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Oblegovalci Gloucestra
104 The Gloucester Leaguers
Myths and Legends of Our Own Land · Charles M. SkinnerO besedilu
Oblegovalci Gloucestra
- Vir
- Myths and Legends of Our Own Land
- Avtor
- Charles M. Skinner
- Jezik branja
- Slovenščina
- Jezik izvirnika
- English
- Čas branja
- 4 min branja
- Obseg
- 3 strani
- Naslov izvirnika
- 104 The Gloucester Leaguers
O izvirniku
Myths and Legends of Our Own Land
Obsežna zgodovinska zbirka ameriških legend, ki jih je Skinner zbral in avtorsko rekonstruiral. Bralni jezik je Slovenščina, izvirnik pa prihaja iz vira Myths and Legends of Our Own Land v jeziku English.
Besedilo
Oblegovalci Gloucestra
Iz Glouc estra so poročali o nenavadnih rečeh. Na predvečer vojne kralja Philipa je bilo po njegovih ulicah slišati korakanje mož, na mesečevi obli pa so videli indijanski lok in skalp; v Maldnu sta odmevala grmenje topov in bobnenje bobnov, v Plymouthu pa so okna rožljala ob mimohodu nevidnih jezdecev. Toda najbolj nenavaden je bil prihod francoske in indijanske vojske na Cape Ann: njenih pripadnikov nikakor ni bilo mogoče ujeti, ubiti ali pohabiti, čeprav so v Gloucester naglo poslali dva polka, ki sta se z njimi bojevala štirinajst dni. Tako se je razširila govorica, da to niso sovražniki iz mesa in krvi, temveč hudiči, ki hočejo kolonijo moralno spriditi. Od leta 1692, ko so se prikazali, pa vse do konca čarovniških pregonov v Salemu je bil Cape Ann pod vojaško in duhovno stražo pred »prikazenskimi oblegovalci«.
Po drugi različici dogodka, ki temelji na zapriseženih pričevanjih, je Ebenezer Babson, ko se je neke poletne noči pozno vračal domov, zagledal dva moža, ki sta stekla od njegovih vrat in izginila na polju. Domači so zanikali, da bi jih kdo obiskal, zato se je pognal za njima, saj je menil, da nameravata storiti kaj slabega. Ko je stopil s praga, sta skočila izza hloda in eden je drugemu dejal: »Zdaj je prišel gospodar hiše, sicer bi jo lahko zavzela,« nato pa sta spet izginila v močvirju. Babson je zbudil stražo in ko je vstopil v prostore posadke, je bilo zunaj slišati topot številnih nog; ko pa so sunkoma odprli vrata, sta bila vidna le tista dva moža, ki sta se umikala. Naslednji večer sta ta izmuzljiva osebka lovila kmeta. Imeli so ju za sovražnikova izvidnika, saj sta nosila bele hlače in telovnika ter bleščeče puške.
Prikazovali so se več noči zapored, četrtega julija pa so jih pol ducata videli tako razločno, da so vojaki planili iz utrdbe. Babson je z enim samim strelom spravil na tla tri od »teh skrivnostnih nadlegovalcev« in dobil enak odgovor, saj mu je krogla zažvižgala mimo ušesa ter se zarila v drevo. Ko se je četa približala kraju, kjer so ležale žrtve tistega izjemnega strela, so te, glej, vstale in jo lahkotno ucvrle, kakor da se jim ni nič zgodilo. Enega od trojice so stisnili v kot in ga znova ustrelili, toda ko so ga hoteli pobrati, se je razblinil v zrak. Po vsem močvirju je odmevalo divje blebetanje v neznanem jeziku in ko se je posadka vrnila, so se tisti osebki že spet potikali po grmovju. Richard Dolliver je pozneje naletel na enajst takih, ki so izgovarjali zarotitve, in jih razgnal s puškinim strelom, vendar jih ni bilo mogoče pokončati. Prežali so po rtu in med vsemi prebivalci zasejali grozo; ostali so »večji del meseca skupaj«, zato so sklenili, da je »Satan dobrim ljudem Glouc estra nastavil zasede z demoni v podobi oboroženih Indijancev in Francozov«.
Letelo je kamenje, po skednjih so tolkli s kijem, po mraku je bilo slišati korakanje nevidnih vojsk, posmehljivci pa so postali tako drzni, da so se približali strah vzbujajočemu Babsonu, prezirljivo zrli v cev njegove puške in orožje začarali, tako da se je, naj je še tolikokrat sprožil vanje, smodnik le pobliskal v ponvici. Na pomoč so poklicali sosednje posadke, vendar je bil ves boj s prikaznimi zaman. Neko noč je iz gozda prišla temna, sovražna množica in se pomaknila proti brunarici, kjer je stražilo dvajset mušketirjev. »Če ste duhovi ali hudiči, vam bom že prekrižal načrte!« je zavpil stotnik, odtrgal srebrn gumb s svojega suknjiča, ga potlačil v puško in ustrelil v vojsko, ki se je bližala. Kakor je veter raznesel dim njegove muškete, tako je izginila tudi oblegajoča vojska, srebrna krogla pa je dokazala, da niso človeškega rodu. Noč je že prešla v pozne ure, ko se je razlegel krik, da hudiči spet prihajajo. Tokrat so odložili orožje in stražarji so se spustili na kolena k molitvi. Brž ko so izrekli Božje ime, je korakanje utihnilo, nebo pa je zadonelo od tuljenja besnih peklenščkov. Nikoli več niso v Glouc estru videli oblegovalcev.
Izvirnik
104 The Gloucester Leaguers
Naslednje strani prikazujejo izvirno besedilo za primerjavo.
Strange things had been reported in Gloucester. On the eve of King Philip's War the march of men was heard in its streets and an Indian bow and scalp were seen on the face of the moon, while the boom of cannon and roll of drums were heard at Malden and the windows of Plymouth rattled to the passage of unseen horsemen. But the strangest thing was the arrival on Cape Ann of a force of French and Indians that never could be caught, killed, or crippled, though two regiments were hurried into Gloucester and battled with them for a fortnight. Thus, the rumor went around that these were not an enemy of flesh and blood, but devils who hoped to work a moral perversion of the colony. From 1692, when they appeared, until Salem witchcraft was at an end, Cape Ann was under military and spiritual guard against “the spectre leaguers.”
Another version of the episode, based on sworn evidence, has it that Ebenezer Babson, returning late on a summer night, saw two men run from his door and vanish in a field. His family denied that visitors had called, so he gave chase, for he believed the men to have a mischievous intention. As he left the threshold they sprang from behind a log, one saying to the other, “The master of the house is now come, else we might have taken the house,” and again they disappeared in a swamp. Babson woke the guard, and on entering the quarters of the garrison the sound of many feet was heard without, but when the doors were flung open only the two men were visible and they were retreating. Next evening the yeoman was chased by these elusive gentry, who were believed to be scouts of the enemy, for they wore white breeches and waistcoats and carried bright guns.
For several nights they appeared, and on the 4th of July half a dozen of them were seen so plainly that the soldiers made a sally, Babson bringing three of “ye unaccountable troublers” to the ground with a single shot, and getting a response in kind, for a bullet hissed by his ear and buried itself in a tree. When the company approached the place where lay the victims of that remarkable shot, behold, they arose and scampered away as blithely as if naught had happened to them. One of the trio was cornered and shot anew, but when they would pick him up he melted into air. There was fierce jabbering in an unknown tongue, through all the swamp, and by the time the garrison had returned the fellows were skulking in the shrubbery again. Richard Dolliver afterward came on eleven of them engaged in incantations and scattered them with a gunshot, but they would not down. They lurked about the cape until terror fell on all the people, remaining for “the best part of a month together,” so it was deemed that “Satan had set ambushments against the good people of Gloucester, with demons in the shape of armed Indians and Frenchmen.”
Stones were thrown, barns were beaten with clubs, the marching of unseen hosts was heard after dark, the mockers grew so bold that they ventured close to the redoubtable Babson, gazed scornfully down the barrel of his gun, and laid a charm on the weapon, so that, no matter how often he snapped it at them, it flashed in the pan. Neighboring garrisons were summoned, but all battling with goblins was fruitless. One night a dark and hostile throng emerged from the wood and moved toward the blockhouse, where twenty musketeers were keeping guard. “If you be ghosts or devils I will foil you,” cried the captain, and tearing a silver button from his doublet he rammed it into his gun and fired on the advancing host. Even as the smoke of his musket was blown on the wind, so did the beleaguering army vanish, the silver bullet proving that they were not of human kind. The night was wearing on when a cry went out that the devils were coming again. Arms were laid aside this time, and the watchers sank to their knees in prayer. Directly that the name of God was uttered the marching ceased and heaven rang with the howls of the angry fiends. Never again were leaguers seen in Gloucester.
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