If one of these inlets, mere21 fissures22 to the eyes of the eider-ducks, is wide enough for the sea not to freeze between the prison-walls of rock against which it surges, the country-people call the little bay a “fiord,"— a word which geographers24 of every nation have adopted into their respective languages. Though a certain resemblance exists among all these fiords, each has its own characteristics. The sea has everywhere forced its way as through a breach25, yet the rocks about each fissure23 are diversely rent, and their tumultuous precipices27 defy the rules of geometric law. Here the scarp is dentelled like a saw; there the narrow ledges28 barely allow the snow to lodge30 or the noble crests31 of the Northern pines to spread themselves; farther on, some convulsion of Nature may have rounded a coquettish curve into a lovely valley flanked in rising terraces with black-plumed pines. Truly we are tempted33 to call this land the Switzerland of Ocean.
Midway between Trondhjem and Christiansand lies an inlet called the Strom-fiord. If the Strom-fiord is not the loveliest of these rocky landscapes, it has the merit of displaying the terrestrial grandeurs of Norway, and of enshrining the scenes of a history that is indeed celestial35.
The general outline of the Strom-fiord seems at first sight to be that of a funnel36 washed out by the sea. The passage which the waves have forced present to the eye an image of the eternal struggle between old Ocean and the granite rock — two creations of equal power, one through inertia37, the other by ceaseless motion. Reefs of fantastic shape run out on either side, and bar the way of ships and forbid their entrance. The intrepid39 sons of Norway cross these reefs on foot, springing from rock to rock, undismayed at the abyss — a hundred fathoms40 deep and only six feet wide — which yawns beneath them. Here a tottering41 block of gneiss falling athwart two rocks gives an uncertain footway; there the hunters or the fishermen, carrying their loads, have flung the stems of fir-trees in guise42 of bridges, to join the projecting reefs, around and beneath which the surges roar incessantly. This dangerous entrance to the little bay bears obliquely43 to the right with a serpentine44 movement, and there encounters a mountain rising some twenty-five hundred feet above sea-level, the base of which is a vertical45 palisade of solid rock more than a mile and a half long, the inflexible46 granite nowhere yielding to clefts47 or undulations until it reaches a height of two hundred feet above the water. Rushing violently in, the sea is driven back with equal violence by the inert38 force of the mountain to the opposite shore, gently curved by the spent force of the retreating waves.
The fiord is closed at the upper end by a vast gneiss formation crowned with forests, down which a river plunges49 in cascades50, becomes a torrent51 when the snows are melting, spreads into a sheet of waters, and then falls with a roar into the bay — vomiting52 as it does so the hoary53 pines and the aged54 larches55 washed down from the forests and scarce seen amid the foam56. These trees plunge48 headlong into the fiord and reappear after a time on the surface, clinging together and forming islets which float ashore57 on the beaches, where the inhabitants of a village on the left bank of the Strom-fiord gather them up, split, broken (though sometimes whole), and always stripped of bark and branches. The mountain which receives at its base the assaults of Ocean, and at its summit the buffeting59 of the wild North wind, is called the Falberg. Its crest32, wrapped at all seasons in a mantle60 of snow and ice, is the sharpest peak of Norway; its proximity62 to the pole produces, at the height of eighteen hundred feet, a degree of cold equal to that of the highest mountains of the globe. The summit of this rocky mass, rising sheer from the fiord on one side, slopes gradually downward to the east, where it joins the declivities of the Sieg and forms a series of terraced valleys, the chilly63 temperature of which allows no growth but that of shrubs64 and stunted65 trees.
The upper end of the fiord, where the waters enter it as they come down from the forest, is called the Siegdahlen — a word which may be held to mean “the shedding of the Sieg,"— the river itself receiving that name. The curving shore opposite to the face of the Falberg is the valley of Jarvis — a smiling scene overlooked by hills clothed with firs, birch-trees, and larches, mingled66 with a few oaks and beeches68, the richest coloring of all the varied69 tapestries70 which Nature in these northern regions spreads upon the surface of her rugged71 rocks. The eye can readily mark the line where the soil, warmed by the rays of the sun, bears cultivation72 and shows the native growth of the Norwegian flora73. Here the expanse of the fiord is broad enough to allow the sea, dashed back by the Falberg, to spend its expiring force in gentle murmurs74 upon the lower slope of these hills — a shore bordered with finest sand, strewn with mica75 and sparkling pebbles76, porphyry, and marbles of a thousand tints77, brought from Sweden by the river floods, together with ocean waifs, shells, and flowers of the sea driven in by tempests, whether of the Pole or Tropics.
At the foot of the hills of Jarvis lies a village of some two hundred wooden houses, where an isolated79 population lives like a swarm80 of bees in a forest, without increasing or diminishing; vegetating81 happily, while wringing82 their means of living from the breast of a stern Nature. The almost unknown existence of the little hamlet is readily accounted for. Few of its inhabitants were bold enough to risk their lives among the reefs to reach the deep-sea fishing — the staple industry of Norwegians on the least dangerous portions of their coast. The fish of the fiord were numerous enough to suffice, in part at least, for the sustenance83 of the inhabitants; the valley pastures provided milk and butter; a certain amount of fruitful, well-tilled soil yielded rye and hemp84 and vegetables, which necessity taught the people to protect against the severity of the cold and the fleeting85 but terrible heat of the sun with the shrewd ability which Norwegians display in the two-fold struggle. The difficulty of communication with the outer world, either by land where the roads are impassable, or by sea where none but tiny boats can thread their way through the maritime87 defiles88 that guard the entrance to the bay, hinder these people from growing rich by the sale of their timber. It would cost enormous sums to either blast a channel out to sea or construct a way to the interior. The roads from Christiana to Trondhjem all turn toward the Strom-fiord, and cross the Sieg by a bridge some score of miles above its fall into the bay. The country to the north, between Jarvis and Trondhjem, is covered with impenetrable forests, while to the south the Falberg is nearly as much separated from Christiana by inaccessible89 precipices. The village of Jarvis might perhaps have communicated with the interior of Norway and Sweden by the river Sieg; but to do this and to be thus brought into contact with civilization, the Strom-fiord needed the presence of a man of genius. Such a man did actually appear there — a poet, a Swede of great religious fervor90, who died admiring, even reverencing91 this region as one of the noblest works of the Creator.
