Chapter VIII
The Calton Hill
The east of new Edinburgh is guarded by a craggy hill, of no great elevation1, which the town embraces. The old London road runs on one side of it; while the New Approach, leaving it on the other hand, completes the circuit. You mount by stairs in a cutting of the rock to find yourself in a field of monuments. Dugald Stewart has the honours of situation and architecture; Burns is memorialised lower down upon a spur; Lord Nelson, as befits a sailor, gives his name to the top-gallant of the Calton Hill. This latter erection has been differently and yet, in both cases, aptly compared to a telescope and a butter-churn; comparisons apart, it ranks among the vilest2 of men’s handiworks. But the chief feature is an unfinished range of columns, ‘the Modern Ruin’ as it has been called, an imposing3 object from far and near, and giving Edinburgh, even from the sea, that false air; of a Modern Athens which has earned for her so many slighting speeches. It was meant to be a National Monument; and its present state is a very suitable monument to certain national characteristics. The old Observatory4 — a quaint5 brown building on the edge of the steep — and the new Observatory — a classical edifice6 with a dome7 — occupy the central portion of the summit. All these are scattered8 on a green turf, browsed9 over by some sheep.
The scene suggests reflections on fame and on man’s injustice10 to the dead. You see Dugald Stewart rather more handsomely commemorated11 than Burns. Immediately below, in the Canongate churchyard, lies Robert Fergusson, Burns’s master in his art, who died insane while yet a stripling; and if Dugald Stewart has been somewhat too boisterously12 acclaimed13, the Edinburgh poet, on the other hand, is most unrighteously forgotten. The votaries14 of Burns, a crew too common in all ranks in Scotland and more remarkable15 for number than discretion16, eagerly suppress all mention of the lad who handed to him the poetic17 impulse and, up to the time when he grew famous, continued to influence him in his manner and the choice of subjects. Burns himself not only acknowledged his debt in a fragment of autobiography18, but erected19 a tomb over the grave in Canongate churchyard. This was worthy20 of an artist, but it was done in vain; and although I think I have read nearly all the biographies of Burns, I cannot remember one in which the modesty21 of nature was not violated, or where Fergusson was not sacrificed to the credit of his follower’s originality22. There is a kind of gaping23 admiration24 that would fain roll Shakespeare and Bacon into one, to have a bigger thing to gape25 at; and a class of men who cannot edit one author without disparaging26 all others. They are indeed mistaken if they think to please the great originals; and whoever puts Fergusson right with fame, cannot do better than dedicate his labours to the memory of Burns, who will be the best delighted of the dead.
Of all places for a view, this Calton Hill is perhaps the best; since you can see the Castle, which you lose from the Castle, and Arthur’s Seat, which you cannot see from Arthur’s Seat. It is the place to stroll on one of those days of sunshine and east wind which are so common in our more than temperate27 summer. The breeze comes off the sea, with a little of the freshness, and that touch of chill, peculiar28 to the quarter, which is delightful29 to certain very ruddy organizations and greatly the reverse to the majority of mankind. It brings with it a faint, floating haze30, a cunning decolourizer, although not thick enough to obscure outlines near at hand. But the haze lies more thickly to windward at the far end of Musselburgh Bay; and over the Links of Aberlady and Berwick Law and the hump of the Bass31 Rock it assumes the aspect of a bank of thin sea fog.
