Lancaster Town lies thirty-five miles' Journey to the West. "What brought me here," Mason wrote in the Field-Record, "was my curiosity to see the place where was perpetrated last Winter the Horrid1 and inhu?man murder of 26 Indians, Men, Women and Children, leaving none alive to tell."
" 'Me,' notes Uncle Ives, " 'my,'— sounds like Mason went by him?self."
The Revd nods. "Dixon told me, that Mason had meant to go alone,— but that at the last moment, mindful of the dangers attending Solitude2 in a Town notorious for Atrocity3, he offer'd to add Muscular Emphasis, tho' Mason seem'd unsure of whether he wanted him there or not."
They— presume "they,"— reach Lancaster 10 January 1765, putting up at The Cross Keys. The Public Rooms are crowded with Lawyers, Town Officials, Justices, Merchants, and Mill-owners,— the middling to better sort, not a murderously drooling backwoodsman in sight,— unless they include their Guide, pick'd up about a minute and a half inside the Town Limits, who may once or twice have undergone a loss of salivary5 control,— Mason soon enough on about how quaint6, how Amer?ican, Dixon rather suspecting him of being in the pay of the Paxton Boys, to keep an eye upon two Hirelings of their Landlord and Enemy, Mr. Penn.
"Here for a look at the Massacre7 Site, are you, Gentlemen? I can always tell. Some bring Sketching-Books, some Easels, others their Specimen- Bags, but all converge8 thro' the same queer Magnetism9. I quite under?stand, tho' others about may not,— 'twould do to mind one's belongings,— yet I must not bite the Backs that ignore me— The first stop upon any Tour is acknowledg'd to be The Dutch Rifle, whither the Boys, hush'd be the Name ever spoken, having left their Horses at Mr. Slough10's, repair'd just before the Doing of the Deed. Step this way, pray yese."
When they see what is upon the Tavern12 Sign, Mason and Dixon exchange a Look,— the Weapon depicted13, Black upon White, is notable for the Device upon its Stock, a Silver Star of five Points, revers'd so that two point up and one down,— a sure sign of evil at work, universally rec-
ogniz'd as the Horns of the D——l. No-one would adorn14 a Firearm with
it, who was not wittingly in the service of that Prince. This is not the first Time the Surveyors have seen it,— at the Cape15, usually right-side-up, it is known as the Sterloop,— a sort of good-luck charm, out in the Bush. But ev'ry now and then, mostly on days of treacherous16 Wind or Ill-Spirits, one or both had spied upon a Rifle an inverted17 Star, much like what they observe now, against the Sky, plumb18 in the windless Forenoon.
"I told ye the last time, that last time was the last time, Jabez," comes a Voice from a high Angle,— Mason and Dixon, peering upward, observe the Landlord, whose Pate19 appears to brush the beams above him, in a vex'd Temper.
"Ever a merry Quip," cries Jabez, nimbly stepping behind the Sur?veyors and propelling them in ahead.
They are examin'd skeptickally. "Not from the Press, are you?"
" 'Pon my Word," cry both Surveyors at once.
"Drummers of some kind's my guess," puts in a Countryman, his Rifle at his Side, "am I right, Gents?"
"What'll we say?" mutters Mason urgently to Dixon.
"Oh, do allow me," says Dixon to Mason. Adverting20 to the Room, "Why aye, Right as a Right Angle, we're out here to ruffle21 up some busi?ness with any who may be in need of Surveying, London-Style,— Astro-nomickally precise, optickally up-to-the-Minute, surprisingly cheap. The Behavior of the Stars is the most perfect Motion there is, and we know how to read it all, just as you'd read a Clock-Face. We have Lenses that never lie, and Micrometers fine enough to subtend the Width of a Hair upon a Martian's Eye-ball. This looks like a bustling22 Town, plenty
of activity in the Land-Trades, where think yese'd be a good place to start?" with an amiability23 that Mason recognizes as peculiarly Quaker,— Friendly Business.
