I was at Wedge Bay. It was raining. Wondering what I should do, I remembered the great caves along the shore. For ages the waves had been at work scooping1 out for me a place of refuge for such a day as this. I put on my coat, slipped a novel in the pocket, and set off along the sands. I soon found a sheltered spot in which I was able to defy the weather, and to watch the waves or read my book just as the fancy took me. As a matter of fact, I had not much to read. The book was Sir Walter Scott’s Kenilworth, and the bookmark was already near the end. I read therefore until, in the very climax2 of the tragic3 close, I suddenly came upon a text. Or perhaps it was less a text than a reference to a text, casually4 uttered in a moment of great excitement by one of the principal characters in the story. But it acted on my mind as the lever at the switch acts upon the oncoming railway train. In a flash, the novel and all its thrilling interest were left far behind, and I was 145flying along an entirely5 new track. And here are the words that so adroitly6 changed the current of my thought:
‘“Oh, if there be judgement in heaven, thou hast well deserved it,” said Foster, “and wilt7 meet it! Thou hast destroyed her by means of her best affections—it is a seething8 of the kid in the mother’s milk.”’
Almost involuntarily I closed the book, slipped it back into my pocket, and sat looking out to sea lost in a brown but interesting study.
II
‘Thou shalt not seethe9 a kid in his mother’s milk!’ The striking prohibition10 occurs three times—twice in the Book of Exodus11, and once in the Book of Deuteronomy. I do not know on what principle we assess the relative value and importance of texts; but, surely, a great commandment, thrice emphatically reiterated13, ought not to be treated as beneath our notice. I find that the interdict14 applies primarily to an ancient Eastern custom. All nations have their own idea as to the special delicacy15 of certain viands16. We British people fancy lamb and sucking-pig, and feel no shame in destroying the tiny creatures as soon as they are born. The predilection17 of the Arab was for a new-born kid; 146and when he wished to adorn18 his table with a particularly toothsome morsel19, it was his habit to serve up the kid boiled in milk taken from the mother. It was against this favourite and familiar dish that the stern and repeated prohibition was launched. I do not know if there was any practical or utilitarian20 reason, based on hygienic or medical grounds, for the emphatic12 decree. Perhaps, or perhaps not. Some of the old commandments relating to animals seem to have been framed for no other purpose than to inculcate a certain gentleness and courtesy in our attitude towards these poorer relatives of ours. ‘Thou shalt not kill a cow and her calf21 on the same day’; ‘Thou shalt not muzzle22 the ox that treadeth out the corn’; and so on. It is difficult to see any real reason why the ewe and her lamb, or the cow and her calf, should not go to the shambles23 together. But it was strictly24 forbidden. And similarly, ‘Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother’s milk.’ The finer feelings are certainly shocked at the thought of the cow and the calf going together to the slaughter25, and at the idea of boiling the newly born and newly slain26 kid in the milk of its mother; and the most obvious moral seems to be that we are not to treat the creatures of the field and the forest in any way that grates and jars upon those finer instincts. As I sat watching the foam27 playing with the strands28 of seaweed, it seemed to me that, 147if ever I am asked to preach in support of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, I should have here a theme all ready to my hand. And I felt glad that I had read Kenilworth.
III
But the prohibition goes much farther than that. It enshrines a tremendous principle, a principle that is nowhere else so clearly stated. Sir Walter Scott evidently saw that; and no exposition could be clearer than his. The circumstances were, briefly29, these. The Countess of Leicester was a prisoner. Just outside her room at the castle was a trapdoor. It was supported by iron bolts; but it was so arranged that even if the bolts were drawn30, the trapdoor would still be held in its place by springs. Yet the weight of a mouse would cause it to yield and to precipitate31 its burden into the vault32 below. Varney and Foster decided33 to draw these bolts so that, if the Countess attempted to escape, the trap would destroy her. Later on, Foster heard the tread of a horse in the court-yard, and then a whistle similar to that which was the Earl’s usual signal. The next moment the Countess’s chamber34 opened, and instantly the trapdoor gave way. There was a rushing sound, a heavy fall, a faint groan35, and all was over! At the same instant Varney called in at the window, ‘Is the 148bird caught? Is the deed done?’ Deep down in the vault Foster could see a heap of white clothes, like a snowdrift. It flashed upon him that the noise that he had heard was not the Earl’s signal at all, but merely Varney’s imitation, designed to deceive the Countess and lure36 her to her doom37. She had rushed out to welcome her husband, and had miserably38 perished. In his indignation, Foster turned upon Varney. ‘Oh, if there be judgement in heaven, thou hast deserved it,’ he said, ‘and wilt meet it! Thou hast destroyed her by means of her best affections. It is a seething of the kid in the mother’s milk!’
At that touchstone the inner meaning of the interdict stands revealed. The mother’s milk is Nature’s beautiful provision for the life and sustenance39 of the kid. Thou shalt not pervert40 that which was intended to be a ministry41 of life into an instrument of destruction. The wifely instinct that led the Countess to rush forth42 to welcome her lord was one of the loveliest things in her womanhood, and Varney used it as the agency by which he destroyed her. She was lured43 to her doom by means of her best affections. Charles Lamb points out, in his Tales from Shakespeare, that Iago compassed the death of the fair Desdemona in precisely44 the same way. ‘So mischievously45 did this artful villain46 lay his plots to turn the gentle qualities of this 149innocent lady into her destruction and make a net for her out of her own goodness to entrap47 her!’ It is this that the prohibition forbids. Thou shalt not take the most sacred things in life and apply them to base and ignoble48 ends. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother’s milk.
IV
The possibilities of application are simply infinite. There is nothing high and holy that cannot be converted into an engine of destruction. A girl is fond of music. The impulse is a lofty and admirable one. But it may easily be used to lure her away from the best things into a life of frivolity49, voluptuousness50, and sensation. A boy is fond of Nature. He loves to climb the mountain, row on the river, or scour51 the bush. Nothing could be better. But if it leads him to forsake52 the place of worship, to forget God, to fling to the winds the faith of his boyhood, and to settle down to a life of animalism and materialism53, he has been destroyed by means of his best affections. Or take our love of society and of revelry. There are few things more enjoyable than to sit by the fireside, or on the beach, with a few really congenial companions, to talk, and tell stories, and recall old times; to laugh, to eat, and to drink together. Talking and 150laughing and eating and drinking seem inseparable at such times. And yet out of that human, and therefore divine, impulse see the evils that arise! Look at our great national drink curse, with its tale of squalor and misery54 and shame! Did these men mean to be drunkards when first they entered the gaily55 lit bar-room? Nothing was farther from their minds. They were following a true instinct—the desire for companionship and congenial society. They have been lured to their doom, like Sir Walter Scott’s heroine, by means of their best affections.
V
And what about Love? Love is a lovely thing, or why should we be so fond of love-stories? The love of a man for a maid, and the love of a maid for a man, are surely among the very sweetest and most sacred things in life. No story is so fascinating as the story of a courtship. And that is good, altogether good. Every man who has won the affection of a true, sweet, beautiful girl feels that a new sanction has entered into life. He is conscious of a new stimulus56 towards purity and goodness. And every girl who has won the heart of a good, brave, great-hearted man feels that life has become a grander and a holier thing for her. As Shakespeare says:
151Indeed I know
Of no more subtle master under heaven
Than is the maiden57 passion for a maid,
Not only to keep down the base in man,
But to teach high thoughts and amiable58 words,
And courtliness, and the desire for fame,
And love of truth, and all that makes a man.
Lord Lytton illustrates59 this magic force in his Last Days of Pompeii. He tells us that Glaucus, the Athenian, ‘had seen Ione, bright, pure, unsullied, in the midst of the gayest and most profligate60 gallants of Pompeii, charming rather than awing61 the boldest into respect, and changing the very nature of the most sensual and the least ideal as, by her intellectual and refining spells, she reversed the fable62 of Circe, and converted the animals into men.’ Here, then, is something altogether good. It is clearly designed to minister new life to all who come beneath its spell. And yet the sordid63 fact remains64 that, through the degradation65 of this same high and holy impulse, thousands of young people make sad shipwreck66.
VI
But of all things designed to minister life to the world, the Cross is the greatest and most awful. Its possibilities of regeneration are simply infinite; and in its case the danger is therefore all the greater. 152‘We preach Christ crucified,’ wrote Paul, ‘unto the Jews a stumbling-block, and unto the Greeks foolishness, but unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.’ It is the most urgent and insistent67 note of the New Testament68 that a man may convert into the instrument of his condemnation69 and destruction that awful sacrifice which was designed for his redemption. It is the sin of sins; the sin unpardonable; the sin so impressively forbidden by that ancient and thrice reiterated commandment whose significance Sir Walter Scott pointed70 out to me in the cave by the side of the sea.
