She stole away to bed as quickly as she could, and when she was alone, gave free vent4 to the sorrow with which her breast was overcharged. But the sad scene she had witnessed, was not without its lesson of content and gratitude5; of content with the lot which left her health and freedom; and gratitude that she was spared to the one relative and friend she loved, and to live and move in a beautiful world, when so many young creatures — as young and full of hope as she — were stricken down and gathered to their graves. How many of the mounds6 in that old churchyard where she had lately strayed, grew green above the graves of children! And though she thought as a child herself, and did not perhaps sufficiently7 consider to what a bright and happy existence those who die young are borne, and how in death they lose the pain of seeing others die around them, bearing to the tomb some strong affection of their hearts (which makes the old die many times in one long life), still she thought wisely enough, to draw a plain and easy moral from what she had seen that night, and to store it, deep in her mind.
Her dreams were of the little scholar: not coffined8 and covered up, but mingling9 with angels, and smiling happily. The sun darting10 his cheerful rays into the room, awoke her; and now there remained but to take leave of the poor schoolmaster and wander forth11 once more.
By the time they were ready to depart, school had begun. In the darkened room, the din12 of yesterday was going on again: a little sobered and softened13 down, perhaps, but only a very little, if at all. The schoolmaster rose from his desk and walked with them to the gate.
It was with a trembling and reluctant hand, that the child held out to him the money which the lady had given her at the races for her flowers: faltering14 in her thanks as she thought how small the sum was, and blushing as she offered it. But he bade her put it up, and stooping to kiss her cheek, turned back into his house.
They had not gone half-a-dozen paces when he was at the door again; the old man retraced15 his steps to shake hands, and the child did the same.
‘Good fortune and happiness go with you!’ said the poor schoolmaster. ‘I am quite a solitary16 man now. If you ever pass this way again, you’ll not forget the little village-school.’
‘We shall never forget it, sir,’ rejoined Nell; ‘nor ever forget to be grateful to you for your kindness to us.’
‘I have heard such words from the lips of children very often,’ said the schoolmaster, shaking his head, and smiling thoughtfully, ‘but they were soon forgotten. I had attached one young friend to me, the better friend for being young — but that’s over — God bless you!’
They bade him farewell very many times, and turned away, walking slowly and often looking back, until they could see him no more. At length they had left the village far behind, and even lost sight of the smoke among the trees. They trudged18 onward19 now, at a quicker pace, resolving to keep the main road, and go wherever it might lead them.
But main roads stretch a long, long way. With the exception of two or three inconsiderable clusters of cottages which they passed, without stopping, and one lonely road-side public-house where they had some bread and cheese, this highway had led them to nothing — late in the afternoon — and still lengthened20 out, far in the distance, the same dull, tedious, winding21 course, that they had been pursuing all day. As they had no resource, however, but to go forward, they still kept on, though at a much slower pace, being very weary and fatigued22.
The afternoon had worn away into a beautiful evening, when they arrived at a point where the road made a sharp turn and struck across a common. On the border of this common, and close to the hedge which divided it from the cultivated fields, a caravan23 was drawn24 up to rest; upon which, by reason of its situation, they came so suddenly that they could not have avoided it if they would.
It was not a shabby, dingy25, dusty cart, but a smart little house upon wheels, with white dimity curtains festooning the windows, and window-shutters of green picked out with panels of a staring red, in which happily-contrasted colours the whole concern shone brilliant. Neither was it a poor caravan drawn by a single donkey or emaciated26 horse, for a pair of horses in pretty good condition were released from the shafts27 and grazing on the frouzy grass. Neither was it a gipsy caravan, for at the open door (graced with a bright brass28 knocker) sat a Christian29 lady, stout30 and comfortable to look upon, who wore a large bonnet31 trembling with bows. And that it was not an unprovided or destitute32 caravan was clear from this lady’s occupation, which was the very pleasant and refreshing33 one of taking tea. The tea-things, including a bottle of rather suspicious character and a cold knuckle34 of ham, were set forth upon a drum, covered with a white napkin; and there, as if at the most convenient round-table in all the world, sat this roving lady, taking her tea and enjoying the prospect35.
It happened that at that moment the lady of the caravan had her cup (which, that everything about her might be of a stout and comfortable kind, was a breakfast cup) to her lips, and that having her eyes lifted to the sky in her enjoyment36 of the full flavour of the tea, not unmingled possibly with just the slightest dash or gleam of something out of the suspicious bottle — but this is mere37 speculation38 and not distinct matter of history — it happened that being thus agreeably engaged, she did not see the travellers when they first came up. It was not until she was in the act of getting down the cup, and drawing a long breath after the exertion39 of causing its contents to disappear, that the lady of the caravan beheld40 an old man and a young child walking slowly by, and glancing at her proceedings41 with eyes of modest but hungry admiration42.
‘Hey!’ cried the lady of the caravan, scooping43 the crumbs44 out of her lap and swallowing the same before wiping her lips. ‘Yes, to be sure — Who won the Helter–Skelter Plate, child?’
‘Won what, ma’am?’ asked Nell.
‘The Helter–Skelter Plate at the races, child — the plate that was run for on the second day.’
‘On the second day, ma’am?’
‘Second day! Yes, second day,’ repeated the lady with an air of impatience45. ‘Can’t you say who won the Helter–Skelter Plate when you’re asked the question civilly?’
‘I don’t know, ma’am.’
‘Don’t know!’ repeated the lady of the caravan; ‘why, you were there. I saw you with my own eyes.’
Nell was not a little alarmed to hear this, supposing that the lady might be intimately acquainted with the firm of Short and Codlin; but what followed tended to reassure46 her.
‘And very sorry I was,’ said the lady of the caravan, ‘to see you in company with a Punch; a low, practical, wulgar wretch47, that people should scorn to look at.’
‘I was not there by choice,’ returned the child; ‘we didn’t know our way, and the two men were very kind to us, and let us travel with them. Do you — do you know them, ma’am?’
‘Know ’em, child!’ cried the lady of the caravan in a sort of shriek48. ‘Know them! But you’re young and inexperienced, and that’s your excuse for asking sich a question. Do I look as if I know’d ’em, does the caravan look as if it know’d ’em?’
‘No, ma’am, no,’ said the child, fearing she had committed some grievous fault. ‘I beg your pardon.’
It was granted immediately, though the lady still appeared much ruffled49 and discomposed by the degrading supposition. The child then explained that they had left the races on the first day, and were travelling to the next town on that road, where they purposed to spend the night. As the countenance50 of the stout lady began to clear up, she ventured to inquire how far it was. The reply — which the stout lady did not come to, until she had thoroughly51 explained that she went to the races on the first day in a gig, and as an expedition of pleasure, and that her presence there had no connexion with any matters of business or profit — was, that the town was eight miles off.
This discouraging information a little dashed the child, who could scarcely repress a tear as she glanced along the darkening road. Her grandfather made no complaint, but he sighed heavily as he leaned upon his staff, and vainly tried to pierce the dusty distance.
The lady of the caravan was in the act of gathering52 her tea equipage together preparatory to clearing the table, but noting the child’s anxious manner she hesitated and stopped. The child curtseyed, thanked her for her information, and giving her hand to the old man had already got some fifty yards or so away, when the lady of the caravan called to her to return.
‘Come nearer, nearer still,’ said she, beckoning53 to her to ascend54 the steps. ‘Are you hungry, child?’
‘Not very, but we are tired, and it’s — it IS a long way.’
‘Well, hungry or not, you had better have some tea,’ rejoined her new acquaintance. ‘I suppose you are agreeable to that, old gentleman?’
The grandfather humbly55 pulled off his hat and thanked her. The lady of the caravan then bade him come up the steps likewise, but the drum proving an inconvenient56 table for two, they descended57 again, and sat upon the grass, where she handed down to them the tea-tray, the bread and butter, the knuckle of ham, and in short everything of which she had partaken herself, except the bottle which she had already embraced an opportunity of slipping into her pocket.
‘Set ’em out near the hind17 wheels, child, that’s the best place,’ said their friend, superintending the arrangements from above. ‘Now hand up the teapot for a little more hot water, and a pinch of fresh tea, and then both of you eat and drink as much as you can, and don’t spare anything; that’s all I ask of you.’
They might perhaps have carried out the lady’s wish, if it had been less freely expressed, or even if it had not been expressed at all. But as this direction relieved them from any shadow of delicacy58 or uneasiness, they made a hearty59 meal and enjoyed it to the utmost.
While they were thus engaged, the lady of the caravan alighted on the earth, and with her hands clasped behind her, and her large bonnet trembling excessively, walked up and down in a measured tread and very stately manner, surveying the caravan from time to time with an air of calm delight, and deriving60 particular gratification from the red panels and the brass knocker. When she had taken this gentle exercise for some time, she sat down upon the steps and called ‘George’; whereupon a man in a carter’s frock, who had been so shrouded61 in a hedge up to this time as to see everything that passed without being seen himself, parted the twigs62 that concealed63 him, and appeared in a sitting attitude, supporting on his legs a baking-dish and a half-gallon stone bottle, and bearing in his right hand a knife, and in his left a fork.
‘Yes, Missus,’ said George.
‘How did you find the cold pie, George?’
‘It warn’t amiss, mum.’
‘And the beer,’ said the lady of the caravan, with an appearance of being more interested in this question than the last; ‘is it passable, George?’
‘It’s more flatterer than it might be,’ George returned, ‘but it an’t so bad for all that.’
To set the mind of his mistress at rest, he took a sip64 (amounting in quantity to a pint65 or thereabouts) from the stone bottle, and then smacked66 his lips, winked67 his eye, and nodded his head. No doubt with the same amiable68 desire, he immediately resumed his knife and fork, as a practical assurance that the beer had wrought69 no bad effect upon his appetite.
The lady of the caravan looked on approvingly for some time, and then said,
‘Have you nearly finished?’
‘Wery nigh, mum.’ And indeed, after scraping the dish all round with his knife and carrying the choice brown morsels70 to his mouth, and after taking such a scientific pull at the stone bottle that, by degrees almost imperceptible to the sight, his head went further and further back until he lay nearly at his full length upon the ground, this gentleman declared himself quite disengaged, and came forth from his retreat.
‘I hope I haven’t hurried you, George,’ said his mistress, who appeared to have a great sympathy with his late pursuit.
‘If you have,’ returned the follower71, wisely reserving himself for any favourable72 contingency73 that might occur, ‘we must make up for it next time, that’s all.’
‘We are not a heavy load, George?’
‘That’s always what the ladies say,’ replied the man, looking a long way round, as if he were appealing to Nature in general against such monstrous74 propositions. ‘If you see a woman a driving, you’ll always perceive that she never will keep her whip still; the horse can’t go fast enough for her. If cattle have got their proper load, you never can persuade a woman that they’ll not bear something more. What is ‘ the cause of this here?’
‘Would these two travellers make much difference to the horses, if we took them with us?’ asked his mistress, offering no reply to the philosophical75 inquiry76, and pointing to Nell and the old man, who were painfully preparing to resume their journey on foot.
‘They’d make a difference in course,’ said George doggedly77.
‘Would they make much difference?’ repeated his mistress. ‘They can’t be very heavy.’
‘The weight o’ the pair, mum,’ said George, eyeing them with the look of a man who was calculating within half an ounce or so, ‘would be a trifle under that of Oliver Cromwell.”
Nell was very much surprised that the man should be so accurately78 acquainted with the weight of one whom she had read of in books as having lived considerably79 before their time, but speedily forgot the subject in the joy of hearing that they were to go forward in the caravan, for which she thanked its lady with unaffected earnestness. She helped with great readiness and alacrity80 to put away the tea-things and other matters that were lying about, and, the horses being by that time harnessed, mounted into the vehicle, followed by her delighted grandfather. Their patroness then shut the door and sat herself down by her drum at an open window; and, the steps being struck by George and stowed under the carriage, away they went, with a great noise of flapping and creaking and straining, and the bright brass knocker, which nobody ever knocked at, knocking one perpetual double knock of its own accord as they jolted81 heavily along.
