多功能英语阅读13 Phoenix

Phoenix¹

She was lovely and bird-like in every possible way. She had the grace of a swan, the voice of a lark², and the curiosity of a sparrow. She was intelligent as an owl³ was fabled⁴ to be, and could attract an eye with the best of peacocks. She was almost a carbon copy of the fabled phoenix. There was no question as to why her parents had named her Phoenix. She had the faculty⁵ to learn new things easily.

They said that some birds only mate once, and once they had found their one partner, they are together for life. This seemed to be true for me, because for the past five years I had no eyes for any but Phoenix. Oh, everyone in the feudal⁶ village enclosed by high mountains knew she would be the Lord's wife... that was inevitable⁷.

But when she first came of age, almost all of the men had begged for her hand in marriage. But the response was always the same, "No, there is plenty of time." In truth, there was not. There were only a few years a woman had to be useful as a child-bearer, and soon after death. The poor slaves of the village proper fell out of line to win her hand, there were more important things to tend to and women readily married. The only two who contested for Phoenix were the Lord, and myself, who stood no chance against a high knight⁸ pledged to the King. But I still hoped,fool that I am. I often quoted an ancient proverb, "Man proposes; God disposes."

Years fell by, and still Phoenix denied proposals by anyone and refused to modify her stand on this issue. The Lord of the Manor⁹ was properly angered; she was, after all, only a daughter to his handy men. Our lord, who had married a noblewoman from Court, and commanded Phoenix to the worst of jobs on his property, passed away without warning. He left behind a son, who was destined¹⁰, it was told, to become a great knight as his father was. During these many years that passed, Phoenix looked like a young girl. There were a few villagers who sought her death, claiming she was a witch. But most others just shook their heads and smiled, so charming was she that most did not notice her age and her physical appearance contradicted each other.

We all served our new master well, and he was kind to us. It was plain that he, like his father before him, sought the hand of the bird-girl. I had stopped pursuing the matter, for if she would not have a lord, she surely would not have a peasant.

Never did I marry, though I knew she would never web me, nor any other man for that matter. Her parents, too, had passed, and she was encouraged to marry. Still she declined, being the stubborn goose she was. The stubborn goose I loved yet.

Her parents had barely been dead for one moon when we received a message, directly from the Pope, as sent to the Parisian bishop¹¹. He called for a Crusade to begin against the Muslim heathens who had overtaken the Land of Bread and Honey. All were asked to join. I, along with the rest of the men, and the youthful knight, sought to join the armies. Instead, the young man took me aside and pleaded with me to stay. "Gerald, I know I cannot stop you from joining the ranks, it being the Pope's decree, but the estate needs you more. And you know what happend in the last Crusades, you of all the slaves have know some knowledge." I agreed, he was, after all my lord.

As all of this was happening, I noticed that Phoenix grew more worried. Could it be that she would marry the youngster, she who should have been his MOTHER? The idea seemed only to strike me. The rest of the villagers would find the idea absurd. After all, hadn't she refused to wed¹²? The men who would fight left shortly, and Phoenix grew more withdrawn¹³ and reserved. I often tried to talk to her, but she denied me her feelings. About three seasons past when we received the word that the lord was dead.

That was when Phoenix at last spoke¹⁴ to me. "You, Gerald, must not say a word to any.

But upon the lord's death, I am to be reborn. Do you know the legend of the Phoenix?" I shook my head. "She is a bird, a symbol of Fire. Every hundred years, she bursts into flame, and from the ashes arises a new bird."

I stared, slightly astonished, at my love. "And you are trying to tell me that you are that bird?" "Yes," she said. "I know you will not believe me. I can prove to you that it is true, but it would cause you to go mad. If you were to watch my burning, you would turn to stone. Consciously, you would live for eternity¹⁵, and that is enough for any to go crazy. I will admit that usually I do not take human form; actually this is only the second time I have. But our lord's death marked the time I should die, and I would not have innocent creatures turned to stone because they knew not what was happening. Two nights' hence, when the moon if full in its orbiting of the earth, to be precise, it is the winter solstice, I shall be reborn. Think carefully before you decide to observe me. I never spoke to her again."

