True to his whim8, the master denied Annabel Malherb and Grace one sight of Fox Tor Farm until they actually arrived to dwell there; and even then he so ordered their advent9 that it fell in darkness. At ten o'clock upon a night in mid-April, mother and daughter passed over the nocturnal Moor, vaguely10 felt its surrounding immensity, and turned from the unknown earth, where it rolled formless and vast around them, to the familiar moon, whose face they knew.
From Holne, a border village whither they had driven by stage, Mrs. Malherb and her daughter now rode on pillions; while behind them came the tinkle11 of little bells and the thud of heavy hoofs12 where six pack-horses followed. Annabel sat behind her husband; while Grace had Harvey Woodman for her escort. Through the silent darkness they passed, and the mother listened to Malherb's hopes, and sometimes kissed the round ear next her while she echoed his sanguine13 mind. But Grace paid little heed14 to Woodman, who discoursed15 without tact16 upon the complicated miseries17 of a Dartmoor life, and explained how that his father, grandfather, great-grandfather, had all gone steadily19 downhill before the insidious20 Duchy.
A granite21 cross at length loomed22 up against the sky on a lofty ridge23, and its significance here uplifted upon the confines of her new life sent a throb24 to Mrs. Malherb's heart.
"This be Ter Hill," said Harvey Woodman to Grace; "an' thicky cross be one of many set up around about by God-fearing men some time since Adam. Now, if you'll look down into the valley, you'll see a light like a Jack25 o' Lantern. That's your home, Miss."
With mingled26 feelings the women gazed, where square and ruddy spots, sunk deep in the silver night, outlined the windows of the farm and welcomed them. The pack-horses, with heavily-laden crooks27 upon their backs, arrived. Then Malherb led the way, and his cavalcade28 went slowly down the hill.
Only one face from the past welcomed Mrs. Malherb and Grace, where Kekewich stood and lighted them up the steps to the front door. Supper awaited the party; then, aweary, and with the emotions of a stranger in a strange land, the girl retired29 to her little chamber30 facing west, and her mother sought the company of Dinah Beer and Mrs. Woodman. She found them amiable31, courteous32, and kindly33. Their outlook upon life was not sanguine, yet a warmth of heart marked them, and the sternness of their days had left no special impress upon their simple natures. Sympathy brightened their eyes—a sentiment that astonished the new mistress, for she had not often met with it from her inferiors. Yet these women appreciated the fact that she was faced with new problems and new difficulties. They had also seen something of Mr. Malherb and learned to appraise34 his qualities.
"You'll come to it, ma'am," said Dinah Beer, "same as your butivul cows did. They was worritted cruel at first. That gert red 'un, with a white star on her forehead—'Marybud' by name—why, I could a'most swear that her shed tears when first she got here; but now she an' the rest have settled to the Moor an' larned the ways of it like Christians35."
"An' master be to the manner born," declared Mary Woodman. "My man says he never seed a gentleman gather knowledge so quick. Sir Thomas Tyrwhitt from Tor Royal was over here last week, an' he said us had all done wonders."
The wife readily gathered up this comfort, and presently, ere she entered into sleep, a gentle satisfaction crowned her spirit, and her thoughts were a prayer, half thankfulness, half petition.
Her daughter, too, from gloom arose into a healthy cheerfulness. She set about ordering her treasures to her liking36, and did not retire until midnight. Then, where a sinking moon touched the river mists with light, she gazed, plucked happiness from that wonderful spectacle, and so slept contented37 and trustful of her destiny.
Early in the morning, hungering for the first glimpse of this new world, Grace hastened to her window and looked out upon Dartmoor. A lark38, invisible in the blue above, found her heart in that dawn hour. The day was glorious, and the bird music dimmed her eyes, so that the girl had to blink a little before she could see the outspread world. Beneath her the farm threw its shadow upon reclaimed39 heath and ploughed land. New grey walls extended round about, and raw pinewood gates marked the enclosures. Beyond stretched out the cup of the mire40, and sere41 rushes still spread a pallor upon it, where ridge after ridge of peat ranged away until detail vanished in the prevailing42 monochrome. Red sunrise fires touched this waste into genial43 colour, and threads of gold flashed through its texture44 where streamlets ran. Majestic45 size and fundamental simplicity46 marked the materials of the sunrise pageant47. The Swincombe River sang on her way to Dart18; Fox Tor's turrets48, touched with rose, ascended49 southward, and beyond, looming50 darkly against the south, appeared the bosom51 of Cater's Beam. A spire52 of blue smoke, miles away in the brown distance, marked Lovey Lee's hut, while northerly rose infant plantations53 at Tor Royal, and the spring light of larches54 made a home upon the hill, and spoke55 of human enterprise.
Grace drank the crystal air and listened to the lark. Then another sight arrested her, and she noted56, upon a little mound57 at the edge of the river, a cross above three broad, shallow steps. It stood upon a square pedestal which had been bevelled by chamfering around the socket58, and Grace knew that she saw the historic cenotaph of Childe the Hunter.
The lark, the river, the cross, all spoke their proper message, and kind chance had willed that this first day of the new life should be lovely, heralded59 by sunshine, unfolded beneath blue skies. Grace Malherb's young spirit swam out through the golden gates of the morning, and she praised her God in wordless thoughts. A leaden day, haunted by low and crawling mists, a welcome of dripping rain, and the plover's melancholy60 mew, had awakened61 other emotions; but instead was this embodiment of triumphant62 spring—a dawn of cloudless glory and the lark's uplifted joy.
Half an hour later Grace was watching Mrs. Beer milk "Marybud." Dinah—a brown-faced woman with neat wrists and ankles, grey eyes, and a face still pretty—looked up from under her sunbonnet, where her cheek was pressed against the cow, and saw a tall, rather thin maiden63 who had just stopped growing. With loving hand Nature had completed her girl's five feet eight inches, and now she was about to turn the child into a fair woman. This the dairymaid readily perceived.
"Us must keep the best of the cream for 'e, Miss," she said. "You wants for they pretty hands to be plumper, an' your cheeks too."
"How kind to think of such a thing! I can return the compliment, Mrs. Beer."
"Nay64; I've had my plump time. I be near five-an'-forty. Yet I was round once, an' so milky65 as a young filbert nut. Now I be in the middle season, when us does our hard work. But you—I seem Dartymoor will soon bring colour to your cheeks, though it couldn't make they eyes no brighter. Here, take an' drink, will 'e? I love to see young things drinking milk. Milk be the very starting-place of life, come to think of it. I never had no babies, worse luck, though I always felt a gert softness for 'em."
"But I'm not a baby, Mrs. Beer; I'm nearly seventeen!"
Grace laughed and drank. The lustre66 of her red lips dulled through the milky film. She gasped67 after her drink, and Dinah saw her small white teeth.
"You'm a bowerly maiden," she said, with extreme frankness. "So lovely as the bud o' the briar in June; an' Dartymoor will make a queen of 'e afore long. Fresh air, an' sweet water, an' miles of heather to ride over. Your eyes be old friends to me, miss—the brown of the leaves in autumn—just like my dead sister's."
"I have my father's eyes," said Grace; but Dinah questioned it.
"His be darker far. There ban't no storm in yours—they don't flash lightning. An', please God, they'll have no cause to rain either. Wealth's a wonderful thing, though what's best worth money ban't purchasable all the same."
Richard Beer had arrived and heard his wife's platitude68.
"Money's a power 'pon Dartymoor, however," he said, "an' I'm glad the master 'pears to be made of it, if I may say so without offence, Miss."
"Not at all," declared Grace. "Father isn't made of money, and you mustn't think so. He looks for a return very soon for all his outlay69."
Beer touched his hat with great respect before answering.
"As to that, mustn't count on no miracles, Miss Malherb. The master be larning that a'ready. Us can't go no quicker'n Nature's own gait. She won't be pushed because a chap here an' there goes bankrupt. 'Tis only at love-making she works so fast, not at farm-making."
"Her ways do often look slow to a man in a hurry," said Dinah.
"But us have got to wait for 'em to work, all the same," concluded Beer, "an' all the cusses of David never made one blade o' grass sprout70 so quick as a drop of warm rain."
This apparent allusion71 to her father's forcible modes of speech saddened Grace.
"'Tis very true," she answered, then turned to the house and went in to breakfast.
