John Todd, when I knew him, was already “the oldest herd21 on the Pentlands,” and had been all his days faithful to that curlew-scattering, sheep-collecting life. He remembered the droving days, when the drove roads, that now lie green and solitary22 through the heather, were thronged23 thoroughfares. He had himself often marched flocks into England, sleeping on the hillsides with his caravan24; and by his account it was a rough business not without danger. The drove roads lay apart from habitation; the drovers met in the wilderness25, as today the deep-sea fishers meet off the banks in the solitude26 of the Atlantic; and in the one as in the other case rough habits and fist-law were the rule. Crimes were committed, sheep filched27, and drovers robbed and beaten; most of which offences had a moorland burial and were never heard of in the courts of justice. John, in those days, was at least once attacked, — by two men after his watch, — and at least once, betrayed by his habitual28 anger, fell under the danger of the law and was clapped into some rustic29 prison-house, the doors of which he burst in the night and was no more heard of in that quarter. When I knew him, his life had fallen in quieter places, and he had no cares beyond the dulness of his dogs and the inroads of pedestrians30 from town. But for a man of his propensity31 to wrath32 these were enough; he knew neither rest nor peace, except by snatches; in the gray of the summer morning, and already from far up the hill, he would wake the “toun” with the sound of his shoutings; and in the lambing time, his cries were not yet silenced late at night. This wrathful voice of a man unseen might be said to haunt that quarter of the Pentlands, an audible bogie; and no doubt it added to the fear in which men stood of John a touch of something legendary33. For my own part, he was at first my enemy, and I, in my character of a rambling34 boy, his natural abhorrence35. It was long before I saw him near at hand, knowing him only by some sudden blast of bellowing36 from far above, bidding me “c’way oot amang the sheep.” The quietest recesses37 of the hill harboured this ogre; I skulked38 in my favourite wilderness like a Cameronian of the Killing39 Time, and John Todd was my Claverhouse, and his dogs my questing dragoons. Little by little we dropped into civilities; his hail at sight of me began to have less of the ring of a war-slogan; soon, we never met but he produced his snuff-box, which was with him, like the calumet with the Red Indian, a part of the heraldry of peace; and at length, in the ripeness of time, we grew to be a pair of friends, and when I lived alone in these parts in the winter, it was a settled thing for John to “give me a cry” over the garden wall as he set forth40 upon his evening round, and for me to overtake and bear him company.
That dread41 voice of his that shook the hills when he was angry, fell in ordinary talk very pleasantly upon the ear, with a kind of honied, friendly whine42, not far off singing, that was eminently43 Scottish. He laughed not very often, and when he did, with a sudden, loud haw-haw, hearty44 but somehow joyless, like an echo from a rock. His face was permanently45 set and coloured; ruddy and stiff with weathering; more like a picture than a face; yet with a certain strain and a threat of latent anger in the expression, like that of a man trained too fine and harassed46 with perpetual vigilance. He spoke47 in the richest dialect of Scotch48 I ever heard; the words in themselves were a pleasure and often a surprise to me, so that I often came back from one of our patrols with new acquisitions; and this vocabulary he would handle like a master, stalking a little before me, “beard on shoulder,” the plaid hanging loosely about him, the yellow staff clapped under his arm, and guiding me uphill by that devious49, tactical ascent50 which seems peculiar51 to men of his trade. I might count him with the best talkers; only that talking Scotch and talking English seem incomparable acts. He touched on nothing at least, but he adorned52 it; when he narrated53, the scene was before you; when he spoke (as he did mostly) of his own antique business, the thing took on a colour of romance and curiosity that was surprising. The clans54 of sheep with their particular territories on the hill, and how, in the yearly killings55 and purchases, each must be proportionally thinned and strengthened; the midnight busyness of animals, the signs of the weather, the cares of the snowy season, the exquisite56 stupidity of sheep, the exquisite cunning of dogs: all these he could present so humanly, and with so much old experience and living gusto, that weariness was excluded. And in the midst he would suddenly straighten his bowed back, the stick would fly abroad in demonstration57, and the sharp thunder of his voice roll out a long itinerary58 for the dogs, so that you saw at last the use of that great wealth of names for every knowe and howe upon the hillside; and the dogs, having hearkened with lowered tails and raised faces, would run up their flags again to the masthead and spread themselves upon the indicated circuit. It used to fill me with wonder how they could follow and retain so long a story. But John denied these creatures all intelligence; they were the constant butt59 of his passion and contempt; it was just possible to work with the like of them, he said, — not more than possible. And then he would expand upon the subject of the really good dogs that he had known, and the one really good dog that he had himself possessed60. He had been offered forty pounds for it; but a good collie was worth more than that, more than anything, to a “herd;” he did the herd’s work for him. “As for the like of them!” he would cry, and scornfully indicate the scouring61 tails of his assistants.
Once — I translate John’s Lallan, for I cannot do it justice, being born Britannis in Montibus, indeed, but alas62! inerudito saeculo — once, in the days of his good dog, he had bought some sheep in Edinburgh, and on the way out, the road being crowded, two were lost. This was a reproach to John, and a slur63 upon the dog; and both were alive to their misfortune. Word came, after some days, that a farmer about Braid had found a pair of sheep; and thither64 went John and the dog to ask for restitution65. But the farmer was a hard man and stood upon his rights. “How were they marked?” he asked; and since John had bought right and left from many sellers and had no notion of the marks — “Very well,” said the farmer, “then it’s only right that I should keep them.” — “Well,” said John, “it’s a fact that I cannae tell the sheep; but if my dog can, will ye let me have them?” The farmer was honest as well as hard, and besides I daresay he had little fear of the ordeal66; so he had all the sheep upon his farm into one large park, and turned John’s dog into their midst. That hairy man of business knew his errand well; he knew that John and he had bought two sheep and (to their shame) lost them about Boroughmuirhead; he knew besides (the lord knows how, unless by listening) that they were come to Braid for their recovery; and without pause or blunder singled out, first one and then another, the two waifs. It was that afternoon the forty pounds were offered and refused. And the shepherd and his dog — what do I say? the true shepherd and his man — set off together by Fairmilehead in jocund67 humour, and “smiled to ither” all the way home, with the two recovered ones before them. So far, so good; but intelligence may be abused. The dog, as he is by little man’s inferior in mind, is only by little his superior in virtue68; and John had another collie tale of quite a different complexion69. At the foot of the moss behind Kirk Yetton (Caer Ketton, wise men say) there is a scrog of low wood and a pool with a dam for washing sheep. John was one day lying under a bush in the scrog, when he was aware of a collie on the far hillside skulking70 down through the deepest of the heather with obtrusive71 stealth. He knew the dog; knew him for a clever, rising practitioner72 from quite a distant farm; one whom perhaps he had coveted73 as he saw him masterfully steering74 flocks to market. But what did the practitioner so far from home? and why this guilty and secret manoeuvring towards the pool? — for it was towards the pool that he was heading. John lay the closer under his bush, and presently saw the dog come forth upon the margin75, look all about him to see if he were anywhere observed, plunge76 in and repeatedly wash himself over head and ears, and then (but now openly and with tail in air) strike homeward over the hills. That same night word was sent his master, and the rising practitioner, shaken up from where he lay, all innocence77, before the fire, was had out to a dykeside and promptly78 shot; for alas! he was that foulest79 of criminals under trust, a sheep-eater; and it was from the maculation of sheep’s blood that he had come so far to cleanse80 himself in the pool behind Kirk Yetton.
A trade that touches nature, one that lies at the foundations of life, in which we have all had ancestors employed, so that on a hint of it ancestral memories revive, lends itself to literary use, vocal81 or written. The fortune of a tale lies not alone in the skill of him that writes, but as much, perhaps, in the inherited experience of him who reads; and when I hear with a particular thrill of things that I have never done or seen, it is one of that innumerable army of my ancestors rejoicing in past deeds. Thus novels begin to touch not the fine Dilettanti but the gross mass of mankind, when they leave off to speak of parlours and shades of manner and still-born niceties of motive82, and begin to deal with fighting, sailoring, adventure, death or childbirth; and thus ancient outdoor crafts and occupations, whether Mr. Hardy83 wields84 the shepherd’s crook85 or Count Tolstoi swings the scythe86, lift romance into a near neighbourhood with epic87. These aged88 things have on them the dew of man’s morning; they lie near, not so much to us, the semi-artificial flowerets, as to the trunk and aboriginal89 taproot of the race. A thousand interests spring up in the process of the ages, and a thousand perish; that is now an eccentricity90 or a lost art which was once the fashion of an empire; and those only are perennial matters that rouse us today, and that roused men in all epochs of the past. There is a certain critic, not indeed of execution but of matter, whom I dare be known to set before the best: a certain low-browed, hairy gentleman, at first a percher91 in the fork of trees, next (as they relate) a dweller92 in caves, and whom I think I see squatting93 in cave-mouths, of a pleasant afternoon, to munch94 his berries — his wife, that accomplished95 lady, squatting by his side: his name I never heard, but he is often described as Probably Arboreal96, which may serve for recognition. Each has his own tree of ancestors, but at the top of all sits Probably Arboreal; in all our veins97 there run some minims of his old, wild, tree-top blood; our civilised nerves still tingle98 with his rude terrors and pleasures; and to that which would have moved our common ancestor, all must obediently thrill.
We have not so far to climb to come to shepherds; and it may be I had one for an ascendant who has largely moulded me. But yet I think I owe my taste for that hillside business rather to the art and interest of John Todd. He it was that made it live for me, as the artist can make all things live. It was through him the simple strategy of massing sheep upon a snowy evening, with its attendant scampering99 of earnest, shaggy aides-de-champ, was an affair that I never wearied of seeing, and that I never weary of recalling to mind: the shadow of the night darkening on the hills, inscrutable black blots100 of snow shower moving here and there like night already come, huddles101 of yellow sheep and dartings of black dogs upon the snow, a bitter air that took you by the throat, unearthly harpings of the wind along the moors102; and for centre piece to all these features and influences, John winding103 up the brae, keeping his captain’s eye upon all sides, and breaking, ever and again, into a spasm104 of bellowing that seemed to make the evening bleaker105. It is thus that I still see him in my mind’s eye, perched on a hump of the declivity106 not far from Halkerside, his staff in airy flourish, his great voice taking hold upon the hills and echoing terror to the lowlands; I, meanwhile, standing107 somewhat back, until the fit should be over, and, with a pinch of snuff, my friend relapse into his easy, even conversation.
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1
stunned
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| adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词 | |
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regiment
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| n.团，多数，管理；v.组织，编成团，统制 | |
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citadels
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| n.城堡，堡垒( citadel的名词复数 ) | |
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aroma
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| n.香气，芬芳，芳香 | |
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manor
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| n.庄园，领地 | |
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swirling
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| v.旋转，打旋( swirl的现在分词 ) | |
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den
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| n.兽穴；秘密地方；安静的小房间，私室 | |
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trickle
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| vi.淌，滴，流出，慢慢移动，逐渐消散 | |
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bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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perennial
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| adj.终年的；长久的 | |
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moss
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| n.苔，藓，地衣 | |
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infancy
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| n.婴儿期；幼年期；初期 | |
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subterranean
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| adj.地下的，地表下的 | |
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tributaries
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| n. 支流 | |
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geographer
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| n.地理学者 | |
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squandered
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| v.（指钱，财产等）浪费，乱花( squander的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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appreciable
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| adj.明显的，可见的，可估量的，可觉察的 | |
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auld
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| adj.老的，旧的 | |
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syne
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| adv.自彼时至此时，曾经 | |
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condemned
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| adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
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21
herd
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| n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起 | |
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solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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thronged
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| v.成群，挤满( throng的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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caravan
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| n.大蓬车；活动房屋 | |
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wilderness
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| n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠 | |
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solitude
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| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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filched
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| v.偷（尤指小的或不贵重的物品）( filch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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habitual
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| adj.习惯性的；通常的，惯常的 | |
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rustic
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| adj.乡村的，有乡村特色的；n.乡下人，乡巴佬 | |
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pedestrians
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| n.步行者( pedestrian的名词复数 ) | |
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propensity
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| n.倾向；习性 | |
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wrath
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| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
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legendary
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| adj.传奇（中）的，闻名遐迩的；n.传奇（文学） | |
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rambling
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| adj.[建]凌乱的，杂乱的 | |
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abhorrence
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| n.憎恶；可憎恶的事 | |
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bellowing
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| v.发出吼叫声，咆哮（尤指因痛苦）( bellow的现在分词 )；（愤怒地）说出（某事），大叫 | |
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37
recesses
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| n.壁凹( recess的名词复数 )；（工作或业务活动的）中止或暂停期间；学校的课间休息；某物内部的凹形空间v.把某物放在墙壁的凹处( recess的第三人称单数 )；将（墙）做成凹形，在（墙）上做壁龛；休息，休会，休庭 | |
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skulked
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| v.潜伏，偷偷摸摸地走动，鬼鬼祟祟地活动( skulk的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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killing
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| n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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42
whine
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| v.哀号，号哭；n.哀鸣 | |
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43
eminently
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| adv.突出地；显著地；不寻常地 | |
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44
hearty
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| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
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permanently
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| adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地 | |
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46
harassed
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| adj. 疲倦的，厌烦的 动词harass的过去式和过去分词 | |
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47
spoke
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| 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 | |
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48
scotch
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| n.伤口，刻痕；苏格兰威士忌酒；v.粉碎，消灭，阻止；adj.苏格兰(人)的 | |
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49
devious
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| adj.不坦率的，狡猾的；迂回的，曲折的 | |
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50
ascent
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| n.(声望或地位)提高；上升，升高；登高 | |
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51
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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adorned
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| [计]被修饰的 | |
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53
narrated
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| v.故事( narrate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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54
clans
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| 宗族( clan的名词复数 )； 氏族； 庞大的家族； 宗派 | |
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55
killings
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| 谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发 | |
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exquisite
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| adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的 | |
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demonstration
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| n.表明，示范，论证，示威 | |
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itinerary
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| n.行程表，旅行路线；旅行计划 | |
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butt
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| n.笑柄；烟蒂；枪托；臀部；v.用头撞或顶 | |
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possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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scouring
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| 擦[洗]净，冲刷，洗涤 | |
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alas
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| int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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63
slur
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| v.含糊地说；诋毁；连唱；n.诋毁；含糊的发音 | |
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thither
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| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
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restitution
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| n.赔偿；恢复原状 | |
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ordeal
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| n.苦难经历，（尤指对品格、耐力的）严峻考验 | |
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jocund
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| adj.快乐的，高兴的 | |
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virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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complexion
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| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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skulking
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| v.潜伏，偷偷摸摸地走动，鬼鬼祟祟地活动( skulk的现在分词 ) | |
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obtrusive
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| adj.显眼的；冒失的 | |
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practitioner
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| n.实践者，从事者；(医生或律师等)开业者 | |
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coveted
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| adj.令人垂涎的；垂涎的，梦寐以求的v.贪求，觊觎(covet的过去分词)；垂涎；贪图 | |
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steering
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| n.操舵装置 | |
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margin
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| n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘 | |
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76
plunge
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| v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲 | |
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innocence
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| n.无罪；天真；无害 | |
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promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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79
foulest
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| adj.恶劣的( foul的最高级 )；邪恶的；难闻的；下流的 | |
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80
cleanse
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| vt.使清洁，使纯洁，清洗 | |
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vocal
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| adj.直言不讳的；嗓音的；n.[pl.]声乐节目 | |
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motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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hardy
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| adj.勇敢的，果断的，吃苦的；耐寒的 | |
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84
wields
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| 手持着使用（武器、工具等）( wield的第三人称单数 )； 具有； 运用（权力）； 施加（影响） | |
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85
crook
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| v.使弯曲；n.小偷，骗子，贼；弯曲(处) | |
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86
scythe
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| n. 长柄的大镰刀，战车镰； v. 以大镰刀割 | |
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87
epic
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| n.史诗，叙事诗；adj.史诗般的，壮丽的 | |
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88
aged
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| adj.年老的，陈年的 | |
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89
aboriginal
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| adj.（指动植物）土生的，原产地的，土著的 | |
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90
eccentricity
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| n.古怪，反常，怪癖 | |
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91
percher
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| 高坐者，栖于树上的鸟 | |
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92
dweller
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| n.居住者，住客 | |
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93
squatting
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| v.像动物一样蹲下( squat的现在分词 )；非法擅自占用（土地或房屋）；为获得其所有权；而占用某片公共用地。 | |
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94
munch
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| v.用力嚼，大声咀嚼 | |
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95
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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96
arboreal
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| adj.树栖的；树的 | |
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97
veins
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| n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理 | |
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98
tingle
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| vi.感到刺痛，感到激动；n.刺痛，激动 | |
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99
scampering
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| v.蹦蹦跳跳地跑，惊惶奔跑( scamper的现在分词 ) | |
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100
blots
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| 污渍( blot的名词复数 )； 墨水渍； 错事； 污点 | |
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101
huddles
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| （尤指杂乱地）挤在一起的人（或物品、建筑）( huddle的名词复数 )； （美式足球）队员靠拢（磋商战术） | |
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102
moors
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| v.停泊，系泊（船只）( moor的第三人称单数 ) | |
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103
winding
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| n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈 | |
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104
spasm
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| n.痉挛，抽搐；一阵发作 | |
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105
bleaker
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| 阴冷的( bleak的比较级 )； （状况）无望的； 没有希望的； 光秃的 | |
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106
declivity
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| n.下坡，倾斜面 | |
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107
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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