儿童故事集：The Philosophical Beauty

 In chapter eight of our Waking Beauty series, people at Westerly College Oxford¹ are beginning to accept that Princess Talia is brilliant, if somewhat strange. But although she is a genius at languages and music, she hates Philosophy tutorials. She insists that the ancient Greek thinker, Socrates, was one of the most irritating men who ever lived, and talks just as if she knew him personally.

 

Basil tries to help her, and she shares an amazing vision with him.

 

If you have been listening to our Waking Beauty series you have probably been wondering whether Princess Talia really does have fantastic powers, or whether she is just odd. Let us know what you think.

 

Story by Bertie.

 

Read by Elizabeth.

 

Proofread² by Jana Elizabeth.

 

Illustrated³ by Chiara Civati

 

 

 

The_Death_of_Socrates by Jacques-Louis David [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

 

The plan hatched by Sally and Basil had been a good one. After Talia had played forfeits⁴ at the party, people began to see her as, well, rather more human than they had done before. She hadn’t been ashamed to make herself look silly by pretending to be a chimpanzee, and she had really wowed everyone at the party with her singing voice. Now that people knew her better, they started to be more friendly. Talia had to get used to students saying hello to her as she wandered around the college.

 

Sally and Talia were walking down Turl Street, both on their way to a rather nice patisserie shop to buy some Danish pastries⁵ for their elevenses. They bumped into a slightly bleary-eyed Jonathan Miles who was carrying a pint⁶ of milk and a packet of sliced white bread. He was the English scholar, and it was rumoured⁷ that a publisher had already accepted his first novel. In short, he was widely regarded as one of the college’s brightest lights.

 

“Don’t ask,” he moaned when Sally asked him how he was. “We’ve got a translation test on Beowulf this morning. Normally I’d really be into a rollicking good read about heroes fighting dragons with magical swords, but it’s so unfortunate that it’s all written in Anglo-Saxon. The strange words rather spoil the story, I find. Is it like that with Latin and Greek?”

 

“You bet,” said Sally. “If only Sophocles wrote in English, I would give him ten out of ten for his plays … but hey, Talia doesn’t have that problem,” she turned to her friend. “You seem to find Ancient Greek a piece of cake.”

 

“It’s not that I’m super clever,” said Talia modestly, “it’s just that my godmother gave me the gift of languages when I was born.” It was one of those strange remarks that Sally wished she wouldn’t make.

 

“Lucky you,” said Jonathan. “I wish I had a godmother like that.”

 

“Oh but she didn’t help me with everything,” insisted Talia. “I had to learn Beowulf off by heart when I was seven. Now that was hard.”

 

Jonathan looked, shall we say, somewhat taken aback. “Did I hear that right? You learned Beowulf off by heart when you were seven?”

 

“Oh yes,” said Talia. “It’s inscribed⁸ in my mind to this day.

 

“Hwæt! We Gardena in geardagum,

 

þeodcyninga, þrym gefrunon.”

 

(Lo, praise of the prowess of people-kings

 

of spear-armed Danes, in days long sped)

 

Jonathan’s eyes opened wide. He recognised the first two lines of the Anglo-Saxon epic⁹ poem that had robbed him of so much of his beauty sleep as he sat up late each night in the library.

 

“That’s … that’s just incredible,” he stammered¹⁰. “In fact, that’s the whole thing about this place. You arrive here thinking you’re some sort of super smart alec, and you then bump into a genius before breakfast and realise that you’re just average. I suppose it’s part of growing up.” And as he left the two girls, there was something quite weary and defeated in the way he dragged himself back to the lodge¹¹ of Westerly College.

 

There were, perhaps, those in college who suspected that Talia had won her place at Oxford just because she was a princess, and not because she was anything special at academic work. In fact, some people thought the words ‘princess’ and ‘thick’ went together like bread and butter. If there were any people who harboured such thoughts, they now had to admit to themselves that they were wrong. The word got round that she was brilliant and gifted – and if you were brilliant and gifted, you could be excused a little strangeness. You only had to look at the tutors to see that was the case.

 

But in her second term at Westerly College, even Talia began to find that some of her work was stretching her abilities to the limits. Basil was the first to notice this. He was on his way to his Philosophy tutorial when he met Talia coming out of hers. She was wearing a look that he had never seen on her face before. Her teeth were clenched¹² and her forehead was knotted. She looked like she wanted to bite somebody.

 

“Talia, are you okay?” he asked. “Grrr I hate that Socrates,” she growled¹³. “I’m not at all surprised they put him on trial and executed him. He was the most irritating little man who ever lived. All that nit-picking over the meaning of each and every word. I can’t stand him!”

 

You see, they were studying a book called Phaedo in which the Greek Philosopher, Socrates, is in prison and is talking to his friends about life and death and the existence of the soul. It was full of strange ideas like, ‘Bigness grows out of smallness’ and ‘Harmony is the property of a harp¹⁴’ – and it was all very taxing on the brain cells. Basil rather enjoyed it, but he could see from Talia’s gnashing teeth that this type of logic¹⁵ was not her strong point.

 

It was time for his own tutorial, so he wasn’t able to stand around and sympathise for long. After he had spent his own hour with the Philosophy don, it took a little courage for Basil to do something he hadn’t done before. He went over to the side of the college where Sally and Princess Talia had their rooms. He didn’t have to check which was Talia’s because he could hear gentle harp music behind the door. He knocked softly.

 

Talia opened. She was wearing a long flowing gown and her face had regained¹⁶ its usual smoothness.

 

“Oh Basil,” she exclaimed, “what a delightful¹⁷ surprise, will you come in?”

 

As Basil stepped into the room he felt like he had crossed the threshold of time and space. It was huge by the standards of college and full of the most wonderful things, like tapestries¹⁸ on the walls, fur rugs, carved furniture, and gold and silver ornaments¹⁹. In the centre of it all stood Talia’s harp. Sally had described the room to him, but he wasn’t quite prepared for the sheer other-worldliness of it all. There was a stillness and calm, as if time stood still there.

 

“Shall we sit down?” asked Talia, and she led him over to the bench in the bow window that overlooked the quad²⁰. She sat with her hands on her lap, and waited for Basil to speak.

 

“Er, I just thought,” said Basil…“I mean, look just say if this isn’t what you would like …”

 

“Certainly Basil, you may speak freely with me,” encouraged Talia.

 

“I mean, everyone knows that you are a genius when it comes to languages and music, but if you find Philosophy hard, perhaps I could help you.”

 

The princess was silent for just a moment. She clearly hadn’t been expecting such an offer. Then she smiled, and said: “Why that’s so kind of you. Of course I would be delighted.”

 

Basil had brought his copy of the dreaded²¹ ‘Phaedo’, the book that was perplexing the princess. Talia moved to sit a little closer so that they could both see the pages. It was written like a play; Socrates said one thing, and his friends who were visiting him in the prison cell replied with another. At one point Socrates’ wife came in and burst into tears because he was about to die. He had been sentenced by the court to drink a poison called hemlock²². He asked her to go away because he was talking to his friends. This part of the book enraged²³ Talia:

 

“You see what I mean, don’t you Basil? The only thing Socrates loved was the sound of his own voice. His poor wife. I don’t understand why she didn’t kill him herself long before.”

 

And Basil had to agree that Socrates was perhaps irritating.

 

“Oh Basil! If you could just see the look on his face. He was so smug, self-satisfied, and pleased with himself.”

 

“Well I should love to meet Socrates, perhaps in the next world,” said Basil, and he found the passage that they had to study that week. It was the part where Socrates talks about opposites, and bigness and smallness.

 

“Oh I still don’t understand any of it,” sighed Talia. “Even his friends look bored – can’t you see?”

 

“Er, no I can’t see actually,” said Basil.

 

“Look, Simmias is yawning,” said Talia.

 

“Where does it say that?” asked Basil puzzled.

 

“It doesn’t … just look Basil, can’t you see?”

