by Walter Scott 16 страница

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the roof had partly fallen in. The building, when entire, had never been

above sixteen feet long by twelve feet in breadth, and the roof, low

in proportion, rested upon four concentric arches which sprung from

the four corners of the building, each supported upon a short and heavy

pillar. The ribs of two of these arches remained, though the roof

had fallen down betwixt them; over the others it remained entire. The

entrance to this ancient place of devotion was under a very low round

arch, ornamented by several courses of that zig-zag moulding, resembling

shark's teeth, which appears so often in the more ancient Saxon

architecture. A belfry rose above the porch on four small pillars,

within which hung the green and weatherbeaten bell, the feeble sounds of

which had been some time before heard by the Black Knight.

The whole peaceful and quiet scene lay glimmering in twilight before

the eyes of the traveller, giving him good assurance of lodging for the

night; since it was a special duty of those hermits who dwelt in

the woods, to exercise hospitality towards benighted or bewildered

passengers.

Accordingly, the knight took no time to consider minutely the

particulars which we have detailed, but thanking Saint Julian (the

patron of travellers) who had sent him good harbourage, he leaped from

his horse and assailed the door of the hermitage with the butt of his

lance, in order to arouse attention and gain admittance.

It was some time before he obtained any answer, and the reply, when

made, was unpropitious.

" Pass on, whosoever thou art, " was the answer given by a deep hoarse

voice from within the hut, " and disturb not the servant of God and St

Dunstan in his evening devotions. "

" Worthy father, " answered the knight, " here is a poor wanderer

bewildered in these woods, who gives thee the opportunity of exercising

thy charity and hospitality. "

" Good brother, " replied the inhabitant of the hermitage, " it has pleased

Our Lady and St Dunstan to destine me for the object of those virtues,

instead of the exercise thereof. I have no provisions here which even a

dog would share with me, and a horse of any tenderness of nurture would

despise my couch--pass therefore on thy way, and God speed thee. "

" But how, " replied the knight, " is it possible for me to find my way

through such a wood as this, when darkness is coming on? I pray you,

reverend father as you are a Christian, to undo your door, and at least

point out to me my road. "

" And I pray you, good Christian brother, " replied the anchorite, " to

disturb me no more. You have already interrupted one 'pater', two

'aves', and a 'credo', which I, miserable sinner that I am, should,

according to my vow, have said before moonrise. "

" The road--the road! " vociferated the knight, " give me directions for

the road, if I am to expect no more from thee. "

" The road, " replied the hermit, " is easy to hit. The path from the wood

leads to a morass, and from thence to a ford, which, as the rains have

abated, may now be passable. When thou hast crossed the ford, thou

wilt take care of thy footing up the left bank, as it is somewhat

precipitous; and the path, which hangs over the river, has lately, as I

learn, (for I seldom leave the duties of my chapel, ) given way in sundry

places. Thou wilt then keep straight forward---"

" A broken path--a precipice--a ford, and a morass! " said the knight

interrupting him, --" Sir Hermit, if you were the holiest that ever wore

beard or told bead, you shall scarce prevail on me to hold this road

to-night. I tell thee, that thou, who livest by the charity of the

country--ill deserved, as I doubt it is--hast no right to refuse shelter

to the wayfarer when in distress. Either open the door quickly, or, by

the rood, I will beat it down and make entry for myself. "

" Friend wayfarer, " replied the hermit, " be not importunate; if thou

puttest me to use the carnal weapon in mine own defence, it will be e'en

the worse for you. "

At this moment a distant noise of barking and growling, which the

traveller had for some time heard, became extremely loud and furious,

and made the knight suppose that the hermit, alarmed by his threat of

making forcible entry, had called the dogs who made this clamour to

aid him in his defence, out of some inner recess in which they had been

kennelled. Incensed at this preparation on the hermit's part for making

good his inhospitable purpose, the knight struck the door so furiously

with his foot, that posts as well as staples shook with violence.

