登陆注册
5262500000045

第45章 THE HARD SUMMER.(4)

Ah, there is another deserter from the party! my friend the little hussar--I do not know his name, and call him after his cap and jacket. He is a very remarkable person, about the age of eight years, the youngest piece of gravity and dignity I ever encountered; short, and square, and upright, and slow, with a fine bronzed flat visage, resembling those convertible signs the Broad-Face and the Saracen's-Head, which, happening to be next-door neighbours in the town of B., I never knew apart, resembling, indeed, any face that is open-eyed and immovable, the very sign of a boy! He stalks about with his hands in his breeches pockets, like a piece of machinery; sits leisurely down when he ought to field, and never gets farther in batting than to stop the ball. His is the only voice never heard in the melee: I doubt, indeed, if he have one, which may be partly the reason of a circumstance that I record to his honour, his fidelity to Jem Eusden, to whom he has adhered through every change of fortune, with a tenacity proceeding perhaps from an instinctive consciousness that the loquacious leader talks enough for two. He is the only thing resembling a follower that our demagogue possesses, and is cherished by him accordingly. Jem quarrels for him, scolds for him, pushes for him; and but for Joe Kirby's invincible good-humour, and a just discrimination of the innocent from the guilty, the activity of Jem's friendship would get the poor hussar ten drubbings a day.

But it is growing late. The sun has set a long time. Only see what a gorgeous colouring has spread itself over those parting masses of clouds in the west,--what a train of rosy light! We shall have a fine sunshiny day to-morrow,--a blessing not to be undervalued, in spite of my late vituperation of heat. Shall we go home now? And shall we take the longest but prettiest road, that by the green lanes? This way, to the left, round the corner of the common, past Mr. Welles's cottage, and our path lies straight before us. How snug and comfortable that cottage looks! Its little yard all alive with the cow, and the mare, and the colt almost as large as the mare, and the young foal, and the great yard-dog, all so fat!

Fenced in with hay-rick, and wheat-rick, and bean-stack, and backed by the long garden, the spacious drying-ground, the fine orchard, and that large field quartered into four different crops. How comfortable this cottage looks, and how well the owners earn their comforts! They are the most prosperous pair in the parish--she a laundress with twenty times more work than she can do, unrivalled in flounces and shirt-frills, and such delicacies of the craft; he, partly a farmer, partly a farmer's man, tilling his own ground, and then tilling other people's;--affording a proof, even in this declining age, when the circumstances of so many worthy members of the community seem to have 'an alacrity in sinking,' that it is possible to amend them by sheer industry. He, who was born in the workhouse, and bred up as a parish boy, has now, by mere manual labour, risen to the rank of a land-owner, pays rates and taxes, grumbles at the times, and is called Master Welles,--the title next to Mister--that by which Shakspeare was called;--what would man have more? His wife, besides being the best laundress in the county, is a comely woman still. There she stands at the spring, dipping up water for to-morrow,--the clear, deep, silent spring, which sleeps so peacefully under its high flowery bank, red with the tall spiral stalks of the foxglove and their rich pendent bells, blue with the beautiful forget-me-not, that gem-like blossom, which looks like a living jewel of turquoise and topaz. It is almost too late to see its beauty; and here is the pleasant shady lane, where the high elms will shut out the little twilight that remains. Ah, but we shall have the fairies' lamps to guide us, the stars of the earth, the glow-worms! Here they are, three almost together. Do you not see them? One seems tremulous, vibrating, as if on the extremity of a leaf of grass; the others are deeper in the hedge, in some green cell on which their light falls with an emerald lustre. I hope my friends the cricketers will not come this way home. I would not have the pretty creatures removed for more than I care to say, and in this matter I would hardly trust Joe Kirby--boys so love to stick them in their hats. But this lane is quite deserted. It is only a road from field to field. No one comes here at this hour. They are quite safe; and I shall walk here to-morrow and visit them again.

And now, goodnight! beautiful insects, lamps of the fairies, good-night!

同类推荐
  • 大乘百法明门论开宗义记

    大乘百法明门论开宗义记

    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。
  • 声无哀乐论

    声无哀乐论

    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。
  • 说疑

    说疑

    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。
  • 明伦汇编人事典年齿部

    明伦汇编人事典年齿部

    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。
  • 绣像红灯记

    绣像红灯记

    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
  • 千手千眼观世音菩萨治病合药经

    千手千眼观世音菩萨治病合药经

    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。
  • 玄要篇

    玄要篇

    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。
  • 蛊界行

    蛊界行

    记录一个穿越者的成长历程,是成就仙尊,拯救苍生,还是堕入魔道,为祸天下,尽在一念之间。蛊真人同人,不腹黑,不小白,仅仅就是修我道,成我仙。当自己的蛊真人。催更群,蛊真人闲聊群:931376718
  • 凉一禾你给我等着

    凉一禾你给我等着

    “凉一禾,你抢我的糖”“凉一禾,你抢我卷子”“凉一禾,你抢我男人”“凉一禾,你随便抢啊,反正你都是我的了”凉一禾,品学兼优,颜值与美貌并存,却是温二苗最不想看到的人,且看两人如何相爱相杀吧
  • 皮影皮影活起来

    皮影皮影活起来

    夜幕中,奶奶看到我爷爷驾着金碧辉煌的马车朝她驶来,他欢快地唱着。我们家戏箱里的众天官都簇拥在马车旁迎接我奶奶。奶奶现在急着要告诉我爷爷:他的皮影要唱到省城去了。秉浩是个好接班人。比他强多了。奶奶脸上淌着笑。
  • 我的男友是大明星

    我的男友是大明星

    四目交接那一刻,苏晓娅就动心了。很好看很干净的男生。这是苏晓娅对眼前这个离自己不到三米的男生的第一个想法。“漂亮!”苏晓娅也不知道自己是赞叹眼光所及的这个男生还是表扬自己的球丢的棒。兴许这个美丽的感叹号是天地和人三者的完美奉献吧!呵呵,谁知道呢……
  • 万界遨游记

    万界遨游记

    在混沌中,他创造了三千魔神;在洪荒世界中,他创造了天道管理世界;在多次元大世界中,他创造了神秘四奥……行走在诸天万界之中,他做过商人,做过教师,做过一世帝王……走过万千世界,经历过无数的人生,他能否达成那唯一的目标呢?
  • 鹿眼

    鹿眼

    在小说主人公的童年时代,他与一个鹿眼女孩之间发生过一场奇异的感情,然而结局悲惨。稍长后他遇到同龄的姑娘,姑娘有一双鹿眼般纯真美丽的眼睛。再后来他成人后,在故园又遇到与他当年那般大小的孩子,男孩子女孩子,都长着那么美丽纯真的鹿眼。可是,孩子们之间发生了命案。一个最好的男孩莫名地肚子绞痛而死,另一个好男孩就此疯掉,他声称是自己和另一个孩子共同谋害了好朋友,起因是为一个鹿眼女孩……
  • 观察者

    观察者

    他与她,一个警察,一个画家。一个现实状况焦头烂额,一个外表平静雍容实则同样焦苦炽灼。他陷身侦查的狂迷中,几乎丧失了自我生活。她沉浸或被沉浸在自我与历史里,与世隔膜,孤闭难拔。小说的意趣,不在于过分模拟现实,它承载的是对生活的一种体察,去寻找通往灵魂的秘道。地铁安检处。喝一口!她戴着耳机循环往复地听Andrea Bocelli的《Besame Mucho》(深吻)和Adam Lambert 演唱的《Mad World》(荒谬世界)。对听力有损害?顾不上。
  • 圣经的故事

    圣经的故事

    《圣经》是人类历史上一部独一无二的书。它由不同时代的人用不同的语言写成,却极其贯通;它遭到无数的怀疑甚至诋毁,但最终它作为圣经经典的位置却丝毫没有动摇;它不是单纯的文学书、哲学书或历史书,但它是很多文学作品的源泉,哲学家不断地引用和讨论,它对犹太古史的详尽记载也远远超过其他民族的古史书。《圣经》是人类的伟大遗产。