By order of the council of the town of La Ciotat, a sentry-box for the use of a watchman had been erected4 on the summit of this promontory5. It was the duty of this man to watch for the coming of pirates from Barbary, and to signal their approach by kindling6 a fire which could be seen all along the coast.
The scene we are about to describe occurred at the foot of this sentry-box about the middle of the month of December, 1633.
An impetuous northwest wind, the terrible mistraon of Provence, was blowing with fury. The sun, half-obscured by great masses of gray clouds, was slowly sinking in the waves, whose immense dark green curve was broken by a wide zone of reddish light, which diminished in proportion as the black clouds extended over the horizon.
The summit of Cape2 l’Aigle, where the watchman’s box was situated7, commanded the entire circumference8 of the gulf; the last limestone9 spurs of the whitish mountains of Sixfours, and Notre Dame10 de la Garde, descending11 like an amphitheatre to the edge of the gulf, here joined themselves to little cliffs formed of fine white sand, which, lifted up by the south wind, invaded a part of the coast. A little farther, on the declivity12 of a series of hills, shone the lights of several quicklime ovens, whose black smoke increased the gloomy aspect of the sky. Almost at the foot of the cape of l’Aigle, at the entrance of the bay, backed up against the mountains, could be seen, as the crow flies, the island Verte and the little town La Ciotat, belonging to the diocese of Marseilles and the jurisdiction13 of Aix.
The town formed almost a trapezium, the base of which rested on the port This port held a dozen small vessels14, called polacres and caravels, laden15 with wines and oil, waiting for favourable16 weather to return to the coast of Italy. About thirty boats designed for sardine17 fishing, called essanguis by the inhabitants of Provence, were moored18 in a little bay of the gulf, named the cove19 of La Fontaine. The belfries of the churches and of the convent of the Ursulines were the only things which broke the monotony of the dwellings20, almost entirely21 covered with tiles.
On the hillsides which commanded the town, fields of olive-trees could be seen, several clusters of green oak and hillocks of vines, and at the extreme horizon the pine-covered summits of the chain of Roquefort mountains.
At the eastern limit of the bay of La Ciotat, between the points Carbonières and Seques, the ancient Roman ruins, called Torrentum, could be distinguished22, and farther and farther toward the north several windmills, thrown here and there upon the heights, served as seamarks to the vessels which came to anchor in the gulf.
Outside, and west of the cape of L’Aigle, almost upon the edge of the sea, rose a fortified23 mansion24 named Les Anbiez, of which we will speak later.
The summit of the cape of L’Aigle formed a tableland fifty feet in circumference. Almost everywhere was the same precipitous rock of yellowish sandstone, variegated25 with brown; sea-broom, heather, and clover crossed it here and there; the watchman’s sentry-box was erected under the cover of two stunted26 oaks and a gigantic pine, which had braved the fury of the tempests for two or three centuries.
When the wind was very violent, although the promontory was more than three hundred feet above the level of the sea, one could hear the muttering thunder of the surf, as the waves broke themselves against its base.
The watchman’s box, solidly built of large blocks of stone, was covered over with slabs27 taken from the same quarry28, so that the massive construction was able to resist the most violent winds.
The principal opening of this cabin looked toward the south, and from it the horizon was completely in view.
Near the door was a wide and deep square kiln29, made of iron grating placed on layers of masonry30. This kiln was kept filled with vine branches and fagots of olive-wood, ready to produce a tall and brilliant flame, which could be seen at a great distance. The furniture of this cabin was very poor, with the exception of a carved ebony casket, ornamented31 with the coat of arms and the cross of Malta, which treasure contrasted singularly with the modest appearance of this little habitation. A walnut32 chest contained a few marine33 books, quite eagerly sought after by the learned of our day, among others “The Guide of the Old Harbour Pilot” and “The Torch of the Sea.” From the rough lime-plastered walls hung a cutlass, a battle-axe, and a wheel-lock musket34.
Two coarse, illuminated35 engravings, representing St. Elmo, the patron of mariners36, and the portrait of the grand master of the hospitable37 order of St. John of Jerusalem, then existing, were nailed above the ebony casket. To conclude the inventory38 of furniture, on the floor near the fireplace, where a large log of olive wood was slowly burning, a rush matting, covered over with an old Turkish carpet, formed a moderately good bed, for the inhabitant of this isolated39 retreat was not wholly indifferent to comfort.
The watchman on the cape of L’Aigle was attentively40 examining all the points of the horizon, with the aid of a Galileo spy-glass, at that time known by the name of long-view. The setting sun pierced the thick curtain of clouds, and with its last rays gilded41 the red trunk of the tall pine, the rough ridges42 of the little cabin walls, and the corners of the brown rock upon which the watchman was leaning.
The calm, intelligent face of this man was now lighted with intense interest.
His complexion43, burned by the wind and tanned by the sun, was the colour of brick, and here and there showed deep wrinkles. The hood44 of his long-sleeved mantle45, hiding his white hair, shaded his black eyes and eyebrows46; his long, gray moustache fell considerably47 below his lower lip, where it mingled48 with a heavy beard, which covered the whole of his chin.
A red and green woollen girdle fastened his sailor trousers around his hips49; straps50 supported his leather gaiters above his knees; a bag of richly embroidered51 stuff, hanging from his belt by the side of a long knife in its sheath, contained his tobacco, while his cachim-babaou, or long Turkish pipe with an earthen bowl, lay against the outer wall of his cabin.
For ten years Bernard Peyrou had been watchman on the cape of L’Aigle. He had recently been elected assignee of the overseer fishers of La Ciotat, who held their session every Sunday when there was matter for consideration. The watchman had served as patron seaman52 on the galleys53 of Malta for more than twenty years, never in all his navigations having left the Commander Pierre des Anbiez, of the venerable nation of Provence, and brother of Raimond V., Baron55 des Anbiez, who lived on the coast in the fortified house of which we have spoken. On each of these voyages to France the commander never failed to visit the watchman. Their interviews lasted a long time, and it was observed that the habitual56 melancholy57 of the commander increased after these conversations.
Peyrou, a lifelong sufferer from serious wounds, and unfit for active service on the sea, had been, at the recommendation of his old captain, chosen watchman by the council of the town of La Ciotat. When on Sunday he presided at the consultation58 of the overseers, an experienced sailor supplied his place at the sentry-box. Naturally endowed with a sense of right and justice, and living ten years in solitude59, between the sky and the sea, Peyrou had added much to his intelligence by meditation60. Already possessing the nautical61 and astronomical62 knowledge necessary to an officer on a galley54 of the seventeenth century, he continued to learn by a constant study of the great phenomena63 of nature always before his eyes.
Thanks to his experience, and his habit of comparing cause and effect, no one knew better than himself how to predict the beginning, the duration, and the end of the storms which prevailed on the coast.
He announced the calm and the tempest, the disastrous64 hurricanes of the mistraon, as the northwester was named in Provence, the gentle, fruitful rains of the miegion, or south wind, and the violent tornado65 of the labechades, or wind from the southwest; in fact, the form of the clouds, the soft or brilliant azure66 of the sky, the various colours of the sea, and all those vague, deep, and undefined noises which occasionally spring up in the midst of the silence of the elements were for him so many evident signs, from which he deduced the most infallible conclusions.
Never a captain of a merchantman, never a cockswain of a bark, put to sea without having consulted Master Peyrou.
Men ordinarily surround with a sort of superstitious67 reverence68 and halo those who live apart from the rest of the world.
Peyrou was no exception to the rule.
As his predictions about the weather were almost invariably realised, the inhabitants of La Ciotat and the environs soon persuaded themselves that a man who knew so much of the things in the sky could not be ignorant of the things on the earth.
Without passing exactly as a sorcerer, the hermit69 of the cape of L’Aigle, consulted in so many important circumstances, became the depositary of many secrets.
A dishonest man would have cruelly abused this power, but Peyrou took advantage of it to encourage, sustain, and defend the good, and to accuse, confound, and intimidate70 the wicked.
A practical philosopher, he felt that his opinion, his predictions, and his threats would lose much if their authority was not supported by a certain cabalistic display; hence, although he did so with reluctance71, he accompanied each opinion with a mysterious formula.
The excellent spy-glass was a marvellous aid to his power of divination72. Not only did he turn it to the horizon in order to discover the chebecs and piratical vessels of Barbary, but he directed it to the little town of La Ciotat,—on the houses, the fields, and the beach,—and thus surprised many secrets and mysteries, and by this means increased the reverence he inspired.
Peyrou, however, was altogether above the vulgar sorcerer by his entire disinterestedness73. Had he some honest poverty to befriend, he ordered one of his wealthier clients to put a moderate offering in some secret spot which he indicated; the poor client, informed by Peyrou, went to the spot and found the mysterious alms.
Instigated74 by a blind zeal75, the priests of the diocese of Marseilles wished to criminate the mysterious life of Peyrou, but the surrounding population immediately assumed such a menacing attitude, and the town council bore such testimony76 to the excellence77 of the watchman’s character, that he was permitted to live his solitary78 life in peace.
His only companion in this profound retreat was a female eagle which, two years before, had come to lay her eggs in one of the hollows of the inaccessible79 rocks which bordered the coast. The male bird had no doubt been killed, as the watchman never saw him.
Peyrou gave food to the young eagles; by degrees the mother grew accustomed to the sight of him, and the year after, she returned in perfect confidence to lay in the nest which Peyrou had prepared for her in a neighbouring rock.
Often the eagle perched on the branches of the tall pine which shaded the watchman’s house, and sometimes walked with a heavy and awkward step on the little platform.
Upon that day, Brilliant, for so the watchman had named the noble bird, seduced80 him from his reverie. She tumbled down from the topmost branch of the pine, and with half-open wings ran up to her friend with the ungraceful, waddling81 gait of a bird, of prey82. Her plumage, black and brown on the wings, was ash-coloured and spotted83 with white on the body and neck; her formidable talons84, covered with thick and shining scales, terminated in three claws and a sharp spur of smooth, black horn.
Brilliant looked up at the watchman, lifting high her flat, gray head, where glittered two bold round eyes, whose iris85 dilated86 in a transparent87 cornea, the colour of topaz.
Her beak88, strong and bluish like burnished89 steel, disclosed, when it opened, a slender tongue of pale red.
To attract the watchman’s attention, the eagle gently bit the end of his shoe, made of fawn90 leather.
Peyrou stooped and caressed91 Brilliant, who ruffled92 her feathers and uttered a discordant93 and broken cry.
But suddenly, hearing a step in the narrow foot-path which led to the cabin, the eagle lifted herself, uttered a long barking cry, stretched her powerful wings, hovered94 a moment over the colossal95 pine, and like an arrow shot into space. Soon nothing could be seen but a black spot on the deep blue sky.
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1
gulf
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| n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂 | |
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cape
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| n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风 | |
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capes
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| 碎谷； 斗篷( cape的名词复数 )； 披肩； 海角； 岬 | |
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4
ERECTED
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| adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立 | |
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5
promontory
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| n.海角；岬 | |
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6
kindling
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| n. 点火, 可燃物 动词kindle的现在分词形式 | |
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7
situated
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| adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的 | |
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8
circumference
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| n.圆周，周长，圆周线 | |
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9
limestone
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| n.石灰石 | |
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10
dame
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| n.女士 | |
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11
descending
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| n. 下行 adj. 下降的 | |
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12
declivity
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| n.下坡，倾斜面 | |
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13
jurisdiction
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| n.司法权，审判权，管辖权，控制权 | |
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14
vessels
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| n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人 | |
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15
laden
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| adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的 | |
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16
favourable
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| adj.赞成的，称赞的，有利的，良好的，顺利的 | |
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17
sardine
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| n.[C]沙丁鱼 | |
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18
moored
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| adj. 系泊的 动词moor的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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cove
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| n.小海湾，小峡谷 | |
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20
dwellings
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| n.住处，处所( dwelling的名词复数 ) | |
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21
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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22
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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23
fortified
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| adj. 加强的 | |
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24
mansion
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| n.大厦，大楼；宅第 | |
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25
variegated
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| adj.斑驳的，杂色的 | |
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26
stunted
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| adj.矮小的；发育迟缓的 | |
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27
slabs
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| n.厚板，平板，厚片( slab的名词复数 )；厚胶片 | |
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28
quarry
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| n.采石场；v.采石；费力地找 | |
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29
kiln
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| n.（砖、石灰等）窑，炉；v.烧窑 | |
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30
masonry
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| n.砖土建筑；砖石 | |
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31
ornamented
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| adj.花式字体的v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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32
walnut
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| n.胡桃，胡桃木，胡桃色，茶色 | |
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33
marine
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| adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵 | |
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34
musket
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| n.滑膛枪 | |
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35
illuminated
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| adj.被照明的；受启迪的 | |
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36
mariners
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| 海员，水手（mariner的复数形式） | |
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37
hospitable
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| adj.好客的；宽容的；有利的，适宜的 | |
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38
inventory
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| n.详细目录，存货清单 | |
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isolated
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| adj.与世隔绝的 | |
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attentively
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| adv.聚精会神地；周到地；谛；凝神 | |
