登陆注册
4280900000014

第14章

"He spoke with a strong guttural roll. His voice, at least as powerful as that of Charles Nordier's Oudet, threw an incredible fulness of tone into the syllable or the consonant in which this burr was sounded. Though this faulty pronunciation was at times a grace, when commanding his men, or when he was excited, you cannot imagine, unless you had heard it, what force was expressed by this accent, which at Paris is so common. When the Colonel was quiescent, his blue eyes were angelically sweet, and his smooth brow had a most charming expression.

On parade, or with the army of Italy, not a man could compare with him. Indeed, d'Orsay himself, the handsome d'Orsay, was eclipsed by our colonel on the occasion of the last review held by Napoleon before the invasion of Russia.

"Everything was in contrasts in this exceptional man. Passion lives on contrast. Hence you need not ask whether he exerted over women the irresistible influences to which our nature yields"--and the general looked at the Princesse de Cadignan--"as vitreous matter is moulded under the pipe of the glass-blower; still, by a singular fatality--an observer might perhaps explain the phenomenon--the Colonel was not a lady-killer, or was indifferent to such successes.

"To give you an idea of his violence, I will tell you in a few words what I once saw him do in a paroxysm of fury. We were dragging our guns up a very narrow road, bordered by a somewhat high slope on one side, and by thickets on the other. When we were half-way up we met another regiment of artillery, its colonel marching at the head. This colonel wanted to make the captain who was at the head of our foremost battery back down again. The captain, of course, refused; but the colonel of the other regiment signed to his foremost battery to advance, and in spite of the care the driver took to keep among the scrub, the wheel of the first gun struck our captain's right leg and broke it, throwing him over on the near side of his horse. All this was the work of a moment. Our Colonel, who was but a little way off, guessed that there was a quarrel; he galloped up, riding among the guns at the risk of falling with his horse's four feet in the air, and reached the spot, face to face with the other colonel, at the very moment when the captain fell, calling out 'Help!' No, our Italian colonel was no longer human! Foam like the froth of champagne rose to his lips; he roared inarticulately like a lion. Incapable of uttering a word, or even a cry, he made a terrific signal to his antagonist, pointing to the wood and drawing his sword. The two colonels went aside. In two seconds we saw our Colonel's opponent stretched on the ground, his skull split in two. The soldiers of his regiment backed--yes, by heaven, and pretty quickly too.

"The captain, who had been so nearly crushed, and who lay yelping in the puddle where the gun carriage had thrown him, had an Italian wife, a beautiful Sicilian of Messina, who was not indifferent to our Colonel. This circumstance had aggravated his rage. He was pledged to protect the husband, bound to defend him as he would have defended the woman herself.

"Now, in the hovel beyond Zembin, where I was so well received, this captain was sitting opposite to me, and his wife was at the other end of the table, facing the Colonel. This Sicilian was a little woman named Rosina, very dark, but with all the fire of the Southern sun in her black almond-shaped eyes. At this moment she was deplorably thin;her face was covered with dust, like fruit exposed to the drought of a highroad. Scarcely clothed in rags, exhausted by marches, her hair in disorder, and clinging together under a piece of a shawl tied close over her head, still she had the graces of a woman; her movements were engaging, her small rose mouth and white teeth, the outline of her features and figure, charms which misery, cold, and neglect had not altogether defaced, still suggested love to any man who could think of a woman. Rosina had one of those frames which are fragile in appearance, but wiry and full of spring. Her husband, a gentleman of Piedmont, had a face expressive of ironical simplicity, if it is allowable to ally the two words. Brave and well informed, he seemed to know nothing of the connections which had subsisted between his wife and the Colonel for three years past. I ascribed this unconcern to Italian manners, or to some domestic secret; yet there was in the man's countenance one feature which always filled me with involuntary distrust. His under lip, which was thin and very restless, turned down at the corners instead of turning up, and this, as I thought, betrayed a streak of cruelty in a character which seemed so phlegmatic and indolent.

"As you may suppose the conversation was not very sparkling when I went in. My weary comrades ate in silence; of course, they asked me some questions, and we related our misadventures, mingled with reflections on the campaign, the generals, their mistakes, the Russians, and the cold. A minute after my arrival the colonel, having finished his meagre meal, wiped his moustache, bid us good-night, shot a black look at the Italian woman, saying, 'Rosina?' and then, without waiting for a reply, went into the little barn full of hay, to bed.

