登陆注册
19588800000010

第10章

If one classed him at all it would be as the countryman of Hegel and Kant,as the idealist,inclined to be dreamy,whose Imperialism was the Imperialism of the air.Not that his life had been inactive.He had fought like blazes against Denmark,Austria,France.But he had fought without visualizing the results of victory.A hint of the truth broke on him after Sedan,when he saw the dyed moustaches of Napoleon going grey;another when he entered Paris,and saw the smashed windows of the Tuileries.

Peace came--it was all very immense,one had turned into an Empire--but he knew that some quality had vanished for which not all Alsace-Lorraine could compensate him.Germany a commercial Power,Germany a naval Power,Germany with colonies here and a Forward Policy there,and legitimate aspirations in the other place,might appeal to others,and be fitly served by them;for his own part,he abstained from the fruits of victory,and naturalized himself in England.The more earnest members of his family never forgave him,and knew that his children,though scarcely English of the dreadful sort,would never be German to the backbone.He had obtained work in one of our provincial Universities,and there married Poor Emily (or Die Engl?nderin as the case may be),and as she had money,they proceeded to London,and came to know a good many people.

But his gaze was always fixed beyond the sea.It was his hope that the clouds of materialism obscuring the Fatherland would part in time,and the mild intellectual light re-emerge."Do you imply that we Germans are stupid,Uncle Ernst?"exclaimed a haughty and magnificent nephew.

Uncle Ernst replied,"To my mind.You use the intellect,but you no longer care about it.That I call stupidity."As the haughty nephew did not follow,he continued,"You only care about the'things that you can use,and therefore arrange them in the following order:Money,supremely useful;intellect,rather useful;imagination,of no use at all.

No"--for the other had protested--"your Pan-Germanism is no more imaginative than is our Imperialism over here.It is the vice of a vulgar mind to be thrilled by bigness,to think that a thousand square miles are a thousand times more wonderful than one square mile,and that a million square miles are almost the same as heaven.That is not imagination.

No,it kills it.When their poets over here try to celebrate bigness they are dead at once,and naturally.Your poets too are dying,your philosophers,your musicians,to whom Europe has listened for two hundred years.Gone.Gone with the little courts that nurtured them--gone with Esterhaz and Weimar.What?What's that?Your Universities?

Oh,yes,you have learned men,who collect more facts than do the learned men of England.They collect facts,and facts,and empires of facts.

But which of them will rekindle the light within?"To all this Margaret listened,sitting on the haughty nephew's knee.

It was a unique education for the little girls.

The haughty nephew would be at Wickham Place one day,bringing with him an even haughtier wife,both convinced that Germany was appointed by God to govern the world.Aunt Juley would come the next day,convinced that Great Britain had been appointed to the same post by the same authority.

Were both these loud-voiced parties right?On one occasion they had met,and Margaret with clasped hands had implored them to argue the subject out in her presence.Whereat they blushed,and began to talk about the weather."Papa"she cried--she was a most offensive child--"why will they not discuss this most clear question?"Her father,surveying the parties grimly,replied that he did not know.Putting her head on one side,Margaret then remarked,"To me one of two things is very clear;either God does not know his own mind about England and Germany,or else these do not know the mind of God."A hateful little girl,but at thirteen she had grasped a dilemma that most people travel through life without perceiving.Her brain darted up and down;it grew pliant and strong.

Her conclusion was,that any human being lies nearer to the unseen than any organization,and from this she never varied.

Helen advanced along the same lines,though with a more irresponsible tread.In character she resembled her sister,but she was pretty,and so apt to have a more amusing time.People gathered round her more readily,especially when they were new acquaintances,and she did enjoy a little homage very much.When their father died and they ruled alone at Wickham Place,she often absorbed the whole of the company,while Margaret--both were tremendous talkers--fell flat.

Neither sister bothered about this.Helen never apologized afterwards,Margaret did not feel the slightest rancour.But looks have their influence upon character.The sisters were alike as little girls,but at the time of the Wilcox episode their methods were beginning to diverge;the younger was rather apt to entice people,and,in enticing them,to be herself enticed;the elder went straight ahead,and accepted an occasional failure as part of the game.

Little need be premised about Tibby.He was now an intelligent man of sixteen,but dyspeptic and difficile.

