On the fifteenth day we completed our march of two hundred miles and entered unionville, Humboldt county, in the midst of a driving snow- storm. unionville consisted of eleven cabins and a liberty-pole. Six of the cabins were strung along one side of a deep canyon5, and the other five faced them. The rest of the landscape was made up of bleak6 mountain walls that rose so high into the sky from both sides of the canyon that the village was left, as it were, far down in the bottom of a crevice7. It was always daylight on the mountain tops a long time before the darkness lifted and revealed unionville.
We built a small, rude cabin in the side of the crevice and roofed it with canvas, leaving a corner open to serve as a chimney, through which the cattle used to tumble occasionally, at night, and mash8 our furniture and interrupt our sleep. It was very cold weather and fuel was scarce. Indians brought brush and bushes several miles on their backs; and when we could catch a laden9 Indian it was well—and when we could not (which was the rule, not the exception), we shivered and bore it.
I confess, without shame, that I expected to find masses of silver lying all about the ground. I expected to see it glittering in the sun on the mountain summits. I said nothing about this, for some instinct told me that I might possibly have an exaggerated idea about it, and so if I betrayed my thought I might bring derision upon myself. Yet I was as perfectly10 satisfied in my own mind as I could be of anything, that I was going to gather up, in a day or two, or at furthest a week or two, silver enough to make me satisfactorily wealthy—and so my fancy was already busy with plans for spending this money. The first opportunity that offered, I sauntered carelessly away from the cabin, keeping an eye on the other boys, and stopping and contemplating11 the sky when they seemed to be observing me; but as soon as the coast was manifestly clear, I fled away as guiltily as a thief might have done and never halted till I was far beyond sight and call. Then I began my search with a feverish12 excitement that was brimful of expectation—almost of certainty. I crawled about the ground, seizing and examining bits of stone, blowing the dust from them or rubbing them on my clothes, and then peering at them with anxious hope. Presently I found a bright fragment and my heart bounded! I hid behind a boulder13 and polished it and scrutinized14 it with a nervous eagerness and a delight that was more pronounced than absolute certainty itself could have afforded. The more I examined the fragment the more I was convinced that I had found the door to fortune. I marked the spot and carried away my specimen15. Up and down the rugged16 mountain side I searched, with always increasing interest and always augmenting17 gratitude18 that I had come to Humboldt and come in time. Of all the experiences of my life, this secret search among the hidden treasures of silver-land was the nearest to unmarred ecstasy19. It was a delirious20 revel21.
By and by, in the bed of a shallow rivulet, I found a deposit of shining yellow scales, and my breath almost forsook22 me! A gold mine, and in my simplicity23 I had been content with vulgar silver! I was so excited that I half believed my overwrought imagination was deceiving me. Then a fear came upon me that people might be observing me and would guess my secret. Moved by this thought, I made a circuit of the place, and ascended24 a knoll25 to reconnoiter. Solitude26. No creature was near. Then I returned to my mine, fortifying27 myself against possible disappointment, but my fears were groundless—the shining scales were still there. I set about scooping28 them out, and for an hour I toiled29 down the windings30 of the stream and robbed its bed. But at last the descending31 sun warned me to give up the quest, and I turned homeward laden with wealth. As I walked along I could not help smiling at the thought of my being so excited over my fragment of silver when a nobler metal was almost under my nose. In this little time the former had so fallen in my estimation that once or twice I was on the point of throwing it away.
The boys were as hungry as usual, but I could eat nothing. Neither could I talk. I was full of dreams and far away. Their conversation interrupted the flow of my fancy somewhat, and annoyed me a little, too. I despised the sordid32 and commonplace things they talked about. But as they proceeded, it began to amuse me. It grew to be rare fun to hear them planning their poor little economies and sighing over possible privations and distresses33 when a gold mine, all our own, lay within sight of the cabin and I could point it out at any moment. Smothered34 hilarity35 began to oppress me, presently. It was hard to resist the impulse to burst out with exultation36 and reveal everything; but I did resist. I said within myself that I would filter the great news through my lips calmly and be serene37 as a summer morning while I watched its effect in their faces. I said:
“Where have you all been?”
“Prospecting.”
“What did you find?”
“Nothing.”
“Nothing? What do you think of the country?”
“Can’t tell, yet,” said Mr. Ballou, who was an old gold miner, and had likewise had considerable experience among the silver mines.
“Well, haven’t you formed any sort of opinion?”
“Yes, a sort of a one. It’s fair enough here, may be, but overrated. Seven thousand dollar ledges40 are scarce, though.
“That Sheba may be rich enough, but we don’t own it; and besides, the rock is so full of base metals that all the science in the world can’t work it. We’ll not starve, here, but we’ll not get rich, I’m afraid.”
“No name for it!”
“Well, we’d better go back, hadn’t we?”
“Oh, not yet—of course not. We’ll try it a riffle, first.”
“Suppose, now—this is merely a supposition, you know—suppose you could find a ledge39 that would yield, say, a hundred and fifty dollars a ton—would that satisfy you?”
“Try us once!” from the whole party.
“Or suppose—merely a supposition, of course—suppose you were to find a ledge that would yield two thousand dollars a ton—would that satisfy you?”
“Here—what do you mean? What are you coming at? Is there some mystery behind all this?”
“Never mind. I am not saying anything. You know perfectly well there are no rich mines here—of course you do. Because you have been around and examined for yourselves. Anybody would know that, that had been around. But just for the sake of argument, suppose—in a kind of general way—suppose some person were to tell you that two-thousand-dollar ledges were simply contemptible—contemptible, understand—and that right yonder in sight of this very cabin there were piles of pure gold and pure silver—oceans of it—enough to make you all rich in twenty-four hours! Come!”
“I should say he was as crazy as a loon41!” said old Ballou, but wild with excitement, nevertheless.
“Gentlemen,” said I, “I don’t say anything—I haven’t been around, you know, and of course don’t know anything—but all I ask of you is to cast your eye on that, for instance, and tell me what you think of it!” and I tossed my treasure before them.
There was an eager scramble42 for it, and a closing of heads together over it under the candle-light. Then old Ballou said:
“Think of it? I think it is nothing but a lot of granite43 rubbish and nasty glittering mica44 that isn’t worth ten cents an acre!”
So vanished my dream. So melted my wealth away. So toppled my airy castle to the earth and left me stricken and forlorn.
Moralizing, I observed, then, that “all that glitters is not gold.”
Mr. Ballou said I could go further than that, and lay it up among my treasures of knowledge, that nothing that glitters is gold. So I learned then, once for all, that gold in its native state is but dull, unornamental stuff, and that only low-born metals excite the admiration45 of the ignorant with an ostentatious glitter. However, like the rest of the world, I still go on underrating men of gold and glorifying46 men of mica. Commonplace human nature cannot rise above that.
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1
watery
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| adj.有水的，水汪汪的；湿的，湿润的 | |
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grandeur
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| n.伟大，崇高，宏伟，庄严，豪华 | |
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rivulet
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| n.小溪，小河 | |
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contrive
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| vt.谋划，策划；设法做到；设计，想出 | |
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canyon
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| n.峡谷，溪谷 | |
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bleak
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| adj.(天气)阴冷的；凄凉的；暗淡的 | |
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crevice
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| n.(岩石、墙等)裂缝；缺口 | |
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8
mash
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| n.麦芽浆，糊状物，土豆泥；v.把…捣成糊状，挑逗，调情 | |
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laden
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| adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的 | |
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10
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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11
contemplating
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| 深思，细想，仔细考虑( contemplate的现在分词 )； 注视，凝视； 考虑接受（发生某事的可能性）； 深思熟虑，沉思，苦思冥想 | |
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12
feverish
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| adj.发烧的，狂热的，兴奋的 | |
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13
boulder
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| n.巨砾；卵石，圆石 | |
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scrutinized
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| v.仔细检查，详审( scrutinize的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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specimen
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| n.样本，标本 | |
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rugged
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| adj.高低不平的，粗糙的，粗壮的，强健的 | |
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augmenting
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| 使扩张 | |
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gratitude
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| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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ecstasy
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| n.狂喜，心醉神怡，入迷 | |
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delirious
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| adj.不省人事的，神智昏迷的 | |
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revel
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| vi.狂欢作乐，陶醉；n.作乐，狂欢 | |
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22
forsook
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| forsake的过去式 | |
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simplicity
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| n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯 | |
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ascended
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| v.上升，攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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knoll
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| n.小山，小丘 | |
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solitude
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| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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27
fortifying
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| 筑防御工事于( fortify的现在分词 )； 筑堡于； 增强； 强化（食品） | |
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scooping
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| n.捞球v.抢先报道( scoop的现在分词 )；（敏捷地）抱起；抢先获得；用铲[勺]等挖（洞等） | |
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29
toiled
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| 长时间或辛苦地工作( toil的过去式和过去分词 )； 艰难缓慢地移动，跋涉 | |
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30
windings
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| （道路、河流等）蜿蜒的，弯曲的( winding的名词复数 )； 缠绕( wind的现在分词 )； 卷绕； 转动（把手） | |
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descending
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| n. 下行 adj. 下降的 | |
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sordid
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| adj.肮脏的，不干净的，卑鄙的，暗淡的 | |
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distresses
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| n.悲痛( distress的名词复数 )；痛苦；贫困；危险 | |
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34
smothered
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| （使）窒息， （使）透不过气( smother的过去式和过去分词 )； 覆盖； 忍住； 抑制 | |
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hilarity
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| n.欢乐；热闹 | |
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exultation
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| n.狂喜，得意 | |
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serene
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| adj. 安详的，宁静的，平静的 | |
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38
prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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39
ledge
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| n.壁架，架状突出物；岩架，岩礁 | |
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40
ledges
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| n.（墙壁，悬崖等）突出的狭长部分( ledge的名词复数 )；（平窄的）壁架；横档；（尤指）窗台 | |
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41
loon
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| n.狂人 | |
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42
scramble
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| v.爬行，攀爬，杂乱蔓延，碎片，片段，废料 | |
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43
granite
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| adj.花岗岩，花岗石 | |
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44
mica
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| n.云母 | |
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45
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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46
glorifying
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| 赞美( glorify的现在分词 )； 颂扬； 美化； 使光荣 | |
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