3 Darnley and Riccio

Mary Queen of Scots  Author:Tim Vicary

At first I wanted to marry the son of the King of Spain,Don Carlos. But he was a Catholic, of course, and my Scots lords did not like that. It was difficult for me, James. I wanted to please myself. I wanted to please my friends and family in France and to please my people, too. And then there was the Queen of England.

At first I wanted very much to be friends with Elizabeth. We wrote many letters, and talked about a meeting—a meet-ing between two sister Queens. Elizabeth wrote to me at this time.

Our two countries need to be friends. You need a husband,I need a friend. Why not marry my friend Robert Dudley,the Earl of Leicester?He is a tall,strong man. I think he could be a good husband for you.

I was very angry about this letter. There were a lot of sto-ries about Elizabeth and Robert Dudley. They were good friends—he often danced and sang and talked with her. Some-times,people said, he stayed in her room all night. Dudley had a wife, but one day she died very suddenly. It was an ac-cident—she fell down the stairs, they say. But then, perhaps she was unhappy, because of her husband and Elizabeth.

‘And she writes to me about a man like this!'I thought. ‘She wants him to marry me, because he is her friend—her lover,perhaps!She wants her lover to be King of Scotland!'

I found a better man than Dudley, James. I found Henry Darnley, your father.

He was nineteen years old, and I was twenty-three. He was a tall man, with a beautiful face and big green eyes. He talked and sang well, and I liked dancing with him. He often wore expensive black clothes, and he laughed a lot when he was with me. He was very young and friendly, and I felt happy when I was with him. I liked him very much, and I thought he loved me too.

He was an important man, too. We were cousins—his grandfather was King of Scots, and his great-grandfather was Henry VII of England.

In July 1565, I married him. Elizabeth was very angry, and so were a lot of the Scots lords. My half-brother, the Earl of Moray, tried to stop the marriage. I had to fight him, and he ran south, to England. But I was happy. Your father and I laughed, every day. He was now Henry, King of Scots.

After one or two weeks, the laughter stopped. A King has a lot of work, James, you know that. He has to read hundreds of letters, talk to people, and think about a lot of important things. I did those things,every day. But now,I thought,I had a man to help me.

‘My lord Henry,'I said. ‘Would you like to read all the letters with me? You can sit next to me, and you can work with me every day. '

Your father looked unhappy. ‘I'm not interested in work like that,'he said. ‘I don't understand it. '

‘Of course not,'I said. ‘You're a young man, my love. But I can teach you. '

For one or two days he sat down with me, and I tried to teach him. But it was true, he was not interested in the work,and he did not try to understand it.

‘You do it, Mary,'he said. ‘I'm going out with my friends. We're going to ride, and drink, and swim. '

So I did all the work. At night, too, he often went out with his friends in the town. They drank a lot, and laughed and sang, and there were often fights. But no one said anything,because he was the King, my husband. What could people say? They were unhappy, but they were afraid of him. Some of them went to England, to the Earl of Moray.

At this time I was often very tired, because I was pregnant. You, my son James, were alive inside me. But I did all the work of a Queen and I needed friends too. One of these friends was a young Italian, David Riccio.

Riccio was a little man and he was not tall or beautiful or strong. But he was a very clever, interesting man. He wrote many of my letters for me, and helped me. He sang well, too,and I sometimes sang with him in the evenings. I liked him very much,and at first,your father liked him too.

But then, Moray's friends began to talk about me and Ric-cio. ‘David Riccio is in the Queen's rooms every night,'they said to your father. ‘She laughs and sings and dances with him, my lord—it is not right! He is not a Scotsman, and he is not her husband. He is always with her. '

Perhaps they said other things,too—I don't know. A lot of Scots lords listened to them. But I tell you, James, before God, I did nothing wrong. David Riccio was a good man. He worked hard, and he helped me—so of course I liked him. Your father did not work—he went out to the town every night with his friends,and drank.

And then one night, your father came home.


