Rose was still asleep when I entered the drowsy1 bedroom to bid her good-bye. A small, heart-shaped opening in the middle of the shutters2 allowed the first ray of daylight to penetrate3. Sleeping happily and trustfully, with streaming hair and hands out-flung, she lay strewn like the petals4 of a flower. I laid my lips on hers and softly went away.
As I climb the slope that leads out of Neufchatel, I turn and look down once more on the little town that slumbers5 everlastingly7 in its rich peace. Just there, by the church, I picture the house with its grey shutters, its white front and its starched8 caps behind the flower-pots. Beyond, the green horizons and the blue hill-sides stand clearly marked in the dawning sun; and I gaze and gaze as far as my eyes can see, through my lashes9 sparkling with tears.
For all her lethargy, her slumber6 as of a beautiful plant, the soul of my Rose is wholesome10, wholesome as those meadows, those fields, all that good Norman
earth which gave her to me miserable11 only to take her back happy and free. Certainly, Rose has not been able to achieve the strength that makes use of liberty: in that life, still so young, the will is a dead branch through which the sap no longer flows. At any rate, what she does possess she will not lose; she is one of those who instinctively12 hold in their breath so as not to tarnish13 the pane14 through which a glimpse of infinity15 stands revealed to them. Her soul could not take in unlimited16 happiness, it had to feel a touch of sorrow in order to taste a little joy. There are many like her, people who perceive that the light is good when they come out of the darkness, but who are not able to recognise the light in the radiant beauty of the noon-day fields.
The sun rises as I slowly make my way up-hill; the wood along the road is still wet with the dawn. It offers me its autumnal fragrance17; I breathe it in, I gaze at its golden tints18, I think of Rose, of her past and her future. But, beyond my dreams, an unformed idea seems to spread like a clear sky, without outline, without colour, without beginning or end; and I have a secret feeling that I shall try again.
2
I shall go towards other strangers. I shall seek at random19 among hearts and souls! Fearlessly, in spite of censure20 and derision, I shall lavish21 my confidence in order to win that of others. I shall not linger over the vain pleasure of discovering the traces of my power. We can pour out our influence boldly: it is a wine that excites no two souls in a like manner; and we are always ignorant what the nature of the intoxication22 will be, whether fruitful or barren, blithe23 or cheerless.
I shall go towards other strangers; I understand now that my sole ambition is to bring life within their reach. What matter what their thoughts, their loves, their wishes, if at least they have acquired the taste and the means of thinking, loving and wishing?
Shall I ever succeed in evolving from this passion of mine a method, a system that will make my action less blind and uncertain? I think not.
In a life that never offers us anything logical or foreseen, our moral nature must needs resemble a drapery that is folded backwards24 and forwards over events, souls or circumstances. Let us ask no more than that it be beautiful and soft, strong and light,
submissive to the least breath and ready to be transformed at its command. Nothing but an essential principle of humanity and loving-kindness can serve as a foundation for our actions, without ever confining them.
3
On the one hand, we have effort, nearly always vain; on the other, knowledge, which is the second look that makes us discern the ordinary, the commonplace, where at first we beheld25 beauty and charm. Nevertheless, let us worship effort and knowledge above all things.
Let us act as simply as the little wave that lifts itself and breaks against the rock. Others come after it; and it is their light kisses which, all unseen, end by biting into the granite26.
THE END
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收听单词发音
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1
drowsy
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| adj.昏昏欲睡的，令人发困的 | |
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2
shutters
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| 百叶窗( shutter的名词复数 )； （照相机的）快门 | |
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3
penetrate
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| v.透(渗)入；刺入，刺穿；洞察，了解 | |
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4
petals
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| n.花瓣( petal的名词复数 ) | |
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5
slumbers
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| 睡眠，安眠( slumber的名词复数 ) | |
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6
slumber
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| n.睡眠，沉睡状态 | |
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7
everlastingly
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| 永久地，持久地 | |
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8
starched
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| adj.浆硬的，硬挺的，拘泥刻板的v.把（衣服、床单等）浆一浆( starch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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9
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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10
wholesome
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| adj.适合；卫生的；有益健康的；显示身心健康的 | |
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11
miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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12
instinctively
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| adv.本能地 | |
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13
tarnish
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| n.晦暗，污点；vt.使失去光泽；玷污 | |
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14
pane
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| n.窗格玻璃，长方块 | |
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15
infinity
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| n.无限，无穷，大量 | |
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16
unlimited
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| adj.无限的，不受控制的，无条件的 | |
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17
fragrance
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| n.芬芳，香味，香气 | |
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18
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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19
random
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| adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动 | |
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20
censure
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| v./n.责备；非难；责难 | |
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21
lavish
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| adj.无节制的；浪费的；vt.慷慨地给予，挥霍 | |
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22
intoxication
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| n.wild excitement;drunkenness；poisoning | |
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23
blithe
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| adj.快乐的，无忧无虑的 | |
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24
backwards
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| adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地 | |
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25
beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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26
granite
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| adj.花岗岩，花岗石 | |
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