‘I guess ’twas frightful10 there to see
A lady so richly clad as she,
Beautiful exceedingly.’
For, if it be terrible to one young lady to find another under a tree at midnight, it must, à fortiori, be much more terrible to a young gentleman to find a young lady in his study at that hour. If the logical consecutiveness11 of this conclusion be not manifest to my readers, I am sorry for their dulness, and must refer them, for more ample elucidation12, to a treatise13 which Mr Flosky intends to write, on the Categories of Relation, which comprehend Substance and Accident, Cause and Effect, Action and Re-action.
Scythrop, therefore, either was or ought to have been frightened; at all events, he was astonished; and astonishment14, though not in itself fear, is nevertheless a good stage towards it, and is, indeed, as it were, the half-way house between respect and terror, according to Mr Burke’s graduated scale of the sublime15.7
‘You are surprised,’ said the lady; ‘yet why should you be surprised? If you had met me in a drawing-room, and I had been introduced to you by an old woman, it would have been a matter of course: can the division of two or three walls, and the absence of an unimportant personage, make the same object essentially16 different in the perception of a philosopher?’
‘Certainly not,’ said Scythrop; ‘but when any class of objects has habitually18 presented itself to our perceptions in invariable conjunction with particular relations, then, on the sudden appearance of one object of the class divested19 of those accompaniments, the essential difference of the relation is, by an involuntary process, transferred to the object itself, which thus offers itself to our perceptions with all the strangeness of novelty.’
‘You are a philosopher,’ said the lady, ‘and a lover of liberty. You are the author of a treatise, called “Philosophical20 Gas; or, a Project for a General Illumination of the Human Mind.”’
‘I am,’ said Scythrop, delighted at this first blossom of his renown21.
‘I am a stranger in this country,’ said the lady; ‘I have been but a few days in it, yet I find myself immediately under the necessity of seeking refuge from an atrocious persecution22. I had no friend to whom I could apply; and, in the midst of my difficulties, accident threw your pamphlet in my way. I saw that I had, at least, one kindred mind in this nation, and determined23 to apply to you.’
‘And what would you have me do?’ said Scythrop, more and more amazed, and not a little perplexed24.
‘I would have you,’ said the young lady, ‘assist me in finding some place of retreat, where I can remain concealed25 from the indefatigable26 search that is being made for me. I have been so nearly caught once or twice already, that I cannot confide27 any longer in my own ingenuity28.’
Doubtless, thought Scythrop, this is one of my golden candle-sticks. ‘I have constructed,’ said he, ‘in this tower, an entrance to a small suite29 of unknown apartments in the main building, which I defy any creature living to detect. If you would like to remain there a day or two, till I can find you a more suitable concealment30, you may rely on the honour of a transcendental eleutherarch.’
‘I rely on myself,’ said the lady. ‘I act as I please, go where I please, and let the world say what it will. I am rich enough to set it at defiance31. It is the tyrant32 of the poor and the feeble, but the slave of those who are above the reach of its injury.’
Scythrop ventured to inquire the name of his fair protégée. ‘What is a name?’ said the lady: ‘any name will serve the purpose of distinction. Call me Stella. I see by your looks,’ she added, ‘that you think all this very strange. When you know me better, your surprise will cease. I submit not to be an accomplice33 in my sex’s slavery. I am, like yourself, a lover of freedom, and I carry my theory into practice. They alone are subject to blind authority who have no reliance on their own strength.’
Stella took possession of the recondite34 apartments. Scythrop intended to find her another asylum35; but from day to day he postponed36 his intention, and by degrees forgot it. The young lady reminded him of it from day to day, till she also forgot it. Scythrop was anxious to learn her history; but she would add nothing to what she had already communicated, that she was shunning37 an atrocious persecution. Scythrop thought of Lord C. and the Alien Act, and said, ‘As you will not tell your name, I suppose it is in the green bag.’ Stella, not understanding what he meant, was silent; and Scythrop, translating silence into acquiescence38, concluded that he was sheltering an illuminée whom Lord S. suspected of an intention to take the Tower, and set fire to the Bank: exploits, at least, as likely to be accomplished39 by the hands and eyes of a young beauty, as by a drunken cobbler and doctor, armed with a pamphlet and an old stocking.
Stella, in her conversations with Scythrop, displayed a highly cultivated and energetic mind, full of impassioned schemes of liberty, and impatience40 of masculine usurpation41. She had a lively sense of all the oppressions that are done under the sun; and the vivid pictures which her imagination presented to her of the numberless scenes of injustice42 and misery43 which are being acted at every moment in every part of the inhabited world, gave an habitual17 seriousness to her physiognomy, that made it seem as if a smile had never once hovered44 on her lips. She was intimately conversant45 with the German language and literature; and Scythrop listened with delight to her repetitions of her favourite passages from Schiller and Goethe, and to her encomiums on the sublime Spartacus Weishaupt, the immortal46 founder47 of the sect48 of the Illuminati. Scythrop found that his soul had a greater capacity of love than the image of Marionetta had filled. The form of Stella took possession of every vacant corner of the cavity, and by degrees displaced that of Marionetta from many of the outworks of the citadel49; though the latter still held possession of the keep. He judged, from his new friend calling herself Stella, that, if it were not her real name, she was an admirer of the principles of the German play from which she had taken it, and took an opportunity of leading the conversation to that subject; but to his great surprise, the lady spoke50 very ardently51 of the singleness and exclusiveness of love, and declared that the reign9 of affection was one and indivisible; that it might be transferred, but could not be participated. ‘If I ever love,’ said she, ‘I shall do so without limit or restriction52. I shall hold all difficulties light, all sacrifices cheap, all obstacles gossamer53. But for love so total, I shall claim a return as absolute. I will have no rival: whether more or less favoured will be of little moment. I will be neither first nor second — I will be alone. The heart which I shall possess I will possess entirely54, or entirely renounce55.’
Scythrop did not dare to mention the name of Marionetta; he trembled lest some unlucky accident should reveal it to Stella, though he scarcely knew what result to wish or anticipate, and lived in the double fever of a perpetual dilemma56. He could not dissemble to himself that he was in love, at the same time, with two damsels of minds and habits as remote as the antipodes. The scale of predilection57 always inclined to the fair one who happened to be present; but the absent was never effectually outweighed58, though the degrees of exaltation and depression varied59 according to accidental variations in the outward and visible signs of the inward and spiritual graces of his respective charmers. Passing and repassing several times a day from the company of the one to that of the other, he was like a shuttlecock between two battledores, changing its direction as rapidly as the oscillations of a pendulum60, receiving many a hard knock on the cork61 of a sensitive heart, and flying from point to point on the feathers of a super-sublimated head. This was an awful state of things. He had now as much mystery about him as any romantic transcendentalist or transcendental romancer could desire. He had his esoterical and his exoterical love. He could not endure the thought of losing either of them, but he trembled when he imagined the possibility that some fatal discovery might deprive him of both. The old proverb concerning two strings62 to a bow gave him some gleams of comfort; but that concerning two stools occurred to him more frequently, and covered his forehead with a cold perspiration63. With Stella, he could indulge freely in all his romantic and philosophical visions. He could build castles in the air, and she would pile towers and turrets64 on the imaginary edifices65. With Marionetta it was otherwise: she knew nothing of the world and society beyond the sphere of her own experience. Her life was all music and sunshine, and she wondered what any one could see to complain of in such a pleasant state of things. She loved Scythrop, she hardly knew why; indeed she was not always sure that she loved him at all: she felt her fondness increase or diminish in an inverse66 ratio to his. When she had manoeuvred him into a fever of passionate67 love, she often felt and always assumed indifference68: if she found that her coldness was contagious69, and that Scythrop either was, or pretended to be, as indifferent as herself, she would become doubly kind, and raise him again to that elevation70 from which she had previously71 thrown him down. Thus, when his love was flowing, hers was ebbing72: when his was ebbing, hers was flowing. Now and then there were moments of level tide, when reciprocal affection seemed to promise imperturbable73 harmony; but Scythrop could scarcely resign his spirit to the pleasing illusion, before the pinnace of the lover’s affections was caught in some eddy74 of the lady’s caprice, and he was whirled away from the shore of his hopes, without rudder or compass, into an ocean of mists and storms. It resulted, from this system of conduct, that all that passed between Scythrop and Marionetta, consisted in making and unmaking love. He had no opportunity to take measure of her understanding by conversations on general subjects, and on his favourite designs; and, being left in this respect to the exercise of indefinite conjecture75, he took it for granted, as most lovers would do in similar circumstances, that she had great natural talents, which she wasted at present on trifles: but coquetry would end with marriage, and leave room for philosophy to exert its influence on her mind. Stella had no coquetry, no disguise: she was an enthusiast76 in subjects of general interest; and her conduct to Scythrop was always uniform, or rather showed a regular progression of partiality which seemed fast ripening77 into love.
