The credentials7 of these four unquiet spirits having been examined and found satisfactory, schoolroom opinion was against any addition to their number. We would not accept my younger brother’s murderer carrying a sack or my little sister’s procession of special tortoises, though we acknowledged that there was merit in them, regarded merely as artistic8 conceptions. Perhaps, subconsciously9, we realised that to make the supernatural commonplace is also to make it ineffective, and that there is no dignity in a life jostled by spooks. At all events, we relied for our periodical panics on those which had received the official sanction, and on the terrifying monsters our imaginations had drawn10 from real life—burglars, lunatics, and drunken men.
It was therefore noteworthy that as soon as we discovered the pool in Hayward’s p. 18Wood we were all agreed that it was no ordinary sheet of water, but one of those enchanted11 pools which draw their waters from magic sources and are capable of throwing spells over mortals who approach them unwarily. And yet, though we felt instinctively12 that there was something queer about it, the pool in itself was not unattractive. Held, as it were, in a cup in the heart of the wood, it still contrived13 to win its share of sunshine through the branches above. On its surface the water-boatmen were ferrying cheerfully to and fro, while overhead the dragon-flies drove their gaudy14 monoplanes in ceaseless competition. All about the woods were gay with wild garlic and the little purple gloves that Nature provides for foxes, and through a natural alley15 we could see a golden meadow, where cups of cool butter were spread with lavish16 generosity17 to quench18 the parched19 tongues of bees. The mud that squelched20 under our feet as we stood on the brink21 seemed to be good, honest mud, and gave our boots the proper holiday finish. Nevertheless, we stared silently at the waters, half-expecting p. 19to see them thicken and part in brown foam22, to allow some red-mouthed prehistoric23 monster to rise oozily from his resting-place in the mud—some such mammoth24 as we had seen carved in stone on the borders of the lake at the Crystal Palace. But no monster appeared; only a rabbit sprang up suddenly on the far side of the pool, and, seeing we had no gun and no dog, limped off in a leisurely25 manner to the warren.
After a while we grew weary of our doubts, and, tacitly agreeing to pretend that it was only an ordinary pond, fell to paddling in the shallows with a good heart. The mud slid warmly through our toes, and the water lay round our calves26 like a tight string, but we were not changed, as we had half anticipated, into tadpoles27 or water-lilies. It was apparent that the magic was of a subtler kind than this, and we splashed about cheerfully until the inevitable28 happened and one of us went in up to his waist. Then we sat on the bank nursing our wet feet, and laughing at the victim as he ruefully wrung29 out his clothes. We were all of a nautical30 turn of mind, and we agreed that the pond would p. 20serve very well for minor31 naval32 engagements, though it was too sheltered to provide enough wind for sailing-ships. Still, here we should at all events be secure from such a disaster as had recently overtaken my troopship Dauntless, which was cruising in calm weather on Pickhurst Pond when all of a sudden “a land breeze shook the shrouds33 and she was overset,” and four-and-twenty good soldiers sank to the bottom like lead, which they were. Regarded merely as an attractive piece of water, the pool could not fail to be of service in our adventurous34 lives.
But all the time we felt in our hearts that it was something more, though we would have found it hard to give reasons for our conviction, for the pool seemed very well able to keep the secret of its enchantment35. We did not even know whether it was the instrument of black magic or of white, whether its influence on human beings was amiable36 or malevolent37. We only knew that it was under a spell, that beneath its reticent38 surface, that showed nothing more than the reflection of our own inquiring faces, lay hidden some part of that especial p. 21magic that makes the dreams of young people as real as life, and contradicts the unlovely generalisations of disillusioned39 adults. All that was necessary was to find the key that would unlock the golden gates.
The brother who was nearest to me in terms of years found it two days later, and came to me breathlessly with the news. He had been reading a book of fairy stories, and had come upon the description of just such a magic pool as ours, even to the rabbit—who was, it seemed, a kind of advance-agent to the spirit of the pool. The rules were very clear. All you had to do was to go to the pool at midnight and wish aloud, and your wish would be granted. If you were greedy enough to wish more than once, you would be changed into a goldfish. My brother thought it would be rather jolly to be a goldfish, and so for a while did I; but on reflection we decided40 that if the one wish were carefully expended41 it might be more amusing to remain a boy.
It says something for our spirit of adventure that we did not even discuss the advisability of undertaking42 this lawless p. 22expedition. We were more engaged in rejoicing in anticipation43 over the discomfiture44 of our elder brothers and settling the difficult problem of what we should wish. My brother was all for seven-league boots and invisible caps and other conjuring45 tricks of a fa?ry character; I had set my heart on money, more sovereigns than we could carry, and I finally brought my brother round to my point of view. After all, he could always buy the other things if he had enough money. It was agreed that he should wind up his birthday watch and that we should only pretend to go to bed, as we should have to start at half-past eleven. When planned by daylight the whole thing seemed absurdly easy.
We had no difficulty in getting out of the house when the time came, simply because this was not the sort of thing that the grown-up people expected us to do, but we found the world strangely altered. The familiar lanes had become rivers of changing shadows, the hedgerows were ambuscades of robbers, the tall trees were affronted46 giants. Fortunately, we were on very good p. 23terms with the moon at the time, so when she made her periodical appearances from behind the scudding47 clouds she came as a friend. Nevertheless, when my hand accidentally touched my brother’s in the dark it stayed there, and we were glad to walk along hand in hand, a situation which we would have thought deplorable for two fellows of our years by day. It seemed to me that my brother was breathing shortly and noisily as if he were excited, but presently the surprising thought came to me that it might be my own breathing that I heard. As we drew near to Hayward’s Wood the moon retired48 behind a cloud, and stayed there. This was hardly friendly of her, for the wood was terribly dark, and the noise of our own stumblings made us pause in alarm again and again. When we stood still and listened all the trees seemed to be saying “Hush!”
Somehow we reached the pool at last, and stayed our steps on the bank expectantly. At first we could see nothing but shadows, but, after a while, we discovered that it was full of drowned stars, a little pale as though p. 24the water had extinguished some of their fire. And then, as we wondered at this, the moon shone through the branches overhead and lit the wood with a cool and mysterious radiance that reminded me oddly of the transformation49 scene in our last pantomime. My brother pulled his watch out of his pocket, but his hand shook so that he could hardly tell the time. “Five minutes more,” he whispered hoarsely50. I tried to answer him, and found that I could not speak.
And then, as we waited breathlessly, we heard a noise among the undergrowth on the other side of the pool—a noise, it seemed, of footsteps, that grew louder and louder in our excited ears, till it was as if all the armies of the world were tramping through the wood. And then . . . and then . . .
When we stopped to get our breath halfway51 home we first discovered that neither of us had had presence of mind enough to wish. But we knew that there was no going back. We had had our chance, and missed it. But, even now, I do not doubt that it was a magic pool.
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
discriminate
|
|
| v.区别，辨别，区分；有区别地对待 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
gusty
|
|
| adj.起大风的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
shrilly
|
|
| 尖声的； 光亮的，耀眼的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
phantom
|
|
| n.幻影，虚位，幽灵；adj.错觉的，幻影的，幽灵的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
cistern
|
|
| n.贮水池 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
berth
|
|
| n.卧铺，停泊地，锚位；v.使停泊 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
credentials
|
|
| n.证明，资格，证明书，证件 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
artistic
|
|
| adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
subconsciously
|
|
| ad.下意识地，潜意识地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
drawn
|
|
| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
enchanted
|
|
| adj. 被施魔法的，陶醉的，入迷的 动词enchant的过去式和过去分词 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
instinctively
|
|
| adv.本能地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
contrived
|
|
| adj.不自然的，做作的；虚构的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
gaudy
|
|
| adj.华而不实的；俗丽的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
alley
|
|
| n.小巷，胡同；小径，小路 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
lavish
|
|
| adj.无节制的；浪费的；vt.慷慨地给予，挥霍 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
generosity
|
|
| n.大度，慷慨，慷慨的行为 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
quench
|
|
| vt.熄灭，扑灭；压制 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
parched
|
|
| adj.焦干的；极渴的；v.（使）焦干 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
squelched
|
|
| v.发吧唧声，发扑哧声( squelch的过去式和过去分词 )；制止；压制；遏制 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
brink
|
|
| n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
foam
|
|
| v./n.泡沫，起泡沫 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
prehistoric
|
|
| adj.（有记载的）历史以前的，史前的，古老的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
mammoth
|
|
| n.长毛象；adj.长毛象似的，巨大的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
leisurely
|
|
| adj.悠闲的；从容的，慢慢的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
calves
|
|
| n.(calf的复数)笨拙的男子，腓；腿肚子( calf的名词复数 )；牛犊；腓；小腿肚v.生小牛( calve的第三人称单数 )；（冰川）崩解；生（小牛等），产（犊）；使（冰川）崩解 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
tadpoles
|
|
| n.蝌蚪( tadpole的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
inevitable
|
|
| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
wrung
|
|
| 绞( wring的过去式和过去分词 )； 握紧（尤指别人的手）； 把（湿衣服）拧干； 绞掉（水） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
nautical
|
|
| adj.海上的，航海的，船员的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
minor
|
|
| adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
naval
|
|
| adj.海军的，军舰的，船的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
shrouds
|
|
| n.裹尸布( shroud的名词复数 )；寿衣；遮蔽物；覆盖物v.隐瞒( shroud的第三人称单数 )；保密 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
adventurous
|
|
| adj.爱冒险的；惊心动魄的，惊险的，刺激的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
enchantment
|
|
| n.迷惑，妖术，魅力 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
amiable
|
|
| adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
malevolent
|
|
| adj.有恶意的，恶毒的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
reticent
|
|
| adj.沉默寡言的；言不如意的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
disillusioned
|
|
| a.不再抱幻想的，大失所望的，幻想破灭的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
decided
|
|
| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
expended
|
|
| v.花费( expend的过去式和过去分词 )；使用（钱等）做某事；用光；耗尽 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
undertaking
|
|
| n.保证，许诺，事业 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
anticipation
|
|
| n.预期，预料，期望 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
discomfiture
|
|
| n.崩溃；大败；挫败；困惑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
conjuring
|
|
| n.魔术 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
affronted
|
|
| adj.被侮辱的，被冒犯的v.勇敢地面对( affront的过去式和过去分词 )；相遇 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
scudding
|
|
| n.刮面v.（尤指船、舰或云彩）笔直、高速而平稳地移动( scud的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
retired
|
|
| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
transformation
|
|
| n.变化；改造；转变 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
hoarsely
|
|
| adv.嘶哑地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
halfway
|
|
| adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |