Part 3 Book 2 Chapter 4 A Centenarian Aspirant

He had taken prizes in his boyhood at the College of Moulins, where he was born, and he had been crowned by the hand of the Duc de Nivernais, whom he called the Duc de Nevers. Neither the Convention, nor the death of Louis XVI., nor the Napoleon, nor the return of the Bourbons, nor anything else had been able to efface¹ the memory of this crowning. The Duc de Nevers was, in his eyes, the great figure of the century. "What a charming grand seigneur," he said, "and what a fine air he had with his blue ribbon!"

In the eyes of M. Gillenormand, Catherine the Second had made reparation for the crime of the partition of Poland by purchasing, for three thousand roubles, the secret of the elixir² of gold, from Bestucheff. He grew animated³ on this subject: "The elixir of gold," he exclaimed, "the yellow dye of Bestucheff, General Lamotte's drops, in the eighteenth century,--this was the great remedy for the catastrophes⁴ of love, the panacea⁵ against Venus, at one louis the half-ounce phial. Louis XV. sent two hundred phials of it to the Pope." He would have been greatly irritated and thrown off his balance, had any one told him that the elixir of gold is nothing but the perchloride of iron. M. Gillenormand adored the Bourbons, and had a horror of 1789; he was forever narrating⁶ in what manner he had saved himself during the Terror, and how he had been obliged to display a vast deal of gayety and cleverness in order to escape having his head cut off. If any young man ventured to pronounce an eulogium on the Republic in his presence, he turned purple and grew so angry that he was on the point of swooning. He sometimes alluded⁷ to his ninety years, and said, "I hope that I shall not see ninety-three twice." On these occasions, he hinted to people that he meant to live to be a hundred.

他出生在穆兰①，童年时代在穆兰中学得过几次奖状，并且由尼维尔内公爵亲手授予的，他称尼维尔内公爵为讷韦尔②公爵。无论国民公会、路易十六的死、拿破仑、波旁王室复辟都没能冲淡他对那次授奖大典的回忆。在他看来，“讷韦尔公爵”才是那个世纪的伟人。“多么可爱的大贵人，”他常说，“挎着他那条蓝佩带，好不神气！”在吉诺曼先生的眼中，叶卡特林娜二世③花三千卢布向贝斯多舍夫买金酒的秘方，就已经抵赎瓜分波兰的罪恶。在这问题上，他表现得非常兴奋。

①穆兰（Moulins），法国中部阿利埃省的省会。

②尼维尔内（Nivernais），法国旧省名，今涅夫勒省（Nièvre），省会讷韦尔（Nevers）。

③叶卡特林娜二世（CatherineⅡ，1729-1796），俄国女皇。　

“金酒，”他喊道，“贝斯多舍夫的黄酊，拉莫特将军的杯中物，在十八世纪，半两装的每瓶值一个路易，是情场失意人的妙药，是降伏爱神的仙露。路易十五就曾送过二百瓶给教皇。”假如有人告诉他说金酒只不过是氯化高铁，他一定会暴跳如雷怒不可遏。吉诺曼先生崇拜波旁王室中人，并把一七八九年视为洪水猛兽，他不断谈到他怎样才在恐怖时期保全了性命，怎样寻欢作乐，怎样卖弄聪明，才没被砍掉脑袋。假如有个年轻人敢在他面前称赞共和制度，他会气到脸色发青，晕倒在地。有时，在谈到自己九十高龄时，他闪烁其词地说：“我很希望不会两次见到九十三。”①有时，他却又向人透露他想活到一百岁。

①两次九十三指革命进入高潮的一七九三年和他自己的九十三岁。

1 efface   

v.擦掉，抹去

参考例句：

• It takes many years to efface the unpleasant memories of a war.许多年后才能冲淡战争的不愉快记忆。
• He could not efface the impression from his mind.他不能把这个印象从心中抹去。

2 elixir   

n.长生不老药，万能药

参考例句：

• There is no elixir of life in the world.世界上没有长生不老药。
• Keep your mind awake and active;that's the only youth elixir.保持头脑清醒和灵活便是保持年轻的唯一灵丹妙药。

3 animated   

adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的

参考例句：

• His observations gave rise to an animated and lively discussion.他的言论引起了一场气氛热烈而活跃的讨论。
• We had an animated discussion over current events last evening.昨天晚上我们热烈地讨论时事。

4 catastrophes   

n.灾祸( catastrophe的名词复数 )；灾难；不幸事件；困难

参考例句：

• Two of history's worst natural catastrophes occurred in 1970. 1970年发生了历史上最严重两次自然灾害。 来自辞典例句
• The Swiss deposits contain evidence of such catastrophes. 瑞士的遗址里还有这种灾难的证据。 来自辞典例句

5 panacea   

n.万灵药；治百病的灵药

参考例句：

• Western aid may help but will not be a panacea. 西方援助可能会有所帮助，但并非灵丹妙药。
• There's no single panacea for the country's economic ills. 国家经济弊病百出,并无万灵药可以医治。

6 narrating   

v.故事( narrate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• She entertained them by narrating her adventures in Africa. 她讲述她在非洲的历险来使他们开心。
• [Mike Narrating] Worm and I fall into our old rhythm like Clyde Frazier and Pearl Monroe. [迈克叙述] 虫子和我配合得象以前一样默契我们两好象是克莱德。弗瑞泽和佩尔。门罗。 来自电影对白

7 alluded   

提及，暗指( allude的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• In your remarks you alluded to a certain sinister design. 在你的谈话中，你提到了某个阴谋。
• She also alluded to her rival's past marital troubles. 她还影射了对手过去的婚姻问题。