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经典名著:弗洛斯河上的磨坊36
添加时间:2024-05-11 14:06:46 浏览次数: 作者:未知
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  • Another Love-Scene

    Early in the following April, nearly a year after that dubious1 parting you have just witnessed, you may, if you like, again see Maggie entering the Red Deeps through the group of Scotch2 firs. But it is early afternoon and not evening, and the edge of sharpness in the spring air makes her draw her large shawl close about her and trip along rather quickly; though she looks round, as usual, that she may take in the sight of her beloved trees. There is a more eager, inquiring look in her eyes than there was last June, and a smile is hovering4 about her lips, as if some playful speech were awaiting the right hearer. The hearer was not long in appearing.

    “Take back your Corinne,” said Maggie, drawing a book from under her shawl. “You were right in telling me she would do me no good; but you were wrong in thinking I should wish to be like her.”

    “Wouldn’t you really like to be a tenth Muse5, then, Maggie?” said Philip looking up in her face as we look at a first parting in the clouds that promises us a bright heaven once more.

    “Not at all,” said Maggie, laughing. “The Muses6 were uncomfortable goddesses, I think,—obliged always to carry rolls and musical instruments about with them. If I carried a harp3 in this climate, you know, I must have a green baize cover for it; and I should be sure to leave it behind me by mistake.”

    “You agree with me in not liking7 Corinne, then?”

    “I didn’t finish the book,” said Maggie. “As soon as I came to the blond-haired young lady reading in the park, I shut it up, and determined8 to read no further. I foresaw that that light-complexioned girl would win away all the love from Corinne and make her miserable9. I’m determined to read no more books where the blond-haired women carry away all the happiness. I should begin to have a prejudice against them. If you could give me some story, now, where the dark woman triumphs, it would restore the balance. I want to avenge11 Rebecca and Flora12 MacIvor and Minna, and all the rest of the dark unhappy ones. Since you are my tutor, you ought to preserve my mind from prejudices; you are always arguing against prejudices.”

    “Well, perhaps you will avenge the dark women in your own person, and carry away all the love from your cousin Lucy. She is sure to have some handsome young man of St Ogg’s at her feet now; and you have only to shine upon him—your fair little cousin will be quite quenched13 in your beams.”

    “Philip, that is not pretty of you, to apply my nonsense to anything real,” said Maggie, looking hurt. “As if I, with my old gowns and want of all accomplishments14, could be a rival of dear little Lucy,—who knows and does all sorts of charming things, and is ten times prettier than I am,—even if I were odious15 and base enough to wish to be her rival. Besides, I never go to aunt Deane’s when any one is there; it is only because dear Lucy is good, and loves me, that she comes to see me, and will have me go to see her sometimes.”

    “Maggie,” said Philip, with surprise, “it is not like you to take playfulness literally16. You must have been in St Ogg’s this morning, and brought away a slight infection of dulness.”

    “Well,” said Maggie, smiling, “if you meant that for a joke, it was a poor one; but I thought it was a very good reproof17. I thought you wanted to remind me that I am vain, and wish every one to admire me most. But it isn’t for that that I’m jealous for the dark women,—not because I’m dark myself; it’s because I always care the most about the unhappy people. If the blond girl were forsaken18, I should like her best. I always take the side of the rejected lover in the stories.”

    “Then you would never have the heart to reject one yourself, should you, Maggie?” said Philip, flushing a little.

    “I don’t know,” said Maggie, hesitatingly. Then with a bright smile, “I think perhaps I could if he were very conceited19; and yet, if he got extremely humiliated20 afterward21, I should relent.”

    “I’ve often wondered, Maggie,” Philip said, with some effort, “whether you wouldn’t really be more likely to love a man that other women were not likely to love.”

    “That would depend on what they didn’t like him for,” said Maggie, laughing. “He might be very disagreeable. He might look at me through an eye-glass stuck in his eye, making a hideous22 face, as young Torry does. I should think other women are not fond of that; but I never felt any pity for young Torry. I’ve never any pity for conceited people, because I think they carry their comfort about with them.”

    “But suppose, Maggie,—suppose it was a man who was not conceited, who felt he had nothing to be conceited about; who had been marked from childhood for a peculiar23 kind of suffering, and to whom you were the day-star of his life; who loved you, worshipped you, so entirely24 that he felt it happiness enough for him if you would let him see you at rare moments——”

    Philip paused with a pang25 of dread26 lest his confession27 should cut short this very happiness,—a pang of the same dread that had kept his love mute through long months. A rush of self-consciousness told him that he was besotted to have said all this. Maggie’s manner this morning had been as unconstrained and indifferent as ever.

    But she was not looking indifferent now. Struck with the unusual emotion in Philip’s tone, she had turned quickly to look at him; and as he went on speaking, a great change came over her face,—a flush and slight spasm28 of the features, such as we see in people who hear some news that will require them to readjust their conceptions of the past. She was quite silent, and walking on toward the trunk of a fallen tree, she sat down, as if she had no strength to spare for her muscles. She was trembling.

    “Maggie,” said Philip, getting more and more alarmed in every fresh moment of silence, “I was a fool to say it; forget that I’ve said it. I shall be contented29 if things can be as they were.”

    The distress30 with which he spoke31 urged Maggie to say something. “I am so surprised, Philip; I had not thought of it.” And the effort to say this brought the tears down too.

    “Has it made you hate me, Maggie?” said Philip, impetuously. “Do you think I’m a presumptuous32 fool?”

    “Oh, Philip!” said Maggie, “how can you think I have such feelings? As if I were not grateful for any love. But—but I had never thought of your being my lover. It seemed so far off—like a dream—only like one of the stories one imagines—that I should ever have a lover.”

    “Then can you bear to think of me as your lover, Maggie?” said Philip, seating himself by her, and taking her hand, in the elation33 of a sudden hope. “Do you love me?”

    Maggie turned rather pale; this direct question seemed not easy to answer. But her eyes met Philip’s, which were in this moment liquid and beautiful with beseeching34 love. She spoke with hesitation35, yet with sweet, simple, girlish tenderness.

    “I think I could hardly love any one better; there is nothing but what I love you for.” She paused a little while, and then added: “But it will be better for us not to say any more about it, won’t it, dear Philip? You know we couldn’t even be friends, if our friendship were discovered. I have never felt that I was right in giving way about seeing you, though it has been so precious to me in some ways; and now the fear comes upon me strongly again, that it will lead to evil.”

    “But no evil has come, Maggie; and if you had been guided by that fear before, you would only have lived through another dreary36, benumbing year, instead of reviving into your real self.”

    Maggie shook her head. “It has been very sweet, I know,—all the talking together, and the books, and the feeling that I had the walk to look forward to, when I could tell you the thoughts that had come into my head while I was away from you. But it has made me restless; it has made me think a great deal about the world; and I have impatient thoughts again,—I get weary of my home; and then it cuts me to the heart afterward, that I should ever have felt weary of my father and mother. I think what you call being benumbed was better—better for me—for then my selfish desires were benumbed.”

    Philip had risen again, and was walking backward and forward impatiently.

    “No, Maggie, you have wrong ideas of self-conquest, as I’ve often told you. What you call self-conquest—blinding and deafening37 yourself to all but one train of impressions—is only the culture of monomania in a nature like yours.”

    He had spoken with some irritation38, but now he sat down by her again and took her hand.

    “Don’t think of the past now, Maggie; think only of our love. If you can really cling to me with all your heart, every obstacle will be overcome in time; we need only wait. I can live on hope. Look at me, Maggie; tell me again it is possible for you to love me. Don’t look away from me to that cloven tree; it is a bad omen10.”

    She turned her large dark glance upon him with a sad smile.

    “Come, Maggie, say one kind word, or else you were better to me at Lorton. You asked me if I should like you to kiss me,—don’t you remember?—and you promised to kiss me when you met me again. You never kept the promise.”

    The recollection of that childish time came as a sweet relief to Maggie. It made the present moment less strange to her. She kissed him almost as simply and quietly as she had done when she was twelve years old. Philip’s eyes flashed with delight, but his next words were words of discontent.

    “You don’t seem happy enough, Maggie; you are forcing yourself to say you love me, out of pity.”

    “No, Philip,” said Maggie, shaking her head, in her old childish way; “I’m telling you the truth. It is all new and strange to me; but I don’t think I could love any one better than I love you. I should like always to live with you—to make you happy. I have always been happy when I have been with you. There is only one thing I will not do for your sake; I will never do anything to wound my father. You must never ask that from me.”

    “No, Maggie, I will ask nothing; I will bear everything; I’ll wait another year only for a kiss, if you will only give me the first place in your heart.”

    “No,” said Maggie, smiling, “I won’t make you wait so long as that.” But then, looking serious again, she added, as she rose from her seat,—

    “But what would your own father say, Philip? Oh, it is quite impossible we can ever be more than friends,—brother and sister in secret, as we have been. Let us give up thinking of everything else.”

    “No, Maggie, I can’t give you up,—unless you are deceiving me; unless you really only care for me as if I were your brother. Tell me the truth.”

    “Indeed I do, Philip. What happiness have I ever had so great as being with you,—since I was a little girl,—the days Tom was good to me? And your mind is a sort of world to me; you can tell me all I want to know. I think I should never be tired of being with you.”

    They were walking hand in hand, looking at each other; Maggie, indeed, was hurrying along, for she felt it time to be gone. But the sense that their parting was near made her more anxious lest she should have unintentionally left some painful impression on Philip’s mind. It was one of those dangerous moments when speech is at once sincere and deceptive39; when feeling, rising high above its average depth, leaves floodmarks which are never reached again.

    They stopped to part among the Scotch firs.

    “Then my life will be filled with hope, Maggie, and I shall be happier than other men, in spite of all? We do belong to each other—for always—whether we are apart or together?”

    “Yes, Philip; I should like never to part; I should like to make your life very happy.”

    “I am waiting for something else. I wonder whether it will come.”

    Maggie smiled, with glistening40 tears, and then stooped her tall head to kiss the pale face that was full of pleading, timid love,—like a woman’s.

    She had a moment of real happiness then,—a moment of belief that, if there were sacrifice in this love, it was all the richer and more satisfying.

    She turned away and hurried home, feeling that in the hour since she had trodden this road before, a new era had begun for her. The tissue of vague dreams must now get narrower and narrower, and all the threads of thought and emotion be gradually absorbed in the woof of her actual daily life.



    点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

    1 dubious [ˈdju:biəs] Akqz1   第7级
    adj.怀疑的,无把握的;有问题的,靠不住的
    参考例句:
    • What he said yesterday was dubious. 他昨天说的话很含糊。
    • He uses some dubious shifts to get money. 他用一些可疑的手段去赚钱。
    2 scotch [skɒtʃ] ZZ3x8   第9级
    n.伤口,刻痕;苏格兰威士忌酒;vi.粉碎,消灭,阻止;adj.苏格兰(人)的
    参考例句:
    • Facts will eventually scotch these rumours. 这种谣言在事实面前将不攻自破。
    • Italy was full of fine views and virtually empty of Scotch whiskey. 意大利多的是美景,真正缺的是苏格兰威士忌。
    3 harp [hɑ:p] UlEyQ   第9级
    n.竖琴;天琴座
    参考例句:
    • She swept her fingers over the strings of the harp. 她用手指划过竖琴的琴弦。
    • He played an Irish melody on the harp. 他用竖琴演奏了一首爱尔兰曲调。
    4 hovering ['hɒvərɪŋ] 99fdb695db3c202536060470c79b067f   第7级
    鸟( hover的现在分词 ); 靠近(某事物); (人)徘徊; 犹豫
    参考例句:
    • The helicopter was hovering about 100 metres above the pad. 直升机在离发射台一百米的上空盘旋。
    • I'm hovering between the concert and the play tonight. 我犹豫不决今晚是听音乐会还是看戏。
    5 muse [mju:z] v6CzM   第8级
    n.缪斯(希腊神话中的女神),创作灵感
    参考例句:
    • His muse had deserted him, and he could no longer write. 他已无灵感,不能再写作了。
    • Many of the papers muse on the fate of the President. 很多报纸都在揣测总统的命运。
    6 muses [mju:ziz] 306ea415b7f016732e8a8cee3311d579   第8级
    v.沉思,冥想( muse的第三人称单数 );沉思自语说(某事)
    参考例句:
    • We have listened too long to the courtly muses of Europe. 欧洲那种御用的诗才,我们已经听够了。 来自辞典例句
    • Shiki muses that this is, at least, probably the right atmosphere. 志贵觉得这至少是正确的气氛。 来自互联网
    7 liking [ˈlaɪkɪŋ] mpXzQ5   第7级
    n.爱好;嗜好;喜欢
    参考例句:
    • The word palate also means taste or liking. Palate这个词也有“口味”或“嗜好”的意思。
    • I must admit I have no liking for exaggeration. 我必须承认我不喜欢夸大其词。
    8 determined [dɪˈtɜ:mɪnd] duszmP   第7级
    adj.坚定的;有决心的;v.决定;断定(determine的过去分词)
    参考例句:
    • I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation. 我已决定毕业后去西藏。
    • He determined to view the rooms behind the office. 他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。
    9 miserable [ˈmɪzrəbl] g18yk   第7级
    adj.悲惨的,痛苦的;可怜的,糟糕的
    参考例句:
    • It was miserable of you to make fun of him. 你取笑他,这是可耻的。
    • Her past life was miserable. 她过去的生活很苦。
    10 omen [ˈəʊmən] N5jzY   第9级
    n.征兆,预兆;vt.预示
    参考例句:
    • The superstitious regard it as a bad omen. 迷信的人认为那是一种恶兆。
    • Could this at last be a good omen for peace? 这是否终于可以视作和平的吉兆了?
    11 avenge [əˈvendʒ] Zutzl   第8级
    vt. 替…报仇 vi. 报复,报仇
    参考例句:
    • He swore to avenge himself on the mafia. 他发誓说要向黑手党报仇。
    • He will avenge the people on their oppressor. 他将为人民向压迫者报仇。
    12 flora [ˈflɔ:rə] 4j7x1   第9级
    n.(某一地区的)植物群
    参考例句:
    • The subtropical island has a remarkably rich native flora. 这个亚热带岛屿有相当丰富的乡土植物种类。
    • All flora need water and light. 一切草木都需要水和阳光。
    13 quenched [kwentʃt] dae604e1ea7cf81e688b2bffd9b9f2c4   第7级
    解(渴)( quench的过去式和过去分词 ); 终止(某事物); (用水)扑灭(火焰等); 将(热物体)放入水中急速冷却
    参考例句:
    • He quenched his thirst with a long drink of cold water. 他喝了好多冷水解渴。
    • I quenched my thirst with a glass of cold beer. 我喝了一杯冰啤酒解渴。
    14 accomplishments [ə'kʌmplɪʃmənts] 1c15077db46e4d6425b6f78720939d54   第8级
