“Lind is the name of the Hebrew race; so is Mendelssohn, the son of Almonds; so is Rosenthal, the Valley of the Roses: so is Lowe or Lewis or Lyons or Lion. The beautiful and the brave alike give cognizances to the ancient people: you Saxons call yourselves Brown, or Smith, or Rodgers,” Rafael observed to his friend; and, drawing the instrument from his pocket, he accompanied his sister, in the most ravishing manner, on a little gold and jewelled harp1, of the kind peculiar2 to his nation.
All the airs which the Hebrew maid selected were written by composers of her race; it was either a hymn3 by Rossini, a polacca by Braham, a delicious romance by Sloman, or a melody by Weber, that, thrilling on the strings4 of the instrument, wakened a harmony on the fibres of the heart; but she sang no other than the songs of her nation.
“Beautiful one! sing ever, sing always,” Codlingsby thought. “I could sit at thy feet as under a green palm-tree, and fancy that Paradise-birds were singing in the boughs5.”
Rafael read his thoughts. “We have Saxon blood too in our veins,” he said. “You smile! but it is even so. An ancestress of ours made a mesalliance in the reign6 of your King John. Her name was Rebecca, daughter of Isaac of York, and she married in Spain, whither she had fled to the Court of King Boabdil, Sir Wilfred of Ivanhoe; then a widower7 by the demise8 of his first lady, Rowena. The match was deemed a cruel insult amongst our people but Wilfred conformed, and was a Rabbi of some note at the synagogue of Cordova. We are descended9 from him lineally. It is the only blot10 upon the escutcheon of the Mendozas.”
As they sat talking together, the music finished, and Miriam having retired11 (though her song and her beauty were still present to the soul of the stranger) at a signal from Mendoza, various messengers from the outer apartments came in to transact12 business with him.
First it was Mr. Aminadab, who kissed his foot, and brought papers to sign. “How is the house in Grosvenor Square, Aminadab; and is your son tired of his yacht yet?” Mendoza asked. “That is my twenty-fourth cashier,” said Rafael to Codlingsby, when the obsequious13 clerk went away. “He is fond of display, and all my people may have what money they like.”
Entered presently the Lord Bareacres, on the affair of his mortgage. The Lord Bareacres, strutting14 into the apartment with a haughty15 air, shrank back, nevertheless, with surprise on beholding16 the magnificence around him. “Little Mordecai,” said Rafael to a little orange-boy, who came in at the heels of the noble, “take this gentleman out and let him have ten thousand pounds. I can’t do more for you, my lord, than this — I’m busy. Good-by!” And Rafael waved his hand to the peer, and fell to smoking his narghilly.
A man with a square face, cat-like eyes, and a yellow moustache, came next. He had an hour-glass of a waist, and walked uneasily upon his high-heeled boots. “Tell your master that he shall have two millions more, but not another shilling,” Rafael said. “That story about the five-and-twenty millions of ready money at Cronstadt is all bosh. They won’t believe it in Europe. You understand me, Count Grogomoffski?”
“But his Imperial Majesty17 said four millions, and I shall get the knout unless —”
“Go and speak to Mr. Shadrach, in room Z 94, the fourth court,” said Mendoza good-naturedly. “Leave me at peace, Count: don’t you see it is Friday, and almost sunset?” The Calmuck envoy18 retired cringing19, and left an odor of musk20 and candle-grease behind him.
An orange-man; an emissary from Lola Montes; a dealer21 in piping bullfinches; and a Cardinal22 in disguise, with a proposal for a new loan for the Pope, were heard by turns; and each, after a rapid colloquy23 in his own language, was dismissed by Rafael.
“The queen must come back from Aranjuez, or that king must be disposed of,” Rafael exclaimed, as a yellow-faced amabassador from Spain, General the Duke of Olla Podrida, left him. “Which shall it be, my Codlingsby?” Codlingsby was about laughingly to answer — for indeed he was amazed to find all the affairs of the world represented here, and Holywell Street the centre of Europe — when three knocks of a peculiar nature were heard, and Mendoza starting up, said, “Ha! there are only four men in the world who know that signal.” At once, and with a reverence24 quite distinct from his former nonchalant manner, he advanced towards the new-comer.
He was an old man — an old man evidently, too, of the Hebrew race — the light of his eyes was unfathomable — about his mouth there played an inscrutable smile. He had a cotton umbrella, and old trousers, and old boots, and an old wig25, curling at the top like a rotten old pear.
He sat down, as if tired, in the first seat at hand, as Rafael made him the lowest reverence.
“I am tired,” says he; “I have come in fifteen hours. I am ill at Neuilly,” he added with a grin. “Get me some eau sucree, and tell me the news, Prince de Mendoza. These bread rows; this unpopularity of Guizot; this odious26 Spanish conspiracy27 against my darling Montpensier and daughter; this ferocity of Palmerston against Coletti, makes me quite ill. Give me your opinion, my dear duke. But ha! whom have we here?”
The august individual who had spoken, had used the Hebrew language to address Mendoza, and the Lord Codlingsby might easily have pleaded ignorance of that tongue. But he had been at Cambridge, where all the youth acquire it perfectly28.
“SIRE,” said he, “I will not disguise from you that I know the ancient tongue in which you speak. There are probably secrets between Mendoza and your Maj —”
“Hush!” said Rafael, leading him from the room. “Au revoir, dear Codlingsby. His Majesty is one of US,” he whispered at the door; “so is the Pope of Rome; so is . . .”— a whisper concealed29 the rest.
“Gracious powers! is it so?” said Codlingsby, musing30. He entered into Holywell Street. The sun was sinking.
“It is time,” said he, “to go and fetch Armida to the Olympic.”
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1
harp
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| n.竖琴；天琴座 | |
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2
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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hymn
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| n.赞美诗，圣歌，颂歌 | |
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strings
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| n.弦 | |
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5
boughs
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| 大树枝( bough的名词复数 ) | |
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reign
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| n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势 | |
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widower
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| n.鳏夫 | |
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8
demise
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| n.死亡；v.让渡，遗赠，转让 | |
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9
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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10
blot
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| vt.弄脏（用吸墨纸）吸干；n.污点，污渍 | |
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11
retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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12
transact
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| v.处理；做交易；谈判 | |
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obsequious
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| adj.谄媚的，奉承的，顺从的 | |
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14
strutting
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| 加固，支撑物 | |
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haughty
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| adj.傲慢的，高傲的 | |
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16
beholding
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| v.看，注视( behold的现在分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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17
majesty
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| n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权 | |
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18
envoy
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| n.使节，使者，代表，公使 | |
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cringing
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| adj.谄媚，奉承 | |
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20
musk
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| n.麝香, 能发出麝香的各种各样的植物，香猫 | |
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21
dealer
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| n.商人，贩子 | |
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cardinal
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| n.(天主教的)红衣主教；adj.首要的，基本的 | |
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colloquy
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| n.谈话，自由讨论 | |
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24
reverence
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| n.敬畏，尊敬，尊严；Reverence:对某些基督教神职人员的尊称；v.尊敬，敬畏，崇敬 | |
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25
wig
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| n.假发 | |
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odious
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| adj.可憎的，讨厌的 | |
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conspiracy
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| n.阴谋，密谋，共谋 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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29
concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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30
musing
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| n. 沉思，冥想 adj. 沉思的, 冥想的 动词muse的现在分词形式 | |
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