THE CZARINA, ALEXANDRA FEODOROVNA
{46}
{47}
THE Czarina, Alexandra Feodorovna, formerly1 Alice of Hesse, and fourth child of the Grand Duke Ludwig of Hesse and Alice of England, youngest daughter of Queen Victoria, was born at Darmstadt on June 6th, 1872. She lost her mother early in life, and was largely brought up at the English Court, where she soon became the favourite granddaughter of Queen Victoria, who bestowed2 on the blonde “Alix” all the tender affection she had had for her mother.[8]
At the age of seventeen the young princess paid a prolonged visit to Russia, staying with her elder sister Elisabeth, who had married the Grand-Duke Sergius Alexandrovitch, a brother of the Czar Alexander III. She took an active part in Court life, appeared at reviews, receptions, and balls, and being very pretty was made a great fuss of.
Everybody regarded her as the prospective3 mate of the Heir to the Throne, but, contrary to general expectation, Alice of Hesse returned to Darmstadt and nothing had been said. Did she not like the idea? It is certainly a fact that five years later, when the official proposal arrived, she showed signs of hesitation4.{48}
However, the betrothal5 took place at Darmstadt during the summer of 1894, and was followed by a visit to the Court of England. The Russian Heir at once returned to his country. A few months later she was obliged to leave suddenly for Livadia, where Alexander III. was dying. She was present when his end came, and with the Imperial family accompanied the coffin6 in which the mortal remains7 of the dead Emperor were carried to St. Petersburg.
The body was taken from Nicholas station to the Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul on a dull November day. A huge crowd was assembled on the route of the funeral cortège as it moved through the melting snow and mud with which the streets were covered. In the crowd women crossed themselves piously9 and could be heard murmuring, in allusion10 to the young Czarina, “She has come to us behind a coffin. She brings misfortune with her.”
It certainly seemed as if from the start sorrow was dodging11 the steps of her whose light heart and beauty had earned her the nickname of “Sunshine” in her girlhood.
On November 26th, thus within a month of Alexander’s death, the marriage was celebrated12 amidst the general mourning. A year later the Czarina gave birth to her first child—a daughter who was named Olga.
The coronation of the young sovereigns took place in Moscow on May 14th, 1896. Fate seemed already to have marked them down. It will be remembered that the celebrations were the occasion of a terrible accident which cost the lives of a large number of people. The peasants, who had come from all parts, had assembled in masses during the night in Hodinsko?e meadows, where gifts were to be distributed. As a result of bad organisation14 there was a panic, and more than two{49} thousand people were trodden to death or suffocated15 in the mud by the terror-stricken crowd.
When the Czar and Czarina went to Hodinsko?e meadows next morning they had heard nothing whatever of the terrible catastrophe16. They were not told the truth until they returned to the city subsequently, and they never knew the whole truth. Did not those concerned realise that by acting17 thus they were depriving the Imperial couple of a chance to show their grief and sympathy and making their behaviour odious18 because it seemed sheer indifference19 to public misfortune?
Yet the task of the young Czarina was no easy one. She had to learn all that it meant to be an empress, and that at the most etiquette21 ridden Court in Europe and the scene of the worst forms of intrigue22 and coterie23. Accustomed to the simple life of Darmstadt, and having experienced at the strict and formal English Court only such restraint as affected24 a young and popular princess who was there merely on a visit, she must have felt at sea with her new obligations and dazzled by an existence of which all the proportions had suddenly changed. Her sense of duty and her burning desire to devote herself to the welfare of the millions whose Czarina she had become fired her ambitions, but at the same time checked her natural impulses.
Yet her only thought was to win the hearts of her subjects. Unfortunately she did not know how to show it, and the innate25 timidity from which she suffered was wont26 to play the traitor27 to her kind intentions. She very soon realised how impotent she was to gain sympathy and understanding. Her frank and spontaneous nature was speedily repelled28 by the icy conventions{50} of her environment. Her impulses came up against the prevalent inertia29 about her,[9] and when in return for her confidence she asked for intelligent devotion and real good will, those with whom she dealt took refuge in the easy zeal30 of the polite formalities of Courts.
