小说搜索     点击排行榜   最新入库
首页 » 经典英文小说 » Four Winds Farm » CHAPTER VIII. LITTLE FERGUS
选择底色: 选择字号:【大】【中】【小】
CHAPTER VIII. LITTLE FERGUS
关注小说网官方公众号(noveltingroom),原版名著免费领。

"Old portraits round in order set,
Carved heavy tables, chairs, buffet1
Of dark mahogany."
 
Mrs. Southey
For there was a bright fire burning in the room, which sent red rays flickering2 and dancing in all directions, lighting3 up the faded tints4 of the ancient curtains and covers, and bringing rich crimson5 shades out of the shining, old dark mahogany furniture. There were flowers too; a bouquet6 of autumn leaves—bronze and copper7 and olive—with two or three fragile "last roses" in the middle, on which Gratian's eyes rested with pleasure for a moment, on their way to the small figure—the most interesting object of all.
 
He was lying on a little sofa, placed so as to be within reach of the fire's warmth, and yet near[Pg 103] enough to the window for him to see out into the garden, to watch the life of the birds and the plants, the clouds and the breezes. The autumn afternoon looked later and darker now to Gratian as he glanced at it from within than when he was himself a part of it out-of-doors, and his eyes returned with pleasure to the nearer warmth and colour, though after the first momentary8 glimpse of the boy on the sofa a sort of shyness had made him look away.
 
For the child was extremely pale and thin—he looked much more ill than Gratian had been prepared for, and this gave him a feeling of timidity that nothing else could have caused. But the lady soon put him at his ease.
 
"Fergus, dear," she said, "here is the little friend you have been hoping for. Come over here near us, my dear boy"—for she had sat down on a low chair beside the couch, evidently her usual place—"and I will help you to get over the first few steps of making friends. To begin with," she said smiling, "do you know we don't know your name? That seems absurd, doesn't it? And you don't know ours."
 
"Yes—I know his," said Gratian, smiling too, and with a little gesture towards the invalid9, so gentle and half-timid that no one could have called it rude;[Pg 104] "you have just said it—Fergus. I never heard that name before."
 
"It is a Scotch10 name," said the lady. "One can almost fancy oneself in Scotland here. And tell us your name."
 
"Gratian," he replied, "Gratian Conyfer."
 
"What a nice name," said Fergus, speaking for the first time, "and what a queer one! I can say the same to you as you said to me, Gratian—I never heard that name before."
 
"How did you come by it?" asked Fergus's mother.
 
"I think it was because mother is called Grace, and there were several baby brothers that died, that were called for father," he replied.
 
"And how old are you?" asked Fergus, raising himself a little on his elbow. "I'm eight and a half. I'm not so very small for my age when I stand up—am I, mother?"
 
"No, dear," she answered with a little shadow over her bright face. "And you, Gratian?"
 
"I am nine," he said; "but they say at school I don't look so much. Tony is twelve, but he is much, much bigger."
 
"Tony—who is Tony?" asked Fergus; "is he your brother?"
 
[Pg 105]
 
"Oh no, I have no brothers. He's the head boy at the school."
 
"Yes," said Fergus's mother, "I remember about him. He was the boy Mr. Cornelius first thought of sending."
 
"And why didn't he come?" asked Fergus.
 
Gratian looked up at the lady.
 
"Did the master tell you?" he asked. The lady smiled, and nodded her head.
 
"Yes," she said, "I know the story. You may tell it to Fergus, Gratian; he would like to hear it. Now I am going away, for I have letters to write. In half an hour or so you shall have your tea. Would you like it here or in the library, Fergus?"
 
"Oh, in the library," he said eagerly. "I haven't been there for two days, mother. And then Gratian can see the pictures—you told me he liked pictures?—and best of all, you can play the organ to us, little mother."
 
"Then you feel better to-day, my boy?" she said, stooping to kiss the white forehead as she was leaving the room. "Some days I can't get him to like to move about at all," she added to Gratian.
 
"Yes, I do feel better," he said. "I don't mind it hurting me when I don't feel that horrible way as if[Pg 106] I didn't care for anything. Have you ever been ill, Gratian? Do you know how it feels?"
 
Gratian considered.
 
"I once had a sore throat," he said, "but I didn't mind very much. It was winter, and I had a fire in my room, and I liked to see the flames going dancing up the chimney."
 
"Yes," said Fergus, "I know how you mean. I'm sure we must have the same thinkings about things, Gratian. Do you like music too, as much as pictures? Mother says people who like pictures very much, often like music too, and—and—there's something else that those kind of people like too, but I forget what."
 
"Flowers," suggested Gratian; "flowers and trees, perhaps."
 
"No," said Fergus, looking a little puzzled, "these would count in with pictures, don't you think? I'll ask mother—she said it so nicely. Don't you like when anybody says a thing so that it seems to fit in with other things?"
 
"Yes," said Gratian, "I think I do. But I think things to myself, mostly—I've not got anybody much to talk to, except sometimes Jonas. He's got very nice thoughts, only he'd never say them except to Watch and me."
 
[Pg 107]
 
"Who's Watch?" asked Fergus eagerly. "Is he a dog?"
 
"He's our sheep-dog, and Jonas is the shepherd," replied Gratian. "They're sometimes alone with the sheep for days and days—out on the moors11. It's so strange—I've been with them sometimes—it's like another world—to see the moors all round, ever so far, like the sea, I suppose—only I've never seen the sea—and not a creature anywhere, except some wild birds sometimes."
 
"Stop," said Fergus, closing his eyes; "yes, I can see it now. Go on, Gratian—is the sky gray, or blue with little white clouds?"
 
"Gray just now," said the boy, "and there's no wind that you can feel blowing. But it's coming—you know it's coming—now and then Watch pricks12 up his ears, for he can tell it much farther off than we can, and old Jonas pats him a little. Jonas has an old blue round cap—a shepherd's cap—and his face is browny-red, but his hair is nearly white, and his eyes are very blue. Can you see him, Fergus? And the sheep keep on browsing—they make a little scrumping noise when you are quite, quite close to them. And just before the wind really comes a great bird gives a cry—up, very high up—and it[Pg 108] swoops13 down for a moment and then goes up again, till it looks just a little black speck14 against the sky. And all the time you know the wind is coming. Can you see it all, Fergus?"
 
"All," said the boy; "it's beautiful. You must tell me pictures often, Gratian, till I can go out again. I never had any one who could make them come so, except mother's music—they come with that. Haven't you noticed that they come with music?"
 
"I don't know," said Gratian. "I've never seen any real pictures—painted ones in big gold frames."
 
"There are some here," said Fergus; "not very many, but some. I like a few of them—perhaps you will too. But I like the pictures that come and go in one's fancy best. That's the kind that mother's music brings me."
 
"Yes," said Gratian, his eyes sparkling, "I understand."
 
"I was sure you would," said Fergus, with a tiny touch of patronising in his tone, which Gratian was too entirely15 single-minded to see, or rather perhaps to object to if he did see it. "I knew the minute I saw you, you'd suit me. I'm very glad that other fellow didn't come instead of you. But, by the bye, you haven't told me about that—mother said you'd tell me."
 
[Pg 109]
 
Gratian related the story of his satchel16 of stones. Fergus was boy enough to laugh a little, though he called it a mean trick; but when Gratian told of having found his books again, he looked puzzled.
 
"How could you find them?" he asked. "It was nearly dark, didn't you say?"
 
"I don't quite know," replied Gratian, and he spoke17 the truth. It was always difficult for him to distinguish between real and fancy, dreaming and waking, in all concerning his four friends, and in some curious way this difficulty increased so much if he ever thought of talking about them, that he felt he was not meant to do so. "I have fancies sometimes—like dreams, perhaps—that I can't explain. And they help me often—when I am in any trouble they help me."
 
