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第12章

massimilla doni-第12章

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music an effect yet more magical than that of the /cadenza/。〃

〃What is that?〃 asked Capraja。

〃The unison of two voices; or of a voice and a violin;the instrument
which has tones most nearly resembling those of the human voice;〃
replied Cataneo。 〃This perfect concord bears us on to the very heart
of life; on the tide of elements which can resuscitate rapture and
carry man up to the centre of the luminous sphere where his mind can
command the whole universe。 You still need a /thema/; Capraja; but the
pure element is enough for me。 You need that the current should flow
through the myriad canals of the machine to fall in dazzling cascades;
while I am content with the pure tranquil pool。 My eye gazes across a
lake without a ripple。 I can embrace the infinite。〃

〃Speak no more; Cataneo;〃 said Capraja; haughtily。 〃What! Do you fail
to see the fairy; who; in her swift rush through the sparkling
atmosphere; collects and binds with the golden thread of harmony; the
gems of melody she smilingly sheds on us? Have you ever felt the touch
of her wand; as she says to Curiosity; 'Awake!' The divinity rises up
radiant from the depths of the brain; she flies to her store of
wonders and fingers them lightly as an organist touches the keys。
Suddenly; up starts Memory; bringing us the roses of the past;
divinely preserved and still fresh。 The mistress of our youth revives;
and strokes the young man's hair。 Our heart; too full; overflows; we
see the flowery banks of the torrent of love。 Every burning bush we
ever knew blazes afresh; and repeats the heavenly words we once heard
and understood。 The voice rolls on; it embraces in its rapid turns
those fugitive horizons; and they shrink away; they vanish; eclipsed
by newer and deeper joysthose of an unrevealed future; to which the
fairy points as she returns to the blue heaven。〃

〃And you;〃 retorted Cataneo; 〃have you never seen the direct ray of a
star opening the vistas above; have you never mounted on that beam
which guides you to the sky; to the heart of the first causes which
move the worlds?〃

To their hearers; the Duke and Capraja were playing a game of which
the premises were unknown。

〃Genovese's voice thrills through every fibre;〃 said Capraja。

〃And la Tinti's fires the blood;〃 replied the Duke。

〃What a paraphrase of happy love is that /cavatina/!〃 Capraja went on。
〃Ah! Rossini was young when he wrote that interpretation of
effervescent ecstasy。 My heart filled with renewed blood; a thousand
cravings tingled in my veins。 Never have sounds more angelic delivered
me more completely from my earthly bonds! Never did the fairy wave
more beautiful arms; smile more invitingly; lift her tunic more
cunningly to display an ankle; raising the curtain that hides my other
life!〃

〃To…morrow; my old friend;〃 replied Cataneo; 〃you shall ride on the
back of a dazzling; white swan; who will show you the loveliest land
there is; you shall see the spring…time as children see it。 Your heart
shall open to the radiance of a new sun; you shall sleep on crimson
silk; under the gaze of a Madonna; you shall feel like a happy lover
gently kissed by a nymph whose bare feet you still may see; but who is
about to vanish。 That swan will be the voice of Genovese; if he can
unite it to its Leda; the voice of Clarina。 To…morrow night we are to
hear /Mose/; the grandest opera produced by Italy's greatest genius。〃

All present left the conversation to the Duke and Capraja; not wishing
to be the victims of mystification。 Only Vendramin and the French
doctor listened to them for a few minutes。 The opium…smoker understood
these poetic flights; he had the key of the palace where those two
sensuous imaginations were wandering。 The doctor; too; tried to
understand; and he understood; for he was one of the Pleiades of
genius belonging to the Paris school of medicine; from which a true
physician comes out as much a metaphysician as an accomplished
analyst。

〃Do you understand them?〃 said Emilio to Vendramin as they left the
cafe at two in the morning。

〃Yes; my dear boy;〃 said Vendramin; taking Emilio home with him。
〃Those two men are of the legion of unearthly spirits to whom it is
given here below to escape from the wrappings of the flesh; who can
fly on the shoulders of the queen of witchcraft up to the blue
empyrean where the sublime marvels are wrought of the intellectual
life; they; by the power of art; can soar whither your immense love
carries you; whither opium transports me。 Then none can understand
them but those who are like them。

〃I; who can inspire my soul by such base means; who can pack a hundred
years of life into a single night; I can understand those lofty
spirits when they talk of that glorious land; deemed a realm of
chimeras by some who think themselves wise; but the realm of reality
to us whom they think mad。 Well; the Duke and Capraja; who were
acquainted at Naples;where Cataneo was born;are mad about music。〃

〃But what is that strange system that Capraja was eager to explain to
the Duke? Did you understand?〃

〃Yes;〃 replied Vendramin。 〃Capraja's great friend is a musician from
Cremona; lodging in the Capello palace; who has a theory that sounds
meet with an element in man; analogous to that which produces ideas。
According to him; man has within him keys acted on by sound; and
corresponding to his nerve…centres; where ideas and sensations take
their rise。 Capraja; who regards the arts as an assemblage of means by
which he can harmonize; in himself; all external nature with another
mysterious nature that he calls the inner life; shares all ideas of
this instrument…maker; who at this moment is composing an opera。

〃Conceive of a sublime creation; wherein the marvels of the visible
universe are reproduced with immeasurable grandeur; lightness;
swiftness; and extension; wherein sensation is infinite; and whither
certain privileged natures; possessed of divine powers; are able to
penetrate; and you will have some notion of the ecstatic joys of which
Cataneo and Capraja were speaking; both poets; each for himself alone。
Only; in matters of the intellect; as soon as a man can rise above the
sphere where plastic art is produced by a process of imitation; and
enter into that transcendental sphere of abstractions where everything
is understood as an elementary principle; and seen in the omnipotence
of results; that man is no longer intelligible to ordinary minds。〃

〃You have thus explained my love for Massimilla;〃 said Emilio。 〃There
is in me; my friend; a force which awakes under the fire of her look;
at her lightest touch; and wafts me to a world of light where effects
are produced of which I dare not speak。 It has seemed to me often that
the delicate tissue of her skin has stamped flowers on mine as her
hand lies on my hand。 Her words play on those inner keys in me; of
which you spoke。 Desire excites my brain; stirring that invisible
world; instead of exciting my passive flesh; the air seems red and
sparkling; unknown perfumes of indescribable strength relax my sinews;
roses wreathe my temples; and I feel as though my blood were escaping
through opened arteries; so complete is my inanition。〃

〃That is the effect on me of smoking opium;〃 replied Vendramin。

〃Then do you wish to die?〃 cried Emilio; in alarm。

〃With Venice!〃 said Vendramin; waving his hand in the direction of San
Marco。 〃Can you see a single pinnacle or spire that stands straight?
Do you not perceive that the sea is claiming its prey?〃

The Prince bent his head; he dared no more speak to his friend of
love。

To know what a free country means; you must have traveled in a
conquered land。

When they reached the Palazzo Vendramin; they saw a gondola moored at
the water…gate。 The Prince put his arm round Vendramin and clasped him
affectionately; saying:

〃Good…night to you; my dear fellow!〃

〃What! a woman? for me; whose only love is Venice?〃 exclaimed Marco。

At this instant the gondolier; who was leaning against a column;
recognizing the man he was to look out for; murmured in Emilio's ear:

〃The Duchess; monseigneur。〃

Emilio sprang into the gondola; where he was seized in a pair of soft
armsan embrace of 

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