Part 3 Book 6 Chapter 3 Effect of the Spring

One day, the air was warm, the Luxembourg was inundated¹ with light and shade, the sky was as pure as though the angels had washed it that morning, the sparrows were giving vent² to little

twitters in the depths of the chestnut-trees. Marius had thrown open his whole soul to nature, he was not thinking of anything, he simply lived and breathed, he passed near the bench, the young girl raised her eyes to him, the two glances met.

What was there in the young girl's glance on this occasion? Marius could not have told. There was nothing and there was everything.It was a strange flash.

She dropped her eyes, and he pursued his way.

What he had just seen was no longer the ingenuous³ and simple eye of a child; it was a mysterious gulf⁴ which had half opened, then abruptly⁵ closed again.

There comes a day when the young girl glances in this manner.  Woe⁶ to him who chances to be there!　

That first gaze of a soul which does not, as yet, know itself, is like the dawn in the sky. It is the awakening⁷ of something radiant and strange. Nothing can give any idea of the dangerous

charm of that unexpected gleam, which flashes suddenly and vaguely⁸ forth⁹ from adorable shadows, and which is composed of all the innocence¹⁰ of the present, and of all the passion of the future. It is a sort of undecided tenderness which reveals itself by chance, and which waits. It is a snare¹¹ which the innocent maiden¹² sets unknown to herself, and in which she captures hearts without either wishing or knowing it. It is a virgin¹³ looking like a woman.

It is rare that a profound revery does not spring from that glance, where it falls. All purities and all candors meet in that celestial¹⁴ and fatal gleam which, more than all the best-planned tender glances of coquettes, possesses the magic power of causing the sudden blossoming, in the depths of the soul, of that sombre flower,impregnated with perfume and with poison, which is called love.　　

That evening, on his return to his garret, Marius cast his eyes over his garments, and perceived, for the first time, that he had been so slovenly¹⁵, indecorous, and inconceivably stupid as to go for his walk in the Luxembourg with his "every-day clothes," that is to say, with a hat battered¹⁶ near the band, coarse carter's boots, black trousers which showed white at the knees, and a black coat which was pale at the elbows.

一天，空气温和，卢森堡公园中一片阳光和绿影，天空明净，仿佛天使们一早便把它洗过了似的，小鸟在栗林深处轻轻地叫着，马吕斯把整个胸怀向这良辰美景敞开了。他什么也不想，他活着，呼吸着。他从那条板凳旁边走过，那年轻姑娘抬起了眼睛向着他，他们两个人的目光碰在一起了。

这次在那年轻姑娘的目光里，有了什么呢？马吕斯搞不清楚。那里面什么也没有，可是什么也全在那里了，那是一种奇特的闪光。

她低下了眼睛，他也继续往前走。

他刚才见到的，不是一个孩子的那种天真单纯的眼光，而是一种奥秘莫测的深窟，稍稍张开了一线，接着又立即关闭了。

每一个少女都有这样望人的一天。谁碰上了，就该谁苦恼！

这种连自己也莫名其妙的心灵的最初一望，有如天边的曙光。不知是种什么灿烂的东西的醒觉。这种微光，乘人不备，突然从朦胧可爱的黑夜中隐隐地显现出来，半是现在的天真，半是未来的情爱，它那危险的魅力，绝不是言语所能形容的，那是一种在期待中偶然流露的迷离惝恍的柔情。是天真于无意中设下的陷阱，勾摄了别人的心，既非出于有意，自己也并不知道。那是一个以妇人的神情望人的处子。

在这种目光瞥到的地方，很少能不惹起连绵的梦想。所有的纯洁感情和所有的强烈欲念都集中在这一线天外飞来、操人生死的闪光里，远非妖冶妇女做作出来的那种绝妙秋波所能及，它的魔力能使人在灵魂深处突然开出一种奇香异毒的黑花，这便是人们所说的爱。

那天晚上，马吕斯回到他的破屋子里，对身上的衣服望了一眼，第一次发现自己邋里邋遢，不修边幅，穿着这样的“日常”衣服，就是说，戴一顶帽边丝带附近已破裂的帽子，穿双赶车夫的大靴，一条膝头泛白的黑长裤，一件肘弯发黄的黑上衣，却要到卢森堡公园里去散步，真是荒唐透了顶。

1 inundated   

v.淹没( inundate的过去式和过去分词 )；（洪水般地）涌来；充满；给予或交予（太多事物）使难以应付

参考例句：

• We have been inundated with offers of help. 主动援助多得使我们应接不暇。
• We have been inundated with every bit of information imaginable. 凡是想得到的各种各样的信息潮水般地向我们涌来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 vent   

n.通风口，排放口；开衩；vt.表达，发泄

参考例句：

• He gave vent to his anger by swearing loudly.他高声咒骂以发泄他的愤怒。
• When the vent became plugged,the engine would stop.当通风口被堵塞时，发动机就会停转。

3 ingenuous   

adj.纯朴的，单纯的；天真的；坦率的

参考例句：

• Only the most ingenuous person would believe such a weak excuse!只有最天真的人才会相信这么一个站不住脚的借口！
• With ingenuous sincerity,he captivated his audience.他以自己的率真迷住了观众。

4 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

5 abruptly   

adv.突然地，出其不意地

参考例句：

• He gestured abruptly for Virginia to get in the car.他粗鲁地示意弗吉尼亚上车。
• I was abruptly notified that a half-hour speech was expected of me.我突然被通知要讲半个小时的话。

6 woe   

n.悲哀，苦痛，不幸，困难；int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌

参考例句：

• Our two peoples are brothers sharing weal and woe.我们两国人民是患难与共的兄弟。
• A man is well or woe as he thinks himself so.自认祸是祸，自认福是福。

7 awakening   

n.觉醒，醒悟 adj.觉醒中的；唤醒的

参考例句：

• the awakening of interest in the environment 对环境产生的兴趣
• People are gradually awakening to their rights. 人们正逐渐意识到自己的权利。

8 vaguely   

adv.含糊地，暖昧地

参考例句：

• He had talked vaguely of going to work abroad.他含糊其词地说了到国外工作的事。
• He looked vaguely before him with unseeing eyes.他迷迷糊糊的望着前面，对一切都视而不见。

9 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

10 innocence   

n.无罪；天真；无害

参考例句：

• There was a touching air of innocence about the boy.这个男孩有一种令人感动的天真神情。
• The accused man proved his innocence of the crime.被告人经证实无罪。

11 snare   

n.陷阱，诱惑，圈套；（去除息肉或者肿瘤的）勒除器；响弦，小军鼓；vt.以陷阱捕获，诱惑

参考例句：

• I used to snare small birds such as sparrows.我曾常用罗网捕捉麻雀等小鸟。
• Most of the people realized that their scheme was simply a snare and a delusion.大多数人都认识到他们的诡计不过是一个骗人的圈套。

12 maiden   

n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的

参考例句：

• The prince fell in love with a fair young maiden.王子爱上了一位年轻美丽的少女。
• The aircraft makes its maiden flight tomorrow.这架飞机明天首航。

13 virgin   

n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的

参考例句：

• Have you ever been to a virgin forest?你去过原始森林吗？
• There are vast expanses of virgin land in the remote regions.在边远地区有大片大片未开垦的土地。

14 celestial   

adj.天体的；天上的

参考例句：

• The rosy light yet beamed like a celestial dawn.玫瑰色的红光依然象天上的朝霞一样绚丽。
• Gravity governs the motions of celestial bodies.万有引力控制着天体的运动。

15 slovenly   

adj.懒散的，不整齐的，邋遢的

参考例句：

• People were scandalized at the slovenly management of the company.人们对该公司草率的经营感到愤慨。
• Such slovenly work habits will never produce good products.这样马马虎虎的工作习惯决不能生产出优质产品来。

16 battered   

adj.磨损的；v.连续猛击；磨损

参考例句：

• He drove up in a battered old car.他开着一辆又老又破的旧车。
• The world was brutally battered but it survived.这个世界遭受了惨重的创伤,但它还是生存下来了。