Windsor lies upon the river Avon. It is not the Avon which runs by Stratford's storied banks, but still it is the Avon. There is something in a name. Witness it, O river of the Blue Noses!
I cannot recall a prettier village than this. If you doubt my word, come and see it. Yonder we discern a portion of the Basin of Minas; around us are the rich meadows of Nova Scotia. Intellect has here placed a crowning college upon a hill; opulence1 has surrounded it with picturesque2 villas3. A ride into the country, a visit to a bachelor's lodge4, studded with horns of moose and cariboo, with woodland scenes and Landseer's pictures, and then—over the bridge, and over the Avon, towards Grand-Pré and the Gasperau! I suppose, by this time, my dear reader, you are tired of sketches5 of lake scenery, mountain scenery, pines and spruces, strawberry blossoms, and other natural features of[Pg 294] the province? For my part, I rode through a strawberry-bed three hundred miles long—from Sydney to Halifax—diversified by just such patches of scenery, and was not tired of it. But it is a different matter when you come to put it on paper. So I forbear.
Up hill we go, soon to approach the tragic6 theatre. A crack of the whip, a stretch of the leaders, and now, suddenly, the whole valley comes in view! Before us are the great waters of Minas; yonder Blomidon bursts upon the sight; and below, curving like a scimitar around the edge of the Basin, and against the distant cliffs that shut out the stormy Bay of Fundy, is the Acadian land—the idyllic7 meadows of Grand-Pré lie at our feet.
The Abbé Reynal's account of the colony, as it appeared one hundred years ago, I take from the pages of Haliburton:
"Hunting and fishing, which had formerly8 been the delight of the colony, and might have still supplied it with subsistence, had no further attraction for a simple and quiet people, and gave way to agriculture, which had been established in the marshes9 and low lands, by repelling10 with dykes11 the sea and rivers which covered these plains. These grounds yielded fifty for one at first, and afterwards[Pg 295] fifteen or twenty for one at least; wheat and oats succeeded best in them, but they likewise produced rye, barley12 and maize13. There were also potatoes in great plenty, the use of which was become common. At the same time these immense meadows were covered with numerous flocks. They computed14 as many as sixty thousand head of horned cattle; and most families had several horses, though the tillage was carried on by oxen. Their habitations, which were constructed of wood, were extremely convenient, and furnished as neatly15 as substantial farmer's houses in Europe. They reared a great deal of poultry16 of all kinds, which made a variety in their food, at once wholesome17 and plentiful18. Their ordinary drink was beer and cider, to which they sometimes added rum. Their usual clothing was in general the produce of their own flax, or the fleeces of their own sheep; with these they made common linens19 and coarse cloths. If any of them had a desire for articles of greater luxury, they procured20 them from Annapolis or Louisburg, and gave in exchange corn, cattle or furs. The neutral French had nothing else to give their neighbors, and made still fewer exchanges among themselves; because each separate family was able, and had been accustomed to provide for its own wants. They therefore knew nothing of paper currency,[Pg 296] which was so common throughout the rest of North America. Even the small quantity of gold and silver which had been introduced into the colony, did not inspire that activity in which consists its real value. Their manners were of course extremely simple. There was seldom a cause, either civil or criminal, of importance enough to be carried before the Court of Judication, established at Annapolis. Whatever little differences arose from time to time among them, were amicably21 adjusted by their elders. All their public acts were drawn22 by their pastors23, who had likewise the keeping of their wills; for which, and their religious services, the inhabitants paid a twenty-seventh part of their harvest, which was always sufficient to afford more means than there were objects of generosity24.
"Real misery25 was wholly unknown, and benevolence26 anticipated the demands of poverty.[I] Every misfortune was relieved, as it were, before it could be felt, without ostentation27 on the one hand, and without meanness on the other. It was, in short, a society of brethren; every individual of which was[Pg 297] equally ready to give, and to receive, what he thought the common right of mankind. So perfect a harmony naturally prevented all those connections of gallantry which are so often fatal to the peace of families. This evil was prevented by early marriages, for no one passed his youth in a state of celibacy28. As soon as a young man arrived to the proper age, the community built him a house, broke up the lands about it, and supplied him with all the necessaries of life for a twelvemonth. There he received the partner whom he had chosen, and who brought him her portion in flocks. This new family grew and prospered29 like the others. In 1755, all together made a population of eighteen thousand souls. Such is the picture of these people, as drawn by the Abbé Reynal. By many, it is thought to represent a state of social happiness totally inconsistent with the frailties30 and passions of human nature, and that it is worthy31 rather of the poet than the historian. In describing a scene of rural felicity like this, it is not improbable that his narrative32 has partaken of the warmth of feeling for which he was remarkable33; but it comes much nearer the truth than is generally imagined. Tradition is fresh and positive in the various parts of the United States where they were located respecting their guileless, peaceable, and scrupulous34 cha[Pg 298]racter; and the descendants of those, whose long cherished and endearing local attachment35 induced them to return to the land of their nativity, still deserve the name of a mild, frugal36, and pious37 people."
