‘I would seize any opportunity to pay my respects to you,’ replied Tancred; ‘but this occasion is most agreeable to me.’
‘And when, noble traveller, did you arrive at Esh Sham3?’
‘But this morning; we were last from Hasbeya.’ Tancred then inquired after Eva, and Besso led him to his daughter.
In the meantime the arrival of the new guests made a considerable sensation in the chamber4, especially with the Mesdemoiselles Laurella. A young prince of the Lebanon, whatever his religion, was a distinguished5 and agreeable accession to their circle, but in Tancred they recognised a being at once civilised and fashionable, a Christian6 who could dance the polka. Refreshing7 as springs in the desert to their long languishing8 eyes were the sight of his white cravat9 and his boots of Parisian polish.
‘It is one of our great national festivals,’ said Eva, slightly waving her palm branch; ‘the celebration of the Hebrew vintage, the Feast of Tabernacles.’
The vineyards of Israel have ceased to exist, but the eternal law enjoins10 the children of Israel still to celebrate the vintage. A race that persist in celebrating their vintage, although they have no fruits to gather, will regain11 their vineyards. What sublime12 inexorability in the law! But what indomitable spirit in the people!
It is easy for the happier Sephardim, the Hebrews who have never quitted the sunny regions that are laved by the Midland Ocean; it is easy for them, though they have lost their heritage, to sympathise, in their beautiful Asian cities or in their Moorish13 and Arabian gardens, with the graceful14 rights that are, at least, an homage15 to a benignant nature. But picture to yourself the child of Israel in the dingy16 suburb or the squalid quarter of some bleak17 northern town, where there is never a sun that can at any rate ripen18 grapes. Yet he must celebrate the vintage of purple Palestine! The law has told him, though a denizen19 in an icy clime, that he must dwell for seven days in a bower20, and that he must build it of the boughs21 of thick trees; and the Rabbins have told him that these thick trees are the palm, the myrtle, and the weeping willow22. Even Sarmatia may furnish a weeping willow. The law has told him that he must pluck the fruit of goodly trees, and the Rabbins have explained that goodly fruit on this occasion is confined to the citron. Perhaps, in his despair, he is obliged to fly to the candied delicacies23 of the grocer. His mercantile connections will enable him, often at considerable cost, to procure24 some palm leaves from Canaan, which he may wave in his synagogue while he exclaims, as the crowd did when the Divine descendant of David entered Jerusalem, ‘Hosanna in the highest!’
There is something profoundly interesting in this devoted25 observance of Oriental customs in the heart of our Saxon and Sclavonian cities; in these descendants of the Bedouins, who conquered Canaan more than three thousand years ago, still celebrating that success which secured their forefathers26, for the first time, grapes and wine.
Conceive a being born and bred in the Judenstrasse of Hamburg or Frankfort, or rather in the purlieus of our Houndsditch or Minories, born to hereditary27 insult, without any education, apparently28 without a circumstance that can develop the slightest taste, or cherish the least sentiment for the beautiful, living amid fogs and filth29, never treated with kindness, seldom with justice, occupied with the meanest, if not the vilest30, toil31, bargaining for frippery, speculating in usury32, existing for ever under the concurrent33 influence of degrading causes which would have worn out, long ago, any race that was not of the unmixed blood of Caucasus, and did not adhere to the laws of Moses; conceive such a being, an object to you of prejudice, dislike, disgust, perhaps hatred34. The season arrives, and the mind and heart of that being are filled with images and passions that have been ranked in all ages among the most beautiful and the most genial35 of human experience; filled with a subject the most vivid, the most graceful, the most joyous36, and the most exuberant37; a subject which has inspired poets, and which has made gods; the harvest of the grape in the native regions of the Vine.
He rises in the morning, goes early to some White-chapel market, purchases some willow boughs for which he has previously38 given a commission, and which are brought, probably, from one of the neighbouring rivers of Essex, hastens home, cleans out the yard of his miserable39 tenement40, builds his bower, decks it, even profusely41, with the finest flowers and fruits that he can procure, the myrtle and the citron never forgotten, and hangs its roof with variegated42 lamps. After the service of his synagogue, he sups late with his wife and his children in the open air, as if he were in the pleasant villages of Galilee, beneath its sweet and starry43 sky.
Perhaps, as he is giving the Keedush, the Hebrew blessing44 to the Hebrew meal, breaking and distributing the bread, and sanctifying, with a preliminary prayer, the goblet45 of wine he holds, the very ceremony which the Divine Prince of Israel, nearly two thousand years ago, adopted at the most memorable46 of all repasts, and eternally invested with eucharistic grace; or, perhaps, as he is offering up the peculiar47 thanksgiving of the Feast of Tabernacles, praising Jehovah for the vintage which his children may no longer cull48, but also for His promise that they may some day again enjoy it, and his wife and his children are joining in a pious49 Hosanna, that is, Save us! a party of Anglo–Saxons, very respectable men, ten-pounders, a little elevated it may be, though certainly not in honour of the vintage, pass the house, and words like these are heard:
‘I say, Buggins, what’s that row?’
