Chapter 12 Chapter Twelve

The ceremonial officer no longer gallops to and fro, Trumpets and trumpets sounded at last, There is no need to talk about the rest, just say that the two sides are facing each other, The spears are heavily guarded, ready to charge, Spurs frequently hit the horse's belly, Who can fight and who is good at riding horses is clear at a glance; The barrel of the gun trembles on the thick shield, Some found the point of the gun pierced into the breastbone; The spear flew twenty feet above the ground, The sword is unsheathed and dances into white flowers; Some of the helmets were split in two, others were broken into pieces;

The blood gushing like a fountain merged into a terrifying red stream. Chaucer [Note: Quoted from "The Knight's Tale" in Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales". 】 No sooner had dawn appeared in a cloudless blue sky, and the sun had barely risen on the horizon, than the laziest and most eager spectators were on the road, and were converging towards the common center of the tournament, in order to find a Satisfactory position, continue to watch the much-anticipated game. Then, the guard inspectors and their subordinates also arrived at the arena, and registered with the ceremonial officer the names of the knights who requested to participate in the contest, and the side they wished to participate in.This is a necessary preparation to ensure an equal number of players on both sides of the game.

According to the regulations, the disinherited knight should act as the leader of one party, Brian.Bois-Ghibert had been named the other side's chief fighter after finishing second the previous day.Those who served as challengers with him, of course, belonged to his side, only Ralph.Viponte was not among them, for he had been wounded when he fell off his horse, and it was not appropriate to put on his armor immediately.Anyway, there are excellent knights with high martial arts skills on the field, who can supplement the teams of both sides. In fact, although all the knights competed at the same time, the team competition was more dangerous than a single competition, but it was a more common way of competition at that time.Many knights lack confidence in their own martial arts, and dare not compete alone with prestigious knights, so they want to show their prominence in a common battle, hoping to find a comparable opponent there.On the present occasion there were probably as many as fifty persons on each side registering for the tournament, and the Inspector of the Guards announced a suspension of registration, so that those who requested later had to go to the corner.

By about ten o'clock the whole plain was full of men, women and children on horseback and on foot, all hurrying to the tourney; presently the sound of trumpets announced the arrival of Prince John and his entourage, to whom countless Knights who did not intend to participate in the jousting or competition clustered behind them. At about the same time Cedric the Saxon arrives with Miss Rowena, but Athelstan is not with them.The Saxon nobleman was tall and strong: armored and ready to take his place in the tournament; to Cedric's astonishment, he signed up for the Templars' side.Cedric, indeed, protested violently against his friend that his choice was simply incomprehensible, but was met not with a rational explanation, but with the obstinate answers usually given by determined men.

In fact, Athelstan chose Brian.There was a reason, if not the only one, for Bois-Guibert's side, and it was just a matter of caution that he didn't want to make public.For though his indolence never disdained to express his affections in any way to Miss Rowena, he was by no means indifferent to her beauty, and thought that his union with her had already been sanctioned by Cedric and her other relations, So it is a certainty.So when the previous day's winner had chosen Rowena as queen, the pompous and lazy lord of Coningsburg could not help sullenly, thinking that he alone had the right to bestow the honor on her.It was for this reason that Athelstan resolved to punish the winner for violating his privileges.His belief in his great strength, and his flatterers at least admiring him for his martial prowess, made him not only reluctant to grant the disinherited knight his mighty support, but, when the opportunity permitted, to call upon him to try his hand. The power of the battle axe.

De Blassy and the other knights at Prince John's side, at his beck and call, joined the side of the challenger; the prince determined to help that side to victory as much as possible.On the other hand, many other knights, English and Norman, native and foreign, joined the side against the challenger; The bravery and invincibility of the Warriors has been confirmed in the previous day's game. Prince John, as soon as he saw the day's chosen queen arrive at the tourney, greeted her with an air of civility; and when he needed to show such an expression, it was easy; Immediately alighted, and helped Miss Rowena from the saddle; while his entourage also took off their hats, and one of the most eminent officials dismounted, and took her pony by the hand.

This is how we set an example of how we should serve the Queen of Love and Beauty, said Prince John, and I will personally guide her to the throne she rightly occupies today.Ladies, he added, serve your queen well, and you may hope to receive such honors in the future. As the prince said this, he led Rowena to the throne on the stand opposite to him; those celestial and beautiful rich ladies surrounded her and took their respective positions one by one, getting as close to the temporary queen as possible. No sooner had Rowena sat down than the music began, but the louder cheers of the crowd for her new dignified status drowned out half the music.At this time, the strong light from the sun had already illuminated the weapons of the knights on both sides.They are crowded at both ends of the field, discussing how to arrange their respective lineups and the best way to face the battle.

Then the ceremony officer asked everyone to be silent and read out the rules of the contest.In part, they were intended to lessen the dangers of jousting today, a precaution which is all the more necessary since jousting is fought with sharp swords and spears. According to the rules, swords are not allowed to sprint during martial arts, but are limited to chopping.Knights may use maces or battle axes as they please, but daggers are forbidden.The participant is knocked off the horse, and can continue to fight on the ground with the opponent who is in the same disadvantageous state, but the person on the horse is not allowed to attack him at this time.Any knight who had driven his opponent to one end of the field, so that his body or weapon touched the bars, was obliged to admit his defeat, and his armor and steed were at the disposal of the victor.A knight so defeated was not allowed to continue in battle.If any combatant, after being thrown from his horse, cannot rise again, his squires or servants may enter the arena and help their master out of the crowd; but in this case the knight shall be judged defeated, and he All weapons and horses should be confiscated.As soon as Prince John had thrown down his baton or sceptre, the fighting ceased, which was another precaution usually taken, lest a violent confrontation should protract too long and cause unnecessary bloodshed.Any knight who violates the rules of the tourney, or otherwise departs from the code of knightly honour, shall be disarmed and displayed with his shield turned upside down on the posts of the palisade, for ridicule, which is an act unbecoming of knighthood punishment.Having proclaimed these disciplines, the Master of Ceremonies exhorted the knights to do their duty, in order to win the favor of the Queen of Love and Beauty.

After the lecture, the ceremony officials immediately returned to their respective positions.Then, the knights entered the arena from the fences at both ends, lined up in two rows, and the two sides stood opposite each other. The leader of each side stood in the center of the front row, but he had to wait for his team to line up and everyone was in place. To get into that position. This is really a magnificent and fascinating scene, so many heroic warriors are dressed in full body, ready for a life-and-death struggle, riding on their horses with their heads held high and their chests motionless, like iron pillars; Snorting and digging the dirt with their hooves, they seemed impatient to wait; but at the word of command, these men and horses would be equally desperate to fight.

For the present, however, the knights held their lances upright, their bright points toward the sun, and the streamers that adorned their lances fluttered over the plumes of their helmets.After the two sides lined up, the inspectors of the guards carried out the strictest inspection on them, and no one was allowed to be one more or one less than the prescribed number.When the count was correct, the inspectors withdrew, and WilliamWith a thunderous voice, Wyvil announced the order: Go!As soon as the words fell, the horn blew immediately, and the soldiers lowered their spears one after another, holding them flat in their hands, and the spurs quickly hit the horse's belly, so the people in the front row rushed towards each other like lightning, and the two teams were present in an overwhelming momentum The two met in the middle of the house, making a deafening noise that could be heard a mile away.The opponent's back row advances at a slower speed in order to support the defeated, or to meet the respective victors.

