The evening was calm, and the lake slept in stirless beauty before us. The shadows of the mountains reached far out from the shore, lieing like a dark mantle1 upon the surface of the waters, above and beneath which the stars twinkled and glowed like the bright eyes of seraphs looking down from the arches above, and up from the depths below. The moon in her brightness sailed majestically2 up into the sky, throwing her silver light across the bosom3 of the lake; millions of fireflies flashed their tiny torches along the reedy shore; the solemn voices of the night birds came from out the forest; the call of the raccoon and the answer, the hooting4 of the owl5, and the low murmur6 of the leaves, stirred by the light breeze that moved lazily among the tree-tops, old familiar music to us, were heard. This latter sound is always heard, even in the stillest and calmest nights. There may be no ripple7 upon the water; it may be moveless and smooth as a mirror, no breath of air may sweep across its surface, and yet in the old forest among the tree-tops, there is always that low ceaseless murmur, a soft whispering as if the spirits of the woods were holding, in hushed voices, communion together. We had retired9 for the night under the cover of our tents. My companion had sunk into slumber10, and I was just in that dreamy state, half sleeping and half awake, which constitutes the very paradise of repose11, when there came drifting across the lake the faint and far off strains of music, which, to my seeming, exceeded in sweetness anything I had ever heard. They came so soft and melodious12, floating so gently over the water, and dying away so quietly in the old woods, that I could scarce persuade myself of their reality. For a while I lay luxuriating as in the delusion13 of a pleasant dream, as though the melody that was abroad on the air was the voices of angels chanting their lullaby into the charmed ear of the sleeper14. Presently, Smith raised his head, supporting his cheek upon his hand, his elbow resting upon the ground, and after listening for a moment, opened his eyes in bewilderment exclaiming, as he looked in utter astonishment15 about him, "What, in the name of all that is mysterious, is that?"
Spalding and the Doctor followed, and their amazement16 was equalled only by their admiration17 when
"Oft in the stilly night"
came stealing in matchless harmony over the water, "A serenade from the Naiads, by Jupiter!" exclaimed Smith.
"A concert, by the Genii of the waters!" cried the
Doctor.
"Hush8!" said Spalding, "we are trespassing18 upon fairy domain19; the spirits of these old woods, these mountains and rock-bound lakes, are abroad, and well may they carol in their joyousness20 in a night like this."
In a little while the music changed, and
"Come o'er the moonlight sea"
came swelling21 over the lake. And again it changed and
"Come mariner22 down in the deep with me"
went gently and swiftly abroad on the air. The music ceased for a moment, and then two manly23 voices, of great depth and power, came floating to our ears to the words:
"'Farewell! Farewell! To thee, Araby's daughter,'
Thus warbled a Perl, beneath the deep sea,
'No pearl ever lay under Onan's dark water,
More pure in its shell than thy spirit in thee.'"
"That's flesh and blood, at least," exclaimed the Doctor, "and I propose to ascertain24 who are treating as to this charming serenade in the stillness of midnight."
We went down to the margin25 of the lake, and a few rods from the shore lay a little craft like our own, in which were seated two gentlemen, the one with a flute26 and the other with a violin. They had seen our campfire from their shanty27 on the other side of the lake, and had crossed over to surprise us with the melody of human music. And pleasantly indeed it sounded in the stillness and repose of that summer night in that wild region. The echoes that dwell among those old forests, those hills and beautiful lakes, had never been startled from their slumbers28 by such sounds before, and right merrily they carried them from hill to hill, and through the old woods, and over the calm surface of that sleeping lake, and with a joyousness, too, that told how welcome they were among those wild and primeval things.
After listening to their music for half an hour, we invited our new friends ashore29. We found them to be two young gentlemen from Philadelphia, who had just graduated at one of the Eastern colleges, and who had concluded to spend a month among these mountains and lakes, before entering upon the study of the profession to which they were to devote themselves. They had been close friends from their childhood, and room-mates during their collegiate course. They had cultivated their taste for music, until few mere30 amateurs could equal their skill upon their respective instruments, or in harmony of voice. They were highly intelligent and courteous31 gentlemen, and if their future shall equal the promise of the present, they will make their mark in the world. We accepted, at parting, their invitation to breakfast with them on the morrow, and at one o'clock they left us to return to their shanty over the lake. We sent one of our boatmen to row them home; and as they started across the water, they treated us to a concert to which it was pleasant to listen. There is something surpassingly sweet in the music of the flute and violin in the hands of skillful performers; and yet, to my thinking, it falls far short of the melody of the human voice. I have listened to some of the most celebrated32 singers, and of the most distinguished33 performers, but it appears to me now, that I never, on any other occasion, heard the melody of the human voice, or instrumental music half so enchanting34, as that which came floating over the lake on that calm summer night. There was a volume and compass about it which can never be reached in a concert room. It was not loud, but it seemed to fill all the air with its sweetness. It came over the senses like a pleasant dream, as it went swelling up to the hills that skirted the lake, floating away over the water, and dying away in lengthened35 cadence36 in the old forests. Every other sound was hushed; the voices of the night-birds were stilled; even the frogs along the shore suspended their bellowing37, and all nature seemed listening to the new harmony that thus fell like enchantment38 upon the repose of midnight. The music grew fainter and fainter as it receded39, until only an occasional strain, wavy40 and dream-like, came creeping like the voice of a spirit over the water, and then it was lost in the distance. The frogs resumed their roaring, the night-birds lifted up their voices; the raccoon called to his fellow, and was answered away off in the forest; the pile-driver hammered away at his stake, the old owl hooted41 solemnly from his perch42, and we retired to our tents to talk over the romance of our serenade, and to dream of Ole Bull and the Swedish Nightingale.
The morning broke bright and balmy. A pleasant breeze swept lazily over the lake, lifting the thin mist that hung like a veil of gauze above the water. We left our tents standing43, and crossed over to the shanty of our friends of the previous evening to breakfast. We found them living like princes. Their two boatmen had built them a log shanty; open in front, and covered with bark so as to be impervious44 to the rain, while within was a luxurious45 bed of boughs46. Around the campfire were benches of hewn slabs47, and a table of the same material. A few rods from the door a beautiful spring came bubbling up into a little basin of pure white sand, the water of which was limpid48 and cold almost as ice-water. They had been here for a week, hunting and fishing. They had employed their leisure in jerking the venison they had taken, of which they had some four or five bushels, and which they intended to take home with them, to serve, together with the skins of the deer they had slain49, as trophies50 of their success.
They received us cordially, and we sat down to a breakfast, which, for variety, at least, rivalled the elaborate preparations of the Astor or the St. Nicholas; albeit51, the cookery, as an abstract fact, might have been of the simplest. We had venison-steak, pork, ham, jerked venison stew52, fresh trout53, broiled54 partridge, cold roast duck, a fricassee of wood rabbits, and broiled pigeon upon our table, coming in courses, or piled up helter-skelter on great platters of birch bark, some on tin plates, and now and then a choice bit on a chip! We had coffee, and tea, and the purest of spring water, by way of beverage56, and truth compels me to admit, that under the advice of the Doctor, a drop or two of Old Cognac may have been added by way of relish57, or to temper the effect of a hearty58 meal upon the delicate stomachs of some of the guests. We were exceedingly fashionable in our time for breakfasting this morning, and it was eleven o'clock before we rose from table. The sun was travelling through a cloudless sky, and his brightness lay like a mantle of glory upon the water, while his heat gave to the deep shadows of the old trees, whose long arms with their clustering foliage59 were interlocked above us, a peculiar60 charm. The description which we gave of the beautiful lake we had left the day before, the story of the moose and the bear we had killed, together with our quit-claim of the shanty we had, inhabited, brought our friends to the conclusion to drift that way for a week or so.
