Another dreary1 season of rain, and of mist, and of heavy fog, had now set in; the lance and the shield of the Christian2 had been suspended in the dark windowless hall, and the war-steed ranged loose over the swampy3 meadow. During three long months the weather seldom permitted us to quit our damp miserable4 habitation at Ankóber, but I found ample occupation in endeavouring to put into some kind of order the notes from which these three volumes have been prepared. My assistants were also busily engaged in the various departments which I had allotted5 to them, and in spite of the gloomy light afforded by oiled parchment, a highly valuable collection of maps, drawings, and reports, had been completed before any change was observable in the weather. Within the memory of the oldest inhabitant, the floods had never continued longer nor wuth greater violence. Morning after morning the heavy white clouds still clung above the saturated6 metropolis7. Every hollow footpath8 had been converted into a muddy stream, and each deep valley had become a morass9, impassable to the equestrian11; whilst the swollen12 Háwash had inundated13 the lowlands for many miles on either side of its serpentine14 banks.
Amongst the few events which occurred to disturb the monotony of our second winter in Shoa, was the annual audience given, towards the close of July, by the king to the Ada?el and Hurrurhi, residing in the market town of Alio Amba. Our old acquaintance, Kalama Work, having been detected in practising extensive peculation15, had first undergone imprisonment16 in the madi beit, under the watchful17 eye of Wolda Hana, and was eventually stripped of his property, and turned forth18 upon the wide world a beggar. Abd el Yonag, the Hurrur consul19, who possessed20 in eminent21 perfection the arts of fawning22 and flattery, had, during the interregnum, turned to good account his insatiable taste for power and intrigue23. He was formally nominated to the vacant government, and when we entered the raised balcony occupied by the king, the wily old slave-dealer, duly girded with the silver badge of office and authority, occupied the disgraced governor’s seat at the footstool of the throne.
Armed with creese, and spear, and shield, the kilted band whirled howling into the courtyard, performing their savage24 war-dance. The precincts of the palace rung to their wild yells; and the vivid pantomime of throat-cutting and disembowelment was enacted25 to the life, in all its pleasing varieties. “Moot26! moot! moot!” shouted each prevailing27 warrior28 of note, shaking his sun-blanched locks, and ominously29 quivering his heavy lance, as he sprang in turn to the front, for the approval of the Christian monarch30. “Is he dead? Is he dead?” “Burdhoo! Burdhoo! you’ve slain31 him! you’ve slain him!” returned the turbaned pedlar, facetiously32 clapping his hands on behalf of his royal patron—“Burdhoo! Burdhoo!” and ere the hero of this gratifying applause had retired33, another and another brave had commenced his vaunting exhibition in front of the sable10 ranks, or was in the act of ripping up the foe34 who in mock conflict had sprung like a tiger across his adversary’s loins, to grasp him as in a vice35 betwixt the muscles of his thighs36. The court buffoon37 was meanwhile diligently38 plying39 his occupation, by capering40 through the ranks with his unsheathed reaping-hook, and chattering41 in ludicrous imitation of the Moslem42 barbarians—his successful mimicry43 eliciting44 shouts of applause, notwithstanding that the reality, as enacted in the hot valleys below, had, on more occasions than one, been calculated to leave no very agreeable recollections in the mind of the Amhára audience.
At the motion of the herald45, the assembled warriors46 now squatted47 their meagre, wiry forms before the raised alcove48, each resting upon his spear-staff, and peering over his shield, according to the undeviating custom of the Bedouin savage. “Are you all well? Are you well? Are you quite well?” repeated the dragoman who interpreted His Majesty49’s salutations.—“How have you passed your time? Are your wives and all your children happy, and are your houses prosperous? Have your flocks and your herds50 multiplied, and are your fields and your pastures covered with plenty?”—“Humdu lillah! Humdu lillah!” “Praise be unto God!” was the unvarying reply.—“How are you, and how have you been? We are the friends of Woosen Suggud, your father, who ruled before you, and we will always deal with you as our fathers dealt with your fathers who are now dead. We are near neighbours. May Allah keep our people and their children’s children at peace the one with the other!” Cloths were now presented to the principal men, and oxen having been apportioned51 to their retainers, each rose in turn, and patted the extended hand of the monarch with his own palm; one atrocious old ruffian, who concluded the ceremony raising himself in his sandals and grasping the fingers of the king so firmly, that he had nearly succeeded in plucking him from his elevated throne.
