He Meditates1 Schemes of Importance.
It was in these parties that he attracted the notice and friendship of his patron’s daughter, a girl by two years older than himself, who was not insensible to his qualifications, and looked upon him with the most favourable2 eyes of prepossession. Whether or not he at this period of his life began to project plans for availing himself of her susceptibility, is uncertain; but, without all doubt, he cultivated her esteem3 with as obsequious4 and submissive attention as if he had already formed the design, which, in his advanced age, he attempted to put in execution.
Divers5 circumstances conspired6 to promote him in the favour of this young lady; the greenness of his years secured him from any appearance of fallacious aim; so that he was indulged in frequent opportunities of conversing7 with his young mistress, whose parents encouraged this communication, by which they hoped she would improve in speaking the language of her father. Such connexions naturally produce intimacy8 and friendship. Fathom’s person was agreeable, his talents calculated for the meridian9 of those parties, and his manners so engaging, that there would have been no just subject for wonder, had he made an impression upon the tender unexperienced heart of Mademoiselle de Melvil, whose beauty was not so attractive as to extinguish his hope, in raising up a number of formidable rivals; though her expectations of fortune were such as commonly lend additional lustre10 to personal merit.
All these considerations were so many steps towards the success of Ferdinand’s pretensions11; and though he cannot be supposed to have perceived them at first, he in the sequel seemed perfectly12 well apprised13 of his advantages, and used them to the full extent of his faculties14. Observing that she delighted in music, he betook himself to the study of that art, and, by dint15 of application and a tolerable ear, learned of himself to accompany her with a German flute16, while she sung and played upon the harpsichord17. The Count, seeing his inclination18, and the progress he had made, resolved that his capacity should not be lost for want of cultivation19; and accordingly provided him with a master, by whom he was instructed in the principles of the art, and soon became a proficient20 in playing upon the violin.
In the practice of these improvements and avocations21, and in attendance upon his young master, whom he took care never to disoblige or neglect, he attained22 to the age of sixteen, without feeling the least abatement23 in the friendship and generosity24 of those upon whom he depended; but, on the contrary, receiving every day fresh marks of their bounty25 and regard. He had before this time been smit with the ambition of making a conquest of the young lady’s heart, and foresaw manifold advantages to himself in becoming son-in-law to Count Melvil, who, he never doubted, would soon be reconciled to the match, if once it could be effectuated without his knowledge. Although he thought he had great reason to believe that Mademoiselle looked upon him with an eye of peculiar26 favour, his disposition27 was happily tempered with an ingredient of caution, that hindered him from acting28 with precipitation; and he had discerned in the young lady’s deportment certain indications of loftiness and pride, which kept him in the utmost vigilance and circumspection29; for he knew, that, by a premature30 declaration, he should run the risk of forfeiting31 all the advantages he had gained, and blasting those expectations that now blossomed so gaily32 in his heart.
Restricted by these reflections, he acted at a wary33 distance, and determined34 to proceed by the method of sap, and, summoning all his artifice35 and attractions to his aid, employed them under the insidious36 cover of profound respect, in order to undermine those bulwarks37 of haughtiness38 or discretion39, which otherwise might have rendered his approaches to her impracticable. With a view to enhance the value of his company, and sound her sentiments at the same time, he became more reserved than usual, and seldomer engaged in her parties of music and cards; yet, in the midst of his reserve, he never failed in those demonstrations40 of reverence41 and regard, which he knew perfectly well how to express, but devised such excuses for his absence, as she could not help admitting. In consequence of this affected42 shyness, she more than once gently chid43 him for his neglect and indifference44, observing, with an ironical45 air, that he was now too much of a man to be entertained with such effeminate diversions; but her reproofs46 were pronounced with too much ease and good-humour to be agreeable to our hero, who desired to see her ruffled47 and chagrined48 at his absence, and to hear himself rebuked49 with an angry affectation of disdain50. This effort, therefore, he reinforced with the most captivating carriage he could assume, in those hours which he now so sparingly bestowed51 upon his mistress. He regaled her with all the entertaining stories he could learn or invent, particularly such as he thought would justify52 and recommend the levelling power of love, that knows no distinctions of fortune. He sung nothing but tender airs and passionate53 complaints, composed by desponding or despairing swains; and, to render his performances of this kind the more pathetic, interlarded them with some seasonable sighs, while the tears, which he had ever at command, stood collected in either eye.
It was impossible for her to overlook such studied emotions; she in a jocose54 manner taxed him with having lost his heart, rallied the excess of his passion, and in a merry strain undertook to be an advocate for his love. Her behaviour was still wide of his wish and expectation. He thought she would, in consequence of her discovery, have betrayed some interested symptom; that her face would have undergone some favourable suffusion55; that her tongue would have faltered56, her breast heaved, and her whole deportment betokened57 internal agitation58 and disorder59, in which case, he meant to profit by the happy impression, and declare himself, before she could possibly recollect60 the dictates61 of her pride.— Baffled however in his endeavours, by the serenity62 of the young lady, which he still deemed equivocal, he had recourse to another experiment, by which he believed he should make a discovery of her sentiments beyond all possibility of doubt. One day, while he accompanied Mademoiselle in her exercise of music, he pretended all of a sudden to be taken ill, and counterfeited63 a swoon in her apartment. Surprised at this accident, she screamed aloud, but far from running to his assistance, with the transports and distraction64 of a lover, she ordered her maid, who was present, to support his head, and went in person to call for more help. He was accordingly removed to his own chamber65, where, willing to be still more certified66 of her inclinations67, he prolonged the farce68, and lay groaning69 under the pretence70 of a severe fever.
The whole family was alarmed upon this occasion; for, as we have already observed, he was an universal favourite. He was immediately visited by the old Count and his lady, who expressed the utmost concern at his distemper, ordered him to be carefully attended, and sent for a physician without loss of time. The young gentleman would scarce stir from his bedside, where he ministered unto him with all the demonstrations of brotherly affection; and Miss exhorted71 him to keep up his spirits, with many expressions of unreserved sympathy and regard. Nevertheless, he saw nothing in her behaviour but what might be naturally expected from common friendship, and a compassionate72 disposition, and was very much mortified73 at his disappointment.
Whether the miscarriage74 actually affected his constitution, or the doctor happened to be mistaken in his diagnostics, we shall not pretend to determine; but the patient was certainly treated secundum artem, and all his complaints in a little time realised; for the physician, like a true graduate, had an eye to the apothecary75 in his prescriptions76; and such was the concern and scrupulous77 care with which our hero was attended, that the orders of the faculty78 were performed with the utmost punctuality. He was blooded, vomited79, purged80, and blistered81, in the usual forms (for the physicians of Hungary are generally as well skilled in the arts of their occupation as any other leeches82 under the sun), and swallowed a whole dispensary of bolusses, draughts83, and apozems, by which means he became fairly delirious84 in three days, and so untractable, that he could be no longer managed according to rule; otherwise, in all likelihood, the world would never have enjoyed the benefit of these adventures. In short, his constitution, though unable to cope with two such formidable antagonists85 as the doctor and the disease he had conjured86 up, was no sooner rid of the one, than it easily got the better of the other; and though Ferdinand, after all, found his grand aim unaccomplished, his malady87 was productive of a consequence, which, though he had not foreseen it, he did not fail to convert to his own use and advantage.
1 meditates | |
深思,沉思,冥想( meditate的第三人称单数 ); 内心策划,考虑 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
2 favourable | |
adj.赞成的,称赞的,有利的,良好的,顺利的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
3 esteem | |
n.尊敬,尊重;vt.尊重,敬重;把…看作 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
4 obsequious | |
adj.谄媚的,奉承的,顺从的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
5 divers | |
adj.不同的;种种的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
6 conspired | |
密谋( conspire的过去式和过去分词 ); 搞阴谋; (事件等)巧合; 共同导致 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
7 conversing | |
v.交谈,谈话( converse的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
8 intimacy | |
n.熟悉,亲密,密切关系,亲昵的言行 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
9 meridian | |
adj.子午线的;全盛期的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
10 lustre | |
n.光亮,光泽;荣誉 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
11 pretensions | |
自称( pretension的名词复数 ); 自命不凡; 要求; 权力 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
12 perfectly | |
adv.完美地,无可非议地,彻底地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
13 apprised | |
v.告知,通知( apprise的过去式和过去分词 );评价 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
14 faculties | |
n.能力( faculty的名词复数 );全体教职员;技巧;院 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
15 dint | |
n.由于,靠;凹坑 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
16 flute | |
n.长笛;v.吹笛 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
17 harpsichord | |
n.键琴(钢琴前身) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
18 inclination | |
n.倾斜;点头;弯腰;斜坡;倾度;倾向;爱好 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
19 cultivation | |
n.耕作,培养,栽培(法),养成 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
20 proficient | |
adj.熟练的,精通的;n.能手,专家 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
21 avocations | |
n.业余爱好,嗜好( avocation的名词复数 );职业 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
22 attained | |
(通常经过努力)实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 ); 达到; 获得; 达到(某年龄、水平、状况) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
23 abatement | |
n.减(免)税,打折扣,冲销 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
24 generosity | |
n.大度,慷慨,慷慨的行为 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
25 bounty | |
n.慷慨的赠予物,奖金;慷慨,大方;施与 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
26 peculiar | |
adj.古怪的,异常的;特殊的,特有的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
27 disposition | |
n.性情,性格;意向,倾向;排列,部署 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
28 acting | |
n.演戏,行为,假装;adj.代理的,临时的,演出用的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
29 circumspection | |
n.细心,慎重 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
30 premature | |
adj.比预期时间早的;不成熟的,仓促的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
31 forfeiting | |
(因违反协议、犯规、受罚等)丧失,失去( forfeit的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
32 gaily | |
adv.欢乐地,高兴地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
33 wary | |
adj.谨慎的,机警的,小心的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
34 determined | |
adj.坚定的;有决心的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
35 artifice | |
n.妙计,高明的手段;狡诈,诡计 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
36 insidious | |
adj.阴险的,隐匿的,暗中为害的,(疾病)不知不觉之间加剧 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
37 bulwarks | |
n.堡垒( bulwark的名词复数 );保障;支柱;舷墙 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
38 haughtiness | |
n.傲慢;傲气 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
39 discretion | |
n.谨慎;随意处理 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
40 demonstrations | |
证明( demonstration的名词复数 ); 表明; 表达; 游行示威 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
41 reverence | |
n.敬畏,尊敬,尊严;Reverence:对某些基督教神职人员的尊称;v.尊敬,敬畏,崇敬 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
42 affected | |
adj.不自然的,假装的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
43 chid | |
v.责骂,责备( chide的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
44 indifference | |
n.不感兴趣,不关心,冷淡,不在乎 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
45 ironical | |
adj.讽刺的,冷嘲的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
46 reproofs | |
n.责备,责难,指责( reproof的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
47 ruffled | |
adj. 有褶饰边的, 起皱的 动词ruffle的过去式和过去分词 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
48 chagrined | |
adj.懊恼的,苦恼的v.使懊恼,使懊丧,使悔恨( chagrin的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
49 rebuked | |
责难或指责( rebuke的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
50 disdain | |
n.鄙视,轻视;v.轻视,鄙视,不屑 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
51 bestowed | |
赠给,授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
52 justify | |
vt.证明…正当(或有理),为…辩护 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
53 passionate | |
adj.热情的,热烈的,激昂的,易动情的,易怒的,性情暴躁的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
54 jocose | |
adj.开玩笑的,滑稽的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
55 suffusion | |
n.充满 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
56 faltered | |
(嗓音)颤抖( falter的过去式和过去分词 ); 支吾其词; 蹒跚; 摇晃 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
57 betokened | |
v.预示,表示( betoken的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
58 agitation | |
n.搅动;搅拌;鼓动,煽动 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
59 disorder | |
n.紊乱,混乱;骚动,骚乱;疾病,失调 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
60 recollect | |
v.回忆,想起,记起,忆起,记得 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
61 dictates | |
n.命令,规定,要求( dictate的名词复数 )v.大声讲或读( dictate的第三人称单数 );口授;支配;摆布 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
62 serenity | |
n.宁静,沉着,晴朗 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
63 counterfeited | |
v.仿制,造假( counterfeit的过去分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
64 distraction | |
n.精神涣散,精神不集中,消遣,娱乐 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
65 chamber | |
n.房间,寝室;会议厅;议院;会所 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
66 certified | |
a.经证明合格的;具有证明文件的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
67 inclinations | |
倾向( inclination的名词复数 ); 倾斜; 爱好; 斜坡 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
68 farce | |
n.闹剧,笑剧,滑稽戏;胡闹 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
69 groaning | |
adj. 呜咽的, 呻吟的 动词groan的现在分词形式 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
70 pretence | |
n.假装,作假;借口,口实;虚伪;虚饰 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
71 exhorted | |
v.劝告,劝说( exhort的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
72 compassionate | |
adj.有同情心的,表示同情的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
73 mortified | |
v.使受辱( mortify的过去式和过去分词 );伤害(人的感情);克制;抑制(肉体、情感等) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
74 miscarriage | |
n.失败,未达到预期的结果;流产 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
75 apothecary | |
n.药剂师 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
76 prescriptions | |
药( prescription的名词复数 ); 处方; 开处方; 计划 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
77 scrupulous | |
adj.审慎的,小心翼翼的,完全的,纯粹的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
78 faculty | |
n.才能;学院,系;(学院或系的)全体教学人员 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
79 vomited | |
参考例句: |
|
|
80 purged | |
清除(政敌等)( purge的过去式和过去分词 ); 涤除(罪恶等); 净化(心灵、风气等); 消除(错事等)的不良影响 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
81 blistered | |
adj.水疮状的,泡状的v.(使)起水泡( blister的过去式和过去分词 );(使表皮等)涨破,爆裂 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
82 leeches | |
n.水蛭( leech的名词复数 );蚂蟥;榨取他人脂膏者;医生 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
83 draughts | |
n. <英>国际跳棋 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
84 delirious | |
adj.不省人事的,神智昏迷的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
85 antagonists | |
对立[对抗] 者,对手,敌手( antagonist的名词复数 ); 对抗肌; 对抗药 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
86 conjured | |
用魔术变出( conjure的过去式和过去分词 ); 祈求,恳求; 变戏法; (变魔术般地) 使…出现 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
87 malady | |
n.病,疾病(通常做比喻) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
欢迎访问英文小说网 |