A good Norman is no Norman who has not a lawsuit1 on hand.
Anything will serve as a pretext2 for a quarrel No sum of money is so small as not to warrant a breaking of the closest blood ties, if thereby3 one's rights may be secured. Those beautiful stripes of rye, barley4, corn, and wheat up yonder in the fields, that melt into one another like sea-tones—down here on the benches before the juge de paix—what quarrels, what hatreds5, what evil passions these few acres of land have brought their owners, facing each other here like so many demons6, ready to spring at the others' throats! Brothers on these benches forget they are brothers, and sisters that they have suckled the same mother. Two more yards of the soil that should have been Fillette's instead of Jeanne's, and the grave will enclose both before the clenched7 fist of either is relaxed, and the last sous in the stocking will be spent before the war between their respective lawyers will end.
Many and many were the tales told us of the domestic tragedies, born of wills mal-administered, of the passions of hate, ambition, and despair kept at a white heat because half the village owned, up in the fields, what the other half coveted8. Many, also, and fierce were the heated faces we looked in upon at the justice's door, in the very throes of the great moment of facing justice, and their adversary9.
Our own way, by preference, took us up into the fields. Here, in the broad open, the farms lay scattered10 like fortifications over a plain. Doubtless, in the earlier warlike days they had served as such.
Once out of the narrow Villerville streets, and the pastoral was in full swing.
The sea along this coast was not in the least insistant; it allowed the shore to play its full gamut11 of power. There were no tortured shapes of trees or plants, or barren wastes, to attest12 the fierce ways of the sea with the land. Reminders13 of the sea and of the life that is lived in ships were conspicuous14 features everywhere, in the pastoral scenes that began as soon as the town ended. Women carrying sails and nets toiled15 through the green aisles16 of the roads and lanes. Fishing-tackle hung in company with tattered17 jerseys18 outside of huts hidden in grasses and honeysuckle. The shepherdesses, as they followed the sheep inland into the heart of the pasture land, were busy netting the coarse cages that trap the finny tribe. Long-limbed, vigorous-faced, these shepherdesses were Biblical figures. In their coarse homespun, with only a skirt and a shirt, with their bare legs, half-open bosoms19, and the fine poise20 of their blond heads, theirs was a beauty that commanded the homage21 accorded to a rude virginity.
In some of the fields, in one of our many walks, the grass was being cut. In these fields the groups of men and women were thickest. The long scythes22 were swung mightily23 by both; the voices, a gay treble of human speech, rose above the metallic24 swish of the sharp blades cutting into the succulent grasses.
The fat pasture lands rose and sank in undulations as rounded as the nascent25 breasts of a young Greek maiden26. A medley27 of color played its charming variations over fields, over acres of poppies, over plains of red clover, over the backs of spotted28 cattle, mixing, mingling29, blending a thousand twists and turns into one exquisite30, harmonious31 whole. There was no discordant32 note, not one harsh contrast; even the hay-ricks seemed to have been modelled rather than pitched into shape; their sloping sides and finely pointed33 apexes34 giving them the dignity of structural35 intent.
Why should not a peasant, in blouse and sabots, with a grinning idiot face, have put the picture out? But he did not. He was walking, or rather waddling36, toward us, between two green walls that rose to be arched by elms that hid the blue of the sky. This lane was the kind of lane one sees only in Devonshire and in Normandy. There are lanes and lanes, as, to quote our friend the cobbler, there are cures and cures. But only in these above-named countries can one count on walking straight into the heart of an emerald, if one turns from the high-road into a lane. The trees, in these Devonshire and Normandy by-paths, have ways of their own of vaulting37 into space; the hedges are thicker, sweeter, more vocal38 with insect and song notes than elsewhere; the roadway itself is softer to the foot, and narrower—only two are expected to walk therein.
It was through such a lane as this that the coarse, animal shape of a peasant was walking toward us. His legs and body were horribly twisted; the dangling39 arms and crooked40 limbs appeared as if caricaturing the gnarled and tortured boughs41 and trunks of the apple-trees. The peasant's blouse was filthy42; his sabots were reeking43 with dirty straw; his feet and ankles, bare, were blacker than the earth over which he was painfully crawling; and on his face there was the vacuous44, sensuous45 deformity of the smile idiocy46 wears. Again I ask, why did he not disfigure this fair scene, and put out something of the beauty of the day? Is it because the French peasant seems now to be an inseparable adjunct of the Frenchman's landscape? That even deformity has been so handled by the realists as to make us see beauty in ugliness? Or is it that, as moderns, we are all bitten by the rabies of the picturesque47; that all things serve and are acceptable so long as we have our necessary note of contrast? Certain it is that it appears to be the peasant's blouse that perpetuates48 the Salon49, and perhaps—who knows?—when over-emigration makes our own American farmer too poor to wear a boiled shirt when he ploughs, we also may develop a school of landscape, with figures.
Meanwhile the walk and the talk had made Charm thirsty. "Why should we not go," she asked, "across the next field, into that farm house yonder, and beg for a glass of milk?"
The farm-house might have been waiting for us, it was so still. Even the grasses along its sloping roof nodded, as if in welcome. The house, as we approached it, together with its out-buildings, assumed a more imposing50 aspect than it had from the road. Its long, low facade51, broken here and there by a miniature window or a narrow doorway52, appeared to stretch out into interminable length beneath the towering beeches53 and the snarl54 of the peach-tree boughs.
The stillness was ominous—it was so profound.
The only human in sight was a man in a distant field; he was raking the ploughed ground. He was too far away to hear the sound of our voices.
"Perhaps the entire establishment is in the fields," said Charm, as we neared the house.
Just then a succession of blows fell on our ear.
"Someone is beating a mattress55 within, we shall have our glass after all."
We knocked. But no one answered our knock.
The beating continued; the sound of the blows fell as regularly as if machine-impelled. Then a cry rose up; it was the cry of a young, strong voice, and it was followed by a low wail56 of anguish57.
The door stood half-open, and this is what we saw: A man—tall, strong, powerful, with a face purple with passion—bending over the crouching58 form of a girl, whose slender body was quivering, shrinking, and writhing59 as the man's hand, armed with a short stick, fell, smiting60 her defenceless back and limbs.
Her wail went on as each blow fell.
In a corner, crouched61 in a heap, sitting on her heels, was a woman. She was clapping her hands. Her eyes were starting from her head; she clapped as the blows came, and above the girl's wail her strong, exultant62 voice arose—calling out:
"Tue-la! Tue-la!"
It was the voice of a triumphant63 fury.
The backs of all these people were turned upon us; they had not seen, much less heard, our entrance.
Someone else had seen us, however. A man with a rake over his shoulder rushed in through the open door; it was the peasant we had seen in the field. He seized Charm by the arm, and then my own hand was grasped as in a grip of iron. Before we had time for resistance he had pushed us out before him into the entry, behind the outer door. This latter he slammed. He put his broad back against it; then he dropped his rake and began to mop his face, violently, with a filthy handkerchief he plucked from beneath his blouse.
"Que chance! Nom de Dieu, que chance! Je v'avions vue, I saw you just in time—just in time—"
"But, I must go in—I wish to go back!" But Charm might as well have attempted to move a pillar of stone.
The peasant's coarse, good-humored face broke into a broad laugh.
"Pardon, mam'selle—j'n bougeons pas. Not' maitre e encoléré; e' son jour—faut pas l'irriter—aujou'hui."
Meantime, during the noise of our forced exit and the ensuing dialogue, the scene within had evidently changed in character, for the blows had ceased. Steps could be heard crossing and recrossing the wooden floor. A creaking sound succeeded to the beating—it was the creaking and groaning64 of a wooden staircase bending beneath the weight of a human figure. In an upper chamber65 there came the sound of a quiet, subdued66 sobbing67 now. They were the sobs68 of the girl. She at least had been released.
