Mondoldo; And Of The Fish-Ponds, And The Hereafters Of Fish
Drawing near Mondoldo, our next place of destination, we were greeted by six fine canoes, gayly tricked out with streamers, and all alive with the gestures of their occupants. King Borabolla and court were hastening to welcome our approach; Media, unbeknown to all, having notified him at the Banquet of the Five-and-Twenty Kings, of our intention to visit his dominions1.
Soon, side by side, these canoes floated with ours; each barge2 of Odo courteously3 flanked by those of Mondoldo.
Not long were we in identifying Borabolla: the portly, pleasant old monarch4, seated cross-legged upon a dais, projecting over the bow of the largest canoe of the six, close-grappling to the side of the Sea Elephant.
Was he not a goodly round sight to behold5? Round all over; round of eye and of head; and like the jolly round Earth, roundest and biggest about the Equator. A girdle of red was his Equinoctial Line, giving a compactness to his plumpness.
This old Borabolla permitted naught6 to come between his head and the sun; not even gray hairs. Bald as a gourd7, right down on his brazen8 skull9, the rays of the luminary10 converged11.
He was all hilarity12; full of allusions13 to the feast at Willamilla, where he had done royal execution. Rare old Borabolla! thou wert made for dining out; thy ample mouth an inlet for good cheer, and a sally-port for good humor.
Bustling14 about on his dais, he now gave orders for the occupants of our canoes to be summarily emptied into his own; saying, that in that manner only did he allow guests to touch the beach of Mondoldo.
So, with no little trouble—for the waves were grown somewhat riotous—we proceeded to comply; bethinking ourselves all the while, how annoying is sometimes an over-strained act of hospitality.
We were now but little less than a mile from the shore. But what of that? There was plenty of time, thought Borabolla, for a hasty lunch, and the getting of a subsequent appetite ere we effected a landing. So viands15 were produced; to which the guests were invited to pay heedful attention; or take the consequences, and famish till the long voyage in prospect16 was ended.
Soon the water shoaled (approaching land is like nearing truth in metaphysics), and ere we yet touched the beach, Borabolla declared, that we were already landed. Which paradoxical assertion implied, that the hospitality of Mondoldo was such, that in all directions it radiated far out upon the lagoon17, embracing a great circle; so that no canoe could sail by the island, without its occupants being so long its guests.
In most hospitable18 vicinity to the water, was a fine large structure, inclosed by a stockade19; both rather dilapidated; as if the cost of entertaining its guests, prevented outlays20 for repairing the place. But it was one of Borabolla's maxims21, that generally your tumble-down old homesteads yield the most entertainment; their very dilapidation22 betokening23 their having seen good service in hospitality; whereas, spruce-looking, finical portals, have a phiz full of meaning; for niggards are oftentimes neat.
Now, after what has been said, who so silly as to fancy, that because Borabolla's mansion24 was inclosed by a stockade, that the same was intended as a defense25 against guests? By no means. In the palisade was a mighty27 breach28, not an entrance-way, wide enough to admit six Daniel Lamberts abreast29.
"Look," cried Borabolla, as landing we stepped toward the place. "Look Media! look all. These gates, you here see, lashed30 back with osiers, have been so lashed during my life-time; and just where they stand, shall they rot; ay, they shall perish wide open."
"But why have them at all?" inquired Media.
"Ah! there you have old Borabolla," cried the other.
"No," said Babbalanja, "a fence whose gate is ever kept open, seems unnecessary, I grant; nevertheless, it gives a notable hint, otherwise not so aptly conveyed; for is not the open gate the sign of the open heart?"
"Right, right," cried Borabolla; "so enter both, cousin Media;" and with one hand smiting31 his chest, with the other he waved us on.
But if the stockade seemed all open gate, the structure within seemed only a roof; for nothing but a slender pillar here and there, supported it.
"This is my mode of building," said Borabolla; "I will have no outside to my palaces. Walls are superfluous32. And to a high-minded guest, the entering a narrow doorway33 is like passing under a yoke34; every time he goes in, or comes out, it reminds him, that he is being entertained at the cost of another. So storm in all round."
Within, was one wide field-bed; where reclining, we looked up to endless rows of brown calabashes, and trenchers suspended along the rafters; promissory of ample cheer as regiments35 of old hams in a baronial refectory.
They were replenished36 with both meat and drink; the trenchers readily accessible by means of cords; but the gourds37 containing arrack, suspended neck downward, were within easy reach where they swung.
Seeing all these indications of hard roystering; like a cautious young bridegroom at his own marriage merry-making, Taji stood on his guard. And when Borabolla urged him to empty a gourd or two, by way of making room in him for the incidental repast about to be served, Taji civilly declined; not wishing to cumber38 the floor, before the cloth was laid.
Jarl, however, yielding to importunity39, and unmindful of the unities40 of time and place, went freely about, from gourd to gourd, concocting41 in him a punch. At which, Samoa expressed much surprise, that he should be so unobservant as not to know, that in Mardi, guests might be pressed to demean themselves, without its being expected that so they would do. A true toss-pot himself, he bode42 his time.
The second lunch over, Borabolla placed both hands to the ground, and giving the sigh of the fat man, after three vigorous efforts, succeeded in gaining his pins; which pins of his, were but small for his body; insomuch that they hugely staggered about, under the fine old load they carried.
The specific object of his thus striving after an erect43 posture44, was to put himself in motion, and conduct us to his fish-ponds, famous throughout the Archipelago as the hobby of the king of Mondoldo. Furthermore, as the great repast of the day, yet to take place, was to be a grand piscatory one, our host was all anxiety, that we should have a glimpse of our fish, while yet alive and hearty45.
We were alarmed at perceiving, that certain servitors were preparing to accompany us with trenchers of edibles46. It begat the notion, that our trip to the fish-ponds was to prove a long journey. But they were not three hundred yards distant; though Borabolla being a veteran traveler, never stirred from his abode47 without his battalion48 of butlers.
The ponds were four in number, close bordering the water, embracing about an acre each, and situated49 in a low fen26, draining several valleys. The excavated50 soil was thrown up in dykes51, made tight by being beaten all over, while in a soft state, with the heavy, flat ends of Palm stalks. Lving side by side, by three connecting trenches52, these ponds could be made to communicate at pleasure; while two additional canals afforded means of letting in upon them the salt waters of the lagoon on one hand, or those of an inland stream on the other. And by a third canal with four branches, together or separately, they could be partially53 drained. Thus, the waters could be mixed to suit any gills; and the young fish taken from the sea, passed through a stated process of freshening; so that by the time they graduated, the salt was well out of them, like the brains out of some diplomaed collegians.
Fresh-water fish are only to be obtained in Mondoldo by the artificial process above mentioned; as the streams and brooks54 abound55 not in trout56 or other Waltonian prey57.
Taken all floundering from the sea, Borabolla's fish, passing through their regular training for the table, and daily tended by their keepers, in course of time became quite tame and communicative. To prove which, calling his Head Ranger58, the king bade him administer the customary supply of edibles.
Accordingly, mouthfuls were thrown into the ponds. Whereupon, the fish darted59 in a shoal toward the margin60; some leaping out of the water in their eagerness. Crouching61 on the bank, the Ranger now called several by name, patted their scales, carrying on some heathenish nursery-talk, like St. Anthony, in ancient Coptic, instilling62 virtuous63 principles into his finny flock on the sea shore.
But alas64, for the hair-shirted old dominie's backsliding disciples65. For, of all nature's animated66 kingdoms, fish are the most unchristian, inhospitable, heartless, and cold-blooded of creatures. At least, so seem they to strangers; though at bottom, somehow, they must be all right. And truly it is not to be wondered at, that the very reverend Anthony strove after the conversion67 of fish. For, whoso shall Christianize, and by so doing, humanize the sharks, will do a greater good, by the saving of human life in all time to come, than though he made catechumens of the head-hunting Dyaks of Borneo, or the blood-bibbing Battas of Sumatra. And are these Dyaks and Battas one whit68 better than tiger-sharks? Nay69, are they so good? Were a Batta your intimate friend, you would often mistake an orang-outang for him; and have orang-outangs immortal70 souls? True, the Battas believe in a hereafter; but of what sort? Full of Blue-Beards and bloody71 bones. So, also, the sharks; who hold that Paradise is one vast Pacific, ploughed by navies of mortals, whom an endless gale72 forever drops into their maws.
Not wholly a surmise73. For, does it not appear a little unreasonable74 to imagine, that there is any creature, fish, flesh, or fowl75, so little in love with life, as not to cherish hopes of a future state? Why does man believe in it? One reason, reckoned cogent76, is, that he desires it. Who shall say, then, that the leviathan this day harpooned77 on the coast of Japan, goes not straight to his ancestor, who rolled all Jonah, as a sweet morsel78, under his tongue?
Though herein, some sailors are slow believers, or at best hold themselves in a state of philosophical79 suspense80. Say they—"That catastrophe81 took place in the Mediterranean82; and the only whales frequenting the Mediterranean, are of a sort having not a swallow large enough to pass a man entire; for those Mediterranean whales feed upon small things, as horses upon oats." But hence, the sailors draw a rash inference. Are not the Straits of Gibralter wide enough to admit a sperm-whale, even though none have sailed through, since Nineveh and the gourd in its suburbs dried up?
As for the possible hereafter of the whales; a creature eighty feet long without stockings, and thirty feet round the waist before dinner, is not inconsiderately to be consigned83 to annihilation.
点击收听单词发音
1 dominions | |
统治权( dominion的名词复数 ); 领土; 疆土; 版图 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
2 barge | |
n.平底载货船,驳船 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
3 courteously | |
adv.有礼貌地,亲切地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
4 monarch | |
n.帝王,君主,最高统治者 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
5 behold | |
v.看,注视,看到 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
6 naught | |
n.无,零 [=nought] | |
参考例句: |
|
|
7 gourd | |
n.葫芦 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
8 brazen | |
adj.厚脸皮的,无耻的,坚硬的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
9 skull | |
n.头骨;颅骨 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
10 luminary | |
n.名人,天体 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
11 converged | |
v.(线条、运动的物体等)会于一点( converge的过去式 );(趋于)相似或相同;人或车辆汇集;聚集 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
12 hilarity | |
n.欢乐;热闹 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
13 allusions | |
暗指,间接提到( allusion的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
14 bustling | |
adj.喧闹的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
15 viands | |
n.食品,食物 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
16 prospect | |
n.前景,前途;景色,视野 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
17 lagoon | |
n.泻湖,咸水湖 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
18 hospitable | |
adj.好客的;宽容的;有利的,适宜的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
19 stockade | |
n.栅栏,围栏;v.用栅栏防护 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
20 outlays | |
v.支出,费用( outlay的第三人称单数 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
21 maxims | |
n.格言,座右铭( maxim的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
22 dilapidation | |
n.倒塌;毁坏 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
23 betokening | |
v.预示,表示( betoken的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
24 mansion | |
n.大厦,大楼;宅第 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
25 defense | |
n.防御,保卫;[pl.]防务工事;辩护,答辩 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
26 fen | |
n.沼泽,沼池 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
27 mighty | |
adj.强有力的;巨大的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
28 breach | |
n.违反,不履行;破裂;vt.冲破,攻破 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
29 abreast | |
adv.并排地;跟上(时代)的步伐,与…并进地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
30 lashed | |
adj.具睫毛的v.鞭打( lash的过去式和过去分词 );煽动;紧系;怒斥 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