The anchorite, not caring again to expose his door to a similar shock,

now called out aloud, " Patience, patience--spare thy strength, good

traveller, and I will presently undo the door, though, it may be, my

doing so will be little to thy pleasure. "

The door accordingly was opened; and the hermit, a large, strong-built

man, in his sackcloth gown and hood, girt with a rope of rushes, stood

before the knight. He had in one hand a lighted torch, or link, and in

the other a baton of crab-tree, so thick and heavy, that it might well

be termed a club. Two large shaggy dogs, half greyhound half mastiff,

stood ready to rush upon the traveller as soon as the door should be

opened. But when the torch glanced upon the lofty crest and golden spurs

of the knight, who stood without, the hermit, altering probably his

original intentions, repressed the rage of his auxiliaries, and,

changing his tone to a sort of churlish courtesy, invited the knight

to enter his hut, making excuse for his unwillingness to open his lodge

after sunset, by alleging the multitude of robbers and outlaws who were

abroad, and who gave no honour to Our Lady or St Dunstan, nor to those

holy men who spent life in their service.

" The poverty of your cell, good father, " said the knight, looking around

him, and seeing nothing but a bed of leaves, a crucifix rudely carved

in oak, a missal, with a rough-hewn table and two stools, and one or two

clumsy articles of furniture--" the poverty of your cell should seem a

sufficient defence against any risk of thieves, not to mention the aid

of two trusty dogs, large and strong enough, I think, to pull down a

stag, and of course, to match with most men. "

" The good keeper of the forest, " said the hermit, " hath allowed me

the use of these animals, to protect my solitude until the times shall

mend. "

Having said this, he fixed his torch in a twisted branch of iron which

served for a candlestick; and, placing the oaken trivet before the

embers of the fire, which he refreshed with some dry wood, he placed a

stool upon one side of the table, and beckoned to the knight to do the

same upon the other.

They sat down, and gazed with great gravity at each other, each thinking

in his heart that he had seldom seen a stronger or more athletic figure

than was placed opposite to him.

" Reverend hermit, " said the knight, after looking long and fixedly at

his host, " were it not to interrupt your devout meditations, I would

pray to know three things of your holiness; first, where I am to put my

horse? --secondly, what I can have for supper? --thirdly, where I am to

take up my couch for the night? "

" I will reply to you, " said the hermit, " with my finger, it being

against my rule to speak by words where signs can answer the purpose. "

So saying, he pointed successively to two corners of the hut. " Your

stable, " said he, " is there--your bed there; and, " reaching down a

platter with two handfuls of parched pease upon it from the neighbouring

shelf, and placing it upon the table, he added, " your supper is here. "

The knight shrugged his shoulders, and leaving the hut, brought in his

horse, (which in the interim he had fastened to a tree, ) unsaddled him

with much attention, and spread upon the steed's weary back his own

mantle.

The hermit was apparently somewhat moved to compassion by the anxiety as

well as address which the stranger displayed in tending his horse; for,

muttering something about provender left for the keeper's palfrey, he

dragged out of a recess a bundle of forage, which he spread before the

knight's charger, and immediately afterwards shook down a quantity of

dried fern in the corner which he had assigned for the rider's couch.

The knight returned him thanks for his courtesy; and, this duty done,

both resumed their seats by the table, whereon stood the trencher of

pease placed between them. The hermit, after a long grace, which had

once been Latin, but of which original language few traces remained,

excepting here and there the long rolling termination of some word or

phrase, set example to his guest, by modestly putting into a very large

mouth, furnished with teeth which might have ranked with those of a

boar both in sharpness and whiteness, some three or four dried pease, a

miserable grist as it seemed for so large and able a mill.

The knight, in order to follow so laudable an example, laid aside his

helmet, his corslet, and the greater part of his armour, and showed to

the hermit a head thick-curled with yellow hair, high features, blue

eyes, remarkably bright and sparkling, a mouth well formed, having an

upper lip clothed with mustachoes darker than his hair, and bearing

altogether the look of a bold, daring, and enterprising man, with which

his strong form well corresponded.

The hermit, as if wishing to answer to the confidence of his guest,

threw back his cowl, and showed a round bullet head belonging to a man

in the prime of life. His close-shaven crown, surrounded by a circle

of stiff curled black hair, had something the appearance of a parish

pinfold begirt by its high hedge. The features expressed nothing of

monastic austerity, or of ascetic privations; on the contrary, it was

a bold bluff countenance, with broad black eyebrows, a well-turned

forehead, and cheeks as round and vermilion as those of a trumpeter,

from which descended a long and curly black beard. Such a visage,

joined to the brawny form of the holy man, spoke rather of sirloins and

haunches, than of pease and pulse. This incongruity did not escape the

guest. After he had with great difficulty accomplished the mastication

of a mouthful of the dried pease, he found it absolutely necessary

to request his pious entertainer to furnish him with some liquor; who

replied to his request by placing before him a large can of the purest

water from the fountain.

