The Abbatial Crosier; or, Bonaik and Septimine. A Tale of a Medieval Abbess. Эжен Сю

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ and a half and more that we have reigned in fact, we the stewards of the palace … of what earthly use have the kings been, the descendants of Clovis?"

      "Have I not heard you say a hundred times that those do-nothings spend their time drinking, eating, playing, hunting, sleeping in the arms of their concubines, going to church and building churches in atonement for some crime committed in the fury of their drunkenness?"

      "Such has been the life of those 'do-nothing' kings – well named such. We the stewards of the palace govern in fact. At every assembly of the Field of May, we pulled one of our royal mannikins out of his residence of Compiegne, of Kersey-on-the-Oise, or of Braine. We had him set up in a gilded chariot drawn by four oxen according to the old Germanic custom, and, with a crown upon his head, a scepter in his hand, purple on his back, his face ornamented with a long artificial beard, if he had no beard, so as to impart to him a certain degree of majesty, the image was promenaded around the Field of May, and received the pledge of homage from the dukes, counts and bishops, gathered at the assembly from all parts of Gaul… The comedy over, the idol was thrust back into its box until the next year. But what useful purpose can these mummeries serve? He only should be king who governs and fights. Consequently, as I have no taste for what is superfluous, I have suppressed the royalty… I confiscated the King."

      "You deserve to be praised for that, Charles; the Frankish kings descended from Clovis, have inspired me with hatred and contempt – "

      "But whence the hate?"

      Berthoald blushed and puckered up his brows: "I have always hated idleness and cruelty."

      "The last one of these kings, Thierry IV, dead now eighteen months, left a son behind … a child of about nine years… I had him deported to this abbey – "

      "What do you purpose to do with him?"

      "To keep him… We Franks are fickle folks. For a century and a half we fell into the habit of despising the kings that one time we worshipped… Accordingly, when the first Field of May took place without the royal mummery, not one of the dukes and bishops missed the idol that was absent from the feast. This year, however, some did ask where was the king; and others answered: 'What is the use of the king?' It may, nevertheless, happen that one of these days they may demand to see the royal mannikin make the tour of the Field of May according to the old custom… I do not care, provided I reign. Accordingly, I keep in reserve for them the child that is here. With the aid of a false beard on his chin and a crown on his head, the little monkey will play his role in the chariot neither better nor worse than so many other kings of twelve or fifteen years who preceded him. In case of need, next year he will be Childeric III, if I think it advisable."

      "Kings of twelve!.. How low can royalty fall!.. How low the degradation of the people!"

      "The stewardship of the palace, a post that became hereditary, came very near dropping to the same level… Did I not have a brother of eleven who was the steward of the palace to a king of ten?"

      "You joke, Charles!"

      "No, indeed, I do not, because those days were far from pleasant for me… My step-mother, Plectrude, had me cast into prison after the death of my father Pepin of Heristal… According to the dame, I was only a bastard, good either for the gibbet or the priest's frock, while my father left to my brother Theobald the post of steward of the palace; hereditary in our family… And so it happened that my brother, then only eleven, became the steward of the palace of the then king, who was only ten, and who became the grandfather of this little Childeric, who is a prisoner in this convent. That king and steward could exercise no rivalry over each other except at tops or huckle-bones. Thus the good dame Plectrude expected to rule in the place of the two urchins, while they would be at play. Such audacity and folly aroused the Frankish seigneurs. At the end of a few years Plectrude was driven away with her son, while I, Charles, for whom she had only bad names, came out of prison, and now became steward of the palace of Dagobert III. Since then I have made so much noise in the world, hammering here and yonder upon the heads of Saxons, Frisians and Saracens, that the name of Martel has stuck to me. Dagobert III left a son, Thierry IV, who died eighteen months ago, and he was the father of little Childeric, the prisoner of this place. While having to cross the region, I wished to pay a visit to the royal brat and learn how he stood his captivity. I said I had a token of confidence to give… I confide to you the keeping of that child, the last scion of the stock of Clovis, of the Merovingian conquerors of Gaul."

      "I shall keep this last scion of Clovis?" cried Berthoald, at first stupefied, but immediately thrilled with savage joy. "I shall keep him? The boy who has among his ancestors a Clotaire, the murderer of children! a Chilperic, the Nero of the Gauls! a Fredegonde, a second Messalina! a Clotaire II, the executioner of Brunhild, and so many other crowned monsters! Shall I be the jailor of their last issue?.. The fate of man is often strange… I to be the guardian of the last descendant of that conqueror of Gaul so much abhorred by my fathers!.. Oh, the gods are just!"

      "Berthoald, are you going crazy? What is there so astonishing in your becoming the watcher of this child?"

      "Excuse me, Charles," answered Berthoald recollecting and fearing to betray himself. "I was greatly struck with the thought that I, an obscure soldier, should watch and hold as a prisoner the last scion of so many kings! Is it not a strange fate?"

      "Indeed this stock of Clovis, once so valiant, ends miserably!.. But how else could it be! These kinglets – fathers before fifteen, decayed at thirty, brutified by wine, dulled by idleness, unnerved by youthful debauchery, emaciated, stunted, and stupid – could not choose but end this-wise… The stewards of the palace, on the contrary – rough men, always on the march from north to south, from east to west, and back again, always on horseback, always fighting, always governing – they run out into a Charles, and he is not frail, he is not stunted! Not he! His beard is not artificial; he will be able to raise a breed of true kings… Upon the word of Martel, this second breed of kings will not allow themselves to be exhibited in carts neither before nor after the assemblies of the Field of May by any stewards of palaces!"

      "Who can tell, Charles! It may happen that if you raise a breed of kings, their stock will run down just as that of Clovis has done, whose last scion you wish to put under my charge."

      "By the devil! By the navel of the Pope! Do you see any sign of decay in us, the sons of Pepin of Old, who have been the hereditary stewards of the palace since the reign of Queen Brunhild?"

      "You were not kings, Charles; and royalty carries with it a poison that in the long run enervates and kills the most virile stock – "

      At this moment Father Clement came tumbling into the room in great excitement, and broke the thread of the conversation between Charles Martel and Berthoald.

      CHAPTER III.

      FATHER CLEMENT'S REFECTORY

      "Seigneur," said Father Clement to Charles, as he precipitately broke into the room, "I have just discovered a plot! The young prince obstinately refused to accompany me hither – "

      "A plot! Ho, ho! The folks of your abbey indulge in conspiracies!"

      "Thanks be to heaven, seigneur, myself and brothers are utter strangers to the unworthy treason. The guilty ones are the miserable slaves who will be punished as they deserve!"

      "Explain yourself! And stop circumlocutions!"

      "I must first of all inform you, sir, that when the young prince first arrived at this convent, Count Hugh who brought him, recommended to me to place near the child some young female slave, a pretty girl, if possible, above all one that would provoke love … and who would be willing to submit to the consequences – "

      "In СКАЧАТЬ