"I too, to-day, would have given a kingdom for a horse," said Effrena, in self-ridicule, irritated by the mediocrity of life. "Not a cross-bow nor a horse in San Niccolò, not even the courage of an oarsman! Perge andacter! So here we are, on this ignoble6 gray carcass that smokes and seethes7 like a kettle. Look at Venice, dancing down there!"
The anger of the waves was extending to the lagoon8. The waters were agitated9 by a violent wind, and the agitation10 seemed to reach to the foundations of the city, and the palaces, cupolas, and campaniles appeared to heave like vessels11 on the water. Clusters of floating seaweed showed their white roots; and flocks of sea-gulls circled in the wind, their strange, wild laughter echoing above the crested12 waves.
"Wagner!" Daniele Glauro said suddenly, in a low tone, touched with emotion, as he pointed13 at an old man leaning against the railing of a prow14. "There he is, with Franz Liszt and Donna Cosima. Do you see him?"
Stelio's heart beat quicker; for him too all other surrounding figures disappeared; his bitter sense of ennui15 and inertia16 disappeared; and he felt remaining only the suggestion of superhuman power evoked17 by that name, and realized that the only reality hovering18 over all those indistinct phantoms was the ideal world conjured19 up by that name around the little old man leaning over the troubled waters.
Victorious20 genius, fidelity21 of love, unchangeable friendship, the supreme22 apparitions23 of heroic nature, were reassembled in silent union beneath the tempestuous24 sky. The same dazzling whiteness crowned the three heads, whose hair had become blanched25 through sadness. A troubled sorrow was revealed in their faces and attitudes, as if the same undefined presentiment26 oppressed their blended spirits. The white face of the woman had a beautiful, strong mouth, with clear-cut lines, revealing a tenacious27 soul; and her light, steel-like eyes were fixed28 continually on him who had chosen her for the companion of his noble warfare29, watching over him who, having vanquished31 all hostile forces, would be powerless to vanquish30 Death, whose menace perpetually pursued him. That feminine vigil, full of fear, opposed itself to the invisible gaze of the other Woman, and threw around the old man a vague, funereal32 shadow.
"He seems to be suffering," said Daniele Glauro. "Do you not see? He seems almost on the point of swooning. Shall we go to them?"
Effrena looked with inexpressible emotion at those white locks blown about by the sharp wind on the aged33 neck under the broad brim of the felt hat, and at the almost livid ear, with its swollen34 lobe35. That body, which had withstood the keenest warfare by the proud instinct of its own domination, now looked as limp as some rag which the wind could bear away and destroy.
"Ah, Daniele! what can we do for him?" said Stelio, yielding to an almost religious impulse to manifest in some way his reverence36 and pity for that great oppressed heart.
"What can we do?" repeated Glauro, to whom that ardent37 desire to offer something of himself to the hero now suffering the human fate had immediately communicated itself. Their souls were blended in that impulse of fervor39 and gratitude40, that sudden exaltation of their innate41 nobility; but they could give nothing more than that. Nothing could check the secret ravages42 of the fatal malady43; and both were filled with profound sorrow as they saw the snowy hair tossed about on the old man's neck by the wind coming from afar, and bringing to the quivering lagoon the murmur44 and the foam45 of the open sea.
"Ah, glorious sea, thou shalt hear me still! Never shall I find on the earth the health I seek. To thee, therefore, will I remain faithful, O waves of the boundless46 sea!" The impetuous harmonies of The Flying Dutchman returned to Effrena's memory, with the despairing call that pierces through them from time to time; he fancied that in the rushing wind he could hear again the wild chant of the crew on the ship with the blood-red sails: "Iohohé! Iohohé! come ashore48, black Captain! Seven years have passed!" Again his imagination conjured up the figure of Richard Wagner in youth; he saw once more the lonely one wandering in the living horror of Paris, poor yet undaunted, devoured by the fever of genius, his eyes fixed on his star, and his mind resolved to force the world to recognize it. In the myth of the shadowy captain, the exiled one had seen the image of his own breathless race, his furious struggle, his supreme hope. "But some day the pale hero may be delivered, should he meet on earth a woman that will be faithful to him until death."
The woman was there, beside the hero, an ever vigilant49 guardian50. She too, like Senta, knew the sovereign law of fidelity; and death was soon to dissolve the sacred vow51.
"Do you think that, steeped as he is in poetic52 myths, he has dreamed of some extraordinary manner of dying, and that he now prays every day to Nature to conform his end to his dream?" said Glauro, thinking of the mysterious will that induced the eagle to mistake for a rock the brow of ?schylus, and led Petrarch to die alone over the pages of a book. "What would be an end worthy53 of him?"
"A new melody of unheard-of power, which in his youth had been to him indistinct and impossible to fix, should suddenly rend54 his soul like a terrible sword."
"True!" said Glauro.
The wind-driven clouds were battling in phalanxes through space; the towers and cupolas seemed swaying in the background; the shadows of city and sky, equally vast and mobile on the troubled waters, alternately changed and blended, as if they had been produced by things equally near dissolution.
"Look at the Magyar, Daniele; there is a generous soul! He has served the hero with boundless faith and devotion; and by this service, more than by his art, he has won glory. But see how this very feeling, so strong and so sincere, inspires him with almost theatrical55 affectation, because of his continual wish to impose upon his spectators a magnificent image of himself, which shall delude56 them."
The Abbé Liszt straightened his thin and bony frame, which seemed encased by a coat of mail, and drawing himself to his full height he bared his head to pray, addressing a mute prayer to the God of Tempests. The wind stirred his thick white hair, that leonine mane that at times seemed to emit electric currents which affected57 his listeners, and many women. His magnetic eyes were raised to heaven, while the words of his inaudible prayer moved his thin lips, lending a mystic air to that face so deeply furrowed58 with wrinkles.
"What matters it?" said Glauro. "He possesses the divine faculty59 of fervor and a taste for all-powerful strength and dominating passion. Does not his art aspire60 toward Prometheus, Orpheus, Dante, Tasso? He was attracted by Richard Wagner as by some great force of nature; perhaps he heard in him the theme he has attempted to express in his symphonic poem: 'That which is heard on the Mountain'."
"That may be," said Effrena.
But both started on seeing the old man turn suddenly, with the gesture of one groping in darkness, and clutch convulsively at his companion, who uttered a cry. They ran toward the group. Everyone on the boat crowded around them, struck by that cry of anguish61. A look from the woman prevented the curious from venturing too close to the apparently62 lifeless body. She herself supported him, laid him on a bench, felt his pulse, and bent63 over to listen to his heart-beats. Her love and her grief traced an inviolable circle around the stricken one. The bystanders stepped back and waited in silence, anxiously looking on that livid face for signs of either life or death.
The face was still and pale, as it lay on the woman's knees. Two deep furrows64 descended65 along the cheeks toward the half-open mouth, deepening near the imperious nose. Puffs66 of wind ruffled67 the thin, fine hair on the full forehead, and the white collar of beard below the square chin where the vigor68 of the jawbone was visible through the wrinkled skin. The temples were covered with perspiration69, and one of the feet twitched70 slightly. The smallest detail of that fallen figure impressed itself forever on the minds of the two young men.
How long did his suffering endure? The shadows continued to float over the dark water, broken at intervals71 by long shafts72 of sun-rays that appeared to pierce the air and bury themselves like arrows in the dark waves. The regular cadence73 of the engine beat upon the air; and now arose the wild laughter of the sea-gulls, and a sort of dull, prolonged moan from the tempest-stricken city.
"We must carry him," said Stelio in his friend's ear; he was intoxicated74 by the sadness of the situation and by the solemnity of his own visions.
The motionless face gave a slight sign of returning life.
"Yes, let us offer our services," said Glauro, whose face was pale.
They looked at the woman with the snow-white cheeks; then they advanced and offered their arms.
How long did that terrible removal last? The distance from the boat to the shore was not great, but those few steps seemed a long journey. The waves dashed against the posts of the pier47; the distant moan came to them from the Grand Canal as if from the winding75 paths of a cavern76; the bells of San Marco rang for vespers; but this confusion of sounds had lost all immediate38 reality, and seemed infinitely77 profound and distant, like a lament78 of the ocean itself.
