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CHAPTER 35 FRANCIS COMES TO HIMSELF
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One morning, Kirsty sitting beside him, Francis started to his elbow as if to get up, then seeing her, lay down again with his eyes fixed1 upon her. She glanced at him now and then, but would not seem to notice him much. He gazed for two or three minutes, and then said, in a low, doubtful, almost timid, voice,
 
‘Kirsty?’
 
‘Ay; what is’t, Francie?’ returned Kirsty.
 
‘Is’t yersel, Kirsty?’ he said.
 
‘Ay, wha ither, Francie!’
 
‘Are ye angry at me, Kirsty?’
 
‘No a grain. What gars ye speir sic a queston?’
 
‘Eh, but ye gae me sic a ane wi’ yer whup—jist here upo’ the haffit! Luik.’
 
He turned the side of his head toward her, and stroked the place, like a small, self-pitying child. Kirsty went to him, and kissed it like a mother. She had plainly perceived that such a scar could not be from her blow, but it added grievously to her pain at the remembrance of it that the poor head which she had struck, had in the very same place been torn by a splinter—for so the doctor said. If her whip left any mark, the splinter had obliterated2 it.
 
‘And syne3,’ he resumed, ‘ye ca’d me a cooard!’
 
‘Did I du that, ill wuman ’at I was!’ she returned, with tenderest maternal4 soothing5.
 
He laid his arms round her neck, drew her feebly toward him, hid his head on her bosom6, and wept.
 
Kirsty put her arm round him, held him closer, and stroked his head with her other hand, murmuring words of much meaning though little sense. He drew back his head, looked at her beseechingly7, and said,
 
‘Div ye think me a cooard, Kirsty?’
 
‘No wi’ men,’ answered the truthful8 girl, who would not lie even in ministration to a mind diseased.
 
‘Maybe ye think I oucht to hae strucken ye back whan ye strack me? I wull be a cooard than, lat ye say what ye like. I never did, and I never will hit a lassie, lat her kill me!’
 
‘It wasna that, Francie. Gien I ca’d ye a cooard, it was ’at ye behaved sae ill to Phemy.’
 
‘Eh, the bonny little Phemy! I had ’maist forgotten her! Hoo is she, Kirsty?’
 
‘She’s weel—and verra weel,’ answered Kirsty; ‘she’s deid.’
 
‘Deid!’ echoed Gordon, with a cry, again raising himself on his elbow. ‘Surely it wasna—it wasna ’at the puir wee thing cudna forget me! The thing’s no possible! I wasna worth it!’
 
‘Na, na; it wasna ae grain that! Her deein had naething to du wi that—nor wi you in ony w’y. I dinna believe she was a hair waur for ony nonsense ye said til her—shame o’ ye as it was! She dee’d upo’ the Horn, ae awfu’ tempest o’ a nicht. She cudna hae suffert lang, puir thing! She hadna the stren’th to suffer muckle. Sae awa she gaed!—and Steenie efter her!’ added Kirsty in a lower tone, but Francis did not seem to hear, and said no more for awhile.
 
‘But I maun tell ye the trowth, Kirsty,’ he resumed: ‘forby yersel, there’s them ’at says I’m a cooard!’
 
‘I h’ard ae man say’t, only ane, and him only ance.’
 
‘And ye said til ’im, “Ay, I hae lang kenned10 that!”’
 
‘I tellt him whaever said it was a leear!’
 
‘But ye believt it yersel, Kirsty!’
 
‘Wad ye hae me leear and hypocrite forby, to ca’ fowk ill names for sayin what I believt mysel!’
 
‘But I am a cooard, Kirsty!’
 
‘Ye are not, Francie. I wunna believe’t though yersel say ’t! It’s naething but a dist o’ styte and nonsense ’at’s won in throu the cracks ye got i’ yer heid, fechtin. Ye was aye a daft kin’ o’ a cratur, Francie! Gien onybody ever said it, mak ye speed and get yer health again, and syne ye can shaw him plain ’at he’s a leear.’
 
‘But I tell ye, Kirsty, I ran awa!’
 
‘I fancy ye wud hae been naething but a muckle idiot gien ye hadna!—Ye didna ley onybody in trouble!—did ye noo?’
 
‘No a sowl ’at I ken9 o’. Na, I didna do that. The fac was—but nae blame to them—they a’ gaed awa and left me my lane, sleepin. I maun hae been terrible tired.’
 
‘I telled ye sae!’ cried Kirsty. ‘Jist gang ower the story to me, Francie, and I s’ tell ye whether ye’re a cooard or no. I dinna believe a stime o’ ’t! Ye never was, and never was likly to be a cooard. I s’ be at the boddom o’ ’t wi’ whaever daur threpe me sic a lee!’
 
But Francis showed such signs of excitement as well as exhaustion11, that Kirsty saw she must not let him talk longer.
 
‘Or I’ll tell ye what!’ she added: ‘—ye’ll tell father and mother and me the haill tale, this verra nicht, or maybe the morn’s mornin. Ye maun hae an egg noo, and a drappy o’ milk—creamy milk, Francie! Ye aye likit that!’
 
She went and prepared the little meal, and after taking it he went to sleep.
 
In the evening, with the help of their questioning, he told them everything he could recall from the moment he woke to find the place abandoned, not omitting his terrors on the way, until he overtook the rear of the garrison12.
 
‘I dinna won’er ye was fleyt, Francie,’ said Kirsty. ‘I wud hae been fleyt mysel, wantin my swoord, and kennin nae God to trust til! Ye maun learn to ken him, Francie, and syne ye’ll be feart at naething!’
 
After that, his memory was only of utterly13 confused shapes, many of which must have been fancies. The only things he could report were the conviction pervading14 them all that he had disgraced himself, and the consciousness that everyone treated him as a deserter, and gave him the cold shoulder.
 
His next recollection was of coming home to, or rather finding himself with his mother, who, the moment she saw him, flew into a rage, struck him in the face, and called him coward. She must have taken him, he thought, to some place where there were people about him who would not let him alone, but he could remember nothing more until he found himself creeping into a hole which he seemed to know, thinking he was a fox with the hounds after him.
 
‘What’s my claes like, Kirsty?’ he asked at this point.
 
‘They war no that gran’,’ answered Kirsty, her eyes smarting with the coming tears; ‘but ye’ll ne’er see a stick (stitch) o’ them again: I pat them awa.’
 
‘What w’y ’ill I win up, wantin them?’ he rejoined, with a tremor15 of anxiety in his voice.
 
‘We’ll see aboot that, time eneuch,’ answered Kirsty.
 
‘But my mither may be efter me! I wud fain be up! There’s no sayin what she michtna be up til! She canna bide16 me!’
 
‘Dreid ye naething, Francie. Ye’re no a match for my leddy, but I s’ be atween ye and her. She’s no sae fearsome as she thinks! Onygait, she disna fleg me.’
 
‘I left some guid eneuch claes there whan I gaed awa, and I daur say they’re i’ my room yet—gien only I kenned hoo to win at them!’
 
‘I s’ gang and get them til ye—the verra day ye’re fit to rise. But ye maunna speyk a word mair the nicht.’
 

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 fixed JsKzzj     
adj.固定的,不变的,准备好的;(计算机)固定的
参考例句:
  • Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗?
  • Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定,我们就不应该随意改变。
2 obliterated 5b21c854b61847047948152f774a0c94     
v.除去( obliterate的过去式和过去分词 );涂去;擦掉;彻底破坏或毁灭
参考例句:
  • The building was completely obliterated by the bomb. 炸弹把那座建筑物彻底摧毁了。
  • He began to drink, drank himself to intoxication, till he slept obliterated. 他一直喝,喝到他快要迷糊地睡着了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
3 syne wFRyY     
adv.自彼时至此时,曾经
参考例句:
  • The meeting ended up with the singing of Auld Lang Syne.大会以唱《友谊地久天长》结束。
  • We will take a cup of kindness yet for auld lang syne.让我们为了过去的好时光干一杯友谊的酒。
4 maternal 57Azi     
adj.母亲的,母亲般的,母系的,母方的
参考例句:
  • He is my maternal uncle.他是我舅舅。
  • The sight of the hopeless little boy aroused her maternal instincts.那个绝望的小男孩的模样唤起了她的母性。
5 soothing soothing     
adj.慰藉的;使人宽心的;镇静的
参考例句:
  • Put on some nice soothing music.播放一些柔和舒缓的音乐。
  • His casual, relaxed manner was very soothing.他随意而放松的举动让人很快便平静下来。
6 bosom Lt9zW     
n.胸,胸部;胸怀;内心;adj.亲密的
参考例句:
  • She drew a little book from her bosom.她从怀里取出一本小册子。
  • A dark jealousy stirred in his bosom.他内心生出一阵恶毒的嫉妒。
7 beseechingly c092e88c28d2bb0ccde559d682617827     
adv. 恳求地
参考例句:
  • She stood up, and almost beseechingly, asked her husband,'shall we go now?" 她站起身来,几乎是恳求似地问丈夫:“我们现在就走吧?”
  • Narcissa began to cry in earnest, gazing beseechingly all the while at Snape. 纳西莎伤心地哭了起来,乞求地盯着斯内普。
8 truthful OmpwN     
adj.真实的,说实话的,诚实的
参考例句:
  • You can count on him for a truthful report of the accident.你放心,他会对事故作出如实的报告的。
  • I don't think you are being entirely truthful.我认为你并没全讲真话。
9 ken k3WxV     
n.视野,知识领域
参考例句:
  • Such things are beyond my ken.我可不懂这些事。
  • Abstract words are beyond the ken of children.抽象的言辞超出小孩所理解的范围.
10 kenned 33095debce4ee81317096379487bf32f     
v.知道( ken的过去式和过去分词 );懂得;看到;认出
参考例句:
  • Our appointments coincided with the election of Kenned. 我们的高升与肯尼迪的当选差不多同时发生。 来自辞典例句
  • Conclusion: The data suggests the implant simultaneous nose floor elevation be a better type of Kenned. 目的:观察鼻底提升与种植体同期植入后的临床效果。 来自互联网
11 exhaustion OPezL     
n.耗尽枯竭,疲惫,筋疲力尽,竭尽,详尽无遗的论述
参考例句:
  • She slept the sleep of exhaustion.她因疲劳而酣睡。
  • His exhaustion was obvious when he fell asleep standing.他站着睡着了,显然是太累了。
12 garrison uhNxT     
n.卫戍部队;驻地,卫戍区;vt.派(兵)驻防
参考例句:
  • The troops came to the relief of the besieged garrison.军队来援救被围的守备军。
  • The German was moving to stiffen up the garrison in Sicily.德军正在加强西西里守军之力量。
13 utterly ZfpzM1     
adv.完全地,绝对地
参考例句:
  • Utterly devoted to the people,he gave his life in saving his patients.他忠于人民,把毕生精力用于挽救患者的生命。
  • I was utterly ravished by the way she smiled.她的微笑使我完全陶醉了。
14 pervading f19a78c99ea6b1c2e0fcd2aa3e8a8501     
v.遍及,弥漫( pervade的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • an all-pervading sense of gloom 无处不在的沮丧感
  • a pervading mood of fear 普遍的恐惧情绪
15 tremor Tghy5     
n.震动,颤动,战栗,兴奋,地震
参考例句:
  • There was a slight tremor in his voice.他的声音有点颤抖。
  • A slight earth tremor was felt in California.加利福尼亚发生了轻微的地震。
16 bide VWTzo     
v.忍耐;等候;住
参考例句:
  • We'll have to bide our time until the rain stops.我们必须等到雨停。
  • Bide here for a while. 请在这儿等一会儿。


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