Chapter 13

The Judgment¹ of God

Swerve² to the left, son Roger, he said,

When you catch his eyes through the helmet-slit,

Swerve to the left, then out at his head,

And the Lord God give you joy of it!

The blue owls⁴ on my father’s hood⁵

Were a little dimm’d as I turn’d away;

This giving up of blood for blood

Will finish here somehow today.

So, when I walk’d out from the tent,

Their howling almost blinded me;

Yet for all that I was not bent⁶

By any shame. Hard by, the sea

Made a noise like the aspens where

We did that wrong, but now the place

Is very pleasant, and the air

Blows cool on any passer’s face.

And all the wrong is gather’d now

Into the circle of these lists:

Yea, howl out, butchers! tell me how

His hands were cut off at the wrists;

And how Lord Roger bore his face

A league above his spear-point, high

Above the owls, to that strong place

Among the waters; yea, yea, cry:

What a brave champion we have got!

Sir Oliver, the flower of all

The Hainault knights⁸! The day being hot,

He sat beneath a broad white pall⁹,

White linen¹⁰ over all his steel;

What a good knight⁷ he look’d! his sword

Laid thwart¹¹ his knees; he liked to feel

Its steadfast¹² edge clear as his word.

And he look’d solemn; how his love

Smiled whitely on him, sick with fear!

How all the ladies up above

Twisted their pretty hands! so near

The fighting was: Ellayne! Ellayne!

They cannot love like you can, who

Would burn your hands off, if that pain

Could win a kiss; am I not true

To you for ever? therefore I

Do not fear death or anything;

If I should limp home wounded, why,

While I lay sick you would but sing,

And soothe¹³ me into quiet sleep.

If they spat¹⁴ on the recreant¹⁵ knight,

Threw stones at him, and cursed him deep,

Why then: what then? your hand would light

So gently on his drawn-up face,

And you would kiss him, and in soft

Cool scented¹⁶ clothes would lap him, pace

The quiet room and weep oft, oft

Would turn and smile, and brush his cheek

With your sweet chin and mouth; and in

The order’d garden you would seek

The biggest roses: any sin.

And these say: No more now my knight,

Or God’s knight any longer: you,

Being than they so much more white,

So much more pure and good and true,

Will cling to me for ever; there,

Is not that wrong turn’d right at last

Through all these years, and I wash’d clean?

Say, yea, Ellayne; the time is past,

Since on that Christmas-day last year

Up to your feet the fire crept,

And the smoke through the brown leaves sere¹⁷

Blinded your dear eyes that you wept;

Was it not I that caught you then,

And kiss’d you on the saddle-bow?

Did not the blue owl³ mark the men

Whose spears stood like the corn a-row?

This Oliver is a right good knight,

And must needs beat me, as I fear,

Unless I catch him in the fight,

My father’s crafty¹⁸ way: John, here!

Bring up the men from the south gate,

To help me if I fall or win,

For even if I beat, their hate

Will grow to more than this mere¹⁹ grin.

1 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

2 swerve   

v.突然转向，背离；n．转向，弯曲，背离

参考例句：

• Nothing will swerve him from his aims.什么也不能使他改变目标。
• Her car swerved off the road into a 6ft high brick wall.她的车突然转向冲出了马路，撞向6英尺高的一面砖墙。

3 owl   

n.猫头鹰，枭

参考例句：

• Her new glasses make her look like an owl.她的新眼镜让她看上去像只猫头鹰。
• I'm a night owl and seldom go to bed until after midnight.我睡得很晚，经常半夜后才睡觉。

4 owls   

n.猫头鹰( owl的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• 'Clumsy fellows,'said I; 'they must still be drunk as owls.' “这些笨蛋，”我说，“他们大概还醉得像死猪一样。” 来自英汉文学 - 金银岛
• The great majority of barn owls are reared in captivity. 大多数仓鸮都是笼养的。 来自辞典例句

5 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。

6 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

7 knight   

n.骑士，武士；爵士

参考例句：

• He was made an honourary knight.他被授予荣誉爵士称号。
• A knight rode on his richly caparisoned steed.一个骑士骑在装饰华丽的马上。

8 knights   

骑士； （中古时代的）武士( knight的名词复数 )； 骑士； 爵士； （国际象棋中）马

参考例句：

• stories of knights and fair maidens 关于骑士和美女的故事
• He wove a fascinating tale of knights in shining armour. 他编了一个穿着明亮盔甲的骑士的迷人故事。

9 pall   

v.覆盖，使平淡无味；n.柩衣，棺罩；棺材；帷幕

参考例句：

• Already the allure of meals in restaurants had begun to pall.饭店里的饭菜已经不像以前那样诱人。
• I find his books begin to pall on me after a while.我发觉他的书读过一阵子就开始对我失去吸引力。

10 linen   

n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的

参考例句：

• The worker is starching the linen.这名工人正在给亚麻布上浆。
• Fine linen and cotton fabrics were known as well as wool.精细的亚麻织品和棉织品像羊毛一样闻名遐迩。

11 thwart   

v.阻挠，妨碍，反对；adj.横(断的)

参考例句：

• We must thwart his malevolent schemes.我们决不能让他的恶毒阴谋得逞。
• I don't think that will thwart our purposes.我认为那不会使我们的目的受到挫折。

12 steadfast   

adj.固定的，不变的，不动摇的；忠实的；坚贞不移的

参考例句：

• Her steadfast belief never left her for one moment.她坚定的信仰从未动摇过。
• He succeeded in his studies by dint of steadfast application.由于坚持不懈的努力他获得了学业上的成功。

13 soothe   

v.安慰；使平静；使减轻；缓和；奉承

参考例句：

• I've managed to soothe him down a bit.我想方设法使他平静了一点。
• This medicine should soothe your sore throat.这种药会减轻你的喉痛。

14 spat   

n.口角，掌击；v.发出呼噜呼噜声

参考例句：

• Her parents always have spats.她的父母经常有些小的口角。
• There is only a spat between the brother and sister.那只是兄妹间的小吵小闹。

15 recreant   

n.懦夫；adj.胆怯的

参考例句：

• How can I overcome recreant psychology?我该如何克服胆小的心理？
• He is a recreant knight.他是个懦弱的骑士。

16 scented   

adj.有香味的；洒香水的；有气味的v.嗅到(scent的过去分词)

参考例句：

• I let my lungs fill with the scented air. 我呼吸着芬芳的空气。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The police dog scented about till he found the trail. 警犬嗅来嗅去，终于找到了踪迹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

17 sere   

adj.干枯的；n.演替系列

参考例句：

• The desert was edged with sere vegetation.沙漠周围零星地长着一些干枯的植被。
• A sere on uncovered rock is a lithosere.在光秃岩石上的演替系列是岩生演替系列。

18 crafty   

adj.狡猾的，诡诈的

参考例句：

• He admired the old man for his crafty plan.他敬佩老者的神机妙算。
• He was an accomplished politician and a crafty autocrat.他是个有造诣的政治家，也是个狡黠的独裁者。

19 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。