Chapter 37

IT was heavy hap¹ for that hero young

on his lord beloved to look and find him

lying on earth with life at end,

sorrowful sight. But the slayer² too,

awful earth-dragon, empty of breath,

lay felled in fight, nor, fain of its treasure,

could the writhing³ monster rule it more.

For edges of iron had ended its days,

hard and battle-sharp, hammers’ leaving; 106

and that flier-afar had fallen to ground

hushed by its hurt, its hoard⁴ all near,

no longer lusty aloft to whirl

at midnight, making its merriment seen,

proud of its prizes: prone⁶ it sank

by the handiwork of the hero-king.

Forsooth among folk but few achieve,

— though sturdy and strong, as stories tell me,

and never so daring in deed of valor⁷, —

the perilous⁸ breath of a poison-foe⁹

to brave, and to rush on the ring-board hall,

whenever his watch the warden¹⁰ keeps

bold in the barrow. Beowulf paid

the price of death for that precious hoard;

and each of the foes¹¹ had found the end

of this fleeting¹² life.

Befell erelong

that the laggards¹³ in war the wood had left,

trothbreakers, cowards, ten together,

fearing before to flourish a spear

in the sore distress¹⁴ of their sovran lord.

Now in their shame their shields they carried,

armor of fight, where the old man lay;

and they gazed on Wiglaf. Wearied he sat

at his sovran’s shoulder, shieldsman good,

to wake him with water. 107 Nowise it availed.

Though well he wished it, in world no more

could he barrier life for that leader-of-battles

nor baffle the will of all-wielding God.

Doom¹⁵ of the Lord was law o’er the deeds

of every man, as it is to-day.

Grim was the answer, easy to get,

from the youth for those that had yielded to fear!

Wiglaf spake, the son of Weohstan, —

mournful he looked on those men unloved:—

“Who sooth will speak, can say indeed

that the ruler who gave you golden rings

and the harness of war in which ye stand

— for he at ale-bench often-times

bestowed¹⁶ on hall-folk helm and breastplate,

lord to liegemen, the likeliest gear

which near of far he could find to give, —

threw away and wasted these weeds of battle,

on men who failed when the foemen came!

Not at all could the king of his comrades-in-arms

venture to vaunt, though the Victory-Wielder,

God, gave him grace that he got revenge

sole with his sword in stress and need.

To rescue his life, ’twas little that I

could serve him in struggle; yet shift I made

(hopeless it seemed) to help my kinsman¹⁷.

Its strength ever waned¹⁸, when with weapon I struck

that fatal foe, and the fire less strongly

flowed from its head. — Too few the heroes

in throe of contest that thronged¹⁹ to our king!

Now gift of treasure and girding of sword,

joy of the house and home-delight

shall fail your folk; his freehold-land

every clansman within your kin⁵

shall lose and leave, when lords high-born

hear afar of that flight of yours,

a fameless deed. Yea, death is better

for liegemen all than a life of shame!”

1 hap   

n.运气；v.偶然发生

参考例句：

• Some have the hap,some stick in the gap.有的人走运, 有的人倒霉。
• May your son be blessed by hap and happiness.愿你儿子走运幸福。

2 slayer   

n. 杀人者，凶手

参考例句：

• The young man was Oedipus, who thus unknowingly became the slayer of his own father. 这位青年就是俄狄浦斯。他在不明真相的情况下杀死了自己的父亲。
• May I depend on you to stand by me and my daughters, then, deer-slayer? 如此说来，我可以指望你照料我和女儿了，杀鹿人？

3 writhing   

（因极度痛苦而）扭动或翻滚( writhe的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• She was writhing around on the floor in agony. 她痛得在地板上直打滚。
• He was writhing on the ground in agony. 他痛苦地在地上打滚。

4 hoard   

n./v.窖藏，贮存，囤积

参考例句：

• They have a hoard of food in the basement.地下室里有他们贮藏的食物。
• How many curios do you hoard in your study?你在你书房里聚藏了多少古玩？

5 kin   

n.家族，亲属，血缘关系；adj.亲属关系的，同类的

参考例句：

• He comes of good kin.他出身好。
• She has gone to live with her husband's kin.她住到丈夫的亲戚家里去了。

6 prone   

adj.(to)易于…的，很可能…的；俯卧的

参考例句：

• Some people are prone to jump to hasty conclusions.有些人往往作出轻率的结论。
• He is prone to lose his temper when people disagree with him.人家一不同意他的意见,他就发脾气。

7 valor   

n.勇气，英勇

参考例句：

• Fortitude is distinct from valor.坚韧不拔有别于勇猛。
• Frequently banality is the better parts of valor.老生常谈往往比大胆打破常规更为人称道。

8 perilous   

adj.危险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• The journey through the jungle was perilous.穿过丛林的旅行充满了危险。
• We have been carried in safety through a perilous crisis.历经一连串危机，我们如今已安然无恙。

9 foe   

n.敌人，仇敌

参考例句：

• He knew that Karl could be an implacable foe.他明白卡尔可能会成为他的死敌。
• A friend is a friend;a foe is a foe;one must be clearly distinguished from the other.敌是敌，友是友，必须分清界限。

10 warden   

n.监察员，监狱长，看守人，监护人

参考例句：

• He is the warden of an old people's home.他是一家养老院的管理员。
• The warden of the prison signed the release.监狱长签发释放令。

11 foes   

敌人，仇敌( foe的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They steadily pushed their foes before them. 他们不停地追击敌人。
• She had fought many battles, vanquished many foes. 她身经百战，挫败过很多对手。

12 fleeting   

adj.短暂的，飞逝的

参考例句：

• The girls caught only a fleeting glimpse of the driver.女孩们只匆匆瞥了一眼司机。
• Knowing the life fleeting,she set herself to enjoy if as best as she could.她知道这种日子转瞬即逝，于是让自已尽情地享受。

13 laggards   

n.落后者( laggard的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I would say the best students at Chengdu are no laggards. 依我看成都最优秀的学生绝不逊色。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The laggards include utilities and telecommunications, up about % and 12% respectively, to MSCI. 据摩根士丹利资本国际的数据，涨幅居后的包括公用事业和电信类股，分别涨了约%和12%。 来自互联网

14 distress   

n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛

参考例句：

• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。
• Please don't distress yourself.请你不要忧愁了。

15 doom   

n.厄运，劫数；v.注定，命定

参考例句：

• The report on our economic situation is full of doom and gloom.这份关于我们经济状况的报告充满了令人绝望和沮丧的调子。
• The dictator met his doom after ten years of rule.独裁者统治了十年终于完蛋了。

16 bestowed   

赠给，授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• It was a title bestowed upon him by the king. 那是国王赐给他的头衔。
• He considered himself unworthy of the honour they had bestowed on him. 他认为自己不配得到大家赋予他的荣誉。

17 kinsman   

n.男亲属

参考例句：

• Tracing back our genealogies,I found he was a kinsman of mine.转弯抹角算起来他算是我的一个亲戚。
• A near friend is better than a far dwelling kinsman.近友胜过远亲。

18 waned   

v.衰落( wane的过去式和过去分词 )；（月）亏；变小；变暗淡

参考例句：

• However,my enthusiasm waned.The time I spent at exercises gradually diminished. 然而，我的热情减退了。我在做操上花的时间逐渐减少了。 来自《用法词典》
• The bicycle craze has waned. 自行车热已冷下去了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

19 thronged   

v.成群，挤满( throng的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Mourners thronged to the funeral. 吊唁者蜂拥着前来参加葬礼。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The department store was thronged with people. 百货商店挤满了人。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》