The morrow brought a bright autumnal morn, and every one woke, if not happy, interested. There was much to see and much to do. The dew was so heavy that the children were not allowed to quit the broad gravel1 walk that bounded one side of the old house, but they caught enticing2 vistas3 of the gleamy glades4, and the abounding5 light and shade softened6 and adorned7 everything. Every sight and sound too was novel, and from the rabbit that started out of the grove8, stared at them and then disappeared, to the jays chattering9 in the more distant woods, all was wonderment at least for a week. They saw squirrels for the first time, and for the first time beheld10 a hedgehog. Their parents were busy in the house; Mr. Ferrars unpacking11 and settling his books, and his wife arranging some few articles of ornamental12 furniture that had been saved from the London wreck13, and rendering14 their usual room of residence as refined as was in her power. It is astonishing how much effect a woman of taste can produce with a pretty chair or two full of fancy and colour, a table clothed with a few books, some family miniatures, a workbag of rich material, and some toys that we never desert. “I have not much to work with,” said Mrs. Ferrars, with a sigh, “but I think the colouring is pretty.”
On the second day after their arrival, the rector and his wife made them a visit. Mr. Penruddock was a naturalist15, and had written the history of his parish. He had escaped being an Oxford16 don by being preferred early to this college living, but he had married the daughter of a don, who appreciated the grand manners of their new acquaintances, and who, when she had overcome their first rather awe-inspiring impression, became communicative and amused them much with her details respecting the little world in which they were now to live. She could not conceal17 her wonderment at the beauty of the twins, though they were no longer habited in those dresses which had once astonished even Mayfair.
Part of the scheme of the new life was the education of the children by their parents. Mr. Ferrars had been a distinguished18 scholar, and was still a good one. He was patient and methodical, and deeply interested in his contemplated19 task. So far as disposition20 was concerned the pupil was not disappointing. Endymion was of an affectionate disposition and inclined to treat his father with deference21. He was gentle and docile22; but he did not acquire knowledge with facility, and was remarkably23 deficient24 in that previous information on which his father counted. The other pupil was of a different temperament25. She learned with a glance, and remembered with extraordinary tenacity26 everything she had acquired. But she was neither tender nor deferential27, and to induce her to study you could not depend on the affections, but only on her intelligence. So she was often fitful, capricious, or provoking, and her mother, who, though accomplished28 and eager, had neither the method nor the self-restraint of Mr. Ferrars, was often annoyed and irritable29. Then there were scenes, or rather ebullitions on one side, for Myra was always unmoved and enraging30 from her total want of sensibility. Sometimes it became necessary to appeal to Mr. Ferrars, and her manner to her father, though devoid31 of feeling, was at least not contemptuous. Nevertheless, on the whole the scheme, as time went on, promised to be not unsuccessful. Endymion, though not rapidly, advanced surely, and made some amends32 for the years that had been wasted in fashionable private schools and the then frivolity33 of Eton. Myra, who, notwithstanding her early days of indulgence, had enjoyed the advantage of admirable governesses, was well grounded in more than one modern language, and she soon mastered them. And in due time, though much after the period on which we are now touching34, she announced her desire to become acquainted with German, in those days a much rarer acquirement than at present. Her mother could not help her in this respect, and that was perhaps an additional reason for the study of this tongue, for Myra was impatient of tuition, and not unjustly full of self-confidence. She took also the keenest interest in the progress of her brother, made herself acquainted with all his lessons, and sometimes helped him in their achievement.
Though they had absolutely no acquaintance of any kind except the rector and his family, life was not dull. Mr. Ferrars was always employed, for besides the education of his children, he had systematically35 resumed a habit in which he had before occasionally indulged, and that was political composition. He had in his lofty days been the author of more than one essay, in the most celebrated36 political publication of the Tories, which had commanded attention and obtained celebrity37. Many a public man of high rank and reputation, and even more than one Prime Minister, had contributed in their time to its famous pages, but never without being paid. It was the organic law of this publication, that gratuitous38 contributions should never be admitted. And in this principle there was as much wisdom as pride. Celebrated statesmen would point with complacency to the snuff-box or the picture which had been purchased by their literary labour, and there was more than one bracelet39 on the arm of Mrs. Ferrars, and more than one genet in her stable, which had been the reward of a profound or a slashing40 article by William.
What had been the occasional diversion of political life was now to be the source of regular income. Though living in profound solitude41, Ferrars had a vast sum of political experience to draw upon, and though his training and general intelligence were in reality too exclusive and academical for the stirring age which had now opened, and on which he had unhappily fallen, they nevertheless suited the audience to which they were particularly addressed. His Corinthian style, in which the Maenad of Mr. Burke was habited in the last mode of Almack’s, his sarcasms42 against the illiterate43 and his invectives against the low, his descriptions of the country life of the aristocracy contrasted with the horrors of the guillotine, his Horatian allusions44 and his Virgilian passages, combined to produce a whole which equally fascinated and alarmed his readers.
These contributions occasioned some communications with the editor or publisher of the Review, which were not without interest. Parcels came down by the coach, enclosing not merely proof sheets, but frequently new books—the pamphlet of the hour before it was published, or a volume of discoveries in unknown lands. It was a link to the world they had quitted without any painful associations. Otherwise their communications with the outside world were slight and rare. It is difficult for us, who live in an age of railroads, telegraphs, penny posts and penny newspapers, to realise how uneventful, how limited in thought and feeling, as well as in incident, was the life of an English family of retired46 habits and limited means, only forty years ago. The whole world seemed to be morally, as well as materially, “adscripti glebae.”
Mr. and Mrs. Ferrars did not wish to move, but had they so wished, it would have been under any circumstances for them a laborious47 and costly48 affair. The only newspaper they saw was the “Evening Mail,” which arrived three times a week, and was the “Times” newspaper with all its contents except its advertisements. As the “Times” newspaper had the credit of mainly contributing to the passing of Lord Grey’s Reform Bill, and was then whispered to enjoy the incredible sale of twelve thousand copies daily, Mr. Ferrars assumed that in its columns he would trace the most authentic49 intimations of coming events. The cost of postage was then so heavy, that domestic correspondence was necessarily very restricted. But this vexatious limitation hardly applied50 to the Ferrars. They had never paid postage. They were born and had always lived in the franking world, and although Mr. Ferrars had now himself lost the privilege, both official and parliamentary, still all their correspondents were frankers, and they addressed their replies without compunction to those who were free. Nevertheless, it was astonishing how little in their new life they cared to avail themselves of this correspondence. At first Zenobia wrote every week, almost every day, to Mrs. Ferrars, but after a time Mrs. Ferrars, though at first pleased by the attention, felt its recognition a burthen. Then Zenobia, who at length, for the first time in her life, had taken a gloomy view of affairs, relapsed into a long silence, and in fact had nearly forgotten the Ferrars, for as she herself used to say, “How can one recollect51 people whom one never meets?”
In the meantime, for we have been a little anticipating in our last remarks, the family at Hurstley were much pleased with the country they now inhabited. They made excursions of discovery into the interior of their world, Mrs. Ferrars and Myra in the pony-chair, her husband and Endymion walking by their side, and Endymion sometimes taking his sister’s seat against his wish, but in deference to her irresistible52 will. Even Myra could hardly be insensible to the sylvan53 wildness of the old chase, and the romantic villages in the wooded clefts54 of the downs. As for Endymion he was delighted, and it seemed to him, perhaps he unconsciously felt it, that this larger and more frequent experience of nature was a compensation for much which they had lost.
After a time, when they had become a little acquainted with simple neighbourhood, and the first impression of wildness and novelty had worn out, the twins were permitted to walk together alone, though within certain limits. The village and its vicinity was quite free, but they were not permitted to enter the woods, and not to wander on the chase out of sight of the mansion55. These walks alone with Endymion were the greatest pleasure of his sister. She delighted to make him tell her of his life at Eton, and if she ever sighed it was when she lamented56 that his residence there had been so short. Then they found an inexhaustible fund of interest and sympathy in the past. They wondered if they ever should have ponies57 again. “I think not,” said Myra, “and yet how merry to scamper58 together over this chase!”
“But they would not let us go,” said Endymion, “without a groom59.”
“A groom!” exclaimed Myra, with an elfish laugh; “I believe, if the truth were really known, we ought to be making our own beds and washing our own dinner plates.”
“And are you sorry, Myra, for all that has happened?” asked Endymion.
“I hardly know what has happened. They keep it very close. But I am too astonished to be sorry. Besides, what is the use of whimpering?”
“I cried very much one day,” said Endymion.
“Ah, you are soft, dear darling. I never cried in my life, except once with rage.”