点击收听单词发音
1 moor | |
n.荒野,沼泽;vt.(使)停泊;vi.停泊 | |
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2 partially | |
adv.部分地,从某些方面讲 | |
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3 ERECTED | |
adj. 直立的,竖立的,笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立,建立 | |
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4 zealously | |
adv.热心地;热情地;积极地;狂热地 | |
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5 avert | |
v.防止,避免;转移(目光、注意力等) | |
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6 toiled | |
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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7 strenuous | |
adj.奋发的,使劲的;紧张的;热烈的,狂热的 | |
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8 whim | |
n.一时的兴致,突然的念头;奇想,幻想 | |
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9 advent | |
n.(重要事件等的)到来,来临 | |
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10 vaguely | |
adv.含糊地,暖昧地 | |
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11 tinkle | |
vi.叮当作响;n.叮当声 | |
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12 hoofs | |
n.(兽的)蹄,马蹄( hoof的名词复数 )v.(兽的)蹄,马蹄( hoof的第三人称单数 ) | |
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13 sanguine | |
adj.充满希望的,乐观的,血红色的 | |
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14 heed | |
v.注意,留意;n.注意,留心 | |
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15 discoursed | |
演说(discourse的过去式与过去分词形式) | |
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16 tact | |
n.机敏,圆滑,得体 | |
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17 miseries | |
n.痛苦( misery的名词复数 );痛苦的事;穷困;常发牢骚的人 | |
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18 dart | |
v.猛冲,投掷;n.飞镖,猛冲 | |
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19 steadily | |
adv.稳定地;不变地;持续地 | |
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20 insidious | |
adj.阴险的,隐匿的,暗中为害的,(疾病)不知不觉之间加剧 | |
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21 granite | |
adj.花岗岩,花岗石 | |
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22 loomed | |
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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23 ridge | |
n.山脊;鼻梁;分水岭 | |
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24 throb | |
v.震颤,颤动;(急速强烈地)跳动,搏动 | |
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25 jack | |
n.插座,千斤顶,男人;v.抬起,提醒,扛举;n.(Jake)杰克 | |
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26 mingled | |
混合,混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 ); 混进,与…交往[联系] | |
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27 crooks | |
n.骗子( crook的名词复数 );罪犯;弯曲部分;(牧羊人或主教用的)弯拐杖v.弯成钩形( crook的第三人称单数 ) | |
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28 cavalcade | |
n.车队等的行列 | |
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29 retired | |
adj.隐退的,退休的,退役的 | |
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30 chamber | |
n.房间,寝室;会议厅;议院;会所 | |
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31 amiable | |
adj.和蔼可亲的,友善的,亲切的 | |
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32 courteous | |
adj.彬彬有礼的,客气的 | |
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33 kindly | |
adj.和蔼的,温和的,爽快的;adv.温和地,亲切地 | |
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34 appraise | |
v.估价,评价,鉴定 | |
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35 Christians | |
n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 ) | |
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36 liking | |
n.爱好;嗜好;喜欢 | |
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37 contented | |
adj.满意的,安心的,知足的 | |
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38 lark | |
n.云雀,百灵鸟;n.嬉戏,玩笑;vi.嬉戏 | |
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39 reclaimed | |
adj.再生的;翻造的;收复的;回收的v.开拓( reclaim的过去式和过去分词 );要求收回;从废料中回收(有用的材料);挽救 | |
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40 mire | |
n.泥沼,泥泞;v.使...陷于泥泞,使...陷入困境 | |
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41 sere | |
adj.干枯的;n.演替系列 | |
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42 prevailing | |
adj.盛行的;占优势的;主要的 | |
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43 genial | |
adj.亲切的,和蔼的,愉快的,脾气好的 | |
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44 texture | |
n.(织物)质地;(材料)构造;结构;肌理 | |
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45 majestic | |
adj.雄伟的,壮丽的,庄严的,威严的,崇高的 | |
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46 simplicity | |
n.简单,简易;朴素;直率,单纯 | |
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47 pageant | |
n.壮观的游行;露天历史剧 | |
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48 turrets | |
(六角)转台( turret的名词复数 ); (战舰和坦克等上的)转动炮塔; (摄影机等上的)镜头转台; (旧时攻城用的)塔车 | |
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49 ascended | |
v.上升,攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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50 looming | |
n.上现蜃景(光通过低层大气发生异常折射形成的一种海市蜃楼)v.隐约出现,阴森地逼近( loom的现在分词 );隐约出现,阴森地逼近 | |
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51 bosom | |
n.胸,胸部;胸怀;内心;adj.亲密的 | |
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52 spire | |
n.(教堂)尖顶,尖塔,高点 | |
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53 plantations | |
n.种植园,大农场( plantation的名词复数 ) | |
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54 larches | |
n.落叶松(木材)( larch的名词复数 ) | |
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55 spoke | |
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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56 noted | |
adj.著名的,知名的 | |
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57 mound | |
n.土墩,堤,小山;v.筑堤,用土堆防卫 | |
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58 socket | |
n.窝,穴,孔,插座,插口 | |
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59 heralded | |
v.预示( herald的过去式和过去分词 );宣布(好或重要) | |
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60 melancholy | |
n.忧郁,愁思;adj.令人感伤(沮丧)的,忧郁的 | |
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61 awakened | |
v.(使)醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 );(使)觉醒;弄醒;(使)意识到 | |
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62 triumphant | |
adj.胜利的,成功的;狂欢的,喜悦的 | |
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63 maiden | |
n.少女,处女;adj.未婚的,纯洁的,无经验的 | |
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64 nay | |
adv.不;n.反对票,投反对票者 | |
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65 milky | |
adj.牛奶的,多奶的;乳白色的 | |
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66 lustre | |
n.光亮,光泽;荣誉 | |
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67 gasped | |
v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 );喘息;倒抽气;很想要 | |
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68 platitude | |
n.老生常谈,陈词滥调 | |
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69 outlay | |
n.费用,经费,支出;v.花费 | |
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70 sprout | |
n.芽,萌芽;vt.使发芽,摘去芽;vi.长芽,抽条 | |
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71 allusion | |
n.暗示,间接提示 | |
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