英文小故事:亚瑟王之死

The great days of the Round Table were over when 150 knights left to search throughout Britain for the Grail. But it was Sir Modred, a knight who was either Arthur’s nephew or his illegitimate son, finally destroyed the fellowship of the Round Table. While Arthur was fighting Lancelot in France, Modred seized his kingdom and attempted to marry Guinevere. Arthur quickly returned to Britain and a war broke out between the forces of the two men. Arthur killed Modred in battle but he himself was badly wounded.

Facing death, Arthur ordered one of his knights Bedivere to throw Excalibur into a lake, so that the sword could not fall into the wrong hands. Then Bedivere carried Arthur on his shoulders and brought him to the edge of the lake. There they saw a boat with a number of fairies in it. The boat took him away to the island of Avalon, the land of heroes. People believe that Arthur will return when Britain again needs him to defeat the nation’s enemies and to bring peace and security to the land.

自从亚瑟王的150名圆桌骑士离开亚瑟，到各地寻找圣杯，亚瑟王的朝廷就冷落了下来。但最后使骑士们散伙的，是亚瑟的外甥（一说私生子）莫德雷德。正当亚瑟在法国与朗斯洛作战时，莫德雷德篡夺了王位，甚至要娶圭内维尔为妻。亚瑟匆忙返回与莫德雷德对阵。亚瑟杀死莫德雷德，自己也身负重伤。

临终时，亚瑟命令拜德维尔爵士把神剑埃克斯卡利伯投入湖中，使之不致落入恶人之手。然后拜德维尔爵士将亚瑟背到湖边。这时他们看到一条小船驶来，里面有几个仙女。仙女们将亚瑟王载到阿瓦隆岛，那里是英雄们的修养地。人们相信，在不列颠需要的时候，亚瑟王会回来打败敌人，给人民带来和平与安全。

题外话：英国诗人丁尼生的叙事诗《国王之歌》（Idylls of the king）中描写拜德维尔爵士背着受伤的亚瑟王走向湖边的那一段是英诗中的珍品，音响效果十分讲究，值得细细品味。