    n.造诣;完成( accomplishment的名词复数 );技能;成绩;成就
    参考例句:
    • It was one of the President's greatest accomplishments. 那是总统最伟大的成就之一。
    • Among her accomplishments were sewing,cooking,playing the piano and dancing. 她的才能包括缝纫、烹调、弹钢琴和跳舞。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
    15 odious [ˈəʊdiəs] l0zy2   第10级
    adj.可憎的,讨厌的
    参考例句:
    • The judge described the crime as odious. 法官称这一罪行令人发指。
    • His character could best be described as odious. 他的人格用可憎来形容最贴切。
    16 literally [ˈlɪtərəli] 28Wzv   第7级
    adv.照字面意义,逐字地;确实
    参考例句:
    • He translated the passage literally. 他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
    • Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint. 有时候,她不走到真正要昏厥了,决不肯坐下来。
    17 reproof [rɪˈpru:f] YBhz9   第12级
    n.斥责,责备
    参考例句:
    • A smart reproof is better than smooth deceit. 严厉的责难胜过温和的欺骗。
    • He is impatient of reproof. 他不能忍受指责。
    18 Forsaken [] Forsaken   第7级
    adj. 被遗忘的, 被抛弃的 动词forsake的过去分词
    参考例句:
    • He was forsaken by his friends. 他被朋友们背弃了。
    • He has forsaken his wife and children. 他遗弃了他的妻子和孩子。
    19 conceited [kənˈsi:tɪd] Cv0zxi   第8级
    adj.自负的,骄傲自满的
    参考例句:
    • He could not bear that they should be so conceited. 他们这样自高自大他受不了。
    • I'm not as conceited as so many people seem to think. 我不像很多人认为的那么自负。
    20 humiliated [hjuˈmilieitid] 97211aab9c3dcd4f7c74e1101d555362   第7级
    感到羞愧的
    参考例句:
    • Parents are humiliated if their children behave badly when guests are present. 子女在客人面前举止失当,父母也失体面。
    • He was ashamed and bitterly humiliated. 他感到羞耻,丢尽了面子。
    21 afterward ['ɑ:ftəwəd] fK6y3   第7级
    adv.后来;以后
    参考例句:
    • Let's go to the theatre first and eat afterward. 让我们先去看戏,然后吃饭。
    • Afterward, the boy became a very famous artist. 后来,这男孩成为一个很有名的艺术家。
    22 hideous [ˈhɪdiəs] 65KyC   第8级
    adj.丑陋的,可憎的,可怕的,恐怖的
    参考例句:
    • The whole experience had been like some hideous nightmare. 整个经历就像一场可怕的噩梦。
    • They're not like dogs, they're hideous brutes. 它们不像狗,是丑陋的畜牲。
    23 peculiar [pɪˈkju:liə(r)] cinyo   第7级
    adj.古怪的,异常的;特殊的,特有的
    参考例句:
    • He walks in a peculiar fashion. 他走路的样子很奇特。
    • He looked at me with a very peculiar expression. 他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。
    24 entirely [ɪnˈtaɪəli] entirely   第9级
    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。
    25 pang [pæŋ] OKixL   第9级
    n.剧痛,悲痛,苦闷;vt.使剧痛,折磨
    参考例句:
    • She experienced a sharp pang of disappointment. 她经历了失望的巨大痛苦。
    • She was beginning to know the pang of disappointed love. 她开始尝到了失恋的痛苦。
    26 dread [dred] Ekpz8   第7级
    vt.担忧,忧虑;惧怕,不敢;n.担忧,畏惧
    参考例句:
    • We all dread to think what will happen if the company closes. 我们都不敢去想一旦公司关门我们该怎么办。
    • Her heart was relieved of its blankest dread. 她极度恐惧的心理消除了。
    27 confession [kənˈfeʃn] 8Ygye   第10级
    n.自白,供认,承认
    参考例句:
    • Her confession was simply tantamount to a casual explanation. 她的自白简直等于一篇即席说明。
    • The police used torture to extort a confession from him. 警察对他用刑逼供。
    28 spasm [ˈspæzəm] dFJzH   第10级
    n.痉挛,抽搐;一阵发作
    参考例句:
    • When the spasm passed, it left him weak and sweating. 一阵痉挛之后,他虚弱无力,一直冒汗。
    • He kicked the chair in a spasm of impatience. 他突然变得不耐烦,一脚踢向椅子。
    29 contented [kənˈtentɪd] Gvxzof   第8级
    adj.满意的,安心的,知足的
    参考例句:
    • He won't be contented until he's upset everyone in the office. 不把办公室里的每个人弄得心烦意乱他就不会满足。
    • The people are making a good living and are contented, each in his station. 人民安居乐业。
    30 distress [dɪˈstres] 3llzX   第7级
    n.苦恼,痛苦,不舒适;不幸;vt.使悲痛
    参考例句:
    • Nothing could alleviate his distress. 什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。
    • Please don't distress yourself. 请你不要忧愁了。
    31 spoke [spəʊk] XryyC   第11级
    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
    参考例句:
    • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company. 他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
    • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre. 辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
    32 presumptuous [prɪˈzʌmptʃuəs] 6Q3xk   第10级
    adj.胆大妄为的,放肆的,冒昧的,冒失的
    参考例句:
    • It would be presumptuous for anybody to offer such a view. 任何人提出这种观点都是太放肆了。
    • It was presumptuous of him to take charge. 他自拿主张,太放肆了。
    33 elation [iˈleɪʃn] 0q9x7   第11级
    n.兴高采烈,洋洋得意
    参考例句:
    • She showed her elation at having finally achieved her ambition. 最终实现了抱负,她显得十分高兴。
    • His supporters have reacted to the news with elation. 他的支持者听到那条消息后兴高采烈。
    34 beseeching [bɪˈsi:tʃɪŋ] 67f0362f7eb28291ad2968044eb2a985   第11级
    adj.恳求似的v.恳求,乞求(某事物)( beseech的现在分词 )
    参考例句:
    • She clung to her father, beseeching him for consent. 她紧紧挨着父亲,恳求他答应。 来自辞典例句
    • He casts a beseeching glance at his son. 他用恳求的眼光望着儿子。 来自辞典例句
    35 hesitation [ˌhezɪ'teɪʃn] tdsz5   第7级
    n.犹豫,踌躇
    参考例句:
    • After a long hesitation, he told the truth at last. 踌躇了半天,他终于直说了。
    • There was a certain hesitation in her manner. 她的态度有些犹豫不决。
    36 dreary [ˈdrɪəri] sk1z6   第8级
    adj.令人沮丧的,沉闷的,单调乏味的
    参考例句:
    • They live such dreary lives. 他们的生活如此乏味。
    • She was tired of hearing the same dreary tale of drunkenness and violence. 她听够了那些关于酗酒和暴力的乏味故事。
    37 deafening [ˈdefnɪŋ] deafening   第7级
    adj. 振耳欲聋的, 极喧闹的 动词deafen的现在分词形式
    参考例句:
    • The noise of the siren was deafening her. 汽笛声震得她耳朵都快聋了。
    • The noise of the machine was deafening. 机器的轰鸣声震耳欲聋。
    38 irritation [ˌɪrɪ'teɪʃn] la9zf   第9级
    n.激怒,恼怒,生气
    参考例句:
    • He could not hide his irritation that he had not been invited. 他无法掩饰因未被邀请而生的气恼。
    • Barbicane said nothing, but his silence covered serious irritation. 巴比康什么也不说,但是他的沉默里潜伏着阴郁的怒火。
    39 deceptive [dɪˈseptɪv] CnMzO   第8级
    adj.骗人的,造成假象的,靠不住的
    参考例句:
    • His appearance was deceptive. 他的外表带有欺骗性。
    • The storyline is deceptively simple. 故事情节看似简单,其实不然。
    40 glistening ['glɪstnɪŋ] glistening   第8级
    adj.闪耀的,反光的v.湿物闪耀,闪亮( glisten的现在分词 )
    参考例句:
    • Her eyes were glistening with tears. 她眼里闪着晶莹的泪花。
    • Her eyes were glistening with tears. 她眼睛中的泪水闪着柔和的光。 来自《用法词典》

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