There was no such day in his calendar. If John ever came across it in his reading, he attached no meaning to the word.
If his curiosity had been aroused, and he had asked his elders about it, he might have got the dim impression that it was a kind of Popish holiday, the celebration of which was about as wicked as "card-playing," or being a "democrat1." John knew a couple of desperately2 bad boys who were reported to play "seven-up" in a barn, on the hay-mow, and the enormity of this practice made him shudder3. He had once seen a pack of greasy4 "playing-cards," and it seemed to him to contain the quintessence of sin. If he had desired to defy all Divine law and outrage5 all human society, he felt [Pg 135] that he could do it by shuffling6 them. And he was quite right. The two bad boys enjoyed in stealth their scandalous pastime, because they knew it was the most wicked thing they could do. If it had been as sinless as playing marbles, they wouldn't have cared for it. John sometimes drove past a brown, tumble-down farm-house, whose shiftless inhabitants, it was said, were card-playing people; and it is impossible to describe how wicked that house appeared to John. He almost expected to see its shingles7 stand on end. In the old New England, one could not in any other way so express his contempt of all holy and orderly life as by playing cards for amusement.
There was no element of Christmas in John's life, any more than there was of Easter, and probably nobody about him could have explained Easter; and he escaped all the demoralization attending Christmas gifts. Indeed, he never had any presents of any kind, either on his birthday or any other day. He expected nothing that he did not earn, or make in the way of "trade" [Pg 136] with another boy. He was taught to work for what he received. He even earned, as I said, the extra holidays of the day after the "Fourth" and the day after Thanksgiving. Of the free grace and gifts of Christmas he had no conception. The single and melancholy8 association he had with it was the quaking hymn9 which his grandfather used to sing in a cracked and quavering voice,—
"While shepherds watched their flocks by night,
All seated on the ground."
The "glory" that "shone around" at the end of it—the doleful voice always repeating, "and glory shone around"—made John as miserable10 as "Hark! from the tombs." It was all one dreary11 expectation of something uncomfortable. It was, in short, "religion." You'd got to have it some time; that John believed. But it lay in his unthinking mind to put off the "Hark! from the tombs" enjoyment12 as long as possible. He experienced a kind of delightful13 wickedness in indulging his dislike of hymns14 and of Sunday.
LOOKING FOR FROGS
John was not a model boy, but I cannot [Pg 137] exactly define in what his wickedness consisted. He had no inclination15 to steal, nor much to lie; and he despised "meanness" and stinginess, and had a chivalrous16 feeling toward little girls. Probably it never occurred to him that there was any virtue17 in not stealing and lying, for honesty and veracity18 were in the atmosphere about him. He hated work, and he "got mad" easily; but he did work, and he was always ashamed when he was over his fit of passion. In short, you couldn't find a much better wicked boy than John.
When the "revival19" came, therefore, one summer, John was in a quandary20. Sunday meeting and Sunday school he didn't mind; they were a part of regular life, and only temporarily interrupted a boy's pleasures. But when there began to be evening meetings at the different houses, a new element came into affairs. There was a kind of solemnity over the community, and a seriousness in all faces. At first these twilight21 assemblies offered a little relief to the monotony of farm-life; and John liked to meet the boys and girls, and [Pg 138] to watch the older people coming in, dressed in their second best. I think John's imagination was worked upon by the sweet and mournful hymns that were discordantly23 sung in the stiff old parlors24. There was a suggestion of Sunday, and sanctity too, in the odor of caraway-seed that pervaded25 the room. The windows were wide open also, and the scent26 of June roses came in with all the languishing27 sounds of a summer night. All the little boys had a scared look, but the little girls were never so pretty and demure28 as in this their susceptible29 seriousness. If John saw a boy who did not come to the evening meeting, but was wandering off with his sling30 down the meadow, looking for frogs, maybe, that boy seemed to him a monster of wickedness.
After a time, as the meetings continued, John fell also under the general impression of fright and seriousness. All the talk was of "getting religion," and he heard over and over again that the probability was, if he did not get it now he never would. The chance did not come often, and, if this offer was not improved, John would be given [Pg 139] over to hardness of heart. His obstinacy31 would show that he was not one of the elect. John fancied that he could feel his heart hardening, and he began to look with a wistful anxiety into the faces of the Christians32 to see what were the visible signs of being one of the elect. John put on a good deal of a manner that he "didn't care," and he never admitted his disquiet34 by asking any questions or standing35 up in meeting to be prayed for. But he did care. He heard all the time that all he had to do was to repent36 and believe. But there was nothing that he doubted, and he was perfectly37 willing to repent if he could think of anything to repent of.
It was essential, he learned, that he should have a "conviction of sin." This he earnestly tried to have. Other people, no better than he, had it, and he wondered why he couldn't have it. Boys and girls whom he knew were "under conviction," and John began to feel not only panicky but lonesome. Cynthia Rudd had been anxious for days and days, and not able to sleep at night, but now she had given herself [Pg 140] up and found peace. There was a kind of radiance in her face that struck John with awe38, and he felt that now there was a great gulf39 between him and Cynthia. Everybody was going away from him, and his heart was getting harder than ever. He couldn't feel wicked, all he could do. And there was Ed Bates, his intimate friend, though older than he, a "whaling," noisy kind of boy, who was under conviction and sure he was going to be lost. How John envied him! And, pretty soon, Ed "experienced religion." John anxiously watched the change in Ed's face when he became one of the elect. And a change there was. And John wondered about another thing. Ed Bates used to go trout40-fishing, with a tremendously long pole, in a meadow-brook near the river; and when the trout didn't bite right off Ed would "get mad," and as soon as one took hold he would give an awful jerk, sending the fish more than three hundred feet into the air and landing it in the bushes the other side of the meadow, crying out, "Gul darn ye, I'll learn ye." And John wondered if Ed would take the little trout out any more gently now.
TROUT FISHING
[Pg 141]
John felt more and more lonesome as one after another of his playmates came out and made a profession. Cynthia (she too was older than John) sat on Sunday in the singers' seat; her voice, which was going to be a contralto, had a wonderful pathos41 in it for him, and he heard it with a heartache. "There she is," thought John, "singing away like an angel in heaven, and I am left out." During all his after life a contralto voice was to John one of his most bitter and heart-wringing pleasures. It suggested the immaculate scornful, the melancholy unattainable.
If ever a boy honestly tried to work himself into a conviction of sin, John tried. And what made him miserable was that he couldn't feel miserable when everybody else was miserable. He even began to pretend to be so. He put on a serious and anxious look like the others. He pretended he didn't care for play; he refrained from chasing chipmunks42 and snaring43 suckers; the songs of birds and the bright vivacity44 [Pg 142] of the summer time that used to make him turn hand-springs smote45 him as a discordant22 levity46. He was not a hypocrite at all, and he was getting to be alarmed that he was not alarmed at himself. Every day and night he heard that the spirit of the Lord would probably soon quit striving with him, and leave him out. The phrase was that he would "grieve away the Holy Spirit." John wondered if he was not doing it. He did everything to put himself in the way of conviction, was constant at the evening meetings, wore a grave face, refrained from play, and tried to feel anxious. At length he concluded that he must do something.
One night as he walked home from a solemn meeting, at which several of his little playmates had "come forward," he felt that he could force the crisis. He was alone on the sandy road: it was an enchanting47 summer night; the stars danced overhead, and by his side the broad and shallow river ran over its stony48 bed with a loud but soothing49 murmur50 that filled all the air with entreaty51, John did not then know [Pg 143] that it sang, "But I go on forever," yet there was in it for him something of the solemn flow of the eternal world. When he came in sight of the house, he knelt down in the dust by a pile of rails and prayed. He prayed that he might feel bad, and be distressed52 about himself. As he prayed he heard distinctly, and yet not as a disturbance53, the multitudinous croaking54 of the frogs by the meadow-spring. It was not discordant with his thoughts; it had in it a melancholy pathos, as if it were a kind of call to the unconverted. What is there in this sound that suggests the tenderness of spring, the despair of a summer night, the desolateness55 of young love? Years after it happened to John to be at twilight at a railway station on the edge of the Ravenna marshes56. A little way over the purple plain he saw the darkening towers and heard "the sweet bells of Imola." The Holy Pontiff Pius IX. was born at Imola, and passed his boyhood in that serene57 and moist region. As the train waited, John heard from miles of marshes round about the evening song of millions [Pg 144] of frogs, louder and more melancholy and entreating58 than the vesper call of the bells. And instantly his mind went back—for the association of sound is as subtle as that of odor—to the prayer, years ago, by the roadside and the plaintive59 appeal of the unheeded frogs, and he wondered if the little Pope had not heard the like importunity60, and perhaps, when he thought of himself as a little Pope, associated his conversion61 with this plaintive sound.
John prayed, but without feeling any worse, and then went desperately into the house and told the family that he was in an anxious state of mind. This was joyful62 news to the sweet and pious63 household, and the little boy was urged to feel that he was a sinner, to repent, and to become that night a Christian33; he was prayed over, and told to read the Bible, and put to bed with the injunction to repeat all the texts of Scripture64 and hymns he could think of. John did this, and said over and over the few texts he was master of, and tossed about in a real discontent now, for he had a dim notion that he was playing the hypocrite [Pg 145] a little. But he was sincere enough in wanting to feel, as the other boys and girls felt, that he was a wicked sinner. He tried to think of his evil deeds; and one occurred to him, indeed, it often came to his mind. It was a lie,—a deliberate, awful lie, that never injured anybody but himself. John knew he was not wicked enough to tell a lie to injure anybody else.