"Then why are yese askin' Jabez 'bout4 th' Massacree?" inquires a toothless old Coot with an empty Can, which Dixon makes sure is promptly24 fill'd.
"Aye! How do we know ye're not just two more Philadelphia Fops, out skipping thro' the Brush-wood?"
"He approach'd us," Mason protests.
"We're men of Science," Dixon explains, " - this being a neoclas-sickal Instance of the Catastrophick Resolution of Inter-Populational Cross-Purposes, of course we're curious to see where it all happen'd.—
"You can't just come minuetting in from London and expect to under?stand what's going on here," advises Mr, Slough.
"This is about Family, sure as the History of England. Inside any one Tribe of Indians, they're all related, see? Kill you one Delaware, you affront25 the Family at large. Out here, if it's Blood of mine, of course I must go out and seek redress,— tho' I'll have far less company."
"Each alone lacking the Numbers, our sole Recourse is to band together."
"These were said to be harmless, helpless people," Dixon points out in some miraculous26 way that does not draw challenge or insult in return. Apprehensive27 among these Folk, Mason, who would have perhaps us'd one Adjective fewer, regards his Geordie Partner with a strange Gaze, bordering upon Respect.
"They were blood relations of men who slew28 blood relations of ours," Jabez explains.
"Then if You know who did it, for the Lord's sake why did You not go after them?"
"This hurt them more," smiles a certain Oily Leon, fingering his Frizzen and Flint.
"Aye, they go on living, but without dear old Grandam,— puts a big Hole in the Blanket, don't it?"
"You must hate them exceedingly," Mason pretending to a philosoph-ickal interest actually far more faint than his interest in getting out of here alive.
"No," looking about as if puzzl'd, "not any more. That Debt is paid. I'll live in peace with them,— happy to."
"Mayn't they now feel oblig'd to come after you?" asks Jere Disingen?uous. He notices Mason just visibly creeping toward the Door.
"Not this side of the River, nor this side of York and Baltimore Road. 'Tis all ours now. They answer to us here."
"What's the complaint?" demands Oily Leon. "We're out here as a Picket29 for Philadelphia,— we've clear'd them a fine safe patch, from Delaware to Susquehanna. Now may they prance30 about foolish as they may."
"Aye, Penns, handing us and our children about like Chattel,—
"Damme,— like Field Slaves!"
- dared they ever leave England and come here, they should find harsher welcome than any King."
"Here's a Riddle,— if a cat may look at a King, may a Pennsylvanian take aim at a King's enforcer?"
"Sir!" The murmuring is about equally divided, as to whether this is going too far, or not far enough.
"Their Cities allow them Folly," a German of Mystickal Toilette advises the Astronomers31, "that daily Living upon the Frontier will not forgive. They feed one another's Pretenses32, live upon borrow'd Money as borrow'd Time, their lives as their deaths put, with all appearance of Willingness, under the control of others mortal as they, rather than sub?ject, as must Country People's lives and deaths be, to the One Eternal Ruler. That is why we speak plainly, whilst Cits learn to be roundabout as Snakes. Our Time is much more precious to us."
"What. Our Time not precious!" guffaws33 a traveling sales Represen?tative. "Why, you're welcome, Cousin, to try and get thro' twenty-four Hours of Philadelphia Time, which if it don't kill you, will cure you, at least, of your Illusions about us."
"Excuse me," says Dixon, "I meant to ask...? Whah's thah' smoahkin' Object in thy Mouth, thah' tha keep puffin' on?"
"Not much Tobacco where you Boys are from? Down Chesapeake, why they've nothing but.— Endless Acres, Glasgow shipping34 fender-to-fender in the Bays, why Tob'o, Hell, they use it for money! Smoke your Week's Pay! This form of it, Sir, 's what we call a 'Cigar.' They come in all
sorts, this particular one being from Conestoga, the Waggon-Bullies there style it a 'Stogie.' The Secret's in the Twist they put into the hand?ful of Leaves whilst they're squeezin' it into Shape. Sort of like putting rifling inside a Barrel, only different? Gives the Smoke a Spin, as ye'd say? Watch this." He sets his Lips as for a conventional, or Toroidal, Smoke-Ring, but out instead comes a Ring like a Length of Ribbon clos'd in a Circle, with a single Twist in it, possessing thereby35 but one Side and one Edge....
