Both these events tended to arrest her incipient6 alienation7 from the Frate, and to rivet8 again her attachment9 to the man who had opened to her the new life of duty, and who seemed now to be worsted in the fight for principle against profligacy10. For Romola could not carry from day to day into the abodes11 of pestilence12 and misery13 the sublime14 excitement of a gladness that, since such anguish15 existed, she too existed to make some of the anguish less bitter, without remembering that she owed this transcendent moral life to Fra Girolamo. She could not witness the silencing and excommunication of a man whose distinction from the great mass of the clergy16 lay, not in any heretical belief, not in his superstitions17, but in the energy with which he sought to make the Christian18 life a reality, without feeling herself drawn19 strongly to his side.
Far on in the hot days of June the Excommunication, for some weeks arrived from Rome, was solemnly published in the Duomo. Romola went to witness the scene, that the resistance it inspired might invigorate that sympathy with Savonarola which was one source of her strength. It was in memorable20 contrast with the scene she had been accustomed to witness there.
Instead of upturned citizen-faces filling the vast area under the morning light, the youngest rising amphitheatrewise towards the walls, and making a garland of hope around the memories of age — instead of the mighty21 voice thrilling all hearts with the sense of great things, visible and invisible, to be struggled for — there were the bare walls at evening made more sombre by the glimmer22 of tapers23; there was the black and grey flock of monks24 and secular25 clergy with bent26, unexpectant faces; there was the occasional tinkling27 of little bells in the pauses of a monotonous28 voice reading a sentence which had already been long hanging up in the churches; and at last there was the extinction29 of the tapers, and the slow, shuffling30 tread of monkish31 feet departing in the dim silence.
Romola’s ardour on the side of the Frate was doubly strengthened by the gleeful triumph she saw in hard and coarse faces, and by the fear-stricken confusion in the faces and speech of many among his strongly-attached friends. The question where the duty of obedience32 ends, and the duty of resistance begins, could in no case be an easy one; but it was made overwhelmingly difficult by the belief that the Church was — not a compromise of parties to secure a more or less approximate justice in the appropriation33 of funds, but — a living organism, instinct with Divine power to bless and to curse. To most of the pious34 Florentines, who had hitherto felt no doubt in their adherence35 to the Frate, that belief in the Divine potency36 of the Church was not an embraced opinion, it was an inalienable impression, like the concavity of the blue firmament37; and the boldness of Savonarola’s written arguments that the Excommunication was unjust, and that, being unjust, it was not valid38, only made them tremble the more, as a defiance39 cast at a mystic image, against whose subtle immeasurable power there was neither weapon nor defence.
But Romola, whose mind had not been allowed to draw its early nourishment40 from the traditional associations of the Christian community in which her father had lived a life apart, felt her relation to the Church only through Savonarola; his moral force had been the only authority to which she had bowed; and in his excommunication she only saw the menace of hostile vice41: on one side she saw a man whose life was devoted42 to the ends of public virtue43 and spiritual purity, and on the other the assault of alarmed selfishness, headed by a lustful44, greedy, lying, and murderous old man, once called Rodrigo Borgia, and now lifted to the pinnacle45 of infamy46 as Pope Alexander the Sixth. The finer shades of fact which soften47 the edge of such antitheses48 are not apt to be seen except by neutrals, who are not distressed49 to discern some folly50 in martyrs51 and some judiciousness52 in the men who burnt them.
But Romola required a strength that neutrality could not give; and this Excommunication, which simplified and ennobled the resistant53 position of Savonarola by bringing into prominence54 its wider relations, seemed to come to her like a rescue from the threatening isolation55 of criticism and doubt. The Frate was now withdrawn56 from that smaller antagonism57 against Florentine enemies into which he continually fell in the unchecked excitement of the pulpit, and presented himself simply as appealing to the Christian world against a vicious exercise of ecclesiastical power. He was a standard-bearer leaping into the breach58. Life never seems so clear and easy as when the heart is beating faster at the sight of some generous self-risking deed. We feel no doubt then what is the highest prize the soul can win; we almost believe in our own power to attain59 it. By a new current of such enthusiasm Romola was helped through these difficult summer days. She had ventured on no words to Tito that would apprise60 him of her late interview with Baldassarre, and the revelation he had made to her. What would such agitating61, difficult words win from him? No admission of the truth; nothing, probably, but a cool sarcasm62 about her sympathy with his assassin. Baldassarre was evidently helpless: the thing to be feared was, not that he should injure Tito, but that Tito, coming upon his traces, should carry out some new scheme for ridding himself of the injured man who was a haunting dread2 to him. Romola felt that she could do nothing decisive until she had seen Baldassarre again, and learned the full truth about that ‘other wife’ — learned whether she were the wife to whom Tito was first bound.
The possibilities about that other wife, which involved the worst wound to her hereditary63 pride, mingled64 themselves as a newly-embittering suspicion with the earliest memories of her illusory love, eating away the lingering associations of tenderness with the past image of her husband; and her irresistible65 belief in the rest of Baldassarre’s revelation made her shrink from Tito with a horror which would perhaps have urged some passionate66 speech in spite of herself if he had not been more than usually absent from home. Like many of the wealthier citizens in that time of pestilence, he spent the intervals67 of business chiefly in the country: the agreeable Melema was welcome at many villas68, and since Romola had refused to leave the city, he had no need to provide a country residence of his own.
But at last, in the later days of July, the alleviation69 of those public troubles which had absorbed her activity and much of her thought, left Romola to a less counteracted70 sense of her personal lot. The Plague had almost disappeared, and the position of Savonarola was made more hopeful by a favourable71 magistracy, who were writing urgent vindicatory72 letters to Rome on his behalf, entreating73 the withdrawal74 of the Excommunication.
Romola’s healthy and vigorous frame was undergoing the reaction of languor75 inevitable76 after continuous excitement and over-exertion; but her mental restlessness would not allow her to remain at home without peremptory77 occupation, except during the sultry hours. In the cool of the morning and evening she walked out constantly, varying her direction as much as possible, with the vague hope that if Baldassarre were still alive she might encounter him. Perhaps some illness had brought a new paralysis78 of memory, and he had forgotten where she lived — forgotten even her existence. That was her most sanguine79 explanation of his non-appearance. The explanation she felt to be most probable was, that he had died of the Plague.
点击收听单词发音
1 lengthening | |
(时间或空间)延长,伸长( lengthen的现在分词 ); 加长 | |
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2 dread | |
vt.担忧,忧虑;惧怕,不敢;n.担忧,畏惧 | |
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3 dreaded | |
adj.令人畏惧的;害怕的v.害怕,恐惧,担心( dread的过去式和过去分词) | |
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4 conspiracy | |
n.阴谋,密谋,共谋 | |
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5 immediate | |
adj.立即的;直接的,最接近的;紧靠的 | |
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6 incipient | |
adj.起初的,发端的,初期的 | |
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7 alienation | |
n.疏远;离间;异化 | |
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8 rivet | |
n.铆钉;vt.铆接,铆牢;集中(目光或注意力) | |
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9 attachment | |
n.附属物,附件;依恋;依附 | |
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10 profligacy | |
n.放荡,不检点,肆意挥霍 | |
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11 abodes | |
住所( abode的名词复数 ); 公寓; (在某地的)暂住; 逗留 | |
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12 pestilence | |
n.瘟疫 | |
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13 misery | |
n.痛苦,苦恼,苦难;悲惨的境遇,贫苦 | |
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14 sublime | |
adj.崇高的,伟大的;极度的,不顾后果的 | |
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15 anguish | |
n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦,烦恼 | |
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16 clergy | |
n.[总称]牧师,神职人员 | |
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17 superstitions | |
迷信,迷信行为( superstition的名词复数 ) | |
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18 Christian | |
adj.基督教徒的;n.基督教徒 | |
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19 drawn | |
v.拖,拉,拔出;adj.憔悴的,紧张的 | |
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20 memorable | |
adj.值得回忆的,难忘的,特别的,显著的 | |
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21 mighty | |
adj.强有力的;巨大的 | |
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22 glimmer | |
v.发出闪烁的微光;n.微光,微弱的闪光 | |
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23 tapers | |
(长形物体的)逐渐变窄( taper的名词复数 ); 微弱的光; 极细的蜡烛 | |
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24 monks | |
n.修道士,僧侣( monk的名词复数 ) | |
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25 secular | |
n.牧师,凡人;adj.世俗的,现世的,不朽的 | |
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26 bent | |
n.爱好,癖好;adj.弯的;决心的,一心的 | |
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27 tinkling | |
n.丁当作响声 | |
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28 monotonous | |
adj.单调的,一成不变的,使人厌倦的 | |
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29 extinction | |
n.熄灭,消亡,消灭,灭绝,绝种 | |
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30 shuffling | |
adj. 慢慢移动的, 滑移的 动词shuffle的现在分词形式 | |
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31 monkish | |
adj.僧侣的,修道士的,禁欲的 | |
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32 obedience | |
n.服从,顺从 | |
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33 appropriation | |
n.拨款,批准支出 | |
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34 pious | |
adj.虔诚的;道貌岸然的 | |
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35 adherence | |
n.信奉,依附,坚持,固着 | |
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36 potency | |
n. 效力,潜能 | |
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37 firmament | |
n.苍穹;最高层 | |
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38 valid | |
adj.有确实根据的;有效的;正当的,合法的 | |
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39 defiance | |
n.挑战,挑衅,蔑视,违抗 | |
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40 nourishment | |
n.食物,营养品;营养情况 | |
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41 vice | |
n.坏事;恶习;[pl.]台钳,老虎钳;adj.副的 | |
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42 devoted | |
adj.忠诚的,忠实的,热心的,献身于...的 | |
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43 virtue | |
n.德行,美德;贞操;优点;功效,效力 | |
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44 lustful | |
a.贪婪的;渴望的 | |
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45 pinnacle | |
n.尖塔,尖顶,山峰;(喻)顶峰 | |
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46 infamy | |
n.声名狼藉,出丑,恶行 | |
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47 soften | |
v.(使)变柔软;(使)变柔和 | |
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48 antitheses | |
n.对照,对立的,对比法;对立( antithesis的名词复数 );对立面;对照;对偶 | |
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49 distressed | |
痛苦的 | |
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50 folly | |
n.愚笨,愚蠢,蠢事,蠢行,傻话 | |
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51 martyrs | |
n.martyr的复数形式;烈士( martyr的名词复数 );殉道者;殉教者;乞怜者(向人诉苦以博取同情) | |
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52 judiciousness | |
n.明智 | |
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53 resistant | |
adj.(to)抵抗的,有抵抗力的 | |
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54 prominence | |
n.突出;显著;杰出;重要 | |
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55 isolation | |
n.隔离,孤立,分解,分离 | |
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56 withdrawn | |
vt.收回;使退出;vi.撤退,退出 | |
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57 antagonism | |
n.对抗,敌对,对立 | |
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58 breach | |
n.违反,不履行;破裂;vt.冲破,攻破 | |
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59 attain | |
vt.达到,获得,完成 | |
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60 apprise | |
vt.通知,告知 | |
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61 agitating | |
搅动( agitate的现在分词 ); 激怒; 使焦虑不安; (尤指为法律、社会状况的改变而)激烈争论 | |
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62 sarcasm | |
n.讥讽,讽刺,嘲弄,反话 (adj.sarcastic) | |
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63 hereditary | |
adj.遗传的,遗传性的,可继承的,世袭的 | |
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64 mingled | |
混合,混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 ); 混进,与…交往[联系] | |
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65 irresistible | |
adj.非常诱人的,无法拒绝的,无法抗拒的 | |
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66 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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67 intervals | |
n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 );间隔时间;[数学]区间;(戏剧、电影或音乐会的)幕间休息 | |
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68 villas | |
别墅,公馆( villa的名词复数 ); (城郊)住宅 | |
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69 alleviation | |
n. 减轻,缓和,解痛物 | |
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70 counteracted | |
对抗,抵消( counteract的过去式 ) | |
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71 favourable | |
adj.赞成的,称赞的,有利的,良好的,顺利的 | |
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72 vindicatory | |
adj.惩罚的,报复的 | |
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73 entreating | |
恳求,乞求( entreat的现在分词 ) | |
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74 withdrawal | |
n.取回,提款;撤退,撤军;收回,撤销 | |
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75 languor | |
n.无精力,倦怠 | |
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76 inevitable | |
adj.不可避免的,必然发生的 | |
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77 peremptory | |
adj.紧急的,专横的,断然的 | |
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78 paralysis | |
n.麻痹(症);瘫痪(症) | |
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79 sanguine | |
adj.充满希望的,乐观的,血红色的 | |
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