"I don't see how fancies can help you to find things that are lost," said Fergus, who, except in his own particular way, was more practical than Gratian, "unless you mean that you dream things, and your dreams come true."
 
"It's a little like that," Gratian replied. "I think I had a sort of dream about coming here. I did so want to come—most of all since I heard the lady play in church."
 
[Pg 110]
 
"Yes," said Fergus, "isn't mother's playing beautiful? I've not heard her play in church for ever so long, but I'm so glad there's an organ here. She plays to me every day. I like music best of everything in the world—don't you?"
 
To which Gratian gave his old answer—"I don't know yet."
 
Then they began talking of more commonplace things. Each told the other of his daily life and all his childish interests. Fergus was greatly struck by the account of Gratian's home—the old house with the queer name.
 
"How I should like to see it," he said, "and to feel the wind blow."
 
"The winds," corrected Gratian, "the four winds."
 
"The four winds," repeated Fergus. "North, south, east, and west. They don't blow all together, do they?"
 
"I think they do sometimes. Yes, I know they do—at night I'm sure I've heard them all four together, like tones in music."
 
Fergus looked delighted.
 
"Ah, you have to come back to music, you see," he said. "There's nothing tells everything and explains everything as well as music."
 
"You must have thought about it a great deal,"[Pg 111] said Gratian admiringly. "I've only just begun to think about things, and I think it's very puzzling, though I'm older than you. I don't know if music would explain things to me."
 
"Perhaps not as much as to me," said Fergus. "You see it's been my best thing—ever since I was five years old I've been lying like this. At home the others are very kind, but they can't quite understand," he added, shaking his head a little sadly; "they can all run about and jump and play. And when children can do all that, they don't need to think much. Still it is very dull without them—that is why I begged mother to try to get me somebody to play with. But I think you're better than that, Gratian. I think you understand more—how is it? You've never been ill or had to lie still."
 
"No," said the boy, "but I've had no brothers and sisters to play with me. And perhaps it's with being born at Four Winds—mother says so herself."
 
"I daresay it is," said Fergus gravely.
 
"Won't you get better soon?" asked Gratian, looking at Fergus with profound sympathy. For, gentle as he was, the idea of having to lie still, not being able to run about on the moors and feel his dear winds on his face, having even to call to others[Pg 112] to help him before he could get to the window and look out on the sunshine—it seemed perhaps more dreadful to Gratian than it would have done to an ordinary, healthy child like Tony Ferris. "Won't you too be able to walk and run about—even if it's only a little?"
 
"I hope so," Fergus replied. "Mother says I mustn't expect ever to be quite strong. But they say I'm getting better. That's why mother brought me here. Do you know I can eat ever so much more than when I came? If I can get well enough to play—even on a piano—I wouldn't mind so much. I could make up all sorts of things for myself then—I could make pictures even of the moorland and Four Winds Farm, I think, Gratian."
 
"I'll try to tell you them—I'll try to make some of my fancies into stories and pictures," said Gratian; "then afterwards, when you get well and can play, you can make them into music."
 
Just then the door opened, and Fergus's mother came in.
 
"Tea is ready," she said, "and Andrew is going to carry you into the library, Fergus."
 
She looked at the boy a little anxiously as she spoke, and Gratian saw that a slight shadow of pain or fear crept over Fergus's face.
 
[Pg 113]
 
"Mother," he said, "would it perhaps be better to stay here after all? You could show Gratian the pictures."
 
The lady looked very disappointed.
 
"The tea is so nicely set out," she said, "and you know you can't hear the organ well from here. And Andrew doesn't hurt you—he is very careful."
 
Gratian looked on, anxious too. He understood that it must be good for Fergus to go into another room, otherwise his mother would not wish it. Fergus caught sight of the eagerness on Gratian's face, and it carried the day.
 
"I will go," he said; "here, Andrew."
 
A man-servant, with a good-humoured face and a strong pair of arms, came forward and lifted the child carefully.
 
