At one side of this herb plot were other growths of a rustic8 pharmacopoeia, great treasures and rarities among the commoner herbs. There were some strange and pungent9 odors that roused a dim sense and remembrance of something in the forgotten past. Some of these might once have belonged to sacred and mystic rites10, and have had some occult knowledge handed with them down the centuries; but now they pertained11 only to humble12 compounds brewed13 at intervals14 with molasses or vinegar or spirits in a small caldron on Mrs. Todd's kitchen stove. They were dispensed15 to suffering neighbors, who usually came at night as if by stealth, bringing their own ancient-looking vials to be filled. One nostrum16 was called the Indian remedy, and its price was but fifteen cents; the whispered directions could be heard as customers passed the windows. With most remedies the purchaser was allowed to depart unadmonished from the kitchen, Mrs. Todd being a wise saver of steps; but with certain vials she gave cautions, standing17 in the doorway18, and there were other doses which had to be accompanied on their healing way as far as the gate, while she muttered long chapters of directions, and kept up an air of secrecy19 and importance to the last. It may not have been only the common aids of humanity with which she tried to cope; it seemed sometimes as if love and hate and jealousy20 and adverse21 winds at sea might also find their proper remedies among the curious wild-looking plants in Mrs. Todd's garden.
The village doctor and this learned herbalist were upon the best of terms. The good man may have counted upon the unfavorable effect of certain potions which he should find his opportunity in counteracting22; at any rate, he now and then stopped and exchanged greetings with Mrs. Todd over the picket24 fence. The conversation became at once professional after the briefest preliminaries, and he would stand twirling a sweet-scented sprig in his fingers, and make suggestive jokes, perhaps about her faith in a too persistent25 course of thoroughwort elixir26, in which my landlady27 professed28 such firm belief as sometimes to endanger the life and usefulness of worthy29 neighbors.
To arrive at this quietest of seaside villages late in June, when the busy herb-gathering season was just beginning, was also to arrive in the early prime of Mrs. Todd's activity in the brewing30 of old-fashioned spruce beer. This cooling and refreshing31 drink had been brought to wonderful perfection through a long series of experiments; it had won immense local fame, and the supplies for its manufacture were always giving out and having to be replenished32. For various reasons, the seclusion and uninterrupted days which had been looked forward to proved to be very rare in this otherwise delightful33 corner of the world. My hostess and I had made our shrewd business agreement on the basis of a simple cold luncheon34 at noon, and liberal restitution35 in the matter of hot suppers, to provide for which the lodger36 might sometimes be seen hurrying down the road, late in the day, with cunner line in hand. It was soon found that this arrangement made large allowance for Mrs. Todd's slow herb-gathering progresses through woods and pastures. The spruce-beer customers were pretty steady in hot weather, and there were many demands for different soothing37 syrups38 and elixirs39 with which the unwise curiosity of my early residence had made me acquainted. Knowing Mrs. Todd to be a widow, who had little beside this slender business and the income from one hungry lodger to maintain her, one's energies and even interest were quickly bestowed40, until it became a matter of course that she should go afield every pleasant day, and that the lodger should answer all peremptory41 knocks at the side door.
In taking an occasional wisdom-giving stroll in Mrs. Todd's company, and in acting23 as business partner during her frequent absences, I found the July days fly fast, and it was not until I felt myself confronted with too great pride and pleasure in the display, one night, of two dollars and twenty-seven cents which I had taken in during the day, that I remembered a long piece of writing, sadly belated now, which I was bound to do. To have been patted kindly42 on the shoulder and called “darlin',” to have been offered a surprise of early mushrooms for supper, to have had all the glory of making two dollars and twenty-seven cents in a single day, and then to renounce43 it all and withdraw from these pleasant successes, needed much resolution. Literary employments are so vexed44 with uncertainties45 at best, and it was not until the voice of conscience sounded louder in my ears than the sea on the nearest pebble46 beach that I said unkind words of withdrawal47 to Mrs. Todd. She only became more wistfully affectionate than ever in her expressions, and looked as disappointed as I expected when I frankly48 told her that I could no longer enjoy the pleasure of what we called “seein' folks.” I felt that I was cruel to a whole neighborhood in curtailing49 her liberty in this most important season for harvesting the different wild herbs that were so much counted upon to ease their winter ails50.
“Well, dear,” she said sorrowfully, “I've took great advantage o' your bein' here. I ain't had such a season for years, but I have never had nobody I could so trust. All you lack is a few qualities, but with time you'd gain judgment51 an' experience, an' be very able in the business. I'd stand right here an' say it to anybody.”
Mrs. Todd and I were not separated or estranged52 by the change in our business relations; on the contrary, a deeper intimacy53 seemed to begin. I do not know what herb of the night it was that used sometimes to send out a penetrating54 odor late in the evening, after the dew had fallen, and the moon was high, and the cool air came up from the sea. Then Mrs. Todd would feel that she must talk to somebody, and I was only too glad to listen. We both fell under the spell, and she either stood outside the window, or made an errand to my sitting-room55, and told, it might be very commonplace news of the day, or, as happened one misty56 summer night, all that lay deepest in her heart. It was in this way that I came to know that she had loved one who was far above her.
“No, dear, him I speak of could never think of me,” she said. “When we was young together his mother didn't favor the match, an' done everything she could to part us; and folks thought we both married well, but't wa'n't what either one of us wanted most; an' now we're left alone again, an' might have had each other all the time. He was above bein' a seafarin' man, an' prospered57 more than most; he come of a high family, an' my lot was plain an' hard-workin'. I ain't seen him for some years; he's forgot our youthful feelin's, I expect, but a woman's heart is different; them feelin's comes back when you think you've done with 'em, as sure as spring comes with the year. An' I've always had ways of hearin' about him.”
