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lavengro-第21部分

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Geordie; for; if ye do; De'il hae me; if I dinna tumble ye doon the 

craig。



Fine materials in that lad for a hero; you will say。  Yes; indeed; 

for a hero; or for what he afterwards became。  In other times; and 

under other circumstances; he might have made what is generally 

termed a great man; a patriot; or a conqueror。  As it was; the very 

qualities which might then have pushed him on to fortune and renown 

were the cause of his ruin。  The war over; he fell into evil 

courses; for his wild heart and ambitious spirit could not brook 

the sober and quiet pursuits of honest industry。



'Can an Arabian steed submit to be a vile drudge?' I cries the 

fatalist。  Nonsense!  A man is not an irrational creature; but a 

reasoning being; and has something within him beyond mere brutal 

instinct。  The greatest victory which a man can achieve is over 

himself; by which is meant those unruly passions which are not 

convenient to the time and place。  David did not do this; he gave 

the reins to his wild heart; instead of curbing it; and became a 

robber; and; alas! alas! he shed blood … under peculiar 

circumstances; it is true; and without MALICE PREPENSE … and for 

that blood he eventually died; and justly; for it was that of the 

warden of a prison from which he was escaping; and whom he slew 

with one blow of his stalwart arm。



Tamerlane and Haggart!  Haggart and Tamerlane!  Both these men were 

robbers; and of low birth; yet one perished on an ignoble scaffold; 

and the other died emperor of the world。  Is this justice?  The 

ends of the two men were widely dissimilar … yet what is the 

intrinsic difference between them?  Very great indeed; the one 

acted according to his lights and his country; not so the other。  

Tamerlane was a heathen; and acted according to his lights; he was 

a robber where all around were robbers; but he became the avenger 

of God … God's scourge on unjust kings; on the cruel Bajazet; who 

had plucked out his own brothers' eyes; he became to a certain 

extent the purifier of the East; its regenerator; his equal never 

was before; nor has it since been seen。  Here the wild heart was 

profitably employed; the wild strength; the teeming brain。  Onward; 

Lame one!  Onward; Tamur … lank!  Haggart 。 。 。 。



But peace to thee; poor David! why should a mortal worm be sitting 

in judgment over thee?  The Mighty and Just One has already judged 

thee; and perhaps above thou hast received pardon for thy crimes; 

which could not be pardoned here below; and now that thy feverish 

existence has closed; and thy once active form become inanimate 

dust; thy very memory all but forgotten; I will say a few words 

about thee; a few words soon also to be forgotten。  Thou wast the 

most extraordinary robber that ever lived within the belt of 

Britain; Scotland rang with thy exploits; and England; too; north 

of the Humber; strange deeds also didst thou achieve when; fleeing 

from justice; thou didst find thyself in the Sister Isle; busy wast 

thou there in town and on curragh; at fair and race…course; and 

also in the solitary place。  Ireland thought thee her child; for 

who spoke her brogue better than thyself? … she felt proud of thee; 

and said; 'Sure; O'Hanlon is come again。'  What might not have been 

thy fate in the far west in America; whither thou hadst turned 

thine eye; saying; 'I will go there; and become an honest man!'  

But thou wast not to go there; David … the blood which thou hadst 

shed in Scotland was to be required of thee; the avenger was at 

hand; the avenger of blood。  Seized; manacled; brought back to thy 

native land; condemned to die; thou wast left in thy narrow cell; 

and told to make the most of thy time; for it was short:  and 

there; in thy narrow cell; and thy time so short; thou didst put 

the crowning stone to thy strange deeds; by that strange history of 

thyself; penned by thy own hand in the robber tongue。  Thou 

mightest have been better employed; David! … but the ruling passion 

was strong with thee; even in the jaws of death。  Thou mightest 

have been better employed! … but peace be with thee; I repeat; and 

the Almighty's grace and pardon。







CHAPTER IX







Napoleon … The storm … The cove … Up the country … The trembling 

hand … Irish … Tough battle … Tipperary hills … Elegant lodgings … 

A speech … Fair specimen … Orangemen。



ONWARD; onward! and after we had sojourned in Scotland nearly two 

years; the long continental war had been brought to an end; 

Napoleon was humbled for a time; and the Bourbons restored to a 

land which could well have dispensed with them; we returned to 

England; where the corps was disbanded; and my parents with their 

family retired to private life。  I shall pass over in silence the 

events of a year; which offer little of interest as far as 

connected with me and mine。  Suddenly; however; the sound of war 

was heard again; Napoleon had broken forth from Elba; and 

everything was in confusion。  Vast military preparations were again 

made; our own corps was levied anew; and my brother became an 

officer in it; but the danger was soon over; Napoleon was once more 

quelled; and chained for ever; like Prometheus; to his rock。  As 

the corps; however; though so recently levied; had already become a 

very fine one; thanks to my father's energetic drilling; the 

Government very properly determined to turn it to some account; 

and; as disturbances were apprehended in Ireland about this period; 

it occurred to them that they could do no better than despatch it 

to that country。



In the autumn of the year 1815 we set sail from a port in Essex; we 

were some eight hundred strong; and were embarked in two ships; 

very large; but old and crazy; a storm overtook us when off Beachy 

Head; in which we had nearly foundered。  I was awakened early in 

the morning by the howling of the wind and the uproar on deck。  I 

kept myself close; however; as is still my constant practice on 

similar occasions; and waited the result with that apathy and 

indifference which violent sea…sickness is sure to produce。  We 

shipped several seas; and once the vessel missing stays … which; to 

do it justice; it generally did at every third or fourth tack … we 

escaped almost by a miracle from being dashed upon the foreland。  

On the eighth day of our voyage we were in sight of Ireland。  The 

weather was now calm and serene; the sun shone brightly on the sea 

and on certain green hills in the distance; on which I descried 

what at first sight I believed to be two ladies gathering flowers; 

which; however; on our nearer approach; proved to be two tall white 

towers; doubtless built for some purpose or other; though I did not 

learn for what。



We entered a kind of bay; or cove; by a narrow inlet; it was a 

beautiful and romantic place this cove; very spacious; and; being 

nearly land…locked; was sheltered from every wind。  A small island; 

every inch 
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