Humanity Appears upon the Scene, Hand in Hand with Trouble
Along the road walked an old man. He was white-headed as a mountain, bowed in the shoulders, and faded in general aspect. He wore a glazed1 hat, an ancient boat-cloak, and shoes; his brass2 buttons bearing an anchor upon their face. In his hand was a silver-headed walking stick, which he used as a veritable third leg, perseveringly3 dotting the ground with its point at every few inches' interval4. One would have said that he had been, in his day, a naval5 officer of some sort or other.
Before him stretched the long, laborious6 road, dry, empty, and white. It was quite open to the heath on each side, and bisected that vast dark surface like the parting-line on a head of black hair, diminishing and bending away on the furthest horizon.
The old man frequently stretched his eyes ahead to gaze over the tract7 that he had yet to traverse. At length he discerned, a long distance in front of him, a moving spot, which appeared to be a vehicle, and it proved to be going the same way as that in which he himself was journeying. It was the single atom of life that the scene contained, and it only served to render the general loneliness more evident. Its rate of advance was slow, and the old man gained upon it sensibly.
When he drew nearer he perceived it to be a spring van, ordinary in shape, but singular in colour, this being a lurid8 red. The driver walked beside it; and, like his van, he was completely red. One dye of that tincture covered his clothes, the cap upon his head, his boots, his face, and his hands. He was not temporarily overlaid with the colour; it permeated9 him.
The old man knew the meaning of this. The traveller with the cart was a reddleman--a person whose vocation10 it was to supply farmers with redding for their sheep. He was one of a class rapidly becoming extinct in Wessex, filling at present in the rural world the place which, during the last century, the dodo occupied in the world of animals. He is a curious, interesting, and nearly perished link between obsolete11 forms of life and those which generally prevail.
The decayed officer, by degrees, came up alongside his fellow-wayfarer, and wished him good evening. The reddleman turned his head, and replied in sad and occupied tones. He was young, and his face, if not exactly handsome, approached so near to handsome that nobody would have contradicted an assertion that it really was so in its natural colour. His eye, which glared so strangely through his stain, was in itself attractive--keen as that of a bird of prey12, and blue as autumn mist. He had neither whisker nor moustache, which allowed the soft curves of the lower part of his face to be apparent. His lips were thin, and though, as it seemed, compressed by thought, there was a pleasant twitch13 at their corners now and then. He was clothed throughout in a tight-fitting suit of corduroy, excellent in quality, not much worn, and well-chosen for its purpose, but deprived of its original colour by his trade. It showed to advantage the good shape of his figure. A certain well-to-do air about the man suggested that he was not poor for his degree. The natural query14 of an observer would have been, Why should such a promising15 being as this have hidden his prepossessing exterior16 by adopting that singular occupation?
After replying to the old man's greeting he showed no inclination17 to continue in talk, although they still walked side by side, for the elder traveller seemed to desire company. There were no sounds but that of the booming wind upon the stretch of tawny18 herbage around them, the crackling wheels, the tread of the men, and the footsteps of the two shaggy ponies19 which drew the van. They were small, hardy20 animals, of a breed between Galloway and Exmoor, and were known as "heath-croppers" here.
Now, as they thus pursued their way, the reddleman occasionally left his companion's side, and, stepping behind the van, looked into its interior through a small window. The look was always anxious. He would then return to the old man, who made another remark about the state of the country and so on, to which the reddleman again abstractedly replied, and then again they would lapse21 into silence. The silence conveyed to neither any sense of awkwardness; in these lonely places wayfarers22, after a first greeting, frequently plod23 on for miles without speech; contiguity24 amounts to a tacit conversation where, otherwise than in cities, such contiguity can be put an end to on the merest inclination, and where not to put an end to it is intercourse25 in itself.
Possibly these two might not have spoken again till their parting, had it not been for the reddleman's visits to his van. When he returned from his fifth time of looking in the old man said, "You have something inside there besides your load?"
"Yes."
"Somebody who wants looking after?"
"Yes."
Not long after this a faint cry sounded from the interior. The reddleman hastened to the back, looked in, and came away again.
"You have a child there, my man?"
"No, sir, I have a woman."
"The deuce you have! Why did she cry out?"
"Oh, she has fallen asleep, and not being used to traveling, she's uneasy, and keeps dreaming."
"A young woman?"
"Yes, a young woman."
"That would have interested me forty years ago. Perhaps she's your wife?"
"My wife!" said the other bitterly. "She's above mating with such as I. But there's no reason why I should tell you about that."
"That's true. And there's no reason why you should not. What harm can I do to you or to her?"
The reddleman looked in the old man's face. "Well, sir," he said at last, "I knew her before today, though perhaps it would have been better if I had not. But she's nothing to me, and I am nothing to her; and she wouldn't have been in my van if any better carriage had been there to take her."
"Where, may I ask?"
"At Anglebury."
"I know the town well. What was she doing there?"
"Oh, not much--to gossip about. However, she's tired to death now, and not at all well, and that's what makes her so restless. She dropped off into a nap about an hour ago, and 'twill do her good."
"A nice-looking girl, no doubt?"
"You would say so."
The other traveller turned his eyes with interest towards the van window, and, without withdrawing them, said, "I presume I might look in upon her?"
"No," said the reddleman abruptly26. "It is getting too dark for you to see much of her; and, more than that, I have no right to allow you. Thank God she sleeps so well, I hope she won't wake till she's home."
"Who is she? One of the neighbourhood?"
"'Tis no matter who, excuse me."
"It is not that girl of Blooms-End, who has been talked about more or less lately? If so, I know her; and I can guess what has happened."
"'Tis no matter....Now, sir, I am sorry to say that we shall soon have to part company. My ponies are tired, and I have further to go, and I am going to rest them under this bank for an hour."
The elder traveller nodded his head indifferently, and the reddleman turned his horses and van in upon the turf, saying, "Good night." The old man replied, and proceeded on his way as before.
The reddleman watched his form as it diminished to a speck27 on the road and became absorbed in the thickening films of night. He then took some hay from a truss which was slung28 up under the van, and, throwing a portion of it in front of the horses, made a pad of the rest, which he laid on the ground beside his vehicle. Upon this he sat down, leaning his back against the wheel. From the interior a low soft breathing came to his ear. It appeared to satisfy him, and he musingly29 surveyed the scene, as if considering the next step that he should take.
To do things musingly, and by small degrees, seemed, indeed, to be a duty in the Egdon valleys at this transitional hour, for there was that in the condition of the heath itself which resembled protracted31 and halting dubiousness32. It was the quality of the repose33 appertaining to the scene. This was not the repose of actual stagnation34, but the apparent repose of incredible slowness. A condition of healthy life so nearly resembling the torpor35 of death is a noticeable thing of its sort; to exhibit the inertness36 of the desert, and at the same time to be exercising powers akin37 to those of the meadow, and even of the forest, awakened38 in those who thought of it the attentiveness39 usually engendered40 by understatement and reserve.
The scene before the reddleman's eyes was a gradual series of ascents41 from the level of the road backward into the heart of the heath. It embraced hillocks, pits, ridges42, acclivities, one behind the other, till all was finished by a high hill cutting against the still light sky. The traveller's eye hovered43 about these things for a time, and finally settled upon one noteworthy object up there. It was a barrow. This bossy44 projection45 of earth above its natural level occupied the loftiest ground of the loneliest height that the heath contained. Although from the vale it appeared but as a wart46 on an Atlantean brow, its actual bulk was great. It formed the pole and axis47 of this heathery world.
As the resting man looked at the barrow he became aware that its summit, hitherto the highest object in the whole prospect48 round, was surmounted49 by something higher. It rose from the semiglobular mound50 like a spike51 from a helmet. The first instinct of an imaginative stranger might have been to suppose it the person of one of the Celts who built the barrow, so far had all of modern date withdrawn52 from the scene. It seemed a sort of last man among them, musing30 for a moment before dropping into eternal night with the rest of his race.
There the form stood, motionless as the hill beneath. Above the plain rose the hill, above the hill rose the barrow, and above the barrow rose the figure. Above the figure was nothing that could be mapped elsewhere than on a celestial53 globe.
Such a perfect, delicate, and necessary finish did the figure give to the dark pile of hills that it seemed to be the only obvious justification54 of their outline. Without it, there was the dome55 without the lantern; with it the architectural demands of the mass were satisfied. The scene was strangely homogeneous, in that the vale, the upland, the barrow, and the figure above it amounted only to unity56. Looking at this or that member of the group was not observing a complete thing, but a fraction of a thing.
The form was so much like an organic part of the entire motionless structure that to see it move would have impressed the mind as a strange phenomenon. Immobility being the chief characteristic of that whole which the person formed portion of, the discontinuance of immobility in any quarter suggested confusion.
Yet that is what happened. The figure perceptibly gave up its fixity, shifted a step or two, and turned round. As if alarmed, it descended57 on the right side of the barrow, with the glide58 of a water-drop down a bud, and then vanished. The movement had been sufficient to show more clearly the characteristics of the figure, and that it was a woman's.
The reason of her sudden displacement59 now appeared. With her dropping out of sight on the right side, a newcomer, bearing a burden, protruded60 into the sky on the left side, ascended61 the tumulus, and deposited the burden on the top. A second followed, then a third, a fourth, a fifth, and ultimately the whole barrow was peopled with burdened figures.
The only intelligible62 meaning in this sky-backed pantomime of silhouettes63 was that the woman had no relation to the forms who had taken her place, was sedulously64 avoiding these, and had come thither65 for another object than theirs. The imagination of the observer clung by preference to that vanished, solitary66 figure, as to something more interesting, more important, more likely to have a history worth knowing than these newcomers, and unconsciously regarded them as intruders. But they remained, and established themselves; and the lonely person who hitherto had been queen of the solitude67 did not at present seem likely to return.
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1
glazed
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| adj.光滑的，像玻璃的；上过釉的；呆滞无神的v.装玻璃( glaze的过去式)；上釉于，上光；（目光）变得呆滞无神 | |
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2
brass
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| n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器 | |
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3
perseveringly
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| 坚定地 | |
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4
interval
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| n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息 | |
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5
naval
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| adj.海军的，军舰的，船的 | |
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6
laborious
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| adj.吃力的，努力的，不流畅 | |
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7
tract
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| n.传单，小册子，大片(土地或森林) | |
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8
lurid
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| adj.可怕的；血红的；苍白的 | |
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9
permeated
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| 弥漫( permeate的过去式和过去分词 )； 遍布； 渗入； 渗透 | |
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10
vocation
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| n.职业，行业 | |
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obsolete
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| adj.已废弃的，过时的 | |
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12
prey
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| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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13
twitch
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| v.急拉，抽动，痉挛，抽搐；n.扯，阵痛，痉挛 | |
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14
query
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| n.疑问，问号，质问；vt.询问，表示怀疑 | |
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15
promising
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| adj.有希望的，有前途的 | |
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16
exterior
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| adj.外部的，外在的；表面的 | |
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17
inclination
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| n.倾斜；点头；弯腰；斜坡；倾度；倾向；爱好 | |
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18
tawny
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| adj.茶色的，黄褐色的；n.黄褐色 | |
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19
ponies
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| 矮种马，小型马( pony的名词复数 )； ￡25 25 英镑 | |
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20
hardy
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| adj.勇敢的，果断的，吃苦的；耐寒的 | |
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21
lapse
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| n.过失，流逝，失效，抛弃信仰，间隔；vi.堕落，停止，失效，流逝；vt.使失效 | |
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22
wayfarers
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| n.旅人，（尤指）徒步旅行者( wayfarer的名词复数 ) | |
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23
plod
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| v.沉重缓慢地走，孜孜地工作 | |
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24
contiguity
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| n.邻近，接壤 | |
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25
intercourse
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| n.性交；交流，交往，交际 | |
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26
abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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27
speck
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| n.微粒，小污点，小斑点 | |
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28
slung
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| 抛( sling的过去式和过去分词 )； 吊挂； 遣送； 押往 | |
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29
musingly
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| adv.沉思地，冥想地 | |
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30
musing
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| n. 沉思，冥想 adj. 沉思的, 冥想的 动词muse的现在分词形式 | |
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31
protracted
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| adj.拖延的；延长的v.拖延“protract”的过去式和过去分词 | |
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32
dubiousness
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| n.dubious（令人怀疑的）的变形 | |
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33
repose
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| v.(使)休息；n.安息 | |
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34
stagnation
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| n. 停滞 | |
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35
torpor
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| n.迟钝；麻木；（动物的）冬眠 | |
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36
inertness
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| n.不活泼，没有生气；惰性；惯量 | |
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37
akin
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| adj.同族的，类似的 | |
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38
awakened
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| 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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39
attentiveness
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| [医]注意 | |
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40
engendered
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| 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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41
ascents
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| n.上升( ascent的名词复数 )；（身份、地位等的）提高；上坡路；攀登 | |
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42
ridges
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| n.脊( ridge的名词复数 )；山脊；脊状突起；大气层的)高压脊 | |
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43
hovered
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| 鸟( hover的过去式和过去分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫 | |
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44
bossy
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| adj.爱发号施令的，作威作福的 | |
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45
projection
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| n.发射，计划，突出部分 | |
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46
wart
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| n.疣，肉赘；瑕疵 | |
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47
axis
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| n.轴，轴线，中心线；坐标轴，基准线 | |
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48
prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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49
surmounted
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| 战胜( surmount的过去式和过去分词 )； 克服（困难）； 居于…之上； 在…顶上 | |
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50
mound
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| n.土墩，堤，小山；v.筑堤，用土堆防卫 | |
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51
spike
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| n.长钉，钉鞋；v.以大钉钉牢，使...失效 | |
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52
withdrawn
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| vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出 | |
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53
celestial
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| adj.天体的；天上的 | |
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54
justification
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| n.正当的理由；辩解的理由 | |
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55
dome
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| n.圆屋顶，拱顶 | |
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56
unity
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| n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调 | |
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57
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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58
glide
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| n./v.溜，滑行；(时间)消逝 | |
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59
displacement
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| n.移置，取代，位移，排水量 | |
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60
protruded
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| v.（使某物）伸出，（使某物）突出( protrude的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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61
ascended
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| v.上升，攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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62
intelligible
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| adj.可理解的，明白易懂的，清楚的 | |
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63
silhouettes
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| 轮廓( silhouette的名词复数 )； （人的）体形； （事物的）形状； 剪影 | |
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64
sedulously
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| ad.孜孜不倦地 | |
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65
thither
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| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
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66
solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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67
solitude
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| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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