Chapter 76

"Now, Dr. Johnson, along with Boswell acting¹ as his Squire², happen'd, in August of 'seventy-three, to be crossing into Scotland as well, upon their famous Trip to the Hebrides."
"More likely," snorts Ives, "they didn't pass within a hundred miles of Mason."
Yet (speculates the Revd), did they hesitate, upon the Border, at some rude Inn, just before taking the fatal Step across into the Celtick Unknown?... Sitting at a table, drinking Ale, observing the Mist thro' the Window-Panes, Mason forty-five, the Cham sixty-four. "You seem a seri?ous young man, with Thames-side intonations⁴ in your Voice, if I'm not mistaken."
"Sir, I saw you at The Mitre Tavern⁵, once."
"Royal Society, are you."
"As your own Intonation³ already implies, Sir, not bloody⁶ likely, is it? tho' I have contracted with them, and more than once."
"You're the Star-Gazer, what's his name."
"Mason," Boswell informs him.
"Damme 'f that's not it exactly," says Mason. "Thankee, Gents, altho' this time I am come upon an Errand of Gravity." He explains to them his search for a Scottish Mountain, suiting as many as possible of Maske-lyne's Stipulations.
"Hum..." Boswell's gaze bright'ning, "he's Clive of India's Brother-in-law. Do you suppose the Nabob wants to buy a Mountain?”
"Good Lord,— Maskelyne, working in Confidence, as a Land-Agent? I never thought of that."
"Then you are not as corrupted⁸ as you believe you are, at least accord?ing to the creases⁹ of your Phiz, Sir," somewhat brusquely announces Dr. Johnson. "Such relative Innocence¹⁰ may be a sacred Asset, yet a secular¹¹ Liability. May you ever distinguish the one from the other. Oh, and Mason?"
"Your Servant."
"Be careful."
"Of what, Sir?"
"Of the Attention you'll be getting up there, if your Principal's illustrious Relation becomes widely known," warns Mr. Boswell, him?self a Scot.
"Upon the Map I carry," declares Dr. J., "nothing appears, beyond here, but Mountains,— in Practice to examine them all is a task without end,— and ev'ry Scot you meet will be trying to sell you at least one, that he,— and ignore not 'she,'— happens to know of. These people are strong, shrewd. Be not deceiv'd by any level of the Exotick they may present you, Kilts, Bag-Pipes sort of thing. Haggis. You must keep unfailing Vigilance."
Mr. Boswell bows elaborately, whilst keeping his Eye-balls upon the Roll.
Out there in the Fog brimming and sweeping¹² now over Ridge-tops and into the Glens, somewhere it waits, the world across the next Line, in darkness and isolation¹³, barren, unforgiving, a Nation that within Mason's lifetime has risen to seize the Crown, been harrow'd into submission¹⁴, then been shipp'd in great Lots to America. "I imagine there's yet a bit of.. .resentment¹⁵ about?"
The Doctor snorts. "The word you grope for is Hatred¹⁶, Sir,— inveter?ate, inflexible¹⁷ Hatred. The 'Forty-five lives on here, a Ghost from a Gothick Novel, ubiquitous, frightfully shatter'd, exhibiting gallons of a certain crimson¹⁸ Fluid,— typickal of the People, don't you see."
"Aye, he means me," sighs Mr. Boswell. He picks up the Bone rem?nant of a Chop and gestures with it. "Soon he will commence with the Cannibalism-Joaks, pray you, miss it not, 'tis more hilarious¹⁹ than may at first seem likely. All his lifelong Enmity, emerging at last in this way. No
 one knows why, but he intends to go to the Hebrides, to the furthest Isle²⁰, to view the Dark Ages upon Display."
"The uncomplicated People, laboring²¹ with their primitive²² Tools," gushes²³ Mason, "— the simplicity²⁴ of Faith, lo, its Time reborn."
' 'Tis fascinating, this belief among you Men of Science," remarks Dr. J., "that Time is ever more simply transcended²⁵, the further one is willing to journey away from London, to observe it."
"Why, Mason here's done the very thing," cries Boswell. "In America. Ask him."
Mason glowers²⁶, shaking his head. "I've ascended²⁷, descended²⁸, even condescended²⁹, and the List's not ended,— but haven't yet trans-cended a blessed thing, thankee."
"The Savages³⁰ of America," intones the Doctor, "— what Powers do they possess, and how do they use them?" As if here, at the Edge of the World, they might confide⁷ what no one would ever say aloud in London,— with Boswell a-bustle to get it all scribbl'd down into his Quarto.
