The Withered Arm Chapter 2

The road from Anglebury to Holmstoke is in general level; but thereis one place where a sharp ascent¹ breaks its monotony. Farmershomeward-bound from the former market-town, who trot² all the rest ofthe way, walk their horses up this short incline.

　　The next evening, while the sun was yet bright, a handsome new gig,with a lemon-coloured body and red wheels, was spinning westwardalong the level highway at the heels of a powerful mare³. The driverwas a yeoman in the prime of life, cleanly shaven like an actor, hisface being toned to that bluish-vermilion hue⁴ which so often gracesa thriving farmer's features when returning home after successfuldealings in the town. Beside him sat a woman, many years hisjunior--almost, indeed, a girl. Her face too was fresh in colour,but it was of a totally different quality--soft and evanescent, likethe light under a heap of rose-petals.

　　Few people travelled this way, for it was not a main road; and thelong white riband of gravel⁵ that stretched before them was empty,save of one small scarce-moving speck⁶, which presently resolveditself into the figure of boy, who was creeping on at a snail'space, and continually looking behind him--the heavy bundle hecarried being some excuse for, if not the reason of, hisdilatoriness. When the bouncing gig-party slowed at the bottom ofthe incline above mentioned, the pedestrian was only a few yards infront. Supporting the large bundle by putting one hand on his hip,he turned and looked straight at the farmer's wife as though hewould read her through and through, pacing along abreast⁷ of thehorse.

　　The low sun was full in her face, rendering⁸ every feature, shade,and contour distinct, from the curve of her little nostril⁹ to thecolour of her eyes. The farmer, though he seemed annoyed at theboy's persistent¹⁰ presence, did not order him to get out of the way;and thus the lad preceded them, his hard gaze never leaving her,till they reached the top of the ascent, when the farmer trotted¹¹ onwith relief in his lineaments--having taken no outward notice of theboy whatever.

　　'How that poor lad stared at me!' said the young wife.

　　'Yes, dear; I saw that he did.'

　　'He is one of the village, I suppose?'

　　'One of the neighbourhood. I think he lives with his mother a mileor two off.'

　　'He knows who we are, no doubt?'

　　'O yes. You must expect to be stared at just at first, my prettyGertrude.'

　　'I do,--though I think the poor boy may have looked at us in thehope we might relieve him of his heavy load, rather than fromcuriosity.'

　　'O no,' said her husband off-handedly. 'These country lads willcarry a hundredweight once they get it on their backs; besides hispack had more size than weight in it. Now, then, another mile and Ishall be able to show you our house in the distance--if it is nottoo dark before we get there.' The wheels spun¹² round, and particlesflew from their periphery¹³ as before, till a white house of ampledimensions revealed itself, with farm-buildings and ricks at theback.

　　Meanwhile the boy had quickened his pace, and turning up a by-lanesome mile and half short of the white farmstead, ascended¹⁴ towardsthe leaner pastures, and so on to the cottage of his mother.

　　She had reached home after her day's milking at the outlying dairy,and was washing cabbage at the doorway¹⁵ in the declining light.

　　'Hold up the net a moment,' she said, without preface, as the boycame up.

　　He flung down his bundle, held the edge of the cabbage-net, and asshe filled its meshes¹⁶ with the dripping leaves she went on, 'Well,did you see her?'

　　'Yes; quite plain.'

　　'Is she ladylike?'

　　'Yes; and more. A lady complete.'

　　'Is she young?'

　　'Well, she's growed up, and her ways be quite a woman's.'

　　'Of course. What colour is her hair and face?'

　　'Her hair is lightish, and her face as comely¹⁷ as a live doll's.'

　　'Her eyes, then, are not dark like mine?'

　　'No--of a bluish turn, and her mouth is very nice and red; and whenshe smiles, her teeth show white.'

　　'Is she tall?' said the woman sharply.

　　'I couldn't see. She was sitting down.'

　　'Then do you go to Holmstoke church to-morrow morning: she's sureto be there. Go early and notice her walking in, and come home andtell me if she's taller than I.'

　　'Very well, mother. But why don't you go and see for yourself?'

　　'_I_ go to see her! I wouldn't look up at her if she were to passmy window this instant. She was with Mr. Lodge¹⁸, of course. Whatdid he say or do?'

