Mrs. Julaper had grown weather-wise, living for so long among this noble and solitary1 scenery, where people must observe Nature or else nothing — where signs of coming storm or change are almost local, and record themselves on particular cliffs and mountain-peaks, or in the mists, or in mirrored tints2 of the familiar lake, and are easily learned or remembered. At all events, her presage3 proved too true.
The sun had set an hour and more. It was dark; and an awful thunder-storm, whose march, like the distant reverberations of an invading army, had been faintly heard beyond the barriers of Blarwyn Fells throughout the afternoon, was near them now, and had burst in deep-mouthed battle among the ravines at the other side, and over the broad lake, that glared like a sheet of burnished4 steel under its flashes of dazzling blue. Wild and fitful blasts sweeping5 down the hollows and cloughs of the fells of Golden Friars agitated6 the lake, and bent7 the trees low, and whirled away their sere8 leaves in melancholy9 drift in their tremendous gusts10. And from the window, looking on a scene enveloped11 in more than the darkness of the night, you saw in the pulsations of the lightning, before “the speedy gleams the darkness swallowed,” the tossing trees and the flying foam12 and eddies13 on the lake.
In the midst of the hurlyburly, a loud and long knocking came at the hall-door of Mardykes. How long it had lasted before a chance lull14 made it audible I do not know.
There was nothing picturesquely15 poor, any more than there were evidences of wealth, anywhere in Sir Bale Mardykes’ household. He had no lack of servants, but they were of an inexpensive and homely16 sort; and the hall-door being opened by the son of an old tenant17 on the estate — the tempest beating on the other side of the house, and comparative shelter under the gables at the front — he saw standing18 before him, in the agitated air, a thin old man, who muttering, it might be, a benediction19, stepped into the hall, and displayed long silver tresses, just as the storm had blown them, ascetic20 and eager features, and a pair of large light eyes that wandered wildly. He was dressed in threadbare black; a pair of long leather gaiters, buckled21 high above his knee, protecting his thin shanks through moss22 and pool; and the singularity of his appearance was heightened by a wide-leafed felt hat, over which he had tied his handkerchief, so as to bring the leaf of it over his ears, and to secure it from being whirled from his head by the storm.
This odd and storm-beaten figure — tall, and a little stooping, as well as thin — was not unknown to the servant, who saluted23 him with something of fear as well as of respect as he bid him reverently25 welcome, and asked him to come in and sit by the fire.
“Get you to your master, and tell him I have a message to him from one he has not seen for two-and-forty years.”
As the old man, with his harsh old voice, thus spoke26, he unknotted his handkerchief and bet the rain-drops from his hat upon his knee.
The servant knocked at the library-door, where he found Sir Bale.
“Well, what’s the matter?” cried Sir Bale sharply, from his chair before the fire, with angry eyes looking over his shoulder.
“Here’s ‘t sir cumman, Sir Bale,” he answered.
“Sir,” or “the Sir,” is still used as the clergyman’s title in the Northumbrian counties.
“What sir?”
“Sir Hugh Creswell, if you please, Sir Bale.”
“Ho!— mad Creswell?— O, the crazy parson. Well, tell Mrs. Julaper to let him have some supper — and — and to let him have a bed in some suitable place. That’s what he wants. These mad fellows know what they are about.”
“No, Sir Bale Mardykes, that is not what he wants,” said the loud wild voice of the daft sir over the servant’s shoulder. “Often has Mardykes Hall given me share of its cheer and its shelter and the warmth of its fire; and I bless the house that has been an inn to the wayfarer27 of the Lord. But to-night I go up the lake to Pindar’s Bield, three miles on; and there I rest and refresh — not here.”
“And why not here, Mr. Creswell?” asked the Baronet; for about this crazy old man, who preached in the fields, and appeared and disappeared so suddenly in the orbit of his wide and unknown perambulations of those northern and border counties, there was that sort of superstitious28 feeling which attaches to the mysterious and the good — an idea that it was lucky to harbour and dangerous to offend him. No one knew whence he came or whither he went. Once in a year, perhaps, he might appear at a lonely farmstead door among the fells, salute24 the house, enter, and be gone in the morning. His life was austere29; his piety30 enthusiastic, severe, and tinged31 with the craze which inspired among the rustic32 population a sort of awe33.
