Chapter 65 Relating Some Awful News that Reached the Village,

And now there was news all over the town, to keep all the tongues there in motion.

News — news — great news!— terrible news! Peter Fogarty, Mr. Tresham’s boy, had it that morning from his cousin, Jim Redmond, whose aunt lived at Ringsend, and kept the little shop over against the ‘Plume of Feathers,’ where you might have your pick and choice of all sorts of nice and useful things — bacon, brass¹ snuff-boxes, penny ballads², eggs, candles, cheese, tobacco-pipes, pinchbeck buckles³ for knee and instep, soap, sausages, and who knows what beside.

No one quite believed it — it was a tradition at third hand, and Peter Fogarty’s cousin, Jim Redmond’s aunt, was easy of faith;— Jim, it was presumed, not very accurate in narration⁴, and Peter, not much better. Though, however, it was not actually ‘intelligence,’ it was a startling thesis. And though some raised their brows and smiled darkly, and shook their heads, the whole town certainly pricked⁵ their ears at it. And not a man met another without ‘Well! anything more? You’ve heard the report, Sir — eh?’

It was not till Doctor Toole came out of town, early that day, that the sensation began in earnest.

‘There could be no doubt about it —’twas a wonderful strange thing certainly. After so long a time — and so well preserved too.’

‘What was it — what is it?’

‘Why, Charles Nutter⁶’s corpse⁷ is found, Sir!’

‘Corpse — hey!’

‘So Toole says. Hollo! Toole — Doctor Toole — I say. Here’s Mr. Slowe hasn’t heard about poor Nutter.’

‘Ho! neighbour Slowe — give you good-day, Sir — not heard it? By Jove, Sir — poor Nutter!—’tis true — his body’s found — picked up this morning, just at sunrise, by two Dunleary fishermen, off Bullock. Justice Lowe has seen it — and Spaight saw it too. I’ve just been speaking with him, not an hour ago, in Thomas Street. It lies at Ringsend — and an inquest in the morning.’

And so on in Doctor Toole’s manner, until he saw Dr. Walsingham, the good rector, pausing in his leisurely⁸ walk just outside the row of houses that fronted the turnpike, in one of which were the lodgings⁹ of Dick Devereux.

The good Doctor Toole wondered what brought his reverence¹¹ there, for he had an inkling of something going on. So he bustled¹² off to him, and told his story with the stern solemnity befitting such a theme, and that pallid¹³, half-suppressed smile with which an exciting horror is sometimes related. And the good rector had many ejaculations of consternation¹⁴ and sympathy, and not a few enquiries to utter. And at last, when the theme was quite exhausted¹⁵, he told Toole, who still lingered on, that he was going to pay his respects to Captain Devereux.

‘Oh!’ said cunning little Toole, ‘you need not, for I told him the whole matter.’

‘Very like, Sir,’ answered the doctor; ‘but ’tis on another matter I wish to see him.’

‘Oh!— ho!— certainly — very good, Sir. I beg pardon — and — and — he’s just done his breakfast — a late dog, Sir — ha! ha! Your servant, Doctor Walsingham.’

Devereux puzzled his comrade Puddock more than ever. Sometimes he would descend¹⁶ with his blue devils into the abyss, and sit there all the evening in a dismal¹⁷ sulk. Sometimes he was gayer even than his old gay self; and sometimes in a bitter vein¹⁸, talking enigmatical ironies¹⁹, with his strange smile; and sometimes he was dangerous and furious, just as the weather changes, without rhyme or reason. Maybe he was angry with himself, and thought it was with others; and was proud, sorry, and defiant²⁰, and let his moods, one after another, possess him as they came.

They were his young days — beautiful and wicked — days of clear, rich tints²¹, and sanguine²² throbbings, and gloria mundi — when we fancy the spirit perfect, and the body needs no redemption — when, fresh from the fountains of life, death is but a dream, and we walk the earth like heathen gods and goddesses, in celestial²³ egotism and beauty. Oh, fair youth!— gone for ever. The parting from thee was a sadness and a violence — sadder, I think, than death itself. We look behind us, and sigh after thee, as on the pensive²⁴ glories of a sunset, and our march is toward the darkness. It is twilight²⁵ with us now, and will soon be starlight, and the hour and place of slumber²⁶, till the reveille sounds, and the day of wonder opens. Oh, grant us a good hour, and take us to Thy mercy! But to the last those young days will be remembered and worth remembering; for be we what else we may, young mortals we shall never be again.

Of course Dick Devereux was now no visitor at the Elms. All that for the present was over. Neither did he see Lilias; for little Lily was now a close prisoner with doctors, in full uniform, with shouldered canes²⁷, mounting guard at the doors. ’Twas a hard winter, and she needed care and nursing. And Devereux chafed²⁸ and fretted²⁹; and, in truth, ’twas hard to bear this spite of fortune — to be so near, and yet so far — quite out of sight and hearing.

A word or two from General Chattesworth in Doctor Walsingham’s ear, as they walked to and fro before the white front of Belmont, had decided³⁰ the rector on making this little call; for he had now mounted the stair of Devereux’s lodging¹⁰, and standing³¹ on the carpet outside, knocked, with a grave, sad face on his door panel, glancing absently through the lobby window, and whistling inaudibly the while.

The doctor was gentle and modest, and entirely³² kindly³³. He held good Master Feltham’s doctrine³⁴ about reproofs³⁵. ‘A man,’ says he, ‘had better be convinced in private than be made guilty by a proclamation. Open rebukes³⁶ are for Magistrates³⁷, and Courts of Justice! for Stelled Chambers³⁸ and for Scarlets³⁹, in the thronged⁴⁰ Hall Private are for friends; where all the witnesses of the offender’s blushes are blinde and deaf and dumb. We should do by them as Joseph thought to have done by Mary, seeke to cover blemishes⁴¹ with secrecy⁴². Public reproofe is like striking of a Deere in the Herd⁴³; it not only wounds him to the loss of enabling blood, but betrays him to the Hound, his Enemy, and makes him by his fellows be pusht out of company.’

So on due invitation from within, the good parson entered, and the handsome captain in all his splendours — when you saw him after a little absence ’twas always with a sort of admiring surprise — you had forgot how very handsome he was — this handsome slender fellow, with his dark face and large, unfathomable violet eyes, so wild and wicked, and yet so soft, stood up surprised, with a look of welcome quickly clouded and crossed by a gleam of defiance⁴⁴.

They bowed, and shook hands, however, and bowed again, and each was the other’s ‘servant;’ and being seated, they talked de generalibus; for the good parson would not come like an executioner and take his prisoner by the throat, but altogether in the spirit of the shepherd, content to walk a long way about, and wait till he came up with the truant⁴⁵, and entreating⁴⁶ him kindly, not dragging or beating him back to the flock, but leading and carrying by turns, and so awaiting his opportunity. But Devereux was in one of his moods. He thought the doctor no friend to his suit, and was bitter, and formal, and violent.

1 brass   

n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器

参考例句：

• Many of the workers play in the factory's brass band.许多工人都在工厂铜管乐队中演奏。
• Brass is formed by the fusion of copper and zinc.黄铜是通过铜和锌的熔合而成的。

2 ballads   

民歌，民谣，特别指叙述故事的歌( ballad的名词复数 )； 讴

参考例句：

• She belted out ballads and hillbilly songs one after another all evening. 她整晚一个接一个地大唱民谣和乡村小调。
• She taught him to read and even to sing two or three little ballads,accompanying him on her old piano. 她教他读书，还教他唱两三首民谣，弹着她的旧钢琴为他伴奏。

3 buckles   

搭扣，扣环( buckle的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• She gazed proudly at the shiny buckles on her shoes. 她骄傲地注视着鞋上闪亮的扣环。
• When the plate becomes unstable, it buckles laterally. 当板失去稳定时，就发生横向屈曲。

4 narration   

n.讲述，叙述；故事；记叙体

参考例句：

• The richness of his novel comes from his narration of it.他小说的丰富多采得益于他的叙述。
• Narration should become a basic approach to preschool education.叙事应是幼儿教育的基本途径。

5 pricked   

刺，扎，戳( prick的过去式和过去分词 )； 刺伤； 刺痛； 使剧痛

参考例句：

• The cook pricked a few holes in the pastry. 厨师在馅饼上戳了几个洞。
• He was pricked by his conscience. 他受到良心的谴责。

6 nutter   

n.疯子

参考例句：

• Don't call him nutter because it is such a bad term.别叫他“疯子”，这不是个好词。
• But it's awfully ruthless and cold-blooded for a nutter from the other side.但是对那边的疯子们来说，却也实在太冷血无情了。

7 corpse   

n.尸体，死尸

参考例句：

• What she saw was just an unfeeling corpse.她见到的只是一具全无感觉的尸体。
• The corpse was preserved from decay by embalming.尸体用香料涂抹以防腐烂。

8 leisurely   

adj.悠闲的；从容的，慢慢的

参考例句：

• We walked in a leisurely manner,looking in all the windows.我们慢悠悠地走着，看遍所有的橱窗。
• He had a leisurely breakfast and drove cheerfully to work.他从容的吃了早餐，高兴的开车去工作。

9 lodgings   

n. 出租的房舍, 寄宿舍

参考例句：

• When he reached his lodgings the sun had set. 他到达公寓房间时，太阳已下山了。
• I'm on the hunt for lodgings. 我正在寻找住所。

10 lodging   

n.寄宿，住所；(大学生的)校外宿舍

参考例句：

• The bill is inclusive of the food and lodging. 账单包括吃、住费用。
• Where can you find lodging for the night? 你今晚在哪里借宿?

