I have chosen three or four of the most typical of my not very numerous neighbours, though there are many similar portraits scattered2 up and down my diaries.
It happened this morning that a small piece of parish business turned up which necessitated3 my communicating with Sir James, our chief landowner. Staunton is his name, and his rank is baronet. He comes from a typically English stock. As early as the fourteenth century the Stauntons seem to have held land in the parish; they were yeomen, no doubt, owning a few hundred acres of freehold. In the sixteenth century one of them drifted to London, made a fortune, and, dying childless, left his money to the head of the[110] house, who bought more land, built a larger house, became esquire, and eventually knight4; his brass5 is in the church. They were unimaginative folk, and whenever the country was divided, they generally contrived6 to find themselves upon the prosaic7 and successful side.
Early in the eighteenth century there were two brothers: the younger, a clergyman, by some happy accident became connected with the Court, made a fortunate marriage, and held a deanery first, and then a bishopric. Here he amassed9 a considerable fortune. His portrait, which hangs at the Park, represents a man with a face of the shape and colour of a ripe plum, with hardly more distinction of feature, shrouded10 in a full wig11. Behind him, under a velvet12 curtain, stands his cathedral, in a stormy sky. The bishop’s monument is one of the chief disfigurements, or the chief ornaments13 of our church, according as your taste is severe or catholic. It represents the deceased prelate in a reclining attitude, with a somewhat rueful expression, as of a man fallen from a considerable height. Over him bends a solicitous14 angel in the attitude of one inquiring what is amiss. One of the prelate’s delicate hands is outstretched from a gigantic[111] lawn sleeve, like a haggis, which requires an iron support to sustain it; the other elbow is propped15 upon some marble volumes of controversial divinity. In an alcove16 behind is a tumid mitre, quite putting into the shade a meagre celestial17 crown with marble rays, which is pushed unceremoniously into the top of the recess18.
The Baronets
The bishop succeeded his elder brother in the estate, and added largely to the property. The bishop’s only son sat for a neighbouring borough19, and was created a baronet for his services, which were of the most straightforward20 kind. At this point, by one of the strange freaks of which even county families are sometimes guilty, a curious gleam of romance flashed across the dull record. The baronet’s eldest21 son developed dim literary tastes, drifted to London, became a hanger-on of the Johnsonian circle—his name occurs in footnotes to literary memoirs22 of the period; married a lady of questionable23 reputation, and published two volumes of “Letters to a Young Lady of Quality,” which combine, to a quite singular degree, magnificence of diction with tenuity of thought. This Jack24 Staunton was a spendthrift, and would have made[112] strange havoc25 of the estate, but his father fortunately outlived him; and by the offer of a small pension to Mrs. Jack, who was left hopelessly destitute26, contrived to get the little grandson and heir into his own hands. The little boy developed into the kind of person that no one would desire as a descendant, but that all would envy as an ancestor. He was a miser27 pure and simple. In his day the tenants28 were ground down, rents were raised, plantations29 were made, land was acquired in all directions; but the house became ruinous, and the miserable30 owner, in a suit of coarse cloth like a second-rate farmer, sneaked31 about his lands with a shy and secret smile, avoiding speech with tenants and neighbours alike, and eating small and penurious32 meals in the dusty dining-room in company with an aged33 and drunken bailiff, the discovery of whose constant attempts to defraud34 his master of a few shillings were the delight and triumph of the baronet’s life. He died a bachelor; at his death a cousin, a grandson of the first baronet, succeeded, and found that whatever else he had done, the miser had left immense accumulations of money behind him. This gentleman was in the army, and fought at Waterloo,[113] after which he imitated the example of his class, and became an unflinching Tory politician. The fourth baronet was a singularly inconspicuous person whom I can just remember, whose principal diversion was his kennel35. I have often seen him when, as a child, I used to lunch there with my mother, stand throughout the meal in absolute silence, sipping36 a glass of sherry on the hearthrug, and slowly munching37 a large biscuit, and, before we withdrew, producing from his pocket the envelopes which had contained the correspondence of the morning, and filling them with bones, pieces of fat, fag-ends of joints38, to bestow39 upon the dogs in the course of the afternoon. This habit I considered, as a child, to be distinctly agreeable, and I should have been deeply disappointed if Sir John had ever failed to do it.
Sir James
The present Sir James is now a man of forty. He was at Eton and Trinity, and for a short time in the Guards. He married the daughter of a neighbouring baronet, and at the age of thirty, when his father died, settled down to the congenial occupation of a country gentleman. He is, in spite of the fact that he had a large landed estate, a very[114] wealthy man. I imagine he has at least ￡20,000 a year. He has a London house, to which Lady Staunton goes for the season, but Sir James, who makes a point of accompanying her, soon finds that business necessitates40 his at once returning to the country; and I am not sure that the summer months, which he spends absolutely alone, are not the most agreeable part of the year for him. He has three stolid41 and healthy children—two boys and a girl. He takes no interest whatever in politics, religion, literature, or art. He takes in the Standard and the Field. He hunts a little, and shoots a little, but does not care about either. He spends his morning and afternoon in pottering about the estate. In the evening he writes a few letters, dines well, reads the paper and goes to bed. He does not care about dining out; indeed the prospect42 of a dinner-party or a dance clouds the pleasure of the day. He goes to church once on Sunday; he is an active magistrate43; he has, at long intervals44, two or three friends of like tastes to stay with him, who accompany him, much to his dislike, in his perambulations, and stand about whistling, or staring at stacks and cattle, while he talks to the bailiff. But he is[115] a kindly45, cheery, generous man, with a good head for business, and an idea of his position. He is absolutely honourable46 and straightforward, and faces an unpleasant duty, when he has made up his mind to it, with entire tranquillity47. No mental speculation48 has ever come in his way; at school he was a sound, healthy boy, good at games, who did his work punctually, and was of blameless character. He made no particular friends; sat through school after school, under various sorts of masters, never inattentive, and never interested. He had a preference for dull and sober teachers, men with whom, as he said, “you knew where you were;” a stimulating49 teacher bewildered him,—“always talking about poetry and rot.” At Cambridge it was the same. He rowed in his College boat; he passed the prescribed examinations; he led a clean healthy decorous life; and no idea, small or great, no sense of beauty, no wonder at the scheme of things, ever entered his head. If by chance he ever found himself in the company of an enthusiastic undergraduate, whose mind and heart were full of burning, incomplete, fantastic thoughts, James listened politely to what he had to say, hazarded no statements, and said,[116] in quiet after-comment, “Gad, how that chap does jaw50!” No one ever thought him stupid; he knew what was going on; he was sociable51, kind, not the least egotistical, and far too much of a gentleman to exhibit the least complacency in his position or wealth—only he knew exactly what he liked, and had none of the pathetic admiration52 for talent that is sometimes found in the unintellectual. When he went into the Guards it was just the same. He was popular and respected, friendly with his men, perfectly53 punctual, capable and respectable. He had no taste for wine or gambling54, or disreputable courses. He admired nobody and nothing, and no one ever obtained the slightest influence over him. At home he was perfectly happy, kind to his sisters, ready to do anything he was asked, and to join in anything that was going on. When he succeeded to the estate, he went quietly to work to find a wife, and married a pretty, contented55 girl, with the same notions as himself. He never said an unkind thing to her, or to any of his family, and expressed no extravagant56 affection for any one. He is trustee for all his relations, and always finds time to look after their affairs. He is always ready to[117] subscribe57 to any good object, and had contrived never to squabble with an angular ritualistic clergyman, who thinks him a devoted58 son of the Church. He has declined several invitations to stand for Parliament, and has no desire to be elevated to the Peerage. He will probably live to a green old age, and leave an immense fortune. I do not fancy that he is much given to meditate59 about his latter end; but if he ever lets his mind range over the life beyond the grave, he probably anticipates vaguely60 that, under somewhat airy conditions, he will continue to enjoy the consideration of his fellow-beings, and deserve their respect.
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1
delineation
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| n.记述；描写 | |
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scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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necessitated
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| 使…成为必要，需要( necessitate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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knight
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| n.骑士，武士；爵士 | |
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brass
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| n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器 | |
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contrived
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| adj.不自然的，做作的；虚构的 | |
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prosaic
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| adj.单调的，无趣的 | |
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bishop
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| n.主教，（国际象棋）象 | |
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amassed
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| v.积累，积聚( amass的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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shrouded
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| v.隐瞒( shroud的过去式和过去分词 )；保密 | |
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wig
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| n.假发 | |
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velvet
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| n.丝绒，天鹅绒；adj.丝绒制的，柔软的 | |
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ornaments
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| n.装饰( ornament的名词复数 )；点缀；装饰品；首饰v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的第三人称单数 ) | |
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solicitous
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| adj.热切的，挂念的 | |
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propped
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| 支撑，支持，维持( prop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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alcove
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| n.凹室 | |
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celestial
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| adj.天体的；天上的 | |
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recess
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| n.短期休息，壁凹（墙上装架子，柜子等凹处） | |
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borough
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| n.享有自治权的市镇；(英)自治市镇 | |
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straightforward
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| adj.正直的，坦率的；易懂的，简单的 | |
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eldest
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| adj.最年长的，最年老的 | |
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memoirs
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| n.回忆录；回忆录传( mem,自oir的名词复数) | |
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questionable
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| adj.可疑的，有问题的 | |
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jack
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| n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克 | |
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havoc
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| n.大破坏，浩劫，大混乱，大杂乱 | |
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destitute
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| adj.缺乏的；穷困的 | |
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miser
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| n.守财奴，吝啬鬼 (adj.miserly) | |
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tenants
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| n.房客( tenant的名词复数 )；佃户；占用者；占有者 | |
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plantations
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| n.种植园，大农场( plantation的名词复数 ) | |
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miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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sneaked
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| v.潜行( sneak的过去式和过去分词 )；偷偷溜走；（儿童向成人）打小报告；告状 | |
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penurious
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| adj.贫困的 | |
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aged
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| adj.年老的，陈年的 | |
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defraud
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| vt.欺骗，欺诈 | |
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kennel
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| n.狗舍，狗窝 | |
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sipping
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| v.小口喝，呷，抿( sip的现在分词 ) | |
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munching
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| v.用力咀嚼（某物），大嚼( munch的现在分词 ) | |
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joints
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| 接头( joint的名词复数 )； 关节； 公共场所（尤指价格低廉的饮食和娱乐场所） （非正式）； 一块烤肉 （英式英语） | |
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bestow
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| v.把…赠与，把…授予；花费 | |
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necessitates
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| 使…成为必要，需要( necessitate的第三人称单数 ) | |
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stolid
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| adj.无动于衷的，感情麻木的 | |
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42
prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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magistrate
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| n.地方行政官，地方法官，治安官 | |
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intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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45
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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honourable
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| adj.可敬的；荣誉的，光荣的 | |
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tranquillity
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| n. 平静, 安静 | |
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48
speculation
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| n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机 | |
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49
stimulating
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| adj.有启发性的，能激发人思考的 | |
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50
jaw
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| n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训 | |
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51
sociable
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| adj.好交际的，友好的，合群的 | |
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52
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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53
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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54
gambling
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| n.赌博；投机 | |
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55
contented
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| adj.满意的，安心的，知足的 | |
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56
extravagant
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| adj.奢侈的；过分的；(言行等)放肆的 | |
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57
subscribe
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| vi.(to)订阅，订购；同意；vt.捐助，赞助 | |
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58
devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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59
meditate
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| v.想，考虑，（尤指宗教上的）沉思，冥想 | |
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vaguely
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| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
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