From the hotel we could view the huge glacier at very close range. After a rest we followed down a path which had been made in the steep inner frontage of the moraine, and stepped upon the glacier itself. One of the shows of the place was a tunnel-like cavern4, which had been hewn in the glacier. The proprietor5 of this tunnel took candles and conducted us into it. It was three or four feet wide and about six feet high. Its walls of pure and solid ice emitted a soft and rich blue light that produced a lovely effect, and suggested enchanted6 caves, and that sort of thing. When we had proceeded some yards and were entering darkness, we turned about and had a dainty sunlit picture of distant woods and heights framed in the strong arch of the tunnel and seen through the tender blue radiance of the tunnel’s atmosphere.
The cavern was nearly a hundred yards long, and when we reached its inner limit the proprietor stepped into a branch tunnel with his candles and left us buried in the bowels7 of the glacier, and in pitch-darkness. We judged his purpose was murder and robbery; so we got out our matches and prepared to sell our lives as dearly as possible by setting the glacier on fire if the worst came to the worst—but we soon perceived that this man had changed his mind; he began to sing, in a deep, melodious8 voice, and woke some curious and pleasing echoes. By and by he came back and pretended that that was what he had gone behind there for. We believed as much of that as we wanted to.
Thus our lives had been once more in imminent9 peril10, but by the exercise of the swift sagacity and cool courage which had saved us so often, we had added another escape to the long list. The tourist should visit that ice-cavern, by all means, for it is well worth the trouble; but I would advise him to go only with a strong and well-armed force. I do not consider artillery11 necessary, yet it would not be unadvisable to take it along, if convenient. The journey, going and coming, is about three miles and a half, three of which are on level ground. We made it in less than a day, but I would counsel the unpracticed—if not pressed for time—to allow themselves two. Nothing is gained in the Alps by over-exertion; nothing is gained by crowding two days’ work into one for the poor sake of being able to boast of the exploit afterward12. It will be found much better, in the long run, to do the thing in two days, and then subtract one of them from the narrative13. This saves fatigue, and does not injure the narrative. All the more thoughtful among the Alpine14 tourists do this.
We now called upon the Guide-in-Chief, and asked for a squadron of guides and porters for the ascent15 of the Montanvert. This idiot glared at us, and said:
“You don’t need guides and porters to go to the Montanvert.”
“What do we need, then?”
“Such as you?—an ambulance!”
Betimes, next morning, we had reached an altitude of five thousand feet above the level of the sea. Here we camped and breakfasted. There was a cabin there—the spot is called the Caillet—and a spring of ice-cold water. On the door of the cabin was a sign, in French, to the effect that “One may here see a living chamois for fifty centimes.” We did not invest; what we wanted was to see a dead one.
A little after noon we ended the ascent and arrived at the new hotel on the Montanvert, and had a view of six miles, right up the great glacier, the famous Mer de Glace. At this point it is like a sea whose deep swales and long, rolling swells17 have been caught in mid-movement and frozen solid; but further up it is broken up into wildly tossing billows of ice.
We descended18 a ticklish19 path in the steep side of the moraine, and invaded the glacier. There were tourists of both sexes scattered20 far and wide over it, everywhere, and it had the festive21 look of a skating-rink.
The Empress Josephine came this far, once. She ascended the Montanvert in 1810—but not alone; a small army of men preceded her to clear the path—and carpet it, perhaps—and she followed, under the protection of sixty-eight guides.
Her successor visited Chamonix later, but in far different style.
It was seven weeks after the first fall of the Empire, and poor Marie Louise, ex-Empress was a fugitive22. She came at night, and in a storm, with only two attendants, and stood before a peasant’s hut, tired, bedraggled, soaked with rain, “the red print of her lost crown still girdling her brow,” and implored23 admittance—and was refused! A few days before, the adulations and applauses of a nation were sounding in her ears, and now she was come to this!
We crossed the Mer de Glace in safety, but we had misgivings24. The crevices25 in the ice yawned deep and blue and mysterious, and it made one nervous to traverse them. The huge round waves of ice were slippery and difficult to climb, and the chances of tripping and sliding down them and darting27 into a crevice26 were too many to be comfortable.
In the bottom of a deep swale between two of the biggest of the ice-waves, we found a fraud who pretended to be cutting steps to insure the safety of tourists. He was “soldiering” when we came upon him, but he hopped28 up and chipped out a couple of steps about big enough for a cat, and charged us a franc or two for it. Then he sat down again, to doze29 till the next party should come along.
He had collected blackmail30 from two or three hundred people already, that day, but had not chipped out ice enough to impair31 the glacier perceptibly. I have heard of a good many soft sinecures32, but it seems to me that keeping toll-bridge on a glacier is the softest one I have encountered yet.
That was a blazing hot day, and it brought a persistent34 and persecuting35 thirst with it. What an unspeakable luxury it was to slake36 that thirst with the pure and limpid37 ice-water of the glacier! Down the sides of every great rib38 of pure ice poured limpid rills in gutters39 carved by their own attrition; better still, wherever a rock had lain, there was now a bowl-shaped hole, with smooth white sides and bottom of ice, and this bowl was brimming with water of such absolute clearness that the careless observer would not see it at all, but would think the bowl was empty. These fountains had such an alluring40 look that I often stretched myself out when I was not thirsty and dipped my face in and drank till my teeth ached. Everywhere among the Swiss mountains we had at hand the blessing—not to be found in Europe except in the mountains—of water capable of quenching41 thirst. Everywhere in the Swiss highlands brilliant little rills of exquisitely42 cold water went dancing along by the roadsides, and my comrade and I were always drinking and always delivering our deep gratitude43.
But in Europe everywhere except in the mountains, the water is flat and insipid44 beyond the power of words to describe. It is served lukewarm; but no matter, ice could not help it; it is incurably45 flat, incurably insipid. It is only good to wash with; I wonder it doesn’t occur to the average inhabitant to try it for that. In Europe the people say contemptuously, “Nobody drinks water here.” Indeed, they have a sound and sufficient reason. In many places they even have what may be called prohibitory reasons. In Paris and Munich, for instance, they say, “Don’t drink the water, it is simply poison.”
Either America is healthier than Europe, notwithstanding her “deadly” indulgence in ice-water, or she does not keep the run of her death-rate as sharply as Europe does. I think we do keep up the death statistics accurately46; and if we do, our cities are healthier than the cities of Europe. Every month the German government tabulates47 the death-rate of the world and publishes it. I scrap-booked these reports during several months, and it was curious to see how regular and persistently48 each city repeated its same death-rate month after month. The tables might as well have been stereotyped49, they varied50 so little. These tables were based upon weekly reports showing the average of deaths in each 1,000 population for a year. Munich was always present with her 33 deaths in each 1,000 of her population (yearly average), Chicago was as constant with her 15 or 17, Dublin with her 48—and so on.
Only a few American cities appear in these tables, but they are scattered so widely over the country that they furnish a good general average of city health in the United States; and I think it will be granted that our towns and villages are healthier than our cities.
Here is the average of the only American cities reported in the German tables:
Chicago, deaths in 1,000 population annually51, 16; Philadelphia, 18; St. Louis, 18; San Francisco, 19; New York (the Dublin of America), 23.
See how the figures jump up, as soon as one arrives at the transatlantic list:
Paris, 27; Glasgow, 27; London, 28; Vienna, 28; Augsburg, 28; Braunschweig, 28; K?nigsberg, 29; Cologne, 29; Dresden, 29; Hamburg, 29; Berlin, 30; Bombay, 30; Warsaw, 31; Breslau, 31; Odessa, 32; Munich, 33; Strasburg, 33, Pesth, 35; Cassel, 35; Lisbon, 36; Liverpool, 36; Prague, 37; Madras, 37; Bucharest, 39; St. Petersburg, 40; Trieste, 40; Alexandria (Egypt), 43; Dublin, 48; Calcutta, 55.
Edinburgh is as healthy as New York—23; but there is no city in the entire list which is healthier, except Frankfort-on-the-Main—20. But Frankfort is not as healthy as Chicago, San Francisco, St. Louis, or Philadelphia.
Perhaps a strict average of the world might develop the fact that where one in 1,000 of America’s population dies, two in 1,000 of the other populations of the earth succumb52.
I do not like to make insinuations, but I do think the above statistics darkly suggest that these people over here drink this detestable water “on the sly.”
We climbed the moraine on the opposite side of the glacier, and then crept along its sharp ridge33 a hundred yards or so, in pretty constant danger of a tumble to the glacier below. The fall would have been only one hundred feet, but it would have closed me out as effectually as one thousand, therefore I respected the distance accordingly, and was glad when the trip was done. A moraine is an ugly thing to assault head-first. At a distance it looks like an endless grave of fine sand, accurately shaped and nicely smoothed; but close by, it is found to be made mainly of rough boulders53 of all sizes, from that of a man’s head to that of a cottage.
By and by we came to the Mauvais Pas, or the Villainous Road, to translate it feelingly. It was a breakneck path around the face of a precipice54 forty or fifty feet high, and nothing to hang on to but some iron railings. I got along, slowly, safely, and uncomfortably, and finally reached the middle. My hopes began to rise a little, but they were quickly blighted55; for there I met a hog56—a long-nosed, bristly fellow, that held up his snout and worked his nostrils57 at me inquiringly. A hog on a pleasure excursion in Switzerland—think of it! It is striking and unusual; a body might write a poem about it. He could not retreat, if he had been disposed to do it. It would have been foolish to stand upon our dignity in a place where there was hardly room to stand upon our feet, so we did nothing of the sort. There were twenty or thirty ladies and gentlemen behind us; we all turned about and went back, and the hog followed behind. The creature did not seem set up by what he had done; he had probably done it before.
We reached the restaurant on the height called the Chapeau at four in the afternoon. It was a memento-factory, and the stock was large, cheap, and varied. I bought the usual paper-cutter to remember the place by, and had Mont Blanc, the Mauvais Pas, and the rest of the region branded on my alpenstock; then we descended to the valley and walked home without being tied together. This was not dangerous, for the valley was five miles wide, and quite level.
We reached the hotel before nine o’clock. Next morning we left for Geneva on top of the diligence, under shelter of a gay awning58. If I remember rightly, there were more than twenty people up there. It was so high that the ascent was made by ladder. The huge vehicle was full everywhere, inside and out. Five other diligences left at the same time, all full. We had engaged our seats two days beforehand, to make sure, and paid the regulation price, five dollars each; but the rest of the company were wiser; they had trusted Baedeker, and waited; consequently some of them got their seats for one or two dollars. Baedeker knows all about hotels, railway and diligence companies, and speaks his mind freely. He is a trustworthy friend of the traveler.
We never saw Mont Blanc at his best until we were many miles away; then he lifted his majestic59 proportions high into the heavens, all white and cold and solemn, and made the rest of the world seem little and plebeian60, and cheap and trivial.
As he passed out of sight at last, an old Englishman settled himself in his seat and said:
“Well, I am satisfied, I have seen the principal features of Swiss scenery—Mont Blanc and the goiter—now for home!”
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1
ascended
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| v.上升，攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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glacier
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| n.冰川，冰河 | |
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fatigue
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| n.疲劳，劳累 | |
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cavern
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| n.洞穴，大山洞 | |
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proprietor
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| n.所有人；业主；经营者 | |
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enchanted
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| adj. 被施魔法的，陶醉的，入迷的 动词enchant的过去式和过去分词 | |
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7
bowels
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| n.肠，内脏，内部；肠( bowel的名词复数 )；内部，最深处 | |
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8
melodious
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| adj.旋律美妙的，调子优美的，音乐性的 | |
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9
imminent
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| adj.即将发生的，临近的，逼近的 | |
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peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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artillery
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| n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队) | |
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afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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narrative
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| n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的 | |
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alpine
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| adj.高山的；n.高山植物 | |
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ascent
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| n.(声望或地位)提高；上升，升高；登高 | |
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brutal
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| adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的 | |
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swells
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| 增强( swell的第三人称单数 )； 肿胀； （使）凸出； 充满（激情） | |
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18
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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ticklish
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| adj.怕痒的；问题棘手的；adv.怕痒地；n.怕痒，小心处理 | |
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scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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festive
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| adj.欢宴的，节日的 | |
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fugitive
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| adj.逃亡的，易逝的；n.逃犯，逃亡者 | |
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implored
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| 恳求或乞求（某人）( implore的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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misgivings
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| n.疑虑，担忧，害怕；疑虑，担心，恐惧( misgiving的名词复数 )；疑惧 | |
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crevices
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| n.（尤指岩石的）裂缝，缺口( crevice的名词复数 ) | |
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crevice
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| n.(岩石、墙等)裂缝；缺口 | |
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darting
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的现在分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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28
hopped
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| 跳上[下]( hop的过去式和过去分词 )； 单足蹦跳； 齐足（或双足）跳行； 摘葎草花 | |
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doze
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| v.打瞌睡；n.打盹，假寐 | |
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blackmail
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| n.讹诈，敲诈，勒索，胁迫，恫吓 | |
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impair
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| v.损害，损伤；削弱，减少 | |
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sinecures
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| n.工作清闲但报酬优厚的职位，挂名的好差事( sinecure的名词复数 ) | |
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ridge
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| n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭 | |
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persistent
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| adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的 | |
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persecuting
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| （尤指宗教或政治信仰的）迫害(~sb. for sth.)( persecute的现在分词 )； 烦扰，困扰或骚扰某人 | |
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slake
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| v.解渴，使平息 | |
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limpid
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| adj.清澈的，透明的 | |
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rib
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| n.肋骨，肋状物 | |
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gutters
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| （路边）排水沟( gutter的名词复数 )； 阴沟； （屋顶的）天沟； 贫贱的境地 | |
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alluring
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| adj.吸引人的，迷人的 | |
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quenching
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| 淬火，熄 | |
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exquisitely
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| adv.精致地；强烈地；剧烈地；异常地 | |
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gratitude
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| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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44
insipid
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| adj.无味的，枯燥乏味的，单调的 | |
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45
incurably
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| ad.治不好地 | |
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46
accurately
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| adv.准确地，精确地 | |
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47
tabulates
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| 把（数字、事实）列成表( tabulate的第三人称单数 ) | |
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48
persistently
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| ad.坚持地；固执地 | |
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49
stereotyped
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| adj.(指形象、思想、人物等)模式化的 | |
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50
varied
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| adj.多样的，多变化的 | |
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annually
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| adv.一年一次，每年 | |
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52
succumb
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| v.屈服，屈从；死 | |
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53
boulders
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| 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 | |
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54
precipice
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| n.悬崖，危急的处境 | |
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55
blighted
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| adj.枯萎的，摧毁的 | |
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56
hog
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| n.猪；馋嘴贪吃的人；vt.把…占为己有，独占 | |
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57
nostrils
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| 鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
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58
awning
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| n.遮阳篷；雨篷 | |
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59
majestic
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| adj.雄伟的，壮丽的，庄严的，威严的，崇高的 | |
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plebeian
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| adj.粗俗的；平民的；n.平民；庶民 | |
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