Immediately underneath32 upon the south, you command the yards of the High School, and the towers and courts of the new Jail — a large place, castellated to the extent of folly33, standing34 by itself on the edge of a steep cliff, and often joyfully35 hailed by tourists as the Castle. In the one, you may perhaps see female prisoners taking exercise like a string of nuns36; in the other, schoolboys running at play and their shadows keeping step with them. From the bottom of the valley, a gigantic chimney rises almost to the level of the eye, a taller and a shapelier edifice than Nelson’s Monument. Look a little farther, and there is Holyrood Palace, with its Gothic frontal and ruined abbey, and the red sentry37 pacing smartly too and fro before the door like a mechanical figure in a panorama38. By way of an outpost, you can single out the little peak-roofed lodge39, over which Rizzio’s murderers made their escape and where Queen Mary herself, according to gossip, bathed in white wine to entertain her loveliness. Behind and overhead, lie the Queen’s Park, from Muschat’s Cairn to Dumbiedykes, St. Margaret’s Loch, and the long wall of Salisbury Crags: and thence, by knoll40 and rocky bulwark41 and precipitous slope, the eye rises to the top of Arthur’s Seat, a hill for magnitude, a mountain in virtue42 of its bold design. This upon your left. Upon the right, the roofs and spires43 of the Old Town climb one above another to where the citadel44 prints its broad bulk and jagged crown of bastions on the western sky. — Perhaps it is now one in the afternoon; and at the same instant of time, a ball rises to the summit of Nelson’s flagstaff close at hand, and, far away, a puff45 of smoke followed by a report bursts from the half-moon battery at the Castle. This is the time-gun by which people set their watches, as far as the sea coast or in hill farms upon the Pentlands. — To complete the view, the eye enfilades Princes Street, black with traffic, and has a broad look over the valley between the Old Town and the New: here, full of railway trains and stepped over by the high North Bridge upon its many columns, and there, green with trees and gardens.
On the north, the Calton Hill is neither so abrupt47 in itself nor has it so exceptional an outlook; and yet even here it commands a striking prospect48. A gully separates it from the New Town. This is Greenside, where witches were burned and tournaments held in former days. Down that almost precipitous bank, Bothwell launched his horse, and so first, as they say, attracted the bright eyes of Mary. It is now tesselated with sheets and blankets out to dry, and the sound of people beating carpets is rarely absent. Beyond all this, the suburbs run out to Leith; Leith camps on the seaside with her forest of masts; Leith roads are full of ships at anchor; the sun picks out the white pharos upon Inchkeith Island; the Firth extends on either hand from the Ferry to the May; the towns of Fifeshire sit, each in its bank of blowing smoke, along the opposite coast; and the hills enclose the view, except to the farthest east, where the haze of the horizon rests upon the open sea. There lies the road to Norway: a dear road for Sir Patrick Spens and his Scots Lords; and yonder smoke on the hither side of Largo50 Law is Aberdour, from whence they sailed to seek a queen for Scotland.
‘O lang, lang, may the ladies sit, Wi’ their fans into their hand, Or ere they see Sir Patrick Spens Come sailing to the land!’
The sight of the sea, even from a city, will bring thoughts of storm and sea disaster. The sailors’ wives of Leith and the fisherwomen of Cockenzie, not sitting languorously51 with fans, but crowding to the tail of the harbour with a shawl about their ears, may still look vainly for brave Scotsmen who will return no more, or boats that have gone on their last fishing. Since Sir Patrick sailed from Aberdour, what a multitude have gone down in the North Sea! Yonder is Auldhame, where the London smack52 went ashore53 and wreckers cut the rings from ladies’ fingers; and a few miles round Fife Ness is the fatal Inchcape, now a star of guidance; and the lee shore to the east of the Inchcape, is that Forfarshire coast where Mucklebackit sorrowed for his son.
These are the main features of the scene roughly sketched54. How they are all tilted55 by the inclination56 of the ground, how each stands out in delicate relief against the rest, what manifold detail, and play of sun and shadow, animate57 and accentuate58 the picture, is a matter for a person on the spot, and turning swiftly on his heels, to grasp and bind59 together in one comprehensive look. It is the character of such a prospect, to be full of change and of things moving. The multiplicity embarrasses the eye; and the mind, among so much, suffers itself to grow absorbed with single points. You remark a tree in a hedgerow, or follow a cart along a country road. You turn to the city, and see children, dwarfed60 by distance into pigmies, at play about suburban61 doorsteps; you have a glimpse upon a thoroughfare where people are densely62 moving; you note ridge46 after ridge of chimney-stacks running downhill one behind another, and church spires rising bravely from the sea of roofs. At one of the innumerable windows, you watch a figure moving; on one of the multitude of roofs, you watch clambering chimney-sweeps. The wind takes a run and scatters63 the smoke; bells are heard, far and near, faint and loud, to tell the hour; or perhaps a bird goes dipping evenly over the housetops, like a gull49 across the waves. And here you are in the meantime, on this pastoral hillside, among nibbling64 sheep and looked upon by monumental buildings.
Return thither65 on some clear, dark, moonless night, with a ring of frost in the air, and only a star or two set sparsedly in the vault66 of heaven; and you will find a sight as stimulating67 as the hoariest summit of the Alps. The solitude68 seems perfect; the patient astronomer69, flat on his back under the Observatory dome and spying heaven’s secrets, is your only neighbour; and yet from all round you there come up the dull hum of the city, the tramp of countless70 people marching out of time, the rattle71 of carriages and the continuous keen jingle72 of the tramway bells. An hour or so before, the gas was turned on; lamplighters scoured73 the city; in every house, from kitchen to attic74, the windows kindled75 and gleamed forth76 into the dusk. And so now, although the town lies blue and darkling on her hills, innumerable spots of the bright element shine far and near along the pavements and upon the high facades77. Moving lights of the railway pass and repass below the stationary78 lights upon the bridge. Lights burn in the jail. Lights burn high up in the tall Lands and on the Castle turrets79, they burn low down in Greenside or along the Park. They run out one beyond the other into the dark country. They walk in a procession down to Leith, and shine singly far along Leith Pier80. Thus, the plan of the city and her suburbs is mapped out upon the ground of blackness, as when a child pricks81 a drawing full of pinholes and exposes it before a candle; not the darkest night of winter can conceal82 her high station and fanciful design; every evening in the year she proceeds to illuminate83 herself in honour of her own beauty; and as if to complete the scheme — or rather as if some prodigal84 Pharaoh were beginning to extend to the adjacent sea and country — half-way over to Fife, there is an outpost of light upon Inchkeith, and far to seaward, yet another on the May.
And while you are looking, across upon the Castle Hill, the drums and bugles85 begin to recall the scattered garrison86; the air thrills with the sound; the bugles sing aloud; and the last rising flourish mounts and melts into the darkness like a star: a martial87 swan-song, fitly rounding in the labours of the day.
收听单词发音 |
1
elevation
|
|
| n.高度；海拔；高地；上升；提高 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
vilest
|
|
| adj.卑鄙的( vile的最高级 )；可耻的；极坏的；非常讨厌的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
|
3
imposing
|
|
| adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
observatory
|
|
| n.天文台，气象台，瞭望台，观测台 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
quaint
|
|
| adj.古雅的，离奇有趣的，奇怪的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
edifice
|
|
| n.宏伟的建筑物(如宫殿，教室) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
dome
|
|
| n.圆屋顶，拱顶 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
scattered
|
|
| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
browsed
|
|
| v.吃草( browse的过去式和过去分词 )；随意翻阅；（在商店里）随便看看；（在计算机上）浏览信息 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
injustice
|
|
| n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
commemorated
|
|
| v.纪念，庆祝( commemorate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
boisterously
|
|
| adv.喧闹地，吵闹地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
acclaimed
|
|
| adj.受人欢迎的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
votaries
|
|
| n.信徒( votary的名词复数 )；追随者；（天主教）修士；修女 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
|
15
remarkable
|
|
| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
discretion
|
|
| n.谨慎；随意处理 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
poetic
|
|
| adj.富有诗意的，有诗人气质的，善于抒情的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
autobiography
|
|
| n.自传 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
ERECTED
|
|
| adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
worthy
|
|
| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
modesty
|
|
| n.谦逊，虚心，端庄，稳重，羞怯，朴素 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
originality
|
|
| n.创造力，独创性；新颖 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
gaping
|
|
| adj.口的；张口的；敞口的；多洞穴的v.目瞪口呆地凝视( gape的现在分词 )；张开，张大 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
admiration
|
|
| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
gape
|
|
| v.张口，打呵欠，目瞪口呆地凝视 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
disparaging
|
|
| adj.轻蔑的，毁谤的v.轻视( disparage的现在分词 )；贬低；批评；非难 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
temperate
|
|
| adj.温和的，温带的，自我克制的，不过分的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
peculiar
|
|
| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
delightful
|
|
| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
haze
|
|
| n.霾，烟雾；懵懂，迷糊；vi.(over)变模糊 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
bass
|
|
| n.男低音(歌手)；低音乐器；低音大提琴 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
underneath
|
|
| adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
folly
|
|
| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
standing
|
|
| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
joyfully
|
|
| adv. 喜悦地, 高兴地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
nuns
|
|
| n.（通常指基督教的）修女， （佛教的）尼姑( nun的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
sentry
|
|
| n.哨兵，警卫 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
panorama
|
|
| n.全景，全景画，全景摄影，全景照片[装置] | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
lodge
|
|
| v.临时住宿，寄宿，寄存，容纳；n.传达室，小旅馆 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
knoll
|
|
| n.小山，小丘 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
bulwark
|
|
| n.堡垒，保障，防御 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
virtue
|
|
| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
spires
|
|
| n.（教堂的） 塔尖，尖顶( spire的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
citadel
|
|
| n.城堡；堡垒；避难所 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
puff
|
|
| n.一口(气)；一阵(风)；v.喷气，喘气 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
ridge
|
|
| n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
abrupt
|
|
| adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
prospect
|
|
| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
gull
|
|
| n.鸥；受骗的人；v.欺诈 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
largo
|
|
| n.广板乐章；adj.缓慢的，宽广的；adv.缓慢地，宽广地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
languorously
|
|
| adv.疲倦地，郁闷地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
smack
|
|
| vt.拍，打，掴；咂嘴；vi.含有…意味；n.拍 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
ashore
|
|
| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
sketched
|
|
| v.草拟（sketch的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
tilted
|
|
| v. 倾斜的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
inclination
|
|
| n.倾斜；点头；弯腰；斜坡；倾度；倾向；爱好 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
animate
|
|
| v.赋于生命，鼓励；adj.有生命的，有生气的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
58
accentuate
|
|
| v.着重，强调 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
59
bind
|
|
| vt.捆，包扎；装订；约束；使凝固；vi.变硬 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
60
dwarfed
|
|
| vt.（使）显得矮小（dwarf的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
61
suburban
|
|
| adj.城郊的，在郊区的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
62
densely
|
|
| ad.密集地；浓厚地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
63
scatters
|
|
| v.（使）散开， （使）分散，驱散( scatter的第三人称单数 )；撒 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
64
nibbling
|
|
| v.啃，一点一点地咬（吃）( nibble的现在分词 )；啃出（洞），一点一点咬出（洞）；慢慢减少；小口咬 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
65
thither
|
|
| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
66
vault
|
|
| n.拱形圆顶，地窖，地下室 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
67
stimulating
|
|
| adj.有启发性的，能激发人思考的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
68
solitude
|
|
| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
69
astronomer
|
|
| n.天文学家 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
70
countless
|
|
| adj.无数的，多得不计其数的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
71
rattle
|
|
| v.飞奔，碰响；激怒；n.碰撞声；拨浪鼓 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
72
jingle
|
|
| n.叮当声，韵律简单的诗句；v.使叮当作响，叮当响，押韵 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
73
scoured
|
|
| 走遍（某地）搜寻（人或物）( scour的过去式和过去分词 )； （用力）刷； 擦净； 擦亮 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
74
attic
|
|
| n.顶楼，屋顶室 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
75
kindled
|
|
| （使某物）燃烧，着火( kindle的过去式和过去分词 )； 激起（感情等）； 发亮，放光 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
76
forth
|
|
| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
77
facades
|
|
| n.（房屋的）正面( facade的名词复数 )；假象，外观 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
78
stationary
|
|
| adj.固定的，静止不动的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
79
turrets
|
|
| （六角）转台( turret的名词复数 )； （战舰和坦克等上的）转动炮塔； （摄影机等上的）镜头转台； （旧时攻城用的）塔车 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
80
pier
|
|
| n.码头；桥墩，桥柱；[建]窗间壁，支柱 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
81
pricks
|
|
| 刺痛( prick的名词复数 )； 刺孔； 刺痕； 植物的刺 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
82
conceal
|
|
| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
83
illuminate
|
|
| vt.照亮，照明；用灯光装饰；说明，阐释 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
84
prodigal
|
|
| adj.浪费的，挥霍的，放荡的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
85
bugles
|
|
| 妙脆角，一种类似薯片但做成尖角或喇叭状的零食； 号角( bugle的名词复数 )； 喇叭； 匍匐筋骨草； （装饰女服用的）柱状玻璃（或塑料）小珠 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
86
garrison
|
|
| n.卫戍部队；驻地，卫戍区；vt.派(兵)驻防 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
87
martial
|
|
| adj.战争的，军事的，尚武的，威武的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |