Gazing straight before one the eye travels over pasture-land and corn-field, farm and village, to the far dim valley of the Eden beyond, and far beyond, the hills of Cumberland stand like the ramparts of a world dominated by the Saddle Back.
Carlisle to the right, twenty miles away, shows a tracery of smoke against the sky.
The pasture-land and the corn-fields come right up to the fell foot, where they cease suddenly, as though a line had been drawn3 between civilization and desolation.
The whole sky-line of the fells is unbroken by a tree; here and there, on the fell sides, you may come across a clump4 of stunted5 firs, a spread of bushes, a larch6 or two, but on the upper land nothing may grow but the short fell grass, and here and there, in the shelter of a hollow, a few whortle bushes. The reason of this desolation is the helm wind.
The helm wind has never been explained. Of nights in Blencarn, or Skirwith, or any of the villages in the plain below, the villagers, waking from their sleep, hear a roar like the roar of an express train. It is the helm wind.
Next morning the trees are in torment7; in the plain below a high gale8 is blowing, and, looking up at the fells, you see above them, ruled upon the sky, a bar of cloud. It is the helm bar, under it the wind comes rushing. When it is high, nothing can withstand its force on the fell top; it will blow a farm cart away like a feather; the horned and black-faced fell sheep lie down before it.
One afternoon towards the end of March a man on a big black horse came riding through the little village of Blencarn.
He was a middle-sized man, dark, with a Vandyke beard; he wore glasses, and he rode as though half the countryside belonged to him, which, in fact, it did.
A farmer, leaning over his gate, touched his hat to the passer-by, watched him turn a corner, and then, turning, called out to a man working in a field beyond.
“Bill!”
“Ay.”
“Gyde’s back.”
“I seed’n.”
That was all, but the tones of the men’s voices spoke9 volumes.
Twice a year or so, once for the shooting in the autumn, and again in spring, as a rule, Sir Anthony Gyde came down to Throstle Hall, bringing with him his French valet, his cook, and in the autumn half a dozen friends.
He was a good landlord, and open-handed enough, but he had never gained the esteem10 of the country folks; they touched their hats to him, but they called him a stracklin.[1]
1. A bad un.
Certain incidents of his youth lingered in their memory. In the country the past dies slowly; if you leave a reputation there to-day, you will find it there ten years hence, not much the worse for the wear.
Leaving Blencarn, Sir Anthony struck over the lower fells; he did not trouble about roads or gates, when he met with a wall of loose stones he put his horse at it, and the horse, an Irish hunter, tipped it with his fore2 hoofs11 and passed over.
On Gamblesby Fell he drew rein12. It was a still grey day; there was scarcely a sound on the breeze; one could hear the call of a shepherd, the bark of his dog, and, far away, the drumming sound of driven sheep.
The master of millions sat with the reins13 hanging loose upon his horse’s neck, gazing at the scene before him. Then, touching14 his horse with the spur, he resumed his way, making towards the plain and home.
He had only come down from London the day before, and he intended returning on the morrow; he had spent the day in going over the estate, and he intended passing the evening in consultation15 with his land-agent, Gristlethwaite.
Two miles from home he took a short cut, and struck across the fields into a very strange and desolate16 place.
Here, in a large meadow, stands Long Meg, and here recline her daughters.
They are a weird17 group, even by daylight, more so just now, for the dusk was beginning to fall.
Long Meg is just a huge stone, standing erect18 and lonely, the relic19 of some forgotten religion; her daughters, sixty or more, lie before her in a circle. They are boulders20, seen by daylight; but in the dusk, they are anything your fancy wills. Hooded21 women, for choice, in all positions; some crouched22 as if in prayer, some recumbent, some erect. He was passing these things, which he had known from his childhood, when, amidst them, and almost like one of them, he perceived a form seated on a camp stool.
It was the form of a man wearing a broad-brimmed hat.
Now, what presentiment23 or curiosity stirred the mind of Sir Anthony Gyde will never be known, but on perceiving this figure he reined24 in, then turned his horse and rode towards it.
The man had been sketching25, evidently, for a small easel stood before him, but he seemed to have forgotten his work, forgotten the dusk that had overtaken him, forgotten everything, in some reverie into which he had fallen.
He must have heard the horse’s hoofs approaching, but he did not turn.
“You are sketching the stones?” said Sir Anthony, drawing rein a few feet away.
The man on the camp stool turned and looked from under the brim of his hat at the man on the horse.
There was just enough light to see his face.
It was a face that no man or woman would ever forget, once having seen.
It was not ugly, but it was thin, cadaverous, and under the shadow of the hat brim, in some mysterious way dreadful. Now Sir Anthony Gyde was a man who feared neither ghost nor devil, but when his eyes met the eyes of this man his face fell away, and he sat in his saddle like a man who has suddenly been stricken by age.
He sat for a moment like this, then, wheeling his horse, he put spurs to it and fled, as a man flies for his life.
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收听单词发音
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1
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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2
fore
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| adv.在前面；adj.先前的；在前部的；n.前部 | |
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3
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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4
clump
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| n.树丛，草丛；vi.用沉重的脚步行走 | |
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5
stunted
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| adj.矮小的；发育迟缓的 | |
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6
larch
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| n.落叶松 | |
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7
torment
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| n.折磨；令人痛苦的东西(人)；vt.折磨；纠缠 | |
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8
gale
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| n.大风，强风，一阵闹声（尤指笑声等） | |
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9
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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10
esteem
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| n.尊敬，尊重；vt.尊重，敬重；把…看作 | |
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11
hoofs
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| n.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的名词复数 )v.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的第三人称单数 ) | |
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12
rein
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| n.疆绳，统治，支配；vt.以僵绳控制，统治 | |
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13
reins
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| 感情，激情； 缰( rein的名词复数 )； 控制手段； 掌管； （成人带着幼儿走路以防其走失时用的）保护带 | |
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14
touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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15
consultation
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| n.咨询；商量；商议；会议 | |
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16
desolate
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| adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂 | |
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17
weird
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| adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的 | |
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18
erect
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| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
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19
relic
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| n.神圣的遗物，遗迹，纪念物 | |
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20
boulders
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| n.卵石( boulder的名词复数 )；巨砾；（受水或天气侵蚀而成的）巨石；漂砾 | |
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21
hooded
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| adj.戴头巾的；有罩盖的；颈部因肋骨运动而膨胀的 | |
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22
crouched
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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23
presentiment
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| n.预感，预觉 | |
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24
reined
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| 勒缰绳使（马）停步( rein的过去式和过去分词 )； 驾驭； 严格控制； 加强管理 | |
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25
sketching
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| n.草图 | |
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