惊婚记 英文版 Quentin Durward
瓦尔特.司各特 Sir Walter Scott
CHAPTER XVI: THE VAGRANT Page 1
THE CONQUEST OF GRENADA
While Quentin held the brief communication with the ladies necessaryto assure them that this extraordinary addition to their party wasthe guide whom they were to expect on the King's part, he noticed(for he was as alert in observing the motions of the stranger, asthe Bohemian could be on his part) that the man not only turnedhis head as far back as he could to peer at them, but that, witha singular sort of agility, more resembling that of a monkey thanof a man, he had screwed his whole person around on the saddle soas to sit almost sidelong upon the horse, for the convenience, asit seemed, of watching them more attentively.
Not greatly pleased with this manoeuvre, Quentin rode up to theBohemian and said to him, as he suddenly assumed his proper positionon the horse, "Methinks, friend, you will prove but a blind guide,if you look at the tail of your horse rather than his ears."
"And if I were actually blind," answered the Bohemian, "I could notthe less guide you through any county in this realm of France, orin those adjoining to it."
"Yet you are no Frenchman," said the Scot.
"I am not," answered the guide.
"What countryman, then, are you," demanded Quentin.
"I am of no country," answered the guide.
"How! of no country?" repeated the Scot.
"No," answered the Bohemian, "of none. I am a Zingaro, a Bohemian,an Egyptian, or whatever the Europeans, in their different languages,may choose to call our people, but I have no country."
"Are you a Christian?" asked the Scotchman.
The Bohemian shook his head.
"Dog," said Quentin (for there was little toleration in the spiritof Catholicism in those days), "dost thou worship Mahoun?"
(Mahoun: Mohammed. It was a remarkable feature of the character ofthese wanderers that they did not, like the Jews whom they otherwiseresembled in some particulars, possess or profess any particularreligion, whether in form or principle. They readily conformed,as far as might be required, with the religion of any country inwhich they happened to sojourn, but they did not practise it morethan was demanded of them. . . . S.)
"No," was the indifferent and concise answer of the guide, whoneither seemed offended nor surprised at the young man's violenceof manner.
"Are you a Pagan, then, or what are you?"
"I have no religion," answered the Bohemian.
Durward started back, for though he had heard of Saracens andIdolaters, it had never entered into his ideas or belief that anybody of men could exist who practised no mode of worship whatever.He recovered from his astonishment to ask his guide where he usuallydwelt.
"Wherever I chance to be for the time," replied the Bohemian. "Ihave no home."
"How do you guard your property?"
"Excepting the clothes which I wear, and the horse I ride on, Ihave no property."
"Yet you dress gaily, and ride gallantly," said Durward. "What areyour means of subsistence?"
"I eat when I am hungry, drink when I am thirsty, and have noother means of subsistence than chance throws in my Way," repliedthe vagabond.
"Under whose laws do you live?"
"I acknowledge obedience to none, but an it suits my pleasure ormy necessities," said the Bohemian.
"Who is your leader, and commands you?"
"The father of our tribe -- if I choose to obey him," said theguide, "otherwise I have no commander."
"You are, then," said the wondering querist, "destitute ofall that other men are combined by -- you have no law, no leader,no settled means of subsistence, no house or home. You have, mayHeaven compassionate you, no country -- and, may Heaven enlightenand forgive you, you have no God! What is it that remains to you,deprived of government, domestic happiness, and religion?"
"I have liberty," said the Bohemian "I crouch to no one, obey noone -- respect no one -- I go where I will -- live as I can -- anddie when my day comes."
"But you are subject to instant execution, at the pleasure of theJudge?"
"Be it so," returned the Bohemian, "I can but die so much thesooner."
"And to imprisonment also," said the Scot, "and where, then, isyour boasted freedom?"
"In my thoughts," said the Bohemian, "which no chains can bind,while yours, even when your limbs are free, remain fettered byyour laws and your superstitions, your dreams of local attachment,and your fantastic visions of civil policy. Such as I are free inspirit when our limbs are chained. -- You are imprisoned in mindeven when your limbs are most at freedom."
"Yet the freedom of your thoughts," said the Scot, "relieves notthe pressure of the gyves on your limbs."