 

And Basil looked up from the pages of the book. A man was sitting cross legged on the bed. Only it was no longer Talia’s four-poster – it was a simple bed standing²⁴ on rickety legs. On the floor, which was now covered with straw, sat his friends. One of them did indeed look like he was trying to suppress a yawn. The man on the bed did not notice. He continued to talk in a lively, animated²⁵ fashion, and as he spoke²⁶, he seemed to be smiling. Talia was right. He did seem rather too pleased with the sound of his own voice. The most surprising part of it all was that Basil could understand him perfectly²⁷, even though he was speaking in Ancient Greek, and although he studied the language on the page, he had never actually heard it spoken before.

 

“A Philosopher should not be afraid of death,” Soctrates was saying, “because a Philosopher cares for the soul not the body.”

 

“Don’t you find him annoying?” whispered Talia.

 

“Well yes, but utterly²⁸ fascinating too,” said Basil, straining so as not to miss anything.

 

It was a little like sitting in the front row of the theatre, when you feel that you are practically on the stage. Basil was so drawn²⁹ into the conversation, that he was almost unaware³⁰ of the sheer strangeness of it all. There were moments when he even forgot that he was sitting next to Talia. The philosophical³¹ drama unfolded for three or more hours, until the jailer came into the cell, quite apologetic for interrupting the friends’ discussion, and politely offered Socrates the bowl of hemlock. The Philosophers’ friends were weeping, but he took the poison as calmly as you or I might drink a cup of tea, and then he lay down on the bed, and spoke no more.

 

It was already dark when Basil walked back to his own room. His legs were shaky. His whole body felt limp and drained of energy – almost as if he had drunk the hemlock himself. He was overwhelmed.

1 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。

2 proofread   

vt.校正，校对

参考例句：

• I didn't even have the chance to proofread my own report.我甚至没有机会校对自己的报告。
• Before handing in his application to his teacher,he proofread it again.交给老师之前，他又将申请书补正了一遍。

3 illustrated   

adj. 有插图的，列举的 动词illustrate的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• His lecture was illustrated with slides taken during the expedition. 他在讲演中使用了探险时拍摄到的幻灯片。
• The manufacturing Methods: Will be illustrated in the next chapter. 制作方法将在下一章说明。

4 forfeits   

罚物游戏

参考例句：

• She regretted the forfeits she had to pay for selfassistance. 她为自己为了自助而必须付出的代价感到遗憾。
• They were soon to pay their own forfeits. 他们很快就得交纳他们的罚款了。

5 pastries   

n.面粉制的糕点

参考例句：

• He gave a dry laugh, then sat down and started on the pastries. 杜新箨说着干笑一声，坐下去就吃点心。 来自子夜部分
• Mike: So many! I like Xijiang raisins, beef jerky, and local pastries. 麦克：太多了。我最喜欢吃新疆葡萄干、牛肉干和风味点心。

6 pint   

n.品脱

参考例句：

• I'll have a pint of beer and a packet of crisps, please.我要一品脱啤酒和一袋炸马铃薯片。
• In the old days you could get a pint of beer for a shilling.从前，花一先令就可以买到一品脱啤酒。

7 rumoured   

adj.谣传的；传说的；风

参考例句：

• It has been so rumoured here. 此间已有传闻。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• It began to be rumoured that the jury would be out a long while. 有人传说陪审团要退场很久。 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

8 inscribed   

v.写，刻( inscribe的过去式和过去分词 )；内接

参考例句：

• His name was inscribed on the trophy. 他的名字刻在奖杯上。
• The names of the dead were inscribed on the wall. 死者的名字被刻在墙上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 epic   

n.史诗，叙事诗；adj.史诗般的，壮丽的

参考例句：

• I gave up my epic and wrote this little tale instead.我放弃了写叙事诗，而写了这个小故事。
• They held a banquet of epic proportions.他们举行了盛大的宴会。

10 stammered   

v.结巴地说出( stammer的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He stammered most when he was nervous. 他一紧张往往口吃。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Barsad leaned back in his chair, and stammered, \"What do you mean?\" 巴萨往椅背上一靠，结结巴巴地说，“你是什么意思？” 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

11 lodge   

v.临时住宿，寄宿，寄存，容纳；n.传达室，小旅馆

参考例句：

• Is there anywhere that I can lodge in the village tonight?村里有我今晚过夜的地方吗？
• I shall lodge at the inn for two nights.我要在这家小店住两个晚上。

