Part 4 Chapter 4

    The bookseller began by excusing himself for the liberty he had taken.

　　He explained that the Signorina Fulvia Vivaldi, in whose behalf he came,was in urgent need of aid, and had begged him to wait on the Duke assoon as the court had risen from the play.

　　"She is in Pianura, then?" Odo exclaimed.

　　"Since yesterday, your Highness. Three days since she was ordered by thepolice to leave Milan within twenty-four hours, and she came at once toPianura, knowing that my wife and I would gladly receive her. But todaywe learned that the Holy Office was advised of her presence here, and ofthe reason of her banishment¹ from Lombardy; and this fresh danger hasforced her to implore² your Highness's protection."Andreoni went on to explain that the publication of her father's bookwas the immediate³ cause of Fulvia's persecution⁴. The Origin ofCivilisation, which had been printed some months previously⁶ inAmsterdam, had stirred Italy more profoundly than any book sinceBeccaria's great work on Crime and Punishment. The author's historicalinvestigations were but a pretext⁷ for the development of his politicaltheories, which were set forth⁸ with singular daring and audacity⁹, andsupported by all the arguments that his long study of the pastcommanded. The temperate¹⁰ and judicial¹¹ tone which he had succeeded inpreserving enhanced the effect of his arraignment¹² of Church and state,and while his immense erudition commended his work to the learned, itsdirectness of style gave it an immediate popularity with the generalreader. It was an age when every book or pamphlet bearing on the greatquestion of personal liberty was eagerly devoured¹³ by an insatiablepublic; and a few weeks after Vivaldi's volume had been smuggled¹⁴ intoItaly it was the talk of every club and coffee-house from Calabria toPiedmont. The inevitable¹⁵ result soon followed. The Holy Office got windof the business, and the book was at once put on the Index. In Naplesand Bologna it was publicly burned, and in Modena a professor of theUniversity who was found to have a copy in his possession was fined andremoved from his chair.

　　In Milan, where the strong liberal faction¹⁶ among the nobility, and thecomparative leniency¹⁷ of the Austrian rule, permitted a more unrestraineddiscussion of political questions, the Origin of Civilisation⁵ wasreceived with open enthusiasm, and the story of the difficulties thatFulvia had encountered in its publication made her the heroine of themoment. She had never concealed¹⁸ her devotion to her father's doctrines,and in the first glow of filial pride she may have yielded too openly tothe desire to propagate them. Certain it is that she began to be lookedon as having shared in the writing of the book, or as being at least anactive exponent¹⁹ of its principles. Even in Lombardy it was not well tobe too openly associated with the authorship of a condemned²⁰ book; andFulvia was suddenly advised by the police that her presence in Milan wasno longer acceptable to the government.

　　The news excited great indignation among her friends, and CountCastiglione and several other gentlemen of rank hastened to intervene inher behalf; but the governor declared himself unwilling²¹ to take issuewith the Holy Office on a doctrinal point, and privately²² added that itwould be well for the Signorina Vivaldi to withdraw from Lombardy beforethe clergy²³ brought any direct charge against her. To ignore this hintwould have been to risk not only her own safety but that of thegentlemen who had befriended her; and Fulvia at once set out forPianura, the only place in Italy where she could count on friendship andprotection.

　　Andreoni and his wife would gladly have given her a home; but onlearning that the Holy Office was on her track, she had refused tocompromise them by remaining under their roof, and had insisted thatAndreoni should wait on the Duke and obtain a safe-conduct for her thatvery night.

　　Odo listened to this story with an agitation²⁴ compounded of strangelycontradictory sensations. To learn that Fulvia, at the very moment whenhe had pictured her as separated from him by the happiness and securityof her life, was in reality a proscribed²⁵ wanderer with none but himselfto turn to, filled him with a confused sense of happiness; but thediscovery that, in his own dominions²⁶, the political refugee was not safefrom the threats of the Holy Office, excited a different emotion. Allthese considerations, however, were subordinate to the thought that hemust see Fulvia at once. It was impossible to summon her to the palaceat that hour, or even to secure her safety till morning, withoutcompromising Andreoni by calling attention to the fact that a suspectedperson was under his roof; and for a moment Odo was at a loss how todetain her in Pianura without seeming to go counter to her wishes.

　　Suddenly he remembered that Gamba was fertile in expedients²⁷, and callingin the hunchback, asked what plan he could devise. Gamba, after amoment's reflection, drew a key from his pocket.