Minds endowed by study with an inward sight, and whose quick perceptions bring before the soul, as though painted on a canvas, the contrasting scenery of this universe, will now apprehend92 the general features of the Strom-fiord. They alone, perhaps, can thread their way through the tortuous93 channels of the reef, or flee with the battling waves to the everlasting94 rebuff of the Falberg whose white peaks mingle67 with the vaporous clouds of the pearl-gray sky, or watch with delight the curving sheet of waters, or hear the rushing of the Sieg as it hangs for an instant in long fillets and then falls over a picturesque95 abatis of noble trees toppled confusedly together, sometimes upright, sometimes half-sunken beneath the rocks. It may be that such minds alone can dwell upon the smiling scenes nestling among the lower hills of Jarvis; where the luscious96 Northern vegetables spring up in families, in myriads97, where the white birches bend, graceful98 as maidens99, where colonnades100 of beeches rear their boles mossy with the growth of centuries, where shades of green contrast, and white clouds float amid the blackness of the distant pines, and tracts102 of many-tinted crimson103 and purple shrubs are shaded endlessly; in short, where blend all colors, all perfumes of a flora whose wonders are still ignored. Widen the boundaries of this limited ampitheatre, spring upward to the clouds, lose yourself among the rocks where the seals are lying and even then your thought cannot compass the wealth of beauty nor the poetry of this Norwegian coast. Can your thought be as vast as the ocean that bounds it? as weird104 as the fantastic forms drawn105 by these forests, these clouds, these shadows, these changeful lights?
Do you see above the meadows on that lowest slope which undulates around the higher hills of Jarvis two or three hundred houses roofed with “noever,” a sort of thatch106 made of birch-bark — frail107 houses, long and low, looking like silk-worms on a mulberry-leaf tossed hither by the winds? Above these humble108, peaceful dwellings109 stands the church, built with a simplicity111 in keeping with the poverty of the villagers. A graveyard112 surrounds the chancel, and a little farther on you see the parsonage. Higher up, on a projection113 of the mountain is a dwelling110-house, the only one of stone; for which reason the inhabitants of the village call it “the Swedish Castle.” In fact, a wealthy Swede settled in Jarvis about thirty years before this history begins, and did his best to ameliorate its condition. This little house, certainly not a castle, built with the intention of leading the inhabitants to build others like it, was noticeable for its solidity and for the wall that inclosed it, a rare thing in Norway where, notwithstanding the abundance of stone, wood alone is used for all fences, even those of fields. This Swedish house, thus protected against the climate, stood on rising ground in the centre of an immense courtyard. The windows were sheltered by those projecting pent-house roofs supported by squared trunks of trees which give so patriarchal an air to Northern dwellings. From beneath them the eye could see the savage115 nudity of the Falberg, or compare the infinitude of the open sea with the tiny drop of water in the foaming116 fiord; the ear could hear the flowing of the Sieg, whose white sheet far away looked motionless as it fell into its granite cup edged for miles around with glaciers117 — in short, from this vantage ground the whole landscape whereon our simple yet superhuman drama was about to be enacted118 could be seen and noted119.
The winter of 1799-1800 was one of the most severe ever known to Europeans. The Norwegian sea was frozen in all the fiords, where, as a usual thing, the violence of the surf kept the ice from forming. A wind, whose effects were like those of the Spanish levanter, swept the ice of the Strom-fiord, driving the snow to the upper end of the gulf120. Seldom indeed could the people of Jarvis see the mirror of frozen waters reflecting the colors of the sky; a wondrous121 site in the bosom122 of these mountains when all other aspects of nature are levelled beneath successive sheets of snow, and crests and valleys are alike mere folds of the vast mantle flung by winter across a landscape at once so mournfully dazzling and so monotonous124. The falling volume of the Sieg, suddenly frozen, formed an immense arcade125 beneath which the inhabitants might have crossed under shelter from the blast had any dared to risk themselves inland. But the dangers of every step away from their own surroundings kept even the boldest hunters in their homes, afraid lest the narrow paths along the precipices, the clefts and fissures among the rocks, might be unrecognizable beneath the snow.
Thus it was that no human creature gave life to the white desert where Boreas reigned126, his voice alone resounding127 at distant intervals128. The sky, nearly always gray, gave tones of polished steel to the ice of the fiord. Perchance some ancient eider-duck crossed the expanse, trusting to the warm down beneath which dream, in other lands, the luxurious129 rich, little knowing of the dangers through which their luxury has come to them. Like the Bedouin of the desert who darts130 alone across the sands of Africa, the bird is neither seen nor heard; the torpid131 atmosphere, deprived of its electrical conditions, echoes neither the whirr of its wings nor its joyous132 notes. Besides, what human eye was strong enough to bear the glitter of those pinnacles133 adorned134 with sparkling crystals, or the sharp reflections of the snow, iridescent135 on the summits in the rays of a pallid136 sun which infrequently appeared, like a dying man seeking to make known that he still lives. Often, when the flocks of gray clouds, driven in squadrons athwart the mountains and among the tree-tops, hid the sky with their triple veils Earth, lacking the celestial lights, lit herself by herself.
Here, then, we meet the majesty137 of Cold, seated eternally at the pole in that regal silence which is the attribute of all absolute monarchy138. Every extreme principle carries with it an appearance of negation139 and the symptoms of death; for is not life the struggle of two forces? Here in this Northern nature nothing lived. One sole power — the unproductive power of ice — reigned unchallenged. The roar of the open sea no longer reached the deaf, dumb inlet, where during one short season of the year Nature made haste to produce the slender harvests necessary for the food of the patient people. A few tall pine-trees lifted their black pyramids garlanded with snow, and the form of their long branches and depending shoots completed the mourning garments of those solemn heights.
Each household gathered in its chimney-corner, in houses carefully closed from the outer air, and well supplied with biscuit, melted butter, dried fish, and other provisions laid in for the seven-months winter. The very smoke of these dwellings was hardly seen, half-hidden as they were beneath the snow, against the weight of which they were protected by long planks141 reaching from the roof and fastened at some distance to solid blocks on the ground, forming a covered way around each building.
During these terrible winter months the women spun142 and dyed the woollen stuffs and the linen143 fabrics144 with which they clothed their families, while the men read, or fell into those endless meditations145 which have given birth to so many profound theories, to the mystic dreams of the North, to its beliefs, to its studies (so full and so complete in one science, at least, sounded as with a plummet), to its manners and its morals, half-monastic, which force the soul to react and feed upon itself and make the Norwegian peasant a being apart among the peoples of Europe.
Such was the condition of the Strom-fiord in the first year of the nineteenth century and about the middle of the month of May.
On a morning when the sun burst forth146 upon this landscape, lighting147 the fires of the ephemeral diamonds produced by crystallizations of the snow and ice, two beings crossed the fiord and flew along the base of the Falberg, rising thence from ledge29 to ledge toward the summit. What were they? human creatures, or two arrows? They might have been taken for eider-ducks sailing in consort148 before the wind. Not the boldest hunter nor the most superstitious149 fisherman would have attributed to human beings the power to move safely along the slender lines traced beneath the snow by the granite ledges, where yet this couple glided150 with the terrifying dexterity151 of somnambulists who, forgetting their own weight and the dangers of the slightest deviation152, hurry along a ridge-pole and keep their equilibrium153 by the power of some mysterious force.
“Stop me, Seraphitus,” said a pale young girl, “and let me breathe. I look at you, you only, while scaling these walls of the gulf; otherwise, what would become of me? I am such a feeble creature. Do I tire you?”
“No,” said the being on whose arm she leaned. “But let us go on, Minna; the place where we are is not firm enough to stand on.”
