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Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia-Part7_Samuel Johnson(1709-1784)_English Literature(文学名著)-第2页

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with reproof, went away, convinced of the emptiness of rhetorical

sounds, and the inefficacy of polished periods and studied



sentences.

CHAPTER XIX - A GLIMPSE OF PASTORAL LIFE.



HE was still eager upon the same inquiry; and having heard of a

hermit that lived near the lowest cataract of the Nile, and filled



the whole country with the fame of his sanctity, resolved to visit

his retreat, and inquire whether that felicity which public life



could not afford was to be found in solitude, and whether a man

whose age and virtue made him venerable could teach any peculiar



art of shunning evils or enduring them.

Imlac and the Princess agreed to accompany him, and after the



necessary preparations, they began their journey. Their way lay

through the fields, where shepherds tended their flocks and the



lambs were playing upon the pasture. "This," said the poet, "is

the life which has been often celebrated for its innocence and



quiet; let us pass the heat of the day among the shepherds' tents,

and know whether all our searches are not to terminate in pastoral



simplicity."

The proposal pleased them; and they induced the shepherds, by small



presents and familiar questions, to tell the opinion of their own

state. They were so rude and ignorant, so little able to compare



the good with the evil of the occupation, and so indistinct in

their narratives and descriptions, that very little could be



learned from them. But it was evident that their hearts were

cankered with discontent; that they considered themselves as



condemned to labour for the luxury of the rich, and looked up with

stupid malevolence towards those that were placed above them.



The Princess pronounced with vehemence that she would never suffer

these envious savages to be her companions, and that she should not



soon be desirous of seeing any more specimens of rustic happiness;

but could not believe that all the accounts of primeval pleasures



were fabulous, and was in doubt whether life had anything that

could be justly preferred to the placidgratification of fields and



woods. She hoped that the time would come when, with a few

virtuous and elegant companions, she should gather flowers planted



by her own hands, fondle the lambs of her own ewe, and listen

without care, among brooks and breezes, to one of her maidens



reading in the shade.

CHAPTER XX - THE DANGER OF PROSPERITY.



ON the next day they continued their journey till the heat

compelled them to look round for shelter. At a small distance they



saw a thick wood, which they no sooner entered than they perceived

that they were approaching the habitations of men. The shrubs were



diligently cut away to open walks where the shades ware darkest;

the boughs of opposite trees were artificially interwoven; seats of



flowery turf were raised in vacant spaces; and a rivulet that

wantoned along the side of a winding path had its banks sometimes



opened into small basins, and its stream sometimes obstructed by

little mounds of stone heaped together to increase its murmurs.



They passed slowly through the wood, delighted with such unexpected

accommodations, and entertained each other with conjecturing what



or who he could be that in those rude and unfrequented regions had

leisure and art for such harmlessluxury.



As they advanced they heard the sound of music, and saw youths and

virgins dancing in the grove; and going still farther beheld a



stately palace built upon a hill surrounded by woods. The laws of

Eastern hospitality allowed them to enter, and the master welcomed



them like a man liberal and wealthy.

He was skilful enough in appearances soon to discern that they were






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