I came one day upon a road that wandered so aimlessly that it was suited to my mood, so I followed it, and it led me presently among deep woods. Somewhere in the midst of them Autumn held his court, sitting wreathed with gorgeous garlands; and it was the day before his annual festival of the Dance of Leaves, the courtly festival upon which hungry Winter rushes mob-like, and there arise the furious cries of the North Wind triumphing, and all the splendour and grace of the woods is gone, and Autumn flees away, discrowned and forgotten, and never again returns. Other Autumns arise, other Autumns, and fall before other Winters. A road led away to the left, but my road went straight on. The road to the left had a trodden appearance; there were wheel tracks on it, and it seemed the correct way to take. It looked as if no one could have any business with the road that led straight on and up the hill. Therefore I went straight on and up the hill; and here and there on the road grew blades of grass undisturbed in the repose1 and hush2 that the road had earned from going up and down the world; for you can go by this road, as you can go by all roads, to London, to Lincoln, to the North of Scotland, to the West of Wales, and to Wrellisford where roads end. Presently the woods ended, and I came to the open fields and at the same moment to the top of the hill, and saw the high places of Somerset and the downs of Wilts3 spread out along the horizon. Suddenly I saw underneath4 me the village of Wrellisford, with no sound in its street but the voice of the Wrellis roaring as he tumbled over a weir5 above the village. So I followed my road down over the crest6 of the hill, and the road became more languid as I descended7, and less and less concerned with the cares of a highway. Here a spring broke out in the middle of it, and here another. The road never heeded8. A stream ran right across it, still it straggled on. Suddenly it gave up the minimum property that a road should possess, and, renouncing9 its connection with High Streets, its lineage of Piccadilly, shrank to one side and became an unpretentious footpath10. Then it led me to the old bridge over the stream, and thus I came to Wrellisford, and found after travelling in many lands a village with no wheel tracks in its street. On the other side of the bridge, my friend the road struggled a few yards up a grassy11 slope, and there ceased. Over all the village hung a great stillness, with the roar of the Wrellis cutting right across it, and there came occasionally the bark of a dog that kept watch over the broken stillness and over the sanctity of that untravelled road. That terrible and wasting fever that, unlike so many plagues, comes not from the East but from the West, the fever of hurry, had not come here—only the Wrellis hurried on his eternal quest, but it was a calm and placid12 hurry that gave one time for song. It was in the early afternoon, and nobody was about. Either they worked beyond the mysterious valley that nursed Wrellisford and hid it from the world, or else they secluded13 themselves within their old-time houses that were roofed with tiles of stone. I sat down upon the old stone bridge and watched the Wrellis, who seemed to me to be the only traveller that came from far away into this village where roads end, and passed on beyond it. And yet the Wrellis comes singing out of eternity14, and tarries for a very little while in the village where roads end, and passes on into eternity again; and so surely do all that dwell in Wrellisford. I wondered as I leaned upon the bridge in what place the Wrellis would first find the sea, whether as he wound idly through meadows on his long quest he would suddenly behold15 him, and, leaping down over some rocky cliff, take to him at once the message of the hills. Or whether, widening slowly into some grand and tidal estuary16, he would take his waste of waters to the sea and the might of the river should meet with the might of the waves, like to two Emperors clad in gleaming mail meeting midway between two hosts of war; and the little Wrellis would become a haven17 for returning ships and a setting-out place for adventurous18 men.
A little beyond the bridge there stood an old mill with a ruined roof, and a small branch of the Wrellis rushed through its emptiness shouting, like a boy playing alone in a corridor of some desolate19 house. The mill-wheel was gone, but there lay there still great bars and wheels and cogs, the bones of some dead industry. I know not what industry was once lord in that house, I know not what retinue20 of workers mourns him now; I only know who is lord there today in all those empty chambers21. For as soon as I entered, I saw a whole wall draped with his marvellous black tapestry23, without price because inimitable and too delicate to pass from hand to hand among merchants. I looked at the wonderful complexity24 of its infinite threads, my finger sank into it for more than an inch without feeling the touch; so black it was and so carefully wrought25, sombrely covering the whole of the wall, that it might have been worked to commemorate26 the deaths of all that ever lived there, as indeed it was. I looked through a hole in the wall into an inner chamber22 where a worn-out driving band went among many wheels, and there this priceless inimitable stuff not merely clothed the walls but hung from bars and ceiling in beautiful draperies, in marvellous festoons. Nothing was ugly in this desolate house, for the busy artist's soul of its present lord had beautified everything in its desolation. It was the unmistakable work of the spider, in whose house I was, and the house was utterly27 desolate but for him, and silent but for the roar of the Wrellis and the shout of the little stream. Then I turned homewards; and as I went up and over the hill and lost the sight of the village, I saw the road whiten and harden and gradually broaden out till the tracks of wheels appeared; and it went afar to take the young men of Wrellisford into the wide ways of the earth—to the new West and the mysterious East, and into the troubled South.