Once more the snow creaked sharply beneath the long boards fastened to their feet, and soon they reached the upper terrace of the first ledge, clearly defined upon the flank of the precipice26. The person whom Minna had addressed as Seraphitus threw his weight upon his right heel, arresting the plank140 — six and a half feet long and narrow as the foot of a child — which was fastened to his boot by a double thong154 of leather. This plank, two inches thick, was covered with reindeer155 skin, which bristled156 against the snow when the foot was raised, and served to stop the wearer. Seraphitus drew in his left foot, furnished with another “skee,” which was only two feet long, turned swiftly where he stood, caught his timid companion in his arms, lifted her in spite of the long boards on her feet, and placed her on a projecting rock from which he brushed the snow with his pelisse.
“You are safe there, Minna; you can tremble at your ease.”
“We are a third of the way up the Ice-Cap,” she said, looking at the peak to which she gave the popular name by which it is known in Norway; “I can hardly believe it.”
Too much out of breath to say more, she smiled at Seraphitus, who, without answering, laid his hand upon her heart and listened to its sounding throbs157, rapid as those of a frightened bird.
“It often beats as fast when I run,” she said.
Seraphitus inclined his head with a gesture that was neither coldness nor indifference159, and yet, despite the grace which made the movement almost tender, it none the less bespoke160 a certain negation, which in a woman would have seemed an exquisite162 coquetry. Seraphitus clasped the young girl in his arms. Minna accepted the caress163 as an answer to her words, continuing to gaze at him. As he raised his head, and threw back with impatient gesture the golden masses of his hair to free his brow, he saw an expression of joy in the eyes of his companion.
“Yes, Minna,” he said in a voice whose paternal164 accents were charming from the lips of a being who was still adolescent, “Keep your eyes on me; do not look below you.”
“Why not?” she asked.
“You wish to know why? then look!”
Minna glanced quickly at her feet and cried out suddenly like a child who sees a tiger. The awful sensation of abysses seized her; one glance sufficed to communicate its contagion165. The fiord, eager for food, bewildered her with its loud voice ringing in her ears, interposing between herself and life as though to devour166 her more surely. From the crown of her head to her feet and along her spine an icy shudder167 ran; then suddenly intolerable heat suffused168 her nerves, beat in her veins169 and overpowered her extremities170 with electric shocks like those of the torpedo171. Too feeble to resist, she felt herself drawn by a mysterious power to the depths below, wherein she fancied that she saw some monster belching172 its venom173, a monster whose magnetic eyes were charming her, whose open jaws174 appeared to craunch their prey175 before they seized it.
“I die, my Seraphitus, loving none but thee,” she said, making a mechanical movement to fling herself into the abyss.
Seraphitus breathed softly on her forehead and eyes. Suddenly, like a traveller relaxed after a bath, Minna forgot these keen emotions, already dissipated by that caressing176 breath which penetrated177 her body and filled it with balsamic essences as quickly as the breath itself had crossed the air.
“Who art thou?” she said, with a feeling of gentle terror. “Ah, but I know! thou art my life. How canst thou look into that gulf and not die?” she added presently.
Seraphitus left her clinging to the granite rock and placed himself at the edge of the narrow platform on which they stood, whence his eyes plunged178 to the depths of the fiord, defying its dazzling invitation. His body did not tremble, his brow was white and calm as that of a marble statue — an abyss facing an abyss.
“Seraphitus! dost thou not love me? come back!” she cried. “Thy danger renews my terror. Who art thou to have such superhuman power at thy age?” she asked as she felt his arms inclosing her once more.
“But, Minna,” answered Seraphitus, “you look fearlessly at greater spaces far than that.”
Then with raised finger, this strange being pointed179 upward to the blue dome180, which parting clouds left clear above their heads, where stars could be seen in open day by virtue181 of atmospheric182 laws as yet unstudied.
“But what a difference!” she answered smiling.
“You are right,” he said; “we are born to stretch upward to the skies. Our native land, like the face of a mother, cannot terrify her children.”
His voice vibrated through the being of his companion, who made no reply.
“Come! let us go on,” he said.
The pair darted183 forward along the narrow paths traced back and forth upon the mountain, skimming from terrace to terrace, from line to line, with the rapidity of a barb184, that bird of the desert. Presently they reached an open space, carpeted with turf and moss101 and flowers, where no foot had ever trod.
“Oh, the pretty saeter!” cried Minna, giving to the upland meadow its Norwegian name. “But how comes it here, at such a height?”
“Vegetation ceases here, it is true,” said Seraphitus. “These few plants and flowers are due to that sheltering rock which protects the meadow from the polar winds. Put that tuft in your bosom, Minna,” he added, gathering185 a flower — “that balmy creation which no eye has ever seen; keep the solitary186 matchless flower in memory of this one matchless morning of your life. You will find no other guide to lead you again to this saeter.”
So saying, he gave her the hybrid187 plant his falcon188 eye had seen amid the tufts of gentian acaulis and saxifrages — a marvel, brought to bloom by the breath of angels. With girlish eagerness Minna seized the tufted plant of transparent189 green, vivid as emerald, which was formed of little leaves rolled trumpet-wise, brown at the smaller end but changing tint78 by tint to their delicately notched190 edges, which were green. These leaves were so tightly pressed together that they seemed to blend and form a mat or cluster of rosettes. Here and there from this green ground rose pure white stars edged with a line of gold, and from their throats came crimson anthers but no pistils. A fragrance191, blended of roses and of orange blossoms, yet ethereal and fugitive192, gave something as it were celestial to that mysterious flower, which Seraphitus sadly contemplated193, as though it uttered plaintive194 thoughts which he alone could understand. But to Minna this mysterious phenomenon seemed a mere caprice of nature giving to stone the freshness, softness, and perfume of plants.
“Why do you call it matchless? can it not reproduce itself?” she asked, looking at Seraphitus, who colored and turned away.
“Let us sit down,” he said presently; “look below you, Minna. See! At this height you will have no fear. The abyss is so far beneath us that we no longer have a sense of its depths; it acquires the perspective uniformity of ocean, the vagueness of clouds, the soft coloring of the sky. See, the ice of the fiord is a turquoise195, the dark pine forests are mere threads of brown; for us all abysses should be thus adorned.”
Seraphitus said the words with that fervor of tone and gesture seen and known only by those who have ascended196 the highest mountains of the globe — a fervor so involuntarily acquired that the haughtiest197 of men is forced to regard his guide as a brother, forgetting his own superior station till he descends198 to the valleys and the abodes199 of his kind. Seraphitus unfastened the skees from Minna’s feet, kneeling before her. The girl did not notice him, so absorbed was she in the marvellous view now offered of her native land, whose rocky outlines could here be seen at a glance. She felt, with deep emotion, the solemn permanence of those frozen summits, to which words could give no adequate utterance200.
“We have not come here by human power alone,” she said, clasping her hands. “But perhaps I dream.”
“You think that facts the causes of which you cannot perceive are supernatural,” replied her companion.
“Your replies,” she said, “always bear the stamp of some deep thought. When I am near you I understand all things without an effort. Ah, I am free!”
