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“Yes; but it is a slight thing, and your worship knoweth that the poor man-at-arms —”
“Peace! It was a shameful thing and a cruel!” cried the little prince, stamping his bare foot. “If the King – Stir not a step till I come again! It is a command!”
In a moment he had snatched up and put away an article of national importance that lay upon a table, and was out at the door and flying through the palace grounds in his ba
“Open! Unbar the gates!”
The soldier that had maltreated Tom obeyed promptly; and as the prince burst through the portal, half-smothered with royal wrath, the soldier fetched him a sounding box on the ear that sent him whirling to the roadway, and said —
“Take that, thou beggar’s spawn, for what thou got’st me from his Highness[21]!”
The crowd roared with laughter. The prince picked himself out of the mud, and made fiercely at the sentry, shouting —
“I am the Prince of Wales, my person is sacred; and thou shalt hang for laying thy hand upon me!”
The soldier brought his halberd to a present-arms and said mockingly —
“I salute your gracious Highness.” Then angrily – “Be off, thou crazy rubbish!”
Here the jeering crowd closed round the poor little prince, and hustled him far down the road, hooting him, and shouting —
“Way for his Royal Highness! Way for the Prince of Wales!”
Chapter IV
The Prince’s Troubles Begin
After hours of persistent pursuit and persecution, the little prince was at last deserted by the rabble and left to himself. As long as he had been able to rage against the mob, and threaten it royally, and royally utter commands that were good stuff to laugh at, he was very entertaining; but when weariness finally forced him to be silent, he was no longer of use to his tormentors, and they sought amusement elsewhere. He looked about him, now, but could not recognise the locality. He was within the city of London – that was all he knew. He moved on, aimlessly, and in a little while the houses thi
He was soon in the midst of a crowd of boys who were ru
The boys stopped their play and flocked about the prince, who said with native dignity —
“Good lads, say to your master that Edward Prince of Wales desireth speech with him.”
A great shout went up at this, and one rude fellow said —
“Marry, art thou his grace’s messenger, beggar?”
The prince’s face flushed with anger, and his ready hand flew to his hip, but there was nothing there. There was a storm of laughter, and one boy said —
“Didst mark that? He fancied he had a sword – belike he is the prince himself.”
This sally brought more laughter. Poor Edward drew himself up proudly and said —
“I am the prince; and it ill beseemeth you that feed upon the king my father’s bounty to use me so.”
This was vastly enjoyed, as the laughter testified. The youth who had first spoken, shouted to his comrades —
“Ho, swine, slaves, pensioners of his grace’s princely father, where be your ma
With boisterous mirth they dropped upon their knees in a body and did mock homage to their prey. The prince spurned the nearest boy with his foot, and said fiercely —
“Take thou that, till the morrow come and I build thee a gibbet[25]!”
Ah, but this was not a joke – this was going beyond fun. The laughter ceased on the instant, and fury took its place. A dozen shouted —
“Hale him forth! To the horse-pond, to the horse-pond! Where be the dogs? Ho, there, Lion! ho, Fangs!”
Then followed such a thing as England had never seen before – the sacred person of the heir to the throne rudely buffeted by plebeian hands, and set upon and torn by dogs.
As night drew to a close that day, the prince found himself far down in the close-built portion of the city. His body was bruised, his hands were bleeding, and his rags were all besmirched with mud. He wandered on and on, and grew more and more bewildered, and so tired and faint he could hardly drag one foot after the other. He had ceased to ask questions of anyone, since they brought him only insult instead of information. He kept muttering to himself, “Offal Court – that is the name; if I can but find it before my strength is wholly spent and I drop, then am I saved – for his people will take me to the palace and prove that I am none of theirs[26], but the true prince, and I shall have mine own again.” And now and then his mind reverted to his treatment by those rude Christ’s Hospital boys, and he said, “When I am king, they shall not have bread and shelter only, but also teachings out of books; for a full belly is little worth where the mind is starved, and the heart. I will keep this diligently in my remembrance, that this day’s lesson be not lost upon me, and my people suffer thereby; for learning softeneth the heart and breedeth gentleness and charity.” {1}
The lights began to twinkle, it came on to rain, the wind rose, and a raw and gusty night set in. The houseless prince, the homeless heir to the throne of England, still moved on, drifting deeper into the maze of squalid alleys where the swarming hives of poverty and misery were massed together.
Suddenly a great drunken rufian collared him and said —
“Out to this time of night again, and hast not brought a farthing home, I warrant me! If it be so, an’ I do not break all the bones in thy lean body, then am I not John Canty, but some other.”
The prince twisted himself loose, unconsciously brushed his profaned shoulder, and eagerly said —
“Oh, art his father, truly? Sweet heaven grant it be so[27] – then wilt thou fetch him away and restore me!”
21
for what thou got’st me from his Highness – (уст.) за то, что мне из-за тебя попало от его высочества
22
took heart at once – (уст.) сразу воспрял духом
23
см. примечания автора в конце книги
24
a clerical band at the neck – (разг.) воротничок как у лиц духовного звания
25
I build thee a gibbet – (уст.) я вздерну тебя на висилице
26
I am none of theirs – (уст.) я им чужой
27
Sweet heaven grant it be so – (уст.) Слава благим небесам