“Why, all delights are vain, but that most vain,
Which, with pain purchased, doth inherit pain:
As painfully to pore upon a book
To seek the light of truth, while truth, the while,
Doth falsely blind the eyesight of his look.”
SHAKESPEARE.
On one of the afternoons which afforded to the students a relaxation1 from their usual labors3, Ellen was attended by her cavalier in a little excursion over the rough bridle4-roads that led from her new residence. She was an experienced equestrian,— a necessary accomplishment5 at that period, when vehicles of every kind were rare. It was now the latter end of spring; but the season had hitherto been backward, with only a few warm and pleasant days. The present afternoon, however, was a delicious mingling6 of spring and summer, forming in their union an atmosphere so mild and pure, that to breathe was almost a positive happiness. There was a little alternation of cloud across the brow of heaven, but only so much as to render the sunshine more delightful7.
The path of the young travellers lay sometimes among tall and thick standing8 trees, and sometimes over naked and desolate9 hills, whence man had taken the natural vegetation, and then left the soil to its barrenness. Indeed, there is little inducement to a cultivator to labor2 among the huge stones which there peep forth10 from the earth, seeming to form a continued ledge11 for several miles. A singular contrast to this unfavored tract12 of country is seen in the narrow but luxuriant, though sometimes swampy13, strip of interval14, on both sides of the stream, that, as has been noticed, flows down the valley. The light and buoyant spirits of Edward Walcott and Ellen rose higher as they rode on; and their way was enlivened, wherever its roughness did not forbid, by their conversation and pleasant laughter. But at length Ellen drew her bridle, as they emerged from a thick portion of the forest, just at the foot of a steep hill.
“We must have ridden far,” she observed,—“farther than I thought. It will be near sunset before we can reach home.”
“There are still several hours of daylight,” replied Edward Walcott; “and we will not turn back without ascending15 this hill. The prospect16 from the summit is beautiful, and will be particularly so now, in this rich sunlight. Come, Ellen,— one light touch of the whip,— your pony17 is as fresh as when we started.”
On reaching the summit of the hill, and looking back in the direction in which they had come, they could see the little stream, peeping forth many times to the daylight, and then shrinking back into the shade. Farther on, it became broad and deep, though rendered incapable18 of navigation, in this part of its course, by the occasional interruption of rapids.
“There are hidden wonders of rock and precipice19 and cave, in that dark forest,” said Edward, pointing to the space between them and the river. “If it were earlier in the day, I should love to lead you there. Shall we try the adventure now, Ellen?”
“Oh no!” she replied. “Let us delay no longer. I fear I must even now abide20 a rebuke21 from Mrs. Melmoth, which I have surely deserved. But who is this, who rides on so slowly before us?”
She pointed22 to a horseman, whom they had not before observed. He was descending23 the hill; but, as his steed seemed to have chosen his own pace, he made a very inconsiderable progress.
“Oh, do you not know him? But it is scarcely possible you should,” exclaimed her companion. “We must do him the good office, Ellen, of stopping his progress, or he will find himself at the village, a dozen miles farther on, before he resumes his consciousness.”
“Has he then lost his senses?” inquired Miss Langton.
“Not so, Ellen,— if much learning has not made him mad,” replied Edward Walcott. “He is a deep scholar and a noble fellow; but I fear we shall follow him to his grave erelong. Dr. Melmoth has sent him to ride in pursuit of his health. He will never overtake it, however, at this pace.”
As he spoke24, they had approached close to the subject of their conversation; and Ellen had a moment’s space for observation before he started from the abstraction in which he was plunged25. The result of her scrutiny26 was favorable, yet very painful.
The stranger could scarcely have attained27 his twentieth year, and was possessed28 of a face and form such as Nature bestows29 on none but her favorites. There was a nobleness on his high forehead, which time would have deepened into majesty30; and all his features were formed with a strength and boldness, of which the paleness, produced by study and confinement31, could not deprive them. The expression of his countenance32 was not a melancholy33 one: on the contrary, it was proud and high, perhaps triumphant34, like one who was a ruler in a world of his own, and independent of the beings that surrounded him. But a blight35, of which his thin pale cheek, and the brightness of his eye, were alike proofs, seemed to have come over him ere his maturity36.