译文

3 达恩利和里奇奥

开始的时候,我想嫁给西班牙国王的儿子,唐·卡洛斯。可他是个天主教徒。当然,我的这些苏格兰贵族们不喜欢那样。这对我太难了,詹姆斯。我想让自己愉快,又想让我在法国的朋友和家人高兴,也想让我的人民满意。此外,还有英格兰女王。

起初,我极想和伊丽莎白交朋友。我们通了很多信,并讨论有关会面的事宜——两位姐妹女王之间的会面。这时,伊丽莎白给我写信道:

我们两个国家需要成为朋友。你需要一个丈夫,我需要一个朋友。为什么不嫁给我的朋友莱斯特伯爵罗伯特·达德利呢?他高大健壮,我想他会成为你的好丈夫的。

对这封信我很恼火。关于伊丽莎白和罗伯特·达德利之间有许多传闻。他们是好朋友——他经常和她唱歌、跳舞、聊天。人们说他有时还一整夜呆在她的房间里。达德利有妻子,但有一天却突然死了。他们说那是一次意外事故——她从楼上摔了下来。不过,也许她很不快乐,由于他丈夫和伊丽莎白的关系。

“她写信给我介绍这样一个男人!”我想。“她想让他娶我,是因为他是她的朋友——她的情人。或许,她想让她的情人成为苏格兰的国王!”

詹姆斯,我找到了一个比达德利好的男人,他就是你的父亲亨利·达恩利。

他19岁,我23岁。他很高大,有一张英俊的脸庞和一双绿色的大眼睛。他说话很动听,歌也唱得好。我很喜欢和他一起跳舞。他经常穿一身高贵的黑色衣服,而且和我在一起时他常常面带微笑。他是那样的年轻和友善,和他在一起我感到很幸福。我非常喜欢他,我想他也爱我。

他还是个很重要的人物。我们是堂姐弟——他的祖父曾是苏格兰国王,他的曾祖父是英格兰的亨利二世。

1565年7月,我嫁给了他。伊丽莎白非常恼怒,许多英格兰贵族也是。我的同父异母兄弟,马里伯爵,试图想阻止这场婚姻。我不得不和他作战,他逃到了南方,去了英格兰。我很快乐。你的父亲和我每天欢声笑语。他现在是苏格兰亨利亲王了。

过了两三个星期,笑声不复存在。一个国王有许多工作要做,詹姆斯,你是知道的。他不得不阅读成千上万封书信;和民众交谈;仔细考虑许多重要的事务。我每天做这些事情,不过现在,我想我有个男人来帮我了。

“亨利,我的丈夫,”我说。“你想和我一起阅读这些书信吗?你可以陪在我身边,每天和我一起工作。”

你父亲看起来不太高兴。“我对那样的工作不感兴趣,”他说。“我不懂那些。”

“当然不懂啦,”我说。“你还年轻,我亲爱的。不过我可以教你。”

他和我一起坐了一两天,我试着去教他。但没错,他确实对这项工作不感兴趣,也不打算去领会。

“你做吧,玛丽,”他说。“我要和朋友们出去,我们要去骑马、喝酒、游泳。”

因此我又承担起所有的工作。晚上,他也经常和镇上的朋友一起出去。他们喝很多酒,又笑又唱,还经常打架。但没有人说什么,因为他是亲王,我的丈夫。人们能说什么呢?他们很不高兴,但他们怕他。他们有些人去了英格兰,到马里伯爵那里去了。

那段时间我经常感到疲惫不堪。因为我怀孕了。你,我的儿子詹姆斯,在我的体内生存着。可我仍在做一个女王应做的一切工作,因此我也需要朋友。朋友中有一位是个年轻的意大利人,叫达维·里奇奥。

里奇奥是个小男人,他不高,不好看也不强壮。但他是个非常聪明、有趣的男人。他替我写了许多信,给我帮助。他歌也唱得好,在晚上,有时我们一起唱歌。我很喜欢他,起初,你的父亲也喜欢他。

不过没多久,马里的朋友们开始谈论我和里奇奥。“达维·里奇奥整夜呆在女王的房间里。”他们对你的父亲说。“她和他唱歌、跳舞,笑声不断,我的亲王——这是不对的!他不是苏格兰人,也不是她的丈夫。可他总是和她在一起。”

也许他们还说了些别的事情。——我不知道。很多苏格兰贵族都听到了。不过我告诉你,詹姆斯,在上帝的面前,我没做任何错事。达维·里奇奥是个好人,他工作努力,还帮助我——我当然喜欢他。你的父亲不工作——他每天晚上和他的朋友到镇上去喝酒。

此后的一天晚上,你的父亲回家来了。

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