His Majesty, although obviously little pleased at the practical joke, had sufficient command of temper to take it in good part, but no doubt inwardly congratulated himself upon the happy termination of the wild levée. It had been fully52 illustrative of the tact53 and diplomatic sagacity employed in the maintenance of ascendency over the more intractable portion of his nominal54 subjects, and in the cultivation55 of amicable56 political relations with the neighbouring states. Wulásma Mohammad, as chief agent, sat in regal dignity on this important occasion, and his dragoman, a native of Argobba, was the medium of communication. The throat of this man exhibited from ear to ear a conspicuous57 seam, pointed58 out by the by-standers as the work of his own hands. Great, indeed, must have been the desperation which at the present day could impel59 such an attempt at self-destruction on the frontiers of Shoa. One mile beyond, in any direction, would of a surety supply numbers of volunteers for the task, from amongst those whose throat-cutting proficiency60 had so creditably been displayed during the recent pantomime.
Early in the month of August, the festival of Felsáta brought a repetition of the customary skirmishes between the town’s people and the slave establishment of the king. For the edification of a numerous concourse of spectators, the miry lane leading to the church of “Our Lady” was attacked and defended with heavy clubs, shod with rings of iron; and after a severe conflict, the servile invaders61 were finally driven from the field, with blood streaming from numerous broken heads, which were brought to the Residency to be repaired. During the fortnight’s fast that ensued in celebration of the Assumption, the rough diversion was frequently repeated, and abstinence from food appeared to have soured the temper of the entire population. On the succeeding festival of the Transfiguration, styled “Debra Tabor,” the capital was illuminated62. Whilst boys, carrying flambeaux, ran singing through the streets, every dwelling63 displayed such a light as its inmates64 could afford,—none, however, of the old cotton rags besmeared with impure65 bees’-wax shining very luminously66 through the thick drizzling67 mist.
One of the principal of the royal storehouses at Channoo, on the frontier, was at this period struck by lightning, and totally burnt to the ground. The king as usual was keeping fast at Machal-wans, and thither68, according to custom, every nobleman and governor in the land flocked to offer condolence. Many were the long faces on the road, for the greatest consternation69 pervaded70 all classes; and the fat Wulásma in particular, on his way to break the dismal71 tidings to his despotic master, having the consequences of the late conflagration72 at Wóti still fresh in his recollection, was observed to be in a state of extreme mental perturbation and anxiety.
“Alas!” exclaimed the king, when, in accordance with etiquette73, we contributed our mite74 of consolation—“Alas! that magazine was built by my ancestor Emmaha Yasoos. It measured six hundred cubits in length, and ninety spans in breadth, and it was piled with salt to the very roof. There is no salt in my country. I feared a rupture75 with the Ada?el who bring it from below, and I therefore stored up large quantities that my people might never want. Now the lightning has taken all; but who can repine?—for it was the will of God.”
点击收听单词发音
1 dreary | |
adj.令人沮丧的,沉闷的,单调乏味的 | |
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2 Christian | |
adj.基督教徒的;n.基督教徒 | |
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3 swampy | |
adj.沼泽的,湿地的 | |
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4 miserable | |
adj.悲惨的,痛苦的;可怜的,糟糕的 | |
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5 allotted | |
分配,拨给,摊派( allot的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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6 saturated | |
a.饱和的,充满的 | |
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7 metropolis | |
n.首府;大城市 | |
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8 footpath | |
n.小路,人行道 | |
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9 morass | |
n.沼泽,困境 | |
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10 sable | |
n.黑貂;adj.黑色的 | |
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11 equestrian | |
adj.骑马的;n.马术 | |
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12 swollen | |
adj.肿大的,水涨的;v.使变大,肿胀 | |
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13 inundated | |
v.淹没( inundate的过去式和过去分词 );(洪水般地)涌来;充满;给予或交予(太多事物)使难以应付 | |
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14 serpentine | |
adj.蜿蜒的,弯曲的 | |
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15 peculation | |
n.侵吞公款[公物] | |
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16 imprisonment | |
n.关押,监禁,坐牢 | |
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17 watchful | |
adj.注意的,警惕的 | |
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18 forth | |
adv.向前;向外,往外 | |
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19 consul | |
n.领事;执政官 | |
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20 possessed | |
adj.疯狂的;拥有的,占有的 | |
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21 eminent | |
