英文小故事:亞瑟王之死

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.

自從亞瑟王的150名圓桌騎士離開亞瑟，到各地尋找聖盃，亞瑟王的朝廷就冷落了下來。但最後使騎士們散夥的，是亞瑟的外甥（一說私生子）莫德雷德。正當亞瑟在法國與朗斯洛作戰時，莫德雷德篡奪了王位，甚至要娶圭內維爾爲妻。亞瑟匆忙返回與莫德雷德對陣。亞瑟殺死莫德雷德，自己也身負重傷。

臨終時，亞瑟命令拜德維爾爵士把神劍埃克斯卡利伯投入湖中，使之不致落入惡人之手。然後拜德維爾爵士將亞瑟背到湖邊。這時他們看到一條小船駛來，裏面有幾個仙女。仙女們將亞瑟王載到阿瓦隆島，那裏是英雄們的修養地。人們相信，在不列顛需要的時候，亞瑟王會回來打敗敵人，給人民帶來和平與安全。

題外話：英國詩人丁尼生的敘事詩《國王之歌》（Idylls of the king）中描寫拜德維爾爵士揹着受傷的亞瑟王走向湖邊的那一段是英詩中的珍品，音響效果十分講究，值得細細品味。