惊婚记 英文版 Quentin Durward
瓦尔特.司各特 Sir Walter Scott
CHAPTER X: THE SENTINEL Page 1
Where should this music be? i' the air or the earth?
THE TEMPEST
what, savebats or rats, are there here to contend with, unless these grimold representatives of humanity!
I was all ear,And took in strains that might create a soulUnder the ribs of death.
COMUS
Quentin had hardly reached his little cabin, in order to make somenecessary changes in his dress, when his worthy relation requiredto know the full particulars of all that had befallen him at thehunt.
The youth, who could not help thinking that his uncle's hand wasprobably more powerful than his understanding, took care, in hisreply, to leave the King in full possession of the victory which hehad seemed desirous to appropriate. Le Balafre's reply was a boastof how much better he himself would have behaved in the likecircumstances, and it was mixed with a gentle censure of his nephew'sslackness in not making in to the King's assistance, when he mightbe in imminent peril. The youth had prudence, in answer, to abstainfrom all farther indication of his own conduct, except that, accordingto the rules of woodcraft, he held it ungentle to interfere withthe game attacked by another hunter, unless he was specially calledupon for his assistance. The discussion was scarcely ended, whenoccasion was afforded Quentin to congratulate himself for observingsome reserve towards his kinsman. A low tap at the door announceda visitor -- it was presently opened, and Oliver Dain, or Mauvais,or Diable, for by all these names he was known, entered the apartment.
This able but most unprincipled man has been already described inso far as his exterior is concerned. The aptest resemblance of hismotions and manners might perhaps be to those of a domestic cat,which, while couching in seeming slumber, or gliding through theapartment with slow, stealthy, and timid steps, is now engagedin watching the hole of some unfortunate mouse, now in rubbingherself with apparent confidence and fondness against those by whomshe desires to be caressed, and, presently after, is flying uponher prey, or scratching, perhaps, the very object of her formercajolements.
He entered with stooping shoulders, a humble and modest look, andthrew such a degree of civility into his address to the SeigniorBalafre, that no one who saw the interview could have avoidedconcluding that he came to ask a boon of the Scottish Archer. Hecongratulated Lesly on the excellent conduct of his young kinsmanin the chase that day, which, he observed, had attracted the King'sparticular attention. He here paused for a reply; and, with hiseyes fixed on the ground, save just when once or twice they stoleupwards to take a side glance at Quentin, he heard Balafre observethat his Majesty had been unlucky in not having himself by his sideinstead of his nephew, as he would questionless have made in, andspeared the brute, a matter which he understood Quentin had leftupon his Majesty's royal hands, so far as he could learn the story.
"But it will be a lesson to his Majesty," he said, "while he lives, tomount a man of my inches on a better horse; for how could my greathill of a Flemish dray horse keep up with his Majesty's Normanrunner? I am sure I spurred till his sides were furrowed. It is illconsidered, Master Oliver, and you must represent it to his Majesty."
Master Oliver only replied to this observation by turning towardsthe bold, bluff speaker one of those slow, dubious glances which,accompanied by a slight motion of the hand, and a gentle depressionof the head to one side, may be either interpreted as a mute assentto what is said, or as a cautious deprecation of farther prosecutionof the subject. It was a keener, more scrutinizing glance, whichhe bent on the youth, as he said, with an ambiguous smile, "So,young man, is it the wont of Scotland to suffer your Princes tobe endangered for the lack of aid in such emergencies as this oftoday?"
"It is our custom," answered Quentin, determined to throw no fartherlight on the subject, "not to encumber them with assistance inhonourable pastimes, when they can aid themselves without it. Wehold that a Prince in a hunting field must take his chance withothers, and that he comes there for the very purpose. What werewoodcraft without fatigue and without danger?"
"You hear the silly boy," said his uncle; "that is always the waywith him; he hath an answer or a reason ready to be rendered toevery one. I wonder whence he hath caught the gift; I never couldgive a reason for anything I have ever done in my life, exceptfor eating when I was a-hungry, calling the muster roll, and suchpoints of duty as the like."
"And pray, worthy Seignior," said the royal tonsor, looking at himfrom under his eyelids, "what might your reason be for calling themuster roll on such occasions?"
