贝壳电子书 > 英文原著电子书 > the magic skin >

第70章

the magic skin-第70章

小说: the magic skin 字数: 每页4000字

按键盘上方向键 ← 或 → 可快速上下翻页,按键盘上的 Enter 键可回到本书目录页,按键盘上方向键 ↑ 可回到本页顶部!
————未阅读完?加入书签已便下次继续阅读!




you stay; I shall die。 Do you want to see me die?〃



〃Die?〃 she echoed。 〃Can you die without me? Die? But you are young;

and I love you! Die?〃 she asked; in a deep; hollow voice。 She seized

his hands with a frenzied movement。 〃Cold!〃 she wailed。 〃Is it all an

illusion?〃



Raphael drew the little bit of skin from under his pillow; it was as

tiny and as fragile as a periwinkle petal。 He showed it to her。



〃Pauline!〃 he said; 〃fair image of my fair life; let us say good…bye?〃



〃Good…bye?〃 she echoed; looking surprised。



〃Yes。 This is a talisman that grants me all my wishes; and that

represents my span of life。 See here; this is all that remains of it。

If you look at me any longer; I shall die〃



The young girl thought that Valentin had grown lightheaded; she took

the talisman and went to fetch the lamp。 By its tremulous light which

she shed over Raphael and the talisman; she scanned her lover's face

and the last morsel of the magic skin。 As Pauline stood there; in all

the beauty of love and terror; Raphael was no longer able to control

his thoughts; memories of tender scenes; and of passionate and fevered

joys; overwhelmed the soul that had so long lain dormant within him;

and kindled a fire not quite extinct。



〃Pauline! Pauline! Come to me〃



A dreadful cry came from the girl's throat; her eyes dilated with

horror; her eyebrows were distorted and drawn apart by an unspeakable

anguish; she read in Raphael's eyes the vehement desire in which she

had once exulted; but as it grew she felt a light movement in her

hand; and the skin contracted。 She did not stop to think; she fled

into the next room; and locked the door。



〃Pauline! Pauline!〃 cried the dying man; as he rushed after her; 〃I

love you; I adore you; I want you; Pauline! I wish to die in your

arms!〃



With unnatural strength; the last effort of ebbing life; he broke down

the door; and saw his mistress writhing upon a sofa。 Pauline had

vainly tried to pierce her heart; and now thought to find a rapid

death by strangling herself with her shawl。



〃If I die; he will live;〃 she said; trying to tighten the knot that

she had made。



In her struggle with death her hair hung loose; her shoulders were

bare; her clothing was disordered; her eyes were bathed in tears; her

face was flushed and drawn with the horror of despair; yet as her

exceeding beauty met Raphael's intoxicated eyes; his delirium grew。 He

sprang towards her like a bird of prey; tore away the shawl; and tried

to take her in his arms。



The dying man sought for words to express the wish that was consuming

his strength; but no sounds would come except the choking death…rattle

in his chest。 Each breath he drew sounded hollower than the last; and

seemed to come from his very entrails。 At the last moment; no longer

able to utter a sound; he set his teeth in Pauline's breast。 Jonathan

appeared; terrified by the cries he had heard; and tried to tear away

the dead body from the grasp of the girl who was crouching with it in

a corner。



〃What do you want?〃 she asked。 〃He is mine; I have killed him。 Did I

not foresee how it would be?〃







EPILOGUE



〃And what became of Pauline?〃



〃Pauline? Ah! Do you sometimes spend a pleasant winter evening by your

own fireside; and give yourself up luxuriously to memories of love or

youth; while you watch the glow of the fire where the logs of oak are

burning? Here; the fire outlines a sort of chessboard in red squares;

