AMID the general delight attending the double wedding which was to prove, so to say, a supreme1 celebration of the glory of Chantebled, it had occurred to Mathieu's daughter Rose to gather the whole family together one Sunday, ten days before the date appointed for the ceremony. She and her betrothed2, followed by the whole family, were to repair to Janville station in the morning to meet the other affianced pair, Ambroise and Andree, who were to be conducted in triumph to the farm where they would all lunch together. It would be a kind of wedding rehearsal3, she exclaimed with her hearty4 laugh; they would be able to arrange the programme for the great day. And her idea enraptured5 her to such a point, she seemed to anticipate so much delight from this preliminary festival, that Mathieu and Marianne consented to it.
Rose's marriage was like the supreme blossoming of years of prosperity, and brought a finishing touch to the happiness of the home. She was the prettiest of Mathieu's daughters, with dark brown hair, round gilded6 cheeks, merry eyes, and charming mouth. And she had the most equable of dispositions7, her laughter ever rang out so heartily8! She seemed indeed to be the very soul, the good fairy, of that farm teeming9 with busy life. But beneath the invariable good humor which kept her singing from morning till night there was much common sense and energy of affection, as her choice of a husband showed. Eight years previously10 Mathieu had engaged the services of one Frederic Berthaud, the son of a petty farmer of the neighborhood. This sturdy young fellow had taken a passionate11 interest in the creative work of Chantebled, learning and working there with rare activity and intelligence. He had no means of his own at all. Rose, who had grown up near him, knew however that he was her father's preferred assistant, and when he returned to the farm at the expiration13 of his military service she, divining that he loved her, forced him to acknowledge it. Thus she settled her own future life; she wished to remain near her parents, on that farm which had hitherto held all her happiness. Neither Mathieu nor Marianne was surprised at this. Deeply touched, they signified their approval of a choice in which affection for themselves had so large a part. The family ties seemed to be drawn14 yet closer, and increase of joy came to the home.
So everything was settled, and it was agreed that on the appointed Sunday Ambroise should bring his betrothed Andree and her mother, Madame Seguin, to Janville by the ten o'clock train. A couple of hours previously Rose had already begun a battle with the object of prevailing15 upon the whole family to repair to the railway station to meet the affianced pair.
"But come, my children, it is unreasonable," Marianne gently exclaimed. "It is necessary that somebody should stay at home. I shall keep Nicolas here, for there is no need to send children of five years old scouring16 the roads. I shall also keep Gervais and Claire. But you may take all the others if you like, and your father shall lead the way."
Rose, however, still merrily laughing, clung to her plan. "No, no, mamma, you must come as well; everybody must come; it was promised. Ambroise and Andree, you see, are like a royal couple from a neighboring kingdom. My brother Ambroise, having won the hand of a foreign princess, is going to present her to us. And so, to do them the honors of our own empire, we, Frederic and I, must go to meet them, attended by the whole Court. You form the Court and you cannot do otherwise than come. Ah what a fine sight it will be when we spread out through the country on our way home again!"
Marianne, amused by her daughter's overflowing17 gayety, ended by laughing and giving way.
"This will be the order of the march," resumed Rose. "Oh! I've planned everything, as you will see! As for Frederic and myself, we shall go on our bicycles--that is the most modern style. We will also take my maids of honor, my little sisters Louise, Madeleine, and Marguerite, eleven, nine, and seven years old, on their bicycles. They will look very well behind me. Then Gregoire can follow on his wheel; he is thirteen, and will do as a page, bringing up the rear of my personal escort. All the rest of the Court will have to pack itself into the chariot--I mean the big family wagon18, in which there is room for eight. You, as Queen Mother, may keep your last little prince, Nicolas, on your knees. Papa will only have to carry himself proudly, as befits the head of a dynasty. And my brother Gervais, that young Hercules of seventeen, shall drive, with Claire, who at fifteen is so remarkable20 for common sense, beside him on the box-seat. As for the illustrious twins, those high and mighty21 lords, Denis and Blaise, we will call for them at Janville, since they are waiting for us there, at Madame Desvignes'."
Thus did Rose rattle22 on, exulting23 over the scheme she had devised. She danced, sang, clapped her hands, and finally exclaimed: "Ah! for a pretty cortege this will be fine indeed."
She was animated24 by such joyous25 haste that she made the party start much sooner than was necessary, and they reached Janville at half-past nine. It was true, however, that they had to call for the others there. The house in which Madame Desvignes had taken refuge after her husband's death, and which she had now occupied for some twelve years, living there in a very quiet retired26 way on the scanty27 income she had managed to save, was the first in the village, on the high road. For a week past her elder daughter Charlotte, Blaise's wife, had come to stay there with her children, Berthe and Christophe, who needed change of air; and on the previous evening they had been joined by Blaise, who was well pleased to spend Sunday with them.
Madame Desvignes' younger daughter, Marthe, was delighted whenever her sister thus came to spend a few weeks in the old home, bringing her little ones with her, and once more occupying the room which had belonged to her in her girlish days. All the laughter and playfulness of the past came back again, and the one dream of worthy28 Madame Desvignes, amid her pride at being a grandmamma, was of completing her life-work, hitherto so prudently29 carried on, by marrying off Marthe in her turn. As a matter of fact it had seemed likely that there might be three instead of two weddings at Chantebled that spring. Denis, who, since leaving a scientific school had embarked31 in fresh technical studies, often slept at the farm and nearly every Sunday he saw Marthe, who was of the same age as Rose and her constant companion. The young girl, a pretty blonde like her sister Charlotte, but of a less impulsive32 and more practical nature, had indeed attracted Denis, and, dowerless though she was, he had made up his mind to marry her, since he had discovered that she possessed33 the sterling34 qualities that help one on to fortune. But in their chats together both evinced good sense and serene35 confidence, without sign of undue36 haste. Particularly was this the case with Denis, who was very methodical in his ways and unwilling37 to place a woman's happiness in question until he could offer her an assured position. Thus, of their own accord, they had postponed38 their marriage, quietly and smilingly resisting the passionate assaults of Rose, whom the idea of three weddings on the same day had greatly excited. At the same time, Denis continued visiting Madame Desvignes, who, on her side, equally prudent30 and confident, received him much as if he were her son. That morning he had even quitted the farm at seven o'clock, saying that he meant to surprise Blaise in bed; and thus he also was to be met at Janville.
As it happened, the fete of Janville fell on Sunday, the second in May. Encompassing39 the square in front of the railway station were roundabouts, booths, shooting galleries, and refreshment41 stalls. Stormy showers during the night had cleansed42 the sky, which was of a pure blue, with a flaming sun, whose heat in fact was excessive for the season. A good many people were already assembled on the square--all the idlers of the district, bands of children, and peasants of the surrounding country, eager to see the sights; and into the midst of this crowd fell the Froments--first the bicyclists, next the wagon, and then the others who had been met at the entry of the village.
