CHAPTER XXXIV.

 Things bad begun make strong themselves by ill.—Macbeth.

 

 

The requisites² of a successful villain³ are manifold. The toughened conscience, the ready wit, the sage⁴ experience, the mind tutored, like Iago, in all qualities of human dealing,—all these, in some reasonable measure, Vinal had; but he miserably⁵ lacked the vulgar, but no less needful requisite¹ of a sound bodily fibre to support the workings of his brain. His mind was a good lever with a feeble fulcrum⁶; a gun mounted on a tottering⁷ rampart. When every breath of emotion that touches the fine-strung organism quivers along the electric chord to the brain, kindling⁸ there strange perturbations, then philosophy must lower her tone, and stoicism itself must soon confess that its only resource is to avoid the enemy with whom it cannot cope. Vinal was but ill fitted to act the part he had undertaken. The excitements of villany were too much for him. Peace of mind was as needful to him as food and drink. He had been battling all his life against what he imagined to be a defect of his mental forces, but which had, in the main, no deeper root than in the sensitiveness of his bodily constitution. In prudence⁹ and common sense, he was bound to seek asylum¹⁰ in that blissful serenity¹¹, that benignant calm, said to be the unfailing attendant on piety¹² and good works. Never did Nature give a sharper hint than she gave to Vinal to eschew¹³ evil courses, and leaving rascality¹⁴ to tougher nerves, to tread the placid¹⁵ paths of virtue¹⁶ and discretion¹⁷. Vinal saw fit to disregard the hint, and the consequences became somewhat grievous.

 

While his intrigue¹⁸ was in progress, his nerves had given him no great trouble. Hate and jealousy¹⁹ absorbed him. He was steadfast²⁰ in his purpose to get rid of his rival. But now that the mine was laid, and the match lighted, a change began to come upon him. It was his maiden²¹ felony; his first début in the distinct character of a scoundrel; and, though his conscience was none of the liveliest, it sufficed to visit him with some qualms²². Anxieties, doubts, fears, began to prey²³ upon him; sleep failed him; his nerves were set more and more on edge; in short, body and mind, mutually acting²⁴ on each other, were fast bringing him to a state quite adverse²⁵ to the maxims²⁶ of his philosophy.

 

When a sophomore²⁷ in college, his favorite reading had been Foster's Essay on Decision of Character, and he had aspired²⁸ to realize in his own person the type of character therein set forth²⁹; the man of steel, who, in his firm march towards his ends, knows neither doubts, nor waverings, nor relentings. Of this ideal he was now falling lamentably³⁰ short; and as, at two o'clock in the morning, he rose from his restless bed, and paced his chamber³¹ to and fro, vainly upbraiding³² his weakness, and struggling to reason down the rebellious³³ vibration³⁴ of his nerves, he was any thing but the inexorable hero of his boyish fancy.

 

"The thing is done,"—so he communed with himself,—"it was deliberately³⁵ done, and well done. That hound is chained and muzzled³⁶, or will be so soon. For a time, at least, he is out of my path. But is he? What if he should escape the trap? What if those men to whom I have sent him are less an abomination in the eyes of the government than there is reason to think them? No doubt he will be compromised; no doubt he will get into difficulty; but if he should get out again! if, within a year from this he should come home to charge me with trapanning him! Pshaw! he could prove nothing. He would be thought malicious³⁷ if he accused me. But he may suspect!" and this idea sufficed to fill his excited mind with fresh agitation³⁸. For three nights he had been without sleep; and now his irritable³⁹ system was wrought⁴⁰ almost to the point of fever.

 

"Half measures are nothing! The nail must be driven home and clinched⁴¹! I must make sure of him." And early in the morning he went to find Speyer.

 

Speyer was not to be found. In his eagerness, he went again and again to seek him, though he knew that there was risk in doing so. At length he succeeded; and in spite of his resolute⁴² and long-practised self-control, his confederate saw at a glance, in his shining eye, flushed cheek, and the nervous compression of his lips, that he was under a great, though a painfully repressed excitement.

 

"Well, monsieur, do you hear any thing from your friend?"

 

"No, it is not time to hear."

 

"You will have to wait a long while before the time comes."

 

"Your letters were very well so far as they go; but the thing should be done thoroughly⁴³. What I wish you to do is this. Write to him a letter, implicating⁴⁴ him in your revolutionary plot. He will be under suspicion. Every letter sent to him will be stopped and opened by the police."

 

"If that is done, I will warrant you quit of him; at least for some years to come."

 

"They will imprison⁴⁵ him," said Vinal, nervously⁴⁶, "but that will be the whole,—his life will be in no danger."

 

"His life!" returned Speyer, glancing sidelong at his visitor; "don't be troubled on that score. They won't kill him."

 

"Then write the letter," said Vinal, laying a rouleau of gold on the table, "and write it in such a way that it shall spring the trap on him, and keep him caged till doomsday."

 

The letter was written. Vinal read it, re-read it, sealed it, and with a quivering hand thrust it into the post office.

1 requisite   

adj.需要的，必不可少的；n.必需品

参考例句：

• He hasn't got the requisite qualifications for the job.他不具备这工作所需的资格。
• Food and air are requisite for life.食物和空气是生命的必需品。

2 requisites   

n.必要的事物( requisite的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• It is obvious that there are two requisites. 显然有两个必要部分。 来自辞典例句
• Capacity of donor is one of the essential requisites of \"gift\". 赠与人的行为能力是\"赠与\"的一个重要前提。 来自口语例句

3 villain   

n.反派演员，反面人物；恶棍；问题的起因

参考例句：

• He was cast as the villain in the play.他在戏里扮演反面角色。
• The man who played the villain acted very well.扮演恶棍的那个男演员演得很好。

4 sage   

n.圣人，哲人；adj.贤明的，明智的

参考例句：

• I was grateful for the old man's sage advice.我很感激那位老人贤明的忠告。
• The sage is the instructor of a hundred ages.这位哲人是百代之师。

5 miserably   

adv.痛苦地；悲惨地；糟糕地；极度地

参考例句：

• The little girl was wailing miserably. 那小女孩难过得号啕大哭。
• It was drizzling, and miserably cold and damp. 外面下着毛毛细雨，天气又冷又湿，令人难受。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 fulcrum   

n.杠杆支点

参考例句：

• Give me a fulcrum on which to rest,and I will move the earth.给我一个支承的支点，我就会搬动地球。
• The decision is the strategic fulcrum of the budget.这一决定是预算案的战略支点。

7 tottering   

adj.蹒跚的，动摇的v.走得或动得不稳( totter的现在分词 )；踉跄；蹒跚；摇摇欲坠

参考例句：

• the tottering walls of the castle 古城堡摇摇欲坠的墙壁
• With power and to spare we must pursue the tottering foe. 宜将剩勇追穷寇。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 kindling   

n. 点火, 可燃物 动词kindle的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• There were neat piles of kindling wood against the wall. 墙边整齐地放着几堆引火柴。
• "Coal and kindling all in the shed in the backyard." “煤，劈柴，都在后院小屋里。” 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子

9 prudence   

n.谨慎，精明，节俭

参考例句：

• A lack of prudence may lead to financial problems.不够谨慎可能会导致财政上出现问题。
• The happy impute all their success to prudence or merit.幸运者都把他们的成功归因于谨慎或功德。

10 asylum   

n.避难所，庇护所，避难

参考例句：

• The people ask for political asylum.人们请求政治避难。
• Having sought asylum in the West for many years,they were eventually granted it.他们最终获得了在西方寻求多年的避难权。

11 serenity   

n.宁静，沉着，晴朗

参考例句：

• Her face,though sad,still evoked a feeling of serenity.她的脸色虽然悲伤，但仍使人感觉安详。
• She escaped to the comparative serenity of the kitchen.她逃到相对安静的厨房里。

12 piety   

n.虔诚，虔敬

参考例句：

• They were drawn to the church not by piety but by curiosity.他们去教堂不是出于虔诚而是出于好奇。
• Experience makes us see an enormous difference between piety and goodness.经验使我们看到虔诚与善意之间有着巨大的区别。

13 eschew   

v.避开，戒绝

参考例句：

• Eschew fattening foods if you want to lose weight.你如想减肥，就不要吃致肥的食物。
• Good kid should eschew bad company.好孩子应避免交坏朋友。

14 rascality   

流氓性，流氓集团

参考例句：

15 placid   

adj.安静的，平和的

参考例句：

• He had been leading a placid life for the past eight years.八年来他一直过着平静的生活。
• You should be in a placid mood and have a heart-to- heart talk with her.你应该心平气和的好好和她谈谈心。

16 virtue   

n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力

参考例句：

• He was considered to be a paragon of virtue.他被认为是品德尽善尽美的典范。
• You need to decorate your mind with virtue.你应该用德行美化心灵。

17 discretion   

n.谨慎；随意处理

参考例句：

• You must show discretion in choosing your friend.你择友时必须慎重。
• Please use your best discretion to handle the matter.请慎重处理此事。

18 intrigue   

vt.激起兴趣，迷住；vi.耍阴谋；n.阴谋，密谋

参考例句：

• Court officials will intrigue against the royal family.法院官员将密谋反对皇室。
• The royal palace was filled with intrigue.皇宫中充满了勾心斗角。

19 jealousy   

n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌

参考例句：

• Some women have a disposition to jealousy.有些女人生性爱妒忌。
• I can't support your jealousy any longer.我再也无法忍受你的嫉妒了。

20 steadfast   

adj.固定的，不变的，不动摇的；忠实的；坚贞不移的

参考例句：

• Her steadfast belief never left her for one moment.她坚定的信仰从未动摇过。
• He succeeded in his studies by dint of steadfast application.由于坚持不懈的努力他获得了学业上的成功。

21 maiden   

n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的

参考例句：

• The prince fell in love with a fair young maiden.王子爱上了一位年轻美丽的少女。
• The aircraft makes its maiden flight tomorrow.这架飞机明天首航。

22 qualms   

n.不安；内疚

参考例句：

• He felt no qualms about borrowing money from friends.他没有对于从朋友那里借钱感到不安。
• He has no qualms about lying.他撒谎毫不内疚。

23 prey   

n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨

参考例句：

• Stronger animals prey on weaker ones.弱肉强食。
• The lion was hunting for its prey.狮子在寻找猎物。

24 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

25 adverse   

adj.不利的；有害的；敌对的，不友好的

参考例句：

• He is adverse to going abroad.他反对出国。
• The improper use of medicine could lead to severe adverse reactions.用药不当会产生严重的不良反应。

26 maxims   

n.格言，座右铭( maxim的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Courts also draw freely on traditional maxims of construction. 法院也自由吸收传统的解释准则。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• There are variant formulations of some of the maxims. 有些准则有多种表达方式。 来自辞典例句

27 sophomore   

n.大学二年级生；adj.第二年的

参考例句：

• He is in his sophomore year.他在读二年级。
• I'm a college sophomore majoring in English.我是一名英语专业的大二学生。

28 aspired   

v.渴望，追求( aspire的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She aspired to a scientific career. 她有志于科学事业。
• Britain,France,the United States and Japan all aspired to hegemony after the end of World War I. 第一次世界大战后，英、法、美、日都想争夺霸权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

29 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

30 lamentably   

adv.哀伤地，拙劣地

参考例句：

• Aviation was lamentably weak and primitive. 航空设施极其薄弱简陋。 来自辞典例句
• Poor Tom lamentably disgraced himself at Sir Charles Mirable's table, by premature inebriation. 可怜的汤姆在查尔斯·米拉贝尔爵士的宴会上，终于入席不久就酩酊大醉，弄得出丑露乖，丢尽了脸皮。 来自辞典例句

