Part 158

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

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

“Front-de-Bœuf?” exclaimed Ivanhoe.

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

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

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

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

+mit schwacher Stimme.+

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

+Doch.+

+gepriesen.+

to be on foot, +auf den Beinen sein+.

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

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.

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

= wood-cutter.

+Leute.+

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

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

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

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

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

+Ja—ja!+

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

to plant ladders, +Leitern an die Mauer stellen+.

= of the others.

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

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