"For a brief time that may be endured," answered the vagrant, "andif within that period I cannot extricate myself, and fail of relieffrom my comrades, I can always die, and death is the most perfectfreedom of all."
There was a deep pause of some duration, which Quentin at lengthbroke by resuming his queries.
"Yours is a wandering race, unknown to the nations of Europe. --Whence do they derive their origin?"
"I may not tell you," answered the Bohemian.
"When will they relieve this kingdom from their presence, and returnto the land from whence they came?" said the Scot.
"When the day of their pilgrimage shall be accomplished," repliedhis vagrant guide.
"Are you not sprung from those tribes of Israel which were carriedinto captivity beyond the great river Euphrates?" said Quentin, whohad not forgotten the lore which had been taught him at Aberbrothick.
"Had we been so," answered the Bohemian, "we had followed theirfaith and practised their rites."
"What is thine own name?" said Durward.
"My proper name is only known to my brethren. The men beyond ourtents call me Hayraddin Maugrabin -- that is, Hayraddin the AfricanMoor."
"Thou speakest too well for one who hath lived always in thy filthyhorde," said the Scot.
"I have learned some of the knowledge of this land," said Hayraddin."When I was a little boy, our tribe was chased by the hunters afterhuman flesh. An arrow went through my mother's head, and she died.I was entangled in the blanket on her shoulders, and was taken bythe pursuers. A priest begged me from the Provost's archers, andtrained me up in Frankish learning for two or three years."
"How came you to part with him?" demanded Durward.
"I stole money from him -- even the God which he worshipped,"answered Hayraddin, with perfect composure, "he detected me, andbeat me -- I stabbed him with my knife, fled to the woods, and wasagain united to my people."
"Wretch!" said Durward, "did you murder your benefactor?"
"What had he to do to burden me with his benefits? -- The Zingaroboy was no house bred cur, to dog the heels of his master, and crouchbeneath his blows, for scraps of food: -- He was the imprisonedwolf whelp, which at the first opportunity broke his chain, rendedhis master, and returned to his wilderness."
There was another pause, when the young Scot, with a view of stillfarther investigating the character and purpose of this suspiciousguide, asked Hayraddin whether it was not true that his people,amid their ignorance, pretended to a knowledge of futurity which wasnot given to the sages, philosophers, and divines of more polishedsociety.
"We pretend to it," said Hayraddin, "and it is with justice."
"How can it be that so high a gift is bestowed on so abject a race?"said Quentin.
"Can I tell you?" answered Hayraddin. -- "Yes, I may indeed, but itis when you shall explain to me why the dog can trace the footstepsof a man, while man, the nobler animal, hath not power to tracethose of the dog. These powers, which seem to you so wonderful,are instinctive in our race. From the lines on the face and on thehand, we can tell the future fate of those who consult us, evenas surely as you know from the blossom of the tree in spring whatfruit it will bear in the harvest."
"I doubt of your knowledge, and defy you to the proof."
"Defy me not, Sir Squire," said Hayraddin Maugrabin. "I can tellyou that, say what you will of your religion, the Goddess whom youworship rides in this company."
"Peace!" said Quentin, in astonishment, "on thy life, not a wordfarther, but in answer to what I ask thee. -- Canst thou be faithful?"
"I can -- all men can," said the Bohemian.
"But wilt thou be faithful?"
"Wouldst thou believe me the more should I swear it?" answeredMaugrabin, with a sneer.
"Thy life is in my hand," said the young Scot.
"Strike, and see whether I fear to die," answered the Bohemian.
"Will money render thee a trusty guide?" demanded Durward.
"If I be not such without it, no," replied the heathen.
"Then what will bind thee?" asked the Scot.
"Kindness," replied the Bohemian.
"Shall I swear to show thee such, if thou art true guide to us onthis pilgrimage?"
"No," replied Hayraddin, "it were extravagant waste of a commodityso rare. To thee I am bound already."
"How?" exclaimed Durward, more surprised than ever.
"Remember the chestnut trees on the banks of the Cher! The victimwhose body thou didst cut down was my brother, Zamet the Maugrabin."
