【英文原文】

An Excerpt from The Hunchback of Notre－Dame1)

In an extensive space left open between the crowd and the fire there was a young girl dancing．
Whether this young girl was a human being，or a fairy，or an angel Gringoire，sceptical2) philosopher and satirical3) poet as he was，could not at the first moment decide，so completely was he fascinated by the dazzling vision．She was not tall，although she appeared to be so from the slenderness and elegance of her figure．Her complexion was dark，but it was easy to divine4) that by daylight her skin must have the beautiful golden tint of the Roman and Andalusian women．Her small feet too were Andalusian．She danced，whirled，turned round，on an old Persian carpet，carelessly spread on the pavement；and every time her radiant5) face passed before you as she turned，her large black eyes flashed lightning．
Every eye was fixed upon her，every mouth open；and in truth，while she was thus dancing，what with the sound of the tambourine6)，which her two plump exquisitely shaped arms held above her head，her bodice of gold without folds，her spotted robe which swelled with the rapidity of her motions，her bare shoulders，her finely turned legs which her petticoat7) now and then discovered，her black hair，her eyes of flame，she was a supernatural creature．
“Verily，”thought Gringoire，“it is a salamander，a nymph8)，a goddess，a bacchanal9) of Mount Mnalus．”At that moment one of the tresses of the salamander’s hair got loose，and a piece of brass which had been fastened to it dropped to the ground．“Ha．no，”he said，“'tis a gipsy．”The illusion was at an end．
She began dancing again．She picked up from the ground two swords，which she balanced on their points upon her forehead，and made them turn round one way，while she turned the other．She was in fact a gipsy，neither more nor less．