The Withered Arm Chapter 3

One night, two or three weeks after the bridal return, when the boywas gone to bed, Rhoda sat a long time over the turf ashes that shehad raked out in front of her to extinguish them. She contemplatedso intently the new wife, as presented to her in her mind's eye overthe embers, that she forgot the lapse¹ of time. At last, weariedwith her day's work, she too retired².

　　But the figure which had occupied her so much during this and theprevious days was not to be banished³ at night. For the first timeGertrude Lodge⁴ visited the supplanted⁵ woman in her dreams. RhodaBrook dreamed--since her assertion that she really saw, beforefalling asleep, was not to be believed--that the young wife, in thepale silk dress and white bonnet⁷, but with features shockinglydistorted, and wrinkled as by age, was sitting upon her chest as shelay. The pressure of Mrs. Lodge's person grew heavier; the blueeyes peered cruelly into her face; and then the figure thrustforward its left hand mockingly, so as to make the wedding-ring itwore glitter in Rhoda's eyes. Maddened mentally, and nearlysuffocated by pressure, the sleeper⁸ struggled; the incubus⁹, stillregarding her, withdrew to the foot of the bed, only, however, tocome forward by degrees, resume her seat, and flash her left hand asbefore.

　　Gasping for breath, Rhoda, in a last desperate effort, swung out herright hand, seized the confronting spectre by its obtrusive¹⁰ leftarm, and whirled it backward to the floor, starting up herself asshe did so with a low cry.

　　'O, merciful heaven!' she cried, sitting on the edge of the bed in acold sweat; 'that was not a dream--she was here!'

　　She could feel her antagonist's arm within her grasp even now--thevery flesh and bone of it, as it seemed. She looked on the floorwhither she had whirled the spectre, but there was nothing to beseen.

　　Rhoda Brook⁶ slept no more that night, and when she went milking atthe next dawn they noticed how pale and haggard she looked. Themilk that she drew quivered into the pail; her hand had not calmedeven yet, and still retained the feel of the arm. She came home tobreakfast as wearily as if it had been suppertime.

　　'What was that noise in your chimmer, mother, last night?' said herson. 'You fell off the bed, surely?'

　　'Did you hear anything fall? At what time?'

　　'Just when the clock struck two.'

　　She could not explain, and when the meal was done went silentlyabout her household work, the boy assisting her, for he hated goingafield on the farms, and she indulged his reluctance¹¹. Betweeneleven and twelve the garden-gate clicked, and she lifted her eyesto the window. At the bottom of the garden, within the gate, stoodthe woman of her vision. Rhoda seemed transfixed.

　　'Ah, she said she would come!' exclaimed the boy, also observingher.

　　'Said so--when? How does she know us?'

　　'I have seen and spoken to her. I talked to her yesterday.'

　　'I told you,' said the mother, flushing indignantly, 'never to speakto anybody in that house, or go near the place.'

　　'I did not speak to her till she spoke¹² to me. And I did not go nearthe place. I met her in the road.'

　　'What did you tell her?'

　　'Nothing. She said, "Are you the poor boy who had to bring theheavy load from market?" And she looked at my boots, and said theywould not keep my feet dry if it came on wet, because they were socracked. I told her I lived with my mother, and we had enough to doto keep ourselves, and that's how it was; and she said then, "I'llcome and bring you some better boots, and see your mother." Shegives away things to other folks in the meads besides us.'

　　Mrs. Lodge was by this time close to the door--not in her silk, asRhoda had seen her in the bed-chamber, but in a morning hat, andgown of common light material, which became her better than silk.

　　On her arm she carried a basket.

　　The impression remaining from the night's experience was stillstrong. Brook had almost expected to see the wrinkles, the scorn,and the cruelty on her visitor's face.

　　She would have escaped an interview, had escape been possible.

　　There was, however, no backdoor to the cottage, and in an instantthe boy had lifted the latch¹³ to Mrs. Lodge's gentle knock.

　　'I see I have come to the right house,' said she, glancing at thelad, and smiling. 'But I was not sure till you opened the door.'

　　The figure and action were those of the phantom¹⁴; but her voice wasso indescribably sweet, her glance so winning, her smile so tender,so unlike that of Rhoda's midnight visitant, that the latter couldhardly believe the evidence of her senses. She was truly glad thatshe had not hidden away in sheer aversion, as she had been inclinedto do. In her basket Mrs. Lodge brought the pair of boots that shehad promised to the boy, and other useful articles.

　　At these proofs of a kindly¹⁵ feeling towards her and hers Rhoda'sheart reproached her bitterly. This innocent young thing shouldhave her blessing¹⁶ and not her curse. When she left them a lightseemed gone from the dwelling¹⁷. Two days later she came again toknow if the boots fitted; and less than a fortnight after that paidRhoda another call. On this occasion the boy was absent.

　　'I walk a good deal,' said Mrs. Lodge, 'and your house is thenearest outside our own parish. I hope you are well. You don'tlook quite well.'

　　Rhoda said she was well enough; and, indeed, though the paler of thetwo, there was more of the strength that endures in her well-definedfeatures and large frame, than in the soft-cheeked young womanbefore her. The conversation became quite confidential¹⁸ as regardedtheir powers and weaknesses; and when Mrs. Lodge was leaving, Rhodasaid, 'I hope you will find this air agree with you, ma'am, and notsuffer from the damp of the water-meads.'

　　The younger one replied that there was not much doubt of it, hergeneral health being usually good. 'Though, now you remind me,' sheadded, 'I have one little ailment¹⁹ which puzzles me. It is nothingserious, but I cannot make it out.'

　　She uncovered her left hand and arm; and their outline confrontedRhoda's gaze as the exact original of the limb she had beheld²⁰ andseized in her dream. Upon the pink round surface of the arm werefaint marks of an unhealthy colour, as if produced by a rough grasp.

　　Rhoda's eyes became riveted²¹ on the discolorations; she fancied thatshe discerned in them the shape of her own four fingers.

　　'How did it happen?' she said mechanically.

　　'I cannot tell,' replied Mrs. Lodge, shaking her head. 'One nightwhen I was sound asleep, dreaming I was away in some strange place,a pain suddenly shot into my arm there, and was so keen as to awakenme. I must have struck it in the daytime, I suppose, though I don'tremember doing so.' She added, laughing, 'I tell my dear husbandthat it looks just as if he had flown into a rage and struck methere. O, I daresay it will soon disappear.'

　　'Ha, ha! Yes . . . On what night did it come?'

　　Mrs. Lodge considered, and said it would be a fortnight ago on themorrow. 'When I awoke I could not remember where I was,' she added,'till the clock striking two reminded me.'

　　She had named the night and the hour of Rhoda's spectral²² encounter,and Brook felt like a guilty thing. The artless disclosure startledher; she did not reason on the freaks of coincidence; and all thescenery of that ghastly night returned with double vividness to hermind.

　　'O, can it be,' she said to herself, when her visitor had departed,'that I exercise a malignant²³ power over people against my own will?'

　　She knew that she had been slily called a witch since her fall; butnever having understood why that particular stigma²⁴ had been attachedto her, it had passed disregarded. Could this be the explanation,and had such things as this ever happened before?

1 lapse   

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

参考例句：

• The incident was being seen as a serious security lapse.这一事故被看作是一次严重的安全疏忽。
• I had a lapse of memory.我记错了。

2 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

3 banished   

v.放逐，驱逐( banish的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was banished to Australia, where he died five years later. 他被流放到澳大利亚，五年后在那里去世。
• He was banished to an uninhabited island for a year. 他被放逐到一个无人居住的荒岛一年。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 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。

5 supplanted   

把…排挤掉，取代( supplant的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• In most offices, the typewriter has now been supplanted by the computer. 当今许多办公室里，打字机已被电脑取代。
• The prime minister was supplanted by his rival. 首相被他的政敌赶下台了。

6 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。

7 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。

8 sleeper   

n.睡眠者，卧车，卧铺

参考例句：

• I usually go up to London on the sleeper. 我一般都乘卧车去伦敦。
• But first he explained that he was a very heavy sleeper. 但首先他解释说自己睡觉很沉。

