This is the principal distraction1 of watering places. People look forward to the dinner hour in order to inspect each day's new arrivals, to find out who they are, what they do, and what they think. We always have a vague desire to meet pleasant people, to make agreeable acquaintances, perhaps to meet with a love adventure. In this life of elbowings, unknown strangers assume an extreme importance. Curiosity is aroused, sympathy is ready to exhibit itself, and sociability2 is the order of the day.
We cherish antipathies3 for a week and friendships for a month; we see people with different eyes, when we view them through the medium of acquaintanceship at watering places. We discover in men suddenly, after an hour's chat, in the evening after dinner, under the trees in the park where the healing spring bubbles up, a high intelligence and astonishing merits, and a month afterward4 we have completely forgotten these new friends, who were so fascinating when we first met them.
Permanent and serious ties are also formed here sooner than anywhere else. People see each other every day; they become acquainted very quickly, and their affection is tinged5 with the sweetness and unrestraint of long-standing6 intimacies7. We cherish in after years the dear and tender memories of those first hours of friendship, the memory of those first conversations in which a soul was unveiled, of those first glances which interrogate8 and respond to questions and secret thoughts which the mouth has not as yet uttered, the memory of that first cordial confidence, the memory of that delightful9 sensation of opening our hearts to those who seem to open theirs to us in return.
And the melancholy10 of watering places, the monotony of days that are all alike, proves hourly an incentive11 to this heart expansion.
Well, this evening, as on every other evening, we awaited the appearance of strange faces.
Only two appeared, but they were very remarkable12, a man and a woman —father and daughter. They immediately reminded me of some of Edgar Poe's characters; and yet there was about them a charm, the charm associated with misfortune. I looked upon them as the victims of fate. The man was very tall and thin, rather stooped, with perfectly13 white hair, too white for his comparatively youthful physiognomy; and there was in his bearing and in his person that austerity peculiar14 to Protestants. The daughter, who was probably twenty-four or twenty-five, was small in stature15, and was also very thin, very pale, and she had the air of one who was worn out with utter lassitude. We meet people like this from time to time, who seem too weak for the tasks and the needs of daily life, too weak to move about, to walk, to do all that we do every day. She was rather pretty; with a transparent16, spiritual beauty. And she ate with extreme slowness, as if she were almost incapable17 of moving her arms.
It must have been she, assuredly, who had come to take the waters.
They sat facing me, on the opposite side of the table; and I at once noticed that the father had a very singular, nervous twitching18.
Every time he wanted to reach an object, his hand described a sort of zigzag19 before it succeeded in reaching what it was in search of, and after a little while this movement annoyed me so that I turned aside my head in order not to see it.
I noticed, too, that the young girl, during meals, wore a glove on her left hand.
After dinner I went for a stroll in the park of the bathing establishment. This led toward the little Auvergnese station of Chatel-Guyon, hidden in a gorge20 at the foot of the high mountain, from which flowed so many boiling springs, arising from the deep bed of extinct volcanoes. Over yonder, above our heads, the domes21 of extinct craters22 lifted their ragged23 peaks above the rest in the long mountain chain. For Chatel-Guyon is situated24 at the entrance to the land of mountain domes.
Beyond it stretches out the region of peaks, and, farther on again the region of precipitous summits.
The “Puy de Dome” is the highest of the domes, the Peak of Sancy is the loftiest of the peaks, and Cantal is the most precipitous of these mountain heights.
It was a very warm evening, and I was walking up and down a shady path, listening to the opening, strains of the Casino band, which was playing on an elevation25 overlooking the park.
And I saw the father and the daughter advancing slowly in my direction. I bowed as one bows to one's hotel companions at a watering place; and the man, coming to a sudden halt, said to me:
“Could you not, monsieur, tell us of a nice walk to take, short, pretty, and not steep; and pardon my troubling you?”
I offered to show them the way toward the valley through which the little river flowed, a deep valley forming a gorge between two tall, craggy, wooded slopes.
They gladly accepted my offer.
“Oh,” he said, “my daughter has a strange malady27, the seat of which is unknown. She suffers from incomprehensible nervous attacks. At one time the doctors think she has an attack of heart disease, at another time they imagine it is some affection of the liver, and at another they declare it to be a disease of the spine28. To-day this protean29 malady, that assumes a thousand forms and a thousand modes of attack, is attributed to the stomach, which is the great caldron and regulator of the body. This is why we have come here. For my part, I am rather inclined to think it is the nerves. In any case it is very sad.”
