登陆注册
5210400000004

第4章

It would be lovely in bed after the sheets got a bit hot. First they were so cold to get into. He shivered to think how cold they were first. But then they got hot and then he could sleep. It was lovely to be tired. He yawned again. Night prayers and then bed: he shivered and wanted to yawn.

It would be lovely in a few minutes. He felt a warm glow creeping up from the cold shivering sheets, warmer and warmer till he felt warm all over, ever so warm and yet he shivered a little and still wanted to yawn.

The bell rang for night prayers and he filed out of the study hall after the others and down the staircase and along the corridors to the chapel.

The corridors were darkly lit and the chapel was darkly lit. Soon all would be dark and sleeping. There was cold night air in the chapel and the marbles were the colour the sea was at night. The sea was cold day and night: but it was colder at night. It was cold and dark under the seawall beside his father's house. But the kettle would be on the hob to make punch.

The prefect of the chapel prayed above his head and his memory knew the responses: O LOrd open our lips And our mouths shall announce Thy praise.

Incline unto our aid, O God!

O Lord make haste to help us! There was a cold night smell in the chapel. But it was a holy smell. It was not like the smell of the old peasants who knelt at the back of the chapel at Sunday mass. That was a smell of air and rain and turf and corduroy.

But they were very holy peasants. They breathed behind him On his neck and sighed as they prayed. They lived in Clane, a fellow said: there were little cottages there and he had seen a woman standing at the half-door of a cottage with a child in her arms as the cars had come past from Sallins.

It would be lovely to sleep for one night in that cottage before the fire of smoking turf, in the dark lit by the fire, in the warm dark, breathing the smell of the peasants, air and rain and turf and corduroy. But O, the road there between the trees was dark! You would be lost in the dark. It made him afraid to think of how it was.

He heard the voice of the prefect of the chapel saying the last prayers.

He prayed it too against the dark outside under the trees. Visit, we beseech Thee, O Lord, this habitation and drive away from it all the snares of the enemy. May Thy holy angels dwell herein to preserve us in peace and may Thy blessings be always upon us through Christ our Lord.

Amen. His fingers trembled as he undressed himself in the dormitory. He told his fingers to hurry up. He had to undress and then kneel and say his own prayers and be in bed before the gas was lowered so that he might not go to hell when he died. He rolled his stockings off and put on his nightshirt quickly and knelt trembling at his bedside and repeated his prayers quickly, fearing that the gas would go down. He felt his shoulders shaking as he murmured: God bless my father and my mother and spare them to me!

God bless my little brothers and sisters and spare them to me!

God bless Dante and Uncle Charles and spare them to me! He blessed himself and climbed quickly into bed and, tucking the end of the nightshirt under his feet, curled himself together under the cold white sheets, shaking and trembling. But he would not go to hell when he died;

and the shaking would stop. A voice bade the boys in the dormitory good night. He peered out for an instant over the coverlet and saw the yellow curtains round and before his bed that shut him off on all sides. The light was lowered quietly.

The prefect's shoes went away. Where? Down the staircase and along the corridors or to his room at the end? He saw the dark. Was it true about the black dog that walked there at night with eyes as big as carriage-lamps?

They said it was the ghost of a murderer. A long shiver of fear flowed over his body. He saw the dark entrance hall of the castle. Old servants in old dress were in the ironing-room above the staircase. It was long ago. The old servants were quiet. There was a fire there, but the hall was still dark. A figure came up the staircase from the hall. He wore the white cloak of a marshal; his face was pale and strange; he held his hand pressed to his side. He looked out of strange eyes at the old servants.

They looked at him and saw their master's face and cloak and knew that he had received his death-wound. But only the dark was where they looked:

only dark silent air. Their master had received his death-wound on the battlefield of Prague far away over the sea. He was standing on the field;

his hand was pressed to his side; his face was pale and strange and he wore the white cloak of a marshal.

O how cold and strange it was to think of that! All the dark was cold and strange. There were pale strange faces there, great eyes like carriage-lamps.

They were the ghosts of murderers, the figures of marshals who had received their death-wound on battlefields far away over the sea. What did they wish to say that their faces were so strange? Visit, we beseech Thee, O Lord, this habitation and drive away from it all Going home for the holidays! That would be lovely: the fellows had told him. Getting up on the cars in the early wintry morning outside the door of the castle. The cars were rolling on the gravel. Cheers for the rector!

Hurray! Hurray! Hurray!

The cars drove past the chapel and all caps were raised. They drove merrily along the country roads. The drivers pointed with their whips to Bodenstown. The fellows cheered. They passed the farmhouse of the Jolly Farmer. Cheer after cheer after cheer. Through Clane they drove, cheering and cheered. The peasant women stood at the half-doors, the men stood here and there. The lovely smell there was in the wintry air: the smell of Clane:

rain and wintry air and turf smouldering and corduroy.

