Reuben's oats were a dismal2 failure. All the warm thrilling hopes which he had put into the ground with the seed and the rape3 cake, all the watching and expectation which had imparted as many delights as Naomi to the first weeks of his married life—all had ended in a few rows of scraggy, scabrous4 murrainous little shoots, most of which wilted5 as if with shame directly they appeared above the ground, while the others, after showing him and a derisive6 neighbourhood all that oats could do in the way of tulip-roots, sedge-leaves, and dropsical husk, shed their seeds in the first summer gale7, and started July as stubble.
There was no denying it. Boarzell had beaten Reuben in this their first battle. That coarse, shaggy, unfruitful land had refused to submit to husbandry. Backfield had not yet taken Leviathan as his servant. His defeat stimulated8 local wit.
"How's the peas gitting on, M?aster9?" Ditch of Totease would facetiously10 enquire11. "I rode by that new land of yours yesterday, and, says I, there's as fine a crop of creeping plants as ever I did see."
"'T?un't peas, thick 'un," Vennal would break in uproariously, "it's turnips—each of 'em got a root like my fist."
"And here wur I all this time guessing as it wur[Pg 79] cabbages acause of the leaves," old Ginner would finish, not to be outdone in badinage12.
Reuben always accepted such chaff13 good-humouredly, for he knew it was prompted by envy, and he would have scorned to let these men know how much he had been hurt. Also, though defeated, he was quite undaunted. He was not going to be beaten. That untractable slope of marl should be sown as permanent pasture in the spring, and he would grow oats on the new piece he would buy at the end of the year with his wife's fortune.
Naomi's money had been the greatest possible help. He had roofed the Dutch barn, and retarred the oasts, he had bought a fine new plough horse and a waggon14, and he was going to buy another piece of Boarzell—ten or twelve acres this time, of the more fruitful clay-soil by the Glotten brook15. Naomi was pleased to see all the new things. The barn looked so spick-and-span with its scarlet16 tiles, and the oasts shone like polished ebony, she loved to stroke the horse's brown, snuffling nose, and "Oh, what a lovely blue!" she said when she saw the waggon.
She could not take much interest in Reuben's ambitions, indeed she only partly understood them. What did he want Boarzell for?—it was so rough and dreary17, she was sure nothing would grow there. She loved the farm, with the dear faces of the cows, and the horses, and the poultry18, and even the pigs, but talk of crops and acres only bored her. Sometimes Reuben's enthusiasm would spill over, and sitting by the fire with her in the evening, he would enlarge on all he was going to do with Boarzell—this year, next year, ten years hence. Then she would nestle close to him, and murmur—"Yes, dear" ... "yes, dear" ... "that will be glorious"—while all the time she was thinking of his long lashes19, his strong brown neck, the clear weight of his arm on her shoulder, and the kiss that would be hers when he took his pipe out of his mouth.
From this it may be gathered that the sorrow and hate of Naomi's wedding night had been but the reaction of a moment. Indeed she woke the next morning to find herself a very happy wife. She fell back into her old attitude towards Reuben—affection, trust, and compliance20, with which was mixed this time a little innocent passion. She loved being with him, was scrupulously21 anxious to please him, and would have worked her hands to pieces for his sake.
But Reuben did not want her to work. She was rather surprised at this at first, for she had expected that she would go on helping22 Mrs. Backfield as she had done before her marriage. Reuben, however, was quite firm—his wife was not to redden her skin by stooping over fires, or coarsen her hands by dabbling23 them in soapsuds. An occasional visit to the dairy or some half-playful help on bread-baking days was all he would allow.
"But won't it be too hard for mother?" Naomi had objected.
"Mother?—she's used to it, and she's tougher than you, liddle creature."
"But I could help just a bit."
"No, no—I w?an't have you go wearing yourself out. D?an't let's hear no more about it."
Naomi had submitted, as she always submitted, and after a while obedience24 was made easy. In August she realised that she was going to have a child and any conscientious25 desires which might have twinged her at the sight of Mrs. Backfield's seaming face and bending shoulders, were lost in the preoccupations of her own condition.
At first she had not been pleased. She was only nineteen, not particularly robust26, and resented the loss of her health and freedom; but after a while sweet thoughts and expectations began to warm in her. She loved little babies, and it would be delicious to have[Pg 81] one of her own. She hoped it would be a girl, and thought of beautiful names for it—Victoria, Emilia, Marianna, and others that she had seen in the Keepsake. But her delight was nothing to Reuben's. She had been surprised, overwhelmed by his joy when she told him her news. He, usually so reserved, had become transported, emotional, almost lyrical—so masterful, had humbled27 himself before her and had knelt at her feet with his face hidden in her gown.
She could never guess what that child meant to Reuben. It meant a fellow labourer on his farm, a fellow fighter on Boarzell, and after he was dead a Man to carry on his work and his battle. At last he would have someone to share his ambition—that child should be trained up in the atmosphere of enterprise; as other fathers taught their children to love and serve God, so Reuben would teach this son to love and serve Odiam. He would no longer strive alone, he would have a comrade, a soldier with him. And after this boy there would be other boys, all growing up in the love of Odiam, to live for it.
He treated his wife like a queen, he would not allow her the smallest exertion28. He waited on her hand and foot and expected his mother to do the same. Every evening, or, later in the year, in the afternoon, he would come home early from his work, and take her out for a walk on his arm. He would not allow her to go alone, for fear that she might overtire herself or that anything might frighten her. He insisted on her having the daintiest food, and never eating less than a certain quantity every day; he decided29 that the Odiam chairs were too hard, and bought her cushions at Rye. In fact he pampered30 her as much as he denied everybody else and himself.
Naomi soon came to enjoy her coddling, even though occasionally his solicitude31 was inclined to be tiresome32. As time wore on he would not let her walk up and down[Pg 82] stairs, but carried her up to bed himself, and down again in the morning. She grew fat, white, and languorous33. She would lie for hours with her hands folded on her lap, now and then picking up a bit of sewing for a few minutes, then dropping it again. She was proud of her position in comparison with other farmers' wives in the same circumstances. Their men kept them working up to the last week.
During this time she saw very little of Harry34 and scarcely ever thought of him. She no longer had any doubts as to his being quite mad.
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1
elegy
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| n.哀歌，挽歌 | |
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dismal
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| adj.阴沉的，凄凉的，令人忧郁的，差劲的 | |
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rape
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| n.抢夺，掠夺，强奸；vt.掠夺，抢夺，强奸 | |
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scabrous
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| adj.有疤的，粗糙的 | |
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wilted
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| （使）凋谢，枯萎( wilt的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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derisive
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| adj.嘲弄的 | |
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gale
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| n.大风，强风，一阵闹声（尤指笑声等） | |
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stimulated
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| a.刺激的 | |
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aster
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| n.紫菀属植物 | |
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facetiously
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| adv.爱开玩笑地；滑稽地，爱开玩笑地 | |
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enquire
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| v.打听，询问；调查，查问 | |
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badinage
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| n.开玩笑，打趣 | |
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13
chaff
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| v.取笑，嘲笑；n.谷壳 | |
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waggon
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| n.运货马车，运货车；敞篷车箱 | |
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brook
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| n.小河，溪；v.忍受，容让 | |
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16
scarlet
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| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
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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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poultry
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| n.家禽，禽肉 | |
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lashes
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| n.鞭挞( lash的名词复数 )；鞭子；突然猛烈的一击；急速挥动v.鞭打( lash的第三人称单数 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
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compliance
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| n.顺从；服从；附和；屈从 | |
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scrupulously
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| adv.一丝不苟地；小心翼翼地，多顾虑地 | |
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helping
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| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
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dabbling
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| v.涉猎( dabble的现在分词 )；涉足；浅尝；少量投资 | |
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obedience
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| n.服从，顺从 | |
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conscientious
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| adj.审慎正直的，认真的，本着良心的 | |
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robust
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| adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的 | |
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humbled
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| adj. 卑下的，谦逊的，粗陋的 vt. 使 ... 卑下，贬低 | |
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exertion
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| n.尽力，努力 | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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30
pampered
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| adj.饮食过量的，饮食奢侈的v.纵容，宠，娇养( pamper的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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31
solicitude
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| n.焦虑 | |
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32
tiresome
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| adj.令人疲劳的，令人厌倦的 | |
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33
languorous
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| adj.怠惰的，没精打采的 | |
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34
harry
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| vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼 | |
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