Chapter 23

Welland River

Fair Ellayne she walk’d by Welland river,

Across the lily lee:

O, gentle Sir Robert, ye are not kind

To stay so long at sea.

Over the marshland none can see

Your scarlet¹ pennon fair;

O, leave the Easterlings alone,

Because of my golden hair.

The day when over Stamford bridge

That dear pennon I see

Go up toward the goodly street,

’Twill be a fair day for me.

O, let the bonny pennon bide²

At Stamford, the good town,

And let the Easterlings go free,

And their ships go up and down.

For every day that passes by

I wax both pale and green,

From gold to gold of my girdle

There is an inch between.

I sew’d it up with scarlet silk

Last night upon my knee,

And my heart grew sad and sore to think

Thy face I’d never see.

I sew’d it up with scarlet silk,

As I lay upon my bed:

Sorrow! the man I’ll never see

That had my maidenhead.

But as Ellayne sat on her window-seat

And comb’d her yellow hair,

She saw come over Stamford bridge

The scarlet pennon fair.

As Ellayne lay and sicken’d sore,

The gold shoes on her feet,

She saw Sir Robert and his men

Ride up the Stamford street.

He had a coat of fine red gold,

And a bascinet of steel;

Take note his goodly Collayne sword

Smote³ the spur upon his heel.

And by his side, on a grey jennet,

There rode a fair lady,

For every ruby⁴ Ellayne wore,

I count she carried three.

Say, was not Ellayne’s gold hair fine,

That fell to her middle free?

But that lady’s hair down in the street,

Fell lower than her knee.

Fair Ellayne’s face, from sorrow and grief,

Was waxen pale and green:

That lady’s face was goodly red,

She had but little tene.

But as he pass’d by her window

He grew a little wroth:

O, why does yon pale face look at me

From out the golden cloth?

It is some burd, the fair dame⁵ said,

That aye rode him beside,

Has come to see your bonny face

This merry summer-tide.

But Ellayne let a lily-flower

Light on his cap of steel:

O, I have gotten two hounds, fair knight⁶,

The one has served me well;

But the other, just an hour agone,

Has come from over sea,

And all his fell is sleek⁷ and fine,

But little he knows of me.

Now, which shall I let go, fair knight,

And which shall bide with me?

O, lady, have no doubt to keep

The one that best loveth thee.

O, Robert, see how sick I am!

Ye do not so by me.

Lie still, fair love, have ye gotten harm

While I was on the sea?

Of one gift, Robert, that ye gave,

I sicken to the death,

I pray you nurse-tend me, my knight,

Whiles that I have my breath.

Six fathoms⁸ from the Stamford bridge

He left that dame to stand,

And whiles she wept, and whiles she cursed

That she ever had taken land.

He has kiss’d sweet Ellayne on the mouth,

And fair she fell asleep,

And long and long days after that

Sir Robert’s house she did keep.

1 scarlet   

n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的

参考例句：

• The scarlet leaves of the maples contrast well with the dark green of the pines.深红的枫叶和暗绿的松树形成了明显的对比。
• The glowing clouds are growing slowly pale,scarlet,bright red,and then light red.天空的霞光渐渐地淡下去了，深红的颜色变成了绯红，绯红又变为浅红。

2 bide   

v.忍耐；等候；住

参考例句：

• We'll have to bide our time until the rain stops.我们必须等到雨停。
• Bide here for a while. 请在这儿等一会儿。

3 smote   

v.猛打，重击，打击( smite的过去式 )

参考例句：

• Figuratively, he could not kiss the hand that smote him. 打个比方说，他是不能认敌为友。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• \"Whom Pearl smote down and uprooted, most unmercifully.\" 珠儿会毫不留情地将这些\"儿童\"踩倒，再连根拔起。 来自英汉 - 翻译样例 - 文学

4 ruby   

n.红宝石，红宝石色

参考例句：

• She is wearing a small ruby earring.她戴着一枚红宝石小耳环。
• On the handle of his sword sat the biggest ruby in the world.他的剑柄上镶有一颗世上最大的红宝石。

5 dame   

n.女士

参考例句：

• The dame tell of her experience as a wife and mother.这位年长妇女讲了她作妻子和母亲的经验。
• If you stick around,you'll have to marry that dame.如果再逗留多一会，你就要跟那个夫人结婚。

6 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。

7 sleek   

adj.光滑的，井然有序的；v.使光滑，梳拢

参考例句：

• Women preferred sleek,shiny hair with little decoration.女士们更喜欢略加修饰的光滑闪亮型秀发。
• The horse's coat was sleek and glossy.这匹马全身润泽有光。

8 fathoms   

英寻( fathom的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The harbour is four fathoms deep. 港深为四英寻。
• One bait was down forty fathoms. 有个鱼饵下沉到四十英寻的深处。