Peregrine is released — Jolter confounded at his mysterious Conduct — A Contest happens between the Poet and Painter, who are reconciled by the Mediation1 of their Fellow-Travellers.
Our hero, understanding from some expressions which escaped the prince, that he was considered in the light of a sharper and assassin, begged that he might have the liberty of sending for some vouchers2, that would probably vindicate3 his character from the malicious4 aspersions of his adversary5. This permission being granted, he wrote a letter to his governor, desiring that he would bring to him the letters of recommendation which he had received from the British ambassador at Paris, and such other papers as he thought conducive6 to evince the importance of his situation.
The billet was given in charge to one of the subaltern officers on duty, who carried it to the inn, and demanded to speak with Mr. Jolter. Pallet, who happened to be at the door when this messenger arrived, and heard him inquire for the tutor, ran directly to that gentleman’s apartment, and in manifest disorder7, told him that a huge fellow of a soldier, with a monstrous8 pair of whiskers, and fur cap as big as a bushel, was asking for him at the door. The poor governor began to shake at this intimation, though he was not conscious of having committed anything that could attract the attention of the state. When the officer appeared at his chamber9 door, his confusion increased to such a degree, that his perception seemed to vanish, and the subaltern repeated the purport10 of his errand three times, before he could comprehend his meaning, or venture to receive the letter which he presented. At length he summoned all his fortitude11, and having perused12 the epistle, his terror sank into anxiety. His ingenuous13 fear immediately suggested, that Peregrine was confined in a dungeon15, for some outrage16 he had committed. He ran with great agitation17 to a trunk, and, taking out a bundle of papers, followed his conductor, being attended by the painter, to whom he had hinted his apprehension18.
When they passed through the guard, which was under arms, the hearts of both died within them; and when they came into the presence, there was such an expression of awful horror on the countenance19 of Jolter, that the prince, observing his dismay, was pleased to encourage him with an assurance that he had nothing to fear. Thus comforted, he recollected20 himself so well as to understand his pupil, when he desired him to produce the ambassador’s letters; some of which being open, were immediately read by his highness, who was personally acquainted with the writer, and knew several of the noblemen to whom they were addressed. These recommendations were so warm, and represented the young gentleman in such an advantageous21 light, that the prince, convinced of the injustice22 his character had suffered by the misrepresentation of Hornbeck, took our hero by the hand, asked pardon for the doubts he had entertained of his honour, declared him from that moment at liberty, ordered his domestics to be enlarged, and offered him his countenance and protection as long as he should remain in the Austrian Netherlands. At the same time, he cautioned him against indiscretion in the course of his gallantries; and took his word of honour, that he should drop all measures of resentment23 against the person of Hornbeck during his residence in that place.
The delinquent24, thus honourably25 acquitted26, thanked the prince in the most respectful manner for his generosity27 and candour, and retired28 with his two friends, who were amazed and bewildered in their thoughts at what they had seen and heard, the whole adventure still remaining without the sphere of their comprehension, which was not at all enlarged by the unaccountable appearance of Pipes, who, with the valet-de-chambre, joined them at the castle gate. Had Jolter been a man of a luxuriant imagination, his brain would undoubtedly29 have suffered in the investigation30 of his pupil’s mysterious conduct, which he strove in vain to unravel31; but his intellects were too solid to be affected32 by the miscarriage33 of his invention; and, as Peregrine did not think proper to make him acquainted with the cause of his being apprehended34, he contented35 himself with supposing that there was a lady in the case.
The painter, whose imagination was of a more flimsy texture36. formed a thousand chimerical37 conjectures38, which he communicated to Pickle39, in imperfect insinuations, hoping, by his answers and behaviour, to discover the truth: but the youth, in order to tantalise him, eluded40 all his inquiries41, with such appearance of industry and art, as heightened his curiosity, while it disappointed his aim, and inflamed42 him to such a degree of impatience43, that his wits began to be unsettled: then Peregrine was fain to recompose his brain, by telling him in confidence, that he had been arrested as a spy. This secret he found more intolerable than his former uncertainty44. He ran from one apartment to another, like a goose in the agonies of egg-laying, with intention of disburdening this important load; but Jolter being engaged with the pupil, and all the people of the house ignorant of the only language he could speak, he was compelled, with infinite reluctance45, to address himself to the doctor, who was at that time shut up in his own chamber. Having knocked at the door to no purpose, he peeped through the key-hole, and saw the physician sitting at a table, with a pen in one hand, and paper before him, his head reclined upon his other hand, and his eyes fixed46 upon the ceiling, as if he had been entranced. Pallet, concluding that he was under the power of some convulsion, endeavoured to force the door open, and the noise of his efforts recalled the doctor from his reverie.
This poetical47 republican, being so disagreeably disturbed, started up in a passion, and, opening the door, no sooner perceived who had interrupted him, than he flung it in his face with great fury, and cursed him for his impertinent intrusion, which had deprived him of the most delightful48 vision that ever regaled the human fancy. He imagined, as he afterwards imparted to Peregrine, that, as he enjoyed himself in walking through the flowery plain that borders on Parnassus, he was met by a venerable sage49, whom, by a certain divine vivacity50 that lightened from his eyes, he instantly knew to be the immortal51 Pindar. He was immediately struck with reverence52 and awe53, and prostrated54 himself before the apparition55, which, taking him by the hand, lifted him gently from the ground and, with words more sweet than the honey of the Hybla bees, told him, that, of all the moderns, he alone was visited by that celestial56 impulse by which he himself had been inspired, when he produced his most applauded odes. So saying, he led him up the sacred hill, persuaded him to drink a copious57 draught58 of the waters of the Hippocrene, and then presented him to the harmonious59 Nine, who crowned his temples with a laurel wreath.
No wonder that he was enraged60 to find himself cut off from such sublime61 society. He raved62 in Greek against the invader63, who was so big with his own purpose, that, unmindful of the disgrace he had sustained, and disregarding all the symptoms of the physician’s displeasure, he applied64 his mouth to the door, in an eager tone. “I’ll hold you any wager,” said he, “that I guess the true cause of Mr. Pickle’s imprisonment65.” To this challenge he received no reply, and therefore repeated it, adding, “I suppose you imagine he was taken up for fighting a duel66, or affronting67 a nobleman, or lying with some man’s wife, or some such matter: but, egad! you was never more mistaken in your life; and I’ll lay my Cleopatra against your Homer’s head, that in four-and-twenty hours you shan’t light on the true reason.”
The favourite of the muses68, exasperated69 at this vexatious perseverance70 of the painter, who he imagined had come to tease and insult him, “I would,” said he, “sacrifice a cock to Esculapius, were I assured that any person had been taken up for extirpating71 such a troublesome Goth as you are from the face of the earth. As for your boasted Cleopatra, which you say was drawn72 from your own wife, I believe the copy has as much of the to kalon as the original: but, were it mine, it should be hung up in the Temple of Cloacina, as the picture of that goddess; for any other apartment would be disgraced by its appearance.”—“Hark ye, sir,” replied Pallet, enraged in his turn at the contemptuous mention of his darling performance, “you may make as free with my wife as you think proper, but ‘ware my works; those are the children of my fancy, conceived by the glowing imagination, and formed by the art of my own hands: and you yourself are a Goth, and a Turk, and a Tartar, and an impudent73 pretending jackanapes, to treat with such disrespect a production which, in the opinion of all the connoisseurs74 of the age, will, when finished, be a masterpiece in its kind, and do honour to human genius and skill. So I say again and again, and I care not though your friend Playtor heard me, that you have no more taste than a drayman’s horse, and that those foolish notions of the ancients ought to be drubbed out of you with a pod cudgel, that you might learn to treat men of parts with more veneration75. Perhaps you may not always be in the company of one who will halloo for assistance when you are on the brink76 of being chastised77 for your insolence78, as I did, when you brought upon yourself the resentment of that Scot, who, by the Lord! would have paid you both scot and lot, as Falstaff says, if the French officer had not put him in arrest.”
The physician, to this declamation79, which was conveyed through the key-hole, answered, that he (the painter) was a fellow so infinitely80 below his consideration, that his conscience upbraided81 him with no action of his life, except that of choosing such a wretch82 for his companion and fellow-traveller. That he had viewed his character through the medium of good-nature and compassion83, which had prompted him to give Pallet an opportunity of acquiring some new ideas under his immediate14 instruction; but he had abused his goodness and condescension84 in such a flagrant manner, that he was now determined85 to discard him entirely86 from his acquaintance; and desired him, for the present, to take himself away, on pain of being kicked for his presumption87.
Pallet was too much incensed88 to be intimidated89 by this threat, which he retorted with great virulence90, defying him to come forth91, that it might appear which of them was best skilled in that pedestrian exercise, which he immediately began to practise against the door with such thundering application, as reached the ears of Pickle and his governor, who coming out into the passage, and seeing him thus employed, asked if he had forgot the chamber-pots of Alost, that he ventured to behave in such a manner as entitled him to a second prescription92 of the same nature.
