CHAPTER XXVI 'SUMER IS A-COMEN IN'

    Sumer is a comen in,
    Loud sing cuccu.
    Groweth seed and bloweth mead¹
    And springeth the wood nu.
    Sing cuccu.

Another spring had come to the West Country, crying over hill and dale its clear song of joy. Once more salt airs came up from the Channel, once more a delicious unrest filled the hearts of men.

Marion walked out of the house alone and sought the headland crowned with furze whence she and Roger, a year before, had seen the Fair Return sail out of the harbour. The year had made a difference to Marion, adding an indefinable shade of resolution to lip and brow; there was a touch of gravity in the quiet grey eyes, a hint of ripening² in the girlish figure.

Something more than the restlessness of spring had driven Marion to the solitude³ of the cliff side, something more than the emptiness of the house which Simone had just left for a visit to her French home, something more than the realisation that soon she would be in Kensington again with her aunt.

Marion walked idly about the headland, pacing to and fro along the grassy⁴ stretch. From time to time her eyes swept the sunlit Channel. Presently she climbed to a higher ridge⁵ of the slope and sat down on the stone ledge⁶ that gave a view of the harbour.

A soft haze⁷ clung to the river mouth, and through it the spikes⁸ of the masts rose with a gentle motion. Suddenly Marion sprang to her feet and ran along a few yards to a higher point of the headland. Among the small fishing boats of the Garth men she could clearly discern the lines of a larger vessel⁹. With her hand shading her eyes she studied the rig of the newcomer. Men were still busy on her decks. She had clearly just sailed into port.

As Marion stood, there was the sound of approaching footsteps on the hillside. She dropped her hand, turned, and remained motionless, her fingers plucking at the fold of her gown. A tall, bronzed figure, walking with a seaman's roll, was bearing round the cliff.

A wave of colour ran over Marion's face as the figure approached, and for a few seconds she struggled with a wild desire to turn and flee.

Then she heard her own voice speaking, and only a slight tremor¹⁰, a deeper tone, betrayed her feeling.

'You always were a very sudden person, Roger,' she said.

Roger tossed his seaman's cap on the ground and gently took her hands. The dark eyes, with gold lights dancing in the brown, looked merrily into the steady grey ones. The look sobered, and Marion's glance fell. She did not see the brown eyes run over her face and shining, red-gold hair.

For a long second they stood thus. Then Roger suddenly dropped his face into the hands he held.

With a tremulous laugh Marion withdrew her fingers and lightly touched the dark head.

'There's that patch of hair as stiff as ever,' she said.

Roger ran his hand over his head with the old, rueful expression.

'I know,' he said. 'And I shall grow bald all round it, and it will stand up so to the end. I knew a sailor's who stood up, harder than mine. But never mind my hair, Mawfy. Let me look at you again.'

Marion turned away in silence, and they walked along a few yards and then sat down on the rocky ledge. Soft airs circled the headland; sea gulls¹¹ flashed over the sapphire¹² bar of the sea. The sunlight, glancing over the cliff, fell on the gold and black heads, on the fair face and the dark face, on the slender fingers held in the firm, brown hand. Out in the copses the spring song joyously¹³ rang again.

    Sumer is a comen in,
    Loud sing cuccu.
    Groweth seed and bloweth mead
    And springeth the wood nu.
    Sing cuccu.

The End

1 mead   

n.蜂蜜酒

参考例句：

• He gave me a cup of mead.他给我倒了杯蜂蜜酒。
• He drank some mead at supper.晚饭时他喝了一些蜂蜜酒。

2 ripening   

v.成熟，使熟( ripen的现在分词 )；熟化；熟成

参考例句：

• The corn is blossoming [ripening]. 玉米正在开花[成熟]。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• When the summer crop is ripening, the autumn crop has to be sowed. 夏季作物成熟时，就得播种秋季作物。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 solitude   

n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方

参考例句：

• People need a chance to reflect on spiritual matters in solitude. 人们需要独处的机会来反思精神上的事情。
• They searched for a place where they could live in solitude. 他们寻找一个可以过隐居生活的地方。

4 grassy   

adj.盖满草的；长满草的

参考例句：

• They sat and had their lunch on a grassy hillside.他们坐在长满草的山坡上吃午饭。
• Cattle move freely across the grassy plain.牛群自由自在地走过草原。

5 ridge   

n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭

参考例句：

• We clambered up the hillside to the ridge above.我们沿着山坡费力地爬上了山脊。
• The infantry were advancing to attack the ridge.步兵部队正在向前挺进攻打山脊。

6 ledge   

n.壁架，架状突出物；岩架，岩礁

参考例句：

• They paid out the line to lower him to the ledge.他们放出绳子使他降到那块岩石的突出部分。
• Suddenly he struck his toe on a rocky ledge and fell.突然他的脚趾绊在一块突出的岩石上，摔倒了。

7 haze   

n.霾，烟雾；懵懂，迷糊；vi.(over)变模糊

参考例句：

• I couldn't see her through the haze of smoke.在烟雾弥漫中，我看不见她。
• He often lives in a haze of whisky.他常常是在威士忌的懵懂醉意中度过的。

8 spikes   

n.穗( spike的名词复数 )；跑鞋；（防滑）鞋钉；尖状物v.加烈酒于( spike的第三人称单数 )；偷偷地给某人的饮料加入（更多）酒精（ 或药物）；把尖状物钉入；打乱某人的计划

参考例句：

• a row of iron spikes on a wall 墙头的一排尖铁
• There is a row of spikes on top of the prison wall to prevent the prisoners escaping. 监狱墙头装有一排尖钉，以防犯人逃跑。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

10 tremor   

n.震动，颤动，战栗，兴奋，地震

参考例句：

• There was a slight tremor in his voice.他的声音有点颤抖。
• A slight earth tremor was felt in California.加利福尼亚发生了轻微的地震。

11 gulls   

n.鸥( gull的名词复数 )v.欺骗某人( gull的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• A flock of sea gulls are hovering over the deck. 一群海鸥在甲板上空飞翔。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The gulls which haunted the outlying rocks in a prodigious number. 数不清的海鸥在遥远的岩石上栖息。 来自辞典例句

12 sapphire   

n.青玉，蓝宝石；adj.天蓝色的

参考例句：

• Now let us consider crystals such as diamond or sapphire.现在让我们考虑象钻石和蓝宝石这样的晶体。
• He left a sapphire ring to her.他留给她一枚蓝宝石戒指。

13 joyously   

ad.快乐地, 高兴地

参考例句：

• She opened the door for me and threw herself in my arms, screaming joyously and demanding that we decorate the tree immediately. 她打开门，直扑我的怀抱，欣喜地喊叫着要马上装饰圣诞树。
• They came running, crying out joyously in trilling girlish voices. 她们边跑边喊，那少女的颤音好不欢快。 来自名作英译部分