CHAPTER X
Thus, like the sad presaging raven, that tolls The sick man's passport in her hollow beak, And in the shadow of the silent night Doth shake contagion from her sable wings; Vex'd and tormented, runs poor Barrabas, With fatal curses towards these Christians.
_Jew of Malta_.
The Disinherited Knight had no sooner reached his pavilion, than squires and pages in abundance tendered their services to disarm him, to bring fresh attire, and to offer him the refreshment of the bath. Their zeal on this occasion was perhaps sharpened by curiosity, since every one desired to know who the knight was that had gained so many laurels, yet had refused, even at the command of Prince John, to lift his visor or to name his name. But their officious inquisitiveness was not gratified. The Disinherited Knight refused all other assistance save that of his own squire, or rather yeoman---a clownish-looking man, who, wrapt in a cloak of dark-coloured felt, and having his head and face half-buried in a Norman bonnet made of black fur, seemed to affect the incognito as much as his master. All others being excluded from the tent, this attendant relieved his master from the more burdensome parts of his armour, and placed food and wine before him, which the exertions of the day rendered very acceptable.
The Knight had scarcely finished a hasty meal, ere his menial announced to him that five men, each leading a barbed steed, desired to speak with him. The Disinherited Knight had exchanged his armour for the long robe usually worn by those of his condition, which, being furnished with a hood, concealed the features, when such was the pleasure of the wearer, almost as completely as the visor of the helmet itself, but the twilight, which was now fast darkening, would of itself have rendered a disguise unnecessary, unless to persons to whom the face of an individual chanced to be particularly well known.
The Disinherited Knight, therefore, stept boldly forth to the front of his tent, and found in attendance the squires of the challengers, whom he easily knew by their russet and black dresses, each of whom led his master's charger, loaded with the armour in which he had that day fought.
``According to the laws of chivalry,'' said the foremost of these men, ``I, Baldwin de Oyley, squire to the redoubted Knight Brian de Bois-Guilbert, make offer to you, styling yourself, for the present, the Disinherited Knight, of the horse and armour used by the said Brian de Bois-Guilbert in this day's Passage of Arms, leaving it with your nobleness to retain or to ransom the same, according to your pleasure; for such is the law of arms.''
The other squires repeated nearly the same formula, and then stood to await the decision of the Disinherited Knight.
``To you four, sirs,'' replied the Knight, addressing those who had last spoken, ``and to your honourable and valiant masters, I have one common reply. Commend me to the noble knights, your masters, and say, I should do ill to deprive them of steeds and arms which can never be used by braver cavaliers.---I would I could here end my message to these gallant knights; but being, as I term myself, in truth and earnest, the Disinherited, I must be thus far bound to your masters, that they will, of their courtesy, be pleased to ransom their steeds and armour, since that which I wear I can hardly term mine own.''
``We stand commissioned, each of us,'' answered
the squire of Reginald Front-de-B
``It is sufficient,'' said the Disinherited Knight.
``Half the sum my present necessities compel me
to accept; of the remaining half, distribute one
moiety among yourselves, sir squires, and divide
the other half betwixt the heralds and the pursuivants,
and minstrels, and attendants.''
The squires, with cap in hand, and low reverences,
expressed their deep sense of a courtesy and
generosity not often practised, at least upon a scale
so extensive. The Disinherited Knight then addressed
his discourse to Baldwin, the squire of Brian
de Bois-Guilbert. ``From your master,'' said he,
``I will accept neither arms nor ransom. Say to
him in my name, that our strife is not ended---no,
not till we have fought as well with swords as with
lances---as well on foot as on horseback. To this
mortal quarrel he has himself defied me, and I shall
not forget the challenge.---Meantime, let him be
assured, that I hold him not as one of his companions,
with whom I can with pleasure exchange
courtesies; but rather as one with whom I stand
upon terms of mortal defiance.''
``My master,'' answered Baldwin, ``knows how
to requite scorn with scorn, and blows with blows,
as well as courtesy with courtesy, Since you disdain
to accept from him any share of the ransom at
which you have rated the arms of the other knights,
I must leave his armour and his horse here, being
well assured that he will never deign to mount the
one nor wear the other.''
``You have spoken well, good squire,'' said the
Disinherited Knight, ``well and boldly, as it beseemeth
him to speak who answers for an absent
master. Leave not, however, the horse and armour
here. Restore them to thy master; or, if he scorns
to accept them, retain them, good friend, for thine
own use. So far as they are mine, I bestow them
upon you freely.''
Baldwin made a deep obeisance, and retired with
his companions; and the Disinherited Knight entered
the pavilion.
``Thus far, Gurth,'' said he, addressing his attendant,
``the reputation of English chivalry hath
not suffered in my hands.''
``And I,'' said Gurth, ``for a Saxon swineherd,
have not ill played the personage of a Norman
squire-at-arms.''
``Yea, but,'' answered the Disinherited Knight,
thou hast ever kept me in anxiety lest thy clownish
bearing should discover thee.''
``Tush!'' said Gurth, ``I fear discovery from
none, saving my playfellow, Wamba the Jester, of
whom I could never discover whether he were most
knave or fool. Yet I could scarce choose but laugh,
when my old master passed so near to me, dreaming
all the while that Gurth was keeping his porkers
many a mile off, in the thickets and swamps of
Rotherwood. If I am discovered------''
``Enough,'' said the Disinherited Knight, ``thou
knowest my promise.''
``Nay, for that matter,'' said Gurth, ``I will
never fail my friend for fear of my skin-cutting. I
have a tough hide, that will bear knife or scourge
as well as any boar's hide in my herd.''
``Trust me, I will requite the risk you run for
my love, Gurth,'' said the Knight. ``Meanwhile,
I pray you to accept these ten pieces of gold.''
``I am richer,'' said Gurth, putting them into his
pouch, ``than ever was swineherd or bondsman.''
``Take this bag of gold to Ashby,'' continued
his master, ``and find out Isaac the Jew of York,
and let him pay himself for the horse and arms with
which his credit supplied me.''
``Nay, by St Dunstan,'' replied Gurth, ``that I
will not do.''
``How, knave,'' replied his master, ``wilt thou
not obey my commands?''
``So they be honest, reasonable, and Christian
commands,'' replied Gurth; ``but this is none of
these. To suffer the Jew to pay himself would be
dishonest, for it would be cheating my master; and
unreasonable, for it were the part of a fool; and unchristian,
since it would be plundering a believer
to enrich an infidel.''
``See him contented, however, thou stubborn
varlet,'' said the Disinherited Knight.
``I will do so,'' said Gurth, taking the bag under
his cloak, and leaving the apartment; ``and it
will go hard,'' he muttered, ``but I content him
with one-half of his own asking.'' So saying, he
departed, and left the Disinherited Knight to his
own perplexed ruminations; which, upon more accounts
than it is now possible to communicate to
the reader, were of a nature peculiarly agitating
and painful.
We must now change the scene to the village of
Ashby, or rather to a country house in its vicinity
belonging to a wealthy Israelite, with whom Isaac,
his daughter, and retinue, had taken up their quarters;
the Jews, it is well known, being as liberal
in exercising the duties of hospitality and charity
among their own people, as they were alleged to
be reluctant and churlish in extending them to those
whom they termed Gentiles, and whose treatment
of them certainly merited little hospitality at their
hand.
In an apartment, small indeed, but richly furnished
with decorations of an Oriental taste, Rebecca
was seated on a heap of embroidered cushions,
which, piled along a low platform that surrounded
the chamber, served, like the estrada of the Spaniards,
instead of chairs and stools. She was watching
the motions of her father with a look of anxious
and filial affection, while he paced the apartment
with a dejected mien and disordered step; sometimes
clasping his hands together---sometimes casting
his eyes to the roof of the apartment, as one
who laboured under great mental tribulation. ``O,
Jacob!'' he exclaimed---``O, all ye twelve Holy
Fathers of our tribe! what a losing venture is this
for one who hath duly kept every jot and tittle of
the law of Moses---Fifty zecchins wrenched from
me at one clutch, and by the talons of a tyrant!''