　　"May it please your Highness," he said, "this unlocks the door of thehunting-lodge²⁸ at Pontesordo. The place has been deserted²⁹ these manyyears, because of its bad name, and I have more than once found it aconvenient shelter when I had reasons for wishing to be private. At thisseason there is no fear of poison from the marshes³¹, and if your Highnessdesires I will see that the lady finds her way there before sunrise."The sun had hardly risen the next morning when the Duke himself setforth. He rode alone, dressed like one of his own esquires, and gave theword unremarked to the sleepy sentinel at the gate. As it closed behindhim and he set out down the long road that led to the chase, it seemedto him that the morning solitude³² was thronged³³ with spectral³⁴ memories.

　　Melancholy and fanciful they flitted before him, now in the guise³⁵ ofCerveno and Momola, now of Maria Clementina and himself. Every detail ofthe scene was interwoven with the fibres of early association, from thefar off years when, as a lonely child on the farm at Pontesordo, he hadgazed across the marsh³⁰ at the mysterious woodlands of the chase, to thelater day when, in the deserted hunting-lodge, the Duchess had flung herwhip at the face in the Venice mirror.

　　He pressed forward impatiently, and presently the lodge rose before himin its grassy³⁶ solitude. The level sunbeams had not yet penetrated³⁷ thesurrounding palisade of boughs³⁸, and the house lay in a chill twilightthat seemed an emanation from its mouldering³⁹ walls. As Odo approached,Gamba appeared from the shadow and took his horse; and the next momenthe had pushed open the door, and stood in Fulvia's presence.

　　She was seated at the farther end of the room, and as she rose to meethim it chanced that her head, enveloped⁴⁰ in its black travelling-hood,was relieved for a moment against the tarnished⁴¹ background of the brokenmirror. The impression struck a chill to his heart; but it was replacedby a glow of boyish happiness as their eyes met and he felt her hands inhis.

　　For a moment all his thoughts were lost in the mere⁴² sense of hernearness. She seemed simply an enveloping⁴³ atmosphere in which he drewfresh breath; but gradually her outline emerged from this haze⁴⁴ offeeling, and he found himself looking at her with the wondering gaze ofa stranger. She had been a girl of sixteen when they first met. Twelveyears had passed since then, and she was now a woman of twenty-eight,belonging to a race in which beauty ripens⁴⁵ early and as soon declines.

　　But some happy property of nature--whether the rare mould of herfeatures or the gift of the spirit that informed them--had held herloveliness intact, preserving the clear lines of youth after its bloomwas gone, and making her seem like a lover's memory of herself. So sheappeared at first, a bright imponderable presence gliding⁴⁶ toward him outof the past; but as her hands lay in his the warm current of life wasrenewed between them, and the woman dispossessed the shade.

1 banishment   

n.放逐，驱逐

参考例句：

• Qu Yuan suffered banishment as the victim of a court intrigue. 屈原成为朝廷中钩心斗角的牺牲品，因而遭到放逐。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He was sent into banishment. 他被流放。 来自辞典例句

2 implore   

vt.乞求，恳求，哀求

参考例句：

• I implore you to write. At least tell me you're alive.请给我音讯，让我知道你还活着。
• Please implore someone else's help in a crisis.危险时请向别人求助。

3 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

4 persecution   

n. 迫害,烦扰

参考例句：

• He had fled from France at the time of the persecution. 他在大迫害时期逃离了法国。
• Their persecution only serves to arouse the opposition of the people. 他们的迫害只激起人民对他们的反抗。

5 civilisation   

n.文明，文化，开化，教化

参考例句：

• Energy and ideas are the twin bases of our civilisation.能源和思想是我们文明的两大基石。
• This opera is one of the cultural totems of Western civilisation.这部歌剧是西方文明的文化标志物之一。

6 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

7 pretext   

n.借口，托词

参考例句：

• He used his headache as a pretext for not going to school.他借口头疼而不去上学。
• He didn't attend that meeting under the pretext of sickness.他以生病为借口，没参加那个会议。

8 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

9 audacity   

n.大胆，卤莽，无礼

参考例句：

• He had the audacity to ask for an increase in salary.他竟然厚着脸皮要求增加薪水。
• He had the audacity to pick pockets in broad daylight.他竟敢在光天化日之下掏包。

10 temperate   

adj.温和的，温带的，自我克制的，不过分的

参考例句：

• Asia extends across the frigid,temperate and tropical zones.亚洲地跨寒、温、热三带。
• Great Britain has a temperate climate.英国气候温和。