("Uncle?"
"Hum? Pray ye,— 'tis true, I was not there. Yet, such was the pure original Stogie in its Day....")
Tho' nothing much has been said, the Surveyors are surpriz'd to dis?cover that ev'ryone's been saying it for several Hours. The only thing that has grown clearer is Jabez's motive36 in offering to be their Guide. Soon Lamps are lit, and the Supper-Crowd has come in, and Mason and Dixon, no closer to having seen the site of the Massacre, Heads a-reel with smoke, return to their Rooms.
Does Britannia, when she sleeps, dream? Is America her dream?— in which all that cannot pass in the metropolitan37 Wakefulness is allow'd Expression away in the restless Slumber38 of these Provinces, and on West-ward, wherever 'tis not yet mapp'd, nor written down, nor ever, by the majority of Mankind, seen,— serving as a very Rubbish-Tip for sub?junctive Hopes, for all that may yet be true,— Earthly Paradise, Foun?tain of Youth, Realms of Prester John, Christ's Kingdom, ever behind the sunset, safe till the next Territory to the West be seen and recorded, mea-sur'd and tied in, back into the Net-Work of Points already known, that slowly triangulates its Way into the Continent, changing all from sub?junctive to declarative, reducing Possibilities to Simplicities39 that serve the ends of Governments,— winning away from the realm of the Sacred, its Borderlands one by one, and assuming them unto the bare mortal World that is our home, and our Despair.
"Yet must the Sensorium be nourish'd," Mason, insomniack, addresses himself in a sort of Gastrick Speech he has devis'd for Hours like these, "...as the Body, with its own transcendent Desires, the fore11?most being Eternal Youth,— for which, alas40, one seeks in vain thro' the Enthusiasts41' Fair, that defines the Philadelphia Sabbath,— the best
Offer heard, being of Bodily Resurrection, which unhappily yet requires
Death as a pre-condition "
He finds himself pretending Rebekah is there, somewhere, and lis?tening. She has not "visited" since St. Helena. Mason cycles back to the Island, a Memory-Pilgrim with a well-mark'd Itinerary42 Map, to recapitu?late Exchanges in the Ebony Clearing, the empty Wall'd Patch, the Lines at Dawn before the Atlantick Horizon....
The next Day, he creeps out before Dixon is awake, and goes to the Site of last Year's Massacre by himself. He is not as a rule sensitive to the metaphysickal Remnants of Evil,— none but the grosser, that is, the Gothickal, are apt to claim his Attention,— yet here in the soil'd and strewn Courtyard where it happen'd, roofless to His Surveillance,— and to His Judgment43, prays Mason,— he feels "like a Nun44 before a Shrine," as he later relates it to Dixon, who has in fact slept till well past noon, as Shifts and Back-shifts of Bugs45 pass to and fro, inspecting his Mortal Envelope. "Almost a smell," Mason quizzickally, his face, it seems to Dixon, unusually white, " - not the Drains, nor the Night's Residency,— I cannot explain,— it quite Torpedo'd me."
"Eeh! Sounds worth a Visit...?"
"Acts have consequences, Dixon, they must. These Louts believe all's right now,— that they are free to get on with Lives that to them are no doubt important,— with no Glimmer46 at all of the Debt they have taken on. That is what I smell'd,— Lethe-Water. One of the things the newly-born forget, is how terrible its Taste, and Smell. In Time, these People are able to forget ev'rything. Be willing but to wait a little, and ye may gull47 them again and again, however ye wish,— even unto their own Dis?solution. In America, as I apprehend48, Time is the true River that runs 'round Hell."
"They can't all be like thah'...?"
"Go and see,— and d——'d if I'll share any more Moments like that
with you."
"Eeh! As it suits thee. 'Tis how to suit myself, that's the Puzzle. Quaker Garb49 will send them into a war-like Frenzy50, whilst the Red Coat will strike them sullen51 and creeping, unable to be trusted at any Scale...?"
"You might go as Harlequin," Mason replies, unsooth'd, "or Punch.”
Dixon has a fair idea of how little Mason cares for this Continent. He himself has been trying to keep an open Mind. Having been a Quaker all his Life, his Conscience early brought awake and not yet entirely52 fallen back to sleep, he now rides over to the Jail as to his Duty-Station, wear?ing a Hat and Coat borrow'd of Mason. He is going as Mason.
He sees where blows with Rifle-Butts miss'd their Marks, and chipp'd the Walls. He sees blood in Corners never cleans'd. Thankful he is no longer a Child, else might he curse and weep, scattering53 his Anger to no Effect, Dixon now must be his own stern Uncle, and smack54 himelf upon the Pate at any sign of unfocusing. What in the Holy Names are these people about? Not even the Dutchmen at the Cape behav'd this way. Is it something in this Wilderness55, something ancient, that waited for them, and infected their Souls when they came?
Nothing he had brought to it of his nearest comparison, Raby with its thatch'd and benevolent56 romance of serfdom, had at all prepar'd him for the iron Criminality of the Cape,— the publick Executions and Whip?pings, the open'd flesh, the welling blood, the beefy contented57 faces of
those whites Yet is Dixon certain, as certain as the lightness he feels
now, lightness premonitory of Flying, that far worse happen'd here, to these poor People, as the blood flew and the Children cried,— that at the end no one understood what they said as they died. "I don't pray enough," Dixon subvocalizes, "and I can't get upon my Knees just now because too many are watching,— yet could I kneel, and would I pray, 'twould be to ask, respectfully, that this be made right, that the Murder?ers meet appropriate Fates, that I be spar'd the awkwardness of seeking them out myself and slaying58 as many as I may, before they overwhelm me. Much better if that be handl'd some other way, by someone a bit more credible59...." He feels no better for this Out-pouring.
Returning to their Rooms, he finds Mason reclin'd and smoking, look?ing up guiltily from a ragged60 Installment61 of The Ghastly Fop.
"When were tha thinking of leaving this miserable62 Place?"
"My Saddle-Bags are pack'd, I merely take the time waiting you to satisfy myself that the shockingly underag'd Protasia Wofte has not yet succumb'd, before the wicked Chymickal Assaults of the Ghastly F."
"Whom are we working for, Mason?"
"I rather thought, one day, you would be the one to tell me.”
"My Bags are never unpack'd. May we do this without Haste, avoid?ing all appearance of Anxiety?"
"I am cool," Mason replies.
In the Instant, both feel strongly drawn63 by the Forks of Brandywine, Mrs. Harland's Bean Pies and Rhubarb Tarts64, the Goose-Down Bedding, the friendliness65 of the Milk-maids, the clement66 Routine of Observation. Gently they disengage from Lancaster. Each Milestone67 passes like another Rung of a Ladder ascended68. Behind,— below,— diminishing, they hear, and presently lose, a Voicing disconsolate69, of Regret at their Flight.
收听单词发音 |
1
horrid
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| adj.可怕的；令人惊恐的；恐怖的；极讨厌的 | |
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solitude
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| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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atrocity
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| n.残暴，暴行 | |
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bout
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| n.侵袭，发作；一次(阵，回)；拳击等比赛 | |
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salivary
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| adj. 唾液的 | |
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quaint
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| adj.古雅的，离奇有趣的，奇怪的 | |
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massacre
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| n.残杀，大屠杀；v.残杀，集体屠杀 | |
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converge
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| vi.会合；聚集，集中；(思想、观点等)趋近 | |
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magnetism
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| n.磁性，吸引力，磁学 | |
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slough
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| v.蜕皮，脱落，抛弃 | |
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fore
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| adv.在前面；adj.先前的；在前部的；n.前部 | |
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tavern
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| n.小旅馆，客栈；小酒店 | |
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depicted
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| 描绘，描画( depict的过去式和过去分词 )； 描述 | |
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adorn
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| vt.使美化，装饰 | |
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cape
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| n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风 | |
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treacherous
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| adj.不可靠的，有暗藏的危险的；adj.背叛的，背信弃义的 | |
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inverted
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| adj.反向的，倒转的v.使倒置，使反转( invert的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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plumb
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| adv.精确地，完全地；v.了解意义，测水深 | |
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pate
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| n.头顶；光顶 | |
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adverting
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| 引起注意（advert的现在分词形式） | |
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ruffle
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| v.弄皱，弄乱；激怒，扰乱；n.褶裥饰边 | |
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bustling
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| adj.喧闹的 | |
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amiability
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| n.和蔼可亲的，亲切的，友善的 | |
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promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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affront
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| n./v.侮辱，触怒 | |
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miraculous
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| adj.像奇迹一样的，不可思议的 | |
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apprehensive
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| adj.担心的，恐惧的，善于领会的 | |
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slew
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| v.（使）旋转；n.大量，许多 | |
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picket
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| n.纠察队；警戒哨；v.设置纠察线；布置警卫 | |
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prance
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| v.（马）腾跃，(人)神气活现地走 | |
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astronomers
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| n.天文学者，天文学家( astronomer的名词复数 ) | |
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pretenses
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| n.借口（pretense的复数形式） | |
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guffaws
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| n.大笑，狂笑( guffaw的名词复数 )v.大笑，狂笑( guffaw的第三人称单数 ) | |
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shipping
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| n.船运（发货，运输，乘船） | |
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thereby
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| adv.因此，从而 | |
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motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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metropolitan
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| adj.大城市的，大都会的 | |
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slumber
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| n.睡眠，沉睡状态 | |
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simplicities
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| n.简单，朴素，率直( simplicity的名词复数 ) | |
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alas
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| int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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enthusiasts
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| n.热心人，热衷者( enthusiast的名词复数 ) | |
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itinerary
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| n.行程表，旅行路线；旅行计划 | |
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judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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nun
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| n.修女，尼姑 | |
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bugs
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| adj.疯狂的，发疯的n.窃听器( bug的名词复数 )；病菌；虫子；[计算机]（制作软件程序所产生的意料不到的）错误 | |
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46
glimmer
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| v.发出闪烁的微光；n.微光，微弱的闪光 | |
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gull
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| n.鸥；受骗的人；v.欺诈 | |
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48
apprehend
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| vt.理解，领悟，逮捕，拘捕，忧虑 | |
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49
garb
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| n.服装，装束 | |
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frenzy
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| n.疯狂，狂热，极度的激动 | |
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sullen
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| adj.愠怒的，闷闷不乐的，(天气等)阴沉的 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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53
scattering
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| n.[物]散射；散乱，分散；在媒介质中的散播adj.散乱的；分散在不同范围的；广泛扩散的；（选票）数量分散的v.散射(scatter的ing形式)；散布；驱散 | |
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54
smack
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| vt.拍，打，掴；咂嘴；vi.含有…意味；n.拍 | |
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wilderness
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| n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠 | |
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56
benevolent
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| adj.仁慈的，乐善好施的 | |
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57
contented
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| adj.满意的，安心的，知足的 | |
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58
slaying
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| 杀戮。 | |
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59
credible
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| adj.可信任的，可靠的 | |
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ragged
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| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
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61
installment
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| n.(instalment)分期付款；(连载的)一期 | |
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miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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63
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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64
tarts
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| n.果馅饼( tart的名词复数 )；轻佻的女人；妓女；小妞 | |
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friendliness
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| n.友谊，亲切，亲密 | |
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clement
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| adj.仁慈的；温和的 | |
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milestone
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| n.里程碑；划时代的事件 | |
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ascended
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| v.上升，攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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disconsolate
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| adj.忧郁的，不快的 | |
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