EPILOGUE.

In that manner, and in no other, Madeline rose from the grave.

When the first shock of meeting was over, and calmer speech was possible, Forster told his wife of the duel¹ on Boulogne sands and the death of her persecutor² at the hands of Edgar Sutherland; thus assuring her that, whether the marriage with Gavrolles was real or a delusion³, she was then a free woman. She listened sadly, and seemed little comforted, until Forster assured her of his intention, with her consent, to quit England, and seek some country where the story of their sorrows was unknown, and where the viperous⁴ journal of the period has not yet begun to crawl. Then she again laid her head upon his breast, and promised to go with him, anywhere out of the old world of scandal, cruelty, and shame.

So she lived, who had died. By her own lips the mystery of her resurrection was explained. She told him how, while flying in despair, she had encountered the poor waif of the streets, and in some wild impulse of dread⁵, fearing pursuit, and wishing to destroy all traces of identity, she had taken the shawl from her shoulders, bracelets⁶ from her wrists, and given them to her outcast sister. The rest was clear. Mad with drink and misery⁷, the outcast must have yielded to death’s fascination⁸, and cast herself away into the river—whence, long afterwards, her disfigured body was taken to be identified by Forster and buried, as the reader is aware.

Madeline lived again. She still lives, but far away from the scene of her martyrdom. Sometimes in the course of his wanderings (for he is still a wanderer and unmarried) Edgar Sutherland visits a pleasant home on the bank of a great American river, where a happy wife and husband are growing old together among their children. There he is ever an honoured guest, certain of having attentive⁹ auditors¹⁰ while he discourses¹¹, more garrulously¹² as years creep on, on his pet theme—the purification of manhood and the regeneration of womankind.

Uncle Luke is yonder, too. At Madeline’s strong entreaty¹³, he accompanied her from England; and now, very old and feeble, but still bright and simple as ever, he goes hand in hand through the woods and fields, with another ‘little Madlin,’ the very image of the little girl he used to love so well. For a long time he hardly seemed to recognise in the gentle woman who took him to her home the pretty Madeline of other years; but when the child came, he, a child himself, found his happiness in her, and recognised the vision of his old playmate, re-risen to delight his declining days.

And now, what remains¹⁴ to be told? The human shadows that have arisen throughout our story fade one by one away. Of only one of these, Adèle Lambert, will the reader care to hear a last record. She died in the springtime at Mount Eden, passing away, in perfect peace and faith: her spirit purified; her hand in that of the man who had pointed¹⁵ her upward to a holier life, her eyes on the face she had learned to regard as that of an angel, sent to succour sinners in this dark world.

This world remains as most men find it; a tomb, save for those superb spirits who come to bless the wretcheder dwellers¹⁶ in it, with deeds of beautiful self-sacrifice and words of divine love. In the depth of its darker recesses¹⁷, still the snake-like seducer¹⁸ slimes his victim, and the slanderer¹⁹ spits his venom²⁰, and the literature of the Liar²¹ still festers like a feverish²² sore, spreading moral sickness and contamination all around. Thence, and thence only, comes the voice which would fain proclaim to the unhappy that there is no God, and but one gospel—‘Eat and drink, for tomorrow you die.’ But God is, as sure as Love is, or Hope, or heavenly Purity and Light. Therefore let no man despair, though now, as ever, ‘the Light shineth in Darkness, and the Darkness comprehendeth it not.’
The End

1 duel   

n./v.决斗；(双方的)斗争

参考例句：

• The two teams are locked in a duel for first place.两个队为争夺第一名打得难解难分。
• Duroy was forced to challenge his disparager to duel.杜洛瓦不得不向诋毁他的人提出决斗。

2 persecutor   

n. 迫害者

参考例句：

• My persecutor impervious to the laughter, continued to strike me. 打我的那个人没有受到笑声的影响，继续打着我。
• I am the persecutor of my self in the wild hunt. 我将自己置身于这狂野的追猎。

3 delusion   

n.谬见，欺骗，幻觉，迷惑

参考例句：

• He is under the delusion that he is Napoleon.他患了妄想症，认为自己是拿破仑。
• I was under the delusion that he intended to marry me.我误认为他要娶我。

4 viperous   

adj.有毒的，阴险的

参考例句：

5 dread   

vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧

参考例句：

• We all dread to think what will happen if the company closes.我们都不敢去想一旦公司关门我们该怎么办。
• Her heart was relieved of its blankest dread.她极度恐惧的心理消除了。

6 bracelets   

n.手镯，臂镯( bracelet的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The lamplight struck a gleam from her bracelets. 她的手镯在灯光的照射下闪闪发亮。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• On display are earrings, necklaces and bracelets made from jade, amber and amethyst. 展出的有用玉石、琥珀和紫水晶做的耳环、项链和手镯。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 misery   

n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦

参考例句：

• Business depression usually causes misery among the working class.商业不景气常使工薪阶层受苦。
• He has rescued me from the mire of misery.他把我从苦海里救了出来。

8 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。

9 attentive   

adj.注意的，专心的；关心(别人)的，殷勤的

参考例句：

• She was very attentive to her guests.她对客人招待得十分周到。
• The speaker likes to have an attentive audience.演讲者喜欢注意力集中的听众。

10 auditors   

n.审计员，稽核员( auditor的名词复数 )；（大学课程的）旁听生

参考例句：

• The company has been in litigation with its previous auditors for a full year. 那家公司与前任审计员已打了整整一年的官司。
• a meeting to discuss the annual accounts and the auditors' report thereon 讨论年度报表及其审计报告的会议

11 discourses   

论文( discourse的名词复数 )； 演说； 讲道； 话语

参考例句：

• It is said that his discourses were very soul-moving. 据说他的讲道词是很能动人心灵的。
• I am not able to repeat the excellent discourses of this extraordinary man. 这位异人的高超言论我是无法重述的。

12 garrulously   

参考例句：

13 entreaty   

n.恳求，哀求

参考例句：

• Mrs. Quilp durst only make a gesture of entreaty.奎尔普太太仅做出一种哀求的姿势。
• Her gaze clung to him in entreaty.她的眼光带着恳求的神色停留在他身上。

14 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

15 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

16 dwellers   

n.居民，居住者( dweller的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes. 城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They have transformed themselves into permanent city dwellers. 他们已成为永久的城市居民。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 recesses   

n.壁凹( recess的名词复数 )；（工作或业务活动的）中止或暂停期间；学校的课间休息；某物内部的凹形空间v.把某物放在墙壁的凹处( recess的第三人称单数 )；将（墙）做成凹形，在（墙）上做壁龛；休息，休会，休庭

参考例句：

• I could see the inmost recesses. 我能看见最深处。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I had continually pushed my doubts to the darker recesses of my mind. 我一直把怀疑深深地隐藏在心中。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 seducer   

n.诱惑者,骗子,玩弄女性的人

参考例句：

• Shvitzer - Yiddish: someone who sweats a lot, especially a nervous seducer. 依地语：一个汗如雨下的人，尤指一个紧张的玩弄女人者。
• The dream of flight is the dream a seductive seducer. 飞翔的梦就是引诱者的引诱之梦。

19 slanderer   

造谣中伤者

参考例句：

• A perverse man spreads strife, And a slanderer separates intimate friends. 箴16:28乖僻人播散分争．传舌的离间密友。
• Desdemona. O, fie upon thee, slanderer! 苔丝狄蒙娜啊，啐！你这毁谤女人的家伙！

20 venom   

n.毒液，恶毒，痛恨

参考例句：

• The snake injects the venom immediately after biting its prey.毒蛇咬住猎物之后马上注入毒液。
• In fact,some components of the venom may benefit human health.事实上，毒液的某些成分可能有益于人类健康。

21 liar   

n.说谎的人

参考例句：

• I know you for a thief and a liar!我算认识你了，一个又偷又骗的家伙！
• She was wrongly labelled a liar.她被错误地扣上说谎者的帽子。

22 feverish   

adj.发烧的，狂热的，兴奋的

参考例句：

• He is too feverish to rest.他兴奋得安静不下来。
• They worked with feverish haste to finish the job.为了完成此事他们以狂热的速度工作着。