[Pg 261]
of liking3, and ended in a friendship as permanent as it was exhilarating.
Mr. Twining, urged by an early and intuitive taste, equally deep and refined, for learning and for letters, had begun life by desiring to make over the very high emoluments4 of a lucrative5 business, with its affluence6 and its cares, to a deserving younger brother; while he himself should be quietly settled, for the indulgence of his literary propensities7, in some retired8 and moderate living, at a distance from the metropolis9.
His father listened without disapprobation; and at the vicarage of Colchester, Mr. Twining established his clerical residence.
His acquaintance with Dr. Burney commenced by a letter of singular merit, and of nearly incomparable modesty10. After revealing, in terms that showed the most profound skill in musical science, that he had himself not only studied and projected, but, in various rough desultory11 sections, had actually written certain portions of a History of Music, he liberally acknowledged that he had found the plan of the Doctor so eminently12 superior to his own, and the means that had been taken for its execution so far beyond his power of imitation,
[Pg 262]
that he had come to a resolution of utterly13 renouncing14 his design; of which not a vestige15 would now remain that could reflect any pleasure upon his lost time and pains, unless he might appease16 his abortive17 attempt by presenting its fruits, with the hope that they would not be found utterly useless, to Dr. Burney.
So generous an offering could not fail of being delightedly accepted; and the more eagerly, as the whole style of the letter decidedly spoke18 its writer to be a scholar, a wit, and a man of science.
Dr. Burney earnestly solicited19 to receive the manuscript from Mr. Twining’s own hands: and Mr. Twining, though with a timidity as rare in accompanying so much merit as the merit itself, complied with the request.
The pleasure of this first interview was an immediate20 guarantee of the mental union to which it gave rise. Every word that issued from Mr. Twining confirmed the three high characters to which his letter had raised expectation,—of a man of science, a scholar, and a wit. Their taste in music, and their selection of composers and compositions, were of the same school; i.e. the modern and the Italian for melody, and the German for harmony.
[Pg 263]
Nor even here was bounded the chain by which they became linked: their classical, literary, and poetical21 pursuits, nay22, even their fancies, glided23 so instinctively24 into the same channel, that not a dissonant25 idea ever rippled26 its current: and the animal spirits of both partook of this general coincidence, by running, playfully, whimsically, or ludicrously, with equal concord27 of pleasantry, into similar inlets of imagination.
The sense of this congeniality entertained by Dr. Burney, will be best shewn by the insertion of some biographical lines, taken from a chronological28 series of events which he committed to paper, about this time, for the amusement of Mrs. Burney.
* * * after toil30 and fatigue31 — —
To Twining I travel, in hopes of relief,
Whose wit and good-humour soon drive away grief.
And now, free from care, in night-gown and sandals,
Not a thought I bestow32 on the Goths and the Vandals.
Together we fiddled33, we laugh’d, and we sung,
And tried to give sound both a soul and a tongue.
Ideas we sift34, we compare, and commute35,
And, though sometimes we differ, we never dispute;
Our minds to each other we turn inside out,
And examine each source of belief and of doubt;
For as musical discord36 in harmony ends,
So our’s, when resolv’d, makes us still better friends.
[Pg 264]
The whole family participated in this delightful37 accession to the comfort and happiness of its chief; and, Mr. Crisp alone excepted, no one was received by the Burnean tribe with such eagerness of welcome as Mr. Twining.
A correspondence, literary, musical, and social, took place between this gentleman and the Doctor, when they separated, that made a principal pleasure, almost an occupation, of their future lives. And Dr. Burney thenceforward found in this willing and accomplished38 fellow-labourer, a charm for his work that made him hasten to it after his business and cares, as to his most grateful recreation. While Mr. Twining, exchanging a shyness that amounted nearly to bashfulness, for a friendly trust that gave free play to his sportive and original colloquial39 powers, felt highly gratified to converse40 at his ease with the man whose enterprise had filled him with an admiration41 to which he had been almost bursting to give some vent29; but which he had so much wanted courage to proclaim, that, as he afterwards most humorously related, he had no sooner sent his first letter for Dr. Burney to the post-office, than he heartily42 hoped it might miscarry! and had hardly, though by appointment, softly knocked at the door
[Pg 265]
of the Doctor, than he all but prayed that he should not find him at home!
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收听单词发音
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1
impulsive
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| adj.冲动的，刺激的；有推动力的 | |
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reciprocation
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| n.互换 | |
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3
liking
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| n.爱好；嗜好；喜欢 | |
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4
emoluments
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| n.报酬，薪水( emolument的名词复数 ) | |
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lucrative
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| adj.赚钱的，可获利的 | |
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6
affluence
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| n.充裕，富足 | |
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7
propensities
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| n.倾向，习性( propensity的名词复数 ) | |
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8
retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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9
metropolis
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| n.首府；大城市 | |
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10
modesty
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| n.谦逊，虚心，端庄，稳重，羞怯，朴素 | |
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desultory
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| adj.散漫的，无方法的 | |
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eminently
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| adv.突出地；显著地；不寻常地 | |
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utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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renouncing
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| v.声明放弃( renounce的现在分词 )；宣布放弃；宣布与…决裂；宣布摒弃 | |
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15
vestige
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| n.痕迹，遗迹，残余 | |
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appease
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| v.安抚，缓和，平息，满足 | |
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17
abortive
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| adj.不成功的，发育不全的 | |
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18
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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19
solicited
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| v.恳求( solicit的过去式和过去分词 )；（指娼妇）拉客；索求；征求 | |
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20
immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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poetical
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| adj.似诗人的；诗一般的；韵文的；富有诗意的 | |
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nay
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| adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者 | |
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glided
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| v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔 | |
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instinctively
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| adv.本能地 | |
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dissonant
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| adj.不和谐的；不悦耳的 | |
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26
rippled
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| 使泛起涟漪（ripple的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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concord
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| n.和谐；协调 | |
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28
chronological
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| adj.按年月顺序排列的，年代学的 | |
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29
vent
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| n.通风口，排放口；开衩；vt.表达，发泄 | |
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30
toil
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| vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事 | |
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31
fatigue
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| n.疲劳，劳累 | |
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32
bestow
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| v.把…赠与，把…授予；花费 | |
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33
fiddled
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| v.伪造( fiddle的过去式和过去分词 )；篡改；骗取；修理或稍作改动 | |
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34
sift
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| v.筛撒，纷落，详察 | |
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35
commute
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| vi.乘车上下班；vt.减(刑)；折合；n.上下班交通 | |
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36
discord
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| n.不和，意见不合，争论，（音乐）不和谐 | |
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37
delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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38
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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39
colloquial
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| adj.口语的，会话的 | |
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40
converse
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| vi.谈话，谈天，闲聊；adv.相反的，相反 | |
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41
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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42
heartily
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| adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很 | |
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