The day of Rebecca's arrival had beenFriday, and on the Monday following shebegan her education at the school whichwas in Riverboro Centre, about a mile distant.
Miss Sawyer borrowed a neighbor's horse andwagon and drove her to the schoolhouse, interviewingthe teacher, Miss Dearborn, arranging for books,and generally starting the child on the path thatwas to lead to boundless1 knowledge. Miss Dearborn,it may be said in passing, had had no specialpreparation in the art of teaching. It came to hernaturally, so her family said, and perhaps for thisreason she, like Tom Tulliver's clergyman tutor,"set about it with that uniformity of method andindependence of circumstances which distinguish theactions of animals understood to be under theimmediate teaching of Nature." You remember thebeaver which a naturalist2 tells us "busied himselfas earnestly in constructing a dam in a room upthree pair of stairs in London as if he had been layinghis foundation in a lake in Upper Canada. Itwas his function to build, the absence of water or ofpossible progeny3 was an accident for which he wasnot accountable." In the same manner did MissDearborn lay what she fondly imagined to befoundations in the infant mind.
Rebecca walked to school after the first morning.
She loved this part of the day's programme. Whenthe dew was not too heavy and the weather was fairthere was a short cut through the woods. She turnedoff the main road, crept through uncle Josh Woodman'sbars, waved away Mrs. Carter's cows, trod theshort grass of the pasture, with its well-worn pathrunning through gardens of buttercups and white-weed, and groves4 of ivory leaves and sweet fern.
She descended5 a little hill, jumped from stone tostone across a woodland brook6, startling the drowsyfrogs, who were always winking7 and blinking in themorning sun. Then came the "woodsy bit," withher feet pressing the slippery carpet of brown pineneedles; the "woodsy bit" so full of dewy morning,surprises,--fungous growths of brilliant orange andcrimson springing up around the stumps8 of deadtrees, beautiful things born in a single night; andnow and then the miracle of a little clump9 of waxenIndian pipes, seen just quickly enough to be savedfrom her careless tread. Then she climbed a stile,went through a grassy11 meadow, slid under anotherpair of bars, and came out into the road again. havinggained nearly half a mile.
How delicious it all was! Rebecca clasped herQuackenbos's Grammar and Greenleaf's Arithmeticwith a joyful12 sense of knowing her lessons. Herdinner pail swung from her right hand, and shehad a blissful consciousness of the two soda13 biscuitsspread with butter and syrup14, the baked cup-custard,the doughnut, and the square of hard gingerbread.
Sometimes she said whatever "piece" she was goingto speak on the next Friday afternoon.
"A soldier of the Legion lay dying in Algiers,There was lack of woman's nursing, there was dearth15 ofwoman's tears."How she loved the swing and the sentiment of it!
How her young voice quivered whenever she came tothe refrain:--"But we'll meet no more at Bingen, dear Bingen on the Rhine."It always sounded beautiful in her ears, as shesent her tearful little treble into the clear morningair. Another early favorite (for we must rememberthat Rebecca's only knowledge of the great worldof poetry consisted of the selections in vogue16 inschool readers) was:--"Woodman, spare that tree!
In youth it sheltered me,And I'll protect it now."When Emma Jane Perkins walked through the"short cut" with her, the two children used to renderthis with appropriate dramatic action. EmmaJane always chose to be the woodman because shehad nothing to do but raise on high an imaginaryaxe. On the one occasion when she essayed thepart of the tree's romantic protector, she representedherself as feeling "so awful foolish" that sherefused to undertake it again, much to the secretdelight of Rebecca, who found the woodman's rolemuch too tame for her vaulting18 ambition. Shereveled in the impassioned appeal of the poet, andimplored the ruthless woodman to be as brutal19 aspossible with the axe10, so that she might properlyput greater spirit into her lines. One morning, feelingmore frisky20 than usual, she fell upon her kneesand wept in the woodman's petticoat. Curiouslyenough, her sense of proportion rejected this assoon as it was done.
"That wasn't right, it was silly, Emma Jane; butI'll tell you where it might come in--in Give meThree Grains of Corn. You be the mother, andI'll be the famishing Irish child. For pity's sakeput the axe down; you are not the woodman anylonger!""What'll I do with my hands, then?" askedEmma Jane.
"Whatever you like," Rebecca answered wearily;"you're just a mother--that's all. What doesYOUR mother do with her hands? Now here goes!
"`Give me three grains of corn, mother,Only three grains of corn,'T will keep the little life I haveTill the coming of the morn.'"This sort of thing made Emma Jane nervous andfidgety, but she was Rebecca's slave and hugged herchains, no matter how uncomfortable they made her.
At the last pair of bars the two girls weresometimes met by a detachment of the Simpson children,who lived in a black house with a red door anda red barn behind, on the Blueberry Plains road.
