All through the night those who were awake in the city heard the rebels howling in the suburbs outside the walls. They had ransacked1 wood lodges2 and pulled down palings, and made great fires in the streets and open places, so that a yellow glare streamed up into the sky. At low tide some of them had swum the river and waded3 about on the mud under the water gate of the Tower, hooting4 and shouting, and jeering5 at the guards on the walls. At one time there were so many of them in the water that they looked like a swarm6 of big black rats whom fire had driven out of a merchant’s warehouse7.
The King’s Council, sitting soon after dawn, realised its own helplessness and the danger of rousing a more ugly temper in the mob, for the Tiler and the leaders had threatened to burn the suburbs if the gates of the city were not opened. William Walworth himself rode out to see it done, but the news had spread before him, shouted hither and thither8 from Aldgate to Black Friars. The meaner folk had put on holiday clothes, and were swarming9 in the streets, making a motley of many colours, with the women, in clean wimples, and the young wenches with ribbons in their hair. Some of them broke into the churches and rang the bells, so that the whole city was a jangle of exultation10. The wealthier folk, the brethren of the richer guilds11 and companies, kept close in their houses with doors barred and shutters12 up, all the able men in harness, and with arms ready to hand.
On London Bridge a crowd had gathered to see the bridge gate opened, and the river below was crowded with boats. Walworth and his men had trouble to push through. Horns and trumpets13 were blown, handbells rung, drums beaten, and from beyond the gate came the answering roar of the peasants. The gates were to be opened, and all these savage14, simple souls took it for a surrender, the throwing wide of a new and spacious15 season, the beginning of the end of long tyrannies and oppressions. No more forced work upon roads and bridges, no more forced hewing16 of my lord’s wood, of ploughing his land and harvesting his corn; no more gross manor17 rights, no heriots, no fines, no reliefs, no dishonouring18 of brides; no more takes, no more arbitrary statutes19, no more grindings at the lord’s mill. All men were to be free to give service for a free wage. All men and women were to wear the clothes they pleased, to go whither they pleased, to serve whom they pleased. The gates were to be opened. The great lords had surrendered!
The people on the bridge cheered Walworth the Mayor, for their hearts were with the men of Kent. The sun shone, the bells jangled. It was like May Day, and a new season was coming in.
A certain soldierly orderliness marked the marching of the peasants over London Bridge, and Walworth, who saw them cross, turned and spoke20 to the City Fathers who were with him.
“These sheep are not without shepherds. We shall have news to hear before nightfall.”
John Ball and Wat the Tiler headed the multitude, riding side by side, the priest carrying a wooden cross, the Tiler a naked sword. Five hundred bowmen in one company followed them, marching in step, their caps set jauntily21, their belts stuck full of arrows. A wagon22 rumbled23 behind these bow-bearers, drawn24 along by a crowd of men who shouted and pointed25 their fingers at things allegorical.
Father Merlin sat in the front of the wagon, holding a steelyard on a staff, and the crowd called him Father Justice. Behind him, on two stools, were Isoult and Guy the Stallion, each clad in scarlet26 and white, the swashbuckler wearing a pasteboard crown, Isoult a garland of white roses. King Jack27 and Queen Jill were their pageant28 names, and it was said that they symbolised the right of the people to rule.
Isoult had no smiles for the crowd, but her partner was in royal fettle. The red tusks29 of his beard bristled30 with arrogance31, and he turned his head from side to side like a haughty32 and staring puppet. Now and again he presented his poleaxe, which served as a sceptre, for the crowd to kiss, nodding his head at them and declaiming his titles.
“By cock, I am King Jack—King of the Commons! Let the lords and gentles shrive themselves, for assuredly I shall crack their skulls33. I am King Jack, the King of all honest fellows.”
They went at a snail’s pace over the bridge. The roadway between the houses with their painted signs and plaster work and their carved, overhanging gables, shook with the tramp of feet. The bowmen put their caps on their bows and shouted together, and from the boats on the river came the braying34 of trumpets and the beating of drums.
Isoult’s heart was out of the crowd. She was conscious of scorn, of an utter lack of kinship with these rustics35 who crowded in their thousands over the bridge. The walls of the White Tower rose against the blue, speaking to the pride in her, a pride that had blood in the mortar36 between its stones. Yet she owned to a vague curiosity, a desire to foresee the end of all this storm and bluster37. Was it possible that her own perverse39 but discarded dreams were to come true, that she was to behold40 King Jack crowned and throned on the seats of the mighty41? She felt someone nudging her, and found the swashbuckler thrusting at her with the handle of his poleaxe.