"Because the Captain commanded me," said Le Balafre. "By SaintGiles (patron saint of lepers, beggars, and cripples. He has beenespecially venerated in England and Scotland), I know no otherreason! If he had commanded Tyrie or Cunningham, they must havedone the same."
"A most military final cause!" said Oliver. "But, Seignior LeBalafre, you will be glad, doubtless, to learn that his Majesty isso far from being displeased with your nephew's conduct, that hehath selected him to execute a piece of duty this afternoon."
"Selected him?" said Balafre in great surprise -- "selected me, Isuppose you mean?"
"I mean precisely as I speak," replied the barber, in a mild butdecided tone; "the King hath a commission with which to intrustyour nephew."
"Why, wherefore, and for what reason?" said Balafre. "Why doth hechoose the boy, and not me?"
"I can go no farther back than your own ultimate cause, SeigniorLe Balafre, such are his Majesty's commands. But," said he, "ifI might use the presumption to form a conjecture, it may be hisMajesty hath work to do, fitter for a youth like your nephew, thanfor an experienced warrior like yourself, Seignior Balafre. --Wherefore, young gentleman, get your weapons and follow me. Bringwith you a harquebuss, for you are to mount sentinel."
"Sentinel!" said the uncle. "Are you sure you are right, MasterOliver? The inner guards of the Castle have ever been mounted bythose only who have (like me) served twelve years in our honourablebody."
"I am quite certain of his Majesty's pleasure," said Oliver, "andmust no longer delay executing it."
"But," said Le Balafre, "my nephew is not even a free Archer, beingonly an Esquire, serving under my lance."
"Pardon me," answered Oliver; "the King sent for the register nothalf an hour since, and enrolled him among the Guard. Have thegoodness to assist to put your nephew in order for the service."
Balafre, who had no ill nature, or even much jealousy in hisdisposition, hastily set about adjusting his nephew's dress, andgiving him directions for his conduct under arms, but was unableto refrain from larding them with interjections of surprise at suchluck's chancing to fall upon the young man so early.
It had never taken place before in the Scottish Guard, he said,not even in his own instance. But doubtless his service must beto mount guard over the popinjays and Indian peacocks, which theVenetian ambassador had lately presented to the King -- it couldbe nothing else; and such duty being only fit for a beardless boy(here he twirled his own grim mustaches), he was glad the lot hadfallen on his fair nephew.
Quick and sharp of wit, as well as ardent in fancy, Quentin sawvisions of higher importance in this early summons to the royalpresence, and his heart beat high at the anticipation of rising intospeedy distinction. He determined carefully to watch the mannersand language of his conductor, which he suspected must, in somecases at least, be interpreted by contraries, as soothsayers aresaid to discover the interpretation of dreams. He could not buthug himself on having observed strict secrecy on the events of thechase, and then formed a resolution, which, for so young a person,had much prudence in it, that while he breathed the air of thissecluded and mysterious Court, he would keep his thoughts lockedin his bosom, and his tongue under the most careful regulation.
His equipment was soon complete, and, with his harquebuss on hisshoulder (for though they retained the name of Archers, the ScottishGuard very early substituted firearms for the long bow, in the useof which their nation never excelled), he followed Master Oliverout of the barrack.
His uncle looked long after him, with a countenance in which wonderwas blended with curiosity; and though neither envy nor the malignantfeelings which it engenders entered into his honest meditations,there was yet a sense of wounded or diminished self importance,which mingled with the pleasure excited by his nephew's favourablecommencement of service.
He shook his head gravely, opened a privy cupboard, took out alarge bottrine of stout old wine, shook it to examine how low thecontents had ebbed, filled and drank a hearty cup; then took hisseat, half reclining, on the great oaken settle; and having onceagain slowly shaken his head, received so much apparent benefitfrom the oscillation, that, like the toy called a mandarin, hecontinued the motion until he dropped into a slumber, from whichhe was first roused by the signal to dinner.
