When I reached Yosemite, all the rocks seemed talkative, and more telling and lovable than ever. They are dear friends, and seemed to have warm blood gushing8 through their granite9 flesh; and I love them with a love intensified10 by long and close companionship. After I had bathed in the bright river, sauntered over the meadows, conversed11 with the domes12, and played with the pines, I still felt blurred14 and weary, as if tainted15 in some way with the sky of your streets. I determined16, therefore, to run out for a while to say my prayers in the higher mountain temples. "The days are sunful," I said, "and, though now winter, no great danger need be encountered, and no sudden storm will block my return, if I am watchful17."
The morning after this decision, I started up the canyon18 of Tenaya, caring little about the quantity of bread I carried; for, I thought, a fast and a storm and a difficult canyon were just the medicine I needed. When I passed Mirror Lake, I scarcely noticed it, for I was absorbed in the great Tissiack—her crown a mile away in the hushed azure19; her purple granite drapery flowing in soft and graceful20 folds down to my feet, embroidered21 gloriously around with deep, shadowy forest. I have gazed on Tissiack a thousand times—in days of solemn storms, and when her form shone divine with the jewelry22 of winter, or was veiled in living clouds; and I have heard her voice of winds, and snowy, tuneful waters when floods were falling; yet never did her soul reveal itself more impressively than now. I hung about her skirts, lingering timidly, until the higher mountains and glaciers24 compelled me to push up the canyon.
This canyon is accessible only to mountaineers, and I was anxious to carry my barometer25 and clinometer through it, to obtain sections and altitudes, so I chose it as the most attractive highway. After I had passed the tall groves26 that stretch a mile above Mirror Lake, and scrambled27 around the Tenaya Fall, which is just at the head of the lake groves, I crept through the dense28 and spiny29 chaparral that plushes the roots of the mountains here for miles in warm green, and was ascending30 a precipitous rock front, smoothed by glacial action, when I suddenly fell—for the first time since I touched foot to Sierra rocks. After several somersaults, I became insensible from the shock, and when consciousness returned I found myself wedged among short, stiff bushes, trembling as if cold, not injured in the slightest.
Judging by the sun, I could not have been insensible very long; probably not a minute, possibly an hour; and I could not remember what made me fall, or where I had fallen from; but I saw that if I had rolled a little further, my mountain climbing would have been finished, for just beyond the bushes the canyon wall steepened and I might have fallen to the bottom. "There," said I, addressing my feet, to whose separate skill I had learned to trust night and day on any mountain, "that is what you get by intercourse31 with stupid town stairs, and dead pavements." I felt degraded and worthless. I had not yet reached the most difficult portion of the canyon, but I determined to guide my humbled32 body over the most nerve-trying places I could find; for I was now awake, and felt confident that the last of the town fog had been shaken from both head and feet.
I camped at the mouth of a narrow gorge33 which is cut into the bottom of the main canyon, determined to take earnest exercise next day. No plushy boughs34 did my ill-behaved bones enjoy that night, nor did my bumped head get a spicy cedar35 plume36 pillow mixed with flowers. I slept on a naked boulder37, and when I awoke all my nervous trembling was gone.
The gorged38 portion of the canyon, in which I spent all the next day, is about a mile and a half in length; and I passed the time in tracing the action of the forces that determined this peculiar39 bottom gorge, which is an abrupt40, ragged-walled, narrow-throated canyon, formed in the bottom of the wide-mouthed, smooth, and beveled main canyon. I will not stop now to tell you more; some day you may see it, like a shadowy line, from Cloud's Rest. In high water, the stream occupies all the bottom of the gorge, surging and chafing41 in glorious power from wall to wall. But the sound of the grinding was low as I entered the gorge, scarcely hoping to be able to pass through its entire length. By cool efforts, along glassy, ice-worn slopes, I reached the upper end in a little over a day, but was compelled to pass the second night in the gorge, and in the moonlight I wrote you this short pencil-letter in my notebook:—
The moon is looking down into the canyon, and how marvelously the
great rocks kindle42 to her light! Every dome13, and brow, and
swelling43 boss touched by her white rays, glows as if lighted with
snow. I am now only a mile from last night's camp; and have been
climbing and sketching44 all day in this difficult but instructive
gorge. It is formed in the bottom of the main canyon, among the
roots of Cloud's Rest. It begins at the filled-up lake basin where
I camped last night, and ends a few hundred yards above, in another
basin of the same kind. The walls everywhere are craggy and
vertical45, and in some places they overlean. It is only from twenty
to sixty feet wide, and not, though black and broken enough, the
thin, crooked46 mouth of some mysterious abyss; but it was eroded47,
for in many places I saw its solid, seamless floor.
