IV. WHO WERE PRESENT AT THE MILLER’S LITTLE ENTERTAINMENT

 When the group entered the presence of the company a lull¹ in the conversation was caused by the sight of new visitors, and (of course) by the charm of Anne’s appearance; until the old men, who had daughters of their own, perceiving that she was only a half-formed girl, resumed their tales and toss-potting with unconcern.

 

Miller² Loveday had fraternized with half the soldiers in the camp since their arrival, and the effect of this upon his party was striking—both chromatically³ and otherwise.  Those among the guests who first attracted the eye were the sergeants⁴ and sergeant-majors of Loveday’s regiment⁵, fine hearty⁶ men, who sat facing the candles, entirely⁷ resigned to physical comfort.  Then there were other non-commissioned officers, a German, two Hungarians, and a Swede, from the foreign hussars—young men with a look of sadness on their faces, as if they did not much like serving so far from home.  All of them spoke⁸ English fairly well.  Old age was represented by Simon Burden the pensioner⁹, and the shady side of fifty by Corporal Tullidge, his friend and neighbour, who was hard of hearing, and sat with his hat on over a red cotton handkerchief that was wound several times round his head.  These two veterans were employed as watchers at the neighbouring beacon¹⁰, which had lately been erected¹¹ by the Lord-Lieutenant for firing whenever the descent on the coast should be made.  They lived in a little hut on the hill, close by the heap of faggots; but to-night they had found deputies to watch in their stead.

 

On a lower plane of experience and qualifications came neighbour James Comfort, of the Volunteers, a soldier by courtesy, but a blacksmith by rights; also William Tremlett and Anthony Cripplestraw, of the local forces.  The two latter men of war were dressed merely as villagers, and looked upon the regulars from a humble¹² position in the background.  The remainder of the party was made up of a neighbouring dairyman or two, and their wives, invited by the miller, as Anne was glad to see, that she and her mother should not be the only women there.

 

The elder Loveday apologized in a whisper to Mrs. Garland for the presence of the inferior villagers.  ‘But as they are learning to be brave defenders¹³ of their home and country, ma’am, as fast as they can master the drill, and have worked for me off and on these many years, I’ve asked ’em in, and thought you’d excuse it.’

 

‘Certainly, Miller Loveday,’ said the widow.

 

‘And the same of old Burden and Tullidge.  They have served well and long in the Foot, and even now have a hard time of it up at the beacon in wet weather.  So after giving them a meal in the kitchen I just asked ’em in to hear the singing.  They faithfully promise that as soon as ever the gunboats appear in view, and they have fired the beacon, to run down here first, in case we shouldn’t see it.  ’Tis worth while to be friendly with ’em, you see, though their tempers be queer.’

 

‘Quite worth while, miller,’ said she.

 

Anne was rather embarrassed by the presence of the regular military in such force, and at first confined her words to the dairymen’s wives she was acquainted with, and to the two old soldiers of the parish.

 

‘Why didn’t ye speak to me afore, chiel?’ said one of these, Corporal Tullidge, the elderly man with the hat, while she was talking to old Simon Burden.  ‘I met ye in the lane yesterday,’ he added reproachfully, ‘but ye didn’t notice me at all.’

 

‘I am very sorry for it,’ she said; but, being afraid to shout in such a company, the effect of her remark upon the corporal was as if she had not spoken at all.

 

‘You was coming along with yer head full of some high notions or other no doubt,’ continued the uncompromising corporal in the same loud voice.  ‘Ah, ’tis the young bucks¹⁴ that get all the notice nowadays, and old folks are quite forgot!  I can mind well enough how young Bob Loveday used to lie in wait for ye.’

 

Anne blushed deeply, and stopped his too excursive discourse¹⁵ by hastily saying that she always respected old folks like him.  The corporal thought she inquired why he always kept his hat on, and answered that it was because his head was injured at Valenciennes, in July, Ninety-three.  ‘We were trying to bomb down the tower, and a piece of the shell struck me.  I was no more nor less than a dead man for two days.  If it hadn’t a been for that and my smashed arm I should have come home none the worse for my five-and-twenty years’ service.’

 

‘You have got a silver plate let into yer head, haven’t ye, corpel?’ said Anthony Cripplestraw, who had drawn¹⁶ near.  ‘I have heard that the way they morticed yer skull¹⁷ was a beautiful piece of workmanship.  Perhaps the young woman would like to see the place?  ’Tis a curious sight, Mis’ess Anne; you don’t see such a wownd every day.’

 

‘No, thank you,’ said Anne hurriedly, dreading¹⁸, as did all the young people of Overcombe, the spectacle of the corporal uncovered.  He had never been seen in public without the hat and the handkerchief since his return in Ninety-four; and strange stories were told of the ghastliness of his appearance bare-headed, a little boy who had accidentally beheld¹⁹ him going to bed in that state having been frightened into fits.

 

‘Well, if the young woman don’t want to see yer head, maybe she’d like to hear yer arm?’ continued Cripplestraw, earnest to please her.

 

‘Hey?’ said the corporal.

 

‘Your arm hurt too?’ cried Anne.

 

‘Knocked to a pummy at the same time as my head,’ said Tullidge dispassionately.

 

‘Rattle yer arm, corpel, and show her,’ said Cripplestraw.

 

‘Yes, sure,’ said the corporal, raising the limb slowly, as if the glory of exhibition had lost some of its novelty, though he was willing to oblige.  Twisting it mercilessly about with his right hand he produced a crunching²⁰ among the bones at every motion, Cripplestraw seeming to derive²¹ great satisfaction from the ghastly sound.

 

‘How very shocking!’ said Anne, painfully anxious for him to leave off.

 

‘O, it don’t hurt him, bless ye.  Do it, corpel?’ said Cripplestraw.

