Should I take aught of you? ’Tis true I begged now;
And what is worse than that, I stole a kindness;
And, what is worst of all, I lost my way in’t.
Wit Without Money.
THE face of the little boy, sole witness of Caleb’s infringement1 upon the laws at once of property and hospitality, would have made a good picture. He sat motionless, as if he had witnessed some of the spectral2 appearances which he had heard told of in a winter’s evening; and as he forgot his own duty, and allowed his spit to stand still, he added to the misfortunes of the evening by suffering the mutton to burn as black as a coal. He was first recalled from his trance of astonishment3 by a hearty4 cuff5 administered by Dame6 Lightbody, who, in whatever other respects she might conform to her name, was a woman strong of person, and expert in the use of her hands, as some say her deceased husband had known to his cost.
“What garr’d ye let the roast burn, ye ill-clerkit gude-for-nought?”
“And where’s that ill-deedy gett, Giles?”
“I dinna ken,” blubbered the astonished declarant.
“And where’s Mr. Balderstone?— and abune a’, and in the name of council and kirk-session, that I suld say sae, where’s the broche wi’ the wild-fowl?” As Mrs. Girder here entered, and joined her mother’s exclamations8, screaming into one ear while the old lady deafened9 the other, they succeeded in so utterly10 confounding the unhappy urchin11, that he could not for some time tell his story at all, and it was only when the elder boy returned that the truth began to dawn on their minds.
“Weel, sirs!” said Mrs. Lightbody, “wha wad hae thought o’ Caleb Balderstone playing an auld12 acquaintance sic a pliskie!”
“Oh, weary on him!” said the spouse13 of Mr. Girder; “and what am I to say to the gudeman? He’ll brain me, if there wasna anither woman in a’ Wolf’‘s Hope.”
“Hout tout14, silly quean,” said the mother; “na, na, it’s come to muckle, but it’s no come to that neither; for an he brain you he maun brain me, and I have garr’d his betters stand back. Hands aff is fair play; we maunna heed15 a bit flyting.”
The tramp of horses now announced the arrival of the cooper, with the minister. They had no sooner dismounted than they made for the kitchen fire, for the evening was cool after the thunderstorm, and the woods wet and dirty. The young gudewife, strong in the charms of her Sunday gown and biggonets, threw herself in the way of receiving the first attack, while her mother, like the veteran division of the Roman legion, remained in the rear, ready to support her in case of necessity. Both hoped to protract16 the discovery of what had happened — the mother, by interposing her bustling17 person betwixt Mr. Girder and the fire, and the daughter, by the extreme cordiality with which she received the minister and her husband, and the anxious fears which she expressed lest they should have “gotten cauld.” “Cauld!” quoted the husband, surlily, for he was not of that class of lords and masters whose wives are viceroys over them, “we’ll be cauld eneugh, I think, if ye dinna let us in to the fire.”
And so saying, he burst his way through both lines of defence; and, as he had a careful eye over his property of every kind, he perceived at one glance the absence of the spit with its savoury burden. “What the deil, woman ——”
“Fie for shame!” exclaimed both the women; “and before Mr. Bide18-the-Bent19!”
“I stand reproved,” said the cooper; “but —”
“The taking in our mouths the name of the great enemy of our souls,” said Mr. Bide-the-Bent —
“I stand reproved,” said the cooper.
“— Is an exposing ourselves to his temptations,” continued the reverend monitor, “and in inviting20, or, in some sort, a compelling, of him to lay aside his other trafficking with unhappy persons, and wait upon those in whose speech his name is frequent.”
“Weel, weel, Mr. Bide-the-Bent, can a man do mair than stand reproved?” said the cooper; “but jest let me ask the women what for they hae dished the wild-fowl before we came.”
“They arena21 dished, Gilbert,” said his wife; “but — but an accident ——”
“What accident?” said Girder, with flashing eyes. “Nae ill come ower them, I trust? Uh?”
His wife, who stood much in awe22 of him, durst not reply, but her mother bustled23 up to her support, with arms disposed as if they were about to be a-kimbo at the next reply.—“I gied them to an acquaintance of mine, Gibbie Girder; and what about it now?”
Her excess of assurance struck Girder mute for an instant. “And YE gied the wild-fowl, the best end of our christening dinner, to a friend of yours, ye auld rudas! And what might HIS name be, I pray ye?”
“Just worthy24 Mr. Caleb Balderstone — frae Wolf’s Crag,” answered Marion, prompt and prepared for battle.
