CHAPTER XIII A MOONLIGHT PIPING

 Lady Anne Garland was sitting by her bedroom window. It was wide open, and the perfume of the night-stocks below the terrace rose fragrant¹ in the still air. The atmosphere was darkly luminous², blue and purple, in which the shapes of the trees and bushes stood out softly black in the light of a half-moon.

 

Away across the park, with its scattered³ oaks and beeches⁴, she could see masses of woodland lying like dark patches on the distant hills. In the valley the lights in the cottages had been extinguished. One by one they had dropped into the darkness, and now the whole village lay asleep.

 

Anne leaned her arms on the window-sill and looked out into the night. She had not yet begun to prepare for bed, and she still wore the silver-grey dress she had put on for dinner. The light from two candles on the dressing-table behind her illumined the room, glinting on silver-backed brushes and silver-topped bottles. The walls of the room were white, and above the bed hung an ebony crucifix with a silver Figure. The black cross stood out in startling relief on the white wall-paper. A table beside her bed held a bowl of crimson⁵ roses, an unlighted reading-lamp, and a green-covered book, the title printed in gold letters. Between the leaves was an ivory paper-cutter. The leaves, however, had long since been cut; and for the sixth—the seventh—time Anne was reading Under the Span of the Rainbow.

 

Suddenly Anne’s ear was arrested by a sound—a faint sound, but the unmistakable crunch⁶ of feet on gravel⁷. The sound came from the drive. She drew back into the room, extinguishing one candle and moving the other so that its light did not illumine the square of open window. Then from behind the curtain she watched and listened.

 

The sound of the feet drew nearer, and a man emerged from the shadow of the trees in the drive. He walked unfalteringly. It was not the wary⁸ approach of one who fears to be seen.

 

Below the terrace he halted. Anne quickly extinguished the second candle, and leant a little from her hiding-place by the curtain. The man looked up, the moonlight falling full on his face, and Anne saw that it was Peter the Piper. Her breath came quickly and she watched, herself unseen.

 

She saw him lift his pipe to his lips, and then the still night became full of music. This time Anne made no attempt to classify his theme—to read a story in the melody. Probably it held none. It was music—music pure and simple, which the Piper was playing for her alone.

 

Breathless, entranced, she stood and listened. Surely never was such a piping since King Midas of old listened to the flutes⁹ of Pan. It was truly Nature’s music, the instrument which produced it forgotten. Liquid, caressing¹⁰, it rose and fell in soft cadences¹¹, yet faintly through it throbbed¹² the undernote of pain.

 

How long it lasted Anne did not know. Suddenly there was a pause. Then came the nightingale’s song, one short phrase of pure rapture¹³. Then silence. Anne saw Peter standing¹⁴ still in the moonlight.

 

On a sudden impulse she moved and pulled a half-blown crimson rose from the bowl on the table near her bed. She threw it from the window and saw it fall at his feet. She saw him stoop and raise it from the ground to his lips. He looked up, and once more she saw his face.

 

Anne turned swiftly into the room. A moment later there was again the sound of feet on the gravel, a clear, crisp crunching¹⁵ which receded¹⁶ in the distance.

1 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。

2 luminous   

adj.发光的，发亮的；光明的；明白易懂的；有启发的

参考例句：

• There are luminous knobs on all the doors in my house.我家所有门上都安有夜光把手。
• Most clocks and watches in this shop are in luminous paint.这家商店出售的大多数钟表都涂了发光漆。

3 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。

4 beeches   

n.山毛榉( beech的名词复数 )；山毛榉木材

参考例句：

• The beeches, oaks and chestnuts all belong to the same family. 山毛榉树、橡树和栗子树属于同科树种。 来自互联网
• There are many beeches in this wood. 这片树林里有许多山毛榉。 来自互联网

5 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。

6 crunch   

n.关键时刻；艰难局面；v.发出碎裂声

参考例句：

• If it comes to the crunch they'll support us.关键时刻他们是会支持我们的。
• People who crunch nuts at the movies can be very annoying.看电影时嘎吱作声地嚼干果的人会使人十分讨厌。

7 gravel   

n.砂跞；砂砾层；结石

参考例句：

• We bought six bags of gravel for the garden path.我们购买了六袋碎石用来铺花园的小路。
• More gravel is needed to fill the hollow in the drive.需要更多的砾石来填平车道上的坑洼。

8 wary   

adj.谨慎的，机警的，小心的

参考例句：

• He is wary of telling secrets to others.他谨防向他人泄露秘密。
• Paula frowned,suddenly wary.宝拉皱了皱眉头，突然警惕起来。

9 flutes   

长笛( flute的名词复数 )； 细长香槟杯（形似长笛）

参考例句：

• The melody is then taken up by the flutes. 接着由长笛奏主旋律。
• These flutes have 6open holes and a lovely bright sound. 笛子有6个吹气孔，奏出的声音响亮清脆。

10 caressing   

爱抚的，表现爱情的，亲切的

参考例句：

• The spring wind is gentle and caressing. 春风和畅。
• He sat silent still caressing Tartar, who slobbered with exceeding affection. 他不声不响地坐在那里，不断抚摸着鞑靼，它由于获得超常的爱抚而不淌口水。

11 cadences   

n.（声音的）抑扬顿挫( cadence的名词复数 )；节奏；韵律；调子

参考例句：

• He delivered his words in slow, measured cadences. 他讲话缓慢而抑扬顿挫、把握有度。
• He recognized the Polish cadences in her voice. 他从她的口音中听出了波兰腔。 来自辞典例句

12 throbbed   

抽痛( throb的过去式和过去分词 )； （心脏、脉搏等）跳动

参考例句：

• His head throbbed painfully. 他的头一抽一跳地痛。
• The pulse throbbed steadily. 脉搏跳得平稳。

13 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。

14 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

15 crunching   

v.嘎吱嘎吱地咬嚼( crunch的现在分词 )；嘎吱作响；（快速大量地）处理信息；数字捣弄

参考例句：

• The horses were crunching their straw at their manger. 这些马在嘎吱嘎吱地吃槽里的草。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The dog was crunching a bone. 狗正嘎吱嘎吱地嚼骨头。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 receded   

v.逐渐远离( recede的过去式和过去分词 )；向后倾斜；自原处后退或避开别人的注视；尤指问题

参考例句：

• The floodwaters have now receded. 洪水现已消退。
• The sound of the truck receded into the distance. 卡车的声音渐渐在远处消失了。