“That was Roselle Upman that hollered,” remarked Janey Wilcox, breaking the agitated1 silence which had fallen upon the supper table. “You can tell it’s him because he’s had all his front teeth pulled out.”
“I wasn’t born in the woods to be skeert by an owl2!” replied Abner, with a great show of tranquillity3, helping4 himself to another slice of bread. “Miss, you ain’t half makin’ out a supper!”
But this bravado5 could not maintain itself. In another minute there came a loud chorus of angry yells, heightened at its finish by two or three pistol-shots. Then Abner pushed back his chair and rose slowly to his feet, and the rest sprang up all around the table.
“Hurley,” said the farmer, speaking as deliberately6 as he knew how, doubtless with the idea of reassuring7 the others, “you go out into the kitchen with the women-folks, an’ bar the woodshed door, an’ bring in the axe8 with you to stan’ guard over the kitchen door. I’ll look out for this part o’ the house myself.”
“I want to stay in here with you, Abner,” said M’rye.
“No, you go out with the others!” commanded the master with firmness, and so they all filed out with no hint whatever of me. The shadow of the lamp-shade had cut me off altogether from their thoughts.
Perhaps it is not surprising that my recollections | of what now ensued should lack definiteness and sequence. The truth is, that my terror at my own predicament, sitting there with no covering for my feet and calves9 but the burdock leaves and that absurd shawl, swamped everything else in my mind. Still, I do remember some of it.
Abner strode across to the bookcase and took up the gun, his big thumb resting determinedly10 on the hammers. Then he marched to the door, threw it wide open, and planted himself on the threshold, looking out into the darkness.
“What’s your business here, whoever you are?” he called out, in deep defiant11 tones.
“We’ve come to take you an’ Paddy out for a little ride on a rail!” answered the same shrill12, mocking voice we had heard at first. Then others took up the hostile chorus. “We’ve got some pitch a-heatin’ round in the backyard!”
“You won’t catch cold; there’s plenty o’ feathers!”
“Tell the Irishman here’s some more ears for him to chaw on!”
“Come out an’ take your Copperhead medicine!”
There were yet other cries which the howling wind tore up into inarticulate fragments, and then a scattering13 volley of cheers, again emphasized by pistol-shots. While the crack of these still chilled my blood, a more than usually violent gust14 swooped15 round Abner’s burly figure, and blew out the lamp.
Terrifying as the first instant of utter darkness was, the second was recognizable as a relief. I at once threw myself out of the chair, and crept along back of the stove to where my stockings and boots had been put to dry. These I hastened, with much trembling awkwardness, to pull on, taking pains to keep the big square old stove between me and that open veranda16 door.
“Guess we won’t take no ride to-night!” I heard Abner roar out, after the shouting had for the moment died away.
“You got to have one!” came back the original voice. “It’s needful for your complaint!”
“I’ve got somethin’ here that’ll fit your complaint!” bellowed17 the farmer, raising his gun. “Take warnin’—the first cuss that sets foot on this stoop, I’ll bore a four-inch hole clean through him. I’ve got squirrel-shot, an’ I’ve got buckshot, an’ there’s plenty more behind—so take your choice!”
There were a good many derisive18 answering yells and hoots19, and some one again fired a pistol in the air, but nobody offered to come up on the veranda.
Emboldened20 by this, I stole across the room now to one of the windows, and lifting a corner of the shade, strove to look out. At first there was nothing whatever to be seen in the utter blackness. Then I made out some faint reddish sort of diffused21 light in the upper air, which barely sufficed to indicate the presence of some score or more dark figures out in the direction of the pump. Evidently they had built a fire around in the back yard, as they said—probably starting it there so that its light might not disclose their identity.
This looked as if they really meant to tar-and-feather Abner and Hurley. The expression was familiar enough to my ears, and, from pictures in stray illustrated22 weeklies that found their way to the Corners, I had gathered some general notion of the procedure involved. The victim was stripped, I knew, and daubed over with hot melted pitch; then a pillow-case of feathers was emptied over him, and he was forced astride a fence-rail, which the rabble23 hoisted24 on their shoulders and ran about with. But my fancy balked25 at and refused the task of imagining Abner Beech26 in this humiliating posture27. At least it was clear to my mind that a good many fierce and bloody28 things would happen first.
Apparently29 this had become clear to the throng30 outside as well. Whole minutes had gone by, and still no one mounted the veranda to seek close quarters with the farmer—who stood braced31 with his legs wide apart, bare-headed and erect32, the wind blowing his huge beard sidewise over his shoulder.
“Well! ain’t none o’ you a-comin’?” he called out at last, with impatient sarcasm33. “Thought you was so sot on takin’ me out an’ havin’ some fun with me!” After a brief pause, another taunt34 occurred to him. “Why, even the niggers you’re so in love with,” he shouted, “they ain’t such dod-rotted cowards as you be!”
A general movement was discernible among the shadowy forms outside. I thought for the instant that it meant a swarming35 attack upon the veranda. But no! suddenly it had grown much lighter36, and the mob was moving away toward the rear of the house. The men were shouting things to one another, but the wind for the moment was at such a turbulent pitch that all their words were drowned. The reddened light waxed brighter still—and now there was nobody to be seen at all from the window.
“Hurry here! Mr. Beech! We’re all afire!” cried a frightened voice in the room behind me.
It may be guessed how I turned.
The kitchen door was open, and the figure of a woman stood on the threshold, indefinitely black against a strange yellowish-drab half light which framed it. This woman—one knew from the voice that it was Esther Hagadorn—seemed to be wringing37 her hands.
“Hurry! Hurry!” she cried again, and I could see now that the little passage was full of gray luminous38 smoke, which was drifting past her into the living-room. Even as I looked, it had half obscured her form, and was rolling in, in waves.
Abner had heard her, and strode across the room now, gun still in hand, into the thick of the smoke, pushing Esther before him and shutting the kitchen door with a bang as he passed through. I put in a terrified minute or two alone in the dark, amazed and half-benumbed by the confused sounds that at first came from the kitchen, and by the horrible suspense39, when a still more sinister40 silence ensued. Then there rose a loud crackling noise, like the incessant41 popping of some giant variety of corn.
The door burst open again, and M’rye’s tall form seemed literally42 flung into the room by the sweeping43 volume of dense44 smoke which poured in. She pulled the door to behind her—then gave a snarl45 of excited emotion at seeing me by the dusky reddened radiance which began forcing its way from outside through the holland window shades.
“Light the lamp, you gump!” she commanded, breathlessly, and fell with fierce concentration upon the task of dragging furniture out from the bedroom. I helped her in a frantic46, bewildered fashion, after I had lighted the lamp, which flared47 and smoked without its shade, as we toiled48. M’rye seemed all at once to have the strength of a dozen men. She swung the ponderous49 chest of drawers out end on end; she fairly lifted the still bigger bookcase, after I had hustled50 the books out on to the table; she swept off the bedding, slashed51 the cords, and jerked the bed-posts and side-pieces out of their connecting sockets52 with furious energy, till it seemed as if both rooms must have been dismantled53 in less time than I have taken to tell of it.
The crackling overhead had swollen54 now to a wrathful roar, rising above the gusty55 voices of the wind. The noise, the heat, the smoke, and terror of it all made me sick and faint. I grew dizzy, and did foolish things in an aimless way, fumbling56 about among the stuff M’rye was hurling57 forth58. Then all at once her darkling, smoke-wrapped figure shot up to an enormous height, the lamp began to go round, and I felt myself with nothing but space under my feet, plunging59 downward with awful velocity60, surrounded by whirling skies full of stars.
There was a black night-sky overhead when I came to my senses again, with flecks61 of snow in the cold air on my face. The wind had fallen, everything was as still as death, and some one was carrying me in his arms. I tried to lift my head.
“Anyhow!” came Hurley’s admonitory voice, close to my ear. “We’ll be there in a minyut.”
“No—I’m all right—let me down,” I urged. He set me on my feet, and I looked amazedly about me.
The red-brown front of our larger hay-barn loomed62 in a faint unnatural63 light, at close quarters, upon my first inquiring gaze. The big sliding doors were open, and the slanting64 wagon-bridge running down from their threshold was piled high with chairs, bedding, crockery, milk-pans, clothing—the jumbled65 remnants of our household gods. Turning, I looked across the yard upon what was left of the Beech homestead—a glare of cherry light glowing above a fiery66 hole in the ground.
Strangely enough this glare seemed to perpetuate67 in its outlines the shape and dimensions of the vanished house. It was as if the house were still there, but transmuted68 from joists and clap-boards and shingles69, into an illuminated70 and impalpable ghost of itself. There was a weird71 effect of transparency about it. Through the spectral72 bulk of red light I could see the naked and gnarled apple-trees in the home-orchard on the further side; and I remembered at once that painful and striking parallel of Scrooge gazing through the re-edified body of Jacob Marley, and beholding73 the buttons at the back of his coat. It all seemed some monstrous74 dream.