" It is from the well of St Dunstan, " said he, " in which, betwixt sun and

sun, he baptized five hundred heathen Danes and Britons--blessed be his

name! " And applying his black beard to the pitcher, he took a draught

much more moderate in quantity than his encomium seemed to warrant.

" It seems to me, reverend father, " said the knight, " that the small

morsels which you eat, together with this holy, but somewhat thin

beverage, have thriven with you marvellously. You appear a man more

fit to win the ram at a wrestling match, or the ring at a bout at

quarter-staff, or the bucklers at a sword-play, than to linger out your

time in this desolate wilderness, saying masses, and living upon parched

pease and cold water. "

" Sir Knight, " answered the hermit, " your thoughts, like those of the

ignorant laity, are according to the flesh. It has pleased Our Lady and

my patron saint to bless the pittance to which I restrain myself, even

as the pulse and water was blessed to the children Shadrach, Meshech,

and Abednego, who drank the same rather than defile themselves with the

wine and meats which were appointed them by the King of the Saracens. "

" Holy father, " said the knight, " upon whose countenance it hath pleased

Heaven to work such a miracle, permit a sinful layman to crave thy

name? "

" Thou mayst call me, " answered the hermit, " the Clerk of Copmanhurst,

for so I am termed in these parts--They add, it is true, the

epithet holy, but I stand not upon that, as being unworthy of such

addition. --And now, valiant knight, may I pray ye for the name of my

honourable guest? "

" Truly, " said the knight, " Holy Clerk of Copmanhurst, men call me in

these parts the Black Knight, --many, sir, add to it the epithet of

Sluggard, whereby I am no way ambitious to be distinguished. "

The hermit could scarcely forbear from smiling at his guest's reply.

" I see, " said he, " Sir Sluggish Knight, that thou art a man of prudence

and of counsel; and moreover, I see that my poor monastic fare likes

thee not, accustomed, perhaps, as thou hast been, to the license of

courts and of camps, and the luxuries of cities; and now I bethink me,

Sir Sluggard, that when the charitable keeper of this forest-walk left

those dogs for my protection, and also those bundles of forage, he left

me also some food, which, being unfit for my use, the very recollection

of it had escaped me amid my more weighty meditations. "

" I dare be sworn he did so, " said the knight; " I was convinced that

there was better food in the cell, Holy Clerk, since you first doffed

your cowl. --Your keeper is ever a jovial fellow; and none who beheld thy

grinders contending with these pease, and thy throat flooded with this

ungenial element, could see thee doomed to such horse-provender and

horse-beverage, " (pointing to the provisions upon the table, ) " and

refrain from mending thy cheer. Let us see the keeper's bounty,

therefore, without delay. "

The hermit cast a wistful look upon the knight, in which there was

a sort of comic expression of hesitation, as if uncertain how far he

should act prudently in trusting his guest. There was, however, as much

of bold frankness in the knight's countenance as was possible to be

expressed by features. His smile, too, had something in it irresistibly

comic, and gave an assurance of faith and loyalty, with which his host

could not refrain from sympathizing.

After exchanging a mute glance or two, the hermit went to the further

side of the hut, and opened a hutch, which was concealed with great care

and some ingenuity. Out of the recesses of a dark closet, into which

this aperture gave admittance, he brought a large pasty, baked in a

pewter platter of unusual dimensions. This mighty dish he placed before

his guest, who, using his poniard to cut it open, lost no time in making

himself acquainted with its contents.

" How long is it since the good keeper has been here? " said the knight

to his host, after having swallowed several hasty morsels of this

reinforcement to the hermit's good cheer.

" About two months, " answered the father hastily.

" By the true Lord, " answered the knight, " every thing in your hermitage

is miraculous, Holy Clerk! for I would have been sworn that the fat buck

which furnished this venison had been running on foot within the week. "

The hermit was somewhat discountenanced by this observation; and,

moreover, he made but a poor figure while gazing on the diminution of

the pasty, on which his guest was making desperate inroads; a warfare

in which his previous profession of abstinence left him no pretext for

joining.

" I have been in Palestine, Sir Clerk, " said the knight, stopping short

of a sudden, " and I bethink me it is a custom there that every host who

entertains a guest shall assure him of the wholesomeness of his food, by

partaking of it along with him. Far be it from me to suspect so holy a

man of aught inhospitable; nevertheless I will be highly bound to you

would you comply with this Eastern custom. "

" To ease your unnecessary scruples, Sir Knight, I will for once depart

from my rule, " replied the hermit. And as there were no forks in those

days, his clutches were instantly in the bowels of the pasty.