"We are producing our little effect!" exclaimed Rose as she sprang from her wheel.
This was incontestable. During the earlier years the whole of Janville had looked harshly on those Froments, those bourgeois43 who had come nobody knew whence, and who, with overweening conceit44, had talked of making corn grow in land where there had been nothing but crops of stones for centuries past. Then the miracle, Mathieu's extraordinary victory, had long hurt people's vanity and thereby45 increased their anger. But everything passes away; one cannot regard success with rancor46, and folks who grow rich always end by being in the right. Thus, nowadays, Janville smiled complacently47 on that swarming48 family which had grown up beside it, forgetting that in former times each fresh birth at Chantebled had been regarded as quite scandalous by the gossips. Besides, how could one resist such a happy display of strength and power, such a merry invasion, when, as on that festive49 Sunday, the whole family came up at a gallop50, conquering the roads, the streets, and the squares? What with the father and mother, the eleven children--six boys and five girls--and two grandchildren already, there were fifteen of them. The eldest51 boys, the twins, were now four-and twenty, and still so much alike that people occasionally mistook one for the other as in their cradle days, when Marianne had been obliged to open their eyes to identify them, those of Blaise being gray, and those of Denis black. Nicolas, the youngest boy, at the other end of the family scale, was as yet but five years old; a delightful52 little urchin53 was he, a precocious54 little man whose energy and courage were quite amusing. And between the twins and that youngster came the eight other children: Ambroise, the future husband, who was already on the road to every conquest; Rose, so brimful of life; who likewise was on the eve of marrying; Gervais, with his square brow and wrestler's limbs, who would soon be fighting the good fight of agriculture; Claire, who was silent and hardworking, and lacked beauty, but possessed a strong heart and a housewife's sensible head. Next Gregoire, the undisciplined, self-willed schoolboy, who was ever beating the hedges in search of adventures; and then the three last girls: Louise, plump and good natured; Madeleine, delicate and of dreamy mind; Marguerite, the least pretty but the most loving of the trio. And when, behind their father and their mother, the eleven came along one after the other, followed too by Berthe and Christophe, representing yet another generation, it was a real procession that one saw, as, for instance, on that fine Sunday on the Grand Place of Janville, already crowded with holiday-making folks. And the effect was irresistible55; even those who were scarcely pleased with the prodigious56 success of Chantebled felt enlivened and amused at seeing the Froments galloping57 about and invading the place. So much health and mirth and strength accompanied them, as if earth with her overflowing gifts of life had thus profusely58 created them for to-morrow's everlasting59 hopes.
"Let those who think themselves more numerous come forward!" Rose resumed gayly. "And then we will count one another."
"Come, be quiet!" said her mother, who, after alighting from the wagon, had set Nicolas on the ground. "You will end by making people hoot40 us."
"Hoot us! Why, they admire us: just look at them! How funny it is, mamma, that you are not prouder of yourself and of us!"
They all began to laugh. And Mathieu, standing61 near Marianne, likewise felt proud at finding himself, as he put it, among "the sacred battalion62" of his sons and daughters. To that battalion worthy Madame Desvignes herself belonged, since her daughter Charlotte was adding soldiers to it and helping63 it to become an army. Such as it was indeed, this was only the beginning; later on the battalion would be seen ever increasing and multiplying, becoming a swarming victorious64 race, great-grandchildren following grandchildren, till there were fifty of them, and a hundred, and two hundred, all tending to increase the happiness and beauty of the world. And in the mingled65 amazement66 and amusement of Janville gathered around that fruitful family there was certainly some of the instinctive67 admiration68 which is felt for the strength and the healthfulness which create great nations.
"Besides, we have only friends now," remarked Mathieu. "Everybody is cordial with us!"
"Oh, everybody!" muttered Rose. "Just look at the Lepailleurs yonder, in front of that booth."
The Lepailleurs were indeed there--the father, the mother, Antonin, and Therese. In order to avoid the Froments they were pretending to take great interest in a booth, where a number of crudely-colored china ornaments70 were displayed as prizes for the winners at a "lucky-wheel." They no longer even exchanged courtesies with the Chantebled folks; for in their impotent rage at such ceaseless prosperity they had availed themselves of a petty business dispute to break off all relations. Lepailleur regarded the creation of Chantebled as a personal insult, for he had not forgotten his jeers72 and challenges with respect to those moorlands, from which, in his opinion, one would never reap anything but stones. And thus, when he had well examined the china ornaments, it occurred to him to be insolent73, with which object he turned round and stared at the Froments, who, as the train they were expecting would not arrive for another quarter of an hour, were gayly promenading74 through the fair.
The miller75's bad temper had for the last two months been increased by the return of his son Antonin to Janville under very deplorable circumstances. This young fellow, who had set off one morning to conquer Paris, sent there by his parents, who had a blind confidence in his fine handwriting, had remained with Maitre Rousselet the attorney for four years as a petty clerk, dull-witted and extremely idle. He had not made the slightest progress in his profession, but had gradually sunk into debauchery, cafe-life, drunkenness, gambling76, and facile amours. To him the conquest of Paris meant greedy indulgence in the coarsest pleasures such as he had dreamt of in his village. It consumed all his money, all the supplies which he extracted from his mother by continual promises of victory, in which she implicitly77 believed, so great was her faith in him. But he ended by grievously suffering in health, turned thin and yellow, and actually began to lose his hair at three-and-twenty, so that his mother, full of alarm, brought him home one day, declaring that he worked too hard, and that she would not allow him to kill himself in that fashion. It leaked out, however, later on, that Maitre Rousselet had summarily dismissed him. Even before this was known his return home did not fail to make his father growl78. The miller partially79 guessed the truth, and if he did not openly vent19 his anger, it was solely80 from pride, in order that he might not have to confess his mistake with respect to the brilliant career which he had predicted for Antonin. At home, when the doors were closed, Lepailleur revenged himself on his wife, picking the most frightful81 quarrels with her since he had discovered her frequent remittances82 of money to their son. But she held her own against him, for even as she had formerly83 admired him, so at present she admired her boy. She sacrificed, as it were, the father to the son, now that the latter's greater learning brought her increased surprise. And so the household was all disagreement as a result of that foolish attempt, born of vanity, to make their heir a Monsieur, a Parisian. Antonin for his part sneered85 and shrugged86 his shoulders at it all, idling away his time pending87 the day when he might be able to resume a life of profligacy88.
When the Froments passed by, it was a fine sight to see the Lepailleurs standing there stiffly and devouring89 them with their eyes. The father puckered90 his lips in an attempt to sneer84, and the mother jerked her head with an air of bravado91. The son, standing there with his hands in his pockets, presented a sorry sight with his bent92 back, his bald head, and pale face. All three were seeking to devise something disagreeable when an opportunity presented itself.
"Why, where is Therese?" exclaimed La Lepailleur. "She was here just now: what has become of her? I won't have her leave me when there are all these people about!"
It was quite true, for the last moment Therese had disappeared. She was now ten years old and very pretty, quite a plump little blonde, with wild hair and black eyes which shone brightly. But she had a terribly impulsive and wilful93 nature, and would run off and disappear for hours at a time, beating the hedges and scouring the countryside in search of birds'-nests and flowers and wild fruit. If her mother, however, made such a display of alarm, darting94 hither and thither95 to find her, just as the Froments passed by, it was because she had become aware of some scandalous proceedings97 during the previous week. Therese's ardent98 dream was to possess a bicycle, and she desired one the more since her parents stubbornly refused to content her, declaring in fact that those machines might do for bourgeois but were certainly not fit for well-behaved girls. Well, one afternoon, when she had gone as usual into the fields, her mother, returning from market, had perceived her on a deserted99 strip of road, in company with little Gregoire Froment, another young wanderer whom she often met in this wise, in spots known only to themselves. The two made a very suitable pair, and were ever larking100 and rambling101 along the paths, under the leaves, beside the ditches. But the abominable102 thing was that, on this occasion, Gregoire, having seated Therese on his own bicycle, was supporting her at the waist and running alongside, helping her to direct the machine. Briefly103 it was a real bicycle lesson which the little rascal104 was giving, and which the little hussy took with all the pleasure in the world. When Therese returned home that evening she had her ears soundly boxed for her pains.
"Where can that little gadabout have got to?" La Lepailleur continued shouting. "One can no sooner take one's eyes off her than she runs away."
Antonin, however, having peeped behind the booth containing the china ornaments, lurched back again, still with his hands in his pockets, and said with his vicious sneer: "Just look there, you'll see something."
And indeed, behind the booth, his mother again found Therese and Gregoire together. The lad was holding his bicycle with one hand and explaining some of the mechanism105 of it, while the girl, full of admiration and covetousness106, looked on with glowing eyes. Indeed she could not resist her inclination107, but laughingly let Gregoire raise her in order to seat her for a moment on the saddle, when all at once her mother's terrible voice burst forth108: "You wicked hussy! what are you up to there again? Just come back at once, or I'll settle your business for you."
Then Mathieu also, catching109 sight of the scene, sternly summoned Gregoire: "Please to place your wheel with the others. You know what I have already said to you, so don't begin again."
It was war. Lepailleur impudently110 growled111 ignoble112 threats, which fortunately were lost amid the strains of a barrel organ. And the two families separated, going off in different directions through the growing holiday-making crowd.
"Won't that train ever come, then?" resumed Rose, who with joyous impatience113 was at every moment turning to glance at the clock of the little railway station on the other side of the square. "We have still ten minutes to wait: whatever shall we do?"
As it happened she had stopped in front of a hawker who stood on the footway with a basketful of crawfish, crawling, pell-mell, at his feet. They had certainly come from the sources of the Yeuse, three leagues away. They were not large, but they were very tasty, for Rose herself had occasionally caught some in the stream. And thus a greedy but also playful fancy came to her.
"Oh, mamma!" she cried, "let us buy the whole basketful. It will be for the feast of welcome, you see; it will be our present to the royal couple we are awaiting. People won't say that Our Majesties114 neglect to do things properly when they are expecting other Majesties. And I will cook them when we get back, and you'll see how well I shall succeed."
At this the others began to poke115 fun at her, but her parents ended by doing as she asked, big child as she was, who in the fulness of her happiness hardly knew what amusement to seek. However, as by way of pastime she obstinately116 sought to count the crawfish, quite an affair ensued: some of them pinched her, and she dropped them with a little shriek117; and, amid it all, the basket fell over and then the crawfish hurriedly crawled away. The boys and girls darted118 in pursuit of them, there was quite a hunt, in which even the serious members of the family at last took part. And what with the laughter and eagerness of one and all, the big as well as the little, the whole happy brood, the sight was so droll119 and gay that the folks of Janville again drew near and good-naturedly took their share of the amusement.
"Ah, good Heavens! here they are!" cried Rose, quite scared; "quick, quick, or the reception will be missed."
A scramble121 ensued, the owner of the crawfish was paid, and there was just time to shut the basket and carry it to the wagon. The whole family was already running off, invading the little station, and ranging itself in good order along the arrival platform.
"No, no, not like that," Rose repeated. "You don't observe the right order of precedence. The queen mother must be with the king her husband, and then the princes according to their height. Frederic must place himself on my right. And it's for me, you know, to make the speech of welcome."
The train stopped. When Ambroise and Andree alighted they were at first much surprised to find that everybody had come to meet them, drawn up in a row with solemn mien122. When Rose, however began to deliver a pompous123 little speech, treating her brother's betrothed like some foreign princess, whom she had orders to welcome in the name of the king, her father, the young couple began to laugh, and even prolonged the joke by responding in the same style. The railway men looked on and listened, gaping124. It was a fine farce125, and the Froments were delighted at showing themselves so playful on that warm May morning.
But Marianne suddenly raised an exclamation126 of surprise: "What! has not Madame Seguin come with you? She gave me so many promises that she would."
In the rear of Ambroise and Andree Celeste the maid had alone alighted from the train. And she undertook to explain things: "Madame charged me," said she, "to say that she was really most grieved. Yesterday she still hoped that she would be able to keep her promise. Only in the evening she received a visit from Monsieur de Navarede, who is presiding to-day, Sunday, at a meeting of his Society, and of course Madame could not do otherwise than attend it. So she requested me to accompany the young people, and everything is satisfactory, for here they are, you see."
As a matter of fact nobody regretted the absence of Valentine, who always moped when she came into the country. And Mathieu expressed the general opinion in a few words of polite regret: "Well, you must tell her how much we shall miss her. And now let us be off."
Celeste, however, intervened once more. "Excuse me, monsieur, but I cannot remain with you. No. Madame particularly told me to go back to her at once, as she will need me to dress her. And, besides, she is always bored when she is alone. There is a train for Paris at a quarter past ten, is there not? I will go back by it. Then I will be here at eight o'clock this evening to take Mademoiselle home. We settled all that in looking through a time-table. Till this evening, monsieur."
"Till this evening, then, it's understood."
Thereupon, leaving the maid in the deserted little station, all the others returned to the village square, where the wagon and the bicycles were waiting.
"Now we are all assembled," exclaimed Rose, "and the real fete is about to begin. Let me organize the procession for our triumphal return to the castle of our ancestors."
"I am very much afraid that your procession will be soaked," said Marianne. "Just look at the rain approaching!"
During the last few moments there had appeared in the hitherto spotless sky a huge, livid cloud, rising from the west and urged along by a sudden squall. It presaged127 a return of the violent stormy showers of the previous night.