adj.显赫的,杰出的,有名的,优良的 | |
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22 fawning | |
adj.乞怜的,奉承的v.(尤指狗等)跳过来往人身上蹭以示亲热( fawn的现在分词 );巴结;讨好 | |
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23 intrigue | |
vt.激起兴趣,迷住;vi.耍阴谋;n.阴谋,密谋 | |
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24 savage | |
adj.野蛮的;凶恶的,残暴的;n.未开化的人 | |
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25 enacted | |
制定(法律),通过(法案)( enact的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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26 moot | |
v.提出;adj.未决议的;n.大会;辩论会 | |
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27 prevailing | |
adj.盛行的;占优势的;主要的 | |
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28 warrior | |
n.勇士,武士,斗士 | |
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29 ominously | |
adv.恶兆地,不吉利地;预示地 | |
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30 monarch | |
n.帝王,君主,最高统治者 | |
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31 slain | |
杀死,宰杀,杀戮( slay的过去分词 ); (slay的过去分词) | |
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32 facetiously | |
adv.爱开玩笑地;滑稽地,爱开玩笑地 | |
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33 retired | |
adj.隐退的,退休的,退役的 | |
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34 foe | |
n.敌人,仇敌 | |
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35 vice | |
n.坏事;恶习;[pl.]台钳,老虎钳;adj.副的 | |
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36 thighs | |
n.股,大腿( thigh的名词复数 );食用的鸡(等的)腿 | |
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37 buffoon | |
n.演出时的丑角 | |
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38 diligently | |
ad.industriously;carefully | |
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39 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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40 capering | |
v.跳跃,雀跃( caper的现在分词 );蹦蹦跳跳 | |
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41 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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42 Moslem | |
n.回教徒,穆罕默德信徒;adj.回教徒的,回教的 | |
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43 mimicry | |
n.(生物)拟态,模仿 | |
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44 eliciting | |
n. 诱发, 引出 动词elicit的现在分词形式 | |
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45 herald | |
vt.预示...的来临,预告,宣布,欢迎 | |
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46 warriors | |
武士,勇士,战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
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47 squatted | |
v.像动物一样蹲下( squat的过去式和过去分词 );非法擅自占用(土地或房屋);为获得其所有权;而占用某片公共用地。 | |
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48 alcove | |
n.凹室 | |
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49 majesty | |
n.雄伟,壮丽,庄严,威严;最高权威,王权 | |
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50 herds | |
兽群( herd的名词复数 ); 牧群; 人群; 群众 | |
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51 apportioned | |
vt.分摊,分配(apportion的过去式与过去分词形式) | |
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52 fully | |
adv.完全地,全部地,彻底地;充分地 | |
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53 tact | |
n.机敏,圆滑,得体 | |
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54 nominal | |
adj.名义上的;(金额、租金)微不足道的 | |
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55 cultivation | |
n.耕作,培养,栽培(法),养成 | |
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56 amicable | |
adj.和平的,友好的;友善的 | |
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57 conspicuous | |
adj.明眼的,惹人注目的;炫耀的,摆阔气的 | |
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58 pointed | |
adj.尖的,直截了当的 | |
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59 impel | |
v.推动;激励,迫使 | |
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60 proficiency | |
n.精通,熟练,精练 | |
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61 invaders | |
入侵者,侵略者,侵入物( invader的名词复数 ) | |
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62 illuminated | |
adj.被照明的;受启迪的 | |
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63 dwelling | |
n.住宅,住所,寓所 | |
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64 inmates | |
n.囚犯( inmate的名词复数 ) | |
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65 impure | |
adj.不纯净的,不洁的;不道德的,下流的 | |
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66 luminously | |
发光的; 明亮的; 清楚的; 辉赫 | |
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67 drizzling | |
下蒙蒙细雨,下毛毛雨( drizzle的现在分词 ) | |
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68 thither | |
adv.向那里;adj.在那边的,对岸的 | |
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69 consternation | |
n.大为吃惊,惊骇 | |
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70 pervaded | |
v.遍及,弥漫( pervade的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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71 dismal | |
adj.阴沉的,凄凉的,令人忧郁的,差劲的 | |
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72 conflagration | |
n.建筑物或森林大火 | |
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73 etiquette | |
n.礼仪,礼节;规矩 | |
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74 mite | |
n.极小的东西;小铜币 | |
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75 rupture | |
n.破裂;(关系的)决裂;v.(使)破裂 | |
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