首页 >出版文学> The Works of Edgar Allan Poe>第129章
  “’AussitendrequeZaire’astenderasZaire-French。Alludestothefrequentrepetitionofthephrase,latendreZaire,intheFrenchtragedyofthatname。Properlyintroduced,willshownotonlyyourknowledgeofthelanguage,butyourgeneralreadingandwit。Youcansay,forinstance,thatthechickenyouwereeatingwriteanarticleaboutbeingchokedtodeathbyachicken-bonewasnotaltogetheraussitendrequeZaire。Write!
  _’Vanmuertetanescondida,Quenotesientavenir,Porqueelplazerdelmorir,Nomestorneadarlavida。’_
  “That’sSpanishfromMigueldeCervantes。’Comequickly,Odeath!
  butbesureanddon’tletmeseeyoucoming,lestthepleasureI
  shallfeelatyourappearanceshouldunfortunatelybringmebackagaintolife。’Thisyoumayslipinquiteaproposwhenyouarestrugglinginthelastagonieswiththechicken-bone。Write!
  _’Ilpover’huomochenonse’neraaccorto,Andavacombattendo,eeramorto。’_
  That’sItalian,youperceivefromAriosto。Itmeansthatagreathero,intheheatofcombat,notperceivingthathehadbeenfairlykilled,continuedtofightvaliantly,deadashewas。TheapplicationofthistoyourowncaseisobviousforItrust,MissPsyche,thatyouwillnotneglecttokickforatleastanhourandahalfafteryouhavebeenchokedtodeathbythatchicken-bone。Pleasetowrite!
  _’Undsterb’ichdoch,nosterb’ichdenn_
  _Durchsiedurchsie!’_
  That’sGermanfromSchiller。’AndifIdie,atleastIdiefortheeforthee!’Hereitisclearthatyouareapostrophizingthecauseofyourdisaster,thechicken。Indeedwhatgentlemanorladyeitherofsense,wouldn’tdie,Ishouldliketoknow,forawellfattenedcaponoftherightMoluccabreed,stuffedwithcapersandmushrooms,andservedupinasalad-bowl,withorange-jelliesenmosaiques。Write!YoucangetthemthatwayatTortoni’sWrite,ifyouplease!
  “HereisanicelittleLatinphrase,andraretoo,onecan’tbetoorechercheorbriefinone’sLatin,it’sgettingsocommon
  ignoratioelenchi。Hehascommittedanignoratioelenchithatistosay,hehasunderstoodthewordsofyourproposition,butnottheidea。Themanwasafool,yousee。Somepoorfellowwhomyouaddresswhilechokingwiththatchicken-bone,andwhothereforedidn’tpreciselyunderstandwhatyouweretalkingabout。Throwtheignoratioelenchiinhisteeth,and,atonce,youhavehimannihilated。Ifhedarestoreply,youcantellhimfromLucanhereitisthatspeechesaremereanemonaeverborum,anemonewords。Theanemone,withgreatbrilliancy,hasnosmell。Or,ifhebeginstobluster,youmaybedownuponhimwithinsomniaJovis,reveriesofJupiteraphrasewhichSiliusItalicusseehere!appliestothoughtspompousandinflated。Thiswillbesureandcuthimtotheheart。Hecandonothingbutrolloveranddie。Willyoubekindenoughtowrite?
  “InGreekwemusthavesomethingprettyfromDemosthenes,forexample。!