souvent plus cruelles que les rigueurs de ce qu'on aime.
—La Rochefoucauld.
The winter set in early. December began with intense frost. Mr. Falconer, one afternoon, entering the inner drawing-room, found Miss Gryll alone. She was reading, and on the entrance of her visitor, laid down her book. He hoped he had not interrupted her in an agreeable occupation. 'To observe romantic method,' we shall give what passed between them with the Christian2 names of the speakers.
Morgana. I am only reading what I have often read before, Orlando Innamorato; and I was at the moment occupied with a passage about the enchantress from whom my name was borrowed. You are aware that enchantresses are in great favour here.
Algernon. Circe and Gryllus, and your name, sufficiently3 show that. And not your name only, but——I should like to see the passage, and should be still better pleased if you would read it to me.
Morgana. It is where Orlando, who had left Morgana sleeping by the fountain, returns to seek the enchanted4 key, by which alone he can liberate5 his friends.
Il Conte, che d' intrare havea gran voglia,
Subitamente al fonte ritornava:
Danzava intorno, e danzando cantava.
Ne pui leggier si move al vento foglia
Come ella sanza sosta si voltava,
Mirando hora a la terra ed hora al sole;
'Qualonque cerca al mondo haver thesoro,
Over diletto, o segue onore e stato,
Ponga la mano a questa chioma d' oro,
Ch' io porto in fronte, e quel fara beato.
Ma quando ha il destro a far cotal lavoro,
Più non ritorna, e non si trova mai;
Ed io mi volto, e lui lascio con guai.'
Cosi cantava d' intorno girando
La bella Fata a quella fresca fonte;
Ma come gionto vide il Conte Orlando,
Subitamente rivoltô la fronte:
Il prato e la fontana abbandonando,
Prese il viaggio suo verso d* un monte,
Quai chiudea la Valletta picciolina:
Quivi fuggendo Morgana cammina.{1}
1 Bojardo: 1. ii. c. 8. Ed. Vinegia; 1544.
With earnest wish to pass the enchanted gate,
Orlando to the fount again advanced,
And found Morgana, all with joy elate,
Dancing around, and singing as she danced.
As lightly moved and twirled the lovely Fate
With looks alternate to the earth and sky,
She thus gave out her words of witchery:
'Let him, who seeks unbounded wealth to hold,
Or joy, or honour, or terrestrial state,
Seize with his hand this lock of purest gold,
That crowns my brow, and blest shall be his fate.
But when time serves, behoves him to be bold,
Nor even a moment's pause interpolate:
The chance, once lost, he never finds again:
Thus sang the lovely Fate in bowery shade
Circling in joy around the crystal fount;
She sprang upon her feet, as one dismayed,
And took her way towards a lofty mount
That rose the valley's narrow length to bound:
I have translated Fata, Fate. It is usually translated
Fairy. But the idea differs essentially15 from ours of a
fairy. Amongst other things there is no Fato, no Oberon to
the Titania. It does not, indeed, correspond with our usual
idea of Fate, but it is more easily distinguished16 as a
class; for our old acquaintances the Fates are an
inseparable three. The Italian Fata is independent of her
sisters. They are enchantresses; but they differ from other
and their beauty is immortal: always in Bojardo. He would
not have turned Alcina into an old woman, as Ariosto did;
charms of the Orlando Furioso.
Algernon. I remember the passage well. The beautiful Fata, dancing and singing by the fountain, presents a delightful19 picture.
Morgana. Then, you know, Orlando, who had missed his opportunity of seizing the golden forelock while she was sleeping, pursues her a long while in vain through rocky deserts, La Penitenza following him with a scourge20. The same idea was afterwards happily worked out by Machiavelli in his Capitolo del Occasion.
Algernon. You are fond of Italian literature? You read the language beautifully. I observe you have read from the original poem, and not from Bemi's rifacciamento.
Morgana. I prefer the original. It is more simple, and more in earnest. Bemi's playfulness is very pleasant, and his exordiums are charming; and in many instances he has improved the poetry. Still, I think he has less than the original of what are to me the great charms of poetry, truth and simplicity22. Even the greater antiquity23 of style has its peculiar24 appropriateness to the subject. And Bojardo seems to have more faith in his narrative25 than Berni. I go on with him with ready credulity, where Berni's pleasantry interposes a doubt.
Algernon. You think that in narratives26, however wild and romantic, the poet should write as if he fully21 believed in the truth of his own story.
Morgana. I do; and I think so in reference to all narratives, not to poetry only. What a dry skeleton is the history of the early ages of Rome, told by one who believes nothing that the Romans believed! Religion pervades27 every step of the early Roman history; and in a great degree down at least to the Empire; but, because their religion is not our religion, we pass over the supernatural part of the matter in silence, or advert28 to it in a spirit of contemptuous incredulity. We do not give it its proper place, nor present it in its proper colours, as a cause in the production of great effects. Therefore, I like to read Livy, and I do not like to read Niebuhr.
Algernon. May I ask if you read Latin?
Morgana. I do; sufficiently to derive29 great pleasure from it. Perhaps, after this confession30, you will not wonder that I am a spinster.
Algernon. So far, that I think it would tend to make you fastidious in your choice. Not that you would be less sought by any who would be worthy31 your attention. For I am told you have had many suitors, and have rejected them all in succession. And have you not still many, and among them one very devoted32 lover, who would bring you title as well as fortune? A very amiable33 person, too, though not without a comic side to his character.
Morgana. I do not well know. He so far differs from all my preceding suitors that in every one of them I found the presence of some quality that displeased34 me, or the absence of some which would have pleased me: the want, in the one way or the other, of that entire congeniality in taste and feeling which I think essential to happiness in marriage. He has so strong a desire of pleasing, and such power of acquisition and assimilation, that I think a woman truly attached to him might mould him to her mind. Still, I can scarcely tell why, he does not complete my idealities. They say, Love is his own avenger35: and perhaps I shall be punished by finding my idealities realised in one who will not care for me.
Algernon. I take that to be impossible.
Morgana blushed, held down her head, and made no reply. Algernon looked at her in silent admiration36. A new light seemed to break in on him. Though he had had so many opportunities of forming a judgment37 on the point, it seemed to strike him for the first time with irresistible38 conviction that he had never before heard such a sweet voice, nor seen such an expressive39 and intelligent countenance40. And in this way they continued like two figures in a tableau41 vivant, till the entrance of other parties broke the spell which thus had fixed42 them in their positions.
A few minutes more, and their destinies might have been irrevocably fixed. But the interruption gave Mr. Falconer the opportunity of returning again to his Tower, to consider, in the presence of the seven sisters, whether he should not be in the position of a Roman, who was reduced to the dilemma43 of migrating without his household deities44, or of suffering his local deities to migrate without him; and whether he could sit comfortably on either of the horns of this dilemma. He felt that he could not. On the other hand, could he bear to see the fascinating Morgana metamorphosed into Lady Curryfin? The time had been when he had half wished it, as the means of restoring him to liberty. He felt now that when in her society he could not bear the idea; but he still thought that in the midst of his domestic deities he might become reconciled to it.
He did not care for horses, nor keep any for his own use. But as time and weather were not always favourable45 to walking, he had provided for himself a comfortable travelling-chariot, without a box to intercept46 the view, in which, with post-horses after the fashion of the olden time, he performed occasional migrations47. He found this vehicle of great use in moving to and fro between the Grange and the Tower; for then, with all his philosophy, Impatience48 was always his companion: Impatience on his way to the Grange, to pass into the full attraction of the powerful spell by which he was drawn49 like the fated ship to the magnetic rock in the Arabian Nights: Impatience on his way to the Tower, to find himself again in the 'Regions mild of pure and serene50 air,' in which the seven sisters seemed to dwell, like Milton's ethereal spirits 'Before the starry51 threshold of Jove's court.' Here was everything to soothe52, nothing to irritate or disturb him: nothing on the spot: but it was with him, as it is with many, perhaps with all: the two great enemies of tranquillity53, Hope and Remembrance, would still intrude54: not like a bubble and a spectre, as in the beautiful lines of Coleridge:{1}
On him but seldom, Power divine,
Mock the tired worldling. Idle Hope,
The bubble floats before: the spectre stalks behind.
—Coleridge's Ode to Tranquillity.
for the remembrance of Morgana was not a spectre, and the hope of her love, which he cherished in spite of himself, was not a bubble: but their forces were not less disturbing, even in the presence of his earliest and most long and deeply cherished associations.
He did not allow his impatience to require that the horses should be put to extraordinary speed. He found something tranquillising in the movement of a postilion in a smart jacket, vibrating on one horse upwards63 and downwards64, with one invariable regulated motion like the cross-head of a side-lever steam-engine, and holding the whip quietly arched over the neck of the other. The mechanical monotony of the movement seemed less in contrast than in harmony with the profound stillness of the wintry forest: the leafless branches heavy with rime65 frost and glittering in the sun: the deep repose66 of nature, broken now and then by the traversing of deer, or the flight of wild birds: highest and loudest among them the long lines of rooks: but for the greater part of the way one long deep silence, undisturbed but by the rolling of the wheels and the iron tinkling67 of the hoofs68 on the frozen ground. By degrees he fell into a reverie, and meditated69 on his last dialogue with Morgana.
'It is a curious coincidence,' he thought, 'that she should have been dwelling70 in a passage, in which her namesake enchantress inflicted71 punishment on Orlando for having lost his opportunity. Did she associate Morgana with herself and Orlando with me? Did she intend a graceful72 hint to me not to lose my opportunity? I seemed in a fair way to seize the golden forelock, if we had not been interrupted. Do I regret that I did not? That is just what I cannot determine. Yet it would be more fitting, that whatever I may do should be done calmly, deliberately73, philosophically74, than suddenly, passionately75, impulsively76. One thing is clear to me. It is now or never: this or none. The world does not contain a second Morgana, at least not of mortal race. Well: the opportunity will return. So far, I am not in the predicament in which we left Orlando. I may yet ward13 off the scourge of La Penitenza?
But his arrival at home, and the sight of the seven sisters, who had all come to the hall-door to greet him, turned his thoughts for awhile into another channel.
