jovial：adj。快活的，高興的
cordiality：n。誠實，誠懇19“It would be wrong being a teacher of the divine art of medicine，”said Professor Pietro Baglioni，in answer to a question of Giovanni，“to withhold due and well-considered praise of a physician so eminently skilled as Rappaccini。But，on the other hand，I should answer it but scantily to my conscience，were I to permit a worthy youth like yourself，Signor Giovanni，the son of an ancient friend，to imbibe erroneous ideas respecting a man who might hereafter chance to hold your life and death in his hands。The truth is，our worshipful Doctor Rappaccini has as much science as any member of the faculty—with perhaps one single exception—in Padua，or all Italy。But there are certain grave objections to his professional character。”
20 “And what are they？”asked the young man。
21 “Has my friend Giovanni any disease of body or heart，that he is so inquisitive about physicians？”said the Professor，with a smile。“But as for Rappaccini，it is said of him—and I，who know the man well，can answer for its truth—thathe cares infinitely more for science than for mankind。His patients are interesting to him only as subjects for some new experiment。He would sacrifice human life，his own among the rest，or whatever else was dearest to him，for the sake of adding so much as a grain of mustard-seed to the great heap of his accumulated knowledge。”
22 “Methinks he is an awful man，indeed，”remarked Guasconti，mentally recalling the cold and purely intellectual aspect of Rappaccini。“And yet，worshipful Professor，is it not a noble spirit？Are there many men capable of so spiritual a love of science？”
23 “God forbid，”answered the Professor，somewhat testily—“at least，unless they take sounder views of the healing art than those adopted by Rappaccini。It ishis theory，that all medicinal virtues are prised within those substances which we term vegetable poisons。These he cultivates with his own hands，and is said even to have produced new varieties of poison，more horribly deleterious thanNature，without the assistance of this learned person，would ever have plagued the world withal。That the Signor Doctor does less mischief than might be expected，with such dangerous substances，is undeniable。Now and then，it must be owned，he has effected—or seemed to effect—a marvellous cure。But，to tell youmy private mind，Signor Giovanni，he should receive little credit for such instances of success—they being probably the work of chance—but should be held strictly accountable for his failures，which may justly be considered his own work。”
24 The youth might have taken Baglioni’s opinions with many grains of allowance，had he known that there was a professional warfare of long continuance betweenhim and Doctor Rappaccini，in which the latter was generally thought to have gained the advantage。If the reader be inclined to judge for himself，we refer himto certain black-letter tracts on both sides，preserved in the medical department of the University of Padua。
25 “I know not，most learned Professor，”returned Giovanni，after musing on what had been said of Rappaccini’s exclusive zeal for science—“Iknow not how dearly this physician may love his artbut surely there is one object more dear to him。He has a daughter。”
scantily：adv。缺乏地，吝嗇地
imbibe：v。吸收
inquisitive：adj。好奇的
methinks：v。<古>（無人稱動詞）我以為，據我看來
deleterious：adj。有害的，有毒的
warfare：n。衝突，競爭
exclusive：adj。排外的，獨占的
26 “Aha！”cried the Professor with a laugh。“So now our friend Giovanni’s secret is out。You have heard of this daughter，whom all the young men in Padua are wild about，though not half a dozen have ever had the good hap to see her face。Iknow little of the Signora Beatrice，save that Rappaccini is said to have instructed her deeply in his science，and that，young and beautiful as fame reports her，she is already qualified to fill a professor’s chair。Perchance her father destines her for mine！Other absurd rumors there be，not worth talking about，or listening to。So now，Signor Giovanni，drink off your glass of Lacryma。”
27 Guasconti returned to his lodgings somewhat heated with the wine he had quaffed，and which caused his brain to swim with strange fantasies in reference to Doctor Rappaccini and the beautiful Beatrice。On his way，happening to pass by a florist’s，he bought a fresh bouquet of flowers。
28 Ascending to his chamber，he seated himself near the window，but within the shadow thrown by the depth of the wall，so that he could look down into the garden with little risk of being discovered。All beneath his eye was a solitude。Thestrange plants were basking in the sunshine，and now and then nodding gently toone another，as if in acknowledgment of sympathy and kindred。In the midst，by the shattered fountain，grew the magnificent shrub，with its purple gems clustering all over itthey glowed in the air，and gleamed back again out of the depths of the pool，which thus seemed to overflow with colored radiance from the richreflection that was steeped in it。At first，as we have said，the garden was a solitude。Soon，however，—as Giovanni had half-hoped，half-feared，would be the case，—a figure appeared beneath the antique sculptured portal，and came down between the rows of plants，inhaling their various perfumes，as if she were one ofthose beings of old classic fable，that lived upon sweet odors。On again beholding Beatrice，the young man was even startled to perceive how much her beauty exceeded his recollection of itso brilliant，so vivid in its character，that sheglowed amid the sunlight，and，as Giovanni whispered to himself，positively illuminated the more shadowy intervals of the garden path。Her face being now more revealed than on the former occasion，he was struck by its expression of simplicity and sweetnessqualities that had not entered into his idea of her character，and which made him ask anew，what manner of mortal she might be。
Nor did he fail again to observe，or imagine，an analogy between the beautiful girl and the gorgeous shrub that hung its gem-like flowers over the fountaina resemblance which Beatrice seemed to have indulged a fantastic humor in heightening，both by the arrangement of her dress and the selection of its hues。
29 Approaching the shrub，she threw open her arms，as with a passionate ardor，and drew its branches into an intimate embraceso intimate，that her features were hidden in its leafy bosom，and her glistening ringlets all intermingled withthe flowers。
30 “Give me thy breath，my sister，”exclaimed Beatrice“for I am faint withmon air！And give me this flower of thine，which I separate with gentlest fingers from the stem，and place it close beside my heart。”
31 With these words，the beautiful daughter of Rappaccini plucked one of the richest blossoms of the shrub，and was about to fasten it in her bosom。But now，unless Giovanni’s draughts of wine had bewildered his senses，a singular incidentoccurred。A small orange colored reptile，of the lizard or chameleon species，chanced to be creeping along the path，just at the feet of Beatrice。It appeared to Giovanni—but，at the distance from which he gazed，he could scarcely have seen anything so minute—it appeared to him，however，that a drop or two of moisture from the broken stem of the flower descended upon the lizard’s head。For an instant，the reptile contorted itself violently，and then lay motionless in the sunshine。Beatrice observed this remarkable phenomenon，and crossed herself，sadly，but without surprisenor did she therefore hesitate to arrange the fatal flower in her bosom。There it blushed，and almost glimmered with the dazzling effect of a precious stone，adding to her dress and aspect the one appropriate charm，which nothing else in the world could have supplied。But Giovanni，out of the shadow of his window，bent forward and shrank back，and murmured and trembled。
評注：拉帕西尼為了能夠享受科學賜予的力量，他不僅用花草、病人來做實驗，甚至把自己的女兒也淪為科學實驗的犧牲品。自貝阿特麗絲出生之日起，他便用毒藥加以喂養，致使她變成了“有多麼美麗，就有多麼可怕”的邪惡精靈。
quaff：v。一口氣喝幹，大口地喝
florist：n。種花人
bask：v。曬太陽
kindred：n。家族，親屬關係
steep：v。浸，泡，沉浸
antique：adj。古時的，過時的
glistening：adj。閃耀的，反光的
ringlet：n。卷發
intermingle：v。混合
bewilder：v。使迷惑，使不知所措
reptile：n。爬蟲動物
chameleon：n。變色龍
minute：adj。微小的，詳細的
blush：v。呈現紅色
dazzling：adj。眼花繚亂的，耀眼的
aspect：n。樣子，外表，麵貌
appropriate：adj。適當的
32 “Am I awake？Have I my senses？”said he to himself。“What is thisbeing？—beautiful，shall I call her？—or inexpressibly terrible？”
33 Beatrice now strayed carelessly through the garden，approaching closer beneath Giovanni’s window，so that he was pelled to thrust his head quite out of its concealment in order to gratify the intense and painful curiosity which she excited。At this moment，there came a beautiful insect over the garden wallit had perhaps wandered through the city and found no flowers nor verdure among those antique haunts of men，until the heavy perfumes of Doctor Rappaccini’s shrubshad lured it from afar。Without alighting on the flowers，this winged brightness seemed to be attracted by Beatrice，and lingered in the air and fluttered about her head。Now here it could not be but that Giovanni Guasconti’s eyes deceivedhim。Be that as it might，he fancied that while Beatrice was gazing at the insect with childish delight，it grew faint and fell at her feet！—its bright wings shivered！it was dead！—from no cause that he could discern，unless it were theatmosphere of her breath。Again Beatrice crossed herself and sighed heavily，as she bent over the dead insect。
34 An impulsive movement of Giovanni drew her eyes to the window。There she beheld the beautiful head of the young man—rather a Grecian than an Italian head，with fair，regular features，and a glistening of gold among his ringlets—gazingdown upon her like a being that hovered in mid-air。Scarcely knowing what he did，Giovanni threw down the bouquet which he had hitherto held in his hand。
35 “Signora，”said he，“there are pure and healthful flowers。Wear them for the sake of Giovanni Guasconti！”
36 “Thanks，Signor，”replied Beatrice，with her rich voice，that cameforth as it were like a gush of musicand with a mirthfulexpression half childish and half woman-like。“I accept your gift，and would fain repense it with this precious purple flowerbut if I toss it into the air，it will not reach you。So Signor Guasconti must even content himself with my thanks。”
37 She lifted the bouquet from the ground，and then as if inwardly ashamed at having stepped aside from her maidenly reserve to respond to a stranger’s greeting，passed swiftly homeward through the garden。But，few as the moments were，it seemed to Giovanni when she was on the point of vanishing beneath the sculpturedportal，that his beautiful bouquet was already beginning to wither in her grasp。It was an idle thoughtthere could be no possibility of distinguishing a faded flower from a fresh one at so great a distance。
38 For many days after this incident，the young man avoided the window that looked into Doctor Rappaccini’s garden，as if something ugly and monstrous would have blasted his eye-sight，had he been betrayed into a glance。
He felt consciousof having put himself，to a certain extent，within the influence of an unintelligible power，by the munication which he had opened with Beatrice。The wisest course would have been，if his heart were in any real danger，to quit his lodgings and Padua itself，at oncethe next wiser，to have accustomed himself，as faras possible，to the familiar and day-light view of Beatricethus bringing herrigidly and systematically within the limits of ordinary experience。Least of all，while avoiding her sight，should Giovanni have remained so near this extraordinary being，that the proximity and possibility even of intercourse，should givea kind of substance and reality to the wild vagaries which his imagination ran riot continually in producing。Guasconti had not a deep heart—or at all events，its depths were not sounded now—but he had a quick fancy，and an ardent southern temperament，which rose every instant to a higher fever-pitch。Whether or noBeatrice possessed those terrible attributes—that fatal breath—the affinity with those so beautiful and deadly flowers—which were indicated by what Giovanni had witnessed，she had at least instilled a fierce and subtle poison into his system。It was not love，although her rich beauty was a madness to himnor horror，even while he fancied her spirit to be imbued with the same baneful essence that seemed to pervade her physical framebut a wild offspring of both love and horror that had each parent in it，and burned like one and shivered like the other。
Giovanni knew not what to dreadstill less did he know what to hopeyet hope and dread kept a continual warfare in his breast，alternately vanquishing one another and starting up afresh to renew the contest。Blessed are all simple emotions，be they dark or bright！It is the lurid intermixture of the two that produces the illuminating blaze of the infernal regions。
stray：v。迷路，漂泊遊蕩
verdure：n。新鮮
gush：n。湧出
mirthful：adj。愉快的，高興的
repense：v。報償
wither：v。使凋謝
monstrous：adj。怪異的，恐怖的
rigidly：adv。堅硬地，嚴格地
systematically：adv。係統地
proximity：n。接近，親近
intercourse：n。交往，交流
vagary：n。奇想，反複無常的行為
be imbued with：浸透
baneful：adj。有害的，使人苦惱的
lurid：adj。蒼白的，可怕的
infernal：adj。陰間的，惡魔的39Sometimes he endeavored to assuage the fever of his spiritby a rapid walk through the streets of Padua，or beyond its gateshis footsteps kept time with the throbbings of his brain，so that the walk was apt to accelerate itself to a race。One day，he found himself arrestedhis arm was seized by a portly personage who had turned back on recognizing the young man，and expendedmuch breath in overtaking him。