But no, here the others were. Janey Wilcox and the Underwood girl had come out from the barn, and were carrying in more things. I perceived now that there was a candle burning inside, and presently Esther Hagadorn was to be seen. Hurley had disappeared, and so I went up the sloping platform to join the women—noting with weak surprise that my knees seemed to have acquired new double joints75 and behaved as if they were going in the other direction. I stumbled clumsily once I was inside the barn, and sat down with great abruptness76 on a milking-stool, leaning my head back against the haymow, and conscious of an entire indifference77 as to whether school kept or not.
The feeble light of the candle was losing itself upon the broad high walls of new hay; the huge shadows in the rafters overhead; the women-folk silently moving about, fixing up on the barn floor some pitiful imitation, poor souls, of the home that had been swept off the face of the earth, and outside, through the wide sprawling78 doors, the dying away effulgence79 of the embers of our roof-tree lingering in the air of the winter night.
Abner Beech came in presently, with the gun in one hand, and a blackened and outlandish-looking object in the other, which turned out to be the big pink sea-shell that used to decorate the parlor80.
Again it was like some half-waking vision—the mantel. He held it up for M’rye to see, with a grave, tired smile on his face.
“We got it out, after all—just by the skin of our teeth,” he said, and Hurley, behind him, confirmed this by an eloquent81 grimace82.
M’rye’s black eyes snapped and sparkled as she lifted the candle and saw what this something was. Then she boldly put up her face and kissed her husband with a resounding83 smack84. Truly it was a night of surprises.
“That’s about the only thing I had to call my own when I was married,” she offered in explanation of her fervor85, speaking to the company at large. Then she added in a lower tone, to Esther: “He used to play with it for hours at a stretch—when he was a baby.”
“‘Member how he used to hold it up to his ear, eh, mother?” asked Abner, softly.
M’rye nodded her head, and then put her apron86 up to her eyes for a brief moment. When she lowered it, we saw an unaccustomed smile mellowing87 her hard-set, swarthy face.
The candle-light flashed upon a tear on her cheek that the apron had missed.
‘“I guess I do remember!” she said, with a voice full of tenderness.
Then Esther’s hand stole into M’rye’s and the two women stood together before Abner, erect and with beaming countenances88, and he smiled upon them both.
It seemed that we were all much happier in our minds, now that our house had been burned down over our heads.
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收听单词发音
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1
agitated
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| adj.被鼓动的，不安的 | |
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owl
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| n.猫头鹰，枭 | |
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tranquillity
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| n. 平静, 安静 | |
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helping
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| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
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bravado
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| n.虚张声势，故作勇敢，逞能 | |
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deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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reassuring
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| a.使人消除恐惧和疑虑的，使人放心的 | |
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axe
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| n.斧子；v.用斧头砍，削减 | |
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calves
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| 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 | |
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determinedly
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| adv.决意地；坚决地，坚定地 | |
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defiant
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| adj.无礼的，挑战的 | |
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shrill
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| adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫 | |
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scattering
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| n.[物]散射；散乱，分散；在媒介质中的散播adj.散乱的；分散在不同范围的；广泛扩散的；（选票）数量分散的v.散射(scatter的ing形式)；散布；驱散 | |
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14
gust
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| n.阵风，突然一阵（雨、烟等），（感情的）迸发 | |
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swooped
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| 俯冲，猛冲( swoop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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veranda
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| n.走廊；阳台 | |
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bellowed
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| v.发出吼叫声，咆哮（尤指因痛苦）( bellow的过去式和过去分词 )；（愤怒地）说出（某事），大叫 | |
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derisive
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| adj.嘲弄的 | |
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hoots
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| 咄，啐 | |
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emboldened
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| v.鼓励，使有胆量( embolden的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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diffused
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| 散布的，普及的，扩散的 | |
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illustrated
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| adj. 有插图的，列举的 动词illustrate的过去式和过去分词 | |
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rabble
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| n.乌合之众，暴民；下等人 | |
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hoisted
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| 把…吊起，升起( hoist的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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balked
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| v.畏缩不前，犹豫( balk的过去式和过去分词 )；（指马）不肯跑 | |
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beech
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| n.山毛榉；adj.山毛榉的 | |
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posture
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| n.姿势，姿态，心态，态度；v.作出某种姿势 | |
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bloody
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| adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染 | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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throng
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| n.人群，群众；v.拥挤，群集 | |
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braced
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| adj.拉牢的v.支住( brace的过去式和过去分词 )；撑牢；使自己站稳；振作起来 | |
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erect
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| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
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sarcasm
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| n.讥讽，讽刺，嘲弄，反话 （adj.sarcastic） | |
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taunt
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| n.辱骂，嘲弄；v.嘲弄 | |
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35
swarming
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| 密集( swarm的现在分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去 | |
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36
lighter
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| n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级 | |
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wringing
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| 淋湿的，湿透的 | |
