The Sanguinetto flows over a bed of pebbles8; and J——- crept under the bridge, and got one of them for a memorial, while U——, Miss Shepard, and R——- plucked some olive twigs9 and oak leaves, and made them into wreaths together,—symbols of victory and peace. The tower, which is traditionally named after Hannibal, is seen on a height that makes part of the line of enclosing hills. It is a large, old castle, apparently10 of the Middle Ages, with a square front, and a battlemented sweep of wall. The town of Torres (its name, I think), where Hannibal's main army is supposed to have lain while the Romans came through the pass, was in full view; and I could understand the plan of the battle better than any system of military operations which I have hitherto tried to fathom11. Both last night and to-day, I found myself stirred more sensibly than I expected by the influences of this scene. The old battle-field is still fertile in thoughts and emotions, though it is so many ages since the blood spilt there has ceased to make the grass and flowers grow more luxuriantly. I doubt whether I should feel so much on the field of Saratoga or Monmouth; but these old classic battle-fields belong to the whole world, and each man feels as if his own forefathers12 fought them. Mine, by the by, if they fought them at all, must have been on the side of Hannibal; for, certainly, I sympathized with him, and exulted13 in the defeat of the Romans on their own soil. They excite much the same emotion of general hostility14 that the English do. Byron has written some very fine stanzas15 on the battle-field,—not so good as others that he has written on classical scenes and subjects, yet wonderfully impressing his own perception of the subject on the reader. Whenever he has to deal with a statue, a ruin, a battle-field, he pounces16 upon the topic like a vulture, and tears out its heart in a twinkling, so that there is nothing more to be said.
If I mistake not, our passport was examined by the papal officers at the last custom-house in the pontifical17 territory, before we traversed the path through which the Roman army marched to its destruction. Lake Thrasymene, of which we took our last view, is not deep set among the hills, but is bordered by long ridges18, with loftier mountains receding19 into the distance. It is not to be compared to Windermere or Loch Lomond for beauty, nor with Lake Champlain and many a smaller lake in my own country, none of which, I hope, will ever become so historically interesting as this famous spot. A few miles onward our passport was countersigned21 at the Tuscan custom-house, and our luggage permitted to pass without examination on payment of a fee of nine or ten pauls, besides two pauls to the porters. There appears to be no concealment22 on the part of the officials in thus waiving23 the exercise of their duty, and I rather imagine that the thing is recognized and permitted by their superiors. At all events, it is very convenient for the traveller.
We saw Cortona, sitting, like so many other cities in this region, on its hill, and arrived about noon at Arezzo, which also stretches up a high hillside, and is surrounded, as they all are, by its walls or the remains24 of one, with a fortified25 gate across every entrance.
I remember one little village, somewhere in the neighborhood of the Clitumnus, which we entered by one gateway26, and, in the course of two minutes at the utmost, left by the opposite one, so diminutive27 was this walled town. Everything hereabouts bears traces of times when war was the prevalent condition, and peace only a rare gleam of sunshine.
At Arezzo we have put up at the Hotel Royal, which has the appearance of a grand old house, and proves to be a tolerable inn enough. After lunch, we wandered forth28 to see the town, which did not greatly interest me after Perugia, being much more modern and less picturesque29 in its aspect. We went to the cathedral,—a Gothic edifice30, but not of striking exterior31. As the doors were closed, and not to be opened till three o'clock, we seated ourselves under the trees, on a high, grassy32 space surrounded and intersected with gravel-walks,—a public promenade33, in short, near the cathedral; and after resting ourselves here we went in search of Petrarch's house, which Murray mentions as being in this neighborhood. We inquired of several people, who knew nothing about the matter; one woman misdirected us, out of mere20 fun, I believe, for she afterwards met us and asked how we had succeeded. But finally, through ———'s enterprise and perseverance34, we found the spot, not a stone's-throw from where we had been sitting.
Petrarch's house stands below the promenade which I have just mentioned, and within hearing of the reverberations between the strokes of the cathedral bell. It is two stories high, covered with a light-colored stucco, and has not the slightest appearance of antiquity35, no more than many a modern and modest dwelling-house in an American city. Its only remarkable36 feature is a pointed37 arch of stone, let into the plastered wall, and forming a framework for the doorway38. I set my foot on the doorsteps, ascended39 them, and Miss Shepard and J——- gathered some weeds or blades of grass that grew in the chinks between the steps. There is a long inscription40 on a slab41 of marble set in the front of the house, as is the fashion in Arezzo when a house has been the birthplace or residence of a distinguished42 man.
Right opposite Petrarch's birth-house—and it must have been the well whence the water was drawn43 that first bathed him—is a well which Boccaccio has introduced into one of his stories. It is surrounded with a stone curb44, octagonal in shape, and evidently as ancient as Boccaccio's time. It has a wooden cover, through which is a square opening, and looking down I saw my own face in the water far beneath.
There is no familiar object connected with daily life so interesting as a well; and this well or old Arezzo, whence Petrarch had drunk, around which he had played in his boyhood, and which Boccaccio has made famous, really interested me more than the cathedral. It lies right under the pavement of the street, under the sunshine, without any shade of trees about it, or any grass, except a little that grows in the crevices45 of its stones; but the shape of its stone-work would make it a pretty object in an engraving46. As I lingered round it I thought of my own town-pump in old Salem, and wondered whether my townspeople would ever point it out to strangers, and whether the stranger would gaze at it with any degree of such interest as I felt in Boccaccio's well. O, certainly not; but yet I made that humble47 town-pump the most celebrated48 structure in the good town. A thousand and a thousand people had pumped there, merely to water oxen or fill their teakettles; but when once I grasped the handle, a rill gushed49 forth that meandered50 as far as England, as far as India, besides tasting pleasantly in every town and village of our own country. I like to think of this, so long after I did it, and so far from home, and am not without hopes of some kindly51 local remembrance on this score.
Petrarch's house is not a separate and insulated building, but stands in contiguity52 and connection with other houses on each side; and all, when I saw them, as well as the whole street, extending down the slope of the hill, had the bright and sunny aspect of a modern town.
As the cathedral was not yet open, and as J——- and I had not so much patience as my wife, we left her and Miss Shepard, and set out to return to the hotel. We lost our way, however, and finally had to return to the cathedral, to take a fresh start; and as the door was now open we went in. We found the cathedral very stately with its great arches, and darkly magnificent with the dim rich light coming through its painted windows, some of which are reckoned the most beautiful that the whole world has to show. The hues53 are far more brilliant than those of any painted glass I saw in England, and a great wheel window looks like a constellation54 of many-colored gems55. The old English glass gets so smoky and dull with dust, that its pristine56 beauty cannot any longer be even imagined; nor did I imagine it till I saw these Italian windows. We saw nothing of my wife and Miss Shepard; but found afterwards that they had been much annoyed by the attentions of a priest who wished to show them the cathedral, till they finally told him that they had no money with them, when he left them without another word. The attendants in churches seem to be quite as venal57 as most other Italians, and, for the sake of their little profit, they do not hesitate to interfere58 with the great purposes for which their churches were built and decorated; hanging curtains, for instance, before all the celebrated pictures, or hiding them away in the sacristy, so that they cannot be seen without a fee.
Returning to the hotel, we looked out of the window, and, in the street beneath, there was a very busy scene, it being Sunday, and the whole population, apparently, being astir, promenading59 up and down the smooth flag-stones, which made the breadth of the street one sidewalk, or at their windows, or sitting before their doors.
The vivacity60 of the population in these parts is very striking, after the gravity and lassitude of Rome; and the air was made cheerful with the talk and laughter of hundreds of voices. I think the women are prettier than the Roman maids and matrons, who, as I think I have said before, have chosen to be very uncomely since the rape61 of their ancestresses, by way of wreaking62 a terrible spite and revenge.
I have nothing more to say of Arezzo, except that, finding the ordinary wine very bad, as black as ink, and tasting as if it had tar1 and vinegar in it, we called for a bottle of Monte Pulciano, and were exceedingly gladdened and mollified thereby63.
