Читать «Айвенго / Ivanhoe» онлайн - страница 24

“I will try, then,” said the knight, “a ballad composed by a Saxon minstrel, whom I knew in Holy Land.”

It was soon clear, that if the knight was not a complete master of the minstrel art, he at least had good teachers. When the song was ended, the monk declared it a good one, and well sung.

The monk then reached the harp, and entertained his guest with a funny song called ‘The Barefooted Friar’. Their party was becoming more and more wild and cheerful, when it was interrupted by a loud knock at the door.

* * *

When Cedric the Saxon saw his son drop down senseless in the lists at Ashby, his first impulse was to order his servants to go and carry the wounded knight to a safe place. But he could not acknowledge in public the son whom he had banished and disinherited. Cedric’s dream was to unite all Saxons in the country, and for that he needed a leader of royal blood. Both Athelstane and Rowena had famous Saxon kings among their ancestors, so Cedric thought that their marriage was the key to Saxon unity. When Rowena fell in love with Cedric’s son, he didn’t hesitate to banish Wilfred from his house. Cedric hoped that, during Wilfred’s absence, Rowena will forget him, but he was disappointed. Rowena declared that she would rather go to a monastery, than share a throne with Athelstane. Cedric, who respected his ward, didn’t know how to use his authority of a guardian.

Although Cedric considered the sudden and romantic appearance of his son in the lists at Ashby to be a death’s blow to his hopes, he still ordered his servant Oswald to keep an eye upon Wilfred and to carry him to Ashby in secret as soon as the crowd had dispersed. Oswald, however, came too late to do this. The crowd dispersed, indeed, but the knight was nowhere to be seen.

Instead Oswald found Gurth who was looking for his young master and forgot to hide his face. Oswald decided that it was his duty to hold Gurth and brought him to Cedric. The only thing that Oswald learned about the fate of the young knight was that the knight had been raised with care by some servants, and placed in a litter belonging to a lady among the spectators, which had immediately transported him out of the crowd. Oswald decided to return to his master for new instructions.

The Saxon worried for his son, but as soon as he was informed that Ivanhoe was in friendly hands, he again started to think about Ivanhoe’s disobedience. When Cedric saw the deserter Gurth, he ordered to tie him. Gurth did not protest, he only said, “This is how you reward loving your flesh and blood better than my own.”

Cedric, Athelstane and Rowena went back to Rotherwood. Wamba and Gurth rode side by side for some time, during which Gurth maintained a moody silence.

* * *

The travellers had now reached the wooded country which was considered dangerous at that time because of the number of robbers. There they heard repeated cries for assistance. When they came closer, they saw a litter left on the ground, an old Jew and a young woman. It was Isaac of York with his daughter. They had hired six guards at Ashby, together with mules for carrying the litter of a sick friend. This party had promised to escort them. They had come to this place in safety, but when their guards heard from a wood-cutter that there was a strong band of robbers in the woods before them, Isaac’s mercenaries had ran away and had taken with them the horses which bore the litter.