CHAPTER XIV END OF A SIMPLE SOUL

 The next morning, at half-past seven, Anna was standing¹ in the garden-doorway of the Priory. The sun had just risen, the air was cold; roof and pavement were damp; rain had fallen, and more was to fall. A door opened higher up the street, and Willie Price came out, carrying a small bag. He turned to speak to some person within the house, and then stepped forward. As he passed Anna she sprang forth².

 

'Oh!' she cried, 'I had just come up here to see if the workmen had locked up properly. We have some of our new furniture in the house, you know.' She was as red as the sun over Hillport.

 

He glanced at her. 'Have you heard?' he asked simply.

 

'About what?' she whispered.

 

'About my poor old father.'

 

'Yes. I was hoping—hoping you would never know.'

 

By a common impulse they went into the garden of the Priory, and he shut the door.

 

'Never know?' he repeated. 'Oh! they took care to tell me.'

 

A silence followed.

 

'Is that your luggage?' she inquired. He lifted up the handbag, and nodded.

 

'All of it?'

 

'Yes,' he said. 'I'm only an emigrant³.'

 

'I've got a note here for you,' she said. 'I should have posted it to the steamer; but now you can take it yourself. I want you not to read it till you get to Melbourne.'

 

'Very well,' he said, and crumpled⁴ the proffered⁵ envelope into his pocket. He was not thinking of the note at all. Presently he asked: 'Why didn't you tell me about my father? If I had to hear it, I'd sooner have heard it from you.'

 

'You must try to forget it,' she urged him. 'You are not your father.'

 

'I wish I had never been born,' he said. 'I wish I'd gone to prison.'

 

Now was the moment when, if ever, the mother's influence should be exerted.

 

'Be a man,' she said softly. 'I did the best I could for you. I shall always think of you, in Australia, getting on.'

 

She put a hand on his shoulder. 'Yes,' she said again, passionately⁶: 'I shall always remember you—always.'

 

The hand with which he touched her arm shook like an old man's hand. As their eyes met in an intense and painful gaze, to her, at least, it was revealed that they were lovers. What he had learnt in that instant can only be guessed from his next action....

 

 

Anna ran out of the garden into the street, and so home, never looking behind to see if he pursued his way to the station.

 

Some may argue that Anna, knowing she loved another man, ought not to have married Mynors. But she did not reason thus; such a notion never even occurred to her. She had promised to marry Mynors, and she married him. Nothing else was possible. She who had never failed in duty did not fail then. She who had always submitted and bowed the head, submitted and bowed the head then. She had sucked in with her mother's milk the profound truth that a woman's life is always a renunciation, greater or less. Hers by chance was greater. Facing the future calmly and genially⁷, she took oath with herself to be a good wife to the man whom, with all his excellences⁸, she had never loved. Her thoughts often dwelt lovingly on Willie Price, whom she deemed to be pursuing in Australia an honourable⁹ and successful career, quickened at the outset by her hundred pounds. This vision of him was her stay. But neither she nor anyone in the Five Towns or elsewhere ever heard of Willie Price again. And well might none hear! The abandoned pitshaft does not deliver up its secret. And so—the Bank of England is the richer by a hundred pounds unclaimed, and the world the poorer by a simple and meek¹⁰ soul stung to revolt only in its last hour.

 

 

Jamieson & Munro, Ltd., Printers, Stirling.

该作者的其它作品

《How to Live on 24 Hours a Day》
《Hilda Lessways》
《老妇人的故事 The Old Wives' Tale》

 

1 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。

2 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

3 emigrant   

adj.移居的，移民的；n.移居外国的人，移民

参考例句：

• He is a British emigrant to Australia.他是个移居澳大利亚的英国人。
• I always think area like this is unsuited for human beings,but it is also unpractical to emigrant in a large scale.我一直觉得，像这样的地方是不适宜人类居住的，可大规模的移民又是不现实的。

4 crumpled   

adj. 弯扭的, 变皱的 动词crumple的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• She crumpled the letter up into a ball and threw it on the fire. 她把那封信揉成一团扔进了火里。
• She flattened out the crumpled letter on the desk. 她在写字台上把皱巴巴的信展平。

5 proffered   

v.提供，贡献，提出( proffer的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She proffered her cheek to kiss. 她伸过自己的面颊让人亲吻。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He rose and proffered a silver box full of cigarettes. 他站起身，伸手递过一个装满香烟的银盒子。 来自辞典例句

6 passionately   

ad.热烈地，激烈地

参考例句：

• She could hate as passionately as she could love. 她能恨得咬牙切齿，也能爱得一往情深。
• He was passionately addicted to pop music. 他酷爱流行音乐。

7 genially   

adv.亲切地，和蔼地；快活地

参考例句：

• The white church peeps out genially from behind the huts scattered on the river bank. 一座白色教堂从散布在岸上的那些小木房后面殷勤地探出头来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• "Well, It'seems strange to see you way up here,'said Mr. Kenny genially. “咳，真没想到会在这么远的地方见到你，"肯尼先生亲切地说。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

8 excellences   

n.卓越( excellence的名词复数 )；（只用于所修饰的名词后）杰出的；卓越的；出类拔萃的

参考例句：

• Excellences do not depend on a single man's pleasure. 某人某物是否优异不取决于一人的好恶。 来自互联网
• They do not recognize her many excellences. 他们无视她的各种长处。 来自互联网

9 honourable   

adj.可敬的；荣誉的，光荣的

参考例句：

• I don't think I am worthy of such an honourable title.这样的光荣称号，我可担当不起。
• I hope to find an honourable way of settling difficulties.我希望设法找到一个体面的办法以摆脱困境。

10 meek   

adj.温顺的，逆来顺受的

参考例句：

• He expects his wife to be meek and submissive.他期望妻子温顺而且听他摆布。
• The little girl is as meek as a lamb.那个小姑娘像羔羊一般温顺。