Chapter 36. The Staves which Osberne Taught to the Dalesmen

Now all folk at Wethermel when they looked upon Osberne's face deemed that he was bettering of the drearihood which had weighed on him ever since the battle with the strong-thieves, and of that bettering they were right glad, for they were wont¹ to have much joy of his fellowship. Came on therewith the Midsummer Feast of the Cloven Mote², which, as aforesaid, was the greatest of all the feasts of the Dalesmen, and Osberne was there with a countenance³ of good cheer no worser than the best. Now at this feast not only did they do in the heedfullest and solemnest wise all that belonged to Midsummer, as the Trundling of the Fiery⁴ Wheel, and the Kindling⁵ of the Bale, and the Leaping through the Fire; but also before noon, and ere these plays were begun, was high mass sung in the goodliest fashion in each of the two churches of Allhallows for the good rest of them who had fallen manfully in battle with the thieves. And last of all, when the summer night was as dark as it would be before the dawn, and the folk of the two sides were all ranged each in a line on their own shore of the river, they sang these staves from side to side across the Sundering⁶ Flood, the Westdalers beginning, and then the Eastdalers taking it up:

 

Tis Summer and night,

Little dusk and long light,

Little loss and much gain

When the day must needs wane⁷,

Little bitter, much sweet

From the weed to the wheat;

Little moan, mickle praise

Of the Midsummer days,

 

When the love of the sleeping sun lieth along

And broodeth the acres abiding⁸ the song.

 

Were the spring to come o'er

And again as before,

What then would ye crave⁹

From the summer to have?

Sweeter grass would ye pray,

And more lea-lading hay?

For more wheat would ye cry,

Thicker swathe of the rye?

 

Stouter¹⁰ sons would ye ask for, and daughters more dear?

Well-willers more trusty than them ye have here?

 

O the wheat is yet green

But full fair beseen,

And the rye groweth tall

By the turfen wall.

Thick and sweet was the hay

On the lealand that lay;

Dear daughters had we,

Sons goodly to see,

 

And of all the well-willers ere trusted for true

The least have ye failed us to deal and to do.

 

What then is this,

That the summer's bliss¹¹

Somewhat ye fail

In your treasure's tale?

What then have ye lost,

And what call ye the cost

Of the months of life

Since winter's strife¹²?

 

For unseldom the summer sun curseth the Dale

With the tears thrust aback and the unuttered wail¹³.

 

Forsooth o'er-well

The tale may we tell:

Tis the spear and the sword

And the House of the Sward.

The bright and the best

Have gone to their rest,

And our eyes are blind

Their eyes to find.

 

In mead¹⁴ and house wend we because they were stayed,

And we stand up because in the earth they were laid.

 

Would ye call them aback

Then, to look on your lack?

 

Nay¹⁵, we would that their tale

From our hearts ne'er should fail.

 

This then maketh you sad,

That such dear death they had?

 

This night are we sad

For the joy that we had,

And their memory's beginning

Great grief would be winning.

But while weareth away,

And e'en woe¹⁶ waxeth gay.

In fair words is it told,

Weighed e'en as fine gold;

Sweet as wind of the south

Grows the speech in the mouth.

 

And from father to son speeds the tale of the true,

Of the brave that forbore that the brethren might do.

 

When this was sung then each man went home to his house. But it is said that these staves were made by Osberne, and that he taught them to the Western men as well as to the Eastern.

 

1 wont   

adj.习惯于；v.习惯；n.习惯

参考例句：

• He was wont to say that children are lazy.他常常说小孩子们懒惰。
• It is his wont to get up early.早起是他的习惯。

2 mote   

n.微粒；斑点

参考例句：

• Seeing the mote in one's neighbor's eye,but not the beam in one's own.能看见别人眼里的尘埃，看不见自己眼里的木头。
• The small mote on her forehead distinguishes her from her twin sister.她额头上的这个小斑点是她与其双胞胎妹妹的区别。

3 countenance   

n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同

参考例句：

• At the sight of this photograph he changed his countenance.他一看见这张照片脸色就变了。
• I made a fierce countenance as if I would eat him alive.我脸色恶狠狠地，仿佛要把他活生生地吞下去。

4 fiery   

adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的

参考例句：

• She has fiery red hair.她有一头火红的头发。
• His fiery speech agitated the crowd.他热情洋溢的讲话激动了群众。

5 kindling   

n. 点火, 可燃物 动词kindle的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• There were neat piles of kindling wood against the wall. 墙边整齐地放着几堆引火柴。
• "Coal and kindling all in the shed in the backyard." “煤，劈柴，都在后院小屋里。” 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子

6 sundering   

v.隔开，分开( sunder的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Where were now her discreet plans for sundering their lives for ever? 现在，她那个考虑周到的永远斩断他们之间生活联系的计划哪里去了呢？ 来自辞典例句

7 wane   

n.衰微，亏缺，变弱；v.变小，亏缺，呈下弦

参考例句：

• The moon is on the wane.月亮渐亏。
• Her enthusiasm for him was beginning to wane.她对他的热情在开始减退。

8 abiding   

adj.永久的，持久的，不变的

参考例句：

• He had an abiding love of the English countryside.他永远热爱英国的乡村。
• He has a genuine and abiding love of the craft.他对这门手艺有着真挚持久的热爱。

9 crave   

vt.渴望得到，迫切需要，恳求，请求

参考例句：

• Many young children crave attention.许多小孩子渴望得到关心。
• You may be craving for some fresh air.你可能很想呼吸呼吸新鲜空气。

10 stouter   

粗壮的( stout的比较级 )； 结实的； 坚固的； 坚定的

参考例句：

• Freddie was much stouter, more benevolent-looking, cheerful, and far more dandified. 弗烈特显得更魁伟，更善良、更快活，尤其更像花花公子。 来自教父部分
• Why hadn't she thought of putting on stouter shoes last night? 她昨天晚上怎么没想起换上一双硬些的鞋呢？

11 bliss   

n.狂喜，福佑，天赐的福

参考例句：

• It's sheer bliss to be able to spend the day in bed.整天都可以躺在床上真是幸福。
• He's in bliss that he's won the Nobel Prize.他非常高兴，因为获得了诺贝尔奖金。

12 strife   

n.争吵，冲突，倾轧，竞争

参考例句：

• We do not intend to be drawn into the internal strife.我们不想卷入内乱之中。
• Money is a major cause of strife in many marriages.金钱是造成很多婚姻不和的一个主要原因。

13 wail   

vt./vi.大声哀号，恸哭；呼啸，尖啸

参考例句：

• Somewhere in the audience an old woman's voice began plaintive wail.观众席里，一位老太太伤心地哭起来。
• One of the small children began to wail with terror.小孩中的一个吓得大哭起来。

14 mead   

n.蜂蜜酒

参考例句：

• He gave me a cup of mead.他给我倒了杯蜂蜜酒。
• He drank some mead at supper.晚饭时他喝了一些蜂蜜酒。

15 nay   

adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者

参考例句：

• He was grateful for and proud of his son's remarkable,nay,unique performance.他为儿子出色的，不，应该是独一无二的表演心怀感激和骄傲。
• Long essays,nay,whole books have been written on this.许多长篇大论的文章，不，应该说是整部整部的书都是关于这件事的。

16 woe   

n.悲哀，苦痛，不幸，困难；int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌

参考例句：

• Our two peoples are brothers sharing weal and woe.我们两国人民是患难与共的兄弟。
• A man is well or woe as he thinks himself so.自认祸是祸，自认福是福。