Perhaps all was as simple as that,— that Dixon wish'd to remain, and Mason did not,— could not. So Dixon return'd as well, and on 15 Decem?ber 1768, at a meeting of the Royal Society Council, according to the Minute-Book, there they are, together in the Room. Both have chosen to wear gray and black. "Messrs Mason and Dixon attending with propos?als relative to the aforesaid intended observations, were called in; And Mr Dixon acquainted the Council, that he was willing to go to the North Cape4 or Cherry Island; Mr Mason rather declined going; but added, that if he was wanted, he should be ready to go."
Was their Appearance all pro3 forma, did Dixon know, did they have it all work'd out beforehand, or was it sprung upon him, and thus less for?givable than the accustom'd Masonickal behavior? The meaner of spirit might translate it into, "Of course I'll go, but not with Dixon,"— a clear Insult, Dixon was often advis'd,— Would he not care to respond? "Ah've grown so us'd to it," Dixon assur'd his Comforters, "that often Ah neglect to take offense6...?"
Privately7, his Sentiments are of a more hopeful turn. He knows enough of Mason to recognize by now most of the shapes his Pursuit of the Gentlemanly takes on, as well as the true extent of his progress beyond the socially stumbling Philosopher-Fool he began as. That is, 'tis possible that Mason, honestly believing Dixon ready for, as deserving of, his own command, is willing to risk looking ungracious, if it will advance that end. And so this "rather-decline-yet-if-I-am-wanted" Formula is but more of his inept8 Kindness.
They leave together. Out into another Christmastide, each for his own reason seeking the brightest Lights. Some horrible Boswell pursues them, asking questions. "Known of course as the Reluctant Lensmen of the Cape Expedition to observe the first Transit10 of Venus in 'sixty-one, and despite the generally excellent quality of your Work, neither of you has been voted to membership in the Royal Society. Mr. Mason, we've heard you're the one here who's unhappy with that, whilst Mr. Dixon takes the more philosophickal View."
"Only the long view, Lad."
How could the elder Charles have forgiven Mason for leaving his chil?dren with his Sister, dumping them really, going off to the Indies with another man, another Star-Gazer, coming home only to turn about and sail off to America, with the same man? Dixon sees the pattern, the expectation, the coming Transit of Venus. Mason sees it, too. "If we went off a third time together,... he hates me enough already.... I study the Stars against my Father's Wish,— but do I remain among 'em, only at the Price of my Sons? That is what I face,— some Choice!" So he declines the North Cape, and another posting together, symmetrically as ever, to that end of the world lying opposite their first end of the World. "Some?one must break this damn'd Symmetry," Mason mutters.
For years, as he found his way further into the wall'd city of Melan?choly, he dream'd,— tho' presently no longer sure if he had been asleep, or awake,— of the North Cape he would never see,— an unexpectedly populous11 land, where the native people were enslav'd by a small but grimly effective European team, quarter'd and mostly restricted to an area within easy reach of their boats, upon which indeed many of them preferr'd to sleep. The only industry there, was mining the Guano of the sea-birds and shipping12 it to lower latitudes13, to be process'd into Nitre, for Gunpowder14, which was in great demand, as it seem'd that far Below, a general European war had broken out, for dynastic, racial, and religious reasons Mason, and Dixon, who was also in the Dreams, realiz'd they were ignorant of, having been out of touch with any kind of periodical news for eight or nine years now. They arriv'd at the North Cape to find the mines working day and night shifts, and the mood turning unpleas- ant as white overseers demanded more and more from workers who were not making enough for it to matter what the warring nations Below did to each other, nor on what Schedule.
The Guano deposits and hence the mining were upon rocks off the Coast, often quite far out to Sea, where the Light was crepuscular16 and clear. The Guano was carried out to the Ships in Scows of soak'd, black, failing Timbers. Loading these vessels17 directly from the Rocks was per?ilous work. Weather often swept in, carrying away ships and Souls. The Natives, who were dark-skinn'd and spoke18 none but their own tongue, deserted19 when they could and many times contriv'd their own Deaths when all else had fail'd to deliver them...
At Maskelyne's Behest, Mason agrees to observe the Transit from South Ulster, where he obtains the ingress of Venus upon the Disk of the Sun, but not her departure. "The mists rise up out of the Bog21. There she is, full, spherickal.. .the last time I shall see her as a Material Being.. .when next appearing, she will have resum'd her Deity22." Maskelyne will edit this out, which is why Mason leaves it in his Field Report.
Shall Ireland be his last journey out, his last defiance23 of Sapperton,— which is to say, Rebekah? There's no place for him in London. The city has never found his Heart, and 'tis his Heart that keeps a residue24 of dis?like for the place ever guarded. Likewise must he allow himself to let go of Dixon, soon now— He sees nothing but Penance25 ahead, and Renunci?ations proceeding26 like sheep straggling back, gathering27 to shelter. He sits alone in brand-new Rooms of which he may be the very first Occupant, in the smell of Plaster and Paint and Glue, the Paper upon the Walls an assault of Color,— Indigo28, Cochineal Red, Spanish Orange, the rarely-observ'd Magenta29 and Green...the Day outside unable to emerge from Mourning. Rebekah, whom he expects to visit, does not appear. He waits, trying to see his way ahead, suddenly sixteen again. He tries to think of how, short of suicide, he may put himself in her way. He is furious about ev'rything, he screams at length about transient setbacks however slight. "Misses his Family," the Servants tell it. "No sleep." The House is large, inexpensively Palladian, with beds in ev'ry room, not only the Parlor30 and the Drawing Room, but the Kitchen and the Music Conservatory31 as well. Shadows are ev'rywhere unpredictable. Mason tries each room in turn. Other Guests are out upon the same Pil?grimage,— they meet in the Halls and mutter Civilities. In the Musick-Room, he wakes during the Night and mistakes the Clavier for a Coffin32, with somebody in it, withal...who may or may not be another Sleeper33. Out in the Bogs34, Fairy Lights appear. He hears a Note from the Cas'd Instrument, then another. He much prefers the Kitchen, or the Observa?tory out back. There he is hypnagogickally instructed all night long in the arts of silent food Preparation, the "Sandwich" having found here a particular Admiration35, for the virtual Boundlessness36 of its Assembly.
In a letter dated November 9th, close to Mason's departure from Donegal, Maskelyne as A.R. is wallowing in the pleasure of good Instru?ments to work with at last. The defective37 Bob-Suspension is now but a distasteful Pang38 of Memory, causing him at his Morning Shave to grunt39, and avoid his Eyes in the Mirror. The Sector40 Telescope he finds "charm?ing." "I have also used a ic-foot telescope with a micrometer. Your moral reflections on the subject I approve of, as becoming an astronomer41, who ought to make this use of these sublime42 speculations43."
"What was he talking about?"
"In Maskelyne's Letter, which we have, he says he's responding to a letter of Mason's dated October fifteenth, which no one can locate, including me,— indeed, I've not found any of Mason's Letters, tho' there are said to be many about."
"Make something up, then,— Munchausen would."
"Not when there exists, somewhere, a body of letters Mason really did write. I must honor that, mustn't I, Brother Ives?"
Ives snorts and chooses not to contend.
"Why not gamble they'll never be found?" wonders Ethelmer.
"Just because I can't find them doesn't mean they're not out there. The Question may be rather,— Must we wait till they are found, to spec?ulate as to the form 'moral reflections' upon a ten-foot telescope, with a Micrometer, might take?" The Presence of this Device, as well as the Instrument's Length, suggests an accuracy to perhaps two further degrees of Magnitude, than the Instrument it replac'd at Greenwich. "Sublime speculations"? Accuracy and Sublimity44? Is the A.R. being ironickal? Whatever Mason had to say, almost certainly included G-d.
Was he off the deep end again? "Make this use..." suggests Mason had advanc'd some Program. Suppose he'd written to Maskelyne,—
"...Tis the Reciprocal of 'as above, so below,'...being only at the finer Scales, that we may find the truth about the Greater Heavens,.. .the exact value of a Solar Parallax of less than ten seconds can give us the size of the Solar system. The Parallax of Sirius, perhaps less than two seconds, can give us the size of Creation. May we not, in the Domain45 of Zero to One Second of Arc, find ways to measure even That Which we cannot,— may not,— see?"
"Many of us in the parsonical line of work," admits Wicks Cher-rycoke, "find congenial the Mathematics, particularly the science of the fluxions. Few may hope to have named for them, like the Reverend Dr. Taylor, an Infinite Series, yet such steps, large and small, in the advancement46 of this most useful calculus47, have provided us a Rack-ful of Tools for Analysis undreamed-of even a few years ago, tho' some must depend upon Epsilonics and Infinitesimalisms, and other sorts of Defec?tive Zero. Is it the Infinite that tempts48 us, or the Imp2? Or is it merely our Vocational Habit, ancient as Kabbala, of seeking God there, among the Notation49 of these resonating Chains...."
"Reminds me of America. Strange, some mornings I get up and I think I'm in America." Half Mountain, half Bog, ev'ry other Soul in it nam'd O'Reilly, Oakboys with night Mischief50 in mind all about, this is frontier Country again, standing51 betwixt Ulster and the Dublin Pale, whilst of neither,— poor,— at the mercy of Land-owners... such as Lord Penny-comequick, the global-Communications Nabob, who now approaches Mason upon the Lawn, carrying in Coat-Pockets the size of Saddle-Bags four bottles of the Cheap Claret ev'rywhere to be found here, thanks to enterprising Irishmen in Bordeaux. "In my family since the Second Charles," he calls in greeting.
"Isn't a hundred years consider'd old for Wine?" Mason having risen kickish this morning.
"Oh, but I meant the Coat?" Pennycomequick having decided52, with Legions before him, that Mason, because he speaks in the hurried and forc'd Rhythms of at least a Tickler of Children, is a professional Wag of
some sort. "Aye, 'tis call'd a Morning Coat, the yellow symbolizing53 the Sun, I imagine,— several theories about these Aqua bits, here," exam?ining them the way we examine our Waist-coats for spill'd Food, "being of course our famous historically subversive54 Color Green,— should have been a hanging Offense as long ago as Robin55 Hood56, if you ask me,— yet disguis'd cleverly, you see, by the addition of Blue. Perhaps a touch of Buff as well. Ha! ha ha do not look so concern'd, Sir, being all Whigs here staunch and true, yes well do come along, ye've not seen the Folly57 yet have ye."
What cannot escape Mason's notice, as they come round the Butt58 End of the Topiary Elephant, is a sudden Visto of Obelisks59, arrang'd in a Double Row too long to count, forming an Avenue leading to the Folly. In this Sunlight they have withdrawn60 to the innocence61 of Stone, into being only Here enough, to maintain the Effect of solemn Approach...yet it isn't hard for Mason to imagine them in less certain Light, at a more problematick time of day, taking on more Human shape,— almost Human Shape...somewhat larger than human size...almost able to speak,—
"There 'tis. What do you think?" The Lord has halted, Pockets a-sway, to help Mason admire it, this being a task inadvisable for but one person.
"You can't say it isn't something," is Mason's comment.
