Part 2 Chapter 11

The Tyranny of a GirlI admire her beauty, but I fear her intelligence.

　　MERIMEEHad Julien devoted¹ to the consideration of what went on in thedrawing-room the time which he spent in exaggerating Mathilde'sbeauty, or in lashing² himself into a fury at the aloofness³ natural to herfamily, whom she was forgetting in his company, he would have understood in what her despotic power over everyone round about her consisted. Whenever anyone earned Mademoiselle de La Mole's displeasure,she knew how to punish him by a witticism⁴ so calculated, so wellchosen, apparently⁵ so harmless, so aptly launched, that the wound it leftdeepened the more he thought of it. In time she became deadly towounded vanity. As she attached no importance to many things thatwere the object of serious ambition with the rest of her family, she always appeared cool in their eyes. The drawing-rooms of the nobility arepleasant things to mention after one has left them, but that is all; bare politeness is something in itself only for the first few days. Julien experienced this; after the first enchantment⁶, the first bewilderment.

　　'Politeness,' he said to himself, 'is nothing more than the absence of theirritation which would come from bad manners.' Mathilde was frequently bored, perhaps she would have been bored in any circumstances. At such times to sharpen the point of an epigram was for her adistraction and a real pleasure.

　　It was perhaps in order to have victims slightly more amusing thanher distinguished⁷ relatives, the Academician and the five or six other inferiors who formed their court, that she had given grounds for hope tothe Marquis de Croisenois, the Comte de Caylus and two or three otheryoung men of the highest distinction. They were nothing more to herthan fresh subjects for epigram.

　　 We confess with sorrow, for we are fond of Mathilde, that she had received letters from several of their number, and had occasionallyanswered them. We hasten to add that this character in our story formsan exception to the habits of the age. It is not, generally speaking, withwant of prudence⁸ that one can reproach the pupils of the noble Conventof the Sacre-Coeur.

　　One day the Marquis de Croisenois returned to Mathilde a distinctlycompromising letter which she had written him the day before. Hethought that by this sign of extreme prudence he was greatly strengthening his position. But imprudence was what Mathilde enjoyed in her correspondence. It was her chief pleasure to play with fire. She did notspeak to him again for six weeks.

　　She amused herself with the letters of these young men; but, accordingto her, they were all alike. It was always the most profound, the mostmelancholy passion.

　　'They are all the same perfect gentlemen, ready to set off for Palestine,'

　　she said to her cousin. 'Can you think of anything more insipid⁹? Thinkthat this is the sort of letter that I am going to receive for the rest of mylife! These letters can only change every twenty years, according to thekind of occupation that is in fashion. They must have been less colourlessin the days of the Empire. Then all these young men in society had seenor performed actions in which there was real greatness. The Due deN——, my uncle, fought at Wagram.'

　　'What intelligence is required to wield¹⁰ a sabre? And when that hashappened to them, they talk about it so often!' said Mademoiselle deSainte-Heredite, Mathilde's cousin.

　　'Oh, well, those stories amuse me. To have been in a real battle, one ofNapoleon's battles, in which ten thousand soldiers were killed, is a proofof courage. Exposing oneself to danger elevates the soul, and saves itfrom the boredom¹¹ in which all my poor adorers seem to be plunged¹²; andit is contagious¹³, that boredom. Which of them ever dreams of doing anything out of the common? They seek to win my hand, a fine enterprise! Iam rich, and my father will help on his son-in-law. Oh, if only he couldfind one who was at all amusing!'

　　Mathilde's vivid, picturesque¹⁴ point of view affected¹⁵ her speech, as wecan see. Often something she said jarred on the refined nerves of herhighly polished friends. They would almost have admitted, had she beenless in the fashion, that there was something in her language a little toohighly coloured for feminine delicacy¹⁶.

　　 She, on her part, was most unjust to the handsome men on horsebackwho throng¹⁷ the Bois de Boulogne. She looked towards the future, notwith terror, that would have been too strong a feeling, but with a disgustvery rare at her age.

　　What had she left to desire? Fortune, noble birth, wit, beauty, or so itwas said, and she believed, all had been heaped upon her by the hand ofchance.

　　Such were the thoughts of the most envied heiress of the FaubourgSaint-Germain, when she began to find pleasure in strolling with Julien.

　　She was amazed at his pride; she admired the cunning of this little plebeian¹⁸. 'He will manage to get himself made a Bishop¹⁹ like the abbeMaury,' she said to herself.

　　Presently the sincere and unfeigned resistance, with which our heroreceived a number of her ideas, began to occupy her mind; she thoughtabout him; she reported to her cousin the pettiest details of their conversations, and found that she could never succeed in displaying them inevery aspect.

