CHAPTER XX THE HEART OF NATURE

 DURING the next three weeks the two conspirators¹ were wildly busy. Money is a key which smooths many 

 

difficulties, and the path before them was triumphantly² easy.

 

Jasper found Miss Mason a little hard to understand during these days. She had a way of looking at him 

 

and then giving vent³ to odd little chuckles⁴ of laughter. He hoped she was not becoming childish.

 

She received several letters from the donkey tourists. One, received about the tenth day, told her 

 

that another of her schemes was on the way to be started.

 

“We are,” wrote Barnabas, “enjoying ourselves immensely. The weather is glorious, and Pegasus a 

 

model of well-behaved donkeyness. He certainly deserves wings, even though he hasn’t got them. But I 

 

heard Pippa telling him in a consoling voice the other day that when he reached heaven he’d be 

 

provided with a pair of beautiful white ones. I fancy she sees in herself a female Bellerophon soaring 

 

aloft and through golden streets on a grey donkey. If the golden streets are anything like as 

 

beautiful as the country lanes through which we are driving we shall be happy. I wish you could see 

 

them—the lanes, I mean. They are a bower⁵ of fairy delight. Wild roses, honeysuckle, and meadow-sweet 

 

seem to vie with each other in filling the warm air with perfume. Larks—I never knew before that the 

 

world held so many—sing to us from heaven, the sweetest feathered choristers. Last night a 

 

nightingale sang to us in the light of a full moon. It was the first Pippa had heard. There was 

 

something almost terrifying in her rapture⁶. She feels almost too keenly. She is, however, absolutely 

 

in her element, and if I had ever felt any real doubt about her being the child of Kostolitz I should 

 

only have needed to see her out here to convince me. At times she finds the most adorable bits of 

 

language in which to express her emotions. But then it is always some little thing like the colour of 

 

a flower-chalice or the glint of the kingfisher’s blue. We saw one the other day. It skimmed up a bit 

 

of transparent⁷ water and perched on a piece of stick in midstream. Pippa and I watched it, holding our 

 

breath. All at once something—I don’t know what—startled it. There was a streak⁸ of iridescent 

 

colour and it had gone. But it left us both with the joyous⁹ feeling of discovery. The bird is too rare 

 

and too beautiful to leave one entirely¹⁰ unmoved. Pippa could talk of that [Pg 206]incident. It is the 

 

bigger aspects of Nature that hold her dumb. We came to a wood one evening—pines, straight and solemn 

 

as the aisles¹¹ of a cathedral, the setting sun slanting¹² down the long spaces. Pippa’s face was a 

 

marvel¹³. She just put her hand up to her throat and held it there as if it ached with the beauty of the 

 

thing, and then she made the sign of the Cross. It was holy ground, though there had been no priestly 

 

ceremonial to proclaim it so. Only the wind was there to whisper a benediction¹⁴, and the trees 

 

themselves were like priests scattering¹⁵ the incense¹⁶ of their fragrant¹⁷ breath. The very memory of it 

 

brings thoughts of poetry to my mind. But again to Pippa. She’s yours, and I want you to know her as 

 

I’m seeing her now, for it’s the essence of her—the spirit of Kostolitz I’m seeing. A long line of 

 

cawing rooks, whether at sunset or against the blue sky, affects her strangely. It seems to make her 

 

unutterably sad. Temporarily only, I am glad to say, for she is the gayest of children, and delights 

 

in the smallest of pleasures—namely, a pennyworth of bull’s-eyes and sticks of pink-and-white 

 

striped stuff which we buy from extremely minute shops, whose windows are crammed¹⁹ below with apples—

 

foreign, of course—and nuts. Above the apples and nuts are rows of glass bottles full of pear-drops, 

 

lemon-drops, peppermints²⁰, and barley-sugar, also sugar candy the real article, rough and scrunchly on 

 

a string. And somewhere in the window, very inconspicuous, is a slit²¹ through which one can drop 

 

letters—the sweetstuff shop is always the post office. But sweets evidently take decided²² precedence 

 

over such minor²³ considerations as letters and postage stamps. There is always a garden leading up to 

 

the shop, and it is always crammed with flowers, the stiff old-fashioned kind—sweet-williams, stocks, 

