CHAPTER XXXVII.

 SUNSHINE AFTER STORM.

 

It had been a wet morning.  The heavy rain-clouds rolled over the plains, hanging on this side above the horizon as if in an instant they must fall and crush the solid earth, and passing away on that side in dark, slanting¹ veils of shower; giving to the vast monotony of the wide field of view that strange interchange of light and shadow, gleam and gloom, which makes the poetry of the plains.

 

The rain had passed.  The gray mud of the chalk roads dried up into white dust almost beneath the travellers’ feet as they came out again after temporary shelter; and that brightest, tenderest smile, with which, on such days, the sun makes evening atonement for his absence, shone and sparkled, danced and glowed from the windmill to the water-meads.  It reopened the flowers, and drew fragrant² answer from the meadow-sweet and the bay-leaved willow³.  It made the birds sing, and the ploughboy whistle, and the old folk toddle⁴ into their gardens to smell the herbs.  It cherished silent satisfaction on the bronze face of Rufus resting on his paws, and lay over Master Swift’s wan⁵ brow like the aureole of some austere⁶ saint canonized, just on this side the gates of Paradise.

 

The simile⁷ is not inapt, for the coarse and vigorous features of the schoolmaster had been refined to that peculiar⁸ nobleness which, perhaps, the sharp tool of suffering—used to its highest ends—can alone produce.  And the smile of patience, like a victor’s wreath, lay now where hot passions and imperious temper had once struggled and been overcome.

 

The schoolmaster was paralyzed in his lower limbs, and he sat in a wheel-chair of his own devising, which he could propel with his own hands.  The agonizing⁹ anxiety and suspense¹⁰ which followed Jan’s disappearance¹¹ had broken him down, and this was the end.  Rufus was still his only housekeeper¹², but a woman from the village came in to give him necessary help.

 

“And it be ’most like waiting upon a angel,” said she.

 

This woman had gone for the night, and Master Swift sat in his invalid¹³ chair in the little porch, where he could touch the convolvulus bells with his hand, and see what some old pupil of his had done towards “righting up” the garden.  It was an instance of that hardly earned grace of patience in him that he did not vex¹⁴ himself to see how sorely the garden suffered by his helplessness.

 

Not without cause was the evening smile of sunlight reflected on Master Swift’s lips.  Between the fingers of a hand lying on his lap lay Jan’s letter to announce that he and the artist were coming to the cottage, and in intervals¹⁵ of reading and re-reading it the schoolmaster spouted¹⁶ poetry, and Rufus wagged a sedately¹⁷ sympathetic tail.

 

“How fresh, O Lord, how sweet and clean

   Are Thy returns! even as the flowers in spring;

To which, besides their own demean,

   The late past frosts tributes of pleasure bring.

            Grief melts away

            Like snow in May,

   As if there were no such cold thing.”

 

And, waving his hand after the old manner towards the glowing water-meadows, he went on with increasing emphasis:—

 

“Who would have thought my shrivelled heart

Could have recovered greennesse?”

 

Perhaps Rufus felt himself bound to answer what had a tone of appeal in it, or perhaps some strange sympathy, not with Master Swift, began already to disturb him.  He rose and knocked up the hand in which the letter lay with his long nose, and wandered restlessly about, and then settled down again with his eyes towards the garden-gate.

 

The old man sat still.  The evening breeze stirred his white hair, and he drank in the scents¹⁸ drawn¹⁹ freshly from field and flowers after the rain, and they were like balm to him.  As he sat up, his voice seemed to recover its old power, and he clasped his hands together over Jan’s letter, and went on:—

 

“And now in age I bud again,

   After so many deaths I live and write;

I once more smell the dew and rain,

   And relish²⁰ versing: O my only Light!

               It cannot be

               That I am he

   On whom Thy tempests fell all night!”

 

So far Mr. George Herbert; but the poem was never finished, for Rufus jumped up with a cry, and after standing²¹ for a moment with stiffened²² limbs, and muffled²³ whines²⁴, as if he could not believe his own glaring yellow eyes, he burst away with tenfold impetus²⁵, and dragged, and tore, and pulled, and all but carried Jan to the schoolmaster’s feet.

 

And the painter walked away down the garden, and stood looking long over the water-meadows.

1 slanting   

倾斜的，歪斜的

参考例句：

• The rain is driving [slanting] in from the south. 南边潲雨。
• The line is slanting to the left. 这根线向左斜了。

2 fragrant   

adj.芬香的，馥郁的，愉快的

参考例句：

• The Fragrant Hills are exceptionally beautiful in late autumn.深秋的香山格外美丽。
• The air was fragrant with lavender.空气中弥漫薰衣草香。

3 willow   

n.柳树

参考例句：

• The river was sparsely lined with willow trees.河边疏疏落落有几棵柳树。
• The willow's shadow falls on the lake.垂柳的影子倒映在湖面上。

4 toddle   

v.（如小孩）蹒跚学步

参考例句：

• The baby has just learned to toddle.小孩子刚会走道儿。
• We watched the little boy toddle up purposefully to the refrigerator.我们看著那小男孩特意晃到冰箱前。