　　Suddenly an idea dawned upon her: 'I have the good fortune to be inlove,' she told herself one day, with an indescribable transport of joy. 'Iam in love, I am in love, it is quite clear! At my age, a young girl, beautiful, clever, where can she find sensations, if not in love? I may do what Ilike, I shall never feel any love for Croisenois, Caylus, e tutti quanti. Theyare perfect, too perfect perhaps; in short, they bore me.'

　　She turned over in her mind all the descriptions of passion which shehad read in Manon Lescaut, the Nouvelle Heloise, the Letters of a PortugueseNun, and so forth²⁰. There was no question, of course, of anything but agrand passion; mere²¹ fleeting²² affection was unworthy of a girl of her ageand birth. She bestowed²⁴ the name of love only upon that heroic sentiment which was to be found in France in the days of Henri IV and Bassompierre. That love never basely succumbed²⁵ to obstacles; far from it, itcaused great deeds to be done. 'What a misfortune for me that there isnot a real Court like that of Catherine de' Medici or Louis XIII! I feel thatI am equal to everything that is most daring and great. What should I notdo with a King who was a man of feeling, like Louis XII, sighing at myfeet! I should lead him to the Vendee, as Baron²⁶ de Tolly is always saying,and from there he would reconquer his Kingdom; then no more talk of aCharter … and Julien would aid me. What is it that he lacks? A nameand a fortune. He would make a name for himself, he would acquire afortune.

　　 'The Marquis de Croisenois lacks nothing, and all his life long he willbe merely a Duke, half Ultra, half Liberal, an undecided creature alwaysholding back from extremes, and consequently finding himself everywhere in the second rank.

　　'Where is the great action which is not an extreme at the moment inwhich one undertakes it? It is when it is accomplished²⁷ that it seems possible to creatures of common clay. Yes, it is love with all its miracles thatis going to reign²⁸ in my heart; I feel it by the fire that is animating²⁹ me.

　　Heaven owed me this favour. Not in vain will it have heaped every advantage upon a single head. My happiness will be worthy²³ of myself.

　　Each of my days will not coldly resemble the day before. There is alreadysomething grand and audacious in daring to love a man placed so far beneath me in social position. Let me see: will he continue to deserve me?

　　At the first sign of weakness that I observe in him, I abandon him. A girlof my birth, and with the chivalrous³⁰ character which they are so kind asto attribute to me' (this was one of her father's sayings) 'ought not to behave like a fool.

　　'Is not that the part that I should be playing if I loved the Marquis deCroisenois? It would be simply a repetition of the happiness of my cousins, whom I despise so utterly³¹. I know beforehand everything that thepoor Marquis would say to me, all that I should have to say to him inreply. What is the use of a love that makes one yawn? One might as welltake to religion. I should have a scene at the signing of my marriage contract like my youngest cousin, with the noble relatives shedding tears,provided they were not made angry by a final condition inserted in thecontract the day before by the solicitor³² to the other party.'

1 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

2 lashing   

n.鞭打；痛斥；大量；许多v.鞭打( lash的现在分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥

参考例句：

• The speaker was lashing the crowd. 演讲人正在煽动人群。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The rain was lashing the windows. 雨急打着窗子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 aloofness   

超然态度

参考例句：

• Why should I have treated him with such sharp aloofness? 但我为什么要给人一些严厉，一些端庄呢？ 来自汉英文学 - 中国现代小说
• He had an air of haughty aloofness. 他有一种高傲的神情。 来自辞典例句

4 witticism   

n.谐语，妙语

参考例句：

• He tries to lighten his lectures with an occasional witticism.他有时想用俏皮话使课堂活跃。
• His witticism was as sharp as a marble.他的打趣话十分枯燥无味。

5 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

6 enchantment   

n.迷惑，妖术，魅力

参考例句：

• The beauty of the scene filled us with enchantment.风景的秀丽令我们陶醉。
• The countryside lay as under some dread enchantment.乡村好像躺在某种可怖的魔法之下。

7 distinguished   

adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的

参考例句：

• Elephants are distinguished from other animals by their long noses.大象以其长长的鼻子显示出与其他动物的不同。
• A banquet was given in honor of the distinguished guests.宴会是为了向贵宾们致敬而举行的。

8 prudence   

n.谨慎，精明，节俭

参考例句：

• A lack of prudence may lead to financial problems.不够谨慎可能会导致财政上出现问题。
• The happy impute all their success to prudence or merit.幸运者都把他们的成功归因于谨慎或功德。

9 insipid   

adj.无味的，枯燥乏味的，单调的

参考例句：

• The food was rather insipid and needed gingering up.这食物缺少味道，需要加点作料。
• She said she was a good cook,but the food she cooked is insipid.她说她是个好厨师，但她做的食物却是无味道的。

