Part 2 Chapter 5

Sensibility and a Pious¹ LadyThe smallest living idea seems an outrage², so accustomed arepeople there to words without colour. Woe³ to the man who innovates⁴ while he speaks!

　　FAUBLASAfter many months of trial, this is the stage that Julien had reached onthe day when the steward⁵ of the household paid him his third quarter'ssalary. M. de La Mole⁶ had set him to study the management of his estates in Brittany and Normandy. Julien made frequent journeys to thoseparts. His principal duty was to take charge of the correspondence relative to the famous lawsuit⁷ with the abbe de Frilair. M. Pirard had givenhim the necessary instructions.

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　　From the brief notes which the Marquis used to scribble⁸ on the margins⁹ of the papers of all kinds that came to him, Julien composed lettersalmost all of which were signed.

　　At the school of theology, his teachers complained of his lack of industry, but regarded him none the less as one of their most distinguishedpupils. These several labours, taken up with all the ardour of a chafedambition, had soon robbed Julien of the fresh complexion¹⁰ he hadbrought with him from the country. His pallor was a merit in the eyes ofthe young seminarists his companions; he found them much less irritating, much less inclined to fall upon their knees before a coin of the realmthan those at Besancon; they, for their part, supposed him to be consumptive. The Marquis had given him a horse.

　　Afraid of their seeing him when he was out riding, Julien had toldthem that this exercise had been ordered him by the doctors. The abbePirard had taken him to a number of Jansenist societies. Julien was astonished; the idea of religion was inseparably linked in his mind with that of hypocrisy¹¹, and the hope of making money. He admired these devoutand stern men who took no interest in the budget. Several of the Jansenists had formed an affection for him and gave him advice. A new worldopened before him. He met among the Jansenists a certain ConteAltamira, a man six feet in height, a Liberal under sentence of death inhis own country, and a devout¹² Catholic. This strange incongruity¹³, religion wedded¹⁴ to a love of freedom, impressed him.

　　Julien was out of favour with the young Count. Norbert had foundthat he replied with too much warmth to the pleasantries of certain of hisfriends. Julien after being guilty once or twice of a breach¹⁵ of good manners, had pledged himself never to address another word to Mademoiselle Mathilde. They were always perfectly¹⁶ civil to him at the Hotel de LaMole; but he felt that he had fallen in their esteem¹⁷. His provincial¹⁸ common sense explained this change in the words of the popular proverb:

　　'new is beautiful.'

　　Perhaps his perception was now a little clearer than at first, or else thefirst fascination¹⁹ produced by the urbanity of Paris had ceased.

　　As soon as he stopped working, he fell into the clutches of a deadlyboredom; this was the withering²⁰ effect of the politeness, admirable in itself, but so measured, so perfectly graduated according to one's position,which is a mark of high society. A heart that is at all sensitive discernsthe artificiality.

　　No doubt, provincials²¹ may be accused of a trace of vulgarity, or of awant of politeness; but they do show a little warmth in answering one.

　　Never, in the Hotel de La Mole, was Julien's self-esteem wounded; butoften, at the end of the day he felt inclined to weep. In the provinces, awaiter in a cafe takes an interest in you if you meet with some accidenton entering his cafe; but if that accident involves anything capable ofwounding your vanity, then, in condoling²² with you, he will repeat againand again the word that makes you wince²³. In Paris they are so considerate as to turn their backs to laugh at you, but you will always remain astranger.

　　We pass without comment over a multitude of minor²⁴ adventureswhich would have brought Julien into ridicule²⁵ had he not been in a sensebeneath ridicule. An insane self-consciousness made him commit thousands of blunders. All his pleasures were forms of precaution; he practised with his pistol every day, and was numbered among the morepromising pupils of the most famous fencing masters. Whenever he hada moment to spare, instead of spending it with a book as at one time, he would dash to the riding school and as ask for the most vicious horses.

　　In his outings with the riding master, he was almost invariably thrown.

　　The Marquis found him useful owing to his persistent²⁶ hard work, hisreticence and his intelligence, and, by degrees, entrusted²⁷ him with thehandling of all his business that was at all complicated. In those moments in which his lofty ambition allowed him some relaxation²⁸, the Marquis did his business with sagacity; being in a position to hear all thelatest news, he speculated with success. He bought houses, timber; buthe took offence easily. He gave away hundreds of louis and went to lawover hundreds of francs. Rich men with big ideas seek amusement andnot results from their private undertakings²⁹. The Marquis needed a chiefof staff who would put all his financial affairs into an easily intelligibleorder.

　　Madame de La Mole, albeit³⁰ of so restrained a character, would sometimes make fun of Julien. The unexpected, an outcome of sensibility, horrifies³¹ great ladies; it is a direct challenge to all the conventions. On two orthree occasions the Marquis took his part: 'If he is absurd in yourdrawing-room, in his own office he reigns³² supreme³³.' Julien, for his part,thought he could divine the Marquise's secret. She deigned³⁴ to take an interest in everything as soon as her servants announced the Baron³⁵ de LaJoumate. This was a chilly³⁶ creature, with expressionless features. He wassmall, thin, ugly, very well dressed, he spent all his time at the Chateauand, as a rule, had nothing to say about anything. His speech revealedhis mind. Madame de La Mole would have been passionately³⁷ happy, forthe first time in her life, if she could have secured him as a husband forher daughter.

1 pious   

adj.虔诚的；道貌岸然的

参考例句：

• Alexander is a pious follower of the faith.亚历山大是个虔诚的信徒。
• Her mother was a pious Christian.她母亲是一个虔诚的基督教徒。

2 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。

3 woe   

n.悲哀，苦痛，不幸，困难；int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌

参考例句：

• Our two peoples are brothers sharing weal and woe.我们两国人民是患难与共的兄弟。
• A man is well or woe as he thinks himself so.自认祸是祸，自认福是福。

4 innovates   

v.改革，创新( innovate的第三人称单数 )；引入（新事物、思想或方法），

参考例句：

• ADI innovates ceaselessly in signal processing area, success is remarkable. ADI在信号措置区域不竭立异，成就卓越。 来自互联网
• The region neither saves and invests sufficiently, nor educates and innovates enough. 该地区在储蓄和投资方面都不足，教育和创新方面也较落后。 来自互联网

5 steward   

n.乘务员，服务员；看管人；膳食管理员

参考例句：

• He's the steward of the club.他是这家俱乐部的管理员。
• He went around the world as a ship's steward.他当客船服务员，到过世界各地。

6 mole   

n.胎块；痣；克分子

参考例句：

• She had a tiny mole on her cheek.她的面颊上有一颗小黑痣。
• The young girl felt very self- conscious about the large mole on her chin.那位年轻姑娘对自己下巴上的一颗大痣感到很不自在。

7 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

8 scribble   

v.潦草地书写，乱写，滥写；n.潦草的写法，潦草写成的东西，杂文

参考例句：

• She can't write yet,but she loves to scribble with a pencil.她现在还不会写字，但她喜欢用铅笔乱涂。
• I can't read this scribble.我看不懂这种潦草的字。

9 margins   

边( margin的名词复数 )； 利润； 页边空白； 差数

参考例句：

• They have always had to make do with relatively small profit margins. 他们不得不经常设法应付较少的利润额。
• To create more space between the navigation items, add left and right margins to the links. 在每个项目间留更多的空隙，加左或者右的margins来定义链接。

10 complexion   

n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格

参考例句：

• Red does not suit with her complexion.红色与她的肤色不协调。
• Her resignation puts a different complexion on things.她一辞职局面就全变了。

11 hypocrisy   

n.伪善，虚伪

参考例句：

• He railed against hypocrisy and greed.他痛斥伪善和贪婪的行为。
• He accused newspapers of hypocrisy in their treatment of the story.他指责了报纸在报道该新闻时的虚伪。

12 devout   

adj.虔诚的，虔敬的，衷心的 (n.devoutness)

参考例句：

• His devout Catholicism appeals to ordinary people.他对天主教的虔诚信仰感染了普通民众。
• The devout man prayed daily.那位虔诚的男士每天都祈祷。

13 incongruity   

n.不协调，不一致

参考例句：

• She smiled at the incongruity of the question.面对这样突兀的问题，她笑了。
• When the particular outstrips the general,we are faced with an incongruity.当特别是超过了总的来讲，我们正面临着一个不协调。

14 wedded   

adj.正式结婚的；渴望…的，执著于…的v.嫁，娶，（与…）结婚( wed的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She's wedded to her job. 她专心致志于工作。
• I was invited over by the newly wedded couple for a meal. 我被那对新婚夫妇请去吃饭。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 breach   

n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破

参考例句：

• We won't have any breach of discipline.我们不允许任何破坏纪律的现象。
• He was sued for breach of contract.他因不履行合同而被起诉。

16 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

17 esteem   

n.尊敬，尊重；vt.尊重，敬重；把…看作

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• The veteran worker ranks high in public love and esteem.那位老工人深受大伙的爱戴。

18 provincial   

adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes.城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。
• Two leading cadres came down from the provincial capital yesterday.昨天从省里下来了两位领导干部。

19 fascination   

n.令人着迷的事物，魅力，迷恋

参考例句：

• He had a deep fascination with all forms of transport.他对所有的运输工具都很着迷。
• His letters have been a source of fascination to a wide audience.广大观众一直迷恋于他的来信。

20 withering   

使人畏缩的，使人害羞的，使人难堪的

参考例句：

• She gave him a withering look. 她极其蔑视地看了他一眼。
• The grass is gradually dried-up and withering and pallen leaves. 草渐渐干枯、枯萎并落叶。

21 provincials   

n.首都以外的人，地区居民( provincial的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We were still provincials in the full sense of the word. 严格说来，我们都还是乡巴佬。 来自辞典例句
• Only provincials love such gadgets. 只有粗俗的人才喜欢玩这玩意。 来自辞典例句

22 condoling   

v.表示同情，吊唁( condole的现在分词 )

参考例句：

23 wince   

n.畏缩，退避，（因痛苦，苦恼等)面部肌肉抽动；v.畏缩，退缩，退避

参考例句：

• The barb of his wit made us wince.他那锋芒毕露的机智使我们退避三舍。
• His smile soon modified to a wince.他的微笑很快就成了脸部肌肉的抽搐。

24 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

25 ridicule   

v.讥讽，挖苦；n.嘲弄

参考例句：

• You mustn't ridicule unfortunate people.你不该嘲笑不幸的人。
• Silly mistakes and queer clothes often arouse ridicule.荒谬的错误和古怪的服装常会引起人们的讪笑。

26 persistent   

adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的

参考例句：

• Albert had a persistent headache that lasted for three days.艾伯特连续头痛了三天。
• She felt embarrassed by his persistent attentions.他不时地向她大献殷勤，使她很难为情。

27 entrusted   

v.委托，托付( entrust的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He entrusted the task to his nephew. 他把这任务托付给了他的侄儿。
• She was entrusted with the direction of the project. 她受委托负责这项计划。 来自《简明英汉词典》

28 relaxation   

n.松弛，放松；休息；消遣；娱乐

参考例句：

• The minister has consistently opposed any relaxation in the law.部长一向反对法律上的任何放宽。
• She listens to classical music for relaxation.她听古典音乐放松。

29 undertakings   

企业( undertaking的名词复数 )； 保证； 殡仪业； 任务

参考例句：

• The principle of diligence and frugality applies to all undertakings. 勤俭节约的原则适用于一切事业。
• Such undertakings require the precise planning and foresight of military operations. 此举要求军事上战役中所需要的准确布置和预见。

30 albeit   

conj.即使；纵使；虽然

参考例句：

• Albeit fictional,she seemed to have resolved the problem.虽然是虚构的，但是在她看来好象是解决了问题。
• Albeit he has failed twice,he is not discouraged.虽然失败了两次，但他并没有气馁。

31 horrifies   

v.使震惊，使感到恐怖( horrify的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The Nazi oppression of the Jews horrifies me. 纳粹对犹太人的迫害使我反感。 来自辞典例句
• That's a prospect that horrifies Net purists. 这种前景让网络净化者感到不安。 来自互联网

32 reigns   

n.君主的统治( reign的名词复数 )；君主统治时期；任期；当政期

参考例句：

• In these valleys night reigns. 夜色笼罩着那些山谷。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The Queen of Britain reigns, but she does not rule or govern. 英国女王是国家元首，但不治国事。 来自辞典例句

33 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

34 deigned   

v.屈尊，俯就( deign的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Carrie deigned no suggestion of hearing this. 嘉莉不屑一听。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Carrie scarcely deigned to reply. 嘉莉不屑回答。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

35 baron   

n.男爵；(商业界等)巨头，大王

参考例句：

• Henry Ford was an automobile baron.亨利·福特是一位汽车业巨头。
• The baron lived in a strong castle.男爵住在一座坚固的城堡中。

36 chilly   

adj.凉快的，寒冷的

参考例句：

• I feel chilly without a coat.我由于没有穿大衣而感到凉飕飕的。
• I grew chilly when the fire went out.炉火熄灭后，寒气逼人。

37 passionately   

ad.热烈地，激烈地

参考例句：

• She could hate as passionately as she could love. 她能恨得咬牙切齿，也能爱得一往情深。
• He was passionately addicted to pop music. 他酷爱流行音乐。