It would be difficult to describe this remarkable9 work without analyzing11 the tale and criticizing its personages. This would anticipate the author and mar10 the interest of his story. We must confine ourselves, therefore, to general remarks on its structure and characteristics.
Pontmartin, the distinguished12 French feuilletonist, says, in one of his "Literary Chats," that these simple stories are "pearls set in Flemish gold,—a gold which alchemysts seek for in alembics and furnaces, but which Conscience has found in the inexhaustible veins13 of nature." "The Poor Gentleman," he remarks, "is a tale of not more than a hundred and fifty pages; but I would not give its shortest chapter for all the romances I ever read. The perplexed14 De Vlierbeck—who ought to have had Caleb Balderstone for a servant—is one of those characters that engrave15 themselves indelibly on our memory." In every trait and detail the author has attained16 a photographic minuteness; which, while it is distinct and sharp, never interferes17 with that motion, breadth, and picturesque18 effect that impart life and reality to a story. Nor can we doubt that it will be read and re-read as long as there is a particle of that feeling among us which installed the Vicar of Wakefield, Paul and Virginia, the Crock of Gold, the Sketch-book, and the Tales of a Traveller, among the heirlooms of every tasteful household. The "Tales of Flemish Life" are additions to that rare stock of home-literature which is at once amiable19 and gentle, simple and affectionate, familiar and tender, and which meets a quick response from every honest heart and earnest spirit.
If it be objected that the stories are too short and sketchy20 for the praise that has been bestowed21 on them, it may be answered that in their translation we have had the best opportunity to observe the skill, power, and perception of character which constitute their real merit. Simple as they seem, they are written with masterly art. In design, elaborateness, tone, and finish, they resemble the works of the Flemish School which have made us familiar with the Low Countries and their people through the pictures of Ruysdael, Teniers, and Ostade. There is scarcely a leaf that does not display some of those recondite22 or evanescent secrets of human nature which either escape ordinary writers, or, when found by them, are spread out over volume instead of being condensed into a page.
Baltimore, August, 1856.
THE TRANSLATOR.
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1 inborn | |
adj.天生的,生来的,先天的 | |
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2 propriety | |
n.正当行为;正当;适当 | |
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3 virtues | |
美德( virtue的名词复数 ); 德行; 优点; 长处 | |
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4 humble | |
adj.谦卑的,恭顺的;地位低下的;v.降低,贬低 | |
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5 straightforward | |
adj.正直的,坦率的;易懂的,简单的 | |
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6 pertinacious | |
adj.顽固的 | |
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7 mishaps | |
n.轻微的事故,小的意外( mishap的名词复数 ) | |
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8 subdues | |
征服( subdue的第三人称单数 ); 克制; 制服 | |
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9 remarkable | |
adj.显著的,异常的,非凡的,值得注意的 | |
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10 mar | |
vt.破坏,毁坏,弄糟 | |
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11 analyzing | |
v.分析;分析( analyze的现在分词 );分解;解释;对…进行心理分析n.分析 | |
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12 distinguished | |
adj.卓越的,杰出的,著名的 | |
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13 veins | |
n.纹理;矿脉( vein的名词复数 );静脉;叶脉;纹理 | |
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14 perplexed | |
adj.不知所措的 | |
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15 engrave | |
vt.(在...上)雕刻,使铭记,使牢记 | |
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16 attained | |
(通常经过努力)实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 ); 达到; 获得; 达到(某年龄、水平、状况) | |
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17 interferes | |
vi. 妨碍,冲突,干涉 | |
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18 picturesque | |
adj.美丽如画的,(语言)生动的,绘声绘色的 | |
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19 amiable | |
adj.和蔼可亲的,友善的,亲切的 | |
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20 sketchy | |
adj.写生的,写生风格的,概略的 | |
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21 bestowed | |
赠给,授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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22 recondite | |
adj.深奥的,难解的 | |
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