CHAPTER XXII The Meeting by the River

 Power dismounted. He was full of tiny pains and the cold was beginning to eat into his bones. Neville had pulled up the buggy near at hand. The old man was plastered with mud to his shaggy eyebrows¹.

 

"Hey, Power!" he shouted out. "What's become of the gel?"

 

"We were too late."

 

"Goodness, that's a nuisance! Get out, Maud, gel. I want to get down." The two people got down from the buggy. "Now that's annoyin'," went on the old man, feeling under the seat for his stick. "Nearly killed ourselves getting here, too. I may be wrong, but I reckon the horses won't be much good for a day or two, huh, huh! Here's what I was after. It's looking a bit more settled over there now. The rain may be gone for a while."

 

Scandalous arrived across the mud.

 

"Hold this horse," Power said. He delivered it and walked forward to meet Neville. They had not met for many days and saluted² each other abruptly³.

 

"The gel's drowned after all, then, Power?"

 

"Yes."

 

"You would have thought a gel like her would find sense to look after herself. No sign of her anywhere about?" The old man cast glances up and down the bank.

 

"We'll search lower down to-morrow."

 

"Yes, I reckon that's all there is to do. It's not much use hanging round here gettin' cold. The river came down pretty quick and pretty big. Gracious! What's up with King! Goodness, he's badly hit!"

 

The old man trotted⁴ away after King.

 

Maud stood beside the buggy. She was looking at the river. Power found himself watching her. She was wet through and blown about by the wind; but her gaze was steady as it followed the rush of the current. Of those who had hurried here in panic, she only was serene⁵; yet the schoolmaster had set her the severest tasks. It must be she was the aptest pupil. Power tried to follow her thoughts. She was finding a symbol in the river. It had rushed down with a great cry upon this quiet place, snatching away the old landmarks⁶. Its fury would wear out presently, and over the wrecked⁷ country a[Pg 321] kindly⁸ growth of green would make its way. That was what she saw.

 

Power fell into reflection. Two months ago he had found Gregory sleeping a drunken sleep on the road, had taken pity on him and had led him home. In the doorway⁹ of a shabby tent beside the river he had seen Molly for the first time. Two months had gone by since then, and for sixty days he had lived life more acutely than he had believed possible. He would not wish to live life so keenly again. He seemed to have travelled in every country. He seemed to have lived in every climate. He seemed to have climbed every height and to have gone down into every dark way. All books had been opened that he might look inside. All strings¹⁰ of experience had been plucked that he might listen to new notes.

 

These two months were at an end, and there seemed no more countries to visit, no more climates to test, no more heights to climb, no more depths to descend¹¹. The books were being shut. The strings of experience were growing mute. Instead of turning his ears to siren voices, he listened again to the speech of everyday. In place of fields of asphodel, he trod again the highway. It was time to see where he stood—to add up gains and subtract losses.

 

Strange that the metal must pass through the fire before the artificer will receive it. Strange that a man must experience sorrow before wisdom will shape him to its ends. Yet such burnings need not be considered punishment, such sorrow need not be counted degradation¹².

 

He had served his apprenticeship¹³ to love and now might call himself craftsman¹⁴. He knew where to chisel¹⁵ with his tools—not in the poor material of the human body, but in the enduring fabric¹⁶ of the spirit. He had learned this craft, and the fee of apprenticeship had been that he had put aside unrecognised the finest material that would come under his hand.

 

He came out of his reverie and found Maud watching him. He went towards her through the pools of water.

 

.         .         .         .         .         .

 

My tale is told. While nine months have been wearing out, I have come back, night by night, to this tent, a scribe who would beguile¹⁷ the hour with the telling of a story. The tale is told to the last word. Put down the pen; run in the horses and saddle up. It is time to seek new places. The railway line creeps across the plain to Surprise; and growth and change will fall upon the camp to devour¹⁸ it. Take down the tent, fill up the tucker-bags and load the pack-horse. It is time to be gone.

 

W. C. Penfold & Co. Ltd., Printers, 183 Pitt Street, Sydney.

1 eyebrows   

眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Eyebrows stop sweat from coming down into the eyes. 眉毛挡住汗水使其不能流进眼睛。
• His eyebrows project noticeably. 他的眉毛特别突出。

2 saluted   

v.欢迎，致敬( salute的过去式和过去分词 )；赞扬，赞颂

参考例句：

• The sergeant stood to attention and saluted. 中士立正敬礼。
• He saluted his friends with a wave of the hand. 他挥手向他的朋友致意。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 abruptly   

adv.突然地，出其不意地

参考例句：

• He gestured abruptly for Virginia to get in the car.他粗鲁地示意弗吉尼亚上车。
• I was abruptly notified that a half-hour speech was expected of me.我突然被通知要讲半个小时的话。

4 trotted   

小跑，急走( trot的过去分词 )； 匆匆忙忙地走

参考例句：

• She trotted her pony around the field. 她骑着小马绕场慢跑。
• Anne trotted obediently beside her mother. 安妮听话地跟在妈妈身边走。

5 serene   

adj. 安详的，宁静的，平静的

参考例句：

• He has entered the serene autumn of his life.他已进入了美好的中年时期。
• He didn't speak much,he just smiled with that serene smile of his.他话不多，只是脸上露出他招牌式的淡定的微笑。

6 landmarks   

n.陆标( landmark的名词复数 )；目标；（标志重要阶段的）里程碑 ~ (in sth)；有历史意义的建筑物（或遗址）

参考例句：

• The book stands out as one of the notable landmarks in the progress of modern science. 这部著作是现代科学发展史上著名的里程碑之一。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The baby was one of the big landmarks in our relationship. 孩子的出世是我们俩关系中的一个重要转折点。 来自辞典例句

7 wrecked   

adj.失事的，遇难的

参考例句：

• the hulk of a wrecked ship 遇难轮船的残骸
• the salvage of the wrecked tanker 对失事油轮的打捞

8 kindly   

adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地

参考例句：

• Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
• A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。

9 doorway   

n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径

参考例句：

• They huddled in the shop doorway to shelter from the rain.他们挤在商店门口躲雨。
• Mary suddenly appeared in the doorway.玛丽突然出现在门口。

10 strings   

n.弦

参考例句：

• He sat on the bed,idly plucking the strings of his guitar.他坐在床上，随意地拨着吉他的弦。
• She swept her fingers over the strings of the harp.她用手指划过竖琴的琴弦。

11 descend   

vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降

参考例句：

• I hope the grace of God would descend on me.我期望上帝的恩惠。
• We're not going to descend to such methods.我们不会沦落到使用这种手段。

12 degradation   

n.降级；低落；退化；陵削；降解；衰变

参考例句：

• There are serious problems of land degradation in some arid zones.在一些干旱地带存在严重的土地退化问题。
• Gambling is always coupled with degradation.赌博总是与堕落相联系。

13 apprenticeship   

n.学徒身份；学徒期

参考例句：

• She was in the second year of her apprenticeship as a carpenter. 她当木工学徒已是第二年了。
• He served his apprenticeship with Bob. 他跟鲍勃当学徒。

14 craftsman   

n.技工，精于一门工艺的匠人

参考例句：

• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。
• The craftsman is working up the mass of clay into a toy figure.艺人把一团泥捏成玩具形状。

15 chisel   

n.凿子；v.用凿子刻，雕，凿

参考例句：

• This chisel is useful for getting into awkward spaces.这凿子在要伸入到犄角儿里时十分有用。
• Camille used a hammer and chisel to carve out a figure from the marble.卡米尔用锤子和凿子将大理石雕刻出一个人像。

16 fabric   

n.织物，织品，布；构造，结构，组织

参考例句：

• The fabric will spot easily.这种织品很容易玷污。
• I don't like the pattern on the fabric.我不喜欢那块布料上的图案。

17 beguile   

vt.欺骗，消遣

参考例句：

• They are playing cards to beguile the time.他们在打牌以消磨时间。
• He used his newspapers to beguile the readers into buying shares in his company.他利用他的报纸诱骗读者买他公司的股票。

18 devour   

v.吞没；贪婪地注视或谛听，贪读；使着迷

参考例句：

• Larger fish devour the smaller ones.大鱼吃小鱼。
• Beauty is but a flower which wrinkle will devour.美只不过是一朵，终会被皱纹所吞噬。