"Of course if you've read Mr. Halfpenny's Rural Architecture in the Chinese Taste, you'll recognize those bits there at the Roof-corners... our Great Buddha62, half-scale regrettably.... Here,— therapeutick Pool, Peat Baths, good morning, Rufus, I trust your good woman has recov-er'd...Excellent! (She ran that Department, Chaos63 since she left),— Ah! the Electrick Machines, yes a good many of them, all the way down to the end there, can you make it out? On the rare chance you have an appetite when you emerge, lo, a Summer-Kitchen, complete with gesticulating Chef,— Yes yes, Soup du Jour, Armand! clever fellow, claims to know you, 's a matter of fact,—
"Meestair Messon! Meestair Messon!" 'Tis the very Frenchman,— is it not? yet why then is his figure illuminated64 so much less than ev'rything else about, this time of Day?— why is he moving so smoothly65, as a Boat upon still Water, looming67 ever closer, aiming, it now becomes apparent, a Kiss at Mason's Cheek, his Color at close range aberrating toward Green, as he sweeps in a cold wind, upon and past the shiv'ring Mason, with an echo, like an odor, trailing after. Mason turns,— the Lawn is empty. At some moment he has fail'd to mark, Lord Pennycomequick has left him. He stands by an Oven, with Moss68 between its Stones, that he wishes upon no Account to look into.
The Rain has rais'd in ev'ryone an insomniack Apprehension69, in which all talk of Bog-bursts is avoided,— yet 'tis but a Question of where the black Flood shall break thro'. The longer it rains, the higher too the level of Nerves and Vapors70. No-one here, or for miles, will need to be awak-en'd for it. At last, one Midnight,—
"Bog-burst! Out upon McEntaggart's piece,— good evenin' to ye Sir, and regretfully must I now be tellin' ye,— ye've been, as they say in yeer Royal Navy, impress'd, Sir."
"Oh, I am impress'd," Mason agrees, "really,— the efficiency with which you are able to turn all these Wretches72 to, is nothing short of impressive, indeed."
"Excuse me, Sir,— 'tis me English no doubt,— I meant, that you too must come out and work in the company of these very 'Wretches.''
"Of course,— Man of Science, ever happy to advise. Restoring the Berm, is that how we'll be at it?"
"Someday when all's calm, I'd love to chat over wi' ye the finer points of Bog-Burst Management,— yet now, would I suggest Boots and Gloves, Sir, and smartly too, if ye'd not be mindin'?"
Little McTiernan at the Door is giving out short-handl'd Peat-Cutters styl'd, by the Irish, "Slanes."
"Not sure I know how to cut a Sod," mumbles73 Mason.
"Quickly's best,— before he can pick up a Weapon...?"
"Let him be, Dermy,— not his fault he's English."
"Bogs," Mason to himself, as they go along, bearing Candles in hol-low'd out Turnips74, not certain if he is speaking aloud, "are my Destiny. I imagin'd Delaware, not merely the end, but years past the end, of this sort of Journeyman's Humiliation75...even fancied that I had earn'd pas?sage76, at last, into a purer region, where Mathesis should rule, with
nothing beyond an occasional Ink-Smudge to recall to me that unhappy American Station of the Cross. Arrh! Stars and Mud, ever conjugate77, a Paradox78 to consider,— one...for the Astronomer-Royal, perhaps?" His current scheme being, to assail79 Maskelyne's Sanity80, by now and then posing him Questions that will not bear too much cogitating81 upon— most lately, Uber Bernouillis Brachistochronsprobleme, 17 oz, by Baron82 von Boppdorfer ("Mind like a Spanish Blade. Read it at the Risk of your Self-Esteem.") having almost done the Trick.
Slodging the wet Tracks, dress'd all in the local Frieze83, Mason, by Neep-Lantern light, looks like a wet, truculent84 Sheep. The rain comes down. They cross the River, passing 'round Keadew and Kinnypottle, where more come creeping from sleepless85 Dwellings86 to join them. Mason might be traveling with a Herd87 of Ghosts, felt but invisible, bearing him into Country Unknown. The Sky tonight has nothing to show him. Now and then, very much closer to the Earth, he begins to see Lights, moving, flickering88, soon gone. "Who are they?" Mason inquires of his faceless Companions.
"Hush," come a half dozen voices at once. "They are going their Way, as we go ours," whispers someone behind his right Ear. "They are not often out in the Rain, nor particularly helpful in a Slide."
Soon they have reach'd one Shore of the liquefied Peat-Flow, thro' some Mirage89 blacker than the neighboring Night. "McEntaggart's been after that Tath for a Year, and now 'tis his, for nothing."
"He kept still, and the Premises90 mov'd!"
"Look out, here comes more of it!"
"What, a Re-Peat!"
In Irish perversity91 all a-quip, they set to work finding and cutting out Peat Sods not yet saturated92 by the Rain. Other countrymen appear now and then bearing Rocks, piling them laboriously93 against the Burst, thro' the drizzling94 of the Night. Cottagers, daz'd, come wobbling down the Hill. Dawn finds the tops of the Hillsides obscur'd, each Shift-mate a wan5 Spectre in the Vaporous Bog.
"Mr. Mason!"
"Your servant, sir." " 'Tis the Well of Saint Brendan, if you please,—
"Thought he was a Galway Lad.”
No, he pass'd thro' Cavan once, on his way to the Sea, looking for Crew, and from the spot where he slept, came forth95 the very water they drank in Eden, so lovely is it to taste,— now, in the general Relocation, has it vanish'd. "Tho' we've Dowsers a-plenty, yet are all in Perplexity, not to mention humility96, in begging the Application of your London Arts, in discov'ring and restoring it."