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1
scooping
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| n.捞球v.抢先报道( scoop的现在分词 )；（敏捷地）抱起；抢先获得；用铲[勺]等挖（洞等） | |
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2
climax
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| n.顶点；高潮；v.(使)达到顶点 | |
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tragic
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| adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的 | |
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casually
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| adv.漠不关心地，无动于衷地，不负责任地 | |
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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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adroitly
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| adv.熟练地，敏捷地 | |
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wilt
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| v.(使)植物凋谢或枯萎；(指人)疲倦，衰弱 | |
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8
seething
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| 沸腾的，火热的 | |
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9
seethe
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| vi.拥挤，云集；发怒，激动，骚动 | |
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prohibition
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| n.禁止；禁令，禁律 | |
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exodus
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| v.大批离去，成群外出 | |
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12
emphatic
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| adj.强调的，着重的；无可置疑的，明显的 | |
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reiterated
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| 反复地说，重申( reiterate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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interdict
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| v.限制；禁止；n.正式禁止；禁令 | |
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delicacy
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| n.精致，细微，微妙，精良；美味，佳肴 | |
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viands
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| n.食品，食物 | |
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predilection
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| n.偏好 | |
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18
adorn
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| vt.使美化，装饰 | |
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morsel
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| n.一口，一点点 | |
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utilitarian
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| adj.实用的，功利的 | |
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21
calf
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| n.小牛，犊，幼仔，小牛皮 | |
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22
muzzle
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| n.鼻口部；口套；枪(炮)口；vt.使缄默 | |
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23
shambles
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| n.混乱之处；废墟 | |
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24
strictly
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| adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地 | |
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25
slaughter
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| n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀 | |
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26
slain
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| 杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的过去分词 )； (slay的过去分词) | |
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27
foam
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| v./n.泡沫，起泡沫 | |
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28
strands
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| n.（线、绳、金属线、毛发等的）股( strand的名词复数 )；缕；海洋、湖或河的)岸；（观点、计划、故事等的）部份v.使滞留，使搁浅( strand的第三人称单数 ) | |
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29
briefly
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| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
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30
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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31
precipitate
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| adj.突如其来的；vt.使突然发生；n.沉淀物 | |
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32
vault
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| n.拱形圆顶，地窖，地下室 | |
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33
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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34
chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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35
groan
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| vi./n.呻吟，抱怨；(发出)呻吟般的声音 | |
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36
lure
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| n.吸引人的东西，诱惑物；vt.引诱，吸引 | |
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37
doom
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| n.厄运，劫数；v.注定，命定 | |
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38
miserably
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| adv.痛苦地；悲惨地；糟糕地；极度地 | |
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39
sustenance
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| n.食物，粮食；生活资料；生计 | |
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40
pervert
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| n.堕落者，反常者；vt.误用，滥用；使人堕落，使入邪路 | |
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41
ministry
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| n.(政府的)部；牧师 | |
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42
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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43
lured
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| 吸引，引诱（lure的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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44
precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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45
mischievously
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| adv.有害地；淘气地 | |
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46
villain
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| n.反派演员，反面人物；恶棍；问题的起因 | |
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47
entrap
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| v.以网或陷阱捕捉，使陷入圈套 | |
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48
ignoble
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| adj.不光彩的，卑鄙的；可耻的 | |
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49
frivolity
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| n.轻松的乐事，兴高采烈；轻浮的举止 | |
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50
voluptuousness
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| n.风骚，体态丰满 | |
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51
scour
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| v.搜索；擦，洗，腹泻，冲刷 | |
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52
forsake
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| vt.遗弃，抛弃；舍弃，放弃 | |
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53
materialism
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| n.［哲］唯物主义，唯物论；物质至上 | |
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54
misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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55
gaily
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| adv.欢乐地，高兴地 | |
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56
stimulus
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| n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物 | |
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57
maiden
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| n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的 | |
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58
amiable
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| adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的 | |
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59
illustrates
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| 给…加插图( illustrate的第三人称单数 )； 说明； 表明； （用示例、图画等）说明 | |
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60
profligate
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| adj.行为不检的；n.放荡的人，浪子，肆意挥霍者 | |
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61
awing
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| adj.& adv.飞翔的[地]v.使敬畏，使惊惧( awe的现在分词 ) | |
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62
fable
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| n.寓言；童话；神话 | |
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63
sordid
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| adj.肮脏的，不干净的，卑鄙的，暗淡的 | |
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64
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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65
degradation
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| n.降级；低落；退化；陵削；降解；衰变 | |
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66
shipwreck
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| n.船舶失事，海难 | |
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67
insistent
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| adj.迫切的，坚持的 | |
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68
testament
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| n.遗嘱；证明 | |
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69
condemnation
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| n.谴责; 定罪 | |
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70
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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