Travelling northward7 from the township of Otis, the road leads for twenty or thirty miles towards Windsor, lengthwise upon that long broken spur of heights which the Green Mountains of Vermont send into Massachusetts. For nearly the whole of the distance, you have the continual sensation of being upon some terrace in the moon. The feeling of the plain or the valley is never yours; scarcely the feeling of the earth. Unless by a sudden precipitation of the road you find yourself plunging8 into some gorge9, you pass on, and on, and on, upon the crests10 or slopes of pastoral mountains, while far below, mapped out in its beauty, the valley of the Housatonie lies endlessly along at your feet. Often, as your horse gaining some lofty level tract11, flat as a table, trots12 gayly over the almost deserted13 and sodded road, and your admiring eye sweeps the broad landscape beneath, you seem to be Bootes driving in heaven. Save a potato field here and there, at long intervals14, the whole country is either in wood or pasture. Horses, cattle and sheep are the principal inhabitants of these mountains. But all through the year lazy columns of smoke, rising from the depths of the forest, proclaim the presence of that half-outlaw, the charcoal-burner; while in early spring added curls of vapor15 show that the maple16 sugar-boiler is also at work. But as for farming as a regular vocation17, there is not much of it here. At any rate, no man by that means accumulates a fortune from this thin and rocky soil, all whose arable18 parts have long since been nearly exhausted19.
Yet during the first settlement of the country, the region was not unproductive. Here it was that the original settlers came, acting20 upon the principle well known to have regulated their choice of site, namely, the high land in preference to the low, as less subject to the unwholesome miasmas21 generated by breaking into the rich valleys and alluvial22 bottoms of primeval regions. By degrees, however, they quitted the safety of this sterile23 elevation24, to brave the dangers of richer though lower fields. So that, at the present day, some of those mountain townships present an aspect of singular abandonment. Though they have never known aught but peace and health, they, in one lesser25 aspect at least, look like countries depopulated by plague and war. Every mile or two a house is passed untenanted. The strength of the frame-work of these ancient buildings enables them long to resist the encroachments of decay. Spotted26 gray and green with the weather-stain, their timbers seem to have lapsed27 back into their woodland original, forming part now of the general picturesqueness28 of the natural scene. They are of extraordinary size, compared with modern farmhouses. One peculiar29 feature is the immense chimney, of light gray stone, perforating the middle of the roof like a tower.
On all sides are seen the tokens of ancient industry. As stone abounds30 throughout these mountains, that material was, for fences, as ready to the hand as wood, besides being much more durable31. Consequently the landscape is intersected in all directions with walls of uncommon32 neatness and strength.
The number and length of these walls is not more surprising than the size of some of the blocks comprising them. The very Titans seemed to have been at work. That so small an army as the first settlers must needs have been, should have taken such wonderful pains to enclose so ungrateful a soil; that they should have accomplished33 such herculean undertakings34 with so slight prospect35 of reward; this is a consideration which gives us a significant hint of the temper of the men of the Revolutionary era.
To this day the best stone-wall builders, as the best wood-choppers, come from those solitary38 mountain towns; a tall, athletic39, and hardy40 race, unerring with the axe41 as the Indian with the tomahawk; at stone-rolling, patient as Sisyphus, powerful as Samson.
In fine clear June days, the bloom of these mountains is beyond expression delightful43. Last visiting these heights ere she vanishes, Spring, like the sunset, flings her sweetest charms upon them. Each tuft of upland grass is musked like a bouquet44 with perfume. The balmy breeze swings to and fro like a censer. On one side the eye follows for the space of an eagle's flight, the serpentine45 mountain chains, southwards from the great purple dome46 of Taconic—the St. Peter's of these hills—northwards to the twin summits of Saddleback, which is the two-steepled natural cathedral of Berkshire; while low down to the west the Housatonie winds on in her watery47 labyrinth48, through charming meadows basking49 in the reflected rays from the hill-sides. At this season the beauty of every thing around you populates the loneliness of your way. You would not have the country more settled if you could. Content to drink in such loveliness at all your senses, the heart desires no company but Nature.
With what rapture50 you behold51, hovering52 over some vast hollow of the hills, or slowly drifting at an immense height over the far sunken Housatonie valley, some lordly eagle, who in unshared exaltation looks down equally upon plain and mountain. Or you behold a hawk42 sallying from some crag, like a Rhenish baron53 of old from his pinnacled54 castle, and darting55 down towards the river for his prey56. Or perhaps, lazily gliding57 about in the zenith, this ruffian fowl58 is suddenly beset59 by a crow, who with stubborn audacity60 pecks at him, and, spite of all his bravery, finally persecutes61 him back to his stronghold. The otherwise dauntless bandit, soaring at his topmost height, must needs succumb62 to this sable63 image of death. Nor are there wanting many smaller and less famous fowl, who without contributing to the grandeur64, yet greatly add to the beauty of the scene. The yellow-bird flits like a winged jonquil here and there; like knots of violets the blue-birds sport in clusters upon the grass; while hurrying from the pasture to the grove65, the red robin66 seems an incendiary putting torch to the trees. Meanwhile the air is vocal67 with their hymns68, and your own soul joys in the general joy. Like a stranger in an orchestra, you cannot help singing yourself when all around you raise such hosannas.
But in autumn, those gay northerners, the birds, return to their southern plantations69. The mountains are left bleak70 and sere71. Solitude72 settles down upon them in drizzling73 mists. The traveller is beset, at perilous74 turns, by dense75 masses of fog. He emerges for a moment into more penetrable76 air; and passing some gray, abandoned house, sees the lofty vapors77 plainly eddy78 by its desolate79 door; just as from the plain you may see it eddy by the pinnacles80 of distant and lonely heights. Or, dismounting from his frightened horse, he leads him down some scowling81 glen, where the road steeply dips among grim rocks, only to rise as abruptly82 again; and as he warily83 picks his way, uneasy at the menacing scene, he sees some ghost-like object looming84 through the mist at the roadside; and wending towards it, beholds85 a rude white stone, uncouthly86 inscribed87, marking the spot where, some fifty or sixty years ago, some farmer was upset in his wood-sled, and perished beneath the load.
In winter this region is blocked up with snow. Inaccessible88 and impassable, those wild, unfrequented roads, which in August are overgrown with high grass, in December are drifted to the arm-pit with the white fleece from the sky. As if an ocean rolled between man and man, intercommunication is often suspended for weeks and weeks.
Such, at this day, is the country which gave birth to our hero: prophetically styled Israel by the good Puritans, his parents, since, for more than forty years, poor Potter wandered in the wild wilderness89 of the world's extremest hardships and ills.
How little he thought, when, as a boy, hunting after his father's stray cattle among these New England hills he himself like a beast should be hunted through half of Old England, as a runaway90 rebel. Or, how could he ever have dreamed, when involved in the autumnal vapors of these mountains, that worse bewilderments awaited him three thousand miles across the sea, wandering forlorn in the coal- foes91 of London. But so it was destined92 to be. This little boy of the hills, born in sight of the sparkling Housatonic, was to linger out the best part of his life a prisoner or a pauper93 upon the grimy banks of the Thames.
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1 farmhouses | |
n.农舍,农场的主要住房( farmhouse的名词复数 ) | |
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2 deterred | |
v.阻止,制止( deter的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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3 poetic | |
adj.富有诗意的,有诗人气质的,善于抒情的 | |
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4 ruggedness | |
险峻,粗野; 耐久性; 坚固性 | |
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5 conveyances | |
n.传送( conveyance的名词复数 );运送;表达;运输工具 | |
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6 remains | |
n.剩余物,残留物;遗体,遗迹 | |
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7 northward | |
adv.向北;n.北方的地区 | |
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8 plunging | |
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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9 gorge | |
n.咽喉,胃,暴食,山峡;v.塞饱,狼吞虎咽地吃 | |
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10 crests | |
v.到达山顶(或浪峰)( crest的第三人称单数 );到达洪峰,达到顶点 | |
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11 tract | |
n.传单,小册子,大片(土地或森林) | |
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12 trots | |
小跑,急走( trot的名词复数 ); 匆匆忙忙地走 | |
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13 deserted | |
adj.荒芜的,荒废的,无人的,被遗弃的 | |
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14 intervals | |
n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 );间隔时间;[数学]区间;(戏剧、电影或音乐会的)幕间休息 | |
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15 vapor | |
n.蒸汽,雾气 | |
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16 maple | |
n.槭树,枫树,槭木 | |
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17 vocation | |
n.职业,行业 | |
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18 arable | |
adj.可耕的,适合种植的 | |
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19 exhausted | |
adj.极其疲惫的,精疲力尽的 | |
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20 acting | |
n.演戏,行为,假装;adj.代理的,临时的,演出用的 | |
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21 miasmas | |
n.瘴气( miasma的名词复数 );烟雾弥漫的空气;不良气氛或影响 | |
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22 alluvial | |
adj.冲积的;淤积的 | |
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23 sterile | |
adj.不毛的,不孕的,无菌的,枯燥的,贫瘠的 | |
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24 elevation | |
n.高度;海拔;高地;上升;提高 | |
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25 lesser | |
adj.次要的,较小的;adv.较小地,较少地 | |
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26 spotted | |
adj.有斑点的,斑纹的,弄污了的 | |
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27 lapsed | |
adj.流失的,堕落的v.退步( lapse的过去式和过去分词 );陷入;倒退;丧失 | |
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28 picturesqueness | |
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29 peculiar | |
adj.古怪的,异常的;特殊的,特有的 | |
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30 abounds | |
v.大量存在,充满,富于( abound的第三人称单数 ) | |
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31 durable | |
adj.持久的,耐久的 | |
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32 uncommon | |
adj.罕见的,非凡的,不平常的 | |
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33 accomplished | |
adj.有才艺的;有造诣的;达到了的 | |
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34 undertakings | |
企业( undertaking的名词复数 ); 保证; 殡仪业; 任务 | |
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35 prospect | |
n.前景,前途;景色,视野 | |
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36 devoted | |
adj.忠诚的,忠实的,热心的,献身于...的 | |
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37 patriot | |
n.爱国者,爱国主义者 | |
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38 solitary | |
adj.孤独的,独立的,荒凉的;n.隐士 | |
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39 athletic | |
adj.擅长运动的,强健的;活跃的,体格健壮的 | |
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40 hardy | |
adj.勇敢的,果断的,吃苦的;耐寒的 | |
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41 axe | |
n.斧子;v.用斧头砍,削减 | |
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42 hawk | |
n.鹰,骗子;鹰派成员 | |
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43 delightful | |
adj.令人高兴的,使人快乐的 | |
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44 bouquet | |
n.花束,酒香 | |
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45 serpentine | |
adj.蜿蜒的,弯曲的 | |
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46 dome | |
n.圆屋顶,拱顶 | |
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47 watery | |
adj.有水的,水汪汪的;湿的,湿润的 | |
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48 labyrinth | |
n.迷宫;难解的事物;迷路 | |
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49 basking | |
v.晒太阳,取暖( bask的现在分词 );对…感到乐趣;因他人的功绩而出名;仰仗…的余泽 | |
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50 rapture | |
n.狂喜;全神贯注;着迷;v.使狂喜 | |
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51 behold | |
v.看,注视,看到 | |
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52 hovering | |
鸟( hover的现在分词 ); 靠近(某事物); (人)徘徊; 犹豫 | |
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53 baron | |
n.男爵;(商业界等)巨头,大王 | |
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54 pinnacled | |
小尖塔般耸立的,顶处的 | |
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55 darting | |
v.投掷,投射( dart的现在分词 );向前冲,飞奔 | |
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56 prey | |
n.被掠食者,牺牲者,掠食;v.捕食,掠夺,折磨 | |
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57 gliding | |
v. 滑翔 adj. 滑动的 | |
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58 fowl | |
n.家禽,鸡,禽肉 | |
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59 beset | |
v.镶嵌;困扰,包围 | |
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60 audacity | |
n.大胆,卤莽,无礼 | |
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61 persecutes | |
(尤指宗教或政治信仰的)迫害(~sb. for sth.)( persecute的第三人称单数 ); 烦扰,困扰或骚扰某人 | |
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62 succumb | |
v.屈服,屈从;死 | |
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63 sable | |
n.黑貂;adj.黑色的 | |
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64 grandeur | |
n.伟大,崇高,宏伟,庄严,豪华 | |
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65 grove | |
n.林子,小树林,园林 | |
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66 robin | |
n.知更鸟,红襟鸟 | |
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67 vocal | |
adj.直言不讳的;嗓音的;n.[pl.]声乐节目 | |
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68 hymns | |
n.赞美诗,圣歌,颂歌( hymn的名词复数 ) | |
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69 plantations | |
n.种植园,大农场( plantation的名词复数 ) | |
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70 bleak | |
adj.(天气)阴冷的;凄凉的;暗淡的 | |
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71 sere | |
adj.干枯的;n.演替系列 | |
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72 solitude | |
n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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73 drizzling | |
下蒙蒙细雨,下毛毛雨( drizzle的现在分词 ) | |
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74 perilous | |
adj.危险的,冒险的 | |
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75 dense | |
a.密集的,稠密的,浓密的;密度大的 | |
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76 penetrable | |
adj.可穿透的 | |
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77 vapors | |
n.水汽,水蒸气,无实质之物( vapor的名词复数 );自夸者;幻想 [药]吸入剂 [古]忧郁(症)v.自夸,(使)蒸发( vapor的第三人称单数 ) | |
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78 eddy | |
n.漩涡,涡流 | |
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79 desolate | |
adj.荒凉的,荒芜的;孤独的,凄凉的;v.使荒芜,使孤寂 | |
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80 pinnacles | |
顶峰( pinnacle的名词复数 ); 顶点; 尖顶; 小尖塔 | |
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81 scowling | |
怒视,生气地皱眉( scowl的现在分词 ) | |
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82 abruptly | |
adv.突然地,出其不意地 | |
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83 warily | |
adv.留心地 | |
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84 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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85 beholds | |
v.看,注视( behold的第三人称单数 );瞧;看呀;(叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现)哎哟 | |
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86 uncouthly | |
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87 inscribed | |
v.写,刻( inscribe的过去式和过去分词 );内接 | |
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88 inaccessible | |
adj.达不到的,难接近的 | |
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89 wilderness | |
n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等,荒漠 | |
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90 runaway | |
n.逃走的人,逃亡,亡命者;adj.逃亡的,逃走的 | |
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91 foes | |
敌人,仇敌( foe的名词复数 ) | |
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92 destined | |
adj.命中注定的;(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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93 pauper | |
n.贫民,被救济者,穷人 | |
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