“Look alive, wife; grin at them, bob your head. By cock, we are very great people, you and I!”
Certainly his greatness had expanded. His eyes flared42, and his beard looked even redder than usual. The allegory had got into his head.
“You are fine enough to serve for both!”
“What, no heart for adventure? We are great people, I say. Listen to the bells, and the drums, and the fine bellowing43 voices.”
“Well, Queen Jill, I shall sit in the King’s chair at Westminster. But spur and saddle’s the word, when we have done with all this mummery. We’ll show these lordings how to handle a spear.”
Isoult returned to her own mute inner self, and left this stuffed figure and the crowd on the far edge of her consciousness. She saw things without seeing them, heard sounds without hearing them. Her thoughts were back in the forest with its green and secret ways, in the wild fern, in the singing of birds at dawn, in the smell of the torn blossom, in the strong arms of a man. She was weary of being tossed along on the foam45 of this mill-race. It would carry her under the wheel, no doubt, and leave her broken in the still waters of the days beyond. She tried to keep in the past and not to think of the future. What did anything matter, unless the strangest of strange things happened?
The day’s happenings were to be spread out before her like some pageant or wild miracle play, for the wagon went with the multitude, carried along by it like a barge46 on a muddy stream. The peasants poured through the city, past Paul’s, and through Ludgate towards John of Gaunt’s palace of the Savoy. This great and noble house was the first thing to feel the mob’s wrath47, and since they could not lay hands on the master, they were determined48 to wreck49 his house instead.
The wagon was left standing50 in the street, and Isoult saw all that happened. King Jack had joined the crowd; but Merlin remained in the wagon, holding his emblem51 of justice. The mob broke down the gates of the Savoy, slew52 the porters, and threw their bodies out into the street. A torrent53 of fury poured through into the courtyard till the great palace was as crowded as a beehive, and the uproar54 within never ceased. Men began to straggle out, carrying in their arms all manner of rich gear, plate, and jewels, and beautiful hangings, tapestries55, furniture, armour56, glass cups, mazer bowls, salts, clothes, dorsers, chalices57, gold candlesticks, caskets, and mosaics58. Everything was hurled59 down in the street beside the wagon where Merlin sat, until there was a pyramid of tangled60 magnificence lying in the roadway. When they had emptied the palace Merlin stood at his full height and waved long arms.
“Destroy, destroy, let nothing be left!”
They fell upon the pile, crushing the jewels to powder with hammers, battering61 the cups into shapeless lumps, hacking62 the gold and silver dishes to pieces, tearing the silks, embroideries63, and tapestries to ribbons. A hundred armourers might have been at work in the street, by the clangour of axes and hammers. The air was full of dust and of silken shreds64 floating iridescent65 in the sunlight. A red stream came trickling66 out of the gateway67 into the street, for the mob had rolled all the wine barrels into the courtyard and staved them in, letting muscadel and pyment and hypocrasse gush68 over the stones.
“We trample70 pride into the dust, but we do not steal it. See now, what a watch-fire they are kindling71.”
Blue ribbons of smoke were uncurling themselves from the windows, and in a few minutes it began to rise in black masses from the turrets72 and the great lantern of the hall. The mob had set the palace on fire, after hacking the wainscoting to pieces, and piling it up to make a blaze. The river of wine still ran through the gateway, soaking into the mass of gorgeous rubbish that had been trampled73 like litter in a cow-yard. As the windows reddened, the last of the mob came pouring out, sweating, shouting, exultant74. Soon the heat became so great, and the smoke so thick, that Merlin’s wagon had to be dragged away, and the greater part of the multitude followed it back into the city.
The Hospital of St. John shared the fate of the palace of the Savoy, being sacked and set on fire. Merlin’s wagon rolled through the streets with wild faces round it. They passed John Ball running like a madman through West Cheap, waving a crucifix, and shouting, “Let Nineveh be destroyed!” All the shops were shut; a sudden terror had seized the city; the May Day mood of the morning had gone with the dew. The mob’s blood was up, and its head taking in strong drink, for the tavern75 keepers had to keep open house and dared not ask for payment. The houses of the wealthier citizens looked shut up and deserted76, but through cracks in the shutters many an eye peered and men handled their weapons behind barred doors.
Isoult saw Richard Lyon, Wat the Tiler’s enemy, murdered in West Cheap. Later she saw Flemings dragged from their houses and butchered before their doors, their bodies hacked77 in pieces and thrown into the gutters78. Very few Flemings escaped that day, for these men of Kent had no pity on them. The Lombards shared the fate of the Flemings. The mob had smelt79 and tasted blood, and its face became smeared80 and hideous81.
