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Stendhal - "Le Rouge et le Noir "

C. S. Lewis - "Spirits in Bondage"

B. M. Bower - "Cow Country"

Joel Benton. - "A Unique Story of a Marvellous Career. Life of Hon. Phineas T."

Ivanhoe

W >> Walter Scott >> Ivanhoe




"The wiser man thou," said John, with a peal of laughter, in
which his gay followers obsequiously joined. "But, daughter or
wife, she should be preferred according to her beauty and thy
merits.---Who sits above there?" he continued, bending his eye on
the gallery. "Saxon churls, lolling at their lazy length!---out
upon them!---let them sit close, and make room for my prince of
usurers and his lovely daughter. I'll make the hinds know they
must share the high places of the synagogue with those whom the
synagogue properly belongs to."

Those who occupied the gallery to whom this injurious and
unpolite speech was addressed, were the family of Cedric the
Saxon, with that of his ally and kinsman, Athelstane of
Coningsburgh, a personage, who, on account of his descent from
the last Saxon monarchs of England, was held in the highest
respect by all the Saxon natives of the north of England. But
with the blood of this ancient royal race, many of their
infirmities had descended to Athelstane. He was comely in
countenance, bulky and strong in person, and in the flower of his
age---yet inanimate in expression, dull-eyed, heavy-browed,
inactive and sluggish in all his motions, and so slow in
resolution, that the soubriquet of one of his ancestors was
conferred upon him, and he was very generally called Athelstane
the Unready. His friends, and he had many, who, as well as
Cedric, were passionately attached to him, contended that this
sluggish temper arose not from want of courage, but from mere
want of decision; others alleged that his hereditary vice of
drunkenness had obscured his faculties, never of a very acute
order, and that the passive courage and meek good-nature which
remained behind, were merely the dregs of a character that might
have been deserving of praise, but of which all the valuable
parts had flown off in the progress of a long course of brutal
debauchery.

It was to this person, such as we have described him, that the
Prince addressed his imperious command to make place for Isaac
and Rebecca. Athelstane, utterly confounded at an order which
the manners and feelings of the times rendered so injuriously
insulting, unwilling to obey, yet undetermined how to resist,
opposed only the "vis inertiae" to the will of John; and, without
stirring or making any motion whatever of obedience, opened his
large grey eyes, and stared at the Prince with an astonishment
which had in it something extremely ludicrous. But the impatient
John regarded it in no such light.

"The Saxon porker," he said, "is either asleep or minds me not
---Prick him with your lance, De Bracy," speaking to a knight
who rode near him, the leader of a band of Free Companions, or
Condottieri; that is, of mercenaries belonging to no particular
nation, but attached for the time to any prince by whom they were
paid. There was a murmur even among the attendants of Prince
John; but De Bracy, whose profession freed him from all scruples,
extended his long lance over the space which separated the
gallery from the lists, and would have executed the commands of
the Prince before Athelstane the Unready had recovered presence
of mind sufficient even to draw back his person from the weapon,
had not Cedric, as prompt as his companion was tardy, unsheathed,
with the speed of lightning, the short sword which he wore, and
at a single blow severed the point of the lance from the handle.
The blood rushed into the countenance of Prince John. He swore
one of his deepest oaths, and was about to utter some threat
corresponding in violence, when he was diverted from his purpose,
partly by his own attendants, who gathered around him conjuring
him to be patient, partly by a general exclamation of the crowd,
uttered in loud applause of the spirited conduct of Cedric. The
Prince rolled his eyes in indignation, as if to collect some safe
and easy victim; and chancing to encounter the firm glance of the
same archer whom we have already noticed, and who seemed to
persist in his gesture of applause, in spite of the frowning
aspect which the Prince bent upon him, he demanded his reason for
clamouring thus.

"I always add my hollo," said the yeoman, "when I see a good
shot, or a gallant blow."

"Sayst thou?" answered the Prince; "then thou canst hit the white
thyself, I'll warrant."

"A woodsman's mark, and at woodsman's distance, I can hit,"
answered the yeoman.

"And Wat Tyrrel's mark, at a hundred yards," said a voice from
behind, but by whom uttered could not be discerned.

This allusion to the fate of William Rufus, his Relative, at once
incensed and alarmed Prince John. He satisfied himself, however,
with commanding the men-at-arms, who surrounded the lists, to
keep an eye on the braggart, pointing to the yeoman.

"By St Grizzel," he added, "we will try his own skill, who is so
ready to give his voice to the feats of others!"

"I shall not fly the trial," said the yeoman, with the composure
which marked his whole deportment.

"Meanwhile, stand up, ye Saxon churls," said the fiery Prince;
"for, by the light of Heaven, since I have said it, the Jew shall
have his seat amongst ye!"

"By no means, an it please your Grace!---it is not fit for such
as we to sit with the rulers of the land," said the Jew; whose
ambition for precedence though it had led him to dispute Place
with the extenuated and impoverished descendant of the line of
Montdidier, by no means stimulated him to an intrusion upon the
privileges of the wealthy Saxons.

"Up, infidel dog when I command you," said Prince John, "or I
will have thy swarthy hide stript off, and tanned for
horse-furniture."

Thus urged, the Jew began to ascend the steep and narrow steps
which led up to the gallery.

"Let me see," said the Prince, "who dare stop him," fixing his
eye on Cedric, whose attitude intimated his intention to hurl the
Jew down headlong.

The catastrophe was prevented by the clown Wamba, who, springing
betwixt his master and Isaac, and exclaiming, in answer to the
Prince's defiance, "Marry, that will I!" opposed to the beard of
the Jew a shield of brawn, which he plucked from beneath his
cloak, and with which, doubtless, he had furnished himself, lest
the tournament should have proved longer than his appetite could
endure abstinence. Finding the abomination of his tribe opposed
to his very nose, while the Jester, at the same time, flourished
his wooden sword above his head, the Jew recoiled, missed his
footing, and rolled down the steps,---an excellent jest to the
spectators, who set up a loud laughter, in which Prince John and
his attendants heartily joined.

"Deal me the prize, cousin Prince," said Wamba; "I have
vanquished my foe in fair fight with sword and shield," he added,
brandishing the brawn in one hand and the wooden sword in the
other.

"Who, and what art thou, noble champion?" said Prince John, still
laughing.

"A fool by right of descent," answered the Jester; "I am Wamba,
the son of Witless, who was the son of Weatherbrain, who was the
son of an Alderman."

"Make room for the Jew in front of the lower ring," said Prince
John, not unwilling perhaps to, seize an apology to desist from
his original purpose; "to place the vanquished beside the victor
were false heraldry."

"Knave upon fool were worse," answered the Jester, "and Jew upon
bacon worst of all."

"Gramercy! good fellow," cried Prince John, "thou pleasest me
---Here, Isaac, lend me a handful of byzants."

As the Jew, stunned by the request, afraid to refuse, and
unwilling to comply, fumbled in the furred bag which hung by his
girdle, and was perhaps endeavouring to ascertain how few coins
might pass for a handful, the Prince stooped from his jennet and
settled Isaac's doubts by snatching the pouch itself from his
side; and flinging to Wamba a couple of the gold pieces which it
contained, he pursued his career round the lists, leaving the Jew
to the derision of those around him, and himself receiving as
much applause from the spectators as if he had done some honest
and honourable action.




CHAPTER VIII


At this the challenger with fierce defy
His trumpet sounds; the challenged makes reply:
With clangour rings the field, resounds the vaulted sky.
Their visors closed, their lances in the rest,
Or at the helmet pointed or the crest,
They vanish from the barrier, speed the race,
And spurring see decrease the middle space.
Palamon and Arcite


In the midst of Prince John's cavalcade, he suddenly stopt, and
appealing to the Prior of Jorvaulx, declared the principal
business of the day had been forgotten.

"By my halidom," said he, "we have forgotten, Sir Prior, to name
the fair Sovereign of Love and of Beauty, by whose white hand the
palm is to be distributed. For my part, I am liberal in my
ideas, and I care not if I give my vote for the black-eyed
Rebecca."

"Holy Virgin," answered the Prior, turning up his eyes in horror,
"a Jewess!---We should deserve to be stoned out of the lists; and
I am not yet old enough to be a martyr. Besides, I swear by my
patron saint, that she is far inferior to the lovely Saxon,
Rowena."

"Saxon or Jew," answered the Prince, "Saxon or Jew, dog or hog,
what matters it? I say, name Rebecca, were it only to mortify the
Saxon churls."

A murmur arose even among his own immediate attendants.

"This passes a jest, my lord," said De Bracy; "no knight here
will lay lance in rest if such an insult is attempted."

"It is the mere wantonness of insult," said one of the oldest and
most important of Prince John's followers, Waldemar Fitzurse,
"and if your Grace attempt it, cannot but prove ruinous to your
projects."

"I entertained you, sir," said John, reining up his palfrey
haughtily, "for my follower, but not for my counsellor."

"Those who follow your Grace in the paths which you tread," said
Waldemar, but speaking in a low voice, "acquire the right of
counsellors; for your interest and safety are not more deeply
gaged than their own."

>From the tone in which this was spoken, John saw the necessity of
acquiescence "I did but jest," he said; "and you turn upon me
like so many adders! Name whom you will, in the fiend's name,
and please yourselves."

"Nay, nay," said De Bracy, "let the fair sovereign's throne
remain unoccupied, until the conqueror shall be named, and then
let him choose the lady by whom it shall be filled. It will add
another grace to his triumph, and teach fair ladies to prize the
love of valiant knights, who can exalt them to such distinction."

"If Brian de Bois-Guilbert gain the prize," said the Prior, "I
will gage my rosary that I name the Sovereign of Love and
Beauty."

"Bois-Guilbert," answered De Bracy, "is a good lance; but there
are others around these lists, Sir Prior, who will not fear to
encounter him."

"Silence, sirs," said Waldemar, "and let the Prince assume his
seat. The knights and spectators are alike impatient, the time
advances, and highly fit it is that the sports should commence."

Prince John, though not yet a monarch, had in Waldemar Fitzurse
all the inconveniences of a favourite minister, who, in serving
his sovereign, must always do so in his own way. The Prince
acquiesced, however, although his disposition was precisely of
that kind which is apt to be obstinate upon trifles, and,
assuming his throne, and being surrounded by his followers, gave
signal to the heralds to proclaim the laws of the tournament,
which were briefly as follows:

First, the five challengers were to undertake all comers.

Secondly, any knight proposing to combat, might, if he pleased,
select a special antagonist from among the challengers, by
touching his shield. If he did so with the reverse of his lance,
the trial of skill was made with what were called the arms of
courtesy, that is, with lances at whose extremity a piece of
round flat board was fixed, so that no danger was encountered,
save from the shock of the horses and riders. But if the shield
was touched with the sharp end of the lance, the combat was
understood to be at "outrance", that is, the knights were to
fight with sharp weapons, as in actual battle.

Thirdly, when the knights present had accomplished their vow, by
each of them breaking five lances, the Prince was to declare the
victor in the first day's tourney, who should receive as prize a
warhorse of exquisite beauty and matchless strength; and in
addition to this reward of valour, it was now declared, he should
have the peculiar honour of naming the Queen of Love and Beauty,
by whom the prize should be given on the ensuing day.

Fourthly, it was announced, that, on the second day, there should
be a general tournament, in which all the knights present, who
were desirous to win praise, might take part; and being divided
into two bands of equal numbers, might fight it out manfully,
until the signal was given by Prince John to cease the combat.
The elected Queen of Love and Beauty was then to crown the knight
whom the Prince should adjudge to have borne himself best in this
second day, with a coronet composed of thin gold plate, cut into
the shape of a laurel crown. On this second day the knightly
games ceased. But on that which was to follow, feats of archery,
of bull-baiting, and other popular amusements, were to be
practised, for the more immediate amusement of the populace. In
this manner did Prince John endeavour to lay the foundation of a
popularity, which he was perpetually throwing down by some
inconsiderate act of wanton aggression upon the feelings and
prejudices of the people.

The lists now presented a most splendid spectacle. The sloping
galleries were crowded with all that was noble, great, wealthy,
and beautiful in the northern and midland parts of England; and
the contrast of the various dresses of these dignified
spectators, rendered the view as gay as it was rich, while the
interior and lower space, filled with the substantial burgesses
and yeomen of merry England, formed, in their more plain attire,
a dark fringe, or border, around this circle of brilliant
embroidery, relieving, and, at the same time, setting off its
splendour.

The heralds finished their proclamation with their usual cry of
"Largesse, largesse, gallant knights!" and gold and silver pieces
were showered on them from the galleries, it being a high point
of chivalry to exhibit liberality towards those whom the age
accounted at once the secretaries and the historians of honour.
The bounty of the spectators was acknowledged by the customary
shouts of "Love of Ladies---Death of Champions---Honour to the
Generous---Glory to the Brave!" To which the more humble
spectators added their acclamations, and a numerous band of
trumpeters the flourish of their martial instruments. When these
sounds had ceased, the heralds withdrew from the lists in gay and
glittering procession, and none remained within them save the
marshals of the field, who, armed cap-a-pie, sat on horseback,
motionless as statues, at the opposite ends of the lists.
Meantime, the enclosed space at the northern extremity of the
lists, large as it was, was now completely crowded with knights
desirous to prove their skill against the challengers, and, when
viewed from the galleries, presented the appearance of a sea of
waving plumage, intermixed with glistening helmets, and tall
lances, to the extremities of which were, in many cases, attached
small pennons of about a span's breadth, which, fluttering in the
air as the breeze caught them, joined with the restless motion of
the feathers to add liveliness to the scene.

At length the barriers were opened, and five knights, chosen by
lot, advanced slowly into the area; a single champion riding in
front, and the other four following in pairs. All were
splendidly armed, and my Saxon authority (in the Wardour
Manuscript) records at great length their devices, their colours,
and the embroidery of their horse trappings. It is unnecessary
to be particular on these subjects. To borrow lines from a
contemporary poet, who has written but too little:

"The knights are dust,
And their good swords are rust,
Their souls are with the saints, we trust."*

* These lines are part of an unpublished poem, by Coleridge,
* whose Muse so often tantalizes with fragments which
* indicate her powers, while the manner in which she flings
* them from her betrays her caprice, yet whose unfinished
* sketches display more talent than the laboured
* masterpieces of others.

Their escutcheons have long mouldered from the walls of their
castles. Their castles themselves are but green mounds and
shattered ruins---the place that once knew them, knows them no
more---nay, many a race since theirs has died out and been
forgotten in the very land which they occupied, with all the
authority of feudal proprietors and feudal lords. What, then,
would it avail the reader to know their names, or the evanescent
symbols of their martial rank!

Now, however, no whit anticipating the oblivion which awaited
their names and feats, the champions advanced through the lists,
restraining their fiery steeds, and compelling them to move
slowly, while, at the same time, they exhibited their paces,
together with the grace and dexterity of the riders. As the
procession entered the lists, the sound of a wild Barbaric music
was heard from behind the tents of the challengers, where the
performers were concealed. It was of Eastern origin, having been
brought from the Holy Land; and the mixture of the cymbals and
bells seemed to bid welcome at once, and defiance, to the knights
as they advanced. With the eyes of an immense concourse of
spectators fixed upon them, the five knights advanced up the
platform upon which the tents of the challengers stood, and there
separating themselves, each touched slightly, and with the
reverse of his lance, the shield of the antagonist to whom he
wished to oppose himself. The lower orders of spectators in
general---nay, many of the higher class, and it is even said
several of the ladies, were rather disappointed at the champions
choosing the arms of courtesy. For the same sort of persons,
who, in the present day, applaud most highly the deepest
tragedies, were then interested in a tournament exactly in
proportion to the danger incurred by the champions engaged.

Having intimated their more pacific purpose, the champions
retreated to the extremity of the lists, where they remained
drawn up in a line; while the challengers, sallying each from
his pavilion, mounted their horses, and, headed by Brian de
Bois-Guilbert, descended from the platform, and opposed
themselves individually to the knights who had touched their
respective shields.

At the flourish of clarions and trumpets, they started out
against each other at full gallop; and such was the superior
dexterity or good fortune of the challengers, that those opposed
to Bois-Guilbert, Malvoisin, and Front-de-Boeuf, rolled on the
ground. The antagonist of Grantmesnil, instead of bearing his
lance-point fair against the crest or the shield of his enemy,
swerved so much from the direct line as to break the weapon
athwart the person of his opponent---a circumstance which was
accounted more disgraceful than that of being actually unhorsed;
because the latter might happen from accident, whereas the former
evinced awkwardness and want of management of the weapon and of
the horse. The fifth knight alone maintained the honour of his
party, and parted fairly with the Knight of St John, both
splintering their lances without advantage on either side.

The shouts of the multitude, together with the acclamations of
the heralds, and the clangour of the trumpets, announced the
triumph of the victors and the defeat of the vanquished. The
former retreated to their pavilions, and the latter, gathering
themselves up as they could, withdrew from the lists in disgrace
and dejection, to agree with their victors concerning the
redemption of their arms and their horses, which, according to
the laws of the tournament, they had forfeited. The fifth of
their number alone tarried in the lists long enough to be greeted
by the applauses of the spectators, amongst whom he retreated, to
the aggravation, doubtless, of his companions' mortification.

A second and a third party of knights took the field; and
although they had various success, yet, upon the whole, the
advantage decidedly remained with the challengers, not one of
whom lost his seat or swerved from his charge---misfortunes which
befell one or two of their antagonists in each encounter. The
spirits, therefore, of those opposed to them, seemed to be
considerably damped by their continued success. Three knights
only appeared on the fourth entry, who, avoiding the shields of
Bois-Guilbert and Front-de-Boeuf, contented themselves with
touching those of the three other knights, who had not altogether
manifested the same strength and dexterity. This politic
selection did not alter the fortune of the field, the challengers
were still successful: one of their antagonists was overthrown,
and both the others failed in the "attaint",*

* This term of chivalry, transferred to the law, gives the
* phrase of being attainted of treason.

that is, in striking the helmet and shield of their antagonist
firmly and strongly, with the lance held in a direct line, so
that the weapon might break unless the champion was overthrown.

After this fourth encounter, there was a considerable pause; nor
did it appear that any one was very desirous of renewing the
contest. The spectators murmured among themselves; for, among
the challengers, Malvoisin and Front-de-Boeuf were unpopular from
their characters, and the others, except Grantmesnil, were
disliked as strangers and foreigners.

But none shared the general feeling of dissatisfaction so keenly
as Cedric the Saxon, who saw, in each advantage gained by the
Norman challengers, a repeated triumph over the honour of
England. His own education had taught him no skill in the games
of chivalry, although, with the arms of his Saxon ancestors, he
had manifested himself, on many occasions, a brave and determined
soldier. He looked anxiously to Athelstane, who had learned the
accomplishments of the age, as if desiring that he should make
some personal effort to recover the victory which was passing
into the hands of the Templar and his associates. But, though
both stout of heart, and strong of person, Athelstane had a
disposition too inert and unambitious to make the exertions which
Cedric seemed to expect from him.

"The day is against England, my lord," said Cedric, in a marked
tone; "are you not tempted to take the lance?"

"I shall tilt to-morrow" answered Athelstane, "in the 'melee'; it
is not worth while for me to arm myself to-day."

Two things displeased Cedric in this speech. It contained the
Norman word "melee", (to express the general conflict,) and it
evinced some indifference to the honour of the country; but it
was spoken by Athelstane, whom he held in such profound respect,
that he would not trust himself to canvass his motives or his
foibles. Moreover, he had no time to make any remark, for Wamba
thrust in his word, observing, "It was better, though scarce
easier, to be the best man among a hundred, than the best man of
two."

Athelstane took the observation as a serious compliment; but
Cedric, who better understood the Jester's meaning, darted at him
a severe and menacing look; and lucky it was for Wamba, perhaps,
that the time and place prevented his receiving, notwithstanding
his place and service, more sensible marks of his master's
resentment.

The pause in the tournament was still uninterrupted, excepting by
the voices of the heralds exclaiming---"Love of ladies,
splintering of lances! stand forth gallant knights, fair eyes
look upon your deeds!"

The music also of the challengers breathed from time to time wild
bursts expressive of triumph or defiance, while the clowns
grudged a holiday which seemed to pass away in inactivity; and
old knights and nobles lamented in whispers the decay of martial
spirit, spoke of the triumphs of their younger days, but agreed
that the land did not now supply dames of such transcendent
beauty as had animated the jousts of former times. Prince John
began to talk to his attendants about making ready the banquet,
and the necessity of adjudging the prize to Brian de
Bois-Guilbert, who had, with a single spear, overthrown two
knights, and foiled a third.

At length, as the Saracenic music of the challengers concluded
one of those long and high flourishes with which they had broken
the silence of the lists, it was answered by a solitary trumpet,
which breathed a note of defiance from the northern extremity.
All eyes were turned to see the new champion which these sounds
announced, and no sooner were the barriers opened than he paced
into the lists. As far as could be judged of a man sheathed in
armour, the new adventurer did not greatly exceed the middle
size, and seemed to be rather slender than strongly made. His
suit of armour was formed of steel, richly inlaid with gold, and
the device on his shield was a young oak-tree pulled up by the
roots, with the Spanish word Desdichado, signifying Disinherited.
He was mounted on a gallant black horse, and as he passed
through the lists he gracefully saluted the Prince and the ladies
by lowering his lance. The dexterity with which he managed his
steed, and something of youthful grace which he displayed in his
manner, won him the favour of the multitude, which some of the
lower classes expressed by calling out, "Touch Ralph de Vipont's
shield---touch the Hospitallers shield; he has the least sure
seat, he is your cheapest bargain."

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