31 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

32 upbraiding   

adj.& n.谴责（的）v.责备，申斥，谴责( upbraid的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• His wife set about upbraiding him for neglecting the children. 他妻子开始指责他不照顾孩子。 来自辞典例句
• I eschewed upbraiding, I curtailed remonstrance. 我避免责备，少作规劝。 来自辞典例句

33 rebellious   

adj.造反的，反抗的，难控制的

参考例句：

• They will be in danger if they are rebellious.如果他们造反，他们就要发生危险。
• Her reply was mild enough,but her thoughts were rebellious.她的回答虽然很温和，但她的心里十分反感。

34 vibration   

n.颤动，振动；摆动

参考例句：

• There is so much vibration on a ship that one cannot write.船上的震动大得使人无法书写。
• The vibration of the window woke me up.窗子的震动把我惊醒了。

35 deliberately   

adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地

参考例句：

• The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
• They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。

36 muzzled   

给（狗等）戴口套( muzzle的过去式和过去分词 )； 使缄默，钳制…言论

参考例句：

• The newspapers were effectively muzzled by strict censorship laws. 严厉的新闻审查法有效地使那些报纸沉默了下来。
• Whenever in the street our dog is muzzled. 每当上街时，我们的狗总是戴上嘴套。

37 malicious   

adj.有恶意的，心怀恶意的

参考例句：

• You ought to kick back at such malicious slander. 你应当反击这种恶毒的污蔑。
• Their talk was slightly malicious.他们的谈话有点儿心怀不轨。

38 agitation   

n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动

参考例句：

• Small shopkeepers carried on a long agitation against the big department stores.小店主们长期以来一直在煽动人们反对大型百货商店。
• These materials require constant agitation to keep them in suspension.这些药剂要经常搅动以保持悬浮状态。

39 irritable   

adj.急躁的；过敏的；易怒的

参考例句：

• He gets irritable when he's got toothache.他牙一疼就很容易发脾气。
• Our teacher is an irritable old lady.She gets angry easily.我们的老师是位脾气急躁的老太太。她很容易生气。

40 wrought   

v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的

参考例句：

• Events in Paris wrought a change in British opinion towards France and Germany.巴黎发生的事件改变了英国对法国和德国的看法。
• It's a walking stick with a gold head wrought in the form of a flower.那是一个金质花形包头的拐杖。

41 clinched   

v.（尤指两人）互相紧紧抱[扭]住( clinch的过去式和过去分词 )；解决（争端、交易），达成（协议）

参考例句：

• The two businessmen clinched the deal quickly. 两位生意人很快达成了协议。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Evidently this information clinched the matter. 显然，这一消息使问题得以最终解决。 来自辞典例句

42 resolute   

adj.坚决的，果敢的

参考例句：

• He was resolute in carrying out his plan.他坚决地实行他的计划。
• The Egyptians offered resolute resistance to the aggressors.埃及人对侵略者作出坚决的反抗。

43 thoroughly   

adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地

参考例句：

• The soil must be thoroughly turned over before planting.一定要先把土地深翻一遍再下种。
• The soldiers have been thoroughly instructed in the care of their weapons.士兵们都系统地接受过保护武器的训练。

44 implicating   

vt.牵涉，涉及（implicate的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• He was in the public dock, confessing everything, implicating everybody. 他站在被告席上，什么都招认，什么人都咬。 来自英汉文学
• No one would have had me get out of the scrape by implicating an old friend. 无论什么人都不能叫我为了自己摆脱困难便把一个老朋友牵累到这案子里去。 来自辞典例句

45 imprison   

vt.监禁，关押，限制，束缚

参考例句：

• The effect of this one is going to imprison you for life.而这件事的影响力则会让你被终身监禁。
• Dutch colonial authorities imprisoned him for his part in the independence movement.荷兰殖民当局因他参加独立运动而把他关押了起来。

46 nervously   

adv.神情激动地，不安地

参考例句：

• He bit his lip nervously,trying not to cry.他紧张地咬着唇，努力忍着不哭出来。
• He paced nervously up and down on the platform.他在站台上情绪不安地走来走去。