Just as Robinson Crusoe, getting attached to his parrots and his palm-trees, his gourds3 and his goats, continued to yearn4 for them after his return to Europe, so I found myself gradually succumbing5 to the indolent charm and the drowsy6 poetry of this secluded7 land. A very few years more of unbroken residence here would no doubt suffice to efface8 all memory of the world we had left behind and the century in which we live.
I remember reading in some fairy tale, long ago, of a youthful princess who, stolen by the gnomes10 and carried off into gnomeland, was restored to her parents after a lapse11 of years. Their joy was great at recovering their child, but it turned to grief when they discovered that she had grown estranged12 from them, and had lost all interest in the actual world. The sun was too bright, she said, it hurt her eyes, and the voices of men were too loud, they scorched13 her ears; and she could never feel at home again amid the restless glitter of her surroundings.
I do not recollect14 how the story concludes—whether the young lady became in time reconciled to her father’s brilliant court, or{2} whether she ran away and married a gnome9; but this tale somehow reminded me of my own experiences, and I caught myself wondering whether a few years hence, perhaps, the summons to return to the world might not have come too late.
Parrots and palm-trees are all very well, no doubt, to fill up the life of a stranded15 mariner16, but it is questionable17 whether it be wise to let such things absorb the mind to the extent of destroying all taste for wider interests. Life in an island is apt to consist too entirely18 of foreground—the breadth of a panorama19 and the comprehensiveness of a bird’s-eye view, only gained by constant friction20 with the bustling21, pushing outer world, being mostly here wanting.
Luckily, or unluckily, as one may choose to view it, the spirit of the nineteenth century is a ghost very difficult to be laid. A steady course of narcotics22 may lull23 it to rest for a time; but the spirit is but stupefied, not dead; its vitality24 is great, and it will start up again to life at the first trumpet-blast which reaches from without, eager to exchange a peaceful dream for the movement of the arena25 and the renewed clank of arms.
Some such feelings were mine as I beheld26 the signal waving from the ship which was to carry me back to a world I had almost forgotten; and though I heaved a sigh of regret, and possibly may have dropped a tear or two in secret for the peaceful and familiar scenes I was leaving, yet I would not have steered27 round the vessel28 to return to my island.
Not the mere29 distance which separates Transylvania from Western Europe gives to it this feeling of strange isolation30. Other countries as far or farther off are infinitely31 more familiar even to those who have never visited them. We know all about Turkey, and Greece is no more strange to us than Italy or Switzerland. But no one ever comes to Transylvania in cold blood, unless it be some very rabid sportsman eager for the embrace of a shaggy bear; and as for those rushing travellers, bound for the Black Sea, who sometimes traverse the country in hot-headed haste, they mostly resemble the superficial swallow which skims the surface of a placid32 lake, without guessing the secrets of the blue depths below.
Situated33 by nature within a formidable rampart of snow-tipped mountains, and shielded by heavy curtains of shrouding34 forests against the noise and turmoil35 of the outer world, the very name of Transylvania{3} tells us that it was formerly36 regarded as something apart, something out of reach, whose existence even for a time was enveloped37 in mystery. In olden times these gloomy forest gorges38 were tenanted only by the solitary39 bear or packs of famished40 wolves, while the mistrustful lynx looked down from the giddy heights, and the chamois leaped unchecked from rock to rock. The people who lived westward41 of this mountain rampart, knowing but little or nothing of the country on the other side, designated it as Transylvania, or the land beyond the forest, just as we sometimes talk of the “land beyond the clouds.”
Nothing, however, can remain undiscovered on the face of our globe. That enterprising creature man, who is even now attempting, with some show of success, to probe the country beyond the clouds, has likewise discovered the way to this secluded nook. The dense42 forests, once forming such impenetrable barriers against the outer world, have in great part disappeared; another voice is heard besides that of the wild beasts of the wood; another breath comes mingled43 along with the mountain vapors—it is the breath of that nineteenth-century monster, the steam-engine.
This benefactor44 of the age, this harbinger of civilization, which is as truly the destroyer of romance, and poetry’s deadly foe45, will undoubtedly46 succeed in robbing this country of the old-world charm which yet lingers about it. Transylvania will in time become as civilized47 and cultivated, and likewise as stereotyped48 and conventional, as the best known parts of our first European States—it will even one day cease to be an island; but as yet the advent49 of the nineteenth-century monster is of too recent a date to have tainted50 the atmosphere by its breath, and the old-world charm still lingers around and about many things. It is floating everywhere and anywhere—in the forests and on the mountains, in medi?val churches and ruined watch-towers, in mysterious caverns51 and in ancient gold-mines, in the songs of the people and the legends they tell. Like a subtle perfume evaporating under the rays of a burning sun, it is growing daily fainter and fainter, and all lovers of the past should hasten to collect this fleeting52 fragrance53 ere it be gone forever. This is what I have endeavored to do, to some small extent, since fate for a time cast my lines in those parts.
And first and foremost let me here explain that my intentions in compiling this work are nowise of an ambitious or lofty nature.{4} I desire to instruct no one, to influence no one, to enlist54 no one’s sympathies in favor of any particular social question or political doctrine55. Even had such been my intention, I have been therein amply forestalled56 by others; nor do I delude57 myself into the belief that it is my proud vocation58 to correct the errors of all former writers by giving to the world the only correct and trustworthy description of Transylvania which has yet appeared. I have not lived long enough in the country to feel myself justified59 in taking up the gauntlet against the assertions of older inhabitants of the soil, but have lived there too long to rival that admirable self-possession which induces the average tourist to classify, condemn60, ticket, and tie up every fact which comes within his notice, never demeaning himself to grovel61 or analyze62, nor being disturbed by any doubts of the reliability63 of his own unerring judgment64.
Whoever wishes to study the history of Transylvania in its past, present, and future aspects, who wants to understand its geological formation or system of agriculture, who would thoroughly65 penetrate66 into the inextricable net-work of conflicting political interests which divide its interior, must seek his information elsewhere.
Do you wish, for instance, to see Transylvania as it was some forty years ago? If so, I can confidently advise you to read the valuable work of Mr. Paget and the spirited descriptions of Monsieur de Gérando.
Do you want to gain insight into the geological resources of the country, or the farming system of the Saxon peasant? Then take up Charles Boner’s comprehensive work on Transylvania. And would you see these Saxons as they love to behold67 themselves, then turn to Dr. Teutsch’s learned work on “Die Siebenbürger Sachsen;” while if politics be your special hobby, you cannot better indulge it than by selecting Mr. Patterson’s most interesting work on Hungary and Transylvania.
If, moreover, you care to study the country “contrariwise,” and would know what the Roumanians are utterly68 unlike, read the description of them in the aforementioned book of Mr. Boner; while for generally incorrect information on almost every available subject connected with the country, I am told that the German work of Rudolf Bergner cannot be too highly recommended.
Recognizing, therefore, the superiority of the many learned predecessors69 who each in their respective lines have so thoroughly worked{5} out the subject in hand, I would merely forewarn the reader that no such completeness of outline can be looked for here. Neither is my book intended to be of the guide-book species—no sort of ornamental70 Bradshaw or idealized Murray. I fail to see the use of minutely describing several scores of towns and villages which the English reader is never likely to set eyes upon. If you think of travelling this way, good and well, then buy the genuine article for yourself—Murray or Bradshaw—unadulterated by me; or, better still, the excellent German hand-book of Professor Bielz; while if you stay at home, can you really care to know if such and such a town have five churches or fifty? or whether the proportion of carbonate of magnesia exceed that of chloride of potassium in some particular spring of whose waters you will never taste?
All that I have attempted here to do is to seize the general color and atmosphere of the land, and to fix—as much for my own private satisfaction as for any other reason—certain impressions of people and places I should be loath71 to forget. I have written only of those things which happened to excite my interest, and have described figures and scenery, such as they appeared to me. For some of the details contained in these pages I am indebted to the following writers: Liszt, Slavici, Fronius, Müller, and Schwicker—all competent authorities well acquainted with their subject. Some things have found no place here because I did not consider myself competent to speak of them, others because they did not chance to be congenial; and although not absolutely scorning serious information whenever it has come in my way, I have taken more pleasure in chronicling fancies than facts, and superstitions72 rather than statistics.
More than one error has doubtless crept unawares into this work; so in order to place myself quite on the safe side with regard to stern critics, I had better hasten to say that I decline to pledge my word for the veracity73 of anything contained in these pages. I only lay claim to having used my eyes and ears to the best of my ability; and where I have failed to see or hear aright, the fault must be set down to some inherent color-blindness, or radical74 defect in my tympanum. Nor do I pretend to have seen everything, even in a small country like Transylvania, and every spot I have failed to visit, from lack of time or opportunity, is not only to me a source of poignant75 regret, but likewise a chapter missing from this book.
