Mr. Bishop was a flashy man, not quite jockey, not quite farmer, rather of the squireen type. He had associated enough with gentlemen to know how they permit themselves to slang and swear. He was, however, better than a gentleman jockey, who, like a gentleman stool-pigeon, is doubly dangerous. But no jockey could say more for the black horse than was evident in every bend of his body, in every tense muscle and chord of the delicate limbs.
“He is high-couraged, sir,” said Bishop, “and has played the devil with some folks. You seem to know how to handle a horse.”
Waddy ran his hand over the legs, as free from knots as a Malacca joint5; then standing6 at his head,[98] he let the colt nibble7 at a bit of moist biscuit and took the opportunity quietly to look at his mouth.
“He seems all right,” he said, at last. “Move him a little, if you please.”
Bishop started him off. The stride and spring were smooth as a raw oyster8; both told of speed and power.
“There’s no mistake about him,” said Bishop, bringing him back. “I meant to have kept him to ride myself, but times is gittin’ hard [i. e., brandy has gone up]. Besides, my daughter, Sally, is gittin’ sicker an’ I’ll have to go south with her next winter and shan’t need no horse, an’ ’ll want the rocks. Mr. Tootler knows the horse an’ kin9 tell you what he did when we tried him on the course. If you buy him an’ ’ll keep dark, you’ll be mighty10 apt to take ’em down that tries to run with you.”
While Tootler was drawing the check, Cecilia came out with a small basket. She offered it to Bishop.
“I’ve been putting up some jelly for Miss Sally,” she said. “It may tempt12 her. How is she to-day?”
“The best to be said,” replied Bishop, “is she ain’t gittin’ no wus. The doctor says she ain’t so much sick as down in the mouth. She’s off her feed an’ seems to have got suthin’ on her mind. P’r’aps[99] it’s religion. She wants me to stop swearin’; but I’ll be durned if I kin. I wish you’d come over an’ see her ag’in, ma’am. You’re the only one as does her any good.”
A moment later, Mr. Tootler emerged from the house and handed Bishop the check. The black was transferred to Mr. Waddy.
“I’m sorry to part with him,” said Bishop, real regret in his voice; “but you look like you’d treat him well, sir. He ain’t used to the whip. He’s never been struck but once, when that damn Belden talked of buyin’ him. Belden handled him kind er careless an’ then give him a crack. I guess he got dropped easy—the fool! He’s had a spite agin the horse ever since, an’ I’m kind er glad to git him out o’ the way of any mean trick. Belden’s a kind o’ feller not to fergit it when any critter’s been too much fer him—horse or man or woman, either.”
He looked at the horse for a moment, and then walked away, turning to look back once or twice regretfully, but consoling himself by the expensive check, subscribed15 by a man well known in State Street.
“Don’t you remember Sally Bishop?” asked Tootler of his friend. “A very handsome girl she was—poor thing!—dying now. Seems to me you used to go with Belden to see her.”
[100]“I knew her slightly,” replied Waddy, in a tone the reverse of encouraging. “It’s a bad thing to have intimacies16 with second-rate women. If you have a saddle,” he continued, “that will fit my horse, I’ll ride him in to town now. By the way, what shall I name him? He’s as black as death—‘mors, pallida mors’—that’s it—Pallid18! I’ll call him by rule of contraries. Pal17, for short; we shall be pals19, eh, old boy?” and he caressed20 the horse, who responded in kind, instinctively21 knowing a friend.
Pallid was larger than Cecilia, but her saddle was well enough for the short ride. Tootler was obliged to be in the wool again early. Jefferson Davis not being present to preside over the cavalry22, the gardener laid down the shovel23 and the hoe and took up the curry-comb. Pallid was, of course, resplendent for the sale, as a bride is when her bargain is ratified24.
Waddy was proud of his acquisition. Every fine fellow has something of the caballero in his nature. My friend, Misogynist25, says a horse is the most beautiful animal.
“Woman! glorious woman!” I suggest enthusiastically.
“Good to look at,” M. admits, “but bad to go. Be kind to the horse, and he is grateful and will not try to harm you. But woman—the more you let her have her head, the more she will try to throw you. Bah! my kingdom for a horse; he shall be king; no[101] bedizened woman sovereign for me! Look at his smooth, brilliant coat—no pomade there! See that easy motion; incedat rex. Think of his simple toilet! two blankets, thick and thin. Yes, noble comrade! I will be no carpet knight26, nor dwindle27 away with ridiculous sighs before shrines28 of plastic dough29 images, or of models of brassiness, but with thee will I away over boundlessness30. Plains vast as the sea await our gallop31. Charge!”
So far Misogynist—I will add that of the two classes of animals, horses are cheaper to keep, and when you have them, are yours, and not the property of the first admirer.
The gardener brought Cecilia to the door, shining from her morning toilet. Lady Cecilia, with the lesser32 lady, came to bid the guest adieu. Lady and child bore flowers of midsummer to be rus in urbe for the gentlemen. Cecilia was charming in her morning dress. As she said good-bye, the sparkle of her brown eyes was brighter, the blush warmer, the voice more musical, the shy tremor33 of friendliness34 more graceful35. “Happy Tootler!” thought Waddy; “one of the rare few who are appointed to be illustrations to others of happiness.”
“You will come again soon,” said Cecilia. “A room in our house has become yours. You must inhabit it to keep ghosts from colonising. You too, perhaps, are in some danger of companionship of glooms, which are certainly as bad as ghosts. Come[102] here always and we will sing them away. I have a dozen plans for you already for summer and winter—and then I intend you for a husband for little Cissy here. What do you think of it, Cissy?”
“I hardly know, mamma,” said Cissy seriously. “I should wish to ask papa.”
“Quite precociously36 right, my dear,” commended Mr. Waddy; “a lesson to your imprudent mother.”
“Not imprudent, Cissy,” corrected Tootler. “You are wise to get the first refusal of our nabob. There will be hordes37 of matrons after him, like wolves after a buffalo38, and they’ll run him down unless he accepts his fate and consents to be shot beforehand. But come, Ira, I must voyage Boston-ward for the golden fleece.”
“I go to New York this evening for a few days on business,” added Waddy. “Good-bye, till I return. A kiss, little Cissy!”
Tommy said good-bye to his wife, and her bright smile went with him, as ever, and her glad voice sang about him in every silent moment of his busy day.
Mr. Waddy rode slowly along, trying Pallid through his paces. The beautiful head, unchecked by any martingale, shook and tossed in the freedom of a masculine coquetry. To control him was like managing the moods of a wild woman—charming distraction39. Ira did not wish to trot41 him,—he was not to be a roadster,—but he gave Cecilia a little[103] brush on a level. She was somewhere after the race, but it was lengths in the rear.
At the Tremont, Chin Chin was in waiting. The friends parted, and Mr. Waddy turned his face New Yorkward, in kindlier mood than he had known for many years.
That town, however, was not calculated to encourage moods of cheerfulness. He had seen others larger, several cleaner, many handsomer. It was hot, and mosquitoes were about.
Mr. Waddy’s arrival was announced in the papers among “distinguished strangers.” Old De Flournoy Budlong saw the name and called upon its owner in the evening. About matters personal to himself, Mr. Waddy talked little. He had not mentioned even to Tootler the incident of his wreck42. But Mr. Budlong was too much occupied with his private affairs to question the mode of Mr. Waddy’s arrival. The red silk pocket handkerchief of other days abode43 with him still, in flaunting44 defiance45 of the modern elegance46 of his family. In his talk, he used it freely on a forehead whose heated, anxious colouring might pale the cochineal of its polisher. He had much to say.
“Where are the ladies?” was naturally Mr. Waddy’s first question.
“They are at Newport, sir,” answered Bud, with a queer mixture of pride and apprehension47. “They’re at the Millard House. De Flournoy, Jr.,[104] is with them. It’s very expensive, sir. Why, it’s remarkable48 how that boy has to subscribe—five hundred dollars the first week! Subscriptions49 he says to the club and balls and picnics—I should judge he is very popular.”
“No doubt,” commented Ira.
“That Frenchman is with them, too,” continued Bud. “What do you think of him?”
Bud visibly brightened and polished himself in vigorous approval.
“Quite right,” he agreed; “I respect your judgment51, sir. I want Mrs. B. to drop his acquaintance; but she says he belongs to the hot nubbless, whatever that is. Why, sir, that Frenchman haunts me like a flea52. Everything I eat tastes of frogs! And then Tim’s subscriptions—five hundred dollars in one week! Why, sir, that would make him a life member and director of the Bible Society and the Tract40 Society and the Foreign Missions!” and the poor man fell to polishing himself again with his piratical handkerchief.
“I can’t go to look after them before next week,” he continued, “if then. You see, I’ve got a little operation in flour. It’ll pay subscriptions, get him on the corn exchange, and Budlong is himself again. But it’s dull music staying in town. I’m at the Astor. Everybody’s away and there’s no peaches,” and old Bud, who had been working hard[105] all his days, and now was more than willing to lead a life of jolly quiet, went off excessively disquieted53.
“It’s the old story,” thought Ira, as he closed the door behind his friend. “I’m sorry for him. This is a case to put in the scale against Tootler. But it demands a whole cityful of Budlongs to over-balance one righteous man like Tommy and his family. Mrs. Tootler almost revives my faith in women, and I had thought that gone forever after that experience which nearly made my life a ruin.
“Rather a well-built ruin, though,” he thought, glancing at the mirror, “and especially sound in the treasure-vaults. I would not quarrel with my experience for making me the man I have become, were it not that my isolation54 of bitter distrust in the one I most trusted has secluded55 me from all the chances of common happiness. And yet there are others sharing the same exile, bearing a heavier burden, who present a brave face to the world, even a cheerful one—for instance, Granby—married in a freak of boyish generosity56 to a vulgar, drunken termagant! Suppose I had fallen into the same mistake? Suppose I had married Sally Bishop; is it likely that I should have learnt to control the old Ira of my nature?
“All my voyage from Europe homeward, there was droning in my ears the monotonous57 refrain of a sad Spanish song, ‘Se acabò para mi l’esperanza.’ I heard it in the gale, the moment our schooner[106] struck, and I thought ‘now the old earthly hopes are dead with my death, and new hopes of other lives shall be.’ As I lay in my trance, all the old bitterness passed away, and the old hopes grew fresh and confident again as in happy days before disappointment; and then the presence that was the joy of those days came near, and I seemed to have attained58 to dearest death and to a moment of heaven that should interpret all the cruel mysteries of existence. And I seemed to hear again the voice that flowed so deliciously through my youth and made my heart first know what heart-beats mean. But it was not death I had attained, only a vision, such as my waking life could never have, and when I really woke again in Dempster’s house, it was to the melancholy59 of the same refrain, ‘Se acabò para mi l’esperanza.’”
For a moment more he sat and stared down into the street with heavy eyes that saw not—what was it brought before him the face of Sally Bishop and beside it another face, her face——
He shook himself impatiently and cast his dark thoughts from him.
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
bouquet
|
|
| n.花束，酒香 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
gale
|
|
| n.大风，强风，一阵闹声（尤指笑声等） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
bishop
|
|
| n.主教，（国际象棋）象 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
forth
|
|
| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
joint
|
|
| adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
standing
|
|
| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
nibble
|
|
| n.轻咬，啃；v.一点点地咬，慢慢啃，吹毛求疵 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
oyster
|
|
| n.牡蛎；沉默寡言的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
kin
|
|
| n.家族，亲属，血缘关系；adj.亲属关系的，同类的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
mighty
|
|
| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
parley
|
|
| n.谈判 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
tempt
|
|
| vt.引诱，勾引，吸引，引起…的兴趣 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
spoke
|
|
| 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 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
sincerity
|
|
| n.真诚，诚意；真实 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
subscribed
|
|
| v.捐助( subscribe的过去式和过去分词 )；签署，题词；订阅；同意 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
intimacies
|
|
| 亲密( intimacy的名词复数 )； 密切； 亲昵的言行； 性行为 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
pal
|
|
| n.朋友，伙伴，同志；vi.结为友 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
pallid
|
|
| adj.苍白的，呆板的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
pals
|
|
| n.朋友( pal的名词复数 )；老兄；小子；（对男子的不友好的称呼）家伙 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
caressed
|
|
| 爱抚或抚摸…( caress的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
instinctively
|
|
| adv.本能地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
cavalry
|
|
| n.骑兵；轻装甲部队 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
shovel
|
|
| n.铁锨，铲子，一铲之量；v.铲，铲出 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
ratified
|
|
| v.批准，签认（合约等）( ratify的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
misogynist
|
|
| n.厌恶女人的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
knight
|
|
| n.骑士，武士；爵士 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
dwindle
|
|
| v.逐渐变小（或减少） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
shrines
|
|
| 圣地，圣坛，神圣场所( shrine的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
dough
|
|
| n.生面团；钱，现款 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
boundlessness
|
|
| 海阔天空 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
gallop
|
|
| v./n.(马或骑马等)飞奔；飞速发展 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
lesser
|
|
| adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
tremor
|
|
| n.震动，颤动，战栗，兴奋，地震 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
friendliness
|
|
| n.友谊，亲切，亲密 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
graceful
|
|
| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
precociously
|
|
| Precociously | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
hordes
|
|
| n.移动着的一大群( horde的名词复数 )；部落 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
buffalo
|
|
| n.(北美)野牛；(亚洲)水牛 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
distraction
|
|
| n.精神涣散，精神不集中，消遣，娱乐 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
tract
|
|
| n.传单，小册子，大片(土地或森林) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
trot
|
|
| n.疾走，慢跑；n.老太婆；现成译本；(复数）trots:腹泻（与the 连用）；v.小跑，快步走，赶紧 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
wreck
|
|
| n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
abode
|
|
| n.住处，住所 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
flaunting
|
|
| adj.招摇的，扬扬得意的，夸耀的v.炫耀，夸耀( flaunt的现在分词 )；有什么能耐就施展出来 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
defiance
|
|
| n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
elegance
|
|
| n.优雅；优美，雅致；精致，巧妙 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
apprehension
|
|
| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
remarkable
|
|
| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
subscriptions
|
|
| n.（报刊等的）订阅费( subscription的名词复数 )；捐款；（俱乐部的）会员费；捐助 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
tersely
|
|
| adv. 简捷地, 简要地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
judgment
|
|
| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
flea
|
|
| n.跳蚤 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
disquieted
|
|
| v.使不安，使忧虑，使烦恼( disquiet的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
isolation
|
|
| n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
secluded
|
|
| 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) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
generosity
|
|
| n.大度，慷慨，慷慨的行为 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
monotonous
|
|
| adj.单调的，一成不变的，使人厌倦的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
58
attained
|
|
| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
59
melancholy
|
|
| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |