CHAPTER 32 THE NOTE OF A BELL

The bell rang three strokes, with a pause between each. There was a longer pause. Then once more came its threefold note.

 

The sound struck strangely on David’s ear, and more strangely still on his heart. With the sound he became extraordinarily¹ aware of some vital Presence near at hand. Something that suffused² the whole atmosphere with Its Personality.

 

Somehow the quiet of the morning, its meditation³, its silent ecstasy⁴, seemed to have been leading up to that moment. It seemed to him now that here was the moment for which the morning had been waiting, and he with the morning. Neither did the moment pass; it remained, prolonged, expanded. Time again vanished; there was no time, there was nothing but himself and that extraordinary mystical sense which was suffusing⁵ the atmosphere.

 

 

He made no attempt to explain it; he couldn’t have explained it had he tried. It was something beyond words, beyond reason, beyond feeling, even, in the ordinary sense of the term. It was not actually in his mind that he was aware of it at all, but in something far deeper. In one way it was as if the notes of that bell had struck on some deep recess⁶ of his soul, setting free some tiny spring of hidden knowledge and sweetness; and yet he knew that it was not by virtue⁷ of that knowledge and sweetness that the mystical sense suffusing the atmosphere had been translated into terms of fact. It was external to them; it was actual, real, palpitating. He knew that it would have been there had the well of his inner consciousness remained untouched. Only somehow, in some extraordinary manner, it had sprung up to meet it; and the tiny freed spring had been caught into great waters, submerging him in a sweetness he could not understand.

 

I don’t know how long David stood by the wicket gate; but, at last, barely conscious of his surroundings, he turned from it along the grass sward.

 

1 extraordinarily   

adv.格外地；极端地

参考例句：

• She is an extraordinarily beautiful girl.她是个美丽非凡的姑娘。
• The sea was extraordinarily calm that morning.那天清晨，大海出奇地宁静。

2 suffused   

v.（指颜色、水气等）弥漫于，布满( suffuse的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Her face was suffused with colour. 她满脸通红。
• Her eyes were suffused with warm, excited tears. 她激动地热泪盈眶。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

3 meditation   

n.熟虑，（尤指宗教的）默想，沉思，（pl.）冥想录

参考例句：

• This peaceful garden lends itself to meditation.这个恬静的花园适于冥想。
• I'm sorry to interrupt your meditation.很抱歉，我打断了你的沉思。

4 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。

5 suffusing   

v.（指颜色、水气等）弥漫于，布满( suffuse的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• She stopped, a faint flush suffusing her cheeks. 她停了一下，脸上泛起一抹红晕。 来自辞典例句

6 recess   

n.短期休息，壁凹（墙上装架子，柜子等凹处）

参考例句：

• The chairman of the meeting announced a ten-minute recess.会议主席宣布休会10分钟。
• Parliament was hastily recalled from recess.休会的议员被匆匆召回开会。

7 virtue   

n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力

参考例句：

• He was considered to be a paragon of virtue.他被认为是品德尽善尽美的典范。
• You need to decorate your mind with virtue.你应该用德行美化心灵。