Chapter V

 A few days after this, Hedwig gave Tell a good talking to on the subject of his love for adventure. He was sitting at the door of his house mending an axe¹. Hedwig, as usual, was washing up. Walter and William were playing with a little cross-bow not far off.

 

"Father," said Walter.

 

"Yes, my boy?"

 

"My bow-string has bust²." ("Bust" was what all Swiss boys said when they meant "broken.")

 

"You must mend it yourself, my boy," said Tell. "A sportsman always helps himself."

 

"What I say," said Hedwig, bustling³ out of the house, "is that a boy of his age has no business to be shooting. I don't like it."

 

"Nobody can shoot well if he does not begin to practise early. Why, when I was a boy--I remember on one occasion, when--"

 

"What I say," interrupted Hedwig, "is that a boy ought not to want always to be shooting, and what not. He ought to stay at home and help his mother. And I wish you would set them a better example."

 

"Well, the fact is, you know," said Tell, "I don't think Nature meant me to be a stay-at-home and that sort of thing. I couldn't be a herdsman if you paid me. I shouldn't know what to do. No; everyone has his special line, and mine is hunting. Now, I can hunt."

 

"A nasty, dangerous occupation," said Hedwig. "I don't like to hear of your being lost on desolate⁴ ice-fields, and leaping from crag to crag, and what not. Some day, mark my words, if you are not careful, you will fall down a precipice⁵, or be overtaken by an avalanche⁶, or the ice will break while you are crossing it. There are a thousand ways in which you might get hurt."

 

"A man of ready wit with a quick eye," replied Tell complacently⁷, "never gets hurt. The mountain has no terror for her children. I am a child of the mountain."

 

"You are certainly a child!" snapped Hedwig. "It is no use my arguing with you."

 

"Not very much," agreed Tell, "for I am just off to the town. I have an appointment with your papa and some other gentlemen."

 

(I forgot to say so before, but Hedwig was the daughter of Walter Fürst.)

 

"Now, what are you and papa plotting?" asked Hedwig. "I know there is something going on. I suspected it when papa brought Werner Stauffacher and the other man here, and you wouldn't let me listen. What is it? Some dangerous scheme, I suppose?"

 

"Now, how in the world do you get those sort of ideas into your head?" Tell laughed. "Dangerous scheme! As if I should plot dangerous schemes with your papa!"

 

"I know," said Hedwig. "You can't deceive me! There is a plot afoot against the Governor, and you are in it."

 

"A man must help his country."

 

"They're sure to place you where there is most danger. I know them. Don't go. Send Walter down with a note to say that you regret that an unfortunate previous engagement, which you have just recollected⁸, will make it impossible for you to accept their kind invitation to plot."

 

"No; I must go."

 

"And there is another thing," continued Hedwig: "Gessler the Governor is in the town now."

 

"He goes away to-day."

 

"Well, wait till he has gone. You must not meet him. He bears you malice⁹."

 

"To me his malice cannot do much harm. I do what's right, and fear no enemy."

 

"Those who do right," said Hedwig, "are those he hates the most. And you know he has never forgiven you for speaking like that when you met him in the ravine. Keep away from the town for to-day. Do anything else. Go hunting, if you will."

 

"No," said Tell; "I promised. I must go. Come along, Walter."

 

"You aren't going to take that poor dear child? Come here, Walter, directly minute!'

 

"Want to go with father," said Walter, beginning to cry, for his father had promised to take him with him the next time he went to the town, and he had saved his pocket-money for the occasion.

 

"Oh, let the boy come," said Tell. "William will stay with you, won't you, William?"

 

"All right, father," said William.

 

"Well, mark my words," said Hedwig, "if something bad does not happen I shall be surprised."

 

"Oh no," said Tell. "What can happen?"

 

And without further delay he set off with Walter for the town.

1 axe   

n.斧子；v.用斧头砍，削减

参考例句：

• Be careful with that sharp axe.那把斧子很锋利，你要当心。
• The edge of this axe has turned.这把斧子卷了刃了。

2 bust   

vt.打破；vi.爆裂；n.半身像；胸部

参考例句：

• I dropped my camera on the pavement and bust it. 我把照相机掉在人行道上摔坏了。
• She has worked up a lump of clay into a bust.她把一块黏土精心制作成一个半身像。

3 bustling   

adj.喧闹的

参考例句：

• The market was bustling with life. 市场上生机勃勃。
• This district is getting more and more prosperous and bustling. 这一带越来越繁华了。

4 desolate   

adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂

参考例句：

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

5 precipice   

n.悬崖，危急的处境

参考例句：

• The hut hung half over the edge of the precipice.那间小屋有一半悬在峭壁边上。
• A slight carelessness on this precipice could cost a man his life.在这悬崖上稍一疏忽就会使人丧生。

6 avalanche   

n.雪崩，大量涌来

参考例句：

• They were killed by an avalanche in the Swiss Alps.他们在瑞士阿尔卑斯山的一次雪崩中罹难。
• Higher still the snow was ready to avalanche.在更高处积雪随时都会崩塌。

7 complacently   

adv. 满足地, 自满地, 沾沾自喜地

参考例句：

• He complacently lived out his life as a village school teacher. 他满足于一个乡村教师的生活。
• "That was just something for evening wear," returned his wife complacently. “那套衣服是晚装，"他妻子心安理得地说道。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

8 recollected   

adj.冷静的；镇定的；被回忆起的；沉思默想的v.记起，想起( recollect的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• I recollected that she had red hair. 我记得她有一头红发。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His efforts, the Duke recollected many years later, were distinctly half-hearted. 据公爵许多年之后的回忆，他当时明显只是敷衍了事。 来自辞典例句

9 malice   

n.恶意，怨恨，蓄意；[律]预谋

参考例句：

• I detected a suggestion of malice in his remarks.我觉察出他说的话略带恶意。
• There was a strong current of malice in many of his portraits.他的许多肖像画中都透着一股强烈的怨恨。