英语听力 学英语,练听力,上听力课堂! 注册 登录
> 在线听力 > 有声读物 > 世界名著 > 译林版·王子与贫儿 >  第16篇

双语·王子与贫儿 第十五章 汤姆当了国王

所属教程:译林版·王子与贫儿

浏览:

2022年06月05日

手机版
扫描二维码方便学习和分享

Chapter XV.Tom as King

The next day the foreign ambassadors came, with their gorgeous trains;and Tom, throned in awful state, received them.The splendours of the scene delighted his eye and fired his imagination at first, but the audience was long and dreary, and so were most of the addresses—wherefore, what began as a pleasure, grew into weariness and home-sickness by and by.Tom said the words which Hertford put into his mouth from time to time, and tried hard to acquit himself satisfactorily, but he was too new to such things, and too ill at ease to accomplish more than a tolerable success.He looked sufficiently like a king, but he was ill able to feel like one.He was cordially glad when the ceremony was ended.

The larger part of his day was “wasted”—as he termed it, in his own mind—in labours pertaining to his royal office.Even the two hours devoted to certain princely pastimes and recreations were rather a burden to him than otherwise, they were so fettered by restrictions and ceremonious observances.However, he had a private hour with his whipping-boy which he counted clear gain, since he got both entertainment and needful information out of it.

The third day of Tom Canty's kingship came and went much as the others had done, but there was a lifting of his cloud in one way—he felt less uncomfortable than at first;he was getting a little used to his circumstances and surroundings;his chains still galled, but not all the time;he found that the presence and homage of the great afflicted and embarrassed him less and less sharply with every hour that drifted over his head.

But for one single dread, he could have seen the fourth day approach without serious distress—the dining in public;it was to begin that day.There were greater matters in the program—for on that day he would have to preside at a council which would take his views and commands concerning the policy to be pursued toward various foreign nations scattered far and near over the great globe;on that day, too, Hertford would be formally chosen to the grand office of Lord Protector;other things of note were appointed for that fourth day also, but to Tom they were all insignificant compared with the ordeal of dining all by himself with a multitude of curious eyes fastened upon him and a multitude of mouths whispering comments upon his performance—and upon his mistakes, if he should be so unlucky as to make any.

Still, nothing could stop that fourth day, and so it came.

It found poor Tom low-spirited and absent-minded, and this mood continued;he could not shake it off.The ordinary duties of the morning dragged upon his hands, and wearied him.Once more he felt the sense of captivity heavy upon him.

Late in the forenoon he was in a large audience chamber, conversing with the Earl of Hertford and duly awaiting the striking of the hour appointed for a visit of ceremony from a considerable number of great officials and courtiers.

After a little while Tom, who had wandered to a window and become interested in the life and movement of the great highway beyond the palace gates—and not idly interested, longing with all his heart to take part in person in its stir and freedom—saw the van of a hooting and shouting mob of disorderly men, women, and children of the lowest and poorest degree approaching from up the road.

“I would I knew what 'tis about!”he exclaimed, with all a boy's curiosity in such happenings.

“Thou art the king!”solemnly responded the earl, with a reverence.“Have I your grace's leave to act?”

“Oh, blithely, yes!Oh, gladly, yes!”exclaimed Tom excitedly, adding to himself with a lively sense of satisfaction,“In truth, being a king is not all dreariness—it hath its compensations and conveniences.”

The earl called a page, and sent him to the captain of the guard with the order:

“Let the mob be halted, and inquiry made concerning the occasion of its movement.By the king's command!”

A few seconds later a long rank of the royal guards, cased in flashing steel, filed out at the gates and formed across the highway in front of the multitude.A messenger returned, to report that the crowd were following a man, a woman, and a young girl to execution for crimes committed against the peace and dignity of the realm.

Death—and a violent death—for these poor unfortunates!The thought wrung Tom's heartstrings.The spirit of compassion took control of him, to the exclusion of all other considerations;he never thought of the offended laws, or of the grief or loss which these three criminals had inflicted upon their victims, he could think of nothing but the scaffold and the grisly fate hanging over the heads of the condemned.His concern made him even forget, for the moment, that he was but the false shadow of a king, not the substance;and before he knew it he had blurted out the command:

“Bring them here!”

Then he blushed scarlet, and a sort of apology sprung to his lips;but observing that his order had wrought no sort of surprise in the earl or the waiting page, he suppressed the words he was about to utter.The page, in the most matter-of-course way, made a profound obeisance and retired backward out of the room to deliver the command.Tom experienced a glow of pride and a renewed sense of the compensating advantages of the kingly office.He said to himself,“Truly it is like what I used to feel when I read the old priest's tales, and did imagine mine own self a prince, giving law and command to all, saying ‘Do this, do that,'while none durst offer let or hindrance to my will.”

Now the doors swung open;one high-sounding title after another was announced, the personages owning them followed, and the place was quickly half filled with noble folk and finery.But Tom was hardly conscious of the presence of these people, so wrought up was he and so intensely absorbed in that other and more interesting matter.He seated himself, absently, in his chair of state, and turned his eyes upon the door with manifestations of impatient expectancy;seeing which, the company forbore to trouble him, and fell to chatting a mixture of public business and court gossip one with another.

In a little while the measured tread of military men was heard approaching, and the culprits entered the presence in charge of an under-sheriff and escorted by a detail of the king's guard.The civil officer knelt before Tom, then stood aside;the three doomed persons knelt also, and remained so;the guard took position behind Tom's chair.Tom scanned the prisoners curiously.Something about the dress or appearance of the man had stirred a vague memory in him.“Methinks I have seen this man ere now……but the when or the where fail me.”—Such was Tom's thought.Just then the man glanced quickly up, and quickly dropped his face again, not being able to endure the awful port of sovereignty;but the one full glimpse of the face, which Tom got, was sufficient.He said to himself:“Now is the matter clear;this is the stranger that plucked Giles Witt out of the Thames, and saved his life that windy, bitter first day of the new year—a brave, good deed—pity he hath been doing baser ones and got himself in this sad case……I have not forgot the day, neither the hour;by reason that an hour after, upon the stroke of eleven, I did get a hiding by the hand of Gammer Canty which was of so goodly and admired severity that all that went before or followed after it were but fondlings and caresses by comparison.”

Tom now ordered that the woman and the girl be removed from the presence for a little time;then addressed himself to the under-sheriff, saying:

“Good sir, what is this man's offense?”

The officer knelt, and answered:

“So please your majesty, he hath taken the life of a subject by poison.”

Tom's compassion for the prisoner, and admiration of him as the daring rescuer of a drowning boy, experienced a most damaging shock.

“The thing was proven upon him?”he asked.

“Most clearly, sire.”

Tom sighed, and said:

“Take him away—he hath earned his death.'Tis a pity, for he was a brave heart—na—na, I mean he hath the look of it!”

The prisoner clasped his hands together with sudden energy, and wrung them despairingly, at the same time appealing imploringly to the “king”in broken and terrified phrases:

“Oh, my lord the king, an'thou canst pity the lost, have pity upon me!I am innocent—neither hath that wherewith I am charged been more than but lamely proved—yet I speak not of that;the judgment is gone forth against me and may not suffer alteration;yet in mine extremity I beg a boon, for my doom is more than I can bear.A grace, a grace, my lord the king!in thy royal compassion grant my prayer—give commandment that I be hanged!”

Tom was amazed.This was not the outcome he had looked for.

“Odds my life, a strange boon!Was it not the fate intended thee?”

“Oh, good my liege, not so!It is ordered that I be boiled alive!”

The hideous surprise of these words almost made Tom spring from his chair.As soon as he could recover his wits he cried out:

“Have thy wish, poor soul!an'thou had poisoned a hundred men thou shouldst not suffer so miserable a death.”

The prisoner bowed his face to the ground and burst into passionate expressions of gratitude—ending with:

“If ever thou shouldst know misfortune—which God forbid!—may thy goodness to me this day be remembered and requited!”

Tom turned to the Earl of Hertford, and said:

“My lord, it is believable that there was warrant for this man's ferocious doom?”

“It is the law, your grace—for poisoners.In Germany coiners be boiled to death in oil—not cast in of a sudden, but by a rope let down into the oil by degrees, and slowly;first the feet, then the legs, then—”

“Oh, prithee, no more, my lord, I cannot bear it!”cried Tom, covering his eyes with his hands to shut out the picture.“I beseech your good lordship that order be taken to change this law—oh, let no more poor creatures be visited with its tortures.”

The earl's face showed profound gratification, for he was a man of merciful and generous impulses—a thing not very common with his class in that fierce age.He said:

“These your grace's noble words have sealed its doom.History will remember it to the honour of your royal house.”

