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第50节

jeremy-第50节

小说: jeremy 字数: 每页4000字

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four of them; all as yet unmarried; all with brown…red faces and
hard straw hats; short skirts; and tremendous voices; forerunners;
in fact; of a type now almost universal。 They played croquet and
lawn…tennis; were prominent members of the Archery Club; and hunted
when their fathers would let them。 They were terrible Dianas to
Jeremy。 He had met one of them once at a Children's Dance; and she
had whirled him around until; with a terrified scream; he broke;
howling; from her arms; and hid himself in the large bosom of the
Jampot。 He was always ashamed of this memory; and he could never see
them without blushing; but; to…day; he seemed less afraid of them;
and actually; when he passed them; touched his hat and looked them
in the face。 They all smiled and nodded to him; and when they had
gone he was so deeply astonished at this adventure that he had to
stop and consider himself。 If the Craggs were nothing to him; what
might he not face?

〃Come here; Hamlet。 How dare you?〃 he ordered in so sharp and
military a voice that Hamlet; who had merely cast a most innocent
glance at a disdainful and conceited white poodle; looked up at his
master with surprise。

Nevertheless; his new…found hardihood received; in the very midst of
his self…congratulation; its severest test。 He stumbled into the
very path of the Dean's wife。

Mrs。 Dean could never have seemed to anyone a large woman; but to
Jeremy she had always been a terror。 She was thick and hard; like a
wall; and wore the kind of silken clothes; that rustledlike the
whispering of a whole meeting of frightened clergymen's wivesas
she moved。 She had a hard; condemnatory voice; and she spoke as
though she were addressing an assembly; but; worst of all; she had
black; beetling eyebrows; and these frightened Jeremy into fits。 He
did not; of course; know that the poor lady suffered continually
from nervous headaches。 He suddenly heard that voice in his ear:
〃Good morning; Jeremy; and where are you off to so early?〃 Mrs。 Dean
was never so awful as when she was jolly; and Jeremy; caught up by
the eyebrows as though they had been hooks and hung thus in mid…air
for all the street to laugh at; nearly lost his command of his
natural tongue。 He found his voice just in time:

〃To Ponting's;〃 he said。

〃All alone? Ah; no; I see you have your little dog。 Nice little dog。
And how's your mother?〃

〃She's quite well; thank you。〃

〃That's rightthat's right。 We haven't seen you lately。 You must
come up to tea with your sisters。 I'm afraid you won't find Ernest;
he's gone back to schoolbut I dare say you're not too big to play
with little girls。〃

Jeremy felt some triumph at his heart。

〃I'm going to school to…morrow;〃 he said。 But if he expected Mrs。
Dean to be pitiful at this statement he was greatly mistaken。

〃Are you; indeed? Such a pity you couldn't have gone with Ernest
but he'd be senior to you; of course。 。 。 Good…bye。 Good…bye。 Give
my love to your mother;〃 and she pounded her way along。

〃She's a beastly woman anyway〃 thought Jeremy。 〃I wish I'd found
something to say to her。 I wonder whether she knows I knocked Ernest
down in the summer and trod on him?〃

But the sight of the High Street soon restored his equanimity。 On
other occasions he had been pushed through it; either by the Jampot
or Miss Jones; so rapidly that he could gather only the most
fleeting impressions。 To…day he could linger and linger; he did。 The
two nicest shops were Mannings' the hairdressers and Ponting's the
book…shop; but Rose the grocer's; and Coulter's the confectioner's
were very good。 Mr。 Manning was an artist。 He did not simply put a
simpering bust with an elaborate head of hair in his window and
leave it at thathe did; indeed; place there a smiling lady with a
wonderful jewelled comb and a radiant row of teeth; but around this
he built up a magnificent world of silver brushes; tortoise… shell
combs; essences and perfumes and powders; jars and bottles and
boxes。 Manning was the finest artist in the town。 Ponting; at the
top of the street just at the corner of the Close; was an artist
too; but in quite another fashion。 Ponting was the best established;
most sacred and serious bookseller in the county。 In the days when
the new 〃Waverley〃 was the sensation of the moment Mr。 Ponting;
grandfather of the present Mr。 Ponting; had been in quite constant
correspondence with Mr。 Southey; and Mr。 Coleridge; and had once;
when on a visit to London; spoken to the great Lord Byron himself。
This tradition of aristocracy remained; and the present Mr。 Pouting
always advised the Bishop what to read and was consulted by Mrs。
Lamb; our only authoress; on questions of publishers and editions
and such technical points。 For all this Jeremy; at his present stage
of interest; would have cared nothing even had he known it; but what
he did care for were the rows of calf…bound books with little ridges
of gold; that made a fine wall across the window with an old print
of the Cathedral and the Close in the middle of them。 Inside
Pontings there was a hush as of the study and the church combined。
It was a rather dark shop with rows and rows of books disappearing
into the ceiling; and one grave and unnaturally old young man behind
the counter。 Jeremy did not know what he should do about Hamlet; so
he brought him inside; only to discover to his horror that the
fiercest of all the Canons; Canon Waterbury; held the floor of the
shop。 Canon Waterbury had a black beard and a biting tongue。 He had
once warned Jeremy off the Cathedral grass in a voice of thunder;
and Jeremy had never forgotten it。 He glared now and pulled his
beard; but Hamlet fortunately behaved well; and the old young man
discovered Jeremy's notepaper within a very short period。

Then suddenly the Canon spoke。

〃Dogs should not be inside shops;〃 He said; as though he were
condemning someone to death。

〃I know;〃 said Jeremy frankly。 〃I wanted to tie him up to something
and there was nothing to tie him up to。〃

〃What did you bring him out for at all?〃 said the Canon。

〃Because he's got to have exercise;〃 said Jeremy; discovering; to
his own delighted surprise; that he was not frightened in the least。

〃Oh; has he? I don't know what people keep dogs for。〃

And then he stamped out of the shop。

Jeremy regarded this in the light of a victory and marched away; his
head more in the air than ever。 He should now have hurried home。 The
midday chimes had rung out and Jeremy's duties were performed。 But
he lingered; listening to the last notes of the chimes; hearing the
cries of the Cathedral choir…boys as they moved across the green to
the choir…school; watching all the people hurry up and down the
street。 Ah; there was the Castle carriage! Perhaps the old Countess
was inside it。 He had only seen her once; at some service in the
Cathedral to which his mother had taken him; but she had made a
great impression on him with her snow…white hair。 He had heard
people speak of her as 〃a wicked old woman。〃 Perhaps she was inside
the carriage 。 。 。 but he only saw the Castle coachman and footman
and the coronet on the door。 It rolled slowly up the hill with its
fine air of commanding the whole worldthen it disappeared around
the corner of the Close。

Jeremy decided then that he would go home across the green and down
Orchard Lane。 He had a wish to enter the Cathedral for a moment;
such a visit would; after all; complete the round of his
experiences。 He had never entered the Cathedral alone; and now; as
he saw it facing him; so vast and majestic and quiet; across the
sun…drenched green; he felt a sudden fear and awe。 He found a ring
in a stone near the west end through which he might fasten Hamlet's
lead; then; slowly pushing back the heavy door; he passed inside。
The Cathedral was utterly quiet。 The vast nave; stained with
reflections of purple and green and ruby; was vague and
unsubstantial; all the little wooden chairs huddled together to the
right and left; leaving a great path that swept up to the High Altar
under shafts of light that fell like searchlights from the windows。
The tombs and the statues peered dimly from the shadow; and the
great east end window; with its deep purple light; seemed to draw
the whole nave up into its heart and hold it there。 All was space
and silence; light and dusk; a little doll of a verger moved in the
far distance; an old woman; so quiet that she seemed only a shadow;
passed him; wiping the little chairs with a duster。

It seemed to Jeremy that he had never been in the Cathedral before;
he stood there; breathless; as though in a moment something must
inevitably happen。 Although he did not think of it; the moment was
one of a sequence that had come to him during the yearhis entry
into the theatre with his uncle; his first conversation with the
sea…captain; the hour when his mother had been so ill; the evening
on the beach when Charlotte had been frightened; the time when
Hamlet had been lost and he had slept with him under a tree。 All
these moments had been something more than merely themselves; had
had something behind them or inside them for which simply they stood
as words stand for pictures。 He analysed; of course; not

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