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1
mermaid
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| n.美人鱼 | |
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preoccupied
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| adj.全神贯注的，入神的；被抢先占有的；心事重重的v.占据（某人）思想，使对…全神贯注，使专心于( preoccupy的过去式) | |
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3
muffled
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| adj.（声音）被隔的；听不太清的；（衣服）裹严的；蒙住的v.压抑，捂住( muffle的过去式和过去分词 )；用厚厚的衣帽包着（自己） | |
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mantled
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| 披着斗篷的，覆盖着的 | |
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scrutiny
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| n.详细检查，仔细观察 | |
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countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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raven
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| n.渡鸟，乌鸦；adj.乌亮的 | |
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complexion
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| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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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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frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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consecutiveness
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| Consecutiveness | |
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elucidation
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| n.说明，阐明 | |
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treatise
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| n.专著；(专题)论文 | |
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astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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sublime
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| adj.崇高的，伟大的；极度的，不顾后果的 | |
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16
essentially
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| adv.本质上，实质上，基本上 | |
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17
habitual
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| adj.习惯性的；通常的，惯常的 | |
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habitually
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| ad.习惯地，通常地 | |
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19
divested
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| v.剥夺( divest的过去式和过去分词 )；脱去（衣服）；2。从…取去…；1。（给某人）脱衣服 | |
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philosophical
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| adj.哲学家的，哲学上的，达观的 | |
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renown
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| n.声誉，名望 | |
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persecution
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| n. 迫害,烦扰 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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perplexed
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| adj.不知所措的 | |
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concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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indefatigable
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| adj.不知疲倦的，不屈不挠的 | |
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confide
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| v.向某人吐露秘密 | |
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ingenuity
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| n.别出心裁；善于发明创造 | |
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29
suite
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| n.一套(家具)；套房；随从人员 | |
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concealment
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| n.隐藏, 掩盖，隐瞒 | |
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defiance
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| n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗 | |
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tyrant
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| n.暴君，专制的君主，残暴的人 | |
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accomplice
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| n.从犯，帮凶，同谋 | |
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recondite
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| adj.深奥的，难解的 | |
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35
asylum
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| n.避难所，庇护所，避难 | |
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36
postponed
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| vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发） | |
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37
shunning
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| v.避开，回避，避免( shun的现在分词 ) | |
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38
acquiescence
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| n.默许；顺从 | |
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39
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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40
impatience
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| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
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41
usurpation
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| n.篡位；霸占 | |
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42
injustice
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| n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利 | |
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misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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44
hovered
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| 鸟( hover的过去式和过去分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫 | |
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45
conversant
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| adj.亲近的，有交情的，熟悉的 | |
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46
immortal
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| adj.不朽的；永生的，不死的；神的 | |
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47
Founder
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| n.创始者，缔造者 | |
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48
sect
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| n.派别，宗教，学派，派系 | |
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49
citadel
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| n.城堡；堡垒；避难所 | |
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50
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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51
ardently
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| adv.热心地，热烈地 | |
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52
restriction
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| n.限制，约束 | |
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53
gossamer
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| n.薄纱，游丝 | |
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54
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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55
renounce
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| v.放弃；拒绝承认，宣布与…断绝关系 | |
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56
dilemma
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| n.困境，进退两难的局面 | |
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predilection
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| n.偏好 | |
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58
outweighed
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| v.在重量上超过( outweigh的过去式和过去分词 )；在重要性或价值方面超过 | |
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59
varied
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| adj.多样的，多变化的 | |
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60
pendulum
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| n.摆，钟摆 | |
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61
cork
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| n.软木，软木塞 | |
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62
strings
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| n.弦 | |
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63
perspiration
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| n.汗水；出汗 | |
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64
turrets
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| （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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edifices
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| n.大建筑物( edifice的名词复数 ) | |
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66
inverse
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| adj.相反的，倒转的，反转的；n.相反之物；v.倒转 | |
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67
passionate
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
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68
indifference
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| n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎 | |
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69
contagious
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| adj.传染性的，有感染力的 | |
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70
elevation
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| n.高度；海拔；高地；上升；提高 | |
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71
previously
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| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
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72
ebbing
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| （指潮水）退( ebb的现在分词 )； 落； 减少； 衰落 | |
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73
imperturbable
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| adj.镇静的 | |
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74
eddy
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| n.漩涡，涡流 | |
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75
conjecture
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| n./v.推测，猜测 | |
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76
enthusiast
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| n.热心人，热衷者 | |
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77
ripening
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| v.成熟，使熟( ripen的现在分词 )；熟化；熟成 | |
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