9 incubus   

n.负担；恶梦

参考例句：

• Joyce regarded his US citizenship as a moral and political incubus.乔伊斯把他的美国公民身份当做是一个道德和政治上的负担。Like the sumerian wind demon and its later babylonian counterpart,Lilith was regarded as a succubus,or female version of the incubus.像风妖苏美尔和后来的巴比伦妖怪，莉莉丝被视为一个女妖，或女版梦魇。

10 obtrusive   

adj.显眼的；冒失的

参考例句：

• These heaters are less obtrusive and are easy to store away in the summer.这些加热器没那么碍眼，夏天收起来也很方便。
• The factory is an obtrusive eyesore.这工厂很刺眼。

11 reluctance   

n.厌恶，讨厌，勉强，不情愿

参考例句：

• The police released Andrew with reluctance.警方勉强把安德鲁放走了。
• He showed the greatest reluctance to make a reply.他表示很不愿意答复。

12 spoke   

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

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

13 latch   

n.门闩，窗闩；弹簧锁

参考例句：

• She laid her hand on the latch of the door.她把手放在门闩上。
• The repairman installed an iron latch on the door.修理工在门上安了铁门闩。

14 phantom   

n.幻影，虚位，幽灵；adj.错觉的，幻影的，幽灵的

参考例句：

• I found myself staring at her as if she were a phantom.我发现自己瞪大眼睛看着她，好像她是一个幽灵。
• He is only a phantom of a king.他只是有名无实的国王。

15 kindly   

adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地

参考例句：

• Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
• A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。

16 blessing   

n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿

参考例句：

• The blessing was said in Hebrew.祷告用了希伯来语。
• A double blessing has descended upon the house.双喜临门。

17 dwelling   

n.住宅，住所，寓所

参考例句：

• Those two men are dwelling with us.那两个人跟我们住在一起。
• He occupies a three-story dwelling place on the Park Street.他在派克街上有一幢3层楼的寓所。

18 confidential   

adj.秘（机）密的，表示信任的，担任机密工作的

参考例句：

• He refused to allow his secretary to handle confidential letters.他不让秘书处理机密文件。
• We have a confidential exchange of views.我们推心置腹地交换意见。

19 ailment   

n.疾病，小病

参考例句：

• I don't have even the slightest ailment.我什么毛病也没有。
• He got timely treatment for his ailment.他的病得到了及时治疗。

20 beheld   

v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟

参考例句：

• His eyes had never beheld such opulence. 他从未见过这样的财富。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The soul beheld its features in the mirror of the passing moment. 灵魂在逝去的瞬间的镜子中看到了自己的模样。 来自英汉文学 - 红字

21 riveted   

铆接( rivet的过去式和过去分词 )； 把…固定住； 吸引； 引起某人的注意

参考例句：

• I was absolutely riveted by her story. 我完全被她的故事吸引住了。
• My attention was riveted by a slight movement in the bushes. 我的注意力被灌木丛中的轻微晃动吸引住了。

22 spectral   

adj.幽灵的，鬼魂的

参考例句：

• At times he seems rather ordinary.At other times ethereal,perhaps even spectral.有时他好像很正常，有时又难以捉摸，甚至像个幽灵。
• She is compelling,spectral fascinating,an unforgettably unique performer.她极具吸引力，清幽如鬼魅，令人着迷，令人难忘，是个独具特色的演员。

23 malignant   

adj.恶性的，致命的；恶意的，恶毒的

参考例句：

• Alexander got a malignant slander.亚历山大受到恶意的诽谤。
• He started to his feet with a malignant glance at Winston.他爬了起来，不高兴地看了温斯顿一眼。

24 stigma   

n.耻辱，污名；(花的)柱头

参考例句：

• Being an unmarried mother used to carry a social stigma.做未婚母亲在社会上曾是不光彩的事。
• The stigma of losing weighed heavily on the team.失败的耻辱让整个队伍压力沉重。