A corresponding warmth ran through Alexander Hulings' body; Glory Furnace was his; it had been conceived by him and his determination had brought it to an actuality. He would show Wood-drop a new type of "maniac5." This was the second successful step in his move against the Ironmaster, in the latter's own field. Then he realized that he, too, might now be called Ironmaster. He directed extensive works operated under his name; he, Hulings, was the head! Already there were more than a hundred men to do what he directed, go where he wished. The feeling of power, of consequence, quickened through him. Alexander held himself, if possible, more rigidly6 than before; he followed every minute turn of the casting, tersely7 admonishing8 a laborer9.
He was dressed with the utmost care; a marked niceness of apparel now distinguished10 him. His whiskers were closely trimmed, his hair brushed high under a glossy11 tile hat; he wore checked trousers, strapped12 on glazed13 Wellington boots, a broadcloth coat, fitted closely to his waist, with a deep rolling collar; severe neckcloth, and a number of seals on a stiff twill waistcoat. Veneada, as always, was carelessly garbed14 in wrinkled silk and a broad planter's hat. It seemed to Alexander that the other looked conspicuously15 older than he had only a few months back; the doctor's face was pendulous16, the pouches17 beneath his eyes livid.
Alexander Hulings quickly forgot this in the immediate18 pressure of manufacture. The younger Wishon, who had followed his father into Alexander's service, now came down from the charcoal19 stacks in a great sectional wagon20 drawn21 by six mules22, collared in bells and red streamers. The pigs were sledged23 in endless procession from Glory, and then from a second furnace, to the forges that reached along the creek24 in each direction from Tubal Cain. The latter was worked as vigorously as possible, but Alexander conducted its finances in a separate, private column; all the profit he banked to the credit of James Claypole. He did this not from a sense of equity25, but because of a deeper, more obscure feeling, almost a superstition26, that such acknowledgment of the absent man's unwitting assistance was a safeguard of further good fortune.
The months fled with amazing rapidity; it seemed to him that one day the ground was shrouded27 in snow, and on the next the dogwood was blooming. No man in all his properties worked harder or through longer hours than Alexander; the night shift at a forge would often see him standing28 grimly in the lurid29 reflections of the hearths30; charcoal burners, eating their flitch and potatoes on an outlying mountain, not infrequently heard the beat of his horse's hoofs31 on the soft moss32, his domineering voice bullying33 them for some slight oversight34. He inspired everywhere a dread35 mingled36 with grudging37 admiration38; it was known that he forced every possible ounce of effort from workman and beast.
Nevertheless, toward the end of the third summer of his success he contracted a lingering fever, and he was positively39 commanded to leave his labors40 for a rest and change. Wrapped in a shawl, he sat on the porch of the house he had commenced building, on a rise overlooking the eddying41 smoke of his industries, and considered the various places that offered relaxation42; he could go to the sea, at Long Branch, or to Saratoga, the gayety and prodigality43 of which were famous.... But his thought returned to his collapse44 four years before; he heard Veneada counseling him to take the water of the Mineral Springs. He had been too poor then for the Mineral; had he gone there, he would have arrived unnoticed. By heaven, he would go there now! It was, he knew, less fashionable than the other places; its day had been twenty, thirty years before. But it represented once more his progress, his success; and, in the company of his personal servant, his leather boxes strapped at the back of his lightest road wagon, he set out the following morning.
Almost sixty miles of indifferent roads lay before him; and, though he covered, in his weakened condition, far more than half the distance by evening, he was forced to stay overnight at a roadside tavern45. The way was wild and led through narrow, dark valleys, under the shadow of uninhabited ridges46, and through swift fords. Occasionally he passed great, slow Conestoga wagons48, entrained for the West; leather-hooded, ancient vehicles; and men on horses.
The wagon broke suddenly info the smooth, green valley that held the Mineral Springs. Against a western mountain were grouped hotels; a bridge, crossing a limpid49 stream; pointed50 kiosks in the Chinese taste; and red gravel51 walks. The hotel before which Alexander stopped—a prodigiously52 long, high structure painted white—had a deep porch across its face with slender columns towering up unbroken to the roof and festooned with trumpet53 flowers. A bell rang loudly for dinner; and there was a colorful flow of crinoline over the porch, a perfumed flowery stir, through which he impatiently made his way, followed by negro boys with his luggage.
Within, the office was high and bare, with a sweeping54 staircase, and wide doors opened on a lofty thronged55 dining room. Above, he was led through interminable narrow corridors, past multitudinous closed doors, to a closetlike room completely filled by a narrow bed, a chair, and a corner washstand; this, with some pegs56 in the calcined wall and a bell rope, completed the provisions for his comfort. His toilet was hurried, for he had been warned that extreme promptness at meals was more than desirable; and, again below, he was led by a pompous57 negro between long, crowded tables to a place at the farther end. The din4 of conversation and clatter58 of dishes were deafening59. In the ceiling great connected fans were languidly pulled by black boys, making a doubtful circulation.
His dinner was cold and absurdly inadequate60, but the table claret was palatable61. And, after the isolation62 of Tubal Cain, the droves of festive63 people absorbed him. Later, at the bar, he came across an acquaintance, a railroad director, who pointed out to Alexander what notables were present. There was an Englishman, a lord; there was Bartram Ainscough, a famous gambler; there—Alexander's arm was grasped by his companion.
"See that man—no, farther—dark, in a linen64 suit? Well, that's Partridge Sinnox, of New Orleans." He grew slightly impatient at Hulings' look of inquiry65. "Never heard of him! Best-known pistol shot in the States. A man of the highest honor. Will go out on the slightest provocation66." His voice lowered. "He's said to have killed twelve—no less. His companion there, from Louisiana too, never leaves him. Prodigiously rich: canefields."
Alexander Hulings looked with small interest at the dueller67 and his associate. The former had a lean, tanned face, small black eyes that held each a single point of light, and long, precise hands. Here, Alexander thought, was another form of publicity68, different from his own. As always, his lips tightened69 in a faint contempt at pretensions70 other than his, or threatening to his pre雖inence. Sinnox inspired none of the dread or curiosity evident in his companion; and he turned from him to the inspection71 of a Pennsylvania coal magnate.
The colonnade72 of the hotel faced another cultivated ridge47, on which terraced walks mounted to a pavilion at the crest73; and there, through the late afternoon, he rested and gazed down at the Springs or over to the village beyond. Alexander was wearier than he had supposed; the iron seemed suddenly insupportably burdensome; a longing74 for lighter75, gayer contacts possessed76 him. He wanted to enter the relaxations77 of the Springs.
Dancing, he knew, was customary after supper; and he lingered over a careful toilet—bright blue coat, tight black trousers, and flat, glistening78 slippers79, with a soft cambric ruffle80. Alexander Hulings surveyed his countenance81 in a scrap82 of mirror, and saw, with mingled surprise and discontent, that he—like Veneada—bore unmistakable signs of age, marks of strife83 and suffering; his whiskers had an evident silvery sheen. Life, receding84 unnoticed, had set him at the verge85 of middle age. But at least, he thought, his was not an impotent medial period; if, without material success, he had unexpectedly seen the slightly drawn countenance meeting him in the mirror, he would have killed himself. He realized that coldly. He could never have survived an established nonentity86. As it was, descending87 the stairs to supper, immaculate and disdainful, he was upheld by the memory of his accomplishments88, his widening importance, weight. He actually heard a whispered comment: "Hulings, iron."
点击收听单词发音
1 Founder | |
n.创始者,缔造者 | |
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2 hearth | |
n.壁炉炉床,壁炉地面 | |
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3 incandescent | |
adj.遇热发光的, 白炽的,感情强烈的 | |
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4 din | |
n.喧闹声,嘈杂声 | |
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5 maniac | |
n.精神癫狂的人;疯子 | |
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6 rigidly | |
adv.刻板地,僵化地 | |
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7 tersely | |
adv. 简捷地, 简要地 | |
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8 admonishing | |
v.劝告( admonish的现在分词 );训诫;(温和地)责备;轻责 | |
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9 laborer | |
n.劳动者,劳工 | |
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10 distinguished | |
adj.卓越的,杰出的,著名的 | |
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11 glossy | |
adj.平滑的;有光泽的 | |
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12 strapped | |
adj.用皮带捆住的,用皮带装饰的;身无分文的;缺钱;手头紧v.用皮带捆扎(strap的过去式和过去分词);用皮带抽打;包扎;给…打绷带 | |
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13 glazed | |
adj.光滑的,像玻璃的;上过釉的;呆滞无神的v.装玻璃( glaze的过去式);上釉于,上光;(目光)变得呆滞无神 | |
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14 garbed | |
v.(尤指某类人穿的特定)服装,衣服,制服( garb的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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15 conspicuously | |
ad.明显地,惹人注目地 | |
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16 pendulous | |
adj.下垂的;摆动的 | |
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17 pouches | |
n.(放在衣袋里或连在腰带上的)小袋( pouch的名词复数 );(袋鼠等的)育儿袋;邮袋;(某些动物贮存食物的)颊袋 | |
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18 immediate | |
adj.立即的;直接的,最接近的;紧靠的 | |
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19 charcoal | |
n.炭,木炭,生物炭 | |
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20 wagon | |
n.四轮马车,手推车,面包车;无盖运货列车 | |
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21 drawn | |
v.拖,拉,拔出;adj.憔悴的,紧张的 | |
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22 mules | |
骡( mule的名词复数 ); 拖鞋; 顽固的人; 越境运毒者 | |
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23 sledged | |
v.乘雪橇( sledge的过去式和过去分词 );用雪橇运载 | |
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24 creek | |
n.小溪,小河,小湾 | |
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25 equity | |
n.公正,公平,(无固定利息的)股票 | |
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26 superstition | |
n.迷信,迷信行为 | |
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27 shrouded | |
v.隐瞒( shroud的过去式和过去分词 );保密 | |
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28 standing | |
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的 | |
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29 lurid | |
adj.可怕的;血红的;苍白的 | |
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30 hearths | |
壁炉前的地板,炉床,壁炉边( hearth的名词复数 ) | |
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31 hoofs | |
n.(兽的)蹄,马蹄( hoof的名词复数 )v.(兽的)蹄,马蹄( hoof的第三人称单数 ) | |
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32 moss | |
n.苔,藓,地衣 | |
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33 bullying | |
v.恐吓,威逼( bully的现在分词 );豪;跋扈 | |
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34 oversight | |
n.勘漏,失察,疏忽 | |
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35 dread | |
vt.担忧,忧虑;惧怕,不敢;n.担忧,畏惧 | |
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36 mingled | |
混合,混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 ); 混进,与…交往[联系] | |
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37 grudging | |
adj.勉强的,吝啬的 | |
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38 admiration | |
n.钦佩,赞美,羡慕 | |
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39 positively | |
adv.明确地,断然,坚决地;实在,确实 | |
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40 labors | |
v.努力争取(for)( labor的第三人称单数 );苦干;详细分析;(指引擎)缓慢而困难地运转 | |
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41 eddying | |
涡流,涡流的形成 | |
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42 relaxation | |
n.松弛,放松;休息;消遣;娱乐 | |
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43 prodigality | |
n.浪费,挥霍 | |
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44 collapse | |
vi.累倒;昏倒;倒塌;塌陷 | |
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45 tavern | |
n.小旅馆,客栈;小酒店 | |
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46 ridges | |
n.脊( ridge的名词复数 );山脊;脊状突起;大气层的)高压脊 | |
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47 ridge | |
n.山脊;鼻梁;分水岭 | |
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48 wagons | |
n.四轮的运货马车( wagon的名词复数 );铁路货车;小手推车 | |
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49 limpid | |
adj.清澈的,透明的 | |
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50 pointed | |
adj.尖的,直截了当的 | |
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51 gravel | |
n.砂跞;砂砾层;结石 | |
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52 prodigiously | |
adv.异常地,惊人地,巨大地 | |
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53 trumpet | |
n.喇叭,喇叭声;v.吹喇叭,吹嘘 | |
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54 sweeping | |
adj.范围广大的,一扫无遗的 | |
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55 thronged | |
v.成群,挤满( throng的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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56 pegs | |
n.衣夹( peg的名词复数 );挂钉;系帐篷的桩;弦钮v.用夹子或钉子固定( peg的第三人称单数 );使固定在某水平 | |
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57 pompous | |
adj.傲慢的,自大的;夸大的;豪华的 | |
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58 clatter | |
v./n.(使)发出连续而清脆的撞击声 | |
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59 deafening | |
adj. 振耳欲聋的, 极喧闹的 动词deafen的现在分词形式 | |
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60 inadequate | |
adj.(for,to)不充足的,不适当的 | |
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61 palatable | |
adj.可口的,美味的;惬意的 | |
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62 isolation | |
n.隔离,孤立,分解,分离 | |
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63 festive | |
adj.欢宴的,节日的 | |
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64 linen | |
n.亚麻布,亚麻线,亚麻制品;adj.亚麻布制的,亚麻的 | |
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65 inquiry | |
n.打听,询问,调查,查问 | |
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66 provocation | |
n.激怒,刺激,挑拨,挑衅的事物,激怒的原因 | |
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67 dueller | |
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68 publicity | |
n.众所周知,闻名;宣传,广告 | |
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69 tightened | |
收紧( tighten的过去式和过去分词 ); (使)变紧; (使)绷紧; 加紧 | |
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70 pretensions | |
自称( pretension的名词复数 ); 自命不凡; 要求; 权力 | |
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71 inspection | |
n.检查,审查,检阅 | |
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72 colonnade | |
n.柱廊 | |
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73 crest | |
n.顶点;饰章;羽冠;vt.达到顶点;vi.形成浪尖 | |
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74 longing | |
n.(for)渴望 | |
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75 lighter | |
n.打火机,点火器;驳船;v.用驳船运送;light的比较级 | |
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76 possessed | |
adj.疯狂的;拥有的,占有的 | |
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77 relaxations | |
n.消遣( relaxation的名词复数 );松懈;松弛;放松 | |
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78 glistening | |
adj.闪耀的,反光的v.湿物闪耀,闪亮( glisten的现在分词 ) | |
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79 slippers | |
n. 拖鞋 | |
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80 ruffle | |
v.弄皱,弄乱;激怒,扰乱;n.褶裥饰边 | |
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81 countenance | |
n.脸色,面容;面部表情;vt.支持,赞同 | |
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82 scrap | |
n.碎片;废料;v.废弃,报废 | |
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83 strife | |
n.争吵,冲突,倾轧,竞争 | |
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84 receding | |
v.逐渐远离( recede的现在分词 );向后倾斜;自原处后退或避开别人的注视;尤指问题 | |
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85 verge | |
n.边,边缘;v.接近,濒临 | |
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86 nonentity | |
n.无足轻重的人 | |
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87 descending | |
n. 下行 adj. 下降的 | |
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88 accomplishments | |
n.造诣;完成( accomplishment的名词复数 );技能;成绩;成就 | |
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