酷兔英语
    当前位置:
  1. 首页
  2. 文章
  3. 娱乐英语
  4. 原版小说
  5. 正文

A Simple Soul-Part2_Gustave Flaubert(1821-1880)_Translated Works(翻译文学)-第2页

0 收藏 0 分享 0 赞

章节正文
文章总共2页


began to cough and the season was over, she decided to return to Pont-

l'Eveque.



Monsieur Bourais assisted her in the choice of a college. The one at

Caen was considered the best. So Paul was sent away and bravely said



good-bye to them all, for he was glad to go to live in a house where

he would have boy companions.



Madame Aubain resigned herself to the separation from her son because

it was unavoidable. Virginia brooded less and less over it. Felicite



regretted the noise he made, but soon a new occupation diverted her

mind; beginning from Christmas, she accompanied the little girl to her



catechism lesson every day.

CHAPTER III



After she had made a curtsey at the threshold, she would walk up the

aisle between the double lines of chairs, open Madame Aubain's pew,



sit down and look around.

Girls and boys, the former on the right, the latter on the left-hand



side of the church, filled the stalls of the choir; the priest stood

beside the reading-desk; on one stained window of the side-aisle the



Holy Ghost hovered over the Virgin; on another one, Mary knelt before

the Child Jesus, and behind the alter, a wooden group represented



Saint Michael felling the dragon.

The priest first read a condensed lesson of sacred history. Felicite



evoked Paradise, the Flood, the Tower of Babel, the blazing cities,

the dying nations, the shattered idols; and out of this she developed



a great respect for the Almighty and a great fear of His wrath. Then,

when she had listened to the Passion, she wept. Why had they crucified



Him who loved little children, nourished the people, made the blind

see, and who, out of humility, had wished to be born among the poor,



in a stable? The sowings, the harvests, the wine-presses, all those

familiar things which the Scriptures mention, formed a part of her



life; the word of God sanctified them; and she loved the lambs with

increased tenderness for the sake of the Lamb, and the doves because



of the Holy Ghost.

She found it hard, however, to think of the latter as a person, for



was it not a bird, a flame, and sometimes only a breath? Perhaps it is

its light that at night hovers over swamps, its breath that propels



the clouds, its voice that renders church-bells harmonious. And

Felicite worshipped devoutly, while enjoying the coolness and the



stillness of the church.

As for the dogma, she could not understand it and did not even try.



The priest discoursed, the children recited, and she went to sleep,

only to awaken with a start when they were leaving the church and



their wooden shoes clattered on the stone pavement.

In this way, she learned her catechism, her religious education having



been neglected in her youth; and thenceforth she imitated all

Virginia's religious practices, fasted when she did, and went to



confession with her. At the Corpus-Christi Day they both decorated an

altar.



She worried in advance over Virginia's first communion. She fussed

about the shoes, the rosary, the book and the gloves. With what



nervousness she helped the mother dress the child!

During the entire ceremony, she felt anguished. Monsieur Bourais hid



part of the choir from view, but directly in front of her, the flock

of maidens, wearing white wreaths over their lowered veils, formed a



snow-white field, and she recognised her darling by the slenderness of

her neck and her devout attitude. The bell tinkled. All the heads bent



and there was a silence. Then, at the peals of the organ the singers

and the worshippers struck up the Agnes Dei; the boys' procession



began; behind them came the girls. With clasped hands, they advanced

step by step to the lighted altar, knelt at the first step, received



one by one the Host, and returned to their seats in the same order.

When Virginia's turn came, Felicite leaned forward to watch her, and



through that imagination which springs from true affection, she at

once became the child, whose face and dress became hers, whose heart



beat in her bosom, and when Virginia opened her mouth and closed her

lids, she did likewise and came very near fainting.



The following day, she presented herself early at the church so as to

receive communion from the cure. She took it with the proper feeling,



but did not experience the same delight as on the previous day.

Madame Aubain wished to make an accomplished girl of her daughter; and



as Guyot could not teach English or music, she decided to send her to




文章总共2页
文章标签:翻译  译文  翻译文  

章节正文
Copyright © 2023 Qeto All rights reserved.
商务合作 | 联系我们 | 关于我们 | 版权声明 | 隐私条款 | 如果智培

京ICP备05059198号-1 京公网安备 11011202003401号