What is a man, If his chief good and market of his
time lie but to sleep, and feed? a beast, no more. ...
Rightly to be great
Is not to stir without great argument,
But greatly to find honour in a straw
When honour’s at the stake.
HAMLET, Act IV.
And so he had been so weak as to violate the oaths he had so often sworn! A single moment had upset the work of his whole life. He had forfeited1 all right to his own esteem2. Henceforward the world of men was closed to him; he was not worthy3 to inhabit it. Nought4 remained to him but solitude5 and a hermit’s abode6 in some wilderness7. The intensity8 of the grief that he felt and its suddenness might well have caused some disturbance9 in the stoutest10 heart. Fortunately Octave saw at once that if he did not reply quickly and with the calmest air to Madame d’Aumale, Armance’s reputation might suffer. He spent all his time with her, and Madame d’Aumale’s speech had been seized upon by two or three people who detested11 him as well as Armance.
“I, in love!” he said to Madame d’Aumale. “Alas! That is a privilege which heaven has evidently denied me; I have never felt it so plainly nor so keenly regretted it. I see every day, though less often than I could wish, the most attractive woman in Paris; to win her favour is doubtless the most ambitious project that a man of my age can entertain. Doubtless she would not have accepted my devotion; still, I have never felt myself moved to the degree of enthusiasm which would make me worthy to offer it to her. Never, in her presence, have I lost the most complete self-possession. After such a display of savagery12 and insensibility, I despair of ever going out of my depth with any woman.”
Never had Octave spoken to such effect. This almost diplomatic explanation was skilfully14 protracted15 and received with a corresponding eagerness. There were present two or three men who were naturally attractive, and who often imagined that they saw in Octave a fortunate rival. He was delighted to overhear several sharp comments. He spoke13 volubly, continued to alarm their self-esteem, until he felt himself justified16 in hoping that no one would pay any further attention to the all too true observation which Madame d’Aumale had let fall.
She had uttered it with an air of conviction; Octave felt that he must force her to think of herself. Having proved to her that he was incapable17 of loving her, for the first time in his life he allowed himself to address to Madame d’Aumale allusions18 that were almost affectionate; she was amazed.
Before the evening ended, Octave was so confident of having banished19 all suspicions that he began to have time to think of himself. He dreaded20 the moment when the party would break up, and he would be free to look his misery21 in the face. He began to count the hours as they sounded from the clock in Andilly; midnight had long since struck, but the night was so fine that they preferred to remain out of doors. One o’clock struck, and Madame d’Aumale dismissed her retinue22.
Octave had still a momentary23 respite24. He must go and find his mother’s footman and tell him that he was going to sleep in Paris. This duty performed, he returned to the woods, and here words fail me if I am to give any idea of the grief that overpowered the poor wretch25. “I am in love,” he said to himself in stifled26 accents. “I, in love! Great God!” and with throbbing27 heart, parched28 throat, staring eyes raised to heaven, he stood motionless, as though horror-stricken; presently he began to walk at a headlong pace. Unable to hold himself erect29, he let himself fall against the trunk of an old tree that barred his way, and in that moment of repose30 seemed to see more clearly than ever the whole extent of his misery.
“I had nothing but my own self-esteem,” he said to himself; “I have forfeited it.” The confession31 of his love which he made in the plainest terms and without finding any way of denying it was followed by transports of rage and inarticulate cries of fury. Spiritual agony can go no farther.
An idea, the common resource of the wretched who have still some courage, soon occurred to him; but he said to himself: “If I take my life, Armance will be compromised; the whole of society for the next week will be nosing out every trifling32 detail of what occurred this evening. Armance will be in despair, her despair will be noticed, and each of the gentlemen who was present will be authorised to furnish a different account.”
Nothing selfish, no attachment33 to the vulgar interests of life, could be found in this noble spirit to resist the transports of the frightful34 grief which was rending35 it. This absence of all common interest, capable of providing a diversion at such moments, is one of the punishments which heaven seems to take pleasure in inflicting36 upon lofty spirits.
The hours glided37 rapidly by without diminishing Octave’s despair. Remaining motionless at times for several minutes, he felt that fearful anguish38 which completes the torment39 of the greatest criminals: an utter contempt for himself.
He could not weep. The hatred40 of which he felt himself so deserving prevented him from having any pity for himself, and dried his tears. “Ah!” he cried, in one of those agonising moments, “if I could make an end!” and he gave himself leave to taste the ideal happiness of ceasing to feel. With what pleasure would he have put himself to death, as a punishment of his weakness and to retrieve41 in a sense his lost honour! “Yes,” he told himself, “my heart deserves contempt because it has committed an action which I had forbidden myself on pain of death, and my mind is, if possible, even more contemptible42 than my heart. I have failed to see what was self-evident: I love Armance, and I have loved her ever since I submitted to listening to Madame de Bonnivet’s dissertations43 upon German philosophy.
“I was foolish enough to imagine myself a philosopher. In my idiotic44 presumption45, I regarded myself as infinitely46 superior to the futile47 arguments of Madame de Bonnivet, and I failed to see in my heart what the weakest of women would have seen in hers: a strong, obvious passion, which for long has destroyed all the interest that I used to take in the things of life.
“Everything that cannot speak to me of Armance is to me as though it did not exist. I criticised myself incessantly48, and failed to see this! Ah, how contemptible I am!”
The voice of duty which was beginning to prevail ordered Octave to shun49 Mademoiselle de Zohiloff from that instant; but out of her presence he could think of no action that justified the effort of living. Nothing seemed to him worthy to inspire the least interest in him. Everything appeared to him to be equally insipid50, the noblest action and the most vulgarly useful occupation alike: to march to the aid of Greece and to seek death by the side of Fabvier, as to make obscure agricultural experiments in some remote Department.
His imagination ran swiftly over the scale of possible actions, to fall back afterwards with an intenser grief into the most profound despair, the most hopeless, the worthiest51 of his name; ah, how pleasant would death have been at those moments!
Octave uttered aloud things that were foolish and in bad taste, the bad taste and folly52 of which he observed with interest. “What use in shutting my eyes to the facts,” he exclaimed suddenly, while he was occupied in enumerating53 to himself certain agricultural experiments that might be made among the peasants of Brazil. “What use in being so cowardly as to shut my eyes to the facts? To complete my misery, I can say to myself that Armance feels some affection for me, and my duty is all the stricter in consequence. Why, if Armance were engaged, would the man to whom she had promised her hand permit her to spend all her time with me? And her joy, outwardly so calm, but so deep and true, when I revealed to her last night the secret plan of my conduct with Madame d’Aumale, to what must it be ascribed? Is it not a proof positive, as plain as daylight? And I was blind to it! Can I have been a hypocrite with myself? Can I have been treading the path which the vilest54 scoundrels have followed? What! Last night, at ten o’clock, I failed to perceive a thing which this morning seems as plain as possible? Ah, how weak and contemptible I am!
“I have all the pride of a child, and never in my whole life have I risen to perform one manly55 action; not only have I wrought56 my own undoing57, I have dragged down into the abyss her who was dearer to me than any one in the world. Oh, heavens! How could any one, even if he tried, be viler58 than I?” This thought left him almost delirious59. Octave felt his brain melt in the fiery60 heat of his head. At each step that his mind advanced, he discovered a fresh variety of misery, a fresh reason for despising himself.
The instinct of self-preservation which exists in every man, even in the most painful moments, even at the foot of the scaffold, made Octave try to prevent himself from thinking. He clasped his head in his hands, making almost a physical effort not to think.
Gradually everything lost its importance for him, except the memory of Armance whom he must evermore avoid, and never see again upon any pretext61 whatsoever62. Even filial love, so deeply rooted in his heart, had vanished from it.
He had now only two ideas, to leave Armance and never allow himself to set eyes on her again; to support life on these conditions for a year or two until she were married or society had forgotten him. After which, as people would then have ceased to think of him, he would be free to put an end to himself. Such was the last conscious thought of this spirit exhausted63 by suffering. Octave leaned against a tree and fell in a swoon.
When he regained64 consciousness, he felt an unusual sense of cold. He opened his eyes. Day was beginning to dawn. He found that he was receiving the attentions of a peasant who was trying to restore his consciousness by deluging65 him with cold water which he fetched in his hat from a neighbouring spring. Octave was confused for a moment, his ideas were not clearly defined: he found himself lying upon the bank of a ditch, in the middle of a clearing, in a wood; he saw great rounded masses of mist pass rapidly before his eyes. He could not tell where he was.
Suddenly the thought of all his misfortunes recurred66 to his mind. People do not die of grief, or he would have been dead at that moment. A groan67 or two escaped him which frightened the peasant. The man’s alarm recalled Octave to a sense of duty. It was essential that this peasant should not talk. Octave took out his purse to offer him some money; he said to the man, who seemed to feel some compassion68 for his state, that he found himself in the woods at that hour in consequence of a rash wager69, and that it was most important to him that it should not be known that the cold night air had upset him.
The peasant appeared not to understand. “If the others hear that I fainted,” said Octave, “they will make fun of me.” “Ah, I understand,” said the peasant, “count on me not to breathe a word, it shall never be said that I made you lose your wager. It is lucky for you all the same that I happened to pass, for, upon my soul, you looked half dead.” Octave, instead of replying, was gazing at his purse. This was a further grief, the purse was a present from Armance; he found a pleasure in feeling with his fingers each of the little steel beads70 that were stitched to the dark tissue.
As soon as the peasant had left him, Octave broke off a branch of a chestnut71 tree, with which he made a hole in the ground; he allowed himself to bestow72 a kiss on the purse, Armance’s present, and buried it beneath the very spot on which he had fainted. “There,” he said to himself, “my first virtuous73 action. Farewell, farewell for life, dear Armance! God knows that I loved thee!”
收听单词发音 |
1
forfeited
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| （因违反协议、犯规、受罚等）丧失，失去( forfeit的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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esteem
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| n.尊敬，尊重；vt.尊重，敬重；把…看作 | |
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3
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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4
nought
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| n.／adj.无，零 | |
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solitude
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| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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abode
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| n.住处，住所 | |
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wilderness
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| n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠 | |
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intensity
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| n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度 | |
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disturbance
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| n.动乱，骚动；打扰，干扰；(身心)失调 | |
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stoutest
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| 粗壮的( stout的最高级 )； 结实的； 坚固的； 坚定的 | |
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detested
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| v.憎恶，嫌恶，痛恨( detest的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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savagery
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| n.野性 | |
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13
spoke
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| 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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14
skilfully
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| adv. (美skillfully)熟练地 | |
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15
protracted
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| adj.拖延的；延长的v.拖延“protract”的过去式和过去分词 | |
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16
justified
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| a.正当的，有理的 | |
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17
incapable
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| adj.无能力的，不能做某事的 | |
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18
allusions
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| 暗指，间接提到( allusion的名词复数 ) | |
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banished
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| v.放逐，驱逐( banish的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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dreaded
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| adj.令人畏惧的；害怕的v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的过去式和过去分词) | |
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21
misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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retinue
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| n.侍从；随员 | |
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momentary
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| adj.片刻的，瞬息的；短暂的 | |
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respite
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| n.休息，中止，暂缓 | |
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25
wretch
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| n.可怜的人，不幸的人；卑鄙的人 | |
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26
stifled
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| （使）窒息， （使）窒闷( stifle的过去式和过去分词 )； 镇压，遏制； 堵 | |
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throbbing
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| a. 跳动的,悸动的 | |
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parched
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| adj.焦干的；极渴的；v.（使）焦干 | |
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29
erect
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| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
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30
repose
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| v.(使)休息；n.安息 | |
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31
confession
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| n.自白，供认，承认 | |
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32
trifling
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| adj.微不足道的；没什么价值的 | |
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attachment
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| n.附属物，附件；依恋；依附 | |
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frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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35
rending
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| v.撕碎( rend的现在分词 )；分裂；（因愤怒、痛苦等而）揪扯（衣服或头发等）；（声音等）刺破 | |
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36
inflicting
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| 把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的现在分词 ) | |
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37
glided
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| 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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38
anguish
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| n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼 | |
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torment
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| n.折磨；令人痛苦的东西(人)；vt.折磨；纠缠 | |
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40
hatred
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| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
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41
retrieve
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| vt.重新得到，收回；挽回，补救；检索 | |
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42
contemptible
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| adj.可鄙的，可轻视的，卑劣的 | |
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43
dissertations
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| 专题论文，学位论文( dissertation的名词复数 ) | |
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idiotic
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| adj.白痴的 | |
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presumption
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| n.推测，可能性，冒昧，放肆，[法律]推定 | |
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infinitely
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| adv.无限地，无穷地 | |
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futile
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| adj.无效的，无用的，无希望的 | |
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incessantly
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| ad.不停地 | |
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49
shun
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| vt.避开，回避，避免 | |
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50
insipid
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| adj.无味的，枯燥乏味的，单调的 | |
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51
worthiest
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| 应得某事物( worthy的最高级 )； 值得做某事； 可尊敬的； 有（某人或事物）的典型特征 | |
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52
folly
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| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
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enumerating
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| v.列举，枚举，数( enumerate的现在分词 ) | |
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54
vilest
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| adj.卑鄙的( vile的最高级 )；可耻的；极坏的；非常讨厌的 | |
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55
manly
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| adj.有男子气概的；adv.男子般地，果断地 | |
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56
wrought
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| v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的 | |
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57
undoing
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| n.毁灭的原因，祸根；破坏，毁灭 | |
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58
viler
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| adj.卑鄙的( vile的比较级 )；可耻的；极坏的；非常讨厌的 | |
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59
delirious
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| adj.不省人事的，神智昏迷的 | |
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60
fiery
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| adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的 | |
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pretext
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| n.借口，托词 | |
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whatsoever
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| adv.（用于否定句中以加强语气）任何；pron.无论什么 | |
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exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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64
regained
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| 复得( regain的过去式和过去分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地 | |
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65
deluging
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| v.使淹没( deluge的现在分词 )；淹没；被洪水般涌来的事物所淹没；穷于应付 | |
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66
recurred
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| 再发生，复发( recur的过去式和过去分词 )； 治愈 | |
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67
groan
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| vi./n.呻吟，抱怨；(发出)呻吟般的声音 | |
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68
compassion
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| n.同情，怜悯 | |
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69
wager
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| n.赌注；vt.押注，打赌 | |
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70
beads
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| n.（空心）小珠子( bead的名词复数 )；水珠；珠子项链 | |
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71
chestnut
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| n.栗树，栗子 | |
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72
bestow
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| v.把…赠与，把…授予；花费 | |
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virtuous
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| adj.有品德的，善良的，贞洁的，有效力的 | |
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