The train was full of fellows: a long long chocolate train with cream facings. The guards went to and fro opening, closing, locking, unlocking the doors. They were men in dark blue and silver; they had silvery whistles and their keys made a quick music: click, click: click, click.

And the train raced on over the flat lands and past the Hill of Allen.

同类推荐
  • 台湾文献丛刊清圣祖实录选辑

    台湾文献丛刊清圣祖实录选辑

    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。
  • 萤窗异草

    萤窗异草

    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。
  • 宣汉篇

    宣汉篇

    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。
  • 河源志

    河源志

    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。
  • 道德真经口义

    道德真经口义

    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
  • 台湾研究优秀成果奖获奖论文汇编.2012卷

    台湾研究优秀成果奖获奖论文汇编.2012卷

    本书系全国台湾研究会2012年度台湾研究优秀论文获奖论文集,共收录叶世明《两岸民调体系建构---兼谈审慎思辨民调理论方法的运用》、王建民《南台湾经济社会结构对岛内政治与两岸关系影响初探》、廖中武《政治社会化:台湾民众国家认同的建构路径》、孙云《新形势下海峡两岸在国际社会的合作析论》、童立群《表象与实质:探析台湾蓝绿矛盾的深层原因》、严泉《中间选民与台湾选举政治发展的新趋势》等优秀论文18篇,从多个角度对台湾历史与现状进行了深入探讨,为当年度台湾研究成果之集大成者。
  • 太极真人说二十四门戒经

    太极真人说二十四门戒经

    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。
  • 谍海寻踪

    谍海寻踪

    世界第一兵书《孙子兵法》中有句名言:“知彼知己,百战不殆。”可见被称为“东方兵学鼻祖”的孙武很早就已经非常明确地认识到了“知”与“战”的内在联系和实施次序。即“知”与“战”二者为不可分割的统一体,只有先“知彼知己”,然后方能“百战不殆”。
  • 奇妙生物之谜(求知探索)

    奇妙生物之谜(求知探索)

    恐龙的祖先恐龙最早出现在三叠纪晚期,因此它们的祖先只能生活在二叠纪或三叠纪早期。具有双孔类型头骨的一种动物是称作“槽齿类”的小动物,叫杨氏鳄,它是从南非二叠纪晚期的地层里发现的,样子有点像现代的蜥蜴。
  • Chaucer

    Chaucer

    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。
  • 刀九圣

    刀九圣

    讲一个故事,故事中的我,手持善恶之刀——九圣,在黑暗中慢慢前行。我只是一颗棋子,他们画了一个圈,规划好了故事的发展方向,我只能遵循那所谓的命运。终了,是悲剧,我能做的,只是将这个悲伤的故事讲给下个人听,希望他不要活成我的样子。
  • 影帝大人您的官配已上线

    影帝大人您的官配已上线

    机缘巧合,再次重生,踏入娱乐圈一世寻找,毫无进展,却柳暗花明再遇故人,梦回曾经,解几世姻缘误认异乡,却是故乡,寻注定之人即来则安,创造辉煌,携所爱共度
  • 做个人见人爱的性格美女

    做个人见人爱的性格美女

    性格与美丽是相辅相成的。本书比较全面和具体地介绍了好性格的好处以及如何提升自己的性格修养。例如,好的性格可以给人带来好运、健康的身体、较好的人脉等以及女人如何控制自己的情绪、做个精致的女人呢等。
  • 信仰诸天

    信仰诸天

    凡人世界,他是韩跑跑手中一具诡异的傀儡;我欲封天中,他是孟浩又敬又怕的师叔;仙逆世界,他是与王林把酒言欢的生死之交;盘龙世界,他是挽狂澜于既倒的光明教皇;遮天世界,他是狠人女帝不愿成仙只为在红尘中等他归来的哥哥......穿越诸天位面,吸收信仰,点燃神火,凝聚神格,托举神国,成为诸天中那永恒的剑之君主!p.s.已有百万字完本老书《无限之史上最强主神》,书荒的朋友可以去看看。书友群:200595054新书《漫漫诸天》已经发布,希望大家继续支持!
  • 新闻哲学的思考:以人类认知为参照

    新闻哲学的思考:以人类认知为参照

    全书100万字,分认知之路(引论)、新闻之路、新闻本质论、新闻复杂论、新闻价值论、新闻表现论、新闻超越论七大部分。这是一部构建新闻哲学大厦的奠基之作,一部揭示新闻深层奥秘的鸿篇巨著。它以一线新闻记者的探索和感悟为基础,吸收了新疆经济报20年新闻改革的理论成果,集中西新闻思想之大成,以最新科学哲学理论成果为支撑,填补了中国大陆“新闻哲学”领域的学术空白,为信息时代新闻理论创新做出了新的探索,具有重大学术意义和实践指导价值。