They were simple flowers we sought to cultivate in those days, simple flowers with beautiful names. Violets and snowdrops, the reticent30 but cheerful pansy, otherwise known as “three faces under a hood,” love-lies-bleeding, wallflowers, stocks, and London pride, or “none so pretty”; of these and their unaffected comrades we made our gardens. Spades and pickaxes were denied us, but the p. 170simple gardening tools were ours, and he has lived in darkness who has not experienced the keen joy of smacking31 the earth with the convex side of a trowel. My hands tingle32 when I remember how sore weeding made the finger-tips, and there is something in the last ecstatic chuckle33 of a watering-pot as it runs dry that lingers in the ear. I am aware that there are persons of mature years who can find pleasure in the performance of simple garden tasks. But I am afraid that subconsciously34 it is the ?sthetic aspect of flowers that attracts them, and that their gardening is only a means to an end. No such charge could be brought against our efforts. We cared little about flowers or results of any sort; we only wanted to garden, and it troubled us not at all that the labours of one day destroyed those of the day before. To dig a deep hole and to fill it with water when completed is, as far as I have observed, no part of the ordinary gardener’s daily work, but it was our favourite effort, and a share in the construction of these ornamental35 waters was the greatest favour that we could grant to a p. 171friend. There were always captivating insects with numerous and casual legs to be discovered in the digging, and great stones that parted from the earth as reluctantly as nuggets. And when we had hollowed a cup in the earth we would pour in the sea and set our hearts floating upon its surface in paper ships. The sides of the hole would crumble36 down into the water like real cliffs, and every little fall would send a real wave sparkling across the surface of the ocean. Then there were bays to be cut and canals, and soundings to be taken with pieces of knotted string weighted with stones. Water has been the friend of children ever since Moses floated in his little ark of rushes to the feet of Pharaoh’s daughter.
I question whether they know very much about this sort of gardening at Kew, a place which is, however, beloved of children for the sake of the excellent spiral staircases in the palm-houses. But every sensible child has the art at its finger-tips, and in the time that we take to reach Brighton in a fleet motor they will construct a brand new sea for themselves—a sea with harbours and p. 172islands and sunken reefs, a perfect sea of wonder and romance.
If we are prepared to set aside our preconceived ideas as to what a garden ought to be, we must own that the children are not far wrong after all. A garden is only a world in miniature, with prairies of flowers and forests of roses and gravel37 paths for the wide, dusty roads. When we plant flowers in our garden it is as though we added new territories to our empire, new reds and blues38 and purples to our treasury of colours. And so when a child has wrought39 a fine morning’s havoc40 in its little patch of ground it has added it may be an ocean, it may be only a couple of stars to the kingdom of imagination which we may no longer see. It only needs a sunny hour or two, a trowel, and a pair of dirty hands to change a few square yards of earth into a world. And the child may be considered fortunate in being able to express itself perfectly41 in terms of dust. Our books and pictures cumber42 the earth, our palaces strike the skies, and yet it is our common tragedy that we have not found expression; while p. 173down the garden behind the lilac-bushes at this very moment Milton may have developed Lycidas into a sticky marsh43, and Shakespeare may have compressed Hamlet into a mud-pie. The works of the children end as they begin in dust; but we cannot pretend that ours are more permanent.
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1
treasury
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n.宝库;国库,金库;文库 | |
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2
inconvenient
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adj.不方便的,令人感到麻烦的 | |
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3
tormented
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饱受折磨的 | |
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dubious
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adj.怀疑的,无把握的;有问题的,靠不住的 | |
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tenure
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n.终身职位;任期;(土地)保有权,保有期 | |
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parched
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adj.焦干的;极渴的;v.(使)焦干 | |
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morass
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n.沼泽,困境 | |
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torrents
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n.倾注;奔流( torrent的名词复数 );急流;爆发;连续不断 | |
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unnatural
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adj.不自然的;反常的 | |
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10
hardy
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adj.勇敢的,果断的,吃苦的;耐寒的 | |
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11
obstinacy
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n.顽固;(病痛等)难治 | |
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12
thereby
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adv.因此,从而 | |
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13
tragic
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adj.悲剧的,悲剧性的,悲惨的 | |
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14
decorative
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adj.装饰的,可作装饰的 | |
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15
pebbles
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[复数]鹅卵石; 沙砾; 卵石,小圆石( pebble的名词复数 ) | |
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16
gallant
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adj.英勇的,豪侠的;(向女人)献殷勤的 | |
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17
thwarting
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阻挠( thwart的现在分词 ); 使受挫折; 挫败; 横过 | |
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18
tangle
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n.纠缠;缠结;混乱;v.(使)缠绕;变乱 | |
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19
inevitable
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adj.不可避免的,必然发生的 | |
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20
awakening
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n.觉醒,醒悟 adj.觉醒中的;唤醒的 | |
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21
wilderness
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n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等,荒漠 | |
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22
shameful
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adj.可耻的,不道德的 | |
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23
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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24
alas
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int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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25
secrecy
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n.秘密,保密,隐蔽 | |
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26
horrified
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a.(表现出)恐惧的 | |
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entirely
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ad.全部地,完整地;完全地,彻底地 | |
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truthful
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adj.真实的,说实话的,诚实的 | |
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29
monk
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n.和尚,僧侣,修道士 | |
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30
reticent
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adj.沉默寡言的;言不如意的 | |
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31
smacking
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活泼的,发出响声的,精力充沛的 | |
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32
tingle
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vi.感到刺痛,感到激动;n.刺痛,激动 | |
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33
chuckle
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vi./n.轻声笑,咯咯笑 | |
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34
subconsciously
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ad.下意识地,潜意识地 | |
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35
ornamental
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adj.装饰的;作装饰用的;n.装饰品;观赏植物 | |
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36
crumble
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vi.碎裂,崩溃;vt.弄碎,摧毁 | |
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37
gravel
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n.砂跞;砂砾层;结石 | |
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38
blues
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n.抑郁,沮丧;布鲁斯音乐 | |
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39
wrought
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v.引起;以…原料制作;运转;adj.制造的 | |
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40
havoc
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n.大破坏,浩劫,大混乱,大杂乱 | |
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41
perfectly
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adv.完美地,无可非议地,彻底地 | |
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42
cumber
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v.拖累,妨碍;n.妨害;拖累 | |
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43
marsh
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n.沼泽,湿地 | |
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