The doctor, understanding that there was company at hand, opened the door in a twinkling, and, springing upon his antagonist93 like a tiger, a fierce contention94 would have ensued, to the infinite satisfaction of our hero, had not Jolter, to the manifest peril95 of his own person, interposed, and partly by force, and partly by exhortations96, put a stop to the engagement before it was fairly begun. After having demonstrated the indecency of such a vulgar rencontre, betwixt two fellow-citizens in a foreign land, he begged to know the cause of their dissension, and offered his good offices towards an accommodation. Peregrine also, seeing the fray97 was finished, expressed himself to the same purpose; and the painter, for obvious reasons, declining an explanation, his antagonist told the youth what a mortifying98 interruption he had suffered by the impertinent intrusion of Pallet, and gave him a detail of the particulars of his vision, as above recited. The arbiter99 owned the provocation100 was not to be endured; and decreed that the offender101 should make some atonement for his transgression102. Upon which the painter observed, that, however he might have been disposed to make acknowledgments, if the physician had signified his displeasure like a gentleman, the complainant had now forfeited103 all claim to any such concessions104, by the vulgar manner in which he had reviled105 him and his productions; observing, that, if he (the painter) had been inclined to retort his slanderous106 insinuations, the republican’s own works would have afforded ample subject for his ridicule107 and censure108.
After divers109 disputes and representations, peace was at length concluded, on condition, that, for the future, the doctor should never mention Cleopatra, unless he could say something in her praise; and that Pallet, in consideration of his having been the first aggressor, should make a sketch110 of the physician’s vision, to be engraved111 and prefixed to the next edition of his odes.
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1
mediation
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| n.调解 | |
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vouchers
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| n.凭证( voucher的名词复数 )；证人；证件；收据 | |
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vindicate
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| v.为…辩护或辩解，辩明；证明…正确 | |
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malicious
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| adj.有恶意的，心怀恶意的 | |
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adversary
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| adj.敌手，对手 | |
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conducive
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| adj.有益的，有助的 | |
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disorder
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| n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调 | |
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monstrous
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| adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的 | |
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chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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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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fortitude
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| n.坚忍不拔；刚毅 | |
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perused
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| v.读（某篇文字）( peruse的过去式和过去分词 )；（尤指）细阅；审阅；匆匆读或心不在焉地浏览（某篇文字） | |
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ingenuous
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| adj.纯朴的，单纯的；天真的；坦率的 | |
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immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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dungeon
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| n.地牢，土牢 | |
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outrage
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| n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒 | |
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agitation
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| n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动 | |
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apprehension
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| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
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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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recollected
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| adj.冷静的；镇定的；被回忆起的；沉思默想的v.记起，想起( recollect的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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21
advantageous
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| adj.有利的；有帮助的 | |
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injustice
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| n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利 | |
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resentment
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| n.怨愤，忿恨 | |
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delinquent
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| adj.犯法的，有过失的；n.违法者 | |
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honourably
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| adv.可尊敬地，光荣地，体面地 | |
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acquitted
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| 宣判…无罪( acquit的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（自己）作出某种表现 | |
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generosity
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| n.大度，慷慨，慷慨的行为 | |
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retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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investigation
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| n.调查，调查研究 | |
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unravel
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| v.弄清楚（秘密）；拆开，解开，松开 | |
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affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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miscarriage
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| n.失败，未达到预期的结果；流产 | |
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apprehended
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| 逮捕，拘押( apprehend的过去式和过去分词 )； 理解 | |
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contented
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| adj.满意的，安心的，知足的 | |
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texture
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| n.(织物)质地；(材料)构造；结构；肌理 | |
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chimerical
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| adj.荒诞不经的，梦幻的 | |
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conjectures
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| 推测，猜想( conjecture的名词复数 ) | |
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pickle
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| n.腌汁，泡菜；v.腌，泡 | |
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eluded
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| v.（尤指机敏地）避开( elude的过去式和过去分词 )；逃避；躲避；使达不到 | |
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inquiries
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| n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听 | |
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inflamed
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| adj.发炎的，红肿的v.（使）变红，发怒，过热( inflame的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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impatience
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| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
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uncertainty
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| n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物 | |
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reluctance
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| n.厌恶，讨厌，勉强，不情愿 | |
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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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47
poetical
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| adj.似诗人的；诗一般的；韵文的；富有诗意的 | |
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48
delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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49
sage
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| n.圣人，哲人；adj.贤明的，明智的 | |
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vivacity
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| n.快活，活泼，精神充沛 | |
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51
immortal
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| adj.不朽的；永生的，不死的；神的 | |
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52
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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awe
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| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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prostrated
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| v.使俯伏，使拜倒( prostrate的过去式和过去分词 )；（指疾病、天气等）使某人无能为力 | |
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apparition
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| n.幽灵，神奇的现象 | |
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celestial
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| adj.天体的；天上的 | |
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57
copious
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| adj.丰富的，大量的 | |
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58
draught
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| n.拉，牵引，拖；一网（饮，吸，阵)；顿服药量，通风；v.起草，设计 | |
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harmonious
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| adj.和睦的，调和的，和谐的，协调的 | |
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enraged
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| 使暴怒( enrage的过去式和过去分词 )； 歜； 激愤 | |
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sublime
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| adj.崇高的，伟大的；极度的，不顾后果的 | |
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raved
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| v.胡言乱语( rave的过去式和过去分词 )；愤怒地说；咆哮；痴心地说 | |
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invader
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| n.侵略者，侵犯者，入侵者 | |
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applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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imprisonment
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| n.关押，监禁，坐牢 | |
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duel
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| n./v.决斗；(双方的)斗争 | |
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affronting
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| v.勇敢地面对( affront的现在分词 )；相遇 | |
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muses
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| v.沉思，冥想( muse的第三人称单数 )；沉思自语说（某事） | |
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exasperated
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| adj.恼怒的 | |
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perseverance
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| n.坚持不懈，不屈不挠 | |
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extirpating
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| v.消灭，灭绝( extirpate的现在分词 )；根除 | |
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drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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impudent
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| adj.鲁莽的，卑鄙的，厚颜无耻的 | |
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connoisseurs
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| n.鉴赏家，鉴定家，行家( connoisseur的名词复数 ) | |
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veneration
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| n.尊敬，崇拜 | |
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brink
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| n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿 | |
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chastised
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| v.严惩（某人）（尤指责打）( chastise的过去式 ) | |
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insolence
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| n.傲慢；无礼；厚颜；傲慢的态度 | |
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declamation
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| n. 雄辩，高调 | |
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infinitely
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| adv.无限地，无穷地 | |
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upbraided
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| v.责备，申斥，谴责( upbraid的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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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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compassion
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| n.同情，怜悯 | |
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condescension
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| n.自以为高人一等，贬低(别人) | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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presumption
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| n.推测，可能性，冒昧，放肆，[法律]推定 | |
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incensed
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| 盛怒的 | |
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intimidated
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| v.恐吓；威胁adj.害怕的；受到威胁的 | |
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virulence
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| n.毒力，毒性；病毒性；致病力 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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prescription
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| n.处方，开药；指示，规定 | |
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antagonist
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| n.敌人，对抗者，对手 | |
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contention
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| n.争论，争辩，论战；论点，主张 | |
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peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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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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fray
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| v.争吵；打斗；磨损，磨破；n.吵架；打斗 | |
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mortifying
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| adj.抑制的，苦修的v.使受辱( mortify的现在分词 )；伤害（人的感情）；克制；抑制（肉体、情感等） | |
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arbiter
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| n.仲裁人，公断人 | |
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provocation
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| n.激怒，刺激，挑拨，挑衅的事物，激怒的原因 | |
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offender
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| n.冒犯者，违反者，犯罪者 | |
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transgression
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| n.违背；犯规；罪过 | |
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103
forfeited
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| （因违反协议、犯规、受罚等）丧失，失去( forfeit的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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104
concessions
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| n.（尤指由政府或雇主给予的）特许权( concession的名词复数 )；承认；减价；（在某地的）特许经营权 | |
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reviled
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| v.辱骂，痛斥( revile的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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slanderous
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| adj.诽谤的，中伤的 | |
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ridicule
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| v.讥讽，挖苦；n.嘲弄 | |
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censure
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| v./n.责备；非难；责难 | |
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divers
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| adj.不同的；种种的 | |
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sketch
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| n.草图；梗概；素描；v.素描；概述 | |
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engraved
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| v.在（硬物）上雕刻（字，画等）( engrave的过去式和过去分词 )；将某事物深深印在（记忆或头脑中） | |
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