BOOK ONE-Four

Four
I hadn’t forgotten my plan of going to the auction¹.
There was three weeks to go. I’d had two more trips to the Continent,one to France and the other to Germany. It was when I was in Hamburgthat things came to a crisis. For one thing I took a violent dislike to theman and his wife I was driving. They represented everything I dislikedmost. They were rude, inconsiderate, unpleasant to look at, and I supposethey developed in me a feeling of being unable to stand this life of syco-phancy any longer. I was careful, mind you. I thought I couldn’t standthem another day but I didn’t tell them so. No good running yourself inbad with the firm that employs you. So I telephoned up their hotel, said Iwas ill and I wired London saying the same thing. I said I might be inquarantine and it would be advisable if they sent out a driver to replaceme. Nobody could blame me for that. They wouldn’t care enough aboutme to make further inquiries² and they’d merely think that I was too fever-ish to send them any more news. Later, I’d turn up in London again, spin-ning them a yarn³ of how ill I’d been! But I didn’t think I should do that. Iwas fed up with the driving racket.
That rebellion of mine was an important turning-point in my life. Be-cause of that and of other things, I turned up at the auction rooms on theappointed date.
“Unless sold before by private treaty” had been pasted across the ori-ginal board. But it was still there, so it hadn’t been sold by private treaty. Iwas so excited I hardly knew what I was doing.
As I say, I had never been to a public auction of property before. I wasimbued with the idea that it would be exciting but it wasn’t exciting. Notin the least. It was one of the most moribund⁴ performances I have ever at-tended. It took place in a semi-gloomy atmosphere and there were onlyabout six or seven people there. The auctioneer was quite different fromthose auctioneers that I had seen presiding at furniture sales or things ofthat kind; men with facetious⁵ voices and very hearty⁶ and full of jokes. Thisone, in a dead and alive voice, praised the property and described theacreage and a few things like that and then he went halfheartedly into thebidding. Somebody made a bid of ?5,000. The auctioneer gave a tiredsmile rather as one who hears a joke that isn’t really funny. He made afew remarks and there were a few more bids. They were mostly countrytypes standing⁷ around. Someone who looked like a farmer, someone who Iguessed to be one of the competitive builders, a couple of lawyers, I think,one a man who looked as though he was a stranger from London, welldressed and professional-looking. I don’t know if he made an actual bid,he may have done. If so it was very quietly and done more by gesture.
Anyway the bidding petered to an end, the auctioneer announced in amelancholy voice that the reserve price had not been reached and thething broke up.
“That was a dull business,” I said to one of the country-looking fellowswhom I was next to as I went out.
“Much the same as usual,” he said. “Been to many of these?”
“No,” I said, “actually it’s the first.”
“Come out of curiosity, did you? I didn’t notice you doing any bidding.”
“No fear,” I said. “I just wanted to see how it would go.”
“Well, it’s the way it runs very often. They just want to see who’s interes-ted, you know.”
I looked at him inquiringly.
“Only three of ’em in it, I should say,” said my friend. “Whetherby fromHelminster. He’s the builder, you know. Then Dakham and Coombe, bid-ding on behalf of some Liverpool firm, I understand, and a dark horsefrom London, too, I should say a lawyer. Of course there may be more in itthan that, but those seemed the main ones to me. It’ll go cheap. That’swhat everyone says.”
“Because of the place’s reputation?” I asked.
“Oh, you’ve heard about Gipsy’s Acre, have you? That’s only what thecountry people say. Rural Council ought to have altered that road yearsago—it’s a death trap.”
“But the place has got a bad reputation?”
“I tell you that’s just superstition⁸. Anyway, as I say, the real business’llhappen now behind the scenes, you know. They’ll go and make offers. I’dsay the Liverpool people might get it. I don’t think Whetherby’ll go highenough. He likes buying cheap. Plenty of properties coming into the mar-ket nowadays for development. After all, it’s not many people who couldafford to buy the place, pull that ruined house down and put up anotherhouse there, could they?”
“Doesn’t seem to happen very often nowadays,” I said.
“Too difficult. What with taxation⁹ and one thing and another, and youcan’t get domestic help in the country. No, people would rather pay thou-sands for a luxury flat in a town nowadays up on the sixteenth floor of amodern building. Big unwieldy country houses are a drag on the market.”
“But you could build a modern house,” I argued. “Labour-saving.”
“You could, but it’s an expensive business and people aren’t so fond ofliving lonely.”
“Some people might be,” I said.
He laughed and we parted. I walked along, frowning, puzzling to myself.
My feet took me without my really noticing where I was going along theroad between the trees and up, up to the curving road that led betweenthe trees to the moorlands.
