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CHAPTER XXVI
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Samuel slept not a wink1 all that night. First he lay wrestling with the congregation. And then his thoughts came to Miss Gladys, and what he was going to say to her. This kindled2 a fire in his blood, and when the first streaks3 of dawn were in the sky, he rose and went out to walk.
Throughout all these adventures, his feelings had been mingled4 with the excitement of his love for her. Samuel hardly knew what to make of himself. He had never kissed a woman in his life before—but now desire was awake, and from the deeps of him the most unexpected emotions came surging, sweeping5 him away. He was a prey6 to longings7 and terrors. Wild ecstasies8 came to him, and then followed plunges9 into melancholy10. He longed to see her, and other things stood in the way, and he did not know why he should be so tormented11.
Just to be in love would have been enough. But to have been given the love of a being like Miss Gladys—peerless and unapproachable, almost unimaginable!
After hours of pacing the streets, he called to see her. And she came to him, her face alight with eager curiosity, and crying, “Tell me all about it!”
She listened, almost dumb with amazement12. “And you said that to my father!” she exclaimed again and again. “And to Mr. Hickman! And to old Mr. Curtis! Samuel! Samuel!”
“It was all true, Miss Gladys,” he insisted.
“Yes,” she said—“but—to say it to them!”
“They turned me out of the church,” he went on. “Had they a right to do that?”
“I don't know,” she answered. “Oh, my, what a time there will be!”
“And what are you going to do now?” she asked after a pause.
“I don't know. I wanted to talk about it with you.”
“But what do you think of doing?”
“I must expose them to the people.”
Miss Gladys looked at him quickly. “Oh, no, Samuel,” she said—“you mustn't do that!”
“Why not, Miss Gladys?”
“Because—it wouldn't do.”
“But Miss Gladys—”
“It wouldn't be decent, Samuel. And it's so much more effective to talk with people privately13, as you have been doing.”
“But who else is there to talk to?”
“Why, I don't know. We'll have to think.”
“It's your father and Mr. Hickman I have to deal with, Miss Gladys. And they won't listen to me any more!”
“Perhaps not. But, then, see how much you have done already!”
“What have I done?”
“Think how ashamed you have made them!”
“But what difference does that make, Miss Gladys? Don't you see they've still got the money they've taken?”
There was a pause. “This is something I have been thinking,” said Samuel gravely. “I've had this great burden laid upon me, and I must carry it. I have to see the thing through to the end. And I'm afraid it will be painful to you. You may feel that you can't possibly marry me.”
At these words Miss Gladys gave a wild start. She stared at him in consternation14. “Marry you!” she gasped16.
“Yes,” he said; and then, seeing the look upon her face, he stopped.
“Marry you!” she panted again.
A silence followed, while they gazed at each other.
“Why, Samuel!” she exclaimed.
“Miss Gladys,” he said in a low voice, “you told me that you loved me.”
“Yes,” she said, “but surely—” And then suddenly she bit her lips together exclaiming, “This has gone too far!”
“Miss Gladys!” he cried.
“Samuel,” she said, “we have been two bad children; and we must not go on in this way.”
The boy gave a gasp15 of amazement.
“I had no idea that you were taking me so seriously,” she continued. “It wasn't fair to me.”
“Then—then you don't love me!” he panted.
“Why—perhaps,” she replied, “how can I tell? But one does not marry because one loves, Samuel.”
He gazed at her, speechless.
“I thought we were playing with each other; and I thought you understood it. It wasn't very wise, perhaps—-”
“Playing with each other!” whispered the boy, his voice almost gone.
“You take everything with such frightful17 seriousness,” she protested. “Really, I don't think you had any right—-”
“Miss Gladys!” he cried in sudden anguish18; and she stopped and stared at him, frightened.
“Do you know what you have done to me?” he exclaimed.
“Samuel,” she said in a trembling voice, “I am very much surprised and upset. I had no idea of such a thing; and you must stop, before it is too late.”
“But I love you!” he cried, half beside himself.