As we rest here upon the summit of the Gasperau Mountain, and look down on yonder valley, we can readily imagine such a people. A pastoral people, rich in meadow-lands, secured by laborious38 dykes, and secluded39 from the struggling outside world. But we miss the thatch-roof cottages, by hundreds, which should be the prominent feature in the picture, the vast herds40 of cattle, the belfries of scattered41 village chapels42, the murmur43 of evening fields,
"Where peace was tinkling44 in the shepherd's bell,
And singing with the reapers45."
These no longer exist:
"Naught46 but tradition remains47 of the beautiful village of Grand-Pré."
I sank back in the stage as it rolled down the mountain-road, and fairly covered my eyes with my hands, as I repeated Webster's boast: "Thank God! I too am an American." "But," said I, recovering, "thank God, I belong to a State that has[Pg 299] never bragged48 much of its great moral antecedents!" and in that reflection I felt comforted, and the load on my back a little lightened.
A few weeping willows49, the never-failing relics50 of an Acadian settlement, yet remain on the roadside; these, with the dykes and Great Prairie itself, are the only memorials of a once happy people. The sun was just sinking behind the Gasperau mountain as we entered the ancient village. There was a smithy beside the stage-house, and we could see the dusky glow of the forge within, and the swart mechanic
"Take in his leathern lap the hoof51 of the horse as a plaything,
Nailing the shoe in its place."
But it was not Basil the Blacksmith, nor one of his descendants, that held the horse-hoof. The face of the smith was of the genuine New England type, and just such faces as I saw everywhere in the village. In the shifting panorama52 of the itinerary53 I suddenly found myself in a hundred-year-old colony of genuine Yankees, the real true blues54 of Connecticut, quilted in amidst the blue noses of Nova Scotia.
But of the poor Acadians not one remains now in the ancient village. It is a solemn comment upon their peaceful and unrevengeful natures, that[Pg 300] two hundred settlers from Hew55 England remained unmolested upon their lands, and that the descendants of those New England settlers now occupy them. A solemn comment upon our history, and the touching56 epitaph of an exterminated57 race.
Much as we may admire the various bays and lakes, the inlets, promontories58, and straits, the mountains and woodlands of this rarely-visited corner of creation—and, compared with it, we can boast of no coast scenery so beautiful—the valley of Grand-Pré transcends59 all the rest in the Province. Only our valley of Wyoming, as an inland picture, may match it, both in beauty and tradition. One has had its Gertrude, the other its Evangeline. But Campbell never saw Wyoming, nor has Longfellow yet visited the shores of the Basin of Minas. And I may venture to say, neither poet has touched the key-note of divine anger which either story might have awakened60.
But let us be thankful for those simple and beautiful idyls. After all, it is a question whether the greatest and noblest impulses of man are not awakened rather by the sympathy we feel for the oppressed, than by the hatred61 engendered62 by the acts of the oppressor?
I wish I could shake off these useless reflections of a bygone period. But who can help it?[Pg 301]
"This is the forest primeval; but where are the hearts that beneath it
Leaped like the roe63 when it hears in the woodland the voice of the huntsman?
Where is the thatch-roof village, the home of Acadian farmers—
Men whose lives glided64 on like rivers that water the woodlands?
Waste are those pleasant farms, and the farmers forever departed!"
