TO
THE REV1. DR DRYASDUST, F.A.S.
Residing in the Castle-Gate, York.
It is scarcely necessary to mention the various and concurring3 reasons which induce me to place your name at the head of the following work. Yet the chief of these reasons may perhaps be refuted by the imperfections of the performance. Could I have hoped to render it worthy4 of your patronage5, the public would at once have seen the propriety6 of inscribing7 a work designed to illustrate8 the domestic antiquities9 of England, and particularly of our Saxon forefathers10, to the learned author of the Essays upon the Horn of King Ulphus, and on the Lands bestowed11 by him upon the patrimony12 of St Peter. I am conscious, however, that the slight, unsatisfactory, and trivial manner, in which the result of my antiquarian researches has been recorded in the following pages, takes the work from under that class which bears the proud motto, "Detur digniori". On the contrary, I fear I shall incur13 the censure14 of presumption15 in placing the venerable name of Dr Jonas Dryasdust at the head of a publication, which the more grave antiquary will perhaps class with the idle novels and romances of the day. I am anxious to vindicate16 myself from such a charge; for although I might trust to your friendship for an apology in your eyes, yet I would not willingly stand conviction in those of the public of so grave a crime, as my fears lead me to anticipate my being charged with.
I must therefore remind you, that when we first talked over together that class of productions, in one of which the private and family affairs of your learned northern friend, Mr Oldbuck of Monkbarns, were so unjustifiably exposed to the public, some discussion occurred between us concerning the cause of the popularity these works have attained19 in this idle age, which, whatever other merit they possess, must be admitted to be hastily written, and in violation20 of every rule assigned to the epopeia. It seemed then to be your opinion, that the charm lay entirely21 in the art with which the unknown author had availed himself, like a second M'Pherson, of the antiquarian stores which lay scattered22 around him, supplying his own indolence or poverty of invention, by the incidents which had actually taken place in his country at no distant period, by introducing real characters, and scarcely suppressing real names. It was not above sixty or seventy years, you observed, since the whole north of Scotland was under a state of government nearly as simple and as patriarchal as those of our good allies the Mohawks and Iroquois. Admitting that the author cannot himself be supposed to have witnessed those times, he must have lived, you observed, among persons who had acted and suffered in them; and even within these thirty years, such an infinite change has taken place in the manners of Scotland, that men look back upon the habits of society proper to their immediate23 ancestors, as we do on those of the reign24 of Queen Anne, or even the period of the Revolution. Having thus materials of every kind lying strewed25 around him, there was little, you observed, to embarrass the author, but the difficulty of choice. It was no wonder, therefore, that, having begun to work a mine so plentiful26, he should have derived27 from his works fully28 more credit and profit than the facility of his labours merited.
Admitting (as I could not deny) the general truth of these conclusions, I cannot but think it strange that no attempt has been made to excite an interest for the traditions and manners of Old England, similiar to that which has been obtained in behalf of those of our poorer and less celebrated29 neighbours. The Kendal green, though its date is more ancient, ought surely to be as dear to our feelings, as the variegated30 tartans of the north. The name of Robin31 Hood32, if duly conjured33 with, should raise a spirit as soon as that of Rob Roy; and the patriots34 of England deserve no less their renown35 in our modern circles, than the Bruces and Wallaces of Caledonia. If the scenery of the south be less romantic and sublime36 than that of the northern mountains, it must be allowed to possess in the same proportion superior softness and beauty; and upon the whole, we feel ourselves entitled to exclaim with the patriotic37 Syrian---"Are not Pharphar and Abana, rivers of Damascus, better than all the rivers of Israel?"
Your objections to such an attempt, my dear Doctor, were, you may remember, two-fold. You insisted upon the advantages which the Scotsman possessed38, from the very recent existence of that state of society in which his scene was to be laid. Many now alive, you remarked, well remembered persons who had not only seen the celebrated Roy M'Gregor, but had feasted, and even fought with him. All those minute circumstances belonging to private life and domestic character, all that gives verisimilitude to a narrative39, and individuality to the persons introduced, is still known and remembered in Scotland; whereas in England, civilisation40 has been so long complete, that our ideas of our ancestors are only to be gleaned41 from musty records and chronicles, the authors of which seem perversely42 to have conspired43 to suppress in their narratives44 all interesting details, in order to find room for flowers of monkish45 eloquence46, or trite47 reflections upon morals. To match an English and a Scottish author in the rival task of embodying48 and reviving the traditions of their respective countries, would be, you alleged49, in the highest degree unequal and unjust. The Scottish magician, you said, was, like Lucan's witch, at liberty to walk over the recent field of battle, and to select for the subject of resuscitation51 by his sorceries, a body whose limbs had recently quivered with existence, and whose throat had but just uttered the last note of agony. Such a subject even the powerful Erictho was compelled to select, as alone capable of being reanimated even by "her" potent52 magic---
------gelidas leto scrutata medullas, Pulmonis rigidi stantes sine vulnere fibras Invenit, et vocem defuncto in corpore quaerit.
The English author, on the other hand, without supposing him less of a conjuror53 than the Northern Warlock, can, you observed, only have the liberty of selecting his subject amidst the dust of antiquity54, where nothing was to be found but dry, sapless, mouldering55, and disjointed bones, such as those which filled the valley of Jehoshaphat. You expressed, besides, your apprehension56, that the unpatriotic prejudices of my countrymen would not allow fair play to such a work as that of which I endeavoured to demonstrate the probable success. And this, you said, was not entirely owing to the more general prejudice in favour of that which is foreign, but that it rested partly upon improbabilities, arising out of the circumstances in which the English reader is placed. If you describe to him a set of wild manners, and a state of primitive57 society existing in the Highlands of Scotland, he is much disposed to acquiesce58 in the truth of what is asserted. And reason good. If he be of the ordinary class of readers, he has either never seen those remote districts at all, or he has wandered through those desolate59 regions in the course of a summer tour, eating bad dinners, sleeping on truckle beds, stalking from desolation to desolation, and fully prepared to believe the strangest things that could be told him of a people, wild and extravagant60 enough to be attached to scenery so extraordinary. But the same worthy person, when placed in his own snug61 parlour, and surrounded by all the comforts of an Englishman's fireside, is not half so much disposed to believe that his own ancestors led a very different life from himself; that the shattered tower, which now forms a vista62 from his window, once held a baron63 who would have hung him up at his own door without any form of trial; that the hinds64, by whom his little pet-farm is managed, a few centuries ago would have been his slaves; and that the complete influence of feudal65 tyranny once extended over the neighbouring village, where the attorney is now a man of more importance than the lord of the manor66.
While I own the force of these objections, I must confess, at the same time, that they do not appear to me to be altogether insurmountable. The scantiness67 of materials is indeed a formidable difficulty; but no one knows better than Dr Dryasdust, that to those deeply read in antiquity, hints concerning the private life of our ancestors lie scattered through the pages of our various historians, bearing, indeed, a slender proportion to the other matters of which they treat, but still, when collected together, sufficient to throw considerable light upon the "vie prive" of our forefathers; indeed, I am convinced, that however I myself may fail in the ensuing attempt, yet, with more labour in collecting, or more skill in using, the materials within his reach, illustrated68 as they have been by the labours of Dr Henry, of the late Mr Strutt, and, above all, of Mr Sharon Turner, an abler hand would have been successful; and therefore I protest, beforehand, against any argument which may be founded on the failure of the present experiment.
On the other hand, I have already said, that if any thing like a true picture of old English manners could be drawn70, I would trust to the good-nature and good sense of my countrymen for insuring its favourable71 reception.
Having thus replied, to the best of my power, to the first class of your objections, or at least having shown my resolution to overleap the barriers which your prudence72 has raised, I will be brief in noticing that which is more peculiar73 to myself. It seems to be your opinion, that the very office of an antiquary, employed in grave, and, as the vulgar will sometimes allege50, in toilsome and minute research, must be considered as incapacitating him from successfully compounding a tale of this sort. But permit me to say, my dear Doctor, that this objection is rather formal than substantial. It is true, that such slight compositions might not suit the severer genius of our friend Mr Oldbuck. Yet Horace Walpole wrote a goblin tale which has thrilled through many a bosom74; and George Ellis could transfer all the playful fascination75 of a humour, as delightful76 as it was uncommon77, into his Abridgement of the Ancient Metrical Romances. So that, however I may have occasion to rue69 my present audacity78, I have at least the most respectable precedents79 in my favour.
Still the severer antiquary may think, that, by thus intermingling fiction with truth, I am polluting the well of history with modern inventions, and impressing upon the rising generation false ideas of the age which I describe. I cannot but in some sense admit the force of this reasoning, which I yet hope to traverse by the following considerations.
It is true, that I neither can, nor do pretend, to the observation of complete accuracy, even in matters of outward costume, much less in the more important points of language and manners. But the same motive80 which prevents my writing the dialogue of the piece in Anglo-Saxon or in Norman-French, and which prohibits my sending forth81 to the public this essay printed with the types of Caxton or Wynken de Worde, prevents my attempting to confine myself within the limits of the period in which my story is laid. It is necessary, for exciting interest of any kind, that the subject assumed should be, as it were, translated into the manners, as well as the language, of the age we live in. No fascination has ever been attached to Oriental literature, equal to that produced by Mr Galland's first translation of the Arabian Tales; in which, retaining on the one hand the splendour of Eastern costume, and on the other the wildness of Eastern fiction, he mixed these with just so much ordinary feeling and expression, as rendered them interesting and intelligible82, while he abridged83 the long-winded narratives, curtailed84 the monotonous85 reflections, and rejected the endless repetitions of the Arabian original. The tales, therefore, though less purely86 Oriental than in their first concoction87, were eminently88 better fitted for the European market, and obtained an unrivalled degree of public favour, which they certainly would never have gained had not the manners and style been in some degree familiarized to the feelings and habits of the western reader.
In point of justice, therefore, to the multitudes who will, I trust, devour89 this book with avidity, I have so far explained our ancient manners in modern language, and so far detailed90 the characters and sentiments of my persons, that the modern reader will not find himself, I should hope, much trammelled by the repulsive91 dryness of mere92 antiquity. In this, I respectfully contend, I have in no respect exceeded the fair license93 due to the author of a fictitious94 composition. The late ingenious Mr Strutt, in his romance of Queen-Hoo-Hall,*
* The author had revised this posthumous95 work of Mr Strutt. * See General Preface to the present edition, Vol I. p. 65.
acted upon another principle; and in distinguishing between what was ancient and modern, forgot, as it appears to me, that extensive neutral ground, the large proportion, that is, of manners and sentiments which are common to us and to our ancestors, having been handed down unaltered from them to us, or which, arising out of the principles of our common nature, must have existed alike in either state of society. In this manner, a man of talent, and of great antiquarian erudition, limited the popularity of his work, by excluding from it every thing which was not sufficiently96 obsolete97 to be altogether forgotten and unintelligible98.
The license which I would here vindicate, is so necessary to the execution of my plan, that I will crave99 your patience while I illustrate my argument a little farther.
He who first opens Chaucer, or any other ancient poet, is so much struck with the obsolete spelling, multiplied consonants100, and antiquated101 appearance of the language, that he is apt to lay the work down in despair, as encrusted too deep with the rust17 of antiquity, to permit his judging of its merits or tasting its beauties. But if some intelligent and accomplished102 friend points out to him, that the difficulties by which he is startled are more in appearance than reality, if, by reading aloud to him, or by reducing the ordinary words to the modern orthography103, he satisfies his proselyte that only about one-tenth part of the words employed are in fact obsolete, the novice104 may be easily persuaded to approach the "well of English undefiled," with the certainty that a slender degree of patience will enable him to to enjoy both the humour and the pathos105 with which old Geoffrey delighted the age of Cressy and of Poictiers.
To pursue this a little farther. If our neophyte106, strong in the new-born love of antiquity, were to undertake to imitate what he had learnt to admire, it must be allowed he would act very injudiciously, if he were to select from the Glossary107 the obsolete words which it contains, and employ those exclusively of all phrases and vocables retained in modern days. This was the error of the unfortunate Chatterton. In order to give his language the appearance of antiquity, he rejected every word that was modern, and produced a dialect entirely different from any that had ever been spoken in Great Britain. He who would imitate an ancient language with success, must attend rather to its grammatical character, turn of expression, and mode of arrangement, than labour to collect extraordinary and antiquated terms, which, as I have already averred108, do not in ancient authors approach the number of words still in use, though perhaps somewhat altered in sense and spelling, in the proportion of one to ten.
What I have applied109 to language, is still more justly applicable to sentiments and manners. The passions, the sources from which these must spring in all their modifications110, are generally the same in all ranks and conditions, all countries and ages; and it follows, as a matter of course, that the opinions, habits of thinking, and actions, however influenced by the peculiar state of society, must still, upon the whole, bear a strong resemblance to each other. Our ancestors were not more distinct from us, surely, than Jews are from Christians111; they had "eyes, hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions;" were "fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer," as ourselves. The tenor112, therefore, of their affections and feelings, must have borne the same general proportion to our own.
It follows, therefore, that of the materials which an author has to use in a romance, or fictitious composition, such as I have ventured to attempt, he will find that a great proportion, both of language and manners, is as proper to the present time as to those in which he has laid his time of action. The freedom of choice which this allows him, is therefore much greater, and the difficulty of his task much more diminished, than at first appears. To take an illustration from a sister art, the antiquarian details may be said to represent the peculiar features of a landscape under delineation113 of the pencil. His feudal tower must arise in due majesty114; the figures which he introduces must have the costume and character of their age; the piece must represent the peculiar features of the scene which he has chosen for his subject, with all its appropriate elevation115 of rock, or precipitate116 descent of cataract117. His general colouring, too, must be copied from Nature: The sky must be clouded or serene118, according to the climate, and the general tints119 must be those which prevail in a natural landscape. So far the painter is bound down by the rules of his art, to a precise imitation of the features of Nature; but it is not required that he should descend120 to copy all her more minute features, or represent with absolute exactness the very herbs, flowers, and trees, with which the spot is decorated. These, as well as all the more minute points of light and shadow, are attributes proper to scenery in general, natural to each situation, and subject to the artist's disposal, as his taste or pleasure may dictate121.
It is true, that this license is confined in either case within legitimate122 bounds. The painter must introduce no ornament123 inconsistent with the climate or country of his landscape; he must not plant cypress124 trees upon Inch-Merrin, or Scottish firs among the ruins of Persepolis; and the author lies under a corresponding restraint. However far he may venture in a more full detail of passions and feelings, than is to be found in the ancient compositions which he imitates, he must introduce nothing inconsistent with the manners of the age; his knights125, squires126, grooms127, and yeomen, may be more fully drawn than in the hard, dry delineations of an ancient illuminated128 manuscript, but the character and costume of the age must remain inviolate129; they must be the same figures, drawn by a better pencil, or, to speak more modestly, executed in an age when the principles of art were better understood. His language must not be exclusively obsolete and unintelligible; but he should admit, if possible, no word or turn of phraseology betraying an origin directly modern. It is one thing to make use of the language and sentiments which are common to ourselves and our forefathers, and it is another to invest them with the sentiments and dialect exclusively proper to their descendants.
This, my dear friend, I have found the most difficult part of my task; and, to speak frankly130, I hardly expect to satisfy your less partial judgment131, and more extensive knowledge of such subjects, since I have hardly been able to please my own.
I am conscious that I shall be found still more faulty in the tone of keeping and costume, by those who may be disposed rigidly132 to examine my Tale, with reference to the manners of the exact period in which my actors flourished: It may be, that I have introduced little which can positively133 be termed modern; but, on the other hand, it is extremely probable that I may have confused the manners of two or three centuries, and introduced, during the reign of Richard the First, circumstances appropriated to a period either considerably134 earlier, or a good deal later than that era. It is my comfort, that errors of this kind will escape the general class of readers, and that I may share in the ill-deserved applause of those architects, who, in their modern Gothic, do not hesitate to introduce, without rule or method, ornaments135 proper to different styles and to different periods of the art. Those whose extensive researches have given them the means of judging my backslidings with more severity, will probably be lenient136 in proportion to their knowledge of the difficulty of my task. My honest and neglected friend, Ingulphus, has furnished me with many a valuable hint; but the light afforded by the Monk18 of Croydon, and Geoffrey de Vinsauff, is dimmed by such a conglomeration137 of uninteresting and unintelligible matter, that we gladly fly for relief to the delightful pages of the gallant138 Froissart, although he flourished at a period so much more remote from the date of my history. If, therefore, my dear friend, you have generosity139 enough to pardon the presumptuous140 attempt, to frame for myself a minstrel coronet, partly out of the pearls of pure antiquity, and partly from the Bristol stones and paste, with which I have endeavoured to imitate them, I am convinced your opinion of the difficulty of the task will reconcile you to the imperfect manner of its execution.
Of my materials I have but little to say. They may be chiefly found in the singular Anglo-Norman MS., which Sir Arthur Wardour preserves with such jealous care in the third drawer of his oaken cabinet, scarcely allowing any one to touch it, and being himself not able to read one syllable141 of its contents. I should never have got his consent, on my visit to Scotland, to read in those precious pages for so many hours, had I not promised to designate it by some emphatic142 mode of printing, as (The Wardour Manuscript); giving it, thereby143, an individuality as important as the Bannatyne MS., the Auchinleck MS., and any other monument of the patience of a Gothic scrivener. I have sent, for your private consideration, a list of the contents of this curious piece, which I shall perhaps subjoin, with your approbation144, to the third volume of my Tale, in case the printer's devil should continue impatient for copy, when the whole of my narrative has been imposed.
Adieu, my dear friend; I have said enough to explain, if not to vindicate, the attempt which I have made, and which, in spite of your doubts, and my own incapacity, I am still willing to believe has not been altogether made in vain.
I hope you are now well recovered from your spring fit of the gout, and shall be happy if the advice of your learned physician should recommend a tour to these parts. Several curiosities have been lately dug up near the wall, as well as at the ancient station of Habitancum. Talking of the latter, I suppose you have long since heard the news, that a sulky churlish boor145 has destroyed the ancient statue, or rather bas-relief, popularly called Robin of Redesdale. It seems Robin's fame attracted more visitants than was consistent with the growth of the heather, upon a moor146 worth a shilling an acre. Reverend as you write yourself, be revengeful for once, and pray with me that he may be visited with such a fit of the stone, as if he had all the fragments of poor Robin in that region of his viscera where the disease holds its seat. Tell this not in Gath, lest the Scots rejoice that they have at length found a parallel instance among their neighbours, to that barbarous deed which demolished147 Arthur's Oven. But there is no end to lamentation148, when we betake ourselves to such subjects. My respectful compliments attend Miss Dryasdust; I endeavoured to match the spectacles agreeable to her commission, during my late journey to London, and hope she has received them safe, and found them satisfactory. I send this by the blind carrier, so that probably it may be some time upon its journey.*
* This anticipation149 proved but too true, as my learned * correspondent did not receive my letter until a * twelvemonth after it was written. I mention this * circumstance, that a gentleman attached to the cause of * learning, who now holds the principal control of the * post-office, may consider whether by some mitigation of * the present enormous rates, some favour might not be shown * to the correspondents of the principal Literary and * Antiquarian Societies. I understand, indeed, that this * experiment was once tried, but that the mail-coach having * broke down under the weight of packages addressed to * members of the Society of Antiquaries, it was relinquished150 * as a hazardous151 experiment. Surely, however it would be * possible to build these vehicles in a form more * substantial, stronger in the perch152, and broader in the * wheels, so as to support the weight of Antiquarian * learning; when, if they should be found to travel more * slowly, they would be not the less agreeable to quiet * travellers like myself.---L. T.
The last news which I hear from Edinburgh is, that the gentleman who fills the situation of Secretary to the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland,*
* Mr Skene of Rubislaw is here intimated, to whose taste and * skill the author is indebted for a series of etchings, * exhibiting the various localities alluded153 to in these * novels.
is the best amateur draftsman in that kingdom, and that much is expected from his skill and zeal154 in delineating those specimens155 of national antiquity, which are either mouldering under the slow touch of time, or swept away by modern taste, with the same besom of destruction which John Knox used at the Reformation. Once more adieu; "vale tandem156, non immemor mei". Believe me to be,
Reverend, and very dear Sir,
Your most faithful humble157 Servant.
Laurence Templeton.
Toppingwold, near Egremont, Cumberland, Nov. 17, 1817.
（寄往其寓所约克郡盖特堡）
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(注)乔纳斯·德赖斯达斯特是司各特虚构的一个人物，他的几部小说的序言便是以“致德赖斯达斯特的信”的面目出现的，本书也是这样。在这篇序言中，司各特阐述了他对历史小说的一些基本观点，主要涉及了虚构和历史真实的关系问题。文中有些人名也是虚构的，如乌尔法斯国王等。发信人劳伦斯·坦普尔顿实即作者本人。
不用说，促使鄙人把阁下的大名置于后面这部作品的卷首，是有各种错综复杂的原因的。然而由于作品的不足以登大雅之堂，这些理由中最主要的一点，也许便不能成立。假如真像我所希望的一样，它足以赢得您的赞赏，那么读者立刻会看到，把旨在描绘英国古代，尤其是我们撒克逊祖先的生活的作品，献给曾撰文论述乌尔法斯国王的号角，论述他赠予圣彼得教堂的土地的博学作者，是合乎情理的。然而我明白，下面这些纸上所记述的我的考古研究的成果所赖以表达的方式，是无关紧要、不足为训、轻浮浅薄的，它已使这作品被排除在可以自豪地呈请博学鸿儒指正的那类著作之外。相反，我怕我只能引起非议，认为我不揣谫陋，居然把乔纳斯·德赖斯达斯特博士的大名冠于这么一部作品上，这部作品从严肃的考古学的角度来看，也许只能厕身于当今无关宏旨的文艺小说之列。这样的指责是我万难接受的，我必须为自己辩护，尽管我相信，您的友谊会使您对我采取宽大的态度，我仍然不愿在公众眼中，蒙受我的担忧向我提示的那种严重罪名。
为此我必须提一下，我们过去也一起讨论过这类作品，因为在其中的一种中，您博学的北方朋友蒙克巴恩斯的奥尔德巴克先生(注1)的私事和家事遭到了不公正的对待，给暴露在众目睽睽之下，当时我们对这些作品在这个游手好闲的时代中得以流行的原因，作了一定程度的探讨，您认为它们不论具有什么其他优点，必须承认，它们是草率写就的，违反了史诗所应该遵循的规律。看来您当时的意见是：它们的魅力完全在于那位匿名作者所掌握的技巧，他像第二个麦克弗森(注2)一样，运用了散布在他周围的一切考古材料，并把不太久以前他的国家中实际发生的事件，以及实际存在的人物，几乎连姓名也不加改动地引进了小说，以弥补他本人迟钝和贫乏的创造力。您指出，至多六十或七十年以前，整个苏格兰北部地区还处在极其简单的、宗法式的政府统治下，它与今天莫霍克人和易洛魁人的联盟(注3)差不多。即使不能设想作者曾亲自目睹过那个时期，您指出，他也必然生活在曾经历和活跃在那个时期的人们中间；在这短短的三十年中，苏格兰的生活方式固然发生了不少变化，人们回顾他们上一代祖先所奉行的社会习惯，也只是像我们看待安妮女王的统治时期，至多上溯到共和革命时期(注4)。您指出，各种材料都堆积在作者周围，他对一切都了如指掌，困难只在于选择而已。因此并不奇怪，他在这么丰富的矿藏中开始挖掘时，他的工作可望得到的收获和成果，必然超过他的简单劳动所理应得到的赞赏。
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(注1)司各特的小说《考古家》（一译《古董家》）中的主人公，一个考古学家，苏格兰人，因此被称为“北方朋友”。
(注2)詹姆斯·麦克弗森（1736—1796），苏格兰诗人。他曾因翻译三世纪爱尔兰说唱诗人莪相的诗歌而名重一时，但后来发现，这些所谓翻译实际大多是他自己的伪作。
(注3)莫霍克人和易洛魁人都是北美的印第安人，曾组成易洛魁联盟，在历史上发挥过重要作用。
(注4)英国安妮女王于1702—1714年在位。共和时期指十七世纪中叶英国资产阶级革命时期。
即使这些结论（我不想否认）一般说来是正确的，我仍认为，企图激发对古老英国的传统和生活方式的兴趣是并不奇怪的，这与对我们较为贫苦、较少声望的邻居发生的兴趣一样。肯德尔绿色粗呢(注1)出现的时期虽然更为古老，就我们的感觉说来，它与北方杂色的格子花呢肯定是同样亲切的。罗宾汉的名字如果运用恰当，可以与罗布·罗伊的名字一样引起迅速的反应(注2)；英国的爱国分子在我们当代人中间应该享有的威望，不应比苏格兰的布鲁斯和华莱士逊色(注3)。如果说南方的风景不如北方的崇山峻岭动人和雄伟，那么必须承认，它也在同样程度上具有妩媚和秀丽的特色；整个说来，我们也有权像叙利亚的爱国者一样惊呼：“大马士革的法弗尔河和阿巴纳河，难道不比以色列的一切河流更美吗？”
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(注1)英国肯德尔地方生产的一种粗呢。格子花呢是苏格兰具有民族色彩的衣料。
(注2)罗宾汉是英国的绿林好汉，本书的主要人物之一。罗布·罗伊是苏格兰的绿林好汉，被称为“苏格兰的罗宾汉”，司各特写有名著《罗布·罗伊》（一译《红酋罗伯》）。
(注3)布鲁斯和华莱士都是苏格兰历史上的民族英雄。
亲爱的博士，您自然记得，您对这种意图的反对是双重的。您坚持苏格兰人享有优越条件，因为他们展开活动的社会环境还刚刚形成。您指出，许多现在还活着的、大家所记得的人，不仅亲自见到过著名的罗布·罗伊，而且与他一起吃过饭，打过仗。这一切属于私人和家庭生活的细节，这一切赋予书中叙述的事件和人物以真实感的情况，在苏格兰是人所共知、记忆犹新的；可是在英国，文化早已获得长足的进展，我们对我们祖先的观念，只能从发霉的记录和编年史中去搜索寻找，而这些史籍的作者却仿佛故意要保守秘密似的，在叙述中略去了一切有趣的细节，以便大量记录修士滔滔不绝的口才和道德说教的陈词滥调。您认为，把英国和苏格兰作者在体现和复活各自国家的传统方面的条件等量齐观，这是极不公正，也极不合理的。您说，苏格兰的魔术师像卢卡努斯(注)的女巫一样，可以在新近的战场上任意倘样，凭他的巫术为他重现历史选择一个不久以前手脚还在活动、喉咙还在发出最后呻吟的人，作他的题材。甚至法力无边的厄立克索也不得不在这些人中进行选择，认为这是唯一能靠她的巫术复活的人：
“在冰冷的死者中搜寻完整的骨骼，
纤维尚未受伤的发硬的肺叶，
找到后，便把这死去的尸骸召唤还魂。”
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(注)马可斯·安奈乌斯·卢卡努斯（39—65），古罗马诗人，有长篇史诗《法尔萨利亚》十卷传世。该诗描写恺撒与庞培之间的内战。后面提到的厄立克索和引用诗句均出自该诗。厄立克索是当时帖萨利亚地方的女巫，据说庞培常问计于她，要她为他占卜吉凶。
相反，英国的作者，即使他的本领超过北方的巫师，您指出，他也只能在古代的遗骸中选择他的人物，可是他在这里看到的正如约沙发(注)在他的山谷中看到的一样，除了腐烂发霉、支离破碎的骨骼以外，什么也没有。此外，您表示您担心，我的同胞不受爱国偏见束缚的精神，不允许他公正地对待我力图获得成功的这类作品。您说，这并非完全出于偏爱外国事物的流行观念，一部分也是由于英国读者目前的生活环境，使他们对书中的描述不能信以为真。如果您向他们描写存在于苏格兰高地的粗野的风俗习惯和原始的社会状态，他们大多只得默认你的描绘是真实的。这毫不奇怪。如果他们是普通的读者，这些人大多从没见过这种遥远的地区，或者只在夏季旅行时，曾路过这类荒凉的山地，在那里吃过几顿粗糙的伙食，睡过小木床，从一个荒野走到另一个荒野，因此完全准备相信作者就生长在那个独特环境中的粗野的游荡的民族讲的任何奇谈怪论。但是同样这些先生，当他们坐在舒适的客厅中，安享英国家庭的一切优越条件时，他们就不会轻易相信，他们的祖先过的是与他们本人完全不同的生活；他现在从窗口眺望到的那个败落的塔楼曾经关过一个贵族，他可能没有受到任何形式的审判便被吊死在自己家门口了；现在替他管理他的小农场的雇工，不多几个世纪以前只能是他的奴隶；封建专制权力曾在这一带飞扬跋扈，完全控制了附近的村庄，而现在那里的一个律师已比庄园主势力更大。
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(注)犹太国王，曾征服摩押人和亚们人、《圣经》中说，他战胜敌人之后，“犹太人来到旷野的望楼……只见尸横遍地，没有一个逃脱的。”（见《历代志下》第20章）
尽管我承认这些反对意见有一定道理，我还是得说，我并不认为它们是完全不可克服的。材料的贫乏确实是一大难题，但是谁也不如德赖斯达斯特博士那么清楚，对于熟读古籍的人而言，分散在各种历史著作中的有关我们祖先个人生活的片言只语，尽管与它们所处理的重大事件相比，只占极小的比重，然而把它们汇集到一起，还是足以使我们对我们祖先的私生活形成一个相当明晰的观念；确实，我也明白，在实行这个意图时，我可能失败，然而我相信，只要在收集材料上多化些力气，在运用材料上多动些脑筋，那么依靠亨利博士和故世不久的斯特拉特先生，尤其是沙伦·特纳先生的著作(注)，一个稍有能力的作者是完全可以成功的；因此对任何认为目前的尝试可能失败的议论，我可以事先便表示不能苟同。
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(注)都是英国的一些编年史作者：亨廷登的亨利（1084—1155），写有《英吉利史》；约瑟夫·斯特拉特（1749—1802），英国史学家，写有《英格兰编年记》；沙伦·特纳（176—1847），英国文学及史学家，写有《诺曼征服初期盎格鲁一撒克逊史》。
另一方面，我已经说过，我相信我的国人的善意和好心，任何对英国古代的风俗习惯所作的真实描绘，肯定是会得到他们的热情对待的。
在对您的第一类异议尽我所有的力量作了上述答复，或者说至少表示了我决心跨越您的审慎所预言的这些障碍之后，我还得简单地提一下对我具有特殊意义的一个看法。我觉得您似乎认为，考古家的职责在于从事严肃的，或者像某些庸俗的看法所说的，从事艰苦的、繁琐的研究工作，这必然使他在编制此类故事方面变得无能为力。但是，请允许我说一下，亲爱的博士，这种反对主要是形式的而不是实质的。确实，这类微不足道的写作，并不适合我们的朋友奥尔德巴克先生那种较为严肃的才能。然而霍勒斯·华尔浦尔(注1)写过一部鬼的故事，它使许多人读了之后毛骨惊然；乔治·埃利斯(注2)善于把可爱的、以至不平常的情绪的各种幽默滑稽的表现，注入他的《古代诗歌传奇节略》一书。这样，不论我现在的大胆尝试可能会使我多么遗憾，我至少找到了对我有利的一些可敬先例。
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(注1)霍勒斯·华尔浦尔（1717—1797），英国作家和收藏家，中世纪恐怖故事《奥特朗托堡》的作者。
(注2)乔治·埃利斯（175—1815），英国古诗研究者，作家和诗人，司各特的好友。
然而较严格的考古家仍会认为，这么把虚构和真实搀和在一起，是用现代的创造法污了历史的泉源，因而对我所描写的这个时代，给年轻一代灌输了错误的观念。我只得在一定意义上承认这种推理的正确性，然而我根据下述考虑，仍指望能超越这点。
说实话，我既不能也不想做到绝对准确，哪怕在外表衣着方面也这样，更不必说更为重要的语言和风俗方面了。我不能用盎格鲁一撒克逊语或诺曼法语来写故事中的对话，也不能把它用卡克斯顿或温金德沃德(注1)的印刷字体送到读者面前，出于同样的动机，我也不能把自己完全局限在我的故事所展开的那个历史时期。为了能引起读者的任何兴趣，我必须把我要写的题材，借助于我们现在所生活的这个时代的行为方式和语言习惯来予以表现。没有一部东方文学像加朗先生(注2)首次翻译的《阿拉伯故事集》那样赢得广泛的欢迎；他在那里一方面保留了东方的华丽服饰，另一方面又表现了东方的原始想象力，但正是因为把它们与日常的感情和表达方式结合在一起，才使那些故事变得那么有趣和容易理解，他缩短了那些冗长的句子，简化了那些单调的思考，抛弃了阿拉伯原著中漫无止境的重复。这样，尽管这些故事经过初次调整之后，纯粹东方的色彩减弱了，然而大大适应了欧洲的市场，赢得了读者无与伦比的喜爱；毫无疑问，如果它没有采取在一定程度上适合西方读者的感情和习惯的叙述方式和风格，它是不可能取得这样的成绩的。
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(注1)威廉·卡克斯顿（约1422一1491）和温金德沃德（？一1534）都是英国最早的出版商。
(注2)安托万·加朗（1646—1715），法国东方学家，他最早把《一千零一夜》意译成法文，介绍给欧洲。
为了适应广大读者的口味，我相信这么做是合理的，也因此，我在恰当的程度上用现代的语言说明古代的风习，在交代人物的性格和情绪方面，也尽量避免单纯追求古奥，以致弄得佶屈聱牙，枯燥乏味，给现代读者造成重重障碍。在这方面，我可以不揣冒昧地说，我没有越过一部虚构作品的作者所理应享有的特权。故世的卓越的斯特拉特先生在他的小说《奎荷厅》(注)中，奉行了另一原则；在对事物区别古代和现代时，照我看来，他忘记了那个广阔的中间地带，也就是说，大部分行为方式和情绪，对我们和我们的祖先而言是共通的，由他们传给我们时没有发生变化，或者说，它们来自共同的人性原理，可以在任何一种社会状况中同样存在。由此可见，一个有才能、又有广博的考古修养的人，从他的作品中排除一切不够古老的事物，只能限制它的流行，使它成为一部被人遗忘的、不可理解的作品。
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(注)斯特拉特一部未完成的作品，后来由司各特予以续完。这小说拘泥于考古学上的准确性，因而限制了它的流行。
我要在这里维护的那种特权，对实现我的写作计划是至关重要的，因此我要求您少安毋躁，听我进一步阐述我的理由。
任何人第一次披阅乔叟或其他古代诗人的作品，都会被那些旧式的拼音方法，重复的子音和古老的语言现象弄得寸步难行，甚至不得不失望地放下书本，仿佛它已裹在一层古色古香的厚厚锈斑中，使他无法判断它的价值或体味它的美妙了。但是如果有个博学多才的朋友向他指出，使他感到棘手的那些困难只是现象而不是实质，只要向他大声朗读一遍，或者用现代的缀字法重写那些普通的词汇，就能使那位初次涉猎者恍然大悟，原书所用的词汇只有十分之一是真正吉奥的，初学者只需稍稍有一点耐心，便肯定可以领略到老杰弗里在克雷西和普瓦捷战役时代读者心头引起的兴趣和同情(注)。
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(注)克雷西战役和普瓦捷战役是英法百年战争（1337—1453）早期的两次重大战役，乔叟即生活在这个时期，杰弗里是他的名字。
关于这点不妨再说几句。如果我们的初学者钟情于新诞生的考古癖好，打算模仿他所崇拜的那些著作，选用它们所包含的古老词语，唯独不使用现代语言中仍保留的那些词汇和用法，那么只能说他走上了一条极不明智的道路。这是不幸的查特顿(注)所犯的错误。为了赋予他的语言以古老的色彩，他抛弃了现代的一切词汇，创造了一种在英伦三岛从未有人讲过的特殊语言。如果有人想成功地模仿古代的语言，便必须研究它的语法特点、措词特征和组合方式，而不是把力气化在收集冷僻和吉奥的用语上，正如我已经申述的，在古代作品中，这类用语与仅仅在意义和拼法上发生了一些变化的、仍在使用的词汇相比，不过是一与十之比而已。
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(注)托马斯．查特顿（互752—1770），英国诗人，极有才能，但嗜古成癖，所作诗大多假托为古代作品。去世时年仅十八岁。
我就语言所讲的话，应用在思想和举止上就更正确了。它们的一切曲折变化都来源于人的感情，而感情对一切身份和地位，一切国家和时代的人，大体是相同的；这样，理所当然，人们的看法、思想习惯和行动，尽管受到特殊的社会状况的影响，总的说来，必然仍是彼此十分相似的。我们的祖先与我们的区别，无疑不会比犹太教徒与基督教徒的区别大些；他们也有“眼睛，手，器官，身体，感觉，爱好，情欲”；他们也“吃同样的食物，会给同样的武器伤害，生同样的病，同样在冬天感到寒冷，在夏天感到炎热”。(注)因此，他们的爱好和感觉的基本情况，必然与我们的大同小异。
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(注)这都是莎士比亚《威尼斯商人》剧中的话，本书第五章的题词也引用了这话。
这样，应该说，一个作者如果要像我试图做的那样，写一部小说或虚构的作品，他会发现，他要运用的材料，不论在语言或举止习惯方面，极大部分对我们今天和他所假定的活动时期，都是同样适用的。因而这赋予他的自由选择的权利，比当初看来大得多，他的工作也变得容易得多。不妨用一种姊妹艺术来作说明：考古上的细节可以说像铅笔勾勒的轮廓，表现了一幅风景的独特面貌。封建塔楼必须具有相应的雄伟气概，出现的人物必须具有他们的时代的服饰和性格；画面必须表现这个特定的题材所选择的背景的特色。礁石得有相应的高度，瀑布得有一泻而下的气势。整个色调也必须与大自然一致。天空得按照气候条件或阴或晴，颜色的浓淡深浅也得符合自然景物的状况。在这些方面画家必须遵循他的艺术的规律，准确地模仿大自然的面貌；但是他不需要更进一步，照抄大自然的一切细节，或者绝对准确地描绘点缀在这个地点的全部树木花草。这些，以及光和影的其他更细小的方面，只要符合一般风景的特点，适合各个场合的自然状态，艺术家便有权按照他的爱好和兴趣，予以自由支配。
确实，这种特权在画家和作家说来，都不能超出合理的界限。画家对画面的修饰不能不符合他的风景的气候条件或地域条件；他不能把柏树栽种到苏格兰的湖中小岛上，或者让苏格兰的冷杉出现在珀斯波利斯(注)的废墟上；作家也受有类似的束缚。不论他可以怎样大胆超越他所仿效的古代作品，更详尽细致地描绘那些作品中找不到的感情和心理，他不能在他的作品中引入不符合那个时代风貌的任何东西。他的骑士、扈从、仆役和护卫，可以超越古代彩饰手写本上用粗糙生硬的笔触描绘的形象，但是这个时代的特征和服饰却不容歪曲：他们必须仍是那些人物，只是用较圆熟的笔调加以描绘，或者讲得谦逊一些，是在一个对艺术规律有了更深理解的时代中加以刻划而已。他的语言不必完全古奥难懂，但是如果可能，他应该不让一个直接来自现代生活的词语或措词方式出现。运用我们和我们的祖先所共同具有的语言和情绪是一回事，赋予人物以他们的子孙所单独具有的情绪和语言色彩则是另一回事。
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(注)古代波斯阿契美尼德王朝的都城，废墟在今伊朗设拉子附近。
亲爱的朋友，我发现这是我的工作中最困难的部分；坦白说，我几乎不敢指望它能满足您较少偏袒的评价和对这类问题更广博的知识，因为连我自己也对它不太满意。
我明白，就准确表现我的角色活跃的那个时期的生活状态而言，那些企图严格审查我的故事的人还会发现，我在保持语调的统一和服饰方面，还存在着更多缺点。也许我把一些完全应该划人现代范畴的东西，写进了书中；另一方面，我也完全可能混淆了两个或三个世纪之间的变化，把只适合于更早得多的时期，或者更迟得多的时期的事物，写进了理查一世的时代。我可以聊以自慰的是，这类错误对于一般读者来说是不易发觉的，我仍可能取得那些不称职的建筑师享有的赞誉，这些人在他们现代的哥特式建筑中，违背规则和方法，引入了不同的风格和不同的艺术时期所特有的装饰物。那些通过渊博的研究，取得了对我的失误进行更严厉的评论权利的人，由于也相应地理解我的工作的艰难，或许会对我采取宽大的态度。我的正直而被遗忘的朋友英格尔弗斯，曾经给我提供过许多有价值的线索；但是克罗依顿的修道士和杰弗里·德·文索夫所给予的启示，却被那么多索然无味的、不可理喻的事物掩蔽了(注1)，以致我们只得求助于勤奋的傅华萨(注2)，靠他那些明朗的记载来指点迷津，尽管他所描绘的社会离我的故事的时期已相当遥远了。因此，亲爱的朋友，如果您宽大为怀，肯原谅我自以为是的做法，允许我一部分靠纯粹古代的珠宝，一部分靠我尽力仿效的布里斯托尔(注3) 人造宝石和玻璃，拼凑成一顶诗人的桂冠，那么我相信您会体会到这项工作的艰巨性，因而对它不够完美的成果表示谅解。
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(注1)以上三个人名都是虚构的，影射十一、二世纪的几个编年史家。
(注2)让·傅华萨（1333？一1400），法国诗人和宫廷史官，他的《闻见录》详尽记载了英法百年战争时期的政治和社会情况，成为重要的历史文献。
(注3)即指前面提到的托马斯·查特顿，他是布里斯托尔人，他的一些诗曾假托是十五世纪布里斯托尔的一个教士所写，它们开了伪拟古作品的先河。
关于我运用的材料，我没有多少话要说。它们主要都可以在亚瑟·沃杜尔爵士(注1)珍藏的盎格鲁诺曼文献中找到，他小心翼翼地把它保存在他的栋木柜子的第三只抽屉中，几乎不让任何人接触它，而他本人又无法读懂它的一个字。在我访问苏格兰时，要不是我许诺提到它时，用显目的字体印出它的名称《沃杜尔文稿》，他本来也决不会让我对这些美妙的记载钻研这么多小时；这名称使它具有了像《班纳坦文稿》、(注2)《奥琴勒克文稿》，以及用哥特式字体精心抄写的任何其他文献那样的重要性。我把这珍贵的文件编制了一份内容提要呈上，供您私人审阅，如您同意，我将把它附在我的故事的第三卷后面，只要整个故事付排之后，印刷所的学徒继续乐于进行抄写。
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(注1)司各特的《考古家》中的主要人物之一。
(注2)乔治·班纳坦（154—1608），苏格兰人，以大量搜集和编印苏格兰诗歌闻名。
再会，亲爱的朋友，我讲得够了，这些话即使不能证明我的意图正确，至少也足以说明它了；尽管存在着您的怀疑和我的无能，我还是愿意相信我的努力没有完全白费。
我希望您现在已从春天发作的痛风症中得到恢复，如果您那位渊博的医生能建议您到这里来旅行一次，我将感到万分高兴。近来在哈比坦坎城堡原址和墙脚边发掘出了一些古物。谈到这个遗址，我想您早已听说，一个脾气孤僻古怪的乡下佬，捣毁了那个以雷德斯代尔的罗宾汉闻名的古代石像或浮雕。看来罗宾汉的名声吸引了不少游客，以致妨碍了这片一英亩值一先令的荒原上帚石捕的生长。尽管您自称是一个德高望重的人，也不妨萌发一下报复心理，与我一起祈求，但愿他遭到粉身碎骨的可怜的罗宾汉的全部石块的袭击，在他的身体内形成各种结石症。但是“不要在迦特传扬”这事(注1)，免得苏格兰人高兴，以为他们终于在他们的邻居中，找到了一件可以与他们破坏亚瑟王的炉灶的野蛮行径匹敌的事例。不过谈到这类事情，我们的悲痛是讲不完的，请代我向德赖斯达斯特小姐问候；但愿我最近在伦敦旅行期间为她描绘的景物，可以不辱使命，符合她的要求；希望她能如期收到，并觉得满意。这信是托一个瞎子车夫带上的，因此它可能在路上多耽搁些日子。(注 2)据爱丁堡传来的最新消息，现在充当苏格兰考古学会秘书的先生，是在那个领域中一位最好的业余绘图员，他的技巧和热情在制作我国古物的图样方面是无与伦比的涸为这些古物有的在时间日积月累的腐蚀下已经霉烂，有的则遭到了约翰·诺克斯(注3)在宗教改革中使用的那种扫帚的无情破坏，变得面目全非了。再一次告别吧；最后说一声再见，不要忘记我，尊敬的先生，祝您一切顺利。
您忠实的、谦卑的朋友
劳伦斯·坦会尔顿
1817年11月17日于坎伯兰郡埃格蒙特附近托平沃德镇
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(注1)据《圣经》传说，以色列国王扫罗战败身亡后，大卫为他作哀歌，其中有“不要在迦特报告，不要在阿实基伦的街道上传扬……”意即不要让敌人知道了高兴。（见《撒母耳记下》第1章20节）
(注2)我的预言不幸而言中了，因为我那位博学的收信人是在我把信寄出之后，过了十二个月才收到的。我提到这一情况，是希望现在能有一个热心传播学问的先生来主管邮政大权，他也许会考虑，是否减低一些目前昂贵的收费标准．对主要的文学和考古协会的通信人员采取某些优惠办法。确实，我知道，这作过一次尝试，但由于寄给考古学会会员的邮包过多过重，邮车给压坏了，因此这项危险的试验只得取消。然而把车子改造得结实一些，把轴承制作得牢固一些，把车轮扩大一些，以便运送考古方面的大量资料，那么无疑是可以做到的。尽管这么一来，车子会走得慢一些，但是对于像我这样安静的旅客，这是不致会造成什么不愉快的。
——劳·坦
(注3)约翰·诺克斯（约1514—1572），苏格兰宗教改革家，曾大刀阔斧改革宗教，创立苏格兰长老会。
收听单词发音 |
1
rev
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| v.发动机旋转，加快速度 | |
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esteemed
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| adj.受人尊敬的v.尊敬( esteem的过去式和过去分词 )；敬重；认为；以为 | |
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concurring
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| 同时发生的，并发的 | |
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worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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patronage
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| n.赞助，支援，援助；光顾，捧场 | |
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propriety
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| n.正当行为；正当；适当 | |
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inscribing
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| v.写，刻( inscribe的现在分词 ) | |
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illustrate
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| v.举例说明，阐明；图解，加插图 | |
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antiquities
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| n.古老( antiquity的名词复数 )；古迹；古人们；古代的风俗习惯 | |
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forefathers
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| n.祖先，先人；祖先，祖宗( forefather的名词复数 )；列祖列宗；前人 | |
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bestowed
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| 赠给，授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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patrimony
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| n.世袭财产，继承物 | |
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incur
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| vt.招致，蒙受，遭遇 | |
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censure
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| v./n.责备；非难；责难 | |
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presumption
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| n.推测，可能性，冒昧，放肆，[法律]推定 | |
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vindicate
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| v.为…辩护或辩解，辩明；证明…正确 | |
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rust
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| n.锈；v.生锈；(脑子)衰退 | |
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monk
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| n.和尚，僧侣，修道士 | |
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attained
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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violation
