PLANS DISCUSSED. - PLEASURES OF "CAMPING-OUT," ON FINE NIGHTS. - DITTO,WET NIGHTS. - COMPROMISE DECIDED1 ON. - MONTMORENCY, FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF.
- FEARS LEST HE IS TOO GOOD FOR THIS WORLD, FEARS SUBSEQUENTLY DISMISSEDAS GROUNDLESS. - MEETING ADJOURNS2.
WE pulled out the maps, and discussed plans.
We arranged to start on the following Saturday from Kingston. Harris andI would go down in the morning, and take the boat up to Chertsey, andGeorge, who would not be able to get away from the City till theafternoon (George goes to sleep at a bank from ten to four each day,except Saturdays, when they wake him up and put him outside at two),would meet us there.
Should we "camp out" or sleep at inns?
George and I were for camping out. We said it would be so wild and free,so patriarchal like.
Slowly the golden memory of the dead sun fades from the hearts of thecold, sad clouds. Silent, like sorrowing children, the birds have ceasedtheir song, and only the moorhen's plaintive3 cry and the harsh croak4 ofthe corncrake stirs the awed5 hush6 around the couch of waters, where thedying day breathes out her last.
From the dim woods on either bank, Night's ghostly army, the greyshadows, creep out with noiseless tread to chase away the lingering rear-guard of the light, and pass, with noiseless, unseen feet, above thewaving river-grass, and through the sighing rushes; and Night, upon hersombre throne, folds her black wings above the darkening world, and, fromher phantom8 palace, lit by the pale stars, reigns9 in stillness.
Then we run our little boat into some quiet nook, and the tent ispitched, and the frugal10 supper cooked and eaten. Then the big pipes arefilled and lighted, and the pleasant chat goes round in musicalundertone; while, in the pauses of our talk, the river, playing round theboat, prattles11 strange old tales and secrets, sings low the old child'ssong that it has sung so many thousand years - will sing so many thousandyears to come, before its voice grows harsh and old - a song that we, whohave learnt to love its changing face, who have so often nestled on itsyielding bosom12, think, somehow, we understand, though we could not tellyou in mere13 words the story that we listen to.
And we sit there, by its margin14, while the moon, who loves it too, stoopsdown to kiss it with a sister's kiss, and throws her silver arms aroundit clingingly; and we watch it as it flows, ever singing, everwhispering, out to meet its king, the sea - till our voices die away insilence, and the pipes go out - till we, common-place, everyday young menenough, feel strangely full of thoughts, half sad, half sweet, and do notcare or want to speak - till we laugh, and, rising, knock the ashes fromour burnt-out pipes, and say "Good-night," and, lulled15 by the lappingwater and the rustling16 trees, we fall asleep beneath the great, stillstars, and dream that the world is young again - young and sweet as sheused to be ere the centuries of fret17 and care had furrowed18 her fair face,ere her children's sins and follies19 had made old her loving heart - sweetas she was in those bygone days when, a new-made mother, she nursed us,her children, upon her own deep breast - ere the wiles20 of paintedcivilization had lured21 us away from her fond arms, and the poisonedsneers of artificiality had made us ashamed of the simple life we ledwith her, and the simple, stately home where mankind was born so manythousands years ago.
Harris said:
"How about when it rained?"You can never rouse Harris. There is no poetry about Harris - no wildyearning for the unattainable. Harris never "weeps, he knows not why."If Harris's eyes fill with tears, you can bet it is because Harris hasbeen eating raw onions, or has put too much Worcester over his chop.
If you were to stand at night by the sea-shore with Harris, and say:
"Hark! do you not hear? Is it but the mermaids22 singing deep below thewaving waters; or sad spirits, chanting dirges23 for white corpses24, held byseaweed?" Harris would take you by the arm, and say:
"I know what it is, old man; you've got a chill. Now, you come alongwith me. I know a place round the corner here, where you can get a dropof the finest Scotch25 whisky you ever tasted - put you right in less thanno time."Harris always does know a place round the corner where you can getsomething brilliant in the drinking line. I believe that if you metHarris up in Paradise (supposing such a thing likely), he wouldimmediately greet you with:
"So glad you've come, old fellow; I've found a nice place round thecorner here, where you can get some really first-class nectar."In the present instance, however, as regarded the camping out, hispractical view of the matter came as a very timely hint. Camping out inrainy weather is not pleasant.
It is evening. You are wet through, and there is a good two inches ofwater in the boat, and all the things are damp. You find a place on thebanks that is not quite so puddly26 as other places you have seen, and youland and lug27 out the tent, and two of you proceed to fix it.
It is soaked and heavy, and it flops28 about, and tumbles down on you, andclings round your head and makes you mad. The rain is pouring steadilydown all the time. It is difficult enough to fix a tent in dry weather:
in wet, the task becomes herculean. Instead of helping29 you, it seems toyou that the other man is simply playing the fool. Just as you get yourside beautifully fixed30, he gives it a hoist31 from his end, and spoils itall.
"Here! what are you up to?" you call out.
