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Introduction To Ivanhoe
The Author of the Waverley Novels had hitherto proceeded in an unabated course of popularity, and might, in his peculiar district of literature, have been termed "L'Enfant Gate" of success. It was plain, however, that frequent publication must finally wear out the public favour, unless some mode could be devised to give an appearance of novelty to subsequent productions. Scottish manners, Scottish dialect, and Scottish characters of note, being those with which the author was most intimately, and familiarly acquainted, were the groundwork upon which he had hitherto relied for giving effect to his narrative. It was, however, obvious, that this kind of interest must in the end occasion a degree of sameness and repetition, if exclusively resorted to, and that the reader was likely at length to adopt the language of Edwin, in Parnell's Tale:
"'Reverse the spell,' he cries, 'And let it fairly now suffice. The gambol has been shown.'"
Nothing can be more dangerous for the fame of a professor of the fine arts, than to permit (if he can possibly prevent it) the character of a mannerist to be attached to him, or that he should be supposed capable of success only in a particular and limited style. The public are, in general, very ready to adopt the opinion, that he who has pleased them in one peculiar mode of composition, is, by means of that very talent, rendered incapable of venturing upon other subjects. The effect of this disinclination, on the part of the public, towards the artificers of their pleasures, when they attempt to enlarge their means of amusing, may be seen in the censures usually passed by vulgar criticism upon actors or artists who venture to change the character of their efforts, that, in so doing, they may enlarge the scale of their art.
There is some justice in this opinion, as there always is in such as attain general currency. It may often happen on the stage, that an actor, by possessing in a preeminent degree the external qualities necessary to give effect to comedy, may be deprived of the right to aspire to tragic excellence; and in painting or literary composition, an artist or poet may be master exclusively of modes of thought, and powers of expression, which confine him to a single course of subjects. But much more frequently the same capacity which carries a man to popularity in one department will obtain for him success in another, and that must be more particularly the case in literary composition, than either in acting or painting, because the adventurer in that department is not impeded in his exertions by any peculiarity of features, or conformation of person, proper for particular parts, or, by any peculiar mechanical habits of using the pencil, limited to a particular class of subjects.
Whether this reasoning be correct or otherwise, the present author felt, that, in confining himself to subjects purely Scottish, he was not only likely to weary out the indulgence of his readers, but also greatly to limit his own power of affording them pleasure. In a highly polished country, where so much genius is monthly employed in catering for public amusement, a fresh topic, such as he had himself had the happiness to light upon, is the untasted spring of the desert;---
"Men bless their stars and call it luxury."
But when men and horses, cattle, camels, and dromedaries, have poached the spring into mud, it becomes loathsome to those who at first drank of it with rapture; and he who had the merit of discovering it, if he would preserve his reputation with the tribe, must display his talent by a fresh discovery of untasted fountains.
If the author, who finds himself limited to a particular class of subjects, endeavours to sustain his reputation by striving to add a novelty of attraction to themes of the same character which have been formerly successful under his management, there are manifest reasons why, after a certain point, he is likely to fail. If the mine be not wrought out, the strength and capacity of the miner become necessarily exhausted. If he closely imitates the narratives which he has before rendered successful, he is doomed to "wonder that they please no more." If he struggles to take a different view of the same class of subjects, he speedily discovers that what is obvious, graceful, and natural, has been exhausted; and, in order to obtain the indispensable charm of novelty, he is forced upon caricature, and, to avoid being trite, must become extravagant.
It is not, perhaps, necessary to enumerate so many reasons why the author of the Scottish Novels, as they were then exclusively termed, should be desirous to make an experiment on a subject purely English. It was his purpose, at the same time, to have rendered the experiment as complete as possible, by bringing the intended work before the public as the effort of a new candidate for their favour, in order that no degree of prejudice, whether favourable or the reverse, might attach to it, as a new production of the Author of Waverley; but this intention was afterwards departed from, for reasons to be hereafter mentioned.
The period of the narrative adopted was the reign of Richard I., not only as abounding with characters whose very names were sure to attract general attention, but as affording a striking contrast betwixt the Saxons, by whom the soil was cultivated, and the Normans, who still reigned in it as conquerors, reluctant to mix with the vanquished, or acknowledge themselves of the same stock. The idea of this contrast was taken from the ingenious and unfortunate Logan's tragedy of Runnamede, in which, about the same period of history, the author had seen the Saxon and Norman barons opposed to each other on different sides of the stage. He does not recollect that there was any attempt to contrast the two races in their habits and sentiments; and indeed it was obvious, that history was violated by introducing the Saxons still existing as a high-minded and martial race of nobles.
They did, however, survive as a people, and some of the ancient Saxon families possessed wealth and power, although they were exceptions to the humble condition of the race in general. It seemed to the author, that the existence of the two races in the same country, the vanquished distinguished by their plain, homely, blunt manners, and the free spirit infused by their ancient institutions and laws; the victors, by the high spirit of military fame, personal adventure, and whatever could distinguish them as the Flower of Chivalry, might, intermixed with other characters belonging to the same time and country, interest the reader by the contrast, if the author should not fail on his part.
Scotland, however, had been of late used so exclusively as the scene of what is called Historical Romance, that the preliminary letter of Mr Laurence Templeton became in some measure necessary. To this, as to an Introduction, the reader is referred, as expressing author's purpose and opinions in undertaking this species of composition, under the necessary reservation, that he is far from thinking he has attained the point at which he aimed.
It is scarcely necessary to add, that there was no idea or wish to pass off the supposed Mr Templeton as a real person. But a kind of continuation of the Tales of my Landlord had been recently attempted by a stranger, and it was supposed this Dedicatory Epistle might pass for some imitation of the same kind, and thus putting enquirers upon a false scent, induce them to believe they had before them the work of some new candidate for their favour.
After a considerable part of the work had been finished and printed, the Publishers, who pretended to discern in it a germ of popularity, remonstrated strenuously against its appearing as an absolutely anonymous production, and contended that it should have the advantage of being announced as by the Author of Waverley. The author did not make any obstinate opposition, for he began to be of opinion with Dr Wheeler, in Miss Edgeworth's excellent tale of "Maneuvering," that "Trick upon Trick" might be too much for the patience of an indulgent public, and might be reasonably considered as trifling with their favour.
The book, therefore, appeared as an avowed continuation of the Waverley Novels; and it would be ungrateful not to acknowledge, that it met with the same favourable reception as its predecessors.
Such annotations as may be useful to assist the reader in comprehending the characters of the Jew, the Templar, the Captain of the mercenaries, or Free Companions, as they were called, and others proper to the period, are added, but with a sparing hand, since sufficient information on these subjects is to be found in general history.
An incident in the tale, which had the good fortune to find favour in the eyes of many readers, is more directly borrowed from the stores of old romance. I mean the meeting of the King with Friar Tuck at the cell of that buxom hermit. The general tone of the story belongs to all ranks and all countries, which emulate each other in describing the rambles of a disguised sovereign, who, going in search of information or amusement, into the lower ranks of life, meets with adventures diverting to the reader or hearer, from the contrast betwixt the monarch's outward appearance, and his real character. The Eastern tale-teller has for his theme the disguised expeditions of Haroun Alraschid with his faithful attendants, Mesrour and Giafar, through the midnight streets of Bagdad; and Scottish tradition dwells upon the similar exploits of James V., distinguished during such excursions by the travelling name of the Goodman of Ballengeigh, as the Commander of the Faithful, when he desired to be incognito, was known by that of Il Bondocani. The French minstrels are not silent on so popular a theme. There must have been a Norman original of the Scottish metrical romance of Rauf Colziar, in which Charlemagne is introduced as the unknown guest of a charcoal-man.*
* This very curious poem, long a desideratum in Scottish * literature, and given up as irrecoverably lost, was * lately brought to light by the researches of Dr Irvine of * the Advocates' Library, and has been reprinted by Mr David * Laing, Edinburgh.
It seems to have been the original of other poems of the kind.
In merry England there is no end of popular ballads on this theme. The poem of John the Reeve, or Steward, mentioned by Bishop Percy, in the Reliques of English Poetry,* is said to
* Vol. ii. p. 167.
have turned on such an incident; and we have besides, the King and the Tanner of Tamworth, the King and the Miller of Mansfield, and others on the same topic. But the peculiar tale of this nature to which the author of Ivanhoe has to acknowledge an obligation, is more ancient by two centuries than any of these last mentioned.
It was first communicated to the public in that curious record of ancient literature, which has been accumulated by the combined exertions of Sir Egerton Brydges. and Mr Hazlewood, in the periodical work entitled the British Bibliographer. From thence it has been transferred by the Reverend Charles Henry Hartsborne, M.A., editor of a very curious volume, entitled "Ancient Metrical Tales, printed chiefly from original sources, 1829." Mr Hartshorne gives no other authority for the present fragment, except the article in the Bibliographer, where it is entitled the Kyng and the Hermite. A short abstract of its contents will show its similarity to the meeting of King Richard and Friar Tuck.
King Edward (we are not told which among the monarchs of that name, but, from his temper and habits, we may suppose Edward IV.) sets forth with his court to a gallant hunting-match in Sherwood Forest, in which, as is not unusual for princes in romance, he falls in with a deer of extraordinary size and swiftness, and pursues it closely, till he has outstripped his whole retinue, tired out hounds and horse, and finds himself alone under the gloom of an extensive forest, upon which night is descending. Under the apprehensions natural to a situation so uncomfortable, the king recollects that he has heard how poor men, when apprehensive of a bad nights lodging, pray to Saint Julian, who, in the Romish calendar, stands Quarter-Master-General to all forlorn travellers that render him due homage. Edward puts up his orisons accordingly, and by the guidance, doubtless, of the good Saint, reaches a small path, conducting him to a chapel in the forest, having a hermit's cell in its close vicinity. The King hears the reverend man, with a companion of his solitude, telling his beads within, and meekly requests of him quarters for the night. "I have no accommodation for such a lord as ye be," said the Hermit. "I live here in the wilderness upon roots and rinds, and may not receive into my dwelling even the poorest wretch that lives, unless it were to save his life." The King enquires the way to the next town, and, understanding it is by a road which he cannot find without difficulty, even if he had daylight to befriend him, he declares, that with or without the Hermit's consent, he is determined to be his guest that night. He is admitted accordingly, not without a hint from the Recluse, that were he himself out of his priestly weeds, he would care little for his threats of using violence, and that he gives way to him not out of intimidation, but simply to avoid scandal.
