SAYERS
Emily remained in her chamber2, on the following morning, without receiving any notice from Montoni, or seeing a human being, except the armed men, who sometimes passed on the terrace below. Having tasted no food since the dinner of the preceding day, extreme faintness made her feel the necessity of quitting the asylum3 of her apartment to obtain refreshment4, and she was also very anxious to procure5 liberty for Annette. Willing, however, to defer6 venturing forth7, as long as possible, and considering, whether she should apply to Montoni, or to the compassion8 of some other person, her excessive anxiety concerning her aunt, at length, overcame her abhorrence9 of his presence, and she determined10 to go to him, and to entreat11, that he would suffer her to see Madame Montoni.
Meanwhile, it was too certain, from the absence of Annette, that some accident had befallen Ludovico, and that she was still in confinement12; Emily, therefore, resolved also to visit the chamber, where she had spoken to her, on the preceding night, and, if the poor girl was yet there, to inform Montoni of her situation.
It was near noon, before she ventured from her apartment, and went first to the south gallery, whither she passed without meeting a single person, or hearing a sound, except, now and then, the echo of a distant footstep.
It was unnecessary to call Annette, whose lamentations were audible upon the first approach to the gallery, and who, bewailing her own and Ludovico’s fate, told Emily, that she should certainly be starved to death, if she was not let out immediately. Emily replied, that she was going to beg her release of Montoni; but the terrors of hunger now yielded to those of the Signor, and, when Emily left her, she was loudly entreating15, that her place of refuge might be concealed16 from him.
As Emily drew near the great hall, the sounds she heard and the people she met in the passages renewed her alarm. The latter, however, were peaceable, and did not interrupt her, though they looked earnestly at her, as she passed, and sometimes spoke13. On crossing the hall towards the cedar18 room, where Montoni usually sat, she perceived, on the pavement, fragments of swords, some tattered19 garments stained with blood, and almost expected to have seen among them a dead body; but from such a spectacle she was, at present, spared. As she approached the room, the sound of several voices issued from within, and a dread20 of appearing before many strangers, as well as of irritating Montoni by such an intrusion, made her pause and falter21 from her purpose. She looked up through the long arcades22 of the hall, in search of a servant, who might bear a message, but no one appeared, and the urgency of what she had to request made her still linger near the door. The voices within were not in contention23, though she distinguished24 those of several of the guests of the preceding day; but still her resolution failed, whenever she would have tapped at the door, and she had determined to walk in the hall, till some person should appear, who might call Montoni from the room, when, as she turned from the door, it was suddenly opened by himself. Emily trembled, and was confused, while he almost started with surprise, and all the terrors of his countenance25 unfolded themselves. She forgot all she would have said, and neither enquired26 for her aunt, or entreated27 for Annette, but stood silent and embarrassed.
After closing the door he reproved her for a meanness, of which she had not been guilty, and sternly questioned her what she had overheard; an accusation28, which revived her recollection so far, that she assured him she had not come thither29 with an intention to listen to his conversation, but to entreat his compassion for her aunt, and for Annette. Montoni seemed to doubt this assertion, for he regarded her with a scrutinizing30 look; and the doubt evidently arose from no trifling31 interest. Emily then further explained herself, and concluded with entreating him to inform her, where her aunt was placed, and to permit, that she might visit her; but he looked upon her only with a malignant32 smile, which instantaneously confirmed her worst fears for her aunt, and, at that moment, she had not courage to renew her entreaties33.
‘For Annette,’ said he,—‘if you go to Carlo, he will release the girl; the foolish fellow, who shut her up, died yesterday.’ Emily shuddered34.—‘But my aunt, Signor’— said she, ‘O tell me of my aunt!’
‘She is taken care of,’ replied Montoni hastily, ‘I have no time to answer idle questions.’
He would have passed on, but Emily, in a voice of agony, that could not be wholly resisted, conjured35 him to tell her, where Madame Montoni was; while he paused, and she anxiously watched his countenance, a trumpet36 sounded, and, in the next moment, she heard the heavy gates of the portal open, and then the clattering37 of horses’ hoofs38 in the court, with the confusion of many voices. She stood for a moment hesitating whether she should follow Montoni, who, at the sound of the trumpet, had passed through the hall, and, turning her eyes whence it came, she saw through the door, that opened beyond a long perspective of arches into the courts, a party of horsemen, whom she judged, as well as the distance and her embarrassment39 would allow, to be the same she had seen depart, a few days before. But she staid not to scrutinize40, for, when the trumpet sounded again, the chevaliers rushed out of the cedar room, and men came running into the hall from every quarter of the castle. Emily once more hurried for shelter to her own apartment. Thither she was still pursued by images of horror. She re-considered Montoni’s manner and words, when he had spoken of his wife, and they served only to confirm her most terrible suspicions. Tears refused any longer to relieve her distress41, and she had sat for a considerable time absorbed in thought, when a knocking at the chamber door aroused her, on opening which she found old Carlo.
‘Dear young lady,’ said he, ‘I have been so flurried, I never once thought of you till just now. I have brought you some fruit and wine, and I am sure you must stand in need of them by this time.’
‘Thank you, Carlo,’ said Emily, ‘this is very good of you Did the Signor remind you of me?’
‘No, Signora,’ replied Carlo, ‘his excellenza has business enough on his hands.’ Emily then renewed her enquiries, concerning Madame Montoni, but Carlo had been employed at the other end of the castle, during the time, that she was removed, and he had heard nothing since, concerning her.
While he spoke, Emily looked steadily42 at him, for she scarcely knew whether he was really ignorant, or concealed his knowledge of the truth from a fear of offending his master. To several questions, concerning the contentions43 of yesterday, he gave very limited answers; but told, that the disputes were now amicably44 settled, and that the Signor believed himself to have been mistaken in his suspicions of his guests. ‘The fighting was about that, Signora,’ said Carlo; ‘but I trust I shall never see such another day in this castle, though strange things are about to be done.’
On her enquiring45 his meaning, ‘Ah, Signora!’ added he, ‘it is not for me to betray secrets, or tell all I think, but time will tell.’
She then desired him to release Annette, and, having described the chamber in which the poor girl was confined, he promised to obey her immediately, and was departing, when she remembered to ask who were the persons just arrived. Her late conjecture46 was right; it was Verezzi, with his party.
Her spirits were somewhat soothed47 by this short conversation with Carlo; for, in her present circumstances, it afforded some comfort to hear the accents of compassion, and to meet the look of sympathy.
An hour passed before Annette appeared, who then came weeping and sobbing48. ‘O Ludovico — Ludovico!’ cried she.
‘My poor Annette!’ said Emily, and made her sit down.
‘Who could have foreseen this, ma’amselle? O miserable49, wretched, day — that ever I should live to see it!’ and she continued to moan and lament14, till Emily thought it necessary to check her excess of grief. ‘We are continually losing dear friends by death,’ said she, with a sigh, that came from her heart. ‘We must submit to the will of Heaven — our tears, alas50! cannot recall the dead!’
Annette took the handkerchief from her face.
‘You will meet Ludovico in a better world, I hope,’ added Emily.
‘Yes — yes,— ma’amselle,’ sobbed51 Annette, ‘but I hope I shall meet him again in this — though he is so wounded!’
‘Wounded!’ exclaimed Emily, ‘does he live?’
‘Yes, ma’am, but — but he has a terrible wound, and could not come to let me out. They thought him dead, at first, and he has not been rightly himself, till within this hour.’
‘Well, Annette, I rejoice to hear he lives.’
‘Lives! Holy Saints! why he will not die, surely!’
Emily said she hoped not, but this expression of hope Annette thought implied fear, and her own increased in proportion, as Emily endeavoured to encourage her. To enquiries, concerning Madame Montoni, she could give no satisfactory answers.
‘I quite forgot to ask among the servants, ma’amselle,’ said she, ‘for I could think of nobody but poor Ludovico.’
Annette’s grief was now somewhat assuaged52, and Emily sent her to make enquiries, concerning her lady, of whom, however, she could obtain no intelligence, some of the people she spoke with being really ignorant of her fate, and others having probably received orders to conceal17 it.
This day passed with Emily in continued grief and anxiety for her aunt; but she was unmolested by any notice from Montoni; and, now that Annette was liberated53, she obtained food, without exposing herself to danger, or impertinence.
Two following days passed in the same manner, unmarked by any occurrence, during which she obtained no information of Madame Montoni. On the evening of the second, having dismissed Annette, and retired54 to bed, her mind became haunted by the most dismal55 images, such as her long anxiety, concerning her aunt, suggested; and, unable to forget herself, for a moment, or to vanquish56 the phantoms57, that tormented58 her, she rose from her bed, and went to one of the casements59 of her chamber, to breathe a freer air.
All without was silent and dark, unless that could be called light, which was only the faint glimmer61 of the stars, shewing imperfectly the outline of the mountains, the western towers of the castle and the ramparts below, where a solitary62 sentinel was pacing. What an image of repose63 did this scene present! The fierce and terrible passions, too, which so often agitated64 the inhabitants of this edifice65, seemed now hushed in sleep;— those mysterious workings, that rouse the elements of man’s nature into tempest — were calm. Emily’s heart was not so; but her sufferings, though deep, partook of the gentle character of her mind. Hers was a silent anguish66, weeping, yet enduring; not the wild energy of passion, inflaming67 imagination, bearing down the barriers of reason and living in a world of its own.
The air refreshed her, and she continued at the casement60, looking on the shadowy scene, over which the planets burned with a clear light, amid the deep blue aether, as they silently moved in their destined68 course. She remembered how often she had gazed on them with her dear father, how often he had pointed69 out their way in the heavens, and explained their laws; and these reflections led to others, which, in an almost equal degree, awakened70 her grief and astonishment71.
They brought a retrospect72 of all the strange and mournful events, which had occurred since she lived in peace with her parents. And to Emily, who had been so tenderly educated, so tenderly loved, who once knew only goodness and happiness — to her, the late events and her present situation — in a foreign land — in a remote castle — surrounded by vice73 and violence — seemed more like the visions of a distempered imagination, than the circumstances of truth. She wept to think of what her parents would have suffered, could they have foreseen the events of her future life.
While she raised her streaming eyes to heaven, she observed the same planet, which she had seen in Languedoc, on the night, preceding her father’s death, rise above the eastern towers of the castle, while she remembered the conversation, which has passed, concerning the probable state of departed souls; remembered, also, the solemn music she had heard, and to which the tenderness of her spirits had, in spite of her reason, given a superstitious74 meaning. At these recollections she wept again, and continued musing75, when suddenly the notes of sweet music passed on the air. A superstitious dread stole over her; she stood listening, for some moments, in trembling expectation, and then endeavoured to re-collect her thoughts, and to reason herself into composure; but human reason cannot establish her laws on subjects, lost in the obscurity of imagination, any more than the eye can ascertain76 the form of objects, that only glimmer through the dimness of night.
Her surprise, on hearing such soothing77 and delicious sounds, was, at least, justifiable78; for it was long — very long, since she had listened to any thing like melody. The fierce trumpet and the shrill79 fife were the only instruments she had heard, since her arrival at Udolpho.
When her mind was somewhat more composed, she tried to ascertain from what quarter the sounds proceeded, and thought they came from below; but whether from a room of the castle, or from the terrace, she could not with certainty judge. Fear and surprise now yielded to the enchantment80 of a strain, that floated on the silent night, with the most soft and melancholy81 sweetness. Suddenly, it seemed removed to a distance, trembled faintly, and then entirely82 ceased.
She continued to listen, sunk in that pleasing repose, which soft music leaves on the mind — but it came no more. Upon this strange circumstance her thoughts were long engaged, for strange it certainly was to hear music at midnight, when every inhabitant of the castle had long since retired to rest, and in a place, where nothing like harmony had been heard before, probably, for many years. Long- suffering had made her spirits peculiarly sensible to terror, and liable to be affected83 by the illusions of superstition84.— It now seemed to her, as if her dead father had spoken to her in that strain, to inspire her with comfort and confidence, on the subject, which had then occupied her mind. Yet reason told her, that this was a wild conjecture, and she was inclined to dismiss it; but, with the inconsistency so natural, when imagination guides the thoughts, she then wavered towards a belief as wild. She remembered the singular event, connected with the castle, which had given it into the possession of its present owner; and, when she considered the mysterious manner, in which its late possessor had disappeared, and that she had never since been heard of, her mind was impressed with an high degree of solemn awe85; so that, though there appeared no clue to connect that event with the late music, she was inclined fancifully to think they had some relation to each other. At this conjecture, a sudden chillness ran through her frame; she looked fearfully upon the duskiness of her chamber, and the dead silence, that prevailed there, heightened to her fancy its gloomy aspect.
At length, she left the casement, but her steps faltered86, as she approached the bed, and she stopped and looked round. The single lamp, that burned in her spacious87 chamber, was expiring; for a moment, she shrunk from the darkness beyond; and then, ashamed of the weakness, which, however, she could not wholly conquer, went forward to the bed, where her mind did not soon know the soothings of sleep. She still mused88 on the late occurrence, and looked with anxiety to the next night, when, at the same hour, she determined to watch whether the music returned. ‘If those sounds were human,’ said she, ‘I shall probably hear them again.’
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收听单词发音
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1
bloody
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| adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染 | |
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2
chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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asylum
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| n.避难所，庇护所，避难 | |
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4
refreshment
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| n.恢复，精神爽快，提神之事物；（复数）refreshments:点心，茶点 | |
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5
procure
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| vt.获得，取得，促成；vi.拉皮条 | |
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6
defer
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| vt.推迟，拖延；vi.(to)遵从，听从，服从 | |
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7
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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8
compassion
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| n.同情，怜悯 | |
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abhorrence
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| n.憎恶；可憎恶的事 | |
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10
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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11
entreat
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| v.恳求，恳请 | |
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12
confinement
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| n.幽禁，拘留，监禁；分娩；限制，局限 | |
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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
lament
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| n.悲叹，悔恨，恸哭；v.哀悼，悔恨，悲叹 | |
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15
entreating
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| 恳求，乞求( entreat的现在分词 ) | |
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16
concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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18
cedar
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| n.雪松，香柏(木) | |
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19
tattered
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| adj.破旧的，衣衫破的 | |
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20
dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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21
falter
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| vi.(嗓音)颤抖，结巴地说；犹豫；蹒跚 | |
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22
arcades
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| n.商场( arcade的名词复数 )；拱形走道（两旁有商店或娱乐设施）；连拱廊；拱形建筑物 | |
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23
contention
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| n.争论，争辩，论战；论点，主张 | |
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24
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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25
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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26
enquired
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| 打听( enquire的过去式和过去分词 )； 询问； 问问题； 查问 | |
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27
entreated
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| 恳求，乞求( entreat的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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accusation
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| n.控告，指责，谴责 | |
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29
thither
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| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
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30
scrutinizing
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| v.仔细检查，详审( scrutinize的现在分词 ) | |
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31
trifling
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| adj.微不足道的；没什么价值的 | |
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32
malignant
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| adj.恶性的，致命的；恶意的，恶毒的 | |
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33
entreaties
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| n.恳求，乞求( entreaty的名词复数 ) | |
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34
shuddered
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| v.战栗( shudder的过去式和过去分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
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35
conjured
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| 用魔术变出( conjure的过去式和过去分词 )； 祈求，恳求； 变戏法； （变魔术般地） 使…出现 | |
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36
trumpet
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| n.喇叭，喇叭声；v.吹喇叭，吹嘘 | |
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clattering
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| 发出咔哒声（clatter的现在分词形式） | |
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38
hoofs
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| n.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的名词复数 )v.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的第三人称单数 ) | |
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39
embarrassment
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| n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫 | |
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40
scrutinize
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| n.详细检查，细读 | |
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41
distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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42
steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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43
contentions
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| n.竞争( contention的名词复数 )；争夺；争论；论点 | |
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44
amicably
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| adv.友善地 | |
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45
enquiring
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| a.爱打听的，显得好奇的 | |
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46
conjecture
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| n./v.推测，猜测 | |
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47
soothed
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| v.安慰( soothe的过去式和过去分词 )；抚慰；使舒服；减轻痛苦 | |
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48
sobbing
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| <主方>Ⅰ adj.湿透的 | |
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49
miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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50
alas
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| int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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51
sobbed
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| 哭泣，啜泣( sob的过去式和过去分词 )； 哭诉，呜咽地说 | |
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52
assuaged
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| v.减轻( assuage的过去式和过去分词 )；缓和；平息；使安静 | |
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53
liberated
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| a.无拘束的，放纵的 | |
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54
retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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55
dismal
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| adj.阴沉的，凄凉的，令人忧郁的，差劲的 | |
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56
vanquish
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| v.征服，战胜；克服；抑制 | |
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57
phantoms
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| n.鬼怪，幽灵( phantom的名词复数 ) | |
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58
tormented
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| 饱受折磨的 | |
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59
casements
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| n.窗扉( casement的名词复数 ) | |
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60
casement
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| n.竖铰链窗；窗扉 | |
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61
glimmer
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| v.发出闪烁的微光；n.微光，微弱的闪光 | |
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62
solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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63
repose
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| v.(使)休息；n.安息 | |
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64
agitated
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| adj.被鼓动的，不安的 | |
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65
edifice
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| n.宏伟的建筑物(如宫殿，教室) | |
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66
anguish
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| n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼 | |
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67
inflaming
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| v.（使）变红，发怒，过热( inflame的现在分词 ) | |
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68
destined
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| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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69
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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70
awakened
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| v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到 | |
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71
astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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72
retrospect
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| n.回顾，追溯；v.回顾，回想，追溯 | |
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73
vice
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| n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的 | |
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74
superstitious
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| adj.迷信的 | |
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75
musing
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| n. 沉思，冥想 adj. 沉思的, 冥想的 动词muse的现在分词形式 | |
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76
ascertain
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| vt.发现，确定，查明，弄清 | |
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77
soothing
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| adj.慰藉的；使人宽心的；镇静的 | |
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78
justifiable
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| adj.有理由的，无可非议的 | |
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79
shrill
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| adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫 | |
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80
enchantment
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| n.迷惑，妖术，魅力 | |
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81
melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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82
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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83
affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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84
superstition
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| n.迷信，迷信行为 | |
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85
awe
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| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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86
faltered
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| （嗓音）颤抖( falter的过去式和过去分词 )； 支吾其词； 蹒跚； 摇晃 | |
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87
spacious
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| adj.广阔的，宽敞的 | |
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88
mused
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| v.沉思，冥想( muse的过去式和过去分词 )；沉思自语说（某事） | |
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