The Withered Arm Chapter 6

Half-a-dozen years passed away, and Mr. and Mrs. Lodge's marriedexperience sank into prosiness, and worse. The farmer was usuallygloomy and silent: the woman whom he had wooed for her grace andbeauty was contorted and disfigured in the left limb; moreover, shehad brought him no child, which rendered it likely that he would bethe last of a family who had occupied that valley for some twohundred years. He thought of Rhoda Brook¹ and her son; and fearedthis might be a judgment² from heaven upon him.

　　The once blithe-hearted and enlightened Gertrude was changing intoan irritable³, superstitious⁴ woman, whose whole time was given toexperimenting upon her ailment⁵ with every quack⁶ remedy she cameacross. She was honestly attached to her husband, and was eversecretly hoping against hope to win back his heart again byregaining some at least of her personal beauty. Hence it arose thather closet was lined with bottles, packets, and ointment-pots ofevery description--nay, bunches of mystic herbs, charms, and booksof necromancy⁷, which in her schoolgirl time she would have ridiculedas folly⁸.

　　'Damned if you won't poison yourself with these apothecary⁹ messesand witch mixtures some time or other,' said her husband, when hiseye chanced to fall upon the multitudinous array.

　　She did not reply, but turned her sad, soft glance upon him in suchheart-swollen reproach that he looked sorry for his words, andadded, 'I only meant it for your good, you know, Gertrude.'

　　'I'll clear out the whole lot, and destroy them,' said she huskily,'and try such remedies no more!'

　　'You want somebody to cheer you,' he observed. 'I once thought ofadopting a boy; but he is too old now. And he is gone away I don'tknow where.'

　　She guessed to whom he alluded¹⁰; for Rhoda Brook's story had in thecourse of years become known to her; though not a word had everpassed between her husband and herself on the subject. Neither hadshe ever spoken to him of her visit to Conjuror¹¹ Trendle, and of whatwas revealed to her, or she thought was revealed to her, by thatsolitary heath-man.

　　She was now five-and-twenty; but she seemed older.

　　'Six years of marriage, and only a few months of love,' shesometimes whispered to herself. And then she thought of theapparent cause, and said, with a tragic¹³ glance at her witheringlimb, 'If I could only again be as I was when he first saw me!'

　　She obediently destroyed her nostrums¹⁴ and charms; but there remaineda hankering wish to try something else--some other sort of curealtogether. She had never revisited Trendle since she had beenconducted to the house of the solitary¹² by Rhoda against her will;but it now suddenly occurred to Gertrude that she would, in a lastdesperate effort at deliverance from this seeming curse, again seekout the man, if he yet lived. He was entitled to a certaincredence, for the indistinct form he had raised in the glass hadundoubtedly resembled the only woman in the world who--as she nowknew, though not then--could have a reason for bearing her ill-will.

　　The visit should be paid.

　　This time she went alone, though she nearly got lost on the heath,and roamed a considerable distance out of her way. Trendle's housewas reached at last, however: he was not indoors, and instead ofwaiting at the cottage, she went to where his bent¹⁵ figure waspointed out to her at work a long way off. Trendle remembered her,and laying down the handful of furze-roots which he was gatheringand throwing into a heap, he offered to accompany her in herhomeward direction, as the distance was considerable and the dayswere short. So they walked together, his head bowed nearly to theearth, and his form of a colour with it.

　　'You can send away warts¹⁶ and other excrescences I know,' she said;'why can't you send away this?' And the arm was uncovered.

　　'You think too much of my powers!' said Trendle; 'and I am old andweak now, too. No, no; it is too much for me to attempt in my ownperson. What have ye tried?'

　　She named to him some of the hundred medicaments and counterspellswhich she had adopted from time to time. He shook his head.

　　'Some were good enough,' he said approvingly; 'but not many of themfor such as this. This is of the nature of a blight¹⁷, not of thenature of a wound; and if you ever do throw it off; it will be allat once.'

　　'If I only could!'

　　'There is only one chance of doing it known to me. It has neverfailed in kindred afflictions,--that I can declare. But it is hardto carry out, and especially for a woman.'

　　'Tell me!' said she.

　　'You must touch with the limb the neck of a man who's been hanged.'

　　She started a little at the image he had raised.

　　'Before he's cold--just after he's cut down,' continued the conjurorimpassively.

　　'How can that do good?'

　　'It will turn the blood and change the constitution. But, as I say,to do it is hard. You must get into jail, and wait for him whenhe's brought off the gallows¹⁸. Lots have done it, though perhaps notsuch pretty women as you. I used to send dozens for skincomplaints. But that was in former times. The last I sent was in'13--near twenty years ago.'

　　He had no more to tell her; and, when he had put her into a straighttrack homeward, turned and left her, refusing all money as at first.

1 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。

2 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

3 irritable   

adj.急躁的；过敏的；易怒的

参考例句：

• He gets irritable when he's got toothache.他牙一疼就很容易发脾气。
• Our teacher is an irritable old lady.She gets angry easily.我们的老师是位脾气急躁的老太太。她很容易生气。

4 superstitious   

adj.迷信的

参考例句：

• They aim to deliver the people who are in bondage to superstitious belief.他们的目的在于解脱那些受迷信束缚的人。
• These superstitious practices should be abolished as soon as possible.这些迷信做法应尽早取消。

5 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。

6 quack   

n.庸医；江湖医生；冒充内行的人；骗子

参考例句：

• He describes himself as a doctor,but I feel he is a quack.他自称是医生，可是我感觉他是个江湖骗子。
• The quack was stormed with questions.江湖骗子受到了猛烈的质问。

7 necromancy   

n.巫术；通灵术

参考例句：

• Fielding was not ashamed to practise a little necromancy.菲尔丁不知羞耻地施展小巫术。
• All New Elements of Magic including Necromancy,Illusions and powerful Artifacts.全新的魔法元素包括招魂，幻象和强大的神器。

8 folly   

n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话

参考例句：

• Learn wisdom by the folly of others.从别人的愚蠢行动中学到智慧。
• Events proved the folly of such calculations.事情的进展证明了这种估计是愚蠢的。

9 apothecary   

n.药剂师

参考例句：

• I am an apothecary of that hospital.我是那家医院的一名药剂师。
• He was the usual cut and dry apothecary,of no particular age and color.他是那种再普通不过的行医者，说不出多大年纪，相貌也没什么值得一提的。

10 alluded   

提及，暗指( allude的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• In your remarks you alluded to a certain sinister design. 在你的谈话中，你提到了某个阴谋。
• She also alluded to her rival's past marital troubles. 她还影射了对手过去的婚姻问题。

11 conjuror   

n.魔术师，变戏法者

参考例句：

• The boys looked at the conjuror in silent wonder.孩子们目瞪口呆地看着那魔术师。
• The conjuror's magic delighted the children.魔术师的戏法逗乐了孩子们。

12 solitary   

adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士

参考例句：

• I am rather fond of a solitary stroll in the country.我颇喜欢在乡间独自徜徉。
• The castle rises in solitary splendour on the fringe of the desert.这座城堡巍然耸立在沙漠的边际，显得十分壮美。

13 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。

14 nostrums   

n.骗人的疗法，有专利权的药品( nostrum的名词复数 )；妙策

参考例句：

• It is likely that these \"enlightened\" nostrums would have speeded up the catastrophe. 这些“开明的”药方本身就可能加快灾难的到来。 来自辞典例句

15 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

16 warts   

n.疣( wart的名词复数 )；肉赘；树瘤；缺点

参考例句：

• You agreed to marry me, warts and all! 是你同意和我结婚的，我又没掩饰缺陷。 来自辞典例句
• Talk about trying to cure warts with spunk-water such a blame fool way as that! 用那样糊涂蛋的方法还谈什么仙水治疣子！ 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险

17 blight   

n.枯萎病；造成破坏的因素；vt.破坏，摧残

参考例句：

• The apple crop was wiped out by blight.枯萎病使苹果全无收成。
• There is a blight on all his efforts.他的一切努力都遭到挫折。

18 gallows   

n.绞刑架，绞台

参考例句：

• The murderer was sent to the gallows for his crimes.谋杀犯由于罪大恶极被处以绞刑。
• Now I was to expiate all my offences at the gallows.现在我将在绞刑架上赎我一切的罪过。