同类推荐
  • 观虚空藏菩萨经

    观虚空藏菩萨经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • The Dark Flower

    The Dark Flower

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 孝经注疏

    孝经注疏

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 法门名义集

    法门名义集

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 医闾漫记

    医闾漫记

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 安放

    安放

    安放,我们过去经常听到的安放,好像专门被有名目的逝去者使用。我们听到有义正严辞的声音在高处说,某某某某被安放在某某某某革命公墓。按常识,向台面上摆放一个大的玻璃瓶,再贵重再谨慎,也不会使用安放,那只是放,不涉及到“安”。可是我想,安放应当是对应着一切生命的。作为大地,它有责任安放每一个落地者,不分尊卑高下,它要像他们不可选择地依赖于它那样,使他们得到安生,这是它必尽的义务。
  • 哈佛教授给学生讲的200个心理健康故事

    哈佛教授给学生讲的200个心理健康故事

    给予心灵营养的成长箴言录,提升心理素质的智慧枕边书。200个心理健康故事,滋养学生的心田。品味百年哈佛的智慧甘泉,锻造和谐阳光的心理素质。
  • 维摩经疏

    维摩经疏

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 五字鉴

    五字鉴

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 上最好的大学:我从清华到普林斯顿

    上最好的大学:我从清华到普林斯顿

    林常乐从准备留学考试,参加培训班到自学,最后成功拿到全美排名第一大学的offer学习运筹学与金融工程。他认为“学习是件很简单的事情”,本书就是他亲笔写就的学习心得。在书中,他与读者分享了他对待学习的心路历程和学习态度,并介绍了看起来有些“不可思议”的学习方法,从科学角度来说,它们具有一定的道理,并且在作者自己身上发挥了良好、甚至神奇的作用。选择是否使用这些方法本身,也是一种极其有益的学习过程。边看书、边思考、边衡量、边抉择的读书过程,便是与作者分享这些经验和经历的收获过程。
  • 正思维心理学

    正思维心理学

    本书实践正能量思维导图,是一本通俗的心理能量书,没有高深的理论,只有易懂的思想,通过对心态、行动、交际处事三大方面的正思维引导,告诉你快乐的秘诀,开启成功的大门,从而让你拥有积极向上、幸福完满的人生。
  • 魆王归来

    魆王归来

    江华自小因为灵脉不开被称为废物。终于在16岁的那年被指腹为婚的未婚妻上门退婚。受不了这般打击羞辱的江华,离家出走,寻求成就强者之路,在一个山庙里,意外获得一套超级系统签约,成为系统的新宿主。经过超级系统验证,江华其实并不是灵脉不开,而是万古难遇的空灵脉,但江华的灵脉似乎被人封锁了。在历练中,江华发现,凤凰涅槃才是自己冲破灵脉封锁的途径。此后,开神海,塑灵脉,窃阴阳,炼乾坤,江华踏上强者之路。
  • 此生不换之一世倾心

    此生不换之一世倾心

    她普通大学生一枚,为救一名孕妇而死,穿越成婴儿。他长公主之子,母亲难产而死,父亲从此不问不理。某女看着手里的玉佩无语望天:“说好的保平安呢?把她保在这异世干嘛?她一枚大学生,真不想揍这个热闹。”本以为穿越只是意外,谁曾想……却是命定的。初见,她三岁,他十三岁,他没想到,那个有点啰嗦的小女孩,将是那个影响他一生的人。 再见,十三岁的她亭亭玉立,肩膀上火红的花,让梁上的他乱了呼吸,却被她当作流氓,一掌拍下水。 从此,她便在他心里生了根。她与他定下《黄泉生死契,约定从此一生一世一双人,永生永世永不弃》《男女主身心干净》
  • 麦尔德拉

    麦尔德拉

    黑暗魔君、永生石棺……关于历史谜团“法戈顿”,所有线索都指向莱魔的群山……它或是一段空白历史的真相;或是一件隐秘的物品;也或许根本不曾存在……但一切的一切,把众人引向了黑暗世界。
  • 若是难将息

    若是难将息

    就算时隔多年,我依然觉得,你的怀抱,是这世界上最温暖的地方。她在黑暗的楼道里,抱着自己的肩膀,将自己的脸埋进了自己的怀抱,尝试去哭泣,却发现,自己已经一滴泪都流不出来了。从1993到2003,你在哪里?我在哪里?