But it was by the sea that I lived, in a town that was unlovely enough were it not for its glorious neighbour. And who cares for the town when one can sit on the bench at the headland, and look out over the huge, blue bay, and the yellow scimitar that curves before it. I loved it when its great face was freckled3 with the fishing boats, and I loved it when the big ships went past, far out, a little hillock of white and no hull4, with topsails curved like a bodice, so stately and demure5. But most of all I loved it when no trace of man marred6 the majesty7 of Nature, and when the sun-bursts slanted8 down on it from between the drifting rainclouds. Then I have seen the further edge draped in the gauze of the driving rain, with its thin grey shading under the slow clouds, while my headland was golden, and the sun gleamed upon the breakers and struck deep through the green waves beyond, showing up the purple patches where the beds of seaweed are lying. Such a morning as that, with the wind in his hair, and the spray on his lips, and the cry of the eddying9 gulls10 in his ear, may send a man back braced11 afresh to the reek12 of a sick-room, and the dead, drab weariness of practice.
It was on such another day that I first saw my old man. He came to my bench just as I was leaving it. My eye must have picked him out even in a crowded street, for he was a man of large frame and fine presence, with something of distinction in the set of his lip and the poise13 of his head. He limped up the winding14 path leaning heavily upon his stick, as though those great shoulders had become too much at last for the failing limbs that bore them. As he approached, my eyes caught Nature’s danger signal, that faint bluish tinge15 in nose and lip which tells of a labouring heart.
“The brae is a little trying, sir,” said I. “Speaking as a physician, I should say that you would do well to rest here before you go further.”
He inclined his head in a stately, old-world fashion, and seated himself upon the bench. Seeing that he had no wish to speak I was silent also, but I could not help watching him out of the corners of my eyes, for he was such a wonderful survival of the early half of the century, with his low-crowned, curly-brimmed hat, his black satin tie which fastened with a buckle16 at the back, and, above all, his large, fleshy, clean-shaven face shot with its mesh17 of wrinkles. Those eyes, ere they had grown dim, had looked out from the box-seat of mail coaches, and had seen the knots of navvies as they toiled18 on the brown embankments. Those lips had smiled over the first numbers of “Pickwick,” and had gossiped of the promising19 young man who wrote them. The face itself was a seventy-year almanack, and every seam an entry upon it where public as well as private sorrow left its trace. That pucker20 on the forehead stood for the Mutiny, perhaps; that line of care for the Crimean winter, it may be; and that last little sheaf of wrinkles, as my fancy hoped, for the death of Gordon. And so, as I dreamed in my foolish way, the old gentleman with the shining stock was gone, and it was seventy years of a great nation’s life that took shape before me on the headland in the morning.
But he soon brought me back to earth again. As he recovered his breath he took a letter out of his pocket, and, putting on a pair of horn-rimmed eye-glasses, he read it through very carefully. Without any design of playing the spy I could not help observing that it was in a woman’s hand. When he had finished it he read it again, and then sat with the corners of his mouth drawn21 down and his eyes staring vacantly out over the bay, the most forlorn-looking old gentleman that ever I have seen. All that is kindly22 within me was set stirring by that wistful face, but I knew that he was in no humour for talk, and so, at last, with my breakfast and my patients calling me, I left him on the bench and started for home.
I never gave him another thought until the next morning, when, at the same hour, he turned up upon the headland, and shared the bench which I had been accustomed to look upon as my own. He bowed again before sitting down, but was no more inclined than formerly23 to enter into conversation. There had been a change in him during the last twenty-four hours, and all for the worse. The face seemed more heavy and more wrinkled, while that ominous24 venous tinge was more pronounced as he panted up the hill. The clean lines of his cheek and chin were marred by a day’s growth of grey stubble, and his large, shapely head had lost something of the brave carriage which had struck me when first I glanced at him. He had a letter there, the same, or another, but still in a woman’s hand, and over this he was moping and mumbling25 in his senile fashion, with his brow puckered26, and the corners of his mouth drawn down like those of a fretting27 child. So I left him, with a vague wonder as to who he might be, and why a single spring day should have wrought28 such a change upon him.
So interested was I that next morning I was on the look out for him. Sure enough, at the same hour, I saw him coming up the hill; but very slowly, with a bent29 back and a heavy head. It was shocking to me to see the change in him as he approached.
“I am afraid that our air does not agree with you, sir,” I ventured to remark.