11 judicial   

adj.司法的，法庭的，审判的，明断的，公正的

参考例句：

• He is a man with a judicial mind.他是个公正的人。
• Tom takes judicial proceedings against his father.汤姆对他的父亲正式提出诉讼。

12 arraignment   

n.提问，传讯，责难

参考例句：

• She was remanded to juvenile detention at her arraignment yesterday. 她昨天被送回了对少年拘留在她的传讯。 来自互联网
• Wyatt asks the desk clerk which courthouse he is being transferred to for arraignment. 他向接待警员询问了马宏将在哪个法庭接受传讯。 来自互联网

13 devoured   

吞没( devour的过去式和过去分词 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光

参考例句：

• She devoured everything she could lay her hands on: books, magazines and newspapers. 无论是书、杂志，还是报纸，只要能弄得到，她都看得津津有味。
• The lions devoured a zebra in a short time. 狮子一会儿就吃掉了一匹斑马。

14 smuggled   

水货

参考例句：

• The customs officer confiscated the smuggled goods. 海关官员没收了走私品。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Those smuggled goods have been detained by the port office. 那些走私货物被港务局扣押了。 来自互联网

15 inevitable   

adj.不可避免的，必然发生的

参考例句：

• Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
• The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。

16 faction   

n.宗派，小集团；派别；派系斗争

参考例句：

• Faction and self-interest appear to be the norm.派系之争和自私自利看来非常普遍。
• I now understood clearly that I was caught between the king and the Bunam's faction.我现在完全明白自己已陷入困境，在国王与布纳姆集团之间左右为难。

17 leniency   

n.宽大（不严厉）

参考例句：

• udges are advised to show greater leniency towards first-time offenders.建议法官对初犯者宽大处理。
• Police offer leniency to criminals in return for information.警方给罪犯宽大处理以换取情报。

18 concealed   

a.隐藏的，隐蔽的

参考例句：

• The paintings were concealed beneath a thick layer of plaster. 那些画被隐藏在厚厚的灰泥层下面。
• I think he had a gun concealed about his person. 我认为他当时身上藏有一支枪。

19 exponent   

n.倡导者，拥护者；代表人物；指数，幂

参考例句：

• She is an exponent of vegetarianism.她是一个素食主义的倡导者。
• He had been the principal exponent of the Gallipoli campaign.他曾为加里波利战役的主要代表人物。

20 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

21 unwilling   

adj.不情愿的

参考例句：

• The natives were unwilling to be bent by colonial power.土著居民不愿受殖民势力的摆布。
• His tightfisted employer was unwilling to give him a raise.他那吝啬的雇主不肯给他加薪。

22 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。

23 clergy   

n.[总称]牧师，神职人员

参考例句：

• I could heartily wish that more of our country clergy would follow this example.我衷心希望，我国有更多的牧师效法这个榜样。
• All the local clergy attended the ceremony.当地所有的牧师出席了仪式。

24 agitation   

n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动

参考例句：

• Small shopkeepers carried on a long agitation against the big department stores.小店主们长期以来一直在煽动人们反对大型百货商店。
• These materials require constant agitation to keep them in suspension.这些药剂要经常搅动以保持悬浮状态。

25 proscribed   

v.正式宣布（某事物）有危险或被禁止( proscribe的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• They are proscribed by federal law from owning guns. 根据联邦法律的规定，他们不准拥有枪支。 来自辞典例句
• In earlier days, the church proscribed dancing and cardplaying. 从前，教会禁止跳舞和玩牌。 来自辞典例句

26 dominions   

统治权( dominion的名词复数 )； 领土； 疆土； 版图

参考例句：

• The King sent messengers to every town, village and hamlet in his dominions. 国王派使者到国内每一个市镇，村落和山庄。
• European powers no longer rule over great overseas dominions. 欧洲列强不再统治大块海外领土了。

27 expedients   

n.应急有效的，权宜之计的( expedient的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He is full of [fruitful in] expedients. 他办法多。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Perhaps Calonne might return too, with fresh financial expedients. 或许卡洛纳也会回来，带有新的财政机谋。 来自辞典例句

28 lodge   

v.临时住宿，寄宿，寄存，容纳；n.传达室，小旅馆

参考例句：

• Is there anywhere that I can lodge in the village tonight?村里有我今晚过夜的地方吗？
• I shall lodge at the inn for two nights.我要在这家小店住两个晚上。