"What are YOU up to?" he retorts; "leggo, can't you?""Don't pull it; you've got it all wrong, you stupid ass7!" you shout.
"No, I haven't," he yells back; "let go your side!""I tell you you've got it all wrong!" you roar, wishing that you couldget at him; and you give your ropes a lug that pulls all his pegs32 out.
"Ah, the bally idiot!" you hear him mutter to himself; and then comes asavage haul, and away goes your side. You lay down the mallet33 and startto go round and tell him what you think about the whole business, and, atthe same time, he starts round in the same direction to come and explainhis views to you. And you follow each other round and round, swearing atone34 another, until the tent tumbles down in a heap, and leaves youlooking at each other across its ruins, when you both indignantlyexclaim, in the same breath:
"There you are! what did I tell you?"Meanwhile the third man, who has been baling out the boat, and who hasspilled the water down his sleeve, and has been cursing away to himselfsteadily for the last ten minutes, wants to know what the thunderingblazes you're playing at, and why the blarmed tent isn't up yet.
At last, somehow or other, it does get up, and you land the things. Itis hopeless attempting to make a wood fire, so you light the methylatedspirit stove, and crowd round that.
Rainwater is the chief article of diet at supper. The bread is two-thirds rainwater, the beefsteak-pie is exceedingly rich in it, and thejam, and the butter, and the salt, and the coffee have all combined withit to make soup.
After supper, you find your tobacco is damp, and you cannot smoke.
Luckily you have a bottle of the stuff that cheers and inebriates35, iftaken in proper quantity, and this restores to you sufficient interest inlife to induce you to go to bed.
There you dream that an elephant has suddenly sat down on your chest, andthat the volcano has exploded and thrown you down to the bottom of thesea - the elephant still sleeping peacefully on your bosom. You wake upand grasp the idea that something terrible really has happened. Yourfirst impression is that the end of the world has come; and then youthink that this cannot be, and that it is thieves and murderers, or elsefire, and this opinion you express in the usual method. No help comes,however, and all you know is that thousands of people are kicking you,and you are being smothered36.
Somebody else seems in trouble, too. You can hear his faint cries comingfrom underneath37 your bed. Determining, at all events, to sell your lifedearly, you struggle frantically38, hitting out right and left with armsand legs, and yelling lustily the while, and at last something gives way,and you find your head in the fresh air. Two feet off, you dimly observea half-dressed ruffian, waiting to kill you, and you are preparing for alife-and-death struggle with him, when it begins to dawn upon you thatit's Jim.
"Oh, it's you, is it?" he says, recognising you at the same moment.
"Yes," you answer, rubbing your eyes; "what's happened?""Bally tent's blown down, I think," he says.
"Where's Bill?"Then you both raise up your voices and shout for "Bill!" and the groundbeneath you heaves and rocks, and the muffled39 voice that you heard beforereplies from out the ruin:
"Get off my head, can't you?"And Bill struggles out, a muddy, trampled40 wreck41, and in an unnecessarilyaggressive mood - he being under the evident belief that the whole thinghas been done on purpose.
In the morning you are all three speechless, owing to having caughtsevere colds in the night; you also feel very quarrelsome, and you swearat each other in hoarse42 whispers during the whole of breakfast time.
We therefore decided that we would sleep out on fine nights; and hotelit, and inn it, and pub. it, like respectable folks, when it was wet, orwhen we felt inclined for a change.
Montmorency hailed this compromise with much approval. He does not revelin romantic solitude43. Give him something noisy; and if a trifle low, somuch the jollier. To look at Montmorency you would imagine that he wasan angel sent upon the earth, for some reason withheld44 from mankind, inthe shape of a small fox-terrier. There is a sort of Oh-what-a-wicked-world-this-is-and-how-I-wish-I-could-do-something-to-make-it-better-and-nobler expression about Montmorency that has been known to bring thetears into the eyes of pious45 old ladies and gentlemen.
When first he came to live at my expense, I never thought I should beable to get him to stop long. I used to sit down and look at him, as hesat on the rug and looked up at me, and think: "Oh, that dog will neverlive. He will be snatched up to the bright skies in a chariot, that iswhat will happen to him."But, when I had paid for about a dozen chickens that he had killed; andhad dragged him, growling46 and kicking, by the scruff of his neck, out ofa hundred and fourteen street fights; and had had a dead cat broughtround for my inspection47 by an irate48 female, who called me a murderer; andhad been summoned by the man next door but one for having a ferocious49 dogat large, that had kept him pinned up in his own tool-shed, afraid toventure his nose outside the door for over two hours on a cold night; andhad learned that the gardener, unknown to myself, had won thirtyshillings by backing him to kill rats against time, then I began to thinkthat maybe they'd let him remain on earth for a bit longer, after all.
To hang about a stable, and collect a gang of the most disreputable dogsto be found in the town, and lead them out to march round the slums tofight other disreputable dogs, is Montmorency's idea of "life;" and so,as I before observed, he gave to the suggestion of inns, and pubs., andhotels his most emphatic50 approbation51.
