His Majesty1 had more than once intimated an intention of holding consultation2 relative to his projected expedition on the termination of winter, and early one morning an express courier arrived to desire our immediate3 attendance at the palace. Blacksmiths and workers in silver were as usual plying4 their craft in the verandah, under the royal eye—artists were daubing red and yellow paint over the pages of the Psalter, or illuminating5 the lives of the saints with white angels and sable6 devils—saddles and warlike furniture were in course of repair—spears were being burnished—gun-locks cleaned—and musket7 barrels engraved8 with the despot’s name; but the artificers were all summarily dismissed, and the king, rising from his seat in the portico9, beckoned10 us to follow into the audience hall.
“Gaita,” “master,” he cautiously began, “there is yet another subject upon which I am desirous of taking counsel, and wherein I need your assistance. It is my intention shortly to undertake an expedition to the great lake in Guráguê. In it be many islands which contain the treasures of my ancestors. There are jars filled with bracelets11 of solid gold. There are forty drums made of elephants’ ears, and many holy arks pertaining12 unto ancient churches, besides seven hundred choice Ethiopic volumes, some of which have unfortunately been defaced by the animals called ashkóko (Hyrax Abyssinicus). Elephants abound13 on the borders. In the trees are found black leopards14 of a most ferocious15 nature, multiplying always among the branches, and never descending16 upon the earth; and the waters of the lake, which are smooth as glass, and without bottom, teem17 with monstrous18 gomári (Hippopotamus amphibius), and with fish of brilliant colours, red, yellow, green, and blue, such as have never before been seen.
“Moreover there are specifics against small-pox and other dreadful diseases. No resistance is to be anticipated, for the inhabitants, who are chiefly Christian19 monks20, have often invited me. I must no longer delay to recover the lost wealth of my forefathers21, and it is fitting that you, with the British officers who have come hither from a far country, should accompany me and construct boats. Hereof my people are ignorant, and your name as well as mine will therefore become great, and will live in the annals of this kingdom.
“From the summit of a lofty hill near Aiméllele, I have beheld22 through a telescope the lake and its tall trees, but the elephants came in numbers. I feared that my people would be destroyed. I ran, and they all ran with me. Now, what say you? What is your advice in this matter? Are you able to build boats?”
In furtherance of His Majesty’s intentions, I caused models of skin punts, gun rafts, and a pontoon train, to be prepared upon the most approved design, with crews and ordnance23 complete, and advised that every requisite24 should be prepared at Ankóber whilst leisure served, in order that he might take the field with ample means at his disposal. The king expressed himself above all things pleased both with models and advice, which he declared to come from wise and expert soldiers; but he was still obviously undecided, and the fear of wild beasts and of the lone25 forest at length kicked the vibrating beam. The castle visions of glory mounted far out of reach, and his fickle26 ambition evaporated in a bluster27 of empty words—
“My people will weep at the carriage of such ponderous28 engines.” “The preparations must be made on the banks of the Háwash, or on the borders of the Lake Zooai, where timber grows abundantly. A man of rank, one of the frontier governors, who resides near Aiméllele, should be summoned as guide to the expedition, and might then be consulted.” But the presence of the great functionary29 was ever wanting—no further wish escaped the lips of the vacillating monarch30—and engrossed31 with the passing whim32 of the moment, the chivalrous33 project of the day had vanished. So passed the dreary34 winter on. The arrival in the kingdom of Shoa of the many valuable presents brought by the Embassy, had not proved more agreeable to the traders from Gondar and Tigré who reside in Ankóber, than to the narrow-minded governor of Alio Amba. These men had been in the habit of selling glass-ware, cloths, and fire-arms to the king at a very considerable premium35, and now did not fail to repeat and to improve the absurdities36 circulated by the mischievous37 Danákil regarding the foreign intruders. The Gypzis were pronounced eaters of serpents, mice, and other reptiles39, and had come with the design of possessing themselves of the country by the aid of magic and medicine.
