Was ist’s
Das hinter diesem Schleier sich verbirgt?
“Das Verschleierte Bild zu Sais.”
(What is it that conceals1 itself behind this veil?)
On returning from Vesuvius or Pompeii, you enter Naples through its most animated2, its most Neapolitan quarter,— through that quarter in which modern life most closely resembles the ancient; and in which, when, on a fair-day, the thoroughfare swarms3 alike with Indolence and Trade, you are impressed at once with the recollection of that restless, lively race from which the population of Naples derives5 its origin; so that in one day you may see at Pompeii the habitations of a remote age; and on the Mole6, at Naples, you may imagine you behold7 the very beings with whom those habitations had been peopled.
But now, as the Englishmen rode slowly through the deserted8 streets, lighted but by the lamps of heaven, all the gayety of day was hushed and breathless. Here and there, stretched under a portico10 or a dingy11 booth, were sleeping groups of houseless Lazzaroni,— a tribe now merging12 its indolent individuality amidst an energetic and active population.
The Englishman rode on in silence; for Glyndon neither appeared to heed13 nor hear the questions and comments of Mervale, and Mervale himself was almost as weary as the jaded14 animal he bestrode.
Suddenly the silence of earth and ocean was broken by the sound of a distant clock that proclaimed the quarter preceding the last hour of night. Glyndon started from his reverie, and looked anxiously round. As the final stroke died, the noise of hoofs15 rung on the broad stones of the pavement, and from a narrow street to the right emerged the form of a solitary17 horseman. He neared the Englishmen, and Glyndon recognised the features and mien18 of Zanoni.
“What! do we meet again, signor?” said Mervale, in a vexed19 but drowsy20 tone.
“Your friend and I have business together,” replied Zanoni, as he wheeled his steed to the side of Glyndon. “But it will be soon transacted21. Perhaps you, sir, will ride on to your hotel.”
“Alone!”
“There is no danger!” returned Zanoni, with a slight expression of disdain22 in his voice.
“None to me; but to Glyndon?”
“Danger from me! Ah, perhaps you are right.”
“Go on, my dear Mervale,” said Glyndon; “I will join you before you reach the hotel.”
Mervale nodded, whistled, and pushed his horse into a kind of amble23.
“Now your answer,— quick?”
“I have decided24. The love of Viola has vanished from my heart. The pursuit is over.”
“You have decided?”
“I have; and now my reward.”
“Thy reward! Well; ere this hour tomorrow it shall await thee.”
Zanoni gave the rein25 to his horse; it sprang forward with a bound: the sparks flew from its hoofs, and horse and rider disappeared amidst the shadows of the street whence they had emerged.
Mervale was surprised to see his friend by his side, a minute after they had parted.
“What has passed between you and Zanoni?”
“Mervale, do not ask me to-night! I am in a dream.”
“I do not wonder at it, for even I am in a sleep. Let us push on.”
In the retirement26 of his chamber27, Glyndon sought to recollect4 his thoughts. He sat down on the foot of his bed, and pressed his hands tightly to his throbbing28 temples. The events of the last few hours; the apparition29 of the gigantic and shadowy Companion of the Mystic, amidst the fires and clouds of Vesuvius; the strange encounter with Zanoni himself, on a spot in which he could never, by ordinary reasoning, have calculated on finding Glyndon, filled his mind with emotions, in which terror and awe30 the least prevailed. A fire, the train of which had been long laid, was lighted at his heart,— the asbestos-fire that, once lit, is never to be quenched31. All his early aspirations32 — his young ambition, his longings33 for the laurel — were merged16 in one passionate34 yearning35 to surpass the bounds of the common knowledge of man, and reach that solemn spot, between two worlds, on which the mysterious stranger appeared to have fixed36 his home.
Far from recalling with renewed affright the remembrance of the apparition that had so appalled37 him, the recollection only served to kindle38 and concentrate his curiosity into a burning focus. He had said aright,— LOVE HAD VANISHED FROM HIS HEART; there was no longer a serene39 space amidst its disordered elements for human affection to move and breathe. The enthusiast40 was rapt from this earth; and he would have surrendered all that mortal beauty ever promised, that mortal hope ever whispered, for one hour with Zanoni beyond the portals of the visible world.