 

marigolds, mignonette, asters, and such-like. There are bushes, too, of lavender, and lad’s-love. I 

 

painted one of them, but somehow did not hit it off. I’ve made another sketch²⁴, though, of a pond, a 

 

willow²⁵, meadow-sweet, and blue hills, which pleases me quite a lot. In fact, I was so absorbed in it 

 

that I lost Pippa. You needn’t be anxious, because she is found again, and with her something you 

 

wanted, namely, the first candidate for your School of a Wonderful Chance. I had just finished my 

 

sketch, and having come back to the practicalities of life realized that Pippa had been absent for two 

 

hours. When lo! and behold²⁶ she appeared, and with her a loose-limbed fellow of about twenty. When he 

 

fills out he will rival Dan in size—but that is beside the mark.

 

“‘Barnabas,’ she cried—ceremony and with it the Monsieur has lapsed²⁷ into disuse in the open air—

 

‘do look at ze lovely little figure ’e ’as made. ‘Is name is Andrew McAndrew.’ And she rolled her 

 

r’s with gusto. Well, it is pleasant to think [Pg 208]that Pippa should be the one to find your first 

 

candidate, and it is curious to think it is one who, if I am not much mistaken, will one day be a 

 

great sculptor²⁸. The little figure of a young girl, made from the clay of the river, was to my mind 

 

simply a marvel. I learnt his story. I’ll not give it in the broad Scotch²⁹ in which he told it, for it 

 

would take you your whole time to make it out. He lived in London—Bayswater way—with a widowed 

 

mother, whom he supports by typing in a stuffy³⁰ little office which he loathes³¹, though he has not been 

 

without hope that ‘Aiblins the gud Lorrd would find a way out for him one o’ these days.’ Whenever 

 

he has any spare time he models in clay, which mercifully is an inexpensive material. He has at the 

 

moment a week’s holiday, during which he is tramping the country, sleeping under a hedge or at the 

 

foot of a hayrick, eating bread and cheese like any tramp, and enjoying himself finely—as we are. 

 

Pippa, it appears, watched him at work, herself hidden, like the fairy she is, in a mass of meadow-

 

sweet. Suddenly she appeared from among it, and they entered into a conversation which must have been 

 

curious, conducted in a broad Scotch on his side, and in broken English on hers—though her English is 

 

progressing rapidly. Anyhow, she made him understand she was out with a party of artists. He was all 

 

agog³² to meet us, and she brought him along. He will join us for the next three days, instead of making 

 

his way again in the direction of London as he had intended, and we’ve arranged between us to send 

 

him back by train. As soon as I’m at my studio again he will look me up, and I’ll bring him along to 

 

see you. I’ve given him no inkling of the Wonderful Chance before him. That is for you to do. But he

 

’s one of the right ones for it and no mistake. You won’t mind if we keep on the tour till the end 

 

of June, will you? Cupid is sitting gaily³³ in the donkey-cart alongside Pippa, and though Aurora³⁴ and 

 

Alan don’t quite realize his presence yet, they soon will discover him, and will no doubt bring him 

 

back as a permanent guest to London. That, of course, was my main idea when I proposed the tour. High 

 

Art, thank goodness, is getting wan¹⁸ and pale. She had almost her death-blow the other day when Aurora 

 

made a daisy-chain with which she adorned³⁵ Alan, and he fell into a pond dabbling³⁶ after tadpoles³⁷ for 

 

Pippa. We fished him out and wrapped him in a rug, while we spread his clothes in a buttercup field to 

 

dry. The warmth of their gold was enough to dry them, let alone the sun. I heard Cupid chuckling³⁸, the 

 

rogue³⁹! We miss you a lot, and the best thing we have to look forward to on our return is your 

 

welcome....”

 

 

Miss Mason put down the letter with a little sigh of happiness. Her heart felt nearly as warm and 

 

sunny as the buttercup field.

 

Then she set out to meet Bridget at Storey’s in Kensington High Street.

 

Exactly three weeks after Miss Mason’s peregrination⁴⁰ to Chiswick she put a request to Jasper.

 

“I want,” she said, in as careless a voice as she could assume, “to call on a friend of mine this 

 

afternoon, and I want you to come with me.”

 

Jasper looked dismayed. “I should be delighted,” he said mendaciously⁴¹, “only calling isn’t a bit 

 

in my line.”

 

“It’s quite near at hand,” said Miss Mason; “only at a flat in Beaufort Street, and I particularly 

 

want you to meet my friend.”

 

“Very well,” said Jasper, suppressing a sigh.

 

“We’ll start,” said Miss Mason, “at half-past three.”

 

At the hour appointed Jasper appeared.

 

“You had better call a taxi,” said Miss Mason. She felt it impossible to walk. She would have run 

 

all the way, a proceeding⁴² which would have undoubtedly⁴³ have astonished Jasper.

 

As the taxi drew up at the door of a block of flats in Beaufort Street, a woman looked for a moment 

 

from a window. As she saw the two figures get out she drew back into the room. Her heart was beating 

 

so loudly she could almost hear it.

 

Miss Mason rang the bell of the flat.

 

“Your mistress at home?” she said to the dapper little maid who opened the door.

 

“Yes’m. What name ’m?”

 

“Miss Mason and Mr. Merton,” said Miss Mason firmly.

 

They went into the bright little passage, and the maid threw open the door of the drawing-room.

 

“Miss Mason and Mr. Merton,” she announced.

 

A woman in a pale green dress came forward to meet them.

 

Jasper stared.

 

“Jasper,” she said, with a little shaky laugh, and she held out both her hands.

 

“Bride!” he exclaimed, and it was nearly seven years since she had heard that name.

 

Miss Mason went quickly from the room, and closed the door softly behind her.

 

It was nearly an hour before they realized her absence. Then Bridget started up from the sofa.

 

“Aunt Olive!” she exclaimed. “Oh, Jasper, isn’t she a dear! I must go round and find her.”

 

“She’ll be back at her studio by now,” said Jasper calmly.

 

“I’d quite forgotten her,” said Bridget contritely⁴⁴. “Oughtn’t we to go——”

 

“Presently,” said Jasper. “Come back to me now. I want you. Aunt Olive will understand.”

1 conspirators   

n.共谋者，阴谋家( conspirator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The conspirators took no part in the fighting which ensued. 密谋者没有参加随后发生的战斗。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The French conspirators were forced to escape very hurriedly. 法国同谋者被迫匆促逃亡。 来自辞典例句

2 triumphantly   

ad.得意洋洋地；得胜地；成功地

参考例句：

• The lion was roaring triumphantly. 狮子正在发出胜利的吼叫。
• Robert was looking at me triumphantly. 罗伯特正得意扬扬地看着我。

3 vent   

n.通风口，排放口；开衩；vt.表达，发泄

参考例句：

• He gave vent to his anger by swearing loudly.他高声咒骂以发泄他的愤怒。
• When the vent became plugged,the engine would stop.当通风口被堵塞时，发动机就会停转。

4 chuckles   

轻声地笑( chuckle的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Father always chuckles when he reads the funny papers. 父亲在读幽默报纸时总是低声发笑。
• [Chuckles] You thought he was being poisoned by hemlock? 你觉得他中的会是芹叶钩吻毒吗？

5 bower   

n.凉亭，树荫下凉快之处；闺房；v.荫蔽

参考例句：

• They sat under the leafy bower at the end of the garden and watched the sun set.他们坐在花园尽头由叶子搭成的凉棚下观看落日。
• Mrs. Quilp was pining in her bower.奎尔普太太正在她的闺房里度着愁苦的岁月。

6 rapture   

n.狂喜；全神贯注；着迷；v.使狂喜

参考例句：

• His speech was received with rapture by his supporters.他的演说受到支持者们的热烈欢迎。
• In the midst of his rapture,he was interrupted by his father.他正欢天喜地，被他父亲打断了。

7 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。

8 streak   

n.条理，斑纹，倾向，少许，痕迹；v.加条纹，变成条纹，奔驰，快速移动

参考例句：

• The Indians used to streak their faces with paint.印第安人过去常用颜料在脸上涂条纹。
• Why did you streak the tree?你为什么在树上刻条纹？

9 joyous   

adj.充满快乐的；令人高兴的

参考例句：

• The lively dance heightened the joyous atmosphere of the scene.轻快的舞蹈给这场戏渲染了欢乐气氛。
• They conveyed the joyous news to us soon.他们把这一佳音很快地传递给我们。

10 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

11 aisles   

n. (席位间的)通道, 侧廊

参考例句：

• Aisles were added to the original Saxon building in the Norman period. 在诺曼时期，原来的萨克森风格的建筑物都增添了走廊。
• They walked about the Abbey aisles, and presently sat down. 他们走到大教堂的走廊附近，并且很快就坐了下来。

12 slanting   

倾斜的，歪斜的

参考例句：

• The rain is driving [slanting] in from the south. 南边潲雨。
• The line is slanting to the left. 这根线向左斜了。

13 marvel   

vi.(at)惊叹vt.感到惊异；n.令人惊异的事

参考例句：

• The robot is a marvel of modern engineering.机器人是现代工程技术的奇迹。
• The operation was a marvel of medical skill.这次手术是医术上的一个奇迹。

14 benediction   

n.祝福；恩赐

参考例句：

• The priest pronounced a benediction over the couple at the end of the marriage ceremony.牧师在婚礼结束时为新婚夫妇祈求上帝赐福。
• He went abroad with his parents' benediction.他带着父母的祝福出国去了。

15 scattering   

n.[物]散射；散乱，分散；在媒介质中的散播adj.散乱的；分散在不同范围的；广泛扩散的；（选票）数量分散的v.散射(scatter的ing形式)；散布；驱散

参考例句：

• The child felle into a rage and began scattering its toys about. 这孩子突发狂怒，把玩具扔得满地都是。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The farmers are scattering seed. 农夫们在播种。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 incense   

v.激怒；n.香，焚香时的烟，香气

参考例句：

• This proposal will incense conservation campaigners.这项提议会激怒环保人士。
• In summer,they usually burn some coil incense to keep away the mosquitoes.夏天他们通常点香驱蚊。

17 fragrant   

adj.芬香的，馥郁的，愉快的

参考例句：

• The Fragrant Hills are exceptionally beautiful in late autumn.深秋的香山格外美丽。
• The air was fragrant with lavender.空气中弥漫薰衣草香。

18 wan   

(wide area network)广域网

参考例句：

• The shared connection can be an Ethernet,wireless LAN,or wireless WAN connection.提供共享的网络连接可以是以太网、无线局域网或无线广域网。

19 crammed   

adj.塞满的，挤满的；大口地吃；快速贪婪地吃v.把…塞满；填入；临时抱佛脚( cram的过去式)

参考例句：

• He crammed eight people into his car. 他往他的车里硬塞进八个人。
• All the shelves were crammed with books. 所有的架子上都堆满了书。

20 peppermints   

n.薄荷( peppermint的名词复数 )；薄荷糖

参考例句：

• She just curls up and sucks peppermints. 她老是蜷着腿躺着，吮着薄荷糖。 来自辞典例句
• Enough, already with this mellow incense and peppermints vibe. 够了，我受够这些薰香以及薄荷的感觉了。 来自电影对白

21 slit   

n.狭长的切口；裂缝；vt.切开，撕裂

参考例句：

• The coat has been slit in two places.这件外衣有两处裂开了。
• He began to slit open each envelope.他开始裁开每个信封。

22 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

23 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

24 sketch   

n.草图；梗概；素描；v.素描；概述

参考例句：

• My sister often goes into the country to sketch. 我姐姐常到乡间去写生。
• I will send you a slight sketch of the house.我将给你寄去房屋的草图。

25 willow   

n.柳树

参考例句：

• The river was sparsely lined with willow trees.河边疏疏落落有几棵柳树。
• The willow's shadow falls on the lake.垂柳的影子倒映在湖面上。

26 behold   

v.看，注视，看到

参考例句：

• The industry of these little ants is wonderful to behold.这些小蚂蚁辛勤劳动的样子看上去真令人惊叹。
• The sunrise at the seaside was quite a sight to behold.海滨日出真是个奇景。

27 lapsed   

adj.流失的，堕落的v.退步( lapse的过去式和过去分词 )；陷入；倒退；丧失

参考例句：

• He had lapsed into unconsciousness. 他陷入了昏迷状态。
• He soon lapsed into his previous bad habits. 他很快陷入以前的恶习中去。 来自《简明英汉词典》

28 sculptor   

n.雕刻家，雕刻家

参考例句：

• A sculptor forms her material.雕塑家把材料塑造成雕塑品。
• The sculptor rounded the clay into a sphere.那位雕塑家把黏土做成了一个球状。

29 scotch   

n.伤口，刻痕；苏格兰威士忌酒；v.粉碎，消灭，阻止；adj.苏格兰(人)的

参考例句：

• Facts will eventually scotch these rumours.这种谣言在事实面前将不攻自破。
• Italy was full of fine views and virtually empty of Scotch whiskey.意大利多的是美景，真正缺的是苏格兰威士忌。

30 stuffy   

adj.不透气的，闷热的

参考例句：

• It's really hot and stuffy in here.这里实在太热太闷了。
• It was so stuffy in the tent that we could sense the air was heavy with moisture.帐篷里很闷热，我们感到空气都是潮的。

31 loathes   

v.憎恨，厌恶( loathe的第三人称单数 )；极不喜欢

参考例句：

• He loathes the sight of crabs. 他看到蟹就恶心。 来自辞典例句
• Loathes this continually air all to bring the false society. 厌恶这连空气都带着虚伪的社会。 来自互联网

32 agog   

adj.兴奋的，有强烈兴趣的； adv.渴望地

参考例句：

• The children were all agog to hear the story.孩子们都渴望着要听这个故事。
• The city was agog with rumors last night that the two had been executed.那两人已被处决的传言昨晚搞得全城沸沸扬扬。

33 gaily   

adv.欢乐地，高兴地

参考例句：

• The children sing gaily.孩子们欢唱着。
• She waved goodbye very gaily.她欢快地挥手告别。

34 aurora   

n.极光

参考例句：

• The aurora is one of nature's most awesome spectacles.极光是自然界最可畏的奇观之一。
• Over the polar regions we should see aurora.在极地高空,我们会看到极光。

35 adorned   

[计]被修饰的

参考例句：

• The walls were adorned with paintings. 墙上装饰了绘画。
• And his coat was adorned with a flamboyant bunch of flowers. 他的外套上面装饰着一束艳丽刺目的鲜花。

36 dabbling   

v.涉猎( dabble的现在分词 )；涉足；浅尝；少量投资

参考例句：

• She swims twice a week and has been dabbling in weight training. 她一周游两次泳，偶尔还练习一下举重。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The boy is dabbling his hand in the water. 这孩子正用手玩水。 来自辞典例句

37 tadpoles   

n.蝌蚪( tadpole的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The pond teemed with tadpoles. 池子里有很多蝌蚪。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Both fish and tadpoles have gills. 鱼和蝌蚪都有鳃。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

38 chuckling   

轻声地笑( chuckle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• I could hear him chuckling to himself as he read his book. 他看书时，我能听见他的轻声发笑。
• He couldn't help chuckling aloud. 他忍不住的笑了出来。 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子

39 rogue   

n.流氓；v.游手好闲

参考例句：

• The little rogue had his grandpa's glasses on.这淘气鬼带上了他祖父的眼镜。
• They defined him as a rogue.他们确定他为骗子。

40 peregrination   

n.游历，旅行

参考例句：

• He experienced different cultures during his peregrination.在国外的游历使他体验到不同的文化。
• In the course of this peregrination,each participant visited six of the 90 food stalls in the market.在游历过程中，每个参与者都参观了这个市场里90个食物摊位中的6个。

41 mendaciously   

参考例句：

42 proceeding   

n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报

参考例句：

• This train is now proceeding from Paris to London.这次列车从巴黎开往伦敦。
• The work is proceeding briskly.工作很有生气地进展着。

43 undoubtedly   

adv.确实地，无疑地

参考例句：

• It is undoubtedly she who has said that.这话明明是她说的。
• He is undoubtedly the pride of China.毫无疑问他是中国的骄傲。

44 contritely   

参考例句：