章节正文
As Eleanor read the article her face flushed with indignation,
and when she had finished it, she almost feared to look
up at her father.
'Well, my dear,' said he, 'what do you think of that--is it
worth while to be a warden at that price?'
'Oh, papa;--dear papa!'
'Mr Bold can't un-write that, my dear--Mr Bold can't say
that that sha'n't be read by every clergyman at Oxford; nay,
by every gentleman in the land': and then he walked up and
down the room, while Eleanor in mute despair followed him
with her eyes. 'And I'll tell you what, my dear,' he continued,
speaking now very calmly, and in a forced manner very unlike
himself; 'Mr Bold can't dispute the truth of every word in
that article you have just read--nor can I.' Eleanor stared
at him, as though she scarcely understood the words he was
speaking. 'Nor can I, Eleanor: that's the worst of all, or
would be so if there were no remedy. I have thought much of
all this since we were together last night'; and he came and
sat beside her, and put his arm round her waist as he had done
then. 'I have thought much of what the archdeacon has said,
and of what this paper says; and I do believe I have no right
to be here.'
'No right to be warden of the hospital, papa?'
'No right to be warden with eight hundred a year; no
right to be warden with such a house as this; no right to spend
in luxury money that was intended for charity. Mr Bold may
do as he pleases about his suit, but I hope he will not abandon
it for my sake.'
Poor Eleanor! this was hard upon her. Was it for this she
had made her great resolve! For this that she had laid aside
her quiet demeanour, and taken upon her the rants of a
tragedy heroine! One may work and not for thanks, but yet
feel hurt at not receiving them; and so it was with Eleanor:
one may be disinterested in one's good actions, and yet feel
discontented that they are not recognised. Charity may be
given with the left hand so privily that the right hand does not
know it, and yet the left hand may regret to feel that it has no
immediate reward. Eleanor had had no wish to burden her
father with a weight of obligation, and yet she had looked
forward to much delight from the knowledge that she had
freed him from his sorrows: now such hopes were entirely over:
all that she had done was of no avail; she had humbled herself
to Bold in vain; the evil was utterly beyond her power to cure!
She had thought also how gently she would whisper to her
father all that her lover had said to her about herself, and how
impossible she had found it to reject him: and then she had
anticipated her father's kindly kiss and close embrace as he
gave his sanction to her love. Alas! she could say nothing of
this now. In speaking of Mr Bold, her father put him aside as
one whose thoughts and sayings and acts could be of no
moment. Gentle reader, did you ever feel yourself snubbed?
Did you ever, when thinking much of your own importance,
find yourself suddenly reduced to a nonentity? Such was
Eleanor's feeling now.
'They shall not put forward this plea on my behalf,' continued
the warden. 'Whatever may be the truth of the matter, that
at any rate is not true; and the man who wrote that article
is right in saying that such a plea is revolting to an honest
mind. I will go up to London, my dear, and see these lawyers
myself, and if no better excuse can be made for me than that,
I and the hospital will part.'
'But the archdeacon, papa?'
'I can't help it, my dear; there are some things which a
man cannot bear--I cannot bear that'; and he put his hand
upon the newspaper.
'But will the archdeacon go with you?'
To tell the truth, Mr Harding had made up his mind to
steal a march upon the archdeacon. He was aware that he
could take no steps without informing his dread son-in-law,
but he had resolved that he would send out a note to Plumstead
Episcopi detailing his plans, but that the messenger should
not leave Barchester till he himself had started for London;
so that he might be a day before the doctor, who, he had
no doubt, would follow him. In that day, if he had luck, he
might arrange it all; he might explain to Sir Abraham that
he, as warden, would have nothing further to do with the
defence about to be set up; he might send in his official
resignation to his friend the bishop, and so make public the whole
transaction, that even the doctor would not be able to undo
what he had done. He knew too well the doctor's strength and
his own weakness to suppose he could do this, if they both
reached London together; indeed, he would never be able to
get to London, if the doctor knew of his intended journey in
time to prevent it.
'No, I think not,' said he. 'I think I shall start before the
archdeacon could be ready--I shall go early tomorrow morning.'
'That will be best, papa,' said Eleanor, showing that her
father's ruse was appreciated.
'Why yes, my love. The fact is, I wish to do all this before
the archdeacon can--can interfere. There is a great deal of
truth in all he says--he argues very well, and I can't always
answer him; but there is an old saying, Nelly: " Everyone
knows where his own shoe pinches!" He'll say that I want
moral courage, and strength of character, and power of endurance,
and it's all true; but I'm sure I ought not to remain here, if I
have nothing better to put forward than a quibble: so, Nelly, we
shall have to leave this pretty place.'
Eleanor's face brightened up, as she assured her father how
cordially she agreed with him.
'True, my love,' said he, now again quite happy and at ease
in his manner. 'What good to us is this place or all the money,
if we are to be ill-spoken of?'
'Oh, papa, I am so glad!'
'My darling child! It did cost me a pang at first, Nelly, to
think that you should lose your pretty drawing-room, and your
ponies, and your garden: the garden will be the worst of all--
but there is a garden at Crabtree, a very pretty garden.'
Crabtree Parva was the name of the small living which Mr
Harding had held as a minor canon, and which still belonged
to him. It was only worth some eighty pounds a year, and a
small house and glebe, all of which were now handed over to
Mr Harding's curate; but it was to Crabtree glebe that Mr
Harding thought of retiring. This parish must not be mistaken
for that other living, Crabtree Canonicorum, as it is
called. Crabtree Canonicorum is a very nice thing; there are
only two hundred parishioners; there are four hundred acres
of glebe; and the great and small tithes, which both go to the
rector, are worth four hundred pounds a year more. Crabtree
Canonicorum is in the gift of the dean and chapter, and is at
this time possessed by the Honourable and Reverend Dr Vesey
Stanhope, who also fills the prebendal stall of Goosegorge in
Barchester Chapter, and holds the united rectory of Eiderdown
and Stogpingum, or Stoke Pinquium, as it should be
written. This is the same Dr Vesey Stanhope whose hospitable
villa on the Lake of Como is so well known to the elite of
English travellers, and whose collection of Lombard butterflies
is supposed to be unique.
'Yes,' said the warden, musing, 'there is a very pretty garden
at Crabtree; but I shall be sorry to disturb poor Smith.'
Smith was the curate of Crabtree, a gentleman who was maintaining
a wife and half a dozen children on the income arising
from his profession.
Eleanor assured her father that, as far as she was concerned,
she could leave her house and her ponies without a single
regret. She was only so happy that he was going--going
where he would escape all this dreadful turmoil.
'But we will take the music, my dear.'
And so they went on planning their future happiness, and
plotting how they would arrange it all without the interposition
of the archdeacon, and at last they again became confidential,
and then the warden did thank her for what she had done,
and Eleanor, lying on her father's shoulder, did find an
opportunity to tell her secret: and the father gave his blessing
to his child, and said that the man whom she loved was honest,
good, and kind-hearted, and right-thinking in the main--one
who wanted only a good wife to put him quite upright--'a
man, my love,' he ended by saying, 'to whom I firmly believe
that I can trust my treasure with safety.'
'But what will Dr Grantly say?'
'Well, my dear, it can't be helped--we shall be out at
Crabtree then.'
And Eleanor ran upstairs to prepare her father's clothes for
his journey; and the warden returned to his garden to make
his last adieux to every tree, and shrub, and shady nook that
he knew so well.
CHAPTER XIV
Mount Olympus
Wretched in spirit, groaning under the feeling of insult,
self-condemning, and ill-satisfied in every way, Bold returned
to his London lodgings. Ill as he had fared in his inter-view
with the archdeacon, he was not the less under the necessity of
carrying out his pledge to Eleanor; and he went about his
ungracious task with a heavy heart.
The attorneys whom he had employed in London received
his instructions with surprise and evidentmisgiving; however,
they could only obey, and mutter something of their sorrow
that such heavy costs should only fall upon their own employer
--especially as nothing was wanting but perseverance to
throw them on the opposite party. Bold left the office which
he had latterly so much frequented, shaking the dust from off
his feet; and before he was down the stairs, an edict had
already gone forth for the preparation of the bill.
He next thought of the newspapers. The case had been
taken up by more than one; and he was well aware that the
keynote had been sounded by The Jupiter. He had been very
intimate with Tom Towers, and had often discussed with him
the affairs of the hospital. Bold could not say that the articles
in that paper had been written at his own instigation. He did
not even know, as a fact, that they had been written by his
friend. Tom Towers had never said that such a view of the
case, or such a side in the dispute, would be taken by the paper
with which he was connected. Very discreet in such matters
was Tom Towers, and altogether indisposed to talk loosely of
the concerns of that mighty engine of which it was his high
privilege to move in secret some portion. Nevertheless Bold
believed that to him were owing those dreadful words which
had caused such panic at Barchester--and he conceived himself
bound to prevent their repetition. With this view he betook
himself from the attorneys' to that laboratory where, with
amazing chemistry, Tom Towers compounded thunderbolts for the
destruction of all that is evil, and for the furtherance of all
that is good, in this and other hemispheres.
Who has not heard of Mount Olympus--that high abode
of all the powers of type, that favoured seat of the great goddess
Pica, that wondroushabitation of gods and devils, from
whence, with ceaseless hum of steam and never-ending flow
of Castalian ink, issue forth fifty thousand nightly edicts for
the governance of a subject nation?
Velvet and gilding do not make a throne, nor gold and
jewels a sceptre. It is a throne because the most exalted one
sits there--and a sceptre because the most mighty one wields
and when she had finished it, she almost feared to look
up at her father.
'Well, my dear,' said he, 'what do you think of that--is it
worth while to be a warden at that price?'
'Oh, papa;--dear papa!'
'Mr Bold can't un-write that, my dear--Mr Bold can't say
that that sha'n't be read by every clergyman at Oxford; nay,
by every gentleman in the land': and then he walked up and
down the room, while Eleanor in mute despair followed him
with her eyes. 'And I'll tell you what, my dear,' he continued,
speaking now very calmly, and in a forced manner very unlike
himself; 'Mr Bold can't dispute the truth of every word in
that article you have just read--nor can I.' Eleanor stared
at him, as though she scarcely understood the words he was
speaking. 'Nor can I, Eleanor: that's the worst of all, or
would be so if there were no remedy. I have thought much of
all this since we were together last night'; and he came and
sat beside her, and put his arm round her waist as he had done
then. 'I have thought much of what the archdeacon has said,
and of what this paper says; and I do believe I have no right
to be here.'
'No right to be warden of the hospital, papa?'
'No right to be warden with eight hundred a year; no
right to be warden with such a house as this; no right to spend
in luxury money that was intended for charity. Mr Bold may
do as he pleases about his suit, but I hope he will not abandon
it for my sake.'
Poor Eleanor! this was hard upon her. Was it for this she
had made her great resolve! For this that she had laid aside
her quiet demeanour, and taken upon her the rants of a
tragedy heroine! One may work and not for thanks, but yet
feel hurt at not receiving them; and so it was with Eleanor:
one may be disinterested in one's good actions, and yet feel
discontented that they are not recognised. Charity may be
given with the left hand so privily that the right hand does not
know it, and yet the left hand may regret to feel that it has no
immediate reward. Eleanor had had no wish to burden her
father with a weight of obligation, and yet she had looked
forward to much delight from the knowledge that she had
freed him from his sorrows: now such hopes were entirely over:
all that she had done was of no avail; she had humbled herself
to Bold in vain; the evil was utterly beyond her power to cure!
She had thought also how gently she would whisper to her
father all that her lover had said to her about herself, and how
impossible she had found it to reject him: and then she had
anticipated her father's kindly kiss and close embrace as he
gave his sanction to her love. Alas! she could say nothing of
this now. In speaking of Mr Bold, her father put him aside as
one whose thoughts and sayings and acts could be of no
moment. Gentle reader, did you ever feel yourself snubbed?
Did you ever, when thinking much of your own importance,
find yourself suddenly reduced to a nonentity? Such was
Eleanor's feeling now.
'They shall not put forward this plea on my behalf,' continued
the warden. 'Whatever may be the truth of the matter, that
at any rate is not true; and the man who wrote that article
is right in saying that such a plea is revolting to an honest
mind. I will go up to London, my dear, and see these lawyers
myself, and if no better excuse can be made for me than that,
I and the hospital will part.'
'But the archdeacon, papa?'
'I can't help it, my dear; there are some things which a
man cannot bear--I cannot bear that'; and he put his hand
upon the newspaper.
'But will the archdeacon go with you?'
To tell the truth, Mr Harding had made up his mind to
steal a march upon the archdeacon. He was aware that he
could take no steps without informing his dread son-in-law,
but he had resolved that he would send out a note to Plumstead
Episcopi detailing his plans, but that the messenger should
not leave Barchester till he himself had started for London;
so that he might be a day before the doctor, who, he had
no doubt, would follow him. In that day, if he had luck, he
might arrange it all; he might explain to Sir Abraham that
he, as warden, would have nothing further to do with the
defence about to be set up; he might send in his official
resignation to his friend the bishop, and so make public the whole
transaction, that even the doctor would not be able to undo
what he had done. He knew too well the doctor's strength and
his own weakness to suppose he could do this, if they both
reached London together; indeed, he would never be able to
get to London, if the doctor knew of his intended journey in
time to prevent it.
'No, I think not,' said he. 'I think I shall start before the
archdeacon could be ready--I shall go early tomorrow morning.'
'That will be best, papa,' said Eleanor, showing that her
father's ruse was appreciated.
'Why yes, my love. The fact is, I wish to do all this before
the archdeacon can--can interfere. There is a great deal of
truth in all he says--he argues very well, and I can't always
answer him; but there is an old saying, Nelly: " Everyone
knows where his own shoe pinches!" He'll say that I want
moral courage, and strength of character, and power of endurance,
and it's all true; but I'm sure I ought not to remain here, if I
have nothing better to put forward than a quibble: so, Nelly, we
shall have to leave this pretty place.'
Eleanor's face brightened up, as she assured her father how
cordially she agreed with him.
'True, my love,' said he, now again quite happy and at ease
in his manner. 'What good to us is this place or all the money,
if we are to be ill-spoken of?'
'Oh, papa, I am so glad!'
'My darling child! It did cost me a pang at first, Nelly, to
think that you should lose your pretty drawing-room, and your
ponies, and your garden: the garden will be the worst of all--
but there is a garden at Crabtree, a very pretty garden.'
Crabtree Parva was the name of the small living which Mr
Harding had held as a minor canon, and which still belonged
to him. It was only worth some eighty pounds a year, and a
small house and glebe, all of which were now handed over to
Mr Harding's curate; but it was to Crabtree glebe that Mr
Harding thought of retiring. This parish must not be mistaken
for that other living, Crabtree Canonicorum, as it is
called. Crabtree Canonicorum is a very nice thing; there are
only two hundred parishioners; there are four hundred acres
of glebe; and the great and small tithes, which both go to the
rector, are worth four hundred pounds a year more. Crabtree
Canonicorum is in the gift of the dean and chapter, and is at
this time possessed by the Honourable and Reverend Dr Vesey
Stanhope, who also fills the prebendal stall of Goosegorge in
Barchester Chapter, and holds the united rectory of Eiderdown
and Stogpingum, or Stoke Pinquium, as it should be
written. This is the same Dr Vesey Stanhope whose hospitable
villa on the Lake of Como is so well known to the elite of
English travellers, and whose collection of Lombard butterflies
is supposed to be unique.
'Yes,' said the warden, musing, 'there is a very pretty garden
at Crabtree; but I shall be sorry to disturb poor Smith.'
Smith was the curate of Crabtree, a gentleman who was maintaining
a wife and half a dozen children on the income arising
from his profession.
Eleanor assured her father that, as far as she was concerned,
she could leave her house and her ponies without a single
regret. She was only so happy that he was going--going
where he would escape all this dreadful turmoil.
'But we will take the music, my dear.'
And so they went on planning their future happiness, and
plotting how they would arrange it all without the interposition
of the archdeacon, and at last they again became confidential,
and then the warden did thank her for what she had done,
and Eleanor, lying on her father's shoulder, did find an
opportunity to tell her secret: and the father gave his blessing
to his child, and said that the man whom she loved was honest,
good, and kind-hearted, and right-thinking in the main--one
who wanted only a good wife to put him quite upright--'a
man, my love,' he ended by saying, 'to whom I firmly believe
that I can trust my treasure with safety.'
'But what will Dr Grantly say?'
'Well, my dear, it can't be helped--we shall be out at
Crabtree then.'
And Eleanor ran upstairs to prepare her father's clothes for
his journey; and the warden returned to his garden to make
his last adieux to every tree, and shrub, and shady nook that
he knew so well.
CHAPTER XIV
Mount Olympus
Wretched in spirit, groaning under the feeling of insult,
self-condemning, and ill-satisfied in every way, Bold returned
to his London lodgings. Ill as he had fared in his inter-view
with the archdeacon, he was not the less under the necessity of
carrying out his pledge to Eleanor; and he went about his
ungracious task with a heavy heart.
The attorneys whom he had employed in London received
his instructions with surprise and evidentmisgiving; however,
they could only obey, and mutter something of their sorrow
that such heavy costs should only fall upon their own employer
--especially as nothing was wanting but perseverance to
throw them on the opposite party. Bold left the office which
he had latterly so much frequented, shaking the dust from off
his feet; and before he was down the stairs, an edict had
already gone forth for the preparation of the bill.
He next thought of the newspapers. The case had been
taken up by more than one; and he was well aware that the
keynote had been sounded by The Jupiter. He had been very
intimate with Tom Towers, and had often discussed with him
the affairs of the hospital. Bold could not say that the articles
in that paper had been written at his own instigation. He did
not even know, as a fact, that they had been written by his
friend. Tom Towers had never said that such a view of the
case, or such a side in the dispute, would be taken by the paper
with which he was connected. Very discreet in such matters
was Tom Towers, and altogether indisposed to talk loosely of
the concerns of that mighty engine of which it was his high
privilege to move in secret some portion. Nevertheless Bold
believed that to him were owing those dreadful words which
had caused such panic at Barchester--and he conceived himself
bound to prevent their repetition. With this view he betook
himself from the attorneys' to that laboratory where, with
amazing chemistry, Tom Towers compounded thunderbolts for the
destruction of all that is evil, and for the furtherance of all
that is good, in this and other hemispheres.
Who has not heard of Mount Olympus--that high abode
