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