Chapter 15

THE remainder of the year '49 has left me nothing to tell.

　　For me, it was the inane¹ life of that draff of Society - theyoung man-about-town: the tailor's, the haberdasher's, thebootmaker's, and trinket-maker's, young man; the dancing and'hell'-frequenting young man; the young man of the 'CiderCellars' and Piccadilly saloons; the valiant² dove-slayer, thepark-lounger, the young lady's young man - who puts his hatinto mourning, and turns up his trousers because - becausethe other young man does ditto, ditto.

　　I had a share in the Guards' omnibus box at Covent Garden,with the privilege attached of going behind the scenes. Ah!

　　that was a real pleasure. To listen night after night toGrisi and Mario, Alboni and Lablache, Viardot and Ronconi,Persiani and Tamburini, - and Jenny Lind too, though she wasat the other house. And what an orchestra was Costa's - withSainton leader, and Lindley and old Dragonetti, who togetherbut alone, accompanied the RECITATIVE with their harmoniouschords on 'cello³ and double-bass. Is singing a lost art? Oris that but a TEMPORIS ACTI question? We who heard those nowsilent voices fancy there are none to match them nowadays.

　　Certainly there are no dancers like Taglioni, and Cerito, andFanny Elsler, and Carlotta Grisi.

　　After the opera and the ball, one finished the night atVauxhall or Ranelagh; then as gay, and exactly the same, asthey were when Miss Becky Sharpe and fat Jos supped thereonly five-and-thirty years before.

　　Except at the Opera, and the Philharmonic, and Exeter Hall,one rarely heard good music. Monsieur Jullien, that princeof musical mountebanks - the 'Prince of Waterloo,' as JohnElla called him, was the first to popularise classical musicat his promenade⁵ concerts, by tentatively introducing asingle movement of a symphony here and there in the programmeof his quadrilles and waltzes and music-hall songs.

　　Mr. Ella, too, furthered the movement with his Musical Unionand quartett parties at Willis's Rooms, where Sainton andCooper led alternately, and the incomparable Piatti and Hillmade up the four. Here Ernst, Sivori, Vieuxtemps, andBottesini, and Mesdames Schumann, Dulcken, Arabella Goddard,and all the famous virtuosi played their solos.

　　Great was the stimulus⁶ thus given by Ella's energy andenthusiasm. As a proof of what he had to contend with, andwhat he triumphed over, Halle's 'Life' may be quoted, whereit says: 'When Mr. Ella asked me [this was in 1848] what Iwished to play, and heard that it was one of Beethoven'spianoforte sonatas⁷, he exclaimed "Impossible!" andendeavoured to demonstrate that they were not works to beplayed in public.' What seven-league boots the world hasstridden in within the memory of living men!

　　John Ella himself led the second violins in Costa's band, andhad begun life (so I have been told) as a pastry-cook. Iknew both him and the wonderful little Frenchman 'at home.'

　　According to both, in their different ways, Beethoven andMozart would have been lost to fame but for their heroicefforts to save them.

　　I used occasionally to play with Ella at the house of a ladywho gave musical parties. He was always attuned⁸ to thehighest pitch, - most good-natured, but most excitable wheremusic was to the fore⁴. We were rehearsing a quintett, thepianoforte part of which was played by the young lady of thehouse - a very pretty girl, and not a bad musician, butnervous to the point of hysteria. Ella himself was in ahypercritical state; nothing would go smoothly⁹; and the pianowas always (according to him) the peccant instrument. Againand again he made us restart the movement. There were a goodmany friends of the family invited to this last rehearsal,which made it worse for the poor girl, who was obviously onthe brink¹⁰ of a breakdown¹¹. Presently Ella again jumped offhis chair, and shouted: 'Not E flat! There's no E flatthere; E natural! E natural! I never in my life knew ayoung lady so prolific¹² of flats as you.' There was a pause,then a giggle¹³, then an explosion; and then the poor girl,bursting into tears, rushed out of the room.

　　It was at Ella's house that I first heard Joachim, then aboutsixteen, I suppose. He had not yet performed in London. Allthe musical celebrities¹⁴ were present to hear the youthfulprodigy. Two quartetts were played, Ernst leading one andJoachim the other. After it was over, everyone wasenraptured, but no one more so than Ernst, who unhesitatinglypredicted the fame which the great artist has so eminentlyachieved.

　　One more amusing little story belongs to my experiences ofthese days. Having two brothers and a brother-in-law in theGuards, I used to dine often at the Tower, or the Bank, orSt. James's. At the Bank of England there is always at nightan officer's guard. There is no mess, as the officer isalone. But the Bank provides dinner for two, in case theofficer should invite a friend. On the occasion I speak of,my brother-in-law, Sir Archibald Macdonald, was on duty. Thesoup and fish were excellent, but we were young and hungry,and the usual leg of mutton was always a dish to be lookedforward to.

　　When its cover was removed by the waiter we looked in vain;there was plenty of gravy¹⁵, but no mutton. Our surprise waseven greater than our dismay, for the waiter swore 'So 'elphis gawd' that he saw the cook put the leg on the dish, andthat he himself put the cover on the leg. 'And what did youdo with it then?' questioned my host. 'Nothing, S'Archibald.

　　Brought it straight in 'ere.' 'Do you mean to tell me it wasnever out of your hands between this and the kitchen?'

　　'Never, but for the moment I put it down outside the door tochange the plates.' 'And was there nobody in the passage?'

