Chapter 53

Beautiful is thy wristlet, decked with stars and cunningly wrought¹ in myriad-coloured jewels. But more beautiful to me thy sword with its curve of lightning like the outspread wings of the divine bird of Vishnu, perfectly² poised³ in the angry red light of the sunset.
 
It quivers like the one last response of life in ecstasy⁴ of pain at the final stroke of death; it shines like the pure flame of being burning up earthly sense with one fierce flash.
 
Beautiful is thy wristlet, decked with starry⁵ gems⁶; but thy sword, O lord of thunder, is wrought with uttermost beauty, terrible to behold⁷ or think of.
 
你的手镯真是美丽，镶着星辰，精巧地嵌着五光十色的珠宝。但是依我看来你的宝剑是更美的，那弯弯的闪光像毗湿奴的神鸟展开的翅翼，完美地平悬在落日怒发的红光里。
 
它颤抖着像生命受死亡的最后一击时，在痛苦的昏迷中的最后反应；它炫耀着像将烬的世情的纯焰，最后猛烈的一闪。
 
你的手镯真是美丽，镶着星辰般的珠宝；但是你的宝剑，呵，雷霆的主，是铸得绝顶美丽，看到想到都是可畏的。

1 wrought   

v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的

参考例句：

• Events in Paris wrought a change in British opinion towards France and Germany.巴黎发生的事件改变了英国对法国和德国的看法。
• It's a walking stick with a gold head wrought in the form of a flower.那是一个金质花形包头的拐杖。

2 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

3 poised   

a.摆好姿势不动的

参考例句：

• The hawk poised in mid-air ready to swoop. 老鹰在半空中盘旋，准备俯冲。
• Tina was tense, her hand poised over the telephone. 蒂娜心情紧张，手悬在电话机上。

4 ecstasy   

n.狂喜，心醉神怡，入迷

参考例句：

• He listened to the music with ecstasy.他听音乐听得入了神。
• Speechless with ecstasy,the little boys gazed at the toys.小孩注视着那些玩具，高兴得说不出话来。

5 starry   

adj.星光照耀的, 闪亮的

参考例句：

• He looked at the starry heavens.他瞧着布满星星的天空。
• I like the starry winter sky.我喜欢这满天星斗的冬夜。

6 gems   

growth； economy； management； and customer satisfaction 增长

参考例句：

• a crown studded with gems 镶有宝石的皇冠
• The apt citations and poetic gems have adorned his speeches. 贴切的引语和珠玑般的诗句为他的演说词增添文采。

7 behold   

v.看，注视，看到

参考例句：

• The industry of these little ants is wonderful to behold.这些小蚂蚁辛勤劳动的样子看上去真令人惊叹。
• The sunrise at the seaside was quite a sight to behold.海滨日出真是个奇景。