The months that immediately followed my home-coming were passed by me in an aimless, desultory2 temporizing3 with the vexed4 problems that, unanswered, were consuming my heart.
I roamed the country as of old and renewed my acquaintance with bird, fish and insect. Starting to gather a collection of butterflies and moths—many of which were local and rare—with the mere5 object of filling in the lapses6 of a restless ennui7 and in some dull gratitude8 to a pursuit that had helped me to a little degree of late success, I rapidly rose to an interest in its formation that became, I may say, the then chief happiness of my life. To my father, also, it brought, in the arrangement and classification of specimens9, a certain innocent pleasure that helped to restore him to some healthier show of manliness10 moral and physical.
Poor, broken old man! I would not now have stultified11 his pathetic confidence in me for the biggest bribe12 the world could hold out.
Yet it must not be supposed I ever really for a moment lost sight of the main issues of a mystery that was bitten into my heart with an acid that no time could take the strength from. Sometime, sooner or later, I knew it would be revealed to me who it was that killed Modred.
As to that lesser13 secret of the coins—it troubled me but little. Free of that dread14 of possible ruin that appeared to cling hauntingly to my father, I was not disinclined to the belief that the complete dissipation of his bugbear estate might prove after all his moral salvation15. Remove its source of irritation16, and would not the sore heal?
Sometimes in the full pressure of this thought I found it almost in my mind to hunt and hunt until I found his hiding-place and to commit its remaining treasures to the earth or the waters. Then it would seem a base thing to do—a mean advantage to take of his confidence—and I would put the thought from me.
Still, however I might decide ultimately, this determination dwelt firmly and constantly in me—to oppose by every means in my power any further levying17 of blackmail18 on the part of the doctor.
This unworthy eccentricity19 had not, to my knowledge, been near the mill since that night of my return. That he presently found means, nevertheless, of communicating with his victim, I was to find out by a simple chance.
June had come upon us leading this placidly20 monotonous21 life, when, returning one afternoon from a ramble22 after specimens, I found my father sitting upstairs in a mood so preoccupied23 that he did not notice my entrance. His head was bowed, his left arm drooping24 over one end of the table. Suddenly hearing my footsteps in the room, he started and a gold coin fell from his hand and spun25 and tinkled26 on the boards.
“What’s that?” I said.
He stooped and clutched it, and hugging it to his breast looked up in my face with startled eyes. But he gave no answer.
“Is it necessary to change another, dad?”
“No,” he muttered.
“Is it for a bribe?” I demanded. Still he kept silence.
“Father,” I said, “give it to me.”
“Renalt—I can’t; I mustn’t.”
“Give it to me. If you refuse—I threaten nothing—but—give it to me!”
“Now,” I said, sternly, “I am going to see Dr. Crackenthorpe.”
He rose from his chair with a cry.
“You are mad, I tell you! You can do nothing—nothing.”
“It is time this ceased for good and all, father. I stand between you now—remember that. You have to choose between me and that villain29. Which is it to be?”
“Renalt—my son. It is for your sake!”
“I can look after my own interests. Which is it to be?”
“Go, then,” he muttered, “and God help you!”
I turned and left him. My heart was blazing with a fierce resentment31. But I would not leave the house till my veins32 ran cooler, for no advantage of temper should be on the side of that frosty bloodsucker.
I wandered downstairs, past the door of the room of silence, but the rough jeering33 of the wheel within drove me away to where I could be out of immediate1 earshot of it.
From the kitchen at the back came the broken, whining34 voice of old Peggy Rottengoose, who yet survived and waited upon the meager36 household with a ghoulish faithfulness that no time could impair37.
The words of some sardonic38 song came sterilely39 from her withered40 lips. She was apt at such grewsome ditties:
Heigho!
I saw three ravens up a tree;
And they were black as black could be—
All down by the greenwood side, O!
“I stuck my penknife in their hearts—
Heigho!
I stuck my penknife in their hearts;
All down by the greenwood side, O!”
I softly pushed open the door, that stood ajar, and looked in. The old creature was sitting crooning in a chair, a picture or print of some kind, at which she was gazing in a sort of hungry ecstasy43, held out and down before her at arm’s length. I stole on tiptoe behind her and sought to get a glimpse at that she devoured44 with her rheumy eyes.
Cunning even under the spur of sudden discomfiture45, she whipped the thing beneath her apron46 before she struggled to her feet and faced round upon me.
“What ails47 ye, Renalt?” she wheezed48, in a voice like that of one winded by a blow—“to fright a body, sich like?”
“You needn’t be frightened, unless you were doing something you shouldn’t, you know.”
“Shud and shudn’t,” she said, her yellow under jaw49, scratched all over with fine wrinkles, moving like a barbel’s. “I doesn’t take my morals fro’ a Trender.”
“You take all you can get, Peggy. Why not a picture with the rest?”
“My own nevvy!” she cried, with an attenuated50 scream—“blessed son to Amelia as were George’s first wife and died o’ cramps51 o’ the cold dew from a shift hung out on St. Bartlemey’s day.”
