In der Welt weit
Aus der Einsamkeit
Wollen sie Dich locken.
“Faust.”
(In the wide world, out of the solitude1, will these allure2 thee.)
The next morning, at breakfast, Mrs. Mervale looked as if all the wrongs of injured woman sat upon her brow. Mr. Mervale seemed the picture of remorseful3 guilt4 and avenging5 bile. He said little, except to complain of headache, and to request the eggs to be removed from the table. Clarence Glyndon — impervious6, unconscious, unailing, impenitent7 — was in noisy spirits, and talked for three.
“Poor Mervale! he has lost the habit of good-fellowship, madam. Another night or two, and he will be himself again!”
“Sir,” said Mrs. Mervale, launching a premeditated sentence with more than Johnsonian dignity, “permit me to remind you that Mr. Mervale is now a married man, the destined8 father of a family, and the present master of a household.”
“Precisely the reasons why I envy him so much. I myself have a great mind to marry. Happiness is contagious9.”
“Do you still take to painting?” asked Mervale, languidly, endeavouring to turn the tables on his guest.
“Oh, no; I have adopted your advice. No art, no ideal,— nothing loftier than Commonplace for me now. If I were to paint again, I positively10 think YOU would purchase my pictures. Make haste and finish your breakfast, man; I wish to consult you. I have come to England to see after my affairs. My ambition is to make money; your counsels and experience cannot fail to assist me here.”
“Ah, you were soon disenchanted of your Philosopher’s Stone! You must know, Sarah, that when I last left Glyndon, he was bent11 upon turning alchemist and magician.”
“You are witty12 today, Mr. Mervale.”
“Upon my honour it is true, I told you so before.”
“Why revive those recollections of folly14 and presumption15? Have I not said that I have returned to my native land to pursue the healthful avocations16 of my kind! Oh, yes! what so healthful, so noble, so fitted to our nature, as what you call the Practical Life? If we have faculties17, what is their use, but to sell them to advantage! Buy knowledge as we do our goods; buy it at the cheapest market, sell it at the dearest. Have you not breakfasted yet?”
The friends walked into the streets, and Mervale shrank from the irony18 with which Glyndon complimented him on his respectability, his station, his pursuits, his happy marriage, and his eight pictures in their handsome frames. Formerly19 the sober Mervale had commanded an influence over his friend: HIS had been the sarcasm20; Glyndon’s the irresolute21 shame at his own peculiarities22. Now this position was reversed. There was a fierce earnestness in Glyndon’s altered temper which awed23 and silenced the quiet commonplace of his friend’s character. He seemed to take a malignant24 delight in persuading himself that the sober life of the world was contemptible25 and base.
“Ah!” he exclaimed, “how right you were to tell me to marry respectably; to have a solid position; to live in decorous fear of the world and one’s wife; and to command the envy of the poor, the good opinion of the rich. You have practised what you preach. Delicious existence! The merchant’s desk and the curtain lecture! Ha! ha! Shall we have another night of it?”
Mervale, embarrassed and irritated, turned the conversation upon Glyndon’s affairs. He was surprised at the knowledge of the world which the artist seemed to have suddenly acquired, surprised still more at the acuteness and energy with which he spoke26 of the speculations28 most in vogue29 at the market. Yes; Glyndon was certainly in earnest: he desired to be rich and respectable,— and to make at least ten per cent for his money!
After spending some days with the merchant, during which time he contrived30 to disorganise all the mechanism31 of the house, to turn night into day, harmony into discord32, to drive poor Mrs. Mervale half-distracted, and to convince her husband that he was horribly hen-pecked, the ill-omened visitor left them as suddenly as he had arrived. He took a house of his own; he sought the society of persons of substance; he devoted33 himself to the money-market; he seemed to have become a man of business; his schemes were bold and colossal34; his calculations rapid and profound. He startled Mervale by his energy, and dazzled him by his success. Mervale began to envy him,— to be discontented with his own regular and slow gains. When Glyndon bought or sold in the funds, wealth rolled upon him like the tide of a sea; what years of toil35 could not have done for him in art, a few months, by a succession of lucky chances, did for him in speculation27. Suddenly, however, he relaxed his exertions36; new objects of ambition seemed to attract him. If he heard a drum in the streets, what glory like the soldier’s? If a new poem were published, what renown37 like the poet’s? He began works in literature, which promised great excellence38, to throw them aside in disgust. All at once he abandoned the decorous and formal society he had courted; he joined himself, with young and riotous39 associates; he plunged40 into the wildest excesses of the great city, where Gold reigns41 alike over Toil and Pleasure. Through all he carried with him a certain power and heat of soul. In all society he aspired42 to command,— in all pursuits to excel. Yet whatever the passion of the moment, the reaction was terrible in its gloom. He sank, at times, into the most profound and the darkest reveries. His fever was that of a mind that would escape memory,— his repose43, that of a mind which the memory seizes again, and devours44 as a prey45. Mervale now saw little of him; they shunned46 each other. Glyndon had no confidant, and no friend.
1 solitude | |
n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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2 allure | |
n.诱惑力,魅力;vt.诱惑,引诱,吸引 | |
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3 remorseful | |
adj.悔恨的 | |
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4 guilt | |
n.犯罪;内疚;过失,罪责 | |
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5 avenging | |
adj.报仇的,复仇的v.为…复仇,报…之仇( avenge的现在分词 );为…报复 | |
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6 impervious | |
adj.不能渗透的,不能穿过的,不易伤害的 | |
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7 impenitent | |
adj.不悔悟的,顽固的 | |
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8 destined | |
adj.命中注定的;(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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9 contagious | |
adj.传染性的,有感染力的 | |
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10 positively | |
adv.明确地,断然,坚决地;实在,确实 | |
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11 bent | |
n.爱好,癖好;adj.弯的;决心的,一心的 | |
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12 witty | |
adj.机智的,风趣的 | |
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13 abruptly | |
adv.突然地,出其不意地 | |
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14 folly | |
n.愚笨,愚蠢,蠢事,蠢行,傻话 | |
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15 presumption | |
n.推测,可能性,冒昧,放肆,[法律]推定 | |
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16 avocations | |
n.业余爱好,嗜好( avocation的名词复数 );职业 | |
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17 faculties | |
n.能力( faculty的名词复数 );全体教职员;技巧;院 | |
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18 irony | |
n.反语,冷嘲;具有讽刺意味的事,嘲弄 | |
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19 formerly | |
adv.从前,以前 | |
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20 sarcasm | |
n.讥讽,讽刺,嘲弄,反话 (adj.sarcastic) | |
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21 irresolute | |
adj.无决断的,优柔寡断的,踌躇不定的 | |
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22 peculiarities | |
n. 特质, 特性, 怪癖, 古怪 | |
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23 awed | |
adj.充满敬畏的,表示敬畏的v.使敬畏,使惊惧( awe的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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24 malignant | |
adj.恶性的,致命的;恶意的,恶毒的 | |
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25 contemptible | |
adj.可鄙的,可轻视的,卑劣的 | |
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26 spoke | |
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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27 speculation | |
n.思索,沉思;猜测;投机 | |
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28 speculations | |
n.投机买卖( speculation的名词复数 );思考;投机活动;推断 | |
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29 Vogue | |
n.时髦,时尚;adj.流行的 | |
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30 contrived | |
adj.不自然的,做作的;虚构的 | |
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31 mechanism | |
n.机械装置;机构,结构 | |
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32 discord | |
n.不和,意见不合,争论,(音乐)不和谐 | |
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33 devoted | |
adj.忠诚的,忠实的,热心的,献身于...的 | |
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34 colossal | |
adj.异常的,庞大的 | |
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35 toil | |
vi.辛劳工作,艰难地行动;n.苦工,难事 | |
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36 exertions | |
n.努力( exertion的名词复数 );费力;(能力、权力等的)运用;行使 | |
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37 renown | |
n.声誉,名望 | |
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38 excellence | |
n.优秀,杰出,(pl.)优点,美德 | |
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39 riotous | |
adj.骚乱的;狂欢的 | |
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40 plunged | |
v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 );暴跌;骤降;突降 | |
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41 reigns | |
n.君主的统治( reign的名词复数 );君主统治时期;任期;当政期 | |
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42 aspired | |
v.渴望,追求( aspire的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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43 repose | |
v.(使)休息;n.安息 | |
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44 devours | |
吞没( devour的第三人称单数 ); 耗尽; 津津有味地看; 狼吞虎咽地吃光 | |
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45 prey | |
n.被掠食者,牺牲者,掠食;v.捕食,掠夺,折磨 | |
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46 shunned | |
v.避开,回避,避免( shun的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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