Part 1 On The Icy Sea Chapter 4

The first day she had seen him, this Yann, was the day after hisarrival, at the "/Pardon des Islandais/," which is on the eighth ofDecember, the fete-day of Our Lady of Bonne-Nouvelle, the patroness offishers--a little before the procession, with the gray streets, stilldraped in white sheets, on which were strewn ivy¹ and holly² and wintryblossoms with their leaves.

　　At this /Pardon/ the rejoicing was heavy and wild under the sad sky.

　　Joy without merriment, composed chiefly of insouciance³ and contempt;of physical strength and alcohol; above which floated, less disguisedthan elsewhere, the universal warning of death.

　　A great clamour in Paimpol; sounds of bells mingled⁴ with the chants ofthe priests. Rough and monotonous⁵ songs in the taverns⁶--old sailorlullabies--songs of woe⁷, arisen from the sea, drawn⁸ from the deepnight of bygone ages. Groups of sailors, arm-in-arm, zigzaggingthrough the streets, from their habit of rolling, and because theywere half-drunk. Groups of girls in their nun-like white caps. Oldgranite houses sheltering these seething⁹ crowds; antiquated¹⁰ roofstelling of their struggles, through many centuries, against thewestern winds, the mist, and the rain; and relating, too, many storiesof love and adventure that had passed under their protection.

　　And floating over all was a deep religious sentiment, a feeling ofbygone days, with respect for ancient veneration¹¹ and the symbols thatprotect it, and for the white, immaculate Virgin¹². Side by side withthe taverns rose the church, its deep sombre portals thrown open, andsteps strewn with flowers, with its perfume of incense¹³, its lightedtapers, and the votive offerings of sailors hung all over the sacredarch. And side by side also with the happy girls were the sweetheartsof dead sailors, and the widows of the shipwrecked fishers, quittingthe chapel¹⁴ of the dead in their long mourning shawls and their smoothtiny /coiffes/; with eyes downward bent¹⁵, noiselessly they passedthrough the midst of this clamouring life, like a sombre warning. Andclose to all was the everlasting¹⁶ sea, the huge nurse and devourer¹⁷ ofthese vigorous generations, become fierce and agitated¹⁹ as if to takepart in the fete.

　　Gaud had but a confused impression of all these things together.

　　Excited and merry, yet with her heart aching, she felt a sort ofanguish seize her at the idea that this country had now become her ownagain. On the market-place, where there were games and acrobats²⁰, shewalked up and down with her friends, who named and pointed²¹ out to herfrom time to time the young men of Paimpol or Ploubazlanec. A group ofthese "Icelanders" were standing²² before the singers of"/complaintes/," (songs of woe) with their backs turned towards them.

　　And directly Gaud was struck with one of them, tall as a giant, withhuge shoulders almost too broad; but she had simply said, perhaps witha touch of mockery: "There is one who is tall, to say the least!" Andthe sentence implied beneath this was: "What an incumbrance he'll beto the woman he marries, a husband of that size!"He had turned round as if he had heard her, and had given her a quickglance from top to toe, seeming to say: "Who is this girl who wearsthe /coiffe/ of Paimpol, who is so elegant, and whom I never have seenbefore?"And he quickly bent his eyes to the ground for politeness' sake, andhad appeared to take a renewed interest in the singers, only showingthe back of his head and his black hair that fell in rather long curlsupon his neck. And although she had asked the names of several others,she had not dared ask his. The fine profile, the grand half-savagelook, the brown, almost tawny²³ pupils moving rapidly on the bluish opalof the eyes; all this had impressed her and made her timid.

　　And it just happened to be that "Fils Gaos," of whom she had heard theMoans speak as a great friend of Sylvestre's. On the evening of thissame /Pardon/, Sylvestre and he, walking arm-in-arm, had crossed herfather and herself, and had stopped to wish them good-day.

　　And young Sylvestre had become again to her as a sort of brother. Asthey were cousins they had continued to /tutoyer/ (using thou for you,a sign of familiarity) each other; true, she had at first hesitateddoing so to this great boy of seventeen, who already wore a blackbeard, but as his kind, soft, childish eyes had hardly changed at all,she recognized him soon enough to imagine that she had never lostsight of him.

　　When he used to come into Paimpol, she kept him to dinner of anevening; it was without consequence to her, and he always had a verygood appetite, being on rather short rations¹⁸ at home.

　　To speak truly, Yann had not been very polite to her at this firstmeeting, which took place at the corner of a tiny gray street, strewnwith green branches. He had raised his hat to her, with a noble thoughtimid gesture; and after having given her an ever-rapid glance, turnedhis eyes away, as if he were vexed²⁴ with this meeting and in a hurry togo. A strong western breeze that had arisen during the procession, hadscattered branches of box everywhere and loaded the sky with dark graydraperies.

　　Gaud, in her dreamland of remembrances, saw all this clearly again;the sad gloaming falling upon the remains²⁵ of the /Pardon/; the sheetsstrewn with white flowers floating in the wind along the walls; thenoisy groups of Icelanders, other waifs of the gales²⁶ and tempestsflocking into the taverns, singing to cheer themselves under the gloomof the coming rain; and above all, Gaud remembered the giant standingin front of her, turning aside as if annoyed, and troubled at havingmet her.

　　What a wonderful change had come over her since then; and what adifference there was between that hubbub²⁷ and the present tranquility!

　　How quiet and empty Paimpol seemed to-night in the warm long twilightof May, which kept her still at her window alone, lulled²⁸ in her love'syoung dream!

1 ivy   

n.常青藤，常春藤

参考例句：

• Her wedding bouquet consisted of roses and ivy.她的婚礼花篮包括玫瑰和长春藤。
• The wall is covered all over with ivy.墙上爬满了常春藤。

2 holly   

n.[植]冬青属灌木

参考例句：

• I recently acquired some wood from a holly tree.最近我从一棵冬青树上弄了些木料。
• People often decorate their houses with holly at Christmas.人们总是在圣诞节时用冬青来装饰房屋。

3 insouciance   

n.漠不关心

参考例句：

• He replied with characteristic insouciance:"So what?"他以一贯的漫不经心回答道：“那又怎样？”
• What explains this apparent insouciance?用什么能够解释这种视而不见呢？

4 mingled   

混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系]

参考例句：

• The sounds of laughter and singing mingled in the evening air. 笑声和歌声交织在夜空中。
• The man and the woman mingled as everyone started to relax. 当大家开始放松的时候，这一男一女就开始交往了。

5 monotonous   

adj.单调的，一成不变的，使人厌倦的

参考例句：

• She thought life in the small town was monotonous.她觉得小镇上的生活单调而乏味。
• His articles are fixed in form and monotonous in content.他的文章千篇一律，一个调调儿。

6 taverns   

n.小旅馆，客栈，酒馆( tavern的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They ain't only two taverns. We can find out quick." 这儿只有两家客栈，会弄明白的。” 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险
• Maybe ALL the Temperance Taverns have got a ha'nted room, hey, Huck?" 也许所有的禁酒客栈都有个闹鬼的房间，喂，哈克，你说是不是？” 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险

7 woe   

n.悲哀，苦痛，不幸，困难；int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌

参考例句：

• Our two peoples are brothers sharing weal and woe.我们两国人民是患难与共的兄弟。
• A man is well or woe as he thinks himself so.自认祸是祸，自认福是福。

8 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

9 seething   

沸腾的，火热的

参考例句：

• The stadium was a seething cauldron of emotion. 体育场内群情沸腾。
• The meeting hall was seething at once. 会场上顿时沸腾起来了。

10 antiquated   

adj.陈旧的，过时的

参考例句：

• Many factories are so antiquated they are not worth saving.很多工厂过于陈旧落后，已不值得挽救。
• A train of antiquated coaches was waiting for us at the siding.一列陈旧的火车在侧线上等着我们。

11 veneration   

n.尊敬，崇拜

参考例句：

• I acquired lasting respect for tradition and veneration for the past.我开始对传统和历史产生了持久的敬慕。
• My father venerated General Eisenhower.我父亲十分敬仰艾森豪威尔将军。

12 virgin   

n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的

参考例句：

• Have you ever been to a virgin forest?你去过原始森林吗？
• There are vast expanses of virgin land in the remote regions.在边远地区有大片大片未开垦的土地。

13 incense   

v.激怒；n.香，焚香时的烟，香气

参考例句：

• This proposal will incense conservation campaigners.这项提议会激怒环保人士。
• In summer,they usually burn some coil incense to keep away the mosquitoes.夏天他们通常点香驱蚊。

14 chapel   

n.小教堂，殡仪馆

参考例句：

• The nimble hero,skipped into a chapel that stood near.敏捷的英雄跳进近旁的一座小教堂里。
• She was on the peak that Sunday afternoon when she played in chapel.那个星期天的下午，她在小教堂的演出，可以说是登峰造极。

15 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

16 everlasting   

adj.永恒的，持久的，无止境的

参考例句：

• These tyres are advertised as being everlasting.广告上说轮胎持久耐用。
• He believes in everlasting life after death.他相信死后有不朽的生命。

17 devourer   

吞噬者

参考例句：

• All hail Abaddon, the Great Devourer. 魔王（亚巴顿）万岁！伟大的吞噬者。
• You summon a goddamn Devourer on my turf, and I just let it go? 你在我的地盘召唤了一只吞噬者，而我只是视而不见？

18 rations   

定量( ration的名词复数 )； 配给量； 正常量； 合理的量

参考例句：

• They are provisioned with seven days' rations. 他们得到了7天的给养。
• The soldiers complained that they were getting short rations. 士兵们抱怨他们得到的配给不够数。

19 agitated   

adj.被鼓动的，不安的

参考例句：

• His answers were all mixed up,so agitated was he.他是那样心神不定，回答全乱了。
• She was agitated because her train was an hour late.她乘坐的火车晚点一个小时，她十分焦虑。

20 acrobats   

n.杂技演员( acrobat的名词复数 )；立场观点善变的人，主张、政见等变化无常的人

参考例句：

• I was always fascinated by the acrobats at the circus. 我总是着迷于马戏团里的杂技演员。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The acrobats' performance drew forth applause from the audience. 杂技演员的表演博得了观众的掌声。 来自《简明英汉词典》

21 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。

22 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

23 tawny   

adj.茶色的，黄褐色的；n.黄褐色

参考例句：

• Her black hair springs in fine strands across her tawny,ruddy cheek.她的一头乌发分披在健康红润的脸颊旁。
• None of them noticed a large,tawny owl flutter past the window.他们谁也没注意到一只大的、褐色的猫头鹰飞过了窗户。

24 vexed   

adj.争论不休的；（指问题等）棘手的；争论不休的问题；烦恼的v.使烦恼( vex的过去式和过去分词 )；使苦恼；使生气；详细讨论

参考例句：

• The conference spent days discussing the vexed question of border controls. 会议花了几天的时间讨论边境关卡这个难题。
• He was vexed at his failure. 他因失败而懊恼。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

25 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。

26 gales   

龙猫

参考例句：

• I could hear gales of laughter coming from downstairs. 我能听到来自楼下的阵阵笑声。
• This was greeted with gales of laughter from the audience. 观众对此报以阵阵笑声。

27 hubbub   

n.嘈杂；骚乱

参考例句：

• The hubbub of voices drowned out the host's voice.嘈杂的声音淹没了主人的声音。
• He concentrated on the work in hand,and the hubbub outside the room simply flowed over him.他埋头于手头的工作，室外的吵闹声他简直象没有听见一般。

28 lulled   

vt.使镇静，使安静（lull的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• They lulled her into a false sense of security. 他们哄骗她，使她产生一种虚假的安全感。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The movement of the train lulled me to sleep. 火车轻微的震动催我进入梦乡。 来自《简明英汉词典》