So they dragged him to a cave, bound him hand and foot, and left him in a doleful heap on the wet ground. They explained, with sarcastic3 apologies, that they must leave him for a time as they had to proceed to Mentone on urgent business; but cheered him by saying that they would look him up on their return and would then do dreadful things to him unless he made agreeable terms for his ransom4. Failing a comfortable sum of money they explained that they would either leave him to starve or would cut him up in a leisurely5 way with knives of peculiar6 grossness that they showed him. With a cheerful “a rivederci” they departed.
A STREET IN SOSPEL.
SOSPEL: THE CITY WALL AND GATE.
Being in grievous pains both of body and mind Viteola began to pray to his particular saint, St. Theobald of Mondovi. (Mondovi, it may be explained, is a town some fifty miles from Sospel on the way to Turin.) Viteola had hardly finished his prayer when something or somebody rushed into the cave and fell at his feet. The darkness of the place rendered the identity of the intruder difficult. From his knowledge of natural history and possibly from his sense of smell Viteola decided7 that this visitor was a wild boar. The boar seemed fatigued8 and anxious to be quiet.
The animal’s rest was, however, soon disturbed for in a few moments five armed men burst into the cave. The cavern9 was becoming crowded. Odd things are often found in caves, but these new arrivals seemed very surprised at the combination of an ancient man tied up like a parcel in company with a languid boar. They requested Viteola to explain the unusual position. He did. The aged10 man further informed them that he had prayed to St. Theobald for help, but hardly expected that the relief would take the copious11 form of five men and a boar. He, at the same time, begged to be released from his bonds. This was promptly12 done. Whereupon the more prominent of the visitors introduced himself as the Lord of Gorbio and added that he was out hunting, that he had wounded a wild boar and had followed the animal to the cave.
The boar became extremely amiable13. He may have been a little cool to the Lord of Gorbio, but towards the old man he made such demonstrations14 of affection as a weary boar is capable of making.
The party then proceeded to Sospel. Their arrival caused some amazement15, for even in 1366 it was unusual to see a reigning16 prince walking down the High Street followed by armed men and an esteemed17 citizen at whose heels a wild boar was limping like a faithful dog. The animal became a great pet, but it was probably a long time before Viteola’s wife was accustomed to the sight of a wild boar stretched out in front of the sitting-room18 fire.
When the robbers returned from Mentone and entered the cave with derisive19 cheers and coarse laughter they were surprised to find themselves seized by armed men from Gorbio and their valued citizen gone. These wicked men were, without any tedious inquiry20, hanged from a tree which the chronicle states, with topographical precision, “stood by the pathway leading from Sospello to Mentone.”
XLI
TWO QUEER OLD TOWNS
A LUXURIANT valley of pure delight mounts inland from the sea by Mentone. It is a happy, friendly-looking valley, richly cultivated, full of orange groves21 and vineyards, of comfortable gardens and of merry mills. The valley ends suddenly in a vast amphitheatre of bare heights which shuts out all the world beyond. As if by a stroke of magic vegetation ceases and the green becomes grey. In the centre of the semicircle and on a steep promontory22 that commands the valley stands Gorbio, like a monument at the end of an avenue. It is eight kilometres by road from Mentone, for the way to it twists about like a wounded snake.
It is difficult to determine what adjective should be applied23 to Gorbio. The guide book says that it is picturesque24, but the “Concise Oxford25 Dictionary” defines “picturesque” as “fit to be the subject of a striking picture.” Now there is nothing about Gorbio that is fit for a striking picture. It may be fit for pieces of a picture as they lie in a toy-box as parts of a puzzle town waiting to be put together. Then a visitor told me that Gorbio was “awfully quaint”; but there is little in Gorbio to excite awe26 and the dictionary says that “quaint” means that which is “piquant27 in virtue28 of unfamiliar29, especially old fashioned, appearance.” This town is happily of unfamiliar appearance and is also without pretence30 to any fashion old or new, but yet it is not piquant, except in its smell.
It would rather be called a whimsical town, a medley31, a revue of medi?val towns made up of selected fragments, an ancient mongrel of a town of involved and bewildering parentage. It is like three people all talking at once and in different languages. Those who regard a town as a place of habitation made by man, a place with streets, ordered residences, a square, a church and public buildings would maintain that Gorbio is not a town.
It begins well. It commences with an orthodox square containing a café on either side, an aged tree, a fountain, a postcard shop and a sleeping dog. All this is reassuring32 and in order. At one corner of the Place a few steps slope up to a gateway33 with a pointed34 arch. This also is quite a normal entry to a town. But once inside the gate everything is topsy-turvy and unexpected. You find yourself in a lane, but it is more like a passage through rocks than the high street of a town. The road at once dives under buildings and comes up in a narrow square on one side of which is an official-looking Mairie, very modern, with walls of a fashionable yellow, green sun-shutters and a flag pole. Opposite to it are some deserted35 houses of great age which are in a state of advanced decomposition36.
A STREET IN GORBIO.
A STREET IN GORBIO.
You then come to a damp and dark tunnel. As there is a gleam of light at the end of it you enter and are at once seized by a smell—a smell of Augean stables. This is no “perfume wafted37 on the breeze”; but a smell that comes upon you like a shriek38, grips you by the throat like a highwayman and throttles39 you. You rush forward to the open air and stumble among houses made up of loose rocks and superfluous40 doors propped41 up by outside stairs.
To the right are some steps climbing up through another tunnel that may be a passage in a mine. The exploring spirit urges you to mount this dark ascent42. You come out into a real street with real houses and even a shop, but the street is narrow and the way is entirely43 occupied by a live cow. The cow is standing44 patiently outside a house that has white steps and a knocker and seems to be waiting for an answer to a message. It has a pleasant and motherly face, but appears, as to its body, to be of unreasonable45 size. As it is impossible to pass the cow without pushing it into a house you return by the tunnel to the original route. This route now takes the form of a country lane lined with boulders46 on which grow ferns and other plants of interest and here incontinently appears a church—a fine and ancient edifice48 bearing the date 1683. Beyond the church you find yourself—not in a cemetery49 but—on the ramparts of a fortified50 town and finally by the side of a quite new building of great height, clean and formal, which, at first sight, may be a barrack or a soap factory, but there are neither soldiers nor (I think) soap in Gorbio.
From this point the town becomes merely incoherent. It expresses itself in terms of delirium51. There are streets that go up and down like the hump of a camel, streets that form parts of circles and streets that form parts of squares. A map of all the lanes, passages, stairs and tunnels of Gorbio would look like all the diagrams of Euclid mixed up together. The surface of the town reproduces the undulations of the waves of the sea. A man walking before you disappears and appears again as if he walked on the ocean. The path may now be on a level with the belfry of the church and now with the main door. Indeed the church goes up and down as if it were a pier52 seen from the deck of a rolling ship.
It would seem as if, at one time, Gorbio had been in a plastic condition, like a town made of wax, and that it had then been ruffled53 by a hot and mighty54 wind and its streets and foundations thrown into ripples55 which have hardened into stone. It would also seem as if this convulsion had had the effect of mixing up the component56 parts of a medi?val town with more modern structures. Thrown up on the summit of Gorbio is the square tower of the old castle; but it is so fused with stables and poor dwellings57 that, but for its exquisite58 window, it might be a hayloft over a cow-house. Mule59-paths are mixed up with vaulted60 passages and narrow lanes with cellar stairs, a prison wall with a grilled61 window has become the wall of a cottage, bits of a feudal62 fortress63 have been melted up with hovels, a fine arch of stone leads to a donkey-shed, the portal of a chapter house to a mean kitchen, while the hall of a palazzo has become a pen for goats. Forever above this jumble64 of buildings there rises, like the steam from a witches’ cauldron, the smell of a stable of so horrible a kind that not even a Hercules could cleanse65 it.
A STREET IN ST. AGNES.
Gorbio is a town of five hundred and fifty inhabitants, placed at a height of 1,425 feet above the sea. It is a very ancient place, for Dr. Müller finds an account of its castle as far back as the year 1002. The town has had its full share of misfortunes and horrors. It has been possessed66, in turn, by the Counts of Ventimiglia, by the Genoese, by the Grimaldi and by the great family of the Lascaris. Each change of tenancy meant a more or less liberal amount of bloodshed. At one time, namely in 1257, it was the property of the beautiful Beatrix of Provence, she who was platonically beloved by the troubadour of Eze (page 126). It may be sure that under the rule of this gentle lady Gorbio had at least some days of peace. It is no wonder that with all its troubles and with all the assaults it has received it has been battered67 out of shape and has become, in its old age, so very queer.
