We kept on our way, often looking back towards Loch Lomond, and wondering at the grandeur16 which Ben Vain and Ben Voirlich, and the rest of the Ben fraternity, had suddenly put on. The mists which had hung about them all day had now descended17 lower, and lay among the depths and gorges18 of the hills, where also the sun shone softly down among them, and filled those deep mountain laps, as it were, with a dimmer sunshine. Ben Vain, too, and his brethren, had a veil of mist all about them, which seemed to render them really transparent19; and they had unaccountably grown higher, vastly higher, than when we viewed them from the shore of the lake. It was as if we were looking at them through the medium of a poet's imagination. All along the road, since we left Inversnaid, there had been the stream, which there formed the waterfall, and which here was brawling20 down little declivities, and sleeping in black pools, which we disturbed by flinging stones into them from the roadside. We passed a drunken old gentleman, who civilly bade me "good day"; and a man and woman at work in a field, the former of whom shouted to inquire the hour; and we had come in sight of little Loch Arklet before the omnibus came up with us. It was about five o'clock when we reached the head of
LOCH KATRINE,
and went on board the steamer Rob Roy; and, setting forth21 on our voyage, a Highland piper made music for us the better part of the way.
We did not see Loch Katrine, perhaps, under its best presentment; for the surface was roughened with a little wind, and darkened even to inky blackness by the clouds that overhung it. The hill-tops, too, wore a very dark frown. A lake of this size cannot be terrific, and is therefore seen to best advantage when it is beautiful. The scenery of its shores is not altogether so rich and lovely as I had preimagined; not equal, indeed, to the best parts of Loch Lomond,—the hills being lower and of a more ridgy22 shape, and exceedingly bare, at least towards the lower end. But they turn the lake aside with headland after headland, and shut it in closely, and open one vista23 after another, so that the eye is never weary, and, least of all, as we approach the end. The length of the loch is ten miles, and at its termination it meets the pass of the Trosachs, between Ben An and Ben Venue24, which are the rudest and shaggiest of hills. The steamer passes Ellen's Isle25, but to the right, which is the side opposite to that on which Fitz-James must be supposed to have approached it. It is a very small island, situated26 where the loch narrows, and is perhaps less than a quarter of a mile distant from either shore. It looks like a lump of rock, with just soil enough to support a crowd of dwarf27 oaks, birches, and firs, which do not grow so high as to be shadowy trees. Our voyage being over, we landed, and found two omnibuses, one of which took us through the famous pass of the Trosachs, a distance of a mile and a quarter, to a hotel, erected in castellated guise28 by Lord Willoughby d'Eresby. We were put into a parlor29 within one of the round towers, panelled all round, and with four narrow windows, opening through deep embrasures. No play-castle was ever more like the reality, and it is a very good hotel, like all that we have had experience of in the Highlands. After tea we walked out, and visited a little kirk that stands near the shore of Loch Achray, at a good point of view for seeing the hills round about.
This morning opened cloudily; but after breakfast I set out alone, and walked through the pass of the Trosachs, and thence by a path along the right shore of the lake. It is a very picturesque and beautiful path, following the windings30 of the lake,—now along the beach, now over an impending31 bank, until it comes opposite to Ellen's Isle, which on this side looks more worthy32 to be the island of the poem than as we first saw it. Its shore is craggy and precipitous, but there was a point where it seemed possible to land, nor was it too much to fancy that there might be a rustic33 habitation among the shrubbery of this rugged34 spot. It is foolish to look into these matters too strictly35. Scott evidently used as much freedom with his natural scenery as he did with his historic incidents; and he could have made nothing of either one or the other if he had been more scrupulous36 in his arrangement and adornment37 of them. In his description of the Trosachs, he has produced something very beautiful, and as true as possible, though certainly its beauty has a little of the scene-painter's gloss38 on it. Nature is better, no doubt, but Nature cannot be exactly reproduced on canvas or in print; and the artist's only resource is to substitute something that may stand instead of and suggest the truth.
The path still kept onward39, after passing Ellen's Isle, and I followed it, finding it wilder, more shadowy with overhanging foliage40 of trees, old and young,—more like a mountain-path in Berkshire or New Hampshire, yet still with an Old World restraint and cultivation41 about it,—the farther I went. At last I came upon some bars, and though the track was still seen beyond, I took this as a hint to stop, especially as I was now two or three miles from the hotel, and it just then began to rain. My umbrella was a poor one at best, and had been tattered42 and turned inside out, a day or two ago, by a gust43 on Loch Lomond; but I spread it to the shower, and, furthermore, took shelter under the thickest umbrage44 I could find. The rain came straight down, and bubbled in the loch; the little rills gathered force, and plashed merrily over the stones; the leaves of the trees condensed the shower into large drops, and shed them down upon me where I stood. Still I was comfortable enough in a thick Skye Tweed, and waited patiently till the rain abated45; then took my way homeward, and admired the pass of the Trosachs more than when I first traversed it. If it has a fault, it is one that few scenes in Great Britain share with it,—that is, the trees and shrubbery, with which the precipices46 are shagged, conceal47 them a little too much. A crag, streaked48 with black and white, here and there shows its head aloft, or its whole height from base to summit, and suggests that more of such sublimity49 is bidden than revealed. I think, however, that it is this unusual shagginess which made the scene a favorite with Scott, and with the people on this side of the ocean generally. There are many scenes as good in America, needing only the poet.
July 6th.—We dined yesterday at the table d'hote, at the suggestion of the butler, in order to give less trouble to the servants of the hotel, and afford them an opportunity to go to kirk. The dining-room is in accordance with the rest of the architecture and fittings up of the house, and is a very good reproduction of an old baronial hall, with high panellings and a roof of dark, polished wood. There were about twenty guests at table; and if they and the waiters had been dressed in mediaeval costume, we might have imagined ourselves banqueting in the Middle Ages.
After dinner we all took a walk through the Trosachs' pass again, and by the right-hand path along the lake as far as Ellen's Isle. It was very pleasant, there being gleams of calm evening sunshine gilding50 the mountain-sides, and putting a golden crown occasionally on the Tread of Ben Venue. It is wonderful how many aspects a mountain has,—how many mountains there are in every single mountain!—-how they vary too, in apparent attitude and bulk. When we reached the lake its surface was almost unruffled, except by now and then the narrow pathway of a breeze, as if the wing of an unseen spirit had just grazed it in flitting across. The scene was very beautiful, and, on the whole, I do not know that Walter Scott has overcharged his description, although he has symbolized51 the reality by types and images which it might not precisely52 suggest to other minds. We were reluctant to quit the spot, and cherish still a hope of seeing it again, though the hope does not seem very likely to be gratified.
This was a lowering and sullen53 morning, but soon after breakfast I took a walk in the opposite direction to Loch Katrine, and reached the Brig of Turk, a little beyond which is the new Trosachs' Hotel, and the little rude village of Duncraggan, consisting of a few hovels of stone, at the foot of a bleak54 and dreary55 hill. To the left, stretching up between this and other hills, is the valley of Glenfinlas,—a very awful region in Scott's poetry and in Highland tradition, as the haunt of spirits and enchantments56. It presented a very desolate prospect. The walk back to the Trosachs showed me Ben Venue and Ben An under new aspects,—the bare summit of the latter rising in a perfect pyramid, whereas from other points of view it looks like quite a different mountain. Sometimes a gleam of sunshine came out upon the rugged side of Ben Venue, but his prevailing57 mood, like that of the rest of the landscape, was stern and gloomy. I wish I could give an idea of the variety of surface upon one of these hillsides,—so bulging58 out and hollowed in, so bare where the rock breaks through, so shaggy in other places with heath, and then, perhaps, a thick umbrage of birch, oak, and ash ascending59 from the base high upward. When I think I have described them, I remember quite a different aspect, and find it equally true, and yet lacking something to make it the whole or an adequate truth.
J——- had gone with me part of the way, but stopped to fish with a pin-hook in Loch Achray, which bordered along our path. When I returned, I found him much elated at having caught a fish, which, however, had got away, carrying his pin-hook along with it. Then he had amused himself with taking some lizards60 by the tail, and had collected several in a small hollow of the rocks. We now walked home together, and at half past three we took our seats in a genuine old-fashioned stage-coach, of which there are few specimens61 now to be met with. The coachman was smartly dressed in the Queen's scarlet62, and was a very pleasant and affable personage, conducting himself towards the passengers with courteous63 authority. Inside we were four, including J——-, but on the top there were at least a dozen, and I would willingly have been there too, but had taken an inside seat, under apprehension64 of rain, and was not allowed to change it. Our drive was not marked by much describable incident. On changing horses at Callender, we alighted, and saw Ben Ledi behind us, making a picturesque background to the little town, which seems to be the meeting-point of the Highlands and Lowlands. We again changed horses at Doune, an old town, which would doubtless have been well worth seeing, had time permitted. Thence we kept on till the coach drew up at a spacious65 hotel, where we alighted, fancying that we had reached Stirling, which was to have been our journey's end; but, after fairly establishing ourselves, we found that it was the
BRIG OF ALLAN.
The place is three miles short of Stirling. Nevertheless, we did not much regret the mistake, finding that the Brig of Allan is the principal Spa of Scotland, and a very pleasant spot, to all outward appearance. After tea we walked out, both up and down the village street, and across the bridge, and up a gentle eminence66 beyond it, whence we had a fine view of a glorious plain, out of which rose several insulated headlands. One of these was the height on which stands Stirling Castle, and which reclines on the plain like a hound or a lion or a sphinx, holding the castle on the highest part, where its head should be. A mile or two distant from this picturesque hill rises another, still more striking, called the Abbey Craig, on which is a ruin, and where is to be built the monument to William Wallace. I cannot conceive a nobler or more fitting pedestal. The sullenness67 of the day had vanished, the air was cool but invigorating, and the cloud scenery was as fine as that below it. . . . Though it was nearly ten o'clock, the boys of the village were in full shout and play, for these long and late summer evenings keep the children out of bed interminably.
点击收听单词发音
1 bead | |
n.念珠;(pl.)珠子项链;水珠 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
2 prospect | |
n.前景,前途;景色,视野 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
3 ascend | |
vi.渐渐上升,升高;vt.攀登,登上 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
4 highland | |
n.(pl.)高地,山地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
5 highlander | |
n.高地的人,苏格兰高地地区的人 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
6 augury | |
n.预言,征兆,占卦 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
7 foretold | |
v.预言,预示( foretell的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
8 fortress | |
n.堡垒,防御工事 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
9 ERECTED | |
adj. 直立的,竖立的,笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立,建立 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
10 bridle | |
n.笼头,束缚;vt.抑制,约束;动怒 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
11 desolate | |
adj.荒凉的,荒芜的;孤独的,凄凉的;v.使荒芜,使孤寂 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
12 dismal | |
adj.阴沉的,凄凉的,令人忧郁的,差劲的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
13 picturesque | |
adj.美丽如画的,(语言)生动的,绘声绘色的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
14 doorway | |
n.门口,(喻)入门;门路,途径 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
15 converse | |
vi.谈话,谈天,闲聊;adv.相反的,相反 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
16 grandeur | |
n.伟大,崇高,宏伟,庄严,豪华 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
17 descended | |
a.为...后裔的,出身于...的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
18 gorges | |
n.山峡,峡谷( gorge的名词复数 );咽喉v.(用食物把自己)塞饱,填饱( gorge的第三人称单数 );作呕 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
19 transparent | |
adj.明显的,无疑的;透明的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
20 brawling | |
n.争吵,喧嚷 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
21 forth | |
adv.向前;向外,往外 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
22 ridgy | |
adj.有脊的;有棱纹的;隆起的;有埂的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
23 vista | |
n.远景,深景,展望,回想 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
24 venue | |
n.犯罪地点,审判地,管辖地,发生地点,集合地点 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
25 isle | |
n.小岛,岛 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
26 situated | |
adj.坐落在...的,处于某种境地的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
27 dwarf | |
n.矮子,侏儒,矮小的动植物;vt.使…矮小 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
28 guise | |
n.外表,伪装的姿态 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
29 parlor | |
n.店铺,营业室;会客室,客厅 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
30 windings | |
(道路、河流等)蜿蜒的,弯曲的( winding的名词复数 ); 缠绕( wind的现在分词 ); 卷绕; 转动(把手) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
31 impending | |
a.imminent, about to come or happen | |
参考例句: |
|
|
32 worthy | |
adj.(of)值得的,配得上的;有价值的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
33 rustic | |
adj.乡村的,有乡村特色的;n.乡下人,乡巴佬 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
34 rugged | |
adj.高低不平的,粗糙的,粗壮的,强健的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
35 strictly | |
adv.严厉地,严格地;严密地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
36 scrupulous | |
adj.审慎的,小心翼翼的,完全的,纯粹的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
37 adornment | |
n.装饰;装饰品 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
38 gloss | |
n.光泽,光滑;虚饰;注释;vt.加光泽于;掩饰 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
39 onward | |
adj.向前的,前进的;adv.向前,前进,在先 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
40 foliage | |
n.叶子,树叶,簇叶 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
41 cultivation | |
n.耕作,培养,栽培(法),养成 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
42 tattered | |
adj.破旧的,衣衫破的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
43 gust | |
n.阵风,突然一阵(雨、烟等),(感情的)迸发 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
44 umbrage | |
n.不快;树荫 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
45 abated | |
减少( abate的过去式和过去分词 ); 减去; 降价; 撤消(诉讼) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
46 precipices | |
n.悬崖,峭壁( precipice的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
47 conceal | |
v.隐藏,隐瞒,隐蔽 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
48 streaked | |
adj.有条斑纹的,不安的v.快速移动( streak的过去式和过去分词 );使布满条纹 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
49 sublimity | |
崇高,庄严,气质高尚 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
50 gilding | |
n.贴金箔,镀金 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
51 symbolized | |
v.象征,作为…的象征( symbolize的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
52 precisely | |
adv.恰好,正好,精确地,细致地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
53 sullen | |
adj.愠怒的,闷闷不乐的,(天气等)阴沉的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
54 bleak | |
adj.(天气)阴冷的;凄凉的;暗淡的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
55 dreary | |
adj.令人沮丧的,沉闷的,单调乏味的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
56 enchantments | |
n.魅力( enchantment的名词复数 );迷人之处;施魔法;着魔 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
57 prevailing | |
adj.盛行的;占优势的;主要的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
58 bulging | |
膨胀; 凸出(部); 打气; 折皱 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
59 ascending | |
adj.上升的,向上的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
60 lizards | |
n.蜥蜴( lizard的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
61 specimens | |
n.样品( specimen的名词复数 );范例;(化验的)抽样;某种类型的人 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
62 scarlet | |
n.深红色,绯红色,红衣;adj.绯红色的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
63 courteous | |
adj.彬彬有礼的,客气的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
64 apprehension | |
n.理解,领悟;逮捕,拘捕;忧虑 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
65 spacious | |
adj.广阔的,宽敞的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
66 eminence | |
n.卓越,显赫;高地,高处;名家 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
67 sullenness | |
n. 愠怒, 沉闷, 情绪消沉 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
欢迎访问英文小说网 |