“If so, you will not need your skees,” he answered.
“Oh!” she said; “I who would fain unfasten yours and kiss your feet!”
“Keep such words for Wilfrid,” said Seraphitus, gently.
“Wilfrid!” cried Minna angrily; then, softening201 as she glanced at her companion’s face and trying, but in vain, to take his hand, she added, “You are never angry, never; you are so hopelessly perfect in all things.”
“From which you conclude that I am unfeeling.”
Minna was startled at this lucid202 interpretation203 of her thought.
“You prove to me, at any rate, that we understand each other,” she said, with the grace of a loving woman.
Seraphitus softly shook his head and looked sadly and gently at her.
“You, who know all things,” said Minna, “tell me why it is that the timidity I felt below is over now that I have mounted higher. Why do I dare to look at you for the first time face to face, while lower down I scarcely dared to give a furtive204 glance?”
“Perhaps because we are withdrawn205 from the pettiness of earth,” he answered, unfastening his pelisse.
“Never, never have I seen you so beautiful!” cried Minna, sitting down on a mossy rock and losing herself in contemplation of the being who had now guided her to a part of the peak hitherto supposed to be inaccessible.
Never, in truth, had Seraphitus shone with so bright a radiance — the only word which can render the illumination of his face and the aspect of his whole person. Was this splendor206 due to the lustre207 which the pure air of mountains and the reflections of the snow give to the complexion208? Was it produced by the inward impulse which excites the body at the instant when exertion209 is arrested? Did it come from the sudden contrast between the glory of the sun and the darkness of the clouds, from whose shadow the charming couple had just emerged? Perhaps to all these causes we may add the effect of a phenomenon, one of the noblest which human nature has to offer. If some able physiologist210 had studied this being (who, judging by the pride on his brow and the lightning in his eyes seemed a youth of about seventeen years of age), and if the student had sought for the springs of that beaming life beneath the whitest skin that ever the North bestowed211 upon her offspring, he would undoubtedly212 have believed either in some phosphoric fluid of the nerves shining beneath the cuticle213, or in the constant presence of an inward luminary214, whose rays issued through the being of Seraphitus like a light through an alabaster215 vase. Soft and slender as were his hands, ungloved to remove his companion’s snow-boots, they seemed possessed216 of a strength equal to that which the Creator gave to the diaphanous217 tentacles218 of the crab219. The fire darting220 from his vivid glance seemed to struggle with the beams of the sun, not to take but to give them light. His body, slim and delicate as that of a woman, gave evidence of one of those natures which are feeble apparently221, but whose strength equals their will, rendering222 them at times powerful. Of medium height, Seraphitus appeared to grow in stature223 as he turned fully123 round and seemed about to spring upward. His hair, curled by a fairy’s hand and waving to the breeze, increased the illusion produced by this aerial attitude; yet his bearing, wholly without conscious effort, was the result far more of a moral phenomenon than of a corporal habit.
Minna’s imagination seconded this illusion, under the dominion224 of which all persons would assuredly have fallen — an illusion which gave to Seraphitus the appearance of a vision dreamed of in happy sleep. No known type conveys an image of that form so majestically225 made to Minna, but which to the eyes of a man would have eclipsed in womanly grace the fairest of Raphael’s creations. That painter of heaven has ever put a tranquil226 joy, a loving sweetness, into the lines of his angelic conceptions; but what soul, unless it contemplated Seraphitus himself, could have conceived the ineffable227 emotions imprinted228 on his face? Who would have divined, even in the dreams of artists, where all things become possible, the shadow cast by some mysterious awe229 upon that brow, shining with intellect, which seemed to question Heaven and to pity Earth? The head hovered230 awhile disdainfully, as some majestic bird whose cries reverberate232 on the atmosphere, then bowed itself resignedly, like the turtledove uttering soft notes of tenderness in the depths of the silent woods. His complexion was of marvellous whiteness, which brought out vividly233 the coral lips, the brown eyebrows234, and the silken lashes235, the only colors that trenched upon the paleness of that face, whose perfect regularity236 did not detract from the grandeur34 of the sentiments expressed in it; nay237, thought and emotion were reflected there, without hindrance238 or violence, with the majestic and natural gravity which we delight in attributing to superior beings. That face of purest marble expressed in all things strength and peace.
Minna rose to take the hand of Seraphitus, hoping thus to draw him to her, and to lay on that seductive brow a kiss given more from admiration239 than from love; but a glance at the young man’s eyes, which pierced her as a ray of sunlight penetrates240 a prism, paralyzed the young girl. She felt, but without comprehending, a gulf between them; then she turned away her head and wept. Suddenly a strong hand seized her by the waist, and a soft voice said to her: “Come!” She obeyed, resting her head, suddenly revived, upon the heart of her companion, who, regulating his step to hers with gentle and attentive241 conformity242, led her to a spot whence they could see the radiant glories of the polar Nature.
“Before I look, before I listen to you, tell me, Seraphitus, why you repulse243 me. Have I displeased244 you? and how? tell me! I want nothing for myself; I would that all my earthly goods were yours, for the riches of my heart are yours already. I would that light came to my eyes only though your eyes just as my thought is born of your thought. I should not then fear to offend you, for I should give you back the echoes of your soul, the words of your heart, day by day — as we render to God the meditations with which his spirit nourishes our minds. I would be thine alone.”
“Minna, a constant desire is that which shapes our future. Hope on! But if you would be pure in heart mingle the idea of the All-Powerful with your affections here below; then you will love all creatures, and your heart will rise to heights indeed.”
“I will do all you tell me,” she answered, lifting her eyes to his with a timid movement.
“I cannot be your companion,” said Seraphitus sadly.
He seemed to repress some thoughts, then stretched his arms towards Christiana, just visible like a speck245 on the horizon and said:—
“Look!”
“We are very small,” she said.
“Yes, but we become great through feeling and through intellect,” answered Seraphitus. “With us, and us alone, Minna, begins the knowledge of things; the little that we learn of the laws of the visible world enables us to apprehend the immensity of the worlds invisible. I know not if the time has come to speak thus to you, but I would, ah, I would communicate to you the flame of my hopes! Perhaps we may one day be together in the world where Love never dies.”
“Why not here and now?” she said, murmuring.
“Nothing is stable here,” he said, disdainfully. “The passing joys of earthly love are gleams which reveal to certain souls the coming of joys more durable246; just as the discovery of a single law of nature leads certain privileged beings to a conception of the system of the universe. Our fleeting happiness here below is the forerunning proof of another and a perfect happiness, just as the earth, a fragment of the world, attests247 the universe. We cannot measure the vast orbit of the Divine thought of which we are but an atom as small as God is great; but we can feel its vastness, we can kneel, adore, and wait. Men ever mislead themselves in science by not perceiving that all things on their globe are related and co-ordinated to the general evolution, to a constant movement and production which bring with them, necessarily, both advancement248 and an End. Man himself is not a finished creation; if he were, God would not Be.”
“How is it that in thy short life thou hast found the time to learn so many things?” said the young girl.
“I remember,” he replied.
“Thou art nobler than all else I see.”
“We are the noblest of God’s greatest works. Has He not given us the faculty249 of reflecting on Nature; of gathering it within us by thought; of making it a footstool and stepping-stone from and by which to rise to Him? We love according to the greater or the lesser250 portion of heaven our souls contain. But do not be unjust, Minna; behold251 the magnificence spread before you. Ocean expands at your feet like a carpet; the mountains resemble ampitheatres; heaven’s ether is above them like the arching folds of a stage curtain. Here we may breathe the thoughts of God, as it were like a perfume. See! the angry billows which engulf252 the ships laden253 with men seem to us, where we are, mere bubbles; and if we raise our eyes and look above, all there is blue. Behold that diadem254 of stars! Here the tints of earthly impressions disappear; standing114 on this nature rarefied by space do you not feel within you something deeper far than mind, grander than enthusiasm, of greater energy than will? Are you not conscious of emotions whose interpretation is no longer in us? Do you not feel your pinions255? Let us pray.”
Seraphitus knelt down and crossed his hands upon his breast, while Minna fell, weeping, on her knees. Thus they remained for a time, while the azure256 dome above their heads grew larger and strong rays of light enveloped257 them without their knowledge.
“Why dost thou not weep when I weep?” said Minna, in a broken voice.
“They who are all spirit do not weep,” replied Seraphitus rising; “Why should I weep? I see no longer human wretchedness. Here, Good appears in all its majesty. There, beneath us, I hear the supplications and the wailings of that harp61 of sorrows which vibrates in the hands of captive souls. Here, I listen to the choir258 of harps259 harmonious260. There, below, is hope, the glorious inception261 of faith; but here is faith — it reigns262, hope realized!”
“You will never love me; I am too imperfect; you disdain231 me,” said the young girl.
“Minna, the violet hidden at the feet of the oak whispers to itself: ‘The sun does not love me; he comes not.’ The sun says: ‘If my rays shine upon her she will perish, poor flower.’ Friend of the flower, he sends his beams through the oak leaves, he veils, he tempers them, and thus they color the petals263 of his beloved. I have not veils enough, I fear lest you see me too closely; you would tremble if you knew me better. Listen: I have no taste for earthly fruits. Your joys, I know them all too well, and, like the sated emperors of pagan Rome, I have reached disgust of all things; I have received the gift of vision. Leave me! abandon me!” he murmured, sorrowfully.
Seraphitus turned and seated himself on a projecting rock, dropping his head upon his breast.
“Why do you drive me to despair?” said Minna.
“Go, go!” cried Seraphitus, “I have nothing that you want of me. Your love is too earthly for my love. Why do you not love Wilfrid? Wilfrid is a man, tested by passions; he would clasp you in his vigorous arms and make you feel a hand both broad and strong. His hair is black, his eyes are full of human thoughts, his heart pours lava264 in every word he utters; he could kill you with caresses265. Let him be your beloved, your husband! Yes, thine be Wilfrid!”
Minna wept aloud.
“Dare you say that you do not love him?” he went on, in a voice which pierced her like a dagger266.
“Have mercy, have mercy, my Seraphitus!”
“Love him, poor child of Earth to which thy destiny has indissolubly bound thee,” said the strange being, beckoning267 Minna by a gesture, and forcing her to the edge of the saeter, whence he pointed downward to a scene that might well inspire a young girl full of enthusiasm with the fancy that she stood above this earth.
“I longed for a companion to the kingdom of Light; I wished to show you that morsel268 of mud, I find you bound to it. Farewell. Remain on earth; enjoy through the senses; obey your nature; turn pale with pallid men; blush with women; sport with children; pray with the guilty; raise your eyes to heaven when sorrows overtake you; tremble, hope, throb158 in all your pulses; you will have a companion; you can laugh and weep, and give and receive. I— I am an exile, far from heaven; a monster, far from earth. I live of myself and by myself. I feel by the spirit; I breathe through my brow; I see by thought; I die of impatience269 and of longing270. No one here below can fulfil my desires or calm my griefs. I have forgotten how to weep. I am alone. I resign myself, and I wait.”
Seraphitus looked at the flowery mound271 on which he had seated Minna; then he turned and faced the frowning heights, whose pinnacles were wrapped in clouds; to them he cast, unspoken, the remainder of his thoughts.
“Minna, do you hear those delightful272 strains?” he said after a pause, with the voice of a dove, for the eagle’s cry was hushed; “it is like the music of those Eolian harps your poets hang in forests and on the mountains. Do you see the shadowy figures passing among the clouds, the winged feet of those who are making ready the gifts of heaven? They bring refreshment273 to the soul; the skies are about to open and shed the flowers of spring upon the earth. See, a gleam is darting from the pole. Let us fly, let us fly! It is time we go!”
In a moment their skees were refastened, and the pair descended274 the Falberg by the steep slopes which join the mountain to the valleys of the Sieg. Miraculous275 perception guided their course, or, to speak more properly, their flight. When fissures covered with snow intercepted276 them, Seraphitus caught Minna in his arms and darted with rapid motion, lightly as a bird, over the crumbling277 causeways of the abyss. Sometimes, while propelling his companion, he deviated278 to the right or left to avoid a precipice, a tree, a projecting rock, which he seemed to see beneath the snow, as an old sailor, familiar with the ocean, discerns the hidden reefs by the color, the trend, or the eddying279 of the water. When they reached the paths of the Siegdahlen, where they could fearlessly follow a straight line to regain280 the ice of the fiord, Seraphitus stopped Minna.
“You have nothing to say to me?” he asked.
“I thought you would rather think alone,” she answered respectfully.
“Let us hasten, Minette; it is almost night,” he said.
Minna quivered as she heard the voice, now so changed, of her guide — a pure voice, like that of a young girl, which dissolved the fantastic dream through which she had been passing. Seraphitus seemed to be laying aside his male force and the too keen intellect that flames from his eyes. Presently the charming pair glided across the fiord and reached the snow-field which divides the shore from the first range of houses; then, hurrying forward as daylight faded, they sprang up the hill toward the parsonage, as though they were mounting the steps of a great staircase.
“My father must be anxious,” said Minna.
“No,” answered Seraphitus.
As he spoke161 the couple reached the porch of the humble dwelling where Monsieur Becker, the pastor281 of Jarvis, sat reading while awaiting his daughter for the evening meal.
“Dear Monsieur Becker,” said Seraphitus, “I have brought Minna back to you safe and sound.”
“Thank you, mademoiselle,” said the old man, laying his spectacles on his book; “you must be very tired.”
“Oh, no,” said Minna, and as she spoke she felt the soft breath of her companion on her brow.
“Dear heart, will you come day after to-morrow evening and take tea with me?”
“Gladly, dear.”
“Monsieur Becker, you will bring her, will you not?”
“Yes, mademoiselle.”
