Orbajosa slept. The melancholy1 street-lamps were shedding their last gleams at street-corners and in by-ways, like tired eyes struggling in vain against sleep. By their dim light, wrapped in their cloaks, glided2 past like shadows, vagabonds, watchmen, and gamblers. Only the hoarse3 shout of the drunkard or the song of the serenader broke the peaceful silence of the historic city. Suddenly the “Ave Maria Purisima” of some drunken watchman would be heard, like a moan uttered in its sleep by the town.
In Doña Perfecta’s house also silence reigned5, unbroken but for a conversation which was taking place between Don Cayetano and Pepe Rey, in the library of the former. The savant was seated comfortably in the arm-chair beside his study table, which was covered with papers of various kinds containing notes, annotations6, and references, all arranged in the most perfect order. Rey’s eyes were fixed7 on the heap of papers, but his thoughts were doubtless far away from this accumulated learning.
“Perfecta,” said the antiquary, “although she is an excellent woman, has the defect of allowing herself to be shocked by any little act of folly8. In these provincial9 towns, my dear friend, the slightest slip is dearly paid for. I see nothing particular in your having gone to the Troyas’ house. I fancy that Don Inocencio, under his cloak of piety10, is something of a mischief-maker. What has he to do with the matter?”
“We have reached a point, Señor Don Cayetano, in which it is necessary to take a decisive resolution. I must see Rosario and speak with her.”
“See her, then!”
“But they will not let me,” answered the engineer, striking the table with his clenched11 hand. “Rosario is kept a prisoner.”
“A prisoner!” repeated the savant incredulously. “The truth is that I do not like her looks or her hair, and still less the vacant expression in her beautiful eyes. She is melancholy, she talks little, she weeps—friend Don José, I greatly fear that the girl may be attacked by the terrible malady12 to which so many of the members of my family have fallen victims.”
“A terrible malady! What is it?”
“Madness—or rather mania13. Not a single member of my family has been free from it. I alone have escaped it.”
“You! But leaving aside the question of madness,” said Rey, with impatience14, “I wish to see Rosario.”
“Nothing more natural. But the isolation15 in which her mother keeps her is a hygienic measure, dear Pepe, and the only one that has been successfully employed with the various members of my family. Consider that the person whose presence and voice would make the strongest impression on Rosarillo’s delicate nervous system is the chosen of her heart.”
“In spite of all that,” insisted Pepe, “I wish to see her.”
“Perhaps Perfecta will not oppose your doing so,” said the savant, giving his attention to his notes and papers. “I don’t want to take any responsibility in the matter.”
The engineer, seeing that he could obtain nothing from the good Polentinos, rose to retire.
“You are going to work,” he said, “and I will not trouble you any longer.”
“No, there is time enough. See the amount of precious information that I collected to-day. Listen: ‘In 1537 a native of Orbajosa, called Bartolome del Hoyo, went to Civita-Vecchia in one of the galleys16 of the Marquis of Castel Rodrigo.’ Another: ‘In the same year two brothers named Juan and Rodrigo Gonzalez del Arco embarked17 in one of the six ships which sailed from Maestricht on the 20th of February, and which encountered in the latitude18 of Calais an English vessel19 and the Flemish fleet commanded by Van Owen.’ That was truly an important exploit of our navy. I have discovered that it was an Orbajosan, one Mateo Diaz Coronel, an ensign in the guards, who, in 1709, wrote and published in Valencia the ‘Metrical Encomium20, Funeral Chant, Lyrical Eulogy21, Numerical Description, Glorious Sufferings, and Sorrowful Glories of the Queen of the Angels.’ I possess a most precious copy of this work, which is worth the mines of Peru. Another Orbajosan was the author of that famous ‘Treatise on the Various Styles of Horsemanship’ which I showed you yesterday; and, in short, there is not a step I take in the labyrinth22 of unpublished history that I do not stumble against some illustrious compatriot. It is my purpose to draw all these names out of the unjust obscurity and oblivion in which they have so long lain. How pure a joy, dear Pepe, to restore all their lustre23 to the glories, epic24 and literary, of one’s native place! And how could a man better employ the scant25 intellect with which Heaven has endowed him, the fortune which he has inherited, and the brief period of time on earth allowed to even the longest life. Thanks to me it will be seen that Orbajosa is the illustrious cradle of Spanish genius. But what do I say? Is not its illustrious ancestry26 evident in the nobleness and high-mindedness of the present Urbs Augustan generation? We know few places where all the virtues27, unchoked by the malefic weeds of vice28, grow more luxuriantly. Here all is peace, mutual29 respect, Christian30 humility31. Charity is practised here as it was in Biblical times; here envy is unknown; here the criminal passions are unknown, and if you hear thieves and murderers spoken of, you may be sure that they are not the children of this noble soil; or, that if they are, they belong to the number of unhappy creatures perverted32 by the teachings of demagogues. Here you will see the national character in all its purity—upright, noble, incorruptible, pure, simple, patriarchal, hospitable33, generous. Therefore it is that I live so happy in this solitude34 far from the turmoil35 of cities where, alas36! falsehood and vice reign4. Therefore it is that the many friends whom I have in Madrid have not been able to tempt37 me from this place; therefore it is that I spend my life in the sweet companionship of my faithful townspeople and my books, breathing the wholesome38 atmosphere of integrity, which is gradually becoming circumscribed39 in our Spain to the humble40 and Christian towns that have preserved it with the emanations of their virtues. And believe me, my dear Pepe, this peaceful isolation has greatly contributed to preserve me from the terrible malady connatural in my family. In my youth I suffered, like my brothers and my father, from a lamentable41 propensity42 to the most absurd manias43; but here you have me so miraculously44 cured that all I know of the malady is what I see of it in others. And it is for that reason that I am so uneasy about my little niece.”
