Book 4 Chapter 4 The Dog And His Master

Nevertheless, there was one human creature whom Quasimodo excepted from his malice¹ and from his hatred² for others, and whom he loved even more, perhaps, than his cathedral: this was Claude Frollo.

The matter was simple; Claude Frollo had taken him in, had adopted him, had nourished him, had reared him. When a little lad, it was between Claude Frollo's legs that he was accustomed to seek refuge, when the dogs and the children barked after him. Claude Frollo had taught him to talk, to read, to write. Claude Frollo had finally made him the bellringer. Now, to give the big bell in marriage to Quasimodo was to give Juliet to Romeo.

Hence Quasimodo's gratitude³ was profound, passionate⁴, boundless⁵; and although the visage of his adopted father was often clouded or severe, although his speech was habitually⁶ curt⁷, harsh, imperious, that gratitude never wavered for a single moment. The archdeacon had in Quasimodo the most submissive slave, the most docile⁸ lackey⁹, the most vigilant¹⁰ of dogs. When the poor bellringer became deaf, there had been established between him and Claude Frollo, a language of signs, mysterious and understood by themselves alone. In this manner the archdeacon was the sole human being with whom Quasimodo had preserved communication. He was in sympathy with but two things in this world: Notre- Dame¹¹ and Claude Frollo.

There is nothing which can be compared with the empire of the archdeacon over the bellringer; with the attachment¹² of the bellringer for the archdeacon. A sign from Claude and the idea of giving him pleasure would have sufficed to make Quasimodo hurl¹³ himself headlong from the summit of Notre- Dame. It was a remarkable¹⁴ thing--all that physical strength which had reached in Quasimodo such an extraordinary development, and which was placed by him blindly at the disposition¹⁵ of another. There was in it, no doubt, filial devotion, domestic attachment; there was also the fascination¹⁶ of one spirit by another spirit. It was a poor, awkward, and clumsy organization, which stood with lowered head and supplicating¹⁷ eyes before a lofty and profound, a powerful and superior intellect. Lastly, and above all, it was gratitude. Gratitude so pushed to its extremest limit, that we do not know to what to compare it. This virtue¹⁸ is not one of those of which the finest examples are to be met with among men. We will say then, that Quasimodo loved the archdeacon as never a dog, never a horse, never an elephant loved his master.

 

但是也有一个人是在伽西莫多对人的憎恨之外的，他非常爱他，也许比爱教堂更甚，这个人便是克洛德·孚罗洛。

事情很简单，克洛德曾经收养他，给他洗礼，找奶娘奶他，教育他长大成人。很小的时候，他总是在克洛德的腿膝间躲避那些跟在他身后叫喊的狗和儿童。克洛德· 孚罗洛教他说话，教他念书，教他写字。克洛德·孚罗洛最后还让他当了敲钟人。把那口大钟嫁给了伽西莫多，简直象是把朱丽叶嫁给了罗米欧呢。

伽西莫多的报答也是深厚的、热情的、无边的，虽然他义父的脸孔有时候又阴沉又严厉，虽然他的话有时既简短又生硬，简直不堪忍受，但这种报答却没有一刻不支配着他。他对于副主教好象一个最卑微的奴仆，最温顺的侍者，最机警的卫士。可怜的敲钟人耳朵聋了之后，他和克洛德之间就建立了只有他俩才懂得的神秘的手语，这样一来，副主教就成了伽西莫多唯一可以交谈的人了。他在这个世界里只同两件事物有联系，那便是圣母院和克洛德·孚罗洛。

副主教在敲钟人心里的权威以及敲钟人对于副主教的依恋，都是无可比拟的。只要克洛德做一个手势，或者是伽西莫多产生了一个想使克洛德高兴的念头，就足以让伽西莫多从高高的钟塔顶上纵身跳下。看到伽西莫多身上发展得十分奇特的精力竟会盲目地听从另一个人的吩咐，真是令人惊讶。这一定是出自维持家族关系的那种儿子的孝心，也是出自一个心灵对另一个心灵的迷恋。这是一个可怜的、畸形的、残缺的人在一个深刻、能干、高贵的人物面前低下头颅，眼里充满乞怜的目光。最后，是这一切里最主要的原因，这是一种报恩思想，一种我们无法比拟的发展到了顶点的报恩思想。这种情况在常人中间找不出例子，我们可以这么说，伽西莫多对副主教的爱，比一切犬马对它们主人的爱更为深厚。

1 malice   

n.恶意，怨恨，蓄意；[律]预谋

参考例句：

• I detected a suggestion of malice in his remarks.我觉察出他说的话略带恶意。
• There was a strong current of malice in many of his portraits.他的许多肖像画中都透着一股强烈的怨恨。

2 hatred   

n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨

参考例句：

• He looked at me with hatred in his eyes.他以憎恨的眼光望着我。
• The old man was seized with burning hatred for the fascists.老人对法西斯主义者充满了仇恨。

3 gratitude   

adj.感激，感谢

参考例句：

• I have expressed the depth of my gratitude to him.我向他表示了深切的谢意。
• She could not help her tears of gratitude rolling down her face.她感激的泪珠禁不住沿着面颊流了下来。

4 passionate   

adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的

参考例句：

• He is said to be the most passionate man.据说他是最有激情的人。
• He is very passionate about the project.他对那个项目非常热心。

5 boundless   

adj.无限的；无边无际的；巨大的

参考例句：

• The boundless woods were sleeping in the deep repose of nature.无边无际的森林在大自然静寂的怀抱中酣睡着。
• His gratitude and devotion to the Party was boundless.他对党无限感激、无限忠诚。

6 habitually   

ad.习惯地，通常地

参考例句：

• The pain of the disease caused him habitually to furrow his brow. 病痛使他习惯性地紧皱眉头。
• Habitually obedient to John, I came up to his chair. 我已经习惯于服从约翰，我来到他的椅子跟前。

7 curt   

adj.简短的，草率的

参考例句：

• He gave me an extremely curt answer.他对我作了极为草率的答复。
• He rapped out a series of curt commands.他大声发出了一连串简短的命令。

8 docile   

adj.驯服的，易控制的，容易教的

参考例句：

• Circus monkeys are trained to be very docile and obedient.马戏团的猴子训练得服服贴贴的。
• He is a docile and well-behaved child.他是个温顺且彬彬有礼的孩子。

9 lackey   

n.侍从；跟班

参考例句：

• I'm not staying as a paid lackey to act as your yes-man.我不要再做拿钱任你使唤的应声虫。
• Who would have thought that Fredo would become a lackey of women?谁能料到弗烈特竟堕落成女人脚下的哈叭狗？

10 vigilant   

adj.警觉的，警戒的，警惕的

参考例句：

• He has to learn how to remain vigilant through these long nights.他得学会如何在这漫长的黑夜里保持警觉。
• The dog kept a vigilant guard over the house.这只狗警醒地守护着这所房屋。

11 dame   

n.女士

参考例句：

• The dame tell of her experience as a wife and mother.这位年长妇女讲了她作妻子和母亲的经验。
• If you stick around,you'll have to marry that dame.如果再逗留多一会，你就要跟那个夫人结婚。

12 attachment   

n.附属物，附件；依恋；依附

参考例句：

• She has a great attachment to her sister.她十分依恋她的姐姐。
• She's on attachment to the Ministry of Defense.她现在隶属于国防部。

13 hurl   

vt.猛投，力掷，声叫骂

参考例句：

• The best cure for unhappiness is to hurl yourself into your work.医治愁苦的最好办法就是全身心地投入工作。
• To hurl abuse is no way to fight.谩骂决不是战斗。

14 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

15 disposition   

n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署

参考例句：

• He has made a good disposition of his property.他已对财产作了妥善处理。
• He has a cheerful disposition.他性情开朗。

16 fascination   

n.令人着迷的事物，魅力，迷恋

参考例句：

• He had a deep fascination with all forms of transport.他对所有的运输工具都很着迷。
• His letters have been a source of fascination to a wide audience.广大观众一直迷恋于他的来信。

17 supplicating   

v.祈求，哀求，恳求( supplicate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• She stammered a few supplicating words. 她吞吞吐吐说了一些求情的话。 来自互联网

18 virtue   

n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力

参考例句：

• He was considered to be a paragon of virtue.他被认为是品德尽善尽美的典范。
• You need to decorate your mind with virtue.你应该用德行美化心灵。