The world was here in full-blown variety; sublime9, languid peers, needy10 placemen, hilarious11 foxhunters, brave tradesmen, aspiring12 mechanics, poor good-for-nothings; sober housewives, whose thoughts were still of their husbands' shirt-fronts and their hasty-puddings, and who never [Page 73]dreamt that they were impugning13 their sobriety by attending a play; and above all, fine ladies armed with their fans and their essences. As a whole, the audience was in a vastly respectful attitude—the gentlemen tapping their snuff-boxes meditatively15, and desisting in a great measure from their loud laughter, their bets, their cursing and swearing; the ladies only whispering behind their handkerchiefs, and moving to cause their diamonds to sparkle, all in acknowledgment of the vicinity of the fair and potent16 Lady Betty.
The play was Venice Preserved, and Lady Betty entered in an early scene. Truly a fine woman—not so lovely as Anne Oldfield, not so superb as Sarah Siddons; but with a frank, fair, womanly presence—bright, genial18, quick, passionate19 through the distress20 of Belvidera, the repudiated21 daughter and beggared wife.
Dressed in the English fashion under the Georges, walked the maiden3 reared in the air blowing off the lagoons22 within the shadow of the grim lion of St. Mark, to such sentimental23 accompaniments as the dipping oar24 and the gondolier, and finished off with the peculiar25 whims26 of Betty Lumley. She wore a fair, flowered brocade, for which William Hogarth might have designed the pattern and afterwards prosecuted27 for payment the unconscionable weaver28; a snow-white lace kerchief was crossed over her bosom29 and reached even to her shapely chin, where it met the little black velvet30 collar with its pearl sprig; her brown hair (which had shown rather thin, rolled up beneath her mob-cap) was shaken out and gathered in rich bows with other pearl sprigs on the top of her head; her cheeks [Page 74]showed slightly hollow, but were so fresh, so modest, so cool in their unpainted paleness, and on the smallest provocation31 acquired the purest sea-shell pink which it would have been a sin and a shame to eclipse with staring paint; the contour, a little sharper than it had once been, was only rendered more delicate by the defect, and so sweet yet—so very sweet; her beautiful arms were bare to the elbow, but shaded with falls of cobweb lace; and in one hand, poised32 daintily between two fingers, she held a natural flower, a bunch of common rural cowslips. At this period of the year such an appendage33 under any other touch would have been formal as the Miss Flamborough's oranges, but it was graceful34 in this woman's slight clasp.
"Enchanting35 creature!" "Fine woman!" "Otway's devoted36 wife to the life!" murmured the company, in a flutter of genuine admiration—forgetting themselves, these Sir Plumes37 and Belindas, once in a way.
"I do hope the poor soul will not be deserted38 and undone—she's so easy to serve—and all Bath, and, for that matter, Lon'on too, as I believe, at her feet!" says Mrs. Price, emphatically, to young Medlicot, whom she is patronizing for one night, because he knows somewhat of plays and players; and who, in spite of his allegiance to swimming, simpering Clarissa, would give a fortune to paint that pose. Belvidera need fear no lolling, no sneering39, no snapping at her little peculiarities40 this night.
As she came on, "kind, good, and tender," telling poor distracted, misguided Jaffier, in his humiliation41, that she joyed more in him than did his mother, Lady Betty darted42 a sharp, searching glance through the boxes. Ah! yonder [Page 75]they were! The little girls the parson's daughters, with their uncle the squire4, fault-finding, but honourable43. Two round-faced, eager, happy girls, intent upon the play, and the great London star, beautiful, bewitching Lady Betty, who is now looking at them—yes, actually staring them full in the face with her deep, melting, blue eyes, while she reassures44 her cowardly husband. How dared uncle Rowland disparage45 her?
There was uncle Rowland, younger than Lady Betty had taken him for—not more than five-and-forty—his coat trimmed with silver lace, a little old-fashioned, and even a little shabby in such company, his Mechlin tie rather out of date and already disordered, and his cocked-hat crushed below his arm. His face is bluff46 and ruddy among his pinched and sallow brethren: that of a big English gentleman, who hunted, shot, or fished, or walked after his whistling ploughman every morning, and on occasions daringly dashed in amongst the poachers by the palings of his park or paddock on summer evenings; yet whose hands were reasonably white and flexible, as if they handled other things than guns and fishing-rods, and whose eyes, at once clear and meditative14, had studied more than the spire47 of his brother's church and the village street, more than quiet country towns, and loud watering-places, and deep metropolises48.
Master Rowland had no family ties beyond the Vicarage; and was in no hurry to marry or settle, as the phrase went; though he was settled long ago, and might have married once a year without any impediment from old madam, as Mistress Betty would have been swift to [Page 76]suppose. He perfectly49 approved of Mr. Spectator's standard of virtue—"Miss Liddy can dance a jig50, raise a pasty, write a good hand, keep an account, give a reasonable answer, and do as she is bid;" but then, it only made him yawn. The man was sinking down into an active-bodied, half-learned, half-facetious bachelor. He was mentally cropping dry and solid food contentedly51, and, at the same time, he was a bit of a humourist. He loved his little Prissy and Fiddy, as dear god-daughters, whom he had spoilt as children, and whom he was determined52 to present with portions when he presided at their wedding dinners; but he had no mind to take any of their fellows, for better for worse, as his companion, till death did them part.
Then Lady Betty stepped upon the stage at Bath, and before a multitude of frivolous53 and simple, or gross and depraved spectators, incapable54 of comprehending her, she played to the manly17, modestly intellectual squire.
Master Rowland woke up, looked his fill, as open-mouthed as the rest, and while he did so, his system received a shock. Lady Betty was revenged to an extent she had not foreseen.
The noble woman went with her whole soul into the sorrows of the dark-eyed, brown-faced sister whom Titian might have painted, and made them accord with her fair English love of justice, her blue-eyed devotion to her husband, her Saxon fearlessness and faith in the hour of danger: only she did look strange and foreign when, in place of lying prostrate55 in submission56 and rising in chaste57, meek58 patience to rear her orphan59 son, she writhed60, like a [Page 77]Constance in agony, and died more speedily from her despair than Jaffier by the dagger61 which on the scaffold freed Pierre. The assembly rose in whole rows, and sobbed62 and swooned. Mrs. Prissy and Mrs. Fiddy cried in delicious abandonment; Master Rowland sat motionless.
"I declare I had forgotten the Justice," reflects Lady Betty, resting behind the scenes. "I do believe I am that poor Belvidera for the last half-hour. I meant to bring the man to tears. His blooming face was as white as a sheet;—poor, dear, good man, I hope he's none the worse of it."
Master Rowland knows full well that she is Mistress Betty Lumley the great London actress, not Belvidera the Venetian senator's daughter; but he will never again turn from the chill of his stone-arched hall, where his fingers have grown benumbed riveting63 a piece of armour64 or copying an epitaph or an epigram, or linger under his mighty65 oak-tree, or advise with his poor tenants66, or worship in church, without the sickening sense of a dull blank in his heart and home.
点击收听单词发音
1 crafty | |
adj.狡猾的,诡诈的 | |
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2 maidens | |
处女( maiden的名词复数 ); 少女; 未婚女子; (板球运动)未得分的一轮投球 | |
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3 maiden | |
n.少女,处女;adj.未婚的,纯洁的,无经验的 | |
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4 squire | |
n.护卫, 侍从, 乡绅 | |
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5 squires | |
n.地主,乡绅( squire的名词复数 ) | |
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6 worthy | |
adj.(of)值得的,配得上的;有价值的 | |
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7 enrapture | |
v.使狂喜,使高兴 | |
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8 revolve | |
vi.(使)旋转;循环出现 | |
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9 sublime | |
adj.崇高的,伟大的;极度的,不顾后果的 | |
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10 needy | |
adj.贫穷的,贫困的,生活艰苦的 | |
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11 hilarious | |
adj.充满笑声的,欢闹的;[反]depressed | |
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12 aspiring | |
adj.有志气的;有抱负的;高耸的v.渴望;追求 | |
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13 impugning | |
v.非难,指谪( impugn的现在分词 );对…有怀疑 | |
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14 meditative | |
adj.沉思的,冥想的 | |
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15 meditatively | |
adv.冥想地 | |
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16 potent | |
adj.强有力的,有权势的;有效力的 | |
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17 manly | |
adj.有男子气概的;adv.男子般地,果断地 | |
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18 genial | |
adj.亲切的,和蔼的,愉快的,脾气好的 | |
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19 passionate | |
adj.热情的,热烈的,激昂的,易动情的,易怒的,性情暴躁的 | |
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20 distress | |
n.苦恼,痛苦,不舒适;不幸;vt.使悲痛 | |
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21 repudiated | |
v.(正式地)否认( repudiate的过去式和过去分词 );拒绝接受;拒绝与…往来;拒不履行(法律义务) | |
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22 lagoons | |
n.污水池( lagoon的名词复数 );潟湖;(大湖或江河附近的)小而浅的淡水湖;温泉形成的池塘 | |
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23 sentimental | |
adj.多愁善感的,感伤的 | |
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24 oar | |
n.桨,橹,划手;v.划行 | |
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25 peculiar | |
adj.古怪的,异常的;特殊的,特有的 | |
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26 WHIMS | |
虚妄,禅病 | |
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27 prosecuted | |
a.被起诉的 | |
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28 weaver | |
n.织布工;编织者 | |
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29 bosom | |
n.胸,胸部;胸怀;内心;adj.亲密的 | |
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30 velvet | |
n.丝绒,天鹅绒;adj.丝绒制的,柔软的 | |
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31 provocation | |
n.激怒,刺激,挑拨,挑衅的事物,激怒的原因 | |
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32 poised | |
a.摆好姿势不动的 | |
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33 appendage | |
n.附加物 | |
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34 graceful | |
adj.优美的,优雅的;得体的 | |
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35 enchanting | |
a.讨人喜欢的 | |
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36 devoted | |
adj.忠诚的,忠实的,热心的,献身于...的 | |
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37 plumes | |
羽毛( plume的名词复数 ); 羽毛饰; 羽毛状物; 升上空中的羽状物 | |
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38 deserted | |
adj.荒芜的,荒废的,无人的,被遗弃的 | |
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39 sneering | |
嘲笑的,轻蔑的 | |
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40 peculiarities | |
n. 特质, 特性, 怪癖, 古怪 | |
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41 humiliation | |
n.羞辱 | |
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42 darted | |
v.投掷,投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 );向前冲,飞奔 | |
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43 honourable | |
adj.可敬的;荣誉的,光荣的 | |
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44 reassures | |
v.消除恐惧或疑虑,恢复信心( reassure的第三人称单数 ) | |
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45 disparage | |
v.贬抑,轻蔑 | |
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46 bluff | |
v.虚张声势,用假象骗人;n.虚张声势,欺骗 | |
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47 spire | |
n.(教堂)尖顶,尖塔,高点 | |
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48 metropolises | |
n.一国的主要城市(不一定是首都)( metropolis的名词复数 );中心;大都会;大城市 | |
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49 perfectly | |
adv.完美地,无可非议地,彻底地 | |
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50 jig | |
n.快步舞(曲);v.上下晃动;用夹具辅助加工;蹦蹦跳跳 | |
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51 contentedly | |
adv.心满意足地 | |
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52 determined | |
adj.坚定的;有决心的 | |
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53 frivolous | |
adj.轻薄的;轻率的 | |
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54 incapable | |
adj.无能力的,不能做某事的 | |
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55 prostrate | |
v.拜倒,平卧,衰竭;adj.拜倒的,平卧的,衰竭的 | |
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56 submission | |
n.服从,投降;温顺,谦虚;提出 | |
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57 chaste | |
adj.贞洁的;有道德的;善良的;简朴的 | |
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58 meek | |
adj.温顺的,逆来顺受的 | |
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59 orphan | |
n.孤儿;adj.无父母的 | |
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60 writhed | |
(因极度痛苦而)扭动或翻滚( writhe的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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61 dagger | |
n.匕首,短剑,剑号 | |
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62 sobbed | |
哭泣,啜泣( sob的过去式和过去分词 ); 哭诉,呜咽地说 | |
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63 riveting | |
adj.动听的,令人着迷的,完全吸引某人注意力的;n.铆接(法) | |
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64 armour | |
(=armor)n.盔甲;装甲部队 | |
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65 mighty | |
adj.强有力的;巨大的 | |
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66 tenants | |
n.房客( tenant的名词复数 );佃户;占用者;占有者 | |
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