But it was as though he had no heart for talk. He tried, as I thought, to make some fitting reply, but it slurred30 off into a mumble31 and silence. How bent and weak and old he seemed—ten years older at the least than when first I had seen him! It went to my heart to see this fine old fellow wasting away before my eyes. There was the eternal letter which he unfolded with his shaking fingers. Who was this woman whose words moved him so? Some daughter, perhaps, or granddaughter, who should have been the light of his home instead of—— I smiled to find how bitter I was growing, and how swiftly I was weaving a romance round an unshaven old man and his correspondence. Yet all day he lingered in my mind, and I had fitful glimpses of those two trembling, blue-veined, knuckly32 hands with the paper rustling33 between them.
I had hardly hoped to see him again. Another day’s decline must, I thought, hold him to his room, if not to his bed. Great, then, was my surprise when, as I approached my bench, I saw that he was already there. But as I came up to him I could scarce be sure that it was indeed the same man. There were the curly-brimmed hat, and the shining stock, and the horn glasses, but where were the stoop and the grey-stubbled, pitiable face? He was clean-shaven and firm lipped, with a bright eye and a head that poised34 itself upon his great shoulders like an eagle on a rock. His back was as straight and square as a grenadier’s, and he switched at the pebbles35 with his stick in his exuberant36 vitality37. In the button-hole of his well-brushed black coat there glinted a golden blossom, and the corner of a dainty red silk handkerchief lapped over from his breast pocket. He might have been the eldest38 son of the weary creature who had sat there the morning before.
“Good morning, Sir, good morning!” he cried with a merry waggle of his cane39.
“Good morning!” I answered, “how beautiful the bay is looking.”
“Yes, Sir, but you should have seen it just before the sun rose.”
“What, have you been here since then?”
“I was here when there was scarce light to see the path.”
“You are a very early riser.”
“On occasion, sir; on occasion!” He cocked his eye at me as if to gauge40 whether I were worthy41 of his confidence. “The fact is, sir, that my wife is coming back to me to day.”
I suppose that my face showed that I did not quite see the force of the explanation. My eyes, too, may have given him assurance of sympathy, for he moved quite close to me and began speaking in a low, confidential42 voice, as if the matter were of such weight that even the sea-gulls must be kept out of our councils.
“Are you a married man, Sir?”
“No, I am not.”
“Ah, then you cannot quite understand it. My wife and I have been married for nearly fifty years, and we have never been parted, never at all, until now.”
“Was it for long?” I asked.
“Yes, sir. This is the fourth day. She had to go to Scotland. A matter of duty, you understand, and the doctors would not let me go. Not that I would have allowed them to stop me, but she was on their side. Now, thank God! it is over, and she may be here at any moment.”
“Here!”
“Yes, here. This headland and bench were old friends of ours thirty years ago. The people with whom we stay are not, to tell the truth, very congenial, and we have, little privacy among them. That is why we prefer to meet here. I could not be sure which train would bring her, but if she had come by the very earliest she would have found me waiting.”
“In that case——” said I, rising.
“No, sir, no,” he entreated43, “I beg that you will stay. It does not weary you, this domestic talk of mine?”
“On the contrary.”
“I have been so driven inwards during these few last days! Ah, what a nightmare it has been! Perhaps it may seem strange to you that an old fellow like me should feel like this.”
“It is charming.”
“No credit to me, sir! There’s not a man on this planet but would feel the same if he had the good fortune to be married to such a woman. Perhaps, because you see me like this, and hear me speak of our long life together, you conceive that she is old, too.”
He laughed heartily44, and his eyes twinkled at the humour of the idea.
“She’s one of those women, you know, who have youth in their hearts, and so it can never be very far from their faces. To me she’s just as she was when she first took my hand in hers in ‘45. A wee little bit stouter45, perhaps, but then, if she had a fault as a girl, it was that she was a shade too slender. She was above me in station, you know—I a clerk, and she the daughter of my employer. Oh! it was quite a romance, I give you my word, and I won her; and, somehow, I have never got over the freshness and the wonder of it. To think that that sweet, lovely girl has walked by my side all through life, and that I have been able——”
He stopped suddenly, and I glanced round at him in surprise. He was shaking all over, in every fibre of his great body. His hands were clawing at the woodwork, and his feet shuffling46 on the gravel47. I saw what it was. He was trying to rise, but was so excited that he could not. I half extended my hand, but a higher courtesy constrained48 me to draw it back again and turn my face to the sea. An instant afterwards he was up and hurrying down the path.
A woman was coming towards us. She was quite close before he had seen her—thirty yards at the utmost. I know not if she had ever been as he described her, or whether it was but some ideal which he carried in his brain. The person upon whom I looked was tall, it is true, but she was thick and shapeless, with a ruddy, full-blown face, and a skirt grotesquely49 gathered up. There was a green ribbon in her hat, which jarred upon my eyes, and her blouse-like bodice was full and clumsy. And this was the lovely girl, the ever youthful! My heart sank as I thought how little such a woman might appreciate him, how unworthy she might be of his love.
She came up the path in her solid way, while he staggered along to meet her. Then, as they came together, looking discreetly50 out of the furthest corner of my eye, I saw that he put out both his hands, while she, shrinking from a public caress51, took one of them in hers and shook it. As she did so I saw her face, and I was easy in my mind for my old man. God grant that when this hand is shaking, and when this back is bowed, a woman’s eyes may look so into mine.
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1
practitioner
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| n.实践者，从事者；(医生或律师等)开业者 | |
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2
virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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3
freckled
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| adj.雀斑；斑点；晒斑；（使）生雀斑v.雀斑，斑点( freckle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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4
hull
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| n.船身；(果、实等的)外壳；vt.去(谷物等)壳 | |
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5
demure
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| adj.严肃的；端庄的 | |
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6
marred
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| adj. 被损毁, 污损的 | |
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7
majesty
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| n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权 | |
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8
slanted
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| 有偏见的； 倾斜的 | |
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eddying
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| 涡流，涡流的形成 | |
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gulls
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| n.鸥( gull的名词复数 )v.欺骗某人( gull的第三人称单数 ) | |
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11
braced
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| adj.拉牢的v.支住( brace的过去式和过去分词 )；撑牢；使自己站稳；振作起来 | |
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12
reek
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| v.发出臭气；n.恶臭 | |
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13
poise
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| vt./vi. 平衡，保持平衡；n.泰然自若，自信 | |
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14
winding
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| n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈 | |
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15
tinge
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| vt.(较淡)着色于，染色；使带有…气息；n.淡淡色彩，些微的气息 | |
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16
buckle
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| n.扣子，带扣；v.把...扣住，由于压力而弯曲 | |
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17
mesh
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| n.网孔，网丝，陷阱；vt.以网捕捉，啮合，匹配；vi.适合； [计算机]网络 | |
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18
toiled
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| 长时间或辛苦地工作( toil的过去式和过去分词 )； 艰难缓慢地移动，跋涉 | |
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19
promising
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| adj.有希望的，有前途的 | |
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20
pucker
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| v.撅起，使起皱；n.（衣服上的）皱纹，褶子 | |
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21
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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22
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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23
formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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ominous
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| adj.不祥的，不吉的，预兆的，预示的 | |
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25
mumbling
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| 含糊地说某事，叽咕，咕哝( mumble的现在分词 ) | |
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26
puckered
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| v.（使某物）起褶子或皱纹( pucker的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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27
fretting
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| n. 微振磨损 adj. 烦躁的, 焦虑的 | |
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28
wrought
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| v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的 | |
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29
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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30
slurred
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| 含糊地说出( slur的过去式和过去分词 )； 含糊地发…的声； 侮辱； 连唱 | |
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31
mumble
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| n./v.喃喃而语，咕哝 | |
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32
knuckly
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| n.（指人）指关节；（指动物）膝关节，肘；铰结，肘形接；铜指节套vt.用指关节打、压、碰、擦 | |
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33
rustling
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| n. 瑟瑟声，沙沙声 adj. 发沙沙声的 | |
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34
poised
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| a.摆好姿势不动的 | |
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35
pebbles
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| [复数]鹅卵石； 沙砾； 卵石，小圆石( pebble的名词复数 ) | |
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36
exuberant
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| adj.充满活力的；（植物）繁茂的 | |
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37
vitality
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| n.活力，生命力，效力 | |
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38
eldest
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| adj.最年长的，最年老的 | |
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39
cane
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| n.手杖，细长的茎，藤条；v.以杖击，以藤编制的 | |
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40
gauge
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| v.精确计量；估计；n.标准度量；计量器 | |
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41
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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42
confidential
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| adj.秘（机）密的，表示信任的，担任机密工作的 | |
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43
entreated
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| 恳求，乞求( entreat的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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44
heartily
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| adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很 | |
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45
stouter
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| 粗壮的( stout的比较级 )； 结实的； 坚固的； 坚定的 | |
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46
shuffling
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| adj. 慢慢移动的, 滑移的 动词shuffle的现在分词形式 | |
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47
gravel
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| n.砂跞；砂砾层；结石 | |
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48
constrained
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| adj.束缚的,节制的 | |
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49
grotesquely
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| adv. 奇异地,荒诞地 | |
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50
discreetly
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| ad.(言行)审慎地，慎重地 | |
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51
caress
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| vt./n.爱抚，抚摸 | |
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