"Nessus," says Jurgen, "and am I so changed? For that Dorothy whom I loved in youth did not know me."
"Good and evil keep very exact accounts," replied the Centaur1, "and the face of every man is their ledger2. Meanwhile the sun rises, it is already another workday: and when the shadows of those two who come to take possession fall full upon the garden, I warn you, there will be astounding3 changes brought about by the requirements of bread and butter. You have not time to revive old memories by chatting with the others to whom you babbled4 aforetime in this garden."
"Ah, Centaur, in the garden between dawn and sunrise there was never any other save Dorothy la Désirée."
The Centaur shrugged5. "It may be you forget; it is certain that you underestimate the local population. Some of the transient visitors you have seen, and in addition hereabouts dwell the year round all manner of imaginary creatures. The fairies live just southward, and the gnomes6 too. To your right is the realm of the Valkyries: the Amazons and the Cynocephali are their allies: all three of these nations are continually at loggerheads with their neighbors, the Baba-Yagas, whom Morfei cooks for, and whose monarch7 is Oh, a person very dangerous to name. Northward8 dwell the Lepracauns and the Men of Hunger, whose king is Clobhair. My people, who are ruled by Chiron, live even further to the north. The Sphinx pastures on yonder mountain; and now the Chimæra is old and generally derided9, they say that Cerberus visits the Sphinx at twilight10, although I was never the person to disseminate11 scandal—"
"Centaur," said Jurgen, "and what is Dorothy doing here?"
"Why, all the women that any man has ever loved live here," replied the Centaur, "for very obvious reasons."
"That is a hard saying, friend."
Nessus tapped with his forefinger12 upon the back of Jurgen's hand. "Worm's-meat! this is the destined13 food, do what you will, of small white worms. This by and by will be a struggling pale corruption14, like seething15 milk. That too is a hard saying, Jurgen. But it is a true saying."
"And was that Dorothy whom I loved in youth an imaginary creature?"
"My poor Jurgen, you who were once a poet! she was your masterpiece. For there was only a shallow, stupid and airy, high-nosed and light-haired miss, with no remarkable16 good looks,—and consider what your ingenuity17 made from such poor material! You should be proud of yourself."
"No, Centaur, I cannot very well be proud of my folly18: yet I do not regret it. I have been befooled by a bright shadow of my own raising, you tell me, and I concede it to be probable. No less, I served a lovely shadow; and my heart will keep the memory of that loveliness until life ends, in a world where other men follow pantingly after shadows which are not even pretty."
"There is something in that, Jurgen: there is also something in an old tale we used to tell in Thessaly, about a fox and certain grapes."
"Well, but look you, Nessus, there is an emperor that reigns19 now in Constantinople and occasionally does business with me. Yes, and I could tell you tales of by what shifts he came to the throne—"
"Men's hands are by ordinary soiled in climbing," quoth the Centaur.
"And 'Jurgen,' this emperor says to me, not many months ago, as he sat in his palace, crowned and dreary20 and trying to cheat me out of my fair profit on some emeralds,—'Jurgen, I cannot sleep of nights, because of that fool Alexius, who comes into my room with staring eyes and the bowstring still about his neck. And my Varangians must be in league with that silly ghost, because I constantly order them to keep Alexius out of my bedchamber, and they do not obey me, Jurgen. To be King of the East is not to the purpose, Jurgen, when one must submit to such vexations.' Yes, it was Cæsar Pharamond himself said this to me: and I deduce the shadow of a crown has led him into an ugly pickle21, for all that he is the mightiest22 monarch in the world. And I would not change with Cæsar Pharamond, not I who am a respectable pawnbroker23, with my home in fee and my bit of tilled land. Well, this is a queer world, to be sure: and this garden is visited by no stranger things than pop into a man's mind sometimes, without his knowing how."
"Ah, but you must understand that the garden is speedily to be remodeled. Yonder you may observe the two whose requirements are to rid the place of all fantastic unremunerative notions; and who will develop the natural resources of this garden according to generally approved methods."
And from afar Jurgen could see two figures coming out of the east, so tall that their heads rose above the encircling hills and glistened24 in the rays of a sun which was not yet visible. One was a white pasty-looking giant, with a crusty expression: he walked with the aid of a cane25. The other was of a pale yellow color: his face was oily, and he rode on a vast cow that was called Ædhumla.
"Make way there, brother, with your staff of life," says the yellow giant, "for there is much to do hereabouts."
"Ay, brother, this place must be altered a deal before it meets with our requirements," the other grumbled26. "May I be toasted if I know where to begin!"