In their arms they bore the Hero's body—the unconscious form of him who had inundated79 the world with the flood of melody from his oceanic soul, the mortal being of the Revealer who had translated into infinite song the essence of the Universe for man's adoration80. With an ineffable81 thrill of terror and joy, such as would stir a man who should see a mighty82 river dashing itself over vast rocks, a volcano bursting into flame, a conflagration83 devouring84 a forest, a dazzling meteor obscuring the light of the stars, Effrena felt beneath the hand that he had slipped under the shoulder to sustain the body—and he paused an instant to gather his strength, which was failing him, and gazed at that white head against his breast—he felt the renewed beating of that sacred heart.
点击收听单词发音
1 despoiled | |
v.掠夺,抢劫( despoil的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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2 phantoms | |
n.鬼怪,幽灵( phantom的名词复数 ) | |
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3 archers | |
n.弓箭手,射箭运动员( archer的名词复数 ) | |
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4 scarlet | |
n.深红色,绯红色,红衣;adj.绯红色的 | |
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5 devoured | |
吞没( devour的过去式和过去分词 ); 耗尽; 津津有味地看; 狼吞虎咽地吃光 | |
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6 ignoble | |
adj.不光彩的,卑鄙的;可耻的 | |
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7 seethes | |
(液体)沸腾( seethe的第三人称单数 ); 激动,大怒; 强压怒火; 生闷气(~with sth|~ at sth) | |
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8 lagoon | |
n.泻湖,咸水湖 | |
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9 agitated | |
adj.被鼓动的,不安的 | |
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10 agitation | |
n.搅动;搅拌;鼓动,煽动 | |
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11 vessels | |
n.血管( vessel的名词复数 );船;容器;(具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的)人 | |
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12 crested | |
adj.有顶饰的,有纹章的,有冠毛的v.到达山顶(或浪峰)( crest的过去式和过去分词 );到达洪峰,达到顶点 | |
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13 pointed | |
adj.尖的,直截了当的 | |
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14 prow | |
n.(飞机)机头,船头 | |
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15 ennui | |
n.怠倦,无聊 | |
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16 inertia | |
adj.惰性,惯性,懒惰,迟钝 | |
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17 evoked | |
[医]诱发的 | |
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18 hovering | |
鸟( hover的现在分词 ); 靠近(某事物); (人)徘徊; 犹豫 | |
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19 conjured | |
用魔术变出( conjure的过去式和过去分词 ); 祈求,恳求; 变戏法; (变魔术般地) 使…出现 | |
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20 victorious | |
adj.胜利的,得胜的 | |
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21 fidelity | |
n.忠诚,忠实;精确 | |
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22 supreme | |
adj.极度的,最重要的;至高的,最高的 | |
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23 apparitions | |
n.特异景象( apparition的名词复数 );幽灵;鬼;(特异景象等的)出现 | |
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24 tempestuous | |
adj.狂暴的 | |
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25 blanched | |
v.使变白( blanch的过去式 );使(植物)不见阳光而变白;酸洗(金属)使有光泽;用沸水烫(杏仁等)以便去皮 | |
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26 presentiment | |
n.预感,预觉 | |
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27 tenacious | |
adj.顽强的,固执的,记忆力强的,粘的 | |
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28 fixed | |
adj.固定的,不变的,准备好的;(计算机)固定的 | |
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29 warfare | |
n.战争(状态);斗争;冲突 | |
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30 vanquish | |
v.征服,战胜;克服;抑制 | |
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31 vanquished | |
v.征服( vanquish的过去式和过去分词 );战胜;克服;抑制 | |
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32 funereal | |
adj.悲哀的;送葬的 | |
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33 aged | |
adj.年老的,陈年的 | |
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34 swollen | |
adj.肿大的,水涨的;v.使变大,肿胀 | |
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35 lobe | |
n.耳垂,(肺,肝等的)叶 | |
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36 reverence | |
n.敬畏,尊敬,尊严;Reverence:对某些基督教神职人员的尊称;v.尊敬,敬畏,崇敬 | |
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37 ardent | |
adj.热情的,热烈的,强烈的,烈性的 | |
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38 immediate | |
adj.立即的;直接的,最接近的;紧靠的 | |
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39 fervor | |
n.热诚;热心;炽热 | |
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40 gratitude | |
adj.感激,感谢 | |
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41 innate | |
adj.天生的,固有的,天赋的 | |
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42 ravages | |
劫掠后的残迹,破坏的结果,毁坏后的残迹 | |
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43 malady | |
n.病,疾病(通常做比喻) | |
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44 murmur | |
n.低语,低声的怨言;v.低语,低声而言 | |
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45 foam | |
v./n.泡沫,起泡沫 | |
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46 boundless | |
adj.无限的;无边无际的;巨大的 | |
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47 pier | |
n.码头;桥墩,桥柱;[建]窗间壁,支柱 | |
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48 ashore | |
adv.在(向)岸上,上岸 | |
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49 vigilant | |
adj.警觉的,警戒的,警惕的 | |
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50 guardian | |
n.监护人;守卫者,保护者 | |
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51 vow | |
n.誓(言),誓约;v.起誓,立誓 | |
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52 poetic | |
adj.富有诗意的,有诗人气质的,善于抒情的 | |
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53 worthy | |
adj.(of)值得的,配得上的;有价值的 | |
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54 rend | |
vt.把…撕开,割裂;把…揪下来,强行夺取 | |
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55 theatrical | |
adj.剧场的,演戏的;做戏似的,做作的 | |
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56 delude | |
vt.欺骗;哄骗 | |
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57 affected | |
adj.不自然的,假装的 | |
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58 furrowed | |
v.犁田,开沟( furrow的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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59 faculty | |
n.才能;学院,系;(学院或系的)全体教学人员 | |
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60 aspire | |
vi.(to,after)渴望,追求,有志于 | |
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61 anguish | |
n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦,烦恼 | |
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62 apparently | |
adv.显然地;表面上,似乎 | |
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63 bent | |
n.爱好,癖好;adj.弯的;决心的,一心的 | |
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64 furrows | |
n.犁沟( furrow的名词复数 );(脸上的)皱纹v.犁田,开沟( furrow的第三人称单数 ) | |
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65 descended | |
a.为...后裔的,出身于...的 | |
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66 puffs | |
n.吸( puff的名词复数 );(烟斗或香烟的)一吸;一缕(烟、蒸汽等);(呼吸或风的)呼v.使喷出( puff的第三人称单数 );喷着汽(或烟)移动;吹嘘;吹捧 | |
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67 ruffled | |
adj. 有褶饰边的, 起皱的 动词ruffle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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68 vigor | |
n.活力,精力,元气 | |
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69 perspiration | |
n.汗水;出汗 | |
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70 twitched | |
vt.& vi.(使)抽动,(使)颤动(twitch的过去式与过去分词形式) | |
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71 intervals | |
n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 );间隔时间;[数学]区间;(戏剧、电影或音乐会的)幕间休息 | |
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72 shafts | |
n.轴( shaft的名词复数 );(箭、高尔夫球棒等的)杆;通风井;一阵(疼痛、害怕等) | |
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73 cadence | |
n.(说话声调的)抑扬顿挫 | |
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74 intoxicated | |
喝醉的,极其兴奋的 | |
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75 winding | |
n.绕,缠,绕组,线圈 | |
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76 cavern | |
n.洞穴,大山洞 | |
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77 infinitely | |
adv.无限地,无穷地 | |
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78 lament | |
n.悲叹,悔恨,恸哭;v.哀悼,悔恨,悲叹 | |
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79 inundated | |
v.淹没( inundate的过去式和过去分词 );(洪水般地)涌来;充满;给予或交予(太多事物)使难以应付 | |
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80 adoration | |
n.爱慕,崇拜 | |
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81 ineffable | |
adj.无法表达的,不可言喻的 | |
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82 mighty | |
adj.强有力的;巨大的 | |
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83 conflagration | |
n.建筑物或森林大火 | |
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84 devouring | |
吞没( devour的现在分词 ); 耗尽; 津津有味地看; 狼吞虎咽地吃光 | |
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