"Eh, sirs!" observes Koshchei the Deathless, "but some of us are certainly hard to please." And now Jurgen was already intent to shrug2 off his display of emotion. "In selecting a wife, sir," submitted Jurgen, "there are all sorts of matters to be considered—"
Then bewilderment smote3 him. For it occurred to Jurgen that his previous commerce with these three women was patently unknown to Koshchei. Why, Koshchei, who made all things as they are—Koshchei, no less—was now doing for Jurgen Koshchei's utmost: and that utmost amounted to getting for Jurgen what Jurgen had once, with the aid of youth and impudence4, got for himself. Not even Koshchei, then, could do more for Jurgen than might be accomplished5 by that youth and impudence and tendency to pry6 into things generally which Jurgen had just relinquished7 as over-restless nuisances. Jurgen drew the inference, and shrugged8; decidedly cleverness was not at the top. However, there was no pressing need to enlighten Koshchei, and no wisdom in attempting it.
"—For you must understand, sir," continued Jurgen, smoothly10, "that, whatever the first impulse of the moment, it was apparent to any reflective person that in the past of each of these ladies there was much to suggest inborn11 inaptitude for domestic life. And I am a peace-loving fellow, sir; nor do I hold with moral laxity, now that I am forty-odd, except, of course, in talk when it promotes sociability12, and in verse-making wherein it is esteemed13 as a conventional ornament14. Still, Prince, the chance I lost! I do not refer to matrimony, you conceive. But in the presence of these famous fair ones now departed from me forever, with what glowing words I ought to have spoken! upon a wondrous16 ladder of trophes, metaphors17 and recondite18 allusions19, to what stylistic heights of Asiatic prose I ought to have ascended20! and instead, I twaddled like a schoolmaster. Decidedly, Lisa is right, and I am good-for-nothing. However," Jurgen added, hopefully, "it appeared to me that when I last saw her, a year ago this evening, Lisa was somewhat less outspoken21 than usual."
"Eh, sirs, but she was under a very potent22 spell. I found that necessary in the interest of law and order hereabouts. I, who made things as they are, am not accustomed to the excesses of practical persons who are ruthlessly bent23 upon reforming their associates. Indeed, it is one of the advantages of my situation that such folk do not consider things as they are, and in consequence very rarely bother me." And the black gentleman in turn shrugged. "You will pardon me, but I notice in my accounts that I am positively24 committed to color this year's anemones25 to-night, and there is a rather large planetary system to be discontinued at half-past ten. So time presses."
"And time is inexorable. Prince, with all due respect, I fancy it is precisely26 this truism which you have overlooked. You produce the most charming of women, in a determined27 onslaught upon my fancy; but you forget you are displaying them to a man of forty-and-something."
"And does that make so great a difference?"
"Oh, a sad difference, Prince! For as a man gets on in life he changes in many ways. He handles sword and lance less creditably, and does not carry as heavy a staff as he once flourished. He takes less interest in conversation, and his flow of humor diminishes. He is not the tireless mathematician28 that he was, if only because his faith in his personal endowments slackens. He recognizes his limitations, and in consequence the unimportance of his opinions, and indeed he recognizes the probable unimportance of all fleshly matters. So he relinquishes29 trying to figure out things, and sceptres and candles appear to him about equivalent; and he is inclined to give up philosophical30 experiments, and to let things pass unplumbed. Oh, yes, it makes a difference." And Jurgen sighed. "And yet, for all that, it is a relief, sir, in a way."
"Nevertheless," said Koshchei, "now that you have inspected the flower of womanhood, I cannot soberly believe you prefer your termagant of a wife."
"Frankly31, Prince, I also am, as usual, undecided. You may be right in all you have urged; and certainly I cannot go so far as to say you are wrong; but still, at the same time—! Come now, could you not let me see my first wife for just a moment?"
This was no sooner asked than granted; for there, sure enough, was Dame Lisa. She was no longer restricted to quiet speech by any stupendous necromancy32: and uncommonly33 plain she looked, after the passing of those lovely ladies.
"Aha, you rascal34!" begins Dame Lisa, addressing Jurgen; "and so you thought to be rid of me! Oh, a precious lot you are! and a deal of thanks I get for my scrimping and slaving!" And she began scolding away.
But she began, somewhat to Jurgen's astonishment35, by stating that he was even worse than the Countess Dorothy. Then he recollected36 that, by not the most disastrous37 piece of luck conceivable, Dame Lisa's latest news from the outside world had been rendered by her sister, the notary's wife, a twelvemonth back.
And rather unaccountably Jurgen fell to thinking of how unsubstantial seemed these curious months devoted38 to other women, as set against the commonplace years which he and Lisa had fretted39 through together; of the fine and merry girl that Lisa had been before she married him; of how well she knew his tastes in cookery and all his little preferences, and of how cleverly she humored them on those rare days when nothing had occurred to vex40 her; of all the buttons she had replaced, and all the socks she had darned, and of what tempests had been loosed when anyone else had had the audacity41 to criticize Jurgen; and of how much more unpleasant—everything considered—life was without her than with her. She was so unattractive looking, too, poor dear, that you could not but be sorry for her. And Jurgen's mood was half yearning42 and half penitence43.
"I think I will take her back, Prince," says Jurgen, very subdued,—"now that I am forty-and-something. For I do not know but it is as hard on her as on me."
"My friend, do you forget the poet that you might be, even yet? No rational person would dispute that the society and amiable44 chat of Dame Lisa must naturally be a desideratum—"
But Dame Lisa was always resentful of long words. "Be silent, you black scoffer45, and do not allude46 to such disgraceful things in the presence of respectable people! For I am a decent Christian47 woman, I would have you understand. But everybody knows your reputation! and a very fit companion you are for that scamp yonder! and volumes could not say more!"
Thus casually48, and with comparative lenience49, did Dame Lisa dispose of Koshchei, who made things as they are, for she believed him to be merely Satan. And to her husband Dame Lisa now addressed herself more particularly.
"Jurgen, I always told you you would come to this, and now I hope you are satisfied. Jurgen, do not stand there with your mouth open, like a scared fish, when I ask you a civil question! but answer when you are spoken to! Yes, and you need not try to look so idiotically innocent, Jurgen, because I am disgusted with you. For, Jurgen, you heard perfectly50 well what your very suitable friend just said about me, with my own husband standing51 by. No—now I beg of you!—do not ask me what he said, Jurgen! I leave that to your conscience, and I prefer to talk no more about it. You know that when I am once disappointed in a person I am through with that person. So, very luckily, there is no need at all for you to pile hypocrisy52 on cowardice53, because if my own husband has not the feelings of a man, and cannot protect me from insults and low company, I had best be going home and getting supper ready. I dare say the house is like a pig-sty: and I can see by looking at you that you have been ruining your eyes by reading in bed again. And to think of your going about in public, even among such associates, with a button off your shirt!"
"And now I look at that shirt, I ask you fairly, Jurgen, do you consider that a man of your age has any right to be going about in a shirt that nobody—in a shirt which—in a shirt that I can only—Ah, but I never saw such a shirt! and neither did anybody else! You simply cannot imagine what a figure you cut in it, Jurgen. Jurgen, I have been patient with you; I have put up with a great deal, saying nothing where many women would have lost their temper; but I simply cannot permit you to select your own clothes, and so ruin the business and take the bread out of our mouths. In short, you are enough to drive a person mad; and I warn you that I am done with you forever."
Dame Lisa went with dignity to the door of Koshchei's office.
"So you can come with me or not, precisely as you elect. It is all one to me, I can assure you, after the cruel things you have said, and the way you have stormed at me, and have encouraged that notorious blackamoor to insult me in terms which I, for one, would not soil my lips by repeating. I do not doubt you consider it is all very clever and amusing, but you know now what I think about it. And upon the whole, if you do not feel the exertion54 will kill you, you had better come home the long way, and stop by Sister's and ask her to let you have a half-pound of butter; for I know you too well to suppose you have been attending to the churning."
Dame Lisa here evinced a stately sort of mirth such as is unimaginable by bachelors.