Then as the giants turned dull and harsh faces toward the garden, the sun came above the circle of blue hills, so that the mingled27 shadows of these two giants fell across the garden. For an instant Jurgen saw the place oppressed by that attenuated28 mile-long shadow, as in heraldry you may see a black bar painted sheer across some brightly emblazoned shield. Then the radiancy of everything twitched29 and vanished, as a bubble bursts.
And Jurgen was standing30 in the midst of a field, very neatly31 plowed32, but with nothing as yet growing in it. And the Centaur was with him still, it seemed, for there were the creature's hoofs33, but all the gold had been washed or rubbed away from them in traveling with Jurgen.
Nessus, was it fair that so much loveliness should be thus wasted!"
"Nay!"
And when Jurgen raised his eyes he saw that his companion was not a centaur, but only a strayed riding-horse.
"Were you the animal, then," says Jurgen, "and was it a quite ordinary animal, that conveyed me to the garden between dawn and sunrise?" And Jurgen laughed disconsolately37. "At all events, you have clothed me in a curious fine shirt. And, now I look, your bridle38 is marked with a coronet. So I will return you to the castle at Bellegarde, and it may be that Heitman Michael will reward me."
Then Jurgen mounted this horse and rode away from the plowed field wherein nothing grew as yet. As they left the furrows39 they came to a signboard with writing on it, in a peculiar40 red and yellow lettering.
Jurgen paused to decipher this.
"Read me!" was written on the signboard: "read me, and judge if you understand! So you stopped in your journey because I called, scenting41 something unusual, something droll42. Thus, although I am nothing, and even less, there is no one that sees me but lingers here. Stranger, I am a law of the universe. Stranger, render the law what is due the law!"
Jurgen felt cheated. "A very foolish signboard, indeed! for how can it be 'a law of the universe', when there is no meaning to it!" says Jurgen. "Why, for any law to be meaningless would not be fair."
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1
centaur
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| n.人首马身的怪物 | |
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2
ledger
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| n.总帐，分类帐；帐簿 | |
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astounding
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| adj.使人震惊的vt.使震惊，使大吃一惊astound的现在分词) | |
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4
babbled
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| v.喋喋不休( babble的过去式和过去分词 )；作潺潺声（如流水）；含糊不清地说话；泄漏秘密 | |
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5
shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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6
gnomes
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| n.矮子( gnome的名词复数 )；侏儒；（尤指金融市场上搞投机的）银行家；守护神 | |
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7
monarch
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| n.帝王，君主，最高统治者 | |
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northward
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| adv.向北；n.北方的地区 | |
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9
derided
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| v.取笑，嘲笑( deride的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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10
twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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disseminate
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| v.散布；传播 | |
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12
forefinger
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| n.食指 | |
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destined
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| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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corruption
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| n.腐败，堕落，贪污 | |
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15
seething
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| 沸腾的，火热的 | |
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remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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ingenuity
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| n.别出心裁；善于发明创造 | |
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18
folly
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| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
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19
reigns
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| n.君主的统治( reign的名词复数 )；君主统治时期；任期；当政期 | |
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dreary
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| adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的 | |
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pickle
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| n.腌汁，泡菜；v.腌，泡 | |
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mightiest
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| adj.趾高气扬( mighty的最高级 )；巨大的；强有力的；浩瀚的 | |
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pawnbroker
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| n.典当商，当铺老板 | |
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glistened
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| v.湿物闪耀，闪亮( glisten的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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cane
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| n.手杖，细长的茎，藤条；v.以杖击，以藤编制的 | |
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26
grumbled
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| 抱怨( grumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 发牢骚； 咕哝； 发哼声 | |
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27
mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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28
attenuated
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| v.（使）变细( attenuate的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）变薄；（使）变小；减弱 | |
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29
twitched
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| vt.& vi.（使）抽动，（使）颤动（twitch的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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30
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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neatly
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| adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地 | |
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plowed
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| v.耕( plow的过去式和过去分词 )；犁耕；费力穿过 | |
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33
hoofs
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| n.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的名词复数 )v.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的第三人称单数 ) | |
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34
desolate
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| adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂 | |
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nay
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| adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者 | |
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wailingly
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| 愿意地，乐意地 | |
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37
disconsolately
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| adv.悲伤地，愁闷地；哭丧着脸 | |
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38
bridle
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| n.笼头，束缚；vt.抑制，约束；动怒 | |
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39
furrows
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| 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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40
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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41
scenting
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| vt.闻到（scent的现在分词形式） | |
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42
droll
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| adj.古怪的，好笑的 | |
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