And so I came to the spot in the road where I first saw Ellie. As I said,she was standing just by a tall fir tree and she had the look, if I can explainit, of someone who hadn’t been there a moment before but had just mater-ialized, as it were, out of the tree. She was wearing a sort of dark greentweed and her hair was the soft brown colour of an autumn leaf and therewas something a bit unsubstantial about her. I saw her and I stopped. Shewas looking at me, her lips just parted, looking slightly startled. I suppose Ilooked startled too. I wanted to say something and I didn’t quite knowwhat to say. Then I said:
“Sorry. I—I didn’t mean to startle you. I didn’t know there was anyonehere.”
She said, and her voice was very soft and gentle, it might have been alittle girl’s voice but not quite. She said:
“It’s quite all right. I mean, I didn’t think anyone would be here either.”
She looked round her and said, “It—it’s a lonely spot.” And she shiveredjust a little.
There was rather a chilly¹⁰ wind that afternoon. But perhaps it wasn’t thewind. I don’t know. I came a step or two nearer.
“It is a sort of scary place rather, isn’t it?” I said. “I mean, the house be-ing a ruin the way it is.”
“The Towers,” she said thoughtfully. “That was the name of it, wasn’t it—only I mean, there don’t seem to have been any towers.”
“I expect that was just a name,” I said. “People call their houses nameslike The Towers to make them sound grander than they are.”
She laughed just a little. “I suppose that was it,” she said. “This—perhapsyou know, I’m not sure—this is the place that they’re selling today or put-ting up for auction?”
“Yes,” I said. “I’ve come from the auction now.”
“Oh.” She sounded startled. “Were you—are you—interested?”
“I’m not likely to buy a ruined house with a few hundred acres of wood-land land,” I said. “I’m not in that class.”
“Was it sold?” she asked.
“No, it didn’t come up to reserve.”
“Oh. I see.” She sounded relieved.
“You didn’t want to buy it either, did you?” I said.
“Oh no,” she said, “of course not.” She sounded nervous about it.
I hesitated and then I blurted¹¹ out the words that came to my lips. “I’mpretending,” I said. “I can’t buy it, of course, because I haven’t got anymoney, but I’m interested. I’d like to buy it. I want to buy it. Open yourmouth and laugh at me if you like but that’s the way it is.”
“But isn’t it rather too decrepit¹², too—”
“Oh yes,” I said. “I don’t mean I want it like it is now. I want to pull thisdown, cart it all away. It’s an ugly house and I think it must have been asad house. But this place isn’t sad or ugly. It’s beautiful. Look here. Come alittle this way, through the trees. Look out at the view that way where itgoes to the hills and the moors¹³. D’you see? Clear away a vista¹⁴ here—andthen you come this way—”
I took her by the arm and led her to a second point of the compass. If wewere behaving unconventionally she did not notice it. Anyway, it wasn’tthat kind of way I was holding her. I wanted to show her what I saw.
“Here,” I said, “here you see where it sweeps down to the sea and wherethe rocks show out there. There’s a town between us and that but we can’tsee it because of the hills bulging¹⁵ out farther down the slope. And thenyou can look a third way, to a vague foresty valley. Do you see now if youcut down trees and make big vistas¹⁶ and clear this space round the house,do you see what a beautiful house you could have here? You wouldn’t siteit where the old one is. You’d go about fifty—a hundred yards to the right,here. This is where you could have a house, a wonderful house. A housebuilt by an architect who’s a genius.”
“Do you know any architects who are geniuses?” She sounded doubtful.
“I know one,” I said.
Then I started telling her about Santonix. We sat down side by side on afallen tree and I talked. Yes, I talked to that slender woodland girl whomI’d never seen before and I put all I had into what I was telling her. I toldher the dream that one could build up.
“It won’t happen,” I said, “I know that. It couldn’t happen. But think.
Think into it just like I’m thinking into it. There we’d cut the trees andthere we’d open up, and we’d plant things, rhododendrons and azaleas,and my friend Santonix would come. He’d cough a good deal because Ithink he’s dying of consumption or something but he could do it. He coulddo it before he died. He could build the most wonderful house. You don’tknow what his houses are like. He builds them for very rich people andthey have to be people who want the right thing. I don’t mean the rightthing in the conventional sense. Things people who want a dream cometrue want. Something wonderful.”
“I’d want a house like that,” said Ellie. “You make me see it, feel it…Yes,this would be a lovely place to live. Everything one has dreamed of cometrue. One could live here and be free, not hampered¹⁷, not tied round bypeople pushing you into doing everything you don’t want, keeping youfrom doing anything you do want. Oh I am so sick of my life and thepeople who are round me and everything!”
That’s the way it began, Ellie and I together. Me with my dreams and shewith her revolt against her life. We stopped talking and looked at eachother.
“What’s your name?” she said.
“Mike Rogers,” I said. “Michael Rogers,” I amended¹⁸. “What’s yours?”
“Fenella.” She hesitated and then said, “Fenella Goodman,” looking atme with a rather troubled expression.
This didn’t seem to take us much further but we went on looking at eachother. We both wanted to see each other again—but just for the momentwe didn’t know how to set about it.

1 auction   

n.拍卖；拍卖会；vt.拍卖

参考例句：

• They've put the contents of their house up for auction.他们把房子里的东西全都拿去拍卖了。
• They bought a new minibus with the proceeds from the auction.他们用拍卖得来的钱买了一辆新面包车。

2 inquiries   

n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending further inquiries. 他获得保释，等候进一步调查。
• I have failed to reach them by postal inquiries. 我未能通过邮政查询与他们取得联系。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 yarn   

n.纱，纱线，纺线；奇闻漫谈，旅行轶事

参考例句：

• I stopped to have a yarn with him.我停下来跟他聊天。
• The basic structural unit of yarn is the fiber.纤维是纱的基本结构单元。

4 moribund   

adj.即将结束的，垂死的

参考例句：

• The moribund Post Office Advisory Board was replaced.这个不起作用的邮局顾问委员会已被替换。
• Imperialism is monopolistic,parasitic and moribund capitalism.帝国主义是垄断的、寄生的、垂死的资本主义。

5 facetious   

adj.轻浮的，好开玩笑的

参考例句：

• He was so facetious that he turned everything into a joke.他好开玩笑，把一切都变成了戏谑。
• I became angry with the little boy at his facetious remarks.我对这个小男孩过分的玩笑变得发火了。

6 hearty   

adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的

参考例句：

• After work they made a hearty meal in the worker's canteen.工作完了，他们在工人食堂饱餐了一顿。
• We accorded him a hearty welcome.我们给他热忱的欢迎。

7 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。

8 superstition   

n.迷信，迷信行为

参考例句：

• It's a common superstition that black cats are unlucky.认为黑猫不吉祥是一种很普遍的迷信。
• Superstition results from ignorance.迷信产生于无知。

9 taxation   

n.征税，税收，税金

参考例句：

• He made a number of simplifications in the taxation system.他在税制上作了一些简化。
• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。

10 chilly   

adj.凉快的，寒冷的

参考例句：

• I feel chilly without a coat.我由于没有穿大衣而感到凉飕飕的。
• I grew chilly when the fire went out.炉火熄灭后，寒气逼人。

11 blurted   

v.突然说出，脱口而出( blurt的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She blurted it out before I could stop her. 我还没来得及制止，她已脱口而出。
• He blurted out the truth, that he committed the crime. 他不慎说出了真相，说是他犯了那个罪。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 decrepit   

adj.衰老的，破旧的

参考例句：

• The film had been shot in a decrepit old police station.该影片是在一所破旧不堪的警察局里拍摄的。
• A decrepit old man sat on a park bench.一个衰弱的老人坐在公园的长凳上。

13 moors   

v.停泊，系泊（船只）( moor的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• the North York moors 北约克郡的漠泽
• They're shooting grouse up on the moors. 他们在荒野射猎松鸡。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 vista   

n.远景，深景，展望，回想

参考例句：

• From my bedroom window I looked out on a crowded vista of hills and rooftops.我从卧室窗口望去，远处尽是连绵的山峦和屋顶。
• These uprisings come from desperation and a vista of a future without hope.发生这些暴动是因为人们被逼上了绝路，未来看不到一点儿希望。

15 bulging   

膨胀； 凸出（部）； 打气； 折皱

参考例句：

• Her pockets were bulging with presents. 她的口袋里装满了礼物。
• Conscious of the bulging red folder, Nim told her,"Ask if it's important." 尼姆想到那个鼓鼓囊囊的红色文件夹便告诉她：“问问是不是重要的事。”

16 vistas   

长条形景色( vista的名词复数 )； 回顾； 展望； （未来可能发生的）一系列情景

参考例句：

• This new job could open up whole new vistas for her. 这项新工作可能给她开辟全新的前景。
• The picture is small but It'shows broad vistas. 画幅虽然不大，所表现的天地却十分广阔。

17 hampered   

妨碍，束缚，限制( hamper的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The search was hampered by appalling weather conditions. 恶劣的天气妨碍了搜寻工作。
• So thought every harassed, hampered, respectable boy in St. Petersburg. 圣彼德堡镇的那些受折磨、受拘束的体面孩子们个个都是这么想的。

18 Amended   

adj. 修正的 动词amend的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He asked to see the amended version. 他要求看修订本。
• He amended his speech by making some additions and deletions. 他对讲稿作了些增删修改。