“要是我侍奉上帝像侍奉国王那样殷勤诚恳,他也许就不会在我白发苍苍之际将我抛弃!”
16.他在半夜被埋葬在修道院的一所小礼拜堂里,关于他的死讯不久也传到了国王亨利那里。当时亨利正在汉普顿宫的花园里射箭游玩,而此处正是从这位被他无情抛弃的人手里占据而来。说了几句表示悲伤的客套话之后,亨利便立即开始盘问这位枢机主教可能在其他地方藏了多少钱。
a 逗乐家臣:中世纪宫廷或贵族家中的小丑角色,他们的工作就是在需要的时候表演幽默滑稽节目,博得主人开心。--译者注92WOLSEY AND CROMWELL沃尔西与克伦威尔
advance,promote.corruption,vice;dishonesty.dignities,honours.displeasure,ill-favour.envious,jealous;malicious.fortitude,courage.
installed,placed in office.integrity,honesty.inventory,list;roll.miseries,sorrows.wanton,reckless;wild.wrack,ruin.
Wolsey.Farewell!a long farewell to all my greatness!This is the state of man:to-day he puts forthThe tender leaves of hopes;to-morrow,blossoms,And bears his blushing honours thick upon him;The third day comes a frost,a killing frost,And-when he thinks,good easy man,full surely His greatness is a-ripening-nips his root,And then he falls,as I do.I have ventured,Like little wanton boys that swim on bladders,This many summers in a sea of glory,But far beyond my depth:my high-blown pride At length broke under me,and now has left me,Weary and old with service,to the mercyOf a rude stream,that must for ever hide me.Vain pomp and glory of this world,I hate ye:
I feel my heart new opened.Oh,how wretched Is that poor man that hangs on princes‘favours!There is,betwixt that smile we would aspire to,That sweet aspect of prinees,and their ruin,More pangs and fears than wars or women have;aAnd when he falls,he falls like Lucifer -Never to hope again.
a Lucifer.-The morning star.The name is given by poets to Satan before his fall.
Enter CROMWELL,amazedly.
a
Why,how now,Cromwell?
Crom.I have no power to speak,sir.
Wol.What!amazed
At my misfortunes?Can thy spirit wonder
A great man should decline?-Nay,an you weep,I am fallen indeedCrom.How does your grace?
Wol.Why,well;
Never so truly happy,my good Cromwell.I know myself now;and I feel within me A peace above all earthly dignities-A still and quiet conscience.The King has cured me-I humbly thank his grace;-and from these shoulders,These ruined pillars,out of pity,takenA load would sink a navy-too much honour:Oh,’tis a burthen,Cromwell,‘tis a burthen Too heavy for a man that hopes for heaven!
Crom.I am glad your grace has made that right use of itWol.I hope I have.I am able now,methinks,(Out of a fortitude of soul I feel,)To endure more miseries,and greater far,Than my weak-hearted enemies dare offer.-What news abroad?
Crom.The heaviest,and the worst,Is your displeasure with the King.
Wol.God bless him!
Crom.The next is,that Sir Thomas Moreb is chosen Lord Chancellor in your place.
Wol.That’s somewhat sudden:
But he‘s a learned man.May he continue Long in his highness’favour,and do justiceFor truth‘s sake and his conscience;that his bones,When he has run his course and sleeps in blessings,a Cromwell.-Thomas Cromwell,afterwards Earl of Essex,Wolsey’s favourite assistant.In 1535he wasmade Vicar-General.In 1540he lost Henry‘s favour,and was beheaded.
b Sir Thomas More.-The first layman,from the time of the Norman Conquest,who was Lord Chancellor.He was executed in 1535.
May have a tomb of orphans’tears wept on ‘em!-What more?
Crom.That Cranmera is returned with welcome,Installed Lord Archbishop of Canterbury.
Wol.That’s news indeed.
Crom.Last,that the Lady Anne,b Whom the King hath in secrecy long married,This day was viewed in open,as his queen,Going to chapel;and the voice is now Only about her coronation.
Wol.There was the weight that pulled me down.
O Cromwell!
The King has gone beyond me:all my glories In that one woman I have lost for ever:
No sun shall ever usher forth my honours,Or gild again the noble troops that waitedUpon my smiles.Go,get thee from me,Cromwell;I am a poor fallen man,unworthy nowTo be thy lord and master.Seek the King:
That sun,I pray,may never set!I have told him What and how true thou art:he will advance thee;Some little memory of me will stir him (I know his noble nature)not to letThy hopeful service perish too.Good Cromwell,Neglect him not;make use now,and provideFor thine own future safety.
Crom.Oh,my lord,
Must I,then,leave you?must I needs forego So good,so noble,and so true a master?