小说搜索     点击排行榜   最新入库
首页 » 经典英文小说 » The Marrow of Tradition37章节 » 37 THE SISTERS
选择底色: 选择字号:【大】【中】【小】
37 THE SISTERS
关注小说网官方公众号(noveltingroom),原版名著免费领。
 Miller1's doorbell rang loudly, insistently2, as though demanding a response. Absorbed in his own grief, into which he had relapsed upon Carteret's departure, the sound was an unwelcome intrusion. Surely the man could not be coming back! If it were some one else—What else might happen to the doomed3 town concerned him not. His child was dead,—his distracted wife could not be left alone.
 
The doorbell rang—clamorously—appealingly. Through the long hall and the closed door of the room where he sat, he could hear some one knocking, and a faint voice calling.
 
"Open, for God's sake, open!"
 
It was a woman's voice,—the voice of a woman in distress5. Slowly Miller rose and went to the door, which he opened mechanically.
 
A lady stood there, so near the image of his own wife, whom he had just left, that for a moment he was well-nigh startled. A little older, perhaps, a little fairer of complexion6, but with the same form, the same features, marked by the same wild grief. She wore a loose wrapper, which clothed her like the drapery of a statue. Her long dark hair, the counterpart of his wife's, had fallen down, and hung disheveled about her shoulders. There was blood upon her knuckles7, where she had beaten with them upon the door. "Dr. Miller," she panted, breathless from her flight and laying her hand upon his arm appealingly,—when he shrank from the contact she still held it there,—"Dr. Miller, you will come and save my child? You know what it is to lose a child! I am so sorry about your little boy! You will come to mine!"
 
"Your sorrow comes too late, madam," he said harshly. "My child is dead. I charged your husband with his murder, and he could not deny it. Why should I save your husband's child?"
 
"Ah, Dr. Miller!" she cried, with his wife's voice,—she never knew how much, in that dark hour, she owed to that resemblance—"it is my child, and I have never injured you. It is my child, Dr. Miller, my only child. I brought it into the world at the risk of my own life! I have nursed it, I have watched over it, I have prayed for it,—and it now lies dying! Oh, Dr. Miller, dear Dr. Miller, if you have a heart, come and save my child!"
 
"Madam," he answered more gently, moved in spite of himself, "my heart is broken. My people lie dead upon the streets, at the hands of yours. The work of my life is in ashes,—and, yonder, stretched out in death, lies my own child! God! woman, you ask too much of human nature! Love, duty, sorrow, justice, call me here. I cannot go!"
 
She rose to her full height. "Then you are a murderer," she cried wildly. "His blood be on your head, and a mother's curse beside!"
 
The next moment, with a sudden revulsion of feeling, she had thrown herself at his feet,—at the feet of a negro, this proud white woman,—and was clasping his knees wildly.
 
"O God!" she prayed, in tones which quivered with anguish8, "pardon my husband's sins, and my own, and move this man's hard heart, by the blood of thy Son, who died to save us all!"
 
It was the last appeal of poor humanity. When the pride of intellect and caste is broken; when we grovel9 in the dust of humiliation10; when sickness and sorrow come, and the shadow of death falls upon us, and there is no hope elsewhere,—we turn to God, who sometimes swallows the insult, and answers the appeal.
 
Miller raised the lady to her feet. He had been deeply moved,—but he had been more deeply injured. This was his wife's sister,—ah, yes! but a sister who had scorned and slighted and ignored the existence of his wife for all her life. Only Miller, of all the world, could have guessed what this had meant to Janet, and he had merely divined it through the clairvoyant11 sympathy of love. This woman could have no claim upon him because of this unacknowledged relationship. Yet, after all, she was his wife's sister, his child's kinswoman. She was a fellow creature, too, and in distress.
 
"Rise, madam," he said, with a sudden inspiration, lifting her gently. "I will listen to you on one condition. My child lies dead in the adjoining room, his mother by his side. Go in there, and make your request of her. I will abide12 by her decision."
 
The two women stood confronting each other across the body of the dead child, mute witness of this first meeting between two children of the same father. Standing13 thus face to face, each under the stress of the deepest emotions, the resemblance between them was even more striking than it had seemed to Miller when he had admitted Mrs. Carteret to the house. But Death, the great leveler, striking upon the one hand and threatening upon the other, had wrought14 a marvelous transformation15 in the bearing of the two women. The sad-eyed Janet towered erect16, with menacing aspect, like an avenging17 goddess. The other, whose pride had been her life, stood in the attitude of a trembling suppliant18.
 
"You have come here," cried Janet, pointing with a tragic19 gesture to the dead child,—"you, to gloat over your husband's work. All my life you have hated and scorned and despised me. Your presence here insults me and my dead. What are you doing here?"
 
"Mrs. Miller," returned Mrs. Carteret tremulously, dazed for a moment by this outburst, and clasping her hands with an imploring20 gesture, "my child, my only child, is dying, and your husband alone can save his life. Ah, let me have my child," she moaned, heart-rendingly. "It is my only one—my sweet child—my ewe lamb!"
 
"This was my only child!" replied the other mother; "and yours is no better to die than mine!"
 
"You are young," said Mrs. Carteret, "and may yet have many children,—this is my only hope! If you have a human heart, tell your husband to come with me. He leaves it to you; he will do as you command."
 
"Ah," cried Janet, "I have a human heart, and therefore I will not let him go. My child is dead—O God, my child, my child!"
 
She threw herself down by the bedside, sobbing21 hysterically22. The other woman knelt beside her, and put her arm about her neck. For a moment Janet, absorbed in her grief, did not repulse23 her. "Listen," pleaded Mrs. Carteret. "You will not let my baby die? You are my sister;—the child is your own near kin4!"
 
"My child was nearer," returned Janet, rising again to her feet and shaking off the other woman's arm. "He was my son, and I have seen him die. I have been your sister for twenty-five years, and you have only now, for the first time, called me so!"
 
"Listen—sister," returned Mrs. Carteret. Was there no way to move this woman? Her child lay dying, if he were not dead already. She would tell everything, and leave the rest to God. If it would save her child, she would shrink at no sacrifice. Whether the truth would still further incense24 Janet, or move her to mercy, she could not tell; she would leave the issue to God.
 
"Listen, sister!" she said. "I have a confession25 to make. You are my lawful26 sister. My father was married to your mother. You are entitled to his name, and to half his estate."
 
Janet's eyes flashed with bitter scorn.
 
"And you have robbed me all these years, and now tell me that as a reason why I should forgive the murder of my child?"
 
"No, no!" cried the other wildly, fearing the worst. "I have known of it only a few weeks,—since my Aunt Polly's death. I had not meant to rob you,—I had meant to make restitution27. Sister! for our father's sake, who did you no wrong, give me my child's life!"
 
Janet's eyes slowly filled with tears—bitter tears—burning tears. For a moment even her grief at her child's loss dropped to second place in her thoughts. This, then, was the recognition for which, all her life, she had longed in secret. It had come, after many days, and in larger measure than she had dreamed; but it had come, not with frank kindliness28 and sisterly love, but in a storm of blood and tears; not freely given, from an open heart, but extorted29 from a reluctant conscience by the agony of a mother's fears. Janet had obtained her heart's desire, and now that it was at her lips, found it but apples of Sodom, filled with dust and ashes!
 
"Listen!" she cried, dashing her tears aside. "I have but one word for you,—one last word,—and then I hope never to see your face again! My mother died of want, and I was brought up by the hand of charity. Now, when I have married a man who can supply my needs, you offer me back the money which you and your friends have robbed me of! You imagined that the shame of being a negro swallowed up every other ignominy,—and in your eyes I am a negro, though I am your sister, and you are white, and people have taken me for you on the streets,—and you, therefore, left me nameless all my life! Now, when an honest man has given me a name of which I can be proud, you offer me the one of which you robbed me, and of which I can make no use. For twenty-five years I, poor, despicable fool, would have kissed your feet for a word, a nod, a smile. Now, when this tardy30 recognition comes, for which I have waited so long, it is tainted31 with fraud and crime and blood, and I must pay for it with my child's life!"
 
"And I must forfeit32 that of mine, it seems, for withholding33 it so long," sobbed34 the other, as, tottering35, she turned to go. "It is but just."
 
"Stay—do not go yet!" commanded Janet imperiously, her pride still keeping back her tears. "I have not done. I throw you back your father's name, your father's wealth, your sisterly recognition. I want none of them,—they are bought too dear! ah, God, they are bought too dear! But that you may know that a woman may be foully36 wronged, and yet may have a heart to feel, even for one who has injured her, you may have your child's life, if my husband can save it! Will," she said, throwing open the door into the next room, "go with her!"
 
"God will bless you for a noble woman!" exclaimed Mrs. Carteret. "You do not mean all the cruel things you have said,—ah, no! I will see you again, and make you take them back; I cannot thank you now! Oh, doctor, let us go! I pray God we may not be too late!"
 
Together they went out into the night. Mrs. Carteret tottered37 under the stress of her emotions, and would have fallen, had not Miller caught and sustained her with his arm until they reached the house, where he turned over her fainting form to Carteret at the door.
 
"Is the child still alive?" asked Miller.
 
"Yes, thank God," answered the father, "but nearly gone."
 
"Come on up, Dr. Miller," called Evans from the head of the stairs.
"There's time enough, but none to spare."

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 miller ZD6xf     
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。
2 insistently Iq4zCP     
ad.坚持地
参考例句:
  • Still Rhett did not look at her. His eyes were bent insistently on Melanie's white face. 瑞德还是看也不看她,他的眼睛死死地盯着媚兰苍白的脸。
  • These are the questions which we should think and explore insistently. 怎样实现这一主体性等问题仍要求我们不断思考、探索。
3 doomed EuuzC1     
命定的
参考例句:
  • The court doomed the accused to a long term of imprisonment. 法庭判处被告长期监禁。
  • A country ruled by an iron hand is doomed to suffer. 被铁腕人物统治的国家定会遭受不幸的。
4 kin 22Zxv     
n.家族,亲属,血缘关系;adj.亲属关系的,同类的
参考例句:
  • He comes of good kin.他出身好。
  • She has gone to live with her husband's kin.她住到丈夫的亲戚家里去了。
5 distress 3llzX     
n.苦恼,痛苦,不舒适;不幸;vt.使悲痛
参考例句:
  • Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。
  • Please don't distress yourself.请你不要忧愁了。
6 complexion IOsz4     
n.肤色;情况,局面;气质,性格
参考例句:
  • Red does not suit with her complexion.红色与她的肤色不协调。
  • Her resignation puts a different complexion on things.她一辞职局面就全变了。
7 knuckles c726698620762d88f738be4a294fae79     
n.(指人)指关节( knuckle的名词复数 );(指动物)膝关节,踝v.(指人)指关节( knuckle的第三人称单数 );(指动物)膝关节,踝
参考例句:
  • He gripped the wheel until his knuckles whitened. 他紧紧握住方向盘,握得指关节都变白了。
  • Her thin hands were twisted by swollen knuckles. 她那双纤手因肿大的指关节而变了形。 来自《简明英汉词典》
8 anguish awZz0     
n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦,烦恼
参考例句:
  • She cried out for anguish at parting.分手时,她由于痛苦而失声大哭。
  • The unspeakable anguish wrung his heart.难言的痛苦折磨着他的心。
9 grovel VfixY     
vi.卑躬屈膝,奴颜婢膝
参考例句:
  • He said he would never grovel before a conqueror.他说他永远不会在征服者脚下摇尾乞怜。
  • You will just have to grovel to the bank manager for a loan.你只得低声下气地向银行经理借贷。
10 humiliation Jd3zW     
n.羞辱
参考例句:
  • He suffered the humiliation of being forced to ask for his cards.他蒙受了被迫要求辞职的羞辱。
  • He will wish to revenge his humiliation in last Season's Final.他会为在上个季度的决赛中所受的耻辱而报复的。
11 clairvoyant aV5yE     
adj.有预见的;n.有预见的人
参考例句:
  • Love is blind,but friendship is clairvoyant.爱是盲目的,友谊则能洞察一切。
  • Those whom are clairvoyant have often come to understand past lives.那些能透视的人们已能经常理解死去的生命。
12 abide UfVyk     
vi.遵守;坚持;vt.忍受
参考例句:
  • You must abide by the results of your mistakes.你必须承担你的错误所造成的后果。
  • If you join the club,you have to abide by its rules.如果你参加俱乐部,你就得遵守它的规章。
13 standing 2hCzgo     
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。
14 wrought EoZyr     
v.引起;以…原料制作;运转;adj.制造的
参考例句:
  • Events in Paris wrought a change in British opinion towards France and Germany.巴黎发生的事件改变了英国对法国和德国的看法。
  • It's a walking stick with a gold head wrought in the form of a flower.那是一个金质花形包头的拐杖。
15 transformation SnFwO     
n.变化;改造;转变
参考例句:
  • Going to college brought about a dramatic transformation in her outlook.上大学使她的观念发生了巨大的变化。
  • He was struggling to make the transformation from single man to responsible husband.他正在努力使自己由单身汉变为可靠的丈夫。
16 erect 4iLzm     
n./v.树立,建立,使竖立;adj.直立的,垂直的
参考例句:
  • She held her head erect and her back straight.她昂着头,把背挺得笔直。
  • Soldiers are trained to stand erect.士兵们训练站得笔直。
17 avenging 4c436498f794cbaf30fc9a4ef601cf7b     
adj.报仇的,复仇的v.为…复仇,报…之仇( avenge的现在分词 );为…报复
参考例句:
  • He has devoted the past five years to avenging his daughter's death. 他过去5年一心报丧女之仇。 来自辞典例句
  • His disfigured face was like some avenging nemesis of gargoyle design. 他那张破了相的脸,活象面目狰狞的复仇之神。 来自辞典例句
18 suppliant nrdwr     
adj.哀恳的;n.恳求者,哀求者
参考例句:
  • He asked for help in a suppliant attitude.他以恳求的态度要我帮忙。
  • He knelt as a suppliant at the altar.他跪在祭坛前祈祷。
19 tragic inaw2     
adj.悲剧的,悲剧性的,悲惨的
参考例句:
  • The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
  • Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。
20 imploring cb6050ff3ff45d346ac0579ea33cbfd6     
恳求的,哀求的
参考例句:
  • Those calm, strange eyes could see her imploring face. 那平静的,没有表情的眼睛还能看得到她的乞怜求情的面容。
  • She gave him an imploring look. 她以哀求的眼神看着他。
21 sobbing df75b14f92e64fc9e1d7eaf6dcfc083a     
<主方>Ⅰ adj.湿透的
参考例句:
  • I heard a child sobbing loudly. 我听见有个孩子在呜呜地哭。
  • Her eyes were red with recent sobbing. 她的眼睛因刚哭过而发红。
22 hysterically 5q7zmQ     
ad. 歇斯底里地
参考例句:
  • The children giggled hysterically. 孩子们歇斯底里地傻笑。
  • She sobbed hysterically, and her thin body was shaken. 她歇斯底里地抽泣着,她瘦弱的身体哭得直颤抖。
23 repulse dBFz4     
n.击退,拒绝;vt.逐退,击退,拒绝
参考例句:
  • The armed forces were prepared to repulse any attacks.武装部队已作好击退任何进攻的准备。
  • After the second repulse,the enemy surrendered.在第二次击退之后,敌人投降了。
24 incense dcLzU     
v.激怒;n.香,焚香时的烟,香气
参考例句:
  • This proposal will incense conservation campaigners.这项提议会激怒环保人士。
  • In summer,they usually burn some coil incense to keep away the mosquitoes.夏天他们通常点香驱蚊。
25 confession 8Ygye     
n.自白,供认,承认
参考例句:
  • Her confession was simply tantamount to a casual explanation.她的自白简直等于一篇即席说明。
  • The police used torture to extort a confession from him.警察对他用刑逼供。
26 lawful ipKzCt     
adj.法律许可的,守法的,合法的
参考例句:
  • It is not lawful to park in front of a hydrant.在消火栓前停车是不合法的。
  • We don't recognised him to be the lawful heir.我们不承认他为合法继承人。
27 restitution cDHyz     
n.赔偿;恢复原状
参考例句:
  • It's only fair that those who do the damage should make restitution.损坏东西的人应负责赔偿,这是再公平不过的了。
  • The victims are demanding full restitution.受害人要求全额赔偿。
28 kindliness 2133e1da2ddf0309b4a22d6f5022476b     
n.厚道,亲切,友好的行为
参考例句:
  • Martha looked up into a strange face and dark eyes alight with kindliness and concern. 马撒慢慢抬起头,映入眼帘的是张陌生的脸,脸上有一双充满慈爱和关注的眼睛。 来自辞典例句
  • I think the chief thing that struck me about Burton was his kindliness. 我想,我对伯顿印象最深之处主要还是这个人的和善。 来自辞典例句
29 extorted 067a410e7b6359c130b95772a4b83d0b     
v.敲诈( extort的过去式和过去分词 );曲解
参考例句:
  • The gang extorted money from over 30 local businesses. 这帮歹徒向当地30多户商家勒索过钱财。
  • He extorted a promise from me. 他硬要我答应。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
30 tardy zq3wF     
adj.缓慢的,迟缓的
参考例句:
  • It's impolite to make a tardy appearance.晚到是不礼貌的。
  • The boss is unsatisfied with the tardy tempo.老板不满于这种缓慢的进度。
31 tainted qgDzqS     
adj.腐坏的;污染的;沾污的;感染的v.使变质( taint的过去式和过去分词 );使污染;败坏;被污染,腐坏,败坏
参考例句:
  • The administration was tainted with scandal. 丑闻使得政府声名狼藉。
  • He was considered tainted by association with the corrupt regime. 他因与腐败政府有牵连而名誉受损。 来自《简明英汉词典》
32 forfeit YzCyA     
vt.丧失;n.罚金,罚款,没收物
参考例句:
  • If you continue to tell lies,you will forfeit the good opinion of everyone.你如果继续撒谎,就会失掉大家对你的好感。
  • Please pay for the forfeit before you borrow book.在你借书之前请先付清罚款。
33 withholding 7eXzD6     
扣缴税款
参考例句:
  • She was accused of withholding information from the police. 她被指控对警方知情不报。
  • The judge suspected the witness was withholding information. 法官怀疑见证人在隐瞒情况。
34 sobbed 4a153e2bbe39eef90bf6a4beb2dba759     
哭泣,啜泣( sob的过去式和过去分词 ); 哭诉,呜咽地说
参考例句:
  • She sobbed out the story of her son's death. 她哭诉着她儿子的死。
  • She sobbed out the sad story of her son's death. 她哽咽着诉说她儿子死去的悲惨经过。
35 tottering 20cd29f0c6d8ba08c840e6520eeb3fac     
adj.蹒跚的,动摇的v.走得或动得不稳( totter的现在分词 );踉跄;蹒跚;摇摇欲坠
参考例句:
  • the tottering walls of the castle 古城堡摇摇欲坠的墙壁
  • With power and to spare we must pursue the tottering foe. 宜将剩勇追穷寇。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
36 foully YiIxC     
ad.卑鄙地
参考例句:
  • This internationally known writer was foully condemned by the Muslim fundamentalists. 这位国际知名的作家受到了穆斯林信徒的无礼谴责。
  • Two policemen were foully murdered. 两个警察被残忍地杀害了。
37 tottered 60930887e634cc81d6b03c2dda74833f     
v.走得或动得不稳( totter的过去式和过去分词 );踉跄;蹒跚;摇摇欲坠
参考例句:
  • The pile of books tottered then fell. 这堆书晃了几下,然后就倒了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The wounded soldier tottered to his feet. 伤员摇摇晃晃地站了起来。 来自《简明英汉词典》


欢迎访问英文小说网

©英文小说网 2005-2010

有任何问题,请给我们留言,管理员邮箱:[email protected]  站长QQ :点击发送消息和我们联系56065533