Waltey
Okostnjak v oklepu
147 The Skeleton in Armor
Myths and Legends of Our Own Land · Charles M. SkinnerO besedilu
Okostnjak v oklepu
- Vir
- Myths and Legends of Our Own Land
- Avtor
- Charles M. Skinner
- Jezik branja
- Slovenščina
- Jezik izvirnika
- English
- Čas branja
- 3 min branja
- Obseg
- 2 strani
- Naslov izvirnika
- 147 The Skeleton in Armor
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
Okostnjak v oklepu
Leta 1834 so v Fall Riverju v Massachusettsu izkopali okostje moškega z medeninastim prsnim oklepom in pasom iz cevk iste kovine; ob njem je ležalo nekaj bakrenih puščičnih osti. Truplo je bilo umetno balzamirano ali pa so ga ohranile soli v zemlji. Njegovo orožje in oklep kažeta na feničanski izvor, vendar naj bi okostje pripadalo Dancu ali Norvežanu, ki je zadnjo zimo svojega življenja preživel v Newportu. Morda je pomagal vklesati znamenja v skalo pri West Newburyju ali v bolj znano dightonsko skalo ob reki Taunton, prekrito z napisi, ki jih plimovanje in zmrzal naglo brišeta. Razlagali so jih kot zapis o nordijskem raziskovanju in odkritjih, čeprav nekateri vztrajajo, da je te podobe vanjo vklesal neizogibni kapitan Kidd, da bi z njimi označil zakopani zaklad. Indijanci poznajo legendo o prihodu belih mož v »ptici«, nedvomno ladji, iz katere sta prihajala grom in blisk. Ko so obiskovalci stopili na kopno, se je vnel boj, belci pa so zgodbo o njem zapisali na skalo. Nekateri učenjaki osemnajstega stoletja so trdili, da je na skali zapis o prihodu feničanskih pomorščakov, ki jih je veter zanesel čez Atlantik in se niso mogli ali hoteli vrniti. Med vklesanimi podobami naj bi bila tudi upodobitev Herkulovih stebrov, kar naj bi kazalo, da so brodolomci poznali Sredozemlje. O dightonski skali pa je zanesljivo znano le to, da je ob prihodu angleških naseljencev v te kraje stala na istem mestu in bila videti prav takšna kot danes. Indijanci so pripovedovali, da so bile v njeni bližini še druge skale s podobnimi znamenji, dokler jih nista izbrisala plimovanje in plavajoči led.
Longfellow prikliče prikazen davno pokopanega izgnanca v oklepu in ji da povedati svojo zgodbo: bil je Viking, ki je ljubil hčer kralja Hildebranda, in ker kralj ni privolil v njuno zvezo, je z dekletom pobegnil, kralj in sedemdeset jezdecev pa so se pognali za njima. Viking je prvi dosegel svojo ladjo, razpel jadra in nadaljeval beg po morju, toda zasledovalci so ga kmalu dohiteli. Ker mu ni preostalo drugega, kakor da se bojuje ali pusti ujeti, je obrnil ladjo z vetrom in z njenim kljunom treščil v bok Hildebrandove galeje ter ji zdrobil leseno oplato. Ladja se je nagnila in potonila, z njo pa vsi do zadnjega na krovu, medtem ko je Vikingova ladja nadaljevala svojo pot in po treh tednih plovbe pristala v zalivu Narragansett. Okrogli stolp v Newportu je ta vihravi zaljubljenec zgradil kot zavetje za svojo izvoljenko in jo tam varoval pred nevarnostmi, ki prežijo na prve prišleke v divjih deželah. Ko je princesa umrla, so jo pokopali v stolpu, osamljeni Viking pa si je nadel oklep, se kakor Brut vrgel na svoje kopje in izdihnil.
Izvirnik
147 The Skeleton in Armor
Naslednje strani prikazujejo izvirno besedilo za primerjavo.
The skeleton of a man wearing a breastplate of brass, a belt made of tubes of the same metal, and lying near some copper arrow-heads, was exhumed at Fall River, Massachusetts, in 1834. The body had been artificially embalmed or else preserved by salts in the soil. His arms and armor suggest Phoenician origin, but the skeleton is thought to be that of a Dane or Norwegian who spent the last winter of his life at Newport. He may have helped to carve the rock at West Newbury, or the better-known Dighton rock at Taunton River that is covered with inscriptions which the tides and frosts are fast effacing, and which have been construed into a record of Norse exploration and discovery, though some will have it that the inevitable Captain Kidd cut the figures there to tell of buried treasure. The Indians have a legend of the arrival of white men in a “bird,” undoubtedly a ship, from which issued thunder and lightning. A battle ensued when the visitors landed, and the white men wrote the story of it on the rock. Certain scholars of the eighteenth century declared that the rock bore an account of the arrival of Phoenician sailors, blown across the Atlantic and unable or unwilling to return. A representation of the pillars of Hercules was thought to be included among the sculptures, showing that the castaways were familiar with the Mediterranean. Only this is known about Dighton Rock, however: that it stood where it does, and as it does, when the English settled in this neighborhood. The Indians said there were other rocks near it which bore similar markings until effaced by tides and drifting ice.
Longfellow makes the wraith of the long-buried exile of the armor appear and tell his story: He was a viking who loved the daughter of King Hildebrand, and as royal consent to their union was withheld he made off with the girl, hotly followed by the king and seventy horsemen. The viking reached his vessel first, and hoisting sail continued his flight over the sea, but the chase was soon upon him, and, having no alternative but to fight or be taken, he swung around before the wind and rammed the side of Hildebrand's galley, crushing in its timbers. The vessel tipped and sank, and every soul on board went with her, while the viking's boat kept on her course, and after a voyage of three weeks put in at Narragansett Bay. The round tower at Newport this impetuous lover built as a bower for his lady, and there he guarded her from the dangers that beset those who are first in savage countries. When the princess died she was buried in the tower, and the lonely viking, arraying himself in his armor, fell on his spear, like Brutus, and expired.
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