"You churning while I was away!—oh, no, not you! There is probably not so much as an egg in the house. For my lord and gentleman has had other fish to fry, in his fine new courting clothes. And that—and on a man of your age, with a paunch to you like a beer barrel and with legs like pipe-stems!—yes, that infamous55 shirt of yours is the reason you had better, for your own comfort, come home the long way. For I warn you, Jurgen, that the style in which I have caught you rigged out has quite decided9 me, before I go home or anywhere else, to stop by for a word or so with your high and mighty56 Madame Dorothy. So you had just as well not be along with me, for there is no pulling wool over my eyes any longer, and you two need never think to hoodwink me again about your goings-on. No, Jurgen, you cannot fool me; for I can read you like a book. And such behavior, at your time of life, does not surprise me at all, because it is precisely what I would have expected of you."
With that Dame Lisa passed through the door and went away, still talking. It was of Heitman Michael's wife that the wife of Jurgen spoke, discoursing57 of the personal traits, and of the past doings, and (with augmented58 fervor) of the figure and visage of Madame Dorothy, as all these abominations appeared to the eye of discernment, and must be revealed by the tongue of candor59, as a matter of public duty.
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
dame
|
|
| n.女士 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
shrug
|
|
| v.耸肩(表示怀疑、冷漠、不知等) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
smote
|
|
| v.猛打，重击，打击( smite的过去式 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
impudence
|
|
| n.厚颜无耻；冒失；无礼 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
accomplished
|
|
| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
pry
|
|
| vi.窥(刺)探，打听；vt.撬动(开，起) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
relinquished
|
|
| 交出，让给( relinquish的过去式和过去分词 )； 放弃 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
shrugged
|
|
| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
decided
|
|
| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
smoothly
|
|
| adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
inborn
|
|
| adj.天生的，生来的，先天的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
sociability
|
|
| n.好交际，社交性，善于交际 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
esteemed
|
|
| adj.受人尊敬的v.尊敬( esteem的过去式和过去分词 )；敬重；认为；以为 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
ornament
|
|
| v.装饰，美化；n.装饰，装饰物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
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： |
|
|
|
|
16
wondrous
|
|
| adj.令人惊奇的，奇妙的；adv.惊人地；异乎寻常地；令人惊叹地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
metaphors
|
|
| 隐喻( metaphor的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
recondite
|
|
| adj.深奥的，难解的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
allusions
|
|
| 暗指，间接提到( allusion的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
ascended
|
|
| v.上升，攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
outspoken
|
|
| adj.直言无讳的，坦率的，坦白无隐的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
potent
|
|
| adj.强有力的，有权势的；有效力的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
bent
|
|
| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
positively
|
|
| adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
anemones
|
|
| n.银莲花( anemone的名词复数 )；海葵 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
precisely
|
|
| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
determined
|
|
| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
mathematician
|
|
| n.数学家 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
relinquishes
|
|
| 交出，让给( relinquish的第三人称单数 )； 放弃 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
philosophical
|
|
| adj.哲学家的，哲学上的，达观的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
frankly
|
|
| adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
necromancy
|
|
| n.巫术；通灵术 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
uncommonly
|
|
| adv. 稀罕(极，非常) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
rascal
|
|
| n.流氓；不诚实的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
astonishment
|
|
| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
recollected
|
|
| adj.冷静的；镇定的；被回忆起的；沉思默想的v.记起，想起( recollect的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
disastrous
|
|
| adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
devoted
|
|
| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
fretted
|
|
| 焦躁的，附有弦马的，腐蚀的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
vex
|
|
| vt.使烦恼，使苦恼 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
audacity
|
|
| n.大胆，卤莽，无礼 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
yearning
|
|
| a.渴望的；向往的；怀念的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
penitence
|
|
| n.忏悔，赎罪；悔过 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
amiable
|
|
| adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
scoffer
|
|
| 嘲笑者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
allude
|
|
| v.提及，暗指 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
Christian
|
|
| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
casually
|
|
| adv.漠不关心地，无动于衷地，不负责任地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
lenience
|
|
| n.宽大，温和 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
perfectly
|
|
| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
standing
|
|
| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
hypocrisy
|
|
| n.伪善，虚伪 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
cowardice
|
|
| n.胆小，怯懦 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
exertion
|
|
| n.尽力，努力 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
infamous
|
|
| adj.声名狼藉的，臭名昭著的，邪恶的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
mighty
|
|
| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
discoursing
|
|
| 演说（discourse的现在分词形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
58
Augmented
|
|
| adj.增音的 动词augment的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
59
candor
|
|
| n.坦白，率真 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
60
judgment
|
|
| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |