III.

“Who is down?” cried Ivanhoe; “for[1] our dear Lady’s sake, tell me who has fallen?”

“The Black Knight,” answered Rebecca faintly[2]; then instantly again shouted with joyful eagerness[3]: “But[4] no—but no!—the name of the Lord of hosts be blessed[5]!—he is on foot[6] again, and fights as if there were twenty men’s strength in his single arm[7].—His sword is broken—he snatches[8] an axe from a yeoman—he presses[9] Front-de-Bœuf with blow on blow.—The giant stoops and totters like an oak under the steel of the woodman[10]—he falls—he falls!”

“Front-de-Bœuf?” exclaimed Ivanhoe.

“Front-de-Bœuf!” answered the Jewess; “his men[11] rush to the rescue[12], headed (S. 102, N. 3) by (+von+) the haughty Templar[13]—their united force compels the champion[14] to pause.—They drag Front-de-Bœuf within the walls[15].”

“The assailants have won[16] the barriers, have they not?” said Ivanhoe.

“They have—they have[17]!” exclaimed Rebecca—“and they press[18] the besieged hard upon the outer wall; some plant ladders[19], some swarm like bees (S. 3, N. 2) and endeavour to ascend upon the shoulders of each other[20]—down go[21] stones, beams, and trunks of trees upon their heads, and as fast as they bear the wounded to the rear[22], fresh men[23] supply their places in the assault.—Great God, hast thou given men thine own image[24], that (S. 183, N. 6) it should be thus cruelly defaced[25] by[26] the hands of their brethren?”

[1] = for the sake of (+um ... willen+) the holy Virgin.

[2] +mit schwacher Stimme.+

[3] then — eagerness = but cried immediately (+gleich darauf+) with joyful surprise.

[4] +Doch.+

[5] +gepriesen.+

[6] to be on foot, +auf den Beinen sein+.

[7] as — arm = as if (+als ob+) his arm possessed (Impf. Subj. App. § 33) the strength of 20 men.

[8] to snatch a thing from a person, +einem etwas entrei´ßen+, insep. comp. str. v. tr.; a yeoman, ein +Freisasse+, m. Comp. App. § 5; ‘axe’, here = battle-axe, +Streitaxt+, f.

[9] ‘to press’, here +weiter zurück´drängen+, sep. comp. w. v. tr.; with blow on blow, +mit jedem Schlage+.

[10] = wood-cutter.

[11] +Leute.+

[12] He rushed to my rescue, +er eilte mir zu Hülfe+.

[13] +Der Tempelherr war Brian de Bois-Guilbert.+ Comp. S. 183, N. 1.

[14] = hero; to pause = to stop fighting, +mit dem Fechten in´nezuhalten+.

[15] ‘within the walls’ may be briefly rendered by +hinein+.

[16] = taken, +ein´nehmen+, sep. comp. irreg. v. tr.; turn ‘barriers’ by +Verschanzungen+; have they not? +nicht wahr?+

[17] +Ja—ja!+

[18] here +bedrängen+; hard, +heftig+; upon, +auf+, with Dat.

[19] to plant ladders, +Leitern an die Mauer stellen+.

[20] = of the others.

[21] down go, +es werden ... herniedergeworfen+. Comp. S. 104, N. 19.

[22] and — rear = and as soon as (+so wie+) the wounded are carried away (+hinweg´tragen+). Comp. S. 2, N. 1.

[23] = other combatants (+Streiter+). He supplied my place in the assault of the castle, +er nahm meine Stelle bei der Erstürmung des Schlosses wieder ein+.

[24] Say ‘hast thou created men (S. 134, N. 9) after thy own image (+Bild+, n.)’.

[25] +entstellen+, insep. comp. w. v.; Use the Pres. Subj. of the Passive voice, and comp. App. §§ 29 and 35.

[26] =by= = =through=, +=durch=+; the hands = the hand.

_Section 186._

REBECCA DESCRIBES THE SIEGE OF TORQUILSTONE TO THE WOUNDED IVANHOE.