登陆注册
4605400000044

第44章 THE THINKER(5)

On the street as he walked beside the girl new and daring thoughts had come into Seth Richmond's mind. He began to regret his decision to get out of town. "It would be something new and altogether delightful to remain and walk often through the streets with Helen White," he thought. In imagina- tion he saw himself putting his arm about her waist and feeling her arms clasped tightly about his neck. One of those odd combinations of events and places made him connect the idea of love- making with this girl and a spot he had visited some days before. He had gone on an errand to the house of a farmer who lived on a hillside beyond the Fair Ground and had returned by a path through a field. At the foot of the hill below the farmer's house Seth had stopped beneath a sycamore tree and looked about him. A soft humming noise had greeted his ears. For a mo- ment he had thought the tree must be the home of a swarm of bees.

And then, looking down, Seth had seen the bees everywhere all about him in the long grass. He stood in a mass of weeds that grew waist-high in the field that ran away from the hillside. The weeds were abloom with tiny purple blossoms and gave forth an overpowering fragrance. Upon the weeds the bees were gathered in armies, singing as they worked.

Seth imagined himself lying on a summer eve- ning, buried deep among the weeds beneath the tree. Beside him, in the scene built in his fancy, lay Helen White, her hand lying in his hand. A peculiar reluctance kept him from kissing her lips, but he felt he might have done that if he wished. Instead, he lay perfectly still, looking at her and listening to thearmy of bees that sang the sustained masterful song of labor above his head.

On the bench in the garden Seth stirred uneasily. Releasing the hand of the girl, he thrust his hands into his trouser pockets. A desire to impress the mind of his companion with the importance of the resolution he had made came over him and he nod- ded his head toward the house. "Mother'll make a fuss, I suppose," he whispered. "She hasn't thought at all about what I'm going to do in life. She thinks I'm going to stay on here forever just being a boy."Seth's voice became charged with boyish earnest- ness. "You see, I've got to strike out. I've got to get to work. It's what I'm good for."Helen White was impressed. She nodded her head and a feeling of admiration swept over her. "This is as it should be," she thought. "This boy is not a boy at all, but a strong, purposeful man." Cer- tain vague desires that had been invading her body were swept away and she sat up very straight on the bench. The thunder continued to rumble and flashes of heat lightning lit up the eastern sky. The garden that had been so mysterious and vast, a place that with Seth beside her might have become the background for strange and wonderful adven- tures, now seemed no more than an ordinary Wines- burg back yard, quite definite and limited in its outlines.

"What will you do up there?" she whispered.

Seth turned half around on the bench, striving to see her face in the darkness. He thought her infi- nitely more sensible and straightforward than George Willard, and was glad he had come away from his friend. A feeling of impatience with the town that had been in his mind returned, and he tried to tell her of it. "Everyone talks and talks," he began. "I'm sick of it. I'll do something, get into some kind of work where talk don't count. Maybe I'll just be a mechanic in a shop. I don't know. I guess I don't care much. I just want to work and keep quiet. That's all I've got in my mind."Seth arose from the bench and put out his hand. He did not want to bring the meeting to an end but could not think of anything more to say. "It's the last time we'll see each other," he whispered.

A wave of sentiment swept over Helen. Putting her hand upon Seth'sshoulder, she started to draw his face down toward her own upturned face. The act was one of pure affection and cutting regret that some vague adventure that had been present in the spirit of the night would now never be realized. "I think I'd better be going along," she said, letting her hand fall heavily to her side. A thought came to her. "Don't you go with me; I want to be alone," she said. "You go and talk with your mother. You'd better do that now."Seth hesitated and, as he stood waiting, the girl turned and ran away through the hedge. A desire to run after her came to him, but he only stood staring, perplexed and puzzled by her action as he had been perplexed and puzzled by all of the life of the town out of which she had come. Walking slowly toward the house, he stopped in the shadow of a large tree and looked at his mother sitting by a lighted window busily sewing. The feeling of loneli- ness that had visited him earlier in the evening re- turned and colored his thoughts of the adventure through which he had just passed. "Huh!" he ex- claimed, turning and staring in the direction taken by Helen White. "That's how things'll turn out. She'll be like the rest. I suppose she'll begin now to look at me in a funny way." He looked at the ground and pondered this thought. "She'll be em- barrassed and feel strange when I'm around," he whispered to himself. "That's how it'll be. That's how everything'll turn out. When it comes to loving someone, it won't never be me. It'll be someone else--some fool--someone who talks a lot--some- one like that George Willard."

同类推荐
  • 百字碑

    百字碑

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 南唐书

    南唐书

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 越绝书

    越绝书

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 使琉球录

    使琉球录

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 太上慈悲道场灭罪水忏

    太上慈悲道场灭罪水忏

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 魂穿:心理医生,别显摆

    魂穿:心理医生,别显摆

    无论是21世纪的2018年,还是千年之前,亦或是五十年代的天津。无论是喜欢若即若离的我,还是因为某些事情躲着你的我,亦或是不断因为爱你而把你绑在身边的我。请相信,都不是我的本意,不知如何对你解释,对你坦白,才算真正的解脱。无论如何,请你记住,我对你的爱,至死不渝。
  • 裂锦(新版)

    裂锦(新版)

    这是一个悲凉的传奇。傅圣歆为了避免家族企业的破产,不得不依附于曾有宿怨的商界巨子易志维。他们在彼此的试探与挣扎里,慢慢陷入与对方的情感纠葛中。只是现实严酷,容不得她奢望爱情或是幸福。悲情小天后匪我思存感动经典,再续三世纠葛情仇。这一刻的爱情情深似海,而人生,注定寂寞如雪。当文字也开始哭泣……再见记忆中那些明媚的忧伤,觅一个云淡风轻的闲暇午后,在匪我思存的文字里体验一次畅快淋漓的文字之旅!
  • 星光璀璨:总裁宠妻入骨

    星光璀璨:总裁宠妻入骨

    一次意外醉酒,她吐了他一身,从此缘分便展开,他是方氏集团总裁,手下独创了一娱乐公司安年,她成为他旗下艺人,他许诺会让她成为娱乐圈最璀璨的那颗明星,却不想他所作的一切全因为另外一个女人,她想走进他的心,受到的却是一次又一次的伤害……
  • 二次元最强英灵

    二次元最强英灵

    林天带着英灵系统来到了火影世界,在这里他又会翻起怎样的浪花?(世界∶火影[进行中]—fate[暂定]—……有什么想要看的世界可以从评论里发,我会不定时间选一下。)
  • 一念情深,傲娇前任不好惹

    一念情深,傲娇前任不好惹

    他的温柔,是每个女人都想攀的高枝,可唯独她的真心,他迟迟不及。陆家有两个女儿,一个亲生的,一个捡来的。捡来的那个,蛇蝎心肠,夺走了她的爱人,毁了她的家,幸好她遇见了她的远钧。一朝误会,分隔数载。陆黎再次归来,她的远钧,身边已有良人。那个良人不是别人,正是最初的最初,夺她爱人,毁她陆家的宋姗姗。如今她妩媚动人,骄傲颔首:“陆黎你看,即便是那么爱你的男人又如何,最后,还不是依旧选了我。”
  • 大唐之极品富商

    大唐之极品富商

    特种兵重生盛唐,不玩改造反去经商。自此一代富商横空出世,建造富商帝国。
  • 中山客

    中山客

    通过本书,你将会看到从唐宋至今,历经千年年都拥有勃勃生机的——岭南文化,中山文化。如果你想寻找正在古老中国的样子,你不妨读读本书,很多在成长记忆中正在逝去的风俗在这里会搜索到它的印记,今天,行走在大大小小、相互交错的老城街巷中,你会遇见生动的传说、平淡的生活、古怪的街名,还有那些摇摆在“现代化”的凛冽寒风中的苍老背影,但历经千年,情怀未改,文化未变,这里依然保留着传统意义上的中国文化。
  • 创世天帝录

    创世天帝录

    日月星辰交替,在辽阔无垠的大地上,不知何时出现了一卷上古卷轴,有人说,混沌初开时,这卷轴便存在于世,也有人说,此等上古卷轴,只是虚无缥缈,没几人见过,根本不存在。慢慢的五花八门的传说假想四溢而出,而这神秘的上古卷轴被称为天帝录。相传当有人达到某个层次,被天地万物认可时,天帝录上便会撰写上这个人的名讳,而这个人便是这个世界的主宰,统领天下,通常这个人会被称为天帝。但无奈岁月蹉跎,天帝的层次没有几人可以达到,这片广阔的大地上,对于这个传说渐渐消失殆尽,剩下无几的人还在向往着这个缥缈的称号,厮杀拼搏着。
  • 骨科速查手册

    骨科速查手册

    随着人们活动半径的扩大,交通事故频发,骨科疾病发病率逐年上升,骨科图书的出版也不断丰富。目前,骨科临床用书大多分为两类:一类内容“广而全”,涵盖了骨科各种常见疾病,从病因、病理到诊断、治疗,内容详尽。
  • 帝少夫人又又又在虐渣了

    帝少夫人又又又在虐渣了

    新书《君先生:持证上岗》已发布~重生当晚,为活命,她跳上他车,将他压在身下,拿刀威胁:“救我!”某男双眸危险一眯:“女人,你很有胆!”上一世,她被渣爸后妈死死压着,重活一次,却被某男压得死死!某女:“我要自由!”某男:“求我!”某女:“我要自由!”某男再次邪肆一笑:“求我!”某女气得牙痒痒:你给我等着!(重生,爽文,女强男更强,女主重生自带透视眼,称霸赌场,多重身份,十赌十赢,让人眼红怎么办?霸气帝少一路保驾护航:老子的女人谁敢动!)