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 Passion in the Desert-Part2_Honore de Balzac(1799-1850)_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


panther bounding after him, crying with that saw-like cry more

dreadful even than the sound of her leaping.



"Ah!" he said, "then she's taken a fancy to me, she has never met

anyone before, and it is really quite flattering to have her first



love." That instant the man fell into one of those movable quicksands

so terrible to travelers and from which it is impossible to save



oneself. Feeling himself caught, he gave a shriek of alarm; the

panther seized him with her teeth by the collar, and, springing



vigorously backwards, drew him as if by magic out of the whirling

sand.



"Ah, Mignonne!" cried the soldier, caressing her enthusiastically;

"we're bound together for life and death but no jokes, mind!" and he



retraced his steps.

From that time the desert seemed inhabited. It contained a being to



whom the man could talk, and whose ferocity was rendered gentle by

him, though he could not explain to himself the reason for their



strange friendship. Great as was the soldier's desire to stay upon

guard, he slept.



On awakening he could not find Mignonne; he mounted the hill, and in

the distance saw her springing toward him after the habit of these



animals, who cannot run on account of the extreme flexibility of the

vertebral column. Mignonne arrived, her jaws covered with blood; she



received the wonted caress of her companion, showing with much purring

how happy it made her. Her eyes, full of languor, turned still more



gently than the day before toward the Provencal, who talked to her as

one would to a tame animal.



"Ah! mademoiselle, you are a nice girl, aren't you? Just look at that!

So we like to be made much of, don't we? Aren't you ashamed of



yourself? So you have been eating some Arab or other, have you? That

doesn't matter. They're animals just the same as you are; but don't



you take to eating Frenchmen, or I shan't like you any longer."

She played like a dog with its master, letting herself be rolled over,



knocked about, and stroked, alternately; sometimes she herself would

provoke the soldier, putting up her paw with a soliciting gesture.



Some days passed in this manner. This companionship permitted the

Provencal to appreciate the sublime beauty of the desert; now that he



had a living thing to think about, alternations of fear and quiet, and

plenty to eat, his mind became filled with contrast and his life began



to be diversified.

Solitude revealed to him all her secrets, and enveloped him in her



delights. He discovered in the rising and setting of the sun sights

unknown to the world. He knew what it was to tremble when he heard



over his head the hiss of a bird's wing, so rarely did they pass, or

when he saw the clouds, changing and many colored travelers, melt one



into another. He studied in the night time the effect of the moon upon

the ocean of sand, where the simoom made waves swift of movement and



rapid in their change. He lived the life of the Eastern day, marveling

at its wonderful pomp; then, after having reveled in the sight of a



hurricane over the plain where the whirling sands made red, dry mists

and death-bearing clouds, he would welcome the night with joy, for



then fell the healthfulfreshness of the stars, and he listened to

imaginary music in the skies. Then solitude taught him to unroll the



treasures of dreams. He passed whole hours in remembering mere

nothings, and comparing his present life with his past.



At last he grew passionately fond of the panther; for some sort of

affection was a necessity.



Whether it was that his will powerfully projected had modified the

character of his companion, or whether, because she found abundant



food in her predatory excursions in the desert, she respected the

man's life, he began to fear for it no longer, seeing her so well



tamed.




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