At Christmas a new character appeared on the stage, the rector’s son, Nigel. He had completed a year with a private tutor, and was on the eve of commencing his first term at Oxford, being eighteen, nearly five years older than the twins. He was tall, with a countenance60 of remarkable61 intelligence and power, though still softened by the innocence62 and bloom of boyhood. He was destined63 to be a clergyman. The twins were often thrown into his society, for though too old to be their mere45 companion, his presence was an excuse for Mrs. Penruddock more frequently joining them in their strolls, and under her auspices64 their wanderings had no limit, except the shortness of the days; but they found some compensation for this in their frequent visits to the rectory, which was a cheerful and agreeable home, full of stuffed birds, and dried plants, and marvellous fishes, and other innocent trophies65 and triumphs over nature.
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gravel
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| n.砂跞；砂砾层；结石 | |
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enticing
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| adj.迷人的；诱人的 | |
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vistas
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| 长条形景色( vista的名词复数 )； 回顾； 展望； （未来可能发生的）一系列情景 | |
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glades
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| n.林中空地( glade的名词复数 ) | |
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abounding
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| adj.丰富的，大量的v.大量存在，充满，富于( abound的现在分词 ) | |
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softened
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| （使）变软( soften的过去式和过去分词 )； 缓解打击； 缓和； 安慰 | |
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adorned
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| [计]被修饰的 | |
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grove
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| n.林子，小树林，园林 | |
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chattering
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| n. （机器振动发出的）咔嗒声，(鸟等)鸣，啁啾 adj. 喋喋不休的，啾啾声的 动词chatter的现在分词形式 | |
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beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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unpacking
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| n.取出货物，拆包[箱]v.从（包裹等）中取出（所装的东西），打开行李取出( unpack的现在分词 )；拆包；解除…的负担；吐露（心事等） | |
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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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wreck
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| n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难 | |
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rendering
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| n.表现，描写 | |
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naturalist
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| n.博物学家(尤指直接观察动植物者) | |
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Oxford
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| n.牛津（英国城市） | |
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conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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contemplated
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| adj. 预期的 动词contemplate的过去分词形式 | |
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disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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deference
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| n.尊重，顺从；敬意 | |
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docile
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| adj.驯服的，易控制的，容易教的 | |
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remarkably
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| ad.不同寻常地，相当地 | |
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deficient
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| adj.不足的，不充份的，有缺陷的 | |
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temperament
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| n.气质，性格，性情 | |
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tenacity
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| n.坚韧 | |
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deferential
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| adj. 敬意的，恭敬的 | |
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accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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irritable
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| adj.急躁的；过敏的；易怒的 | |
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enraging
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| 使暴怒( enrage的现在分词 ) | |
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devoid
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| adj.全无的，缺乏的 | |
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amends
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| n. 赔偿 | |
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frivolity
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| n.轻松的乐事，兴高采烈；轻浮的举止 | |
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touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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systematically
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| adv.有系统地 | |
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celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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celebrity
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| n.名人，名流；著名，名声，名望 | |
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gratuitous
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| adj.无偿的，免费的；无缘无故的，不必要的 | |
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bracelet
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| n.手镯，臂镯 | |
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slashing
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| adj.尖锐的；苛刻的；鲜明的；乱砍的v.挥砍( slash的现在分词 )；鞭打；割破；削减 | |
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solitude
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| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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sarcasms
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| n.讥讽，讽刺，挖苦( sarcasm的名词复数 ) | |
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illiterate
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| adj.文盲的；无知的；n.文盲 | |
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allusions
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| 暗指，间接提到( allusion的名词复数 ) | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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laborious
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| adj.吃力的，努力的，不流畅 | |
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costly
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| adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的 | |
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authentic
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| a.真的，真正的；可靠的，可信的，有根据的 | |
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applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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recollect
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| v.回忆，想起，记起，忆起，记得 | |
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irresistible
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| adj.非常诱人的，无法拒绝的，无法抗拒的 | |
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sylvan
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| adj.森林的 | |
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clefts
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| n.裂缝( cleft的名词复数 )；裂口；cleave的过去式和过去分词；进退维谷 | |
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mansion
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| n.大厦，大楼；宅第 | |
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lamented
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| adj.被哀悼的，令人遗憾的v.（为…）哀悼，痛哭，悲伤( lament的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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ponies
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| 矮种马，小型马( pony的名词复数 )； ￡25 25 英镑 | |
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scamper
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| v.奔跑，快跑 | |
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groom
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| vt.给（马、狗等）梳毛，照料，使...整洁 | |
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countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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innocence
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| n.无罪；天真；无害 | |
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destined
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| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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auspices
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| n.资助，赞助 | |
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trophies
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| 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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