The lover, Paul Delage, was with difficulty deciphering a speech:
"'I recognize the chateau11 with its brick walls, its slated12 roof; the park, where I have so often entwined her initials and mine on the bark of the trees; the pond whose slumbering13 waters....'"
[Pg 98]
"'Beware, Aimeri, lest the chateau know you not again, lest the park forget your name, lest the pond murmur15: "Who is this stranger?"'"
But she had a cold, and was reading from a manuscript copy full of mistakes.
"Don't stand there, Fagette: it's the summer-house," said Romilly.
"How do you expect me to know that?"
"There's a chair put there."
"'Lest the pond murmur: "Who is this stranger?"'"
"Mademoiselle Nanteuil, it's your cue——Where has Nanteuil got to? Nanteuil!"
Nanteuil came forward muffled16 up in her furs, her little bag and her part in her hand, white as a sheet, her eyes sunken, her legs nerveless. When fully17 awake she had seen the dead man enter her bedroom.
She inquired:
"Where do I make my entrance from?"
"From the right."
"All right."
And she read:
"'Cousin, I was so happy when I awoke this morning, I do not know why it was. Can you perhaps tell me?'"
Delage read his reply:
[Pg 99]
"'It may be, Cécile, that it was due to a special dispensation of Providence18 or of fate. The God who loves you suffers you to smile, in the hour of weeping and the gnashing of teeth.'"
"Nanteuil, my darling, you cross the stage," said Romilly. "Delage, stand aside a bit to let her pass."
Nanteuil crossed over.
"'Terrible days, do you say, Aimeri? Our days are what we make them. They are terrible for evil-doers only.'"
Romilly interrupted:
"Delage, efface19 yourself a trifle; be careful not to hide her from the audience. Once more, Nanteuil."
Nanteuil repeated:
"'Terrible days, do you say, Aimeri? Our days are what we make them. They are terrible for evil-doers only.'"
Constantin Marc no longer recognized his handiwork, he could no longer even hear the sound of his beloved phrases, which he had so often repeated to himself in the Vivarais woods. Dumbfounded and dazed, he held his peace.
Nanteuil tripped daintily across the stage, and resumed reading her part:
"'You will perhaps think me very foolish, Aimeri; in the convent where I was brought up, I often used to envy the fate of the victims.'"
[Pg 100]
Delage took up his cue, but he had overlooked a page of the manuscript:
"'The weather is magnificent. Already the guests are strolling about the garden.'"
It became necessary to start all over again.
"'Terrible days, do you say, Aimeri....'"
And so they proceeded, without troubling to understand, but careful to regulate their movements, as if studying the figures of a dance.
"In the interests of the play, we shall have to make some cuts," said Pradel to the dismayed author.
And Delage continued:
"'Do not blame me, Cécile: I felt for you a friendship dating from childhood, one of those fraternal friendships which impart to the love which springs from them a disquieting20 appearance of incest.'"
"Incest," shouted Pradel. "You cannot let the word 'incest' remain, Monsieur Constantin Marc. The public has susceptibilities of which you have no idea. Moreover, the order of the two speeches which follow must be transposed. The optics of the stage require it."
The rehearsal was interrupted. Romilly caught sight of Durville who, in a recess21, was telling racy stories.
"Durville, you can go. The second act will not be rehearsed to-day."
[Pg 101]
Before leaving, the old actor went up to Nanteuil, to press her hand. Judging that this was the moment to assure her of his sympathy, he summoned up the tears to his eyes, as anyone condoling22 with her would have done in his place. But he did it admirably. The pupils of his eyes swam in their orbits, like the moon amid clouds. The corners of his lips were turned down in two deep furrows23 which prolonged them to the bottom of his chin. He appeared to be genuinely afflicted24.
"My poor darling," he sighed, "I pity you, I do indeed! To see one for whom one has experienced a—feeling—with whom one has—lived in intimacy—to see him carried off at a blow—a tragic25 blow—is hard, is terrible!"
And he extended his compassionate26 hands. Nanteuil, completely unnerved, and crushing her tiny handkerchief and her part in her hands, turned her back upon him, and hissed27 between her teeth:
"Old idiot!"
Fagette passed her arm round her waist, and led her gently aside to the foot of Racine's statue, where she whispered into her ear:
"Listen to me, my dear. This affair must be completely hushed up. Everybody is talking about it. If you let people talk, they will brand you for life as Chevalier's widow."
Then, being something of a talker, she added:
[Pg 102]
"I know you, I am your best friend. I know your value. But beware, Félicie: women are held at their own valuation."
Every one of Fagette's shafts28 told. Nanteuil, with fiery29 cheeks, held back her tears. Too young to possess or even to desire the prudence30 which comes to celebrated31 actresses when of an age to graduate as women of the world of fashion, she was full of self-esteem, and since she had known what it was to love another she was eager to efface everything unfashionable from her past; she felt that Chevalier, in killing32 himself for her sake, had behaved towards her publicly with a familiarity which made her ridiculous. Still unaware33 that all things fall into oblivion, and are lost in the swift current of our days, that all our actions flow like the waters of a river, between banks that have no memory, she pondered, irritated and dejected, at the feet of Jean Racine, who understood her grief.
"Just look at her," said Madame Marie-Claire to young Delage. "She wants to cry. I understand her. A man killed himself for me. I was greatly upset by it. He was a count."
"Well, begin again!" shouted Pradel. "Come now, Mademoiselle Nanteuil, your cue!"
Whereupon Nanteuil:
"'Cousin, I was so happy when I awoke this morning....'"
[Pg 103]
"I have very sad news. The parish priest will not allow him to enter his church."
As Chevalier had no relations left other than a sister, a working-woman at Pantin, Madame Doulce had undertaken to make arrangements for the funeral at the expense of the members of the company.
They gathered round her. She continued:
"The Church rejects him as though he were accurst! That's dreadful!"
"Why?" asked Romilly.
Madame Doulce replied in a very low tone and as if reluctantly:
"Because he committed suicide."
"We must see to this," said Pradel.
Romilly displayed an eager desire to be of service.
"The curé knows me," he said. "He is a very decent fellow. I'll just run over to Saint-étienne-du-Mont, and I'd be greatly surprised if——"
Madame Doulce shook her head sadly:
"All is useless."
"All the same, we must have a religious service," said Romilly, with all the authority of a stage-manager.
[Pg 104]
"Quite so," said Madame Doulce.
Madame Marie-Claire, deeply exercised in her mind, was of opinion that the priests could be compelled to say a Mass.
"Let us keep cool," said Pradel, caressing35 his venerable beard. "Under Louis VIII the people broke in the doors of Saint-Roch, which had been closed to the coffin36 of Mademoiselle Raucourt. We live in other times, and under different circumstances. We must have recourse to gentler methods."
Constantin Marc, seeing to his great regret that his play was abandoned, had likewise approached Madame Doulce; he inquired of her:
"Why should you want Chevalier to be blessed by the Church? Personally, I am a Catholic. With me, it is not a faith, it is a system, and I look upon it as a duty to participate in all the external practices of worship. I am on the side of all authorities. I am for the judge, the soldier, the priest. I cannot therefore be suspected of favouring civil burials. But I hardly understand why you persist in offering the curé of Saint-étienne-du-Mont a dead body which he repudiates37. Now why do you want this unfortunate Chevalier to go to church?"
[Pg 105]
"What would be seemly," replied Constantin Marc, "would be to obey the laws of the Church, which excommunicates suicides."
"Monsieur Constantin Marc, have you read Les Soirées de Neuilly?" inquired Pradel, who was an ardent39 collector of old books and a great reader. "What, you have not read Les Soirées de Neuilly, by Monsieur de Fongeray? You have missed something. It is a curious book, which can still be met with sometimes on the quays40. It is adorned41 by a lithograph42 of Henry Monnier's, which is, I don't know why, a caricature of Stendhal. Fongeray is the pseudonym43 of two Liberals of the Restoration, Dittmer and Cavé. The work consists of comedies and dramas which cannot be acted; but which contain some most interesting scenes representing manners and customs. You will read in it how, in the reign44 of Charles X, a vicar of one of the Paris churches, the Abbé Mouchaud, would refuse burial to a pious45 lady, and would, at all costs, grant it to an atheist46. Madame d'Hautefeuille was religious, but she held some national property. At her death, she received the ministrations of a Jansenist priest. For this reason, after her death, the Abbé Mouchaud refused to receive her into the church in which she had passed her life. At the same time, in the same parish, Monsieur Dubourg, a big banker, was good enough to die. In his will he stipulated47 that he [Pg 106] should be borne straight to the cemetery48. 'He is a Catholic,' reflected the Abbé Mouchaud, 'he belongs to us.' Quickly making a parcel of his stole and surplice, he rushed off to the dead man's house, administered extreme unction, and brought him into his church."
"Well," replied Constantin Marc, "that vicar was an excellent politician. Atheists are not formidable enemies of the Church. They do not count as adversaries49. They cannot raise a Church against her, and they do not dream of doing so. Atheists have existed at all times among the heads and princes of the Church, and many of them have rendered signal services to the Papacy. On the other hand, whoever does not submit strictly50 to ecclesiastical discipline and breaks away from tradition upon a single point, whoever sets up a faith against the faith, an opinion, a practices against the accepted opinion and the common practice, is a factor of disorder51, a menace of peril52, and must be extirpated53. This the vicar, Mouchaud, understood. He should have been made a Cardinal54."
Madame Doulce, who had been clever enough not to tell everything in a breath, went on to say:
"I did not allow myself to be discomfited55 by the opposition56 of Monsieur le Curé. I begged, I entreated57. And his answer was: 'We owe respectful obedience58 to the Ordinary. Go to the [Pg 107] Archbishop's Palace. I will do as Monseigneur bids me.' There is nothing left for me but to follow this advice. I'm hurrying off to the Archbishop's Palace."
"Let us get to work," said Pradel.
Romilly called to Nanteuil:
"Nanteuil! Come, Nanteuil, begin your whole scene over again."
And Nanteuil said once more:
"'Cousin, I was so happy when I awoke this morning....'"
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收听单词发音
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1
rehearsal
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| n.排练，排演；练习 | |
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dismal
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| adj.阴沉的，凄凉的，令人忧郁的，差劲的 | |
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3
pall
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| v.覆盖，使平淡无味；n.柩衣，棺罩；棺材；帷幕 | |
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4
majesty
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| n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权 | |
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pallid
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| adj.苍白的，呆板的 | |
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6
velvet
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| n.丝绒，天鹅绒；adj.丝绒制的，柔软的 | |
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7
exhaled
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| v.呼出，发散出( exhale的过去式和过去分词 )；吐出（肺中的空气、烟等），呼气 | |
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vigilant
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| adj.警觉的，警戒的，警惕的 | |
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9
hatred
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| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
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jealousy
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| n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌 | |
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chateau
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| n.城堡，别墅 | |
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12
slated
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| 用石板瓦盖( slate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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13
slumbering
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| 微睡，睡眠（slumber的现在分词形式） | |
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14
rebuked
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| 责难或指责( rebuke的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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15
murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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16
muffled
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| adj.（声音）被隔的；听不太清的；（衣服）裹严的；蒙住的v.压抑，捂住( muffle的过去式和过去分词 )；用厚厚的衣帽包着（自己） | |
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17
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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18
providence
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| n.深谋远虑，天道，天意；远见；节约；上帝 | |
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19
efface
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| v.擦掉，抹去 | |
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20
disquieting
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| adj.令人不安的，令人不平静的v.使不安，使忧虑，使烦恼( disquiet的现在分词 ) | |
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21
recess
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| n.短期休息，壁凹（墙上装架子，柜子等凹处） | |
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22
condoling
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| v.表示同情，吊唁( condole的现在分词 ) | |
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23
furrows
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| n.犁沟( furrow的名词复数 )；（脸上的）皱纹v.犁田，开沟( furrow的第三人称单数 ) | |
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24
afflicted
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| 使受痛苦，折磨( afflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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25
tragic
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| adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的 | |
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26
compassionate
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| adj.有同情心的，表示同情的 | |
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27
hissed
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| 发嘶嘶声( hiss的过去式和过去分词 )； 发嘘声表示反对 | |
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28
shafts
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| 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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29
fiery
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| adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的 | |
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30
prudence
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| n.谨慎，精明，节俭 | |
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celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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32
killing
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| n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财 | |
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unaware
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| a.不知道的，未意识到的 | |
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ponderous
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| adj.沉重的，笨重的，(文章)冗长的 | |
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caressing
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| 爱抚的，表现爱情的，亲切的 | |
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coffin
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| n.棺材，灵柩 | |
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37
repudiates
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| v.（正式地）否认( repudiate的第三人称单数 )；拒绝接受；拒绝与…往来；拒不履行（法律义务） | |
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38
salvation
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| n.（尤指基督）救世，超度，拯救，解困 | |
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39
ardent
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，强烈的，烈性的 | |
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40
quays
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| 码头( quay的名词复数 ) | |
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41
adorned
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| [计]被修饰的 | |
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42
lithograph
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| n.平板印刷，平板画；v.用平版印刷 | |
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43
pseudonym
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| n.假名，笔名 | |
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44
reign
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| n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势 | |
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45
pious
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| adj.虔诚的；道貌岸然的 | |
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46
atheist
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| n.无神论者 | |
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47
stipulated
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| vt.& vi.规定；约定adj.[法]合同规定的 | |
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48
cemetery
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| n.坟墓，墓地，坟场 | |
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49
adversaries
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| n.对手，敌手( adversary的名词复数 ) | |
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50
strictly
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| adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地 | |
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51
disorder
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| n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调 | |
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52
peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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53
extirpated
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| v.消灭，灭绝( extirpate的过去式和过去分词 )；根除 | |
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54
cardinal
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| n.(天主教的)红衣主教；adj.首要的，基本的 | |
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55
discomfited
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| v.使为难( discomfit的过去式和过去分词)；使狼狈；使挫折；挫败 | |
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56
opposition
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| n.反对，敌对 | |
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57
entreated
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| 恳求，乞求( entreat的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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obedience
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| n.服从，顺从 | |
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