章节正文
heaven. But just then a lumberman stepped forward who had worked
at the mill and said: "It was Bonnyboy, Grim Carpenter's son. I
saw him jump on his gray colt."
Bonnyboy, Grim Carpenter's son. It couldn't be possible. But
the lumberman insisted that it was, and they had to believe him,
though, of course, it was a disappointment. But where was
Bonnyboy? He deserved thanks, surely. And, moreover, that gray
colt was a valuable animal. It was to be hoped that it was not
drowned.
The water had now subsided, though it yet overflowed the banks;
so that trees, bent and splintered by the terrific force of the
flood, grew far out in the river. The foul dams had all been
swept away, and the tawny torrent ran again with tumultuous
rapids in its old channel. Of the mills scarcely a vestige was
left except slight cavities in the banks, and a few twisted beams
clinging to the rocks where they had stood. The ruins of the
village, with jagged chimneys and broken walls, loomed out of a
half-inundated meadow, through which erratic currents were
sweeping. Here and there lay a dead cow or dog, and in the
branches of a maple-tree the carcasses of two sheep were
entangled. In this marshy field a stooping figure was seen
wading about, as if in search of something. The water broke
about his knees, and sometimes reached up to his waist. He stood
like one dazed, and stared into the brown swirling torrent. Now
he poked something with his boat-hook, now bent down and purled
some dead thing out of a copse of shrubbery in which it had been
caught. The sun rose higher in the sky, and the red vapors were
scattered. But still the old man trudged wearily about, with the
stony stare in his eyes, searching for him whom he had lost. One
company after another now descended from the hill-sides, and from
the high-lying farms which had not been reached by the flood came
wagons with provisions and clothes, and men and women eager and
anxious to help. They shouted to the old man in the submerged
field, and asked what he was looking for. But he only shook his
head, as if he did not understand.
"Why, that is old Grim the carpenter," said someone. "Has
anybody seen Bonnyboy?"
But no one had seen Bonnyboy.
"Do you want help?" they shouted to Grim; but they got no
answer.
Hour after hour old Grim trudged about in the chilly water
searching for his son. Then, about noon, when he had worked his
way far down the river, he caught sight of something which made
his heart stand still. In a brown pool, in which a
half-submerged willow-tree grew, he saw a large grayish shape
which resembled a horse. He stretched out the boat-hook and
rolled it over. Dumbly, fearlessly, he stood staring into the
pool. There lay his son--there lay Bonnyboy stark and dead.
The cold perspiration broke out upon Grim's brow, and his great
breast labored. Slowly he stooped down, drew the dead body out
of the water, and tenderly laid it across his knees. He stared
into the sightless eyes, and murmuring a blessing, closed them.
There was a large discolored spot on the forehead, as of a
bruise. Grim laid his hand softly upon it, and stroked away the
yellow tuft of hair.
"My poor lad," he said, while the tears coursed down his wrinkled
cheeks, "you had a weak head, but your heart, Bonnyboy--your
heart was good."
THE CHILD OF LUCK
I.
A sunny-tempered little fellow was Hans, and his father declared
that he had brought luck with him when he came into the world.
"He was such a handsome baby when he was born," said Inga, his
mother; "but you would scarcely believe it now, running about as
he does in forest and field, tearing his clothes and scratching
his face."
Now, it was true, as Hans's mother said, that he did often tear
his clothes; and as he had an indomitablecuriosity, and had to
investigate everything that came in his way, it was also no
uncommon thing for him to come home with his face stung or
scratched.
"Why must you drag that child with you wherever you go, Nils?"
the mother complained to Hans's father, when the little boy was
brought to her in such a disreputable condition. "Why can't you
leave him at home? What other man do you know who carries a
six-year-old little fellow about with him in rain and shine,
storm and quiet?
"Well," Nils invariably answered, "I like him and he likes me.
He brings me luck."
