One pleasant day in the latter part of eternity1, as the Shades of all the great writers were reposing2 upon beds of asphodel and moly in the Elysian fields, each happy in hearing from the lips of the others nothing but copious3 quotation4 from his own works (for so Jove had kindly5 bedeviled their ears), there came in among them with triumphant6 mien7 a Shade whom none knew. She (for the newcomer showed such evidences of sex as cropped hair and a manly8 stride) took a seat in their midst, and smiling a superior smile explained:
“After centuries of oppression I have wrested9 my rights from the grasp of the jealous gods. On earth I was the Poetess of Reform, and sang to inattentive ears. Now for an eternity of honour and glory.”
But it was not to be so, and soon she was the unhappiest of mortals, vainly desirous to wander again in gloom by the infernal lakes. For Jove had not bedeviled her ears, and she heard from the lips of each blessed Shade an incessant10 flow of quotation from his own works. Moreover, she was denied the happiness of repeating her poems. She could not recall a line of them, for Jove had decreed that the memory of them abide11 in Pluto’s painful domain12, as a part of the apparatus13.
1 eternity | |
n.不朽,来世;永恒,无穷 | |
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2 reposing | |
v.将(手臂等)靠在某人(某物)上( repose的现在分词 ) | |
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3 copious | |
adj.丰富的,大量的 | |
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4 quotation | |
n.引文,引语,语录;报价,牌价,行情 | |
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5 kindly | |
adj.和蔼的,温和的,爽快的;adv.温和地,亲切地 | |
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6 triumphant | |
adj.胜利的,成功的;狂欢的,喜悦的 | |
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7 mien | |
n.风采;态度 | |
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8 manly | |
adj.有男子气概的;adv.男子般地,果断地 | |
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9 wrested | |
(用力)拧( wrest的过去式和过去分词 ); 费力取得; (从…)攫取; ( 从… ) 强行取去… | |
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10 incessant | |
adj.不停的,连续的 | |
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11 abide | |
vi.遵守;坚持;vt.忍受 | |
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12 domain | |
n.(活动等)领域,范围;领地,势力范围 | |
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13 apparatus | |
n.装置,器械;器具,设备 | |
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