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1
conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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aged
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| adj.年老的，陈年的 | |
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premature
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| adj.比预期时间早的；不成熟的，仓促的 | |
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vent
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| n.通风口，排放口；开衩；vt.表达，发泄 | |
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gratitude
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| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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mounds
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| 土堆，土丘( mound的名词复数 )； 一大堆 | |
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sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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coffined
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| vt.收殓（coffin的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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mingling
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| adj.混合的 | |
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darting
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的现在分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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din
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| n.喧闹声，嘈杂声 | |
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softened
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| （使）变软( soften的过去式和过去分词 )； 缓解打击； 缓和； 安慰 | |
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faltering
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| 犹豫的，支吾的，蹒跚的 | |
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retraced
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| v.折回( retrace的过去式和过去分词 )；回忆；回顾；追溯 | |
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solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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hind
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| adj.后面的，后部的 | |
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trudged
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| vt.& vi.跋涉，吃力地走（trudge的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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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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lengthened
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| （时间或空间）延长，伸长( lengthen的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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winding
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| n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈 | |
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fatigued
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| adj. 疲乏的 | |
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caravan
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| n.大蓬车；活动房屋 | |
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drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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dingy
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| adj.昏暗的，肮脏的 | |
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emaciated
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| adj.衰弱的，消瘦的 | |
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shafts
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| n.轴( shaft的名词复数 )；（箭、高尔夫球棒等的）杆；通风井；一阵（疼痛、害怕等） | |
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brass
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| n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器 | |
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Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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bonnet
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| n.无边女帽；童帽 | |
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destitute
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| adj.缺乏的；穷困的 | |
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refreshing
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| adj.使精神振作的，使人清爽的，使人喜欢的 | |
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knuckle
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| n.指节；vi.开始努力工作；屈服，认输 | |
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prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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enjoyment
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| n.乐趣；享有；享用 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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speculation
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| n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机 | |
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exertion
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| n.尽力，努力 | |
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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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proceedings
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| n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报 | |
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admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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scooping
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| n.捞球v.抢先报道( scoop的现在分词 )；（敏捷地）抱起；抢先获得；用铲[勺]等挖（洞等） | |
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crumbs
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| int. (表示惊讶)哎呀 n. 碎屑 名词crumb的复数形式 | |
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impatience
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| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
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reassure
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| v.使放心，使消除疑虑 | |
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wretch
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| n.可怜的人，不幸的人；卑鄙的人 | |
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shriek
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| v./n.尖叫，叫喊 | |
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ruffled
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| adj. 有褶饰边的, 起皱的 动词ruffle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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50
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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beckoning
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| adj.引诱人的，令人心动的v.（用头或手的动作）示意，召唤( beckon的现在分词 ) | |
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ascend
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| vi.渐渐上升，升高；vt.攀登，登上 | |
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55
humbly
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| adv. 恭顺地，谦卑地 | |
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inconvenient
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| adj.不方便的，令人感到麻烦的 | |
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descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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delicacy
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| n.精致，细微，微妙，精良；美味，佳肴 | |
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hearty
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| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
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60
deriving
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| v.得到( derive的现在分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取 | |
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shrouded
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| v.隐瞒( shroud的过去式和过去分词 )；保密 | |
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twigs
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| 细枝，嫩枝( twig的名词复数 ) | |
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concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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sip
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| v.小口地喝，抿，呷；n.一小口的量 | |
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pint
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| n.品脱 | |
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smacked
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| 拍，打，掴( smack的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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winked
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| v.使眼色( wink的过去式和过去分词 )；递眼色（表示友好或高兴等）；（指光）闪烁；闪亮 | |
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amiable
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| adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的 | |
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wrought
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| v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的 | |
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morsels
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| n.一口( morsel的名词复数 )；（尤指食物）小块，碎屑 | |
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follower
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| n.跟随者；随员；门徒；信徒 | |
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favourable
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| adj.赞成的，称赞的，有利的，良好的，顺利的 | |
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contingency
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| n.意外事件，可能性 | |
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monstrous
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| adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的 | |
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philosophical
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| adj.哲学家的，哲学上的，达观的 | |
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inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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77
doggedly
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| adv.顽强地，固执地 | |
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78
accurately
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| adv.准确地，精确地 | |
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79
considerably
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| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
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80
alacrity
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| n.敏捷，轻快，乐意 | |
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81
jolted
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| （使）摇动， （使）震惊( jolt的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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