This was Villerville.
Over an arch of roses; across a broad line of olives, hawthorns9, laburnums, and syringas, straight out to sea—
This was the view from our windows.
Our inn was bounded by the sea on one side, and on the other by a narrow village street. The distance between good and evil has been known to be quite as short as that which lay between these two thoroughfares. It was only a matter of a strip of land, an edge of cliff, and a shed of a house bearing the proud title of H?tel-sur-Mer.
Two nights before, our arrival had made quite a stir in the village streets. The inn had given us a characteristic French welcome; its eye had measured us before it had extended its hand. Before reaching the inn and the village, however, we had already tasted of the flavor of a genuine Norman welcome. Our experience in adventure had begun on the Havre quays10.
Our expedition could hardly be looked upon as perilous12; yet it was one that, from the first, evidently appealed to the French imagination; half Havre was hanging over the stone wharves13 to see us start.
"Dame14, only English women are up to that!"—for all the world is English, in French eyes, when an adventurous15 folly16 is to be committed.
This was one view of our temerity17; it was the comment of age and experience of the world, of the cap with the short pipe in her mouth, over which curved, downward, a bulbous, fiery-hued nose that met the pipe.
"C'est beau, tout18 de même, when one is young—and rich." This was a generous partisan19, a girl with a miniature copy of her own round face—a copy that was tied up in a shawl, very snug20; it was a bundle that could not possibly be in any one's way, even on a somewhat prolonged tour of observation of Havre's shipping21 interests.
"And the blonde one—what do you think of her, hein?"
This was the blouse's query22. The tassel23 of the cotton night-cap nodded, interrogatively, toward the object on which the twinkling ex-mariner's eye had fixed25 itself—on Charm's slender figure, and on the yellow half-moon of hair framing her face. There was but one verdict concerning the blonde beauty; she was a creature made to be stared at. The staring was suspended only when the bargaining went on; for Havre, clearly, was a sailor and merchant first; its knowledge of a woman's good points was rated merely as its second-best talent.
Meanwhile, our bargaining for the sailboat was being conducted on the principles peculiar26 to French traffic; it had all at once assumed the aspect of dramatic complication. It had only been necessary for us to stop on our lounging stroll along the stone wharves, diverting our gaze for a moment from the grotesque27 assortment28 of old houses that, before now, had looked down on so many naval29 engagements, and innocently to ask a brief question of a nautical30 gentleman, picturesquely31 attired33 in a blue shirt and a scarlet34 beret, for the quays immediately to swarm35 with jerseys37 and red caps. Each beret was the owner of a boat; and each jersey36 had a voice louder than his brother's. Presently the battle of tongues was drowning all other sounds.
In point of fact, there were no other sounds to drown. All other business along the quays was being temporarily suspended; the most thrilling event of the day was centring in us and our treaty. Until this bargain was closed, other matters could wait. For a Frenchman has the true instinct of the dramatist; business he rightly considers as only an entr'acte in life; the serious thing is the scene de theatre, wherever it takes place. Therefore it was that the black, shaky-looking houses, leaning over the quays, were now populous38 with frowsy heads and cotton nightcaps. The captains from the adjacent sloops39 and tug-boats formed an outer circle about the closer ring made by the competitors for our favors, while the loungers along the parapets, and the owners of top seats on the shining quay11 steps, may be said to have been in possession of orchestra stalls from the first rising of the curtain.
A baker's boy and two fish-wives, trundling their carts, stopped to witness the last act of the play. Even the dogs beneath the carts, as they sank, panting, to the ground, followed, with red-rimmed eyes, the closing scenes of the little drama.
"Allons, let us end this," cried a piratical-looking captain, in a loud, masterful voice. And he named a price lower than the others had bid. He would take us across—yes, us and our luggage, and land us—yes, at Villerville, for that.
The baker's boy gave a long, slow whistle, with relish40.
"Dame!" he ejaculated, between his teeth, as he turned away.
The rival captains at first had drawn back; they had looked at their comrade darkly, beneath their berets, as they might at a deserter with whom they meant to deal—later on. But at his last words they smiled a smile of grim humor. Beneath the beards a whisper grew; whatever its import, it had the power to move all the hard mouths to laughter. As they also turned away, their shrugging shoulders and the scorn in their light laughter seemed to hand us over to our fate.
