After this whirlwind Mr. Hoopdriver paid his reckoning and--being now a little rested about the muscles of the knees--resumed his saddle and rode on in the direction of Ripley, along an excellent but undulating road. He was pleased to find his command over his machine already sensibly increased. He set himself little exercises as he went along and performed them with variable success. There was, for instance, steering2 in between a couple of stones, say a foot apart, a deed of little difficulty as far as the front wheel is concerned. But the back wheel, not being under the sway of the human eye, is apt to take a vicious jump over the obstacle, which sends a violent concussion3 all along the spine4 to the skull5, and will even jerk a loosely fastened hat over the eyes, and so lead to much confusion. And again, there was taking the hand or hands off the handlebar, a thing simple in itself, but complex in its consequences. This particularly was a feat6 Mr. Hoopdriver desired to do, for several divergent reasons; but at present it simply led to convulsive balancings and novel and inelegant modes of dismounting.
The human nose is, at its best, a needless excrescence. There are those who consider it ornamental7, and would regard a face deprived of its assistance with pity or derision; but it is doubtful whether our esteem8 is dictated9 so much by a sense of its absolute beauty as by the vitiating effect of a universally prevalent fashion. In the case of bicycle students, as in the young of both sexes, its inutility is aggravated10 by its persistent11 annoyance--it requires constant attention. Until one can ride with one hand, and search for, secure, and use a pocket handkerchief with the other, cycling is necessarily a constant series of descents. Nothing can be further from the author's ambition than a wanton realism, but Mr. Hoopdriver's nose is a plain and salient fact, and face it we must. And, in addition to this inconvenience, there are flies. Until the cyclist can steer1 with one hand, his face is given over to Beelzebub. Contemplative flies stroll over it, and trifle absently with its most sensitive surfaces. The only way to dislodge them is to shake the head forcibly and to writhe12 one's features violently. This is not only a lengthy13 and frequently ineffectual method, but one exceedingly terrifying to foot passengers. And again, sometimes the beginner rides for a space with one eye closed by perspiration14, giving him a waggish15 air foreign to his mood and ill calculated to overawe the impertinent. However, you will appreciate now the motive16 of Mr. Hoopdriver's experiments. He presently attained17 sufficient dexterity18 to slap himself smartly and violently in the face with his right hand, without certainly overturning the machine; but his pocket handkerchief might have been in California for any good it was to him while he was in the saddle.
Yet you must not think that because Mr. Hoopdriver was a little uncomfortable, he was unhappy in the slightest degree. In the background of his consciousness was the sense that about this time Briggs would be half-way through his window dressing19, and Gosling, the apprentice20, busy, with a chair turned down over the counter and his ears very red, trying to roll a piece of huckaback--only those who have rolled pieces of huckaback know quite how detestable huckaback is to roll--and the shop would be dusty and, perhaps, the governor about and snappy. And here was quiet and greenery, and one mucked about as the desire took one, without a soul to see, and here was no wailing21 of "Sayn," no folding of remnants, no voice to shout, "Hoopdriver, forward!" And once he almost ran over something wonderful, a little, low, red beast with a yellowish tail, that went rushing across the road before him. It was the first weasel he had ever seen in his cockney life. There were miles of this, scores of miles of this before him, pinewood and oak forest, purple, heathery moorland and grassy22 down, lush meadows, where shining rivers wound their lazy way, villages with square-towered, flint churches, and rambling23, cheap, and hearty24 inns, clean, white, country towns, long downhill stretches, where one might ride at one's ease (overlooking a jolt25 or so), and far away, at the end of it all,--the sea.
What mattered a fly or so in the dawn of these delights? Perhaps he had been dashed a minute by the shameful26 episode of the Young Lady in Grey, and perhaps the memory of it was making itself a little lair27 in a corner of his brain from which it could distress28 him in the retrospect29 by suggesting that he looked like a fool; but for the present that trouble was altogether in abeyance30. The man in drab--evidently a swell--had spoken to him as his equal, and the knees of his brown suit and the chequered stockings were ever before his eyes. (Or, rather, you could see the stockings by carrying the head a little to one side.) And to feel, little by little, his mastery over this delightful31, treacherous32 machine, growing and growing! Every half-mile or so his knees reasserted themselves, and he dismounted and sat awhile by the roadside.
It was at a charming little place between Esher and Cobham, where a bridge crosses a stream, that Mr. Hoopdriver came across the other cyclist in brown. It is well to notice the fact here, although the interview was of the slightest, because it happened that subsequently Hoopdriver saw a great deal more of this other man in brown. The other cyclist in brown had a machine of dazzling newness, and a punctured33 pneumatic lay across his knees. He was a man of thirty or more, with a whitish face, an aquiline34 nose, a lank35, flaxen moustache, and very fair hair, and he scowled36 at the job before him. At the sight of him Mr. Hoopdriver pulled himself together, and rode by with the air of one born to the wheel. "A splendid morning," said Mr. Hoopdriver, "and a fine surface."
"The morning and you and the surface be everlastingly37 damned!" said the other man in brown as Hoopdriver receded38. Hoopdriver heard the mumble39 and did not distinguish the words, and he felt a pleasing sense of having duly asserted the wide sympathy that binds40 all cyclists together, of having behaved himself as becomes one of the brotherhood41 of the wheel. The other man in brown watched his receding42 aspect. "Greasy43 proletarian," said the other man in brown, feeling a prophetic dislike. "Got a suit of brown, the very picture of this. One would think his sole aim in life had been to caricature me. It's Fortune's way with me. Look at his insteps on the treadles! Why does Heaven make such men?"
And having lit a cigarette, the other man in brown returned to the business in hand.
Mr. Hoopdriver worked up the hill towards Cobham to a point that he felt sure was out of sight of the other man in brown, and then he dismounted and pushed his machine; until the proximity44 of the village and a proper pride drove him into the saddle again.
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steer
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| vt.驾驶，为…操舵；引导；vi.驾驶 | |
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steering
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| n.操舵装置 | |
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concussion
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| n.脑震荡；震动 | |
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spine
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| n.脊柱，脊椎；(动植物的)刺；书脊 | |
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skull
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| n.头骨；颅骨 | |
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feat
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| n.功绩；武艺，技艺；adj.灵巧的，漂亮的，合适的 | |
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7
ornamental
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| adj.装饰的；作装饰用的；n.装饰品；观赏植物 | |
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8
esteem
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| n.尊敬，尊重；vt.尊重，敬重；把…看作 | |
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dictated
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| v.大声讲或读( dictate的过去式和过去分词 )；口授；支配；摆布 | |
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aggravated
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| 使恶化( aggravate的过去式和过去分词 )； 使更严重； 激怒； 使恼火 | |
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persistent
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| adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的 | |
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writhe
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| vt.挣扎，痛苦地扭曲；vi.扭曲，翻腾，受苦；n.翻腾，苦恼 | |
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lengthy
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| adj.漫长的，冗长的 | |
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perspiration
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| n.汗水；出汗 | |
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waggish
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| adj.诙谐的，滑稽的 | |
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motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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attained
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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dexterity
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| n.(手的)灵巧，灵活 | |
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dressing
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| n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料 | |
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apprentice
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| n.学徒，徒弟 | |
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wailing
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| v.哭叫，哀号( wail的现在分词 )；沱 | |
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grassy
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| adj.盖满草的；长满草的 | |
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rambling
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| adj.[建]凌乱的，杂乱的 | |
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hearty
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| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
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jolt
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| v.（使）摇动，（使）震动，（使）颠簸 | |
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shameful
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| adj.可耻的，不道德的 | |
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lair
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| n.野兽的巢穴；躲藏处 | |
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distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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29
retrospect
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| n.回顾，追溯；v.回顾，回想，追溯 | |
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30
abeyance
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| n.搁置，缓办，中止，产权未定 | |
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delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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32
treacherous
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| adj.不可靠的，有暗藏的危险的；adj.背叛的，背信弃义的 | |
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33
punctured
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| v.在（某物）上穿孔( puncture的过去式和过去分词 )；刺穿（某物）；削弱（某人的傲气、信心等）；泄某人的气 | |
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aquiline
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| adj.钩状的，鹰的 | |
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lank
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| adj.瘦削的；稀疏的 | |
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36
scowled
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| 怒视，生气地皱眉( scowl的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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everlastingly
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| 永久地，持久地 | |
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38
receded
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| v.逐渐远离( recede的过去式和过去分词 )；向后倾斜；自原处后退或避开别人的注视；尤指问题 | |
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39
mumble
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| n./v.喃喃而语，咕哝 | |
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40
binds
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| v.约束( bind的第三人称单数 )；装订；捆绑；（用长布条）缠绕 | |
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41
brotherhood
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| n.兄弟般的关系，手中情谊 | |
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42
receding
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| v.逐渐远离( recede的现在分词 )；向后倾斜；自原处后退或避开别人的注视；尤指问题 | |
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43
greasy
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| adj. 多脂的，油脂的 | |
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44
proximity
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| n.接近，邻近 | |
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