Rebecca the Jewess, when condemned to death for sorcery by the Grand Master of the Order of Knights Templars, challenged the privilege of “Trial by Combat,” in proof of her innocence. Her challenge was accepted, and Sir Brian, a valiant Templar, was named the champion of the holy Order.

Rebecca had difficulty in finding a messenger who would undertake to carry a letter to her father, Isaac of York; at last Higg, the son of Snell, a poor cripple whom she had befriended, volunteered his services.

“I am but a maimed man,” he said, “but that I can at all stir is owing to her charitable aid.—I will do thine errand,” he added, turning to Rebecca, “as well as a crippled object can.—Alas! when I boasted of thy charity, I little thought that I was leading thee into danger.”

“God,” said Rebecca, “is the Disposer of all. He can turn back the captivity of Judah even by the weakest instrument. Seek out Isaac of York—here is that will pay for horse and man—let him have this scroll. Farewell! —Life and death are in thy haste.”

Within a quarter of a mile from the gate of the Preceptory the peasant met two riders, whom, by their dress and yellow caps, he knew to be Jews; and, on approaching more nearly, he discovered that one of them was his ancient employer, Isaac of York. The other was the Rabbi Ben Samuel; and both had approached as near to the Preceptory as they dared, on hearing that the Grand Master had summoned a chapter, or meeting of the Order, for the trial of a sorceress.-

“How now, brother?” said Ben Samuel, interrupting his harangue to look towards Isaac, who had but glanced at the scroll which Higg offered, when, uttering a deep groan, he fell from his mule like a dying man, and lay for a minute insensible.

The Rabbi now dismounted in great alarm, and hastily applied the remedies which his art suggested for the recovery of his companion. He had even taken from his pocket a cupping apparatus, and was about to use it, when the object of his solicitude suddenly revived; but it was to dash his cap from his head, and to throw dust on his gray hairs. The physician was at first inclined to ascribe this sudden and violent emotion to the effects of insanity; and, adhering to his original purpose, began once again to handle his implements. But Isaac soon convinced him of his error.

“Child of my sorrow,” he said, “well shouldst thou be called Benoni, instead of Rebecca! Why should thy death bring down my gray hairs to the grave?”

“Brother,” said the Rabbi, in great surprise, “I trust that the child of thy house yet liveth?”

“She liveth,” answered Isaac, “but she is captive unto those men of Be'lial, and they will wreak their cruelty upon her, sparing her neither for her youth nor her comely favour. Oh, she was as a crown of green palms to my gray locks; and she must wither in a night, like the gourd of Jonah! Child of my love! child of my old age! —O Rebecca, daughter of Rachel, the darkness of the shadow of death hath encompassed thee.”

“Yet read the scroll,” said the Rabbi; “peradventure it may be that we may yet find out a way of deliverance.”

“Do thou read, brother,” answered Isaac, “for mine eyes are as fountains of water.”The physician read, but in their native language, the following Words:—

“To Isaac, the son of Adoni'kam, whom the Gentiles call Isaac of York, peace and the blessing of the promise be multiplied unto thee.

“My father, I am as one doomed to die for that which my soul knoweth not —even for the crime of witchcraft. My father, if a strong man can be found to do battle for my cause with sword and spear, according to the custom of the Nazarenes, and that within the lists of Tem'plestowe, on the third day from this time, peradventure our fathers' God will give him strength to defend the innocent, and her who hath none to help her. But if this may not be, let the virgins of our people mourn for me as for one cast off, and for the hart that is stricken by the hunter, and for the flower which is cut down by the scythe of the mower. Wherefore, look now what thou doest, and whether there be any rescue.

“One Nazarene warrior might, indeed, bear arms in my behalf, even Wilfred, son of Ced'ric, whom the Gentiles call I'vanhoe. But he may not yet endure the weight of his armour. Nevertheless, send the tidings unto him, my father; for he hath favour among the strong men of his people, and as he was our companion in the house of bondage, he may find some one to do battle for my sake. And say unto him, even unto him, even unto Wilfred, the son of Cedric, that if Rebecca live, or if Rebecca die, she liveth or dieth wholly free of the guilt she is charged withal.