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41
gilded
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| a.镀金的，富有的 | |
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42
ridges
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| 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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43
complexion
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| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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44
hood
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| n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖 | |
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45
mantle
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| n.斗篷，覆罩之物，罩子；v.罩住，覆盖，脸红 | |
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46
eyebrows
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| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
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47
considerably
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| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
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48
mingled
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| 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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49
hips
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| abbr.high impact polystyrene 高冲击强度聚苯乙烯，耐冲性聚苯乙烯n.臀部( hip的名词复数 )；[建筑学]屋脊；臀围（尺寸）；臀部…的 | |
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50
straps
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| n.带子( strap的名词复数 )；挎带；肩带；背带v.用皮带捆扎( strap的第三人称单数 )；用皮带抽打；包扎；给…打绷带 | |
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51
embroidered
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| adj．绣花的 | |
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52
seaman
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| n.海员，水手，水兵 | |
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53
galleys
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| n.平底大船，战舰( galley的名词复数 )；（船上或航空器上的）厨房 | |
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54
galley
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| n.（飞机或船上的）厨房单层甲板大帆船；军舰舰长用的大划艇； | |
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55
baron
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| n.男爵；(商业界等)巨头，大王 | |
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56
habitual
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| adj.习惯性的；通常的，惯常的 | |
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57
melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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58
consultation
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| n.咨询；商量；商议；会议 | |
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59
solitude
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| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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60
meditation
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| n.熟虑，（尤指宗教的）默想，沉思，（pl.）冥想录 | |
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61
nautical
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| adj.海上的，航海的，船员的 | |
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62
astronomical
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| adj.天文学的，（数字）极大的 | |
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phenomena
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| n.现象 | |
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64
disastrous
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| adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的 | |
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65
tornado
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| n.飓风，龙卷风 | |
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66
azure
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| adj.天蓝色的，蔚蓝色的 | |
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67
superstitious
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| adj.迷信的 | |
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68
reverence
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| n.敬畏，尊敬，尊严；Reverence:对某些基督教神职人员的尊称；v.尊敬，敬畏，崇敬 | |
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69
hermit
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| n.隐士，修道者；隐居 | |
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70
intimidate
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| vt.恐吓，威胁 | |
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71
reluctance
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| n.厌恶，讨厌，勉强，不情愿 | |
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72
divination
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| n.占卜，预测 | |
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73
disinterestedness
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74
instigated
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| v.使（某事物）开始或发生，鼓动( instigate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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zeal
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| n.热心，热情，热忱 | |
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76
testimony
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| n.证词；见证，证明 | |
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77
excellence
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| n.优秀，杰出，(pl.)优点，美德 | |
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78
solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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79
inaccessible
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| adj.达不到的，难接近的 | |
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80
seduced
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| 诱奸( seduce的过去式和过去分词 )； 勾引； 诱使堕落； 使入迷 | |
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81
waddling
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| v.（像鸭子一样）摇摇摆摆地走( waddle的现在分词 ) | |
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prey
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| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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spotted
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| adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的 | |
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talons
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| n.（尤指猛禽的）爪( talon的名词复数 )；（如爪般的）手指；爪状物；锁簧尖状突出部 | |
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85
iris
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| n.虹膜，彩虹 | |
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dilated
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| adj.加宽的，扩大的v.（使某物）扩大，膨胀，张大( dilate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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transparent
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| adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的 | |
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beak
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| n.鸟嘴，茶壶嘴，钩形鼻 | |
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burnished
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| adj.抛光的，光亮的v.擦亮（金属等），磨光( burnish的过去式和过去分词 )；被擦亮，磨光 | |
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90
fawn
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| n.未满周岁的小鹿；v.巴结，奉承 | |
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caressed
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| 爱抚或抚摸…( caress的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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ruffled
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| adj. 有褶饰边的, 起皱的 动词ruffle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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discordant
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| adj.不调和的 | |
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hovered
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| 鸟( hover的过去式和过去分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫 | |
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colossal
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| adj.异常的，庞大的 | |
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