"Rain! Oh, we don't care about that," the girl responded with an air of superb defiance128. "It will never dare to come down before we get home."
Then, with a comical semblance129 of authority, she disposed her people in the order which she had planned in her mind a week previously. And the procession set off through the admiring village, amid the smiles of all the good women hastening to their doorsteps, and then spread out along the white road between the fertile fields, where bands of startled larks130 took wing, carrying their clear song to the heavens. It was really magnificent.
At the head of the party were Rose and Frederic, side by side on their bicycles, opening the nuptial131 march with majestic132 amplitude133. Behind them followed the three maids of honor, the younger sisters, Louise, Madeleine, and Marguerite, the tallest first, the shortest last, and each on a wheel proportioned to her growth. And with berets* on their heads, and their hair down their backs, waving in the breeze, they looked adorable, suggesting a flight of messenger swallows skimming over the ground and bearing good tidings onward134. As for Gregoire the page, restive135 and always ready to bolt, he did not behave very well; for he actually tried to pass the royal couple at the head of the procession, a proceeding96 which brought him various severe admonitions until he fell back, as duty demanded, to his deferential136 and modest post. On the other hand, as the three maids of honor began to sing the ballad137 of Cinderella on her way to the palace of Prince Charming, the royal couple condescendingly declared that the song was appropriate and of pleasing effect, whatever might be the requirements of etiquette138. Indeed, Rose, Frederic, and Gregoire also ended by singing the ballad, which rang out amid the serene, far-spreading countryside like the finest music in the world.
* The beret is the Pyreneean tam-o'-shanter.
Then, at a short distance in the rear, came the chariot, the good old family wagon, which was now crowded. According to the prearranged programme it was Gervais who held the ribbons, with Claire beside him. The two strong horses trotted139 on in their usual leisurely140 fashion, in spite of all the gay whip-cracking of their driver, who also wished to contribute to the music. Inside there were now seven people for six places, for if the three children were small, they were at the same time so restless that they fully141 took up their share of room. First, face to face, there were Ambroise and Andree, the betrothed couple who were being honored by this glorious welcome. Then, also face to face, there were the high and mighty rulers of the region, Mathieu and Marianne, the latter of whom kept little Nicolas, the last prince of the line, on her knees, he braying142 the while like a little donkey, because he felt so pleased. Then the last places were occupied by the rulers' granddaughter and grandson, Mademoiselle Berthe and Monsieur Christophe, who were as yet unable to walk long distances. And the chariot rolled on with much majesty143, albeit144 that for fear of the rain the curtains of stout145 white linen146 had already been half-drawn, thus giving the vehicle, at a distance, somewhat of the aspect of a miller's van.
Further back yet, as a sort of rear-guard, was a group on foot, composed of Blaise, Denis, Madame Desvignes, and her daughters Charlotte and Marthe. They had absolutely refused to take a fly, finding it more pleasant to walk the mile and a half which separated Chantebled from Janville. If the rain should fall, they would manage to find shelter somewhere. Besides, Rose had declared that a suite147 on foot was absolutely necessary to give the procession its full significance. Those five last comers would represent the multitude, the great concourse of people which follows sovereigns and acclaims148 them. Or else they might be the necessary guard, the men-at-arms, who watched for the purpose of foiling a possible attack from some felon149 neighbor. At the same time it unfortunately happened that worthy Madame Desvignes could not walk very fast, so that the rear-guard was soon distanced, to such a degree indeed that it became merely a little lost group, far away.
Still this did not disconcert Rose, but rather made her laugh the more. At the first bend of the road she turned her head, and when she saw her rear-guard more than three hundred yards away she raised cries of admiration. "Oh! just look, Frederic! What an interminable procession! What a deal of room we take up! The cortege is becoming longer and longer, and the road won't be long enough for it very soon."
Then, as the three maids of honor and the page began to jeer71 impertinently, "just try to be respectful," she said. "Count a little. There are six of us forming the vanguard. In the chariot there are nine, and six and nine make fifteen. Add to them the five of the rear-guard, and we have twenty. Wherever else is such a family seen? Why, the rabbits who watch us pass are mute with stupor150 and humiliation151."
Then came another laugh, and once more they all took up the song of Cinderella on her way to the palace of Prince Charming.
It was at the bridge over the Yeuse that the first drops of rain, big drops they were, began to fall. The big livid cloud, urged on by a terrible wind, was galloping across the sky, filling it with the clamor of a tempest. And almost immediately afterwards the rain-drops increased in volume and in number, lashed152 by so violent a squall that the water poured down as if by the bucketful, or as if some huge sluice-gate had suddenly burst asunder153 overhead. One could no longer see twenty yards before one. In two minutes the road was running with water like the bed of a torrent154.
Then there was a _sauve-qui-peut_ among the procession. It was learnt later on that the people of the rear-guard had luckily been surprised near a peasant's cottage, in which they had quietly sought refuge. Then the folks in the wagon simply drew their curtains, and halted beneath the shelter of a wayside tree for fear lest the horses should take fright under such a downpour. They called to the bicyclists ahead of them to stop also, instead of obstinately remaining in such a deluge155. But their words were lost amid the rush of water. However, the little girls and the page took a proper course in crouching156 beside a thick hedge, though the betrothed couple wildly continued on their way.
Frederic, the more reasonable of the two, certainly had sense enough to say: "This isn't prudent on our part. Let us stop like the others, I beg you."
But from Rose, all excitement, transported by her blissful fever, and insensible, so it seemed, to the pelting157 of the rain, he only drew this answer: "Pooh! what does it matter, now that we are soaking? It is by stopping that we might do ourselves harm. Let us make haste, all haste. In three minutes we shall be at home and able to make fine sport of those laggards158 when they arrive in another quarter of an hour."
They had just crossed the Yeuse bridge, and they swept on side by side, although the road was far from easy, being a continual ascent159 for a thousand yards or so between rows of lofty poplars.
"I assure you that we are doing wrong," the young man repeated. "They will blame me, and they will be right."
"Oh! well," cried she, "I'm amusing myself. This bicycle bath is quite funny. Leave me, then, if you don't love me enough to follow me."
He followed her, however, pressed close beside her, and sought to shelter her a little from the slanting160 rain. And it was a wild, mad race on the part of that young couple, almost linked together, their elbows touching161 as they sped on and on, as if lifted from the ground, carried off by all that rushing, howling water which poured down so ragefully. It was as though a thunder-blast bore them along. But at the very moment when they sprang from their bicycles in the yard of the farm the rain ceased, and the sky became blue once more.
Rose was laughing like a lunatic, and looked very flushed, but she was soaked to such a point that water streamed from her clothes, her hair, her hands. You might have taken her for some fairy of the springs who had overturned her urn12 on herself.
"Well, the fete is complete," she exclaimed breathlessly. "All the same, we are the first home."
