A confused picture of the events of the previous evening seemed to come back to him, and he thrust his hand into his breast-pocket. A rustling6 revealed the sailor's bank-notes thrust carelessly in.
This second verification of his dim memories was enough; he knew now they were not dreams. He remained seated, looking on the ground for some time. "I must get out of this as soon as I can," he said deliberately7 at last, with the air of one who could not catch his thoughts without pronouncing them. "She's gone--to be sure she is--gone with that sailor who bought her, and little Elizabeth-Jane. We walked here, and I had the furmity, and rum in it--and sold her. Yes, that's what's happened and here am I. Now, what am I to do-am I sober enough to walk, I wonder?" He stood up, found that he was in fairly good condition for progress, unencumbered. Next he shouldered his tool basket, and found he could carry it. Then lifting the tent door he emerged into the open air.
Here the man looked around with gloomy curiosity. The freshness of the September morning inspired and braced8 him as he stood. He and his family had been weary when they arrived the night before, and they had observed but little of the place; so that he now beheld9 it as a new thing. It exhibited itself as the top of an open down, bounded on one extreme by a plantation10, and approached by a winding11 road. At the bottom stood the village which lent its name to the upland and the annual fair that was held thereon. The spot stretched downward into valleys, and onward12 to other uplands, dotted with barrows, and trenched with the remains13 of prehistoric14 forts. The whole scene lay under the rays of a newly risen sun, which had not as yet dried a single blade of the heavily dewed grass, whereon the shadows of the yellow and red vans were projected far away, those thrown by the felloe of each wheel being elongated15 in shape to the orbit of a comet. All the gipsies and showmen who had remained on the ground lay snug16 within their carts and tents or wrapped in horse-cloths under them, and were silent and still as death, with the exception of an occasional snore that revealed their presence. But the Seven Sleepers17 had a dog; and dogs of the mysterious breeds that vagrants18 own, that are as much like cats as dogs and as much like foxes as cats also lay about here. A little one started up under one of the carts, barked as a matter of principle, and quickly lay down again. He was the only positive spectator of the hay-trusser's exit from the Weydon Fair-field.
This seemed to accord with his desire. He went on in silent thought, unheeding the yellowhammers which flitted about the hedges with straws in their bills, the crowns of the mushrooms, and the tinkling19 of local sheep-bells, whose wearer had had the good fortune not to be included in the fair. When he reached a lane, a good mile from the scene of the previous evening, the man pitched his basket and leant upon a gate. A difficult problem or two occupied his mind.
"Did I tell my name to anybody last night, or didn't I tell my name?" he said to himself; and at last concluded that he did not. His general demeanour was enough to show how he was surprised and nettled20 that his wife had taken him so literally--as much could be seen in his face, and in the way he nibbled21 a straw which he pulled from the hedge. He knew that she must have been somewhat excited to do this; moreover, she must have believed that there was some sort of binding22 force in the transaction. On this latter point he felt almost certain, knowing her freedom from levity23 of character, and the extreme simplicity24 of her intellect. There may, too, have been enough recklessness and resentment25 beneath her ordinary placidity26 to make her stifle27 any momentary28 doubts. On a previous occasion when he had declared during a fuddle that he would dispose of her as he had done, she had replied that she would not hear him say that many times more before it happened, in the resigned tones of a fatalist...."Yet she knows I am not in my senses when I do that!" he exclaimed. "Well, I must walk about till I find her....Seize her, why didn't she know better than bring me into this disgrace!" he roared out. "She wasn't queer if I was. 'Tis like Susan to show such idiotic29 simplicity. Meek--that meekness30 has done me more harm than the bitterest temper!"
When he was calmer he turned to his original conviction that he must somehow find her and his little Elizabeth-Jane, and put up with the shame as best he could. It was of his own making, and he ought to bear it. But first he resolved to register an oath, a greater oath than he had ever sworn before: and to do it properly he required a fit place and imagery; for there was something fetichistic in this man's beliefs.
He shouldered his basket and moved on, casting his eyes inquisitively31 round upon the landscape as he walked, and at the distance of three or four miles perceived the roofs of a village and the tower of a church. He instantly made towards the latter object. The village was quite still, it being that motionless hour of rustic32 daily life which fills the interval33 between the departure of the field-labourers to their work, and the rising of their wives and daughters to prepare the breakfast for their return. Hence he reached the church without observation, and the door being only latched34 he entered. The hay-trusser deposited his basket by the font, went up the nave35 till he reached the altar-rails, and opening the gate entered the sacrarium, where he seemed to feel a sense of the strangeness for a moment; then he knelt upon the footpace. Dropping his head upon the clamped book which lay on the Communion-table, he said aloud-
"I, Michael Henchard, on this morning of the sixteenth of September, do take an oath before God here in this solemn place that I will avoid all strong liquors for the space of twenty-one years to come, being a year for every year that I have lived. And this I swear upon the book before me; and may I be strook dumb, blind, and helpless, if I break this my oath!"