Rebecca felt an interest in the Simpsons from thefirst, because there were so many of them and theywere so patched and darned, just like her own broodat the home farm.
The little schoolhouse with its flagpole on top andits two doors in front, one for boys and the otherfor girls, stood on the crest21 of a hill, with rollingfields and meadows on one side, a stretch of pinewoods on the other, and the river glinting andsparkling in the distance. It boasted no attractionswithin. All was as bare and ugly and uncomfortableas it well could be, for the villages along the riverexpended so much money in repairing and rebuildingbridges that they were obliged to be very economicalin school privileges. The teacher's desk and chairstood on a platform in one corner; there was anuncouth stove, never blackened oftener than oncea year, a map of the United States, two blackboards,a ten-quart tin pail of water and long-handled dipperon a corner shelf, and wooden desks and benchesfor the scholars, who only numbered twenty inRebecca's time. The seats were higher in the back ofthe room, and the more advanced and longer-leggedpupils sat there, the position being greatly to beenvied, as they were at once nearer to the windowsand farther from the teacher.
There were classes of a sort, although nobody,broadly speaking, studied the same book with anybodyelse, or had arrived at the same degree of proficiencyin any one branch of learning. Rebecca inparticular was so difficult to classify that Miss Dearbornat the end of a fortnight gave up the attemptaltogether. She read with Dick Carter and LivingPerkins, who were fitting for the academy; recitedarithmetic with lisping little Thuthan Thimpthon;geography with Emma Jane Perkins, and grammarafter school hours to Miss Dearborn alone. Full tothe brim as she was of clever thoughts and quaintfancies, she made at first but a poor hand at composition.
The labor22 of writing and spelling, with theadded difficulties of punctuation23 and capitals, interferedsadly with the free expression of ideas. Shetook history with Alice Robinson's class, whichwas attacking the subject of the Revolution, whileRebecca was bidden to begin with the discoveryof America. In a week she had masteredthe course of events up to the Revolution, and inten days had arrived at Yorktown, where the classhad apparently24 established summer quarters. Thenfinding that extra effort would only result in herreciting with the oldest Simpson boy, she delib-erately held herself back, for wisdom's ways werenot those of pleasantness nor her paths those ofpeace if one were compelled to tread them in thecompany of Seesaw25 Simpson. Samuel Simpson wasgenerally called Seesaw, because of his difficulty inmaking up his mind. Whether it were a questionof fact, of spelling, or of date, of going swimmingor fishing, of choosing a book in the Sunday-schoollibrary or a stick of candy at the village store, hehad no sooner determined26 on one plan of actionthan his wish fondly reverted27 to the opposite one.
Seesaw was pale, flaxen haired, blue eyed, roundshouldered, and given to stammering28 when nervous.
Perhaps because of his very weakness Rebecca'sdecision of character had a fascination29 for him, andalthough she snubbed him to the verge30 of madness,he could never keep his eyes away from her. Theforce with which she tied her shoe when the lacingcame undone31, the flirt32 over shoulder she gave herblack braid when she was excited or warm, hermanner of studying,--book on desk, arms folded,eyes fixed33 on the opposite wall,--all had an abidingcharm for Seesaw Simpson. When, having obtainedpermission, she walked to the water pail in thecorner and drank from the dipper, unseen forcesdragged Seesaw from his seat to go and drink afterher. It was not only that there was something akinto association and intimacy34 in drinking next, butthere was the fearful joy of meeting her in transitand receiving a cold and disdainful look from herwonderful eyes.
On a certain warm day in summer Rebecca'sthirst exceeded the bounds of propriety36. When sheasked a third time for permission to quench37 it at thecommon fountain Miss Dearborn nodded "yes," butlifted her eyebrows38 unpleasantly as Rebecca nearedthe desk. As she replaced the dipper Seesawpromptly raised his hand, and Miss Dearbornindicated a weary affirmative.
"What is the matter with you, Rebecca?" sheasked.
"I had salt mackerel for breakfast," answeredRebecca.
There seemed nothing humorous about this reply,which was merely the statement of a fact, but anirrepressible titter ran through the school. MissDearborn did not enjoy jokes neither made norunderstood by herself, and her face flushed.
"I think you had better stand by the pail for fiveminutes, Rebecca; it may help you to control yourthirst."Rebecca's heart fluttered. She to stand in thecorner by the water pail and be stared at by allthe scholars! She unconsciously made a gestureof angry dissent39 and moved a step nearer her seat,but was arrested by Miss Dearborn's command ina still firmer voice.
"Stand by the pail, Rebecca! Samuel, how manytimes have you asked for water to-day?"This is the f-f-fourth.""Don't touch the dipper, please. The school hasdone nothing but drink this afternoon; it has hadno time whatever to study. I suppose you had somethingsalt for breakfast, Samuel?" queried40 MissDearborn with sarcasm41.