“Now, Peggy,” I said sternly, “I saw that picture and it wasn’t of your nephew or of any other relation of yours. It was a silhouette52, as they call it, of my brother, Modred, made when he was a little fellow, by some one in a show that came here, and it used to hang in Modred’s room.”
“Ye lie, Renalt!” she cried, panting at me. “It’s Amelia’s boy—and mayn’t I enjoy the fruits o’ my own heritage?”
“Let me look at it, then; and if I’m wrong I’ll ask your pardon.”
“Keep arf!” she cried, backing from me. “Keep arf, or I’ll tear your weasand wi’ my claws!”
I made a little rush and clutched her. She could not keep her promise without loosening her hold of the picture, but she butted53 at me, with her cap bobbing, and dinted my shin with her vicious old toes. Then, seeing it was all useless, she crumpled54 the paper up into a ball and, tossing it from her, fell back in her chair and threw her apron over her head.
“Peggy!” I said.
“I tuk it—I tuk it!” wailed56 the old woman. “I tuk it fro’ the wall when I come up wi’ the blarnkets and nubbody were there to see!”
She slipped down on her trembling knees.
“Don’tee be hard on me, Renalt—don’tee! I swear, I were frighted myself at what I done. I didn’t hardly guess it would act so. Don’tee have me burnt or drownded, Renalt. It were a wicked thing to a body old enough to be your grandam, and I’ve but a little glint o’ time left.”
“I don’t know what you mean, Peggy. You’d no business to take the picture, of course, and still less to treat it like this. But your nature’s a thieving one, and I suppose you can’t help it. Get off your knees. It’s done, and there’s an end of it.”
She stopped her driveling moan and looked up at me queerly, I thought.
“Ay, I’d no call to do it, of course,” she said. “Just a body’s absence o’ mind, Renalt, ye see—same as pricking58 pastry59 in time to a toone like. I thought maybe if ye saw it ye’d want to tell the old man upstairs, and he’s got the strong arm yet, for all the worm in his brain.”
“I sha’n’t tell him this time, but don’t let me catch you handling any of our property again”; and I left the room.
A little flustered60 by my late tussle61 and hardly yet in a mood for the interview I clearly foresaw would be no amicable62 one, I wandered out, turning my footsteps, not at present in the direction of the doctor’s house, but toward that part of the river called the “weirs,” which ran straight away from the mill front. This was a pleasant, picturesque63 stretch down which the water, shaded by many stooping trees and bushes, washed and gurgled brightly. A railed pathway ran by it and, to the same side, cottages at intervals64 and little plats of flowering parterres.
It was a reach which, unpreserved, was much favored of the townsfolk for fishing.
A man was whipping the stream now in its broadest part, and I stopped to watch him. He was a rosy65, well-knit fellow of 35 or so, with a good-humored, bibulous66 eye and a foolish underjaw.
“Any sport?” I asked.
“Plenty o’ sport,” said he, “but no fish.”
“You’re a philosopher, it seems.”
“Why not a pint of water? It’s there and to spare.”
“The beggar’s tap, master. I arns my living.”
“Well, buy your pot of ale out of it.”
“I’d rather you tuk the responsibility off me.”
“Well,” said I, with a grin, “let’s see you catch a fish and I’ll stand treat.”
He threw for some time in silence.
“I must be off,” said I.
“Fair play, master! I harsn’t got my fish yet.”
“I can’t wait all day for that.”
“Then, pay up. You put no limit to the time.”
“You come fro’ yon old mill, don’tee?” said he.
“Yes, I do. You know me, it appears. Who may you be?”
“They carls me saxton ower at St. John’s yonder.”
I received his answer with a little start. Were these the hands that had dug the grave for my dead brother?
“They call you? What do you call yourself?” I said.
“High priest to the worms, wi’ your honor’s leave.”
He stuck his tongue in his cheek and whipped out his fly again. This time it disappeared with a fat blob and his hand came smartly up. I watched him while he wheeled in his floundering prize.
“Ay,” he went on, as he stooped to unhook the trout69, “the worms and I works on the mutual-profit system. I feeds them and they feeds me. Sometimes”—he looked round and up at me slyly—“they shows a power o’ gratitoode ower an uncommon70 rich meal and makes me a particlar acknowledgment o’ my services.”
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
immediate
|
|
| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
desultory
|
|
| adj.散漫的，无方法的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
temporizing
|
|
| v.敷衍( temporize的现在分词 )；拖延；顺应时势；暂时同意 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
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 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
mere
|
|
| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
lapses
|
|
| n.失误，过失( lapse的名词复数 )；小毛病；行为失检；偏离正道v.退步( lapse的第三人称单数 )；陷入；倒退；丧失 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
ennui
|
|
| n.怠倦，无聊 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
gratitude
|
|
| adj.感激，感谢 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
specimens
|
|
| n.样品( specimen的名词复数 )；范例；（化验的）抽样；某种类型的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
manliness
|
|
| 刚毅 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
stultified
|
|
| v.使成为徒劳，使变得无用( stultify的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
bribe
|
|
| n.贿赂；v.向…行贿，买通 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
lesser
|
|
| adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
dread
|
|
| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
salvation
|
|
| n.（尤指基督）救世，超度，拯救，解困 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
irritation
|
|
| n.激怒，恼怒，生气 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
levying
|
|
| 征（兵）( levy的现在分词 )； 索取； 发动（战争）； 征税 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
blackmail
|
|
| n.讹诈，敲诈，勒索，胁迫，恫吓 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
eccentricity
|
|
| n.古怪，反常，怪癖 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
placidly
|
|
| adv.平稳地，平静地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
monotonous
|
|
| adj.单调的，一成不变的，使人厌倦的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
ramble
|
|
| v.漫步，漫谈，漫游；n.漫步，闲谈，蔓延 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
preoccupied
|
|
| adj.全神贯注的，入神的；被抢先占有的；心事重重的v.占据（某人）思想，使对…全神贯注，使专心于( preoccupy的过去式) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
drooping
|
|
| adj. 下垂的，无力的 动词droop的现在分词 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
spun
|
|
| v.纺，杜撰，急转身 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
tinkled
|
|
| （使）发出丁当声，（使）发铃铃声( tinkle的过去式和过去分词 )； 叮当响着发出，铃铃响着报出 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
wasp
|
|
| n.黄蜂，蚂蜂 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
forth
|
|
| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
villain
|
|
| n.反派演员，反面人物；恶棍；问题的起因 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
groan
|
|
| vi./n.呻吟，抱怨；(发出)呻吟般的声音 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
resentment
|
|
| n.怨愤，忿恨 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
veins
|
|
| n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
jeering
|
|
| adj.嘲弄的，揶揄的v.嘲笑( jeer的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
whining
|
|
| n. 抱怨，牢骚 v. 哭诉，发牢骚 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
peg
|
|
| n.木栓，木钉；vt.用木钉钉，用短桩固定 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
meager
|
|
| adj.缺乏的，不足的，瘦的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
impair
|
|
| v.损害，损伤；削弱，减少 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
sardonic
|
|
| adj.嘲笑的，冷笑的，讥讽的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
sterilely
|
|
| 不毛的，贫瘠的； 不生育的； 无菌的； 无效果的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
withered
|
|
| adj. 枯萎的，干瘪的，（人身体的部分器官）因病萎缩的或未发育良好的 动词wither的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
ravens
|
|
| n.低质煤；渡鸦( raven的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
gushed
|
|
| v.喷，涌( gush的过去式和过去分词 )；滔滔不绝地说话 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
ecstasy
|
|
| n.狂喜，心醉神怡，入迷 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
devoured
|
|
| 吞没( devour的过去式和过去分词 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
discomfiture
|
|
| n.崩溃；大败；挫败；困惑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
apron
|
|
| n.围裙；工作裙 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
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 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
wheezed
|
|
| v.喘息，发出呼哧呼哧的喘息声( wheeze的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
jaw
|
|
| n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
attenuated
|
|
| v.（使）变细( attenuate的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）变薄；（使）变小；减弱 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
cramps
|
|
| n. 抽筋, 腹部绞痛, 铁箍 adj. 狭窄的, 难解的 v. 使...抽筋, 以铁箍扣紧, 束缚 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
silhouette
|
|
| n.黑色半身侧面影，影子，轮廓；v.描绘成侧面影，照出影子来，仅仅显出轮廓 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
butted
|
|
| 对接的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
crumpled
|
|
| adj. 弯扭的, 变皱的 动词crumple的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
creases
|
|
| （使…）起折痕，弄皱( crease的第三人称单数 )； （皮肤）皱起，使起皱纹 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
wailed
|
|
| v.哭叫，哀号( wail的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
riddled
|
|
| adj.布满的；充斥的；泛滥的v.解谜，出谜题(riddle的过去分词形式) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
58
pricking
|
|
| 刺，刺痕，刺痛感 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
59
pastry
|
|
| n.油酥面团，酥皮糕点 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
60
flustered
|
|
| adj.慌张的；激动不安的v.使慌乱，使不安( fluster的过去式和过去分词) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
61
tussle
|
|
| n.&v.扭打，搏斗，争辩 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
62
amicable
|
|
| adj.和平的，友好的；友善的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
63
picturesque
|
|
| adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
64
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 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
65
rosy
|
|
| adj.美好的，乐观的，玫瑰色的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
66
bibulous
|
|
| adj.高度吸收的，酗酒的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
67
pint
|
|
| n.品脱 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
68
spat
|
|
| n.口角，掌击；v.发出呼噜呼噜声 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
69
trout
|
|
| n.鳟鱼；鲑鱼(属) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
70
uncommon
|
|
| adj.罕见的，非凡的，不平常的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |