. . . “Neither cannon16 nor bayonets . . . Brought pallor to his brow. . . As serene17 on the battlefield . . . as a summer sky. He was the falcon18—the eagle’s friend . . . Honey of the sand to his friends . . . To his enemies, a tempestuous19 sea. . . . . . . Prouder than the sun . . . gentler than the moon . . . He for whom the enemies of France . . . never waited . . . Murderers in his own land . . . struck him from behind . . . As Vittolo slew20 Sampiero Corso . . . Never would they have dared to look him in The face . . . Set up on the wall Before my bed . . . my well-earned cross of honour . . . red is its ribbon . . . redder is my shirt! . . . For my son, my son in a far country . . . keep my cross and my blood-stained shirt! . . .
“. . . He will see two holes in it . . . For each hole a hole in another shirt! . . . But will that accomplish the vengeance? . . . I must have the hand that fired, the eye that aimed . . . the heart that planned!” . . .
Suddenly the sailor stopped short.
“Why don’t you go on, my good man?” inquired Miss Nevil.
The sailor, with a jerk of his head, pointed21 to a figure appearing through the main hatchway of the schooner22: it was Orso, coming up to enjoy the moonlight. “Pray finish your song,” said Miss Lydia. “It interests me greatly!”
The sailor leaned toward her, and said, in a very low tone, “I don’t give the rimbecco to anybody!”
“The what?”
The sailor, without replying, began to whistle.
“I have caught you admiring our Mediterranean23, Miss Nevil,” said Orso, coming toward her. “You must allow you never see a moon like this anywhere else!”
“I was not looking at it, I was altogether occupied in studying Corsican. That sailor, who has been singing a most tragic24 dirge, stopped short at the most interesting point.”
The sailor bent25 down, as if to see the compass more clearly, and tugged26 sharply at Miss Nevil’s fur cloak. It was quite evident his lament27 could not be sung before Lieutenant Orso.
“What were you singing, Paolo France?” said Orso. “Was it a ballata or a vocero? Mademoiselle understands you, and would like to hear the end.”
“I have forgotten it, Ors’ Anton’,” said the sailor.
Miss Lydia listened absent-mindedly to the hymn, and did not press the singer any further—though she was quite resolved, in her own mind, to find out the meaning of the riddle30 later. But her maid, who, being a Florentine, could not understand the Corsican dialect any better than her mistress, was as eager as Miss Lydia for information, and, turning to Orso, before the English lady could warn her by a nudge, she said: “Captain what does giving the rimbecco mean?”
“The rimbecco!” said Orso. “Why, it’s the most deadly insult that can be offered to a Corsican. It means reproaching him with not having avenged31 his wrong. Who mentioned the rimbecco to you?”
“Yesterday, at Marseilles,” replied Miss Lydia hurriedly, “the captain of the schooner used the word.”
“And whom was he talking about?” inquired Orso eagerly.
“Oh, he was telling us some odd story about the time—yes, I think it was about Vannina d’Ornano.”
“I suppose, mademoiselle, that Vannina’s death has not inspired you with any great love for our national hero, the brave Sampiero?”
“But do you think his conduct was so very heroic?”
“The excuse for his crime lies in the savage33 customs of the period. And then Sampiero was waging deadly war against the Genoese. What confidence could his fellow-countrymen have felt in him if he had not punished his wife, who tried to treat with Genoa?”
“Vannina,” said the sailor, “had started off without her husband’s leave. Sampiero did quite right to wring34 her neck!”
“But,” said Miss Lydia, “it was to save her husband, it was out of love for him, that she was going to ask his pardon from the Genoese.”
“To ask his pardon was to degrade him!” exclaimed Orso.
“And then to kill her himself!” said Miss Lydia. “What a monster he must have been!”
“You know she begged as a favour that she might die by his hand. What about Othello, mademoiselle, do you look on him, too, as a monster?”