The King is admitted into the cell --- two bundles of straw are shaken down for his accommodation, and he comforts himself that he is now under shelter, and that
"A night will soon be gone."
Other wants, however, arise. The guest becomes clamorous for supper, observing,
"For certainly, as I you say, I ne had never so sorry a day, That I ne had a merry night."
But this indication of his taste for good cheer, joined to the annunciation of his being a follower of the Court, who had lost himself at the great hunting-match, cannot induce the niggard Hermit to produce better fare than bread and cheese, for which his guest showed little appetite; and "thin drink," which was even less acceptable. At length the King presses his host on a point to which he had more than once alluded, without obtaining a satisfactory reply:
"Then said the King, 'by God's grace, Thou wert in a merry place, To shoot should thou here When the foresters go to rest, Sometyme thou might have of the best, All of the wild deer; I wold hold it for no scathe, Though thou hadst bow and arrows baith, Althoff thou best a Frere.'"
The Hermit, in return, expresses his apprehension that his guest means to drag him into some confession of offence against the forest laws, which, being betrayed to the King, might cost him his life. Edward answers by fresh assurances of secrecy, and again urges on him the necessity of procuring some venison. The Hermit replies, by once more insisting on the duties incumbent upon him as a churchman, and continues to affirm himself free from all such breaches of order:
"Many day I have here been, And flesh-meat I eat never, But milk of the kye; Warm thee well, and go to sleep, And I will lap thee with my cope, Softly to lye."
It would seem that the manuscript is here imperfect, for we do not find the reasons which finally induce the curtal Friar to amend the King's cheer. But acknowledging his guest to be such a "good fellow" as has seldom graced his board, the holy man at length produces the best his cell affords. Two candles are placed on a table, white bread and baked pasties are displayed by the light, besides choice of venison, both salt and fresh, from which they select collops. "I might have eaten my bread dry," said the King, "had I not pressed thee on the score of archery, but now have I dined like a prince---if we had but drink enow."
This too is afforded by the hospitable anchorite, who dispatches an assistant to fetch a pot of four gallons from a secret corner near his bed, and the whole three set in to serious drinking. This amusement is superintended by the Friar, according to the recurrence of certain fustian words, to be repeated by every compotator in turn before he drank---a species of High Jinks, as it were, by which they regulated their potations, as toasts were given in latter times. The one toper says "fusty bandias", to which the other is obliged to reply, "strike pantnere", and the Friar passes many jests on the King's want of memory, who sometimes forgets the words of action. The night is spent in this jolly pastime. Before his departure in the morning, the King invites his reverend host to Court, promises, at least, to requite his hospitality, and expresses himself much pleased with his entertainment. The jolly Hermit at length agrees to venture thither, and to enquire for Jack Fletcher, which is the name assumed by the King. After the Hermit has shown Edward some feats of archery, the joyous pair separate. The King rides home, and rejoins his retinue. As the romance is imperfect, we are not acquainted how the discovery takes place; but it is probably much in the same manner as in other narratives turning on the same subject, where the host, apprehensive of death for having trespassed on the respect due to his Sovereign, while incognito, is agreeably surprised by receiving honours and reward.
In Mr Hartshorne's collection, there is a romance on the same foundation, called King Edward and the Shepherd,*
* Like the Hermit, the Shepherd makes havock amongst the * King's game; but by means of a sling, not of a bow; like * the Hermit, too, he has his peculiar phrases of * compotation, the sign and countersign being Passelodion * and Berafriend. One can scarce conceive what humour our * ancestors found in this species of gibberish; but * "I warrant it proved an excuse for the glass."
which, considered as illustrating manners, is still more curious than the King and the Hermit; but it is foreign to the present purpose. The reader has here the original legend from which the incident in the romance is derived; and the identifying the irregular Eremite with the Friar Tuck of Robin Hood's story, was an obvious expedient.
The name of Ivanhoe was suggested by an old rhyme. All novelists have had occasion at some time or other to wish with Falstaff, that they knew where a commodity of good names was to be had. On such an occasion the author chanced to call to memory a rhyme recording three names of the manors forfeited by the ancestor of the celebrated Hampden, for striking the Black Prince a blow with his racket, when they quarrelled at tennis:
"Tring, Wing, and Ivanhoe, For striking of a blow, Hampden did forego, And glad he could escape so."
The word suited the author's purpose in two material respects, ---for, first, it had an ancient English sound; and secondly, it conveyed no indication whatever of the nature of the story. He presumes to hold this last quality to be of no small importance. What is called a taking title, serves the direct interest of the bookseller or publisher, who by this means sometimes sells an edition while it is yet passing the press. But if the author permits an over degree of attention to be drawn to his work ere it has appeared, he places himself in the embarrassing condition of having excited a degree of expectation which, if he proves unable to satisfy, is an error fatal to his literary reputation. Besides, when we meet such a title as the Gunpowder Plot, or any other connected with general history, each reader, before he has seen the book, has formed to himself some particular idea of the sort of manner in which the story is to be conducted, and the nature of the amusement which he is to derive from it. In this he is probably disappointed, and in that case may be naturally disposed to visit upon the author or the work, the unpleasant feelings thus excited. In such a case the literary adventurer is censured, not for having missed the mark at which he himself aimed, but for not having shot off his shaft in a direction he never thought of.
On the footing of unreserved communication which the Author has established with the reader, he may here add the trifling circumstance, that a roll of Norman warriors, occurring in the Auchinleck Manuscript, gave him the formidable name of Front-de-Boeuf.
Ivanhoe was highly successful upon its appearance, and may be said to have procured for its author the freedom of the Rules, since he has ever since been permitted to exercise his powers of fictitious composition in England, as well as Scotland.
The character of the fair Jewess found so much favour in the eyes of some fair readers, that the writer was censured, because, when arranging the fates of the characters of the drama, he had not assigned the hand of Wilfred to Rebecca, rather than the less interesting Rowena. But, not to mention that the prejudices of the age rendered such an union almost impossible, the author may, in passing, observe, that he thinks a character of a highly virtuous and lofty stamp, is degraded rather than exalted by an attempt to reward virtue with temporal prosperity. Such is not the recompense which Providence has deemed worthy of suffering merit, and it is a dangerous and fatal doctrine to teach young persons, the most common readers of romance, that rectitude of conduct and of principle are either naturally allied with, or adequately rewarded by, the gratification of our passions, or attainment of our wishes. In a word, if a virtuous and self-denied character is dismissed with temporal wealth, greatness, rank, or the indulgence of such a rashly formed or ill assorted passion as that of Rebecca for Ivanhoe, the reader will be apt to say, verily Virtue has had its reward. But a glance on the great picture of life will show, that the duties of self-denial, and the sacrifice of passion to principle, are seldom thus remunerated; and that the internal consciousness of their high-minded discharge of duty, produces on their own reflections a more adequate recompense, in the form of that peace which the world cannot give or take away.
Abbotsford, 1st September, 1830.
威弗利小说作者的名望迄今为止一直不断上升，在这个特殊的文学领域，他已称得上是成功的宠儿。然而很清楚，一再的重复势必导致公众兴趣的衰退，除非他能找到一种方式，给后来的出版物技上新的面貌。苏格兰的风俗习惯，苏格兰的方言土语，苏格兰的知名人物，都是作者所深切理解和十分熟悉的，它们是他迄今为止的作品的基础，他的叙述也得力于此。然而如果完全以此为凭借，一成不变，日久之后，这种爱好必然造成一定程度的雷同和反复，最后读者很可能会发出帕内尔 (注)的《神话故事》中埃德温所讲的话：
“收回你的符咒吧，”他喊道，
“这场表演已经淋漓尽致，
再也引不起新的兴趣了。”
--------
(注)托马斯•帕内尔（1679—1718），英国诗人，《神话故事》是他的一篇诗。
对一个艺术家的声誉而言，最危险的莫过于听任（如果他可以制止的话）别人把墨守成规的恶名加在他的身上，仿佛他只能在一种独特的、固定的风格中获得成功。一般说，读者往往对他怀有一种看法，认为他既然在一种写作方式上赢得了人们的欢心，这种才能也会使他对其他题材不敢轻易尝试。读者一旦对给他们提供乐趣的作者，产生这样的成见，那么在他企图扩大他的写作范围时，通常也会像演员或画家为了扩大自己的艺术表现手段，改变努力的性质时一样，遭到来自庸俗批评界的指责。
这种看法含有一定的道理，它之得以流行，原因便在于此。在舞台艺术上常有这样的情形：一个演员在很大程度上掌握了产生喜剧效果所必需的一些外形表现特点，可能因而失去悲剧表演上出神入化的权利；在绘画或文学写作方面，一个画家或诗人所擅长的思想方式或表现能力，也可能只适用于一类题材。然而在绝大多数场合，能在一个部门给人带来声誉的才力，也能在别的部门使他获得成功；在文学写作方面，比在表演或绘画方面尤其如此，因为在那个部门施展抱负的人，他的努力不受任何特殊面部表情，人体某些部分所特有的造型方式，或者画笔运用上的任何独特操作方式的限制，以致只适合于表现某一类题材。
不论这些推理是否正确，本文作者觉得，把他的作品局限在纯粹的苏格兰题材上，不仅会逐渐丧失读者对他的青睐，而且会大大降低他为他们提供乐趣的能力。一个高度发达的国家人才辈出，每月都有不少人在竞相争夺公众的好感，这时谁有幸发现一种新鲜题材，它便会像沙漠中涌现的无人问津过的清泉：
人们庆幸它的出现，称之为意外的享乐。但是当人和马，牛群和骆驼，把这泓清泉践踏成污泥后，那些起先对它赞不绝口的人，便会产生厌倦之感；而那个曾因发现它而博得赞誉的人，若要保持他的声誉，就得运用他的才能，发掘无人问津过的新源泉了。
假定作者发现他只限于表现某一类题材，为了维护他的名声，尽量给他以前获得成功的同一类主题，增添新的吸引力，那么超过一定的限度，他便可能以失败告终，这原因是很明显的。如果不是矿藏已采掘净尽，一定是采矿者的力量和才能枯竭了。如果他一成不变，继续照以前给他带来成功的故事模式做去，他注定会“惊异不止，发现它不再受到欢迎了”。如果他力图从不同的观点来叙述同一类事物，他也马上会发觉，那鲜明、优美和自然的一切，都已丧失殆尽；为了获得不可缺少的新的魅力，他只得求助于怪诞，为了避免老一套，只得采取夸大失实的手法。
当时被专门称之为苏格兰小说的作者，为什么需要在纯粹的英国题材方面进行尝试，理由是很多的，似乎不必-一缕述。同时，他的意图是要使他的尝试尽可能彻底，让他打算带给读者的作品，作为争取他们好评的一位新人的努力成果出现，免得它作为威弗利作者的新成果，受到读者对他的成见的丝毫影响，不论这些成见对他是否有利；但是这个意图后来没有实现，原因后面会提到。
这故事选择的时期是在理查一世治下，它不仅充满了必然引起广泛兴趣的许多人物，而且提供了开发这片土地的撒克逊人和仍作为胜利者统治着这个地区，不愿与战败者混合，或者不承认自己与他们属于同一种人的诺曼人之间的强烈对照。这个对照的想法来自卓越而不幸的洛根(注)的悲剧《兰尼米德》，它写的是同一历史时期，作者看到在戏里，撒克逊和诺曼贵族作为对立的双方出现在舞台上。据作者看来，戏中不存在把两个种族的生活习惯和思想情绪加以对比的任何意图；确实，让撒克逊贵族仍作为意气风发、具有尚武精神的民族出现，这显然是违反历史的。
--------
(注)约翰•洛根（1748—1788），苏格兰教士和诗人。兰尼米德是英国萨里郡的一个地方，1215年6月英王约翰（即本书中的约翰亲王，他于1199年继理查一世为国王）在这里与贵族签定“大宪章”，《兰尼米德》一剧即写此事。
不过他们仍作为一支民族存在着，某些古老的撒克逊家族依然拥有财富和权力，尽管从整个民族所处的委曲求全的地位而言，它们只是一些例外。作者认为，在一个国家中存在着两支种族，一支为战败者，他们的特点是浑厚、简朴、粗犷的生活作风，以及古老制度及法律所培植的自由精神，另一支是胜利者，特点是高涨的军事声望和个人的冒险精神，以及作为骑士阶级精华的各种品质，它们与属于这个时代和国家的其他特点结合在一起，如果作者处理恰当的话，便可以为读者提供有趣的对照。
然而近来，苏格兰已成为历史传奇故事的独一无二的背景，以致劳伦斯•坦普尔顿先生前言性质的信函在一定程度上是必要的。读者应该把它看作与前言一样，表现了作者从事这类著述的意图和看法，必要的保留只是他根本不认为他已达到了预期的目的。
几乎用不到再说，让虚构的坦普尔顿先生充当真实人物的想法或希望，这里是没有的。但是最近有一个局外人企图续写《我的地主的故事》(注)，这篇致敬信便很可能被当作是仿效这类做法的，因而成为迷惑好事者的假象，诱使他们相信，他们面对的是希冀获取他们好感的一位新人的作品。
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(注)司各特给自己的一系列小说起的一个名称，由于它不符合它们的内容，因此后来很少使用。
当这著作的大部分业已完成并付印后，出版者认为从中看到了可以大受欢迎的因素，因而竭力反对它作为完全匿名的作品问世，主张它有权署上“威弗利作者”的大名。作者对此没有坚决反对，因为他开始赞同埃奇沃思小姐(注)的优秀故事《演习》中惠勒博士的意见，即“过分故弄玄虚”可能使宽厚的读者忍受不了，因而理所当然地被认为是在玩弄他们对他的偏爱。
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(注)玛丽亚•埃奇沃思（1767—1849），英国小说家，司各特十分推重她的作品。
这样，本书便公开作为威弗利小说的继续出现了；而且我不能忘恩负义，不承认它也像它的前辈一样，受到了热情的接待。
为了帮助读者理解犹太人、圣殿骑士、号称自由兵团的雇佣兵的队长、以及这个时期特有的其他人物的性质，我加上了一些在这方面有用的注释，但尽量做到要言不烦，因为有关这些问题的情况在一般历史书中都可找到。
在这篇故事中有一个插曲很幸运，获得了许多读者的喜爱，它更直接来自一些古老的传奇故事。我指的是国王与塔克修士在那位身强力壮的隐士的小屋中的邂逅。这样的故事，一切阶层和一切国家都有，它带有普遍的性质，它们竞相描写乔装改扮的君主微服私行，深入下层社会了解民情或者寻找乐趣，由于国王的外表和实际身份的不同，引起了一些对读者或听众饶有兴趣的奇遇。东方故事中也有这类题材，鲁纳•拉施德(注1)如何带着忠实的随从马师伦和张尔蕃，在巴格达午夜的街道上私行察访；苏格兰传说中也有詹姆斯五世(注2)的类似活动，他在微眼出行时，自称为巴伦格奇的商人，就像那位“穆民的长官”(注3)在不希望人家知道他的身份时，自称为庞多卡尼的商人一样。法国的行吟诗人自然不会放弃这种流行的主题。苏格兰的诗体小说《烧炭人劳夫之歌》，似乎便以诺曼人的原作为依据，它讲的是查理大帝作为匿名的客人出现在烧炭人屋中的故事(注4)。这看来也是其他同类诗歌的来源。
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(注1)《一千零一夜》中阿拉伯国家的哈里发（君主），马师伦和张尔著是他的大臣，关于他私行察访的事即见该书。
(注2)詹姆斯五世（1512一1542），苏格兰国王，出生十七个月即继承王位，至去世为止。
(注3)伊斯兰国家的哈里发（君主），自称为“穆民的长官”，即穆斯林民众的首领。
(注4)这篇非常罕见的诗歌，长期以来在苏格兰文学中一直是寻找的目标，被认为已经失传，无法找到了，直到最近由于律师图书馆的欧文博士的多方搜求，才得以重见天日，并由爱丁堡的戴维•莱恩先生予以印行。——原注
在快活的英格兰，这类题材的民谣多不胜数。拍西主教(注)在《英诗辑古》中提到的《村吏约翰》，据说便写到了这样的事；此外，我们还有《国王和塔姆沃斯的皮革匠》、《国王和曼斯菲德的磨坊主》等，都涉及这一主题。但是对本书作者而言，他特别应该感谢的，是比上面提到的那些诗歌更早两个世纪的一篇作品。
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(注)托马斯•帕西（1729—1816），英国教士，古诗研究者。1765年将其辑录的英国古诗编成《英诗辑古》出版，该书在英国古诗研究中具有重要意义，司各特早期的诗歌创作也深受它的影响。
它最先发表在名为《英国文献学家》(注)的期刊上，由于埃杰顿•布里奇斯爵士和黑兹尔伍德先生的共同努力，这刊物收集了大量古代文学精品。后来查尔斯•亨利•哈茨霍恩牧师，又把它载入他编的一本非常珍贵的文集中，该书于1829年出版，书名为《古代诗歌故事（主要根据原始资料辑集）》。关于这段故事，哈茨霍恩先生除了《文献学家》上的文章，没有提供其他依据，它在那里的题目是《国王和隐士》。就它的内容作一简单摘要，便足以看出，它与理查国王和塔克修士的邂逅如何相似。
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(注)1810一1814年在英国出版的文献学期刊，由埃杰顿•布里奇斯（1762—1837）
爱德华国王（我们不知道这是指哪一位国王，但是从他的性情和作风看，我们可以假定这是爱德华四世(注1)）带着他的臣子们，在舍伍德森林进行盛大的打猎活动；正如传奇故事中国工们常有的遭遇一样，他遇到了一头特别大、又跑得特别快的鹿，于是对它紧追不舍，终于离开了他的全部扈从人员，猎狗和马也给弄得疲乏不堪，最后他独自一人落进了一片昏暗的大森林中，天也逐渐黑了。处在这种不利状况，国王自然感到担忧，他想起他曾听说，穷人在找不到宿处时，往往祈求圣朱利安(注2)的保佑，因为在罗马历书中，后者对一切绝望的旅人可以发挥军需官的作用。爱德华便照此行事，作了祈祷，不用说，在善良的圣徒的指引下，他来到了一条小路上，它通向森林中的一栋教堂，离教堂不远便是一所隐修士的小屋。国王听到，那位修士与一个孤独的同伴正在屋里诵经，于是他委婉地央求他让他进屋过夜。修士答道：“我无法供应你这样一位老爷的食宿，这儿是荒野，我只能靠树皮草根过活，哪怕最穷苦的可怜虫，我这儿也无法接待，除非是为了救他的性命。”国王便打听到附近城镇的道路，在得知这条路哪怕在大白天也不能轻易找到以后，他宣称，不论隐修士答应不答应，他非在他这儿过夜不可。这样总算让他进屋了，但隐士还是声明，要不是他穿着这身教士衣服，他根本不会把他的武力威胁放在心上，他对他让步不是出于害怕，只是为了避免闹出不愉快的事。
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(注1)1461—1483年的英国国王。
(注2)旅人的保护神。
国王给放进了屋子，两捆麦秆丢在地上作他的床铺；他现在庆幸有了个宿处，心想一夜时间很快就会过去。
然而其他的需要出现了。客人开始嚷嚷要吃晚饭，他指出：
“毫无疑问，我得告诉你，
我从没有过这种落魄的日子，
我每夜都是在灯红酒绿中度过的。”
但是他想吃好酒好菜的这种表示，连同他声称他是在盛大的打猎活动中失散的朝廷臣子的话，至多只能使吝啬的隐士拿出一些面包和乳酪供他食用，可是他的客人对这种伙食胃口不大，那“淡而无味的酒”更引不起他的兴趣。最后国王利用他一再提到，却没有得到满意答复的一点，对主人施加压力：
“于是国王说道：‘上帝保佑，
你生活在一个快活的地方，
射击应该是你的拿手好戏；
等管林人上床休息的时候，
森林便成了你的一统天下，
野鹿都落进了你的手掌之中；
我认为这无伤大雅，
反正你手里有的是弓和箭，
尽管你名义上是一位教士。”
隐修士的回答表示他担心，这是他的客人想引诱他供认他违反了森林法，如果这事报告了国王，便可使他因而丧命。爱德华重又保证他会严守秘密，并且再次敦促他必须设法搞到些鹿肉。隐修士再度重申他作为教士应尽的职责，继续声明他从未干过这类违法勾当：
“我在这儿生活过许多岁月，
但从未吃过一块新鲜鹿肉，
“我只喝牛奶；
你还是盖好被子，安心睡觉吧，
我会再给你盖上我的斗篷，
让你睡得舒服一些。”
看来原稿在这里并不完整，因为我们没有看到促使那位粗野的修士最后满足国王的食欲的原因。但是教士后来承认，他的客人是一个“有趣的家伙”，他还很少接待过这样的人，因此终于把他最好的食品端了出来。两支蜡烛放上了桌子，烛光下出现了白面包和烤馅饼，此外还有精美的鹿肉，有咸的也有新鲜的，可以任意选择。国王说：“要是我不凭那副弓箭逼你一下，我就只能光靠面包充饥，现在只要还有足够的美酒，我这顿饭就吃得像神仙一样了。”
好客的隐士也满足了他的这个要求，打发助手从床边的秘密角落中拿出了一坛酒，足足四加仑，三个人便坐下去开怀畅饮。这场娱乐山修士主持，用一句粗俗的话轮流打趣，每个人在喝酒以前都得对上一句，就这么一边胡闹一边喝酒，就像后来人们祝酒干杯一样。一个人说：“喝了一杯又一杯”，另一个人便得说：“再来一杯成双对”，隐修士不断取笑国王，说他记性不行，老是忘记那些关键的词。这么寻欢作乐闹腾了一夜，到早晨离开的时候，国王邀请尊敬的主人访问朝廷，答应至少得报答他的款待，并表示对这场酒宴十分满意。快活的隐士最后接受了邀请，答应一定去探望杰克•弗莱彻--国王当时用的名字。隐士向国王表演了一些射箭武艺后，这对兴高采烈的朋友便分手了。国王骑马回家，找到了他的扈从队伍。由于这篇故事并不完整，我们不知道真相是怎么发现的；但是很可能，它也与同类题材的其他作品一样，主人心事重重，担心冲撞了隐姓埋名的国王，会给处死，结果却大吃一惊，受到了殷勤的接待和报答。
在哈茨霍恩先生的集子中，还有一则同样情节的故事，题目是《爱德华国王和牧羊人》，它的描写方式甚至比《国王和隐士》更为离奇，但这与我们目前的问题无关。由此可见，小说中写到的那件事，便来源于这个传说；用罗宾汉故事中的塔克修士来代替那个不修边幅的隐士，显然只是权宜之计。
艾文荷这个名称来自一篇旧歌谣。所有的小说家都像福斯塔夫一样，有时希望知道，哪里有好名字出卖(注1)。当时作者正好想起一篇民谣中提到过三个庄园的名字，这是著名的汉普登的一个祖先，由于在打网球时发生争吵，用球拍打了一下黑王子，因而被没收的：(注2)
“只因用球拍打了一下，
汉普登便丢掉了三座庄园：
特林、温格和艾文荷，
这使他追悔莫及。”
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(注1)见莎士比亚的《亨利四世上篇》第一幕第二场，福斯塔夫说：“但愿上帝指示我们什么地方有好名字出卖。”
(注2)这里著名的汉普登指约翰•汉普登（1594—1643），英国著名政治家和国会领袖；“黑王子”系英王爱德华三世的长子爱德华（1330—1376）的诨名，他以作战骁勇闻名，曾在英法百年战争中屡立战功。英国人的姓名一般包括教名和姓两部分，姓的来源十分复杂，有一种即以地名或该人所有的领地或庄园的名称为姓，如本书中威尔弗莱德是教名，艾文荷是庄园名称，因此本书中称他为艾文荷的威尔弗莱德，有时便直接称他为艾文荷，仿佛这便成了他的姓。
这个名字在两个方面适合作者的要求：第一，它具有古老的英国音调；第二，它不致提示故事的任何情节。作者认为后面这点非常重要。一个所谓动人的名称，对书商或出版商往往有直接的利害关系，他们靠这个名称，有时可在书籍还在排印时巳销售一空。但是作者允许在书籍问世前对书名引起过多的兴趣，他必将使自己陷入尴尬的处境，因为如果事后证明，这书名引起的期望，作者无法予以满足，那么这对他的文学声誉会造成致命的误差。此外，如果我们看到一本书名为“火药阴谋”，或其他与一般历史有关的事，每个读者势必在阅读这书以前，便对书中所要叙述的故事，以及它所能提供的乐趣的性质，产生某种观念。可是在这一点上，他可能会失望，这样，理所当然，他便会对作者或作品产生不合心意的印象。于是这位耍笔杆的先生便得受到指责，原因倒不在于作者没有达到预定的目的，只是因为他的箭没有射向他从未希望射中的那个目标。
作者为了毫无保留地与读者互通声气起见，不妨在这里再提一件小事，即牛面将军这个可怕的名字，是从《奥琴勒克文稿》(注)中收录的诺曼武士的名册中找到的。
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(注)奥琴勒克是苏格兰一个传记作家詹姆斯•鲍斯韦尔家的庄园名称，所谓《奥琴勒克文稿》可能即指他所写的大量带有考证性的文稿。
《艾文荷》一出版，立刻获得了极大的成功，可以说，自从作者得以在英国和苏格兰小说中运用他的虚构才智以来，他这才真正在这方面取得了游刃有余的支配能力。
美丽的犹太姑娘的性格，受到了一些女读者的特别青睐，她们甚至因此批评作者，在安排小说人物的命运时，没有让威尔弗莱德和丽贝卡结合，却让他娶了她们不太感兴趣的罗文娜。但是且不说在那个时代的偏见支配下，这样的结合几乎是不可能的，作者还不妨顺便指出，他认为，把世俗的幸福作为对一个道德高尚、行为端正的人物的还报，这不是提高了这个人物，而是贬低了这个人物。这不是上天认为历尽磨难的优良品质必须得到的补偿；我们的小说最普通的读者是年轻人，如果我们教育他们，正直的行为和尊重原则的精神，天然会得到适当的报酬，因而使我们的欲望得到满足，我们的要求达到目的，那么这种说教是危险的，也是有害无益的。一句话，如果有了贞洁的、自我牺牲的品质，便能得到世俗的财富、利益和地位，或者便能使没有基础的或并不般配的感情，例如丽贝卡对艾文荷的那种感情如愿以偿，那么读者固然会说：“德行确实得到了好报。”但是只要对这个大千世界的真实状况看上一眼，便会明白，自我牺牲的义务，为原则捐弃感情的行为，是很少获得这样的报答的；履行责任的高尚精神在人们的回顾中引起的内心感受，是更为恰当的补偿，这表现为一种恬静的心境，它是世界所不能给予，也无从夺走的。
1830年9月1日于艾博茨福德
Dedicatory Epistle
TO
THE REV. DR DRYASDUST, F.A.S.
Residing in the Castle-Gate, York.
Much esteemed and dear Sir,
It is scarcely necessary to mention the various and concurring reasons which induce me to place your name at the head of the following work. Yet the chief of these reasons may perhaps be refuted by the imperfections of the performance. Could I have hoped to render it worthy of your patronage, the public would at once have seen the propriety of inscribing a work designed to illustrate the domestic antiquities of England, and particularly of our Saxon forefathers, to the learned author of the Essays upon the Horn of King Ulphus, and on the Lands bestowed by him upon the patrimony of St Peter. I am conscious, however, that the slight, unsatisfactory, and trivial manner, in which the result of my antiquarian researches has been recorded in the following pages, takes the work from under that class which bears the proud motto, "Detur digniori". On the contrary, I fear I shall incur the censure of presumption in placing the venerable name of Dr Jonas Dryasdust at the head of a publication, which the more grave antiquary will perhaps class with the idle novels and romances of the day. I am anxious to vindicate myself from such a charge; for although I might trust to your friendship for an apology in your eyes, yet I would not willingly stand conviction in those of the public of so grave a crime, as my fears lead me to anticipate my being charged with.
I must therefore remind you, that when we first talked over together that class of productions, in one of which the private and family affairs of your learned northern friend, Mr Oldbuck of Monkbarns, were so unjustifiably exposed to the public, some discussion occurred between us concerning the cause of the popularity these works have attained in this idle age, which, whatever other merit they possess, must be admitted to be hastily written, and in violation of every rule assigned to the epopeia. It seemed then to be your opinion, that the charm lay entirely in the art with which the unknown author had availed himself, like a second M'Pherson, of the antiquarian stores which lay scattered around him, supplying his own indolence or poverty of invention, by the incidents which had actually taken place in his country at no distant period, by introducing real characters, and scarcely suppressing real names. It was not above sixty or seventy years, you observed, since the whole north of Scotland was under a state of government nearly as simple and as patriarchal as those of our good allies the Mohawks and Iroquois. Admitting that the author cannot himself be supposed to have witnessed those times, he must have lived, you observed, among persons who had acted and suffered in them; and even within these thirty years, such an infinite change has taken place in the manners of Scotland, that men look back upon the habits of society proper to their immediate ancestors, as we do on those of the reign of Queen Anne, or even the period of the Revolution. Having thus materials of every kind lying strewed around him, there was little, you observed, to embarrass the author, but the difficulty of choice. It was no wonder, therefore, that, having begun to work a mine so plentiful, he should have derived from his works fully more credit and profit than the facility of his labours merited.
Admitting (as I could not deny) the general truth of these conclusions, I cannot but think it strange that no attempt has been made to excite an interest for the traditions and manners of Old England, similiar to that which has been obtained in behalf of those of our poorer and less celebrated neighbours. The Kendal green, though its date is more ancient, ought surely to be as dear to our feelings, as the variegated tartans of the north. The name of Robin Hood, if duly conjured with, should raise a spirit as soon as that of Rob Roy; and the patriots of England deserve no less their renown in our modern circles, than the Bruces and Wallaces of Caledonia. If the scenery of the south be less romantic and sublime than that of the northern mountains, it must be allowed to possess in the same proportion superior softness and beauty; and upon the whole, we feel ourselves entitled to exclaim with the patriotic Syrian---"Are not Pharphar and Abana, rivers of Damascus, better than all the rivers of Israel?"
Your objections to such an attempt, my dear Doctor, were, you may remember, two-fold. You insisted upon the advantages which the Scotsman possessed, from the very recent existence of that state of society in which his scene was to be laid. Many now alive, you remarked, well remembered persons who had not only seen the celebrated Roy M'Gregor, but had feasted, and even fought with him. All those minute circumstances belonging to private life and domestic character, all that gives verisimilitude to a narrative, and individuality to the persons introduced, is still known and remembered in Scotland; whereas in England, civilisation has been so long complete, that our ideas of our ancestors are only to be gleaned from musty records and chronicles, the authors of which seem perversely to have conspired to suppress in their narratives all interesting details, in order to find room for flowers of monkish eloquence, or trite reflections upon morals. To match an English and a Scottish author in the rival task of embodying and reviving the traditions of their respective countries, would be, you alleged, in the highest degree unequal and unjust. The Scottish magician, you said, was, like Lucan's witch, at liberty to walk over the recent field of battle, and to select for the subject of resuscitation by his sorceries, a body whose limbs had recently quivered with existence, and whose throat had but just uttered the last note of agony. Such a subject even the powerful Erictho was compelled to select, as alone capable of being reanimated even by "her" potent magic---
------gelidas leto scrutata medullas, Pulmonis rigidi stantes sine vulnere fibras Invenit, et vocem defuncto in corpore quaerit.
The English author, on the other hand, without supposing him less of a conjuror than the Northern Warlock, can, you observed, only have the liberty of selecting his subject amidst the dust of antiquity, where nothing was to be found but dry, sapless, mouldering, and disjointed bones, such as those which filled the valley of Jehoshaphat. You expressed, besides, your apprehension, that the unpatriotic prejudices of my countrymen would not allow fair play to such a work as that of which I endeavoured to demonstrate the probable success. And this, you said, was not entirely owing to the more general prejudice in favour of that which is foreign, but that it rested partly upon improbabilities, arising out of the circumstances in which the English reader is placed. If you describe to him a set of wild manners, and a state of primitive society existing in the Highlands of Scotland, he is much disposed to acquiesce in the truth of what is asserted. And reason good. If he be of the ordinary class of readers, he has either never seen those remote districts at all, or he has wandered through those desolate regions in the course of a summer tour, eating bad dinners, sleeping on truckle beds, stalking from desolation to desolation, and fully prepared to believe the strangest things that could be told him of a people, wild and extravagant enough to be attached to scenery so extraordinary. But the same worthy person, when placed in his own snug parlour, and surrounded by all the comforts of an Englishman's fireside, is not half so much disposed to believe that his own ancestors led a very different life from himself; that the shattered tower, which now forms a vista from his window, once held a baron who would have hung him up at his own door without any form of trial; that the hinds, by whom his little pet-farm is managed, a few centuries ago would have been his slaves; and that the complete influence of feudal tyranny once extended over the neighbouring village, where the attorney is now a man of more importance than the lord of the manor.
While I own the force of these objections, I must confess, at the same time, that they do not appear to me to be altogether insurmountable. The scantiness of materials is indeed a formidable difficulty; but no one knows better than Dr Dryasdust, that to those deeply read in antiquity, hints concerning the private life of our ancestors lie scattered through the pages of our various historians, bearing, indeed, a slender proportion to the other matters of which they treat, but still, when collected together, sufficient to throw considerable light upon the "vie prive" of our forefathers; indeed, I am convinced, that however I myself may fail in the ensuing attempt, yet, with more labour in collecting, or more skill in using, the materials within his reach, illustrated as they have been by the labours of Dr Henry, of the late Mr Strutt, and, above all, of Mr Sharon Turner, an abler hand would have been successful; and therefore I protest, beforehand, against any argument which may be founded on the failure of the present experiment.
On the other hand, I have already said, that if any thing like a true picture of old English manners could be drawn, I would trust to the good-nature and good sense of my countrymen for insuring its favourable reception.
Having thus replied, to the best of my power, to the first class of your objections, or at least having shown my resolution to overleap the barriers which your prudence has raised, I will be brief in noticing that which is more peculiar to myself. It seems to be your opinion, that the very office of an antiquary, employed in grave, and, as the vulgar will sometimes allege, in toilsome and minute research, must be considered as incapacitating him from successfully compounding a tale of this sort. But permit me to say, my dear Doctor, that this objection is rather formal than substantial. It is true, that such slight compositions might not suit the severer genius of our friend Mr Oldbuck. Yet Horace Walpole wrote a goblin tale which has thrilled through many a bosom; and George Ellis could transfer all the playful fascination of a humour, as delightful as it was uncommon, into his Abridgement of the Ancient Metrical Romances. So that, however I may have occasion to rue my present audacity, I have at least the most respectable precedents in my favour.
Still the severer antiquary may think, that, by thus intermingling fiction with truth, I am polluting the well of history with modern inventions, and impressing upon the rising generation false ideas of the age which I describe. I cannot but in some sense admit the force of this reasoning, which I yet hope to traverse by the following considerations.
It is true, that I neither can, nor do pretend, to the observation of complete accuracy, even in matters of outward costume, much less in the more important points of language and manners. But the same motive which prevents my writing the dialogue of the piece in Anglo-Saxon or in Norman-French, and which prohibits my sending forth to the public this essay printed with the types of Caxton or Wynken de Worde, prevents my attempting to confine myself within the limits of the period in which my story is laid. It is necessary, for exciting interest of any kind, that the subject assumed should be, as it were, translated into the manners, as well as the language, of the age we live in. No fascination has ever been attached to Oriental literature, equal to that produced by Mr Galland's first translation of the Arabian Tales; in which, retaining on the one hand the splendour of Eastern costume, and on the other the wildness of Eastern fiction, he mixed these with just so much ordinary feeling and expression, as rendered them interesting and intelligible, while he abridged the long-winded narratives, curtailed the monotonous reflections, and rejected the endless repetitions of the Arabian original. The tales, therefore, though less purely Oriental than in their first concoction, were eminently better fitted for the European market, and obtained an unrivalled degree of public favour, which they certainly would never have gained had not the manners and style been in some degree familiarized to the feelings and habits of the western reader.
In point of justice, therefore, to the multitudes who will, I trust, devour this book with avidity, I have so far explained our ancient manners in modern language, and so far detailed the characters and sentiments of my persons, that the modern reader will not find himself, I should hope, much trammelled by the repulsive dryness of mere antiquity. In this, I respectfully contend, I have in no respect exceeded the fair license due to the author of a fictitious composition. The late ingenious Mr Strutt, in his romance of Queen-Hoo-Hall,*
* The author had revised this posthumous work of Mr Strutt. * See General Preface to the present edition, Vol I. p. 65.
acted upon another principle; and in distinguishing between what was ancient and modern, forgot, as it appears to me, that extensive neutral ground, the large proportion, that is, of manners and sentiments which are common to us and to our ancestors, having been handed down unaltered from them to us, or which, arising out of the principles of our common nature, must have existed alike in either state of society. In this manner, a man of talent, and of great antiquarian erudition, limited the popularity of his work, by excluding from it every thing which was not sufficiently obsolete to be altogether forgotten and unintelligible.
The license which I would here vindicate, is so necessary to the execution of my plan, that I will crave your patience while I illustrate my argument a little farther.
He who first opens Chaucer, or any other ancient poet, is so much struck with the obsolete spelling, multiplied consonants, and antiquated appearance of the language, that he is apt to lay the work down in despair, as encrusted too deep with the rust of antiquity, to permit his judging of its merits or tasting its beauties. But if some intelligent and accomplished friend points out to him, that the difficulties by which he is startled are more in appearance than reality, if, by reading aloud to him, or by reducing the ordinary words to the modern orthography, he satisfies his proselyte that only about one-tenth part of the words employed are in fact obsolete, the novice may be easily persuaded to approach the "well of English undefiled," with the certainty that a slender degree of patience will enable him to to enjoy both the humour and the pathos with which old Geoffrey delighted the age of Cressy and of Poictiers.
To pursue this a little farther. If our neophyte, strong in the new-born love of antiquity, were to undertake to imitate what he had learnt to admire, it must be allowed he would act very injudiciously, if he were to select from the Glossary the obsolete words which it contains, and employ those exclusively of all phrases and vocables retained in modern days. This was the error of the unfortunate Chatterton. In order to give his language the appearance of antiquity, he rejected every word that was modern, and produced a dialect entirely different from any that had ever been spoken in Great Britain. He who would imitate an ancient language with success, must attend rather to its grammatical character, turn of expression, and mode of arrangement, than labour to collect extraordinary and antiquated terms, which, as I have already averred, do not in ancient authors approach the number of words still in use, though perhaps somewhat altered in sense and spelling, in the proportion of one to ten.
What I have applied to language, is still more justly applicable to sentiments and manners. The passions, the sources from which these must spring in all their modifications, are generally the same in all ranks and conditions, all countries and ages; and it follows, as a matter of course, that the opinions, habits of thinking, and actions, however influenced by the peculiar state of society, must still, upon the whole, bear a strong resemblance to each other. Our ancestors were not more distinct from us, surely, than Jews are from Christians; they had "eyes, hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions;" were "fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer," as ourselves. The tenor, therefore, of their affections and feelings, must have borne the same general proportion to our own.
It follows, therefore, that of the materials which an author has to use in a romance, or fictitious composition, such as I have ventured to attempt, he will find that a great proportion, both of language and manners, is as proper to the present time as to those in which he has laid his time of action. The freedom of choice which this allows him, is therefore much greater, and the difficulty of his task much more diminished, than at first appears. To take an illustration from a sister art, the antiquarian details may be said to represent the peculiar features of a landscape under delineation of the pencil. His feudal tower must arise in due majesty; the figures which he introduces must have the costume and character of their age; the piece must represent the peculiar features of the scene which he has chosen for his subject, with all its appropriate elevation of rock, or precipitate descent of cataract. His general colouring, too, must be copied from Nature: The sky must be clouded or serene, according to the climate, and the general tints must be those which prevail in a natural landscape. So far the painter is bound down by the rules of his art, to a precise imitation of the features of Nature; but it is not required that he should descend to copy all her more minute features, or represent with absolute exactness the very herbs, flowers, and trees, with which the spot is decorated. These, as well as all the more minute points of light and shadow, are attributes proper to scenery in general, natural to each situation, and subject to the artist's disposal, as his taste or pleasure may dictate.
It is true, that this license is confined in either case within legitimate bounds. The painter must introduce no ornament inconsistent with the climate or country of his landscape; he must not plant cypress trees upon Inch-Merrin, or Scottish firs among the ruins of Persepolis; and the author lies under a corresponding restraint. However far he may venture in a more full detail of passions and feelings, than is to be found in the ancient compositions which he imitates, he must introduce nothing inconsistent with the manners of the age; his knights, squires, grooms, and yeomen, may be more fully drawn than in the hard, dry delineations of an ancient illuminated manuscript, but the character and costume of the age must remain inviolate; they must be the same figures, drawn by a better pencil, or, to speak more modestly, executed in an age when the principles of art were better understood. His language must not be exclusively obsolete and unintelligible; but he should admit, if possible, no word or turn of phraseology betraying an origin directly modern. It is one thing to make use of the language and sentiments which are common to ourselves and our forefathers, and it is another to invest them with the sentiments and dialect exclusively proper to their descendants.
This, my dear friend, I have found the most difficult part of my task; and, to speak frankly, I hardly expect to satisfy your less partial judgment, and more extensive knowledge of such subjects, since I have hardly been able to please my own.
I am conscious that I shall be found still more faulty in the tone of keeping and costume, by those who may be disposed rigidly to examine my Tale, with reference to the manners of the exact period in which my actors flourished: It may be, that I have introduced little which can positively be termed modern; but, on the other hand, it is extremely probable that I may have confused the manners of two or three centuries, and introduced, during the reign of Richard the First, circumstances appropriated to a period either considerably earlier, or a good deal later than that era. It is my comfort, that errors of this kind will escape the general class of readers, and that I may share in the ill-deserved applause of those architects, who, in their modern Gothic, do not hesitate to introduce, without rule or method, ornaments proper to different styles and to different periods of the art. Those whose extensive researches have given them the means of judging my backslidings with more severity, will probably be lenient in proportion to their knowledge of the difficulty of my task. My honest and neglected friend, Ingulphus, has furnished me with many a valuable hint; but the light afforded by the Monk of Croydon, and Geoffrey de Vinsauff, is dimmed by such a conglomeration of uninteresting and unintelligible matter, that we gladly fly for relief to the delightful pages of the gallant Froissart, although he flourished at a period so much more remote from the date of my history. If, therefore, my dear friend, you have generosity enough to pardon the presumptuous attempt, to frame for myself a minstrel coronet, partly out of the pearls of pure antiquity, and partly from the Bristol stones and paste, with which I have endeavoured to imitate them, I am convinced your opinion of the difficulty of the task will reconcile you to the imperfect manner of its execution.
Of my materials I have but little to say. They may be chiefly found in the singular Anglo-Norman MS., which Sir Arthur Wardour preserves with such jealous care in the third drawer of his oaken cabinet, scarcely allowing any one to touch it, and being himself not able to read one syllable of its contents. I should never have got his consent, on my visit to Scotland, to read in those precious pages for so many hours, had I not promised to designate it by some emphatic mode of printing, as (The Wardour Manuscript); giving it, thereby, an individuality as important as the Bannatyne MS., the Auchinleck MS., and any other monument of the patience of a Gothic scrivener. I have sent, for your private consideration, a list of the contents of this curious piece, which I shall perhaps subjoin, with your approbation, to the third volume of my Tale, in case the printer's devil should continue impatient for copy, when the whole of my narrative has been imposed.
Adieu, my dear friend; I have said enough to explain, if not to vindicate, the attempt which I have made, and which, in spite of your doubts, and my own incapacity, I am still willing to believe has not been altogether made in vain.
I hope you are now well recovered from your spring fit of the gout, and shall be happy if the advice of your learned physician should recommend a tour to these parts. Several curiosities have been lately dug up near the wall, as well as at the ancient station of Habitancum. Talking of the latter, I suppose you have long since heard the news, that a sulky churlish boor has destroyed the ancient statue, or rather bas-relief, popularly called Robin of Redesdale. It seems Robin's fame attracted more visitants than was consistent with the growth of the heather, upon a moor worth a shilling an acre. Reverend as you write yourself, be revengeful for once, and pray with me that he may be visited with such a fit of the stone, as if he had all the fragments of poor Robin in that region of his viscera where the disease holds its seat. Tell this not in Gath, lest the Scots rejoice that they have at length found a parallel instance among their neighbours, to that barbarous deed which demolished Arthur's Oven. But there is no end to lamentation, when we betake ourselves to such subjects. My respectful compliments attend Miss Dryasdust; I endeavoured to match the spectacles agreeable to her commission, during my late journey to London, and hope she has received them safe, and found them satisfactory. I send this by the blind carrier, so that probably it may be some time upon its journey.*
* This anticipation proved but too true, as my learned * correspondent did not receive my letter until a * twelvemonth after it was written. I mention this * circumstance, that a gentleman attached to the cause of * learning, who now holds the principal control of the * post-office, may consider whether by some mitigation of * the present enormous rates, some favour might not be shown * to the correspondents of the principal Literary and * Antiquarian Societies. I understand, indeed, that this * experiment was once tried, but that the mail-coach having * broke down under the weight of packages addressed to * members of the Society of Antiquaries, it was relinquished * as a hazardous experiment. Surely, however it would be * possible to build these vehicles in a form more * substantial, stronger in the perch, and broader in the * wheels, so as to support the weight of Antiquarian * learning; when, if they should be found to travel more * slowly, they would be not the less agreeable to quiet * travellers like myself.---L. T.
The last news which I hear from Edinburgh is, that the gentleman who fills the situation of Secretary to the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland,*
* Mr Skene of Rubislaw is here intimated, to whose taste and * skill the author is indebted for a series of etchings, * exhibiting the various localities alluded to in these * novels.
is the best amateur draftsman in that kingdom, and that much is expected from his skill and zeal in delineating those specimens of national antiquity, which are either mouldering under the slow touch of time, or swept away by modern taste, with the same besom of destruction which John Knox used at the Reformation. Once more adieu; "vale tandem, non immemor mei". Believe me to be,
Reverend, and very dear Sir,
Your most faithful humble Servant.
Laurence Templeton.
Toppingwold, near Egremont, Cumberland, Nov. 17, 1817.
（寄往其寓所约克郡盖特堡）
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(注)乔纳斯•德赖斯达斯特是司各特虚构的一个人物，他的几部小说的序言便是以“致德赖斯达斯特的信”的面目出现的，本书也是这样。在这篇序言中，司各特阐述了他对历史小说的一些基本观点，主要涉及了虚构和历史真实的关系问题。文中有些人名也是虚构的，如乌尔法斯国王等。发信人劳伦斯•坦普尔顿实即作者本人。
不用说，促使鄙人把阁下的大名置于后面这部作品的卷首，是有各种错综复杂的原因的。然而由于作品的不足以登大雅之堂，这些理由中最主要的一点，也许便不能成立。假如真像我所希望的一样，它足以赢得您的赞赏，那么读者立刻会看到，把旨在描绘英国古代，尤其是我们撒克逊祖先的生活的作品，献给曾撰文论述乌尔法斯国王的号角，论述他赠予圣彼得教堂的土地的博学作者，是合乎情理的。然而我明白，下面这些纸上所记述的我的考古研究的成果所赖以表达的方式，是无关紧要、不足为训、轻浮浅薄的，它已使这作品被排除在可以自豪地呈请博学鸿儒指正的那类著作之外。相反，我怕我只能引起非议，认为我不揣谫陋，居然把乔纳斯•德赖斯达斯特博士的大名冠于这么一部作品上，这部作品从严肃的考古学的角度来看，也许只能厕身于当今无关宏旨的文艺小说之列。这样的指责是我万难接受的，我必须为自己辩护，尽管我相信，您的友谊会使您对我采取宽大的态度，我仍然不愿在公众眼中，蒙受我的担忧向我提示的那种严重罪名。
为此我必须提一下，我们过去也一起讨论过这类作品，因为在其中的一种中，您博学的北方朋友蒙克巴恩斯的奥尔德巴克先生(注1)的私事和家事遭到了不公正的对待，给暴露在众目睽睽之下，当时我们对这些作品在这个游手好闲的时代中得以流行的原因，作了一定程度的探讨，您认为它们不论具有什么其他优点，必须承认，它们是草率写就的，违反了史诗所应该遵循的规律。看来您当时的意见是：它们的魅力完全在于那位匿名作者所掌握的技巧，他像第二个麦克弗森(注2)一样，运用了散布在他周围的一切考古材料，并把不太久以前他的国家中实际发生的事件，以及实际存在的人物，几乎连姓名也不加改动地引进了小说，以弥补他本人迟钝和贫乏的创造力。您指出，至多六十或七十年以前，整个苏格兰北部地区还处在极其简单的、宗法式的政府统治下，它与今天莫霍克人和易洛魁人的联盟(注3)差不多。即使不能设想作者曾亲自目睹过那个时期，您指出，他也必然生活在曾经历和活跃在那个时期的人们中间；在这短短的三十年中，苏格兰的生活方式固然发生了不少变化，人们回顾他们上一代祖先所奉行的社会习惯，也只是像我们看待安妮女王的统治时期，至多上溯到共和革命时期(注4)。您指出，各种材料都堆积在作者周围，他对一切都了如指掌，困难只在于选择而已。因此并不奇怪，他在这么丰富的矿藏中开始挖掘时，他的工作可望得到的收获和成果，必然超过他的简单劳动所理应得到的赞赏。
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(注1)司各特的小说《考古家》（一译《古董家》）中的主人公，一个考古学家，苏格兰人，因此被称为“北方朋友”。
(注2)詹姆斯•麦克弗森（1736—1796），苏格兰诗人。他曾因翻译三世纪爱尔兰说唱诗人莪相的诗歌而名重一时，但后来发现，这些所谓翻译实际大多是他自己的伪作。
(注3)莫霍克人和易洛魁人都是北美的印第安人，曾组成易洛魁联盟，在历史上发挥过重要作用。
(注4)英国安妮女王于1702—1714年在位。共和时期指十七世纪中叶英国资产阶级革命时期。
即使这些结论（我不想否认）一般说来是正确的，我仍认为，企图激发对古老英国的传统和生活方式的兴趣是并不奇怪的，这与对我们较为贫苦、较少声望的邻居发生的兴趣一样。肯德尔绿色粗呢(注1)出现的时期虽然更为古老，就我们的感觉说来，它与北方杂色的格子花呢肯定是同样亲切的。罗宾汉的名字如果运用恰当，可以与罗布•罗伊的名字一样引起迅速的反应(注2)；英国的爱国分子在我们当代人中间应该享有的威望，不应比苏格兰的布鲁斯和华莱士逊色(注3)。如果说南方的风景不如北方的崇山峻岭动人和雄伟，那么必须承认，它也在同样程度上具有妩媚和秀丽的特色；整个说来，我们也有权像叙利亚的爱国者一样惊呼：“大马士革的法弗尔河和阿巴纳河，难道不比以色列的一切河流更美吗？”
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(注1)英国肯德尔地方生产的一种粗呢。格子花呢是苏格兰具有民族色彩的衣料。
(注2)罗宾汉是英国的绿林好汉，本书的主要人物之一。罗布•罗伊是苏格兰的绿林好汉，被称为“苏格兰的罗宾汉”，司各特写有名著《罗布•罗伊》（一译《红酋罗伯》）。
(注3)布鲁斯和华莱士都是苏格兰历史上的民族英雄。
亲爱的博士，您自然记得，您对这种意图的反对是双重的。您坚持苏格兰人享有优越条件，因为他们展开活动的社会环境还刚刚形成。您指出，许多现在还活着的、大家所记得的人，不仅亲自见到过著名的罗布•罗伊，而且与他一起吃过饭，打过仗。这一切属于私人和家庭生活的细节，这一切赋予书中叙述的事件和人物以真实感的情况，在苏格兰是人所共知、记忆犹新的；可是在英国，文化早已获得长足的进展，我们对我们祖先的观念，只能从发霉的记录和编年史中去搜索寻找，而这些史籍的作者却仿佛故意要保守秘密似的，在叙述中略去了一切有趣的细节，以便大量记录修士滔滔不绝的口才和道德说教的陈词滥调。您认为，把英国和苏格兰作者在体现和复活各自国家的传统方面的条件等量齐观，这是极不公正，也极不合理的。您说，苏格兰的魔术师像卢卡努斯(注)的女巫一样，可以在新近的战场上任意倘样，凭他的巫术为他重现历史选择一个不久以前手脚还在活动、喉咙还在发出最后呻吟的人，作他的题材。甚至法力无边的厄立克索也不得不在这些人中进行选择，认为这是唯一能靠她的巫术复活的人：
“在冰冷的死者中搜寻完整的骨骼，
纤维尚未受伤的发硬的肺叶，
找到后，便把这死去的尸骸召唤还魂。”
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(注)马可斯•安奈乌斯•卢卡努斯（39—65），古罗马诗人，有长篇史诗《法尔萨利亚》十卷传世。该诗描写恺撒与庞培之间的内战。后面提到的厄立克索和引用诗句均出自该诗。厄立克索是当时帖萨利亚地方的女巫，据说庞培常问计于她，要她为他占卜吉凶。
相反，英国的作者，即使他的本领超过北方的巫师，您指出，他也只能在古代的遗骸中选择他的人物，可是他在这里看到的正如约沙发(注)在他的山谷中看到的一样，除了腐烂发霉、支离破碎的骨骼以外，什么也没有。此外，您表示您担心，我的同胞不受爱国偏见束缚的精神，不允许他公正地对待我力图获得成功的这类作品。您说，这并非完全出于偏爱外国事物的流行观念，一部分也是由于英国读者目前的生活环境，使他们对书中的描述不能信以为真。如果您向他们描写存在于苏格兰高地的粗野的风俗习惯和原始的社会状态，他们大多只得默认你的描绘是真实的。这毫不奇怪。如果他们是普通的读者，这些人大多从没见过这种遥远的地区，或者只在夏季旅行时，曾路过这类荒凉的山地，在那里吃过几顿粗糙的伙食，睡过小木床，从一个荒野走到另一个荒野，因此完全准备相信作者就生长在那个独特环境中的粗野的游荡的民族讲的任何奇谈怪论。但是同样这些先生，当他们坐在舒适的客厅中，安享英国家庭的一切优越条件时，他们就不会轻易相信，他们的祖先过的是与他们本人完全不同的生活；他现在从窗口眺望到的那个败落的塔楼曾经关过一个贵族，他可能没有受到任何形式的审判便被吊死在自己家门口了；现在替他管理他的小农场的雇工，不多几个世纪以前只能是他的奴隶；封建专制权力曾在这一带飞扬跋扈，完全控制了附近的村庄，而现在那里的一个律师已比庄园主势力更大。
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(注)犹太国王，曾征服摩押人和亚们人、《圣经》中说，他战胜敌人之后，“犹太人来到旷野的望楼……只见尸横遍地，没有一个逃脱的。”（见《历代志下》第20章）
尽管我承认这些反对意见有一定道理，我还是得说，我并不认为它们是完全不可克服的。材料的贫乏确实是一大难题，但是谁也不如德赖斯达斯特博士那么清楚，对于熟读古籍的人而言，分散在各种历史著作中的有关我们祖先个人生活的片言只语，尽管与它们所处理的重大事件相比，只占极小的比重，然而把它们汇集到一起，还是足以使我们对我们祖先的私生活形成一个相当明晰的观念；确实，我也明白，在实行这个意图时，我可能失败，然而我相信，只要在收集材料上多化些力气，在运用材料上多动些脑筋，那么依靠亨利博士和故世不久的斯特拉特先生，尤其是沙伦•特纳先生的著作(注)，一个稍有能力的作者是完全可以成功的；因此对任何认为目前的尝试可能失败的议论，我可以事先便表示不能苟同。
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(注)都是英国的一些编年史作者：亨廷登的亨利（1084—1155），写有《英吉利史》；约瑟夫•斯特拉特（1749—1802），英国史学家，写有《英格兰编年记》；沙伦•特纳（176—1847），英国文学及史学家，写有《诺曼征服初期盎格鲁一撒克逊史》。
另一方面，我已经说过，我相信我的国人的善意和好心，任何对英国古代的风俗习惯所作的真实描绘，肯定是会得到他们的热情对待的。
在对您的第一类异议尽我所有的力量作了上述答复，或者说至少表示了我决心跨越您的审慎所预言的这些障碍之后，我还得简单地提一下对我具有特殊意义的一个看法。我觉得您似乎认为，考古家的职责在于从事严肃的，或者像某些庸俗的看法所说的，从事艰苦的、繁琐的研究工作，这必然使他在编制此类故事方面变得无能为力。但是，请允许我说一下，亲爱的博士，这种反对主要是形式的而不是实质的。确实，这类微不足道的写作，并不适合我们的朋友奥尔德巴克先生那种较为严肃的才能。然而霍勒斯•华尔浦尔(注1)写过一部鬼的故事，它使许多人读了之后毛骨惊然；乔治•埃利斯(注2)善于把可爱的、以至不平常的情绪的各种幽默滑稽的表现，注入他的《古代诗歌传奇节略》一书。这样，不论我现在的大胆尝试可能会使我多么遗憾，我至少找到了对我有利的一些可敬先例。
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(注1)霍勒斯•华尔浦尔（1717—1797），英国作家和收藏家，中世纪恐怖故事《奥特朗托堡》的作者。
(注2)乔治•埃利斯（175—1815），英国古诗研究者，作家和诗人，司各特的好友。
然而较严格的考古家仍会认为，这么把虚构和真实搀和在一起，是用现代的创造法污了历史的泉源，因而对我所描写的这个时代，给年轻一代灌输了错误的观念。我只得在一定意义上承认这种推理的正确性，然而我根据下述考虑，仍指望能超越这点。