She stood in the centre of a braided rug, and its rings of black and gray seemed to circle about her feet in the dim light. Her height and massiveness in the low room gave her the look of a huge sibyl, while the strange fragrance58 of the mysterious herb blew in from the little garden.
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1 seclusion | |
n.隐遁,隔离 | |
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2 retired | |
adj.隐退的,退休的,退役的 | |
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3 ardent | |
adj.热情的,热烈的,强烈的,烈性的 | |
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4 laden | |
adj.装满了的;充满了的;负了重担的;苦恼的 | |
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5 sage | |
n.圣人,哲人;adj.贤明的,明智的 | |
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6 fragrant | |
adj.芬香的,馥郁的,愉快的 | |
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7 bent | |
n.爱好,癖好;adj.弯的;决心的,一心的 | |
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8 rustic | |
adj.乡村的,有乡村特色的;n.乡下人,乡巴佬 | |
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9 pungent | |
adj.(气味、味道)刺激性的,辛辣的;尖锐的 | |
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10 rites | |
仪式,典礼( rite的名词复数 ) | |
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11 pertained | |
关于( pertain的过去式和过去分词 ); 有关; 存在; 适用 | |
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12 humble | |
adj.谦卑的,恭顺的;地位低下的;v.降低,贬低 | |
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13 brewed | |
调制( brew的过去式和过去分词 ); 酝酿; 沏(茶); 煮(咖啡) | |
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14 intervals | |
n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 );间隔时间;[数学]区间;(戏剧、电影或音乐会的)幕间休息 | |
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15 dispensed | |
v.分配( dispense的过去式和过去分词 );施与;配(药) | |
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16 nostrum | |
n.秘方;妙策 | |
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17 standing | |
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的 | |
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18 doorway | |
n.门口,(喻)入门;门路,途径 | |
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19 secrecy | |
n.秘密,保密,隐蔽 | |
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20 jealousy | |
n.妒忌,嫉妒,猜忌 | |
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21 adverse | |
adj.不利的;有害的;敌对的,不友好的 | |
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22 counteracting | |
对抗,抵消( counteract的现在分词 ) | |
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23 acting | |
n.演戏,行为,假装;adj.代理的,临时的,演出用的 | |
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24 picket | |
n.纠察队;警戒哨;v.设置纠察线;布置警卫 | |
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25 persistent | |
adj.坚持不懈的,执意的;持续的 | |
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26 elixir | |
n.长生不老药,万能药 | |
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27 landlady | |
n.女房东,女地主 | |
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28 professed | |
公开声称的,伪称的,已立誓信教的 | |
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29 worthy | |
adj.(of)值得的,配得上的;有价值的 | |
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30 brewing | |
n. 酿造, 一次酿造的量 动词brew的现在分词形式 | |
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31 refreshing | |
adj.使精神振作的,使人清爽的,使人喜欢的 | |
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32 replenished | |
补充( replenish的过去式和过去分词 ); 重新装满 | |
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33 delightful | |
adj.令人高兴的,使人快乐的 | |
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34 luncheon | |
n.午宴,午餐,便宴 | |
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35 restitution | |
n.赔偿;恢复原状 | |
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36 lodger | |
n.寄宿人,房客 | |
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37 soothing | |
adj.慰藉的;使人宽心的;镇静的 | |
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38 syrups | |
n.糖浆,糖汁( syrup的名词复数 );糖浆类药品 | |
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39 elixirs | |
n.炼金药,长生不老药( elixir的名词复数 );酏剂 | |
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40 bestowed | |
赠给,授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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41 peremptory | |
adj.紧急的,专横的,断然的 | |
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42 kindly | |
adj.和蔼的,温和的,爽快的;adv.温和地,亲切地 | |
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43 renounce | |
v.放弃;拒绝承认,宣布与…断绝关系 | |
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44 vexed | |
adj.争论不休的;(指问题等)棘手的;争论不休的问题;烦恼的v.使烦恼( vex的过去式和过去分词 );使苦恼;使生气;详细讨论 | |
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45 uncertainties | |
无把握( uncertainty的名词复数 ); 不确定; 变化不定; 无把握、不确定的事物 | |
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46 pebble | |
n.卵石,小圆石 | |
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47 withdrawal | |
n.取回,提款;撤退,撤军;收回,撤销 | |
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48 frankly | |
adv.坦白地,直率地;坦率地说 | |
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49 curtailing | |
v.截断,缩短( curtail的现在分词 ) | |
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50 ails | |
v.生病( ail的第三人称单数 );感到不舒服;处境困难;境况不佳 | |
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51 judgment | |
n.审判;判断力,识别力,看法,意见 | |
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52 estranged | |
adj.疏远的,分离的 | |
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53 intimacy | |
n.熟悉,亲密,密切关系,亲昵的言行 | |
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54 penetrating | |
adj.(声音)响亮的,尖锐的adj.(气味)刺激的adj.(思想)敏锐的,有洞察力的 | |
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55 sitting-room | |
n.(BrE)客厅,起居室 | |
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56 misty | |
adj.雾蒙蒙的,有雾的 | |
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57 prospered | |
成功,兴旺( prosper的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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58 fragrance | |
n.芬芳,香味,香气 | |
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