The outcome of the confrontation was not immediately apparent; as the dust raised by so many horses obliterated everything, the anxious spectators had to wait a moment to learn the outcome of the conflict.When the battle could be clearly seen, half of the knights on both sides had already fallen off their horses. They seemed unable to get up again; others were on their feet, and were engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the other in the same predicament; some on both sides were wounded and unable to fight, and were binding their wounds with scarves, trying to get out of the chaos. Get out of the crowd.The knights who were still on the horse also had their spears almost broken in the confrontation due to the violent impact. Now they had to draw out their swords and fight, shouting and fighting, as if their honor and lives were all in one fell swoop. The second platoons of both sides, acting as a reserve force, now rushed forward to support their respective partners, and their participation made the situation even more chaotic.Brian.The followers of Bois-Guilbert are shouting: Kill, for the Temple, for the Temple!Long live the black and white flag!Long live the black and white flag! [Note] The opponent shouted Desdichado! Desdichado! [Note: This is Spanish, which means disinheritance. 】The inscription on the shield of their leader. 【Note】The flag of the Knights Templar consists of black and white, known as the black and white flag.It is said that white means that it will treat Christians with kindness and sincerity, and black means that it will treat pagans with ruthlessness and cruelty.original note In this way, all the fighters pressed against each other with thunderous momentum, and the two sides won and lost each other. As one or the other gained the upper hand, the fighting crowd sometimes flocked to the south end of the field, and sometimes flocked to the north end.Meanwhile the clang of weapons and the cry of battle merged with bugles into one dreadful sound, drowning the groans of those who landed, tumbling helplessly under the horses' hooves.The ornate armor of the opponents was disfigured with grime and blood, scarred by the blows of sword and battle-axe.The bright feathers were cut off from the top of the helmet under the cutting of the sword and gun, and turned into clusters of snowflakes dancing in the wind.All that was beautiful and shiny in the equipment of war was gone, and what remained was a mess, supposed to arouse terror or pity. However, the power of habit is not like this. Not only the vulgar spectators are naturally attracted by frightening things, but even the noble ladies and ladies who are crowded in the stands are both surprised and delighted by this fight, watching with relish, no one wants to Take your eyes off the thrilling scene.True, now and then a pretty face would turn pale with fright, and here and there a slight scream or two would be heard, but it was only the reaction of a lover, brother, or husband being knocked off his horse.In general, all these women encouraged bloodshed, not only clapping their hands, not only waving handkerchiefs or veils, but crying out whenever they saw a successful stabbing or hacking: Well done, brave shooter!What a sword technique! Since women are so interested in this kind of bloody game, it is conceivable how men work hard.This is reflected in the fact that whenever the situation of the two sides changes, there will be earth-shattering cheers in the arena. At this time, all eyes are fixed on the arena, and the emotions are so enthusiastic, it seems that every fight, every blow, is the audience. I'm doing it myself.In the middle of the uproar, the ceremonial officer could still be heard shouting: Brave knights, keep fighting!People can die, but honor lives forever!Fight hard, death is more honorable than defeat!Fight, brave knights!Beautiful eyes are watching your achievements! In the swift and changing battle, every eye tried to follow the leaders of both sides, who were seen among the fighting crowd, encouraging their companions by voice and action.Both of them exhibited incomparable martial arts, and neither Boisguibert nor the disinherited knight could find a worthy opponent in the other's team.Driven by mutual hatred, they repeatedly looked for opportunities for the two to fight alone; they understood that the fall of any one of the two meant the victory of the other.Yet in this outnumbered melee, their attempts to engage head-on were at first elusive, as each of their followers scrambled to take on the opposing leader and claim honor for themselves, and repeatedly separated the two. . But the number of both sides gradually decreased, some admitted defeat and withdrew, some were forced to one end of the field, or could no longer continue fighting due to other reasons. In this way, the Templars and the Disinherited Knights finally met face to face; Their stand-alone hatred and determination to fight for honor made them extremely ferocious. Everyone's parry and attack were brilliant, which won the audience's general admiration and unanimous applause. At this moment, however, the disinherited knights were in the worst position; from one side the burly general, and from the other the mighty Athelstan, was rushing forward, trying to disperse those who stood in their way.Seeing that they had swept away these enemies almost simultaneously, and could draw back to help the Templars in the fight, and thereby win a decisive victory for their side, they immediately turned their horses and charged right and left at the disinherited knights.Such a surprise attack of such disparity in strength would have overwhelmed anyone; but fortunately at this moment a roar of alarm came from the audience, who could not but be excited by such a thrilling spectacle. beware!beware!Disinherited knights!This repeated cry made the knight aware of the danger he was facing, so he threw a blow at the Templar, then reined in his horse and took a step back, avoiding the attacks of Althelstan and the bull-faced general.The two knights, having escaped from their target, rushed between their target and the Templars, nearly colliding the two horses, but they were restrained in time.However, as soon as they pulled the horse back, they turned the horse's head, and together the three of them laid siege to the disinherited knight, and it seemed that he must be knocked to the ground. Now nothing could save him, and all he had left was the strength and swiftness of the steed he had won the day before. Fortunately for him, on the other hand, Bois-guibert's horse was wounded, while the horses of Buffalo and Athelstan, under the weight of their masters' bulk and armor, passed Days of continuous fighting are quite exhausting.Thus the disinherited knight, with his horsemanship and the swiftness of his mount, was able to keep his sword pointed at three enemies for a few minutes; he turned left and right, soaring through the air like a nimble goshawk , so that his opponents could not approach him, and he rushed now to this, now to that, sweeping his sword across these enemies, so that they had no chance to fight back. But despite his excellent martial arts, he won a lot of applause in the arena, and everyone could clearly see that he would lose in the end.Prince John's lords unanimously demanded that he cast down his sceptre, and save so valiant a knight from the disgrace of being outnumbered. No, in good conscience I can't do this!Prince John replied that this boy concealed his name and ignored our kind invitation. It is enough for him to win the prize once, and now he should give the opportunity to others.But while he was saying that, something unexpected happened that changed the course of the day. On the side of the disinherited knights, there was a warrior in black helmet and armor, riding a black horse, which was also tall and big, and looked as mighty and strong as the man who rode on its back.There were no patterns on the knight's shield, and he seemed to be indifferent to martial arts. If someone attacked him, he would parry him, neither wanting to take advantage of the victory to pursue him, nor to actively find anyone to fight.In short, it seemed that he was just playing on the stage, watching the excitement on the stage, not participating in the battle; this listless style led the audience to bestow on him a nickname: the black armored lazy man. But now that the warrior found his leader in a critical situation, he seemed to have been reborn suddenly, lost his habit of laziness, kicked the rejuvenated mount under his crotch, and rushed forward with lightning speed Go, shouting like a trumpet: Desdichado, help is coming!This was just as well, for just as the disinherited knight was rushing towards the Templar, the Bull-faced General raised his sword and was already close to his body; but before the sword was cut, the sword of the black knight was already hitting him on the head. , it brushed against the shiny helmet, and then slashed at the horse's visor with almost equal force. In this way, the bull-faced general fell to the ground, and under this sudden blow, both the horse and the man lost consciousness.Then the black-armored slugger turned his horse, and galloped to Athelstan at Fort Conings; and as his sword had broken in the attack on the bull-faced general, he snatched the tomahawk from the hand of the fat Saxon, and waved it as if it were his With his usual weapon, he slashed at the crown of Athelstan's helmet, who then fell unconscious to the ground.This crisp two stroke won him more praise, and no one expected him to have such a hand; but after the fight, his listless air returned, and he returned to the field as if nothing had happened. At the north end of the sub, let his captain go to talk to Brian.Bois-Ghibert resolves the fight.Now it's not as difficult as it was before.Bleeding profusely, the Templar's horse finally fell under the attack of the disinherited knights.Brian.Bois-Guilbert rolled to the ground, got entangled in the stirrup again, and couldn't move his foot all at once.His opponent leaped from his horse, swung the deadly sword over his head, and ordered him to surrender.At this moment, Prince John was moved by the dangerous situation of the Templars. Unlike his opponents, Prince John threw down his scepter, announcing the end of the tourney, and saving the Templars from the shame of admitting defeat. However, the battle was indeed on the verge of death, and it was unsustainable, because there were only a few knights left in the field, and most of them had already withdrawn from the battle, leaving the two captains to fight it out by themselves. The followers of both sides felt that it was a dangerous and difficult thing to return to the field when their master was fighting hard. Now that the battle was over, they gathered in the field to perform their duties and take care of the wounded. Carefully transport them to a neighboring tent, or to a first-aid post in a nearby village. Thus ended Ashby's memorable fight, one of the most competitive tourneys of the time, for although only four knights were killed on the spot, one of them suffocated from the heat of his armor, but the badly wounded But there were as many as 30 people, four or five of them never recovered, and even more people were disabled for life. Even the luckiest ones left traces of fighting all their lives.Therefore, in historical records, it is always called the noble, heroic and sensational Ashbey Tournament. It was now Prince John's duty to choose the best knight, and he resolved to give the honor to the brave man whom the crowd called the black-armored slacker.However, some people disagreed with his verdict and pointed out to him that the victory was actually won by the disinherited knight. In this game, he defeated six warriors by himself, and finally knocked the opposing captain from his horse to the ground. .But the prince insisted, on the grounds that the disinherited knight and his party would fail without the strong support of the black knight, and the reward should be given to him. However, to the bewilderment of the audience, the favored knight had disappeared.After the battle, he immediately left the arena.Several spectators had seen him walk into a clearing in the woods, his steps were still so slow, listless, and his expression was lazy, which was exactly in line with his nickname of the black-armored lazy man.After two calls of the trumpets and repeated announcements by the Master of Ceremonies, he was still nowhere to be seen, so another search had to be made for his honor.Now that Prince John had no excuse to refuse the right to a disinherited knight, he was the winner of the day. The inspectors of the guard once again led the winners through the arena covered with slippery blood, piles of broken armor and horses killed or wounded, to the stand of Prince John. Disinherited knight, said Prince John, as you have kept your name from us, so we must call you, and give you once more the honor of victor of this tourney, and declare your right from the queen of love and beauty, Receive the laurels for your bravery. The knight bowed deeply in thanks, but made no reply. When the trumpet sounded again, the ceremonial officer opened his voice to congratulate the brave and honorable winners loudly, when the ladies waved silk handkerchiefs and embroidered veils, and the audience cheered with joy, the guard inspectors Leading the disinherited knight across the field to the foot of the seat of honor that Miss Rowena occupies today. The winner is supported and kneels before the lower ladder under the stands.Indeed, from the end of the battle, all his actions seemed to be at the mercy of those around him, rather than his own; and it was not difficult to see that the second time he was led through the tournament field, he faltered on his feet. shaking.Rowena walked down the stands with graceful and solemn steps, and was about to put the laurel wreath in her hand on the helmet of the warrior, but the two guard inspectors shouted in unison: This is not possible, the helmet must be taken off.The knight muttered something in a low voice, but it was hard to hear through the visor, and its main meaning seemed to be a request that his helmet not be taken off. I don't know whether it was out of respect for etiquette or curiosity, the inspector of security ignored his objection, cut the strap of the helmet casually, took off the helmet for him, and untied the throat armor.When the helmet was removed, a well-made, but tanned face was revealed; it could be seen that this was a young man of twenty-five years old, with close-cropped blond hair, and a dead complexion. Generally pale, with one or two blood stains on his face. Rowena uttered a soft scream at the sight of him, but at once took courage and regained her composure, as if forcing herself to go on with her duties, but her body was still trembling with emotion; The magnificent laurel wreath of today's prize was placed on the bowed head of the winner, and these words were announced in a clear and clear voice: I bestow upon you this laurel wreath, Mr. Knight, in return for the heroic deeds of today's winner.At this point, she paused, and then added firmly: There never was a knight more worthy of wearing this crown! The knight bowed his head, kissed the hand of the lovely queen, and thanked her for her reward; but at that moment he suddenly fell forward, and lay motionless at her feet. There was a sudden panic on the field.Cedric, dumbfounded at the sudden appearance of his banished son, now rushed forward, as if to separate Rowena from him.But the inspectors of the guard had done so, and they guessed the cause of his fainting, and hastening to undo his armor, found that a spear point had penetrated his breastplate and wounded him in the ribs.