Isoult went through the day, mute, wide-eyed, possessed82 by a sense of her utter helplessness. She was conscious of anger and scorn, and of a deepening disgust that hardened her face and pinched her nostrils83. The dust, the sweat, the butchery, the odour of burnt wood, the flat smell of spent ale, the screams, the shouts, curses, and laughter, the blundering violence, the stupid, ruthless faces. She had a feeling that nothing could stop the mad rush of this multitude, that nothing could master it. The lords and great ones, the castles and richer houses, the whole proud scheme of things would go down before it and be left buried under mud and wreckage84.
“No fire without smoke, Isoult. These fellows are as quiet as lambs in their own fields, but the wrath of God is in them.”
“The wrath of God may prove stronger than your wisdom.”
“Let them but shout and drink, and let a little blood, and they will be the more easily ruled when they are weary.”
“Assuredly it is a marvellous thing that we should be Christians88.”
Towards evening the mob gathered in the square of St. Catharine’s by the Tower, and fixed89 their quarters there for the night. Here was the very heart of the kingdom, the castle of all castles, and the sight of its walls and towers roused these peasants to the very top of their frenzy90. They crowded close to the walls, hooting and howling, and singing songs, boasting of the day’s happenings, and promising91 themselves nobler things on the morrow. In yonder were great lords whom they hated, and Simon of Sudbury, the archbishop, whom many of them had sworn to kill. The King should come out to them and grant all that they desired, or they would break in and take him out of the hands of men who were their enemies.
Merlin’s wagon had been drawn into the square of St. Catharine’s, and from it John Ball and Wat the Tiler spoke to the crowd. Fulk, lodged92 in a little upper room above the King’s chamber93 in the White Tower, could stand at the window and look down at the crowd about the wagon. One of the figures in it was that of a woman in a red robe, a mere94 red line set among the other little figures that stormed and waved their arms like dolls on a puppet stage. Isoult was too far away for Fulk to recognise her, nor did she guess that he was in the Tower.
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1
ransacked
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| v.彻底搜查( ransack的过去式和过去分词 )；抢劫，掠夺 | |
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2
lodges
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| v.存放( lodge的第三人称单数 )；暂住；埋入；（权利、权威等）归属 | |
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3
waded
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| （从水、泥等）蹚，走过，跋( wade的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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4
hooting
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| （使）作汽笛声响，作汽车喇叭声( hoot的现在分词 )； 倒好儿； 倒彩 | |
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5
jeering
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| adj.嘲弄的，揶揄的v.嘲笑( jeer的现在分词 ) | |
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6
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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7
warehouse
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| n.仓库；vt.存入仓库 | |
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8
thither
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| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
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9
swarming
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| 密集( swarm的现在分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去 | |
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10
exultation
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| n.狂喜，得意 | |
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guilds
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| 行会，同业公会，协会( guild的名词复数 ) | |
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shutters
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| 百叶窗( shutter的名词复数 )； （照相机的）快门 | |
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13
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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14
savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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15
spacious
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| adj.广阔的，宽敞的 | |
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16
hewing
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| v.（用斧、刀等）砍、劈( hew的现在分词 )；砍成；劈出；开辟 | |
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17
manor
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| n.庄园，领地 | |
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18
dishonouring
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| 使（人、家族等）丧失名誉（dishonour的现在分词形式） | |
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19
statutes
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| 成文法( statute的名词复数 )； 法令； 法规； 章程 | |
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20
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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21
jauntily
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| adv.心满意足地；洋洋得意地；高兴地；活泼地 | |
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22
wagon
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| n.四轮马车，手推车，面包车；无盖运货列车 | |
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23
rumbled
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| 发出隆隆声，发出辘辘声( rumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 轰鸣着缓慢行进； 发现…的真相； 看穿（阴谋） | |
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24
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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25
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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26
scarlet
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| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
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27
jack
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| n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克 | |
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28
pageant
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| n.壮观的游行；露天历史剧 | |
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29
tusks
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| n.（象等动物的）长牙( tusk的名词复数 )；獠牙；尖形物；尖头 | |
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30
bristled
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| adj. 直立的，多刺毛的 动词bristle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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31
arrogance
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| n.傲慢，自大 | |
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32
haughty
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| adj.傲慢的，高傲的 | |
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33
skulls
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| 颅骨( skull的名词复数 )； 脑袋； 脑子； 脑瓜 | |
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34
braying
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| v.发出驴叫似的声音( bray的现在分词 )；发嘟嘟声；粗声粗气地讲话（或大笑）；猛击 | |
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35
rustics
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| n.有农村或村民特色的( rustic的名词复数 )；粗野的；不雅的；用粗糙的木材或树枝制作的 | |
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36
mortar
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| n.灰浆，灰泥；迫击炮；v.把…用灰浆涂接合 | |
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37
bluster
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| v.猛刮；怒冲冲的说；n.吓唬，怒号；狂风声 | |
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38
lust
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| n.性(淫)欲；渴(欲)望；vi.对…有强烈的欲望 | |
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39
perverse
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| adj.刚愎的；坚持错误的，行为反常的 | |
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40
behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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41
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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42
Flared
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| adj. 端部张开的, 爆发的, 加宽的, 漏斗式的 动词flare的过去式和过去分词 | |
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43
bellowing
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| v.发出吼叫声，咆哮（尤指因痛苦）( bellow的现在分词 )；（愤怒地）说出（某事），大叫 | |
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44
bellow
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| v.吼叫，怒吼；大声发出，大声喝道 | |
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45
foam
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| v./n.泡沫，起泡沫 | |
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46
barge
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| n.平底载货船，驳船 | |
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47
wrath
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| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
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48
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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49
wreck
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| n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难 | |
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50
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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51
emblem
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| n.象征，标志；徽章 | |
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52
slew
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| v.（使）旋转；n.大量，许多 | |
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53
torrent
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| n.激流，洪流；爆发，(话语等的)连发 | |
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54
uproar
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| n.骚动，喧嚣，鼎沸 | |
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55
tapestries
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| n.挂毯( tapestry的名词复数 )；绣帷，织锦v.用挂毯（或绣帷）装饰( tapestry的第三人称单数 ) | |
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56
armour
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| （=armor）n.盔甲；装甲部队 | |
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57
chalices
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| n.高脚酒杯( chalice的名词复数 )；圣餐杯；金杯毒酒；看似诱人实则令人讨厌的事物 | |
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58
mosaics
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| n.马赛克( mosaic的名词复数 )；镶嵌；镶嵌工艺；镶嵌图案 | |
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59
hurled
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| v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
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60
tangled
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| adj. 纠缠的，紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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61
battering
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| n.用坏，损坏v.连续猛击( batter的现在分词 ) | |
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62
hacking
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| n.非法访问计算机系统和数据库的活动 | |
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63
embroideries
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| 刺绣( embroidery的名词复数 )； 刺绣品； 刺绣法 | |
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64
shreds
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| v.撕碎，切碎( shred的第三人称单数 )；用撕毁机撕毁（文件） | |
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65
iridescent
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| adj.彩虹色的，闪色的 | |
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66
trickling
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| n.油画底色含油太多而成泡沫状突起v.滴( trickle的现在分词 )；淌；使)慢慢走；缓慢移动 | |
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67
gateway
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| n.大门口，出入口，途径，方法 | |
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68
gush
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| v.喷，涌；滔滔不绝(说话)；n.喷，涌流；迸发 | |
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69
ironical
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| adj.讽刺的，冷嘲的 | |
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70
trample
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| vt.踩，践踏；无视，伤害，侵犯 | |
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71
kindling
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| n. 点火, 可燃物 动词kindle的现在分词形式 | |
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turrets
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| （六角）转台( turret的名词复数 )； （战舰和坦克等上的）转动炮塔； （摄影机等上的）镜头转台； （旧时攻城用的）塔车 | |
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trampled
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| 踩( trample的过去式和过去分词 )； 践踏； 无视； 侵犯 | |
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exultant
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| adj.欢腾的，狂欢的，大喜的 | |
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tavern
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| n.小旅馆，客栈；小酒店 | |
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deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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hacked
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| 生气 | |
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gutters
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| （路边）排水沟( gutter的名词复数 )； 阴沟； （屋顶的）天沟； 贫贱的境地 | |
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smelt
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| v.熔解，熔炼；n.银白鱼，胡瓜鱼 | |
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smeared
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| 弄脏； 玷污； 涂抹； 擦上 | |
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hideous
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| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
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possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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nostrils
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| 鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
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84
wreckage
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| n.（失事飞机等的）残骸，破坏，毁坏 | |
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loathing
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| n.厌恶，憎恨v.憎恨，厌恶( loathe的现在分词)；极不喜欢 | |
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foul
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| adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规 | |
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purge
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| n.整肃，清除，泻药，净化；vt.净化，清除，摆脱；vi.清除，通便，腹泻，变得清洁 | |
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Christians
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| n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 ) | |
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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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frenzy
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| n.疯狂，狂热，极度的激动 | |
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promising
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| adj.有希望的，有前途的 | |
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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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chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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