11 reverence   

n.敬畏，尊敬，尊严；Reverence:对某些基督教神职人员的尊称；v.尊敬，敬畏，崇敬

参考例句：

• He was a bishop who was held in reverence by all.他是一位被大家都尊敬的主教。
• We reverence tradition but will not be fettered by it.我们尊重传统，但不被传统所束缚。

12 bustled   

闹哄哄地忙乱，奔忙( bustle的过去式和过去分词 )； 催促

参考例句：

• She bustled around in the kitchen. 她在厨房里忙得团团转。
• The hostress bustled about with an assumption of authority. 女主人摆出一副权威的样子忙来忙去。

13 pallid   

adj.苍白的，呆板的

参考例句：

• The moon drifted from behind the clouds and exposed the pallid face.月亮从云朵后面钻出来，照着尸体那张苍白的脸。
• His dry pallid face often looked gaunt.他那张干瘪苍白的脸常常显得憔悴。

14 consternation   

n.大为吃惊，惊骇

参考例句：

• He was filled with consternation to hear that his friend was so ill.他听说朋友病得那么厉害，感到非常震惊。
• Sam stared at him in consternation.萨姆惊恐不安地注视着他。

15 exhausted   

adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的

参考例句：

• It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长，到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
• Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。

16 descend   

vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降

参考例句：

• I hope the grace of God would descend on me.我期望上帝的恩惠。
• We're not going to descend to such methods.我们不会沦落到使用这种手段。

17 dismal   

adj.阴沉的，凄凉的，令人忧郁的，差劲的

参考例句：

• That is a rather dismal melody.那是一支相当忧郁的歌曲。
• My prospects of returning to a suitable job are dismal.我重新找到一个合适的工作岗位的希望很渺茫。

18 vein   

n.血管，静脉；叶脉，纹理；情绪；vt.使成脉络

参考例句：

• The girl is not in the vein for singing today.那女孩今天没有心情唱歌。
• The doctor injects glucose into the patient's vein.医生把葡萄糖注射入病人的静脉。

19 ironies   

n.反语( irony的名词复数 )；冷嘲；具有讽刺意味的事；嘲弄

参考例句：

• It was one of life's little ironies. 那是生活中的一个小小的嘲弄。
• History has many ironies. 历史有许多具有讽刺意味的事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

20 defiant   

adj.无礼的，挑战的

参考例句：

• With a last defiant gesture,they sang a revolutionary song as they were led away to prison.他们被带走投入监狱时，仍以最后的反抗姿态唱起了一支革命歌曲。
• He assumed a defiant attitude toward his employer.他对雇主采取挑衅的态度。

21 tints   

色彩( tint的名词复数 )； 带白的颜色； （淡色）染发剂； 痕迹

参考例句：

• leaves with red and gold autumn tints 金秋时节略呈红黄色的树叶
• The whole countryside glowed with autumn tints. 乡间处处呈现出灿烂的秋色。

22 sanguine   

adj.充满希望的，乐观的，血红色的

参考例句：

• He has a sanguine attitude to life.他对于人生有乐观的看法。
• He is not very sanguine about our chances of success.他对我们成功的机会不太乐观。

23 celestial   

adj.天体的；天上的

参考例句：

• The rosy light yet beamed like a celestial dawn.玫瑰色的红光依然象天上的朝霞一样绚丽。
• Gravity governs the motions of celestial bodies.万有引力控制着天体的运动。

24 pensive   

a.沉思的,哀思的,忧沉的

参考例句：

• He looked suddenly sombre,pensive.他突然看起来很阴郁，一副忧虑的样子。
• He became so pensive that she didn't like to break into his thought.他陷入沉思之中,她不想打断他的思路。

25 twilight   

n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期

参考例句：

• Twilight merged into darkness.夕阳的光辉融于黑暗中。
• Twilight was sweet with the smell of lilac and freshly turned earth.薄暮充满紫丁香和新翻耕的泥土的香味。