Phoenix must have known I would watch her rebirth at the mountain summit. Most humans would, especially given the choice of eternal life. It has been eight hundred years since I became a figure carved of stone. I wish now that I had heeded¹⁶ her warnings, for there is no reason for me to live. I do because I must. I am glad that she was one hundred years of life, and a death, or else she, too, would bear the pain of immortality¹⁷. And I wonder what will happen to me, to us, when time at last draws to a close.

1 phoenix   

n.凤凰，长生(不死)鸟；引申为重生

参考例句：

• The airline rose like a phoenix from the ashes.这家航空公司又起死回生了。
• The phoenix worship of China is fetish worship not totem adoration.中国凤崇拜是灵物崇拜而非图腾崇拜。

2 lark   

n.云雀，百灵鸟；n.嬉戏，玩笑；vi.嬉戏

参考例句：

• He thinks it cruel to confine a lark in a cage.他认为把云雀关在笼子里太残忍了。
• She lived in the village with her grandparents as cheerful as a lark.她同祖父母一起住在乡间非常快活。

3 owl   

n.猫头鹰，枭

参考例句：

• Her new glasses make her look like an owl.她的新眼镜让她看上去像只猫头鹰。
• I'm a night owl and seldom go to bed until after midnight.我睡得很晚，经常半夜后才睡觉。

4 fabled   

adj.寓言中的，虚构的

参考例句：

• For the first week he never actually saw the fabled Jack. 第一周他实际上从没见到传说中的杰克。
• Aphrodite, the Greek goddness of love, is fabled to have been born of the foam of the sea. 希腊爱神阿美罗狄蒂据说是诞生于海浪泡沫之中。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 faculty   

n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员

参考例句：

• He has a great faculty for learning foreign languages.他有学习外语的天赋。
• He has the faculty of saying the right thing at the right time.他有在恰当的时候说恰当的话的才智。

6 feudal   

adj.封建的，封地的，领地的

参考例句：

• Feudal rulers ruled over the country several thousand years.封建统治者统治这个国家几千年。
• The feudal system lasted for two thousand years in China.封建制度在中国延续了两千年之久。

7 inevitable   

adj.不可避免的，必然发生的

参考例句：

• Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
• The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。

8 knight   

n.骑士，武士；爵士

参考例句：

• He was made an honourary knight.他被授予荣誉爵士称号。
• A knight rode on his richly caparisoned steed.一个骑士骑在装饰华丽的马上。

9 manor   

n.庄园，领地

参考例句：

• The builder of the manor house is a direct ancestor of the present owner.建造这幢庄园的人就是它现在主人的一个直系祖先。
• I am not lord of the manor,but its lady.我并非此地的领主，而是这儿的女主人。

10 destined   

adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的

参考例句：

• It was destined that they would marry.他们结婚是缘分。
• The shipment is destined for America.这批货物将运往美国。

11 bishop   

n.主教，（国际象棋）象

参考例句：

• He was a bishop who was held in reverence by all.他是一位被大家都尊敬的主教。
• Two years after his death the bishop was canonised.主教逝世两年后被正式封为圣者。

12 wed   

v.娶，嫁，与…结婚

参考例句：

• The couple eventually wed after three year engagement.这对夫妇在订婚三年后终于结婚了。
• The prince was very determined to wed one of the king's daughters.王子下定决心要娶国王的其中一位女儿。

13 withdrawn   

vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出

参考例句：

• Our force has been withdrawn from the danger area.我们的军队已从危险地区撤出。
• All foreign troops should be withdrawn to their own countries.一切外国军队都应撤回本国去。

14 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

15 eternity   

n.不朽，来世；永恒，无穷

参考例句：

• The dull play seemed to last an eternity.这场乏味的剧似乎演个没完没了。
• Finally,Ying Tai and Shan Bo could be together for all of eternity.英台和山伯终能双宿双飞，永世相随。

16 heeded   

v.听某人的劝告，听从( heed的过去式和过去分词 )；变平，使（某物）变平( flatten的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She countered that her advice had not been heeded. 她反驳说她的建议未被重视。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I heeded my doctor's advice and stopped smoking. 我听从医生的劝告，把烟戒了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 immortality   

n.不死，不朽

参考例句：

• belief in the immortality of the soul 灵魂不灭的信念
• It was like having immortality while you were still alive. 仿佛是当你仍然活着的时候就得到了永生。