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Вальтер Скотт
Вальтер Скотт / Walter Scott
Айвенго / Ivanhoe
Адаптация текста, составление комментариев, упражнений и словаря М. С. Пирогова
Ivanhoe
In that beautiful part of England where flows the river Don there was in ancient times a large forest, where lived famous bandits. Their adventures have been described in many English ballads.
This is our scene. The date of our story refers to a period towards the end of the reign of Richard I, who was still in prison in a foreign country, while his subjects were oppressed in every possible way. The nobles had become powerful, and each one of them wanted to have a castle and an army.
Four generations since the Conquest by Duke William of Normandy had not been enough to make one people out of the victors Normans and the defeated Anglo-Saxons. After the battle of Hastings the power had been completely placed in the hands of the Norman nobility, and almost all of Saxon princes and nobles had been destroyed.
Two men were walking slowly in the forest with a herd of pigs before them. The swineherd was grim and silent. His thick hair had a rusty dark-red colour and around his neck he had a brass ring like a dog’s collar. On this necklace there was the following inscription – “Gurth, the son of Beowulph, is a born slave of Cedric of Rotherwood.” His companion was a jester named Wamba. They both belonged to one man and were on their way home. “Listen,” said Gurth, “a terrible storm is raging within a few miles of us, don’t you hear the thunder? Let’s get home before it gets here.”
A group of horsemen overtook them on the road. There were ten men; the two who rode the first seemed to be important persons. One of them was obviously a member of the church of a high rank – he was a monk, but his clothes were very expensive. He was accompanied by two other monks and two servants.
The companion of the monk was a man past forty, thin, strong, tall, and muscular. His face was tanned because of the tropical sun. His piercing dark eyes told in every glance that he had seen much danger. He wore a long monastic cloak and armour underneath it. On his right shoulder there was a white cross. On one side of the saddle there was a short battle-axe, on the other – the rider’s helmet with a long sword. His squires held his lance and a small triangular shield. These squires were followed by two servants, dark-skinned, with white turbans and Eastern dress. They had silver collars round their throats, and bracelets of the same metal upon their arms and legs. The knight and his followers looked wild and foreign.
Gurth knew the monk. It was the Prior of Jorvaulx Abbey, well known for many miles around as a lover of hunting and banquet. He was from a distinguished Norman family and was friends both with the younger and older aristocrats. He knew little, but it was enough to make an impression, and the high tone which he used in promoting the authority of the church made people believe he was a saint. He was generous and spent the money of his Abbey not only on himself but also on poor peasants. The Saxons bowed.