　　'Just the same as usual.'

　　'Took no notice of you?'

　　'None.'

　　Next day the mother put a clean shirt on the boy, and started himoff for Holmstoke church. He reached the ancient little pile whenthe door was just being opened, and he was the first to enter.

　　Taking his seat by the font, he watched all the parishioners filein. The well-to-do Farmer Lodge came nearly last; and his youngwife, who accompanied him, walked up the aisle¹⁹ with the shynessnatural to a modest woman who had appeared thus for the first time.

　　As all other eyes were fixed²⁰ upon her, the youth's stare was notnoticed now.

　　When he reached home his mother said, 'Well?' before he had enteredthe room.

　　'She is not tall. She is rather short,' he replied.

　　'Ah!' said his mother, with satisfaction.

　　'But she's very pretty--very. In fact, she's lovely.'

　　The youthful freshness of the yeoman's wife had evidently made animpression even on the somewhat hard nature of the boy.

　　'That's all I want to hear,' said his mother quickly. 'Now, spreadthe table-cloth. The hare you caught is very tender; but mind thatnobody catches you.--You've never told me what sort of hands shehad.'

　　'I have never seen 'em. She never took off her gloves.'

　　'What did she wear this morning?'

　　'A white bonnet²¹ and a silver-coloured gownd. It whewed and whistledso loud when it rubbed against the pews that the lady coloured upmore than ever for very shame at the noise, and pulled it in to keepit from touching²²; but when she pushed into her seat, it whewed morethan ever. Mr. Lodge, he seemed pleased, and his waistcoat stuckout, and his great golden seals hung like a lord's; but she seemedto wish her noisy gownd anywhere but on her.'

　　'Not she! However, that will do now.'

　　These descriptions of the newly-married couple were continued fromtime to time by the boy at his mother's request, after any chanceencounter he had had with them. But Rhoda Brook²³, though she mighteasily have seen young Mrs. Lodge for herself by walking a couple ofmiles, would never attempt an excursion towards the quarter wherethe farmhouse²⁴ lay. Neither did she, at the daily milking in thedairyman's yard on Lodge's outlying second farm, ever speak on thesubject of the recent marriage. The dairyman, who rented the cowsof Lodge, and knew perfectly²⁵ the tall milkmaid's history, with manlykindliness always kept the gossip in the cow-barton from annoyingRhoda. But the atmosphere thereabout was full of the subject duringthe first days of Mrs. Lodge's arrival; and from her boy'sdescription and the casual words of the other milkers, Rhoda Brookcould raise a mental image of the unconscious Mrs Lodge that wasrealistic as a photograph.

1 ascent   

n.(声望或地位)提高；上升，升高；登高

参考例句：

• His rapid ascent in the social scale was surprising.他的社会地位提高之迅速令人吃惊。
• Burke pushed the button and the elevator began its slow ascent.伯克按动电钮，电梯开始缓慢上升。

2 trot   

n.疾走，慢跑；n.老太婆；现成译本；(复数）trots:腹泻（与the 连用）；v.小跑，快步走，赶紧

参考例句：

• They passed me at a trot.他们从我身边快步走过。
• The horse broke into a brisk trot.马突然快步小跑起来。

3 mare   

n.母马，母驴

参考例句：

• The mare has just thrown a foal in the stable.那匹母马刚刚在马厩里产下了一只小马驹。
• The mare foundered under the heavy load and collapsed in the road.那母马因负载过重而倒在路上。

4 hue   

n.色度；色调；样子

参考例句：

• The diamond shone with every hue under the sun.金刚石在阳光下放出五颜六色的光芒。
• The same hue will look different in different light.同一颜色在不同的光线下看起来会有所不同。

5 gravel   

n.砂跞；砂砾层；结石

参考例句：

• We bought six bags of gravel for the garden path.我们购买了六袋碎石用来铺花园的小路。
• More gravel is needed to fill the hollow in the drive.需要更多的砾石来填平车道上的坑洼。

6 speck   

n.微粒，小污点，小斑点

参考例句：

• I have not a speck of interest in it.我对它没有任何兴趣。
• The sky is clear and bright without a speck of cloud.天空晴朗，一星星云彩也没有。