12 clenched   

v.紧握，抓紧，咬紧( clench的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He clenched his fists in anger. 他愤怒地攥紧了拳头。
• She clenched her hands in her lap to hide their trembling. 她攥紧双手放在腿上，以掩饰其颤抖。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 growled   

v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说

参考例句：

• \"They ought to be birched, \" growled the old man. 老人咆哮道：“他们应受到鞭打。” 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He growled out an answer. 他低声威胁着回答。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 harp   

n.竖琴；天琴座

参考例句：

• She swept her fingers over the strings of the harp.她用手指划过竖琴的琴弦。
• He played an Irish melody on the harp.他用竖琴演奏了一首爱尔兰曲调。

15 logic   

n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性

参考例句：

• What sort of logic is that?这是什么逻辑？
• I don't follow the logic of your argument.我不明白你的论点逻辑性何在。

16 regained   

复得( regain的过去式和过去分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地

参考例句：

• The majority of the people in the world have regained their liberty. 世界上大多数人已重获自由。
• She hesitated briefly but quickly regained her poise. 她犹豫片刻，但很快恢复了镇静。

17 delightful   

adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的

参考例句：

• We had a delightful time by the seashore last Sunday.上星期天我们在海滨玩得真痛快。
• Peter played a delightful melody on his flute.彼得用笛子吹奏了一支欢快的曲子。

18 tapestries   

n.挂毯( tapestry的名词复数 )；绣帷，织锦v.用挂毯（或绣帷）装饰( tapestry的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The wall of the banqueting hall were hung with tapestries. 宴会厅的墙上挂有壁毯。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The rooms were hung with tapestries. 房间里都装饰着挂毯。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 ornaments   

n.装饰( ornament的名词复数 )；点缀；装饰品；首饰v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The shelves were chock-a-block with ornaments. 架子上堆满了装饰品。
• Playing the piano sets up resonance in those glass ornaments. 一弹钢琴那些玻璃饰物就会产生共振。 来自《简明英汉词典》

20 quad   

n.四方院；四胞胎之一；v.在…填补空铅

参考例句：

• His rooms were on the left-hand side of the quad.他的房间位于四方院的左侧。
• She is a 34-year-old mother of quads.她是个生了四胞胎的34岁的母亲。

21 dreaded   

adj.令人畏惧的；害怕的v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• The dreaded moment had finally arrived. 可怕的时刻终于来到了。
• He dreaded having to spend Christmas in hospital. 他害怕非得在医院过圣诞节不可。 来自《用法词典》

22 hemlock   

n.毒胡萝卜，铁杉

参考例句：

• He was condemned to drink a cup of hemlock.判处他喝一杯毒汁。
• Here is a beech by the side of a hemlock,with three pines at hand.这儿有株山毛榉和一株铁杉长在一起，旁边还有三株松树。

23 enraged   

使暴怒( enrage的过去式和过去分词 )； 歜； 激愤

参考例句：

• I was enraged to find they had disobeyed my orders. 发现他们违抗了我的命令，我极为恼火。
• The judge was enraged and stroke the table for several times. 大法官被气得连连拍案。

24 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

25 animated   

adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的

参考例句：

• His observations gave rise to an animated and lively discussion.他的言论引起了一场气氛热烈而活跃的讨论。
• We had an animated discussion over current events last evening.昨天晚上我们热烈地讨论时事。

26 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。

27 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

28 utterly   

adv.完全地，绝对地

参考例句：

• Utterly devoted to the people,he gave his life in saving his patients.他忠于人民，把毕生精力用于挽救患者的生命。
• I was utterly ravished by the way she smiled.她的微笑使我完全陶醉了。

29 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

30 unaware   

a.不知道的，未意识到的

参考例句：

• They were unaware that war was near. 他们不知道战争即将爆发。
• I was unaware of the man's presence. 我没有察觉到那人在场。

31 philosophical   

adj.哲学家的，哲学上的，达观的

参考例句：

• The teacher couldn't answer the philosophical problem.老师不能解答这个哲学问题。
• She is very philosophical about her bad luck.她对自己的不幸看得很开。