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Chapter 53
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For we see whither it has brought us ... the insisting on perfection in one part of our nature and not in all; the singling out of the moral side, the side of obedi-ence and action, for such intent regard; making strict-ness of the moral conscience so far the principal thing, and putting off for hereafter and for another world the care of being complete at all points, the full and harmonious1 development of our humanity.

—Matthew Arnold, Culture and Anarchy  (1869)

 

 

“She is ... recovered?”

“I have put her to sleep.”

The doctor walked across the room and stood with his hands behind his back, staring down Broad Street to the sea.

“She ... she said nothing?”

The doctor shook his head without turning; was silent a moment; then he burst round on Charles.

“I await your explanation, sir!”

And Charles gave it, baldly, without self-extenuation. Of Sarah he said very little. His sole attempt at an excuse was over his deception2 of Grogan himself; and that he blamed on his conviction that to have committed Sarah to any asylum3 would have been a gross injustice4. The doctor listened with a fierce, intent silence. When Charles had finished he turned again to the window.

“I wish I could remember what particular punishments Dante prescribed for the Antinomians. Then I could prescribe them for you.”

“I think I shall have punishment enough.”

“That is not possible. Not by my tally5.”

Charles left a pause.

“I did not reject your advice without much heart-searching.”

“Smithson, a gentleman remains6 a gentleman when he rejects advice. He does not do so when he tells lies.”

“I believed them necessary.”

“As you believed the satisfaction of your lust7 necessary.”

“I cannot accept that word.”

“You had better learn to. It is the one the world will attach to your conduct.”

Charles moved to the central table, and stood with one hand resting on it. “Grogan, would you have had me live a lifetime of pretense8? Is our age not full enough as it is of a mealy-mouthed hypocrisy9, an adulation of all that is false in our natures? Would you have had me add to that?”

“I would have had you think twice before you embroiled10 that innocent girl in your pursuit of self-knowledge.”

“But once that knowledge is granted us, can we escape its dictates11? However repugnant their consequences?”

The doctor looked away with a steely little grimace12. Charles saw that he was huffed and nervous; and really at a loss, after the first commination, how to deal with this mon-strous affront13 to provincial14 convention. There was indeed a struggle in progress between the Grogan who had lived now for a quarter of a century in Lyme and the Grogan who had seen the world. There were other things: his liking15 for Charles, his private opinion—not very far removed from Sir Robert’s—that Ernestina was a pretty little thing, but a shallow little thing; there was even an event long buried in his own past whose exact nature need not be revealed beyond that it made his reference to lust a good deal less impersonal16 than he had made it seem. His tone remained reproving; but he sidestepped the moral question he had been asked.

“I am a doctor, Smithson. I know only one overriding17 law. All suffering is evil. It may also be necessary. That does not alter its fundamental nature.”

“I don’t see where good is to spring from, if it is not out of that evil. How can one build a better self unless on the ruins of the old?”

“And the ruins of that poor young creature across the way?”

“It is better she suffers once, to be free of me, than ...” he fell silent.

“Ah. You are sure of that, are you?” Charles said nothing. The doctor stared down at the street. “You have committed a crime. Your punishment will be to remember it all your life. So don’t give yourself absolution yet. Only death will give you that.” He took off his glasses, and polished them on a green silk handkerchief. There was a long pause, a very long pause; and at the end of it his voice, though still reproving, was milder.

“You will marry the other?”

Charles breathed a metaphorical19 sigh of relief. As soon as Grogan had come into the room he had known that his previous self-assertions—that he was indifferent to the opin-ion of a mere20 bathing-place doctor—were hollow. There was a humanity in the Irishman Charles greatly respected; in a way Grogan stood for all he respected. He knew he could not expect a full remission of sins; but it was enough to sense that total excommunication was not to be his lot.

“That is my most sincere intent.”

“She knows? You have told her?”

“Yes.”

“And she has accepted your offer, of course?”

“I have every reason to believe so.” He explained the circumstances of Sam’s errand that morning.

The little doctor turned to face him.

“Smithson, I know you are not vicious. I know you would not have done what you have unless you believed the girl’s own account of her extraordinary behavior. But I warn you that a doubt must remain. And such a doubt as must cast a shadow over any future protection you extend to her.”

