第 175 节
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左思右想 更新:2021-02-19 19:48 字数:9322
old carriage drove away。
Then came his Transparency the Duke and Transparent
family; with his great officers of state and household。 He
bowed serenely to everybody。 And amid the saluting of
the guards and the flaring of the torches of the running
footmen; clad in scarlet; the Transparent carriages drove
away to the old Ducal schloss; with its towers and
pinacles standing on the schlossberg。 Everybody in
Pumpernickel knew everybody。 No sooner was a foreigner seen
there than the Minister of Foreign Affairs; or some other
great or small officer of state; went round to the Erbprinz
and found out the name of the new arrival。
We watched them; too; out of the theatre。 Tapeworm
had just walked off; enveloped in his cloak; with which
his gigantic chasseur was always in attendance; and
looking as much as possible like Don Juan。 The Prime
Minister's lady had just squeezed herself into her sedan;
and her daughter; the charming Ida; had put on her
calash and clogs; when the English party came out; the
boy yawning drearily; the Major taking great pains in
keeping the shawl over Mrs。 Osborne's head; and Mr。
Sedley looking grand; with a crush opera…hat on one side
of his head and his hand in the stomach of a voluminous
white waistcoat。 We took off our hats to our acquaintances
of the table d'hote; and the lady; in return; presented us
with a little smile and a curtsey; for which
everybody might be thankful。
The carriage from the inn; under the superintendence
of the bustling Mr。 Kirsch; was in waiting to convey the
party; but the fat man said he would walk and smoke his
cigar on his way homewards; so the other three; with
nods and smiles to us; went without Mr。 Sedley; Kirsch;
with the cigar case; following in his master's wake。
We all walked together and talked to the stout gentleman
about the agremens of the place。 It was very agreeable
for the English。 There were shooting…parties and
battues; there was a plenty of balls and entertainments at
the hospitable Court; the society was generally good; the
theatre excellent; and the living cheap。
〃And our Minister seems a most delightful and affable
person;〃 our new friend said。 '~With such a representative;
andand a good medical man; I can fancy the place to
be most eligible。 Good…night; gentlemen。〃 And Jos
creaked up the stairs to bedward; followed by Kirsch with
a flambeau。 We rather hoped that nice…looking woman
would be induced to stay some time in the town。
CHAPTER LXIII
In Which We Meet an Old Acquaintance
Such polite behaviour as that of Lord Tapeworm did
not fail to have the most favourable effect upon Mr。
Sedley's mind; and the very next morning; at breakfast; he
pronounced his opinion that Pumpernickel was the
pleasantest little place of any which he had visited on their
tour。 Jos's motives and artifices were not very difficult
of comprehension; and Dobbin laughed in his sleeve; like
a hypocrite as he was; when he found; by the knowing air
of the civilian and the offhand manner in which the
latter talked about Tapeworm Castle and the other members
of the family; that Jos had been up already in the morning;
consulting his travelling Peerage。 Yes; he had seen
the Right Honourable the Earl of Bagwig; his lordship's
father; he was sure he had; he had met him atat the
Leveedidn't Dob remember? and when the Diplomatist
called on the party; faithful to his promise; Jos received
him with such a salute and honours as were seldom
accorded to the little Envoy。 He winked at Kirsch on his
Excellency's arrival; and that emissary; instructed before…
hand; went out and superintended an entertainment of
cold meats; jellies; and other delicacies; brought in upon
trays; and of which Mr。 Jos absolutely insisted that his
noble guest should partake。
Tapeworm; so long as he could have an opportunity of
admiring the bright eyes of Mrs。 Osborne (whose freshness
of complexion bore daylight remarkably well) was
not ill pleased to accept any invitation to stay in Mr。
Sedley's lodgings; he put one or two dexterous questions
to him about India and the dancing…girls there; asked
Amelia about that beautiful boy who had been with her;
and complimented the astonished little woman upon the
prodigious sensation which she had made in the house;
and tried to fascinate Dobbin by talking of the late war
and the exploits of the Pumpernickel contingent under the
command of the Hereditary Prince; now Duke of
Pumpernickel。
Lord Tapeworm inherited no little portion of the family
gallantry; and it was his happy belief that almost every
woman upon whom he himself cast friendly eyes was in
love with him。 He left Emmy under the persuasion that
she was slain by his wit and attractions and went home to
his lodgings to write a pretty little note to her。 She was
not fascinated; only puzzled; by his grinning; his simpering;
his scented cambric handkerchief; and his high…heeled
lacquered boots。 She did not understand one…half the
compliments which he paid; she had never; in her small
experience of mankind; met a professional ladies' man as
yet; and looked upon my lord as something curious rather
than pleasant; and if she did not admire; certainly
wondered at him。 Jos; on the contrary; was delighted。 〃How
very affable his Lordship is;〃 he said; 〃How very kind of
his Lordship to say he would send his medical man!
Kirsch; you will carry our cards to the Count de
Schlusselback directly; the Major and I will have the
greatest pleasure in paying our respects at Court as soon
as possible。 Put out my uniform; Kirschboth our
uniforms。 It is a mark of politeness which every English
gentleman ought to show to the countries which he visits
to pay his respects to the sovereigns of those countries
as to the representatives of his own。〃
When Tapeworm's doctor came; Doctor von Glauber;
Body Physician to H。S。H。 the Duke; he speedily
convinced Jos that the Pumpernickel mineral springs and
the Doctor's particular treatment would infallibly restore
the Bengalee to youth and slimness。 〃Dere came here last
year;〃 he said; 〃Sheneral Bulkeley; an English Sheneral;
tvice so pic as you; sir。 I sent him back qvite tin after
tree months; and he danced vid Baroness Glauber at
the end of two。〃
Jos's mind was made up; the springs; the Doctor; the
Court; and the Charge d'Affaires convinced him; and he
proposed to spend the autumn in these delightful
quarters。 And punctual to his word; on the next day the
Charge d'Affaires presented Jos and the Major to Victor
Aurelius XVII; being conducted to their audience with
that sovereign by the Count de Schlusselback; Marshal
of the Court。
They were straightway invited to dinner at Court; and
their intention of staying in the town being announced;
the politest ladies of the whole town instantly called upon
Mrs。 Osborne; and as not one of these; however poor
they might be; was under the rank of a Baroness; Jos's
delight was beyond expression。 He wrote off to Chutney
at the Club to say that the Service was highly appreciated
in Germany; that he was going to show his friend; the
Count de Schlusselback; how to stick a pig in the Indian
fashion; and that his august friends; the Duke and
Duchess; were everything that was kind and civil。
Emmy; too; was presented to the august family; and as
mourning is not admitted in Court on certain days; she
appeared in a pink crape dress with a diamond ornament
in the corsage; presented to her by her brother; and
she looked so pretty in this costume that the Duke and
Court (putting out of the question the Major; who had
scarcely ever seen her before in an evening dress; and
vowed that she did not look five…and…twenty) all admired
her excessively。
In this dress she walked a Polonaise with Major Dobbin
at a Court ball; in which easy dance Mr。 Jos had the
honour of leading out the Countess of Schlusselback;
an old lady with a hump back; but with sixteen good
quarters of nobility and related to half the royal houses
of Germany。
Pumpernickel stands in the midst of a happy valley
through which sparklesto mingle with the Rhine
somewhere; but I have not the map at hand to say exactly at
what pointthe fertilizing stream of the Pump。 In some
places the river is big enough to support a ferry…boat; in
others to turn a mill; in Pumpernickel itself; the last
Transparency but three; the great and renowned Victor
Aurelius XIV built a magnificent bridge; on which his
own statue rises; surrounded by water…nymphs and
emblems of victory; peace; and plenty; he has his foot on the
neck of a prostrate Turkhistory says he engaged and
ran a Janissary through the body at the relief of Vienna
by Sobieskibut; quite undisturbed by the agonies
of that prostrate Mahometan; who writhes at his feet in
the most ghastly manner; the Prince smiles blandly and
points with his truncheon in the direction of the Aurelius
Platz; where he began to erect a new palace that would
have been the wonder of his age had the great…souled
Prince but had funds to complete it。 But the completion
of Monplaisir (Monblaisir the honest German folks call
it) was stopped for lack of ready money; and it and its
park and garden are now in rather a faded condition;
and not mor