Girder’s wrath25 foamed26 over all restraint. If there was a circumstance which could have added to the resentment27 he felt, it was that this extravagant28 donation had been made in favour of our friend Caleb, towards whom, for reasons to which the reader is no stranger, he nourished a decided29 resentment. He raised his riding-wand against the elder matron, but she stood firm, collected in herself, and undauntedly brandished30 the iron ladle with which she had just been “flambing” (Anglice, basting) the roast of mutton. Her weapon was certainly the better, and her arm not the weakest of the two; so that Gilbert thought it safest to turn short off upon his wife, who had by this time hatched a sort of hysterical31 whine32, which greatly moved the minister, who was in fact as simple and kind-hearted a creature as ever breathed. “And you, ye thowless jade33, to sit still and see my substance disponed upon to an idle, drunken, reprobate34, worm-eaten serving-man, just because he kittles the lugs35 o’ a silly auld wife wi’ useless clavers, and every twa words a lee? I’ll gar you as gude ——”
Here the minister interposed, both by voice and action, while Dame Lightbody threw herself in front of her daughter, and flourished her ladle.
“Am I no to chastise36 my ain wife?” exclaimed the cooper very indignantly.
“Ye may chastise your ain wife if ye like,” answered Dame Lightbody; “but ye shall never lay finger on my daughter, and that ye may found upon.” “For shame, Mr. Girder!” said the clergyman; “this is what I little expected to have seen of you, that you suld give rein37 to your sinful passions against your nearest and your dearest, and this night too, when ye are called to the most solemn duty of a Christian38 parent; and a’ for what? For a redundancy of creature-comforts, as worthless as they are unneedful.”
“Worthless!” exclaimed the cooper. “A better guse never walkit on stubble; two finer, dentier wild ducks never wat a feather.”
“Be it sae, neighbour,” rejoined the minister; “but see what superfluities are yet revolving39 before your fire. I have seen the day when ten of the bannocks which stand upon that board would have been an acceptable dainty to as many men, that were starving on hills and bogs40, and in caves of the earth, for the Gospel’s sake.”
“And that’s what vexes41 me maist of a’,” said the cooper, anxious to get some one to sympathise with his not altogether causeless anger; “an the quean had gien it to ony suffering sant, or to ony body ava but that reaving, lying, oppressing Tory villain42, that rade in the wicked troop of militia43 when it was commanded out against the sants at Bothwell Brig by the auld tyrant44 Allan Ravenswood, that is gane to his place, I wad the less hae minded it. But to gie the principal parts o’ the feast to the like o’ him ——!”
“Aweel, Gilbert,” said the minister, “and dinna ye see a high judgment45 in this? The seed of the righteous are not seen begging their bread: think of the son of a powerful oppressor being brought to the pass of supporting his household from your fulness.”
“And, besides,” said the wife, “it wasna for Lord Ravenswood neither, an he wad hear but a body speak: it was to help to entertain the Lord Keeper, as they ca’ him, that’s up yonder at Wolf’s Crag.”
“Sir William Ashton at Wolf’s Crag!” ejaculated the astonished man of hoops46 and staves.
“And hand and glove wi’ Lord Ravenswood,” added Dame Lightbody.
“Doited idiot! that auld, clavering sneckdrawer wad gar ye trow the moon is made of green cheese. The Lord Keeper and Ravenswood! they are cat and dog, hare and hound.”
“I tell ye they are man and wife, and gree better than some others that are sae,” retorted the mother-inlaw; “forbye, Peter Puncheon, that’s cooper the Queen’s stores, is dead, and the place is to fill, and ——”
“Od guide us, wull ye haud your skirling tongues!” said Girder,— for we are to remark, that this explanation was given like a catch for two voices, the younger dame, much encouraged by the turn of the debate, taking up and repeating in a higher tone the words as fast as they were uttered by her mother.
“The gudewife says naething but what’s true, maister,” said Girder’s foreman, who had come in during the fray47. “I saw the Lord Keeper’s servants drinking and driving ower at Luckie Sma’trash’s, ower-bye yonder.”
“And is their maister up at Wolf’s Crag?” said Girder.
“Ay, troth is he,” replied his man of confidence.
“And friends wi’ Ravenswood?”
“It’s like sae,” answered the foreman, “since he is putting up wi’ him.”
“And Peter Puncheon’s dead?”
“Ay, ay, Puncheon has leaked out at last, the auld carle,” said the foreman; “mony a dribble48 o’ brandy has gaen through him in his day. But as for the broche and the wild-fowl, the saddle’s no aff your mare49 yet, maister, and I could follow and bring it back, for Mr. Balderstone’s no far aff the town yet.”
“Do sae, Will; and come here, I’ll tell ye what to do when ye owertake him.”
He relieved the females of his presence, and gave Will his private instructions.
“A bonny-like thing,” said the mother-inlaw, as the cooper re-entered the apartment, “to send the innocent lad after an armed man, when ye ken Mr. Balderstone aye wears a rapier, and whiles a dirk into the bargain.”
“I trust,” said the minister, “ye have reflected weel on what ye have done, lest you should minister cause of strife50, of which it is my duty to say, he who affordeth matter, albeit51 he himself striketh not, is in no manner guiltless.”
“Never fash your beard, Mr. Bide-the-Bent,” replied Girder; “ane canna get their breath out here between wives and ministers. I ken best how to turn my ain cake. Jean, serve up the dinner, and nae mair about it.”
Nor did he again allude52 to the deficiency in the course of the evening.
Meantime, the foreman, mounted on his master’s steed, and charged with his special orders, pricked53 swiftly forth54 in pursuit of the marauder Caleb. That personage, it may be imagined, did not linger by the way. He intermitted even his dearly-beloved chatter56, for the purpose of making more haste, only assuring Mr. Lockhard that he had made the purveyor’s wife give the wild-fowl a few turns before the fire, in case that Mysie, who had been so much alarmed by the thunder, should not have her kitchen-grate in full splendour. Meanwhile, alleging57 the necessity of being at Wolf’s Crag as soon as possible, he pushed on so fast that his companions could scarce keep up with him. He began already to think he was safe from pursuit, having gained the summit of the swelling58 eminence59 which divides Wolf’s Crag from the village, when he heard the distant tread of a horse, and a voice which shouted at intervals60, “Mr. Caleb — Mr. Balderstone — Mr. Caleb Balderstone — hollo — bide a wee!”
Caleb, it may be well believed, was in no hurry to acknowledge the summons. First, he would not heart it, and faced his companions down, that it was the echo of the wind; then he said it was not worth stopping for; and, at length, halting reluctantly, as the figure of the horseman appeared through the shades of the evening, he bent up his whole soul to the task of defending his prey61, threw himself into an attitude of dignity, advanced the spit, which is his grasp might with its burden seem both spear and shield, and firmly resolved to die rather than surrender it.
What was his astonishment, when the cooper’s foreman, riding up and addressing him with respect, told him: “His master was very sorry he was absent when he came to his dwelling62, and grieved that he could not tarry the christening dinner; and that he had taen the freedom to send a sma’ runlet of sack, and ane anker of brandy, as he understood there were guests at the castle, and that they were short of preparation.”
I have heard somewhere a story of an elderly gentleman who was pursued by a bear that had gotten loose from its muzzle63, until completely exhausted64. In a fit of desperation, he faced round upon Bruin and lifted his cane65; at the sight of which the instinct of discipline prevailed, and the animal, instead of tearing him to pieces, rose up upon his hind-legs and instantly began to shuffle66 a saraband. Not less than the joyful67 surprise of the senior, who had supposed himself in the extremity68 of peril69 from which he was thus unexpectedly relieved, was that of our excellent friend Caleb, when he found the pursuer intended to add to his prize, instead of bereaving70 him of it. He recovered his latitude71, however, instantly, so soon as the foreman, stooping from his nag55, where he sate72 perched betwixt the two barrels, whispered in his ear: “If ony thing about Peter Puncheon’s place could be airted their way, John [Gibbie] Girder wad mak it better to the Master of Ravenswood than a pair of new gloves; and that he wad be blythe to speak wi’ Maister Balderstone on that head, and he wad find him as pliant73 as a hoop-willow in a’ that he could wish of him.”
Caleb heard all this without rendering74 any answer, except that of all great men from Louis XIV. downwards75, namely, “We will see about it”; and then added aloud, for the edification of Mr. Lockhard: “Your master has acted with becoming civility and attention in forwarding the liquors, and I will not fail to represent it properly to my Lord Ravenswood. And, my lad,” he said, “you may ride on to the castle, and if none of the servants are returned, whilk is to be dreaded76, as they make day and night of it when they are out of sight, ye may put them into the porter’s lodge77, whilk is on the right hand of the great entry; the porter has got leave to go to see his friends, sae ye will met no ane to steer78 ye.”
The foreman, having received his orders, rode on; and having deposited the casks in the deserted79 and ruinous porter’s lodge, he returned unquestioned by any one. Having thus executed his master’s commission, and doffed80 his bonnet81 to Caleb and his company as he repassed them in his way to the village, he returned to have his share of the christening festivity.
收听单词发音 |
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infringement
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| n.违反；侵权 | |
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spectral
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| adj.幽灵的，鬼魂的 | |
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astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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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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cuff
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| n.袖口；手铐；护腕；vt.用手铐铐；上袖口 | |
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dame
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| n.女士 | |
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ken
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| n.视野，知识领域 | |
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exclamations
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| n.呼喊( exclamation的名词复数 )；感叹；感叹语；感叹词 | |
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deafened
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| 使聋( deafen的过去式和过去分词 )； 使隔音 | |
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utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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urchin
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| n.顽童；海胆 | |
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auld
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| adj.老的，旧的 | |
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spouse
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| n.配偶(指夫或妻) | |
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tout
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| v.推销，招徕；兜售；吹捧，劝诱 | |
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heed
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| v.注意，留意；n.注意，留心 | |
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protract
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| v.延长，拖长 | |
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bustling
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| adj.喧闹的 | |
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bide
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| v.忍耐；等候；住 | |
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bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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inviting
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| adj.诱人的，引人注目的 | |
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arena
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| n.竞技场，运动场所；竞争场所，舞台 | |
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awe
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| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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bustled
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| 闹哄哄地忙乱，奔忙( bustle的过去式和过去分词 )； 催促 | |
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worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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wrath
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| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
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foamed
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| 泡沫的 | |
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resentment
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| n.怨愤，忿恨 | |
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extravagant
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| adj.奢侈的；过分的；(言行等)放肆的 | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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brandished
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| v.挥舞( brandish的过去式和过去分词 )；炫耀 | |
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hysterical
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| adj.情绪异常激动的，歇斯底里般的 | |
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whine
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| v.哀号，号哭；n.哀鸣 | |
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jade
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| n.玉石；碧玉；翡翠 | |
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reprobate
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| n.无赖汉；堕落的人 | |
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lugs
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| 钎柄 | |
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chastise
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| vt.责骂，严惩 | |
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rein
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| n.疆绳，统治，支配；vt.以僵绳控制，统治 | |
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Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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revolving
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| adj.旋转的，轮转式的；循环的v.（使）旋转( revolve的现在分词 )；细想 | |
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bogs
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| n.沼泽，泥塘( bog的名词复数 )；厕所v.（使）陷入泥沼， （使）陷入困境( bog的第三人称单数 )；妨碍，阻碍 | |
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vexes
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| v.使烦恼( vex的第三人称单数 )；使苦恼；使生气；详细讨论 | |
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villain
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| n.反派演员，反面人物；恶棍；问题的起因 | |
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militia
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| n.民兵，民兵组织 | |
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tyrant
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| n.暴君，专制的君主，残暴的人 | |
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judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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hoops
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| n.箍( hoop的名词复数 )；（篮球）篮圈；（旧时儿童玩的）大环子；（两端埋在地里的）小铁弓 | |
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fray
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| v.争吵；打斗；磨损，磨破；n.吵架；打斗 | |
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dribble
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| v.点滴留下，流口水；n.口水 | |
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mare
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| n.母马，母驴 | |
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strife
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| n.争吵，冲突，倾轧，竞争 | |
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albeit
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| conj.即使；纵使；虽然 | |
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allude
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| v.提及，暗指 | |
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pricked
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| 刺，扎，戳( prick的过去式和过去分词 )； 刺伤； 刺痛； 使剧痛 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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nag
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| v.(对…)不停地唠叨；n.爱唠叨的人 | |
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chatter
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| vi.／n.喋喋不休；短促尖叫；(牙齿)打战 | |
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alleging
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| 断言，宣称，辩解( allege的现在分词 ) | |
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swelling
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| n.肿胀 | |
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eminence
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| n.卓越，显赫；高地，高处；名家 | |
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intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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61
prey
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| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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dwelling
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| n.住宅，住所，寓所 | |
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muzzle
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| n.鼻口部；口套；枪(炮)口；vt.使缄默 | |
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exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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cane
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| n.手杖，细长的茎，藤条；v.以杖击，以藤编制的 | |
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shuffle
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| n.拖著脚走，洗纸牌；v.拖曳，慢吞吞地走 | |
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joyful
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| adj.欢乐的，令人欢欣的 | |
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extremity
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| n.末端，尽头；尽力；终极；极度 | |
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peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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70
bereaving
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| v.使失去（希望、生命等）( bereave的现在分词 )；（尤指死亡）使丧失（亲人、朋友等）；使孤寂；抢走（财物） | |
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71
latitude
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| n.纬度，行动或言论的自由(范围)，(pl.)地区 | |
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72
sate
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| v.使充分满足 | |
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73
pliant
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| adj.顺从的；可弯曲的 | |
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74
rendering
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| n.表现，描写 | |
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75
downwards
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| adj./adv.向下的（地），下行的（地） | |
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76
dreaded
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| adj.令人畏惧的；害怕的v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的过去式和过去分词) | |
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77
lodge
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| v.临时住宿，寄宿，寄存，容纳；n.传达室，小旅馆 | |
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78
steer
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| vt.驾驶，为…操舵；引导；vi.驾驶 | |
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79
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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80
doffed
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| v.脱去，（尤指）脱帽( doff的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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81
bonnet
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| n.无边女帽；童帽 | |
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