The scholar’s attention was now aroused by the hoof-tramps at his side; and, starting, he fixed37 his eyes on Ellen, whose young and lovely countenance was full of the interest he had excited. A deep blush immediately suffused38 his cheek, proving how well the glow of health would have become it. There was nothing awkward, however, in his manner; and, soon recovering his self-possession, he bowed to her, and would have rode on.
“Your ride is unusually long today, Fanshawe,” observed Edward Walcott. “When may we look for your return?”
The young man again blushed, but answered, with a smile that had a beautiful effect upon his countenance, “I was not, at the moment, aware in which direction my horse’s head was turned. I have to thank you for arresting me in a journey which was likely to prove much longer than I intended.”
The party had now turned their horses, and were about to resume their ride in a homeward direction; but Edward perceived that Fanshawe, having lost the excitement of intense thought, now looked weary and dispirited.
“Here is a cottage close at hand,” he observed. “We have ridden far, and stand in need of refreshment39. Ellen, shall we alight?”
She saw the benevolent40 motive41 of his proposal, and did not hesitate to comply with it. But, as they paused at the cottage door, she could not but observe that its exterior42 promised few of the comforts which they required. Time and neglect seemed to have conspired43 for its ruin; and, but for a thin curl of smoke from its clay chimney, they could not have believed it to be inhabited. A considerable tract of land in the vicinity of the cottage had evidently been, at some former period, under cultivation45, but was now overrun by bushes and dwarf46 pines, among which many huge gray rocks, ineradicable by human art, endeavored to conceal47 themselves. About half an acre of ground was occupied by the young blades of Indian-corn, at which a half-starved cow gazed wistfully over the mouldering48 log-fence. These were the only agricultural tokens. Edward Walcott, nevertheless, drew the latch49 of the cottage door, after knocking loudly but in vain.
The apartment which was thus opened to their view was quite as wretched as its exterior had given them reason to anticipate. Poverty was there, with all its necessary and unnecessary concomitants. The intruders would have retired50 had not the hope of affording relief detained them.
The occupants of the small and squalid apartment were two women, both of them elderly, and, from the resemblance of their features, appearing to be sisters. The expression of their countenances51, however, was very different. One, evidently the younger, was seated on the farther side of the large hearth52, opposite to the door at which the party stood. She had the sallow look of long and wasting illness; and there was an unsteadiness of expression about her eyes, that immediately struck the observer. Yet her face was mild and gentle, therein contrasting widely with that of her companion.
The other woman was bending over a small fire of decayed branches, the flame of which was very disproportionate to the smoke, scarcely producing heat sufficient for the preparation of a scanty53 portion of food. Her profile only was visible to the strangers, though, from a slight motion of her eye, they perceived that she was aware of their presence. Her features were pinched and spare, and wore a look of sullen54 discontent, for which the evident wretchedness of her situation afforded a sufficient reason. This female, notwithstanding her years, and the habitual55 fretfulness (that is more wearing than time), was apparently56 healthy and robust57, with a dry, leathery complexion58. A short space elapsed before she thought proper to turn her face towards her visitors; and she then regarded them with a lowering eye, without speaking, or rising from her chair.
“We entered,” Edward Walcott began to say, “in the hope”— But he paused, on perceiving that the sick woman had risen from her seat, and with slow and tottering59 footsteps was drawing near to him. She took his hand in both her own; and, though he shuddered60 at the touch of age and disease, he did not attempt to withdraw it. She then perused61 all his features, with an expression, at first of eager and hopeful anxiety, which faded by degrees into disappointment. Then, turning from him, she gazed into Fanshawe’s countenance with the like eagerness, but with the same result. Lastly, tottering back to her chair, she hid her face and wept bitterly. The strangers, though they knew not the cause of her grief, were deeply affected62; and Ellen approached the mourner with words of comfort, which, more from their tone than their meaning, produced a transient effect.
“Do you bring news of him?” she inquired, raising her head. “Will he return to me? Shall I see him before I die?” Ellen knew not what to answer; and, ere she could attempt it, the other female prevented her.
“Sister Butler is wandering in her mind,” she said, “and speaks of one she will never behold63 again. The sight of strangers disturbs her, and you see we have nothing here to offer you.”
The manner of the woman was ungracious; but her words were true. They saw that their presence could do nothing towards the alleviation64 of the misery65 they witnessed; and they felt that mere66 curiosity would not authorize67 a longer intrusion. So soon, therefore, as they had relieved, according to their power, the poverty that seemed to be the least evil of this cottage, they emerged into the open air.
The breath of heaven felt sweet to them, and removed a part of the weight from their young hearts, which were saddened by the sight of so much wretchedness. Perceiving a pure and bright little fountain at a short distance from the cottage, they approached it, and, using the bark of a birch-tree as a cup, partook of its cool waters. They then pursued their homeward ride with such diligence, that, just as the sun was setting, they came in sight of the humble68 wooden edifice69 which was dignified70 with the name of Harley College. A golden ray rested upon the spire44 of the little chapel71, the bell of which sent its tinkling72 murmur73 down the valley to summon the wanderers to evening prayers.
Fanshawe returned to his chamber74 that night, and lighted his lamp as he had been wont75 to do. The books were around him which had hitherto been to him like those fabled76 volumes of Magic, from which the reader could not turn away his eye till death were the consequence of his studies. But there were unaccustomed thoughts in his bosom77 now; and to these, leaning his head on one of the unopened volumes, he resigned himself.
He called up in review the years, that, even at his early age, he had spent in solitary78 study, in conversation with the dead, while he had scorned to mingle79 with the living world, or to be actuated by any of its motives80. He asked himself to what purpose was all this destructive labor, and where was the happiness of superior knowledge. He had climbed but a few steps of a ladder that reached to infinity81: he had thrown away his life in discovering, that, after a thousand such lives, he should still know comparatively nothing. He even looked forward with dread82 — though once the thought had been dear to him — to the eternity83 of improvement that lay before him. It seemed now a weary way, without a resting-place and without a termination; and at that moment he would have preferred the dreamless sleep of the brutes84 that perish to man’s proudest attribute,— of immortality85.
Fanshawe had hitherto deemed himself unconnected with the world, Unconcerned in its feelings, and uninfluenced by it in any of his pursuits. In this respect he probably deceived himself. If his inmost heart could have been laid open, there would have been discovered that dream of undying fame, which, dream as it is, is more powerful than a thousand realities. But, at any rate, he had seemed, to others and to himself, a solitary being, upon whom the hopes and fears of ordinary men were ineffectual.
But now he felt the first thrilling of one of the many ties, that, so long as we breathe the common air, (and who shall say how much longer?) unite us to our kind. The sound of a soft, sweet voice, the glance of a gentle eye, had wrought86 a change upon him; and in his ardent87 mind a few hours had done the work of many. Almost in spite of himself, the new sensation was inexpressibly delightful. The recollection of his ruined health, of his habits (so much at variance88 with those of the world),— all the difficulties that reason suggested, were inadequate89 to check the exulting90 tide of hope and joy.
收听单词发音 |
1
relaxation
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| n.松弛，放松；休息；消遣；娱乐 | |
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2
labor
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| n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦 | |
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3
labors
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| v.努力争取(for)( labor的第三人称单数 )；苦干；详细分析；（指引擎）缓慢而困难地运转 | |
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4
bridle
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| n.笼头，束缚；vt.抑制，约束；动怒 | |
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accomplishment
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| n.完成，成就，（pl.）造诣，技能 | |
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mingling
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| adj.混合的 | |
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7
delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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8
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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9
desolate
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| adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂 | |
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10
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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ledge
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| n.壁架，架状突出物；岩架，岩礁 | |
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tract
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| n.传单，小册子，大片(土地或森林) | |
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13
swampy
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| adj.沼泽的，湿地的 | |
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interval
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| n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息 | |
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15
ascending
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| adj.上升的，向上的 | |
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16
prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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17
pony
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| adj.小型的；n.小马 | |
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18
incapable
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| adj.无能力的，不能做某事的 | |
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19
precipice
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| n.悬崖，危急的处境 | |
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20
abide
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| vi.遵守；坚持；vt.忍受 | |
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21
rebuke
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| v.指责，非难，斥责 [反]praise | |
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22
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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descending
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| n. 下行 adj. 下降的 | |
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24
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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25
plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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26
scrutiny
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| n.详细检查，仔细观察 | |
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27
attained
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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28
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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29
bestows
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| 赠给，授予( bestow的第三人称单数 ) | |
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30
majesty
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| n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权 | |
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confinement
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| n.幽禁，拘留，监禁；分娩；限制，局限 | |
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32
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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33
melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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34
triumphant
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| adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的 | |
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35
blight
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| n.枯萎病；造成破坏的因素；vt.破坏，摧残 | |
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36
maturity
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| n.成熟；完成；(支票、债券等)到期 | |
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37
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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38
suffused
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| v.（指颜色、水气等）弥漫于，布满( suffuse的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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39
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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40
benevolent
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| adj.仁慈的，乐善好施的 | |
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41
motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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42
exterior
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| adj.外部的，外在的；表面的 | |
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43
conspired
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| 密谋( conspire的过去式和过去分词 )； 搞阴谋； （事件等）巧合； 共同导致 | |
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44
spire
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| n.(教堂)尖顶，尖塔，高点 | |
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45
cultivation
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| n.耕作，培养，栽培（法），养成 | |
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46
dwarf
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| n.矮子，侏儒，矮小的动植物；vt.使…矮小 | |
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47
conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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48
mouldering
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| v.腐朽( moulder的现在分词 )；腐烂，崩塌 | |
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49
latch
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| n.门闩，窗闩；弹簧锁 | |
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50
retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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51
countenances
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| n.面容( countenance的名词复数 )；表情；镇静；道义支持 | |
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52
hearth
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| n.壁炉炉床，壁炉地面 | |
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53
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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54
sullen
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| adj.愠怒的，闷闷不乐的，(天气等)阴沉的 | |
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55
habitual
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| adj.习惯性的；通常的，惯常的 | |
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56
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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57
robust
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| adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的 | |
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58
complexion
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| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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59
tottering
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| adj.蹒跚的，动摇的v.走得或动得不稳( totter的现在分词 )；踉跄；蹒跚；摇摇欲坠 | |
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60
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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61
perused
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| v.读（某篇文字）( peruse的过去式和过去分词 )；（尤指）细阅；审阅；匆匆读或心不在焉地浏览（某篇文字） | |
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62
affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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63
behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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64
alleviation
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| n. 减轻，缓和，解痛物 | |
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65
misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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66
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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67
authorize
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| v.授权，委任；批准，认可 | |
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68
humble
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| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
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69
edifice
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| n.宏伟的建筑物(如宫殿，教室) | |
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70
dignified
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| a.可敬的，高贵的 | |
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71
chapel
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| n.小教堂，殡仪馆 | |
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72
tinkling
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| n.丁当作响声 | |
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73
murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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74
chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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75
wont
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| adj.习惯于；v.习惯；n.习惯 | |
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76
fabled
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| adj.寓言中的，虚构的 | |
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77
bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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78
solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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79
mingle
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| vt.使混合，使相混；vi.混合起来；相交往 | |
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80
motives
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| n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 ) | |
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81
infinity
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| n.无限，无穷，大量 | |
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82
dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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83
eternity
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| n.不朽，来世；永恒，无穷 | |
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84
brutes
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| 兽( brute的名词复数 )； 畜生； 残酷无情的人； 兽性 | |
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85
immortality
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| n.不死，不朽 | |
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86
wrought
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| v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的 | |
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87
ardent
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，强烈的，烈性的 | |
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88
variance
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| n.矛盾，不同 | |
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89
inadequate
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| adj.(for,to)不充足的，不适当的 | |
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90
exulting
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| vi. 欢欣鼓舞，狂喜 | |
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