This was a standingdispute between Nils and Inga, his wife, and
they never came to an agreement. She knew as well as her husband
that before little Hans was born there was want and misery in
their cottage. But from the hour the child lifted up its tiny
voice, announcing its arrival, there had been prosperity and
contentment. Their luck had turned, Nils said, and it was the
child that had turned it. They had been married for four years,
and though they had no one to provide for but themselves, they
scarcely managed to keep body and soul together. All sorts of
untoward things happened. Now a tree which he was cutting down
fell upon Nils and laid him up for a month; now he got water on
his knee from a blow he received while rolling logs into the
chute; now the pig died which was to have provided them with salt
pork for the winter, and the hens took to the bush, and laid
their eggs where nobody except the rats and the weasels could
find them. But since little Hans had come and put an end to all
these disasters, his father had a superstitious feeling that he
could not bear to have him away from him. Therefore every
morning when he started out for the forest or the river he
carried Hans on his shoulder. And the little boy sat there,
smiling proudly and waving his hand to his mother, who stood in
the door looking longingly after him.
"Hello, little chap!" cried the lumbermen, when they saw him.
"Good-morning to you and good luck!"
They always cheered up, however bad the weather was, when they
saw little Hans, for nobody could look at his sunny little face
without feeling something like a ray of sunlight stealing into
his heart. Hans had a smile and a wave of his hand for
everybody. He knew all the lumbermen by name, and they knew him.
They sang as they swung the axe or the boat-hook, and the work
went merrily when little Hans sat on the top of the log pile and
shouted to them. But if by chance he was absent for a day or two
they missed him. No songs were heard, but harsh words, and not
infrequently quarrels. Now, nobody believed, of course, that
little Hans was such a wizard that he could make people feel and
behave any better than it was in their nature to do; but sure it
was--at least the lumbermen insisted that it was so--there was
joy and good-tempered mirth wherever that child went, and life
seemed a little sadder and poorer to those who knew him when he
was away.
No one will wonder that Nils sometimes boasted of his little son.
He told not once, but a hundred times, as they sat about the
camp-fire eating their dinner, that little Hans was a child of
luck, and that no misfortune could happen while he was near.
Lumbermen are naturally superstitious, and though perhaps at
first they may have had their doubts, they gradually came to
accept the statement without question. They came to regard it as
a kind of right to have little Hans sit on the top of the log
pile when they worked, or running along the chute, while the
wild-cat strings of logs shot down the steep slide with lightning
speed. They were not in the least afraid lest the logs should
jump the chute, as they had often done before, killing or maiming
the unhappy man that came too near. For was not little Hans's
life charmed, so that no harm could befall him?
Now, it happened that Inga, little Hans's mother, came one day to
the river to see how he was getting on. Nils was then standing
on a raft hooking the floating logs with his boat-hook, while the
boy was watching him from the shore, shouting to him, throwing
chips into the water, and amusing himself as best he could. It
was early in May, and the river was swollen from recent thaws.
Below the cataract where the lumbermen worked, the broad, brown
current moved slowly along with sluggish whirls and eddies; but
the raft was moored by chains to the shore, so that it was in no
danger of getting adrift. It was capital fun to see the logs
come rushing down the slide, plunging with a tremendous splash
into the river, and then bob up like live things after having
bumped against the bottom. Little Hans clapped his hands and
yelled with delight when a string of three or four came tearing
along in that way, and dived, one after the other, headlong into
the water.
"Catch that one, papa!" he cried; "that is a good big fellow.
He dived like a man, he did. He has washed the dirt off his
snout now; that was the reason he took such a big plunge."
Nils never failed to reach his boat-hook after the log little
Hans indicated, for he liked to humor him, and little Hans liked
to be humored. He had an idea that he was directing his father's
work, and Nils invented all sorts of innocent devices to flatter
little Hans's dignity, and make him think himself indispensable.
It was of no use, therefore, for poor Inga to beg little Hans to
go home with her. He had so much to do, he said, that he
couldn't. He even tried to tear himself away from his mother
when she took him by the arm and remonstrated with him. And then
and there the conviction stole upon Inga that her child did not
love her. She was nothing to him compared to what his father
was. And was it right for Nils thus to rob her of the boy's
affection? Little Hans could scarcely be blamed for loving his
father better; for love is largely dependent upon habit, and Nils
had been his constantcompanion since he was a year old. A
bitter sense of loneliness and loss overcame the poor wife as she
stood on the river-bank pleading with her child, and finding that
she annoyed instead of moving him.
"Won't you come home with mamma, little Hans?" she asked,
tearfully. "The kitten misses you very much; it has been mewing
for you all the morning."
"No," said little Hans, thrusting his hands into his pockets, and
turning about with a manly stride; "we are going to have the
lumberinspector here to-day? and then papa's big raft is going
down the river."
"But this dreadful noise, dear; how can you stand it? And the
logs shooting down that slide and making such a racket. And
these great piles of lumber, Hans--think, if they should tumble
down and kill you!"
"Oh, I'm not afraid, mamma," cried Hans, proudly; and, to show
his fearlessness, he climbed up the log pile, and soon stood on
the top of it, waving his cap and shouting.
"Oh, do come down, child--do come down!" begged Inga, anxiously.
She had scarcely uttered the words when she heard a warning shout
from the slope above, and had just time to lift her eyes, when
she saw a big black object dart past her, strike the log pile,
and break with a deafening crash. A long confused rumble of
rolling logs followed, terrified voices rent the air, and, above
it all, the deep and steady roar of the cataract. She saw, as
through a fog, little Hans, serene and smiling as ever, borne
down on the top of the rolling lumber, now rising up and skipping
from log to log, now clapping his hands and screaming with
pleasure, and then suddenly vanishing in the brown writhing
river. His laughter was still ringing in her ears; the poor
child, he did not realize his danger. The rumbling of falling
logs continued with terrifying persistence. Splash! splash!
splash! they went, diving by twos, by fours, and by dozens at
the very spot where her child had vanished. But where was little
Hans? Oh, where was he? It was all so misty, so unreal and
at the mill and said: "It was Bonnyboy, Grim Carpenter's son. I
saw him jump on his gray colt."
Bonnyboy, Grim Carpenter's son. It couldn't be possible. But
the lumberman insisted that it was, and they had to believe him,
though, of course, it was a disappointment. But where was
Bonnyboy? He deserved thanks, surely. And, moreover, that gray
colt was a valuable animal. It was to be hoped that it was not
drowned.
The water had now subsided, though it yet overflowed the banks;
so that trees, bent and splintered by the terrific force of the
flood, grew far out in the river. The foul dams had all been
swept away, and the tawny torrent ran again with tumultuous
rapids in its old channel. Of the mills scarcely a vestige was
left except slight cavities in the banks, and a few twisted beams
clinging to the rocks where they had stood. The ruins of the
village, with jagged chimneys and broken walls, loomed out of a
half-inundated meadow, through which erratic currents were
sweeping. Here and there lay a dead cow or dog, and in the
branches of a maple-tree the carcasses of two sheep were
entangled. In this marshy field a stooping figure was seen
wading about, as if in search of something. The water broke
about his knees, and sometimes reached up to his waist. He stood
like one dazed, and stared into the brown swirling torrent. Now
he poked something with his boat-hook, now bent down and purled
some dead thing out of a copse of shrubbery in which it had been
caught. The sun rose higher in the sky, and the red vapors were
scattered. But still the old man trudged wearily about, with the
stony stare in his eyes, searching for him whom he had lost. One
company after another now descended from the hill-sides, and from
the high-lying farms which had not been reached by the flood came
wagons with provisions and clothes, and men and women eager and
anxious to help. They shouted to the old man in the submerged
field, and asked what he was looking for. But he only shook his
head, as if he did not understand.
"Why, that is old Grim the carpenter," said someone. "Has
anybody seen Bonnyboy?"
But no one had seen Bonnyboy.
"Do you want help?" they shouted to Grim; but they got no
answer.
Hour after hour old Grim trudged about in the chilly water
searching for his son. Then, about noon, when he had worked his
way far down the river, he caught sight of something which made
his heart stand still. In a brown pool, in which a
half-submerged willow-tree grew, he saw a large grayish shape
which resembled a horse. He stretched out the boat-hook and
rolled it over. Dumbly, fearlessly, he stood staring into the
pool. There lay his son--there lay Bonnyboy stark and dead.
The cold perspiration broke out upon Grim's brow, and his great
breast labored. Slowly he stooped down, drew the dead body out
of the water, and tenderly laid it across his knees. He stared
into the sightless eyes, and murmuring a blessing, closed them.
