章节正文
hunting rabbits and squirrels, but David did not go
with them. He made himself a sling with rubber
bands and a forked stick and went off by himself to
gather nuts. As he went about thoughts came to
him. He realized that he was almost a man and won-
dered what he would do in life, but before they
came to anything, the thoughts passed and he was
a boy again. One day he killed a squirrel that sat on
one of the lower branches of a tree and chattered at
him. Home he ran with the squirrel in his hand.
One of the Bentley sisters cooked the little animal
and he ate it with great gusto. The skin he tacked
on a board and suspended the board by a string
from his bedroom window.
That gave his mind a new turn. After that he
never went into the woods without carrying the
sling in his pocket and he spent hours shooting at
imaginary animals concealed among the brown leaves
in the trees. Thoughts of his coming manhood
passed and he was content to be a boy with a boy's
impulses.
One Saturday morning when he was about to set
off for the woods with the sling in his pocket and a
bag for nuts on his shoulder, his grandfather stopped
him. In the eyes of the old man was the strained
serious look that always a little frightened David. At
such times Jesse Bentley's eyes did not look straight
ahead but wavered and seemed to be looking at
nothing. Something like an invisible curtain ap-
peared to have come between the man and all the
rest of the world. "I want you to come with me,"
he said briefly, and his eyes looked over the boy's
head into the sky. "We have something important
to do today. You may bring the bag for nuts if you
wish. It does not matter and anyway we will be
going into the woods."
Jesse and David set out from the Bentley farm-
house in the old phaeton that was drawn by the
white horse. When they had gone along in silence
for a long way they stopped at the edge of a field
where a flock of sheep were grazing. Among the
sheep was a lamb that had been born out of season,
and this David and his grandfather caught and tied
so tightly that it looked like a little white ball. When
they drove on again Jesse let David hold the lamb
in his arms. "I saw it yesterday and it put me in
mind of what I have long wanted to do," he said,
and again he looked away over the head of the boy
with the wavering, uncertain stare in his eyes.
After the feeling of exaltation that had come to
the farmer as a result of his successful year, another
mood had taken possession of him. For a long time
he had been going about feeling very humble and
prayerful. Again he walked alone at night thinking
of God and as he walked he again connected his
own figure with the figures of old days. Under the
stars he knelt on the wet grass and raised up his
voice in prayer. Now he had decided that like the
men whose stories filled the pages of the Bible, he
would make a sacrifice to God. "I have been given
these abundant crops and God has also sent me a
boy who is called David," he whispered to himself.
"Perhaps I should have done this thing long ago."
He was sorry the idea had not come into his mind
in the days before his daughter Louise had been
born and thought that surely now when he had
erected a pile of burning sticks in some lonely place
in the woods and had offered the body of a lamb as
a burnt offering, God would appear to him and give
him a message.
More and more as he thought of the matter, he
thought also of David and his passionate self-love
was partially forgotten. "It is time for the boy to
begin thinking of going out into the world and the
message will be one concerning him," he decided.
"God will make a pathway for him. He will tell me
what place David is to take in life and when he shall
set out on his journey. It is right that the boy should
be there. If I am fortunate and an angel of God
should appear, David will see the beauty and glory
of God made manifest to man. It will make a true
man of God of him also."
In silence Jesse and David drove along the road
until they came to that place where Jesse had once
before appealed to God and had frightened his
grandson. The morning had been bright and cheer-
ful, but a cold wind now began to blow and clouds
hid the sun. When David saw the place to which
they had come he began to tremble with fright, and
when they stopped by the bridge where the creek
came down from among the trees, he wanted to
spring out of the phaeton and run away.
A dozen plans for escape ran through David's
head, but when Jesse stopped the horse and climbed
over the fence into the wood, he followed. "It is
foolish to be afraid. Nothing will happen," he told
himself as he went along with the lamb in his arms.
There was something in the helplessness of the little
animal held so tightly in his arms that gave him
courage. He could feel the rapid beating of the
beast's heart and that made his own heart beat less
rapidly. As he walked swiftly along behind his
grandfather, he untied the string with which the
four legs of the lamb were fastened together. "If
anything happens we will run away together," he
thought.
