ANGELA
玷污是什么意思By William Schwenk Gilbert I am a poor paralyd fellow who,for many years past,has been confined to a bed o r a sofa.For the last six years I have occupied a small room,giving on to one of the si de canals of Venice,and having no one about me but a deaf old woman,who make s my bed and attends to my food；and there I eke out a poor income of about thirty p ounds a year by making water-colour drawings of flowers and fruit（they are the che apest models in Venice），and the I nd to a friend in London,who lls them t o a dealer for small sums.But,on the whole,I am happy and content.
It is necessary that I should describe the position of my room rather minutely.Its onl y window is about five feet above the water of the canal,and above it the hou proj ects some six feet,and overhangs the water,the projecting portion being supporte d by stout piles driven into the bed of the canal.This arrangement has the disadvanta ge（among others）of so limiting my upward view that I am unable to e more than a bout ten feet of the height of the hou immediately opposite to me,although,by re aching as far out of the window as my infirmity will permit,I can e for a considerabl e distance up and down the canal,which does not exceed fifteen feet in width.But,al though I can e but little of the material hou opposite,I can e its refection upsid e down in the canal,and I take a good deal of inverted interest in such of its inhabita nts as show themlves from time to time（always upside down）
on its balconies an d at its windows.
When I first occupied my room,about six years ago,my attention was directed to th e refection of a little girl of thirteen or so（as nearly as I could judge），who pasd e very day on a balcony just above the upward range of my limited field of view.She h ad a glass of flowers and a crucifix on a little table by her side；and as she sat there,i n fine weather,from early morning until dark,working assiduously all the time,I conc luded that she earned her living by needle-work.She was certainly an industrious littl e girl,and,as far as I could judge by her upside-down reflection,neat in her dress an d pretty.She had an old mother,an invalid,who,on warm days,would sit on the balc ony with her,and it interested me to e the little maid wrap the old lady in shawls,a
nd bring pillows for her chair,and a stool for her feet,and every now and again lay do wn her work and kiss and fondle the old lady for half a minute,and then take up he r work again.
Time went by,and as the little maid grew up,her refection grew down,and at last sh e was quite a little woman of,I suppo,sixteen or venteen.I can only work for a c ouple of hours or so in the brightest part of the day,so I had plenty of time on my ha nds in which to watch her movements,and sufficient imagination to weave a little ro mance about her,and to endow her with a beauty which,to a great ext
ent,I had to t ake for granted.I saw—or fancied that I could e—that she began to take an interes t in my reflection（which,of cour,she could e as I could e hers）；and one da y,when it appeared to me that she was looking right at it—that is to say when her ref ection appeared to be looking right at me—I tried the desperate experiment of noddi ng to her,and to my inten delight her refection nodded in reply.And so our two ref ections became known to one another.
It did not take me very long to fall in love with her,but a long time pasd before I co uld make up my mind to do more than nod to her every morning,when the old wom an moved me from my bed to the sofa at the window,and again in the evening,whe n the little maid left the balcony for that day.One day,however,when I saw her refle ction looking at mine,I nodded to her,and threw a flower into the canal.She nodde d veral times in return,and I saw her direct her mother's attention to the incident.T hen every morning I threw a flower into the water for‘good morning'，and another i n the evening for‘goodnight'，and I soon discovered that I had not altogether throw n them in vain,for one day she threw a flower to join mine,and she laughed and clap ped her hands when she saw the two flowers join forces and float away together.An d then every morning and every evening she threw her flower when I threw mine,an
d when th语言转换器
e two flowers met she clapped her hands,and so did I；but when they wer
e parated,as they sometimes were,owing to one o
f them havin
g met an obstructi on whic
h did not catch the other,she threw up her hands in a pretty affectation of de spair,which I tried to imitate but in an English and unsuccessful fashion.And when th
ey were rudely run down by a passing gondola（which happened not unfrequently）she pretended to cry,and I did the same.Then,in pretty pantomime,she would poin t downwards to the sky to tell me that it was Destiny that had caud the shipwrec k of our flowers,and I,in pantomime,not nearly so pretty,would try to convey to he r that Destiny would be kinder next time,and that perhaps tomorrow our flowers wo uld be more fortunate—and so the innocent courtship went on.One day she showe d me her crucifix and kisd it,and thereupon I took a little silver crucifix that alway s stood by me,and kisd that,and so she knew that we were one in religion.
faithfullyOne day the little maid did not appear on her balcony,and for veral days I saw noth ing of her；an
d although I threw my flowers as usual,no flower came to keep it comp any.However,after a time,she reappeared,dresd in black,and crying often,and th en I knew that the poor child's mother was dead,and,as far as I knew,she was alon
e in the world.The flowers came no more for many days,nor did she show any sign o
f recognition,but kept her eyes on her work,except when she placed her handkerchi ef to them.And opposite to her was the old lady's chair,and I could e that,from ti me to time,she would lay down her work and gaze at it,and then a food of tears wo uld come to her relief.But at last one day she roud herlf to nod to me,and then h er flower came,day by day,and my flower went forth to join it,and with varyin
g fort unes the two flowers sailed away as of yore.