“Yes,” she said in great agitation—“and that's very good of you. But there are some things you must remember—”
“You—you let me embrace you, Miss Gladys! You let me think of you so! Why, what is a man to do? What was I to make of it? I had never loved a woman before. And you—you led me on—”
“Samuel, you must not talk like this!” she broke in. “I can't listen to you. It was a misunderstanding, and you must forget it all. You must go away. We must not meet again.”
“Miss Gladys!” he cried in horror.
“Yes,” she exclaimed, “you must go—”
“You are going to turn me off!” he panted. “Oh, how can you say such a thing? Why, think what you have done to me!”
“Samuel,” protested the girl angrily, “this is perfectly19 preposterous20 behavior of you! You have no right to go on in this way. You never had any right to—to think such things. How could you so forget your place?”
And he started as if stung with a whip. “My place!” he gasped.
“Yes,” she said.
“I see, I see!” he burst out. “It's my 'place' again. It's the fact that I have no money!”
“Why, Samuel!” she exclaimed. “What a thing to say! It's not that—”
“It's that, and it's nothing but that! It never is anything but that! It's because I am a poor boy, and couldn't help myself! You told me that you loved me, and I believed you. You were so beautiful, and I thought that you must be good! Why, I worshiped the very ground you walked on. I would have done anything in the world for you—I would have died for you! I went about thinking about you all day—I made you into a dream of everything that was good and perfect! And now—now—you say that you were only playing with me! Using me for your selfish pleasure—just as you do all the other poor people!”
“Samuel!” she gasped.
“Just as your father does the children in his mill! Just as your cousin does the poor girls he seduces21! Just as you do everything in life that you touch!”
The girl had turned scarlet22 with anger. “How dare you speak to me that way?” she cried.
“I dare to speak the truth to anyone! And that is the truth about you! You are like all the rest of them—the members of your class. You are parasites—vampires—you devour23 other people's lives! And you are the worst, because you are a woman! You are beautiful, and you ought to be all the things that I imagined you were! But you use your beauty for a snare—you wreck24 men's lives with it—”
“Stop, Samuel!”
“I won't stop! You shall hear me! You drew me on deliberately—you wanted to amuse yourself with me, to see what I would do. And you had never a thought about me, or my rights, or the harm you might be doing to me! And now you've got tired—and you tell me to end it! You tell me about my 'place!' What am I in the world for, but to afford you amusement? What are all the working people for but to save you trouble and keep you beautiful and happy? What are the children for but to spin clothes for you to wear? And you—what do you do for them, to pay for their wasted lives, for all their toil25 and suffering?”
“Samuel Prescott!” cried the outraged26 girl. “I will not hear another word of this!”
“Yes, that's just what your father said! And what your cousin said! And what your clergyman said! And you can send for the butler and have me put out—but let me tell you that will not be the end of it. We shall find some way to get at you! The people will not always be your slaves—they will not always give their lives to keep you in idleness and luxury! You were born to it—you've had everything in the world that you wanted, from the first hour of your life. And you think that will go on forever, that nothing can ever change it! But let me tell you that it seems different to the people underneath27! We are tired of being robbed and spit upon! And we mean to fight! We mean to fight! We don't intend to be starved and tormented forever!”
And then in the midst of his wild tirade28, Samuel stopped, and stared with horror in his eyes—realizing that this was Miss Gladys to whom he was talking! And suddenly a storm of sobs29 rose in him; and he put his hands to his face, and burst into tears, and turned and rushed from the room.
He went down the street, like a hunted animal, beside himself with grief, and looking for some place to hide. And as he ran on, he pulled out the faded pictures he had carried next to his heart, and tore them into pieces and flung them to the winds.

