“Pshaw! pshaw! child,” he would reply, “that's nothing. It does almost as well to walk on, and that's all legs are for. I'd have had forty legs shot off rather than not have helped drive out those damned British rascals.”
Not even for sake of Hetty's young ears could the old Squire mention the British rascals without his favorite expletive. Here, also, came in another lesson which sank deep into Hetty's heart. It was for his country that her grandfather had lost that leg, and would have gladly lost forty, if he had had so many to lose, not for himself; for something which he loved better than himself: this was distinct in Hetty Gunn's comprehension before she was twelve years old, and it was a most important force in the growth of her nature. No one can estimate the results on a character of these slow absorptions, these unconscious biases25, from daily contact. All precepts26, all religions, are insignificant27 agencies by their side. They are like sun and soil to a plant: they make a moral climate in which certain things are sure to grow, and certain other things are sure to die; as sure as it is that orchids28 and pineapples thrive in the tropics, and would die in New England.
When old Squire Gunn was buried, all the villages within twenty miles turned out to his funeral. He was the last revolutionary hero of the county. An oration29 was delivered in the meeting-house; and the brass30 band of Welbury played “My country, 'tis of thee,” all the way from the meeting-house to the graveyard31 gate. After the grave was filled up, guns were fired above it, and the Welbury village choir32 sang an anthem33. The crowd, the music, the firing of guns, produced an ineffaceable impression upon Hetty's mind. While her grandfather's body lay in the house, she had wept inconsolably. But as soon as the funeral services began, her tears stopped; her eyes grew large and bright with excitement; she held her head erect34; a noble exaltation and pride shone on her features; she gazed upon the faces of the people with a composure and dignity which were unchildlike. No emperor's daughter in Rome could have borne herself, at the burial of her most illustrious ancestor, more grandly and yet more modestly than did little Hetty Gunn, aged35 twelve, at the burial of this unfamed Massachusetts revolutionary soldier: and well she might; for a greater than royal inheritance had come to her from him. The echoes of the farewell shots which were fired over the old man's grave were never to die out of Hetty's ears. Child, girl, woman, she was to hear them always: signal guns of her life, they meant courage, cheerfulness, self-sacrifice.
Of Hetty's father, the “young Squire,” as to the day of his death he was called by the older people in Welbury, and of Hetty's mother, his wife, it is not needful to say much here. The young Squire was a lazy, affectionate man to whom the good things of life had come without his taking any trouble for them: even his wife had been more than half wooed for him by his doting36 father; and there were those who said that pretty Mrs. Gunn had been quite as much in love with the old Squire, old as he was, as with the young one; but that was only an idle village sneer37. The young Squire and his wife loved each other devotedly38, and their only child, Hetty, with an unreasoning and unreasonable39 affection which would have been the ruin of her, if she had been any thing else but what she was, “the old Squire over again.” As it was, the only effect of this overweening affection, on their part, was to produce a slow reversal of some of the ordinary relations between parents and children. As Hetty grew into womanhood, she grew more and more to have a sense of responsibility for her father's and mother's happiness. She was the most filially docile40 of creatures, and obeyed like a baby, grown woman as she was. It was strange to hear and to see.
“Hetty, bring me my overcoat,” her father would say to her in her thirty-fifth year, exactly as he would have said it in her twelfth; and she would spring with the same alacrity41 and the same look of pleasure at being of use. But there was a filial service which she rendered to her parents much deeper than these surface obediences42 and attentions. They were but dimly conscious of it; and yet, had it been taken away from them, they had found their lives blighted43 indeed. She was the link between them and the outside world. She brought merriment, cheer, hearty44 friendliness45 into the house. She was the good comrade of every young woman and every young man in Welbury; and she compelled them all to bring a certain half-filial affection and attention to her father and mother. The best tribute to what she had accomplished46 in this direction was in the fact, that you always heard the young people mention Squire Gunn and his wife as “Hetty Gunn's father” or “Hetty Gunn's mother;” and the two old people were seen at many a gathering47 where there was not a single old face but theirs.
