評論
打印
A young knight therefore was asked to swear that he would be faithful as a servant to God and as a servant to his King. Furthermore, he promised to be generous to those whose need was greater than his own. He pledged his word that he would be humble in his personal behaviour and would never boast of his own accomplishments and that he would be a friend of all those who suffered, (with the exception of the Mohammedans, whom he was expected to kill on sight).
因此，一個年輕騎士起誓，他將永遠做上帝忠實的仆人，同時也將終其一生忠心耿耿侍奉他的國王。此外，他還允諾向那些比自己更窮苦的人們慷慨解囊。他發誓要行為謙卑，言辭適當，永不夸耀自己的功績。他將與所有的受苦大眾做朋友，但穆斯林除外。他們是他一見到就該殺掉的兇險敵人。
Around these vows, which were merely the Ten Commandments expressed in terms which the people of the Middle Ages could understand, there developed a complicated system of manners and outward behaviour. The knights tried to model their own lives after the example of those heroes of Arthur's Round Table and Charlemagne's court of whom the Troubadours had told them and of whom you may read in many delightful books which are enumerated at the end of this volume. They hoped that they might prove as brave as Lancelot and as faithful as Roland. They carried themselves with dignity and they spoke careful and gracious words that they might be known as True Knights, however humble the cut of their coat or the size of their purse.In this way the order of Knighthood became a school of those good manners which are the oil of the social machinery. Chivalry came to mean courtesy and the feudal castle showed the rest of the world what clothes to wear, how to eat, how to ask a lady for a dance and the thousand and one little things of every-day behaviour which help to make life interesting and agreeable.
究其實質，這些誓詞不過是把十誡的內容，以中世紀人民能夠理解的語言通俗化地表達出來。圍繞著它們，騎士們還發展出一套關于禮貌和行為舉止的復雜禮儀。中世紀的騎士努力以亞瑟王的圓桌武士和查理曼大帝的宮廷貴族為榜樣，正如普羅旺斯騎士的抒情詩或騎士英雄的史詩向他們述說的那樣。他們期望自己勇敢如朗斯洛特，忠誠如羅蘭伯爵。不管他們衣著多么簡樸甚至襤樓，不管他們是不是囊中羞澀，腹中空空，但他們總是態度尊嚴，言語優雅，行為有節，保持著騎士的聲譽。這樣，騎士團 成了一所培養優雅舉止的大學校，而禮貌儀態正好是保持社會機器正常運作的潤滑劑。騎士精神意味著謙虛有禮，向周圍世界展示著如何搭配衣著、如何優雅進餐、如何彬彬有禮地邀女士共舞以及其他成百上千日常生活的禮節。這些東西都有助于使生活變得更有趣，更宜人。
