CHAPTER XV

 We are staying in the country, a long way out, where the real country is.

 

Cows and horses, pigs and sheep, a beautiful dog and hens and ducks form our circle of acquaintances. In addition to these, there are of course the two-legged beings who own and look after the four-legged ones and who, in my little boy's eyes, belong to quite the same kind.

 

The great sea lies at the foot of the slope. Ships float in the distance and have nothing to say to us. The sun burns us and bronzes us. We eat like thrashers, sleep like guinea-pigs and wake like larks¹. The only real sorrow that we have suffered is that we were not allowed to have our breeches made with a flap at the side, like the old wood-cutter's.

 

Presently, it happens that, for better or worse, we get neighbours.

 

They are regular Copenhageners. They were prepared not to find electric light in the farm-house; but, if they had known that there was no water in the kitchen, God knows they would not have come. They trudge² through the clover as though it were mire³ and are sorry to find so few cornflowers in the rye. A cow going loose along the roads fills them with a terror which might easily have satisfied a royal tiger.

 

The pearl of the family is Erna.

 

Erna is five years old; her very small face is pale green, with watery⁴ blue eyes and yellow curls. She is richly and gaily⁵ dressed in a broad and slovenly⁶ sash, daintily-embroidered pantalets, short open-work socks and patent-leather shoes. She falls if she but moves a foot, for she is used only to gliding⁷ over polished floors or asphalt.

 

I at once perceive that my little boy's eyes have seen a woman.

 

He has seen the woman that comes to us all at one time or another and turns our heads with her rustling⁸ silks and her glossy⁹ hair and wears her soul in her skirts and our poor hearts under her heel.

 

"Now comes the perilous¹⁰ moment for Dirty," I say to the mother of my little boy.

 

This time it is my little boy's turn to be superior.

 

He knows the business thoroughly¹¹ and explains it all to Erna. When he worries the horse, she trembles, impressed with his courage and manliness¹². When she has a fit of terror at the sight of a hen, he is charmed with her delicacy¹³. He knows the way to the smith's, he dares to roll down the high slope, he chivalrously¹⁴ carries her ridiculous little cape¹⁵.

 

Altogether, there is no doubt as to the condition of his heart. And, while Erna's family apparently¹⁶ favour the position—for which may the devil take them!—I must needs wait with resignation like one who knows that love is every man's master.

 

One morning he proposes.

 

He is sitting with his beloved on the lawn. Close to them, her aunt is nursing her chlorosis under a red parasol and with a novel in her bony lap. Up in the balcony above sit I, as Providence¹⁷, and see everything, myself unseen.

 

"You shall be my sweetheart," says my little boy.

 

"Yes," says Erna.

 

"I have a sweetheart already in Copenhagen," he says, proudly.

 

This communication naturally by no means lowers Erna's suitor in her eyes. But it immediately arouses all Auntie's moral instincts:

 

"If you have a sweetheart, you must be true to her."

 

"Erna shall be my sweetheart."

 

Auntie turns her eyes up to Heaven:

 

"Listen, child," she says. "You're a very naughty boy. If you have given Dir—Dir——"

 

"Dirty," says the boy.

 

"Well, that's an extraordinary name! But, if you have given her your word, you must keep it till you die. Else you'll never, never be happy."

 

My little boy understands not a word and answers not a word. Erna begins to cry at the prospect¹⁸ that this good match may not come off. But I bend down over the baluster and raise my hat:

 

"I beg your pardon, Fröken. Was it not you who jilted Hr. Petersen? . . ."

 

"Good heavens! . . ."

 

She packs up her chlorosis and disappears with Erna, mumbling¹⁹ something about like father, like son, and goodness knows what.

 

Presently, my little boy comes up to me and stands and hangs about.

 

"Where has Erna gone to?" I ask my little boy.

 

"She mustn't go out," he says, dejectedly.

 

He puts his hands in his pockets and looks straight before him.

 

"Father," he says, "can't you have two sweethearts?"

 

The question comes quite unexpectedly and, at the moment, I don't know what to answer.

 

"Well?" says the mother of my little boy, amiably²⁰, and looks up from her newspaper.

 

And I pull my waistcoat down and my collar up:

 

"Yes," I say, firmly. "You can. But it is wrong. It leads to more fuss and unpleasantness than you can possibly conceive."

 

A silence.

 

"Are you so fond of Erna?" asks our mother.

 

"Yes."

 

"Do you want to marry her?"

 

"Yes."

 

I get up and rub my hands:

 

"Then the thing is settled," I say. "We'll write to Dirty and give her notice. There's nothing else to be done. I will write now and you can give the letter yourself to the postman, when he comes this afternoon. If you take my advice, you will make her a present of your ball. Then she will not be so much upset."

 

"She can have my gold-fish too, if she likes," says the boy.

 

"Excellent, excellent. We will give her the gold-fish. Then she will really have nothing in the world to complain of."

 

My little boy goes away. But, presently, he returns:

 

"Father, have you written the letter to Dirty?"

 

"Not yet, my boy. There is time enough. I sha'n't forget it."

 

"Father, I am so fond of Dirty."

 

"She was certainly a dear little girl."

 

A silence.

 

"Father, I am also so fond of Erna."

 

We look at each other. This is no joke:

 

"Perhaps we had better wait with the letter till tomorrow," I say. "Or perhaps it would be best if we talked to Dirty ourselves, when we get back to town."

 

We both ponder over the matter and really don't know what to do.

 

Then my eyes surprise an indescribable smile on our mother's face. All a woman's incapacity to understand man's honesty is contained within that smile and I resent it greatly:

 

"Come," I say and give my hand to my little boy. "Let us go."

 

And we go to a place we know of, far away behind the hedge, where we lie on our backs and look up at the blue sky and talk together sensibly, as two gentlemen should.

该作者的其它作品
《The Pond》
《The Old Room》
《The Spider and Other Tales》

1 larks   

n.百灵科鸟（尤指云雀）( lark的名词复数 )；一大早就起床；鸡鸣即起；（因太费力而不想干时说）算了v.百灵科鸟（尤指云雀）( lark的第三人称单数 )；一大早就起床；鸡鸣即起；（因太费力而不想干时说）算了

参考例句：

• Maybe if she heard the larks sing she'd write. 玛丽听到云雀的歌声也许会写信的。 来自名作英译部分
• But sure there are no larks in big cities. 可大城市里哪有云雀呢。” 来自名作英译部分

2 trudge   

v.步履艰难地走；n.跋涉，费力艰难的步行

参考例句：

• It was a hard trudge up the hill.这趟上山是一次艰难的跋涉。
• The trudge through the forest will be tiresome.长途跋涉穿越森林会令人疲惫不堪。

3 mire   

n.泥沼，泥泞；v.使...陷于泥泞，使...陷入困境

参考例句：

• I don't want my son's good name dragged through the mire.我不想使我儿子的名誉扫地。
• He has rescued me from the mire of misery.他把我从苦海里救了出来。

4 watery   

adj.有水的，水汪汪的；湿的，湿润的

参考例句：

• In his watery eyes there is an expression of distrust.他那含泪的眼睛流露出惊惶失措的神情。
• Her eyes became watery because of the smoke.因为烟熏，她的双眼变得泪汪汪的。

5 gaily   

adv.欢乐地，高兴地

参考例句：

• The children sing gaily.孩子们欢唱着。
• She waved goodbye very gaily.她欢快地挥手告别。

6 slovenly   

adj.懒散的，不整齐的，邋遢的

参考例句：

• People were scandalized at the slovenly management of the company.人们对该公司草率的经营感到愤慨。
• Such slovenly work habits will never produce good products.这样马马虎虎的工作习惯决不能生产出优质产品来。

7 gliding   

v. 滑翔 adj. 滑动的

参考例句：

• Swans went gliding past. 天鹅滑行而过。
• The weather forecast has put a question mark against the chance of doing any gliding tomorrow. 天气预报对明天是否能举行滑翔表示怀疑。

8 rustling   

n. 瑟瑟声，沙沙声 adj. 发沙沙声的

参考例句：

• the sound of the trees rustling in the breeze 树木在微风中发出的沙沙声
• the soft rustling of leaves 树叶柔和的沙沙声

9 glossy   

adj.平滑的；有光泽的

参考例句：

• I like these glossy spots.我喜欢这些闪闪发光的花点。
• She had glossy black hair.她长着乌黑发亮的头发。

10 perilous   

adj.危险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• The journey through the jungle was perilous.穿过丛林的旅行充满了危险。
• We have been carried in safety through a perilous crisis.历经一连串危机，我们如今已安然无恙。

11 thoroughly   

adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地

参考例句：

• The soil must be thoroughly turned over before planting.一定要先把土地深翻一遍再下种。
• The soldiers have been thoroughly instructed in the care of their weapons.士兵们都系统地接受过保护武器的训练。

12 manliness   

刚毅

参考例句：

• She was really fond of his strength, his wholesome looks, his manliness. 她真喜欢他的坚强，他那健康的容貌，他的男子气概。
• His confidence, his manliness and bravery, turn his wit into wisdom. 他的自信、男子气概和勇敢将他的风趣变为智慧。

13 delicacy   

n.精致，细微，微妙，精良；美味，佳肴

参考例句：

• We admired the delicacy of the craftsmanship.我们佩服工艺师精巧的手艺。
• He sensed the delicacy of the situation.他感觉到了形势的微妙。

14 chivalrously   

adv.象骑士一样地

参考例句：

15 cape   

n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风

参考例句：

• I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
• She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。

16 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

17 providence   

n.深谋远虑，天道，天意；远见；节约；上帝

参考例句：

• It is tempting Providence to go in that old boat.乘那艘旧船前往是冒大险。
• To act as you have done is to fly in the face of Providence.照你的所作所为那样去行事，是违背上帝的意志的。

18 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

19 mumbling   

含糊地说某事，叽咕，咕哝( mumble的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• I could hear him mumbling to himself. 我听到他在喃喃自语。
• He was still mumbling something about hospitals at the end of the party when he slipped on a piece of ice and broke his left leg. 宴会结束时，他仍在咕哝着医院里的事。说着说着，他在一块冰上滑倒，跌断了左腿。

20 amiably   

adv.和蔼可亲地，亲切地

参考例句：

• She grinned amiably at us. 她咧着嘴向我们亲切地微笑。
• Atheists and theists live together peacefully and amiably in this country. 无神论者和有神论者在该国和睦相处。 来自《简明英汉词典》