CHAPTER XL THE MEETING

[Pg 376]Sally found Mara sitting in an easy-chair that had been sent to her by the provident¹ love of Miss Emily. It was wheeled in front of her room window, from whence she could look out upon the wide expanse of the ocean. It was a gloriously bright, calm morning, and the water lay clear and still, with scarce a ripple², to the far distant pearly horizon. She seemed to be looking at it in a kind of calm ecstasy³, and murmuring the words of a hymn:—

 

"Nor wreck⁴ nor ruin there is seen,

There not a wave of trouble rolls,

But the bright rainbow round the throne

Peals⁵ endless peace to all their souls."

Sally came softly behind her on tiptoe to kiss her. "Good-morning, dear, how do you find yourself?"

 

"Quite well," was the answer.

 

"Mara, is not there anything you want?"

 

"There might be many things; but His will is mine."

 

"You want to see Moses?"

 

"Very much; but I shall see him as soon as it is best for us both."

 

"Mara,—he is come."

 

The quick blood flushed over the pale, transparent⁶ face as a virgin⁷ glacier⁸ flushes at sunrise, and she looked up eagerly. "Come!"

 

"Yes, he is below-stairs wanting to see you."

 

She seemed about to speak eagerly, and then checked herself and mused⁹ a moment. "Poor, poor boy!" she said. "Yes, Sally, let him come at once."[Pg 377]

 

There were a few dazzling, dreamy minutes when Moses first held that frail¹⁰ form in his arms, which but for its tender, mortal warmth, might have seemed to him a spirit. It was no spirit, but a woman whose heart he could feel thrilling against his own; who seemed to him like some frail, fluttering bird; but somehow, as he looked into her clear, transparent face, and pressed her thin little hands in his, the conviction stole over him overpoweringly that she was indeed fading away and going from him,—drawn from him by that mysterious, irresistible¹¹ power against which human strength, even in the strongest, has no chance.

 

It is dreadful to a strong man who has felt the influence of his strength,—who has always been ready with a resource for every emergency, and a weapon for every battle,—when first he meets that mighty¹² invisible power by which a beloved life—a life he would give his own blood to save—melts and dissolves like smoke before his eyes.

 

"Oh, Mara, Mara," he groaned¹³, "this is too dreadful, too cruel; it is cruel."

 

"You will think so at first, but not always," she said, soothingly¹⁴. "You will live to see a joy come out of this sorrow."

 

"Never, Mara, never. I cannot believe that kind of talk. I see no love, no mercy in it. Of course, if there is any life after death you will be happy; if there is a heaven you will be there; but can this dim, unsubstantial, cloudy prospect¹⁵ make you happy in leaving me and giving up one's lover? Oh, Mara, you cannot love as I do, or you could not"—

 

"Moses, I have suffered,—oh, very, very much. It was many months ago when I first thought that I must give everything up,—when I thought that we must part; but Christ helped me; he showed me his wonderful love,—the love that surrounds us all our life, that follows us in all our wanderings, and sustains us in all our weak[Pg 378]nesses,—and then I felt that whatever He wills for us is in love; oh, believe it,—believe it for my sake, for your own."

 

"Oh, I cannot, I cannot," said Moses; but as he looked at the bright, pale face, and felt how the tempest of his feelings shook the frail form, he checked himself. "I do wrong to agitate¹⁶ you so, Mara. I will try to be calm."

 

"And to pray?" she said, beseechingly¹⁷.

 

He shut his lips in gloomy silence.

 

"Promise me," she said.

 

"I have prayed ever since I got your first letter, and I see it does no good," he answered. "Our prayers cannot alter fate."

 

"Fate! there is no fate," she answered; "there is a strong and loving Father who guides the way, though we know it not. We cannot resist His will; but it is all love,—pure, pure love."

 

At this moment Sally came softly into the room. A gentle air of womanly authority seemed to express itself in that once gay and giddy face, at which Moses, in the midst of his misery¹⁸, marveled.

 

"You must not stay any longer now," she said; "it would be too much for her strength; this is enough for this morning."

 

Moses turned away, and silently left the room, and Sally said to Mara,—

 

"You must lie down now, and rest."

 

"Sally," said Mara, "promise me one thing."

 

"Well, Mara; of course I will."

 

"Promise to love him and care for him when I am gone; he will be so lonely."

 

"I will do all I can, Mara," said Sally, soothingly; "so now you must take a little wine and lie down. You know what you have so often said, that all will yet be well with him."[Pg 379]

 

"Oh, I know it, I am sure," said Mara, "but oh, his sorrow shook my very heart."

 

"You must not talk another word about it," said Sally, peremptorily¹⁹, "Do you know Aunt Roxy is coming to see you? I see her out of the window this very moment."

 

And Sally assisted to lay her friend on the bed, and then, administering a stimulant²⁰, she drew down the curtains, and, sitting beside her, began repeating, in a soft monotonous²¹ tone, the words of a favorite hymn:—

 

"The Lord my shepherd is,

I shall be well supplied;

Since He is mine, and I am His,

What can I want beside?"

