So again Coth parted with his son in anger, and Jurgen returned again toward Barathum; and, whether or not it was a coincidence, Jurgen met precisely2 the vampire of whom he had inveigled3 his father into thinking. She was the most seductively beautiful creature that it would be possible for Jurgen's father or any other man to imagine: and her clothes were orange-colored, for a reason sufficiently4 well known in Hell, and were embroidered5 everywhere with green fig-leaves.
"A good morning to you, madame," says Jurgen, "and whither are you going?"
"Why, to no place at all, good youth. For this is my vacation, granted yearly by the Law of Kalki—"
"And who is Kalki, madame?"
"Nobody as yet: but he will come as a stallion. Meanwhile his Law precedes him, so that I am spending my vacation peacefully in Hell, with none of my ordinary annoyances6 to bother me."
"And what, madame, can they be?"
"Why, you must understand that it is little rest a vampire gets on earth, with so many fine young fellows like yourself going about everywhere eager to be destroyed."
"But how, madame, did you happen to become a vampire if the life does not please you? And what is it that they call you?"
"My name, sir," replied the Vampire, sorrowfully, "is Florimel, because my nature no less than my person was as beautiful as the flowers of the field and as sweet as the honey which the bees (who furnish us with such admirable examples of industry) get out of these flowers. But a sad misfortune changed all this. For I chanced one day to fall ill and die (which, of course, might happen to anyone), and as my funeral was leaving the house the cat jumped over my coffin8. That was a terrible misfortune to befall a poor dead girl so generally respected, and in wide demand as a seamstress; though, even then, the worst might have been averted9 had not my sister-in-law been of what they call a humane10 disposition11 and foolishly attached to the cat. So they did not kill it, and I, of course, became a vampire."
"Yes, I can understand that was inevitable12. Still, it seems hardly fair. I pity you, my dear." And Jurgen sighed.
"I would prefer, sir, that you did not address me thus familiarly, since you and I have omitted the formality of an introduction; and in the absence of any joint13 acquaintances are unlikely ever to meet properly."
Jurgen who recently made himself Emperor of Noumaria, King of
Eubonia, Prince of Cocaigne, and Duke of Logreus; and of whom you
have doubtless heard."
"Why, to be sure!" says she, patting her hair straight. "And who would have anticipated meeting your highness in such a place!"
"One says 'majesty16' to an emperor, my dear. It is a detail, of course: but in my position one has to be a little exigent."
"I perfectly17 comprehend, your majesty; and indeed I might have divined your rank from your lovely clothes. I can but entreat18 you to overlook my unintentional breach19 of etiquette20: and I make bold to add that a kind heart reveals the splendor21 of its graciousness through the interest which your majesty has just evinced in my disastrous22 history."
"Upon my word," thinks Jurgen, "but in this flow of words I seem to recognize my father's imagination when in anger."
Then Florimel told Jurgen of her horrible awakening23 in the grave, and of what had befallen her hands and feet there, the while that against her will she fed repugnantly, destroying first her kindred and then the neighbors. This done, she had arisen.
"For the cattle still lived, and that troubled me. When I had put an end to this annoyance7, I climbed into the church belfry, not alone, for one went with me of whom I prefer not to talk; and at midnight I sounded the bell so that all who heard it would sicken and die. And I wept all the while, because I knew that when everything had been destroyed which I had known in my first life in the flesh, I would be compelled to go into new lands, in search of the food which alone can nourish me, and I was always sincerely attached to my home. So it was, your majesty, that I forever relinquished24 my sewing, and became a lovely peril25, a flashing desolation, and an evil which smites26 by night, in spite of my abhorrence27 of irregular hours: and what I do I dislike extremely, for it is a sad fate to become a vampire, and still to sympathize with your victims, and particularly with their poor mothers."
So Jurgen comforted Florimel, and he put his arm around her.
"Come, come!" he said, "but I will see that your vacation passes pleasantly. And I intend to deal fairly with you, too."
Then he glanced sidewise at his shadow, and whispered a suggestion which caused Florimel to sigh. "By the terms of my doom," said she, "at no time during the nine lives of the cat can I refuse. Still, it is a comfort you are the Emperor of Noumaria and have a kind heart."
"Oh, and a many other possessions, my dear! and I again assure you that I intend to deal fairly with you."
So Florimel conducted Jurgen, through the changeless twilight28 of Barathum, like that of a gray winter afternoon, to a quiet cleft29 by the Sea of Blood, which she had fitted out very cosily30 in imitation of her girlhood home; and she lighted a candle, and made him welcome to her cleft. And when Jurgen was about to enter it he saw that his shadow was following him into the Vampire's home.
"Let us extinguish this candle!" says Jurgen, "for I have seen so many flames to-day that my eyes are tired."
So Florimel extinguished the candle, with a good-will that delighted Jurgen. And now they were in utter darkness, and in the dark nobody can see what is happening. But that Florimel now trusted Jurgen and his Noumarian claims was evinced by her very first remark.
"I was in the beginning suspicious of your majesty," said Florimel, "because I had always heard that every emperor carried a magnificent sceptre, and you then displayed nothing of the sort. But now, somehow, I do not doubt you any longer. And of what is your majesty thinking?"
"Why, I was reflecting, my dear," says Jurgen, "that my father imagines things very satisfactorily."
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1
vampire
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| n.吸血鬼 | |
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precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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inveigled
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| v.诱骗，引诱( inveigle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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embroidered
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| adj．绣花的 | |
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annoyances
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| n.恼怒( annoyance的名词复数 )；烦恼；打扰；使人烦恼的事 | |
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annoyance
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| n.恼怒，生气，烦恼 | |
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coffin
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| n.棺材，灵柩 | |
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averted
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| 防止，避免( avert的过去式和过去分词 )； 转移 | |
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humane
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| adj.人道的，富有同情心的 | |
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disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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joint
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| adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合 | |
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herald
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| vt.预示...的来临，预告，宣布，欢迎 | |
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incognito
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| adv.匿名地；n.隐姓埋名；adj.化装的，用假名的，隐匿姓名身份的 | |
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majesty
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| n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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entreat
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| v.恳求，恳请 | |
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breach
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| n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破 | |
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etiquette
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| n.礼仪，礼节；规矩 | |
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splendor
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| n.光彩；壮丽，华丽；显赫，辉煌 | |
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disastrous
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| adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的 | |
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awakening
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| n.觉醒，醒悟 adj.觉醒中的；唤醒的 | |
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relinquished
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| 交出，让给( relinquish的过去式和过去分词 )； 放弃 | |
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peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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smites
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| v.猛打，重击，打击( smite的第三人称单数 ) | |
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abhorrence
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| n.憎恶；可憎恶的事 | |
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twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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cleft
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| n.裂缝；adj.裂开的 | |
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cosily
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| adv.舒适地，惬意地 | |
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