"I had m-m-mackerel, j-just like Reb-b-becca."(Irrepressible giggles42 by the school.)"I judged so. Stand by the other side of the pail,Samuel."Rebecca's head was bowed with shame and wrath43.
Life looked too black a thing to be endured. Thepunishment was bad enough, but to be coupled incorrection with Seesaw Simpson was beyond humanendurance.
Singing was the last exercise in the afternoon,and Minnie Smellie chose Shall we Gather at theRiver? It was a baleful choice and seemed to holdsome secret and subtle association with the situationand general progress of events; or at any rate therewas apparently some obscure reason for the energyand vim44 with which the scholars shouted the choralinvitation again and again:--"Shall we gather at the river,The beautiful, the beautiful river?"Miss Dearborn stole a look at Rebecca's bent45 headand was frightened. The child's face was pale savefor two red spots glowing on her cheeks. Tearshung on her lashes46; her breath came and wentquickly, and the hand that held her pockethandkerchief trembled like a leaf.
"You may go to your seat, Rebecca," said MissDearborn at the end of the first song. "Samuel,stay where you are till the close of school. And letme tell you, scholars, that I asked Rebecca to standby the pail only to break up this habit of incessantdrinking, which is nothing but empty-mindednessand desire to walk to and fro over the floor. Everytime Rebecca has asked for a drink to-day the wholeschool has gone to the pail one after another. Sheis really thirsty, and I dare say I ought to havepunished you for following her example, not her forsetting it. What shall we sing now, Alice?""The Old Oaken Bucket, please.""Think of something dry, Alice, and change thesubject. Yes, The Star Spangled Banner if youlike, or anything else."Rebecca sank into her seat and pulled the singingbook from her desk. Miss Dearborn's public explanationhad shifted some of the weight from herheart, and she felt a trifle raised in her self-esteem.
Under cover of the general relaxation47 of singing,votive offerings of respectful sympathy began tomake their appearance at her shrine48. Living Perkins,who could not sing, dropped a piece of maplesugar in her lap as he passed her on his way to theblackboard to draw the map of Maine. Alice Rob-inson rolled a perfectly49 new slate50 pencil over thefloor with her foot until it reached Rebecca's place,while her seat-mate, Emma Jane, had made up alittle mound51 of paper balls and labeled them"Bullets for you know who."Altogether existence grew brighter, and whenshe was left alone with the teacher for her grammarlesson she had nearly recovered her equanimity,which was more than Miss Dearborn had. The lastclattering foot had echoed through the hall, Seesaw'sbackward glance of penitence52 had been metand answered defiantly53 by one of cold disdain35.
"Rebecca, I am afraid I punished you more than Imeant," said Miss Dearborn, who was only eighteenherself, and in her year of teaching country schoolshad never encountered a child like Rebecca.
"I hadn't missed a question this whole day, norwhispered either," quavered the culprit; "and I don'tthink I ought to be shamed just for drinking.""You started all the others, or it seemed as ifyou did. Whatever you do they all do, whether youlaugh, or miss, or write notes, or ask to leave theroom, or drink; and it must be stopped.""Sam Simpson is a copycoat!" stormed Rebecca"I wouldn't have minded standing54 in the corneralone--that is, not so very much; but I couldn'tbear standing with him.""I saw that you couldn't, and that's the reasonI told you to take your seat, and left him in thecorner. Remember that you are a stranger in theplace, and they take more notice of what you do,so you must be careful. Now let's have ourconjugations. Give me the verb `to be,' potential mood,past perfect tense.""I might have been "We might have beenThou mightst have been You might have beenHe might have been They might have been.""Give me an example, please.""I might have been gladThou mightst have been gladHe, she, or it might have been glad.""`He' or `she' might have been glad becausethey are masculine and feminine, but could `it'
have been glad?" asked Miss Dearborn, who wasvery fond of splitting hairs.
"Why not?" asked Rebecca"Because `it' is neuter gender55.""Couldn't we say, `The kitten might havebeen glad if it had known it was not going to bedrowned'?""Ye--es," Miss Dearborn answered hesitatingly,never very sure of herself under Rebecca's fire;"but though we often speak of a baby, a chicken, ora kitten as `it,' they are really masculine or femininegender, not neuter."Rebecca reflected a long moment and then asked,"Is a hollyhock neuter?""Oh yes, of course it is, Rebecca""Well, couldn't we say, `The hollyhock mighthave been glad to see the rain, but there was a weaklittle hollyhock bud growing out of its stalk and itwas afraid that that might be hurt by the storm;so the big hollyhock was kind of afraid, instead ofbeing real glad'?"Miss Dearborn looked puzzled as she answered,"Of course, Rebecca, hollyhocks could not besorry, or glad, or afraid, really.""We can't tell, I s'pose," replied the child; "but_I_ think they are, anyway. Now what shall I say?""The subjunctive mood, past perfect tense ofthe verb `to know.'""If I had known "If we had knownIf thou hadst known If you had knownIf he had known If they had known.
