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Chapter 9 Leaving Home
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 Monday morning came, and the whole family stood on the grass plat in front of the house, ready to bid Harry1 good-by. He was encumbered2 by no trunk, but carried his scanty3 supply of clothing wrapped in a red cotton handkerchief, and not a very heavy bundle at that. He had cut a stout4 stick in the woods near by, and from the end of this suspended over his back bore the bundle which contained all his worldly fortune except the twenty-five cents which was in his vest pocket.

 
"I don't like to have you go," said his mother, anxiously. "Suppose you don't get work?"
 
"Don't worry about me, mother," said Harry, brightly. "I'll get along somehow."
 
"Remember you've got a home here, Harry, whatever happens," said his father.
 
"I shan't forget, father."
 
"I wish I was going with you," said Tom, for the first time fired with the spirit of adventure.
 
"What could you do, Tom?" said Jane, teasingly.
 
"Work, of course."
 
"I never saw you do it yet."
 
"I'm no more lazy than you," retorted Tom, offended.
 
"Don't dispute, children, just as your brother is leaving us," said Mrs. Walton.
 
"Good-by, mother," said Harry, feeling an unwonted moistening of the eyes, as he reflected that he was about to leave the house in which he had lived since infancy5.
 
"Good-by, my dear child," said his mother, kissing him.
 
"Be sure to write."
 
"Yes I will."
 
So with farewell greetings Harry walked out into the world. He had all at once assumed a man's responsibilities, and his face grew serious, as he began to realize that he must now look out for himself.
 
His native village was situated6 in the northern part of New Hampshire. Not far away could be seen, indistinct in the distance, the towering summits of the White Mountain range, but his back was turned to them. In the south were larger and more thriving villages, and the wealth was greater. Harry felt that his chances would be greater there. Not that he had any particular place in view. Wherever there was an opening, he meant to stop.
 
"I won't come back till I am better off," he said to himself. "If I don't succeed it won't be for want of trying."
 
He walked five miles without stopping. This brought him to the middle of the next town. He was yet on familiar ground, for he had been here more than once. He felt tired, and sat down by the roadside to rest before going farther. While he sat there the doctor from his own village rode by, and chanced to espy7 Harry, whom he recognized.
 
"What brings you here, Harry?" he asked, stopping his chaise.
 
"I'm going to seek my fortune," said Harry.
 
"What, away from home?"
 
"Yes, sir."
 
"I hadn't heard of that," said the doctor, surprised.
 
"You haven't run away from home?" he asked, with momentary8 suspicion.
 
"No, indeed!" said Harry, half indignantly. "Father's given his permission for me to go."
 
"Where do you expect to go?"
 
"South," said Harry, vaguely9.
 
"And what do you expect to find to do?"
 
"I don't know--anything that'll bring me a living."
 
"I like your spunk," said the doctor, after a pause. "If you're going my way, as I suppose you are, I can carry you a couple of miles. That's better than walking, isn't it?"
 
"I guess it is," said Harry, jumping to his feet with alacrity10.
 
In a minute he was sitting beside Dr. Dunham in his old-fashioned chaise. "I might have known that you were not running away," said the doctor. "I should be more likely to suspect your Brother Tom."
 
"Tom's too lazy to run away to earn his own living," said Harry, laughing, "as long as he can get it at home."
 
The doctor smiled.
 
"And what put it into your head to start out in this way?" he asked.
 
"The first thing, was reading the' Life of Franklin.'"
 
"To be sure. I remember his story."
 
"And the next thing was, because my father is so poor. He finds it hard work to support us all. The farm is small, and the land is poor. I want to help him if I can."
 
"Very commendable11, Harry," said the doctor, kindly12.
 
"You owe a debt of gratitude13 to your good father, who has not succeeded so well in life as he deserves."
 
"That's true, sir. He has always been a hard-working man."
 
"If you start out with such a good object, I think you will succeed. Have you any plans at all, or any idea what you would like to do?"
 
"I thought I should like to work in a shoe shop, if I got a chance," said Harry.
 
