CHAPTER III.

Arnoldo sells Periander to the inhabitants of the barbarous isle¹, dressed as a woman.

As the boat approached the shore, the barbarians² crowded together, each one eager to be the first to know who it could be that was coming in it; and as a sign that they would receive them peaceably, and not as foes⁴, they brought many bits of white linen⁵, and waved them in the air, discharging a number of arrows at random⁶, and jumping about with incredible agility⁷.

The boat was not able to touch the land, because the sea was low, for the tide in these countries rises and falls like ours; but the barbarians, to the number of twenty, came down through the wet sand near enough to touch the boat with their hands. Among the men was a woman, seemingly a barbarian³, but of great beauty, and before any one else spoke⁸ she said in the Polish tongue, "O ye, whoever ye are, our Prince, or rather our Governor, desires to know your names, whence ye come, and what it is ye seek: if by chance ye bring any damsel to sell, ye shall be well repaid for her; but if ye deal in any other merchandise, we need it not; for in this island, we have, thanks be to Heaven, everything that is necessary to human life without needing to go elsewhere to seek it."

Arnoldo understood perfectly¹⁰ all she said, and asked her if she was of the barbarian race, or whether she had perchance been brought thither¹¹ among those women bought in other countries?

To which she replied, "Answer me what I have asked of you, for my masters do not approve that I should speak any other words than those which are necessary for the negotiation¹²."

Arnoldo hearing this, said, "We are natives of Denmark, and our business is that of merchants and corsairs; we barter¹³ what we can, we sell again what we buy, and we dispose quickly of what we steal; among other prizes that have lately fallen into our hands, is this damsel, (here he pointed¹⁴ to Periander,) who being one of the most beautiful, or rather I should say the most beautiful in the world, we bring her here to sell, as the purpose for which you buy them in this island has reached our ears: and if the prediction of your wise men is true, you may well expect from this unparalleled beauty and noble character, that she will give you sons both beautiful and brave."

The barbarians hearing him speak, asked the woman what it was he said. She told them, and four men instantly set off, as it soon appeared, to inform the governor. Whilst they were gone, Arnoldo asked if there were many women who had been bought, now in the island, and if any one amongst them was as beautiful as her whom he had brought for sale. "No," answered she, "for though there are many, not one is equal to me in beauty; I am in truth one of those unhappy beings intended to be queen of the barbarians, which would be the greatest misfortune that could befall me."

The men who had gone now returned, and with them a great many more, and their prince or chief, who might be distinguished¹⁵ by the rich apparel he wore.

They had thrown a light and transparent¹⁶ veil over Periander, that the brightness of his beauty might shine forth¹⁷ more suddenly and dazzle the eyes of the barbarians, who were surveying him very attentively¹⁸. The governor spoke to the woman, and the result was, that she made known to Arnoldo his wish that the veil should be withdrawn¹⁹. They complied, and Periander standing²⁰ up, displayed his lovely countenance²¹; his eyes were raised to heaven, as if in grief for his sad fate, then the beams of those two bright suns fell on the bystanders, and met the gaze of the barbarian chief, who fell on his knees and made signs that he was worshipping after his fashion, the beautiful image before him. By the help of the female interpreter, in a few words the sale was completed, and they paid Arnoldo all he demanded without the smallest hesitation²². All the barbarians departed, but speedily returned, laden²³ with a quantity of large wedges of gold and long bags of fine pearls, which, without counting, they delivered to Arnoldo; who, taking Periander by the hand, gave him to the barbarian, and bade the interpretess tell her master that in a few days he would return, and bring them another damsel, if not quite as beautiful as this one, yet deserving of being purchased.

Periander embraced his companions with eyes full of tears, which sprung not from any feminine weakness, but from the recollection of the severe perils²⁴ he had just escaped; Arnoldo made the signal for his ship to fire her guns, and the barbarian chief commanded his musical instruments to sound, and in a moment or two the whole place resounded²⁵ with the noise of the artillery²⁶ and the savage²⁷ music filling the air with confused and mingled²⁸ din⁹.

In the midst of all this clamour, Periander was lifted out of the boat by the barbarians, and placed on dry land; Arnoldo returned to his ship with those who had accompanied him. It was arranged between him and Periander, that, unless compelled by the wind, he should not go far away from the island, but remain just so distant, as not to be seen by the inhabitants, and return if it should seem necessary, to sell Taurisa, if Periander made the signal agreed upon as to whether he met with Auristella or not. And in case she should not be in the island, no means were to be lost to endeavour to liberate²⁹ Periander, even though it might be necessary to proceed to open war with the barbarians, in which he would exert all his power and that of his friends.

1 isle   

n.小岛，岛

参考例句：

• He is from the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea.他来自爱尔兰海的马恩岛。
• The boat left for the paradise isle of Bali.小船驶向天堂一般的巴厘岛。

2 barbarians   

n.野蛮人( barbarian的名词复数 )；外国人；粗野的人；无教养的人

参考例句：

• The ancient city of Rome fell under the iron hooves of the barbarians. 古罗马城在蛮族的铁蹄下沦陷了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It conquered its conquerors, the barbarians. 它战胜了征服者——蛮族。 来自英汉非文学 - 历史

3 barbarian   

n.野蛮人；adj.野蛮(人)的；未开化的

参考例句：

• There is a barbarian tribe living in this forest.有一个原始部落居住在这个林区。
• The walled city was attacked by barbarian hordes.那座有城墙的城市遭到野蛮部落的袭击。

4 foes   

敌人，仇敌( foe的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They steadily pushed their foes before them. 他们不停地追击敌人。
• She had fought many battles, vanquished many foes. 她身经百战，挫败过很多对手。

5 linen   

n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的

参考例句：

• The worker is starching the linen.这名工人正在给亚麻布上浆。
• Fine linen and cotton fabrics were known as well as wool.精细的亚麻织品和棉织品像羊毛一样闻名遐迩。

6 random   

adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动

参考例句：

• The list is arranged in a random order.名单排列不分先后。
• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。

7 agility   

n.敏捷，活泼

参考例句：

• The boy came upstairs with agility.那男孩敏捷地走上楼来。
• His intellect and mental agility have never been in doubt.他的才智和机敏从未受到怀疑。

8 spoke   

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

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

9 din   

n.喧闹声，嘈杂声

参考例句：

• The bustle and din gradually faded to silence as night advanced.随着夜越来越深，喧闹声逐渐沉寂。
• They tried to make themselves heard over the din of the crowd.他们力图让自己的声音盖过人群的喧闹声。

10 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

11 thither   

adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的

参考例句：

• He wandered hither and thither looking for a playmate.他逛来逛去找玩伴。
• He tramped hither and thither.他到处流浪。

12 negotiation   

n.谈判，协商

参考例句：

• They closed the deal in sugar after a week of negotiation.经过一星期的谈判，他们的食糖生意成交了。
• The negotiation dragged on until July.谈判一直拖到7月份。

13 barter   

n.物物交换，以货易货，实物交易

参考例句：

• Chickens,goats and rabbits were offered for barter at the bazaar.在集市上，鸡、山羊和兔子被摆出来作物物交换之用。
• They have arranged food imports on a barter basis.他们以易货贸易的方式安排食品进口。

14 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

15 distinguished   

adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的

参考例句：

• Elephants are distinguished from other animals by their long noses.大象以其长长的鼻子显示出与其他动物的不同。
• A banquet was given in honor of the distinguished guests.宴会是为了向贵宾们致敬而举行的。

16 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。

17 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

18 attentively   

adv.聚精会神地；周到地；谛；凝神

参考例句：

• She listened attentively while I poured out my problems. 我倾吐心中的烦恼时，她一直在注意听。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She listened attentively and set down every word he said. 她专心听着，把他说的话一字不漏地记下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 withdrawn   

vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出

参考例句：

• Our force has been withdrawn from the danger area.我们的军队已从危险地区撤出。
• All foreign troops should be withdrawn to their own countries.一切外国军队都应撤回本国去。

20 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

21 countenance   

n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同

参考例句：

• At the sight of this photograph he changed his countenance.他一看见这张照片脸色就变了。
• I made a fierce countenance as if I would eat him alive.我脸色恶狠狠地，仿佛要把他活生生地吞下去。

22 hesitation   

n.犹豫，踌躇

参考例句：

• After a long hesitation, he told the truth at last.踌躇了半天，他终于直说了。
• There was a certain hesitation in her manner.她的态度有些犹豫不决。

23 laden   

adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的

参考例句：

• He is laden with heavy responsibility.他肩负重任。
• Dragging the fully laden boat across the sand dunes was no mean feat.将满载货物的船拖过沙丘是一件了不起的事。

24 perils   

极大危险( peril的名词复数 )； 危险的事（或环境）

参考例句：

• The commander bade his men be undaunted in the face of perils. 指挥员命令他的战士要临危不惧。
• With how many more perils and disasters would he load himself? 他还要再冒多少风险和遭受多少灾难？

25 resounded   

v.（指声音等）回荡于某处( resound的过去式和过去分词 )；产生回响；（指某处）回荡着声音

参考例句：

• Laughter resounded through the house. 笑声在屋里回荡。
• The echo resounded back to us. 回声传回到我们的耳中。 来自《简明英汉词典》

26 artillery   

n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队)

参考例句：

• This is a heavy artillery piece.这是一门重炮。
• The artillery has more firepower than the infantry.炮兵火力比步兵大。

27 savage   

adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人

参考例句：

• The poor man received a savage beating from the thugs.那可怜的人遭到暴徒的痛打。
• He has a savage temper.他脾气粗暴。

28 mingled   

混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系]

参考例句：

• The sounds of laughter and singing mingled in the evening air. 笑声和歌声交织在夜空中。
• The man and the woman mingled as everyone started to relax. 当大家开始放松的时候，这一男一女就开始交往了。

29 liberate   

v.解放，使获得自由，释出，放出；vt.解放，使获自由

参考例句：

• They did their best to liberate slaves.他们尽最大能力去解放奴隶。
• This will liberate him from economic worry.这将消除他经济上的忧虑。