She then darted upstairs to comb her hair and change her gown. But to gain just a few minutes, eager as she was to cook the crawfish, she did not take the trouble to put on dry linen. She wished the pot to be on the fire with the water, the white wine, the carrots and spices, before the family arrived. And she came and went, attending to the fire and filling the whole kitchen with her gay activity, like a good housewife who was glad to display her accomplishments162, while her betrothed, who had also come downstairs again after changing his clothes, watched her with a kind of religious admiration.
At last, when the whole family had arrived, the folks of the brake and the pedestrians163 also, there came a rather sharp explanation. Mathieu and Marianne were angry, so greatly had they been alarmed by that rush through the storm.
"There was no sense in it, my girl," Marianne repeated. "Did you at least change your linen?"
"Why yes, why yes!" replied Rose. "Where are the crawfish?"
Mathieu meantime was lecturing Frederic. "You might have broken your necks," said he; "and, besides, it is by no means good to get soaked with cold water when one is hot. You ought to have stopped her."
"Well, she insisted on going on, and whenever she insists on anything, you know, I haven't the strength to prevent her."
At last Rose, in her pretty way, put an end to the reproaches. "Come, that's enough scolding; I did wrong, no doubt. But won't anybody compliment me on my _court-bouillon_? Have you ever known crawfish to smell as nice as that?"
The lunch was wonderfully gay. As they were twenty, and wished to have a real rehearsal of the wedding feast, the table had been set in a large gallery adjoining the ordinary dining-room. This gallery was still bare, but throughout the meal they talked incessantly164 of how they would embellish165 it with shrubs166, garlands of foliage167, and clumps168 of flowers. During the dessert they even sent for a ladder with the view of indicating on the walls the main lines of the decorations.
For a moment or so Rose, previously so talkative, had lapsed169 into silence. She had eaten heartily, but all the color had left her face, which had assumed a waxy170 pallor under her heavy hair, which was still damp. And when she wished to ascend171 the ladder herself to indicate how some ornament69 should be placed, her legs suddenly failed her, she staggered, and then fainted away.
Everybody was in consternation172, but she was promptly173 placed in a chair, where for a few minutes longer she remained unconscious. Then, on coming to her senses, she remained for a moment silent, oppressed as by a feeling of pain, and apparently174 failing to understand what had taken place. Mathieu and Marianne, terribly upset, pressed her with questions, anxious as they were to know if she felt better. She had evidently caught cold, and this was the fine result of her foolish ride.
By degrees the girl recovered her composure, and again smiled. She then explained that she now felt no pain, but that it had suddenly seemed to her as if a heavy paving-stone were lying on her chest; then this weight had melted away, leaving her better able to breathe. And, indeed, she was soon on her feet once more, and finished giving her views respecting the decoration of the gallery, in such wise that the others ended by feeling reassured175, and the afternoon passed away joyously176 in the making of all sorts of splendid plans. Little was eaten at dinner, for they had done too much honor to the crawfish at noon. And at nine o'clock, as soon as Celeste arrived for Andree, the gathering177 broke up. Ambroise was returning to Paris that same evening. Blaise and Denis were to take the seven o'clock train the following morning. And Rose, after accompanying Madame Desvignes and her daughters to the road, called to them through the darkness: "Au revoir, come back soon." She was again full of gayety at the thought of the general rendezvous178 which the family had arranged for the approaching weddings.
Neither Mathieu nor Marianne went to bed at once, however. Though they did not even speak of it together, they thought that Rose looked very strange, as if, indeed, she were intoxicated179. She had again staggered on returning to the house, and though she only complained of some slight oppression, they prevailed on her to go to bed. After she had retired to her room, which adjoined their own, Marianne went several times to see if she were well wrapped up and were sleeping peacefully, while Mathieu remained anxiously thoughtful beside the lamp. At last the girl fell asleep, and the parents, leaving the door of communication open, then exchanged a few words in an undertone, in their desire to tranquillize each other. It would surely be nothing; a good night's rest would suffice to restore Rose to her wonted health. Then in their turn they went to bed, the whole farm lapsed into silence, surrendering itself to slumber182 until the first cockcrow. But all at once, about four o'clock, shortly before daybreak, a stifled183 call, "Mamma! mamma!" awoke both Mathieu and Marianne, and they sprang out of bed, barefooted, shivering, and groping for the candle. Rose was again stifling184, struggling against another attack of extreme violence. For the second time, however, she soon regained185 consciousness and appeared relieved, and thus the parents, great as was their distress186, preferred to summon nobody but to wait till daylight. Their alarm was caused particularly by the great change they noticed in their daughter's appearance; her face was swollen187 and distorted, as if some evil power had transformed her in the night. But she fell asleep again, in a state of great prostration188; and they no longer stirred for fear of disturbing her slumber. They remained there watching and waiting, listening to the revival189 of life in the farm around them as the daylight gradually increased. Time went by; five and then six o'clock struck. And at about twenty minutes to seven Mathieu, on looking into the yard, and there catching sight of Denis, who was to return to Paris by the seven o'clock train, hastened down to tell him to call upon Boutan and beg the doctor to come at once. Then, as soon as his son had started, he rejoined Marianne upstairs, still unwilling to call or warn anybody. But a third attack followed, and this time it was the thunderbolt.
Rose had half risen in bed, her arms thrown out, her mouth distended190 as she gasped191 "Mamma! mamma!"
Then in a sudden fit of revolt, a last flash of life, she sprang from her bed and stepped towards the window, whose panes192 were all aglow193 with the rising sun. And for a moment she leant there, her legs bare, her shoulders bare, and her heavy hair falling over her like a royal mantle194. Never had she looked more beautiful, more dazzling, full of strength and love.
But she murmured: "Oh! how I suffer! It is all over, I am going to die."
Her father darted towards her; her mother sustained her, throwing her arms around her like invincible195 armor which would shield her from all harm.
"Don't talk like that, you unhappy girl! It is nothing; it is only another attack which will pass away. Get into bed again, for mercy's sake. Your old friend Boutan is on his way here. You will be up and well again to-morrow."
"No, no, I am going to die; it is all over."
She fell back in their arms; they only had time to lay her on her bed. And the thunderbolt fell: without a word, without a glance, in a few minutes she died of congestion196 of the lungs.
