登陆注册
5419700000129

第129章

While from the windows, here and there, The scattered lamps a moment gleamed, And the illumined hostel seemed The constellation of the Bear, Downward, athwart the misty air, Sinking and setting toward the sun, Far off the village clock struck one.

PART SECOND

PRELUDE

A cold, uninterrupted rain, That washed each southern window-pane, And made a river of the road;A sea of mist that overflowed The house, the barns, the gilded vane, And drowned the upland and the plain, Through which the oak-trees, broad and high, Like phantom ships went drifting by;And, hidden behind a watery screen, The sun unseen, or only seen As a faint pallor in the sky;--Thus cold and colorless and gray, The morn of that autumnal day, As if reluctant to begin, Dawned on the silent Sudbury Inn, And all the guests that in it lay.

Full late they slept.They did not hear The challenge of Sir Chanticleer, Who on the empty threshing-floor, Disdainful of the rain outside, Was strutting with a martial stride, As if upon his thigh he wore The famous broadsword of the Squire, And said, "Behold me, and admire!"Only the Poet seemed to hear, In drowse or dream, more near and near Across the border-land of sleep The blowing of a blithesome horn, That laughed the dismal day to scorn;A splash of hoofs and rush of wheels Through sand and mire like stranding keels, As from the road with sudden sweep The Mail drove up the little steep, And stopped beside the tavern door;A moment stopped, and then again With crack of whip and bark of dog Plunged forward through the sea of fog, And all was silent as before,--All silent save the dripping rain.

Then one by one the guests came down, And greeted with a smile the Squire, Who sat before the parlor fire, Reading the paper fresh from town.

First the Sicilian, like a bird, Before his form appeared, was heard Whistling and singing down the stair;Then came the Student, with a look As placid as a meadow-brook;The Theologian, still perplexed With thoughts of this world and the next;The Poet then, as one who seems Walking in visions and in dreams;Then the Musician, like a fair Hyperion from whose golden hair The radiance of the morning streams;And last the aromatic Jew Of Alicant, who, as he threw The door wide open, on the air Breathed round about him a perfume Of damask roses in full bloom, Making a garden of the room.

The breakfast ended, each pursued The promptings of his various mood;Beside the fire in silence smoked The taciturn, impassive Jew, Lost in a pleasant revery;While, by his gravity provoked, His portrait the Sicilian drew, And wrote beneath it "Edrehi, At the Red Horse in Sudbury."By far the busiest of them all, The Theologian in the hall Was feeding robins in a cage,--Two corpulent and lazy birds, Vagrants and pilferers at best, If one might trust the hostler's words, Chief instrument of their arrest;Two poets of the Golden Age, Heirs of a boundless heritage Of fields and orchards, east and west, And sunshine of long summer days, Though outlawed now and dispossessed!--Such was the Theologian's phrase.

Meanwhile the Student held discourse With the Musician, on the source Of all the legendary lore Among the nations, scattered wide Like silt and seaweed by the force And fluctuation of the tide;The tale repeated o'er and o'er, With change of place and change of name, Disguised, transformed, and yet the same We've heard a hundred times before.

The Poet at the window mused, And saw, as in a dream confused, The countenance of the Sun, discrowned, And haggard with a pale despair, And saw the cloud-rack trail and drift Before it, and the trees uplift Their leafless branches, and the air Filled with the arrows of the rain, And heard amid the mist below, Like voices of distress and pain, That haunt the thoughts of men insane, The fateful cawings of the crow.

Then down the road, with mud besprent, And drenched with rain from head to hoof, The rain-drops dripping from his mane And tail as from a pent-house roof, A jaded horse, his head down bent, Passed slowly, limping as he went.

The young Sicilian--who had grown Impatient longer to abide A prisoner, greatly mortified To see completely overthrown His plans for angling in the brook, And, leaning o'er the bridge of stone, To watch the speckled trout glide by, And float through the inverted sky, Still round and round the baited hook--Now paced the room with rapid stride, And, pausing at the Poet's side, Looked forth, and saw the wretched steed, And said: "Alas for human greed, That with cold hand and stony eye Thus turns an old friend out to die, Or beg his food from gate to gate!

This brings a tale into my mind, Which, if you are not disinclined To listen, I will now relate."All gave assent; all wished to hear, Not without many a jest and jeer, The story of a spavined steed;And even the Student with the rest Put in his pleasant little jest Out of Malherbe, that Pegasus Is but a horse that with all speed Bears poets to the hospital;While the Sicilian, self-possessed, After a moment's interval Began his simple story thus.

THE SICILIAN'S TALE

THE BELL OF ATRI

At Atri in Abruzzo, a small town Of ancient Roman date, but scant renown, One of those little places that have run Half up the hill, beneath a blazing sun, And then sat down to rest, as if to say, "I climb no farther upward, come what may,"--The Re Giovanni, now unknown to fame, So many monarchs since have borne the name, Had a great bell hung in the market-place Beneath a roof, projecting some small space, By way of shelter from the sun and rain.

Then rode he through the streets with all his train, And, with the blast of trumpets loud and long, Made proclamation, that whenever wrong Was done to any man, he should but ring The great bell in the square, and he, the King, Would cause the Syndic to decide thereon.

Such was the proclamation of King John.

How swift the happy days in Atri sped, What wrongs were righted, need not here be said.

同类推荐
  • 大道真传

    大道真传

    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。
  • 平山冷燕

    平山冷燕

    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。
  • 佛说发菩提心破诸魔经

    佛说发菩提心破诸魔经

    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。
  • 胜鬘经记

    胜鬘经记

    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。
  • 清平山堂话本

    清平山堂话本

    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
  • 中阿含经

    中阿含经

    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。
  • 明伦汇编人事典形影部

    明伦汇编人事典形影部

    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。
  • 尊域

    尊域

    广阔天地,无边无垠,茫茫宇宙,浩瀚无边。人与之如蜉蝣微尘,不足道也,然,有大毅力者行人所不为,逆天改命,修行悟道,以求长生,古今虽无成功者,却也不乏移山填海,呼风唤雨之大能者,修行之士称为尊者。莽莽岁月,人类探索宇宙从未停止步伐,然所探明区域不足宇宙亿万分之一,根据大小人类划分为陆、界、域,我们的故事也是从暮光大陆开始的。
  • 玉箓生神资度开收仪

    玉箓生神资度开收仪

    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。
  • 父亲死因的两种版本

    父亲死因的两种版本

    2002年的春节刚过,还没出正月,我爸死了。离我过生日还有三天。我爸答应我,在我十八岁生日这天,他会送我美国海军陆战队的Zippo打火机。他说那是我的成人礼物。之前我抽烟被我爸抓住,会揍我个半死,他说抽烟这事,十八岁之前如果做,就得往死了揍。十八岁之后,只要不是烟鬼,大家在一起抽烟显得浑和。我爸在我差三天过生日时死了。我的十八岁成人礼物没了。我的Zippo没了。2死亡的两个版本我爸的死亡,有两个版本。
  • 名人传记丛书:巴尔扎克

    名人传记丛书:巴尔扎克

    名人传记丛书——巴尔扎克——他平凡糟糕的人生与作品一样精彩:“立足课本,超越课堂”,以提高中小学生的综合素质为目的,让中小学生从课内受益到课外,是一生的良师益友。
  • 不曾遗忘的你

    不曾遗忘的你

    韩依依是校园里的一朵花,她打着大学期间不恋爱的旗子。可是追求者是前赴后续,左斌就是众多追求的其中的一个。韩依依面对左斌的热情,拒绝了一次又一次。刘玫丽是韩依依最好的同学最好的朋友,她把自已最好的男性朋友陈南介绍给了韩依依,她打底的希望她们能走到一起,可是韩依依对陈南一直不来电。左斌和王小雅从高中时,就是同学,王小雅很早便喜欢上了左斌,她为了左斌,考上了同一所大学。当王小雅向左斌表白,遭到了左斌的拒绝。而左斌的舍友魏谨却对王小雅情有独钟。韩依依妈妈生病住院,方宇帮她一次又一次,方宇对她的好,她用其一生也还不完----------
  • 听说男神不自重

    听说男神不自重

    你有没有为一个声音着迷过?一瞬倾心。法律系吉祥物拔足倒追男神反被算计的那件小事儿。--情节虚构,请勿模仿
  • 喜迎党的十九大知识竞赛500题

    喜迎党的十九大知识竞赛500题

    本书共分为三部分:第一部分为党的代表大会知识,包括党的十九大代表的条件、名额、产生程序、结构比例等要求,以及代表大会程序、代表权力、代表任期制、党的一大到十八大等方面的知识;第二部分为党的历程基本知识,包括党的创立时期、国内革命战争时期、抗日战争时期、解放战争时期、社会主义改造时期、全面建设社会主义时期、改革开放和社会主义现代化建设新时期等阶段的党的历史知识;第三部分为党建党务工作知识,包括党的执政能力建设、先进性和纯洁性建设,思想、组织、作风、反腐倡廉及制度建设等党建党务方面的基础知识。本书题目设置合理全面,答案权威科学,是广大基层党组织和社会群团组织开展“迎十九大”活动的重要学习材料。
  • 凊阎

    凊阎

    鸿蒙初出,天地混沌。聚天地之灵气,凝集而成一个灵体,穿越时空,最终成型于荆3027年,郊外一所无人居住的小屋。穿前:“总裁,您的黑卡”“总裁,您的房产”数万粉丝“总裁,我要为你生猴子”穿后:“小师妹,这是顶级灵器,拿去玩。”“小师妹,这是我炼制的丹药,随便吃。”………………爽文,强强联手,腹黑