Higher on the hills, amid the rich bright verdure of the tea-plantations, we find magnolias, pines, and the Campeachy medlar, all wreathed with climbing plants and invaded by the young growth of palms, by rattans which have succeeded in piercing the awning11 of parasites12 that hangs, starred with flowers, from tree to tree—flowers like lamps shining among the ripe coco-nuts, mango fruit, and papaws.
Beyond a wide valley that lay far beneath us a mountain-range gleamed softly in the blue distance, starry13 and sapphire-hued above rising levels of delicate green. Here, in the fresher air, floated the fragrance15 of mosses16 and alpine17 flowers, and above the[Pg 127] cascades18 falling in showers we could see the tangle2 of climbing plants, ferns, orchids20, and hibiscus, a swaying curtain all woven of leaves and blossoms.
A plantation10 of theobromas (cacao), carefully enclosed and tended, with their puckered21 leaves, and fruit-pods as large as an ostrich22 egg hanging from the trunk and the larger branches, seemed quite melancholy23, like wild things tethered.
Then some gardens looking like hothouses, concealing24 bungalows25, and a gleaming lake among the greenery—and this was Kandy.
In front of a Buddhist26 temple were some tanks in which enormous tortoises were swimming. On the building, above carvings27 of elephants in relief on the stone, were a number of mural paintings, artless and terrible scenes set forth28 with the utmost scorn of perspective and chiaroscuro29: a place of torment30 where green monsters thrust the damned against trees of which the trunks are saws, and enormous red and yellow birds devour31 living victims.
Inside the temple was the fragrance of fresh flowers, brought as offerings, with grains of rice threaded like semi-transparent beads32 on the flexible pale green stem. A huge Buddha33 here, of many-coloured stones bedizened with gold, gleams in the[Pg 128] shade of the altar, and two bonzes in front of the idol34 were quarrelling at great length, with screams like angry cats and vehement35 gesticulations, for the possession of some small object which constantly passed from one to the other.
Adjacent to this temple was the court-house, a hall of ancient splendour in the time of the kings of Kandy. It stood wide open, the walls lined with carved wood panels. The court was sitting under the punkhas that swung with regular monotony, the judges robed in red. One of the accused, standing in a sort of pen, listened unmoved to the pleading. A large label bearing the number 5 hung over his breast. Behind a barrier stood other natives, each decorated with a number, under the charge of sepoys. One of them, having been wounded in the murderous fray36 for which they were being tried, lay at full length on a litter covered with pretty matting, red and white and green, stretched on bamboo legs. A long robe of light silk enveloped37 his legs, and he alone of them all had charming features, long black eyes with dark blue depths, his face framed in a sort of halo of silky, tangled hair. He, like the man now being sentenced and those who had gone through their examination,[Pg 129] seemed quite indifferent to the judges and the lawyers. He mildly waved a palm leaf which served him as a fan, and looked as if he were listening to voices in a dream, very far away.
An interpreter translated to the accused the questions put by the judge, who understood the replies, though he was not allowed to speak excepting in English.
Then a fat native lawyer began to speak, and silence fell on the crowd of three or four hundred listeners sitting behind the accused, as if they were in church. The monotonous38 voice went on and on, urging every plea.
Even more than the assembly of their relatives and friends, the prisoners at the bar maintained the impassive mien39 of men who attach no disgrace to a sentence pronounced by a conquering race; they would take the penalty without a murmur40, as one of the inevitable41 incidents of this life, which to them is but a stage, a passage to a higher existence.
The song of birds in the mitigated42 atmosphere of the dying day came in from outside, for a moment almost drowning the pleader's weariful tones as he poured forth his statement, emphasized by sweeping43 gestures.
[Pg 130]
In the mystery of a polychrome temple, whose walls are closely covered with sculptured bas-reliefs of gods in the shape of men or animals, is a relic44, the sacred tooth of Buddha; and all about the precious object, which is enclosed in a series of shrines45 within impenetrable walls, there is no sign of respect, but all the noise and bustle46 of a fair, a perfect turmoil47 of hurrying, chattering48 folk, whose only anxiety is to keep unbelievers away from the sacred spot.
The forest round Kandy is glorious, an exuberance49, a crush of trees growing as thick as they can stand, the dense50 tangle of boughs51 and leaves outgrown53 by some enormous ficus, or tall terminalia, whose sharp, angular roots have pushed through the soil while its trunk, twisting in a spiral, has made its way to a prodigious54 height, ending a thick dome55 of foliage56. This, again, is overgrown by delicate creepers decking the green mass with their flowers. Spreading banyans, with a hundred stems thrown out like branches and ending in roots, form colonnades57 of a rosy58 grey hue14 like granite59, and might seem to be the vestiges60 of some colossal61 church with a dark vault62 above, scarcely pierced here and there by a gleam of blue light from the sky beyond. Among these giants of the forest dwells a[Pg 131] whole nation of bending ferns as pliant63 as feathers, of clinging plants hanging in dainty curtains of flowers from tree to tree. Sometimes between the screen of flowers a bit of road comes into view, deep in impalpable brick-red dust, of the same tint64 as the fruits that hang in branches from the trees.