Immediately the remembrance of the violent spasmodic movement of his hand came back to my mind, and I asked him:
He replied calmly:
“Mine? Oh, no-my nerves have always been very steady.”
Then, suddenly, after a pause, he went on:
“Ah! You were alluding32 to the jerking movement of my hand every time I try to reach for anything? This arises from a terrible experience which I had. Just imagine, this daughter of mine was actually buried alive!”
I could only utter, “Ah!” so great were my astonishment33 and emotion.
He continued:
“Here is the story. It is simple. Juliette had been subject for some time to serious attacks of the heart. We believed that she had disease of that organ, and were prepared for the worst.
“One day she was carried into the house cold, lifeless, dead. She had fallen down unconscious in the garden. The doctor certified34 that life was extinct. I watched by her side for a day and two nights. I laid her with my own hands in the coffin35, which I accompanied to the cemetery36, where she was deposited in the family vault37. It is situated in the very heart of Lorraine.
“I wished to have her interred38 with her jewels, bracelets39, necklaces, rings, all presents which she had received from me, and wearing her first ball dress.
“You may easily imagine my state of mind when I re-entered our home. She was the only one I had, for my wife had been dead for many years. I found my way to my own apartment in a half-distracted condition, utterly40 exhausted41, and sank into my easy-chair, without the capacity to think or the strength to move. I was nothing better now than a suffering, vibrating machine, a human being who had, as it were, been flayed42 alive; my soul was like an open wound.
“My old valet, Prosper43, who had assisted me in placing Juliette in her coffin, and aided me in preparing her for her last sleep, entered the room noiselessly, and asked:
“'Does monsieur want anything?'
“I merely shook my head in reply.
“'Monsieur is wrong,' he urged. 'He will injure his health. Would monsieur like me to put him to bed?'
“I answered: 'No, let me alone!'
“And he left the room.
“I know not how many hours slipped away. Oh, what a night, what a night! It was cold. My fire had died out in the huge grate; and the wind, the winter wind, an icy wind, a winter hurricane, blew with a regular, sinister44 noise against the windows.
“How many hours slipped away? There I was without sleeping, powerless, crushed, my eyes wide open, my legs stretched out, my body limp, inanimate, and my mind torpid45 with despair. Suddenly the great doorbell, the great bell of the vestibule, rang out.
“I started so that my chair cracked under me. The solemn, ponderous46 sound vibrated through the empty country house as through a vault. I turned round to see what the hour was by the clock. It was just two in the morning. Who could be coming at such an hour?
“And, abruptly47, the bell again rang twice. The servants, without doubt, were afraid to get up. I took a wax candle and descended48 the stairs. I was on the point of asking: 'Who is there?'
“Then I felt ashamed of my weakness, and I slowly drew back the heavy bolts. My heart was throbbing49 wildly. I was frightened. I opened the door brusquely, and in the darkness I distinguished50 a white figure, standing erect51, something that resembled an apparition52.
“'Who-who-who are you?'
“A voice replied:
“'It is I, father.'
“It was my daughter.
“I really thought I must be mad, and I retreated backward before this advancing spectre. I kept moving away, making a sign with my hand,' as if to drive the phantom56 away, that gesture which you have noticed—that gesture which has remained with me ever since.
“'Do not be afraid, papa,' said the apparition. 'I was not dead. Somebody tried to steal my rings and cut one of my fingers; the blood began to flow, and that restored me to life.'
“And, in fact, I could see that her hand was covered with blood.
“Then, when I had somewhat collected my thoughts, though I was still so bewildered that I scarcely realized the awesome59 happiness that had befallen me, I made her go up to my room and sit dawn in my easy-chair; then I rang excitedly for Prosper to get him to rekindle60 the fire and to bring some wine, and to summon assistance.
“The man entered, stared at my daughter, opened his mouth with a gasp61 of alarm and stupefaction, and then fell back dead.
“It was he who had opened the vault, who had mutilated and then abandoned my daughter; for he could not efface62 the traces of the theft. He had not even taken the trouble to put back the coffin into its place, feeling sure, besides, that he would not be suspected by me, as I trusted him absolutely.
“You see, monsieur, that we are very unfortunate people.”
He was silent.
The night had fallen, casting its shadows over the desolate63, mournful vale, and a sort of mysterious fear possessed64 me at finding myself by the side of those strange beings, of this young girl who had come back from the tomb, and this father with his uncanny spasm30.
I found it impossible to make any comment on this dreadful story. I only murmured:
“What a horrible thing!”
Then, after a minute's silence, I added:
“Let us go indoors. I think it is growing cool.”
And we made our way back to the hotel.
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1
distraction
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| n.精神涣散，精神不集中，消遣，娱乐 | |
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2
sociability
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| n.好交际，社交性，善于交际 | |
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3
antipathies
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| 反感( antipathy的名词复数 )； 引起反感的事物； 憎恶的对象； （在本性、倾向等方面的）不相容 | |
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afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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tinged
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| v.（使）发丁丁声( ting的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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6
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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7
intimacies
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| 亲密( intimacy的名词复数 )； 密切； 亲昵的言行； 性行为 | |
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8
interrogate
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| vt.讯问，审问，盘问 | |
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9
delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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10
melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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11
incentive
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| n.刺激；动力；鼓励；诱因；动机 | |
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12
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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13
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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14
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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15
stature
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| n.（高度）水平，（高度）境界，身高，身材 | |
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16
transparent
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| adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的 | |
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17
incapable
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| adj.无能力的，不能做某事的 | |
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18
twitching
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| n.颤搐 | |
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19
zigzag
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| n.曲折，之字形；adj.曲折的，锯齿形的；adv.曲折地，成锯齿形地；vt.使曲折；vi.曲折前行 | |
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20
gorge
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| n.咽喉，胃，暴食，山峡；v.塞饱，狼吞虎咽地吃 | |
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21
domes
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| n.圆屋顶( dome的名词复数 )；像圆屋顶一样的东西；圆顶体育场 | |
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22
craters
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| n.火山口( crater的名词复数 )；弹坑等 | |
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23
ragged
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| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
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24
situated
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| adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的 | |
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25
elevation
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| n.高度；海拔；高地；上升；提高 | |
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26
virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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27
malady
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| n.病，疾病(通常做比喻) | |
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28
spine
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| n.脊柱，脊椎；(动植物的)刺；书脊 | |
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29
protean
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| adj.反复无常的；变化自如的 | |
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30
spasm
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| n.痉挛，抽搐；一阵发作 | |
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31
affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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32
alluding
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| 提及，暗指( allude的现在分词 ) | |
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33
astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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34
certified
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| a.经证明合格的；具有证明文件的 | |
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35
coffin
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| n.棺材，灵柩 | |
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36
cemetery
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| n.坟墓，墓地，坟场 | |
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37
vault
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| n.拱形圆顶，地窖，地下室 | |
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38
interred
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| v.埋，葬( inter的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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39
bracelets
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| n.手镯，臂镯( bracelet的名词复数 ) | |
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40
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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41
exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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42
flayed
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| v.痛打( flay的过去式和过去分词 )；把…打得皮开肉绽；剥（通常指动物）的皮；严厉批评 | |
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43
prosper
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| v.成功，兴隆，昌盛；使成功，使昌隆，繁荣 | |
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44
sinister
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| adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的 | |
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45
torpid
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| adj.麻痹的，麻木的，迟钝的 | |
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46
ponderous
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| adj.沉重的，笨重的，(文章)冗长的 | |
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47
abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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48
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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49
throbbing
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| a. 跳动的,悸动的 | |
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50
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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51
erect
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| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
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52
apparition
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| n.幽灵，神奇的现象 | |
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53
recoiled
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| v.畏缩( recoil的过去式和过去分词 )；退缩；报应；返回 | |
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54
petrified
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| adj.惊呆的；目瞪口呆的v.使吓呆，使惊呆；变僵硬；使石化(petrify的过去式和过去分词) | |
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55
faltering
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| 犹豫的，支吾的，蹒跚的 | |
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56
phantom
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| n.幻影，虚位，幽灵；adj.错觉的，幻影的，幽灵的 | |
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57
sobs
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| 啜泣（声），呜咽（声）( sob的名词复数 ) | |
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58
rattling
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| adj. 格格作响的, 活泼的, 很好的 adv. 极其, 很, 非常 动词rattle的现在分词 | |
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59
awesome
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| adj.令人惊叹的，难得吓人的，很好的 | |
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60
rekindle
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| v.使再振作；再点火 | |
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61
gasp
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| n.喘息，气喘；v.喘息；气吁吁他说 | |
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62
efface
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| v.擦掉，抹去 | |
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63
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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64
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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