In the days of our tale its turrets9 and pinnacles10 rose as stately, and seemed (to the pride of sinful man!) as strong as the eternal rocks on which they stood. The three mullets on a gules wavy11 reversed, surmounted12 by the sinople couchant Or; the well-known cognizance of the house, blazed in gorgeous heraldry on a hundred banners, surmounting13 as many towers. The long lines of battlemented walls spread down the mountain to the Loire, and were defended by thousands of steel-clad serving-men. Four hundred knights15 and six times as many archers16 fought round the banner of Barbazure at Bouvines, Malplaquet, and Azincour. For his services at Fontenoy against the English, the heroic Charles Martel appointed the fourteenth Baron7 Hereditary17 Grand Bootjack of the kingdom of France; and for wealth, and for splendor, and for skill and fame in war, Raoul, the twenty-eighth Baron, was in no-wise inferior to his noble ancestors.
That the Baron Raoul levied18 toll19 upon the river and mail upon the shore; that he now and then ransomed20 a burgher, plundered21 a neighbor, or drew the fangs22 of a Jew; that he burned an enemy’s castle with the wife and children within; — these were points for which the country knew and respected the stout23 Baron. When he returned from victory, he was sure to endow the Church with a part of his spoil, so that when he went forth24 to battle he was always accompanied by her blessing25. Thus lived the Baron Raoul, the pride of the country in which he dwelt, an ornament26 to the Court, the Church, and his neighbors.
But in the midst of all his power and splendor there was a domestic grief which deeply afflicted27 the princely Barbazure. His lovely ladies died one after the other. No sooner was he married than he was a widower28; in the course of eighteen years no less than nine bereavements had befallen the chieftain. So true it is, that if fortune is a parasite29, grief is a republican, and visits the hall of the great and wealthy as it does the humbler tenements30 of the poor.
***
“Leave off deploring31 thy faithless, gad-about lover,” said the Lady of Chacabacque to her daughter, the lovely Fatima, “and think how the noble Barbazure loves thee! Of all the damsels at the ball last night, he had eyes for thee and thy cousin only.”
“I am sure my cousin hath no good looks to be proud of!” the admirable Fatima exclaimed, bridling32 up. “Not that I care for my Lord of Barbazure’s looks. MY heart, dearest mother, is with him who is far away!”
“He danced with thee four galliards, nine quadrilles, and twenty-three corantoes, I think, child,” the mother said, eluding33 her daughter’s remark.
“Twenty-five,” said lovely Fatima, casting her beautiful eyes to the ground. “Heigh-ho! but Romane danced them very well!”
“He had not the court air,” the mother suggested.
“I don’t wish to deny the beauty of the Lord of Burbazure’s dancing, mamma,” Fatima replied. “For a short, lusty man, ’tis wondrous34 how active he is; and in dignity the King’s Grace himself could not surpass him.”
“You were the noblest couple in the room, love,” the lady cried.
“That pea-green doublet, slashed35 with orange-tawny, those ostrich36 plumes37, blue, red, and yellow, those party-colored hose and pink shoon, became the noble baron wondrous well,” Fatima acknowledged. “It must be confessed that, though aged39" target="_blank">middle-aged38, he hath all the agility40 of youth. But alas41, madam! The noble baron hath had nine wives already.”
“And your cousin would give her eyes to become the tenth,” the mother replied.
“My cousin give her eyes!” Fatima exclaimed. “It’s not much, I’m sure, for she squints42 abominably43.” And thus the ladies prattled44, as they rode home at night after the great ball at the house of the Baron of Barbazure.
The gentle reader, who has overheard their talk, will understand the doubts which pervaded45 the mind of the lovely Fatima, and the well-nurtured English maiden46 will participate in the divided feelings which rent her bosom47. ’Tis true, that on his departure for the holy wars, Romane and Fatima were plighted48 to each other; but the folly49 of long engagements is proverbial; and though for many months the faithful and affectionate girl had looked in vain for news from him, her admirable parents had long spoken with repugnance50 of a match which must bring inevitable51 poverty to both parties. They had suffered, ’tis true, the engagement to subside52, hostile as they ever were to it; but when on the death of the ninth lady of Barbazure, the noble baron remarked Fatima at the funeral, and rode home with her after the ceremony, her prudent53 parents saw how much wiser, better, happier for their child it would be to have for life a partner like the baron, than to wait the doubtful return of the penniless wanderer to whom she was plighted.
Ah! how beautiful and pure a being! how regardless of self! how true to duty! how obedient to parental54 command, is that earthly angel, a well-bred woman of genteel family! Instead of indulging in splenetic refusals or vain regrets for her absent lover, the exemplary Fatima at once signified to her excellent parents her willingness to obey their orders; though she had sorrows (and she declared them to be tremendous), the admirable being disguised them so well, that none knew they oppressed her. She said she would try to forget former ties, and (so strong in her mind was DUTY above every other feeling! — so strong may it be in every British maiden!) the lovely girl kept her promise. “My former engagements,” she said, packing up Romane’s letters and presents, (which, as the good knight14 was mortal poor, were in sooth of no great price)—“my former engagements I look upon as childish follies55; — my affections are fixed56 where my dear parents graft57 them — on the noble, the princely, the polite Barbazure. ’Tis true he is not comely58 in feature, but the chaste59 and well-bred female knows how to despise the fleeting60 charms of form. ’Tis true he is old; but can woman be better employed than in tending her aged and sickly companion? That he has been married is likewise certain — but ah, my mother! who knows not that he must be a good and tender husband, who, nine times wedded61, owns that, he cannot be happy without another partner?”
It was with these admirable sentiments the lovely Fatima proposed obedience62 to her parents’ will, and consented to receive the magnificent marriage-gift presented to her by her gallant63 bridegroom.
点击收听单词发音
1 fabric | |
n.织物,织品,布;构造,结构,组织 | |
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2 feudal | |
adj.封建的,封地的,领地的 | |
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3 splendor | |
n.光彩;壮丽,华丽;显赫,辉煌 | |
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4 edifice | |
n.宏伟的建筑物(如宫殿,教室) | |
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5 masonry | |
n.砖土建筑;砖石 | |
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6 majestic | |
adj.雄伟的,壮丽的,庄严的,威严的,崇高的 | |
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7 baron | |
n.男爵;(商业界等)巨头,大王 | |
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8 barons | |
男爵( baron的名词复数 ); 巨头; 大王; 大亨 | |
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9 turrets | |
(六角)转台( turret的名词复数 ); (战舰和坦克等上的)转动炮塔; (摄影机等上的)镜头转台; (旧时攻城用的)塔车 | |
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10 pinnacles | |
顶峰( pinnacle的名词复数 ); 顶点; 尖顶; 小尖塔 | |
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11 wavy | |
adj.有波浪的,多浪的,波浪状的,波动的,不稳定的 | |
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12 surmounted | |
战胜( surmount的过去式和过去分词 ); 克服(困难); 居于…之上; 在…顶上 | |
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13 surmounting | |
战胜( surmount的现在分词 ); 克服(困难); 居于…之上; 在…顶上 | |
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14 knight | |
n.骑士,武士;爵士 | |
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15 knights | |
骑士; (中古时代的)武士( knight的名词复数 ); 骑士; 爵士; (国际象棋中)马 | |
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16 archers | |
n.弓箭手,射箭运动员( archer的名词复数 ) | |
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17 hereditary | |
adj.遗传的,遗传性的,可继承的,世袭的 | |
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18 levied | |
征(兵)( levy的过去式和过去分词 ); 索取; 发动(战争); 征税 | |
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19 toll | |
n.过路(桥)费;损失,伤亡人数;v.敲(钟) | |
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20 ransomed | |
付赎金救人,赎金( ransom的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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21 plundered | |
掠夺,抢劫( plunder的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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22 fangs | |
n.(尤指狗和狼的)长而尖的牙( fang的名词复数 );(蛇的)毒牙;罐座 | |
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24 forth | |
adv.向前;向外,往外 | |
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25 blessing | |
n.祈神赐福;祷告;祝福,祝愿 | |
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26 ornament | |
v.装饰,美化;n.装饰,装饰物 | |
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27 afflicted | |
使受痛苦,折磨( afflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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28 widower | |
n.鳏夫 | |
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29 parasite | |
n.寄生虫;寄生菌;食客 | |
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30 tenements | |
n.房屋,住户,租房子( tenement的名词复数 ) | |
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31 deploring | |
v.悲叹,痛惜,强烈反对( deplore的现在分词 ) | |
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32 bridling | |
给…套龙头( bridle的现在分词 ); 控制; 昂首表示轻蔑(或怨忿等); 动怒,生气 | |
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33 eluding | |
v.(尤指机敏地)避开( elude的现在分词 );逃避;躲避;使达不到 | |
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34 wondrous | |
adj.令人惊奇的,奇妙的;adv.惊人地;异乎寻常地;令人惊叹地 | |
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35 slashed | |
v.挥砍( slash的过去式和过去分词 );鞭打;割破;削减 | |
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36 ostrich | |
n.鸵鸟 | |
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37 plumes | |
羽毛( plume的名词复数 ); 羽毛饰; 羽毛状物; 升上空中的羽状物 | |
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38 middle-aged | |
adj.中年的 | |
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39 aged | |
adj.年老的,陈年的 | |
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40 agility | |
n.敏捷,活泼 | |
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41 alas | |
int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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42 squints | |
斜视症( squint的名词复数 ); 瞥 | |
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43 abominably | |
adv. 可恶地,可恨地,恶劣地 | |
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44 prattled | |
v.(小孩般)天真无邪地说话( prattle的过去式和过去分词 );发出连续而无意义的声音;闲扯;东拉西扯 | |
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45 pervaded | |
v.遍及,弥漫( pervade的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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46 maiden | |
n.少女,处女;adj.未婚的,纯洁的,无经验的 | |
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47 bosom | |
n.胸,胸部;胸怀;内心;adj.亲密的 | |
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48 plighted | |
vt.保证,约定(plight的过去式与过去分词形式) | |
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49 folly | |
n.愚笨,愚蠢,蠢事,蠢行,傻话 | |
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50 repugnance | |
n.嫌恶 | |
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51 inevitable | |
adj.不可避免的,必然发生的 | |
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52 subside | |
vi.平静,平息;下沉,塌陷,沉降 | |
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53 prudent | |
adj.谨慎的,有远见的,精打细算的 | |
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54 parental | |
adj.父母的;父的;母的 | |
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55 follies | |
罪恶,时事讽刺剧; 愚蠢,蠢笨,愚蠢的行为、思想或做法( folly的名词复数 ) | |
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56 fixed | |
adj.固定的,不变的,准备好的;(计算机)固定的 | |
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57 graft | |
n.移植,嫁接,艰苦工作,贪污;v.移植,嫁接 | |
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58 comely | |
adj.漂亮的,合宜的 | |
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59 chaste | |
adj.贞洁的;有道德的;善良的;简朴的 | |
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60 fleeting | |
adj.短暂的,飞逝的 | |
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61 wedded | |
adj.正式结婚的;渴望…的,执著于…的v.嫁,娶,(与…)结婚( wed的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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62 obedience | |
n.服从,顺从 | |
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63 gallant | |
adj.英勇的,豪侠的;(向女人)献殷勤的 | |
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