Seraphitus inclined his head with a pretty gesture, and bowed to the old pastor as he left the house. A few moments later he reached the great courtyard of the Swedish villa58. An old servant, over eighty years of age, appeared in the portico282 bearing a lantern. Seraphitus slipped off his snow-shoes with the graceful dexterity of a woman, then darting into the salon283 he fell exhausted284 and motionless on a wide divan285 covered with furs.
“What will you take?” asked the old man, lighting the immensely tall wax-candles that are used in Norway.
“Nothing, David, I am too weary.”
Seraphitus unfastened his pelisse lined with sable86, threw it over him, and fell asleep. The old servant stood for several minutes gazing with loving eyes at the singular being before him, whose sex it would have been difficult for any one at that moment to determine. Wrapped as he was in a formless garment, which resembled equally a woman’s robe and a man’s mantle, it was impossible not to fancy that the slender feet which hung at the side of the couch were those of a woman, and equally impossible not to note how the forehead and the outlines of the head gave evidence of power brought to its highest pitch.
“She suffers, and she will not tell me,” thought the old man. “She is dying, like a flower wilted286 by the burning sun.”
And the old man wept.
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1
marvel
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| vi.(at)惊叹vt.感到惊异；n.令人惊异的事 | |
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granite
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| adj.花岗岩，花岗石 | |
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3
incessantly
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| ad.不停地 | |
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majestic
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| adj.雄伟的，壮丽的，庄严的，威严的，崇高的 | |
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creeks
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| n.小湾( creek的名词复数 )；小港；小河；小溪 | |
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recording
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| n.录音，记录 | |
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hieroglyphics
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| n.pl.象形文字 | |
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8
bestowing
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| 砖窑中砖堆上层已烧透的砖 | |
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spine
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| n.脊柱，脊椎；(动植物的)刺；书脊 | |
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staple
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| n.主要产物，常用品，主要要素，原料，订书钉，钩环；adj.主要的，重要的；vt.分类 | |
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11
hardy
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| adj.勇敢的，果断的，吃苦的；耐寒的 | |
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lichen
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| n.地衣, 青苔 | |
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arid
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| adj.干旱的；(土地)贫瘠的 | |
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14
longitude
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| n.经线，经度 | |
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perils
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| 极大危险( peril的名词复数 )； 危险的事（或环境） | |
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16
devoid
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| adj.全无的，缺乏的 | |
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17
profaning
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| v.不敬( profane的现在分词 )；亵渎，玷污 | |
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18
sublime
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| adj.崇高的，伟大的；极度的，不顾后果的 | |
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19
virgin
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| n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的 | |
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20
phenomena
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| n.现象 | |
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21
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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22
fissures
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| n.狭长裂缝或裂隙( fissure的名词复数 )；裂伤；分歧；分裂v.裂开( fissure的第三人称单数 ) | |
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23
fissure
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| n.裂缝；裂伤 | |
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24
geographers
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| 地理学家( geographer的名词复数 ) | |
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25
breach
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| n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破 | |
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26
precipice
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| n.悬崖，危急的处境 | |
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precipices
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| n.悬崖，峭壁( precipice的名词复数 ) | |
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28
ledges
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| n.（墙壁，悬崖等）突出的狭长部分( ledge的名词复数 )；（平窄的）壁架；横档；（尤指）窗台 | |
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29
ledge
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| n.壁架，架状突出物；岩架，岩礁 | |
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30
lodge
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| v.临时住宿，寄宿，寄存，容纳；n.传达室，小旅馆 | |
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31
crests
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| v.到达山顶（或浪峰）( crest的第三人称单数 )；到达洪峰，达到顶点 | |
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32
crest
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| n.顶点；饰章；羽冠；vt.达到顶点；vi.形成浪尖 | |
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33
tempted
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| v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词） | |
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34
grandeur
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| n.伟大，崇高，宏伟，庄严，豪华 | |
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35
celestial
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| adj.天体的；天上的 | |
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funnel
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| n.漏斗；烟囱；v.汇集 | |
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37
inertia
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| adj.惰性，惯性，懒惰，迟钝 | |
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38
inert
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| adj.无活动能力的，惰性的；迟钝的 | |
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39
intrepid
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| adj.无畏的，刚毅的 | |
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40
fathoms
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| 英寻( fathom的名词复数 ) | |
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41
tottering
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| adj.蹒跚的，动摇的v.走得或动得不稳( totter的现在分词 )；踉跄；蹒跚；摇摇欲坠 | |
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42
guise
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| n.外表，伪装的姿态 | |
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43
obliquely
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| adv.斜； 倾斜； 间接； 不光明正大 | |
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44
serpentine
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| adj.蜿蜒的，弯曲的 | |
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45
vertical
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| adj.垂直的，顶点的，纵向的；n.垂直物，垂直的位置 | |
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46
inflexible
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| adj.不可改变的，不受影响的，不屈服的 | |
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47
clefts
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| n.裂缝( cleft的名词复数 )；裂口；cleave的过去式和过去分词；进退维谷 | |
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48
plunge
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| v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲 | |
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49
plunges
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| n.跳进，投入vt.使投入，使插入，使陷入vi.投入，跳进，陷入v.颠簸( plunge的第三人称单数 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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50
cascades
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| 倾泻( cascade的名词复数 )； 小瀑布（尤指一连串瀑布中的一支）； 瀑布状物； 倾泻（或涌出）的东西 | |
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51
torrent
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| n.激流，洪流；爆发，(话语等的)连发 | |
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52
vomiting
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| 吐 | |
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53
hoary
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| adj.古老的；鬓发斑白的 | |
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54
aged
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| adj.年老的，陈年的 | |
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55
larches
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| n.落叶松（木材）( larch的名词复数 ) | |
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56
foam
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| v./n.泡沫，起泡沫 | |
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57
ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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58
villa
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| n.别墅，城郊小屋 | |
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59
buffeting
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| 振动 | |
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60
mantle
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| n.斗篷，覆罩之物，罩子；v.罩住，覆盖，脸红 | |
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61
harp
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| n.竖琴；天琴座 | |
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62
proximity
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| n.接近，邻近 | |
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63
chilly
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| adj.凉快的，寒冷的 | |
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64
shrubs
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| 灌木( shrub的名词复数 ) | |
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65
stunted
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| adj.矮小的；发育迟缓的 | |
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66
mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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67
mingle
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| vt.使混合，使相混；vi.混合起来；相交往 | |
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68
beeches
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| n.山毛榉( beech的名词复数 )；山毛榉木材 | |
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69
varied
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| adj.多样的，多变化的 | |
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70
tapestries
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| n.挂毯( tapestry的名词复数 )；绣帷，织锦v.用挂毯（或绣帷）装饰( tapestry的第三人称单数 ) | |
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71
rugged
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| adj.高低不平的，粗糙的，粗壮的，强健的 | |
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72
cultivation
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| n.耕作，培养，栽培（法），养成 | |
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73
flora
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| n.(某一地区的)植物群 | |
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74
murmurs
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| n.低沉、连续而不清的声音( murmur的名词复数 )；低语声；怨言；嘀咕 | |
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75
mica
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| n.云母 | |
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76
pebbles
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| [复数]鹅卵石； 沙砾； 卵石，小圆石( pebble的名词复数 ) | |
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77
tints
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| 色彩( tint的名词复数 )； 带白的颜色； （淡色）染发剂； 痕迹 | |
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78
tint
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| n.淡色，浅色；染发剂；vt.着以淡淡的颜色 | |
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79
isolated
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| adj.与世隔绝的 | |
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80
swarm
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| n.(昆虫)等一大群；vi.成群飞舞；蜂拥而入 | |
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81
vegetating
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| v.过单调呆板的生活( vegetate的现在分词 )；植物似地生长；（瘤、疣等）长大 | |
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82
wringing
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| 淋湿的，湿透的 | |
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83
sustenance
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| n.食物，粮食；生活资料；生计 | |
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84
hemp
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| n.大麻；纤维 | |
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85
fleeting
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| adj.短暂的，飞逝的 | |
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86
sable
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| n.黑貂；adj.黑色的 | |
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87
maritime
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| adj.海的，海事的，航海的，近海的，沿海的 | |
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88
defiles
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| v.玷污( defile的第三人称单数 )；污染；弄脏；纵列行进 | |
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89
inaccessible
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| adj.达不到的，难接近的 | |
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90
fervor
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| n.热诚；热心；炽热 | |
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91
