The warrior bowed his crested head, and tamed his heart of fire,

And sued the haughty king to free his long-imprisoned sire:

“I bring thee here my fortress keys, I bring my captive train;

I pledge my faith, my liege, my lord—oh! break my father's chain.”

“Rise! rise! even now thy father cornea, a ransomed man this day;

Mount thy good steed, and thou and I will meet him on his way:”

Then lightly rose that loyal son, and bounded on his steed;

And urged, as if with lance in hand, his charger's foaming speed.

And lo! from far, as on they pressed, there came a glittering band,

With one that 'mid them stately rode, as a leader in the land:

“Now haste, Bernardo, haste! for there, in very truth, is he,

The father—whom thy grateful heart hath yearned so long to see.”

His dark eye flashed, his proud breast heaved, his cheek's blood came and went;

He reached that gray-haired chieftain's side, and there dismounting, bent:

A lowly knee to earth he bent, his father's hand he took; —

What was there in its touch that all his fiery spirit shook?

That hand was cold, a frozen thing—it dropped from his like lead;

He looked up to the face above—the face was of the dead;

A plume waved o'er that noble brow—the brow was fixed and white;

He met at length his father's eyes, but in them was no sight!

Up from the ground he sprang, and gazed; but who can paint that gaze?

They hushed their very hearts who saw its horror and amaze:

They might have chained him, as before that noble form he stood;

For the power was stricken from his arm, and from his cheek the blood.

“Father!” at length he murmured low, and wept like childhood then—

(Talk not of grief till thou hast seen the tears of warlike men—)

He thought on all his glorious hopes, on all his high renown

Then flung the falchion from his side, and in the dust sat down;

And, covering with his steel-gloved hand his darkly mournful brow,

“No more, there is no more,” he said, “to lift the sword for now:

My king is false! my hope betrayed! my father—oh! the worth:

The glory, and the loveliness, are passed away from earth!”

Up from the ground he sprang once more, and seized the monarch's rein

A mid the pale and wildered looks of all the courtier train;

And with a fierce, o'ermastering grasp, the rearing war-horse led,

And sternly set them face to face—the king before the dead!

“Came I not forth upon thy pledge, my father's hand to kiss? —

Be still, and gaze thou on, false king! and tell me what is this?

The voice, the glance, the heart I sought—give answer, where are they?

If thou wouldst clear thy perjured soul, send life through this cold clay!

“Into these glassy eyes put light—be still, keep down thine ire! —

Bid these white lips a blessing speak—this earth is not my sire!

Give me back him for whom I strove, for whom my blood was shed!

Thou canst not? —and a king! —His dust be mountains on thy head!”

He loosed the steed—his slack hand fell; upon the silent face

He cast one long, deep, troubled look, then turned from that sad place:

His hope was crushed—his after-fate untold in martial strain—

His banner led the spears no more amidst the hills of Spain!

—MRS. HEMANS (1793-1835).

Words

betrayed,deceived.

bounded,leapt.

Captive,enslaved.

courtlier,knightly.

glittering,sparkling.

glorious,splendid.

grateful,thankful.

haughty,proud.

horror,repugnance.

loveliness,beauty.

martial,warlike.

mournful,sorrowful.

o'ermastering,overpowering.

prejured,forsworn.

ransomed,redeemed.

renown,celebrity.

sternly,auterely.

troubled,disturbed.

wildered,perplexed.

yearned,longed.

Questions

Who was the “warrior” referred to? Who was the “king”? What did the former beg of the latter? What was his father's name? On what condition had the king promised to deliver up Don Sancho? How did he keep his promise? What effect had this event on Bernardo's future?

那戰(zhàn)士低下自己高貴的頭，把心中的火焰撫滅，

向無上的國王祈求釋放他那被長期囚禁的父親：

“我給您帶來了我城堡的鑰匙，帶來了我的俘虜；

我祈求您，我的陛下，我的君王，我的國王——哦！打開我父親的鎖鏈吧。”

“平身！平身！你父親馬上就來了，今天他就被贖為自由身；

跨上你那駿馬，和我一起去迎接他的到來。”

然后那忠誠的臣子輕輕直起身子，跳上自己的駿馬；

快馬加鞭，好像手中握著長矛似的，他的戰(zhàn)馬飛馳向前。

天啊！從遠處，他們先前走的時候，傳來了叮叮當當?shù)年犖榈穆曧懀?

在他們中間有一個人威嚴坐在馬上，就像這片土地的領(lǐng)袖一樣：

“趕快，博爾納多，趕快！就在那兒，絕對沒錯，就是他

父親——你那顆感恩的心一直以來期望見到的人兒。”

他的黑眼睛閃動著，驕傲的胸脯劇烈起伏著，他的臉頰上血液翻涌；

他到達了白發(fā)蒼蒼的領(lǐng)袖身邊，從馬上下來俯下身子，

他跪在地上，拿起了父親的手；

他摸到了什么，讓他那熾烈的勁頭發(fā)生動搖？

是冰冷冰冷的手——從他手中垂落；

他抬頭望望那張臉——那分明是死去的人的臉龐；

一陣風(fēng)吹過那蒼老的額頭——那額頭一動不動，顏色慘白；

他終于看到了父親的雙眼，但它們已經(jīng)毫無光澤！

他從地上一躍而起，凝望著，可是誰能描畫

他凝望的神色呢？

看到這神色中的恐懼和驚訝的人們都靜默下來，

他們本來可以在這位高貴的勇士站立前把他鎖起來；

因為他雙臂無力，臉上毫無血色。

“父親！”他最后低聲呢喃，然后向孩子一樣哭泣，

（沒看到戰(zhàn)士的眼淚的話，不要談悲傷。）

他想到自己所有光榮的希望，所有高貴的名聲，

然后從自己身邊抽出了刀，坐在地上。

戴著鋼絲手套的手搭在他那深色的憂傷的額頭上，

“不能再這樣了，不能再這樣了”，他說道，“現(xiàn)在應(yīng)該舉起劍來；

我的國王是騙子！他奪走了我的希望，我的父親——

哦！那些價值，光榮和愛戴，都從世間消失了！”

他再一次從地上一躍而起，抓住了君王的韁繩，

在臉色發(fā)白，疑惑不解的群臣中間；

他大喘著氣，騎著戰(zhàn)馬飛奔，

讓他們面對國王和死去的人！

“我來到這兒為了親吻我父親的手，

鎮(zhèn)定些，看看你，撒謊的國王！告訴我，

我尋找的是什么聲音，什么眼神，什么心？告訴我答案，

它們在哪里？

如果你不把欺騙的性格改掉的話，我就把你埋進這冰冷的泥土里！

“在那明亮的眼睛前點上燈，鎮(zhèn)定些，壓下你的怒火！

向這蒼白的雙唇說一下祝福的話語——這土地不是我的父親！

把我努力尋找的父親還給我，因為我是他的血脈！

你做不到嗎？你還是國王呢！我要把他的骨灰撒落在你的頭頂！”

他停下馬，他那松懈的手垂下；向著那靜靜的臉龐，

他投去了悠長、深沉而復(fù)雜的眼神，然后離開這個傷心之地。

他的希望都破滅了，在戰(zhàn)士們中間，沒有人說起他以后的命運，

他引領(lǐng)戟矛的戰(zhàn)旗不再飄揚在西班牙山地的上空！

——赫曼斯夫人（1793-1835）