“I am rejoiced that the air of Orbajosa has proved so beneficial to you,” said Rey, unable to resist the jesting mood that, by a strange contradiction, came over him in the midst of his sadness. “With me it has agreed so badly that I think I shall soon become mad if I remain in it. Well, good-night, and success to your labors45.”
“Good-night.”
Pepe went to his room, but feeling neither a desire for sleep or the need of physical repose,—on the contrary, a violent excitation of mind which impelled46 him to move, to act,—he walked up and down the room, torturing himself with useless cavilling47. After a time he opened the window which overlooked the garden and, leaning his elbows on the parapet, he gazed out on the limitless darkness of the night. Nothing could be seen, but he who is absorbed in his own thoughts sees with the mental vision, and Pepe Rey, his eyes fixed on the darkness, saw the varied48 panorama49 of his misfortunes unroll itself upon it before him. The obscurity did not permit him to see the flowers of the earth, nor those of the heavens, which are the stars. The very absence of light produced the effect of an illusory movement in the masses of foliage50, which seemed to stretch away, to recede51 slowly, and come curling back like the waves of a shadowy sea. A vast flux52 and reflux, a strife53 between forces vaguely54 comprehended, agitated55 the silent sky. The mathematician56, contemplating57 this strange projection58 of his soul upon the night, said to himself:
“The battle will be terrible. Let us see who will come out of it victorious59.”
The nocturnal insects whispered in his ear mysterious words. Here a shrill60 chirp61; there a click, like the click made with the tongue; further on, plaintive62 murmurs63; in the distance a tinkle64 like that of the bell on the neck of the wandering ox. Suddenly Rey heard a strange sound, a rapid note, that could be produced only by the human tongue and lips. This sibilant breathing passed through the young man’s brain like a flash of lightning. He felt that swift “s-s-s” dart65 snake-like through him, repeated again and then again, with augmented66 intensity67. He looked all around, then he looked toward the upper part of the house, and he fancied that in one of the windows he could distinguish an object like a white bird flapping its wings. Through Pepe Rey’s excited mind flashed instantly the idea of the phoenix68, of the dove, of the regal heron, and yet the bird he saw was noting more than a handkerchief.
The engineer sprang from the balcony into the garden. Observing attentively69, he saw the hand and the face of his cousin. He thought he could perceive the gesture commonly employed of imposing70 silence by laying the finger on the lips. Then the dear shade pointed71 downward and disappeared. Pepe Rey returned quickly to this room, entered the hall noiselessly, and walked slowly forward. He felt his heart beat with violence. He waited for a few moments, and at last he heard distinctly light taps on the steps of the stairs. One, two, three—the sounds were produced by a pair of little shoes.
He walked in the direction whence they proceeded, and stretched out his hands in the obscurity to assist the person who was descending72 the stairs. In his soul there reigned an exalted74 and profound tenderness, but—why seek to deny it—mingling with this tender feeling, there suddenly arose within him, like an infernal inspiration, another sentiment, a fierce desire for revenge. The steps continued to descend73, coming nearer and nearer. Pepe Rey went forward, and a pair of hands, groping in the darkness, came in contact with his own. The two pairs of hands were united in a close clasp.
点击收听单词发音
1 melancholy | |
n.忧郁,愁思;adj.令人感伤(沮丧)的,忧郁的 | |
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2 glided | |
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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3 hoarse | |
adj.嘶哑的,沙哑的 | |
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4 reign | |
n.统治时期,统治,支配,盛行;v.占优势 | |
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5 reigned | |
vi.当政,统治(reign的过去式形式) | |
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6 annotations | |
n.注释( annotation的名词复数 );附注 | |
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7 fixed | |
adj.固定的,不变的,准备好的;(计算机)固定的 | |
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8 folly | |
n.愚笨,愚蠢,蠢事,蠢行,傻话 | |
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9 provincial | |
adj.省的,地方的;n.外省人,乡下人 | |
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10 piety | |
n.虔诚,虔敬 | |
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11 clenched | |
v.紧握,抓紧,咬紧( clench的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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12 malady | |
n.病,疾病(通常做比喻) | |
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13 mania | |
n.疯狂;躁狂症,狂热,癖好 | |
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14 impatience | |
n.不耐烦,急躁 | |
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15 isolation | |
n.隔离,孤立,分解,分离 | |
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16 galleys | |
n.平底大船,战舰( galley的名词复数 );(船上或航空器上的)厨房 | |
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17 embarked | |
乘船( embark的过去式和过去分词 ); 装载; 从事 | |
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18 latitude | |
n.纬度,行动或言论的自由(范围),(pl.)地区 | |
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19 vessel | |
n.船舶;容器,器皿;管,导管,血管 | |
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20 encomium | |
n.赞颂;颂词 | |
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21 eulogy | |
n.颂词;颂扬 | |
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22 labyrinth | |
n.迷宫;难解的事物;迷路 | |
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23 lustre | |
n.光亮,光泽;荣誉 | |
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24 epic | |
n.史诗,叙事诗;adj.史诗般的,壮丽的 | |
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25 scant | |
adj.不充分的,不足的;v.减缩,限制,忽略 | |
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26 ancestry | |
n.祖先,家世 | |
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27 virtues | |
美德( virtue的名词复数 ); 德行; 优点; 长处 | |
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28 vice | |
n.坏事;恶习;[pl.]台钳,老虎钳;adj.副的 | |
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29 mutual | |
adj.相互的,彼此的;共同的,共有的 | |
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30 Christian | |
adj.基督教徒的;n.基督教徒 | |
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31 humility | |
n.谦逊,谦恭 | |
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32 perverted | |
adj.不正当的v.滥用( pervert的过去式和过去分词 );腐蚀;败坏;使堕落 | |
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33 hospitable | |
adj.好客的;宽容的;有利的,适宜的 | |
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34 solitude | |
n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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35 turmoil | |
n.骚乱,混乱,动乱 | |
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36 alas | |
int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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37 tempt | |
vt.引诱,勾引,吸引,引起…的兴趣 | |
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38 wholesome | |
adj.适合;卫生的;有益健康的;显示身心健康的 | |
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39 circumscribed | |
adj.[医]局限的:受限制或限于有限空间的v.在…周围划线( circumscribe的过去式和过去分词 );划定…范围;限制;限定 | |
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40 humble | |
adj.谦卑的,恭顺的;地位低下的;v.降低,贬低 | |
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41 lamentable | |
adj.令人惋惜的,悔恨的 | |
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42 propensity | |
n.倾向;习性 | |
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43 manias | |
n.(mania的复数形式) | |
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44 miraculously | |
ad.奇迹般地 | |
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45 labors | |
v.努力争取(for)( labor的第三人称单数 );苦干;详细分析;(指引擎)缓慢而困难地运转 | |
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46 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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47 cavilling | |
n.(矿工的)工作地点抽签法v.挑剔,吹毛求疵( cavil的现在分词 ) | |
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48 varied | |
adj.多样的,多变化的 | |
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49 panorama | |
n.全景,全景画,全景摄影,全景照片[装置] | |
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50 foliage | |
n.叶子,树叶,簇叶 | |
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51 recede | |
vi.退(去),渐渐远去;向后倾斜,缩进 | |
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52 flux | |
n.流动;不断的改变 | |
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53 strife | |
n.争吵,冲突,倾轧,竞争 | |
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54 vaguely | |
adv.含糊地,暖昧地 | |
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55 agitated | |
adj.被鼓动的,不安的 | |
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56 mathematician | |
n.数学家 | |
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57 contemplating | |
深思,细想,仔细考虑( contemplate的现在分词 ); 注视,凝视; 考虑接受(发生某事的可能性); 深思熟虑,沉思,苦思冥想 | |
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58 projection | |
n.发射,计划,突出部分 | |
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59 victorious | |
adj.胜利的,得胜的 | |
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60 shrill | |
adj.尖声的;刺耳的;v尖叫 | |
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61 chirp | |
v.(尤指鸟)唧唧喳喳的叫 | |
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62 plaintive | |
adj.可怜的,伤心的 | |
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63 murmurs | |
n.低沉、连续而不清的声音( murmur的名词复数 );低语声;怨言;嘀咕 | |
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64 tinkle | |
vi.叮当作响;n.叮当声 | |
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65 dart | |
v.猛冲,投掷;n.飞镖,猛冲 | |
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66 Augmented | |
adj.增音的 动词augment的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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67 intensity | |
n.强烈,剧烈;强度;烈度 | |
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68 phoenix | |
n.凤凰,长生(不死)鸟;引申为重生 | |
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69 attentively | |
adv.聚精会神地;周到地;谛;凝神 | |
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70 imposing | |
adj.使人难忘的,壮丽的,堂皇的,雄伟的 | |
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71 pointed | |
adj.尖的,直截了当的 | |
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72 descending | |
n. 下行 adj. 下降的 | |
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73 descend | |
vt./vi.传下来,下来,下降 | |
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74 exalted | |
adj.(地位等)高的,崇高的;尊贵的,高尚的 | |
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