Now, Father Roach’s domicile was the first house in the Chapel-lane, which consisted altogether of two, not being very long. It showed a hall-door, painted green — the national hue1 — which enclosed, I’m happy to say, not a few of the national virtues2, chief among which reigned3 hospitality. As Moggy turned the corner, and got out of the cold wind under its friendly shelter, she heard a stentorian4 voice, accompanied by the mellifluous5 drone of a bagpipe6, concluding in a highly decorative7 style the last verse of the ‘Colleen Rue8.’
Respect for this celestial9 melody, and a desire to hear a little more of what might follow, held Moggy on the steps, with the knocker between her finger and thumb, unwilling10 to disturb by an unseasonable summons the harmonies from which she was, in fact, separated only by the thickness of the window and its shutter11. And when the vocal12 and instrumental music came to an end together with a prolonged and indescribable groan13 and a grunt14 from the songster and the instrument, there broke forth15 a shrilly16 chorus of female cackle, some in admiration17 and some in laughter; and the voice of Father Roach was heard lustily and melodiously18 ejaculating ‘More power to you, Pat Mahony!’
As this pleasant party all talked together, and Moggy could not clearly unravel19 a single sentence, she made up her mind to wait no longer, and knocked with good emphasis, under cover of the uproar20.
The maid, who had evidently been in the hall, almost instantaneously opened the door; and with a hasty welcome full of giggle21 and excitement, pulled in Moggy by the arm, shutting the door after her; and each damsel asked the other, ‘An’ how are you, and are you elegant?’ and shaking her neighbour by both hands. The clerical handmaid, in a galloping22 whisper in Moggy’s ear, told her,’ ’Twas a weddin’ party, and such tarin’ fun she never see — sich dancin’ and singin’, and laughin’ and funnin’; and she must wait a bit, and see the quality,’ a portion of whom, indeed, were visible as well as over-poweringly audible, through the half-open door of the front parlour; ‘and there was to be a thunderin’ fine supper — a round of beef and two geese, and a tubful of oysters,’ &c, &c.
Now I must mention that this feast was, in fact, in its own way, more romantically wonderful than that of the celebrated23 wedding of Camacho the Rich, and one of the many hundred proofs I’ve met with in the course of my long pilgrimage that the honest prose of everyday life is often ten times more surprising than the unsubstantial fictions of even the best epic24 poets.
The valiant25 Sir Jaufry, it is true, was ordered to a dungeon26 by the fair Brunissende, who so soon as she beheld27 him, nevertheless became enamoured of the knight28, and gave him finally her hand in wedlock29. But if the fair Brunissende had been five and forty, or by’r lady, fifty, the widow of a tailor, herself wondrous30 keen after money, and stung very nigh to madness by the preposterous31 balance due (as per ledger), and the inexhaustible and ingenious dodges32 executed by the insolvent33 Sir Jaufry, the composer of that chivalric34 romance might have shrunk from the happy winding-up as bordering too nearly upon the incredible.
Yet good Father Roach understood human nature better. Man and woman have a tendency to fuse. And given a good-looking fellow and a woman, no matter of what age, who but deserves the name, and bring them together, and let the hero but have proper opportunities, and deuce is in it if nothing comes of the matter. Animosity is no impediment. On the contrary ’tis a more advantageous35 opening than indifference36. The Cid began his courtship by shooting his lady-love’s pigeons, and putting her into a pet and a frenzy37. The Cid knew what he was about. Stir no matter what passions, provided they be passions, and get your image well into your lady’s head, and you may repeat, with like success, the wooing (which superficial people pronounce so unnatural) of crook-backed Richard and the Lady Anne. Of course, there are limits. I would not advise, for instance, a fat elderly gentleman, bald, carbuncled, dull of wit, and slow of speech, to hazard that particular method, lest he should find himself the worse of his experiment. My counsel is for the young, the tolerably good-looking, for murmuring orators38 of the silver-tongue family, and romantic athletes with coaxing39 ways.
