The end of a novel, like the end of a children’s dinner party, must be made up of sweetmeats and sugar-plums. There is now nothing else to be told but the gala doings of Mr. Arabin’s marriage, nothing more to be described than the wedding-dresses, no further dialogue to be recorded than that which took place between the archdeacon, who married them, and Mr. Arabin and Eleanor, who were married.
“Wilt thou have this woman to thy wedded1 wife,” and “wilt thou have this man to thy wedded husband, to live together according to God’s ordinance2?”
Mr. Arabin and Eleanor each answered, “I will.”
We have no doubt that they will keep their promises, the more especially as the Signora Neroni had left Barchester before the ceremony was performed.
Mrs. Bold had been somewhat more than two years a widow before she was married to her second husband, and little Johnny was then able with due assistance to walk on his own legs into the drawing-room to receive the salutations of the assembled guests. Mr. Harding gave away the bride, the archdeacon performed the service, and the two Miss Grantlys, who were joined in their labours by other young ladies of the neighbourhood, performed the duties of bridesmaids with equal diligence and grace. Mrs. Grantly superintended the breakfast and bouquets4, and Mary Bold distributed the cards and cake. The archdeacon’s three sons had also come home for the occasion. The elder was great with learning, being regarded by all who knew him as a certain future double first. The second, however, bore the palm on this occasion, being resplendent in a new uniform. The third was just entering the university, and was probably the proudest of the three.
But the most remarkable5 feature in the whole occasion was the excessive liberality of the archdeacon. He literally6 made presents to everybody. As Mr. Arabin had already moved out of the parsonage of St. Ewold’s, that scheme of elongating7 the dining-room was of course abandoned, but he would have refurnished the whole deanery had he been allowed. He sent down a magnificent piano by Erard, gave Mr. Arabin a cob which any dean in the land might have been proud to bestride, and made a special present to Eleanor of a new pony8 chair that had gained a prize in the Exhibition. Nor did he even stay his hand here; he bought a set of cameos for his wife and a sapphire9 bracelet10 for Miss Bold; showered pearls and work-boxes on his daughters; and to each of his sons he presented a check for £20. On Mr. Harding he bestowed11 a magnificent violoncello with all the new-fashioned arrangements and expensive additions, which on account of these novelties that gentleman could never use with satisfaction to his audience or pleasure to himself.
Those who knew the archdeacon well perfectly12 understood the causes of his extravagance. ’Twas thus that he sang his song of triumph over Mr. Slope. This was his paean13, his hymn14 of thanksgiving, his loud oration15. He had girded himself with his sword and gone forth16 to the war; now he was returning from the field laden17 with the spoils of the foe18. The cob and the cameos, the violoncello and the pianoforte, were all as it were trophies19 reft from the tent of his now-conquered enemy.
The Arabins after their marriage went abroad for a couple of months, according to the custom in such matters now duly established, and then commenced their deanery life under good auspices20. And nothing can be more pleasant than the present arrangement of ecclesiastical affairs in Barchester. The titular21 bishop22 never interfered23, and Mrs. Proudie not often. Her sphere is more extended, more noble, and more suited to her ambition than that of a cathedral city. As long as she can do what she pleases with the diocese, she is willing to leave the dean and chapter to themselves. Mr. Slope tried his hand at subverting24 the old-established customs of the close, and from his failure she had learnt experience. The burly chancellor25 and the meagre little prebendary are not teased by any application respecting Sabbath-day schools, the dean is left to his own dominions26, and the intercourse27 between Mrs. Proudie and Mrs. Arabin is confined to a yearly dinner given by each to the other. At these dinners Dr. Grantly will not take a part, but he never fails to ask for and receive a full account of all that Mrs. Proudie either does or says.
His ecclesiastical authority has been greatly shorn since the palmy days in which he reigned28 supreme29 as mayor of the palace to his father, but nevertheless such authority as is now left to him he can enjoy without interference. He can walk down the High Street of Barchester without feeling that those who see him are comparing his claims with those of Mr. Slope. The intercourse between Plumstead and the deanery is of the most constant and familiar description. Since Eleanor has been married to a clergyman, and especially to a dignitary of the church, Mrs. Grantly has found many more points of sympathy with her sister, and on a coming occasion, which is much looked forward to by all parties, she intends to spend a month or two at the deanery. She never thought of spending a month in Barchester when little Johnny Bold was born!