26 slumber   

n.睡眠，沉睡状态

参考例句：

• All the people in the hotels were wrapped in deep slumber.住在各旅馆里的人都已进入梦乡。
• Don't wake him from his slumber because he needs the rest.不要把他从睡眠中唤醒，因为他需要休息。

27 canes   

n.（某些植物，如竹或甘蔗的）茎( cane的名词复数 )；（用于制作家具等的）竹竿；竹杖

参考例句：

• Sugar canes eat sweet. 甘蔗吃起来很甜。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I saw several sugar canes, but wild, and for cultivation, imperfect. 我还看到一些甘蔗，因为是野生的，未经人工栽培，所以不太好吃。 来自英汉 - 翻译样例 - 文学

28 chafed   

v.擦热（尤指皮肤）( chafe的过去式 )；擦痛；发怒；惹怒

参考例句：

• Her wrists chafed where the rope had been. 她的手腕上绳子勒过的地方都磨红了。
• She chafed her cold hands. 她揉搓冰冷的双手使之暖和。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

29 fretted   

焦躁的，附有弦马的，腐蚀的

参考例句：

• The wind whistled through the twigs and fretted the occasional, dirty-looking crocuses. 寒风穿过枯枝，有时把发脏的藏红花吹刮跑了。 来自英汉文学
• The lady's fame for hitting the mark fretted him. 这位太太看问题深刻的名声在折磨着他。

30 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

31 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

32 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

33 kindly   

adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地

参考例句：

• Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
• A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。

34 doctrine   

n.教义；主义；学说

参考例句：

• He was impelled to proclaim his doctrine.他不得不宣扬他的教义。
• The council met to consider changes to doctrine.宗教议会开会考虑更改教义。

35 reproofs   

n.责备，责难，指责( reproof的名词复数 )

参考例句：

36 rebukes   

责难或指责( rebuke的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• His industry rebukes me. 他的勤劳使我感到惭傀。
• The manager's rebukes in loud voice and stern expression have made the clerks gathered in the out office start with alarm. 老板声色俱厉的责备把聚集在办公室外的职员们吓坏了。

37 magistrates   

地方法官，治安官( magistrate的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• to come up before the magistrates 在地方法院出庭
• He was summoned to appear before the magistrates. 他被传唤在地方法院出庭。

38 chambers   

n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅

参考例句：

• The body will be removed into one of the cold storage chambers. 尸体将被移到一个冷冻间里。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Mr Chambers's readable book concentrates on the middle passage: the time Ransome spent in Russia. Chambers先生的这本值得一看的书重点在中间：Ransome在俄国的那几年。 来自互联网

39 scarlets   

鲜红色，猩红色( scarlet的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Silks and satins, scarlets and velvets, put out the kitchen fire as Poor Richard says. 正如穷理查所言：“丝绢绸缎，红衣绒布，使灶上没火。”

40 thronged   

v.成群，挤满( throng的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Mourners thronged to the funeral. 吊唁者蜂拥着前来参加葬礼。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The department store was thronged with people. 百货商店挤满了人。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

41 blemishes   

n.（身体的）瘢点( blemish的名词复数 )；伤疤；瑕疵；污点

参考例句：

• make-up to cover blemishes 遮盖霜
• The blemishes of ancestors appear. 祖先的各种瑕疵都渐渐显露出来。 来自辞典例句

42 secrecy   

n.秘密，保密，隐蔽

参考例句：

• All the researchers on the project are sworn to secrecy.该项目的所有研究人员都按要求起誓保守秘密。
• Complete secrecy surrounded the meeting.会议在绝对机密的环境中进行。

43 herd   

n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• He had no opinions of his own but simply follow the herd.他从无主见，只是人云亦云。

44 defiance   

n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗

参考例句：

• He climbed the ladder in defiance of the warning.他无视警告爬上了那架梯子。
• He slammed the door in a spirit of defiance.他以挑衅性的态度把门砰地一下关上。

45 truant   

n.懒惰鬼，旷课者；adj.偷懒的，旷课的，游荡的；v.偷懒，旷课

参考例句：

• I found the truant throwing stones in the river.我发现那个逃课的学生在往河里扔石子。
• Children who play truant from school are unimaginative.逃学的孩子们都缺乏想像力。

46 entreating   

恳求，乞求( entreat的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• We have not bound your feet with our entreating arms. 我们不曾用恳求的手臂来抱住你的双足。
• The evening has come. Weariness clings round me like the arms of entreating love. 夜来到了，困乏像爱的恳求用双臂围抱住我。