As he debated and shivered, however, a sight met his eye which determined3 him at once on the more heroic course of action. It was Linnet, in her simple little peasant dress, turning up the hill-path that led behind the wirthshaus. Now, a chance of seeing Linnet alone without Florian was not to be despised; she interested him so much, and, besides, he wanted to ask her the whole truth about the Robblers. Without more ado, therefore, he dressed himself hastily, and strolled out of the inn. She hadn’t gone far, he felt sure; he would find her close by, sitting by herself on the open grass-slope beyond the belt of pinewood.
And so, sure enough, he did. He came upon her unseen. She was seated with her back to him on a round boulder4 of grey stone, pouring her full throat in spontaneous music. For a minute or two, Will stood still, and listened and looked at her. He could see from his point of vantage, a little on one side behind the boulder, the rise and fall of her swelling5 bosom6, the delicate trills under her rich brown chin. And then?—?oh, what melody! Will drank it in greedily. He was loth to disturb her, so delicious was this outpouring of her soul in song. For, like her namesake of the woods, Linnet sang best when she sang of her own accord, delivering her full heart of pure internal impulse.
At last she ceased, and turned. Her eye fell upon Will She started and blushed; she had expected no such audience. The young man raised his hat. “You’re alone,” he said, “Linnet?”
The girl looked up all crimson7. “Yes; I came out that I should be alone,” she answered, shyly, “I did not wish to see anyone. I wished for time to think many things over.”
“Then you don’t want me to stop?” Will broke in, somewhat crestfallen8, yet drawing a step nearer.
“Oh, no; I do not mean that,” Linnet answered in haste, laying her hand on her bosom. Then she burst into German, which came so much easier to her. “I wanted to get away from all the others,” she said, looking up at him pleadingly?—?and, as she looked, Will saw for the first time that big tears stood brimming in her lustrous9 eyes; “I knew they would tease me about?—?about what happened last evening, and I didn’t wish to hear it till I had thought over with myself what way I should answer them.”
“Then you’re not afraid of me?” Will asked, with a little thrill. She was only an alp-girl, but she sang like a goddess; and it’s always pleasant, you know, to find a woman trusts one.
“I want you to stop,” Linnet answered, simply.
She motioned him with one hand to a seat on a little heap of dry stones hard by. Will threw himself down on the heap in instant obedience10 to her mute command, and leaned eagerly forward. “Well, so this Robbler man wants to have you, Linnet,” he said, with some earnestness; “and you don’t want to have him. And he would have fought for you last night, against the man with the scar; and the girls in the inn will tease you about it this morning.”
“Yes; the girls will tease me,” Linnet answered, “and will say cruel things, for some of them are not fond of me, because, you see, Franz Lindner and the other man, my cousin Fridolin, are both of them Robblers, and would both of them fight for me. Now, a village that has a Robbler is always very proud of him; he’s its champion and head; and if a Robbler pays attention to a girl, it’s a very great honour. So some of the other girls don’t like it at all, that the Robblers of two villages should quarrel about me. Though Gott in Himmel knows I’ve not encouraged either of them.”
“And would you marry Franz Lindner?” Will asked, with genuine interest. It seemed to him a pity?—?nay11, almost a desecration12?—?that this beautiful girl, with her splendid voice, and all the possibilities it might enclose for the future, should throw herself away upon a Tyrolese hunter, whom the self-confidence engendered13 by mere14 muscular strength had turned for local eyes into a petty hero.
“No; I don’t think I would marry him,” Linnet answered, after a short pause, with a deliberative air, as though weighing well in her own mind all the pros15 and cons16 of it. “He’d take me if I chose, no doubt, and so also would Fridolin. Franz says he has left three other girls for me. But I don’t like him, of course, any better for that. He ought to have kept to them.”
“And you like him?” Will went on, drawing circles with his stick on the grass as he spoke17, and glancing timidly askance at her.
“Yes; I like him?—?well enough,” Linnet responded, doubtfully. “I liked him better once, perhaps. But of late, I care less for him. I never cared for him much indeed; I was never his M?dchen. He had no right to say that, no right at all, at all?—?for with us, you know, in Tyrol, that means a great deal. How much, I couldn’t tell you. But I never gave him any cause at all to say so.”
“And of late you like him less?” Will inquired, pressing her hard with this awkward question. Yet he spoke sympathetically. He had no reason for what he said, to be sure?—?no reason on earth. He spoke at random18, out of that pure instinctive19 impulse which leads every man in a pretty girl’s presence, mean he little or much, to make at least the best of every passing advantage. ’Tis pure virility20 that: the natural Adam within us. I wouldn’t give ten cents for the too virtuous21 man who by “ethical culture” has educated it out of him.
Linnet looked down at her shoes?—?for she possessed22 those luxuries. “Yes; of late I like him less,” she answered, somewhat tremulously.
“Why so?” Will insisted. His lips, too, quivered.
Linnet raised her dark eyes and met his for one instant. “I’ve seen other people since; perhaps I like other people better,” she answered, candidly23.
“What other people?” Will asked, all on fire.
“Oh, that would be telling,” Linnet answered, with an arch look. “Perhaps my cousin Fridolin?—?or perhaps the young man with the yellow beard?—?or perhaps the gn?dige Herr’s honoured friend, Herr Florian.”
Will drew figures with his stick on the grass for a minute or two. Then he looked up and spoke again. “But, in any case,” he said, “you don’t mean, whatever comes, to marry Franz Lindner?” It grieved him to think she should so throw herself away upon a village bully24.
Linnet plucked a yellow ragwort and pulled out the ray-florets one by one as she answered, “I shan’t have the chance. For, to tell you the truth, I think Andreas Hausberger means himself to marry me.”
At the words, simply spoken, Will drew back, all aghast. The very notion revolted him. As yet, he was not the least little bit in his own soul aware he was in love with Linnet. He only knew he admired her voice very much; for the rest, she was but a simple, beautiful, unlettered peasant girl. It doesn’t occur, of course, to an English gentleman in Will Deverill’s position, to fall in love at first sight with a Tyrolese milkmaid. But Andreas Hausberger! the bare idea distressed25 him. The man was so cold, so cynical26, so austere27, so unlovable! and Will more than half-suspected him of avaricious28 money-grubbing. The girl was so beautiful, so simple-hearted, so young, and Heaven only knew to what point of success that voice might lead her. “Oh no,” he burst out, impetuously; “you can’t really mean that??—?you never could dream?—?don’t tell me you could?—?of accepting that man Andreas Hausberger as a husband!”
“Why not?” the girl said, calmly. “He’s rich and well to do. I could keep my mother in such comfort then, and pay for such masses for my father’s soul?—?far more than if I took Franz Lindner or my cousin Fridolin, who are only j?gers. Andreas Hausberger’s a wirth, the richest man in St Valentin; he has horses and cows and lands and pastures. And if he says I must, how can I well refuse him?”
She looked up at him with a look of childlike appeal. In a moment, though with an effort, Will realised to himself how the question looked to her. Andreas Hausberger was her master, and had always been her master. She must do as he bid, for he was very masterful. He was her teacher, too, and would help her to make her fortune as a singer in the world, if ever she made it. He was rich, as the folk of the village counted riches, and could manage that things should be pleasant or unpleasant for her, as it suited his fancy. In a community where men still fought with bodily arms for their brides, Andreas Hausberger’s will might well seem law to his sennerin in any such matter.
“Besides,” Linnet went on, plucking another ragwort, and similarly demolishing29 it, “if I didn’t want to take him, the Herr Vicar would make me. For the Herr Vicar would do, of course, as Andreas Hausberger wished him. And how could I dare disobey the Herr Vicar’s orders?”
To this subtle question of religion and morals Will Deverill, for his part, had no ready-made answer. Church and State, it was clear, were arrayed against him. So, after casting about for a while in his own mind in vain for a reply, he contented30 himself at last with going off obliquely31 on a collateral32 issue. “And you think,” he said, “Andreas Hausberger really wants to marry you?”
“Well, he never quite told me so,” Linnet replied, half-deprecatingly, as who fears to arrogate33 to herself too great an honour, “and perhaps I’m wrong; but still I think he means it. And I think it’ll perhaps depend in part upon how he finds the foreign Herrschaft like my singing. For that, he says little to me about it at present. But if he sees I do well, and am worth making his wife?—?for he’s the best husband a girl could get in St Valentin?—?in that case, ja wohl, I believe he’ll ask me.”
She said it all naturally, as so much matter of course. But Will’s poetic34 soul rebelled against the sacrifice. “Surely,” he cried, “you must love some one else; and why not, then, take the man you love, whoever he may be, and leave Andreas Hausberger’s money to perish with him?”