I am sitting on a big stone, against which the stream divides, and
goes brawling48 by in rapids on both sides; half of my rock is white
in the light, half in shadow. As I look from the opening jaws49 of
this shadowy gorge, South Dome is immediately in front—high in the
stars, her face turned from the moon, with the rest of her body
gloriously muffled50 in waved folds of granite. On the left,
sculptured from the main Cloud's Rest ridge51, are three magnificent
rocks, sisters of the great South Dome. On the right is the
massive, moonlit front of Mount Watkins, and between, low down in
the furthest distance, is Sentinel Dome, girdled and darkened with
forest. In the near foreground Tenaya Creek52 is singing against
boulders53 that are white with snow and moonbeams. Now look back
twenty yards, and you will see a waterfall fair as a spirit; the
moonlight just touches it, bringing it into relief against a dark
background of shadow. A little to the left, and a dozen steps this
side of the fall, a flickering54 light marks my camp—and a precious
camp it is. A huge, glacier23-polished slab55, falling from the
smooth, glossy56 flank of Cloud's Rest, happened to settle on edge
against the wall of the gorge. I did not know that this slab was
glacier-polished until I lighted my fire. Judge of my delight. I
think it was sent here by an earthquake. It is about twelve feet
square. I wish I could take it home 4 for a hearthstone.
Beneath this slab is the only place in this torrent-swept gorge
where I could find sand sufficient for a bed.
I expected to sleep on the boulders, for I spent most of the
afternoon on the slippery wall of the canyon, endeavoring to get
around this difficult part of the gorge, and was compelled to
hasten down here for water before dark. I shall sleep soundly on
this sand; half of it is mica57. Here, wonderful to behold58, are a
few green stems of prickly rubus, and a tiny grass. They are here
to meet us. Ay, even here in this darksome gorge, "frightened and
tormented59" with raging torrents60 and choking avalanches61 of snow.
Can it be? As if rubus and the grass leaf were not enough of God's
tender prattle62 words of love, which we so much need in these mighty63
temples of power, yonder in the "benmost bore" are two blessed
adiantums. Listen to them! How wholly infused with God is this
one big word of love that we call the world! Good-night. Do you
see the fire-glow on my ice-smoothed slab, and on my two ferns and
the rubus and grass panicles? And do you hear how sweet a sleep-
song the fall and cascades64 are singing?
The water-ground chips and knots that I found fastened between the rocks kept my fire alive all through the night. Next morning I rose nerved and ready for another day of sketching and noting, and any form of climbing. I escaped from the gorge about noon, after accomplishing some of the most delicate feats65 of mountaineering I ever attempted; and here the canyon is all broadly open again—the floor luxuriantly forested with pine, and spruce, and silver fir, and brown-trunked libocedrus. The walls rise in Yosemite forms, and Tenaya Creek comes down seven hundred feet in a white brush of foam66. This is a little Yosemite valley. It is about two thousand feet above the level of the main Yosemite, and about twenty-four hundred below Lake Tenaya.
I found the lake frozen, and the ice was so clear and unruffled that the surrounding mountains and the groves that look down upon it were reflected almost as perfectly67 as I ever beheld68 them in the calm evening mirrors of summer. At a little distance, it was difficult to believe the lake frozen at all; and when I walked out on it, cautiously stamping at short intervals69 to test the strength of the ice, I seemed to walk mysteriously, without adequate faith, on the surface of the water. The ice was so transparent70 that I could see through it the beautifully wave-rippled, sandy bottom, and the scales of mica glinting back the down-pouring light. When I knelt down with my face close to the ice, through which the sunbeams were pouring, I was delighted to discover myriads71 of Tyndall's six-rayed water flowers, magnificently colored.
A grand old mountain mansion72 is this Tenaya region! In the glacier period it was a mer de glace, far grander than the mer de glace of Switzerland, which is only about half a mile broad. The Tenaya mer de glace was not less than two miles broad, late in the glacier epoch73, when all the principal dividing crests75 were bare; and its depth was not less than fifteen hundred feet. Ice streams from Mounts Lyell and Dana, and all the mountains between, and from the nearer Cathedral Peak, flowed hither, welded into one, and worked together. After eroding76 this Tanaya Lake basin, and all the splendidly sculptured rocks and mountains that surround and adorn77 it, and the great Tenaya Canyon, with its wealth of all that makes mountains sublime78, they were welded with the vast South, Lyell, and Illilouette glaciers on one side, and with those of Hoffman on the other—thus forming a portion of a yet grander mer de glace in Yosemite Valley.
I reached the Tenaya Canyon, on my way home, by coming in from the northeast, rambling79 down over the shoulders of Mount Watkins, touching80 bottom a mile above Mirror Lake. From thence home was but a saunter in the moonlight.
After resting one day, and the weather continuing calm, I ran up over the left shoulder of South Dome and down in front of its grand split face to make some measurements, completed my work, climbed to the right shoulder, struck off along the ridge for Cloud's Rest, and reached the topmost heave of her sunny wave in ample time to see the sunset.
Cloud's Rest is a thousand feet higher than Tissiack. It is a wavelike crest74 upon a ridge, which begins at Yosemite with Tissiack, and runs continuously eastward81 to the thicket82 of peaks and crests around Lake Tenaya. This lofty granite wall is bent83 this way and that by the restless and weariless action of glaciers just as if it had been made of dough84. But the grand circumference85 of mountains and forests are coming from far and near, densing into one close assemblage; for the sun, their god and father, with love ineffable86, is glowing a sunset farewell. Not one of all the assembled rocks or trees seemed remote. How impressively their faces shone with responsive love!
I ran home in the moonlight with firm strides; for the sun-love made me strong. Down through the junipers; down through the firs; now in jet shadows, now in white light; over sandy moraines and bare, clanking rocks; past the huge ghost of South Dome rising weird87 through the firs; past the glorious fall of Nevada, the groves of Illilouette; through the pines of the valley; beneath the bright crystal sky blazing with stars. All of this mountain wealth in one day!—one of the rich ripe days that enlarge one's life; so much of the sun upon one side of it, so much of the moon and stars on the other.
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
ascended
|
|
| v.上升，攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
spicy
|
|
| adj.加香料的；辛辣的，有风味的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
winnowed
|
|
| adj.扬净的，风选的v.扬( winnow的过去式和过去分词 )；辨别；选择；除去 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
tingled
|
|
| v.有刺痛感( tingle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
tassels
|
|
| n.穗( tassel的名词复数 )；流苏状物；（植物的）穗；玉蜀黍的穗状雄花v.抽穗， （玉米）长穗须( tassel的第三人称单数 )；使抽穗， （为了使作物茁壮生长）摘去穗状雄花；用流苏装饰 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
rustled
|
|
| v.发出沙沙的声音( rustle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
joyful
|
|
| adj.欢乐的，令人欢欣的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
gushing
|
|
| adj.迸出的；涌出的；喷出的；过分热情的v.喷，涌( gush的现在分词 )；滔滔不绝地说话 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
granite
|
|
| adj.花岗岩，花岗石 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
intensified
|
|
| v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
conversed
|
|
| v.交谈，谈话( converse的过去式 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
domes
|
|
| n.圆屋顶( dome的名词复数 )；像圆屋顶一样的东西；圆顶体育场 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
dome
|
|
| n.圆屋顶，拱顶 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
blurred
|
|
| v.（使）变模糊( blur的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）难以区分；模模糊糊；迷离 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
tainted
|
|
| adj.腐坏的；污染的；沾污的；感染的v.使变质( taint的过去式和过去分词 )；使污染；败坏；被污染，腐坏，败坏 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
determined
|
|
| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
watchful
|
|
| adj.注意的，警惕的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
canyon
|
|
| n.峡谷，溪谷 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
azure
|
|
| adj.天蓝色的，蔚蓝色的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
graceful
|
|
| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
embroidered
|
|
| adj．绣花的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
jewelry
|
|
| n.（jewllery）（总称）珠宝 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
glacier
|
|
| n.冰川，冰河 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
glaciers
|
|
| 冰河，冰川( glacier的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
barometer
|
|
| n.气压表，睛雨表，反应指标 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
groves
|
|
| 树丛，小树林( grove的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
scrambled
|
|
| v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
dense
|
|
| a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
spiny
|
|
| adj.多刺的，刺状的；n.多刺的东西 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
ascending
|
|
| adj.上升的，向上的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
intercourse
|
|
| n.性交；交流，交往，交际 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
humbled
|
|
| adj. 卑下的，谦逊的，粗陋的 vt. 使 ... 卑下，贬低 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
gorge
|
|
| n.咽喉，胃，暴食，山峡；v.塞饱，狼吞虎咽地吃 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
boughs
|
|
| 大树枝( bough的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
cedar
|
|
| n.雪松，香柏(木) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
plume
|
|
| n.羽毛；v.整理羽毛，骚首弄姿，用羽毛装饰 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
boulder
|
|
| n.巨砾；卵石，圆石 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
gorged
|
|
| v.（用食物把自己）塞饱，填饱( gorge的过去式和过去分词 )；作呕 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
peculiar
|
|
| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
abrupt
|
|
| adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
chafing
|
|
| n.皮肤发炎v.擦热（尤指皮肤）( chafe的现在分词 )；擦痛；发怒；惹怒 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
kindle
|
|
| v.点燃，着火 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
swelling
|
|
| n.肿胀 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
sketching
|
|
| n.草图 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
vertical
|
|
| adj.垂直的，顶点的，纵向的；n.垂直物，垂直的位置 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
crooked
|
|
| adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
eroded
|
|
| adj. 被侵蚀的，有蚀痕的 动词erode的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
brawling
|
|
| n.争吵，喧嚷 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
jaws
|
|
| n.口部；嘴 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
muffled
|
|
| adj.（声音）被隔的；听不太清的；（衣服）裹严的；蒙住的v.压抑，捂住( muffle的过去式和过去分词 )；用厚厚的衣帽包着（自己） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
ridge
|
|
| n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
creek
|
|
| n.小溪，小河，小湾 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
boulders
|
|
| n.卵石( boulder的名词复数 )；巨砾；（受水或天气侵蚀而成的）巨石；漂砾 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
flickering
|
|
| adj.闪烁的，摇曳的，一闪一闪的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
slab
|
|
| n.平板，厚的切片；v.切成厚板，以平板盖上 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
glossy
|
|
| adj.平滑的；有光泽的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
mica
|
|
| n.云母 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
58
behold
|
|
| v.看，注视，看到 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
59
tormented
|
|
| 饱受折磨的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
60
torrents
|
|
| n.倾注；奔流( torrent的名词复数 )；急流；爆发；连续不断 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
61
avalanches
|
|
| n.雪崩( avalanche的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
62
prattle
|
|
| n.闲谈；v.（小孩般）天真无邪地说话；发出连续而无意义的声音 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
63
mighty
|
|
| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
64
cascades
|
|
| 倾泻( cascade的名词复数 )； 小瀑布（尤指一连串瀑布中的一支）； 瀑布状物； 倾泻（或涌出）的东西 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
65
feats
|
|
| 功绩，伟业，技艺( feat的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
66
foam
|
|
| v./n.泡沫，起泡沫 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
67
perfectly
|
|
| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
68
beheld
|
|
| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
69
intervals
|
|
| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
70
transparent
|
|
| adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
71
myriads
|
|
| n.无数，极大数量( myriad的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
72
mansion
|
|
| n.大厦，大楼；宅第 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
73
epoch
|
|
| n.(新)时代；历元 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
74
crest
|
|
| n.顶点；饰章；羽冠；vt.达到顶点；vi.形成浪尖 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
75
crests
|
|
| v.到达山顶（或浪峰）( crest的第三人称单数 )；到达洪峰，达到顶点 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
76
eroding
|
|
| 侵蚀，腐蚀( erode的现在分词 )； 逐渐毁坏，削弱，损害 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
77
adorn
|
|
| vt.使美化，装饰 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
78
sublime
|
|
| adj.崇高的，伟大的；极度的，不顾后果的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
79
rambling
|
|
| adj.[建]凌乱的，杂乱的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
80
touching
|
|
| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
81
eastward
|
|
| adv.向东；adj.向东的；n.东方，东部 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
82
thicket
|
|
| n.灌木丛，树林 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
83
bent
|
|
| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
84
dough
|
|
| n.生面团；钱，现款 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
85
circumference
|
|
| n.圆周，周长，圆周线 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
86
ineffable
|
|
| adj.无法表达的，不可言喻的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
87
weird
|
|
| adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |