Chapter 12

The Eve of Crecy

Gold on her head, and gold on her feet,

And gold where the hems¹ of her kirtle meet,

And a golden girdle round my sweet;

Ah! qu’elle est belle² La Marguerite.

Margaret’s maids are fair to see,

Freshly dress’d and pleasantly;

Margaret’s hair falls down to her knee;

Ah! qu’elle est belle La Marguerite.

If I were rich I would kiss her feet;

I would kiss the place where the gold hems meet,

And the golden girdle round my sweet:

Ah! qu’elle est belle La Marguerite.

Ah me! I have never touch’d her hand;

When the arriere-ban goes through the land,

Six basnets under my pennon stand;

Ah! qu’elle est belle La Marguerite.

And many an one grins under his hood³:

Sir Lambert du Bois, with all his men good,

Has neither food nor firewood;

Ah! qu’elle est belle La Marguerite.

If I were rich I would kiss her feet,

And the golden girdle of my sweet,

And thereabouts where the gold hems meet;

Ah! qu’elle est belle La Marguerite.

Yet even now it is good to think,

While my few poor varlets grumble⁴ and drink

In my desolate⁵ hall, where the fires sink,

Ah! qu’elle est belle La Marguerite.

Of Margaret sitting glorious there,

In glory of gold and glory of hair,

And glory of glorious face most fair;

Ah! qu’elle est belle La Marguerite.

Likewise to-night I make good cheer,

Because this battle draweth near:

For what have I to lose or fear?

Ah! qu’elle est belle La Marguerite.

For, look you, my horse is good to prance⁶

A right fair measure in this war-dance,

Before the eyes of Philip of France;

Ah! qu’elle est belle La Marguerite.

And sometime it may hap⁷, perdie,

While my new towers stand up three and three,

And my hall gets painted fair to see,

Ah! qu’elle est belle La Marguerite.

That folks may say: Times change, by the rood,

For Lambert, banneret of the wood,

Has heaps of food and firewood;

Ah! qu’elle est belle La Marguerite;

And wonderful eyes, too, under the hood

Of a damsel of right noble blood.

St. Ives, for Lambert of the Wood!

Ah! qu’elle est belle La Marguerite.

1 hems   

布的褶边，贴边( hem的名词复数 )； 短促的咳嗽

参考例句：

• I took the hems of my dresses up to make them shorter. 我把我的连衣裙都改短了。
• Hems must be level unless uneven design feature is requested. 袖口及裤脚卷边位置宽度必须一致（设计有特别要求的除外）。

2 belle   

n.靓女

参考例句：

• She was the belle of her Sunday School class.在主日学校她是她们班的班花。
• She was the belle of the ball.她是那个舞会中的美女。

3 hood   

n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖

参考例句：

• She is wearing a red cloak with a hood.她穿着一件红色带兜帽的披风。
• The car hood was dented in.汽车的发动机罩已凹了进去。

4 grumble   

vi.抱怨；咕哝；n.抱怨，牢骚；咕哝，隆隆声

参考例句：

• I don't want to hear another grumble from you.我不愿再听到你的抱怨。
• He could do nothing but grumble over the situation.他除了埋怨局势之外别无他法。

5 desolate   

adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂

参考例句：

• The city was burned into a desolate waste.那座城市被烧成一片废墟。
• We all felt absolutely desolate when she left.她走后，我们都觉得万分孤寂。

6 prance   

v.（马）腾跃，(人)神气活现地走

参考例句：

• Their horses pranced and whinnied.他们的马奔腾着、嘶鸣着。
• He was horrified at the thought of his son prancing about on a stage in tights.一想到儿子身穿紧身衣在舞台上神气活现地走来走去，他就感到震惊。

7 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。