reverencing
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| v.尊敬，崇敬( reverence的现在分词 )；敬礼 | |
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92
apprehend
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| vt.理解，领悟，逮捕，拘捕，忧虑 | |
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93
tortuous
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| adj.弯弯曲曲的，蜿蜒的 | |
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94
everlasting
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| adj.永恒的，持久的，无止境的 | |
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95
picturesque
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| adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的 | |
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96
luscious
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| adj.美味的；芬芳的；肉感的，引与性欲的 | |
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97
myriads
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| n.无数，极大数量( myriad的名词复数 ) | |
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98
graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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99
maidens
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| 处女( maiden的名词复数 )； 少女； 未婚女子； （板球运动）未得分的一轮投球 | |
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100
colonnades
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| n.石柱廊( colonnade的名词复数 ) | |
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101
moss
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| n.苔，藓，地衣 | |
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102
tracts
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| 大片土地( tract的名词复数 )； 地带； （体内的）道； （尤指宣扬宗教、伦理或政治的）短文 | |
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103
crimson
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| n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色 | |
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104
weird
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| adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的 | |
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105
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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106
thatch
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| vt.用茅草覆盖…的顶部；n.茅草(屋) | |
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107
frail
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| adj.身体虚弱的；易损坏的 | |
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108
humble
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| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
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109
dwellings
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| n.住处，处所( dwelling的名词复数 ) | |
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110
dwelling
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| n.住宅，住所，寓所 | |
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111
simplicity
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| n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯 | |
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112
graveyard
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| n.坟场 | |
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113
projection
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| n.发射，计划，突出部分 | |
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114
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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115
savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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116
foaming
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| adj.布满泡沫的；发泡 | |
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117
glaciers
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| 冰河，冰川( glacier的名词复数 ) | |
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118
enacted
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| 制定（法律），通过（法案）( enact的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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119
noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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120
gulf
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| n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂 | |
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121
wondrous
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| 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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122
bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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123
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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124
monotonous
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| adj.单调的，一成不变的，使人厌倦的 | |
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125
arcade
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| n.拱廊；(一侧或两侧有商店的)通道 | |
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126
reigned
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| vi.当政，统治（reign的过去式形式） | |
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127
resounding
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| adj. 响亮的 | |
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128
intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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129
luxurious
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| adj.精美而昂贵的；豪华的 | |
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130
darts
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| n.掷飞镖游戏；飞镖( dart的名词复数 )；急驰，飞奔v.投掷，投射( dart的第三人称单数 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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131
torpid
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| adj.麻痹的，麻木的，迟钝的 | |
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132
joyous
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| adj.充满快乐的；令人高兴的 | |
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133
pinnacles
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| 顶峰( pinnacle的名词复数 )； 顶点； 尖顶； 小尖塔 | |
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134
adorned
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| [计]被修饰的 | |
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135
iridescent
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|
| adj.彩虹色的，闪色的 | |
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136
pallid
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| adj.苍白的，呆板的 | |
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137
majesty
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| n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权 | |
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138
monarchy
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| n.君主，最高统治者；君主政体，君主国 | |
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139
negation
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| n.否定；否认 | |
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140
plank
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| n.板条，木板，政策要点，政纲条目 | |
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141
planks
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| （厚）木板( plank的名词复数 )； 政纲条目，政策要点 | |
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142
spun
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| v.纺，杜撰，急转身 | |
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143
linen
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| n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的 | |
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144
fabrics
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| 织物( fabric的名词复数 )； 布； 构造； （建筑物的）结构（如墙、地面、屋顶）：质地 | |
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145
meditations
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| 默想( meditation的名词复数 )； 默念； 沉思； 冥想 | |
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146
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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147
lighting
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| n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光 | |
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148
consort
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| v.相伴；结交 | |
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149
superstitious
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| adj.迷信的 | |
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150
glided
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| v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔 | |
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151
dexterity
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| n.(手的)灵巧，灵活 | |
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152
deviation
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| n.背离，偏离；偏差，偏向；离题 | |
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153
equilibrium
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| n.平衡，均衡，相称，均势，平静 | |
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154
thong
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|
| n.皮带；皮鞭；v.装皮带 | |
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155
reindeer
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| n.驯鹿 | |
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156
bristled
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|
| adj. 直立的，多刺毛的 动词bristle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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157
throbs
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| 体内的跳动( throb的名词复数 ) | |
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158
throb
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| v.震颤，颤动；(急速强烈地)跳动，搏动 | |
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159
indifference
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| n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎 | |
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160
bespoke
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| adj.（产品）订做的；专做订货的v.预定( bespeak的过去式 )；订（货）；证明；预先请求 | |
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161
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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162
exquisite
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| adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的 | |
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163
caress
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| vt./n.爱抚，抚摸 | |
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164
paternal
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| adj.父亲的，像父亲的，父系的，父方的 | |
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165
contagion
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| n.(通过接触的疾病)传染；蔓延 | |
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166
devour
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| v.吞没；贪婪地注视或谛听，贪读；使着迷 | |
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167
shudder
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| v.战粟，震动，剧烈地摇晃；n.战粟，抖动 | |
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168
suffused
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| v.（指颜色、水气等）弥漫于，布满( suffuse的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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169
veins
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| n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理 | |
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170
extremities
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| n.端点( extremity的名词复数 )；尽头；手和足；极窘迫的境地 | |
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171
torpedo
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| n.水雷，地雷；v.用鱼雷破坏 | |
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172
belching
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| n. 喷出，打嗝 动词belch的现在分词形式 | |
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173
venom
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| n.毒液，恶毒，痛恨 | |
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174
jaws
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| n.口部；嘴 | |
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175
prey
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| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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176
caressing
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| 爱抚的，表现爱情的，亲切的 | |
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177
penetrated
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| adj. 击穿的，鞭辟入里的 动词penetrate的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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178
plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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179
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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180
dome
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| n.圆屋顶，拱顶 | |
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181
virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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182
atmospheric
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|
| adj.大气的，空气的；大气层的；大气所引起的 | |
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183
darted
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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184
barb
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| n.（鱼钩等的）倒钩，倒刺 | |
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185
gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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186
solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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187
hybrid
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| n.(动，植）杂种，混合物 | |
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188
falcon
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| n.隼，猎鹰 | |
