Then, as the line curved, came the view of the city beneath its delicate canopy13 of mist. The city was built on escarpments, on ridges14, on hills, and sagged15 here and there into great hollows. The serrated silhouette16 of it wrote romance upon the sky, and the contours of the naked earth beyond lost themselves grandly in the mystery of the north. The jutting17 custom-house was a fine piece of architecture. From the eighteen-forties it challenged grimly the modern architect. On his hasty first visit to the city George had noticed little save that custom-house. He had seen a slatternly provincial18 town, large and picturesque19 certainly, but with small sense of form or dignity. He had decided20 that his town hall would stand quite unique in the town. But soon the city had imposed itself upon him and taught him the rudiments21 of humility22. It contained an immense quantity of interesting architecture of various periods, which could not be appreciated at a glance. It was a hoary23 place. It went back to the Romans and further. Its fragmentary walls had survived through seven centuries, its cathedral through six, its chief churches through five. It had the most perfect Norman keep within two hundred miles. It had ancient halls, mansions24, towers, markets, and jail. And to these the Victorian-Edwardian age had added museums, law courts, theatres; such astonishing modernities as swimming-baths, power-houses, joint-stock banks, lending libraries, and art schools; and whole monumental streets and squares from the designs of a native architect without whose respectable name no history of British architecture could be called complete. George's town hall was the largest building in the city; but it did not dominate the city nor dwarf25 it; the city easily digested it. Arriving in the city by train the traveller, if he knew where to look, could just distinguish a bit of the town hall tower, amid masses of granite26 and brick: which glimpse symbolized27 the relation between the city and the town hall and had its due effect on the Midland conceit28 of George.
But what impressed George more than the stout29, physical aspects of the city was the sense of its huge, adventurous30, corporate31 life, continuous from century to century. It had known terrible battles, obstinate32 sieges, famines, cholera33, a general conflagration34, and, in the twentieth century, strikes that possibly were worse than pestilence35. It had fiercely survived them all. It was a city passionate36 and highly vitalized. George had soon begun to be familiar with its organic existence from the inside. The amazing delays in the construction of the town hall were characteristic of the city, originating as they did not from sloth37 or indecision but from the obduracy38 of the human will. At the start a sensational39 municipal election had put the whole project on the shelf for two years, and George had received a compensatory one per cent on the estimated cost according to contract, and had abandoned his hope. But the pertinacity40 of Mr. Soulter, first Councillor, then Alderman, then Mayor, the true father of the town hall, had been victorious41 in the end. Next there had been an infinity42 of trouble with owners of adjacent properties and with the foundations. Next the local contractor43, who had got the work through a ruthless and ingenious conspiracy44 of associates on the Council, had gone bankrupt. Next came the gigantic building strike, in which conflicting volitions fought each other for many months to the devastation45 of an entire group of trades. Finally was the inflexible46 resolution of Mr. Soulter that the town hall should not be opened and used until it was finished in every part and every detail of furniture and decoration.
George, by his frequent sojourns47 in the city, and his official connexion with the authorities, had several opportunities to observe the cabals48, the chicane, and the personal animosities and friendships which functioned in secret at the very heart of the city's life. He knew the idiosyncrasies of councillors and aldermen in committee; he had learnt more about mankind in the committee-rooms of the old town hall than he could have learnt in ten thousand London clubs. He could divide the city council infallibly into wire-pullers, axe-grinders, vain nincompoops, honest mediocrities, and the handful who combined honesty with sagacity and sagacity with strength. At beefy luncheon-tables, and in gorgeous, stuffy49 bars tapestried50 with Lincrusta-Walton, he had listened to the innumerable tales of the town, in which greed, crookedness51, ambition, rectitude, hatred52, and sexual love were extraordinarily53 mixed—the last being by far the smallest ingredient. He liked the town; he revelled54 in it. It seemed to him splendid in its ineradicable, ever-changing, changeless humanity. And as the train bored its way through the granite bowels55 of the city, he thought pleasurably upon all these matters. And with them in his mind there gradually mingled56 the images of Lois and Marguerite. He cared not what their virtues57 were or what their faults were. He enjoyed reflecting upon them, picturing them with their contrasted attributes, following them into the future as they developed blindly under the unperceived sway of the paramount58 instincts which had impelled59 and would always impel60 them towards their ultimate destiny. He thought upon himself, and about himself he was very sturdily cheerful, because he had had a most satisfactory interview with Sir Isaac on the previous afternoon.