“So!” Linnet said quickly?—?the pretty German “so!” Her fingers trembled as she twitched35 at the rays of the ragwort. She plucked the florets in haste, and flung them away one by one. First love’s conversation deals largely in pauses. “The man one might love,” she murmured at last with a petulant36 air, “doesn’t always love one. How should he, indeed? It is not in nature. For, doesn’t the song say, ‘Who loves me, love I not; whom I love, loves me not?’ But what would the Herr Vicar say if he heard me talking like this with the foreign gentlefolk? He’d tell me it was sin. A girl should not speak of her heart to strangers. I have spoken too much. But I couldn’t help it, somehow. The gn?dige Herr is always so kind to me. You lead me on to confess. You can understand these things, I think, so much better than the others.”
She rose, half-hesitating. Will Deverill, for his part, rose in turn and faced her. For a second each paused; they looked shyly at one another. Will thought her a charming girl?—?for a common milkmaid. Linnet thought him a kind, good friend?—?for one of the great unapproachable foreign Herrschaft. Will held out one frank hand. Linnet gave him the tips of her brown fingers timidly. He clasped them in his own while a man might count ten. “Shall you be here . . . to-morrow . . . about the same time?” he inquired, before he let them drop, half hesitating.
“Perhaps,” Linnet answered, looking down demurely37. Then blushing, she nodded at him, half curtsied, and sprang away. She gave a rapid glance to right and left, to see if she was perceived, darted38 lightly down the hill, and hurried back to the wirthshaus.
But all that day long, Will was moody39 and silent. He thought much to himself of this strange idea that Andreas Hausberger, that saturnine40 man, was to marry this beautiful musical alp-girl.
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收听单词发音
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1
sniffed
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| v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的过去式和过去分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说 | |
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2
dubiously
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| adv.可疑地，怀疑地 | |
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3
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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4
boulder
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| n.巨砾；卵石，圆石 | |
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5
swelling
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| n.肿胀 | |
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6
bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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7
crimson
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| n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色 | |
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8
crestfallen
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| adj. 挫败的，失望的，沮丧的 | |
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9
lustrous
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| adj.有光泽的；光辉的 | |
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10
obedience
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| n.服从，顺从 | |
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nay
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| adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者 | |
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12
desecration
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| n. 亵渎神圣, 污辱 | |
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13
engendered
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| v.产生（某形势或状况），造成，引起( engender的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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14
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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15
pros
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| abbr.prosecuting 起诉；prosecutor 起诉人；professionals 自由职业者；proscenium （舞台）前部n.赞成的意见( pro的名词复数 )；赞成的理由；抵偿物；交换物 | |
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16
cons
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| n.欺骗，骗局( con的名词复数 )v.诈骗，哄骗( con的第三人称单数 ) | |
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17
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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18
random
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| adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动 | |
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19
instinctive
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| adj.(出于)本能的；直觉的；(出于)天性的 | |
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20
virility
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| n.雄劲，丈夫气 | |
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21
virtuous
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| adj.有品德的，善良的，贞洁的，有效力的 | |
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22
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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23
candidly
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| adv.坦率地，直率而诚恳地 | |
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24
bully
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| n.恃强欺弱者，小流氓；vt.威胁，欺侮 | |
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25
distressed
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| 痛苦的 | |
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26
cynical
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| adj.(对人性或动机)怀疑的，不信世道向善的 | |
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27
austere
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| adj.艰苦的；朴素的，朴实无华的；严峻的 | |
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28
avaricious
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| adj.贪婪的，贪心的 | |
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29
demolishing
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| v.摧毁( demolish的现在分词 )；推翻；拆毁（尤指大建筑物）；吃光 | |
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30
contented
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| adj.满意的，安心的，知足的 | |
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31
obliquely
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| adv.斜； 倾斜； 间接； 不光明正大 | |
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32
collateral
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| adj.平行的；旁系的；n.担保品 | |
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33
arrogate
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| v.冒称具有...权利，霸占 | |
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34
poetic
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| adj.富有诗意的，有诗人气质的，善于抒情的 | |
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35
twitched
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| vt.& vi.（使）抽动，（使）颤动（twitch的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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36
petulant
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| adj.性急的，暴躁的 | |
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37
demurely
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| adv.装成端庄地，认真地 | |
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38
darted
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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39
moody
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| adj.心情不稳的，易怒的，喜怒无常的 | |
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40
saturnine
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| adj.忧郁的，沉默寡言的，阴沉的，感染铅毒的 | |
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