同类推荐
热门推荐
  • 穿越之王爷王爷

    穿越之王爷王爷

    没错,就是我,宁雨,在现代是个至尊杀手,世界上人人都害怕的杀手。在现代可是没有亲人的孤儿一个,在孤儿院里认识了同命运的花凤,所以她们一起加入了秘密杀手组织,但是,谁知她为了至尊杀手的名号而在任务中偷袭了自己,自己到死也想不明白,她为什么会变成这样的人。
  • 法罗仙大陆

    法罗仙大陆

    本篇小说纯属虚构,小孩切勿模仿。请敬请收看——《法罗仙大陆》
  • 总裁的穿越小新娘

    总裁的穿越小新娘

    她,美丽动人,活泼可爱,是安王爷的掌上明珠,皇上册封的香香郡主。集千万宠爱于一身,人人羡慕不已。可她从小就有一种怪病,人们都说这是一种富贵病,不可医,只能调理,尽量控制不让她发病,每天都保持愉悦的心情,服用一些上好的补品,方可延年寿命。他俊美无比,冷酷无情,是商业界的奇才,也是众多女人追逐的黑马王子。他有一个嗜好就是爱收集古董,却阴差阳错的买下玉枕,从而成就了自己一段来自异世的姻缘。
  • 道门奇才

    道门奇才

    萧鸣出生于一个精通奇门遁甲之术的古老世家,他的父亲为了不让他和世俗的学术脱节,硬是要他去上大学。他在大学里意外的发现,大学校长周海竟然也是一个修真者,并且和他爷爷是好朋友,周海很欣赏萧鸣便收他为徒。一个学期结束之后,萧鸣在回家的路上不小心迷了路,来到一个被恶鬼屠杀的村子,充满正义感的他便和厉害的恶鬼展开了一场生死决斗……
  • 千变神君

    千变神君

    给我一抔土,我就能变出个地球!……一个有点小猥琐的宅男罗泊意外的获得了一个可以千变万化的变形芯片,于是他的生活就变得精彩了起来!罗泊的口号:给我一杯水,我就能变出一片海!给我一朵云,我就能变出一片天!想我变成龙?那你先给我找块龙鳞过来,哪怕是化石也成……不过罗泊的最爱,是变成一只可爱的小动物,在美女的胸怀之间磨蹭……
  • 夫君强宠:凰女殿下爱不够

    夫君强宠:凰女殿下爱不够

    “笨蛋,回家吃饭去了……”一位妖娆的红衣美男执扇走来。某个正在地上画圈的女子淡淡幽幽的说着:“我只想安静的犯花痴……”--------------很华丽的切割线-----天然黑-风憬沅女主:“饿不饿啊…”“殿下说呢,”身后美如谪仙的男子说道:“难道殿下不知道有一个词叫秀色可餐吗?”这是在夸我吗?不枉,我的自恋啊……此文n多美男……
  • 以爱之名:暗夜守护者

    以爱之名:暗夜守护者

    当亲情面临背叛,当爱情面临选择,她该如何面对复杂错位的人生?
  • 秘爱独宠:杨洋男神好高冷

    秘爱独宠:杨洋男神好高冷

    夏小夕说如果有一天她和杨洋在一起了那除非是发生了什么奇迹。林薇说夏小夕和杨洋虽然关系不清,但他们都视彼此为生命中最重要的人,所以恨不起来。于是,穆楚涵出现了,他带着当年的秘密一步一步的向着夏小夕走近,狠狠地撕开她是他未婚妻的事实。腹黑BOSS,她惹不起难道还躲不起,夏小夕摩拳擦掌的收拾好包袱,准备带着男神——私奔!.
  • 让学习更有效

    让学习更有效

    本书重在以方法指导引领学生步入学习的有效境界,以理性地觅得科学的方法,以获得事半功倍的成效,使学生探寻、构建并形成适合自身特点的行之有效的学习方法。
  • 即若蓝染

    即若蓝染

    十七岁的少女琴师苏琢,生于拥有古老传承的苏家,为逃避掌控参加荐试欲成为军乐师,邂逅四位性格迥异的同伴:温和大度又深不可测的将军候选人——侑贵,聪慧狡黠且出身名门的军师候选人——楼岚,阴阳观天才符咒师少年——符清彦,神医传人绝美药师——芍药。历经三年,五人合力破开一项又一项试炼,经历磨难,羁绊渐生,共同成长。生为曜家少主的表弟曜渊自幼过分憧憬苏琢,长大后更是生出禁断爱意,逼得两人痛苦不堪。少时无意救下一只狐仔却招惹到“人盲”狐仙,数次偶遇不相识,孽缘衍生。怎料命中注定苏琢不该存世,生来神灾相伴,且看如何点破命运……