"You like that better than working on a farm, then?"
 
"Yes, sir, There isn't much money to be earned by working on a farm. I had a chance to do that before I came away."
 
"You mean working on your father's land, I suppose?"
 
"No, Squire14 Green wanted to hire me."
 
"What wages did he offer?"
 
"Two dollars a month, at first. Afterwards he got up to three."
 
The doctor smiled.
 
"How could you decline such a magnificent offer?" he asked.
 
"I don't think I should like boarding at the squire's."
 
"A dollar is twice as large at least in his eyes as in those of anyone else."
 
By this time they had reached a place where a road turned at right angles.
 
"I am going down here, Harry," said the doctor. "I should like to have you ride farther, but I suppose it would only be taking you out of your course."
 
"Yes, doctor. I'd better get out."
 
"I'll tell your father I saw you."
 
"Tell him I was in good spirits," said Harry, earnestly. "Mother'll be glad to know that."
 
"I will certainly. Good-by!"
 
"Good-by, doctor. Thank you for the ride."
 
"You are quite welcome to that, Harry."
 
Harry followed with his eyes the doctor's chaise. It seemed like severing15 the last link that bound him to his native village. He was very glad to have fallen in with the doctor, but it seemed all the more lonesome that he had left him.
 
Harry walked six miles farther, and then decided16 that it was time to rest again. He was not only somewhat fatigued17, but decidedly hungry, although it was but eleven o'clock in the forenoon. However, it must be considered that he had walked eleven miles, and this was enough to give anyone an appetite.
 
He sat down again beside the road, and untying18 the handkerchief which contained his worldly possessions, he drew therefrom a large slice of bread and began to eat with evident relish19. There was a slice of cold meat also, which he found tasted particularly good.
 
"I wonder whether they are thinking of me at home," he said to himself.
 
They were thinking about him, and when an hour later the family gathered around the table, no one seemed to have much appetite. All looked sober, for all were thinking of the absent son and brother.
 
"I wish Harry was here," said Jane, at length, giving voice to the general feeling.
 
"Poor boy," sighed his mother. "I'm afraid he'll have a hard time. I wish he had stayed at home, or even have gone to Squire Green's to work. Then we could have seen him every day."
 
"I should have pitied him more if he had gone there than I do now," said his father. "Depend upon it, it; will be better for him in the end."
 
"I hope so," said his mother, dubiously20.
 
"But you don't feel sure? Well, time will show. We shall hear from him before long."
 
We go back to Harry.
 
He rested for a couple of hours, sheltered from the sun by the foliage21 of the oak beneath which he had stretched himself. He whiled away the time by reading for the second time some parts of the "Life of Franklin," which he had brought away in his bundle, with his few other possessions. It seemed even more interesting to him now that he, too, like Franklin, had started out in quest for fortune.
 
He resumed walking, but we will not dwell upon the details of his journey. At six o'clock he was twenty-five miles from home. He had not walked much in the afternoon when, all at once, he was alarmed by the darkening of the sky. It was evident that a storm was approaching. He looked about him for shelter from the shower, and a place where he could pass the night. 

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 harry heBxS     
vt.掠夺,蹂躏,使苦恼
参考例句:
  • Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天,人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
  • Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。
2 encumbered 2cc6acbd84773f26406796e78a232e40     
v.妨碍,阻碍,拖累( encumber的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • The police operation was encumbered by crowds of reporters. 警方的行动被成群的记者所妨碍。
  • The narrow quay was encumbered by hundreds of carts. 狭窄的码头被数百辆手推车堵得水泄不通。 来自辞典例句
3 scanty ZDPzx     
adj.缺乏的,仅有的,节省的,狭小的,不够的
参考例句:
  • There is scanty evidence to support their accusations.他们的指控证据不足。
  • The rainfall was rather scanty this month.这个月的雨量不足。
5 infancy F4Ey0     
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。
6 situated JiYzBH     
adj.坐落在...的,处于某种境地的
参考例句:
  • The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。
  • She is awkwardly situated.她的处境困难。
7 espy MnHxx     
v.(从远处等)突然看到
参考例句:
  • Where love fails,we espy all faults.一旦失恋,缺点易见。
  • Here,from a window,did Guinevere espy a knight standing in a woodman's cart.吉尼维尔是从这里透过窗户看到了站在樵夫车上的骑士。
8 momentary hj3ya     
adj.片刻的,瞬息的;短暂的
参考例句:
  • We are in momentary expectation of the arrival of you.我们无时无刻不在盼望你的到来。
  • I caught a momentary glimpse of them.我瞥了他们一眼。
9 vaguely BfuzOy     
adv.含糊地,暖昧地
参考例句:
  • He had talked vaguely of going to work abroad.他含糊其词地说了到国外工作的事。
  • He looked vaguely before him with unseeing eyes.他迷迷糊糊的望着前面,对一切都视而不见。
10 alacrity MfFyL     
n.敏捷,轻快,乐意
参考例句:
  • Although the man was very old,he still moved with alacrity.他虽然很老,动作仍很敏捷。
  • He accepted my invitation with alacrity.他欣然接受我的邀请。
11 commendable LXXyw     
adj.值得称赞的
参考例句:
  • The government's action here is highly commendable.政府这样的行动值得高度赞扬。
  • Such carping is not commendable.这样吹毛求疵真不大好。
12 kindly tpUzhQ     
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。
13 gratitude p6wyS     
adj.感激,感谢
参考例句:
  • I have expressed the depth of my gratitude to him.我向他表示了深切的谢意。
  • She could not help her tears of gratitude rolling down her face.她感激的泪珠禁不住沿着面颊流了下来。
14 squire 0htzjV     
n.护卫, 侍从, 乡绅
参考例句:
  • I told him the squire was the most liberal of men.我告诉他乡绅是世界上最宽宏大量的人。
  • The squire was hard at work at Bristol.乡绅在布里斯托尔热衷于他的工作。
15 severing 03ba12fb016b421f1fdaea1351e38cb3     
v.切断,断绝( sever的现在分词 );断,裂
参考例句:
  • The death of a second parent is like severing an umbilical cord to our past. 父母当中第二个人去世,就象斩断了把我们同过去联在一起的纽带。 来自辞典例句
  • The severing theory and severing method for brittle block are studied. 研究裂纹技术应用于分离脆性块体的分离理论和分离方法。 来自互联网
16 decided lvqzZd     
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。
17 fatigued fatigued     
adj. 疲乏的
参考例句:
  • The exercises fatigued her. 操练使她感到很疲乏。
  • The President smiled, with fatigued tolerance for a minor person's naivety. 总统笑了笑,疲惫地表现出对一个下级人员的天真想法的宽容。
18 untying 4f138027dbdb2087c60199a0a69c8176     
untie的现在分词
参考例句:
  • The tying of bow ties is an art; the untying is easy. 打领带是一种艺术,解领带则很容易。
  • As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, "Why are you untying the colt?" 33他们解驴驹的时候,主人问他们说,解驴驹作什么?
19 relish wBkzs     
n.滋味,享受,爱好,调味品;vt.加调味料,享受,品味;vi.有滋味
参考例句:
  • I have no relish for pop music.我对流行音乐不感兴趣。
  • I relish the challenge of doing jobs that others turn down.我喜欢挑战别人拒绝做的工作。
20 dubiously dubiously     
adv.可疑地,怀疑地
参考例句:
  • "What does he have to do?" queried Chin dubiously. “他有什么心事?”琴向觉民问道,她的脸上现出疑惑不解的神情。 来自汉英文学 - 家(1-26) - 家(1-26)
  • He walked out fast, leaving the head waiter staring dubiously at the flimsy blue paper. 他很快地走出去,撇下侍者头儿半信半疑地瞪着这张薄薄的蓝纸。 来自辞典例句
21 foliage QgnzK     
n.叶子,树叶,簇叶
参考例句:
  • The path was completely covered by the dense foliage.小路被树叶厚厚地盖了一层。
  • Dark foliage clothes the hills.浓密的树叶覆盖着群山。


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