The under-sheriff was about to remove his prisoner;Tom gave him a sign to wait;then he said:

“Good sir, I would look into this matter further.The man has said his deed was but lamely proved.Tell me what thou knowest.”

“If the king's grace please, it did appear upon the trial that this man entered into a house in the hamlet of Islington where one lay sick—three witnesses say it was at ten of the clock in the morning, and two say it was some minutes later—the sick man being alone at the time, and sleeping—and presently the man came forth again and went his way.The sick man died within the hour, being torn with spasms and retchings.”

“Did any see the poison given?Was poison found?”

“Marry, no, my liege.”

“Then how doth one know there was poison given at all?”

“Please your Majesty, the doctors testified that none die with such symptoms but by poison.”

Weighty evidence, this—in that simple age.Tom recognised its formidable nature, and said:

“The doctor knoweth his trade—belike they were right.The matter hath an ill look for this poor man.”

“Yet was not this all, your majesty;there is more and worse.Many testified that a witch, since gone from the village, none know whither, did foretell, and speak it privately in their ears, that the sick man would die by poison—and more, that a stranger would give it—a stranger with brown hair and clothed in a worn and common garb;and surely this prisoner doth answer woundily to the bill.Please, your majesty, to give the circumstance that solemn weight which is its due, seeing it was foretold.”

This was an argument of tremendous force, in that superstitious day.Tom felt that the thing was settled;if evidence was worth anything, this poor fellow's guilt was proved.Still he offered the prisoner a chance, saying:

“If thou canst say aught in thy behalf, speak.”

“Naught that will avail, my king.I am innocent, yet cannot I make it appear.I have no friends, else might I show that I was not in Islington that day;so also might I show that at that hour they name I was above a league away, seeing I was at Wapping Old Stairs;yea more, my king, for I could show, that whilst they say I was taking life, I was saving it.A drowning boy—”

“Peace!Sheriff, name the day the deed was done!”

“At ten in the morning, or some minutes later, the first day of the new year, most illustrious—”

“Let the prisoner go free—it is the king's will!”

Another blush followed this unregal outburst, and he covered his indecorum as well as he could by adding:

“It enrageth me that a man should be hanged upon such idle, hare-brained evidence!”

A low buzz of admiration swept through the assemblage.It was not admiration of the decree that had been delivered by Tom, for the propriety or expediency of pardoning a convicted poisoner was a thing which few there would have felt justified in either admitting or admiring—no, the admiration was for the intelligence and spirit which Tom had displayed.Some of the low-voiced remarks were to this effect:

“This is no mad king—he hath his wits sound.”

“How sanely he put his questions—how like his former natural self was this abrupt, imperious disposal of the matter!”

“God be thanked, his infirmity is spent!This is no weakling, but a king.He hath borne himself like to his own father.”

The air being filled with applause, Tom's ear necessarily caught a little of it.The effect which this had upon him was to put him greatly at his ease, and also to charge his system with very gratifying sensations.

However, his juvenile curiosity soon rose superior to these pleasant thoughts and feelings;he was eager to know what sort of deadly mischief the woman and the little girl could have been about;so, by his command the two terrified and sobbing creatures were brought before him.

“What is it that these have done?”he inquired of the sheriff.

“Please your majesty, a black crime is charged upon them, and clearly proven;wherefore the judges have decreed, according to the law, that they be hanged.They sold themselves to the devil—such is their crime.”

Tom shuddered.He had been taught to abhor people who did this wicked thing.Still, he was not going to deny himself the pleasure of feeding his curiosity, for all that;so he asked:

“Where was this done?—and when?”

“On a midnight in December—in a ruined church, your majesty.”

Tom shuddered again.

“Who was there present?”

“Only these two, your grace—and that other.”

“Have these confessed?”

“Nay, not so, sire—they do deny it.”

“Then, prithee, how was it known?”

“Certain witnesses did see them wending thither, good your majesty;this bred the suspicion, and dire effects have since confirmed and justified it.In particular, it is in evidence that through the wicked power so obtained, they did invoke and bring about a storm that wasted all the region round about.Above forty witnesses have proved the storm;and sooth one might have had a thousand, for all had reason to remember it, sith all had suffered by it.”

“Certes this is a serious matter.”Tom turned this dark piece of scoundrelism over in his mind awhile, then asked:

“Suffered the woman also by the storm?”