A kind of lemon plant, with picotee-like flowers of a texture65 like crystalline pearl, its petals66 delicately fringed, exhales67 a fresh scent68 like verbena. Then, on an ebony-tree, overgrown with succulent leaves forming an edging to every bough52, is a bird—as it would seem—a lilac bird, with open wings, which, as we approach, turns into an orchid19.
Above a large fan-palm the pale fronds69 of a talipot soar towards the sky, gracefully70 recurved like enormous ostrich plumes71. A fluff, a down, of flowers clings to the stems of the magnificent crest72, a delicate pale cloud; and the broad leaves of the tree, which will die when it has blossomed, are already withering73 and drooping74 on the crown. Then, in the clearings made by the recent decay of such a giant, falling where it had stood, and crushing the bamboos and ph?nix that grew round its foot, the flowers sprang in myriads—great sunflowers, shrubs75 of poinsettia, with its tufts of red or white bracts at the end of a branch of green[Pg 132] leaves, surrounding a small inconspicuous blossom, and tall, lavender-blue lilies.
There was not a sound, not a bird, excepting on the fringe of the forest. As we penetrated76 further there soon was no undergrowth even on the dry soil, between the ever closer array of trees; the creepers hung very low, tangled with clinging parasites; and between the stilt-like and twining roots and the drooping boughs, the path, now impracticable, suddenly ended in face of the total silence and black shade that exhaled77 a strong smell of pepper, while not a leaf stirred.
Colombo again; and again the jewellers and their blue stones—an intoxicating78, living blue.
In the harbour, where there was a light breeze blowing, the little outrigged canoes had hoisted79 large sails, white edged with black, and vanished into the distance, skimming like winged things over the intensely blue water.
Men were carrying mud in enormous turtle-shells that they used for baskets.
Little beggar-girls with a depraved look, artful little hussies, pursued us coaxingly80: "Give something, sahib, to pretty Cingalee girl, who wants to go over sea to where the gentlemens live."
点击收听单词发音
1 enchantment | |
n.迷惑,妖术,魅力 | |
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2 tangle | |
n.纠缠;缠结;混乱;v.(使)缠绕;变乱 | |
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3 tangled | |
adj. 纠缠的,紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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4 margins | |
边( margin的名词复数 ); 利润; 页边空白; 差数 | |
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5 standing | |
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的 | |
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6 velvet | |
n.丝绒,天鹅绒;adj.丝绒制的,柔软的 | |
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7 irrigate | |
vt.灌溉,修水利,冲洗伤口,使潮湿 | |
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8 gaudy | |
adj.华而不实的;俗丽的 | |
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9 thicket | |
n.灌木丛,树林 | |
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10 plantation | |
n.种植园,大农场 | |
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11 awning | |
n.遮阳篷;雨篷 | |
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12 parasites | |
寄生物( parasite的名词复数 ); 靠他人为生的人; 诸虫 | |
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13 starry | |
adj.星光照耀的, 闪亮的 | |
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14 hue | |
n.色度;色调;样子 | |
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15 fragrance | |
n.芬芳,香味,香气 | |
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16 mosses | |
n. 藓类, 苔藓植物 名词moss的复数形式 | |
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17 alpine | |
adj.高山的;n.高山植物 | |
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18 cascades | |
倾泻( cascade的名词复数 ); 小瀑布(尤指一连串瀑布中的一支); 瀑布状物; 倾泻(或涌出)的东西 | |
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19 orchid | |
n.兰花,淡紫色 | |
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20 orchids | |
n.兰花( orchid的名词复数 ) | |
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21 puckered | |
v.(使某物)起褶子或皱纹( pucker的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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22 ostrich | |
n.鸵鸟 | |
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23 melancholy | |
n.忧郁,愁思;adj.令人感伤(沮丧)的,忧郁的 | |
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24 concealing | |
v.隐藏,隐瞒,遮住( conceal的现在分词 ) | |
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25 bungalows | |
n.平房( bungalow的名词复数 );单层小屋,多于一层的小屋 | |
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26 Buddhist | |
adj./n.佛教的,佛教徒 | |
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27 carvings | |
n.雕刻( carving的名词复数 );雕刻术;雕刻品;雕刻物 | |
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28 forth | |
adv.向前;向外,往外 | |
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29 chiaroscuro | |
n.明暗对照法 | |
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30 torment | |
