登陆注册
5253600000176

第176章

Now They Have Drunk and Are Glad Long they slept till the shadows were falling from the west, and the sea was flowing fast again over the sands beneath them, though there was still a great space bare betwixt the cliff and the sea.

Then spake Ursula as if Ralph had but just left speaking; and she said:

"Yea, dear lord, and I also say, that, lovely as thou art now, never hast thou been aught else but lovely to me. But tell me, hast thou had any scar of a hurt upon thy body? For if now that were gone, surely it should be a token of the renewal of thy life.

But if it be not gone, then there may yet be another token."

Then he stood upon his feet, and she cried out:

"O but thou art fair and mighty, who now shall dare gainsay thee?

Who shall not long for thee?"

Said Ralph: "Look, love! how the sea comes over the sand like the creeping of a sly wood-snake! Shall we go hence and turn from the ocean-sea without wetting our bodies in its waters?"

"Let us go," she said.

So they went down on to the level sands, and along the edges of the sweet-water stream that flowed from the Well; and Ralph said:

"Beloved, I will tell thee of that which thou hast asked me: when I was but a lad of sixteen winters there rode men a-lifting into Upmeads, and Nicholas Longshanks, who is a wise man of war, gathered force and went against them, and I must needs ride beside him.

Now we came to our above, and put the thieves to the road; but in the hurly I got a claw from the war-beast, for the stroke of a sword sheared me off somewhat from my shoulder: belike thou hast seen the scar and loathed it."

"It is naught loathsome," she said, "for a lad to be a bold warrior, nor for a grown man to think lightly of the memory of death drawn near for the first time. Yea, I have noted it but let me see now what has befallen with it."

As she spoke they were come to a salt pool in a rocky bight on their right hand, which the tide was filling speedily; and Ralph spake:

"See now, this is the bath of the water of the ocean sea."

So they were speedily naked and playing in the water: and Ursula took Ralph by the arm and looked to his shoulder and said:

"O my lad of the pale edges, where is gone thy glory?

There is no mark of the sword's pilgrimage on thy shoulder."

"Nay, none?" quoth he.

"None, none!" she said, "Didst thou say the very sooth of thy hurt in the battle, O poor lad of mine?" "Yea, the sooth," said he.

Then she laughed sweetly and merrily like the chuckle of a flute over the rippling waters, that rose higher and higher about them, and she turned her eyes askance and looked adown to her own sleek side, and laid her hand on it and laughed again. Then said Ralph:

"What is toward, beloved? For thy laugh is rather of joy that of mirth alone."

She said: "O smooth-skinned warrior, O Lily and Rose of battle; here on my side yesterday was the token of the hart's tyne that gored me when I was a young maiden five years ago: look now and pity the maiden that lay on the grass of the forest, and the woodman a-passing by deemed her dead five years ago."

Ralph stooped down as the ripple washed away from her, then said:

同类推荐
  • 孙真人备急千金要方

    孙真人备急千金要方

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 御药院方

    御药院方

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 理虚元鉴

    理虚元鉴

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 黄帝阴符经注

    黄帝阴符经注

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 越史略

    越史略

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 吃货唐朝

    吃货唐朝

    一个现代吃货,来到唐朝,他想干什么?他能干什么?一个字:吃!诗词歌赋可以吃,瘟疫灾害可以吃,拓土开疆照样能吃。吃出个繁华似锦,吃出个太平盛世!唉,真是太失败了,吃了这么多,我怎么就胖不起来呢?!吃货李佑嘚瑟地说道!
  • 宝章待访录

    宝章待访录

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 北京:城与人

    北京:城与人

    《北京:城与人》中经由城市文化性格而探索人,经由人那些久居其中的人们,和那些以特殊方式与城联系,即把城作为审美对象的人们搜寻城,我更感兴趣于其间的联结,城与人的多种形式的精神联系和多种精神联系的形式。当我试图讲述城对于人的塑造,和对于创造其形象者艺术思维的干预时,不能不暗自怀着兴奋。
  • 无毒不……清穿

    无毒不……清穿

    魔法之下的爱情可以说出“天长地久”这四个字么?若是不可以,它能够配得上“曾经拥有”这个词么?如果有一天,魔法失效了,他还会挽起她的手,共度此生么?
  • 乔装俏佳人

    乔装俏佳人

    打赌输了,展怀春男扮女装混进了尼姑庵……
  • 圣亡灵之歌

    圣亡灵之歌

    圣灵系,亡灵系,两大相克的魔法系竟然同时出现在我的身上?如果收服到的天使不怕暗,亡灵不怕光,那岂不是可以无敌?嘎嘎!正当提凯满脑子高兴之时,却不曾想到,一场血雨腥风的大陆战争已经悄然拉开了序幕......各种诡异的事件频发,不少人类离奇死亡,精灵族生命神木的毁灭预言真的会成真吗?而他这个小小魔法师,又会给这个大陆带来怎样的变动呢?
  • 宿世情缘:呆萌七小姐

    宿世情缘:呆萌七小姐

    饿死鬼穿越,却遇自然灾荒,差点再次饿死。呆萌七小姐看见鸡腿比看见帅哥有兴趣,就是死也要做个饱死鬼。她忽然走了桃花运,太子和亲王都围着她打转。她不想嫁进豪门,誓要自己当豪门,玩转相国府,在京都横起走路……
  • 万古天穹

    万古天穹

    天地大道,唯吾独尊。万古血神。一个小家族的少年,无意间破开尘封万古的封印,一块神秘的玉佩,等待他的会是什么?
  • 缺依不为林

    缺依不为林

    简介无能许依依多年以后还在思考,要是当年没有去外婆家也许就不能遇上那个最特别的他吧。十八岁的许依依因父母出国而由外婆照顾并也搬到外婆的那座城市。成为空降生的许依依空降到最好的行政班,被班里的学霸们排斥,和年段第一打赌考第一,如果没有就滚出行政班。林灿同学,年段第一,老师眼中的三好学生,父母眼中的“别人家的孩子”,同学羡慕嫉妒恨的对象,是分分钟暴走的一位暴躁学霸,可惜遇到精分佛系转学生,“傻白甜”,口嫌体正直的转学生许依依,日后生活更加暴躁了。“我林灿这辈子是不会对这种女生有好感的!”“依依你答应和我在一起吧?”真香暴躁学霸X精分学霸许依依:“来,喝口水消消气,要是气的冒痘了,那就更丑了。”林灿:“啊——(恶龙咆哮)”
  • 闪婚倾情:席少的二货甜妻

    闪婚倾情:席少的二货甜妻

    云城发生了一件大事——传说中那位不近女色的席家大少爷居然悄悄咪咪地祸害了小姑娘!而且那个幸运儿还是个名副其实的二货小废柴!一时间全城哗然,众女在惋惜又一个钻石单身汉在一个五短身材的丑小鸭身上栽了跟头之时,丑小鸭本人却欲哭无泪痛斥苍天无眼:简直是天妒英才!!然而谁都没想到的是,这位声名赫赫的少将活阎王,私底下居然是一位宠妻无度的耙耳朵,为了二货爱妻,将不要脸发挥得淋漓尽致!她连连后退:我我不喜欢你!我不要结婚!我要继续当我的废柴!他步步为营:亲爱的,你弄飞了我对象,你赔。我把你肚子吓掉了,我赔。拒绝无用,逃跑不行,难道她沈觅的一生,只能永远地活在这失足的悔恨之中了吗?