Chapter 11

On the evening of the same day the usual guests were assembled at the Zasyekins’. I was among them.

The conversation turned on Meidanov’s poem. Zina?da expressed genuine admiration¹ of it. ‘But do you know what?’ she said to him. ‘If I were a poet, I would choose quite different subjects. Perhaps it’s all nonsense, but strange ideas sometimes come into my head, especially when I’m not asleep in the early morning, when the sky begins to turn rosy² and grey both at once. I would, for instance . . . You won’t laugh at me?’

‘No, no!’ we all cried, with one voice.

‘I would describe,’ she went on, folding her arms across her bosom³ and looking away, ‘a whole company of young girls at night in a great boat, on a silent river. The moon is shining, and they are all in white, and wearing garlands of white flowers, and singing, you know, something in the nature of a hymn⁴.’

‘I see — I see; go on,’ Meidanov commented with dreamy significance.

‘All of a sudden, loud clamour, laughter, torches, tambourines⁵ on the bank. . . . It’s a troop of Bacchantes dancing with songs and cries. It’s your business to make a picture of it, Mr. Poet; . . . only I should like the torches to be red and to smoke a great deal, and the Bacchantes’ eyes to gleam under their wreaths, and the wreaths to be dusky. Don’t forget the tiger-skins, too, and goblets⁶ and gold — lots of gold. . . . ’

‘Where ought the gold to be?’ asked Meidanov, tossing back his sleek⁷ hair and distending⁸ his nostrils⁹.

‘Where? on their shoulders and arms and legs — everywhere. They say in ancient times women wore gold rings on their ankles. The Bacchantes call the girls in the boat to them. The girls have ceased singing their hymn — they cannot go on with it, but they do not stir, the river carries them to the bank. And suddenly one of them slowly rises. . . . This you must describe nicely: how she slowly gets up in the moonlight, and how her companions are afraid. . . . She steps over the edge of the boat, the Bacchantes surround her, whirl her away into night and darkness. . . . Here put in smoke in clouds and everything in confusion. There is nothing but the sound of their shrill¹⁰ cry, and her wreath left lying on the bank.’

Zina?da ceased. (‘Oh! she is in love!’ I thought again.)

‘And is that all?’ asked Meidanov.

‘That’s all.’

‘That can’t be the subject of a whole poem,’ he observed pompously¹¹, ‘but I will make use of your idea for a lyrical fragment.’

‘In the romantic style?’ queried¹² Malevsky.

‘Of course, in the romantic style — Byronic.’

‘Well, to my mind, Hugo beats Byron,’ the young count observed negligently¹³; ‘he’s more interesting.’

‘Hugo is a writer of the first class,’ replied Meidanov; ‘and my friend, Tonkosheev, in his Spanish romance, El Trovador . . . ’

‘Ah! is that the book with the question-marks turned upside down?’ Zina?da interrupted.

‘Yes. That’s the custom with the Spanish. I was about to observe that Tonkosheev . . . ’

‘Come! you’re going to argue about classicism and romanticism again,’ Zina?da interrupted him a second time.’ We’d much better play . . .

‘Forfeits¹⁴?’ put in Lushin.

‘No, forfeits are a bore; at comparisons.’ (This game Zina?da had invented herself. Some object was mentioned, every one tried to compare it with something, and the one who chose the best comparison got a prize.)

She went up to the window. The sun was just setting; high up in the sky were large red clouds.

‘What are those clouds like?’ questioned Zina?da; and without waiting for our answer, she said, ‘I think they are like the purple sails on the golden ship of Cleopatra, when she sailed to meet Antony. Do you remember, Meidanov, you were telling me about it not long ago?’

All of us, like Polonius in Hamlet, opined that the clouds recalled nothing so much as those sails, and that not one of us could discover a better comparison.

‘And how old was Antony then?’ inquired Zina?da.

‘A young man, no doubt,’ observed Malevsky.

‘Yes, a young man,’ Meidanov chimed in in confirmation¹⁵.

‘Excuse me,’ cried Lushin, ‘he was over forty.’