When he had said it and kissed the big book, the hay-trusser arose, and seemed relieved at having made a start in a new direction. While standing36 in the porch a moment he saw a thick jet of wood smoke suddenly start up from the red chimney of a cottage near, and knew that the occupant had just lit her fire. He went round to the door, and the housewife agreed to prepare him some breakfast for a trifling37 payment, which was done. Then he started on the search for his wife and child.
The perplexing nature of the undertaking38 became apparent soon enough. Though he examined and inquired, and walked hither and thither39 day after day, no such characters as those he described had anywhere been seen since the evening of the fair. To add to the difficulty he could gain no sound of the sailor's name. As money was short with him he decided40, after some hesitation41, to spend the sailor's money in the prosecution42 of this search; but it was equally in vain. The truth was that a certain shyness of revealing his conduct prevented Michael Henchard from following up the investigation43 with the loud hue-and-cry such a pursuit demanded to render it effectual; and it was probably for this reason that he obtained no clue, though everything was done by him that did not involve an explanation of the circumstances under which he had lost her.
Weeks counted up to months, and still he searched on, maintaining himself by small jobs of work in the intervals44. By this time he had arrived at a seaport45, and there he derived46 intelligence that persons answering somewhat to his description had emigrated a little time before. Then he said he would search no longer, and that he would go and settle in the district which he had had for some time in his mind.
Next day he started, journeying south-westward, and did not pause, except for nights' lodgings47, till he reached the town of Casterbridge, in a far distant part of Wessex.
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1
crevices
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| n.（尤指岩石的）裂缝，缺口( crevice的名词复数 ) | |
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pervaded
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| v.遍及，弥漫( pervade的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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corks
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| n.脐梅衣；软木( cork的名词复数 )；软木塞 | |
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grassy
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| adj.盖满草的；长满草的 | |
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odds
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| n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别 | |
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rustling
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| n. 瑟瑟声，沙沙声 adj. 发沙沙声的 | |
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deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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braced
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| adj.拉牢的v.支住( brace的过去式和过去分词 )；撑牢；使自己站稳；振作起来 | |
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beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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plantation
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| n.种植园，大农场 | |
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winding
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| n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈 | |
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onward
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| adj.向前的，前进的；adv.向前，前进，在先 | |
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remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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prehistoric
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| adj.（有记载的）历史以前的，史前的，古老的 | |
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elongated
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| v.延长，加长( elongate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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snug
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| adj.温暖舒适的，合身的，安全的；v.使整洁干净，舒适地依靠，紧贴；n.（英）酒吧里的私房 | |
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17
sleepers
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| n.卧铺（通常以复数形式出现）；卧车( sleeper的名词复数 )；轨枕；睡觉（呈某种状态）的人；小耳环 | |
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vagrants
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| 流浪者( vagrant的名词复数 )； 无业游民； 乞丐； 无赖 | |
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tinkling
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| n.丁当作响声 | |
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nettled
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| v.拿荨麻打，拿荨麻刺（nettle的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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nibbled
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| v.啃，一点一点地咬（吃）( nibble的过去式和过去分词 )；啃出（洞），一点一点咬出（洞）；慢慢减少；小口咬 | |
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binding
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| 有约束力的，有效的，应遵守的 | |
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levity
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| n.轻率，轻浮，不稳定，多变 | |
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simplicity
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| n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯 | |
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resentment
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| n.怨愤，忿恨 | |
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placidity
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| n.平静，安静，温和 | |
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stifle
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| vt.使窒息；闷死；扼杀；抑止，阻止 | |
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momentary
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| adj.片刻的，瞬息的；短暂的 | |
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idiotic
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| adj.白痴的 | |
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meekness
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| n.温顺，柔和 | |
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inquisitively
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| 过分好奇地； 好问地 | |
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rustic
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| adj.乡村的，有乡村特色的；n.乡下人，乡巴佬 | |
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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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34
latched
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| v.理解( latch的过去式和过去分词 )；纠缠；用碰锁锁上（门等）；附着（在某物上） | |
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nave
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| n.教堂的中部；本堂 | |
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36
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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trifling
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| adj.微不足道的；没什么价值的 | |
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38
undertaking
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| n.保证，许诺，事业 | |
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thither
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| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
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40
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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41
hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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42
prosecution
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| n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营 | |
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43
investigation
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| n.调查，调查研究 | |
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44
intervals
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| 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 | |
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45
seaport
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| n.海港，港口，港市 | |
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46
derived
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| vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取 | |
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47
lodgings
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| n. 出租的房舍, 寄宿舍 | |
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