“Hetty won't go without her father and mother,” or “Hetty'll be so pleased if we ask her father and mother,” was frequently heard. From this free and unembarrassed association of the old and the young, grew many excellent things. In this wholesome atmosphere honesty and good behavior thrived; but there was little chance for the development of those secret sentimental preferences and susceptibilities out of which spring love-making and thoughts of marriage.
There probably was not a marriageable young man in Welbury who had not at one time or another thought to himself, what a good thing it would be to marry Hetty Gunn. Hetty was pretty, sensible, affectionate, and rich. Such girls as that were not to be found every day. A man might look far and long before he could find such a wife as Hetty would make. But nothing seemed to be farther from Hetty's thoughts than making a wife of herself for anybody. And the world may say what it pleases about its being the exclusive province of men to woo: very few men do woo a woman who does not show herself ready to be wooed. It is a rare beauty or a rare spell of some sort which can draw a man past the barrier of a woman's honest, unaffected, and persistent48 unconsciousness of any thoughts of love or matrimony. So between Hetty's unconsciousness and her perpetual comradeship with her father and mother, the years went on, and on, and no man asked Hetty to marry him. The odd thing about it was that every man felt sure that he was the only man who had not asked her; and a general impression had grown up in the town that Hetty Gunn had refused nearly everybody. She was so evidently a favorite; “Gunn's” was so much the headquarters for all the young people; it was so open to everybody's observation how much all men admired and liked Hetty,—she was never seen anywhere without one or two or three at her service: it was the most natural thing in the world for people to think as they did. Yet not a human being ever accused Hetty of flirting49; her manner was always as open, friendly, and cordial as an honest boy's, and with no more trace of self-seeking or self-consciousness about it. She was as full of fun and mischief50, too, as any boy could be. She had slid down hill with the wildest of them, till even her father said sternly,—
“Hetty,—you're too big. It's a shameful51 sight to see a girl of your size, out on a sled with boys.” And Hetty hung her head, and said pathetically,—
But after the sliding was forbidden, there remained the chestnuttings in the autumn, and the trout53 fishings in the summer, and the Mayflower parties in the spring, and colts and horses and dogs. Until Hetty was twenty-two years old, you might have been quite sure that, whenever you found her in any out-door party, the masculine element was largely predominant in that party. After this time, however, life gradually sobered for Hetty: one by one her friends married; the maidens54 became matrons, the young men became heads of houses. In wedding after wedding, Hetty Gunn was the prettiest of the bridesmaids, and people whispered as they watched her merry, kindly55 face,—
“Ain't it the queerest thing in life, Hetty Gunn won't marry. There isn't a fellow in town she mightn't have.”
If anybody had said this to Hetty herself, she would probably have laughed, and said with entire frankness,—
“You're quite mistaken. They don't want me,” which would only have strengthened her hearers' previous impressions that they did.
In process of time, after the weddings came the christenings, and at these also Hetty Gunn was still the favorite friend, the desired guest. Presently, there came to be so many little Hetty Gunns in the village, that no young mother had courage to use the name more, however much she loved Hetty. Hetty used to say laughingly that it was well she was an only child, for she had now more nieces and nephews than she knew what to do with. Very dearly she loved them all; and the little things all loved her, the instant she put her arms round them: and more than one young husband, without meaning to be in the least disloyal to his wife, thought to himself, when he saw his baby's face nestling down to Hetty Gunn's brown curls,—
“I wonder if she'd have had me, if I'd asked her. But I don't believe Hetty'll ever marry,—a girl that's had the offers she has.”
And so it had come to pass that, at the time our story begins, Hetty was thirty-five years old, and singularly alone in the world. The death of her mother, which had occurred first, was a great shock to her, for it had been a sudden and a painful death. But the loss of her mother was to Hetty a trivial one, in comparison with the loss of her father. On the day of her grandfather's death, she had seemed, child as she was, to have received her father into her hands, as a sacred legacy56 of trust; and he, on his part, seemed fully57 to reciprocate58 and accept without comprehending the new relation. He unconsciously leaned upon Hetty more and more from that hour until the hour when he died, bolstered59 up in bed with his head on her shoulder, and gasping60 out, between difficult breaths, his words of farewell,—strange farewell to be spoken to a middle-aged61 woman, whose hair was already streaked62 with gray,—
“Poor little girl! I've got to leave you. You've been a good little girl, Hetty, a good little girl.”
Neighbors and friends crowded around Hetty, in the first moments of her grief. But they all, even those nearest and most intimate, found themselves bewildered and baffled, nay63 almost repelled64, by Hetty's manner. Her noble face was so grief-stricken that she looked years older in a single day. But her voice and her smile were unaltered; and she would not listen to any words of sympathy. She wished to hear no allusions65 to her trouble, except such as were needfully made in the arranging of practical points. Her eyes filled with tears frequently, but no one saw a tear fall. At the funeral, her face wore much the same look it had worn, twenty-three years before, at her grandfather's funeral. There were some present who remembered that day well, and remembered the look, and they said musingly,—
“There 's something very queer about Hetty Gunn, after all. Don't you remember how she acted, when she was a little thing, the day old Squire Gunn was buried? Anybody'd have thought then a funeral was Fourth of July, and she looks much the same way now.”
Then they fell to discussing the probabilities of her future course. It was not easy to predict.
“The Squire's left every thing to her, just as if she was a man. She can sell the property right off, if she wants to, and go and live where she likes,” they said.
“Well, you may set your minds to rest on that,” said old Deacon Little, who had been the young squire's most intimate friend, and who knew Hetty as well as if she were his own child, and loved her better; for his own children, poor man, had nearly brought his gray hairs down to the grave with distress66 and shame.
“Hetty Gunn'll never sell that farm, not a stick nor a stone on't, any more than the old Squire himself would. You'll see, she'll keep it a goin', jest the same's ever. It's a thousand pities, she warn't born a boy.”
点击收听单词发音
1 squire | |
n.护卫, 侍从, 乡绅 | |
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2 herds | |
兽群( herd的名词复数 ); 牧群; 人群; 群众 | |
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3 rascals | |
流氓( rascal的名词复数 ); 无赖; (开玩笑说法)淘气的人(尤指小孩); 恶作剧的人 | |
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4 twitch | |
v.急拉,抽动,痉挛,抽搐;n.扯,阵痛,痉挛 | |
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5 stumped | |
僵直地行走,跺步行走( stump的过去式和过去分词 ); 把(某人)难住; 使为难; (选举前)在某一地区作政治性巡回演说 | |
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6 paralysis | |
n.麻痹(症);瘫痪(症) | |
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7 cane | |
n.手杖,细长的茎,藤条;v.以杖击,以藤编制的 | |
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9 poke | |
n.刺,戳,袋;vt.拨开,刺,戳;vi.戳,刺,捅,搜索,伸出,行动散慢 | |
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10 lure | |
n.吸引人的东西,诱惑物;vt.引诱,吸引 | |
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11 resolute | |
adj.坚决的,果敢的 | |
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12 resolutely | |
adj.坚决地,果断地 | |
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13 disinterested | |
adj.不关心的,不感兴趣的 | |
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14 manifestations | |
n.表示,显示(manifestation的复数形式) | |
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15 sarcastic | |
adj.讥讽的,讽刺的,嘲弄的 | |
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16 wholesome | |
adj.适合;卫生的;有益健康的;显示身心健康的 | |
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17 sentimental | |
adj.多愁善感的,感伤的 | |
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18 fortitude | |
n.坚忍不拔;刚毅 | |
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19 invaluable | |
adj.无价的,非常宝贵的,极为贵重的 | |
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20 discomfort | |
n.不舒服,不安,难过,困难,不方便 | |
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21 annoyance | |
n.恼怒,生气,烦恼 | |
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22 equanimity | |
n.沉着,镇定 | |
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23 deprivation | |
n.匮乏;丧失;夺去,贫困 | |
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24 chubby | |
adj.丰满的,圆胖的 | |
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25 biases | |
偏见( bias的名词复数 ); 偏爱; 特殊能力; 斜纹 | |
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26 precepts | |
n.规诫,戒律,箴言( precept的名词复数 ) | |
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27 insignificant | |
adj.无关紧要的,可忽略的,无意义的 | |
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28 orchids | |
n.兰花( orchid的名词复数 ) | |
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29 oration | |
n.演说,致辞,叙述法 | |
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30 brass | |
n.黄铜;黄铜器,铜管乐器 | |
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31 graveyard | |
n.坟场 | |
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32 choir | |
n.唱诗班,唱诗班的席位,合唱团,舞蹈团;v.合唱 | |
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33 anthem | |
n.圣歌,赞美诗,颂歌 | |
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34 erect | |
n./v.树立,建立,使竖立;adj.直立的,垂直的 | |
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35 aged | |
adj.年老的,陈年的 | |
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36 doting | |
adj.溺爱的,宠爱的 | |
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37 sneer | |
v.轻蔑;嘲笑;n.嘲笑,讥讽的言语 | |
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38 devotedly | |
专心地; 恩爱地; 忠实地; 一心一意地 | |
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39 unreasonable | |
adj.不讲道理的,不合情理的,过度的 | |
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40 docile | |
adj.驯服的,易控制的,容易教的 | |
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41 alacrity | |
n.敏捷,轻快,乐意 | |
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42 obediences | |
服从,顺从,听话( obedience的名词复数 ) | |
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43 blighted | |
adj.枯萎的,摧毁的 | |
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44 hearty | |
adj.热情友好的;衷心的;尽情的,纵情的 | |
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45 friendliness | |
n.友谊,亲切,亲密 | |
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46 accomplished | |
adj.有才艺的;有造诣的;达到了的 | |
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47 gathering | |
n.集会,聚会,聚集 | |
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48 persistent | |
adj.坚持不懈的,执意的;持续的 | |
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49 flirting | |
v.调情,打情骂俏( flirt的现在分词 ) | |
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50 mischief | |
n.损害,伤害,危害;恶作剧,捣蛋,胡闹 | |
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51 shameful | |
adj.可耻的,不道德的 | |
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52 dwarf | |
n.矮子,侏儒,矮小的动植物;vt.使…矮小 | |
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53 trout | |
n.鳟鱼;鲑鱼(属) | |
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54 maidens | |
处女( maiden的名词复数 ); 少女; 未婚女子; (板球运动)未得分的一轮投球 | |
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55 kindly | |
adj.和蔼的,温和的,爽快的;adv.温和地,亲切地 | |
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56 legacy | |
n.遗产,遗赠;先人(或过去)留下的东西 | |
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57 fully | |
adv.完全地,全部地,彻底地;充分地 | |
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58 reciprocate | |
v.往复运动;互换;回报,酬答 | |
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59 bolstered | |
v.支持( bolster的过去式和过去分词 );支撑;给予必要的支持;援助 | |
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60 gasping | |
adj. 气喘的, 痉挛的 动词gasp的现在分词 | |
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61 middle-aged | |
adj.中年的 | |
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62 streaked | |
adj.有条斑纹的,不安的v.快速移动( streak的过去式和过去分词 );使布满条纹 | |
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63 nay | |
adv.不;n.反对票,投反对票者 | |
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64 repelled | |
v.击退( repel的过去式和过去分词 );使厌恶;排斥;推开 | |
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65 allusions | |
暗指,间接提到( allusion的名词复数 ) | |
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66 distress | |
n.苦恼,痛苦,不舒适;不幸;vt.使悲痛 | |
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