He rose, oppressed and fevered with the new thoughts that raged within him, and threw open his casement41 for air. The ocean lay suffused42 in the starry43 light, and the stillness of the heavens never more eloquently44 preached the morality of repose45 to the madness of earthly passions. But such was Glyndon’s mood that their very hush9 only served to deepen the wild desires that preyed46 upon his soul; and the solemn stars, that are mysteries in themselves, seemed, by a kindred sympathy, to agitate47 the wings of the spirit no longer contented48 with its cage. As he gazed, a star shot from its brethren, and vanished from the depth of space!
1 conceals | |
v.隐藏,隐瞒,遮住( conceal的第三人称单数 ) | |
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2 animated | |
adj.生气勃勃的,活跃的,愉快的 | |
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3 swarms | |
蜂群,一大群( swarm的名词复数 ) | |
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4 recollect | |
v.回忆,想起,记起,忆起,记得 | |
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5 derives | |
v.得到( derive的第三人称单数 );(从…中)得到获得;源于;(从…中)提取 | |
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6 mole | |
n.胎块;痣;克分子 | |
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7 behold | |
v.看,注视,看到 | |
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8 deserted | |
adj.荒芜的,荒废的,无人的,被遗弃的 | |
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9 hush | |
int.嘘,别出声;n.沉默,静寂;v.使安静 | |
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10 portico | |
n.柱廊,门廊 | |
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11 dingy | |
adj.昏暗的,肮脏的 | |
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12 merging | |
合并(分类) | |
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13 heed | |
v.注意,留意;n.注意,留心 | |
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14 jaded | |
adj.精疲力竭的;厌倦的;(因过饱或过多而)腻烦的;迟钝的 | |
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15 hoofs | |
n.(兽的)蹄,马蹄( hoof的名词复数 )v.(兽的)蹄,马蹄( hoof的第三人称单数 ) | |
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16 merged | |
(使)混合( merge的过去式和过去分词 ); 相融; 融入; 渐渐消失在某物中 | |
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17 solitary | |
adj.孤独的,独立的,荒凉的;n.隐士 | |
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18 mien | |
n.风采;态度 | |
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19 vexed | |
adj.争论不休的;(指问题等)棘手的;争论不休的问题;烦恼的v.使烦恼( vex的过去式和过去分词 );使苦恼;使生气;详细讨论 | |
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20 drowsy | |
adj.昏昏欲睡的,令人发困的 | |
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21 transacted | |
v.办理(业务等)( transact的过去式和过去分词 );交易,谈判 | |
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22 disdain | |
n.鄙视,轻视;v.轻视,鄙视,不屑 | |
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23 amble | |
vi.缓行,漫步 | |
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24 decided | |
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的 | |
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25 rein | |
n.疆绳,统治,支配;vt.以僵绳控制,统治 | |
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26 retirement | |
n.退休,退职 | |
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27 chamber | |
n.房间,寝室;会议厅;议院;会所 | |
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28 throbbing | |
a. 跳动的,悸动的 | |
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29 apparition | |
n.幽灵,神奇的现象 | |
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30 awe | |
n.敬畏,惊惧;vt.使敬畏,使惊惧 | |
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31 quenched | |
解(渴)( quench的过去式和过去分词 ); 终止(某事物); (用水)扑灭(火焰等); 将(热物体)放入水中急速冷却 | |
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32 aspirations | |
强烈的愿望( aspiration的名词复数 ); 志向; 发送气音; 发 h 音 | |
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33 longings | |
渴望,盼望( longing的名词复数 ) | |
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34 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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35 yearning | |
a.渴望的;向往的;怀念的 | |
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36 fixed | |
adj.固定的,不变的,准备好的;(计算机)固定的 | |
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37 appalled | |
v.使惊骇,使充满恐惧( appall的过去式和过去分词)adj.惊骇的;丧胆的 | |
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38 kindle | |
v.点燃,着火 | |
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39 serene | |
adj. 安详的,宁静的,平静的 | |
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40 enthusiast | |
n.热心人,热衷者 | |
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41 casement | |
n.竖铰链窗;窗扉 | |
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42 suffused | |
v.(指颜色、水气等)弥漫于,布满( suffuse的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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43 starry | |
adj.星光照耀的, 闪亮的 | |
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44 eloquently | |
adv. 雄辩地(有口才地, 富于表情地) | |
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45 repose | |
v.(使)休息;n.安息 | |
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46 preyed | |
v.掠食( prey的过去式和过去分词 );掠食;折磨;(人)靠欺诈为生 | |
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47 agitate | |
vi.(for,against)煽动,鼓动;vt.搅动 | |
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48 contented | |
adj.满意的,安心的,知足的 | |
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