Several old heads among the assemblage nodded their recognition of the wisdom of this question.The sheriff, however, saw nothing consequential in the inquiry;he answered, with simple directness:

“Indeed did she, your majesty, and most righteously, as all aver.Her habitation was swept away, and herself and child left shelterless.”

“Methinks the power to do herself so ill a turn was dearly bought.She had been cheated, had she paid but a farthing for it;that she paid her soul, and her child's, argueth that she is mad;if she is mad she knoweth not what she doth, therefore sinneth not.”

The elderly heads nodded recognition of Tom's wisdom once more, and one individual murmured,“An'the king be mad himself, according to report, then is it a madness of a sort that would improve the sanity of some I wot of, if by the gentle providence of God they could but catch it.”

“What age hath the child?”asked Tom.

“Nine years, please your majesty.”

“By the law of England may a child enter into covenant and sell itself, my lord?”asked Tom, turning to a learned judge.

“The law doth not permit a child to make or meddle in any weighty matter, good my liege, holding that its callow wit unfitteth it to cope with the riper wit and evil schemings of them that are its elders.The Devil may buy a child, if he so choose, and the child agree thereto, but not an Englishman—in this latter case the contract would be null and void.”

“It seemeth a rude unchristian thing, and ill contrived, that English law denieth privileges to Englishmen to waste them on the devil!”cried Tom, with honest heat.

This novel view of the matter excited many smiles, and was stored away in many heads to be repeated about the court as evidence of Tom's originality as well as progress toward mental health.

The elder culprit had ceased from sobbing, and was hanging upon Tom's words with an excited interest and a growing hope.Tom noticed this, and it strongly inclined his sympathies toward her in her perilous and unfriended situation.Presently he asked:

“How wrought they, to bring the storm?”

“By pulling off their stockings, sire.”

This astonished Tom, and also fired his curiosity to fever heat.He said, eagerly:

“It is wonderful!Hath it always this dread effect?”

“Always, my liege—at least if the woman desire it, and utter the needful words, either in her mind or with her tongue.”

Tom turned to the woman, and said with impetuous zeal:

“Exert thy power—I would see a storm!”

There was a sudden paling of cheeks in the superstitious assemblage, and a general, though unexpressed, desire to get out of the place—all of which was lost upon Tom, who was dead to everything but the proposed cataclysm.Seeing a puzzled and astonished look in the woman's face, he added, excitedly:

“Never fear—thou shalt be blameless.More—thou shalt go free—none shall touch thee.Exert thy power.”

“O, my lord the king, I have it not—I have been falsely accused.”

“Thy fears stay thee.Be of good heart, thou shalt suffer no harm.Make a storm—it mattereth not how small a one—I require naught great or harmful, but indeed prefer the opposite—do this and thy life is spared—thou shalt go out free, with thy child, bearing the king's pardon, and safe from hurt or malice from any in the realm.”

The woman prostrated herself, and protested, with tears, that she had no power to do the miracle, else she would gladly win her child's life alone, and be content to lose her own, if by obedience to the king's command so precious a grace might be acquired.

Tom urged—the woman still adhered to her declarations.Finally he said:

“I think the woman hath said true.An'my mother were in her place and gifted with the devil's functions, she had not stayed a moment to call her storms and lay the whole land in ruins, if the saving of my forfeit life were the price she got!It is argument that other mothers are made in like mould.Thou art free, good wife—thou and thy child—for I do think thee innocent.Now thou'st naught to fear, being pardoned—pull off thy stockings!—an'thou canst make me a storm, thou shalt be rich!”

The redeemed creature was loud in her gratitude, and proceeded to obey, while Tom looked on with eager expectancy, a little marred by apprehension;the courtiers at the same time manifesting decided discomfort and uneasiness.The woman stripped her own feet and her little girl's also, and plainly did her best to reward the king's generosity with an earthquake, but it was all a failure and a disappointment.Tom sighed, and said:

“There, good soul, trouble thyself no further, thy power is departed out of thee.Go thy way in peace;and if it return to thee at any time, forget me not, but fetch me a storm.”

第十五章 汤姆当了国王

第二天,各国大使带着派头十足的随从来了,汤姆非常庄严地坐在宝座上接见他们。那个辉煌的场面起初使他看着很感兴趣,并且还使他心花怒放,但是接见的时间太长,又很枯燥,大使们的致辞也多半雷同,因此这件事情开始虽然使他高兴,后来却渐渐地显得令人厌倦,并且还使他想起家来了。汤姆不时把赫德福教给他的话说一遍,极力要做得令人满意,但是他对这种事情太生疏了,而且很不自在,所以只能做到勉强过得去的地步。他看上去十足地像个国王,心里却不大能有个国王的感觉。后来这个仪式结束的时候,他才觉得满心高兴。

他把一天的大部分时间“浪费”了,干的都是他作为国王分内的苦事——这是他内心的想法。就连专门供国王消遣和娱乐的两个钟头,对于他也成了一种负担而没有丝毫趣味,因为那些游戏都有许多限制和礼节上的规矩,使他受到束缚。但是他和他的代鞭童单独待了一个钟头,这可是他认为绝对有利的事情,因为他一方面得到了娱乐,同时又获得了急需的信息,真是一举两得。

汤姆·康第当国王的第三天的经过和头两天大体相同,但是他总算有一方面轻松了一些——他不像起初那样不自在了;他渐渐习惯于他的遭遇和环境;他身上的锁链仍旧磨得他发痛,但并不总是那样;一个钟头又一个钟头在他头上飞过去,他也觉得那些大人物在他面前对他那么恭敬,越来越不使他感到痛苦和狼狈了。

假如不是有一件事情使他提心吊胆,他看到第四天快到的时候,就不会十分着急了——那件事情就是当众用餐,这是要从那一天开始的。日程里还有些更重大的事情——那天他还要临朝主持一次会议,大臣们将要在会上听取他的意见和命令,决定他对全世界远近各国打算采取的政策;赫德福还要在那一天正式被选为摄政大臣;另外,还规定了要在那一天解决一些别的重要事情,但是在汤姆看来,这些事情都比叫他当众用餐还要轻松一点;他觉得自己一个人吃饭,却有无数双好奇的眼睛盯住他,无数张嘴悄悄地评论他的举动——假如他运气不好,犯了错误,也要受人议论,这实在是顶受罪的事情了。

然而那第四天是无法阻拦的,它终于来到了。

那一天,汤姆无精打采,心神恍惚;这种情绪持续着,他简直摆脱不了。上午的一般公事在他手头迟缓地挨过去,使他感到厌倦。于是,他又觉得那种坐牢似的心情沉重地侵袭着他。

下午较晚的时候,他在一个宽大的朝见室里和赫德福伯爵谈话,正式等待着许多重要官员和大臣在预定的时间前来拜见。

后来汤姆随便走到一个窗户跟前,对王宫大门外面的大马路上熙熙攘攘的情景很感兴趣——他并非无聊而感到有意思,而是满心渴望着亲自去参与那种热闹和自由的生活——过了一会儿,他看见一大群乱嚷乱叫的、乌七八糟的、最穷和最下等的男男女女和孩子前面领头的一些人,从大路上走过来。

“我真想知道这是怎么回事啊!”他带着一个孩子对那种情景的好奇心,大声说道。

“您是国王!”伯爵毕恭毕敬,庄重地说,“陛下是否可以让我执行命令?”

“啊,好极了,照办吧!啊,我很高兴,照办吧!”汤姆兴奋地大声说道,随即又心满意足,自言自语地说,“真是,当个国王并不完全是枯燥无味的——这种生活也有它的回报和好处。”

伯爵叫了一个小侍来,派他到警卫队长那儿去传达命令:

“挡住那一群人,问清楚他们为什么那么热闹。这是国王的命令!”

过了几秒钟,就有一长排皇家卫队穿着亮晃晃的钢制盔甲,从大门里出去,在那一大群人前面拦住了马路。一个报信的差使回来了,他报告说那一群人是跟着去看一个男人、一个女人和一个年轻的姑娘被处死刑,他们犯的罪是扰乱治安和破坏王国的尊严。

给这些可怜的无辜百姓处以死刑——而且还是惨死呀!这个念头使汤姆大动恻隐之心。同情心支配着他,使他对其他一切都顾不到了;他根本没有想到这几个犯人所触犯的法律,也没有想到他们给予受害者的苦痛或损失,他除了绞刑架和悬在被判死刑的犯人头上的悲惨命运以外,什么也想不到。他的关切甚至使他暂时忘记了自己不过是一个国王的替身,而不是真正的国王;他还没有想到这一点,就冲口而出地发了一个命令:

“把他们带到这里来!”

