Ruled by the manly brain.—Bayard Taylor.
One day the jailer came in at his stated hour. He was, by birth, a German peasant, stupid and brutish enough; but, his calling considered, he might have been worse, and, in the lack of better company, Morton had diligently3 cultivated his acquaintance. On this occasion he was more than commonly dogged and impenetrable; and, on being taken to task for some neglect or malperformance of his functions, he made no manner of reply, by word, look, or gesture. Being again upbraided4, he turned for a moment towards the prisoner a face as expressive5 as a block of pudding stone, and then sullenly6 continued his work as before. Morton laughed, partly in vexation, and resumed his walk, of just three paces, to and fro, the length of his cell. He followed the jailer with his eye, as the latter closed the door.
"'God made him, and therefore let him pass for a man.' Measure the distance from Shakspeare down to that fellow, and then from him again down to a baboon7, and which measurement would be the longer? It would be a knotty8 problem to settle the question of kindred; and yet, after all, a soul to be saved, such as it is, and an indefinite power of expansion and refining, give Jacob strong odds9 against the baboon. He has human possibilities, like the rest of us; his unit goes to make up the sum of man; man, the riddle10 and marvel11 of the universe, the centre of interest, the centre of wonder. When I was a boy, I pleased myself with planning that I would study out the springs of human action, and trace human emotion up to its sources. It was a boy's idea,—to fathom12 the unfathomable, to line and map out the shifting clouds and the ever-moving winds. De Sta?l speaks the truth—'Man may learn to rule man, but only God can comprehend him.' View him under one aspect only. Seek to analyze13 that pervading14 passion, that mighty15 mystic influence which, consciously or unconsciously, directly or indirectly16, prevails in human action, and holds the sovereignty of the world. It is a vain attempt; the reason loses and confounds itself. What human faculty17 can follow the workings of a principle which at once exalts18 man to the stars, and fetters19 him to the earth; which can fire him with triumphant20 energies, or lull21 him into effeminate repose22; kindle23 strange aspirations24 and eager longings25 after knowledge; spur the intellect to range time and space, or cramp26 it within narrow confines, among mean fancies and base associations? In its mysterious contradictions, its boundless27 possibilities of good and ill, it is a type of human nature itself. The soldier saint, Loyola, was right when he figured the conflicts of man's spirit by the collision of two armies, ranked under adverse28 banners; for what is the spirit of man but a field of war, with its marches and retreats, its ambuscades, stratagems29, surprises, skirmishings, and weary life-long sieges; its shock of onset30, and death-grapple, throat to throat? And whoever would be wise, or safe, must sentinel his thoughts, and rule his mind by martial31 law, like a city beleaguered32.
"How to escape such strife33! There is no escape. It has followed hermits34 to their deserts; and it follows me to my prison. It will find no end but in that decay and torpor35, that callousness36 of faculty, which long imprisonment37 is said to bring, but which, as yet, I do not feel. Perhaps I may never feel it; for strive as I will to prepare for the worst, by inuring38 my mind to contemplate39 it, that spark of hope which never, it is said, dies wholly in a human heart, is still alive in mine. And sometimes, of late, it has kindled40 and glowed, as now, with a strange brightness. Is it a delusion41, or the presage42 of some succor43 not far distant? Let that be as it may, I will still cling to the possibility of a better time. Whatever new disaster meets me, I will confront it with some new audacity44 of hope. I will nail my flag to the mast, and there it shall fly till all go down, or till flag, mast, and hulk rot together."
点击收听单词发音
1 manly | |
adj.有男子气概的;adv.男子般地,果断地 | |
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2 languish | |
vi.变得衰弱无力,失去活力,(植物等)凋萎 | |
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3 diligently | |
ad.industriously;carefully | |
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4 upbraided | |
v.责备,申斥,谴责( upbraid的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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5 expressive | |
adj.表现的,表达…的,富于表情的 | |
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6 sullenly | |
不高兴地,绷着脸,忧郁地 | |
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7 baboon | |
n.狒狒 | |
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8 knotty | |
adj.有结的,多节的,多瘤的,棘手的 | |
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9 odds | |
n.让步,机率,可能性,比率;胜败优劣之别 | |
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10 riddle | |
n.谜,谜语,粗筛;vt.解谜,给…出谜,筛,检查,鉴定,非难,充满于;vi.出谜 | |
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11 marvel | |
vi.(at)惊叹vt.感到惊异;n.令人惊异的事 | |
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12 fathom | |
v.领悟,彻底了解 | |
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13 analyze | |
vt.分析,解析 (=analyse) | |
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14 pervading | |
v.遍及,弥漫( pervade的现在分词 ) | |
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15 mighty | |
adj.强有力的;巨大的 | |
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16 indirectly | |
adv.间接地,不直接了当地 | |
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17 faculty | |
n.才能;学院,系;(学院或系的)全体教学人员 | |
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18 exalts | |
赞扬( exalt的第三人称单数 ); 歌颂; 提升; 提拔 | |
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19 fetters | |
n.脚镣( fetter的名词复数 );束缚v.给…上脚镣,束缚( fetter的第三人称单数 ) | |
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20 triumphant | |
adj.胜利的,成功的;狂欢的,喜悦的 | |
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21 lull | |
v.使安静,使入睡,缓和,哄骗;n.暂停,间歇 | |
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22 repose | |
v.(使)休息;n.安息 | |
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23 kindle | |
v.点燃,着火 | |
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24 aspirations | |
强烈的愿望( aspiration的名词复数 ); 志向; 发送气音; 发 h 音 | |
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25 longings | |
渴望,盼望( longing的名词复数 ) | |
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26 cramp | |
n.痉挛;[pl.](腹)绞痛;vt.限制,束缚 | |
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27 boundless | |
adj.无限的;无边无际的;巨大的 | |
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28 adverse | |
adj.不利的;有害的;敌对的,不友好的 | |
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29 stratagems | |
n.诡计,计谋( stratagem的名词复数 );花招 | |
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30 onset | |
n.进攻,袭击,开始,突然开始 | |
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31 martial | |
adj.战争的,军事的,尚武的,威武的 | |
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32 beleaguered | |
adj.受到围困[围攻]的;包围的v.围攻( beleaguer的过去式和过去分词);困扰;骚扰 | |
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33 strife | |
n.争吵,冲突,倾轧,竞争 | |
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34 hermits | |
(尤指早期基督教的)隐居修道士,隐士,遁世者( hermit的名词复数 ) | |
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35 torpor | |
n.迟钝;麻木;(动物的)冬眠 | |
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36 callousness | |
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37 imprisonment | |
n.关押,监禁,坐牢 | |
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38 inuring | |
v.使习惯(于)( inure的现在分词 ) | |
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39 contemplate | |
vt.盘算,计议;周密考虑;注视,凝视 | |
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40 kindled | |
(使某物)燃烧,着火( kindle的过去式和过去分词 ); 激起(感情等); 发亮,放光 | |
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41 delusion | |
n.谬见,欺骗,幻觉,迷惑 | |
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42 presage | |
n.预感,不祥感;v.预示 | |
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43 succor | |
n.援助,帮助;v.给予帮助 | |
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44 audacity | |
n.大胆,卤莽,无礼 | |
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