点击收听单词发音
1 opulence | |
n.财富,富裕 | |
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2 picturesque | |
adj.美丽如画的,(语言)生动的,绘声绘色的 | |
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3 villas | |
别墅,公馆( villa的名词复数 ); (城郊)住宅 | |
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4 lodge | |
v.临时住宿,寄宿,寄存,容纳;n.传达室,小旅馆 | |
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5 sketches | |
n.草图( sketch的名词复数 );素描;速写;梗概 | |
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6 tragic | |
adj.悲剧的,悲剧性的,悲惨的 | |
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7 idyllic | |
adj.质朴宜人的,田园风光的 | |
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8 formerly | |
adv.从前,以前 | |
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9 marshes | |
n.沼泽,湿地( marsh的名词复数 ) | |
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10 repelling | |
v.击退( repel的现在分词 );使厌恶;排斥;推开 | |
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11 dykes | |
abbr.diagonal wire cutters 斜线切割机n.堤( dyke的名词复数 );坝;堰;沟 | |
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12 barley | |
n.大麦,大麦粒 | |
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13 maize | |
n.玉米 | |
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14 computed | |
adj.[医]计算的,使用计算机的v.计算,估算( compute的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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15 neatly | |
adv.整洁地,干净地,灵巧地,熟练地 | |
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16 poultry | |
n.家禽,禽肉 | |
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17 wholesome | |
adj.适合;卫生的;有益健康的;显示身心健康的 | |
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18 plentiful | |
adj.富裕的,丰富的 | |
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19 linens | |
n.亚麻布( linen的名词复数 );家庭日用织品 | |
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20 procured | |
v.(努力)取得, (设法)获得( procure的过去式和过去分词 );拉皮条 | |
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21 amicably | |
adv.友善地 | |
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22 drawn | |
v.拖,拉,拔出;adj.憔悴的,紧张的 | |
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23 pastors | |
n.(基督教的)牧师( pastor的名词复数 ) | |
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24 generosity | |
n.大度,慷慨,慷慨的行为 | |
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25 misery | |
n.痛苦,苦恼,苦难;悲惨的境遇,贫苦 | |
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26 benevolence | |
n.慈悲,捐助 | |
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27 ostentation | |
n.夸耀,卖弄 | |
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28 celibacy | |
n.独身(主义) | |
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29 prospered | |
成功,兴旺( prosper的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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30 frailties | |
n.脆弱( frailty的名词复数 );虚弱;(性格或行为上的)弱点;缺点 | |
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31 worthy | |
adj.(of)值得的,配得上的;有价值的 | |
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32 narrative | |
n.叙述,故事;adj.叙事的,故事体的 | |
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33 remarkable | |
adj.显著的,异常的,非凡的,值得注意的 | |
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34 scrupulous | |
adj.审慎的,小心翼翼的,完全的,纯粹的 | |
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35 attachment | |
n.附属物,附件;依恋;依附 | |
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36 frugal | |
adj.节俭的,节约的,少量的,微量的 | |
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37 pious | |
adj.虔诚的;道貌岸然的 | |
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38 laborious | |
adj.吃力的,努力的,不流畅 | |
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39 secluded | |
adj.与世隔绝的;隐退的;偏僻的v.使隔开,使隐退( seclude的过去式和过去分词) | |
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40 herds | |
兽群( herd的名词复数 ); 牧群; 人群; 群众 | |
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41 scattered | |
adj.分散的,稀疏的;散步的;疏疏落落的 | |
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42 chapels | |
n.小教堂, (医院、监狱等的)附属礼拜堂( chapel的名词复数 );(在小教堂和附属礼拜堂举行的)礼拜仪式 | |
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43 murmur | |
n.低语,低声的怨言;v.低语,低声而言 | |
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44 tinkling | |
n.丁当作响声 | |
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45 reapers | |
n.收割者,收获者( reaper的名词复数 );收割机 | |
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46 naught | |
n.无,零 [=nought] | |
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47 remains | |
n.剩余物,残留物;遗体,遗迹 | |
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48 bragged | |
v.自夸,吹嘘( brag的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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49 willows | |
n.柳树( willow的名词复数 );柳木 | |
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50 relics | |
[pl.]n.遗物,遗迹,遗产;遗体,尸骸 | |
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51 hoof | |
n.(马,牛等的)蹄 | |
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52 panorama | |
n.全景,全景画,全景摄影,全景照片[装置] | |
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53 itinerary | |
n.行程表,旅行路线;旅行计划 | |
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54 blues | |
n.抑郁,沮丧;布鲁斯音乐 | |
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55 hew | |
v.砍;伐;削 | |
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56 touching | |
adj.动人的,使人感伤的 | |
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57 exterminated | |
v.消灭,根绝( exterminate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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58 promontories | |
n.岬,隆起,海角( promontory的名词复数 ) | |
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59 transcends | |
超出或超越(经验、信念、描写能力等)的范围( transcend的第三人称单数 ); 优于或胜过… | |
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60 awakened | |
v.(使)醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 );(使)觉醒;弄醒;(使)意识到 | |
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61 hatred | |
n.憎恶,憎恨,仇恨 | |
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62 engendered | |
v.产生(某形势或状况),造成,引起( engender的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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63 roe | |
n.鱼卵;獐鹿 | |
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64 glided | |
v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 );掠过;(鸟或飞机 ) 滑翔 | |
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