Pray Heaven we be not scant1 of meat or mirth!
OLD PLAY.
Even upon ordinary occasions, and where means were ample, a great entertainment in those days was not such a sinecure3 as in modern times, when the lady who presides has but to intimate to her menials the day and hour when she wills it to take place. At that simple period, the lady was expected to enter deeply into the arrangement and provision of the whole affair; and from a little gallery, which communicated with her own private apartment, and looked down upon the kitchen, her shrill4 voice was to be heard, from time to time, like that of the warning spirit in a tempest, rising above the clash of pots and stewpans — the creaking spits — the clattering5 of marrowbones and cleavers6 — the scolding of cooks — and all the other various kinds of din2 which form an accompaniment to dressing7 a large dinner.
But all this toil8 and anxiety was more than doubled in the case of the approaching feast at Martindale Castle, where the presiding Genius of the festivity was scarce provided with adequate means to carry her hospitable9 purpose into effect. The tyrannical conduct of husbands, in such cases, is universal; and I scarce know one householder of my acquaintance who has not, on some ill-omened and most inconvenient11 season, announced suddenly to his innocent helpmate, that he had invited
“Some odious12 Major Rock,
To drop in at six o’clock,”
to the great discomposure of the lady, and the discredit13, perhaps, of her domestic arrangements.
Peveril of the Peak was still more thoughtless; for he had directed his lady to invite the whole honest men of the neighbourhood to make good cheer at Martindale Castle, in honour of the blessed Restoration of his most sacred Majesty14, without precisely15 explaining where the provisions were to come from. The deer-park had lain waste ever since the siege; the dovecot could do little to furnish forth16 such an entertainment; the fishponds, it is true, were well provided (which the neighbouring Presbyterians noted17 as a suspicious circumstance); and game was to be had for the shooting, upon the extensive heaths and hills of Derbyshire. But these were but the secondary parts of a banquet; and the house-steward18 and bailiff, Lady Peveril’s only coadjutors and counsellors, could not agree how the butcher-meat — the most substantial part, or, as it were, the main body of the entertainment — was to be supplied. The house-steward threatened the sacrifice of a fine yoke19 of young bullocks, which the bailiff, who pleaded the necessity of their agricultural services, tenaciously20 resisted; and Lady Peveril’s good and dutiful nature did not prevent her from making some impatient reflections on the want of consideration of her absent Knight21, who had thus thoughtlessly placed her in so embarrassing a situation.
These reflections were scarcely just, if a man is only responsible for such resolutions as he adopts when he is fully22 master of himself. Sir Geoffrey’s loyalty23, like that of many persons in his situation, had, by dint24 of hopes and fears, victories and defeats, struggles and sufferings, all arising out of the same moving cause, and turning, as it were, on the same pivot25, acquired the character of an intense and enthusiastic passion; and the singular and surprising change of fortune, by which his highest wishes were not only gratified, but far exceeded, occasioned for some time a kind of intoxication26 of loyal rapture27 which seemed to pervade28 the whole kingdom. Sir Geoffrey had seen Charles and his brothers, and had been received by the merry monarch29 with that graceful30, and at the same time frank urbanity, by which he conciliated all who approached him; the Knight’s services and merits had been fully acknowledged, and recompense had been hinted at, if not expressly promised. Was it for Peveril of the Peak, in the jubilee31 of his spirits, to consider how his wife was to find beef and mutton to feast his neighbours?
Luckily, however, for the embarrassed lady, there existed some one who had composure of mind sufficient to foresee this difficulty. Just as she had made up her mind, very reluctantly, to become debtor32 to Major Bridgenorth for the sum necessary to carry her husband’s commands into effect, and whilst she was bitterly regretting this departure from the strictness of her usual economy, the steward, who, by-the-bye, had not been absolutely sober since the news of the King’s landing at Dover, burst into the apartment, snapping his fingers, and showing more marks of delight than was quite consistent with the dignity of my lady’s large parlour.
“What means this, Whitaker?” said the lady, somewhat peevishly33; for she was interrupted in the commencement of a letter to her neighbour on the unpleasant business of the proposed loan — “Is it to be always thus with you? — Are you dreaming?”
“A vision of good omen10, I trust,” said the steward, with a triumphant34 flourish of the hand; “far better than Pharaoh’s, though, like his, it be of fat kine.”
“I prithee be plain, man,” said the lady, “or fetch some one who can speak to purpose.”
“Why, odds-my-life, madam,” said the steward, “mine errand can speak for itself. Do you not hear them low? Do you not hear them bleat35? A yoke of fat oxen, and half a score prime wethers. The Castle is victualled for this bout36, let them storm when they will; and Gatherill may have his d — d mains ploughed to the boot.”