随后他满脸涨得通红,一句类似道歉的话几乎到了嘴边;但是他一看他的命令都没有引起伯爵和侍童什么惊讶,他就把正待说出的话咽了下去。侍童以理应遵命的态度,深深地鞠了一躬,就向后退出这个房间,传达命令去了。汤姆感觉到一阵强烈的自豪感,重新体会到做国王的苦痛换来的好处。他心里想:“从前我看老神父那些故事书的时候,我就想象着自己是个君王,对所有的人发号施令,说‘你去干这个,你去干那个’,谁也不敢违抗我的旨意。现在,我果然有那种感觉了。”

这时候有几扇门打开了,有人通报了一个又一个响亮的头衔,跟着就是具有这些头衔的人物进来了,于是这地方很快就被高贵人物和华丽衣裳挤满了一半。但是,汤姆对于这些人的到场像是没有感觉到似的,因为他的心思完全在其他更有趣的事情上。他心不在焉地坐在宝座上,转过眼睛去望着门口,表现出迫不及待的神情。大臣们一看这种情形,就极力不打搅他,大家杂七杂八地交谈起来,既谈国家大事,又谈宫廷闲话。

稍过了一会儿,就听见一些军人整齐的步伐声越来越近,犯人们在一个副执法官的看管之下,由一小队国王的卫队监管着,来到国王面前。那位文官向汤姆跪拜了一下,然后站在旁边;那三个死囚也跪下来,一直跪着不动;卫队在汤姆的椅子背后站定了。汤姆好奇地把那几个犯人仔细打量了一番。那个男人的衣服和外表似乎并不陌生,这在他心中唤起了一种模糊的回忆。“我好像觉得从前看见过这个人……可是想不起来是什么时候和什么地方了。”——汤姆这样想着。正在这时候,那个人迅速地抬头望了一眼,又迅速地低下头去,因为他没有胆量正视国王那种威仪,但是已经足够汤姆看清楚他的整张脸了。他心里想:“现在事情已经很分明了;这就是在刮着大风、冷得要命的新年第一天把查尔斯·威特从泰晤士河里打捞出来,救了他一命的那个陌生人——那是个勇敢和好心的行为——可惜他又干了坏事,把自己卷进这起不幸的案子中……我还没有忘记那个日子,连时间都还记得;这是因为过了一个钟头以后,正打十一点的时候,我让奶奶狠狠地揍了一顿,这一顿打得特别厉害,所以在那以前或是在那以后发生的事情和这顿毒打比较起来,就好像慈母的抚爱和拥抱似的。”

于是汤姆就下令把那个妇人和姑娘暂时从他面前带出去一会儿,然后他就对那副执法官说:

“请问你,这个人犯了什么罪?”

那位小官跪下来回答说:

“禀告陛下,他用毒药毒死了一个人。”

汤姆对这个犯人本来是深表同情的,对他救出那个快淹死的孩子的英勇行为也非常敬佩,现在他这种心情却受到了极沉重的打击。

“这件事情已经证实是他干的了吗?”他问道。

“非常清楚,陛下。”

汤姆叹了一口气,说:

“把他带走——他是罪有应得的。真可惜,他是个勇敢的好汉哩——不——不,我是说他看起来很勇敢。”

犯人突然使劲把双手交叉起来,绝望地拧着,同时用一些断断续续的、满含恐惧的话向“国王”哀求:

“啊,国王陛下,您要是能可怜可怜遭难的人,那就请您可怜可怜我吧!我是没有罪的——他们给我加的罪名也是证据不足的——可是我要说的不是那个;给我判处死刑已经定了,那也许不能更改;可是我在绝路上还要请求一个恩典,因为我的死法实在是叫我受不了。开恩吧,开恩吧,国王陛下!请陛下大发慈悲,恩准我的请求吧——请您发个圣旨,给我处绞刑吧!”

汤姆吃了一惊,他想要的结果不是这样。

“哎呀,我的天哪,这真是个稀奇的请求!他们给你判的死刑不是这样吗?”

“啊,善心的陛下,不是这样!他们判决把我活活地煮死!”

这话简直把人吓得要命,几乎使汤姆从椅子上跳起来了。他刚一清醒过来,马上就大声喊道:

“你可以如愿,可怜的人!即令你毒死了一百个人,也不应该让你死得那么惨。”

犯人磕下头去,把脸都碰到地上了,他热情地说了一大堆感激的话——末尾是这么一句:

“万一您将来遭到不幸——那当然是天不许的事情!但愿人家记得您今天对我的恩典,报答您的好心!”

