The Story of the Glittering Plain
W >>
William Morris >> The Story of the Glittering Plain
Pages:
1 |
2 |
3 | 4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10
"Right ahead lieth the land, and it is still a good way off. High
rise the mountains there, but by seeming there is no snow on them;
and though they be blue they are not blue like the mountains of the
Isle of Ransom. Also it seemed to me as if fair slopes of woodland
and meadow come down to the edge of the sea. But it is yet far
away."
"Yea," said the elder, "is it so? Then will I not wear myself with
making words for thee. I will rest rather, and gather might. Come
again when an hour hath worn, and tell me what thou seest; and may
happen then thou shalt have my tale!" And he laid him down therewith
and seemed to be asleep at once. And Hallblithe might not amend it;
so he waited patiently till the hour had worn, and then went forward
again, and looked long and carefully, and came back and said to the
Sea-eagle, "The hour is worn."
The old chieftain turned himself about and said "What hast thou seen?
Said Hallblithe: "The mountains are pale and high, and below them
are hills dark with wood, and betwixt them and the sea is a fair
space of meadowland, and methought it was wide."
Said the old man: "Sawest thou a rocky skerry rising high out of the
sea anigh the shore?"
"Nay," said Hallblithe, "if there be, it is all blended with the
meadows and the hills."
Said the Sea-eagle: "Abide the wearing of another hour, and come and
tell me again, and then I may have a gainful word for thee." And he
fell asleep again. But Hallblithe abided, and when the hour was
worn, he went forward and stood on the forecastle. And this was the
third shift of the rowers, and the stoutest men in the ship now held
the oars in their hands, and the ship shook through all her length
and breadth as they drave her over the waters.
So Hallblithe came aft to the old man and found him asleep; so he
took him by the shoulder, and shook him and said: "Awake, faring-
fellow, for the land is a-nigh."
So the old man sat up and said: "What hast thou seen?"
Said Hallblithe: "I have seen the peaks and cliffs of the far-off
mountains; and below them are hills green with grass and dark with
woods, and thence stretch soft green meadows down to the sea-strand,
which is fair and smooth, and yellow."
"Sawest thou the skerry?" said the Sea-eagle.
"Yea, I saw it," said Hallblithe, "and it rises sheer from out the
sea about a mile from the yellow strand; but its rocks are black,
like the rocks of the Isle of Ransom."
"Son," said the elder, "give me thine hands and raise me up a
little." So Hallblithe took him and raised him up, so that he sat
leaning against the pillows; and he looked not on Hallblithe, but on
the bows of the ship, which now pitched but a little up and down, for
the sea was laid quiet now. Then he cried in his shrill, piping
voice: "It is the Land! It is the Land!"
But after a little while he turned to Hallblithe and spake: "Short
is the tale to tell: thou hast wished me youth, and thy wish hath
thriven; for to-day, ere the sun goes down, thou shalt see me as I
was in the days when I reaped the harvest of the sea with sharp sword
and hardy heart. For this is the land of the Undying King, who is
our lord and our gift-giver; and to some he giveth the gift of youth
renewed, and life that shall abide here the Gloom of the Gods. But
none of us all may come to the Glittering Plain and the King Undying
without turning the back for the last time on the Isle of Ransom:
nor may any men of the Isle come hither save those who are of the
House of the Sea-eagle, and few of those, save the chieftains of the
House, such as are they who sat by thee on the high-seat that even.
Of these once in a while is chosen one of us, who is old and spent
and past battle, and is borne to this land and the gift of the
Undying. Forsooth some of us have no will to take the gift, for they
say they are liefer to go to where they shall meet more of our
kindred than dwell on the Glittering Plain and the Acre of the
Undying; but as for me I was ever an overbearing and masterful man,
and meseemeth it is well that I meet as few of our kindred as may be:
for they are a strifeful race."
Hereat Hallblithe marvelled exceedingly, and he said: "And what am I
in all this story? Why am I come hither with thy furtherance?"
Said the Sea-eagle: "We had a charge from the Undying King
concerning thee, that we should bring thee hither alive and well, if
so be thou camest to the Isle of Ransom. For what cause we had the
charge, I know not, nor do I greatly heed."
Said Hallblithe: "And shall I also have that gift of undying youth,
and life while the world of men and gods endureth?"
"I must needs deem so," said the Sea-eagle, "so long as thou abidest
on the Glittering Plain; and I see not how thou mayst ever escape
thence."
Now Hallblithe heard him, how he said "escape," and thereat he was
somewhat ill at ease, and stood and pondered a little. At last he
said: "Is this then all that thou hast to tell me concerning the
Glittering Plain?"
"By the Treasure of the Sea!" said the elder, "I know no more of it.
The living shall learn. But I suppose that thou mayst seek thy
troth-plight maiden there all thou wilt. Or thou mayst pray the
Undying King to have her thither to thee. What know I? At least, it
is like that there shall be no lack of fair women there: or else the
promise of youth renewed is nought and vain. Shall this not be
enough for thee?"
"Nay," said Hallblithe.
"What," said the elder, "must it be one woman only?"
"One only," said Hallblithe.
The old man laughed his thin mocking laugh, and said: "I will not
assure thee but that the land of the Glittering Plain shall change
all that for thee so soon as it touches the soles of thy feet."
Hallblithe looked at him steadily and smiled, and said: "Well is it
then that I shall find the Hostage there; for then shall we be of one
mind, either to sunder or to cleave together. It is well with me
this day."
"And with me it shall be well ere long," said the Sea-eagle.
But now the rowers ceased rowing and lay on their oars, and the
shipmen cast anchor; for they were but a bowshot from the shore, and
the ship swung with the tide and lay side-long to the shore. Then
said the Sea-eagle: "Look forth, shipmate, and tell me of the land."
And Hallblithe looked and said: "The yellow beach is sandy and
shell-strewn, as I deem, and there is no great space of it betwixt
the sea and the flowery grass; and a bowshot from the strand I see a
little wood amidst which are fair trees blossoming."
"Seest thou any folk on the shore?" said the old man. "Yea," said
Hallblithe, "close to the edge of the sea go four; and by seeming
three are women, for their long gowns flutter in the wind. And one
of these is clad in saffron colour, and another in white, and another
in watchet; but the carle is clad in dark red; and their raiment is
all glistening as with gold and gems; and by seeming they are looking
at our ship as though they expected somewhat."
Said the Sea-eagle: "Why now do the shipmen tarry and have not made
ready the skiff? Swillers and belly-gods they be; slothful swine
that forget their chieftain."
But even as he spake came four of the shipmen, and without more ado
took him up, bed and all, and bore him down into the waist of the
ship, whereunder lay the skiff with four strong rowers lying on their
oars. These men made no sign to Hallblithe, nor took any heed of
him; but he caught up his spear, and followed them and stood by as
they lowered the old man into the boat. Then he set his foot on the
gunwale of the ship and leapt down lightly into the boat, and none
hindered or helped him; and he stood upright in the boat, a goodly
image of battle with the sun flashing back from his bright helm, his
spear in his hand, his white shield at his back, and thereon the
image of the Raven; but if he had been but a salt-boiling carle of
the sea-side none would have heeded him less.
CHAPTER X: THEY HOLD CONVERSE WITH FOLK OF THE GLITTERING PLAIN
Now the rowers lifted the ash-blades, and fell to rowing towards
shore: and almost with the first of their strokes, the Sea-eagle
moaned out:
"Would we were there, oh, would we were there! Cold groweth eld
about my heart. Raven's Son, thou art standing up; tell me if thou
canst see what these folk of the land are doing, and if any others
have come thither?"
