Henchard as a Justice of the Peace may at first seem to be an even greater incongruity3 than Shallow and Silence themselves. But his rough and ready perceptions, his sledge-hammer directness, had often served him better than nice legal knowledge in despatching such simple business as fell to his hands in this Court. To-day Dr. Chalkfield, the Mayor for the year, being absent, the corn-merchant took the big chair, his eyes still abstractedly stretching out of the window to the ashlar front of High-Place Hall.
There was one case only, and the offender4 stood before him. She was an old woman of mottled countenance5, attired6 in a shawl of that nameless tertiary hue7 which comes, but cannot be made--a hue neither tawny8, russet, hazel, nor ash; a sticky black bonnet9 that seemed to have been worn in the country of the Psalmist where the clouds drop fatness; and an apron10 that had been white in time so comparatively recent as still to contrast visibly with the rest of her clothes. The steeped aspect of the woman as a whole showed her to be no native of the country-side or even of a country-town.
She looked cursorily11 at Henchard and the second magistrate, and Henchard looked at her, with a momentary12 pause, as if she had reminded him indistinctly of somebody or something which passed from his mind as quickly as it had come. "Well, and what has she been doing?" he said, looking down at the charge sheet.
"She is charged, sir, with the offence of disorderly female and nuisance," whispered Stubberd.
"Where did she do that?" said the other magistrate.
"By the church, sir, of all the horrible places in the world!--I caught her in the act, your worship."
"Stand back then," said Henchard, "and let's hear what you've got to say."
Stubberd was sworn in, the magistrate's clerk dipped his pen, Henchard being no note-taker himself, and the constable13 began-
"Hearing a' illegal noise I went down the street at twentyfive minutes past eleven P.M. on the night of the fifth instinct, Hannah Dominy. When I had-
"Don't go so fast, Stubberd," said the clerk.
The constable waited, with his eyes on the clerk's pen, till the latter stopped scratching and said, "yes." Stubberd continued: "When I had proceeded to the spot I saw defendant14 at another spot, namely, the gutter15." He paused, watching the point of the clerk's pen again.
"Gutter, yes, Stubberd."
"Spot measuring twelve feet nine inches or thereabouts from where I--" Still careful not to outrun the clerk's penmanship Stubberd pulled up again; for having got his evidence by heart it was immaterial to him whereabouts he broke off.
"I object to that," spoke16 up the old woman, "'spot measuring twelve feet nine or thereabouts from where I,' is not sound testimony17!"
The magistrates18 consulted, and the second one said that the bench was of opinion that twelve feet nine inches from a man on his oath was admissible.
Stubberd, with a suppressed gaze of victorious19 rectitude at the old woman, continued: "Was standing20 myself. She was wambling about quite dangerous to the thoroughfare and when I approached to draw near she committed the nuisance, and insulted me."
"'Insulted me.'...Yes, what did she say?"
"She said, 'Put away that dee lantern,' she says."
"Yes."
"Says she, 'Dost hear, old turmit-head? Put away that dee lantern. I have floored fellows a dee sight finer-looking than a dee fool like thee, you son of a bee, dee me if I haint,' she says.
"I object to that conversation!" interposed the old woman. "I was not capable enough to hear what I said, and what is said out of my hearing is not evidence."
There was another stoppage for consultation21, a book was referred to, and finally Stubberd was allowed to go on again. The truth was that the old woman had appeared in court so many more times than the magistrates themselves, that they were obliged to keep a sharp look-out upon their procedure. However, when Stubberd had rambled22 on a little further Henchard broke out impatiently, "Come--we don't want to hear any more of them cust dees and bees! Say the words out like a man, and don't be so modest, Stubberd; or else leave it alone!" Turning to the woman, "Now then, have you any questions to ask him, or anything to say?"
"Yes," she replied with a twinkle in her eye; and the clerk dipped his pen.
"Twenty years ago or thereabout I was selling of furmity in a tent at Weydon Fair----"
"'Twenty years ago'--well, that's beginning at the beginning; suppose you go back to the Creation!" said the clerk, not without satire24.
But Henchard stared, and quite forgot what was evidence and what was not.
"A man and a woman with a little child came into my tent," the woman continued. "They sat down and had a basin apiece. Ah, Lord's my life! I was of a more respectable station in the world then than I am now, being a land smuggler25 in a large way of business; and I used to season my furmity with rum for them who asked for't. I did it for the man; and then he had more and more; till at last he quarrelled with his wife, and offered to sell her to the highest bidder26. A sailor came in and bid five guineas, and paid the money, and led her away. And the man who sold his wife in that fashion is the man sitting there in the great big chair." The speaker concluded by nodding her head at Henchard and folding her arms.
Everybody looked at Henchard. His face seemed strange, and in tint27 as if it had been powdered over with ashes. "We don't want to hear your life and adventures," said the second magistrate sharply, filling the pause which followed. "You've been asked if you've anything to say bearing on the case."
"That bears on the case. It proves that he's no better than I, and has no right to sit there in judgment28 upon me."
