Give ye, Britons, then,
Your sportive fury, pitiless to pour
Loose on the nightly robber of the fold.
Him from his craggy winding1 haunts unearth’d,
Let all the thunder of the chase pursue.
Thomson’s Seasons.
Brown rose early in the morning and walked out to look at the establishment of his new friend. All was rough and neglected in the neighbourhood of the house; — a paltry2 garden, no pains taken to make the vicinity dry or comfortable, and a total absence of all those little neatnesses which give the eye so much pleasure in looking at an English farm-house. There were, notwithstanding, evident signs that this arose only from want of taste or ignorance, not from poverty or the negligence4 which attends it. On the contrary, a noble cow-house, well filled with good milk-cows, a feeding-house, with ten bullocks of the most approved breed, a stable, with two good teams of horses, the appearance of domestics active, industrious5, and apparently6 contented7 with their lot; in a word, an air of liberal though sluttish plenty indicated the wealthy fanner. The situation of the house above the river formed a gentle declivity8, which relieved the inhabitants of the nuisances that might otherwise have stagnated9 around it. At a little distance was the whole band of children playing and building houses with peats around a huge doddered oak-tree, which was called Charlie’s Bush, from some tradition respecting an old freebooter who had once inhabited the spot. Between the farm-house and the hill-pasture was a deep morass10, termed in that country a slack; it had once been the defence of a fortalice, of which no vestiges11 now remained, but which was said to have been inhabited by the same doughty12 hero we have now alluded13 to. Brown endeavoured to make some acquaintance with the children, but ‘the rogues14 fled from him like quicksilver,’ though the two eldest15 stood peeping when they had got to some distance. The traveller then turned his course towards the hill, crossing the foresaid swamp by a range of stepping-stones, neither the broadest nor steadiest that could be imagined. He had not climbed far up the hill when he met a man descending16.
He soon recognised his worthy17 host, though a ‘maud,’ as it is called, or a grey shepherd’s plaid, supplied his travelling jockey-coat, and a cap, faced with wild-cat’s fur, more comrhodiously covered his bandaged head than a hat would have done. As he appeared through the morning mist, Brown, accustomed to judge of men by their thewes and sinews, could not help admiring his height, the breadth of his shoulders, and the steady firmness of his step. Dinmont internally paid the same compliment to Brown, whose athletic18 form he now perused19 somewhat more at leisure than he had done formerly20. After the usual greetings of the morning, the guest inquired whether his host found any inconvenient21 consequences from the last night’s affray.
‘I had maist forgotten’t,’ said the hardy22 Borderer; ‘but I think this morning, now that I am fresh and sober, if you and I were at the Withershins’ Latch23, wi’ ilka ane a gude oak souple in his hand, we wadna turn back, no for half a dizzen o’ yon scaff-raff.’
‘But are you prudent24, my good sir,’ said Brown, ‘not to take an hour or two’s repose25 after receiving such severe contusions?’
‘Confusions!’ replied the farmer, laughing in derision. ‘Lord, Captain, naething confuses my head. I ance jumped up and laid the dogs on the fox after I had tumbled from the tap o’ Christenbury Craig, and that might have confused me to purpose. Na, naething confuses me, unless it be a screed26 o’ drink at an orra time. Besides, I behooved27 to be round the hirsel this morning and see how the herds28 were coming on; they’re apt to be negligent29 wi’ their footballs, and fairs, and trysts30, when ane’s away. And there I met wi’ Tarn31 o’ Todshaw, and a wheen o’ the rest o’ the billies on the water side; they’re a’ for a fox-hunt this morning, — ye’ll gang? I ‘ll gie ye Dumple, and take the brood mare32 mysell.’
‘But I fear I must leave you this morning, Mr. Dinmont,’ replied Brown.
‘The fient a bit o’ that,’ exclaimed the Borderer. ‘I’ll no part wi’ ye at ony rate for a fortnight mair. Na, na; we dinna meet sic friends as you on a Bewcastle moss33 every night.’
Brown had not designed his journey should be a speedy one; he therefore readily compounded with this hearty34 invitation by agreeing to pass a week at Charlie’s Hope.
On their return to the house, where the goodwife presided over an ample breakfast, she heard news of the proposed fox-hunt, not indeed with approbation35, but without alarm or surprise. ‘Dand! ye’re the auld36 man yet; naething will make ye take warning till ye’re brought hame some day wi’ your feet foremost.’
‘Tut, lass!’ answered Dandle, ‘ye ken3 yoursell I am never a prin the waur o’ my rambles37.’
So saying, he exhorted38 Brown to be hasty in despatching his breakfast, as, ‘the frost having given way, the scent39 would lie this morning primely.’
Out they sallied accordingly for Otterscope Scaurs, the farmer leading the way. They soon quitted the little valley, and involved themselves among hills as steep as they could be without being precipitous. The sides often presented gullies, down which, in the winter season, or after heavy rain, the torrents40 descended41 with great fury. Some dappled mists still floated along the peaks of the hills, the remains42 of the morning clouds, for the frost had broken up with a smart shower. Through these fleecy screens were seen a hundred little temporary streamlets, or rills, descending the sides of the mountains like silver threads. By small sheep — tracks along these steeps, over which Dinmont trotted43 with the most fearless confidence, they at length drew near the scene of sport, and began to see other men, both on horse and foot, making toward the place of rendezvous45. Brown was puzzling himself to conceive how a fox-chase could take place among hills, where it was barely possible for a pony46, accustomed to the ground, to trot44 along, but where, quitting the track for half a yard’s breadth, the rider might be either bogged47 or precipitated48 down the bank. This wonder was not diminished when he came to the place of action.
They had gradually ascended49 very high, and now found themselves on a mountain-ridge, overhanging a glen of great depth, but extremely narrow. Here the sportsmen had collected, with an apparatus50 which would have shocked a member of the Pychely Hunt; for, the object being the removal of a noxious51 and destructive animal, as well as the pleasures of the chase, poor Reynard was allowed much less fair play than when pursued in form through an open country. The strength of his habitation, however, and the nature of the ground by which it was surrounded on all sides, supplied what was wanting in the courtesy of his pursuers. The sides of the glen were broken banks of earth and rocks of rotten stone, which sunk sheer down to the little winding stream below, affording here and there a tuft of scathed52 brushwood or a patch of furze. Along the edges of this ravine, which, as we have said, was very narrow, but of profound depth, the hunters on horse and foot ranged themselves; almost every farmer had with him at least a brace53 of large and fierce greyhounds, of the race of those deer-dogs which were formerly used in that country, but greatly lessened54 in size from being crossed with the common breed. The huntsman, a sort of provincial55 officer of the district, who receives a certain supply of meal, and a reward for every fox he destroys, was already at the bottom of the dell, whose echoes thundered to the chiding56 of two or three brace of foxhounds. Terriers, including the whole generation of Pepper and Mustard, were also in attendance, having been sent forward under the care of a shepherd. Mongrel, whelp, and cur of low degree filled up the burden of the chorus. The spectators on the brink57 of the ravine, or glen, held their greyhounds in leash58 in readiness to slip them at the fox as soon as the activity of the party below should force him to abandon his cover.
The scene, though uncouth59 to the eye of a professed60 sportsman, had something in it wildly captivating. The shifting figures on the mountain-ridge, having the sky for their background, appeared to move in the air. The dogs, impatient of their restraint, and maddened with the baying beneath, sprung here and there, and strained at the slips, which prevented them from joining their companions. Looking down, the view was equally striking. The thin mists were not totally dispersed61 in the glen, so that it was often through their gauzy medium that the eye strove to discover the motions of the hunters below. Sometimes a breath of wind made the scene visible, the blue rill glittering as it twined itself through its rude and solitary62 dell. They then could see the shepherds springing with fearless activity from one dangerous point to another, and cheering the dogs on the scent, the whole so diminished by depth and distance that they looked like pigmies. Again the mists close over them, and the only signs of their continued exertions63 are the halloos of the men and the clamours of the hounds, ascending64 as it were out of the bowels65 of the earth. When the fox, thus persecuted66 from one stronghold to another, was at length obl’ged to abandon his valley, and to break away for a more distant retreat, those who watched his motions from the top slipped their greyhounds, which, excelling the fox in swiftness, and equalling him in ferocity and spirit, soon brought the plunderer67 to his life’s end.
In this way, without any attention to the ordinary rules and decorums of sport, but apparently as much to the gratification both of bipeds and quadrupeds as if all due ritual had been followed, four foxes were killed on this active morning; and even Brown himself, though he had seen the princely sports of India, and ridden a-tiger-hunting upon an elephant with the Nabob of Arcot, professed to have received an excellent morning’s amusement. When the sport was given up for the day, most of the sportsmen, according to the established hospitality of the country, went to dine at Charlie’s Hope.
During their return homeward Brown rode for a short time beside the huntsman, and asked him some questions concerning the mode in which he exercised his profession. The man showed an unwillingness68 to meet his eye, and a disposition69 to be rid of his company and conversation, for which Brown could not easily account. He was a thin, dark, active fellow, well framed for the hardy profession which he exercised. But his face had not the frankness of the jolly hunter; he was down-looked, embarrassed, and avoided the eyes of those who looked hard at him. After some unimportant observations on the success of the day, Brown gave him a trifling70 gratuity71, and rode on with his landlord. They found the goodwife prepared for their reception; the fold and the poultry-yard furnished the entertainment, and the kind and hearty welcome made amends72 for all deficiencies in elegance73 and fashion.
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1
winding
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| n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈 | |
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paltry
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| adj.无价值的，微不足道的 | |
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3
ken
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| n.视野，知识领域 | |
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negligence
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| n.疏忽，玩忽，粗心大意 | |
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industrious
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| adj.勤劳的，刻苦的，奋发的 | |
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6
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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7
contented
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| adj.满意的，安心的，知足的 | |
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8
declivity
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| n.下坡，倾斜面 | |
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9
stagnated
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| v.停滞，不流动，不发展( stagnate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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morass
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| n.沼泽，困境 | |
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vestiges
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| 残余部分( vestige的名词复数 )； 遗迹； 痕迹； 毫不 | |
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12
doughty
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| adj.勇猛的，坚强的 | |
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alluded
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| 提及，暗指( allude的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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14
rogues
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| n.流氓( rogue的名词复数 )；无赖；调皮捣蛋的人；离群的野兽 | |
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15
eldest
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| adj.最年长的，最年老的 | |
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16
descending
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| n. 下行 adj. 下降的 | |
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17
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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18
athletic
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| adj.擅长运动的，强健的；活跃的，体格健壮的 | |
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19
perused
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| v.读（某篇文字）( peruse的过去式和过去分词 )；（尤指）细阅；审阅；匆匆读或心不在焉地浏览（某篇文字） | |
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20
formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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21
inconvenient
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| adj.不方便的，令人感到麻烦的 | |
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22
hardy
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| adj.勇敢的，果断的，吃苦的；耐寒的 | |
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23
latch
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| n.门闩，窗闩；弹簧锁 | |
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24
prudent
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| adj.谨慎的，有远见的，精打细算的 | |
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25
repose
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| v.(使)休息；n.安息 | |
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26
screed
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| n.长篇大论 | |
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27
behooved
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| v.适宜( behoove的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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28
herds
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| 兽群( herd的名词复数 )； 牧群； 人群； 群众 | |
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29
negligent
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| adj.疏忽的；玩忽的；粗心大意的 | |
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30
trysts
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| n.约会，幽会( tryst的名词复数 )；幽会地点 | |
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31
tarn
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| n.山中的小湖或小潭 | |
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32
mare
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| n.母马，母驴 | |
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33
moss
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| n.苔，藓，地衣 | |
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34
hearty
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| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
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35
approbation
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| n.称赞；认可 | |
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36
auld
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| adj.老的，旧的 | |
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37
rambles
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| （无目的地）漫游( ramble的第三人称单数 )； （喻）漫谈； 扯淡； 长篇大论 | |
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38
exhorted
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| v.劝告，劝说( exhort的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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scent
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| n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉 | |
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torrents
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| n.倾注；奔流( torrent的名词复数 )；急流；爆发；连续不断 | |
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41
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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42
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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43
trotted
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| 小跑，急走( trot的过去分词 )； 匆匆忙忙地走 | |
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44
trot
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| n.疾走，慢跑；n.老太婆；现成译本；(复数）trots:腹泻（与the 连用）；v.小跑，快步走，赶紧 | |
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45
rendezvous
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| n.约会，约会地点，汇合点；vi.汇合，集合；vt.使汇合，使在汇合地点相遇 | |
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46
pony
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| adj.小型的；n.小马 | |
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47
bogged
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| adj.陷于泥沼的v.（使）陷入泥沼， （使）陷入困境( bog的过去式和过去分词 )；妨碍，阻碍 | |
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48
precipitated
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| v.（突如其来地）使发生( precipitate的过去式和过去分词 )；促成；猛然摔下；使沉淀 | |
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49
ascended
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| v.上升，攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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50
apparatus
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| n.装置，器械；器具，设备 | |
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51
noxious
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| adj.有害的，有毒的；使道德败坏的，讨厌的 | |
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52
scathed
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| v.伤害，损害（尤指使之枯萎）( scathe的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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53
brace
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| n. 支柱,曲柄,大括号; v. 绷紧,顶住,(为困难或坏事)做准备 | |
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54
lessened
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| 减少的，减弱的 | |
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55
provincial
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| adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人 | |
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56
chiding
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| v.责骂，责备( chide的现在分词 ) | |
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brink
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| n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿 | |
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58
leash
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| n.牵狗的皮带，束缚；v.用皮带系住 | |
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uncouth
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| adj.无教养的，粗鲁的 | |
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professed
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| 公开声称的，伪称的，已立誓信教的 | |
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dispersed
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| adj. 被驱散的, 被分散的, 散布的 | |
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solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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exertions
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| n.努力( exertion的名词复数 )；费力；（能力、权力等的）运用；行使 | |
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ascending
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| adj.上升的，向上的 | |
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bowels
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| n.肠，内脏，内部；肠( bowel的名词复数 )；内部，最深处 | |
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66
persecuted
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| （尤指宗教或政治信仰的）迫害(~sb. for sth.)( persecute的过去式和过去分词 )； 烦扰，困扰或骚扰某人 | |
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plunderer
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| 掠夺者 | |
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unwillingness
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| n. 不愿意，不情愿 | |
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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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trifling
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| adj.微不足道的；没什么价值的 | |
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gratuity
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| n.赏钱，小费 | |
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amends
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| n. 赔偿 | |
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elegance
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| n.优雅；优美，雅致；精致，巧妙 | |
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