‘Over forty,’ repeated Zina?da, giving him a rapid glance. . . .

I soon went home. ‘She is in love,’ my lips unconsciously repeated. . . . ‘But with whom?’

1 admiration   

n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕

参考例句：

• He was lost in admiration of the beauty of the scene.他对风景之美赞不绝口。
• We have a great admiration for the gold medalists.我们对金牌获得者极为敬佩。

2 rosy   

adj.美好的，乐观的，玫瑰色的

参考例句：

• She got a new job and her life looks rosy.她找到一份新工作，生活看上去很美好。
• She always takes a rosy view of life.她总是对生活持乐观态度。

3 bosom   

n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的

参考例句：

• She drew a little book from her bosom.她从怀里取出一本小册子。
• A dark jealousy stirred in his bosom.他内心生出一阵恶毒的嫉妒。

4 hymn   

n.赞美诗，圣歌，颂歌

参考例句：

• They sang a hymn of praise to God.他们唱着圣歌，赞美上帝。
• The choir has sung only two verses of the last hymn.合唱团只唱了最后一首赞美诗的两个段落。

5 tambourines   

n.铃鼓，手鼓( tambourine的名词复数 )；（鸣声似铃鼓的）白胸森鸠

参考例句：

• The gaiety of tambourines ceases, The noise of revelers stops, The gaiety of the harp ceases. 赛24:8击鼓之乐止息、宴乐人的声音完毕、弹琴之乐也止息了。 来自互联网
• The singers went on, the musicians after them, In the midst of the maidens beating tambourines. 诗68:25歌唱的行在前、乐的随在后、在击鼓的童女中间。 来自互联网

6 goblets   

n.高脚酒杯( goblet的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Oh the goblets of the breast! Oh the eyes of absence! 噢，乳房的杯盏！噢，失神的双眼！ 来自互联网
• Divide the digestive biscuit crumbs mixture between 6 goblets. 消化？底分成6双玻璃杯中。 来自互联网

7 sleek   

adj.光滑的，井然有序的；v.使光滑，梳拢

参考例句：

• Women preferred sleek,shiny hair with little decoration.女士们更喜欢略加修饰的光滑闪亮型秀发。
• The horse's coat was sleek and glossy.这匹马全身润泽有光。

8 distending   

v.（使）膨胀，肿胀( distend的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Carrie looked at him a moment, her eyes distending. 嘉莉瞪大两眼，看了他一会儿。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

9 nostrils   

鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Her nostrils flared with anger. 她气得两个鼻孔都鼓了起来。
• The horse dilated its nostrils. 马张大鼻孔。

10 shrill   

adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫

参考例句：

• Whistles began to shrill outside the barn.哨声开始在谷仓外面尖叫。
• The shrill ringing of a bell broke up the card game on the cutter.刺耳的铃声打散了小汽艇的牌局。

11 pompously   

adv.傲慢地，盛大壮观地；大模大样

参考例句：

• He pompously described his achievements. 他很夸耀地描述了自己所取得的成绩。 来自互联网

12 queried   

v.质疑，对…表示疑问( query的过去式和过去分词 )；询问

参考例句：

• She queried what he said. 她对他说的话表示怀疑。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• \"What does he have to do?\" queried Chin dubiously. “他有什么心事？”琴向觉民问道，她的脸上现出疑惑不解的神情。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）

13 negligently   

参考例句：

• Losses caused intentionally or negligently by the lessee shall be borne by the lessee. 如因承租人的故意或过失造成损失的，由承租人负担。 来自经济法规部分
• Did the other person act negligently? 他人的行为是否有过失？ 来自口语例句

14 forfeits   

罚物游戏

参考例句：

• She regretted the forfeits she had to pay for selfassistance. 她为自己为了自助而必须付出的代价感到遗憾。
• They were soon to pay their own forfeits. 他们很快就得交纳他们的罚款了。

15 confirmation   

n.证实，确认，批准

参考例句：

• We are waiting for confirmation of the news.我们正在等待证实那个消息。
• We need confirmation in writing before we can send your order out.给你们发送订购的货物之前，我们需要书面确认。