In the woods, after they had gone a long way
from the road, Jesse stopped in an opening among
the trees where a clearing, overgrown with small
bushes, ran up from the creek. He was still silent
but began at once to erect a heap of dry sticks which
he presently set afire. The boy sat on the ground
with the lamb in his arms. His imagination began to
invest every movement of the old man with signifi-
cance and he became every moment more afraid. "I
must put the blood of the lamb on the head of the
boy," Jesse muttered when the sticks had begun to
blaze greedily, and taking a long knife from his
pocket he turned and walked rapidly across the
clearing toward David.
Terror seized upon the soul of the boy. He was
sick with it. For a moment he sat perfectly still and
then his body stiffened and he sprang to his feet.
His face became as white as the fleece of the lamb
that, now finding itself suddenly released, ran down
the hill. David ran also. Fear made his feet fly. Over
the low bushes and logs he leaped frantically. As he
ran he put his hand into his pocket and took out
the branched stick from which the sling for shooting
squirrels was suspended. When he came to the
creek that was shallow and splashed down over the
stones, he dashed into the water and turned to look
back, and when he saw his grandfather still running
toward him with the long knife held tightly in his
hand he did not hesitate, but reaching down, se-
lected a stone and put it in the sling. With all his
strength he drew back the heavy rubber bands and
the stone whistled through the air. It hit Jesse, who
had entirely forgotten the boy and was pursuing the
lamb, squarely in the head. With a groan he pitched
forward and fell almost at the boy's feet. When
David saw that he lay still and that he was appar-
ently dead, his fright increased immeasurably. It be-
came an insane panic.
With a cry he turned and ran off through the
woods weeping convulsively. "I don't care--I killed
him, but I don't care," he sobbed. As he ran on and
on he decided suddenly that he would never go
back again to the Bentley farms or to the town of
Winesburg. "I have killed the man of God and now
I will myself be a man and go into the world," he
said stoutly as he stopped running and walked rap-
idly down a road that followed the windings of
Wine Creek as it ran through fields and forests into
the west.
On the ground by the creek Jesse Bentley moved
uneasily about. He groaned and opened his eyes.
For a long time he lay perfectly still and looked at
the sky. When at last he got to his feet, his mind
was confused and he was not surprised by the boy's
disappearance. By the roadside he sat down on a
log and began to talk about God. That is all they
ever got out of him. Whenever David's name was
mentioned he looked vaguely at the sky and said
that a messenger from God had taken the boy. "It
happened because I was too greedy for glory," he
declared, and would have no more to say in the
matter.
A MAN OF IDEAS
HE LIVED WITH his mother, a grey, silent woman
with a peculiar ashy complexion. The house in
which they lived stood in a little grove of trees be-
yond where the main street of Winesburg crossed
Wine Creek. His name was Joe Welling, and his fa-
ther had been a man of some dignity in the commu-
nity, a lawyer, and a member of the state legislature
at Columbus. Joe himself was small of body and in
his characterunlike anyone else in town. He was
like a tiny little volcano that lies silent for days and
then suddenly spouts fire. No, he wasn't like that--
he was like a man who is subject to fits, one who
walks among his fellow men inspiring fear because
a fit may come upon him suddenly and blow him
away into a strange uncannyphysical state in which
his eyes roll and his legs and arms jerk. He was like
that, only that the visitation that descended upon
Joe Welling was a mental and not a physical thing.
He was beset by ideas and in the throes of one of his
ideas was uncontrollable. Words rolled and tumbled
from his mouth. A peculiar smile came upon his
lips. The edges of his teeth that were tipped with
gold glistened in the light. Pouncing upon a by-
stander he began to talk. For the bystander there
was no escape. The excited man breathed into his
face, peered into his eyes, pounded upon his chest
with a shaking forefinger, demanded, compelled
attention.
In those days the Standard Oil Company did not
deliver oil to the consumer in big wagons and motor
trucks as it does now, but delivered instead to retail
grocers, hardware stores, and the like. Joe was the
with them. He made himself a sling with rubber
bands and a forked stick and went off by himself to
gather nuts. As he went about thoughts came to
him. He realized that he was almost a man and won-
dered what he would do in life, but before they
came to anything, the thoughts passed and he was
a boy again. One day he killed a squirrel that sat on
one of the lower branches of a tree and chattered at
him. Home he ran with the squirrel in his hand.
One of the Bentley sisters cooked the little animal
and he ate it with great gusto. The skin he tacked
on a board and suspended the board by a string
from his bedroom window.
That gave his mind a new turn. After that he
never went into the woods without carrying the
sling in his pocket and he spent hours shooting at
imaginary animals concealed among the brown leaves
in the trees. Thoughts of his coming manhood
passed and he was content to be a boy with a boy's
impulses.
One Saturday morning when he was about to set
off for the woods with the sling in his pocket and a
bag for nuts on his shoulder, his grandfather stopped
him. In the eyes of the old man was the strained
serious look that always a little frightened David. At
such times Jesse Bentley's eyes did not look straight
ahead but wavered and seemed to be looking at
nothing. Something like an invisible curtain ap-
peared to have come between the man and all the
rest of the world. "I want you to come with me,"
he said briefly, and his eyes looked over the boy's
head into the sky. "We have something important
to do today. You may bring the bag for nuts if you
wish. It does not matter and anyway we will be
going into the woods."
Jesse and David set out from the Bentley farm-
house in the old phaeton that was drawn by the
white horse. When they had gone along in silence
for a long way they stopped at the edge of a field
where a flock of sheep were grazing. Among the
sheep was a lamb that had been born out of season,
and this David and his grandfather caught and tied
so tightly that it looked like a little white ball. When
they drove on again Jesse let David hold the lamb
in his arms. "I saw it yesterday and it put me in
mind of what I have long wanted to do," he said,
and again he looked away over the head of the boy
with the wavering, uncertain stare in his eyes.
After the feeling of exaltation that had come to
the farmer as a result of his successful year, another
mood had taken possession of him. For a long time
he had been going about feeling very humble and
prayerful. Again he walked alone at night thinking
of God and as he walked he again connected his
own figure with the figures of old days. Under the
stars he knelt on the wet grass and raised up his
voice in prayer. Now he had decided that like the
men whose stories filled the pages of the Bible, he
would make a sacrifice to God. "I have been given
these abundant crops and God has also sent me a
boy who is called David," he whispered to himself.
"Perhaps I should have done this thing long ago."
He was sorry the idea had not come into his mind
in the days before his daughter Louise had been
born and thought that surely now when he had
erected a pile of burning sticks in some lonely place
in the woods and had offered the body of a lamb as
a burnt offering, God would appear to him and give
him a message.
More and more as he thought of the matter, he
thought also of David and his passionate self-love
was partially forgotten. "It is time for the boy to
begin thinking of going out into the world and the
message will be one concerning him," he decided.
"God will make a pathway for him. He will tell me
what place David is to take in life and when he shall
set out on his journey. It is right that the boy should
be there. If I am fortunate and an angel of God
should appear, David will see the beauty and glory
of God made manifest to man. It will make a true
man of God of him also."
In silence Jesse and David drove along the road
until they came to that place where Jesse had once
before appealed to God and had frightened his
grandson. The morning had been bright and cheer-
ful, but a cold wind now began to blow and clouds
hid the sun. When David saw the place to which
they had come he began to tremble with fright, and
when they stopped by the bridge where the creek
came down from among the trees, he wanted to
spring out of the phaeton and run away.
A dozen plans for escape ran through David's
head, but when Jesse stopped the horse and climbed
over the fence into the wood, he followed. "It is
foolish to be afraid. Nothing will happen," he told
himself as he went along with the lamb in his arms.
There was something in the helplessness of the little
animal held so tightly in his arms that gave him
courage. He could feel the rapid beating of the
beast's heart and that made his own heart beat less
rapidly. As he walked swiftly along behind his
grandfather, he untied the string with which the
four legs of the lamb were fastened together. "If
anything happens we will run away together," he
thought.
In the woods, after they had gone a long way
from the road, Jesse stopped in an opening among
the trees where a clearing, overgrown with small
bushes, ran up from the creek. He was still silent
but began at once to erect a heap of dry sticks which
he presently set afire. The boy sat on the ground
with the lamb in his arms. His imagination began to
invest every movement of the old man with signifi-
cance and he became every moment more afraid. "I
must put the blood of the lamb on the head of the
boy," Jesse muttered when the sticks had begun to
blaze greedily, and taking a long knife from his
pocket he turned and walked rapidly across the
clearing toward David.
Terror seized upon the soul of the boy. He was
sick with it. For a moment he sat perfectly still and
then his body stiffened and he sprang to his feet.
His face became as white as the fleece of the lamb
that, now finding itself suddenly released, ran down
the hill. David ran also. Fear made his feet fly. Over
the low bushes and logs he leaped frantically. As he
ran he put his hand into his pocket and took out
the branched stick from which the sling for shooting
squirrels was suspended. When he came to the
creek that was shallow and splashed down over the
stones, he dashed into the water and turned to look
back, and when he saw his grandfather still running
toward him with the long knife held tightly in his
hand he did not hesitate, but reaching down, se-
lected a stone and put it in the sling. With all his
strength he drew back the heavy rubber bands and
the stone whistled through the air. It hit Jesse, who
had entirely forgotten the boy and was pursuing the
lamb, squarely in the head. With a groan he pitched
forward and fell almost at the boy's feet. When
David saw that he lay still and that he was appar-
ently dead, his fright increased immeasurably. It be-
came an insane panic.
With a cry he turned and ran off through the
woods weeping convulsively. "I don't care--I killed
him, but I don't care," he sobbed. As he ran on and
on he decided suddenly that he would never go
back again to the Bentley farms or to the town of
Winesburg. "I have killed the man of God and now
I will myself be a man and go into the world," he
said stoutly as he stopped running and walked rap-
idly down a road that followed the windings of
Wine Creek as it ran through fields and forests into
the west.
On the ground by the creek Jesse Bentley moved
uneasily about. He groaned and opened his eyes.
For a long time he lay perfectly still and looked at
the sky. When at last he got to his feet, his mind
was confused and he was not surprised by the boy's
disappearance. By the roadside he sat down on a
log and began to talk about God. That is all they
ever got out of him. Whenever David's name was
mentioned he looked vaguely at the sky and said
that a messenger from God had taken the boy. "It
happened because I was too greedy for glory," he
declared, and would have no more to say in the
matter.
A MAN OF IDEAS
HE LIVED WITH his mother, a grey, silent woman
with a peculiar ashy complexion. The house in
which they lived stood in a little grove of trees be-
yond where the main street of Winesburg crossed
Wine Creek. His name was Joe Welling, and his fa-
ther had been a man of some dignity in the commu-
nity, a lawyer, and a member of the state legislature
at Columbus. Joe himself was small of body and in
his characterunlike anyone else in town. He was
like a tiny little volcano that lies silent for days and
then suddenly spouts fire. No, he wasn't like that--
he was like a man who is subject to fits, one who
walks among his fellow men inspiring fear because
a fit may come upon him suddenly and blow him
away into a strange uncannyphysical state in which
his eyes roll and his legs and arms jerk. He was like
that, only that the visitation that descended upon
Joe Welling was a mental and not a physical thing.
He was beset by ideas and in the throes of one of his
ideas was uncontrollable. Words rolled and tumbled
from his mouth. A peculiar smile came upon his
lips. The edges of his teeth that were tipped with
gold glistened in the light. Pouncing upon a by-
stander he began to talk. For the bystander there
was no escape. The excited man breathed into his
face, peered into his eyes, pounded upon his chest
with a shaking forefinger, demanded, compelled
attention.
In those days the Standard Oil Company did not
deliver oil to the consumer in big wagons and motor
trucks as it does now, but delivered instead to retail
grocers, hardware stores, and the like. Joe was the
- squirrel [´skwirəl]
n.松鼠 (初中英语单词) - grandfather [´grænd,fɑ:ðə] n.(外)祖父；祖先 (初中英语单词)
- invisible [in´vizəbəl] a.看不见的；无形的 (初中英语单词)
- briefly [´bri:fli] ad.简短地；简略地 (初中英语单词)
- yesterday [´jestədi] n.&ad.昨天；前不久 (初中英语单词)
- uncertain [ʌn´sə:tn] a.不定的；不可靠的 (初中英语单词)
- humble [´hʌmbəl] a.谦卑的 vt.贬抑 (初中英语单词)
- abundant [ə´bʌndənt] a.丰富的；充分的 (初中英语单词)
- lonely [´ləunli] a.孤独的；无人烟的 (初中英语单词)
- fortunate [´fɔ:tʃənət] a.幸运的，侥幸的 (初中英语单词)
- fright [frait] n.惊吓；恐怖；怪人 (初中英语单词)
- swiftly [´swiftli] ad.迅速地，敏捷地 (初中英语单词)
- opening [´əupəniŋ] n.开放；开端 a.开始的 (初中英语单词)
- presently [´prezəntli] ad.不久；目前 (初中英语单词)
- imagination [i,mædʒi´neiʃən] n.想象(力) (初中英语单词)
- movement [´mu:vmənt] n.活动；运动；动作 (初中英语单词)
- greedily [´gri:dili] ad.贪婪地 (初中英语单词)
- sprang [spræŋ] spring 的过去式 (初中英语单词)
- shallow [´ʃæləu] a.肤浅的；表面的 (初中英语单词)
- hesitate [´heziteit] vi.犹豫，踌躇 (初中英语单词)
- rubber [´rʌbə] n.(摩)擦的人；橡皮 (初中英语单词)
- running [´rʌniŋ] a.奔跑的；流动的 (初中英语单词)
- whenever [wen´evə] conj.&ad.无论何时 (初中英语单词)
- messenger [´mesindʒə] n.使者；送信人 (初中英语单词)
- greedy [´gri:di] a.贪婪的；馋的 (初中英语单词)
- peculiar [pi´kju:liə] a.特有的；奇异的 (初中英语单词)
- dignity [´digniti] n.尊严，尊贵；高官显贵 (初中英语单词)
- lawyer [´lɔ:jə] n.律师；法学家 (初中英语单词)
- columbus [kə´lʌmbəs] n.哥伦布 (初中英语单词)
- character [´kæriktə] n.特性；性质；人物；字 (初中英语单词)
- unlike [,ʌn´laik] a.不同的 prep.不象... (初中英语单词)
- physical [´fizikəl] a.物质的；有形的 (初中英语单词)
- mental [´mentl] a.精神的；心理的 (初中英语单词)
- tightly [´taitli] ad.紧，紧密地 (高中英语单词)
- decided [di´saidid] a.明显的；决定的 (高中英语单词)
- offering [´ɔfəriŋ] n.提供；礼物；捐献 (高中英语单词)
- passionate [´pæʃənit] a.易动情的；易怒的 (高中英语单词)
- concerning [kən´sə:niŋ] prep.关于 (高中英语单词)
- manifest [´mænifest] a.明显的 v.表明 (高中英语单词)
- perfectly [´pə:fiktli] ad.理想地；完美地 (高中英语单词)
- finding [´faindiŋ] n.发现物；判断；结果 (高中英语单词)
- insane [in´sein] a.患神经病的；疯狂的 (高中英语单词)
- complexion [kəm´plekʃən] n.肤色；情况；局面 (高中英语单词)
- volcano [vɔl´keinəu] n.火山 (高中英语单词)
- consumer [kən´sju:mə] n.消费者；用户 (高中英语单词)
- partially [´pɑ:ʃəli] ad.部分地；局部地 (英语四级单词)
- pathway [´pɑ:θwei] n.小路 (英语四级单词)
- bridge [bridʒ] n.桥(梁)；鼻梁；桥牌 (英语四级单词)
- clearing [´kliəriŋ] n.(森林中的)空旷地 (英语四级单词)
- fleece [fli:s] n.羊毛；羊毛状物 (英语四级单词)
- squarely [´skwɛəli] ad.成方形地；正直地 (英语四级单词)
- roadside [´rəudsaid] n.&a.路边(的) (英语四级单词)
- vaguely [´veigli] ad.含糊地，暖昧地 (英语四级单词)
- hardware [´hɑ:dweə] n.五金器皿 (英语四级单词)
- hunting [´hʌntiŋ] n.打猎 (英语六级单词)
- helplessness [´helplisnis] n.无能为力 (英语六级单词)
- beating [´bi:tiŋ] n.敲；搅打；失败 (英语六级单词)
- taking [´teikiŋ] a.迷人的 n.捕获物 (英语六级单词)
- frantically [´fræntikəli] ad.狂暴地，疯狂地 (英语六级单词)
- weeping [´wi:piŋ] a.&n.哭泣(的) (英语六级单词)
- uncanny [ʌn´kæni] a.神秘的；离奇的 (英语六级单词)
- visitation [,vizi´teiʃən] n.访问；视察；检查 (英语六级单词)
- forefinger [´fɔ:,fiŋgə] n.食指 (英语六级单词)
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章节正文
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