第 6 节
作者:
赖赖 更新:2021-02-27 02:48 字数:9322
and there the naked back; and filled the empty belly; and holpen many; and
men would have spoken well of thee; and of thyself thou hadst thought
well; and all this hast thou lost for lack of a word here and there to some
great man; and a little winking of the eyes amidst murder and wrong and
unruth; and now thou art nought and helpless; and the hemp for thee is
sown and grown and heckled and spun; and lo there; the rope for thy
gallows…tree!all for nought; for nought。
〃Forsooth; my friends; thus I thought and sorrowed in my feebleness
that I had not been a traitor to the Fellowship of the Church; for e'en so
evil was my foolish imagination。
〃Yet; forsooth; as I fell a…pondering over all the comfort and help that I
might have been and that I might have had; if I had been but a little of a
trembling cur to creep and crawl before abbot and bishop and baron and
bailiff; came the thought over me of the evil of the world wherewith I;
John Ball; the rascal hedge…priest; had fought and striven in the Fellowship
of the saints in heaven and poor men upon earth。
〃Yea; forsooth; once again I saw as of old; the great treading down
the little; and the strong beating down the weak; and cruel men fearing not;
and kind men daring not; and wise men caring not; and the saints in
heaven forbearing and yet bidding me not to forbear; forsooth; I knew
once more that he who doeth well in fellowship; and because of fellowship;
shall not fail though he seem to fail to…day; but in days hereafter shall he
and his work yet be alive; and men be holpen by them to strive again and
yet again; and yet indeed even that was little; since; forsooth; to strive was
my pleasure and my life。
〃So I became a man once more; and I rose up to my feet and went up
and down my prison what I could for my hopples; and into my mouth
came words of good cheer; even such as we to…day have sung; and stoutly
I sang them; even as we now have sung them; and then did I rest me; and
once more thought of those pleasant fields where I would be; and all the
life of man and beast about them; and I said to myself that I should see
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them once more before I died; if but once it were。
〃Forsooth; this was strange; that whereas before I longed for them and
yet saw them not; now that my longing was slaked my vision was cleared;
and I saw them as though the prison walls opened to me and I was out of
Canterbury street and amidst the green meadows of April; and therewithal
along with me folk that I have known and who are dead; and folk that are
living; yea; and all those of the Fellowship on earth and in heaven; yea;
and all that are here this day。 Overlong were the tale to tell of them; and
of the time that is gone。
〃So thenceforward I wore through the days with no such faint heart;
until one day the prison opened verily and in the daylight; and there were
ye; my fellows; in the dooryour faces glad; your hearts light with hope;
and your hands heavy with wrath; then I saw and understood what was to
do。 Now; therefore; do ye understand it!〃
His voice was changed; and grew louder than loud now; as he cast his
hands abroad towards that company with those last words of his; and I
could feel that all shame and fear was falling from those men; and that
mere fiery manhood was shining through their wonted English shamefast
stubbornness; and that they were moved indeed and saw the road before
them。 Yet no man spoke; rather the silence of the men…folk deepened; as
the sun's rays grew more level and more golden; and the swifts wheeled
about shriller and louder than before。 Then again John Ball spoke and said;
〃In good sooth; I deem ye wot no worse than I do what is to doand first
that somewhat we shall dosince it is for him that is lonely or in prison to
dream of fellowship; but for him that is of a fellowship to do and not to
dream。
〃And next; ye know who is the foeman; and that is the proud man; the
oppressor; who scorneth fellowship; and himself is a world to himself and
needeth no helper nor helpeth any; but; heeding no law; layeth law on
other men because he is rich; and surely every one that is rich is such an
one; nor may be other。
〃Forsooth; in the belly of every rich man dwelleth a devil of hell; and
when the man would give his goods to the poor; the devil within him
gainsayeth it; and saith; ‘Wilt thou then be of the poor; and suffer cold and
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hunger and mocking as they suffer; then give thou thy goods to them; and
keep them not。' And when he would be compassionate; again saith the
devil to him; ‘If thou heed these losels and turn on them a face like to their
faces; and deem of them as men; then shall they scorn thee; and evil shall
come of it; and even one day they shall fall on thee to slay thee when they
have learned that thou art but as they be。'
〃Ah; woe worth the while! too oft he sayeth sooth; as the wont of the
devil is; that lies may be born of the barren truth; and sooth it is that the
poor deemeth the rich to be other than he; and meet to be his master; as
though; forsooth; the poor were come of Adam; and the rich of him that
made Adam; that is God; and thus the poor man oppresseth the poor man;
because he feareth the oppressor。 Nought such are ye; my brethren; or
else why are ye gathered here in harness to bid all bear witness of you that
ye are the sons of one man and one mother; begotten of the earth?〃
As he said the words there came a stir among the weapons of the
throng; and they pressed closer round the cross; yet with held the shout as
yet which seemed gathering in their bosoms。
And again he said:
〃Forsooth; too many rich men there are in this realm; and yet if there
were but one; there would be one too many; for all should be his thralls。
Hearken; then; ye men of Kent。 For overlong belike have I held you with
words; but the love of you constrained me; and the joy that a man hath to
babble to his friends and his fellows whom he hath not seen for a long
season。
〃Now; hearken; I bid you: To the rich men that eat up a realm there
cometh a time when they whom they eat up; that is the poor; seem poorer
than of wont; and their complaint goeth up louder to the heavens; yet it is
no riddle to say that oft at such times the fellowship of the poor is waxing
stronger; else would no man have heard his cry。 Also at such times is the
rich man become fearful; and so waxeth in cruelty; and of that cruelty do
people misdeem that it is power and might waxing。 Forsooth; ye are
stronger than your fathers; because ye are more grieved than they; and ye
should have been less grieved than they had ye been horses and swine; and
then; forsooth; would ye have been stronger to bear; but ye; ye are not
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strong to bear; but to do。
〃And wot ye why we are come to you this fair eve of holiday? and wot
ye why I have been telling of fellowship to you? Yea; forsooth; I deem
ye wot well; that it is for this cause; that ye might bethink you of your
fellowship with the men of Essex。〃
His last word let loose the shout that had been long on all men's lips;
and great and fierce it was as it rang shattering through the quiet upland
village。 But John Ball held up his hand; and the shout was one and no
more。
Then he spoke again:
〃Men of Kent; I wot well that ye are not so hard bested as those of
other shires; by the token of the day when behind the screen of leafy
boughs ye met Duke William with bill and bow as he wended Londonward
from that woeful field of Senlac; but I have told of fellowship; and ye have
hearkened and understood what the Holy Church is; whereby ye know that
ye are fellows of the saints in heaven and the poor men of Essex; and as
one day the saints shall call you to the heavenly feast; so now do the poor
men call you to the battle。
〃Men of Kent; ye dwell fairly here; and your houses are framed of
stout oak beams