"Knowest thou the mountain and its cloudy paths? where the mule1 is seeking its misty2 way."--GOETHE.
The letter was from Wilhelm; every line breathed life's joy and gladness.
"MIA CARA SORELLA!
"Does it not sound beautifully? It is Italian! Now then, I am in that so-often-sung-of Paradise, but of the so much-talked-about blue air, I have as yet seen nothing of consequence. Here it is gray, gray as in Denmark. To be sure Otto says that it is beautiful, that we have the heaven of home above us, but I am not so poetical4. The eating is good, and the filth5 of the people strikes one horribly after being in Switzerland, the enchanting6 Switzerland! Yes, there is nature! We have made a crusade through it, you may think. But now you shall hear about the journey, and the entrance into 'la bella Italia,' which is yet below all my expectations. I cannot at all bear these feeble people; I cannot endure this monk-odor and untruthfulness. We are come direct from the scenery of Switzerland, from clouds and glaciers7, from greatness and power. We travelled somewhat hastily through the valley of the Rhone; the weather was gray, but the whole obtained therefrom a peculiar9 character. The woods in the lofty ridges10 looked like heather; the valley itself seemed like a garden filled with vegetables, vineyards, and green meadows. The clouds over and under one another, but the snow-covered mountains peeped forth11 gloriously from among them, It was a riven cloud-world which drove past,--the wild chase with which the daylight had disguised itself. It kissed in its flight Pissevache, a waterfall by no means to be despised. In Brieg we rested some time, but at two o'clock in the morning began again our journey over the Simplon. This is the journey which I will describe to you. Otto and I sat in the coupee. Fancy us in white blouses, shawl-caps, and with green morocco slippers12, for the devil may travel in slippers--they are painful to the feet.
"We both of us have mustaches! I have seduced13 Otto. They become us uncommonly14 well, and give us a very imposing15 air; and that is very good now that we are come into the land of banditti, where we must endeavor to awe16 the robbers. Thus travelled we. It was a dark night, and still as death, as in the moment when the overture17 begins to an opera. Soon, indeed, was the great Simplon curtain to be rolled up, and we to behold18 the land of music. Immediately on leaving the city, the road began to ascend19; we could not see a hand before us; around us tumbled and roared the water-courses,--it was as if we heard the pulse of Nature beat. Close above the carriage passed the white clouds; they seemed like transparent20 marble slabs21 which were slid over us. We had the gray dawn with us, whilst deep in the valley lay yet the darkness of night; in an hour's time it began to show itself there among the little wooden houses.
"It is a road hewn out of the rocks. The giant Napoleon carried it through the backbone22 of the earth. The eagle, Napoleon's bird, flew like a living armorial crest23 over the gigantic work of the master. There it was cold and gray; the clouds above us, the clouds below us, and in the middle space steep rocky walls.
"At regular distances houses (relais) are erected24 for the travellers; in one of these we drank our coffee. The passengers sat on benches and tables around the great fire-place, where the pine logs crackled. More than a thousand names were written on the walls. I amused myself by writing mamma's, yours, Sophie's, and Eva's; now they stand there, and people will fancy that you have been on the Simplon. In the lobby I scratched in that of Mamsell, and added 'Without her workbox.' Otto was thinking about you. We talked in our, what the rest would call 'outlandish speech,' when I all at once exclaimed, 'It is really Eva's birthday!' I remembered it first. In Simplon town we determined25 to drink her health.
"We set off again. Wherever the glaciers might fall and destroy the road the rocks have been sprung, and formed into great galleries, through which one drives without any danger. One waterfall succeeds another. There is no balustrade along the road, only the dark, deep abyss where the pine-trees raise themselves to an immense height, and yet only look like rafters on the mighty26 wall of rock. Before we had advanced much further, we came to where trees no longer grew. The great hospice lay in snow and cloud. We came into a valley. What solitude27! what desolation! only naked crags! They seemed metallic28, and all had a green hue29. The utmost variety of mosses30 grew there; before us towered up an immense glacier8, which looked like green bottle-glass ornamented31 with snow. It was bitterly cold here, and in Simplon the stoves were lighted; the champagne32 foamed33, Eva's health was drunk, and, only think! at that very moment an avalanche34 was so gallant35 as to fall. That was a cannonade; a pealing36 among the mountains! It must have rung in Eva's ears. Ask her about it. I can see how she smiles.