Great umbrage40 was taken at our practice of toasting the wretched half-baked dough41 which we received, under the denomination42 of bread, from the royal stores; and a soldier who carried a metallic43 pitcher44 to the stream, was roundly taxed with having used charms to poison the water, which was consequently condemned45 as unfit for use until purified by the blessing46 of the priest. Predictions of the impending47 fate of Abyssinia were derived48 from the fact of the foreigners employing instruments which read the stars; and the despot was repeatedly and earnestly warned to be upon his guard. But His Majesty cut short these insinuations by threatening to extract the tongues of three or four of the maligners, and paid no attention whatever to the threat of excommunication extended to him by the fanatic49 clergy50 of Arámba, who had declared the ban of the Church to be the just punishment due for the admission into the empire “of red heretics, who ought carefully to be shunned51, since they practised witchcraft52, and by burning the king’s bread threatened to bring a famine upon the land.”
Taking their cue from the feelings of the people, the Shoan sorcerers gave out that Sáhela Selássie was to be the last of the Ethiopian dynasty, descended53 from the house of Solomon, who should sit upon the throne of his forefathers, and that a foreign king would come by way of Alio Amba to usurp54 the dominion55. It is, amusing to trace the progress of these crafty56 insinuations among an ignorant and weak-minded people. In some of the northern provinces it was confidently asserted that the Sultán of the Mohammadans had already conquered Shoa, and that all the surrounding Moslem57 potentates58 were about to unite with him in a war of extermination59 against the Christians60; whilst in others it was believed that an Alaka, or chief of the Gypts from Grand Cairo, had contrived61 to smuggle62 himself into the capital, carrying his sovereign in a box, and that after consulting the heavenly bodies until a favourable63 horoscope was presented, he stamped his foot upon the ground, which opened, and ten thousand red soldiers, with beards flowing to their girdles, springing forth64 out of the chasm65, placed the aforesaid monarch upon the throne. “Now,” said the magicians, “will Theodórus arise according to the tradition, that he will come in the latter days of -Ethiopia, and create a kingdom of Peace.”
Theodórus was one of the emperors who reigned66 during the fifteenth century, and was canonised. It is recorded, that during the observance of his festival the queen-dowager had prepared a great entertainment, and the guests being all assembled, the heavens rained down a shower of fishes ready roasted. In the Ethiopic liturgy67, the miracle is thus commemorated68. “Peace be upon thee. King of the Agaazi nation, Theodórus, Son of the Lion; thy memory shall this day be celebrated69 with the slaughter70 of oxen and sheep, with which alone Zion Mogáss, thy mother, kept it not, for the clouds also dropped fishes.” It is confidently believed that this saint will rise again from the dead, and reign38 a thousand years, during which period neither war, famine, nor discord71, is to disturb the happiness of Abyssinia.
点击收听单词发音
1 majesty | |
n.雄伟,壮丽,庄严,威严;最高权威,王权 | |
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2 consultation | |
n.咨询;商量;商议;会议 | |
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3 immediate | |
adj.立即的;直接的,最接近的;紧靠的 | |
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4 plying | |
v.使用(工具)( ply的现在分词 );经常供应(食物、饮料);固定往来;经营生意 | |
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5 illuminating | |
a.富于启发性的,有助阐明的 | |
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6 sable | |
n.黑貂;adj.黑色的 | |
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7 musket | |
n.滑膛枪 | |
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8 engraved | |
v.在(硬物)上雕刻(字,画等)( engrave的过去式和过去分词 );将某事物深深印在(记忆或头脑中) | |
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9 portico | |
n.柱廊,门廊 | |
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10 beckoned | |
v.(用头或手的动作)示意,召唤( beckon的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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11 bracelets | |
n.手镯,臂镯( bracelet的名词复数 ) | |
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12 pertaining | |
与…有关系的,附属…的,为…固有的(to) | |
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13 abound | |
vi.大量存在;(in,with)充满,富于 | |
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14 leopards | |
n.豹( leopard的名词复数 );本性难移 | |
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15 ferocious | |
adj.凶猛的,残暴的,极度的,十分强烈的 | |
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16 descending | |
n. 下行 adj. 下降的 | |
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17 teem | |
vi.(with)充满,多产 | |
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18 monstrous | |
adj.巨大的;恐怖的;可耻的,丢脸的 | |
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19 Christian | |
adj.基督教徒的;n.基督教徒 | |
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20 monks | |
n.修道士,僧侣( monk的名词复数 ) | |
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21 forefathers | |
n.祖先,先人;祖先,祖宗( forefather的名词复数 );列祖列宗;前人 | |
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22 beheld | |
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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23 ordnance | |
n.大炮,军械 | |
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24 requisite | |
adj.需要的,必不可少的;n.必需品 | |
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25 lone | |
adj.孤寂的,单独的;唯一的 | |
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26 fickle | |
adj.(爱情或友谊上)易变的,不坚定的 | |
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27 bluster | |
v.猛刮;怒冲冲的说;n.吓唬,怒号;狂风声 | |
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28 ponderous | |
adj.沉重的,笨重的,(文章)冗长的 | |
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29 functionary | |
n.官员;公职人员 | |
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30 monarch | |
n.帝王,君主,最高统治者 | |
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31 engrossed | |
adj.全神贯注的 | |
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32 whim | |
n.一时的兴致,突然的念头;奇想,幻想 | |
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33 chivalrous | |
adj.武士精神的;对女人彬彬有礼的 | |
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34 dreary | |
adj.令人沮丧的,沉闷的,单调乏味的 | |
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35 premium | |
n.加付款;赠品;adj.高级的;售价高的 | |
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36 absurdities | |
n.极端无理性( absurdity的名词复数 );荒谬;谬论;荒谬的行为 | |
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37 mischievous | |
adj.调皮的,恶作剧的,有害的,伤人的 | |
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38 reign | |
n.统治时期,统治,支配,盛行;v.占优势 | |
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39 reptiles | |
n.爬行动物,爬虫( reptile的名词复数 ) | |
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40 umbrage | |
n.不快;树荫 | |
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41 dough | |
n.生面团;钱,现款 | |
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42 denomination | |
n.命名,取名,(度量衡、货币等的)单位 | |
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43 metallic | |
adj.金属的;金属制的;含金属的;产金属的;像金属的 | |
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44 pitcher | |
n.(有嘴和柄的)大水罐;(棒球)投手 | |
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45 condemned | |
adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
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46 blessing | |
n.祈神赐福;祷告;祝福,祝愿 | |
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47 impending | |
a.imminent, about to come or happen | |
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48 derived | |
vi.起源;由来;衍生;导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 );(从…中)得到获得;源于;(从…中)提取 | |
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49 fanatic | |
n.狂热者,入迷者;adj.狂热入迷的 | |
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50 clergy | |
n.[总称]牧师,神职人员 | |
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51 shunned | |
v.避开,回避,避免( shun的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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52 witchcraft | |
n.魔法,巫术 | |
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53 descended | |
a.为...后裔的,出身于...的 | |
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54 usurp | |
vt.篡夺,霸占;vi.篡位 | |
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55 dominion | |
n.统治,管辖,支配权;领土,版图 | |
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56 crafty | |
adj.狡猾的,诡诈的 | |
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57 Moslem | |
n.回教徒,穆罕默德信徒;adj.回教徒的,回教的 | |
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58 potentates | |
n.君主,统治者( potentate的名词复数 );有权势的人 | |
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59 extermination | |
n.消灭,根绝 | |
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60 Christians | |
n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 ) | |
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61 contrived | |
adj.不自然的,做作的;虚构的 | |
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62 smuggle | |
vt.私运;vi.走私 | |
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63 favourable | |
adj.赞成的,称赞的,有利的,良好的,顺利的 | |
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64 forth | |
adv.向前;向外,往外 | |
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65 chasm | |
n.深坑,断层,裂口,大分岐,利害冲突 | |
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66 reigned | |
vi.当政,统治(reign的过去式形式) | |
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67 liturgy | |
n.礼拜仪式 | |
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68 commemorated | |
v.纪念,庆祝( commemorate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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69 celebrated | |
adj.有名的,声誉卓著的 | |
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70 slaughter | |
n.屠杀,屠宰;vt.屠杀,宰杀 | |
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71 discord | |
n.不和,意见不合,争论,(音乐)不和谐 | |
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