“I now hasten to the more moving part of my story. I shall relate events that impressed me with feelings which, from what I had been, have made me what I am.
“Spring advanced rapidly; the weather became fine and the skies cloudless. It surprised me that what before was desert and gloomy should now bloom with the most beautiful flowers and verdure. My senses were gratified and refreshed by a thousand scents2 of delight and a thousand sights of beauty.
“It was on one of these days, when my cottagers periodically rested from labour — the old man played on his guitar, and the children listened to him — that I observed the countenance3 of Felix was melancholy4 beyond expression; he sighed frequently, and once his father paused in his music, and I conjectured5 by his manner that he inquired the cause of his son’s sorrow. Felix replied in a cheerful accent, and the old man was recommencing his music when someone tapped at the door.
“It was a lady on horseback, accompanied by a country-man as a guide. The lady was dressed in a dark suit and covered with a thick black veil. Agatha asked a question, to which the stranger only replied by pronouncing, in a sweet accent, the name of Felix. Her voice was musical but unlike that of either of my friends. On hearing this word, Felix came up hastily to the lady, who, when she saw him, threw up her veil, and I beheld6 a countenance of angelic beauty and expression. Her hair of a shining raven7 black, and curiously8 braided; her eyes were dark, but gentle, although animated9; her features of a regular proportion, and her complexion10 wondrously12 fair, each cheek tinged13 with a lovely pink.
“Felix seemed ravished with delight when he saw her, every trait of sorrow vanished from his face, and it instantly expressed a degree of ecstatic joy, of which I could hardly have believed it capable; his eyes sparkled, as his cheek flushed with pleasure; and at that moment I thought him as beautiful as the stranger. She appeared affected14 by different feelings; wiping a few tears from her lovely eyes, she held out her hand to Felix, who kissed it rapturously and called her, as well as I could distinguish, his sweet Arabian. She did not appear to understand him, but smiled. He assisted her to dismount, and dismissing her guide, conducted her into the cottage. Some conversation took place between him and his father, and the young stranger knelt at the old man’s feet and would have kissed his hand, but he raised her and embraced her affectionately.
“I soon perceived that although the stranger uttered articulate sounds and appeared to have a language of her own, she was neither understood by nor herself understood the cottagers. They made many signs which I did not comprehend, but I saw that her presence diffused15 gladness through the cottage, dispelling17 their sorrow as the sun dissipates the morning mists. Felix seemed peculiarly happy and with smiles of delight welcomed his Arabian. Agatha, the ever-gentle Agatha, kissed the hands of the lovely stranger, and pointing to her brother, made signs which appeared to me to mean that he had been sorrowful until she came. Some hours passed thus, while they, by their countenances18, expressed joy, the cause of which I did not comprehend. Presently I found, by the frequent recurrence19 of some sound which the stranger repeated after them, that she was endeavouring to learn their language; and the idea instantly occurred to me that I should make use of the same instructions to the same end. The stranger learned about twenty words at the first lesson; most of them, indeed, were those which I had before understood, but I profited by the others.
“As night came on, Agatha and the Arabian retired20 early. When they separated Felix kissed the hand of the stranger and said, ‘Good night sweet Safie.’ He sat up much longer, conversing21 with his father, and by the frequent repetition of her name I conjectured that their lovely guest was the subject of their conversation. I ardently22 desired to understand them, and bent23 every faculty24 towards that purpose, but found it utterly25 impossible.
“The next morning Felix went out to his work, and after the usual occupations of Agatha were finished, the Arabian sat at the feet of the old man, and taking his guitar, played some airs so entrancingly beautiful that they at once drew tears of sorrow and delight from my eyes. She sang, and her voice flowed in a rich cadence26, swelling27 or dying away like a nightingale of the woods.
“When she had finished, she gave the guitar to Agatha, who at first declined it. She played a simple air, and her voice accompanied it in sweet accents, but unlike the wondrous11 strain of the stranger. The old man appeared enraptured28 and said some words which Agatha endeavoured to explain to Safie, and by which he appeared to wish to express that she bestowed29 on him the greatest delight by her music.
“The days now passed as peaceably as before, with the sole alteration30 that joy had taken place of sadness in the countenances of my friends. Safie was always gay and happy; she and I improved rapidly in the knowledge of language, so that in two months I began to comprehend most of the words uttered by my protectors.
“In the meanwhile also the black ground was covered with herbage, and the green banks interspersed31 with innumerable flowers, sweet to the scent1 and the eyes, stars of pale radiance among the moonlight woods; the sun became warmer, the nights clear and balmy; and my nocturnal rambles32 were an extreme pleasure to me, although they were considerably33 shortened by the late setting and early rising of the sun, for I never ventured abroad during daylight, fearful of meeting with the same treatment I had formerly34 endured in the first village which I entered.
“My days were spent in close attention, that I might more speedily master the language; and I may boast that I improved more rapidly than the Arabian, who understood very little and conversed35 in broken accents, whilst I comprehended and could imitate almost every word that was spoken.
“While I improved in speech, I also learned the science of letters as it was taught to the stranger, and this opened before me a wide field for wonder and delight.
“The book from which Felix instructed Safie was Volney’s Ruins of Empires. I should not have understood the purport36 of this book had not Felix, in reading it, given very minute explanations. He had chosen this work, he said, because the declamatory style was framed in imitation of the Eastern authors. Through this work I obtained a cursory37 knowledge of history and a view of the several empires at present existing in the world; it gave me an insight into the manners, governments, and religions of the different nations of the earth. I heard of the slothful Asiatics, of the stupendous genius and mental activity of the Grecians, of the wars and wonderful virtue38 of the early Romans — of their subsequent degenerating39 — of the decline of that mighty40 empire, of chivalry41, Christianity, and kings. I heard of the discovery of the American hemisphere and wept with Safie over the hapless fate of its original inhabitants.
“These wonderful narrations42 inspired me with strange feelings. Was man, indeed, at once so powerful, so virtuous43 and magnificent, yet so vicious and base? He appeared at one time a mere44 scion45 of the evil principle and at another as all that can be conceived of noble and godlike. To be a great and virtuous man appeared the highest honour that can befall a sensitive being; to be base and vicious, as many on record have been, appeared the lowest degradation46, a condition more abject47 than that of the blind mole48 or harmless worm. For a long time I could not conceive how one man could go forth49 to murder his fellow, or even why there were laws and governments; but when I heard details of vice50 and bloodshed, my wonder ceased and I turned away with disgust and loathing51.
“Every conversation of the cottagers now opened new wonders to me. While I listened to the instructions which Felix bestowed upon the Arabian, the strange system of human society was explained to me. I heard of the division of property, of immense wealth and squalid poverty, of rank, descent, and noble blood.
“The words induced me to turn towards myself. I learned that the possessions most esteemed52 by your fellow creatures were high and unsullied descent united with riches. A man might be respected with only one of these advantages, but without either he was considered, except in very rare instances, as a vagabond and a slave, doomed53 to waste his powers for the profits of the chosen few! And what was I? Of my creation and creator I was absolutely ignorant, but I knew that I possessed54 no money, no friends, no kind of property. I was, besides, endued55 with a figure hideously56 deformed57 and loathsome58; I was not even of the same nature as man. I was more agile59 than they and could subsist60 upon coarser diet; I bore the extremes of heat and cold with less injury to my frame; my stature61 far exceeded theirs. When I looked around I saw and heard of none like me. Was I, then, a monster, a blot62 upon the earth, from which all men fled and whom all men disowned?
“I cannot describe to you the agony that these reflections inflicted63 upon me; I tried to dispel16 them, but sorrow only increased with knowledge. Oh, that I had forever remained in my native wood, nor known nor felt beyond the sensations of hunger, thirst, and heat!
“Of what a strange nature is knowledge! It clings to the mind when it has once seized on it like a lichen64 on the rock. I wished sometimes to shake off all thought and feeling, but I learned that there was but one means to overcome the sensation of pain, and that was death — a state which I feared yet did not understand. I admired virtue and good feelings and loved the gentle manners and amiable65 qualities of my cottagers, but I was shut out from intercourse66 with them, except through means which I obtained by stealth, when I was unseen and unknown, and which rather increased than satisfied the desire I had of becoming one among my fellows. The gentle words of Agatha and the animated smiles of the charming Arabian were not for me. The mild exhortations67 of the old man and the lively conversation of the loved Felix were not for me. Miserable68, unhappy wretch69!
“Other lessons were impressed upon me even more deeply. I heard of the difference of sexes, and the birth and growth of children, how the father doted on the smiles of the infant, and the lively sallies of the older child, how all the life and cares of the mother were wrapped up in the precious charge, how the mind of youth expanded and gained knowledge, of brother, sister, and all the various relationships which bind70 one human being to another in mutual71 bonds.
“But where were my friends and relations? No father had watched my infant days, no mother had blessed me with smiles and caresses72; or if they had, all my past life was now a blot, a blind vacancy73 in which I distinguished74 nothing. From my earliest remembrance I had been as I then was in height and proportion. I had never yet seen a being resembling me or who claimed any intercourse with me. What was I? The question again recurred75, to be answered only with groans76.
“I will soon explain to what these feelings tended, but allow me now to return to the cottagers, whose story excited in me such various feelings of indignation, delight, and wonder, but which all terminated in additional love and reverence77 for my protectors (for so I loved, in an innocent, half-painful self-deceit, to call them).”
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scent
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| n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉 | |
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scents
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| n.香水( scent的名词复数 )；气味；（动物的）臭迹；（尤指狗的）嗅觉 | |
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countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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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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conjectured
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| 推测，猜测，猜想( conjecture的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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beheld
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| 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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raven
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| n.渡鸟，乌鸦；adj.乌亮的 | |
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curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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animated
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| adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的 | |
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complexion
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| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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wondrous
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| 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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wondrously
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| adv.惊奇地，非常，极其 | |
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tinged
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| v.（使）发丁丁声( ting的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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diffused
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| 散布的，普及的，扩散的 | |
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dispel
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| vt.驱走，驱散，消除 | |
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dispelling
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| v.驱散，赶跑( dispel的现在分词 ) | |
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countenances
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| n.面容( countenance的名词复数 )；表情；镇静；道义支持 | |
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recurrence
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| n.复发，反复，重现 | |
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retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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conversing
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| v.交谈，谈话( converse的现在分词 ) | |
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ardently
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| adv.热心地，热烈地 | |
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bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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faculty
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| n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员 | |
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utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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cadence
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| n.（说话声调的）抑扬顿挫 | |
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swelling
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| n.肿胀 | |
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enraptured
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| v.使狂喜( enrapture的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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bestowed
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| 赠给，授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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alteration
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| n.变更，改变；蚀变 | |
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interspersed
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| adj.[医]散开的；点缀的v.intersperse的过去式和过去分词 | |
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rambles
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| （无目的地）漫游( ramble的第三人称单数 )； （喻）漫谈； 扯淡； 长篇大论 | |
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considerably
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| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
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formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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conversed
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| v.交谈，谈话( converse的过去式 ) | |
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purport
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| n.意义，要旨，大要；v.意味著，做为...要旨，要领是... | |
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cursory
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| adj.粗略的；草率的；匆促的 | |
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virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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degenerating
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| 衰退，堕落，退化( degenerate的现在分词 ) | |
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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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chivalry
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| n.骑士气概，侠义；（男人）对女人彬彬有礼，献殷勤 | |
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narrations
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| 叙述事情的经过，故事( narration的名词复数 ) | |
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virtuous
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| adj.有品德的，善良的，贞洁的，有效力的 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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scion
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| n.嫩芽，子孙 | |
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degradation
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| n.降级；低落；退化；陵削；降解；衰变 | |
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abject
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| adj.极可怜的，卑屈的 | |
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mole
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| n.胎块；痣；克分子 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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vice
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| n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的 | |
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51
loathing
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| n.厌恶，憎恨v.憎恨，厌恶( loathe的现在分词)；极不喜欢 | |
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52
esteemed
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| adj.受人尊敬的v.尊敬( esteem的过去式和过去分词 )；敬重；认为；以为 | |
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doomed
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| 命定的 | |
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possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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endued
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| v.授予，赋予（特性、才能等）( endue的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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hideously
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| adv.可怕地，非常讨厌地 | |
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deformed
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| adj.畸形的；变形的；丑的，破相了的 | |
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loathsome
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| adj.讨厌的，令人厌恶的 | |
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agile
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| adj.敏捷的，灵活的 | |
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subsist
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| vi.生存，存在，供养 | |
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stature
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| n.（高度）水平，（高度）境界，身高，身材 | |
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blot
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| vt.弄脏（用吸墨纸）吸干；n.污点，污渍 | |
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inflicted
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| 把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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lichen
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| n.地衣, 青苔 | |
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amiable
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| adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的 | |
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intercourse
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| n.性交；交流，交往，交际 | |
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exhortations
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| n.敦促( exhortation的名词复数 )；极力推荐；（正式的）演讲；（宗教仪式中的）劝诫 | |
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miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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wretch
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| n.可怜的人，不幸的人；卑鄙的人 | |
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bind
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| vt.捆，包扎；装订；约束；使凝固；vi.变硬 | |
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mutual
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| adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的 | |
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caresses
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| 爱抚，抚摸( caress的名词复数 ) | |
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vacancy
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| n.（旅馆的）空位，空房，（职务的）空缺 | |
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distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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recurred
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| 再发生，复发( recur的过去式和过去分词 )； 治愈 | |
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groans
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| n.呻吟，叹息( groan的名词复数 )；呻吟般的声音v.呻吟( groan的第三人称单数 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦 | |
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reverence
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| 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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