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"Last night！"—I am quoting the Moon's ownwords—"last night I was gliding through the cloudless In－dian sky．My face was mirrored in the waters of theGanges，and my beams strove to pierce through the thickintertwining boughs of the plane trees，arching beneath melike the tortoise's shell．Forth from the thicket tripped aHindoo maid，light was a gazelle，beautiful as Eve．Therewas something so airy and ethrereal，and yet so full andfirm in this daughter of Hindostan：I could read herthoughts through her delicate skin．The thorny creepingplants tore her sandals，but for all that she came rapidlyforward．The deer which came from the river where it hadquenched its thirst，sprang by with a startled bound，for inher hand the maiden bore a lighted lamp．I could see the blood in her delicate finger－tips，as she spread them for ascreen before the flame．She came down to the stream，andset the lamp upon the water，and let it float away．Theflame flickered to and fro，and seemed ready to expire；butstill the lamp burned on，and the girl's black sparklingeyes，half－veiled behind their long silken lashes，followedit with a gaze of earnest intensity．She well knew that ifthe lamp continued to burn so long as she could keep it insight，her betrothed still alive；but if the lamp wassuddenly extinguished，he was dead．And the lampburned and quivered，and her heart burned and trembled；she fell on her knees，and prayed．Near her in the grasslay a speckled snake，but she heeded it not—she thoughtonly of Brahma and of her betrothed．' He lives！'sheshouted joyfully，' he lives！'And from the mountains theecho came back upon her，'He lives！'" |
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来自： DonaldKing2589 > 《英语经典》