Said Hallblithe: "There are none others come, but kine and horses
are feeding down the meadows. As to what those four are doing, the
women are putting off their shoon, and girding up their raiment, as
if they would wade the water toward us; and the carle, who was
barefoot before, wendeth straight towards the sea, and there he
standeth, for very little are the waves become."
The old man answered nothing, and did but groan for lack of patience;
but presently when the water was yet waist deep the rowers stayed the
skiff, and two of them slipped over the gunwale into the sea, and
between them all they took up the chieftain on his bed and got him
forth from the boat and went toward the strand with him; and the
landsfolk met them where the water was shallower, and took him from
their hands and bore him forth on to the yellow sand, and laid him
down out of reach of the creeping ripple of the tide. Hallblithe
withal slipped lightly out of the boat and waded the water after
them. But the shipmen rowed back again to their ship, and presently
Hallblithe heard the hale and how, as they got up their anchor.
But when Hallblithe was come ashore, and was drawn near the folk of
the land, the women looked at him askance, and they laughed and said:
"Welcome to thee also, O young man!" And he beheld them, and saw
that they were of the stature of the maidens of his own land; they
were exceeding fair of skin and shapely of fashion, so that the
nakedness of their limbs under their girded gowns, and all glistening
with the sea, was most lovely and dainty to behold. But Hallblithe
knelt by the Sea-eagle to note how he fared, and said: "How is it
with thee, O chieftain?"
The old man answered not a word, and he seemed to be asleep, and
Hallblithe deemed that his cheeks were ruddier and his skin less
wasted and wrinkled than aforetime. Then spake one of those women:
"Fear not, young man; he is well and will soon be better." Her voice
was as sweet as a spring bird in the morning; she was white-skinned
and dark-haired, and full sweetly fashioned; and she laughed on
Hallblithe, but not mockingly; and her fellows also laughed, as
though it was strange for him to be there. Then they did on their
shoon again, and with the carle laid their hands to the bed whereon
the old man lay, and lifted him up, and bore him forth on to the
grass, turning their faces toward the flowery wood aforesaid; and
they went a little way and then laid him down again and rested; and
so on little by little, till they had brought him to the edge of the
wood, and still he seemed to be asleep. Then the damsel who had
spoken before, she with the dark hair, said to Hallblithe, "Although
we have gazed on thee as if with wonder, this is not because we did
not look to meet thee, but because thou art so fair and goodly a man:
so abide thou here till we come back to thee from out of the wood."
Therewith she stroked his hand, and with her fellows lifted the old
man once more, and they bore him out of sight into the thicket.
But Hallblithe went to and fro a dozen paces from the wood, and
looked across the flowery meads and deemed he had never seen any so
fair. And afar off toward the hills he saw a great roof arising, and
thought he could see men also; and nigher to him were kine pasturing,
and horses also, whereof some drew anear him and stretched out their
necks and gazed at him; and they were goodly after their kind; and a
fair stream of water came round the corner out of the wood and down
the meadows to the sea; and Hallblithe went thereto and could see
that there was but little ebb and flow of the tide on that shore; for
the water of the stream was clear as glass, and the grass and flowers
grew right down to its water; so he put off his helm and drank of the
stream and washed his face and his hands therein, and then did on his
helm again and turned back again toward the wood, feeling very strong
and merry; and he looked out seaward and saw the Ship of the Isle of
Ransom lessening fast; for a little land wind had arisen and they had
spread their sails to it; and he laid down on the grass till the four
folk of the country came out of the wood again, after they had been
gone somewhat less than an hour, but the Sea-eagle was not with them:
and Hallblithe rose up and turned to them, and the carle saluted him
and departed, going straight toward that far-away roof he had seen;
and the women were left with Hallblithe, and they looked at him and
he at them as he stood leaning on his spear.
Then said the black-haired damsel: "True it is, O Spearman, that if
we did not know of thee, our wonder would be great that a man so
young and lucky-looking should have sought hither."
"I wot not why thou shouldest wonder," said Hallblithe; "I will tell
thee presently wherefore I come hither. But tell me, is this the
Land of the Glittering Plain?"
"Even so," said the damsel, "dost thou not see how the sun shineth on
it? Just so it shineth in the season that other folks call winter."
"Some such marvel I thought to hear of," said he; "for I have been
told that the land is marvellous; and fair though these meadows be,
they are not marvellous to look on now: they are like other lands,
though it maybe, fairer."
"That may be," she said; "we have nought but hearsay of other lands.
If we ever knew them we have forgotten them."
Said Hallblithe, "Is this land called also the Acre of the Undying?"
As he spake the words the smile faded from the damsel's face; she and
her fellows grew pale, and she said: "Hold thy peace of such words!
They are not lawful for any man to utter here. Yet mayst thou call
it the Land of the Living."
He said: "I crave pardon for the rash word."
Then they smiled again, and drew near to him, and caressed him with
their hands, and looked on him lovingly; but he drew a little aback
from them and said: "I have come hither seeking something which I
have lost, the lack whereof grieveth me."
Quoth the damsel, drawing nearer to him again, "Mayst thou find it,
thou lovely man, and whatsoever else thou desirest."
Then he said: "Hath a woman named the Hostage been brought hither of
late days? A fair woman, bright-haired and grey-eyed, kind of
countenance, soft of speech, yet outspoken and nought timorous; tall
according to our stature, but very goodly of fashion; a woman of the
House of the Rose, and my troth-plight maiden."
They looked on each other and shook their heads, and the black-haired
damsel spake: "We know of no such a woman, nor of the kindred which
thou namest."
Then his countenance fell, and became piteous with desire and grief,
and he bent his brows upon them, for they seemed to him light-minded
and careless, though they were lovely.
But they shrank from him trembling, and drew aback; for they had all
been standing close to him, beholding him with love, and she who had
spoken most had been holding his left hand fondly. But now she said:
"Nay, look not on us so bitterly! If the woman be not in the land,
this cometh not of our malice. Yet maybe she is here. For such as
come hither keep not their old names, and soon forget them what they
were. Thou shalt go with us to the King, and he shall do for thee
what thou wilt; for he is exceeding mighty."
Then was Hallblithe appeased somewhat; and he said: "Are there many
women in the land?"
"Yea, many," said that damsel.
"And many that are as fair as ye be?" said he. Then they laughed and
were glad, and drew near to him again and took his hands and kissed
them; and the black-haired damsel said: "Yea, yea, there be many as
fair as we be, and some fairer," and she laughed.
"And that King of yours," said he, "how do ye name him?"
"He is the King," said the damsel.
"Hath he no other name?" said Hallblithe.
"We may not utter it," she said; "but thou shalt see him soon, that
there is nought but good in him and mightiness."
CHAPTER XI: THE SEA-EAGLE RENEWETH HIS LIFE
But while they spake together thus, came a man from out of the wood
very tall of stature, red-bearded and black-haired, ruddy-cheeked,
full-limbed, most joyous of aspect; a man by seeming of five and
thirty winters. He strode straight up to Hallblithe, and cast his
arms about him, and kissed his cheek, as if he had been an old and
dear friend newly come from over seas.
Hallblithe wondered and laughed, and said: "Who art thou that
deemest me so dear?"
Said the man: "Short is thy memory, Son of the Raven, that thou in
so little space hast forgotten thy shipmate and thy faring-fellow;
who gave thee meat and drink and good rede in the Hall of the
Ravagers." Therewith he laughed joyously and turned about to the
three maidens and took them by the hands and kissed their lips, while
they fawned upon him lovingly.
Then said Hallblithe: "Hast thou verily gotten thy youth again,
which thou badest me wish thee?"
"Yea, in good sooth," said the red-bearded man; "I am the Sea-eagle
of old days; and I have gotten my youth, and love therewithal, and
somewhat to love moreover."
Therewith he turned to the fairest of the damsels, and she was white-
skinned and fragrant as the lily, rose-cheeked and slender, and the
wind played with the long locks of her golden hair, which hung down
below her knees; so he cast his arms about her and strained her to
his bosom, and kissed her face many times, and she nothing loth, but
caressing him with lips and hand. But the other two damsels stood by
smiling and joyous: and they clapped their hands together and kissed
each other for joy of the new lover; and at last fell to dancing and
skipping about them like young lambs in the meadows of Spring-tide.
But amongst them all, stood up Hallblithe leaning on his spear with
smiling lips and knitted brow; for he was pondering in his mind in
what wise he might further his quest.
But after they had danced a while the Sea-eagle left his love that he
had chosen and took a hand of either of the two damsels, and led them
tripping up to Hallblithe, and cried out: "Choose thou, Raven's
baby, which of these twain thou wilt have to thy mate; for scarcely
shalt thou see better or fairer."
But Hallblithe looked on them proudly and sternly, and the black-
haired damsel hung down her head before him and said softly: "Nay,
nay, sea-warrior; this one is too lovely to be our mate. Sweeter
love abides him, and lips more longed for."
Then stirred Hallblithe's heart within him and he said: "O Eagle of
the Sea, thou hast thy youth again: what then wilt thou do with it?
Wilt thou not weary for the moonlit main, and the washing of waves
and the dashing of spray, and thy fellows all glistening with the
brine? Where now shall be the alien shores before thee, and the
landing for fame, and departure for the gain of goods? Wilt thou
forget the ship's black side, and the dripping of the windward oars,
as the squall falleth on when the sun hath arisen, and the sail
tuggeth hard on the sheet, and the ship lieth over and the lads shout
against the whistle of the wind? Has the spear fallen from thine
hand, and hast thou buried the sword of thy fathers in the grave from
which thy body hath escaped? What art thou, O Warrior, in the land
of the alien and the King? Who shall heed thee or tell the tale of
thy glory, which thou hast covered over with the hand of a light
woman, whom thy kindred knoweth not, and who was not born in a house
wherefrom it hath been appointed thee from of old to take the
pleasure of woman? Whose thrall art thou now, thou lifter of the
spoil, thou scarer of the freeborn? The bidding of what lord or King
wilt thou do, O Chieftain, that thou mayst eat thy meat in the
morning and lie soft in thy bed in the evening?"
"O Warrior of the Ravagers, here stand I, Hallblithe of the Raven,
and I am come into an alien land beset with marvels to seek mine own,
and find that which is dearest to mine heart; to wit, my troth-plight
maiden the Hostage of the Rose, the fair woman who shall lie in my
bed, and bear me children, and stand by me in field and fold, by
thwart and gunwale, before the bow and the spear, by the flickering
of the cooking-fire, and amidst the blaze of the burning hall, and
beside the bale-fire of the warrior of the Raven. O Sea-eagle, my
guester amongst the foemen, my fellow-farer and shipmate, say now
once for all whether thou wilt help me in my quest, or fall off from
me as a dastard?"
Again the maidens shrank before his clear and high-raised voice, and
they trembled and grew pale.
But the Sea-eagle laughed from a countenance kind with joy, and said:
"Child of the Raven, thy words are good and manly: but it availeth
nought in this land, and I wot not how thou wilt fare, or why thou
hast been sent amongst us. What wilt thou do? Hadst thou spoken
these words to the Long-hoary, the Grandfather, yesterday, his ears
would have been deaf to them; and now that thou speakest them to the
Sea-eagle, this joyous man on the Glittering Plain, he cannot do
according to them, for there is no other land than this which can
hold him. Here he is strong and stark, and full of joy and love; but
otherwhere he would be but a gibbering ghost drifting down the wind
of night. Therefore in whatsoever thou mayst do within this land I
will stand by thee and help thee; but not one inch beyond it may my
foot go, whether it be down into the brine of the sea, or up into the
clefts of the mountains which are the wall of this goodly land.
