Читать книгу Orlando Furioso - Lodovico Ariosto - Страница 18

XLVI

"All known or said to by my friends, or who

Were friends of those that, chosen from my train,

Had aided me the deadly deed to do,

Their goods and chattels burnt, were doomed or slain:

And he had killed Bireno, since he knew

No other trouble could inflict such pain;

But that he, saving him in malice, thought

He had a net wherewith I might be caught.

XLVII

"Yet him a cruel proposition made,

Granting a year his purpose to complete;

Condemned to privy death, till then delayed,

Save in that time, through force or through deceit,

He by his friends' and kindred's utmost aid,

Doing or plotting, me from my retreat

Conveyed into his prisons; so that he

Can only saved by my destruction be.

XLVIII

"What for his safety could be done, behold,

Short of my own destruction, had been tried.

Six towns I had in Flanders: these I sold,

And (great or small the produce set aside)

A part of it, to wily persons told,

That it to tempt his guards might be applied;

The rest of it dispensed to move and arm

Germans or English, to the miscreant's harm.

XLIX

"My agents, whether they their trust betrayed,

Or that they could in truth perform no more,

Me with vain words instead of help have paid,

And scorn me, having drained my scanty store:

And now the term is nigh expired, when aid,

Whether of open force or treasured ore,

No longer will arrive in time to save

My cherished spouse from torture and the grave.

L

"Through him, from me was my dominion rent;

Through him, my father and my brethren slain;

Through him, the little treasure left me, spent

(What served alone existence to sustain)

To rescue him, in cruel durance pent;

Nor other means to succour him remain;

Save I, to liberate him from prison, go

And yield myself to such a cruel foe.

LI

"If nothing more be left me then to try,

Nor other way for his escape appear,

Than his with this my wretched life to buy,

This life I gladly will lay down: one fear

Alone molests me; and it is that I

Can never my conditions make so clear,

As to assure me, that with new deceit,

Me, when his prey, the tyrant will not cheat.

LII

"I fear, when I shall be in captive plight,

And he has put all tortures upon me,

He may not loose Bireno, and the knight

Have not to thank me for his liberty:

Like perjured king, and full of foul despite,

Who with my murder will not satiate be;

But by Bireno neither less nor more

Will do, than he had done by me before.

LIII

"The occasion now that I confer with you,

And tell my case to all who seek the land,

Both lords and knights, is with the single view,

That taking counsel of so large a band,

Some one may indicate assurance due,

That when before the cruel king I stand,

No longer he Bireno shall detain;

Nor, after I am killed, the duke be slain.

LIV

"Warrior to went with me, I in my need,

When I shall be to Friesland given, have prayed;

But so he promise, that the exchange agreed

Shall be between us in such manner made,

That from his bonds Bireno shall be freed

When I am to the monarch's hands conveyed:

Thus I, when I am slain, shall die content,

Who to my spouse shall life by death have lent.

LV

"Not to this day have chanced upon a wight

Who on his faith will give me warranty,

That if the king refuse to loose the knight,

When I am offered, from captivity,

He will not suffer that in my despite

(So feared those weapons!) I shall taken be.

So feared those weapons, upon every hand!

Which, howsoever thick, no plates withstand.

LVI

"Now, if as strong Herculean port and bold

Appear to vouch, such worth to you belong;

And you believe to give me or withhold

Is in your power, should he intend me wrong;

Be with me, when committed to his hold,

Since I shall fear not, in your convoy strong,

When you are with me, that my lord, though I

Be after slain, shall by his order die."

LVII

Here her discourse, wherewith were interposed

Loud sobs, the lady ceased, and silent stood:

Orlando, when her lips the damsel closed,

Whose ready will ne'er halts in doing good,

Briefly to her replies, as indisposed

To idle speeches of his natural mood:

But plights his solemn word, that better aid

She should from him receive than that she prayed.

LVIII

'Tis not his scheme to place her in the hand

Of her foul foe, to have Bireno freed;

He will save both the lovers, if his brand

And wonted valour fail him not at need.