"'Tis a concocted29 story," said the clerk. "So hold your tongue!"
"No--'tis true." The words came from Henchard. "'Tis as true as the light," he said slowly. "And upon my soul it does prove that I'm no better than she! And to keep out of any temptation to treat her hard for her revenge, I'll leave her to you."
The sensation in the court was indescribably great. Henchard left the chair, and came out, passing through a group of people on the steps and outside that was much larger than usual; for it seemed that the old furmity dealer30 had mysteriously hinted to the denizens31 of the lane in which she had been lodging32 since her arrival, that she knew a queer thing or two about their great local man Mr. Henchard, if she chose to tell it. This had brought them hither.
"Why are there so many idlers round the Town Hall to-day?" said Lucetta to her servant when the case was over. She had risen late, and had just looked out of the window.
"Oh, please, ma'am, 'tis this larry about Mr. Henchard. A woman has proved that before he became a gentleman he sold his wife for five guineas in a booth at a fair."
In all the accounts which Henchard had given her of the separation from his wife Susan for so many years, of his belief in her death, and so on, he had never clearly explained the actual and immediate33 cause of that separation. The story she now heard for the first time.
A gradual misery34 overspread Lucetta's face as she dwelt upon the promise wrung35 from her the night before. At bottom, then, Henchard was this. How terrible a contingency36 for a woman who should commit herself to his care.
During the day she went out to the Ring and to other places, not coming in till nearly dusk. As soon as she saw Elizabeth-Jane after her return indoors she told her that she had resolved to go away from home to the seaside for a few days--to Port-Bredy; Casterbridge was so gloomy.
Elizabeth, seeing that she looked wan23 and disturbed, encouraged her in the idea, thinking a change would afford her relief. She could not help suspecting that the gloom which seemed to have come over Casterbridge in Lucetta's eyes might be partially37 owing to the fact that Farfrae was away from home.
Elizabeth saw her friend depart for Port-Bredy, and took charge of High-Place Hall till her return. After two or three days of solitude38 and incessant39 rain Henchard called at the house. He seemed disappointed to hear of Lucetta's absence and though he nodded with outward indifference40 he went away handling his beard with a nettled41 mien42.
The next day he called again. "Is she come now?" he asked.
"Yes. She returned this morning," replied his stepdaughter. "But she is not indoors. She has gone for a walk along the turnpike-road to Port-Bredy. She will be home by dusk."
After a few words, which only served to reveal his restless impatience43, he left the house again.
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1
magistrate
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| n.地方行政官，地方法官，治安官 | |
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virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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3
incongruity
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| n.不协调，不一致 | |
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4
offender
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| n.冒犯者，违反者，犯罪者 | |
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5
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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6
attired
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| adj.穿着整齐的v.使穿上衣服，使穿上盛装( attire的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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7
hue
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| n.色度；色调；样子 | |
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8
tawny
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| adj.茶色的，黄褐色的；n.黄褐色 | |
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bonnet
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| n.无边女帽；童帽 | |
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apron
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| n.围裙；工作裙 | |
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cursorily
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| adv.粗糙地，疏忽地，马虎地 | |
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12
momentary
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| adj.片刻的，瞬息的；短暂的 | |
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13
constable
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| n.(英国)警察，警官 | |
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14
defendant
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| n.被告；adj.处于被告地位的 | |
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15
gutter
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| n.沟，街沟，水槽，檐槽，贫民窟 | |
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16
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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17
testimony
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| n.证词；见证，证明 | |
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18
magistrates
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| 地方法官，治安官( magistrate的名词复数 ) | |
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victorious
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| adj.胜利的，得胜的 | |
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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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consultation
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| n.咨询；商量；商议；会议 | |
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22
rambled
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| （无目的地）漫游( ramble的过去式和过去分词 )； （喻）漫谈； 扯淡； 长篇大论 | |
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23
wan
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| (wide area network)广域网 | |
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satire
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| n.讽刺，讽刺文学，讽刺作品 | |
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smuggler
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| n.走私者 | |
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bidder
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| n.(拍卖时的)出价人，报价人，投标人 | |
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27
tint
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| n.淡色，浅色；染发剂；vt.着以淡淡的颜色 | |
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28
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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29
concocted
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| v.将（尤指通常不相配合的）成分混合成某物( concoct的过去式和过去分词 )；调制；编造；捏造 | |
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30
dealer
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| n.商人，贩子 | |
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31
denizens
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| n.居民，住户( denizen的名词复数 ) | |
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32
lodging
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| n.寄宿，住所；(大学生的)校外宿舍 | |
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immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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34
misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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35
wrung
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| 绞( wring的过去式和过去分词 )； 握紧（尤指别人的手）； 把（湿衣服）拧干； 绞掉（水） | |
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36
contingency
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| n.意外事件，可能性 | |
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partially
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| adv.部分地，从某些方面讲 | |
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38
solitude
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| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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39
incessant
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| adj.不停的，连续的 | |
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40
indifference
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| n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎 | |
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41
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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42
mien
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| n.风采；态度 | |
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43
impatience
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| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
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