When Quentin Durward left his uncle to these sublime meditations,he followed his conductor, Master Oliver, who, without crossing anyof the principal courts, led him, partly through private passagesexposed to the open air, but chiefly through a maze of stairs,vaults, and galleries, communicating with each other by secretdoors and at unexpected points, into a large and spacious latticedgallery, which, from its breadth, might have been almost termed ahall, hung with tapestry more ancient than beautiful, and with avery few of the hard, cold, ghastly looking pictures, belonging tothe first dawn of the arts which preceded their splendid sunrise.These were designed to represent the Paladins of Charlemagne, whomade such a distinguished figure in the romantic history of France;and as this gigantic form of the celebrated Orlando constituted themost prominent figure, the apartment acquired from him the titleof Rolando's Hall, or Roland's Gallery.
(Charlemagne . . . was accounted a saint during the dark ages:and Louis XI, as one of his successors, honoured his shrine withpeculiar observance. S.)
(Orlando: also called Roland. His history may be read in the Chansonde Roland.)
"You will keep watch here," said Oliver, in a low whisper, as ifthe hard delineations of monarchs and warriors around could havebeen offended at the elevation of his voice, or as if he had fearedto awaken the echoes that lurked among the groined vaults and Gothicdrop work on the ceiling of this huge and dreary apartment.
"What are the orders and signs of my watch?" answered Quentin, inthe same suppressed tone.
"Is your harquebuss loaded?" replied Oliver, without answering hisquery.
"That," answered Quentin, "is soon done;" and proceeded to chargehis weapon, and to light the slow match (by which when necessaryit was discharged) at the embers of a wood fire, which was expiringin the huge hall chimney -- a chimney itself so large that itmight have been called a Gothic closet or chapel appertaining tothe hall.
When this was performed, Oliver told him that he was ignorant ofone of the high privileges of his own corps, which only receivedorders from the King in person, or the High Constable of France, inlieu of their own officers. "You are placed here by his Majesty'scommand, young man," added Oliver, "and you will not be long herewithout knowing wherefore you are summoned. Meantime your walkextends along this gallery. You are permitted to stand still whileyou list, but on no account to sit down, or quit your weapon. Youare not to sing aloud, or whistle, upon any account; but you may,if you list, mutter some of the church's prayers, or what else youlist that has no offence in it, in a low voice. Farewell, and keepgood watch."
"Good watch!" thought the youthful soldier as his guide stole awayfrom him with that noiseless gliding step which was peculiar tohim, and vanished through a side door behind the arras.
"Good watch! but upon whom and against whom? -- for what, savebats or rats, are there here to contend with, unless these grimold representatives of humanity should start into life for thedisturbance of my guard? Well, it is my duty, I suppose, and I mustperform it."
With the vigorous purpose of discharging his duty, even to thevery rigour, he tried to while away the time with some of the pioushymns which he had learned in the convent in which he had foundshelter after the death of his father -- allowing in his own mind,that, but for the change of a novice's frock for the rich militarydress which he now wore, his soldierly walk in the royal galleryof France resembled greatly those of which he had tired excessivelyin the cloistered seclusion of Aberbrothick.
Presently, as if to convince himself he now belonged not to thecell but to the world, he chanted to himself, but in such tone asnot to exceed the license given to him, some of the ancient rudeballads which the old family harper had taught him, of the defeatof the Danes at Aberlemno and Forres, the murder of King Duffus atForfar, and other pithy sonnets and lays which appertained to thehistory of his distant native country, and particularly of thedistrict to which he belonged. This wore away a considerable spaceof time, and it was now more than two hours past noon when Quentinwas reminded by his appetite that the good fathers of Aberbrothick,however strict in demanding his attendance upon the hours of devotion,were no less punctual in summoning him to those of refection; whereashere, in the interior of a royal palace, after a morning spent inexercise, and a noon exhausted in duty, no man seemed to consider itas a natural consequence that he must be impatient for his dinner.