And that night, when the house was still and sleep was far off, hushing hamlets and giving ease to cities, my fancy wandered up that aimless road and came suddenly to Wrellisford. And it seemed to me that the travelling of so many people for so many years between Wrellisford and John o' Groat's, talking to one another as they went or muttering alone, had given the road a voice. And it seemed to me that night that the road spoke28 to the river by Wrellisford bridge, speaking with the voice of many pilgrims. And the road said to the river: 'I rest here. How is it with you?'
And the river, who is always speaking, said: 'I rest nowhere from doing the Work of the World. I carry the murmur29 of inner lands to the sea, and to the abysses voices of the hills.'
'It is I,' said the road, 'that do the Work of the World, and take from city to city the rumour30 of each. There is nothing higher than Man and the making of cities. What do you do for Man?'
And the river said: 'Beauty and song are higher than Man. I carry the news seaward of the first song of the thrush after the furious retreat of winter northward31, and the first timid anemone32 learns from me that she is safe and that spring has truly come. Oh but the song of all the birds in spring is more beautiful than Man, and the first coming of the hyacinth more delectable33 than his face! When spring is fallen upon the days of summer, I carry away with mournful joy at night petal34 by petal the rhododendron's bloom. No lit procession of purple kings is nigh so fair as that. No beautiful death of well-beloved men hath such a glory of forlornness. And I bear far away the pink and white petals35 of the apple-blossom's youth when the laborious36 time comes for his work in the world and for the bearing of apples. And I am robed each day and every night anew with the beauty of heaven, and I make lovely visions of the trees. But Man! What is Man? In the ancient parliament of the elder hills, when the grey ones speak together, they say nought37 of Man, but concern themselves only with their brethren the stars. Or when they wrap themselves in purple cloaks at evening, they lament38 some old irreparable wrong, or, uttering some mountain hymn39, all mourn the set of sun.'
'Your beauty,' said the road, 'and the beauty of the sky, and of the rhododendron blossom and of spring, live only in the mind of Man, and except in the mind of Man the mountains have no voices. Nothing is beautiful that has not been seen by Man's eye. Or if your rhododendron blossom was beautiful for a moment, it soon withered40 and was drowned, and spring soon passes away; beauty can only live on in the mind of Man. I bring thought into the mind of Man swiftly from distant places every day. I know the Telegraph—I know him well; he and I have walked for hundreds of miles together. There is no work in the world except for Man and the making of his cities. I take wares41 to and fro from city to city.'
'My little stream in the field there,' said the river, 'used to make wares in that house for awhile once.'
'Ah,' said the road, 'I remember, but I brought cheaper ones from distant cities. Nothing is of any importance but making cities for Man.'
'I know so little about him,' said the river, 'but I have a great deal of work to do—I have all this water to send down to the sea; and then tomorrow or next day all the leaves of Autumn will be coming this way. It will be very beautiful. The sea is a very, very wonderful place. I know all about it; I have heard shepherd boys singing of it, and sometimes before a storm the gulls42 come up. It is a place all blue and shining and full of pearls, and has in it coral islands and isles43 of spice, and storms and galleons44 and the bones of Drake. The sea is much greater than Man. When I come to the sea, he will know that I have worked well for him. But I must hurry, for I have much to do. This bridge delays me a little; some day I will carry it away.'
'Oh, you must not do that,' said the road.
'Oh, not for a long time,' said the river. 'Some centuries perhaps—and I have much to do besides. There is my song to sing, for instance, and that alone is more beautiful than any noise that Man makes.'
'All work is for Man,' said the road, 'and for the building of cities. There is no beauty or romance or mystery in the sea except for the men that sail abroad upon it, and for those that stay at home and dream of them. As for your song, it rings night and morning, year in, year out, in the ears of men that are born in Wrellisford; at night it is part of their dreams, at morning it is the voice of day, and so it becomes part of their souls. But the song is not beautiful in itself. I take these men with your song in their souls up over the edge of the valley and a long way off beyond, and I am a strong and dusty road up there, and they go with your song in their souls and turn it into music and gladden cities. But nothing is the Work of the World except work for Man.'
'I wish I was quite sure about the Work of the World,' said the stream; 'I wish I knew for certain for whom we work. I feel almost sure that it is for the sea. He is very great and beautiful. I think that there can be no greater master than the sea. I think that some day he may be so full of romance and mystery and sound of sheep bells and murmur of mist-hidden hills, which we streams shall have brought him, that there will be no more music or beauty left in the world, and all the world will end; and perhaps the streams shall gather at the last, we all together, to the sea. Or perhaps the sea will give us at the last unto each one his own again, giving back all that he has garnered45 in the years—the little petals of the apple-blossom and the mourned ones of the rhododendron, and our old visions of the trees and sky; so many memories have left the hills. But who may say? For who knows the tides of the sea?'
'Be sure that it is all for Man,' said the road. 'For Man and the making of cities.'
Something had come near on utterly silent feet.
