第 175 节
作者:左思右想      更新:2021-02-19 19:48      字数:9322
  old carriage drove away。
  Then came his Transparency the Duke and Transparent
  family; with his great officers of state and household。  He
  bowed serenely to everybody。  And amid the saluting of
  the guards and the flaring of the torches of the running
  footmen; clad in scarlet; the Transparent carriages drove
  away to the old Ducal schloss; with its towers and
  pinacles standing on the schlossberg。  Everybody in
  Pumpernickel knew everybody。  No sooner was a foreigner seen
  there than the Minister of Foreign Affairs; or some other
  great or small officer of state; went round to the Erbprinz
  and found out the name of the new arrival。
  We watched them; too; out of the theatre。  Tapeworm
  had just walked off; enveloped in his cloak; with which
  his gigantic chasseur was always in attendance; and
  looking as much as possible like Don Juan。  The Prime
  Minister's lady had just squeezed herself into her sedan;
  and her daughter; the charming Ida; had put on her
  calash and clogs; when the English party came out; the
  boy yawning drearily; the Major taking great pains in
  keeping the shawl over Mrs。 Osborne's head; and Mr。
  Sedley looking grand; with a crush opera…hat on one side
  of his head and his hand in the stomach of a voluminous
  white waistcoat。  We took off our hats to our acquaintances
  of the table d'hote; and the lady; in return; presented us
  with a little smile and a curtsey; for which
  everybody might be thankful。
  The carriage from the inn; under the superintendence
  of the bustling Mr。 Kirsch; was in waiting to convey the
  party; but the fat man said he would walk and smoke his
  cigar on his way homewards; so the other three; with
  nods and smiles to us; went without Mr。 Sedley; Kirsch;
  with the cigar case; following in his master's wake。
  We all walked together and talked to the stout gentleman
  about the agremens of the place。  It was very agreeable
  for the English。  There were shooting…parties and
  battues; there was a plenty of balls and entertainments at
  the hospitable Court; the society was generally good; the
  theatre excellent; and the living cheap。
  〃And our Minister seems a most delightful and affable
  person;〃 our new friend said。  '~With such a representative;
  andand a good medical man; I can fancy the place to
  be most eligible。  Good…night; gentlemen。〃 And Jos
  creaked up the stairs to bedward; followed by Kirsch with
  a flambeau。  We rather hoped that nice…looking woman
  would be induced to stay some time in the town。
  CHAPTER LXIII
  In Which We Meet an Old Acquaintance
  Such polite behaviour as that of Lord Tapeworm did
  not fail to have the most favourable effect upon Mr。
  Sedley's mind; and the very next morning; at breakfast; he
  pronounced his opinion that Pumpernickel was the
  pleasantest little place of any which he had visited on their
  tour。  Jos's motives and artifices were not very difficult
  of comprehension; and Dobbin laughed in his sleeve; like
  a hypocrite as he was; when he found; by the knowing air
  of the civilian and the offhand manner in which the
  latter talked about Tapeworm Castle and the other members
  of the family; that Jos had been up already in the morning;
  consulting his travelling Peerage。  Yes; he had seen
  the Right Honourable the Earl of Bagwig; his lordship's
  father; he was sure he had; he had met him atat the
  Leveedidn't Dob remember? and when the Diplomatist
  called on the party; faithful to his promise; Jos received
  him with such a salute and honours as were seldom
  accorded to the little Envoy。  He winked at Kirsch on his
  Excellency's arrival; and that emissary; instructed before…
  hand; went out and superintended an entertainment of
  cold meats; jellies; and other delicacies; brought in upon
  trays; and of which Mr。 Jos absolutely insisted that his
  noble guest should partake。
  Tapeworm; so long as he could have an opportunity of
  admiring the bright eyes of Mrs。 Osborne (whose freshness
  of complexion bore daylight remarkably well) was
  not ill pleased to accept any invitation to stay in Mr。
  Sedley's lodgings; he put one or two dexterous questions
  to him about India and the dancing…girls there; asked
  Amelia about that beautiful boy who had been with her;
  and complimented the astonished little woman upon the
  prodigious sensation which she had made in the house;
  and tried to fascinate Dobbin by talking of the late war
  and the exploits of the Pumpernickel contingent under the
  command of the Hereditary Prince; now Duke of
  Pumpernickel。
  Lord Tapeworm inherited no little portion of the family
  gallantry; and it was his happy belief that almost every
  woman upon whom he himself cast friendly eyes was in
  love with him。  He left Emmy under the persuasion that
  she was slain by his wit and attractions and went home to
  his lodgings to write a pretty little note to her。  She was
  not fascinated; only puzzled; by his grinning; his simpering;
  his scented cambric handkerchief; and his high…heeled
  lacquered boots。  She did not understand one…half the
  compliments which he paid; she had never; in her small
  experience of mankind; met a professional ladies' man as
  yet; and looked upon my lord as something curious rather
  than pleasant; and if she did not admire; certainly
  wondered at him。  Jos; on the contrary; was delighted。  〃How
  very affable his Lordship is;〃 he said; 〃How very kind of
  his Lordship to say he would send his medical man!
  Kirsch; you will carry our cards to the Count de
  Schlusselback directly; the Major and I will have the
  greatest pleasure in paying our respects at Court as soon
  as possible。  Put out my uniform; Kirschboth our
  uniforms。  It is a mark of politeness which every English
  gentleman ought to show to the countries which he visits
  to pay his respects to the sovereigns of those countries
  as to the representatives of his own。〃
  When Tapeworm's doctor came; Doctor von Glauber;
  Body Physician to H。S。H。  the Duke; he speedily
  convinced Jos that the Pumpernickel mineral springs and
  the Doctor's particular treatment would infallibly restore
  the Bengalee to youth and slimness。  〃Dere came here last
  year;〃 he said; 〃Sheneral Bulkeley; an English Sheneral;
  tvice so pic as you; sir。  I sent him back qvite tin after
  tree months; and he danced vid Baroness Glauber at
  the end of two。〃
  Jos's mind was made up; the springs; the Doctor; the
  Court; and the Charge d'Affaires convinced him; and he
  proposed to spend the autumn in these delightful
  quarters。  And punctual to his word; on the next day the
  Charge d'Affaires presented Jos and the Major to Victor
  Aurelius XVII; being conducted to their audience with
  that sovereign by the Count de Schlusselback; Marshal
  of the Court。
  They were straightway invited to dinner at Court; and
  their intention of staying in the town being announced;
  the politest ladies of the whole town instantly called upon
  Mrs。 Osborne; and as not one of these; however poor
  they might be; was under the rank of a Baroness; Jos's
  delight was beyond expression。  He wrote off to Chutney
  at the Club to say that the Service was highly appreciated
  in Germany; that he was going to show his friend; the
  Count de Schlusselback; how to stick a pig in the Indian
  fashion; and that his august friends; the Duke and
  Duchess; were everything that was kind and civil。
  Emmy; too; was presented to the august family; and as
  mourning is not admitted in Court on certain days; she
  appeared in a pink crape dress with a diamond ornament
  in the corsage; presented to her by her brother; and
  she looked so pretty in this costume that the Duke and
  Court (putting out of the question the Major; who had
  scarcely ever seen her before in an evening dress; and
  vowed that she did not look five…and…twenty) all admired
  her excessively。
  In this dress she walked a Polonaise with Major Dobbin
  at a Court ball; in which easy dance Mr。 Jos had the
  honour of leading out the Countess of Schlusselback;
  an old lady with a hump back; but with sixteen good
  quarters of nobility and related to half the royal houses
  of Germany。
  Pumpernickel stands in the midst of a happy valley
  through which sparklesto mingle with the Rhine
  somewhere; but I have not the map at hand to say exactly at
  what pointthe fertilizing stream of the Pump。  In some
  places the river is big enough to support a ferry…boat; in
  others to turn a mill; in Pumpernickel itself; the last
  Transparency but three; the great and renowned Victor
  Aurelius XIV built a magnificent bridge; on which his
  own statue rises; surrounded by water…nymphs and
  emblems of victory; peace; and plenty; he has his foot on the
  neck of a prostrate Turkhistory says he engaged and
  ran a Janissary through the body at the relief of Vienna
  by Sobieskibut; quite undisturbed by the agonies
  of that prostrate Mahometan; who writhes at his feet in
  the most ghastly manner; the Prince smiles blandly and
  points with his truncheon in the direction of the Aurelius
  Platz; where he began to erect a new palace that would
  have been the wonder of his age had the great…souled
  Prince but had funds to complete it。  But the completion
  of Monplaisir (Monblaisir the honest German folks call
  it) was stopped for lack of ready money; and it and its
  park and garden are now in rather a faded condition;
  and not mor