'No,' he sighed, with a touch of self-mockery. 'When I am safe on shore again, I shall weave my symphony of the sea.'
Sleep came at last, but only to perturb7 him with a Jewish Joan of Arc who—turned Admiral—recaptured Zion from her battleship, to the sound of Psalms8 droned by his dead grandfather. And, though he did not see her the next day, and was, indeed, rather glad not to meet a lady's maid in the unromantic daylight, the restlessness she had engendered9 remained, replacing the settled bitterness which was all he had brought back from America. In the afternoon this restlessness drove him to the piano in the deserted10 dining-hall, and his fever sought to work itself off in a fury of practice. But the inner turbulence11 persisted, and the new thoughts clung round the old music. He was playing Schumann's Fantasiestücke, but through the stormy passion of In der Nacht he saw the red hair of the heroic Jewess, and into the wistful, questioning Warum insinuated12 itself not the world-question, but the Jewish question—the sad, unending Jewish question—surging up again and again in every part of the globe, as Schumann's theme in every part of the piano—the same haunting musical figure, never the same notes exactly, yet essentially13 always the same, the wistful, questioning Warum. Why all this ceaseless sorrow, this footsore wandering, this rootless life, this eternal curse?
Suddenly he became aware that he was no longer alone—forms were seated at the tables on the fixed14 dining-chairs, though there was no meal but his music; and as he played on, with swift side-peeps, other [361]fellow-passengers entered into his consciousness, some standing15 about, others hovering16 on the stairs, and still others stealing in on reverent17 tip-toe and taking favourable18 seats. His breast filled with bitter satisfaction.
So they had to come, the arrogant19 Americans; they had to swarm20 like rats to the pied piper. He could draw them at will, the haughty21 heathen—draw them by the magic of his finger-touch on pieces of ivory. Lo, they were coming, more and more of them! Through the corner of his eye he espied22 the figures drifting in from the corridors, peering in spellbound at the doors.
With a great crash on the keys, he shook off his morbid23 mood, and plunged24 into Scarlatti's Sonata25 in A, his fingers frolicking all over the board, bent26 on a dominating exhibition of technique. As he stopped, there was a storm of hand-clapping. Rozenoffski gave a masterly start of surprise, and turned his leonine head in dazed bewilderment. Was he not then alone? 'Gott im Himmel!' he murmured, and, furiously banging down the piano-lid, stalked from these presumptuous27 mortals who had jarred the artist's soliloquy.
But the next afternoon found him again at the public piano, devoting all the magic of his genius to charming a contemptible28 Christendom. He gave them Beethoven and Bach, Paradies and Tschaikowski, unrolled to them the vast treasures of his art and memory. And very soon, lo! the Christian29 rats were pattering back again, only more wisely and cautiously. They came crawling from every part of the ship's compass. Newcomers were warned whisperingly to keep from applause. In vain. An enraptured30 greenhorn shouted 'Encore!' The musician awoke from his [362]trance, stared dreamily at the Philistines31; then, as the presence of listeners registered itself upon his expressive32 countenance33, he rose again—but this time as more in sorrow than in anger—and stalked sublimely34 up the swarming35 stairs.
It became a tradition to post guards at the doors to warn all comers as to the habits of the great unknown, who could only beat his music out if he imagined himself unheard. Scouts36 watched his afternoon advance upon the piano in an empty hall, and the word was passed to the little army of music-lovers. Silently the rats gathered, scurrying37 in on noiseless paws, stealing into the chairs, swarming about the doorways38, pricking39 up their ears in the corridors. And through the awful hush40 rose the master's silvery notes in rapturous self-oblivion till the day began to wane41, and the stewards42 to appear with the tea-cups.
And the larger his audience grew, the fiercer grew his resentment43 against this complacent44 Christendom which took so much from the Jew and gave so little. 'Shylocks!' he would mutter between his clenched45 teeth as he played—'Shylocks all!'
点击收听单词发音
1 berth | |
n.卧铺,停泊地,锚位;v.使停泊 | |
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2 physically | |
adj.物质上,体格上,身体上,按自然规律 | |
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3 shuddering | |
v.战栗( shudder的现在分词 );发抖;(机器、车辆等)突然震动;颤动 | |
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4 groaning | |
adj. 呜咽的, 呻吟的 动词groan的现在分词形式 | |
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5 doomed | |
命定的 | |
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6 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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7 perturb | |
v.使不安,烦扰,扰乱,使紊乱 | |
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8 psalms | |
n.赞美诗( psalm的名词复数 );圣诗;圣歌;(中的) | |
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9 engendered | |
v.产生(某形势或状况),造成,引起( engender的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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10 deserted | |
adj.荒芜的,荒废的,无人的,被遗弃的 | |
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11 turbulence | |
n.喧嚣,狂暴,骚乱,湍流 | |
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12 insinuated | |
v.暗示( insinuate的过去式和过去分词 );巧妙或迂回地潜入;(使)缓慢进入;慢慢伸入 | |
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13 essentially | |
adv.本质上,实质上,基本上 | |
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14 fixed | |
adj.固定的,不变的,准备好的;(计算机)固定的 | |
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15 standing | |
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的 | |
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16 hovering | |
鸟( hover的现在分词 ); 靠近(某事物); (人)徘徊; 犹豫 | |
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17 reverent | |
adj.恭敬的,虔诚的 | |
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18 favourable | |
adj.赞成的,称赞的,有利的,良好的,顺利的 | |
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19 arrogant | |
adj.傲慢的,自大的 | |
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20 swarm | |
n.(昆虫)等一大群;vi.成群飞舞;蜂拥而入 | |
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21 haughty | |
adj.傲慢的,高傲的 | |
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22 espied | |
v.看到( espy的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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23 morbid | |
adj.病的;致病的;病态的;可怕的 | |
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24 plunged | |
v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 );暴跌;骤降;突降 | |
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25 sonata | |
n.奏鸣曲 | |
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26 bent | |
n.爱好,癖好;adj.弯的;决心的,一心的 | |
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27 presumptuous | |
adj.胆大妄为的,放肆的,冒昧的,冒失的 | |
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28 contemptible | |
adj.可鄙的,可轻视的,卑劣的 | |
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29 Christian | |
adj.基督教徒的;n.基督教徒 | |
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30 enraptured | |
v.使狂喜( enrapture的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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31 philistines | |
n.市侩,庸人( philistine的名词复数 );庸夫俗子 | |
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32 expressive | |
adj.表现的,表达…的,富于表情的 | |
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33 countenance | |
n.脸色,面容;面部表情;vt.支持,赞同 | |
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34 sublimely | |
高尚地,卓越地 | |
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35 swarming | |
密集( swarm的现在分词 ); 云集; 成群地移动; 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去 | |
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36 scouts | |
侦察员[机,舰]( scout的名词复数 ); 童子军; 搜索; 童子军成员 | |
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37 scurrying | |
v.急匆匆地走( scurry的现在分词 ) | |
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38 doorways | |
n.门口,门道( doorway的名词复数 ) | |
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39 pricking | |
刺,刺痕,刺痛感 | |
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40 hush | |
int.嘘,别出声;n.沉默,静寂;v.使安静 | |
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41 wane | |
n.衰微,亏缺,变弱;v.变小,亏缺,呈下弦 | |
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42 stewards | |
(轮船、飞机等的)乘务员( steward的名词复数 ); (俱乐部、旅馆、工会等的)管理员; (大型活动的)组织者; (私人家中的)管家 | |
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43 resentment | |
n.怨愤,忿恨 | |
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44 complacent | |
adj.自满的;自鸣得意的 | |
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45 clenched | |
v.紧握,抓紧,咬紧( clench的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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