 

‘Not a bit,’ said the corporal, still working his arm with great energy.

 

‘There’s no life in the bones at all.  No life in ’em, I tell her, corpel!’

 

‘None at all.’

 

‘They be as loose as a bag of ninepins,’ explained Cripplestraw in continuation.  ‘You can feel ’em quite plain, Mis’ess Anne.  If ye would like to, he’ll undo²² his sleeve in a minute to oblege ye?’

 

‘O no, no, please not!  I quite understand,’ said the young woman.

 

‘Do she want to hear or see any more, or don’t she?’ the corporal inquired, with a sense that his time was getting wasted.

 

Anne explained that she did not on any account; and managed to escape from the corner.

该作者的其它作品
《忧郁的双眸 A Pair of Blue Eyes》
《韦塞克斯的故事 Wessex Tales》
《无名的裘德 Jude the Obscure》
《Tess of the D‘Urbervilles德伯家的苔丝》

1 lull   

v.使安静，使入睡，缓和，哄骗；n.暂停，间歇

参考例句：

• The drug put Simpson in a lull for thirty minutes.药物使辛普森安静了30分钟。
• Ground fighting flared up again after a two-week lull.经过两个星期的平静之后，地面战又突然爆发了。

2 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

3 chromatically   

adv.上色，套色

参考例句：

• The first page of the newspaper is chromatically printed. 这张报纸的第一版是套色版。 来自互联网
• As soon as the volume steadies itself, the trill begins to descend chromatically, never resting. 当音量稳定下来后，富有色彩的颤音时不时出现，从未停止。 来自互联网

4 sergeants   

警官( sergeant的名词复数 )； （美国警察）警佐； （英国警察）巡佐； 陆军（或空军）中士

参考例句：

• Platoon sergeants fell their men in on the barrack square. 排长们在营房广场上整顿队伍。
• The recruits were soon licked into shape by the drill sergeants. 新兵不久便被教育班长训练得象样了。

5 regiment   

n.团，多数，管理；v.组织，编成团，统制

参考例句：

• As he hated army life,he decide to desert his regiment.因为他嫌恶军队生活，所以他决心背弃自己所在的那个团。
• They reformed a division into a regiment.他们将一个师整编成为一个团。

6 hearty   

adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的

参考例句：

• After work they made a hearty meal in the worker's canteen.工作完了，他们在工人食堂饱餐了一顿。
• We accorded him a hearty welcome.我们给他热忱的欢迎。

7 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

8 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。

9 pensioner   

n.领养老金的人

参考例句：

• The tax threshold for a single pensioner is$ 445.单身领退休年金者的纳税起点为445英镑。
• It was the pensioner's vote late in the day that influenced the election of Mr.Sweet.最后是领取养老金者的选票影响了斯威特先生的当选。

10 beacon   

n.烽火，（警告用的）闪火灯，灯塔

参考例句：

• The blink of beacon could be seen for miles.灯塔的光亮在数英里之外都能看见。
• The only light over the deep black sea was the blink shone from the beacon.黑黢黢的海面上唯一的光明就只有灯塔上闪现的亮光了。

11 ERECTED   

adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立

参考例句：

• A monument to him was erected in St Paul's Cathedral. 在圣保罗大教堂为他修了一座纪念碑。
• A monument was erected to the memory of that great scientist. 树立了一块纪念碑纪念那位伟大的科学家。

12 humble   

adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低

参考例句：

• In my humble opinion,he will win the election.依我拙见，他将在选举中获胜。
• Defeat and failure make people humble.挫折与失败会使人谦卑。

13 defenders   

n.防御者( defender的名词复数 )；守卫者；保护者；辩护者

参考例句：

• The defenders were outnumbered and had to give in. 抵抗者寡不敌众，只能投降。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• After hard fighting,the defenders were still masters of the city. 守军经过奋战仍然控制着城市。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 bucks   

n.雄鹿( buck的名词复数 )；钱；（英国十九世纪初的）花花公子；（用于某些表达方式）责任v.（马等）猛然弓背跃起( buck的第三人称单数 )；抵制；猛然震荡；马等尥起后蹄跳跃

参考例句：

• They cost ten bucks. 这些值十元钱。
• They are hunting for bucks. 他们正在猎雄兔。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 discourse   

n.论文，演说；谈话；话语；vi.讲述，著述

参考例句：

• We'll discourse on the subject tonight.我们今晚要谈论这个问题。
• He fell into discourse with the customers who were drinking at the counter.他和站在柜台旁的酒客谈了起来。

16 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

17 skull   

n.头骨；颅骨

参考例句：

• The skull bones fuse between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five.头骨在15至25岁之间长合。
• He fell out of the window and cracked his skull.他从窗子摔了出去，跌裂了颅骨。

18 dreading   

v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• She was dreading having to broach the subject of money to her father. 她正在为不得不向父亲提出钱的事犯愁。
• This was the moment he had been dreading. 这是他一直最担心的时刻。

19 beheld   

v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟

参考例句：

• His eyes had never beheld such opulence. 他从未见过这样的财富。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The soul beheld its features in the mirror of the passing moment. 灵魂在逝去的瞬间的镜子中看到了自己的模样。 来自英汉文学 - 红字

20 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》

21 derive   

v.取得；导出；引申；来自；源自；出自

参考例句：

• We derive our sustenance from the land.我们从土地获取食物。
• We shall derive much benefit from reading good novels.我们将从优秀小说中获得很大好处。

22 undo   

vt.解开，松开；取消，撤销

参考例句：

• His pride will undo him some day.他的傲慢总有一天会毁了他。
• I managed secretly to undo a corner of the parcel.我悄悄地设法解开了包裹的一角。