A few minutes later he walked behind a portmanteau-bearing night-porter into the wide-corridored, sleeping hotel, whose dust glittered in the straight shafts61 of early sunlight. He stopped at the big slate62 under the staircase and wrote in chalk opposite the number 187: "Not to be called till 12 o'clock, under pain of death." And the porter, a friend of some years' standing63, laughed. On the second floor that same porter dropped the baggage on the linoleum64 and rattled65 the key in the lock with a high disregard of sleepers66. In the bedroom the porter undid67 the straps68 of the portmanteau, and then:
"Anything else, sir?"
"That's all, John."
And as he turned to leave, John stopped and remarked in a tone of concern:
"Sorry to say Alderman Soulter's ill in bed, sir. Won't be able to come to the Opening. It's him as'll be madder than anybody, ill or not."
George was shocked, and almost frightened. In his opinion the true intelligence of the city was embodied69 in Mr. Soulter. Mr. Soulter had been a father to him, had understood his aims and fought for them again and again. Without Mr. Soulter he felt defenceless before the ordeal70 of the Opening, and he wished that he might fly back to London instantly. Nevertheless the contact of the cool, clean sheets was exquisite71, and he went to sleep at once, just as he was realizing the extremity72 of his fatigue73.
He did not have his sleep out. Despite the menace of death, a courageous74 creature heavily knocked at his door at ten o'clock and entered. It was a page-boy with a telegram. George opened the envelope resentfully.
"No answer."
The telegram read:
"Am told we have got it.—PONTING"
Ponting was George's assistant. The news referred to a competition for an enormous barracks in India—one of the two competitions pending75. It had come sooner than expected. Was it true? George was aware that Ponting had useful acquaintanceship with a clerk in the India Office.
He thought, trying not to believe:
"Of course Ponting will swallow anything."
But he made no attempt to sleep again. He was too elated.
点击收听单词发音
1 rumbling | |
n. 隆隆声, 辘辘声 adj. 隆隆响的 动词rumble的现在分词 | |
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2 tinged | |
v.(使)发丁丁声( ting的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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3 scarlet | |
n.深红色,绯红色,红衣;adj.绯红色的 | |
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4 tug | |
v.用力拖(或拉);苦干;n.拖;苦干;拖船 | |
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5 smack | |
vt.拍,打,掴;咂嘴;vi.含有…意味;n.拍 | |
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6 puffs | |
n.吸( puff的名词复数 );(烟斗或香烟的)一吸;一缕(烟、蒸汽等);(呼吸或风的)呼v.使喷出( puff的第三人称单数 );喷着汽(或烟)移动;吹嘘;吹捧 | |
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7 incipient | |
adj.起初的,发端的,初期的 | |
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8 vessels | |
n.血管( vessel的名词复数 );船;容器;(具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的)人 | |
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9 descried | |
adj.被注意到的,被发现的,被看到的 | |
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10 translucent | |
adj.半透明的;透明的 | |
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11 miraculous | |
adj.像奇迹一样的,不可思议的 | |
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12 intoxicated | |
喝醉的,极其兴奋的 | |
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13 canopy | |
n.天篷,遮篷 | |
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14 ridges | |
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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15 sagged | |
下垂的 | |
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16 silhouette | |
n.黑色半身侧面影,影子,轮廓;v.描绘成侧面影,照出影子来,仅仅显出轮廓 | |
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17 jutting | |
v.(使)突出( jut的现在分词 );伸出;(从…)突出;高出 | |
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18 provincial | |
adj.省的,地方的;n.外省人,乡下人 | |
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19 picturesque | |
adj.美丽如画的,(语言)生动的,绘声绘色的 | |
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20 decided | |
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的 | |
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21 rudiments | |
n.基础知识,入门 | |
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22 humility | |
n.谦逊,谦恭 | |
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23 hoary | |
adj.古老的;鬓发斑白的 | |
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24 mansions | |
n.宅第,公馆,大厦( mansion的名词复数 ) | |
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25 dwarf | |
n.矮子,侏儒,矮小的动植物;vt.使…矮小 | |
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26 granite | |
adj.花岗岩,花岗石 | |
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27 symbolized | |
v.象征,作为…的象征( symbolize的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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28 conceit | |
n.自负,自高自大 | |
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30 adventurous | |
adj.爱冒险的;惊心动魄的,惊险的,刺激的 | |
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31 corporate | |
adj.共同的,全体的;公司的,企业的 | |
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32 obstinate | |
adj.顽固的,倔强的,不易屈服的,较难治愈的 | |
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33 cholera | |
n.霍乱 | |
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34 conflagration | |
n.建筑物或森林大火 | |
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35 pestilence | |
n.瘟疫 | |
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36 passionate | |
adj.热情的,热烈的,激昂的,易动情的,易怒的,性情暴躁的 | |
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37 sloth | |
n.[动]树懒;懒惰,懒散 | |
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38 obduracy | |
n.冷酷无情,顽固,执拗 | |
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39 sensational | |
adj.使人感动的,非常好的,轰动的,耸人听闻的 | |
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40 pertinacity | |
n.执拗,顽固 | |
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41 victorious | |
adj.胜利的,得胜的 | |
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42 infinity | |
n.无限,无穷,大量 | |
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43 contractor | |
n.订约人,承包人,收缩肌 | |
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44 conspiracy | |
n.阴谋,密谋,共谋 | |
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45 devastation | |
n.毁坏;荒废;极度震惊或悲伤 | |
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46 inflexible | |
adj.不可改变的,不受影响的,不屈服的 | |
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47 sojourns | |
n.逗留,旅居( sojourn的名词复数 ) | |
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48 cabals | |
n.(政治)阴谋小集团,(尤指政治上的)阴谋( cabal的名词复数 ) | |
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49 stuffy | |
adj.不透气的,闷热的 | |
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50 tapestried | |
adj.饰挂绣帷的,织在绣帷上的v.用挂毯(或绣帷)装饰( tapestry的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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51 crookedness | |
[医]弯曲 | |
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52 hatred | |
n.憎恶,憎恨,仇恨 | |
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53 extraordinarily | |
adv.格外地;极端地 | |
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54 revelled | |
v.作乐( revel的过去式和过去分词 );狂欢;着迷;陶醉 | |
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55 bowels | |
n.肠,内脏,内部;肠( bowel的名词复数 );内部,最深处 | |
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56 mingled | |
混合,混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 ); 混进,与…交往[联系] | |
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57 virtues | |
美德( virtue的名词复数 ); 德行; 优点; 长处 | |
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58 paramount | |
a.最重要的,最高权力的 | |
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59 impelled | |
v.推动、推进或敦促某人做某事( impel的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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60 impel | |
v.推动;激励,迫使 | |
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61 shafts | |
n.轴( shaft的名词复数 );(箭、高尔夫球棒等的)杆;通风井;一阵(疼痛、害怕等) | |
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62 slate | |
n.板岩,石板,石片,石板色,候选人名单;adj.暗蓝灰色的,含板岩的;vt.用石板覆盖,痛打,提名,预订 | |
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63 standing | |
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的 | |
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64 linoleum | |
n.油布,油毯 | |
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65 rattled | |
慌乱的,恼火的 | |
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66 sleepers | |
n.卧铺(通常以复数形式出现);卧车( sleeper的名词复数 );轨枕;睡觉(呈某种状态)的人;小耳环 | |
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67 Undid | |
v. 解开, 复原 | |
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68 straps | |
n.带子( strap的名词复数 );挎带;肩带;背带v.用皮带捆扎( strap的第三人称单数 );用皮带抽打;包扎;给…打绷带 | |
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69 embodied | |
v.表现( embody的过去式和过去分词 );象征;包括;包含 | |
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70 ordeal | |
n.苦难经历,(尤指对品格、耐力的)严峻考验 | |
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71 exquisite | |
adj.精美的;敏锐的;剧烈的,感觉强烈的 | |
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72 extremity | |
n.末端,尽头;尽力;终极;极度 | |
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73 fatigue | |
n.疲劳,劳累 | |
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74 courageous | |
adj.勇敢的,有胆量的 | |
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75 pending | |
prep.直到,等待…期间;adj.待定的;迫近的 | |
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