“There is a difference; he was jealous. Sampiero was only vain!”
“And after all is not jealousy35 a kind of vanity? It is the vanity of love; will you not excuse it on account of its motive36?”
Miss Lydia looked at him with an air of great dignity, and turning to the sailor, inquired when the schooner would reach port.
“The day after to-morrow,” said he, “if the wind holds.”
“I wish Ajaccio were in sight already, for I am sick of this ship.” She rose, took her maid’s arm, and walked a few paces on the deck. Orso stood motionless beside the helm, not knowing whether he had better walk beside her, or end a conversation which seemed displeasing37 to her.
“Blood of the Madonna, what a handsome girl!” said the sailor. “If every flea38 in my bed were like her, I shouldn’t complain of their biting me!”
Miss Lydia may possibly have overheard this artless praise of her beauty and been startled by it; for she went below almost immediately. Shortly after Orso also retired39. As soon as he had left the deck the maid reappeared, and, having cross-questioned the sailor, carried back the following information to her mistress. The ballata which had been broken off on Orso’s appearance had been composed on the occasion of the death of his father, Colonel della Rebbia, who had been murdered two years previously40. The sailor had no doubt at all that Orso was coming back to Corsica per fare la vendetta41, such was his expression, and he affirmed that before long there would be fresh meat to be seen in the village of Pietranera. This national expression, being interpreted, meant that Signor Orso proposed to murder two or three individuals suspected of having assassinated43 his father—individuals who had, indeed, been prosecuted44 on that account, but had come out of the trial as white as snow, for they were hand and glove with the judges, lawyers, prefect, and gendarmes45.
“There is no justice in Corsica,” added the sailor, “and I put much more faith in a good gun than in a judge of the Royal Court. If a man has an enemy he must choose one of the three S’s.” (A national expression meaning schioppetto, stiletto, strada—that is, gun, dagger46, or flight.)
These interesting pieces of information wrought47 a notable change in Miss Lydia’s manner and feeling with regard to Lieutenant della Rebbia. From that moment he became a person of importance in the romantic Englishwoman’s eyes.
His careless air, his frank and good humour, which had at first impressed her so unfavourably, now seemed to her an additional merit, as being proofs of the deep dissimulation48 of a strong nature, which will not allow any inner feeling to appear upon the surface. Orso seemed to her a sort of Fieschi, who hid mighty49 designs under an appearance of frivolity50, and, though it is less noble to kill a few rascals51 than to free one’s country, still a fine deed of vengeance is a fine thing, and besides, women are rather glad to find their hero is not a politician. Then Miss Nevil remarked for the first time that the young lieutenant had large eyes, white teeth, an elegant figure, that he was well-educated, and possessed52 the habits of good society. During the following day she talked to him frequently, and found his conversation interesting. He was asked many questions about his own country, and described it well. Corsica, which he had left when young, to go first to college, and then to the Ecole militaire, had remained in his imagination surrounded with poetic3 associations. When he talked of its mountains, its forests, and the quaint53 customs of its inhabitants he grew eager and animated54. As may be imagined, the word vengeance occurred more than once in the stories he told—for it is impossible to speak of the Corsicans without either attacking or justifying55 their proverbial passion. Orso somewhat surprised Miss Nevil by his general condemnation56 of the undying hatreds57 nursed by his fellow-countrymen. As regarded the peasants, however, he endeavoured to excuse them, and claimed that the vendetta is the poor man’s duel58. “So true is this,” he said, “that no assassination59 takes place till a formal challenge has been delivered. ‘Be on your guard yourself, I am on mine!’ are the sacramental words exchanged, from time immemorial, between two enemies, before they begin to lie in wait for each other. There are more assassinations60 among us,” he added, “than anywhere else. But you will never discover an ignoble61 cause for any of these crimes. We have many murderers, it is true, but not a single thief.”