"You walk beside me, Gratian, and hold my hand. If it hurts much I will pinch you a little, but don't let mother know," he said in a whisper; and thus the little procession moved out of the room right across the hall and down another corridor.
 
"There must be a window open," said Fergus; "don't you feel the air blowing in? Oh don't shut it, mother," as the lady started forward, "it's such nice soft air—scented as if they were making hay. Oh, it's delicious."
 
[Pg 114]
 
His mother seemed a little surprised.
 
"There is no window open, dear," she said. "It must be that you feel the change from the warm room to the hall. Perhaps I should have covered you up."
 
"Oh no, no," repeated Fergus. "I'm not the least cold. It's not a cold wind at all. Gratian, don't you feel it?"
 
"Yes," said Gratian, holding Fergus's hand firmly. But his eyes had a curious look in them, as if he were smiling inwardly to himself.
 
"Golden-wings, you darling," he murmured, "I know you're there—thank you so much for blowing away his pain."
 
In another moment Fergus was settled on a couch in the library—a lofty room with rows and rows of books on every side, nearly up to the ceiling. It would have looked gloomy and dull but for the cheerful fire in one corner and the neat tea-table drawn18 up before it; as it was, the sort of solemn mystery about it was very pleasing to Gratian.
 
"Isn't it nice here?" said Fergus. "I'm so glad I came. And do you know it didn't hurt me a bit. The fresh air that came in seemed to blow the pain away."
 
[Pg 115]
 
"I think you really must be getting stronger," said his mother, with a smile of hopefulness on her face, as she busied herself with the tea-table; "you have brought us good luck, Gratian."
 
"I believe he has," said Fergus. "Mother, do you know what he has been telling me? He was born where the four winds meet—he must be a lucky child, mustn't he, mother?"
 
"I should say so, certainly," said the lady with a smile. "I wonder if it is as good as being born on a Sunday."
 
"Oh far better, mother," said Fergus; "there are lots of children born on Sundays, but I never heard of one before that was born at the winds' meeting-place."
 
"Gratian will be able to tell you stories, I daresay," said his mother—"stories which the winds tell him, perhaps—eh, Gratian?"
 
Gratian smiled.
 
"He has been telling me some pictures already," said Fergus; "oh, mother I'm so happy."
 
"My darling," said his mother. "Now let me see what a good appetite you have. You must be hungry too, Gratian, my boy. You have a long walk home before you."
 
[Pg 116]
 
Gratian was hungry, but he hardly felt as if he could eat—there was so much to look at and to think about. Everything was so dainty and pretty; though he was well accustomed at the Farm to the most perfect cleanliness and neatness, it was new to him to see the sparkling silver, the tea-kettle boiling on the spirit-lamp with a cheerful sound, the pretty china and glass, and the variety of bread and cakes to tempt19 poor Fergus's appetite. And the lady herself—with her forget-me-not eyes and sweet voice. Gratian felt as if he were in fairyland.
 

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 buffet 8sXzg     
n.自助餐;饮食柜台;餐台
参考例句:
  • Are you having a sit-down meal or a buffet at the wedding?你想在婚礼中摆桌宴还是搞自助餐?
  • Could you tell me what specialties you have for the buffet?你能告诉我你们的自助餐有什么特色菜吗?
2 flickering wjLxa     
adj.闪烁的,摇曳的,一闪一闪的
参考例句:
  • The crisp autumn wind is flickering away. 清爽的秋风正在吹拂。
  • The lights keep flickering. 灯光忽明忽暗。
3 lighting CpszPL     
n.照明,光线的明暗,舞台灯光
参考例句:
  • The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
  • The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。
4 tints 41fd51b51cf127789864a36f50ef24bf     
色彩( tint的名词复数 ); 带白的颜色; (淡色)染发剂; 痕迹
参考例句:
  • leaves with red and gold autumn tints 金秋时节略呈红黄色的树叶
  • The whole countryside glowed with autumn tints. 乡间处处呈现出灿烂的秋色。
5 crimson AYwzH     
n./adj.深(绯)红色(的);vi.脸变绯红色
参考例句:
  • She went crimson with embarrassment.她羞得满脸通红。
  • Maple leaves have turned crimson.枫叶已经红了。
6 bouquet pWEzA     
n.花束,酒香
参考例句:
  • This wine has a rich bouquet.这种葡萄酒有浓郁的香气。
  • Her wedding bouquet consisted of roses and ivy.她的婚礼花篮包括玫瑰和长春藤。
7 copper HZXyU     
n.铜;铜币;铜器;adj.铜(制)的;(紫)铜色的
参考例句:
  • The students are asked to prove the purity of copper.要求学生们检验铜的纯度。
  • Copper is a good medium for the conduction of heat and electricity.铜是热和电的良导体。
8 momentary hj3ya     
adj.片刻的,瞬息的;短暂的
参考例句:
  • We are in momentary expectation of the arrival of you.我们无时无刻不在盼望你的到来。
  • I caught a momentary glimpse of them.我瞥了他们一眼。
9 invalid V4Oxh     
n.病人,伤残人;adj.有病的,伤残的;无效的
参考例句:
  • He will visit an invalid.他将要去看望一个病人。
  • A passport that is out of date is invalid.护照过期是无效的。
10 scotch ZZ3x8     
n.伤口,刻痕;苏格兰威士忌酒;v.粉碎,消灭,阻止;adj.苏格兰(人)的
参考例句:
  • Facts will eventually scotch these rumours.这种谣言在事实面前将不攻自破。
  • Italy was full of fine views and virtually empty of Scotch whiskey.意大利多的是美景,真正缺的是苏格兰威士忌。
11 moors 039ba260de08e875b2b8c34ec321052d     
v.停泊,系泊(船只)( moor的第三人称单数 )
参考例句:
  • the North York moors 北约克郡的漠泽
  • They're shooting grouse up on the moors. 他们在荒野射猎松鸡。 来自《简明英汉词典》
12 pricks 20f8a636f609ce805ce271cee734ba10     
刺痛( prick的名词复数 ); 刺孔; 刺痕; 植物的刺
参考例句:
  • My skin pricks sometimes. 我的皮肤有时感到刺痛。
  • You must obey the rule. It is useless for you to kick against the pricks. 你必须遵守规定,对抗对你是无益的。
13 swoops 34cb21d205ccf6df9390b85e36d2b05a     
猛扑,突然下降( swoop的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • He fixes his eyes on the greyish spine of the old wolf as he swoops down. 他两眼死死盯住老狼灰黑的脊背。 来自汉英文学 - 现代散文
  • An owl swoops from the ridge top, noiseless but as flame. 蓦地,山脊上一只夜枭飞扑直下,悄无声响而赫然如一道火光。
14 speck sFqzM     
n.微粒,小污点,小斑点
参考例句:
  • I have not a speck of interest in it.我对它没有任何兴趣。
  • The sky is clear and bright without a speck of cloud.天空晴朗,一星星云彩也没有。
15 entirely entirely     
ad.全部地,完整地;完全地,彻底地
参考例句:
  • The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
  • His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。
16 satchel dYVxO     
n.(皮或帆布的)书包
参考例句:
  • The school boy opened the door and flung his satchel in.那个男学生打开门,把他的书包甩了进去。
  • She opened her satchel and took out her father's gloves.打开书箱,取出了她父亲的手套来。
17 spoke XryyC     
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说
参考例句:
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
18 drawn MuXzIi     
v.拖,拉,拔出;adj.憔悴的,紧张的
参考例句:
  • All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
  • Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。
19 tempt MpIwg     
vt.引诱,勾引,吸引,引起…的兴趣
参考例句:
  • Nothing could tempt him to such a course of action.什么都不能诱使他去那样做。
  • The fact that she had become wealthy did not tempt her to alter her frugal way of life.她有钱了,可这丝毫没能让她改变节俭的生活习惯。


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