"Well, I hope a father may be silly sometimes," said the curate, with a glance at his wife, which she did not acknowledge. "At least I fear I should be silly enough, if I were a father."
No more remarks were made, and as it was now quite time to begin the story, Mr. Armstrong took his place, and the rest took their places. He began at once.
"THE BROKEN SWORDS.
"The eyes of three, two sisters and a brother, gazed for the last time on a great pale-golden star, that followed the sun down the steep west. It went down to arise again; and the brother about to depart might return, but more than the usual doubt hung upon his future. For between the white dresses of the sisters, shone his scarlet1 coat and golden sword-knot, which he had put on for the first time, more to gratify their pride than his own vanity. The brightening moon, as if prophetic of a future memory, had already begun to dim the scarlet and the gold, and to give them a pale, ghostly hue2. In her thoughtful light the whole group seemed more like a meeting in the land of shadows, than a parting in the substantial earth.—But which should be called the land of realities?—the region where appearance, and space, and time drive between, and stop the flowing currents of the soul's speech? or that region where heart meets heart, and appearance has become the slave to utterance3, and space and time are forgotten?
"Through the quiet air came the far-off rush of water, and the near cry of the land-rail. Now and then a chilly4 wind blew unheeded through the startled and jostling leaves that shaded the ivy-seat. Else, there was calm everywhere, rendered yet deeper and more intense by the dusky sorrow that filled their hearts. For, far away, hundreds of miles beyond the hearing of their ears, roared the great war-guns; next week their brother must sail with his regiment6 to join the army; and to-morrow he must leave his home.
"The sisters looked on him tenderly, with vague fears about his fate. Yet little they divined it. That the face they loved might lie pale and bloody7, in a heap of slain8, was the worst image of it that arose before them; but this, had they seen the future, they would, in ignorance of the further future, have infinitely9 preferred to that which awaited him. And even while they looked on him, a dim feeling of the unsuitableness of his lot filled their minds. For, indeed, to all judgments10 it must have seemed unsuitable that the home-boy, the loved of his mother, the pet of his sisters, who was happy womanlike (as Coleridge says), if he possessed12 the signs of love, having never yet sought for its proofs—that he should be sent amongst soldiers, to command and be commanded; to kill, or perhaps to be himself crushed out of the fair earth in the uproar13 that brings back for the moment the reign14 of Night and Chaos15. No wonder that to his sisters it seemed strange and sad. Yet such was their own position in the battle of life, in which their father had died with doubtful conquest, that when their old military uncle sent the boy an ensign's commission, they did not dream of refusing the only path open, as they thought, to an honourable16 profession, even though it might lead to the trench-grave. They heard it as the voice of destiny, wept, and yielded.
"If they had possessed a deeper insight into his character, they would have discovered yet further reason to doubt the fitness of the profession chosen for him; and if they had ever seen him at school, it is possible the doubt of fitness might have strengthened into a certainty of incongruity17. His comparative inactivity amongst his schoolfellows, though occasioned by no dulness of intellect, might have suggested the necessity of a quiet life, if inclination18 and liking19 had been the arbiters20 in the choice. Nor was this inactivity the result of defective21 animal spirits either, for sometimes his mirth and boyish frolic were unbounded; but it seemed to proceed from an over-activity of the inward life, absorbing, and in some measure checking, the outward manifestation22. He had so much to do in his own hidden kingdom, that he had not time to take his place in the polity and strife23 of the commonwealth24 around him. Hence, while other boys were acting25, he was thinking. In this point of difference, he felt keenly the superiority of many of his companions; for another boy would have the obstacle overcome, or the adversary26 subdued27, while he was meditating28 on the propriety29, or on the means, of effecting the desired end. He envied their promptitude, while they never saw reason to envy his wisdom; for his conscience, tender and not strong, frequently transformed slowness of determination into irresolution30: while a delicacy31 of the sympathetic nerves tended to distract him from any predetermined course, by the diversity of their vibrations33, responsive to influences from all quarters, and destructive to unity34 of purpose.
"Of such a one, the a priori judgment11 would be, that he ought to be left to meditate35 and grow for some time, before being called upon to produce the fruits of action. But add to these mental conditions a vivid imagination, and a high sense of honour, nourished in childhood by the reading of the old knightly36 romances, and then put the youth in a position in which action is imperative37, and you have elements of strife sufficient to reduce that fair kingdom of his to utter anarchy38 and madness. Yet so little, do we know ourselves, and so different are the symbols with which the imagination works its algebra39, from the realities which those symbols represent, that as yet the youth felt no uneasiness, but contemplated40 his new calling with a glad enthusiasm and some vanity; for all his prospect41 lay in the glow of the scarlet and the gold. Nor did this excitement receive any check till the day before his departure, on which day I have introduced him to my readers, when, accidently taking up a newspaper of a week old, his eye fell on these words—"Already crying women are to be met in the streets." With this cloud afar on his horizon, which, though no bigger than a man's hand, yet cast a perceptible shadow over his mind, he departed next morning. The coach carried him beyond the consecrated42 circle of home laws and impulses, out into the great tumult43, above which rises ever and anon the cry of Cain, "Am I my brother's keeper?"
"Every tragedy of higher order, constructed in Christian44 times, will correspond more or less to the grand drama of the Bible; wherein the first act opens with a brilliant sunset vision of Paradise, in which childish sense and need are served with all the profusion45 of the indulgent nurse. But the glory fades off into grey and black, and night settles down upon the heart which, rightly uncontent with the childish, and not having yet learned the childlike, seeks knowledge and manhood as a thing denied by the Maker46, and yet to be gained by the creature; so sets forth47 alone to climb the heavens, and instead of climbing, falls into the abyss. Then follows the long dismal48 night of feverish49 efforts and delirious50 visions, or, it may be, helpless despair; till at length a deeper stratum51 of the soul is heaved to the surface; and amid the first dawn of morning, the youth says within him, "I have sinned against my Maker—I will arise and go to my Father." More or less, I say, will Christian tragedy correspond to this—a fall and a rising again; not a rising only, but a victory; not a victory merely, but a triumph. Such, in its way and degree, is my story. I have shown, in one passing scene, the home paradise; now I have to show a scene of a far differing nature.
"The young ensign was lying in his tent, weary, but wakeful. All day long the cannon52 had been bellowing53 against the walls of the city, which now lay with wide, gaping54 breach55, ready for the morrow's storm, but covered yet with the friendly darkness. His regiment was ordered to be ready with the earliest dawn to march up to the breach. That day, for the first time, there had been blood on his sword—there the sword lay, a spot on the chased hilt still. He had cut down one of the enemy in a skirmish with a sally party of the besieged56 and the look of the man as he fell, haunted him. He felt, for the time, that he dared not pray to the Father, for the blood of a brother had rushed forth at the stroke of his arm, and there was one fewer of living souls on the earth because he lived thereon. And to-morrow he must lead a troop of men up to that poor disabled town, and turn them loose upon it, not knowing what might follow in the triumph of enraged58 and victorious59 foes61, who for weeks had been subjected, by the constancy of the place, to the greatest privations. It was true the general had issued his commands against all disorder62 and pillage63; but if the soldiers once yielded to temptation, what might not be done before the officers could reclaim64 them! All the wretched tales he had read of the sack of cities rushed back on his memory. He shuddered66 as he lay. Then his conscience began to speak, and to ask what right he had to be there.—Was the war a just one?—He could not tell; for this was a bad time for settling nice questions. But there he was, right or wrong, fighting and shedding blood on God's earth, beneath God's heaven.
"Over and over he turned the question in his mind; again and again the spouting67 blood of his foe60, and the death-look in his eye, rose before him; and the youth who at school could never fight with a companion because he was not sure that he was in the right, was alone in the midst of undoubting men of war, amongst whom he was driven helplessly along, upon the waves of a terrible necessity. What wonder that in the midst of these perplexities his courage should fail him! What wonder that the consciousness of fainting should increase the faintness! or that the dread68 of fear and its consequences should hasten and invigorate its attacks! To crown all, when he dropped into a troubled slumber69 at length, he found himself hurried, as on a storm of fire, through the streets of the captured town, from all the windows of which looked forth familiar faces, old and young, but distorted from the memory of his boyhood by fear and wild despair. On one spot lay the body of his father, with his face to the earth; and he woke at the cry of horror and rage that burst from his own lips, as he saw the rough, bloody hand of a soldier twisted in the loose hair of his elder sister, and the younger fainting in the arms of a scoundrel belonging to his own regiment.