When he spoke62 about vengeance and murder Miss Lydia looked at him closely, but she could not detect the slightest trace of emotion on his features. As she had made up her mind, however, that he possessed sufficient strength of mind to be able to hide his thoughts from every eye (her own, of course, excepted), she continued in her firm belief that Colonel della Rebbia’s shade would not have to wait long for the atonement it claimed.
The schooner was already within sight of Corsica. The captain pointed out the principal features of the coast, and, though all of these were absolutely unknown to Miss Lydia, she found a certain pleasure in hearing their names; nothing is more tiresome63 than an anonymous64 landscape. From time to time the colonel’s telescope revealed to her the form of some islander clad in brown cloth, armed with a long gun, bestriding a small horse, and galloping65 down steep slopes. In each of these Miss Lydia believed she beheld66 either a brigand67 or a son going forth68 to avenge32 his father’s death. But Orso always declared it was some peaceful denizen69 of a neighbouring village travelling on business, and that he carried a gun less from necessity than because it was the fashion, just as no dandy ever takes a walk without an elegant cane70. Though a gun is a less noble and poetic weapon than a stiletto, Miss Lydia thought it much more stylish71 for a man than any cane, and she remembered that all Lord Byron’s heroes died by a bullet, and not by the classic poniard.
After three days’ sailing, the ship reached Les Sanguinaires (The Bloody72 Islands), and the magnificent panorama73 of the Gulf74 of Ajaccio was unrolled before our travellers’ eyes. It is compared, with justice, to the Bay of Naples, and just as the schooner was entering the harbour a burning maquis, which covered the Punta di Girato, brought back memories of Vesuvius and heightened the resemblance. To make it quite complete, Naples should be seen after one of Attila’s armies had devastated75 its suburbs—for round Ajaccio everything looks dead and deserted76. Instead of the handsome buildings observable on every side from Castellamare to Cape13 Misena, nothing is to be seen in the neighbourhood of the Gulf of Ajaccio but gloomy maquis with bare mountains rising behind them. Not a villa42, not a dwelling77 of any kind—only here and there, on the heights about the town, a few isolated78 white structures stand out against a background of green. These are mortuary chapels79 or family tombs. Everything in this landscape is gravely and sadly beautiful.
The appearance of the town, at that period especially, deepened the impression caused by the loneliness of its surroundings. There was no stir in the streets, where only a few listless idlers—always the same—were to be seen; no women at all, except an odd peasant come in to sell her produce; no loud talk, laughter, and singing, as in the Italian towns. Sometimes, under the shade of a tree on the public promenade80, a dozen armed peasants will play at cards or watch each other play; they never shout or wrangle81; if they get hot over the game, pistol shots ring out, and this always before the utterance82 of any threat. The Corsican is grave and silent by nature. In the evening, a few persons come out to enjoy the cool air, but the promenaders on the Corso are nearly all of them foreigners; the islanders stay in front of their own doors; each one seems on the watch, like a falcon over its nest.