A face, cruel, pinched, hardened, with flaming agate69 eyes and an insolent70 smile, stood looking out at us through the dulled, dusty window-pane. It was the fury.
Meanwhile the peasant was still defending his post. A moment later the tall frame of the farmer suddenly filled the open doorway. The peasant well-nigh fell into his master's arms. The farmer's face was still terrible to look upon, but the purple stain of passion was now turned to red. There was a mocking insolence71 in his tone as he addressed us, that matched with the woman's unconcealed glee.
"Will you not come in, mesdames? Will you not rest a while after your long walk?" On the man's hard face there was still the shadow of a sinister72 cruelty as he waved his hand toward the room within.
The peasant's good-humored, loutish73 smile, and his stupid, cow-like eyes, by contrast, were the eyes and smile of a benevolent74 deity75.
The smile told us we were right, as we slunk away toward the open road. The head kept nodding approval as we vanished presently beneath the shade of the protecting trees.
The fields, as we swept rapidly past them, were as bathed in peace as when we had left them; there was even a more voluptuous76 content abroad: for the twilight77 was wrapping about the landscape its poppied dusk of gloom and shadow. Above, the birds were swirling78 in sweeping79 circles, raining down the ecstasy80 of their night-song; still above, far beyond them, across a zenith pure, transparent81, ineffably82 pink, illumined wisps of clouds were trailing their scarf-like shapes. It was a scene of beatific83 peace. Across the fields came the sound of a distant bell. It was the Angelus. The ploughmen stopped to doff84 their hats, the women to bend their heads in prayer.
And in our ears, louder than the vibrations85 of the hamlet bell, louder than the bird-notes and the tumult86 of the voluptuous insect whirr, there rang the thud, thud of cruel blows falling on quivering human flesh.
The curtain that hid the life of the peasant-farmer had indeed been lifted.
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收听单词发音
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1
lawsuit
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| n.诉讼，控诉 | |
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pretext
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| n.借口，托词 | |
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thereby
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| adv.因此，从而 | |
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barley
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| n.大麦，大麦粒 | |
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hatreds
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| n.仇恨，憎恶( hatred的名词复数 )；厌恶的事 | |
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demons
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| n.恶人( demon的名词复数 )；恶魔；精力过人的人；邪念 | |
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7
clenched
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| v.紧握，抓紧，咬紧( clench的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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coveted
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| adj.令人垂涎的；垂涎的，梦寐以求的v.贪求，觊觎(covet的过去分词)；垂涎；贪图 | |
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adversary
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| adj.敌手，对手 | |
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scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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gamut
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| n.全音阶，(一领域的)全部知识 | |
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attest
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| vt.证明，证实；表明 | |
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reminders
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| n.令人回忆起…的东西( reminder的名词复数 )；提醒…的东西；（告知该做某事的）通知单；提示信 | |
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14
conspicuous
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| adj.明眼的，惹人注目的；炫耀的，摆阔气的 | |
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15
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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aisles
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| n. (席位间的)通道, 侧廊 | |
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tattered
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| adj.破旧的，衣衫破的 | |
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18
jerseys
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| n.运动衫( jersey的名词复数 ) | |
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bosoms
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| 胸部( bosom的名词复数 )； 胸怀； 女衣胸部（或胸襟）； 和爱护自己的人在一起的情形 | |
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poise
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| vt./vi. 平衡，保持平衡；n.泰然自若，自信 | |
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21
homage
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| n.尊敬，敬意，崇敬 | |
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scythes
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| n.（长柄）大镰刀( scythe的名词复数 )v.（长柄）大镰刀( scythe的第三人称单数 ) | |
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23
mightily
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| ad.强烈地；非常地 | |
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24
metallic
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| adj.金属的；金属制的；含金属的；产金属的；像金属的 | |
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25
nascent
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| adj.初生的，发生中的 | |
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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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27
medley
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| n.混合 | |
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28
spotted
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| adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的 | |
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29
mingling
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| adj.混合的 | |
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30
exquisite
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| adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的 | |
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harmonious
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| adj.和睦的，调和的，和谐的，协调的 | |
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discordant
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| adj.不调和的 | |
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33
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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34
apexes
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| n.顶( apex的名词复数 )；顶峰；脉尖；尖端 | |
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structural
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| adj.构造的，组织的，建筑（用）的 | |
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waddling
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| v.（像鸭子一样）摇摇摆摆地走( waddle的现在分词 ) | |
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vaulting
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| n.（天花板或屋顶的）拱形结构 | |
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vocal
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| adj.直言不讳的；嗓音的；n.[pl.]声乐节目 | |
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39
dangling
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| 悬吊着( dangle的现在分词 )； 摆动不定； 用某事物诱惑…； 吊胃口 | |
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40
crooked
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| adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的 | |
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41
boughs
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| 大树枝( bough的名词复数 ) | |
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filthy
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| adj.卑劣的；恶劣的，肮脏的 | |
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43
reeking
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| v.发出浓烈的臭气( reek的现在分词 )；散发臭气；发出难闻的气味 (of sth)；明显带有（令人不快或生疑的跡象） | |
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44
vacuous
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| adj.空的，漫散的，无聊的，愚蠢的 | |
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sensuous
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| adj.激发美感的；感官的，感觉上的 | |
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idiocy
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| n.愚蠢 | |
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47
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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perpetuates
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| n.使永存，使人记住不忘( perpetuate的名词复数 )；使永久化，使持久化，使持续 | |
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49
salon
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| n.[法]沙龙；客厅；营业性的高级服务室 | |
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50
imposing
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| adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的 | |
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51
facade
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| n.(建筑物的)正面，临街正面；外表 | |
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52
doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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53
beeches
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| n.山毛榉( beech的名词复数 )；山毛榉木材 | |
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54
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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mattress
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| n.床垫，床褥 | |
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56
wail
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| vt./vi.大声哀号，恸哭；呼啸，尖啸 | |
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anguish
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| n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼 | |
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58
crouching
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 ) | |
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writhing
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| （因极度痛苦而）扭动或翻滚( writhe的现在分词 ) | |
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smiting
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| v.猛打，重击，打击( smite的现在分词 ) | |
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crouched
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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exultant
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| adj.欢腾的，狂欢的，大喜的 | |
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triumphant
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| adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的 | |
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64
groaning
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| adj. 呜咽的, 呻吟的 动词groan的现在分词形式 | |
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65
chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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subdued
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| adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
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sobbing
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| <主方>Ⅰ adj.湿透的 | |
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sobs
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| 啜泣（声），呜咽（声）( sob的名词复数 ) | |
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agate
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| n.玛瑙 | |
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insolent
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| adj.傲慢的，无理的 | |
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insolence
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| n.傲慢；无礼；厚颜；傲慢的态度 | |
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sinister
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| adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的 | |
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loutish
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| adj.粗鲁的 | |
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benevolent
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| adj.仁慈的，乐善好施的 | |
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deity
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| n.神，神性；被奉若神明的人(或物) | |
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voluptuous
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| adj.肉欲的，骄奢淫逸的 | |
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twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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swirling
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| v.旋转，打旋( swirl的现在分词 ) | |
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sweeping
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| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
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ecstasy
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| n.狂喜，心醉神怡，入迷 | |
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81
transparent
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| adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的 | |
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82
ineffably
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| adv.难以言喻地，因神圣而不容称呼地 | |
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beatific
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| adj.快乐的，有福的 | |
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84
doff
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| v.脱，丢弃，废除 | |
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85
vibrations
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| n.摆动( vibration的名词复数 )；震动；感受；（偏离平衡位置的）一次性往复振动 | |
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86
tumult
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| n.喧哗；激动，混乱；吵闹 | |
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