THE DRUIDS.

The Scene is in Tartarus. The Furies Entwined with Serpents, and Whips in Their Hands.

Come along, Barbaquincorix, Celtic druid, and thou, detestable Grecian hierophant, Calchas, the moment of your just punishment has returned again; the hour of vengeance¹ has arrived — the bell has sounded!

the druid and calchas.

Oh, heavens! my head, my sides, my eyes, my ears! pardon, ladies, pardon!

calchas.

Mercy! two vipers² are penetrating³ my eye-balls!

druid.

A serpent is devouring⁴ my entrails!

calchas.

Alas⁵, how am I mangled⁶! And must my eyes be every day restored, to be torn again from my head?

druid.

Must my skin be renewed only to dangle⁷ in ribbons from my lacerated body?

tisiphone.

It will teach you how to palm off a miserable⁸ parasitical⁹ plant for a universal remedy another time. Will you still sacrifice boys and girls to your god Theutates, priest? still burn them in osier baskets to the sound of a drum?

druid.

Never, never; dear lady, a little mercy, I beseech¹⁰ you.

tisiphone.

You never had any yourself. Seize him, serpents, and now another lash¹¹!

alecto.

Let them curry¹² well this Calchas, who advances towards us, “With cruel eye, dark mien¹³, and bristled¹⁴ hair.”

calchas.

My hair is torn away; I am scorched¹⁵, flayed¹⁶, impaled¹⁷!

alecto.

Wretch¹⁸! Will you again cut the throat of a beautiful girl, in order to obtain a favorable gale¹⁹, instead of uniting her to a good husband?

calchas and the druid.

Oh, what torments²⁰! and yet we die not.

tisiphone.

Hey-dey! God forgive me, but I hear music! It is Orpheus; why our serpents, sister, have become as gentle as lambs!

calchas.

My sufferings cease; how very strange!

the druid.

I am altogether recovered. Oh, the power of good music! And who are you, divine man, who thus cures wounds, and rejoices hell itself?

orpheus.

My friends, I am a priest like yourselves, but I never deceived anyone, nor cut the throat of either boy or girl in my life. When on earth, instead of making the gods hated, I rendered them beloved, and softened²¹ the manners of the men whom you made ferocious²². I shall exert myself in the like manner in hell. I met, just now, two barbarous priests whom they were scourging²³ beyond measure; one of them formerly²⁴ hewed²⁵ a king in pieces before the Lord, and the other cut the throat of his queen and sovereign at the horse gate. I have terminated their punishment, and, having played to them a tune²⁶ on the violin, they have promised me that when they return into the world they will live like honest men.

druid and calchas.

We promise the same thing, on the word of a priest.

orpheus.

Yes, but “Passato il pericolo, gabbato il santo.”

[The scene closes with a figure Dance, performed by Orpheus, the Condemned²⁷, and the Furies, to light and agreeable music.]

1 vengeance   

n.报复，报仇，复仇

参考例句：

• He swore vengeance against the men who murdered his father.他发誓要向那些杀害他父亲的人报仇。
• For years he brooded vengeance.多年来他一直在盘算报仇。

2 vipers   

n.蝰蛇( viper的名词复数 )；毒蛇；阴险恶毒的人；奸诈者

参考例句：

• The fangs of pit vipers are long, hollow tubes. 颊窝毒蛇的毒牙是长的空心管子。 来自辞典例句
• Vipers are distinguishable from other snakes by their markings. 根据蛇身上的斑纹就能把┹蛇同其他蛇类区别开来。 来自辞典例句

3 penetrating   

adj.（声音）响亮的，尖锐的adj.（气味）刺激的adj.（思想）敏锐的，有洞察力的

参考例句：

• He had an extraordinarily penetrating gaze. 他的目光有股异乎寻常的洞察力。
• He examined the man with a penetrating gaze. 他以锐利的目光仔细观察了那个人。

4 devouring   

吞没( devour的现在分词 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光

参考例句：

• The hungry boy was devouring his dinner. 那饥饿的孩子狼吞虎咽地吃饭。
• He is devouring novel after novel. 他一味贪看小说。

5 alas   

int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等)

参考例句：

• Alas!The window is broken!哎呀！窗子破了！
• Alas,the truth is less romantic.然而，真理很少带有浪漫色彩。

6 mangled   

vt.乱砍（mangle的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• His hand was mangled in the machine. 他的手卷到机器里轧烂了。
• He was off work because he'd mangled his hand in a machine. 他没上班，因为他的手给机器严重压伤了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 dangle   

v.(使)悬荡，(使)悬垂

参考例句：

• At Christmas,we dangle colored lights around the room.圣诞节时，我们在房间里挂上彩灯。
• He sits on the edge of the table and dangles his legs.他坐在桌子边上，摆动著双腿。

8 miserable   

adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的

参考例句：

• It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。
• Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。

9 parasitical   

adj. 寄生的(符加的)

参考例句：

• It is related to her prior infestation by the dominant parasitical species here. 那是涉及在她身上已经滋生了的具备支配权的优势寄生物种。
• Finally, the array antennas composed of parasitical cells are mainly researched. 最后，本文重点研究了由加寄生天线的单元组成的天线阵列。

10 beseech   

v.祈求，恳求

参考例句：

• I beseech you to do this before it is too late.我恳求你做做这件事吧，趁现在还来得及。
• I beseech your favor.我恳求您帮忙。

11 lash   

v.系牢；鞭打；猛烈抨击；n.鞭打；眼睫毛

参考例句：

• He received a lash of her hand on his cheek.他突然被她打了一记耳光。
• With a lash of its tail the tiger leaped at her.老虎把尾巴一甩朝她扑过来。

12 curry   

n.咖哩粉，咖哩饭菜；v.用咖哩粉调味，用马栉梳，制革

参考例句：

• Rice makes an excellent complement to a curry dish.有咖喱的菜配米饭最棒。
• Add a teaspoonful of curry powder.加一茶匙咖喱粉。

13 mien   

n.风采；态度

参考例句：

• He was a Vietnam veteran with a haunted mien.他是个越战老兵，举止总有些惶然。
• It was impossible to tell from his mien whether he was offended.从他的神态中难以看出他是否生气了。

14 bristled   

adj. 直立的，多刺毛的 动词bristle的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• They bristled at his denigrating description of their activities. 听到他在污蔑他们的活动，他们都怒发冲冠。
• All of us bristled at the lawyer's speech insulting our forefathers. 听到那个律师在讲演中污蔑我们的祖先，大家都气得怒发冲冠。

15 scorched   

烧焦，烤焦( scorch的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（植物）枯萎，把…晒枯； 高速行驶； 枯焦

参考例句：

• I scorched my dress when I was ironing it. 我把自己的连衣裙熨焦了。
• The hot iron scorched the tablecloth. 热熨斗把桌布烫焦了。

16 flayed   

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

参考例句：

• He was so angry he nearly flayed his horse alive. 他气得几乎把马活活抽死。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The teacher flayed the idle students. 老师严责那些懒惰的学生。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

17 impaled   

钉在尖桩上( impale的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She impaled a lump of meat on her fork. 她用叉子戳起一块肉。
• He fell out of the window and was impaled on the iron railings. 他从窗口跌下去，身体被铁栏杆刺穿了。

18 wretch   

n.可怜的人，不幸的人；卑鄙的人

参考例句：

• You are really an ungrateful wretch to complain instead of thanking him.你不但不谢他，还埋怨他，真不知好歹。
• The dead husband is not the dishonoured wretch they fancied him.死去的丈夫不是他们所想象的不光彩的坏蛋。

19 gale   

n.大风，强风，一阵闹声（尤指笑声等）

参考例句：

• We got our roof blown off in the gale last night.昨夜的大风把我们的房顶给掀掉了。
• According to the weather forecast,there will be a gale tomorrow.据气象台预报，明天有大风。

20 torments   

（肉体或精神上的）折磨，痛苦( torment的名词复数 )； 造成痛苦的事物[人]

参考例句：

• He released me from my torments. 他解除了我的痛苦。
• He suffered torments from his aching teeth. 他牙痛得难受。

21 softened   

（使）变软( soften的过去式和过去分词 )； 缓解打击； 缓和； 安慰

参考例句：

• His smile softened slightly. 他的微笑稍柔和了些。
• The ice cream softened and began to melt. 冰淇淋开始变软并开始融化。

22 ferocious   

adj.凶猛的，残暴的，极度的，十分强烈的

参考例句：

• The ferocious winds seemed about to tear the ship to pieces.狂风仿佛要把船撕成碎片似的。
• The ferocious panther is chasing a rabbit.那只凶猛的豹子正追赶一只兔子。

23 scourging   

鞭打( scourge的现在分词 )； 惩罚，压迫

参考例句：

• I should not deserve such a scourging to the bone as this. 我也不应该受这样痛澈骨髓的鞭打呀。
• The shroud also contains traces of blood and marks consistent with scourging and crucifixion. 这张裹尸布上有着鲜血的痕迹以及带有苦难与拷问的标记。

24 formerly   

adv.从前，以前

参考例句：

• We now enjoy these comforts of which formerly we had only heard.我们现在享受到了过去只是听说过的那些舒适条件。
• This boat was formerly used on the rivers of China.这船从前航行在中国内河里。

25 hewed   

v.（用斧、刀等）砍、劈( hew的过去式和过去分词 )；砍成；劈出；开辟

参考例句：

• He hewed a canoe out of a tree trunk. 他把一根树干凿成独木舟。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He hewed out an important position for himself in the company. 他在公司中为自己闯出了要职。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

26 tune   

n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整

参考例句：

• He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子，并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
• The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。

27 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。