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收听单词发音
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1
glided
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| v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔 | |
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smoothly
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| adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地 | |
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poetic
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| adj.富有诗意的，有诗人气质的，善于抒情的 | |
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lieutenant
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| n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员 | |
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prosaic
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| adj.单调的，无趣的 | |
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dirge
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| n.哀乐，挽歌，庄重悲哀的乐曲 | |
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monotonous
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| adj.单调的，一成不变的，使人厌倦的 | |
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tune
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| n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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passionate
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| 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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patois
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| n.方言；混合语 | |
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utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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cape
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| n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风 | |
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vengeance
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| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
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mingled
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| 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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cannon
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| n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮 | |
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serene
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| adj. 安详的，宁静的，平静的 | |
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falcon
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| n.隼，猎鹰 | |
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tempestuous
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| adj.狂暴的 | |
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slew
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| v.（使）旋转；n.大量，许多 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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schooner
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| n.纵帆船 | |
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Mediterranean
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| adj.地中海的；地中海沿岸的 | |
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tragic
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| adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的 | |
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bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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26
tugged
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| v.用力拉，使劲拉，猛扯( tug的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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lament
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| n.悲叹，悔恨，恸哭；v.哀悼，悔恨，悲叹 | |
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hymn
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| n.赞美诗，圣歌，颂歌 | |
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29
virgin
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| n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的 | |
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30
riddle
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| n.谜，谜语，粗筛；vt.解谜，给…出谜，筛，检查，鉴定，非难，充满于；vi.出谜 | |
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31
avenged
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| v.为…复仇，报…之仇( avenge的过去式和过去分词 )；为…报复 | |
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32
avenge
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| v.为...复仇，为...报仇 | |
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33
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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34
wring
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| n.扭绞；v.拧，绞出，扭 | |
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35
jealousy
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| n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌 | |
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36
motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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37
displeasing
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| 不愉快的，令人发火的 | |
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38
flea
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| n.跳蚤 | |
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39
retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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40
previously
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| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
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vendetta
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| n.世仇，宿怨 | |
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42
villa
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| n.别墅，城郊小屋 | |
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43
assassinated
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| v.暗杀( assassinate的过去式和过去分词 )；中伤；诋毁；破坏 | |
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44
prosecuted
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| a.被起诉的 | |
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45
gendarmes
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| n.宪兵，警官( gendarme的名词复数 ) | |
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46
dagger
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| n.匕首，短剑，剑号 | |
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47
wrought
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| v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的 | |
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48
dissimulation
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| n.掩饰，虚伪，装糊涂 | |
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49
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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50
frivolity
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| n.轻松的乐事，兴高采烈；轻浮的举止 | |
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51
rascals
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| 流氓( rascal的名词复数 )； 无赖； （开玩笑说法）淘气的人（尤指小孩）； 恶作剧的人 | |
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52
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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53
quaint
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| adj.古雅的，离奇有趣的，奇怪的 | |
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54
animated
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| adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的 | |
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55
justifying
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| 证明…有理( justify的现在分词 )； 为…辩护； 对…作出解释； 为…辩解（或辩护） | |
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56
condemnation
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| n.谴责; 定罪 | |
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57
hatreds
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| n.仇恨，憎恶( hatred的名词复数 )；厌恶的事 | |
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58
duel
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| n./v.决斗；(双方的)斗争 | |
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59
assassination
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| n.暗杀；暗杀事件 | |
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60
assassinations
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| n.暗杀( assassination的名词复数 ) | |
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61
ignoble
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| adj.不光彩的，卑鄙的；可耻的 | |
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62
spoke
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| 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 | |
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63
tiresome
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| adj.令人疲劳的，令人厌倦的 | |
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64
anonymous
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| adj.无名的；匿名的；无特色的 | |
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65
galloping
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| adj. 飞驰的, 急性的 动词gallop的现在分词形式 | |
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66
beheld
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| 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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67
brigand
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| n.土匪，强盗 | |
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68
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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denizen
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| n.居民，外籍居民 | |
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70
cane
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| n.手杖，细长的茎，藤条；v.以杖击，以藤编制的 | |
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71
stylish
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| adj.流行的，时髦的；漂亮的，气派的 | |
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72
bloody
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| adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染 | |
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73
panorama
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| n.全景，全景画，全景摄影，全景照片[装置] | |
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74
gulf
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| n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂 | |
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75
devastated
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| v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的 | |
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76
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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77
dwelling
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| n.住宅，住所，寓所 | |
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78
isolated
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| adj.与世隔绝的 | |
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79
chapels
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| n.小教堂， （医院、监狱等的）附属礼拜堂( chapel的名词复数 )；（在小教堂和附属礼拜堂举行的）礼拜仪式 | |
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80
promenade
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| n./v.散步 | |
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81
wrangle
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| vi.争吵 | |
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utterance
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| n.用言语表达，话语，言语 | |
参考例句： |
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