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Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia-Part13_Samuel Johnson(1709-1784)_English Literature(文学名著)-第2页

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be imprisoned for ever.' 'Whoever or whencesoever you are,'



returned the Arab, 'your dress and that of your servants show your

rank to be high and your wealth to be great. Why should you, who



can so easily procure your ransom, think yourself in danger of

perpetual captivity? The purpose of my incursions is to increase



my riches, or, more property, to gather tribute. The sons of

Ishmael are the natural and hereditary lords of this part of the



continent, which is usurped by late invaders and low-born tyrants,

from whom we are compelled to take by the sword what is denied to



justice. The violence of war admits no distinction: the lance

that is lifted at guilt and power will sometimes fall on innocence



and gentleness.'

"'How little,' said I, 'did I expect that yesterday it should have



fallen upon me!'

"'Misfortunes,' answered the Arab, 'should always be expected. If



the eye of hostility could learn reverence or pity, excellence like

yours had been exempt from injury. But the angels of affliction



spread their toils alike for the virtuous and the wicked, for the

mighty and the mean. Do not be disconsolate; I am not one of the



lawless and cruel rovers of the desert; I know the rules of civil

life; I will fix your ransom, give a passport to your messenger,



and perform my stipulation with nice punctuality.'

"You will easily believe that I was pleased with his courtesy, and



finding that his predominant passion was desire for money, I began

now to think my danger less, for I knew that no sum would be



thought too great for the release of Pekuah. I told him that he

should have no reason to charge me with ingratitude if I was used



with kindness, and that any ransom which could be expected for a

maid of common rank would be paid, but that he must not persist to



rate me as a princess" target="_blank" title="n.公主；王妃；亲王夫人">princess. He said he would consider what he should

demand, and then, smiling, bowed and retired.



"Soon after the women came about me, each contending to be more

officious than the other, and my maids themselves were served with



reverence. We travelled onward by short journeys. On the fourth

day the chief told me that my ransom must be two hundred ounces of



gold, which I not only promised him, but told him that I would add

fifty more if I and my maids were honourably treated.



"I never knew the power of gold before. From that time I was the

leader of the troop. The march of every day was longer or shorter



as I commanded, and the tents were pitched where I chose to rest.

We now had camels and other conveniences for travel; my own women



were always at my side, and I amused myself with observing the

manners of the vagrant nations, and with viewing remains of ancient



edifices, with which these deserted countries appear to have been

in some distant age lavishly embellished.



"The chief of the band was a man far from illiterate: he was able

to travel by the stars or the compass, and had marked in his



erratic expeditions such places as are most worthy the notice of a

passenger. He observed to me that buildings are always best



preserved in places little frequented and difficult of access; for

when once a country declines from its primitive splendour, the more



inhabitants are left, the quicker ruin will be made. Walls supply

stones more easily than quarries; and palaces and temples will be



demolished to make stables of granite and cottages of porphyry.'"

CHAPTER XXXIX - THE ADVENTURES OF PEKUAH (CONTINUED).



"WE wandered about in this manner for some weeks, either, as our

chief pretended, for my gratification, or, as I rather suspected,



for some convenience of his own. I endeavoured to appear contented

where sullenness and resentment would have been of no use, and that



endeavour conduced much to the calmness of my mind; but my heart

was always with Nekayah, and the troubles of the night much



overbalanced the amusements of the day. My women, who threw all

their cares upon their mistress, set their minds at ease from the






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