"And yet," said Quentin, "I find you in correspondence with thosevery officers by whom your brother was done to death, for it wasone of them who directed me where to meet with you -- the same,doubtless, who procured yonder ladies your services as a guide."
"What can we do?" answered Hayraddin, gloomily. "These men dealwith us as the sheepdogs do with the flock, they protect us for awhile, drive us hither and thither at their pleasure, and alwaysend by guiding us to the shambles."
Quentin had afterwards occasion to learn that the Bohemian spoketruth in this particular, and that the Provost guard, employedto suppress the vagabond bands by which the kingdom was infested,entertained correspondence among them, and forbore, for a certaintime, the exercise of their duty, which always at last ended inconducting their allies to the gallows. This is a sort of politicalrelation between thief and officer, for the profitable exerciseof their mutual professions, which has subsisted in all countries,and is by no means unknown to our own.
Durward, parting from the guide, fell back to the rest of theretinue, very little satisfied with the character of Hayraddin,and entertaining little confidence in the professions of gratitudewhich he had personally made to him. He proceeded to sound theother two men who had been assigned him for attendants, and hewas concerned to find them stupid and as unfit to assist him withcounsel, as in the rencounter they had shown themselves reluctantto use their weapons.
"It is all the better," said Quentin to himself, his spirit risingwith the apprehended difficulties of his situation, "that lovelyyoung lady shall owe all to me. What one hand -- ay, and one headcan do -- methinks I can boldly count upon. I have seen my father'shouse on fire, and he and my brothers lying dead amongst the flames-- I gave not an inch back, but fought it out to the last. Now Iam two years older, and have the best and fairest cause to bear mewell that ever kindled mettle within a brave man's bosom."
Acting upon this resolution, the attention and activity whichQuentin bestowed during the journey had in it something that gavehim the appearance of ubiquity. His principal and most favouritepost was of course by the side of the ladies, who, sensible of hisextreme attention to their safety, began to converse with him inalmost the tone of familiar friendship, and appeared to take greatpleasure in the naivete, yet shrewdness, of his conversation.Yet Quentin did not suffer the fascination of this intercourse tointerfere with the vigilant discharge of his duty.
If he was often by the side of the Countesses, labouring to describeto the natives of a level country the Grampian mountains, and,above all, the beauties of Glen Houlakin, he was as often ridingwith Hayraddin in the front of the cavalcade, questioning him aboutthe road and the resting places, and recording his answers in hismind, to ascertain whether upon cross examination he could discoveranything like meditated treachery. As often again he was in therear, endeavouring to secure the attachment of the two horsemenby kind words, gifts, and promises of additional recompense, whentheir task should be accomplished.
In this way they travelled for more than a week, through bypathsand unfrequented districts, and by circuitous routes, in order toavoid large towns. Nothing remarkable occurred, though they nowand then met strolling gangs of Bohemians, who respected them, asunder the conduct of one of their tribe -- straggling soldiers, orperhaps banditti, Who deemed their party too strong to be attacked-- or parties of the Marechaussee (mounted police), as they wouldnow be termed, whom Louis, who searched the wounds of the landwith steel and cautery, employed to suppress the disorderly bandswhich infested the interior. These last suffered them to pursue,their way unmolested by virtue of a password with which Quentinhad been furnished for that purpose by the King himself.
Their resting places were chiefly the monasteries, most of whichwere obliged by the rules of their foundation to receive pilgrims,under which character the ladies travelled, with hospitality andwithout any troublesome inquiries into their rank and character,which most persons of distinction were desirous of concealingwhile in the discharge of their vows. The pretence of wearinesswas usually employed by the Countesses of Croye as an excuse forinstantly retiring to rest, and Quentin, as their majordomo, arrangedall that was necessary betwixt them and their entertainers, witha shrewdness which saved them all trouble, and an alacrity thatfailed not to excite a corresponding degree of good will on thepart of those who were thus sedulously attended to.
One circumstance gave Quentin peculiar trouble, which was thecharacter and nation of his guide, who, as a heathen and an infidelvagabond, addicted besides to occult arts (the badge of all histribe), was often looked upon as a very improper guest for the holyresting places at which the company usually halted, and was not inconsequence admitted within even the outer circuit of their walls,save with extreme reluctance. This was very embarrassing, for, onthe one hand, it was necessary to keep in good humour a man whowas possessed of the secret of their expedition, and, on the other,Quentin deemed it indispensable to maintain a vigilant though secretwatch on Hayraddin's conduct, in order that, as far as might be, heshould hold no communication with any one without being observed.This of course was impossible, if the Bohemian was lodged withoutthe precincts of the convent at which they stopped, and Durwardcould not help thinking that Hayraddin was desirous of bringing aboutthis latter arrangement for, instead of keeping himself still andquiet in the quarters allotted to him, his conversation, tricks,and songs were at the same time so entertaining to the novices andyounger brethren, and so unedifying in the opinion of the seniorsof the fraternity, that, in more cases than one, it required allthe authority, supported by threats, which Quentin could exertover him, to restrain his irreverent and untimeous jocularity, andall the interest he could make with the Superiors, to prevent theheathen hound from being thrust out of the doors. He succeeded,however, by the adroit manner in which he apologized for the actsof indecorum committed by their attendant, and the skill withwhich he hinted the hope of his being brought to a better senseof principles and behaviour, by the neighbourhood of holy relics,consecrated buildings, and, above all, of men dedicated to religion.
But upon the tenth or twelfth day of their journey, after they hadentered Flanders, and were approaching the town of Namur, all theefforts of Quentin became inadequate to suppress the consequencesof the scandal given by his heathen guide. The scene was a Franciscanconvent, and of a strict and reformed order, and the Prior a manwho afterwards died in the odour of sanctity. After rather morethan the usual scruples (which were indeed in such a case to beexpected) had been surmounted, the obnoxious Bohemian at lengthobtained quarters in an out house inhabited by a lay brother,who acted as gardener. The ladies retired to their apartment, asusual, and the Prior, who chanced to have some distant alliancesand friends in Scotland, and who was fond of hearing foreignerstell of their native countries, invited Quentin, with whose mienand conduct he seemed much pleased, to a slight monastic refectionin his own cell. Finding the Father a man of intelligence, Quentindid not neglect the opportunity of making himself acquainted withthe state of affairs in the country of Liege, of which, during thelast two days of their journey, he had heard such reports as madehim very apprehensive for the security of his charge during theremainder of their route, nay, even of the Bishop's power to protectthem, when they should be safely conducted to his residence. Thereplies of the Prior were not very consolatory.
He said that the people of Liege were wealthy burghers, who, likeJeshurun (a designation for Israel) of old, had waxed fat andkicked -- that they were uplifted in heart because of their wealthand their privileges -- that they had divers disputes with theDuke of Burgundy, their liege lord, upon the subject of importsand immunities and that they had repeatedly broken out into openmutiny, whereat the Duke was so much incensed, as being a manof a hot and fiery nature, that he had sworn, by Saint George, onthe next provocation, he would make the city of Liege like to thedesolation of Babylon and the downfall of Tyre, a hissing and areproach to the whole territory of Flanders.
(Babylon: taken by Cyrus in 538 B. C. See Revelation xviii, 21:"A mighty angel took up a stone . . . and cast it into the sea,saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be throwndown, and shall be found no more.")
(Tyre: conquered by Alexander the Great in 332 B. C. "I will makethee a terror, and thou shalt be no more . . . yet shalt thou neverbe found again, saith the Lord God." Ezekiel xxvi, 21.)
"And he is a prince by all report likely to keep such a vow," saidQuentin, "so the men of Liege will probably beware how they givehim occasion."
for the time," replied .
"It were to be so hoped," said the Prior, "and such are theprayers of the godly in the land, who would not that the blood ofthe citizens were poured forth like water, and that they shouldperish, even as utter castaways, ere they make their peace withHeaven. Also the good Bishop labours night and day to preservepeace, as well becometh a servant of the altar, for it is writtenin Holy Scripture, Beati pacifici. But" -- Here the good Priorstopped, with a deep sigh.
Quentin modestly urged the great importance of which it was to theladies whom he attended, to have some assured information respectingthe internal state of the country, and what an act of Christiancharity it would be, if the worthy and reverend Father wouldenlighten them upon that subject.