The two sisters do not quite agree on matters of church doctrine30, though their differences are of the most amicable31 description. Mrs. Arabin’s church is two degrees higher than that of Mrs. Grantly. This may seem strange to those who will remember that Eleanor was once accused of partiality to Mr. Slope, but it is no less the fact. She likes her husband’s silken vest, she likes his adherence32 to the rubric, she specially3 likes the eloquent33 philosophy of his sermons, and she likes the red letters in her own prayer-book. It must not be presumed that she has a taste for candles, or that she is at all astray about the real presence, but she has an inkling that way. She sent a handsome subscription34 towards certain very heavy ecclesiastical legal expenses which have lately been incurred35 in Bath, her name of course not appearing; she assumes a smile of gentle ridicule36 when the Archbishop of Canterbury is named; and she has put up a memorial window in the cathedral.
Mrs. Grantly, who belongs to the high and dry church, the High Church as it was some fifty years since, before tracts37 were written and young clergymen took upon themselves the highly meritorious38 duty of cleaning churches, rather laughs at her sister. She shrugs39 her shoulders and tells Miss Thorne that she supposes Eleanor will have an oratory40 in the deanery before she has done. But she is not on that account a whit41 displeased42. A few High Church vagaries43 do not, she thinks, sit amiss on the shoulders of a young dean’s wife. It shows at any rate that her heart is in the subject, and it shows moreover that she is removed, wide as the poles asunder44, from that cesspool of abomination in which it was once suspected that she would wallow and grovel45. Anathema46 maranatha! Let anything else be held as blessed, so that that be well cursed. Welcome kneelings and bowings, welcome matins and complines, welcome bell, book, and candle, so that Mr. Slope’s dirty surplices and ceremonial Sabbaths be held in due execration47!
If it be essentially48 and absolutely necessary to choose between the two, we are inclined to agree with Mrs. Grantly that the bell, book, and candle are the lesser49 evil of the two. Let it however be understood that no such necessity is admitted in these pages.
Dr. Arabin (we suppose he must have become a doctor when he became a dean) is more moderate and less outspoken50 on doctrinal points than his wife, as indeed in his station it behoves him to be. He is a studious, thoughtful, hard-working man. He lives constantly at the deanery and preaches nearly every Sunday. His time is spent in sifting51 and editing old ecclesiastical literature and in producing the same articles new. At Oxford52 he is generally regarded as the most promising53 clerical ornament54 of the age. He and his wife live together in perfect mutual55 confidence. There is but one secret in her bosom56 which he has not shared. He has never yet learned how Mr. Slope had his ears boxed.
The Stanhopes soon found that Mr. Slope’s power need no longer operate to keep them from the delight of their Italian villa57. Before Eleanor’s marriage they had all migrated back to the shores of Como. They had not been resettled long before the signora received from Mrs. Arabin a very pretty though very short epistle, in which she was informed of the fate of the writer. This letter was answered by another — bright, charming, and witty58, as the signora’s letters always were — and so ended the friendship between Eleanor and the Stanhopes.
One word of Mr. Harding, and we have done. He is still precentor of Barchester and still pastor59 of the little church of St. Cuthbert’s. In spite of what he has so often said himself, he is not even yet an old man. He does such duties as fall to his lot well and conscientiously60, and is thankful that he has never been tempted61 to assume others for which he might be less fitted.
The author now leaves him in the hands of his readers: not as a hero, not as a man to be admired and talked of, not as a man who should be toasted at public dinners and spoken of with conventional absurdity62 as a perfect divine, but as a good man, without guile63, believing humbly64 in the religion which he has striven to teach, and guided by the precepts65 which he has striven to learn.
The End
1 wedded | |
adj.正式结婚的;渴望…的,执著于…的v.嫁,娶,(与…)结婚( wed的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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2 ordinance | |
n.法令;条令;条例 | |
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3 specially | |
adv.特定地;特殊地;明确地 | |
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4 bouquets | |
n.花束( bouquet的名词复数 );(酒的)芳香 | |
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5 remarkable | |
adj.显著的,异常的,非凡的,值得注意的 | |
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6 literally | |
adv.照字面意义,逐字地;确实 | |
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7 elongating | |
v.延长,加长( elongate的现在分词 ) | |
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8 pony | |
adj.小型的;n.小马 | |
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9 sapphire | |
n.青玉,蓝宝石;adj.天蓝色的 | |
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10 bracelet | |
n.手镯,臂镯 | |
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11 bestowed | |
赠给,授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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12 perfectly | |
adv.完美地,无可非议地,彻底地 | |
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13 paean | |
n.赞美歌,欢乐歌 | |
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14 hymn | |
n.赞美诗,圣歌,颂歌 | |
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15 oration | |
n.演说,致辞,叙述法 | |
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16 forth | |
adv.向前;向外,往外 | |
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17 laden | |
adj.装满了的;充满了的;负了重担的;苦恼的 | |
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18 foe | |
n.敌人,仇敌 | |
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19 trophies | |
n.(为竞赛获胜者颁发的)奖品( trophy的名词复数 );奖杯;(尤指狩猎或战争中获得的)纪念品;(用于比赛或赛跑名称)奖 | |
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20 auspices | |
n.资助,赞助 | |
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21 titular | |
adj.名义上的,有名无实的;n.只有名义(或头衔)的人 | |
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22 bishop | |
n.主教,(国际象棋)象 | |
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23 interfered | |
v.干预( interfere的过去式和过去分词 );调停;妨碍;干涉 | |
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24 subverting | |
v.颠覆,破坏(政治制度、宗教信仰等)( subvert的现在分词 );使(某人)道德败坏或不忠 | |
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25 chancellor | |
n.(英)大臣;法官;(德、奥)总理;大学校长 | |
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26 dominions | |
统治权( dominion的名词复数 ); 领土; 疆土; 版图 | |
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27 intercourse | |
n.性交;交流,交往,交际 | |
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28 reigned | |
vi.当政,统治(reign的过去式形式) | |
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29 supreme | |
adj.极度的,最重要的;至高的,最高的 | |
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30 doctrine | |
n.教义;主义;学说 | |
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31 amicable | |
adj.和平的,友好的;友善的 | |
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32 adherence | |
n.信奉,依附,坚持,固着 | |
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33 eloquent | |
adj.雄辩的,口才流利的;明白显示出的 | |
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34 subscription | |
n.预订,预订费,亲笔签名,调配法,下标(处方) | |
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35 incurred | |
[医]招致的,遭受的; incur的过去式 | |
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36 ridicule | |
v.讥讽,挖苦;n.嘲弄 | |
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37 tracts | |
大片土地( tract的名词复数 ); 地带; (体内的)道; (尤指宣扬宗教、伦理或政治的)短文 | |
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38 meritorious | |
adj.值得赞赏的 | |
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39 shrugs | |
n.耸肩(以表示冷淡,怀疑等)( shrug的名词复数 ) | |
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40 oratory | |
n.演讲术;词藻华丽的言辞 | |
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41 whit | |
n.一点,丝毫 | |
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42 displeased | |
a.不快的 | |
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43 vagaries | |
n.奇想( vagary的名词复数 );异想天开;异常行为;难以预测的情况 | |
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44 asunder | |
adj.分离的,化为碎片 | |
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45 grovel | |
vi.卑躬屈膝,奴颜婢膝 | |
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46 anathema | |
n.诅咒;被诅咒的人(物),十分讨厌的人(物) | |
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47 execration | |
n.诅咒,念咒,憎恶 | |
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48 essentially | |
adv.本质上,实质上,基本上 | |
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49 lesser | |
adj.次要的,较小的;adv.较小地,较少地 | |
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50 outspoken | |
adj.直言无讳的,坦率的,坦白无隐的 | |
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51 sifting | |
n.筛,过滤v.筛( sift的现在分词 );筛滤;细查;详审 | |
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52 Oxford | |
n.牛津(英国城市) | |
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53 promising | |
adj.有希望的,有前途的 | |
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54 ornament | |
v.装饰,美化;n.装饰,装饰物 | |
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55 mutual | |
adj.相互的,彼此的;共同的,共有的 | |
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56 bosom | |
n.胸,胸部;胸怀;内心;adj.亲密的 | |
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57 villa | |
n.别墅,城郊小屋 | |
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58 witty | |
adj.机智的,风趣的 | |
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59 pastor | |
n.牧师,牧人 | |
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60 conscientiously | |
adv.凭良心地;认真地,负责尽职地;老老实实 | |
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61 tempted | |
v.怂恿(某人)干不正当的事;冒…的险(tempt的过去分词) | |
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62 absurdity | |
n.荒谬,愚蠢;谬论 | |
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63 guile | |
n.诈术 | |
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64 humbly | |
adv. 恭顺地,谦卑地 | |
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65 precepts | |
n.规诫,戒律,箴言( precept的名词复数 ) | |
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