The abruptness³¹ of the Doctor's Question reminds Mason of himself, addressing the Learned English Dog, a dozen years ago...his mouth creeps upward at the corners, almost achieving an Horizontal. "Would that my co-adjutor Mr. Dixon were here," says Mason (missing Dixon as he speaks), "for the Magickal in all its Occurrences, to others of us how absent, was ever his Subject— Potions, Rain-Making, the undoing³² of Enemies remote,— that Mandeville of Mohawks would be sure to enlighten you. I can myself testify to little beyond the giant Mounds³³ that the Savages say they guard as Curators, for some more distant Race of Builders. I have fail'd to observe more in them, than their most impres?sive Size, tho' Mr. Dixon swears to Coded Inscriptions³⁴, Purposive Lami?nation, and Employment, unto the Present Day, by Agents Unknown of Powers Invisible.
"Yet appropriately enough, what compels me out under the Elements once again now, is yet another damn'd Species of Giant Mound,— and after hoping I'd seen my last in America. Woe³⁵, it seems I've acquir'd a Speciality,— and the Elevated, the Chosen, go on assigning me to these exercises in large-scale Geometry. This Mountain I'm about to seek must
 be regular as a Prism, as if purposely constructed in days of old by Forces more powerful than ours...powerful enough to suggest that God (whatever that may be) has not altogether quit our own desperate Day."
"You're not pleas'd with His Frequency of Appearance," frowns John?son. "Sir, be wary,— for the next step in such Petulance³⁶, is to define Him as some all-pervading Fairy-Dust, and style it Deism."
"D'ye think I wasn't looking, all that long arse-breaking American time? Mounds, Caverns³⁷, things that went across the Sky?— had you seen one of those, 'twould've made y' think twice— Even giant Vegeta?bles,— if it had to be,— seeking Salvation³⁸ in the Oversiz'd, how pitiable,— what of it, I've little Pride, some great Squash upon the Trail-side? I'll take it, won't I."
"I'd've been happy with the Cock Lane Ghost," Johnson mutters.
"Happy," Mason nods. His eyes far too bright. "You were ill-treated, Sir, in that matter."
"Be careful to note, Boswell, how even a Lunatick may yet be civil. Thank you, Sir. Or is it Your Holiness?"
"I?" All but pleading for someone's Judgment³⁹ of madness, as if desir?ing to be admitted to that select company, select as the Royal Society, which did not want him, either.
"I had my Boswell, once," Mason tells Boswell, "Dixon and I. We had a joint⁴⁰ Boswell. Preacher nam'd Cherrycoke. Scribbling⁴¹ ev'rything down, just like you, Sir. Have you," twirling his Hand in Ellipses,— "you know, ever...had one yourself? If I'm not prying⁴²."
"Had one what?"
"Hum.. .a Boswell, Sir,— I mean, of your own. Well you couldn't very well call him that, being one yourself,— say, a sort of Shadow ever in the Room who has haunted you, preserving your ev'ry spoken remark,—
"Which else would have been lost forever to the great Wind of Obliv?ion,— think," armsweep south, "as all civiliz'd Britain gathers at this hour, how much shapely Expression, from the titl'd Gambler, the Bar?maid's Suitor, the offended Fopling, the gratified Toss-Pot, is simply fad⁴³?ing away upon the Air, out under the Door, into the Evening and the Silence beyond. All those voices. Why not pluck a few words from the multitudes rushing toward the Void of forgetfulness?"
The Mountain he finds for Maskelyne will be too regular to be natural,— like Silbury Hill, it will have the look of ancient Earth-Work about it. And 'twill be Maskelyne who goes to Schiehallion, after Mason refuses the Assignment again, and becomes famous for it, not to mention beloved of the Scots people there, the subject of a Ballad⁴⁴, and presently a Figure of Legend, in a strange Wizard's turnout bas'd upon an actual Observing Suit he will wear whilst in Perthshire. A plaid one, in fact, of Maskelyne's own Design,— "A Tartan never observ'd in the World," he explains, "that no one Clan⁴⁵ up there be offended."
"Or ev'ry one," Mun is quick to point out.
Mason will go back to waking day after day in Sapperton, piecing together odd cash jobs for the Royal Society, reductions for Maskelyne's Almanack,— small children everywhere, a neat Observatory⁴⁶ out in the Garden, a reputation in the Golden Valley as a Sorcerer, a Sorcerer's Apprentice⁴⁷, who once climb'd that strange eminence⁴⁸ at Greenwich, up into another level of Power, sail'd to all parts of the Globe, but came back down among them again,— they will be easy with him, call him Charlie, at last. Another small-town eccentric absorb'd back into the Weavery, keeping a work-space fitted out someplace in the back of some long Cotswold house, down a chain of rooms back from the lane and out into the crooked⁴⁹ Looming⁵⁰ of those hillside fields.

1 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

2 squire   

n.护卫, 侍从, 乡绅

参考例句：

• I told him the squire was the most liberal of men.我告诉他乡绅是世界上最宽宏大量的人。
• The squire was hard at work at Bristol.乡绅在布里斯托尔热衷于他的工作。

3 intonation   

n.语调，声调；发声

参考例句：

• The teacher checks for pronunciation and intonation.老师在检查发音和语调。
• Questions are spoken with a rising intonation.疑问句是以升调说出来的。

4 intonations   

n.语调，说话的抑扬顿挫( intonation的名词复数 )；（演奏或唱歌中的）音准

参考例句：

• Being able to say simple sentences in correct stresses and intonations. 能以正确的重音及语调说出简单的句子。 来自互联网
• Peculiar intonations and interesting stories behind every character are what motivated Asmaa to start learning Chinese. 奇特的声调，有故事的汉字，让吴小莉在阴阳上去中、点横竖撇拉中开始了咿呀学语阶段。 来自互联网

5 tavern   

n.小旅馆，客栈；小酒店

参考例句：

• There is a tavern at the corner of the street.街道的拐角处有一家酒馆。
• Philip always went to the tavern,with a sense of pleasure.菲利浦总是心情愉快地来到这家酒菜馆。

6 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

7 confide   

v.向某人吐露秘密

参考例句：

• I would never readily confide in anybody.我从不轻易向人吐露秘密。
• He is going to confide the secrets of his heart to us.他将向我们吐露他心里的秘密。

8 corrupted   

（使）败坏( corrupt的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）腐化； 引起（计算机文件等的）错误； 破坏

参考例句：

• The body corrupted quite quickly. 尸体很快腐烂了。
• The text was corrupted by careless copyists. 原文因抄写员粗心而有讹误。

9 creases   

（使…）起折痕，弄皱( crease的第三人称单数 )； （皮肤）皱起，使起皱纹

参考例句：

• She smoothed the creases out of her skirt. 她把裙子上的皱褶弄平。
• She ironed out all the creases in the shirt. 她熨平了衬衣上的所有皱褶。

10 innocence   

n.无罪；天真；无害

参考例句：

• There was a touching air of innocence about the boy.这个男孩有一种令人感动的天真神情。
• The accused man proved his innocence of the crime.被告人经证实无罪。

11 secular   

n.牧师，凡人；adj.世俗的，现世的，不朽的

参考例句：

• We live in an increasingly secular society.我们生活在一个日益非宗教的社会。
• Britain is a plural society in which the secular predominates.英国是个世俗主导的多元社会。

12 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

13 isolation   

n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离

参考例句：

• The millionaire lived in complete isolation from the outside world.这位富翁过着与世隔绝的生活。
• He retired and lived in relative isolation.他退休后，生活比较孤寂。

14 submission   

n.服从，投降；温顺，谦虚；提出

参考例句：

• The defeated general showed his submission by giving up his sword.战败将军缴剑表示投降。
• No enemy can frighten us into submission.任何敌人的恐吓都不能使我们屈服。

15 resentment   

n.怨愤，忿恨

参考例句：

• All her feelings of resentment just came pouring out.她一股脑儿倾吐出所有的怨恨。
• She cherished a deep resentment under the rose towards her employer.她暗中对她的雇主怀恨在心。

16 hatred   

n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨

参考例句：

• He looked at me with hatred in his eyes.他以憎恨的眼光望着我。
• The old man was seized with burning hatred for the fascists.老人对法西斯主义者充满了仇恨。

17 inflexible   

adj.不可改变的，不受影响的，不屈服的

参考例句：

• Charles was a man of settled habits and inflexible routine.查尔斯是一个恪守习惯、生活规律不容打乱的人。
• The new plastic is completely inflexible.这种新塑料是完全不可弯曲的。

