章节正文
might be selected, altered. There were none. From beginning to end
it contained not a single sentencecapable of being made to sound
pleasant by any ingenuity whatsoever.
The Rev. Augustus Cracklethorpe climbed slowly up the pulpit steps
without an idea in his head of what he was going to say. The sunlight
fell upon the upturned faces of a crowd that filled every corner of
the church. So happy, so buoyant a congregation the eyes of the Rev.
Augustus Cracklethorpe had never till that day looked down upon. The
feeling came to him that he did not want to leave them. That they did
not wish him to go, could he doubt? Only by regarding them as a
collection of the most shameless hypocrites ever gathered together
under one roof. The Rev. Augustus Cracklethorpe dismissed the passing
suspicion as a suggestion of the Evil One, folded the neatly-written
manuscript that lay before him on the desk, and put it aside. He had
no need of a farewellsermon. The arrangements made could easily be
altered. The Rev. Augustus Cracklethorpe spoke from his pulpit for
the first time an impromptu.
The Rev. Augustus Cracklethorpe wished to acknowledge himself in the
wrong. Foolishly founding his judgment upon the evidence of a few
men, whose names there would be no need to mention, members of the
congregation who, he hoped, would one day be sorry for the
misunderstandings they had caused, brethren whom it was his duty to
forgive, he had assumed the parishioners of St. Jude's,
Wychwood-on-the-Heath, to have taken a personal dislike to him. He
wished to publicly apologize for the injustice he had unwittingly done
to their heads and to their hearts. He now had it from their own lips
that a libel had been put upon them. So far from their wishing his
departure, it was self-evident that his going would inflict upon them
a great sorrow. With the knowledge he now possessed of the
respect--one might almost say the veneration--with which the majority
of that congregation regarded him--knowledge, he admitted, acquired
somewhat late--it was clear to him he could still be of help to them
in their spiritual need. To leave a flock so devoted would stamp him
as an unworthyshepherd. The ceaselessstream of regrets at his
departure that had been poured into his ear during the last four days
he had decided at the last moment to pay heed to. He would remain
with them--on one condition.
There quivered across the sea of humanity below him a movement that
might have suggested to a more observant watcher the convulsive
clutchings of some drowning man at some chance straw. But the Rev.
Augustus Cracklethorpe was thinking of himself.
The parish was large and he was no longer a young man. Let them
provide him with a conscientious and energetic curate. He had such a
one in his mind's eye, a near relation of his own, who, for a small
stipend that was hardly worth mentioning, would, he knew it for a
fact, accept the post. The pulpit was not the place in which to
discuss these matters, but in the vestry afterwards he would be
pleased to meet such members of the congregation as might choose to
stay.
The question agitating the majority of the congregation during the
singing of the hymn was the time it would take them to get outside the
church. There still remained a faint hope that the Rev. Augustus
Cracklethorpe, not obtaining his curate, might consider it due to his
own dignity to shake from his feet the dust of a parishgenerous in
sentiment, but obstinately close-fisted when it came to putting its
hands into its pockets.
But for the parishioners of St. Jude's that Sunday was a day of
misfortune. Before there could be any thought of moving, the Rev.
Augustus raised his surpliced arm and begged leave to acquaint them
with the contents of a short note that had just been handed up to him.
It would send them all home, he felt sure, with joy and thankfulness
in their hearts. An example of Christian benevolence was among them
that did honour to the Church.
Here a retiredwholesale clothier from the East-end of London--a
short, tubby gentleman who had recently taken the Manor House--was
observed to turn scarlet.
A gentleman hitherto unknown to them had signalled his advent among
them by an act of munificence that should prove a shining example to
all rich men. Mr. Horatio Copper--the reverend gentleman found some
difficulty, apparently, in deciphering the name.
"Cooper-Smith, sir, with an hyphen," came in a thin whisper, the voice
of the still scarlet-faced clothier.
Mr. Horatio Cooper-Smith, taking--the Rev. Augustus felt confident--a
not unworthy means of grappling to himself thus early the hearts of
his fellow-townsmen, had expressed his desire to pay for the expense
of a curate entirely out of his own pocket. Under these
circumstances, there would be no further talk of a farewell between
the Rev. Augustus Cracklethorpe and his parishioners. It would be the
hope of the Rev. Augustus Cracklethorpe to live and die the pastor of
St. Jude's.
A more solemn-looking, sober congregation than the congregation that
emerged that Sunday morning from St. Jude's in Wychwood-on-the-Heath
had never, perhaps, passed out of a church door.
"He'll have more time upon his hands," said Mr. Biles, retired
wholesale ironmonger and junior churchwarden, to Mrs. Biles, turning
the corner of Acacia Avenue--"he'll have more time to make himself a
curse and a stumbling-block."
"And if this 'near relation' of his is anything like him--"
"Which you may depend upon it is the Case, or he'd never have thought
of him," was the opinion of Mr. Biles.
"I shall give that Mrs. Pennycoop," said Mrs. Biles, "a piece of my
mind when I meet her."
But of what use was that?
End
it contained not a single sentencecapable of being made to sound
pleasant by any ingenuity whatsoever.
The Rev. Augustus Cracklethorpe climbed slowly up the pulpit steps
without an idea in his head of what he was going to say. The sunlight
fell upon the upturned faces of a crowd that filled every corner of
the church. So happy, so buoyant a congregation the eyes of the Rev.
Augustus Cracklethorpe had never till that day looked down upon. The
feeling came to him that he did not want to leave them. That they did
not wish him to go, could he doubt? Only by regarding them as a
collection of the most shameless hypocrites ever gathered together
under one roof. The Rev. Augustus Cracklethorpe dismissed the passing
suspicion as a suggestion of the Evil One, folded the neatly-written
manuscript that lay before him on the desk, and put it aside. He had
no need of a farewellsermon. The arrangements made could easily be
altered. The Rev. Augustus Cracklethorpe spoke from his pulpit for
the first time an impromptu.
The Rev. Augustus Cracklethorpe wished to acknowledge himself in the
wrong. Foolishly founding his judgment upon the evidence of a few
men, whose names there would be no need to mention, members of the
congregation who, he hoped, would one day be sorry for the
misunderstandings they had caused, brethren whom it was his duty to
forgive, he had assumed the parishioners of St. Jude's,
Wychwood-on-the-Heath, to have taken a personal dislike to him. He
wished to publicly apologize for the injustice he had unwittingly done
to their heads and to their hearts. He now had it from their own lips
that a libel had been put upon them. So far from their wishing his
departure, it was self-evident that his going would inflict upon them
a great sorrow. With the knowledge he now possessed of the
respect--one might almost say the veneration--with which the majority
of that congregation regarded him--knowledge, he admitted, acquired
somewhat late--it was clear to him he could still be of help to them
in their spiritual need. To leave a flock so devoted would stamp him
as an unworthyshepherd. The ceaselessstream of regrets at his
departure that had been poured into his ear during the last four days
he had decided at the last moment to pay heed to. He would remain
with them--on one condition.
There quivered across the sea of humanity below him a movement that
might have suggested to a more observant watcher the convulsive
clutchings of some drowning man at some chance straw. But the Rev.
Augustus Cracklethorpe was thinking of himself.
The parish was large and he was no longer a young man. Let them
provide him with a conscientious and energetic curate. He had such a
one in his mind's eye, a near relation of his own, who, for a small
stipend that was hardly worth mentioning, would, he knew it for a
fact, accept the post. The pulpit was not the place in which to
discuss these matters, but in the vestry afterwards he would be
pleased to meet such members of the congregation as might choose to
stay.
The question agitating the majority of the congregation during the
singing of the hymn was the time it would take them to get outside the
church. There still remained a faint hope that the Rev. Augustus
Cracklethorpe, not obtaining his curate, might consider it due to his
own dignity to shake from his feet the dust of a parishgenerous in
sentiment, but obstinately close-fisted when it came to putting its
hands into its pockets.
But for the parishioners of St. Jude's that Sunday was a day of
misfortune. Before there could be any thought of moving, the Rev.
Augustus raised his surpliced arm and begged leave to acquaint them
with the contents of a short note that had just been handed up to him.
It would send them all home, he felt sure, with joy and thankfulness
in their hearts. An example of Christian benevolence was among them
that did honour to the Church.
Here a retiredwholesale clothier from the East-end of London--a
short, tubby gentleman who had recently taken the Manor House--was
observed to turn scarlet.
A gentleman hitherto unknown to them had signalled his advent among
them by an act of munificence that should prove a shining example to
all rich men. Mr. Horatio Copper--the reverend gentleman found some
difficulty, apparently, in deciphering the name.
"Cooper-Smith, sir, with an hyphen," came in a thin whisper, the voice
of the still scarlet-faced clothier.
Mr. Horatio Cooper-Smith, taking--the Rev. Augustus felt confident--a
not unworthy means of grappling to himself thus early the hearts of
his fellow-townsmen, had expressed his desire to pay for the expense
of a curate entirely out of his own pocket. Under these
circumstances, there would be no further talk of a farewell between
the Rev. Augustus Cracklethorpe and his parishioners. It would be the
hope of the Rev. Augustus Cracklethorpe to live and die the pastor of
St. Jude's.
A more solemn-looking, sober congregation than the congregation that
emerged that Sunday morning from St. Jude's in Wychwood-on-the-Heath
had never, perhaps, passed out of a church door.
"He'll have more time upon his hands," said Mr. Biles, retired
wholesale ironmonger and junior churchwarden, to Mrs. Biles, turning
the corner of Acacia Avenue--"he'll have more time to make himself a
curse and a stumbling-block."
"And if this 'near relation' of his is anything like him--"
"Which you may depend upon it is the Case, or he'd never have thought
of him," was the opinion of Mr. Biles.
"I shall give that Mrs. Pennycoop," said Mrs. Biles, "a piece of my
mind when I meet her."
But of what use was that?
End
- beginning [bi´giniŋ]
n.开始，开端；起源 (初中英语单词) - sentence [´sentəns] n.判决 vt.宣判；处刑 (初中英语单词)
- capable [´keipəbəl] a.有能力；能干的 (初中英语单词)
- suggestion [sə´dʒestʃən] n.建议，提议；暗示 (初中英语单词)
- farewell [feə´wel] int.再见 n.&a.告别 (初中英语单词)
- acknowledge [ək´nɔlidʒ] vt.(公开)承认；感谢 (初中英语单词)
- dislike [dis´laik] vt.&n.不喜爱，厌恶 (初中英语单词)
- spiritual [´spiritʃuəl] a.精神(上)的；神圣的 (初中英语单词)
- shepherd [´ʃepəd] n.牧羊人 vt.带领 (初中英语单词)
- stream [stri:m] n.河 vi.流出；飘扬 (初中英语单词)
- humanity [hju:´mæniti] n.人类；人性；仁慈 (初中英语单词)
- movement [´mu:vmənt] n.活动；运动；动作 (初中英语单词)
- dignity [´digniti] n.尊严，尊贵；高官显贵 (初中英语单词)
- generous [´dʒenərəs] a.慷慨的；丰盛的 (初中英语单词)
- acquaint [ə´kweint] vt.使....认识；告知 (初中英语单词)
- contents [´kɔ:ntents] n.容纳物；要旨 (初中英语单词)
- whisper [´wispə] v.耳语 n.低语；沙沙声 (初中英语单词)
- junior [´dʒu:niə] a.年少的 n.年少者 (初中英语单词)
- ingenuity [,indʒi´nju:iti] n.创造性；机灵 (高中英语单词)
- regarding [ri´gɑ:diŋ] prep.关于 (高中英语单词)
- sermon [´sə:mən] n.说教；训诫；讲道 (高中英语单词)
- injustice [in´dʒʌstis] n.不公正，不公平 (高中英语单词)
- inflict [in´flikt] vt.加以(打击等) (高中英语单词)
- decided [di´saidid] a.明显的；决定的 (高中英语单词)
- parish [´pæriʃ] n.教区(的全体居民) (高中英语单词)
- hitherto [,hiðə´tu:] ad.至今，迄今 (高中英语单词)
- reverend [´revərənd] a.可尊敬的 (高中英语单词)
- apparently [ə´pærəntli] ad.显然，表面上地 (高中英语单词)
- pastor [´pɑ:stə] n.牧师 (高中英语单词)
- pulpit [´pulpit] n.讲坛 (英语四级单词)
- buoyant [´bɔiənt] a.能漂浮的；快活的 (英语四级单词)
- congregation [,kɔŋgri´geiʃən] n.集合；团体 (英语四级单词)
- devoted [di´vəutid] a.献身...的，忠实的 (英语四级单词)
- unworthy [ʌn´wə:ði] a.不值得的；不足道的 (英语四级单词)
- conscientious [,kɔnʃi´enʃəs] a.认真的；谨慎的 (英语四级单词)
- energetic [,enə´dʒetik] a.精力旺盛的；有力的 (英语四级单词)
- wholesale [´həulseil] n.&vt.批发 a.批发的 (英语四级单词)
- advent [´ædvent] n.来临；降临 (英语四级单词)
- foolishly [´fu:liʃli] ad.愚蠢地 (英语六级单词)
- publicly [´pʌblikli] ad.公然；公众所有地 (英语六级单词)
- ceaseless [´si:slis] a.不绝的，不停的 (英语六级单词)
- retired [ri´taiəd] a.退休的；通职的 (英语六级单词)
文章标签:名著
章节正文
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