CHAPTER XXXIII
---Flower of warriors, How is't with Titus Lartius? MARCIUS.--As with a man busied about decrees, Condemning some to death and some to exile, Ransoming him or pitying, threatening the other. --Coriolanus
The captive Abbot's features and manners exhibited a whimsical mixtureof offended pride, and deranged foppery and bodily terror.
Why, how now, my masters? said he, with a voice in which all threeemotions were blended. What order is this among ye? Be ye Turksor Christians, that handle a churchman?--Know ye what it is, 'manusimponere in servos Domini'? Ye have plundered my mails--torn my copeof curious cut lace, which might have served a cardinal!--Another in myplace would have been at his 'excommunicabo vos'; but I am placible,and if ye order forth my palfreys, release my brethren, and restoremy mails, tell down with all speed an hundred crowns to be expended inmasses at the high altar of Jorvaulx Abbey, and make your vow to eat novenison until next Pentecost, it may be you shall hear little more ofthis mad frolic.
Holy Father, said the chief Outlaw, it grieves me to think that youhave met with such usage from any of my followers, as calls for yourfatherly reprehension.
Usage! echoed the priest, encouraged by the mild tone of the silvanleader; it were usage fit for no hound of good race--much less for aChristian--far less for a priest--and least of all for the Prior ofthe holy community of Jorvaulx. Here is a profane and drunken minstrel,called Allan-a-Dale--'nebulo quidam'--who has menaced me with corporalpunishment--nay, with death itself, an I pay not down four hundredcrowns of ransom, to the boot of all the treasure he hath already robbedme of--gold chains and gymmal rings to an unknown value; besides whatis broken and spoiled among their rude hands, such as my pouncer-box andsilver crisping-tongs.
It is impossible that Allan-a-Dale can have thus treated a man of yourreverend bearing, replied the Captain.
It is true as the gospel of Saint Nicodemus, said the Prior; heswore, with many a cruel north-country oath, that he would hang me up onthe highest tree in the greenwood.
Did he so in very deed? Nay, then, reverend father, I think you hadbetter comply with his demands--for Allan-a-Dale is the very man toabide by his word when he has so pledged it. [43]
You do but jest with me, said the astounded Prior, with a forcedlaugh; and I love a good jest with all my heart. But, ha! ha! ha! whenthe mirth has lasted the livelong night, it is time to be grave in themorning.
And I am as grave as a father confessor, replied the Outlaw; you mustpay a round ransom, Sir Prior, or your convent is likely to be called toa new election; for your place will know you no more.
Are ye Christians, said the Prior, and hold this language to achurchman?
Christians! ay, marry are we, and have divinity among us to boot,answered the Outlaw. Let our buxom chaplain stand forth, and expound tothis reverend father the texts which concern this matter.
The Friar, half-drunk, half-sober, had huddled a friar's frock over hisgreen cassock, and now summoning together whatever scraps of learninghe had acquired by rote in former days, Holy father, said he, 'Deusfaciat salvam benignitatem vestram'--You are welcome to the greenwood.
What profane mummery is this? said the Prior. Friend, if thou be'stindeed of the church, it were a better deed to show me how I may escapefrom these men's hands, than to stand ducking and grinning here like amorris-dancer.
Truly, reverend father, said the Friar, I know but one mode in whichthou mayst escape. This is Saint Andrew's day with us, we are taking ourtithes.
But not of the church, then, I trust, my good brother? said the Prior.
Of church and lay, said the Friar; and therefore, Sir Prior 'facitevobis amicos de Mammone iniquitatis'--make yourselves friends of theMammon of unrighteousness, for no other friendship is like to serve yourturn.
I love a jolly woodsman at heart, said the Prior, softening his tone;come, ye must not deal too hard with me--I can well of woodcraft,and can wind a horn clear and lustily, and hollo till every oak ringsagain--Come, ye must not deal too hard with me.
Give him a horn, said the Outlaw; we will prove the skill he boastsof.
The Prior Aymer winded a blast accordingly. The Captain shook his head.
Sir Prior, he said, thou blowest a merry note, but it may not ransomthee--we cannot afford, as the legend on a good knight's shield hath it,to set thee free for a blast. Moreover, I have found thee--thou artone of those, who, with new French graces and Tra-li-ras, disturb theancient English bugle notes.--Prior, that last flourish on the recheathath added fifty crowns to thy ransom, for corrupting the true old manlyblasts of venerie.
