17.5 Richard 在世 ê 時, 得人疼

17.5 Richard chāi-sè ê sî, tit-lâng thiàⁿ

Grant oa̍t-thâu khòaⁿ hit-tiuⁿ pôe-phōaⁿ i tō͘-kòe chēx ji̍t kiam mê ê siàu-siōng.

"Lí chai bô," i kóng, "m̄-koán i án-chóaⁿ sêng-kong, koh chiâⁿ-chò Âng-saⁿ Chú-kàu, tān góa jīn-ûi, tī kap Richard III ê chiàn-tàu, Morton sǹg sī loser /lu.ser/. Richard sui-bóng chiàn-pāi koh tn̂g-kî siū húi-pòng, Richard sī chit nn̄g-lâng tiong-kan khah iu-siù hit-ê. I chāi-sè ê sî, tit-lâng thiàⁿ."

"He sī bē-bái ê bōng-pâi-bûn neh," siàu-liân-ke giâm-siok kóng.

"Bô m̄-tio̍h. Khak-si̍t sī bē-bái ê bōng-pâi-bûn," Grant kóng, ná kā Oliphant ê chheh ha̍p khí-lâi. "Bô siáⁿ-lâng ē tit-tio̍h koh-khah hó ê ah lah." I kā chheh hêng hō͘ chú-lâng. "Chin chió lâng ē-tàng tit-tio̍h chiah koân ê phêng-kè," i koh kóng.

Tán Carradine lī-khui liáu, Grant khai-sí chéng-lí toh-téng ê mi̍h-kiāⁿ, chún-pī bîn-á-chài thang tńg-chhù. Hiah-ê i bô tha̍k ê sió-soat, ē-sái sàng hō͘ pēⁿ-īⁿ ê tô͘-su-koán, hō͘ pa̍t-lâng khì hiáng-siū. Tān i boeh pó-chûn hit-pún ū chēx soaⁿ-me̍h tô͘-phìⁿ ê chheh. Lēng-gōa, i tio̍h ē-kì-tit hêng Amazon yi hit nn̄g-pún le̍k-sú chheh. I kā chheh kéng chhut-lâi, àn-sǹg tán yi sàng àm-tǹg lâi ê sî hêng hō͘ yi. Jiân-āu i koh chi̍t-pái tha̍k he khò-pún siá ê Richard ê siâ-ok kò͘-sū; chū-chiông khai-sí chhōe Richard ê chin-siòng í-lâi, che sī i chho͘-chhù koh-chài kā tha̍k. He siâ-ok kò͘-sū chheng-chhó siá tī hia, pe̍h-chóa o͘-jī, bô jīm-hô hoān-sè, bô jīm-hô bān-it. Bô jīm-hô pó-liû, mā bô jīm-hô chit-gî.

Tng i boeh ha̍p nn̄g-pún khò-pún lāi-té khah koân nî-kip hit-pún ê sî, i ê ba̍k-chiu gán-tio̍h Henry VII thóng-tī ê khí-thâu, i tha̍k-tio̍h che: "Tudor ông-tiâu kì-tēng koh su-niû ê chèng-chhek sī: siau-tî só͘-ū ê ông-ūi kēng-cheng-chiá, iû-kî sī tī Henry VII chē-ūi āu iáu oa̍h-tio̍h ê York ka-cho̍k kè-sêng-jîn. Chit-tiám in chin sêng-kong, sui-bóng chòe-āu chi̍t-ê kè-sêng-jîn sī lâu hō͘ Henry VIII khì kái-koat."

I kimx khòaⁿ chit-tōaⁿ kng-liux ê kóng-hoat. Án-ne tiāmx chiap-siū tōa kui-bô͘ ê bô͘-sat. Án-ne kán-tan jīn-tông tùi kui-ê ka-cho̍k ê siau-bia̍t.

Richard III hông kui-chōe tī sat-hāi nn̄g-ê ti̍t-á, i ê miâ piàn-chò siâ-ok ê tāi-bêng-sû. Tān, Henry VII, i ‘kì-tēng kap su-niû ê chèng-chhek’ sī siau-tî kui-ê ka-cho̍k, soah hông khòaⁿ-chò cheng-bêng, ū oán-kiàn ê kun-ông. Hoān-sè bô kài tit-lâng thiàⁿ, m̄-koh ū kiàn-siat-sèng koh khó͘-sim keng-êng, jî-chhiáⁿ hui-siông sêng-kong. 

Grant hòng-khì ah. Le̍k-sú sī chi̍t-chióng i éng-oán bô hoat-tō͘ lí-kái ê mi̍h-kiāⁿ.

Le̍k-sú ha̍k-ka ê kè-ta̍t-koan kap i se̍k-sāi ê jīm-hô kè-ta̍t-koan chha siuⁿ chē, i éng-oán m̄-káⁿ ǹg-bāng tī jīm-hô kiōng-tông tiám sio-tú. I boeh tńg-khì Yard, tī hia hiong-chhiú tō sī hiong-chhiú, m̄-koán O͘-niau a̍h Pe̍h-káu lóng sī kāng-khoán tùi-thāi.

I kā nn̄g-pún chheh chêx tha̍h chò-hóe. Tán Amazon phâng mûi-á tīm ká-bah ji̍p-lâi ê sî, i kā chheh hêng yi, koh kóng chi̍t-kóa soeh-siā ê ōe. I khak-si̍t chin kám-siā Amazon. Nā m̄-sī yi pó-liû che khò-pún, i hoān-sè bē khai-sí chit-tiâu chhōa i jīn-bat Richard Plantagenet ê lō͘.

Yi ká-ná tùi i ê chhin-chhiat kám-kak bū sàx, i hoâi-gî ka-tī phòa-pēⁿ ê sî sī m̄-sī kài pháiⁿ-chhī, hō͘ yi kiò-sī i kan-ta ē hiâm tang hiâm sai, tùi i bô kî-thāi. Siūⁿ-tio̍h che, i kám-kak kiàn-siàu.

"Goán ē su-liām lí neh, lí chai lah," yi kóng, yi ê tōa ba̍k-chiu ká-ná tit-boeh tih ba̍k-sái ah. "Goán lóng koàn-sì lí tī chia. Goán mā koàn-sì he ah. Yi kō͘ chhiú-khiau pí hiòng hit-tiuⁿ siàu-siōng.

Grant sim-lāi hut-jiân giâ-khí chi̍t-ê siūⁿ-hoat.

"Lí ē-tàng tàu-saⁿ-kāng chi̍t-ē bô?"

"Tong-jiân. Chí-iàu góa chò ē-kàu."

"Lí ē-sái kā hit-tiuⁿ siòng-phìⁿ the̍h khì thang-á piⁿ, tī kng-sòaⁿ hó ê só͘-chāi khòaⁿ, khòaⁿ tāi-khài chat chi̍t-kái me̍h ê sî-kan hiah kú."

"Hó, lí nā ài góa án-ne chò, tong-jiân ē-sái. M̄-koh, ūi siáⁿ-mi̍h?"

"Mài koán ūi siáⁿ-mi̍h. Tō kā tòng-chò boeh hō͘ góa hoaⁿ-hí. Góa ē thè lí chat sî-kan."

Yi the̍h-khí siàu-siōng, kiâⁿ-kàu thang-á piⁿ khah kng ê ūi.

I khòaⁿ chhiú-pió ê bió-chiam."

I hō͘ yi 45 bió, jiân-āu kóng: "Án-chóaⁿ?" In-ūi bô tit-tio̍h chek-khek ê hôe-tap, i koh mn̄g chi̍t-pái: "Án-chóaⁿ?"

"Chiâⁿ hó-sńg," yi kóng. "Chim-chiok kā khòaⁿ chi̍t-khùn liáu-āu, chit-ê bīn khak-si̍t seⁿ-chò bē-bái neh, kám m̄-sī?"

(Soah)

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17.5 Richard 在世 ê 時, 得人疼

Grant 越頭看 彼張 陪伴伊 度過 chēx 日兼暝 ê 肖像. 

"你知 無," 伊講, "毋管 伊按怎 成功, koh 成做 紅衫主教, 但 我認為, tī kap Richard III ê 戰鬥, Morton 算是 loser /lu.ser/. Richard 雖罔 戰敗 koh 長期 受誹謗, Richard 是 chit 兩人中間 較優秀 彼个. 伊在世 ê 時, 得人疼." 

"彼是 袂䆀 ê 墓牌文 neh," 少年家 嚴肅講. 

"無毋著. 確實是 袂䆀 ê 墓牌文," Grant 講, ná kā Oliphant ê 冊 合起來. "無啥人 會 得著 koh-khah 好 ê ah lah." 伊 kā 冊 還 hō͘ 主人. "真少人 會當 得著 chiah 懸 ê 評價," 伊 koh 講. 

等 Carradine 離開了, Grant 開始 整理 桌頂 ê 物件, 準備 明仔載 thang 轉厝. Hiah-ê 伊無讀 ê 小說, 會使 送 hō͘ 病院 ê 圖書館, hō͘ 別人 去享受. 但 伊欲 保存 彼本 有 chēx 山脈圖片 ê 冊. 另外, 伊著 會記得 還 Amazon 她 hit 兩本 歷史冊. 伊 kā 冊 揀出來, 按算 等她 送暗頓來 ê 時 還 hō͘ 她. 然後 伊 koh 一擺 讀 he 課本寫 ê Richard ê 邪惡故事; 自從 開始揣 Richard ê 真相 以來, 這是 伊初次 閣再 kā 讀. He 邪惡故事 清楚 寫 tī hia, 白紙烏字, 無任何 凡勢, 無任何 萬一. 無任何 保留, mā 無任何 質疑. 

Tng 伊欲 ha̍p 兩本 課本 內底 較懸 年級 彼本 ê 時, 伊 ê 目睭 眼著 Henry VII 統治 ê 起頭, 伊讀著 che: "Tudor 王朝 既定 koh 思量 ê 政策 是: 消除 所有 ê 王位 競爭者, 尤其是 tī Henry VII 坐位後 猶活著 ê York 家族 繼承人. 這點 in 真成功, 雖罔 最後一个 繼承人 是 留 hō͘ Henry VIII 去解決." 

伊 kimx 看 這段 kng-liux ê 講法. Án-ne tiāmx 接受 大規模 ê 謀殺. Án-ne 簡單認同 對 規个家族 ê 消滅. 

Richard III hông 歸罪 tī 殺害 兩个侄仔, 伊 ê 名 變做 邪惡 ê 代名詞. 但, Henry VII, 伊 ‘既定 kap 思量 ê 政策’ 是消除 規个家族, 煞 hông 看做 精明, 有遠見 ê 君王. 凡勢 無 kài 得人疼, 毋過 有建設性 koh 苦心經營, 而且 非常成功. 

Grant 放棄 ah. 歷史是 一種 伊永遠 無法度 理解 ê 物件. 

歷史學家 ê 價值觀 kap 伊熟似 ê 任何 價值觀 差 siuⁿ 濟, 伊 永遠 毋敢 ǹg 望 tī 任何 共同點 相拄. 伊欲轉去 Yard, tī hia 兇手 tō 是 兇手, 毋管 烏貓 a̍h 白狗 lóng 是 仝款 對待. 

伊 kā 兩本冊 chêx 疊做伙. 等 Amazon 捀 梅仔燖絞肉 入來 ê 時, 伊 kā 冊 還她, koh 講一寡 說謝 ê 話. 伊確實 真感謝 Amazon. 若毋是 她保留 che 課本, 伊凡勢 袂開始 這條 𤆬伊 認捌 Richard Plantagenet ê 路. 

她 ká-ná 對 伊 ê 親切 感覺 霧 sàx, 伊懷疑 ka-tī 破病 ê 時 是毋是 kài 歹飼, hō͘ 她 叫是 伊干焦會 嫌東嫌西, 對伊 無期待. 想著 che, 伊感覺見笑. 

"阮會 思念你 neh, 你知 lah," 她講, 她 ê 大目睭 ká-ná 得欲 滴目屎 ah. "阮 lóng 慣勢 你 tī chia. 阮 mā 慣勢 he ah. 她 kō͘ 手曲 比向 彼張肖像. 

Grant 心內 忽然 夯起 一个想法. 

"你會當 鬥相共 一下 無?" 

"當然. 只要 我 做會到." 

"你會使 kā 彼張相片 提去 窗仔邊, tī 光線好 ê 所在 看, 看 大概 節一改脈 ê 時間 hiah 久." 

"好, 你若 ài 我 án-ne 做, 當然會使. 毋過, 為啥物?" 

"莫管 為啥物. Tō kā 當做 欲 hō͘ 我 歡喜. 我會 替你 節時間." 

她提起 肖像, 行到 窗仔邊 較光 ê 位. 

伊看 手錶 ê 秒針." 

伊 hō͘ 她 45 秒, 然後講: "按怎?" 因為 無得著 即刻 ê 回答, 伊 koh 問一擺: "按怎?" 

"誠好耍," 她講. "斟酌 kā 看一睏 了後, 這个面 確實 生做 袂䆀 neh, 敢毋是?" 

(Soah) 

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17.5

Grant turned to look at the portrait which had kept him company through so many days and nights.

‘You know,’ he said, ‘for all his success and his Cardinal’s hat I think Morton was the loser in that fight with Richard III. In spite of his defeat and his long traducing, Richard came off the better of these two. He was loved in his day.’

‘That’s no bad epitaph,’ the boy said soberly.

‘No. Not at all a bad epitaph,’ Grant said, shutting Oliphant for the last time. ‘Not many men would ask for a better.’ He handed over the book to its owner. ‘Few men have earned so much,’ he said.

When Carradine had gone Grant began to sort out the things on his table, preparatory to his homegoing on the morrow. The unread fashionable novels could go to the hospital library to gladden other hearts than his. But he would keep the book with the mountain pictures. And he must remember to give The Amazon back her two history books. He looked them out so that he could give them to her when she brought in his supper. And he read again, for the first time since he began his search for the truth about Richard, the schoolbook tale of his[Pg 221] villainy. There it was, in unequivocable black and white, the infamous story. Without a perhaps or a peradventure. Without a qualification or a question.

As he was about to shut the senior of the two educators his eye fell on the beginning of Henry VII’s reign, and he read: ‘It was the settled and considered policy of the Tudors to rid themselves of all rivals to the throne, more especially those heirs of York who remained alive on the succession of Henry VII. In this they were successful, although it was left to Henry VIII to get rid of the last of them.’

He stared at this bald announcement. This placid acceptance of wholesale murder. This simple acknowledgement of a process of family elimination.

Richard III had been credited with the elimination of two nephews, and his name was a synonym for evil. But Henry VII, whose ’settled and considered policy’ was to eliminate a whole family was regarded as a shrewd and far-seeing monarch. Not very lovable perhaps, but constructive and painstaking, and very successful withal.

Grant gave up. History was something that he would never understand.

The values of historians differed so radically from any values with which he was acquainted that he could never hope to meet them on any common ground. He would go back to the Yard, where murderers were murderers and what went for Cox went equally for Box.

He put the two books tidily together and when The Amazon came in with his mince and stewed prunes he handed them over with a neat little speech of gratitude. He really was very grateful to The Amazon. If she had[Pg 222] not kept her schoolbooks he might never have started on the road that led to his knowledge of Richard Plantagenet.

She looked confused by his kindness, and he wondered if he had been such a bear in his illness that she expected nothing but carping from him. It was a humiliating thought.

‘We’ll miss you, you know,’ she said, and her big eyes looked as if they might brim with tears. ‘We’ve grown used to having you here. We’ve even got used to that. And she moved an elbow in the direction of the portrait.

A thought stirred in him.

‘Will you do something for me?’ he asked.

‘Of course. Anything I can do.’

‘Will you take that photograph to the window and look at it in a good light as long as it takes to count a pulse?’

‘Yes, of course, if you want me to. But why?’

‘Never mind why. You just do it to please me. I’ll time you.’

She took up the portrait and moved into the light of the window.

He watched the second-hand of his watch.

He gave her forty-five seconds and then said: ‘Well?’ And as there was no immediate answer he said again: ‘Well?’

‘Funny,’ she said. ‘When you look at it for a little it’s really quite a nice face, isn’t it.’

THE END

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