Parnassus

But one I wis, was not at home; Another had paid his gold away; Another called him thriftless loon, And bade him sharply wend his way.

"Now well-a-day," said the heir of Linne,

"Now well-a-day, and woe is me; For when I had my landes so broad, On me they lived right merrily.

“To beg my bread from door to door,
I wis, it were a burning shame;
To rob and steal it were a sin;
To work, my limbs I cannot frame.

"Now I'll away to the lonesome lodge, For there my father bade me wend: When all the world should frown on

I there should find a trusty friend."

PART THE SECOND.

Away then hied the heir of Linne, O'er hill and holt, and moor and fen, Until he came to the lonesome lodge, That stood so low in a lonely glen.

He looked up, he looked down, In hope some comfort for to win; But bare and lothly were the walls: "Here's sorry cheer," quo' the heir of Linne.

The little window, dim and dark, Was hung with ivy, brere and yew; No shimmering sun here ever shone, No halesome breeze here ever blew.

No chair, ne table he mote spy,
No cheerful hearth, ne welcome bed,
Nought save a rope with renning
noose,

That dangling hung up o'er his head.

And over it in broad letters
These words were written so plain

to see:

"Ah! gracelesse wretch, hast spent thine all,

And brought thyself to penurie?

"All this my boding mind misgave,
I therefore left this trusty friend:
Let it now shield thy foul disgrace,
And all thy shame and sorrows end."

Sorely shent wi' this rebuke,
Sorely shent was the heire of Linne:
His heart I wis, was near to brast
With guilt and sorrow, shame and
sin.

Never a word spake the heir of Linne,

Never a word he spake but three: "This is a trusty friend indeed, And is right welcome unto me.'

Then round his neck the cord he drew,

And sprang aloft with his bodie,
When lo! the ceiling burst in twain,
And to the ground came tumbling he.

Astonyed lay the heir of Linne,
He knew if he were live or dead:
At length he looked, and sawe a bille,
And in it a key of gold so red.

He took the bill, and lookt it on, Straight good comfort found he there:

It told him of a hole in the wall,
In which there stood three chests in-

fere.

NARRATIVE POEMS AND BALLADS.

merry Away then went the heire of Linne; I wis, he neither ceased ne blanne, Till John o' the Scales house he did winne.

Away then went with a
cheare,

And when he came to John o' the
Scales,

Up at the speere then lookèd he:
There sate three lords upon a rowe,
Were drinking of the wine so free.

And John himself sate at the bordhead,

Because now lord of Linne was he; "I pray thee" he said, "good John o' the Scales,

One forty pence for to lend me."

"Away, away, thou thriftless loone;
Away, away, this may not be:
For Christ's curse on my head" he
said,

"If ever I trust thee one pennie."

Then bespake the heir of Linne,
To John o' the Scales' wife then
spake he:

"Madaine, some almes on me be

stowe,

I pray for sweet saint Charitie."

"Away, away, thou thriftless loone, I sweare thou gettest no almes of

me;

For if we should hang any losel here,
The first we wold begin with thee."

Then bespake a good fellówe,
Which sat at John o' the Scales his
bord;

Said,

Turn again, thou heir of
Linne;

Some time thou wast a well good lord.

"Some time a good fellow thou hast
been,

And sparedst not thy gold and fee;
Therefore I'll lend thee forty pence,
And other forty if need be.

"And ever I pray thee, John o' the
Scales,

To let him sit in thy companie:
For well I wot thou hadst his land,
And a good bargain it was to thee."

Up then spake him John o' the Scales,
All wood he answered him againe:
Now Christ's curse on my head"
he said,

"But I did lose by that bargaine.

And here I proffer thee, heir of
Linne,

Before these lords so faire and free,
Thou shalt have it backe again bet-

ter cheape

By a hundred markes than I had it of thee."

"I draw you to record, lords," he said, With that he cast him a gods-pennie: "said the heire of "Now by my fay

Linne, "And here, good John, is thy money."

And he pulled forth three bagges of
gold,

And laid them down upon the bord;
All woe begone was John o' the
Scales,

So shent he could say never a word.

He told him forth the good red gold.
He told it forth with mickle dinne.
"The gold is thine, the land is mine,
And now Ime againe the lord of
Linne."

Says,
Forty pence thou didst lend me:
Now I am again the lord of Linne,
And forty pounds I will give thee.

"Have thou here, thou good
fellówe,

[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small]

"Friends! ye have, alas! to know
Of a most disastrous blow,
That the Christians, stern and bold,
Have obtained Alhama's hold."
Woe is me, Alhama!

Out then spake old Alfaqui,
With his beard so white to see,
"Good king, thou art justly served,
Good king, this thou hast deserved.
Woe is me, Alhama!

"By thee were slain, in evil hour, The Abencerrage, Granada's flower: And strangers were received by thee Of Cordova the chivalry.

Woe is me, Alhama!

"And for this, O king! is sent On thee a double chastisement, Thee and thine, thy crown and realm,

One last wreck shall overwhelm. Woe is me, Alhama!"

Fire flashed from out the old Moor's eyes,

The monarch's wrath began to rise, Because he answered, and because He spake exceeding well of laws. Woe is me, Alhama!

"There is no law to say such things
As may disgust the ear of kings:"
Thus, snorting with his choler, said
The Moorish king, and doomed him
dead.
Woe is me, Almaha!

Moor Alfaqui! Moor Alfaqui!
Though thy beard so hoary be,
The king hath sent to have thee
seized,

For Alhama's loss displeased.
Woe is me, Alhama!

And to fix thy head upon
High Alhambra's loftiest stone;
That this for thee should be the

« Forrige Fortsæt »

Bøger