“I’ll not sleep at Mardykes to-night; neither will I eat, nor drink, nor sit me down — no, nor so much as stretch my hands to the fire. As the man of God came out of Judah to king Jeroboam, so come I to you, sent by a vision, to bear a warning; and as he said, ‘If thou wilt34 give me half thy house, I will not go in with thee, neither will I eat bread nor drink water in this place,’ so also say I.”
“Do as you please,” said Sir Bale, a little sulkily. “Say your say; and you are welcome to stay or go, if go you will on so mad a night as this.”
“Leave us,” said Creswell, beckoning35 the servant back with his thin hands; “what I have to say is to your master.”
The servant went, in obedience36 to a gesture from Sir Bale, and shut the door.
The old man drew nearer to the Baronet, and lowering his loud stern voice a little, and interrupting his discourse37 from time to time, to allow the near thunder-peals to subside39, he said,
“Answer me, Sir Bale — what is this that has chanced between you and Philip Feltram?”
The Baronet, under the influence of that blunt and peremptory40 demand, told him shortly and sternly enough.
“And of all these facts you are sure, else ye would not blast your early companion and kinsman41 with the name of thief?”
“I am sure,” said Sir Bale grimly.
“Unlock that cabinet,” said the old man with the long white locks.
“I’ve no objection,” said Sir Bale; and he did unlock an old oak cabinet that stood, carved in high relief with strange figures and gothic grotesques42, against the wall, opposite the fireplace. On opening it there were displayed a system of little drawers and pigeon-holes such as we see in more modern escritoires.
“Open that drawer with the red mark of a seal upon it,” continued Hugh Creswell, pointing to it with his lank43 finger.
Sir Bale did so; and to his momentary44 amazement45, and even consternation46, there lay the missing note, which now, with one of those sudden caprices of memory which depend on the laws of suggestion and association, he remembered having placed there with his own hand.
“That is it,” said old Creswell with a pallid47 smile, and fixing his wild eyes on the Baronet. The smile subsided48 into a frown, and said he: “Last night I slept near Haworth Moss; and your father came to me in a dream, and said: ‘My son Bale accuses Philip of having stolen a bank-note from his desk. He forgets that he himself placed it in his cabinet. Come with me.’ I was, in the spirit, in this room; and he led me to this cabinet, which he opened; and in that drawer he showed me that note. ‘Go,’ said he, ‘and tell him to ask Philip Feltram’s pardon, else he will but go in weakness to return in power;’ and he said that which it is not lawful49 to repeat. My message is told. Now a word from myself,” he added sternly. “The dead, through my lips, has spoken, and under God’s thunder and lightning his words have found ye. Why so uppish wi’ Philip Feltram? See how ye threaped, and yet were wrong. He’s no tazzle — he’s no taggelt. Ask his pardon. Ye must change, or he will no taggelt. Go, in weakness, come in power: mark ye the words. ’Twill make a peal38 that will be heard in toon and desert, in the swirls50 o’ the mountain, through pikes and valleys, and mak’ a waaly man o’ thee.”
The old man with these words, uttered in the broad northern dialect of his common speech, strode from the room and shut the door. In another minute he was forth51 into the storm, pursuing what remained of his long march to Pindar’s Bield.
“Upon my soul!” said Sir Bale, recovering from his sort of stun52 which the sudden and strange visit had left, “that’s a cool old fellow! Come to rate me and teach me my own business in my own house!” and he rapped out a fierce oath. “Change his mind or no, here he sha’n’t stay to-night — not an hour.”
Sir Bale was in the lobby in a moment, and thundered to his servants:
“I say, put that fool out of the door — put him out by the shoulder, and never let him put his foot inside it more!”
But the old man’s yea was yea, and his nay53 nay. He had quite meant what he said; and, as I related, was beyond the reach of the indignity54 of extrusion55.
Sir Bale on his return shut his door as violently as if it were in the face of the old prophet.
“Ask Feltram’s pardon, by Jove! For what? Why, any jury on earth would have hanged him on half the evidence; and I, like a fool, was going to let him off with his liberty and my hundred pound-note! Ask his pardon indeed!”
Still there were misgivings56 in his mind; a consciousness that he did owe explanation and apology to Feltram, and an insurmountable reluctance57 to undertake either. The old dislike — a contempt mingled58 with fear — not any fear of his malevolence59, a fear only of his carelessness and folly60; for, as I have said, Feltram knew many things, it was believed, of the Baronet’s Continental61 and Asiatic life, and had even gently remonstrated62 with him upon the dangers into which he was running. A simple fellow like Philip Feltram is a dangerous depository of a secret. This Baronet was proud, too; and the mere63 possession of his secrets by Feltram was an involuntary insult, which Sir Bale could not forgive. He wished him far away; and except for the recovery of his bank-note, which he could ill spare, he was sorry that this suspicion was cleared up.
The thunder and storm were unabated; it seemed indeed that they were growing wilder and more awful.
He opened the window-shutter and looked out upon that sublimest64 of scenes; and so intense and magnificent were its phenomena65, that Sir Bale, for a while, was absorbed in this contemplation.
When he turned about, the sight of his ￡100 note, still between his finger and thumb, made him smile grimly.
The more he thought of it, the clearer it was that he could not leave matters exactly as they were. Well, what should he do? He would send for Mrs. Julaper, and tell her vaguely66 that he had changed his mind about Feltram, and that he might continue to stay at Mardykes Hall as usual. That would suffice. She could speak to Feltram.
He sent for her; and soon, in the lulls67 of the great uproar68 without, he could hear the jingle69 of Mrs. Julaper’s keys and her light tread upon the lobby.
“Mrs. Julaper,” said the Baronet, in his dry careless way, “Feltram may remain; your eloquence70 has prevailed. What have you been crying about?” he asked, observing that his housekeeper’s usually cheerful face was, in her own phrase, ‘all cried.’
“It is too late, sir; he’s gone.”
“And when did he go?” asked Sir Bale, a little put out. “He chose an odd evening, didn’t he? So like him!”
“He went about half an hour ago; and I’m very sorry, sir; it’s a sore sight to see the poor lad going from the place he was reared in, and a hard thing, sir; and on such a night, above all.”
“No one asked him to go to-night. Where is he gone to?”
“I don’t know, I’m sure; he left my room, sir, when I was upstairs; and Janet saw him pass the window not ten minutes after Mr. Creswell left the house.”
“Well, then, there’s no good, Mrs. Julaper, in thinking more about it; he has settled the matter his own way; and as he so ordains71 it — amen, say I. Goodnight.”