Before she had finished, Mara was asleep.

1 provident   

adj.为将来做准备的，有先见之明的

参考例句：

• A provident father plans for his children's education.有远见的父亲为自己孩子的教育做长远打算。
• They are provident statesmen.他们是有远见的政治家。

2 ripple   

n.涟波，涟漪，波纹，粗钢梳；vt.使...起涟漪，使起波纹； vi.呈波浪状，起伏前进

参考例句：

• The pebble made a ripple on the surface of the lake.石子在湖面上激起一个涟漪。
• The small ripple split upon the beach.小小的涟漪卷来，碎在沙滩上。

3 ecstasy   

n.狂喜，心醉神怡，入迷

参考例句：

• He listened to the music with ecstasy.他听音乐听得入了神。
• Speechless with ecstasy,the little boys gazed at the toys.小孩注视着那些玩具，高兴得说不出话来。

4 wreck   

n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难

参考例句：

• Weather may have been a factor in the wreck.天气可能是造成这次失事的原因之一。
• No one can wreck the friendship between us.没有人能够破坏我们之间的友谊。

5 peals   

n.（声音大而持续或重复的）洪亮的响声( peal的名词复数 )；隆隆声；洪亮的钟声；钟乐v.（使）（钟等）鸣响，（雷等）发出隆隆声( peal的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• She burst into peals of laughter. 她忽然哈哈大笑起来。
• She went into fits/peals of laughter. 她发出阵阵笑声。 来自辞典例句

6 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。

7 virgin   

n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的

参考例句：

• Have you ever been to a virgin forest?你去过原始森林吗？
• There are vast expanses of virgin land in the remote regions.在边远地区有大片大片未开垦的土地。

8 glacier   

n.冰川，冰河

参考例句：

• The glacier calved a large iceberg.冰河崩解而形成一个大冰山。
• The upper surface of glacier is riven by crevasses.冰川的上表面已裂成冰隙。

9 mused   

v.沉思，冥想( muse的过去式和过去分词 )；沉思自语说（某事）

参考例句：

• \"I wonder if I shall ever see them again, \"he mused. “我不知道是否还可以再见到他们，”他沉思自问。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• \"Where are we going from here?\" mused one of Rutherford's guests. 卢瑟福的一位客人忍不住说道：‘我们这是在干什么？” 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史

10 frail   

adj.身体虚弱的；易损坏的

参考例句：

• Mrs. Warner is already 96 and too frail to live by herself.华纳太太已经九十六岁了，身体虚弱，不便独居。
• She lay in bed looking particularly frail.她躺在床上，看上去特别虚弱。

11 irresistible   

adj.非常诱人的，无法拒绝的，无法抗拒的

参考例句：

• The wheel of history rolls forward with an irresistible force.历史车轮滚滚向前，势不可挡。
• She saw an irresistible skirt in the store window.她看见商店的橱窗里有一条叫人着迷的裙子。

12 mighty   

adj.强有力的；巨大的

参考例句：

• A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
• The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。

13 groaned   

v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦

参考例句：

• He groaned in anguish. 他痛苦地呻吟。
• The cart groaned under the weight of the piano. 大车在钢琴的重压下嘎吱作响。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 soothingly   

adv.抚慰地，安慰地；镇痛地

参考例句：

• The mother talked soothingly to her child. 母亲对自己的孩子安慰地说。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He continued to talk quietly and soothingly to the girl until her frightened grip on his arm was relaxed. 他继续柔声安慰那姑娘，她那因恐惧而紧抓住他的手终于放松了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

16 agitate   

vi.(for,against)煽动，鼓动；vt.搅动

参考例句：

• They sent agents to agitate the local people.他们派遣情报人员煽动当地的民众。
• All you need to do is gently agitate the water with a finger or paintbrush.你只需要用手指或刷子轻轻地搅动水。

17 beseechingly   

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。

18 misery   

n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦

参考例句：

• Business depression usually causes misery among the working class.商业不景气常使工薪阶层受苦。
• He has rescued me from the mire of misery.他把我从苦海里救了出来。

19 peremptorily   

adv.紧急地，不容分说地，专横地

参考例句：

• She peremptorily rejected the request. 她断然拒绝了请求。
• Their propaganda was peremptorily switched to an anti-Western line. 他们的宣传断然地转而持反对西方的路线。 来自辞典例句

20 stimulant   

n.刺激物，兴奋剂

参考例句：

• It is used in medicine for its stimulant quality.由于它有兴奋剂的特性而被应用于医学。
• Musk is used for perfume and stimulant.麝香可以用作香料和兴奋剂。

21 monotonous   

adj.单调的，一成不变的，使人厌倦的

参考例句：

• She thought life in the small town was monotonous.她觉得小镇上的生活单调而乏味。
• His articles are fixed in form and monotonous in content.他的文章千篇一律，一个调调儿。