Chapter 26

 One day, in the midday interval¹, he was informed that a visitorwas asking for him in the parlour; the news filled him with delight,for he was very young and still counted on the possibilities ofthe unknown. In the parlour he found Monsieur Tudesco, wearinghis waistcoat of ticking and holding a peaked hat in one hand.

"My young friend," began the Italian, "I learned from your respectedfather's apprentice² that you were confined in this sanctuary³ ofstudious learning. I venture to say your fortune is overcastwith clouds, at least I fear it is. The lowliness of your estateis not gilded⁴ like that of the Latin poet, and you are strugglingwith a valiant⁵ heart against adverse⁶ fortune. That is why I amcome to offer you the hand of friendship, and I venture to sayyou will regard as a mark of my amity⁷ and my esteem⁸ the requestI proffer⁹ for a crown-piece, which I find needful to sustainan existence consecrated¹⁰ to learned studies."The parlour was filling with pupils and their friends and relations.

Mothers and sons were exchanging sounding kisses, followed byexclamations of "How hot you are, dear!" and prolonged whisperings.

Girls in light summer frocks were making sheep's eyes on the slyat their brothers' friends, while fathers were pulling cakesof chocolate out of their pockets.

Monsieur Tudesco, entirely¹¹ at his ease among these fine people, didnot seem at all aware of the young usher¹²'s hideous¹³ embarrassment¹⁴.

To the latter's "Come outside; we can talk better there," theold man replied unconcernedly, "Oh, no, I don't think so."He welcomed each lady who came in with a profound bow, anddistributed friendly taps on the cheek among the young aristocratsaround him.

Lying back in an arm-chair and displaying his famous waistcoatto the very best advantage, he enlarged on such episodes of hislife as he thought most impressive:

"The fates were vanquished¹⁵," he was telling Servien, "my livelihoodwas assured. The landlord of an inn had entrusted¹⁶ his books to me,and under his roof I was devoting my attention to mathematicalcalculations, not, like the illustrious and ill-starred Galileo,to measure the stars, but to establish with exactitude the profitsand losses of a trader. After two days' performance of thesehonourable duties, the Commissary of Police made a descent uponthe inn, arrested the landlord and landlady¹⁷ and carried away myaccount books with him. No, I had not vanquished the fates!"Every head was turned, every eye directed in amazement¹⁸ towardsthis extraordinary personage. There was much whispering and somehalf-suppressed laughter. Jean, seeing himself the centre ofmocking glances and looks of annoyance¹⁹, drew Tudesco towards thedoor. But just as the Marquis was making a series of sweepingbows by way of farewell to the ladies, Jean found himself faceto face with the Superintendent²⁰ of Studies, who said to him:

"Oh! Monsieur Servien, will you go and take detention²¹ in MonsieurSchuver's absence?"The Marquis pressed his young friend's hand, watched him departto his duties, and then, turning back to the groups gathered inthe parlour, he waved his hand with a gesture at once dignifiedand appealing to call for silence.

"Ladies and gentlemen," he began, "I have translated into theFrench tongue, which Brunetto Latini declared to be the mostdelectable of all, the _Gerusalemme Liberata_, the gloriousmasterpiece of the divine Torquato Tasso. This great work I wrotein a garret without fire, on candle wrappers, on snuff papers----"At this point, from one corner of the parlour, a crow of childishlaughter went off like a rocket.

Monsieur Tudesco stopped short and smiled, his hair flying, hiseye moist, his arms thrown open as if to embrace and bless; thenhe resumed:

"I say it: the laugh of innocence²² is the ill-starred veteran'sjoy. I see from where I stand groups worthy²³ of Correggio's brush,and I say: Happy the families that meet together in peace inthe heart of their fatherland! Ladies and gentlemen, pardon meif I hold out to you the casque of Belisarius. I am an old treeriven by the levin-bolt."And he went from group to group holding out his peaked felt hat,into which, amid an icy silence, fell coin by coin a dribbleof small silver.

But suddenly the Superintendent of Studies seized the hat andpushed the old man outside.

"Give me back my hat," bawled²⁴ Monsieur Tudesco to the Superintendent,who was doing his best to restore the coins to the donors²⁵; "giveback the old man's hat, the hat of one who has grown grey inlearned studies."The Superintendent, scarlet²⁶ with rage, tossed the felt into thecourt, shouting:

"Be off, or I will call the police."The Marquis Tudesco took to his heels with great agility²⁷.

The same evening the new Assistant was summoned to the Director'spresence and received his dismissal.

"Unhappy boy! unhappy boy!" said the Abbé Bordier, beating hisbrow; "you have been the cause of an intolerable scandal, of asort unheard of in this house, and that just when I had so muchto do."And as he spoke²⁸, the scattered²⁹ papers fluttered like white birdson the Director's table.

Making his way through the parlour, Jean saw the _Mater dolorosa_as before, and read again the names of Philippe-Guy Thierercheand the Countess Valentine.

"I hate them," he muttered through clenched³⁰ teeth, "I hate themall."Meantime, the good priest felt a stir of pity. Every day theyhad badgered him with reports against Jean Servien. This time hehad given way; he had sacrificed the young usher; but he reallycould make nothing of this tale about a beggar. He changed hismind, ran to the door and called to the young man to corne back.

Jean turned and faced him:

"No!" he cried, "no! I can bear the life no longer; I am unhappy,I am full of misery--and hate.""Poor lad!" sight the Director, letting his arms drop by his side.

That evening he did not write a single line of his Tragedy.