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| n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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reign
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| n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势 | |
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strewed
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| v.撒在…上( strew的过去式和过去分词 )；散落于；点缀；撒满 | |
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plentiful
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| adj.富裕的，丰富的 | |
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derived
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| vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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variegated
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| adj.斑驳的，杂色的 | |
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robin
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| n.知更鸟，红襟鸟 | |
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hood
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| n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖 | |
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conjured
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| 用魔术变出( conjure的过去式和过去分词 )； 祈求，恳求； 变戏法； （变魔术般地） 使…出现 | |
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patriots
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| 爱国者，爱国主义者( patriot的名词复数 ) | |
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renown
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| n.声誉，名望 | |
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sublime
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| adj.崇高的，伟大的；极度的，不顾后果的 | |
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patriotic
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| adj.爱国的，有爱国心的 | |
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possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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narrative
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| n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的 | |
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civilisation
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| n.文明，文化，开化，教化 | |
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gleaned
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| v.一点点地收集（资料、事实）( glean的过去式和过去分词 )；（收割后）拾穗 | |
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perversely
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| adv. 倔强地 | |
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conspired
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| 密谋( conspire的过去式和过去分词 )； 搞阴谋； （事件等）巧合； 共同导致 | |
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narratives
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| 记叙文( narrative的名词复数 )； 故事； 叙述； 叙述部分 | |
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monkish
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| adj.僧侣的，修道士的，禁欲的 | |
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eloquence
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| n.雄辩；口才，修辞 | |
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trite
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| adj.陈腐的 | |
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embodying
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| v.表现( embody的现在分词 )；象征；包括；包含 | |
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alleged
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| a.被指控的，嫌疑的 | |
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allege
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| vt.宣称，申述，主张，断言 | |
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resuscitation
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| n.复活 | |
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potent
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| adj.强有力的，有权势的；有效力的 | |
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53
conjuror
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| n.魔术师，变戏法者 | |
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54
antiquity
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| n.古老；高龄；古物，古迹 | |
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55
mouldering
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| v.腐朽( moulder的现在分词 )；腐烂，崩塌 | |
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apprehension
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| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
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57
primitive
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| adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物 | |
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acquiesce
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| vi.默许，顺从，同意 | |
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59
desolate
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| adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂 | |
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extravagant
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| adj.奢侈的；过分的；(言行等)放肆的 | |
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snug
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| adj.温暖舒适的，合身的，安全的；v.使整洁干净，舒适地依靠，紧贴；n.（英）酒吧里的私房 | |
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vista
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| n.远景，深景，展望，回想 | |
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baron
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| n.男爵；(商业界等)巨头，大王 | |
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hinds
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| n.（常指动物腿）后面的( hind的名词复数 )；在后的；（通常与can或could连用）唠叨不停；滔滔不绝 | |
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feudal
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| adj.封建的，封地的，领地的 | |
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manor
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| n.庄园，领地 | |
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scantiness
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| n.缺乏 | |
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illustrated
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| adj. 有插图的，列举的 动词illustrate的过去式和过去分词 | |