The lady, without farther questioning her elated domestic, rose and went to the window, where she certainly beheld37 the oxen and sheep which had given rise to Whitaker’s exultation38. “Whence come they?” said she, in some surprise.
“Let them construe39 that who can,” answered Whitaker; “the fellow who drove them was a west-country man, and only said they came from a friend to help to furnish out your ladyship’s entertainment; the man would not stay to drink — I am sorry he would not stay to drink — I crave40 your ladyship’s pardon for not keeping him by the ears to drink — it was not my fault.”
“That I’ll be sworn it was not,” said the lady.
“Nay, madam, by G — I assure you it was not,” said the zealous41 steward; “for, rather than the Castle should lose credit, I drank his health myself in double ale, though I had had my morning draught42 already. I tell you the naked truth, my lady, by G—!”
“It was no great compulsion, I suppose,” said the lady; “but, Whitaker, suppose you should show your joy on such occasions, by drinking and swearing a little less, rather than a little more, would it not be as well, think you?”
“I crave your ladyship’s pardon,” said Whitaker, with much reverence43; “I hope I know my place. I am your ladyship’s poor servant; and I know it does not become me to drink and swear like your ladyship — that is, like his honour, Sir Geoffrey, I would say. But I pray you, if I am not to drink and swear after my degree, how are men to know Peveril of the Peak’s steward — and I may say butler too, since I have had the keys of the cellar ever since old Spigots was shot dead on the northwest turret44, with a black jack45 in his hand — I say, how is an old Cavalier like me to be known from those cuckoldly Roundheads that do nothing but fast and pray, if we are not to drink and swear according to our degree?”
The lady was silent, for she well knew speech availed nothing; and, after a moment’s pause, proceeded to intimate to the steward that she would have the persons, whose names were marked in a written paper, which she delivered to him, invited to the approaching banquet.
Whitaker, instead of receiving the list with the mute acquiescence46 of a modern Major Domo, carried it into the recess47 of one of the windows, and, adjusting his spectacles, began to read it to himself. The first names, being those of distinguished48 Cavalier families in the neighbourhood, he muttered over in a tone of approbation49 — paused and pshawed at that of Bridgenorth — yet acquiesced50, with the observation, “But he is a good neighbour, so it may pass for once.” But when he read the name and surname of Nehemiah Solsgrace, the Presbyterian parson, Whitaker’s patience altogether forsook51 him; and he declared he would as soon throw himself into Eldon-hole,* as consent that the intrusive52 old puritan howlet, who had usurped53 the pulpit of a sound orthodox divine, should ever darken the gates of Martindale Castle by any message or mediation54 of his.
* A chasm55 in the earth supposed to be unfathomable, one of the wonders of the Peak.
“The false crop-eared hypocrites,” cried he, with a hearty56 oath, “have had their turn of the good weather. The sun is on our side of the hedge now, and we will pay off old scores, as sure as my name is Richard Whitaker.”
“You presume on your long services, Whitaker, and on your master’s absence, or you had not dared to use me thus,” said the lady.
The unwonted agitation57 of her voice attracted the attention of the refractory58 steward, notwithstanding his present state of elevation59; but he no sooner saw that her eye glistened60, and her cheek reddened, than his obstinacy61 was at once subdued62.
“A murrain on me,” he said, “but I have made my lady angry in good earnest! and that is an unwonted sight for to see. — I crave your pardon, my lady! It was not poor Dick Whitaker disputed your honourable63 commands, but only that second draught of double ale. We have put a double stroke of malt to it, as your ladyship well knows, ever since the happy Restoration. To be sure I hate a fanatic64 as I do the cloven foot of Satan; but then your honourable ladyship hath a right to invite Satan himself, cloven foot and all, to Martindale Castle; and to send me to hell’s gate with a billet of invitation — and so your will shall be done.”
The invitations were sent round accordingly, in all due form; and one of the bullocks was sent down to be roasted whole at the market-place of a little village called Martindale-Moultrassie, which stood considerably65 to the eastward66 both of the Castle and Hall, from which it took its double name, at about an equal distance from both; so that, suppose a line drawn67 from the one manor-house to the other, to be the base of a triangle, the village would have occupied the salient angle. As the said village, since the late transference of a part of Peveril’s property, belonged to Sir Geoffrey and to Bridgenorth in nearly equal portions, the lady judged it not proper to dispute the right of the latter to add some hogsheads of beer to the popular festivity.
In the meanwhile, she could not but suspect the Major of being the unknown friend who had relieved her from the dilemma68 arising from the want of provisions; and she esteemed69 herself happy when a visit from him, on the day preceding the proposed entertainment, gave her, as she thought, an opportunity of expressing her gratitude70.