‘Oh! it’s those cursed Jews! we’ve a lot of ’em here. It is one of their horrible feasts. The Lord Mayor ought to interfere50. However, things are not as bad as they used to be: they used always to crucify little boys at these hullabaloos, but now they only eat sausages made of stinking51 pork.’
‘To be sure,’ replies his companion, ‘we all make progress.’
In the meantime, a burst of music sounds from the gardens of Besso of Damascus. He advances, and invites Tancred and the Emir to follow him, and, without any order or courtesy to the softer sex, who, on the contrary, follow in the rear, the whole company step out of the Saracenic windows into the gardens. The mansion52 of Besso, which was of great extent, appeared to be built in their midst. No other roof or building was in any direction visible, yet the house was truly in the middle of the city, and the umbrageous53 plane trees alone produced that illimitable air which is always so pleasing and effective. The house, though lofty for an eastern mansion, was only one story in height, yet its front was covered with an external and double staircase. This, after a promenade54 in the garden, the guests approached and mounted. It led to the roof or terrace of the house, which was of great size, an oblong square, and which again was a garden. Myrtle trees of a considerable height, and fragrant55 with many flowers, were arranged in close order along the four sides of this roof, forming a barrier which no eye from the city beneath or any neighbouring terrace could penetrate56. This verdant57 bulwark58, however, opened at each corner of the roof, which was occupied by a projecting pavilion of white marble, a light cupola of chequered carving59 supported by wreathed columns. From these pavilions the most charming views might be obtained of the city and the surrounding country: Damascus, itself a varied60 mass of dark green groves61, white minarets62, bright gardens, and hooded63 domes64; to the south and east, at the extremity65 of its rich plain, the glare of the desert; to the west the ranges of the Lebanon; while the city was backed on the north by other mountain regions which Tancred had not yet penetrated66.
In the centre of the terrace was a temporary structure of a peculiar character. It was nearly forty feet long, half as many broad, and proportionately lofty. Twelve palm trees clustering with ripe fruit, and each of which seemed to spring from a flowering hedge of myrtles, supported a roof formed with much artifice67 of the braided boughs of trees. These, however, only furnished an invisible framework, from which were suspended the most beautiful and delicious fruits, citron and pomegranate, orange, and fig68, and banana, and melon, in such thickness and profusion69 that they formed, as it were, a carved ceiling of rich shades and glowing colours, like the Saracenic ceiling of the mansion, while enormous bunches of grapes every now and then descended70 like pendants from the main body of the roof. The spaces between the palm trees were filled with a natural trellis-work of orange trees in fruit and blossom, leaving at intervals71 arches of entrance, whose form was indicated by bunches of the sweetest and rarest flowers.
Within was a banqueting-table covered with thick white damask silk, with a border of gold about a foot in breadth, and before each guest was placed a napkin of the same fashion. The table, however, lacked none of the conveniences and luxuries and even ornaments72 of Europe. What can withstand the united influence of taste, wealth, and commerce? The choicest porcelain73 of France, golden goblets74 chiselled75 in Bond Street, and the prototypes of which had perhaps been won at Goodwood or Ascot, mingled76 with the rarest specimens77 of the glass of Bohemia, while the triumphant78 blades of Sheffield flashed in that very Syrian city whose skill in cutlery had once been a proverb. Around the table was a divan79 of amber-coloured satin with many cushions, so arranged that the guests might follow either the Oriental or the European mode of seating themselves. Such was the bower or tabernacle of Besso of Damascus, prepared to celebrate the seventh day of his vintage feast.
点击收听单词发音
1 withdrawn | |
vt.收回;使退出;vi.撤退,退出 | |
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2 averse | |
adj.厌恶的;反对的,不乐意的 | |
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3 sham | |
n./adj.假冒(的),虚伪(的) | |
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4 chamber | |
n.房间,寝室;会议厅;议院;会所 | |
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5 distinguished | |
adj.卓越的,杰出的,著名的 | |
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6 Christian | |
adj.基督教徒的;n.基督教徒 | |
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7 refreshing | |
adj.使精神振作的,使人清爽的,使人喜欢的 | |
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8 languishing | |
a. 衰弱下去的 | |
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9 cravat | |
n.领巾,领结;v.使穿有领结的服装,使结领结 | |
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10 enjoins | |
v.命令( enjoin的第三人称单数 ) | |
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11 regain | |
vt.重新获得,收复,恢复 | |
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12 sublime | |
adj.崇高的,伟大的;极度的,不顾后果的 | |
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13 moorish | |
adj.沼地的,荒野的,生[住]在沼地的 | |
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14 graceful | |
adj.优美的,优雅的;得体的 | |
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15 homage | |
n.尊敬,敬意,崇敬 | |
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16 dingy | |
adj.昏暗的,肮脏的 | |
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17 bleak | |
adj.(天气)阴冷的;凄凉的;暗淡的 | |
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18 ripen | |
vt.使成熟;vi.成熟 | |
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19 denizen | |
n.居民,外籍居民 | |
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20 bower | |
n.凉亭,树荫下凉快之处;闺房;v.荫蔽 | |
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21 boughs | |
大树枝( bough的名词复数 ) | |
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22 willow | |
n.柳树 | |
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23 delicacies | |
n.棘手( delicacy的名词复数 );精致;精美的食物;周到 | |
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24 procure | |
vt.获得,取得,促成;vi.拉皮条 | |
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25 devoted | |
adj.忠诚的,忠实的,热心的,献身于...的 | |
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26 forefathers | |
n.祖先,先人;祖先,祖宗( forefather的名词复数 );列祖列宗;前人 | |
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27 hereditary | |
adj.遗传的,遗传性的,可继承的,世袭的 | |
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28 apparently | |
adv.显然地;表面上,似乎 | |
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29 filth | |
n.肮脏,污物,污秽;淫猥 | |
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30 vilest | |
adj.卑鄙的( vile的最高级 );可耻的;极坏的;非常讨厌的 | |
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31 toil | |
vi.辛劳工作,艰难地行动;n.苦工,难事 | |
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32 usury | |
n.高利贷 | |
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33 concurrent | |
adj.同时发生的,一致的 | |
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34 hatred | |
n.憎恶,憎恨,仇恨 | |
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35 genial | |
adj.亲切的,和蔼的,愉快的,脾气好的 | |
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36 joyous | |
adj.充满快乐的;令人高兴的 | |
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37 exuberant | |
adj.充满活力的;(植物)繁茂的 | |
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38 previously | |
adv.以前,先前(地) | |
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39 miserable | |
adj.悲惨的,痛苦的;可怜的,糟糕的 | |
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40 tenement | |
n.公寓;房屋 | |
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41 profusely | |
ad.abundantly | |
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42 variegated | |
adj.斑驳的,杂色的 | |
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43 starry | |
adj.星光照耀的, 闪亮的 | |
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44 blessing | |
n.祈神赐福;祷告;祝福,祝愿 | |
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45 goblet | |
n.高脚酒杯 | |
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46 memorable | |
adj.值得回忆的,难忘的,特别的,显著的 | |
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47 peculiar | |
adj.古怪的,异常的;特殊的,特有的 | |
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48 cull | |
v.拣选;剔除;n.拣出的东西;剔除 | |
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49 pious | |
adj.虔诚的;道貌岸然的 | |
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50 interfere | |
v.(in)干涉,干预;(with)妨碍,打扰 | |
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51 stinking | |
adj.臭的,烂醉的,讨厌的v.散发出恶臭( stink的现在分词 );发臭味;名声臭;糟透 | |
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52 mansion | |
n.大厦,大楼;宅第 | |
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53 umbrageous | |
adj.多荫的 | |
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54 promenade | |
n./v.散步 | |
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55 fragrant | |
adj.芬香的,馥郁的,愉快的 | |
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56 penetrate | |
v.透(渗)入;刺入,刺穿;洞察,了解 | |
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57 verdant | |
adj.翠绿的,青翠的,生疏的,不老练的 | |
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58 bulwark | |
n.堡垒,保障,防御 | |
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59 carving | |
n.雕刻品,雕花 | |
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60 varied | |
adj.多样的,多变化的 | |
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61 groves | |
树丛,小树林( grove的名词复数 ) | |
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62 minarets | |
n.(清真寺旁由报告祈祷时刻的人使用的)光塔( minaret的名词复数 ) | |
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63 hooded | |
adj.戴头巾的;有罩盖的;颈部因肋骨运动而膨胀的 | |
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64 domes | |
n.圆屋顶( dome的名词复数 );像圆屋顶一样的东西;圆顶体育场 | |
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65 extremity | |
n.末端,尽头;尽力;终极;极度 | |
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66 penetrated | |
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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67 artifice | |
n.妙计,高明的手段;狡诈,诡计 | |
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68 fig | |
n.无花果(树) | |
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69 profusion | |
n.挥霍;丰富 | |
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70 descended | |
a.为...后裔的,出身于...的 | |
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71 intervals | |
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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72 ornaments | |
n.装饰( ornament的名词复数 );点缀;装饰品;首饰v.装饰,点缀,美化( ornament的第三人称单数 ) | |
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73 porcelain | |
n.瓷;adj.瓷的,瓷制的 | |
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74 goblets | |
n.高脚酒杯( goblet的名词复数 ) | |
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75 chiselled | |
adj.凿过的,凿光的; (文章等)精心雕琢的v.凿,雕,镌( chisel的过去式 ) | |
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76 mingled | |
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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77 specimens | |
n.样品( specimen的名词复数 );范例;(化验的)抽样;某种类型的人 | |
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78 triumphant | |
adj.胜利的,成功的;狂欢的,喜悦的 | |
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79 divan | |
n.长沙发;(波斯或其他东方诗人的)诗集 | |
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