Albert had already made seven or eight similar excursions to the colosseum , while his less favored companion trod for the first time in his life the classic ground forming the monument of flavius vespasian ; and , to his credit be it spoken , his mind , even amid the glib loquacity of the guides , was duly and deeply touched with awe and enthusiastic admiration of all he saw ; and certainly no adequate notion of these stupendous ruins can be formed save by such as have visited them , and more especially by moonlight , at which time the vast proportions of the building appear twice as large when viewed by the mysterious beams of a southern moonlit sky , whose rays are sufficiently clear and vivid to light the horizon with a glow equal to the soft twilight of an eastern clime 弗兰兹已经到斗兽场来夜游过十多次了，而他的同伴却是第一次光顾维斯派森大帝的这个古迹，平心而论，虽然那两个向导口若悬河地在他的耳边喋喋不休，他的脑子里还是留下了很强烈的印象。事实上，要不是亲眼目睹，谁都想象不到一个废墟竟会这样庄严宏伟，欧洲南部的月光和东方的落日余辉有着异曲同工之妙，在这种神秘的月光之下，废墟的各部分看来似乎都扩大了一倍。弗兰兹在废墟的内廊底下走了一百步左右，怀古之情便油然而生，于是他离开了阿尔贝，反正那两个向导总会照他们的老规矩，领他去看关狮子的洞，斗猩力士的休息室和凯撒大帝的包厢的。
