As a watering-place Royat is not an ornamental8 specimen9 of its class; and it has the farther disadvantage of being connected with Clermont by a long dusty suburb, noisy with tram-cars; but as a centre for excursions it offers its good hotels and “modern conveniences” at57 the precise spot most favourable10 to the motorist, who may radiate from it upon almost every centre of interest in Auvergne, and return at night to digestible food and clean beds—two requisites11 for which, in central France, one is often doomed12 to pine.
Auvergne, one of the most interesting, and hitherto almost the least known, of the old French provinces, offers two distinct and equally striking sides to the appreciative13 traveller: on the one hand, its remarkably14 individual church architecture, and on the other, the no less personal character of its landscape. Almost all its towns are distinguished15 by one of those ancient swarthy churches, with western narthex, great central tower, and curious incrustations of polychrome lava16, which marked, in Auvergne, as strongly distinctive17 an architectural impulse as flowered, on a vastly larger scale, and a century or more later, in the Gothic of the Ile de France. And the towns surrounding these churches, on the crest18 or flank of one of the volcanic eminences19 springing from the plain—the towns themselves, with their narrow perpendicular20 streets and tall black houses, are so darkly individual, so plainly akin58 to the fierce predatory castles on the neighbouring hills, that one is arrested at every turn by the desire to follow up the obscure threads of history connecting them with this little-known portion of the rich French past.
But to the traveller restricted by time, the other side of the picture—its background, rather, of tormented21 blue peaks and wide-spread forest—which must assert itself, at all seasons, quite as distinctively22 as the historic and architectural character of the towns, is likely, in May, to carry off the victory. We had come, at any rate, with the modest purpose of taking a mere23 bird’s-eye view of the region, such a flight across the scene as draws one back, later, to brood and hover24; and our sight of the landscape from the Royat balcony confirmed us in the resolve to throw as sweeping25 a glance as possible, and defer26 the study of details to our next—our already-projected!—visit.
The following morning, therefore, we set out early for the heart of the Monts Dore. Our road carried us southward, along a series of ridges27 above the wide Allier vale, and then up and down, over wild volcanic hills, now densely59 wooded, now desolately29 bare. We were on the road to Issoire and La Chaise Dieu, two of the most notable old towns of southern Auvergne; but, in pursuit of scenery, we reluctantly turned off at the village of Coudes, at the mouth of a lateral30 valley, and struck up toward the western passes which lead to the Pic de Sancy.
Some miles up this valley, which follows the capricious windings31 of the Couzes, lie the baths of Saint Nectaire-le-Bas, romantically planted in a narrow defile32, beneath the pyramidal Romanesque church which the higher-lying original village lifts up on a steep splinter of rock. The landscape beyond Saint Nectaire grows more rugged33 and Alpine34 in character: the pastures have a Swiss look, and the shaggy mountain-sides are clothed with a northern growth of beech35 and pine. Presently, at a turn of the road, we came on the little crater-lake of Chambon, its vivid blueness set in the greenest of meadows, and overhung by the dark basalt cliff which carries on its summit the fortified36 castle of Murols. The situation of Murols, lifted on its shaft37 of rock above that lonely upland valley, is in itself impressive enough to bring out the full value of such60 romantic suggestions as it has to offer; and the monument is worthy38 of its site. It is in fact a very noble ruin, raising its central keep above two outer circuits of battered39 masonry40, the ampler and later of which shows the classical pilasters and large fenestration of what must have been one of the stateliest specimens41 of the last stage of French feudal42 architecture. Though the guidebooks record a mention of Murols as early as the thirteenth century, the castle now standing43 is all of later date, and the great rectangular exterior44 is an interesting example of the transitional period when Italian palace architecture began to be grafted45 on the rugged stock of French military construction.
Just beyond the lake of Chambon the road begins to mount the long curves of the Col de Diane, the pass which leads over into the valley of Mont Dore. As we rose through bleak46 meadows and patches of scant47 woodland, the mountains of Auvergne unrolled themselves to the east in one of those lonely tossing expanses of summit and ridge28 and chasm48 that suggest the mysterious undulations of some uninhabited planet. Though the Col de Diane is not a high61 pass, it gives, from its yoke49, a strangely memorable50 impression of distance and mystery; partly, perhaps, because in that desert region there is neither village nor house to break the labyrinth51 of peaks; but chiefly because of the convulsed outlines into which they have been tossed by subterranean52 fires.
A cold wind swept the top of the pass, and snow still lay under the rocks by the roadside; so that it was cheering to the spirits, as well as to the eye, when we presently began our descent through dark pine forests into the vale of the Dordogne. The baths of Mont Dore lie directly beneath the pass, at the mouth of a valley hollowed out of the side of the Pic de Sancy, the highest peak in Auvergne. In spite of milder air and bright spring foliage53 we were still distinctly in high places; and Mont Dore itself, not yet decked for the entertainment of its bathers, had the poverty-stricken look which everywhere marks the real mountain village. Later, no doubt, when its hotels are open, and its scanty54 gardens in bloom, it takes on a thin veneer55 of frivolity56; but it must always be an austere-looking village, with its ill-kept cobble-stone62 streets, and gaunt stone houses grouped against a background of Alpine pastures. We were not sorry, therefore, that its few restaurants presented barred shutters57 to our mid-day hunger, and that we were obliged to follow the first footsteps of the infant Dordogne down the valley to the lower-lying baths of Bourboule.
The Dordogne is a child of lusty growth, and at its very leap from the cradle, under the Pic de Sancy, it rolls a fine brown torrent58 beneath steeply wooded banks. Its course led us rapidly down the mountain glen to the amiable59 but somewhat characterless little watering-place of La Bourboule, set in a depression of the hills, with a background of slopes which, in summer, might offer fairly pleasant walks between one’s douches; and here, at a fresh white hotel with an affable landlady60, we lunched on trout61 that must have leapt straight from the Dordogne into the frying-pan.
ORCIVAL: THE CHURCH
After luncheon62 we once more took our way along the lively curves of the river; to part with them at last, reluctantly, a few miles down the valley, and strike out across a dull plateau to the mountain town of Laqueille—a gaunt wind-beaten63 place, with nothing of note to offer except its splendid view from the dizzy verge63 of a high cornice which overhangs the valley running south from the chain of the D?me. Beyond Laqueille, again, we began to descend64 by long windings; and at last, turning off from the direct road to Royat, we engaged ourselves in a series of wooded gorges65, in search of the remote village of Orcival.
The church of Orcival is one of the most noted66 of that strange group of Auvergnat churches which some students of French Romanesque are disposed to attribute, not only to one brief period of time, but to the hand of one architect; so closely are they allied67, not alone in plan and construction, but in their peculiar68 and original decorative69 details. We had resolved, therefore, not to return to Royat without a sight of Orcival; and spite of the misleading directions plentifully70 bestowed72 on us by the way, and resulting in endless doublings through narrow lonely glens, we finally came, in the neck of the last and narrowest, upon a huddled73 group of stone roofs with a church rising nobly above them.
Here it was at last—and our first glance told us how well worth the search we had made for it.64 But a second made evident the disturbing fact that a cattle-fair was going on in the village; and though this is not an unusual event in French towns, or one calculated, in general, to interfere74 with the movements of the sightseer, we soon saw that, owing to the peculiar position of Orcival, which is jammed into the head of its glen as tightly as a cork75 in a bottle, the occupation of the square about the church formed a complete check to circulation.
And the square was fully71 occupied: it presented, as we descended76 on it, an agitated77 surface of blue human backs, and dun and white bovine78 ones, so closely and inextricably mixed that any impact from without merely sent a wave across the mass, without making the slightest break in its substance. On its edge, therefore, we halted; the church, with its beautiful rounded chevet and central pyramid-tower, islanded a few yards away across a horned sea which divided it from us as hopelessly as Egypt from Israel; and the waves of the sea setting toward us with somewhat threatening intent at the least sign of our attempting to cross it. There was therefore nothing to be done but to own ourselves intruders, and defer65 a sight of Orcival till our next visit; and with much backing and wriggling79, and some unfavourable comment on the part of the opposition80, we effected a crestfallen81 exit from that interesting but inhospitable village.
