Before its west front I stand lost in admiration5. 170The whole edifice6 is built of a marble-like limestone7, which time has turned to a beautiful soft yellowish cream colour, similar to that of an old Japanese ivory carving8. Like most Portuguese9 cathedrals the body of the church is somewhat narrow; but in this case a large chapel10 on the north side extends the apparent width of the exterior11 west front. How can one hope to convey in written words an adequate impression of this exquisite12 fa?ade? To the severe perpendicular13 parallel lines over the door and window, reminiscent of the west front of Lincoln, is added a lace-like elaboration of parapets, pinnacles14, and glorious flying buttresses15, which almost bewilders by its aerial gaiety and transparent16 richness. A beautiful Gothic breastrail stands before a double flight of steps leading down to the west door, for the abbey is lower even than the road before it; “the portal,” wrote William Beckford, a hundred and twenty years ago, “full fifty feet in height, surmounted17 by a window of perforated marble of nearly the same lofty dimensions, deep as a cavern18, and enriched with canopies19 and imagery in a style that would have done honour to William of Wykeham, some of whose disciples20 or 171co-disciples in the train of the founder21’s consort22, Philippa of Lancaster, had probably designed it.”
To me this door presented itself rather more in detail. I saw a portal the whole width of the nave24-space, the deep, bevilled sides being occupied by the Twelve Apostles standing25 under rich Gothic canopies, and from the capitals above them a slightly pointed26 arch sprang ending in a floreated cross finial, the arch itself being composed of six orders, each occupied by a row of Kings of the House of David under exquisite Gothic canopies. The great window above is full of tracery so intricate and plastic in appearance as almost to banish27 the impression of a work in stone. The octagonal lantern of the side chapel is supported by flying buttresses of indescribable grace and lightness, and is fronted by a screen pierced with three Gothic windows almost level with the main west front; and upon every point of the building and along each side of the roof of the nave crocketed pinnacles rise, supported by fairy flying buttresses—the effect of the whole exterior from the west front being an exquisite blending of seriousness and exuberant28 rejoicing.
And these were precisely29 the feelings that 172prompted the establishment here of the Dominican abbey at the instance of its English foundress, Philippa of Lancaster, daughter of John of Gaunt, married in 1386 John, the Master of Avis, the high-minded and patriotic30 bastard31 of the royal house, who had successfully resisted Spanish aggression32 the year before, and, with the assistance of the English archers33 at Aljubarrota, had gained for himself the crown of Portugal. Here in the neighbourhood of the battle, at the instance of Philippa, was built this abbey of Dominican monks34 in devotional thankfulness for the signal victory, and for the rescue of the King from threatened death. All through the older portion of the building the English Plantagenet influence is predominant, and marks the abbey as being entirely35 different from all other ecclesiastical buildings in Portugal.
The monastery36 was always a poorly endowed one, in glaring contrast to the neighbouring Cistercian house of Alcoba?a, one of the richest monastic houses in the world. Beckford, in his humorous description of his visit to both houses in 1782, draws a lively comparison between the two. Accompanied by two great Portuguese 173prelates, of whom he makes merciless fun, he had gone to see Alcoba?a at the wish of the Prince Regent. His great train of servants and attendants had been received with lavish37 splendour and Gargantuan38 gluttony at Alcoba?a, and on the way with the prelate of the latter house to visit Batalha, the whole party had got drunk at Aljubarrota, whose wine is famous. They arrived at Batalha at night.
“Whilst our sumpter mules39 were unloading, and ham and pies and sausages were rolling out of plethoric40 hampers41, I thought these poor monks looked on rather enviously43. My more fortunate companions—no wretched cadets of the mortification44 family these, but the true elder sons of fat mother church—could hardly conceal45 their sneers46 of conscious superiority. A contrast so strongly marked amused me not a little.... The Batalha prior and his assistants looked quite astounded47 when they saw the gauze-curtained bed and the Grand Prior’s fringed pillow, and the Prior of St. Vincent’s superb coverlid, and basins and ewers48 and other utensils50 of glittering silver being carried in. Poor souls! they hardly knew what to do or say or be at—one running to the right, another to the left—one tucking up his flowing garments to run faster, and another rebuking51 him for such a deviation52 from monastic decorum.”
I have in my library a manuscript account by Lord Strathmore of the visit he paid to the two monasteries53 twenty years before Beckford, and his account of the poverty of Batalha in 174comparison with Alcoba?a is more emphatic54 still. He says:—
“Though far from rich, they received us with great hospitality. The prior, an exceedingly good, kind, old man, exerted his utmost efforts to do us honour, and had a cook sent to him from the Bishop55 of Leria upon ye occasion. We here with many thanks dismist our militia56, who had been mounting guard hitherto at ye door of our apartment. This convent is of ye most elaborate and exquisite Gothic architecture I ever saw, one part being left imperfect, being so beautiful that nobody dar’d to finish it. When we took leave of our old prior next morning ye only request he made us was that we would relate to ye minister how much their fabric57 had suffered by the earthquake [i.e. of 1755], and how much they needed ye King’s assistance to repair it: whereas I could not help observing that every one of our friends who had been particularly assiduous about us at Alcoba?a desired us to remember their names particularly at Lisbon.”
Alas58! priors and monks, rich and poor, have all gone now, and the place is a “national monument,” with hardly a pretence59 of being a place of worship.
The interior of the church is almost severe in its plainness, the lofty narrow nave being divided by clustered pillars arranged in a somewhat peculiar60 manner; the three pillars facing the nave supporting the groins of the main roof, whilst from the remaining three spring the groining of the aisle61. Before 175the high altar, and close to the steps, are two magnificent tombs side by side, the recumbent figures upon them hand in hand; the male in full armour62, the woman clasping a book. “Hic Jacet Eduardus I., Port. et Alg., Rex et Regina, Elenora Uxor Ejus,” runs the inscription63 around the fillet; and this is the tomb of the unhappy Duarte, son of John the Great and Philippa of Lancaster, who died of a broken heart, whilst still young, at the disaster to his arms and house in the defeat of his crusading attack upon Tangier.
As Beckford saw the church during service it must have throbbed64 with the life and colour that it now lacks.
“There is greater plainness [i.e. than Winchester], less panelling, and fewer intersections65 in the vaulted66 roof: but the utmost richness of hue67, at this time of day at least, was not wanting. No tapestry68 however rich, no painting however vivid, could equal the gorgeousness of the tint69, the splendour of the golden and ruby70 light which streamed forth71 from the long series of stained glass windows: it played, flickering72 about in all directions on pavement and on roof, casting over every object myriads73 of glowing mellow74 shadows, ever in undulating motion, like the reflection of branches swayed to and fro in the breeze. We all partook of these gorgeous tints75, the white monastic garments of my conductors seemed as it were embroidered76 with the brightest flowers of paradise, and our whole procession kept advancing invested with celestial77 colours.”
176Iconoclasm and war have wrought78 their fell work upon Batalha since then; but still the lovely fane stands materially uninjured. The transept-chapels79 and sacristy are fine, especially the latter, though the seventeenth-century carved woodwork matches ill with the exquisite pure Gothic groining of the roof, and the great yellow sarcophagus of Diego Lopez de Souza, master of the Order of Christ, in the adjoining chapel of St. Barbara, is a remarkable80 piece of sixteenth-century work.
One of the great glories of Batalha is the side chapel already mentioned, the octagonal “chapel of the Founder.” The arrangement of it and its general effect are strikingly like those of Queen Victoria’s mausoleum at Frogmore. In the centre, standing high and imposing82 in all the pomp of Gothic tracery, are the twin tombs of John the Great and his English wife, their sculptured effigies83 hand in hand as the noble pair went through life; and around the chapel are ranged the sarcophagi of their sons Pedro, Jo?o, Fernando (who chivalrously84 passed all the best years of his life a hostage to the Moor), and, the greatest of them all, the Prince Dom Henrique the Navigator, who made Portugal 177a world power. Upon each stone coffin85 are carved the insignia of the Garter and the arms of England quartered with those of Portugal, and along the fillets run the quaint86 mottoes that each royal personage adopted for his device. Some of them are enigmatical; such as that which consists of the repetition of the word “Désir” alternating with the scale of justice, and the other that offers the riddle87 of “VII.,” a cogwheel, and “Jamais” repeated again and again. “Pro23 rege pro grege,” on the other hand, if hackneyed, is still quite intelligible88.
“All these princes,” says Beckford, “in whom the high bearing of their intrepid89 father and the exemplary virtues90 and strong sense of their mother were united, repose91 after their toil92 and suffering in this secluded93 chapel, which, indeed, looks a place of rest and holy quietude; the light equally diffused94, forms, as it were, a tranquil95 atmosphere, such as might be imagined worthy96 to surround the predestined to happiness in a future world. I withdrew from the contemplation of these tombs with reluctance97, every object in the chapel that contains them being so pure in taste, so harmonious98 in colour, every armorial device, every mottoed label, so tersely99 and correctly sculptured.... The Plantagenet cast of the whole chamber100 conveyed to me a feeling so interesting, so congenial, that I could hardly persuade myself to move away.”
Every word written by Beckford a hundred and twenty years ago of this chapel is true to-day, 178and I could have lingered for hours before the coffins101 of these heroic princes and their parents in a day-dream of recollection prompted by their noble lives and deeds.
Just outside the door of the chapel, in the pavement of the nave, is a stone bearing the almost effaced102 inscription that below it lies the body of “Martin Gonsalves de Ma?ada, who saved the life of the King Dom John in the battle of Aljubarrota”; and one speculates that had it not been for the fortunate deed of this obscure gentleman, this great abbey would never have been built, and the kings and princes that lie in it would never have existed, with the exception of the Master of Avis himself, who would have passed down to history not as the founder of a dynasty but as an unsuccessful rebel.
A door in the south aisle leads into the renowned103 cloister104, and here, the work being of a later date than the church, controversy105 has spent itself as to whether the luxuriant exuberance106 of the sculpture is, or is not, in perfect taste. Personally I find the cloister exquisite beyond description, and I care not whether the purists condemn107 it or not. The sensation produced, 179it is true, is—like all Manueline sculpture—neither purely108 devotional nor highly exalted109, but rather one of joyous110 delight in the actual handiwork, in the gracious curves, in the kaleidoscopic111 variety, in the dexterous112 adaptation of means to ends, and these sensations, though I am told that they are vulgar when produced by ecclesiastical sculpture, I experience in the fullest measure as I gaze at this marvel113 of human skill, the cloistered114 court of Batalha. Standing in the centre of the courtyard and looking up at the abbey, one sees three beautiful lace-like parapets rise one above the other along the whole length, on cloister, clerestory, and nave, clear-cut edges of perfect curves against the blue sky. Each of the cloister arches is filled with stone tracery of amazing richness and variety, the cross of the Order of Christ and the armillary sphere being deftly115 introduced in the fretwork with great effect. This cloister, like that of Belem, of which I shall speak later, seems to mark the purer and less extravagant116 development of the Manueline style, in which the Gothic traditions have not been entirely cast aside, and only the most callous117 soul could remain unmoved by its exquisite beauty. From the cloister there opens a chapter-house of the 180same style and period, a perfect gem81, although the entrance arch leading to it shows signs, in the lace-like pendent ornament118 that lines it, of the over-elaboration which finally led to decadence119. The chapter-house is thus described by Beckford with special reference to what struck me most—namely, the exquisite groining, springing like palm branches from clustered pillars in the wall, and all centring in the apex120 of the roof:—“It is,” he said, “a square of seventy feet, and the most strikingly beautiful apartment I ever beheld121. The graceful122 arching of the roof, unsupported by console or column, is unequalled; it seems suspended by magic, indeed human means failed twice in constructing this bold unembarrassed space. Perseverance123 and the animating124 encouragement of the sovereign founder at length conquered every difficulty, and the work remains126 to this hour secure and perfect.”
Close by is the great refectory of the monks, now used as a sort of lumber-room museum of débris; and leading from it the vast, vaulted kitchen, its stone roof blackened still by the smoke of centuries of cooking fires. The humble127 little ancient cloister of the original monastery still remains, with its rows of cells in the upper ambulatory. Here there is no Manueline exuberance or wealth, only reverent128 pointed Gothic, grave groined roofs and arches unadorned, enclosing, as of old, the sweet, quiet little garden that more than a century ago aroused the admiration of Beckford.
The Cloisters129, Batalha.
181From there the distance is but a few steps to the “unfinished chapels”; but the contrast of feeling between the two places is wide indeed. The chapels consist of a sort of Lady chapel or apse built out at the back of the high altar, like Henry VII.’s chapel at Westminster. A large central chapel with ten smaller chapels round it rise to perhaps half their intended height, and roofless, for when King Manuel died in 1521 the work was stopped and has never been resumed. The first view of this fragment, and particularly of the great arch by which it was intended to connect it with the church, strikes an observer with astonishment130 that human brains and hands could ever compass such intricacy of design and execution. Convolutions more tortuous131 than those of Arab art, floridness more overloaded132 than Churriguerra ever dreamt of, boldness for which the only just word is insolence133, here run riot unrestrained, fatiguing134 182the eye, tiring the mind, and ending by palling135 upon the senses from mere136 over-exuberance. The lower portion and pillars, and the exterior of the chapels, are restrained and sober, and this makes the more overwhelming the arches and the upper pillars designed to support the roof. One feels that the design is that of a genius, but of a genius whom another step would have led to madness, and who threw aside all the accepted canons of his art. But, withal, though Beckford avoids detailed137 notice of these chapels, it is impossible even for the purist in architecture to pass such work by without some admiration being mixed with his surprise. The great arch leading into the church is the culminating point of the work; its western side being a mass of intertwined foliage138, knots, cables, flowers, and concentric lines, cut in high relief in seven distinct mouldings or orders, and the inner line of the arch is decorated with a deep pendent open-work border; whilst forming part of the intricate design of the whole arch, the enigmatical words “Tanias el Rey” are repeated hundreds of times on small labels. What the words mean nobody knows, though the most probable guess is that they may be an anagram for “Arte e Linyas” (“art and lines,” in old Portuguese).
“The Unfinished Chapels,” Batalha
183As I walked up the road leading from the hollow in which the abbey stands, I looked back again and again at the perfect loveliness of the building I was leaving behind. The flying buttresses, the lines upon lines of fretwork edging, the multitude of floreated pinnacles, and the glorious Gothic of the west front, all of the softened140 hue of old gold, presented in my eyes the perfection of a Gothic building. I have seen the stately grandeur141 of Amiens, the soaring pride of Cologne, the vast magnificence of Burgos, and the fairy prettiness of Milan, and I have worshipped at the shrines142 of Ely, Norwich, and Lincoln. Each one in its way is supreme143 and incomparable; but Batalha, reservedly nestling in its green hollow far from the busy haunts of men, has a charm of its own that I have found in no other Gothic church; and as I finally turned my back upon it, I carried with me a memory which in my life will never fade.
We are soon amongst the pines and heather again, driving along an elevated ridge144 with a valley and bold mountain ranges beyond upon either side, the effect of the distant hills seen 184through the perpendicular lines formed by the straight pine trunks that cluster on each side being very beautiful. A sort of light-blue veil seems to cover the far landscape, such an atmosphere as Corot loved to paint; not a mist arising from dampness, but the azure145 tint of the air itself seen by its clarity to a vast distance through the dark pine copses.
The first sign of systematic146 begging that I had experienced in Portugal was at Batalha; groups of children, encouraged apparently147 by the constant visitors to a show place, making a regular business of cadging148: for we were getting now into the centre of Portugal where the people are less sturdy and the position of the peasant less prosperous than in the north. Along the road from Batalha to Alcoba?a, a new and really charming form of begging was resorted to by the children on the wayside—chubby, well-fed mites149 they looked most of them, evidently not in abject150 want. They kneel on the roadside in an attitude of prayer, their hands joined in supplication151, their eyes closed reverently152 and their expression rapt, like little dirty angels. They have before them a few cut flowers, and the moment the carriage 185passes them they start like a flash of lightning from their devotions, and throw the flowers into the stranger’s lap, whilst they begin to trot153 by the side of the vehicle in a dogged, persistent154 way, not articulately asking for alms, but simply trying to win a penny by reproachful glances and disregard of all entreaties155 to them to stop their dog-trot and go away. Needless to say, such tactics are usually successful, for only a very hard heart could withhold156 the small coin they covet157, when an angelic-looking child of seven has panted half a mile barefooted by the side of a carriage going at a brisk pace.
Half-way to Alcoba?a the ridge upon which the road runs narrows to a mere knife edge, and on the left hand a wide valley sweeps down suddenly, a bold long hill rising beyond. This is the battlefield of Aljubarrota, upon which John, the Master of Avis, won his crown, and for the second time asserted the independence of Portugal from Castile on the 14th August 1385. From Thomar he had brought all the power that patriotic Portugal could raise, and upon this ridge awaited the attack of the Castilians, who, if once they could pass it, would have all the seacoast of Portugal at their mercy down almost to 186the mouth of the Tagus. The position is not very dissimilar from that of Bussaco, but upon a smaller scale. The Portuguese right and left flanks were both defended by projecting spurs; upon one of which the English bowmen were posted, and by standing upon the centre of the position it is easy to see, even to-day, how skilfully158 John the Great had chosen his ground for the decisive struggle, and how difficult it was for the Castilians to succeed. They dared not proceed along the valley leaving this strong force of enemies upon the heights behind them, able to cut them off from their base, and harass159 them flank and rear; whilst to swarm160 up these precipitous slopes in the face of a semicircle of determined161 opponents, and enfiladed by archers on both flanks, seemed inviting162 defeat. All was against the Spaniards. A mysterious epidemic163 was prostrating164 them, the King of Castile was ill, and had to be carried to the battle in a litter, and, above all, the Portuguese were struggling for the independence of their country, whilst the Spaniards were fighting at the behest of a corrupt165 and unpopular king. So on that fateful morning in August, five hundred and twenty-three years ago, as the chivalry166 of Castile struggled up these 187broken slopes, the men upon the ridge from which I look down now over the smiling plain, stood like a steel wall, and with mace167 and battle-axe, and double-handed swords, clove168 and smote169 them, whilst the cloth-yard arrows pierced and bowled them over by hundreds ere they reached the summit. The hearts of the Spaniards failed them, and down the slope they fled, delivered now to carnage and to capture. Ten thousand of them, the best fighting men in Castile, fell, the king barely escaped by flight, whilst half his court were taken. Aljubarrota was won, the house of Avis fixed170 upon the throne for two hundred years, and the alliance between England and Portugal cemented so strongly as to have lasted unbroken to this day.
Through the poverty-stricken looking village of Aljubarrota, where some questionable171 relics172 of the battle are exhibited for a consideration (though no one offers me wine, as they did to Beckford’s princely cavalcade), a few miles more brings me to a point, whence looking down on the right side of the ridge the town of Alcoba?a is seen below, surrounded by miles of vineyards, touched now with bronze and crimson174, for the vintage is nearly over, and a big hummock175 of a 188building over all, that I know is the famous Cistercian monastery, the sepulchre of so many princes of the ancient royal house of Portugal that I have travelled thus far to see.
The church and monastery stand fronting a very extensive triangular176 pra?a, crossed by long avenues of acacias, and the first sight of the edifice is distinctly disappointing. An ordinary fa?ade in the seventeenth-century, Spanish “Jesuit” style of the time of Philip IV., with white walls and yellow stone outlines, and flanked on both sides by monastery buildings of great extent in the same taste, or want of it, did not quite fulfil the hopes which Beckford’s description of the splendours of Alcoba?a had aroused. It is true that the west door of the church somewhat redeemed177 it, for it was evidently the remains of the original front in pure unadorned Gothic. The whole edifice is raised above the surface of the pra?a upon a platform some ten feet high, and upon this parade the monks in old time were mustered178 to receive distinguished179 visitors. Beckford thus describes the reception of his own party—
ON THE PRA?A AT ALCOBA?A.
“The first sight of this regal monastery is very imposing, and the picturesque180 well-wooded and well-watered village out 189of the quiet bosom181 of which it seems to rise relieves the mind from the sense of oppression the huge domineering bulk of the conventual buildings inspire. We had no sooner hove in sight, and we loomed182 large, than a most tremendous ring of bells of extraordinary power announced our speedy arrival. A broad hint from the Secretary of State recommending these magnificent monks to receive the Grand Prior and his companions with peculiar graciousness, the whole community, including fathers, friars and subordinates, at least four hundred strong, were drawn183 up in grand spiritual array on the vast platform before the monastery to bid us welcome. At their head the Abbot himself, in his costume of High Almoner of Portugal, advanced to give us a cordial embrace.”
All is quiet enough now, for the monks are gone these seventy years, and the huge dilapidated edifice behind, forming a vast square, is partly occupied as a barrack, and the rest falling into ramshackle ruin. Nor is anything stirring in the prim184 little town, which has grown up around the wealthy foundation, and now lives placidly185 upon the produce of its vineyards.
The interior of the church presents a marked contrast to the fa?ade. The impression produced is one of ponderous186 solidity and permanence, and the stern devotional character of all the ecclesiastical buildings founded by the great Affonso Henriques, first king of Portugal, in the twelfth century is again conspicuous187, though even here a cornice of gilt188 curly wood 190lines the fine chancel arch. The nave though somewhat narrow is impressive and handsome, separated from the aisles189 by square pillars of immense size, broader than the spaces between them. From brackets or ledges190 at various heights from the ground upon the front and sides of these pillars spring the simple arches and groining of the roof, each pillar carrying its arch right over the nave, so that each set of simple groins is separated from the rest by the arch moulding. The aisles, very narrow, seem overwhelmed by the immense square pillars, and it is easy to understand in the face of this stern interior that the notoriously luxurious191 and self-indulgent monks of Alcoba?a did their best to soften139 the austerity of their surroundings. That they did so to some purpose is seen both by Beckford’s account of his visit and by my Strathmore manuscript of 1760. The account given by Lord Strathmore is worth transcribing:—
“The minister having ... ordered them to do us ye utmost honour they were capable of, we found a large place before the convent so crowded with people that it was necessary for a guard of militia which they had summoned to make a lane for us up ye steps. At ye door we were reciev’d in form by ye guardian192 and first people of ye fraternity with ye utmost ceremony, and conducted by ye light of torches thro’ cloisters of 191Gothic arcades193 with ye whole college in procession to our apartments.... Our rooms were extremely spacious194, and were hung with crimson damask and gold, ye floor cover’d with Persian carpets, and our beds in alcoves195 deck’d with embroidered coverlids. We had a basin and ewer49 brought to wash before supper, and on another salver a napkin of fine linen196, curiously197 pinck’t and strew’d with rose-leaves and orange-flowers. We then pas’t into the next room, where we found a large table groaning198 under a service of monstrous199 dishes.”
The writer comments unfavourably upon all the eatables placed before him, reeking200, as they did, he says, of garlic, bad oil, and other horrors, and he comments upon the tasteless lavishness201 of the fare. He then continues:—
“At last, after having drank reciprocally all ye healths that we thought would be required on either side, we retir’d to repose. The next morning we were no sooner dres’t than we found ye whole college assembled in ye next room at our levee. We breakfasted in state, at ye end of a long table with ye rest seated round ye room, and admiring ye peculiar grace with which we put every morsel202 into our mouths. After breakfast we were attended thro’ ye convent, and had everything explain’d to us, which I must own gave me great pleasure. They are of ye Cistercian order, and ye richest in Portugal, possessing a vast tract203 of land which is said to bring them in ￡50,000 per annum. Their magnificence is in every way proportionable. Their church is Gothic, but extremely noble, ye plate, jewels and ornaments204, copes, etc. are as rich as possible.... They have no taste or design in their expenditure205, and seem to study richness rather than elegance206 in all they do. As they reign125, so they entertain, like princes over the district. In the evening we saw their great altar lighted up at vespers, which at the 192end of a long Gothic aisle had a most striking effect with ye organ and voices altogether impressing upon the mind most solemn awe207.”
Remains of the tasteless splendour referred to are still to be seen on all sides. The gilt-trimmed chancel arch, the high altar, with its blue starred globe and wooden gilt rays in the centre, and popes carved and gilt in niches208 each side, amidst gold whirligigs galore, are as incongruous as can be with the stern, simple nave: and the altars of the north transept and retro choir209 all present the same features, some of them, moreover, being in a lamentable210 state of dilapidation211, inciting212 to derision rather than devotion. In the north transept, hard by the thirteenth-century sepulchral213 stones of Affonso II. and Affonso III., is a dark but beautiful Gothic hall, the holy of holies of the monastery, “the chapel of the tombs,” the resting-place of several of the earlier princes of the royal house.
UNDER THE ACACIAS, ALCOBA?A.
The most striking objects in it are two magnificent sarcophagi in florid decorated Gothic. The recumbent figures of king and queen upon them, as fair and perfect as the day they were sculptured, rest, not hand in hand as upon most similar tombs, but foot to foot. For these are 193the sepulchres of Pedro the Just and his murdered mistress, Ines de Castro, done to death by servile nobles beside the “fountain of love” in the “garden of tears” at Coimbra, and the faithful king ordered the body of himself and his beloved to be laid thus, so that when the universal trump214 should call him to arise, the first object upon which his reopened eyes should rest would be her, who, though unwed, was yet his wife through all eternity215.
Kings, queens, and princes, whose names now mean little even in the country where they held sway and nothing elsewhere, lie around in tombs of varying magnificence, together with débris and relics of times earlier than any of them. The usual dense216 ignorance is displayed by the guardian of the objects he is supposed to describe; for he points out two very small ancient sarcophagi, one of them obviously Byzantine Romanesque, and the other probably pre-Christian, and tells you gravely that they once contained the bodies of Ines de Castro’s children. Both of them are centuries earlier than her time, and her only children grew up and survived her. But this is not more absurd than the representation, in the current English “History of Portugal,” of a lady in the 194height of the Portuguese fashion of the end of the seventeenth century as Ines de Castro, who lived in the fourteenth.
The cloister of the monastery presents the characteristics of two styles. The lower part is pure early Gothic, like the church and chapter-house, with simple rose lights in each arch; but the upper storey has evidently been added or rebuilt in the early sixteenth century in good Manueline taste; and in one corner there is a very beautiful fountain in the same style bearing the monogram217 of the “Fortunate” monarch218 Manuel himself. The vast refectory, of which Beckford spoke219 so sneeringly220, as dirty and slovenly221, is entered by a handsome Manueline doorway222, and is now being restored. The entrance to the sacristy is also a fine specimen223 of Manueline, but inside the bad taste of the late seventeenth-century monks is rampant224. All around the great square apartment are carved and gilt niches, in which are dozens of life-sized busts225 also carved and gilt, of saints and bishop, each of which has a hollow for a relic173 upon the breast, all now despoiled226 of their contents; and the precious treasury227 of jewels, ornaments, and embroidery228 that aroused the envious42 admiration 195of the virtuoso229 Beckford, has all disappeared, many of the most beautiful and precious objects being now in the Museum of Fine Arts at Lisbon, a storehouse of medi?val goldsmith’s work unsurpassed in Europe, though almost completely neglected both by residents and visitors to the capital.
One more show chamber there is in the “national monument” portion of Alcoba?a: a hall lined with eighteenth-century pictorial230 blue tiles, representing in large tableaux231 memorable233 deeds of the kings of Portugal, with statues of the kings themselves upon brackets above; the great tableau232 at the end, representing the coronation of Affonso Henriques, being an exceptionally good specimen of a poor artistic234 medium. As I walk through the grave, silent church again, and so out into the bright pra?a, with its avenues of shady acacias casting long shadows, the fa?ade of the church strikes me as more inharmonious than before, now that the wonderful glow of the slanting235 sunrays touch the salient points with fire. The front with its seventeenth-century figures, its Manueline central round window, and its elaboration of outlines, so characteristic of the Spanish “Jesuit” style, are utterly236 incongruous with the pure early Gothic of the doorway, and it is with a 196sigh of regret that one turns from the contemplation of such a result of wealth divorced from artistry.
The vast monastic building behind the church is squalid and ugly, for the occupation of soldiery does not tend to the ?sthetic maintenance of a building. The famous kitchen of the monastery is used now for military purposes, but may be seen by easily obtained permission. As I looked upon it, a bare, great, vaulted hall, with the channel for water still running through it, and the marks of the long line of ovens extending across the wall, I cast my thoughts back at the busy scene that the place presented in the palmy days of the monks, when the flesh-pots of Alcoba?a were proverbial through the land. This is how the place struck Beckford on his memorable visit.
“The three prelates lead the way to, I verily believe, the most distinguished temple of gluttony in all Europe. What Glastonbury may have been in its palmy state I cannot answer, but my eyes never beheld in any modern convent of France, Italy, or Germany, such an enormous space dedicated237 to culinary purposes. Through the centre of the immense and nobly groined hall, not less than sixty feet in diameter, ran a brisk rivulet238 of the clearest water, flowing through pierced wooden reservoirs, containing every sort and size of the finest river fish. On one side loads of game and venison were heaped up, on the other vegetables and fruit in endless variety. Beyond 197a long line of stoves extended a row of ovens, and close to them hillocks of wheaten flour whiter than snow, rocks of sugar, jars of the purest oil, and pastry239 in vast abundance, which a numerous tribe of lay brothers and their attendants were rolling and puffing240 up into a hundred different shapes, singing all the while as blithely241 as larks242 in a cornfield.”
Abbots and monks, lay brothers, and cooks have gone the way of all flesh; and of the plethoric plenty of old no vestige243 remains in the enormous dingy244 hall. So, there being no fatted calf245 killed for me in these degenerate246 days, I wend my way through the acacia avenues to the humble hostelry where a dinner is prepared for me, eatable, it is true, but a sad falling off from the culinary splendours of Alcoba?a in the good old times.
Then in the gloaming I drove four miles through woods of pine and eucalyptus247, balsamic now in the soft evening air, to Vallado station on the railway to Lisbon. Out of the darkness at about seven there sprang a long spinning factory blazing with electric light, and humming with the whirr of wheels. The “hands” were just flocking out from their daily toil, and filled the black, unlit road with a gay babbling248 crowd. There was no town near, and the mill was deeply embosomed in the pine woods: this seemed to 198me an ideal form of factory life, in which the house of toil, instead of debouching its crowd of pallid249 workers into fetid town-slums to fester unwholesomely until the morrow, needed but a step from its threshold to plunge250 them into the sweet air of the pines and heather; and where the “hands,” though they worked in crowds underneath251 a roof, never ceased to be country folk. It was but a passing flash and hubbub252 to me in the darkness of my lonely drive, and the toilers to me, and I to them, but fleeting253 shadows. But seen thus, there seemed to me something of suggestive possibilities in this hive of what is usually an urban industry, set in the midst of lofty pines, sweet mountain herbs, and far-flung folds of purple heather. A railway journey of three-quarters of an hour brought me to the famous medicinal thermal254 watering-place of Caldas da Rainha, where in the excellent Hotel Lisbonense, which the proprietor255, one of those frugal256, honest, Gallegos who are the industrial salt of the Peninsula, told me was the largest in Portugal, as it is certainly one of the best, I ended a long day of overcrowded impressions by a night of delightful257 dreamless sleep.
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1
laden
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| adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的 | |
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asses
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| n. 驴，愚蠢的人，臀部 adv. (常用作后置)用于贬损或骂人 | |
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scent
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| n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉 | |
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dismantled
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| 拆开( dismantle的过去式和过去分词 )； 拆卸； 废除； 取消 | |
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admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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edifice
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| n.宏伟的建筑物(如宫殿，教室) | |
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limestone
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| n.石灰石 | |
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carving
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| n.雕刻品，雕花 | |
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Portuguese
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| n.葡萄牙人；葡萄牙语 | |
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chapel
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| n.小教堂，殡仪馆 | |
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exterior
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| adj.外部的，外在的；表面的 | |
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exquisite
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| adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的 | |
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perpendicular
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| adj.垂直的，直立的；n.垂直线，垂直的位置 | |
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14
pinnacles
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| 顶峰( pinnacle的名词复数 )； 顶点； 尖顶； 小尖塔 | |
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buttresses
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| n.扶壁，扶垛( buttress的名词复数 )v.用扶壁支撑，加固( buttress的第三人称单数 ) | |
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transparent
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| adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的 | |
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surmounted
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| 战胜( surmount的过去式和过去分词 )； 克服（困难）； 居于…之上； 在…顶上 | |
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18
cavern
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| n.洞穴，大山洞 | |
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19
canopies
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| （宝座或床等上面的）华盖( canopy的名词复数 )； （飞行器上的）座舱罩； 任何悬于上空的覆盖物； 森林中天棚似的树荫 | |
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20
disciples
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| n.信徒( disciple的名词复数 )；门徒；耶稣的信徒；（尤指）耶稣十二门徒之一 | |
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Founder
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| n.创始者，缔造者 | |
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consort
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| v.相伴；结交 | |
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pro
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| n.赞成，赞成的意见，赞成者 | |
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nave
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| n.教堂的中部；本堂 | |
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25
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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banish
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| vt.放逐，驱逐；消除，排除 | |
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exuberant
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| adj.充满活力的；（植物）繁茂的 | |
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precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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patriotic
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| adj.爱国的，有爱国心的 | |
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31
bastard
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| n.坏蛋，混蛋；私生子 | |
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aggression
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| n.进攻，侵略，侵犯，侵害 | |
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archers
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| n.弓箭手，射箭运动员( archer的名词复数 ) | |
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monks
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| n.修道士，僧侣( monk的名词复数 ) | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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monastery
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| n.修道院，僧院，寺院 | |
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lavish
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| adj.无节制的；浪费的；vt.慷慨地给予，挥霍 | |
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38
gargantuan
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| adj.巨大的，庞大的 | |
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39
mules
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| 骡( mule的名词复数 )； 拖鞋； 顽固的人； 越境运毒者 | |
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40
plethoric
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| adj.过多的，多血症的 | |
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41
hampers
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| 妨碍，束缚，限制( hamper的第三人称单数 ) | |
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42
envious
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| adj.嫉妒的，羡慕的 | |
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43
enviously
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| adv.满怀嫉妒地 | |
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44
mortification
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| n.耻辱，屈辱 | |
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45
conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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46
sneers
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| 讥笑的表情（言语）( sneer的名词复数 ) | |
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47
astounded
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| v.使震惊(astound的过去式和过去分词)；愕然；愕；惊讶 | |
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48
ewers
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| n.大口水壶，水罐( ewer的名词复数 ) | |
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49
ewer
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| n.大口水罐 | |
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50
utensils
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| 器具，用具，器皿( utensil的名词复数 )； 器物 | |
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51
rebuking
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| 责难或指责( rebuke的现在分词 ) | |
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52
deviation
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| n.背离，偏离；偏差，偏向；离题 | |
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53
monasteries
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| 修道院( monastery的名词复数 ) | |
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54
emphatic
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| adj.强调的，着重的；无可置疑的，明显的 | |
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55
bishop
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| n.主教，（国际象棋）象 | |
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56
militia
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| n.民兵，民兵组织 | |
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57
fabric
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| n.织物，织品，布；构造，结构，组织 | |
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58
alas
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| int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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59
pretence
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| n.假装，作假；借口，口实；虚伪；虚饰 | |
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60
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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61
aisle
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| n.（教堂、教室、戏院等里的）过道，通道 | |
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62
armour
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| （=armor）n.盔甲；装甲部队 | |
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63
inscription
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| n.（尤指石块上的）刻印文字，铭文，碑文 | |
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64
throbbed
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| 抽痛( throb的过去式和过去分词 )； （心脏、脉搏等）跳动 | |
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65
intersections
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| n.横断( intersection的名词复数 )；交叉；交叉点；交集 | |
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66
vaulted
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| adj.拱状的 | |
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67
hue
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| n.色度；色调；样子 | |
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68
tapestry
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| n.挂毯，丰富多采的画面 | |
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69
tint
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| n.淡色，浅色；染发剂；vt.着以淡淡的颜色 | |
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70
ruby
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| n.红宝石，红宝石色 | |
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71
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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72
flickering
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| adj.闪烁的，摇曳的，一闪一闪的 | |
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73
myriads
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| n.无数，极大数量( myriad的名词复数 ) | |
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74
mellow
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| adj.柔和的；熟透的；v.变柔和；(使)成熟 | |
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tints
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| 色彩( tint的名词复数 )； 带白的颜色； （淡色）染发剂； 痕迹 | |
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embroidered
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| adj．绣花的 | |
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celestial
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| adj.天体的；天上的 | |
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wrought
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| v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的 | |
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chapels
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| n.小教堂， （医院、监狱等的）附属礼拜堂( chapel的名词复数 )；（在小教堂和附属礼拜堂举行的）礼拜仪式 | |
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remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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81
gem
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| n.宝石，珠宝；受爱戴的人 [同]jewel | |
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82
imposing
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| adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的 | |
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83
effigies
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| n.（人的）雕像，模拟像，肖像( effigy的名词复数 ) | |
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84
chivalrously
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| adv.象骑士一样地 | |
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85
coffin
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| n.棺材，灵柩 | |
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86
quaint
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| adj.古雅的，离奇有趣的，奇怪的 | |
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87
riddle
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| n.谜，谜语，粗筛；vt.解谜，给…出谜，筛，检查，鉴定，非难，充满于；vi.出谜 | |
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88
intelligible
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| adj.可理解的，明白易懂的，清楚的 | |
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intrepid
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| adj.无畏的，刚毅的 | |
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virtues
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| 美德( virtue的名词复数 )； 德行； 优点； 长处 | |
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repose
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| v.(使)休息；n.安息 | |
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92
toil
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| vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事 | |
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93
secluded
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| adj.与世隔绝的；隐退的；偏僻的v.使隔开，使隐退( seclude的过去式和过去分词) | |
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94
diffused
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| 散布的，普及的，扩散的 | |
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95
tranquil
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| adj. 安静的, 宁静的, 稳定的, 不变的 | |
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96
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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97
reluctance
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| n.厌恶，讨厌，勉强，不情愿 | |
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98
harmonious
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| adj.和睦的，调和的，和谐的，协调的 | |
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tersely
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| adv. 简捷地, 简要地 | |
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100
chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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101
coffins
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| n.棺材( coffin的名词复数 )；使某人早亡[死，完蛋，垮台等]之物 | |
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102
effaced
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| v.擦掉( efface的过去式和过去分词 )；抹去；超越；使黯然失色 | |
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103
renowned
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| adj.著名的，有名望的，声誉鹊起的 | |
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104
cloister
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| n.修道院；v.隐退，使与世隔绝 | |
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105
controversy
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| n.争论，辩论，争吵 | |
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106
exuberance
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| n.丰富；繁荣 | |
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107
condemn
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| vt.谴责，指责；宣判(罪犯)，判刑 | |
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108
purely
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| adv.纯粹地，完全地 | |
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109
exalted
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| adj.(地位等)高的，崇高的；尊贵的，高尚的 | |
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110
joyous
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| adj.充满快乐的；令人高兴的 | |
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111
kaleidoscopic
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| adj.千变万化的 | |
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112
dexterous
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| adj.灵敏的；灵巧的 | |
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113
marvel
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| vi.(at)惊叹vt.感到惊异；n.令人惊异的事 | |
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114
cloistered
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| adj.隐居的，躲开尘世纷争的v.隐退，使与世隔绝( cloister的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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115
deftly
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| adv.灵巧地，熟练地，敏捷地 | |
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116
extravagant
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| adj.奢侈的；过分的；(言行等)放肆的 | |
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117
callous
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| adj.无情的，冷淡的，硬结的，起老茧的 | |
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118
ornament
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| v.装饰，美化；n.装饰，装饰物 | |
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119
decadence
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| n.衰落，颓废 | |
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120
apex
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| n.顶点，最高点 | |
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121
beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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122
graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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123
perseverance
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| n.坚持不懈，不屈不挠 | |
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124
animating
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| 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 | |
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125
reign
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| n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势 | |
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126
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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127
humble
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| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
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128
reverent
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| adj.恭敬的，虔诚的 | |
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129
cloisters
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| n.（学院、修道院、教堂等建筑的）走廊( cloister的名词复数 )；回廊；修道院的生活；隐居v.隐退，使与世隔绝( cloister的第三人称单数 ) | |
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130
astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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131
tortuous
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| adj.弯弯曲曲的，蜿蜒的 | |
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132
overloaded
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| a.超载的，超负荷的 | |
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133
insolence
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| n.傲慢；无礼；厚颜；傲慢的态度 | |
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134
fatiguing
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| a.使人劳累的 | |
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135
palling
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| v.（因过多或过久而）生厌，感到乏味，厌烦( pall的现在分词 ) | |
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136
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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137
detailed
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| adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的 | |
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138
foliage
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| n.叶子，树叶，簇叶 | |
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139
soften
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| v.(使)变柔软；(使)变柔和 | |
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140
softened
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| （使）变软( soften的过去式和过去分词 )； 缓解打击； 缓和； 安慰 | |
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141
grandeur
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| n.伟大，崇高，宏伟，庄严，豪华 | |
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142
shrines
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| 圣地，圣坛，神圣场所( shrine的名词复数 ) | |
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143
supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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144
ridge
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| n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭 | |
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145
azure
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| adj.天蓝色的，蔚蓝色的 | |
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146
systematic
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| adj.有系统的，有计划的，有方法的 | |
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147
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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148
cadging
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| v.乞讨，乞得，索取( cadge的现在分词 ) | |
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149
mites
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| n.（尤指令人怜悯的）小孩( mite的名词复数 )；一点点；一文钱；螨 | |
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150
abject
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| adj.极可怜的，卑屈的 | |
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151
supplication
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| n.恳求，祈愿，哀求 | |
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152
reverently
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| adv.虔诚地 | |
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153
trot
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| n.疾走，慢跑；n.老太婆；现成译本；(复数）trots:腹泻（与the 连用）；v.小跑，快步走，赶紧 | |
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154
persistent
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| adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的 | |
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155
entreaties
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| n.恳求，乞求( entreaty的名词复数 ) | |
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156
withhold
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| v.拒绝，不给；使停止，阻挡 | |
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157
covet
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| vt.垂涎；贪图(尤指属于他人的东西) | |
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158
skilfully
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| adv. (美skillfully)熟练地 | |
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159
harass
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| vt.使烦恼，折磨，骚扰 | |
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160
swarm
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| n.(昆虫)等一大群；vi.成群飞舞；蜂拥而入 | |
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161
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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162
inviting
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| adj.诱人的，引人注目的 | |
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163
epidemic
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| n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的 | |
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164
prostrating
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| v.使俯伏，使拜倒( prostrate的现在分词 )；（指疾病、天气等）使某人无能为力 | |
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165
corrupt
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| v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的 | |
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166
chivalry
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| n.骑士气概，侠义；（男人）对女人彬彬有礼，献殷勤 | |
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167
mace
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| n.狼牙棒，豆蔻干皮 | |
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168
clove
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| n.丁香味 | |
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169
smote
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| v.猛打，重击，打击( smite的过去式 ) | |
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170
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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171
questionable
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| adj.可疑的，有问题的 | |
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172
relics
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| [pl.］n.遗物，遗迹，遗产；遗体，尸骸 | |
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173
relic
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| n.神圣的遗物，遗迹，纪念物 | |
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174
crimson
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| n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色 | |
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175
hummock
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| n.小丘 | |
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176
triangular
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| adj.三角（形）的，三者间的 | |
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177
redeemed
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| adj. 可赎回的，可救赎的 动词redeem的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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178
mustered
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| v.集合，召集，集结（尤指部队）( muster的过去式和过去分词 )；（自他人处）搜集某事物；聚集；激发 | |
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179
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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180
picturesque
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| adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的 | |
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181
bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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182
loomed
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| v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的过去式和过去分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近 | |
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183
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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184
prim
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| adj.拘泥形式的，一本正经的；n.循规蹈矩，整洁；adv.循规蹈矩地，整洁地 | |
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185
placidly
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|
| adv.平稳地，平静地 | |
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186
ponderous
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|
| adj.沉重的，笨重的，(文章)冗长的 | |
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187
conspicuous
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| adj.明眼的，惹人注目的；炫耀的，摆阔气的 | |
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188
gilt
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| adj.镀金的；n.金边证券 | |
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189
aisles
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| n. (席位间的)通道, 侧廊 | |
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190
ledges
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| n.（墙壁，悬崖等）突出的狭长部分( ledge的名词复数 )；（平窄的）壁架；横档；（尤指）窗台 | |
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191
luxurious
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|
| adj.精美而昂贵的；豪华的 | |
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192
guardian
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| n.监护人；守卫者，保护者 | |
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193
arcades
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| n.商场( arcade的名词复数 )；拱形走道（两旁有商店或娱乐设施）；连拱廊；拱形建筑物 | |
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194
spacious
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| adj.广阔的，宽敞的 | |
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195
alcoves
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| n.凹室( alcove的名词复数 )；（花园）凉亭；僻静处；壁龛 | |
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196
linen
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| n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的 | |
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197
curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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198
groaning
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| adj. 呜咽的, 呻吟的 动词groan的现在分词形式 | |
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199
monstrous
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| adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的 | |
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200
reeking
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| v.发出浓烈的臭气( reek的现在分词 )；散发臭气；发出难闻的气味 (of sth)；明显带有（令人不快或生疑的跡象） | |
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201
lavishness
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| n.浪费，过度 | |
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202
morsel
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| n.一口，一点点 | |
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203
tract
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| n.传单，小册子，大片(土地或森林) | |
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204
ornaments
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| n.装饰( ornament的名词复数 )；点缀；装饰品；首饰v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的第三人称单数 ) | |
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205
expenditure
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| n.(时间、劳力、金钱等)支出；使用，消耗 | |
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206
elegance
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| n.优雅；优美，雅致；精致，巧妙 | |
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207
awe
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| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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208
niches
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| 壁龛( niche的名词复数 )； 合适的位置[工作等]； （产品的）商机； 生态位（一个生物所占据的生境的最小单位） | |
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209
choir
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| n.唱诗班，唱诗班的席位，合唱团，舞蹈团；v.合唱 | |
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210
lamentable
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| adj.令人惋惜的，悔恨的 | |
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211
dilapidation
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| n.倒塌；毁坏 | |
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212
inciting
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| 刺激的，煽动的 | |
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213
sepulchral
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| adj.坟墓的，阴深的 | |
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214
trump
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| n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭 | |
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215
eternity
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| n.不朽，来世；永恒，无穷 | |
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216
dense
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| a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的 | |
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217
monogram
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| n.字母组合 | |
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218
monarch
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| n.帝王，君主，最高统治者 | |
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219
spoke
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| 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 | |
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220
sneeringly
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| 嘲笑地，轻蔑地 | |
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221
slovenly
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| adj.懒散的，不整齐的，邋遢的 | |
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222
doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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223
specimen
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| n.样本，标本 | |
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224
rampant
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| adj.(植物)蔓生的；狂暴的，无约束的 | |
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225
busts
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| 半身雕塑像( bust的名词复数 )； 妇女的胸部； 胸围； 突击搜捕 | |
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226
despoiled
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| v.掠夺，抢劫( despoil的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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227
treasury
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| n.宝库；国库，金库；文库 | |
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228
embroidery
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| n.绣花，刺绣；绣制品 | |
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229
virtuoso
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| n.精于某种艺术或乐器的专家，行家里手 | |
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230
pictorial
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| adj.绘画的；图片的；n．画报 | |
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231
tableaux
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| n.舞台造型，（由活人扮演的）静态画面、场面；人构成的画面或场景( tableau的名词复数 )；舞台造型；戏剧性的场面；绚丽的场景 | |
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232
tableau
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| n.画面，活人画（舞台上活人扮的静态画面） | |
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233
memorable
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| adj.值得回忆的，难忘的，特别的，显著的 | |
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234
artistic
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| adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的 | |
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slanting
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| 倾斜的，歪斜的 | |
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utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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dedicated
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| adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的 | |
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238
rivulet
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| n.小溪，小河 | |
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pastry
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| n.油酥面团，酥皮糕点 | |
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240
puffing
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| v.使喷出( puff的现在分词 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧 | |
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blithely
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| adv.欢乐地，快活地，无挂虑地 | |
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larks
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| n.百灵科鸟（尤指云雀）( lark的名词复数 )；一大早就起床；鸡鸣即起；（因太费力而不想干时说）算了v.百灵科鸟（尤指云雀）( lark的第三人称单数 )；一大早就起床；鸡鸣即起；（因太费力而不想干时说）算了 | |
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vestige
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| n.痕迹，遗迹，残余 | |
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dingy
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| adj.昏暗的，肮脏的 | |
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calf
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| n.小牛，犊，幼仔，小牛皮 | |
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degenerate
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| v.退步，堕落；adj.退步的，堕落的；n.堕落者 | |
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eucalyptus
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| n.桉树，桉属植物 | |
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248
babbling
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| n.胡说，婴儿发出的咿哑声adj.胡说的v.喋喋不休( babble的现在分词 )；作潺潺声（如流水）；含糊不清地说话；泄漏秘密 | |
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pallid
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| adj.苍白的，呆板的 | |
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plunge
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| v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲 | |
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251
underneath
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| adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面 | |
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252
hubbub
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| n.嘈杂；骚乱 | |
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253
fleeting
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| adj.短暂的，飞逝的 | |
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thermal
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| adj.热的，由热造成的；保暖的 | |
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proprietor
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| n.所有人；业主；经营者 | |
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256
frugal
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| adj.节俭的，节约的，少量的，微量的 | |
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delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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