In the teeth of this smile, our captain had swung his boat round and we were stepping into her.
"Au revoir—au revoir et à bient?t!"
The group that was left to hang over the parapets and to wave us its farewell, was a thin one. Only the professional loungers took part in this last act of courtesy. There was a cluster of caps, dazzlingly white against the blue of the sky; a collection of highly decorated noses and of old hands ribboned with wrinkles, to nod and bob and wave down the cracked-voiced "bonjours." But the audience that had gathered to witness the closing of the bargain had melted away with the moment of its conclusion. Long ere this moment of our embarkation41 the wide stone street facing the water had become suddenly deserted42. The curious-eyed heads and the cotton nightcaps had been swallowed up in the hollows of the dark, little windows. The baker's boy had long since mounted his broad basket, as if it were an ornamental43 head-dress, and whistling, had turned a sharp corner, swallowed up, he also, by the sudden gloom that lay between the narrow streets. The sloop-owners had linked arms with the defeated captains, and were walking off toward their respective boats, whistling a gay little air.
"Colinette au bois s'en alla En sautillant par-ci, par-là; Trala deridera, trala, derid-er-a-a."
One jersey-clad figure was singing lustily as he dropped with a spring into his boat. He began to coil the loose ropes at once, as if the disappointments in life were only a necessary interruption, to be accepted philosophically44, to this, the serious business of his days.
We were soon afloat, far out from the land of either shores. Between the two, sea and river meet; is the river really trying to lose itself in the sea, or is it hopelessly attempting to swallow the sea? The green line that divides them will never give you the answer: it changes hour by hour, day by day; now it is like a knife-cut, deep and straight; and now like a ribbon that wavers and flutters, tying together the blue of the great ocean and the silver of the Seine. Close to the lips of the mighty45 mouth lie the two shores. In that fresh May sunshine Havre glittered and bristled46, was aglow47 with a thousand tints48 and tones; but we sailed and sailed away from her, and behold49, already she had melted into her cliffs. Opposite, nearing with every dip of the dun-colored sail into the blue seas, was the Calvados coast; in its turn it glistened50, and in its young spring verdure it had the lustre51 of a rough-hewn emerald.
"Que voulez-vous, mesdames? Who could have told that the wind would play us such a trick?"
The voice was the voice of our captain. With much affluence52 of gesture he was explaining—his treachery! Our nearness to the coast had made the confession53 necessary. To the blandness54 of his smile, as he proceeded in his unabashed recital55, succeeded a pained expression. We were not accepting the situation with the true phlegm of philosophers; he felt that he had just cause for protest. What possible difference could it make to us whether we were landed at Trouville or at Villerville? But to him—to be accused of betraying two ladies—to allow the whole of the Havre quays to behold in him a man disgraced, dishonored!
His was a tragic56 figure as he stood up, erect57 on the poop, to clap hands to a blue-clad breast, and to toss a black mane of hair in the golden air.
"Dame! Toujours été galant homme, moi! I am known on both shores as the most gallant58 of men. But the most gallant of men cannot control the caprice of the wind!" To which was added much abuse of the muddy bottoms, the strength of the undertow, and other marine24 disadvantages peculiar to Villerville.
It was a tragic figure, with gestures and voice to match. But it was evident that the Captain had taken his own measure mistakenly. In him the French stage had lost a comedian59 of the first magnitude. Much, therefore, we felt, was to be condoned60 in one who doubtless felt so great a talent itching61 for expression. When next he smiled, we had revived to a keener appreciation62 of baffled genius ever on the scent63 for the capture of that fickle64 goddess, opportunity.
The captain's smile was oiling a further word of explanation. "See, mesdames, they come! they will soon land you on the beach!"
He was pointing to a boat smaller than our own, that now ran alongside. There had been frequent signallings between the two boats, a running up and down of a small yellow flag which we had thought amazingly becoming to the marine landscape, until we learned the true relation of the flag to the treachery aboard our own craft.
"You see, mesdames," smoothly65 continued our talented traitor66, "you see how the waves run up on the beach. We could never, with this great sail, run in there. We should capsize. But behold, these are bathers, accustomed to the water—they will carry you—but as if you were feathers!" And he pointed67 to the four outstretched, firmly-muscled arms, as if to warrant their powers of endurance. The two men had left their boat; it was dancing on the water, at anchor. They were standing68 immovable as pillars of stone, close to the gunwales of our craft. They were holding out their arms to us.
Charm suddenly stood upright. She held out her hands like a child, to the least impressionable boatman. In an instant she was clasping his bronze throat.
"All my life I've prayed for adventure. And at last it has come!" This she cried, as she was carried high above the waves.
"That's right, have no fear," answered her carrier as he plunged69 onward70, ploughing his way through the waters to the beach.
Beneath my own feet there was a sudden swish and a swirl71 of restless, tumbling waters. The motion, as my carrier buried his bared legs in the waves, was such as accompanies impossible flights described in dreams, through some unknown medium. The surging waters seemed struggling to submerge us both; the two thin, tanned legs of the fisherman about whose neck I was clinging, appeared ridiculously inadequate72 to cleave73 a successful path through a sea of such strength as was running shoreward.
"Madame does not appear to be used to this kind of travelling," puffed74 out my carrier, his conversational75 instinct, apparently76, not in the least dampened by his strenuous77 plunging78 through the spirited sea. "It happens every day—all the aristocrats79 land this way, when they come over by the little boats. It distracts and amuses them, they say. It helps to kill the ennui80."
"I should think it might, my feet are soaking; sometimes wet feet—"
"Ah, that's a pity, you must get a better hold," sympathetically interrupted my fisherman, as he proceeded to hoist81 me higher up on his shoulder. I, or a sack of corn, or a basket of fish, they were all one to this strong back and to these toughened sinews. When he had adjusted his present load at a secure height, above the dashing of the spray, he went on talking. "Yes, when the rich suffer a little it is not such a bad thing, it makes a pleasant change—cela leur distrait82. For instance, there is the Princess de L——, there's her villa7, close by, with green blinds. She makes little excuses to go over to Havre, just for this—to be carried in the arms like an infant. You should hear her, she shouts and claps her hands! All the beach assembles to see her land. When she is wet she cries for joy. It is so difficult to amuse one's self, it appears, in the great world."
"But, tiens, here we are, I feel the dry sands." I was dropped as lightly on them as if it had been indeed a bunch of feathers my fisherman had been carrying.
And meanwhile, out yonder, across the billows, with airy gesture dramatically executed, our treacherous83 captain was waving us a theatrical84 salute85. The infant mate was grinning like a gargoyle86. They were both delightfully87 unconscious, apparently, of any event having transpired88, during the afternoon's pleasuring, which could possibly tinge89 the moment of parting with the hues90 of regret.
"Pour les bagages, mesdames—"
Two dripping, outstretched hands, two berets doffed91, two picturesque32 giants bowing low, with a Frenchman's grace—this, on the Trouville sands, was the last act of this little comedy of our landing on the coast of France.
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1
sinuous
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| adj.蜿蜒的，迂回的 | |
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dwarfed
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| vt.（使）显得矮小（dwarf的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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protruding
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| v.（使某物）伸出，（使某物）突出( protrude的现在分词 )；凸 | |
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drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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galleys
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| n.平底大船，战舰( galley的名词复数 )；（船上或航空器上的）厨房 | |
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encroachment
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| n.侵入，蚕食 | |
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villa
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| n.别墅，城郊小屋 | |
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villas
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| 别墅，公馆( villa的名词复数 )； （城郊）住宅 | |
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hawthorns
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| n.山楂树( hawthorn的名词复数 ) | |
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quays
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| 码头( quay的名词复数 ) | |
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quay
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| n.码头，靠岸处 | |
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perilous
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| adj.危险的，冒险的 | |
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wharves
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| n.码头，停泊处( wharf的名词复数 ) | |
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dame
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| n.女士 | |
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adventurous
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| adj.爱冒险的；惊心动魄的，惊险的，刺激的 | |
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folly
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| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
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temerity
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| n.鲁莽，冒失 | |
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tout
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| v.推销，招徕；兜售；吹捧，劝诱 | |
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partisan
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| adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒 | |
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snug
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| adj.温暖舒适的，合身的，安全的；v.使整洁干净，舒适地依靠，紧贴；n.（英）酒吧里的私房 | |
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shipping
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| n.船运（发货，运输，乘船） | |
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query
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| n.疑问，问号，质问；vt.询问，表示怀疑 | |
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tassel
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| n.流苏，穗；v.抽穗， （玉米）长穗须 | |
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24
marine
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| adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵 | |
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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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grotesque
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| adj.怪诞的，丑陋的；n.怪诞的图案，怪人（物） | |
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assortment
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| n.分类，各色俱备之物，聚集 | |
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naval
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| adj.海军的，军舰的，船的 | |
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nautical
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| adj.海上的，航海的，船员的 | |
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picturesquely
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picturesque
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| adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的 | |
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attired
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| adj.穿着整齐的v.使穿上衣服，使穿上盛装( attire的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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scarlet
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| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
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swarm
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| n.(昆虫)等一大群；vi.成群飞舞；蜂拥而入 | |
