The Young King (3)

Hello guys,

Here is the third part of a short story by Oscar Wilde.

Some explanations are given between brackets [].

Enjoy! 

The Young King by Oscar Wilde - Part 3

        'I have three grains of corn,' she answered; 'what is that to thee [you object]?'

     'Give me one of them,' cried Death, 'to plant in my garden; only one of them, and I will go away.'

     'I will not give thee [you object] anything,' said Avarice, and she hid [e] her hand in the fold of her raiment.

     And Death laughed, and took a cup, and dipped [tremper]it into a pool of water, and out of the cup rose Ague. She passed through the great multitude, and a third of them lay dead. A cold mist [brume] followed her, and the water-snakes ran by her side.

     And when Avarice saw that a third of the multitude was dead she beat her breast and wept. She beat her barren [stérile] bosom [poitrine] and cried aloud. 'Thou [you] hast [have] slain [slay: tuer] a third of my servants,' she cried, 'get thee [you] gone. There is war in the mountains of Tartary, and the kings of each side are calling to thee [you]. The Afghans have slain [slay: tuer] the black ox [boeuf], and are marching to battle. They have beaten upon their shields with their spears [lance], and have put on their helmets of iron. What is my valley to thee [you object], that thou [you subject] should'st tarry in it? Get thee [you object] gone, and come here no more.

     'Nay,' answered Death, 'but till thou [you subject] hast given me a grain of corn I will not go.'

     But Avarice shut her hand, and clenched [serrer] her teeth. 'I will not give thee [you object] anything,' she muttered.

     And Death laughed, and took up a black stone, and threw it into the forest, and out of a thicket [taillis] of wild hemlock [ciguë] came Fever in a robe of flame. She passed through the multitude, and touched them, and each man that she touched died. The grass withered [se fâner] beneath her feet as she walked.

     And Avarice shuddered [trembler] , and put ashes on her head. 'Thou [you subject] art [are] cruel,' she cried; 'thou art cruel. There is famine in the walled cities of India, and the cisterns of Samarcand have run dry. There is famine in the walled cities of Egypt, and the locusts [sauterelle] have come up from the desert. The Nile has not overflowed its banks, and the priests have cursed Isis and Osiris. Get thee gone to those who need thee, and leave me my servants.'

     'Nay,' answered Death, 'but till thou hast [you have] given me a grain of corn I will not go.'

     'I will not give thee anything,' said Avarice.

     And Death laughed again, and he whistled [siffler] through his fingers, and a woman came flying through the air. Plague was written upon her forehead, and a crowd of lean vultures [vautours maigres] wheeled round her. She covered the valley with her wings, and no man was left alive.

     And Avarice fled shrieking [hurler] through the forest, and Death leaped sauter] upon his red horse and galloped away, and his galloping was faster than the wind.

     And out of the slime [vase] at the bottom of the valley crept dragons and horrible things with scales, and the jackals [chacal] came trotting along the sand, sniffing up the air with their nostrils [narines].

     And the young King wept, and said: 'Who were these men and for what were they seeking?'

     'For rubies for a king's crown,' answered one who stood behind him.

     And the young King started, and, turning round, he saw a man habited as a pilgrim and holding in his hand a mirror of silver.

     And he grew pale, and said: 'For what king?'

     And the pilgrim answered: 'Look in this mirror, and thou shalt [you shall] see him.'

     And he looked in the mirror, and, seeing his own face, he gave a great cry and woke, and the bright sunlight was streaming into the room, and from the trees of the garden and the birds were singing.

     And the Chamberlain and the high officers of State came in and made obeisance to him, and the pages brought him the robe of tissued gold, and set the crown and the sceptre before him.

     And the young King looked at them, and they were beautiful. More beautiful were they than aught that he had ever seen. But he remembered his dreams, and he said to his lords: 'Take these things away, for I will not wear them.'

     And the courtiers were amazed, and some of them laughed, for they thought that he was jesting [plaisanter].

     But he spake [spoke] sternly to them again, and said: 'Take these things away, and hide them from me. Though it be the day of my coronation, I will not wear them. For on the loom of Sorrow, and by the white hands of Pain, has this my robe been woven [tissé]. There is Blood in the heart of the ruby, and Death in the heart of the pearl.' And he told them his three dreams.

     And when the courtiers heard them they looked at each other and whispered, saying: 'Surely he is mad; for what is a dream but a dream, and a vision but a vision? They are not real things that one should heed [écouter] them. And what have we to do with the lives of those who toil [travailler dur] for us? Shall a man not eat bread till he has seen the sower [semeur] , nor drink wine till he has talked with the vinedresser [vigneron] ?'

     And the Chamberlain spake [spoke] to the young King, and said, 'My lord, I pray thee set aside these black thoughts of thine [yours] , and put on this fair robe, and set this crown upon thy [your] head. For how shall the people know that thou art [you are] a king, if thou hast [you are] not a king's raiment?'

     And the young King looked at him. 'Is it so, indeed?' he questioned. 'Will they not know me for a king if I have not a king's raiment [habillement]?'

     'They will not know thee, my lord,' cried the Chamberlain.

     'I had thought that there had been men who were kinglike,' he answered, 'but it may be as thou sayest [said]. And yet I will not wear this robe, nor will I be crowned with this crown, but even as I came to the palace so will I go forth from it.'

     And he bade [ to bid: faire une offre] them all leave him, save one page whom he kept as his companion, a lad [un jeune garçon] a year younger than himself. Him he kept for his service, and when he had bathed himself in clear water, he opened a great painted chest, and from it he took the leathern [ en cuir] tunic and rough sheepskin cloak [cape] that he had worn when he had watched on the hillside the shaggy [hirsute] goats of the goatherd [chevrier]. These he put on, and in his hand he took his rude shepherd's staff.

     And the little page opened his big blue eyes in wonder, and said smiling to him, 'My lord, I see thy robe and thy sceptre, but where is thy crown?'

     And the young King plucked [plumer] a spray of wild briar [ronces] that was climbing over the balcony, and bent it, and made a circlet of it, and set it on his own head.

     'This shall be my crown,' he answered.

     And thus attired he passed out of his chamber into the Great Hall, where the nobles were waiting for him.

     And the nobles made merry [joyeux], and some of them cried out to him, 'My lord, the people wait for their king, and thou showest [you show] them a beggar,' and others were wroth [furieux] and said, 'He brings shame upon our state, and is unworthy to be our master.' But he answered them not a word, but passed on, and went down the bright porphyry staircase, and out through the gates of bronze, and mounted upon his horse, and rode towards the cathedral, the little page running beside him.

     And the people laughed and said, 'It is the King's fool who is riding by,' and they mocked him.

     And he drew rein and said, 'Nay, but I am the King.' And he told them his three dreams.
    

                                                                                       (to be continued)