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CHAPTER 12—The Paris of our Grandparents
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We are apt to fall into the error of assuming that only American cities have displaced their centres and changed their appearance during the last half-century.
The “oldest inhabitant,” with his twice-told tales of transformations1 and changes, is to a certain extent responsible for this; by contrast, we imagine that the capitals of Europe have always been just as we see them. So strong is this impression that it requires a serious effort of the imagination to reconstruct the Paris that our grandparents knew and admired, few as the years are that separate their day from ours.
It is, for instance, difficult to conceive of a Paris that ended at the rue2 Royale, with only waste land and market gardens beyond the Madeleine, where to-day so many avenues open their stately perspectives; yet such was the case! The few fine residences that existed beyond that point faced the Faubourg Saint-Honoré, with gardens running back to an unkempt open country called the Champs Elysées, where an unfinished Arc de Triomphe stood alone in a wilderness3 that no one ever dreamed of traversing.
The fashionable ladies of that time drove in the afternoon along the boulevards from the Madeleine to the Château d’Eau, and stopped their ponderous4 yellow barouches at Tortoni’s, where ices were served to them in their carriages, while they chatted with immaculate dandies in skin-tight nankeen unmentionables, blue swallow-tailed coats, and furry5 ‘beaver” hats.
While looking over some books in the company of an old lady who from time to time opens her store of treasures and recalls her remote youth at my request, and whose spirituel and graphic6 language gives to her souvenirs the air of being stray chapters from some old-fashioned romance, I received a vivid impression of how the French capital must have looked fifty years ago.
Emptying in her company a chest of books that had not seen the light for several decades, we came across a “
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1
transformations
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n.变化( transformation的名词复数 );转换;转换;变换 | |
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2
rue
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n.懊悔,芸香,后悔;v.后悔,悲伤,懊悔 | |
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3
wilderness
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n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等,荒漠 | |
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4
ponderous
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adj.沉重的,笨重的,(文章)冗长的 | |
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5
furry
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adj.毛皮的;似毛皮的;毛皮制的 | |
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6
graphic
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adj.生动的,形象的,绘画的,文字的,图表的 | |
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panorama
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n.全景,全景画,全景摄影,全景照片[装置] | |
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8
lithograph
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n.平板印刷,平板画;v.用平版印刷 | |
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9
depicted
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描绘,描画( depict的过去式和过去分词 ); 描述 | |
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10
quaint
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adj.古雅的,离奇有趣的,奇怪的 | |
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quaintness
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n.离奇有趣,古怪的事物 | |
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12
provincial
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adj.省的,地方的;n.外省人,乡下人 | |
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13
ravages
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劫掠后的残迹,破坏的结果,毁坏后的残迹 | |
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lackeys
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n.听差( lackey的名词复数 );男仆(通常穿制服);卑躬屈膝的人;被待为奴仆的人 | |
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standing
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n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的 | |
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conveyance
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n.(不动产等的)转让,让与;转让证书;传送;运送;表达;(正)运输工具 | |
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17
scant
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adj.不充分的,不足的;v.减缩,限制,忽略 | |
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pneumonia
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n.肺炎 | |
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19
marvel
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vi.(at)惊叹vt.感到惊异;n.令人惊异的事 | |
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slippers
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n. 拖鞋 | |
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21
surmounted
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战胜( surmount的过去式和过去分词 ); 克服(困难); 居于…之上; 在…顶上 | |
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affected
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adj.不自然的,假装的 | |
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poke
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n.刺,戳,袋;vt.拨开,刺,戳;vi.戳,刺,捅,搜索,伸出,行动散慢 | |
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24
bonnets
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n.童帽( bonnet的名词复数 );(烟囱等的)覆盖物;(苏格兰男子的)无边呢帽;(女子戴的)任何一种帽子 | |
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leeches
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n.水蛭( leech的名词复数 );蚂蟥;榨取他人脂膏者;医生 | |
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pointed
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adj.尖的,直截了当的 | |
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dozing
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v.打瞌睡,假寐 n.瞌睡 | |
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undoubtedly
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adv.确实地,无疑地 | |
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razing
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v.彻底摧毁,将…夷为平地( raze的现在分词 ) | |
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confinement
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n.幽禁,拘留,监禁;分娩;限制,局限 | |
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bourgeois
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adj./n.追求物质享受的(人);中产阶级分子 | |
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milieu
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n.环境;出身背景;(个人所处的)社会环境 | |
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abdication
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n.辞职;退位 | |
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corps
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n.(通信等兵种的)部队;(同类作的)一组 | |
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futile
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adj.无效的,无用的,无希望的 | |
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ragged
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adj.衣衫褴褛的,粗糙的,刺耳的 | |
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barricades
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路障,障碍物( barricade的名词复数 ) | |
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fatigue
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n.疲劳,劳累 | |
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detour
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n.绕行的路,迂回路;v.迂回,绕道 | |
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labyrinth
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n.迷宫;难解的事物;迷路 | |
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gambling
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n.赌博;投机 | |
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jewelry
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n.(jewllery)(总称)珠宝 | |
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gallant
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adj.英勇的,豪侠的;(向女人)献殷勤的 | |
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colonnades
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n.石柱廊( colonnade的名词复数 ) | |
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myriad
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adj.无数的;n.无数,极大数量 | |
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fidelity
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n.忠诚,忠实;精确 | |
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isolation
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n.隔离,孤立,分解,分离 | |
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epoch
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n.(新)时代;历元 | |
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savages
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未开化的人,野蛮人( savage的名词复数 ) | |
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catering
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n. 给养 | |
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51
snobbishness
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势利; 势利眼 | |
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52
degradations
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堕落( degradation的名词复数 ); 下降; 陵削; 毁坏 | |
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polyglot
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adj.通晓数种语言的;n.通晓多种语言的人 | |
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