If you (presuming you are of the sex that does such things)--if you had gone into the Drapery Emporium--which is really only magnificent for shop--of Messrs. Antrobus & Co.--a perfectly1 fictitious2 "Co.," by the bye--of Putney, on the 14th of August, 1895, had turned to the right-hand side, where the blocks of white linen3 and piles of blankets rise up to the rail from which the pink and blue prints depend, you might have been served by the central figure of this story that is now beginning. He would have come forward, bowing and swaying, he would have extended two hands with largish knuckles4 and enormous cuffs5 over the counter, and he would have asked you, protruding6 a pointed7 chin and without the slightest anticipation8 of pleasure in his manner, what he might have the pleasure of showing you. Under certain circumstances--as, for instance, hats, baby linen, gloves, silks, lace, or curtains--he would simply have bowed politely, and with a drooping9 expression, and making a kind of circular sweep, invited you to "step this way," and so led you beyond his ken10; but under other and happier conditions,--huckaback, blankets, dimity, cretonne, linen, calico, are cases in point,--he would have requested you to take a seat, emphasising the hospitality by leaning over the counter and gripping a chair back in a spasmodic manner, and so proceeded to obtain, unfold, and exhibit his goods for your consideration. Under which happier circumstances you might--if of an observing turn of mind and not too much of a housewife to be inhuman--have given the central figure of this story less cursory11 attention.
Now if you had noticed anything about him, it would have been chiefly to notice how little he was noticeable. He wore the black morning coat, the black tie, and the speckled grey nether12 parts (descending into shadow and mystery below the counter) of his craft. He was of a pallid13 complexion14, hair of a kind of dirty fairness, greyish eyes, and a skimpy, immature15 moustache under his peaked indeterminate nose. His features were all small, but none ill-shaped. A rosette of pins decorated the lappel of his coat. His remarks, you would observe, were entirely16 what people used to call cliche17, formulae not organic to the occasion, but stereotyped18 ages ago and learnt years since by heart. "This, madam," he would say, "is selling very well" "We are doing a very good article at four three a yard." "We could show you some. thing better, of course." "No trouble, madam, I assure you." Such were the simple counters of his intercourse19. So, I say, he would have presented himself to your superficial observation. He would have danced about behind the counter, have neatly21 refolded the goods he had shown you, have put on one side those you selected, extracted a little book with a carbon leaf and a tinfoil22 sheet from a fixture23, made you out a little bill in that weak flourishing hand peculiar24 to drapers, and have bawled25 "Sayn!" Then a puffy little shop-walker would have come into view, looked at the bill for a second, very hard (showing you a parting down the middle of his head meanwhile), have scribbled26 a still more flourishing J. M. all over the document, have asked you if there was nothing more, have stood by you--supposing that you were paying cash--until the central figure of this story reappeared with the change. One glance more at him, and the puffy little shop-walker would have been bowing you out, with fountains of civilities at work all about you. And so the interview would have terminated.
But real literature, as distinguished27 from anecdote28, does not concern itself with superficial appearances alone. Literature is revelation. Modern literature is indecorous revelation. It is the duty of the earnest author to tell you what you would not have seen--even at the cost of some blushes. And the thing that you would not have seen about this young man, and the thing of the greatest moment to this story, the thing that must be told if the book is to be written, was--let us face it bravely--the Remarkable29 Condition of this Young Man's Legs.
Let us approach the business with dispassionate explicitness30. Let us assume something of the scientific spirit, the hard, almost professorial tone of the conscientious32 realist. Let us treat this young man's legs as a mere33 diagram, and indicate the points of interest with the unemotional precision of a lecturer's pointer. And so to our revelation. On the internal aspect of the right ankle of this young man you would have observed, ladies and gentlemen, a contusion and an abrasion34; on the internal aspect of the left ankle a contusion also; on its external aspect a large yellowish bruise35. On his left shin there were two bruises36, one a leaden yellow graduating here and there into purple, and another, obviously of more recent date, of a blotchy37 red--tumid and threatening. Proceeding38 up the left leg in a spiral manner, an unnatural39 hardness and redness would have been discovered on the upper aspect of the calf40, and above the knee and on the inner side, an extraordinary expanse of bruised41 surface, a kind of closely stippled42 shading of contused points. The right leg would be found to be bruised in a marvellous manner all about and under the knee, and particularly on the interior aspect of the knee. So far we may proceed with our details. Fired by these discoveries, an investigator43 might perhaps have pursued his inquiries44 further- -to bruises on the shoulders, elbows, and even the finger joints45, of the central figure of our story. He had indeed been bumped and battered46 at an extraordinary number of points. But enough of realistic description is as good as a feast, and we have exhibited enough for our purpose. Even in literature one must know where to draw the line.