Worthy40 Father Roach constituted himself internuncio between Mahony, whom we remember first in his pride of place doing the honours of that feast of Mars in which his ‘friend’ Nutter41 was to have carved up the great O’Flaherty on the Fifteen Acres, and next, quantum, mutatus ab illo! a helpless but manly42 captive in the hands of the Dublin bailiffs, and that very Mrs. Elizabeth Woolly, relict and sole executrix of the late Timotheus Woolly, of High-street, tailor, &c., &c., who was the cruel cause of his incarceration43.
Good Father Roach, though a paragon44 of celibacy45, was of a gallant46 temperament47, and a wheedling48 tongue, and unfolded before the offended eye of the insulted and vindictive49 executrix so interesting a picture of ‘his noble young friend, the victim of circumstance, breaking his manly heart over his follies50 and misfortunes;’ and looking upon her, Mrs. Woolly, afar off, with an eye full of melancholy51 and awe52, tempered with, mayhap, somewhat of romantic gallantry, like Sir Walter Raleigh from the Tower window on Queen Elizabeth, that he at length persuaded the tremendous ‘relict’ to visit her captive in his dungeon. This she did, in a severe mood, with her attorney, and good Father Roach; and though Mahony’s statement was declamatory rather than precise, and dealt more with his feelings than his resources, and was carried on more in the way of an appeal to the ‘leedy’ than as an exposition to the man of law, leaving matters at the end in certainly no clearer state than before he began, yet the executrix consented to see the imprisoned53 youth once more, this time dispensing54 with her attorney’s attendance, and content with the protection of the priest, and even upon that, on some subsequent visits, she did not insist.
And so the affair, like one of those medleys55 of our Irish melodies arranged by poor M. Jullien, starting with a martial56 air, breathing turf and thunder, fire and sword, went off imperceptibly into a pathetic and amorous57 strain. Father Roach, still officiating as internuncio, found the dowager less and less impracticable, and at length a treaty was happily concluded. The captive came forth to wear thenceforward those lighter58 chains only, which are forged by Hymen and wreathed with roses; and the lady applied59 to his old promissory notes the torch of love, which in a moment reduced them to ashes. And here, at the hermitage of our jolly Chapelizod priest — for bride and bridegroom were alike of the ‘ancient faith’— the treaty was ratified60, and the bagpipe and the bridegroom, in tremendous unison61, splitting the rafters with ‘Hymen, Hymen, O Hymenoee!’
In the midst of this festive62 celebration, his reverence63 was summoned to the hall, already perfumed with the incense64 of the geese, the onions, the bacon browned at the kitchen-fire, and various other delicacies65, toned and enriched by the vapours that exhaled66 from the little bottle of punch which, in consideration of his fatigues67, stood by the elbow of the piper.
When the holy man had heard Moggy’s tale, he scratched his tonsure68 and looked, I must say, confoundedly bored.
‘Now, Moggy, my child, don’t you see, acushla, ‘tisn’t to me you should ha’ come; I’m here, my dear, engaged,’ and he dried his moist and rubicund69 countenance70, ‘in one of the sacred offices iv the Church, the sacrament, my dear, iv’— here Mahony and the piper struck up again in so loud a key in the parlour, that as Moggy afterwards observed, ‘they could not hear their own ears,’ and the conclusion of the sentence was overwhelmed in, ‘Many’s the bottle I cracked in my time.’ So his reverence impatiently beckoned71 to the hall-door, which he opened, and on the steps, where he was able to make himself audible, he explained the nature of his present engagement, and referred her to Doctor Toole. Assured, however, that he was in Dublin, he scratched his tonsure once more.
‘The divil burn the lot o’ them, my dear, an’ purty evenin’ they chose for their vagaries72 — an’ law papers too, you say, an’ an attorney into the bargain — there’s no influence you can bring to bear on them fellows. If ’twas another man, an’ a couple more at his back, myself an’ Pat Moran ‘id wallop them out of the house, an’ into the river, be gannies; as aisy as say an ave.’
The illustration, it occurred to him, might possibly strike Moggy as irreverent, and the worthy father paused, and, with upturned eyes, murmured a Latin ejaculation, crossing himself; and having thus reasserted his clerical character, he proceeded to demonstrate the uselessness of his going.
But Father Roach, though sometimes a little bit testy73, and, on the whole, not without faults, was as good-natured an anchorite as ever said mass or brewed74 a contemplative bowl of punch. If he refused to go down to the Mills, he would not have been comfortable again that night, nor indeed for a week to come. So, with a sigh, he made up his mind, got quietly into his surtout and mufflers which hung on the peg75 behind the hall-door, clapped on his hat, grasped his stout76 oak stick, and telling his housekeeper77 to let them know, in case his guests should miss him, that he was obliged to go out for ten minutes or so on parish business, forth sallied the stout priest, with no great appetite for knight-errantry, but still anxious to rescue, if so it might be, the distressed78 princess, begirt with giants and enchanters, at the Mills.
At the Salmon79 House he enlisted80 the stalworth Paddy Moran, with the information conveyed to that surprised reveller81, that he was to sleep at ‘Mrs. Nutter’s house’ that night; and so, at a brisk pace, the clerical knight, his squire82, and demoiselle-errant, proceeded to the Mills.
1 hue | |
n.色度;色调;样子 | |
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2 virtues | |
美德( virtue的名词复数 ); 德行; 优点; 长处 | |
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3 reigned | |
vi.当政,统治(reign的过去式形式) | |
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4 stentorian | |
adj.大声的,响亮的 | |
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5 mellifluous | |
adj.(音乐等)柔美流畅的 | |
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6 bagpipe | |
n.风笛 | |
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7 decorative | |
adj.装饰的,可作装饰的 | |
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8 rue | |
n.懊悔,芸香,后悔;v.后悔,悲伤,懊悔 | |
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9 celestial | |
adj.天体的;天上的 | |
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10 unwilling | |
adj.不情愿的 | |
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11 shutter | |
n.百叶窗;(照相机)快门;关闭装置 | |
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12 vocal | |
adj.直言不讳的;嗓音的;n.[pl.]声乐节目 | |
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13 groan | |
vi./n.呻吟,抱怨;(发出)呻吟般的声音 | |
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14 grunt | |
v.嘟哝;作呼噜声;n.呼噜声,嘟哝 | |
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15 forth | |
adv.向前;向外,往外 | |
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16 shrilly | |
尖声的; 光亮的,耀眼的 | |
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17 admiration | |
n.钦佩,赞美,羡慕 | |
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18 melodiously | |
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19 unravel | |
v.弄清楚(秘密);拆开,解开,松开 | |
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20 uproar | |
n.骚动,喧嚣,鼎沸 | |
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21 giggle | |
n.痴笑,咯咯地笑;v.咯咯地笑着说 | |
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22 galloping | |
adj. 飞驰的, 急性的 动词gallop的现在分词形式 | |
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23 celebrated | |
adj.有名的,声誉卓著的 | |
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24 epic | |
n.史诗,叙事诗;adj.史诗般的,壮丽的 | |
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25 valiant | |
adj.勇敢的,英勇的;n.勇士,勇敢的人 | |
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26 dungeon | |
n.地牢,土牢 | |
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27 beheld | |
v.看,注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 );瞧;看呀;(叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现)哎哟 | |
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28 knight | |
n.骑士,武士;爵士 | |
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29 wedlock | |
n.婚姻,已婚状态 | |
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30 wondrous | |
adj.令人惊奇的,奇妙的;adv.惊人地;异乎寻常地;令人惊叹地 | |
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31 preposterous | |
adj.荒谬的,可笑的 | |
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32 dodges | |
n.闪躲( dodge的名词复数 );躲避;伎俩;妙计v.闪躲( dodge的第三人称单数 );回避 | |
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33 insolvent | |
adj.破产的,无偿还能力的 | |
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34 chivalric | |
有武士气概的,有武士风范的 | |
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35 advantageous | |
adj.有利的;有帮助的 | |
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36 indifference | |
n.不感兴趣,不关心,冷淡,不在乎 | |
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37 frenzy | |
n.疯狂,狂热,极度的激动 | |
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38 orators | |
n.演说者,演讲家( orator的名词复数 ) | |
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39 coaxing | |
v.哄,用好话劝说( coax的现在分词 );巧言骗取;哄劝,劝诱;“锻炼”效应 | |
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40 worthy | |
adj.(of)值得的,配得上的;有价值的 | |
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41 nutter | |
n.疯子 | |
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42 manly | |
adj.有男子气概的;adv.男子般地,果断地 | |
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43 incarceration | |
n.监禁,禁闭;钳闭 | |
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44 paragon | |
n.模范,典型 | |
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45 celibacy | |
n.独身(主义) | |
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46 gallant | |
adj.英勇的,豪侠的;(向女人)献殷勤的 | |
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47 temperament | |
n.气质,性格,性情 | |
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48 wheedling | |
v.骗取(某物),哄骗(某人干某事)( wheedle的现在分词 ) | |
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49 vindictive | |
adj.有报仇心的,怀恨的,惩罚的 | |
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50 follies | |
罪恶,时事讽刺剧; 愚蠢,蠢笨,愚蠢的行为、思想或做法( folly的名词复数 ) | |
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51 melancholy | |
n.忧郁,愁思;adj.令人感伤(沮丧)的,忧郁的 | |
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52 awe | |
n.敬畏,惊惧;vt.使敬畏,使惊惧 | |
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53 imprisoned | |
下狱,监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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54 dispensing | |
v.分配( dispense的现在分词 );施与;配(药) | |
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55 medleys | |
n.混杂物( medley的名词复数 );混合物;混杂的人群;混成曲(多首声乐曲或器乐曲串联在一起) | |
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56 martial | |
adj.战争的,军事的,尚武的,威武的 | |
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57 amorous | |
adj.多情的;有关爱情的 | |
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58 lighter | |
n.打火机,点火器;驳船;v.用驳船运送;light的比较级 | |
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59 applied | |
adj.应用的;v.应用,适用 | |
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60 ratified | |
v.批准,签认(合约等)( ratify的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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61 unison | |
n.步调一致,行动一致 | |
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62 festive | |
adj.欢宴的,节日的 | |
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63 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 | |
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64 incense | |
v.激怒;n.香,焚香时的烟,香气 | |
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65 delicacies | |
n.棘手( delicacy的名词复数 );精致;精美的食物;周到 | |
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66 exhaled | |
v.呼出,发散出( exhale的过去式和过去分词 );吐出(肺中的空气、烟等),呼气 | |
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67 fatigues | |
n.疲劳( fatigue的名词复数 );杂役;厌倦;(士兵穿的)工作服 | |
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68 tonsure | |
n.削发;v.剃 | |
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69 rubicund | |
adj.(脸色)红润的 | |
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70 countenance | |
n.脸色,面容;面部表情;vt.支持,赞同 | |
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71 beckoned | |
v.(用头或手的动作)示意,召唤( beckon的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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72 vagaries | |
n.奇想( vagary的名词复数 );异想天开;异常行为;难以预测的情况 | |
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73 testy | |
adj.易怒的;暴躁的 | |
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74 brewed | |
调制( brew的过去式和过去分词 ); 酝酿; 沏(茶); 煮(咖啡) | |
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75 peg | |
n.木栓,木钉;vt.用木钉钉,用短桩固定 | |
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77 housekeeper | |
n.管理家务的主妇,女管家 | |
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78 distressed | |
痛苦的 | |
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79 salmon | |
n.鲑,大马哈鱼,橙红色的 | |
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80 enlisted | |
adj.应募入伍的v.(使)入伍, (使)参军( enlist的过去式和过去分词 );获得(帮助或支持) | |
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81 reveller | |
n.摆设酒宴者,饮酒狂欢者 | |
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82 squire | |
n.护卫, 侍从, 乡绅 | |
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