“I have taken that into consideration.” Charles risked a thin smile. “As I have the cloud of obfuscating21 cant22 our sex talks about women. They are to sit, are they not, like so many articles in a shop and to let us men walk in and tarn23 them over and point at this one or that one—she takes my fancy. If they allow this, we call them decent, respectable, modest. But when one of these articles has the impertinence to speak up for herself—“

“She has done rather more than that, I gather.”

Charles rode the rebuke24. “She has done what is almost a commonplace in high society. I do not know why the count-less wives in that milieu25 who dishonor their marriage vows26 are to be granted exculpation27, while . . . besides, I am far more to blame. She merely sent me her address. I was perfectly28 free to avoid the consequences of going to it.”

The doctor threw him a mute little glance. Honesty, now, he had to admit. He resumed his stare down at the street. After a few moments he spoke29, much more in his old manner and voice.

“Perhaps I am growing old. I know such breaches30 of trust as yours are becoming so commonplace that to be shocked by them is to pronounce oneself an old fogey. But I will tell you what bothers me. I share your distaste for cant, whether it be of the religious or the legal variety. The law has always seemed to me an ass18, and a great part of religion very little better. I do not attack you on those grounds, I will not attack you on any grounds. I will merely give you my opinion. It is this. You believe yourself to belong to a rational and scien-tific elect. No, no, I know what you would say, you are not so vain. So be it. Nonetheless, you wish to belong to that elect. I do not blame you for that. I have held the same wish myself all my life. But I beg you to remember one thing, Smithson. All through human history the elect have made their cases for election. But Time allows only one plea.” The doctor replaced his glasses and turned on Charles. “It is this. That the elect, whatever the particular grounds they advance for their cause, have introduced a finer and fairer morality into this dark world. If they fail that test, then they become no more than despots, sultans, mere seekers after their own pleasure and power. In short, mere victims of their own baser desires. I think you understand what I am driving at—and its especial relevance31 to yourself from this unhappy day on. If you become a better and a more generous human being, you may be forgiven. But if you become more selfish ... you are doubly damned.”

Charles looked down from those exacting32 eyes. “Though far less cogently33, my own conscience had already said as much.”

“Then amen. Jacta alea est.” He picked up his hat and bag from the table and went to the door. But there he hesitated— then held out his hand. “I wish you well on your march away from the Rubicon.”

Charles grasped the proffered34 hand, almost as if he were drowning. He tried to say something, but failed. There was a moment of stronger pressure from Grogan’s fingers, then he turned and opened the door. He looked back, a glint in his eyes.

“And if you do not leave here within the hour I shall be back with the largest horsewhip I can find.”

Charles stiffened35 at that. But the glint remained. Charles swallowed a painful smile and bowed his head in assent36. The door closed.

He was left alone with his medicine.