Now the reader may be inclined to wonder how a respectable young shopman should have got his legs, and indeed himself generally, into such a dreadful condition. One might fancy that he had been sitting with his nether extremities47 in some complicated machinery48, a threshing-machine, say, or one of those hay-making furies. But Sherlock Holmes (now happily dead) would have fancied nothing of the kind. He would have recognised at once that the bruises on the internal aspect of the left leg, considered in the light of the distribution of the other abrasions49 and contusions, pointed unmistakably to the violent impact of the Mounting Beginner upon the bicycling saddle, and that the ruinous state of the right knee was equally eloquent50 of the concussions51 attendant on that person's hasty, frequently causeless, and invariably ill- conceived descents. One large bruise on the shin is even more characteristic of the 'prentice cyclist, for upon every one of them waits the jest of the unexpected treadle. You try at least to walk your machine in an easy manner, and whack52!--you are rubbing your shin. So out of innocence53 we ripen54. Two bruises on that place mark a certain want of aptitude55 in learning, such as one might expect in a person unused to muscular exercise. Blisters56 on the hands are eloquent of the nervous clutch of the wavering rider. And so forth57, until Sherlock is presently explaining, by the help of the minor58 injuries, that the machine ridden is an old-fashioned affair with a fork instead of the diamond frame, a cushioned tire, well worn on the hind20 wheel, and a gross weight all on of perhaps three-and-forty pounds.
The revelation is made. Behind the decorous figure of the attentive59 shopman that I had the honour of showing you at first, rises a vision of a nightly struggle, of two dark figures and a machine in a dark road,--the road, to be explicit31, from Roehampton to Putney Hill,--and with this vision is the sound of a heel spurning60 the gravel61, a gasping62 and grunting63, a shouting of "Steer64, man, steer!" a wavering unsteady flight, a spasmodic turning of the missile edifice65 of man and machine, and a collapse66. Then you descry67 dimly through the dusk the central figure of this story sitting by the roadside and rubbing his leg at some new place, and his friend, sympathetic (but by no means depressed), repairing the displacement68 of the handle-bar.
Thus even in a shop assistant does the warmth of manhood assert itself, and drive him against all the conditions of his calling, against the counsels of prudence69 and the restrictions70 of his means, to seek the wholesome71 delights of exertion72 and danger and pain. And our first examination of the draper reveals beneath his draperies--the man! To which initial fact (among others) we shall come again in the end.
1 perfectly | |
adv.完美地,无可非议地,彻底地 | |
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2 fictitious | |
adj.虚构的,假设的;空头的 | |
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3 linen | |
n.亚麻布,亚麻线,亚麻制品;adj.亚麻布制的,亚麻的 | |
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4 knuckles | |
n.(指人)指关节( knuckle的名词复数 );(指动物)膝关节,踝v.(指人)指关节( knuckle的第三人称单数 );(指动物)膝关节,踝 | |
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5 cuffs | |
n.袖口( cuff的名词复数 )v.掌打,拳打( cuff的第三人称单数 ) | |
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6 protruding | |
v.(使某物)伸出,(使某物)突出( protrude的现在分词 );凸 | |
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7 pointed | |
adj.尖的,直截了当的 | |
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8 anticipation | |
n.预期,预料,期望 | |
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9 drooping | |
adj. 下垂的,无力的 动词droop的现在分词 | |
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10 ken | |
n.视野,知识领域 | |
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11 cursory | |
adj.粗略的;草率的;匆促的 | |
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12 nether | |
adj.下部的,下面的;n.阴间;下层社会 | |
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13 pallid | |
adj.苍白的,呆板的 | |
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14 complexion | |
n.肤色;情况,局面;气质,性格 | |
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15 immature | |
adj.未成熟的,发育未全的,未充分发展的 | |
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16 entirely | |
ad.全部地,完整地;完全地,彻底地 | |
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17 cliche | |
n./a.陈词滥调(的);老生常谈(的);陈腐的 | |
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18 stereotyped | |
adj.(指形象、思想、人物等)模式化的 | |
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19 intercourse | |
n.性交;交流,交往,交际 | |
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20 hind | |
adj.后面的,后部的 | |
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21 neatly | |
adv.整洁地,干净地,灵巧地,熟练地 | |
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22 tinfoil | |
n.锡纸,锡箔 | |
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23 fixture | |
n.固定设备;预定日期;比赛时间;定期存款 | |
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24 peculiar | |
adj.古怪的,异常的;特殊的,特有的 | |
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25 bawled | |
v.大叫,大喊( bawl的过去式和过去分词 );放声大哭;大声叫出;叫卖(货物) | |
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26 scribbled | |
v.潦草的书写( scribble的过去式和过去分词 );乱画;草草地写;匆匆记下 | |
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27 distinguished | |
adj.卓越的,杰出的,著名的 | |
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28 anecdote | |
n.轶事,趣闻,短故事 | |
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29 remarkable | |
adj.显著的,异常的,非凡的,值得注意的 | |
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30 explicitness | |
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31 explicit | |
adj.详述的,明确的;坦率的;显然的 | |
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32 conscientious | |
adj.审慎正直的,认真的,本着良心的 | |
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33 mere | |
adj.纯粹的;仅仅,只不过 | |
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34 abrasion | |
n.磨(擦)破,表面磨损 | |
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35 bruise | |
n.青肿,挫伤;伤痕;vt.打青;挫伤 | |
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36 bruises | |
n.瘀伤,伤痕,擦伤( bruise的名词复数 ) | |
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37 blotchy | |
adj.有斑点的,有污渍的;斑污 | |
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38 proceeding | |
n.行动,进行,(pl.)会议录,学报 | |
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39 unnatural | |
adj.不自然的;反常的 | |
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40 calf | |
n.小牛,犊,幼仔,小牛皮 | |
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41 bruised | |
[医]青肿的,瘀紫的 | |
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42 stippled | |
v.加点、绘斑,加粒( stipple的过去式和过去分词 );(把油漆、水泥等的表面)弄粗糙 | |
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43 investigator | |
n.研究者,调查者,审查者 | |
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44 inquiries | |
n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 );疑问;探究;打听 | |
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45 joints | |
接头( joint的名词复数 ); 关节; 公共场所(尤指价格低廉的饮食和娱乐场所) (非正式); 一块烤肉 (英式英语) | |
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46 battered | |
adj.磨损的;v.连续猛击;磨损 | |
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47 extremities | |
n.端点( extremity的名词复数 );尽头;手和足;极窘迫的境地 | |
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48 machinery | |
n.(总称)机械,机器;机构 | |
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49 abrasions | |
n.磨损( abrasion的名词复数 );擦伤处;摩擦;磨蚀(作用) | |
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50 eloquent | |
adj.雄辩的,口才流利的;明白显示出的 | |
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51 concussions | |
n.震荡( concussion的名词复数 );脑震荡;冲击;震动 | |
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52 whack | |
v.敲击,重打,瓜分;n.重击,重打,尝试,一份 | |
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53 innocence | |
n.无罪;天真;无害 | |
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54 ripen | |
vt.使成熟;vi.成熟 | |
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55 aptitude | |
n.(学习方面的)才能,资质,天资 | |
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56 blisters | |
n.水疱( blister的名词复数 );水肿;气泡 | |
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57 forth | |
adv.向前;向外,往外 | |
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58 minor | |
adj.较小(少)的,较次要的;n.辅修学科;vi.辅修 | |
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59 attentive | |
adj.注意的,专心的;关心(别人)的,殷勤的 | |
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60 spurning | |
v.一脚踢开,拒绝接受( spurn的现在分词 ) | |
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61 gravel | |
n.砂跞;砂砾层;结石 | |
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62 gasping | |
adj. 气喘的, 痉挛的 动词gasp的现在分词 | |
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63 grunting | |
咕哝的,呼噜的 | |
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64 steer | |
vt.驾驶,为…操舵;引导;vi.驾驶 | |
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65 edifice | |
n.宏伟的建筑物(如宫殿,教室) | |
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66 collapse | |
vi.累倒;昏倒;倒塌;塌陷 | |
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67 descry | |
v.远远看到;发现;责备 | |
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68 displacement | |
n.移置,取代,位移,排水量 | |
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69 prudence | |
n.谨慎,精明,节俭 | |
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70 restrictions | |
约束( restriction的名词复数 ); 管制; 制约因素; 带限制性的条件(或规则) | |
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71 wholesome | |
adj.适合;卫生的;有益健康的;显示身心健康的 | |
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72 exertion | |
n.尽力,努力 | |
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