CHAPTER III

The first inclination¹ of Elias Bassett was to meet his rival, man to man, and settle this outrage² by force of arms; but after four-and-twenty-hours with himself he decided³ against that course.  To do the best for Minnie without afterthought for his own gain was now the keeper’s duty.  He put himself resolutely⁴ out of the question, and even debated whether he should impart his discovery to another, and so stand aloof⁵ from the necessary deed; but his nature would not go so far along with him.  He was a man faced with a rascal⁶ and an enemy, and that rascal must be unmasked by him, not another.  The work before him was in itself so congenial that to delay proved difficult.  Therefore Elias quickly planned his course of action, and the hour for it.  Yet he was disappointed, for on the morning of a day that he had fixed⁷ to confront Merle and break the evil news to Minnie, Nicholas himself departed unexpectedly.  He was to be absent until the time of the wedding.

Upon this circumstance Bassett pondered through another day, then suddenly strange matters hurried his decision and anger opened his lips.

p. 153Returning by night to the hamlet of Two Bridges over the high Moor⁸, Elias met Minnie Merle alone walking quickly toward the lonely gorges⁹ of West Dart¹⁰, where the river roars and echoes under Wistman’s primeval wood of oaks.  Darkness was already come, but a moon hidden under low clouds made all clear.  Only the river, full after a freshet, filled the silence with ebb¹¹ and flow of watery¹² music, that waxed and waned¹³ upon the wind.  The lonely wood, shunned¹⁴ even by day and held a haunted region by night, huddled¹⁵ there like a concourse of misshapen goblins.  Huge planes of shattered granite¹⁶ sank from the hills to the river valley, and the red fox and shining adder¹⁷ alone found a home in this fantastic forest of humped, twisted and shrivelled trees.  But to Minnie the desolate¹⁸ spot was good.  She associated it with her lover; there, when the sunlight shone and little blue butterflies danced above the briars, Nicholas had asked her to marry him; and now, under gathering¹⁹ night, it was upon a secret errand connected with her cousin that she stole along when the keeper met her, to their common surprise.

“A strange hour for a walk, sure enough!” he said.  “What wonnerful secret be taking you on the Moor at this time of night?”

“It be a secret,” she answered, “so ax me no more about it, an’ go on your way.”

p. 154“I’ll tell you another secret for yours, Minnie Merle.  Wheer be you gwaine so quick?”

“To Wistman’s Wood—that much I’ll let you know—no more.  Now go your way, Elias, like a gude man.”

“Ban’t you feared?”

“Not of Wistman’s Wood.  ’Tis nought²⁰ but a cluster of honest old trees.”

“Well, I’ll come along with you.”

“An’ I won’t let you.  Three’s no company.”  Elias stared and shifted his walking-stick from one hand to the other.

“Gwaine to meet somebody?”

“Why not?”

“What would your young man say?”

Minnie laughed.

“Since you ax, I think I may answer that he’d say I was in the right.  Now you know enough—tu much.  Leave me—I won’t have you go another yard with me.”

“I do know tu much for my peace,” he said; “but ’tis you who don’t know enough.  I’ve waited a longful time to speak, but now I’ll do it, though I break your heart.  Better that than ruination.  This man—Nicholas Merle—he’m married, an’ that packet he got—’twas from his ill-served wife.”

“You coward; you liar²¹; you wicked, venomous snake!” cried out Minnie.  “To stand theer afore p. 155your Maker²² an’ hatch that lie for the ear of a loving woman!  Oh! I wish I was a man; I’d tear—but he shall—he shall—he shall know it this night!”

Her passion revealed her secret.  She saw what she had done, grew a little calmer and explained.

“This is the last time I’ll ever foul²³ my breath with your name, Elias Bassett; but since you’ve surprised this out of me, I must say more.  If you’ve a shadow of honour, you’ll keep a secret I swore not to reveal to a soul, yet have now revealed in anger to you.  The fault was yours.  When my true love went away, he told me that I might find to-day a letter in a secret spot known to both of us far away upon the Moreton road.  I went there—rode my pony²⁴ out this morning—and a letter waited me.  I tell you these things that you shall breed no more lies against him or me.  In that note he told me that he should be at Wistman’s Wood to-night at a familiar spot I wot very well.  And he is to let me into gert news.  Wonnerful things have happened to him.  But he is supposed to be far away, and that he is tarrying here is my secret.  And now you have surprised it out of me.  At least I can trust you not to breathe of this to any living soul if ever you loved me.”

“I shall keep silent, be sure, since you find it in your heart to give me the lie and call me ‘snake.’”

“I saw the letter that you pretend to have seen.  p. 156He showed it to me.  Not that I asked to see it.  I would trust Nicholas before the sun.  You are dreaming, or else very wicked.  The packet was from a scrivener.  It concerned money.  ‘A wife’!  This is jealous madness.  He never looked at any woman before he met me.”

“If I be wrong, I’ll beg his pardon on my knees.”

“You be most wickedly wrong.  He is the soul of honour.”

“Then let me come now with you.”

“Not for the world.  He would never forgive me if anybody heard of this meeting.  It is vital to his interests that it should be supposed he is far away.”

“Cannot you see there is danger for you in this?”

“Danger with him?  How little you know what love means for all your talk, Elias!”

“It is because I know what love means that I care so much.  Let me be somewhere near—out of sight and earshot of speech, but not too far off for a cry to reach me if you wanted help.”

“Each word you say makes me hate you worse, Elias Bassett.”

“At least let me stop here an’ see you home again afterward²⁵.”

“Never!  I’ve done with you.  You ban’t a good man.  Besides, you would have to wait for p. 157hours.  I be very early for our meeting.  Nicholas will not be there afore eleven o’clock.”

“And if you never come home again, Minnie Merle?”

“Then you may tell all men what you have heard to-night, an’ go an’ seek for me.  If Nicholas knowed you were his enemy, he would shoot you like a dog.  So be warned.”

“And yet you cannot see that if he is married already, you are his worst enemy!  He can’t marry you and get the money that way, so—”

She turned and ran from him without another word, and he watched her sink into grey moonlight until the Moor swallowed her up.  A dim spot a mile away on the night marked Wistman’s Wood; and from it, through the fitful noise of the river, an owl’s cry came faintly, like the sound of a wailing²⁶ child.

1 inclination   

n.倾斜；点头；弯腰；斜坡；倾度；倾向；爱好

参考例句：

• She greeted us with a slight inclination of the head.她微微点头向我们致意。
• I did not feel the slightest inclination to hurry.我没有丝毫着急的意思。

2 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。

3 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

4 resolutely   

adj.坚决地，果断地

参考例句：

• He resolutely adhered to what he had said at the meeting. 他坚持他在会上所说的话。
• He grumbles at his lot instead of resolutely facing his difficulties. 他不是果敢地去面对困难，而是抱怨自己运气不佳。

5 aloof   

adj.远离的；冷淡的，漠不关心的

参考例句：

• Never stand aloof from the masses.千万不可脱离群众。
• On the evening the girl kept herself timidly aloof from the crowd.这小女孩在晚会上一直胆怯地远离人群。

6 rascal   

n.流氓；不诚实的人

参考例句：

• If he had done otherwise,I should have thought him a rascal.如果他不这样做，我就认为他是个恶棍。
• The rascal was frightened into holding his tongue.这坏蛋吓得不敢往下说了。

7 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

8 moor   

n.荒野，沼泽；vt.(使)停泊；vi.停泊

参考例句：

• I decided to moor near some tourist boats.我决定在一些观光船附近停泊。
• There were hundreds of the old huts on the moor.沼地上有成百上千的古老的石屋。

9 gorges   

n.山峡，峡谷( gorge的名词复数 )；咽喉v.（用食物把自己）塞饱，填饱( gorge的第三人称单数 )；作呕

参考例句：

• The explorers were confronted with gorges(that were)almost impassable and rivers(that were)often unfordable. 探险人员面临着几乎是无路可通的峡谷和常常是无法渡过的河流。 来自辞典例句
• We visited the Yangtse Gorges last summer. 去年夏天我们游历了长江三峡。 来自辞典例句

10 dart   

v.猛冲，投掷；n.飞镖，猛冲

参考例句：

• The child made a sudden dart across the road.那小孩突然冲过马路。
• Markov died after being struck by a poison dart.马尔科夫身中毒镖而亡。

11 ebb   

vi.衰退，减退；n.处于低潮，处于衰退状态

参考例句：

• The flood and ebb tides alternates with each other.涨潮和落潮交替更迭。
• They swam till the tide began to ebb.他们一直游到开始退潮。

12 watery   

adj.有水的，水汪汪的；湿的，湿润的

参考例句：

• In his watery eyes there is an expression of distrust.他那含泪的眼睛流露出惊惶失措的神情。
• Her eyes became watery because of the smoke.因为烟熏，她的双眼变得泪汪汪的。

13 waned   

v.衰落( wane的过去式和过去分词 )；（月）亏；变小；变暗淡

参考例句：

• However,my enthusiasm waned.The time I spent at exercises gradually diminished. 然而，我的热情减退了。我在做操上花的时间逐渐减少了。 来自《用法词典》
• The bicycle craze has waned. 自行车热已冷下去了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

14 shunned   

v.避开，回避，避免( shun的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She was shunned by her family when she remarried. 她再婚后家里人都躲着她。
• He was a shy man who shunned all publicity. 他是个怕羞的人，总是避开一切引人注目的活动。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 huddled   

挤在一起（huddle的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• We huddled together for warmth. 我们挤在一块取暖。
• We huddled together to keep warm. 我们挤在一起来保暖。

16 granite   

adj.花岗岩，花岗石

参考例句：

• They squared a block of granite.他们把一块花岗岩加工成四方形。
• The granite overlies the older rocks.花岗岩躺在磨损的岩石上面。

17 adder   

n.蝰蛇；小毒蛇

参考例句：

• The adder is Britain's only venomous snake.蝰蛇是英国唯一的一种毒蛇。
• An adder attacked my father.一条小毒蛇攻击了我父亲。

18 desolate   

adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂

参考例句：

• The city was burned into a desolate waste.那座城市被烧成一片废墟。
• We all felt absolutely desolate when she left.她走后，我们都觉得万分孤寂。

19 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

20 nought   

n.／adj.无，零

参考例句：

• We must bring their schemes to nought.我们必须使他们的阴谋彻底破产。
• One minus one leaves nought.一减一等于零。

21 liar   

n.说谎的人

参考例句：

• I know you for a thief and a liar!我算认识你了，一个又偷又骗的家伙！
• She was wrongly labelled a liar.她被错误地扣上说谎者的帽子。

22 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

23 foul   

adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规

参考例句：

• Take off those foul clothes and let me wash them.脱下那些脏衣服让我洗一洗。
• What a foul day it is!多么恶劣的天气！

24 pony   

adj.小型的；n.小马

参考例句：

• His father gave him a pony as a Christmas present.他父亲给了他一匹小马驹作为圣诞礼物。
• They made him pony up the money he owed.他们逼他还债。

25 afterward   

adv.后来；以后

参考例句：

• Let's go to the theatre first and eat afterward. 让我们先去看戏，然后吃饭。
• Afterward,the boy became a very famous artist.后来，这男孩成为一个很有名的艺术家。

26 wailing   

v.哭叫，哀号( wail的现在分词 )；沱

参考例句：

• A police car raced past with its siren wailing. 一辆警车鸣着警报器飞驰而过。
• The little girl was wailing miserably. 那小女孩难过得号啕大哭。