"We now advanced toward Italy, but cold was it, and cold it remained. The landscape became savage37; we drove between steep crags. Only fancy, on both sides a block of granite38 several miles long, and almost as high, and the road not wider than for two carriages to pass, and there you have a picture of it. If one wanted to see the sky, one was obliged to put one's head out of the carriage and look up, and then it was as if one looked up from the bottom of the deepest well, dark and narrow. Every moment I kept thinking, 'Nay39, if these two walls should come together!' We with carriage and horses were only like ants on a pebble40. We drove through the ribs41 of the earth! The water roared; the clouds hung like fleeces on the gray, craggy walls. In a valley we saw boys and girls dressed in sheep-skins, who looked as wild as if they had been brought up among beasts.
"Suddenly the air became wondrously42 mild. We saw the first fig-tree by the road-side. Chestnuts43 hung over our heads; we were in Isella, the boundary town of Italy. Otto sang, and was wild with delight; I studied the first public-house sign, 'Tabacca e vino.'
"How luxuriant became the landscape! Fields of maize44 and vineyards! The vine was not trained on frames as in Germany!--no, it hung in luxuriant garlands, in great huts of leaves! Beautiful children bounded along the road, but the heavens were gray, and that I had not expected in Italy. From Domo d'Ossola, I looked back to my beloved Switzerland! Yes, she turns truly the most beautiful side toward Italy. But there was not any time for me to gaze; on we must. In the carriage there sat an old Signorina; she recited poetry, and made: with her eyes 'che bella cosa!'
"About ten o'clock at night we were in Baveno, drank tea, and slept, whilst Lago Maggiore splashed under our window. The lake and the Borromaen island we were to see by daylight.
"'Lord God!' thought I, 'is this all?' A scene as quiet and riant as this we--have at home! Funen after this should be called Isola bella, and the East Sea is quite large enough to be called Lago Maggiore. We went by the steamboat past the holy Borromeus [Author's Note: A colossal45 statue on the shore of Lago Maggiore.] to Sesto de Calende; we had a priest on board, who was very much astonished at our having come from so far. I showed him a large travelling map which we had with us, where the Lago Maggiore was the most southern, and Hamburg the most northern point. 'Yet still further off,' said I; 'more to the north!' and he struck his hands together when he perceived that we were from beyond the great map. He inquired whether we were Calvinists.
"We sped through glorious scenes. The Alps looked like glass mountains in a fairy tale. They lay behind us. The air was warm as summer, but light as on the high mountains. The women wafted46 kisses to us; but they were not handsome, the good ladies!
"Tell the Kammerjunker that the Italian pigs have no bristles47, but have a coal-black shining skin like a Moor48.
"Toward night we arrived at Milan, where we located ourselves with Reichmann, made a good supper, and had excellent beds; but I foresee that this bliss49 will not last very long. On the other side of the Apennines we shall be up to the ears in dirt, and must eat olives preserved in oil; but let it pass. Otto adapts himself charmingly to all things; he begins to be merry--that is, at times! I, too, have had a sort of vertigo--I am taken with Italian music; but then there is a difference in hearing it on the spot. It has more than melody; it has character. The luxuriance in nature and in the female form; the light, fluttering movement of the people, where even pain is melody, has won my heart and my understanding. Travelling changes people!
"Kiss mamma for me! Tell Eva about the health-drinking on the Simplon, and about the falling avalanche: do not forget that; that is precisely50 the point in my letter! Tell me too how Eva blushed, and smiled, and said, 'He thought of me!' Yes, in fact it is very noble of me. My sweet Sophie and her Kammerjunker, Jakoba and Mamsell, must have a bouquet51 of greetings, which you must arrange properly. If you could but see Otto and me with our mustaches! We make an impression, and that is very pleasant. If the days only did not go on so quickly--if life did not pass so rapidly!
"'Questa vita mortale
Che la porta a la perde in un momento,' [Note: Guarini]
as we Italians say. Cannot you understand that?
"Thy affectionate brother,
"WILHELM."
Otto wrote in the margin52 of the letter, "Italy is a paradise! Here the heavens are three times as lofty as at home. I love the proud pine-trees and the dark-blue mountains. Would hat everybody could see the glorious objects!"
Wilhelm added to this, "What he writes about the Italian heavens is stupid stuff. Ours at home is just as good. He is an odd person, as you very well know!
"'Addic! A rivederci!'"
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1
mule
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| n.骡子，杂种，执拗的人 | |
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2
misty
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| adj.雾蒙蒙的，有雾的 | |
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par
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| n.标准，票面价值，平均数量；adj.票面的，平常的，标准的 | |
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poetical
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| adj.似诗人的；诗一般的；韵文的；富有诗意的 | |
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filth
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| n.肮脏，污物，污秽；淫猥 | |
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enchanting
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| a.讨人喜欢的 | |
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7
glaciers
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| 冰河，冰川( glacier的名词复数 ) | |
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glacier
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| n.冰川，冰河 | |
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peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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ridges
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| n.脊( ridge的名词复数 )；山脊；脊状突起；大气层的)高压脊 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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slippers
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| n. 拖鞋 | |
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seduced
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| 诱奸( seduce的过去式和过去分词 )； 勾引； 诱使堕落； 使入迷 | |
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uncommonly
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| adv. 稀罕(极，非常) | |
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imposing
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| adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的 | |
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16
awe
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| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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overture
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| n.前奏曲、序曲，提议，提案，初步交涉 | |
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behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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ascend
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| vi.渐渐上升，升高；vt.攀登，登上 | |
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transparent
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| adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的 | |
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slabs
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| n.厚板，平板，厚片( slab的名词复数 )；厚胶片 | |
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backbone
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| n.脊骨，脊柱，骨干；刚毅，骨气 | |
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crest
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| n.顶点；饰章；羽冠；vt.达到顶点；vi.形成浪尖 | |
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24
ERECTED
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| adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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solitude
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| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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metallic
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| adj.金属的；金属制的；含金属的；产金属的；像金属的 | |
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29
hue
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| n.色度；色调；样子 | |
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mosses
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| n. 藓类, 苔藓植物 名词moss的复数形式 | |
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ornamented
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| adj.花式字体的v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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32
champagne
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| n.香槟酒；微黄色 | |
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foamed
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| 泡沫的 | |
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avalanche
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| n.雪崩，大量涌来 | |
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gallant
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| adj.英勇的，豪侠的；(向女人)献殷勤的 | |
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pealing
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| v.（使）（钟等）鸣响，（雷等）发出隆隆声( peal的现在分词 ) | |
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savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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granite
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| adj.花岗岩，花岗石 | |
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nay
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| adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者 | |
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pebble
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| n.卵石，小圆石 | |
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41
ribs
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| n.肋骨( rib的名词复数 )；（船或屋顶等的）肋拱；肋骨状的东西；（织物的）凸条花纹 | |
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42
wondrously
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| adv.惊奇地，非常，极其 | |
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43
chestnuts
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| n.栗子( chestnut的名词复数 )；栗色；栗树；栗色马 | |
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44
maize
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| n.玉米 | |
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45
colossal
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| adj.异常的，庞大的 | |
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46
wafted
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| v.吹送，飘送，（使）浮动( waft的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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47
bristles
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| 短而硬的毛发，刷子毛( bristle的名词复数 ) | |
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48
moor
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| n.荒野，沼泽；vt.(使)停泊；vi.停泊 | |
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49
bliss
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| n.狂喜，福佑，天赐的福 | |
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50
precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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51
bouquet
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| n.花束，酒香 | |
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margin
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| n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘 | |
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