18 crimson   

n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色

参考例句：

• She went crimson with embarrassment.她羞得满脸通红。
• Maple leaves have turned crimson.枫叶已经红了。

19 hilarious   

adj.充满笑声的，欢闹的；[反]depressed

参考例句：

• The party got quite hilarious after they brought more wine.在他们又拿来更多的酒之后，派对变得更加热闹起来。
• We stop laughing because the show was so hilarious.我们笑个不停，因为那个节目太搞笑了。

20 isle   

n.小岛，岛

参考例句：

• He is from the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea.他来自爱尔兰海的马恩岛。
• The boat left for the paradise isle of Bali.小船驶向天堂一般的巴厘岛。

21 laboring   

n.劳动，操劳v.努力争取(for)( labor的现在分词 )；苦干；详细分析；（指引擎）缓慢而困难地运转

参考例句：

• The young man who said laboring was beneath his dignity finally put his pride in his pocket and got a job as a kitchen porter. 那个说过干活儿有失其身份的年轻人最终只能忍辱，做了厨房搬运工的工作。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• But this knowledge did not keep them from laboring to save him. 然而，这并不妨碍她们尽力挽救他。 来自飘（部分）

22 primitive   

adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物

参考例句：

• It is a primitive instinct to flee a place of danger.逃离危险的地方是一种原始本能。
• His book describes the march of the civilization of a primitive society.他的著作描述了一个原始社会的开化过程。

23 gushes   

n.涌出，迸发( gush的名词复数 )v.喷，涌( gush的第三人称单数 )；滔滔不绝地说话

参考例句：

• The stream gushes forth from the rock. 一股小溪从岩石中涌出来。 来自辞典例句
• Fuel gushes into the combustion chamber. 燃料喷进燃烧室。 来自辞典例句

24 simplicity   

n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯

参考例句：

• She dressed with elegant simplicity.她穿着朴素高雅。
• The beauty of this plan is its simplicity.简明扼要是这个计划的一大特点。

25 transcended   

超出或超越（经验、信念、描写能力等）的范围( transcend的过去式和过去分词 )； 优于或胜过…

参考例句：

• He wanted assurance that he had transcended what was inherently ambiguous. 他要证明，他已经超越了本来就是混淆不清的事情。
• It transcended site to speak to universal human concerns. 它超越了场所的局限，表达了人类共同的心声。

26 glowers   

v.怒视( glower的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• In the open doorway our surly German shadow glowers. 打开房门，我们那个阴沉的德国影子对着我们怒目而视。 来自辞典例句

27 ascended   

v.上升，攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He has ascended into heaven. 他已经升入了天堂。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The climbers slowly ascended the mountain. 爬山运动员慢慢地登上了这座山。 来自《简明英汉词典》

28 descended   

a.为...后裔的，出身于...的

参考例句：

• A mood of melancholy descended on us. 一种悲伤的情绪袭上我们的心头。
• The path descended the hill in a series of zigzags. 小路呈连续的之字形顺着山坡蜿蜒而下。

29 condescended   

屈尊，俯就( condescend的过去式和过去分词 )； 故意表示和蔼可亲

参考例句：

• We had to wait almost an hour before he condescended to see us. 我们等了几乎一小时他才屈尊大驾来见我们。
• The king condescended to take advice from his servants. 国王屈驾向仆人征求意见。

30 savages   

未开化的人，野蛮人( savage的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There're some savages living in the forest. 森林里居住着一些野人。
• That's an island inhabited by savages. 那是一个野蛮人居住的岛屿。

31 abruptness   

n. 突然，唐突

参考例句：

• He hid his feelings behind a gruff abruptness. 他把自己的感情隐藏在生硬鲁莽之中。
• Suddenly Vanamee returned to himself with the abruptness of a blow. 伐那米猛地清醒过来，象挨到了当头一拳似的。

32 undoing   

n.毁灭的原因，祸根；破坏，毁灭

参考例句：

• That one mistake was his undoing. 他一失足即成千古恨。
• This hard attitude may have led to his undoing. 可能就是这种强硬的态度导致了他的垮台。

33 mounds   

土堆，土丘( mound的名词复数 )； 一大堆

参考例句：

• We had mounds of tasteless rice. 我们有成堆成堆的淡而无味的米饭。
• Ah! and there's the cemetery' - cemetery, he must have meant. 'You see the mounds? 啊，这就是同墓，”——我想他要说的一定是公墓，“看到那些土墩了吗？