there it has a sheen like velvet; little blue flames start up and

flicker and play about in the glowing depths of the brasier。 A

mysterious artist comes and adapts that flame to his own ends; by a

secret of his own he draws a visionary face in the midst of those

flaming violet and crimson hues; a face with unimaginable delicate

outlines; a fleeting apparition which no chance will ever bring back

again。 It is a woman's face; her hair is blown back by the wind; her

features speak of a rapture of delight; she breathes fire in the midst

of the fire。 She smiles; she dies; you will never see her any more。

Farewell; flower of the flame! Farewell; essence incomplete and

unforeseen; come too early or too late to make the spark of some

glorious diamond。〃



〃But; Pauline?〃



〃You do not see; then? I will begin again。 Make way! make way! She

comes; she is here; the queen of illusions; a woman fleeting as a

kiss; a woman bright as lightning; issuing in a blaze like lightning

from the sky; a being uncreated; of spirit and love alone。 She has

wrapped her shadowy form in flame; or perhaps the flame betokens that

she exists but for a moment。 The pure outlines of her shape tell you

that she comes from heaven。 Is she not radiant as an angel? Can you

not hear the beating of her wings in space? She sinks down beside you

more lightly than a bird; and you are entranced by her awful eyes;

there is a magical power in her light breathing that draws your lips

to hers; she flies and you follow; you feel the earth beneath you no

longer。 If you could but once touch that form of snow with your eager;

deluded hands; once twine the golden hair round your fingers; place

one kiss on those shining eyes! There is an intoxicating vapor around;

and the spell of a siren music is upon you。 Every nerve in you is

quivering; you are filled with pain and longing。 O joy for which there

is no name! You have touched the woman's lips; and you are awakened at

once by a horrible pang。 Oh! ah! yes; you have struck your head

against the corner of the bedpost; you have been clasping its brown

mahogany sides; and chilly gilt ornaments; embracing a piece of metal;

a brazen Cupid。〃



〃But how about Pauline; sir?〃



〃What; again? Listen。 One lovely morning at Tours a young man; who

held the hand of a pretty woman in his; went on board the Ville

d'Angers。 Thus united they both looked and wondered long at a white

form that rose elusively out of the mists above the broad waters of

the Loire; like some child of the sun and the river; or some freak of

air and cloud。 This translucent form was a sylph or a naiad by turns;

she hovered in the air like a word that haunts the memory; which seeks

in vain to grasp it; she glided among the islands; she nodded her head

here and there among the tall poplar trees; then she grew to a giant's

height; she shook out the countless folds of her drapery to the light;

she shot light from the aureole that the sun had litten about her

face; she hovered above the slopes of the hills and their little

hamlets; and seemed to bar the passage of the boat before the Chateau

d'Usse。 You might have thought that La dame des belles cousines sought

to protect her country from modern intrusion。〃



〃Well; well; I understand。 So it went with Pauline。 But how about

Foedora?〃



〃Oh! Foedora; you are sure to meet with her! She was at the Bouffons

last night; and she will go to the Opera this evening; and if you like

to take it so; she is Society。〃







ADDENDUM



The following personages appear in other stories of the Human Comedy。



Aquilina

  Melmoth Reconciled



Bianchon; Horace

  Father Goriot

  The Atheist's Mass

  Cesar Birotteau

  The Commission in Lunacy

  Lost Illusions

  A Distinguished Provincial at Paris

  A Bachelor's Establishment

  The Secrets of a Princess

  The Government Clerks

  Pierrette

  A Study of Woman

  Scenes from a Courtesan's Life

  Honorine

  The Seamy Side of History

  A Second Home

  A Prince of Bohemia

  Letters of Two Brides

  The Muse of the Department

  The Imaginary Mistress

  The Middle Classes

  Cousin Betty

  The Country Parson

In addition; M。 Bianchon narrated the following:

  Another Study of Woman

  La Grande Breteche



Canalis; Constant…Cyr…Melchior; Baron de

  Letters of Two Brides

  A Distinguished Provincial at Paris

  Modeste Mignon

  Another Study of Woman

  A Start in Life

  B

返回目录 上一页 下一页 回到顶部 0 0

你可能喜欢的