搖籃里的女王

By+Stefan+Zweig

Mary Stuart was only six days old when she became Queen of Scotland， thus obeying in spite of herself what appears to have been the law of her life—to receive too soon and without conscious joy what Fate had to give her. On the same dreary December day in 1542 that Mary was born at Linlithgow（林利斯戈，蘇格蘭地名）Castle， her father， James VI， was breathing his last in the royal palace at Falkland， little more than twenty miles away. Although he had hardly reached the age of thirty-one， he was broken on the wheel of life（生命的車輪，這里指詹姆斯五世的壽命）， tired of his crown and wearied of perpetual（不斷的）warfare. He had proved a brave and chivalrous（有騎士風(fēng)度的）man， fundamentally cheerful by disposition（性情）， a passionate friend of the arts and of women， trusted by his people. Many a time would he put on a disguise in order to participate unrecognized at village merry-makings， dancing and joking with the peasant folk. But this unlucky scion（貴族的子孫）of an unlucky house had been born into a wild epoch（時(shí)代）and within the borders of an intractable（棘手的）land. From the outset he seemed foredoomed to a tragical destiny.

A self-willed（任性的）and inconsiderate（不顧及別人的）neighbor， Henry VIII， tried to force the Scottish King to introduce the Reformation2 into the northern realm. But James V remained a faithful son of the old Church（這里指天主教）. The lords and nobles gleefully（幸災(zāi)樂禍地）took every opportunity to create trouble for their sovereign（君主）， stirring up contention（挑起沖突）and misunderstanding， and involving the studious（勤奮好學(xué)的）and pacific（溫和的）James in further turmoil（動(dòng)亂）and war. Four years earlier， when he was suing for Mary of Guises3 hand in marriage， he made clear in a letter to the lady how heavy a task it was to act as King to the rebellious and rapacious clans（貪婪的部族）.

To be a Stuart and at the same time to be Queen of Scotland was to be placed indeed under an evil star and to be exposed to a twofold doom（雙重厄運(yùn)）， for no Stuart had so far been happy on the Scottish throne， nor had any occupied it for long. James I and James III were murdered； James II and James IV perished（喪生）on the battlefield； while for two of their descendants， the unwitting（不知情的）infant Mary and her grandchild Charles I， an even crueler end was in prospect， for they both died on the scaffold（絞架，斷頭臺）. Not one of this Atrides-race4 ever reached the zenith（鼎盛期，巔峰）of lifes course， not one was born under a happy star. The Stuarts were always to be at war with enemies without， with enemies within the frontiers of their homeland， with themselves； they were surrounded by unrest（動(dòng)蕩不安的局面）， and unrest raged perpetually in their hearts. Just as they could find no peace for their own turbulent（動(dòng)蕩不安的）spirits， so they could not safeguard peace for their country. Those who should have proved the most loyal of their subjects were the least to be depended upon—lords and barons of the dark， strong land， the whole knighthood， inconstant（不忠誠的）and headstrong（固執(zhí)的）， wild and unbridled（放縱的）， rapacious and rejoicing in the fight， constantly betraying and betrayed…endprint

Poverty—such was the purulent ulcer（膿瘡）which sapped（使削弱）the strength from political life in this fair and hardy（堅(jiān)韌的）land. Because of the poverty and the voracity（貪婪）of its kings， its soldiers and its lords， this realm was ever the gruesome（可怕的）plaything of foreign powers. Those who fought against the King and in the cause of Protestantism（新教）were in the pay of（受雇于）London； those who championed（擁護(hù)，捍衛(wèi)）the Catholic side received their emoluments（報(bào)酬）from Paris， Madrid and Rome. Outsiders gladly put their hands into their pockets for the spilling of Scottish blood. A final decision had yet to be come to between England and France after perennial strife（多年的沖突）， and Scotland furnished（提供……的所需）France with a trump card（王牌）in her contest with the mighty rival across the Channel（指英格蘭）. Each time the English armies set foot in Normandy， France hastened to stab England in the back. Even in times of peace they were a perpetual menace（威脅）to the southern realm. It became， therefore， a recognized feature of French policy to strengthen Scotland from the military point of view. What could be more natural， in the circumstances， than that England should seek to consolidate her own position by sowing discord（播下不和的種子）and encouraging rebellion among the Scottish nobles？ Thus the unhappy country was the cockpit of centenarian wars（百年戰(zhàn)爭的戰(zhàn)場）， of which Marys fate was at length to mark the close. For it was Marys doom to be under the spell of this dicers game（擲骰游戲）of politics. Never was she allowed to develop her ego unhindered（不受阻礙的）. All her life long she would be the pawn（卒子）of policy； be queen or heiress， ally or foe（敵對者）， never simply child or girl or woman. The messenger bearing the twin tidings（同時(shí)帶來兩個(gè)消息）of James Vs death and the birth of his daughter as Queen of Scotland and the Isles had barely time to convey his news to the King of England when the latter determined to sue for her hand in favor of his little son Edward（指愛德華六世，亨利八世之子）. A bride worth the wooing（求婚）from every point of view， Henry VIII considered. So it was that this girls body with its yet unawakened soul became an object of haggling（討價(jià)還價(jià)）from the outset（從一開始）. But politics is impervious（無動(dòng)于衷的）to the feelings of mankind； what it is interested in are crowns， countries， heritages. The individual man or woman simply does not exist when politics is in the ascendant（占支配地位的）； such things are of no value as compared with tangible（可觸摸的）and practical values to be won in the world-game.endprint

In the present instance， however， Henry VIIIs desire to bring about a matrimonial union（聯(lián)姻）between the heiress to Scotlands throne and the heir to the throne of England was reasonable and humane. There was nothing to hinder unification except the jealous rivalries which existed between the two dynasties of the Tudors（都鐸家族）and of the Stuarts. But if a marriage between the children of the contending dynasts（君主）could be successfully arranged， then the differences might be amicably（友善地）smoothed out and the Stuarts and Tudors would achieve simultaneously kingship of England， Scotland and Ireland.

At the start the suggestion of this marriage seemed to strike the precise note（做得恰到好處）that was required to establish harmony. The Scottish lords， whose pockets were quickly and amply filled with moneys from England， gladly agreed to the proposal. But Henry VIII was astute（狡猾的）enough not to be satisfied with a mere piece of parchment（羊皮紙）. Should， let us say， the French King offer his son and heir as aspirant（有野心者）for Marys hand—they would snap their fingers（打響指，這里指不假思索地答應(yīng)）at the first proposal in order to reap what advantage they might from the second. He therefore demanded of the negotiators that Mary should immediately be sent to England. But if the Tudors were suspicious of the Stuarts， the latter wholeheartedly reciprocated the sentiment（報(bào)以同樣的情感）. The Queen Mother， in especial， opposed the treaty. A Guise（吉斯家族之女）and a strict Catholic， she had no wish to see her daughter brought up by heretics（異教徒）. Moreover， in the treaty itself she was not slow to detect a trap which might prove highly injurious to her childs welfare. In a clause that had been kept secret Henry VIII bribed（收買）the Scottish nobles to agree that if the little girl died before her majority（成年）the whole of her rights and ownership in the Scottish crown should pass to him. Mary of Guise， in her role of prudent（審慎的）and loving mother， rejected the proposal of sending her infant daughter to London. Thereupon the proxy（代理人）wooing was upon the verge of being converted into a war， for Henry VIII， overbearing（專橫的）as was his wont（習(xí)慣做法）， dispatched his troops across the border that they might seize the coveted（令人垂涎的）prize by force of arms. The army orders disclose the brutality of those days： “It is His Majesty（陛下）will that all be laid waste with fire and sword. Burn Edinburgh and raze（把……夷為平地）the city to the ground， as soon as you have seized whatever is worth taking. Plunder（掠奪，搶劫）Holyrood and as many towns and villages as you can； ravage（毀壞，掠奪）， burn and destroy Leith； exterminating（消滅）men， women and children without mercy， wherever resistance is shown.” At the decisive hour， however， mother and child were safely conducted to Stirling（斯特靈，蘇格蘭中部城市）and placed within the shelter of its fortified（加固的）castle. Henry VIII had to rest content with a treaty wherein Scotland was committed to send Mary to England on the day she reached the tenth year of her life—again she was treated as an object of chaffering（討價(jià)還價(jià)）and purchase.

1. 詹姆斯五世（1512—1542），蘇格蘭斯圖亞特王朝第七任君主，詹姆斯四世之子，1513年至1542年在位。

2. 1529年開始的一場基督教自上而下的宗教改革運(yùn)動(dòng)。1534年英王亨利八世通過了著名的“至尊法案”，斷絕英國教會(huì)在行政和經(jīng)濟(jì)上與羅馬教廷的關(guān)系，規(guī)定國王為英國最高首腦，擁有任免教職、召開教會(huì)、審查教規(guī)的權(quán)力，保留天主教的教階制度、教義和儀式，沒收修道院財(cái)產(chǎn)歸王室所有。