汤姆转过脸去,向赫德福伯爵说:

“伯爵,给这个人判这么残酷的刑罚,难道能叫人相信那是有法律根据的吗?”

“陛下,照法律规定,惩治放毒犯是用这种刑罚。德国惩治造假钱的犯人,是把他们下油锅炸死——还不是一下就丢进去,而是把他们用绳子拴着,慢慢地往下放,先炸脚,再炸腿,再——”

“啊,伯爵,请你不要再说下去,我受不了!”汤姆喊道,双手把眼睛蒙起来,不去想那场景。“我请你赶快下个命令,修改这条法律——啊,千万不要再让可怜的老百姓受这种活罪吧。”

伯爵脸上显出极度的喜悦,因为他也是个心地慈悲和宽大的人——在那残暴的时代,他那个阶级里的人有这种好心肠,真是少见。他说:

“陛下这句高贵的话从此把这种刑罚禁止了。这件事将要名垂青史,永远是您皇家的光荣。”

副执法官正想把他的犯人带走,汤姆做了个手势,叫他等一等,然后说:

“我还要把这件事情问问清楚。这个人刚才说过他的罪行证据不足。你把你所知道的告诉我吧。”

“敬禀国王,审案的时候,问明了这个人走进了艾林顿小村里一户人家,那里躺着一个病人——有三个见证人说那是在上午正十点钟,有两个说还要迟几分钟——当时只有病人在家,并且还睡着了——这个人刚进去又出来,跟着就走掉了。他走了之后,病人连抽筋带呕吐,简直痛得要命,还不到一个钟头就死了。”

“有谁看见他下毒吗?发现了毒药没有?”

“啊,没有,陛下。”

“那么怎么会知道有人下了毒呢?”

“敬禀陛下,医生证明除非中了毒,否则病人临死的时候绝不会有那种症状。”

这就是有力的证据——在那个简单的时代。汤姆看出了这个证据的重要性,就说:

“医生是内行的——也许他们对了。这事情对这个可怜的人似乎是不利的。”

“但是还不止这个,陛下,另外还有更厉害的证据哩。有许多人证明有个巫婆曾经预言过这个病人会被人毒死,现在那巫婆早已离开那个村子,谁也不知道她上什么地方去了;她是私下对着他们的耳朵小声说的——她还说下毒的是个陌生人——一个棕色头发的、穿着一身破烂的普通衣服的陌生人;当然这个犯人和捉人的通告上说的是完全相符的。陛下,这个事情既然是有巫婆预言过的,当然就非常可靠,请您承认这是个有力的证据吧。”

在那迷信的时代,这是个非常有力的理由。汤姆觉得这桩事情是确定了;如果重视证据的话,这个可怜人的罪状就算是证实了。但是他还是给了犯人一个机会,他说:

“如果你有什么能替自己辩护的话,你就快说吧。”

“我说不出什么有用的话,陛下。我是没有罪的,可是我无法证明。我没有朋友,否则我可以证明那天我根本就不在艾林顿;并且我还可以证明他们所说的那个时候,我离那儿有三英里远,因为我在华宾老码头那儿;噢,还有呢,国王,我还可以证明,他们说我要人家的命的时候,我可正在给人救命呀。有一个孩子在河里快淹死了——”

“不要说了!执法官,你快说那是哪一天的事情!”

“那是新年第一天,上午十点钟,或是稍迟几分钟,那时候……”

“把犯人释放了吧——这是国王的旨意!”

他这句不合国王身份的感情用事的话又使他脸红了,于是他极力掩饰他这个失礼的举动,补充了一句:

“只凭这种靠不住的、粗枝大叶的证据,就把一个人处以绞刑,真是使我生气!”

一阵表示敬佩的低沉的议论声在现场的人群中迅速地传开了。那并不是敬佩汤姆所宣布的命令,因为他赦免了一个定了罪的放毒犯,在场的人没有几个会觉得应该承认那是恰当的,也不会有人敬佩他这种举动——不,大家所敬佩的是汤姆表现出的智慧和精神。有些低声的议论是这样的:

“这并不是个疯子国王——他的脑袋是清醒的。”

“他那些问题问得多么聪明——他这样突然采取果断的手段处置了这件事情,跟他本来的天性多么像呀!”

“谢天谢地,他的神经病已经好了!这不是个小糊涂蛋,而是个真正的国王,他简直像他的父亲一样有气魄。”

空气中充满了赞扬的声音,汤姆耳朵里当然就听到了一些。这对他所起的作用是使他大大地安心了,同时也使他周身充满了欢悦的感觉。

但是他那年轻的好奇心不久就压过了这些愉快的念头和情绪,他急切地想要知道那个妇人和那个姑娘究竟是遭了什么致命的大祸。于是他发出命令,把那两个吓得要命的、哭哭啼啼的可怜虫带到他面前来。

“她们两个犯了什么罪?”他问执法官。

“敬禀陛下,有人告发她们犯了邪恶的大罪,并且清清楚楚地证实了,因此法官就按照法律判处她们绞刑。她们把灵魂出卖给魔鬼了——这就是她们的罪状。”

汤姆打了个冷战。人家曾经教过他,要憎恨犯这种罪的人。但是虽然如此,他还是不打算放弃这个机会,偏要获得那满足好奇心的愉快,于是他问道:

“她们是在什么地方干的这件事情?什么时候干的?”

“十二月有一天半夜里——在一所破教堂里干的,陛下。”

汤姆又打了个冷战。

“有谁在场?”

“只有她们两个,陛下,另外还有‘那一个’。”

“她们承认了吗?”

“没有,她们没有承认,陛下,她们是否认的。”

“那么,请问是怎么知道的?”

“有几个见证人看见她们上那儿去,陛下,这就引起了怀疑,后来又有些确凿的事实证明了这种怀疑是不错的。特别重要的是,她们利用这么得来的魔力,引起了一场暴风雨,结果把邻近一带完全毁坏了。有四十多个见证人证明了有这场风暴;其实要找一千个见证人也没有问题,因为大家都吃了这场暴风雨的亏,当然都不会不记得。”

“这实在是一桩严重的事情。”汤姆把这个邪恶的罪行在心里反复地想了一会儿,然后问道:

“这个女人也遭了这场暴风雨的灾吗?”

在场的人当中有几位老人点了点头,表示他们承认这个问题问得很聪明。但是执法官没有看出这一问有什么重大的意义,他直截了当地回答道:

“她当然受了灾,陛下,这是她应得的报应,大家都这么说。她住的房子被大风刮跑了,她自己和她的孩子都无家可归。”

“她运用魔力给自己带来了这么大的灾难,我看她这种魔力可真是花了不小的代价换来的。即令她只花了一个铜板,那也是受骗了;可是她居然把她的灵魂和她的孩子的灵魂当作代价,这就足见她是疯了。她既然是疯了,也就不知道自己所干的事情,所以也就不算犯罪了。”

那些年长的人又一次点头,称赞汤姆的聪明。有一个人低声地说:“如果像谣言所说的,国王自己是个疯子,那么我所知道的某些人要是能凭上帝的神意,染上他这种疯病,倒反而可以使他们的脑袋更清楚一点儿哩。”

“这孩子多大年纪?”汤姆问道。

“九岁,敬禀陛下。”

“请问你,法官,按照英国法律,儿童也可以跟人家订约,出卖自己吗?”汤姆转过脸去,问一位有学问的法官。

“陛下,法律不许儿童决定或是参与重大事情,因为他们的头脑太幼稚,还不能应付大人的智力和阴谋。魔鬼如果情愿的话,他可以买一个孩子,孩子也可以同意,但是英国人可不行——只要是英国人,他们的契约就视作无效。”

“英国法律剥夺英国人的特权,反倒让魔鬼有这种自由,这似乎是一件很粗鲁的、不合基督教精神的事情,制定这条法律是欠考虑的!”汤姆认真而激动地大声说道。

他对这件事情的新奇见解引起了许多人的微笑,并且有许多人把它记在脑子里,预备在宫廷里到处转述,证明汤姆不但在心理健康方面有进步,而且还有创见。

那个年长的犯人已经停止哭泣了,她怀着兴奋的心情和逐渐增加的希望,聚精会神地倾听着汤姆的话。汤姆看出了这种情形,这使他的同情心强烈地倾向于这个在危难和无亲无友的处境中的女人。随后他说:

用户搜索

疯狂英语 英语语法 新概念英语 走遍美国 四级听力 英语音标 英语入门 发音 美语 四级 新东方 七年级 赖世雄 zero是什么意思信阳市申光蚂蚁公寓(新马路三胡同)英语学习交流群

  • 频道推荐
  • |
  • 全站推荐
  • 推荐下载
  • 网站推荐