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1
atlas
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| n.地图册，图表集 | |
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divest
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| v.脱去，剥除 | |
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gourds
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| n.葫芦( gourd的名词复数 ) | |
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yearn
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| v.想念；怀念；渴望 | |
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succumbing
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| 不再抵抗（诱惑、疾病、攻击等）( succumb的现在分词 )； 屈从； 被压垮； 死 | |
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drowsy
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| adj.昏昏欲睡的，令人发困的 | |
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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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efface
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| v.擦掉，抹去 | |
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gnome
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| n.土地神；侏儒，地精 | |
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gnomes
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| n.矮子( gnome的名词复数 )；侏儒；（尤指金融市场上搞投机的）银行家；守护神 | |
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lapse
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| n.过失，流逝，失效，抛弃信仰，间隔；vi.堕落，停止，失效，流逝；vt.使失效 | |
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estranged
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| adj.疏远的，分离的 | |
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scorched
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| 烧焦，烤焦( scorch的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（植物）枯萎，把…晒枯； 高速行驶； 枯焦 | |
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recollect
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| v.回忆，想起，记起，忆起，记得 | |
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stranded
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| a.搁浅的，进退两难的 | |
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mariner
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| n.水手号不载人航天探测器，海员，航海者 | |
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questionable
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| adj.可疑的，有问题的 | |
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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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panorama
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| n.全景，全景画，全景摄影，全景照片[装置] | |
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friction
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| n.摩擦，摩擦力 | |
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bustling
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| adj.喧闹的 | |
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narcotics
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| n.麻醉药( narcotic的名词复数 )；毒品；毒 | |
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lull
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| v.使安静，使入睡，缓和，哄骗；n.暂停，间歇 | |
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vitality
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| n.活力，生命力，效力 | |
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arena
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| n.竞技场，运动场所；竞争场所，舞台 | |
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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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steered
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| v.驾驶( steer的过去式和过去分词 )；操纵；控制；引导 | |
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vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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isolation
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| n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离 | |
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infinitely
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| adv.无限地，无穷地 | |
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placid
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| adj.安静的，平和的 | |
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situated
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| adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的 | |
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shrouding
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| n.覆盖v.隐瞒( shroud的现在分词 )；保密 | |
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turmoil
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| n.骚乱，混乱，动乱 | |
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formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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enveloped
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| v.包围，笼罩，包住( envelop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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gorges
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| n.山峡，峡谷( gorge的名词复数 )；咽喉v.（用食物把自己）塞饱，填饱( gorge的第三人称单数 )；作呕 | |
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solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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famished
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| adj.饥饿的 | |
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westward
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| n.西方，西部；adj.西方的，向西的；adv.向西 | |
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dense
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| a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的 | |
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mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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benefactor
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| n. 恩人，行善的人，捐助人 | |
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foe
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| n.敌人，仇敌 | |
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undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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civilized
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| a.有教养的，文雅的 | |
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stereotyped
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| adj.(指形象、思想、人物等)模式化的 | |
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advent
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| n.(重要事件等的)到来，来临 | |
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tainted
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| adj.腐坏的；污染的；沾污的；感染的v.使变质( taint的过去式和过去分词 )；使污染；败坏；被污染，腐坏，败坏 | |
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51
caverns
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| 大山洞，大洞穴( cavern的名词复数 ) | |
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fleeting
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| adj.短暂的，飞逝的 | |
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fragrance
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| n.芬芳，香味，香气 | |
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54
enlist
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| vt.谋取(支持等)，赢得；征募；vi.入伍 | |
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doctrine
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| n.教义；主义；学说 | |
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forestalled
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| v.先发制人，预先阻止( forestall的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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delude
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| vt.欺骗；哄骗 | |
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vocation
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| n.职业，行业 | |
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justified
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| a.正当的，有理的 | |
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condemn
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| vt.谴责，指责；宣判(罪犯)，判刑 | |
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grovel
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| vi.卑躬屈膝，奴颜婢膝 | |
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analyze
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| vt.分析，解析 (=analyse) | |
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reliability
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| n.可靠性，确实性 | |
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judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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penetrate
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| v.透(渗)入；刺入，刺穿；洞察，了解 | |
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behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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predecessors
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| n.前任( predecessor的名词复数 )；前辈；（被取代的）原有事物；前身 | |
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ornamental
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| adj.装饰的；作装饰用的；n.装饰品；观赏植物 | |
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loath
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| adj.不愿意的；勉强的 | |
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superstitions
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| 迷信，迷信行为( superstition的名词复数 ) | |
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veracity
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| n.诚实 | |
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radical
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| n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的 | |
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poignant
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| adj.令人痛苦的，辛酸的，惨痛的 | |
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