``But, father,'' said Rebecca, ``you seemed to
give the gold to Prince John willingly.''
``Willingly? the blotch of Egypt upon him!---
Willingly, saidst thou?---Ay, as willingly as when,
in the Gulf of Lyons, I flung over my merchandise
to lighten the ship, while she laboured in the
tempest---robed the seething billows in my choice
silks---perfumed their briny foam with myrrh and
aloes---enriched their caverns with gold and silver
work! And was not that an hour of unutterable
misery, though my own hands made the sacrifice?''
``But it was a sacrifice which Heaven exacted
to save our lives,'' answered Rebecca, ``and the
God of our fathers has since blessed your store and
your gettings.''
``Ay,'' answered Isaac, ``but if the tyrant lays
hold on them as he did to-day, and compels me to
smile while he is robbing me?---O, daughter, disinherited
and wandering as we are, the worst evil
which befalls our race is, that when we are wronged
and plundered, all the world laughs around, and we
are compelled to suppress our sense of injury, and
to smile tamely, when we would revenge bravely.''
``Think not thus of it, my father,'' said Rebecca;
``we also have advantages. These Gentiles, cruel
and oppressive as they are, are in some sort dependent
on the dispersed children of Zion, whom
they despise and persecute. Without the aid of
our wealth, they could neither furnish forth their
hosts in war, nor their triumphs in peace, and the
gold which we lend them returns with increase to
our coffers. We are like the herb which flourisheth
most when it is most trampled on. Even this day's
pageant had not proceeded without the consent of
the despised Jew, who furnished the means.''
``Daughter,'' said Isaac, ``thou hast harped upon
another string of sorrow. The goodly steed and
the rich armour, equal to the full profit of my
adventure with our Kirjath Jairam of Leicester---
there is a dead loss too---ay, a loss which swallows
up the gains of a week; ay, of the space between
two Sabaoths---and yet it may end better than I
now think, for 'tis a good youth.''
``Assuredly,'' said Rebecca, ``you shall not repent
you of requiting the good deed received of the
stranger knight.''
``I trust so, daughter,'' said Isaac, ``and I trust
too in the rebuilding of Zion; but as well do I
hope with my own bodily eyes to see the walls and
battlements of the new Temple, as to see a Christian,
yea, the very best of Christians, repay a debt
to a Jew, unless under the awe of the judge and
jailor.''
So saying, he resumed his discontented walk
through the apartment; and Rebecca, perceiving
that her attempts at consolation only served to
awaken new subjects of complaint, wisely desisted
from her unavailing efforts---a prudential line of
conduct, and we recommend to all who set up for
comforters and advisers, to follow it in the like circumstances.
The evening was now becoming dark, when a
Jewish servant entered the apartment, and placed
upon the table two silver lamps, fed with perfumed
oil; the richest wines, and the most delicate refreshments,
were at the same time displayed by
another Israelitish domestic on a small ebony table,
inlaid with silver; for, in the interior of their
houses, the Jews refused themselves no expensive
indulgences. At the same time the servant informed
Isaac, that a Nazarene (so they termed
Christians, while conversing among themselves)
desired to speak with him. He that would live by
traffic, must hold himself at the disposal of every
one claiming business with him. Isaac at once replaced
on the table the untasted glass of Greek
wine which he had just raised to his lips, and saying
hastily to his daughter, ``Rebecca, veil thyself,''
commanded the stranger to be admitted.
Just as Rebecca had dropped over her fine features
a screen of silver gauze which reached to her
feet, the door opened, and Gurth entered, wrapt in
the ample folds of his Norman mantle. His appearance
was rather suspicious than prepossessing,
especially as, instead of doffing his bonnet, he pulled
it still deeper over his rugged brow.
``Art thou Isaac the Jew of York?'' said Gurth,
in Saxon.
``I am,'' replied Isaac, in the same language,
(for his traffic had rendered every tongue spoken
in Britain familiar to him)---``and who art thou?''
``That is not to the purpose,'' answered Gurth.
``As much as my name is to thee,'' replied Isaac;
``for without knowing thine, how can I hold intercourse
with thee?''
``Easily,'' answered Gurth; ``I, being to pay
money, must know that I deliver it to the right
person; thou, who are to receive it, will not, I
think, care very greatly by whose hands it is delivered.''
``O,'' said the Jew, ``you are come to pay moneys?
---Holy Father Abraham! that altereth our
relation to each other. And from whom dost thou
bring it?''
``From the Disinherited Knight,'' said Gurth,
``victor in this day's tournament. It is the price
of the armour supplied to him by Kirjath Jairam
of Leicester, on thy recommendation. The steed
is restored to thy stable. I desire to know the
amount of the sum which I am to pay for the
armour.''
``I said he was a good youth!'' exclaimed Isaac
with joyful exultation. ``A cup of wine will do
thee no harm,'' he added, filling and handing to the
swineherd a richer drought than Gurth had ever
before tasted. "And how much money,'' continued
Isaac, ``has thou brought with thee?''
``Holy Virgin!'' said Gurth, setting down the
cup, ``what nectar these unbelieving dogs drink,
while true Christians are fain to quaff ale as muddy
and thick as the draff we give to hogs!---What
money have I brought with me?'' continued the
Saxon, when he had finished this uncivil ejaculation,
``even but a small sum; something in hand
the whilst. What, Isaac! thou must bear a conscience,
though it be a Jewish one.''
``Nay, but,'' said Isaac, ``thy master has won
goodly steeds and rich armours with the strength
of his lance, and of his right hand---but 'tis a good
youth---the Jew will take these in present payment,
and render him back the surplus.''
``My master has disposed of them already,'' said
Gurth.
``Ah! that was wrong,'' said the Jew, ``that
was the part of a fool. No Christians here could
buy so many horses and armour---no Jew except
myself would give him half the values. But thou
hast a hundred zecchins with thee in that bag,'' said
Isaac, prying under Gurth's cloak, ``it is a heavy
one.''
``I have heads for cross-bow bolts in it,'' said
Gurth, readily.
``Well, then''---said Isaac, panting and hesitating
between habitual love of gain and a new-born desire
to be liberal in the present instance, ``if I should
say that I would take eighty zecchins for the good
steed and the rich armour, which leaves me not a
guilder's profit, have you money to pay me?''
``Barely,'' said Gurth, though the sum demanded
was more reasonable than he expected, ``and it
will leave my master nigh penniless. Nevertheless,
if such be your least offer, I must be content.''
``Fill thyself another goblet of wine,'' said the
Jew. ``Ah! eighty zecchins is too little. It leaveth
no profit for the usages of the moneys; and, besides,
the good horse may have suffered wrong in
this day's encounter. O, it was a hard and a dangerous
meeting! man and steed rushing on each
other like wild bulls of Bashan! The horse cannot
but have had wrong.''
``And I say,'' replied Gurth, ``he is sound, wind
and limb; and you may see him now, in your stable.
And I say, over and above, that seventy zecchins
is enough for the armour, and I hope a Christian's
word is as good as a Jew's. If you will not take
seventy, I will carry this bag'' (and he shook it till
the contents jingled) ``back to my master.''
``Nay, nay!'' said Isaac; ``lay down the talents
---the shekels---the eighty zecchins, and thou shalt
see I will consider thee liberally.''
Gurth at length complied; and telling out eighty
zecchins upon the table, the Jew delivered out to
him an acquittance for the horse and suit of armour.
The Jew's hand trembled for joy as he wrapped up
the first seventy pieces of gold. The last ten he
told over with much deliberation, pausing, and saying
something as he took each piece from the table,
and dropt it into his purse. It seemed as if his
avarice were struggling with his better nature, and
compelling him to pouch zecchin after zecchin while
his generosity urged him to restore some part at
least to his benefactor, or as a donation to his agent.
His whole speech ran nearly thus:
``Seventy-one---seventy-two; thy master is a
good youth---seventy-three, an excellent youth---
seventy-four---that piece hath been clipt within the
ring---seventy-five---and that looketh light of weight
---seventy-six---when thy master wants money, let
him come to Isaac of York---seventy-seven---that
is, with reasonable security.'' Here he made a considerable
pause, and Gurth had good hope that the
last three pieces might escape the fate of their comrades;
but the enumeration proceeded.---``Seventy-eight---
thou art a good fellow---seventy-nine---
and deservest something for thyself------''
Here the Jew paused again, and looked at the
last zecchin, intending, doubtless, to bestow it upon
Gurth. He weighed it upon the tip of his finger,
and made it ring by dropping it upon the table.