of all the powers of type, that favoured seat of the great goddess
Pica, that wondroushabitation of gods and devils, from
whence, with ceaseless hum of steam and never-ending flow
of Castalian ink, issue forth fifty thousand nightly edicts for
the governance of a subject nation?
Velvet and gilding do not make a throne, nor gold and
jewels a sceptre. It is a throne because the most exalted one
sits there--and a sceptre because the most mighty one wields
- despair [di´speə]
vi.&n.绝望 (初中英语单词) - calmly [´kɑ:mli] ad.平静地；无风浪地 (初中英语单词)
- dispute [di´spju:t] v.&n.争论，辩论；争吵 (初中英语单词)
- luxury [´lʌkʃəri] n.奢侈(品)；享受 (初中英语单词)
- reward [ri´wɔ:d] n.&v.报答；报酬；奖赏 (初中英语单词)
- obligation [,ɔbli´geiʃən] n.义务；职责；合约 (初中英语单词)
- gently [´dʒentli] ad.温和地；静静地 (初中英语单词)
- whisper [´wispə] v.耳语 n.低语；沙沙声 (初中英语单词)
- embrace [im´breis] vt.&n.拥抱；采纳；信奉 (初中英语单词)
- messenger [´mesindʒə] n.使者；送信人 (初中英语单词)
- bishop [´biʃəp] n.主教 (初中英语单词)
- weakness [´wi:knis] n.虚弱；弱点，缺点 (初中英语单词)
- interfere [,intə´fiə] vi.干涉；妨碍；打扰 (初中英语单词)
- character [´kæriktə] n.特性；性质；人物；字 (初中英语单词)
- darling [´dɑ:liŋ] n.爱人 a.亲爱的 (初中英语单词)
- honourable [´ɔnərəbəl] a.荣誉的；正直的 (初中英语单词)
- collection [kə´lekʃən] n.收集；征收；募捐 (初中英语单词)
- supposed [sə´pəuzd] a.想象的；假定的 (初中英语单词)
- disturb [di´stə:b] vt.扰乱；使不安；打乱 (初中英语单词)
- income [´inkʌm] n.收入，所得 (初中英语单词)
- dreadful [´dredful] a.可怕的；讨厌的 (初中英语单词)
- firmly [´fə:mli] ad.坚固地，稳定地 (初中英语单词)
- pledge [pledʒ] n.信物；誓约vt.使发誓 (初中英语单词)
- evident [´evidənt] a.明显的，明白的 (初中英语单词)
- mutter [´mʌtə] v.&n.咕哝；嘀咕 (初中英语单词)
- preparation [,prepə´reiʃən] n.准备；预习(时间) (初中英语单词)
- jupiter [´dʒu:pitə] n.朱庇特；木星 (初中英语单词)
- altogether [,ɔ:ltə´geðə] ad.完全；总而言之 (初中英语单词)
- portion [´pɔ:ʃən] n.嫁妆；命运 vt.分配 (初中英语单词)
- nevertheless [,nevəðə´les] conj.&ad.然而；不过 (初中英语单词)
- chemistry [´kemistri] n.化学 (初中英语单词)
- clergyman [´klə:dʒimən] n.牧师；教士 (高中英语单词)
- oxford [´ɔksfəd] n.牛津 (高中英语单词)
- remedy [´remidi] n.药品 vt.医治；减轻 (高中英语单词)
- charity [´tʃæriti] n.施舍；慈悲；博爱 (高中英语单词)
- reject [ri´dʒekt] vt.拒绝；抵制；否决 (高中英语单词)
- sanction [´sæŋkʃən] n.&vt.批准；认可 (高中英语单词)
- saying [´seiŋ, ´sei-iŋ] n.言语；言论；格言 (高中英语单词)
- parish [´pæriʃ] n.教区(的全体居民) (高中英语单词)
- reverend [´revərənd] a.可尊敬的 (高中英语单词)
- mighty [´maiti] a.强有力的 ad.很 (高中英语单词)
- repetition [,repi´tiʃən] n.重复；背诵；复制品 (高中英语单词)
- laboratory [lə´bɔrətəri] n.实验室；研究室(所) (高中英语单词)
- throne [θrəun] n.宝座；王位 (高中英语单词)
- warden [´wɔ:dn] n.看守人；监护人 (英语四级单词)
- demeanour [di´mi:nə] n.行为；举止；态度 (英语四级单词)
- resolved [ri´zɔlvd] a.决心的；坚定的 (英语四级单词)
- upstairs [,ʌp´steəz] ad.在楼上 a.楼上的 (英语四级单词)
- loosely [´lu:sli] ad.松散地 (英语四级单词)
- favoured [´feivəd] a.有利的，喜爱的 (英语四级单词)
- wondrous [´wʌndrəs] a.极好的 ad.惊人地 (英语四级单词)
- habitation [,hæbi´teiʃən] n.居住；住所 (英语四级单词)
- nightly [´naitli] a.&ad.每夜(的) (英语四级单词)
- speaking [´spi:kiŋ] n.说话 a.发言的 (英语六级单词)
- assured [ə´ʃuəd] a.确实的 n.被保险人 (英语六级单词)
- misgiving [mis´giviŋ] n.疑虑，忧虑 (英语六级单词)
- wanting [´wɔntiŋ, wɑ:n-] a.短缺的；不足的 (英语六级单词)
- perseverance [,pə:si´viərəns] n.毅力；坚持 (英语六级单词)
- discreet [di´skri:t] a.谨慎的，考虑周到的 (英语六级单词)
- ceaseless [´si:slis] a.不绝的，不停的 (英语六级单词)
文章标签:名著
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