Chapter 16 Master and Pupil

    The worthy¹ Master Gryphus, as the reader may have seen, wasfar from sharing the kindly² feeling of his daughter for thegodson of Cornelius de Witt.

　　There being only five prisoners at Loewestein, the post ofturnkey was not a very onerous³ one, but rather a sort ofsinecure, given after a long period of service.

　　But the worthy jailer, in his zeal⁴, had magnified with allthe power of his imagination the importance of his office.

　　To him Cornelius had swelled⁵ to the gigantic proportions ofa criminal of the first order. He looked upon him,therefore, as the most dangerous of all his prisoners. Hewatched all his steps, and always spoke⁶ to him with an angrycountenance; punishing him for what he called his dreadfulrebellion against such a clement⁷ prince as the Stadtholder.

　　Three times a day he entered Van Baerle's cell, expecting tofind him trespassing⁸; but Cornelius had ceased tocorrespond, since his correspondent was at hand. It is evenprobable that, if Cornelius had obtained his full liberty,with permission to go wherever he liked, the prison, withRosa and his bulbs, would have appeared to him preferable toany other habitation in the world without Rosa and hisbulbs.

　　Rosa, in fact, had promised to come and see him everyevening, and from the first evening she had kept her word.

　　On the following evening she went up as before, with thesame mysteriousness and the same precaution. Only she hadthis time resolved within herself not to approach too nearthe grating. In order, however, to engage Van Baerle in aconversation from the very first which would seriouslyoccupy his attention, she tendered to him through thegrating the three bulbs, which were still wrapped up in thesame paper.

　　But to the great astonishment⁹ of Rosa, Van Baerle pushedback her white hand with the tips of his fingers.

　　The young man had been considering about the matter.

　　"Listen to me," he said. "I think we should risk too much byembarking our whole fortune in one ship. Only think, my dearRosa, that the question is to carry out an enterprise whichuntil now has been considered impossible, namely, that ofmaking the great black tulip flower. Let us, therefore, takeevery possible precaution, so that in case of a failure wemay not have anything to reproach ourselves with. I will nowtell you the way I have traced out for us."Rosa was all attention to what he would say, much more onaccount of the importance which the unfortunatetulip-fancier attached to it, than that she felt interestedin the matter herself.

　　"I will explain to you, Rosa," he said. "I dare say you havein this fortress¹⁰ a small garden, or some courtyard, or, ifnot that, at least some terrace.""We have a very fine garden," said Rosa, "it runs along theedge of the Waal, and is full of fine old trees.""Could you bring me some soil from the garden, that I mayjudge?""I will do so to-morrow.""Take some from a sunny spot, and some from a shady, so thatI may judge of its properties in a dry and in a moiststate.""Be assured I shall.""After having chosen the soil, and, if it be necessary,modified it, we will divide our three bulbs; you will takeone and plant it, on the day that I will tell you, in thesoil chosen by me. It is sure to flower, if you tend itaccording to my directions.""I will not lose sight of it for a minute.""You will give me another, which I will try to grow here inmy cell, and which will help me to beguile¹¹ those long wearyhours when I cannot see you. I confess to you I have verylittle hope for the latter one, and I look beforehand onthis unfortunate bulb as sacrificed to my selfishness.

　　However, the sun sometimes visits me. I will, besides, tryto convert everything into an artificial help, even the heatand the ashes of my pipe, and lastly, we, or rather you,will keep in reserve the third sucker as our last resource,in case our first two experiments should prove a failure. Inthis manner, my dear Rosa, it is impossible that we shouldnot succeed in gaining the hundred thousand guilders foryour marriage portion; and how dearly shall we enjoy thatsupreme happiness of seeing our work brought to a successfulissue!""I know it all now," said Rosa. "I will bring you the soilto-morrow, and you will choose it for your bulb and formine. As to that in which yours is to grow, I shall haveseveral journeys to convey it to you, as I cannot bring muchat a time.""There is no hurry for it, dear Rosa; our tulips need not beput into the ground for a month at least. So you see we haveplenty of time before us. Only I hope that, in planting yourbulb, you will strictly¹² follow all my instructions.""I promise you I will.""And when you have once planted it, you will communicate tome all the circumstances which may interest our nursling;such as change of weather, footprints on the walks, orfootprints in the borders. You will listen at night whetherour garden is not resorted to by cats. A couple of thoseuntoward animals laid waste two of my borders at Dort.""I will listen.""On moonlight nights have you ever looked at your garden, mydear child?""The window of my sleeping-room overlooks it.""Well, on moonlight nights you will observe whether any ratscome out from the holes in the wall. The rats are mostmischievous by their gnawing¹³ everything; and I have heardunfortunate tulip-growers complain most bitterly of Noah forhaving put a couple of rats in the ark.""I will observe, and if there are cats or rats ---- ""You will apprise¹⁴ me of it, -- that's right. And, moreover,"Van Baerle, having become mistrustful in his captivity,continued, "there is an animal much more to be feared thaneven the cat or the rat.""What animal?""Man. You comprehend, my dear Rosa, a man may steal aguilder, and risk the prison for such a trifle, and,consequently, it is much more likely that some one mightsteal a hundred thousand guilders.""No one ever enters the garden but myself.""Thank you, thank you, my dear Rosa. All the joy of my lifehas still to come from you."And as the lips of Van Baerle approached the grating withthe same ardor¹⁵ as the day before, and as, moreover, the hourfor retiring had struck, Rosa drew back her head, andstretched out her hand.

　　In this pretty little hand, of which the coquettish damselwas particularly proud, was the bulb.

　　Cornelius kissed most tenderly the tips of her fingers. Didhe do so because the hand kept one of the bulbs of the greatblack tulip, or because this hand was Rosa's? We shall leavethis point to the decision of wiser heads than ours.

　　Rosa withdrew with the other two suckers, pressing them toher heart.

　　Did she press them to her heart because they were the bulbsof the great black tulip, or because she had them fromCornelius?

　　This point, we believe, might be more readily decided¹⁶ thanthe other.

　　However that may have been, from that moment life becamesweet, and again full of interest to the prisoner.

　　Rosa, as we have seen, had returned to him one of thesuckers.

　　Every evening she brought to him, handful by handful, aquantity of soil from that part of the garden which he hadfound to be the best, and which, indeed, was excellent.

　　A large jug¹⁷, which Cornelius had skilfully¹⁸ broken, didservice as a flower-pot. He half filled it, and mixed theearth of the garden with a small portion of dried river mud,a mixture which formed an excellent soil.

　　Then, at the beginning of April, he planted his first suckerin that jug.

　　Not a day passed on which Rosa did not come to have her chatwith Cornelius.

　　The tulips, concerning whose cultivation¹⁹ Rosa was taught allthe mysteries of the art, formed the principal topic of theconversation; but, interesting as the subject was, peoplecannot always talk about tulips.

　　They therefore began to chat also about other things, andthe tulip-fancier found out to his great astonishment what avast range of subjects a conversation may comprise.

　　Only Rosa had made it a habit to keep her pretty faceinvariably six inches distant from the grating, havingperhaps become distrustful of herself.

　　There was one thing especially which gave Cornelius almostas much anxiety as his bulbs -- a subject to which he alwaysreturned -- the dependence²⁰ of Rosa on her father.

　　Indeed, Van Baerle's happiness depended on the whim²¹ of thisman. He might one day find Loewestein dull, or the air ofthe place unhealthy, or the gin bad, and leave the fortress,and take his daughter with him, when Cornelius and Rosawould again be separated.

　　"Of what use would the carrier pigeons then be?" saidCornelius to Rosa, "as you, my dear girl, would not be ableto read what I should write to you, nor to write to me yourthoughts in return.""Well," answered Rosa, who in her heart was as much afraidof a separation as Cornelius himself, "we have one hourevery evening, let us make good use of it.""I don't think we make such a bad use of it as it is.""Let us employ it even better," said Rosa, smiling. "Teachme to read and write. I shall make the best of your lessons,believe me; and, in this way, we shall never be separatedany more, except by our own will.""Oh, then, we have an eternity²² before us," said Cornelius.

　　Rosa smiled, and quietly shrugged²³ her shoulders.

　　"Will you remain for ever in prison?" she said, "and afterhaving granted you your life, will not his Highness alsogrant you your liberty? And will you not then recover yourfortune, and be a rich man, and then, when you are drivingin your own coach, riding your own horse, will you stilllook at poor Rosa, the daughter of a jailer, scarcely betterthan a hangman?"Cornelius tried to contradict her, and certainly he wouldhave done so with all his heart, and with all the sincerityof a soul full of love.

　　She, however, smilingly interrupted him, saying, "How isyour tulip going on?"To speak to Cornelius of his tulip was an expedient²⁴ resortedto by her to make him forget everything, even Rosa herself.

　　"Very well, indeed," he said, "the coat is growing black,the sprouting²⁵ has commenced, the veins²⁶ of the bulb areswelling, in eight days hence, and perhaps sooner, we maydistinguish the first buds of the leaves protruding²⁷. Andyours Rosa?""Oh, I have done things on a large scale, and according toyour directions.""Now, let me hear, Rosa, what you have done," saidCornelius, with as tender an anxiety as he had lately shownto herself.

　　"Well," she said, smiling, for in her own heart she couldnot help studying this double love of the prisoner forherself and for the black tulip, "I have done things on alarge scale; I have prepared a bed as you described it tome, on a clear spot, far from trees and walls, in a soilslightly mixed with sand, rather moist than dry without afragment of stone or pebble²⁸.""Well done, Rosa, well done.""I am now only waiting for your further orders to put in thebulb, you know that I must be behindhand with you, as I havein my favour all the chances of good air, of the sun, andabundance of moisture.""All true, all true," exclaimed Cornelius, clapping hishands with joy, "you are a good pupil, Rosa, and you aresure to gain your hundred thousand guilders.""Don't forget," said Rosa, smiling, "that your pupil, as youcall me, has still other things to learn besides thecultivation of tulips.""Yes, yes, and I am as anxious as you are, Rosa, that youshould learn to read.""When shall we begin?""At once.""No, to-morrow.""Why to-morrow?""Because to-day our hour is expired, and I must leave you.""Already? But what shall we read?""Oh," said Rosa, "I have a book, -- a book which I hope willbring us luck.""To-morrow, then.""Yes, to-morrow."On the following evening Rosa returned with the Bible ofCornelius de Witt.

1 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。

2 kindly   

adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地

参考例句：

• Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
• A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。

3 onerous   

adj.繁重的

参考例句：

• My household duties were not particularly onerous.我的家务活并不繁重。
• This obligation sometimes proves onerous.这一义务有时被证明是艰巨的。

4 zeal   

n.热心，热情，热忱

参考例句：

• Revolutionary zeal caught them up,and they joined the army.革命热情激励他们，于是他们从军了。
• They worked with great zeal to finish the project.他们热情高涨地工作，以期完成这个项目。

5 swelled   

增强( swell的过去式和过去分词 )； 肿胀； （使）凸出； 充满（激情）

参考例句：

• The infection swelled his hand. 由于感染，他的手肿了起来。
• After the heavy rain the river swelled. 大雨过后，河水猛涨。

6 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

7 clement   

adj.仁慈的；温和的

参考例句：

• A clement judge reduced his sentence.一位仁慈的法官为他减了刑。
• The planet's history contains many less stable and clement eras than the holocene.地球的历史包含着许多不如全新世稳定与温和的地质时期。

8 trespassing   

[法]非法入侵

参考例句：

• He told me I was trespassing on private land. 他说我在擅闯私人土地。
• Don't come trespassing on my land again. 别再闯入我的地界了。

9 astonishment   

n.惊奇，惊异

参考例句：

• They heard him give a loud shout of astonishment.他们听见他惊奇地大叫一声。
• I was filled with astonishment at her strange action.我对她的奇怪举动不胜惊异。

10 fortress   

n.堡垒，防御工事

参考例句：

• They made an attempt on a fortress.他们试图夺取这一要塞。
• The soldier scaled the wall of the fortress by turret.士兵通过塔车攀登上了要塞的城墙。

11 beguile   

vt.欺骗，消遣

参考例句：

• They are playing cards to beguile the time.他们在打牌以消磨时间。
• He used his newspapers to beguile the readers into buying shares in his company.他利用他的报纸诱骗读者买他公司的股票。

12 strictly   

adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地

参考例句：

• His doctor is dieting him strictly.他的医生严格规定他的饮食。
• The guests were seated strictly in order of precedence.客人严格按照地位高低就座。

13 gnawing   

a.痛苦的，折磨人的

参考例句：

• The dog was gnawing a bone. 那狗在啃骨头。
• These doubts had been gnawing at him for some time. 这些疑虑已经折磨他一段时间了。

14 apprise   

vt.通知，告知

参考例句：

• He came to apprise us that the work had been successfully completed.他来通知我们工作已胜利完成。
• We must apprise them of the dangers that may be involved.我们必须告诉他们可能涉及的危险。

15 ardor   

n.热情，狂热

参考例句：

• His political ardor led him into many arguments.他的政治狂热使他多次卷入争论中。
• He took up his pursuit with ardor.他满腔热忱地从事工作。

16 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

17 jug   

n.(有柄，小口，可盛水等的)大壶，罐，盂

参考例句：

• He walked along with a jug poised on his head.他头上顶着一个水罐，保持着平衡往前走。
• She filled the jug with fresh water.她将水壶注满了清水。

18 skilfully   

adv. (美skillfully)熟练地

参考例句：

• Hall skilfully weaves the historical research into a gripping narrative. 霍尔巧妙地把历史研究揉进了扣人心弦的故事叙述。
• Enthusiasm alone won't do. You've got to work skilfully. 不能光靠傻劲儿，得找窍门。

19 cultivation   

n.耕作，培养，栽培（法），养成

参考例句：

• The cultivation in good taste is our main objective.培养高雅情趣是我们的主要目标。
• The land is not fertile enough to repay cultivation.这块土地不够肥沃，不值得耕种。

20 dependence   

n.依靠，依赖；信任，信赖；隶属

参考例句：

• Doctors keep trying to break her dependence of the drug.医生们尽力使她戒除毒瘾。
• He was freed from financial dependence on his parents.他在经济上摆脱了对父母的依赖。

21 whim   

n.一时的兴致，突然的念头；奇想，幻想

参考例句：

• I bought the encyclopedia on a whim.我凭一时的兴致买了这本百科全书。
• He had a sudden whim to go sailing today.今天他突然想要去航海。

22 eternity   

n.不朽，来世；永恒，无穷

参考例句：

• The dull play seemed to last an eternity.这场乏味的剧似乎演个没完没了。
• Finally,Ying Tai and Shan Bo could be together for all of eternity.英台和山伯终能双宿双飞，永世相随。

23 shrugged   

vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Sam shrugged and said nothing. 萨姆耸耸肩膀，什么也没说。
• She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. 她耸耸肩，装出一副无所谓的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

24 expedient   

adj.有用的，有利的；n.紧急的办法，权宜之计

参考例句：

• The government found it expedient to relax censorship a little.政府发现略微放宽审查是可取的。
• Every kind of expedient was devised by our friends.我们的朋友想出了各种各样的应急办法。

25 sprouting   

v.发芽( sprout的现在分词 )；抽芽；出现；（使）涌现出

参考例句：

• new leaves sprouting from the trees 树上长出的新叶
• They were putting fresh earth around sprouting potato stalks. 他们在往绽出新芽的土豆秧周围培新土。 来自名作英译部分

26 veins   

n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理

参考例句：

• The blood flows from the capillaries back into the veins. 血从毛细血管流回静脉。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I felt a pleasant glow in all my veins from the wine. 喝过酒后我浑身的血都热烘烘的，感到很舒服。 来自《简明英汉词典》

27 protruding   

v.（使某物）伸出，（使某物）突出( protrude的现在分词 )；凸

参考例句：

• He hung his coat on a nail protruding from the wall. 他把上衣挂在凸出墙面的一根钉子上。
• There is a protruding shelf over a fireplace. 壁炉上方有个突出的架子。 来自辞典例句

28 pebble   

n.卵石，小圆石

参考例句：

• The bird mistook the pebble for egg and tried to hatch it.这只鸟错把卵石当蛋，想去孵它。
• The pebble made a ripple on the surface of the lake.石子在湖面上激起一个涟漪。