In spite of all her efforts, she never succeeded in being merely amiable31 and acquiring the art which consists of flitting gracefully32 but superficially over all manner of subjects. The fact is that the Czarina was nothing if not sincere. Every word from her lips was the true expression of her real feelings. Finding herself misunderstood, she quickly drew back into her shell. Her natural pride was wounded. She appeared less and less at the ceremonies and receptions she regarded as an intolerable nuisance. She adopted a habit of distant reserve which was taken for haughtiness34 and contempt. But those who came in contact with her in moments of distress35 knew what a sensitive spirit, what a longing36 for affection, was concealed37 behind that apparent coldness. She had accepted her new religion with entire sincerity38, and found it a great source of comfort in hours of trouble and anguish39; but above all, it was the affection of her family which nourished her love, and she was never really happy except when she was with them.
The birth of Olga Nicola?evna had been followed by that of three other fine and healthy daughters who were their parents’ delight. It was not an unmixed delight, however, for the secret desire of their hearts—to have a son and heir—had not yet been fulfilled. The birth of Anastasie Nicola?evna, the{51} last of the Grand-Duchesses, had at first been a terrible disappointment ... and the years were slipping by. At last, on August 12th, 1904, when the Russo-Japanese War was at its height, the Czarina gave birth to the son they so ardently40 desired. Their joy knew no bounds. It seemed as if all the sorrows of the past were forgotten and that an era of happiness was about to open for them.
Alas41! it was but a short respite42, and was followed by worse misfortunes: first the January massacre43 in front of the Winter Palace—the memory of which was to haunt them like a horrible nightmare for the rest of their days—and then the lamentable44 conclusion of the Russo-Japanese War. In those dark days their only consolation45 was their beloved son, and it had not taken long, alas! to discover that the Czarevitch had h?mophilia. From that moment the mother’s life was simply one dreadful agony. She had already made the acquaintance of that terrible disease; she knew that an uncle, one of her brothers, and two of her nephews had died of it. From her childhood she had heard it spoken of as a dreadful and mysterious thing against which men were powerless. And now her only son, the child she loved more than anything else on earth, was affected! Death would watch him, follow him at every step, and carry him off one day like so many boys in his family. She must fight! She must save him at any cost! It was impossible for science to be impotent. The means of saving must exist, and they must be found. Doctors, surgeons, specialists were consulted. But every kind of treatment was tried in vain.
When the mother realised that no human aid could save, her last hope was in God. He alone could perform the miracle. But she must be worthy46 of His intervention47. She was naturally{52} of a pious8 nature, and she devoted48 herself wholly to the Orthodox religion with the ardour and determination she brought to everything. Life at Court became strict, if not austere49. Festivities were eschewed50, and the number of occasions on which the sovereigns had to appear in public was reduced to a minimum. The family gradually became isolated51 from the Court and lived to itself, so to speak.
Between each of the attacks, however, the boy came back to life, recovered his health, forgot his sufferings, and resumed his fun and his games. At these times it was impossible to credit that he was the victim of an implacable disease which might carry him off at any moment. Every time the Czarina saw him with red cheeks, or heard his merry laugh, or watched his frolics, her heart would fill with an immense hope, and she would say: “God has heard me. He has pitied my sorrow at last.” Then the disease would suddenly swoop52 down on the boy, stretch him once more on his bed of pain and take him to the gates of death.
The months passed, the expected miracle did not happen, and the cruel, ruthless attacks followed hard on each other’s heels. The most fervent53 prayers had not brought the divine revelation so passionately54 implored55. The last hope had failed. A sense of endless despair filled the Czarina’s soul: it seemed as if the whole world were deserting her.[10]
It was then that Rasputin, a simple Siberian peasant, was brought to her, and he said: “Believe in the power of my prayers; believe in my help and your son will live!”
The mother clung to the hope he gave her as a drowning man seizes an outstretched hand. She believed in him with{53} all the strength that was in her. As a matter of fact, she had been convinced for a long time that the saviour56 of Russia and the dynasty would come from the people, and she thought that this humble57 moujik had been sent by God to save him who was the hope of the nation. The intensity58 of her faith did the rest, and by a simple process of auto-suggestion, which was helped by certain perfectly59 casual coincidences, she persuaded herself that her son’s life was in this man’s hands.