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38
luminous
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| adj.发光的，发亮的；光明的；明白易懂的；有启发的 | |
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suspense
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| n.（对可能发生的事）紧张感，担心，挂虑 | |
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sinister
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| adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的 | |
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incessant
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| adj.不停的，连续的 | |
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42
literally
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| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
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43
sweeping
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| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
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44
dense
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| a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的 | |
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45
snarl
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| v.吼叫，怒骂，纠缠，混乱；n.混乱，缠结，咆哮 | |
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46
frantic
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| adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的 | |
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47
Flared
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| adj. 端部张开的, 爆发的, 加宽的, 漏斗式的 动词flare的过去式和过去分词 | |
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48
toiled
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| 长时间或辛苦地工作( toil的过去式和过去分词 )； 艰难缓慢地移动，跋涉 | |
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49
ponderous
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| adj.沉重的，笨重的，(文章)冗长的 | |
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50
hustled
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| 催促（hustle的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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51
slashed
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| v.挥砍( slash的过去式和过去分词 )；鞭打；割破；削减 | |
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52
sockets
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| n.套接字，使应用程序能够读写与收发通讯协定(protocol)与资料的程序( Socket的名词复数 )；孔( socket的名词复数 )；（电器上的）插口；托座；凹穴 | |
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53
dismantled
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| 拆开( dismantle的过去式和过去分词 )； 拆卸； 废除； 取消 | |
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54
swollen
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| adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀 | |
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55
gusty
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| adj.起大风的 | |
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56
fumbling
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| n. 摸索,漏接 v. 摸索,摸弄,笨拙的处理 | |
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57
hurling
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| n.爱尔兰式曲棍球v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的现在分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
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58
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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plunging
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| adj.跳进的，突进的v.颠簸( plunge的现在分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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60
velocity
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| n.速度，速率 | |
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61
flecks
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| n.斑点，小点( fleck的名词复数 )；癍 | |
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62
loomed
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| v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的过去式和过去分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近 | |
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63
unnatural
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| adj.不自然的；反常的 | |
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slanting
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| 倾斜的，歪斜的 | |
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jumbled
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| adj.混乱的；杂乱的 | |
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66
fiery
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| adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的 | |
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67
perpetuate
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| v.使永存，使永记不忘 | |
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68
transmuted
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| v.使变形，使变质，把…变成…( transmute的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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69
shingles
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| n.带状疱疹；（布满海边的）小圆石( shingle的名词复数 )；屋顶板；木瓦（板）；墙面板 | |
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70
illuminated
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| adj.被照明的；受启迪的 | |
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71
weird
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| adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的 | |
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spectral
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| adj.幽灵的，鬼魂的 | |
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73
beholding
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| v.看，注视( behold的现在分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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74
monstrous
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| adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的 | |
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75
joints
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| 接头( joint的名词复数 )； 关节； 公共场所（尤指价格低廉的饮食和娱乐场所） （非正式）； 一块烤肉 （英式英语） | |
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76
abruptness
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| n. 突然，唐突 | |
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77
indifference
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| n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎 | |
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78
sprawling
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| adj.蔓生的，不规则地伸展的v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的现在分词 )；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着） | |
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79
effulgence
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| n.光辉 | |
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80
parlor
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| n.店铺，营业室；会客室，客厅 | |
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81
eloquent
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| adj.雄辩的，口才流利的；明白显示出的 | |
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82
grimace
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| v.做鬼脸，面部歪扭 | |
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83
resounding
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| adj. 响亮的 | |
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84
smack
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| vt.拍，打，掴；咂嘴；vi.含有…意味；n.拍 | |
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85
fervor
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| n.热诚；热心；炽热 | |
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86
apron
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| n.围裙；工作裙 | |
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87
mellowing
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| 软化，醇化 | |
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88
countenances
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| n.面容( countenance的名词复数 )；表情；镇静；道义支持 | |
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