The road thence to Royat climbs over the long Col de Ceyssat, close under the southern side of the Puy de D?me, and we looked up longingly82 at the bare top of the mountain, yearning83 to try the ascent84, but fearing that our “horse-power” was not pitched to such heights. That adventure too was therefore deferred85 till our next visit, which every renunciation of the kind was helping86 to bring nearer and make more inevitable87; and we pushed on to Royat across the plain of Laschamp, noted in the records of motoring as the starting-point of the perilous88 circuit d’Auvergne.
点击收听单词发音
1 cleft | |
n.裂缝;adj.裂开的 | |
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2 volcanic | |
adj.火山的;象火山的;由火山引起的 | |
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3 upheaval | |
n.胀起,(地壳)的隆起;剧变,动乱 | |
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4 villas | |
别墅,公馆( villa的名词复数 ); (城郊)住宅 | |
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5 precariously | |
adv.不安全地;危险地;碰机会地;不稳定地 | |
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6 ledge | |
n.壁架,架状突出物;岩架,岩礁 | |
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7 fissure | |
n.裂缝;裂伤 | |
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8 ornamental | |
adj.装饰的;作装饰用的;n.装饰品;观赏植物 | |
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9 specimen | |
n.样本,标本 | |
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10 favourable | |
adj.赞成的,称赞的,有利的,良好的,顺利的 | |
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11 requisites | |
n.必要的事物( requisite的名词复数 ) | |
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12 doomed | |
命定的 | |
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13 appreciative | |
adj.有鉴赏力的,有眼力的;感激的 | |
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14 remarkably | |
ad.不同寻常地,相当地 | |
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15 distinguished | |
adj.卓越的,杰出的,著名的 | |
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16 lava | |
n.熔岩,火山岩 | |
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17 distinctive | |
adj.特别的,有特色的,与众不同的 | |
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18 crest | |
n.顶点;饰章;羽冠;vt.达到顶点;vi.形成浪尖 | |
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19 eminences | |
卓越( eminence的名词复数 ); 著名; 高地; 山丘 | |
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20 perpendicular | |
adj.垂直的,直立的;n.垂直线,垂直的位置 | |
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21 tormented | |
饱受折磨的 | |
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22 distinctively | |
adv.特殊地,区别地 | |
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23 mere | |
adj.纯粹的;仅仅,只不过 | |
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24 hover | |
vi.翱翔,盘旋;徘徊;彷徨,犹豫 | |
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25 sweeping | |
adj.范围广大的,一扫无遗的 | |
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26 defer | |
vt.推迟,拖延;vi.(to)遵从,听从,服从 | |
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27 ridges | |
n.脊( ridge的名词复数 );山脊;脊状突起;大气层的)高压脊 | |
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28 ridge | |
n.山脊;鼻梁;分水岭 | |
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29 desolately | |
荒凉地,寂寞地 | |
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30 lateral | |
adj.侧面的,旁边的 | |
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31 windings | |
(道路、河流等)蜿蜒的,弯曲的( winding的名词复数 ); 缠绕( wind的现在分词 ); 卷绕; 转动(把手) | |
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32 defile | |
v.弄污,弄脏;n.(山间)小道 | |
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33 rugged | |
adj.高低不平的,粗糙的,粗壮的,强健的 | |
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34 alpine | |
adj.高山的;n.高山植物 | |
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35 beech | |
n.山毛榉;adj.山毛榉的 | |
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36 fortified | |
adj. 加强的 | |
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37 shaft | |
n.(工具的)柄,杆状物 | |
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38 worthy | |
adj.(of)值得的,配得上的;有价值的 | |
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39 battered | |
adj.磨损的;v.连续猛击;磨损 | |
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40 masonry | |
n.砖土建筑;砖石 | |
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41 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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42 feudal | |
adj.封建的,封地的,领地的 | |
