than Bridget, the smith’s wife, who had stormed against Denise. The men fell back from her, but Isoult showed herself more valiant65, and quite a match for the lady.
“Make way, Gammer Goodbody,” she said, “make way for the red gown.”
Bridget answered her with an oath, and a word that was too familiar to Isoult’s ears.
The little woman’s black eyes sparkled with spite.
“Here is a respectable slut,” she said, “who has not learnt to kiss the foot of a lady.”
And she cut Bridget across the forearm with her knife, so that the smith’s wife dropped her hatchet.
Gaillard sent his men in, and they overpowered the woman. But Isoult would not let them harm her. Her own spirit of wickedness was equal to taming the big shrew.
She made them cut off Bridget’s hair, dress her in some of her man’s clothes, tie a lamb’s skin under her chin, and truss her with her hands fastened to her ankles. Then while she drank wine with Gaillard and made merry, seated on a bench, her red gown the colour of freshly shed blood, she had Bridget rolled across the floor and propped66 up near her like a sick duck. Isoult made a mock of the smith’s wife that night because of the thing she had called her, asking her where her marriage lines were, and why her man had not come home. Sometimes she threw the dregs from her ale horn into Bridget’s face, and called her a she-goat and a rabbit. Bridget still had the courage to curse back again, though her tongue was less clever than Isoult’s. But when Isoult took a burning stick from the fire, and began to singe67 Dame68 Bridget’s stockings, the woman took to screaming, and pleaded for pity.
So Dom Silvius let the devil loose in Battle, and the memory of that night lingered for many a long day.
As for Isoult’s comrade Marpasse, she and Denise had come to Grinstead amid the woods, and were lodged in the house of a woman who fed swine and kept a wayside inn. At Grinstead they heard the news that Earl Simon and the Barons’ host had left London with fifteen thousand burghers to swell69 their ranks, and were on the march to deal with the King. The army would pass not far from Grinstead, so said the woman of the inn, and Marpasse and Denise took counsel together and put their plans in order.
“Love carries the sword,” said Marpasse, and laughed and kissed Denise.
“I can never look him in the face again.”
“Bah, grey goose! There will be wounds to be healed. A woman’s hands are useful when the trumpets70 are hoarse71 and tired.”
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1
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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2
grumble
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| vi.抱怨；咕哝；n.抱怨，牢骚；咕哝，隆隆声 | |
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3
pillaging
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| v.抢劫，掠夺( pillage的现在分词 ) | |
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4
farce
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| n.闹剧，笑剧，滑稽戏；胡闹 | |
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purveyor
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| n.承办商，伙食承办商 | |
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plunder
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| vt.劫掠财物，掠夺；n.劫掠物，赃物；劫掠 | |
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7
despoiled
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| v.掠夺，抢劫( despoil的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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8
monks
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| n.修道士，僧侣( monk的名词复数 ) | |
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monk
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| n.和尚，僧侣，修道士 | |
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ransom
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| n.赎金，赎身；v.赎回，解救 | |
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11
humbling
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| adj.令人羞辱的v.使谦恭( humble的现在分词 )；轻松打败（尤指强大的对手）；低声下气 | |
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12
flaying
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| v.痛打( flay的现在分词 )；把…打得皮开肉绽；剥（通常指动物）的皮；严厉批评 | |
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13
manors
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| n.庄园（manor的复数形式） | |
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14
jealousy
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| n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌 | |
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15
loyalty
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| n.忠诚，忠心 | |
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16
tenants
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| n.房客( tenant的名词复数 )；佃户；占用者；占有者 | |
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17
pliant
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| adj.顺从的；可弯曲的 | |
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18
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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19
perilously
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| adv.充满危险地，危机四伏地 | |
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20
pompous
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| adj.傲慢的，自大的；夸大的；豪华的 | |
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21
discretion
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| n.谨慎；随意处理 | |
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22
zeal
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| n.热心，热情，热忱 | |
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23
bleated
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| v.（羊，小牛）叫( bleat的过去式和过去分词 )；哭诉；发出羊叫似的声音；轻声诉说 | |
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24
smothered
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| （使）窒息， （使）透不过气( smother的过去式和过去分词 )； 覆盖； 忍住； 抑制 | |
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25
locusts
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| n.蝗虫( locust的名词复数 )；贪吃的人；破坏者；槐树 | |
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26
swarm
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| n.(昆虫)等一大群；vi.成群飞舞；蜂拥而入 | |
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27
mules
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| 骡( mule的名词复数 )； 拖鞋； 顽固的人； 越境运毒者 | |
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28
lodged
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| v.存放( lodge的过去式和过去分词 )；暂住；埋入；（权利、权威等）归属 | |
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29
poking
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| n. 刺，戳，袋 vt. 拨开，刺，戳 vi. 戳，刺，捅，搜索，伸出，行动散慢 | |
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30
boroughs
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| （尤指大伦敦的）行政区( borough的名词复数 )； 议会中有代表的市镇 | |
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borough
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| n.享有自治权的市镇；(英)自治市镇 | |
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32
blessing
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| n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿 | |
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33
piety
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| n.虔诚，虔敬 | |
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34
orchards
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| （通常指围起来的）果园( orchard的名词复数 ) | |
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35
reigned
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| vi.当政，统治（reign的过去式形式） | |
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36
provincials
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| n.首都以外的人，地区居民( provincial的名词复数 ) | |
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37
fervently
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| adv.热烈地，热情地，强烈地 | |
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38
miser
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| n.守财奴，吝啬鬼 (adj.miserly) | |
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39
sneaked
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| v.潜行( sneak的过去式和过去分词 )；偷偷溜走；（儿童向成人）打小报告；告状 | |
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40
scotch
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| n.伤口，刻痕；苏格兰威士忌酒；v.粉碎，消灭，阻止；adj.苏格兰(人)的 | |
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41
scent
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| n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉 | |
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42
behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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43
attentively
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| adv.聚精会神地；周到地；谛；凝神 | |
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44
ominous
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| adj.不祥的，不吉的，预兆的，预示的 | |
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45
tenements
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| n.房屋，住户，租房子( tenement的名词复数 ) | |
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46
belongings
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| n.私人物品，私人财物 | |
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47
gentry
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| n.绅士阶级，上层阶级 | |
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48
brandishing
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| v.挥舞( brandish的现在分词 )；炫耀 | |
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49
hermit
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| n.隐士，修道者；隐居 | |
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50
gravy
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| n.肉汁；轻易得来的钱，外快 | |
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51
ass
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| n.驴；傻瓜，蠢笨的人 | |
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52
lashed
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| adj.具睫毛的v.鞭打( lash的过去式和过去分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
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53
belly
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| n.肚子，腹部；(像肚子一样)鼓起的部分，膛 | |
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54
pelted
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| （连续地）投掷( pelt的过去式和过去分词 )； 连续抨击； 攻击； 剥去…的皮 | |
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55
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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56
insolent
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| adj.傲慢的，无理的 | |
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57
fumes
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| n.(强烈而刺激的)气味，气体 | |
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58
mead
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| n.蜂蜜酒 | |
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59
gaudy
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| adj.华而不实的；俗丽的 | |
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60
discords
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| 不和（discord的复数形式） | |
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61
cloisters
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| n.（学院、修道院、教堂等建筑的）走廊( cloister的名词复数 )；回廊；修道院的生活；隐居v.隐退，使与世隔绝( cloister的第三人称单数 ) | |
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62
revel
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| vi.狂欢作乐，陶醉；n.作乐，狂欢 | |
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63
virago
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| n.悍妇 | |
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64
hatchet
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| n.短柄小斧；v.扼杀 | |
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65
valiant
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| adj.勇敢的，英勇的；n.勇士，勇敢的人 | |
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66
propped
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| 支撑，支持，维持( prop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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67
singe
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| v.(轻微地)烧焦；烫焦；烤焦 | |
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68
dame
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| n.女士 | |
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69
swell
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| vi.膨胀，肿胀；增长，增强 | |
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70
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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71
hoarse
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| adj.嘶哑的，沙哑的 | |
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