Well, friend, said the Abbot, peevishly, thou art ill to please withthy woodcraft. I pray thee be more conformable in this matter of myransom. At a word--since I must needs, for once, hold a candle to thedevil--what ransom am I to pay for walking on Watling-street, withouthaving fifty men at my back?
Were it not well, said the Lieutenant of the gang apart to theCaptain, that the Prior should name the Jew's ransom, and the Jew namethe Prior's?
Thou art a mad knave, said the Captain, but thy plantranscends!--Here, Jew, step forth--Look at that holy Father Aymer,Prior of the rich Abbey of Jorvaulx, and tell us at what ransom weshould hold him?--Thou knowest the income of his convent, I warrantthee.
O, assuredly, said Isaac. I have trafficked with the good fathers,and bought wheat and barley, and fruits of the earth, and also muchwool. O, it is a rich abbey-stede, and they do live upon the fat, anddrink the sweet wines upon the lees, these good fathers of Jorvaulx. Ah,if an outcast like me had such a home to go to, and such incomings bythe year and by the month, I would pay much gold and silver to redeem mycaptivity.
Hound of a Jew! exclaimed the Prior, no one knows better than thy owncursed self, that our holy house of God is indebted for the finishing ofour chancel--
And for the storing of your cellars in the last season with the dueallowance of Gascon wine, interrupted the Jew; but that--that is smallmatters.
Hear the infidel dog! said the churchman; he jangles as if our holycommunity did come under debts for the wines we have a license todrink, 'propter necessitatem, et ad frigus depellendum'. The circumcisedvillain blasphemeth the holy church, and Christian men listen and rebukehim not!
All this helps nothing, said the leader.--Isaac, pronounce what hemay pay, without flaying both hide and hair.
An six hundred crowns, said Isaac, the good Prior might well pay toyour honoured valours, and never sit less soft in his stall.
Six hundred crowns, said the leader, gravely; I am contented--thouhast well spoken, Isaac--six hundred crowns.--It is a sentence, SirPrior.
A sentence!--a sentence! exclaimed the band; Solomon had not done itbetter.
Thou hearest thy doom, Prior, said the leader.
Ye are mad, my masters, said the Prior; where am I to find such asum? If I sell the very pyx and candlesticks on the altar at Jorvaulx,I shall scarce raise the half; and it will be necessary for that purposethat I go to Jorvaulx myself; ye may retain as borrows [44] my twopriests.
That will be but blind trust, said the Outlaw; we will retain thee,Prior, and send them to fetch thy ransom. Thou shalt not want a cup ofwine and a collop of venison the while; and if thou lovest woodcraft,thou shalt see such as your north country never witnessed.
Or, if so please you, said Isaac, willing to curry favour with theoutlaws, I can send to York for the six hundred crowns, out of certainmonies in my hands, if so be that the most reverend Prior present willgrant me a quittance.
He shall grant thee whatever thou dost list, Isaac, said the Captain;and thou shalt lay down the redemption money for Prior Aymer as well asfor thyself.
For myself! ah, courageous sirs, said the Jew, I am a broken andimpoverished man; a beggar's staff must be my portion through life,supposing I were to pay you fifty crowns.
The Prior shall judge of that matter, replied the Captain.--How sayyou, Father Aymer? Can the Jew afford a good ransom?
Can he afford a ransom? answered the Prior Is he not Isaac of York,rich enough to redeem the captivity of the ten tribes of Israel, whowere led into Assyrian bondage?--I have seen but little of him myself,but our cellarer and treasurer have dealt largely with him, and reportsays that his house at York is so full of gold and silver as is a shamein any Christian land. Marvel it is to all living Christian hearts thatsuch gnawing adders should be suffered to eat into the bowels of thestate, and even of the holy church herself, with foul usuries andextortions.
Hold, father, said the Jew, mitigate and assuage your choler. I prayof your reverence to remember that I force my monies upon no one. Butwhen churchman and layman, prince and prior, knight and priest, comeknocking to Isaac's door, they borrow not his shekels with these uncivilterms. It is then, Friend Isaac, will you pleasure us in this matter,and our day shall be truly kept, so God sa' me?--and Kind Isaac, if everyou served man, show yourself a friend in this need! And when the daycomes, and I ask my own, then what hear I but Damned Jew, and The curseof Egypt on your tribe, and all that may stir up the rude and uncivilpopulace against poor strangers!
Prior, said the Captain, Jew though he be, he hath in this spokenwell. Do thou, therefore, name his ransom, as he named thine, withoutfarther rude terms.
None but 'latro famosus'--the interpretation whereof, said the Prior,will I give at some other time and tide--would place a Christianprelate and an unbaptized Jew upon the same bench. But since ye requireme to put a price upon this caitiff, I tell you openly that ye willwrong yourselves if you take from him a penny under a thousand crowns.
A sentence!--a sentence! exclaimed the chief Outlaw.
A sentence!--a sentence! shouted his assessors; the Christian hasshown his good nurture, and dealt with us more generously than the Jew.
The God of my fathers help me! said the Jew; will ye bear to theground an impoverished creature?--I am this day childless, and will yedeprive me of the means of livelihood?
Thou wilt have the less to provide for, Jew, if thou art childless,said Aymer.
Alas! my lord, said Isaac, your law permits you not to know how thechild of our bosom is entwined with the strings of our heart--O Rebecca!laughter of my beloved Rachel! were each leaf on that tree a zecchin,and each zecchin mine own, all that mass of wealth would I give to knowwhether thou art alive, and escaped the hands of the Nazarene!
Was not thy daughter dark-haired? said one of the outlaws; and woreshe not a veil of twisted sendal, broidered with silver?
She did!--she did! said the old man, trembling with eagerness, asformerly with fear. The blessing of Jacob be upon thee! canst thou tellme aught of her safety?
It was she, then, said the yeoman, who was carried off by the proudTemplar, when he broke through our ranks on yester-even. I had drawn mybow to send a shaft after him, but spared him even for the sake of thedamsel, who I feared might take harm from the arrow.
Oh! answered the Jew, I would to God thou hadst shot, though thearrow had pierced her bosom!--Better the tomb of her fathers than thedishonourable couch of the licentious and savage Templar. Ichabod!Ichabod! the glory hath departed from my house!
Friends, said the Chief, looking round, the old man is but a Jew,natheless his grief touches me.--Deal uprightly with us, Isaac--willpaying this ransom of a thousand crowns leave thee altogetherpenniless?
Isaac, recalled to think of his worldly goods, the love of which, bydint of inveterate habit, contended even with his parental affection,grew pale, stammered, and could not deny there might be some smallsurplus.
Well--go to--what though there be, said the Outlaw, we will notreckon with thee too closely. Without treasure thou mayst as well hopeto redeem thy child from the clutches of Sir Brian de Bois-Guilbert, asto shoot a stag-royal with a headless shaft.--We will take thee at thesame ransom with Prior Aymer, or rather at one hundred crowns lower,which hundred crowns shall be mine own peculiar loss, and not light uponthis worshipful community; and so we shall avoid the heinous offence ofrating a Jew merchant as high as a Christian prelate, and thou wilthave six hundred crowns remaining to treat for thy daughter's ransom.Templars love the glitter of silver shekels as well as the sparkleof black eyes.--Hasten to make thy crowns chink in the ear of DeBois-Guilbert, ere worse comes of it. Thou wilt find him, as our scoutshave brought notice, at the next Preceptory house of his Order.--Said Iwell, my merry mates?
The yeomen expressed their wonted acquiescence in their leader'sopinion; and Isaac, relieved of one half of his apprehensions, bylearning that his daughter lived, and might possibly be ransomed, threwhimself at the feet of the generous Outlaw, and, rubbing his beardagainst his buskins, sought to kiss the hem of his green cassock. TheCaptain drew himself back, and extricated himself from the Jew's grasp,not without some marks of contempt.
Nay, beshrew thee, man, up with thee! I am English born, and love nosuch Eastern prostrations--Kneel to God, and not to a poor sinner, likeme.