It was amusing to hear Smith relate the manner of capturing the bear, the glory of which achievement he had won by the tossing up of a dollar; how he had started out alone in one of the boats with his rifle to look into a little bay half a mile below the shanty, where be left the rest of us sleeping after dinner; and how, as he was floating along under the shadow of the hills, at the base of a wall of rocks some forty feet high, rising straight up from the water, he heard something walking just over the precipice61; and how he picked up his rifle that lay in the bottom of the boat, to be ready for any emergency; and then how astonished he was to see a great black bear walk out into view along the edge of the rocks above, and how carefully he sighted him; and how, at the crack of his rifle, the animal came tumbling down the cliff, and how quick he reloaded and gave trim a settler in the shape of a second bullet; and how he tugged62, and strained, and lifted to get him into the boat, and how astonished we all were when he returned with his prize to camp. While relating this wonderful achievement, he winked63 at the Doctor, as much as to say, "fair play; remember our compact; stand by me now." And the Doctor did stand by him, boldly endorsing64, with a gravity that was refreshing65, every invention of Smith's prolific66 imagination, on the subject of his slaughtering67 the bear.
We left our new friends in the afternoon; they to start in the morning for our old camping-ground on the lake above, and we down the stream on our retreat from the wilderness68. We came back to our tents, after securing a string of trout from the mouth of the little stream across the bay. Our evening meal was over, and we sat around our campfire just as the sun was hiding himself behind the western highlands, when, from a little hollow in the forest behind us, and but a short way off, we heard the call of a raccoon. Martin started over the ridge55 with the dogs, and in five minutes he hallooed to us to come with our rifles for he had the animal "treed," and ready to be brought down at "a moment's warning." We went over to where he was, and sure enough, away up in the top of a tall birch, sat his coonship, looking quietly down upon the dogs that were baying at the foot of the tree.
"Gentlemen," said Spalding, "we will not all fire at this animal as we did at Smith's bear. One bullet is enough for him, and if he gets down among us, I think six men will be a match for one 'coon,' so we need not be inhuman69 through a sense of danger. Whose shot shall he be?"
"I move that Spalding have the first shot," said Smith; and the motion was carried.
"Do I understand you, gentlemen," Spalding inquired, adjusting himself, as if preparing to bring down the game, "that I am to have this first shot, and that no one is to fire until I have taken a fair shot at him?"
We all answered, "Yes."
"Are you perfectly70 agreed in this, and do you all pledge yourselves to abide71 the compact?" Spalding inquired again, bringing his rifle to a present, and looking up at the game.
"All agreed," we answered, with one voice.
"Very well, gentlemen," said Spalding, shouldering his rifle, "there's one life saved anyhow. That animal up there has been in great peril72, but he's safe now. I don't intend to fire at him sooner than ten o'clock to-morrow, and if I understand our arrangements, we leave here in the morning at six."
"Sold, by Moses!" exclaimed Martin, as he broke out into a roar that you might have heard a mile; "I thought the Judge meant something, by the time he wasted in talkin' and gettin' ready to shoot."
"Spalding," inquired Smith, "do you expect us to keep this compact?"
"Of course I do," he replied; "did any of us peach when you opened so rich in the matter of your bear? Did any one break his compact with you on that subject? Absolve73 us from our agreement about the bear, and you may take my shot at that animal up in the tree."
"I wasn't born yesterday," Smith replied, "and I can't afford to exchange the glory of killing74 the bear in my own way, and baring three responsible endorsers75, for the honor of shooting a coon. Gentlemen," he continued, "I move that that coon be permitted to take his own time to descend76 from his perch up in the tree-top there;" and the motion was carried unanimously.
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收听单词发音
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1
mantle
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| n.斗篷，覆罩之物，罩子；v.罩住，覆盖，脸红 | |
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majestically
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| 雄伟地； 庄重地； 威严地； 崇高地 | |
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bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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4
hooting
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| （使）作汽笛声响，作汽车喇叭声( hoot的现在分词 )； 倒好儿； 倒彩 | |
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5
owl
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| n.猫头鹰，枭 | |
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murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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7
ripple
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| n.涟波，涟漪，波纹，粗钢梳；vt.使...起涟漪，使起波纹； vi.呈波浪状，起伏前进 | |
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8
hush
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| int.嘘，别出声；n.沉默，静寂；v.使安静 | |
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9
retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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10
slumber
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| n.睡眠，沉睡状态 | |
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11
repose
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| v.(使)休息；n.安息 | |
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12
melodious
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| adj.旋律美妙的，调子优美的，音乐性的 | |
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13
delusion
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| n.谬见，欺骗，幻觉，迷惑 | |
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14
sleeper
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| n.睡眠者，卧车，卧铺 | |
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15
astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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16
amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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17
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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18
trespassing
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| [法]非法入侵 | |
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19
domain
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| n.(活动等)领域，范围；领地，势力范围 | |
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20
joyousness
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| 快乐，使人喜悦 | |
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21
swelling
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| n.肿胀 | |
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22
mariner
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| n.水手号不载人航天探测器，海员，航海者 | |
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23
manly
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| adj.有男子气概的；adv.男子般地，果断地 | |
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24
ascertain
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| vt.发现，确定，查明，弄清 | |
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25
margin
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| n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘 | |
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26
flute
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| n.长笛；v.吹笛 | |
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27
shanty
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| n.小屋，棚屋；船工号子 | |
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28
slumbers
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| 睡眠，安眠( slumber的名词复数 ) | |
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29
ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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30
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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31
courteous
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| adj.彬彬有礼的，客气的 | |
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32
celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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33
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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34
enchanting
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| a.讨人喜欢的 | |
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35
lengthened
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| （时间或空间）延长，伸长( lengthen的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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36
cadence
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| n.（说话声调的）抑扬顿挫 | |
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37
bellowing
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| v.发出吼叫声，咆哮（尤指因痛苦）( bellow的现在分词 )；（愤怒地）说出（某事），大叫 | |
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38
enchantment
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| n.迷惑，妖术，魅力 | |
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39
receded
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| v.逐渐远离( recede的过去式和过去分词 )；向后倾斜；自原处后退或避开别人的注视；尤指问题 | |
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40
wavy
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| adj.有波浪的，多浪的，波浪状的，波动的，不稳定的 | |
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41
hooted
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| （使）作汽笛声响，作汽车喇叭声( hoot的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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42
perch
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| n.栖木，高位，杆；v.栖息，就位，位于 | |
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43
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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44
impervious
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| adj.不能渗透的，不能穿过的，不易伤害的 | |
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45
luxurious
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| adj.精美而昂贵的；豪华的 | |
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46
boughs
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| 大树枝( bough的名词复数 ) | |
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47
slabs
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| n.厚板，平板，厚片( slab的名词复数 )；厚胶片 | |
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48
limpid
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| adj.清澈的，透明的 | |
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49
slain
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| 杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的过去分词 )； (slay的过去分词) | |
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50
trophies
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| n.（为竞赛获胜者颁发的）奖品( trophy的名词复数 )；奖杯；（尤指狩猎或战争中获得的）纪念品；（用于比赛或赛跑名称）奖 | |
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51
albeit
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| conj.即使；纵使；虽然 | |
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52
stew
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| n.炖汤，焖，烦恼；v.炖汤，焖，忧虑 | |
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53
trout
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| n.鳟鱼；鲑鱼(属) | |
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54
broiled
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| a.烤过的 | |
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55
ridge
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| n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭 | |
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56
beverage
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| n.(水，酒等之外的)饮料 | |
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57
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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58
hearty
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| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
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59
foliage
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| n.叶子，树叶，簇叶 | |
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60
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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precipice
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| n.悬崖，危急的处境 | |
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62
tugged
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| v.用力拉，使劲拉，猛扯( tug的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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63
winked
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| v.使眼色( wink的过去式和过去分词 )；递眼色（表示友好或高兴等）；（指光）闪烁；闪亮 | |
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64
endorsing
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| v.赞同( endorse的现在分词 )；在（尤指支票的）背面签字；在（文件的）背面写评论；在广告上说本人使用并赞同某产品 | |
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65
refreshing
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| adj.使精神振作的，使人清爽的，使人喜欢的 | |
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66
prolific
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| adj.丰富的，大量的；多产的，富有创造力的 | |
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67
slaughtering
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| v.屠杀，杀戮，屠宰( slaughter的现在分词 ) | |
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68
wilderness
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| n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠 | |
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69
inhuman
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| adj.残忍的，不人道的，无人性的 | |
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70
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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71
abide
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| vi.遵守；坚持；vt.忍受 | |
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72
peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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73
absolve
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| v.赦免，解除（责任等） | |
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74
killing
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| n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财 | |
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75
endorsers
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| n.背书人，转让人( endorser的名词复数 ) | |
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descend
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| vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降 | |
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