“And if it be the will of God that thou shalt be deprived of thy daughter, do not thou tarry, old man, in this land of bloodshed and cruelty; but betake thyself to Cordo'va, where thy brother liveth in safety, under the shadow of the throne, even of the throne of Boab'dil the Sar'acen: for less cruel are the cruelties of the Moors unto the race of Jacob than the cruelties of the Nazarenes of England.”

Isaac listened with tolerable composure while Ben Samuel read the letter, and then again resumed the gestures and exclamations of Oriental sorrow, tearing his garments, besprinkling his head with dust, and ejaculating, “My daughter! my daughter!”

“Yet,” said the Rabbi, “take courage, for this grief availeth nothing. Seek out this Wilfred, the son of Cedric. It may be he will help thee with counsel or with strength;for the youth hath favour in the eyes of Richard, called of the Nazarenes the Lion-Heart, and the tidings that he hath returned are constant in the land. It may be that he may obtain his letter, and his signet, commanding these men of blood, who take their name from the Temple, to the dishonour thereof, that they proceed not in their purposed wickedness.”

“I will seek him out,” said Isaac; “for he is a good youth, and hath compassion for the exile of Jacob. But he cannot bear his armour, and what other Christian shall do battle for the oppressed of Zion?”

—Sir W. Scott

Words

availeth,profiteth.

bondage,slavery.

challenged,claimed.

companion,associate.

compassion,pity.

cruelties,atrocities.

deliverance,release.

deprived,bereft.

discovered,found.

dishonour,shame.

ejaculating,exclaiming.

employer,master.

encompassed,surrounded.

gestures,actions.

harangue,speech.

implements,apparatus.

insanity,delirium.

insensible,unconscious.

multiplied,increased.

peradventure,perchance.

physician,healer.

privilege,right.

remedies,restoratives.

solicitude,anxiety.

sorcery,witchcraft.

summoned,called.

volunteered,offered freely.

Questions

What privilege did Rebecca claim when she had been condemned? Who was named the champion of the Temple? Who at last volunteered to carry her letter? Where did he meet Isaac? What effect had the perusal of Rebecca's letter upon the latter? Who accompanied him? Whose help did Rebecca ask him to obtain?

猶太女人麗貝卡，當被騎士團團長因其使用巫術而判處死刑時，挑戰決斗裁判的特權，以證明自己的清白。兵團接收了她的挑戰，布萊恩爵士——一位英勇的圣殿騎士，被任命為維護神圣秩序的戰士。

麗貝卡在萬難之中，終于找到一個人，愿意幫她把信帶給她的父親艾薩克·約克，最終，她認識的一個可憐的跛子——斯奈爾的孩子海格，自愿完成這項任務。

“我只是一個殘疾人，”他說道，“但是我的所有行動都歸功于你對我仁慈的幫助。我將做你吩咐的事，”他轉身面向麗貝卡補充道，“像我這樣的殘疾人，雖然我贊美你的仁慈，但是我不認為我會把你帶入危險之中。”

麗貝卡說道：“上帝是處置一切的人。他甚至可以用最無理的手段，把猶大給帶走。找到艾薩克·約克，讓他看看這個卷軸。這是用來支付你需要的馬匹和人手的錢。再見了！我的生死全取決于你的速度了。”

在離開圣殿騎士的大門四分之一英里遠的時候，這個農民遇到了兩個騎士。從他們的衣著和那顯眼的黃帽子上，他可以看出他們是猶太人。他們慢慢地走近了，他發現其中一個是他原來的雇主艾薩克·約克，另一個是拉比本·賽彌爾，他們兩人冒險接近圣騎士的領地。他們能夠聽見騎士團長在宣布一件大事，要對一個女巫進行審判。

“怎么樣了，兄弟？”本·賽彌爾打斷了他的長篇大論，看向艾薩克。艾薩克只瞥了一眼海格給他的卷軸，然后悶哼了一聲。他像一個奄奄一息的人一樣，從驢子上掉了下來，一分鐘之內都毫無知覺地躺著。

