OTHING ever astonished Maurice. He never sought to know the causes of things and dwelt tranquilly2 in the world of appearances. Not denying the eternal truth, he nevertheless followed vain things as his fancy led him.
Less addicted3 to sport and violent exercise than most young people of his generation, he followed unconsciously the old erotic traditions of his race. The French were ever the most gallant4 of men, and it were a pity they should lose this advantage. Maurice preserved it. He was in love with no woman, but, as St. Augustine said, he loved to love. After paying the tribute that was rightly due to the imperishable beauty and secret arts of Madame de la Berthelière, he had enjoyed the impetuous caresses6 of a young singer called Luciole. At present he was joylessly experiencing the primitive7 perversity8 of Odile, his mother's lady's-maid, and[64] the tearful adoration9 of the beautiful Madame Boittier. And he felt a great void in his heart.
It chanced that one Wednesday, on entering the drawing-room where his mother entertained her friends—who were, generally speaking, unattractive and austere10 ladies, with a sprinkling of old men and very young people—he noticed, in this intimate circle, Madame des Aubels, the wife of the magistrate11 at the Law Courts, whom Monsieur d'Esparvieu had vainly consulted on the mysterious ransacking12 of his library. She was young, he found her pretty, and not without cause. Gilberte had been modelled by the Genius of the Race, and no other genius had had a part in the work.
Thus all her attributes inspired desire, and nothing in her shape or her being aroused any other sentiment.
The law of attraction which draws world to world moved young Maurice to approach this delicious creature, and under its influence he offered to escort her to the tea-table. And when Gilberte was served with tea, he said:
"We should hit it off quite well together, you and I, don't you think?"
He spoke13 in this way, according to modern usage, so as to avoid inane14 compliments and to spare a woman the boredom15 of listening to one of those old declarations of love which, containing nothing[65] but what is vague and undefined, require neither a truthful16 nor an exact reply.
And profiting by the fact that he had an opportunity of conversing17 secretly with Madame des Aubels for a few minutes, he spoke urgently and to the point. Gilberte, so far as one could judge, was made rather to awaken18 desire than to feel it. Nevertheless, she well knew that her fate was to love, and she followed it willingly and with pleasure. Maurice did not particularly displease19 her. She would have preferred him to be an orphan20, for experience had taught her how disappointing it sometimes is to love the son of the house.
"Will you?" he said by way of conclusion.
She pretended not to understand, and with her little foie-gras sandwich raised half-way to her mouth she looked at Maurice with wondering eyes.
"Will I what?" she asked.
"You know quite well."
Madame des Aubels lowered her eyes, and sipped21 her tea, for her prudishness was not quite vanquished22. Meanwhile Maurice, taking her empty cup from her hand, murmured:
"Saturday, five o'clock, 126 Rue23 de Rome, on the ground-floor, the door on the right, under the arch. Knock three times."
Madame des Aubels glanced severely24 and imperturbably25 at the son of the house, and with a self-possessed air rejoined the circle of highly respectable[66] women to whom the Senator Monsieur Le Fol was explaining how artificial incubators were employed at the agricultural colony at St. Julienne.
The following Saturday, Maurice, in his ground-floor flat, awaited Madame des Aubels. He waited her in vain. No light hand came to knock three times on the door under the arch. And Maurice gave way to imprecation, inwardly calling the absent one a jade26 and a hussy. His fruitless wait, his frustrated27 desires, rendered him unjust. For Madame des Aubels in not coming where she had never promised to go hardly deserved these names; but we judge human actions by the pleasure or pain they cause us.
Maurice did not put in an appearance in his mother's drawing-room until a fortnight after the conversation at the tea-table. He came late. Madame des Aubels had been there for half an hour. He bowed coldly to her, took a seat some way off, and affected28 to be listening to the talk.
"Worthily29 matched," a rich male voice was saying; "the two antagonists30 were well calculated to render the struggle a terrible and uncertain one. General Bol, with unprecedented31 tenacity32, maintained his position as though he were rooted in the very soil. General Milpertuis, with an agility33 truly superhuman, kept carrying out movements of the most dazzling rapidity around his immovable adversary34. The battle continued to be waged with[67] terrible stubbornness. We were all in an agony of suspense35...."