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rue
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| n.懊悔，芸香，后悔；v.后悔，悲伤，懊悔 | |
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drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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favourable
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| adj.赞成的，称赞的，有利的，良好的，顺利的 | |
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prudence
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| n.谨慎，精明，节俭 | |
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peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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fascination
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| n.令人着迷的事物，魅力，迷恋 | |
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delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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uncommon
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| adj.罕见的，非凡的，不平常的 | |
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78
audacity
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| n.大胆，卤莽，无礼 | |
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79
precedents
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| 引用单元； 范例( precedent的名词复数 )； 先前出现的事例； 前例； 先例 | |
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80
motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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81
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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82
intelligible
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| adj.可理解的，明白易懂的，清楚的 | |
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83
abridged
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| 削减的，删节的 | |
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84
curtailed
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| v.截断，缩短( curtail的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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85
monotonous
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| adj.单调的，一成不变的，使人厌倦的 | |
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86
purely
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| adv.纯粹地，完全地 | |
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87
concoction
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| n.调配(物)；谎言 | |
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88
eminently
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| adv.突出地；显著地；不寻常地 | |
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89
devour
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| v.吞没；贪婪地注视或谛听，贪读；使着迷 | |
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90
detailed
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| adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的 | |
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repulsive
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| adj.排斥的，使人反感的 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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93
license
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| n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许 | |
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fictitious
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| adj.虚构的，假设的；空头的 | |
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95
posthumous
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| adj.遗腹的；父亡后出生的；死后的，身后的 | |
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sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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97
obsolete
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| adj.已废弃的，过时的 | |
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98
unintelligible
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| adj.无法了解的，难解的，莫明其妙的 | |
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99
crave
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| vt.渴望得到，迫切需要，恳求，请求 | |
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100
consonants
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| n.辅音，子音( consonant的名词复数 )；辅音字母 | |
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antiquated
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| adj.陈旧的，过时的 | |
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102
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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103
orthography
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| n.拼字法，拼字式 | |
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104
novice
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| adj.新手的，生手的 | |
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105
pathos
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| n.哀婉，悲怆 | |
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106
neophyte
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| n.新信徒；开始者 | |
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glossary
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| n.注释词表；术语汇编 | |
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108
averred
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| v.断言( aver的过去式和过去分词 )；证实；证明…属实；作为事实提出 | |
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applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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modifications
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| n.缓和( modification的名词复数 )；限制；更改；改变 | |
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111
Christians
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| n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 ) | |
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112
tenor
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| n.男高音（歌手），次中音（乐器），要旨，大意 | |
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delineation
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| n.记述；描写 | |
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114
majesty
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| n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权 | |
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115
elevation
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| n.高度；海拔；高地；上升；提高 | |
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116