34 inscriptions   

（作者）题词( inscription的名词复数 )； 献词； 碑文； 证劵持有人的登记

参考例句：

• Centuries of wind and rain had worn away the inscriptions on the gravestones. 几个世纪的风雨已磨损了墓碑上的碑文。
• The inscriptions on the stone tablet have become blurred with the passage of time. 年代久了，石碑上的字迹已经模糊了。

35 woe   

n.悲哀，苦痛，不幸，困难；int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌

参考例句：

• Our two peoples are brothers sharing weal and woe.我们两国人民是患难与共的兄弟。
• A man is well or woe as he thinks himself so.自认祸是祸，自认福是福。

36 petulance   

n.发脾气，生气，易怒，暴躁，性急

参考例句：

• His petulance made her impatient.他的任性让她无法忍受。
• He tore up the manuscript in a fit of petulance.他一怒之下把手稿撕碎了。

37 caverns   

大山洞，大洞穴( cavern的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Within were dark caverns; what was inside them, no one could see. 里面是一个黑洞，这里面有什么东西，谁也望不见。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）
• UNDERGROUND Under water grottos, caverns Filled with apes That eat figs. 在水帘洞里，挤满了猿争吃无花果。

38 salvation   

n.（尤指基督）救世，超度，拯救，解困

参考例句：

• Salvation lay in political reform.解救办法在于政治改革。
• Christians hope and pray for salvation.基督教徒希望并祈祷灵魂得救。

39 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

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

40 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

41 scribbling   

n.乱涂[写]胡[乱]写的文章[作品]v.潦草的书写( scribble的现在分词 )；乱画；草草地写；匆匆记下

参考例句：

• Once the money got into the book, all that remained were some scribbling. 折子上的钱只是几个字！ 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子
• McMug loves scribbling. Mama then sent him to the Kindergarten. 麦唛很喜欢写字，妈妈看在眼里，就替他报读了幼稚园。 来自互联网

42 prying   

adj.爱打听的v.打听，刺探（他人的私事）( pry的现在分词 )；撬开

参考例句：

• I'm sick of you prying into my personal life! 我讨厌你刺探我的私生活！
• She is always prying into other people's affairs. 她总是打听别人的私事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

43 fad   

n.时尚；一时流行的狂热；一时的爱好

参考例句：

• His interest in photography is only a passing fad.他对摄影的兴趣只是一时的爱好罢了。
• A hot business opportunity is based on a long-term trend not a short-lived fad.一个热门的商机指的是长期的趋势而非一时的流行。

44 ballad   

n.歌谣，民谣，流行爱情歌曲

参考例句：

• This poem has the distinctive flavour of a ballad.这首诗有民歌风味。
• This is a romantic ballad that is pure corn.这是一首极为伤感的浪漫小曲。

45 clan   

n.氏族，部落，宗族，家族，宗派

参考例句：

• She ranks as my junior in the clan.她的辈分比我小。
• The Chinese Christians,therefore,practically excommunicate themselves from their own clan.所以，中国的基督徒简直是被逐出了自己的家族了。

46 observatory   

n.天文台，气象台，瞭望台，观测台

参考例句：

• Guy's house was close to the observatory.盖伊的房子离天文台很近。
• Officials from Greenwich Observatory have the clock checked twice a day.格林威治天文台的职员们每天对大钟检查两次。

47 apprentice   

n.学徒，徒弟

参考例句：

• My son is an apprentice in a furniture maker's workshop.我的儿子在一家家具厂做学徒。
• The apprentice is not yet out of his time.这徒工还没有出徒。

48 eminence   

n.卓越，显赫；高地，高处；名家

参考例句：

• He is a statesman of great eminence.他是个声名显赫的政治家。
• Many of the pilots were to achieve eminence in the aeronautical world.这些飞行员中很多人将会在航空界声名显赫。

49 crooked   

adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的

参考例句：

• He crooked a finger to tell us to go over to him.他弯了弯手指，示意我们到他那儿去。
• You have to drive slowly on these crooked country roads.在这些弯弯曲曲的乡间小路上你得慢慢开车。

50 looming   

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

参考例句：

• The foothills were looming ahead through the haze. 丘陵地带透过薄雾朦胧地出现在眼前。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Then they looked up. Looming above them was Mount Proteome. 接着他们往上看，在其上隐约看到的是蛋白质组山。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 回顾与展望