Ay, Jew, said Prior Aymer; kneel to God, as represented in theservant of his altar, and who knows, with thy sincere repentance and duegifts to the shrine of Saint Robert, what grace thou mayst acquire forthyself and thy daughter Rebecca? I grieve for the maiden, for she is offair and comely countenance,--I beheld her in the lists of Ashby. AlsoBrian de Bois-Guilbert is one with whom I may do much--bethink thee howthou mayst deserve my good word with him.
Alas! alas! said the Jew, on every hand the spoilers arise againstme--I am given as a prey unto the Assyrian, and a prey unto him ofEgypt.
And what else should be the lot of thy accursed race? answeredthe Prior; for what saith holy writ, 'verbum Domini projecerunt, etsapientia est nulla in eis'--they have cast forth the word of theLord, and there is no wisdom in them; 'propterea dabo mulieres eorumexteris'--I will give their women to strangers, that is to the Templar,as in the present matter; 'et thesauros eorum haeredibus alienis',and their treasures to others--as in the present case to these honestgentlemen.
Isaac groaned deeply, and began to wring his hands, and to relapse intohis state of desolation and despair. But the leader of the yeomen ledhim aside.
Advise thee well, Isaac, said Locksley, what thou wilt do in thismatter; my counsel to thee is to make a friend of this churchman. He isvain, Isaac, and he is covetous; at least he needs money to supply hisprofusion. Thou canst easily gratify his greed; for think not that I amblinded by thy pretexts of poverty. I am intimately acquainted, Isaac,with the very iron chest in which thou dost keep thy money-bags--What!know I not the great stone beneath the apple-tree, that leads intothe vaulted chamber under thy garden at York? The Jew grew as pale asdeath--But fear nothing from me, continued the yeoman, for we areof old acquainted. Dost thou not remember the sick yeoman whom thy fairdaughter Rebecca redeemed from the gyves at York, and kept him inthy house till his health was restored, when thou didst dismiss himrecovered, and with a piece of money?--Usurer as thou art, thou didstnever place coin at better interest than that poor silver mark, for ithas this day saved thee five hundred crowns.
And thou art he whom we called Diccon Bend-the-Bow? said Isaac; Ithought ever I knew the accent of thy voice.
I am Bend-the-Bow, said the Captain, and Locksley, and have a goodname besides all these.
But thou art mistaken, good Bend-the-Bow, concerning that samevaulted apartment. So help me Heaven, as there is nought in it but somemerchandises which I will gladly part with to you--one hundred yardsof Lincoln green to make doublets to thy men, and a hundred staves ofSpanish yew to make bows, and a hundred silken bowstrings, tough, round,and sound--these will I send thee for thy good-will, honest Diccon, anthou wilt keep silence about the vault, my good Diccon.
Silent as a dormouse, said the Outlaw; and never trust me but I amgrieved for thy daughter. But I may not help it--The Templars lances aretoo strong for my archery in the open field--they would scatter us likedust. Had I but known it was Rebecca when she was borne off, somethingmight have been done; but now thou must needs proceed by policy. Come,shall I treat for thee with the Prior?
In God's name, Diccon, an thou canst, aid me to recover the child of mybosom!
Do not thou interrupt me with thine ill-timed avarice, said theOutlaw, and I will deal with him in thy behalf.
He then turned from the Jew, who followed him, however, as closely ashis shadow.
Prior Aymer, said the Captain, come apart with me under this tree.Men say thou dost love wine, and a lady's smile, better than beseems thyOrder, Sir Priest; but with that I have nought to do. I have heard, too,thou dost love a brace of good dogs and a fleet horse, and it may wellbe that, loving things which are costly to come by, thou hatest not apurse of gold. But I have never heard that thou didst love oppression orcruelty.--Now, here is Isaac willing to give thee the means of pleasureand pastime in a bag containing one hundred marks of silver, if thyintercession with thine ally the Templar shall avail to procure thefreedom of his daughter.
In safety and honour, as when taken from me, said the Jew, otherwiseit is no bargain.
Peace, Isaac, said the Outlaw, or I give up thine interest.--What sayyou to this my purpose, Prior Aymer?
The matter, quoth the Prior, is of a mixed condition; for, if I do agood deal on the one hand, yet, on the other, it goeth to the vantageof a Jew, and in so much is against my conscience. Yet, if the Israelitewill advantage the Church by giving me somewhat over to the buildingof our dortour, [45] I will take it on my conscience to aid him in thematter of his daughter.
For a score of marks to the dortour, said the Outlaw,--Be still, Isay, Isaac!--or for a brace of silver candlesticks to the altar, we willnot stand with you.
Nay, but, good Diccon Bend-the-Bow--said Isaac, endeavouring tointerpose.
Good Jew--good beast--good earthworm! said the yeoman, losingpatience; an thou dost go on to put thy filthy lucre in the balancewith thy daughter's life and honour, by Heaven, I will strip thee ofevery maravedi thou hast in the world, before three days are out!
Isaac shrunk together, and was silent.
And what pledge am I to have for all this? said the Prior.
When Isaac returns successful through your mediation, said the Outlaw,I swear by Saint Hubert, I will see that he pays thee the money in goodsilver, or I will reckon with him for it in such sort, he had betterhave paid twenty such sums.
Well then, Jew, said Aymer, since I must needs meddle in this matter,let me have the use of thy writing-tablets--though, hold--rather thanuse thy pen, I would fast for twenty-four hours, and where shall I findone?
If your holy scruples can dispense with using the Jew's tablets, forthe pen I can find a remedy, said the yeoman; and, bending his bow, heaimed his shaft at a wild-goose which was soaring over their heads, theadvanced-guard of a phalanx of his tribe, which were winging their wayto the distant and solitary fens of Holderness. The bird came flutteringdown, transfixed with the arrow.
There, Prior, said the Captain, are quills enow to supply all themonks of Jorvaulx for the next hundred years, an they take not towriting chronicles.
The Prior sat down, and at great leisure indited an epistle to Briande Bois-Guilbert, and having carefully sealed up the tablets, deliveredthem to the Jew, saying, This will be thy safe-conduct to thePreceptory of Templestowe, and, as I think, is most likely to accomplishthe delivery of thy daughter, if it be well backed with proffers ofadvantage and commodity at thine own hand; for, trust me well, thegood Knight Bois-Guilbert is of their confraternity that do nought fornought.
Well, Prior, said the Outlaw, I will detain thee no longer here thanto give the Jew a quittance for the six hundred crowns at which thyransom is fixed--I accept of him for my pay-master; and if I hear thatye boggle at allowing him in his accompts the sum so paid by him, SaintMary refuse me, an I burn not the abbey over thine head, though I hangten years the sooner!
With a much worse grace than that wherewith he had penned the letter toBois-Guilbert, the Prior wrote an acquittance, discharging Isaac of Yorkof six hundred crowns, advanced to him in his need for acquittal of hisransom, and faithfully promising to hold true compt with him for thatsum.
And now, said Prior Aymer, I will pray you of restitution of my mulesand palfreys, and the freedom of the reverend brethren attending uponme, and also of the gymmal rings, jewels, and fair vestures, of whichI have been despoiled, having now satisfied you for my ransom as a trueprisoner.
Touching your brethren, Sir Prior, said Locksley, they shall havepresent freedom, it were unjust to detain them; touching your horsesand mules, they shall also be restored, with such spending-money as mayenable you to reach York, for it were cruel to deprive you of the meansof journeying.--But as concerning rings, jewels, chains, and what else,you must understand that we are men of tender consciences, and willnot yield to a venerable man like yourself, who should be dead to thevanities of this life, the strong temptation to break the rule of hisfoundation, by wearing rings, chains, or other vain gauds.
Think what you do, my masters, said the Prior, ere you put your handon the Church's patrimony--These things are 'inter res sacras', andI wot not what judgment might ensue were they to be handled by laicalhands.
I will take care of that, reverend Prior, said the Hermit ofCopmanhurst; for I will wear them myself.
Friend, or brother, said the Prior, in answer to this solution of hisdoubts, if thou hast really taken religious orders, I pray thee to lookhow thou wilt answer to thine official for the share thou hast taken inthis day's work.
Friend Prior, returned the Hermit, you are to know that I belong toa little diocese, where I am my own diocesan, and care as little for theBishop of York as I do for the Abbot of Jorvaulx, the Prior, and all theconvent.
Thou art utterly irregular, said the Prior; one of those disorderlymen, who, taking on them the sacred character without due cause, profanethe holy rites, and endanger the souls of those who take counsel attheir hands; 'lapides pro pane condonantes iis', giving them stonesinstead of bread as the Vulgate hath it.
Nay, said the Friar, an my brain-pan could have been broken by Latin,it had not held so long together.--I say, that easing a world of suchmisproud priests as thou art of their jewels and their gimcracks, is alawful spoiling of the Egyptians.
Thou be'st a hedge-priest, [46] said the Prior, in great wrath,'excommunicabo vos'.
Thou be'st thyself more like a thief and a heretic, said theFriar, equally indignant; I will pouch up no such affront before myparishioners, as thou thinkest it not shame to put upon me, although Ibe a reverend brother to thee. 'Ossa ejus perfringam', I will break yourbones, as the Vulgate hath it.
Hola! cried the Captain, come the reverend brethren to suchterms?--Keep thine assurance of peace, Friar.--Prior, an thou hast notmade thy peace perfect with God, provoke the Friar no further.--Hermit,let the reverend father depart in peace, as a ransomed man.
The yeomen separated the incensed priests, who continued to raise theirvoices, vituperating each other in bad Latin, which the Prior deliveredthe more fluently, and the Hermit with the greater vehemence. The Priorat length recollected himself sufficiently to be aware that he wascompromising his dignity, by squabbling with such a hedge-priest as theOutlaw's chaplain, and being joined by his attendants, rode off withconsiderably less pomp, and in a much more apostolical condition, sofar as worldly matters were concerned, than he had exhibited before thisrencounter.
It remained that the Jew should produce some security for the ransomwhich he was to pay on the Prior's account, as well as upon his own. Hegave, accordingly, an order sealed with his signet, to a brother of histribe at York, requiring him to pay to the bearer the sum of a thousandcrowns, and to deliver certain merchandises specified in the note.
My brother Sheva, he said, groaning deeply, hath the key of mywarehouses.
And of the vaulted chamber, whispered Locksley.
No, no--may Heaven forefend! said Isaac; evil is the hour that letany one whomsoever into that secret!
It is safe with me, said the Outlaw, so be that this thy scrollproduce the sum therein nominated and set down.--But what now, Isaac?art dead? art stupefied? hath the payment of a thousand crowns put thydaughter's peril out of thy mind?
The Jew started to his feet--No, Diccon, no--I will presently setforth.--Farewell, thou whom I may not call good, and dare not and willnot call evil.
Yet ere Isaac departed, the Outlaw Chief bestowed on him this partingadvice:--Be liberal of thine offers, Isaac, and spare not thy purse forthy daughter's safety. Credit me, that the gold thou shalt spare inher cause, will hereafter give thee as much agony as if it were pouredmolten down thy throat.
Isaac acquiesced with a deep groan, and set forth on his journey,accompanied by two tall foresters, who were to be his guides, and at thesame time his guards, through the wood.
The Black Knight, who had seen with no small interest these variousproceedings, now took his leave of the Outlaw in turn; nor could heavoid expressing his surprise at having witnessed so much of civilpolicy amongst persons cast out from all the ordinary protection andinfluence of the laws.
Good fruit, Sir Knight, said the yeoman, will sometimes grow on asorry tree; and evil times are not always productive of evil alone andunmixed. Amongst those who are drawn into this lawless state, thereare, doubtless, numbers who wish to exercise its license with somemoderation, and some who regret, it may be, that they are obliged tofollow such a trade at all.
And to one of those, said the Knight, I am now, I presume, speaking?
Sir Knight, said the Outlaw, we have each our secret. You are welcometo form your judgment of me, and I may use my conjectures touching you,though neither of our shafts may hit the mark they are shot at. But asI do not pray to be admitted into your mystery, be not offended that Ipreserve my own.
I crave pardon, brave Outlaw, said the Knight, your reproof is just.But it may be we shall meet hereafter with less of concealment on eitherside.--Meanwhile we part friends, do we not?
There is my hand upon it, said Locksley; and I will call it the handof a true Englishman, though an outlaw for the present.
And there is mine in return, said the Knight, and I hold it honouredby being clasped with yours. For he that does good, having the unlimitedpower to do evil, deserves praise not only for the good which heperforms, but for the evil which he forbears. Fare thee well, gallantOutlaw! Thus parted that fair fellowship; and He of the Fetterlock,mounting upon his strong war-horse, rode off through the forest.