"He slept no more. As the grey morning broke, the troops appointed for the attack assembled without sound of trumpet71 or drum, and were silently formed in fitting order. The young ensign was in his place, weary and wretched after his miserable72 night. Before him he saw a great, broad-shouldered lieutenant73, whose brawny74 hand seemed almost too large for his sword-hilt, and in any one of whose limbs played more animal life than in the whole body of the pale youth. The firm-set lips of this officer, and the fire of his eye, showed a concentrated resolution, which, by the contrast, increased the misery75 of the ensign, and seemed, as if the stronger absorbed the weaker, to draw out from him the last fibres of self-possession: the sight of unattainable determination, while it increased the feeling of the arduousness77 of that which required such determination, threw him into the great gulf78 which lay between him and it. In this disorder of his nervous and mental condition, with a doubting conscience and a shrinking heart, is it any wonder that the terrors which lay before him at the gap in those bristling79 walls, should draw near, and, making sudden inroad upon his soul, overwhelm the government of a will worn out by the tortures of an unassured spirit? What share fear contributed to unman him, it was impossible for him, in the dark, confused conflict of differing emotions, to determine; but doubtless a natural shrinking from danger, there being no excitement to deaden its influence, and no hope of victory to encourage to the struggle, seeing victory was dreadful to him as defeat, had its part in the sad result. Many men who have courage, are dependent on ignorance and a low state of the moral feeling for that courage; and a further progress towards the development of the higher nature would, for a time at least, entirely80 overthrow81 it. Nor could such loss of courage be rightly designated by the name of cowardice82.
"But, alas83! the colonel happened to fix his eyes upon him as he passed along the file; and this completed his confusion. He betrayed such evident symptoms of perturbation, that that officer ordered him under arrest; and the result was, that, chiefly for the sake of example to the army, he was, upon trial by court-martial, expelled from the service, and had his sword broken over his head. Alas for the delicate minded youth! Alas for the home-darling!
"Long after, he found at the bottom of his chest the pieces of the broken sword, and remembered that, at the time, he had lifted them from the ground and carried them away. But he could not recall under what impulse he had done so. Perhaps the agony he suffered, passing the bounds of mortal endurance, had opened for him a vista84 into the eternal, and had shown him, if not the injustice85 of the sentence passed upon him, yet his freedom from blame, or, endowing him with dim prophetic vision, had given him the assurance that some day the stain would be wiped from his soul, and leave him standing86 clear before the tribunal of his own honour. Some feeling like this, I say, may have caused him, with a passing gleam of indignant protest, to lift the fragments from the earth, and carry them away; even as the friends of a so-called traitor87 may bear away his mutilated body from the wheel. But if such was the case, the vision was soon overwhelmed and forgotten in the succeeding anguish88. He could not see that, in mercy to his doubting spirit, the question which had agitated89 his mind almost to madness, and which no results of the impending90 conflict could have settled for him, was thus quietly set aside for the time; nor that, painful as was the dark, dreadful existence that he was now to pass in self-torment and moaning, it would go by, and leave his spirit clearer far, than if, in his apprehension91, it had been stained with further blood-guiltiness, instead of the loss of honour. Years after, when he accidentally learned that on that very morning the whole of his company, with parts of several more, had, or ever they began to mount the breach, been blown to pieces by the explosion of a mine, he cried aloud in bitterness, "Would God that my fear had not been discovered before I reached that spot!" But surely it is better to pass into the next region of life having reaped some assurance, some firmness of character, determination of effort, and consciousness of the worth of life, in the present world; so approaching the future steadily92 and faithfully, and if in much darkness and ignorance, yet not in the oscillations of moral uncertainty93.
"Close upon the catastrophe94 followed a torpor95, which lasted he did not know how long, and which wrapped in a thick fog all the succeeding events. For some time he can hardly be said to have had any conscious history. He awoke to life and torture when half-way across the sea towards his native country, where was no home any longer for him. To this point, and no farther, could his thoughts return in after years. But the misery which he then endured is hardly to be understood, save by those of like delicate temperament96 with himself. All day long he sat silent in his cabin; nor could any effort of the captain, or others on board, induce him to go on deck till night came on, when, under the starlight, he ventured into the open air. The sky soothed97 him then, he knew not how. For the face of nature is the face of God, and must bear expressions that can influence, though unconsciously to them, the most ignorant and hopeless of His children. Often did he watch the clouds in hope of a storm, his spirit rising and falling as the sky darkened or cleared; he longed, in the necessary selfishness of such suffering, for a tumult of waters to swallow the vessel98; and only the recollection of how many lives were involved in its safety besides his own, prevented him from praying to God for lightning and tempest, borne on which he might dash into the haven99 of the other world. One night, following a sultry calm day, he thought that Mercy had heard his unuttered prayer. The air and sea were intense darkness, till a light as intense for one moment annihilated100 it, and the succeeding darkness seemed shattered with the sharp reports of the thunder that cracked without reverberation101. He who had shrunk from battle with his fellowmen, rushed to the mainmast, threw himself on his knees, and stretched forth his arms in speechless energy of supplication102; but the storm passed away overhead, and left him kneeling still by the uninjured mast. At length the vessel reached her port. He hurried on shore to bury himself in the most secret place he could find. Out of sight was his first, his only thought. Return to his mother he would not, he could not; and, indeed, his friends never learned his fate, until it had carried him far beyond their reach.
"For several weeks he lurked103 about like a malefactor104, in low lodging-houses in narrow streets of the seaport105 to which the vessel had borne him, heeding106 no one, and but little shocked at the strange society and conversation with which, though only in bodily presence, he had to mingle107. These formed the subjects of reflection in after times; and he came to the conclusion that, though much evil and much misery exist, sufficient to move prayers and tears in those who love their kind, yet there is less of both than those looking down from a more elevated social position upon the weltering heap of humanity, are ready to imagine; especially if they regard it likewise from the pedestal of self-congratulation on which a meagre type of religion has elevated them. But at length his little stock of money was nearly expended108, and there was nothing that he could do, or learn to do, in this seaport. He felt impelled109 to seek manual labour, partly because he thought it more likely he could obtain that sort of employment, without a request for reference as to his character, which would lead to inquiry110 about his previous history; and partly, perhaps, from an instinctive111 feeling that hard bodily labour would tend to lessen112 his inward suffering.
"He left the town, therefore, at nightfall of a July day, carrying a little bundle of linen113, and the remains114 of his money, somewhat augmented115 by the sale of various articles of clothing and convenience, which his change of life rendered superfluous116 and unsuitable. He directed his course northwards, travelling principally by night—so painfully did he shrink from the gaze even of foot-farers like himself; and sleeping during the day in some hidden nook of wood or thicket117, or under the shadow of a great tree in a solitary118 field. So fine was the season, that for three successive weeks he was able to travel thus without inconvenience, lying down when the sun grew hot in the forenoon, and generally waking when the first faint stars were hesitating in the great darkening heavens that covered and shielded him. For above every cloud, above every storm, rise up, calm, clear, divine, the deep infinite skies; they embrace the tempest even as the sunshine; by their permission it exists within their boundless119 peace: therefore it cannot hurt, and must pass away, while there they stand as ever, domed120 up eternally, lasting121, strong, and pure.
"Several times he attempted to get agricultural employment; but the whiteness of his hands and the tone of his voice not merely suggested unfitness for labour, but generated suspicion as to the character of one who had evidently dropped from a rank so much higher, and was seeking admittance within the natural masonic boundaries and secrets and privileges of another. Disheartened somewhat, but hopeful, he journeyed on. I say hopeful; for the blessed power of life in the universe in fresh air and sunshine absorbed by active exercise, in winds, yea in rain, though it fell but seldom, had begun to work its natural healing, soothing122 effect, upon his perturbed123 spirit. And there was room for hope in his new endeavour. As his bodily strength increased, and his health, considerably124 impaired125 by inward suffering, improved, the trouble of his soul became more endurable—and in some measure to endure is to conquer and destroy. In proportion as the mind grows in the strength of patience, the disturber of its peace sickens and fades away. At length, one day, a widow lady in a village through which his road led him, gave him a day's work in her garden. He laboured hard and well, notwithstanding his soon-blistered hands, received his wages thankfully, and found a resting-place for the night on the low part of a hay-stack from which the upper portion had been cut away. Here he ate his supper of bread and cheese, pleased to have found such comfortable quarters, and soon fell fast asleep.
"When he awoke, the whole heavens and earth seemed to give a full denial to sin and sorrow. The sun was just mounting over the horizon, looking up the clear cloud-mottled sky. From millions of water-drops hanging on the bending stalks of grass, sparkled his rays in varied126 refraction, transformed here to a gorgeous burning ruby127, there to an emerald, green as the grass, and yonder to a flashing, sunny topaz. The chanting priest-lark had gone up from the low earth, as soon as the heavenly light had begun to enwrap and illumine the folds of its tabernacle; and had entered the high heavens with his offering, whence, unseen, he now dropped on the earth the sprinkled sounds of his overflowing128 blessedness. The poor youth rose but to kneel, and cry, from a bursting heart, "Hast Thou not, O Father, some care for me? Canst Thou not restore my lost honour? Can anything befall Thy children for which Thou hast no help? Surely, if the face of Thy world lie not, joy and not grief is at the heart of the universe. Is there none for me?"
"The highest poetic129 feeling of which we are now conscious, springs not from the beholding131 of perfected beauty, but from the mute sympathy which the creation with all its children manifests with us in the groaning132 and travailing which look for the sonship. Because of our need and aspiration133, the snowdrop gives birth in our hearts to a loftier spiritual and poetic feeling, than the rose most complete in form, colour, and odour. The rose is of Paradise—the snowdrop is of the striving, hoping, longing70 Earth. Perhaps our highest poetry is the expression of our aspirations134 in the sympathetic forms of visible nature. Nor is this merely a longing for a restored Paradise; for even in the ordinary history of men, no man or woman that has fallen, can be restored to the position formerly135 held. Such must rise to a yet higher place, whence they can behold130 their former standing far beneath their feet. They must be restored by the attainment136 of something better than they ever possessed before, or not at all. If the law be a weariness, we must escape it by taking refuge with the spirit, for not otherwise can we fulfil the law than by being above the law. To escape the overhanging rocks of Sinai, we must climb to its secret top.
Is thy foolish fancy chill?
Change the feet that have grown weary
For the wings that never will.'
"Thus, like one of the wandering knights138 searching the wide earth for the Sangreal, did he wander on, searching for his lost honour, or rather (for that he counted gone for ever) seeking unconsciously for the peace of mind which had departed from him, and taken with it, not the joy merely, but almost the possibility, of existence.
"At last, when his little store was all but exhausted139, he was employed by a market gardener, in the neighbourhood of a large country town, to work in his garden, and sometimes take his vegetables to market. With him he continued for a few weeks, and wished for no change; until, one day driving his cart through the town, he saw approaching him an elderly gentleman, whom he knew at once, by his gait and carriage, to be a military man. Now he had never seen his uncle the retired140 officer, but it struck him that this might be he; and under the tyranny of his passion for concealment141, he fancied that, if it were he, he might recognise him by some family likeness—not considering the improbability of his looking at him. This fancy, with the painful effect which the sight of an officer, even in plain clothes, had upon him, recalling the torture of that frightful142 day, so overcame him, that he found himself at the other end of an alley143 before he recollected144 that he had the horse and cart in charge. This increased his difficulty; for now he dared not return, lest his inquiries145 after the vehicle, if the horse had strayed from the direct line, should attract attention, and cause interrogations which he would be unable to answer. The fatal want of self-possession seemed again to ruin him. He forsook146 the town by the nearest way, struck across the country to another line of road, and before he was missed, was miles away, still in a northerly direction.
"But although he thus shunned147 the face of man, especially of any one who reminded him of the past, the loss of his reputation in their eyes was not the cause of his inward grief. That would have been comparatively powerless to disturb him, had he not lost his own respect. He quailed148 before his own thoughts; he was dishonoured149 in his own eyes. His perplexity had not yet sufficiently150 cleared away to allow him to see the extenuating151 circumstances of the case; not to say the fact that the peculiar152 mental condition in which he was at the time, removed the case quite out of the class of ordinary instances of cowardice. He condemned153 himself more severely154 than any of his judges would have dared; remembering that portion of his mental sensations which had savoured of fear, and forgetting the causes which had produced it. He judged himself a man stained with the foulest155 blot156 that could cleave157 to a soldier's name, a blot which nothing but death, not even death, could efface158. But, inwardly condemned and outwardly degraded, his dread of recognition was intense; and feeling that he was in more danger of being discovered where the population was sparser159, he resolved to hide himself once more in the midst of poverty; and, with this view, found his way to one of the largest of the manufacturing towns.
"He reached it during the strike of a great part of the workmen; so that, though he found some difficulty in procuring160 employment, as might be expected from his ignorance of machine-labour, he yet was sooner successful than he would otherwise have been. Possessed of a natural aptitude161 for mechanical operations, he soon became a tolerable workman; and he found that his previous education assisted to the fitting execution of those operations even which were most purely162 mechanical.
"He found also, at first, that the unrelaxing attention requisite163 for the mastering of the many niceties of his work, of necessity drew his mind somewhat from its brooding over his misfortune, hitherto almost ceaseless. Every now and then, however, a pang164 would shoot suddenly to his heart, and turn his face pale, even before his consciousness had time to inquire what was the matter. So by degrees, as attention became less necessary, and the nervo-mechanical action of his system increased with use, his thoughts again returned to their old misery. He would wake at night in his poor room, with the feeling that a ghostly nightmare sat on his soul; that a want—a loss—miserable, fearful—was present; that something of his heart was gone from him; and through the darkness he would hear the snap of the breaking sword, and lie for a moment overwhelmed beneath the assurance of the incredible fact. Could it be true that he was a coward? that his honour was gone, and in its place a stain? that he was a thing for men—and worse, for women—to point the finger at, laughing bitter laughter? Never lover or husband could have mourned with the same desolation over the departure of the loved; the girl alone, weeping scorching165 tears over her degradation166, could resemble him in his agony, as he lay on his bed, and wept and moaned.
"His sufferings had returned with the greater weight, that he was no longer upheld by the "divine air" and the open heavens, whose sunlight now only reached him late in an afternoon, as he stood at his loom167, through windows so coated with dust that they looked like frosted glass; showing, as it passed through the air to fall on the dirty floor, how the breath of life was thick with dust of iron and wood, and films of cotton; amidst which his senses were now too much dulled by custom to detect the exhalations from greasy168 wheels and overtasked human-kind. Nor could he find comfort in the society of his fellow-labourers. True, it was a kind of comfort to have those near him who could not know of his grief; but there was so little in common between them, that any interchange of thought was impossible. At least, so it seemed to him. Yet sometimes his longing for human companionship would drive him out of his dreary room at night, and send him wandering through the lower part of the town, where he would gaze wistfully on the miserable faces that passed him, as if looking for some one—some angel, even there—to speak goodwill169 to his hungry heart.
"Once he entered one of those gin-palaces, which, like the golden gates of hell, entice170 the miserable to worse misery, and seated himself close to a half-tipsy, good-natured wretch65, who made room for him on a bench by the wall. He was comforted even by this proximity171 to one who would not repel172 him. But soon the paintings of warlike action—of knights, and horses, and mighty173 deeds done with battle-axe, and broad-sword, which adorned174 the—panels all round, drove him forth even from this heaven of the damned; yet not before the impious thought had arisen in his heart, that the brilliantly painted and sculptural roof, with the gilded175 vine-leaves and bunches of grapes trained up the windows, all lighted with the great shining chandeliers, was only a microcosmic repetition of the bright heavens and the glowing earth, that overhung and surrounded the misery of man. But the memory of how kindly176 they had comforted and elevated him, at one period of his painful history, not only banished177 the wicked thought, but brought him more quiet, in the resurrection of a past blessing178, than he had known for some time. The period, however, was now at hand when a new grief, followed by a new and more elevated activity, was to do its part towards the closing up of the fountain of bitterness.
"Amongst his fellow-labourers, he had for a short time taken some interest in observing a young woman, who had lately joined them. There was nothing remarkable179 about her, except what at first sight seemed a remarkable plainness. A slight scar over one of her rather prominent eyebrows180, increased this impression of plainness. But the first day had not passed, before he began to see that there was something not altogether common in those deep eyes; and the plain look vanished before a closer observation, which also discovered, in the forehead and the lines of the mouth, traces of sorrow or other suffering. There was an expression, too, in the whole face, of fixedness182 of purpose, without any hardness of determination. Her countenance183 altogether seemed the index to an interesting mental history. Signs of mental trouble were always an attraction to him; in this case so great, that he overcame his shyness, and spoke184 to her one evening as they left the works. He often walked home with her after that; as, indeed, was natural, seeing that she occupied an attic185 in the same poor lodging-house in which he lived himself. The street did not bear the best character; nor, indeed, would the occupations of all the inmates186 of the house have stood investigation187; but so retiring and quiet was this girl, and so seldom did she go abroad after work hours, that he had not discovered till then that she lived in the same street, not to say the same house with himself.
"He soon learned her history—a very common one as outward events, but not surely insignificant188 because common. Her father and mother were both dead, and hence she had to find her livelihood189 alone, and amidst associations which were always disagreeable, and sometimes painful. Her quick womanly instinct must have discovered that he too had a history; for though, his mental prostration190 favouring the operation of outward influences, he had greatly approximated in appearance to those amongst whom he laboured, there were yet signs, besides the educated accent of his speech, which would have distinguished191 him to an observer; but she put no questions to him, nor made any approach towards seeking a return of the confidence she reposed193 in him. It was a sensible alleviation194 to his sufferings to hear her kind voice, and look in her gentle face, as they walked home together; and at length the expectation of this pleasure began to present itself, in the midst of the busy, dreary work-hours, as the shadow of a heaven to close up the dismal, uninteresting day.
"But one morning he missed her from her place, and a keener pain passed through him than he had felt of late; for he knew that the Plague was abroad, feeding in the low stagnant195 places of human abode196; and he had but too much reason to dread that she might be now struggling in its grasp. He seized the first opportunity of slipping out and hurrying home. He sprang upstairs to her room. He found the door locked, but heard a faint moaning within. To avoid disturbing her, while determined32 to gain an entrance, he went down for the key of his own door, with which he succeeded in unlocking hers, and so crossed her threshold for the first time. There she lay on her bed, tossing in pain, and beginning to be delirious. Careless of his own life, and feeling that he could not die better than in helping197 the only friend he had; certain, likewise, of the difficulty of finding a nurse for one in this disease and of her station in life; and sure, likewise, that there could be no question of propriety, either in the circumstances with which they were surrounded, nor in this case of terrible fever almost as hopeless for her as dangerous to him, he instantly began the duties of a nurse, and returned no more to his employment. He had a little money in his possession, for he could not, in the way in which he lived, spend all his wages; so he proceeded to make her as comfortable as he could, with all the pent-up tenderness of a loving heart finding an outlet198 at length. When a boy at home, he had often taken the place of nurse, and he felt quite capable of performing its duties. Nor was his boyhood far behind yet, although the trials he had come through made it appear an age since he had lost his light heart. So he never left her bedside, except to procure199 what was necessary for her. She was too ill to oppose any of his measures, or to seek to prohibit his presence. Indeed, by the time he had returned with the first medicine, she was insensible; and she continued so through the whole of the following week, during which time he was constantly with her.
"That action produces feeling is as often true as its converse200; and it is not surprising that, while he smoothed the pillow for her head, he should have made a nest in his heart for the helpless girl. Slowly and unconsciously he learned to love her. The chasm201 between his early associations and the circumstances in which he found her, vanished as he drew near to the simple, essential womanhood. His heart saw hers and loved it; and he knew that, the centre once gained, he could, as from the fountain of life, as from the innermost secret of the holy place, the hidden germ of power and possibility, transform the outer intellect and outermost202 manners as he pleased. With what a thrill of joy, a feeling for a long time unknown to him, and till now never known in this form or with this intensity203, the thought arose in his heart that here lay one who some day would love him; that he should have a place of refuge and rest; one to lie in his bosom204 and not despise him! "For," said he to himself, "I will call forth her soul from where it sleeps, like an unawakened echo, in an unknown cave; and like a child, of whom I once dreamed, that was mine, and to my delight turned in fear from all besides, and clung to me, this soul of hers will run with bewildered, half-sleeping eyes, and tottering206 steps, but with a cry of joy on its lips, to me as the life-giver. She will cling to me and worship me. Then will I tell her, for she must know all, that I am low and contemptible207; that I am an outcast from the world, and that if she receive me, she will be to me as God. And I will fall down at her feet and pray her for comfort, for life, for restoration to myself; and she will throw herself beside me, and weep and love me, I know. And we will go through life together, working hard, but for each other; and when we die, she shall lead me into paradise as the prize her angel-hand found cast on a desert shore, from the storm of winds and waves which I was too weak to resist—and raised, and tended, and saved." Often did such thoughts as these pass through his mind while watching by her bed; alternated, checked, and sometimes destroyed, by the fears which attended her precarious208 condition, but returning with every apparent betterment or hopeful symptom.
"I will not stop to decide the nice question, how far the intention was right, of causing her to love him before she knew his story. If in the whole matter there was too much thought of self, my only apology is the sequel. One day, the ninth from the commencement of her illness, a letter arrived, addressed to her; which he, thinking he might prevent some inconvenience thereby209, opened and read, in the confidence of that love which already made her and all belonging to her appear his own. It was from a soldier—her lover. It was plain that they had been betrothed210 before he left for the continent a year ago; but this was the first letter which he had written to her. It breathed changeless love, and hope, and confidence in her. He was so fascinated that he read it through without pause.
"Laying it down, he sat pale, motionless, almost inanimate. From the hard-won sunny heights, he was once more cast down into the shadow of death. The second storm of his life began, howling and raging, with yet more awful lulls211 between. "Is she not mine?" he said, in agony. "Do I not feel that she is mine? Who will watch over her as I? Who will kiss her soul to life as I? Shall she be torn away from me, when my soul seems to have dwelt with hers for ever in an eternal house? But have I not a right to her? Have I not given my life for hers? Is he not a soldier, and are there not many chances that he may never return? And it may be that, although they were engaged in word, soul has never touched soul with them; their love has never reached that point where it passes from the mortal to the immortal212, the indissoluble: and so, in a sense, she may be yet free. Will he do for her what I will do? Shall this precious heart of hers, in which I see the buds of so many beauties, be left to wither213 and die?"
"But here the voice within him cried out, "Art thou the disposer of destinies? Wilt214 thou, in a universe where the visible God hath died for the Truth's sake, do evil that a good, which He might neglect or overlook, may be gained? Leave thou her to Him, and do thou right." And he said within himself, "Now is the real trial for my life! Shall I conquer or no?" And his heart awoke and cried, "I will. God forgive me for wronging the poor soldier! A brave man, brave at least, is better for her than I."
"A great strength arose within him, and lifted him up to depart. "Surely I may kiss her once," he said. For the crisis was over, and she slept. He stooped towards her face, but before he had reached her lips he saw her eyelids215 tremble; and he who had longed for the opening of those eyes, as of the gates of heaven, that she might love him, stricken now with fear lest she should love him, fled from her, before the eyelids that hid such strife and such victory from the unconscious maiden216 had time to unclose. But it was agony—quietly to pack up his bundle of linen in the room below, when he knew she was lying awake above, with her dear, pale face, and living eyes! What remained of his money, except a few shillings, he put up in a scrap217 of paper, and went out with his bundle in his hand, first to seek a nurse for his friend, and then to go he knew not whither. He met the factory people with whom he had worked, going to dinner, and amongst them a girl who had herself but lately recovered from the fever, and was yet hardly able for work. She was the only friend the sick girl had seemed to have amongst the women at the factory, and she was easily persuaded to go and take charge of her. He put the money in her hand, begging her to use it for the invalid218, and promising219 to send the equivalent of her wages for the time he thought she would have to wait on her. This he easily did by the sale of a ring, which, besides his mother's watch, was the only article of value he had retained. He begged her likewise not to mention his name in the matter; and was foolish enough to expect that she would entirely keep the promise she had made him.
"Wandering along the street, purposeless now and bereft220, he spied a recruiting party at the door of a public-house; and on coming nearer, found, by one of those strange coincidences which do occur in life, and which have possibly their root in a hidden and wondrous221 law, that it was a party, perhaps a remnant, of the very regiment in which he had himself served, and in which his misfortune had befallen him. Almost simultaneously222 with the shock which the sight of the well-known number on the soldiers' knapsacks gave him, arose in his mind the romantic, ideal thought, of enlisting223 in the ranks of this same regiment, and recovering, as a private soldier and unknown, that honour which as officer he had lost. To this determination, the new necessity in which he now stood for action and change of life, doubtless contributed, though unconsciously. He offered himself to the sergeant224; and, notwithstanding that his dress indicated a mode of life unsuitable as the antecedent to a soldier's, his appearance, and the necessity for recruits combined, led to his easy acceptance.
"The English armies were employed in expelling the enemy from an invaded and helpless country. Whatever might be the political motives225 which had induced the Government to this measure, the young man was now able to feel that he could go and fight, individually and for his part, in the cause of liberty. He was free to possess his own motives for joining in the execution of the schemes of those who commanded his commanders.
"With a heavy heart, but with more of inward hope and strength than he had ever known before, he marched with his comrades to the seaport and embarked226. It seemed to him that because he had done right in his last trial, here was a new glorious chance held out to his hand. True, it was a terrible change to pass from a woman in whom he had hoped to find healing, into the society of rough men, to march with them, "mit gleichem Tritt und Schritt," up to the bristling bayonets or the horrid227 vacancy228 of the cannon mouth. But it was the only cure for the evil that consumed his life.
"He reached the army in safety, and gave himself, with religious assiduity, to the smallest duties of his new position. No one had a brighter polish on his arms, or whiter belts than he. In the necessary movements, he soon became precise to a degree that attracted the attention of his officers; while his character was remarkable for all the virtues229 belonging to a perfect soldier.
"One day, as he stood sentry230, he saw the eyes of his colonel intently fixed181 on him. He felt his lip quiver, but he compressed and stilled it, and tried to look as unconscious as he could; which effort was assisted by the formal bearing required by his position. Now the colonel, such had been the losses of the regiment, had been promoted from a lieutenancy231 in the same, and had belonged to it at the time of the ensign's degradation. Indeed, had not the changes in the regiment been so great, he could hardly have escaped so long without discovery. But the poor fellow would have felt that his name was already free of reproach, if he had seen what followed on the close inspection232 which had awakened205 his apprehensions233, and which, in fact, had convinced the colonel of his identity with the disgraced ensign. With a hasty and less soldierly step than usual the colonel entered his tent, threw himself on his bed and wept like a child. When he rose he was overheard to say these words—and these only escaped his lips: 'He is nobler than I.'
"But this officer showed himself worthy234 of commanding such men as this private; for right nobly did he understand and meet his feelings. He uttered no word of the discovery he had made, till years afterwards; but it soon began to be remarked that whenever anything arduous76, or in any manner distinguished, had to be done, this man was sure to be of the party appointed. In short, as often as he could, the colonel "set him in the forefront of the battle." Passing through all with wonderful escape, he was soon as much noticed for his reckless bravery, as hitherto for his precision in the discharge of duties bringing only commendation and not honour. But his final lustration was at hand.
"A great part of the army was hastening, by forced marches, to raise the siege of a town which was already on the point of falling into the hands of the enemy. Forming one of a reconnoitring party, which preceded the main body at some considerable distance, he and his companions came suddenly upon one of the enemy's outposts, occupying a high, and on one side precipitous rock, a short way from the town, which it commanded. Retreat was impossible, for they were already discovered, and the bullets were falling amongst them like the first of a hail-storm. The only possibility of escape remaining for them was a nearly hopeless improbability. It lay in forcing the post on this steep rock; which if they could do before assistance came to the enemy, they might, perhaps, be able to hold out, by means of its defences, till the arrival of the army. Their position was at once understood by all; and, by a sudden, simultaneous impulse, they found themselves half-way up the steep ascent235, and in the struggle of a close conflict, without being aware of any order to that effect from their officer. But their courage was of no avail; the advantages of the place were too great; and in a few minutes the whole party was cut to pieces, or stretched helpless on the rock. Our youth had fallen amongst the foremost; for a musket236 ball had grazed his skull237, and laid him insensible.
"But consciousness slowly returned, and he succeeded at last in raising himself and looking around him. The place was deserted238. A few of his friends, alive, but grievously wounded, lay near him. The rest were dead. It appeared that, learning the proximity of the English forces from this rencontre with part of their advanced guard, and dreading239 lest the town, which was on the point of surrendering, should after all be snatched from their grasp, the commander of the enemy's forces had ordered an immediate240 and general assault; and had for this purpose recalled from their outposts the whole of his troops thus stationed, that he might make the attempt with the utmost strength he could accumulate.
"As the youth's power of vision returned, he perceived, from the height where he he lay, that the town was already in the hands of the enemy. But looking down into the level space immediately below him, he started to his feet at once; for a girl, bare-headed, was fleeing towards the rock, pursued by several soldiers. "Aha!" said he, divining her purpose—the soldiers behind and the rock before her—"I will help you to die!" And he stooped and wrenched241 from the dead fingers of a sergeant the sword which they clenched242 by the bloody hilt. A new throb243 of life pulsed through him to his very finger-tips; and on the brink244 of the unseen world he stood, with the blood rushing through his veins245 in a wild dance of excitement. One who lay near him wounded, but recovered afterwards, said that he looked like one inspired. With a keen eye he watched the chase. The girl drew nigh; and rushed up the path near which he was standing. Close on her footsteps came the soldiers, the distance gradually lessening246 between them.
"Not many paces higher up, was a narrower part of the ascent, where the path was confined by great stones, or pieces of rock. Here had been the chief defence in the preceding assault, and in it lay many bodies of his friends. Thither247 he went and took his stand.
"On the girl came, over the dead, with rigid248 hands and flying feet, the bloodless skin drawn249 tight on her features, and her eyes awfully250 large and wild. She did not see him though she bounded past so near that her hair flew in his eyes. "Never mind!" said he, "we shall meet soon." And he stepped into the narrow path just in time to face her pursuers—between her and them. Like the red lightning the bloody sword fell, and a man beneath it. Cling! clang! went the echoes in the rocks—and another man was down; for, in his excitement, he was a destroying angel to the breathless pursuers. His stature251 rose, his chest dilated252; and as the third foe fell dead, the girl was safe; for her body lay a broken, empty, but undesecrated temple, at the foot of the rock. That moment his sword flew in shivers from his grasp. The next instant he fell, pierced to the heart; and his spirit rose triumphant253, free, strong, and calm, above the stormy world, which at length lay vanquished254 beneath him."
"A capital story!" cried our host, the moment the curate had ceased reading. "But you should not have killed him. You should have made a general of him. By heaven! he deserved it."
Mr. Armstrong was evidently much pleased that the colonel so heartily255 sympathized with his tale. And every one else added some words of commendation. I could not help thinking with myself that he had only embodied256 the story of his own life in other more striking forms. But I knew that, if I said so, he would laugh at me, and answer that all he had done was quite easy to do—he had found no difficulty in it; whereas this man was a hero and did the thing that he found very difficult indeed. Still I was sure that the story was at least the outgrowth of his own mind.
"May we ask," I said, "how much of the tale is fact?"
"I am sorry it is not all fact," he answered.
"Tell us how much, then," I said.
"Well, I will tell you what made me write it. I heard an old lady at a dinner-table mention that she had once known a young officer who had his sword broken over his head, and was dismissed from the army, for cowardice. I began trying first to understand his feelings; then to see how the thing could have happened; and then to discover what could be done for him. And hence the story. That was all, I am sorry to say."
"I thought as much," I rejoined.
"Will you excuse me if I venture to make a remark?" said Mrs. Bloomfield.
"With all my heart," answered the curate.
"It seemed to me that there was nothing Christian in the story. And I cannot help feeling that a clergyman might, therefore, have done better."
"I allow that in words there is nothing Christian," answered Mr. Armstrong; "and I am quite ready to allow also that it might have been better if something of the kind you mean had been expressed in it. The whole thing, however, is only a sketch257. But I cannot allow that, in spirit and scope, it is anything other than Christian, or indeed anything but Christian. It seems to me that the whole might be used as a Christian parable258."
While the curate spoke, I had seen Adela's face flush; but the cause was not visible to me. As he uttered the last words, a hand was laid on his shoulder, and Harry259's voice said:
He had come in so gently that the only sign of his entrance had been the rose-light on Adela's cheeks.—Was he the sun? And was she a cloud of the east?
"Glad to see you safe amongst us again," said the colonel, backed by almost every one of the company.
"What's your quarrel with my parables, Harry?" said the curate.
"Quarrel? None at all. They are the delight of my heart. I only wish you would give our friends one of your best—The Castle, for instance."
"Not yet a while, Harry. It is not my turn for some time, I hope. Perhaps Miss Cathcart will be tired of the whole affair, before it comes round to me again."
"Then I shall deserve to be starved of stories all the rest of my life," answered Adela, laughing.
"If you will allow me, then," said Harry, "I will give you a parable, called The Lost Church, from the German poet, Uhland."
"Softly, Harry," said his brother; "you are ready enough with what is not yours to give; but where is your own story that you promised, and which indeed we should have a right to demand, whether you had promised it or not?"
"I am working at it, Ralph, in my spare moments, which are not very many; and I want to choose the right sort of night to tell it in, too. This one wouldn't do at all. There's no moon."
"If it is a horrid story, it is a pity you did not read it last time, before you set out to cross the moor261."
"Oh, that night would not have done at all. A night like that drives all fear out of one's head. But indeed it is not finished yet.—May I repeat the parable now, Miss Cathcart?"
"What do you mean by a parable, Mr. Henry?" interrupted Mrs. Cathcart. "It sounds rather profane262 to me."
"I mean a picture in words, where more is meant than meets the ear."
"But why call it a parable?"
"Because it is one."
"Why not speak in plain words then?"
"Because a good parable is plainer than the plainest words. You remember what Tennyson says—that
'truth embodied in a tale
Shall enter in at lowly doors'?"
"Goethe," said the curate, "has a little parable about poems, which is equally true about parables—
'Poems are painted window-panes.
If one looks from the square into the church,
Dusk and dimness are his gains—
Cross the holy threshold quite—
All at once,'tis rainbow-bright;
Device and story flash to light;
A gracious splendour truth reveals.
This, to God's children, is full measure;
"I can't follow that," said Adela.
"Thank you very much. Now for your parable."
"It is called The Lost Church; and I assure you it is full of meaning."
"I hope I shall be able to find it out."
"You will find the more the longer you think about it.
'Oft in the far wood, overhead,
Tones of a bell are heard obscurely;
Or yet explained the story surely.
From the lost church, the legend saith,
Out on the winds, the ringing goeth;
Once full of pilgrims was the path—
Now where to find it, no one knoweth.
Deep in the wood I lately went,
Where no foot-trodden path is lying;
My heart went forth to God in sighing.
I heard the ringing somewhat clearer;
The higher that my longing rose,
Downward it rang the fuller, nearer.
So on its thoughts my heart did brood,
My sense was with the sound so busy,
That I have never understood
How I clomb up the height so dizzy.
To me it seemed a hundred years
Had passed away in dreaming, sighing—
When lo! high o'er the clouds, appears
An open space in sunlight lying.
The heaven, dark-blue, above it bowed;
The sun shone o'er it, large and glowing;
Beneath, a ministers structure proud
Stood in the gold light, golden showing.
It seemed on those great clouds, sun-clear,
Its spire-point seemed to disappear,
The bell's clear tones, entrancing, full—
The quivering tower, they, booming, swung it;
No human hand the rope did pull—
The storm, the stream, came down, came near,
And seized my heart with longing holy;
Into the church I went, with fear,
With trembling step, and gladness lowly.
The threshold crossed—I cannot show
What in me moved; words cannot paint it.
Both dark and clear, the windows glow
I gazed and saw—transfigured glory!
I saw the world and all its story
Down at the altar I sank slowly;
My heart was like the face of Stephen.
Aloft, upon the arches holy,
Shone out in gold the glow of heaven.
I prayed; I looked again; and lo!
The heavenly gates wide open go;
And every veil unveils a wonder.
Kneeling in prayer, silent and wondrous,
My mortal words can never tell;
But who for such is sighing sorest,
That dimly soundeth in the forest.'"
"Splendid!" cried the schoolmaster, with enthusiasm.
"What is the lost church?" asked Mrs. Cathcart.
"No one can tell, but him who finds it, like the poet," answered the curate.
"But I suppose you at least consider it the Church of England," returned the lady with one of her sweetest attempts at a smile.
"God forbid!" exclaimed the clergyman, with a kind of sacred horror.
"Not the Church of England!" cried Mrs. Cathcart, in a tone of horror likewise, dashed with amazement282.
"No, madam—the Church of God; the great cathedral-church of the universe; of which Church I trust the Church of England is a little Jesus-chapel."
"God bless you, Mr. Armstrong!" cried the schoolmaster.
The colonel likewise showed some sign of emotion. Mrs. Cathcart looked set-down and indignant. Percy stared. Adela and Harry looked at each other.
"Whoever finds God in his own heart," said the clergyman, solemnly, "has found the lost Church—the Church of God."
And he looked at Adela as he spoke. She cast down her eyes, and thanked him with her heart.
A silence followed.
"Harry, you must come up with your story next time—positively," said Mr. Armstrong at length.
"I don't think I can. I cannot undertake to do so, at all events."
"Then what is to be done?—I have it. Lizzie, my dear, you have got that story you wrote once for a Christmas paper, have you not?"
"Yes, I have, Ralph; but that is far too slight a thing to be worth reading here."
"It will do at least to give Harry a chance for his. I mustn't praise it 'afore fowk,' you know."
"But it was never quite finished—at least so people said."
"Well, you can finish it to-morrow well enough."
"I haven't time."
"You needn't be working at that—all day long and every day. There is no such hurry."
The blank indicates a certain cessation of intelligible283 sound occasioned by the close application of Lizzie's palm to Ralph's lips. She did not, dare, however, to make any further opposition284 to his request.
"I think we have some claim on you, Mrs. Armstrong," said the host. "It will be my sister's turn next time, and after that Percy's."
Percy gave a great laugh; and his mother said, with a slight toss of her head:
"I am not so fond of being criticised myself!"
"Has criticism been your occupation, Mrs. Cathcart," I said, "during our readings? If so, then indeed we have a claim on you greater than I had supposed."
She could not hide some degree of confusion and annoyance285. But I had had my revenge, and I had no wish for her story; so I said nothing more.
We parted with the understanding that Mrs. Armstrong would read her story on the following Monday.
Again, before he took his leave, Mr. Harry had a little therapeutic286 tete-a-tete with Miss Adela, which lasted about two minutes, Mrs. Cathcart watching them every second of the time, with her eyes as round and wide as she could make them, for they were by nature very long, and by art very narrow, for she rarely opened them to any width at all. They were not pleasant eyes, those eyes of Mrs. Cathcart's. Percy's were like them, only better, for though they had a reddish tinge287, he did open them wider.