But the darkest day of all to me was when a good-looking young gondolier,standing r ight end uppermost in his gon-dola（for I could e him in the flesh），worked his cr aft alongside the hou,and stood talking to her as she sat on the balcony.They e med to speak as old friends—indeed,as well as I could make out,he held her by th e hand during the whole of their interview which lasted quite half an hour.Eventuall y he pushed off,and left my heart heavy within me.But I soon took
heart of grace,fo r as soon as he was out of sight,the little maid threw two flowers growing on the sa me stem—an allegory of which I could make nothing,until it broke upon me that sh e meant to convey to me that he and she were brother and sister,and that I had no c au to be sad.And thereupon I nodded to her cheerily,and she nodded to me,and l aughed aloud,and I laughed in return,and all went on again as before.
Then came a dark and dreary time,for it became necessary that I should undergo tre atment that confined me absolutely to my bed for many days,and I worried and frett ed to think that the little maid and I should e each other no longer,and wor stil l,that she would think that I had gone away without even hinting to her that I was g oing.And I lay awake at night wondering how I could let her know the truth,and fift y plans fitted through my brain,all appearing to be feasible enough at night,but abso lutely wild and impracticable in the morning.One day—and it was a bright day indee d for me—the old woman who tended me told me that a gondolier had inquired whe ther the English signor had gone away or had died；and so I learnt that the little mai
d had been anxious about me,and that sh
四个月宝宝早教e had nt her brother to inquire,and th
i just wanna live
e brother had no doubt taken to her the reason o
f my protracted abnce from the w indow.
From that day,and ever after during my three weeks of bed-keeping,a flower was fo und every morning on the ledge of my window,which was within easy reach of anyo ne in a boat；and when at last a day came when I could be moved,I took my accusto med place on my sofa at the window,and the little maid saw me,and stood on her h ead（so to speak）and clapped her hands upside down with a delight that was as el oquent as my right-end-up delight could be.And so the first time the gondolier pas d my window I beckoned to him,and he pushed alongside,and told me,with many b right smiles,that he was glad indeed to e me well again.Then I thanked him and hi s sister for their many kind thoughts about me during my retreat,and I then learnt fr om him that her name was Angela,and that she was the best and purest maiden in al l Venice,and that anyone might think himlf happy indeed who could call her siste r,but that he was happier even than her brother,for he was to be married to her,an d indeed they were to be married the next day.
terminalsThereupon my heart emed to swell to bursting,and the blood rushed through my v eins so that I could hear it and nothing el for a while.I managed at last to stamme r forth some words of awkwar翻译招聘
d congratulation,and he left me,singing merrily,afte r asking permission to bring his bride to e me on the morrow as they returned fro m church.
‘For'，said he，‘my Angela has known you very long—ever since she was a child,an d she has often spoken to me of the poor Englishman who was a good Catholic,an
d who lay all day long for years and years on a sofa at a window,and sh
e had said ove r and over again how dearly she wished she could speak to him and comfort him；an d one day,when you threw a flower into the canal,she asked me whether she migh t throw another,and I told her yes,for he would understand that it meant sympathy
skyrocketf or one sorely afflicted.'
经典英语签名And so I learned that it was pity,and not love,except indeed such love as is akin to pi ty,that prompted her to interest herlf in my welfare,and there was an end of it all. For the two flowers that I thought were on one stem were two flowers tied together （but I could not tell that），and they were meant to indicate that she and the gond olier were affianced lovers,and my expresd pleasure at this symbol delighted her,f or she took it to mean that I rejoiced in her happiness.
And the next day the gondolier came with a train of other gondoliers,all decked in th eir holiday garb,and on his gondola sat Angela,happy,and blushing at her happines s.Then he and she entered the hou in which I dwelt,and came into my room（and i t was strange indeed,after so many years of inversion,to e her with her head abov e her feet！），and then she wished me happiness and a speedy restoration to good h ealth（which could never be）；and I in broken words and with tears in my eyes,gav e her the little silver crucifix that had stood by my bed or my table for so many years. And Angela took it reverently,and crosd herlf,and kisd it,and so departed wit h her delighted husband.
And as I heard the song of the gondoliers as they went their way—the song dying aw ay in the distance as the shadows of the sundown clod around me—I felt that the y were singing the requiem of the only love that had ever entered my heart.
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