Ah! the imbecile thunderbolt! Ah! the scythe197, which with a single stroke blindly cuts down a whole springtide! It was all so brutally198 sudden, so utterly199 unexpected, that at first the stupefaction of Marianne and Mathieu was greater than their despair. In response to their cries the whole farm hastened up, the fearful news filled the place, and then all sank into the deep silence of death--all work, all life ceasing. And the other children were there, scared and overcome: little Nicolas, who did not yet understand things; Gregoire, the page of the previous day; Louise, Madeleine, and Marguerite, the three maids of honor, and their elders, Claire and Gervais, who felt the blow more deeply. And there were yet the others journeying away, Blaise, Denis, and Ambroise, travelling to Paris at that very moment, in ignorance of the unforeseen, frightful hatchet-stroke which had fallen on the family. Where would the terrible tidings reach them? In what cruel distress would they return! And the doctor who would soon arrive too! But all at once, amid the terror and confusion, there rang out the cries of Frederic, the poor dead girl's affianced lover. He shrieked200 his despair aloud, he was half mad, he wished to kill himself, saying that he was the murderer and that he ought to have prevented Rose from so rashly riding home through the storm! He had to be led away and watched for fear of some fresh misfortune. His sudden frenzy201 had gone to every heart; sobs202 burst forth and lamentations arose from the woful parents, from the brothers, the sisters, from the whole of stricken Chantebled, which death thus visited for the first time.
Ah, God! Rose on that bed of mourning, white, cold, and dead! She, the fairest, the gayest, the most loved! She, before whom all the others were ever in admiration--she of whom they were so proud, so fond! And to think that this blow should fall in the midst of hope, bright hope in long life and sterling happiness, but ten days before her wedding, and on the morrow of that day of wild gayety, all jests and laughter! They could again see her, full of life and so adorable with her happy youthful fancies--that princely reception and that royal procession. It had seemed as if those two coming weddings, celebrated203 the same day, would be like the supreme florescence of the family's long happiness and prosperity. Doubtless they had often experienced trouble and had even wept at times, but they had drawn closer together and consoled one another on such occasions; none had ever been cut off from the good-night embraces which healed every sore. And now the best was gone, death had come to say that absolute joy existed for none, that the most valiant204, the happiest; never reaped the fulness of their hopes. There was no life without death. And they paid their share of the debt of human wretchedness, paid it the more dearly since they had made for themselves a larger sum of life. When everything germinates205 and grows around one, when one has determined206 on unreserved fruitfulness; on continuous creation and increase, how awful is the recall to the ever-present dim abyss in which the world is fashioned, on the day when misfortune falls, digs its first pit, and carries off a loved one! It is like a sudden snapping, a rending207 of the hopes which seemed to be endless, and a feeling of stupefaction comes at the discovery that one cannot live and love forever!
Ah! how terrible were the two days that followed: the farm itself lifeless, without sound save that of the breathing of the cattle, the whole family gathered together, overcome by the cruel spell of waiting, ever in tears while the poor corpse208 remained there under a harvest of flowers. And there was this cruel aggravation209, that on the eve of the funeral, when the body had been laid in the coffin210, it was brought down into that gallery where they had lunched so merrily while discussing how magnificently they might decorate it for the two weddings. It was there that the last funeral watch, the last wake, took place, and there were no evergreen211 shrubs, no garlands of foliage, merely four tapers212 which burnt there amid a wealth of white roses gathered in the morning, but already fading. Neither the mother nor the father was willing to go to bed that night. They remained, side by side, near the child whom mother-earth was taking back from them. They could see her quite little again, but sixteen months old, at the time of their first sojourn213 at Chantebled in the old tumbledown shooting-box, when she had just been weaned and they were wont180 to go and cover her up at nighttime. They saw her also, later on, in Paris, hastening to them in the morning, climbing up and pulling their bed to pieces with triumphant214 laughter. And they saw her yet more clearly, growing and becoming more beautiful even as Chantebled did, as if, indeed, she herself bloomed with all the health and beauty of that now fruitful land. Yet she was no more, and whenever the thought returned to them that they would never see her again, their hands sought one another, met in a woful clasp, while from their crushed and mingling215 hearts it seemed as if all life, all future, were flowing away to nihility. Now that a breach216 had been made, would not every other happiness be carried off in turn? And though the ten other children were there, from the little one five years old to the twins who were four-and-twenty, all clad in black, all gathered in tears around their sleeping sister, like a sorrow-stricken battalion rendering181 funeral honors, neither the father nor the mother saw or counted them: their hearts were rent by the loss of the daughter who had departed, carrying away with her some of their own flesh. And in that long bare gallery which the four candles scarcely lighted, the dawn at last arose upon that death watch, that last leave-taking.
Then grief again came with the funeral procession, which spread out along the white road between the lofty poplars and the green corn, that road over which Rose had galloped217 so madly through the storm. All the relations of the Froments, all their friends, all the district, had come to pay a tribute of emotion at so sudden and swift a death. Thus, this time, the cortege did stretch far away behind the hearse, draped with white and blooming with white roses in the bright sunshine. The whole family was present; the mother and the sisters had declared that they would only quit their loved one when she had been lowered into her last resting-place. And after the family came the friends, the Beauchenes, the Seguins, and others. But Mathieu and Marianne, worn out, overcome by suffering, no longer recognized people amid their tears. They only remembered on the morrow that they must have seen Morange, if indeed it were really Morange--that silent, unobtrusive, almost shadowy gentleman, who had wept while pressing their hands. And in like fashion Mathieu fancied that, in some horrible dream, he had seen Constance's spare figure and bony profile drawing near to him in the cemetery218 after the coffin had been lowered into the grave, and addressing vague words of consolation219 to him, though he fancied that her eyes flashed the while as if with abominable exultation220.
What was it that she had said? He no longer knew. Of course her words must have been appropriate, even as her demeanor221 was that of a mourning relative. But a memory returned to him, that of other words which she had spoken when promising222 to attend the two weddings. She had then in bitter fashion expressed a wish that the good fortune of Chantebled might continue. But they, the Froments, so fruitful and so prosperous, were now stricken in their turn, and their good fortune had perhaps departed forever! Mathieu shuddered223; his faith in the future was shaken; he was haunted by a fear of seeing prosperity and fruitfulness vanish, now that there was that open breach.
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1
supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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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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3
rehearsal
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| n.排练，排演；练习 | |
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4
hearty
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| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
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enraptured
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| v.使狂喜( enrapture的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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gilded
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| a.镀金的，富有的 | |
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dispositions
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| 安排( disposition的名词复数 )； 倾向； （财产、金钱的）处置； 气质 | |
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heartily
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| adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很 | |
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teeming
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| adj.丰富的v.充满( teem的现在分词 )；到处都是；（指水、雨等）暴降；倾注 | |
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10
previously
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| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
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passionate
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
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urn
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| n.（有座脚的）瓮；坟墓；骨灰瓮 | |
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13
expiration
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| n.终结，期满，呼气，呼出物 | |
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14
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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prevailing
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| adj.盛行的；占优势的；主要的 | |
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scouring
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| 擦[洗]净，冲刷，洗涤 | |
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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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wagon
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| n.四轮马车，手推车，面包车；无盖运货列车 | |
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19
vent
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| n.通风口，排放口；开衩；vt.表达，发泄 | |
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remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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rattle
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| v.飞奔，碰响；激怒；n.碰撞声；拨浪鼓 | |
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23
exulting
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| vi. 欢欣鼓舞，狂喜 | |
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animated
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| adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的 | |
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joyous
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| adj.充满快乐的；令人高兴的 | |
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retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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27
scanty
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| adj.缺乏的，仅有的，节省的，狭小的，不够的 | |
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worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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prudently
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| adv. 谨慎地，慎重地 | |
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prudent
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| adj.谨慎的，有远见的，精打细算的 | |
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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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impulsive
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| adj.冲动的，刺激的；有推动力的 | |
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possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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sterling
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| adj.英币的(纯粹的，货真价实的)；n.英国货币(英镑) | |
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35
serene
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| adj. 安详的，宁静的，平静的 | |
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undue
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| adj.过分的；不适当的；未到期的 | |
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unwilling
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| adj.不情愿的 | |
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postponed
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| vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发） | |
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encompassing
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| v.围绕( encompass的现在分词 )；包围；包含；包括 | |
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40
hoot
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| n.鸟叫声，汽车的喇叭声； v.使汽车鸣喇叭 | |
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41
refreshment
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| n.恢复，精神爽快，提神之事物；（复数）refreshments:点心，茶点 | |
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cleansed
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| 弄干净，清洗( cleanse的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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bourgeois
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| adj./n.追求物质享受的(人)；中产阶级分子 | |
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44
conceit
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| n.自负，自高自大 | |
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45
thereby
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| adv.因此，从而 | |
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rancor
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| n.深仇，积怨 | |
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47
complacently
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| adv. 满足地, 自满地, 沾沾自喜地 | |
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48
swarming
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| 密集( swarm的现在分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去 | |
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49
festive
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| adj.欢宴的，节日的 | |
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50
gallop
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| v./n.(马或骑马等)飞奔；飞速发展 | |
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51
eldest
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| adj.最年长的，最年老的 | |
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52
delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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53
urchin
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| n.顽童；海胆 | |
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54
precocious
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| adj.早熟的；较早显出的 | |
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55
irresistible
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| adj.非常诱人的，无法拒绝的，无法抗拒的 | |
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56
prodigious
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| adj.惊人的，奇妙的；异常的；巨大的；庞大的 | |
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57
galloping
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| adj. 飞驰的, 急性的 动词gallop的现在分词形式 | |
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58
profusely
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| ad.abundantly | |
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59
everlasting
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| adj.永恒的，持久的，无止境的 | |
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60
humiliate
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| v.使羞辱，使丢脸[同]disgrace | |
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61
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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62
battalion
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| n.营；部队；大队(的人) | |
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63
helping
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| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
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64
victorious
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| adj.胜利的，得胜的 | |
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65
mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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67
instinctive
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| adj.(出于)本能的；直觉的；(出于)天性的 | |
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68
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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69
ornament
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| v.装饰，美化；n.装饰，装饰物 | |
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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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71
jeer
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| vi.嘲弄，揶揄；vt.奚落；n.嘲笑，讥评 | |
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72
jeers
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| n.操纵帆桁下部（使其上下的）索具；嘲讽( jeer的名词复数 )v.嘲笑( jeer的第三人称单数 ) | |
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73
insolent
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| adj.傲慢的，无理的 | |
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74
promenading
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| v.兜风( promenade的现在分词 ) | |
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75
miller
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| n.磨坊主 | |
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76
gambling
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| n.赌博；投机 | |
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77
implicitly
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| adv. 含蓄地, 暗中地, 毫不保留地 | |
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78
growl
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| v.（狗等）嗥叫，（炮等）轰鸣；n.嗥叫，轰鸣 | |
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79
partially
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| adv.部分地，从某些方面讲 | |
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80
solely
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| adv.仅仅，唯一地 | |
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81
frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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82
remittances
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| n.汇寄( remittance的名词复数 )；汇款，汇款额 | |
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83
formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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84
sneer
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| v.轻蔑；嘲笑；n.嘲笑，讥讽的言语 | |
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85
sneered
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| 讥笑，冷笑( sneer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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86
shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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87
pending
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| prep.直到，等待…期间；adj.待定的；迫近的 | |
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88
profligacy
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| n.放荡，不检点，肆意挥霍 | |
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89
devouring
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| 吞没( devour的现在分词 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光 | |
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90
puckered
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| v.（使某物）起褶子或皱纹( pucker的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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91
bravado
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| n.虚张声势，故作勇敢，逞能 | |
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92
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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93
wilful
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| adj.任性的，故意的 | |
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94
darting
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的现在分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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95
thither
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| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
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96
proceeding
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| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
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97
proceedings
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| n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报 | |
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98
ardent
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，强烈的，烈性的 | |
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99
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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100
larking
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| v.百灵科鸟（尤指云雀）( lark的现在分词 )；一大早就起床；鸡鸣即起；（因太费力而不想干时说）算了 | |
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101
rambling
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| adj.[建]凌乱的，杂乱的 | |
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102
abominable
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| adj.可厌的，令人憎恶的 | |
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103
briefly
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| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
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104
rascal
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| n.流氓；不诚实的人 | |
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105
mechanism
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| n.机械装置；机构，结构 | |
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106
covetousness
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107
inclination
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| n.倾斜；点头；弯腰；斜坡；倾度；倾向；爱好 | |
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108
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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109
catching
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| adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住 | |
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110
impudently
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111
growled
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| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
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112
ignoble
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| adj.不光彩的，卑鄙的；可耻的 | |
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113
impatience
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| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
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114
majesties
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| n.雄伟( majesty的名词复数 )；庄严；陛下；王权 | |
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115
poke
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| n.刺，戳，袋；vt.拨开，刺，戳；vi.戳，刺，捅，搜索，伸出，行动散慢 | |
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116
obstinately
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| ad.固执地，顽固地 | |
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117
shriek
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| v./n.尖叫，叫喊 | |
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118
darted
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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119
droll
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| adj.古怪的，好笑的 | |
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120
rumble
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| n.隆隆声；吵嚷；v.隆隆响；低沉地说 | |
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121
scramble
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| v.爬行，攀爬，杂乱蔓延，碎片，片段，废料 | |
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122
mien
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| n.风采；态度 | |
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123
pompous
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| adj.傲慢的，自大的；夸大的；豪华的 | |
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124
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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125
farce
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| n.闹剧，笑剧，滑稽戏；胡闹 | |
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126
exclamation
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| n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词 | |
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127
presaged
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| v.预示，预兆( presage的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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128
defiance
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| n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗 | |
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129
semblance
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| n.外貌，外表 | |
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130
larks
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| n.百灵科鸟（尤指云雀）( lark的名词复数 )；一大早就起床；鸡鸣即起；（因太费力而不想干时说）算了v.百灵科鸟（尤指云雀）( lark的第三人称单数 )；一大早就起床；鸡鸣即起；（因太费力而不想干时说）算了 | |
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131
nuptial
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| adj.婚姻的，婚礼的 | |
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132
majestic
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| adj.雄伟的，壮丽的，庄严的，威严的，崇高的 | |
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133
amplitude
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| n.广大；充足；振幅 | |
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134
onward
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| adj.向前的，前进的；adv.向前，前进，在先 | |
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135
restive
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| adj.不安宁的，不安静的 | |
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136
deferential
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| adj. 敬意的，恭敬的 | |
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137
ballad
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| n.歌谣，民谣，流行爱情歌曲 | |
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138
etiquette
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| n.礼仪，礼节；规矩 | |
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139
trotted
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| 小跑，急走( trot的过去分词 )； 匆匆忙忙地走 | |
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140
leisurely
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|
| adj.悠闲的；从容的，慢慢的 | |
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141
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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142
braying
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| v.发出驴叫似的声音( bray的现在分词 )；发嘟嘟声；粗声粗气地讲话（或大笑）；猛击 | |
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143
majesty
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|
| n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权 | |
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144
albeit
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| conj.即使；纵使；虽然 | |
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146
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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147
suite
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| n.一套(家具)；套房；随从人员 | |
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148
acclaims
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| 向…欢呼( acclaim的第三人称单数 )； 向…喝彩； 称赞…； 欢呼或拥戴（某人）为… | |
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149
felon
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| n.重罪犯；adj.残忍的 | |
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150
stupor
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| v.昏迷；不省人事 | |
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151
humiliation
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| n.羞辱 | |
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152
lashed
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| adj.具睫毛的v.鞭打( lash的过去式和过去分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
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153
asunder
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| adj.分离的，化为碎片 | |
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154
torrent
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| n.激流，洪流；爆发，(话语等的)连发 | |
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155
deluge
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| n./vt.洪水，暴雨，使泛滥 | |
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156
crouching
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 ) | |
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157
pelting
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| 微不足道的，无价值的，盛怒的 | |
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158
laggards
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| n.落后者( laggard的名词复数 ) | |
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159
ascent
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| n.(声望或地位)提高；上升，升高；登高 | |
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160
slanting
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| 倾斜的，歪斜的 | |
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161
touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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162
accomplishments
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| n.造诣；完成( accomplishment的名词复数 )；技能；成绩；成就 | |
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163
pedestrians
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| n.步行者( pedestrian的名词复数 ) | |
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164
incessantly
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| ad.不停地 | |
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165
embellish
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| v.装饰，布置；给…添加细节，润饰 | |
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166
shrubs
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| 灌木( shrub的名词复数 ) | |
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167
foliage
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| n.叶子，树叶，簇叶 | |
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168
clumps
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| n.（树、灌木、植物等的）丛、簇( clump的名词复数 )；（土、泥等）团；块；笨重的脚步声v.（树、灌木、植物等的）丛、簇( clump的第三人称单数 )；（土、泥等）团；块；笨重的脚步声 | |
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169
lapsed
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| adj.流失的，堕落的v.退步( lapse的过去式和过去分词 )；陷入；倒退；丧失 | |
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170
waxy
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| adj.苍白的；光滑的 | |
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171
ascend
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| vi.渐渐上升，升高；vt.攀登，登上 | |
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172
consternation
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| n.大为吃惊，惊骇 | |
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173
promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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174
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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175
reassured
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| adj.使消除疑虑的；使放心的v.再保证，恢复信心( reassure的过去式和过去分词) | |
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176
joyously
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| ad.快乐地, 高兴地 | |
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177
gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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178
rendezvous
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| n.约会，约会地点，汇合点；vi.汇合，集合；vt.使汇合，使在汇合地点相遇 | |
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179
intoxicated
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| 喝醉的，极其兴奋的 | |
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180
wont
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| adj.习惯于；v.习惯；n.习惯 | |
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181
rendering
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| n.表现，描写 | |
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182
slumber
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| n.睡眠，沉睡状态 | |
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183
stifled
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| （使）窒息， （使）窒闷( stifle的过去式和过去分词 )； 镇压，遏制； 堵 | |
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184
stifling
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| a.令人窒息的 | |
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185
regained
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| 复得( regain的过去式和过去分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地 | |
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186
distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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187
swollen
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| adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀 | |
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188
prostration
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| n. 平伏, 跪倒, 疲劳 | |
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189
revival
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| n.复兴，复苏，（精力、活力等的）重振 | |
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190
distended
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| v.（使）膨胀，肿胀( distend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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191
gasped
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| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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192
panes
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| 窗玻璃( pane的名词复数 ) | |
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193
aglow
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| adj.发亮的；发红的；adv.发亮地 | |
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194
mantle
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| n.斗篷，覆罩之物，罩子；v.罩住，覆盖，脸红 | |
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195
invincible
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| adj.不可征服的，难以制服的 | |
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196
congestion
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| n.阻塞，消化不良 | |
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197
scythe
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| n. 长柄的大镰刀，战车镰； v. 以大镰刀割 | |
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198
brutally
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| adv.残忍地，野蛮地，冷酷无情地 | |
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199
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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200
shrieked
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|
| v.尖叫( shriek的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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201
frenzy
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| n.疯狂，狂热，极度的激动 | |
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202
sobs
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| 啜泣（声），呜咽（声）( sob的名词复数 ) | |
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203
celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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204
valiant
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| adj.勇敢的，英勇的；n.勇士，勇敢的人 | |
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205
germinates
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| n.（使）发芽( germinate的名词复数 )v.（使）发芽( germinate的第三人称单数 ) | |
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206
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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207
rending
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| v.撕碎( rend的现在分词 )；分裂；（因愤怒、痛苦等而）揪扯（衣服或头发等）；（声音等）刺破 | |
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208
corpse
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| n.尸体，死尸 | |
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209
aggravation
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| n.烦恼，恼火 | |
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210
coffin
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| n.棺材，灵柩 | |
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211
evergreen
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| n.常青树；adj.四季常青的 | |
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212
tapers
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| （长形物体的）逐渐变窄( taper的名词复数 )； 微弱的光； 极细的蜡烛 | |
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213
sojourn
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| v./n.旅居，寄居；逗留 | |
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214
triumphant
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| adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的 | |
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215
mingling
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| adj.混合的 | |
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216
breach
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| n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破 | |
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217
galloped
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| （使马）飞奔，奔驰( gallop的过去式和过去分词 )； 快速做[说]某事 | |
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218
cemetery
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| n.坟墓，墓地，坟场 | |
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219
consolation
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| n.安慰，慰问 | |
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220
exultation
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| n.狂喜，得意 | |
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221
demeanor
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| n.行为；风度 | |
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222
promising
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| adj.有希望的，有前途的 | |
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223
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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