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scarlet
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| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
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hue
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| n.色度；色调；样子 | |
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utterance
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| n.用言语表达，话语，言语 | |
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chilly
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| adj.凉快的，寒冷的 | |
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heed
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| v.注意，留意；n.注意，留心 | |
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6
regiment
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| n.团，多数，管理；v.组织，编成团，统制 | |
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7
bloody
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| adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染 | |
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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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9
infinitely
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| adv.无限地，无穷地 | |
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judgments
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| 判断( judgment的名词复数 )； 鉴定； 评价； 审判 | |
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judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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uproar
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| n.骚动，喧嚣，鼎沸 | |
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reign
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| n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势 | |
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chaos
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| n.混乱，无秩序 | |
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honourable
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| adj.可敬的；荣誉的，光荣的 | |
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incongruity
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| n.不协调，不一致 | |
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inclination
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| n.倾斜；点头；弯腰；斜坡；倾度；倾向；爱好 | |
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liking
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| n.爱好；嗜好；喜欢 | |
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arbiters
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| 仲裁人，裁决者( arbiter的名词复数 ) | |
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defective
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| adj.有毛病的，有问题的，有瑕疵的 | |
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manifestation
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| n.表现形式；表明；现象 | |
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strife
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| n.争吵，冲突，倾轧，竞争 | |
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24
commonwealth
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| n.共和国，联邦，共同体 | |
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25
acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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26
adversary
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| adj.敌手，对手 | |
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27
subdued
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| adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
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28
meditating
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| a.沉思的，冥想的 | |
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29
propriety
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| n.正当行为；正当；适当 | |
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30
irresolution
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| n.不决断，优柔寡断，犹豫不定 | |
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31
delicacy
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| n.精致，细微，微妙，精良；美味，佳肴 | |
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32
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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33
vibrations
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| n.摆动( vibration的名词复数 )；震动；感受；（偏离平衡位置的）一次性往复振动 | |
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34
unity
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| n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调 | |
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35
meditate
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| v.想，考虑，（尤指宗教上的）沉思，冥想 | |
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36
knightly
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| adj. 骑士般的 adv. 骑士般地 | |
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37
imperative
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| n.命令，需要；规则；祈使语气；adj.强制的；紧急的 | |
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38
anarchy
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| n.无政府状态；社会秩序混乱，无秩序 | |
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39
algebra
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| n.代数学 | |
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40
contemplated
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| adj. 预期的 动词contemplate的过去分词形式 | |
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41
prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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42
consecrated
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|
| adj.神圣的，被视为神圣的v.把…奉为神圣，给…祝圣( consecrate的过去式和过去分词 )；奉献 | |
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43
tumult
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| n.喧哗；激动，混乱；吵闹 | |
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44
Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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45
profusion
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| n.挥霍；丰富 | |
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46
maker
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| n.制造者，制造商 | |
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47
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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48
dismal
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| adj.阴沉的，凄凉的，令人忧郁的，差劲的 | |
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49
feverish
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| adj.发烧的，狂热的，兴奋的 | |
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50
delirious
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|
| adj.不省人事的，神智昏迷的 | |
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51
stratum
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| n.地层，社会阶层 | |
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52
cannon
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|
| n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮 | |
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53
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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54
gaping
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|
| adj.口的；张口的；敞口的；多洞穴的v.目瞪口呆地凝视( gape的现在分词 )；张开，张大 | |
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55
breach
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|
| n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破 | |
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56
besieged
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| 包围，围困，围攻( besiege的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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57
enrage
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| v.触怒，激怒 | |
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58
enraged
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| 使暴怒( enrage的过去式和过去分词 )； 歜； 激愤 | |
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59
victorious
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| adj.胜利的，得胜的 | |
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60
foe
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| n.敌人，仇敌 | |
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61
foes
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| 敌人，仇敌( foe的名词复数 ) | |
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62
disorder
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| n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调 | |
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63
pillage
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| v.抢劫；掠夺；n.抢劫，掠夺；掠夺物 | |
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64
reclaim
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| v.要求归还，收回；开垦 | |
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65
wretch
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| n.可怜的人，不幸的人；卑鄙的人 | |
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66
shuddered
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| v.战栗( shudder的过去式和过去分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
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67
spouting
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| n.水落管系统v.（指液体）喷出( spout的现在分词 )；滔滔不绝地讲；喋喋不休地说；喷水 | |
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68
dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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69
slumber
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| n.睡眠，沉睡状态 | |
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70
longing
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| n.（for）渴望 | |
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71
trumpet
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| n.喇叭，喇叭声；v.吹喇叭，吹嘘 | |
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72
miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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73
lieutenant
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| n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员 | |
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74
brawny
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| adj.强壮的 | |
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75
misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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76
arduous
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|
| adj.艰苦的，费力的，陡峭的 | |
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77
arduousness
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| 艰难，艰苦，奋斗 | |
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78
gulf
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| n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂 | |
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79
bristling
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| a.竖立的 | |
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80
entirely
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|
| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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81
overthrow
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|
| v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆 | |
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82
cowardice
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|
| n.胆小，怯懦 | |
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83
alas
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| int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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84
vista
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| n.远景，深景，展望，回想 | |
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85
injustice
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|
| n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利 | |
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86
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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87
traitor
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| n.叛徒，卖国贼 | |
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88
anguish
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|
| n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼 | |
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89
agitated
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|
| adj.被鼓动的，不安的 | |
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90
impending
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| a.imminent, about to come or happen | |
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91
apprehension
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|
| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
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92
steadily
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|
| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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93
uncertainty
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|
| n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物 | |
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94
catastrophe
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| n.大灾难，大祸 | |
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95
torpor
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| n.迟钝；麻木；（动物的）冬眠 | |
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96
temperament
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| n.气质，性格，性情 | |
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97
soothed
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|
| v.安慰( soothe的过去式和过去分词 )；抚慰；使舒服；减轻痛苦 | |
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98
vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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99
haven
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| n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所 | |
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100
annihilated
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|
| v.（彻底）消灭( annihilate的过去式和过去分词 )；使无效；废止；彻底击溃 | |
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101
reverberation
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| 反响； 回响； 反射； 反射物 | |
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102
supplication
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| n.恳求，祈愿，哀求 | |
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103
lurked
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| vi.潜伏，埋伏（lurk的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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104
malefactor
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| n.罪犯 | |
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105
seaport
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| n.海港，港口，港市 | |
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106
heeding
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| v.听某人的劝告，听从( heed的现在分词 ) | |
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107
mingle
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|
| vt.使混合，使相混；vi.混合起来；相交往 | |
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108
expended
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|
| v.花费( expend的过去式和过去分词 )；使用（钱等）做某事；用光；耗尽 | |
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109
impelled
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| v.推动、推进或敦促某人做某事( impel的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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110
inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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111
instinctive
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| adj.(出于)本能的；直觉的；(出于)天性的 | |
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112
lessen
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| vt.减少，减轻；缩小 | |
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113
linen
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|
| n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的 | |
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114
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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115
Augmented
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| adj.增音的 动词augment的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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116
superfluous
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| adj.过多的，过剩的，多余的 | |
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117
thicket
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| n.灌木丛，树林 | |
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118
solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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119
boundless
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| adj.无限的；无边无际的；巨大的 | |
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120
domed
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| adj. 圆屋顶的, 半球形的, 拱曲的 动词dome的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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121
lasting
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| adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持 | |
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122
soothing
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| adj.慰藉的；使人宽心的；镇静的 | |
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123
perturbed
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| adj.烦燥不安的v.使（某人）烦恼，不安( perturb的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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124
considerably
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| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
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125
impaired
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|
| adj.受损的；出毛病的；有（身体或智力）缺陷的v.损害，削弱( impair的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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126
varied
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|
| adj.多样的，多变化的 | |
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127
ruby
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| n.红宝石，红宝石色 | |
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128
overflowing
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|
| n. 溢出物,溢流 adj. 充沛的，充满的 动词overflow的现在分词形式 | |
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129
poetic
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| adj.富有诗意的，有诗人气质的，善于抒情的 | |
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130
behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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131
beholding
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| v.看，注视( behold的现在分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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132
groaning
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| adj. 呜咽的, 呻吟的 动词groan的现在分词形式 | |
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133
aspiration
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| n.志向，志趣抱负；渴望；(语)送气音；吸出 | |
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134
aspirations
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|
| 强烈的愿望( aspiration的名词复数 )； 志向； 发送气音； 发 h 音 | |
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135
formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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136
attainment
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| n.达到，到达；［常pl.］成就，造诣 | |
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137
dreary
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| adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的 | |
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138
knights
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| 骑士； （中古时代的）武士( knight的名词复数 )； 骑士； 爵士； （国际象棋中）马 | |
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139
exhausted
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|
| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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140
retired
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|
| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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141
concealment
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| n.隐藏, 掩盖，隐瞒 | |
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142
frightful
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|
| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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143
alley
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| n.小巷，胡同；小径，小路 | |
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144
recollected
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|
| adj.冷静的；镇定的；被回忆起的；沉思默想的v.记起，想起( recollect的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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145
inquiries
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| n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听 | |
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146
forsook
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| forsake的过去式 | |
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147
shunned
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| v.避开，回避，避免( shun的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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148
quailed
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| 害怕，发抖，畏缩( quail的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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149
dishonoured
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| a.不光彩的，不名誉的 | |
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150
sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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151
extenuating
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| adj.使减轻的，情有可原的v.（用偏袒的辩解或借口）减轻( extenuate的现在分词 )；低估，藐视 | |
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152
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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153
condemned
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| adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
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154
severely
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| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
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155
foulest
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| adj.恶劣的( foul的最高级 )；邪恶的；难闻的；下流的 | |
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156
blot
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| vt.弄脏（用吸墨纸）吸干；n.污点，污渍 | |
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157
cleave
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| v．(clave；cleaved)粘着，粘住；坚持；依恋 | |
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158
efface
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| v.擦掉，抹去 | |
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159
sparser
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| adj.稀疏的，稀少的( sparse的比较级 ) | |
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160
procuring
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| v.（努力）取得， （设法）获得( procure的现在分词 )；拉皮条 | |
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161
aptitude
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| n.(学习方面的)才能，资质，天资 | |
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162
purely
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| adv.纯粹地，完全地 | |
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163
requisite
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| adj.需要的，必不可少的；n.必需品 | |
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164
pang
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| n.剧痛，悲痛，苦闷 | |
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165
scorching
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| adj. 灼热的 | |
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166
degradation
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| n.降级；低落；退化；陵削；降解；衰变 | |
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167
loom
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| n.织布机，织机；v.隐现，(危险、忧虑等)迫近 | |
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168
greasy
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| adj. 多脂的，油脂的 | |
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169
goodwill
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| n.善意，亲善，信誉，声誉 | |
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170
entice
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| v.诱骗，引诱，怂恿 | |
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171
proximity
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| n.接近，邻近 | |
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172
repel
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| v.击退，抵制，拒绝，排斥 | |
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173
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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174
adorned
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| [计]被修饰的 | |
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175
gilded
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| a.镀金的，富有的 | |
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176
kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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177
banished
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| v.放逐，驱逐( banish的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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178
blessing
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| n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿 | |
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179
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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180
eyebrows
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| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
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181
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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182
fixedness
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| n.固定；稳定；稳固 | |
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183
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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184
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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185
attic
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| n.顶楼，屋顶室 | |
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186
inmates
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| n.囚犯( inmate的名词复数 ) | |
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187
investigation
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| n.调查，调查研究 | |
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188
insignificant
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| adj.无关紧要的，可忽略的，无意义的 | |
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189
livelihood
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| n.生计，谋生之道 | |
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190
prostration
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| n. 平伏, 跪倒, 疲劳 | |
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191
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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192
repose
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| v.(使)休息；n.安息 | |
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193
reposed
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| v.将（手臂等）靠在某人（某物）上( repose的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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194
alleviation
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| n. 减轻，缓和，解痛物 | |
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195
stagnant
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| adj.不流动的，停滞的，不景气的 | |
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196
abode
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| n.住处，住所 | |
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197
helping
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| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
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198
outlet
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| n.出口/路；销路；批发商店；通风口；发泄 | |
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199
procure
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| vt.获得，取得，促成；vi.拉皮条 | |
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200
converse
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| vi.谈话，谈天，闲聊；adv.相反的，相反 | |
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201
chasm
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| n.深坑，断层，裂口，大分岐，利害冲突 | |
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202
outermost
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| adj.最外面的，远离中心的 | |
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203
intensity
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| n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度 | |
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204
bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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205
awakened
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| v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到 | |
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206
tottering
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| adj.蹒跚的，动摇的v.走得或动得不稳( totter的现在分词 )；踉跄；蹒跚；摇摇欲坠 | |
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207
contemptible
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| adj.可鄙的，可轻视的，卑劣的 | |
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208
precarious
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| adj.不安定的，靠不住的；根据不足的 | |
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209
thereby
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| adv.因此，从而 | |
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210
betrothed
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| n. 已订婚者 动词betroth的过去式和过去分词 | |
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211
lulls
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| n.间歇期（lull的复数形式）vt.使镇静，使安静（lull的第三人称单数形式） | |
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212
immortal
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| adj.不朽的；永生的，不死的；神的 | |
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213
wither
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| vt.使凋谢，使衰退，(用眼神气势等)使畏缩；vi.枯萎，衰退，消亡 | |
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214
wilt
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| v.(使)植物凋谢或枯萎；(指人)疲倦，衰弱 | |
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215
eyelids
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| n.眼睑( eyelid的名词复数 )；眼睛也不眨一下；不露声色；面不改色 | |
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216
maiden
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| n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的 | |
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217
scrap
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| n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废 | |
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218
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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219
promising
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| adj.有希望的，有前途的 | |
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220
bereft
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| adj.被剥夺的 | |
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221
wondrous
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| adj.令人惊奇的，奇妙的；adv.惊人地；异乎寻常地；令人惊叹地 | |
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222
simultaneously
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| adv.同时发生地，同时进行地 | |
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223
enlisting
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| v.（使）入伍， （使）参军( enlist的现在分词 )；获得（帮助或支持） | |
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224
sergeant
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| n.警官，中士 | |
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225
motives
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| n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 ) | |
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226
embarked
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| 乘船( embark的过去式和过去分词 )； 装载； 从事 | |
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227
horrid
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| adj.可怕的；令人惊恐的；恐怖的；极讨厌的 | |
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228
vacancy
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| n.（旅馆的）空位，空房，（职务的）空缺 | |
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229
virtues
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| 美德( virtue的名词复数 )； 德行； 优点； 长处 | |
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230
sentry
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| n.哨兵，警卫 | |
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231
lieutenancy
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| n.中尉之职，代理官员 | |
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232
inspection
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| n.检查，审查，检阅 | |
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233
apprehensions
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| 疑惧 | |
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234
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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235
ascent
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| n.(声望或地位)提高；上升，升高；登高 | |
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236
musket
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| n.滑膛枪 | |
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237
skull
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| n.头骨；颅骨 | |
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238
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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239
dreading
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| v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的现在分词 ) | |
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240
immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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241
wrenched
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| v.（猛力地）扭( wrench的过去式和过去分词 )；扭伤；使感到痛苦；使悲痛 | |
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242
clenched
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| v.紧握，抓紧，咬紧( clench的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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243
throb
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| v.震颤，颤动；(急速强烈地)跳动，搏动 | |
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244
brink
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| n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿 | |
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245
veins
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| n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理 | |
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246
lessening
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| 减轻，减少，变小 | |
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247
thither
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| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
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248
rigid
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| adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的 | |
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249
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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250
awfully
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| adv.可怕地，非常地，极端地 | |
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251
stature
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| n.（高度）水平，（高度）境界，身高，身材 | |
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252
dilated
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| adj.加宽的，扩大的v.（使某物）扩大，膨胀，张大( dilate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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253
triumphant
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| adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的 | |
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254
vanquished
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| v.征服( vanquish的过去式和过去分词 )；战胜；克服；抑制 | |
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255
heartily
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| adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很 | |
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256
embodied
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| v.表现( embody的过去式和过去分词 )；象征；包括；包含 | |
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257
sketch
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| n.草图；梗概；素描；v.素描；概述 | |
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258
parable
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| n.寓言，比喻 | |
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259
harry
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| vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼 | |
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260
parables
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| n.（圣经中的）寓言故事( parable的名词复数 ) | |
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261
moor
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| n.荒野，沼泽；vt.(使)停泊；vi.停泊 | |
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262
profane
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| adj.亵神的，亵渎的；vt.亵渎，玷污 | |
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263
philistine
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| n.庸俗的人；adj.市侩的，庸俗的 | |
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264
lurch
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| n.突然向前或旁边倒；v.蹒跚而行 | |
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265
assuage
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| v.缓和，减轻，镇定 | |
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266
conceals
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，遮住( conceal的第三人称单数 ) | |
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267
edifies
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| v.开导，启发( edify的第三人称单数 ) | |
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268
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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269
sage
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| n.圣人，哲人；adj.贤明的，明智的 | |
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270
woe
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| n.悲哀，苦痛，不幸，困难；int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌 | |
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271
hover
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| vi.翱翔，盘旋；徘徊；彷徨，犹豫 | |
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272
pinions
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| v.抓住[捆住]（双臂）( pinion的第三人称单数 ) | |
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273
dominions
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| 统治权( dominion的名词复数 )； 领土； 疆土； 版图 | |
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274
sweeping
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| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
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275
martyrs
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| n.martyr的复数形式；烈士( martyr的名词复数 )；殉道者；殉教者；乞怜者（向人诉苦以博取同情） | |
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276
swell
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| vi.膨胀，肿胀；增长，增强 | |
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277
warriors
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| 武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
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278
asunder
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| adj.分离的，化为碎片 | |
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279
beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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280
swelled
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| 增强( swell的过去式和过去分词 )； 肿胀； （使）凸出； 充满（激情） | |
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281
trumpets
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| 喇叭( trumpet的名词复数 )； 小号； 喇叭形物； （尤指）绽开的水仙花 | |
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282
amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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283
intelligible
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| adj.可理解的，明白易懂的，清楚的 | |
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284
opposition
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| n.反对，敌对 | |
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285
annoyance
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| n.恼怒，生气，烦恼 | |
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286
therapeutic
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| adj.治疗的，起治疗作用的；对身心健康有益的 | |
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287
tinge
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| vt.(较淡)着色于，染色；使带有…气息；n.淡淡色彩，些微的气息 | |
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