chapter 63

-chapter 63-

When I had concluded my narration, I said, “This is the being whom I

accuse and for whose seizure and punishment I call upon you to exert your

whole power. It is your duty as a magistrate, and I believe and hope that

your feelings as a man will not revolt from the execution of those

functions on this occasion.”

This address caused a considerable change in the physiognomy of my own

auditor. He had heard my story with that half kind of belief that is given

to a tale of spirits and supernatural events; but when he was called upon

to act officially in consequence, the whole tide of his incredulity

returned. He, however, answered mildly, “I would willingly afford you

every aid in your pursuit, but the creature of whom you speak appears to

have powers which would put all my exertions to defiance. Who can follow an

animal which can traverse the sea of ice and inhabit caves and dens where

no man would venture to intrude? Besides, some months have elapsed since

the commission of his crimes, and no one can conjecture to what place he

has wandered or what region he may now inhabit.”

“I do not doubt that he hovers near the spot which I inhabit, and if

he has indeed taken refuge in the Alps, he may be hunted like the chamois

and destroyed as a beast of prey. But I perceive your thoughts; you do not

credit my narrative and do not intend to pursue my enemy with the

punishment which is his desert.”

As I spoke, rage sparkled in my eyes; the magistrate was intimidated.

“You are mistaken,” said he. “I will exert myself, and if

it is in my power to seize the monster, be assured that he shall suffer

punishment proportionate to his crimes. But I fear, from what you have

yourself described to be his properties, that this will prove

impracticable; and thus, while every proper measure is pursued, you should

make up your mind to disappointment.”

“That cannot be; but all that I can say will be of little avail.  My

revenge is of no moment to you; yet, while I allow it to be a vice, I

confess that it is the devouring and only passion of my soul.  My rage

is unspeakable when I reflect that the murderer, whom I have turned

loose upon society, still exists.  You refuse my just demand; I have

but one resource, and I devote myself, either in my life or death, to

his destruction.”

I trembled with excess of agitation as I said this; there was a frenzy

in my manner, and something, I doubt not, of that haughty fierceness

which the martyrs of old are said to have possessed.  But to a Genevan

magistrate, whose mind was occupied by far other ideas than those of

devotion and heroism, this elevation of mind had much the appearance of

madness.  He endeavoured to soothe me as a nurse does a child and

reverted to my tale as the effects of delirium.

“Man,” I cried, “how ignorant art thou in thy pride of

wisdom! Cease; you know not what it is you say.”

I broke from the house angry and disturbed and retired to meditate on

some other mode of action.（注意音频部分有重读情况）

Chapter 24

My present situation was one in which all voluntary thought was

swallowed up and lost.  I was hurried away by fury; revenge alone

endowed me with strength and composure; it moulded my feelings and

allowed me to be calculating and calm at periods when otherwise

delirium or death would have been my portion.

My first resolution was to quit Geneva for ever; my country, which, when I

was happy and beloved, was dear to me, now, in my adversity, became

hateful. I provided myself with a sum of money, together with a few jewels

which had belonged to my mother, and departed.

And now my wanderings began which are to cease but with life. I have

traversed a vast portion of the earth and have endured all the hardships

which travellers in deserts and barbarous countries are wont to meet. How I

have lived I hardly know; many times have I stretched my failing limbs upon

the sandy plain and prayed for death. But revenge kept me alive; I dared

not die and leave my adversary in being.

When I quitted Geneva my first labour was to gain some clue by which I

might trace the steps of my fiendish enemy.  But my plan was unsettled,

and I wandered many hours round the confines of the town, uncertain

what path I should pursue.  As night approached I found myself at the

entrance of the cemetery where William, Elh, and my father

reposed.  I entered it and approached the tomb which marked their

graves.  Everything was silent except the leaves of the trees, which

were gently agitated by the wind; the night was nearly dark, and the

scene would have been solemn and affecting even to an uninterested

observer.  The spirits of the departed seemed to flit around and to

cast a shadow, which was felt but not seen, around the head of the

mourner.

The deep grief which this scene had at first excited quickly gave way to

rage and despair. They were dead, and I lived; their murderer also lived,

and to destroy him I must drag out my weary existence. I knelt on the grass

and kissed the earth and with quivering lips exclaimed, “By the

sacred earth on which I kneel, by the shades that wander near me, by the

deep and eternal grief that I feel, I swear; and by thee, O Night, and the

spirits that preside over thee, to pursue the dæmon who caused this misery,

until he or I shall perish in mortal conflict. For this purpose I will

preserve my life; to execute this dear revenge will I again behold the sun

and tread the green herbage of earth, which otherwise should vanish from my

eyes for ever. And I call on you, spirits of the dead, and on you, wandering

ministers of vengeance, to aid and conduct me in my work. Let the cursed

and hellish monster drink deep of agony; let him feel the despair that now

torments me.”

（1071）

今日短语

1. be of little avail 没有什么用处

2. be wont to习惯于……

3. give way to让步于

4. drag out使……拖延

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