登陆注册
5419700000099

第99章

But when Standish refused, and said he would give them the Bible,Suddenly changing their tone, they began to boast and to bluster.

Then Wattawamat advanced with a stride in front of the other, And, with a lofty demeanor, thus vauntingly spake to the Captain:

"Now Wattawamat can see, by the fiery eyes of the Captain, Angry is he in his heart; but the heart of the brave Wattawamat Is not afraid at the sight.He was not born of a woman, But on a mountain, at night, from an oak-tree riven by lightning, Forth he sprang at a bound, with all his weapons about him, Shouting, 'Who is there here to fight with the brave Wattawamat?'"Then he unsheathed his knife, and, whetting the blade on his left hand, Held it aloft and displayed a woman's face on the handle, Saying, with bitter expression and look of sinister meaning:

"I have another at home, with the face of a man on the handle;By and by they shall marry; and there will be plenty of children!"Then stood Pecksuot forth, self-vaunting, insulting Miles Standish:

While with his fingers he petted the knife that hung at his bosom, Drawing it half from its sheath, and plunging it back, as he muttered, "By and by it shall see; it shall eat; ah, ha! but shall speak not!

This is the mighty Captain the white men have sent to destroy us!

He is a little man; let him go and work with the women!"Meanwhile Standish had noted the faces and figures of Indians Peeping and creeping about from bush to tree in the forest, Feigning to look for game, with arrows set on their bow-strings, Drawing about him still closer and closer the net of their ambush.

But undaunted he stood, and dissembled and treated them smoothly;So the old chronicles say, that were writ in the days of the fathers.

But when he heard their defiance, the boast, the taunt, and the insult, All the hot blood of his race, of Sir Hugh and of Thurston de Standish, Boiled and beat in his heart, and swelled in the veins of his temples.

Headlong he leaped on the boaster, and, snatching his knife from its scabbard, Plunged it into his heart, and, reeling backward, the savage Fell with his face to the sky, and a fiendlike fierceness upon it.

Straight there arose from the forest the awful sound of the war-whoop, And, like a flurry of snow on the whistling wind of December, Swift and sudden and keen came a flight of feathery arrows, Then came a cloud of smoke, and out of the cloud came the lightning, Out of the lightning thunder, and death unseen ran before it.

Frightened the savages fled for shelter in swamp and in thicket, Hotly pursued and beset; but their sachem, the brave Wattawamat, Fled not; he was dead.Unswerving and swift had a bullet Passed through his brain, and he fell with both hands clutching the greensward, Seeming in death to hold back from his foe the land of his fathers.

There on the flowers of the meadow the warriors lay, and above them, Silent, with folded arms, stood Hobomok, friend of the white man.

Smiling at length he exclaimed to the stalwart Captain of Plymouth:

"Pecksuot bragged very loud, of his courage, his strength, and his stature,--Mocked the great Captain, and called him a little man; but I see now Big enough have you been to lay him speechless before you!"Thus the first battle was fought and won by the stalwart Miles Standish.

When the tidings thereof were brought to the village of Plymouth, And as a trophy of war the head of the brave Wattawamat Scowled from the roof of the fort, which at once was a church and a fortress, All who beheld it rejoiced, and praised the Lord, and took courage.

Only Priscilla averted her face from this spectre of terror, Thanking God in her heart that she had not married Miles Standish;Shrinking, fearing almost, lest, coming home from his battles, He should lay claim to her hand, as the prize and reward of his valor.

VIII

THE SPINNING-WHEEL

Month after month passed away, and in Autumn the ships of the merchants Came with kindred and friends, with cattle and corn for the Pilgrims.

All in the village was peace; the men were intent on their labors, Busy with hewing and building, with garden-plot and with merestead, Busy with breaking the glebe, and mowing the grass in the meadows, Searching the sea for its fish, and hunting the deer in the forest.

All in the village was peace; but at times the rumor of warfare Filled the air with alarm, and the apprehension of danger.

Bravely the stalwart Miles Standish was scouring the land with his forces, Waxing valiant in fight and defeating the alien armies, Till his name had become a sound of fear to the nations.

Anger was still in his heart, but at times the remorse and contrition Which in all noble natures succeed the passionate outbreak, Came like a rising tide, that encounters the rush of a river, Staying its current awhile, but making it bitter and brackish.

Meanwhile Alden at home had built him a new habitation, Solid, substantial, of timber rough-hewn from the firs of the forest.

Wooden-barred was the door, and the roof was covered with rushes;Latticed the windows were, and the window-panes were of paper, Oiled to admit the light, while wind and rain were excluded.

There too he dug a well, and around it planted an orchard:

Still may be seen to this day some trace of the well and the orchard.

Close to the house was the stall, where, safe and secure from annoyance, Raghorn, the snow-white steer, that had fallen to Alden's allotment In the division of cattle, might ruminate in the night-time Over the pastures he cropped, made fragrant by sweet pennyroyal.

Oft when his labor was finished, with eager feet would the dreamer Follow the pathway that ran through the woods to the house of Priscilla, Led by illusions romantic and subtile deceptions of fancy, Pleasure disguised as duty, and love in the semblance of friendship.

同类推荐
热门推荐
  • 忏悔录

    忏悔录

    《忏悔录》是一部别开生面、独具匠心、无出其右之作,卢梭在书中以惊人的诚实、坦率的态度和深刻的内省,叙述了自己从出生到1766年离开圣皮埃尔岛之间50多年的生活经历,讲述了他的全部思想感情,剖析了他的行为和内心世界。小说的问世,开拓了浪漫主义文学的道路,深刻地影响了19世纪欧洲思想和文学的发展。
  • 宗明天下

    宗明天下

    古语云:武王以平殷乱,天下宗周。一个现代网络小说家意外穿越回了古代,并且竟然穿越成了明初建文帝朱允炆------的弟弟朱允熥。所幸当时朱标还未死,一切还有机会,看一个现代小说家如何运用所知不多的明初历史知识和现代科学、社会知识当上皇帝翻云覆雨,改正朱元璋、朱棣父子犯下的错误,造就一个宗明天下!
  • 布丁如你

    布丁如你

    初次见面,她卖黄牛票给他。 却不知他就是歌星本人。她大半夜给他送芒果布丁赔罪,奈何拿错盒子,给了他芥末味的布丁。 他却说“为何不将你赔给我?” 至后,他为了她买下一个又一个剧本,为的只是让她当女一!论36线开外小女星如何成为影后。 某天他把她逼至墙角,“你知道我为什么喜欢你吗?” 某女不知索然地摇头。 “谁让你和布丁一样可爱……”随后一夜烂漫。
  • 解老

    解老

    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。
  • 仙途卧龙

    仙途卧龙

    仙路漫漫,少年陈默几经转折,以残损的灵脉资质重踏仙途,历经无数坎坷风雨,艰难的走向修真界的巅峰。当仙缘与危机接踵而至,如何倾轧求存?阴暗与诡谲袭来,又将怎样规避?斗法、炼丹、元婴、蛮族、飞升……且看他如何从名不经传的低等散修,成就一代仙界至尊的故事。
  • 奉和圣制送张说上集

    奉和圣制送张说上集

    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。
  • 觉醒日合集

    觉醒日合集

    4600年前的涿鹿之战,究竟是谁和谁的战争?长春真人西行途中,在撒马尔罕城发现了什么让他畏惧不已的事物?欧洲中世纪的女巫迫害,到底是为了何种原因?龙虎山天师张彦頨的寻宝活动,寻找到了怎样的恐怖存在?明末起义领袖张献忠,为什么成为了杀人魔王、又在帮谁隐藏着什么?炼金术士尼古拉勒梅的神秘人生,竟然是从一幅与西藏有关的凶画开始的?一系列的历史谜团,整个人类的生存进化之路,似乎都和一股来自远古的神秘力量息息相关……
  • 镜湖自撰年谱

    镜湖自撰年谱

    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。
  • 情归何处

    情归何处

    彭海到现在也说不清,那次同学聚会自己为什么要去。2004年2月7号是个周六,有几个已经退了休的女生来电话,说要举行一个同学聚会。原本彭海说不去,没兴趣,也没时间,但不知怎么三弄两弄的,就开着车去了,并且还特意绕了一个弯子,接上了家住翠微路的一个女同学。这个女同学就是后来和他一起生活了两年的李彬彬。
  • 迷糊太后:误闯皇帝的老窝

    迷糊太后:误闯皇帝的老窝

    人家穿越成皇后貌美如花,在后宫呼风唤雨,她却丑不忍睹,人人喊打,处处受人欺凌。她誓要混出个皇后样,来一个打一个,来一双杀一双,最终皇帝老儿挂了,欺凌过她的皇子公主见她便行大礼:“太后吉祥!”