9.The Black Douglas黑面人道格拉斯-双语名著无障碍阅读丛书——《西方老故事50篇Fifty Famous Stories Retold》

Fifty Famous Stories Retold 9.The Black Douglas In Scotland,in the time of King Robert Bruce,there lived a brave man whose name was Douglas.His hair and beard were black and long,and his face was tanned and dark;and for this reason people nicknamed him the Black Douglas. He was a good friend of the king,and one of his strongest helpers. In the war with the English,who were trying to drive Bruce from Scotland, the Black Douglas did many brave deeds;and the English people became very much afraid of him.By and by the fear of him spread all through the land. Nothing could frighten an English lad more than to tell him that the Black Douglas was not far away.Women would tell their children,when they were naughty,that the Black Douglas would get them;and this would make them very quiet and good. There was a large castle in Scotland which the English had taken early in the war.The Scottish soldiers wanted very much to take it again,and the Black Douglas and his men went one day to see what they could do.It happened to be a holiday,and most of the English soldiers in the castle were eating and drinking and having a merry time.But they had left watchmen on the wall to see that the Scottish soldiers did not come upon them unawares2;and so they felt quite safe. In the evening,when it was growing dark,the wife of one of the soldiers ·054· 西方老故事50篇 9.黑面人道格拉斯 在罗伯特·布鲁斯国王的统治时期，有一个苏格兰勇 士名叫道格拉斯。此人的头发和胡须又黑又长，再加上晒 ①tanned[taend]a.被晒成 得面色黝黑，人们便给他起了绰号叫“黑面人道格拉斯”。 褐色的 道格拉斯是国王的好朋友，而且也是国王的得力助手。 在英格兰和苏格兰之间的那场战争中，英格兰人企 图把布鲁斯国王赶走，“黑面人道格拉斯”为苏格兰立下 了赫赫战功，英格兰人只要一提起道格拉斯，就会感到 不寒而栗。慢慢地，人们对道格拉斯的恐惧传遍了整个 英格兰，英格兰人吓唬小孩的最好办法莫过于说“黑面 人道格拉斯”要来了。因此，只要谁家的小孩调皮捣蛋， 妇女们就会吓唬他们说“黑面人道格拉斯”要来把他们 抓走。只要这样，孩子们马上就会变得既安静又听话。 战争初期，英格兰人占领了一座巨大的苏格兰城 堡，苏格兰士兵日夜盘算着要把它夺回去。一天，“黑 面人道格拉斯”带领部下前去侦察。那天碰巧是节日， 大多数英格兰士兵都待在城堡里面饮酒作乐。为了防止 2 unawares [.Ana'weoz]ad. 苏格兰人的偷袭，英格兰人还专门安排哨兵到城墙上瞭 出其不意地 望，因此他们觉得十分安全。 当天晚上，夜色慢慢降临。一个英格兰士兵的妻 ·055· Fifty Famous Stories Retold went up on the wall with her child in her arms.As she looked over into the fields below the castle,she saw some dark objects moving toward the foot of the wall. In the dusk she could not make out what they were,and so she pointed them out to one of the watchmen. "Pooh,pooh!"said the watchman."Those are nothing to frighten us.They are the farmer's cattle,trying to find their way home.The farmer himself is enjoying the holiday,and he has forgotten to bring them in.If the Douglas should happen this way before morning,he will be sorry for his carelessness." But the dark objects were not cattle.They were the Black Douglas and his men,creeping on hands and feet toward the foot of the castle wall.Some of them were dragging ladders behind them through the grass.They would soon be climbing to the top of the wall.None of the English soldiers dreamed that they were within many miles of the place. The woman watched them until the last one had passed around a corner out of sight.She was not afraid,for in the darkening twilight they looked indeed like cattle.After a little while she began to sing to her child: "Hush ye,hush ye,little pet ye, Hush ye,hush ye,do not fret ye, The Black Douglas shall not get ye." All at once a gruffa voice was heard behind her,saying,"Don't be so sure about that!” She looked around,and there stood the Black Douglas himself.At the same moment a Scottish soldier climbed off a ladder and leaped upon the wall;and then there came another and another and another,until the wall was covered with them.Soon there was hot fighting in every part of the castle.But the English were so taken by surprise that they could not do much.Many of them were killed,and in a little while the Black Douglas and his men were the masters of the castle, which by right belonged to them. ·056· 西方老故事50篇 子抱着孩子走到城墙上面，往城外的田野里跳望，发 现一些黑影正在向城墙方向移动。由于天色已晚，她 看不清那些黑影到底是什么东西，便指给一个哨兵看。 “呸，呸！”哨兵说，“有什么可大惊小怪的！那 是农夫的牛群，它们正赶着往家走。农夫自己待在家里 过节，把牛忘在外面了。如果‘黑面人道格拉斯’真的 天亮前来，那农夫一定会为自己的大意感到后悔的！” 可实际上那些黑影并不是牛群，而是“黑面人道 格拉斯”和他的部下，他们正从草地上朝城墙方向爬 ①creep[kri:p]v.阁甸 行着，有的人身后还拖着梯子，他们马上就要登上城 墙。英格兰士兵做梦也不会想到，敌人己经在他们的 眼皮子底下。 那个妇女站在那里看着，一直到最后一个黑影拐了 个弯不见了。她并没有感到害怕，因为在渐深的暮色中， ②twilight[twailait)n.暮 那些影子看起来真的很像牛。过了一会儿，她哼起了歌 色 谣： “小宝贝，不要吵啊，不要吵， 小宝贝，不要闹啊，不要闹， ‘黑面人道格拉斯’不会来到。” 突然，一个粗哑的声音从她身后传来，说：“那可 ③gnuf[grwf门a.粗暴的 不一定！” 那个妇女转身一看，发现此人正是“黑面人道格拉 斯”。几乎与此同时，一个苏格兰士兵从梯子上爬上来， 一跃跳上城墙；紧接着一个又一个苏格兰士兵站满了城 墙。很快，城堡里面展开了激烈的战斗。英格兰人在吃 惊之余根本无力抵抗，伤亡惨重。没用多长时间，“黑 面人道格拉斯”和他的部下就夺回了本就属于他们的城 堡。 ·057· Fifty Famous Stories Retold "Don't be so sure about that!" As for the woman and her child,the Black Douglas would not suffer any one to harm them.After a while they went back to England;and whether the mother made up any more songs about the Black Douglas I cannot tell. ·058· 西方老故事50篇 “那可不一定” 至于那个妇女和她的小孩，“黑面人道格拉斯”没 有让任何人伤害他们。不久以后，母子两人返回了英格 兰。那个母亲到底有没有再编有关“黑面人道格拉斯” 的歌谣，我便不得而知了。 ·059·