Rasputin had realised the state of mind of the despairing mother who was broken down by the strain of her struggle and seemed to have touched the limit of human suffering. He knew how to extract the fullest advantage from it, and with a diabolical60 cunning he succeeded in associating his own life, so to speak, with that of the child.
This moral hold of Rasputin on the Czarina cannot possibly be understood unless one is familiar with the part played in the religious life of the Orthodox world by those men who are neither priests nor monks61—though people habitually62, and quite inaccurately63, speak of the “monk” Rasputin—and are called stranniki or startsi.
The strannik is a pilgrim who wanders from monastery64 to monastery and church to church, seeking the truth and living on the charity of the faithful. He may thus travel right across the Russian Empire, led by his fancy or attracted by the reputation for holiness enjoyed by particular places or persons.
The staretz is an ascetic65 who usually lives in a monastery, though sometimes in solitude—a kind of guide of souls to whom one has recourse in moments of trouble or suffering. Quite frequently a staretz is an ex-strannik who has given up his old wandering life and taken up an abode66 in which to end his days in prayer and meditation67.{54}
Dosto?evsky gives the following description of him in The Brothers Karamazof:
“The staretz is he who takes your soul and will and makes them his. When you select your staretz you surrender your will, you give it him in utter submission68, in full renunciation. He who takes this burden upon him, who accepts this terrible school of life, does so of his own free will in the hope that after a long trial he will be able to conquer himself and become his own master sufficiently69 to attain70 complete freedom by a life of obedience—that is to say, get rid of self and avoid the fate of those who have lived their lives without succeeding in sufficing unto themselves.”
God gives the staretz the indications which are requisite71 for one’s welfare and communicates the means by which one must be brought back to safety.
On earth the staretz is the guardian72 of truth and the ideal. He is also the repository of the sacred tradition which must be transmitted from staretz to staretz until the reign13 of justice and light shall come.
Several of these startsi have risen to remarkable73 heights of modern grandeur74 and become saints of the Orthodox Church.
The influence of these men, who live as a kind of unofficial clergy75, is still very considerable in Russia. In the provinces and open country it is even greater than that of the priests and monks.
The conversion76 of the Czarina had been a genuine act of faith. The Orthodox religion had fully33 responded to her mystical aspirations77, and her imagination must have been{55} captured by its archaic78 and na?ve ritual. She had accepted it with all the ardour of the neophyte79. In her eyes Rasputin had all the prestige and sanctity of a staretz.
Such was the nature of the feelings the Czarina entertained for Rasputin—feelings ignobly80 travestied by calumny81. They had their source in maternal82 love, the noblest passion which can fill a mother’s heart.
Fate willed that he who wore the halo of a saint should be nothing but a low and perverse83 creature, and that, as we shall soon see, this man’s evil influence was one of the principal causes of which the effect was the death of those who thought they could regard him as their saviour.
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
formerly
|
|
| adv.从前，以前 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
bestowed
|
|
| 赠给，授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
prospective
|
|
| adj.预期的，未来的，前瞻性的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
hesitation
|
|
| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
betrothal
|
|
| n. 婚约, 订婚 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
coffin
|
|
| n.棺材，灵柩 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
remains
|
|
| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
pious
|
|
| adj.虔诚的；道貌岸然的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
piously
|
|
| adv.虔诚地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
allusion
|
|
| n.暗示，间接提示 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
dodging
|
|
| n.避开，闪过，音调改变v.闪躲( dodge的现在分词 )；回避 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
celebrated
|
|
| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
reign
|
|
| n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
organisation
|
|
| n.组织，安排，团体，有机休 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
suffocated
|
|
| （使某人）窒息而死( suffocate的过去式和过去分词 )； （将某人）闷死； 让人感觉闷热； 憋气 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
catastrophe
|
|
| n.大灾难，大祸 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
acting
|
|
| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
odious
|
|
| adj.可憎的，讨厌的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
indifference
|
|
| n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
bliss
|
|
| n.狂喜，福佑，天赐的福 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
etiquette
|
|
| n.礼仪，礼节；规矩 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
intrigue
|
|
| vt.激起兴趣，迷住；vi.耍阴谋；n.阴谋，密谋 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
coterie
|
|
| n.(有共同兴趣的)小团体，小圈子 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
affected
|
|
| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
innate
|
|
| adj.天生的，固有的，天赋的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
wont
|
|
| adj.习惯于；v.习惯；n.习惯 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
traitor
|
|
| n.叛徒，卖国贼 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
repelled
|
|
| v.击退( repel的过去式和过去分词 )；使厌恶；排斥；推开 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
inertia
|
|
| adj.惰性，惯性，懒惰，迟钝 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
zeal
|
|
| n.热心，热情，热忱 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
amiable
|
|
| adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
gracefully
|
|
| ad.大大方方地；优美地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
fully
|
|
| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
haughtiness
|
|
| n.傲慢；傲气 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
distress
|
|
| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
longing
|
|
| n.（for）渴望 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
concealed
|
|
| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
sincerity
|
|
| n.真诚，诚意；真实 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
anguish
|
|
| n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
ardently
|
|
| adv.热心地，热烈地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
alas
|
|
| int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
respite
|
|
| n.休息，中止，暂缓 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
massacre
|
|
| n.残杀，大屠杀；v.残杀，集体屠杀 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
lamentable
|
|
| adj.令人惋惜的，悔恨的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
consolation
|
|
| n.安慰，慰问 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
worthy
|
|
| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
intervention
|
|
| n.介入，干涉，干预 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
devoted
|
|
| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
austere
|
|
| adj.艰苦的；朴素的，朴实无华的；严峻的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
eschewed
|
|
| v.（尤指为道德或实际理由而）习惯性避开，回避( eschew的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
isolated
|
|
| adj.与世隔绝的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
swoop
|
|
| n.俯冲，攫取；v.抓取，突然袭击 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
fervent
|
|
| adj.热的，热烈的，热情的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
passionately
|
|
| ad.热烈地，激烈地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
implored
|
|
| 恳求或乞求（某人）( implore的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
saviour
|
|
| n.拯救者，救星 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
humble
|
|
| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
58
intensity
|
|
| n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
59
perfectly
|
|
| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
60
diabolical
|
|
| adj.恶魔似的，凶暴的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
61
monks
|
|
| n.修道士，僧侣( monk的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
62
habitually
|
|
| ad.习惯地，通常地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
63
inaccurately
|
|
| 不精密地，不准确地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
64
monastery
|
|
| n.修道院，僧院，寺院 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
65
ascetic
|
|
| adj.禁欲的；严肃的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
66
abode
|
|
| n.住处，住所 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
67
meditation
|
|
| n.熟虑，（尤指宗教的）默想，沉思，（pl.）冥想录 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
68
submission
|
|
| n.服从，投降；温顺，谦虚；提出 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
69
sufficiently
|
|
| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
70
attain
|
|
| vt.达到，获得，完成 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
71
requisite
|
|
| adj.需要的，必不可少的；n.必需品 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
72
guardian
|
|
| n.监护人；守卫者，保护者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
73
remarkable
|
|
| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
74
grandeur
|
|
| n.伟大，崇高，宏伟，庄严，豪华 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
75
clergy
|
|
| n.[总称]牧师，神职人员 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
76
conversion
|
|
| n.转化，转换，转变 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
77
aspirations
|
|
| 强烈的愿望( aspiration的名词复数 )； 志向； 发送气音； 发 h 音 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
78
archaic
|
|
| adj.(语言、词汇等)古代的，已不通用的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
79
neophyte
|
|
| n.新信徒；开始者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
80
ignobly
|
|
| 卑贱地，下流地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
|
81
calumny
|
|
| n.诽谤，污蔑，中伤 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
82
maternal
|
|
| adj.母亲的，母亲般的，母系的，母方的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
83
perverse
|
|
| adj.刚愎的；坚持错误的，行为反常的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |