But, my dear madam, it is so very large a majority of your fellow-countrymen that are of this insignificant8 stamp. At least eighty out of a hundred of your adult male fellow-Britons returned in the last census9 are neither extraordinarily10 silly, nor extraordinarily wicked, nor extraordinarily wise; their eyes are neither deep and liquid with sentiment, nor sparkling with suppressed witticisms11; they have probably had no hairbreadth escapes or thrilling adventures; their brains are certainly not pregnant with genius, and their passions have not manifested themselves at all after the fashion of a volcano. They are simply men of complexions12 more or less muddy, whose conversation is more or less bald and disjointed. Yet these commonplace people—many of them—bear a conscience, and have felt the sublime13 prompting to do the painful right; they have their unspoken sorrows, and their sacred joys; their hearts have perhaps gone out towards their first-born, and they have mourned over the irreclaimable dead. Nay14, is there not a pathos15 in their very insignificance—in our comparison of their dim and narrow existence with the glorious possibilities of that human nature which they share?
Depend upon it, you would gain unspeakably if you would learn with me to see some of the poetry and the pathos, the tragedy and the comedy, lying in the experience of a human soul that looks out through dull grey eyes, and that speaks in a voice of quite ordinary tones. In that case, I should have no fear of your not caring to know what farther befell the Rev. Amos Barton, or of your thinking the homely16 details I have to tell at all beneath your attention. As it is, you can, if you please, decline to pursue my story farther; and you will easily find reading more to your taste, since I learn from the newspapers that many remarkable novels, full of striking situations, thrilling incidents, and eloquent17 writing, have appeared only within the last season.
Meanwhile, readers who have begun to feel an interest in the Rev. Amos Barton and his wife, will be glad to learn that Mr. Oldinport lent the twenty pounds. But twenty pounds are soon exhausted18 when twelve are due as back payment to the butcher, and when the possession of eight extra sovereigns in February weather is an irresistible19 temptation to order a new greatcoat. And though Mr. Bridmain so far departed from the necessary economy entailed20 on him by the Countess’s elegant toilette and expensive maid, as to choose a handsome black silk, stiff, as his experienced eye discerned, with the genuine strength of its own texture21, and not with the factitious strength of gum, and present it to Mrs. Barton, in retrieval of the accident that had occurred at his table, yet, dear me—as every husband has heard—what is the present of a gown when you are deficiently furnished with the et-ceteras of apparel, and when, moreover, there are six children whose wear and tear of clothes is something incredible to the non-maternal mind?
Indeed, the equation of income and expenditure22 was offering new and constantly accumulating difficulties to Mr. and Mrs. Barton; for shortly after the birth of little Walter, Milly’s aunt, who had lived with her ever since her marriage, had withdrawn23 herself, her furniture, and her yearly income, to the household of another niece; prompted to that step, very probably, by a slight ‘tiff’ with the Rev. Amos, which occurred while Milly was up-stairs, and proved one too many for the elderly lady’s patience and magnanimity. Mr. Barton’s temper was a little warm, but, on the other hand, elderly maiden25 ladies are known to be susceptible26; so we will not suppose that all the blame lay on his side—the less so, as he had every motive27 for humouring an inmate28 whose presence kept the wolf from the door. It was now nearly a year since Miss Jackson’s departure, and, to a fine ear, the howl of the wolf was audibly approaching.
It was a sad thing, too, that when the last snow had melted, when the purple and yellow crocuses were coming up in the garden, and the old church was already half pulled down, Milly had an illness which made her lips look pale, and rendered it absolutely necessary that she should not exert herself for some time. Mr. Brand, the Shepperton doctor so obnoxious29 to Mr. Pilgrim, ordered her to drink port-wine, and it was quite necessary to have a charwoman very often, to assist Nanny in all the extra work that fell upon her.
Mrs. Hackit, who hardly ever paid a visit to any one but her oldest and nearest neighbour, Mrs. Patten, now took the unusual step of calling at the vicarage one morning; and the tears came into her unsentimental eyes as she saw Milly seated pale and feeble in the parlour, unable to persevere30 in sewing the pinafore that lay on the table beside her. Little Dickey, a boisterous31 boy of five, with large pink cheeks and sturdy legs, was having his turn to sit with Mamma, and was squatting32 quiet as a mouse at her knee, holding her soft white hand between his little red black-nailed fists. He was a boy whom Mrs. Hackit, in a severe mood, had pronounced ‘stocky’ (a word that etymologically33 in all probability, conveys some allusion34 to an instrument of punishment for the refractory); but seeing him thus subdued35 into goodness, she smiled at him with her kindest smile, and stooping down, suggested a kiss—a favour which Dicky resolutely36 declined.
‘Now do you take nourishing things enough?’ was one of Mrs. Hackit’s first questions, and Milly endeavoured to make it appear that no woman was ever so much in danger of being over-fed and led into self-indulgent habits as herself. But Mrs. Hackit gathered one fact from her replies, namely, that Mr. Brand had ordered port-wine.
While this conversation was going forward, Dickey had been furtively37 stroking and kissing the soft white hand; so that at last, when a pause came, his mother said, smilingly, ‘Why are you kissing my hand, Dickey?’
‘It id to yovely,’ answered Dickey, who, you observe, was decidedly backward in his pronunciation.
Mrs. Hackit remembered this little scene in after days, and thought with peculiar38 tenderness and pity of the ‘stocky boy’.
The next day there came a hamper39 with Mrs. Hackit’s respects; and on being opened it was found to contain half-a-dozen of port-wine and two couples of fowls40. Mrs. Farquhar, too, was very kind; insisted on Mrs. Barton’s rejecting all arrowroot but hers, which was genuine Indian, and carried away Sophy and Fred to stay with her a fortnight. These and other good-natured attentions made the trouble of Milly’s illness more bearable; but they could not prevent it from swelling41 expenses, and Mr. Barton began to have serious thoughts of representing his case to a certain charity for the relief of needy42 curates.
Altogether, as matters stood in Shepperton, the parishioners were more likely to have a strong sense that the clergyman needed their material aid, than that they needed his spiritual aid,—not the best state of things in this age and country, where faith in men solely43 on the ground of their spiritual gifts has considerably44 diminished, and especially unfavourable to the influence of the Rev. Amos, whose spiritual gifts would not have had a very commanding power even in an age of faith.
But, you ask, did not the Countess Czerlaski pay any attention to her friends all this time? To be sure she did. She was indefatigable45 in visiting her ‘sweet Milly’, and sitting with her for hours together. It may seem remarkable to you that she neither thought of taking away any of the children, nor of providing for any of Milly’s probable wants; but ladies of rank and of luxurious46 habits, you know, cannot be expected to surmise47 the details of poverty. She put a great deal of eau-de-Cologne on Mrs. Barton’s pocket-handkerchief, rearranged her pillow and footstool, kissed her cheeks, wrapped her in a soft warm shawl from her own shoulders, and amused her with stories of the life she had seen abroad. When Mr. Barton joined them she talked of Tractarianism, of her determination not to re-enter the vortex of fashionable life, and of her anxiety to see him in a sphere large enough for his talents. Milly thought her sprightliness48 and affectionate warmth quite charming, and was very fond of her; while the Rev. Amos had a vague consciousness that he had risen into aristocratic life, and only associated with his middle-class parishioners in a pastoral and parenthetic manner.
However, as the days brightened, Milly’s cheeks and lips brightened too; and in a few weeks she was almost as active as ever, though watchful49 eyes might have seen that activity was not easy to her. Mrs. Hackit’s eyes were of that kind, and one day, when Mr. and Mrs. Barton had been dining with her for the first time since Milly’s illness, she observed to her husband—‘That poor thing’s dreadful weak an’ delicate; she won’t stan’ havin’ many more children.’
Mr. Barton, meanwhile, had been indefatigable in his vocation50. He had preached two extemporary sermons every Sunday at the workhouse, where a room had been fitted up for divine service, pending52 the alterations53 in the church; and had walked the same evening to a cottage at one or other extremity54 of his parish to deliver another sermon, still more extemporary, in an atmosphere impregnated with spring-flowers and perspiration55. After all these labours you will easily conceive that he was considerably exhausted by half-past nine o’clock in the evening, and that a supper at a friendly parishioner’s, with a glass, or even two glasses, of brandy-and-water after it, was a welcome reinforcement. Mr. Barton was not at all an ascetic56; he thought the benefits of fasting were entirely57 confined to the Old Testament58 dispensation; he was fond of relaxing himself with a little gossip; indeed, Miss Bond, and other ladies of enthusiastic views, sometimes regretted that Mr. Barton did not more uninterruptedly exhibit a superiority to the things of the flesh. Thin ladies, who take little exercise, and whose livers are not strong enough to bear stimulants59, are so extremely critical about one’s personal habits! And, after all, the Rev. Amos never came near the borders of a vice51. His very faults were middling—he was not very ungrammatical. It was not in his nature to be superlative in anything; unless, indeed, he was superlatively middling, the quintessential extract of mediocrity. If there was any one point on which he showed an inclination60 to be excessive, it was confidence in his own shrewdness and ability in practical matters, so that he was very full of plans which were something like his moves in chess—admirably well calculated, supposing the state of the case were otherwise. For example, that notable plan of introducing anti-dissenting books into his Lending Library did not in the least appear to have bruised62 the head of Dissent61, though it had certainly made Dissent strongly inclined to bite the Rev. Amos’s heel. Again, he vexed63 the souls of his churchwardens and influential64 parishioners by his fertile suggestiveness as to what it would be well for them to do in the matter of the church repairs, and other ecclesiastical secularities.
‘I never saw the like to parsons,’ Mr. Hackit said one day in conversation with his brother churchwarden, Mr. Bond; ‘they’re al’ys for meddling65 with business, an they know no more about it than my black filly.’
‘Ah,’ said Mr. Bond, ‘they’re too high learnt to have much common-sense.’
‘Well,’ remarked Mr. Hackit, in a modest and dubious66 tone, as if throwing out a hypothesis which might be considered bold, ‘I should say that’s a bad sort of eddication as makes folks onreasonable.’
So that, you perceive, Mr. Barton’s popularity was in that precarious67 condition, in that toppling and contingent68 state, in which a very slight push from a malignant69 destiny would utterly upset it. That push was not long in being given, as you shall hear.
One fine May morning, when Amos was out on his parochial visits, and the sunlight was streaming through the bow-window of the sitting-room70, where Milly was seated at her sewing, occasionally looking up to glance at the children playing in the garden, there came a loud rap at the door, which she at once recognized as the Countess’s, and that well-dressed lady presently entered the sitting-room, with her veil drawn24 over her face. Milly was not at all surprised or sorry to see her; but when the Countess threw up her veil, and showed that her eyes were red and swollen71, she was both surprised and sorry.
‘What can be the matter, dear Caroline?’
Caroline threw down Jet, who gave a little yelp72; then she threw her arms round Milly’s neck, and began to sob73; then she threw herself on the sofa, and begged for a glass of water; then she threw off her bonnet74 and shawl; and by the time Milly’s imagination had exhausted itself in conjuring75 up calamities76, she said,—‘Dear, how shall I tell you? I am the most wretched woman. To be deceived by a brother to whom I have been so devoted—to see him degrading himself—giving himself utterly to the dogs!’
‘What can it be?’ said Milly, who began to picture to herself the sober Mr. Bridmain taking to brandy and betting.
‘He is going to be married—to marry my own maid, that deceitful Alice, to whom I have been the most indulgent mistress. Did you ever hear of anything so disgraceful? so mortifying77? so disreputable?’
‘And has he only just told you of it?’ said Milly, who, having really heard of worse conduct, even in her innocent life, avoided a direct answer.
‘Told me of it! he had not even the grace to do that. I went into the dining-room suddenly and found him kissing her—disgusting at his time of life, is it not?—and when I reproved her for allowing such liberties, she turned round saucily78, and said she was engaged to be married to my brother, and she saw no shame in allowing him to kiss her. Edmund is a miserable79 coward, you know, and looked frightened; but when she asked him to say whether it was not so, he tried to summon up courage and say yes. I left the room in disgust, and this morning I have been questioning Edmund, and find that he is bent80 on marrying this woman, and that he has been putting off telling me—because he was ashamed of himself, I suppose. I couldn’t possibly stay in the house after this, with my own maid turned mistress. And now, Milly, I am come to throw myself on your charity for a week or two. Will you take me in?’
‘That we will,’ said Milly, ‘if you will only put up with our poor rooms and way of living. It will be delightful81 to have you!’
‘It will soothe82 me to be with you and Mr. Barton a little while. I feel quite unable to go among my other friends just at present. What those two wretched people will do I don’t know—leave the neighbourhood at once, I hope. I entreated83 my brother to do so, before he disgraced himself.’
When Amos came home, he joined his cordial welcome and sympathy to Milly’s. By-and-by the Countess’s formidable boxes, which she had carefully packed before her indignation drove her away from Camp Villa84, arrived at the vicarage, and were deposited in the spare bedroom, and in two closets, not spare, which Milly emptied for their reception. A week afterwards, the excellent apartments at Camp Villa, comprising dining and drawing rooms, three bedrooms and a dressing-room, were again to let, and Mr. Bridmain’s sudden departure, together with the Countess Czerlaski’s installation as a visitor at Shepperton Vicarage, became a topic of general conversation in the neighbourhood. The keen-sighted virtue5 of Milby and Shepperton saw in all this a confirmation85 of its worst suspicions, and pitied the Rev. Amos Barton’s gullibility86.
But when week after week, and month after month, slipped by without witnessing the Countess’s departure—when summer and harvest had fled, and still left her behind them occupying the spare bedroom and the closets, and also a large proportion of Mrs. Barton’s time and attention, new surmises87 of a very evil kind were added to the old rumours88, and began to take the form of settled convictions in the minds even of Mr. Barton’s most friendly parishioners.
And now, here is an opportunity for an accomplished89 writer to apostrophize calumny90, to quote Virgil, and to show that he is acquainted with the most ingenious things which have been said on that subject in polite literature.
But what is opportunity to the man who can’t use it? An undefecundated egg, which the waves of time wash away into nonentity91. So, as my memory is ill-furnished, and my notebook still worse, I am unable to show myself either erudite or eloquent apropos92 of the calumny whereof the Rev. Amos Barton was the victim. I can only ask my reader,—did you ever upset your ink-bottle, and watch, in helpless agony, the rapid spread of Stygian blackness over your fair manuscript or fairer table-cover? With a like inky swiftness did gossip now blacken the reputation of the Rev. Amos Barton, causing the unfriendly to scorn and even the friendly to stand aloof93, at a time when difficulties of another kind were fast thickening around him.
该作者的其它作品
《弗洛斯河上的磨坊 The Mill on the Floss》
《米德尔马契 Middlemarch》
该作者的其它作品
《弗洛斯河上的磨坊 The Mill on the Floss》
《米德尔马契 Middlemarch》
点击收听单词发音
1 rev | |
v.发动机旋转,加快速度 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
2 bespeak | |
v.预定;预先请求 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
3 remarkable | |
adj.显著的,异常的,非凡的,值得注意的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
4 virtues | |
美德( virtue的名词复数 ); 德行; 优点; 长处 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
5 virtue | |
n.德行,美德;贞操;优点;功效,效力 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
6 favourably | |
adv. 善意地,赞成地 =favorably | |
参考例句: |
|
|
7 utterly | |
adv.完全地,绝对地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
8 insignificant | |
adj.无关紧要的,可忽略的,无意义的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
9 census | |
n.(官方的)人口调查,人口普查 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
10 extraordinarily | |
adv.格外地;极端地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
11 witticisms | |
n.妙语,俏皮话( witticism的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
12 complexions | |
肤色( complexion的名词复数 ); 面色; 局面; 性质 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
13 sublime | |
adj.崇高的,伟大的;极度的,不顾后果的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
14 nay | |
adv.不;n.反对票,投反对票者 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
15 pathos | |
n.哀婉,悲怆 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
16 homely | |
adj.家常的,简朴的;不漂亮的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
17 eloquent | |
adj.雄辩的,口才流利的;明白显示出的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
18 exhausted | |
adj.极其疲惫的,精疲力尽的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
19 irresistible | |
adj.非常诱人的,无法拒绝的,无法抗拒的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
20 entailed | |
使…成为必要( entail的过去式和过去分词 ); 需要; 限定继承; 使必需 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
21 texture | |
n.(织物)质地;(材料)构造;结构;肌理 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
22 expenditure | |
n.(时间、劳力、金钱等)支出;使用,消耗 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
23 withdrawn | |
vt.收回;使退出;vi.撤退,退出 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
24 drawn | |
v.拖,拉,拔出;adj.憔悴的,紧张的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
25 maiden | |
n.少女,处女;adj.未婚的,纯洁的,无经验的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
26 susceptible | |
adj.过敏的,敏感的;易动感情的,易受感动的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
27 motive | |
n.动机,目的;adv.发动的,运动的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
28 inmate | |
n.被收容者;(房屋等的)居住人;住院人 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
29 obnoxious | |
adj.极恼人的,讨人厌的,可憎的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
30 persevere | |
v.坚持,坚忍,不屈不挠 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
31 boisterous | |
adj.喧闹的,欢闹的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
32 squatting | |
v.像动物一样蹲下( squat的现在分词 );非法擅自占用(土地或房屋);为获得其所有权;而占用某片公共用地。 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
33 etymologically | |
adv.语源上 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
34 allusion | |
n.暗示,间接提示 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
35 subdued | |
adj. 屈服的,柔和的,减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
36 resolutely | |
adj.坚决地,果断地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
37 furtively | |
adv. 偷偷地, 暗中地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
38 peculiar | |
adj.古怪的,异常的;特殊的,特有的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
39 hamper | |
vt.妨碍,束缚,限制;n.(有盖的)大篮子 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
40 fowls | |
鸟( fowl的名词复数 ); 禽肉; 既不是这; 非驴非马 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
41 swelling | |
n.肿胀 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
42 needy | |
adj.贫穷的,贫困的,生活艰苦的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
43 solely | |
adv.仅仅,唯一地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
44 considerably | |
adv.极大地;相当大地;在很大程度上 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
45 indefatigable | |
adj.不知疲倦的,不屈不挠的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
46 luxurious | |
adj.精美而昂贵的;豪华的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
47 surmise | |
v./n.猜想,推测 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
48 sprightliness | |
n.愉快,快活 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
49 watchful | |
adj.注意的,警惕的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
50 vocation | |
n.职业,行业 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
51 vice | |
n.坏事;恶习;[pl.]台钳,老虎钳;adj.副的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
52 pending | |
prep.直到,等待…期间;adj.待定的;迫近的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
53 alterations | |
n.改动( alteration的名词复数 );更改;变化;改变 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
54 extremity | |
n.末端,尽头;尽力;终极;极度 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
55 perspiration | |
n.汗水;出汗 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
56 ascetic | |
adj.禁欲的;严肃的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
57 entirely | |
ad.全部地,完整地;完全地,彻底地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
58 testament | |
n.遗嘱;证明 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
59 stimulants | |
n.兴奋剂( stimulant的名词复数 );含兴奋剂的饮料;刺激物;激励物 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
60 inclination | |
n.倾斜;点头;弯腰;斜坡;倾度;倾向;爱好 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
61 dissent | |
n./v.不同意,持异议 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
62 bruised | |
[医]青肿的,瘀紫的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
63 vexed | |
adj.争论不休的;(指问题等)棘手的;争论不休的问题;烦恼的v.使烦恼( vex的过去式和过去分词 );使苦恼;使生气;详细讨论 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
64 influential | |
adj.有影响的,有权势的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
65 meddling | |
v.干涉,干预(他人事务)( meddle的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
66 dubious | |
adj.怀疑的,无把握的;有问题的,靠不住的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
67 precarious | |
adj.不安定的,靠不住的;根据不足的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
68 contingent | |
adj.视条件而定的;n.一组,代表团,分遣队 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
69 malignant | |
adj.恶性的,致命的;恶意的,恶毒的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
70 sitting-room | |
n.(BrE)客厅,起居室 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
71 swollen | |
adj.肿大的,水涨的;v.使变大,肿胀 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
72 yelp | |
vi.狗吠 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
73 sob | |
n.空间轨道的轰炸机;呜咽,哭泣 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
74 bonnet | |
n.无边女帽;童帽 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
75 conjuring | |
n.魔术 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
76 calamities | |
n.灾祸,灾难( calamity的名词复数 );不幸之事 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
77 mortifying | |
adj.抑制的,苦修的v.使受辱( mortify的现在分词 );伤害(人的感情);克制;抑制(肉体、情感等) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
78 saucily | |
adv.傲慢地,莽撞地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
79 miserable | |
adj.悲惨的,痛苦的;可怜的,糟糕的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
80 bent | |
n.爱好,癖好;adj.弯的;决心的,一心的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
81 delightful | |
adj.令人高兴的,使人快乐的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
82 soothe | |
v.安慰;使平静;使减轻;缓和;奉承 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
83 entreated | |
恳求,乞求( entreat的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
84 villa | |
n.别墅,城郊小屋 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
85 confirmation | |
n.证实,确认,批准 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
86 gullibility | |
n.易受骗,易上当,轻信 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
87 surmises | |
v.臆测,推断( surmise的第三人称单数 );揣测;猜想 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
88 rumours | |
n.传闻( rumour的名词复数 );风闻;谣言;谣传 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
89 accomplished | |
adj.有才艺的;有造诣的;达到了的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
90 calumny | |
n.诽谤,污蔑,中伤 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
91 nonentity | |
n.无足轻重的人 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
92 apropos | |
adv.恰好地;adj.恰当的;关于 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
93 aloof | |
adj.远离的;冷淡的,漠不关心的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
欢迎访问英文小说网 |