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1
scant
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| adj.不充分的，不足的；v.减缩，限制，忽略 | |
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din
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| n.喧闹声，嘈杂声 | |
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3
sinecure
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| n.闲差事，挂名职务 | |
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shrill
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| adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫 | |
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5
clattering
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| 发出咔哒声（clatter的现在分词形式） | |
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6
cleavers
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| n.猪殃殃（其茎、实均有钩刺）；砍肉刀，剁肉刀( cleaver的名词复数 ) | |
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7
dressing
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| n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料 | |
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8
toil
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| vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事 | |
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9
hospitable
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| adj.好客的；宽容的；有利的，适宜的 | |
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10
omen
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| n.征兆，预兆；vt.预示 | |
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11
inconvenient
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| adj.不方便的，令人感到麻烦的 | |
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12
odious
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| adj.可憎的，讨厌的 | |
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13
discredit
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| vt.使不可置信；n.丧失信义；不信，怀疑 | |
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14
majesty
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| n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权 | |
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15
precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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16
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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17
noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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18
steward
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| n.乘务员，服务员；看管人；膳食管理员 | |
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19
yoke
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| n.轭；支配；v.给...上轭，连接，使成配偶 | |
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20
tenaciously
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| 坚持地 | |
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21
knight
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| n.骑士，武士；爵士 | |
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22
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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23
loyalty
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| n.忠诚，忠心 | |
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24
dint
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| n.由于，靠；凹坑 | |
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25
pivot
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| v.在枢轴上转动；装枢轴，枢轴；adj.枢轴的 | |
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26
intoxication
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| n.wild excitement;drunkenness；poisoning | |
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27
rapture
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| n.狂喜；全神贯注；着迷；v.使狂喜 | |
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28
pervade
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| v.弥漫，遍及，充满，渗透，漫延 | |
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29
monarch
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| n.帝王，君主，最高统治者 | |
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30
graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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31
jubilee
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| n.周年纪念；欢乐 | |
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32
debtor
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| n.借方，债务人 | |
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33
peevishly
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| adv．暴躁地 | |
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34
triumphant
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| adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的 | |
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35
bleat
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| v.咩咩叫，(讲)废话，哭诉；n.咩咩叫，废话，哭诉 | |
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36
bout
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| n.侵袭，发作；一次(阵，回)；拳击等比赛 | |
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37
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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38
exultation
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| n.狂喜，得意 | |
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39
construe
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| v.翻译，解释 | |
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40
crave
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| vt.渴望得到，迫切需要，恳求，请求 | |
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41
zealous
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| adj.狂热的，热心的 | |
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42
draught
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| n.拉，牵引，拖；一网（饮，吸，阵)；顿服药量，通风；v.起草，设计 | |
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43
reverence
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| n.敬畏，尊敬，尊严；Reverence:对某些基督教神职人员的尊称；v.尊敬，敬畏，崇敬 | |
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44
turret
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| n.塔楼，角塔 | |
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45
jack
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| n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克 | |
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46
acquiescence
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| n.默许；顺从 | |
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47
recess
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| n.短期休息，壁凹（墙上装架子，柜子等凹处） | |
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48
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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49
approbation
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| n.称赞；认可 | |
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50
acquiesced
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| v.默认，默许( acquiesce的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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51
forsook
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| forsake的过去式 | |
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52
intrusive
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| adj.打搅的；侵扰的 | |
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53
usurped
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| 篡夺，霸占( usurp的过去式和过去分词 )； 盗用； 篡夺，篡权 | |
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54
mediation
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| n.调解 | |
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55
chasm
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| n.深坑，断层，裂口，大分岐，利害冲突 | |
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56
hearty
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| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
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57
agitation
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| n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动 | |
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58
refractory
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| adj.倔强的，难驾驭的 | |
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59
elevation
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| n.高度；海拔；高地；上升；提高 | |
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60
glistened
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| v.湿物闪耀，闪亮( glisten的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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61
obstinacy
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| n.顽固；（病痛等）难治 | |
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62
subdued
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| adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
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63
honourable
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| adj.可敬的；荣誉的，光荣的 | |
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64
fanatic
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| n.狂热者，入迷者；adj.狂热入迷的 | |
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65
considerably
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| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
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66
eastward
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| adv.向东；adj.向东的；n.东方，东部 | |
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67
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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68
dilemma
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| n.困境，进退两难的局面 | |
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69
esteemed
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| adj.受人尊敬的v.尊敬( esteem的过去式和过去分词 )；敬重；认为；以为 | |
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70
gratitude
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| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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