第 22 节
作者:这就是结局      更新:2021-02-20 15:58      字数:9322
  yourselfperhaps to both of uswhich you court?  Do you know
  that my life; separated from the turbulent herd of men; is one
  worship of the Beautiful; from which I seek to banish what the
  Beautiful inspires in most?  As a calamity; I shun what to man
  seems the fairest fate;the love of the daughters of earth。  At
  present I can warn and save thee from many evils; if I saw more
  of thee; would the power still be mine?  You understand me not。
  What I am about to add; it will be easier to comprehend。  I bid
  thee banish from thy heart all thought of me; but as one whom the
  Future cries aloud to thee to avoid。  Glyndon; if thou acceptest
  his homage; will love thee till the tomb closes upon both。  I;
  too;〃 he added with emotion;〃I; too; might love thee!〃
  〃You!〃 cried Viola; with the vehemence of a sudden impulse of
  delight; of rapture; which she could not suppress; but the
  instant after; she would have given worlds to recall the
  exclamation。
  〃Yes; Viola; I might love thee; but in that love what sorrow and
  what change!  The flower gives perfume to the rock on whose heart
  it grows。  A little while; and the flower is dead; but the rock
  still endures;the snow at its breast; the sunshine on its
  summit。  Pause;think well。  Danger besets thee yet。  For some
  days thou shalt be safe from thy remorseless persecutor; but the
  hour soon comes when thy only security will be in flight。  If the
  Englishman love thee worthily; thy honour will be dear to him as
  his own; if not; there are yet other lands where love will be
  truer; and virtue less in danger from fraud and force。  Farewell;
  my own destiny I cannot foresee except through cloud and shadow。
  I know; at least; that we shall meet again; but learn ere then;
  sweet flower; that there are more genial resting…places than the
  rock。〃
  He turned as he spoke; and gained the outer door where Gionetta
  discreetly stood。  Zanoni lightly laid his hand on her arm。  With
  the gay accent of a jesting cavalier; he said;
  〃The Signor Glyndon woos your mistress; he may wed her。  I know
  your love for her。  Disabuse her of any caprice for me。  I am a
  bird ever on the wing。〃
  He dropped a purse into Gionetta's hand as he spoke; and was
  gone。
  CHAPTER 2。IV。
  Les Intelligences Celestes se font voir; et see communiquent plus
  volontiers; dans le silence et dans la tranquillite de la
  solitude。  On aura donc une petite chambre ou un cabinet secret;
  etc。
  〃Les Clavicules de Rabbi Salomon;〃 chapter 3; traduites
  exactement du texte Hebreu par M。 Pierre Morissoneau; Professeur
  des Langues Orientales; et Sectateur de la Philosophie des Sages
  Cabalistes。  (Manuscript Translation。)
  (The Celestial Intelligences exhibit and explain themselves most
  freely in silence and the tranquillity of solitude。  One will
  have then a little chamber; or a secret cabinet; etc。)
  The palace retained by Zanoni was in one of the less frequented
  quarters of the city。  It still stands; now ruined and
  dismantled; a monument of the splendour of a chivalry long since
  vanished from Naples; with the lordly races of the Norman and the
  Spaniard。
  As he entered the rooms reserved for his private hours; two
  Indians; in the dress of their country; received him at the
  threshold with the grave salutations of the East。  They had
  accompanied him from the far lands in which; according to rumour;
  he had for many years fixed his home。  But they could communicate
  nothing to gratify curiosity or justify suspicion。  They spoke no
  language but their own。  With the exception of these two his
  princely retinue was composed of the native hirelings of the
  city; whom his lavish but imperious generosity made the implicit
  creatures of his will。  In his house; and in his habits; so far
  as they were seen; there was nothing to account for the rumours
  which were circulated abroad。  He was not; as we are told of
  Albertus Magnus or the great Leonardo da Vinci; served by airy
  forms; and no brazen image; the invention of magic mechanism;
  communicated to him the influences of the stars。  None of the
  apparatus of the alchemistthe crucible and the metalsgave
  solemnity to his chambers; or accounted for his wealth; nor did
  he even seem to interest himself in those serener studies which
  might be supposed to colour his peculiar conversation with
  abstract notions; and often with recondite learning。  No books
  spoke to him in his solitude; and if ever he had drawn from them
  his knowledge; it seemed now that the only page he read was the
  wide one of Nature; and that a capacious and startling memory
  supplied the rest。  Yet was there one exception to what in all
  else seemed customary and commonplace; and which; according to
  the authority we have prefixed to this chapter; might indicate
  the follower of the occult sciences。  Whether at Rome or Naples;
  or; in fact; wherever his abode; he selected one room remote from
  the rest of the house; which was fastened by a lock scarcely
  larger than the seal of a ring; yet which sufficed to baffle the
  most cunning instruments of the locksmith:  at least; one of his
  servants; prompted by irresistible curiosity; had made the
  attempt in vain; and though he had fancied it was tried in the
  most favourable time for secrecy;not a soul near; in the dead
  of night; Zanoni himself absent from home;yet his superstition;
  or his conscience; told him the reason why the next day the Major
  Domo quietly dismissed him。  He compensated himself for this
  misfortune by spreading his own story; with a thousand amusing
  exaggerations。  He declared that; as he approached the door;
  invisible hands seemed to pluck him away; and that when he
  touched the lock; he was struck; as by a palsy; to the ground。
  One surgeon; who heard the tale; observed; to the distaste of the
  wonder…mongers; that possibly Zanoni made a dexterous use of
  electricity。  Howbeit; this room; once so secured; was never
  entered save by Zanoni himself。
  The solemn voice of Time; from the neighbouring church at last
  aroused the lord of the palace from the deep and motionless
  reverie; rather resembling a trance than thought; in which his
  mind was absorbed。
  〃It is one more sand out of the mighty hour…glass;〃 said he;
  murmuringly; 〃and yet time neither adds to; nor steals from; an
  atom in the Infinite!  Soul of mine; the luminous; the Augoeides
  (Augoeides;a word favoured by the mystical Platonists; sphaira
  psuches augoeides; otan mete ekteinetai epi ti; mete eso
  suntreche mete sunizane; alla photi lampetai; o ten aletheian opa
  ten panton; kai ten en aute。Marc。 Ant。; lib。 2。The sense of
  which beautiful sentence of the old philosophy; which; as Bayle
  well observes; in his article on Cornelius Agrippa; the modern
  Quietists have (however impotently) sought to imitate; is to the
  effect that 〃the sphere of the soul is luminous when nothing
  external has contact with the soul itself; but when lit by its
  own light; it sees the truth of all things and the truth centred
  in itself。〃); why descendest thou from thy sphere;why from the
  eternal; starlike; and passionless Serene; shrinkest thou back to
  the mists of the dark sarcophagus?  How long; too austerely
  taught that companionship with the things that die brings with it
  but sorrow in its sweetness; hast thou dwelt contented with thy
  majestic solitude?〃
  As he thus murmured; one of the earliest birds that salute the
  dawn broke into sudden song from amidst the orange…trees in the
  garden below his casement; and as suddenly; song answered song;
  the mate; awakened at the note; gave back its happy answer to the
  bird。  He listened; and not the soul he had questioned; but the
  heart replied。  He rose; and with restless strides paced the
  narrow floor。  〃Away from this world!〃 he exclaimed at length;
  with an impatient tone。  〃Can no time loosen its fatal ties?  As
  the attraction that holds the earth in space; is the attraction
  that fixes the soul to earth。  Away from the dark grey planet!
  Break; ye fetters:  arise; ye wings!〃
  He passed through the silent galleries; and up the lofty stairs;
  and entered the secret chamber。
  。。。
  CHAPTER 2。V。
  I and my fellows
  Are ministers of Fate。
  〃The Tempest。〃
  The next day Glyndon bent his steps towards Zanoni's palace。  The
  young man's imagination; naturally inflammable; was singularly
  excited by the little he had seen and heard of this strange
  being;a spell; he could neither master nor account for;
  attracted him towards the stranger。  Zanoni's power seemed
  mysterious and great; his motives kindly and benevolent; yet his
  manners chilling and repellent。  Why at one moment reject
  Glyndon's acquaintance; at another save him from danger?  How had
  Zanoni thus acquired the knowledge of enemies unknown to Glyndon
  himself?  His interest was deeply roused; his gratitude appealed
  to; he resolved to make another effort to conciliate the
  ungracious herbalist。
  The signor was at ho