点击收听单词发音
1 tar | |
n.柏油,焦油;vt.涂或浇柏油/焦油于 | |
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2 ridge | |
n.山脊;鼻梁;分水岭 | |
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3 onward | |
adj.向前的,前进的;adv.向前,前进,在先 | |
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4 swollen | |
adj.肿大的,水涨的;v.使变大,肿胀 | |
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5 slain | |
杀死,宰杀,杀戮( slay的过去分词 ); (slay的过去分词) | |
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6 bloody | |
adj.非常的的;流血的;残忍的;adv.很;vt.血染 | |
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7 brook | |
n.小河,溪;v.忍受,容让 | |
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8 pebbles | |
[复数]鹅卵石; 沙砾; 卵石,小圆石( pebble的名词复数 ) | |
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9 twigs | |
细枝,嫩枝( twig的名词复数 ) | |
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10 apparently | |
adv.显然地;表面上,似乎 | |
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11 fathom | |
v.领悟,彻底了解 | |
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12 forefathers | |
n.祖先,先人;祖先,祖宗( forefather的名词复数 );列祖列宗;前人 | |
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13 exulted | |
狂喜,欢跃( exult的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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14 hostility | |
n.敌对,敌意;抵制[pl.]交战,战争 | |
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15 stanzas | |
节,段( stanza的名词复数 ) | |
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16 pounces | |
v.突然袭击( pounce的第三人称单数 );猛扑;一眼看出;抓住机会(进行抨击) | |
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17 pontifical | |
adj.自以为是的,武断的 | |
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18 ridges | |
n.脊( ridge的名词复数 );山脊;脊状突起;大气层的)高压脊 | |
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19 receding | |
v.逐渐远离( recede的现在分词 );向后倾斜;自原处后退或避开别人的注视;尤指问题 | |
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20 mere | |
adj.纯粹的;仅仅,只不过 | |
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21 countersigned | |
v.连署,副署,会签 (文件)( countersign的过去式 ) | |
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22 concealment | |
n.隐藏, 掩盖,隐瞒 | |
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23 waiving | |
v.宣布放弃( waive的现在分词 );搁置;推迟;放弃(权利、要求等) | |
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24 remains | |
n.剩余物,残留物;遗体,遗迹 | |
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25 fortified | |
adj. 加强的 | |
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26 gateway | |
n.大门口,出入口,途径,方法 | |
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27 diminutive | |
adj.小巧可爱的,小的 | |
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28 forth | |
adv.向前;向外,往外 | |
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29 picturesque | |
adj.美丽如画的,(语言)生动的,绘声绘色的 | |
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30 edifice | |
n.宏伟的建筑物(如宫殿,教室) | |
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31 exterior | |
adj.外部的,外在的;表面的 | |
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32 grassy | |
adj.盖满草的;长满草的 | |
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33 promenade | |
n./v.散步 | |
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34 perseverance | |
n.坚持不懈,不屈不挠 | |
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35 antiquity | |
n.古老;高龄;古物,古迹 | |
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36 remarkable | |
adj.显著的,异常的,非凡的,值得注意的 | |
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37 pointed | |
adj.尖的,直截了当的 | |
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38 doorway | |
n.门口,(喻)入门;门路,途径 | |
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39 ascended | |
v.上升,攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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40 inscription | |
n.(尤指石块上的)刻印文字,铭文,碑文 | |
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41 slab | |
n.平板,厚的切片;v.切成厚板,以平板盖上 | |
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42 distinguished | |
adj.卓越的,杰出的,著名的 | |
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43 drawn | |
v.拖,拉,拔出;adj.憔悴的,紧张的 | |
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44 curb | |
n.场外证券市场,场外交易;vt.制止,抑制 | |
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45 crevices | |
n.(尤指岩石的)裂缝,缺口( crevice的名词复数 ) | |
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46 engraving | |
n.版画;雕刻(作品);雕刻艺术;镌版术v.在(硬物)上雕刻(字,画等)( engrave的现在分词 );将某事物深深印在(记忆或头脑中) | |
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47 humble | |
adj.谦卑的,恭顺的;地位低下的;v.降低,贬低 | |
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48 celebrated | |
adj.有名的,声誉卓著的 | |
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49 gushed | |
v.喷,涌( gush的过去式和过去分词 );滔滔不绝地说话 | |
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50 meandered | |
(指溪流、河流等)蜿蜒而流( meander的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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51 kindly | |
adj.和蔼的,温和的,爽快的;adv.温和地,亲切地 | |
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52 contiguity | |
n.邻近,接壤 | |
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53 hues | |
色彩( hue的名词复数 ); 色调; 信仰; 观点 | |
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54 constellation | |
n.星座n.灿烂的一群 | |
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55 gems | |
growth; economy; management; and customer satisfaction 增长 | |
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56 pristine | |
adj.原来的,古时的,原始的,纯净的,无垢的 | |
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57 venal | |
adj.唯利是图的,贪脏枉法的 | |
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58 interfere | |
v.(in)干涉,干预;(with)妨碍,打扰 | |
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59 promenading | |
v.兜风( promenade的现在分词 ) | |
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60 vivacity | |
n.快活,活泼,精神充沛 | |
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61 rape | |
n.抢夺,掠夺,强奸;vt.掠夺,抢夺,强奸 | |
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62 wreaking | |
诉诸(武力),施行(暴力),发(脾气)( wreak的现在分词 ) | |
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63 thereby | |
adv.因此,从而 | |
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