He dined at his usual hour, and his two Hebes alternately filled his glass with Madeira. After which the sisters played and sang to him in the drawing-room; and when he had retired77 to his chamber78, had looked on the many portraitures of his Virgin79 Saint, and had thought by how many charms of life he was surrounded, he composed himself to rest with the reflection: 'I am here like Rasselas in the Happy Valley: and I can now fully appreciate the force of that beautiful chapter: The wants of him who wants nothing?'
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1
con
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| n.反对的观点，反对者，反对票，肺病；vt.精读，学习，默记；adv.反对地，从反面；adj.欺诈的 | |
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2
Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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3
sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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4
enchanted
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| adj. 被施魔法的，陶醉的，入迷的 动词enchant的过去式和过去分词 | |
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5
liberate
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| v.解放，使获得自由，释出，放出；vt.解放，使获自由 | |
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6
canto
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| n.长篇诗的章 | |
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7
tempo
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| n.(音乐的)速度；节奏，行进速度 | |
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8
foliage
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| n.叶子，树叶，簇叶 | |
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9
lament
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| n.悲叹，悔恨，恸哭；v.哀悼，悔恨，悲叹 | |
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10
solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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11
glade
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| n.林间空地，一片表面有草的沼泽低地 | |
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12
armour
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| （=armor）n.盔甲；装甲部队 | |
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13
ward
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| n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开 | |
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14
thither
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| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
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15
essentially
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| adv.本质上，实质上，基本上 | |
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16
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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17
immortal
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| adj.不朽的；永生的，不死的；神的 | |
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18
blemish
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| v.损害；玷污；瑕疵，缺点 | |
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19
delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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20
scourge
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| n.灾难，祸害；v.蹂躏 | |
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21
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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22
simplicity
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| n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯 | |
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23
antiquity
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| n.古老；高龄；古物，古迹 | |
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24
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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25
narrative
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| n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的 | |
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26
narratives
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| 记叙文( narrative的名词复数 )； 故事； 叙述； 叙述部分 | |
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27
pervades
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| v.遍及，弥漫( pervade的第三人称单数 ) | |
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28
advert
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| vi.注意，留意，言及；n.广告 | |
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29
derive
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| v.取得；导出；引申；来自；源自；出自 | |
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30
confession
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| n.自白，供认，承认 | |
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31
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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32
devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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33
amiable
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| adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的 | |
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34
displeased
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| a.不快的 | |
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35
avenger
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| n. 复仇者 | |
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36
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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37
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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38
irresistible
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| adj.非常诱人的，无法拒绝的，无法抗拒的 | |
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39
expressive
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| adj.表现的，表达…的，富于表情的 | |
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40
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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41
tableau
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| n.画面，活人画（舞台上活人扮的静态画面） | |
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42
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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43
dilemma
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| n.困境，进退两难的局面 | |
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44
deities
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| n.神，女神( deity的名词复数 )；神祗；神灵；神明 | |
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45
favourable
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| adj.赞成的，称赞的，有利的，良好的，顺利的 | |
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46
intercept
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| vt.拦截，截住，截击 | |
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47
migrations
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| n.迁移，移居( migration的名词复数 ) | |
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48
impatience
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| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
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49
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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50
serene
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| adj. 安详的，宁静的，平静的 | |
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51
starry
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| adj.星光照耀的, 闪亮的 | |
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52
soothe
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| v.安慰；使平静；使减轻；缓和；奉承 | |
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53
tranquillity
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| n. 平静, 安静 | |
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54
intrude
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| vi.闯入；侵入；打扰，侵扰 | |
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55
shrine
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| n.圣地，神龛，庙；v.将...置于神龛内，把...奉为神圣 | |
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56
satiety
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| n.饱和；(市场的)充分供应 | |
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57
sloth
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| n.[动]树懒；懒惰，懒散 | |
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58
counterfeits
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| v.仿制，造假( counterfeit的第三人称单数 ) | |
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59
dire
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| adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的 | |
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60
vex
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| vt.使烦恼，使苦恼 | |
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61
feverish
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| adj.发烧的，狂热的，兴奋的 | |
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62
slumbers
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| 睡眠，安眠( slumber的名词复数 ) | |
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63
upwards
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| adv.向上，在更高处...以上 | |
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64
downwards
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| adj./adv.向下的（地），下行的（地） | |
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65
rime
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| n.白霜；v.使蒙霜 | |
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repose
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| v.(使)休息；n.安息 | |
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67
tinkling
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| n.丁当作响声 | |
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68
hoofs
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| n.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的名词复数 )v.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的第三人称单数 ) | |
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69
meditated
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| 深思，沉思，冥想( meditate的过去式和过去分词 )； 内心策划，考虑 | |
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70
dwelling
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| n.住宅，住所，寓所 | |
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71
inflicted
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| 把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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72
graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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73
deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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philosophically
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| adv.哲学上；富有哲理性地；贤明地；冷静地 | |
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75
passionately
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| ad.热烈地，激烈地 | |
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impulsively
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| adv.冲动地 | |
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retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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virgin
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| n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的 | |
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