"Thou hast been my shipmate and I love thee, I am thy friend; but
here in this land must needs be the love and the friendship. For no
ghost can love thee, no ghost may help thee. And as to what thou
sayest concerning the days gone past and our joys upon the tumbling
sea, true it is that those days were good and lovely; but they are
dead and gone like the lads who sat on the thwart beside us, and the
maidens who took our hands in the hall to lead us to the chamber.
Other days have come in their stead, and other friends shall cherish
us. What then? Shall we wound the living to pleasure the dead, who
cannot heed it? Shall we curse the Yuletide, and cast foul water on
the Holy Hearth of the winter feast, because the summer once was fair
and the days flit and the times change? Now let us be glad! For
life liveth."
Therewith he turned about to his damsel and kissed her on the mouth.
But Hallblithe's face was grown sad and stern, and he spake slowly
and heavily: "So is it, shipmate, that whereas thou sayest that the
days flit, for thee they shall flit no more; and the day may come for
thee when thou shalt be weary, and know it, and long for the lost
which thou hast forgotten. But hereof it availeth nought for me to
speak any longer, for thine ears are deaf to these words, and thou
wilt not hear them. Therefore I say no more save that I thank thee
for thy help whatsoever it may be; and I will take it, for the day's
work lieth before me, and I begin to think that it may be heavy
enough."
The women yet looked downcast, and as if they would be gone out of
earshot; but the Sea-eagle laughed as one who is well content, and
said: "Thou thyself wilt make it hard for thyself after the wont of
thy proud and haughty race; but for me nothing is hard any longer;
neither thy scorn nor thy forebodings of evil. Be thou my friend as
much as thou canst, and I will be thine wholly. Now ye women,
whither will ye lead us? For I am ready to see any new thing ye will
show us."
Said his damsel: "We will take you to the King, that your hearts may
be the more gladdened. And as for thy friend the Spearman, O Sea-
warrior, let not his heart be downcast. Who wotteth but that these
two desires, the desire of his heart, and the desire of a heart for
him, may not be one and the same desire, so that he shall be fully
satisfied?" As she spoke she looked sidelong at Hallblithe, with shy
and wheedling eyes; and he wondered at her word, and a new hope
sprang up in his heart that he was presently to be brought face to
face with the Hostage, and that this was that love, sweeter than
their love, which abode in him, and his heart became lighter, and his
visage cleared.
CHAPTER XII: THEY LOOK ON THE KING OF THE GLITTERING PLAIN
So now the women led them along up the stream, and Hallblithe went
side by side by the Sea-eagle; but the women had become altogether
merry again, and played and ran about them as gamesome as young
goats; and they waded the shallows of the clear bright stream
barefoot to wash their limbs of the sea-brine, and strayed about the
meadows, plucking the flowers and making them wreaths and chaplets,
which they did upon themselves and the Sea-eagle; but Hallblithe they
touched not, for still they feared him. They went on as the stream
led them up toward the hills, and ever were the meads about them as
fair and flowery as might be. Folk they saw afar off, but fell in
with none for a good while, saving a man and a maid clad lightly as
for mid-summer days, who were wandering together lovingly and happily
by the stream-side, and who gazed wonderingly on the stark Sea-eagle,
and on Hallblithe with his glittering spear. The black-haired damsel
greeted these twain and spake something to them, and they laughed
merrily, and the man stooped down amongst the grasses and blossoms of
the bank, and drew forth a basket, and spread dainty victuals on the
grass under a willow-tree, and bade them be his guests that fair
afternoon. So they sat down there above the glistering stream and
ate and drank and were merry. Thereafter the new-comers and their
way-leaders departed with kind words, and still set their faces
towards the hills.
Pages:
1 |
2 |
3 | 4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10