beautiful illusions of its youth. But of this radiantexistence not a

gleam reached the surface of daily life; it escaped the ken of Dumay



and his wife and the Latournelles; the ears of the blind mother alone

caught the crackling of its flame.



The profounddisdain which Modeste now conceived for ordinary men gave

to her face a look of pride, an inexpressible untamed shyness, which



tempered her Teutonic simplicity, and accorded well with a peculiarity

of her head. The hair growing in a point above the forehead seemed the



continuation of a slight line which thought had already furrowed

between the eyebrows, and made the expression of untameability perhaps



a shade too strong. The voice of this charming child, whom her father,

delighting in her wit, was wont to call his "little proverb of



Solomon," had acquired a precious flexibility of organ through the

practice of three languages. This advantage was still further enhanced



by a natural bell-like tone both sweet and fresh, which touched the

heart as delightfully as it did the ear. If the mother could no longer



see the signs of a noble destiny upon her daughter's brow, she could

study the transitions of her soul's development in the accents of that



voice attuned to love.

CHAPTER VI



A MAIDEN'S FIRST ROMANCE

To this period of Modeste's eager rage for reading succeeded the



exercise of a strange faculty given to vigorousimaginations,--the

power, namely, of making herself an actor in a dream-existence; of



representing to her own mind the things desired, with so vivid a

conception that they seemed actually" target="_blank" title="ad.事实上；实际上">actually to attainreality; in short, to



enjoy by thought,--to live out her years within her mind; to marry; to

grow old; to attend her own funeral like Charles V.; to play within



herself the comedy of life and, if need be, that of death. Modeste was

indeed playing, but all alone, the comedy of Love. She fancied herself



adored to the summit of her wishes in many an imagined phase of social

life. Sometimes as the heroine of a dark romance, she loved the



executioner, or the wretch who ended her days upon the scaffold, or,

like her sister, some Parisian youth without a penny, whose struggles



were all beneath a garret-roof. Sometimes she was Ninon, scorning men

amid continual fetes; or some applauded actress, or gay adventuress,



exhausting in her own behalf the luck of Gil Blas, or the triumphs of

Pasta, Malibran, and Florine. Then, weary of the horrors and



excitements, she returned to actual life. She married a notary, she

ate the plain brown bread of honest everyday life, she saw herself a



Madame Latournelle; she accepted a painfulexistence, she bore all the

trials of a struggle with fortune. After that she went back to the



romances: she was loved for her beauty; a son of a peer of France, an

eccentric, artistic young man, divined her heart, recognized the star



which the genius of a De Stael had planted on her brow. Her father

returned, possessing millions. With his permission, she put her



various lovers to certain tests (always carefully guarding her own

independence); she owned a magnificentestate and castle, servants,



horses, carriages, the choicest of everything that luxury could

bestow, and kept her suitors uncertain until she was forty years old,



at which age she made her choice.

This edition of the Arabian Nights in a single copy lasted nearly a



year, and taught Modeste the sense of satiety through thought. She

held her life too often in her hand, she said to herself



philosophically and with too real a bitterness, too seriously, and too

often, "Well, what is it, after all?" not to have plunged to her waist



in the deep disgust which all men of genius feel when they try to

complete by intense toil the work to which they have devoted



themselves. Her youth and her rich nature alone kept Modeste at this

period of her life from seeking to enter a cloister. But this sense of

• hastily [´heistili] ad.急速地；草率地 (初中英语单词)


• readily [´redili] ad.乐意地；容易地 (初中英语单词)


• otherwise [´ʌðəwaiz] ad.另外 conj.否则 (初中英语单词)


• engagement [in´geidʒmənt] n.婚约；雇用；受聘 (初中英语单词)


• poverty [´pɔvəti] n.贫穷(乏，瘠)；不足 (初中英语单词)


• insult [in´sʌlt, ´insʌlt] n.&vt.侮辱；损害 (初中英语单词)


• willing [´wiliŋ] a.情愿的，乐意的 (初中英语单词)


• luxury [´lʌkʃəri] n.奢侈(品)；享受 (初中英语单词)


• spoken [´spəukən] speak的过去分词 (初中英语单词)


• splendor [´splendə] n.壮丽 =splendour (初中英语单词)


• assist [ə´sist] v.协助；援助；搀扶 (初中英语单词)


• descend [di´send] v.下来，下降 (初中英语单词)


• devotion [di´vəuʃən] n.献身；忠诚；热爱 (初中英语单词)


• curiosity [,kjuəri´ɔsiti] n.好奇；奇事；珍品 (初中英语单词)


• imagination [i,mædʒi´neiʃən] n.想象(力) (初中英语单词)


• dramatic [drə´mætik] a.戏剧的；戏剧般的 (初中英语单词)


• innocent [´inəsənt] a.无罪的；单纯的 (初中英语单词)


• passion [´pæʃən] n.激情；激怒；恋爱 (初中英语单词)


• absolutely [´æbsəlu:tli] ad.绝对地；确实 (初中英语单词)


• criminal [´kriminəl] a.犯罪的 n.罪犯 (初中英语单词)


• sharply [´ʃɑ:pli] ad.锋利地；剧烈地 (初中英语单词)


• despair [di´speə] vi.&n.绝望 (初中英语单词)


• unable [ʌn´eibəl] a.不能的；无能为力的 (初中英语单词)


• pardon [´pɑ:dən] n.&vt.原谅；饶恕；赦免 (初中英语单词)


• freely [´fri:li] ad.自由地；慷慨地 (初中英语单词)


• breath [breθ] n.呼吸；气息 (初中英语单词)


• earnest [´ə:nist] a.认真的 n.认真；诚恳 (初中英语单词)


• solemn [´sɔləm] a.严肃的；隆重的 (初中英语单词)


• prophet [´prɔfit] n.预言家；先知；提倡者 (初中英语单词)


• faithful [´feiθfəl] a.忠实的；可靠的 (初中英语单词)


• horror [´hɔrə] n.恐怖；战栗 (初中英语单词)


• failure [´feiljə] n.失败；衰竭；破产 (初中英语单词)


• depression [di´preʃən] n.沮丧，抑郁；萧条 (初中英语单词)


• reading [´ri:diŋ] n.(阅)读；朗读；读物 (初中英语单词)


• brilliant [´briliənt] a.灿烂的；杰出的 (初中英语单词)


• sincere [sin´siə] a.真挚的；直率的 (初中英语单词)


• genius [´dʒi:niəs] n.天才(人物)；天赋 (初中英语单词)


• unhappy [ʌn´hæpi] a.不幸的；不快乐的 (初中英语单词)


• instinct [´instiŋkt] n.本能；直觉；天资 (初中英语单词)


• existence [ig´zistəns] n.存在；生存；生活 (初中英语单词)


• forehead [´fɔrid] n.额，前部 (初中英语单词)


• charming [´tʃɑ:miŋ] a.可爱的；极好的 (初中英语单词)


• advantage [əd´vɑ:ntidʒ] n.优势；利益 (初中英语单词)


• faculty [´fækəlti] n.才干；天赋；院，系 (初中英语单词)


• actually [´æktʃuəli] ad.事实上；实际上 (初中英语单词)


• attain [ə´tein] v.取得；到达；成为 (初中英语单词)


• reality [ri´æliti] n.现实(性)；真实；逼真 (初中英语单词)


• funeral [´fju:nərəl] n.葬礼，丧葬；困难 (初中英语单词)


• romance [rəu´mæns] n.中世纪骑士小说 (初中英语单词)


• actual [´æktʃuəl] a.现实的；实际的 (初中英语单词)


• permission [pə´miʃən] n.允许；同意；许可 (初中英语单词)


• magnificent [mæg´nifisənt] a.壮丽的；豪华的 (初中英语单词)


• estate [i´steit] n.财产；庄园；等级 (初中英语单词)


• uncertain [ʌn´sə:tn] a.不定的；不可靠的 (初中英语单词)


• seriously [´siəriəsli] ad.严肃；严重，重大 (初中英语单词)


• disgust [dis´gʌst] n.厌恶 vt.令(人)作呕 (初中英语单词)


• learned [´lə:nid] a.有学问的，博学的 (高中英语单词)


• horseback [´hɔ:sbæk] n.马背 (高中英语单词)


• perilous [´periləs] a.危险的；冒险的 (高中英语单词)


• seeing [si:iŋ] see的现在分词 n.视觉 (高中英语单词)


• tenderness [´tendənis] n.娇嫩；柔软；温柔 (高中英语单词)


• removal [ri´mu:vəl] a.可移动的；可去除的 (高中英语单词)


• sentinel [´sentinəl] n.哨兵；看守人 (高中英语单词)


• hearing [´hiəriŋ] n.听力；听证会；审讯 (高中英语单词)


• avenge [ə´vendʒ] vt.替…报仇 (高中英语单词)


• elegant [´eligənt] a.文雅的；优美的 (高中英语单词)


• obedience [ə´bi:djəns] n.服从；顺从 (高中英语单词)


• imitate [´imiteit] vt.模仿；伪造 (高中英语单词)


• notwithstanding [,nɔtwiθ´stændiŋ] prep.&conj.虽然；还是 (高中英语单词)


• virgin [´və:dʒin] a.处女(般)的 n.处女 (高中英语单词)


• knight [nait] n.骑士；爵士 (高中英语单词)


• crowded [´kraudid] a.充(拥)满了的 (高中英语单词)


• radiant [´reidiənt] a.发光的 n.光源(体) (高中英语单词)


• profound [prə´faund] a.深奥的；渊博的 (高中英语单词)


• disdain [dis´dein] vt.&n.藐视，轻视 (高中英语单词)


• simplicity [sim´plisiti] n.简单；朴素 (高中英语单词)


• destiny [´destini] n.命运 (高中英语单词)


• vigorous [´vigərəs] a.精力旺盛的；健壮的 (高中英语单词)


• namely [´neimli] ad.即，也就是 (高中英语单词)


• comedy [´kɔmidi] n.喜剧；喜剧场面 (高中英语单词)


• summit [´sʌmit] n.顶(点)；绝顶 (高中英语单词)


• continual [kən´tinjuəl] a.不断的，频繁的 (高中英语单词)


• actress [´æktris] n.女演员 (高中英语单词)


• behalf [bi´hɑ:f] n.利益 (高中英语单词)


• everyday [´evridei] a.每日的，日常的 (高中英语单词)


• painful [´peinfəl] a.痛(苦)的；费力的 (高中英语单词)


• artistic [ɑ:´tistik] a.艺术的；有美感的 (高中英语单词)


• edition [i´diʃən] n.版本；很相似的 (高中英语单词)


• bitterness [´bitənis] n.苦味；辛酸；苦难 (高中英语单词)


• intense [in´tens] a.强烈的；紧张的 (高中英语单词)


• cowardly [´kauədli] a.&ad.胆小的(地) (英语四级单词)


• happening [´hæpəniŋ] n.事件，偶然发生的事 (英语四级单词)


• prudence [´pru:dəns] n.谨慎；慎重；节俭 (英语四级单词)


• parisian [pə´riziən] n.&a.巴黎人(的) (英语四级单词)


• remorse [ri´mɔ:s] n.懊悔；自责；同情 (英语四级单词)


• subordinate [sə´bɔ:dinət] a.次的，附属的 n.部属 (英语四级单词)


• blindness [´blaindnis] n.失明；愚味，文盲 (英语四级单词)


• monotonous [mə´nɔtənəs] a.单(音)调的 (英语四级单词)


• proverb [´prɔvə:b] n.谚语；格言 (英语四级单词)


• heroine [´herəuin] n.女英雄；女主人公 (英语四级单词)


• wretch [retʃ] n.不幸的人；卑鄙的人 (英语四级单词)


• cloister [´klɔistə] n.修道院；隐居处 (英语四级单词)


• desertion [di´zə:ʃən] n.离开，遗弃；潜逃 (英语六级单词)


• mademoiselle [,mædəmə´zel] n.小姐；法国女教师 (英语六级单词)


• vigilance [´vidʒiləns] n.警惕，警戒 (英语六级单词)


• insolence [´insələns] n.傲慢；无礼 (英语六级单词)


• dashing [´dæʃiŋ] a.勇猛的；生气勃勃的 (英语六级单词)


• undergone [,ʌndə´gɔn] undergo的过去分词 (英语六级单词)


• mercenary [´mə:sinəri] a.唯利是图的；雇佣的 (英语六级单词)


• scoundrel [´skaundrəl] n.&a.无赖(的) (英语六级单词)


• gambler [´gæmblə] n.赌徒 (英语六级单词)


• adoration [,ædə´reiʃən] n.崇拜，敬爱 (英语六级单词)


• repentance [ri´pentəns] n.悔悟，悔改；忏悔 (英语六级单词)


• fleeting [´fli:tiŋ] a.飞逝的，疾驰的 (英语六级单词)


• august [ɔ:´gʌst] a.尊严的；威严的 (英语六级单词)


• delightfully [di´laitfuli] ad.大喜，欣然 (英语六级单词)