Embarked that very day, they put from land

With a clear sky and prosperous wind to speed.

The county hastes in his impatient heat,

Eager to reach that isle, the monster's seat.

LIX

Through the still deeps, on this or the other side,

The skipper veered his canvas to the wind:

This isle, and that of Zealand, they descried,

One seen before, and one shut in behind.

The third day, from the harboured vessel's side,

In Holland, Roland disembarks, not joined

By the complaining dame; whom to descend

He will not till she hear that tyrant's end.

LX

Armed at all points, the county passed ashore,

Borne on a horse 'twixt brown and black, the breed

Of Denmark, but in Flanders nurtured, more

Esteemed for weight and puissance than for speed:

For when the paladin embarked before,

In Brittany he left the gallant steed,

His Brigliador; so nimble and so fair,

That but Bayardo could with him compare.

LXI

Orlando fares to Dordrecht, where he views

A numerous squadron, which the gate maintain;

As well, because suspicion still ensues

On the foundation of a new domain;

As that before they had received the news,

That out of Zealand, backed with armed train,

Was coming with a fleet of many sail,

A cousin of the lord here pent in jail.

LXII

One, good Orlando to the monarch's ear

Bade bear a message, `that an errant knight

Oh him would prove himself, with sword and spear;

But would lay down this pact before the fight:—

That if the king unhorsed the cavalier,

Her who Arbantes slew, he, as his right,

Should have, that, at the cavalier's command,

Was ready for delivery to his hand;

LXIII

`And willed the king should on his side agree,

If him the knight in combat overbore,

Forthwith released from his captivity,

Bireno to full freedom to restore.'

To him the footman does his embassy;

But he, who knightly worth or courteous lore

Had never known, directs his whole intent

The count by treacherous fraud to circumvent.

LXIV

He hopes as well, if he the warrior slay,

To have the dame, whom, so aggrieved, he hates,

If in the knight's disposal, and the say

Of that strange knight, the footman well relates.

Hence thirty men dispatched by other way

Than to the portal led, where Roland waits;

Who with a long and privy circuit wind,

And come upon the paladin behind.

LXV

He all this while had made his guard delay

The knight with words, till horse and foot he spied

Arrived, where he this ambuscade did lay;

When from the gate he with as many hied:

As is the practised hunter's wonted way,

To circle wood and beasts on every side:

As nigh Volana, with his sweeping nets,

The wary fisher fish and pool besets.

LXVI

'Tis thus the king bars every path which lies

Free for the warrior's flight, with armed train:

He him alive, and in no other guise,

Would have, and lightly hopes his end to gain;

Nor for the earthly thunderbolt applies,

That had so many and so many slain:

Which here he deems would serve his purpose ill,

Where he desires to take and not to kill.

LXVII

As wary fowler, bent on greater prey,

Wisely preserves alive the game first caught,

That by the call-bird and his cheating play,

More may within the circling net be brought;

Such cunning art Cymosco would assay:

But Roland would not be so lightly bought;

Like them by the first toil that springs betrayed;

And quickly forced the circle which was made.

LXVIII

Where he perceives the assailants thickest stand,

He rests his lance, and sticks in his career

First one and afterwards another, and

Another, and another, who appear

Of paste; till six he of the circling band

Of foes impales upon a single spear;

A seventh left out, who by the push is slain,

Since the clogged weapon can no more contain.

LXIX

No otherwise, upon the further shore

Of fosse or of canal, the frogs we spy,

By cautious archer, practised in his lore,

Smote and transfixed the one the other nigh;

Upon the shaft, until it hold no more,

From barb to feathers full, allowed to lie.

The heavy lance Orlando from him flung,

And to close combat with his faulchion sprung.

LXX

The lance now broke, his sword the warrior drew,

That sword which never yet was drawn in vain,

And still with cut or thrust some soldier slew;

Now horse, now footman of the tyrant's train.

And, ever where he dealt a stroke, changed blue,

Yellow, green, white and black, to crimson stain.

