A well warranted saying; for of all the bright places, where my soul loves to linger, the haunts of Donjalolo are most delicious.
In the eastern quarter of the glen was the House of the Morning. This fanciful palace was raised upon a natural mound8, many rods square, almost completely filling up a deep recess9 between deep-green and projecting cliffs, overlooking many abodes10 distributed in the shadows of the groves11 beyond.
Now, if it indeed be, that from the time employed in its construction, any just notion may be formed of the stateliness of an edifice12, it must needs be determined13, that this retreat of Donjalolo could not be otherwise than imposing14.
Full five hundred moons was the palace in completing; for by some architectural arborist, its quadrangular foundations had been laid in seed-cocoanuts, requiring that period to sprout16 up into pillars. In front, these were horizontally connected, by elaborately carved beams, of a scarlet17 hue18, inserted into the vital wood; which, swelling19 out, and over lapping, firmly secured them. The beams supported the rafters, inclining from the rear; while over the aromatic20 grasses covering the roof, waved the tufted tops of the Palms, green capitals to their dusky shafts21.
Through and through this vibrating verdure, bright birds flitted and sang; the scented22 and variegated23 thatch24 seemed a hanging-garden; and between it and the Palm tops, was leaf-hung an arbor15 in the air.
Without these columns, stood a second and third colonnade25, forming the most beautiful bowers26; advancing through which, you fancied that the palace beyond must be chambered in a fountain, or frozen in a crystal. Three sparkling rivulets27 flowing from the heights were led across its summit, through great trunks half buried in the thatch; and emptying into a sculptured channel, running along the eaves, poured over in one wide sheet, plaited and transparent28. Received into a basin beneath, they were thence conducted down the vale.
The sides of the palace were hedged by Diomi bushes bearing a flower, from its perfume, called Lenora, or Sweet Breath; and within these odorous hedges, were heavy piles of mats, richly dyed and embroidered29.
Here lounging of a glowing noon, the plaited cascade30 playing, the verdure waving, and the birds melodious31, it was hard to say, whether you were an inmate32 of a garden in the glen, or a grotto33 in the sea.
But enough for the nonce, of the House of the Morning. Cross we the hollow, to the House of the Afternoon.
点击收听单词发音
1 luxurious | |
adj.精美而昂贵的;豪华的 | |
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2 requital | |
n.酬劳;报复 | |
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3 monarchs | |
君主,帝王( monarch的名词复数 ) | |
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4 delightfully | |
大喜,欣然 | |
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5 enjoyment | |
n.乐趣;享有;享用 | |
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6 lodged | |
v.存放( lodge的过去式和过去分词 );暂住;埋入;(权利、权威等)归属 | |
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7 sumptuousness | |
奢侈,豪华 | |
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8 mound | |
n.土墩,堤,小山;v.筑堤,用土堆防卫 | |
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9 recess | |
n.短期休息,壁凹(墙上装架子,柜子等凹处) | |
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10 abodes | |
住所( abode的名词复数 ); 公寓; (在某地的)暂住; 逗留 | |
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11 groves | |
树丛,小树林( grove的名词复数 ) | |
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12 edifice | |
n.宏伟的建筑物(如宫殿,教室) | |
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13 determined | |
adj.坚定的;有决心的 | |
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14 imposing | |
adj.使人难忘的,壮丽的,堂皇的,雄伟的 | |
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15 arbor | |
n.凉亭;树木 | |
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16 sprout | |
n.芽,萌芽;vt.使发芽,摘去芽;vi.长芽,抽条 | |
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17 scarlet | |
n.深红色,绯红色,红衣;adj.绯红色的 | |
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18 hue | |
n.色度;色调;样子 | |
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19 swelling | |
n.肿胀 | |
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20 aromatic | |
adj.芳香的,有香味的 | |
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21 shafts | |
n.轴( shaft的名词复数 );(箭、高尔夫球棒等的)杆;通风井;一阵(疼痛、害怕等) | |
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22 scented | |
adj.有香味的;洒香水的;有气味的v.嗅到(scent的过去分词) | |
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23 variegated | |
adj.斑驳的,杂色的 | |
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24 thatch | |
vt.用茅草覆盖…的顶部;n.茅草(屋) | |
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25 colonnade | |
n.柱廊 | |
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26 bowers | |
n.(女子的)卧室( bower的名词复数 );船首锚;阴凉处;鞠躬的人 | |
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27 rivulets | |
n.小河,小溪( rivulet的名词复数 ) | |
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28 transparent | |
adj.明显的,无疑的;透明的 | |
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29 embroidered | |
adj.绣花的 | |
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30 cascade | |
n.小瀑布,喷流;层叠;vi.成瀑布落下 | |
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31 melodious | |
adj.旋律美妙的,调子优美的,音乐性的 | |
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32 inmate | |
n.被收容者;(房屋等的)居住人;住院人 | |
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33 grotto | |
n.洞穴 | |
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