The tale records that it was not a great while before, in simple justice to Guenevere, Duke Jurgen had afforded her the advantage of frank conversation in actual privacy. For conventions have to be regarded, of course. Thus the time of a princess is not her own, and at any hour of day all sorts of people are apt to request an audience just when some most improving conversation is progressing famously: but the Hall of Judgment1 stood vacant and unguarded at night.
"But I would never consider doing such a thing," said Guenevere: "and whatever must you think of me, to make such a proposal!"
"That too, my dearest, is a matter which I can only explain in private."
"And besides, I am afraid."
"Oh, my dearest," says Jurgen, and his voice quavered, because his love and his sorrow seemed very great to him: "but, oh, my dearest, can it be that you have not faith in me! For with all my body and soul I love you, as I have loved you ever since I first raised your face between my hands, and understood that I had never before known beauty. Indeed, I love you as, I think, no man has ever loved any woman that lived in the long time that is gone, for my love is worship, and no less. The touch of your hand sets me to trembling, dear; and the look of your gray eyes makes me forget there is anything of pain or grief or evil anywhere: for you are the loveliest thing God ever made, with joy in the new skill that had come to His fingers. And you have not faith in me!"
Then the Princess gave a little sobbing4 laugh of content and repentance5, and she clasped the hand of her grief-stricken lover. "Forgive me, Jurgen, for I cannot bear to see you so unhappy!"
"Ah, and what is my grief to you!" he asks of her, bitterly.
"Much, oh, very much, my dear!" she whispered.
So in the upshot Jurgen was never to forget that moment wherein he waited behind the door, and through the crack between the half-open door and the door-frame saw Guenevere approach irresolutely6, a wavering white blur7 in the dark corridor. She came to talk with him where they would not be bothered with interruptions: but she came delightfully8 perfumed, in her night-shift, and in nothing else. Jurgen wondered at the way of these women even as his arms went about her in the gloom. He remembered always the feel of that warm and slender and yielding body, naked under the thin fabric9 of the shift, as his arms first went about her: of all their moments together that last breathless minute before either of them had spoken stayed in his memory as the most perfect.
And yet what followed was pleasant enough, for now it was to the wide and softly cushioned throne of a king, no less, that Guenevere and Jurgen resorted, so as to talk where they would not be bothered with interruptions. The throne of Gogyrvan was perfectly10 dark, under its canopy11, in the unlighted hall, and in the dark nobody can see what happens.
Thereafter these two contrived12 to talk together nightly upon the throne of Glathion: but what remained in Jurgen's memory was that last moment behind the door, and the six tall windows upon the east side of the hall, those windows which were of commingled13 blue and silver, but were all an opulent glitter, throughout that time in the night when the moon was clear of the tree-tops and had not yet risen high enough to be shut off by the eaves. For that was all which Jurgen really saw in the Hall of Judgment. There would be a brief period wherein upon the floor beneath each window would show a narrow quadrangle of moonlight: but the windows were set in a wall so deep that this soon passed. On the west side were six windows also, but about these was a porch; so no light ever came from the west.
Thus in the dark they would laugh and talk with lowered voices. Jurgen came to these encounters well primed with wine, and in consequence, as he quite comprehended, talked like an angel, without confining himself exclusively to celestial14 topics. He was often delighted by his own brilliance15, and it seemed to him a pity there was no one handy to take it down: so much of his talking was necessarily just a little over the head of any girl, however beautiful and adorable.
And Guenevere, he found, talked infinitely16 better at night. It was not altogether the wine which made him think that, either: the girl displayed a side she veiled in the day time. A girl, far less a princess, is not supposed to know more than agrees with a man's notion of maidenly17 ignorance, she contended.
"Nobody ever told me anything about so many interesting matters. Why, I remember—" And Guenevere narrated18 a quaintly19 pathetic little story, here irrelevant20, of what had befallen her some three or four years earlier. "My mother was living then: but she had never said a word about such things, and frightened as I was, I did not go to her."
Jurgen asked questions.
"Why, yes. There was nothing else to do. I cannot talk freely with my maids and ladies even now. I cannot question them, that is: of course I can listen as they talk among themselves. For me to do more would be unbecoming in a princess. And I wonder quietly about so many things!" She educed21 instances. "After that I used to notice the animals and the poultry22. So I worked out problems for myself, after a fashion. But nobody ever told me anything directly."
"Yet I dare say that Thragnar—well, the Troll King, being very wise, must have made zoology23 much clearer."
"Thragnar was a skilled enchanter," says a demure24 voice in the dark; "and through the potency25 of his abominable26 arts, I can remember nothing whatever about Thragnar."
