第 18 节
作者:
冷夏 更新:2024-11-30 11:15 字数:9322
ne the way of all incomplete sensations。 After you have stood awhile in the choir of the cathedral; there is no sensation at Le Mans that goes very far。 For some reason not now to be traced; I had looked for more than this。 I think the reason was to some extent simply in the name of the place; for names; on the whole; whether they be good reasons or not; are very active ones。 Le Mans; if I am not mistaken; has a sturdy; feudal sound; suggests some… thing dark and square; a vision of old ramparts and gates。 Perhaps I had been unduly impressed by the fact; accidentally revealed to me; that Henry II。; first of the English Plantagenets; was born there。 Of course it is easy to assure one's self in advance; but does it not often happen that one had rather not be assured? There is a pleasure sometimes in running the risk of disappointment。 I took mine; such as it was; quietly enough; while I sat before dinner at the door of one of the cafes in the market…place with a _bitter…et…curacao_ (invaluable pretext at such an hour!) to keep me com… pany。 I remember that in this situation there came over me an impression which both included and ex… cluded all possible disappointments。 The afternoon was warm and still; the air was admirably soft。 The good Manceaux; in little groups and pairs; were seated near me; my ear was soothed by the fine shades of French enunciation; by the detached syllables of that perfect tongue。 There was nothing in particular in the prospect to charm; it was an average French view。 Yet I felt a charm; a kind of sympathy; a sense of the completeness of French life and of the lightness and brightness of the social air; together with a desire to arrive at friendly judgments; to express a positive interest。 I know not why this transcendental mood should have descended upon me then and there; but that idle half…hour in front of the cafe; in the mild October afternoon; suffused with human sounds; is perhaps the most definite thing I brought away from Le Mans。
XIV。
I am shocked at finding; just after this noble de… claration of principles that in a little note…book which at that time I carried about with me; the celebrated city of Angers is denominated a 〃sell。〃 I reproduce this vulgar term with the greatest hesitation; and only because it brings me more quickly to my point。 This point is that Angers belongs to the disagreeable class of old towns that have been; as the English say; 〃done up。〃 Not the oldness; but the newness; of the place is what strikes the sentimental tourist to…day; as he wanders with irritation along second…rate boulevards; looking vaguely about him for absent gables。 〃Black Angers;〃 in short; is a victim of modern improvements; and quite unworthy of its admirable name; … a name which; like that of Le Mans; had always had; to my eyes; a highly picturesque value。 It looks particularly well on the Shakspearean page (in 〃King John〃); where we imagine it uttered (though such would not have been the utterance of the period) with a fine old in… sular accent。 Angers figures with importance in early English history: it was the capital city of the Plantagenet race; home of that Geoffrey of Anjou who married; as second husband; the Empress Maud; daughter of Henry I。 and competitor of Stephen; and became father of Henry II。; first of the Plantagenet kings; born; as we have seen; at Le Mans。 The facts create a natural presumption that Angers will look historic; I turned them over in my mind as I travelled in the train from Le Mans; through a country that was really pretty; and looked more like the usual English than like the usual French scenery; with its fields cut up by hedges and a considerable rotundity in its trees。 On my way from the station to the hotel; however; it became plain that I should lack a good pretext for passing that night at the Cheval Blanc; I foresaw that I should have con… tented myself before th e end of the day。 I remained at the White Horse only long enough to discover that it was an exceptionally good provincial inn; one of the best that I encountered during six weeks spent in these establishments。
〃Stupidly and vulgarly rnodernized;〃 … that is an… other phrase from my note…book; and note…books are not obliged to be reasonable。 〃There are some narrow and tortuous…streets; with a few curious old houses;〃 … I continue to quote; 〃there is a castle; of which the ex… terior is most extraordinary; and there is a cathedral of moderate interest。 It is fair to say that the Chateau d'Angers is by itself worth a pilgrimage; the only drawback is that you have seen it in a quarter of an hour。 You cannot do more than look at it; and one good look does your business。 It has no beauty; no grace; no detail; nothing that charms or detains you; it is simply very old and very big; … so big and so old that this simple impression is enough; and it takes its place in your recollections as a perfect specimen of a superannuated stronghold。 It stands at one end of the town; surrounded by a huge; deep moat; which originally contained the waters of the Maine; now divided from it by a quay。 The water…front of Angers is poor; … wanting in color and in movement; and there is always an effect of perversity in a town lying near a great river and; yet not upon it。 The Loire is a few miles off; but Angers contents itself with a meagre affluent of that stream。 The effect was naturally much better when the huge; dark mass of the castle; with its seventeen prodigious towers; rose out of the protecting flood。 These towers are of tremendous girth and soli… dity; they are encircled with great bands; or hoops; of white stone; and are much enlarged at the base。 Between them hang vast curtains of infinitely old…look… ing masonry; apparently a dense conglomeration of slate; the material of which the town was originally built (thanks to rich quarries in the neighborhood); and to which it owed its appellation of the Black。 There are no windows; no apertures; and to…day no battlements nor roofs。 These accessories were removed by Henry III。; so that; in spite of its grimness and blackness; the place has not even the interest of look… ing like a prison; it being; as I supposed; the essence of a prison not to be open to the sky。 The only features of the enormous structure are the black; sombre stretches and protrusions of wall; the effect of which; on so large a scale; is strange and striking。 Begun by Philip Augustus; and terminated by St。 Louis; the Chateau d'Angers has of course a great deal of history。 The luckless Fouquet; the extravagant minister of finance of Louis XIV。; whose fall from the heights of grandeur was so sudden and complete; was confined here in 1661; just after his arrest; which had taken place at Nantes。 Here; also; Huguenots and Vendeans have suffered effective captivity。
I walked round the parapet which protects the outer edge of the moat (it is all up hill; and the moat deepens and deepens); till I came to the entrance which faces the town; and which is as bare and strong as the rest。 The concierge took me into the court; but there was nothing to see。 The place is used as a magazine of ammunition; and the yard con… tains a multitude of ugly buildings。 The only thing to do is to walk round the bastions for the view; but at the moment of my visit the weather was thick; and the bastions began and ended with themselves。 So I came out and took another look at the big; black ex… terior; buttressed with white…ribbed towers; and per… ceived that a desperate sketcher might extract a picture from it; especially if he were to bring in; as they say; the little black bronze statue of the good King Rene (a weak production of David d'Angers); which; standing within sight; ornaments the melancholy faubourg。 He would do much better; however; with the very striking old timbered house (I suppose of the fifteenth century) which is called the Maison d'Adam; and is easily the first specimen at Angers of the domestic architecture of the past。 This admirable house; in the centre of the town; gabled; elaborately timbered; and much restored; is a really imposing monument。 The basement is occupied by a linen… draper; who flourishes under the auspicious sign of the Mere de Famille; and above his shop the tall front rises in five overhanging stories。 As the house occupies the angle of a little _place_; this front is double; and the black beams and wooden supports; displayed over a large surface and carved and interlaced; have a high picturesqueness。 The Maison d'Adam is quite in the grand style; and I am sorry to say I failed to learn what history attaches to its name。 If I spoke just above of the cathedral as 〃moderate;〃 I suppose I should beg its pardon; for this serious charge was probably prompted by the fact that it consists only of a nave; without side aisles。 A little reflection now convinces me that such a form is a distinction; and; indeed; I find it mentioned; rather inconsistently; in my note…book; a little further on; as 〃extremely simple and grand。〃 The nave is spoken of in the same volume as 〃big; serious; and Gothic;〃 though the choir and transepts are noted as very shallow。 But it is not denied that the air of the whole thing is original and striking; and it would therefore app