Chapter 9 Letter from Athens

The day that I was about to send M. Hermann Schultz’s story to the publishers, I received from the correspondent to whom I had sent the MS., the following letter:

Sir: The history of the King of the Mountains is the invention of an enemy of truth and the gendarmerie. No persons mentioned have set foot in Greece. The police have never vised any passports bearing the name of Mrs. Simons. The Commandant at Piraeus has never heard of The Fancy nor of Mr. John Harris. The Phillips Brothers do not remember of ever having employed Mr. William Lobster¹. No diplomatic agent has known any Maltese of the name of Giacomo Fondi. The National Bank of Greece has nothing with which to reproach itself, and it has never had on deposit, any funds made by brigandage². If it had received them, it would have considered it a duty to have confiscated³ them for its profit. I hold, for your inspection⁴, the list of our officers of the gendarmerie. You will find no trace of M. Pericles. I know only two men of that name; one is a tavern-keeper in Athens; the other sells spices in Tripolitza. As for the famous Hadgi-Stavros, whose name I have heard to-day, for the first time, he is a fabulous⁵ being whom one must relegate⁶ to Mythology⁷. I confess, in all sincerity⁸, that there have been sometimes brigands⁹ in the country. The principal ones were destroyed by Hercules or Theseus, who may be considered as the real founders¹⁰ of Greek gendarmerie. Those who escaped the hands of these two heroes, have fallen under the blows of our invincible¹¹ army. The author of the romance has displayed as much ignorance as dishonesty, in attempting to prove that brigandage exists to-day. I would give a great deal to have this romance published, may be in France, or in England, with the name and portrait of M. Schultz. The world would know by what gross artifices¹² he has attempted to make every civilized¹³ nation suspicious of us.

As for you, Monsieur, who have always given us justice, accept the assurance of the kindest sentiments, with which I have the honor of being,

Your very grateful servant,

Patriotis Pseftis.

“Author of a volume of Dithyrambics upon the regeneration of Greece; editor of the Journal l’Esperance; member of the Archaeological Society of Athens; corresponding member of the Academy of the Ionian Isles¹⁴; stockholder in the National Company of the Spartan¹⁵ Pavlos.”
The Author has the Last Word.

Athenian, my fine friend, the truest histories are not those which have happened!

The End

1 lobster   

n.龙虾，龙虾肉

参考例句：

• The lobster is a shellfish.龙虾是水生贝壳动物。
• I like lobster but it does not like me.我喜欢吃龙虾，但它不适宜于我的健康。

2 brigandage   

n.抢劫；盗窃；土匪；强盗

参考例句：

• Charity asas brigandage. Charity is really as unfair to the recipient as the donor. 施舍和掠夺一样可恶，对捐献者和接受者都有失公平。 来自互联网

3 confiscated   

没收，充公( confiscate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Their land was confiscated after the war. 他们的土地在战后被没收。
• The customs officer confiscated the smuggled goods. 海关官员没收了走私品。

4 inspection   

n.检查，审查，检阅

参考例句：

• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。
• The soldiers lined up for their daily inspection by their officers.士兵们列队接受军官的日常检阅。

5 fabulous   

adj.极好的；极为巨大的；寓言中的，传说中的

参考例句：

• We had a fabulous time at the party.我们在晚会上玩得很痛快。
• This is a fabulous sum of money.这是一笔巨款。

6 relegate   

v.使降级，流放，移交，委任

参考例句：

• We shall relegate this problem to the organizing committee.我们将把这个问题委托组织委员会处理。
• She likes to relegate difficult questions to her colleagues.她总是把困难的问题推给她同事。

7 mythology   

n.神话，神话学，神话集

参考例句：

• In Greek mythology,Zeus was the ruler of Gods and men.在希腊神话中，宙斯是众神和人类的统治者。
• He is the hero of Greek mythology.他是希腊民间传说中的英雄。

8 sincerity   

n.真诚，诚意；真实

参考例句：

• His sincerity added much more authority to the story.他的真诚更增加了故事的说服力。
• He tried hard to satisfy me of his sincerity.他竭力让我了解他的诚意。

9 brigands   

n.土匪，强盗( brigand的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They say there are brigands hiding along the way. 他们说沿路隐藏着土匪。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The brigands demanded tribute from passing vehicles. 土匪向过往车辆勒索钱财。 来自辞典例句

10 founders   

n.创始人( founder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He was one of the founders of the university's medical faculty. 他是该大学医学院的创建人之一。 来自辞典例句
• The founders of our religion made this a cornerstone of morality. 我们宗教的创始人把这看作是道德的基石。 来自辞典例句

11 invincible   

adj.不可征服的，难以制服的

参考例句：

• This football team was once reputed to be invincible.这支足球队曾被誉为无敌的劲旅。
• The workers are invincible as long as they hold together.只要工人团结一致，他们就是不可战胜的。

12 artifices   

n.灵巧( artifice的名词复数 )；诡计；巧妙办法；虚伪行为

参考例句：

• These pure verbal artifices do not change the essence of the matter. 这些纯粹是文词上的花样，并不能改变问题的实质。 来自互联网
• There are some tools which realise this kind of artifices. 一些工具实现了这些方法。 来自互联网

13 civilized   

a.有教养的，文雅的

参考例句：

• Racism is abhorrent to a civilized society. 文明社会憎恶种族主义。
• rising crime in our so-called civilized societies 在我们所谓文明社会中日益增多的犯罪行为

14 isles   

岛( isle的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• the geology of the British Isles 不列颠群岛的地质
• The boat left for the isles. 小船驶向那些小岛。

15 spartan   

adj.简朴的，刻苦的；n.斯巴达；斯巴达式的人

参考例句：

• Their spartan lifestyle prohibits a fridge or a phone.他们不使用冰箱和电话，过着简朴的生活。
• The rooms were spartan and undecorated.房间没有装饰，极为简陋。