Chapter 1 The Little Castle-Builders

 As children gathering¹ pebbles² on the shore. --MILTON. No daintie flower or herbe that growes on grownd, No arborett with painted blossomes drest And smelling sweete, but there it might be found To bud out faire, and throwe her sweete smels al around. --EDMUND SPENCER. CHAPTER I. THE LITTLE CASTLE-BUILDERS The House by the Sea--the Round Window--God's Eyes in Flowers--the Day-Dreamers--A Picture--An Angel--Old Nanny--On the Sea-Shore--Shell-Hunting--Bell's Freak and Mortimer's Dream--Asleep. Imagine, if you will, one of the quaintest³ old country mansions⁴ that was ever built--a big-chimneyed, antique-gabled, time-browned old pile, and you have a picture of the Ivyton House as it was in summers gone by. The pillars of the porch were not to be seen for the fragrant⁵ vines which clambered over them; lip-tempting grapes purpled[A] on the southern gable of the house, and the full, bright cherries clustered thicker than stars among the leaves. The walks of the garden were white with pebbles brought from the sea-shore; the dewy clover-beds, on each side, lay red with luscious⁶ strawberries, as if some one had sprinkled drops of fire over them; and among the larches⁷ and the cherry trees there was a salt sea-smell pleasantly mingled⁸ with the breathing of wild roses.

 

    FOOTNOTE: [A] Mr. Barescythe, with his characteristic word-catching spirit, wishes to know if grapes and cherries are ripe at one and the same time in New-England. 

 

A large, round window in one of the gables looked toward the ocean--a fine place for a summer view, or to watch, of a gusty⁹ afternoon, the billows as they swell¹⁰ and break in long waving battalions¹¹ on the beach. One evening near the end of summer, two children were sitting at this circular window. Ten Aprils had half ripened¹² them. The boy had dark hair, and a touch of sunlight in his darker eyes. The girl was light and delicate--with a face of spiritual beauty, dream-like, heavenly, like the pictures of the Madonna which genius has hung on the chapel¹⁴ walls of the Old World. "Bell," said the boy, "we never grow weary of looking at the sea." "No; because while we are watching, we think that father may be coming home to us across its bosom¹⁵; and we count the waves as if they were moments. We like to see them roll away, and feel that time grows shorter between father and us." "Yes, that is so," he replied; "but then, we love night almost as much as the sea." "That is because we have a Father in heaven as well as one at sea," and the girl shaded her angel face with a dainty little hand. "And we love the sunbeams and the flowers, Bell!" "We do, indeed!" cried Bell, and the sunshine nestled among her curls. "We do, indeed! because God, like the good fairy in our story-book, comes in sunlight, or hides in flowers; and he reveals himself in ever so many ways, to all who love him." "Hides in flowers," repeated the boy, musingly¹⁶; "I never thought of that. Then, perhaps--only perhaps--the dew-drops which I showed you last night in the white japonica were God's eyes!" "May be so," returned Bell, simply. They were two strange children--nature, and, perhaps, circumstances had made them so. They were born and had always lived in the old house. Their mother was in heaven, and their father was one of those who go down to the sea in ships. With no one to teach them, save the old house-keeper Nanny, their minds had taken odd turns and conceits¹⁷; they had grown up old people in a hundred ways. The roar of the winds and the sea had been in their ears from infancy¹⁸. In the summer months they wandered late on the sandy beaches, or slept with the silent sunshine under the cherry trees. They had grown up with nature, and nature beat in them like another heart. She had imbued¹⁹ them with her richer and tenderer moods. Bell was the wildest and strangest of the two. She was one of those ?rial little creatures who, somehow or other, get into this world sometimes--it must be by slipping through the fingers of the angels, for they seem strangely out of place, and I am sure that they are missed somewhere! They never stay long! They come to earth and sometimes ripen¹³ for heaven in a twelve month! The sweetest flowers are those that die in the spring-time: they touch the world with beauty, and are gone, before a ruder breath than that of God scatters²⁰ their perfume. Bell was a Gipsy angel--one of those who wander, for awhile, outside the walls of heaven, in the shady pastures and by-ways of the world. "Mortimer," said Bell, after a long silence, "how nice it is to sit here and watch the bits of sails coming and going--coming and going, never weary! I wonder how long we have sat at this window and watched the white specks²¹? I wonder if it will always be so; if you and I will still be here, loving the sea and stars, when our heads are as white as Nanny's?" "No!" cried the boy, impetuously. "I am going out into the broad, deep world, and write books full of wonderful thought, like the Arabian Nights!" And he repeated it, the broad, deep world! Ah, child! what have such dreamers as you to do in the broad, deep world--the wonderful, restless sea, where men cast the net of thought and bring up pebbles? "I would like that, Mort!" cried Bell, clapping her hands. "But then, what a grand place this would be to write them in! You can have your desk by the open window here; and when your eyes are tired, you can rest them on the sea. And I will be so quiet--as gentle as pussy²², even, and do nothing but make pens for you all the time. Wouldn't that be fine?" "Yes! and father should go no more away in ships. He might have a yacht to leap over the surge in, to sail around all those little islands and in the green bays; but never go off to sea. The books I am going to write will bring us money enough." So the little castle-builders talked until the sun had melted into the waves, and twilight²³, like a pilgrim that had been resting by the roadside, rose up from the beach, and came slowly toward the old house. Mortimer, who had been gazing dreamily at the beach--which grew fainter and fainter, till it seemed like a white thread running through the selvage of blue drapery--turned his eyes on Bell. "Bell," said he, quietly, "as you sit there in the shadows, with your beautiful hair folded over your forehead, you look like an angel!" "Do I?" "I can put my hand on your neck, yet you seem far away from me." "Come, rest your head in my lap, Mort," said the girl, tenderly, "and I will tell you of a real true angel who once came into this world." The chestnut²⁴ locks of the boy looked darker against her white dress, as Bell bent²⁵ over him, and commenced, in a low, silvery voice, an old angel legend. She was in the midst of a strange description of Paradise, when a tremulous voice came up the stairway-- "Come to tea, children!" Then the two looked at each other curiously²⁶. It was so odd to be called to tea, and they in Heaven! It was a long step from Paradise to the supper-table; but the dream was shattered. Bell laughed. Then they closed the window, and descended²⁷ to the room below, where Nanny had prepared the evening meal of snowy bread and milk, and ripe purple whortleberries. It was very queer to see the three sitting at table--to see homely-looking, but kind-hearted Nanny, between the two children, like a twilight between two pleasant mornings. When supper was over, and while Nanny was washing the tea-things, the children went down to the beach, shell hunting. The white moon stood directly over the sea, and the waves were full of silvery arrows, as if Diana had scattered²⁸ them from her quiver. Mortimer's eyes drank in the sight, as they had a thousand times before, for Nature is ever new to her lovers. In the measured roll of the sea, he heard the diapason of a grand poem, and the far-off thunder, heard now and then, was the chorus of the gods. But Heaven rapt the heart of little Bell! The waves fell on her finer ear like subtlest music; to her they were harps²⁹, and the fingers of angels were touching³⁰ them, while the thunder was "God walking overhead!" They wandered along the sands, picking up curious shells and cream-white pebbles, dashed with red or clouded with mazarine. Bell would hold them up to her ear, and listen to the "little whispers," as she called them; but the boy would skim them along the wave-tips, and shout when some great billow caught one, and hurled³¹ it back scornfully at his feet. Bell saw a ridge³² of rocks which looked like the back of a whale, running out some distance into the sea, where the water was whiter and leaped higher than anywhere else; and soon her dainty feet picked a way over the jagged rocks. The boy was about to send a light shell skipping through the surf, when his glance caught Bell standing³³ on the highest jut³⁴ of the ledge³⁵, the wind lifting her long hair and the folds of her dress. "Bell! Bell!" "The stars are in the sea, brother," she replied, "and the winds are wild here." "Bell! Bell!" "I cannot come to you. I fear to walk over the rocks again! But it is beautiful here, and I am not afraid!" "Ah, Bell!" he spoke³⁶ sadly, "that's what I dreamt. I thought that there was a gulf³⁷ between us, and when I called, 'Bell! Bell!' you answered, 'I cannot come to you, brother; but you can come to me!' O, Bell--sister Bell! as you love me, come back. I tremble when you look so like an angel. Come to me, sister." Mortimer ran out on the slender bridge of stone and led Bell back by the hand. After a little while they heard Nanny calling them to come home. The children occupied a small chamber³⁸ over the front door. A scented³⁹ vine clomb all about the window, and taught the ruddy sun at morning to throw a subdued⁴⁰ light into the room; and it broke the orange stream of sunset. At night the dreamers from their bed could see the stars hanging like fruit among its cloudy leaves. When Bell and Mortimer came up from the sea-beach, the moonlight, breaking through this leafy lattice, made the chamber as that of Abon Ben Adhem--"like a lily in bloom." Nanny brought a lamp, and kissed them good-night. "O, we don't want a lamp all this moon!" cried Bell. The boy sat half undressed at the window. "Bell loves moonlight like a fairy," he said. Bell's robe fell to her knees in snowy folds, and she stood like a petite Venus rising from the froth. Then brother and sister braided their voices in a simple prayer to Our Father in Heaven. They prayed for kind old Nanny, and for one on the wide sea. "When will father come home?" asked Bell, for the hundredth time that day. "It will not be long now. When the boughs⁴¹ of the cherry trees are an inch deep with ice, and the logs crackle in the fire-place--then he will come. Let us go to sleep, and dream of him." And thus, hand in hand, the two went in to Dream-land-- The world of Sleep, The beautiful old World! The dreamy Palestine of pilgrim Thought! The Lotus Garden, where the soul may lie Lost in elysium, while the music moan Of some unearthly river, faintly caught, Seems like the whispering of Angels, blown Upon ?olian harp-strings! And we change Into a seeming something that is not!

1 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

2 pebbles   

[复数]鹅卵石； 沙砾； 卵石，小圆石( pebble的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The pebbles of the drive crunched under his feet. 汽车道上的小石子在他脚底下喀嚓作响。
• Line the pots with pebbles to ensure good drainage. 在罐子里铺一层鹅卵石，以确保排水良好。

3 quaintest   

adj.古色古香的( quaint的最高级 )；少见的，古怪的

参考例句：

• They were the quaintest and simplest and trustingest race. 世界上的哪个种族，也没有他们那么古里古怪，那么脑筋简单，那么容易相信别人。 来自辞典例句

4 mansions   

n.宅第，公馆，大厦( mansion的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Fifth Avenue was boarded up where the rich had deserted their mansions. 第五大道上的富翁们已经出去避暑，空出的宅第都已锁好了门窗，钉上了木板。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Oh, the mansions, the lights, the perfume, the loaded boudoirs and tables! 啊，那些高楼大厦、华灯、香水、藏金收银的闺房还有摆满山珍海味的餐桌！ 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

5 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。

6 luscious   

adj.美味的；芬芳的；肉感的，引与性欲的

参考例句：

• The watermelon was very luscious.Everyone wanted another slice.西瓜很可口，每个人都想再来一片。
• What I like most about Gabby is her luscious lips!我最喜欢的是盖比那性感饱满的双唇！

7 larches   

n.落叶松（木材）( larch的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Most larches have brittle branches and produce relatively few flowers on lower branches. 大多数落叶松具有脆弱的枝条，并且下部枝条开花较少。 来自辞典例句
• How many golden larches are there in the arboretum? 植物园里有几棵金钱松？ 来自互联网

8 mingled   

混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系]

参考例句：

• The sounds of laughter and singing mingled in the evening air. 笑声和歌声交织在夜空中。
• The man and the woman mingled as everyone started to relax. 当大家开始放松的时候，这一男一女就开始交往了。

9 gusty   

adj.起大风的

参考例句：

• Weather forecasts predict more hot weather,gusty winds and lightning strikes.天气预报预测高温、大风和雷电天气将继续。
• Why was Candlestick Park so windy and gusty? 埃德尔斯蒂克公园里为什么会有那么多的强劲阵风？

10 swell   

vi.膨胀，肿胀；增长，增强

参考例句：

• The waves had taken on a deep swell.海浪汹涌。
• His injured wrist began to swell.他那受伤的手腕开始肿了。

11 battalions   

n.（陆军的）一营（大约有一千兵士）( battalion的名词复数 )；协同作战的部队；军队；（组织在一起工作的）队伍

参考例句：

• God is always on the side of the strongest battalions. 上帝总是帮助强者。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Two battalions were disposed for an attack on the air base. 配置两个营的兵力进攻空军基地。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

12 ripened   

v.成熟，使熟( ripen的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• They're collecting the ripened reddish berries. 他们正采集熟了的淡红草莓。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The branches bent low with ripened fruits. 成熟的果实压弯了树枝。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

13 ripen   

vt.使成熟；vi.成熟

参考例句：

• I'm waiting for the apples to ripen.我正在等待苹果成熟。
• You can ripen the tomatoes on a sunny windowsill.把西红柿放在有阳光的窗台上可以让它们成熟。

14 chapel   

n.小教堂，殡仪馆

参考例句：

• The nimble hero,skipped into a chapel that stood near.敏捷的英雄跳进近旁的一座小教堂里。
• She was on the peak that Sunday afternoon when she played in chapel.那个星期天的下午，她在小教堂的演出，可以说是登峰造极。

15 bosom   

n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的

参考例句：

• She drew a little book from her bosom.她从怀里取出一本小册子。
• A dark jealousy stirred in his bosom.他内心生出一阵恶毒的嫉妒。

16 musingly   

adv.沉思地，冥想地

参考例句：

17 conceits   

高傲( conceit的名词复数 )； 自以为； 巧妙的词语； 别出心裁的比喻

参考例句：

• He jotted down the conceits of his idle hours. 他记下了闲暇时想到的一些看法。
• The most grotesque fantastic conceits haunted him in his bed at night. 夜晚躺在床上的时候，各种离奇怪诞的幻想纷至沓来。

18 infancy   

n.婴儿期；幼年期；初期

参考例句：

• He came to England in his infancy.他幼年时期来到英国。
• Their research is only in its infancy.他们的研究处于初级阶段。

19 imbued   

v.使（某人/某事）充满或激起（感情等）( imbue的过去式和过去分词 )；使充满；灌输；激发（强烈感情或品质等）

参考例句：

• Her voice was imbued with an unusual seriousness. 她的声音里充满着一种不寻常的严肃语气。
• These cultivated individuals have been imbued with a sense of social purpose. 这些有教养的人满怀着社会责任感。 来自《简明英汉词典》

20 scatters   

v.（使）散开， （使）分散，驱散( scatter的第三人称单数 )；撒

参考例句：

• He scatters money about as if he were rich. 他四处挥霍，好像很有钱。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Truth raises against itself the storm that scatters its seeds broadcast. 真理引起了反对它自己的狂风骤雨，那场风雨吹散了真理的广播的种子。 来自辞典例句

21 specks   

n.眼镜；斑点，微粒，污点( speck的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Minutes later Brown spotted two specks in the ocean. 几分钟后布朗发现海洋中有两个小点。 来自英汉非文学 - 百科语料821
• Do you ever seem to see specks in front of your eyes? 你眼睛前面曾似乎看见过小点吗？ 来自辞典例句

22 pussy   

n.(儿语)小猫，猫咪

参考例句：

• Why can't they leave my pussy alone?为什么他们就不能离我小猫咪远一点？
• The baby was playing with his pussy.孩子正和他的猫嬉戏。

23 twilight   

n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期

参考例句：

• Twilight merged into darkness.夕阳的光辉融于黑暗中。
• Twilight was sweet with the smell of lilac and freshly turned earth.薄暮充满紫丁香和新翻耕的泥土的香味。

24 chestnut   

n.栗树，栗子

参考例句：

• We have a chestnut tree in the bottom of our garden.我们的花园尽头有一棵栗树。
• In summer we had tea outdoors,under the chestnut tree.夏天我们在室外栗树下喝茶。

25 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

26 curiously   

adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地

参考例句：

• He looked curiously at the people.他好奇地看着那些人。
• He took long stealthy strides. His hands were curiously cold.他迈着悄没声息的大步。他的双手出奇地冷。

27 descended   

a.为...后裔的，出身于...的

参考例句：

• A mood of melancholy descended on us. 一种悲伤的情绪袭上我们的心头。
• The path descended the hill in a series of zigzags. 小路呈连续的之字形顺着山坡蜿蜒而下。

28 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。

29 harps   

abbr.harpsichord 拨弦古钢琴n.竖琴( harp的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• She continually harps on lack of money. 她总唠叨说缺钱。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He could turn on the harps of the blessed. 他能召来天使的竖琴为他奏乐。 来自辞典例句

30 touching   

adj.动人的，使人感伤的

参考例句：

• It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
• His letter was touching.他的信很感人。

31 hurled   

v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂

参考例句：

• He hurled a brick through the window. 他往窗户里扔了块砖。
• The strong wind hurled down bits of the roof. 大风把屋顶的瓦片刮了下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

32 ridge   

n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭

参考例句：

• We clambered up the hillside to the ridge above.我们沿着山坡费力地爬上了山脊。
• The infantry were advancing to attack the ridge.步兵部队正在向前挺进攻打山脊。

33 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。

34 jut   

v.突出；n.突出，突出物

参考例句：

• His mouth started to jut out,and his jaw got longer.他的嘴向前突出，下巴也变长了。
• His teeth tend to jut out a little.他的牙齿长得有点儿凸出。

35 ledge   

n.壁架，架状突出物；岩架，岩礁

参考例句：

• They paid out the line to lower him to the ledge.他们放出绳子使他降到那块岩石的突出部分。
• Suddenly he struck his toe on a rocky ledge and fell.突然他的脚趾绊在一块突出的岩石上，摔倒了。

36 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：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

37 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

38 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

39 scented   

adj.有香味的；洒香水的；有气味的v.嗅到(scent的过去分词)

参考例句：

• I let my lungs fill with the scented air. 我呼吸着芬芳的空气。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The police dog scented about till he found the trail. 警犬嗅来嗅去，终于找到了踪迹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

40 subdued   

adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He seemed a bit subdued to me. 我觉得他当时有点闷闷不乐。
• I felt strangely subdued when it was all over. 一切都结束的时候，我却有一种奇怪的压抑感。

41 boughs   

大树枝( bough的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The green boughs glittered with all their pearls of dew. 绿枝上闪烁着露珠的光彩。
• A breeze sighed in the higher boughs. 微风在高高的树枝上叹息着。