7 abreast   

adv.并排地；跟上(时代)的步伐，与…并进地

参考例句：

• She kept abreast with the flood of communications that had poured in.她及时回复如雪片般飞来的大批信件。
• We can't keep abreast of the developing situation unless we study harder.我们如果不加强学习，就会跟不上形势。

8 rendering   

n.表现，描写

参考例句：

• She gave a splendid rendering of Beethoven's piano sonata.她精彩地演奏了贝多芬的钢琴奏鸣曲。
• His narrative is a super rendering of dialect speech and idiom.他的叙述是方言和土语最成功的运用。

9 nostril   

n.鼻孔

参考例句：

• The Indian princess wore a diamond in her right nostril.印弟安公主在右鼻孔中戴了一颗钻石。
• All South American monkeys have flat noses with widely spaced nostril.所有南美洲的猴子都有平鼻子和宽大的鼻孔。

10 persistent   

adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的

参考例句：

• Albert had a persistent headache that lasted for three days.艾伯特连续头痛了三天。
• She felt embarrassed by his persistent attentions.他不时地向她大献殷勤，使她很难为情。

11 trotted   

小跑，急走( trot的过去分词 )； 匆匆忙忙地走

参考例句：

• She trotted her pony around the field. 她骑着小马绕场慢跑。
• Anne trotted obediently beside her mother. 安妮听话地跟在妈妈身边走。

12 spun   

v.纺，杜撰，急转身

参考例句：

• His grandmother spun him a yarn at the fire.他奶奶在火炉边给他讲故事。
• Her skilful fingers spun the wool out to a fine thread.她那灵巧的手指把羊毛纺成了细毛线。

13 periphery   

n.(圆体的)外面；周围

参考例句：

• Geographically, the UK is on the periphery of Europe.从地理位置上讲，英国处于欧洲边缘。
• The periphery of the retina is very sensitive to motion.视网膜的外围对运动非常敏感。

14 ascended   

v.上升，攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He has ascended into heaven. 他已经升入了天堂。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The climbers slowly ascended the mountain. 爬山运动员慢慢地登上了这座山。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 doorway   

n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径

参考例句：

• They huddled in the shop doorway to shelter from the rain.他们挤在商店门口躲雨。
• Mary suddenly appeared in the doorway.玛丽突然出现在门口。

16 meshes   

网孔( mesh的名词复数 )； 网状物； 陷阱； 困境

参考例句：

• The net of Heaven has large meshes, but it lets nothing through. 天网恢恢，疏而不漏。
• This net has half-inch meshes. 这个网有半英寸见方的网孔。

17 comely   

adj.漂亮的，合宜的

参考例句：

• His wife is a comely young woman.他的妻子是一个美丽的少妇。
• A nervous,comely-dressed little girl stepped out.一个紧张不安、衣着漂亮的小姑娘站了出来。

18 lodge   

v.临时住宿，寄宿，寄存，容纳；n.传达室，小旅馆

参考例句：

• Is there anywhere that I can lodge in the village tonight?村里有我今晚过夜的地方吗？
• I shall lodge at the inn for two nights.我要在这家小店住两个晚上。

19 aisle   

n.（教堂、教室、戏院等里的）过道，通道

参考例句：

• The aisle was crammed with people.过道上挤满了人。
• The girl ushered me along the aisle to my seat.引座小姐带领我沿着通道到我的座位上去。

20 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

21 bonnet   

n.无边女帽；童帽

参考例句：

• The baby's bonnet keeps the sun out of her eyes.婴孩的帽子遮住阳光，使之不刺眼。
• She wore a faded black bonnet garnished with faded artificial flowers.她戴着一顶褪了色的黑色无边帽，帽上缀着褪了色的假花。

22 touching   

adj.动人的，使人感伤的

参考例句：

• It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
• His letter was touching.他的信很感人。

23 brook   

n.小河，溪；v.忍受，容让

参考例句：

• In our room we could hear the murmur of a distant brook.在我们房间能听到远处小溪汩汩的流水声。
• The brook trickled through the valley.小溪涓涓流过峡谷。

24 farmhouse   

n.农场住宅（尤指主要住房）

参考例句：

• We fell for the farmhouse as soon as we saw it.我们对那所农舍一见倾心。
• We put up for the night at a farmhouse.我们在一间农舍投宿了一夜。

25 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。