There was a large discolored spot on the forehead, as of a
bruise. Grim laid his hand softly upon it, and stroked away the
yellow tuft of hair.
"My poor lad," he said, while the tears coursed down his wrinkled
cheeks, "you had a weak head, but your heart, Bonnyboy--your
heart was good."
THE CHILD OF LUCK
I.
A sunny-tempered little fellow was Hans, and his father declared
that he had brought luck with him when he came into the world.
"He was such a handsome baby when he was born," said Inga, his
mother; "but you would scarcely believe it now, running about as
he does in forest and field, tearing his clothes and scratching
his face."
Now, it was true, as Hans's mother said, that he did often tear
his clothes; and as he had an indomitablecuriosity, and had to
investigate everything that came in his way, it was also no
uncommon thing for him to come home with his face stung or
scratched.
"Why must you drag that child with you wherever you go, Nils?"
the mother complained to Hans's father, when the little boy was
brought to her in such a disreputable condition. "Why can't you
leave him at home? What other man do you know who carries a
six-year-old little fellow about with him in rain and shine,
storm and quiet?
"Well," Nils invariably answered, "I like him and he likes me.
He brings me luck."
This was a standingdispute between Nils and Inga, his wife, and
they never came to an agreement. She knew as well as her husband
that before little Hans was born there was want and misery in
their cottage. But from the hour the child lifted up its tiny
voice, announcing its arrival, there had been prosperity and
contentment. Their luck had turned, Nils said, and it was the
child that had turned it. They had been married for four years,
and though they had no one to provide for but themselves, they
scarcely managed to keep body and soul together. All sorts of
untoward things happened. Now a tree which he was cutting down
fell upon Nils and laid him up for a month; now he got water on
his knee from a blow he received while rolling logs into the
chute; now the pig died which was to have provided them with salt
pork for the winter, and the hens took to the bush, and laid
their eggs where nobody except the rats and the weasels could
find them. But since little Hans had come and put an end to all
these disasters, his father had a superstitious feeling that he
could not bear to have him away from him. Therefore every
morning when he started out for the forest or the river he
carried Hans on his shoulder. And the little boy sat there,
smiling proudly and waving his hand to his mother, who stood in
the door looking longingly after him.
"Hello, little chap!" cried the lumbermen, when they saw him.
"Good-morning to you and good luck!"
They always cheered up, however bad the weather was, when they
saw little Hans, for nobody could look at his sunny little face
without feeling something like a ray of sunlight stealing into
his heart. Hans had a smile and a wave of his hand for
everybody. He knew all the lumbermen by name, and they knew him.
They sang as they swung the axe or the boat-hook, and the work
went merrily when little Hans sat on the top of the log pile and
shouted to them. But if by chance he was absent for a day or two
they missed him. No songs were heard, but harsh words, and not
infrequently quarrels. Now, nobody believed, of course, that
little Hans was such a wizard that he could make people feel and
behave any better than it was in their nature to do; but sure it
was--at least the lumbermen insisted that it was so--there was
joy and good-tempered mirth wherever that child went, and life
seemed a little sadder and poorer to those who knew him when he
was away.
No one will wonder that Nils sometimes boasted of his little son.
He told not once, but a hundred times, as they sat about the
camp-fire eating their dinner, that little Hans was a child of
luck, and that no misfortune could happen while he was near.
Lumbermen are naturally superstitious, and though perhaps at
first they may have had their doubts, they gradually came to
accept the statement without question. They came to regard it as
a kind of right to have little Hans sit on the top of the log
pile when they worked, or running along the chute, while the
wild-cat strings of logs shot down the steep slide with lightning
speed. They were not in the least afraid lest the logs should
jump the chute, as they had often done before, killing or maiming
the unhappy man that came too near. For was not little Hans's
life charmed, so that no harm could befall him?
Now, it happened that Inga, little Hans's mother, came one day to
the river to see how he was getting on. Nils was then standing
on a raft hooking the floating logs with his boat-hook, while the
boy was watching him from the shore, shouting to him, throwing
chips into the water, and amusing himself as best he could. It
was early in May, and the river was swollen from recent thaws.
Below the cataract where the lumbermen worked, the broad, brown
current moved slowly along with sluggish whirls and eddies; but
the raft was moored by chains to the shore, so that it was in no
danger of getting adrift. It was capital fun to see the logs
come rushing down the slide, plunging with a tremendous splash
into the river, and then bob up like live things after having
bumped against the bottom. Little Hans clapped his hands and
yelled with delight when a string of three or four came tearing
along in that way, and dived, one after the other, headlong into
the water.
"Catch that one, papa!" he cried; "that is a good big fellow.
He dived like a man, he did. He has washed the dirt off his
snout now; that was the reason he took such a big plunge."
Nils never failed to reach his boat-hook after the log little
Hans indicated, for he liked to humor him, and little Hans liked
to be humored. He had an idea that he was directing his father's
work, and Nils invented all sorts of innocent devices to flatter
little Hans's dignity, and make him think himself indispensable.
It was of no use, therefore, for poor Inga to beg little Hans to
go home with her. He had so much to do, he said, that he
couldn't. He even tried to tear himself away from his mother
when she took him by the arm and remonstrated with him. And then
and there the conviction stole upon Inga that her child did not
love her. She was nothing to him compared to what his father
was. And was it right for Nils thus to rob her of the boy's
affection? Little Hans could scarcely be blamed for loving his
father better; for love is largely dependent upon habit, and Nils
had been his constantcompanion since he was a year old. A
bitter sense of loneliness and loss overcame the poor wife as she
stood on the river-bank pleading with her child, and finding that
she annoyed instead of moving him.
"Won't you come home with mamma, little Hans?" she asked,
tearfully. "The kitten misses you very much; it has been mewing
for you all the morning."
"No," said little Hans, thrusting his hands into his pockets, and
turning about with a manly stride; "we are going to have the
lumberinspector here to-day? and then papa's big raft is going
down the river."
"But this dreadful noise, dear; how can you stand it? And the
logs shooting down that slide and making such a racket. And
these great piles of lumber, Hans--think, if they should tumble
down and kill you!"
"Oh, I'm not afraid, mamma," cried Hans, proudly; and, to show
his fearlessness, he climbed up the log pile, and soon stood on
the top of it, waving his cap and shouting.
"Oh, do come down, child--do come down!" begged Inga, anxiously.
She had scarcely uttered the words when she heard a warning shout
from the slope above, and had just time to lift her eyes, when
she saw a big black object dart past her, strike the log pile,
and break with a deafening crash. A long confused rumble of
rolling logs followed, terrified voices rent the air, and, above
it all, the deep and steady roar of the cataract. She saw, as
through a fog, little Hans, serene and smiling as ever, borne
down on the top of the rolling lumber, now rising up and skipping
from log to log, now clapping his hands and screaming with
pleasure, and then suddenly vanishing in the brown writhing
river. His laughter was still ringing in her ears; the poor
child, he did not realize his danger. The rumbling of falling
logs continued with terrifying persistence. Splash! splash!
splash! they went, diving by twos, by fours, and by dozens at
the very spot where her child had vanished. But where was little
Hans? Oh, where was he? It was all so misty, so unreal and
- disappointment [,disə´pɔintmənt]
n.失望；挫折 (初中英语单词) - moreover [mɔ:´rəuvə] ad.再者，此外，而且 (初中英语单词)
- valuable [´væljuəbəl, -jubəl] a.有价值的，贵重的 (初中英语单词)
- channel [´tʃænəl] n.海峡；航道；途径 (初中英语单词)
- meadow [´medəu] n.草地；牧场 (初中英语单词)
- chilly [´tʃili] a.凉飕飕的 (初中英语单词)
- blessing [´blesiŋ] n.祝福 (初中英语单词)
- forehead [´fɔrid] n.额，前部 (初中英语单词)
- softly [´sɔftli] ad.软化地；柔和地 (初中英语单词)
- running [´rʌniŋ] a.奔跑的；流动的 (初中英语单词)
- curiosity [,kjuəri´ɔsiti] n.好奇；奇事；珍品 (初中英语单词)
- wherever [weər´evə] conj.无论在哪里 (初中英语单词)
- standing [´stændiŋ] n.持续 a.直立的 (初中英语单词)
- dispute [di´spju:t] v.&n.争论，辩论；争吵 (初中英语单词)
- agreement [ə´gri:mənt] n.同意；一致；协议 (初中英语单词)
- misery [´mizəri] n.痛苦；悲惨；穷困 (初中英语单词)
- cottage [´kɔtidʒ] n.村舍；小屋；小别墅 (初中英语单词)
- arrival [ə´raivəl] n.到达；到达的人(物) (初中英语单词)
- prosperity [prɔ´speriti] n.繁荣；成功；幸运 (初中英语单词)
- therefore [´ðeəfɔ:] ad.&conj.因此；所以 (初中英语单词)
- proudly [´praudli] ad.骄傲地；傲慢地 (初中英语单词)
- sunlight [´sʌnlait] n.日光 (初中英语单词)
- absent [´æbsənt, əb´sent] a.不在的 vt.使缺席 (初中英语单词)
- unhappy [ʌn´hæpi] a.不幸的；不快乐的 (初中英语单词)
- tremendous [tri´mendəs] a.可怕的；巨大的 (初中英语单词)
- innocent [´inəsənt] a.无罪的；单纯的 (初中英语单词)
- dignity [´digniti] n.尊严，尊贵；高官显贵 (初中英语单词)
- conviction [kən´vikʃən] n.定罪；确信，信服 (初中英语单词)
- constant [´kɔnstənt] a.坚定的；坚贞的 (初中英语单词)
- companion [kəm´pæniən] n.同伴；同事；伴侣 (初中英语单词)
- kitten [´kitn] n.小猫 (初中英语单词)
- dreadful [´dredful] a.可怕的；讨厌的 (初中英语单词)
- lumber [´lʌmbə] v.伐木 n.木材 (初中英语单词)
- laughter [´lɑ:ftə] n.笑，笑声 (初中英语单词)
- terrific [tə´rifik] a.可怕的；极大的 (高中英语单词)
- torrent [´tɔrənt] n.奔流，激流，洪流；迸发 (高中英语单词)
- tenderly [´tendəli] ad.娇嫩地；柔和地 (高中英语单词)
- invariably [in´veəriəbli] ad.不变地；永恒地 (高中英语单词)
- merrily [´merili] ad.欢乐地；愉快地 (高中英语单词)
- misfortune [mis´fɔ:tʃən] n.不幸；灾祸 (高中英语单词)
- befall [bi´fɔ:l] v.降临；发表(于) (高中英语单词)
- amusing [ə´mju:ziŋ] a.有趣的 (高中英语单词)
- headlong [´hedlɔŋ] ad.&a.轻率地(的) (高中英语单词)
- loving [´lʌviŋ] a.爱的，有爱情的 (高中英语单词)
- dependent [di´pendənt] a.依赖的；从属的 (高中英语单词)
- loneliness [´ləunliniz] n.孤独，寂寞 (高中英语单词)
- finding [´faindiŋ] n.发现物；判断；结果 (高中英语单词)
- stride [straid] n.进展 v.跨过；骑 (高中英语单词)
- inspector [in´spektə] n.检查员；监察员 (高中英语单词)
- racket [´rækit] n.(网球等的)拍；球拍 (高中英语单词)
- rumble [´rʌmbəl] v.(使)隆隆响 n.隆隆声 (高中英语单词)
- serene [si´ri:n] n.&a.清澈的；宁静的 (高中英语单词)
- wearily [´wiərili] ad.疲倦地；厌烦地 (英语四级单词)
- superstitious [,sju:pə´stiʃəs] a.迷信的 (英语四级单词)
- wizard [´wizəd] n.术士；男巫 (英语四级单词)
- swollen [´swəulən] swell的过去分词 (英语四级单词)
- cataract [´kætərækt] n.大瀑布；白内障 (英语四级单词)
- overcame [,əuvə´keim] overcome的过去式 (英语四级单词)
- warning [´wɔ:niŋ] n.警告；前兆 a.预告的 (英语四级单词)
- vestige [´vestidʒ] n.形迹；痕迹；遗迹 (英语六级单词)
- indomitable [in´dɔmitəbəl] a.不屈不挠的 (英语六级单词)
- sluggish [´slʌgiʃ] a.呆滞的；偷懒的 (英语六级单词)
文章标签:名著
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