31 smiting | |
v.猛打,重击,打击( smite的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
32 superfluous | |
adj.过多的,过剩的,多余的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
33 doorway | |
n.门口,(喻)入门;门路,途径 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
34 yoke | |
n.轭;支配;v.给...上轭,连接,使成配偶 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
35 regiments | |
(军队的)团( regiment的名词复数 ); 大量的人或物 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
36 replenished | |
补充( replenish的过去式和过去分词 ); 重新装满 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
37 gourds | |
n.葫芦( gourd的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
38 cumber | |
v.拖累,妨碍;n.妨害;拖累 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
39 importunity | |
n.硬要,强求 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
40 unities | |
n.统一体( unity的名词复数 );(艺术等) 完整;(文学、戏剧) (情节、时间和地点的)统一性;团结一致 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
41 concocting | |
v.将(尤指通常不相配合的)成分混合成某物( concoct的现在分词 );调制;编造;捏造 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
42 bode | |
v.预示 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
43 erect | |
n./v.树立,建立,使竖立;adj.直立的,垂直的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
44 posture | |
n.姿势,姿态,心态,态度;v.作出某种姿势 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
45 hearty | |
adj.热情友好的;衷心的;尽情的,纵情的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
46 edibles | |
可以吃的,可食用的( edible的名词复数 ); 食物 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
47 abode | |
n.住处,住所 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
48 battalion | |
n.营;部队;大队(的人) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
49 situated | |
adj.坐落在...的,处于某种境地的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
50 excavated | |
v.挖掘( excavate的过去式和过去分词 );开凿;挖出;发掘 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
51 dykes | |
abbr.diagonal wire cutters 斜线切割机n.堤( dyke的名词复数 );坝;堰;沟 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
52 trenches | |
深沟,地沟( trench的名词复数 ); 战壕 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
53 partially | |
adv.部分地,从某些方面讲 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
54 brooks | |
n.小溪( brook的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
55 abound | |
vi.大量存在;(in,with)充满,富于 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
56 trout | |
n.鳟鱼;鲑鱼(属) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
57 prey | |
n.被掠食者,牺牲者,掠食;v.捕食,掠夺,折磨 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
58 ranger | |
n.国家公园管理员,护林员;骑兵巡逻队员 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
59 darted | |
v.投掷,投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 );向前冲,飞奔 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
60 margin | |
n.页边空白;差额;余地,余裕;边,边缘 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
61 crouching | |
v.屈膝,蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
62 instilling | |
v.逐渐使某人获得(某种可取的品质),逐步灌输( instil的现在分词 );逐渐使某人获得(某种可取的品质),逐步灌输( instill的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
63 virtuous | |
adj.有品德的,善良的,贞洁的,有效力的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
64 alas | |
int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
65 disciples | |
n.信徒( disciple的名词复数 );门徒;耶稣的信徒;(尤指)耶稣十二门徒之一 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
66 animated | |
adj.生气勃勃的,活跃的,愉快的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
67 conversion | |
n.转化,转换,转变 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
68 whit | |
n.一点,丝毫 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
69 nay | |
adv.不;n.反对票,投反对票者 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
70 immortal | |
adj.不朽的;永生的,不死的;神的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
71 bloody | |
adj.非常的的;流血的;残忍的;adv.很;vt.血染 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
72 gale | |
n.大风,强风,一阵闹声(尤指笑声等) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
73 surmise | |
v./n.猜想,推测 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
74 unreasonable | |
adj.不讲道理的,不合情理的,过度的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
75 fowl | |
n.家禽,鸡,禽肉 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
76 cogent | |
adj.强有力的,有说服力的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
77 harpooned | |
v.鱼镖,鱼叉( harpoon的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
78 morsel | |
n.一口,一点点 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
79 philosophical | |
adj.哲学家的,哲学上的,达观的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
80 suspense | |
n.(对可能发生的事)紧张感,担心,挂虑 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
81 catastrophe | |
n.大灾难,大祸 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
82 Mediterranean | |
adj.地中海的;地中海沿岸的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
83 consigned | |
v.把…置于(令人不快的境地)( consign的过去式和过去分词 );把…托付给;把…托人代售;丟弃 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
欢迎访问英文小说网 |