A ragged2 mule-path mounts up from Gorbio to St. Agnes. It is very steep and its length is measured not by metres but by minutes; for if you ask how far it is to St. Agnes the answer is an hour to an hour and a half. St. Agnes as a town is not simply queer, it is frankly68 ridiculous. It is perched on the sharp point of a cone69 of precipitous rock and, from afar, looks like a brown beetle70 clinging to the top of a grey sugarloaf. How it came to be placed there no one can say, for a cautious eagle would hesitate to make its home at such a height. If it wanted to get away from the world it has succeeded, for it is nearly out of it. It can scarcely be said to be on the face of the earth, but rather on the tip of its nose.
There are no means of reaching St. Agnes except by a mule-path or a balloon. Nothing on wheels has ever entered the precincts of the town. Thus it happens that the most curious “sights” at St. Agnes are a piano and a great chandelier in one of the two excellent restaurants of the place. The interest inspired by these articles is not intrinsic, but is aroused by the wonder as to how they got there. The spectacle of a mule toiling71 up a path, as steep as a stair, with a piano on its back, followed by another mule bearing a wide-spreading chandelier and perhaps by a third laden72 with a wardrobe is a spectacle to marvel73 at.
St. Agnes is a town of about five hundred inhabitants standing at an altitude of 2,200 feet. How the people live and why they live where they do is an economic and social problem of the profoundest character, for the country just around St. Agnes is as bare as a boulder47. The town itself is of the colour of sackcloth and ashes, being drab and brown. In general disposition74 it is very like Gorbio, being as old, as deranged75 and as inconsequent. There are the same arcades76, the same vaulted passages, the same erratic77 lanes. The church resembles the church at Gorbio. It bears the date 1744 but represents a building many centuries older. High up above the town, on a point of apparently78 inaccessible79 rock, are the ruins of the castle which was, at one time, a famous Saracen stronghold. It is represented now by a few broken and jagged walls which can hardly be distinguished80 from the crags out of which they spring. It is needless to say that the views from St. Agnes, both towards the mountains and towards the sea, are superb.
A STREET IN ST. AGNES.
The place is of great antiquity81. Its early years are legendary82, but from the twelfth century onwards it played a part—and no small part—in the affairs of the world around it. The details of its life and times differ but slightly from those of Gorbio; for the fortunes of the two queer towns were closely linked together.
To explain how St. Agnes ever came to exist it is necessary to resort to legend and to the very hackneyed subject of the princess who lost her way. The name of this particular royal lady was Agnes. She was unwisely making a tour in this barren and impossible country, when the usual terrific storm appeared with the usual result—the lady lost her way. She must have lost it badly, for she found herself near the summit of the crag upon which St. Agnes now stands. This is equivalent to a person climbing up to the dome83 of St. Paul’s in the hope of finding there a way that would lead to Fleet Street. The lady called upon her patron saint, St. Agnes, to guide her to shelter and was miraculously84 directed to a grotto85 near the spot where the town is now established. Hence the town and hence the name.
The End
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
kindly
|
|
| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
ragged
|
|
| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
sarcastic
|
|
| adj.讥讽的，讽刺的，嘲弄的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
ransom
|
|
| n.赎金，赎身；v.赎回，解救 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
leisurely
|
|
| adj.悠闲的；从容的，慢慢的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
peculiar
|
|
| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
decided
|
|
| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
fatigued
|
|
| adj. 疲乏的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
cavern
|
|
| n.洞穴，大山洞 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
aged
|
|
| adj.年老的，陈年的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
copious
|
|
| adj.丰富的，大量的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
promptly
|
|
| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
amiable
|
|
| adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
demonstrations
|
|
| 证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
amazement
|
|
| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
reigning
|
|
| adj.统治的，起支配作用的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
esteemed
|
|
| adj.受人尊敬的v.尊敬( esteem的过去式和过去分词 )；敬重；认为；以为 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
sitting-room
|
|
| n.（BrE）客厅，起居室 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
derisive
|
|
| adj.嘲弄的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
inquiry
|
|
| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
groves
|
|
| 树丛，小树林( grove的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
promontory
|
|
| n.海角；岬 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
applied
|
|
| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
picturesque
|
|
| adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
Oxford
|
|
| n.牛津（英国城市） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
awe
|
|
| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
piquant
|
|
| adj.辛辣的，开胃的，令人兴奋的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
virtue
|
|
| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
unfamiliar
|
|
| adj.陌生的，不熟悉的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
pretence
|
|
| n.假装，作假；借口，口实；虚伪；虚饰 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
medley
|
|
| n.混合 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
reassuring
|
|
| a.使人消除恐惧和疑虑的，使人放心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
gateway
|
|
| n.大门口，出入口，途径，方法 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
pointed
|
|
| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
deserted
|
|
| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
decomposition
|
|
| n. 分解, 腐烂, 崩溃 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
wafted
|
|
| v.吹送，飘送，（使）浮动( waft的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
shriek
|
|
| v./n.尖叫，叫喊 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
throttles
|
|
| n.控制油、气流的阀门( throttle的名词复数 )；喉咙，气管v.扼杀( throttle的第三人称单数 )；勒死；使窒息；压制 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
superfluous
|
|
| adj.过多的，过剩的，多余的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
propped
|
|
| 支撑，支持，维持( prop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
ascent
|
|
| n.(声望或地位)提高；上升，升高；登高 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
entirely
|
|
| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
standing
|
|
| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
unreasonable
|
|
| adj.不讲道理的，不合情理的，过度的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
boulders
|
|
| n.卵石( boulder的名词复数 )；巨砾；（受水或天气侵蚀而成的）巨石；漂砾 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
boulder
|
|
| n.巨砾；卵石，圆石 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
edifice
|
|
| n.宏伟的建筑物(如宫殿，教室) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
cemetery
|
|
| n.坟墓，墓地，坟场 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
fortified
|
|
| adj. 加强的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
delirium
|
|
| n. 神智昏迷,说胡话;极度兴奋 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
pier
|
|
| n.码头；桥墩，桥柱；[建]窗间壁，支柱 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
ruffled
|
|
| adj. 有褶饰边的, 起皱的 动词ruffle的过去式和过去分词 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
mighty
|
|
| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
ripples
|
|
| 逐渐扩散的感觉( ripple的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
component
|
|
| n.组成部分，成分，元件；adj.组成的，合成的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
dwellings
|
|
| n.住处，处所( dwelling的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
58
exquisite
|
|
| adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
59
mule
|
|
| n.骡子，杂种，执拗的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
60
vaulted
|
|
| adj.拱状的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
61
grilled
|
|
| adj. 烤的, 炙过的, 有格子的 动词grill的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
62
feudal
|
|
| adj.封建的，封地的，领地的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
63
fortress
|
|
| n.堡垒，防御工事 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
64
jumble
|
|
| vt.使混乱，混杂；n.混乱；杂乱的一堆 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
65
cleanse
|
|
| vt.使清洁，使纯洁，清洗 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
66
possessed
|
|
| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
67
battered
|
|
| adj.磨损的；v.连续猛击；磨损 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
68
frankly
|
|
| adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
69
cone
|
|
| n.圆锥体，圆锥形东西，球果 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
70
beetle
|
|
| n.甲虫，近视眼的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
71
toiling
|
|
| 长时间或辛苦地工作( toil的现在分词 )； 艰难缓慢地移动，跋涉 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
72
laden
|
|
| adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
73
marvel
|
|
| vi.(at)惊叹vt.感到惊异；n.令人惊异的事 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
74
disposition
|
|
| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
75
deranged
|
|
| adj.疯狂的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
76
arcades
|
|
| n.商场( arcade的名词复数 )；拱形走道（两旁有商店或娱乐设施）；连拱廊；拱形建筑物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
77
erratic
|
|
| adj.古怪的，反复无常的，不稳定的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
78
apparently
|
|
| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
79
inaccessible
|
|
| adj.达不到的，难接近的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
80
distinguished
|
|
| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
81
antiquity
|
|
| n.古老；高龄；古物，古迹 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
82
legendary
|
|
| adj.传奇（中）的，闻名遐迩的；n.传奇（文学） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
83
dome
|
|
| n.圆屋顶，拱顶 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
84
miraculously
|
|
| ad.奇迹般地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
85
grotto
|
|
| n.洞穴 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |