Part 3 Book 2 Chapter 2 Like Master, Like House

He lived in the Marais, Rue¹ des Filles-du-Calvaire, No. 6. He owned the house. This house has since been demolished² and rebuilt, and the number has probably been changed in those revolutions of numeration which the streets of Paris undergo. He occupied an ancient and vast apartment on the first floor, between street and gardens, furnished to the very ceilings with great Gobelins and Beauvais tapestries³ representing pastoral scenes; the subjects of the ceilings and the panels were repeated in miniature on the arm-chairs. He enveloped⁴ his bed in a vast, nine-leaved screen of Coromandel lacquer. Long, full curtains hung from the windows, and formed great, broken folds that were very magnificent. The garden situated⁵ immediately under his windows was attached to that one of them which formed the angle, by means of a staircase twelve or fifteen steps long, which the old gentleman ascended⁶ and descended⁷ with great agility⁸. In addition to a library adjoining his

hamber, he had a boudoir of which he thought a great deal, a gallant⁹ and elegant retreat, with magnificent hangings of straw, with a pattern of flowers and fleurs-de-lys made on the galleys¹⁰ of Louis XIV. and ordered of his convicts by M. de Vivonne for hic mistress. M. Gillenormand ha` inherited it from a grim maternal¹¹ great-aunt, who had died a centenarian. He had had two wives. His manners were something between those of the courtier, which he had never been, and the lawyer, which he might have been. He was gay, and caressing¹² when he had a mind. In his youth he had been one of those men who are always deceived by their wives and never by their mistresses, because they are, at the same time, the most sullen¹³ of husbands and the most charming of lovers in existence. He was a connoisseur¹⁴ of painting. He had in his chamber¹⁵ a marvellous portrait of no one knows whom, painted by Jordaens, executed with great dashes of the brush, with millions of details, in a confused and hap-hazard manner. M. Gillenormand's attire¹⁶ was not the habit of Louis XIV. nor yet that of Louis XVI.; it was that of the Incroyables of the Directory. He had thought himself young up to that period and had followed the fashions. His coat was of light-weight cloth with voluminous revers, a long swallow-tail and large steel buttons. With this he wore knee-breeches and buckle¹⁷ shoes. He always thrust his hands into his fobs. He said authoritatively¹⁸: "The French Revolution is a heap of blackguards."

他住在沼泽区受难修女街六号。房子是他自己的。那房子后来经过拆毁重建，门牌也许在巴黎街道大改号数时换过了。他在二楼占用一套宽大的老式房间，一面临街，一面对着花园，大幅大幅的哥白兰①绒毯和博韦②绒毯挂齐天花板，毯子上织的是牧羊图，天花板上和壁框里的画缩成小幅，又出现在每张围椅上。床前摆了一座九摺长屏风，上的是科罗曼德尔③漆。一幅辐长窗帘，襞褶舒徐，在窗口掩映，非常美观。紧靠在窗子下面的是花园，在两排窗子的转角处有窗门，开出去，便是一道台阶，大致有十二到十五级，是那健步如飞的老人经常上下的地方。在他的卧室隔壁，书房以外，还有一间最为他重视的起坐间，那是间款待女友的密室，墙上挂着一幅麦黄色的壁衣，上面有百合花和其他花朵，是路易十四时期大桡船上的产品，是德·维沃纳先生特为他的情妇向苦役犯定的货，也是吉诺曼先生从一个脾气古怪在一百岁上死去的姨祖母的遗产中继承来的。他结过两次婚。他从来没有当过朝臣，却几乎做了法官，他的神气介于朝臣和法官之间。他爱谈笑，他愿意的话，也能显得亲密温柔。他在少壮时是那样一个经常受到妻子的欺瞒而从来不受情妇欺瞒的人，因为这种人全是些最难相处的丈夫，同时又是些极为可爱的情夫。他是油画鉴赏家。在他的卧室里有一幅约尔丹斯④画的不知道是谁的绝妙肖像，笔触遒劲，却又有万千精微独到之处，下笔交错纷杂，仿佛是信手涂抹而得的。吉诺曼先生的衣着不是路易十五时期的，甚至也不是路易十六时期的，而是督政府时期⑤的那种“荒唐少年”⑥的款式。直至那时，他还自以为很年轻，仍在学时髦。他的上衣是薄呢的，大而阔的翻领，长燕尾，大钢钮。此外，短裤，带扣的浅帮鞋。两只手一贯插在坎肩的小口袋里。他经常横眉怒目地说：“法兰西革命是一堆土匪。”

①哥白兰，巴黎的一家绒毯工厂。

②博韦，城名，在巴黎以北。

③科罗曼德尔（Coromandel），印度东北滨海地带。

④约尔丹斯（Jordaens，1593-1678），佛兰德著名画家。

⑤督政府，一七九五年至一七九九年法国的资产阶级政府。如果吉诺曼先生在一八三一年有九十岁，他在督政府时期已是近六十岁的人了。

⑥“荒唐少年”（les　incroyables），当时和革命力量对抗的富家子弟，他们故意穿奇装异服招摇过市，说话走路装腔作势，以此来表示自己不同于人民大众。他们爱说“这真荒唐”，从而获得“荒唐少年”这一称号。

1 rue   

n.懊悔，芸香，后悔；v.后悔，悲伤，懊悔

参考例句：

• You'll rue having failed in the examination.你会悔恨考试失败。
• You're going to rue this the longest day that you live.你要终身悔恨不尽呢。

2 demolished   

v.摧毁( demolish的过去式和过去分词 )；推翻；拆毁（尤指大建筑物）；吃光

参考例句：

• The factory is due to be demolished next year. 这个工厂定于明年拆除。
• They have been fighting a rearguard action for two years to stop their house being demolished. 两年来，为了不让拆除他们的房子，他们一直在进行最后的努力。

3 tapestries   

n.挂毯( tapestry的名词复数 )；绣帷，织锦v.用挂毯（或绣帷）装饰( tapestry的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The wall of the banqueting hall were hung with tapestries. 宴会厅的墙上挂有壁毯。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The rooms were hung with tapestries. 房间里都装饰着挂毯。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 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》

5 situated   

adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的

参考例句：

• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。
• She is awkwardly situated.她的处境困难。

6 ascended   

v.上升，攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He has ascended into heaven. 他已经升入了天堂。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The climbers slowly ascended the mountain. 爬山运动员慢慢地登上了这座山。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 descended   

a.为...后裔的，出身于...的

参考例句：

• A mood of melancholy descended on us. 一种悲伤的情绪袭上我们的心头。
• The path descended the hill in a series of zigzags. 小路呈连续的之字形顺着山坡蜿蜒而下。

8 agility   

n.敏捷，活泼

参考例句：

• The boy came upstairs with agility.那男孩敏捷地走上楼来。
• His intellect and mental agility have never been in doubt.他的才智和机敏从未受到怀疑。

9 gallant   

adj.英勇的，豪侠的；(向女人)献殷勤的

参考例句：

• Huang Jiguang's gallant deed is known by all men. 黄继光的英勇事迹尽人皆知。
• These gallant soldiers will protect our country.这些勇敢的士兵会保卫我们的国家的。

10 galleys   

n.平底大船，战舰( galley的名词复数 )；（船上或航空器上的）厨房

参考例句：

• Other people had drowned at sea since galleys swarmed with painted sails. 自从布满彩帆的大船下海以来，别的人曾淹死在海里。 来自辞典例句
• He sighed for the galleys, with their infamous costume. 他羡慕那些穿着囚衣的苦工。 来自辞典例句

11 maternal   

adj.母亲的，母亲般的，母系的，母方的

参考例句：

• He is my maternal uncle.他是我舅舅。
• The sight of the hopeless little boy aroused her maternal instincts.那个绝望的小男孩的模样唤起了她的母性。

12 caressing   

爱抚的，表现爱情的，亲切的

参考例句：

• The spring wind is gentle and caressing. 春风和畅。
• He sat silent still caressing Tartar, who slobbered with exceeding affection. 他不声不响地坐在那里，不断抚摸着鞑靼，它由于获得超常的爱抚而不淌口水。

13 sullen   

adj.愠怒的，闷闷不乐的，(天气等)阴沉的

参考例句：

• He looked up at the sullen sky.他抬头看了一眼阴沉的天空。
• Susan was sullen in the morning because she hadn't slept well.苏珊今天早上郁闷不乐，因为昨晚没睡好。

14 connoisseur   

n.鉴赏家，行家，内行

参考例句：

• Only the real connoisseur could tell the difference between these two wines.只有真正的内行才能指出这两种酒的区别。
• We are looking for a connoisseur of French champagne.我们想找一位法国香槟酒品酒专家。

15 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

16 attire   

v.穿衣，装扮[同]array；n.衣着；盛装

参考例句：

• He had no intention of changing his mode of attire.他无意改变着装方式。
• Her attention was attracted by his peculiar attire.他那奇特的服装引起了她的注意。

17 buckle   

n.扣子，带扣；v.把...扣住，由于压力而弯曲

参考例句：

• The two ends buckle at the back.带子两端在背后扣起来。
• She found it hard to buckle down.她很难专心做一件事情。

18 authoritatively   

命令式地，有权威地，可信地

参考例句：

• "If somebody'll come here and sit with him," he snapped authoritatively. “来个人到这儿陪他坐着。”他用发号施令的口吻说。
• To decide or settle(a dispute, for example) conclusively and authoritatively. 判定结论性、权威性地决定或解决（纠纷等）