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43 standing | |
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的 | |
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44 exterior | |
adj.外部的,外在的;表面的 | |
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45 grafted | |
移植( graft的过去式和过去分词 ); 嫁接; 使(思想、制度等)成为(…的一部份); 植根 | |
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46 bleak | |
adj.(天气)阴冷的;凄凉的;暗淡的 | |
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47 scant | |
adj.不充分的,不足的;v.减缩,限制,忽略 | |
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48 chasm | |
n.深坑,断层,裂口,大分岐,利害冲突 | |
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49 yoke | |
n.轭;支配;v.给...上轭,连接,使成配偶 | |
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50 memorable | |
adj.值得回忆的,难忘的,特别的,显著的 | |
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51 labyrinth | |
n.迷宫;难解的事物;迷路 | |
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52 subterranean | |
adj.地下的,地表下的 | |
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53 foliage | |
n.叶子,树叶,簇叶 | |
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54 scanty | |
adj.缺乏的,仅有的,节省的,狭小的,不够的 | |
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55 veneer | |
n.(墙上的)饰面,虚饰 | |
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56 frivolity | |
n.轻松的乐事,兴高采烈;轻浮的举止 | |
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57 shutters | |
百叶窗( shutter的名词复数 ); (照相机的)快门 | |
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58 torrent | |
n.激流,洪流;爆发,(话语等的)连发 | |
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59 amiable | |
adj.和蔼可亲的,友善的,亲切的 | |
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60 landlady | |
n.女房东,女地主 | |
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61 trout | |
n.鳟鱼;鲑鱼(属) | |
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62 luncheon | |
n.午宴,午餐,便宴 | |
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63 verge | |
n.边,边缘;v.接近,濒临 | |
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64 descend | |
vt./vi.传下来,下来,下降 | |
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65 gorges | |
n.山峡,峡谷( gorge的名词复数 );咽喉v.(用食物把自己)塞饱,填饱( gorge的第三人称单数 );作呕 | |
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66 noted | |
adj.著名的,知名的 | |
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67 allied | |
adj.协约国的;同盟国的 | |
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68 peculiar | |
adj.古怪的,异常的;特殊的,特有的 | |
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69 decorative | |
adj.装饰的,可作装饰的 | |
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70 plentifully | |
adv. 许多地,丰饶地 | |
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71 fully | |
adv.完全地,全部地,彻底地;充分地 | |
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72 bestowed | |
赠给,授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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73 huddled | |
挤在一起(huddle的过去式与过去分词形式) | |
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74 interfere | |
v.(in)干涉,干预;(with)妨碍,打扰 | |
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75 cork | |
n.软木,软木塞 | |
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76 descended | |
a.为...后裔的,出身于...的 | |
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77 agitated | |
adj.被鼓动的,不安的 | |
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78 bovine | |
adj.牛的;n.牛 | |
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79 wriggling | |
v.扭动,蠕动,蜿蜒行进( wriggle的现在分词 );(使身体某一部位)扭动;耍滑不做,逃避(应做的事等);蠕蠕 | |
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80 opposition | |
n.反对,敌对 | |
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81 crestfallen | |
adj. 挫败的,失望的,沮丧的 | |
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82 longingly | |
adv. 渴望地 热望地 | |
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83 yearning | |
a.渴望的;向往的;怀念的 | |
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84 ascent | |
n.(声望或地位)提高;上升,升高;登高 | |
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85 deferred | |
adj.延期的,缓召的v.拖延,延缓,推迟( defer的过去式和过去分词 );服从某人的意愿,遵从 | |
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86 helping | |
n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的,辅助的 | |
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87 inevitable | |
adj.不可避免的,必然发生的 | |
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88 perilous | |
adj.危险的,冒险的 | |
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