There are, however, charms in sweet sounds which can lull to resteven the natural feelings of impatience by which Quentin was nowvisited. At the opposite extremities of the long hall or gallerywere two large doors, ornamented with heavy architraves, probablyopening into different suites of apartments, to which the galleryserved as a medium of mutual communication. As the sentinel directedhis solitary walk betwixt these two entrances, which formed theboundary of his duty, he was startled by a strain of music whichwas suddenly waked near one of those doors, and which, at least inhis imagination, was a combination of the same lute and voice bywhich he had been enchanted on the preceding day. All the dreams ofyesterday morning, so much weakened by the agitating circumstances whichhe had since undergone, again arose more vivid from their slumber,and, planted on the spot where his ear could most conveniently, drinkin the sounds, Quentin remained, with his harquebuss shouldered,his mouth half open, ear, eye, and soul directed to the spot, ratherthe picture of a sentinel than a living form, -- without any otheridea than that of catching, if possible, each passing sound of thedulcet melody.
These delightful sounds were but partially heard -- they languished,lingered, ceased entirely, and were from time to time renewed afteruncertain intervals. But, besides that music, like beauty, is oftenmost delightful, or at least most interesting, to the imaginationwhen its charms are but partially displayed and the imaginationis left to fill up what is from distance but imperfectly detailed,Quentin had matter enough to fill up his reverie during the intervalsof fascination. He could not doubt, from the report of his uncle'scomrades and the scene which had passed in the presence chamberthat morning, that the siren who thus delighted his ears, was not,as he had profanely supposed, the daughter or kinswoman of a baseCabaretier (inn keeper), but the same disguised and distressedCountess for whose cause kings and princes were now about to buckleon armour, and put lance in rest. A hundred wild dreams, such asromantic and adventurous youth readily nourished in a romantic andadventurous age, chased from his eyes the bodily presentiment ofthe actual scene, and substituted their own bewildering delusions,when at once, and rudely, they were banished by a rough grasp laidupon his weapon, and a harsh voice which exclaimed, close to hisear, "Ha! Pasques dieu, Sir Squire, methinks you keep sleepy ward."
The voice was the tuneless, yet impressive and ironical toneof Maitre Pierre, and Quentin, suddenly recalled to himself, saw,with shame and fear, that he had, in his reverie, permitted Louishimself -- entering probably by some secret door, and gliding alongby the wall, or behind the tapestry -- to approach him so nearlyas almost to master his weapon.
The first impulse of his surprise was to free his harquebuss bya violent exertion, which made the King stagger backward into thehall. His next apprehension was that, in obeying the animal instinct,as it may be termed, which prompts a brave man to resist an attemptto disarm him, he had aggravated, by a personal struggle with theKing, the displeasure produced by the negligence with which hehad performed his duty upon guard; and, under this impression, herecovered his harquebuss without almost knowing what he did, and,having again shouldered it, stood motionless before the Monarch,whom he had reason to conclude he had mortally offended.
Louis, whose tyrannical disposition was less founded on naturalferocity or cruelty of temper, than on cold blooded policyand jealous suspicion, had, nevertheless, a share of that causticseverity which would have made him a despot in private conversation,and he always seemed to enjoy the pain which he inflicted onoccasions like the present. But he did not push his triumph far,and contented himself with saying, "Thy service of the morning hathalready overpaid some negligence in so young a soldier. -- Hastthou dined?"
Quentin, who rather looked to be sent to the Provost Marshal thangreeted with such a compliment, answered humbly in the negative.
"Poor lad," said Louis, in a softer tone than he usually spoke in,"hunger hath made him drowsy. -- I know thine appetite is a wolf,"he continued; "and I will save thee from one wild beast as thoudidst me from another; thou hast been prudent too in that matter,and I thank thee for it. -- Canst thou yet hold out an hour withoutfood?"
"Four-and-twenty, Sire," replied Durward, "or I were no true Scot."
"I would not for another kingdom be the pasty which should encounterthee after such a vigil," said the King; "but the question now is,not of thy dinner, but of my own. I admit to my table this day, andin strict privacy, the Cardinal Balue and this Burgundian -- thisCount de Crevecoeur -- and something may chance; the devil is mostbusy when foes meet on terms of truce."
He stopped, and remained silent, with a deep and gloomy look. Asthe King was in no haste to proceed, Quentin at length ventured toask what his duty was to be in these circumstances.
"To keep watch at the beauffet, with thy loaded weapon," said Louis;"and if there is treason, to shoot the traitor."