The most notable thing about Time is that it is so purely1 relative. A large amount of reminiscence is, by common consent, conceded to the drowning man; and it is not past belief that one may review an entire courtship while removing one's gloves.
That is what Trysdale was doing, standing2 by a table in his bachelor apartments. On the table stood a singular-looking green plant in a red earthen jar. The plant was one of the species of cacti3, and was provided with long, tentacular4 leaves that perpetually swayed with the slightest breeze with a peculiar5 beckoning6 motion.
Trysdale's friend, the brother of the bride, stood at a sideboard complaining at being allowed to drink alone. Both men were in evening dress. White favors like stars upon their coats shone through the gloom of the apartment.
As he slowly unbuttoned his gloves, there passed through Trysdale's mind a swift, scarifying retrospect7 of the last few hours. It seemed that in his nostrils8 was still the scent9 of the flowers that had been banked in odorous masses about the church, and in his ears the lowpitched hum of a thousand well-bred voices, the rustle10 of crisp garments, and, most insistently11 recurring12, the drawling words of the minister irrevocably binding13 her to another.
>From this last hopeless point of view he still strove, as if it had become a habit of his mind, to reach some conjecture14 as to why and how he had lost her. Shaken rudely by the uncompromising fact, he had suddenly found himself confronted by a thing he had never before faced --his own innermost, unmitigated, arid15 unbedecked self.
He saw all the garbs16 of pretence17 and egoism that he had worn now turn to rags of folly18. He shuddered19 at the thought that to others, before now, the garments of his soul must have appeared sorry and threadbare. Vanity and conceit20? These were the joints21 in his armor. And how free from either she had always been--But why--As she had slowly moved up the aisle22 toward the altar he had felt an unworthy, sullen23 exultation24 that had served to support him. He had told himself that her paleness was from thoughts of another than the man to whom she was about to give herself. But even that poor consolation25 had been wrenched26 from him. For, when he saw that swift, limpid27, upward look that she gave the man when he took her hand, he knew himself to be forgotten. Once that same look had been raised to him, and he had gauged28 its meaning. Indeed, his conceit had crumbled29; its last prop30 was gone. Why had it ended thus? There had been no quarrel between them, nothing--
For the thousandth time he remarshalled in his mind the events of those last few days before the tide had so suddenly turned.
She had always insisted upon placing him upon a pedestal, and he had accepted her homage31 with royal grandeur32. It had been a very sweet incense33 that she had burned before him; so modest (he told himself); so childlike and worshipful, and (he would once have sworn) so sincere. She had invested him with an almost supernatural number of high attributes and excellencies and talents, and he had absorbed the oblation34 as a desert drinks the rain that can coax35 from it no promise of blossom or fruit.
As Trysdale grimly wrenched apart the seam of his last glove, the crowning instance of his fatuous36 and tardily37 mourned egoism came vividly38 back to him. The scene was the night when he had asked her to come up on his pedestal with him and share his greatness. He could not, now, for the pain of it, allow his mind to dwell upon the memory of her convincing beauty that night--the careless wave of her hair, the tenderness and virginal charm of her looks and words. But they had been enough, and they had brought him to speak. During their conversation she had said:
"And Captain Carruthers tells me that you speak the Spanish language like a native. Why have you hidden this accomplishment39 from me? Is there anything you do not know?"
Now, Carruthers was an idiot. No doubt he (Trysdale) had been guilty (he sometimes did such things) of airing at the club some old, canting Castilian proverb dug from the hotchpotch at the back of dictionaries. Carruthers, who was one of his incontinent admirers, was the very man to have magnified this exhibition of doubtful erudition.
But, alas41! the incense of her admiration42 had been so sweet and flattering. He allowed the imputation43 to pass without denial. Without protest, he allowed her to twine44 about his brow this spurious bay of Spanish scholarship. He let it grace his conquering head, and, among its soft convolutions, he did not feel the prick45 of the thorn that was to pierce him later.
How glad, how shy, how tremulous she was! How she fluttered like a snared46 bird when he laid his mightiness47 at her feet! He could have sworn, and he could swear now, that unmistakable consent was in her eyes, but, coyly, she would give him no direct answer. "I will send you my answer to-morrow," she said; and he, the indulgent,
confident victor, smilingly granted the delay. The next day he waited, impatient, in his rooms for the word. At noon her groom48 came to the door and left the strange cactus49 in the red earthen jar. There was no note, no message, merely a tag upon the plant bearing a barbarous foreign or botanical name. He waited until night, but her answer did not come. His large pride and hurt vanity kept him from seeking her. Two evenings later they met at a dinner. Their greetings were conventional, but she looked at him, breathless, wondering, eager. He was courteous50, adamant51, waiting her explanation. With womanly swiftness she took her cue from his manner, and turned to snow and ice. Thus, and wider from this on, they had drifted apart. Where was his fault? Who had been to blame? Humbled52 now, he sought the answer amid the ruins of his self-conceit. If--
The voice of the other man in the room, querulously intruding53 upon his thoughts, aroused him.
"I say, Trysdale, what the deuce is the matter with you? You look unhappy as if you yourself had been married instead of having acted merely as an accomplice54. Look at me, another accessory, come two thousand miles on a garlicky, cockroachy banana steamer all the way from South America to connive55 at the sacrifice--please to observe how lightly my guilt40 rests upon my shoulders. Only little sister I had, too, and now she's gone. Come now! take something to ease your conscience."
"I don't drink just now, thanks," said Trysdale.
"Your brandy," resumed the other, coming over and joining him, "is abominable56. Run down to see me some time at Punta Redonda, and try some of our stuff that old Garcia smuggles57 in. It's worth the, trip. Hallo! here's an old acquaintance. Wherever did you rake up this cactus, Trysdale?"
"A present," said Trysdale, "from a friend. Know the species?"
"Very well. It's a tropical concern. See hundreds of 'em around Punta every day. Here's the name on this tag tied to it. Know any Spanish, Trysdale?"
"No," said Trysdale, with the bitter wraith58 of a smile--"Is it Spanish?"
"Yes. The natives imagine the leaves are reaching out and beckoning to you. They call it by this name--Ventomarme. Name means in English, 'Come and take me.'"
收听单词发音 |
1
purely
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| adv.纯粹地，完全地 | |
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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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cacti
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| n.（复）仙人掌 | |
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tentacular
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| adj.有触手的 | |
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peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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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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retrospect
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| n.回顾，追溯；v.回顾，回想，追溯 | |
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nostrils
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| 鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
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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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rustle
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| v.沙沙作响；偷盗(牛、马等)；n.沙沙声声 | |
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insistently
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| ad.坚持地 | |
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recurring
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| adj.往复的，再次发生的 | |
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binding
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| 有约束力的，有效的，应遵守的 | |
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conjecture
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| n./v.推测，猜测 | |
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arid
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| adj.干旱的；(土地)贫瘠的 | |
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garbs
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| vt.装扮（garb的第三人称单数形式） | |
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pretence
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| n.假装，作假；借口，口实；虚伪；虚饰 | |
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folly
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| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
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shuddered
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| v.战栗( shudder的过去式和过去分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
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conceit
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| n.自负，自高自大 | |
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joints
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| 接头( joint的名词复数 )； 关节； 公共场所（尤指价格低廉的饮食和娱乐场所） （非正式）； 一块烤肉 （英式英语） | |
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aisle
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| n.（教堂、教室、戏院等里的）过道，通道 | |
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sullen
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| adj.愠怒的，闷闷不乐的，(天气等)阴沉的 | |
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exultation
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| n.狂喜，得意 | |
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consolation
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| n.安慰，慰问 | |
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wrenched
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| v.（猛力地）扭( wrench的过去式和过去分词 )；扭伤；使感到痛苦；使悲痛 | |
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limpid
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| adj.清澈的，透明的 | |
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gauged
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| adj.校准的；标准的；量规的；量计的v.（用仪器）测量( gauge的过去式和过去分词 )；估计；计量；划分 | |
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29
crumbled
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| （把…）弄碎， （使）碎成细屑( crumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 衰落； 坍塌； 损坏 | |
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prop
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| vt.支撑；n.支柱，支撑物；支持者，靠山 | |
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homage
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| n.尊敬，敬意，崇敬 | |
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grandeur
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| n.伟大，崇高，宏伟，庄严，豪华 | |
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33
incense
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| v.激怒；n.香，焚香时的烟，香气 | |
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oblation
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| n.圣餐式；祭品 | |
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coax
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| v.哄诱，劝诱，用诱哄得到，诱取 | |
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fatuous
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| adj.愚昧的；昏庸的 | |
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tardily
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| adv.缓慢 | |
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vividly
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| adv.清楚地，鲜明地，生动地 | |
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accomplishment
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| n.完成，成就，（pl.）造诣，技能 | |
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guilt
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| n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责 | |
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41
alas
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| int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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42
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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imputation
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| n.归罪，责难 | |
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twine
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| v.搓，织，编饰；（使）缠绕 | |
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prick
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| v.刺伤，刺痛，刺孔；n.刺伤，刺痛 | |
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46
snared
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| v.用罗网捕捉，诱陷，陷害( snare的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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47
mightiness
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| n.强大 | |
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48
groom
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| vt.给（马、狗等）梳毛，照料，使...整洁 | |
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49
cactus
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| n.仙人掌 | |
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50
courteous
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| adj.彬彬有礼的，客气的 | |
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51
adamant
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| adj.坚硬的，固执的 | |
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52
humbled
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| adj. 卑下的，谦逊的，粗陋的 vt. 使 ... 卑下，贬低 | |
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53
intruding
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| v.侵入，侵扰，打扰( intrude的现在分词)；把…强加于 | |
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54
accomplice
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| n.从犯，帮凶，同谋 | |
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55
connive
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| v.纵容；密谋 | |
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56
abominable
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| adj.可厌的，令人憎恶的 | |
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57
smuggles
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| v.偷运( smuggle的第三人称单数 )；私运；走私；不按规章地偷带（人或物） | |
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58
wraith
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| n.幽灵；骨瘦如柴的人 | |
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