This was the lie. One afternoon at school, just before John's class was to recite in geography, his pretty cousin, a young lady he held in great love and respect, came in to visit the school. John was a favorite with her, and she had come to hear him recite. As it happened, John felt shaky in the geographical65 lesson of that day, and he feared to be humiliated66 in the presence of his cousin; he felt embarrassed to that degree that he couldn't have "bounded" Massachusetts. So he stood up and raised his hand, and said to the schoolma'am, "Please, ma'am, I've got the stomach-ache; may I go home?" And John's character for truthfulness67 was so high (and even this was ever a reproach to [Pg 146] him) that his word was instantly believed, and he was dismissed without any medical examination. For a moment John was delighted to get out of school so early; but soon his guilt68 took all the light out of the summer sky and the pleasantness out of nature. He had to walk slowly, without a single hop69 or jump, as became a diseased boy. The sight of a woodchuck at a distance from his well-known hole tempted70 John, but he restrained himself, lest somebody should see him, and know that chasing a woodchuck was inconsistent with the stomach-ache. He was acting71 a miserable part, but it had to be gone through with. He went home and told his mother the reason he had left school, but he added that he felt "some" better now. The "some" didn't save him. Genuine sympathy was lavished72 on him. He had to swallow a stiff dose of nasty "picra," the horror of all childhood, and he was put in bed immediately. The world never looked so pleasant to John, but to bed he was forced to go. He was excused from all chores; he was not even to go after the cows. John said he [Pg 147] thought he ought to go after the cows,—much as he hated the business usually, he would now willingly have wandered over the world after cows,—and for this heroic offer, in the condition he was, he got credit for a desire to do his duty; and this unjust confidence in him added to his torture. And he had intended to set his hooks that night for eels73. His cousin came home, and sat by his bedside and condoled74 with him; his schoolma'am had sent word how sorry she was for him, John was such a good boy. All this was dreadful. He groaned75 in agony. Besides, he was not to have any supper; it would be very dangerous to eat a morsel76. The prospect77 was appalling78. Never was there such a long twilight; never before did he hear so many sounds outdoors that he wanted to investigate. Being ill without any illness was a horrible condition. And he began to have real stomach-ache now; and it ached because it was empty. John was hungry enough to have eaten the New England Primer. But by and by sleep came, and John forgot his woes79 in dreaming that he [Pg 148] knew where Madagascar was just as easy as anything.
FORCED TO GO TO BED
It was this lie that came back to John the night he was trying to be affected80 by the revival. And he was very much ashamed of it, and believed he would never tell another. But then he fell thinking whether with the "picra," and the going to bed in the afternoon, and the loss of his supper, he had not been sufficiently81 paid for it. And in this unhopeful frame of mind he dropped off in sleep.
And the truth must be told, that in the morning John was no nearer to realizing the terrors he desired to feel. But he was a conscientious82 boy, and would do nothing to interfere83 with the influences of the season. He not only put himself away from them all, but he refrained from doing almost everything that he wanted to do. There came at that time a newspaper, a secular84 newspaper, which had in it a long account of the Long Island races, in which the famous horse "Lexington" was a runner. John was fond of horses, he knew about Lexington, and he had looked forward [Pg 149] to the result of this race with keen interest. But to read the account of it now he felt might destroy his seriousness of mind, and—in all reverence85 and simplicity86 he felt it—be a means of "grieving away the Holy Spirit." He therefore hid away the paper in a table drawer, intending to read it when the revival should be over. Weeks after, when he looked for the newspaper, it was not to be found, and John never knew what "time" Lexington made, nor anything about the race. This was to him a serious loss, but by no means so deep as another feeling that remained with him; for when his little world returned to its ordinary course, and long after, John had an uneasy apprehension87 of his own separateness from other people in his insensibility to the revival. Perhaps the experience was a damage to him; and it is a pity that there was no one to explain that religion for a little fellow like him is not a "scheme."
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1
democrat
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| n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员 | |
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2
desperately
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| adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地 | |
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3
shudder
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| v.战粟，震动，剧烈地摇晃；n.战粟，抖动 | |
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4
greasy
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| adj. 多脂的，油脂的 | |
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outrage
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| n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒 | |
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6
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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7
shingles
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| n.带状疱疹；（布满海边的）小圆石( shingle的名词复数 )；屋顶板；木瓦（板）；墙面板 | |
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melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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9
hymn
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| n.赞美诗，圣歌，颂歌 | |
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miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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dreary
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| adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的 | |
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enjoyment
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| n.乐趣；享有；享用 | |
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delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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hymns
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| n.赞美诗，圣歌，颂歌( hymn的名词复数 ) | |
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15
inclination
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| n.倾斜；点头；弯腰；斜坡；倾度；倾向；爱好 | |
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16
chivalrous
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| adj.武士精神的；对女人彬彬有礼的 | |
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virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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veracity
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| n.诚实 | |
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revival
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| n.复兴，复苏，（精力、活力等的）重振 | |
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quandary
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| n.困惑，进迟两难之境 | |
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twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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discordant
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| adj.不调和的 | |
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discordantly
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| adv.不一致地，不和谐地 | |
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parlors
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| 客厅( parlor的名词复数 )； 起居室； （旅馆中的）休息室； （通常用来构成合成词）店 | |
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pervaded
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| v.遍及，弥漫( pervade的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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scent
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| n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉 | |
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languishing
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| a. 衰弱下去的 | |
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demure
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| adj.严肃的；端庄的 | |
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susceptible
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| adj.过敏的，敏感的；易动感情的，易受感动的 | |
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30
sling
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| vt.扔；悬挂；n.挂带；吊索，吊兜；弹弓 | |
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31
obstinacy
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| n.顽固；（病痛等）难治 | |
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Christians
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| n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 ) | |
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Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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disquiet
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| n.担心，焦虑 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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repent
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| v.悔悟，悔改，忏悔，后悔 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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awe
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| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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gulf
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| n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂 | |
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trout
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| n.鳟鱼；鲑鱼(属) | |
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pathos
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| n.哀婉，悲怆 | |
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chipmunks
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| n.金花鼠( chipmunk的名词复数 ) | |
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snaring
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| v.用罗网捕捉，诱陷，陷害( snare的现在分词 ) | |
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vivacity
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| n.快活，活泼，精神充沛 | |
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45
smote
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| v.猛打，重击，打击( smite的过去式 ) | |
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levity
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| n.轻率，轻浮，不稳定，多变 | |
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47
enchanting
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| a.讨人喜欢的 | |
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48
stony
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| adj.石头的，多石头的，冷酷的，无情的 | |
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soothing
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| adj.慰藉的；使人宽心的；镇静的 | |
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murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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51
entreaty
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| n.恳求，哀求 | |
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52
distressed
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| 痛苦的 | |
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53
disturbance
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| n.动乱，骚动；打扰，干扰；(身心)失调 | |
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54
croaking
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| v.呱呱地叫( croak的现在分词 )；用粗的声音说 | |
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55
desolateness
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| 孤独 | |
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marshes
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| n.沼泽，湿地( marsh的名词复数 ) | |
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57
serene
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| adj. 安详的，宁静的，平静的 | |
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58
entreating
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| 恳求，乞求( entreat的现在分词 ) | |
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plaintive
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| adj.可怜的，伤心的 | |
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importunity
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| n.硬要，强求 | |
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61
conversion
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| n.转化，转换，转变 | |
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62
joyful
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| adj.欢乐的，令人欢欣的 | |
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pious
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| adj.虔诚的；道貌岸然的 | |
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64
scripture
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| n.经文，圣书，手稿；Scripture:(常用复数)《圣经》，《圣经》中的一段 | |
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65
geographical
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| adj.地理的；地区(性)的 | |
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66
humiliated
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| 感到羞愧的 | |
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67
truthfulness
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| n. 符合实际 | |
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68
guilt
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| n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责 | |
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69
hop
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| n.单脚跳，跳跃；vi.单脚跳，跳跃；着手做某事；vt.跳跃，跃过 | |
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70
tempted
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| v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词） | |
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71
acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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72
lavished
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| v.过分给予，滥施( lavish的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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eels
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| abbr. 电子发射器定位系统（=electronic emitter location system） | |
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74
condoled
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| v.表示同情，吊唁( condole的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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75
groaned
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| v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦 | |
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76
morsel
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| n.一口，一点点 | |
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77
prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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78
appalling
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| adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的 | |
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79
woes
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| 困境( woe的名词复数 )； 悲伤； 我好苦哇； 某人就要倒霉 | |
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affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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81
sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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82
conscientious
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| adj.审慎正直的，认真的，本着良心的 | |
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83
interfere
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| v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰 | |
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84
secular
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| n.牧师，凡人；adj.世俗的，现世的，不朽的 | |
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85
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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86
simplicity
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| n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯 | |
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87
apprehension
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| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
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