Chapter 22. The Last Glimpse of Oxford.

Oxford¹. The front of Magdalen Hall, about which the least said the soonest mended. On the left, further on, All Souls, which seems to have been built by the same happy hand winch built the new courts of St. John’s Cambridge, (for they are about equally bad). On the right, the Clarendon and the Schools, blocking out the western sky. Still more to the right, a bit of Exeter, and all Brazenose. In front the Radcliff, the third dome² in England, and, beyond, the straight facade³ of St. Mary’s, gathering⁴ its lines upward ever, till, tired of window and buttress⁵, of crocket, finial, gargoyle⁶, and all the rest of it, it leaps up aloft in one glorious crystal, and carries up one’s heart with it into the heaven above.

Charles Ravenshoe and Marston. They stood side by side on the pavement, and their eyes roamed together over the noble mass of architecture, passing from the straight lines, and abrupt⁷ corner of the Radcliff, on to the steeple of St. Mary’s. They stood silent for a moment, and then Marston said —

“Serve him right,”

“Why?” said Charles.

“Because he had no business to be driving tandem⁸ at all. He can’t afford it. And, besides, if he could, why should he defy the authorities by driving tandem? Nobody would drive tandem if it wasn’t forbidden.”

“Well, he is sent down, and therefore your virtue⁹ may spare him.”

“Sent down!” said Marston, testily¹⁰, “he never ought to have come up. He was only sent here to be pitch-forked through the schools, and get a family living.”

“Well, well,” said Charles; “I was very fond of him.”

“Pish!” said Marston. Whereat Charles laughed uproariously, and stood in the gutter¹¹. His mirth was stopped by his being attacked by a toothless black and tan terrier, who was so old that he could only bark in a whisper, but whose privilege it was to follow about one of the first divinity scholars of the day, round the sunniest spots in the town. The dog having been appeased¹², Charles and Marston stood aside, and got a kindly¹³ smile from the good old man, in recognition of their having touched their caps to him.

“Charley,” said Marston, “I am so glad to hear of your going on so well. Mind you, if you had stuck to your work sooner, you would have had more than a second in Moderations. You must, and you shall, get a first, you know. I will have it.”

“Never, my boy, never; ” said Charles; “I haven’t head for it,”

“Nonsense. You are a great fool; but you may get your first.”

Thereupon Charles laughed again, louder than before, and wanted to know what his friend had been eating to upset his liver. To which Marston answered “Bosh!” and then they went clown Oriel Lane, “And so by Merton,” as the fox-hunters say, to Christ Church Meadow.

“I am glad you are in the University eight,” said .Marston; “it will do you a vast deal of good. You used to over — value that sort of thing, but I don’t think that you do so now. You can’t row or ride yourself into a place in the world, but that is no reason why you should not row or ride. I wish I was heavy enough to row. Who steers¹⁴ today?

“The great Panjandrum.”

“I don’t like the great Panjandrum. I think him slangy. And I don’t pardon slang in any one beyond a very young bachelor.”

“I am very fond of him,” said Charles, “and you are bilious¹⁵, and out of humour with every one in heaven and earth, except apparently¹⁶ me. But, seriously speaking, old man, I think you have had something to vex¹⁷ you, since you came up yesterday. I hav’n’t seen you since you were at Ravenshoe, and you are deucedly altered, do you know?”

“I am sure you are wrong, Charles. I have had nothing — Well, I never lie. I have been disappointed in something, but I have fought against it so, that I am sure you must be wrong. I cannot be altered.”

“Tell me what has gone wrong, Marston. Is it in money matters? If it is, I know I can help you there.”

“Money. Oh! dear, no; ” said Marston. “Charley, you are a good fellow. You are the best fellow I ever met, do you know? But I can’t tell you what is the matter now.”

“Have I been doing anything?” said Charles eagerly.

“You have been doing a great deal to make me like and respect you, Charles; but nothing to make me unhappy. Now, answer me some questions, and let us change the subject. How is your father?”

“Dear old dad is very well. I got a letter from him today.”

“And how is your brother?”

“Well in health, but weak in mind, I fear. I am very much afraid that I shall be heir of Ravenshoe.”

“Why 1 is he going mad?”

“Not a bit of it, poor lad. He is going into a religious house, I am afraid. At least he mentioned that sort of thing the last time he wrote to me, as if he was trying to bring me face to face with the idea; and be sure my dearly beloved Father Mackworth will never let the idea rest.”

“Poor fellow! And how is Adelaide the beautiful?”

“Shes all right,” said Charles. “She and Aunt are the best friends in the world.”

“They always were, weren’t they?”

“Why, you see,” said Charles, “sometimes Aunt was cross, and Adelaide is very high-spirited, you know. Exceedingly high-spirited?’

“Indeed?”

“Oh, yes, very much so; she didn’t take much nonsense from Lady Hainault, I can tell you.”

“Well,” said Marston, “to continue my catechizing, how is William?”

“He is very well. Is there no one else you were going to ask after?”

“Oh, yes. Miss Corby?”

“She is pretty well, I believe, in health, but she does not seem quite so happy as she was,” said Charles, looking at Marston, suddenly.

He might as well have looked at the Taylor building, if he expected any change to take place in Marston’s face. He regarded him with a stony¹⁸ stare, and said —

“Indeed. I am sorry to hear that.”

“Marston,” said Charles, “I once thought that there was something between you and her.”

“That is a remarkable¹⁹ instance of what silly notions get into vacant minds,” said Marston steadily²⁰. Whereat Charles laughed again.

At this point, being opposite the University barge²¹, Charles was hailed by a West-countryman of Exeter, whom we shall call Lee, who never met with Charles without having a turn at talking Devonshire with him. He now began at the top of his voice, to the great astonishment²² of the surrounding dandies.

“Where be gwine? Charles Ravenshoe, where be gwine?”

“We’ni gwine for a ride on the watter, Jan Lee.”

“Be gwine in the Varsity eight, Charles Ravenshoe?”

“Yes, sure.”

“How do’e feel? Dont’e feel afeard?"

“Ma dear soul, I’ve got such a wambling in my innards, and — ”

“We are waiting for you, Ravenshoe,” said the Captain; and, a few minutes after, the University eight rushed forth²³ on her glorious career, clearing her way through the crowd of boats, and their admiring rowers, towards Iffley.

And Marston sat on the top of the University barge, and watched her sweeping²⁴ on towards the distance, and then he said to himself —

“Ah! there goes the man I like best in the world, who don’t care for the woman I love best in the world, who is in love with the man before mentioned, who is in love with a woman who don’t care a hang for him. There is a certain left-handedness in human affairs.”

1 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。

2 dome   

n.圆屋顶，拱顶

参考例句：

• The dome was supported by white marble columns.圆顶由白色大理石柱支撑着。
• They formed the dome with the tree's branches.他们用树枝搭成圆屋顶。

3 facade   

n.(建筑物的)正面，临街正面；外表

参考例句：

• The entrance facade consists of a large full height glass door.入口正面有一大型全高度玻璃门。
• If you look carefully,you can see through Bob's facade.如果你仔细观察，你就能看穿鲍勃的外表。

4 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

5 buttress   

n.支撑物；v.支持

参考例句：

• I don't think they have any buttress behind them.我认为他们背后没有什么支持力量。
• It was decided to buttress the crumbling walls.人们决定建造扶壁以支撑崩塌中的墙。

6 gargoyle   

n.笕嘴

参考例句：

• His face was the gargoyle of the devil,it was not human,it was not sane.他的脸简直就像魔鬼模样的屋檐滴水嘴。
• The little gargoyle is just a stuffed toy,but it looks so strange.小小的滴水嘴兽只是一个填充毛绒玩具，但它看起来这么奇怪的事。

7 abrupt   

adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的

参考例句：

• The river takes an abrupt bend to the west.这河突然向西转弯。
• His abrupt reply hurt our feelings.他粗鲁的回答伤了我们的感情。

8 tandem   

n.同时发生；配合；adv.一个跟着一个地；纵排地；adj.（两匹马）前后纵列的

参考例句：

• Malcolm's contract will run in tandem with his existing one.马尔科姆的合同将与他手头的合同同时生效。
• He is working in tandem with officials of the Serious Fraud Office.他正配合欺诈重案办公室的官员工作。

9 virtue   

n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力

参考例句：

• He was considered to be a paragon of virtue.他被认为是品德尽善尽美的典范。
• You need to decorate your mind with virtue.你应该用德行美化心灵。

10 testily   

adv. 易怒地, 暴躁地

参考例句：

• He reacted testily to reports that he'd opposed military involvement. 有报道称他反对军队参与，对此他很是恼火。 来自柯林斯例句

11 gutter   

n.沟，街沟，水槽，檐槽，贫民窟

参考例句：

• There's a cigarette packet thrown into the gutter.阴沟里有个香烟盒。
• He picked her out of the gutter and made her a great lady.他使她脱离贫苦生活，并成为贵妇。

12 appeased   

安抚，抚慰( appease的过去式和过去分词 )； 绥靖（满足另一国的要求以避免战争）

参考例句：

• His hunger could only be appeased by his wife. 他的欲望只有他的妻子能满足。
• They are the more readily appeased. 他们比较容易和解。

13 kindly   

adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地

参考例句：

• Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
• A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。

14 steers   

n.阉公牛，肉用公牛( steer的名词复数 )v.驾驶( steer的第三人称单数 )；操纵；控制；引导

参考例句：

• This car steers easily. 这部车子易于驾驶。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Good fodder fleshed the steers up. 优质饲料使菜牛长肉。 来自辞典例句

15 bilious   

adj.胆汁过多的；易怒的

参考例句：

• The quality or condition of being bilious.多脂肪食物使有些人患胆汁病。
• He was a bilious old gentleman.他是一位脾气乖戾的老先生。

16 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

17 vex   

vt.使烦恼，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Everything about her vexed him.有关她的一切都令他困惑。
• It vexed me to think of others gossiping behind my back.一想到别人在背后说我闲话，我就很恼火。

18 stony   

adj.石头的，多石头的，冷酷的，无情的

参考例句：

• The ground is too dry and stony.这块地太干，而且布满了石头。
• He listened to her story with a stony expression.他带着冷漠的表情听她讲经历。

19 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

20 steadily   

adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地

参考例句：

• The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
• Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。

21 barge   

n.平底载货船，驳船

参考例句：

• The barge was loaded up with coal.那艘驳船装上了煤。
• Carrying goods by train costs nearly three times more than carrying them by barge.通过铁路运货的成本比驳船运货成本高出近3倍。

22 astonishment   

n.惊奇，惊异

参考例句：

• They heard him give a loud shout of astonishment.他们听见他惊奇地大叫一声。
• I was filled with astonishment at her strange action.我对她的奇怪举动不胜惊异。

23 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

24 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？