precipitate
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| adj.突如其来的；vt.使突然发生；n.沉淀物 | |
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117
cataract
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| n.大瀑布，奔流，洪水，白内障 | |
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118
serene
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| adj. 安详的，宁静的，平静的 | |
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119
tints
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| 色彩( tint的名词复数 )； 带白的颜色； （淡色）染发剂； 痕迹 | |
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descend
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| vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降 | |
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121
dictate
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| v.口授；(使)听写；指令，指示，命令 | |
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122
legitimate
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| adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法 | |
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123
ornament
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| v.装饰，美化；n.装饰，装饰物 | |
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124
cypress
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| n.柏树 | |
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125
knights
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| 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 | |
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126
squires
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| n.地主，乡绅( squire的名词复数 ) | |
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127
grooms
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| n.新郎( groom的名词复数 )；马夫v.照料或梳洗（马等）( groom的第三人称单数 )；使做好准备；训练；（给动物）擦洗 | |
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128
illuminated
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| adj.被照明的；受启迪的 | |
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inviolate
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| adj.未亵渎的，未受侵犯的 | |
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frankly
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| adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说 | |
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131
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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rigidly
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| adv.刻板地，僵化地 | |
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133
positively
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| adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实 | |
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134
considerably
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| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
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135
ornaments
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| n.装饰( ornament的名词复数 )；点缀；装饰品；首饰v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的第三人称单数 ) | |
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136
lenient
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| adj.宽大的，仁慈的 | |
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137
conglomeration
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| n.团块，聚集，混合物 | |
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138
gallant
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| adj.英勇的，豪侠的；(向女人)献殷勤的 | |
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139
generosity
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| n.大度，慷慨，慷慨的行为 | |
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140
presumptuous
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| adj.胆大妄为的，放肆的，冒昧的，冒失的 | |
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141
syllable
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| n.音节；vt.分音节 | |
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142
emphatic
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| adj.强调的，着重的；无可置疑的，明显的 | |
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143
thereby
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| adv.因此，从而 | |
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144
approbation
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| n.称赞；认可 | |
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145
boor
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| n.举止粗野的人；乡下佬 | |
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146
moor
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| n.荒野，沼泽；vt.(使)停泊；vi.停泊 | |
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147
demolished
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| v.摧毁( demolish的过去式和过去分词 )；推翻；拆毁（尤指大建筑物）；吃光 | |
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148
lamentation
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| n.悲叹，哀悼 | |
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149
anticipation
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| n.预期，预料，期望 | |
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150
relinquished
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| 交出，让给( relinquish的过去式和过去分词 )； 放弃 | |
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151
hazardous
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| adj.(有)危险的，冒险的；碰运气的 | |
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152
perch
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| n.栖木，高位，杆；v.栖息，就位，位于 | |
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153
alluded
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| 提及，暗指( allude的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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154
zeal
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| n.热心，热情，热忱 | |
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155
specimens
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| n.样品( specimen的名词复数 )；范例；（化验的）抽样；某种类型的人 | |
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156
tandem
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| n.同时发生；配合；adv.一个跟着一个地；纵排地；adj.（两匹马）前后纵列的 | |
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157
humble
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| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
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