说实话，我既不能也不想做到绝对准确，哪怕在外表衣着方面也这样，更不必说更为重要的语言和风俗方面了。我不能用盎格鲁一撒克逊语或诺曼法语来写故事中的对话，也不能把它用卡克斯顿或温金德沃德(注1)的印刷字体送到读者面前，出于同样的动机，我也不能把自己完全局限在我的故事所展开的那个历史时期。为了能引起读者的任何兴趣，我必须把我要写的题材，借助于我们现在所生活的这个时代的行为方式和语言习惯来予以表现。没有一部东方文学像加朗先生(注2)首次翻译的《阿拉伯故事集》那样赢得广泛的欢迎；他在那里一方面保留了东方的华丽服饰，另一方面又表现了东方的原始想象力，但正是因为把它们与日常的感情和表达方式结合在一起，才使那些故事变得那么有趣和容易理解，他缩短了那些冗长的句子，简化了那些单调的思考，抛弃了阿拉伯原著中漫无止境的重复。这样，尽管这些故事经过初次调整之后，纯粹东方的色彩减弱了，然而大大适应了欧洲的市场，赢得了读者无与伦比的喜爱；毫无疑问，如果它没有采取在一定程度上适合西方读者的感情和习惯的叙述方式和风格，它是不可能取得这样的成绩的。
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(注1)威廉•卡克斯顿（约1422一1491）和温金德沃德（？一1534）都是英国最早的出版商。
(注2)安托万•加朗（1646—1715），法国东方学家，他最早把《一千零一夜》意译成法文，介绍给欧洲。
为了适应广大读者的口味，我相信这么做是合理的，也因此，我在恰当的程度上用现代的语言说明古代的风习，在交代人物的性格和情绪方面，也尽量避免单纯追求古奥，以致弄得佶屈聱牙，枯燥乏味，给现代读者造成重重障碍。在这方面，我可以不揣冒昧地说，我没有越过一部虚构作品的作者所理应享有的特权。故世的卓越的斯特拉特先生在他的小说《奎荷厅》(注)中，奉行了另一原则；在对事物区别古代和现代时，照我看来，他忘记了那个广阔的中间地带，也就是说，大部分行为方式和情绪，对我们和我们的祖先而言是共通的，由他们传给我们时没有发生变化，或者说，它们来自共同的人性原理，可以在任何一种社会状况中同样存在。由此可见，一个有才能、又有广博的考古修养的人，从他的作品中排除一切不够古老的事物，只能限制它的流行，使它成为一部被人遗忘的、不可理解的作品。
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(注)斯特拉特一部未完成的作品，后来由司各特予以续完。这小说拘泥于考古学上的准确性，因而限制了它的流行。
我要在这里维护的那种特权，对实现我的写作计划是至关重要的，因此我要求您少安毋躁，听我进一步阐述我的理由。
任何人第一次披阅乔叟或其他古代诗人的作品，都会被那些旧式的拼音方法，重复的子音和古老的语言现象弄得寸步难行，甚至不得不失望地放下书本，仿佛它已裹在一层古色古香的厚厚锈斑中，使他无法判断它的价值或体味它的美妙了。但是如果有个博学多才的朋友向他指出，使他感到棘手的那些困难只是现象而不是实质，只要向他大声朗读一遍，或者用现代的缀字法重写那些普通的词汇，就能使那位初次涉猎者恍然大悟，原书所用的词汇只有十分之一是真正吉奥的，初学者只需稍稍有一点耐心，便肯定可以领略到老杰弗里在克雷西和普瓦捷战役时代读者心头引起的兴趣和同情(注)。
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(注)克雷西战役和普瓦捷战役是英法百年战争（1337—1453）早期的两次重大战役，乔叟即生活在这个时期，杰弗里是他的名字。
关于这点不妨再说几句。如果我们的初学者钟情于新诞生的考古癖好，打算模仿他所崇拜的那些著作，选用它们所包含的古老词语，唯独不使用现代语言中仍保留的那些词汇和用法，那么只能说他走上了一条极不明智的道路。这是不幸的查特顿(注)所犯的错误。为了赋予他的语言以古老的色彩，他抛弃了现代的一切词汇，创造了一种在英伦三岛从未有人讲过的特殊语言。如果有人想成功地模仿古代的语言，便必须研究它的语法特点、措词特征和组合方式，而不是把力气化在收集冷僻和吉奥的用语上，正如我已经申述的，在古代作品中，这类用语与仅仅在意义和拼法上发生了一些变化的、仍在使用的词汇相比，不过是一与十之比而已。
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(注)托马斯．查特顿（互752—1770），英国诗人，极有才能，但嗜古成癖，所作诗大多假托为古代作品。去世时年仅十八岁。
我就语言所讲的话，应用在思想和举止上就更正确了。它们的一切曲折变化都来源于人的感情，而感情对一切身份和地位，一切国家和时代的人，大体是相同的；这样，理所当然，人们的看法、思想习惯和行动，尽管受到特殊的社会状况的影响，总的说来，必然仍是彼此十分相似的。我们的祖先与我们的区别，无疑不会比犹太教徒与基督教徒的区别大些；他们也有“眼睛，手，器官，身体，感觉，爱好，情欲”；他们也“吃同样的食物，会给同样的武器伤害，生同样的病，同样在冬天感到寒冷，在夏天感到炎热”。(注)因此，他们的爱好和感觉的基本情况，必然与我们的大同小异。
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(注)这都是莎士比亚《威尼斯商人》剧中的话，本书第五章的题词也引用了这话。
这样，应该说，一个作者如果要像我试图做的那样，写一部小说或虚构的作品，他会发现，他要运用的材料，不论在语言或举止习惯方面，极大部分对我们今天和他所假定的活动时期，都是同样适用的。因而这赋予他的自由选择的权利，比当初看来大得多，他的工作也变得容易得多。不妨用一种姊妹艺术来作说明：考古上的细节可以说像铅笔勾勒的轮廓，表现了一幅风景的独特面貌。封建塔楼必须具有相应的雄伟气概，出现的人物必须具有他们的时代的服饰和性格；画面必须表现这个特定的题材所选择的背景的特色。礁石得有相应的高度，瀑布得有一泻而下的气势。整个色调也必须与大自然一致。天空得按照气候条件或阴或晴，颜色的浓淡深浅也得符合自然景物的状况。在这些方面画家必须遵循他的艺术的规律，准确地模仿大自然的面貌；但是他不需要更进一步，照抄大自然的一切细节，或者绝对准确地描绘点缀在这个地点的全部树木花草。这些，以及光和影的其他更细小的方面，只要符合一般风景的特点，适合各个场合的自然状态，艺术家便有权按照他的爱好和兴趣，予以自由支配。
确实，这种特权在画家和作家说来，都不能超出合理的界限。画家对画面的修饰不能不符合他的风景的气候条件或地域条件；他不能把柏树栽种到苏格兰的湖中小岛上，或者让苏格兰的冷杉出现在珀斯波利斯(注)的废墟上；作家也受有类似的束缚。不论他可以怎样大胆超越他所仿效的古代作品，更详尽细致地描绘那些作品中找不到的感情和心理，他不能在他的作品中引入不符合那个时代风貌的任何东西。他的骑士、扈从、仆役和护卫，可以超越古代彩饰手写本上用粗糙生硬的笔触描绘的形象，但是这个时代的特征和服饰却不容歪曲：他们必须仍是那些人物，只是用较圆熟的笔调加以描绘，或者讲得谦逊一些，是在一个对艺术规律有了更深理解的时代中加以刻划而已。他的语言不必完全古奥难懂，但是如果可能，他应该不让一个直接来自现代生活的词语或措词方式出现。运用我们和我们的祖先所共同具有的语言和情绪是一回事，赋予人物以他们的子孙所单独具有的情绪和语言色彩则是另一回事。
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(注)古代波斯阿契美尼德王朝的都城，废墟在今伊朗设拉子附近。
亲爱的朋友，我发现这是我的工作中最困难的部分；坦白说，我几乎不敢指望它能满足您较少偏袒的评价和对这类问题更广博的知识，因为连我自己也对它不太满意。
我明白，就准确表现我的角色活跃的那个时期的生活状态而言，那些企图严格审查我的故事的人还会发现，我在保持语调的统一和服饰方面，还存在着更多缺点。也许我把一些完全应该划人现代范畴的东西，写进了书中；另一方面，我也完全可能混淆了两个或三个世纪之间的变化，把只适合于更早得多的时期，或者更迟得多的时期的事物，写进了理查一世的时代。我可以聊以自慰的是，这类错误对于一般读者来说是不易发觉的，我仍可能取得那些不称职的建筑师享有的赞誉，这些人在他们现代的哥特式建筑中，违背规则和方法，引入了不同的风格和不同的艺术时期所特有的装饰物。那些通过渊博的研究，取得了对我的失误进行更严厉的评论权利的人，由于也相应地理解我的工作的艰难，或许会对我采取宽大的态度。我的正直而被遗忘的朋友英格尔弗斯，曾经给我提供过许多有价值的线索；但是克罗依顿的修道士和杰弗里•德•文索夫所给予的启示，却被那么多索然无味的、不可理喻的事物掩蔽了(注1)，以致我们只得求助于勤奋的傅华萨(注2)，靠他那些明朗的记载来指点迷津，尽管他所描绘的社会离我的故事的时期已相当遥远了。因此，亲爱的朋友，如果您宽大为怀，肯原谅我自以为是的做法，允许我一部分靠纯粹古代的珠宝，一部分靠我尽力仿效的布里斯托尔(注3) 人造宝石和玻璃，拼凑成一顶诗人的桂冠，那么我相信您会体会到这项工作的艰巨性，因而对它不够完美的成果表示谅解。
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(注1)以上三个人名都是虚构的，影射十一、二世纪的几个编年史家。
(注2)让•傅华萨（1333？一1400），法国诗人和宫廷史官，他的《闻见录》详尽记载了英法百年战争时期的政治和社会情况，成为重要的历史文献。
(注3)即指前面提到的托马斯•查特顿，他是布里斯托尔人，他的一些诗曾假托是十五世纪布里斯托尔的一个教士所写，它们开了伪拟古作品的先河。
关于我运用的材料，我没有多少话要说。它们主要都可以在亚瑟•沃杜尔爵士(注1)珍藏的盎格鲁诺曼文献中找到，他小心翼翼地把它保存在他的栋木柜子的第三只抽屉中，几乎不让任何人接触它，而他本人又无法读懂它的一个字。在我访问苏格兰时，要不是我许诺提到它时，用显目的字体印出它的名称《沃杜尔文稿》，他本来也决不会让我对这些美妙的记载钻研这么多小时；这名称使它具有了像《班纳坦文稿》、(注2)《奥琴勒克文稿》，以及用哥特式字体精心抄写的任何其他文献那样的重要性。我把这珍贵的文件编制了一份内容提要呈上，供您私人审阅，如您同意，我将把它附在我的故事的第三卷后面，只要整个故事付排之后，印刷所的学徒继续乐于进行抄写。
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(注1)司各特的《考古家》中的主要人物之一。
(注2)乔治•班纳坦（154—1608），苏格兰人，以大量搜集和编印苏格兰诗歌闻名。
再会，亲爱的朋友，我讲得够了，这些话即使不能证明我的意图正确，至少也足以说明它了；尽管存在着您的怀疑和我的无能，我还是愿意相信我的努力没有完全白费。
我希望您现在已从春天发作的痛风症中得到恢复，如果您那位渊博的医生能建议您到这里来旅行一次，我将感到万分高兴。近来在哈比坦坎城堡原址和墙脚边发掘出了一些古物。谈到这个遗址，我想您早已听说，一个脾气孤僻古怪的乡下佬，捣毁了那个以雷德斯代尔的罗宾汉闻名的古代石像或浮雕。看来罗宾汉的名声吸引了不少游客，以致妨碍了这片一英亩值一先令的荒原上帚石捕的生长。尽管您自称是一个德高望重的人，也不妨萌发一下报复心理，与我一起祈求，但愿他遭到粉身碎骨的可怜的罗宾汉的全部石块的袭击，在他的身体内形成各种结石症。但是“不要在迦特传扬”这事(注1)，免得苏格兰人高兴，以为他们终于在他们的邻居中，找到了一件可以与他们破坏亚瑟王的炉灶的野蛮行径匹敌的事例。不过谈到这类事情，我们的悲痛是讲不完的，请代我向德赖斯达斯特小姐问候；但愿我最近在伦敦旅行期间为她描绘的景物，可以不辱使命，符合她的要求；希望她能如期收到，并觉得满意。这信是托一个瞎子车夫带上的，因此它可能在路上多耽搁些日子。(注 2)据爱丁堡传来的最新消息，现在充当苏格兰考古学会秘书的先生，是在那个领域中一位最好的业余绘图员，他的技巧和热情在制作我国古物的图样方面是无与伦比的涸为这些古物有的在时间日积月累的腐蚀下已经霉烂，有的则遭到了约翰•诺克斯(注3)在宗教改革中使用的那种扫帚的无情破坏，变得面目全非了。再一次告别吧；最后说一声再见，不要忘记我，尊敬的先生，祝您一切顺利。
您忠实的、谦卑的朋友
劳伦斯•坦会尔顿
1817年11月17日于坎伯兰郡埃格蒙特附近托平沃德镇
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(注1)据《圣经》传说，以色列国王扫罗战败身亡后，大卫为他作哀歌，其中有“不要在迦特报告，不要在阿实基伦的街道上传扬……”意即不要让敌人知道了高兴。（见《撒母耳记下》第1章20节）
(注2)我的预言不幸而言中了，因为我那位博学的收信人是在我把信寄出之后，过了十二个月才收到的。我提到这一情况，是希望现在能有一个热心传播学问的先生来主管邮政大权，他也许会考虑，是否减低一些目前昂贵的收费标准．对主要的文学和考古协会的通信人员采取某些优惠办法。确实，我知道，这作过一次尝试，但由于寄给考古学会会员的邮包过多过重，邮车给压坏了，因此这项危险的试验只得取消。然而把车子改造得结实一些，把轴承制作得牢固一些，把车轮扩大一些，以便运送考古方面的大量资料，那么无疑是可以做到的。尽管这么一来，车子会走得慢一些，但是对于像我这样安静的旅客，这是不致会造成什么不愉快的。
——劳•坦
(注3)约翰•诺克斯（约1514—1572），苏格兰宗教改革家，曾大刀阔斧改革宗教，创立苏格兰长老会。
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[ 此帖被子规月落在2013-10-30 22:29重新编辑 ]
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