The immense church was filled from end to end with a dense4, closely-packed crowd, the service being, however, audible only to the comparatively few who stood near the altar. For that matter, there really was not any service at all. A Cardinal5 sat on the central throne, and grouped around him on wooden seats and stools were the numerous grades and members of the Vatican State Clergy6. They were singing in low, dull, monotonous7 tones, and their endless, wail8-like, doleful chant produced a most disagreeable impression on the nerves. The tired, enervated9 crowd pressed against the wooden barriers that enclosed a free passage for the procession. Everyone felt hot and tired and hungry, and faint from the close, stuffy10 atmosphere. Cross Englishwomen were quarrelling with neighbouring Italian women, and pushing them unceremoniously. In perfectly11 audible tones they repeatedly remarked the impoliteness of people in Rome, especially at St. Peter’s on that particular occasion. Scarcely anybody was praying, the majority of those present having[260] come simply to witness an interesting spectacle. Pretty young American girls were there with their sweethearts, and were undisguisedly amusing themselves, chattering12 and laughing and coquetting. At last, after three hours of responses and lamentations and misereres, the long-awaited procession appeared. In front came young attendants in lace aprons13, and behind them fat old priests, looking like old women, with their smooth, round faces, their ample mauve robes, and their mauve-lined, grey, squirrel capes14. Each one carried in his hand a rod with a sponge attached to it. Last of all, also carrying an enormous sponge, came a Cardinal in a red robe with a long train carried by an attendant.
The procession mounted the altar steps, and, all coverings and ornaments15 having been previously16 removed, began to wash the altar. A scent17 of wine spread through the church. Having concluded this ceremony, the procession passed slowly and solemnly round the altar to the accompaniment of a shower of rattles18, sounded to[261] denote the dismay and perturbation of all Nature—the thunder and earthquake that followed Christ’s death.
Irene followed everything with great attention. A strange, new feeling of contempt seemed to tremble in her soul. At home, in her own country, she had always come away from the Passion Week services deeply touched, and in great emotion. And now, all these unaccustomed ceremonies and costumes and rites19, the strange language, the extraordinary pagan ritual, suddenly shocked her. Maybe she was overtired from three hours’ standing in the crowd, and, therefore, more than usually critical—but true it is that she contemplated20 almost with loathing21 the whole scene before her, even the marble columns and the colossal22 statues of the great Roman Cathedral.
“And they call this Christianity!” she thought bitterly. “What an irony24! This is sheer paganism, and these are the same ancient Romans, still worshipping the same old gods as before. They have never understood Christ’s teaching, and they have buried[262] it under marble shrines25 and pagan ceremonies.
“In your place I would go a little further still,” exclaimed Irene’s inner soul with malicious27 sarcasm28. “I would destroy every New Testament29 in the world, except one—and that one I would put in a golden, jewel-studded box, and would bury it deep in the earth, forbidding its disinterment on pain of death. Over it, I would build a splendid golden shrine26, and in this shrine I would celebrate night and day magnificent services with gorgeous processions. That would be entirely30 in accordance with the spirit of your Christianity.
“But you have not the temerity31 to go so far. You vaguely32 feel that some day the world will arise in fury against you, will destroy your temples, tear into shreds33 your splendid robes, and leave, alone and triumphant34, only the Gospel, the one Christian23 teaching humanity needs. And then, there will come together ‘two or three in His Name,’ to read His Book and to pray—and ‘He will be among them.’”
[263]
Thus, angrily, yet dreaming, Irene’s thoughts flew. Just in front of her stood an Italian middle-class couple. The young husband held a three-year-old girl by the hand while the pretty mother pressed to her heart a white bundle, evidently a sleeping infant. The noise of the rattles must have disturbed its slumbers35, for suddenly the bundle stirred, a tiny hand stretched itself forth36 in search of the mother’s breast, and a low wail made itself heard. The mother immediately sat down at the foot of a marble column, and began to feed the child. For some reason, the idea occurred to Irene that in all that pagan crowd in a pagan temple the only representatives of Christianity were that simple mother and child.
“There is the great miracle!” she thought rapturously. “New life, coming no one knows from where! Why are you all quarrelling about whether certain miracles were or were not performed nineteen centuries ago in Palestine? Why must you be certain of those particular miracles, before you can believe in God? To-day, at this[264] very moment, you are surrounded by miracles. Birth, death, sunrise, springtime, winter—are not all these miracles? You have forgotten them because you see them every day. In your silly self-conceit, you assure yourselves that all this is perfectly natural, and that science has long ago explained it all—but you forget that your science has only noted37 the existence of these miracles, and that their secret belongs as much as ever to the Almighty38 Ruler of the Universe in whom you find it so difficult to believe.”
Irene left the Cathedral in great moral perturbation. So great was her excitement that she forgot to take a cab, and walked all the long way home, in the face of a cutting east wind that she did not even notice. Large tears ran down her face, she talked to herself, gesticulated, and drew the attention of all passers-by. The pagan soul that had passed Christianity by was sobbing39 and storming within her. For one moment, under the influence of the very ceremonies she was execrating40, she had understood how priceless was the treasure she had lost. Life[265] might have been beautiful and full of harmony, whereas, on the path she had chosen, there was nothing but constant, needless, helpless suffering. Someone should have taught her Christianity! Her soul had been confided41 to someone’s care, and that someone had not fulfilled his sacred duty!
And Irene, in her despair, cursed all lazy and idle slaves, for a voice in her soul told her that her fate was sealed, and that it was too late to try and change it.
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1
fatigue
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| n.疲劳，劳累 | |
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2
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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3
unbearable
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| adj.不能容忍的；忍受不住的 | |
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4
dense
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| a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的 | |
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5
cardinal
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| n.(天主教的)红衣主教；adj.首要的，基本的 | |
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clergy
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| n.[总称]牧师，神职人员 | |
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7
monotonous
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| adj.单调的，一成不变的，使人厌倦的 | |
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8
wail
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| vt./vi.大声哀号，恸哭；呼啸，尖啸 | |
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9
enervated
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| adj.衰弱的，无力的v.使衰弱，使失去活力( enervate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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10
stuffy
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| adj.不透气的，闷热的 | |
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11
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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12
chattering
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| n. （机器振动发出的）咔嗒声，(鸟等)鸣，啁啾 adj. 喋喋不休的，啾啾声的 动词chatter的现在分词形式 | |
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13
aprons
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| 围裙( apron的名词复数 )； 停机坪，台口（舞台幕前的部份） | |
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14
capes
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| 碎谷； 斗篷( cape的名词复数 )； 披肩； 海角； 岬 | |
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15
ornaments
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| 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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16
previously
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| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
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17
scent
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| n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉 | |
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18
rattles
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| （使）发出格格的响声， （使）作嘎嘎声( rattle的第三人称单数 )； 喋喋不休地说话； 迅速而嘎嘎作响地移动，堕下或走动； 使紧张，使恐惧 | |
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19
rites
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| 仪式，典礼( rite的名词复数 ) | |
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20
contemplated
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| adj. 预期的 动词contemplate的过去分词形式 | |
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21
loathing
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| n.厌恶，憎恨v.憎恨，厌恶( loathe的现在分词)；极不喜欢 | |
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22
colossal
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| adj.异常的，庞大的 | |
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23
Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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24
irony
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| n.反语，冷嘲；具有讽刺意味的事，嘲弄 | |
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25
shrines
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| 圣地，圣坛，神圣场所( shrine的名词复数 ) | |
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shrine
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| n.圣地，神龛，庙；v.将...置于神龛内，把...奉为神圣 | |
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27
malicious
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| adj.有恶意的，心怀恶意的 | |
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28
sarcasm
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| n.讥讽，讽刺，嘲弄，反话 （adj.sarcastic） | |
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29
testament
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| n.遗嘱；证明 | |
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30
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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31
temerity
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| n.鲁莽，冒失 | |
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32
vaguely
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| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
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33
shreds
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| v.撕碎，切碎( shred的第三人称单数 )；用撕毁机撕毁（文件） | |
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34
triumphant
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| adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的 | |
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35
slumbers
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| 睡眠，安眠( slumber的名词复数 ) | |
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36
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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37
noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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38
almighty
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| adj.全能的，万能的；很大的，很强的 | |
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39
sobbing
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| <主方>Ⅰ adj.湿透的 | |
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40
execrating
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| v.憎恶( execrate的现在分词 )；厌恶；诅咒；咒骂 | |
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41
confided
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| v.吐露（秘密，心事等）( confide的过去式和过去分词 )；（向某人）吐露（隐私、秘密等） | |
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