Blanchelande
King Loc did not laugh long; indeed he hid the face of a very unhappy little man under the bed-clothes.
He lay awake all night long thinking of George of Blanchelande, the prisoner of the nixies.
So about the hour when such of the dwarfs1 as have a dairymaid for sweetheart go in her stead to milk the cows while she sleeps in her white bed with folded hands, little King Loc again sought the astute3 Nur in the depths of his well.
“You did not tell me, Nur, what he is doing down there with the nixies?”
The venerable Nur was quite convinced that the king was mad, though that did not alarm him because he knew if King Loc should lose his reason he would be a most gracious, charming, amiable4 and kindly5 lunatic. The madness of the dwarfs is gentle like their reason, and full of the most delicious fancies. But King Loc was not mad; at least not more so than lovers usually are.
“I wish to speak of George of Blanchelande,” he said to the venerable Nur, who had forgotten all about this young man as soon as possible.
Thereupon Nur the wise placed a series of lenses and mirrors before the king in an order so exact that it looked like disorder6, but which enabled him to show the king in a mirror the form of George of Blanchelande as he was when the nixies carried him away. By a lucky choice and a skilful7 adjustment of instruments the dwarf2 was able to reproduce for the love-sick king all the adventures of the son of that Countess to whom a white rose announced her end. And the following, expressed in words, is what the little man saw in all the reality of form and colour.
When George was borne away in the icy arms of the daughters of the lake the water pressed upon his eyes and his breast and he felt that he was about to die. And yet he heard songs that sounded like a caress8 and his whole being was permeated9 by a sense of delicious freshness. When he opened his eyes he found himself in a grotto10 whose crystal columns reflected the delicate tints11 of the rainbow. At the end of the grotto was a great sea shell of mother-of-pearl iridescent12 with the tenderest colours, and this served as a dais to the throne of coral and seaweed of the Queen of the Nixies. But the face of the Sovereign of the waters shone with a light more tender than either the mother-of-pearl or the crystal. She smiled at the child which her women brought her, and her green eyes lingered long upon him.
“Friend,” she said at last, “be welcome into our world, in which you shall be spared all sorrow. For you neither dry lessons nor rough sports; nothing coarse shall remind you of earth and its toil13, for you only the songs and the dances and the love of the nixies.”
And indeed the women of the green hair taught the child music and dancing and a thousand graces. They loved to bind14 his forehead with the cockle shells that decked their own tresses. But he, remembering his country, gnawed15 his clenched16 hands with impatience17.
Years passed and George longed with a passion unceasing to see the earth again, the rude earth where the sun burns and where the snow hardens, the mother earth where one suffers, where one loves, the earth where he had seen Honey-Bee, and where he longed to see her again. He had in the meantime grown to be a tall lad with a fine golden down on his upper lip. Courage came with the beard, and so one day he presented himself before the Queen of the Nixies and bowing low, said:
“Madam, I have come, with your gracious permission, to take leave of you; I am about to return to Clarides.”
“Fair youth,” the queen replied smiling, “I cannot grant you the leave you ask, for I guard you in my crystal palace, to make of you my lover.”
“That is but your courtesy. What gallant19 cavalier ever believes that he has sufficiently20 deserved his lady’s favour. Besides you are still too young to know your own worth. Let me tell you, fair youth, that we do but desire your welfare; obey your lady and her alone.”
“Madam, I love Honey-Bee of Clarides. I will have no other lady but her.”
“A mortal maid!” the queen cried, turning pale, but more beautiful still, “a coarse daughter of men, this Honey-Bee! How can you love such a thing?”
“I do not know, but I know that I love her.”
“Never mind. It will pass.”
He did not comprehend the devious23 thing called a woman; he was more like Achilles among the daughters of Lycomedes than Tannhauser in the enchanted24 castle. And that is why he wandered sadly along the walls of the mighty25 palace searching for an outlet26 through which to escape; but he only saw the splendid and silent empire of the waves sealing his shining prison. Through the transparent27 walls he watched the blooming sea anemones28 and the spreading coral, while over the delicate streams of the madrepores and the sparkling shells, purple, blue, and gold fishes made a glitter of stars with a stroke of their tails. These marvels29 he left unheeded, for, lulled30 by the delicious songs of the nixies, he felt little by little his will broken and his soul grow weak. He was all indolence and indifference31 when one day he found by chance in a gallery of the palace, an ancient well-worn book bound in pigskin and studded with great copper32 nail-heads. The book, saved from some wreck33 in mid-ocean, treated of chivalry34 and fair ladies, and related at great length the adventures of heroes who went about the world redressing35 wrongs, protecting widows and succouring orphans36 for the love of justice and in honour of beauty. George flushed and paled with wonder, shame, and anger as he read these tales of splendid adventures. He could not contain himself.
“I also,” he cried, “will be a gallant knight37. I also will go about the world punishing the wicked and succouring the unfortunate for the good of mankind and in the name of my lady Honey-Bee.”
With sword drawn38 and his heart big with valour he dashed across the crystal dwellings39. The white ladies fled and swooned before him like the silver ripples40 of a lake. Their queen alone beheld41 his approach without a tremor42; she turned on him the icy glance of her green eyes.
“Break the enchantment43 which binds44 me,” he cried, running towards her. “Open to me the road to earth. I wish to fight in the light of the sun like a cavalier. I wish to return to where one loves, to where one suffers, to where one struggles! Give back to me the life that is real and the light that is real. Give mc back my prowess! If not, I will kill you, you wicked woman!”
With a smile she shook her head as if to refuse. Beautiful she was and serene45. With all the strength that was in him George struck her; but his sword broke against her glittering breast.
“Child!” she said, and she commanded that he be cast into a dungeon46 which formed a kind of crystal tunnel under her palace, and about which sharks roamed with wide-stretched monstrous47 jaws48 armed with triple rows of pointed49 teeth. At every touch it seemed as if they must crush the frail50 glass wall, which made it impossible to sleep in this strange prison.
The extremity51 of this under-sea tunnel rested on a bed of rock which formed the vaulting52 of the most distant and unexplored cavern53 in the empire of the dwarfs.
And this is what the two little men saw in a single hour and quite as accurately54 as if they had followed George all the days of his life. The venerable Nur, having described the dungeon scene in all its tragic55 gloom, addressed the King in much the same way as the Savoyards speak to the little children when they show their magic lanterns.
“King Loc,” he said, “I have shown you all you wished to see, and now that you know all I can add nothing more. It’s nothing to me whether you liked what you saw; it is enough to know that what you saw was the truth. Science neither cares to please nor to displease56. She is inhuman57. It is not science but poetry that charms and consoles. And that is why poetry is more necessary than science. Go, King Loc, and get them to sing you a song.”
And without uttering a word King Loc left the well.
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1
dwarfs
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| n.侏儒，矮子（dwarf的复数形式）vt.（使）显得矮小（dwarf的第三人称单数形式） | |
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dwarf
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| n.矮子，侏儒，矮小的动植物；vt.使…矮小 | |
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3
astute
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| adj.机敏的，精明的 | |
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4
amiable
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| adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的 | |
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5
kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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6
disorder
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| n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调 | |
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7
skilful
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| (=skillful)adj.灵巧的，熟练的 | |
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caress
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| vt./n.爱抚，抚摸 | |
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9
permeated
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| 弥漫( permeate的过去式和过去分词 )； 遍布； 渗入； 渗透 | |
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10
grotto
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| n.洞穴 | |
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11
tints
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| 色彩( tint的名词复数 )； 带白的颜色； （淡色）染发剂； 痕迹 | |
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12
iridescent
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| adj.彩虹色的，闪色的 | |
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13
toil
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| vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事 | |
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14
bind
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| vt.捆，包扎；装订；约束；使凝固；vi.变硬 | |
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15
gnawed
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| 咬( gnaw的过去式和过去分词 )； （长时间） 折磨某人； （使）苦恼； （长时间）危害某事物 | |
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16
clenched
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| v.紧握，抓紧，咬紧( clench的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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17
impatience
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| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
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18
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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19
gallant
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| adj.英勇的，豪侠的；(向女人)献殷勤的 | |
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20
sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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21
allurements
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| n.诱惑( allurement的名词复数 )；吸引；诱惑物；有诱惑力的事物 | |
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22
abode
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| n.住处，住所 | |
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23
devious
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| adj.不坦率的，狡猾的；迂回的，曲折的 | |
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24
enchanted
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| adj. 被施魔法的，陶醉的，入迷的 动词enchant的过去式和过去分词 | |
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25
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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26
outlet
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| n.出口/路；销路；批发商店；通风口；发泄 | |
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27
transparent
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| adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的 | |
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28
anemones
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| n.银莲花( anemone的名词复数 )；海葵 | |
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29
marvels
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| n.奇迹( marvel的名词复数 )；令人惊奇的事物（或事例）；不平凡的成果；成就v.惊奇，对…感到惊奇( marvel的第三人称单数 ) | |
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30
lulled
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| vt.使镇静，使安静（lull的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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31
indifference
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| n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎 | |
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32
copper
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| n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的 | |
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33
wreck
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| n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难 | |
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34
chivalry
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| n.骑士气概，侠义；（男人）对女人彬彬有礼，献殷勤 | |
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35
redressing
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| v.改正( redress的现在分词 )；重加权衡；恢复平衡 | |
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36
orphans
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| 孤儿( orphan的名词复数 ) | |
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37
knight
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| n.骑士，武士；爵士 | |
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38
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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39
dwellings
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| n.住处，处所( dwelling的名词复数 ) | |
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40
ripples
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| 逐渐扩散的感觉( ripple的名词复数 ) | |
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41
beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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42
tremor
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| n.震动，颤动，战栗，兴奋，地震 | |
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43
enchantment
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| n.迷惑，妖术，魅力 | |
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44
binds
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| v.约束( bind的第三人称单数 )；装订；捆绑；（用长布条）缠绕 | |
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45
serene
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| adj. 安详的，宁静的，平静的 | |
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46
dungeon
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| n.地牢，土牢 | |
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47
monstrous
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| adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的 | |
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48
jaws
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| n.口部；嘴 | |
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49
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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50
frail
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| adj.身体虚弱的；易损坏的 | |
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51
extremity
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| n.末端，尽头；尽力；终极；极度 | |
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52
vaulting
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| n.（天花板或屋顶的）拱形结构 | |
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53
cavern
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| n.洞穴，大山洞 | |
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54
accurately
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| adv.准确地，精确地 | |
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55
tragic
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| adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的 | |
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56
displease
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| vt.使不高兴，惹怒；n.不悦，不满，生气 | |
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57
inhuman
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| adj.残忍的，不人道的，无人性的 | |
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