第 84 节
作者:这就是结局      更新:2021-02-20 15:59      字数:9322
  hour。  Tallien; the Macduff to the doomed Macbeth; is whispering
  courage to his pale conspirators。  Along the streets heavily roll
  the tumbrils。  The shops are closed;the people are gorged with
  gore; and will lap no more。  And night after night; to the eighty
  theatres flock the children of the Revolution; to laugh at the
  quips of comedy; and weep gentle tears over imaginary woes!
  In a small chamber; in the heart of the city; sits the mother;
  watching over her child。  It is quiet; happy noon; the sunlight;
  broken by the tall roofs in the narrow street; comes yet through
  the open casement; the impartial playfellow of the air; gleesome
  alike in temple and prison; hall and hovel; as golden and as
  blithe; whether it laugh over the first hour of life; or quiver
  in its gay delight on the terror and agony of the last!  The
  child; where it lay at the feet of Viola; stretched out its
  dimpled hands as if to clasp the dancing motes that revelled in
  the beam。  The mother turned her eyes from the glory; it saddened
  her yet more。  She turned and sighed。
  Is this the same Viola who bloomed fairer than their own Idalia
  under the skies of Greece?  How changed!  How pale and worn!  She
  sat listlessly; her arms dropping on her knee; the smile that was
  habitual to her lips was gone。  A heavy; dull despondency; as if
  the life of life were no more; seemed to weigh down her youth;
  and make it weary of that happy sun!  In truth; her existence had
  languished away since it had wandered; as some melancholy stream;
  from the source that fed it。  The sudden enthusiasm of fear or
  superstition that had almost; as if still in the unconscious
  movements of a dream; led her to fly from Zanoni; had ceased from
  the day which dawned upon her in a foreign land。  Thenthere
  she felt that in the smile she had evermore abandoned lived her
  life。  She did not repent;she would not have recalled the
  impulse that winged her flight。  Though the enthusiasm was gone;
  the superstition yet remained; she still believed she had saved
  her child from that dark and guilty sorcery; concerning which the
  traditions of all lands are prodigal; but in none do they find
  such credulity; or excite such dread; as in the South of Italy。
  This impression was confirmed by the mysterious conversations of
  Glyndon; and by her own perception of the fearful change that had
  passed over one who represented himself as the victim of the
  enchanters。  She did not; therefore; repent; but her very
  volition seemed gone。
  On their arrival at Paris; Viola saw her companionthe faithful
  wifeno more。  Ere three weeks were passed; husband and wife had
  ceased to live。
  And now; for the first time; the drudgeries of this hard earth
  claimed the beautiful Neapolitan。  In that profession; giving
  voice and shape to poetry and song; in which her first years were
  passed; there is; while it lasts; an excitement in the art that
  lifts it from the labour of a calling。  Hovering between two
  lives; the Real and Ideal; dwells the life of music and the
  stage。  But that life was lost evermore to the idol of the eyes
  and ears of Naples。  Lifted to the higher realm of passionate
  love; it seemed as if the fictitious genius which represents the
  thoughts of others was merged in the genius that grows all
  thought itself。  It had been the worst infidelity to the Lost; to
  have descended again to live on the applause of others。  And so
  for she would not accept alms from Glyndonso; by the commonest
  arts; the humblest industry which the sex knows; alone and
  unseen; she who had slept on the breast of Zanoni found a shelter
  for their child。  As when; in the noble verse prefixed to this
  chapter; Armida herself has destroyed her enchanted palace;not
  a vestige of that bower; raised of old by Poetry and Love;
  remained to say; 〃It had been!〃
  And the child avenged the father; it bloomed; it thrived;it
  waxed strong in the light of life。  But still it seemed haunted
  and preserved by some other being than her own。  In its sleep
  there was that slumber; so deep and rigid; which a thunderbolt
  could not have disturbed; and in such sleep often it moved its
  arms; as to embrace the air:  often its lips stirred with
  murmured sounds of indistinct affection;NOT FOR HER; and all
  the while upon its cheeks a hue of such celestial bloom; upon its
  lips a smile of such mysterious joy!  Then; when it waked; its
  eyes did not turn first to HER;wistful; earnest; wandering;
  they roved around; to fix on her pale face; at last; in mute
  sorrow and reproach。
  Never had Viola felt before how mighty was her love for Zanoni;
  how thought; feeling; heart; soul; life;all lay crushed and
  dormant in the icy absence to which she had doomed herself!  She
  heard not the roar without; she felt not one amidst those stormy
  millions;worlds of excitement labouring through every hour。
  Only when Glyndon; haggard; wan; and spectre…like; glided in; day
  after day; to visit her; did the fair daughter of the careless
  South know how heavy and universal was the Death…Air that girt
  her round。  Sublime in her passive unconsciousness;her mechanic
  life;she sat; and feared not; in the den of the Beasts of Prey。
  The door of the room opened abruptly; and Glyndon entered。  His
  manner was more agitated than usual。
  〃Is it you; Clarence?〃 she said in her soft; languid tones。  〃You
  are before the hour I expected you。〃
  〃Who can count on his hours at Paris?〃 returned Glyndon; with a
  frightful smile。  〃Is it not enough that I am here!  Your apathy
  in the midst of these sorrows appalls me。  You say calmly;
  'Farewell;' calmly you bid me; 'Welcome!'as if in every corner
  there was not a spy; and as if with every day there was not a
  massacre!〃
  〃Pardon me!  But in these walls lies my world。  I can hardly
  credit all the tales you tell me。  Everything here; save THAT;〃
  and she pointed to the infant; 〃seems already so lifeless; that
  in the tomb itself one could scarcely less heed the crimes that
  are done without。〃
  Glyndon paused for a few moments; and gazed with strange and
  mingled feelings upon that face and form; still so young; and yet
  so invested with that saddest of all repose;when the heart
  feels old。
  〃O Viola;〃 said he; at last; and in a voice of suppressed
  passion; 〃was it thus I ever thought to see you;ever thought to
  feel for you; when we two first met in the gay haunts of Naples?
  Ah; why then did you refuse my love; or why was mine not worthy
  of you?  Nay; shrink not!let me touch your hand。  No passion so
  sweet as that youthful love can return to me again。  I feel for
  you but as a brother for some younger and lonely sister。  With
  you; in your presence; sad though it be; I seem to breathe back
  the purer air of my early life。  Here alone; except in scenes of
  turbulence and tempest; the Phantom ceases to pursue me。  I
  forget even the Death that stalks behind; and haunts me as my
  shadow。  But better days may be in store for us yet。  Viola; I at
  last begin dimly to perceive how to baffle and subdue the Phantom
  that has cursed my life;it is to brave; and defy it。  In sin
  and in riot; as I have told thee; it haunts me not。  But I
  comprehend now what Mejnour said in his dark apothegms; 'that I
  should dread the spectre most WHEN UNSEEN。'  In virtuous and calm
  resolution it appears;ay; I behold it now; there; there; with
  its livid eyes!〃and the drops fell from his brow。  〃But it
  shall no longer daunt me from that resolution。  I face it; and it
  gradually darkens back into the shade。〃  He paused; and his eyes
  dwelt with a terrible exultation upon the sunlit space; then;
  with a heavy and deep…drawn breath; he resumed; 〃Viola; I have
  found the means of escape。  We will leave this city。  In some
  other land we will endeavour to comfort each other; and forget
  the past。〃
  〃No;〃 said Viola; calmly; 〃I have no further wish to stir; till I
  am born hence to the last resting…place。  I dreamed of him last
  night; Clarence!dreamed of him for the first time since we
  parted; and; do not mock me; methought that he forgave the
  deserter; and called me 'Wife。'  That dream hallows the room。
  Perhaps it will visit me again before I die。〃
  〃Talk not of him;of the demi…fiend!〃 cried Glyndon; fiercely;
  and stamping his foot。  〃Thank the Heavens for any fate that hath
  rescued thee from him!〃
  〃Hush!〃 said Viola; gravely。  And as she was about to proceed;
  her eye fell upon the child。  It was standing in the very centre
  of that slanting column of light which the sun poured into the
  chamber; and the rays seemed to surround it as a halo; and
  settled; crown…like; on the gold of its shining hair。  In its
  small shape; so exquisitely modelled; in its large; steady;
  tranquil eyes; there was something that awed; while it charmed
  the mother's pride。  It gazed on Glyndon as he spoke; with a look
  which almost might have seemed disdain; and which Viola; at
  least; interpreted as a defence of the Abs