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 wink 4MGz3     
n.眨眼,使眼色,瞬间;v.眨眼,使眼色,闪烁
参考例句:
  • He tipped me the wink not to buy at that price.他眨眼暗示我按那个价格就不要买。
  • The satellite disappeared in a wink.瞬息之间,那颗卫星就消失了。
2 kindled d35b7382b991feaaaa3e8ddbbcca9c46     
(使某物)燃烧,着火( kindle的过去式和过去分词 ); 激起(感情等); 发亮,放光
参考例句:
  • We watched as the fire slowly kindled. 我们看着火慢慢地燃烧起来。
  • The teacher's praise kindled a spark of hope inside her. 老师的赞扬激起了她内心的希望。
3 streaks a961fa635c402b4952940a0218464c02     
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
参考例句:
  • streaks of grey in her hair 她头上的绺绺白发
  • Bacon has streaks of fat and streaks of lean. 咸肉中有几层肥的和几层瘦的。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
4 mingled fdf34efd22095ed7e00f43ccc823abdf     
混合,混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 ); 混进,与…交往[联系]
参考例句:
  • The sounds of laughter and singing mingled in the evening air. 笑声和歌声交织在夜空中。
  • The man and the woman mingled as everyone started to relax. 当大家开始放松的时候,这一男一女就开始交往了。
5 sweeping ihCzZ4     
adj.范围广大的,一扫无遗的
参考例句:
  • The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
  • Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗?
6 prey g1czH     
n.被掠食者,牺牲者,掠食;v.捕食,掠夺,折磨
参考例句:
  • Stronger animals prey on weaker ones.弱肉强食。
  • The lion was hunting for its prey.狮子在寻找猎物。
7 longings 093806503fd3e66647eab74915c055e7     
渴望,盼望( longing的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Ah, those foolish days of noble longings and of noble strivings! 啊,那些充满高贵憧憬和高尚奋斗的傻乎乎的时光!
  • I paint you and fashion you ever with my love longings. 我永远用爱恋的渴想来描画你。
8 ecstasies 79e8aad1272f899ef497b3a037130d17     
狂喜( ecstasy的名词复数 ); 出神; 入迷; 迷幻药
参考例句:
  • In such ecstasies that he even controlled his tongue and was silent. 但他闭着嘴,一言不发。
  • We were in ecstasies at the thought of going home. 一想到回家,我们高兴极了。
9 plunges 2f33cd11dab40d0fb535f0437bcb9bb1     
n.跳进,投入vt.使投入,使插入,使陷入vi.投入,跳进,陷入v.颠簸( plunge的第三人称单数 );暴跌;骤降;突降
参考例句:
  • Even before he plunges into his program, he has his audience in his pocket. 他的节目甚至还没有出场,就已控制住了观众。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • 'Monseigneur, he precipitated himself over the hill-side, head first, as a person plunges into the river.' “大人,他头冲下跳下山坡去了,像往河里跳一样。” 来自英汉文学 - 双城记
10 melancholy t7rz8     
n.忧郁,愁思;adj.令人感伤(沮丧)的,忧郁的
参考例句:
  • All at once he fell into a state of profound melancholy.他立即陷入无尽的忧思之中。
  • He felt melancholy after he failed the exam.这次考试没通过,他感到很郁闷。
11 tormented b017cc8a8957c07bc6b20230800888d0     
饱受折磨的
参考例句:
  • The knowledge of his guilt tormented him. 知道了自己的罪责使他非常痛苦。
  • He had lain awake all night, tormented by jealousy. 他彻夜未眠,深受嫉妒的折磨。
12 amazement 7zlzBK     
n.惊奇,惊讶
参考例句:
  • All those around him looked at him with amazement.周围的人都对他投射出惊异的眼光。
  • He looked at me in blank amazement.他带着迷茫惊诧的神情望着我。
13 privately IkpzwT     
adv.以私人的身份,悄悄地,私下地
参考例句:
  • Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
  • The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。
14 consternation 8OfzB     
n.大为吃惊,惊骇
参考例句:
  • He was filled with consternation to hear that his friend was so ill.他听说朋友病得那么厉害,感到非常震惊。
  • Sam stared at him in consternation.萨姆惊恐不安地注视着他。
15 gasp UfxzL     
n.喘息,气喘;v.喘息;气吁吁他说
参考例句:
  • She gave a gasp of surprise.她吃惊得大口喘气。
  • The enemy are at their last gasp.敌人在做垂死的挣扎。
16 gasped e6af294d8a7477229d6749fa9e8f5b80     
v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 );喘息;倒抽气;很想要
参考例句:
  • She gasped at the wonderful view. 如此美景使她惊讶得屏住了呼吸。
  • People gasped with admiration at the superb skill of the gymnasts. 体操运动员的高超技艺令人赞叹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
17 frightful Ghmxw     
adj.可怕的;讨厌的
参考例句:
  • How frightful to have a husband who snores!有一个发鼾声的丈夫多讨厌啊!
  • We're having frightful weather these days.这几天天气坏极了。
18 anguish awZz0     
n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦,烦恼
参考例句:
  • She cried out for anguish at parting.分手时,她由于痛苦而失声大哭。
  • The unspeakable anguish wrung his heart.难言的痛苦折磨着他的心。
19 perfectly 8Mzxb     
adv.完美地,无可非议地,彻底地
参考例句:
  • The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
  • Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。
20 preposterous e1Tz2     
adj.荒谬的,可笑的
参考例句:
  • The whole idea was preposterous.整个想法都荒唐透顶。
  • It would be preposterous to shovel coal with a teaspoon.用茶匙铲煤是荒谬的。
21 seduces 1841804c061e6f1890f1c7703f2d1bb3     
诱奸( seduce的第三人称单数 ); 勾引; 诱使堕落; 使入迷
参考例句:
  • The city seduces visitors with its natural beauty. 这个城市以其自然美吸引着游客。
  • Dilettante: a philanderer who seduces the several arts and letters each in turn for another. 业余艺术爱好者——是轮流引诱文学与艺术的不专一者。
22 scarlet zD8zv     
n.深红色,绯红色,红衣;adj.绯红色的
参考例句:
  • The scarlet leaves of the maples contrast well with the dark green of the pines.深红的枫叶和暗绿的松树形成了明显的对比。
  • The glowing clouds are growing slowly pale,scarlet,bright red,and then light red.天空的霞光渐渐地淡下去了,深红的颜色变成了绯红,绯红又变为浅红。
23 devour hlezt     
v.吞没;贪婪地注视或谛听,贪读;使着迷
参考例句:
  • Larger fish devour the smaller ones.大鱼吃小鱼。
  • Beauty is but a flower which wrinkle will devour.美只不过是一朵,终会被皱纹所吞噬。
24 wreck QMjzE     
n.失事,遇难;沉船;vt.(船等)失事,遇难
参考例句:
  • Weather may have been a factor in the wreck.天气可能是造成这次失事的原因之一。
  • No one can wreck the friendship between us.没有人能够破坏我们之间的友谊。
25 toil WJezp     
vi.辛劳工作,艰难地行动;n.苦工,难事
参考例句:
  • The wealth comes from the toil of the masses.财富来自大众的辛勤劳动。
  • Every single grain is the result of toil.每一粒粮食都来之不易。
26 outraged VmHz8n     
a.震惊的,义愤填膺的
参考例句:
  • Members of Parliament were outraged by the news of the assassination. 议会议员们被这暗杀的消息激怒了。
  • He was outraged by their behavior. 他们的行为使他感到愤慨。
27 underneath VKRz2     
adj.在...下面,在...底下;adv.在下面
参考例句:
  • Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
  • She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣,里面套着一条连衣裙。
28 tirade TJKzt     
n.冗长的攻击性演说
参考例句:
  • Her tirade provoked a counterblast from her husband.她的长篇大论激起了她丈夫的强烈反对。
  • He delivered a long tirade against the government.他发表了反政府的长篇演说。
29 sobs d4349f86cad43cb1a5579b1ef269d0cb     
啜泣(声),呜咽(声)( sob的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • She was struggling to suppress her sobs. 她拼命不让自己哭出来。
  • She burst into a convulsive sobs. 她突然抽泣起来。


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