“You seem astonished,” she said, just after we had passed a mill 2 which spanned all the stream save the water-way for traffic, but which was as beautiful in its way as a Gothic cathedral —“You seem astonished at this being so pleasant to look at.”
2 I should have said that all along the Thames there were abundance of mills used for various purposes; none of which were in any degree unsightly, and many strikingly beautiful; and the gardens about them marvels6 of loveliness.
“Yes,” I said, “in a way I am; though I don’t see why it should not be.”
“Ah!” she said, looking at me admiringly, yet with a lurking7 smile in her face, “you know all about the history of the past. Were they not always careful about this little stream which now adds so much pleasantness to the country side? It would always be easy to manage this little river. Ah! I forgot, though,” she said, as her eye caught mine, “in the days we are thinking of pleasure was wholly neglected in such matters. But how did they manage the river in the days that you —” Lived in she was going to say; but correcting herself, said —“in the days of which you have record?”
“They MISmanaged it,” quoth I. “Up to the first half of the nineteenth century, when it was still more or less of a highway for the country people, some care was taken of the river and its banks; and though I don’t suppose anyone troubled himself about its aspect, yet it was trim and beautiful. But when the railways — of which no doubt you have heard — came into power, they would not allow the people of the country to use either the natural or artificial waterways, of which latter there were a great many. I suppose when we get higher up we shall see one of these; a very important one, which one of these railways entirely8 closed to the public, so that they might force people to send their goods by their private road, and so tax them as heavily as they could.”
Ellen laughed heartily9. “Well,” she said, “that is not stated clearly enough in our history-books, and it is worth knowing. But certainly the people of those days must have been a curiously10 lazy set. We are not either fidgety or quarrelsome now, but if any one tried such a piece of folly11 on us, we should use the said waterways, whoever gaidsaid us: surely that would be simple enough. However, I remember other cases of this stupidity: when I was on the Rhine two years ago, I remember they showed us ruins of old castles, which, according to what we heard, must have been made for pretty much the same purpose as the railways were. But I am interrupting your history of the river: pray go on.”
“It is both short and stupid enough,” said I. “The river having lost its practical or commercial value — that is, being of no use to make money of —”
She nodded. “I understand what that queer phrase means,” said she. “Go on!”
“Well, it was utterly12 neglected, till at last it became a nuisance —”
“Yes,” quoth Ellen, “I understand: like the railways and the robber knights13. Yes?”
“So then they turned the makeshift business on to it, and handed it over to a body up in London, who from time to time, in order to show that they had something to do, did some damage here and there — cut down trees, destroying the banks thereby14; dredged the river (where it was not needed always), and threw the dredgings on the fields so as to spoil them; and so forth15. But for the most part they practised ‘masterly inactivity,’ as it was then called — that is, they drew their salaries, and let things alone.”
“Drew their salaries,” she said. “I know that means that they were allowed to take an extra lot of other people’s goods for doing nothing. And if that had been all, it really might have been worth while to let them do so, if you couldn’t find any other way of keeping them quiet; but it seems to me that being so paid, they could not help doing something, and that something was bound to be mischief16 — because,” said she, kindling17 with sudden anger, “the whole business was founded on lies and false pretensions18. I don’t mean only these river-guardians, but all these master-people I have read of.”
“Yes,” said I, “how happy you are to have got out of the parsimony19 of oppression!”
“Why do you sigh?” she said, kindly20 and somewhat anxiously. “You seem to think that it will not last?”
“It will last for you,” quoth I.
“But why not for you?” said she. “Surely it is for all the world; and if your country is somewhat backward, it will come into line before long. Or,” she said quickly, “are you thinking that you must soon go back again? I will make my proposal which I told you of at once, and so perhaps put an end to your anxiety. I was going to propose that you should live with us where we are going. I feel quite old friends with you, and should be sorry to lose you.” Then she smiled on me, and said: “Do you know, I begin to suspect you of wanting to nurse a sham21 sorrow, like the ridiculous characters in some of those queer old novels that I have come across now and then.”
I really had almost begun to suspect it myself, but I refused to admit so much; so I sighed no more, but fell to giving my delightful22 companion what little pieces of history I knew about the river and its borderlands; and the time passed pleasantly enough; and between the two of us (she was a better sculler than I was, and seemed quite tireless) we kept up fairly well with Dick, hot as the afternoon was, and swallowed up the way at a great rate. At last we passed under another ancient bridge; and through meadows bordered at first with huge elm-trees mingled24 with sweet chestnut25 of younger but very elegant growth; and the meadows widened out so much that it seemed as if the trees must now be on the bents only, or about the houses, except for the growth of willows26 on the immediate27 banks; so that the wide stretch of grass was little broken here. Dick got very much excited now, and often stood up in the boat to cry out to us that this was such and such a field, and so forth; and we caught fire at his enthusiasm for the hay-field and its harvest, and pulled our best.
At last as we were passing through a reach of the river where on the side of the towing-path was a highish bank with a thick whispering bed of reeds before it, and on the other side a higher bank, clothed with willows that dipped into the stream and crowned by ancient elm-trees, we saw bright figures coming along close to the bank, as if they were looking for something; as, indeed, they were, and we — that is, Dick and his company — were what they were looking for. Dick lay on his oars28, and we followed his example. He gave a joyous29 shout to the people on the bank, which was echoed back from it in many voices, deep and sweetly shrill30; for there were above a dozen persons, both men, women, and children. A tall handsome woman, with black wavy31 hair and deep-set grey eyes, came forward on the bank and waved her hand gracefully32 to us, and said:
“Dick, my friend, we have almost had to wait for you! What excuse have you to make for your slavish punctuality? Why didn’t you take us by surprise, and come yesterday?”
“O,” said Dick, with an almost imperceptible jerk of his head toward our boat, “we didn’t want to come too quick up the water; there is so much to see for those who have not been up here before.”
“True, true,” said the stately lady, for stately is the word that must be used for her; “and we want them to get to know the wet way from the east thoroughly33 well, since they must often use it now. But come ashore34 at once, Dick, and you, dear neighbours; there is a break in the reeds and a good landing-place just round the corner. We can carry up your things, or send some of the lads after them.”
“No, no,” said Dick; “it is easier going by water, though it is but a step. Besides, I want to bring my friend here to the proper place. We will go on to the Ford35; and you can talk to us from the bank as we paddle along.”
He pulled his sculls through the water, and on we went, turning a sharp angle and going north a little. Presently we saw before us a bank of elm-trees, which told us of a house amidst them, though I looked in vain for the grey walls that I expected to see there. As we went, the folk on the bank talked indeed, mingling36 their kind voices with the cuckoo’s song, the sweet strong whistle of the blackbirds, and the ceaseless note of the corn-crake as he crept through the long grass of the mowing-field; whence came waves of fragrance37 from the flowering clover amidst of the ripe grass.
In a few minutes we had passed through a deep eddying38 pool into the sharp stream that ran from the ford, and beached our craft on a tiny strand39 of limestone-gravel, and stepped ashore into the arms of our up-river friends, our journey done.
I disentangled myself from the merry throng40, and mounting on the cart-road that ran along the river some feet above the water, I looked round about me. The river came down through a wide meadow on my left, which was grey now with the ripened41 seeding grasses; the gleaming water was lost presently by a turn of the bank, but over the meadow I could see the mingled gables of a building where I knew the lock must be, and which now seemed to combine a mill with it. A low wooded ridge23 bounded the river-plain to the south and south-east, whence we had come, and a few low houses lay about its feet and up its slope. I turned a little to my right, and through the hawthorn42 sprays and long shoots of the wild roses could see the flat country spreading out far away under the sun of the calm evening, till something that might be called hills with a look of sheep-pastures about them bounded it with a soft blue line. Before me, the elm-boughs still hid most of what houses there might be in this river-side dwelling43 of men; but to the right of the cart-road a few grey buildings of the simplest kind showed here and there.
There I stood in a dreamy mood, and rubbed my eyes as if I were not wholly awake, and half expected to see the gay-clad company of beautiful men and women change to two or three spindle-legged back-bowed men and haggard, hollow-eyed, ill-favoured women, who once wore down the soil of this land with their heavy hopeless feet, from day to day, and season to season, and year to year. But no change came as yet, and my heart swelled44 with joy as I thought of all the beautiful grey villages, from the river to the plain and the plain to the uplands, which I could picture to myself so well, all peopled now with this happy and lovely folk, who had cast away riches and attained45 to wealth.
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1
gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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2
eddy
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| n.漩涡，涡流 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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dealing
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| n.经商方法，待人态度 | |
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ingenuity
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| n.别出心裁；善于发明创造 | |
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6
marvels
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| n.奇迹( marvel的名词复数 )；令人惊奇的事物（或事例）；不平凡的成果；成就v.惊奇，对…感到惊奇( marvel的第三人称单数 ) | |
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7
lurking
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| 潜在 | |
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8
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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9
heartily
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| adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很 | |
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10
curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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11
folly
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| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
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utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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knights
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| 骑士； （中古时代的）武士( knight的名词复数 )； 骑士； 爵士； （国际象棋中）马 | |
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14
thereby
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| adv.因此，从而 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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16
mischief
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| n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹 | |
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17
kindling
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| n. 点火, 可燃物 动词kindle的现在分词形式 | |
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18
pretensions
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| 自称( pretension的名词复数 )； 自命不凡； 要求； 权力 | |
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parsimony
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| n.过度节俭，吝啬 | |
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kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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sham
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| n./adj.假冒(的)，虚伪(的) | |
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delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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ridge
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| n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭 | |
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24
mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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chestnut
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| n.栗树，栗子 | |
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willows
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| n.柳树( willow的名词复数 )；柳木 | |
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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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28
oars
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| n.桨，橹( oar的名词复数 )；划手v.划（行）( oar的第三人称单数 ) | |
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joyous
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| adj.充满快乐的；令人高兴的 | |
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shrill
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| adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫 | |
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wavy
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| adj.有波浪的，多浪的，波浪状的，波动的，不稳定的 | |
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gracefully
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| ad.大大方方地；优美地 | |
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thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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Ford
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| n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过 | |
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mingling
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| adj.混合的 | |
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fragrance
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| n.芬芳，香味，香气 | |
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eddying
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| 涡流，涡流的形成 | |
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strand
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| vt.使（船）搁浅，使（某人）困于（某地） | |
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throng
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| n.人群，群众；v.拥挤，群集 | |
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41
ripened
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| v.成熟，使熟( ripen的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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42
hawthorn
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| 山楂 | |
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43
dwelling
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| n.住宅，住所，寓所 | |
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44
swelled
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| 增强( swell的过去式和过去分词 )； 肿胀； （使）凸出； 充满（激情） | |
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45
attained
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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