"I've the very thing," Mason replies. Among his Equipment at the Pennycomequick Manor97 is the Krees from his Dream in Cape Town, which he has kept ever by him. "Have you water from this Spring?" He pours and rubs it over the Blade, returning to the Bog-burst, where immediately he senses a Traction98, a warmth, a queer high whine99 along the Blade, tho' 'tis none of these... "Here, I believe."
He helps them to dig. At no great Depth a Spring is encounter'd, whose Perimeter100 is quickly shor'd against re-collapse. One by one Coun?tryfolk taste the Water. Some say it is the very Spring of the Saint, others say it isn't. In fact, there is so wide a difference of opinion, that presently what will be the first of many Blows are exchang'd.
In an ordinary Dream, Rebekah appears. "No need to feel pleas'd with yourself. What you found was not their sacred Well, but only a Rep?resentation of it." He wakes up into a midnight sadness, trying to say, I have tasted it, yet he has not tasted it. Now he is afraid ever to, lest his Spring be discover'd as soil'd as the Holy Wells of Gloucestershire, and therefore the Krees, and therefore his Dreams.
He prays to see her Face in the new Comet,— each night, this time, in terror of not seeing it. He tries to will it there, yet is amaz'd that for some Minutes now, he cannot even remember her Face. Yet at last arrives a clear night of seeing, so clear in fact that sometime after Mid71?night, supine in the Star-light, rigid101 with fear, Mason experiences a curious optical re-adjustment. The Stars no longer spread as upon a Dom'd Surface,— he now beholds102 them in the Third Dimension as well,— the Eye creating its own Zed-Axis, along which the star-chok'd depths near and far rush both inward and away, and soon, quite soon, billowing out of control. He collects that the Heavenly Dome103 has been put there as Protection, in an agreement among Observers to report only what it is safe to see. Fifteen years in the Business, and here is his Initiation104.
Now, nothing in the Sky looks the same. "As to the Comet,— I can?not account for how,— but there came this night, to this boggy105 Mias-matick place, an exceptional Clarity of the Air,...a sort of optickal Tension among the Stars, that seem'd ever just about to break radiantly
thro' And there. In Leo, bright-man'd, lo, it came. It came ahead.
And 'twould be but Prelude106 to the Finger of Corsica,— which now appear'd, pointing down from Heaven. And the place where it pointed107 was the place I knew I must journey to, for beneath the Sky-borne Index lay, as once beneath a Star, an Infant that must, again, re-make the World,— and this time 'twas a Sign from Earth, not only from Heaven, showing the way."
"Quite so.... Yet I'm not terribly sure this ought to be in your report," says Maskelyne, "-- objections from the Clergy,— readily imagin'd, what-what?— leaving aside the question of, actually, well what does it mean?"
"No Idea. I was in a kind of Daze108. Have ye never falPn into one of those Cometary Dazes, with the way the Object grows brighter and brighter each Night? These Apparitions109 in the Sky, we never observe but in Motion,— gone in seconds, and if they return, we do not see them. Once safely part of the Night Sky, they may hang there at their Pleasure, performing whatever in their Work corresponds to shifting jibs and stay?sails, keeping perfectly110 upon Station, mimicking111 any faint, unnam'd Star you please. Do they watch us? Are they visits from the past, from an Age of Faith, when Miracles still literally112 happen'd? Are they agents of the absented Guardian,— and are these Its last waves, last Reckonings, over the tops of the Night Trees? An Astronomer in such a State of Inquiry's apt to write nearly anything. How about yourself?"
"Of course there are things one wishes to leave in, often yearns113 to. Then again, there are things one leaves in,—
"Wondrous114! Let's strike the Passage, by all means. Now, what about the part 'round July, where I compare the Aurora115 Borealis to jell'd Blood,— do ye want that out, too?"
"I was just coming to that. They've been frightfully picky of late about that Word. No one knows why."
"What? 'Blood'? Well. Too bloody116 bad, isn't it?" The Octagonal room echoes with indignation imperfectly mock'd. "Bloody Hell, now ye come to it,— “
Maskelyne looks about nervously117. "Pray ye, Mason. There's ever someone listening."
"What of it? You arre the A. Rrr.,— arrre ye not? Tell 'em bugger off."
He receives a long Look from Maskelyne he can't recall ever having seen before. " 'Tis not the same Office, as it was in Bradley's day...and your own. There will nevermore be disputes like this current one over his Obs,— 'tis said it may run on for years."
His Obs. Mason, who perform'd many of these Observations himself, and is consequently in the middle of the Quarrel, snorts, but does not charge.
"Instead of the old Arrangements, we've now a sort of. ..Contract... rather lengthy118 one, indeed...in return for this,— " gesturing 'round, yet keeping his elbow bent119, as if unable to extend his Arm all the way, - they own my work, they own the products of my thinking, perhaps they own my Thoughts unutter'd as well. I am their mechanickal Cuckoo, perch'd up here in this airy Cage to remind them of the first Day of Spring, for they are grown strange, this Cohort, to the very Wheel of Seasons. I am allow'd that much usefulness,— the rest being but Drudging Captivity120."
"Hum. Difficult Life. Excuse me, what's this thing where the Astronomer's Couch us'd to be?"
" 'Tis styl'd, by the knowing, a 'Péché Mortel,' One of Mr. Chippen?dale's. Elegant, don't you think? Clive bought it for me," defiantly121, the small eyes tightening122 for some assault, the lips remaining steady.
"Who? Clive of India?" is all Mason says.
"I meant, 'for the Observatory,' of course," replies Maskelyne.
"What would you do with Mortal Sin? when you wouldn't know it if it came over and bought you a Pint123."
"I have learn'd to simulate it, however, by committing a greater than usual number of the Venial124 ones."
Mason, trying not to stare too openly, has just realized that Maskelyne, direct from the Astronomer's Couch, is wearing his favorite Observing Suit, a garment of his own design that his brother-in-law the famed Clive of India sent him from Bengal, where the Nabob had had it cut and sewn with painstaking125 fidelity126 to a thirty-page List of Instructions from Maske?lyne. It is a three-piece affair, everything quilted, long jacket, waistcoat, and trousers, which have Feet at the ends of them, all in striped silk, a double stripe of some acidick Rose upon Celadon for the Trousers and Waistcoat, and for the Jacket, whose hem9 touches the floor when, as now, he is seated, a single stripe of teal-blue upon the same color, which is also that of the Revers....It is usually not wise to discuss matters of cos?tume with people who dress like this,— politics or religion being far safer topicks. The Suit, Mason knows, is but one of a collection of sportive outfits127 from the Royal-Astronomical Armoire, run up to Maske-lyne's increasingly eccentric specifications129 by the subcontinental genius Mr. Deep, and his talented crew, and shipped to him express by East Indiaman, "the third-fastest thing on the Planet," as Mun lik'd to say, "behind Light and Sound."
Nevil seems to miss the life, sleeping or drinking in the daytime, starting to come alive around Dusk, quickening with the Evening Shift. He and Mason pace about, the window-lensed afternoon sun heightening the creases130 beneath their chins, amid motes131 of wig-powder drifting in the glare of the beams. He exhibits a morally batter'd Air, and is not shy about discussing its origins. Once more the Harrison Watch, like an Hungarian Vampire132, despite the best efforts of good Lunarians upon the Board of Longitude133 to impale134 it, has risen upon brazen135 wings, in soft rhythmic136 percussion137, to obsess138 his Position, his dwindling139 circle of Time remaining upon Earth, his very Reason.
"It reach'd its Peak in 'sixty-seven. The B. of L. in its Wisdom kept insisting on one trial after another, finally they hung it around my neck,— new in the job, what was I suppos'd to do, say no?— to oversee15 trials of
the Watch at Greenwich, for G-d's sake, for nearly a d——'d Year."
Maskelyne had been observ'd glaring at the lock'd case, to which he held the key, apostrophizing the miserable140 watch within that could render moot66 all his years' Trooping in the service of Lunars, with more of the sub?stance of his Life than he could healthily afford, stak'd upon what might prove the wrong Side. "Were Honor nought141 but Honor's Honor kept," some thought they heard, "All Sins might wash away in Tears unwept—"
"Couldn't believe it," reported the room-steward Mr. Gonzago, "like watching Hamlet or something, isn't it? Went on like that for weeks,— he wanted to break in, he didn't want to break in, he spent hours with scraps142 of paper, elaborating ways to damage the Watch that would never be detected,— he liv'd in this Tension, visible to all, between his con20?science and his career."
("Bringing it to Greenwich upon an unsprung Cart over the London Lanes might have done the job alone," Mason suggests to Maskelyne, none too gently.)
Retir'd Navigators and Ship's Carpenters crept up the Hill to witness this, feeling like Macaronis who've paid their threepence at Bedlam143. "Yesterday, so vouches144 my Mate, Old Masky, he scream'd and rav'd for quite an Hour."
"Let's hope he's not too tired to give us some kind of Show."
"I'd settle for a London Minute...?"
"Look at my side of it," Maskelyne would blurt145 at them (too pas?sionately, as he saw right away). "That is," untying146 his Queue and com?mencing to scratch his Head furiously and at length, "they've put me in an impossible Position, haven't they, I mean it isn't a Secret of State that I've an interest in Lunars, nor that this blasted Harrison Watch is the sole Obstacle, between your servant, and the Prize he has earn'd fairly, at the cost of his Vision, his sleep, his engagement with Society. Ordinarily I'm the last one that ought to be giv'n any Authority over it, let alone the Key permitting Access. Yet if you ask why, you will hear,— 'We are ensuring his Honesty this way,— he dasn't fiddle147 with it now.' And, 'If the watch comes thro' despite Maskelyne's Curator-ship, why then has it seen the Fire, and conquer'd it.' How am I sup-pos'd to feel? The Burden upon me is more than anyone should justly be made to bear."
"Like being the Swab who holds the Anchor-Pool."
"Aye! The Purser of Time!"
"He looks a bit furtive148 to me, what say ye, Boats?"
"Like settin' a Spaniel to guard the Prize Cock."
"Gentlemen," Maskelyne, according to some, scream'd. "Why this unfriendly Attendance? Is it the per Diem, is that it? You wish,— what? sixpence more? A Shilling?"
Sham'd, disappointed in him, the Veterans of Cartagena and Minorca began to move sighing and mutt'ring away.
"I am of Mathematickal Mind,— 'twould be an afternoon's work,— recreation, rather,— to devise a way to destroy the Watch's Chances for-
ever,— and yet there is bound to be some Enquiry,— wherein each of my moments, since I was laden149 with this impossible Duty, must be accounted for,— yet already too many have pass'd in solitude150, unwitness'd by others, such as your good Selves,— a Blank Sheet that invites Fiction and her vulgar Friends, Slander151 and Vilification152, to sport upon it.—
"Dodgy."
"Then why not be hung for a Sheep as a Lamb?" Maskelyne contin?ued. "— I often find myself asking, not of G-d, exactly, but of whatever might be able to answer the Question. If the World already believe me party to a Fiddle, when I'm not, you understand, then why not go in there with a Hammer, heh, heh, so to speak, and really do a Job?"
"Classickal," grumbles153 Euphrenia.
"Easy to find fault with the Reverend Dr. Maskelyne," her brother agrees, "though with our Eleventh Commandment, I must not speak ill of another Clergyman. His behavior toward Mason was ever consistent with that of a brotherly Rival for the love of, and the succession from, their 'Father,' Bradley. Did he, in posting Mason out of England, employ a Code,— to Cavan in order to put him once again among Ulstermen as he'd been upon the Pennsylvania frontier...to Schiehallion out of some mean desire to remind him of the error Cavendish pointed out, due to the Allegheny Mountains,— or, Cavendish being after all more Enemy than friend, were these rather simple Kindnesses in standing by an old col?league and ally? The long-winded Letters to Mason in the Field, tho' surely meant to assert his personal Authority, may reveal nothing beyond the desire, out of resentments154 unvoic'd, to bore their Recipients155 into compliance,— at Cambridge he had been now and then upon the receiv?ing end of a 'Jobation,' or lengthy Reproof156, and perhaps this was his way of reasserting in his Life a balance (having been born beneath the Scales) that would otherwise have been set a-lop by an excess of Patience. It also appears that he did what he could to support Mason's claim to Prize money from the Board of Longitude for his Refinements157 to Mayer's Lunar Tables, whilst seeking none for himself. And he back'd the younger Harrison's admission to the Royal Society, despite the ease with which his opposition158 might have been understood and excus'd. Nor was his Approach to the Longitude ever the most congenial to've taken,— the method of Lunars being by no means universally lov'd, its tediousness indeed often resented, and not only by Midshipmen trying to learn it,— many wish'd for a faster way, willing to cede159 to Machinery160 a form of Human Effort they could've done without."
Maskelyne fancied that, when he became Astronomer Royal, there might be an Investiture, a Passage, a Mystery.. .an Outfit128. He began designing, with the utmost restraint and taste of course, ceremonial Robes for him?self, bas'd upon the Doctors' Robes at Cambridge, Rose upon Scarlet161, a black Velvet162 Hat, Liripipes, Tippets, Sleeves to the ground,— decorated all over with Zodiackal Glyphs, in a subdued163 Gold Passementerie. But to whom could he show it? The Royal Society might not approve. The King might be offended. When, at all, might he have occasion to wear it? Per?haps1 an occasion could be proclaim'd. Star Day. Ev'ryone up all night. No flame allow'd. Food misidentified in the Star-light, Lovers a-tip, and something glamorous164, like the Pleiades, upon the Rise.
And the King would place in his hands something preserv'd from the days of the Astrologers,— a Prism, an Astrolabe, a Gift of Power,— he would be sworn to secrecy165. Of course he would use it wisely....
Mason has almost presum'd to think of them as old Troopers by now, with the Transits166 of Venus behind them, Harrison's Watch, battles bud?getary and vocal167 lost and won,— weary veterans of campaigns in which has loomed168 as well the amiable169 bean-pole Dixon, secretly afraid of what they were all caught up in doing, as if at the Behest of the Stars, which somehow had begun to take on for him attributes of conscious beings ("Seen it before," quoth Maskelyne, "— Rapture170 without a doubt,— for some reason Dissenters171 are particularly susceptible172..."), attacked by Vertigo173 if he continu'd too long at the eye-piece, lost in ter?ror before the Third Dimension, indeed running, when there was a choice, to Earth rather than to Fire, desperate to pretend all was well, face kept as clear as the bottom of a stream in August, nothing visible at the fringes of readability,— who knew him, truly? What might wait, at the margins174 of the pool, mottled, still, river-silt slowly gathering upon its dorsal175 side?
At the end of the day, all Mason knows of Maskelyne, is how to needle him. "Maskelyne,— I cannot go,"— yet as if uncertain as to how much Maskelyne intends to make him plead. "That is," he cannot help adding, "if it pleases Your Grace."
The Astronomer Royal is not prepared. "Again you renounce176 me," he does not exactly intend to blurt, his scowl177 appearing slowly, like a blush. "Bloody infuriating, Mason."
"I know. Why not have another bowl of café au lait? And,— look ye here, a lovely iced bun."
"Here,— suppose you go to Scotland only as a sort of Scout,— look at likely possibilities, report back to us."
" 'Us'?"
"Pay Mr. Dixon a visit upon your way, for Heaven's sake."
"I've your Permission for that, have I."
"Mason— "
"Half a Guinea a Day."
"Gentlemen usually accept a single Honorarium178."
"Plus daily expenses."
"This might be quite in your Line, Mason."
"Try not to say 'Line,' Maskelyne. Ehp,— that is,—
" 'Mask,' then," flirtatiously, "plain old 'Mask.' “
收听单词发音 |
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haps
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| n.粗厚毛披巾；偶然，机会，运气( hap的名词复数 ) | |
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imp
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| n.顽童 | |
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pro
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| n.赞成，赞成的意见，赞成者 | |
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cape
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| n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风 | |
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wan
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| (wide area network)广域网 | |
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offense
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| n.犯规，违法行为；冒犯，得罪 | |
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privately
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| adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地 | |
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inept
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| adj.不恰当的，荒谬的，拙劣的 | |
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hem
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| n.贴边，镶边；vt.缝贴边；(in)包围，限制 | |
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transit
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| n.经过，运输；vt.穿越，旋转；vi.越过 | |
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populous
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| adj.人口稠密的，人口众多的 | |
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shipping
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| n.船运（发货，运输，乘船） | |
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latitudes
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| 纬度 | |
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gunpowder
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| n.火药 | |
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oversee
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| vt.监督，管理 | |
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crepuscular
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| adj.晨曦的；黄昏的；昏暗的 | |
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vessels
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| n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人 | |
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spoke
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| 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 | |
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19
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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con
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| n.反对的观点，反对者，反对票，肺病；vt.精读，学习，默记；adv.反对地，从反面；adj.欺诈的 | |
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21
bog
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| n.沼泽；室...陷入泥淖 | |
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deity
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| n.神，神性；被奉若神明的人(或物) | |
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defiance
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| n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗 | |
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residue
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| n.残余，剩余，残渣 | |
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penance
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| n.（赎罪的）惩罪 | |
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proceeding
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| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
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gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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indigo
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| n.靛青，靛蓝 | |
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magenta
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| n..紫红色（的染料）；adj.紫红色的 | |
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parlor
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| n.店铺，营业室；会客室，客厅 | |
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conservatory
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| n.温室，音乐学院；adj.保存性的，有保存力的 | |
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coffin
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| n.棺材，灵柩 | |
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sleeper
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| n.睡眠者，卧车，卧铺 | |
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bogs
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| n.沼泽，泥塘( bog的名词复数 )；厕所v.（使）陷入泥沼， （使）陷入困境( bog的第三人称单数 )；妨碍，阻碍 | |
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admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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boundlessness
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| 海阔天空 | |
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defective
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| adj.有毛病的，有问题的，有瑕疵的 | |
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pang
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| n.剧痛，悲痛，苦闷 | |
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grunt
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| v.嘟哝；作呼噜声；n.呼噜声，嘟哝 | |
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sector
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| n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形 | |
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astronomer
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| n.天文学家 | |
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42
sublime
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| adj.崇高的，伟大的；极度的，不顾后果的 | |
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speculations
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| n.投机买卖( speculation的名词复数 )；思考；投机活动；推断 | |
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44
sublimity
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| 崇高，庄严，气质高尚 | |
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domain
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| n.(活动等)领域，范围；领地，势力范围 | |
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advancement
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| n.前进，促进，提升 | |
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calculus
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| n.微积分；结石 | |
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tempts
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| v.引诱或怂恿（某人）干不正当的事( tempt的第三人称单数 )；使想要 | |
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notation
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| n.记号法，表示法，注释；[计算机]记法 | |
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50
mischief
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| n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹 | |
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51
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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52
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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symbolizing
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| v.象征，作为…的象征( symbolize的现在分词 ) | |
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54
subversive
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| adj.颠覆性的，破坏性的；n.破坏份子，危险份子 | |
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55
robin
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| n.知更鸟，红襟鸟 | |
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56
hood
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| n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖 | |
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57
folly
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| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
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58
butt
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| n.笑柄；烟蒂；枪托；臀部；v.用头撞或顶 | |
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59
obelisks
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| n.方尖石塔，短剑号，疑问记号( obelisk的名词复数 ) | |
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60
withdrawn
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| vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出 | |
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61
innocence
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| n.无罪；天真；无害 | |
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62
Buddha
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| n.佛；佛像；佛陀 | |
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63
chaos
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| n.混乱，无秩序 | |
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64
illuminated
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| adj.被照明的；受启迪的 | |
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65
smoothly
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| adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地 | |
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66
moot
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| v.提出；adj.未决议的；n.大会；辩论会 | |
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67
looming
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| n.上现蜃景（光通过低层大气发生异常折射形成的一种海市蜃楼）v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的现在分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近 | |
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68
moss
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| n.苔，藓，地衣 | |
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69
apprehension
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| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
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70
vapors
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| n.水汽，水蒸气，无实质之物( vapor的名词复数 )；自夸者；幻想 [药]吸入剂 [古]忧郁（症）v.自夸，（使）蒸发( vapor的第三人称单数 ) | |
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71
mid
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| adj.中央的，中间的 | |
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72
wretches
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| n.不幸的人( wretch的名词复数 )；可怜的人；恶棍；坏蛋 | |
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73
mumbles
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| 含糊的话或声音，咕哝( mumble的名词复数 ) | |
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74
turnips
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| 芜青( turnip的名词复数 )； 芜菁块根； 芜菁甘蓝块根； 怀表 | |
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75
humiliation
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| n.羞辱 | |
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76
sage
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| n.圣人，哲人；adj.贤明的，明智的 | |
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conjugate
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| vt.使成对，使结合；adj.共轭的，成对的 | |
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paradox
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| n.似乎矛盾却正确的说法；自相矛盾的人(物) | |
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79
assail
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| v.猛烈攻击，抨击，痛斥 | |
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80
sanity
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| n.心智健全，神智正常，判断正确 | |
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81
cogitating
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| v.认真思考，深思熟虑( cogitate的现在分词 ) | |
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82
baron
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| n.男爵；(商业界等)巨头，大王 | |
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83
frieze
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| n.(墙上的)横饰带，雕带 | |
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84
truculent
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| adj.野蛮的，粗野的 | |
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85
sleepless
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| adj.不睡眠的，睡不著的，不休息的 | |
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86
dwellings
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| n.住处，处所( dwelling的名词复数 ) | |
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87
herd
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| n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起 | |
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88
flickering
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| adj.闪烁的，摇曳的，一闪一闪的 | |
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89
mirage
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| n.海市蜃楼，幻景 | |
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90
premises
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| n.建筑物，房屋 | |
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91
perversity
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| n.任性；刚愎自用 | |
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92
saturated
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| a.饱和的，充满的 | |
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93
laboriously
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| adv.艰苦地；费力地；辛勤地；（文体等）佶屈聱牙地 | |
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94
drizzling
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| 下蒙蒙细雨，下毛毛雨( drizzle的现在分词 ) | |
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95
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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96
humility
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| n.谦逊，谦恭 | |
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97
manor
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| n.庄园，领地 | |
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98
traction
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| n.牵引；附着摩擦力 | |
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99
whine
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| v.哀号，号哭；n.哀鸣 | |
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100
perimeter
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| n.周边，周长，周界 | |
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101
rigid
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| adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的 | |
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102
beholds
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| v.看，注视( behold的第三人称单数 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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103
dome
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| n.圆屋顶，拱顶 | |
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104
initiation
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| n.开始 | |
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105
boggy
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| adj.沼泽多的 | |
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106
prelude
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| n.序言，前兆，序曲 | |
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107
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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108
daze
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| v.(使)茫然，(使)发昏 | |
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109
apparitions
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| n.特异景象( apparition的名词复数 )；幽灵；鬼；（特异景象等的）出现 | |
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110
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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111
mimicking
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| v.（尤指为了逗乐而）模仿( mimic的现在分词 )；酷似 | |
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112
literally
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| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
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113
yearns
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| 渴望，切盼，向往( yearn的第三人称单数 ) | |
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114
wondrous
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| adj.令人惊奇的，奇妙的；adv.惊人地；异乎寻常地；令人惊叹地 | |
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115
aurora
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| n.极光 | |
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116
bloody
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| adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染 | |
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117
nervously
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| adv.神情激动地，不安地 | |
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118
lengthy
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| adj.漫长的，冗长的 | |
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119
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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120
captivity
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| n.囚禁；被俘；束缚 | |
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121
defiantly
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| adv.挑战地，大胆对抗地 | |
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122
tightening
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| 上紧，固定，紧密 | |
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123
pint
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| n.品脱 | |
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124
venial
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| adj.可宽恕的；轻微的 | |
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125
painstaking
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| adj.苦干的；艰苦的，费力的，刻苦的 | |
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126
fidelity
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| n.忠诚，忠实；精确 | |
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127
outfits
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| n.全套装备( outfit的名词复数 )；一套服装；集体；组织v.装备，配置设备，供给服装( outfit的第三人称单数 ) | |
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128
outfit
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| n.（为特殊用途的）全套装备，全套服装 | |
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129
specifications
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| n.规格；载明；详述；（产品等的）说明书；说明书( specification的名词复数 )；详细的计划书；载明；详述 | |
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130
creases
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| （使…）起折痕，弄皱( crease的第三人称单数 )； （皮肤）皱起，使起皱纹 | |
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131
motes
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| n.尘埃( mote的名词复数 )；斑点 | |
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132
vampire
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| n.吸血鬼 | |
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133
longitude
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| n.经线，经度 | |
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134
impale
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| v.用尖物刺某人、某物 | |
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135
brazen
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| adj.厚脸皮的，无耻的，坚硬的 | |
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136
rhythmic
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| adj.有节奏的，有韵律的 | |
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137
percussion
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| n.打击乐器；冲突，撞击；震动，音响 | |
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138
obsess
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| vt.使着迷，使心神不定，（恶魔）困扰 | |
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139
dwindling
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| adj.逐渐减少的v.逐渐变少或变小( dwindle的现在分词 ) | |
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140
miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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141
nought
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| n.／adj.无，零 | |
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142
scraps
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| 油渣 | |
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143
bedlam
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| n.混乱，骚乱；疯人院 | |
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144
vouches
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| v.保证( vouch的第三人称单数 )；担保；确定；确定地说 | |
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145
blurt
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| vt.突然说出，脱口说出 | |
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146
untying
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| untie的现在分词 | |
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147
fiddle
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| n.小提琴；vi.拉提琴；不停拨弄，乱动 | |
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148
furtive
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| adj.鬼鬼崇崇的，偷偷摸摸的 | |
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149
laden
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| adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的 | |
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150
solitude
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| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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151
slander
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| n./v.诽谤，污蔑 | |
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152
vilification
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| n.污蔑，中伤，诽谤 | |
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153
grumbles
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| 抱怨( grumble的第三人称单数 )； 发牢骚； 咕哝； 发哼声 | |
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154
resentments
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| （因受虐待而）愤恨，不满，怨恨( resentment的名词复数 ) | |
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155
recipients
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| adj.接受的；受领的；容纳的；愿意接受的n.收件人；接受者；受领者；接受器 | |
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156
reproof
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| n.斥责，责备 | |
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157
refinements
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| n.（生活）风雅；精炼( refinement的名词复数 )；改良品；细微的改良；优雅或高贵的动作 | |
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158
opposition
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| n.反对，敌对 | |
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159
cede
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| v.割让，放弃 | |
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160
machinery
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| n.(总称)机械，机器；机构 | |
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161
scarlet
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| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
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162
velvet
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| n.丝绒，天鹅绒；adj.丝绒制的，柔软的 | |
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163
subdued
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| adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
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164
glamorous
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| adj.富有魅力的；美丽动人的；令人向往的 | |
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165
secrecy
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| n.秘密，保密，隐蔽 | |
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166
transits
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| 通过（transit的复数形式） | |
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167
vocal
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| adj.直言不讳的；嗓音的；n.[pl.]声乐节目 | |
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168
loomed
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| v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的过去式和过去分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近 | |
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169
amiable
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| adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的 | |
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170
rapture
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| n.狂喜；全神贯注；着迷；v.使狂喜 | |
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171
dissenters
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| n.持异议者，持不同意见者( dissenter的名词复数 ) | |
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172
susceptible
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| adj.过敏的，敏感的；易动感情的，易受感动的 | |
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173
vertigo
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| n.眩晕 | |
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174
margins
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| 边( margin的名词复数 )； 利润； 页边空白； 差数 | |
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175
dorsal
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| adj.背部的，背脊的 | |
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176
renounce
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| v.放弃；拒绝承认，宣布与…断绝关系 | |
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177
scowl
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| vi.(at)生气地皱眉，沉下脸，怒视；n.怒容 | |
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178
honorarium
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| n.酬金，谢礼 | |
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