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 harmonious EdWzx     
adj.和睦的,调和的,和谐的,协调的
参考例句:
  • Their harmonious relationship resulted in part from their similar goals.他们关系融洽的部分原因是他们有着相似的目标。
  • The room was painted in harmonious colors.房间油漆得色彩调和。
2 deception vnWzO     
n.欺骗,欺诈;骗局,诡计
参考例句:
  • He admitted conspiring to obtain property by deception.他承认曾与人合谋骗取财产。
  • He was jailed for two years for fraud and deception.他因为诈骗和欺诈入狱服刑两年。
3 asylum DobyD     
n.避难所,庇护所,避难
参考例句:
  • The people ask for political asylum.人们请求政治避难。
  • Having sought asylum in the West for many years,they were eventually granted it.他们最终获得了在西方寻求多年的避难权。
4 injustice O45yL     
n.非正义,不公正,不公平,侵犯(别人的)权利
参考例句:
  • They complained of injustice in the way they had been treated.他们抱怨受到不公平的对待。
  • All his life he has been struggling against injustice.他一生都在与不公正现象作斗争。
5 tally Gg1yq     
n.计数器,记分,一致,测量;vt.计算,记录,使一致;vi.计算,记分,一致
参考例句:
  • Don't forget to keep a careful tally of what you spend.别忘了仔细记下你的开支账目。
  • The facts mentioned in the report tally to every detail.报告中所提到的事实都丝毫不差。
6 remains 1kMzTy     
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。
7 lust N8rz1     
n.性(淫)欲;渴(欲)望;vi.对…有强烈的欲望
参考例句:
  • He was filled with lust for power.他内心充满了对权力的渴望。
  • Sensing the explorer's lust for gold, the chief wisely presented gold ornaments as gifts.酋长觉察出探险者们垂涎黄金的欲念,就聪明地把金饰品作为礼物赠送给他们。
8 pretense yQYxi     
n.矫饰,做作,借口
参考例句:
  • You can't keep up the pretense any longer.你无法继续伪装下去了。
  • Pretense invariably impresses only the pretender.弄虚作假欺骗不了真正的行家。
9 hypocrisy g4qyt     
n.伪善,虚伪
参考例句:
  • He railed against hypocrisy and greed.他痛斥伪善和贪婪的行为。
  • He accused newspapers of hypocrisy in their treatment of the story.他指责了报纸在报道该新闻时的虚伪。
10 embroiled 77258f75da8d0746f3018b2caba91b5f     
adj.卷入的;纠缠不清的
参考例句:
  • He became embroiled in a dispute with his neighbours. 他与邻居们发生了争执。
  • John and Peter were quarrelling, but Mary refused to get embroiled. 约翰和彼得在争吵,但玛丽不愿卷入。 来自《简明英汉词典》
11 dictates d2524bb575c815758f62583cd796af09     
n.命令,规定,要求( dictate的名词复数 )v.大声讲或读( dictate的第三人称单数 );口授;支配;摆布
参考例句:
  • Convention dictates that a minister should resign in such a situation. 依照常规部长在这种情况下应该辞职。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • He always follows the dictates of common sense. 他总是按常识行事。 来自《简明英汉词典》
12 grimace XQVza     
v.做鬼脸,面部歪扭
参考例句:
  • The boy stole a look at his father with grimace.那男孩扮着鬼脸偷看了他父亲一眼。
  • Thomas made a grimace after he had tasted the wine.托马斯尝了那葡萄酒后做了个鬼脸。
13 affront pKvy6     
n./v.侮辱,触怒
参考例句:
  • Your behaviour is an affront to public decency.你的行为有伤风化。
  • This remark caused affront to many people.这句话得罪了不少人。
14 provincial Nt8ye     
adj.省的,地方的;n.外省人,乡下人
参考例句:
  • City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes.城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。
  • Two leading cadres came down from the provincial capital yesterday.昨天从省里下来了两位领导干部。
15 liking mpXzQ5     
n.爱好;嗜好;喜欢
参考例句:
  • The word palate also means taste or liking.Palate这个词也有“口味”或“嗜好”的意思。
  • I must admit I have no liking for exaggeration.我必须承认我不喜欢夸大其词。
16 impersonal Ck6yp     
adj.无个人感情的,与个人无关的,非人称的
参考例句:
  • Even his children found him strangely distant and impersonal.他的孩子们也认为他跟其他人很疏远,没有人情味。
  • His manner seemed rather stiff and impersonal.他的态度似乎很生硬冷淡。
17 overriding TmUz3n     
a.最主要的
参考例句:
  • Development is of overriding importance. 发展是硬道理
  • My overriding concern is to raise the standards of state education. 我最关心的是提高国民教育水平。
18 ass qvyzK     
n.驴;傻瓜,蠢笨的人
参考例句:
  • He is not an ass as they make him.他不象大家猜想的那样笨。
  • An ass endures his burden but not more than his burden.驴能负重但不能超过它能力所负担的。
19 metaphorical OotzLw     
a.隐喻的,比喻的
参考例句:
  • Here, then, we have a metaphorical substitution on a metonymic axis. 这样,我们在换喻(者翻译为转喻,一种以部分代替整体的修辞方法)上就有了一个隐喻的替代。
  • So, in a metaphorical sense, entropy is arrow of time. 所以说,我们可以这样作个比喻:熵像是时间之矢。
20 mere rC1xE     
adj.纯粹的;仅仅,只不过
参考例句:
  • That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
  • It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。
21 obfuscating baa84595f4e15968c385fd54e091b49d     
v.使模糊,使混乱( obfuscate的现在分词 );使糊涂
参考例句:
  • They are obfuscating the issue, as only insurance companies can. 他们在此问题上混淆视听,这事只有保险公司才做得出来。 来自辞典例句
  • What sort of knucklehead uses a word like obfuscating? 什么样的笨蛋会用像抽象化这样的词? 来自电影对白
22 cant KWAzZ     
n.斜穿,黑话,猛扔
参考例句:
  • The ship took on a dangerous cant to port.船只出现向左舷危险倾斜。
  • He knows thieves'cant.他懂盗贼的黑话。
23 tarn AqMwG     
n.山中的小湖或小潭
参考例句:
  • This pool or tarn was encircled by tree!这个池塘,或是说山潭吧,四周全被树木围了起来。
  • The deep and dark tarn at my feet closed over the fragments of the House of Usher.我脚下深邃阴沉的小湖将厄谢尔古屋的断垣残墙吞没了。
24 rebuke 5Akz0     
v.指责,非难,斥责 [反]praise
参考例句:
  • He had to put up with a smart rebuke from the teacher.他不得不忍受老师的严厉指责。
  • Even one minute's lateness would earn a stern rebuke.哪怕迟到一分钟也将受到严厉的斥责。
25 milieu x7yzN     
n.环境;出身背景;(个人所处的)社会环境
参考例句:
  • Foods usually provide a good milieu for the persistence of viruses.食品通常为病毒存续提供了一个良好的栖身所。
  • He was born in a social milieu where further education was a luxury.他生在一个受较高教育就被认为是奢侈的社会环境里。
26 vows c151b5e18ba22514580d36a5dcb013e5     
誓言( vow的名词复数 ); 郑重宣布,许愿
参考例句:
  • Matrimonial vows are to show the faithfulness of the new couple. 婚誓体现了新婚夫妇对婚姻的忠诚。
  • The nun took strait vows. 那位修女立下严格的誓愿。
27 exculpation f0601597fedd851044e47a01f6072879     
n.使无罪,辩解
参考例句:
  • For they are efforts at exculpation. 因为这是企图辩解。 来自互联网
  • Self-exculpation, hyperactivity (contrasted with alleged Tory inertia), homes and hope: that is Labour's political strategy. 自我辩解、活动过度(与保守党所谓的惰性相比)、住宅和信心:是工党的政治策略。 来自互联网
28 perfectly 8Mzxb     
adv.完美地,无可非议地,彻底地
参考例句:
  • The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
  • Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。
29 spoke XryyC     
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说
参考例句:
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
30 breaches f7e9a03d0b1fa3eeb94ac8e8ffbb509a     
破坏( breach的名词复数 ); 破裂; 缺口; 违背
参考例句:
  • He imposed heavy penalties for breaches of oath or pledges. 他对违反誓言和保证的行为给予严厉的惩罚。
  • This renders all breaches of morality before marriage very uncommon. 这样一来,婚前败坏道德的事就少见了。
31 relevance gVAxg     
n.中肯,适当,关联,相关性
参考例句:
  • Politicians' private lives have no relevance to their public roles.政治家的私生活与他们的公众角色不相关。
  • Her ideas have lost all relevance to the modern world.她的想法与现代社会完全脱节。
32 exacting VtKz7e     
adj.苛求的,要求严格的
参考例句:
  • He must remember the letters and symbols with exacting precision.他必须以严格的精度记住每个字母和符号。
  • The public has been more exacting in its demands as time has passed.随着时间的推移,公众的要求更趋严格。
33 cogently 6631869b40248429f4dd70c92cdf79a1     
adv.痛切地,中肯地
参考例句:
  • Her case was cogently argued. 她的案件辩驳得很有说服力。 来自辞典例句
34 proffered 30a424e11e8c2d520c7372bd6415ad07     
v.提供,贡献,提出( proffer的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • She proffered her cheek to kiss. 她伸过自己的面颊让人亲吻。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • He rose and proffered a silver box full of cigarettes. 他站起身,伸手递过一个装满香烟的银盒子。 来自辞典例句
35 stiffened de9de455736b69d3f33bb134bba74f63     
加强的
参考例句:
  • He leaned towards her and she stiffened at this invasion of her personal space. 他向她俯过身去,这种侵犯她个人空间的举动让她绷紧了身子。
  • She stiffened with fear. 她吓呆了。
36 assent Hv6zL     
v.批准,认可;n.批准,认可
参考例句:
  • I cannot assent to what you ask.我不能应允你的要求。
  • The new bill passed by Parliament has received Royal Assent.议会所通过的新方案已获国王批准。


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