10 wield   

vt.行使，运用，支配；挥，使用(武器等)

参考例句：

• They wield enormous political power.他们行使巨大的政治权力。
• People may wield the power in a democracy.在民主国家里，人民可以行使权力。

11 boredom   

n.厌烦，厌倦，乏味，无聊

参考例句：

• Unemployment can drive you mad with boredom.失业会让你无聊得发疯。
• A walkman can relieve the boredom of running.跑步时带着随身听就不那么乏味了。

12 plunged   

v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
• She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳，从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。

13 contagious   

adj.传染性的，有感染力的

参考例句：

• It's a highly contagious infection.这种病极易传染。
• He's got a contagious laugh.他的笑富有感染力。

14 picturesque   

adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的

参考例句：

• You can see the picturesque shores beside the river.在河边你可以看到景色如画的两岸。
• That was a picturesque phrase.那是一个形象化的说法。

15 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

16 delicacy   

n.精致，细微，微妙，精良；美味，佳肴

参考例句：

• We admired the delicacy of the craftsmanship.我们佩服工艺师精巧的手艺。
• He sensed the delicacy of the situation.他感觉到了形势的微妙。

17 throng   

n.人群，群众；v.拥挤，群集

参考例句：

• A patient throng was waiting in silence.一大群耐心的人在静静地等着。
• The crowds thronged into the mall.人群涌进大厅。

18 plebeian   

adj.粗俗的；平民的；n.平民；庶民

参考例句：

• He is a philosophy professor with a cockney accent and an alarmingly plebeian manner.他是个有一口伦敦土腔、举止粗俗不堪的哲学教授。
• He spent all day playing rackets on the beach,a plebeian sport if there ever was one.他一整天都在海滩玩壁球，再没有比这更不入流的运动了。

19 bishop   

n.主教，（国际象棋）象

参考例句：

• He was a bishop who was held in reverence by all.他是一位被大家都尊敬的主教。
• Two years after his death the bishop was canonised.主教逝世两年后被正式封为圣者。

20 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

21 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

22 fleeting   

adj.短暂的，飞逝的

参考例句：

• The girls caught only a fleeting glimpse of the driver.女孩们只匆匆瞥了一眼司机。
• Knowing the life fleeting,she set herself to enjoy if as best as she could.她知道这种日子转瞬即逝，于是让自已尽情地享受。

23 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。

24 bestowed   

赠给，授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• It was a title bestowed upon him by the king. 那是国王赐给他的头衔。
• He considered himself unworthy of the honour they had bestowed on him. 他认为自己不配得到大家赋予他的荣誉。

25 succumbed   

不再抵抗（诱惑、疾病、攻击等）( succumb的过去式和过去分词 )； 屈从； 被压垮； 死

参考例句：

• The town succumbed after a short siege. 该城被围困不久即告失守。
• After an artillery bombardment lasting several days the town finally succumbed. 在持续炮轰数日后，该城终于屈服了。

26 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。

27 accomplished   

adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的

参考例句：

• Thanks to your help,we accomplished the task ahead of schedule.亏得你们帮忙,我们才提前完成了任务。
• Removal of excess heat is accomplished by means of a radiator.通过散热器完成多余热量的排出。

28 reign   

n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势

参考例句：

• The reign of Queen Elizabeth lapped over into the seventeenth century.伊丽莎白王朝延至17世纪。
• The reign of Zhu Yuanzhang lasted about 31 years.朱元璋统治了大约三十一年。

29 animating   

v.使有生气( animate的现在分词 )；驱动；使栩栩如生地动作；赋予…以生命

参考例句：

• Nature has her animating spirit as well as man who is nature's child. 大自然就象它的孩子――人类一样，有活生生的灵魂。 来自辞典例句
• They were doubtlessly the animating principle of many hours that superficially seemed vacant. 在表面看来无所事事的许多时刻中，它们无疑是活跃的因素。 来自辞典例句

30 chivalrous   

adj.武士精神的；对女人彬彬有礼的

参考例句：

• Men are so little chivalrous now.现在的男人几乎没有什么骑士风度了。
• Toward women he was nobly restrained and chivalrous.对于妇女，他表现得高尚拘谨，尊敬三分。

31 utterly   

adv.完全地，绝对地

参考例句：

• Utterly devoted to the people,he gave his life in saving his patients.他忠于人民，把毕生精力用于挽救患者的生命。
• I was utterly ravished by the way she smiled.她的微笑使我完全陶醉了。

32 solicitor   

n.初级律师，事务律师

参考例句：

• The solicitor's advice gave me food for thought.律师的指点值得我深思。
• The solicitor moved for an adjournment of the case.律师请求将这个案件的诉讼延期。