n.折磨;令人痛苦的东西(人);vt.折磨;纠缠 | |
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31 devour | |
v.吞没;贪婪地注视或谛听,贪读;使着迷 | |
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32 beads | |
n.(空心)小珠子( bead的名词复数 );水珠;珠子项链 | |
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33 Buddha | |
n.佛;佛像;佛陀 | |
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34 idol | |
n.偶像,红人,宠儿 | |
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35 vehement | |
adj.感情强烈的;热烈的;(人)有强烈感情的 | |
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36 fray | |
v.争吵;打斗;磨损,磨破;n.吵架;打斗 | |
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37 enveloped | |
v.包围,笼罩,包住( envelop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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38 monotonous | |
adj.单调的,一成不变的,使人厌倦的 | |
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39 mien | |
n.风采;态度 | |
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40 murmur | |
n.低语,低声的怨言;v.低语,低声而言 | |
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41 inevitable | |
adj.不可避免的,必然发生的 | |
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42 mitigated | |
v.减轻,缓和( mitigate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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43 sweeping | |
adj.范围广大的,一扫无遗的 | |
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44 relic | |
n.神圣的遗物,遗迹,纪念物 | |
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45 shrines | |
圣地,圣坛,神圣场所( shrine的名词复数 ) | |
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46 bustle | |
v.喧扰地忙乱,匆忙,奔忙;n.忙碌;喧闹 | |
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47 turmoil | |
n.骚乱,混乱,动乱 | |
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48 chattering | |
n. (机器振动发出的)咔嗒声,(鸟等)鸣,啁啾 adj. 喋喋不休的,啾啾声的 动词chatter的现在分词形式 | |
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49 exuberance | |
n.丰富;繁荣 | |
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50 dense | |
a.密集的,稠密的,浓密的;密度大的 | |
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51 boughs | |
大树枝( bough的名词复数 ) | |
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52 bough | |
n.大树枝,主枝 | |
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53 outgrown | |
长[发展] 得超过(某物)的范围( outgrow的过去分词 ); 长[发展]得不能再要(某物); 长得比…快; 生长速度超过 | |
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54 prodigious | |
adj.惊人的,奇妙的;异常的;巨大的;庞大的 | |
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55 dome | |
n.圆屋顶,拱顶 | |
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56 foliage | |
n.叶子,树叶,簇叶 | |
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57 colonnades | |
n.石柱廊( colonnade的名词复数 ) | |
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58 rosy | |
adj.美好的,乐观的,玫瑰色的 | |
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59 granite | |
adj.花岗岩,花岗石 | |
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60 vestiges | |
残余部分( vestige的名词复数 ); 遗迹; 痕迹; 毫不 | |
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61 colossal | |
adj.异常的,庞大的 | |
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62 vault | |
n.拱形圆顶,地窖,地下室 | |
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63 pliant | |
adj.顺从的;可弯曲的 | |
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64 tint | |
n.淡色,浅色;染发剂;vt.着以淡淡的颜色 | |
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65 texture | |
n.(织物)质地;(材料)构造;结构;肌理 | |
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66 petals | |
n.花瓣( petal的名词复数 ) | |
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67 exhales | |
v.呼出,发散出( exhale的第三人称单数 );吐出(肺中的空气、烟等),呼气 | |
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68 scent | |
n.气味,香味,香水,线索,嗅觉;v.嗅,发觉 | |
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69 fronds | |
n.蕨类或棕榈类植物的叶子( frond的名词复数 ) | |
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70 gracefully | |
ad.大大方方地;优美地 | |
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71 plumes | |
羽毛( plume的名词复数 ); 羽毛饰; 羽毛状物; 升上空中的羽状物 | |
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72 crest | |
n.顶点;饰章;羽冠;vt.达到顶点;vi.形成浪尖 | |
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73 withering | |
使人畏缩的,使人害羞的,使人难堪的 | |
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74 drooping | |
adj. 下垂的,无力的 动词droop的现在分词 | |
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75 shrubs | |
灌木( shrub的名词复数 ) | |
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76 penetrated | |
adj. 击穿的,鞭辟入里的 动词penetrate的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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77 exhaled | |
v.呼出,发散出( exhale的过去式和过去分词 );吐出(肺中的空气、烟等),呼气 | |
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78 intoxicating | |
a. 醉人的,使人兴奋的 | |
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79 hoisted | |
把…吊起,升起( hoist的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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80 coaxingly | |
adv. 以巧言诱哄,以甘言哄骗 | |
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