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189
transparent
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| adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的 | |
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190
notched
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| a.有凹口的，有缺口的 | |
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191
fragrance
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| n.芬芳，香味，香气 | |
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192
fugitive
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| adj.逃亡的，易逝的；n.逃犯，逃亡者 | |
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193
contemplated
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| adj. 预期的 动词contemplate的过去分词形式 | |
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194
plaintive
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| adj.可怜的，伤心的 | |
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195
turquoise
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| n.绿宝石；adj.蓝绿色的 | |
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196
ascended
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| v.上升，攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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197
haughtiest
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| haughty（傲慢的，骄傲的）的最高级形式 | |
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198
descends
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| v.下来( descend的第三人称单数 )；下去；下降；下斜 | |
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199
abodes
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| 住所( abode的名词复数 )； 公寓； （在某地的）暂住； 逗留 | |
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200
utterance
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| n.用言语表达，话语，言语 | |
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201
softening
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| 变软，软化 | |
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202
lucid
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| adj.明白易懂的，清晰的，头脑清楚的 | |
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203
interpretation
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| n.解释，说明，描述；艺术处理 | |
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204
furtive
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| adj.鬼鬼崇崇的，偷偷摸摸的 | |
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205
withdrawn
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| vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出 | |
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206
splendor
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| n.光彩；壮丽，华丽；显赫，辉煌 | |
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207
lustre
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| n.光亮，光泽；荣誉 | |
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208
complexion
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| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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209
exertion
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| n.尽力，努力 | |
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210
physiologist
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| n.生理学家 | |
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211
bestowed
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| 赠给，授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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212
undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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213
cuticle
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| n.表皮 | |
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214
luminary
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| n.名人，天体 | |
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215
alabaster
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| adj.雪白的；n.雪花石膏；条纹大理石 | |
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216
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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217
diaphanous
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| adj.(布)精致的，半透明的 | |
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218
tentacles
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| n.触手( tentacle的名词复数 )；触角；触须；触毛 | |
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219
crab
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| n.螃蟹，偏航，脾气乖戾的人，酸苹果；vi.捕蟹，偏航，发牢骚；vt.使偏航，发脾气 | |
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220
darting
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的现在分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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221
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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222
rendering
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| n.表现，描写 | |
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223
stature
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| n.（高度）水平，（高度）境界，身高，身材 | |
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dominion
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| n.统治，管辖，支配权；领土，版图 | |
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225
majestically
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| 雄伟地； 庄重地； 威严地； 崇高地 | |
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tranquil
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| adj. 安静的, 宁静的, 稳定的, 不变的 | |
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ineffable
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| adj.无法表达的，不可言喻的 | |
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imprinted
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| v.盖印（imprint的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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229
awe
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| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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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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disdain
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| n.鄙视，轻视；v.轻视，鄙视，不屑 | |
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reverberate
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| v.使回响，使反响 | |
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233
vividly
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| adv.清楚地，鲜明地，生动地 | |
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234
eyebrows
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| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
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235
lashes
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| n.鞭挞( lash的名词复数 )；鞭子；突然猛烈的一击；急速挥动v.鞭打( lash的第三人称单数 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
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236
regularity
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| n.规律性，规则性；匀称，整齐 | |
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237
nay
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| adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者 | |
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238
hindrance
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| n.妨碍，障碍 | |
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239
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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240
penetrates
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| v.穿过( penetrate的第三人称单数 )；刺入；了解；渗透 | |
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241
attentive
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| adj.注意的，专心的；关心(别人)的，殷勤的 | |
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conformity
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| n.一致，遵从，顺从 | |
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243
repulse
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| n.击退，拒绝；vt.逐退，击退，拒绝 | |
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displeased
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| a.不快的 | |
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245
speck
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| n.微粒，小污点，小斑点 | |
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246
durable
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| adj.持久的，耐久的 | |
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attests
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| v.证明( attest的第三人称单数 )；证实；声称…属实；使宣誓 | |
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advancement
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| n.前进，促进，提升 | |
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249
faculty
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| n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员 | |
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lesser
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| adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地 | |
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251
behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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252
engulf
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| vt.吞没，吞食 | |
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laden
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| adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的 | |
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diadem
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| n.王冠，冕 | |
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255
pinions
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| v.抓住[捆住]（双臂）( pinion的第三人称单数 ) | |
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azure
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| adj.天蓝色的，蔚蓝色的 | |
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enveloped
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| v.包围，笼罩，包住( envelop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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choir
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| n.唱诗班，唱诗班的席位，合唱团，舞蹈团；v.合唱 | |
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harps
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| abbr.harpsichord 拨弦古钢琴n.竖琴( harp的名词复数 ) | |
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harmonious
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| adj.和睦的，调和的，和谐的，协调的 | |
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inception
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| n.开端，开始，取得学位 | |
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reigns
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| n.君主的统治( reign的名词复数 )；君主统治时期；任期；当政期 | |
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petals
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| n.花瓣( petal的名词复数 ) | |
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lava
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| n.熔岩，火山岩 | |
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caresses
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| 爱抚，抚摸( caress的名词复数 ) | |
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dagger
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| n.匕首，短剑，剑号 | |
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beckoning
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| adj.引诱人的，令人心动的v.（用头或手的动作）示意，召唤( beckon的现在分词 ) | |
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268
morsel
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| n.一口，一点点 | |
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269
impatience
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| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
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270
longing
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| n.（for）渴望 | |
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271
mound
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| n.土墩，堤，小山；v.筑堤，用土堆防卫 | |
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delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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273
refreshment
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| n.恢复，精神爽快，提神之事物；（复数）refreshments:点心，茶点 | |
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274
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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275
miraculous
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| adj.像奇迹一样的，不可思议的 | |
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276
intercepted
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| 拦截( intercept的过去式和过去分词 )； 截住； 截击； 拦阻 | |
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277
crumbling
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| adj.摇摇欲坠的 | |
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278
deviated
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| v.偏离，越轨( deviate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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279
eddying
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| 涡流，涡流的形成 | |
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280
regain
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| vt.重新获得，收复，恢复 | |
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281
pastor
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| n.牧师，牧人 | |
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282
portico
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| n.柱廊，门廊 | |
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283
salon
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| n.[法]沙龙；客厅；营业性的高级服务室 | |
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284
exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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285
divan
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| n.长沙发；（波斯或其他东方诗人的）诗集 | |
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286
wilted
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| （使）凋谢，枯萎( wilt的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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