"Oh, it is the saddest tense," sighed Rebeccawith a little break in her voice; "nothing but IFS,IFS, IFS! And it makes you feel that if they onlyHAD known, things might have been better!"Miss Dearborn had not thought of it before,but on reflection she believed the subjunctive moodwas a "sad" one and "if" rather a sorry "part ofspeech.""Give me some more examples of the subjunctive,Rebecca, and that will do for this afternoon," shesaid.
"If I had not loved mackerel I should not havebeen thirsty;" said Rebecca with an April smile,as she closed her grammar. "If thou hadst lovedme truly thou wouldst not have stood me up in thecorner. If Samuel had not loved wickedness hewould not have followed me to the water pail.""And if Rebecca had loved the rules of theschool she would have controlled her thirst," finishedMiss Dearborn with a kiss, and the two partedfriends.
收听单词发音 |
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boundless
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| adj.无限的；无边无际的；巨大的 | |
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naturalist
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| n.博物学家(尤指直接观察动植物者) | |
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progeny
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| n.后代，子孙；结果 | |
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groves
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| 树丛，小树林( grove的名词复数 ) | |
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descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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brook
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| n.小河，溪；v.忍受，容让 | |
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winking
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| n.瞬眼，目语v.使眼色( wink的现在分词 )；递眼色（表示友好或高兴等）；（指光）闪烁；闪亮 | |
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stumps
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| （被砍下的树的）树桩( stump的名词复数 )； 残肢； （板球三柱门的）柱； 残余部分 | |
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clump
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| n.树丛，草丛；vi.用沉重的脚步行走 | |
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axe
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| n.斧子；v.用斧头砍，削减 | |
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grassy
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| adj.盖满草的；长满草的 | |
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joyful
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| adj.欢乐的，令人欢欣的 | |
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soda
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| n.苏打水；汽水 | |
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syrup
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| n.糖浆，糖水 | |
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dearth
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| n.缺乏，粮食不足，饥谨 | |
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Vogue
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| n.时髦，时尚；adj.流行的 | |
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bough
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| n.大树枝，主枝 | |
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vaulting
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| n.（天花板或屋顶的）拱形结构 | |
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brutal
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| adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的 | |
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frisky
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| adj.活泼的，欢闹的；n.活泼，闹着玩；adv.活泼地，闹着玩地 | |
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crest
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| n.顶点；饰章；羽冠；vt.达到顶点；vi.形成浪尖 | |
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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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punctuation
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| n.标点符号，标点法 | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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seesaw
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| n.跷跷板 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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reverted
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| 恢复( revert的过去式和过去分词 )； 重提； 回到…上； 归还 | |
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stammering
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| v.结巴地说出( stammer的现在分词 ) | |
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fascination
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| n.令人着迷的事物，魅力，迷恋 | |
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verge
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| n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临 | |
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undone
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| a.未做完的，未完成的 | |
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flirt
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| v.调情，挑逗，调戏；n.调情者，卖俏者 | |
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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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intimacy
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| n.熟悉，亲密，密切关系，亲昵的言行 | |
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disdain
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| n.鄙视，轻视；v.轻视，鄙视，不屑 | |
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propriety
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| n.正当行为；正当；适当 | |
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quench
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| vt.熄灭，扑灭；压制 | |
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eyebrows
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| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
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dissent
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| n./v.不同意，持异议 | |
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queried
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| v.质疑，对…表示疑问( query的过去式和过去分词 )；询问 | |
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sarcasm
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| n.讥讽，讽刺，嘲弄，反话 （adj.sarcastic） | |
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giggles
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| n.咯咯的笑( giggle的名词复数 )；傻笑；玩笑；the giggles 止不住的格格笑v.咯咯地笑( giggle的第三人称单数 ) | |
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wrath
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| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
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vim
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| n.精力，活力 | |
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bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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lashes
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| n.鞭挞( lash的名词复数 )；鞭子；突然猛烈的一击；急速挥动v.鞭打( lash的第三人称单数 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
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47
relaxation
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| n.松弛，放松；休息；消遣；娱乐 | |
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shrine
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| n.圣地，神龛，庙；v.将...置于神龛内，把...奉为神圣 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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slate
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| n.板岩，石板，石片，石板色，候选人名单；adj.暗蓝灰色的，含板岩的；vt.用石板覆盖，痛打，提名，预订 | |
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mound
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| n.土墩，堤，小山；v.筑堤，用土堆防卫 | |
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52
penitence
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| n.忏悔，赎罪；悔过 | |
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defiantly
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| adv.挑战地，大胆对抗地 | |
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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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gender
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| n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性 | |
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