Jurgen laughed, ruefully. Still, he was tolerably sure about
Thragnar now.
So they talked: and Jurgen marvelled27, as millions of men had done aforetime, and have done since, at the girl's eagerness, now that barriers were down, to discuss in considerable detail all such matters as etiquette28 had previously29 compelled them to ignore. About her ladies in waiting, for example, she afforded him some very curious data: and concerning men in general she asked innumerable questions that Jurgen found delicious.
Such innocence30 combined—upon the whole—with a certain moral obtuseness31, seemed inconceivable. For to Jurgen it now appeared that Guenevere was behaving with not quite the decorum which might fairly be expected of a princess. Contrition32, at least, one might have looked for, over this hole and corner business: whereas it worried him to note that Guenevere was coming to accept affairs almost as a matter of course. Certainly she did not seem to think at all of any wickedness anywhere: the utmost she suggested was the necessity of being very careful. And while she never contradicted him in these private conversations, and submitted in everything to his judgment, her motive33 now appeared to be hardly more than a wish to please him. It was almost as though she were humoring him in his foolishness. And all this within six weeks! reflected Jurgen: and he nibbled34 his finger-nails, with a mental side-glance toward the opinions of King Gogyrvan Gawr.
But in daylight the Princess remained unchanged. In daylight Jurgen adored her, but with no feeling of intimacy35. Very rarely did occasion serve for them to be actually alone in the day time. Once or twice, though, he kissed her in open sunlight: and then her eyes were melting but wary36, and the whole affair was rather flat. She did not repulse37 him: but she stayed a princess, appreciative38 of her station, and seemed not at all the invisible person who talked with him at night in the Hall of Judgment.
Presently, by common consent, they began to avoid each other by daylight. Indeed, the time of the Princess was now pre-occupied: for now had come into Glathion a ship with saffron colored sails, and having for its figure-head a dragon that was painted with thirty colors. Such was the ship which brought Messire Merlin Ambrosius and Dame39 Anaïtis, the Lady of the Lake, with a great retinue40, to fetch young Guenevere to London, where she was to be married to King Arthur.
First there was a week of feasting and tourneys and high mirth of every kind. Now the trumpets41 blared, and upon a scaffolding that was gay with pennons and smart tapestries42 King Gogyrvan sat nodding and blinking in his brightest raiment, to judge who did the best: and into the field came joyously43 a press of dukes and earls and barons44 and many famous knights45, to contend for honor and a trumpery46 chaplet of pearls.
Jurgen shrugged47, and honored custom. The Duke of Logreus acquitted48 himself with credit in the opening tournament, unhorsing Sir Dodinas le Sauvage, Earl Roth of Meliot, Sir Epinogris, and Sir Hector de Maris: then Earl Damas of Listenise smote49 like a whirlwind, and Jurgen slid contentedly50 down the tail of his fine horse. His part in the tournament was ended, and he was heartily51 glad of it. He preferred to contemplate52 rather than share in such festivities: and he now followed his bent53 with a most exquisite54 misery55, because he considered that never had any other poet occupied a situation more picturesque56.
By day he was the Duke of Logreus, which in itself was a notable advance upon pawnbroking57: after nightfall he discounted the peculiar58 privileges of a king. It was the secrecy59, the deluding60 of everybody, which he especially enjoyed: and in the thought of what a monstrous61 clever fellow was Jurgen, he almost lost sight of the fact that he was miserable62 over the impending63 marriage of the lady he loved.
Once or twice he caught the tail-end of a glance from Gogyrvan's bright old eye. Jurgen by this time abhorred64 Gogyrvan, as a person of abominably65 unjust dealings.
"To take no better care of his own daughter," Jurgen considered, "is infamous66. The man is neglecting his duties as a father, and to do that is not fair."
点击收听单词发音
1 judgment | |
n.审判;判断力,识别力,看法,意见 | |
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2 insolence | |
n.傲慢;无礼;厚颜;傲慢的态度 | |
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3 aged | |
adj.年老的,陈年的 | |
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4 sobbing | |
<主方>Ⅰ adj.湿透的 | |
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5 repentance | |
n.懊悔 | |
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6 irresolutely | |
adv.优柔寡断地 | |
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7 blur | |
n.模糊不清的事物;vt.使模糊,使看不清楚 | |
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8 delightfully | |
大喜,欣然 | |
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9 fabric | |
n.织物,织品,布;构造,结构,组织 | |
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10 perfectly | |
adv.完美地,无可非议地,彻底地 | |
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11 canopy | |
n.天篷,遮篷 | |
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12 contrived | |
adj.不自然的,做作的;虚构的 | |
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13 commingled | |
v.混合,掺和,合并( commingle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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14 celestial | |
adj.天体的;天上的 | |
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15 brilliance | |
n.光辉,辉煌,壮丽,(卓越的)才华,才智 | |
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16 infinitely | |
adv.无限地,无穷地 | |
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17 maidenly | |
adj. 像处女的, 谨慎的, 稳静的 | |
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18 narrated | |
v.故事( narrate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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19 quaintly | |
adv.古怪离奇地 | |
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20 irrelevant | |
adj.不恰当的,无关系的,不相干的 | |
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21 educed | |
v.引出( educe的过去式和过去分词 );唤起或开发出(潜能);推断(出);从数据中演绎(出) | |
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22 poultry | |
n.家禽,禽肉 | |
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23 zoology | |
n.动物学,生态 | |
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24 demure | |
adj.严肃的;端庄的 | |
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25 potency | |
n. 效力,潜能 | |
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26 abominable | |
adj.可厌的,令人憎恶的 | |
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27 marvelled | |
v.惊奇,对…感到惊奇( marvel的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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28 etiquette | |
n.礼仪,礼节;规矩 | |
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29 previously | |
adv.以前,先前(地) | |
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30 innocence | |
n.无罪;天真;无害 | |
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31 obtuseness | |
感觉迟钝 | |
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32 contrition | |
n.悔罪,痛悔 | |
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33 motive | |
n.动机,目的;adv.发动的,运动的 | |
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34 nibbled | |
v.啃,一点一点地咬(吃)( nibble的过去式和过去分词 );啃出(洞),一点一点咬出(洞);慢慢减少;小口咬 | |
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35 intimacy | |
n.熟悉,亲密,密切关系,亲昵的言行 | |
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36 wary | |
adj.谨慎的,机警的,小心的 | |
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37 repulse | |
n.击退,拒绝;vt.逐退,击退,拒绝 | |
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38 appreciative | |
adj.有鉴赏力的,有眼力的;感激的 | |
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39 dame | |
n.女士 | |
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40 retinue | |
n.侍从;随员 | |
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41 trumpets | |
喇叭( trumpet的名词复数 ); 小号; 喇叭形物; (尤指)绽开的水仙花 | |
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42 tapestries | |
n.挂毯( tapestry的名词复数 );绣帷,织锦v.用挂毯(或绣帷)装饰( tapestry的第三人称单数 ) | |
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43 joyously | |
ad.快乐地, 高兴地 | |
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44 barons | |
男爵( baron的名词复数 ); 巨头; 大王; 大亨 | |
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45 knights | |
骑士; (中古时代的)武士( knight的名词复数 ); 骑士; 爵士; (国际象棋中)马 | |
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46 trumpery | |
n.无价值的杂物;adj.(物品)中看不中用的 | |
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47 shrugged | |
vt.耸肩(shrug的过去式与过去分词形式) | |
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48 acquitted | |
宣判…无罪( acquit的过去式和过去分词 ); 使(自己)作出某种表现 | |
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49 smote | |
v.猛打,重击,打击( smite的过去式 ) | |
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50 contentedly | |
adv.心满意足地 | |
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51 heartily | |
adv.衷心地,诚恳地,十分,很 | |
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52 contemplate | |
vt.盘算,计议;周密考虑;注视,凝视 | |
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53 bent | |
n.爱好,癖好;adj.弯的;决心的,一心的 | |
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54 exquisite | |
adj.精美的;敏锐的;剧烈的,感觉强烈的 | |
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55 misery | |
n.痛苦,苦恼,苦难;悲惨的境遇,贫苦 | |
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56 picturesque | |
adj.美丽如画的,(语言)生动的,绘声绘色的 | |
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57 pawnbroking | |
n.典当业 | |
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58 peculiar | |
adj.古怪的,异常的;特殊的,特有的 | |
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59 secrecy | |
n.秘密,保密,隐蔽 | |
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60 deluding | |
v.欺骗,哄骗( delude的现在分词 ) | |
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61 monstrous | |
adj.巨大的;恐怖的;可耻的,丢脸的 | |
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62 miserable | |
adj.悲惨的,痛苦的;可怜的,糟糕的 | |
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63 impending | |
a.imminent, about to come or happen | |
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64 abhorred | |
v.憎恶( abhor的过去式和过去分词 );(厌恶地)回避;拒绝;淘汰 | |
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65 abominably | |
adv. 可恶地,可恨地,恶劣地 | |
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66 infamous | |
adj.声名狼藉的,臭名昭著的,邪恶的 | |
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