5 wan   

(wide area network)广域网

参考例句：

• The shared connection can be an Ethernet,wireless LAN,or wireless WAN connection.提供共享的网络连接可以是以太网、无线局域网或无线广域网。

6 austere   

adj.艰苦的；朴素的，朴实无华的；严峻的

参考例句：

• His way of life is rather austere.他的生活方式相当简朴。
• The room was furnished in austere style.这间屋子的陈设都很简单朴素。

7 simile   

n.直喻，明喻

参考例句：

• I believe this simile largely speaks the truth.我相信这种比拟在很大程度上道出了真实。
• It is a trite simile to compare her teeth to pearls.把她的牙齿比做珍珠是陈腐的比喻。

8 peculiar   

adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的

参考例句：

• He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
• He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。

9 agonizing   

adj.痛苦难忍的；使人苦恼的v.使极度痛苦；折磨(agonize的ing形式)

参考例句：

• I spent days agonizing over whether to take the job or not. 我用了好些天苦苦思考是否接受这个工作。
• his father's agonizing death 他父亲极度痛苦的死

10 suspense   

n.（对可能发生的事）紧张感，担心，挂虑

参考例句：

• The suspense was unbearable.这样提心吊胆的状况实在叫人受不了。
• The director used ingenious devices to keep the audience in suspense.导演用巧妙手法引起观众的悬念。

11 disappearance   

n.消失，消散，失踪

参考例句：

• He was hard put to it to explain her disappearance.他难以说明她为什么不见了。
• Her disappearance gave rise to the wildest rumours.她失踪一事引起了各种流言蜚语。

12 housekeeper   

n.管理家务的主妇，女管家

参考例句：

• A spotless stove told us that his mother is a diligent housekeeper.炉子清洁无瑕就表明他母亲是个勤劳的主妇。
• She is an economical housekeeper and feeds her family cheaply.她节约持家，一家人吃得很省。

13 invalid   

n.病人，伤残人；adj.有病的，伤残的；无效的

参考例句：

• He will visit an invalid.他将要去看望一个病人。
• A passport that is out of date is invalid.护照过期是无效的。

14 vex   

vt.使烦恼，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Everything about her vexed him.有关她的一切都令他困惑。
• It vexed me to think of others gossiping behind my back.一想到别人在背后说我闲话，我就很恼火。

15 intervals   

n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息

参考例句：

• The forecast said there would be sunny intervals and showers. 预报间晴，有阵雨。
• Meetings take place at fortnightly intervals. 每两周开一次会。

16 spouted   

adj.装有嘴的v.（指液体）喷出( spout的过去式和过去分词 )；滔滔不绝地讲；喋喋不休地说；喷水

参考例句：

• The broken pipe spouted water all over the room. 破裂的水管喷了一屋子的水。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The lecturer spouted for hours. 讲师滔滔不绝地讲了几个小时。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 sedately   

adv.镇静地，安详地

参考例句：

• Life in the country's south-west glides along rather sedately. 中国西南部的生活就相对比较平静。 来自互联网
• She conducts herself sedately. 她举止端庄。 来自互联网

18 scents   

n.香水( scent的名词复数 )；气味；（动物的）臭迹；（尤指狗的）嗅觉

参考例句：

• The air was fragrant with scents from the sea and the hills. 空气中荡漾着山和海的芬芳气息。
• The winds came down with scents of the grass and wild flowers. 微风送来阵阵青草和野花的香气。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

20 relish   

n.滋味，享受，爱好，调味品；vt.加调味料，享受，品味；vi.有滋味

参考例句：

• I have no relish for pop music.我对流行音乐不感兴趣。
• I relish the challenge of doing jobs that others turn down.我喜欢挑战别人拒绝做的工作。

21 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

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

22 stiffened   

加强的

参考例句：

• He leaned towards her and she stiffened at this invasion of her personal space. 他向她俯过身去，这种侵犯她个人空间的举动让她绷紧了身子。
• She stiffened with fear. 她吓呆了。

23 muffled   

adj.（声音）被隔的；听不太清的；（衣服）裹严的；蒙住的v.压抑，捂住( muffle的过去式和过去分词 )；用厚厚的衣帽包着（自己）

参考例句：

• muffled voices from the next room 从隔壁房间里传来的沉闷声音
• There was a muffled explosion somewhere on their right. 在他们的右面什么地方有一声沉闷的爆炸声。 来自《简明英汉词典》

24 whines   

n.悲嗥声( whine的名词复数 )；哀鸣者v.哀号( whine的第三人称单数 )；哀诉，诉怨

参考例句：

• The colony whines a centerless loud drone that vibrates the neighborhood. 蜂群嗡嗡喧闹的哀鸣振动邻里。 来自互联网
• The web whines with the sound of countless mosquitoes and flies trapped in its folds. 蜘蛛网内发出无数只被困在蜘蛛丝间的蚊子与苍蝇所发出来的声音。 来自互联网

25 impetus   

n.推动，促进，刺激；推动力

参考例句：

• This is the primary impetus behind the economic recovery.这是促使经济复苏的主要动力。
• Her speech gave an impetus to my ideas.她的讲话激发了我的思绪。