29 deserted   

adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的

参考例句：

• The deserted village was filled with a deathly silence.这个荒废的村庄死一般的寂静。
• The enemy chieftain was opposed and deserted by his followers.敌人头目众叛亲离。

30 marsh   

n.沼泽，湿地

参考例句：

• There are a lot of frogs in the marsh.沼泽里有许多青蛙。
• I made my way slowly out of the marsh.我缓慢地走出这片沼泽地。

31 marshes   

n.沼泽，湿地( marsh的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Cows were grazing on the marshes. 牛群在湿地上吃草。
• We had to cross the marshes. 我们不得不穿过那片沼泽地。 来自《简明英汉词典》

32 solitude   

n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方

参考例句：

• People need a chance to reflect on spiritual matters in solitude. 人们需要独处的机会来反思精神上的事情。
• They searched for a place where they could live in solitude. 他们寻找一个可以过隐居生活的地方。

33 thronged   

v.成群，挤满( throng的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Mourners thronged to the funeral. 吊唁者蜂拥着前来参加葬礼。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The department store was thronged with people. 百货商店挤满了人。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

34 spectral   

adj.幽灵的，鬼魂的

参考例句：

• At times he seems rather ordinary.At other times ethereal,perhaps even spectral.有时他好像很正常，有时又难以捉摸，甚至像个幽灵。
• She is compelling,spectral fascinating,an unforgettably unique performer.她极具吸引力，清幽如鬼魅，令人着迷，令人难忘，是个独具特色的演员。

35 guise   

n.外表，伪装的姿态

参考例句：

• They got into the school in the guise of inspectors.他们假装成视察员进了学校。
• The thief came into the house under the guise of a repairman.那小偷扮成个修理匠进了屋子。

36 grassy   

adj.盖满草的；长满草的

参考例句：

• They sat and had their lunch on a grassy hillside.他们坐在长满草的山坡上吃午饭。
• Cattle move freely across the grassy plain.牛群自由自在地走过草原。

37 penetrated   

adj. 击穿的，鞭辟入里的 动词penetrate的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• The knife had penetrated his chest. 刀子刺入了他的胸膛。
• They penetrated into territory where no man had ever gone before. 他们已进入先前没人去过的地区。

38 boughs   

大树枝( bough的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The green boughs glittered with all their pearls of dew. 绿枝上闪烁着露珠的光彩。
• A breeze sighed in the higher boughs. 微风在高高的树枝上叹息着。

39 mouldering   

v.腐朽( moulder的现在分词 )；腐烂，崩塌

参考例句：

• The room smelt of disuse and mouldering books. 房间里有一股长期不用和霉烂书籍的味道。
• Every mouldering stone was a chronicle. 每块崩碎剥落的石头都是一部编年史。 来自辞典例句

40 enveloped   

v.包围，笼罩，包住( envelop的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She was enveloped in a huge white towel. 她裹在一条白色大毛巾里。
• Smoke from the burning house enveloped the whole street. 燃烧着的房子冒出的浓烟笼罩了整条街。 来自《简明英汉词典》

41 tarnished   

（通常指金属）（使）失去光泽，（使）变灰暗( tarnish的过去式和过去分词 )； 玷污，败坏

参考例句：

• The mirrors had tarnished with age. 这些镜子因年深日久而照影不清楚。
• His bad behaviour has tarnished the good name of the school. 他行为不轨，败坏了学校的声誉。

42 mere   

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。

43 enveloping   

v.包围，笼罩，包住( envelop的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Always the eyes watching you and the voice enveloping you. 那眼睛总是死死盯着你，那声音总是紧紧围着你。 来自英汉文学
• The only barrier was a mosquito net, enveloping the entire bed. 唯一的障碍是那顶蚊帐罩住整个床。 来自辞典例句

44 haze   

n.霾，烟雾；懵懂，迷糊；vi.(over)变模糊

参考例句：

• I couldn't see her through the haze of smoke.在烟雾弥漫中，我看不见她。
• He often lives in a haze of whisky.他常常是在威士忌的懵懂醉意中度过的。

45 ripens   

v.成熟，使熟( ripen的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The sun ripens the crops. 太阳使庄稼成熟。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Then their seed ripens, and soon they turn brown and shrivel up. 随后，它们的种子熟了，不久就变枯萎。 来自辞典例句

46 gliding   

v. 滑翔 adj. 滑动的

参考例句：

• Swans went gliding past. 天鹅滑行而过。
• The weather forecast has put a question mark against the chance of doing any gliding tomorrow. 天气预报对明天是否能举行滑翔表示怀疑。