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jersey
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| n.运动衫 | |
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jerseys
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| n.运动衫( jersey的名词复数 ) | |
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populous
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| adj.人口稠密的，人口众多的 | |
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sloops
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| n.单桅纵帆船( sloop的名词复数 ) | |
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relish
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| n.滋味，享受，爱好，调味品；vt.加调味料，享受，品味；vi.有滋味 | |
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41
embarkation
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| n. 乘船, 搭机, 开船 | |
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deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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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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philosophically
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| adv.哲学上；富有哲理性地；贤明地；冷静地 | |
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45
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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46
bristled
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| adj. 直立的，多刺毛的 动词bristle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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47
aglow
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| adj.发亮的；发红的；adv.发亮地 | |
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48
tints
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| 色彩( tint的名词复数 )； 带白的颜色； （淡色）染发剂； 痕迹 | |
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49
behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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50
glistened
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| v.湿物闪耀，闪亮( glisten的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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51
lustre
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| n.光亮，光泽；荣誉 | |
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52
affluence
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| n.充裕，富足 | |
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53
confession
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| n.自白，供认，承认 | |
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54
blandness
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| n.温柔，爽快 | |
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55
recital
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| n.朗诵，独奏会，独唱会 | |
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56
tragic
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| adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的 | |
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57
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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58
gallant
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| adj.英勇的，豪侠的；(向女人)献殷勤的 | |
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59
comedian
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| n.喜剧演员；滑稽演员 | |
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60
condoned
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| v.容忍，宽恕，原谅( condone的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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itching
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| adj.贪得的，痒的，渴望的v.发痒( itch的现在分词 ) | |
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appreciation
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| n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨 | |
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63
scent
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| n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉 | |
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64
fickle
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| adj.(爱情或友谊上)易变的，不坚定的 | |
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smoothly
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| adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地 | |
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traitor
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| n.叛徒，卖国贼 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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69
plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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onward
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| adj.向前的，前进的；adv.向前，前进，在先 | |
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71
swirl
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| v.(使)打漩，(使)涡卷；n.漩涡，螺旋形 | |
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inadequate
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| adj.(for,to)不充足的，不适当的 | |
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73
cleave
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| v．(clave；cleaved)粘着，粘住；坚持；依恋 | |
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puffed
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| adj.疏松的v.使喷出( puff的过去式和过去分词 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧 | |
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conversational
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| adj.对话的，会话的 | |
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76
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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77
strenuous
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| adj.奋发的，使劲的；紧张的；热烈的，狂热的 | |
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78
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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79
aristocrats
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| n.贵族( aristocrat的名词复数 ) | |
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80
ennui
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| n.怠倦，无聊 | |
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81
hoist
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| n.升高，起重机，推动；v.升起，升高，举起 | |
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82
distrait
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| adj.心不在焉的 | |
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83
treacherous
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| adj.不可靠的，有暗藏的危险的；adj.背叛的，背信弃义的 | |
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84
theatrical
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| adj.剧场的，演戏的；做戏似的，做作的 | |
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85
salute
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| vi.行礼，致意，问候，放礼炮；vt.向…致意，迎接，赞扬；n.招呼，敬礼，礼炮 | |
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86
gargoyle
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| n.笕嘴 | |
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87
delightfully
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| 大喜，欣然 | |
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88
transpired
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| （事实，秘密等）被人知道( transpire的过去式和过去分词 )； 泄露； 显露； 发生 | |
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89
tinge
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| vt.(较淡)着色于，染色；使带有…气息；n.淡淡色彩，些微的气息 | |
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90
hues
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| 色彩( hue的名词复数 )； 色调； 信仰； 观点 | |
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91
doffed
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| v.脱去，（尤指）脱帽( doff的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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