VIII THE UNSEEN WORLD

The whole world had faded and darkened to a uniform tint¹, black and dingy². The woman who stood there could hardly say whether this tint were brown or grey, for there was no colour to contrast it with, nothing but her own black dress seen through the same sordid³ medium. In front of her, rather lighter⁴ in tint, she could see a few inches of parapet, on which her hands were lying, and dimly could  discern the ground at her feet. If she leant over the parapet she could not see the water, but where she believed it to be, something like the shadow of a ripple⁵ moved across the dusk.
And as for want of contrast she could determine no colour, so for want of distance she could determine no size. All she saw could be enclosed by four small walls; all she could not see might reveal miles of river-bank, streets of stately houses. It was not the Infinite but the Indetermined that she looked upon. Noises had sunk into a hoarse⁶ murmur⁸ and swell⁹, dulled as by this thick, heavy medium. No such monotony of existence could be conceived; a world of shadows, an Isle¹⁰ of Voices,  would be life itself to this. And yet she believed herself to be standing¹¹ in the heart of the greatest city in the world, but a few paces removed from streets where men and women were moving up and down; where her face was turned across the water stood (she believed) a great house, a town garden where wood-pigeons built, and where she had seen lilies of the valley flower, saying softly to herself:—
“Here in dust and dirt, oh here,
The lilies of His love appear.”
How was it possible that in so short a time such a change should fall, such a swallowing up of life as the centuries cannot bring to the cities of the south? Truly she was living by faith in a blank  world of existence. A foot or two of parapet each side of her hands; a foot or two of gravel¹² each side of her feet—beyond that limit nothingness. Yet by faith she would move in this void.
She turned to the left and walked along the path which appeared step by step as she paced, until in front of her the shadow of a building fell upon the fog: cornerwise it rose, fading into mist, and likewise vanished a few feet above her head.
Yet she believed that this was a great tower; she believed that the building stretched away from her, and that at that moment, gathered inside its halls, was the Council of the Nation. It is strange if you think of it, how firmly she believed in that invisible building,  in those inaudible deliberations, in the reality of its connection with the isolated¹³ fragments of parapet and path—fragments without visible support, the only things she could see and the least of all she believed in.
For as she believed in a present invisible, so she believed in a future uncreated; that she should presently return from where she stood to her own house, the fragment of visible world opening before her and above her, closing behind her as she went. If she could not find the way, other figures dawning on her, fog-enwrapped, would direct her. Strange—how she believed in their existence, though she could neither see nor hear them, how she trusted in their good faith, though  she knew neither who they were nor whence they would come, in their greater knowledge, though all men were more or less astray in the same fog.
So resting peaceably in this belief she looked again over the parapet.
A shadow on blank colourlessness in front; a splash as of water to the ear. The shadow deepened, defined itself, and out of nothingness grew a great black barge¹⁴; it seemed to float on water that she could not see. Two men, one with body bent¹⁵ forward, one with body swayed back, swung a great oar⁷ at the stern. They were steering¹⁶ in this indistinguishable world; in this chaos¹⁷ of a world, threading their way between dangers undiscerned till ruin  was impending¹⁸. Now the black outline was opposite to her and now the barge was shortened, and still the two figures swayed and bent, swayed and bent, at their steering. The dark vision faded into darkness again. Out of nothing grew that barge, into nothing it went.
The third thing she saw was this: just below the parapet where the fog was least thick, out of nothingness came a bird, like a little white spirit. It was smaller than a seagull; its wings, delicately shaded with brown, showed a sharper outline, and round them ran a dark line; the head too was dark.
A moment it hung below her lightly poised¹⁹, white wings uplifted, head  down-bent, feet down-dropped towards the flood below. Then this too vanished in the mist.
And having seen that she went away content.

1 tint   

n.淡色，浅色；染发剂；vt.着以淡淡的颜色

参考例句：

• You can't get up that naturalness and artless rosy tint in after days.你今后不再会有这种自然和朴实无华的红润脸色。
• She gave me instructions on how to apply the tint.她告诉我如何使用染发剂。

2 dingy   

adj.昏暗的，肮脏的

参考例句：

• It was a street of dingy houses huddled together. 这是一条挤满了破旧房子的街巷。
• The dingy cottage was converted into a neat tasteful residence.那间脏黑的小屋已变成一个整洁雅致的住宅。

3 sordid   

adj.肮脏的，不干净的，卑鄙的，暗淡的

参考例句：

• He depicts the sordid and vulgar sides of life exclusively.他只描写人生肮脏和庸俗的一面。
• They lived in a sordid apartment.他们住在肮脏的公寓房子里。

4 lighter   

n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级

参考例句：

• The portrait was touched up so as to make it lighter.这张画经过润色，色调明朗了一些。
• The lighter works off the car battery.引燃器利用汽车蓄电池打火。

5 ripple   

n.涟波，涟漪，波纹，粗钢梳；vt.使...起涟漪，使起波纹； vi.呈波浪状，起伏前进

参考例句：

• The pebble made a ripple on the surface of the lake.石子在湖面上激起一个涟漪。
• The small ripple split upon the beach.小小的涟漪卷来，碎在沙滩上。

6 hoarse   

adj.嘶哑的，沙哑的

参考例句：

• He asked me a question in a hoarse voice.他用嘶哑的声音问了我一个问题。
• He was too excited and roared himself hoarse.他过于激动，嗓子都喊哑了。

7 oar   

n.桨，橹，划手；v.划行

参考例句：

• The sailors oar slowly across the river.水手们慢慢地划过河去。
• The blade of the oar was bitten off by a shark.浆叶被一条鲨鱼咬掉了。

8 murmur   

n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言

参考例句：

• They paid the extra taxes without a murmur.他们毫无怨言地交了附加税。
• There was a low murmur of conversation in the hall.大厅里有窃窃私语声。

9 swell   

vi.膨胀，肿胀；增长，增强

参考例句：

• The waves had taken on a deep swell.海浪汹涌。
• His injured wrist began to swell.他那受伤的手腕开始肿了。

10 isle   

n.小岛，岛

参考例句：

• He is from the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea.他来自爱尔兰海的马恩岛。
• The boat left for the paradise isle of Bali.小船驶向天堂一般的巴厘岛。

11 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

12 gravel   

n.砂跞；砂砾层；结石

参考例句：

• We bought six bags of gravel for the garden path.我们购买了六袋碎石用来铺花园的小路。
• More gravel is needed to fill the hollow in the drive.需要更多的砾石来填平车道上的坑洼。

13 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

14 barge   

n.平底载货船，驳船

参考例句：

• The barge was loaded up with coal.那艘驳船装上了煤。
• Carrying goods by train costs nearly three times more than carrying them by barge.通过铁路运货的成本比驳船运货成本高出近3倍。

15 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

16 steering   

n.操舵装置

参考例句：

• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration. 他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。
• Steering according to the wind, he also framed his words more amicably. 他真会看风使舵，口吻也马上变得温和了。

17 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

18 impending   

a.imminent, about to come or happen

参考例句：

• Against a background of impending famine, heavy fighting took place. 即将发生饥荒之时，严重的战乱爆发了。
• The king convoke parliament to cope with the impending danger. 国王召开国会以应付迫近眉睫的危险。

19 poised   

a.摆好姿势不动的

参考例句：

• The hawk poised in mid-air ready to swoop. 老鹰在半空中盘旋，准备俯冲。
• Tina was tense, her hand poised over the telephone. 蒂娜心情紧张，手悬在电话机上。