It was General d'Esparvieu describing the autumn man?uvres to a company of breathlessly interested ladies. He was talking well and his audience were delighted. Proceeding36 to draw a comparison between the French and German methods, he defined their distinguishing characteristics and brought out the conspicuous37 merits of both with a lofty impartiality38. He did not hesitate to affirm that each system had its advantages, and at first made it appear to his circle of wondering, disappointed, and anxious dames39, whose countenances40 were growing increasingly gloomy, that France and Germany were practically in a position of equality. But little by little, as the strategist went on to give a clearer definition of the two methods, that of the French began to appear flexible, elegant, vigorous, full of grace, cleverness, and verve; that of the Germans heavy, clumsy, and undecided. And slowly and surely the faces of the ladies began to clear and to light up with joyous41 smiles. In order to dissipate any lingering shadows of misgiving42 from the minds of these wives, sisters, and sweethearts, the General gave them to understand that we were in a position to make use of the German method when it suited us, but that the Germans could not avail themselves of the French method. No sooner had he delivered[68] himself of these sentiments than he was button-holed by Monsieur le Truc de Ruffec, who was engaged in founding a patriotic43 society known as "Swordsmen All," of which the object was to regenerate44 France and ensure her superiority over all her adversaries45. Even children in the cradle were to be enrolled46, and Monsieur le Truc de Ruffec offered the honorary presidency47 to General d'Esparvieu.
Meanwhile Maurice was appearing to be interested in a conversation that was taking place between a very gentle old lady and the Abbé Lapetite, Chaplain to the Dames du Saint Sang. The old lady, severely tried of late by illness and the loss of friends, wanted to know how it was that people were unhappy in this world.
"How," she asked Abbé Lapetite, "do you explain the scourges49 that afflict50 mankind? Why are there plagues, famines, floods, and earthquakes?"
"It is surely necessary that God should sometimes remind us of his existence," replied Abbé Lapetite, with a heavenly smile.
Maurice appeared keenly interested in this conversation. Then he seemed fascinated by Madame Fillot-Grandin, quite a personable young woman, whose simple innocence51, however, detracted all piquancy52 from her beauty, all savour from her bodily charms. A very sour, shrill-voiced old lady, who, affecting the dowdy53, woollen weeds of poverty, displayed the pride of a great lady in the[69] world of Christian54 finance, exclaimed in a squeaky voice:
"Well, my dear Madame d'Esparvieu, so you have had trouble here. The papers speak darkly of robbery, of thefts committed in Monsieur d'Esparvieu's valuable library, of stolen letters...."
"Oh," said Madame d'Esparvieu, "if we are to believe all the newspapers say...."
"Oh, so, dear Madame, you have got your treasures back. All's well that ends well."
"The library is in perfect order," asserted Madame d'Esparvieu. "There is nothing missing."
"The library is on the floor above this, is it not?" asked young Madame des Aubels, showing an unexpected interest in the books.
Madame d'Esparvieu replied that the library occupied the whole of the second floor, and that they had put the least valuable books in the attics55.
"Could I not go and look at it?"
The mistress of the house declared that nothing could be easier. She called to her son:
"Maurice, go and do the honours of the library to Madame des Aubels."
Maurice rose, and without uttering a word, mounted to the second floor in the wake of Madame des Aubels.
He appeared indifferent, but inwardly he rejoiced, for he had no doubt that Gilberte had feigned56 her ardent57 desire to inspect the library[70] simply to see him in secret. And, while affecting indifference58, he promised himself to renew those offers which, this time, would not be refused.
Under the romantic bust59 of Alexandre d'Esparvieu, they were met by the silent shadow of a little wan48, hollow-eyed old man, who wore a settled expression of mute terror.
"Do not let us disturb you, Monsieur Sariette," said Maurice. "I am showing Madame des Aubels round the library."
Maurice and Madame des Aubels passed on into the great room where against the four walls rose presses filled with books and surmounted60 by bronze busts61 of poets, philosophers, and orators62 of antiquity63. All was in perfect order, an order which seemed never to have been disturbed from the beginning of things.
Only, a black void was to be seen in the place which, only the evening before, had been filled by an unpublished manuscript of Richard Simon. Meanwhile, by the side of the young couple walked Monsieur Sariette, pale, faded, and silent.
"Really and truly, you have not been nice," said Maurice, with a look of reproach at Madame des Aubels.
"Take no notice. It is old Sariette. He has become a complete idiot." And he repeated:[71] "No, you have not been at all nice. I awaited you. You did not come. You have made me unhappy."
After a moment's silence, while one heard the low melancholy65 whistling of asthma66 in poor Sariette's bronchial tubes, young Maurice continued insistently67:
"You are wrong."
"Why wrong?"
"Wrong not to do as I ask you."
"Do you still think so?"
"Certainly."
"You meant it seriously?"
"As seriously as can be."
Touched by his assurance of sincere and constant feeling, and thinking she had resisted sufficiently68, Gilberte granted to Maurice what she had refused him a fortnight ago.
They slipped into an embrasure of the window, behind an enormous celestial69 globe whereon were graven the Signs of the Zodiac and the figures of the stars, and there, their gaze fixed70 on the Lion, the Virgin71, and the Scales, in the presence of a multitude of Bibles, before the works of the Fathers, both Greek and Latin, beneath the casts of Homer, ?schylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Herodotus, Thucydides, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Demosthenes, Cicero, Virgil, Horace, Seneca, and Epictetus, they exchanged vows72 of love and a long kiss on the mouth.[72]
Almost immediately Madame des Aubels bethought herself that she still had some calls to pay, and that she must make her escape quickly, for love had not made her lose all sense of her own importance. But she had barely crossed the landing with Maurice when they heard a hoarse73 cry and saw Monsieur Sariette plunge74 madly downstairs, exclaiming as he went:
"Stop it, stop it; I saw it fly away! It escaped from the shelf by itself. It crossed the room ... there it is—there! It's going downstairs. Stop it! It has gone out of the door on the ground floor!"
"What?" asked Maurice.
Monsieur Sariette looked out of the landing window, murmuring horror-struck:
"It's crossing the garden! It's going into the summer-house. Stop it, stop it!"
"But what is it?" repeated Maurice—"in God's name, what is it?"
"My Flavius Josephus," exclaimed Monsieur Sariette. "Stop it!"
And he fell down unconscious.
"You see he is quite mad," said Maurice to Madame des Aubels, as he lifted up the unfortunate librarian.
Gilberte, a little pale, said she also thought she had seen something in the direction indicated by the unhappy man, something flying.[73]
He left Monsieur Sariette in the arms of Hippolyte and the housekeeper75, who had both hastened to the spot on hearing the noise.
The old gentleman had a wound in his head.
"All the better," said the housekeeper; "this wound may save him from having a fit."
Madame des Aubels gave her handkerchief to stop the blood, and recommended an arnica compress.
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收听单词发音
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1
insipid
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| adj.无味的，枯燥乏味的，单调的 | |
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tranquilly
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| adv. 宁静地 | |
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addicted
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| adj.沉溺于....的，对...上瘾的 | |
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gallant
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| adj.英勇的，豪侠的；(向女人)献殷勤的 | |
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gust
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| n.阵风，突然一阵（雨、烟等），（感情的）迸发 | |
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caresses
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| 爱抚，抚摸( caress的名词复数 ) | |
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primitive
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| adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物 | |
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perversity
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| n.任性；刚愎自用 | |
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adoration
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| n.爱慕，崇拜 | |
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10
austere
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| adj.艰苦的；朴素的，朴实无华的；严峻的 | |
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magistrate
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| n.地方行政官，地方法官，治安官 | |
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12
ransacking
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| v.彻底搜查( ransack的现在分词 )；抢劫，掠夺 | |
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13
spoke
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| 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 | |
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14
inane
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| adj.空虚的，愚蠢的，空洞的 | |
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15
boredom
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| n.厌烦，厌倦，乏味，无聊 | |
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16
truthful
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| adj.真实的，说实话的，诚实的 | |
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conversing
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| v.交谈，谈话( converse的现在分词 ) | |
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18
awaken
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| vi.醒，觉醒；vt.唤醒，使觉醒，唤起，激起 | |
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19
displease
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| vt.使不高兴，惹怒；n.不悦，不满，生气 | |
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orphan
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| n.孤儿；adj.无父母的 | |
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sipped
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| v.小口喝，呷，抿( sip的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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22
vanquished
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| v.征服( vanquish的过去式和过去分词 )；战胜；克服；抑制 | |
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23
rue
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| n.懊悔，芸香，后悔；v.后悔，悲伤，懊悔 | |
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severely
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| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
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imperturbably
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| adv.泰然地，镇静地，平静地 | |
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jade
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| n.玉石；碧玉；翡翠 | |
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27
frustrated
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| adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧 | |
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affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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worthily
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| 重要地，可敬地，正当地 | |
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30
antagonists
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| 对立[对抗] 者，对手，敌手( antagonist的名词复数 )； 对抗肌； 对抗药 | |
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31
unprecedented
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| adj.无前例的，新奇的 | |
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tenacity
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| n.坚韧 | |
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agility
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| n.敏捷，活泼 | |
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adversary
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| adj.敌手，对手 | |
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suspense
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| n.（对可能发生的事）紧张感，担心，挂虑 | |
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proceeding
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| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
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conspicuous
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| adj.明眼的，惹人注目的；炫耀的，摆阔气的 | |
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38
impartiality
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| n. 公平, 无私, 不偏 | |
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dames
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| n.（在英国）夫人（一种封号），夫人（爵士妻子的称号）( dame的名词复数 )；女人 | |
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countenances
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| n.面容( countenance的名词复数 )；表情；镇静；道义支持 | |
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41
joyous
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| adj.充满快乐的；令人高兴的 | |
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42
misgiving
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| n.疑虑，担忧，害怕 | |
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43
patriotic
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| adj.爱国的，有爱国心的 | |
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regenerate
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| vt.使恢复，使新生；vi.恢复，再生；adj.恢复的 | |
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adversaries
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| n.对手，敌手( adversary的名词复数 ) | |
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46
enrolled
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| adj.入学登记了的v.[亦作enrol]( enroll的过去式和过去分词 )；登记，招收，使入伍（或入会、入学等），参加，成为成员；记入名册；卷起，包起 | |
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47
presidency
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| n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期) | |
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48
wan
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| (wide area network)广域网 | |
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49
scourges
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| 带来灾难的人或东西，祸害( scourge的名词复数 )； 鞭子 | |
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50
afflict
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| vt.使身体或精神受痛苦，折磨 | |
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51
innocence
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| n.无罪；天真；无害 | |
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52
piquancy
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| n.辛辣，辣味，痛快 | |
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53
dowdy
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| adj.不整洁的；过旧的 | |
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54
Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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55
attics
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| n. 阁楼 | |
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56
feigned
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| a.假装的，不真诚的 | |
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57
ardent
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，强烈的，烈性的 | |
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58
indifference
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| n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎 | |
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59
bust
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| vt.打破；vi.爆裂；n.半身像；胸部 | |
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60
surmounted
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| 战胜( surmount的过去式和过去分词 )； 克服（困难）； 居于…之上； 在…顶上 | |
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61
busts
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| 半身雕塑像( bust的名词复数 )； 妇女的胸部； 胸围； 突击搜捕 | |
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orators
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| n.演说者，演讲家( orator的名词复数 ) | |
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63
antiquity
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| n.古老；高龄；古物，古迹 | |
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64
reassured
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| adj.使消除疑虑的；使放心的v.再保证，恢复信心( reassure的过去式和过去分词) | |
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65
melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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66
asthma
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| n.气喘病，哮喘病 | |
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67
insistently
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| ad.坚持地 | |
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68
sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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69
celestial
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| adj.天体的；天上的 | |
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70
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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71
virgin
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| n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的 | |
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72
vows
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| 誓言( vow的名词复数 )； 郑重宣布，许愿 | |
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73
hoarse
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| adj.嘶哑的，沙哑的 | |
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74
plunge
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| v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲 | |
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75
housekeeper
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| n.管理家务的主妇，女管家 | |
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