收听单词发音 |
1
solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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2
tints
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| 色彩( tint的名词复数 )； 带白的颜色； （淡色）染发剂； 痕迹 | |
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presage
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| n.预感，不祥感；v.预示 | |
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burnished
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| adj.抛光的，光亮的v.擦亮（金属等），磨光( burnish的过去式和过去分词 )；被擦亮，磨光 | |
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sweeping
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| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
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agitated
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| adj.被鼓动的，不安的 | |
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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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sere
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| adj.干枯的；n.演替系列 | |
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melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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gusts
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| 一阵强风( gust的名词复数 )； （怒、笑等的）爆发； （感情的）迸发； 发作 | |
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enveloped
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| v.包围，笼罩，包住( envelop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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foam
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| v./n.泡沫，起泡沫 | |
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eddies
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| （水、烟等的）漩涡，涡流( eddy的名词复数 ) | |
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lull
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| v.使安静，使入睡，缓和，哄骗；n.暂停，间歇 | |
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15
picturesquely
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homely
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| adj.家常的，简朴的；不漂亮的 | |
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tenant
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| n.承租人；房客；佃户；v.租借，租用 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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benediction
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| n.祝福；恩赐 | |
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ascetic
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| adj.禁欲的；严肃的 | |
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buckled
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| a. 有带扣的 | |
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moss
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| n.苔，藓，地衣 | |
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saluted
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| v.欢迎，致敬( salute的过去式和过去分词 )；赞扬，赞颂 | |
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salute
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| vi.行礼，致意，问候，放礼炮；vt.向…致意，迎接，赞扬；n.招呼，敬礼，礼炮 | |
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25
reverently
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| adv.虔诚地 | |
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spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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27
wayfarer
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| n.旅人 | |
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superstitious
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| adj.迷信的 | |
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austere
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| adj.艰苦的；朴素的，朴实无华的；严峻的 | |
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piety
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| n.虔诚，虔敬 | |
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31
tinged
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| v.（使）发丁丁声( ting的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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rustic
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| adj.乡村的，有乡村特色的；n.乡下人，乡巴佬 | |
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33
awe
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| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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wilt
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| v.(使)植物凋谢或枯萎；(指人)疲倦，衰弱 | |
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35
beckoning
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| adj.引诱人的，令人心动的v.（用头或手的动作）示意，召唤( beckon的现在分词 ) | |
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36
obedience
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| n.服从，顺从 | |
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discourse
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| n.论文，演说；谈话；话语；vi.讲述，著述 | |
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38
peal
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| n.钟声；v.鸣响 | |
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39
subside
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| vi.平静，平息；下沉，塌陷，沉降 | |
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40
peremptory
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| adj.紧急的，专横的，断然的 | |
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41
kinsman
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| n.男亲属 | |
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42
grotesques
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| n.衣着、打扮、五官等古怪，不协调的样子( grotesque的名词复数 ) | |
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43
lank
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| adj.瘦削的；稀疏的 | |
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44
momentary
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| adj.片刻的，瞬息的；短暂的 | |
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45
amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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46
consternation
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| n.大为吃惊，惊骇 | |
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47
pallid
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| adj.苍白的，呆板的 | |
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48
subsided
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| v.（土地）下陷（因在地下采矿）( subside的过去式和过去分词 )；减弱；下降至较低或正常水平；一下子坐在椅子等上 | |
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49
lawful
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| adj.法律许可的，守法的，合法的 | |
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50
swirls
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| n.旋转( swirl的名词复数 )；卷状物；漩涡；尘旋v.旋转，打旋( swirl的第三人称单数 ) | |
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51
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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52
stun
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| vt.打昏，使昏迷，使震惊，使惊叹 | |
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53
nay
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| adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者 | |
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54
indignity
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| n.侮辱，伤害尊严，轻蔑 | |
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55
extrusion
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| n.挤出；推出；喷出；赶出 | |
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56
misgivings
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| n.疑虑，担忧，害怕；疑虑，担心，恐惧( misgiving的名词复数 )；疑惧 | |
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57
reluctance
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| n.厌恶，讨厌，勉强，不情愿 | |
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58
mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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59
malevolence
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| n.恶意，狠毒 | |
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60
folly
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| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
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61
continental
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| adj.大陆的，大陆性的，欧洲大陆的 | |
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62
remonstrated
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| v.抗议( remonstrate的过去式和过去分词 )；告诫 | |
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63
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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64
sublimest
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| 伟大的( sublime的最高级 )； 令人赞叹的； 极端的； 不顾后果的 | |
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65
phenomena
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| n.现象 | |
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66
vaguely
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| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
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67
lulls
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| n.间歇期（lull的复数形式）vt.使镇静，使安静（lull的第三人称单数形式） | |
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68
uproar
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| n.骚动，喧嚣，鼎沸 | |
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69
jingle
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| n.叮当声，韵律简单的诗句；v.使叮当作响，叮当响，押韵 | |
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70
eloquence
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| n.雄辩；口才，修辞 | |
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71
ordains
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| v.任命（某人）为牧师( ordain的第三人称单数 )；授予（某人）圣职；（上帝、法律等）命令；判定 | |
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