THERE is reason in the roasting of eggs, and presumably in their poaching, but we are beginning to think we shall never fathom1 the principle which ordains2 that the hotel poached egg shall invariably be underdone. Charmed we never so wisely, commanded we never so timely, the same pinkish blobs were placed fluent and quaking before us, the same lavish3 gush4 answered the diffident knife puncture5, and in a moment our plates became like sunrise painted by an impressionist, with red bacon streaks6 weltering in the widespread orange glories, and the golden mustard blob surmounting7 all as serenely8 as Ph?bus Apollo.
This phenomenon was at all events our only specimen9 of a Letterfrack sunrise. As we sat at breakfast in the coffee-room the mist blew softly against the{124} French windows, and swept past on the road like a procession of ghostly ball dresses; the furniture seemed clammy to the touch, and the paper decorations in the grate mocked the eye with their futile10 elegance11 and affectation of summer heat. Our fellow guests, evidently habitués of the place, took only the most casual notice of the weather, and talked of local matters with the zest12 which so surprises the newcomer; of their single or conglomerated prowess in scrambling13 up the Diamond mountain, of their tumbling down it, of their tea, their sandwiches, and their wet boots; while we moodily15 ate our breakfasts, without even self-respect enough to make conversation for one another. Our depression was deepened soon afterwards, on hearing that an ancient raw on Sibbie’s shoulder had been touched by the collar in the drive of the day before, and that unless a person described as “Jack’s father” could put some additional padding into the collar we could not get on to Renvyle that day, though it was only a four mile journey.
[Image unavailable.]
JACK’S FATHER.
and the little ladies’ drawing-room goaded17 us to energy. We determined18 to see the damage for ourselves, and putting on our waterproofs19, we paddled out into the yard, and picked our way across it to the stable by some convenient and apparently20 recognised stepping-stones. The invalid21 Sibbie was in the darkest stall of the stable, standing22 in severe preoccupation, with her back to the outer world, and as we delicately approached her we became aware of an eye like that of a murderess rolling at us with a white{126} gleam in the obscurity, and saw that her long, bell-rope tail was drawn23 tightly in. We hastily agreed that we would take Jack’s word for the rubbed shoulder, and retired24 into the yard again. At the door of another stable we found the person whose only identity, or indeed profession, seemed to consist in being Jack’s father, sitting on an upturned bucket, with Sibbie’s collar in his lap and a monstrous25 needle in his hand. He explained that he was putting in a pad at each side, stuffed with cotton wool that he had got “from Herself, within in the house, because ’twould be kindher than the hay.” He had a serious face, with a frill of grey beard, like a Presbyterian minister of the most amiable26 type, and he looked up as he spoke27 with an expression that we felt to be kinder even than the cotton wool. “If that collar puts a hurt on the pony28 agin as long as yee’ll be thravellin’ Connemara, ye may—ye may call me blackbird!”
This handsome permission, emphasised by the tug29 with which the big needle was dragged through the{127} leather, was evidently the highest reassurance30 known to the speaker, but, notwithstanding, we felt that even to apply the opprobrious31 name of blackbird to Jack’s father would be an indifferent consolation32 if in the midst of a wilderness33 of moor34 and mountain we found the red spot appearing on Sibbie’s shoulder. We looked, however, as properly impressed as we were able, and returned to the house in better spirits.
It was not till the afternoon that the weather gave us a chance of starting, and even then it required courage of a high order to turn out of our comfortable quarters into the thick, damp air. The volcanic35 mountain spikes36, that last night had notched37 the sullen38 fire of the evening sky, had with one accord taken the veil, and retired from public observation, and the sloping pastures and turnip39 fields looked as nearly repulsive40 as was possible for them. Under these circumstances we left Letterfrack without emotion, and proceeded northward41 towards Renvyle.
After we had gone a little way we began to speculate as to whether the road had been made with an{128} eye to the possibility of a future switchback railway. It seemed to us that at every hundred yards or so we had to get out and trudge42 up a hill through the mud, our consciences approving our consideration for Sibbie, and our every other feeling bewailing it; then came the scrambling into the trap again at the top, the tucking in of wet rugs, the difficult closing of the door, and having driven down the far side, the next hill rose immediately before us in the mist. The next thing we began to notice was that on every hill we met a donkey-cart and some young cattle, evidently coming from some fair or market. There were two courses of procedure on these occasions. The calves43 turned and fled before us at full gallop44 along the way they had come, until retrieved45 with huge expense of shouting and bad language, or they at once jumped the fence by the roadside and stampeded at large through the fields. The donkey-cart, which generally contained a pig, and an old woman screaming in Irish, had but one method, which was to cross to the wrong side of the road at the critical{129}
[Image unavailable.]
AT TULLY FAIR.
{131}{130}
moment, and then, abandoning itself to panic, endeavour to retrace46 its steps. During three or four miles these recontres became more and more frequent, till at length, when the mist lifted at the top of a hill, we found that we had reached their source. In the hollow between the two hills was a village, its single street black with people, and the roads leading to it full of cattle and pigs. In other words, we had hit off the fair of Tully.
My cousin and I began to wonder how we were to get to the other side of it. We drove down into the town with dignity and circumspection47, hoping that our aristocratic appearance might clear the way for us; but after a minute or two we were forced to the conclusion that the peasantry were not impressed. Not till Sibbie’s aggrieved48 visage was thrust into their midst did the groups separate, and even then they could scarcely spare time from the ardours of debate to give us more than a passing stare of bewilderment. An obstacle that seemed for a time likely to prevent our ever getting to Renvyle was a donkey-cart, with{132} its shafts49 propped50 on a barrel so as to make a stall for the sale of sugar-stick, gooseberries, and piles of the massive biscuits known as “crackers.” The press of customers and their friends round this brought us to a standstill, and my cousin, in a politely dignified51 voice, asked those nearest us to move aside. There was a movement and a turning to stare.
“Holy Biddy! What’s thim?” exclaimed a girl, pushing back against the donkey-cart, and in so doing sending some of the “crackers” sliding down into the mud.
The proprietress, an old woman with protruding52 teeth and generally terrific aspect, made a futile attempt to avert53 the catastrophe54, and then whirled round upon us with a ferocity whetted55 by this disaster and matured by long combat with small boys.
“That the divil may blisther yerself and thim!” she screamed. “What call have thim dirty thravellers here throwin’ down all before thim? Aha! I knew ye,” she said, addressing herself to my second cousin in tones of thunder, “and yer owld mother before ye,{133} the time ye were thravelling the counthry in a pack on her back, puckin’ at every hall-doore in the counthry beggin’ spuds! For so grand as ye are, with yer specs on yer nose and yer fine sailor hat on the back of yer head!”
My cousin and I should, of course, have passed on with a pale hauteur56, as if we had not heard this amazing effort of biographical romance, but we are, unfortunately, not of the complexion57 that turns pale with ease; on the contrary, we became a violent turkey-cock scarlet58, and ended by a collapse59 into unsuppressible laughter, in which the crowd joined with unfeigned delight, as they at length made a way for us to pass.
“Don’t mind her at all, Miss,” said a cattle drover, encouragingly, as he dragged a calf60 from before the wheel; “that one’d bother a rookery with her tongue; there isn’t a fair in the counthry but she’ll be bawling61 and fighting in it this way, so it’s little regard the people pays to her and her chat. Sure, as Shakspeare says, “ye’ll always know a rale lady wherever ye see her!{134}”
This gallantry was so refreshing62, that we did not stop to inquire more closely into the whereabouts of the quotation63, and we slowly made our way out of the fair, past the bulging64, grimy tents where porter and whisky were sold, and the screaming crowd of children in front of a showman’s booth, till the last knot of blue-cloaked women was circumnavigated, and the last incensed65 pig was dragged from between Sibbie’s forelegs.
We looked back as we crawled up the hill outside the village, and wondered what the pleasure could be of standing all day long in the drizzle66, in mud ankle-deep, as many do who have nothing either to buy or sell. But a fair is not to them merely a place of business, it is a conversazione, extending from sunrise to sunset, at which the keen spectacular enjoyment67 of bargaining is blended with the purely68 personal pleasure of getting drunk.
Another mile or two of switchbacking brought us in sight of trees, which, in Connemara, answers to coming in sight of land, as far as civilisation69 is con{135}cerned; before long we were driving underneath70 them, and pulling up at the entrance gate of a demesne71. We drove down a long avenue (when we say “avenue” in Ireland, we mean it according to the true sense of the word, and do not necessarily imply that it is over-arched with trees), with the sound of the sea in our ears, and became aware that we were on a strip of land like the battlefield of Lyonesse.
“On one side lay the ocean, and on one lay a great water.”