Cymosco grieves, when most his need require,

Not to have now his hollow cane and fire;

LXXI

And with loud voice and menacing command

Bids these be brought, but ill his followers hear;

For those who have found safety of his band,

To issue from the city are in fear.

He, when he sees them fly on either hand,

Would fly as well from that dread cavalier;

Makes for the gate, and would the drawbridge lift,

But the pursuing county is too swift.

LXXII

The monarch turns his back, and leaves the knight

Lord of the drawbridge and of either gate.

Thanks to his swifter steed, the rest in flight

He passes: good Orlando will not wait

(Intent the felon, not his band, to smite)

Upon the vulgar herd to wreck his hate.

But his slow horse seems restive; while the king's,

More nimble, flies as if equipt with wings.

LXXIII

From street to street, before the count he made;

And vanished clean; but after little stay,

Came with new arms, with tube and fire purveyed;

Which, at his hest, this while his men convey.

And posted at a corner, he waylaid:

His foe, as hunter watches for his prey,

In forest, with armed dogs and spear, attending

The boar in fury from the hill descending,

LXXIV

Who rends the branch and overthrows the stone;

And wheresoe'er he turns his haughty front,

Appears (so loud the deafening crash and groan)

As if he were uprending wood and mount,

Intent to make him his bold deed atone,

Cymosco at the pass expects the count;

As soon as he appears, with ready light

Touches the hole, and fires upon the knight.

LXXV

Behind, the weapon flames in lightning's guise,

And vents the thunder from before; the ground

Shakes under foot and city wall; the skies

The fearful echo all about rebound.

The burning bolt with sudden fury flies,

Not sparing aught which in its course is found.

Hissing and whizzing through the skies it went;

But smote not, to the assassin's foul intent.

LXXVI

Whether it was his great desire to kill

That baron, or his hurry made him fail,

Or trembling heart, like leaf which flutters still,

Made hand and arm together flinch and quail;

Or that it was not the Creator's will

The church so soon her champion should bewail;

The glancing stroke his courser's belly tore,

Outstretched on earth, from thence to rise no more.

LXXVII

To earth fall horse and rider: this the knight

Scarce touched; the other thundering pressed the plain:

For the first rose so ready and so light,

He from the fall seemed breath and force to gain.

As African Anteus, in the fight,

Rose from the sand with prouder might and main;

So when Orlando touched the ground, to view

He rose with doubled force and vigour new.

LXXVIII

He who has seen the thunder, from on high,

Discharged by Jove with such a horrid sound,

Descend where nitre, coal, and sulphur lie,

Stored up for use in magazine profound,

Which scarce has reached—but touched it, ere the sky

Is in a flame, as well as burning ground,

Firm walls are split, and solid marbles riven,

And flying stones cast up as high as heaven;

LXXIX

Let him imagine, when from earth he sprung,

Such was the semblance of the cavalier;

Who moved in mode to frighten Mars among

The Gods, so fierce and horrid was his cheer.

At this dismay'd, the King of Friesland stung

His horse, and turned his rein, to fly the peer:

But fierce Orlando was upon his foe

Faster than arrow flies from bended bow:

LXXX

And, what before he could not, when possest

Of his good courser, now afoot will do.

His speed outgoes all thought in every breast,

Exceeds all credence, save in those who view.

The tyrant shortly joined, he on the crest

Smote at his head so well, he cleft it through;

And to the neck divided by the blow,

Sent it, to shake its last on earth below.

LXXXI

Lo! in the frighted city other sound

Was heard to rise, and other crash of brands,

From troop, who, thither in his guidance bound,

Followed Bireno's cousin from his lands:

Who, since the unguarded gates he open found,

Into the city's heart had poured his bands;

Where the bold paladin had struck such fear,

He without let might scour it far and near.

LXXXII

In rout the people fly, who cannot guess

Who these may be, or what the foes demand:

But, when this man and that by speech and dress

As Zealand-men distinguishes the band,

Carte blanche they proffer, and the chief address,

Bidding him range them under his command;

Against the Frieslanders to lend him aid,

Who have their duke in loathsome prison stayed.

LXXXIII

To Friesland's king that people hatred bore

With all his following: who their ancient lord

Had put to death, and who by them yet more,

As evil and rapacious, was abhorred.

Orlando interposed with kindly lore,

As friend of both, the parties to accord:

By whom, so joined, no Frieslander was left

But was of life or liberty bereft.

LXXXIV

They would not wait to seek the dungeon-key,

But breaking-down the gate, their entrance made;

Bireno to the count with courtesy

And grateful thanks the service done repaid.

Thence they, together with large company,

Went where Olympia in her vessel stayed:

For so was the expecting lady hight,

To whom that island's crown belonged of right.

LXXXV

She who had thither good Orlando brought,

Not hoping that he would have thriven so well;

—Enough for her, if by her misery bought,

Her spouse were rescued from the tyrant's cell!—

Her, full of love and loyal homage, sought

The people one and all: Twere long to tell

How she caressed Bireno, he the maid—

What thanks both lovers to the county paid.

LXXXVI

The people, throned in her paternal reign,

Replace the injured dame, and fealty swear:

She on the duke, to whom in solid chain

Love with eternal knot had linked the fair,

The empire of herself and her domain

Conferred: He, called away by other care,

Left in the cousin's guardian care this while

His fortresses, and all the subject isle.

LXXXVII

Since he to visit Zealand's duchy planned,

His faithful consort in his company;

And thence, upon the king of Friesland's land,

Would try his fortune (as he said), for he

A pledge, he rated highly, had in hand,

Which seemed of fair success the warranty,

The daughter of the king: who here forsaken,

With many others had been prisoner taken.

LXXXVIII

To a younger brother, her, the duke pretends,

To be conjoined in wedlock, he conveyed.

The Roman senator thence parting wends

Upon the very day Bireno weighed;

But he to nothing else his hand extends

Of all the many, many prized made,

Save to that engine, found amid the plunder,

Which in all points I said resembled thunder.

LXXXIX

Not with intent, in his defence to bear

What he had taken, of the prize possest;

For he still held it an ungenerous care

To go with vantage on whatever quest:

But with design to cast the weapon where

It never more should living wight molest;

And, what was appertaining to it, all

Bore off as well, the powder and the ball.

XC

And thus, when of the tidesway he was clear,

And in the deepest sea his bark descried,

So that no longer distant signs appear

Of either shore on this or the other side,

He seized the tube, and said: "That cavalier

May never vail through thee his knightly pride,

Nor base be rated with a better foe,

Down with thee to the darkest deep below!

XCI

"O loathed, O cursed piece of enginery,

Cast in Tartarean bottom, by the hand

Of Beelzebub, whose foul malignity

The ruin of this world through thee has planned!

To hell, from whence thou came, I render thee."

So said, he cast away the weapon: fanned

Meanwhile, with flowing sheet, his frigate goes,

By wind, which for the cruel island blows.

XCII

Such was the paladin's desire to explore

If in the place his missing lady were;

Whom he prefers the united world before,

Nor can an hour of life without her bear.

He fears, if he set foot on Ireland's shore,

Some other chance may interrupt him there:

So that he after have in vain to say,

"Why hasted I no faster on my way?"

XCIII

Nor he in England nor in Ireland port

Will make, nor on the coast that's opposite.

But let him go, the naked archer's sport,

Sore smitten in the heart!—ere I indite

Yet more of him, to Holland I resort,

And you to hear me company invite.

For well I wot that you as well as me

'Twould grieve that bridal should without us be.

XCIV

Sumptuous and fair the bridal there is made;

But neither yet so sumptuous nor so fair

As it will be in Zealand, it is said:

But 'tis not my design you should repair

Thither; since by new accidents delayed

The feast will be, of which be it my care,

In other strain, the tidings to report;

If you to hear that other strain resort.