　　'Not a soul, except the sentry¹⁶.' 'I see,' said my host, whowas a quick-witted man. 'Send the sergeant¹⁷ here.' Thesergeant came. The facts were related, and the order givento parade the entire guard, sentry included, in the passage.

　　The sentry was interrogated¹⁸ first. 'No, he had not seennobody in the passage.' 'No one had touched the dish?'

　　'Nobody as ever he seed.' Then came the orders: 'Attention.

　　Ground arms. Take off your bear-skins.' And the truth -I.E., the missing leg - was at once revealed; the sentry hadpopped it into his shako. For long after that day, when theguard either for the Tower or Bank marched through thestreets, the little blackguard boys used to run beside it andcry, 'Who stole the leg o' mutton?'

1 inane   

adj.空虚的，愚蠢的，空洞的

参考例句：

• She started asking me inane questions.她开始问我愚蠢的问题。
• Such comments are inane because they don't help us solve our problem.这种评论纯属空洞之词，不能帮助我们解决问题。

2 valiant   

adj.勇敢的，英勇的；n.勇士，勇敢的人

参考例句：

• He had the fame of being very valiant.他的勇敢是出名的。
• Despite valiant efforts by the finance minister,inflation rose to 36%.尽管财政部部长采取了一系列果决措施，通货膨胀率还是涨到了36%。

3 cello   

n.大提琴

参考例句：

• The cello is a member of the violin family.大提琴是提琴家族的一员。
• She plays a melodious cello.她拉着一手悦耳的大提琴。

4 fore   

adv.在前面；adj.先前的；在前部的；n.前部

参考例句：

• Your seat is in the fore part of the aircraft.你的座位在飞机的前部。
• I have the gift of fore knowledge.我能够未卜先知。

5 promenade   

n./v.散步

参考例句：

• People came out in smarter clothes to promenade along the front.人们穿上更加时髦漂亮的衣服，沿着海滨散步。
• We took a promenade along the canal after Sunday dinner.星期天晚饭后我们沿着运河散步。

6 stimulus   

n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物

参考例句：

• Regard each failure as a stimulus to further efforts.把每次失利看成对进一步努力的激励。
• Light is a stimulus to growth in plants.光是促进植物生长的一个因素。

7 sonatas   

n.奏鸣曲( sonata的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The programme includes two Mozart sonatas. 节目单中有两首莫扎特的奏鸣曲。 来自辞典例句
• He would play complete sonatas for violin and piano with no piano in sight. 他会在没有钢琴伴奏的情况下，演奏完整的小提琴与钢琴合奏的奏鸣曲。 来自辞典例句

8 attuned   

v.使协调( attune的过去式和过去分词 )；调音

参考例句：

• She wasn't yet attuned to her baby's needs. 她还没有熟悉她宝宝的需要。
• Women attuned to sensitive men found Vincent Lord attractive. 偏爱敏感男子的女人，觉得文森特·洛德具有魅力。 来自辞典例句

9 smoothly   

adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地

参考例句：

• The workmen are very cooperative,so the work goes on smoothly.工人们十分合作，所以工作进展顺利。
• Just change one or two words and the sentence will read smoothly.这句话只要动一两个字就顺了。

10 brink   

n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿

参考例句：

• The tree grew on the brink of the cliff.那棵树生长在峭壁的边缘。
• The two countries were poised on the brink of war.这两个国家处于交战的边缘。

11 breakdown   

n.垮，衰竭；损坏，故障，倒塌

参考例句：

• She suffered a nervous breakdown.她患神经衰弱。
• The plane had a breakdown in the air,but it was fortunately removed by the ace pilot.飞机在空中发生了故障，但幸运的是被王牌驾驶员排除了。

12 prolific   

adj.丰富的，大量的；多产的，富有创造力的

参考例句：

• She is a prolific writer of novels and short stories.她是一位多产的作家，写了很多小说和短篇故事。
• The last few pages of the document are prolific of mistakes.这个文件的最后几页错误很多。

13 giggle   

n.痴笑，咯咯地笑；v.咯咯地笑着说

参考例句：

• Both girls began to giggle.两个女孩都咯咯地笑了起来。
• All that giggle and whisper is too much for me.我受不了那些咯咯的笑声和交头接耳的样子。

14 celebrities   

n.（尤指娱乐界的）名人( celebrity的名词复数 )；名流；名声；名誉

参考例句：

• He only invited A-list celebrities to his parties. 他只邀请头等名流参加他的聚会。
• a TV chat show full of B-list celebrities 由众多二流人物参加的电视访谈节目

15 gravy   

n.肉汁；轻易得来的钱，外快

参考例句：

• You have spilled gravy on the tablecloth.你把肉汁泼到台布上了。
• The meat was swimming in gravy.肉泡在浓汁之中。

16 sentry   

n.哨兵，警卫

参考例句：

• They often stood sentry on snowy nights.他们常常在雪夜放哨。
• The sentry challenged anyone approaching the tent.哨兵查问任一接近帐篷的人。

17 sergeant   

n.警官，中士

参考例句：

• His elder brother is a sergeant.他哥哥是个警官。
• How many stripes are there on the sleeve of a sergeant?陆军中士的袖子上有多少条纹？

18 interrogated   

v.询问( interrogate的过去式和过去分词 )；审问；（在计算机或其他机器上）查询

参考例句：

• He was interrogated by the police for over 12 hours. 他被警察审问了12个多小时。
• Two suspects are now being interrogated in connection with the killing. 与杀人案有关的两名嫌疑犯正在接受审讯。 来自《简明英汉词典》