拉比驚恐地下了馬，馬上對他的同伴實施急救。他甚至從他的口袋里拿出了一個火罐，想要用它。當他關心的同伴突然蘇醒過來時，他只能匆忙將他頭上戴的帽子拿下來，拂去他蒼白的臉頰上的灰燼。起初，這個醫生更偏向于將這種突然而強烈的情感歸因于精神錯亂的影響，而他還是堅持自己原來的打算，開始再一次使用他的工具來治療他，但艾薩克馬上讓他相信他弄錯了。

“孩子，你受苦了，”他說道，“你應該叫作貝諾尼而不是麗貝卡！為什么你的死亡，會將我的生命也帶進墳墓之中？”

“兄弟，”拉比異常驚訝地說道，“我相信你家的孩子還活著。”

“她還活著，”艾薩克說道，“但她被貝利奧的人俘虜了，他們會用盡殘忍的手段來虐待她，她的年輕和美麗的容貌都不可能使她得到偏袒。她就像我頭上棕櫚葉做成的花冠一樣。但她一定會在晚上枯萎，像猶大的葫蘆一樣！我親愛的孩子啊，我長大的孩子啊，哦，麗貝卡，瑞秋的女兒，死亡的黑暗陰影正籠罩著你！”

“讀讀卷軸吧，”拉比說道，“如果可能，我們也許會找到一個解救她的辦法。”

“你看吧，兄弟，”艾薩克回答道，“因為我的眼睛已經淚如泉涌了。”

醫生讀著卷軸。卷軸用他們的母語寫成，寫了如下一段話：

“致艾薩克，安東尼·凱姆的兒子，人們都稱其為艾森克·約克。和平和承諾將給你祝福。

“我的父親，我是注定要死去的，雖然我的靈魂不這么想，我是因為巫術而犯下了罪。我的父親，如果能夠找到一個健壯的人，為了贏得我的官司，根據拿撒勒派的習俗和他們列表里的內容，從現在開始的第三天，用劍和矛為我戰斗。也許我們的列祖列宗將賜予他力量，讓他去保衛那些無辜的人，去保衛那個沒有人可以幫助的她。但如果這些都沒有發生，就讓我們的人民為我哀悼，因為我得到了解脫。讓他們同樣為了獵人傷害的馴鹿，為了那些被大鐮刀砍掉的花朵而哀悼。因此，看看是否還有什么營救我的方法。

“事實上，一個拿撒勒派的勇士可能會代表我拿起武器，可能是塞德里克的兒子威爾弗雷德。但他也許無法承受他沉重的武器。然而，發一條信息給他，我的父親。因為他偏袒了他的人民之中的那些強壯之人，因為作為我們的朋友，他同樣受到了奴役。他可能會找到一個愿意為我戰斗的人。告訴他，甚至告訴塞德里克的兒子威爾弗雷德，就說，不管麗貝卡是活著還是死了，她都完全沒有犯下她被判決的這些罪行。”

“如果這是上帝的旨意，要奪走你女兒的性命，那么，我的老父親，絕對不要逗留！不要逗留在這片血腥而殘酷的大地之上。你要盡快去卡多瓦，你的兄弟在那里安全地生活著，生活在王位的庇護之下。因為摩爾人對于雅各的族人，比起英國人來，沒有那么殘忍。”

艾薩克從容淡定地聽完了本·賽彌爾讀完這封信，接著，他再一次變成了那個姿勢，大聲地呼喊著，雙手扯裂了自己的上衣，披散著頭發，仰天大喊道：“我的女兒！我的女兒！”

“但是，”拉比說道，“鼓起你的勇氣，現在我們需要的不是悲傷。找到塞德里克的兒子威爾弗雷德。或許他會給你一些建議和力量。在理查德的眼中，這個青年受到了青睞，被稱為拿撒勒的獅心王。他一定會回到這片土地。也許他可以得到他的信和印章，繼而命令那些好戰的人們，那些從神廟中得到自己名字的人們，他們因此不應該向著邪惡前行。”

“我會找到他的，”艾薩克說，“他是一個好青年，他對于雅各族人的流亡表示同情。但是如果他不能拿起他的武器，而其他的基督徒，會為了錫安族人的受壓迫而參與到斗爭中來嗎？”

——沃爾特·司各特爵士