Having thus settled the sleeping arrangements to the satisfaction of allfour of us, the only thing left to discuss was what we should take withus; and this we had begun to argue, when Harris said he'd had enoughoratory for one night, and proposed that we should go out and have asmile, saying that he had found a place, round by the square, where youcould really get a drop of Irish worth drinking.
George said he felt thirsty (I never knew George when he didn't); and, asI had a presentiment52 that a little whisky, warm, with a slice of lemon,would do my complaint good, the debate was, by common assent53, adjournedto the following night; and the assembly put on its hats and went out.
收听单词发音 |
1
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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adjourns
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| （使）休会， （使）休庭( adjourn的第三人称单数 ) | |
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plaintive
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| adj.可怜的，伤心的 | |
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croak
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| vi.嘎嘎叫，发牢骚 | |
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awed
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| adj.充满敬畏的，表示敬畏的v.使敬畏，使惊惧( awe的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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hush
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| int.嘘，别出声；n.沉默，静寂；v.使安静 | |
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ass
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| n.驴；傻瓜，蠢笨的人 | |
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phantom
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| n.幻影，虚位，幽灵；adj.错觉的，幻影的，幽灵的 | |
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reigns
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| n.君主的统治( reign的名词复数 )；君主统治时期；任期；当政期 | |
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frugal
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| adj.节俭的，节约的，少量的，微量的 | |
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prattles
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| v.（小孩般）天真无邪地说话( prattle的第三人称单数 )；发出连续而无意义的声音；闲扯；东拉西扯 | |
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bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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13
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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margin
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| n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘 | |
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lulled
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| vt.使镇静，使安静（lull的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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rustling
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| n. 瑟瑟声，沙沙声 adj. 发沙沙声的 | |
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fret
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| v.(使)烦恼；(使)焦急；(使)腐蚀，(使)磨损 | |
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furrowed
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| v.犁田，开沟( furrow的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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follies
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| 罪恶，时事讽刺剧； 愚蠢，蠢笨，愚蠢的行为、思想或做法( folly的名词复数 ) | |
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wiles
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| n.（旨在欺骗或吸引人的）诡计，花招；欺骗，欺诈( wile的名词复数 ) | |
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lured
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| 吸引，引诱（lure的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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mermaids
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| n.（传说中的）美人鱼( mermaid的名词复数 ) | |
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dirges
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| n.挽歌( dirge的名词复数 )；忧伤的歌，哀歌 | |
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corpses
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| n.死尸，尸体( corpse的名词复数 ) | |
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scotch
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| n.伤口，刻痕；苏格兰威士忌酒；v.粉碎，消灭，阻止；adj.苏格兰(人)的 | |
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puddly
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| adj.多泥水坑的 | |
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lug
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| n.柄，突出部，螺帽；(英）耳朵；（俚）笨蛋；vt.拖，拉，用力拖动 | |
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28
flops
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| n.失败( flop的名词复数 )v.（指书、戏剧等）彻底失败( flop的第三人称单数 )；（因疲惫而）猛然坐下；（笨拙地、不由自主地或松弛地）移动或落下；砸锅 | |
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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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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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hoist
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| n.升高，起重机，推动；v.升起，升高，举起 | |
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pegs
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| n.衣夹( peg的名词复数 )；挂钉；系帐篷的桩；弦钮v.用夹子或钉子固定( peg的第三人称单数 )；使固定在某水平 | |
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mallet
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| n.槌棒 | |
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atone
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| v.赎罪，补偿 | |
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inebriates
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| vt.使酒醉，灌醉（inebriate的第三人称单数形式） | |
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36
smothered
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| （使）窒息， （使）透不过气( smother的过去式和过去分词 )； 覆盖； 忍住； 抑制 | |
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underneath
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| adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面 | |
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frantically
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| ad.发狂地, 发疯地 | |
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muffled
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| adj.（声音）被隔的；听不太清的；（衣服）裹严的；蒙住的v.压抑，捂住( muffle的过去式和过去分词 )；用厚厚的衣帽包着（自己） | |
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trampled
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| 踩( trample的过去式和过去分词 )； 践踏； 无视； 侵犯 | |
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wreck
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| n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难 | |
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hoarse
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| adj.嘶哑的，沙哑的 | |
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43
solitude
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| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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44
withheld
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| withhold过去式及过去分词 | |
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45
pious
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| adj.虔诚的；道貌岸然的 | |
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46
growling
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| n.吠声, 咆哮声 v.怒吠, 咆哮, 吼 | |
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inspection
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| n.检查，审查，检阅 | |
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48
irate
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| adj.发怒的，生气 | |
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49
ferocious
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| adj.凶猛的，残暴的，极度的，十分强烈的 | |
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50
emphatic
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| adj.强调的，着重的；无可置疑的，明显的 | |
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51
approbation
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| n.称赞；认可 | |
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presentiment
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| n.预感，预觉 | |
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assent
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| v.批准，认可；n.批准，认可 | |
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