The ice of ceremony being once broken, it seemed matter of rivalry

between the guest and the entertainer which should display the best

appetite; and although the former had probably fasted longest, yet the

hermit fairly surpassed him.

" Holy Clerk, " said the knight, when his hunger was appeased, " I would

gage my good horse yonder against a zecchin, that that same honest

keeper to whom we are obliged for the venison has left thee a stoup of

wine, or a runlet of canary, or some such trifle, by way of ally to this

noble pasty. This would be a circumstance, doubtless, totally unworthy

to dwell in the memory of so rigid an anchorite; yet, I think, were you

to search yonder crypt once more, you would find that I am right in my

conjecture. "

The hermit only replied by a grin; and returning to the hutch, he

produced a leathern bottle, which might contain about four quarts. He

also brought forth two large drinking cups, made out of the horn of

the urus, and hooped with silver. Having made this goodly provision

for washing down the supper, he seemed to think no farther ceremonious

scruple necessary on his part; but filling both cups, and saying, in the

Saxon fashion, " 'Waes hael', Sir Sluggish Knight! " he emptied his own at

a draught.

" 'Drink hael', Holy Clerk of Copmanhurst! " answered the warrior, and did

his host reason in a similar brimmer.

" Holy Clerk, " said the stranger, after the first cup was thus swallowed,

" I cannot but marvel that a man possessed of such thews and sinews as

thine, and who therewithal shows the talent of so goodly a trencher-man,

should think of abiding by himself in this wilderness. In my judgment,

you are fitter to keep a castle or a fort, eating of the fat and

drinking of the strong, than to live here upon pulse and water, or even

upon the charity of the keeper. At least, were I as thou, I should find

myself both disport and plenty out of the king's deer. There is many a

goodly herd in these forests, and a buck will never be missed that goes

to the use of Saint Dunstan's chaplain. "

" Sir Sluggish Knight, " replied the Clerk, " these are dangerous words,

and I pray you to forbear them. I am true hermit to the king and law,

and were I to spoil my liege's game, I should be sure of the prison,

and, an my gown saved me not, were in some peril of hanging. "

" Nevertheless, were I as thou, " said the knight, " I would take my walk

by moonlight, when foresters and keepers were warm in bed, and ever

and anon, --as I pattered my prayers, --I would let fly a shaft among the

herds of dun deer that feed in the glades--Resolve me, Holy Clerk, hast

thou never practised such a pastime? "

" Friend Sluggard, " answered the hermit, " thou hast seen all that can

concern thee of my housekeeping, and something more than he deserves who

takes up his quarters by violence. Credit me, it is better to enjoy

the good which God sends thee, than to be impertinently curious how it

comes. Fill thy cup, and welcome; and do not, I pray thee, by further

impertinent enquiries, put me to show that thou couldst hardly have made

good thy lodging had I been earnest to oppose thee. "

" By my faith, " said the knight, " thou makest me more curious than ever!

Thou art the most mysterious hermit I ever met; and I will know more of

thee ere we part. As for thy threats, know, holy man, thou speakest to

one whose trade it is to find out danger wherever it is to be met with. "

" Sir Sluggish Knight, I drink to thee, " said the hermit; " respecting thy

valour much, but deeming wondrous slightly of thy discretion. If thou

wilt take equal arms with me, I will give thee, in all friendship and

brotherly love, such sufficing penance and complete absolution, that

thou shalt not for the next twelve months sin the sin of excess of

curiosity. "

The knight pledged him, and desired him to name his weapons.

" There is none, " replied the hermit, " from the scissors of Delilah, and

the tenpenny nail of Jael, to the scimitar of Goliath, at which I am not

a match for thee--But, if I am to make the election, what sayst thou,

good friend, to these trinkets? "

Thus speaking, he opened another hutch, and took out from it a couple

of broadswords and bucklers, such as were used by the yeomanry of the

period. The knight, who watched his motions, observed that this second

place of concealment was furnished with two or three good long-bows, a

cross-bow, a bundle of bolts for the latter, and half-a-dozen sheaves of

arrows for the former. A harp, and other matters of a very uncanonical

appearance, were also visible when this dark recess was opened.

" I promise thee, brother Clerk, " said he, " I will ask thee no more

offensive questions. The contents of that cupboard are an answer to all

my enquiries; and I see a weapon there" (here he stooped and took out

the harp) " on which I would more gladly prove my skill with thee, than

at the sword and buckler. "

" I hope, Sir Knight, " said the hermit, " thou hast given no good reason

for thy surname of the Sluggard. I do promise thee I suspect thee

grievously. Nevertheless, thou art my guest, and I will not put thy

manhood to the proof without thine own free will. Sit thee down, then,

and fill thy cup; let us drink, sing, and be merry. If thou knowest ever

a good lay, thou shalt be welcome to a nook of pasty at Copmanhurst so

long as I serve the chapel of St Dunstan, which, please God, shall be

till I change my grey covering for one of green turf. But come, fill a

flagon, for it will crave some time to tune the harp; and nought pitches

the voice and sharpens the ear like a cup of wine. For my part, I

love to feel the grape at my very finger-ends before they make the

harp-strings tinkle. " [22]

CHAPTER XVII

At eve, within yon studious nook,

I ope my brass-embossed book,

Portray'd with many a holy deed

Of martyrs crown'd with heavenly meed;

Then, as my taper waxes dim,

Chant, ere I sleep, my measured hymn.

* * * * *

Who but would cast his pomp away,

To take my staff and amice grey,

And to the world's tumultuous stage,

Prefer the peaceful Hermitage?

--Warton

Notwithstanding the prescription of the genial hermit, with which his

guest willingly complied, he found it no easy matter to bring the harp

to harmony.

" Methinks, holy father, " said he, " the instrument wants one string, and

the rest have been somewhat misused. "

" Ay, mark'st thou that? " replied the hermit; " that shows thee a master

of the craft. Wine and wassail, " he added, gravely casting up his

eyes--" all the fault of wine and wassail! --I told Allan-a-Dale, the

northern minstrel, that he would damage the harp if he touched it after

the seventh cup, but he would not be controlled--Friend, I drink to thy

successful performance. "

So saying, he took off his cup with much gravity, at the same time

shaking his head at the intemperance of the Scottish harper.

The knight in the meantime, had brought the strings into some order,

and after a short prelude, asked his host whether he would choose a

" sirvente" in the language of " oc", or a " lai" in the language of " oui",

or a " virelai", or a ballad in the vulgar English. [23]

" A ballad, a ballad, " said the hermit, " against all the 'ocs' and 'ouis'

of France. Downright English am I, Sir Knight, and downright English

was my patron St Dunstan, and scorned 'oc' and 'oui', as he would have

scorned the parings of the devil's hoof--downright English alone shall

be sung in this cell. "

" I will assay, then, " said the knight, " a ballad composed by a Saxon

glee-man, whom I knew in Holy Land. "

It speedily appeared, that if the knight was not a complete master of

the minstrel art, his taste for it had at least been cultivated under

the best instructors. Art had taught him to soften the faults of a voice

which had little compass, and was naturally rough rather than mellow,

and, in short, had done all that culture can do in supplying natural

deficiencies. His performance, therefore, might have been termed very

respectable by abler judges than the hermit, especially as the knight

threw into the notes now a degree of spirit, and now of plaintive

enthusiasm, which gave force and energy to the verses which he sung.

THE CRUSADER'S RETURN.

High deeds achieved of knightly fame,

From Palestine the champion came;

The cross upon his shoulders borne,

Battle and blast had dimm'd and torn.

Each dint upon his batter'd shield

Was token of a foughten field;

And thus, beneath his lady's bower,

He sung as fell the twilight hour: --

" Joy to the fair! --thy knight behold,

Return'd from yonder land of gold;

No wealth he brings, nor wealth can need,

Save his good arms and battle-steed

His spurs, to dash against a foe,

His lance and sword to lay him low;

Such all the trophies of his toil,

Such--and the hope of Tekla's smile!

" Joy to the fair! whose constant knight

Her favour fired to feats of might;

Unnoted shall she not remain,

Where meet the bright and noble train;

Minstrel shall sing and herald tell--

'Mark yonder maid of beauty well,

'Tis she for whose bright eyes were won

The listed field at Askalon!

" 'Note well her smile! --it edged the blade

Which fifty wives to widows made,

When, vain his strength and Mahound's spell,

Iconium's turban'd Soldan fell.

Seest thou her locks, whose sunny glow

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