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

The Underground City-Part14_JULES VERNE(1828-1905)_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


While it remained unworked, the mine had been a safe enough

place of refuge, secure from all search or pursuit. But now,



circumstances being altered, it became difficult to conceal this

lurking-place, and it might reasonably be hoped they were gone,



and that nothing for the future was to be dreaded from them.

James Starr, however, could not feel sure about it;



neither could Harry be satisfied on the subject, often repeating,

"Nell has clearly been mixed up with all this secret business.



If she had nothing more to fear, why should she keep silence?

It cannot be doubted that she is happy with us. She likes us all--



she adores my mother. Her absolute silence as to her former life,

when by speaking out she might benefit us, proves to me that some



awful secret, which she dares not reveal, weighs on her mind.

It may also be that she believes it better for us, as well as for herself,



that she should remain mute in a way otherwise so unaccountable."

In consequence of these opinions, it was agreed by common consent



to avoid all allusion to the maiden's former mode of life.

One day, however, Harry was led to make known to Nell what



James Starr, his father, mother, and himself believed they owed

to her interference.



It was a fete-day. The miners made holiday on the surface of

the county of Stirling as well as in its subterraneous domains.



Parties of holiday-makers were moving about in all directions.

Songs resounded in many places beneath the sonorous vaults



of New Aberfoyle. Harry and Nell left the cottage, and slowly

walked along the left bank of Loch Malcolm.



Then the electric brilliance darted less vividly, and the rays were

interrupted with fantastic effect by the sharp angles of the picturesque



rocks which supported the dome. This imperfect light suited Nell,

to whose eyes a glare was very unpleasant.



"Nell," said Harry, "your eyes are not fit for daylight yet,

and could not bear the brightness of the sun."



"Indeed they could not," replied the girl; "if the sun is such as you

describe it to me, Harry."



"I cannot by any words, Nell, give you an idea either of his splendor

or of the beauty of that universe which your eyes have never beheld.



But tell me, is it really possible that, since the day when you

were born in the depths of the coal mine, you never once have been



up to the surface of the earth?"

"Never once, Harry," said she; "I do not believe that,



even as an infant, my father or mother ever carried me thither.

I am sure I should have retained some impression of the open



air if they had."

"I believe you would," answered Harry. "Long ago, Nell, many children



used to live altogether in the mine; communication was then difficult,

and I have met with more than one young person, quite as ignorant as you



are of things above-ground. But now the railway through our great

tunnel takes us in a few minutes to the upper regions of our country.



I long, Nell, to hear you say, 'Come, Harry, my eyes can bear daylight,

and I want to see the sun! I want to look upon the works



of the Almighty.'"

"I shall soon say so, Harry, I hope," replied the girl;



"I shall soon go with you to the world above; and yet--"

"What are you going to say, Nell?" hastily cried Harry; "can you



possibly regret having quitted that gloomy abyss in which you

spent your early years, and whence we drew you half dead?"



"No, Harry," answered Nell; "I was only thinking that darkness is

beautiful as well as light. If you but knew what eyes accustomed



to its depth can see! Shades flit by, which one longs to follow;

circles mingle and intertwine, and one could gaze on them forever;



black hollows, full of indefinite gleams of radiance, lie deep

at the bottom of the mine. And then the voice-like sounds!



Ah, Harry! one must have lived down there to understand what I feel,

what I can never express."



"And were you not afraid, Nell, all alone there?"

"It was just when I was alone that I was not afraid."



Nell's voice altered slightly as she said these words; however, Harry




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