We wound by the edge of the lake, and might easily have mistaken the frothy ripple72 along its shore for the salt lip of the tide, but for the tall band of reeds that shook stiffly in the mist-laden wind. But we were nearing the sea every moment. We emerged from a plantation73, and came in sight of it at last, and at the same time came to our destination, a long, grey, two-storey house, with low Elizabethan windows, and pale weather-slated walls, wholly unexpected, and altogether unique, as far, at all events, as this part of Ireland is concerned.{136}
Anyone who knows Galway at all, knows the name of Blake; and anyone who read the reports of the Parnell Commission will remember the Mrs. Blake whose evidence there was thought by both sides to be of so remarkable74 a kind. Renvyle House, at whose oaken, iron-studded door Sibbie was now joyfully75 coming to a standstill, has been the home of the Blakes for several centuries; now, in its old age, it is the home of any tourist who chooses to go there. The bad times and the agitation76 hit Renvyle very hard; so hard that when the fight with the Land League was over, Mrs. Blake was not able to sit down and tranquilly77 enjoy her victory. She had, on the contrary, to rise up and give all her energies to repairing the ruin that such a victory meant. Her plan was a daring one for a boycotted78 woman to undertake; but it was carried out to its fullest intention. Before long, advertisements appeared in the newspapers and the guide books to the effect that Renvyle House had been added to the list of Connemara hotels, and the sound of traffic, “the coorsing and{137} recoorsing” of cars began to be heard on the long avenue by the lake, as in the old times, when “exclusive dealing” and decrees of isolation79 were unknown.
We cannot here say much about the difficulties she had to contend with. Whatever they were they were overcome. It is both easier and pleasanter to speak of the advantages at her command. The charming, rambling14 old house, with its innumerable panelled bedrooms, the lakes, “shtiff” with brown trout80, the woods and rocks in which hide all manner of strange beasts—from otters81 and seals downwards—the untainted Atlantic for the tourist to disport82 himself in or upon, as seems good to him, and the tallest mountains of Connemara to stare at across the bay, while sprawling83 at ease on such a level, creamy stretch of sand as is seldom found except in those places where it is the sole and much-bragged-of attraction. We had heard of all these things in advance; we were accustomed to thinking of Renvyle as an hotel; and yet, when we knocked at the door, and a grave and{138} decorous man-servant appeared, the look of everything conspired84 to make us forget that we were tourists, prepared to exercise our lawful85 right of “bed and board,” and we came very near stammering86 out an inquiry87 if Mrs. Blake was at home.
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1
fathom
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| v.领悟，彻底了解 | |
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2
ordains
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| v.任命（某人）为牧师( ordain的第三人称单数 )；授予（某人）圣职；（上帝、法律等）命令；判定 | |
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3
lavish
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| adj.无节制的；浪费的；vt.慷慨地给予，挥霍 | |
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4
gush
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| v.喷，涌；滔滔不绝(说话)；n.喷，涌流；迸发 | |
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5
puncture
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| n.刺孔，穿孔；v.刺穿，刺破 | |
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6
streaks
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| n.（与周围有所不同的）条纹( streak的名词复数 )；（通常指不好的）特征（倾向）；（不断经历成功或失败的）一段时期v.快速移动( streak的第三人称单数 )；使布满条纹 | |
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7
surmounting
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| 战胜( surmount的现在分词 )； 克服（困难）； 居于…之上； 在…顶上 | |
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8
serenely
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| adv.安详地，宁静地，平静地 | |
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9
specimen
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| n.样本，标本 | |
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10
futile
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| adj.无效的，无用的，无希望的 | |
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11
elegance
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| n.优雅；优美，雅致；精致，巧妙 | |
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12
zest
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| n.乐趣；滋味，风味；兴趣 | |
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13
scrambling
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| v.快速爬行( scramble的现在分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞 | |
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14
rambling
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| adj.[建]凌乱的，杂乱的 | |
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15
moodily
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| adv.喜怒无常地；情绪多变地；心情不稳地；易生气地 | |
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16
prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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17
goaded
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| v.刺激( goad的过去式和过去分词 )；激励；（用尖棒）驱赶；驱使（或怂恿、刺激）某人 | |
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18
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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19
waterproofs
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| n.防水衣物，雨衣 usually plural( waterproof的名词复数 )v.使防水，使不透水( waterproof的第三人称单数 ) | |
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20
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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21
invalid
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| n.病人，伤残人；adj.有病的，伤残的；无效的 | |
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22
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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23
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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24
retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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25
monstrous
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| adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的 | |
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amiable
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| adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的 | |
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27
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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28
pony
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| adj.小型的；n.小马 | |
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tug
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| v.用力拖(或拉)；苦干；n.拖；苦干；拖船 | |
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30
reassurance
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| n.使放心，使消除疑虑 | |
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31
opprobrious
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| adj.可耻的，辱骂的 | |
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32
consolation
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| n.安慰，慰问 | |
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33
wilderness
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| n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠 | |
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34
moor
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| n.荒野，沼泽；vt.(使)停泊；vi.停泊 | |
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35
volcanic
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| adj.火山的；象火山的；由火山引起的 | |
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36
spikes
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| n.穗( spike的名词复数 )；跑鞋；（防滑）鞋钉；尖状物v.加烈酒于( spike的第三人称单数 )；偷偷地给某人的饮料加入（更多）酒精（ 或药物）；把尖状物钉入；打乱某人的计划 | |
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notched
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| a.有凹口的，有缺口的 | |
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sullen
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| adj.愠怒的，闷闷不乐的，(天气等)阴沉的 | |
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39
turnip
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| n.萝卜，芜菁 | |
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40
repulsive
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| adj.排斥的，使人反感的 | |
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41
northward
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| adv.向北；n.北方的地区 | |
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42
trudge
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| v.步履艰难地走；n.跋涉，费力艰难的步行 | |
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43
calves
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| n.(calf的复数)笨拙的男子，腓；腿肚子( calf的名词复数 )；牛犊；腓；小腿肚v.生小牛( calve的第三人称单数 )；（冰川）崩解；生（小牛等），产（犊）；使（冰川）崩解 | |
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44
gallop
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| v./n.(马或骑马等)飞奔；飞速发展 | |
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45
retrieved
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| v.取回( retrieve的过去式和过去分词 )；恢复；寻回；检索（储存的信息） | |
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46
retrace
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| v.折回；追溯，探源 | |
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47
circumspection
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| n.细心，慎重 | |
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48
aggrieved
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| adj.愤愤不平的，受委屈的；悲痛的；（在合法权利方面）受侵害的v.令委屈，令苦恼，侵害( aggrieve的过去式)；令委屈，令苦恼，侵害( aggrieve的过去式和过去分词) | |
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49
shafts
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| n.轴( shaft的名词复数 )；（箭、高尔夫球棒等的）杆；通风井；一阵（疼痛、害怕等） | |
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50
propped
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| 支撑，支持，维持( prop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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51
dignified
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| a.可敬的，高贵的 | |
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52
protruding
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| v.（使某物）伸出，（使某物）突出( protrude的现在分词 )；凸 | |
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53
avert
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| v.防止，避免；转移(目光、注意力等) | |
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54
catastrophe
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| n.大灾难，大祸 | |
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55
whetted
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| v.（在石头上）磨（刀、斧等）( whet的过去式和过去分词 )；引起，刺激（食欲、欲望、兴趣等） | |
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56
hauteur
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| n.傲慢 | |
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57
complexion
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| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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58
scarlet
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| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
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59
collapse
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| vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷 | |
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60
calf
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| n.小牛，犊，幼仔，小牛皮 | |
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61
bawling
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| v.大叫，大喊( bawl的现在分词 )；放声大哭；大声叫出；叫卖（货物） | |
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62
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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63
quotation
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| n.引文，引语，语录；报价，牌价，行情 | |
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64
bulging
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| 膨胀； 凸出（部）； 打气； 折皱 | |
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65
incensed
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| 盛怒的 | |
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66
drizzle
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| v.下毛毛雨；n.毛毛雨，蒙蒙细雨 | |
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67
enjoyment
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| n.乐趣；享有；享用 | |
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68
purely
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| adv.纯粹地，完全地 | |
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69
civilisation
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| n.文明，文化，开化，教化 | |
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70
underneath
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| adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面 | |
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71
demesne
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| n.领域，私有土地 | |
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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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73
plantation
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| n.种植园，大农场 | |
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74
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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75
joyfully
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| adv. 喜悦地, 高兴地 | |
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76
agitation
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| n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动 | |
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77
tranquilly
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| adv. 宁静地 | |
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78
boycotted
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| 抵制，拒绝参加( boycott的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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isolation
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| n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离 | |
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80
trout
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| n.鳟鱼；鲑鱼(属) | |
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81
otters
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| n.（水）獭( otter的名词复数 )；獭皮 | |
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82
disport
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| v.嬉戏，玩 | |
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83
sprawling
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| adj.蔓生的，不规则地伸展的v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的现在分词 )；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着） | |
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84
conspired
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| 密谋( conspire的过去式和过去分词 )； 搞阴谋； （事件等）巧合； 共同导致 | |
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85
lawful
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| adj.法律许可的，守法的，合法的 | |
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86
stammering
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| v.结巴地说出( stammer的现在分词 ) | |
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87
inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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