1 interval   

n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息

参考例句：

• The interval between the two trees measures 40 feet.这两棵树的间隔是40英尺。
• There was a long interval before he anwsered the telephone.隔了好久他才回了电话。

2 apprentice   

n.学徒，徒弟

参考例句：

• My son is an apprentice in a furniture maker's workshop.我的儿子在一家家具厂做学徒。
• The apprentice is not yet out of his time.这徒工还没有出徒。

3 sanctuary   

n.圣所，圣堂，寺庙；禁猎区，保护区

参考例句：

• There was a sanctuary of political refugees behind the hospital.医院后面有一个政治难民的避难所。
• Most countries refuse to give sanctuary to people who hijack aeroplanes.大多数国家拒绝对劫机者提供庇护。

4 gilded   

a.镀金的，富有的

参考例句：

• The golden light gilded the sea. 金色的阳光使大海如金子般闪闪发光。
• "Friends, they are only gilded disks of lead!" "朋友们，这只不过是些镀金的铅饼！ 来自英汉文学 - 败坏赫德莱堡

5 valiant   

adj.勇敢的，英勇的；n.勇士，勇敢的人

参考例句：

• He had the fame of being very valiant.他的勇敢是出名的。
• Despite valiant efforts by the finance minister,inflation rose to 36%.尽管财政部部长采取了一系列果决措施，通货膨胀率还是涨到了36%。

6 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。

7 amity   

n.友好关系

参考例句：

• He lives in amity with his neighbours.他和他的邻居相处得很和睦。
• They parted in amity.他们很友好地分别了。

8 esteem   

n.尊敬，尊重；vt.尊重，敬重；把…看作

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• The veteran worker ranks high in public love and esteem.那位老工人深受大伙的爱戴。

9 proffer   

v.献出，赠送；n.提议，建议

参考例句：

• He rose and proffered a silver box full of cigarettes.他站起身，伸手递过一个装满香烟的银盒子。
• I proffer to lend him one.我表示愿意借他一个。

10 consecrated   

adj.神圣的，被视为神圣的v.把…奉为神圣，给…祝圣( consecrate的过去式和过去分词 )；奉献

参考例句：

• The church was consecrated in 1853. 这座教堂于1853年祝圣。
• They consecrated a temple to their god. 他们把庙奉献给神。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

12 usher   

n.带位员，招待员；vt.引导，护送；vi.做招待，担任引座员

参考例句：

• The usher seated us in the front row.引座员让我们在前排就座。
• They were quickly ushered away.他们被迅速领开。

13 hideous   

adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的

参考例句：

• The whole experience had been like some hideous nightmare.整个经历就像一场可怕的噩梦。
• They're not like dogs,they're hideous brutes.它们不像狗，是丑陋的畜牲。

14 embarrassment   

n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫

参考例句：

• She could have died away with embarrassment.她窘迫得要死。
• Coughing at a concert can be a real embarrassment.在音乐会上咳嗽真会使人难堪。

15 vanquished   

v.征服( vanquish的过去式和过去分词 )；战胜；克服；抑制

参考例句：

• She had fought many battles, vanquished many foes. 她身经百战，挫败过很多对手。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I vanquished her coldness with my assiduity. 我对她关心照顾从而消除了她的冷淡。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

16 entrusted   

v.委托，托付( entrust的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He entrusted the task to his nephew. 他把这任务托付给了他的侄儿。
• She was entrusted with the direction of the project. 她受委托负责这项计划。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 landlady   

n.女房东，女地主

参考例句：

• I heard my landlady creeping stealthily up to my door.我听到我的女房东偷偷地来到我的门前。
• The landlady came over to serve me.女店主过来接待我。

18 amazement   

n.惊奇，惊讶

参考例句：

• All those around him looked at him with amazement.周围的人都对他投射出惊异的眼光。
• He looked at me in blank amazement.他带着迷茫惊诧的神情望着我。

19 annoyance   

n.恼怒，生气，烦恼

参考例句：

• Why do you always take your annoyance out on me?为什么你不高兴时总是对我出气？
• I felt annoyance at being teased.我恼恨别人取笑我。

20 superintendent   

n.监督人，主管，总监；(英国)警务长

参考例句：

• He was soon promoted to the post of superintendent of Foreign Trade.他很快就被擢升为对外贸易总监。
• He decided to call the superintendent of the building.他决定给楼房管理员打电话。

21 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

22 innocence   

n.无罪；天真；无害

参考例句：

• There was a touching air of innocence about the boy.这个男孩有一种令人感动的天真神情。
• The accused man proved his innocence of the crime.被告人经证实无罪。

23 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。

24 bawled   

v.大叫，大喊( bawl的过去式和过去分词 )；放声大哭；大声叫出；叫卖（货物）

参考例句：

• She bawled at him in front of everyone. 她当着大家的面冲他大喊大叫。
• My boss bawled me out for being late. 我迟到，给老板训斥了一顿。 来自《简明英汉词典》

25 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

26 scarlet   

n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的

参考例句：

• The scarlet leaves of the maples contrast well with the dark green of the pines.深红的枫叶和暗绿的松树形成了明显的对比。
• The glowing clouds are growing slowly pale,scarlet,bright red,and then light red.天空的霞光渐渐地淡下去了，深红的颜色变成了绯红，绯红又变为浅红。

27 agility   

n.敏捷，活泼

参考例句：

• The boy came upstairs with agility.那男孩敏捷地走上楼来。
• His intellect and mental agility have never been in doubt.他的才智和机敏从未受到怀疑。

28 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

29 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。

30 clenched   

v.紧握，抓紧，咬紧( clench的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He clenched his fists in anger. 他愤怒地攥紧了拳头。
• She clenched her hands in her lap to hide their trembling. 她攥紧双手放在腿上，以掩饰其颤抖。 来自《简明英汉词典》