'Peace, peace!' it said. 'You disturb the queenly night, who, having come into this valley, is a guest in my dark halls. Let us have an end to this discussion.'
It was the spider who spoke.
'The Work of the World is the making of cities and palaces. But it is not for Man. What is Man? He only prepares my cities for me, and mellows46 them. All his works are ugly, his richest tapestries47 are coarse and clumsy. He is a noisy idler. He only protects me from mine enemy the wind; and the beautiful work in my cities, the curving outlines and the delicate weavings, is all mine. Ten years to a hundred it takes to build a city, for five or six hundred more it mellows, and is prepared for me; then I inhabit it, and hide away all that is ugly, and draw beautiful lines about it to and fro. There is nothing so beautiful as cities and palaces; they are the loveliest places in the world, because they are the stillest, and so most like the stars. They are noisy at first, for a little, before I come to them; they have ugly corners not yet rounded off, and coarse tapestries, and then they become ready for me and my exquisite48 work, and are quite silent and beautiful. And there I entertain the regal nights when they come there jewelled with stars, and all their train of silence, and regale49 them with costly50 dust. Already nods, in a city that I wot of, a lonely sentinel whose lords are dead, who grows too old and sleepy to drive away the gathering51 silence that infests52 the streets; tomorrow I go to see if he be still at his post. For me Babylon was built, and rocky Tyre; and still men build my cities! All the Work of the World is the making of cities, and all of them I inherit.'
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1
repose
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| v.(使)休息；n.安息 | |
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2
hush
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| int.嘘，别出声；n.沉默，静寂；v.使安静 | |
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wilts
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| （使）凋谢，枯萎( wilt的第三人称单数 ) | |
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underneath
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| adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面 | |
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weir
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| n.堰堤，拦河坝 | |
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crest
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| n.顶点；饰章；羽冠；vt.达到顶点；vi.形成浪尖 | |
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7
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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8
heeded
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| v.听某人的劝告，听从( heed的过去式和过去分词 )；变平，使（某物）变平( flatten的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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9
renouncing
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| v.声明放弃( renounce的现在分词 )；宣布放弃；宣布与…决裂；宣布摒弃 | |
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10
footpath
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| n.小路，人行道 | |
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11
grassy
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| adj.盖满草的；长满草的 | |
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12
placid
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| adj.安静的，平和的 | |
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secluded
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| adj.与世隔绝的；隐退的；偏僻的v.使隔开，使隐退( seclude的过去式和过去分词) | |
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14
eternity
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| n.不朽，来世；永恒，无穷 | |
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15
behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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estuary
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| n.河口，江口 | |
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haven
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| n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所 | |
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18
adventurous
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| adj.爱冒险的；惊心动魄的，惊险的，刺激的 | |
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19
desolate
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| adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂 | |
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retinue
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| n.侍从；随员 | |
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chambers
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| n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅 | |
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chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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tapestry
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| n.挂毯，丰富多采的画面 | |
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24
complexity
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| n.复杂(性)，复杂的事物 | |
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25
wrought
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| v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的 | |
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commemorate
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| vt.纪念，庆祝 | |
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utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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28
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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29
murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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30
rumour
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| n.谣言，谣传，传闻 | |
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31
northward
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| adv.向北；n.北方的地区 | |
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32
anemone
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| n.海葵 | |
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delectable
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| adj.使人愉快的；美味的 | |
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34
petal
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| n.花瓣 | |
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35
petals
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| n.花瓣( petal的名词复数 ) | |
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36
laborious
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| adj.吃力的，努力的，不流畅 | |
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nought
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| n.／adj.无，零 | |
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lament
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| n.悲叹，悔恨，恸哭；v.哀悼，悔恨，悲叹 | |
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hymn
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| n.赞美诗，圣歌，颂歌 | |
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40
withered
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| adj. 枯萎的，干瘪的，（人身体的部分器官）因病萎缩的或未发育良好的 动词wither的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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41
wares
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| n. 货物, 商品 | |
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42
gulls
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| n.鸥( gull的名词复数 )v.欺骗某人( gull的第三人称单数 ) | |
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isles
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| 岛( isle的名词复数 ) | |
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44
galleons
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| n.大型帆船( galleon的名词复数 ) | |
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45
garnered
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| v.收集并（通常）贮藏（某物），取得，获得( garner的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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46
mellows
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| （使）成熟( mellow的第三人称单数 )； 使色彩更加柔和，使酒更加醇香 | |
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47
tapestries
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| n.挂毯( tapestry的名词复数 )；绣帷，织锦v.用挂毯（或绣帷）装饰( tapestry的第三人称单数 ) | |
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48
exquisite
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| adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的 | |
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49
regale
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| v.取悦，款待 | |
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50
costly
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| adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的 | |
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51
gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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52
infests
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| n.害虫、野兽大批出没于( infest的名词复数 )；遍布于v.害虫、野兽大批出没于( infest的第三人称单数 )；遍布于 | |
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