Had it rung too flat, or had it felt a hair's breadth
too light, generosity had carried the day; but, unhappily
for Gurth, the chime was full and true, the
zecchin plump, newly coined, and a grain above
weight. Isaac could not find in his heart to part
with it, so dropt it into his purse as if in absence of
mind, with the words, ``Eighty completes the tale,
and I trust thy master will reward thee handsomely.
---Surely,'' he added, looking earnestly at the bag,
``thou hast more coins in that pouch?''
Gurth grinned, which was his nearest approach
to a laugh, as he replied, ``About the same quantity
which thou hast just told over so carefully.''
He then folded the quittance, and put it under his
cap, adding,---``Peril of thy heard, Jew, see that
this be full and ample!'' He filled himself unbidden,
a third goblet of wine, and left the apartment
without ceremony.
``Rebecca,'' said the Jew, ``that Ishmaelite hath
gone somewhat beyond me. Nevertheless his master
is a good youth---ay, and I am well pleased that
he hath gained shekels of gold and shekels of silver,
even by the speed of his horse and by the strength
of his lance, which, like that of Goliath the Philistine,
might vie with a weaver's beam.''
As he turned to receive Rebecca's answer, he
observed, that during his chattering with Gurth, she
had left the apartment unperceived.
In the meanwhile, Gurth had descended the stair,
and, having reached the dark antechamber or hall,
was puzzling about to discover the entrance, when
a figure in white, shown by a small silver lamp
which she held in her hand, beckoned him into a
side apartment. Gurth had some reluctance to obey
the summons. Rough and impetuous as a wild
boar, where only earthly force was to be apprehended,
he had all the characteristic terrors of a
Saxon respecting fawns, forest-fiends, white women,
and the whole of the superstitions which his ancestors
had brought with them from the wilds of Germany.
He remembered, moreover, that he was in
the house of a Jew, a people who, besides the other
unamiable qualities which popular report ascribed
to them, were supposed to be profound necromancers
and cabalists. Nevertheless, after a moment's
pause, he obeyed the beckoning summons of the
apparition, and followed her into the apartment
which she indicated, where he found to his joyful
surprise that his fair guide was the beautiful Jewess
whom he had seen at the tournament, and a short
time in her father's apartment.
She asked him the particulars of his transaction
with Isaac, which he detailed accurately.
``My father did but jest with thee, good fellow,''
said Rebecca; ``he owes thy master deeper kindness
than these arms and steed could pay, were
their value tenfold. What sum didst thou pay my
father even now?''
``Eighty zecchins,'' said Gurth, surprised at the
question.
``In this purse,'' said Rebecca, ``thou wilt find a
hundred. Restore to thy master that which is his
due, and enrich thyself with the remainder. Haste
---begone---stay not to render thanks! and beware
how you pass through this crowded town, where
thou mayst easily lose both thy burden and thy
life.---Reuben,'' she added, clapping her hands together,
``light forth this stranger, and fail not to
draw lock and bar behind him.''
Reuben, a dark-brow'd and black-bearded Israelite,
obeyed her summons, with a torch in his hand;
undid the outward door of the house, and conducting
Gurth across a paved court, let him out through
a wicket in the entrance-gate, which he closed behind
him with such bolts and chains as would well
have become that of a prison.
``By St Dunstan,'' said Gurth, as he stumbled
up the dark avenue, ``this is no Jewess, but an angel
from heaven! Ten zecchins from my brave young
master---twenty from this pearl of Zion---Oh, happy
day!---Such another, Gurth, will redeem thy
bondage, and make thee a brother as free of thy
guild as the best. And then do I lay down my
swineherd's horn and staff, and take the freeman's
sword and buckler, and follow my young master to
the death, without hiding either my face or my name.''
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